Think about this for a moment: The iPod is only eight years old. In less than a decade, Apple's portable music and media device has become an absolutely necessary part of modern life. The first iPods hit the market on this day back in 2001, with five and 10 gigabyte versions available. The first iPods were hilarious looking, especially compared to current models. They used a clunky mechanical scroll wheel and weighed about ten pounds. They were so solid you could use them for masonry. But like all technology, the iPod evolved quickly. The iPod (and by extension the iPhone) is now not only a music device but also a video player, gaming system, personal organizer, Web browser, messaging system, navigational tool and on and on. Last month, Apple introduced an iPod that has a capacity of 160 gigabytes, enough space to store over 53,000 songs. Consider that in 2000, the best option for carrying around music you liked was to burn a mix CD, which meant that you had 20 or so tunes at your disposal.

Not that it really needed it, but the iPod was also supported by a tremendous marketing campaign, and to this day, getting your song in an Apple TV spot tends to do great things for a band's business. The first batch of iPod commercials featured a track from '90s big beat enthusiasts the Propellerheads, and a number of bands have used iPod commercials as jumping off points to launch new albums (U2, Coldplay) or their entire careers (Chairlift, the Ting Tings). The first group that catapulted to superstardom care of an iPod ad was the Black Eyed Peas, whose song "Hey Mama" propelled their 2003 album Elephunk up the charts. Along the way, iPod commercials have helped give a jolt to the careers of the Caesars, the Fratellis and Chairlift and helped extend the lives of hit songs by Feist and Jack Johnson. Check out the video playlist below that takes a look back at the songs that helped make the iPod into a part of everyday life.

By Chad Bullock

Admit it: It would be a little unusual to see all six-and-a-half feet of Jay-Z with his legs behind his ear. But according to the chart-topping Brooklyn rapper, we may see that sooner rather than later. The hip-hop mogul recently stated that Coldplay frontman (and collaborator and friend) Chris Martin has accelerated his interest in practicing yoga. "Chris hasn't tried to get me to do yoga yet but I am close to doing it," Hova said. "I'm envious of what he can do on stage. Watching him is amazing, he can really move. I want to be able to move like that, get my leg behind my ear, things like that."

Jay-Z never fails to let us know why he is considered one of the best in the game. He has kicked out 11 #1 studio albums (beating Elvis' record), put a huge ring on the hottest chick in the game's finger and now he might try to conquer the yoga game. Maybe he wants to loosen up for a dance-off with Beyoncé? Maybe he wants spice things up at home? Whatever the case, he is not the only rapper to pick up yoga.

Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons is a strong advocate for yoga in hip-hop. "It affects what everybody raps about," he has said. Simmons added that Diddy has also attended his yoga classes. "It's not full of rappers yet, but we're hopeful." Perhaps Simmons can soon add Jay-Z to the guest list.

What do you think: Should Jay-Z practice his downward dog or should he leave the dolphin poses to Chris Martin? Leave your thoughts in the comments or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard!

By Nick Neofitidis

The PS22 Chorus from Staten Island, New York, are really something special. We caught up with them a few months ago and got to see first hand why these kids continue to capture the attention of so many people in the music world.

Last night the kids of PS22 popped up once again as part of the "VH1 Divas" show to help support the very awesome VH1 Save the Music Campaign. The Chorus was pre-taped for a few segments that came up throughout the show, where they covered some of the 2009 Divas' tracks, including an awesome take on Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love." It was a great showing for the kids and really illustrated how important it is for us all to help support the arts and music in our schools.

The chorus, led by director Gregg Breinberg, has been burning up the internet in the past six months, with over 9 million viewings of their videos all over the Internet. With some great renditions of some of the most well-known pop songs from Lady Gaga to Coldplay the kids keep showcasing their killer sound and a great attitude. That, coupled with their passion, has even gotten love from some top-tier celebs including Ashton Kutcher, Alyssa Milano and Perez Hilton, who was so excited about their appearance on "Divas" that he posted about it on his blog. Though a good majority of the students graduated this past summer, we have no doubt that the choir of PS 22 will get a new crop of youthful singers to rejuvenate the crew and keep this thing going!

With the extended trailer having debuted at this past Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards and the first song from the soundtrack — Death Cab for Cutie's "Meet Me on the Equinox" — premiered on MTV.com during that same show. Now a New York Times article says that the full soundtrack will be announced some time tomorrow, so now would be a great time to take a look at what we know.

According to "New Moon" music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas, this album will have a much greater "indie" bent than the soundtrack to "Twilight" did. That makes sense considering the rumored groups involved. So far, it's almost certain that Thom Yorke, Bon Iver, Band of Skulls and Muse will all have contributions on the album. The Times suggested that the Killers and Grizzly Bear (you know, Beyoncé and Jay-Z's favorite band) have also been independently confirmed as being participants, but Patsavas wouldn't comment on either one. At Comic-Con, director Chris Weitz also mentioned that Kings of Leon were in the running for a spot, but there has been little mention of them since that initial suggestion. And the Used member Jeph Howard tweeted that his band was recording a song for "New Moon" as well.

So assuming all of the above artists will be included, that makes eight tracks so far. Other rumored contributors include Coldplay (one of "Twilight" author Stephanie Meyer's favorite bands) and Kelly Clarkson (a fan who wrote "Empty as I Am" because she was inspired by "New Moon"). Reportedly former "American Idol" runner-up Justin Guarini also submitted a song (called "I Can't Live") for possible inclusion. Whatever the final list may be, it'll certainly be an eclectic mix full of melancholy that should make for an excellent accompaniment to watching Kristen Stewart pine for Robert Pattinson.

The MTV Video Music Awards are just a few short days away, and though there is all sorts of buzz surrounding the performances, the parties and the New York-centric stunts that will be happening all this week into Sunday's broadcast, it's important to remember that the reason the biggest stars in music will gather in Radio City Music Hall is to see who wins the coveted Moonman in each of the 15 categories. We'll be taking a look at each of the top categories, continuing today with the Best Rock Video award. The nominees are Coldplay's "Viva la Vida," Fall Out Boy's "I Don't Care," Green Day's "21 Guns," Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody" and Paramore's "Decode."

Strangely, the Best Rock Video category has only been around since 1997 (in years prior, the top rock clip tended to get lumped into categories like Best Hard Rock, Best Metal, Best Alternative or Best Group Video). Of this year's nominees, only Green Day have taken home this prize before (they scored a Moonman for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" in 2005). The punk trio cleaned up in 2005 — they took home seven statuettes total, including Video of the Year and a Viewer's Choice Award. Their career total is eight (including a nod for Best Alternative Video in 1995 for "Time of Your Life (Good Riddance)"), and they've also got three performances under their belt, having played in 1994 ("Basket Case"), 1995 ("Stuck With You") and 2005 ("Boulevard of Broken Dreams"). "21 Guns," from their latest album 21st Century Breakdown, has a total of three nominations, bringing Green Day's career total to a whopping 28.

Fall Out Boy did win Best Group in 2007 when Best Rock Video was absent. Read more...

This morning, MTV News correspondent James Montgomery presented some under-the-radar music videos that aren't getting any love at this Sunday's 2009 MTV Video Music Awards but still deserve to be recognized. Montgomery highlighted underseen and underrated clips from Coldplay, the Dead Weather, Wale and MGMT (among others), but I've got some picks of my own.

First, how could anybody ignore the excellent clip for Hurricane Chris' "Halle Berry (She's Fine)"? Chris dropped what is one of the wackiest tracks of the year (second only to R. Kelly's "Tip the Waiter") and the clip features Chris wearing a band uniform (which is already a retro thing) and a Halle Berry stand-in who doesn't look remotely like the titular actress. What's not to love?

In the same ballpark, I loved The-Dream's "Walking on the Moon," which is not a particularly memorable song but has a video that features a spaceship that is an obvious stand-in for an Imperial Cruiser from "Star Wars." It's also got The-Dream wearing something on his face that makes him look like Geordi La Forge and an apparent set from Michael and Janet Jackson's "Scream" video. Amazingly, it somehow manages to look cheap and expensive at the same time, which is no small feat. (As an aside, you know what other video maintains that juxtaposition? Wu-Tang Clan's "Gravel Pit.")
Read more...

Twitter is a curious thing. Sometimes it lends a great deal of insight into the way somebody's day-to-day mind works. It can be a great platform for comedy, but it can also be a bottomless pit of inanity. But recently I've been following a particular feed that I find endlessly fascinating, and it belongs to Miley Cyrus. Her feed gets updated five to eight times a day, and most of them are filled with genuine human insight and surprising levels of sadness.

The first thing that struck me is how mundane her life appears to be (or at least the things she chooses to tweet about). But it doesn't come across as a famous person narcissistically gazing into her own navel and declaring everything about her life interesting — rather, they are the dispatches of a 16-year-old girl trying to find her way (which, if you recall, is exactly what she is). "Making dinner. AKA a peanut butter and jelly," reads a tweet from yesterday. She even tags it with a smiley-face emoticon. As one of the most famous people on the planet, you would assume that she has a private chef at her beck and call ready to prepare a shark steak sandwich for her. But no! Sometimes being 16 and famous means making yourself a PB&J in the wee hours of the morning.

Cyrus' Twitter also reveals excellent musical taste. She tips her hat to Ryan Adams, Coldplay, Colbie Caillat, Copeland and Vampire Weekend, all in the span of a handful of tweets. But she's also not self-conscious about her choices, as she recently praised Celine Dion.

But the thing that really cuts deep is the profound amount of existential angst that regularly sneaks into her tweets. Read more...

Yesterday, moments before the cameras started rolling on my interview with Jay-Z, the rapper shared an emotional and sincerely heartfelt moment with a woman he had never met before.

It was right after Jay-Z held his press conference announcing his momentous Madison Square Garden concert on September 11, 2009. We moved upstairs to the bar to interview the rap legend one-on-one, and as we sat down, a well-dressed lady came up to Jay, introduced herself, took his hand and began to tell him a story. Like so many others here in New York, this lady had lost a loved one — her brother, an NYPD police officer — who had died in the tragedy of September 11, 2001. As she told Jay the story, she started to cry and gave him a bracelet engraved with her brother's name and "9-11-01." As she did, she thanked Jay for making this tribute concert come to life and providing New York with a way to remember and celebrate the lives of those who were lost.

It was clear that Jay was genuinely touched by her sentiment and emotion, and I think that may have been a moment where the significance of his upcoming concert had become even more real. And the rest of us were moved to see hip-hop's O.G promising that the fundraising concert will also be a "celebration."

Seconds later, the cameras started rolling, and what had just happened gave us the perfect starting point to sum up exactly why he was doing this concert for New York. It was an idea that Jay came up with a year ago, and over the past few months he and his team have worked tirelessly to see this magnificent feat brought to life. As Jay says, "There is no point having a plan without execution."

It wasn't long before we moved onto another pressing topic worthy of its own press conference. Read more...

It's impossible to overestimate the impact guitarist and inventor Les Paul, who died today at the age of 94, had on rock music. His signature guitar design became so ubiquitous that it's easy to take it for granted. Many of the greatest guitarists in rock history have jammed on a Les Paul: Jimmy Page pounded out "Black Dog" on an LP, Slash used one to write "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City" and it's the axe of choice for Neil Young, Pete Townshend and Ben Harper. And when pop stars want to strap on an instrument and look like a badass, they turn to the Les Paul (observe the guitar break that Madonna has built into her concerts and the six-string hanging around the neck of Katy Perry).

(Click here for more photos of stars with Les Pauls, including Katy Perry, Slash and more!

The list goes on: Coldplay's Johnny Buckland favors Les Pauls in concert and the Gibson-distributed design is the only axe used by Buckethead. Paul's influence clearly ran both deep and wide, and it's evident in just how many different types of musicians embraced his design as both a great-sounding instrument and as an emblem of infallible cool.

Another Disney star is making the crossover from television into the music world. Selena Gomez, star of "Wizards of Waverly Place," just announced that her first album will be called Kiss & Tell and will be coming out soon. Via Twitter, she also unveiled the name she has given to her band. The group will be known as the Scene. Gomez explained that it's meant to be an ironic jab at people who throw the epithet "wannabe scene" at her.

It's not yet clear what the album will sound like, but she is already setting herself up for a certain amount of failure, as the Scene immediately joins the ranks of the following bands in the pantheon of groups with unbelievably boring names.

The Band: It's one thing to have the cojones to be Canadian and play American roots rock, but it's something else entirely to give yourself that kind of moniker. The most frustrating thing is that when they first started backing up Bob Dylan, they were called the Hawks. The Hawks! That's an incredibly simple, direct, incredibly hardcore band name. Would you rather simply be called "the Band" or be named after a cold-hearted bird of prey?

Coldplay: It must be some sort of rule in the U.K. that if you copy Radiohead in any vague way, you have to call your group a one word snooze (see Travis, Keane, Starsailor, South). But Coldplay stands above those because it manages to take two benign words and smash them together in a portmanteau. In fact, Chris Martin really should have just called his band "Portmanteau."
Read more...