By Rya Backer

Did you have the sing-songy chorus of Estelle and Kanye West's Grammy-winning "American Boy" stuck in your head for a good amount of 2008? Well, so did Estelle. That's why she's happy to reveal that she's working on new material as we speak.

"I'm sick of singing 'American Boy,' so we need something else," the West London native confessed at a recent party for the fashion line Chloé.

Recently, Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio — who has produced work for Scarlett Johansson and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs — helped her record a track. "He's amazing," Estelle gushed, "I'm really excited. We just finished a song together. I listened to it all the way here. I'm having a moment. He's really, really cool.'' Read more...

Getting one album a year set up and released is enough of a chore amid the smoking ruins of the music business. While albums frequently dropped every four to six months in the 1960s, unless you're multi-band-leader Jack White, the lag time between major releases these days tends to be three or more years. And if you're Guns N' Roses or Dr. Dre, well ...

Some, like Lil Wayne, pack that gap with hundreds of mixtape tunes and guest appearances, but even Weezy seems to be struggling to nail what is shaping up to be the new brass bragging ring in the biz: the two (or three) albums in a year watermark. While his rock album, Rebirth, was supposed to be released this spring, last we knew it was still in the "TBD" category.

So far this year, we've had U2, Eminem and Coldplay saying they'll drop a second brand-new disc of material either in the same calendar year or within 365 days of their most recent efforts. But considering the gaps between their two most recent releases (almost five years, five years and three years, respectively), and the fact that they're among the biggest acts in the world, turning that ship around so quickly would be impressive, though highly unlikely. Read more...

Look, Lily, we like you. I mean, we really like you. But if you're trying to impress us by pounding on British paparazzo, even ones that bump into your car, well, it's not going to work. See, we've been around the block a few times, and we know a good pap punch-out when we see one.

In fact, your latest "incident" doesn't even crack our list of the Best Paparazzi Beatdowns — yes, we keep lists about things like this — if only because, based on the photo we saw, your right cross didn't actually connect with the photographer's face. (Nice form, though.) So, if you're looking to win your way into our hearts — and make our next list — well, then perhaps you should read on, and take notes.

Remember, practice makes make perfect, and since those paparazzi aren't going anywhere, we figure that with a little coaching, you'll make our list in no time. So for future reference, Lily, here's our list of the five greatest celeb-on-pap beatdowns in history. Read more...

By Adrienne Day

There's a lot going on in the world that doesn't necessarily get addressed in our Newsroom blog. Here's a look at some top stories making headlines today.

It's Grammy time, and here are our predictions for the winners! (Hint: We're betting heavily on Coldplay.) Also, could M.I.A., Leona Lewis, Rihanna and other female artists up for awards turn the Grammys into ladies' night?

Is Nas' message stronger than his music? We listen to the controversy surrounding the rapper's Untitled, up for a Best Rap Album Grammy.

Day26 clue us in to the mood of their new album — sexy! — and to their dream-team collaborators: "Kanye West, Lil Wayne, T.I., Jeezy, Luda, T-Pain ... we want to work with you."

John Carpenter is back in the director's seat: We hear that the "Halloween" mastermind is set to direct "The Ward," starring Amber Heard, who plays a woman trapped in a haunted mental institution.

Now, I'm not a lawyer. Hell, I barely made it through college. But I'm going to go ahead and say that Coldplay's Chris Martin may have just dug his legal grave. See, Coldplay, as you may have read, are being sued by guitarist Joe Satriani, who claims their song "Viva la Vida" bears an uncanny resemblance to his earlier instrumental "If I Could Fly."

Martin and the band denied the charges, but on Thursday, the singer appeared on the BBC Radio 1's "The Chris Moyles Show" and practically admitted to plagiarism. Only the rip-off he copped to was not of Satriani, but of late singer Jeff Buckley.

"It's a blatant Jeff Buckley attempt," Martin said of the 2000 Coldplay song "Shiver." "Not quite as good, that's what I think. We were 21, and he was very much a hero, and as with those things it tends to filter through."

Again, I'm no legal scholar, but when you're being accused of stealing someone's riffs, common sense dictates that maybe you keep your trap shut about other songs you've released that are open rips of someone's sound. Just a thought.

U2, Jay-Z, Coldplay, John Legend and Death Cab for Cutie helped launch the new music service (RED)WIRE today with exclusive performances to help fight AIDS in Africa in celebration of World AIDS Day. The premiere of exclusive songs on MSN.com also included performances from Dixie Chicks, the Killers and Elton John, the Police and Elvis Costello, and Sheryl Crow.

The exclusives are part of the launch of (RED)WIRE, a digital magazine that will be delivered to members' desktops every Wednesday with music from artists from around the world, including exclusive weekly tunes from major acts as well as songs from up-and-coming acts and special content ranging from digital shorts to photographs or readings from artists or actors. Half of the $5 monthly subscription fee for the magazine will go directly to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. If you join before December 10, you can become a "Founding Member" of (RED)WIRE and receive the premiere issue on that day, as well as a special bonus song from Jay-Z.

Content from (RED)WIRE will also be regularly posted on the iLike social-discovery service for streaming and sampling and syndicated to iLike's 30 million registered users.

Sitting in the room where they decide who will be nominated for the annual World Music Awards must be awesome.

"Michael Jackson for zee best Pop Male Artist!"

"Vy viss the Michael Jackson again? Alvays viss the Michael Jackson!"

"We shall give zee award to zee Kid Rock, not that Enrique Iglesias. Hees mole makes me sheever. And if Jovanotti does not win the award for Italy, zere is zomezing rotten in Denmark! Haw-haw!"
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For more than a month, there's been a heated battle happening on the weekly Billboard albums sales chart, waged between 2008's best-selling albums: rapper Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III and Coldplay's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. After Wayne's latest debuted at #1, selling more than a million copies, Coldplay's LP swooped in, knocking Tha Carter III from the top spot, where the rockers' record stayed for two weeks. Last week, Wayne made a comeback, reclaiming the peak position.

According to the latest figures released by Nielsen SoundScan, Wayne's newest will hold at #1 on next week's top 200, selling another 124,700 units and bringing total sales of the disc to 1.8 million. Coldplay's Viva la Vida clings to the #2 spot with sales reported at 112,600. Meanwhile, the soundtrack to the Disney Channel original movie "Camp Rock" follows at #3 — a position it's held since its release four weeks ago — with 88,500 scans.

Climbing two spots next week to #5, with 61,000 sold, is Kid Rock's Rock N Roll Jesus, which experienced a 35 percent sales boost on the strength of the LP's latest single, "All Summer Long." Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 28 follows at #6 with 48,000 sold, while Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad moves one spot to #8 with 47,000 scans. G-Unit's T.O.S. (Terminate on Sight) follows at #9, selling another 36,400, while John Mayer's Where the Light Is rounds things out at #10 with 33,700 sold.

As far as new releases go, there are a total of 23 making their impact felt on next week's chart, with two opening in the top 10. Beck's latest, Modern Guilt, enters the chart at #4, having sold 84,300 copies, while the soundtrack to the big-screen adaptation of "Mamma Mia!" bows at #7 with 48,400 sold. Elsewhere on the chart, the Maine's Can't Stop Won't Stop debuts at #40, scanning 12,100 copies, while New York electronica outfit Ratatat's LP3 follows at #82, selling 7,800 units.

3Oh!3's Want enters at #89, having scanned 7,500 copies, with Hit the Lights' Skip School, Start Fights trailing at #97 on sales of 7,000 and change. Maroon 5 and Whitechapel are tied at #117, as Live from Le Cabaret and This Is Exile both scanned exactly 5,907 copies. Kerli's Love Is Dead bows at #126 with 5,500 sold, while Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr.'s sophomore solo offering, ¿Como Te Llama? debuts at #145, after selling 4,500 copies. The Melvins' Nude With Boots follows at #148 with 4,400 sold, while Me First and the Gimme Gimmes' Have Another Ball claims the #164 slot with 4,000 scans.

(by James Montgomery)

So, you may have noticed — because they've been covered in every conceivable medium as of late — that Coldplay seem to have adopted a certain "look" to go along with their new album, Viva la Vida: tattered waistcoats, multicolored armbands, epaulets for days. Basically, they look like extras in "Les Mis" or Adam Ant's backing band or even a more stylized version of Pat Patriot.

And I'm OK with that. There's obviously a revolutionary undercurrent to Viva, what with the Delacroix painting on the cover and the references to deposed French king Charles X in the title track, and we commend them for their dedication to that theme. But do they really have to be that, well, dedicated?
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