By Kathleen Newman-Bremang
Kanye West may be hyping himself as the Michael Jordan of the rap world, but we've got some news for you, Yeezy — you might not even be the MJ of songs with "Paranoid" in the title. With yesterday's viral release of West's official (not leaked) version of his "Paranoid" music video and the Jonas Brothers' new hit single of the same name, we decided to take a look back at some other artists who were feeling the nervous vibe long before Kanye and the JoBros. Yes, Radiohead, Garbage and Black Sabbath did the paranoia-themed vid first. But who did it best? Let's take a look:
Kanye West - "Paranoid"
We have to admit, when the first version of the video leaked, we weren't that impressed. But the final cut finds Kanye in his true form, delivering a high-concept music video that feels more like a piece of art than anything else, and the black-and-white clip even guest-stars Rihanna as a disturbed vixen in the midst of a nightmare. In the song, Kanye advises his lady to quit worrying about "the wrong things," but there's nothing wrong with this clip. Kudos to Kanye for the old-school film noir vibe — we're digging it.
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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.
T.I. channeled the pain and turmoil of his life into the Grammy-nominated Paper Trail — but is that enough to net him the Best Rap Album award come Sunday? Plus: T.I., Jay-Z, Kanye West and Lil Wayne will "Swagga" together onstage for the first time during the ceremony.
We look at how Radiohead took on — and forever changed — the music industry with their Grammy-nominated album In Rainbows.
Zac Efron's "17 Again" co-star Melora Hardin called the teen star "dreamy" and said she didn't think he'd mind dating an older woman.
Comic fans, take note! MTV News' movies, comic book and gaming experts will be onsite at New York's Comic-Con to bring you the latest news, previews, announcements and reports from ground zero. Head over to Splash Page to find out where we'll be.
Dawn Richard tells us how her own love of comic art led to the creation of Danity Kane, the group and the comic series.
By John Ochoa
How many of you guys are going to the surprise Radiohead show tonight!? Oh wait, never mind. It was canceled earlier this week, just in time for you not to hear about it.
On Tuesday, Radiohead was set to announce tonight's secret show at the Chicago Theater, but Thom Yorke apparently got sick and the gig was axed. The band decided instead to save its energy for Friday's headlining slot at Lollapalooza.
The Thursday show, which was being organized by the band itself and not Lollapalooza promoters C3 Presents, would have been the official launch of Radiohead's North American tour with all the show's proceeds going to charity.
Sucks for die-hard Radiohead fans who can't wait an extra day, but I'm sure their set will kick ass on Friday.
Stay tuned this weekend as MTV News gives you complete coverage of this year's Lollapalooza, with news and interviews from all your favorite bands. And if you're going to the show, help us cover it by uploading your photos and stories to YouRHere.
By Steven Roberts
We at MTV News are pretty excited about the nominees for the 2008 Mercury Prize — and not just because the award recognizes some of the best albums to come out of the U.K. and Ireland. It's also because we've been on a lot of these artists for ages (that's the sound of us patting ourselves on the back!).
When James Montgomery isn't channeling Matt Pinfield on "FNMTV," one of the artists on his beat is Radiohead: He's covered just about everything surrounding the release of the Mercury-nominated In Rainbows. From the album's pay-what-you-want digital release to the innovative video for "House of Cards," he's been there. He has even found time to cover their eco-friendly water bottles.
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There's nothing better in the summer than going to an outdoor festival and enjoying live music under the stars, but jacked-up gas prices could put an end to that warm-weather tradition.
Higher prices at the pump mean less spending money -- so is that going to keep you from seeing your favorite act onstage this summer?
I get it, Lollapalooza. There are only so many slots in a 12-hour day to cram in 100 bands. And I'm not hating on having to choose between Bang Camaro and K'naan, or splitting the difference on Uffie and Jamie Lidell, because, frankly, I couldn't care less about any of them. And I'm even willing to forgive having to choose between Gnarls Barkley and Girl Talk. And Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings or the Toadies is a slam dunk, no offense Toad-heads.
But come Saturday and Sunday night, you're seriously killing me. The daily schedules are finally here, and I get that all air traffic is being cleared to give Radiohead some radio silence for their headlining slot on Friday night. They've earned it — and frankly, who wants to go up against them anyway, right?
But Saturday night? I'm going to have to choose between watching Kanye West land his egogalactic mother ship in his hometown on the shores of Lake Michigan and walking a mile across Grant Park to see Nine Inch Nails unleash a toxic bile spill on the other main stage. That ain't right. Sure, I've seen NIN a few times and I haven't seen the Kanye show yet (the local date here got canceled due to, um, "production" issues), but both promise to be spectacles on a par with last year's totally bananas Daft Punk set.
And Sunday's not much better: The reunited Rage Against the Machine are up against one of my favorite bands (another Chicago-bred act), Wilco. Unless you're a music geek like me, that's not really a hard one, since the bands are different sides of the rock coin. But still, who doesn't want a bit of sweaty-torso bro-thrash mixed with a palate-cleansing bowl of spidery guitar noodle soup? It's just not fair.
Other than those colossal musical Sophie's Choices (oh, and putting the Black Lips on one of the main stages at noon on Friday — c'mon, that's just mean), I'm cool with the rest of the roster choices.
But I can't help wondering how Iron and Wine leader Sam Beam's pastoral acoustic reveries will go over on the Bud Light stage at 4:15 p.m. on Sunday, just a few hours before the NIN crowd begins to descend on the area like a drunken black cloud of hormones and terrorist fist jabs. Considering this recent bottling of Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme, I'd suggest you bring a helmet, Sam.
Are you feeling conflicted? Tearing your hair out choosing between Booka Shade and DeVotchKa? Tell us about it.
Yesterday we told you that Radiohead was partnering with MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) to produce a video for "All I Need" that would shine a light on the exploitative world of sweatshops. Well, today we're running the video on MTV, MTV2, mtvU, MTV Tr3s, MTV.com and MTV Hits, not to mention on the massive video screen outside our Times Square office (yeah, we think this is pretty important). Nowhere near a TV or Times Square? Check it out after the jump. (And be sure to watch an inclusive interview with Thom Yorke over at Think MTV.) Read more...
