Welcome to the weekly Newsroom Poll, where we will give you a sneak peek into the lives and minds of some of the correspondents, writers, editors and producers here at MTVNews.com. Every week, they'll answer a poll question that will reveal some of what we talk about behind the scenes here in the newsroom. Enjoy!
Nothing gets us excited like a good list, so when MTV News' James Montgomery made a list of the best albums of 2009 so far, it sparked a ton of debate amongst the staffers here. We also had long talks about whether or not Drake's mixtape really is the greatest we've heard so far this year. All this back-and-forth led to this week's question: What's the best song of the first half of 2009?
Joel Hanek
Even though the mixtape this song debuted on Kanye's blog last summer, I'll have to go with Kid Cudi's "Day N' Nite." Sure, I may be biased because he's a fellow Clevelander, but that song has a long shelf life (probably due to the countless remixes that are put out). Everything he does is catchy, from Kid Cudi's style (which is something that straddles singing and melodic rapping) to the track itself (from the major scale synths to sampling bands like RATATAT and Band of Horses). I don't think a song without a proper album has been this successful since Lisa Loeb's "Stay." (Lisa Loeb / Kid Cudi comparison = Success!)
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Curiosity brought me to Le Poisson Rouge in New York City last night for the release of N.A.S.A.'s first album, The Spirit of Apollo. Come to think of it, it brought MTV News correspondent Kim Stolz there as well. Why? Well, the debut album from N.A.S.A. (stands for North America, South America) — made up of DJ Squeak E. Clean and DJ Zegon — features Chuck D, Spank Rock,