Backstage Pass

    Whoa! Could this be the first time a diva trumps a rapper in a hip-hop beef?
    Mariah Carey throws some elbows on her new single “Obsessed” – the first track from her upcoming “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel” (Island) due out Aug. 25, which debuted on radio this afternoon – and they’re all landing on her tormentor Eminem. (See photos of Mariah)
    “Why you so obsessed with me? Lying that you’re sexing me?” the Greenlawn native sings in the chorus, before delivering the kiss-off “You’re delusional. Boy, you’re losing your mind.”
    Despite the harsh words – tossing around digs like “You’re a mom-and-pop, I’m a corporation” and referring to his “Napoleon complex” – Carey plays it cool on the track that she co-wrote with The-Dream and Tricky Stewart. She coos confidently, riding the laid-back beat, probably holding back the laughs as she insults again.
    It plays far smoother than her husband Nick Cannon’s fiery response last month to Eminem’s “Bagpipes from Baghdad,” where Eminem raps about taking Carey back from him and then calls her a “[expletive] whore.” Of course, the Mariah-Eminem flak goes back for years, after he claimed they were in a six-month relationship, which Carey denies.
    “Your legacy has now been tainted from this day forth!” Cannon wrote (and then retracted) on his blog. “You will now be known as the rapper who lost to corny-ass Nick Cannon!”
    But “Obsessed” seems to go even farther. Eminem was torn down by Mariah herself. Right now, it's MC: 1, EM 0.

Hear "Obsessed" here [97.9 KISS-FM] and tell us what you think of the song. Like it? Hate it?

This year’s race for the best original song Oscar is getting way more attention than usual – in part for who’s in the race and, in part, for who isn’t.

There are only three nominees out of 49 eligible songs this year – “Down to Earth” from “Wall-E,” and “Jai Ho” and “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” – due to the music Oscar’s weird ranking system that only nominates songs that scored higher than 8.25 out of 10 with its members. Bruce Springsteen’s “The Wrestler,” which just won the Golden Globe for best song, didn’t make the cut.

Now Peter Gabriel’s “Down to Earth,” which plays over the “Wall-E” credits is nice enough, but the original songs of A.R. Rahman really are a major part of “Slumdog Millionaire.” The same goes for M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes,” which is so dominant in one  segment that it not only looks like the film was edited to fit the song, but that it was shot with that song in mind.

Of course, “Paper Planes,” which is up for a record of the year Grammy, isn’t eligible because it wasn’t written specifically for the movie. But hopefully Oscar voters will keep that in mind when they make their picks and give "O Saya," which was co-written by M.I.A. and Rahman, the nod. Her success story – a Sri Lankan native, the daughter of a Tamil revolutionary, forced to flee her homeland for London by civil war – is very similar to what many find appealing in “Slumdog Millionaire.” An Oscar (and hopefully a Grammy) would be grand new chapters for her.

PHOTO: M.I.A. for Interscope Records

Backstage Pass pal J. Freedom du Lac was the first to write about the switcheroo in the Washington Post spawning loads of YouTube videos chronicling the moment. Last week, Cyrus' publicist issued a statement to MTV News confirming the use of the body double, saying it helps "speed the transition from Hannah to Miley." "Other than during this very brief transitional moment in the show, Miley performs live during the entirety of both the Hannah and Miley segments of the concert," the publicist says.

Is anyone shocked by this? Of course not. We have reached the point in pop music where the singer, who many fans paid hundreds of dollars to see, doesn't even have to perform for all her songs any more. And forget about the singer actually, you know, singing them.

PHOTO: AP

Continue reading "Miley Cyrus uses body double in concert? And the problem is?" »

    As these decisions go, Sen. Barack Obama’s choice to mark his victory in the Iowa caucuses on “this January night, at this defining moment in history” with U2's “City of Blinding Lights” was a remarkable one. Not only does the song, about putting aside learned jaded responses and trusting enough to believe again, show that Obama is sophisticated enough to understand its nuances, but it shows that he believes that his followers will be sophisticated enough to get the message as well. (Either that or he thinks the chorus “Oh, you look so beautiful tonight” will just make people feel good about themselves or confuse it with “Beautiful Day.” Sorry, some jaded slipped through.)
    “City of Blinding Lights” marks Obama’s campaign as different. He didn’t run some lame contest like Sen. Hillary Clinton to pick a campaign theme – the unfortunate, cloying Celine Dion song “You and I,” which has apparently been ditched recently for Big Head Todd and The Monsters’ “Blue Sky.” He didn’t go for the obvious like former Sen. John Edwards, who seems to be leaning toward John Mellencamp’s “Our Country.” And he didn’t try to misunderstand a popular song so that it would fit his message, as Ronald Reagan’s campaign famously did when it tried (and failed) to appropriate Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” for his re-election bid.
    That said, “City of Blinding Lights,” inspired by the feeling the Irish band got when it first saw the lights of New York City on an early tour, is far from obtuse. “They’re advertising in the skies for people like us,” Bono sings early on, echoing Obama’s call for national unity.
    By the time Bono gets to “The more you know, the less you feel” and “Some pray for, others steal. Blessings are not just for the ones who kneel... luckily,” it’s practically an indictment of the Bush/Cheney administration and all the allegations of corruption, while still tied up in the imagery of the religious.
    That’s a lot to tuck into a campaign theme choice, but apparently Team Obama isn’t afraid to make a bold pick when it also appears to be the right one. At least, at this point in the campaign. (Oops, there’s that jaded thing again.)

PHOTO: Sen. Barack Obama in Iowa, by Win McNamee for Getty Images.

Bishop Allen is finally getting some serious mainstream airplay. On the radio? Yeah, right. That would require some -- though not that much, really --- risk-taking and we all know what the chances of that are. No, you can hear the Williamsburg-based band's excellent "Click Click Click Click" a dozen or so times a day in the latest Sony digital camera ad campaign.

It's the best of the current bunch of cool music-driven campaigns, even outside of the usual suspects of the iPod and Old Navy. (Unfortunately, it seems Target's use of the Go Team's "We Just Won't Be Defeated" was limited to its Black Friday sales.) And, of course, there's Beyonce's "Upgrade U" commercial for Direct TV -- which will, no doubt, be the first of many uses for this song. Airlines, hotels and car companies are probably all standing in line.

PHOTO: Bishop Allen by Aubrey Edwards for Dead Oceans.

On the jump, the real video for Bishop Allen's "Click Click Click Click"

Continue reading "Bishop Allen gets its close-up" »

Can a boatload of Grammy nominations help save Amy Winehouse? Let’s hope so.

With the ballots set to be announced Thursday morning, Winehouse and her breakthrough album “Back to Black” (Universal) should be among the top nominees – with a shot at nods in the top four categories and possibly another three in the pop and hip-hop categories. (Her “You Know I’m No Good” remix with Ghostface Killah seems like a shoo-in for best rap/sung collaboration.)

Will her tabloid exploits – the rehab, the run-ins with the law, the tour cancellations – derail her Grammy chances? We’ll find out Thursday.

Her competition for top honors will likely come from Bruce Springsteen, sales champ Daughtry and possibly Fergie or Akon. Look for country teen phenom Taylor Swift and Winehouse’s less tabloid-challenged U.K. compatriot Lily Allen to do well too.

Check my shot-in-the-dark guesses at the nominees in the top categories after the jump.

Continue reading "Will Grammy voters love Amy Winehouse?" »

Marrying Kevin Federline didn't do it, shaving her head didn't do it, botching her VMA performance didn't do it. Is there anything Britney Spears can do to destroy her career?

There is one thing: Lose custody of her children.

Thanks to a Los Angeles court, Britney did just that on Monday, and the judge's gavel may have sounded the death-knell for Spears's turbulent career. After that news, nothing seemed shocking, not even a report the next day (from In Touch Weekly magazine) of an alleged Spears sex-tape.

According to a panting press release, Spears met some 28-year-old dude in a bar while vacationing in Hawaii and brought him back to her bungalow for a romp -- on video, unbeknownst to her. Said dude isn't releasing this video morsel because he's “disappointed by his own performance,” according to the mag.

Yawn! It wouldn't matter now if Spears threw a telephone at a hotel clerk, passed out in her SUV or went on an anti-Semitic tirade after being busted for drunk driving. We encourage our celebrities to behave badly; it's fun and funny, a way to live out our own renegade fantasies. And Spears could have bounced back from just about anything.

But losing custody of your kids? There's nothing funny about that.

Continue reading "Britney's "sex tape" is the least of her problems" »

Kanye West performs "Stronger." Wouldn't it have been nice to see the whole thing? Photo: MTV.

Last night’s MTV Video Music Awards were so poorly run (even after the Britney Spears debacle) that it couldn’t have been an accident, could it? Cutting off performances by superstars in mid-song, trying to pass off taped performances as live, and otherwise making music seem like nothing more than a commodity (available for purchase at Rhapsody.com, natch) to the one-time “Music Television” – it had to be a concerted effort.

Let's say you like Jay-Z and you're on MySpace.

You're excited about H.O.V.A.'s return and you add his single to your page so that "Show Me What You Got" plays whenever someone visits your profile. You add the video to your page so that you and your friends can watch it easily.

Do these actions make you a fan or a thief?

It depends on who you ask.

Continue reading "MySpace, their music" »

The Recording Academy set the date for the Grammy nominations as Dec. 7 in a press release today. But the real fun comes with the announcement of who the presenters will be -- Mary J. Blige, James Blunt, Chris Brown, Josh Groban, Evanescence's Amy Lee, Ludacris, Corinne Bailey Rae, Rascal Flatts, Justin Timberlake and KT Tunstall -- since those folks will likely be the big nominees of the day.

Look for Brown, Blunt, Rae and Tunstall to all score nominations for Best New Artist. Blige will do well in the R&B categories with her album "The Breakthrough." Rascal Flatts seem set as big nominees in country for their hit album "What Hurts the Most," while Ludacris' impressive "Release Therapy" should hold down the big hip-hop categories. Lee will get some rock nominations. Timberlake will dominate the pop categories for bringing sexy back.

The big surprises? Watch for Rae to become this year's Norah Jones and rack up pop nominations and a place in one or more of the big categories -- song/record of the year for "Put Your Records On"? -- to make her one of the year's leaders. Blunt is another good possibility with possible song and record of the year honors for "You're Beautiful." My money, though, is on big showings for Bob Dylan's "Modern Times" and Tony Bennett's "Duets" albums. And don't count out Johnny Cash and Dixie Chicks in what will be quite the competitive album of the year catefory.

PHOTO: Oh sure, he's beautiful and all... but will James Blunt be the year's Grammy leader?

It started with an old box of tapes that Concord Records had received from its purchase of Fantasy Records.

John Burk, a Concord executive, found a tape marked "Ray Charles and Count Basie" - a pairing that would have made musical history. Burk says he practically ran to a tape machine, but his find turned out to be a '70s concert that featured Charles and the Count Basie Orchestra playing separately.

Rather than chalking it up as another musical "what if," Burk began thinking, "Why not?"

After listening to the tape, Gregg Field, who had played drums for both Basie and Charles, could name many reasons. "Someone just put a mike on Ray Charles and not the rest of the band," says Field, adding that you could hear the band through Charles' mike. "We didn't have a clean vocal."

What they did have, however, was an amazing performance from Charles. "It would have been lost for the ages," Field says. "What we wanted to do would allow the world to hear him in the prime of his career."

Continue reading "Building the Ray Charles/Count Basie album" »

Island Def Jam's massive, marathon push for "Sam's Town" (the album won't be released until October) isn't just a vote of confidence for the Killers. It's a rare sign of faith for a young rock band - a bet that new rockers can still sell albums, even as the previous establishment for building them continues to crumble.

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Listen to "When You Were Young" here.

Watch out, summer concertgoers. Some in the industry say the end is near.

Once Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, The Who, Eric Clapton and their '60s rock contemporaries hang up their guitars and stop touring, the industry will collapse because, as one concert promoter recently told The New York Times, "We will run out of headliners."

Give me a break. That's the kind of "the world begins and ends with me" narcissism generally associated with teenagers, not savvy businessmen.

Full column