Today's Pick

The American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, released the video for "So Far Away," the third single for their fifth studio album, "Nightmare," released last year, and has been certified gold for sales of more than half a million copies. The California metallers use the video as a chance to pay tribute to their late bandmate, and their new clip is described as a "raw and emotional," and the track itself, is said in a press statement to be a "very personal goodbye" to Sullivan.
Metal act quartet Avenged Sevenfold are usually known for their loud, aggressive style and their music videos tend to be a mix of creepy and crazy, but in the band's latest clip for ballad "So Far Away," the band slows it down to honor an old friend. "So Far Away," written by lead guitarist Synyster Gates, is a simple, touching tribute to late drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, who died in December 2009 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs at the age of 28.
It's an appropriately moving video, foregoing any histrionics to detail an ostensibly autobiographical account of the group's formation. Losing a band member is obviously devastating in any circumstance, but it's especially difficult for a group like reigning rock hit-makers Avenged Sevenfold given their childhood history. All of this makes sense, considering the song was written with The Rev in mind. The heartfelt quality of the video is in keeping with the emotional resonance of the song, a very personal goodbye to Sullivan that appears on the band's album "Nightmare."
The "So Far Away" video was directed by Wayne Isham, and it features the four remaining members of the band playing in a studio and also driving through a neighborhood. As they make their way, flashbacks of the four begin to play. They are shown as kids playing in a basement, then teens playing, hanging out, and stealing alcohol from a store. During the bridge, a collection of photos and videos of the Rev play. It ends with a clip of the band members hugging, the same scene depicted inside the case of the "Nightmare" CD case. The whole package is quite moving, especially if you're a fan who remembers how much fun these guys were obviously having together on stage.

"Last Train To Paris" is still making stops. Despite what you may think, Diddy Dirty Money's "Last Train To Paris" is still choo-chooing out singles along with visuals to accompany them. This time, Diddy has now revealed that he's still desperately milking what he can from his latest studio installment "Last Train to Paris" which has been in stores since last December, by dropping a music video for the seventh track "Looking for Love" featuring two superstars, as Diddy re-teamed with his former protege and R&B/Pop crooner Usher for the new video.
Diddy Dirty Money & Usher know that while they may be seeking to simply produce a 'movie' in the club for their latest video that females are "Looking for Love" and that they are the primary targets. Indifferent to the attempts, Diddy acknowledges that one of the females pursuing to indulge in his lifestyle, and Usher is aware of the devious intentions so he watches because knows the female interested in him even wants the lovely cutie that is accompanying him. Neither Diddy nor Usher seem worried about the fact that they are spending their "Dirty Money" on women that claim to be "Looking for Love" but are really hoping to be attached to their celebrity, fame and wealth.
Diddy and Usher know something about finding love in awkward places and in the clip for "Looking For Love," Sean Combs adds 'Rick Ross Impersonator' to his laundry list of ventures while Collin Tilley does his own visual magic. For the most part, it's a standard affair but with Tilley on the verge as one of hip-hop's now most sought after director's, it seems bigger than it should. Whatever it true intentions are, its clear from the video that neither Usher nor Diddy are lacking in the confidence department. Although it is inconvenient that the artists keep looking in the wrong places, the Colin Tilley-directed visual is worth checking out.
The clip finds the both superstars hit an underground club, charming the ladies by inviting them back to their table. All in the name of love. Club scenes are dispersed in between scenes of Usher and Diddy performing atop a rooftoop overlooking the city's darkest, most Gotham-esque corners while extolling both the virtues of and warning against an irresistible woman who may be after love. Dirty Money's Dawn and Kalenna aren't singing on the track, but are as glorified extras seducing the camera with their suggestive moves in the dark visual.

British artist James Blunt is back with a new video for his latest single "I'll Be Your Man" and it's all you'd expect from the Blunt-ster, his seemingly infallible brand of infectious love-pop knowing no bounds. The catchy song, "I'll Be Your Man" is to be released on June 27th, and is the fourth single taken from James's third studio album "Some Kind of Trouble," was released last November. Blunt co-wrote "I'll Be Your Man" with Better Than Ezra frontman Kevin Griffin in LA, while mixing "Some Kind of Trouble" last year, with Blunt having to fly back to the UK to record it whilst mixing continued in LA.
Dispensing with the brooding insularity of his sophomore affair "All the Lost Souls," Blunt opts for optimism on his third album, "Some Kind of Trouble." Anyone hoping that Blunt has moved beyond the mawk and sap of his mega-successful debut and its inescapable mewls "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover" is bound to feel his or her heart drop within the first seconds of third album "Some Kind of Trouble." Blunt's happy on those Train tracks: He pulls the same trick nine songs later (minus the whoas) on "I'll Be Your Man." ("So baby come over from the end of the sofa," the romantic sings on that one, too lazy to move five feet on his own.)
Blunt's vocals perfectly suited the song. His strength is his embrace of soft rock cliché, whether he's cheerfully bouncing along on "I'll Be Your Man." Occasionally, he is hamstrung by the incessant, inherent whine in his voice, which always benefits from the dressing of production. "Some Kind of Trouble" is a step in the right direction for Blunt, a move toward love songs free of pretension. "I'll Be Your Man" was released in the US, where Blunt performed it on the Conan O'Brian show and on the Dancing with the Stars.
The video was shot in Paris and featuring footage from Blunt and his band's recent tour of the USA and Canada. The camera crew filmed us in San Francisco, Reno and Seattle. As some of you will have seen from a Tweet from Blunt: "the San Fran footage was stolen. This included naked shots of my keyboard player, Beardy, so the final video only contains footage of him fully clothed - sorry...!" The "You're Beautiful" hitman is a thoughtful performer with a knack for crafting melodic contemporary soft rock tunes. His style is a mix of pop, rock and folk. Along with vocals, Blunt plays a wide variety of instruments including the piano, guitar, organ, marimba, and mellotron.

Shontelle is coping with a heartbreak after a tough split with her lover in a music video for her latest single "Say Hello to Goodbye." The pop ballad love song is the third single from her sophomore studio album "No Gravity," which she once said, "'No Gravity' became almost like this mantra that I adopted to my life and to the whole project... I basically thought 'I really can't let anything stand in my way; I can't let anything stop me from rising to the top; I can't have anything holding me down or holding me back'."
Someone, somewhere must really take to Shontelle. Because, after her last single "Perfect Nightmare" failed to set the charts alight, she has been handed another lifeline in the from of new single "Say Hello to Goodbye." sings about moving on after breaking up with her ex, Shontelle wrote the song in Sweden with producer Martin Hansen, and based on her real-life experience. "It's really a story of acknowledging [that] this ain't working, it's the end, and it's time to say hello to goodbye," she explained. "I know a lot of people can relate to similar circumstances."
It took the singer two days to record it as the first day she couldn't stop crying due to the emotions of the song. She explained why to Sound-Savvy: "I was just literally going through a tough time in a relationship I was in. I was doing a lot of thinking about it. I was just like... I really feel like I have to say hello to goodbye. This might really be the end. I think the end is really nearer than I thought. I started getting really sad thinking about it. I said, let me just pour my heart out on paper. And then when it came time to sing it, to actually record it, it was harder than I expected it was going to be. So I don't know what I'm going to do about performing it."
Shontelle's relationship goes off the tracks in the melancholy video, which featuring the Barbadian beauty dealing with the emotional rollercoaster of a tough break up. In the Armen Djerrahian-directed video, the Bajan R&B singer walks through a lonely train station at New Jersey's Hoboken station, but only one passenger decides to stay for the ride. She's deciding whether or not to reunite with an ex after meeting him on the train. She bumps into her ex while boarding a train while she's nursing her shattered heart and reminiscing about the good times and bad with her ex-boyfriend.

Auto-tune king T-Pain has finally premiered the music video for Nappy Boy's R&B/pop song, "Best Love Song," off his long-delayed fourth album "RevolveR," hopefully out due soon! "This is gonna be considered the first single," he says of "Best Love Song." "I keep saying that about every song I'm dropping, but I feel like this has the power." The song features Chris Brown, who contributes some un-processed vocals. Lyrically the song finds T-Pain asking the club DJ to help him write the "Best Love Song" to win the heart of his romantic target for the night.
T-Pain's favorite love song is Gnarls Barkley's "Blind Mary." But when it comes to making love he prefers the "you know, normal stuff," T-Pain, the party-loving nappyhead who crept into peoples' hearts asking if he could 'buy you a drank' through his AutoTune crooning. So often, a love song can win a girl's heart. But what if she's got two rival crooners after her? And more importantly, what happens if it's in AutoTune? Difficult question, and one that songwriters extraordinaire T-Pain and Brown seek to answer in the new video for their new song, very appropriately titled, "Best Love Song."
"If you look at things now," he said. "I think that love making has gone to another level since those days. It's a whole lot of love making these days." As he prepares his oft-delayed album, T-Pain is looking to creep into more hearts with the Edgar Wright-directed video for "Best Love Song" with Brown. This isn't the first time both have put an affaire de coeur to music. But despite the competitive nature between the two R&B artists in the "Best Love Song" video, T-Pain admits that when it comes to love songs, Brown is the best man for the job.
The video sets up a battle of the bands-like competition, with the best song winning the contest and, ostensibly, the girl's heart. The battle and video concept are based on the bass battle in the movie "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World." The duo face off in a battle of the one-man bands on stage, attempting to impress the girl of their dreams by lending their musical talents to the drums, guitar and keyboard. However, T-Pain nor Brown end up with the girl in the end, as she walks away, clutching the hand of a dirty, bearded rock dude. We assume his rap song didn't work.

Jason Derülo is back to make (future) history again. The 21-year-old and his fellow clubgoers are at once exhausted from a party the night before and pumped to party it up even more in the Rich Lee-directed video for "Don't Wanna Go Home," which premiered on Wednesday on MTV. Following in his tradition of mashing up samples with his own pop and R&B sound, the video encompasses all that the song wants to ignite.
"Don't Wanna Go Home," is the lead single from his upcoming sophomore album "Future History," that is slated to drop in September. The Fliptones-produced electro-pop track was sonically inspired by Robin S.' retro hit "Show Me Love," and features an interpolation of "Day-O(The Banana Boat Song)." Derülo explained the song's message to MTV News: "I wanted to write a song that people could escape their problems, their pain, their turmoil, and by doing a feel-good song, I'm doing just that. You don't have to write a song about saving the world to do just that. We created this new age party-smasher."
Despite the track's lack of originality, the beat is irresistible, and its lyrics about staying out all night are likely to resonate with summer parties. "Don't Wanna Go Home" is a song that succeeds in spite of its shortcomings. The video for the new track is glossy and fun, a complete reflection of the tune's party-anthem vibe. "This one was very vivid for me. I wrote a treatment and Rich Lee took my treatment and expanded upon it. I'm through the roof. You'll see a lot: more dancing, a lot more sex appeal," Derülo said about the track."
Set in a smoking warehouse bursting with fresh beats and energy, and featuring former Pussycat Doll's Melody Thornton, the moody video begins as the after math of a rave every body is sound asleep and captures Derülo and various dancers waking up from a night of clubbing to keep the night going at a dance party escaping the pressures of the day and home. The video features "these creatures who can't get enough of this amazing party," Derülo explained to MTV News recently. "Basically, it's not about going to the club, it's about never leaving the club. I'm very hands-on with everything that I do, and I wrote 'Don't Wanna Go Home,' and I wanted to write a video right after I finished doing the song 'cause I actually saw it [in my mind], what this video is about, but it's not a club - it's a warehouse and we live here."

Country queen Taylor Swift heads to the Ivy League in her brand-new "The Story of Us" video premiered Tuesday night on MTV, just before participating in a live chat with her fans. The song was the last song from her latest album, "Speak Now." Swift composed the track regarding the time when she encountered an ex at the awards-show. "I just felt so empty, like we were both fighting this silent war of pretending we didn't care that the other was there. And I went home, and I wrote this song about it. And at that point, I had this gut feeling, and I knew the album was finished."
The Noble Jones-directed video in which Swift reminisces about a college relationship. it begins as Swift opens 'The Story of Us' book to Chapter 1 and starts in on a tale about love lost. In the first few takes, a geeky, nerd-chic Swift and her love interest are wrapped in each other's every move, totally lusting in the Vanderbilt library. But as relationships often do, theirs quickly goes downhill. A very distressed Swift sings about the pain she feels as the pair tries to pretend not to notice each other in the same crowded study room, while she tugs at her hair and screams out the lyrics to her life among the books. The broken couple's fellow students have no idea that a life story is unfolding around them. While it depicts a love story, as many of Swift's song/video combos do, "The Story of Us" video sets a more somber mood with a mature Swift and less bright colors.
After the premiere of her "The Story of Us" video, the 21-year-old country/pop superstar opened up to MTV News about her creative process behind writing the tune, and how it felt to watch the video and relive the emotions behind the "Speak Now" song, which was inspired by a seriously awkward awards-show encounter with an ex. "Anytime I'm onstage or watching the music video, the first thing that comes into my mind is the person I wrote the song about," she said. "It's like the first thing that you think of is the moment that inspired the song, which is that excruciating, awful moment when you run into an ex for the first time."
Since the very beginning of her career, Swift has always played the ingenue; she is eternally innocent, endearingly wholesome, even when she has been epically wronged. And so, not surprisingly, her music videos have largely reflected that: Swift as the chaste, credulous creature forced to come to terms with those who have hurt her, usually heartbreakingly so. But Swift has also grown as an artist and her recent videos have mirrored that maturation. And her new video "The Story of Us," continues the themes of both her early days and her more recent work. It is, of course, a love story, but there's a complexity to it too. It's her Music Video Evolution, a voyage that's taken her from wide-eyed country girl to equally wide-eyed international sensation and, fittingly, back again. She is, of course, always the ingenue.

Season seven 'American Idol' champ David Cook released the official visual on iTunes for his new up-tempo rock song, "The Last Goodbye" is the lead single from his sophomore album, "This Loud Morning" will be releasing on June 28th. Says Cook, "This album is the culmination of one of the loftiest endeavors I've ever undertaken. The end result is an album that I cannot wait to share with everyone."
The song itself is catchy and upbeat, even though the lyrics are sad and rather poignant. Written by Cook with Ryan Tedder, the song describes a relationship that clearly didn't work out, judging by the opening line, "If you hear this on the radio, then we've already said our last goodbye." Cook sounds surprisingly upbeat despite his obvious heartbreak. The track was produced by Matt Serletic and has the clean, polished sound Serletic has brought to rock acts like Matchbox Twenty and Collective Soul. The song isn't groundbreaking by any means, but its appealing melody and Cook's strong voice make it one of the better songs he has recorded to date.
With some relationships gone wrong, you just have to rip it like a bandage. In Nigel Dick-directed video, Cook explores a past relationship and what it means to move on. Sometimes, we just have to disappear, much like in the video. The concept is quite metaphoric, and the story line makes the viewer curious enough to spend time imagining the backstory. His bandmates do a nice job too. Cook is sitting on the beach, writing the lyrics to a new song, "The Last Goodbye". He removes his jacket and some other articles of clothing and walks the beach. The song is so engrossing, he goes off into the ocean and back to the hotel to write it, leaving all his stuff on the beach.
Then, a random dog walker finds his belongings and the note. The girl immediately calls the police, and they progress to tape off the area, fearing he drowned. Essentially, this is the embodiment of this song. 'Drowning' the relationship is the best for both parties involved. A local newspaper runs the story that "David Cook, Feared Drowned." Everyone think's he's drowned himself, until he appears innocently at the end asking what everyone is looking at, and the drummer faints dead away. I like the idea that he is playing himself and not some character. This song, obviously, is personal. The video is actually kind of silly in a good way. It's light, there's a hint of humor and it's a surprising departure from Cook's usual somber vibe when it comes to his music videos.

Tampa homegirl Juliet Simms and her band, Automatic Loveletter, just premiered their new video for the jarring and candidly autobiographical "Story of My Life," which taken from the group's debut LP, "Truth or Dare," released last year. Take a cosmos full of confidence, a fist full of defiance, a potent set of lungs alongside a rollicking band and Juliet Simms, better known to the world over as Automatic Loveletter, is unflinchingly kicking down music industry doors and commanding instant attention. Equal parts Pink and Foo Fighters, crossed with Heart or Joan Jett for the Now generation, the singer/songwriter's vehicle to stardom is absolutely unstoppable as her sassy and seductive new CD "Truth or Dare" so boldly articulates.
Countless people have moved to Los Angeles desperate for musical fame and riches, only to end up asking some sleazy record producer or label person, "How does taking my shirt off improve my range?" before giving up and moving back home. Success is an one-in-a-million shot, but once you get it, like Tampa rock band Automatic Loveletter, the move to the City of Angels can make for great songwriting fodder, as evidenced by the video premiere for the band's "Story Of My Life."
In their "Story Of My Life" video, Front woman Simms recounts the band's history amid a backdrop of actual old photos of herself and the band. We see Simms writing the song's lyrics in her notebook, hanging out in her car in some field in Anywhere, U.S.A. and quoting Nietzsche because, well, that "What does not kill me makes me stronger" quote pretty much applies to everyone.
Given the reflective tone of the song, it's no surprise to see slow-mo shots of Simms in remote places looking serious and contemplative. It's an emotionally honest song, detailing the flip side of fame and success while transforming a rock star into a naive, fledgling singer who "would sometimes be hungry" and "miss my bed when I sleep." We see rock stars acting like rock stars every day. It's refreshing to see the other side once in a while.

Keri Hilson returns with an official visual for her collaboration with rapper Nelly for the new track "Lose Control," the fourth single from her sophomore LP, "No Boys Allowed." The 'Pretty Girl Rock' singer seduces the camera with her sexy moves and later works her charm on Nelly. Hilson does what she does best with her dance moves and smooth vocals, while Nelly puts the moves on the star, and gets roughed up by her crew in the sand.
The infectious upbeat track was produced by Norwegian production team StarGate and features Nelly spitting a sexually charged verse. The song finds Hilson instantly attracted to a guy whilst clubbing. Hilson tells the man that she can tell by the way he moves, that he's the one for him and she desires to "Lose Control," "clothes, shake wind and roll" with him. However, the singer eventually gets let down when she finds out he's a different man to the one she thought he was.
The "Lose Control" track is supported by images of the sexy star dancing in a jungle covered in facial paint alone with some scantily-clad ladies backing her up. On the song, Hilson sings of submitting to temptation over a chopped up synth hook extremely reminiscent of Rihanna's "Rude Boy," while Nelly shows up late to make contemporary hip-hop's first-ever reference to Meyer Lansky. The single is a dance track, pure and simple. But, there's something dark billowing at the edges of the song, and that feeling is reflected in the video.
The R&B singer shakes her rump, winding and rolling in the desert with Nelly after dark for the Colin Tilley helmed video for "Lose Control." In video, Hilson and her pal Hip Hop star take on earth, wind, fire and water. She yearns for her man while dancing in the center of a glowing cube without walls, unable to escape. At one point, the singer is partially immersed in water, and later she grooves under falling snow. Nelly appears midway through the clip, happily caressing the star while she sings. The rapper spits masculine rhymes in a verse that's so hot that he ends up surrounded by flames.

Treating her many fans to another new offering, Avril Lavigne is back in all her skater chick glory and gets poignant in her newly released video for her uptempo track "Smile," the second single off her latest record, "Goodbye Lullaby." Not the poignancy is totally clear right off the bat: In the opening moments, the First Lady of Mall Punk is mad as hell, and she's not gonna take it anymore. Green-streaked hair and all, Lavigne delivers some choice words in her trademark sneer while rocking out and covering everything from the walls to the camera with spray paint.
"Smile" pays tribute to the special someone who was able to win her heart and put a grin on her face. The lyrics find the singer expressing her gratitude for a special person in her life. Backed up by a punchy drum rhythm and electric guitars, Lavigne offers even more reasons why most normal guys would run in the other direction, then praises her guy for sticking around. The sassy and catchy pop punk track represents Lavigne's best qualities as a pop star, while the tune incorporates talk-singing as well as the bold melodic choruses for which the 26-year-old is known.
Directed by Shane Drake, the video starts out with Lavigne in a white room, spray painting the walls with words, hearts, and posters. She then plugs in her electric guitar, rocks bright green hair extensions and rocks out while smiling. The video then heads outside with broken pieces of glass scattered around the city. The pieces are next to a person as the Canadian punk princess removes them to remove the brokenness of love and then smile returns to the person's face. The punk rocker wants her fans to put on a brave face and smile no matter how hard the situation is.
Throughout the punchy "Smile" video, Lavigne is in full-on punk rock mode. Overall, the video is a boldly visual clip that shifts between scenes splashed with color, like the neon green and white room where Lavigne spends her time rocking the hell out, and the black and white plot footage where Lavigne is strolling through town, picking up pieces of red glass, which is the only color in those particular parts. The red shards eventually turn out to be the pieces of a heart. It's a cute, youthful and loose video that reminds us why we were crushing on Lavigne in the first place. She's so spunky and spirited and she offers a dose of punk rock to the mainstream music scene where she largely camps out.

Roc Nation Princess Alexis Jordan, who recently scored UK hits with "Happiness" and "Good Girl," is back with the brand new music video for her follow-up third single "Hush Hush," to be taken from her self-titled debut album. "Hush Hush" manages to sound fierce and encouraging at the same time and it's another dancefloor filler with a chorus that will have you on your feet in seconds.
"Hush Hush" has a solid beat and a catchy hook which looks set to be another sure hit for the 19-year-old with its euphoric dancefloor-filling beats and another insanely catchy chorus. The new single doesn't stray far from that radio-friendly club sound, it was always the obvious single from the moment anyone heard the album. It dutifully stomps on the iridescent dance/pop beats "Happiness" and "Good Girl" paved and now, this is what listeners acknowledge to be the Jordan sound. She's gotta be proud of that, and we wouldn't be surprised if this track lingers around the charts this summer.
Jordan was a contestant on the first season of "America's Got Talent." After her elimination, she uploaded song covers via Youtube which eventually led her to sign with JayZ and Stargate's recording label. Though a US native, Jordan's efforts have found themselves most fruitful Internationally. When I realized her young age, I thought I was just going to listen to some tween pop I could forget right after. But towards "Hush Hush"'s hook, I began liking it. The sound and the vibe reminded me of the Pussycat Dolls. The lyrics seem to all go together without being too deep or too uninspired.
Over her most adult lyrics yet, Jordan sends an empowered and tough message to guy wot wronged her over the clattering, dancefloor-aimed production and vows a bit of old-fashioned revenge on him for being a bit of a useless guy to begin with. It's not as immediately catchy, but "Hush Hush" shows a different side to this popstrel, something only hinted at before in her predecessors. Jordan is pretty hacked off about something, and it seems to be because of her man friend is cheating on her. She's one young lady that won't be messed around by a no-good boyfriend. The Clifton Bell-directed video sees her being stood up by her fella, but rather than sulking at home, she pulls on her glad rags and hits the town with her girlfriends instead.

Beyoncé makes a triumphant return with a vengeance in the elaborate music video for her ladies on the empowering female anthem "Run the World (Girls)," the first single from her highly-anticipated fourth solo album "4," dropping June 28. Beyoncé explained to Billboard magazine that the album title, "4," is a number that has great significance in her life. "We all have special numbers in our lives, and 4 is that for me," she explained. "It's the day I was born. My mother's birthday and a lot of my friends' birthdays are on the fourth; April 4 is my wedding date."
Set to a marching beat which heavily samples the martial drum beat "Pon de Floor" by dancehall duo Major Lazer, following the same alternative hip hop-dancehall genres, mixed with the pop and R&B sounds of Beyoncé. The song's title and lyrics contain an unapologetically aggressive message towards female empowerment. Beyoncé sings in a choppy, emphatic style. As a lead single, it was bluntly effective. The track is just under four minutes of sassy, girl-power lyrics paired with marching-band beats and club appeal. The song is loud and proud in its relentless message: Beyoncé and girls everywhere are in charge now. The 29-year-old entertainer is clearly rallying the troops to her side in this first single.
The Texas songstress explained to Billboard magazine that she felt a powerful connection to the song. "It's definitely riskier than something a bit more... simple. I just heard the track and loved that it was so different: it felt a bit African, a bit electronic and futuristic," Beyoncé said. "It reminded me of what I love, which is mixing different cultures and eras - things that typically don't go together - to create a new sound. I can never be safe; I always try and go against the grain. As soon as I accomplish one thing, I just set a higher goal. That's how I've gotten to where I am."
Pop's commander-in-chief leads an army of over 200 dancers in the heavily-choreographed visuals directed by award-winning director Francis Lawrence, featuring a menagerie of wild animals, outrageous fashion, and epic dance sequences. The video finds Beyoncé navigating through an apocalyptic world and leading a determined army of supporters while sporting a slew of eye-popping outfits. Beyoncé will once again command the spotlight this Sunday night(May 22), when she is honored with the Billboard Millennium Award at the Billboard Music Awards. Nonetheless, Beyoncé is leading yet another female-empowerment revolution that is sure to dominate dancefloors this summer.

Maroon 5 have recently premiered the music video for "Out of Goodbyes," the official fourth single taken from the Grammy Award-winning pop rock band's latest third studio album "Hands All Over," which is reminiscent of albums past, but encompasses a larger variety of genres this time around, and has been in stores since last September. "This album has a lot of different styles - a little Motown, a little country, a little straight ahead rock n' roll and pop music," lead singer Adam Levine explained. "It's everything we love all wrapped into one beautiful package."
The soulful, funk-rock-pop crooner and his band's countrified, heartbreaking collaboration with the Grammy-nominated and CMA award-winning country trio Lady Antebellum for "Out of Goodbyes," which is a nice country-ish ballad sweet, sad song came together in a single day in Switzerland. Keyboardist Jesse Carmichael told Rolling Stone: "We're excited for a lot of new people to hear our band through that song." A very nice song, and awesome collaboration between Maroon 5 and Lady Antebellum lead singer Hillary Scott.
It definitely sounds like a different kind of track than what Maroon 5 fans are used to, but it is a good track. "We are so happy with how it turned out," Levine told CBS News. "They did an incredible job. We wrote the song and her voice (Scott) was perfect for it and the band filled in the spaces in a beautiful way. It was a great collaboration." Although Maroon 5 shows a softer side with Lady Antebellum, Levine isn't any closer to figuring out what love is really all about.
Instead of featuring the Adam Levine-fronted band and the country music trio, the Travis Schneider-directed video takes its focus on a young woman and her wounded lover, played by Dwight Yoakam and model/actress Diora Baird. It seems that she causes him multiple wounds. She patiently takes care of him only to hurt him again once the wounds are cleaned and bandaged. The clip shows the woman cleaning a bloody wound and removing a bullet from the man's chest, after which she gets up to leave, but grabs her revolver and shoots him.

Swedish electro songstress Lykke Li has put out a stylish new video for her gorgeous centerpiece ballad new track "Sadness Is A Blessing," is one of the best tracks featured on her latest fantastic sophomore record "Wounded Rhymes." The video, a state that perfectly suits a song saturated in misery, is featuring legendary Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård and directed by Tarik Saleh, the same one behind Li's "I Follow Rivers" clip, Li herself puts in a great performance as a young woman in self-destruct/act-out mode.
Li's girl-group influences are most obvious on "Wounded Rhymes," which peaks with "Sadness is a Blessing." This track itself is a gorgeously intense and deep look at love, with brooding drums and heartbreaking vocals. Despite its lyrics ("sadness is my boyfriend, oh sadness I'm your girl"), the chorus to "Sadness is a Blessing" recalls the exuberance of The Ronettes's "(The Best Part of) Breakin' Up." True to the girl-group genre, sorrow is delivered as triumphantly as joy.
Li fled her native Sweden and moved to LA where she trained to be an actor. The 25-year-old is sexy in that strong-willed-but-still-cute-and-innocent way. If you watch any of her live performances, you'll notice she has the on-stage presence of a big, male rapper dude rather than a small, Swedish girl. In her music, she reveals every aspect of her personality: her romantic passion, her lust, her broken heart, her strength, her fury. And when you look at those big, brown eyes, it's like you can see all of that at once too; and that's sexy. The new video is a perfect example of what I'm talking about, is one of her most emotionally bare, and she really bares her emotions all over this video.
It's a brooding affair, all simmering tension, vodka shots and improvised dance moves. The video sees Li having a disruptive dinner affair with her boyfriend, before she breaks into a dance making the other restaurant punters feel a little uneasy. It opens with nearly two minutes of Li getting hammered in front of a quiet, uncomfortable restaurant crowd, and it's an emotional rollercoaster that ends up with Li dancing around, much to the embarrassment of onlookers. She expresses so much through those wild dance moves while people look on or try and stop her. It all seems really personal, like you feel guilty for watching it. But, she wants you to. Based in a Rolling Stone article that Li's been told by three different psychics that she was born with a broken heart. This song kind of makes a lot of sense after hearing that. This is one of her best videos yet.

Vampire Diaries actress and budding singer Kat Graham continues to pursue her first love of music and has dropped a few, poppy-delicious singles, put together a scintillating music video for her latest single, "I Want It All." will be on witchy woman Graham's forthcoming, still-untitled album, which is set to be an infusion of Hollywood dance, underground culture, and European beats. The starlet puts on her superheroine outfit, struts through a desert and strives for world domination.
The poppy new single is produced by JR Rotem and is a mid tempo beat, which is intended to continue building the hype and anticipation for the upcoming release of Graham's debut album, scheduled to occur later in 2011. The buzz single "I Want It All" is pure sassiness with synth-pop beat, the fierce lyrics and killer bridge. Graham tells about the song at an interview: "We've got this setup single. Everything has been really taking its time, and I don't mind that, but 'I Want It All' is my first actual budget video. Everything else has just been me and my friends kind of winging it, so I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I wanted people to see it."
Perhaps channeling Mad Max, the 21-year-old wears a silver and black chain and crystal corset by The Blonds, and She's gone all wonder woman to get it in Lance Drake-Directed video for the synth-heavy, clubby tune, which was shot on a reserve in San Bernardino, is reminiscent of a Ke$ha tune features the songstress strutting through the desert in while donning several outfits, and oozing confidence for the world domination. The video is visually stunning and starring Graham and a bunch of old televisions and a desert. It conjures a few words to mind - things like fashion, superhero, and vintage.
Graham told Entertainment Weekly exclusively: "The video represents freedom in self sufficiency. Freedom to dream, to have it all while channeling Barbarella and Kat woman [sic]." While "I Want It All" features no other people besides Graham herself, she does have an interesting non-human co-star: a tiger. The best moments come at the end, when Graham breaks it down amid a sea of televisions, before she literally starts breaking the TVs down with a chainsaw. And then, there's a trippy, club-esque interlude that's tons of fun, too. Graham will be starring in "Honey 2 " in theaters this August.

Texas indie rockers Eisley unleashed the music video on mtvU for the first single "Smarter," off of their latest full-length release, "The Valley," came out in early March via Equal Vision Records. The video was filmed near the band's hometown of Tyler, Texas, and directed by photographer Chris Phelps, who shot all of Eisley's packaging and publicity photos for "The Valley" as well as other artists including MGMT, Panic! At The Disco, B.o.B. and Travie McCoy.
The DuPree Family band composed of four siblings: Sherri, Stacy, Chauntelle and Weston and their cousin, Garron. The band was named Mos Eisley, after the Star Wars city Mos Eisley, but for legal reasons the "Mos" was dropped. Featuring ethereal, soaring harmonies and dreamy imagery, Eisley has a sound all their own. They are, however, not without comparison or influence. They are currently touring with Vedera and The Myriad and will be opening for Mute Math this fall.
The song "Smarter," has received nationwide radio support while spending nine consecutive weeks on the FMQB Triple A top 200 radio charts, is about overcoming a broken marriage, and the image of Sherri rising from a death bed to find her way out of the woods while Stacy sorts through a box of memories captures that feeling of bittersweet closure, making the video both aesthetic and entirely relatable.
The video for "Smarter" is simply beautiful, with gorgeous soft coloring and vibrant settings. It doubles as both, well, a music video and a kiss-off to old flames. Wearing a hipster wedding dress, singer Sherri walks through a forest, lambasting a former lover. "If I sound angry, I'm sorry. This body can only cry for so long," sings Sherri. "And if you want to blame me, then go on. I'm smiling now 'cause I'm smarter than you think." The band is currently on tour across the U.S. in support of their latest album.

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler definitely has a hit on his hand. The entertainer revealed his first-ever solo video for the new single "(It) Feels So Good" on Thursday night's American Idol. Back in the day, no band was a bigger deal in the video world than Aerosmith. They were a definitive music video band, and so did Tyler add to his band's majestic legacy with his new solo highly anticipated video?
The punchy rock tune is fresh and fun, with heavy breathing, harmonica, cowbell and hand claps. This is the most 'pop' that Tyler has ever sounded, as he exercises taut control over his normally bombastic voice through the choruses. It's a bouncy, effervescent song that shows off Tyler's newly-christened role as a pop culture arbiter, and while it's a bit of a far cry from his work in the legendary rock band Aerosmith, it still has Tyler written all over it, in permanent ink.
The Aerosmith lead singer has been doing this long enough that Tyler still has a great performer's instinct and can play perfectly to the camera in the performance scenes as he throws around his trademark microphone stand with the scarves attached. Tyler's career is making a serious comeback with a new single, a new book and another performance slated with Aerosmith on the stage of the American Idol finale. Giving everyone another look at the rock and roll legend, the career of Tyler is picking up steam.
The 63-year-old rocker seems to look back at his good old days in newly released video, which was shot on April 25 with the Norwegian-born, Los Angeles-based director and photographer Ray Kay and is described by an observer as "everything you would expect to get from a classic Aerosmith video. Without giving too much away, think: pure, classic Steven Tyler in all of his rock star glory." Naturally, the video co-stars a monkey, an elephant and lots of hot girls, because in Tyler's world, this is completely normal.

LA-based, award-winning edgy pop/rock recording artist BC Jean is back and, this time we suspect, for good. After first surfacing awhile back as the songwriter for writing and recording the first version of the Beyoncé's mega hit single, "If I Were a Boy" three years ago, and then putting her own voice to her words with last year's Top 40 charting debut single "Just A Guy," which received raves from the likes of New York Post "Popwatch" writer Ryan Brockington who exclaimed "If Kelly Clarkson and P!nk could have a baby... her music is as great as the people helping her make it."
Inspired by Gwen Stefani and Alanis Morrisette, Jean is a dynamic young artist who possesses tremendous talent, drive, and passion. The 23-year-old pop-star-in-waiting has just released a brand new video for her first single "I'll Survive You," off her debut album, due out later this year! The soaring mid-tempo ballad pairs Jean's uniquely gritty voice with a story of overcoming a relationship gone bad. It's a shimmery yet broody pop song of epic ballad proportions, which is highlighted by Jean's distinctly edgy vocal style.
The single is a gigantic explosion of gut-wrenching power ballad brilliance, which makes sense considering it was produced and co-written by hitmaker Max Martin (P!nk, Katy Perry), Shellback (P!nk, Ke$ha) and Savan Kotecha (Brittney Spears, Adam Lambert). Jean said via her official website about her new single" "I recorded the song in Sweden w/the amazing Max Martin. It's an emotional power ballad with a great story. It's one of those songs I use to remind myself to stay strong through tough times. It's an empowering song to sing so I hope it empowers those who hear it!"
The San Diego native was the subject of a signing frenzy. Jean has hit a home run with her new single "I'll Survive You" and the critics agree! The new turn has me falling in love all over again with her amazing voice. This song has power, and an equally pensive indictment of bad romance, this time gilded with hope. Great hit, and I can't help but keep hearing that tinkling toy piano reiterating the melody line in the background. The video plays a bit like a modern day "Stay," as we're left to survey the damage of a failed relationship that slowly cleans itself up. Jean has a great voice that's unmistakably hers. The countdown is on her for her album.

The Black Eyed Peas have just premiered their video for their third dance-til-you-drop single "Don't Stop the Party," taken from the quartet's recently released sixth studio album "The Beginning." The new video is giving fans a bird's-eye view of life on the road, and offers behind-the-scenes footage and concert clips from the band's recent tours.
"Don't Stop the Party" is bound to continue the success. Produced by the Los Angeles-based high-energy Damien "DJ Ammo" LeRoy, this hot club jam features Will.i.am rapping in a thick, Caribbean patois. The Black Eyed Peas songwriter told Spin magazine that he is proud enough of the song that he'd even play it for Jay-Z. "I would go to Jay's studio and play this be like 'Boom! Check it out!,' said Will. "Then I go dirty Caribbean on him on the last verse." The song itself is another adventure in high-octane Auto Tune studio wizardry. So if that's what you dig, then by all means, party on!
The Ben Mor-directed video was shot on tour in South America. In the video, the hip hop group uses tour footage from numerous trips overseas to show that folks from every hemisphere are dancing to their grooves. It features highlights even from their 2011 Super Bowl performance. But more than anything, the video shows the euphoria of the fans as the performers entertain the enormous crowds. It is truly amazing to see the bird's eye views of the crowds that attended their shows. The video is like a "breath of fresh air" as it promotes a message of happiness. All the way through, it displays people enjoying the music, the dance, the costumes, the lights and the colors of the event and, as the end of the clip apparently indicates, listening to vinyl.
What could possibly stop The Black Eyed Peas's party? The busy life of the Peas looks like a whirlwind tour of non-stop good times and their career as Energizer bunny-like entertainers is aptly dubbed a "party." The band is clearly looking at "Don't Stop the Party's" video to get this "Party" started instead of giving it a jump start after its radio life is well underway. Resistance to The Black Eyed Peas's party reign is futile. Their joyous club records have not only taken over America, but country by country, the planet.

Cuban-American rapper Pitbull releases a party-themed music video for an equally-fun, and the dancefloor-blazing single "Give Me Everything." The rapper hits the club and invites R&B/pop hitmaker Ne-Yo and up-and-coming singer Nayer as special guests and assigns Dutch dance music producer and DJ Afrojack to turn the table and get the crowd going with his up-beat music.
Following recent collaborations with Jennifer Lopez's "On The Floor" and Usher, the club-ready track "Give Me Everything" leads Pitbull's forthcoming sixth studio album "Planet Pit," which will feature laborations from Akon, Chris Brown and T-Pain, hits stores on June 21st. The song has feel-good party vibes and syncopated synth hook features production from Dutch dance music producer and DJ Afrojack, while Pitbull spits lyrics directed to his lover.
The song is a high-octane, drum-heavy thumper with whirring, outer-space keyboards combines genres of hip hop, pop, and "Broadway-style theatricality." The electro house number continues to crank up the dance floor scene. With its infectious beat and Ne-Yo's crooning chorus of telling a girl he's interested in, this track has the right formula to please club-goers and may very well be the next party anthem. Sexy is one thing this track exudes, so obviously the music video for "Give Me Everything" would have the same effect!
Pitbull lives in the moment in the feel-good video, which was directed by David Rousseau at the famous Alexandria Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, and captures the song's essence and shows a non-stop party, and also features an appearance from 27-year-old beauty Adrienne Bailon, who is the former member of The Cheetah Girls, among the partygoers. And how appropriate that the song namedrops Kodak and its new line of cameras get a handy product placement since Pitbull is the pitchman for the "So Kodak" brand. Check it out in its panoramic glory below.

Rihanna struggles with a possible breakup in her newly-premiered video for rock-tinged ballad "California King Bed," which is anything but that softness comes across clearly. The video certainly looks stunning, set in an ultra-luxurious beach house that makes us wonder how the pop siren could possibly be blue amidst such gorgeous scenery. This power pop ballad about a couple who sleep beside each other in their California king-sized bed, but feel "10,000 miles apart, is the sixth U.S. and fourth international single from Barbadian recording artist's fifth platinum album, "Loud."
"Loud" generally has more upbeat sounds. However, this is one of the slower tracks the 23-year-old Bajan singer recorded for the album. Rihanna explained: "The ballads on this album are really special. I didn't want to just put a bunch of ballads on the album, I actually wanted to keep it minimal with slow records. But there are really two powerful ballads. One is called 'Straight Up Beautiful' and the other one is called 'California King Bed,' which is one of my favorite songs on the album. It's probably going to be the biggest song on the album."
The innocuous soft jam, "California King Bed" is a wrenching ballad about the waking death of a relationship, the stage of limbo before the final crash; it's so well-delivered, in fact, that it's hard to hear. Rihanna explained the meaning of the song: "It's talking about being this close to someone yet feeling so far away, like falling out of love." As it is, the more interesting tracks are those with less salacious demands on her vulnerability, such as the big break-up power-ballad "California King Bed", which features her best vocal performance.
Like seemingly all the not-dirty Rihanna clips, there's lots of soft, gauzy shots of the lovely singer sprawled about in her undergarments in open fields and between the sheets, as she caresses and stares longingly at the hunky male model ostensibly lying next to her, yet feeling so far away. Set entirely in a gorgeously pink-palleted open air room overlooking the beach, the winds swirl and blow the curtains dramatically around the heart broken singer. In this video, Rihanna returned to nature as in her video for her previous single, "Only Girl (In the World)." Rihanna's just rolled-out-bed appearance is completed by the modest, cream-colored attire in the airy, light-filled clip.

After some delay, Nicki Minaj pulls back the covers on her vibrant video for for her latest single "Super Bass," a bonus track featured on the deluxe edition of her chart-topping debut, "Pink Friday." It's an obvious hit, much more potent than a majority of "Pink Friday." With a wildly stylized video that looks like a comic book come to life, the curvy beauty reveals more of her sensitive side as she playfully chases down a hunky potential suitor using her womanly wiles.
"Pink Friday" is short on memorable hooks, but "Super Bass" is an exception, with a 'boom-da-boom' earworm layered on top of a deceptively busy beat. According to Trinidadian recording artist, the song's lyrics tell the story of a boy that you have a crush on and are about wanting to get intimate but instead taking a playful approach. The song draws from the hip hop, R&B and Rap genres while also infusing elements of pop combined with an upbeat hook that really sticks. The song is the most pop-friendly song released by Minaj so far.
The video is, like Minaj herself, nothing but colorful. Directed by Sanaa Hamri, the 'eye candy' and colorful video had the better choreography. Dazzling in a skintight pink bodysuit emblazoned with giraffe prints, the fashion-forward diva is dressed up in the same day-glo color scheme that Minaj completed the look with a half-blond and half-pink wig, gold eye shadow and bright pink lipstick matching the outfit. The always-entertaining Minaj and her troupe of pink-wigged Barbies shake their stuff in booty shorts in the flirtatious video.
Riding a motorcycle made of ice, splashing in a pool of pink water, and reprising her lap dances in the dark, with plenty of eye candy to go around, the newly dubbed "Queen of Hip-Hop" is clearly upping the sex appeal. The Young Money diva explained the focus behind the video: "I just wanted to do something real colorful and cutesy. This is an icy world, it's a sexy world, it's a playful world. Of course I have lots of eye candy for my girls and my boys." The video ends with Minaj lit in the black lighting, biting her finger.

Owl City is releasing the new galactic mission themed music video for the synth-pop artist Adam Young's hit "Alligator Sky," the official lead-off single taken from Owl City's upcoming album "All Things Bright and Beautiful" to be released on June 14th. The uplifting-feeling tune features Californian rapper Shawn Chrystopher.
"'Alligator' and 'sky' are two words that don't really go together, but conjure up an image, which fits the idea of the song," and as Young explains, is not your everyday song title. "It's about how there are so many weird things coming at you every day. Why not just meet them head on and take charge even though you have no say over what's going to happen? You and those around you are what matter most." Talking about his move in injecting hip-hop vibes in it, Young once said, "I'm a big fan of the way hip-hop music is put together and everything that goes into it - being so beat-heavy and just focusing on the rhythm side of it, sometimes more than melody."
A diverse and impressive list of influences, no doubt—but with its daydreaming vocals, occasionally corny lyrics and ever-present synth squelches, "Alligator Sky" ends up still sounds a whole lot like the Postal Service, a comparison that has dogged OC since their single "Fireflies" became a surprise chart-topper back in 2009. The tune is an escape for the listener, as the music takes you on a journey of its own while Young sings.
Earth as we know it has perished, but in the new sci-fi video for "Alligator Sky," the "Fireflies" crooner and his quick-mouthed buddy dressed in a retro spacesuit exploring a deserted empty streets of what looks like an abandoned town, taking copious notes about Earth while collecting various samples and trying to capture memory of the earth before coming abroad their spacecraft. Finally, the boys make it back to their rocket ship, and blast off into space. "So the concept is basically about these two guys who are leaving Earth," Young dishes in a making-of video. "Rather than it being this very dark post-apocalyptic vibe, it's very optimistic, and so it's like people are excited to leave earth."

Taylor Swift just released her brand new music video for her up-beat song "Mean." The song contains heavy elements of fiddles and banjos, with critics saying that it was the most country song on her latest third album,"Speak Now." Although "Mean," brilliantly calls out someone who cruelly points out her flaws, the Grammy-winning superstar wrote the song to get back at her critics: "Some days I'm fine and I can just brush it off and go about my day, but some days it absolutely levels me. All I can do is continue to try to work hard every single day and feel everything. I think it's important to feel things because I then write songs about that."
"The whole idea of being criticized and the fact that that entered my life made for a song that I'm very proud of on the record called 'Mean,'" Swift continues. "There's always going to be someone who's just mean to you. Dealing with that is all you can control about that situation, how you handle it. 'Mean' is about how I handle it, and sort of my mind set about this whole situation." This twangy track finds the young country songstress taking aim at her critics, and in the video, we find Swift in all her glory as a damsel in distress.
Declan Whitebloom directed, while Swift herself drew up the concept, the new video was shot over two days in Los Angeles, with the Orpheum Theatre serving as its backdrop. It opens with Swift and her band in the theater. She plays the banjo, and they're all dressed in vintage-inspired clothes and the stage is set up like a front yard of a farmhouse. The video cuts to a boy reading a fashion magazine in a locker room being bullied by the football team, and is then back on that stage, where Swift is dressed in a little white '20s-style dress and is being tied to the tracks by an old-timey villain.
But Swift and the others are hardly the only victims in the clip. Viewers are back in modern time, where a girl, wearing a fast-food uniform, is being made fun of by her peers. Another girl is being teased in school and can't sit with "the cool girls" at lunch and is forced to eat in the school bathroom. All the while, Swift is plucking away at her banjo. Her words are empowering the young people affected by their bullies. The 21-year-old's new video for "Mean" is the latest entry in an avalanche of empowering clips, which we've seen from artists like Katy Perry ("Firework") and Pink ("Raise Your Glass").