Today's Pick

British singer-songwriter Lauren Henson, professionally known as Indiana, is finally back with brand new music video for "Only the Lonely," the final track to be released before her debut LP "No Romeo" drops on January 19. We like Indiana a hell of a lot. Her upcoming album might be a mixed bag, but what she's released this year has A-grade pop written all over it. "Only The Lonely" adds to that impressive resume, and maintains the dark, swirling vibe that has become quite the specialism for the Nottingham girl.
The synthpop songstress has cut the ribbon on "Only The Lonely," a diverse synth-pop anthem with a deep and mournful synth verses and a proud, rousing chorus. The vocals of this latest track tread the perfect line between pop catchyness and a soulful tenderness, creating  a gentle but singalong effect. From what we've heard of it thus far, it looks set to make a mockery of her ingenuous questioning, "Why can't anybody hear me?" midway through "Only the Lonely." Because on the evidence of this stirring, and strangely insecure latest track, shortly, only the reprehensibly aloof will be left unaware of this slightly off-centre starlet.
The single is a champagne-sparkle cut, Indiana's vocals bubbling through a misty onslaught of synths. It's sodden with emotive fragments, but the rousing chorus is sure to banish any woes. It's an uplifting, festival fist-pump belter with the potential to ignite enormous lighter-waving singalongs. Once again, Indiana's vocals make the track something special and likely fodder for future tropical, trap, futuristic, bass-heavy remixes. The accompanying video, directed by De La Muerte, sees the British star covered in glitter while swimming around a pool, keeping in line with the water-themed artwork for her album.

Although it's only been a year or so since we first introduced Nottingham-born songstress Indiana (aka Lauren Henson) on the blog, it seems like we've been waiting years for the 27-year-old British rising pop starlet's full length debut, "No Romeo," which was scheduled to be released on September 1st, but has been pushed back to October 13. The album ranges from twinkling Scandinavian dance-pop to brooding lullabies and that futuristic alt-R&B that's been all the rage lately.
The follow-up to the Nottingham native's breakthrough "Solo Dancing," Indiana premiered her second scintillating new track, "Heart On Fire," which finds the Nottingham singer turning away from the icy vocals of her breakthrough hit, demonstrating the versatility of her singing. "I've been experimenting with my voice, and there are songs on the album where I sing in such a way that I've never sounded like before," she told Billboard magazine. "I'm learning so much about my lower register. Everything has evolved."
"Breathe my heart on fire/ Read between the lines/ Breathe my heart on fire/ That's not me to cry." Indiana softly sings with a dazzling, soulful frailty amidst the track's dance beats. Opening with an exotically futuristic sonic build before emerging into a feat of majestically glittering state of the art dancefloor pop with echoes of classic Robyn or Kylie Minogue, "Heart On Fire" sets an extraordinarily addictive and enticing tone in anticipation of Indiana's debut full length and reinforces her as one of the UK's most hotly tipped new artists.
Shot in California, the Tim Mattia-directed clip, is one for girls and boys who like motorbikes, leather, guns, men with beards and swimming pools. It's another love story, only to be stuck with another bad boy. It's clear that won't be a happy ending to this tale of a love triangle between Indiana and two drug-dealing motorcycle dudes. But, it's highly unlikely you'll be able to guess the twist. After going undercover for a good amount of time, DEA Agents raid the hotel room of a known drug dealer. The task is breaking their heart because of the good times they all had together, but their task has to completed. The risk vs. the reward.

Owl City is finally back and is ready to bring back the electro-smooth in our lives. As far as inescapable hits go, Owl City has a knack for writing especially uplifting ones. His Carly Rae Jepsen collab "Good Time" helped The Midsummer Station go double platinum, reaching the Top 10 in a handful of countries around the globe. Now, he's returning with a whimsical music video through Rolling Stone for his new single "Beautiful Times," the lead single taken from his new four-track EP, "Ultraviolet," which was just released yesterday, June 27 via Universal Music.
Not long after Owl City, the one-man synth-pop act known offstage as Adam Young's "Fireflies" breakout, he broke down the origin of his music's dreamy edge: "About two years ago I was working at a Coca-Cola warehouse all day. It allowed me to sort of dream up these projects. One wound up being Owl City. I thought through how I wanted it to sound, how I wanted the records to look, everything. Sometimes working in a monotonous environment can really free up your imagination."
According to Young, "Beautiful Times," features American violinist and composer Lindsey Stirling, "is a slow-and-steady stream of music that deeply subjective and personal, it has a dark beauty I find compelling and the essence of the track offers the idea that life is wonderful despite the burdens and afflictions that seek us out. It is an anthem for those who search for strength to rise above hardship. I was honored to work with yet another of my favorite artists, Lindsey Stirling, who was kind enough to grant me the honor of featuring her. I hope you enjoy this song as much as I enjoyed creating it."
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Young says about the optimism in the upbeat song and the magical video was mirrored on the set, "It was a blast shooting 'Beautiful Times' because the film crew was such a fun bunch of people to be around. I've been on a few sets where everyone is on edge and it throws the whole thing off. A positive atmosphere really makes all the difference in the world." Directed by Everdream, its whimsical music video depicts a young boy sleeping in his bedroom when his toys and room suddenly comes to life, thanks to a magical little star that comes and turns his bedroom upside down.

After releasing her excellent "Crying for No Reason," UK pop performer Katy B has unveiled another emotional music video for her brand new single, "Still," the third official single from Katy's fantastic sophomore album "Little Red," which launched back in February via Rinse/Columbia. The minimalist clip features the UK singer-songwriter performing the track in a white room surrounded by bright light, sitting a glowing table, and dressed in all white. The star has also released both "5AM" and "Crying For No Reason" from the record, and will kick off a new UK tour in October this year.
Four years ago, a fresh-faced graduate of the famed BRIT School brazenly stamped her name on the music scene with a ferocious dubstep track aptly titled "Katy On A Mission." Since then, Katy has firmly secured herself as a talented negotiator between niche UK dance scenes and pop, Katy has burrowed into the rhythms of adulthood. She's been living on her own for the first time, taking cooking classes, and partying much less in recent months. It seems a bit silly, certainly, to pine for youth at 23, but the transitions are making Katy more emotional than she'd expected.
This epic breakup song finds Katy singing about grieving when a relationship crumbles. She penned the track with Fraser T Smith, who is best known for producing and co-writing Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain." Katy joked to Q magazine: "Writing that track helped me get over an ex, but maybe I shouldn't have done it because now everyone is going to ask me who he is." The moving ballad "Still," is not the most obvious choice, given that another electro slow-burner, "Crying For No Reason," preceded this. Plus, the album is chock full of up-tempo tracks that the world simply must hear. Still, a Katy ballad is worth more than a lot of other folks' output, especially in this fine era of hers.
The clip offers more than just a little red, finds Katy emoting dramatically and looking right anguished, as she and her flame-colored striking red hair are bathed in glorious white light while she's adorned in all white, often in front of a white background. Elsewhere, she thoughtfully sings the song at a dining table, from a couch, in a forest and in a giant empty loft. While Katy's last video paired her against a dark background that eventually exploded with lights and colors, the new "Still" is all stark white and glowing light. They're almost complete opposites, but in both cases Katy's iconic red hair pops against the setting, and her performance is absolutely gripping. Watch it below.

Swedish DJ, remixer, and record producer Avicii premieres the official music video for his upcoming smash, "You Make Me," the second single from the 24-year-old DJ's debut studio album, "True," which is out now in the UK and today in the US through PRMD Music/Universal Island. Underpinned by a driving electronic beat, this bold and bright anthem is more of a traditional House music track than the Swedish EDM artist's previous chart-topping worldwide hit, "Wake Me Up," which blended Country and Dance elements.
The song features a vocal from Salem Al Fakir, the Swedish Soul-Pop singer who sang on Avicii 's 2012 dance tune "Silhouettes." Al Fakir is best known in his home country for his Top 3 hit "Keep On Walking," which was runner up in the 2010 Melodifestivalen final, the Swedish national selection for that year's Eurovision Song Contest. The song is catchy, and has the words 'commercial success' and 'club smasher' written all over it. The beat is a tad generic, but it's exciting, though. The auto-tune applied to Al Fakir's vocals in the choruses in the electro-pop song is also kind of nice, in the sense it goes well with the atmosphere created.
As for the "You Make Me" music video, a hospitality industry romance turns into a full-blown love story that features Pairs love and rollerskates and ends with a twist, tells the story of tragic love triangle, with a battle for love taking place in a roller-skating club. Avicii isn’t known for big budget video extravaganzas but that's about to change with his new "You Make Me" visual. Imagine Saturday Night Fever on roller skates with some cheesy Kung Fu moves thrown in for good measure to get some idea of what's in store for you. It's a cute concept and completely ridiculous but extremely well-executed and lots of fun.
In his new video for "You Make Me," Avicii hits a New York rollerrink for a showdown of slick dance moves and fierce fighting. The story follows high-rolling Henry as he fixates on the object of his desire Mercedes, a waitress serving up drinks. Henry hits the floor to strut his stuff and Mercedes is impressed – too impressed for her jealous ex-boyfriend Chang's liking. Chang and his cronies storm the floor for a fight, and the rink becomes a ring as the opposing crews battle it out. Will Henry win out and the good times resume?  It's an age-old question of love, sound-tracked to Avicii's poppy new single.

After turning up the heat with her "High School" video, Nicki Minaj takes it down a notch, takes us back to the old mixtape days and defends her brand with another moody video for her latest track "Up in Flames," the opener and yet another cut off the endlessly long-slash-promotable "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded - The Re-Up." And if there's any takeaway here, it's that Minaj is 110 percent serious about being the best rapper in the game, male or female. She already admitted to being the best in a recent interview, but now instead of telling us, she's showing us in her no-frills clip.
Minaj takes her standard boastful tone on the track, which is definitely more "mixtape" Nicki Minaj. As she recently spoke about the track to MTV News, saying, "Like 'Up in Flames,' if a dude was on a that song with me, everyone would've talked about it and they would [argue] 'who had the best verse' but when I put a song out by myself..." she trailed off, before adding that the male-dominated industry has something to do with it. "[It's] because men run the hip-hop game-let's be honest, they're the program directors, they wanna be able to rap stuff and they're not gonna recite a female [verse], they just feel funny and it is what it is."
The 30-year-old YMCMB rapper/American Idol judge made a big shift in tone for this Grizz Lee-directed video compared to some of her past. It's a less-than-subtle product placement shot of the rapper's perfume and cosmetics. The darkly themed clip for "Up In Flames" begins with a motorcycle powering down a road, while we jump cut to a hoodie-clad Minaj spends some serious screen-time mugging seriously in the dark with a companion, as she walking through a dark home with a pout on her face and a black hoodie on her back, before sitting down to play the piano with a bunch of lit candles and rapping in the studio while wearing sunglasses.
While Minaj also makes room for wheelie-poppin' motorcycles as the biker does all kinds of stunts on the pavement, Queen Barbie stunts lyrically in a lavish house. But don't get confused: Minaj's not trying to be fabulous here but she's keeping it minimal by putting her visceral flow on center stage, working in the studio, and writing down rhymes and checking her production. This very slow beat allows for Minaj's Queens accent bite at her competitors in full-throat. Instead, she seems defensive, rather than offensive, and the camera is out fishing for proof of her successes. Overall, this is all flames.

After a rush of new material from Kanye West in April, the Chicago rapper is turning to the archives his latest video for "Lost in the World," the first part of the finale to his critically acclaimed 2010 solo effort, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy." Collaborated with filmmaker Ruth Hogben, the black-and-white visual reliant on simple, but effective, imagery. In typical Yeezy fashion, the video breaks the mould of popular rap aesthetics while still celebrating the extraordinary talent that has made West a modern icon and captures the pulsing energy of the Bon Iver-assisted track.
"Lost in the World" about love gone wrong features tribal drums and samples Bon Iver's "Woods," a song originally written about alienation, applied by West "as the centerpiece of a catchy, communal reverie" on the album. It features several musical changes, beginning with indie-folk singer Justin Vernon of Bon Iver frontman's faint vocals, followed by 4/4 drums, gospel-styled chorus, and increased tempo, and a final measured tempo.
The song also samples the vocals from the soul musician and jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron's "Comment No.1," a blunt, surrealist piece in spoken word about the African-American experience and the fated idealism of the American dream. West explained to MTV News: "That was the last song on the album and emotionally it just fit the crescendo of everything that I was saying and what I wanted to say to this girl. And it's also my favorite eight bars that I've ever written in my life. I think it's one of the greatest pieces of writing."
The dark clip plays up the desperation of the "Lost in the World," with cloud-filled images and a group of models dressed in sheer fabric expressing their pain through dance. West himself appears on a mirrored platform, which reflects the dark sky above, and as the video progresses, the looming structures overhead begin to part, revealing an ominous city skyline. It's simple but beautiful imagery that turns dark and intense as West turns on the bright lights in the form of jarring strobes as the video swerves into abstract urban scenes.

Katie Melua has debuted a music video in support of her latest offering "The Bit That I Don't Get," from British singer's upcoming fifth studio album "Secret Symphony," will be released in the U.K. on March 5. The Georgian-born singer/songwriter's new album is an exquisite collection of songs that perfectly showcases the unique, instantly recognizable voice. The record allows Melua's distinctive voice and the songs to truly shine.
The "Spider's Web" singer was Britain's best-selling female musician just four years ago. But the public hasn't seen much of sultry singer Melua of late. Husky-voiced Melua, 27, takes fans to enjoy her performance at Ronnie Scott's before giving them a quick look at her when she's not on stage. It's fair to suggest that she's ever-so-slightly moved back into her comfort zone with "The Bit That I Don't Get."
"There is a simplicity to the album that I love," Melua told about "Secret Symphony" in an interview recently. "The last album was quite a challenge and there was a lot of soul-searching. This time, I just wanted to sing. On this record I simply wanted to find beautiful songs and to really sing my heart out. This album was going to be my 'singer's album.' I had always wanted to do this one day; singing other people's songs brings something out of you and your voice that isn't perhaps where you would have gone vocally with your own material."
Prior to the release of "Secret Symphony," Melua has performed two nights at Ronnie Scott's in London on February 6th & 7th. These shows given fans a rare opportunity to see her beautiful songs and unique voice which have touched millions and she is one of Britain's most successful artists of the last decade, in such an intimate setting. The clip combines footage from her performance at Ronnie Scott's with montage which shows a closer look at her from behind the scene.

Featured alongside Nicki Minaj on Madonna's "Give Me All Your Luvin'," which you may watched the trio Sunday at the Super Bowl halftime show, M.I.A., aka Maya Arulpragasam, has also premiered the new music video via Noisey for her next single "Bad Girls," a remix of the "Vicki Leekx" track, and will be the first single from the Sri Lankan-British artist's upcoming fourth studio album, expected to be released this summer.
The midtempo worldbeat rap ballad, "Bad Girls" incorporates Middle Eastern and Western musical influences and instrumentation. M.I.A. stepped up to the role of hustleress in the song. The 36-year-old rapper brings fast cars and "bad girls" to the Moroccan dessert for the accompanying new video, which features Arabic street racers, ghost riders, desert bonfires, and women in blinged-out burkas touting semi-automatics. The flashy video lives up to song's provocative lyrics, which include the classic, "Live fast, die young, bad girls do it well."
Shot in Ouarzazate, Morocco, home to one of the world's largest film studios over four days and behind by director Romain Gavras. Set to M.I.A.'s Punjabi-laced chill-banger, "Bad Girls" is a lady gangsta fantasy but one that plays off very real ingredients from life in the Middle East. There's crumbled architecture, sustained over years of attack; smouldering oil tankards; young men in kaffiyeh, standing around dangerously bored; mysterious women covered from head to toe, with only their kohl-lined eyes flashing out.
"It was dope to have so many people from so many different backgrounds speaking so many different languages come together to create something that we believed in," says M.I.A. about the video. The video is meant to evoke a Persian Gulf landscape – dusty, baked, semi-apocalpytic and in the hands of M.I.A. and Gavras, utterly hard-core. It's an interesting take on culture, blending lyrics about having sex in cars with Americanized imagery of Moroccan culture, but it's definitely not for the easily offended. The action-packed video is without a doubt a visual stampede of insane stunts and strange dance moves.

Summer is all about crazy adventures and that care free spirit but unfortunately all good things must come to an end. Don't blame it on global warming, but blame it on September! Or at least that's how Allstar Weekend suggests we cope. Allstar Weekend has released their new music video for their single "Blame It On September," the second single comes from their latest sophomore album, "All The Way." The video tells a sweet story of summer love that sadly ends in September.
With a perfectly timed release, "Blame It On September" rues an expired summer romance. But instead of blaming the split on all the crazy ish your ex has done to you, Allstar Weekend firmly believes it's the month of September's fault. The San Diego rockers shot the video in Toronto during their recent tour with Selena Gomez. Frontman Zach Porter said, "The song is about the transitions the month of September brings, whether it's the end of a summer romance, going off to college and moving away from friends, or even parents sending their kids off to school."
The concept of the video was inspired directly and closely mirrors the true story of the song, with Porter experiencing a summer romance that sadly comes to an end in September when his crush goes away to school. It's a lot like the real-life situation Porter wrote the song about. Porter explains the story behind the song to BOP and Tiger Beat, spilling: "During the summer between my 9th and 10th grade year, I met a girl and we hung out all summer. I was in love with her...but at the end of summer, she broke it off. I was so bummed."
Directed by Colin Minihan, the video mainly consists of a flashback to all the fun summer activities a cute, young couple could ever dream of. There's the outdoor carnival, the bike riding, the driving with the top down and the couple-y movie night with friends. and naturally the female lead sported some salt water laden hair, effortless tank tops and makeup that magically didn't sweat down her face. The video comes to a close with a gratuitous shot of the couple having a quintessential summer picnic while reclining on the grass and looking up at the balmy summer sky.

Spare folkie William Fitzsimmons has released an artsy black and white video for his latest single, "Beautiful Girl," taken from the erstwhile psychologist's fifth album, "Gold in the Shadows," which reflects the Philadelphia born singer-songwriter's struggles and revelations since his divorce. The album isn't scary in any traditionally dissonant, noise-muck sense; but his eerily serene whisper is like keen phantom to those who have endured heartache, the rolling strains of acoustic guitar working in tandem with the lyrics of a broken man.
The clip provides a sombre accompaniment to the hushed acoustic ballad, making for a tastefully done video that suits the track well. Confronting the specters of past mistakes, the softly strummed guitars, gentle piano keys and wistful vocals accompany nostalgia riddled footage of a young girl as she grows up from a kid with a scraped knee to an old woman.
Perhaps best known for his songs "Passion Play" and "Please Don't Go", which aired during pivotal scenes in ABC's medical drama "Grey's Anatomy." The prodigiously bearded musician was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is now based in Jacksonville, Illinois. Fitzsimmons was born to blind parents, but they imparted a love of music to the therapist-turned-folk singer. So he grew up reacting more to sounds rather than sights. He is a serene sounds of songwriter with vision!
The folk artist's songs quickly find their way into your heart, if not through your head then through each song's subtle expose of life's emotional tribulations. Fitzsimmons is life-tuned to sensing the nuances that many people miss but whose telling truths are immediately evident in the first listen. Fitzsimmons is kind of a chronic over-sharer. But that's his charm, what draws people in, in addition to music being a his own healing force. Fans and most of his critics embrace his works for their expressive originality and courage.
"Beautiful Girl" is a simple song with a delicate message. It pulls at listeners' heartstrings from beginning to end; the strumming of an acoustic guitar welcomes Fitzsimmons' classic singer-songwriter vocals, and as the keys come forward, "Beautiful Girl" fills a room, and sprits, with warmth. Fitzsimmons has the ability to reach an audience on a deeply personal level. He says "Beautiful Girl" is an encouragement to those who suffer anorexia. It's hits close to home, considering he's "one of the few and the unproud" 5-10% of males who suffer from the eating disorder. "Psychasthenia" also touches on "one of my other personal diagnosis," obsessive compulsive disorder. "I love going as deep as I possibly can."

The electronica singer Moby has unveiled the video for his brand new single "The Day," starring Heather Graham as a beautiful angel who slays demons. "The Day" is the lead single from Moby's forthcoming tenth studio album "Destroyed," due out on May 16. Moby surprised us with a glammed-out, synth-heavy ode, the track can be loosely described as a return to a more electronic sound, which was less found on his last album "Wait For Me," which was more ambiental in nature.
Indirectly inspired by David Bowie and Brian Eno's production circa Low and Heroes (which Moby believes is now part of his DNA), the song is one of the few tracks from "Destroyed" that Moby himself sang on. Moby talked about the track on his website blog and he'd said "'The Day' was written in a hotel room in Spain at dawn when I hadn't slept. It was a beautiful hotel room, a beautiful perfect hotel room and it was six or seven in the morning. I wrote it on a acoustic guitar and recorded it on my phone, brought it home and re-recorded it with old broken down electronics that I have in my studio."
A deeply personal song about late night desperation and dark-night-of-the-soul disquietude, the video for "The Day," directed by Evan Bernard and eyeball, features Moby's friend and actress Graham in the role of a nurse/guardian angel "who gets to slaughter demons," explains Moby. "I had this simple idea of Heather as an angel in a hospital. Evan expanded upon it and made it a lot more interesting, a lot more compelling." Even with the thinly-veiled Christian metaphors, the surreal imagery of Graham floating through the air and Moby performing on the ceiling like a spiritual Lionel Richie make for a true visual treat to accompany a sonic step toward the sublime.
The basic plot of the video, according to Graham, is "a woman is lying in a hospital bed and I am the nurse and I give her some oxygen. Then it cuts to me as the angel flying, and then you see this scary demon." The director elaborates: "She (the angel) is the defender of righteousness. She represents good, and she's defeating evil." Climaxing in a metaphysical battle between demon and angel, the video is filled with surreal imagery in an eerie clinical setting.

The Brit Award winner Jessie J has taken the UK by storm in the last few months and has teamed up with rapper B.O.B, and officially unveiled the brand new video for brand new single "Price Tag," her second UK single and first US single from her upcoming debut album "Who You Are," due out on March 28 in UK and April 12 in US. The 22-year-old recent pop sensation first saw fame when she began writing tracks for Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys and Christina Aguilera, has widely been billed as the next big thing, and is armed with the chops to blow people away, and the song-writing skills to pen a worldwide hit.
"Price Tag," an upbeat, energetic dance number that highlights Jessie's booming voice and can still stand out amidst glossy production. Jessie preceded the album by winning Critics' Choice at BRIT Awards. And B.O.B said that he was beyond impressed and is adamant her star will continue to shine, "I see Jessie becoming a powerhouse, definitely, because it's impossible to have that much creativity in one person and for them not to do amazing thing. It wasn't just the fact that she could sing. Good singers, it's not just hitting the note. It's something deeper than that, and you could just feel it in her voice. I feel like she really had a true passion."
Jessie walks back into childhood and shows how to have fun without worrying about the "Price Tag." and the video is a pastel-shaded vision into childhood, featuring the British newcomer dressed up in a variety of fantasy styles and shows the singer in a 'bigger than life' world complete with a giant teddy bear, ballerina music boxes, puppets, dollhouse and a money tree. The clip has her featured guest B.O.B making a cameo. Speaking on the concept of the video, director Emil Nava said: "Just basically sort of came up with the idea thinking about showing things that are larger than life, but don't really matter. It's sort of like this hyper-real, sort of toy world with Jessie bringing a fashion edge to it."
Though her video was made on a very limited budget, but it's simple and colorful. I just love it, the lyrics and the feel-good vibe. The British star was able to get her point across all while wearing some pretty interesting ensembles. She rallying against the consumerist ways of the 21st century, urges people to relax, love one another and stop worrying about money in a newly-debuted music video for her single "Price Tag". The U.K. artist sings in between the feel-good vibes, "Why is everybody so obsessed? Money can't buy us happiness." Jessie is a rising star and there seems to be nothing that can stop her on her ascent to the top.

Barbadian pop/R&B recording artist Rihanna is steamy collaboration with her former beau, Canadian rapper Drake, for their duet Island-infused love jam "What's My Name?" which has made a gigantic leap into the No.1 spot on this week's Billboard Hot 100, knocking off Ke$ha and giving the Barbadian beauty her third chart-topper of the year! (Total eighth No.1 hit on the chart and Drake his first.) Perfect timing for the song's video to drop!
"What's My Name?" is the second from Barbados beauty's forthcoming fifth studio album, "Loud," comes out next Tuesday, November 16. The song was written by Ester Dean whose previous credits include Usher's "Hot Toddy," Katy Perry's "Firework" and Christina Aguilera's "Not Myself Tonight." Dean also had a hit under own name with "Drop it Low." Rihanna said of Dean to Billboard magazine: "She really captured me, everything I would say and how I would say it. Some people get it halfway right. She just gets it and knows exactly what you want to hear." Dean told Billboard magazine Rihanna's biggest strength is that "she doesn't try to sound like you; she sounds like herself. She's not in there trying to figure out how she can beat you singing your song. She goes in there and says, 'I'm going to sing this song because I f---ing love it.'"
The 22-year-old Bajan beauty had originally played the song to Drake "backstage somewhere to try to get him on a verse." In the interview with Billboard magazine it was also revealed that Rihanna has wanted to work with Drake for a long time but specifically wanted "Drake's signature swagger" for "What's My Name?" She said "Drake is the hottest rapper out right now and we've always been trying to work together. He's the only person I thought could really understand the melody of the song, and the minute he heard it he said, 'I know exactly what I'm going to do. I love it.' And he did it like three days later."
Love is in the air for Rihanna and Drake as they share romantic scenes in a newly-debuted video. They steam up the scenes with their scorching chemistry. The video was helmed by director Philip Andelman and features red-headed Rihanna strutting down the streets of New York in a colorful outfit, dances in the night and getting pretty cozy with Drake. "You see what it would be like with a young couple, two 20-year-old, eating Chinese food in a New York City apartment," she said. "It's a really youthful song. It feels good. It's really flirty, but it's also really melodic. Which is why I felt that Drake was the perfect person to have on this song, 'cause he's a young rapper who has incredible melodies." Simple video but it goes perfectly with the song, enjoy!

Chameleon singer Kelis has unveiled a brand new video Wednesday for the second single "4th of July (Fireworks)," to be lifted off upcoming her truly remarkable fifth album "Flesh Tone," arriving July 6 in the U.S. via Interescope Records. Kelis performed the song live for the first time on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' last night, where the singer lit up the night sky with sparks – literally, and the new digital single will be available on July 8 in the UK.
The house/pop track "4th of July," produced by DJ Ammo, is an emotive electro-dance track and the follow-up to her first single, "Acapella," hit No.1 on the Billboard Dance Charts. Highly recommended for your work-outs, your parties, or your summer soundtracks! There’s loads of wonderful, colorful imagery to be found here, including some steamy fire scenes, gorgeous desert shots, and killer laser light displays. It's just different, cool beats and Kelis' vocals are hot.
The 30-year-old Grammy-nominated singer wearing a gold-colored dress while strutting her way on the desert and features her performing in front of fireworks among other scenes. She looks stunning as she walks around in the desert in luxurious gowns in the clip. which was co-directed by the R&B singer herself, John "Rankin" Waddell and Nicole Ehrlich in the outside of Los Angeles. It is described as a "spectacular array of visual stimulation seeing Kelis play dynamically upon the four elements of the universe."
Yes, The R&B mama has never been one to hold her tongue, but this time she's really going off in the video for "4th of July (Fireworks)." The video depicts Kelis playing dynamically upon the four natural elements (Earth, wind, water and fire), and shows her and her unique fashion sense through a room filled with fiery flames. For an album often described by the singer as "carnal," the video certainly helps to add more fuel to the fire. By the way, Kelis will tour with Robyn on the "All Hearts" tour o promote the album starting July 23.

Former Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland is forging her third attempt at solo stardom with the release of a new techo-inspired dance album, featuring production by French music sensation David Guetta. The Grammy Award-winning singer just released the first music video for "Commander," which has been confirmed as the first single off that upcoming effort, is slated for release on September 14.
The video for "Commander" was filmed on May 5 with Japanese music producer and promo director, Masashi Muto, his work known for scale, impact and colorful imagery. Rowland faces off against herself and gets her groove on in the new video. Dressed in thigh boots and a Wonder Woman/Cat Woman inspired, wedgie causing body suit, the beautiful Rowland embarks on an alter ego dance off that goes absolutely nowhere. The two Rowlands, one is dressed in black, the other in red, start what appears to be a voguing competition on the dancefloor on a piece choreographed by Fatima Robinson, then are flanked by respective dance teams. There's some nice moves and Rowland sports some sexy looks for the video.
The video has a very futuristic feel to it, and it shows Rowland taking charge of those around her as a commander! The 29-year-old singer has talked about the video "The whole concept of the video is very futuristic and great. The red line in the story is that I am above all the lead I but in the club atmosphere with cool people. I fight against myself with my haircut, makeup, and dance moves."
The R&B singer Rowland really is trying to appease her urban fan-base with the release of her official Urban remix for International single "Commander," which is an uptempo, pop, dance song and has received crazy airplay and the reception has been overwhelmingly positive for this track. Rowland even enlists her "Dilemma" collaborator Nelly to spit some verses on the Rico Love/David Guetta helmed track. The "Commander" video really symbolizes how far Kelly has come as a solo artist and how secure she is with her new sound and current career path. We're predicting a full on Rowland Renaissance!

R&B artist Kelis premiered a music video for the apparent lead single "Acapella" from her fifth studio album "Flesh Tone," Kelis' first album in nearly four years, will arrive overseas on May 17 and is slated to hit U.S. shores in June. The song is a departure from her past singles in that it is a dance/electronica track rather than hip hop, produced by David Guetta, about her son, Knight. The track, wrote it with love and life in singer's mind, which has topped on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart!
Kelis and David Guetta is an odd pairing. With the rising profile of club producer David Guetta, Harlem-bred vocalist Kelis jumped on board, yet has managed to record a track that sounds both timely and reasonably novel. "Acapella" is a smooth, Donna Summer-style track with Kelis as an icy electro queen, a robotic embrace of house's metronomic bliss. Kelis' chameleonic adaptation to the times exemplifies her artistic flexibility, that she knows how to adjust to a changing pop world without losing her ability to stand out, to make her competition seem banal. "Acapella" displays Kelis' seemingly preternatural understanding of pop history, the dynamics at play in today's pop music, and ironically, a sense of personality in frozen performance.
The single has received a positive reception. Pitchfork Media gave the song a positive review, saying: "'Acapella' is a smooth, Donna Summer-style track with Kelis as an icy electro queen, a robotic embrace of house's metronomic bliss." About.com's "Dance Music" section reviewed the track favorably, calling the song "majestic" and named it its "Song of the Day". Entertainment Weekly called the song a "feathery dance-floor delight" and placed the song on its "The MustList" for 2010 whilst Billboard magazine added the song to its 2010's "Best Bits" listing.
Grammy-nominated singer Kelis is known for setting trends, but the fashionista won't be flaunting any avant-garde threads in her new music video. The singer shot the video for her David Guetta-produced single "Acapella" in the first week of March, with a British production team consisting of portrait and fashion photographer John "Rankin" Waddell and musical director Chris Cottam. Kelis wanted to go in a different direction after seeing an abundance of fashion in today's music videos. "I think everything is over-fashioned up that it just becomes uninteresting, and when every artist has access to every designer and vice versa, it's no longer exciting or fun."

The British electronic music duo Goldfrapp have debuted a synth dance video Friday, in support of their leadoff synthpop single "Rocket" from from the synth-pop duo's forthcoming fifth studio installment "Head First" which is scheduled to arrive in the U.S. stores on March 23 via Mute. The song was recently praised by Adam Lambert for having great tune "in terms of nodding to that '80s sound but doing it in a contemporary way."
It sounds like it's back to business as usual for Goldfrapp after the pastoral-electronica of Seventh Tree, although "Rocket" certainly has more of an '80s pop edge to it than the band's past glories. There's plenty of phallic imagery in the video, which should keep anyone happy who has fantasized about Alison Goldfrapp and a big pink "Rocket."
It's that age-old tale: the really bad break-up where, after a few spats and some spilled tea or whatnot, you bind your ex-lover in duct tape, kidnap them, hitch a 18-wheeler with a massive rocket, strapping them onto the side of a gigantic rocket ship with the help of a few super sexy space nymphs and, without any remorse, send them hurtling into the stratosphere never to be seen or heard from again. The video directed by Kim Gehrig, brings that vengeful sentiment to hilarious, neon-colored life. In it, finds singer Alison Goldfrapp (vocals) enlisting the aid of a pack of new millennium Robert Palmer girls to help carry out her dirty deed. She's taking behind the wheel and sending a man to the outer space in a middle of Mars-like desert, and dances under a sky that looks a lot like the one gracing their album cover, while Will Gregory (synthesizer) plays a lazy gas station attendant. Fun little music flick saturated with color and attitude.
The thing I appreciate about Goldfrapp, aside from their incredible production and the way that they make music sound, is that they put a lot of thought into their material conceptually. Goldfrapp will be performing "Rocket" live on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross on March 26. The show will be available to view for 7 days on the BBC iPlayer for anyone who misses it.

The American sex symbol, 'Queen of Pop,' Madonna has finally revealed the final complete track list for her upcoming 3rd greatest hits album "Celebration", which has confirmed by Warner Bros. Records, her record company since 1982. The release will follow her two previous greatest hits albums, "The Immaculate Collection" (1990) and "GHV2" (2001).
The song list was selected by Madonna and her fans, have all been exquisitely remastered. The Material Girl is set to release her forthcoming best of compilation in the US on September 28, which will be made available in a 2-CD set, a single CD and a DVD packaging. Artwork for the packaging was designed by renowned street pop artist “Mr. Brainwash.”
The Ultimate Celebration CD set includes 36 hit songs spanning her entire career unedited and unreleased footage with 2 new tracks: "Revolver" (featuring Lil Wayne) and her new single 'Celebration'. The Celebration DVD collected 47 videos, includes 18 never-before-seen videos and will boast unseen footage (from "Justify My Love") and some all new videos ("Celebration", "Give It 2 Me" and "Into The Groove").
Madonna clearly continues to rule the dance floor with her latest single. Her title track “Celebration” Remix EP, (was released digitally on July 31) is #1 on iTunes Dance Album chart, and #1 on the Masterbeat overall chart. The music video for the song will premiere worldwide on music channels on September 1st, which coincides with the release of the video on iTunes.
Meanwhile, Madonna continues her "Sticky & Sweet" tour throughout Europe now. The multi-Grammy winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer with the highest grossing tour in history for a Female Artist, is scheduled to end her tour with her final show in Israel on September 2nd.