Today's Pick

The 20-year-old R&B newcomer Jason DeRulo's momentum continues to grow exponentially, has knocked electronic artist Owl City off and has become the fourth artist this year to claim the top spot on the 'Billboard Hot 100' this week as well as #1 at Rhythmic Radio with his smash debut single "Whatcha Say". His "Watcha Say" becomes one of the year's strongest debuts for an urban pop star, thanks to increased airplay and a video premiere for the single.
"Whatcha Say" is a pretty unlikely chart-topper. The tune is built around a sample of Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek," which is best known as a featured song on a season finale of "The O.C." a few years back. Derulo displays vocal skills that have pegged him as an exciting new artist to watch. The song is the first from his upcoming self-titled debut studio album, which is slated to be released in the first quarter of 2010, will be entirely produced by hit guru J.R. Rotem and will feature a new genre which fuses Pop, Euro Dance, and remarkable songwriting to create a groundbreaking sound.
Derulo, who penned his first track when he was just eight years old, has said in interviews that his galvanizing moment as a songsmith was seeing Michael Jackson perform for the first time. "I knew that's what I wanted to do. From then on, my goal in life was to express myself through song and to showcase it to the world," said he who has already written songs for the likes of Lil Wayne, Keyshia Cole, and Cassie. "I never wanted to be a songwriter -- it just kind of fell on my lap. I love writing, but I always wanted to be the voice, not just the pen," says Derulo. "I always yearned to sing my own song, and now, here I am doing just that."
The music video for the single was release a few weeks back, and has also been picked up as iTunes' Video of the week. The video shows DeRulo with his love interest and cuddling on the couch. Glenn Gamboa of Newsday wrote: "The new Jason DeRulo single liberally samples from the song and even uses Heap's chorus as his own chorus? Maybe hard to swallow. But DeRulo weaves easily in and out of Heap's parts and matches his AutoTuned vocals to hers pretty well to craft a catchy, if derivative, little number." It doesn't slow down for him as he joins Lady Gaga's "Monster Ball" tour, which will be the hottest ticket this winter. The new pop sensation will be opening up for Lady Gaga along with Kid Cudi starting December 27.

"The Wait Is Ova!" The Grammy-winning singer Rihanna has finally returned to the pop landscape and unleashed a fierce, fresh material and much-anticipated comeback single, "Russian Roulette" as well as its provocative cover art and her new album's title at 11:23am ET yesterday via pop star Rihanna's official website, and premiered on radio. It's her first official release since that unfortunate business with ex-lover Chris Brown earlier this year.
The ballad song "Russian Roulette" is opening with a searing processed-guitar solo that gives way to a throbbing bassline, the haunting, mid-tempo tune and appears to describe what is going through someone's mind in the moment before they pull the trigger in a suicide game of Russian roulette and ends with the sound of a bullet being fired. The track was composed in conjunction with Ne-Yo and marks the first track from the Barbadian songstress' upcoming fourth full-length studio album "Rated R", which is due to be released on November 23. Rihanna is currently working with with Tricky Stewart, Justin Timberlake, Chase & Status, and Stargate on the album.
The lyrics refer to the phrase "Russian Roulette" meaning a game of chance. Rihanna quotes in the lyrics that she is "terrified" and that it is her "turn to go". The song is about taking chances with a lover, even though it may seem "wrong". At the end of the song, she breathes deeply, trembling before a gunshot is let off. The art accompanying the track shows the pop star wearing a see-through eyepatch with barbed wire wrapped around her chest.
The Bajan singer has already shot a video last weekend in New York City with director Anthony Mandler, with whom she has a long relationship. During filming, Rihanna was wearing a short grey coat, knee high black boots, with slicked back hair and an eye patch she was featured wearing in the "Run This Town" music video. The video will premiere on ABC on November 6.

American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert is back with his first song since on the AI season eight show in May. The AI star not only has his debut album coming out next month, but his amazing voice will also be featured on the soundtrack for the upcoming sci-fi thriller blockbuster "2012". Not surprising to anyone, his new highly-anticipated song, entitled "Time for Miracles," is extremely theatrical, which makes sense, seeing as it's the theme song for disaster-flick auteur Roland Emmerich's latest film, has been clipped and its snippet has hit the web.
AOL Moviefone has an exclusive 86-second "Adam Lambert Music Teaser" sneak peek, featuring Lambert's stunning contribution to the theme of this year's biggest cinematic blockbuster, clips of Lambert belting out the tune in the studio, as well as providing the backdrop for plenty of eye-popping apocalyptic footage from Columbia Pictures "2012", which is about surviving the end of the world, and the divorced dad John Cusack racing around the globe to save his ex-wife (Amanda Peet) and their farm from the ancient Mayan-predicted apocalypse on 12/21/2012, hits theaters on November 13.
Lambert said, "The song 'Time For Miracles' is a classic rock ballad track that will be very catchy. It's a great song and perfectly fits the themes of the movie. I was thrilled to record this song for "2012", and I'm glad I had the chance to help create a unique sound for this movie." The song will be put out for purchase on Amazon on October 16. What I'm comfortable with saying at this point is that Lambert's voice sounds nothing short of amazing, mind-blowing, and simply unmistakable.
Lambert is currently recording his upcoming debut album on 19 Recordings/RCA Records which is set for release on November 24, has been riding high on Amazon's Top Sellers list for weeks. And more good news: Adam recently tweeted that he's working with producer Greg Wells, one of the powers behind Katy Perry's breakthrough album. No surprise there, given Katy's caped tribute to Adam on Idol.

Alicia Keys is back and ready to overtake radio and the industry with a brand-new song, "Doesn't Mean Anything" from her in-progress fourth studio album has arrived in full audio stream, being unveiled on the singer's official YouTube site Tuesday. The song reportedly was supposed to hit radio airwaves on September 30, but Alicia chose to give it an online debut earlier than the schedule apparently to avoid leak. This sounds like what we've come to expect from Alicia Keys which is nothing short of excellence. The song was written and produced by Keys and longtime collaborator Kerry Brothers, Jr. This will sound great on the radio this fall with its gorgeous gradual escalation of intensity.
Keys plays the piano to evoke a powerful mood that only she can, which leads to the striking first line, "Used to dream of being a millionaire, without a care." The gorgeous piano ballad new single features Keys longing for a missing love over a mid-tempo production, which is a cross between Keys' Grammy-nominated hits "No One" and "If I Ain't Got You," except tinged with heartbreak and regret instead of all-powerful devotion, is set to be the lead single from her forthcoming, as-yet-untitled new album, slated for a November release. The single, on the other hand, will be available for download on iTunes on September 22.
Keys has already garnered the attention of music enthusiasts worldwide and achieved just about every notable accolade a musician can, but when the singer/songwriter speaks about her new single, "Doesn't Mean Anything," she sounds as excited as a newcomer. "The song just lifts you up and takes you somewhere on this journey."

Kelly Clarkson is getting ready to promote the 3rd new CD single "Already Gone", which was lifted from her 4th studio album "All I Ever Wanted", and produced by hit-maker Ryan Tedder. The new CD cover is released along with several photos taken from the set of the music video.
The cover art is a close shot of Kelly with a glittery teardrop below her left eye. The single is scheduled to be released on August 24 in U.K. and around the same time in U.S. The music video, which is seen through the photos having a gold and elegant tone, was directed by Joseph Kahn and shot on June 20. No premiere date yet for the video.
The video is set primarily in an apartment and a rehearsal room. Clarkson explains that the video is a departure from her previous videos, and that she is "completely glammed out. It's the opposite of my everyday life."

"21 Guns" is the 2nd single from Green Day, the pop-punk masters' 8th studio album, "21st Century Breakdown" gets an appropriately dramatic, melancholy visual treatment. The single exemplify the themes of alienation and politically-motivated anger present in the record, and it will release on July 14, 2009 as a CD single.
In the band's brand-new video clip, the guys and a young couple face a siege of gunshots in a disheveled motel room. While nothing particularly earth-shattering, the nicely-shot video does the song justice. The video is also slightly shorter than the song as the violin parts are cut out and the guitar solo was shortened by about twenty seconds. The music video was directed by Marc Webb, filmed in LA on June 6, 2009, and premiered on MySpace on June 22, 2009.
Green Day has sold over 22 million records in the US since 1987. My favorite singles from Green Day are 'Time of Your Life'(12/23/97), 'Boulevard Of Broken Dreams'(1/11/05), and 'Wake Me Up When September Ends'(6/13/05).

According to a News of The World report, the 23-year-old Swedish beauty Agnes has had one of the biggest surprise hits of the year with her anthem "Release Me" recorded on an XSESSION this week. Just go ahead to click "Play"...
Oh yeah she's really talented, and amazing! isn't it? Check NOTW Agnes Carlsson' Official Site for more details.

Lifehouse - "Broken", the album's third single, has appeared on several TV series, including Grey's Anatomy ("Lay Your Hands On Me"), Criminal Minds ("In Birth and Death"), One Tree Hill, General Hospital and The Hills. So far, it has peaked at #83 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video for "Broken" officially debuted on VH1's Top 20 Countdown on September 20, 2008.
By the way, "Broken" from the album "Who We Are" was used for the official I-Tunes trailer of the Warner Bros/Newline Cinema move "The Time-Traveler's Wife" released on August 14, 2009.

Clay Aiken was born in North Carolina on November 30, 1978, who began his rise to fame on the 2nd season of American Idol in 2003. "On My Way Here" is his 4th full length studio album released today.
The song "On My Way Here" is the title track about how the lessons we learn growing up shape us into the adults we become. This struck a chord with Clay and the song became the inspiration for the album's theme. Clay said "I thought if we could find songs along those lines, that deal with my life over the past five years and what I've learned from my experiences, it would be a great concept for an album."
"On My Way Here" is also included on the Super Hero album commemorating the 2008 Beijing Olympics presented by MBA Sports.

The below is a list show you how popular this song was:

"Everytime We Touch" is the debut album from Eurodance band/project Cascada, consisting of DJ Manian, Natalie Horler, and Yanou. The album was released on iTunes for digital download today.
The lead song is featured on their "Everytime We Touch" album and was produced by Manuel Reuter and Yann Pfeiffer and received a positive reception from music critics. It was a huge worldwide dance-hit in early 2006, and won them a World Music Award in 2007, as well as becoming the group's first #1 single. It has gone on to sell over 100,000 copies in the U.S. and went on to sell over 400,000 copies in the UK later on.
"Everytime We Touch" is the one of my all time most favorite songs. Please click here to enjoy it with me.