Today's Pick

Bruno Mars isn't the only artist getting a post-Super Bowl sales boost. A Budweiser commercial has revived Skylar Grey's "Coming Home, Part. II" - a solo version and the remake of Diddy-Dirty Money's 2010 hit, which appears on her sadly overlooked "Don't Look Down" LP as a bonus track. The heartfelt touching commercial tells the story of an American soldier - Lieutenant Chuck Nadd - returning home to Winter Park, Florida after his tour of duty for serving in Afghanistan. Nadd was told that he would be part of a documentary, but was surprised to find that a parade was being held in his honor.
The 27-year-old five-time GRAMMY-nominated singer is such an underrated force in pop, and her dark yet infectious melodies stem from such an honest and gloomy place that is rarely seen in mainstream pop and display the true capacity of Grey's brillance. The songstress co-wrote the incredibly catchy hook with Jay-Z and also sung the intro for Diddy-Dirty Money's original "Coming Home." The tune finds Diddy doing some soul-searching as the chorus echoes his need for salvation. Her contribution was significant enough to make it listenable.
People have been crying out for her to create an extended version of "Coming Home," the same way that she did with "Love The Way You Lie"(Eminem and Rihanna), and thankfully she has seen sense by finally coming up with the goods. The chorus by Grey was the most memorable part of the song, so much so that she has just debuted her own solo acoustic version as the second part under the same name, "Coming Home Part. II," along with an accompanying new visual. Emotions run high in Grey's new music video for the piano ballad, which was directed by Peter Harding.
The heartwarming clip was featured in a Budweiser commercial during Super Bowl XLVIII that was a heartbreaking show of support for our troops, and a tribute to recent announcement from President Obama revealing nearly 34,000 U.S. troops and service members will be returning home. It's a simple affair as Grey shares intimate and performs the ballad at her piano with a couple of candles to set the mood while soldiers reunite with their families, but the no-fuss visual suits the song's stripped back sound and introspective lyrics. Watch the emotional homecoming below.

Skylar Grey take viewers on a guided tour across her museum of bad memories, takes some self reflection to grasp a past love and comes alive in the music video for "Back From The Dead." The dark song, featuring Rapper Big Sean and Travis Barker, is the opening track out from Grey's Eminem-executive produced sophomore album, "Don't Look Down." Don't take the title too literally since it's a metaphor for the rekindling of past relationships. In this clip, art helps the singer come to terms with her heart reopening to a relationship she buried 6 feet under.
Produced by Grey's friend, Alex Da Kid, the song is about the return of a lover who was better gone. "'Back From the Dead' is a song about somebody coming back into your life that you thought you would never see again and it's like, what do we do now?" said Grey. She was joined on set by Barker and Sean, whom she met at LAX. "She's been my homie ever since," said the Hall of Fame rapper. "I'm so confused I don't know what to feel / Should I throw my arms around you or kill you for real? / Cause I worked so hard put the past to rest" she sings, frustrated in her lover's return. An on point verse from Sean and Barker's drumming, make a nice counterpoint to Grey's vocals.
The 27-year-old Wisconsin girl knows her new album flopped badly on the charts, yet she's still pushing singles out of it. Making a new music video costs a considerate amount of money so I hope either Interscope or Grey are getting their money back someway. It's a month before Halloween but that's not stopping Grey from spooky with it and her new video and its imagery are more reminiscent of what you'd associate with Mexican holiday the Day of the Dead, particularly the skulls and face paint you'll catch in some shots. Think of it as a hyper-visual take on skeletons in your closet.
Grey brings art to life in the artistic black-and-white visual for "Back From the Dead." Set in a museum, with dioramas depicting loves from her past, the songstress strolls through an abandoned museum, observing various dioramas and fake animals as she reflects on a past relationship coming back into her life. Barker and Sean then transform from eerie exhibit statues to real life figures as the Detroit rapper who appears to take on the role of the ex-lover that Grey's singing about throughout the song. He raps his somewhat-out-of-nowhere verse to his singing host, who isn't phased by his words over the chilling production. The dark visual for the dark song makes the perfect fit.

In advance of her album's release next month, Skylar Grey gets frisky with his on-screen boyfriend and shows her dark side once again while out camping in the music video for her latest single, "Wear Me Out,"  the third single and fourth overall taken from the Wisconsin singer-songwriter's upcoming debut studio album, "Don't Look Down", due in stores July 9 via Interscope, the project features Eminem, Angel Haze, Big Sean, and Travis Barker.
The J.R. Rotem-produced "Wear Me Out," is yet another piano, moody song. The kind Grey so loves and keeping it honest. The the 27-year-old sweet voiced soulful singer-songwriter, the protégée of Detroit native rapper Eminem, singing about being worn out by a certain love interest and showcases a more soulful side as she sings over the piano-driven record and I like the melody, subtle production, and of course, Grey's clever lyrics.
Grey has garnered much success as a featured artist and looks to break further into the solo spotlight with her July release. "I am going back to my roots as a piano-driven singer-songwriter with this song," said Grey. "The song and the video were both inspired by events in my childhood, like sneaking out of the house to camp with my friends and flirt with boys." The video thankfully, is not as creepy as her "Final Warning" video. In typical Grey fashion, "Wear Me Out" is still a dark visual, but no one appears to be possessed or in need of an exorcism.

As for the Isaac Rentz-directed "Wear Me Out" visual, it succeeds in capturing the essence, and vibe of the song. The clip hews closer to the chanteuse's roots than the more stylized aesthetic of videos like "C'Mon Let Me Ride," follows Grey, her boyfriend, and a few friends going camping at night. It also featuring shots of the singer-songwriter ready to cause mischief with love her interest Noah Segan and looking au natural by the campfire and playing piano in the woods under the moonlight, and makes love to her man in camping tent, but mystery and mischief lies in her eyes.

After showing a more playful side with her Eminem-assisted single "C'mon Let Me Ride," Skylar Grey is one tough girl in her just-released dark and dramatic video for her appropriately titled catchy song, "Final Warning," the second single from the 27-year-old Wisconsin native's upcoming Eminem-executive produced major label debut album, "Don't Look Down," due in stores July 9 via Interscope Records. The haunting video puts a twist on the song's deadly-romance storyline as Grey plays a mistress in her lover's cross-hairs.
"This is the first time in my entire life of making music, when I made this song, where I feel like I finally figured out the way that I wanted to sound and the combination of things," Grey tells Rolling Stone about the song. "I wrote the song three years ago, and it's still my favorite. I've written so many songs since then, yet I always go back to this one. It got me going on the whole Skylar Grey project." Grey adds that the song was inspired by heartbreak. "I wrote it the same week I wrote 'Love the Way You Lie.' I was in a cabin in the woods in Oregon. It's inspired by the same tumultuous relationship behind 'Love the Way You Lie.'"
For "Final Warning," Grey gets back to her 'dark' sound. This is more like the Grey we first met. I honestly like this spooky ballad. And the video is amazing. It translates the message of the song really well. Love and family don't always mix. When relationships become inappropriate and lines get crossed, there's no telling what the outcome may be. The dark cinematic visual tells a complex storyline and shows a battered and bruised Grey returning from near death and appears at her family's home wanting to confess a dark secret about having an affair with her sister's boyfriend, but it only to be put through a near life ending ordeal as he tried to kill her. But it's Grey who will have the last laugh.
"The video for 'Final Warning' is totally different from the song," says Grey. "In the song you'd think I'm talking about my boyfriend cheating on me. But in the video I'm the mistress to this dude, who's married to another woman, and I'm mad that he married [her] instead of me." And to hide his infidelity, the "dude" then tries to murder Grey's character. "He wants to get rid of me so his whole life doesn't fall apart," she explains. "He botches the murder. Then I come back and confront him in front of his whole family at his birthday party. I come into the house, all muddy, because I came out of a ditch he threw me in after trying to murder me and not succeeding. I crash the party and everyone freaks out. Then he tries to finish me off for good."

Taking aim at the hyper-sexualized culture of youth in America today, Skylar Grey has released a pretty funny sarcastic visual for her just-released catchy single, "C'mon Let Me Ride," the lead single from Grey's upcoming major-label debut album, "Don't Look Down," which rapper Eminem executive produced and scheduled to drop next spring. It looks like an old school Eminem video, which is fitting considering he makes a guest appearance on his trusty bicycle with all the zaniness going on.
The colorful and quirky "C'mon Let Me Ride," is a girl's plea for her crush to let her ride his bicycle. Only this boy and his two-wheel choice of transportation lives in the trailer park. Grey's grunge, edgy vibe causes her to stick out like a sore thumb from the other girls in the neighborhood with their faux tans and skimpy bikinis. Since Grey sings about wanting to ride a man's bicycle, the video also features several customized bicycles. Climbing on top of her crush makes him think she wants to seduce him, and she does, according to the lyrics. Instead she takes the cash. Chicks in bikinis continue to run through the 'hood.
Eminem has certainly mastered the art of parody and Grey takes a chapter from his book with visuals that are intended to poke fun at America's overly sexualized society and beyond. As she serves up some revenge and turns up the jokes in this trailer park-inspired clip. That sarcasm comes through pretty song as the video shows a scene of her playing Dr. Grey, a shady plastic surgeon whose results are only slightly exaggerated from what can be seen around Hollywood. To get her man's eyes off the models in his magazines, Grey offers them free tans that turn them orange and plastic surgery that results in face transplants that she conducts, ever so delicately, with a chainsaw.
As for Eminem, who brings high-wattage star power, drops a guest rap and the auto-tuned refrain from Queen's 1978 song "Bicycle Race," and trying to pedal away on his lowrider tricycle that's attached to a packed kiddie pool. Grey simply laughed at its absurdity. She explains to MTV News, "I'm poking fun at the overtly sexualized aspect of everything in this world today. The video is a combined effort between director Isaac Rentz, me and Eminem, and we just wanted to make sure it was very clear that it's a sarcastic song."

Renowned DJ and record Producer Kaskade teams up with the alt pop-rocker Skylar Grey in his new video for his latest electro banger “Room For Happiness," the closing track appears on Kaskade's newest double CD, "Fire & Ice," which is an insightful prelude into what promises to be an even bigger 2012 for Kaskade. The synth-heavy, bass pumping complements the smooth vocals by Grey, sure to be a big hit for them in the dance world.
Penned by Grey with Kaskade supplies the frosty synths, the chill-out tune "Room For Happiness" was a gorgeous, progressive house track turned ballad. The original track was a little mellow for my taste, but the remix is big room house, containing a beautiful vocal breakdown prior to the build up. The song drops in to some powerful, bouncy, dutchy, electro house that is oh so satisfying. The remix serves to buff up the original, while still maintaining melodious piano chords, and an anthemic house drop.
Will turn 26 next week, Grey's voice makes it so damn angelic. The whole song is about depression, and lyrically oi takes on a gloomy subject, but the strength of “Room For Happiness” really lies within the lyrics, which Grey, handles the don't-despair vocals, is really able to make them shine in this euphoric dance beats over the top of the sleek, throbbing electronica of America's Best DJ. The angsty doom & gloom of Grey's usual lyricism sounds positively divine up against Kaskade's club beats, and the hopeful hook brings out that euphoric feeling that dance music usually delivers.
In clip, She does all this from behind bars in prison. The public service announcement's delivered from a bleak bed in a prison cell, and you thought you had a terrible Valentine's Day. Grey doesn't stay there for long, imagining herself in a winter wonderland, encircled by a ring of fire, and under a blazing sun. Kaskade spends the video leading a rave and watching Grey from a security camera, one of which is kinda creepy. Less creepy: He's totally using Beats by Dre! We'd buy a pair, but we're still holding out for Wubs by Skrillex.

Maintaining a low profile "Invisible" for a few years, Holly Brook Hafermann, better known by her stage name Skylar Grey returned to the public attention when she was a guest vocalist on a couple of hit singles, such as Dr Dre's "I Need a Doctor" and Diddy-Dirty Money's "Coming Home." She also received a Grammy nomination for writing the chorus to Eminem's hit single with Rihanna, "Love The Way You Lie." The 25-year-old just unveiled the dramatic Jay Martin-directed clip, which features the Women About To Pop-featured artist steps onto a steel beam suspended over a city street, walks into traffic and then ultimately sets herself ablaze with a lighter.
Grey feels "Invisible" in her new video, even as she goes to great lengths to be seen - the singer dangles from a construction beam hundreds of feet in the air and eventually lights herself on fire. "I wanted it to be Peter Parker by day meets Spiderman by night. An everyday kid, who isn't really that cool but there's something else going on, that people don't know about," Grey said in a statement while explaining "Invisible," which she wrote while living in the Oregon wilderness. "That's kind of the journey that I went on. I discovered that my insecurities and my flaws were things that I actually need to embrace, and I let them become my superpowers."
"Invisible" is the first single and title track from her major-label debut album, under her Skylar Grey moniker. The song finds her crooning about being unnoticed and ignored. The album's title is a portmanteau of "invisible" and "invincible", an idea that was given to her by her influence Marilyn Manson. Grey has said that the album is to be a complete departure from any of her previous work, and its sound is commercial, yet avant-garde with cinematic beats and atmospheric hooks, and sonically I can tell you that every song sounds different and it's really diverse, kind of going from cinematic to fun to dark. Alex(Producer) and I really push each other creatively."
Grey told Billboard magazine why she chose to release this vulnerable track as the lead single from her "Invinsible" album. "It's the very beginning of the story that I'm telling on this album, so chronologically, it makes sense to release that part of my story first" she explained. "I was depressed and broke and had nobody around and was feeling invisible to the world. That's what that song's about, that very first step… and so, within the album, you go on that journey of how I became invincible, and I think it's gonna be a story that a lot of people can relate to."

The return of Dr. Dre brings forth some melodramatic moments in the newly released nostalgic promo for his comeback single, "I Need a Doctor." The song features the Hip-Hop legend's one-time protégé Eminem whilst Skylar Grey sings the hook, is the second single taken from Dre's eagerly awaited third studio album, "Detox," which is still has no release date. It's a pretty damned epic return for a man who's about to drop the most anticipated album in Hip-Hop history. The certified smash video's taking a retrospective look at some of veteran producer's greatest moments while simultaneously telling a story about him recovering from a car crash.
Why is "I Need A Doctor" such a brilliant single? Well, first of all there's the production from British knob-twiddling whizz Alex da Kid, which has a similar gravitas and bone-rattling bombast to his work on "Love the Way You Lie" and "Airplanes." Then there's the haunting chorus, delivered by Diddy's "Coming Home" bud Skylar Grey, which inhabits you from first listen. However, what elevates "I Need A Doctor" from 'very good' to 'a little bit special' are the performances of rap duo, Dre and Eminem. That single manly tear dribbling down your cheek? Entirely, entirely justified.
As for the song it seems to be classic Eminem mostly, once again teaming up with a female vocalist Grey to off set his rapping. Ever since her breakout performance on the 2011 Grammy Awards alongside Eminem and Dre, the 25-year-old Wisconsin native has exploded onto the scene and shows no signs of letting up. The song also finds Eminem delivering grateful lyrics about his mentor believing in him in his early days and now returning the favor, before Dre delivers the song's final verse. Dre and Eminem have shared a friendship and musical bond throughout Eminem's career. Eminem must save his mentor from death and recording inactivity in the dramatic video for "I Need a Doctor."
Reflects on the Detroit rapper's career, the dramatic and epic video contemplating Dre's past, present, and future before having a severe car accident, leaving his Eminem wondering whether his friend and collaborator will survive. It then flash forward to the present, with Eminem professing his love and appreciation to the Doctor who gave him a shot at fortune and fame when everyone else dismissed the bleach blonde-haired rapper as a gimmick. After Eminem's pleas, Dre eventually recovers from the car accident and manages to get himself back to health. The video features Grey's urgent and haunting vocals, who appears as a ghostly apparition. "I play a rehabilitation doctor and kind of bringing Dr. Dre back to life," she shared.