Today's Pick

Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump released the music video for "This City," the lead single from his solo debut album, "Soul Punk," will hit US stores on October 18. Featuring his fellow Chicagoan rapper Lupe Fiasco, and the duo have made their statement on their home city of Chicago, it also sees snippets of the rocker wandering around a bustling metropolis. While the 'Superstar' rapper spits his verse in a hoodie, Stump dances around in a tuxedo as they sing praises of Chicago in video.
Stump not only lost a bunch of weight during the indefinite break of the rock band, but he also took that time to work on his much-desired solo debut. The 27-year-old is best-known as the main creative force behind '00s pop-punk standard-bearers Fall Out Boy, but the R&B and hip-hop influences that have long been part of his music come to the foreground on his upcoming album, "Soul Punk." "This City" is equal parts love letter to the Windy City and dance song, steered by Stump's high, slightly feminine melodic vocals, set against club beats, and Fiasco's hard hitting rap verse, upping the song's rhythmic quotient.
The catchy tune with full-on R&B mode and pop-synth explosion, is more soul than punk. Stump said the track's poppy slickness is representative of the album, "It sounds kind of like it makes sense on the radio but at the same time doesn't at all. It's very me." The song also caused Stump to change the course of the entire "Soul Punk" album. He explained to Billboard magazine: "I had written a while draft of the album and then at the 11th hour came up with 'This City.' I really loved the song but felt like, conceptually, it didn't fit on the album. I had to go back and make an album for that song because I loved it so much."
The Ken Koller-directed video is a decidedly minimal affair, and it features Stump singing whilst various images and lights are projected on the walls. Stump told to MTV News why instead of filling the screen of shots of city life he went with an artfully abstract way to present the song: "The song's called 'This City,' and it describes a lot of these images in a city, and I feel like those images are already there; it would be kind of redundant to take a camera into a city; it's almost like the colors and the lights and the images that are going to be around this are going to be representing the life in a city."

For those of you who want to see people celebrating their individuality in a music video without being subjected to intergalactic vaginal births, Ex-Fall Out Boy rocker Patrick Stump has the solution. The singer dropped his first video as a solo artist, "Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia)," from his 6-song digital debut EP, "Truant Wave." The 26-year-old gets positive, grabs the spotlight for himself. His new video is most certainly a departure from everything he did in his former band, about expressing your individuality and loving who you are!
Since Fall Out Boy went on hiatus a while back, the former band mates have all been off doing their own things. Most decidedly creative, however, is the solo project that crooning front man Stump has undertaken. Fall Out Boy proved to be a powerhouse of a pop-punk band, and having had the privilege of working with them in the past I can tell you they were quite the musical force to be reckoned with. While Stump has given up Fall Out Boy, he certainly hasn't given up on his talent. He may be soft-spoken, but the Chicago native has some serious pipes (but this we already knew).
"Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia)" is an irresistibly hooky track with a chorus encouraging people to reach their own greatness. What better way to illustrate said message than to present a parade of people showing off their talents like skateboarding, pogo-stick-flipping, and extending their tongues way out? The track is also an uplifting singer-songwritery bit that sounds more like Coldplay than Fall Out Boy, but the video is amazing enough to win over even Stump's pop-punk fanbase. Last week, Stump told MTV News that his brand-new "Truant Wave" EP wasn't "Take This to Your Grave, Part II," and if the 23rd-century pop&B sonics of the thing weren't enough to convince you of that fact, well, then perhaps his "Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia)" video will.
Ordinary people doing amazing things in the slow motion, low-budget video, directed by Joe Wein, captures Stump as he interacts with people (and animals) doing extraordinary things and showcasing their unique talents. Throughout the video, Stump appears to be experiencing the same posi-vibes as the kids he's surrounded by. It's an up-beat song about overcoming your obstacles and being your own spotlight, because everyone is a star in their own right. The clip features dozens of people showing off what they do best, whether that thing is skateboarding, cup-flipping, yo-yoing or swingin' nunchucks. And Stump, being the good sport, attempts some of these activities as well to various degrees of success.