Today's Pick

The blue-eyed soul sensation Kendra Morris takes the cinematic approach to the visual for her latest summer slow jam, "If You Didn't Go," the second single from the soulful siren's forthcoming LP, "Banshee," due out late summer. Morris oozes soulful vibes that gently melt against nostalgic production but are her ambient vocals enough to cast a spell over you?
The NYC soulstress is back and is as soulful as ever. "For some reason, a lot of my life has revolved around recording in closets and tiny spaces," laughs Morris. You'll hear tinges of Amy Winehouse, Alicia Keys and Erykah Badu mixed in with 60s soul; what comes out is purely and uniquely Morris, a stand out young crooner from the big apple. Morris' rich and mighty voice is a courier to a world where story telling is the only means for passing on life's lessons, humor, and drama. Her real strength lies in combining mysticism and the strange emotions invoked by the human spirit.
"If You Didn't Go" has vintage motown vibe that slows the pace into a deeper and lush string laden ballad is reminiscent of the days of late 60's early 70's blue-eyed soul. It's a gorgeously dissonant downtempo cut that's the perfect soundtrack for a sad, sun-dappled desert day. "'If You Didn't Go' is an extremely visual song and from the day I penned the first word and heard the first vocal melody I had warm colors set in my mind," she shared. The mellowed out 70's R&B-Soul vibe that she mastered so well. Pure soul. Turn it up.
Morris goes through make-ups and break-ups and deals with the loss of a lover in Jacob Arden McClure-directed new clip. Shot in washed-out yellows with the appealingly grimy backdrop of wind turbines, run-down motels, and vintage cars, the desert-set video set on a deserted highway, Morris portrays a feisty woman who, after an argument with her lover, takes a long walk down the road to reflect on their troubled relationship. The highly melodic, syncopated and simply sparse song grooves along well with visuals.

Giving her fans a week-beginning treat, Rihanna gets wet, dances in the desert and goes downright tribal in her dark and flashy new video for "Where Have You Been," off the singer's latest LP "Talk That Talk." The "We Found Love" songstress' new clip serves as a kind of photo shoot for a tribal-print-themed spread in a fashion magazine with chock full of cool choreography, jungle-style clothing, and plenty of Rihanna writhing around in a rock-filled desert landscape with male tribal dancers in front of a fire.
This clubby tune combines the talents of Ester Dean along with hitmaker Dr. Luke and Calvin Harris, the Scottish DJ behind "We Found Love." The song finds Rihanna asking the question that's on her mind - how to "find someone to love [her] all night long." The song borrows elements from Australian songwriter Geoff Mack's 1959 composition "I've Been Everywhere," which three years later became a Country hit for Hank Snow with revised Americanised lyrics.
"Where Have You Been" is a house and up-tempo dance-pop number that draws influence from R&B and hip hop. It features hard, chilly synths and a punk inspired breakdown sequence, and will almost certainly be Rihanna's biggest club smash since "Don't Stop The Music." The 24-year-old pop star continues her trek throughout the world, looking for that special guy, who seems to slip through her fingers at every turn.
The Dave Meyers-directed pulsating clip starts with a dripping wet Rihanna emerging from a mucky river, scantily clad and as lonely-looking as hinted at in the track's lyrics. "Where have you been all my life?" she sings while performing more intense choreography than fans of the singer might be used to. She shimmies and shakes in an exotic desert-like setting, wondering where her one true love might be hiding to the song's bumping beat, and it turns psychedelic as it nears its end and a kaleidoscope effect is filtered over the clip, with glitter-sprinkled Rihanna looks as if she still might have to live her life all by her lonesome with her siren call being blasted into the wilds of the world.

Carly Rae Jepsen released the video for her insanely catchy new single "Call Me Maybe," which is her certified platinum debut US single, and the lead single taken from her first EP, "Curiosity." The 26-year-old Canadian singer first came to the public attention in the summer of 2007 when she came third in the fifth season of Canadian Idol, and her "Call Me Maybe" is a fluffy pop gem depicting what happens when love strikes at first sight. It's giddy, catchy, and instantly memorable with clever lyrics.
The upbeat pop track draws influences from dance-pop and disco. Lyrically, the track alludes to the inconvenience that a love at first sight brings to a girl who hopes for a call back from a crush. The song's narrator is obviously no shrinking violet and is confident enough to ask a cute boy out. "Call Me Maybe," is breezy and sweet, a eyelash-fluttering flirtation run hard through the Disney-pop model of digitized feelings and brusque, chipper arrangements, and the ubiquitous pop smash is shaping up to be the song of the summer.
MTV News asked Jepsen if she is anything like that girl on her song? She replied: "When you write a bunch of songs, it's like being asked to pick a favorite kid. You wonder what will be loved and which will just be my own little journal entry that I personally like. It was a surprise that it took off the way it did, but a welcome surprise. I think how it was written and how it is about trying to pick up a guy. It is simple and feels good, and I am a romantic at heart. I like the idea of being in the moment of meeting someone, feeling that buzz and that feeling of attraction that you act on. You have to be spontaneous and brave. I have never been brave enough to ask for his number, but that's how I would do it if I was."
The Ben Knechtel-directed clip portrays Jepsen rehearsing the track with her band, and her bandmates push her to go wash her car, where she trying to gain attention from her attractive neighbor, portrayed by Holden Nowell, while he's working on his lawn, and is revealed to be gay at the close of the story. "It felt like a really welcoming gesture," Jepsen says of the video. "We had just signed the documents not a day or two before and then they posted the video and I kind of realized how sincere they were about helping me."

John Mayer may not be able to perform his new material live, but that doesn't mean he can't pack up his stuff, drive across the Western frontier and lip-synch lyrics about being a "good man, with a good heart." And with that, the scenic "Shadow Days" music video was unveiled on Friday. The video is a road trip, with Mayer dressed up as a cowboy, making his way across the heartland of our great country to just chill out and let it all go. It's a completely uncomplicated premise.
"Shadow Days" is the lead single from Mayer's fifth studio album "Born and Raised," the first album since 2009’s "Battle Studies," which notched the No.1 spot on the Billboard 200 and earned him three Grammy nominations. The new CD is still on track for a May 22 release despite the 34-year-old's recent battle with a backlash following a controversial Playboy interview and throat surgery for a granuloma near his vocal chord. "My shadow days are over," he sings in this country-tinged song reflecting the hope that his bad times are over.
"I'm pretty emotionally burnt out at the moment, but please know how hard I tried to resolve this and how disappointed I am that I can't perform this record yet," Mayer told his fans in his blog. "I'm completely bummed, especially for all of you who started making plans to see a show. Nothing feels worse than having to break the stage down before the performance, and I mean nothing. I love this band you were going to hear, I love the guys and girls I work with, and the only thing that stops me from devolving into a puddle of tears is knowing that it's a long life, and the greatest gift in the world is being able to create music no matter what the circumstances. So these are the new circumstances, and I'll find a way to make it mean something. That's all you can ever do."
Mayer leads an unfussy life in the clip for "Shadow Days," a moody track wherein Mayer croons about being a good man who lost his way, the recovering media provocateur and hippie-cowboy heartbreaker Mayer is leaving behind the bright lights and hustle and bustle of the big city for something simpler, he drifts through his own private Idaho, Arizona, and other frontier states. As our wandering hero travels across this great land of ours in his mostly reliable Jeep Wrangler, he makes sure to visit key scenic landscapes in order to play guitar as approving eagles soar above him.

Flaunting her curvacious figure on the sandy Hawaiian beaches with Bikini-clad and sporting neon green hair, Nicki Minaj dances on the beach in her newly-released video for her craven cheeseball dance-rap single "Starships," the lead single from New York rapper's sophomore studio album, "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded." Yes, starships were meant to fly, and rap's reigning queen was clearly meant to throw raving beach parties. If fans thought "Super Bass" was a colorful video, this one takes it above and beyond.
"Starships" is a multi-genre song, which heavily utilizes '90s-influenced Eurodance, Europop, and Euro house, while also incorporating other genres such as pop, dance, reggae, pop rock, and hip hop. The lighthearted, feel-good vibe of the song is perfect for casual Barbz to blast. It's hard not to see Britney Spears' influence on the rapper/singer when listening to the song, and given that the two toured together last year, Minaj may be trying to remind her pop fans that she has an ear for what they want.
Regarding this cut, the 29-year-old colorful Minaj explained that RedOne sent her a beat, which she was so taken with that she went to the studio and improvised the first verse, "mumbling and just saying the first thing that came into my head, and we recorded it, because I just felt like, let's go to the beach... let's go get away. It was just so good. It feels good!" The song not only is pure pop perfection, but RedOne's influence is evident, and it's the most polarizing single in Minaj's career to date.
The clip was directed by Anthony Mandler and was a 3-day shoot in Hawaii. It starts with a massive UFO-like craft - presumably a starship - hovering over the ocean and then Minaj materializes in the water. The hip-hop diva prances about in a skimpy bikini on the tropical shores of Hawaii with plumes of colored smoke floating through the air and hulking male dancers with tribal markings grooving on the beach. There are people getting splashed with neon paint, flame-twirlers, hula dancers, and, goodness, there is so much more going on in this clip.

Foster the People show their fans how committed they are to their job in a music video for their single "Houdini," is the fourth single taken from the indie pop group's critically-acclaimed debut album "Torches." The band pulled the upbeat "Houdini" out of its hat way back on its first EP last year, but the track still works its synthesizer magic.
Foster the People's "Houdini" clip, directed by Daniels, is not for the faint of heart. Mark Foster, Cubbie Fink and Mark Pontius are due to perform at a big concert, but the trio dying in a horrible production accident and crushed in an on-stage mishap during a video shoot, sending everyone on the set into panic mode. Ouch. Don't worry, it's easy on the gore. But thanks to some Hollywood innovation and a mysterious video-rescue squad, they're quickly turned into reanimated People-puppets.
The 'Pumped Up Kicks' hitmakers have taken the stage with sore throats, broken feet and all manner of cuts, scrapes and bruises, both mental and physical. But after surviving a high-speed car chase in their "Don't Stop" clip, when the time came for Foster the People to suit up for the video for "Houdini," they decided to show just how dedicated they are to going on with the show.
The video comes one year after the release of "Torches" and a month before three-piece group prepare to launch their summer tour on May 29. The outing includes three sold-out nights in New York's Central Park, where they will play to more than 17,000 fans, as well as a first-ever trip to the Bonnaroo Arts and Music Festival. After playing alongside the reunited Beach Boys at this year's Grammys, they will hook up with the legendary beach pop group on two of their summer dates.
A call to an expert is made to bring the three guys back to life in time to finish the video shoot, bust some choreographed moves and play a show as animatronic robots! Actually it's kind of hard to know what exactly is going on, but the fellas are somehow rebooted and able to pull off the sold-out show the next night, bringing tears to the eyes of their crew. They also have superpowers that allow them to hop way up in the air and dance like pros. But, by the end they are either so wiped out, or their batteries are so depleted, that they crash on the couch backstage as everyone celebrates their triumph around them.

Following the success of their first single "Glad You Came," the British boyband The Wanted have premiered their new vampire video for their second official U.S. single, "Chasing the Sun," off their debut self-titled U.S. EP. The group eventually find themselves at some kind of makeout party, and things are going swimmingly. "Chasing The Sun" takes on a whole new meaning once The Wanted's night is over.
This club banger was wrote by British rapper and singer Example, who admitted that he originally wrote it for Australian Dance-Pop singer Kylie Minogue, before deciding the tune would suit The Wanted more. "Our song 'Chasing the Sun' is basically about the party that keeps on going," Jay McGuiness said, with pal Max George giving a bit more insight into how that will manifest in the clip: "There's certain shots which we've just done now which are on a rooftop, and then we're filming all night until 6 in the morning, and then the last shot, I think, will be us just kind of walking away looking rather disheveled," George explained.
The Director X-shot video is full flirtatious scenes with leggy models and late-night rooftop scenes with the fellas. In the clip, the fivesome travel the streets of Los Angeles in the middle of the night, and turns out their '90s-looking sunburst tattoos grant them access to an exclusive sunburst party, where the guys meeting up with a mysterious group of the ladies from the club, who leave the chaps with curious tattoos in the shape of a sunburst clinging to each of the boys, who curiously share the same sun-inspired markings on their body.
These scenes are also intercut with shots of the band dudes on a rooftop at dawn singing the chorus of the track, it seems as if the group is literally chasing the sun, in an attempt to keep the late-night party going as long as possible before it rises! Things an unnecessary supernatural turn when we find out these girls are actually blood-sucking vampires. The boys get bitten, but no worries The Wanted fans, they head into the morning sunlight which means they're fine, right?