Since the now infamous Taylor Swift incident, Kanye West has been laying pretty low. Up until a couple of months ago, he’d been almost completely silent for 9 months, taking some time to lick his wounds from the fallout. But now, he’s back in a big way, which for those of us who enjoy Kanye doing what he does best — making GREAT hip-hop music — is  excellent news.

Apparently he’s releasing a brand new album sometime this fall. There’s no official date for the album yet, although it’s said to be September 14th and likely titled Good Ass Job (Ye confirmed that’s no longer the title on Twitter this morning). He dropped the first single off it, “Power,” online, and then performed it at the BET awards. Both indicated a triumphant return to form, especially for those who didn’t favor the style of his 808s and Heartbreak album.

News on the web today is that he rapped a bunch of tracks off of the album at the Facebook HQ (huh?), and they’ve made it to YouTube this morning. All the rhymes are rapped Acapella, so there are no beats, but Kanye does some serious spittin’. Check out some of the videos below of a particularly dapper looking Kanye rapping tracks titled, “Lost In The World,” “My Chain Heavy,” and “Mama’s Boyfriend.” They’re all sick, but I’m especially a fan of “Mama’s Boyfriend.”

This one’s from a post on Kanye’s own blog about the performance.

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“Lost In The World” & “My Chain Heavy,” both via Pitchfork

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“Mama’s Boyfriend”

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Also, it isn’t verified yet, but some sources close to him are claiming that Kanye has now started a Twitter account. It only has 2 Tweets so far, but they mention him attending meetings in Silicon Valley, which sounds about right with his performance at Facebook HQ. It’s pretty simple: @kanyewest.

*Update: The Twitter is really him, ’cause it’s now verified.

** Another Update: Ahhh, he’s at it again. Continuing on the trend of inpromptu social media drop ins, Kanye decided to spit a few more rhymes for the folks at Twitter today. What is with this guy and websites today. Hey, Kanye, if you haven’t had your fix of website HQs today, come on down to MetroLyrics LOL.

Anyways, there’s one low quality video below. Hopefully some better stuff shows up soon.

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Naturally, it’s a massive pop anthem. Though it’s not quite as danceable as “California Gurls,” if it doesn’t hit #1 on the Hot 100, I’ll be absolutely shocked. With a little bit more rock flair, Katy’s verses build to an anthemic power chorus that will stick in your head all day.

You can snag the single from iTunes. Right now, check out the official song and lyrics video below, and head on over to the MetroLyrics lyrics page to see the “Teenage Dream” lyrics in full.

Katy Perry – Teenage Dream

***Uh Oh Update: It looks like EMI has taken the song down from Katy’s official YouTube channel. I bet those record execs are none too pleased with her. Well, it was good while it lasted, wasn’t it guys. You can still head over to iTunes and pick it up. In the meantime, you might be able to find it somewhere else on YouTube before it gets yanked to get your quick fix ;)

*** Update #2: It looks like Katy has uploaded a new official lyrics video to her YouTube Channel. This one has a slide show preview of the soon to be released video for the track. As usual, it’s full of exceptionally good looking people that, strangely, seem to have trouble finding clothes, Katy included. Check it out below.

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Despite his already impressive accomplishments, Bruno Mars seems poised to step into the limelight for himself. From the sounds of things, pop music fans everywhere will have a hard time ignoring his smooth vocals and catchy melodies.

The first single, “Just The Way You Are” off of his upcoming debut LP dropped today. Have a listen to the track below and head over to iTunes to pick it up.

Additionally, I’ve included the single “The Other Side” ft. Cee Lo Green & B.o.B, off of his previous “It’s Better If You Don’t Understand” EP. Catch that one below and then head to iTunes to grab the EP.

Bruno Mars – Just The Way You Are

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Bruno Mars – The Other Side ft. Cee Lo Green & B.o.B.

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Also, if you’re into Best Coast’s unique summer sound, check out the full online stream of their new album here, courtesty of Urban Outfitters. I highly recommend you at least give it a listen and think about grabbing it when it comes out July 27th.

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One. More. Day.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup opens tomorrow in South Africa. Needless to say, I’m unbelievable pumped, and I’m not the only one. As the most watched sporting event in the world, it’s sure to capture the attention of the entire globe.

Part of the festivities include FIFA’s pick for the official theme song of the tournament. Their choice this time around is  “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” performed by Shakira and Freshlyground. Reaction has been mixed, with many fans from the host nation expressing their disappointment with the track, and particularly the choice of Shakira as performer of a song meant to reflect African culture.

Also, major sponsor Coca-Cola has chosen their own song to represent their World Cup campaign. They’ve picked “Wavin’ Flag (Coca-Cola Celebration Mix)” by K’NAAN as their tournament anthem.

In my opinion, at least both songs are better than the 2002 pick of “Boom” by Anastacia. It’s terribly awful. I’m talking absolutely, horrendously awful. Uh huh, that bad. Have a listen to it, and some other past theme songs below, and let me know what you think of ‘em.

Shakira & Freshlyground – Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)

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K’NAAN – Wavin’ Flag (Coca-Cola Celebration Mix)

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Other songs after the jump…

Il Divo with Toni Braxton – The Time of Our Lives (2006 theme)

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Anastacia – Boom (2002 theme)

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Ricky Martin – La Copa de la Vida (1998 theme)

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A new clip has arrived for “On Fire,” Rebirth’s recent single that, as Rolling Stone previously reported, borrows its hook from the Scarface soundtrack’s “She’s On Fire.” The video, which appears to have been filmed during the same photo shoot that generated the Rebirth cover, was directed by Chris Robinson, according to Nah Right.

Here’s the video. What do you think?

Reports Billboard.biz:

Susan Boyle’s “I Dreamed a Dream” reigns for a sixth straight week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 137,000 (down 73%) according to Nielsen SoundScan, bringing her cumulative sales total up to 3,104,000. However, while that is a huge sales sum — especially considering it was totaled in just six weeks time — it’s not enough to overtake Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” as 2009’s top selling album. The latter is at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 this week, selling another
60,000 — bringing its 2009 total to 3,217,000.

Of course, Boyle can rest easy in knowing that her “Dream” is but one of just two albums to sell at least 3 million copies in the U.S. last year — something that hasn’t happened since 2006, when three albums did it. Boyle’s “Dream” is also 2009’s top selling album released last year (Swift’s “Fearless” dropped in late 2008), and was also the top selling physical album of 2009. Of its overall 2009 total, physical CDs accounted for 3,019,000 copies, whereas digital downloads made up a rather tiny 86,000.

To read more, clickhere.

Vic Chesnutt, discovered by REM’s Michael Stipe and regarded with respect by many of the biggest names in the music industry, passed on on Christmas Day from a drug overdose. It isn’t yet known if it was accidental or deliberate.

(From the full article at RollingStone.com)Neutral Milk Hotel’s reclusive Jeff Mangum released a statement that reads, “In 1991 I moved to Athens, Georgia in search of God, but what I discovered instead was Vic Chesnutt. Hearing his music completely transformed the way I thought about writing songs, and I will forever be in his debt.”

Reuters reported today:

The news about the singer’s condition first spread through the Internet on Wednesday through Twitter posts by former Throwing Muses singer Kristin Hersh, who has collaborated with Chesnutt.

“(H)e’s gone…so much to go away in a moment,” she wrote in a subsequent series of messages. “(H)e was supposed to go to *my* funeral, damn it.”

According to MTV: “He put out a total of 13 records over his career (including two in 2009), though he is probably best known for the 1998 compilation Sweet Relief II: The Gravity of the Situation, a benefit CD that saw artists like Garbage, Live, Soul Asylum and Madonna covering Chesnutt’s tunes. The album was a benefit for the Sweet Relief Fund, which sought to provide health care to musicians who needed it…”

Learn more about Vic Chesnutt on his official site, www.vicchesnutt.com.

Read the full story

Billboard’s got some amazing year-end round-ups right now, and looking at them inspired us to see what else was out there. It turned out that everyone is doing it, so why shouldn’t we? In the spirit of comprehensive coverage, here are the Top 10 Top 10s for music in 2009:

1. Billboard’s round-up of round-ups. Charts, stories, trends, and more. Billboard’s got lists galore!
2. Pitchfork’s Top 50 Albums of 2009 and Top 100 Tracks of 2009. There are more than 10 items on each list, but they’re definitely in the spirit.
3. Rolling Stone’s 25 Best Songs of 2009. Another longer-than-ten list, but this one has players for each song, so you can listen while you reminisce.
4. MTV asked Lady Gaga for her tops of 2009. MTV has a bunch of other great year/decade-end wrap ups, but their report on Lady Gaga’s faves for 2009 is the one that makes our list.
5. VH1’s Best of 2009 catch-all. So maybe nobody limits their lists to 10 anymore, but who cares? VH1 has become the go-to for retrospective lists, so how could we exclude them from ours?

Did we miss anything? Which lists make your best-of?

Brittany Murphy, one of the stars of the 90’s teen classic Clueless and ex-girlfriend of Ashton Kutcher, died this morning from cardiac arrest. According to Yahoo’s OMG: “A Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman told Access (Hollywood) that they responded to a 911 call made from the 1800 block of N. Rising Glen Road — the same street where the actress lives — at 8 AM on Sunday. According to TMZ, the actress was pronounced dead upon arrival at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.”

Ex-boyfriend Ashton Kutcher said on Twitter today, “2day the world lost a little piece of sunshine. My deepest condolences go out 2 Brittany’s family, her husband, & her amazing mother Sharon.”

In addition to her acting credits, Murphy provided vocals on songs on the soundtrack to Happy Feet and for the 2006 hit “Faster Kill Pussycat.”

You’ve probably seen the now-famous image above and others documenting Kevin Federline’s transition from “K-Fed” to “K-Fat,” but with the help of Celebrity Fit Club on VH1, he’s really slimmed down.

According to Yahoo’s OMG, “Most of that fat is apparently in the past now: Federline has reportedly lost 50 pounds as a contestant on the next season of VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club, airing in January..”

The big question now is, what will Britney Spears’ ex do with his slimmed-down form and the exposure he gets on the reality show? Playing with Fire Part II?

Susan Boyle, the big winner of “Britain’s Got Talent” who’s taken YouTube by storm with the video of her first performance of “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Miserables,” is celebrating the success of her first album, “I Dreamed a Dream.” According to Billboard:

This past week, Boyle’s “Dream” held on to the No. 1 slot for a second frame with 527,000 — down just 25% — after bowing last week with 701,000. Now, with 1.23 million sold in its first two weeks, “Dream” is chasing after Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” (2.53 million sold this year) for the title of 2009’s best-selling album.

With four sales weeks left in the SoundScan tracking year, and with industry gurus suggesting “Dream” will have yet another blockbuster week, Boyle could overtake Swift’s sales figure by year’s end.

Congratulations, Susan! If you’ve somehow been under an Internet rock for the past few months and missed it, here’s the video that made her n international star: