2011 Grammy Nominations

'American Idol's' Pia Toscano Signs With Interscope Records

American Idol’s Pia Toscano has officially signed a recording contract with Interscope Records, THR has confirmed. She will release her debut single, “This Time,” on July 12 and perform the song as part of her set during this summer’s American Idol Live! Tour.

The track comes courtesy of Esther Dean, who has written several hit singles for Rihanna, including “S&M,” “Rude Boy” and “What’s My Name,” and is currently featured on Nicki Minaj’s smash “Superbass.” Dean wrote and co-produced “This Time,” an acoustic guitar and beat-driven track.

Toscano will continue to work on her debut album, which is due out later this year. Producer Rodney Jerkins, who has recorded three songs with Toscano, told THR in May that fans can expect a “big, diva-sounding record.”

Toscano shot the cover art for the album at Los Angeles' Smudge Studio in late June. Her official publicity photo is shown above.

New Music: Kat Graham - "I Want It All"

Music Video: Ashlyne Huff - "White Flag"

New Music: Sky Ferreira - "Untouchable"

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Red Café Enlists Lady Gaga for Debut Album

Red Café has spent the last few years heating up the streets with mixtape offerings, while his elusive debut studio album was put on pause several times after changing labels. But after smashing the Internet with his recent Above the Cloudz mixtape, the Bad Boy/Konvict Muzik spitter promises that his album is coming this summer – and he’s got a record that’ll make listeners go Gaga.

The Brooklyn native revealed that he’s recorded a coveted collabo with Lady Gaga for his untitled solo debut, with pop artisan RedOne handling production. “With Gaga, when she did her first album [The Fame], I was with her for her whole first album,” he told YRBMagazine.com. “This was at the time when it first happened, and Akon jumped in and we were working with RedOne.”

The duet, which was recorded two years ago, came as a result of the pair sharing studio space. “We were working in the same studio every day. She had the nighttime shift, I had the daytime,” he continued, explaining that he gleaned some advice from the eccentric pop star. “She even gave me tips. It’s great to watch her work. She’s really passionate about her stuff. The person you see now is different from that person.”

The album, formerly titled The Shakedown, is set to feature production from Ryan Leslie, Kane Beatz, Boi-1da and Reefa, who produced “Da Hottest in Da Hood.” While the LP has been waiting in the wings, Red says that the setbacks helped his artistry.

“I done change that album so many times. But I’m excited that I was able to grow without making a lot of those mistakes by putting out records that I probably wasn’t going to be proud of as a studio album,” he said. “I have some really good features on there, I’ve got some deep records. I kind of don’t want to say something that people are going to be like ‘Get outta here!’ But it’s a really, really good album. I have some great people on there. I don’t wanna give away too much, but you’re going to be surprised.”

Red Café’s debut is slated to hit stores at the end of the summer.

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Anonymous singer The Weeknd drops stellar debut mixtape

The anonymous R&B singer The Weeknd recently released his 9-song debut, "House of Balloons" – a staggering mix of R&B, dubstep and indie/avant-garde samples. The mixtape sounds like Drake during his most wallowing moments, offering a dark and despairing insight into the world of drug consumption that, for all its sadness and futility, is also undeniably catchy, or perhaps addicting itself.

Opener "High for This" begins somewhat conventionally: hypnotic drum slugging and reverb-drowned vocals a la Drake. However, when The Weeknd implores, "Open your head," electronic fuzz and dubstep beats suddenly pulsate, awakening the song from its swoon. This weekend party has all the elements of contemporary mainstream rap—lots of drugs and girls—but even when The Weeknd sings the song's chorus, "Even though you don't roll / Trust me girl / You wanna be high for this," he is hardly glorifying this hedonism.

Rather, the song sounds chilling and desperate; being "High for This" is not just part of the party, it is a necessity.

"What You Need" follows, sounding most-appropriate for mainstream audiences; it is relatively short (around 3:30), has a lush, jangly beat and can be construed as a love-song: "He's what you want / I'm what you need." On an album focusing on drugs, however, the metaphor of addiction becomes quickly apparent, especially when The Weeknd sings, "I'm the drug in your veins."

Besides the shorter "What You Need," most of the songs on "House of Balloons" surpass the five-minute mark. The mixtape's highlight, "House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls," nears 7 minutes, beginning with fuzzy waves of electronic noise and a psychedelic sample from Siouxsie and the Banshees, which revels in its drug-filled indulgence: "This is a happy house / We're happy here in the happy house / This is fun, fun, fun, fun..."

The song unwinds midway into the sludgy beat of "Glass Table Girls," capturing the dingy atmosphere of a cocaine-filled after-party: "We could test out the tables / We got some brand new tables / All glass and it's four feet wide / But it's enough to get us ten feet high." The Weeknd alters his normally echoing and despondent vocals with aggressive and confrontational near-whispering, evoking tension and a sense of looming danger.

"House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls" captures the ethos of the perpetually high hip-hop and rap scene, and it is therefore not just one of the better songs released this year but also one of the most culturally and historically significant.

"The Morning" appropriately follows: the slowed down, reflective hangover, where the leftover "codeine cups paint a picture so vivid" of the night before. Other highlights include "The Party & The After Party," which artfully samples indie-darlings Beach House, and "Wicked Games," an achingly melancholic confessional of false-love and, you guessed it, drug use.

Much like Elliott Smith's posthumous "From a Basement on a Hill," a haunting collection of songs about drug-addiction and dying recorded when Smith essentially was a walking corpse, "House of Balloons" sounds frighteningly earnest—the harrowing words from a moribund singer. If true art is suffering, "House of Balloons" is a ghastly masterpiece.

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Aubrey O'Day to Drop 'Automatic' Debut Single April 12

Two and a half years after her departure from Danity Kane, Aubrey O'Day is putting out new music again.

The singer will release "Automatic," an electro-charged club track, exclusively via iTunes on April 12. The song was produced by Danity Kane collaborator Adonis, who's also scored hits with Beyonce, Mariah Carey and Usher, and O'Day tells Billboard.com that even though she "wanted to come with a ballad first just to throw people for a loop," she's happy with "Automatic" as her solo career's calling card.

" 'Automatic' is the right fit for where music is headed now," O'Day explains. "It's a pop-dance track, but I wanted to go in the club and write a song about not having to put on all the glamour and the glitz. So many dance songs are about putting on Louis Vuitton, getting dressed up and everything, and I wanted to do a song about walking in the room and getting automatically noticed and stealing everyone's attention without trying to."



"Automatic" is one of "at least 50" songs that O'Day has been working on for her solo debut album for SRC/Universal Motown, a process that's been chronicled on her Oxygen network reality series "All About Aubrey." Future episodes will feature O'Day recording a duet with fellow Danity Kane alumnus Aundrea Fimbres, while the April 11 season finale will find O'Day "reaching out to Diddy," who guided the group through its formation on MTV's "Making the Band 3."

"There's love for all those girls," says O'Day, who after leaving Danity Kane starred as Amber Von Tussle in the Broadway musical "Hairspray" in 2008 and headlined Planet Hollywood Vegas' Peepshow in 2009. "I would not have been able to go through that situation and not have love for them. Most of the time we were all we had...And still in the back of my mind I hope and pray we can kind of reunite one day and make Danity Kane happen again. But while everyone's on different pages, I'm just gonna roll with what I want to do."

Although she's worked with a number of genres for her album, O'Day says she's settled into an "urban pop" direction that includes some of the very first songs she came up with for the project. "I don't want to go all the way pop," she explains. "I have a very pop voice, but there's so much of me I associate mostly with urban music, so I try to blend the two. There's so many sides and capabilities my voice has, I want to play with all aspects, but this is what I think I do best." No release date has been set for the album, although it's expected out this year.

O'Day is hoping to do some live performing to promote "Automatic" and hopes to get the green light for a video "sooner rather than later. Hopefully we can get all my lovely fans to really back the single and make it sell like crazy on iTunes." She's also waiting for details about a second season of "All About Aubrey."

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Rebecca Black will release a second music video, says "Friday" director

New Music: Kim Kardashian - "JAM (Turn it Up)"

BRIT Awards 2011 Winners

Mastercard British Album: Mumford & Sons — Sigh No More
Best British Single: Tinie Tempah — "Pass Out"
Best British Male: Plan B
Best British Female: Laura Marling
Best British Group: Take That
Best British Breakthrough Act: Tinie Tempah
Best British Producer: Markus Dravs
Best International Album: Arcade Fire — The Suburbs
Best International Male: Cee-Lo Green
Best International Female: Rihanna
Best International Group: Arcade Fire
Best International Breakthrough Act: Justin Bieber
Critic's Choice: Jessie J

Game and Kanye West are Unhappy About the Best New Artist Award

The buzz blowing around since Esperanza Spalding won the Best New Artist Grammy Award last night is starting to be driven by different winds now that people have read her Wikipedia page and figured out who she is, and music celebrities, being the colorful cast that they are, have naturally scurried to Twitter to express their displeasure over her victory against nominees and expected winners Justin Bieber and Drake.

Two of the more notables are Kanye West and Game, rap music's big names known for starting media, and in Game's case, physical feuds, and since having seen their buddies snubbed of last night's award, they've expressed their reactions via tweets over Esperanza's crowning.

"Drake aint win BEST NEW ARTIST ? Exactly why I'm kool on awards. (finishes rolling weed up as I turn the tv off).," Game tweeted last night. "You wouldn't care about AWARDS if you seen the people giving em'. "WHO DA F*CK ARE Y'ALL" ( @drakkardnoir voice ) cheated the homie."

Kanye, having collaborated with Baby Bieber last year, addressed the issue in a calmer tone, tweeting: "D*mn... I can't find the words to explain how I feel about the best new artist award... Don't wanna say the wrong thing."

It's a difficult thing to argue with, most people truly having not known who Esperanza Spalding is, while Drake and Bieber have been two of the more prominent media figures in the last year, but people will be people, opinions will be opinions, and it is what is it. As Bieber tweeted: "Someone said to me tonight its not your successes that define u but your failures. I lost..but I don't plan on this being my last chance....," and, Justin, I have to say, the whole failures cliche is true, but I also have to address the fact that that was your last chance, literally. You are ineligible for the Best New Artist Grammy Award from here on out. That's just how it is. Pwned.

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Artists Nominated at the NAACP Awards

The competition is fierce for the 42nd NAACP Image Awards. 50 Cent was on hand to announce the nominees earlier today in Beverly Hills, with Sade leading the music categories with four nominations, while Rihanna, Kanye West, Usher, Nicki Minaj, Willow Smith, Beyoncé, Maxwell, and Alicia Keys all nabbed nods for their respective accomplishments.

Sade, who released her critically-acclaimed Soldier of Love last year, was honored in Outstanding Female Artist, Outstanding Song and Music Video for “Soldier of Love,” and Outstanding Album. In the latter category, Sade is up against Usher’s Raymond v. Raymond, Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, John Legend and The Roots’ Wake Up!, and Smokey Robinson’s Now and Then.

Nicki Minaj goes head-to-head with Willow Smith for Outstanding New Artist, where they’ll duke it out against Bruno Mars, B.o.B, and Jason Derulo. Rihanna received two nods for OutstandingFemale Artist and Outstanding Duo, Group, or Collaboration with Eminem for “Love the Way You Lie,” while Alicia Keys was honored for “Un-thinkable (I’m Ready)” in Outstanding Music Video and Outstanding Song.

Tune in to see who takes home a statue when the winners are revealed live on March 4 at 8 p.m. on FOX.

Outstanding New Artist

• B.o.B
• Bruno Mars
• Jason Derulo
• Nicki Minaj
• Willow Smith

Outstanding Male Artist

• Cee Lo Green
• Jay-Z
• Kanye West
• Ne-Yo
• Usher

Outstanding Female Artist

• Chrisette Michele
• Corinne Bailey Rae
• Mary J. Blige
• Rihanna
• Sade

Outstanding Duo, Group, or Collaboration

• Diddy-Dirty Money
• Eminem and Rihanna
• Herbie Hancock (feat. India.Arie, Chaka Khan, and others)
• John Legend and The Roots
• The Black Eyed Peas

Outstanding Music Video

• “Fistful of Tears” – Maxwell
• “Soldier of Love” – Sade
• “Un-thinkable (I’m Ready)” – Alicia Keys
• “Whip My Hair” – Willow Smith
• “Why Don’t You Love Me” – Beyoncé

Outstanding Song

• “Bittersweet” – Fantasia
• “Fistful of Tears” – Maxwell
• “Forget You” – Cee-Lo Green
• “Soldier of Love” – Sade
• “Un-thinkable (I’m Ready)” – Alicia Keys

Outstanding Album

• My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West
• Now and Then – Smokey Robinson
• Raymond v. Raymond – Usher
• Soldier of Love – Sade
• Wake Up! – John Legend and The Roots

Janet Jackson was nominated for "Actress in a Motion Picture" and Justin Timberlake for "Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.

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That Justin Timberlake-Neptunes song from last week? Bogus!

So by now, if you’re one of the zillions of people starving for new Justin Timberlake music, you’ve no doubt heard this song “Take You Down,” which allegedly features JT singing over a Neptunes beat. The Internet has been buzzing about the track since it “leaked” last Thursday. One minor detail, though: It ain’t him.

“Various media outlets recently reported that a song called ‘Take You Down’ is a new track from Justin Timberlake,” a rep for Timberlake tells EW via a statement. “These reports are untrue. The song is the work of a Danish artist named Rasmus Thude. Justin’s representatives were not initially contacted to fact check the validity of these reports or if the song was, in fact, his. Justin has no involvement with either the song or the artist but wants to assure his fans that when he releases new music, they will be the first to know.”

So by all means continue to enjoy the song if you like. But if it’s true Justin Timberlake ear candy you crave, sorry to disappoint you.

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Kate Moss Rumored To Be Recording An Album

What's a girl to do after topping the charts as one of the biggest supermodels of all time, consistently maintaining global best-dressed status and designing successful collections for brands like Topshop and Longchamp? Record an album, of course.

According to the Daily Mail, Kate Moss is planning to step into the recording studio and make an album, under the guidance of rocker boyfriend, Kills guitarist, Jamie Hince.

"Kate's fashion days are winding down and she's no longer designing for Topshop, so her dream is to to record an urban album," a friend of Hince's told the Mail.

This wouldn't be Kate's first foray into the music biz: she's penned songs with ex-boyfriend Pete Doherty, guest-starred on tracks for Primal Scream, Oasis and Doherty's Babyshambles and appeared onstage at a celebrity karaoke fundraiser in London in 2009.

Moss also recently graced Bryan Ferry's "Olympia" album cover and is rumored to be doing a duet with him on an upcoming album.

Apparently, another music man also has his eye on Kate: Simon Cowell, who is reportedly trying to tap Moss as a mentor for the U.S. version of his hit U.K. show, "The X Factor."

Speaking of Kate Moss rumors, whatever happened to her turn as a ballerina alongside Baryshnikov?

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Kim Kardashian debuts new song

Taio Cruz performs "Higher"/"Dynamite"

Lady Gaga Is Billboard's 2010 Artist of the Year, Ke$ha Takes Top New Act

This was the year everyone went gaga for Lady Gaga.

The shape-shifting pop star takes home Billboard's top artist of the year honors, just a year after she earned top new artist applause. The last time an act made a move from "new" to "top" faster was in 2006, when Chris Brown snared both titles concurrently. Before that, the last woman to graduate nearly as fast was Whitney Houston, who was our top new artist of 1985 and then became the top artist the following year.

Billboard's year-end music recaps are based on chart performance during the chart year that began with last year's Dec. 5 issue and ended with the Nov. 27, 2010, issue. The year-end Top Artists list ranks the best-performing acts of the year derived from activity on two charts: the Billboard 200 albums tally and the Billboard Hot 100 singles list.

Since we created the top overall artist category with our year-end recaps in 1981, only seven women have taken home the trophy, including Gaga. Taylor Swift nabbed it in 2009, preceded by LeAnn Rimes (1997), Alanis Morissette (1996), Mariah Carey (1991), Whitney Houston (1986) and Madonna (1985).

Gaga takes the artist of the year honor thanks in part to the chart performance of her first two albums, "The Fame" and "The Fame Monster" (both on Streamline/KonLive/Cherrytree/Interscope), which rank at Nos. 4 and 13, respectively, on the year-end Top Billboard 200 Albums tally. Four singles from those albums appear on the Hot 100 Songs roundup, led by "Bad Romance" at No. 8.

Swift is 2010's No. 2 artist of the year -- not too shabby for the Big Machine singer who was our top artist last year. With her one-two punch in 2009 and 2010, it marks the first time an act has been one of the top two artists in successive years since Destiny's Child was the top artist in 2000 and 2001. Narrowing the accolade among only soloists, Garth Brooks was the last to do so, when he was the No. 1 act in 1992 and 1993. The last woman? Mariah Carey, who was No. 1 in 1991 and No. 2 in 1992.

Swift has two albums in the top 10 of the year-end Billboard 200 tally, the first time an artist has done so since 1992. "Fearless" (2009) is at No. 7 while the just-released "Speak Now" is at No. 9. Brooks was the last to claim two albums in a year-end top 10, when he finished 1992 with "Ropin' the Wind" at No. 1 and "No Fences" at No. 6.

"Speak Now" charted for only three weeks during the 2010 chart year, making its No. 9 placing a stunning achievement. Ranking on the year-end tally is determined by a title's weekly charting sales. So, "Speak Now" made up for its short chart life in the chart year with massive sales: It moved 1.6 million units in those three weeks, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Elsewhere, neither Gaga nor Swift charted on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums tally, marking the first time neither of the top two artists of the year have done so since 1997, when Rimes and Spice Girls came in at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on that chart.

So, last year Gaga was our new artist and then became the top artist this year. Could Ke$ha, who snags the throne on 2010's Top New Artists list, win the big prize in 2011? This year the Kemosabe/RCA singer celebrates not just her new artist win but also her crowning of the Hot 100 Songs roundup, where her debut charting single "TiK ToK" is tops. The track spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the weekly Hot 100 list.

The last time an act's first charting single became the top song of the year was only two years ago, when Flo Rida reigned with "Low." However, since Billboard began producing year-end recaps in 1946, no woman -- until Ke$ha -- had managed the feat.

Two steps behind Ke$ha on the new artist tally is Susan Boyle, who earns her ranking mostly on the strength of her two hit albums, "I Dreamed a Dream" and "The Gift." The former spent six weeks atop the Billboard 200 and finishes 2010 as the No. 1 Top Billboard 200 album.

At No. 2 on the year-end Billboard 200 albums list is Eminem's "Recovery." All of the rapper's albums -- save for his debut, "The Slim Shady LP" -- have finished among the year-end top 10 Billboard 200 albums. He's ranked in the top two twice before: in 2005 with "Encore" (No. 2) and in 2002 with "The Eminem Show" (No. 1).

Eminem also ends 2010 as the No. 3 artist of the year, and with Gaga and Swift at Nos. 1 and 2, he's our top male artist.

Country trio Lady Antebellum is the highest-ranking group on the top artist recap, coming in at No. 4. It's the first time a country act is the biggest group of the year.

Since Billboard began compiling year-end combined pop artist categories in 1977 (for males, females and duo/groups, respectively) no country act had ever finished the year as the top overall duo/group.

Lady A also takes home the No. 2 honor on the Hot 100 Songs recap with its Capitol Nashville single "Need You Now," which spent two weeks at No. 2 on the weekly tally, but lingered for 42 weeks within the top 40 during the eligibility period. A country single last reached such heights on the year-end Hot 100 tally in 2000, when Faith Hill's "Breathe" was the top Hot 100 song.

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Director David Lynch turns music man, releases two singles to iTunes

The film auteur with perhaps one of the most singular visions in the history of movie-making (splendor in the grass!) has now turned his attentions from cinema, dharma, and daily weather reports to music. Specifically, “modern blues,” according to an L.A. Times report.

“We’re working on a lot of things, and we hope to have an album soon,” Lynch says. “All of this to me is an experiment. We were calling it kind of a modern blues — music based on the blues. It’s led to all sorts of different things, but I really want to do a modern blues album.”

“There’s nothing I can say in terms of what the rules are, but there is a feel,” Lynch added. “It has to be anchored in something strong and pure, and it’s modern in that it’s joining with all the things you can do these days in ProTools.”

“The advancement in digital things means there’s a whole slew of possibilities,” he continued. “I love organic phenomena. I love the real, rough sound of blues. I love a heavy guitar and great, strong drums. Then there’s so many things that can be done to it that will modernize it.”

Lynch, who also collaborated on the Dark Night of the Soul project with Dangermouse and the late Sparklehorse, has signed to England’s Sunday Best label; he plans to release a full album, recorded with his longtime film engineer Dean Hurley. As of today, the tracks “Good Day Today” and “I Know” are available on iTunes. Sample the woozy electro ditty “Good Day” after the jump:

In the meantime, Lynch will continue to work behind the camera; he’s currently working on a documentary on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation.

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Kim Kardashian - "Shake"