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| Britney? Beyonce? Who Is MTV News' Woman Of The Year? The Countdown Begins Today! Posted: 15 Dec 2008 05:00 AM PST These are the ladies who have dominated the 2008 headlines — with more to come in the next few days.
Who was the biggest star of 2008? Who had the most impact on the year that was, who inspired the most headlines or generated the biggest amount of buzz? It's really tough to say ... yet, for decades now, plenty of magazines have been doing just that (we're looking at you, Time). And so, after years of sitting on the sidelines, we here at MTV News have decided to get in on the act too. Over the next few days, we'll be unveiling our list of the most fascinating, controversial and, well, BRITNEY!!! women of the year. These are the artists, actors and pop-culture heavyweights who dominated the headlines here at MTVNews.com (and no, Sarah Palin didn't make the cut ... we'll leave that to the folks at Time).
Today, we present picks 10 to 6. On Tuesday, we'll reveal numbers 5 to 2. And then, on Thursday, we'll unveil our 2008 MTV News Woman of the Year. And, of course, we'd love to hear what you've got to say — we'll even publish some of the best comments later this week — so if you agree with us (or if you don't), let us know in the comments below. And now, let the debate begin ... 10. Beyoncé 2008 Highlights: Spent the majority of the year putting the finishing touches on her much-discussed double-album, I Am ... Sasha Fierce ... Played legendary blues singer Etta James in "Cadillac Records" ... Married longtime beau Jay-Z ... Applauded by PETA for her fur-free outfits ... Released a pair of singles, "If I Were a Boy" and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," the latter of which ended up being our second-best song of 2008 ... Donated $10,000 to victims of Hurricane Ike ... Volunteered her services for Barack Obama's inauguration ... Snagged her third-consecutive #1 album, selling more than 482,000 copies of I Am in one week ... Parodied the "Single Ladies" video to hilarious effect on "Saturday Night Live" ... Landed a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song. To anyone else, this is a lifetime's worth of résumé fodder. To B, it was just another year. 9. Hayley Williams 2008 Highlights: Penned a cryptic blog post that kicked off rumors that she and her band, Paramore, were calling it quits ... Addressed those rumors (and whispers that she was pregnant) in an equally cryptic blog post that used the phrase "My Eggo is not preggo" less than 24 hours later ... Sat down with MTV News for an "everything's fine" interview in Austin, Texas, during South by Southwest ... Defended "family friend" Miley Cyrus ... Played the Warped Tour ... Battled her stepfather over unscrupulous eBaying ... Got (then later removed) bull-ring piercing in septum ... Admired by John Mayer ... Performed in a virtual Whisky A Go Go during the MTV Video Music Awards ... Contributed a pair of songs to the "Twilight" soundtrack ... Copped to being a huge "Twilight" fan and a member of Team Jacob ... Began work on new Paramore album ... Is seriously, like, 4 feet tall. 8. Rihanna 2008 Highlights: Won her first-ever Grammy in early February ... Followed up on that momentum by landing an opening slot on Kanye West's Glow in the Dark Tour ... Re-released her hugely successful Good Girl Gone Bad album with the hugely successful single "Take a Bow" ... Denied reports that she and Chris Brown were an item (despite mounting evidence to the contrary) ... Performed a freaky version of "Disturbia" (another one of her hugely successful singles) at the Video Music Awards ... Collapsed onstage in Australia while performing a duet with Brown, sparking rumors she was pregnant ... Inspired a fan revolt when none of the aforementioned "hugely successful singles" are named in James Montgomery's Best Songs of 2008 list ... Did, at some juncture during the year, get a fairly awesome neck tattoo. 7. Aubrey O'Day 2008 Highlights: Rolled into the year fresh off reports that she was leaving Danity Kane to join the Pussycat Dolls ... Appeared to put all the drama behind her when DK's Welcome to the Dollhouse debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts ... Launched DK/Day26 tour in May ... Landed the role of Amber Von Tussle in the Broadway version of "Hairspray," which causes her to miss Danity Kane's appearance on "FNMTV" ... Boasted about her breasts during an interview with former WWE announcer Paul Heyman ... Shot a rather eye-opening photo spread for Complex magazine ... Booted from Danity Kane during live finale of MTV's "Making the Band" due to concerns over her "image" and despite the fact she was one of only two interesting members in the group ... Reportedly posed for Playboy ... May have had the most turbulent 12 months of anyone not named " Britney Spears" or "Amy Winehouse." 6: Sasha Fierce 2008 Highlights: Created by Beyoncé as a marketing tool/ psychological id for her I Am ... Sasha Fierce album ... Despite being completely fictional, may actually be more interesting than the actual Beyoncé ... Starred in the "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" video, which managed to "out-crazy even 'Ring the Alarm' " ... Definitive proof that Beyoncé is nuts ... Signified by a futuristic metallic glove worn on the left hand ... Is probably steampunk ... Quite possibly the most interesting alter-ego ever created by a musical superstar (sorry, Chris Gaines). We'll be rolling out our Top 10 Men and Women of the Year all week! Today you've got 10 through 6, tomorrow you'll see 5 through 2, on Wednesday we'll be recapping your reactions and opinions, and on Thursday the winners will be revealed! Who do you think the Man and Woman of the Year should be? Tell us now! Related Videos Related Artists |
| T.I.? Nick Jonas? Who Is MTV News' Man Of The Year? The Countdown Begins Today! Posted: 15 Dec 2008 05:00 AM PST These are the men who have dominated the 2008 headlines — with more to come in the next few days.
Who was the biggest star of 2008? Who had the most impact on the year that was, who inspired the most headlines or generated the biggest amount of buzz? It's really tough to say ... yet, for decades now, plenty of magazines have been doing just that (we're looking at you, Time). And so, after years of sitting on the sidelines, we here at MTV News have decided to get in on the act too. Over the next few days, we'll be unveiling our list of the most fascinating, controversial and, well, German men of the year. These are the artists, actors and pop-culture heavyweights who dominated the headlines here at MTVNews.com (and no, Barack Obama didn't make the cut ... we'll leave that to the folks at Time).
Today, we present picks 10 to 6. On Tuesday, we'll reveal numbers 5 to 2. And then, on Thursday, we'll unveil our 2008 MTV News Man of the Year. And, of course, we'd love to hear what you've got to say — we'll even publish some of the best comments later this week — so if you agree with us (or if you don't), let us know in the comments below. And now, let the debate begin ... 10. Pete Wentz 2008 Highlights: Threw a Barack Obama fundraiser in his hometown of Chicago, complete with PBR and free "Frogger" ... Insisted that much of the film "Cloverfield" was based on Fall Out Boy's Infinity on High album ... Boycotted the Grammy awards (and later reviewed them for MTV News) ... Marched on Washington ... Appeared in Jimmy Kimmel's "I'm F---ing Ben Affleck" video, alongside Huey Lewis and Brad Pitt ... Mocked the Amish in the film "Sex Drive" ... Attempted to set a world record by playing a gig at a research facility in Antarctica (an attempt that ultimately proved unsuccessful) ... Announced engagement to Ashlee Simpson via blog post ... Denied (then later admitted) that Simpson was pregnant ... Married Simpson in a private ceremony at her parents' house ... Hosted "FNMTV" ... Launched a viral campaign in support of new album Folie à Deux that was subsequently hijacked by rock act Copeland ... Revealed that he owes his creation to VP-elect Joe Biden ... Raged when Folie was pushed back to a December release by FOB's label ... Attempted to set another world record for doing the most interviews in a 24-hour span ... Named his son Bronx Mowgli Wentz ... Got back to the business of being in a band. Seriously, how is he not MTV News' Man of the Year? 9. T.I. 2008 Highlights: Entered the year on a down note, after being arrested on a variety of weapons charges ... Spent his house arrest working on his album Paper Trail, which he hoped to have in stores sometime in 2008 ... Addressed a crowd of 30,000 in an Atlanta Baptist church during Easter services ... Pleaded guilty to federal weapons charges as part of a deal that could send him to jail for a year ... Also sentenced to perform 1,000 hours of community service ... Released the incendiary first single from Paper Trail, "No Matter What," which called out his newest rival, rapper Shawty Lo, by name ... Named #10 on MTV News' "Hottest MCs in the Game" list ... Returned to the stage with a fiery 90-minute performance in Washington, D.C. ... Nabbed his third-straight #1 debut, when Paper Trail sold more than 568,000 copies ... Watched as members of his camp brawled with members of Shawty's at the Dirty Awards in Atlanta ... Simultaneously held the #1 and #2 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart ... Closed 2008 with the specter of beginning his jail sentence in March. 8. T-Pain 2008 Highlights: Announced his desire to collaborate with, um, Toby Keith and Fred Durst on his upcoming Thr33 Ringz album ... Joined forces with Lil Wayne to record an album that will presumably never see the light of day ... Premiered Thr33 Ringz at a circus-themed listening party in NYC ... Never appeared in public without a Wonka-esque top hat on his head ... Turned a gospel song into a boozy ode to tequila ... Arrived at the Video Music Awards atop an elephant ... Filled in for Katt Williams as host of the BET Hip-Hop Awards after Williams goes missing ... Joined forces with Nelly, Akon and Pharrell to record another album that will presumably never see the light of day ... Maintained that he — and he alone — be allowed to use the Auto-Tune vocal effect in songs and called for his fellow artists to put an end to their Tune-filled madness, unless they are prepared to pay him royalties. Please read that last sentence again and tell us why Pain shouldn't be Man of the Year. 7. Nick Jonas 2008 Highlights: Dated — then split with — fellow pop star Miley Cyrus ... Inspired much of Cyrus' Breakout album, including venomous first single "7 Things" ... Also inspired Cyrus to give the following quote to Seventeen magazine: "When we were dating, Nick wanted me to get highlights — and so I did that, and I got myself looking great" ... Moved on to romancing another pop star, Selena Gomez ... Told "TRL" audience members that he likes girls who are "good to their moms" ... Encouraged kids to go outside and play during a trip to the White House ... Immortalized in wax ... Beefed (sort of) with Video Music Awards host Russell Brand ... Celebrated first-ever Grammy nom with "a big fist pump" ... Has diabetes ... Is by far the second-most interesting Jonas Brother. 6. Bill Kaulitz 2008 Highlights: Maintained his epically spiked plumage and remarkable, porcelain-like complexion for the entirety of the year ... Haunted our dreams and tricked fans into singing in German ... Took over Times Square and confessed his love for David Hasselhoff ... Released his band's first English-language album, Scream ... Gave an interview dressed in what appeared to be Michael Jackson's jacket from the "Thriller" video ... Arrived at the Video Music Awards atop a supercharged monster truck ... Immortalized in wax ... Professed his love for American Halloween candy (but not warheads) ... Got new tattoos ... Inspired a level of devotion from his fans that was both shocking and frightening. We'll be rolling out our Top 10 Men and Women of the Year all week! Today you've got 10 through 6, tomorrow you'll see 5 through 2, on Wednesday we'll be recapping your reactions and opinions, and on Thursday the winners will be revealed! Who do you think the Man and Woman of the Year should be? Tell us now! Related Videos Related Artists |
| Posted: 15 Dec 2008 05:01 AM PST Plus: T.I. doesn't plan to make another 'Swing Ya Rag' video.
Family and friends, we've had a beautiful 2008. The year is almost over, and when you see what we're bringing to the table in '09, you'll be proud and entertained. But before we get to next year, let's reflect a little on the last 350-plus days. A lot of MCs stepped up with quality material, and, wow, so many records floated around that disintegrated the dance floor, straight disrespected the speakers in your car and just about ignited your iPod. Our usual suppliers (Weezy, Jeezy, Rick Ross, Hova, 'Ye, Fif, Tip) delivered crack music, while new connects (Mr. L.O., Maino and even overseas princess M.I.A.) dropped off face-numbing product. We sat back, consumed everything and came up with a few lists to reward the best of the best. Tell us in the comment section what we got right and who we omitted. We're still bringing you the Streets Is Talking news, and next week, we'll have our own awards and the top mixtapes. 28 In '08: Commercially Released Hip-Hop Singles 1. Lil Wayne - "A Milli" The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground As the February 4 release date of his Before I Self Destruct nears, the possibility of 50 Cent leaving the Shady/Aftermath/Interscope fold is becoming more of a reality. Still, even if his business relationship with Eminem comes to a halt with failed renegotiations, Fif said Curtis Jackson and Marshall Mathers will always be friends. "I'm a loyal person. I'll always be down with Em, regardless to what the scenario is," 50 explained recently in London while talking to MTV UK. "My album requirements will actually be done, and it'll be time to renegotiate. So if things work out, I'll end up staying with Em and Aftermath/Interscope. If the negotiation doesn't go right, then I'll go elsewhere. It won't change our relationship, because Em's so rich it doesn't matter. That's why he'll just take off for two or three years, and you don't hear nothing or see nothing from him and then he comes back, because he can afford to do that." At the end of his video for "Get Up," 50 pays tribute to Em and Dr. Dre, showing their images in the lab coats from the "In Da Club" clip. The two were supposed to be frozen in the futuristic clip. "The actual music video [for 'Get Up'] took place within the same place I started, and it actually makes perfect sense for my album to release at the time period it's going to release," he explained. "If you remember correctly, I released Get Rich Or Die Tryin' in February 2003, and [Before I Self Destruct] is actually my final album requirement, so I'm finishing exactly where I started. The music video was me going back to the very beginning again and back to the things that people appreciate me for initially. I was able to capture things from a perspective that they could embrace from me, because they knew that I actually had prior experiences going through different portions of my actual life. So I went back to some of the things that I've experienced that haven't been so pleasurable." ... OK, we can stop asking. T.I. said he's not shooting a different video for "Swing Ya Rag," and he's not releasing the one he has in the can. A few months ago, you remember Tip revealed to us exclusively that the anticipated clip had been relegated to the vaults because Gucci and Louis Vuitton protested having their products shown. "We spoke to them," Tip said. "The video, it's done. But I guess it's one of those corporate things where they don't wanna be associated or affiliated with a certain type of brand. A T.I. video ain't the best look in their eyes right now. No harsh feelings. At the end of the day, it's gonna be a time when somebody is gonna have to sit at my table, and we gonna have the same type of conversations. It might be something as simple as just a party or endorsement. One thing is, the world goes around and comes back. I can take it when it's my turn." For other artists featured in Mixtape Monday, check out Mixtape Mondays Headlines. Related Videos Related Artists |
| Posted: 15 Dec 2008 05:00 AM PST Even Bad Boy artist Janelle Monae is affiliated with the movement.
James Spooner, like a lot of kids growing up in Southern California in the 1990s, was into punk rock. But unlike most of the kids in the scene, he's black. Sometimes, this posed a problem. "I was in this tiny desert town that was pretty much all white, and the punk scene was very racist," he recalled. "You would go to shows and it was blatantly white power, swastikas, all of that." But when he moved to New York during high school, Spooner found "a gang of black kids" just like him. For the first time in his life, "I could be who I wanted to be," he said. "[They] made it OK for me, you know?" The fundamental contradiction of black kids feeling left out of rock — which from its very beginning was based on black music — has played a large role in the creation of Afro-Punk. And while there have been many black artists who have been embraced by white rock fans, from Little Richard to Sly and the Family Stone to the Bad Brains, the Afro-Punk movement has found fans bonding and creating communities, organizing shows and shooting films in a whole new way. Afro-Punk has gone from the name of a message board to a movement in less than five years — and the scene just keeps growing.
Before the 2000s, Spooner said, "there were no black bands in the mainstream doing anything alternative." Sure, bands like the Bad Brains, Fishbone and Living Colour had set an example for the younger generation — and the Black Rock Coalition was formed during the 1980s — but the success of the mostly black group TV on the Radio has crashed the door open for the movement. Now, British rockers the Noisettes and singers Santogold and Janelle Monáe are poster children for the movement, even though the artists in the scene sound completely different. When we checked in with Afro-Punk promoters Kaos Blac and Rape Whistle, they rattled off a mind-spinningly diverse list of bands. It includes: Game Rebellion The Apes Ebony Bones Whole Wheat Bread VV Brown Tamar Kali So how did this thriving movement become a scene in the first place? T-Kali knows from joining Spooner on the road, when he was shooting his "Afro-Punk" documentary in 2001. (She's on the cover of the DVD — check her out in our photo gallery, along with some of our favorite Afro-Punk moments here.) "To this day, I always get messages on MySpace from people saying, 'I saw you!' " she said. "That's a wonderful thing." Spooner's doc, which debuted in 2003 at the Toronto Film Festival, also featured TV on the Radio as well as bands such as Cipher, in his attempt to document "the other black experience." It continues, five years later, to screen at festivals. "The film surprisingly has legs that a lot of other films don't," Spooner said. "I just did two screenings last month. The film continues to reach new people." Part of that reach extends online. "Afro-Punk" the documentary inspired the messageboard AfroPunk.com, and from the fan discussion there, Spooner realized that they could turn the desire for Afro-Punk shows into a music festival, which now happens annually. One of the first shows Spooner did was an afterparty for one of the documentary screenings, so he reached out to the band Stiffed (the band formerly led by Santi White, who is now known as Santogold) via manager Matthew Morgan, "and he was like, 'No problem — we'll do it for free,' " Spooner said. As the popularity of Santogold and other artists loosely associated with the scene has grown, Afro-Punk has exploded beyond its musical definition, even including Grammy-nominated Bad Boy recording artist Janelle Monáe, whose music can hardly be considered traditionally punk (she's opened for Nas and has been called "the female version of Prince" by Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz). "I felt it was my duty as an artist and as a young African-American woman to support Afro-Punk," Monáe told us at the Afro-Punk Festival last summer. "I think it's very important to let people know that we're not all the same. Diversity needs to be promoted more ... I love being in that environment, and that is something I am trying to promote." Some of the bands associated with Afro-Punk — like Santogold — helped support the scene and increase its visibility simply by showing up. Others who aren't associated, like Lupe Fiasco, helped out just by singing about subjects like skateboarding. "Lupe was able to, in one song, propel the idea of black kids skateboarding into a whole new generation," Spooner said. "That's all out of 'Kick, Push.' " Spooner's since handed off the Afro-Punk torch to Morgan, who has taken the lead in managing the bands, running the Web site and promoting the annual festival. "He had a big vision," Spooner said. The Afro-Punk brand now plays a key role in events like CMJ and South by Southwest, partnering with those larger festivals with the goal of introducing a lineup of bands to a diverse audience who might not have discovered them otherwise. Morgan plans to make the festival a national one next year, and to tour Africa in 2010. "A festival in Africa is a really important step for us," he said. "We want to spread that sense of freedom." Technology has helped, Spooner pointed out. "iPods change the way we listen to music," he said. "[With shuffling,] genre after genre, they all start blending together." Still, that blending doesn't erase all racial boundaries. Spooner said part of the reason the scene is growing is because the issues addressed in the film are still affecting young people. Punk shows are still mostly white, and black rock fans may not always get the most positive reaction in the black community. And even with Afro-Punk's growing popularity, some of the bands associated with it don't like to talk about it publicly for fear of losing their white audience, Spooner said. Could that be due to the scene's growing pains as it wavers between DIY and the mainstream? Or does it make Afro-Punk more needed than ever before? "We will have succeeded when Afro-Punk is no longer relevant," Spooner said. "Clearly we are not there yet, but I'd like to believe that we are on our way. When that day comes, there will no doubt be a 14-year-old kid who flips off Afro-Punk and says, 'I'm starting my own thing,' and that's what they should do. I think that's the nature of scenes, and I wouldn't be mad at them. I would be like, 'Can I come to your show?' " Photographers Bashira Webb, Richard Louissant and Ed Marshall Photography NYC contributed to this gallery and their sites are great sources for more Afro-Punk photography. Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
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