Oct. 5-11: Hip-Hop, Britpop, The News Don't Stop
One of the odder political/rock feuds in recent memory took place this week, when Britrock trio Muse did a most unusual thing: asked a famous media figure to withdraw his glowing endorsement of the band. See, earlier this week on his nationally syndicated talk radio show, right-wing political pundit Glenn Beck praised the Muse song "United States Of Eurasia" (from new album The Resistance) for warning against the dangers of big government, saying: "These guys are brilliant, they know the time that we live in, they are libertarians from England. All of the lyrics are...dead on, on what's coming our way." But apparently, Muse were not amused.
Within an hour of Glenn's remarks, while he was still on the air, a representative of the band emailed Glenn and demanded that he retract his praise of the song, complaining that he was misrepresenting the band's views. "They would like me to retract my endorsement," Glenn wryly told listeners. "My apologies to Muse for saying that I like them. I didn't mean to destroy all their credibility and all their coolness. It's an awful album and you should never go out and buy it."
Apparently Muse don't believe the old adage that any publicity is good publicity...
Speaking of withdrawing public statements, this week two highly visible pop stars abruptly withdrew from the highly public forum known as Twitter. First one of Twitter's most popular celebrity tweeters, Miley Cyrus, deleted her Twitter account (which had 1.1 million followers), causing thousands of distraught fans to trend "#mileycomeback" in vain. In one of her final posts, the tween tweeter wrote that her new boyfriend Liam Hemsworth (her co-star in her upcoming movie The Last Song) wanted her to delete her account "with good reason"...and apparently she took his reasoning seriously.
Additionally, the always outrageous and uncensored Courtney Love--whose tweets were so over-the-top that they'd even inspired a fan-created Twitter alias called @cltranslated--also quit Twitter, just a few days after her daughter Frances Bean Cobain tweeted a scathing tirade against Lindsay Lohan's little sister, Ali Lohan. Frances Bean also deleted her account without explanation.
And thus, a gaping void was left in the Twitter world. But hey, at least tweeter extraordinaire John Mayer is still online.
Back on the subject of mouthy Britpop bands, this week Liam Gallagher shocked, well, no one when he confirmed what fans assumed ever since his brother/nemesis Noel Gallagher quit their band Oasis in a huff several weeks ago: Oasis have indeed broken up. "Oasis is no longer. I think we all know that. So that's done," he said. "It's a shame, but that's life. We had a good run at it. The thing about Oasis is...no one ended it for us. Which was kind of cool."
As for the famously feuding Gallagher brothers' post-breakup plans, it is widely presumed that Noel, Oasis's chief songwriter, will embark on a solo career, while Liam is launching a range of clothes called Pretty Green. Ironically, both brothers may even dabble in hip-hop, despite Noel's vehemently anti-rap comments regarding Jay-Z's appearance at Britain's Glastonbury Festival last year.
Snoop Dogg recently told British music site NME.com that he would be interested in signing Noel Gallagher to Priority Records (of which Snoop is creative director), and then none other than Jay-Z told U.K. paper The Sun: "I hear Snoop Dogg might be teaming up with Noel. If that's the case then I would love to work with Liam. [Oasis's] music is tight and I think we could blend our styles well. When I teamed up with Linkin Park nobody expected that to work, but we made a massive success of it. The same could happen with Liam. When you have two artists like us in a room just throwing about ideas, you come up with something brilliant fairly easily. I don't know what he is up to now, but he can give me a call."
Jay-Z and a Gallagher brother, collaborating? The next thing we'll hear is that Muse and Glenn Beck are recording a love duet. But hey, what better revenge could Liam get on Noel than by becoming BFFs with Hova?
In other rap-related news, Public Enemy are asking fans to raise $250,000 to help them record their new album (this is a new business model, with fans who invest $25 in the album receiving a share in the revenue as well as a numbered copy of it); the Beastie Boys' Adam "MCA" Yauch announced that he's "hopeful" he has beaten cancer; Aftermath Records labelmates Eminem and 50 Cent revealed that they will face off on a new song on Shady's upcoming Relapse 2 album; Method Man is facing four years in prison for tax evasion; and Beyonce defended Kanye West's recent controversial behavior at the VMAs, saying 'Ye was "standing up for art" when he protested Taylor Swift's video winning over her own "Single Ladies."
We wish Public Enemy good luck with their new business plan, Adam good luck in his cancer battle, Em and Fiddy good luck in their superstar face-off, Method Man good luck fighting the IRS...and Beyonce good luck in getting anyone to believe that Kanye is some sort of righteous crusader for the arts.
And, of course, we wish all of you a very good weekend. Until next Friday, goodnight and good music.
THIS WEEK'S TOP 10 STORIES:
1) Not A-Mused - Muse tell Glenn Beck to withdraw his endorsement of their music.
2) Beyonce's Halo Tarnished? - A confession, that she knew Kanye's intentions beforehand at the VMAs, sparks outrage.
3) Usher's "Papers" Trail - He exits his marriage from Tameka Foster with a nasty divorce song called "Papers."
4) And The Least Shocking Story Award Goes To... - ..Oasis, who anti-climactically confirm that they have indeed split up.
5) Adam Yauch Not Sabotaged - The Beastie Boy says he's hopeful" that he has beaten cancer.
6) Egg On Their (Black)face - An Australian TV show apologizes for a blackface skit that angered guest Harry Connick Jr.
7) Twitter Quitters - Popular tweeters Miley Cyrus and Courtney Love abruptly delete their accounts.
8) Eminem & 50 Cent Relapse Together - The rappers will face off on Marshall Mathers' upcoming Relapse 2 album.
9) Public Funding - Public Enemy ask fans to invest $250,000 in their new album.
10) Method & Madness - Rapper Method Man faces four years in prison for tax evasion.
