in use
daily dos
tue 7/1/2008
Us Weekly says New York Yankees baseball star Alex Rodriguez has been making late-night trips to the New York apartment of pop star Madonna.
Mariah Carey, Tony Dize, Lil Mama and Madonna
the music press
tue 5/13/2008
- R&B and pop diva Mariah Carey releases E=MC2, her eleventh studio album. Blender calls it her "most fun" album and gives it four stars: "Mimi has definitively been emancipated – from her need to decorate every damn song with more octaves than Maria Callas." The Los Angeles Times compares it to her previous album, The Emancipation of Mimi: "E=MC2 is a little better – the songwriting is more consistent, the feel a bit more natural – but it too lacks … artistic vision.”
- Reggeatonero Tony Dize drops his debut album, La Melodía De La Calle. The Hard Data blog digs a couple of dance tracks but is annoyed by the boasting and self-promotion: “I hate to break it down to you, but Calle 13 is 500 years ahead of you and all your friends." Billboard en Español says despite some reggaetón clichés, the experimental tracks like "Permítame" will "undoubtedly leave the listener sweaty."
- Lil Mama releases her debut album, The Voice Of The Young People. The Associated Press says Lil Mama is not a typical ringtone rapper: “Her lip gloss may be poppin', but she's got more to say than that.” Rolling Stone gives the album three stars for proving "there's more to her than bubble gum," adding, "let's hope she's got a few more years to give us the rest.”
- Veteran pop queen Madonna releases Hard Candy, the "kind of album a record company longs for in the current embattled market: a set of catchy, easily digestible, mass-appeal songs by a star who’s not taking chances,” proclaims the New York Times. “[Madonna] doesn't reinvent pop; she defines it,” gushes Pitchforkmedia, before complaining that “nobody involved in Hard Candy is anywhere near their creative peak.”
steadfast and furious
daily dos
fri 5/9/2008
Don Omar will reportedly include a cover of Madonna's "La Isla Bonita" on his forthcoming album, El Orfanato.
Mariah Carey vs. Madonna
versus
wed 4/30/2008
| name | Mariah Angela Carey. | Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone Ritchie. |
| hometown | Long Island, New York. | Bay City, Michigan. |
| birthdate | March 27, 1970. | August 16, 1958. |
| style | R&B and pop. | Pop and dance. |
| nickname | Mimi. | The Material Girl. |
| started as | A backup singer for Brenda K. Starr. | A dancer for disco legend Patrick Hernández. |
| discovered by | Future ex-husband Tommy Mottola, who signed her to Columbia records. | DJ Mark Kamins, who gave her demo to Sire Records executive Seymour Stein. |
| ethnicity | Father is Afro-Venezuelan and mother is Irish-American. | Father is Italian-American and mother is French-Canadian. |
| breakthrough single | Vision of Love. | Like A Virgin. |
| platinum debut | Mariah Carey. | Madonna. | latino fling/s | Luis Miguel. | Producer "Jellybean" Benitez and baby daddy Carlos Leon. | status | Dating actor and rapper Nick Cannon. | Married to movie director Guy Ritchie. | endorses | Democrat Barack Obama. | Democrat Hillary Clinton. | box office bombs | Glitter. | The Next Best Thing, Swept Away. | made headlines by | Suffering an "emotional and physical breakdown" after Glitter bombed and being dropped by her record label. | Releasing sexually suggestive music videos and a raunchy picture book titled "Sex." |
| collaborations | Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Damian Marley, Jay-Z, Jermaine Dupri, Nelly, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Snoop Dogg, T-Pain, Twista, Young Jeezy. | Babyface, Björk, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Prince, Timbaland. | studio albums to date | 11. | 11. |
| most recent release | E=MC². | Hard Candy. |
| dethroning the king | Surpassed Elvis to become the solo artist with the most number one singles. | Surpassed Elvis to become the artist with the most top 10 hits. |
| the critics | Rolling Stone: "Mariah's big voice may be her greatest source of pride – it is, in her words, her 'instrument' – but she is equally keen to be known as one of the few pop stars who has had a hand in the writing and/or production of nearly every song she's ever recorded." | Rolling Stone: "One can't help but wonder sometimes how this boy-crazy outcast from Michigan ended up selling some 250 million records worldwide. But watch her closely for a while, and that answer will come in a Madonna moment, when, despite the ego-shedding lessons of Kabbalah, her competitive nature emerges." |
| webprops | 440,556 friends on official MySpace. | 384,235 friends on official MySpace. |
| best video moment | Fighting her alter ego in Heartbreaker. | Paying homage to Marilyn Monroe in Material Girl. |
Naty Botero
whodat
fri 8/31/2007
In the English-speaking world, Kylie Minogue is a rare success: a soap star who turned into a mega pop star and then, finally, a hip, sultry singer. It's too soon to tell whether a similar future awaits Natalia Hernández Botero, but if it does, the gorgeous Colombian singer will have skipped the "lame" parts of Kylie's life history and started right when things got juicy.
A former fashion model, Botero sounds something like a nasal M.I.A. with the pan-Latin musical sensibilities of Manu Chao. Her 2006 eponymous debut was rejected by a few U.S. labels but it's making waves in South America. Though only available in Colombia, a few select clips have landed on YouTube – and on mun2 – including the glossy (and filthy) Dinosaurio, the similarly raunchy Te Quiero Mucho and the "muy Manu" Si Es Pa Ti.
Not just another pretty face, the 27-year-old Botero got her musical start working with legendary dance music producer Felix Da Housecat – she co-wrote five tracks on his acclaimed Devin Dazzle and The Neon Fever album. Whether those hipster bona fides and the playful range on her debut will catapult her to international success is unclear. Either way, her racy, clever videos will remain – not unlike those of Botero's childhood idol: Madonna.
guap-oh
daily dos
fri 4/13/2007
(image by Clearly Ambiguous via flickr)
Justin Timberlake is working on songs for Madonna's new album which is due out in November. (via A Socialite's Life)
shoe the man
daily dos
fri 4/6/2007
(image by Looking Glass via flickr)
A 250-square-foot billboard of Madonna is vandalized to look like she is shedding flourescent green tears. (via WOW Report)
Jellybean Benitez
previously
thu 2/1/2007
John Jellybean Benitez was one of the most influential DJs and producers of the 1980s. Inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2005, the Nuyorican Benitez is best known for producing and remixing Madonna’s early hits: Everybody, Borderline and Lucky Star.
Before catapulting Madonna to fame, Benitez was already a hot DJ, spinning at classic New York dance clubs like Studio 54 and Funhouse. He would eventually remix some of the biggest acts of the '80s, including Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney and Whitney Houston as well as contribute music to such blockbuster movies as Back to the Future, Top Gun, Flashdance and Footloose.
Benitez' style combines Italo Disco with electro pop, a fusion that later laid the foundations for Latin House music. The "Jellybean sound" is making a comeback with producers like Metro Area and artists like Tracey Thorn and Sally Shapiro who harken back to simpler melodic sounds.
Benitez himself never left: he's still DJing for ginormous fees around the world.
Monterrey es el pais lo d.. Says:
