First Listen + Audio: Lady GaGa › Born This Way

It has finally arrived, and to be brutally honest, it's an amazing Letdown. Yes, with a capital L. I don't think it lives up to the hype. And like I tweeted earlier, to me it sounds like a bad Madonna's Express Yourself and Kelly Clarkson's Walk Away ripoff. You be the judge.



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First Listen: New Panic! At The Disco

Panic! At The Disco is back with a vengeance, and the long missed exclamation point... It seems they've left the folksy stuff in the past and are about to release The Ballad Of Mona Lisa, a very rocking first single from their upcoming album Vices & Virtues. Well, I like this a lot based on a first listen! Should do a lot better than the songs from Pretty.Odd. The single will be available starting February 1st with the new album coming out on March 29th.

Some stats for the band include eight charted songs with Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off as their highest ranked song so far, peaking  at #10 in 2006; and Nine In The Afternoon as their longest chart run with 28 weeks, and a #11 peak in 2008.



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First Listen: Britney Spears' Hold It Against Me

Hear the latest from pop star Britney Spears. To be honest, this could've been a real turn-around in music and not just another pop song with a dance beat. Am I wrong to think that the Europop-trend should've died in 2010? Yes, I am (apparently) 'cause this one's already proving to be a worldwide hit on digital stores like... iTunes, where it's gone #1 in no less than 15 countries. And that happened just hours after its midnight release. I'll say she has a very loyal fan base because even the song sounds a little familiar (shocking!). That being said, Hold It Against Me might be the real 'comeback' she needs to make us all forget about shaved heads and awkward dance moves once and for all.



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First Listen: Michael Jackson › Breaking News

Are you ready for this? I've already talked about how uncomfortable and awkward this new song by Michael Jackson is. There's already a war of words all over the internet of fans claiming how it doesn't feel like it's 100% him singing and blaming the label's "evil schemes" to just make money off his death. Whatever it ends up to be, it's surely gonna bring some controversy to the table. Breaking News is set to be included on his first posthumous album titled Michael.



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First Listen: Lupe Fiasco › The Show Goes On

And finally Lupe Fiasco comes to save the day! Long story short: there was a big dispute with his label Atlantic Records for not setting a release date for the highly anticipated third album, Lasers. An online petition, a twitter protest and a fans' rally to the Atlantic Records offices in New York was all it took for the album to get a release date. March 8th, 2011. Now that all the drama has been settled Lupe Fiasco has published what will be the album's first single on his website. The aptly titled The Show Goes On is all I've been waiting for since 2007's Lupe Fiasco's The Cool. What makes this even greater is that it interpolates one of my favorite songs from Modest Mouse, Float On, even using the lines "Alright, already, we'll all float on" as "Alright, already, the show goes on" for the chorus. You better believe this will debut in my chart in no time and listen 'cause you won't be disappointed!

First Listen + Video: Willow Smith › Whip My Hair

One thing I never thought of when I read the name Willow Smith is that she'd be a kid, let alone that she'd be Will Smith's kid! I now get all the fuzz about her breakthrough single Whip My Hair. So, this newcomer has definitely got talent, but isn't it awkward to think about 10-year-old girls whipping their hair or is it just me? I'm passing on this one because a) I'm not feeling it, b) the loop annoys me quickly, and c) doesn't it borrow a LOT from Jay-Z's On To The Next One?. While we figure that out, check out the video, which at least is fun to watch, but make sure you don't miss that "I whip my hair back and forth" line:



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First Listen: Ke$ha › We R Who We R

It seems our favorite guilty pleasure Ke$ha is a hard-worker after all! While the glitter-loving pop star is not busy hard-partying or brushing her teeth with Jack, she is getting ready to release an EP that will most likely feature songs about those very same and ample subjects of parties, booze, glitter and dudes. And that's just based on the first single from Cannibal (Out Nov. 22). If you're expecting less studio voice-tweaking then you're in for a huge disappointment, 'cause this one is the mother of them all. And, yes, we're all ready to judge her for it, but at the end of the day We R Who We R turns out to be as ridiculously catchy as every other pop song should be. Expect this one to storm up the chart as soon as next week!

We R Who We R was posted on Ke$ha's YouTube channel on October 14 and you can listen to it by clicking the video below:

First Listen + Video: Rihanna › Only Girl (In The World)

The girl from Barbados is back with the first single from her upcoming new release, Loud (Out Nov. 16). And if the title serves right, that's what we're gonna get. On Only Girl (In The World) she comes back with the hard-hitting uptempo electronic vibes of today's music trend. And the thing is, a club is probably the only place where this works best. I do give her some props for finally putting her voice to the test, but they may be too 'loud' for your regular sunday morning hangover. Not sure if this'll break the chart, but as a treat you check out sexy Rihanna's new look on the video below:




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First Listen + Video: Linkin Park › Waiting For The End

Having already missed the band's first single for their new album A Thousand Suns, you could say I might have lost some interest in Linkin Park. But that's until now that I've watched their new video for the second single, Waiting For The End. And one thing's for sure, they can always deliver a good music video. The full-on digital effects visual, directed by band-member Joe Hahn, is sure to get your attention from start to finish. As for the song itself... I'm still undecided. It's not completely bad but it's not completely amazing. It's a bit different from their previous efforts without completely letting go of the "ballad"-type stuff they did on Minutes To Midnight. It does have potential to grow so that's why I'm starting it with a Slight Play and see if it takes off. If it doesn't, I can always go back and enjoy the nice video.




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First Listen + Video: Shakira & Dizzee Rascal › Loca

Oh Shakira, Shakira. I guess long gone are the days where she used to make good pop/rock music - and take my word, I'm all for artists experimenting with their art, but in this first single from her upcoming mostly-spanish album titled Sale El Sol (out October 19), I think she might be taking too much of a risk. Ok, so latin beats are not my thing - unless I'm at a wedding or my grandmother's house - but one would have thought that 5 years after Hips Don't Lie she'd go back to the style of her earlier days, at least for a change. Honestly, I don't think I'm giving this a try, so it's a No Play for la Loca.

On a side note, isn't she looking a little too skinny in the video? And I'm not talking skinny-hot. Watch below:



Buy Loca (English Version) | Buy Loca (Spanish Version)
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First Listen: P!nk › Raise Your Glass

Raise Your Glass is the title of P!nk's upcoming new single which just got available on her website. It's a really energetic track and it's definitely pure P!nk style. It's probably a better lead single than So What which is saying a lot considering what a huge hit that song was for her. This one will most likely follow those footsteps and become a hit everywhere as well. I'm giving this a Full Play based on a couple of listens!