Everybody listen to Usher

Given that 12% of Americans still believe Barack Obama is a Muslim, I applaud anyone who challenges the citizens of the USA to pay more attention to the world around them.

So, in theory, I should be fully supportive of Usher's new song. It's called Hush and it sees the R&B star chastising his fans for ignoring "the issues" - which Usher has, of course, been studying during his part-time masters degree in social studies [can someone check this, please - ed]

Let's take a quick look at verse one:

Every day he wakes up
In his million dollar home
His life is like a video...
The only reality he knows

He jumps inside
His $100,000 car
Cruisin' up the boulevard...
Drivin' past people living hard

Complains about the gas prices
But still supports the war
He complains about his six-figure salary
That's taxed to feed the poor

He doesn't understand the homeless
Doesn't think its genocide
That millions die completely from letters
So he does shit to make it better

If you don't quite understand that last bit, Usher is saying HIV is genocide. In other words, he subscribes to the not-at-all-discredited theory that Aids was created by the CIA to kill off African Americans.

He's not the first urban star to publicly endorse this idea - Kanye West apparently believes it, even though (or perhaps because) his grandmother died of the disease.

But that doesn't stop it being completely preposterous.

And, while it's deliciously ironic that Usher exposes his staggeringly moronic ignorance in a song which challenges that very thing, there's something hugely distasteful about the fact that his statements have gone unchallenged by the radio stations and TV channels that are playing the song. Not to mention his record company, LaFace, which is owned by Sony - one of the world's most powerful media conglomerates with a global annual turnover in excess of $80bn.

I had been going to put the video for Hush at the bottom of this post but, on reflection, I don't really see why I should play even the smallest of small parts in perpetuating this idiocy.

Instead, here's Phil Collins' Another Day In Paradise which, by comparison, deserves some sort of Nobel prize for erudite musical commentary on the problems faced by contemporary society.

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Look at Christina Aguilera's new video

When we look back at the first decade of the 21st Century, history (and by history, I mean journalists) will record that Amy Winehouse spearheaded the whole "sounding a bit like your song was recorded in the 1960s at a not-quite-Motown recording studio" craze.

This must make Christina Aguilera mad. The platinum blonde pop princess was about six months ahead of the pack with Back To Basics. She even put in a bit off effort to update the retro sound with a bit of modern glamour, rather than relying on mere pastiche á la Winehouse. What's more, she had Mark Ronson producing bits of it, and managed to stop him putting bloody horns all over the top like some kind of freakish brass fetishist.

Where Aguilera fell down, however, was that she released a double "concept" album, confusing punters who would have preferred a single disc with 10 good tracks, and less of Aguilera pretending to be Vera Lynn's slutty grand-daughter.

So, tail between her legs, the starlet has ditched the whole '60s vibe and reverted to sounding like Britney with a good singing voice for her new single, Keeps Getting Better. It trails a greatest hits album on which, for some reason, Aguilera has re-recorded the vocals to Beautiful.

All of which is a shame because, unlike most of Mickey Mouse Club graduates, Aguilera always seemed to be the one with an artistic "bent" and a clear idea of what she wanted to do... Post-Back To Basics, it seems she's trying to recapture her former glories. And that never works.

Keeps Gettin' Better (Official Video)

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50 Cent, Q-Tip catch bus out of dumper

Rap music isn't a genre where people make spectacular returns to form. I'm sure I could think of a thousand reasons why - maybe it's the shallow, self-aggrandising lyrics; the restrictive musical straitjacket of "hardcore" rap; or the fact that so many stars retire before they burn out.

But there are a few exceptions. Jay-Z has been pronounced dead in the past (by himself, more often than not) and come back bigger and better than ever. LL Cool J's had the occasional resurgence, too, although it's never been successfully sustained.

Now we can add to that list former Tribe Called Quest frontman Q-Tip and - believe it or not - cartoon gangsta waste of space 50 Cent, both of whom have come up with new material that, quite frankly, rocks.

Fiddy (was there ever a more ridiculous nickname?) has teamed up with Christina Aguilera's tunesmith Scott Storch for a slamming club anthem, Get Up, which is easily the equal of his awe-inspiring In Da Club. Q-Tip is, true to form, more funky, more humorous and more full of cod spiritual bollocks on the slinky Manwomanboogie.

Check out these clips.


50 Cent - Get Up


Q-Tip - Manwomanboogie

Believe me, I'm as shocked as you are.

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Is Master Shortie the new Dizzee Rascal?

Earlier this year, Dizzee Rascal said his amazing pop-rap crossover Dance Wiv Me was a one-off, and that he wanted to go back to yelping like a broken dog over the sound of a drum kit being thrown down the stairs.

So step forward Master Shortie, a 19-year-old Brit School graduate who's not afraid of phrases like "commercially viable" and "actually selling records".

The skinny Londoner with an was all over MTV Base this summer Rope Chain, a tongue-in-cheek calling card with a hilarious cardboard cut-out video.

His first proper single comes out on 10 November. It's called Dead End and, unusually for a a rap song, it's about commitment and fidelity. Shortie likes the look of a girl he sees on the tube - but doesn't approach her because of his young lady friend.

"She can cook much better than… She looks much better than… She does it better than… you," he croons over a choppy Duran Duran guitar lick.

How sweet.

Master Shortie - Dead Set

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Take That: Greatest Day video

In which Take That's new song is so amazing, they cause a rift in the space-time continuum and explode.



Hubris, there. In spades.

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New Ladyhawke: My Delirium

Ladyhawke - My Delirium

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