Let's get this out of the way first: Kanye West makes incredible music. That much is undeniable. If anyone tries to dispute that, they deserve to be smacked. He's an innovator whose talents are better than a vast majority of rappers and producers in the hip-hop game right now. However, the following rant has nothing to do with his talents in either of those two fields.

The new songs he premiered on Saturday Night Live last weekend are actually really good. Lots of the early reviews and listens have compared "New Slaves" and "Black Skinhead" to harder edged stuff like early Nine Inch Nails and even Death Grips. Lyrically, Kanye comes out swinging against the paparazzi and corporations (of course we all love to hate both) to take his music to new artistic territory. If these two songs are an indication of what's to come, it sounds like he's got a lot to say on this album. And we are right there with him, until...we get to the album title. Yeezus? Really? If there was a question about his God complex before, we certainly can't deny it now.

Somehow, some way, anything that Kanye does now is perceived to be an instant classic, ahead of anything that anyone has ever done before. This past weekend's antics have proven such. For someone of his stature, he carries a gigantic chip on his shoulder that has provided the fuel to his proverbial fire, best demonstrated on his first three albums. Yet at the same time, he took this as a license to do whatever he wanted and no one close to him had the balls to put him in his place.

Along the way, Kanye became bigger than his music. It's everyone's fault for letting his ego to go relatively unchecked outside of the Taylor Swift incident, thus creating an aura of megalomania that's both annoying and infuriating. Usually after event like swiftboatting Swift would humble someone and while it seemed to for a little (just look at how the underrated My Dark Twisted Fantasy was received), it looks like old Kanye is back and more out of control than ever.

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By now, much of the music world has heard about veteran folk singer Michelle Shocked's deplorable rant in San Francisco from earlier in the week. Almost everyone has weighed in on it and to put it bluntly, her career is on life support.

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If this doesn't scream excess, what does?

Over the past few weeks, if you work in and around the so-called music biz, you've received hundreds of incessant emails about the shit show down in Austin called South-by-Southwest. As tens of thousands of people descend upon the city, everyone and their sister are going to try to check out as many bands as they can, which is awesome since there should be something for everyone. What isn't so great is that unless a band knows someone high and mighty, this week will be a fruitless attempt at gaining some super-cool blogger's attention. While smart in theory, many of these bloggers have their own showcases and parties to pat themselves on the back for being so in the know, leaving the fests' general population out in the cold and several thousands dollars poorer. More »

Mark McGrath

Just when you thought the '90s rock scene was threatening to re-emerge with a vengeance, take a deep breath and relax, for your fears are unwarranted. This week, things took a turn for the worse for fans of stalwarts such as Stone Temple Pilots, Sugar Ray and even our beloved No Doubt. We'll address each issue one-by-one.More »

Vans

For those of you who don't know/aren't aware, bands and shoe companies have been joining forces to co-brand band-inspired sneakers. Confused? Well, this may explain it a bit more.

Yesterday, Vans and Metallica announced they'd be releasing four different designs of Metallica-branded Vans, one designed by each member. For diehards, this new is probably amazing, I mean, what other piece of garb could you possibly add to your collection of Metallica swag (and shoes for that matter since they released a Kill Em All inspired shoe last March) than four pairs of Vans?

Metallica isn't the first band, and certainly won't be the last to lend their name and design capabilities in order to make a few extra bucks. In the climate of the music biz today, who could blame them? As an owner of Circle Jerks Vans and AC/DC Converse that I bought in London a few years ago, I completely understand the appeal IF they are designed correctly. I've gotten a number of compliments on the Circle Jerks shoes, and why wouldn't I? If you don't like the Circle Jerks, then you have no soul. Besides they look pretty damn badass as well.

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Thank you Aleixis (aka @Thugy_A) for the laugh.

Bringing a baby into this world is a great thing. That being said, anyone can have unprotected sex so it isn't really breaking news. Case in point: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Sadly, this (pretend) unplanned pregnancy will no doubt take over the airwaves, the internet, and we're even betting that it will spawn yet another TV show with the overexposed Kardashian Klan. And we can all talk as much shit on this innocent baby as we want but at the end of the day, it isn't the baby's fault that it will be born to a mother who is famous for fucking and who'll pimp it out as soon as Ryan Seacrest ponies up the cash, and a father who thinks crushing young girl's spirits (Taylor Swift), using a Katrina fundraiser as a personal platform, and wearing leather skirts is a good look.

After a "long" courtship of eight months, Kanye announced the great news every so sexily by saying, "Stop the music real quick. Make noise for my baby mama." on Sunday night at his concert in Atlantic City. It turns out that Kim is twelve weeks along (you do the math) and even though we wish them a happy and healthy baby, we are also sooo not looking forward to "Kim and Kanye Take the Maternity Ward" on the E! Channel.

It's apparent to everyone that this family will do anything for attention and since they love being in the limelight so much, we thought we'd join in on the craze that is already spreading across the internet faster than Kim's...well you know...which is, what will this duo name their baby? As you can imagine, we had a few thoughts.

See Also:

*Kim Kardashian's Wedding Playist: 5 Songs To Avoid
*[UPDATED: Kardashian Is Making a Music Video for "Turn It Up"] Kim Kardashian Makes Pointless "Music"
*Top Five Most Outrageous 2 Chainz Lines

5- K' Donda

Keeping with the "K" theme, Kanye would no doubt like to pay homage to his mother that passed away and what better way than to gift this child with her name in Donda's honor. Of course, they will just havvve to add the "K" because of the obvious but they should be "kareful" because only three K's in one family could lead to trouble if you catch what we're throwing.

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Andrew Youssef

Say, say, say, what you want, but it's happening

For those of you who may or may not know, tonight in New York City is the granddaddy of all Sandy concerts. Taking place at Madison Square Garden, tonight's show will feature some of the biggest names in music history including (drumroll please) Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, Dave Grohl, Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Chris Martin, Eddie Vedder, Kanye West, The Rolling Stones, Roger Waters, The Who, and Paul McCartney.

Read that again, please. Yes, all of the aforementioned musicians will be performing to raise money for Sandy. When you first look at that list, you have no choice but to say WOW, especially considering the potential collaborations between groups. So far, Rolling Stone reports that Eddie Vedder will be joining Roger Waters on the Pink Floyd classic "Comfortably Numb," which could be pretty cool. There's another purported collaboration though that doesn't seem so appealing; in fact, it's the headscratcher of all headscratchers.

Apparently McCartney and the former members of Nirvana recently got together for a jam session and according to the British newspaper The Sun, will be performing as a unit tonight. Yes, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl will be performing with possibly the least grunge-y/punk person this side of Pat Boone tonight.

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Yeah. Ummmm. Pimpin' is a much better look on you Katt.

Dear Katt:

Forgive us for being so blunt (although we know you like blunts) but, what the fuck is going on with you? We've all heard of acting out due to "short man's complex" but my friend (if we may call you that), you are taking it wayyyy too far. We get you are a "pimp" but for real pimpin', this shit has to stop!

You are so funny but lately, it seems your life is starting to play out like the punch line to a really bad joke. Your stand-up specials killed and you were on your way to the top of the comedic list and now, you are winding your way down at a rapid pace. And the worst part of it all? It's all because of your own doing. It's not because you aren't funny anymore because really, that isn't the case. You still have what it takes to make a crowd roar but it would seem that your ego is really starting getting in the way. Does, "How do you get a job and fuck up everything! Everything? Everything!" not ring a bell sir?

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This is what $250 gets you, Rihanna fans

Even with the surprising, okay, VERY surprising news that Taylor Swift's latest album sold a whopping 1.2 million copies in its first week, almost everyone can agree that the music biz is in a heap of trouble. Labels and artists alike are scrambling to make a buck any way they can. Sometimes this could be to the benefit of fans and collectors of limited edition items, or quite the contrary. In the case of Rhianna, it's the latter rather than the former.

For those of you who don't know, Rhianna's upcoming album, Unapologetic, will be available in multiple formats, which has been the norm for releases these days. There's the standard CD ($9.99 via Amazon) or if you're feeling ambitious, plunk down a few more bucks for the deluxe CD/DVD version. Or if you're a diehard fan who collects all things Rhianna (you know who you are), you can spend $250 for the Diamonds Executive Platinum Box.

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Flikr user Ceasar Sebastian.

Monster Massive 2008

Hey kids! What are you doing this weekend? Monster Massive? If you haven't been on the Internet in last 12 hours or so you should probably Google their website and guess again. Last night, the event hosted by rave promoter Go Ventures announced that it had been cancelled.

Stop us if you've heard this one before...
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