While Queen JoJo continues to burn up the Pop Radio charts with her latest single, “Disaster,” as well as showcase her free-of-all-flaw skin for Clearasil PerfectaWash (I could write a dissertation about the hat alone), the sexy songstress just delivered a brand new treat for fans who’ve been long thirsting to jump onto her upcoming third studio album, Jumping Trains.

“Sexy To Me” is JoJo’s new promotional single, produced by (the unstoppable) Danja. As a result, it’s dripping in pure Britney Blackout realness–chilly space-age electronica, scorching synthesizers, and tripping 808 drum beats, the same killer combination that made The Holy Spearit’s 2007 release so ahead of its time. (Think “Get Back” meets “Perfect Lover”!)

Pouring somethin’ cool up in her cup and stepping out onto the dance floor, it’s the emancipation of JoJo this evening. And happily for Jo, there’s no explosive relationship angst this time around–just pure, self-empowered sexy time!

“I don’t need nobody ’cause I’m sexy to me/You keep doing you tonight, ’cause I’m doing me,” JoJo deliciously declares during the twinkling chorus. Those moans in the background, that bass bumpin’, those melodic vocals–it feels so good, it feels so good! (Get it? Got it? Good.)

It’s just like RuPaul says: If you don’t love yourself, how in the HELL you gon’ love somebody else? Can I get an “amen” up in here?

“Sexy To Me” was released on February 28. (iTunes)

Live fast, die young, bad girls do it well…

The magnificent M.I.A. comes guns blazin’ back onto the scene in 2012 with the Danja-produced “Bad Girls,” a track originally featured on her off-the-charts brilliant 2011 mixtape, Vicki Leekx.

The accompanying Romain Gavras-directed video, which was released earlier today on Pitchfork, finds the genre-smashing British femcee getting flossy and flying free in the desert, racing dusty cars and pulling some rather insane stunts along the way. Oh…just chilling sideways on top of a moving car, you?

Whether she’s ra-ra-sis-boom-bah-ing for Madonna or just hangin’ tight off the hood of a car, M.I.A. is simply too cool for school–and I love every minute of it.

“Bad Girls” was released on January 31. (iTunes)

LITERALLY STOP YOUR ENTIRE LIFE AND SIT THE FUCK DOWN: THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Britney Spears – Everyday

In what is clearly an offering from The Holy Spearit for my loyalty as a stan in a feature for the New York Times today, a new Godney song has just leaked called “Everyday”…AND IT IS A BALLAD.

According to ASCAP, “Every Day” was co-penned by Alexander Francis Barry and Wally Gagel–the songwriting team known better as WAX LTD (Jessica Simpson, Backstreet Boys, Nick Lachey)–and SPEARS HERSELF. (!)

Set against a simple piano melody and quiet, soaring strings, Spears vocals’ shine at the forefront of this brand new ballad, which was registered in February of this year along with Darkchild‘s “Don’t Keep Me Waiting.”

The song’s sweet ‘n’ soulful melody snuggles in somewhere between Spears’ pensive Blackout-era leak “Baby Boy” and Legendtina‘s “Beautiful” (especially after each time she starts to sing “Every day…”) Love hearing Brit belting in her natural lower register again!

The lyrics are also fairly introspective, if only because they (seem to) reflect her outlook on life to date:

Footsteps in the rain, memories wash away
Beyond the headlight glare, it’s kind of dark out there
And everywhere I’ve been, it’s hard to find a friend
I’ve got no alibis for the state I’m in

Everybody needs, needs a place to go
God knows I have seen, it’s a twisting, winding road

Every day, the sun comes up again
A little hope begins and it starts with you ’cause you get me through it
And every day, I’m closer to the shore, I smile a little more
And because of your faith, I get closer now every day

Based on the punchy, mostly uptempo tracklisting of Femme Fatale, it’s clear why a traditional ballad like “Everyday” wouldn’t make the cut (nor is it her best unreleased ballad either–for that, please refer to “State of Grace” or “To Love, Let Go”.)

Still, it’s a gorgeous little treat to keep us hungry, hungry stans satiated until we get more (MOAR). YAY for Balladney!

EDIT:

WHAT?!

GATHER ‘ROUND: IT’S BRITMAS UP IN HERE, Y’ALL!

Love (Unreleased) – Britney Spears by MisterAZ

An 8-second clip of the unreleased Blackout-era track “Love” has now leaked!

The track is rumored to be penned by the man behind “Toy Soldier,” Sean Garrett. At least, that’s according to a thing I found on the Internet (which I vaguely recall reading/drooling over back in ’07/’08):

“Love” is a song written by Sean Garrett (other writers unknown) for “Blackout”. Confirmed November 15 2006, it was later registered in Windswept Pacific’s Monthly Report in April 2007.

Sadly the music publisher Windswept has since been acquired by Bug Music and the original site/report PDF is no longer active, but it does seem 99% likely that this is indeed the long-awaited Sean Garrett track!

Sounds so promising… AND SO SEXY! Kinda In The Zone-ney, no? Let this leak in full, Pop Gods…pretty please!

EDIT:

“Abroad”–the long-awaited session track from Circus, has finally arrived. What’s amazing is that the rumored lyrics–posted over two years ago–were in fact real!

The song, which was co-penned by Marcella Araica and Danja, is totally fun and rocky and frivolous, kind of like a grown-up update to some of B-Girl’s sparkliest numbers, including In The Zone‘s “Brave New Girl” or Britney‘s “Anticipating”, mixed with a bit of the crunch of Circus‘ “Rock Boy,” and just a hint of the sassy braggitude of Blackout‘s “Hot As Ice.”

“Think I just I need a getaway / Time for a break, a holiday / Time that I make my great escape / I need it now!” the Living Legend sweetly chirps.

I am l-i-v-i-n-g for this one! It’s like her own personal version of Madonna‘s “Holiday,” except she’s not looking to go out and celebrate and come together with people in every nation…she just wants to get the fuck away from the world! I LOVE IT.

EDIT:

Britney Spears – “Dangerous”

Good tidings to you, Spearit Army member! Having a good holiday today? Have you been out caroling yet?

“Dangerous” is the third full leak in today’s unexpected Britmas celebration…and it’s fire hot, hot, HOT!

There’s still no word on the song’s origins yet, although it does sound quite a bit like the groovy space-pop of “Rock Me In”–is that you, Nicole Morier?

“I’m a dynamite factory / Just light a match baby, you will see,” Godney purrs against the swinging ’60′s crashing drum beats and psychedelic guitars with all the sassitude of the seductive fem-bot she played in Austin Powers. Talk about a Femme Fatale!

I’m dying over all the signature Godney purrs and groans throughout–especially “dangeroussssss!” Oh, and the way she growls: “When I came back to you, you had nothing to say!” GENIUS! She’s such a Badassney on this record…Goldmember would never stand a chance!

Seriously, this would make for one sick mash-up in between “Lace and Leather” and “Gasoline”…

WE’RE DETONATING LIKE FIYUHWORKS!

EDIT:

Britney Spears – “Rock Star”

You’re actually not ready for this one because I’m still not ready for this one.

This is “Rock Star,” the fourth leak of Britmas–and it’s PURE, OLD FASHIONED DEEPVOICENEY.

Brit’s bringing the ruff ‘n’ rowdy swagger of “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” with a deliciously vicious “Early Mornin’” growl on this newest leak. Except she’s not here for a flirt–she’s here to shut ‘em down. “You only hang around with fake people that barely even know you, kiss your ass, and love to agree with you,” she seethes. YES…GET IT, B!

I can just see Godney struttin’ through a dingy hole-in-the-wall bar at 3 AM and walking up to the unsuspecting chump playing with his band on stage before knocking his ass to the ground.

Oh, and one of the best parts?

“Know what? I never loved you. X-O-X-O!”

She’s kissing off that wannabe loser with a lil’ XOXO! So FIERCE!!!

What is with these leaks? It’s like the SASS is getting big-gah! Am I right? Trust me: I am NOT complaining–this might just be my favorite moment of the bunch yet! LOVE YOU, B!

EDIT:

Britney Spears – 911

One more leak? Sure…why not!

“911″ is the fifth full leak of Britmas. Floating on top of a slick, minimal R&B beat and a police siren on repeat, Brit serves up plenty of heavy breathing and naughty moaning on the (presumably) Blackout-era production. It’s nice to hear a return to Urbanney, but “911″ admittedly feels like a real leftover.

The best part? The rapped bridge, in which Brit talks about “sexin’ in the attic” and how it felt so explosive “when you (pause) all over me.” OH MY GOD, THAT BRITNEY’S SHAMELESS!

2011: YEAR OF THE SPEARS.

As the scribes behind such colossal pop smashes as David Guetta and Kelly Rowland‘s “When Love Takes Over,” Ke$ha‘s “Fuck Him (He’s A DJ)” and Kylie Minogue‘s “Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love),” it’s safe to say that Liv and Mim Nervo–more commonly known as the Nervo Twins–know a thing or two about writing a hit.

The drop dead gorgeous Aussie-born duo have written for dozens of today’s most beloved pop and dance acts–from Armin van Buuren to Rachel Stevens to the Pussycat Dolls, rapidly becoming one of the music industry’s most consistent, unstoppable hit machines for the latter half of the past decade.

But penning smashes for some of today’s most beloved pop acts is only one of the components to Aussie duo’s recipes for success: The twins have just as quickly climbed their way to prominence within the dance community as a result of their frenetic, high energy live DJ sets, achieving the ultimate stamp of approval after being cast as one of the opening acts on Britney’s massively successful Femme Fatale Tour earlier this year.

Now, as their profile continues to grow between both the packed dance floors of the indie-dance community and the radio airwaves of the mainstream pop scene, the girls are now taking their first steps toward a debut in their own right with the release of their debut Astralwerks single on August 16: “We’re All No One,” featuring Dutch DJ Afrojack and indie-House titan, Steve Aoki.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to speak with the ever-lovely Mim of the Nervo Twins just one day after the duo stepped down from their opening DJ duties on Britney’s wildly successful Femme Fatale Tour. Read on to see the full interview, including banter about being on tour with Britney, writing for the divine Miss Kylie (and nearly Cheryl Cole!), and all the latest on Nervo’s upcoming debut.

Hi, Mim! How are you?
Hi, Brad! Very well, thanks. How are you?

Doing great, thanks. Thank you so much for speaking with me today.
Oh cool. Thank you for having us!

You’ve just literally come off the Britney tour as of yesterday, right?
We did. Last night, yeah.

How was it? How was your last show?
Aww, it was…you know, the last show is always a bit sad because you form a real family on the tour. It was a great show. It was actually, I think, one of the best shows we’ve done! Nicki Minaj came up to perform with Britney and it was just the full shebang, so it was a great show. Again, I’m just sad to leave everyone!

Aww, of course. So how would you say the whole experience was for you? Was it like a whirlwind all around the country?
Absolutely life changing. It was an eye opener. I was just so thankful that we got that opportunity. It was just a great tour to be on! [There] was real girl power on the Femme Fatale Tour, and it was just a once in a lifetime experience and we’re really glad we did it.

Was there a favorite night for you particularly? Or any night that stood out for you where some crazy event happened?
Well, there were so many good nights. So many good nights! A lot of the time we shared a room with Nicki Minaj’s dancers. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. We helped support each other—they’d come and see our show, we’d go and see theirs.

And it really was interesting, the crowd were different. Sometimes you’d go and you’d play for a crowd and everyone would be standing up. Sometimes you’d be playing for a crowd and everyone’s screaming, so every place is special for its own reason. There were some where we had special people in the audience–like our dad flew up from Australia to be at one of the shows, you know—so yeah, it was just amazing. All amazing.

For readers who weren’t able to see you out on tour, how would you describe the show that you did? The tracks that you spun—what was your set?
Yeah, I would say we played it specifically for the Britney and Nicki Minaj audience, so it was definitely more on the commercial side of what we play. Because our set was so short compared to what we normally play, we did play a lot of our own material. People can always come and see us at our club gigs where we play for two hours or three hours and then we mix it up with our records and other people’s records, so they can still catch us! We’re about to go on an electronic tour around America, and again, I think we’re doing 29 cities or so…so we’ll be around! [Laughs]

Sounds like you’re not stopping at all!
No, we’re not! A new city every night. [Laughs]

Okay. Why don’t we take it back a few years: I’d say one of the first major breakthroughs for probably was when you wrote for Rachel Stevens, “Negotiate For Love”?
[Laughs] Oh my God, that was a long time ago wasn’t it?!

[Laughs] Yes, it was. I absolutely adore that song. How did that all come to be? Because that was pretty much, I think, the start of your breakthrough, right?
Yeah, well, you know, we’d just gotten to the UK and we come from a writing background, so we’ve always been behind the scenes. True, that was our first UK Top 10. And you know how it is, when you’re a writer you just chug along and you hope that bit by bit more people get to know your music and then, you know…here we are now! It’s all been part of the journey.

So now, moving forward, you’ve done “When Love Takes Over” (David Guetta/Kelly Rowland) and “Put Your Hands Up” by Kylie Minogue, which is an amazing track. How did that come to be with Kylie?

With Kylie…that was an interesting one! We just–a lot of the time–really idly just write and we don’t normally write with a particular artist in mind unless the artist is in the room. So, if we’re working with Ke$ha then we put our Ke$ha hat on. But, with that Kylie song, we just went into the session and we thought “Let’s just write something poppier” and we did and it turned out sounding a bit like a Kylie Minogue record. We’re signed to the same record label, so, they instantly—you know, it was an interesting one because Cheryl Cole recorded that song and so did Kylie Minogue, and Kylie wanted to release it as a single. We met Kylie, we recorded it, and c’est la vie! Here we are now!

Wow, I had no idea Cheryl recorded it as well?
Yeah. She recorded it and Kylie recorded it as well.

Wow. Very cool! Sam [Lansky], actually, he contributes to MuuMuse–I believe he hung out backstage with you in Washington and he said that at one point you were talking about how you like to take down phrases that people say and things like that that inspire you to write and things like that. I think he said something was “giving him life” and you wrote it down. [Laughs]

Yeah, we always do. We used to carry around little black books. I guess now our Blackberrys are our little black books in the notes section! If there’s anything that inspires a lyric or just something that can turn into a theme for a song, like any kind of inspiration, we put it in the black book part of our Blackberry. There’s also the voice recorder if we come up with any hooks or ideas. We just constantly turn that on, record it, and then email it to ourselves or download it to the computer.

That’s amazing. Now do you have any tracks coming down the pipeline for other artists that we should be looking out for?

Other artists—you know what, we’re being a little selfish with our time, I would say. We’re doing a lot for ourselves because now we have an amazing opportunity to release records under our own name. So, we’re releasing our first single with Astralwerks in two weeks…I think less than two weeks now, August 16th! Oh my God! So soon!

Right, that’s “We’re All No One” right?

Yes! Yes! We put together what we think is a really great mixed package because we really wanted it to be played in our club world. The club world varies, whether you’re playing at a festival or a club or anywhere, even radio shows…everything. So we did, we got a great selection of remixes, we got…oh my God, the Hook ‘N’ Sling remix blows my mind. When we play it. the reaction is incredible. The Dave Aude remix, the Jungle Fiction remix. And the record itself–the original form of the record–we’ve done with Steve Aoki and Afrojack and it’s like nothing we’ve ever done. I would call it MGMT-ish meets The Ting Tings, so it’s kind of totally like nothing you’d expect from our remix.

Sort of like left of center dance floor music. Indie meets..
It has an electronic heartbeat, but the thing that we really like about it is that it doesn’t have the Afrojack sound or the Steve Aoki sound. It’s got the indie Nervo sound…our sound. Yeah, we hope you like it. We love it!

That’s perfect! And as for the whole album itself, which I know you’re working on, how is that turning out right now?
That’s all a work in progress. What we want to do is release two EPs and see how it goes and see how people like it. The second EP, we’ve done one song with Avicii and then we’ve done another song with Danja who did “Maneater” (Nelly Furtado) and “Sexyback” (Justin Timberlake) and he did the Blackout album for Britney. It’s a really special team that merges club people and people that we really respect in the pop world as well. You know?

The first EP is “We’re All No One” with its amazing remix package. It’s got like six remixes–caters to everyone, hopefully. And the second EP is going to be two songs: One we’ve got with the big club guy Avicii, and then the other we’ve done with Danja, and that’s going to have remixes as well, but it’s going to be different. It’s exciting, you know?

Well that sounds really good. I’m very excited to hear what you’ve cooked up with Danja, especially.
Oh yeah. He’s just so talented, he’s great! We haven’t finished it yet, but it will be pretty soon…

Perfect! I’m so excited for all of the new music coming out! Thank you so much for speaking with me!
Anytime!

I hope you have a great day!
We will, you too!

Thanks, bye!
Bye!

Transcription provided by bomb ass bitch RJ Kozain of 2020k.

Another day, another drama…

In helping to celebrate Blackout Purchase Week (have you entered the MuuMuse giveaway yet?), MuuMuse is proud to present “Blackout Once Again: A Look Back at Britney Spears’ Greatest Album,” an incredibly comprehensive, in-depth examination of Britney‘s fifth studio album, written by Vertigo Shtick‘s David Salter.

If there’s anything to be said about Blackout, it’s featured here in this extraordinary piece. A must read, Muusers!

Please click “Read More…” to see the full article. (MOAH!)

—

Blackout was an uncomfortable record to approach in 2007.

Britney Spears was struggling. She had ceased to be a product and had grown into an actual person, with inherent flaws and unpredictability magnified and influenced by the 24-hour surveillance of a newly digital world. Her last record, In the Zone, was over three years old, its momentum halted by a knee injury, a pair of marriages, one annulment and one divorce, two children with ex-husband Kevin Federline, two stays in rehab, and one drastic makeover in a Tarzana hair salon. Spears’ comeback performance at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards was an unqualified disaster, handily erasing what remained of the icon’s sex appeal. Two months after Spears’ fifth studio album Blackout dropped, so did Spears: the former Mouseketeer was committed to UCLA Medical Center under an involuntary psychiatric hold.

Amid the throes of a dramatic celebrity breakdown, how is it that Britney Spears produced not just the best album of her career, but one of the best albums of the past decade? This superlative is not of my own creation, nor is it a new suggestion: upon Blackout‘s release, several of the more distinguished critics of popular music, who tend to be dismissive of if not outright hostile toward mainstream pop, quietly delivered lofty praise on Spears and Blackout, not without obvious bemusement. NPR, defending its decision to even review Blackout, simply stated, “it is, against all odds, a good album;” Rolling Stone named it one of the top albums of 2007; and Pitchfork, the crème de la crème of academic music snobbery, called Blackout an “extraordinary album” of “superb modern pop.” The majority of mainstream critics found the hullabaloo of Spears’ meltdown too distracting to deliver much useful insight, and so either dithered about the shallow carnality of the lyrics, Spears’ lack of writing credits, or the disconnect of Spears’ reality from the album’s sexuality, or Spears’ supposed uselessness on “a producer’s showcase.”

Now that Blackout exists comfortably in Spears’ ongoing discography, a critical look at the album from 2011 reveals more about what makes it a milestone. Blackout was among the first pop records to embrace and envelop itself in the four-to-the-floor, 120 BPM European dance style that is now all but the norm. More influential still, and most controversially, Blackout is an unapologetic acknowledgment of the role of the machine in pop music, and it unabashedly explores the possibilities of electronic vocal manipulation as a musical idea, yet without sacrificing the humanity, personality and identity that uniquely separates the human voice from any other instrument, corporeal or digital.

Britney Spears music is always a team effort, and Blackout has one of the best. The credits read like a roll call of 2011 pop music all-stars. Primary production duties are split between Nate “Danja” Hills, a Timbaland disciple, and the Swedish dance/electronica production duo Bloodshy & Avant, the team behind Spears’ Grammy-winning hit “Toxic.” Though their tracks have little to no overlap in personnel aside from Spears, it can be difficult to discern with certainty which tracks belong to which, a feat considering they approach the project from entirely different backgrounds. Other collaborators include Keri Hilson, T-Pain, the Teddybears‘ Klaus Ahlund, Kara DioGuardi, Pharrell Williams and even Swedish pop icon Robyn. Directly, their work on Blackout helped launch Hilson’s and T-Pain’s successful solo careers and led DioGuardi to American Idol, and it helped bankroll Ahlund and Robyn’s global conquest with the 2010 album Body Talk. Indirectly, the project this team created was a major pioneer of the sound that has come to dominate pop music and allow Hilson, T-Pain, and Robyn to break through for themselves.

Years before Spears jump-started the integration of dubstep into pop with “Hold It Against Me,” the wobbling bass and syncopated, shuffling beat was on full display on “Freakshow.” The shimmering synthpop and deeply layered trance and new wave electronica that Ke$ha, Kylie Minogue and Owl City have lately peddled to the top of the charts is the basic musical thesis of “Heaven on Earth” and “Ooh Ooh Baby.” “Get Naked (I Got a Plan),” with its careening funhouse mirrors of production and vocal trickery, is an ancestor to the cagey electronic experiments of Lady Gaga, Ke$ha and even Chris Brown. A year or two ago, “Hot As Ice” could have been a companion piece to T-Pain’s “Buy U A Drank” or The Black Eyed Peas‘ “Rock That Body.” Spears’ camp certainly noticed Blackout‘s time-release properties when it re-released “Radar” as a bonus track and eventual single off Circus, and the setlist for her 2009 tour The Circus Starring Britney Spears featured as much music from Blackout as from its successor.

So, if Blackout exemplifies the form, excels at the style, and serves its place in music history, what about that final element, content? First let us remember the paradox of pop songwriting: beware ye, for here there be metaphors – sometimes. We do not dwell in a factual submarine painted yellow, but sometimes a rose is just a rose. Britney Spears, like any great pop artist, is a master of ambiguity, so find meaning hidden in the libretto if you like; no one’s going to correct you, but no one’s going to spell it out for you either. The Neptunes-produced closer plays as a farewell to the Federline fiasco, but when Britney sings -

I sent you to Vegas with a pocket full of paper
And with no ultimatums on you
I thought “What could separate us?”
But it just seemed like Vegas
Only brought the player out of you

Couldn’t the veteran of the Vegas wedding and annulment also be singing about herself?

There’s no doubting the autobiographical intent of “Piece of Me,” which may not be written by Britney Spears but it’s about her and for her and that’s about as autobiographical as pop gets. Then again, there’s the joke inlaid therein: it isn’t actually Britney singing the warped “You wanna piece of me?” on the chorus – it’s Robyn. Talk about a middle finger to the paparazzi! Other hints at self-awareness (“Imagine if I worked out!” she deadpans on “Get Naked (I Got a Plan)”) intermingle with postmodern asides drawing attention to the trickery at work (announcing “I like this part!” on “Break the Ice,” or ending an melismatic improv session on “Heaven on Earth” with (still singing) “I’m done…”). Britney didn’t just “drop in” on this record: she’s all over it, inside the pipes, and whispering and laughing under the hum of the machine.

Revisiting this magnificent record, one question lingers: wherefore “Blackout?” Britney Spears’ album titles are usually straightforward: either the title stems from one of the hit singles, or one look at the album cover and all is explained. Not so Blackout, aside from the uncharacteristic hair color, and that’s pretty weak even during a meltdown. But it’s not called Meltdown, or Breakdown (the latter might have worked but not classily); it’s not Piece of Me (Pieces of Me was taken?), or Gimme More (see uncertain career longevity in 2007), or Break the Ice. I remain uncertain, but I have a couple ideas as I wrap this up.

If Blackout makes a statement, it is that this is the way Britney Spears’ music is going to work from now on. She’s not going to sing goopy ballads about nothing, or play out her personal life in her lyrics – she may hint here and there, but the paparazzi have done enough prying, and she’s not offering anything more. If you want more, she’ll give you more – by throwing her experience, star power, creativity and money into creating sounds that she thinks are fun, exciting, and new. Femme Fatale is exactly that, and anyone who still doubts Britney’s influence or musical coherence is fooling himself. It’s Britney sneaking dubstep into the mainstream and steering the trance-pop vessel into port; Britney who’s messing with electronica and vocal manipulation and seeing where technology can take pop and dance music. It’s Britney, bitch. It’s what her current single “I Wanna Go” is really about, don’t you see? For those looking for warmth and sunshine, this can seem a bit cold. “Lucky” is gone; the peepshow is over. To an audience scarfing down every last emotion from a heartbroken 21 year old British gal so it can process its own, I can see how this could resemble some sort of blackness.

Now and then, I enjoy an old-fashioned practice wherein I listen to an entire album from beginning to end, no skipping or stopping, like a movie in a theater. As with movies, with a really good album it is possible, even fun to do this more than once. Blackout is one of the few full length LPs that I can listen to from end to end, even without suffering through one or two rough bits for the greater good. I confess that I had never done this, however, until just a few weeks ago. The first time felt like seeing David Lynch‘s Mulholland Drive: I emerged thrilled, off-balance, certainly unnerved, yet somehow ultimately uplifted by the process. It’s easy, too, to get sucked back into Blackout, those great opening singles as friendly and comfortable as Naomi Watts in a cute apartment…and suddenly Danja cackles and the uneasy stumbling beat of “Get Naked” starts in, and there’s no escape until the end – it’s blackout once again.

David Salter is a writer from California. For more of his writing, please visit his website, Vertigo Shtick.

Last Friday night (no Katy Perry segues, please), MuuMuse contributor Sam Lansky and I had the great pleasure of attending the She’s The First: Girls Who Rock 2011, a benefit concert to raise money for the Arlington Academy of Hope in Uganda.

After munching on some free Pop Chips and taking shots of some of the other talent set to hit the stage that night including Nina Sky, Nikki Jean and Kimberly Nichole, Sam and I settled into a nook in the back of the Gramercy Theater press room to have a brief chat with the one and only: Queen JoJo.

For those unaware, a ridiculously brief summary: JoJo is a teen pop star who first rose to fame when her 2004 single “Leave (Get Out)” catapulted up the Billboard Pop Charts, making her the youngest solo artist to have a #1 in America–ever. She later burst even bigger with 2006′s “Too Little, Too Late,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 at #3 and spawned her Gold-rated second studio album, The High Road.

Back in September of 2010, JoJo released the semi-experimental Can’t Take That Away From Me to Rap-Up–a mixtape featuring some of her latest cuts with acts including Jordan Gatsby and Beau Dozier. From that release came “In The Dark,” a dark, drippy electro affair that came coupled with an equally risque video, as a blindfolded JoJo gets extra sinful with male model, Luke Gulbranson. “How hot was that?!” she suddenly exclaimed after we began gushing about the song. (I believe I called it my personal anthem of 2010.)

Now, JoJo sets her sights on her new project: Her upcoming third LP, Jumping Trains. “The album is more cohesive than the mixtape,” she says of the upcoming release. “The mixtape was kind of a compilation of songs from different genres that we put together, which I loved. But this album is more of a journey in my mind, the sound I like to describe as ‘pop with an anger management problem,’ so it’s aggressive, it’s edgy, it’s…woo! It’s a little kooky! But it’s still a pop album but it still has that feminine vulnerability and that transparency that I wanted. I want it to be honest, and I wanted it to just be truthful. So um, the album is just a more purpose-driven project, whereas the mixtape was more… just an assembly of songs.”

As for what’s next, JoJo confirmed to MuuMuse that “The Other Chick”–a track which recently leaked last month, will now only serve as the buzz single from the singer’s forthcoming studio album. “It’s something cool that’ll introduce people to a more mature me, I suppose. It’s edgy, but it’s a buzz single.” Instead, the album’s official first single will be released in the summer (which JoJo claims she’s “stoked about”), with Jumping Trains to follow in the fall.

The singer also revealed some of the producers working on her long delayed, much anticipated third studio album: “We’re whittling it down but…some of the first names that pop into my head are Rodney Jerkins, Danja, some new guys like The Interns and The Messengers — the Messengers have done a lot of work with Justin Bieber and Chris Brown—so it’s a nice mix of really established veterans in the game and just some new cats that are super fresh and exciting.”

At just 20 years old, it’s remarkable to hear how well-spoken and passionate JoJo speaks of her intentions as a recording artist. Given the well-publicized strife she’s had with former record labels (including continuous release date setbacks and contractual clauses that kept the young singer from being released to another label) she’s also been dealt an unusually keen insight into the less glamorous aspects of the recording industry for several years.

So what has she learned thus far? “I would say make sure that your team is super solid,” she said with stone-cold sincerity. “Make sure that you really, really trust them, if you have any doubts, then you need to look into those doubts. Have a great lawyer. Management is necessary. And it’s just important to have honest communication with your team.”

And it’s not always about having a team that knows what they’re doing–it’s about knowing your own limitations as well: “What I’ve also learned is that you don’t know everything,” she explains. “You need to ask the opinions of people that you trust who know more than you in a certain area, because you just don’t know everything.”

And it’s exactly that humble attitude (and tremendous business acumen) that’s led her to her most recent feat as a recent signee to Interscope Records. “I love Interscope. I’m so happy to be there,” she says of her new home, “I think that they’re a wonderful label and a true machine that–once the wheels get turning–there’s no place like them. I feel that we’re gonna do great things.”

While the album shapes up for release later this year, JoJo’s been keeping busy recording with several artists and producers, including “Sucks To Be You,” an almighty kiss-off club anthem by fellow Boston native, Clinton Sparks–which wasn’t even meant to happen.

As JoJo recounted, the Boston-based producer/DJ was working on the track at the same time that JoJo was in the studio. “While he was recording it I decided to write a verse. It’s funny because he didn’t ask me to be on it until he finished his verse, and he was like, ‘Yo, maybe you should get on this,’ and I was like, ‘That’s funny because I wrote a verse,’” she said of the semi-accidental collaboration with a laugh. And just as quickly, JoJo soon became a part of Sparks’ newest club banger.

Not, however, that the club-pop anthem will be the sound she’s exploring on her upcoming LP. “I might explore it, but that sound isn’t necessarily represented on this album—that specific type of dance—but there’s a lot of songs you can dance to on the album.” And with producers like Danja (Britney‘s “Gimme More”) and Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins (Lady Gaga‘s “Telephone”) as producers–there’s no telling where this album may lead.

Me, Queen JoJo, Sam.

After talking to us, JoJo went on to close out the show–and truly bring down the house–with an absolutely stunning headlining performance of hits including “Leave (Get Out),” Can’t Take That Away From Me‘s gut-wrenching “Boy Without A Heart,” her 2006 smash “Too Little, Too Late,” and the first-ever premiere of the title track from her forthcoming album, “Jumping Trains,” which I hurriedly fumbled to capture in full:

In all honesty, I’d venture to say that JoJo delivered some of the best vocals I’ve ever experienced live. Ever! Flawless and effortless. If you told me the girl has never needed to do a second take in the recording booth for a song, I’d believe it without a doubt. I can safely speak for Sam as well–who spent a majority of the concert flailing his hands about his face, gasping and “I can’t!”-ing on repeat–when I say I think he’d agree.

And now, a crystal-clear video of JoJo’s entire performance. Watch now!

The She’s The First organization seeks to provide funding to girls across the world and provide them with the tools necessary to further their education. (For more information, please check out their website.)

Thank you to everyone involved in running the She’s The First: Girls Who Rock 2011 event, to JoJo and her management team, and to Sam for joining me in this truly out-of-body Jo-tacular experience.

Okay–new post idea!

This is Muusical Chairs, or essentially the “6 Degrees of Separation/Kevin Bacon” game. The idea is to take one pop star, connect the musical dots to another, and maybe share some previously unknown pop tidbits in the process!

This one’s an easy start, but I’m sure I can dream up more complex connections in the future. Let me know what you think!

Volume 1: Siobhan Donaghy to BoA

Siobhan Donaghy is a talented UK indie-pop songstress responsible for releasing two albums: 2004′s Revolution In Me and 2007′s Ghosts, a gorgeous, electro-tinged smart pop record that spawned two singles (“Don’t Give It Up” and “So You Say”) and remains an absolutely essential addition to any pop lover’s collection. Donaghy first rose to fame…

As one of the three founding members of the Sugababes, the massively successful UK girl group famous for both their soulful smashes–including “Freak Like Me,” “Round Round” and “Hole In The Head”–and their ever-changing line-up.

In 2007, the groups third incarnation (Keisha Buchanan, Heidi Range and Amelle Berrabah) recorded a cover of Aerosmith‘s “Walk This Way” as a charity single for Comic Relief with another another UK girl group…

Girls Aloud, the power pop fivesome originally formed through the reality series, Popstars: The Rivals in 2002. The girl group ruled the UK charts for over 7 years until late 2009, when they chose to go on hiatus to pursue personal projects, including solo albums by Nadine Coyle and the group’s breakaway star and current X Factor UK judge, Cheryl Cole.

During the group’s majorly successful Out Of Control Tour in 2009, Girls Aloud performed a cover of “Womanizer” by…

Britney Spears, the legendary icon who requires no formal introduction. (Plus, if you’ve hung around this site long enough, you’d already know every minor detail about her life.) The superstar’s fifth studio album, 2007′s critically acclaimed Blackout–featured production by several high profile acts including Danja, Bloodshy & Avant and…

Sean Garrett, who worked on Britney’s “Toy Soldier.” Along with writing the follow-up to his 2008 debut, Turbo 919, the rapidly rising producer has busied himself with several major productions including Beyoncé‘s “Diva” and “Video Phone” as a writing duo with producer Swizz Beatz, Nicki Minaj‘s “Massive Attack,” and…

BoA‘s “I Did It For Love,” the second single off of the international superstar’s 2009 English self-titled debut album (which allows for some truly sick choreography–check that Joseph Kahn-directed video, stat!) The single went on to peak at #19 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play in May of 2009.

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT: Siobhan, meet BoA!

“I’m not talking about making it free, I’m talking about making it freer,” M.I.A. announces on Vicki Leekx, which was released at midnight on December 31.

And so, she has: Vicki Leekx is M.I.A.’s second free mixtape after 2004′s Piracy Funds Terrorism, this time bolstered with a bit more star wattage on the production front thanks to the likes of Danja, Munchi, Diplo, Blaqstarr, Sugu Aruler, Switch, Rusko, and So Japan.

Fans who found themselves put off by the unpolished grit and wailing screeches of /\/\/\Y/\ will find much to love in the Vicki Leekx mixtape, a continuous mix that polishes the best gems from M.I.A.’s last album, wraps them around the bounciest beats of Arular and worldly influences of Kala, and then sends them speeding into the next century with stellar, intergalactic dubstep sound.

Vicki Leekx is a concentrated moment of mania, jumping between beats and samples at breakneck speed–from the Arular-esque electro-eclecticism of “Super Tight” to the tribal, “Boyz”-like “Tamil Beat Munchi” (which includes a brilliant moment in sampling with Nicki Minaj‘s verse on Kanye West‘s “Monster”), to the gloriously scathing “Generation -N-E-Y”–a track originally leaked on one of M.I.A.’s many odd, ugly .GIF-heavy landing pages that cropped up earlier in 2010. “You think you’re bad, you think you’re so fucking cool,” M.I.A. snarls above the song’s monstrously grinding beats. It’s an utterly major attitude attack–and arguably the mixtape’s finest moment.

To be fair, though–while the music is supreme, the politics remain hopelessly muddled. As Sputnik Music member Conrad Tao points out in his own review of the mixtape, M.I.A. is a seemingly endless barrage of contradictions. Apart from her own personal hypocrisies, it’s never really clear what M.I.A. is exactly criticizing (Money? The government? The Internet? Facebook? Hipsters? Everything?)–and to what to degree she’s even being serious. To try and analyze this mind-melting mishmash of sociopolitical motifs would prove impossible–there’s simply too many inconsistencies.

Yet political motivations (or non-motivations) aside, M.I.A. has rolled out a solid, concise production with deep, thumping beats and stuttering vocals that bang as hard as anything else released last year. Vicki Leekx is basically the epitome of why I first fell in love with M.I.A. back in 2005: It’s provocative, it’s addictive…but above all, it’s fucking cool.

DOWNLOAD THIS NOW.

For an album called No Boys Allowed, there sure are a lot of boys that came to play inside Miss Keri Baby‘s clubhouse.

Though she’s tried at length to explain her new album’s title–that No Boys Allowed a “no bitch ass-ness” kind of empowerment collection about ditching the little boys and uplifting women, it’s hard to drive that point home when the album’s guest-list is exclusively filled with men–especially when one of them is Chris Brown.

But putting the album title-content conflict aside, Miss Keri Baby has produced a worthy follow-up to her excellent and underrated 2009 debut, In A Perfect World… with No Boys Allowed, released on December 21.

As one of the more prominent pop songwriters of late (her writing credits include Omarion‘s “Ice Box, Ciara‘s “Like A Boy” and Britney‘s “Gimme More”), Keri Hilson’s industry ties have afforded her the opportunity to compile another heavyweight producer-packed record, including contributions by Polow Da Don (“The Way You Love Me”), Danja (“Toy Soldier”), Stargate (“Lose Control”) and longtime collaborator, Timbaland (“Breaking Point”).

With No Boys Allowed, Hilson finds her groove in a variety of beats and influences, including the horn-heavy Southern swagga of “Buyou (feat. J. Cole),” the preachy church organ of “Breaking Point” (arguably the worst choice for lead single from the entire record), and the major empowerment anthem, “Pretty Girl Rock.”

As the torchbearer of No Boys Allowed, “Pretty Girl Rock” is the embodiment of the Hilson’s supposed intentions for this record, perfectly marrying cheeky self-encouragement (“All eyes on me when I walk in, no question that this girl’s a 10 / Don’t hate me ’cause I’m beautiful”) with a banging, piano-tinged modern beat. The result is a feel-good, groove-good uplifting anthem that packs as much of a punch lyrically as it does musically.

At the same time, Hilson kicks her heels back with a wash of Caribbean rhythms on tracks like the meandering “Bahm Bahm (Do It Once Again)” and “Lose Control (feat. Nelly),” which will surely go down as the greatest rip-off of Rihanna‘s “What’s My Name?” ever produced. (Note: Not an insult!)

Penned by the same hit-maker (the ever amazing Ester Dean, scribe of “Rude Boy”), “Lose Control” comes a bit too close for comfort to Ri’s superior radio smash, which is probably why it’s almost as infectious. “Shake, wind and roll,” Miss Keri Baby commands across the song’s dark, electro-tinged groove. Even Nelly’s feature on the track–apart from the unsettling rhyming of “famous” with “anus” (Oy! Leave it to Ke$ha, please)–proves an enjoyable addition to the song’s mesmerizing beat.

Hilson also takes care to revisit to the spacey, electro-R&B sound that colored much of her 2009 effort on cuts like “One Last Stand (feat. Chris Brown),” “Gimme What I Want” and “Beautiful Mistake”–the latter two being glowing highlights of the record.

Also of note is the album’s closing moment, “All The Boys,” a gorgeously introspective mid-tempo that will almost surely go overlooked: “After all the boys I thought I loved before, I didn’t know what love was until you knocked on my door,” Keri sweetly croons on top of the song’s big beats and twinkling piano riffs. Not only is “All The Boys” refreshingly stripped production-wise, but the songstress herself seems to be emoting more than ever during the album’s final moment. It’s beautiful, truly.

Of all the uptempo tracks on No Boys Allowed however, nothing bumps nearly as hard as “The Way You Love Me,” the raw, raucous Polow Da Don-produced sex romp that finds Miss Keri Baby shedding away the cutesy flirt of “Pretty Girl Rock,” stripping down and literally screaming into the chorus: “Fuck me, fuck me / It’s the way you fuck me!” (or perhaps more accurately, fuck-may, fuck-may!).

Even though she’s caught some (unfair) heat for the album’s sexually charged third single (largely due to its salacious video, which features Ms. Hilson working her hips against a giant safe in a way never before caught on film), it’s the song’s carnal energy, juicy bounce and fiercely lewd lyricism (“Yeah, it’s me, that’s where you want to be / I got the kind of pussy that’ll keep you off the streets”) that makes “The Way You Love Me” easily one of the year’s baddest tracks (in the best way possible).

Much as with In A Perfect World…, Miss Keri Baby’s brought a variety of soulful treats to the table on her sophomore attempt. While the No Boys Allowed female empowerment motif doesn’t exactly hold throughout, and there aren’t as many standout single-ready tracks on this album as with her debut, there’s still enough catchy cuts to overcome its thematic shortcomings.

According to MTV’s Buzzworthy Blog, Britney is preparing a June release for the debut single off her upcoming record. No word on a producer yet, but all eyes are glued on the ‘D’ boys as probable candidates: David Guetta, Danja and Darkchild. It’s a guaranteed smash on the radio regardless.

And yes, my very own sources doubly confirm the June release to be true.

REJOICE, BITCHES: GODNEY COMETH.