In the world of pop, “Amnesia” never fails: There’s Britney‘s 2008 Circus bonus track “Amnesia” (perhaps better retitled as “Oops!…I Cheated Again”), Cheryl Cole‘s electro-tastic 2010 Messy Little Raindrops smash “Amnesia,” and exactly who could possibly forget Cherish‘s final slow jam, “Amnesia”? No one, that’s who.

Luckily, American House DJ Ian Carey is not about to muddy the good name.

After the release of international hits like 2008′s “Get Shaky” with Kate Miller-Heidke and last year’s “Last Night” with Snoop Dogg and Bobby Anthony, the DJ/producer teamed up with Timbaland, rapper Brasco and vocalist Rosette for his brand new 2012 club cut–you guessed it, “Amnesia.”

The cutting club track finds Miss Rosette getting all sassy atop Carey’s stinging House beats, calling out a cheatin’, lyin’ loser who, apparently, is Timbaland. “You’re a liar, a cheat, unfaithful dog!” Rosette croons on top of the explosive chorus. Yet even if the words sound pretty scathing, the beats are utterly euphoric, making it kind of impossible not to want to throw your hands up and giddily prance around like a loon.

“I think you got me all wrong,” Timba pleads throughout in the background. “I think that I don’t!” Rosette responds. Oh, GIRL. Tell him, tell him!

I don’t know, Timba…I think I’m with Rosette on this one. Now pack up your drum pads and get out of my house!

Ian Carey & Rosette feat. Timbaland and Brasco – “Amnesia” Radio Edit by IanCarey

“Amnesia” was released on January 23. (Beatport)

Earlier this afternoon, I received a press release announcing the upcoming return of Timbaland: “Timbaland Debuts Single In Provacative Video for Raphael Mazzucco!”

Tempted by both the question of what Timbaland would be working on in these post-RedOne dark days of radio, as well as what could possibly be contained in the (amusingly misspelled) ‘provacative video,’ I inquired within. And oh, how glad I am that I did.

At the risk of being accused of laziness, I’ve–err, lazily bullet-pointed the most crucial items at hand:

What. What. WHAT?!

FINALLY, a song that does proper justice to the female form–because nothing quite says female empowerment like a new club cut from Timbaland (of “Ayo Technology” fame), Pitbull (of “Hotel Room Service” fame) and David Guetta (of “Sexy Bitch” fame) in which the boys take turns merrily speak-singing about degrading women above a trashy “Calabria” rip-off beat slapped atop an ‘artsy’ trailer for a book of scantily clad models shot by a Sports Illustrated photographer inspired by Professional Annoyance/Purveyor of Shit-Pop Will.I.Am–all set into motion by Interscope bigwig, Jimmy Iovine.

Choice lyric from Timba’s new cut? Hard to make this one out entirely, but it comes at the 0:38 mark, as Pitbull happily raps:

“She does what I say, she does what I please…she lives on her knees. Ha!”

As Eleanor Roosevelt would likely proclaim: “FUCK YES! EQUALITY!”

So, congratulations boys: You’ve literally created the most offensive ensemble production of the year, worthy of making the good ol’ boys of Jersey Shore look like a set of straitlaced suitors from the British royal family.

At the end of the day, this screenshot says it best…

An ass is just [an] ass–especially a whole recording studio full of ‘em.

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!)

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Sounds like: Justin Timberlake, Timbaland
Genre: Urban pop, R&B, electro-pop

Ten-HUT!

Meet Talay Riley, a 20-year-old UK artist signed to Jive Records.

Back in the summer of 2010, Riley released his debut single, “Humanoid.” Like the bulk of 2010 (or really, the latter half of the decade), Riley’s debut is a sexy, electro-pop stomp affair. “Humanoid” is riddled with robot talk and future speak, complimented further by Auto-Tune robo-vocals and slinky, urban pop beats.

Now, the singer is about to unleash his second single: “Sergeant Smash,” a mid-tempo groove that plays like the 2011 upgrade to the Timbaland sound that dominated the mid ’00′s. “I’ll break you off a little somethin’, have you going crazy,” Riley announces above the song’s horn-heavy, militant beat. Add in a drum line and a few rallying cries, and you’ve got yourself a proper pop battle. HOOAH!

Check below to hear a mix of “Sergeant Smash,” featuring London-based rapper Wretch 32, now streaming in full!

Talay Riley is currently in the midst of recording his debut album, due out later in 2011. The album will feature production by the likes of Inflo1st (a member of Ryan Tedder‘s writing circle), Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins and Harmony (a member of Darkchild’s writing circle).

Armed with a heavyweight production team and some truly killer beats, Talay Riley might just have the artillery to go hard this year. Forward…MARCH!

“Sergeant Smash” will be released on February 13. (Official Website)

It’s been a hot minute since Scherzy Baby got some lovin’ on the MuuMuse.

According to various reports, the second single from Nicole Scherzinger’s not-yet-shelved, as-of-yet-untitled debut solo album will be a song called “Don’t Hold Your Breath.”

And now, a brief moment of silence to allow for the song title’s irony overload to subside…

Thank you.

“Don’t Hold Your Breath” is particularly noteworthy because it affords pop fans a rare opportunity to hear how one song can be interpreted by two of pop’s top production titans–Timbaland and RedOne.

A few months ago, a Keri Hilson/Timbaland production called “Hold Your Breath” hit the web as a track on Tapemasters Inc.’s The Future Of R&B 33 mixtape, which you can hear in full above.

It’s a signature Timbaland production, filled with spacey synthesizers and a tripping, hip-hop beat. And to no one’s surprise in particular, Miss Keri Baby completely shines on the song’s deliciously crooned chorus.

Fast forward to earlier this week, when a new demo of the same song surfaced–a RedOne arrangement of the track called “Don’t Hold Your Breath.”

Just like Timbaland’s production, RedOne’s take on the track is a solid representation of the producer’s signature sound: Surging dance-pop and loud, layered vocals. (No word on who’s singing on the track yet, although it’s certainly not Nicole.)

With RedOne at the helm of Scherzinger’s upcoming debut, this newly surfaced demo is likely how the final version of “Don’t Hold Your Breath” will end up sounding. (Though to be honest, I vastly prefer Timbaland’s version–it’s much more listenable and emotional.)

EDIT: Okay, so I’ve been listening to the RedOne demo just as much. I think I love them both equally.

Still, there’s no real confirmation that this song will be released. And considering who we’re talking about?

Err…don’t hold your breath just yet.

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.

Read More…

That’s right. You heard me: “Control Myself” was a goddamn jam. Are you familiar? Yes/no? Let’s discuss.

Let me take you back a little–four years ago, to be exact. The year was 2006. It was a fine year: The Timbaland takeover was just at its glorious peak with Nelly Furtado‘s Loose and Justin Timberlake‘s FutureSex/LoveSounds (prior to total market over-saturation), Suri Cruise survived a crash landing from space, and this little Muuser was preparing to graduate from high school and flee his hometown (where he ironically now finds himself once again upon graduating college in 2010). Fuck.

But before all that, another thing happened in 2006, and that was the February release of professional licker of lips LL Cool J‘s twelfth studio album, Todd Smith. From that album came a certain single: “Control Myself,” featuring Jennifer ‘Jello’ Lopez and Jermaine Dupri (not credited on actual song, therefore irrelevant).

While I’m always quick to call a song “underrated,” it turns out that “Control Myself” actually pulled some impressive chart numbers (and even broke a record!) upon its release–something I didn’t realize until a quick perusal through the track’s Wikipedia page. And so the Lord proclaimed:

It was released as the album’s lead single in February 2006 and remained on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks, peaking at number eighty-nine. After being released as a digital download in April 2006, the song debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart and made a strong Hot 100 re-entry at number four. This broke a record previously held by Jay-Z’s 1998 song “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)”, which had re-entered the chart in March 1999 at number twenty.

Fascinating.

But back to the song: It is very good. There are many reasons why it is so good, but perhaps one of the most important is that delicious beat.

…Not that it’s an original beat. Oh lord, no. It’s actually a sample of an incredible ‘before its time’ number, the 1983 Afrika Bambaataa song, “Looking For The Perfect Beat.”

There’s also the song lyrics, which are unstoppably fantastic. While Mr. Cool J’s lyrical lusciousness makes my panties moist throughout, my all-time favorite moment comes in right around the two minute mark: “She licked awf huh lip glaws / Huh hips tawsed, back and fawth.” (At least, that’s how it sounds to me.) MMPH.

Then there’s this genius moment as the song is coming to an end where it seems every songwriter involved with this song suddenly threw their hands in the air and proclaimed “Well, alright then! I’ve done all the rhyming I could possibly do! Let’s just–I don’t know–LET’S JUST SAY WHATEVER COMES TO MIND NEXT.”

And what sprung from that momentary lapse in creativity was the greatest string of non-English lyrics/syllables of all time: “Zuh, zuh, zuh, zuh, zuh, zuh, zuh, zuh, zuh, zuh.”

Inspiring and provocative.

And last, but certainly not least, there’s the song’s accompanying video, directed by Hype Williams.

It is also amazing, and no doubt a crucial piece of the overall amazing-ness of the song. While Mr. Ladies Love plays it Cool J rapping under a wide-brimmed baseball cap, J-Lo remains fresh to death posing in front of a mirror while donning those knee-high boots and whippin’ her hurr. The wide-screen ‘double video’ effect is both dizzying and cool.

As a member of what some media thinkers/shriveled prunes might dub as ~the instant gratification MTV generation~, I must say it’s quite nice to be bombarded with so many sexy things in my face at one time without being allowed even a second to process what the fuck is being presented in front of me.

All together, “Control Myself” is a spicy, saucy affair–one entirely worthy of both (a) pussy poppin’ and (b) booty shakin’.

And that is why “Control Myself” is an amazing song. I thank you for your time.

Let the record show: I love Keri Hilson. I think she has an excellent knack for songcraft, a lovely voice, and keen insight into the music industry.

Well, not so much the latter right now.

Hours ago, Hilson premiered “Breaking Point” on Atlanta radio station V-103, the debut Timbaland-produced single from her upcoming sophomore studio effort. You can now hear it at The Fader.

Spoiler alert: It sucks.

No, really: There’s no melody. No hooks. It’s completely and utterly tuneless. There’s literally nothing redeeming, exciting or memorable about this song.

Church organs and soulful crooning enter at random on top of an uninspired Timba beat, desperately attempting to come together as a kind of female empowerment anthem. Instead, the song falls flat on its erratic face.

I just don’t understand how the writer responsible for such a strong debut record (“Alienated,” “Energy”), as well as such smashes as Britney‘s “Gimme More,” “Break The Ice,” and the massively underrated bonus track, “Outta This World,” could produce something like this as a comeback of sorts. It’s not strong enough to be considered as an album track- let alone a single!

I gave it a second, and then a third listen thinking that perhaps “Breaking Point” would be a grower for me. It’s not–just the reverse effect, actually.

Step your game up, Miss Keri Baby. You can do so, so much better.