What the hell happened in music this week? WE HAVE THE ANSWERS.
This one was relatively tame, actually. No new three-thousand-in-one-video videos. No new Justin Bieber acts of diplomacy. The only crazy new Kanye material this week was an interview. And even though he's done about a hundred in the last few weeks, his yelling at Sway about how Sway's clothing line was not on some Ralph Lauren shit still drowned out most of the new music we could have heard this week. The "Bound 2" video is still being discussed, partly due to "Bound 3," a reenactment from some white guys that make movies sometimes. But the parody will never compare to the time that another two white guys that make movies sometimes did a lip synched parody of a Kanye West video half a decade ago.
Perhaps most culturally significant this week was the fact that Lupe Fiasco was attacked ruthlessly by an audience member at one of his shows. Apparently, she threw a tomato at him. He shouted at her. What ensued was a Twitter, uh, explanation (that only his approved followers could see, of course) of his calling his assailant a "fat white bitch." His reasons for his word choice was that the words he used most accurately described the person. Perhaps we need another song from him explaining the complexity of using the dreaded word, because we're all confused again.
RELATED: Fat Joe Is Out of Jail
RELATED: Seth Rogen and James Franco Recreated Kanye West's "Bound 2" Video, and It's Amazing
RELATED: Now This Is a Rant: Kanye Flips Out On Sway's Show
Fat Joe was released from jail just in time for Thanksgiving dinner. (Norman Rockwell eat your heart out.)
Date: November 28
"Earlier this year, Fat Joe was sentenced to four months in prison, a $5,000 fine, and a year of supervision after his release for tax evasion. According to the original report, 'Joe owed $718,038 in back taxes from 2007 through 2010 but in the end, he only pleaded guilty for the two years. The report also claimed Joe made $1.18 million in 2007, more than $1.28 million in 2008, more than $265,000 in 2009, and more than $630,000 in 2010.'
On August 26 of this year, Joe turned himself in to Miami's Federal Detention Center to serve his four months. Today, according to an Instagram post by 'All I Do Is Win' producer DJ Nasty, Joe has been released early—right in time for Thanksgiving dinner!" —Claire Lobenfeld
Once again, Eminem went back to the future (meaning, back to the past; the 1980s, specifically) in the video for "Rap God."
Date: November 27
"Eminem releases the music video for 'Rap God.' He initially teased the video's release last week with a 30-second clip that featured the veteran MC doing an impression of Max Headroom. This frantic head bobbing continues throughout the music video which was directed by Rich Lee and shot at the Russell Industrial Center in Detroit. Lee has worked on previous videos with Eminem in the past, including 'Lighters' and 'Not Afraid.'
Eminem also gets wired up to a chair where he takes in a bottomless pit of information. Flashes of Busta Rhymes and Run–D.M.C. pop up on multiple television screens as he references them in the song. Once Eminem wakes up from his dream state he becomes more than a mere mortal, floating in the air and causing chaos while he delivers one of his best lyrical performances to date." —Edwin Ortiz
Justin Timberlake shut down rap for a day.
Date: November 29
"Justin Timberlake links up with J. Cole, A$AP Rocky, and Pusha T for 'TKO (Black Friday Remix).' The record is a special remix of Timberlake's latest single which is currently heating up the Billboard charts. And why not drop it today? Black Friday has basically become a holiday in its own right. J. Cole starts the song off and responds to Kendrick Lamar's 'Control' verse while also borrowing the Migos flow à la Drake on the 'Versace' remix. Rocky jumps in next and delivers some slick bars before Pusha addresses what everyone will be talking about come December. 'All this album of the year talk/Niggas claiming they the best out,' he barks before making his own case." —Edwin Ortiz
James Franco wants to get Seth Rogen something to drink.
Date: November 25
"No one expected the best video they'd watch all day to be one that includes Seth Rogen and James Franco bouncing suggestively on a motorcycle while Kanye West's 'Bound 2' plays in the background, but that's the thing about life—often times, it's just that unpredictable. This is why the best video you'll see all day is exactly that: Rogen and Franco recreating West's 'Bound 2' video, shot-for-shot.
Only, instead of West and his new fiancée Kim Kardashian getting all intimate on a motorcycle against a green screen image of the Grand Canyon, Rogen and Franco are the ones to get all close—and it's perfect. Rogen takes the role of a very hairy, but still topless, Kim Kardashian, and Franco dons an outfit pretty much identical to what West wore in the video. Even better: It's titled 'Bound 3'." —Tanya Ghahremani
Rihanna won the first AMA Icon award because she is one.
Date: November 25
"Rihanna has joined the list of artists scheduled to perform during this year's American Music Awards. To accompany her performance, she will be receiving the first ever AMA Icon Award. Describing the new award, Larry Klein, executive producer of the award show, said, 'The first-ever Icon Award was created to honor an artist whose body of work has made a profound influence over pop music on a global level. Rihanna’s iconic and innovative sound has enabled her to become one of the most influential and best-selling artists of all time'." —Dharmic X
Kanye accused Sway of not having the answers, though they may have been hiding somewhere in that hat.
Date: November 26
"Just a day after appearing in a medium-testy interview on the Breakfast Club—although 'Ye and Charlemagne were much more cordial than some probably predicted—Kanye West appeared on Sway's show today on Shade 45. Sway has a reputation of being one of the business's best interviewers. From Bay Area street rappers of the Sway and King Tech era to Lupe's heartfelt, tear-filled interview last summer, Sway is typically able to finesse interview situations with particular ease.
Not so with Kanye today, when Sway asks why the rapper couldn't "empower himself" with regards to his fashion line.
'You ain't got the answers!' Kanye shouts back. 'You ain't spent 13 million dollars of your own money trying to empower yourself!'" —David Drake
