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2014 MTV Video Music Awards- Who Will Win

As sad as it is for me to say this, I was not invited to the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards that are happening tonight in Inglewood, California. I repped Manhattan Digest to the fullest at last year’s show when they were held at Brooklyn’s very own Barclay Center, and gave us one of the most epic performances in VMA history- Miley Cyrus. If you don’t know what happened then you have been living under a rock for the past year. Needless to say, this year’s VMA’s is sure to be unpredictable and insane as it usually is. The lineup of performances look sick, with the opening being pop divas Jessie J, Arianna Grande and hip-hop songstress Nicki Minaj doing their current top 10 single “Bang Bang”. Other noteworthy performances of the night should be Taylor Swift, who will be performing her new hit “Shake It Off” from the much anticipated new album “1989” due out October 27th. And of course, the lady of the night will be eight time nominee and already multiple VMA award winner Beyonce, who will be receiving the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award later in the evening. This award has been bestowed on several legends in the industry, from Madonna, Janet Jackson, The Rolling Stones and most recently pop pioneers Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. Should be a performance of epic madness and one that I cannot wait to see.

So let’s breakdown the other thing that people are there to see- who will win each category at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. This year’s pack is stacked with some of the biggest artists and songs of the year, and is making it tough for this journalist to choose who will win and who should win. It is still funny to me that MTV broadcasts something like this when I believe I was wearing JNCO Jeans the last time they actually aired a block of music videos, but it is the most highly anticipated award show of the season, so I can see why they keep it going each year. Let’s breakdown each category, starting with the “Artist To Watch, Presented by Taco Bell”.

Artist to Watch, Presented By Taco Bell

5 Seconds Of Summer- “She Looks So Perfect”

Fifth Harmony- “Miss Moving On”

Sam Smith- “Stay With Me”

Schoolboy Q- “Man Of The Year”

Charli XCX- “Boom Clap”

Who Will Win- 5 Seconds Of Summer, Who Should Win- Sam Smith

5 Seconds Of Summer really came out of nowhere and has won the hearts of millions of adoring teens, who are the ones voting on this particular category for the most part. They are One Direction with talent, drums and guitar for the most part, so I sure as heck see them easily winning this won as it is a fan based vote. Fifth Harmony could’ve been a heavy contender for this if 5SOS wasn’t in it, but they won’t win this one. Schoolboy Q is amazing, as well as Charli XCX’s song from “The fault In Our Stars” but not enough to garner this. If Sam Smith doesn’t win this at the VMA’s, he sure as hell will win at the 2015 Grammys and several other prestigious awards. His solo work this year on “Stay With Me” on top of his brilliant performances with other artists such as Disclosure and Naughty Boy prove what a threat this guy is to the industry, and I hope he gets some love on VMA night.

Best Rock Video-

Lorde- “Royals”

Linkin Park- “Until I’m Gone”

Imagine Dragons- “Demons”

Black Keys- “Fever”

Arctic Monkeys- “Do I Wanna Know?”

Who Will Win- Imagine Dragons. Who Should Win- Black Keys.

Imagine Dragons have had a pretty awesome two years, and this was only the 2nd song released off of their amazing debut album. “Royals” is not a rock song, so I don’t get why it is in this category. Lorde has a better shot in other categories than this one, and sadly I don’t think Arctic Monkeys have a shot in this category either. Black Keys should win as “Fever” is an amazing video, but no doubt Imagine Dragons will be the one taking this home tonight.

Best Pop Video-

Arianna Grande Featuring Iggy Azealea- “Problem”

Iggy Azalea Featuring Chari XCX- “Fancy”

Avicii Featuring Aloe Blacc- “Wake Me Up”

Jason DeRulo Featuring 2Chainz- “Talk Dirty”

Pharrell Williams- “Happy”

Who Will Win- Arianna Grande & Iggy. Who Should Win- Pharrell.

This really has been the year for Arianna and Iggy, however I think because Arianna has a bigger tween and teen fanbase she should lock this one up. “Wake Me Up” should be more in the clubland award than this one, and “Talk Dirty” just seems too urban for this as well, as is “Fancy”. “Happy” is a freaking brilliant video that screams pop with a R&B flare, and should be the one to win in this. But expect pop ingenue Arianna Grande to be leaving with not just one but a couple of VMA night.

Best Female Video-

Lorde- “Royals”

Beyonce- “Partition”

Arianna Grande Featuring Iggy Azalea- “Problem”

Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX- “Fancy”

Katy Perry Featuring Juicy J- “Dark Horse”

Who Will Win- “Royals”. Who Should Win- “Dark Horse/Partition”

I think “Royals”, even though it is quite simple, kept my focus a lot more than the colorful pops that Iggy and Arianne presented in each of their videos, and the song is better than both so based off that it will and maybe should win. I loved the video for “Dark Horse” as Katy keeps bringing us really unique and out there videos that she has done so well over the years. “Partition” isn’t the best video from the Beyonce album, but the look and feel of it should really make her a good contender for this category tonight.

Best Male Video-

Ed Sheeran Featuring Pharrell Williams- “Sing”

Sam Smith- “Stay With Me”

John Legend- “All Of Me”

Eminem Featuring Rihanna- “Monster”

Pharrell Williams- “Happy”

Who Will Win- Ed Sheeran. Who Should Win- All of them (Minus John Legend).

This is quite possibly the strongest category of the bunch this year, as all videos and songs are incredible in their own unique ways. John’s song is amazing and is this generation’s new wedding song, however the video was basic and more of wedding video than an actual music video. I happen to love Ed Sheeran’s vocals and video for “Sing” so that gets my vote easily. I wouldn’t mind multiple VMA winner Eminem winning this for old times sake, however I think this is Ed’s to lose.

Best Hip-Hop Video-

Childish Gambino- “3005”

Drake Featuring Majid Jordan- “Hold On (We’re Going Home)”

Eminem- “Berserk”

Kanye West- “Black Skinhead”

Wiz Khalifa- “We Dem Boyz”

Who Will Win- Drake. Who should win- All of them.

Another really amazing category. I have to say Drake will win just based off of how popular the video and song was, however Eminem might be knocking at Drake’s door for this so don’t be surprised if he pulls an upset. Kanye’s video is one of his best ever with his own social message that makes this video and song one of the standouts off of his last album. Wiz hasn’t really had the biggest success since “Black & Yellow” however “We Dem Boyz” is a great video and keeps his street hustle going in the hip-hop game. Childish Gambino deserves a lot more success than then man is given, and I am super pumped the “3005” got the nod this year.

Video Of The Year-

Sia- “Chandelier”

Pharrell Williams- “Happy”

Miley Cyrus- “Wrecking Ball”

Beyonce Featuring Jay-Z- “Drunk In Love”

Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX- “Fancy”

Who Will Win- Miley or Beyonce. Who should win- SIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Chandelier” is such an AMAZING song and video that I really just want to see Sia make a public appearance and win this. She’s like the female Daft Punk, you really never see her so I think it would make an AWESOME VMA moment if she won. I don’t get why Iggy is in this, the video is great but not at this level, she’s too new. As much as “Wrecking Ball” is a great video it is more 2013 than 2014, so I don’t think it deserves to win this. “Happy” is amazing, but I fear Pharrell may be shut out due to the younger demographic. Seeing as this is Beyonce’s night, expect her to win her second Video Of The Year trophy (done once before for “Single Ladies” back in 2009). But this is quite the unpredictable category, so you never know.

Who do YOU think will win tonight? Comment here and for a full list of nominees check out the official website for more info.

Justin Bieber and Child Stars Set Up to Fail

by Blair Kaplan

Justin Bieber, Manhattan, Manhattan Digest — Credit: Miami Beach Police

Let’s be honest…it’s hard to feel sorry for Justin Bieber. At just nineteen years old, the kid is a multimillionaire with a collection of hit records, fast cars, and even faster girls who probably weren’t even born until the late 90’s. Plucked from the abyss of Youtube and cast into superstardom at only fourteen years old, it seems that “the Biebs” never had to work a real day in his life.

While I worked making minimum wage as a hostess at a chain restaurant, and as a bagger at a grocery store, Justin Bieber spent his high school years traveling on private jets, touring the world, and attending a surplus of award shows. So after months of reading about his questionable behavior, including peeing in a janitor’s bucket, badmouthing President Clinton, and allegedly throwing eggs at a neighbor’s home, I may have shaken my head and rolled my eyes just a little bit when the news broke early Thursday morning of Bieber’s DUI, speeding, and subsequent arrest in Miami. According to the Miami Beach Police Department, Bieber admitted to smoking marijuana and having a beer earlier in the day, as well as using prescription anti-depressants. He was pulled over while speeding in a rented Lamborghini, which he may have been using to drag race at the time. It seems difficult to understand why it is that he would risk wasting all that he has by doing such asinine things.

But after thinking to myself just how unsurprised I actually was by the situation, I began emoting a feeling toward the Biebs that I myself couldn’t even “Believe” (see what I did there?). I began feeling sorry for him.

When I was a nineteen-year-old college student, I may or may not have done a lot of stupid things (Sorry Mom!). But the worst of my public ridicule came from the occasional posted Facebook picture.

At an age where curiosity, growth, and exploration go together like Justin Bieber, pop music, and a thousand screaming thirteen year old girls, its damn near impossible not to make mistakes. After all, this is how kids grow. However, the difference between Bieber and myself, is that I had routine, normalcy, a limited bank account, the support of family and genuine friends who chose to be around me for the sake of guiding me and loving me (not for my checkbook or for their fifteen minutes). I also had parents who would kick my butt into shape when I messed up. I wasn’t constantly praised and given things that I didn’t necessarily deserve. I was informed when I was wrong.

My time was spent with people my own age, and I didn’t have men and women thrice my age on my bankroll. The worst thing I had to worry about at nineteen was whether I failed an exam or if the guy across the dorm hall liked me. I didn’t have grown men depending upon my success to feed their families. And I certainly didn’t have the pressure to be perfect. Any pressure I felt to portray a certain image came solely from myself.

It’s easy enough to judge Bieber, but could it be possible that he was set up to fail all along? After all, this pattern of behavior and the accompanying destruction of child stars is nothing new. Justin Bieber is certainly not the first former child star to undertake a path of ruin, and unfortunately will not be the last. From Drew Barrymore to Lindsay Lohan to Leif Garrett, it seems all but uncommon for child stars — given more freedom, fame, and money than they know what to do with — to act out and self-destruct. The important thing that allows us to learn from our mistakes is the fact that we are forced to fix what we have done wrong – to clean up our own mess. But when we allow others, from the time that they are young, to act out without consequences they often learn no boundaries or lessons and continue on a path of entitlement and disregard for others.

This is not to say that Bieber shouldn’t be held accountable for his own behavior. He is old enough to know better and he should face the consequences of his actions. But the excess that child stars are given, combined with the pressure to fit a certain mold before they even know who they are, is a timeless recipe for disaster; expecting anything else from such a situation would be naïve. It takes an extremely grounded kid with a strong support system to bypass all that comes with being a child star. But Justin Bieber is no longer a child. And therefore should no longer be treated as such. His behavior can no longer be explained away as growing pains or a product of being young.

I can only hope that Beiber’s longtime manager, Scooter Braun, shares the idea of a little tough love. He took to Twitter early Friday morning to comment on the arrest:

“@justinbeiber love you and I will act in the manner of someone who truly cares. That is all I have to say. Thanks for all those concerned. Been a long day. Bottom line is we are defined by how we handle adversity. Be there when it counts. Love fully in good times and bad.”

Hopefully this incident was an eye opener for Bieber’s team. Unfortunately it appears that Bieber has failed to learn from his recent mistakes, gallivanting about Miami with his father, and comparing a picture of himself after being released from prison to a picture of Michael Jackson after his arraignment for child molestation charges in 2004 by posting the photos side by side on his Instagram account.

On Friday Bieber opened up about his arrest for the first time, tweeting:

“YOU ARE ALL WORTHY NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS >> BE STRONG GOD IS WITH US ALL> MY BELIEBERS CHANGED MY LIFE> I WILL FOREVER BE GRATEFUL”

While it’s clear that child stars seem destined to implode, unfortunately I don’t have a solution. Kids are one of the hottest commodities in Hollywood. The harsh truth is that there will be thousands more Justin Beibers to come. But as a society I suggest that we examine where some of this disappointment really belongs: on the adults in these celebrities’ lives who care more about their “product’s” image and their wallets than that child’s personal well-being. They, along with his family, should be the ones teaching him what is and is not acceptable. But regardless of their failed responsibility to raise Bieber to do the right thing, Bieber needs to grow up and learn to be the role model he undoubtedly is for many kids the world over. Let’s hope that an impressionable young generation, searching for someone to emulate has elsewhere to look.

Fall Music 2013- It will be epic!!!

by Ryan Shea

Maybe it’s just me, but the music scene so far in 2013 has been pretty legit for the first time in a long time. The summer alone has brought us some inescapable and funk’dafied jams from “Blurred Lines” to “Get Lucky” to “Summertime Sadness” to name a few. It also brought us Miley Cyrus f***ing herself with a foam finger and wearing a Gaga latex rip off Sunday night. I think I am going to vomit. Regardless, with the fall season rapidly approaching it also is a reminder that some of the biggest names in music will be dropping their records in the upcoming months, thus making this guy here very excited for what is to come for 2013 and beyond. Seeing as the VMA’s was a preview for some of the incredible music we are about the unveil in the upcoming months, one can only hope that it will segue into an amazing 2014. Let’s start off with the news that got me insanely giddy.

Eminem- The Marshall Mathers 2.

Eminem as far as I am concerned was MY GENERATION. He was everything to so many of us growing up in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and has continued to be a dominating force not only in the hip-hop industry but in the music industry period. At the Video Music Awards it was announced that his highly anticipated new album, the follow up to 2000’s “Marshall Mathers LP” will be dropped on November 5th and the first single off the album called “Berzerk” has already shot to number one in less than a day of it debuting on iTunes. “Berzerk” is such an insane throw back for so many different reasons yet has a modern edge to it. It also proves why he is the fucking man still practically fourteen years after his debut in 99. Expect this album to do some severe damage on the charts and for him to educate a whole new generation of people on the school that is Eminem.

Katy Perry- Prism

Katy Perry has come quite a way since her days of kissing a girl (I never liked it personally. Not her, kissing girls.) Her last album “Teenage Dream” did the unthinkable in that she tied (and almost topped) Michael Jackson’s record of the most number one singles off of a single album (California Girls, title track, E.T., Last Friday Night, Firework) and received numerous awards and a pivotal nomination for “Album of the Year” at the Grammy’s. Well after a semi-quiet year from her after the long haul of her sophomore album success, she has come back full throttle with the first single off of Prism called “Roar” which quickly debuted at number one on the iTunes charts and raced up to number two on the Billboard Charts (expect it to dethrone “Blurred Lines” this week). The album “Prism” is set to hit shelves on October 22nd and the second single called “Dark Horse” is set to hit airwaves in a couple of weeks. “Blur” is a slower paced version of a lead off single than she normally does but somehow it works as she is very good at belting out a pop hit or two and this album will no doubt compete with Eminem and a couple others for the top spot in the fall.

Lady Gaga- Artpop

As much as I love Lady Gaga, and I really do, she needs this album to be freaking phenomenal compared to what I and many people think was a lackluster third effort with “Born This Way”. That album just felt very rushed and ill planned and conceived as well as it didn’t really hold a candle to what “The Fame” and “The Fame Monster” really did. “Artpop” is set to be released right before Thanksgiving on November 22nd and the leadoff single “Applause” really isn’t taking off like a lot of people thought it would. The song debuted at number 6 on the Billboard Charts where as its biggest competitor “Roar” by Katy Perry debuted at number two instead. She has an insane fan base so it is a given that this album will do well but I don’t think “Applause” was the right start off single. Hopefully her follow up songs will prove why she is one of the best out there right now and a force to be reckoned with in the world of pop.

Justin Timberlake- The 20/20 Experience Part Two

What a comeback year this has been for the prince of pop ey? Part one of “The 20/20 Experience” debuted at number one back in early 2013 with an impressive near million first week sales and nothing has stopped him since. Things really took it to another level with his EPIC VMA performance on Sunday night which included a very abbreviated reunion of the band that made him famous in the first place, NSYNC. He also was the recipient of two major awards that night, The Michael Jackson “Video Vanguard Award” and the ultimate- Video of the Year for his second single off “20/20” called “Mirrors”. Well now expect to hear much more from Justin as part two of “20/20” is scheduled to be released on September 30th with the leadoff single “Take Back The Night” already released last month. Hard to believe you can do two albums in one year, but then again this is a man we haven’t heard any new material from in 7 years, so bring it.

Esquire’s Music & Fashion issue with Ne-Yo & Wiz Khalifa

by Ryan Shea

Hip-Hop & R&B Superstars Wiz Khalifa and Ne-Yo have surely made names for themselves over the past couple of years and cemented themselves firmly into that music industry. Wiz is riding high with the birth of his son Sebastian with girlfriend & model Amber Rose. Ne-Yo has a ton of projects in the works, one notably rumored joining the next season of X-Factor set to take place in September. Both of them are featured in the upcoming fashion & music issue of Esquire magazine, on stands April 23rd. Here are some of the topics that eac of them talked about-

Wiz Khalifa on his big moment: “Performing with Snoop at Coachella [in 2012] was crazy. I grew up listening to Snoop and idolizing him. But not only did he bring me out that night, he brought out Dr. Dre and freakin’ hologram Tupac. To be in that sentence is pretty amazing. Pinch yourself? I had to slap myself.”

Wiz Khalifa on getting his: “I like learning new things. Right now, I’m learning to sue people and get my money. After talking to people who work for Donald Trump – smart, successful people – I’ve realized I gotta go after all that. That’s what I’m going to do that I didn’t last year.”

Ne-Yo on his dancing: “I’m not a natural. I had to teach myself – or be taught – everything I do. I just spent hours and hours in the mirror mimicking Michael Jackson.”

Ne-Yo on Sammy Davis, Jr.: “I grew up in Las Vegas. My mom worked in pretty much every casino on the Strip. She brought home the Rat Pack stuff. Sammy was the only one that looked like me, so I naturally gravitated to him. Sammy made it cool to be black at a time when, let’s just say it, it wasn’t very cool to be black. His name was on the front of the building in lights, and he had to go in the back. But you never saw him sweat.”

Want to read more about their stories? Click on each link below to find out more.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/wiz-khalifa-0513?click=mid

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/ne-yo-0513?click=mid

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