In this week's upper tier of the Billboard Hot 100, there are three songs produced by Stargate ("Firework," "S&M," "Black And Yellow"), three with the word "fuck" in the title ("Fuck You," "Fuckin' Perfect," "Tonight (I'm Fuckin' You)," two co-written by Bruno Mars ("Fuck You," "Grenade"), two containing the word "lesbian" in the lyrics ("Born This Way," "Black And Yellow"), one with "transgendered" in the lyrics ("Born This Way") and one with the word "faggots"("I Need A Doctor").
That's a shame about Dr. Dre's "I Need A Doctor," because I truly love Skylar Grey's haunting chorus on the single. And I've really come around to Eminem, who, after a seemingly hostile-toward-the-gays start, has said he has no problem with gay marriage and is besties with Elton John (did you catch Sir Elt's Rolling Stone cover story a few weeks back? Traaaaaashy—though read the whole thing if you get a chance. Good stuff.)
But it's Dre himself who drops the F-bomb in "I Need A Doctor" when he raps, "When the chips were down you just laughed at us, now you about to feel the fuckin' wrath of Aftermath, faggots." Okay, so the good (?) doctor is using the term in a general sense, targeting all the fair-weather MCs who turned their backs on him when he took a chance mentoring young white rapper Em. But still—faggots. It's 2011. Really?
Wonder what gay rights activist Lady Gaga, who has her own brand of headphones under Dre's "Beats By Dr. Dre" line, thinks? Maybe we're just not supposed to talk about it...
Elsewhere, Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me" drops out of the Top 10 and lands at #11 in its sixth week on the chart, while Adele's "Rolling In The Deep" finally cracks the Top 40 by jumping 15 positions to #26. Previously the British singer reached #21 with her 2008 single "Chasing Pavements."
Meanwhile, Adele's 21 was released in the States this week, and is on track to debut at #1 on the next Top 200 album chart. Bet you won't catch her using "faggots" in a song.
The U.S. Top 10:
1. "Born This Way" - Lady Gaga*2 weeks* 2. "Fuck You" - Cee Lo Green 3. "Grenade" - Bruno Mars 4. "I Need A Doctor" - Dr. Dre feat. Eminem & Skylar Grey 5. "Firework" - Katy Perry 6. "Fuckin' Perfect" - Pink 7. "S&M" - Rihanna 8. "Never Say Never" - Justin Bieber feat. Jaden Smith 9. "Tonight (I'm Fuckin' You)"- Enrique Iglesias ft. Ludacris & DJ Frank E 10. "Black And Yellow" - Wiz Khalifa
If you slept under a rock all day, you missed The Grammys. I'm mentally fried from live-blogging the event over at Idolator, but here are some performances, plus some main winners...
Rihanna, Eminem, Skylar Grey & Dr. Dre, "Love The Way You Lie/I Need A Doctor"
Album Of The Year:The Suburbs - Arcade Fire Song Of The Year: "Need You Now" - Lady Antebellum Record Of The Year: "Need You Now" - Lady Antebellum Best New Artist: Esperanza Spalding Pop Vocal Album: The Fame Monster - Lady Gaga Female Pop Vocal Performance: "Bad Romance" - Lady Gaga Male Pop Vocal Performance: "Just The Way You Are" - Bruno Mars Pop Vocal Performance, Duo Or Group: "Hey Soul Sister (Live) - Train Pop Collaboration: "Imagine" - Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal Short Form Music Video: "Bad Romance" - Lady Gaga Dance Recording: "Only Girl (In The World)" - Rihanna Dance/Electronic Album:La Roux - La Roux Remixed Recording, Non-Classical: "Revolver" - Madonna Country Album: Need You Now - Lady Antebellum Country Song: "Need You Now" - Lady Antebellum Rap Album: Recovery - Eminem Rap Song: "Empire State Of Mind" - Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys Rock Album: The Resistance - Muse Rock Song: "Angry World" - Neil Young Alternative Music Album: Brothers - The Black Keys R&B Album: Wake Up! - John Legend and The Roots R&B Song: "Shine"- John Legend and The Roots R&B Male Vocal Performance: "There Goes My Baby" - Usher R&B Female Vocal Performance: "Bittersweet" - Fantasia R&B Vocal Performance, Duo Or Group: "Solider Of Love" - Sade Urban/Alternative Performance: "Fuck You" - Cee Lo Green
Well, the Pittsburgh Steelers lost the Super Bowl, but at least fans of the team waved their Terrible Towels high with one hand as they downloaded Wiz Khalifa's hometown football anthem "Black And Yellow" from iTunes with the other. The Stargate-produced hip hop jam finally climbs to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in its 18th week on the chart.
Debuting at #5 is Dr. Dre—who apparently has been more content to live high on his mountain of cash and develop a line of headphones over the past decade than make music under his own name—with "I Need A Doctor." Grammy-nominated British producer Alex Da Kid (check out my interview with him) worked on Dre's track, so its no surprise that Alex's protege Skylar Grey appears on it (not to mention Dre's own protege Eminem).
This brings us to Rihanna's "S&M," which jumps from #66 to #31 after last week's premiere of the song's ho-hum video. Replacing RiRi at #66 is Ke$ha with "Blow," her second single off Cannibal. And two positions above her is Adele's "Rolling In The Deep."
A bit further down, Jessie J's "Price Tag"—this week's UK chart-topper—debuts at #88. Kind of a blase week. But at least, as mentioned yesterday, Pink's Greatest Hits...So Far!!! has finally jumped into the Top 10 on the album chart after three months.
The U.S. Top 10:
1. "Black And Yellow" - Wiz Khalifa*1 week* 2. "Grenade" - Bruno Mars 3. "Firework" - Katy Perry 4. "Fuckin' Perfect" - Pink 5. "I Need A Doctor"- Dr. Dre feat. Eminem & Skylar Grey *new* 6. "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)"- Enrique Iglesias ft. Ludacris & DJ Frank E 7. "Rocketeer" - Far East Movement feat. Ryan Tedder 8. "What's My Name" - Rihanna feat. Drake 9. "Hey Baby (Drop It To The Floor)" - Pitbull feat. T-Pain 10. "Hold It Against Me" - Britney Spears
