A Look Back On Season 2 Of “The Voice”

May 9, 2012

"The Voice" Season 2 Top 4 Jermaine Paul, Chris Mann, Juliet Simms And Tony Lucca

Clizbeats.com would like to send a huge congratulations to former Alicia Keys back up singer turned winner of The Voice, Jermaine Paul. In an extremely close competition between four very talented, but different kinds of singers, Paul was crowned “The Voice,” in a star studded two hour event on NBC last night. As promised Jermaine gets to step out in front as a lead performer now, complete with his own record deal with Universal Republic Records. If Jermaine’s original material contains even just a small amount of the soul he poured into his last performance of R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly”, the world is in for a real treat After Carson Daly’s dramatic announcement, it was  revealed that Jermaine of Blake Shelton’s team had won, with Juliet Simms of Cee-Lo Green’s team placed second, while Team Adam’s Tony Lucca came in third, with Christina Aguilera’s artist, Chris Mann came in fourth. The show ended with Jermaine in tears, hugging everyone and anyone who came on stage to congratulate him. When he was asked to try and describe the rush of emotion that he was feeling in those special moments, Jermaine took a moment to fight back the tears and say, “I just want to say thank you to everybody who supported me from Day 1. God bless y’all man,” said Jermaine. “Nobody but Jesus, man, nobody.” Then as he continued to tear up he did his best to revisit his winning performance of “I Believe I Can Fly.”

Jermaine Paul

“I Believe I Can Fly”

From The Voice 2012

NBC

While this is indeed some very happy news for Jermaine Paul, the runners up do not have anything to be sad about either. Every one of those finalists compliment the genre their voices live in very well, and they each are helping show Universal Republic how their presence also fills a void in the market place with their contributions to the show. Last year’s winning team, Team Adam’s Tony Lucca actually has two songs in the top 10 on ITunes Singles chart right now. Lucca’s arrangement of Jay-Z’s hit, “99 problems” is at number 5 (out ranking Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend”), and Lucca’s duet version of The Beatles’ “Yesterday” with Adam Levine is at number 9. Even though Chris Mann had his struggles breaking into the music business with his classically trained operatic sound, if anyone just takes a quick look at Josh Groban’s numbers, it is no secret why Chris’ duet with Christina Aguilera of “The Prayer” is now at number 11 on that same chart. Chris’ vocal range is beyond impressive. To say that he has potential to be successful is an understatement. He could quickly join the ranks of Susan Boyle to become a reality star turned icon of a genre. Flo Rida’s “Wild One” with Sia got a boost at number 6 on the ITunes chart, no doubt due to the buzz behind Flo Rida’s performance with runner up, Juliet Simms who stepped in for Sia to sing the hook.

Tony Lucca

“99 Problems”

From The Voice 2012

NBC

Tony Lucca & Adam Levine

“Yesterday”

From The Voice 2012

NBC

Chris Mann & Christina Aguilera

“The Prayer”

From The Voice 2012

NBC

Flo Rida Featuring Juliet Simms

“Wild One”

From The Voice 2012

NBC

Flo Rida was not the only star who benefited from the power of The Voice last night. As promised from weeks earlier, teen idol Justin Bieber did return to The Voice stage to give the world premiere live performance of his smash hit, “Boyfriend.” But as if that was not enough, Lady Antebellum also performed their latest, “Wanted You More,” while Hall And Oates temed up Tony Lucca, Chris Mann, and Jermaine Paul to perform their classic, “Rich Girl.”

Lady Antebellum

“Wanted You More”

From The Voice 2012

NBC

Hall And Oates Featuring Tony Lucca, Jermaine Paul, And Chris Mann

“Rich Girl”

From The Voice 2012

NBC

Justin Bieber

“Bofriend”

Live On The Voice

NBC

While that made for some amazing TV to watch last night, as American Idol has taught us in years past, good TV does not always translate to music stardom. Also winning a singing competition does not always mean you will be the one to sell a lot of records. Sometimes you do if you are someone like Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson, but sometimes the runners up are the real stars, like Jennifer Hudson and Chris Daughtry. The Voice contestants of season one are doing their best to help prove that to be true for them as well. Since becoming runners up in season one’s competition, contestants Dia Frampton and Vicci Martinez have both been hard at work on their own music After releasing her major label debut album, Red at the tail end of 2011 Dia is building up a buzz with her infectious single, “Don’t Kick The Chair,” which was first serviced promotional y in January. Fans may remember that Dia received a great quite a bit of praise for her stripped down arrangement of Kanye West’s song, “Heartless.” With that said it seems very fitting to have her breakout hit feature one of Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Music protégés, Kid Cudi. The album also features production from greats like Greg Wells, David Hodges, Toby Gad and others. Runner up from  season one’s Team Cee-Lo, Vicci Martinez has also been doing big thing. Universal Republic has recently released her first major label EP, Come Along last week. The EP features the title tracl, which features her one time coach, Cee-lo Green.. The two of them teamed up to perform the song on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and on season 2 of The Voice. Her major label debut, Vicci will also be in stores next month.

Dia Frampton Featuring Kid Cudi

“Don’t Kick The Chair”

From Red

Universal Republic Records

Dia Frampton Featuring Kid Cudi

“Don’t Kick The Chair”

Live On The Voice

NBC

Vicci Martinez Featuring Cee-Lo Green

“Come Along”

From Come Along EP

Universal Republic Records

Vicci Martinez Featuring Cee-Lo Green

“Come Along”

Live On The Voice

NBC

As last year’s runners up are finding success with their new music, last year’s winner doesn’t want to be forgotten either. Javier Colon does not want to be forgotten either. Universal Republic released his victory album from winning, The Voice in November of 2011. That album, Come Through For You has a mix of mainstream with some very meaningful subject matter behind it.  Universal Republic also does not spare any expense. Even though colon h heard baring his soul on some songs as a song writer, he is also paired up with some of the most accomplished song writers/producers in the business. Some of those include, Andrew Frampton, Ryan Tedder, David Hodges, Kris Allen, Jason Derulo, James Blunt, Pharrell Williams among others. That album also features his coach and friend Adam Levine of Maroon 5 on The Neptunes produced, “Stand Up.” The album’s first single is the touching duet, “As Long As We Got Love” featuring British Pop star, Natasha Beddingfield. Recently Universal Republic Records re-released the album with the rejuvenated project’s new single, “A Drop In The Ocean.” That single was also premiered with a performance on season 2 of The Voice. So while many fans of the previous amd current casts of The Voice wait to see if the artists they voted for actually blow up to be superstars one thing always rings true, out of all the music completions on TV, The Voice has the largest amount of well developed talent with pure ability. Keep checking in with Clizbeats.com as we bring you more news Jermaine Paul and the other contestants, as they begin to make their mark on the music industry as well!

Javier Colon Featuring Natasha Beddingfield

“As Long As We Got Love”

From Come Through For You

Universal Republic Records

Javier Colon Featuring Adam Levine Of Maroon 5

“Stand Up”

From Come Through For You

Universal Republic Records

Javier Colon

“A Frop In The Ocean”

From Come Through For You

Universal Republic Records

Javier Colon

“A Drop In The Ocean”

Live On The Voice

NBC

Death Cab For Cutie’s Summer Of Touring

May 7, 2012

Death Cab For Cutie

Atlantic recording group Death Cab for Cutie recently hit the road to take on North America in their summer tour.  The North American dates get underway with a pair of Canada Day Weekend shows with The Tragically Hip – slated for June 30^th at The Commons in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario and July 1^st at Burl’s Creek in Barrie, Ontario – and then continue through late July (see attached itinerary).

Among the schedule’s many highlights is a July 17^th headline date at Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium, and a series of festival performances including Milwaukee’s Summerfest on July 5^th, Des Moines, Iowa’s 80/35 Music Festival on July 7^th, Chicago’s annual “The Taste of Chicago” on July 12^th, Cincinnati’s Bunbury Music Festival on July 15^th, and Dover, Delaware’s Firefly Music Festival on July 22^nd.

DCFC is currently in the midst of a one-of-a-kind spring trek that sees the band accompanied on stage by members of San Francisco’s innovative Magik*Magik Orchestra.  The tour – which continues through a May 13^th homecoming at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre – has drawn rapturous critical acclaim at each stop, with No Depression hailing a recent show at Toronto‘s Massey Hall as “a unique and beautiful live music experience.” “This is the way that Death Cab should always be,” declared the Omaha World Herald, noting that “there’s nothing wrong with the music before, but the orchestra fills everything out. The big moments feel huge and the poignant points are even more touching.”

Milwaukee’s Shepherd Express pointed out that the orchestral group – which previously teamed with Death Cab for Cutie for their recent installment of VH1 Storytellers – “heightened (Ben) Gibbard’s gloomy, jangling tunes but didn’t overpower them…Their flourishing addition to ‘I Will Follow You Into the Dark’ careened that one-man-and-his-guitar desolation into a sweeping jaunt that cloaked the actual moroseness of the song.” “(Death Cab’s) set spanned a broad emotional range,” applauded Denver’s Westworld, “massive climaxes crashing into quiet, sadness that drew everyone forward to the edge of their seats…‘Transatlanticism,’ the final song of the night, was incomprehensibly amazing.  Already a great song, with the strings added, it became transcendent.”

The seemingly non-stop tour schedule follows the release of Death Cab for Cutie’s critically acclaimed album, “CODES AND KEYS.”  “You Are A Tourist,” the album’s first single, proved a multi-format radio smash upon its release last year, reaching #1 at both Triple A and Modern Rock outlets nationwide – DCFC’s first-ever #1 at the latter format.

“CODES AND KEYS” entered the Billboard 200 at #3 upon its May 2011 release.  In addition to its popular success, the album also received critical praise from an wide array of national publications, including Spin, Rolling Stone, Blackbook, Time Out New York, Interview, Filter, the New York Times, and Entertainment Weekly, which declared the album to be “a reminder to the rest of the pretty-rock community that loveliness is worthless if there’s no heart behind it, and Death Cab’s beats stronger than most.”

Death Cab for Cutie is:  Ben Gibbard: guitars, keyboards, vocals * Chris Walla: guitars, keyboards * Nick Harmer: bass * Jason McGerr: drums.

For news and information, please visit www.deathcabforcutie.com.

No Doubt Announces Release Date For New Album

May 7, 2012

No Doubt

Alternative/Pop Rock staples No Doubt took to their website on Friday to announce that they’ve settled on an official release date for their long awaited 5th album entitled, Ear candy coming your way!. On there they provided a letter to their fans that announced the news and expressed appreciation for to those fans for being loyal to the band through out their career.  That Letter was accompanied by a video blog for the fans to pass around virally.   Ear candy coming your way! will be released by Interscope Records on September 25th.

No Doubt’s Letter To Fans Announcing Their New Album:

“We hope you like the new video and the big news – the new album will be out on September 25th.  We are incredibly excited to share the new music with you. Ear candy coming your way!

We thought the big release date announcement and video deserved some new photos as well.  We will debut a fresh new site and artwork closer to the album release but wanted to add some new photos in the meantime.

We also decided to update the way the site works a little bit so that all of the photos and messages that we Tweet will also be posted here at nodoubt.com. If you’re not yet following us on Twitter you can find us @nodoubt as well as at our personal accounts @gwenstefani, @AdrianYoungND,@TomDumontND and @tonykanal.  You can follow us on Facebook as well.

Love,
Gwen, Tony, Tom and Adrian“

Andre 3,000 Set To Play Jimi Hendrix In Bio Picture

May 7, 2012

Andre 3,000 Jimi Hendrix

An exclusive from The Irish Film and Television Network reported Friday, that Outcast Rapper Andre 3,000 is all set to play the lead role in the long awaited Jimi Hendrix bio film. IFTN reports that the film is currently in production in Wicklow, Ireland, and is expected to take six weeks to shoot.  The film will reportedly chronicle Hendrix’s early career following him through his time spent in England In 1966 and 1967 as he worked on what would become his debut album, Are You Experienced.

This highly anticipated film has hit its share of delays in the past. It hit its  notable  snag when production was initially shut down by the Hendrix estate in July of last year.    The film will be produced by Irish producer Tristan Orpen Lynch with the Dublin based production company Subotica Entertainment along side Richard Kelly’s Darko Entertainment and Britain’s Matador Pictures.  John Ridley, writer of 1999’s Three Kings and 1997’s U Turn. is set to direct the feature.  We’ll gladly keep you posted as new details are made available.

Details Revealed About Usher’s New Album “Looking 4 Myself”

May 7, 2012

Usher "Looking 4 Myself" RCA Records

Pop/R&B superstar Usher has recently released the cover art and complete track listing for his upcoming album, Looking 4 Myself. The album features the R&B/Hip Hop #1 single, “Climax”, as well as his latest single, “Scream” Usher has worked with a variety of talented song writers and producers on this project. Some of those include the likes of Rico Love Swizz Beatz, The Neptunes, Polow Da Don, David Guetta, Max Martin, Shellback Swedish House Mafia, among many others. Looking 4 Myself is due for release on June 12^th from RCA Records.

This is Usher’s first release from RCA since Sony Music dissolved the Jive Label Group in August of 2011. This project also reunites Usher with record executive Antonio “LA” Reid who serves as an executive producer on the project. Reid left Universal Music Group’s Island Def Jam Music Group in July of 2011 to take charge of one of RCA’s sister labels, Epic Records. This is significant because Reid was the one who first signed Usher to his then Atlanta based label with Babyface, LaFace Records in the early 90s. Years later it was also Reid who also would enter into a partnership with Usher on the development of one of his protégés signed to Island Def Jam Music Group, Justin Bieber. Although Bieber is expected to appear on Looking 4 Myself with Usher, details on that collaboration are being kept under wraps. Other guest artists on the project include the likes of Rick Ross, Pharrell Williams, and Luke Steele. See complete track listing for Usher’s Looking 4 Myself below.

1. Can’t Stop Won’t Stop
2. Scream
3. Climax
4. I Care For U
5. Show Me
6. Lemme See (feat. Rick Ross)
7. Twisted (feat. Pharrell)
8. Dive
9. What Happened To U
10. Looking 4 Myself (feat. Luke Steele)
11. Numb
12. Lessons For The Lover
13. Sins Of My Father
14. Euphoria

Deluxe Edition:
1. I.F.U.
2. Say The Words
3. 2nd Round
4. Hot Thing

Related Media

Usher

“Climax”

From Looking 4 Myself

RCA Records

Usher

“Scream”

From Looking 4 Myself

RCA Records

Rihanna Angers Lorne Michaels By Bailing On SNL Rehearsal

May 7, 2012

Rihanna on SNL

It’s pretty fair to say that Pop star Rihanna had NBC viewers sitting up in their chairs this past weekend during her musical performances on the most recent episode of Saturday Night Live.  In a lot of ways, that sort of attention is an everyday thing for the sex symbol.  Making headlines for angering a legendary TV producer in the process however isn’t. TMZ has reported that the singer annoyed Lorne Michaels when she called out sick for the audience watched dress rehearsal.

Sources close to the situation told TMZ that SNL staffers shocked when she showed up later “looking just fine”. Descriptions indicate that after the live show began she was “seen eating an apple and walking around in between songs”.  Understandably, this significantly bothered several people involved with the show, saying that she didn’t look sick enough to to miss rehearsal.  SNL continued saying that they didn’t remember the last time an artist missed rehearsals.

Check out the performances below and judge for yourself

Rihanna

“Birthday Cake /Talk That Talk”

On Saturday Night Live

NBC

Rihanna

“Where Have You Been”

On Saturday Night Live

NBC

Related Media

TMZ Reports on Rihanna’s Recent behavior leading up to the show

Coldplay Pays Tribute To Beastie Boys’ MCA

May 7, 2012

Coldplay

As the music world continues to mourn the loss of Beastie Boy Adan “MCA” Yauch,,the statements of loss and loving memory continue to be shared. Here is a touching tribute to MCA from his Capitol Records’ label mates, Coldplay. Below you will see their performance of the Beastie Boys’ classic genre bending Hip Hop classic, “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right To Party”

Coldplay’s Beastie Boys Tribute

Nicki Minaj Announces North American Tour And Joins Michael Jackson In Pepsi’s “Live Now” Campaign

May 7, 2012

Nicki Minaj In Pepsi Commercial

Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Republic superstar, Nicki Minaj has recently announced a Pink Friday North American Summer tour. (See dates below) Plus the rapper turned worldwide Pop star joins a long list of iconic celebrities as Pepsi’s new ad campaign leader

Nicki Minaj “Pink Friday” North American Tour

July 16 – Chicago, IL at The Chicago Theatre
July 17 – Detroit, MI at Fox Theatre Detroit
July 19 – Cleveland, OH at State Theatre at Playhouse Square
July 22 – Atlanta, GA at Fox Theatre Atlanta
July 24 – Miami, FL at James L. Knight Center
July 26 – Birmingham, AL at Boutwell Auditorium
July 28 – Houston, TX at Bayou Music Center
July 29 – Dallas, TX at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie
July 31 – St. Louis, MO at Peabody Opera House
August 2 – Denver, CO at Wells Fargo Theatre
August 4 – Las Vegas, NV at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino
August 7 – Phoenix, AZ at Comerica Theatre
August 11 – Seattle, WA at Paramount Theatre
August 12 – Vancouver, BC at Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Pepsi has announced her involvement in their global campaign, “Live for Now”. Nicki is seen making a cameo appearance in the commercial, The rapper gets frozen in the middle of her concert performance before being brought back to life when a fun loving couple open a can of the soft drink.

Nicki shared in the announcement of the new ad via Twitter. She took to Twitter to share a link to the extended cut of the spot that features a remix of her hit song “Moment 4 Life”. Her tweet reads

“Hey Barbz!!!! -Check out my new Pepsi commercial here!!! and then tell @Pepsi how you #livefornow! #teamminaj.”

She continued to tweet, “Wait til u c the 30 second spot ”

Pepsi Beverages Company’s Chief Marketing Officer Simon Lowden, said in a press release, “The ‘Live for Now’ positioning will inform the way Pepsi behaves as a brand and is a fantastic filter through which to create exciting and innovative partnerships with some of the world’s leading artists and entertainment properties.”

Beside Minaj, Pepsi has also inked a deal with Michael Jackson’s estate which Pepsi to use the late King Of Pop’s image for its new global marketing campaign. One billion Pepsi cans will feature  a special edition design of the Jackson’s silhouette. This part of the “Live Now” campaign will begin in conjunction with  rolled out around the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Jackson’s Bad album and tour.

Nicki Mianj’s New Pepsi “Live Now” Commercial

R.I.P. Adam “MCA” Yauch Of The Beastie Boys

May 6, 2012

Adam “MCA” Yauch

Various music media sources have reported on the sad news of the death of Adam “MCA” Yauch from legendary New York Rap group, The Beastie Boys. MCA passed away at age 47 on May 4, 2012 in Brooklyn New York after a tough battle with what he described as “terrible” cancerous parotid gland and a lymph node.,Yauch was first diagnosed and treated in 2009. He underwent surgery and radiation therapy. These procedures delayed the release of The Beastie’s  Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. Capitol Records did eventually release the album in April of 2011. MCA was unable to appear in any music videos related to the project or tour to support the album. Despite his illness delaying The Beastie Boys’ last project, MCA is remembered by his millions of fans as part of one of the most influential figures in Hip Hop music MCA, along with his group mates, Michael “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Adrock” Horovitz, forever have a place in Hip Hop history as one of the flagship acts on the now iconic Hip Hop labe, Def Jam Recordings. MCA and the guys opened the door for classic Def Jam performers like LL Cool J, EPMD, Public Enemy and many others. The Boys also were one of the first to work with Def Jam co-founder turned acclaimed record producer Rick Rubin, who would later make history with other acts as diverse as Run DMC, to Jay-Z, to Linkin Park, Dixie Chicks, Johnny Cash and Justin Timberlake. MCA and the Beastie Boys also paved the way for other white rappers who would later go on to make a major cultural impact on the genre like Eminem, 3^rd Bass and Kid Rock.

Rap Superstar turned actor and Def Jam Records alumni, LL Cool J was deeply saddened when he learned of MCA’s passing. See his touching emotional testimony about MCA and his influence on his career below.

LL Cool J Reacts To MCA’s Passing

Def Jam Records co-founder Russell Simmons recently published the following statement on his web site, globalgrind.com about MCA.

Adam was incredibly sweet and the most sensitive artist, who I loved dearly. I was always inspired by his work. He will be missed by all of us.

In his passing, I want to share a yogic prayer.

This experience is tough for all of us to accept, but we know that we have only lost Adam in the physical world.  His gifts will live forever.  Adam is not dead because we’re not.  The eyes behind the eyes will always exist…your soul will always live.  Even though our bodies rejuvenate every single cell every seven years, our consciousness will exist for eternity.   There is one living, breathing journey of consciousness and we are all connected.  God is the everlasting ocean of consciousness and we are just cups of this ocean.  RIP MCA.

–Russell Simmons

Public Enemy front-man Chuck D also shared his thoughts on MCA’s passing with Simmons’ globalgrind.com

“Last night, I took a 14 hour flight to Sydney, Australia from LA, embarking on PE’s 80th tour in 25 years. I just landed to 65 texts with the news. Adam and the Boys put us on our first tour 25 years and 79 tours ago. They were essential to our beginning, middle and today. Adam especially was unbelievable in our support from then ’til now, even allowing me to induct them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I consider myself a strong man and my father says be prepared to lose many in your post-50 path of life. Still, I’m a bit teary-eyed leaving this plane. R.I.P. Adam aka MCA.”

MTV’s Sway Calloway also hosted a tribute to MCA on MTV, which firs aired on MTV Friday night.

Adam Yauch: Remembering A Beastie Boy

MTV.com

Part 1

Adam Yauch: Remembering A Beastie Boy

MTV.com

Adam Yauch: Remembering A Beastie Boy

MTV.com

Part 5

Adam Yauch: Remembering A Beastie Boy

MTV.com

Part 9

Adam Yauch: Remembering A Beastie Boy

MTV.com

Part 10

Last but certainly not least, beastieboys.com recently published a complete look back on MCA’s life in a full biography profiling all of his accomplishments seen below

From beastieboys.com

It is with great sadness that we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam “MCA” Yauch, founding member of Beastie Boys and also of the Milarepa Foundation that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits, and film production and distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories, passed away in his native New York City this morning after a near-three-year battle with cancer. He was 47 years old.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Yauch taught himself to play bass in high school, forming a band for his 17th birthday party that would later become known the world over as Beastie Boys.

With fellow members Michael “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Adrock” Horovitz, Beastie Boys would go on to sell over 40 million records, release four #1 albums–including the first hip hop album ever to top the Billboard 200, the band’s 1986 debut full length, Licensed To Ill–win three Grammys, and the MTV Video Vanguard Lifetime Achievement award. Last month Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with Diamond and Horovitz reading an acceptance speech on behalf of Yauch, who was unable to attend.

In addition to his hand in creating such historic Beastie Boys albums as Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty and more, Yauch was a founder of the Milarepa Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness and activism regarding the injustices perpetrated on native Tibetans by Chinese occupational government and military forces. In 1996, Milarepa produced the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, which was attended by 100,000 people, making it the biggest benefit concert on U.S. soil since 1985’s Live Aid. The Tibetan Freedom Concert series would continue to stage some of the most significant benefit shows in the world for nearly a decade following in New York City, Washington DC, Tokyo, Sydney, Amsterdam, Taipei and other cities.

In the wake of September 11, 2001, Milarepa organized New Yorkers Against Violence,

Justin Bieber Channels *N Sync In “Boyfriend” Music Video

May 4, 2012

Justin Bieber "Boyfriend" RBMG/Island Records/IDJMG

Teen Pop superstar Justin Bieber has finally released the highly anticipated music video for his latest hit single, “Boyfriend.” Music video director Colin Tilley was first hired to direct. Tilley had previously worked with Justin on the videos for his 2010 singles “U Smile,” and “Never Let You Go”. Tilley also hooked up with Bieber while working with another frequent collaborator, of his, Chris Brown. Tilley was the visionary behind Brown’s big budget apocalyptic video for his duet with Justin,“Next To You “. Justin teased Tilley’s video for “Boyfriend virally on Vevo and as a guest on NBC’s The Voice,

However despite the millions of hits and exposure through one of the most popular shows on television, Tilley’s version of the video was ultimately scrapped and Bieber’s team had to quickly reshoot the video. Island Def Jam hired video director “X”, formerly known as “Little X”, or “Mr. X” to take on the project. X has recently been the man behind the hit videos “Glad You Came”, and “Chasing The Sun”, by another Island Def Jam act, UK boy band. The Wanted.. So when it came time to give the “Boyfriend” video an emergency reboot, X was the man to turn to.

The new version of the video was filmed on April 21^st and April 22^nd, and was finally released via MTV promotional platforms on Thursday May 3^rd. Tilley’s original teased version can be seen in the beginning as two girls watch it on a smart phone, and the camera then Panned into X’s version of the video. While Tilley’s version is dark, abstract, and full of women like his work with Diddy-Dirty Money, and Sean Garrett, it appears that X found inspiration from another Teen Pop/R&B act.

X’s version and the final version of the “Boyfriend” video still shows Justin outside surrounded by dancers and on lookers. It also shows the group sitting in various cars as JB sings to a girl that resembles his real girlfriend, Selena Gomez. Aside from a couple of obvious performance differences, this concept looks remarkably similar to *N Sync and Nelly’s 2002 music video, “Girlfriend.” This is particularly interesting because *N Sync’s Justin Timberlake was in a bidding war in 2008 to sign Bieber to is label, Tennman Records, but lost out to Usher and Island Def Jam. Timberlake was also a huge influence on Bieber musically as well, one of the videos JB got famous for was an acoustic cover of JT’s hit, “Cry Me A River.” *N Sync’s “Girlfriend” music video came at a time when the group was going in a more mature direction, and Timberlake had more creative involvement.  Is Justin Bieber the next Justin Timberlake? Only time will reveal the answer to what many people have already predicted to be true. Many music fans are still just waiting to see what JB does, since his forthcoming album, Believe is technically only his second album. (excluding his holiday album, Under The Mistletoe) But until Believe is released on June 19^th, enjoy the video below.

Justin Bieber

“Boyfriend”

From Believe

RBMG/Island Records/IDJMG

Related Media

*N Sync Featuring Nelly

“Girlfriend” (The Neptunes Remix)

From Celebrity

Jive Records

Justin Bieber Meets Justin Timberlake And Jessica Biel

Unreleased Version of “Boyfriend” (Clip)  Music Video Directed By Colin Tilley

Colin Tilley’s Work With Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber

“Never Let You Go”

From My World 2.0

RBMG/Island Records/IDJMG

Justin Bieber

“U Smile”

From My World 2.0

RBMG/Island Records/IDJMG

Chris Brown Featuring Justin Bieber

“Next To You”

From F.A.M.E.

CBE/Jive Records/JLG

Other Colin Tilley Videos That Resemble The Original “Boyfriend” Video

Diddy-Dirty Money Featuring Trey Songz & Rick Ross

“Your Love” (Remix)

From Last Train To Paris

Bad Boy/Interscope Records

Sean Garrett

“In Da Box” (Explicit)

Roc Nation/Columbia Records

Chris Brown Featuring Seven

“She Ain’t You”

From F.A.M.E.

CBE/Jive Records/JLG