Bark + Bite

Ed Sheeran makes his trek across the pond with nothing but his voice and his guitar

Acoustic soul. It's a boldly single-flavor proposition in a top 40 landscape that rewards decadent synth lasagnas and electro pop layer cakes. But then again, given the recent success of Adele, a singer who has racked up eye-popping record sales with nothing but good ol' fashioned soul, it's clear there's a market out there for music fans who'd like to feast their ears on much simpler aural dishes.

Ed Sheeran has leveraged his unique brand of acoustic soul to wild success in the UK. His debut album + debuted at #1 in the UK, earning him the highest UK sales for a debut artist ever. He's also up for numerous awards at the Brits this year, including Best Album, and he has the support of a few showbiz VIPs like Elton John and Jamie Foxx.

We had the chance to catch up with the British wunderkind as he prepares for an extended campaign of the US. Will he be able to cast a spell on the US as he's done in his home, the UK?

Top 10 Songs in the US

1 ADELE / SET FIRE TO THE RAIN
- At that's left is for Adele to take over the throne of England, at this point.

2 RIHANNA / WE FOUND LOVE
- It's been a wild roller coaster, but it looks like the world is finally ready to get off.

3 FLO RIDA / GOOD FEELING
- Will this track get sympathy sales thanks to Etta's passing? Do enough people even know that's her voice sampled on the hook?

4 DAVID GUETTA FEAT NICKI MINAJ / TURN ME ON
- Why can't the rap section of this song be a full 8 or 16 bars?

5 KATY PERRY / THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
- Those acoustic remix dollars didn't spend very far, did they?

6 BRUNO MARS / IT WILL RAIN
- Sorry, Brunz. We're all out of morphine. Children's Tylenol and a half-eaten Flintstones vitamin will have to do.

7 LMFAO / SEXY AND I KNOW IT
- Wouldn't the Old Spice guy have been perfect for a brief monologue on this song?

8 KELLY CLARKSON / STRONGER
- Misery doesn't love company, it just loves Kelly Clarkson.

9 JAY-Z & KANYE WEST / N**GAS IN PARIS
- Eff Kanye and Jay-Z's couch for being too damn lazy to give us a video for this monster jam.

10 JESSIE J / DOMINO
- She had to dress herself up as a Katy Perry knockoff, but Jessie J finally find her way to the top of the charts.

SOURCE: Billboard Hot 100

Chris Brown keeps the party going with "Turn Up the Music"

Chris Brown has pretty much been flip-flopping between hip hop-influenced R&B and straight dance-pop for the past three albums. And he's not even daring to switch up the formula now for Fortune, his upcoming fifth studio album. Which is fine, really, because of all the R&B cats doing the pop crossover stuff, Chris is one of the few who actually puts out convincingly good dance material

He already released "Strip" from the project, but that slightly warmed over leftover from the Boy In Detention mixtape seems more like a buzz single than a proper lead track.

So now Chris is turning from the R&B cheek to the pop cheek, with his unabashedly extasy-fueled club jam, "Turn Up the Music."

The lyrics to the song are an ode to the intoxicating power of music. There's also a pretty great "whooa oooh oohh" post-chorus section. The actual chorus barrels through the speaker like a cannonball. It takes no prisoners as Robo Chris (the man loves him some autotune) commands the DJ to turn the music up louder, while the Nintendo-sounding synths come crashing down like an aural tsunami around the listener's ears.

Taking a cue from his ex-boo Rihanna, Chris has the Underdogs sprinkle the production with some neck-snapping crescendo dance breaks that sound like they belong in Mortal Kombat. Forget the roof being on fire, Chris is aiming to burn the whole block with this track.

The energy on the song is on level 30 and you know that means the video and its choreography will be out of this world. Look, Chris Brown is down for a good time, are you? Fist pump the night away.

Listen to Chris Brown's new party anthem below

Rick Ross is coming to the nation's capital, bringing Jeremih along with him

Rick Ross is a man with a plan. The heavyweight rapper is in the midst of some serious promotion for his upcoming album, God Forgives...I Don't.

Despite his recent health scare, Ross is proving to be quite the road warrior. So far, so good. And Washington D.C. fans are in for a treat as the Boss himself is set to hit the stage at D.A.R. Constitution Hall on Feb. 23. The show is being put on by SFI Live and will also feature Mr. "Birthday Sex" aka Jeremih.

Given that D.C. is home to Ross' recent Maybach Music Group signee, Wale, there's probably a good chance that the "Lotus Flower Bomb" MC will make an appearance at the event as well.

Tickets for the show can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com.

Bruno Mars is stacking up hits and breaking records

Photo: Andreas Laszlo Konrath

Bruno Mars is the king of the world! No Titanic.

The Hawaiian-born singer was recently crowned the king of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)'s 2011 worldwide digital singles charts, taking both the number 1 and 2 slots.

The #1 best-selling digital single of the last year was Mars' "Just the Way You Are," which racked up an impressed 12.5 million digital sales, according to a press release from Atlantic Records. The #2 best-selling digital single, "Grenade," also belonged to Mars and sold a whopping 10.2 million copies.

"The Lazy Song," his third single from his debut album Doo-Wops and Hooligans, which is 25 times platinum worldwide according to his label, came in at #10 the IFPI chart with 6.5 million copies sold. This triple feat makes Bruno the first artist to have 3 songs in the digital singles top 10 in one year. Bruno makes hit records and smashes records on the charts. Call him the Demolition Man.

In related news, Bruno is also featured on UK rapper Master Shortie's latest single, "All I Need." For American Hooligans, this should be a rare treat as there's no word on when or if this will ever officially make its way to the States.

Listen to Bruno on the new Master Shortie track below

John Legend and Ludacris promise you won't forget "Tonight"

Ladies, if you're looking for an unforgettable night of sex and passion, John Legend and Ludacris are announcing themselves to be ready and willing on "Tonight (Best You Ever Had)."

G.O.O.D. Music's smooth-talking Cassanova spreads it on thick in this slow-burning, sexy number: "C'mon let me kiss that, oh I know you miss that".

Legend isn't shy about having his lover wide open. It's probably because he knows just how to work it. "I'll hit you with the best stroke, freestyle and the breast stroke / And now the bed is broke," he brags.

Ludacris makes a decent showing, but he kind of interrupts the sensual watercolors that Legend is painting with. But if John had to pick a suitable rapper for a "let me love you down" jam, Ludacris aka "Mr. Splash Waterfalls" is among the best options.

John manages to find a delightful middleground between pop and R&B on this single, which is featured on the Think Like a Man soundtrack and will also double as the lead single for his new upcoming album.

Listen to John Legend's dirty slow dance below

La Roux preps sexy sophomore album for May, lines up Coachella gig

When La Roux had its breakthrough in 2010 with "Bulletproof," the world was Elly Jackson's oyster. The curiously coifed redhead curried the favor of music critics and she set the airwaves ablaze with her bittersweet, '80s-inspired, electro pop survival anthem "Bulletproof."

After the success of "Bulletproof," La Roux toured the States and collaborated with hip hop legend Kanye West. He appeared on a remix of "In for the Kill" and she repaid the favor by lending her voice to his superstar chorus on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy's "All of the Lights" and pitching in along with Charlie Wilson on Watch the Throne's "That's My Bitch."

2011, however, was largely a year of hibernation and recording for La Roux. The good news is that the band is finally ready to reemerge in 2012, with Digital Spy reporting that the sophomore set will drop sometime in May this year. Also, we're apparently all in for something a little sexier this time around.

"The music is a lot sexier. A lot of music that's quite sexual is aggressive, but the music itself doesn't sound sexy - it's more people shouting, 'Look at my bum! Look!' I'm not turned on by it, I'm terrified," Jackson told NME, according to Digital Spy.

Sounds like Elly prefers her sexy with a side of mystery. So don't go getting too many ideas about her crawling around, nude and covered in body paint for the lead single's video.

In fact, Jackson recently took to her Twitter account to express disdain for the state of female sexuality in pop music while responding to a remark about Rihanna's crotch-first "You Da One" video.

K'NAAN and Nelly Furtado open their arms and hearts to misfits

In case the Internetz and wealthy pop stars haven't told you yet: It gets better. This viral campaign which was started in response to the tragic rash of gay suicides last year, has shifted pop music toward soaring self-esteem anthems. Katy Perry mastered it with "Firework" and here comes Somali-Canadian rapper K'NAAN trying his hand at it with help from his fellow Canuck, Nelly Furtado.

Look, if you're sick of these schmaltzy inspirational pop anthems, this might rub you the wrong way. There's a corniness factor at work, and K'NAAN's hip pop verses float somewhere between Lupe Fiasco and will.i.am territory. They're not quite bad and not quite good either.

The aim of K'NAAN's song is focused on painting the story of two misfits of society: Adam and Mary. Mary struggles with the pressures of outer beauty placed on her by society, while Adam suffers from abandonment issues from his absent father and ultimately ends up a slave to his drug abuse. It's a cliched afterschool special we've all seen a thousand times before.

Nelly saves the song with her rich, golden hook: "I don't wanna be left in this war tonight / Am I alone in this fight? / Is anybody out there." It's much more "Like A Bird" than "Promiscuous" and Nelly sounds glad to be back in that airy zone.

Listen to K'NAAN and Nelly's collaboration below