From a galaxy far, far, away comes the green-haired alien with an ass the size of Jupiter and an intergalactic rack that puts the moon to shame. Her arrival is met with with worship, as the natives of Hawaii take their alien-bootied goddess into the volcano for a hot lava, glitter-steamed rave. The end.
That's the rough and quick summary of the "plot" for Nicki Minaj's "Starships" video. It's really just an excuse for Nicki to writhe around in the sand in a two-piece, wear funny wigs and fist pump while she clings to her flimsy fringe top. And there ain't nothing wrong with that.
Watch the long overdue video for Nicki's single "Starships" below
It had gotten dark at Merriweather Post Pavilion and seven o'clock had passed. Fans had piled in to the venue (Merriweather's current capacity is 19,316) and sat through a light shower of rain in anticipation for the headlining acts. Kid Cudi entered after the curtain was lifted kicking off his highly anticipated set. He was backed by the other half of WZRD, Dot Da Genius, and guitars and drums.
Cudi took the time to speak to fans and shout them out. Even those way back in the lawn. The G.O.O.D music rapper also took time to say that he would be going through some of his older work throughout the set and bringing out some of his mixtape tracks. The crowd roared in response and he kept his promise running through songs from 2008 like "Man on the Moon(The Anthem)", and even spit his first verse from the "Cudi Spazzin'" acapella.
Cudi also did material from his first two albums, running through material like "Ghost", "Refovev", "Erase Me", and "Mr. Rager," from the Man On The Moon II, while songs like "Soundtrack To My Life" "Cudi Zone", "Pursuit of Happiness" and"Day N' Nite" held down fans from the earlier albums.
Cudi's vocals were tough to hear for fans far in the back. High energy tracks like the David Guetta-produced "Memories" helped pull everyone into the festivities.
Another impressive moment was the improptu acapella or freestyle moments that Cudi incorporated in his set. He extended "Pursuit of Happiness" into a drawn out jam session, adding extra ad-libs. He extended another song by launching into a section with a loop of "Day N' Nite" Crookers remix on repeat.
Explosions in The Sky was a band that many concertgoers were experiencing for the first time as they took center stage at the Merriweather Post Pavilion. The venue had not reached capacity but there was an early presence of fans at the concert from the earlier sets and awaiting the bigger acts later in the evening. The setting featured the large Sweetlife banner and a Texas flag draped over sound equipment to homage to the band's home state.
Versatility was shown by band members Munaf Rayani and Michael James. The two group members played two instruments throughout the set, with Rayani adding on drums for certain portions of songs and James operating a bass guitar at times. Whenever the drums were added or the melody changed due to the bass, it was a sonically powerful experience for members of the audience.
The band dove in to their music, which features no vocals, letting their instruments do the talking. The pit featured multiple crowd surfs during the set, with security pulling in the crowd surfers like gutters in a bowling alley. It was a light-hearted affair from the beginning, with band members shouting out a friend's birthday and encouraging the crowd to make bird noises.
Nate Ruess of fun., performs at the 2012 Sweetlife Festival Photo Credits:Cristi Demnowicz
Photo Credits:Cristi Demnowicz
Guests piled in to the Merriweather Post Pavilion as noon passed. The clouds were heavy and it was clear that a rain storm was in the near future. But the rain wasn't enough to keep the fun. away.
The band kicked things off with great energy at the start of the festival. Their upbeat, sing-a-long tunes had concertgoers buzzing thanks to their recent success with the hit single "We Are Young" featuring Janelle Monae.
Judging by the warm crowd reaction to their set, the band likely gained a few more converts that day. Latecomers could be spotted grooving as they made their way into the venue during the band's set. Highlights from their set included the lithely melodic "Some Nights" and the quirky "At Least I'm Not As Sad." But of course, "We Are Young" is the anthem that everyone came to hear, and fun. didn't disappoint.
fun. is on an upward trajectory, having gone from a mostly Internet-based fan base to the full glare of mainstream exposure. Their mainstream success is also notable due to the fact that they're a pop-rock band. Rock as a music genre has been in a bit of dry spell. In fact, the Billboard Hot 100 hasn't been topped by an alternative/rock act since 2008's "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay. So their success is a breakthrough for a genre that's been fighting to maintain its relevance in pop music.
With Bonarroo around the corner, fun. demonstrated their festival strength at Sweetlife. Fans should expect a good time from fun. if they catch them in an upcoming festival set.
A$AP Rocky hits the stage the 2012 Sweetlife Festival. Photo Credits:LaVan Anderson
As fun. departed the stage, there was a DJ set to fill in the time until it was time for A$AP Rocky's set. A$AP Rocky was brought onto stage with a strong response with fans chanting "ASAP!" continuously. Rocky's set kicked off with "Pretty Flacko" as he and his crew stomped the stage. The folks in the pit were riled up and bouncing along with the rapper. The A$AP Mob help Rocky's stage presence and also intensify the crowd response, especially for notable verses like A$AP Ferg's on "Kissin' Pink".
A$AP Rocky proved he is a force of his own as he commanded the fan favorite "Wassup" to a rowdy response and some of the earliest crowd surfs of the day. The energy was high for what seemed like a short set. A$AP Rocky finished with a bang by performing "Peso," arguably his biggest song to date. He thanked his fans for their support to this point and any new fans just discovering the A$AP movement.
A$AP Rocky could be spotted later in the evening enjoying other shows and greeting fans throughout. It's good to see that despite their success, there are still humble acts out there willing to mingle with the people.
Karmin haven't been doing as many YouTube performances as they used to in the past, but the duo returned to their YouTube channel for a RAWsession of their hit single, "Brokenhearted."
Amy says the rendition was inspired by Brandy and Outkast. Not sure why though, as nothing in the performance really stood out as being originated by either artist. But whatever, Karmin sounded great doing it.
It didn't help that "It All Belongs to Me" was a largely dated, forgettable attempt at the "kick him to the curb, girl" anthem that has served so many female R&B artists well in the past.
But after a tumultuous few years in music purgatory, has Brandy finally found her way back to the promised land with this Bangladesh-produced, Chris Brown-assisted single?
Like Rihanna and Chris Brown, Usher is a black artist forced to straddle two genres: Pop and R&B. So when his excellent, Diplo-produced R&B electro ballad "Climax" launched his upcoming album, Looking for Myself, we all knew that the pop single couldn't be too far behind.
Not that we necessarily had anything to worry about, since Usher does do pop well, as evidenced by "OMG" and "Without You." But then again, he also does pop badly, as seen by the dance-by-numbers track "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love Again."
So where does his latest pop effort, "Scream," fall? Somewhere in the middle, but leaning slightly toward the no bueno zone.
1 GOTYE FEAT KIMBRA / SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW - Who was the last Aussie act to top the Billboard Hot 100? Olivia Newton-John?
2 FUN. FEAT JANELLE MONAE / WE ARE YOUNG - "I know I gave it to you months ago." Whoa. Are we talking about what it sounds like we're talking about?
3 MAROON 5 FEAT WIZ KHALIFA / PAYPHONE - Soon to be followed by the band's next smash, "VHS."
4 JUSTIN BIEBER / BOYFRIEND - And all the cougars say, "Heyyyy!"
5 THE WANTED / GLAD YOU CAME - Word has it that with the boy band revival set in motion by these chaps and One Direction, Lou Pearlman has decided to become an Englishman!
6 FLO RIDA FEAT SIA / WILD ONES - Is all this talk about taming and being tamed Sia's roundabout way of saying she likes S&M?
7 CARLY RAE JEPSEN / CALL ME MAYBE - Funny. It only took about two weeks for this song to reach 12 out of a scale of 10 on the annoying factor.
8 NICKI MINAJ / STARSHIPS - This song was penned by an acid trippin' toddler...from Belarus. Don't question it, just roll with it.
9 ONE DIRECTION / WHAT MAKES YOU BEAUTIFUL - What's the point of their name? It sounds like the name of a life coaching book series.
10 KELLY CLARKSON / STRONGER - Kelly's pretty much done with this album now that she's gotten her big hit. See you in 2 years, Kelly!
