BWU AWARDS 2010: Drake and Nicki Dominate with 4 Wins Each

Young Money's Drake and Nicki Minaj won eight BWU Awards between them

Rappers Drake and Nicki Minaj have dominated the 2010 BWU Awards, each winning four awards.

Drake, who won Best New Artist last year, scored two of the biggest awards, Album of the Year and Artist of the Year. He had 30% of the votes for both awards, putting him in a comfortable lead. Drake also won Best Male Artist and Best Hip-Hop Single.

Drake lost Best Hip-Hop Artist to Nicki, who proved to be a force to be reckoned with this year. In the Best New Artist category, she was virtually uncontested, scoring 57% of the votes. She faced some more competition for Best Female Arist, but she ultimately took that home as well, with 38% of the votes. For Best Female Single, she tied with Rihanna's "Only Girl (In The World)", the first tie in that category ever.

Rihanna was the other big winner, taking home three awards, including Single of the Year for her collaboration with Eminem, "Love The Way You Lie". Taylor Swift, Black Eyed Peas, and Yolanda Be Cool each won two awards.

Below is the full winner's list (which will also be available on the 2010 BWU Awards page):

Single of the Year - "Love The Way You Lie" by Eminem and Rihanna
Artist of the Year - Drake
Album of the Year - Thank Me Later by Drake
Video of the Year - Telephone by Lady Gaga and Beyoncé
Best New Artist - Nicki Minaj
Best Female Artist - Nicki Minaj
Best Female Single - "Only Girl (In The World)" by Rihanna/"Your Love" by Nicki Minaj
Best Male Artist - Drake
Best Male Single - "Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars
Best Group - Black Eyed Peas
Best Group Single - "Imma Be" by Black Eyed Peas
Best Collaboration - "Airplanes" by B.O.B. featuring Hayley Williams
Best Ballad - "The Only Exception" by Paramore
Best Pop Artist - Rihanna
Best Pop Single - "Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars
Best R&B Artist - Alicia Keys
Best R&B Single - "Un-thinkable (I'm Ready)" by Alicia Keys
Best Hip-Hop Artist - Drake
Best Hip-Hop Single - "Your Love" by Nicki Minaj
Best Rock Artist - Kings of Leon
Best Rock Single - "Hey Soul Sister" by Train
Best Dance Artist - David Guetta
Best Dance Single - "We Speak No Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool and Dcup
Best Country Artist - Taylor Swift
Best Country Single - "Mine" by Taylor Swift
Best International Single - We Speak No Americano by Yolanda Be Cool and Dcup

My Favorite Picture of 2010: Drake Trying to Eat Lady Gaga's Meat Purse at the VMAs

Just reading the title conjured up some of the dirtiest (and highly unlikely) innuendos in my head.

But I literally mean Drake was trying to eat Lady Gaga's purse made of meat at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. The rapper, who was sitting behind the pop phenom, moved forward with jaws wide open, ready to take a chomp out of her bag, while she had a smile-smirk plastered on her face.

Is this possibly a hilarious and disgusting passing of the torch, since Drake is currently in the lead for Artist of the Year at the 2010 BWU Awards, an award Gaga won last year?

You guys decide: voting ends next Friday!

Until then, enjoy my favorite picture of the year!

An apparently hungry Drake attempts to feast on Gaga's bovine accessory

Brandon's Best of....Top Singles of 2010 So Far

Okay, so the halfway point of 2010 was last month, but as the summer winds down and I head back to college in a few weeks, I thought now would be a great time to list my favorite songs of 2010 so far (well, since the end of July). Luckily for me, this was pretty easy.

First, because I realized there were lots of songs I loved, here is my #20 - #11:
20. Breakeven (Falling To Pieces) - The Script
19. I Like It - Enrique Iglesias
18. Crossfire - Brandon Flowers
17. Memories - David Guetta featuring Kid Cudi
16. I Got You - Leona Lewis
15. Ego - The Saturdays
14. Missing You - The Saturdays
13. Hands Tied - Toni Braxton
12. Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
11. Your Love - Nicki Minaj

Now, for the Top 10:


10. Airplanes - B.O.B featuring Hayley Williams
I mostly skipped over his first single with Bruno Mars, so his second single with Paramore's frontwoman is what really got me interested. Between the effortlessness of the chorus and the true lyrics about wishing for a simpler life, "Airplanes" was clear evidence that hip hop could be more than sparse beats and lame rhymes about money and swag.


9. OMG - Usher feat. will.i.am
Was it a sellout move? Usher went the electropop route on his album Raymond v. Raymond, teaming up with BEP frontman will.i.am. Instead of playing like a cheap trick, it was one of the hottest songs of the year, topping the Billboard Hot 100 and saving what would have been a flop era. While it didn't push boundaries with it's lyrics (Boobies? Are we twelve?) but it did remind everyone why Usher was once the biggest male popstar since MJ.


8. Commander - Kelly Rowland
Who knew she had it in her? After the worldwide (a.k.a, outside of the US) success of "When Love Takes Over" last year, the former Destiny's Child member teamed up with David Guetta for "Commander", a full-stop dance-pop smash, instant on first listen. For reasons that are beyond me, she didn't release it to radio in the States, just as the dance-pop fever hit full force.


7. Dancing On My Own - Robyn
The Swedish dance diva delivered a sweet treat for her first single from Body Talk Pt. 1. With it's mournful lyrics paired with pulsating, somber beats, "Dancing on My Own" embodied everyone's fear of lost love and loneliness while on the dancefloor.



6. Love The Way You Lie - Eminem featuring Rihanna
Domestic violence isn't supposed to sound this good. The two music superstars teamed up on a surprisingly personal, visceral, and accessible duet about the truth behind abusive relationships. Currently #1 on the charts, it goes to show that lyrical honesty can make for an amazing pop tune. Plus, Rihanna plus rappers is always guaranteed gold.


5. Find Your Love - Drake
Last year, he set the pop world on fire. This year, he fanned the flames. "Find Your Love" was an unexpected turn for the Canadian rapper. It was sharp, yet sensitive. Pulsing, yet melodic. Fierce, yet tender. Of course, that's because of Kanye's excellent production and Drake's great vocal performance. It made for a true blue pop hit for him and the confirmation that he may be the future of hip-hop.


4. California Gurls - Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg
Pegged as the West Coast answer to "Empire State of Mind", Katy snatched the summer with what may become her signature hit. It's bouncy electropop sound, the cute and clever lyrics, and an excellent cameo from Snoop made this song a #1 hit throughout the dog days of summer. Even with the sweltering heat, Katy made us wish we were all chillin' on the beach, melted popsicles and all.


3. Alejandro - Lady Gaga
So maybe the macabré video killed the vibe of the song a bit, but "Alejandro" was one of the highlights of an album full of them, The Fame Monster. It's ABBA-esque charm and it's tale of unwanted desire made it an excellent soundtrack to the summer. It also showed that seven singles into her career, she shows no sign of stopping her effortless domination of pop music.


2. Telephone - Lady Gaga and Beyoncé
What happens when you put two of the biggest female singer in the world on one track? Um, how about dancefloor heaven? Okay, so not all the time, but the unstoppable duo's second try together yielded much sweeter fruit. Thrown in a colorful, Tarantino-styled music video and you have a pop juggernaut on your hands.


1. All The Lovers - Kylie Minogue
I had been waiting for this song before I even knew I was waiting for it. The Aussie pop princess threw out the baggage of 2007's X and came back with an absolutely epic first single. Part teary-eyed, part euphoric release, and part dancefloor stomper, "All The Lovers" was a goddess send (the album is called Aphrodite after all). After only three months, it is only the eighth song ever to have over 400 plays in my iTunes. It also made me rabid for two months until the release of her equally as epic new album. Kylie is back!

Video of the Week: Jimmy Kimmel and Drake's Ode to Celeb Tweets

i don't know what is funnier; Drake's doo-rag, Jimmy Kimmel wearing the headphones the wrong way, or that almost every tweet could actually be real.

Check out this hilarious "music video" by Drake and Jimmy Kimmel done for his late night show below:

WORST: Drake Performs "Find Your Love" (Badly) on The Tonight Show

Drake has plenty to celebrate this week, with his album Thank Me Later selling over 460,000 copies in its first week.

To promote the success of his debut, he stopped by Jay Leno's late night talk show to perform his hot new single "Find Your Love" (which is now #5 on the Hot 100).

Well, let's just say that it left a lot to be desired.

Or, to put it frankly, it was shit.

Check out the performance below:



Hopefully, this was a one-off, because if this is what the song sounds like live, then he can drop that from his setlist. Forever.

That, and any other song he sings in.

UNbelievable: Drake's Best Buy Appearance Drives Male Fan To Tears

You would think Michael Jackson was in the room or something with the way some of these people behaved.

But alas, the late King of Pop was not the one who had one fan choked up after meeting him at a Best Buy record signing in Union Square, NYC.

It was Drake.

Yes, the rapper Drake.

Don't get me wrong, Drake is great and everything (I gave Thank Me Later a pretty great review), but was it really that serious? I understand fan love, and if it were MJ, or Janet, or Mariah, I would be probably laid out on the floor needing oxygen, but it's Drake. Can we let him have a few more years and #1 albums (Thank Me Later is expected to sell 470,000 copies, by the way) before grown men begin losing their shit, please?

Check out the unintentionally hilarious video below:

Drake's Chaotic Non-Concert at South Street Seaport!

Drake's free concert erupts into chaos

Rapper Drake decided to celebrate the release of his new album Thank Me Later with a free concert at the South Street Seaport in lower Manhattan yesterday.

Unfortunately, he never went on.

What was expected to be a cast of 10,000 fans at the concert, which also featured pop trio Hanson, exploded to 25,000 fans, resulting in the NYPD declaring the area unsafe for the show to continue. What happened next was pure chaos, as people standing on the balcony at Pier 17 threw bottles and even a chair down at the crowd below. In retaliation, people on the ground began throwing items up at the people on the balcony. Two people were arrested for disorderly conduct and the area was eventually evacuated.

Drake apologized for not being able to perform on his Twitter: "I am so disappointed. To all the devoted fans who came out I wish you could've seen what I had planned. Until next time."

Earlier in the day, Drake appeared at the Union Square Best Buy to sign copies of his album. 500 people attended the event.

Thank Me Later is Drake's first studio album and is currently sitting at #1 on the iTunes album chart.

Album Review: Drake's "Thank Me Later"

Does Drake live up to the hype?

In my nineteen years of life, I can honestly say I've never seen as much hype surrounding one person as it has Drake.

Alas, the buzz around him was so huge that he scored a massive hit and two Grammy nominations with "Best I Ever Had", off of the mixtape So Far Gone last year. If possible, his pre-debut success increased the anticipation for his first album tenfold.

Now that it's here, the question that has been on the tips of everyone's tongues can finally be answered; is Drake really the future of hip-hop?

Thank Me Later is certainly a new kind of hip-hop album, just like Drake is a new kind of hip-hop artist. He can successfully rap and sing, which gives him the very valuable ability to sing his own hooks. The idea of fusion is the common theme of Thank Me Later. Both the lyrics and the music of the album work at blending different styles and approaches to life. Songs like "Find Your Love" and "Shut It Down" can be classified as R&B, but the spirit within them allows them to properly exist amongst the more traditional rap cuts, like "Over" and "Up All Night". More common on the album are songs that feature him rapping and singing. On "Karaoke", Drake's singing vocals are almost ambient over the sturdy, but sparse backbeat while his rapping is stronger and fuller. Even with him spitting, "Karaoke" is almost thoroughly R&B. It's an interesting, and thrilling, experiment that Drake is conducting, testing the boundaries of soul and rap as he is.

Drake isn't only known for his genre-busting production. No, it's his lyrical flow that has made him the hottest rapper right now. Thank Me Later has the 23-year old contemplating the effects fame has had on him and his recollections of the past. Again, Drake is changing the rules of the game. He is surprisingly (sometimes, shockingly) candid and frank about his experience, detailing his relationships with family, ex-girlfriends, and his Young Money labelmates, particularly Lil' Wayne and Nicki Minaj, who he proposes marriage to on "Miss Me". Even more surprising than the subject matter is how he presents them. The vulnerability and the honesty in some of his lyrics is disarming. "The Resistance" reveals in one verse how he ignored his grandmother and how one of his girlfriends had an abortion. "Fireworks" has him rapping about his heartbreak from being used by a girl (read: Rihanna). On "Light Up", he offers up some words of advice (and one of the best lines from the album): "If you're pillowtalking with the women that are screwing you/just know that she gon' tell another nigga when she's through with you".

When he isn't talking about his personal life, he laments the struggles that come with fame. "Karaoke" and "Unforgettable" have verses about relationships that fell apart from the glare of the public eye. In lead single "Over", he brushes off the pressures that have come with the massive expectations that have landed on his shoulders. Even with the struggles, he isn't above a bit of boasting about his success, which is where his clever rhymes shine the most.

There are plenty of appearances on this album, and most of them pop off right. The best by a mile is Jay-Z on "Light Up", who shows Drake who still runs this town. The only flop comes from T.I. on "Fancy";  it isn't even good enough to qualify as window dressing.

Thank Me Later is a transitional album for the hip hop genre. Drake seems to be bridging the gap between what hip hop has been for the last five years and what it could be, his vision. His vision of hip hop is more honest and accessible to a wider audience. It's about pushing the boundaries and conventions of the game to freshen it. While not perfect, Thank Me Later is one of the most complete, coherent albums I have heard in awhile. It is a quieter, restrained effort when compared to his contemporaries, which makes Drake all the more intriguing, as an artist. Yes, Drake is an artist, and after a long streak of newcomers bringing mediocrity in their wake, it is a much needed change.

Despite the title, I think its fair to thank Drake now for that.

Rating: 8.5/10

Key Tracks: "Find Your Love", "Karaoke", "Fireworks", "Light Up"

I Felt "Fireworks" With Rihanna, Says Drake

Rapper Drake is dropping his debut album Thank Me Later next week and has revealed some interesting information about the opening track and a certain Bajan pop beauty.

The Young Money rapper spoke to the New York Times about his new album, and spoke for the first time about his quickie relationship with pop star Rihanna. Last year, the pair were spotted kissing at the Lucky Strike bowling alley in Manhattan, sparking rumors that he was her first boyfriend after her assault by Chris Brown. According to Drake, though, it was hardly a relationship.

"I was a pawn," Drake told NYT. "You know what she was doing to me? She was doing exactly what I've done to so many women throughout my life, which is show them quality time, then disappear. I was like, 'Wow, this feels terrible.' "

The rapper also speaks about the relationship in the song "Fireworks", his collaboration with Alicia Keys. On the song, Drake raps: "I could tell it wasn't love, I just thought you'd fuck with me. Who could've predicted Lucky Strike would have you stuck with me. Damn, I kept my wits about me luckily. What happened between us that night, it always seems to trouble me. Now all of the sudden these gossip rags wanna cover me and you makin' it seem like it happened that way because of me. But I was curious and I'll never forget it baby. What an experience. You could've been the one, but it wasn't that serious."

Wow, clearly someone was feeling it more than the other. Not surprising, since Rihanna is easily one of the hottest stars on the planet. You can't blame a guy for feeling a bit burned. At least we get a great song out of it. On the song, Drake also raps about his relationship with jailed mentor Lil' Wayne and his mother.

Thank Me Later drops in stores on June 15th (it leaked online last week, if you're adventurous, or know how to use Youtube well).

Download of the Day 4/29: "Find Your Love" by Drake

Drake shows his heart on second single "Find Your Love"

One of the biggest seals about Canadian rapper Drake was his ability to rap and sing well, which gave the option to sing his own hooks instead of relying others.

What we've never really encountered before was Drake singing a whole song. It's a huge risk, and considering the singing rappers of the past (Kanye particularly comes to mind), it could have been disastrous.

Luckily for us, and for Drake's future as the hosttest in the game, he actually has a voice. A pretty great voice.

Yesterday, Drake dropped "Find Your Love", the second single from his highly-anticipated debut album Thank Me Later. Kanye West produced the song, which is why it sounds like a lost track from 808s and Heartbreak. "Find Your Love" is a mid-tempo ballad, driven primarily by synthesized 808 drums and piano. Even with the weight of the drums kicking in halfway through, the song still has lighter, more melodic feel than we've heard from Drake before. That can be attributed to his strong vocal performance.

Drake may be known as a rapper foremost, but his singing voice is more than capable. In fact, it's surprising to hear exactly how good he sings on this song. The tone of his voice is almost silky-smooth, and the lyrical delivery showed both vulnerability and determination. He isn't hitting Usher-like notes or anything, but his vocal flows as freely as his rap verses. Again, despite the presence of the 808s, and Kanye ultimately suffered from this, Drake is never overwhelmed by the production, actually melding rather perfectly with it. It makes the lyrics, about saving a relationship, really come to life. To be honest, though, the chorus could have been fleshed out a bit more

After the so-so reaction to his first single "Over", Drake made a brilliant choice in releasing "Find Your Love". It is easily my favorite song from him so far, and it is a perfect crossover record. If there are some more songs like this on Thank Me Later, than it is certain to say that the hype actually has merit, and Drake might just be the future of both hip-hop and R&B.

Rating: 9 out of 10 (It's not out yet, but when it does, run, not walk, over to iTunes and download it. Then just leave it on repeat)