Music Blogs

This week, a shocking new development in the crazy life of Lil' Wayne practically had VH1 staffers scrambling to re-edit his recent Behind The Music special, when the multiplatinum-selling rapper pleaded guilty on Thursday to attempted criminal possession of a weapon (a charge stemming from of July 2007 incident, when a gun was found on his tour bus). As a result, Lil' Wayne--much like fellow troubled hip-hop icon T.I., who was recently sentenced to a year in prison on his own weapons charge--will be incarcerated for a year.

It's a quite a setback for Wayne, who's been riding high since the massive success of Tha Carter III, which was the top-selling U.S. album of 2008 and won four Grammys. But it could have been much, much worse: By plea-bargaining with New York prosecutors instead of going to trial, Wayne avoided more serious gun-possession charges and a possible 15-year prison sentence. And since doing hard time seems to have done nothing to hurt the aforementioned T.I.'s career, we're pretty certain Lil' Wayne will be able to continue releasing blockbuster albums soon after he's sprung from the slammer, or maybe even while he's still behind bars (the man is nothing if not prolific, so we suspect he'll record and stockpile several albums' worth of new material before his sentence begins).

In other jailbird news, this week another urban music star who's no stranger to the inside of a prison cell, Bobby Brown, released an explosive new tell-all memoir (Bobby Brown: The Truth, The Whole Truth And Nothing But...), in which he took a bitter swipe at his ex-wife Whitney Houston, accusing his her of marrying him just to quash longstanding rumors of her bi-sexuality and to "clean up her image."

Bobby wrote: "[Our 14-year marriage] was doomed from the very beginning. I think we got married for all the wrong reasons. Now I realize Whitney had a different agenda than I did when we got married. I believe her agenda was to clean up her image, while mine was to be loved and have children. In Whitney's situation, the only solution was to get married and have kids. That would kill all speculation, whether it was true or not."

Why Bobby would come out with such allegations now--after starring in several reality shows and his own Behind The Music special, plus having three leisurely years to get around to sharing this titillating information--is puzzling. Is he just trying to capitalize on all the attention surrounding his ex-wife's recent "comeback"? We're not sure, but on that subject, Whitney didn't do much to clean up her image when she performed this week on Britain's hit talent show The X Factor. She appeared loopy and disoriented, and nearly turned The X Factor into The Triple-X Factor when the bra-style bodice of her dress became unlatched in the back midway through her song, and she almost flashed Simon Cowell and all of the United Kingdom. Apparently her brassiere didn't know its own strength, or lack thereof.

In other news, the tumultuous on/off (and now apparently permanently off) relationship between Rihanna and Chris Brown has been likened to that of Whitney and Bobby, and this week Rihanna and Chris were back in the news when they both released new songs. First Rihanna issued the Ne-Yo-penned "Russian Roulette"--her first single since her February 8 altercation with Chris--and most fans seemed sadly underwhelmed. Rather than Rihanna's "comeback" single being an upbeat and driving pop number a la "Disturbia" or her recent edgy Jay-Z collabo "Run This Town," the song turned out to be a surprisingly somber and midtempo affair that made little impression except for its disturbing (and perhaps ill-advised) gunshot sound effects at its conclusion.

As for Chris--who luckily avoided jail time in his Rihanna assault case--just one day after the premiere of "Russian Roulette" he debuted his own new ballad, "Crawl," on Big Boy's Neighborhood morning show (he actually called in to the radio station during a break from his community service washing cars). His song seemed to more directly address his relationship's fallout, with lyrics accepting the blame for a relationship gone awry and asking an ex-girlfriend for a second chance: "I'm the one, that one that lost the view/Everybody says we're through/I hope you haven't said it too." Chris told radio deejay Big Boy that the song was written to "bring people back to the essence of happiness. Before you can run and walk and all that stuff, you have to crawl. So why don't we crawl back to love?"

It will be interesting to see how Rihanna and Chris's albums (Rated R and Graffiti, respectively) fare when both are released within a month of each other later this year. It's certain to be the biggest urban music album-sales faceoff since Kanye West vs. 50 Cent.

Speaking of Kanye, he too avoided jail time this week, when criminal charges from his September 2008 LAX airport scuffle were dismissed. But Kanye made even bigger headlines this week over a 14-minute, Spike Jonze-directed mini-movie that appeared on his website. Titled We Were Once A Fairytale and featuring his song "See You In My Nightmares," the controversial video depicted Kanye engaging in a one-night stand, spitting up blood, and committing samurai-style suicide by stabbing himself in the stomach. (The latter shocking plot twist inspired the Twitter trend "#RIP Kanye," which in turned triggered short-lived rumors that Kanye had in fact actually died.) Kanye mysteriously later pulled the clip from his own blog, merely posting the vague explanation, "Sorry I had to take it down." The video, however, will soon be able for purchase on iTunes, for those into that sort of thing.

Kanye's behavior is usually confusing anyway, but this clip caused many fans and foes alike to scratch their heads. Spike Jonze, director of Where The Wild Things Are and many classic music videos, tried to explain the concept to The New York Times: "We rehearsed the night before we shot, and talked about trying to get to that raw place, that sad, pathetic, drunken, lost place. I told him, 'The more shameless it is, the more pathetic it is, the better.' He just went for it." The director added: "I like Kanye and I care about him. This video is a side of him. I don't know what the reception is going to be, but I love making stuff with him. I love the guy." So far, the reception has been mixed, but there's one thing we can all agree on: Kanye sure "went for it."

And finally, in actual tragic "RIP" news, Stephen Gately, the 33-year-old member of the Irish pop group Boyzone who accidentally died October 10 after a booze binge while vacationing in Mallorca, Spain, continued to generate controversy after his death. (He once shocked his young fans when he came out publicly as gay in 1999.) A column about Stephen's death in Britain's Daily Mail paper, written by Jan Moir, elicited a record 21,000 complaints after angry readers and fans (including popular British actor Stephen Fry) used Twitter to declare the article homophobic and insensitive. See, while an autopsy determined Stephen had died of natural causes from pulmonary edema, the Daily Mail column stated that his death was "not, by any yardstick, a natural one" and that he died under "sleazy" circumstances. "Under the carapace of glittering, hedonistic celebrity, the ooze of a very different and more dangerous lifestyle has seeped out for all to see," Moir wrote.

While Moir defended her article, claiming accusations of homophobia were "mischievous" and insisting that the backlash was the result of a "heavily orchestrated Internet campaign," the damage was done. Stephen Fry blogged that the column was an "epically ill-judged piece of gutter journalism," and advertisers like prominent U.K. retail chain Marks & Spencer requested to have their ads removed from the Daily Mail website. Britain's Press Complaints Commission said it received "by far the highest number of complaints ever" about a single article, and would contact the paper before deciding whether or not to take further action. Under the British media's system, newspapers are required to follow the Press Complaints Commission's code of practice, which includes commitments to accuracy, respect for privacy, and avoiding "pejorative reference" to an individual's race, color, religion, or disability.

It will be interesting to see whether the Daily Mail or Jan Moir get in any serious trouble over the Stephen Gately column, but the outraged grassroots campaign against it this week was a fascinating example of how the Internet and Twitter can be used to rapidly mobilize a fanbase.

And on that sad note, thus wraps up another week in music headlines. Thanks for reading, and see you next Friday.

THIS WEEK'S TOP 10 STORIES:

1) Lil' Wayne Gets Lil' Sentence - He's going to jail for a year, but he could have served 15.

2) Chris Vs. Rihanna: The Rematch - The ex-sweethearts release new singles in the same week.

3) War Of Words - A controversial column about late Boyzone member Stephen Gately sparks outrage and accusations of homophobia.

4) Bobby Brown Ignores His Own "Don't Be Cruel" Advice - He takes a vicious swipe at his ex-wife Whitney Houston in a new tell-all book.

5) Kanye Gets Spiked - West stars in a shocking, Spike Jonze-directed film featuring self-mutilation.

6) The Beat Does Not Go On - Phil Collins quits drumming.

7) Beyonce Can't Wear Freakum Dress In Malaysia - The diva delays her Malaysian show amid Muslim criticism of her skimpy attire.

8) Amy Winehouse's Dad Says No, No, No To Rehab - He argues that money is "wasted" on detox for drug addicts.

9) Adam Lambert Goes Gaga - The Idol records with Lady Gaga, releases a new song and video, and poses for Details, all in one busy week.

10) Kiss & Tell - Former Kiss drummer Peter Criss discusses his battle with breast cancer.

Follow me on Twitter 

Follow Yahoo! Music on Twitter