Today it’s easy for us to remain deeply engrained in the personal niche of an MP3 player, or our customized stations on Pandora. So the next time you’re riding in your car, give your ear buds a rest and switch on the radio to check out some of the current Top 40 chart acts. Here are some of the artists that are currently at the top of the charts.

 

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Sd5c4o9UM

Katy Perry, E.T.

Lately it seems that, to quote Ms. Perry herself, everyone has been “on board the Katy Perry train.” She has consistently been pumping out catchy chart topping hits for many months now, and E.T., which features Kanye West, is her latest release from her album Teenage Dream.

 

 

 

 

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrTyD7rjBpw

The Black Eyed Peas, Just Can’t Get Enough

Lake many of The Black Eyed Peas’ latest hits, Just Can’t Get Enough starts with a melodic vocal hook from Fergie, then evolves into a electronic dance track that is ready to be pumped through dance clubs. It’s a formula that works for them and they’ve stuck with it.

 

 

 

 

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEDA3JcQqw

Adele, Rolling In the Deep

Rolling in the Deep, which is Adele’s first single off of her second album, is quickly becoming one of the best-loved songs of 2011. Adele is one of the most powerful and authoritative female voices in music today, and her single’s mix of pop and blues is appealing to a wide range of audiences.

 

 

 

 

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmp6zIr5y4U

Lupe Fiasco, The Show Goes On

The first single from Fiasco’s third album Lasers, The Show Goes On is a likable interpolation of Modest Mouse’s popular motivational single Float On.

 

 

 

 

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DTQsJ6ZaOQ

The Script, For the First Time

The Script has created sort of a musical cheeseburger with their single For the First Time: A melodic “oohing” chorus is the meat patty, and it’s topped with a cheesy theme about ill-fated lovers, a slightly bitter mustard lyric about trying to make a relationship work in the middle of messy economic circumstances, and some large chunks of piano pickles on top. It’s a combo that listeners are finding quite delicious.

 

 

 

 

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMxX-QOV9tI

Jessie J featuring B.o.B., Price Tag

Although Jessie J is only 22 years old, she has already come a long way from singing songs into the webcam on her laptop and posting them on the internet. She’s penned songs for Alicia Keys and Christina Aguilera, and now found success with her single Price Tag, a super upbeat ditty that’s much less aggressive than her last single, Do It Like a Dude.

 

 

 

 

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqrlhNmSZrc

Blake Shelton, Honey Bee

At a time when celebrity’s marital disputes are constantly making headlines, it is no wonder that Shelton’s single has hit a homerun with listeners. The Oklahoma crooner’s song with lyrics such as “you be my sunny day, I’ll be your shade tree” is super sweet.

 

 

 

 

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_5D4y6x-oo

Edward Maya, Stereo Love

The video for Edward Maya’s electronic anthem has already received over 100 million views on Youtube. The Romanian producer and performer has struck a chord with his latest dance hit, and somehow even managed to make the accordion sound really cool.

 

Kesha may be an artist that splits opinion but she is currently sitting on top of the UK charts with her single ‘We R Who We R’, her first number one single. Kesha went top four with her debut release ‘Tik Tok’ but her four releases after that all failed to break into the top 10. This highest charting release for her indicates she is growing in popularity and that the publicity machine behind her may finally be kicking into life. As pop songs go it isn’t too bad but you just know people up and down the land will be despairing at the text speak nature of the song title.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR7pL1ytId0

Kesha should not be a role model

A lot of people get genuinely annoyed with text speak and are very vocal in their criticism of this form of communication. This is fair enough if you are a teacher and kids are attempting to pass it off in class but in popular culture and youngsters conversing amongst themselves, is it really such a problem? Kesha is not the sort of girl that most parents approve of anyway so it is not as if they are going to uphold her as a role-model for their children but this latest move will only enrage parents and adults further.

Which is all a bit silly because this argument or complaint is nothing new!

You may think Slade were a band that were only rolled out at Christmas to sing their biggest hit but in the 1970s, there was a spell when Slade were massive. Not just quite big but absolutely massive and their spelling managed to enrage and anger people back then too! A quick look through Slade’s back catalogue shows that they were serial mis-spellers.

Slade were massive but bad spellers

Slade had the following run of singles between 1971 and 1973, with each release featuring at least one improper use of the English language: ‘Cuz I Luv You’, ‘Look Wot You Dun’, Take Me Bak ‘Ome’, ‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now’, Gudbuy T’ Jane’, ‘Cum on Feel The Noize’ and ‘Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me’.

By the end of this run, you could tell Slade were deliberately having a laugh with their spelling but it didn’t seem to stop the criticism with people panicking that children would grow up being unable to spell because of the band’s actions! Noddy, Jimmy and the rest of the boys did have a considerable reach of popularity and influence at the time but even kids knew that they were not an act to turn to for help with English homework.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHoPYLQvnQM

Slade like Kesha offered uplifting pop music which was very much of its time and in a way, it is better that parents don’t get it. Each generation deserves to have its own pop act that they like by themselves. There is a definite blurring of the genres with acts like Michael Buble providing a pop sound but being marketed across the age groups so when an act comes along to annoy the grown-ups, it makes sense that they should be embraced!

Eminem, Slim Shady or Marshal Mathers, whatever his alter egos may be, has for the past decade not only been the best rapper of this decade, he has blown out any competition that has even tried to come close to him. You  need to know he did all this and there’s one other thing too. He’s white.

Eminem started out as a loud mouth, obnoxious and celebrity bashing rapper and turned into not only an outstanding rapper, but he was named rapper of the decade. Now, when he first came out with his CD Marshall Mathers LP in 2000 it became the fastest sold rap CD sold ever. The music industry had many different ideas for this man, taking him from fame to superstar status. He was able to take all his family and emotional problems and turn them lyrically to some of the best lyrics in this decade. Each and every CD he has come out with since the Marshall Mathers LP has been nothing but sheer genius and being able to compete in an industry that was dominantly filled of only black males, shows his ability to overcome adversity with his own unique style. He was called out numerous times that the only reason he had any success was because he was white. Over the years he has shown that it wasn’t a matter of race but a matter of talent and dedication.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqsbFFhLxXA

He has called out more celebrities and other artists than any other rapper, with an I don’t give a S#*t attitude which turned out to be exactly what the people wanted. By people it means mostly middle class white kids who wanted to rebel against their parents. But with that giving him the start he needed, he quickly gained the respect of the industry and made his name a household name in America. He not only has come out with great CD’s he has shown his ability to freestyle and destroys the competition and he has also done a little acting of his own as well. On top of all that he came out with his own record label along with Dr. Dre and signed big hits like 50 Cent and G-Unit. This is where he has seen his success sky rocket even higher than before. There is no doubt that this man is the greatest rapper of the decade and hopefully continues on his road of success.

Lil Wayne is the most overrated rapper of all time. You should not be scared to say this because anyone can take auto-tune and call themselves the best rapper alive in every song. It takes a true poet and lyricist to be truly regarded as an overall all time rapper.

Many college students as of right now would disagree on this topic, that Lil Wayne is way overrated for the music he puts out. His lyrics and sampling of other artist’s beats shows his true limits as a real artist as of now. You cannot just pronounce yourself the greatest rapper alive in every song and have that be the reason you’re so popular. The main reason for his success has been through his first few albums, which were full of great tracks and what you could say was a rapper on his way to greatness. Than somewhere along that road Lil Wayne decided in his brain he didn’t need to be creative anymore and with the use of auto-tune helped launch a million and a half mixtapes full of repetitive lyrics with non of his own beats.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3MTVCUV8ss

For him to try and compare to someone like Tupac or Biggie who shaped Hip-Hop, is an insult to the industry. The ability he had when he first started out on the scene with Birdman was amazing. He was able to turn average tracks into number ones with his lyrics and unique voice. After The Carter was released, it all went to his head and he became a clown in many eyes. He used the popularity of marijuana to draw in the adult teen audience into his albums and records. It’s irritating that he had so much he had achieved with his originality, to throw it all away with a bunch of untalented mixtapes. If Tupac were alive today he would be running his mouth all over Lil Wayne on how he needs to clean up his act. Lil Wayne is a good rapper gone a little astray in his career. In his next few years he should take his new style and get rid of it, while trying to revert back to his old self.