Rihanna

GImme Leaks #3: Three Twin Cities hip-hop albums you may have missed

There's a glut of hip-hop coming out of the Twin Cities, and it can be a lot to try to digest. In the spirit of the Gimme Noise Mixtape series that ran on this blog, we now present to you a more focused album roundup, selecting three recently released albums by local rappers that deserve recognition ... More >>

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky at Xcel Energy Center, 3/24/13

RihannaWith A$AP RockyXcel Energy Center, St. PaulSunday, March 24, 2013Does naming an album Unapologetic mean you never have to say you're sorry? Rihanna hit the stage at Xcel a little late (9:50 or so), but that wasn't the problem. The 10,000 devoted fans from around the upper Midwest would've wai ... More >>

Rihanna

Winter Guide to the Twin Cities 2012

The best winter warm-up drinks, cool concerts, must-see plays, and carnival activities in the metro

Madonna at Xcel Energy Center, 11/3/12

MadonnaWith Paul OakenfoldXcel Energy Center, St. PaulSaturday, November 3, 2012Nothing came easy while Madonna performed at Xcel Energy Center Saturday. For anyone other than the ticket-holding masochists in the crowd, it was two hours of uncomfortable boot-licking. The few, hard-won pleasures came ... More >>

Why Death Grips sold drama instead of a copy of NO LOVE DEEP WEB

By Will McClainThe Music Industry is a weekly column that dissects local and national music-business headlines with the help of local industry professionals and music fanatics.This month, dark lords of alt-hip-hop Death Grips emerged from the shadows to thrill believers by leaking their latest alb ... More >>

Taylor Swift unveils 2013 U.S. tour -- St. Paul in September

The complex pop marvel that is Taylor Swift is heading back out on the road in 2013. Based upon her multiple car accidents during her recent interview time with Rolling Stone, let's just hope that she's not driving the bus. The 58-concert trek across the U.S. (and a little bit of Canada) in support ... More >>

Pink adds 2013 North American tour dates -- St. Paul in March

Pink is the latest stadium-sized pop star to add to what is going to be a busy early part of 2013 with a fresh tour. Lady Gaga's coming. Rihanna's coming! She's taking her brand-new sixth album, The Truth About Love, on the road for 25 dates throughout North America between February 13 and March 28. ... More >>

Rihanna's Diamonds 2013 U.S. tour dates -- St. Paul in March

See Also:Lady Gaga plots Born This Way Ball 2013 tour -- St. Paul in FebruaryRihanna and Cee Lo Green at the Target Center, 6/16/11, SlideshowLive-Blogging The 2012 Video Music Awards: We Are Never Ever Ever Gonna Use Tonight As A BellwetherSo while many Americans were caught up in Thursday's politi ... More >>

EDC 2012: Calvin Harris Plays CDs of Himself Singing

Dance music is fighting for its soul. The charts are filled with tracks (Rihanna, Flo Rida) that borrow from the ecstatic trance and pulsing grooves of electronic dance music. The last time pop was so infatuated with the dance floor was 1979, the year disco died. This time around fans are more sa ... More >>

Twin Cities Year in Music 2011

Howler, Astronautalis, Pink Mink, and more

Bon Iver, Brian Setzer, Mint Condition's Stokley Williams among this year's Grammy nominees

​All bets were on Adele heading into last night's Grammy nomination ceremony (now a nationally televised event tailored to milk the big reveal for every last commercial penny), and she certainly held her own, receiving a total of six nominations from the Recording Academy. Kanye West, too, scored ... More >>

Coldplay's 'Mylo Xyloto' drops tomorrow: What we know so far

BY LIZ SPIELMAN​It seems hard to believe that it has been nearly three and a half years since Coldplay's last album made Eugene Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People possibly more iconic than it already was or provided that a church bell can indeed find a place on a rock album.

Top 11 most popular Gimme Noise posts of the summer

​When it comes to deciding what to cover, our web traffic isn't everything, but it does give us a unique insight into what our readers like to read about the most. It turns out that our Gimme Noise readers love block party announcements (duh); Prince facts; that incessant Foster the People song th ... More >>

Top 10 concert photos of the summer so far

It's been a rainy start to our summer so far, but that hasn't stopped Twin Cities fans from busting out their ponchos and going outdoors to take in live music. Between Rock the Garden, Soundset, the Warped Tour, and shows at the Minnesota Zoo's amphitheater, concertgoers have had plenty of chances t ... More >>

Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj at the Xcel Energy Center, 7/6/11

Photos by Stacy Schwartz​Britney Spears with Nicki Minaj, Jessie and the Toy Boys, and NervoJuly 6, 2011Xcel Energy Center, St. PaulAnother tour, another bloated, tepid, phoned-in performance from the persistently famous and persistently underwhelming Britney Spears.

Rihanna and Cee Lo Green at the Target Center, 6/16/11

Photos by Erik Hess​Rihanna, Cee Lo Green, and J. ColeJune 16, 2011Target Center, Minneapolis"Do you realize I'm just foreplay for Rihanna?" Cee Lo Green asked the near-capacity crowd, taking a break from his lackluster set to attempt to rouse the bored audience. "Rihanna's gonna fuck you," he sai ... More >>

Cee Lo Green calls me gay, asks if his masculinity offends me

​Cee Lo Green just called me gay on Twitter.

Cee Lo Green deletes homophobic Tweets, says he's quitting Twitter, then deletes Tweet saying he's quitting Twitter [UPDATED]

The Tweet Cee Lo Green doesn't want you to see.​Cee Lo Green has become the latest celebrity to stick his foot in his mouth with an insensitive remark on Twitter, and this time it was directed at City Pages music editor Andrea Swensson, who tweets and blogs as Gimme Noise.It all started this morni ... More >>

Critics' Picks: Wiz Khalifa, Rihanna, Florence & the Machine, and more

Rihanna

Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band at Xcel Energy Center, 5/12/11

Photos by Tony Nelson​Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band May 12, 2011 Xcel Energy Center "Today's music ain't got the same soul." Not a song I really need to hear for the ten-thousandth time, or for the thousand more times I'm likely to hear it in my lifetime, but I'll be damned if this lyr ... More >>

Twins, at home opener, to unleash gladiator tunes on unsuspecting opponents

​For the home opener, I could drone on about the new scoreboard, the new salty snacks, the lack of trees, or my take on whether or not the Twins have figured out their Target Field home run problems. Instead, I'm going to focus on the thing that bothered me most of last season: What is that ... More >>

Britney Spears and Enrique Iglesias coming to Xcel July 6

​This summer's arena calendar is already filling up, with Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and Journey coming to the Xcel, plus shows by Usher, Rihanna, Sade, and the aging pop version of Voltron, NKOTBSB, coming to the Target Center. To add to the spectacle, Britney Spears is throwing her hat in the rin ... More >>

Teenage Moods, Portland Cello Project, and more

Portland Cello Project

The Grammys: The good, the bad, and the really, really awkward

​Perhaps the biggest surprise from this year's Grammy Awards broadcast is that there are actually some honest-to-god surprises to report, the biggest of which was notoriously indie artists Arcade Fire coming out on top in the Album of the Year category.Here, we present a rundown of some of the mos ... More >>

Gucci Mane's ice cream cone and other lovely tattoos

​Tattoos have been fully in the mainstream for well over a decade now. No one is surprised by much in the way of body art these days - I've got some, you've probably got at least one, maybe on your hand or something. They're probably dumb (mine are, at least).Nope, nothing's really shocking anymo- ... More >>

Kanye West flips cocktail party guest list into overloaded, blah single

​If there's a Guinness record for "most pop artists performing on a pop single," it's probably held by "We Are The World" or its lame-ass sequel from earlier this year. But "All of the Lights" - the fourth single from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - boasts a longer and more random guest list t ... More >>

Bill Burr, human Molotov cocktail

​A lot of comedians like to justify their edgier material with an arrogant disclaimer: "I'm actually up here sayin' what you only think." Veteran provocateur Bill Burr might as well offer an addendum to that: saying the stuff that gets thrown around in his material is quite possibly a sign of comp ... More >>

Lilith: the Celebration of Women in Music

Aguilera, NIN, Ghostface Killah: bondage in music videos [NSFW]

Holy schnikes​ Christina Aguilera's just dropped her newest music video for "Not Myself Tonight," and as you might have heard, it's the skankiest thing she's done since "Dirrty." Except this time, she ditched the schoolgirl skirt and went straight for the pleather and vinyl and the horsebit gags, ... More >>

Spontaneity in televised musical performances, R.I.P.

​This won't be an anti-American Idol blog post, but I am taking aim at American Idol; it won't entirely condemn Rihanna, but it will subject Ri-Ri to some tough love. Idol and Rihanna are a mere jumping-off point, because watching the results show Wednesday night made me really confront something ... More >>

The Songs We Can't Escape

Minn. couple gives Chris Brown a post-beating stimulus

We all know as we watch that video that Brown is a lady beater, but somehow that horrific image disappears as that joyous wedding party boogies down the aisle.

Mischke show notes: March 31, 2009

Join the conversation with TD Mischke on today's 'In The Stream' live from 2 p.m.- 4p.m.

Chris Brown assaults Rihanna, endangers chewing gum endorsement

Hey may only be 19, but the Grammy-nominated singer has the domestic abuse habits of a man twice his age and half his income.

Dec. 16, 2008: Blitzen Trapper, Dark Dark Dark and Dan Wilson

Dec. 15, 2008: Toki Wright, Bob Mould & new P.O.S.

Brody Jenner attends Jingle Ball, dreams come true

Local-Connections Grammy Roll Call!

What's Playing

The Top 10 Songs This Week on B96

What's Playing

Ten Songs This Week on 101.3 FM, KDWB

5ingles

The songs we can't escape

What's Playing

Top 10 spins this week at KDWB, 101.3 FM

Concert Highlights for the Week of June 20-26

Rihanna: Good Girl Gone Bad

Learning to Love Again

Recommended albums from the first half of 2006