First Place for Integrity: The Pretty Reckless Star, Taylor Momsen

The Pretty Reckless is an alternative rock band from New York. The lead singer, song writer, and guitarist Taylor Momsen is supported by Ben Phillips on guitar and back-up vocals, Mark Damon on the bass, and Jamie Perkins on the drums. The bands influences are The Beatles, Oasis, and especially Nirvana. Nirvana lead-singer Kurt Cobain was, and still is, a huge influence on Momsen, musically and personally.

Singer and actress Taylor Momsen was born on July 26, 1993 in St. Louis, Missouri. She began professionally acting at three years old when she was on a commercial for Shake 'N Bake. In 2000, she played the role of Cindy Lou Who in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Needless to say, she was adorable and did a fantastic job. She also played Gretel in the 2002 production of "Hansel and Gretel." Momsen appeared in the 2006 "Saving Shiloh." Momsen auditioned for the role of "Hannah Montana," but it was given to actress Miley Cyrus instead. In 2007 Momsen played Molly in the film "Underdog" and Jennifer in the film "Paranoid Park." From 2007 on, she played Jenny Humphrey in the CW TV show, "Gossip Girl," which is based on a book series by Cecily von Ziegesar. On August 16, 2011 Momsen told Elle magazine that she quit acting to focus on her music career.

Momsen did record two songs in her early childhood, but her band, The Pretty Reckless, signed with Interscope Records in March 2009. She writes all of her songs, sings, and plays the guitar. In Spring 2009, The Pretty Reckless opened for the Veronicas. The bands debut album was released on August 30, 2010 and reached number six on the UK charts as well as number eighteen in Ireland. Her first single, "Makes Me Want to Die" was released on May 30th, 2010 where it peaked at number sixteen and her second single, "Miss Nothing," was released on August 23, 2010 and peaked at number thirty-nine.

The Pretty Reckless has been on three tours so far: the Light Me Up Tour from 2010-2012, the Medicine Tour from 2012 to the present, and the Support for Marilyn Mansons Hey Cruel World Tour, also in 2012. They were also nominated for Best Group and Best Newcomer in the 2010 Virgin Media Music Award. The Pretty Reckless has played for several years at the Vans Warped Tour as well as 2011 Lollapalooza in Chicago.

Taylor Momsen is not only a very talented actress who portrays her "Gossip Girl" character, Jenny Humphrey, phenomenally and a very talented singer, but she is also very individualistic. She is not afraid to be herself, whether relating to her music, her clothes, or what she says. Momsen speaks her mind and is honest and compassionate about her beliefs.

"I'm not looking to be Miley Cyrus. I don't care about the fame. I do it because I love music. I like making records and if people like them, then we'll go along for the ride. I'm not dissing Miley personally. However I do think the Disney bubblegum s*** that the world is living right now is pathetic. I thought we passed that repression. I don't know Miley, but musically we're different," Taylor Momsen says on being compared to actress and singer Miley Cyrus. Momsen may be edgy and disliked my parents, but she is idolized by girls all over who admire her passion for music and for life, as well as her independence and integrity.

Momsen's closes are racy and dark and many say she is "trying to hard" to be a rocker. I disagree. Momsen has a clothing style all to herself. She is basically a male version of Nirvana lead singer, Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide in 1994. Momsen typically dresses in black clothes that show a lot of skin. Like I said previously, most adults are not a huge fan of Taylor Momsens personality, clothing, and even music, but girls from across the nation support the rockstars ability to not follow the status quo, and not change her "bad-girl" personality to please the older generation.

Universal Problems Brought to Personal Battle: Irish Rapper Macklemore

Ben Haggerty, better known as Macklemore, is a young Irish rapper from Seattle. He has been performing since he attended Garfield High School and Evergreen State College. After graduating, and hoping to reach a younger generation, he began to work at a detention center where his program, "Gateways," was centered around rap. In 2000, Macklemore recorded an EP called "Open Your Eyes." He released his first full album, "The Language of My World," in January 2005. In September 2009 he released "The Unplanned Mixtape" and in October 2010 he teamed up with DJ Ryan Lewis to create the "VS Redux EP" His song on this EP, "Otherside," samples from the Red Hot Chili Peppers song, also called "Otherside," and speaks of Macklemore's substance abuse history.

Macklemore has struggled with much addiction, especially with OxyContin. He blames this addiction for his lack of production between 2005 and 2009. After cleaning himself up in 2008, Macklemore joined collaborative forces with Ryan Lewis and he celebrated two years of sobriety in August 2010. In late April 2010, he performed an impromptu concert at Colorado College, where he performed "And We Danced" two consecutive times for over two hundred people. In December 2010, Macklemore released "My Oh My" to honor the deceased Seattle Mariners broadcaster, Dave Niehaus, which received much coverage on Seattle radio stations. Macklemore performed this song at the 2011 Mariner's Opening Day.

Not only is Macklemore a talented rapper and musician, but also a great guy. He annually gives back to his fans by hosting a huge pizza party. Fans must demonstrate their love of music, and Macklemore in particular, in creative ways to attend this pizza party. In the past this has included singing, painting, and drawing. This idea to host fan appreciation parties began in 2010 and has been a hit with his fans since.

Macklemore plans to release an untitled LP between April 2012 and July 2012. It has not been released yet, but fans are anxiously awaiting his new songs.

Macklemore's album, "Language of the World" really proves Macklemore's desire to become a successful musician and one to inspire his fans. He has the fantastic ability to rap about universal experiences but on a personal level. He also often raps about taboo topics in order to battle personal demons, as well as help listeners battle personal demons. Macklemore adds an enormous sense of humor to many of his songs, that bring alive his personality.

K'Naan: Lyrics Based Off of Teenage Struggles

Keinan Abdi Warsame, a Somali Canadian poet, rapper, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, was born in 1978 in Somalia. He lived there during the Somali Civil War, which began in 1991, until he was 13 where he moved briefly to New York City before moving to the Toronto neighborhood of Rexdale, where there was a large Somali population. His aunt, Magool, was one of Somalia's most famous singer and his grandfather, Haji Mohammad, was a poet. There, he began to learn English by listening to American hip-hop artists such as Nas and Rakim. He taught himself hip-hop and rap diction, copying the lyrics and style phonetically. During his teenage years, K'Naan lost many friends to murder, suicide, prison, and deportation.

K'Naan became friends and associates with Canadian promotor, Sol Guy, who, in 1999, helped secure him to speak before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, where K'Naan criticized the UN for its failure to aid Somalia. Senegalese singer, Youssou N'Dour was so impressed that he invited K'Naan to contribute to his 2001 album, "Building Bridges." This project helped him meet Canadian producer Brian West and Jarvis Church in 2002, who produced his debut album, "The Dusty Foot Philosopher" in 2005. In 2006, this album won the Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year and was also nominated for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize. K'Naan toured and collaborated with artists such as Nelly Furtado, Mos Def, Will.I.Am, The Roots, and Dead Prez. He collaborated with Damian Marley on the "Welcome to Jamrock" touring session.

K'Naan rose in popularity after the 2008 BET Awards Cypher- his first appearance on American television. His second album, Troubadour, was released on February 24, 2009. Two of his songs from this album, "ABC's" and and "Soobax," were featured in Madden NFL '09 and FIFA, respectively. On July 24, 2012, K'Naan will release a 5-song EP with the name "More Beautiful Than Silence" including my favorite song, "Anybody Out There".

K'Naan's own opinion of his music is that it is a "mix of tradition and a kind of articulation of my own life and my past experiences." The lyrics of many of his songs draw upon his childhood and his years growing up. He tries to avoid "gangster rap" cliches and to support this, he writes, "All Somalis know that gangsterism isn't to brag about. The kids that I was growing up with [in Rexdale] would wear baggy [track] suit pants and a little jacket from Zellers or something, and they'd walk into school, and all the cool kids would be like 'Ah, man, look at these Somalis. Yo, you're a punk!' And the other kid won't say nothing, but that kid, probably, has killed fifteen people." K'Naan told this story to explain his position on the world of difference which exists between where he grew up and the ghettos of the first world.

K'Naan's latest song, and my personal favorite, "Anybody Out There" features Nelly Furtado. It discusses the separate lives of a teenage girl and a teenage boy who feel alone and lost in the world. There is an excellent music video that helps to tell the story of these two teens. Another of K'Naan's songs, "Waving Flag," was lyrically changed and used by Coca-Cola as one of the anthems for the FIFA 2010 World Cup, which was held in South Africa. An all-time favorite song of mine, "In the Beginning" has a very upbeat and fun tribal beat. K'Naan is another fun musician to blast in the car or listen to on the beach.

"Modest Mouse" Shouldn't Be So Modest

Portland Oregon based band, Modest Mouse, was created in 1993 by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. In May 2006, guitarist Johnny Marr, percussionist Joe Plummer, and multi-instumentalist Tom Peloso joined the band to help with the album "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank." In February 2009, Jim Fairchild also joined Modest Mouse. The original three band members chose the name with inspiration from Virginia Woolf's story, "The Mark on the Wall", which reads "I wish I could hit upon a pleasant track of thought, a track indirectly reflecting credit upon myself, for those are the pleasantest thoughts, and very frequent even in the minds of modest, mouse-colored people, who believe genuinely that they dislike to hear their own praises."

Modest Mouse' two most recent albums are also their two most famous albums. "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" was released on April 6, 2004 and was a platinum-selling album with two hit songs, "Float On," which is my personal favorite, and "Ocean Breathes Salty." This album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Rock Album in 2004, but unfortunately did not win. Their next album, "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank," was released on March 20, 2007. It featured the hit single, "Dashboard," another one of my favorites, as well as "Missed the Boat," "Fire It Up," and "We've Got Everything." It even reached number one of the US Billboard 200 charts.

Even with all of these awards and honors, the popularity of Modest Mouse seems close to nothing. Many people have never even heard of the incredibly talented band. The word about this band needs to be spread so more music-lovers, especially those who enjoy relaxed, beachy, indie music, can enjoy the wonderful songs from Modest Mouse.

My favorite song, "Float On", is about how irrelevant small problems are and how everyone will "float on" and eventually be okay. The lyrics are quite inspiring, but definitely have a sense of humor as well. Although the lyrics are deep, the song is fun, relaxed, and catchy. The song "Dashboard" also has some inspirational lyrics- "Well it would've been, could've been, worse than you would ever know. Oh, the dashboard melted but we still have the radio." Similarly to "Float On", there is a sense of humor in the lyrics but they are also discussing the unimportance of small problems and how there are still worse things that could happen.

Although slower, indie songs aren't my normal go-to music, Modest Mouse is perfect for relaxing on the beach or right before bed. The songs are slower than most of the hip-hop and rock I normally listen to, but the sound is still catchy and the lyrics are still fun. I often like to blast Modest Mouse out of my car on long car rides to the beach with my windows down. Perfection :)

G-Eazy: Old School Songs with New Lyrics

G-Eazy is a rising new rapper, who's been featured on several popular college music websites, such as GoodMusicAllDay.com and ThisBeatIsSick.com. He's a white rapper raised in Oakland and Berkley, California and he comes off as an average kid. He goes to college, goes out with friends, and freestyle raps on occasion. As with almost every musician in the country, one of his main inspirations is the Beatles, as well as the Beach Boys. But G-Eazy takes his obsession with music from decades past to a new level. In several of his top songs, such as Make-Up Sex, G-Eazy uses music that sounds like it's from the 50's and raps over it. G-Eazy sampled a portion of Dion's "Runaround Sue", a 1961 pop song that ranked number 362 on The Rolling Stones list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of all Time."G-Eazy's album "Endless Summer" samples a lot of doo-wop music, which goes hand-in-hand with the leather jackets, ray-bans, and slicked back hair of his videos.

He also raps over current indie and pop songs, such as Matt and Kim's "Good For Great" and Grizzly Bear's "Two Weeks". His remix of "Good For Great", which is also called "Good For Great" has the same music and a similar chorus to Matt and Kim's version, but G-Eazy adds some down-to-earth lyrics in the verses that separate him from many other rappers. Instead of all of his songs being about sex, drinking, and fame, some of G-Eazy's songs are more personal, describing the ups and downs of his life, and his ever-present conflict between college and music. His cover of "Two Weeks" is in a song called "Acting Up". Although it talks more about sex and alcohol, G-Eazy raps about how he wants to change his "party boy" image and fall in love.

One of my favorite G-Eazy songs is called "Well Known", in which the chorus has deep lyrics that all listeners should take into consideration. "Only you can make you happy," he raps repeatedly. This short lyric is very true and makes "Well Known" a very inspirational song for listeners. "G-Eazy knows the truth in life" says an anonymous fan on G-Eazy's website.

In an interview with Earmilk, G-Eazy responded to a question about the 50's and 60's influence on his music with "I feel like that's a time period that's retained this sort of eternal cool. Like for instance, James Dean has never not looked cool, you know? And that's kind of what I want to do with my music, create something that will last." Luckily for G-Eazy, his popularity on major college music websites is soaring. On OhSoFreshMusic.com , G-Eazy was named one of the top "Hip-Hop Artists You Should Be Listening To In 2012". He also drops a lot of music, even with all of his college work, which gets his name out. He even has several songs on iTunes and occasionally does shows around the United States, mostly in California and his current city of New Orleans. The awesome thing about G-Eazy is that he gives all of his music out for free. Several of his songs are on iTunes where they can be purchased if users choose to do so, but he makes a majority of his money from live shows and merchandise.

Lana Del Rey: Talented or Tone Deaf?

On January 14, 2012 25-year old Lana Del Rey, received a warm welcome from the audience after performing two of her songs, "Video Games" and "Blue Jeans" off of album, Born To Die, but was given harsh criticism by reviews and the general public. Her voice was off-pitch and critics ridiculed her for sounding childish and even, "tone-deaf." NBC Nightly News anchors, Brian Williams, called the performance "one of the worst outings in SNL history." On February 4, 2012, SNL star Kristen Wig, alongside Seth Meyers, parodied the musician, mocking her fluctuating voice and stiff movements, as well as her full lips and tendency to stroke her hair. Even I, a huge LDR supporter today, was not a fan of the singer and guitarist after her SNL performance, but I decided I would give her a second chance. It was, in fact, I wonderful decision.

Lana Del Rey's song, "Video Games" was released in October 2011 but was first featured on the CW's hit show, "The Ringer" on September 27, 2011. Her second single, also named "Born to Die" was released on December 14, 2011. Lana Del Rey released her album, Born To Die, on January 27, 2012. I purchased it right away and spent the afternoon listening and re-listening to the 14 songs, most of which are love ballads and based on LDR's personal experiences.

My favorite, "This Is What Makes Us Girls", is about a girl and her friends who acted out in high school and fell in love too easily. It parallels the lives of many teenage girls who can relate with the lyrics such as "We all look for Heaven and we put our love first." Most teenage girls seek "Heaven" or "paradise" or perfection. Most teenage girls believe in fairy tale love and often get their heart broken by their first boyfriend or first true love. Similarly to "This Is What Makes Us Girls," "Dark Paradise" is also about a first true love. LDR  croons "All my friends tell me I should move on" about her first real boyfriend who has moved on from her.

Lana del Rey is starting to really rise in popularity after her SNL performance. Her name, incorrectly spelled "Lana Del Ray" was a trending topic on twitter for about 3 hours on Wednesday night. Although she really has proved herself since her nervous "mess-up," LDR still has some avid critics, who still focus on this one bad performance. Luckily, Lana del Rey performed fabulously on Letterman on February 2, 2012 and redeemed herself. She received massive applause from the studio audience, as well as much praise from David Letterman himself. This performance was millions of times better than her SNL performance and it really gave me a new outlook on her talent. She really deserved this second chance and it really worked out well for her. I have a feeling that LDR will be rising to stardom faster than she thinks.

LDR is touring Australia, Japan, and the UK this spring and many of these concerts have sold out. Rumors have arised of her touring the east coast of the United States this summer, and there is a possibility of her coming to Merriweather Pavilion along with Foster the People. If this rumor is true, hopefully I will be attending :)

NERO: The New Star of Rave Culture

Nero is a British dubstep and electronic band. Although they are very popular amongst rave-goers in the United Kingdom, their popularity in the United States is low. The band consists of Daniel Stephens, Joe Ray, and lead vocalist Alana Watson who is extremely talented and has a beautiful voice. They released their first LP "Space 2001" in 2004. In 2009, their remix of The Streets "Blinded by Lights" was named a top song by a journalist for the New Yorker Magazine, Sasha Frere-Jones. Although this was an enormous honor, Nero did not get much attention from the American population. Recently, they have had a bit more success.

Nero's first official single, "Innocence" was released on April 26, 2010 in the United Kingdom. It was released as a digital download, as well as on vinyl. It reached 167 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as reaching 16 and 11 on the Dance and Independent charts. Even with all of this attention in the UK, Nero was almost unheard of in the United States. On December 6, 2010, Nero was dominated for the BBC's Sound of 2011 poll. Their second official single, "Me & You" was added to BBC Radio 1's A list Playlist on December 8, 2010. It was released on January 2, 2011 where it peaked at 15 on the singles chart and reached the number one spot on the independent chart. The third single, "Guilt" became enormously popular in the UK when Zane Lowe selected it as his Hottest Record in the World on February 22, 2011.

Nero's debut album, Welcome Reality, was released on August 15, 2011 and reached number one on the UK Album Chart. It includes "Innocence", "Me & You" "Guilt" and other songs such as "Promises" "Crush On You" and "Doomsday 2008". "Promises", which is my personal favorite, was also selected by Zane Lowe as Hottest Record in the World on May 17. "Promises" reached number one in the UK Singles Chart. Their most recent single is called Must Be the Feeling which was released in early January 2012. "Promises" is my favorite song by Nero because the dubstep beats are more relaxed than some of their other, and extremely loud, songs. Not only are the beats more calm, but the lyrics are also very relatable. The main lyric of the song, which is repeated often, says "Promises, and they still feel all so wasted on myself." Alana Watson's voice is especially beautiful in this song and out of all the Nero fans I have conversed with, it is their favorite line from any Nero song.

Nero did a complete tour of the United Kingdom as well as a tour of the United States in fall 2011. This tour in the US really helped Nero get a name for themselves in the American dubstep culture. Rave enthusiasts from  across the nation made the trek to the East Coast to support Nero and since then, their popularity has soared. I personally believe that Nero's decision to tour the United States was their best decision yet.

Some of my good friends from St. Mary's High School of Annapolis attended a Nero concert in Washington D.C on September 23 and returned telling me, "It was the best concert I have ever been too!" and "I had so much fun!" They shared these thoughts with other friends and soon Nero was the all the rage at St. Mary's. Nero is certainly a talent band with a lead singer who puts many famous female singers to shame.