Since we started Pop Hunter in February as part of the AUX.TV family, we’ve covered a lot of ground. We systematically ranked the members of YMCMB, in an age vs. net worth infographic. We played god, and tried to imagine what the spawn of Chavril might look like. We even painstakingly tallied the number of times Unkie RedFoo and his lil’ nephew SkyBlu reference their own genitals in LMFAO songs. It’s a difficult, yet rewarding task, make no mistake. This has all been a labour of love.

With all of those beautiful memories behind us, it’s time to face the next chapter with the fearlessness of Taylor Swift’s new boyfriend, combined with a mettle much more enduring than Justin Bieber’s stomach. In an attempt to expand the scope of AUX.TV, Team Pop Hunter has found a home writing exclusively at AUX beginning today. This will be the final post published on PopHunter.com, and you’ll start seeing some of the top-notch, borderline-obsessed pop music commentary you’ve come to expect from Pop Hunter over at AUX.TV starting today.

Keep following us at @auxpop, because we’ll be tweeting out links to our articles there. And if you’re worried that this might affect the journalistic integrity of our posts, fear not, because right now I’m working on a post comparing Lady Gaga’s weirdest outfits to food. You can take the hunter out of the jungle, but you can’t take the hunt out of the Pop Hunter. Or something.

As Pop Hunter’s Associate Editor, let me say this: I can’t thank you enough for reading, even if you just ended up hear through Googling “KanyeSmile.gif” or “Drake Wheelchair.” Every single solitary click has inflated my ego to Busta-Rhymes’-gut-circa-2011 levels, and I thank each and every one of you for it. Come visit me on AUX, okay?

Always remember: Billie Joe Armstrong isn’t fucking Justin Bieber, and Blue Ivy will one day literally save the world with her smile.

Onward,

Aaron Zorgel
Associate Editor, Pop Hunter

At the end of each week, #Top40Tweets lists a cross-section of artists on the current pop charts and puts their tweets on display (along with their current chart number) for your enjoyment/scrutiny. This week, we look at 5 artists on the Billboard Music Charts.

#17: Katy Perry – Wide Awake

WE ARE BELIEBERS! twitpic.com/b0uzua

— Katy Perry (@katyperry) October 4, 2012

Does anyone else find it strange that Katy Perry’s entourage consists of two five-year-olds?

FUN FACT: Katy Perry is throwing a divorce party to celebrate what would have been her second anniversary with Russell Brand. That’s way too cold, Katy. [READ MORE]

#16 (Rap Songs): Rick Ross – Diced Pineapples feat. Drake

Go to great heights to get that cake.

— TEFLON DON (@rickyrozay) October 5, 2012

Rick Ross will stop at nothing to quench his thirst for black forest.

FUN FACT: Rick Ross spent last weekend brawling with Young Jeezy at the BET Awards. Probably over the last slice of cake, right? Nobody comes between the boss and his desert, Jeezy. [READ MORE]

#6: Justin Bieber – As Long As You Love Me

u dont understand what it is like

— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) October 4, 2012

Aw yeah, we’re finally getting a taste of Angsty Bieber. I hope his next album is nu-metal.

FUN FACT: Instead of making a “world’s tiniest violin” joke, here’s a pretty excellent violin cover of a Justin Bieber song.

#18: Nicki Minaj – Pound The Alarm

I guess it hurts 2 have the producers tell u to ur face that nicki is the best judge we’ve had since simon. Awww, poor u. Keep them lies cmn

— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) October 4, 2012

AMERICAN IDOL IS GOING TO BE SO GOOD THIS YEAR.

FUN FACT: If you want to see Nicki lose her shit on Mariah (of course you do), you can check out a video the expletive-filled rampage here.

#76: Meek Mill – Amen feat. Drake

Dropped my phone in a glass of wine…just to give you an idea of where my life is at these days.

— Drizzy (@Drake) October 1, 2012

Drake takes drunk-dialing very seriously.

FUN FACT: I like to think that this is what is actually happening on the Take Care album cover.

#20: Kanye West – Mercy feat. Big Sean, 2 Chainz, and Pusha T

BE BACK SOON

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) October 4, 2012

BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

If you ever question Dr. Dre’s clout in the audio production world, let the fact that he made a hundred million dollars off of headphones last year quell those doubts. Despite lingering suspicions that Dr. Dre leans on ghost producers the same way he uses ghost writers for his lyrics, there’s no denying his influence as a hip-hop producer.

Born in Compton, California, André Romelle Young began his music career as “Dr. J,” named after his favourite basketball player, Julius Erving. Inspired by Grandmaster Flash, Dre spent his early years DJing at a club in his neighborhood called The Eve After Dark, which would be a major hub for West Coast hip-hop in the ’80s. Adopting the moniker Dr. Dre, he joined the group World Class Wreckin’ Cru in 1984, who became well known in the Compton area. Through performing with the Wreckin’ Cru, Dr. Dre crossed paths with Eazy E and Ice Cube, who were then performing in a group called C.I.A. (Cru’ in Action!).

N.W.A. was formed by Eazy E in 1984, and alongside Dr. Dre, Arabian Prince, Ice Cube, DJ Yella, and later MC Ren, the group would be credited as one of the seminal “gangsta rap” acts, and perhaps as one of the most important hip-hop groups of all time. Dr. Dre is also attributed with popularizing the G-funk production style, a sub-genre under the banner of gangsta rap. Explicit lyrics dealing with controversial subject matter limited the group’s access to promotion and radio play, but they would still go on to sell over ten million records in the United States alone. Ice Cube left N.W.A. in 1989 over a financial dispute, and Dr. Dre parted ways with N.W.A. after a personal issue with Eazy E in 1991, inciting a bitter rivalry.

Dr. Dre started Death Row Records, with his then-body guard Suge Knight, and pursued a solo career. The first Death Row release would be The Chronic, an instant classic, with all songs being produced by Dr. Dre. The Chronic solidified Dr. Dre as a hip-hop superstar, it also provided a launching pad for his protege Snoop Doggy Dogg. Dr. would also produce Doggystyle, Snoop Doggy Dogg’s debut album. Just as Death Row was positioning Tupac as their next major artist, signs that Suge Knight was financially corrupt forced Dre to leave the label.

Dr. Dre started his own imprint on Interscope Records called Aftermath Entertainment, but struggled to find success with its initial releases. Based on a tip from Interscope label boss Jimmy Iovine, Dr. Dre signed a rapper named Eminem to Aftermath, and took on a mentorship role in the Detroit rapper’s career. Dre produced three songs on Eminem’s debut record The Slim Shady LP, and their creative partnership breathed new life into the Aftermath brand. 2001, The Marshall Mathers LP, and 50 Cent’s Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ were all huge hits for Aftermath, and in the following years, Dr. Dre settled into more of a producer role, making beats for artists like Gwen Stefani, Eve, and Mary J. Blige, putting rap on the backburner.

Dr. Dre has been prepping the release of The Detox since 2001 with no payoff, and at this point, it’s effectively the hip-hop equivalent of Chinese Democracy. For now, Kendrick Lamar flies the Aftermath flag, until Dre stops playing with headphones and gets his shit together.

Simply put, Dr. Dre is one of the most influential figures in hip-hop culture. Crank up your Beats By Dre cans, and let’s check out some of his best actual beats for this edition of the Friday Mixtape.

After causing quite the stir by hanging out with Rihanna in public, and subsequently breaking up with his long-term girlfriend, Chris Brown posted a pseudo-artistic video to Vimeo.

Titled “The Real Chris Brown,” the clip is less than two minutes long, and is equal parts failed film-school project and Jersey Shore, depicting a partied-out Breezy trying to get philosophical. Lo-fi, grainy shots of Chris Brown at the club are underscored with a slurred, wandering monologue delivered in the backseat of a car, where Chris Brown admits to being “stressed out.” You see a few shots of Chris Brown hanging out with Rihanna, as Breezy speaks vaguely about love, history, and whether it’s possible to love two people at once.

Given the timing of this clip, and Brown’s recent breakup, it may not be long before Rihanna and Chris Brown go public with the news that they’re back together. If this inexplicable video clip is any indication, Breezy is definitely struggling with some demons. Check it out below.

Okay, it’s safe to turn your Chris Brownout plugin back on now.

[via Complex]

This week, the sample in question is taken from, of all things, the ubiquitous iPhone “Marimba” ringtone:

Chances are, any time there’s a cellphone ringing in a film, the sound you end up hearing is the iconic (iConic? sorry) iPhone “Marimba” ringtone. And if you’re anything like me, every single time, you nervously grab your pocket, just to make sure you’re not the asshole with his phone ringing in a movie theatre. It just might be the most popular ringtone of all time, simply due to the fact that it has always been the default ringtone on every iPhone generation. The only artist or composer attributed to the three second piece of music is “Apple Inc.,” so I hope whoever is the real melodic mind behind the “Marimba” tone had some kind of royalty share worked into his/her agreement with apple. It’s one of the most recognizable sounds of the 21st century, and it’ll always have a place in the pop lexicon.

The iPhone “Marimba” ringtone was recently sampled by T-Pain on “Going Off,” a track from his recent mixtape Stoic:

T-Pain certainly isn’t the first artist to sample the “Marimba” ringtone, but he’s certainly the most well-known artist to do it thus far. T-Pain knows a thing or two about mobile audio technology, given that his “I Am T-Pain” auto-tune app has been downloaded millions of times for three bucks a pop. T-Pain just dropped Stoic, his new mixtape, three days ago, and the personnel included is a laundry-list of who’s who of the hip-hop elite. T-Pain scored beats from Boi-1da, T-Minus, Bei Maejor, Tha Bizness, and Ryan Tedder, with guest features from Pitbull, Mistah Fab, Tech N9ne, Travie McCoy, and Big K.R.I.T. Not bad for a mixtape, T-Pain. T-Pain handled production duties himself on 7 out of 22 tracks, including the iPhone-sampling “Going Off,” featuring Big K.R.I.T. The track opens with the recognizable Marimba melody, and when T-Pain’s beat comes in, it fits seamlessly around the ringtone. It’s cheesy, but it’s a pretty appropriate sample choice, since the song is about how often T-Pain’s phone rings (“My shit be going off!”). But since you can’t go a single day without hearing that melody as it is, will this track have any replay value? One benefit: play the song, and if someone asks you if your phone is ringing, you can say “Oh, it’s just T-Pain” and it wouldn’t be a lie.

RiFF-RaFF has been our radar for a while, so when we found out he’d be getting the full Nard-treatment, we couldn’t wait to see what kind of dirt the human serviette would surprise him with.

Nardwuar is to interviews what RiFF-RaFF is to hip-hop, meaning that they’re both enigmatic, prolific, and — umm, unique — when it comes to their respective crafts. It wouldn’t surprise us at all if we suddenly heard RiFF-RAFF drop “rap game Nardwuar” as an ad-lib on an upcoming track.

Watch the interview below, and you’ll be treated to an interview boasting such highlights as RiFF RaFF making it rain on Nardwuar, at least two outfit changes, and the big reveal of which particular scent of Old Spice Jody Highroller prefers.

NBA 2K13 was released on Tuesday, and it didn’t take video gamers long to discover a secret unlockable celebrity team. You can show off your dunking skills with avatars based on JB Smoove, Wale, Bow Wow, Chamillionaire, Sean Kingston, Meek Mill, Mac Miller, DJ Pauly D, and more. Oh, and did we mention Justin Bieber? You can also post up under the basket with Stratford’s finest. Watch him in action below, in one of the greatest YouTube videos we’ve seen this week:

So what’s with the celebrity presence in NBA 2K13? Well, you can probably attribute it to the game’s executive producer Jay-Z. On his part, it’s a pretty smart business decision to include Justin Bieber as a playable character. Suddenly, all of those Beliebers who probably wouldn’t have bought the game otherwise are going to snatch up a copy of the game, just so they can oggle Justin in that hunky uniform.

Oh, and if you’ve got an eagle eye, you just might spot a video game version of Jay-Z sitting courtside at a virtual Brooklyn Nets game.

[via MTV, Complex]

PH BALANCE is a column that gives Pop Hunter and AUX contributors a chance to weigh-in on the latest pop music videos. This time, we riff on “Your Body” by Christina Aguilera.

Jeremy Mersereau, Pop Hunter contributor:

Woah, it looks like X-Tina is finally putting the smack-down on the patriarchy for their collective reaction of “Ew, GROSS!” to that song about her hoo-ha. Nah, for real though, “Woohoo” was a jam. I was mad too when my joint “My Dick, Chyeah!” got snubbed by the establishment. Anyway the video kind of rules! I love it when Christina blows up that dude with severe narcolepsy in his car. How did Sleepy Nick even get a license if he’s always nodding off like that? Good on you for keeping the roads safe, Miss Dirty. Then, as if she hadn’t already done her part, ‘Tina single-handedly (literally, if you know what I mean) stops an alien invasion! She could tell the second guy was a bodysnatcher from his dead, soulless eyes…and also ’cause his chum was neon blue. Good thing Christina knows that the only way to defeat a Glorbulon is to make it blow its stack in the poolhall from Near Dark. Anyway, I don’t need to be Oranum to predict that the internet’s vibrant community of Men’s Right’s dweebs are finally gonna lose it when they see this video. And by “it,” I don’t mean their soul-crushing virginity. Maybe X-Tina can use Reddit’s deafening “Misandry!” chorus on her next album somewhere.

Chayne Japal, Pop Hunter and AUX contributor:

I am down for all of this. Related note: blue facials are the shit.

Nicole Villeneuve, Managing Editor of AUX:

Christina goes surprisingly clever in this pop-culture loaded clip, and maybe even self-references her own “Dirrty” days with those braids in the barroom. If I may say, girl has got it together here.

Crystal Sales, Editor of Bite.ca, Pop Hunter contributor:

OMG, it’s a white Nicki Minaj!

I like the pastel colours that X-Tina wears throughout the video, except for the pink lips. She isn’t still doing the whole Viva Glam thing for MAC, right? That was a nightmare. Oh, nevermind — I just got to the part where all her Moon Boot-wearing pals showed up to have a trailer park party. Now I understand the look they’re going for.

Is the guy in the video supposed to be an Adam Levine look-alike? If so, there is no way that any of the bar scene business would ever take place. I must be really naive to sexual connotations, because I don’t understand what the fuck just happened in that washroom stall. I mean, she wiped her mouth after — that’s sexual, right?

Can someone remind Christina that you don’t need to kill everyone you have a one night stand with?

Bottom Line: I don’t get it.

Aaron Zorgel, Associate Editor of Pop Hunter:

The video begins with a disclaimer reading “Warning: No Men Were Harmed In The Making Of This Video.” Viewing the video, on the other hand…

Dave Hodgson, Pop Hunter contributor:

When I was 15, my dad got his buddy Pat to kiddie-proof the family computer. This meant I could no longer explore my body to the ladies of the Internet, while at the same time filling the hard drive with viruses from “hockey sites.” So, I turned to the next best thing: pop videos. I was Sherpa’d through my darkest days by Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and even Bif Naked, who (true to her moniker) got naked. So I thought for this PH Balance it would be fun to have a classic X-Tina wanksturbation sesh and report back. But that simply wouldn’t be an option, because in the first three seconds of this video I was made as limp as a noodle.

Are we reasonably expected to believe that Christina Aguilera not only plays computer games, but also possesses the technical know-how to hook up a classic NES-style joystick? Does she game in between her other favourite activities, rolling around on a bed and rolling around on a bed? And before getting into it, wouldn’t she want to take off her 51 pieces of hand jewelry? You may have been saved from me talking about self-gratification for now, Internet, but not forever.

In the latest edition of Gunplay’s 626 YouTube video series, the Maybach rapper spends a day on the lake scooping up more river monsters than Rick Ross could eat in one sitting. Gunplay’s a half-decent rapper, but the big surprise here is that he’s a world class angler. At one point, he even submerges himself in the water, and breaches with two giant bass in each of his hands. His face tattoos are what make him intimidating, but those noodling skills make Gunplay the definition of beast-mode.

This video has to make you wonder what other hidden talents Maybach MCs are hiding. Can you imagine if Meek Mill was a pro-tier ice carver? What if Omarion was a Michelin-starred chef?

If there’s one thing that MMG does right, it’s promotion through social media. Seeing Gunplay go bass fishing made us like him about 10% more, and that’s the whole point, right? Then again, he’s still got that moronic swastika tattoo. Ugh. Whatever, Captain Fred is the real star of this video. I’d buy his record.

Check out the episode of 626 below. Gunplay’s debut studio album Medellin is said to be “coming soon.” Hopefully it’s not as much of a stinker as the Vincent Chase-starring Entourage counterpart.

[via Complex]

While sitting on the judging panel, Nicki Minaj can be seen aggressively ranting against Mariah, with an exasperated Keith Urban caught in the middle. Allegedly, Nicki Minaj went all Ice Cube on Mimi, and threatened to knock her out. The part that was caught on video is Nicki Minaj saying she’s “not fuckin’ putting up with her fuckin’ highness over there,” in reference to Mariah. To Mariah’s credit, she doesn’t engage Nicki Minaj’s angry tirade, though it might be because she’s beyond terrified. Rather hilariously, the whole interaction is underscored with Randy Jackson acting as would-be peacekeeper, yelling “Yo! Time Out! Time Out!” repeatedly in the background.

Well, don’t take our word for it. Watch the video below:

Doesn’t Nicki Minaj kind of come off like a crazy person, or like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli? It’s great publicity for Idol, because we know we’re going to tune in to find out what exactly Mariah was doing to ignite the ire of the Female Weezy. But if they’re feuding already, will Nicki and Mariah make it through the season? In a way, this does bode well for Idol: if Nicki Minaj is willing to go this hard against her fellow judge, she won’t hold anything back when it comes to judging contestants.

More importantly, when will Keith Urban and Randy Jackson finally go toe-to-toe?

American Idol Season 12 is set to premiere in January, 2013. We can’t wait.

[via TMZ]