This week's on-sales: Brad Paisley, Jay-Z, Julian Casablancas and more

Staples Center

Brad Paisley, Feb. 19; Jay-Z, March 26 (Sat.)

Gibson Amphitheatre
Omid, Nov. 25 (now)

Downtown Palace Theatre
Julian Casablancas, Nov. 13 and 30 (now)

UCI Bren Events Center

Weezer, Jan. 11 (Sat.)

Live review: Jay-Z at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion

The rap superstar is generous with sharing the spotlight -- OMG, was that Rihanna? -- in a show that also included sets by N.E.R.D., J.Cole and Wale.

It's not easy to upstage Jay-Z, especially at his own show. But during a performance Sunday at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, one special guest managed to do just that -- and it wasn't the rap superstar's wife, Beyoncé.

Not quite midway through the show, Rihanna, draped in black and standing on an elevated riser, emerged from underneath the stage to sing her vocal on Jay-Z's summer hit, "Run This Town," from his 11th studio album, “The Blueprint 3.”

Young women in the audience jumped onto their chairs, camera phones in hand, for a better glimpse, their screams ringing out in near unison over the arena. One fan nearby turned to her friend and screamed, "Oh my God, is that really her?"

It was the first time the pop star had performed since breaking her nearly nine month silence last week about being assaulted by former boyfriend Chris Brown in February.

LOLcats Now Haz Music Reviews, Part 2: Beyonce, Jay-Z and Black Eyed Peas

The LOLcats have some pretty polarized views on pop music, as you can see by the LOLcat music reviews we posted Wednesday.

The cats are back today, once again pairing some cute pictures and choice words for three of the biggest acts in hip-hop and R&B.

Kristyn Pomranz and Katherine Steinberg, who penned "I Can Has Cheezburger: The MusicLOL!," an off-Broadway production based on the popular blog about silly kitties with misspelled captions, constructed these pictures as a Pop & Hiss exclusive.

This time, we get to learn what your pets think of Beyoncé, hubby Jay-Z and R&B-dance-sensation Black Eyed Peas.

We can has musik revyooz.

Beyoncé

She's a chart-topper, spotlight-owner and Hamburger Helper maker. Her third studio album, "I Am... Sasha Fierce," spurred a number of massive hits, including "Single Ladies" and "If I Were a Boy." Of the album's concept, Ann Powers wrote, "Beyoncé meant to represent herself as a split personality, tender and open on the one hand, indomitable and rather scary on the other."

Here's what we said about her summer performance at the Honda Center: "There’s no incongruity in a superstar – even one who preaches sisterhood – commanding center stage. And in Beyoncé’s form of womanism, everyone is advanced when one woman hits her personal best."

The cats like her too.

Click "continue reading" for more cat pictures.

Jay-Z and the Beatles: Together again

Are we staring into the blueprint for a Jay-Z-Paul McCartney-Ringo Starr trio performance on a future  Grammy Awards show?

The rapper and the Beatles are once again intertwined on the national sales charts this week, Jay-Z debuting at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 with “The Blueprint 3,” with sales of 476,000 copies. With his 11th No. 1 album on the Top 200, Jay-Z is now the solo act with the most No. 1 albums, breaking a tie with Elvis Presley that he established when “American Gangster” made it to the top in 2007. The only act with more No. 1s? The Beatles, whose 1968 double LP known as “The White Album” was a reference point for the title of the rapper's 2003 set, “The Black Album.” (For those of you with scorecards, that was the one billed as his final release before he went into retirement.)

During the same week that a committedly unretired Jay-Z moved ahead of Presley, all 13 of the Beatles'  original studio releases landed in the Top 20 of Billboard’s Top Pop Catalog Albums listing of works that originally came out at least 18 months ago. They sold 626,000 copies of the remastered albums; that five-day total tops 1 million when the individual albums within two box sets are factored in.

“The Beatles in Stereo” box set -- a 14-album, 16-CD collection listing for $260 -- sold almost 26,000 copies. “The Beatles in Mono,”  an 11-album, 13-CD set listing for $300, sold nearly 12,000 copies from the release date of Sept. 9 through Sunday, the end of the sales monitoring period tallied by Nielsen SoundScan. Adding the individual titles contained in each box set, the Beatles sold nearly 1.1 million CDs last week.

Lil Mama crashes MTV VMA awards finale (and no one seems to care)

While the pop culture universe all but imploded in the wake of Kanye West stage-crashing Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for best female video last night at the MTV Video Music Awards, there has been relatively little chatter in regards to the evening’s other bold stage-crasher, rapper and judge on “America’s Best Dance Crew,” Lil Mama.

Toward the end of a rousing show-closing performance of “Empire State of Mind,” Lil Mama jumped onto the stage, much to the visible chagrin of Jay-Z. While Jay-Z turned his back on her and embraced Alicia Keys during the ovation at the end of the song, Lil Mama stood her ground next to the multi-platinum performers.

“You gonna T-Pain me?” is what Jay-Z reportedly said to the stage-crashing rapper, in reference to rapper and producer T-Pain crashing Jay-Z's stage when he debuted the song “D.O.A.” at a New York radio concert this summer.

“I did not mean any disrespect towards Jay-Z or Alicia Keys. I admire them and look up to them as role models,” Lil Mama told MTV News after the incident. “ 'Empire State of Mind’ had my emotions running high. In that moment, I came onstage to celebrate my two icons singing about N.Y.”

But given the much higher emotions surrounding West and Swift, Lil Mama’s unscripted appearance will go down as just another bizarre curiosity during an evening filled with them. Our own “Envelope” column even credited her as just an “audience member who managed to grab her 15 minutes of fame during the last moments of the two’s performance.”

UPDATE: During an interview with Kathy Lee Gifford and and Hoda Kotb on the Sept. 16 broadcast of the "Today" show, Alicia Keys was quoted as saying "We can appreciate her being overwhelmed and inspired, but we would have appreciated it if she would have did it from her seat."

-- Scott T. Sterling

Photo: From left, Lil Mama, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday in New York City. Credit: Christopher Polk / Getty Images.

 

Tracks from Jay-Z's 'Blueprint 3' debut Tuesday on Rhapsody

Sometimes, the universe, or simply Shawn C. Carter, rewards the impatient.

Jay-Z's "Blueprint 3" is set to officially release on Sept. 11 (eight years to the day after the first "Blueprint"), but Rhapsody will be offering a free listen Tuesday, along with MTV websites. (The Rhapsody ad for it shouldn't be missed.) The Grizzly Bear fan has also announced he'll play the Answer the Call charity concert that will take place at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 11 to raise money for the New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund.

Despite the official release and preview dates, there is already plenty of "Blueprint" soaking in the Internet waters, including "Run This Town," posted above, with Rihanna and Kanye West. Contributor Jeff Weiss is listening now to much of "Blueprint 3," with his trusty notepad and pen in hand. Check back soon for track reviews.

1. "What We Talkin' About" (featuring Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun)
2. "Thank You"
3. "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)"
4. "Run This Town" (featuring Rihanna and Kanye West)
5. "Empire State of Mind" (featuring Alicia Keys)
6. "As It Gets" (featuring Young Jeezy)
7. "One" (featuring Swizz Beatz)
8. "Off That" (featuring Drake)
9. "A Star Is Born" (featuring J. Cole)
10. "Venus vs. Mars"
11. "Already Home" (featuring Kid Cudi)
12. "Hate" (featuring Kanye West)
13. "Reminder"
14. "So Ambitious" (featuring Pharrell)
15. "Young Forever" (featuring Mr. Hudson)

-- Margaret Wappler

Live review: Jay-Z keeps his friends close in Las Vegas

If that “new Michael Jordan” thing doesn’t work out for LeBron James, maybe he should consider becoming the new Memphis Bleek. 

Memphis Bleek is one of Jay-Z’s longtime associates, and he’s serving as the hip-hop star’s wingman on his few live appearances (none in the Southland) this summer. But Friday, during the first of two nights at the Pearl Concert Theater in the Palms Casino Resort, Bleek had to share his spotlight with the National Basketball Assn. MVP. 

Jay-Z invited James onstage about two-thirds of the way through his set. At first it seemed that the athlete, who sported casual clothes, Elvis Costello-style spectacles and some tasteful bling, would simply take a bow and gracefully exit. But no -- he stayed on, mouthing the words to hits like “99 Problems,” gesturing fervently and looking very much like he was longing for a microphone. 

He never got one. Maybe Jay-Z knows something about his old friend’s rhyming skills that it’s best we all not discover. (According to Entertainment Weekly, James, who has a guest shot in the rapper's latest video, did get a mic at a Jay-Z show at New York’s Apollo Theater in 2007, but his skills did not receive a critique).

James captured the spirit of Jay-Z’s current tour anyway. The unamplified but passionately expressive sports hero served as a mirror of nearly everyone in this lovely and intimate theater, the perfect setting for a night of giddy arm-waving and exuberant calls and responses.

Jay-Z shows are fun because the rapper is so adept at spinning liquid gold; his mouth is one of the most nimble in the genre’s history, and he uses it to present thoughts that are sharp, funny and resonant. Hits flew fast and furious at the Pearl, from radio staples such as “Hard Knock Life” and “99 Problems” to insider favorites like “Jigga What” and “Dirt Off Your Shoulder.” Jay-Z also sampled from his remix collaborations with other rappers, including Young Jeezy’s homage to Obama, “My President,” and Kanye West’s “Diamonds from Sierra Leone.”

He offered only one snippet of new material, which he identified as “the intro” to his 11th album, “The Blueprint 3,” to be released this fall. The rhyme indicated that the subject he takes on in his new single, the classicist polemic “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)” may extend throughout the album; he rapped about fact versus fiction and the importance of staying authentic.