The number one question is: Did the Beatles hairstyle go into the 70s or was it all stuck in the 60s?

The Super Bowl and hip-hop have a long and storied history together, one that basically kicked off back in 1985 with the release of "Super Bowl Shuffle" by my favorite rap group The Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew. Raising money for charity, the track (which also had an amazing video) was a big hit and even got nominated for a Grammy, eventually losing to Prince.

There have been several other Super Bowl raps since then, though none have been as embraced by the world at large. This year, "where are they now" fast-rappers Crucial Conflict recorded a joint called "Monsters of the Midway," while fellow Windy City residents Kanye and Common teamed up for "Southside Superbowl."

But the greatest pairing will go down on Saturday, when Hollis Queens hero DMC hooks up with retired quarterback legend Doug Flutie, (who also plays the drums) for a performance of "Walk This Way" during halftime of a Celebrity Flag Football Challenge that they are both playing in Miami.

DMC's recent solo album was dicey at best, and his voice isn't quite what it used to be, but still, this is gonna be great.

The impromptu post-show jam has long been the domain of, well, jam bands and their brethren like Ozomatli and The Roots, but Arcade Fire has made a habit recently of bringing the post-show party to the lobby. Last night in London, the Montreal-based indie rockers performed a stirring rendition of their song "Wake Up" in the lobby of Porchester Hall. Some security guards at the venue didn't appreciate the move, and one got into it a bit with band frontman Win Butler, according to
NME.com.

Thanks to a YouTube video of the performance, you can check it out for
yourself:

Not much to say about Gauchos covering Iron Maiden's "The Trooper" except that it is one of the most life-affirming rock 'n' roll moments ever captured on video. I want to kick over my monitor, jump on my desk and play air guitar while my coworkers all look on in horror. I want to scream "f*ck yeah!" and pump my fist while that tiny little girl bangs her head and sings along to her brothers' awesome band. I want to play this over and over and over.

Hard to believe it has been almost 22 years since "We Are the World" was unleashed upon us. For those that do not recall or tired to forget "We Are the World" was a song penned by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie that featured a supergroup of questionable talent. The single was produced for charity and gave voice to odd vocal combos like Tina Turner and Billy Joel, Paul Simon and Kenny Rogers, Dionne Warwick and Willie Nelson, and well, the list just keeps going.

It seems that with age the song's message has changed like a painting that fades only to reveal a greater masterpiece. So it is with great pleasure that we present to you "They Aren't the World."

The question that keeps running through my mind while watching this video of Pete Doherty shooting cocaine into his arm in a $15-a-night Thailand youth hostel is, "Why is this guy not dead?" He devours drugs like Rosie O'Donnell does donuts, and yet somehow he's still breathing. What is it in this perma-sweaty, bloated-faced rockstar douchebag's DNA that keeps him from dropping to the floor and convulsing until his light goes out?

According to UK newspaper The Sun, this video was shot by a 21-year old Australian backpacker just two days after Doherty and Kate Moss had their relationship blessed in a Buddhist ceremony on the island of Phuket. So my other question is the same as everyone else in the entire world's, "What is she doing with him?"

Whether you hate him or hate him, it's hard not to look when K-Fed is pleading for attention. His upcoming Super Bowl commercial has drawn the ire of the National Restaurant Association, due to its portrayal of a fry-cook as a wannabee rap superstar, but really what they are saying is, "We do not want to be associated with this loser." Peep it here before the big game and then go read a book or something.

Superstar rapper/mogul Jay-Z got rich by peddling coke years before his takeover of the music industry. This is well-documented throughout his albums and numerous interviews with the man himself. Now, after over a decade in the music business, he is returning to his roots. Kind of.

Coca-Cola has hired Jay and his Roc-A-Fella brand to "remix" the image of Cherry Coke, their ultra-sweet beverage that has gone through many different looks over the years.

Already the "co-brand director" of undrinkable, pseudo classy spin-off swill Budweiser Select, Jay knows a thing or two when it comes to corporate connections and attempting to give lame products some sort of rap-related faux street credibility.

Whether a 38 year-old multi-millionaire can bring that "hood edge" to Cherry Coke remains to be seen, but hopefully it will work out better than his last album.

Martin Luther King Day is more than just a break from corporate wage slavery, it is also a time to reflect upon a man who had a dream. That dream was equality for all men in this land of rape and honey. There are many reasons to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. including his leadership of the American civil rights movement and his political activism. He was also a Baptist minister and the youngest man to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize. I can think of many ways to celebrate such a heroic and inspirational human being but never have I considered dressing up a white chick as Aunt Jemima or writing "I love chicken" on my malt liquor stained t-shirt.

Well that seems to be exactly what happens down in Texas. As if I need another reason to hate my race a group of Texas college students decided to wear "black" clothing, complete with bandannas and one leg up one leg down, whiling swelling 40oz bottles and no-doubt slapping in each other on their lily white asses and calling each other the n-word.

I am pretty sure that Martin Luther King, Jr. was not fighting for white college students to carry around buckets of fried chicken and handguns in order to mock institutional poverty and slavery. Again I am only pretty sure.

I hope Chuck D and KRS-One fly down to Texas and beat some blued eyed ass. Maybe they should take Immortal Technique with them, just for back-up.

Check out all the images at The Smoking Gun.

Back in the day (mid-1980s), there was an extremely loud, very good rock band from Western Massachusetts called Dinosaur. They put out 3 great albums before their lead singer decided he could do it all himself and basically ruined their reputation. Their ousted bassist went on to play in Sebadoh, the group that later coined the phrase "indie rock."

Both Dinosaur (they had to add the Jr. after some random legal issues) and Sebadoh continued to record throughout the '90s, and got a little love on college radio, but with each new album they lost fans and relevance. By the time Nirvana blew up, nobody was really checking for either. Then, 15 years passed, and the next generation of indie kids had a new curiosity for these mysterious acts of old that were so often name-dropped.

Then the Pixies' hugely successful 2004 reunion tour set off a chain reaction. Dinosaur's classic LPs were reissued, and lead ego J. Mascis grabbed Lou and Murph (their original drummer) and hit the road for two tours, playing all over the world for sold-out crowds. They filmed a bunch of stuff for a concert DVD, and hit the studio to record a new album, the first with the O.G. trio since 1988. Not to be out-done, Sebadoh is also doing a reunion tour kicking off next month.

As a fan (of their old stuff), I'm happy to see them getting paid again, and am cautiously optimistic about a new album. Still, I don't quite know what to think of these new custom sneakers...

I thought that Paris Hilton's album, which burned in flames last year, was a fantastic insight into the enigma of everyone's favorite barely-educated heiress. Nothing could prepare me for the truth of Paris. I mean I assumed that she was as drugged as a lion cub at your local mall's petting zoo, but the reality of her narcotized princess fairy tale was just way above me as it turns out.

If you have not seen Paris exposed we recommend you spend some time there. It just makes people feel better about slaving in poverty.

Already smarting from several weeks of Donald Trump sh*t-talk, Rosie O'Donnell is now under fire from Asian-American rapper Jin, who calls her out on his new dis track "You're Fired."

Recycling Nas' "Ether" beat, he takes offense to her Chinese impersonation a few weeks ago, then basically calls her a fat racist dyke with some nice samples of The Donald talking about how much of a disgusting slob she is in the background.

Granted, this is unlikely to be much of a boost to Jin's career, which is been steadily on the downswing ever since he signed to Ruff Ryders, linked with Wyclef, put out a debut album that nobody bought, and then "retired" like a baby, but still, Rosie is garbage and the song has some funny parts.

Check it out here

Honestly, I'm just waiting for somebody to do a song that incoporates the Pat O'Brian voicemails.

That would be awesome.

Norwegian trans-European electro-expressers 120 Days have signed a deal with luxury automobile manufacture Jaguar. The group’s “Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone)” was remixed by T.A. Kaukolampi for the car company’s latest advertisement, which recently made its way onto YouTube.

Amazing that bands can release one album then cash-in their chips before even counting their cards and ordering a drink.

Check out 120 Days MP3Live sessions from the 2006 CMJ Music Marathon here.

Video: 120 Days
Feature: Up and Coming

Crestside Vallejo representative Mac Mall has been putting out records since the early 1990s. His debut Illegal Business is a much-loved classic, that features the inescapably dope single "Sic Wit Tis." (check the video here)

Down with Mac Dre (R.I.P.) and the Thizz Nation, he has a lengthy discography of solo albums, collabos, and compilation appearances. His latest release is another tight collection of funk-driven beats and witty raps, and also happens to have the best concept we've seen in a long long time.

Listen to select tracks here.

Now I finally understand the full weight of Jean-Claude Van Damme's nickname "The Muscles from Brussels." I have never seen anyone fill a pair of acid-wash jeans quite so well.

To celebrate American Idol's return next week, Paula Abdul must have gone off her meds (or upped their dosage--it's hard to tell which), because once again, here she is on TV acting like a complete lunatic. Abdul's widely known for her incoherence, but in this interview she really shines. Maybe it's the drugs, but don't you find her woozy, amused, and carefree outlook on life endearing?

Interscope should stop picking up Myspace acts, given the Mickey Avalon entitled-white-boy-on-cocaine-crap that was released just a bit ago, and now the straight-to-commercial-television act, Kenna. So what if the debut will be produced by the Neptunes - this stuff is just the sort of sonic wallpaper that only sounds appropriate buried in a video game advertisement, or maybe over the juke box at some white-belt puss'n'boots party.

My question is: how do you release something as solid as TV on the Radio and they follow it with watered down junk?

Sad. Here is the PSP commercial:

We want to hate him, we really do. But despite his affiliations with the ubiquitous Will.i.am, Justin Timberlake was the mack in 2006. With plenty of help from Timbaland, dude dropped an album that was nasty enough that even the hateration had to applaud. And that was all before "D***in a Box." Paired up with Lazy Sunday (aka the "Narnia Rap") faux rapper Andy Samburg on Saturday Night Live, Timberlake took one long, hilarious swipe at his boy band past, as evidenced below. Backed by a tight band, he also brought the house down with performances of "My Love" and "What Goes Around ... Comes Around."

What do a breakdancing, animated woodpecker, the Dutch, and space travel all have in common? This curious, gawd-awful music video from the depths of '80s hell, that's what. I'm starting to think that the plethora of obscure, unearthed goodies that the internet has to offer is some sort of collective punishment. Enjoy.