Two new projects are sparking a lot of discussion right now about the current state of R&B. The first is by The Weeknd, a mysterious singer (or group?) who has enjoyed a quick rise to critical-darling status since releasing the free debut album House of Balloons last week. The second is by Frank Ocean, the lone singer in Rap Group of the Moment, Odd Future. Ocean's album, nostalgia,Ultra, also excellent, also free, came out mere weeks before The Weeknd's project, so the two acts are getting joined together as poster children for what's being called a new wave of R&B. The terms being thrown around to describe this new wave are "hipster R&B" and—half-jokingly, half-seriously—"PBR&B." Some have also pointed to So Far Gone, the emotional rap mixtape (featuring a lot of singing!) by Drake, released in 2009, as a major influencer, an initiator of sorts, to this new sound. READ MORE

The venerable Busta Rhymes shows us what people mean when they talk about an MC "blacking out" on a track. He rhymes so fast, enunciates so clearly, without pausing to take a breath, you'd think he'd lose consciousness. In so doing, he steals this song—with it's huge and spacious beat, which was produced by club music maestro Diplo and sounds like it will explode dance floors like the Yin Tang Twins "Wait (The Whisper Song)" did six years ago—from proprietor Chris Brown and fellow guest star Lil Wayne both. READ MORE

I'm starting to think that the singularity has already occurred and I just didn't notice it up to this point. Apparently, computer intelligence has already gotten more advanced that the human brain and figured out how to fuse itself with human cell tissue and that the robots are already reprogramming themselves and re-enhancing themselves and regenerating themselves-into today's leading hip-hop and R&B stars. READ MORE

I've been thinking a bunch about what we'll remember 2009 for, besides rampant unemployment and two great flu panics. Mostly that is what I'll remember, but I'll also think of it as the year that the nation became obsessed with jerks and woman-beaters. That Levi Johnston, Jon Gosselin and Chris Brown were pretty much the three most popular "stories" of 2009 is amazing, particularly since those first two haven't ever done or said anything. That all have spent the year pushing new products in the midst of their tabloid scandals is pretty telling. I don't even know what Gosselin or Johnston are selling, besides their brand-but Chris Brown's new album "drops" in a month. Say you are Chris Brown. Would you be putting out an album this year? Much less one with an album cover that looks like you're about to beat some tiny animated critters to death with a space-guitar? As your ex-girlfriend was endlessly making the press rounds, talking about how you had "no soul" in your eyes while you bit her? READ MORE

Here is the cover for Chris Brown's new album, Graffiti. Needless to say, it has been subject to much ridicule. Here is what Chris Brown himself says on the Twitter. (My favorite part is the lower-case second sentence.)

Last night singer Chris Brown-who recently received five years of probation after entering a guilty plea for assaulting his girlfriend Rihanna-appeared on "Larry King Live" in an attempt to rehabilitate his image and perhaps explain what caused such reprehensible acts. As someone who does not believe that domestic violence is any more glamorous or noteworthy when it is perpetrated by or on celebrities, I have only a cursory awareness of the story, and did not tune in. But Awl Director of Business Development/SEO Coordinator David Cho has been following the case since it began, and was eager to explain it to me. If you're also curious as to what transpired, read on. READ MORE

It was disgusting when a car commercial sold two million albums for Sting. It was really very cool when a different car commercial introduced the music of the late Nick Drake to way more people than had ever heard of him when he was alive. But the Chris Brown wedding video tearing up the Internet looks to be the most surreal route to a career comeback since... umm, Flavor of Love. READ MORE