Courteney Palis

Courteney is currently a journalism and environmental studies student at NYU. When she's not busy worrying about how she'll feed herself once she graduates in December, she's reading, writing, blowing lots of money on shows, and playing piano or guitar (not both simultaneously -- she's not that talented). Her iPod is probably the most unlikely mix of music you've ever seen -- and it's only part of the collection she used to have before her hard drive crashed. You can follow her not-so-exciting life on Twitter: @courteneygoy.

Jan 302013
 

They Say It’s Your Birthday celebrates an artist’s special day with other people singing his or her songs. Let others do the work for a while. Happy birthday!

It was only five years ago that Kid Cudi first hit mainstream consciousness with “Welcome to Heartbreak,” a track he recorded with Kanye West. While his collabs with the infamous West were the wider public’s first taste of the talented rapper, Cudi had actually been a force to be reckoned with since one of his most successful songs to date, “Day ‘n’ Nite,” was leaked on the web way back in 2007.
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Aug 292012
 

Like the rest of hip hop superstar Kanye West’s fourth album 808 & Heartbreaks, “See You In My Nightmares” ain’t like many other of West’s earlier, more upbeat hits about dropping out of college, his climb to the top, societal problems, and the like. While it didn’t garner as much attention as its equally sobering album-mates, “Love Lockdown” and “Heartless,” “See You In My Nightmares” is just as riddled with the rhythms of a different subject: loss and the bitterness of heartbreak. West comes at it all with an Auto-Tuned voice, Lil Wayne, and a heavy, synthy beat, but Cloud 9’s take is softer and perhaps even a little grittier. Continue reading »

Jul 242012
 

Best (So Far) finds the finest first-round covers of the latest pop hits.

Barbadian hip hop star Rihanna is no stranger to creating albums of infectious dance hits, and her most recent one, Talk That Talk, is no exception. The album, Rihanna’s sixth, features some of her best tracks so far, including “We Found Love,” “Talk That Talk” and one of her latest and most popular songs, “Where Have You Been.” Continue reading »

They Say It’s Your Birthday: Rivers Cuomo

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Jun 132012
 

They Say It’s Your Birthday celebrates an artist’s special day with other people singing his or her songs. Let others do the work for a while. Happy birthday!

Since the age of 22, Rivers Cuomo has headed up one of the world’s most beloved alternative rock bands: Weezer. For the last 20 years, Weezer has guided millions of angsty youths through glorious highs, soul-shattering lows and everything in between with hits like “Island In The Sun,” “Say It Ain’t So” and “Hash Pipe.” Continue reading »

May 212012
 

Hip hop vet Dr. Dre has been in the music scene since the early ’80s but come the year 2000, it seemed the world needed a little reminding that the famous rapper is certainly a forced to be reckoned with — that’s where the song “Forgot About Dre” came in. Released as the second single off of Dr. Dre’s sophomore album, 2001, “Forgot About Dre” featured rapper Eminem in his early years and won the pair a Grammy award for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group in 2000. Continue reading »

May 142012
 

May’s a big month for high school and college students across the country, many of whom are graduating and moving on to bigger and better things. And what better way is there to celebrate (or maybe mourn?) than with a cover of the classic ’90s throwback, “Dammit”? Released by punk rock gods Blink-182, way back in 1997. “Dammit” was the band’s first breakout hit and today remains a kick-ass anthem about one trouble of growing up: breaking up. Continue reading »