Kanye West rarely does anything low-key – so I don’t know how the video for Heartless lived on the web for two weeks without me knowing!

The song keeps with the somber motif of the 808s & Heartbreak album, but the animated video contributes some added doses of pop cultural humor (I’m digging the Jetsons and Campbell’s soup can art) to the thumping track.

So for those of us who missed it, here it goes:

Kanye West – Heartless

Ever since America met Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera on The Mickey Mouse Club, the media has framed the two as competitors, and their semi-parallel pop careers throughout the early 2000s only amplified the comparisons.

So as I was watching Britney’s video for her new jam Circus this afternoon, I couldn’t help but to think of Christina’s big-top-themed clip for her power-ballad Hurt. The two videos have their obvious differences – their storylines and tones vary greatly – but you’ve gotta admit that they both employ some of the same Barnum & Bailey-esque elements.

Since they were released a couple of years apart, I don’t anticipate that these two videos will be battling for the same airtime on MTV, but both of the clips are well-crafted visual interpretations of their respective songs. Check them both out below, and weigh-in on whether or not you think that these pop circuses are purely coincidental.

Britney Spears – Circus

Christina Aguilera – Hurt

Last night, the Recording Academy gave us music buffs a holiday gift by presenting a Grammy Nomination concert on CBS. The concert’s purpose was to celebrate Grammy’s history (and the opening of the new Grammy Museum) via performances by music superstars while announcing a few of the nominations for the 2009 ceremony.

The evening’s performance line-up included a festive Mariah Carey, a restrained Celine Dion, and an ovation-worthy BB King and John Mayer duet.

And though the Grammys are always unpredictable, there were two nominations in particular last night that struck me as unconventional but fly choices!

- Ne-Yo’s The Year of the Gentleman for Album of the Year
Though fellow R&B crooners Chris Brown and Usher created much buzz this year, Ne-Yo’s the one who received the huge Album of the Year nomination. I’ve only grooved to the first couple of singles (Closer and Miss Independent) from Gentleman, but clearly I need to give the whole album a listen. Contending for the big prize against Lil Wayne, Radiohead, Coldplay, and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will be no walk in the park, but it truly is a feat for such a cool cat to be in the running!

- Jazmine Sullivan for Best New Artist
Every time Jazmine’s name comes up in conversations with my friends, we inevitably end up comparing her to Lauryn Hill – that’s not a bad thing! And with her current tale of a woman scorned, Bust Your Windows, currently heating up urban radio, the Recording Academy proved just how hip they are by placing this young lady up against Adele, Duffy, the Jonas Brothers, and Lady Antebellum for the newbie award.

We’ll have to tune-in on February 8th to see if Ne-Yo and Jazmine nab the golden gramophones in their respective categories, but until then you can view the complete list of the 2009 Grammy Nominees here.

During MTV’s doco, Britney: For The Record, there’s a moment when a member of the paparazzi freaks out after he misses a photo opportunity with Britney Spears.

This scene is quickly becoming one of the more memorable portions of the special. So when I got the opportunity to hold a candid interview with this lively member of the press, who goes by the name Cam, I couldn’t pass it up!

In this exclusive chat, Cam defends his profession as a pap (short for paparazzi) and opens up about his on-camera outburst.

Cam On His Britney Run-In

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Did Cam’s explanation alter your feelings about paparazzi?

After watching the premiere of MTV’s commendable documentary Britney: For The Record, I’m overcome with a mixture of unadulterated hope and exhaustion!

For The Record gave us a 90 minute event-filled tour through the last couple of months in Britney Spears’ life. During which, we witnessed Britney shed vulnerable tears but also unleash her signature giggle.

Often underscored by an air of confinement, Britney unveiled her sadness, insecurities, and ambitions to us with minor restraint. But what made the special so digestible was the class and sincerity with which it was executed!

And after taking this frank journey with Britney from the 2008 VMAs up to the shoot for her upcoming Circus video, it’s obvious that Ms. Spears is poised to silence her naysayers with a newfound resilience that I find straight-up inspiring.

You caught this, right? How stoked are you for the December 2nd album release?

I wasn’t prepared to be hit with an illuminating therapy session when I bought tickets for Four Christmases on Thanksgiving weekend, but I sure enough received one!

There’s a moment when Kate (Reese Witherspoon) realizes that she’s interested in taking her 3-year-old relationship with Brad (Vince Vaughn) character to another level – one that might involve a wedding ring and a couple of kids.

When Brad catches wind of this, he gets defensive and reminds Kate that when they first started dating, they promised each other that they’d never become “that couple”. Instead they would remain two people who could enjoy all of the benefits of dating without any of the inconveniences. Brad points out that by asking him to develop their courtship, Kate is breaking their initial rules.

But here’s the part that shook me. After Brad scolds her for going back on her word, Kate confesses that she is indeed changing the rules. She admits that although she didn’t plan for it to happen, her desires evolved, and she just wants more. And with that exchange, Four Christmases shattered years of dating logic that I’d been utilizing since high school!

See, in the past, when dating, I’ve prided myself on how transparent I’ve been – the young lady and I always appear to agree that we want to keep our courtship fun and light without the weight of exclusivity – at first.

But toward the middle of the relationship, the terms of our bond would become questionable when my girl would propose – through a series of hints – that we become “more serious”. This shift would always throw me for a loop, because I couldn’t understand how her rules had changed!

This movie slapped me in my green face by expressing the dilemma in a way I’d never seen it enacted before. It might be irrational, but people’s expectations and desires do change: I guess that they’re allowed to.

And all I was hoping for was some laughs! Geez!

What was the last movie that you saw that unexpectedly rocked your philosophy on romance or life?

I give Kanye West props for taking a sonic risk on his latest release 808’s & Heartbreak. With the music industry being so volatile and uncertain right now, for him to put out a conceptual album that exchanges safer club oriented tracks for tales of somber (and sometimes disturbing) pain shows some kind of guts.

I’ve been listening to 808s for few days now, and I’m convinced that it’s one of those projects that pays off after you cycle through it a few times. I’ve got to let the album marinate in my iPod and CD player a little while longer before I fall in love with every track, but so far, these are the stages with which I’ve come to appreciate certain songs from the album.

First Listen
-Heartless
-RoboCop

Second Listen
-Love Lockdown
-Welcome to Heartbreak (feat. Kid Cudi)

Third & Fourth Listens
-Amazing (feat. Young Jeezy)
-Paranoid(feat. Mr. Hudson)

Have you given it a listen yet? Do you own any albums that took a while for you to fall in love with?