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Spotlight

Twitter Trio: Cat Power, Common + More

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Lots of musicians tweet — but all that Twitters is not gold.

That’s why you’ll want to check out SPIN.com every Friday to see whose tweets we’re reading this week — then update your TweetDeck! (Obligatory Self-Promotion: …while you’re at it, be sure to follow @SPINmagazine!)

This week’s winners:

  • Common
    @common

    Why You Should Follow: As far as controversial rappers go, Common is… well… not. The poet, actor, and Grammy-winning musician is a church-going former vegan who’s worked with the Jonas Brothers and appeared on Sesame Street. But when First Lady Michelle Obama invited him to perform at the “Evening of Poetry” event at the White House this past Wednesday, it stirred up controversy among Republicans, who blasted Common for certain anti-Bush and anti-cop lyrics, and called him a “misogynist” and a “thug.” He took the attacks with grace on Twitter, writing, “Politics is politics and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I respect that. The one thing that shouldn’t be questioned is my support for the police officers and troops that protect us every day. Peace yall!” He also joked around with his followers, retweeting their comments about the scandal as well as writing his own cracks, like, “Its not funny. I’m dangerous!” and “You aint scared of me?” At the end of the day, he was more nervous about his performance at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue than dealing with the haters (“I’m super geeked about performing at the white house tonight. I gotta bring it!”), but you gotta hand it to him for staying cool under fire.

    Best Tweet of the Week: After he found out about the White House controversy (from one of his followers who tweeted at him about it!), he wrote, sarcastically, “G’mornin good people! How is YOURRRRRR day going?”

  • David Bazan
    @davidbazan

    Why You Should Follow: The former frontman of Seattle indie band Pedro the Lion will release Strange Negotiations, his second album as a solo artist, on May 24 via Barsuk Records and will launch a supporting U.S. tour in June. If you can’t wait that long to get some David Bazan into your life, start following him on Twitter – he tweets photos from the bar and studio, engages in conversation with friends and fans, and writes about everything from crying during episodes of This American Life to switching from a Mac to a PC, to misplacing his equipment (“does anyone remember to whom I lent my white midi controller? I need it back to control some…uh…midi”). He describes being on Twitter as being “like drinking in a townie bar I’ve never been to before” (“Are these dudes gay or are they about to kick my ass?”). But he seems to enjoy it nonetheless, even when he ends up reading not-so-nice things about himself (“from twitter: ‘If u wanna see a stream of condescending pretentious pricks, just create a pandora station based on David Bazan'”).

    Best Tweet of the Week: He posted a link to a free download of “Wolves at the Door,” the first single from his latest album.

  • Cat Power’s Chan Marshall
    @CATPOWER

    Why You Should Follow: Her account isn’t verified yet, which, of course, immediately calls it into question, but based on the personal user photo and similarity in style to her MySpace blog, we’re going to venture to guess that it’s the real deal (just like we did with Amy Winehouse’s Twitter page, which later got the Twitter stamp of verification). Ms. Marshall joined the site just a few weeks ago, but she’s already gotten into the swing of things, retweeting messages from TV on the Radio and Kimya Dawson, and posting links to videos of Nina Simone performing at the 1969 Harlem Festival and John and Yoko interviewing Ralph Nader. She’s currently working on her first full-length album of new and original material since 2006’s The Greatest, so follow her for tweets from the studio and shout-outs to some of the musicians she’s been working with. And hey, if it turns out this isn’t the real Chan, at least you got a baby seal video out of the deal, right?

    Best Tweet of the Week: “sleep happens to be now recording happens to be tomorrow”