September 13, 2012 – Some version of Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music Cruel Summer leaked last night. Here, five SPIN editors give their hasty and completely impulsive opinions... (which we recommend reading while playing Cruel Summer Leak Bingo!). Charles Aaron: There's no reason for this album to exist (sorry, Big Sean, I hear your tiny yips of protest, but tough tit-taaayyy!). Obviously the idea was for Kanye to zoom in Stars Earn Stripes-style, metaphorically hop out of his Blackhawk copter and launch some lyrical grenades and re-educate the mixtape population on who really runs this rap shit. And “Mercy” (via 2 Chainz), “New God Flow” (via Pusha T), and “Clique” (via Jay-Z) sorta did that.

September 13, 2012 – Kanye West hasn't released any albums in 2012 yet (his late September G.O.O.D. Music comp Cruel Summer actually leaked last night, so Bingo time!), but according to BET, he's still the year's key player. The network has released nominations for its 7th annual Hip-Hop Awards show, and 'Ye leads the pack with 17 nods. Seventeen! That's more than the 11 nominations MTV bestowed upon Rihanna to ensure she'd show up to its ultimately crappy 2012 VMAs ceremony and pat her crotch. West is up for everything from Best Hip-Hop Video ("Mercy") to Lyricist of the Year to Video Director of the Year to Producer of the Year. He can even take home the night's most delicious award, the Reese's branded "Perfect Combo" honor. 2 Chainz picked up 13 nominations and Drake earned 11. The Awards, which will be hosted by Mike Epps this year, air October 9 on BET. See the full list of nominees at BET.

September 12, 2012 – Earlier this week, SPIN Fashion Week correspondents Julianne Escobedo Shepherd and Amanda "MNDR" Warner headed downtown to the Diesel Black Gold party, where the latter caught up with actor Adrien Brody backstage and quizzed him about music and fashion. Check out a snippet of their conversation as well as footage from the duo's trip to see Perry Ellis by Duckie Brown unfurl along the runway.

September 12, 2012 – This past Saturday, SPIN's special Fashion Week correspondent Amanda "MNDR" Warner and contributor Julianne Escobedo Shepherd headed to Lower Manhattan together to take in runway shows by Robert Geller ("Hands down the best menswear show we've seen all week") and Edun, the ultra-conscious label founded by Ali Hewson and her husband, U2's Bono. Check out a clip of Warner and Shepherd on the scene and in conversation with the designers.

September 10, 2012 – Alongside SPIN cover star (and pop's fiercest new face) Azealia Banks, Hunters shook the rooftop of the Wythe Hotel in their native Brooklyn last Wednesday night, adding their unique brand of (Breaking Out-worthy) garage rock ruckus to SPIN x Refinery29's Fashion Week kick-off bash. Below, check out a clip of the twosome tearing through "Brat Mouth" as well as a interview on the scene.

September 6, 2012 – Since the "M" in MTV apparently stands for "Mitt Romney," they are working non-stop tonight to divert your attention from the sinners and socialists at the Democratic National Convention! MTV has enlisted everything from Justin Bieber's hulking sex appeal, to 2 Chainz's colorful jewelry, to whatever hypnotic hold One Direction has over our nation's youth. It's all to get you, the TV viewer, to ignore exciting policy debates and instead watch dry, colorless performances by Rihanna, Green Day, and Taylor Swift, all completely free of pyrotechnics and flashy antics. Come hang out with SPIN editors Caryn Ganz and Christopher R. Weingarten as they fight the temptation to see John Kerry's kinetic speechwork and instead watch Nicki Minaj pilot the propaganda machine!

September 6, 2012 – Whether lacing a twitchy track with bitch-slapping bon mots ("212") or conceiving a video with more seamlessly shifty ideas than a dozen other so-called pop divas ("1991") or laying waste to the lobby of a Brooklyn Hotel, as she did Wednesday night, Azealia Banks is a flurry of activity. Or to be more precise, retroactivity, as if she's a human flipbook who’s always jerking backwards and forwards, updating Madonna’s cone-bra bustier better than Madonna, stripping Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On" to its rat-a-tat essence, treating Paris Is Burning like modern American pop’s urtext, and then emerging as so smh next-level that nobody in the mainstream has the slightest idea what to do with her. And thank God for that.

August 30, 2012 – SPIN pals Insane Clown Posse got some shine earlier this week when a clip of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope watching, and commenting, on the video for Carly Rae Jepsen's smash hit "Call Me Maybe" went online. The best part? It's when the Michigan horror-core champs' lose it over the surprise phone-number swap at the end. Something this weird was guaranteed to get on a lot of people's radars. Including Jepsen's. "I haven't watched it yet, but I think one of my friends posted it on Facebook," says the Canadian pop star, whose second album, Kiss, is due out September 18. She's as curious as anyone. "Is it good?" she asked SPIN. Oh, it is. When told about J and Shaggy's response to her video's twist ending, Jepsen deferred credit. "[The ending] was [MC-comedian] Tim [DeLaGhetto's] idea," she said, laughing. "Every week a new remake or spoof [of the ending] pops up.

August 29, 2012 – Since Davie Bowie isn't making music these days, the Thin White Duke spends a lot of time denying he is doing things like making music. His most recent denial, however, involves killing off rumors he's curating an exhibition related to his work. The statement, posted on his Facebook (via DigitalSpy) is not humorless, though. In fact, after getting out the requisite info, he makes a funny! "Contrary to recently published reports relating to the announcement by the V&A of an upcoming David Bowie Exhibition, I am not a co-curator and did not participate in any decisions relating to the exhibition. The David Bowie Archive gave unprecedented access to the V&A and museum's curators have made all curatorial and design choices," the statement reads.

August 29, 2012 – Frank Ocean's television debut — his June 9 performance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon that launched the surprise digital release of channel ORANGE — was such an overwhelming success, NBC has decided to entrust him with the coveted musical performer slot on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. The crooner will appear on the show's September 15 episode, hosted by Seth MacFarlane. Mumford & Sons will make their SNL debut on September 22 (alongside host Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and Muse will visit the show for the first time since 2009 on October 6 (with host Daniel Craig).