Mos Def Throws Guerrilla Concert Outside VMAs, Gets Arrested

Mos Def pulled the most rock & roll move of anybody last night at the VMAs, but it didn't make it onto the broadcast. Def rolled up to Radio City Music Hall on the back of a flatbed truck and started performing his politically charged tune "Katrina Clap," — a condemnation of the Bush administration's snail's-pace response to hurricane Katrina. The police weren't having any of it, and arrested him mid-show, along with several members of his entourage. The rapper/actor was released early this morning the fracas may have just begun: Members of Def's posse say they have video recordings of the entire drama.

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

More Song Stories entries »

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