"I will never, ever, watch a movie on my iPhone. Nor will I read a book on my thumbnail."

-Roger Ebert Tweets

Kanye West shocked guests at New York nightclub CV last weekend by playing four tracks from his unreleased record. Now, CV resident DJ/super-producer Scram Jones is opening up about those songs - calling West's forthcoming release a "refreshing, raw, hip-hop record."

"It sounded like real hip-hop... Not khaki," Jones told Poison Ivy in a phone interview last week. "There were a lot of raw, empty beats."

"Some of the best beats are empty cause it leaves room for you to listen to the emcee," said Jones, who blasted Kanye's disc at CV last Saturday and has mastered tracks for everyone from Mariah Carey to Wu-Tang Clan.

"Kanye's a nasty emcee."

West asked Jones to switch songs after about a minute of playing each - but allowed the DJ to play new single "Power" twice, which leaked a few days later.

"I spoke with [West's producer] Plain Pat after the leak, and he told me Kanye's not mad," Jones reports. "He got such a good response [to the song], and he's got so many [more] good songs coming out."
 
Jones also noted that West showed up at the Matthew Isaacs-owned CV for a home coming party.

"They just came back to New York after recording his album in Hawaii," Jones said, adding that his entourage included Consequence, Kid Cudi, and Plain Pat.

"Everybody sitting with Kanye went crazy when the songs came on," Jones admitted, recalling Cudi dancing atop a table and Kanye bobbing his head with a big smile on his face.

"There was no diva or arrogance. He looked proud to be with his boys and listening to his music. He felt safe in that small atmosphere."

As for the rest of the club?

"Half of the people [in the club] weren't aware. They didn't know what they were hearing," Jones says.

Lol!

Three years ago, an eighteen-year-old Dutch singer named Esmee Denters started a YouTube channel where she smiled warmly into the camera and sang - brilliantly - to a few hundred strangers.

"I feel really silly," Denters says in an early vlog, where she speaks into the camera for the first time.

Today, the 21-year-old Denters is an unprecented YouTube star - ranking in as the seventeenth most subscribed-to YouTube musician of all time - and earning millions of views per music video.

A cover of Denters singing Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around Comes Around" in May 2007 earned Denters a staggering 22 million views - but arguably the most important one came from Timberlake himself,  who took note of Denters' powerful voice and charming persona - and signed her as the first artist to his Interscope imprint Tennman Records. Denters called Poison Ivy during a media trip to New York last week to tell us the story. 

You went from singing covers of Justin Timberlake on YouTube to opening for him on his international tour. What's that transformation like?
When I was eighteen, I uploaded some videos to YouTube. All I wanted to really know what was people thought of my voice. I never thought [millions of] people would actually be watching me. I was very very nervous when I [auditioned for Timberlake] because I think he's an amazing artist... I showed up to one of his concerts and auditioned for him in his dressing room. He had a piano in there, and I decided to go for it. I performed Prince's "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" I just thought: Justin Timberlake is standing in front of me right now. This is my one shot. A month later, I was signed as the first artist on Tennman Records.

In one of your first YouTube videos, you say you feel silly talking into a camera and feel uncomfortable. Do you still feel awkward on camera? 
I've grown up a lot. I'm 21 now... So I feel a lot more confident than I used to be. People liking my music gives me a lot of confidence. And I feel like I have a different personality onstage. You turn into another person a little bit... I come out of my shell.

Who did you grow up listening to? 
I listened to a lot of soul records: Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Jackson 5. Then there were The Beatles, Nirvana - a little bit of everything. (Laughs) Spice Girls, Destiny's Child, Janet Jackson. A lot of powerful women that inspired me.

Talk about your new song with Justin Timberlake, "Love Dealer." How did the idea for the song come up?
Justin and I wrote the song together with Stargate. We wanted to make a Prince-y kind of song but a lot more pop of course. It ended up being a funky, sexy song that showed a different side to me. Everyone on YouTube knows me as being a shy girl. But I've grown up in the last three years.

I spy in NY...

Kylie Minogue performing unreleased songs from her forthcoming record Aphrodite at New York's Splash Friday night (top photo), Chris Brown hanging out with Lil Jon at Greenhouse Tuesday night (middle photo), Ricky Martin making his first post-announcement appearance at amfAR's Inspiration Gala at The New York Public Library Thursday (bottom photo), Cameron Diaz dancing with beau Alex Rodriguez at 1Oak last Sunday, and Cynthia Rowley celebrating the launch of her new bridesmaid dress collection in Soho Thursday.

She's baaack!

Lady Gaga touched down at New York's JFK airport Saturday, wrapping up a month-long European leg of her Monster Ball tour.

Shortly before her flight, Gagz Tweeted:

"I have dreamt a lifetime to get on this flight to NewYork. I don't care if its summer. Leather, high heels, and a bad attitude. Here I come."

We don't see any "heels," but amen!

"I have a chandelier in my broom closet for no reason."

-Zach Galifianakis jokes? at the MTV Movie Awards

"This is the first song Jim Morrison sang to me on the beach in Venice Beach, California," legendary Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek told the crowd at Nokia Theatre Wednesday night.

"He knew I was a poet, I knew he was a musician."

Manzarek then led Doors guitarist Robby Krieger and singer Michael Matijevic into an epic version of "Moonlight Drive," not forgetting to riff to the crowd what was on his mind shortly after.

"Drop some LSD, get high, New York City, love this city," Manzarek sang.

The boys played "Break on Through," "Peace Frog," "Strange Days," and "When the Music's Over" (video above) - among many others - for the weed-stenched room, rarely forgetting to mention their fallen friend.

"Lets hear it for Jim Morrison, who's here in spirit," Manzarek said.

"I'm not a politician...I don't have to mask my raw, unrefined reactions to things that upset me."

-Adam Levine rightfully Tweets

"Dont text and drive. & if youre driving & see this bus, dont stare at it 2 long! Keep your eyes on the road! Ha! :D"

-Jordin Sparks Tweets

It's a great morning to be a New Yorker!!

American Idol season nine winner Lee DeWyze and runner-up Crystal Bowersox had an early start Thursday, as the pair hit Rockefeller Plaza for an 8:30 a.m. performance on the Today Show.

"Hi everybody. Thanks for coming," said the painfully shy DeWyze before performing first single [U2's] "Beautiful Day."

"This is our first time in New York," DeWyze added, while Today Show guest Russell Brand hung out in the studio. "You guys are awesome."

Bowersox remained relatively mum throughout the morning - watching her fellow finalist perform before taking the stage for her Idol staple, Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee."

The pair then teamed up for an epic cover of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's "Falling Slowly."

Check out snippets of all three of their performances, below.

"What knd of dribbler worries about spelling on twitter? 140 char dictates that u improvise when required, so dnt b anl retntiv snb 4 gds ske"

-Russell Crowe Tweets

Poison Ivy had a chance to check out roots rocker Kenny Wayne Shepherd at the Trump Taj Mahal's Xanadu Theatre in Atlantic City Saturday night - and we were totally blown away!

Shepherd reeled his guitar through tracks like "Losing Kind," "Somehow, Somewhere, Someway" "Everything is Broken," and a fantastic cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Come On" (video below).

"We have two new records coming out for you guys," the ambitious Shepherd told the crowd, forecasting both a studio record and live album due later this year.

Can't wait!

"If & when my wife is ready to make ANY announcements about private matters she will do it personally. Thanks for being respectful GodBless"

-Nick Cannon Tweets about wife Mariah Carey's rumored pregnancy

One of our favorite moments of Conan O'Brien's Atlantic City show Sunday night was O'Brien's hilarious opening act - Reggie Watts!

Check out a clip of the beyond-talented Watts performing his staple jam "Fuck Shit Stack," above.

Poison Ivy had such a killer time at Coheed and Cambria's headliner in Central Park Wednesday that we trekked it to Atlantic City's House of Blues Saturday to fist pump our way through CoCa's final night of their Circa Survive/Torche tour!

"This is the last day of the tour, so I wanted to say thank you to Circa Survive and Torche for coming out with us," singer Claudio Sanchez announced.

"It's been such a fucking pleasure," he added, citing "I always get weird in these moments."

Coheed then dived into a raging performance of "Made Out of Nothing," that instigated the 2,000-something fans in the room to fist pump (as evidenced in our performance video above, at the 00:13 mark).

Be sure to click below for an impromptu Coheed cameo during Circa's set that involves a couch and floorlamp.

"A lot of [pop] songs are super shallow, but this music isn't."

-Miley Cyrus says, of the forthcoming Can't Be Tamed

Conan O'Brien's Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour is less than two weeks from its close, and O'Brien seems to be using his remaining stage time to vent frustration about his split from NBC back in January.

"I'm not allowed to appear on TV, radio, the internet [until September]," O'Brien told the audience during the midnight show at Atlantic City's Borgata Event Center Sunday night.

"The entire reason I walked away from The Tonight Show is because I refused to do a show at midnight... Am I an idiot or what?" he joked, referring to the night's midnight show time.

"Snooki's probably here," O'Brien added, noting the many men he saw with "sequined leopard sleeves" on their shirts in NJ.

O'Brien also channeled his inner rock star during the show - performing several musical numbers on electric guitar, including "I Will Survive" (which included a nod to his forthcoming TBS show) and a cover of The Band's "The Weight."

Joining O'Brien were the very funny Andy Richter, Dion Cole and a video montage from Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

"Usually you have to be at a Dave Matthews Band concert to see this many white people," he barked.

Check out O'Brien performing "The Weight," along with a hugging sprawl in the audience, below.

I spy in NY...

Oscar De La Renta helping El Museo del Barrio's Gala raise $1.1 million at Cipriani Thursday night (top photo), Todd Barry sparking hilarity at Caroline's on Broadway last Sunday night (middle photo), John Legend performing at AOL's 25th anniversary party at Bowery Hotel Wednesday (bottom photo), Bear Hands performing at the American Eagle store in Times Square last Thursday, and Tamarama performing at Hudson Terrace for the Gotham Magazine/Hamptons Magazine summer kick-off party Wednesday.