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“The record ties a lot of places in the world together."

In case you haven’t heard the news yet, Vice Magazine is primed, ready, and roaring to infiltrate your Google Reader after officially retrieving the domain Vice.com from its former XXX-rated owner. To celebrate, they threw an enormous bash called the Upfront party at Skylight One Hanson in Brooklyn, filling up both floors. The Boss man himself, Rick Ross, was invited to commemorate the achievement (after previously scheduled headliner The Weeknd pulled out). Ever seen hipsters crowd surf to “Hustlin?” Yeah—until last night, most people hadn’t either.

In 13 days, after dropping mixtapes, a couple of EPs, and many free-floating singles over as many years, J. Cole will finally unleash his debut album, Cole World: The Sideline story on Roc Nation. (Okay, so we’ve been keeping track.) In August, we had the chance to hear the album in full during a private listening session, but at that point the third verse on “Mr. Nice Watch” was still blank. The space was reserved for Cole’s mentor, Jay-Z, who delivered late, but right on time.

Today would’ve marked Amy Winehouse’s 28th birthday, and in celebration, there’s now a full-length music video of the late singer’s “Body and Soul” collaboration with Tony Bennett. The video, shot at Abbey Road Studios in London, is one of the rarer glimpses of Winehouse from the past year, finding her in good spirits and delivering a great performance.

The June single “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall” was the first from Coldplay’s upcoming fifth album, Mylo Xyloto (October 24). Three months later, Chris Martin and company are back with their latest, “Paradise,” which sounds like the kind of crescendo-filled Coldplay tune that you prefer to belt out from a mountaintop overlooking a lush valley. The full tracklist has also been revealed, confirming Rihanna as the only guest appearance across the 14 songs.

Drive Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn’s bugaboo is blunt violence, from medieval drubbings (Valhalla Rising) to institutional trauma (Bronson). His latest film, the Los Angeles–set Drive, has a lot to offer: Refn’s masterful pacing, a spooky electro score, Albert Brooks as a convincingly craven gangster. Wearing a silvery jacket embroidered with a scorpion, Ryan Gosling plays a stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver (named Driver) with a blend of high-octane efficiency and psychotic rage.

Rock the Bells took over Governor’s Island this past Saturday for a dose of nostalgia, ultra. Big K.R.I.T. and Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, were two of the newest kids on the block amongst a lineup of artists that included Black Star and Cypress Hill, plus Nas and Lauryn Hill, who performed their classic albums Illmatic and The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill.

The week in entertainment has been a tailspin. Besides unexpected earthquakes and the threat of Hurricane Irene hovering over the east coast, Steve Jobs resigned, Jim Carrey recorded creepy messages for Emma Stone, DMX got arrested for the zillionth time, Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV leaked, Game’s R.E.D. album finally debuted, and Kim Kardashian’s sex tape is more in demand that ever. What I would give to rewind a decade, when catching the premiere of Aaliyah’s latest video was all that mattered.

Earlier today, the video for Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV single “How To Love” premiered. That was pretty eventful in itself—abortion clinic experiences, an HIV diagnosis—but then, something even better happened. A new Weezy track called “It’s Good,” featuring verses from Drake and Jadakiss leaked and, well, things just got a little more interesting. Apparently Wayne has been watching the throne, and he’s got something to say to Jay-Z, which involves kidnapping his wife.

If it wasn’t so difficult to track down Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, he’d probably tell you that the best and most unexpected things always happen afterhours. Last night, the R&B maestro dropped Thursday, the follow-up mixtape to his super sexy spring release House of Balloons. And yeah, the women, the partying, the drugs, they’re all here in abundance.