Day in Pop Report for 04/27/2015
This marks the second time the chain store has made this decision, the first being Beyonce's surprise-released self-titled opus from 2013. At that time, spokeswoman Erica Julkowski explained the story's approach, saying that digital-first releases don't sell as well as physical copies: "At Target we focus on offering our guests a wide assortment of physical CDs, and when a new album is available digitally before it is available physically, it impacts demand and sales projections." Tyler called out Target's decision on Twitter. Read his tweet here.
Kim speaking out for the first time about Diane Sawyer's interview with her step dad Bruce Jenner, revealing she jetting out of NYC to go back to LA and watch the 20/20 special "The family is watching all together with Bruce, so I'm literally rushing out right after this to catch a flight home so they can wait and watch it with me." Kim also setting the record straight on recent headlines that Jenner's transition and his decision to share it has caused a family feud, "As a family we always support each other 100% and I know that I see things online that there is this divide and this one doesn't support this and this one doesn't support this and you know it's all ridiculous and it's all rumors and we love everyone in the family and we support everyone equally so we're excited to watch tonight and I'm excited for Bruce to tell his story on Diane Sawyer." Kim just back from a trip to Armenia and Israel with Kanye, getting baby North baptized, "That was really amazing, we were in Armenia so it was just an hour and a half flight to Jerusalem and I thought what better place because Jerusalem has an Armenian quarter there so we baptized her in the oldest Armenian church in Jerusalem and it felt so holy and so amazing, it was a really special experience." The family followed by photographers throughout their whole trip overseas and in their everyday life, something Kim says North at almost two-years old is adjusting to, "She understands it and you know Mason and Penelope see it and we are all together and if anything ever feels scary or there are too many people we take her out of those situations but, everyone has been very respectful and gives us space especially if we are with her." Read more here.
The next big bombshell of excitement came when they announced that the third film, Fifty Shades Freed, will follow suit less than a year later on Feb. 8, 2018. Last Thurday (April 23), it was confirmed that Niall Leonard, Fifty Shades creator E.L. James' husband, would be the screenwriter for the second film. Read more here.
But according to Lance Bass, changes in One Direction might be just beginning. 'I just see Harry [Styles] leaving soon, and I don't see another One Direction album happening after he leaves," Bass said on The Meredith Viera Show. The Wrap reports the NSYNC star saying that Styles has been recording on his own for a while and planned on leaving One Direction before Malik stole his thunder. Read more here.
As Comicbook.com points out, it appears as though Ayer worked with Leto to combine many incarnation of the Joker to come up with this new, modern, yet darker take on the familiar character. The gloves, the hair, tattoos and skin tone, all appear to be inspired by different iterations of comic book super-villain. Jai Courtney, who signed on to play Captain Boomerang in Suicide Squad, only after David Ayer reached out to him directly, told MTV News, "It won't be like a comic book movie we've seen before." See it here.
And of course, if you have Swift's full attention, there's a few things you want to know, namely, about her love life. It's something Swift does talk about, though she doesn't get specific on whether her and rumored boyfriend Calvin Harris are an item. Instead she says she's not too interested in dating right now since it's become sort of complicated. "Yeah, I do feel jaded about relationships, to be honest," she says. "I think the media has sent me a really unfair message over the past couple of years, which is that I'm not allowed to date for excitement, or fun, or new experiences or learning lessons. I'm only allowed to date if it's for a lasting, multiple-year relationship. Otherwise I'm a, quote, 'serial dater'. Or, quote, 'boy crazy.'" Swift say this idea of her being completely boy crazy is all wrong and that they've just created a narrative for every time she's seen hanging out with a guy. "It's 'Taylor spotted talking to this guy, she's chasing him,'" she explained. "They create a beginning to the story that didn't happen most of the time, so then they have to create an ending. So they always go to the same fabricated ending that every other tabloid has used in my story, which is, 'She got too clingy,' or 'Taylor has too many emotions, she scared him away.' Which has honestly never been the reason for any of my break-ups. You know what has been the reason? The media. You take something very fragile, like trying to get to know someone, and it feels like walking out into the middle of a gladiator arena with someone you've just met. And all of a sudden the public and the media are allowed to say thumbs up or thumbs down. So I just don't try it any more." Swift also talked about Kanye West, explaining that their niceties were not just for the cameras. "We actually, I guess, could be called friends now!" Taylor told the magazine with a laugh. "I honestly think I needed to continue to prove myself in my career and I think it finally got to a place where he realized he respected what I do as a musician." Read more and check out Swift's cover here.
Now there's one more connection between the two parties: they've finally worked together, sort of. Bleachers' Jack Antonoff has given Sia's "Big Girls Cry" new experimental synth-heavy life. The fun. member reworked Sia's track for her upcoming collection of remixes, due out April 28. "Absolutely no one has a voice like Sia's," Antonoff told The FADER. "Not just her literal voice, which comes from some deep guttural place I can only begin to imagine, but her storytelling voice. She manages to capture this very specific pain, and her images are so unusual and perfect. I just loved working on this." Hear it here.
Curious fans have been posting images all across social media for a billboard advertising a new Rush Hour movie starring none other than Diddy. Billboard reports that no official confirmation has yet emerged from any sources involved with the Rush Hour series that Rush Hour 4: Face/Off 2 is actually a real movie. For his part, Diddy has only added fuel to the fire of speculation by Instagramming an image of the billboard with the cryptic caption "The rush is back�" See it here.
On his verses Yelawolf seems to be exploring religious undertones, talking about a "best friend, a father, son and holy spirit" who has his back when things get tough. The video doubles down on this theme. We see Yelawolf walking through a field of tall grass, alone, confronting his demons. Then the action switches to two more spiritually resonant locations: a church and a graveyard. Yelawolf leans against a gravestone as a wolf stalks through the misty night. Eminem shows up in the empty church, spitting two verses full of heart-wrenching vulnerability while pointing at the sky and holding his head in his hands. "Best Friend" comes off Yelawolf's long-awaited sophomore album Love Story, which hit stores earlier this week. Watch it here.
And to get that point across Jessie J is taking a tour of the university the aca-mazing a capella group attends. Don't worry, the clip shows more than J walking around campus in her overalls, it gives fans a few snippets of the upcoming film. No spoilers of course, just lots of cute, cuddly and uplifting moments that are sure to get you excited for the movie. Pitch Perfect hits theaters in May 15. Watch the video here.
Apparently that next project, a solo album under his name the Arc, is going to be "extra weird." That was how Auerbach described his follow up to 2009's Keep it Hid, when talking to Rolling Stone. "I just wanted to do my thing and get extra weird," he said. For Auerbach, that means drawing inspiration from two very different places: boxing and the Grateful Dead. The tracks based on boxing, which Auerbach does in his garage and backstage before shows, are called "Stay in My Corner" and "Tomato Can." Both will be released on 7-inch vinyl at indie record stores when Floyd Mayweather goes up against Manny Pacquiao in Vegas on May 2. Read more here.
Now, she's taken her personal attacks one step further: she's posted texts allegedly from Tyga that show the rapper reaching out and trying to start anew. "Can I just come over for a lil," he supposedly wrote. "just wanna talk with u for a min." "I want to be positive," he continued. "I want to be a family again, want to start this friendship again," adding in the next text, "relationship." See the posts here.
He dapped up the Wizards star player Paul Pierce, who was on his way to the bench after playing a key role in sending the Raptors closer to elimination. To add insult to injury, Paul Pierce dissed the Raptors in an interview last week. "We haven't done particularly well against Toronto, but I don't feel they have the 'It' that makes you worried," he told ESPN. Read more here.
While the song in itself isn't high-pitched, the pair went with a very alternate approach, a helium-filled one. Using a helium app, the Scream Queens co-stars served up a chipmunk rendition of the Girl Power group's 1996 debut hit song, complete with warped visuals. In the clip Ariana posted to Instagram, you semi-make out their warped alien faces, which is fitting at least for Michele who plays a deformed girl on the campy horror series that wears a neck brace for her scoliosis. Meanwhile Grande gets to preserve her good looks in character, as she's guest starring as one of Emma Roberts' character's minions. See the video here.
The country singer is enlisting the assistance of fans to help him reach Gold status. For help with this milestone, he's offering prizes to fans who purchase a copy of his album. Those prizes include autographed CDs, meet and greets, backstage hangs and a house concert. 'We're gonna pick one of y'all and we're gonna come play a concert at your house for free," he says in a YouTube video. With each 50,000 copies he sells he'll offer the prizes to 25 select fans who enter. Read more here.
'When they said, 'You're gonna be on the Nashville TV show,' I said, 'Yes! What do I play?'" she told ET Online. Reba soon learned that she'd be singing and playing herself on stage. She admitted that she hopes to one day have a bigger role on the show. 'So, now I've already told all of 'em, I said, 'OK, I want to come back as, like, a villain on Music Row or something like that.' That'd be fun," she said, quick to explain not as herself. 'A fictional character. Reba's not mean. Reba's happy, having too much fun." Read more here.
That's the premise of a skit on The Tonight Show last Thursday night, in which host Jimmy Fallon invited Shaggy--he of "Mr. Boombastic" and "It Wasn't Me" fame--on air to compete with Higgins in a "Shaggy Off." Shaggy kicks it off, toasting in his trademark patois over a reggae beat from the Roots. "Yuh lyrics nah good enough," he sings at Higgins, shaking his finger; "When I talk, they say pull it up." Higgins goes next, busting out a surprisingly strong Shaggy impression. "I'm Mr. Boombastic, Mr. Fantastic," he sings, "go to the store they say paper or plastic?" He goes on to describe a wacky scenario involving mixing up skittles in a plastic bag, and ends his verse with "That's why I'm Shaggy!" Shaggy laughs uproariously from the sidelines, clearly impressed. But then, Shaggy breaks into the breakneck speed typified in his earlier hits--and let's be real, Higgins just can't keep up. At the end of the clip, the two join for a duet over Shaggy's classic "It Wasn't Me." Because of course. Shaggy was there to perform his new single "I Need Your Love." Watch the clip here.
It's a statement that has kept fans guessing, but Brown then followed through on the promise of that message with the release of the album's first two singles. "Homegrown" was sent to country radio, and "Heavy Is the Head" was aimed at rock. Already now one of those songs, "Homegrown," has reached No. 1 on the country singles charts. It's the band's 11th chart-topping song to date, and the fastest single of their career to reach that lofty height. As a thanks to the fans who supported the new song, earlier this month the band launched a "Homegrown Fan Video" project, asking fans to submit video clips of their hometown via Instagram and the hashtag #ZBBHomegrown. The submissions were then edited into a single music video, and the result is a fun, lively display of all the people, places, cars, animals, objects and more that make up America today. But "Homegrown" represents just one side of the "little bit of everything" Brown has promised on Jekyll + Hyde. The band is also showing some love to their more rock-oriented fans with "Heavy Is the Head." Featuring Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, the song is no lightweight, and it features an unrelenting electric-guitar fuzz that is arguably heavier than many of the songs on today's rock radio. "We took more time writing and recording this record than we ever have in the past. We allowed each song to be what it wanted and needed to be. Each song has its own unique identity," Brown said. A track that shows yet another musical direction for the group is "Dress Blues," the Zac Brown Band's take on a song written by acclaimed Americana singer-songwriter Jason Isbell. "Dress Blues" is a poignant piece of storytelling about a man headed off to war before his child is born. "You never planned all the bombs in the sand or sleeping in your dress blues," Brown sings at the end of the song, as the listener realizes the man's return was not exactly a happy one. Read more here.
Yes in his battle against Mike Tyson for Lip Sync supremacy he knew that if he did Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles" it would be nearly impossible to beat. Crews sat down at that piano in an all-white suit--no shirt and no white face, luckily--to pretend to tickle those ivories and with all his heart mouth Carlton's immortal words: "Making my way downtown/Walking fast/Faces pass/And I'm home bound." Crews then topped it all off by doing a jacket-less interpretive ribbon dance that included a lot of spinning. The crowd was just eating it all up. Crews said the performance had him getting in touch with his feminine side, which he owed to his wife and daughter. How could Tyson compete with this gentle giant? The boxer definitely tried, putting his all behind a so good that it was almost scary performance of Salt N Pepa's "Push It" that showed off his right and left jabs in a pair of very tight leather pants. Watch it here.
The song isn't about one "girl" specifically, but is more an indictment of a few women I've known and/or dated over the years. In the lyric, I am singing as the benevolent narrator, trying to warn a friend, but really the song is about my experience going after women that aren't right for me, which i seem to do repeatedly in my life. Especially targeted is the kind of woman who would never appreciate (and also take advantage of) a sensitive songwriter type--that's what was meant by "put your music down", but i realize now most people will interpret that as the "music" the protagonist is a fan of... Maybe it's wanting the unattainable, or maybe it's a fear of commitment i have that makes me pursue unworkable relationships with this type of woman. Unfortunately, I haven't figured it out yet, so I imagine the song will continue to resonate with me for some time. What's been really interesting since I've been performing it (the last year or so) is the amount of people who've come to me after and think the song is about them. Musically the song is one of the most straight ahead songs I've written, and also one of the shortest--I'd say it's as close to a standard pop song as I have in my catalog. It's rock n roll as I think it should be--simple, danceable, and fun! Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself here and learn more about the album right here!
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