Day in Pop Report for 01/12/2015
Perry revealed that Lenny Kravitz will be just one of the special guests to join her onstage when she takes over the field at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, during halftime of the big game. "He's got so much style and a certain, how do you say, je ne sais quoi�he's the king of cool," Perry said during the excerpt from an upcoming TV interview. "He's the coolest. He's the king of cool. He's going to make me so much cooler that day." Read more here.
In the short clips, which he titled "Real Talk," Gates explains that people had told him that he and his girlfriend looked a lot alike, but it wasn't until his grandma let him know that they were in fact cousins that he found out the true reason for the similarity. In the NSFW video, Gates says the sex is too good to stop--"We click"--and that he didn't grow up knowing her. In another explicit video posted the same day, Gates tells everyone to stay out of his business, asking if you were in his position, would you actually stop? "You mean to tell me if you've been f-king with someone for three months�everything beautiful and your grandmother come tell you one day that's your cousin, y'all done got the hard part out of the way," he says. "Why f-k up a good thing?" As Complex notes, marrying your first cousin is illegal in the state of Louisiana, but marriage between cousins amounts to approximately 10 percent of all marriages in the world. Read more and see video here.
For $15 a month, members can choose from a list of categories and receive records in the mail like they did their movies years ago with Netflix, or for the generation above it, Columbia House. However, subscribers can choose to keep the records they want for $8-$12. Members can select a hash tag music classification and then will get sent three albums to fit their vibe, which the company categorizes by mood or subject. But what makes VNYL different from just going to your local record store and picking out your own piece of vinyl? Founder Nick Alt said it's the community behind his company. "The real magic that I can bring to this is the community aspect," he told Rolling Stone. "People who listen to vinyl are not connected [the way online users are] unless they go to a record store, so why can't we bridge that for people who are really into listening to vinyl?" Read more here.
So Jimmy Fallon may have been surprised to hear from LRB's founder, singer/songwriter Glenn Shorrock. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Sharrock said "If you do decide to put [the band] on the show just pass on my message to go f- yourselves." Strong words, but what is Mr. Sharrock so angry about? Like many other legacy acts, his former group has had a lot of turnover in the ranks over the decades. In fact, the current version of the Little River Band features no original members, and that's been the case for 18 years, when the original drummer Derek Pellicci left the band. Shorrock, a founding member of the Little River Band, is outraged by the current band "grinding our good name into dust," according to the Herald. While he says that the current version of the band are within their legal rights to tour and perform under the name Little River Band, he's asked his publishing company to deny NBC clearance to air any performances of his songs. Read more here.
The two beat out the other first-time nominees Lana Del Rey for the title track from the Tim Burton film Big Eyes, Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye for "Mercy Is" from the Biblical film, Noah, "Opportunity" a new song written by Sia, Greg Kurstin and Will Gluck, sung by Quvenzhane Wallis in the remake of Annie and Lorde for "Yellow Flicker Beat" from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1. Johann Johannsson took home the prize for Best Original Score for the Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything beating out two-time winner Trent Reznor for his Gone Girl score. Read more here.
So far we've had to piece together what could be the track list based on contributions here and there from Beyonce ("Crazy in Love"), Ellie Goulding ("Love Me Like You Do"), and the Weeknd ("Earned It"), but today brings an official look at the movie's contributing musicians. Joining those artists will be Annie Lennox with her cover of "I Put a Spell On You," Jessie Ware with a new track, "Meet Me in the Middle," and Sia with "Salted Wound," as well as classics by The Rolling Stones and Frank Sinatra. Check out the tracklist here.
Full Speed will also feature an appearance from Chris Brown on the song "Hotel." Kid Ink has a history of making singles with Brown, with the pair teaming up older songs like "Show Me" and "Main Chick." The new album's lead single, "Body Language," featuring Usher and Tinashe with production from Cashmere Cat, was released late last year, climbing to No. 6 on Billboard's Rhythmic chart. Full Speed is set for release on Feb. 3. See the front and back album covers (with the latter featuring the full tracklist) and listen to the Chris Brown collaboration here.
The floodgates seem to have opened for the reclusive electronic producer: after more than 14 years with no new music, two releases within a few months entails a dramatic change of pace. Now he's shared the album art, as well as the tracklist. As always, the song titles by the artist (who's also known as Richard D. James) are cryptic but intriguing. Given the title of the EP, we can only imagine what kind of 'barn dance [slo]" James' selection of 'computer controlled acoustic instruments" will come up with. Some kind of digital polka? A square dance? The possibilities are truly endless. Check out the tracklist here.
The inaugural episode promises hits from all three performers as well as each singer joining forces on harmonies on select songs. This is the first collaboration of what is slotted to be a monthly program which will air once a month from Nashville. Each episode will pair two stand-out singers with an emerging artist while an audience of 100 looks on. "I've been a Gladys Knight fan forever and am honored to even be on the same stage as her," McBride said in a press release." Meanwhile, Knight also showed her appreciation for McBride and country music. "I am from the South and from the way country artists write and sing about life is as raw as the Southern way of living," Knight said. Read more here.
The visual depicts the increasingly desperate antics Gambino employs to win the affection of a woman in a restaurant, who's doing her best to mind her own business. First Gambino slides into the seat opposite her, attempting to grab her attention away from her phone with finger tricks and an undeniably creepy smile. She quickly and justifiably scoots over to another table. Gambino, however, is undeterred. He takes his efforts to another dimension, jumping up and attempting to perform a magic trick. He messes it up, although he does manage to produce a dove. At this point she's watching him, although with more concern than affection. He finally manages to win her over, for a moment at least, with some goofy breakdancing and air-piano--she cracks a smile, stands up, and dances with him briefly. Then she grabs her food, leaves the restaurant, and he returns to his seat, waiting for opportunity to strike once more. Watch it here.
DJ Cummerbund has fused together the original track with Savage's verses from 2003 track, "Hit the Floor," that appeared on his novelty rap album, Be A Man. As strange as that might sound, Cummerbund actually finesses the verse into verse pretty well. The tempos are matched and listening to it, you might almost think that Savage created the verse just for the track. "Yeah everybody hit the floor right now / It's time to get the party started," he announces as he gets into his verses. Listen to the four-and-a-half minute "Macho Mix" of "Uptown Funk" here.
To be clear, this goes for the old stuff like Hank, Lefty and Kitty Wells as well as the current crop. But are such complaints fair? Is country music formulaic? Does many of today's hit songs not only share similar sonic characteristics, but actually seem like they are little more than variations of the same song? If you ask Gregory Todd (aka Sir Mashalot), the answer appears to be "yes." To prove his point, Todd created a mashup out of six currently popular country songs: 'Sure Be Cool If You Did" by Blake Shelton, 'Drunk On You" by Luke Bryan, 'Chillin' It" by Cole Swindell, 'Close Your Eyes" by Parmalee, 'This Is How We Roll" by Florida Georgia Line and 'Ready, Set, Roll" by Chase Rice. And surprise surprise, when edited together and played-side-by-side in a single mix, they blend together amazingly well. Hear for yourself here.
Amal and George also showed their support for the slain free speech crusaders at Charlie Hebdo. George wore a "Je Suis Charlie" pin on his tux, while Amal had one on her purse. She said, "We've just been really moved by the appalling scenes that took place this week in Paris. We are also really moved by the show of unity today." The actor was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Globes, telling "Extra, "It's exciting! It's also fun because I get to come and see a lot of people who I have been friends with for dozens of years. It's really fun for me. I'm going to have a really good time." Watch video here.
"I didn't know this album would entail and emotional roller coaster," Minaj says to kick off the trailer. In the minute long teaser, fans see Minaj at work, doing things like putting the finishing touches on her album and getting ready for her MTV Video Music Awards performance of "Anaconda." The clip even highlights her wardrobe malfunction and unfortunate snake biting incident, which Minaj seems quite concerned about. She also lets her dancers know about what it was liking working as a waitress at Red Lobster, telling she had to steal bread to get by. She hangs out with her grandma, gets called the best rapper and praises donuts. But the most interesting thing in the trailer may be Minaj sharing some real talk about overcoming adversity in the music business. "When I'm faced with crazy adversities, I turn on a switch I don't even know I have sometimes," Minaj explains as a shot of her wiping away a few tears pops up. "Every human needs to push themselves to the point of breaking sometimes. If you never break you never know how much pressure you can take." The doc will air Sunday, January 18 at 10 pm on MTV. It's the follow-up to her doc, My Time Now, which aired on the network in 2013. Watch the trailer for Nicki Minaj: My Time Again here.
Speaking to Buzzfeed, the trio explained their thought process behind the instrumental, with its menacing organ chords and skittering drums: "Every time a DOOMSTARKS track comes out it's a legendary moment in hip-hop, and we hope 'Ray Gun' is worthy. When we first heard we had a chance to get DOOM on a track for Sour Soul, we were ecstatic and also a little nervous. DOOM and Ghostface are two of our favourite rappers and creating an instrumental that blended both Ghostface's raw powerful flow and DOOM's poetic quirkiness proved challenging." Read more here.
"We're in the last days, man -- I truly in my heart believe that. It's written," he told the mag. "I could go on with Biblical situations and things my grandma told me. But it's about being at peace with myself and making good with the people around me." He even admits that the "I love myself" refrain of "i" was his way of doing something to better himself. He also says it's a "psychological trick" he wanted to play on himself. "I have to perform it every night for the next three years when we go on tour," he explained. "Every time I'm in a weird mood or something goes on at home that I can't handle, I've got to perform it anyway." Read more here.
The campaign is running in current issue of V magazine. Previous YSL Music Project campaigns have featured artists as disparate as Marilyn Manson, Marianne Faithfull, Daft Punk and Kim Gordon, all hand-selected by Slimane who cultivates a closer relationship with musicians than most fashion houses. This follows the announcement on Jan. 6 that Joan Didion would be the face of a spring campaign for French luxury fashion house Celine, as the house curates a '70s look in step with their spring/summer 2015 runway collection. These two women are miles away from American designer Calvin Klein's selection of a shirtless Justin Bieber as the face of his jeans or Kanye West and Kim Kardashian kissing in the Balmain campaign. more here.
Pharrell Williams and Rita Ora star in the new ad alongside athletes David Beckham and Damian Lillard, who all deconstruct what it means to be a superstar--and what it doesn't. In Pharrell's case, it's not "people only having to use your first name to know who you are" or "having a stylist." For Rita, it's not "standing on stage, filling up stadiums and selling out concert halls" or "people wanting to know where you are, who you're with, reading about what you had for breakfast, or caring about what you wear at what event," neither is it "being the face, the name, the signature." As grounded as those conversations are, the clip itself is pretty fantastical. Pharrell makes tracksuits levitate that he designed. Rita Ora swims with a school of fish before floating into a glittery sky. Meanwhile, David Beckham deals with a scene out of The Birds. Check it out here.
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