Day in Pop Report for 03/02/2015
As Stereogum observes, those symbols every 15 minutes on the album cover seem to be a 13th Century monastic symbol for the Virgin Mary. We've gotten a preview of some of the songs that may make it to Kanye's seventh album, including "Wolves" with SIA and Vic Mensa, "FourFiveSeconds" with Rihanna and Paul McCartney, "Only One" with Paul McCartney, and "All Day", which he performed in full at the Brit Awards last week. In recent interviews, Kanye has been talking about his new music, including a candid and emotional interview with Zane Lowe last week. Other things happening in this new Yeezy season: A joint tour with Rihanna, some new shoes, a rumored collab with Taylor Swift, and an endless drive to be taken seriously in the fashion world. It's a good time to be alive. See the late-night Kanye tweets here.
According to the Times, his wife Susan Bay Nimoy confirmed his death, saying the cause was end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Last year, Nimoy revealed he was suffering from lung disease, even though he quit smoking cigarettes three decades earlier. Nimoy boiled his life story down to three sentences in his Twitter bio: "Born in Boston. Went to Hollywood at 18. 16 years later cast as Spock in Star Trek." Nimoy was born on March 26, 1931 in Boston, Massachusetts to Yiddish-speaking Orthodox Jewish immigrants from Iziaslav, Soviet Union (which is now Ukraine). After moving to Hollywood, he landed the starring role in a little-remembered 1952 film called Kid Monk Baroni. Read more here.
The mixtape features a few special guests including Justin Bieber, 2 Chainz on a track called "Febreze," AlunaGeorge and Missy Elliott, who remixed Jack Ü's track "Take Ü There" featuring Kiesza. Fans can stream the mixtape on Soundcloud, or shell out a few bucks and buy it on iTunes. Hear Bieber show off his crooning on the track, "Where Are U Now" here.
She's collaborated with a number of country's biggest names in recent years--including Jason Aldean, Reba McEntire and Ronnie Dunn, just to name a few. But judging by the songwriters she worked with this time around, she has the pop charts squarely in her sights with her new album, Piece By Piece. The first single, "Heartbeat Song," reunites Clarkson with producer Greg Kurstin, who she'd worked with over the years, including on her classic "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You.)" But, per the single's title, it's not a heartbreak song--and Ms. Clarkson has certainly rocked a few of those over the years--but a song about getting through heartbreak. The music video follows that theme focusing on a bunch of people on the wrong end of a breakup. We've all been there and we all know it's devastating. You feel like you'll never get over it, but then, hey, you bump into someone new. Whatever kills you makes you stronger, indeed. The happily married new mom told Radio.com that "Heartbeat Song" was the "perfect first single; it really bridged a gap between my last album, Stronger and Piece By Piece. It's a new chapter in my life, and I wanted to start out being positive and powerful." Her second single, "Invincible," co-written by Sia, is a ballad with a powerful beat. Clarkson is clearly swinging for the fences here, and the lyrics seem to follow the theme of "Heartbeat Song": "You know I was broke down, I had hit the ground/ I was crying out, I couldn't make no sound/ No one hears the silent tears collecting/ You know I had lost hope, I was all alone/ Never been so long till you came along." Clarkson says that she respects Sia both as a singer and as a fan: "I love how Sia writes. It's incredibly vulnerable, raw and emotional. I've been a fan of hers for a while. 'Invincible' is empowering. That's a message that always attracts me, not only as a singer, but as a listener as well." Listen to the song here.
What Urban didn't share however was details about his impending followup to his 2013 album Fuse, and whether or not the new track would appear on it. But that's likely because he's still figuring it out. Just a few days ago, however, Urban confirmed that he was working on his next studio full-length. '[I'm] just starting work on the next record," the country singer said in an interview with The Boot. 'I'm sort of doing the preliminary work of figuring out what the next record is. It's reaching out and talking with people about working with them in the studio, different writers. It's just lots of ideas and tinkering right now." Check out the new song here.
"Windows" features a mix of bass-heavy electronic production and flesh-and-blood guitar and drums. AWOLNATION frontman Aaron Bruno lets his voice scrape the sky over a twinkling piano. At the end of the song the gentle falsetto portion merges with the rough-and-tumble electronics and drums. AWOLNATION will celebrate the release of Run with a March 17 show at SXSW at ACL Live Theater. The band will also perform "Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on March 11. Listen to the new song here.
Part B-movie, part Bonnie & Clyde and part '70s cop film, "Trouble" pits Azalea and her bad, bad boyfriend against eagle-eyed cop Jennifer Hudson, whose function through the video is to make her best dubious face. As she is an Oscar-winning actress, that's pretty damn dubious. As always in Azalea's videos the wardrobe is on point. She goes from a DVF-esque wrap dress with Farrah Fawcett hair to body-hugging bell bottoms and bright red lip stick. The halter top is everything, as is the scene at the end where she attempts to buddy up to Hudson and gets arrested. It may not have the cultural cache of her Clueless inspired "Fancy" video, but Azalea is still head and shoulders above most artists in the video game with "Trouble." Watch the video here.
Nearly two years later, they were back again, tossing their name in early for GRAMMY consideration if the first taste of their upcoming new record is any indication. They kicked off the show with first single "Don't Wanna Fight," leading lady Brittany Howard's piercing screech pre-verse preceding a performance during which she was practically shaking at points, jerking, swooning, pointing into the audience amid an expanded band that included formidable backup singers. Vocals were on point of course, but it was the performer off whom eyes wouldn't come. Props for the earrings of Prince's face, too. Lots of double takes across America. Track two, the newly premiered "Gimme All Your Love ," found Howard and co. toned it down a bit tempo-wise, trading the backing singers for verses so subdued there was actual silence on the SNL stage for a beat or two. But then came one of the night's most startling juxtapositions: from the quietness of the verses arose a fuller, guitar-laden chorus, and from that a grooving outro. Watch the performances here.
The video, in an attempt to side-step the issue, is a cartoon about interspecies love. That is, the love between a very oversized cartoon chimp and a woman. If that sounds familiar, then you've seen King Kong. And what the ape does for love, outside of fall in love outside of his own species and defy the laws of nature by doing so, is punch a shark. Frankly, an ape punching a shark is as believable as an ape falling in love with a human woman-as far as things a soul might do for love go. The ape goes on to fly a spaceship, kill a robot dragon and most inexplicably wear a pink kangol hat. Watch it here.
The clip stars the DJ in full nerd garb, tracing some traditional and campy high school stereotypes (jocks, brains, school dances) with the kind of playfulness we've seen from everyone from Britney Spears to Taylor Swift. The video turns itself upside down when Alesso starts dancing over the Roy English vocals, overwhelmed by his attraction to his teacher, showing impressive abilities and a certain lack of self-consciousness that can't help but amuse. Watch the video here.
The first donation will be used to fund Sing!, a musical production competition run by and aimed at high-school students. Swift has been generous with her fortune before. Earlier this year, the singer surprised a fan by sending her homemade art as well as a gift of $1,989 to pay off her student loan. It's a drop in the ocean for Swift, though. On February 25, she was given the IFPI Global Recording Artist of 2014 Award after being named as the world's biggest-selling artist of last year.
To get you pumped, Snoop and Pharrell have offered up a new album teaser for the collection. The idea behind the 15-second video is simple enough: show Snoop and Pharrell dancing, having fun, and seeming to just have a little party in the studio. Essentially, if the album sounds as fun as it looks like it was to make, we are all in for a treat. Bush will find Snoop working with a producer at a new height of both relevance and artistic achievement, while the rapper is in more of a draught considering the frequency of hits he produced in the past couple decades. Regardless, this spot should push anticipation up. Watch the trailer here.
Naturally, the track is climbing the radio airplay charts and now has its own music video. Kelly takes the perimeters of her YouTube celebrity into this video, creating an alternate universe where she and her friends can perform "Nobody Love" in a diner late at night without other customers yelling at them to shut it down. In this vignette, Kelly manages to charm everyone, from the fry cook to the amiable homeless men outside and their tiny dogs. Call it a generational fantasy: the one where everywhere you go, everyone loves you. Or call it a stroke of marketing genius: convince everyone who isn't already aware of her, or old fans who aren't in tune with her new shiny pop sound, that they love Kelly. Because everyone else loves her. Watch the video here.
In the photo, Elliott is rocking a Biggie and Tupac T-shirt, while Pharrell shows off the peace sign. Both artists are from Virginia, which Missy alluded to in her caption for the photo. She tweeted, "VA! 2 up 2 down! Me & my fam @Pharrell hard at work http://t.co/PwKHJ1k553- Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) February 27, 2015" Read more and see the photo here.
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