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Day in Pop Report for 04/08/2016


Today's Top Stories


N.W.A. Not Performing At Rock Hall Induction

Ice Cube reveals in a new interview with the New York Times that the surviving members of N.W.A. will not performing when the rap group is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame tonight, April 8th.

"Nah, we're not performing. I guess we really didn't feel like we were supported enough to do the best show we could put on," Ice Cube told the paper.

The rapper explained they couldn't come to terms ceremony's organizers about the performance. "We wanted to do it on a whole other level, and that just couldn't happen. But we're totally honored, humbled and appreciative to the Hall for even just considering us, inducting us and inviting us."

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Leon Haywood Dead At 74

(Radio.com) Funk and R&B singer, songwriter and producer, Leon Haywood, died in his sleep on Thursday, April 7, in Los Angeles. He was 74. While Haywood created and performed numerous hits in his lifetime, the hip-hop scene recognizes him more for writing the No. 7 song "I Want'a Do Something Freaky To You.

The track was sampled by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg in the top-charting single 'Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang." Other artists have sampled the track, including 50 Cent , Aaliyah, Common and J. Cole.

In his own era, Haywood landed 20 hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, including a No. 2 with 'Don't Push it Don't Force It" , No. 11 with 'Keep it in the Family" . He also earned a Grammy Award nomination for writing She's a Bad Mama Jama, which also reached No. 2 on the chart. Read more here.

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Tegan And Sara Premiere New Song 'Boyfriend'

Tegan and Sara premiered their new single "Boyfriend" on Apple Music's Beats 1. the track comes from their forthcoming album "Love You to Death," which will be released on June 3rd.

Sara Quin had the following to say about the track "It's a pretty straightforward pop song about a relationship that I was getting into with a girl who had never dated a girl before," she told host Matt Wilkinson (via Radio.com).

"She had a guy that she was sort of seeing, and we used to joke around that she was treating me like her boyfriend, and I was trying to get her to sort of, you know, tie it down. I wanted her to make it official with me."

She adds, "I think that's pretty relatable. Obviously, being gay, there's sort of a bit of a gender twist in the song, and I get that that sometimes doesn't seem immediately relatable to everybody, whether they're straight or whatever. "But this idea, you know, that we've all been in that situation where we really like someone and we want to make it official, and they're not ready, that's what the song is about." Check out the premiere here.

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Coldplay Expand Summer Tour

Coldplay has big news for fans across the United States. The popular UK band has vastly expanded their upcoming summer tour with new dates in various markets.

The band will be launching the tour in support of their seventh album, A Head Full of Dreams. They had originally announced 10-stops for the tour but have now expanded it to 22-dates.

The tour will be kicking off on July 16th in New York City at the Metlife Stadium and concluding the trek on September 3rd in San Francisco at Levi's Stadium.

Coldplay will be supported on all of the dates by Alessia Cara and Foxes will be opening from July 16th through August 6th. See the tour dates here.

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Paul Simon Reveals Song From New Album 'Stranger to Stranger'

(Radio.com) Paul Simon's recently finished his thirteenth album, Stranger to Stranger, which is currently scheduled for release June 3. The record will be his first since 2011's So Beautiful or So What.

The folk rock legend recorded the album with longtime collaborator Roy Halee and imbued the songs with a range of influence, including Flamenco rhythms, Italian dance melodies and the offbeat styles of experimental composer Harry Partch,

So don't expect "The Sound of Silence"; Simon has other sounds in store for listeners. "Sound is the theme of this album as much as it's about the subjects of the individual songs," he said. "If people get that, I'll be pleased. The right song at the right time can live for generations. A beautiful sound, well that's forever."

Simon has posted the first single, "Wristband," which you can check out here.

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Pentatonix's Cover Of 'No' Gave Meghan Trainor Chills

(Radio.com) Pentatonix revealed an a cappella cover version of "No" by Meghan Trainor earlier this week and Trainor took to Twitter to give their rendition a glowing review.

After listening to Pentatonix's version of her latest single, Trainor tweeted, "I have chills all over my body. Coolest thing ever. Dreams come true." With a new look and new sound, it's encouragement from fans fellow artists that keep pop stars poppin'.

The GRAMMY winner for Best New Artist was more than flattered by the group's take on her song, which has been streamed nearly one million times since it debuted on YouTube on Wednesday. Read more here.

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Travis Scott And Young Thug Collaboration Goes Online

(Radio.com) A video surfaced on YouTube showing Travis Scott premiering his collaboration with Young Thug. Instead of performing over the track, Travis Scott just lets it play. The tinny track beat features a heavily auto-tuned Travis Scott, and almost feels like a Fetty Wap jam from the combination of those two elements.

The song is either supposed to be called "Super Bowl Ring" or "Pick Up the Phone" (via XXL Mag), but if the chorus is any indication it will be the latter. Travis Scott can be heard singing on the chorus, "Pick up the phone, baby/ I need a home, baby/ I'm in the zone, baby/ Pick up the phone, baby." It sounds as though he freestyles the "I'm in the zone, baby" lyric.

Meanwhile, Young Thug lends a fierce verse to the track. The young rapper has been impressing big names left and right, including Kanye West, so it's no surprise that he's teamed up with Travis Scott to keep rolling out the hits. Read more here.

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ASAP Ferg Reveals Collaborations For New Album

(Radio.com) A$AP Ferg has revealed the tracklist for Always Strive and Prosper, and it features collaborations with Missy Elliott, Rick Ross, Chuck D and Big Sean.

The A$AP Mob member previously teased that he'd retained the services of Future, Chris Brown, Ty Dolla $ign and Skrillex for his sophomore album and then shared a recording with TDE's Schoolboy Q.

In other words, A$AP Ferg hasn't been afraid to hype the follow-up to 2013's Trap Lord, which peaked at No. 9. He told Billboard 'I promise you, this is gonna be a bomb to the world. I'm not kidding - I put my best into this album."

The first single for Always Strive and Prosper, "New Level" (featuring Future), hit the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this month. The album is scheduled for release April 22. See the full tracklist here.

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2 Chainz Explains Friendly Rivalry with Lil Wayne

(Radio.com) 2 Chainz tells Rolling Stone that he and Lil Wayne developed a friendly competition to see who could outrap the other when they recorded their collaborative album Collegrove.

In the interview, 2 Chainz explained how he and Weezy got into the spirit of competition while making the song "Bounce." "Neither one of us writes. So our process of recording music is very similar, yet very different.

"He has a skate ramp in the booth so he goes skating -- I don't know he's skatin' or f-- thinking of the verse�. I go in there and do the [chorus]," Chainz explained. "I come out the booth and this motherf-- goes back in and raps again!

"My chef, is just like, 'Ohhhhhh, whatcha going to do now?' So I had to go back in. This process was probably one of the best rap processes that I've ever been a part of. Straight up." Read more here.

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Bebe Rexha Releases Video For 'No Broken Hearts'

(Radio.com) Bebe Rexha has released a music video for her latest track "No Broken Hearts" featuring Nicki Minaj. Radio.com has this rundown of the new clip, which does include nudity:

Beginning with a Sin City vibe, Rexha swings over a cityscape, but that darker intro gives way to a youthful energy once she falls through the sky and lands on a sound stage filled with dancers and fellow club goers. Donning bright pinks and cool whites, Rexha conveys a sleek attitude throughout the video. And then of course there's Nicki Minaj, who shows up looking as polished as ever for her verse, and even gets low with some booty bouncing.

It's a bright video that showcases Rexha's style as she moves away from the "featured" shadow she's been in with David Guetta, G-Eazy and others, and into her own spotlight. Watch the video here.

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Fifth Harmony Cover Elle King's 'Ex's and Oh's'

(Radio.com) Fifth Harmony did their very own rendition of Elle King's hit song "Ex's and Oh's" to finish out their recent appearance on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge broadcast.

The group starts off their performance with their own tune, "Work from Home," before finishing up their two-song set with the cover. Camila Cabello said of the song:

"It's very soulful. It's really unlike-I feel like-a lot of the songs on the Top 100 right now. It really stands out 'cuz it has this alternative rock, soulful, she's got this rasp in her voice going on." Check it out here.

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Carrie Underwood's Husband Duets With Garth Brooks

(Radio.com) Carrie Underwood has said she always wanted to sing with country superstar Garth Brooks and that she would heartbroken if her NHL star husband, Nashville Predators alternate captain Mike Fisher skated in ahead of her. Uh-oh.

Underwood recently posted a video on Instagram of Fisher singing "The River" with Garth Brooks. Clearly she's not too upset that her husband beat her to the puck, but like most of the women in the songs she sings, she seems to be planting seeds of revenge.

The caption of her post reads: "How is it that my hubby, @mfisher1212 gets to sing with THE @garthbrooks before I do? As payback, I think I'll try to see if Wayne Gretzky wants to play a pick up hockey game sometime!" Watch the video here.

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Jennifer Lopez Releases New Track 'Ain't Your Mama'

(Radio.com) Jennifer Lopez has released a new single "Ain't Your Mama." The song was co-written by none other than Meghan Trainor. "When dreams come true," the "No" singer tweeted.

"I ain't going cook all day, I ain't your mama," Lopez sings on the chorus of the track. "I ain't going to do your laundry, I ain't your mama. Boy, I ain't your mama."

Lopez has been teasing the track for about week, playing a snippet for fans during a live Facebook chat, and sharing the single's pinup cover art. See her tweets and stream the song here.

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Singled Out: Ashley Riley's Potion

Singer-songwriter Ashley Riley released her brand new album "Through The Thin" today and to celebrate we asked her to tell us the song behind the song "Potion". Here is the story:

This is one of my favorite songs on the new album and it was one of the last ones I wrote that made the cut. "Potion" was one of those songs that really came to life when I brought it to the band, like instantly. I remember when we first started working on it, I wanted to play it over and over, it was a fun song to write. I had written a couple other songs over the years that started with that same chord progression and none of them stuck until "Potion."

The lyrics were inspired by how people say that nice guys finish last or never get the girl, that whole thing. It sometimes can feel like people that go about things in a way that isn't necessarily nice get the most attention or get ahead, so I was thinking about that. I don't really believe that, though; I don't think that notoriety or attention is necessarily getting ahead.

Anyway, that's where it started out, but then the song took on a different tone, one of encouragement really, maybe for those nice guys and girls. It became more of an anthem in my mind, about being kind and leading with love and how we can make a difference with a loving attitude toward each other and also to ourselves.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!

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