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Day in Pop Report for 03/23/2016


Today's Top Stories


A Tribe Called Quest's Phife Dawg Dead At 45

(Radio.com) Phife Dawg of legendary hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, has died at 45. Although no press release has been issued as of yet, several sources have taken to Twitter to express their respect for the fallen MC, including Questlove of the Roots and Chuck D of Public Enemy.

Phife, born Malik Taylor but known as "The Five Foot Assassin" (he stood at 5'3″) had battled health issues in recent years, including diabetes, and had a kidney transplant in 2008. He told his story of his health struggles in the 2012 Tribe documentary Beats, Rhymes and Life.

He kept a mostly low profile after A Tribe Called Quest broke up in the late 1990s, releasing just one solo album, 2000's Ventilation: Da LP. Read more here.

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Dierks Bentley Shares Naked ACM Awards Nightmare

(Radio.com) Cheeky Dierks Bentley tweeted a revealing video about his inner psyche on Tuesday, March 22nd. Bentley will co-host the 2016 ACM Awards on April 3rd with Luke Bryan, and apparently the responsibility has been getting to his head.

Drawing on the familiar trope of appearing naked in front of an audience, Bentley shared a video on Twitter, adding, "I've been having this reoccurring nightmare."

In the brief video, the country singer appears naked to welcome everyone to the 2016 ACM Awards. As Bentley looks throughout the audience and welcomes Merle Haggard, Jason Aldean, Garth Brooks and more, he grows increasingly concerned by their cold reactions to his "hellos." Little does he know, he stands before them in the nude. Watch the video here.

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Dave Matthews Band 25th Anniversary Concert

(Radio.com) Dave Matthews Band has been playing together for 25 years, and to celebrate that milestone the band will perform a hometown show in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The concert takes place on May 7th and launches their 2016 summer tour. That tour will take DMB across the U.S. until early September. The concert will benefit Charlottesville, since the band intends to donate all net proceeds--and estimated S1 million--to charitable organizations in the city.

Matthews has long been involved in charitable work. He founded The Bama Works in 1999, which is administered by the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, and has supported area charitable programs thanks to DMB ticket sales. Read more here.

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Meek Mill Releases Previously Unreleased Chris Brown Collaboration

(Radio.com) Meek Mill may still be under house arrest after violating his probation in late 2015, but that doesn't mean he's been absolutely quiet on the music front. While the rapper may not necessarily be recording new music, he did release a previously unreleased collaboration featuring Chris Brown called "All I Wanna Do."

Meek Mill posted the audio track to his YouTube account on Monday, March 21st. Chris Brown sings in the intro, "Damn look what you started/ He done turn my crib into an after party/ All I really wanna do, all I really wanna do/ Put my hands on your body, just hole up with you/ All I want is you, all I want is you."

Meek Mill takes over from there, rapping about Nicki Minaj. In his opening verse, he compares his girlfriend's skills to TLC's Left Eye Lisa Lopes and even admits she might be his fiancee a few lines later. It's a slick track that shows off what Meek Mill and Chris Brown can do with a flashy beat. Check it out here.

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Drake Performs On A Rooftop in Houston

(Radio.com) Fresh from his SXSW performance, Drake didn't venture too down the road when he showed up at Jas Prince Jr.'s block party in Houston to perform "Big Rings," off his mixtape with Future.

Jas Prince Jr. threw the block party on March 20th, but video has only now made its way online. At first, it shows Drake dressed all in white filming the events. When the camera sweeps around, it becomes clear why he's taking time to snap a video: A massive crowd is gathered in front of Mo Mo's Chicken & Waffle in Houston.

Standing on the roof, Drake performs his own "Big Rings" among other covers, like Fetty Wap's "My Way". He later snapped a photo of himself with Jas Prince Jr. and friends, which he shared on Instagram. The two have remained close, a heartwarming story considering Jas Prince Jr. introduced Drake and Lil Wayne, effectively launching the Canadian rapper's career (via XXL Mag). Read more here.

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Kenny Chesney Does Surprises Pop Up Bar Show

(Radio.com) Kenny Chesney surprised fans Monday night (March 21st) with a pop up show at Sloppy Joe's in Key West. The surprise set included appearances from Eric Church and Old Dominion's Matthew Ramsey.

'We've been off, and we're getting to know each other again," said Chesney. 'Nothing gets us as in the mood to go out and play music for you all summer long quite like coming down to the Florida Keys and doing this show: old songs, new songs, we may even make up some songs before the night is over."

The set included numerous covers including the Kinks' 'You Really Got Me," Willie Nelson's 'Whiskey River," the Eagles' 'Take It Easy." "There is nothing after several months off," Chesney said after the show. 'Like coming together, hitting a bar and just playing 'til we wanna drop, to remember every single thing you love about music: how it feels, what it means, the way it charges people up. There is no feeling like it, and to do it with friends, fans and the No Shoes Nation, well, it tells me it's time to get out there and start rocking America." Read more here.

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Diplo and Zedd Get Into Twitter War

(Radio.com) Diplo was none-too-pleased about a video from a Zedd set at Ultra in Miami. Presuming it was sponsored by M&M's to celebrate the candy's 75th anniversary, Diplo panned the piece as a sellout move.

He also noticed similarities between the music and that by Flume, the Australian EDM producer. The Major Lazer mastermind aired his frustration by calling Zedd out on Twitter.

"wtf is this?.. fake flume drop ft m&ms? It's not OK do this man come on .. It's not all about the [money]," he wrote. Zedd quickly fired back: "stop being a jealous little bitch and do us all a favor and just shut the f- up. Thank you. :-)"

From there, the tweets descended into grammar policing. Check out the tweets here.

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Josh Kelley And Katherine Heigl Reveal 'It's Your Move' Video

(Radio.com) Sometimes the most powerful songs arise through life's more difficult moments. Such is the case for country singer Josh Kelley's emotional music video for the song "It's Your Move" off his upcoming album New Lane Road.

Kelley co-wrote the song following a major fight he had with wife, actress Katherine Heigl. The video, which Heigl directed, reflects the tense emotional battle the couple faced, and their decision to work through it. In it, Kelley and Heigl occupy opposite sides of the room-Heigl in bed and Kelley playing piano-while a couple dances between them.

Speaking about the fight that led to the song, Kelly said in a press release, "It was like one of those fights, an all-end-all fight, where you have to decide whether you're going to remain in this story or not," shares Kelley. 'And luckily, we love each other, we're best friends, and we came out of it on top, but it was a big eye-opener for us. It's a very vulnerable song. It's very honest." Watch the video here.

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ASAP Ferg Reveals 'Always Strive And Prosper' Details

(Radio.com) Rapper ASAP Ferg is creating a buzz for his upcoming second album Always Strive And Prosper. In a press release, the ASAP Mob member announced the project would be available on April 22nd.

Always Strive And Prosper will be ready for pre-order on March 25th at all digital retailers. If fans pre-order the album they can get Ferg's latest Future-assisted single "New Level" and forthcoming track "Let It Bang" featuring ScHoolboy Q as instant downloads.

Of his new album, Ferg says, "This album is by far the best work I've created and showcases my versatility and taste in the music that I love. The mission for this album is for my fans to get a deeper look into my life; to know my origin, my family and the obstacles I've faced while growing up." Read more here.

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Snoop Dogg Reveals Money-Themed Football Cleats From Adidias

(Radio.com) Snoop Dogg has unveiled his new line of football cleats� and they are literally money. The Adidas cleats feature a S100 bill design with "Mind on my Money" cleverly written one shoe and "Money on my Mind" on the other. The cleats are available now at Adidas.com.

The shoes, called the Adizero 5-star 5.o Snoop cleats, weigh only 7.9 ounces. It features a heel cup that locks the foot in place, an Ironskin toe box for added durability and protection, in addition to a slick gold bottom. Perhaps will see them in use on the gridiron this upcoming NFL season.

Snoop took to Twitter to debut the shoe writing, "Stay ballin on the field at all times w/ the Snoop 'Money Cleat'!" Check out the posts complete with photos of the cleats here.

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Questlove To Score Movie Starring Emile Hirsch Zoe Kravitz & Kid Cudi

(Radio.com) The Roots drummer/leader Questlove makes sure to keep himself busy. The Philadelphia native is working on scoring a new film called Vincent N Roxxy.

Vincent N Roxxy is a crime thriller with a touch of romance that, according to the official synopsis, centers around a defiant punk rocker and a loner from a small town who fall in love after being forced to go on the run.

The film stars Oscar nominee Emile Hirsch, Zoe Kravitz, and Kid Cudi and will be directed by Gary Michael Schultz. The film is set to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival next month. Read more here.

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