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Day in Pop Report for 05/02/2016


Today's Top Stories


Prince's Purple Rain Jacket Being Auctioned

(Radio.com) "Purple Rain" is expanding its theatrical re-release so more Prince fans can enjoy the iconic film on the big screen. And a key piece of memorabilia from the movie, his leather jacket, will hit the auction block June 29.

Profiles in History will auction the piece-most famous from the scenes featuring Apollonia Kotero on a motorcycle. The auction house expects the jacket to go for between $6,000 and $8,000.

Joe Maddalena, president of the Calabasas, CA-based company, said that Prince's tight control of memorabilia makes this a rare entry to the market. Read more here.

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Chris Brown Releases 'Before The Trap: Nights In Tarzana' Mixtape

(Radio.com) Chris Brown and OHB dropped a new mixtape, Before the Trap: Nights in Tarzana, Friday(April 29). OHB stands for Original Hood Bosses and represents the new crew Brown formed.

Coming in at 19 tracks, the mixtape features Kevin Gates, Young Jeezy, Young Blacc, Hoody Baby and more. Plus, this isn't the first new music Brown has planned for spring. He tweeted that he had a collaboration called "Whippin" with Section Boyz, Quavo and his OHB crew coming soon, and he will drop a new solo single on May 5.

The drop date for Before the Trap might not be an accident. Today also happens to be the release day for Drake's new album Views. Let's just say Brown and Drake aren't exactly on friendly terms. Will this latest move provoke new diss tracks from either one? Download or stream the tape here.

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Why Did Drake Cut Kanye And Jay Z From 'Views'?

(Radio.com) After releasing his fourth studio album Views on April 28, listeners immediately picked up on the fact that two big cameos were missing. Although Kanye West and Jay Z were featured on the edition of "Pop Style" he released in early April, they didn't make the album cut. Why is that? Let's let Drake explain.

The same night he released Views, Beats 1 Radio broadcast an interview Drake did with host Zane Lowe. In it, he discusses the decision to leave the two rappers by the wayside. "I just ended up going with my version of the song," he said. (via NME). Instead of keeping their verses, he used one of his own.

Truth be told, Jay wasn't supposed to be included in the song anyway. "Jay didn't really do a verse," Drake explained. "I was just trying to get [Kanye] on it first. Jay kinda just did my first few lines for me and that's how we flexed it."

The verse Jay did contribute sounds like it didn't sit well with Drake, who admitted in the interview to being a meticulous writer. Read more here.

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Florida Georgia Line Release Video For New Single 'H.O.L.Y.'

(Radio.com) Country duo Florida Georgia Line have released a video for their new single 'H.O.L.Y.,' which strikes a whole different chord for the ACM Vocal Duo of the year.

The tender and reverential love song and accompanying video are distinct departures from their massive party hits like "Cruise" and "This is How We roll." And the song almost didn't get cut.

Band members Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley originally passed on the song, but a couple of weeks later, both were still thinking about the passionate tune and decided to give it another shot. FGL has said that they are aiming for transparency on thir next album, and the song is a good start. H.O.L.Y. stands for "High on Loving You," and is a poetic and heartfelt expression of both vulnerability and strength in love.

"We're married now," Brian Kelley told Taste of Country. "Some things have changed and I think it's kind of a coming of age album, if you will. It's a man album, I think we've waited a long time to make an album like this."

Kelley added that the new album will be "[the] perfect evolution, from the first two records, of where we need to be." Watch the video here.

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Gucci Mane Releases 36-Track Album 'Meal Ticket'

(Radio.com) Drake may have released his massive 20-track VIEWS on April 28, but Gucci Mane was not to be outdone. The currently incarcerated rapper released a whopping 36-track album titled Meal Ticket on Friday (April 29).

The mixtape combines tracks from his Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Dessert projects, which is partly why the tracklist is so excessive (via HotNewHipHop).

It features a host of rappers, including Quavo, Young Scooter, Rich the Kid, and even comedian Andy Milonakis. Even though he's still in prison, Gucci Mane's new release may solidify rumors that he's set to be released later this fall. Read more here.

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Eric Church Releases 'Record Year' Video

(Radio.com) Eric Church has had a record year, and to prove it he released the music video for that very song which was directed by John Peets and Reid Long. In it, Church plays with the idea of "record year" by exploring the term's more literal meaning.

McKinley James, who played a young Church in "Mr. Misunderstood," returns once more. The video opens on him writing out lines on the blackboard before the band hands over a stack of vinyl and he returns home to dedicate himself to music. His "record year" involves listening through every record he can get his hands on.

In between shots of Church and his band performing, James builds a set of weights, which he stacks with vinyl. There's no better way to get in shape as a musician than by listening to what's come before you.

The video also debuts a special guitar for Church. He now has a customized signature edition of the Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar, which he nicknamed "Hummingbird Dark." Watch the video here.

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Garth Brooks And Trisha Yearwood Cover Prince's 'Purple Rain'

(Radio.com) Prince's reign impacted artists from all genres. Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are among them. Brooks and Yearwood spent time during their recent Columbus, Ohio concert paying homage to the late superstar with a performance of his massive hit "Purple Rain."

Brooks gave Yearwood the floor, sharing with the crowd how much she's always wanted to cover Prince at a show. Then he gave her a ruffled purple blazer and the event turned into an enormous crowd singalong led by Yearwood.

On the road the last 20 years we've done a lot Prince during soundchecks, but never live," she said on stage. "We're only gonna do a little piece of this, because trust me, I know who the purple one is."

Purple lights surrounded the stage, rain came down, and Prince's infamous symbol appeared above them near the end as the crowd exploded in adoration for the late legend. Check it out here.

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Who Are The Twins From Drake's 'Views'?

(Radio.com) Drake's new album Views was released on Friday, and the album's artwork features a pair of female twins, but fans have been wondering who are they? Here is the answer:

The women in question are Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta, self described 'writers, poets, models and insta-jedis." The exact nature of the sisters' relationship with Drake is unclear, but it's not the first time they've been photographed with Drizzy.

On December 22nd the sisters posted a of photo of themselves and a very happy looking Drake with the caption: 'That time we got some Canadian dude drunk and had him get a tattoo of our name." Check out the posts here.

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Flo Rida Releases 'Hello Friday' Video Featuring Jason Derulo

(Radio.com) Flo Rida celebrates the end of the week and the start of some fun in his new video for the track "Hello Friday", which also features Jason Derulo and was directed by Alex Acosta.

The video celebrates all things beachy and sunny and fun thanks to its south Florida location. Wearing sunglasses, Flo Rida and Derulo dance around near the coast, while people celebrate Friday by either getting it shaved into their hair or tattooed on their shoulder.

As he sings about the different days of the week, and how they're all fine by him, Flo Rida twists the classic 'underwear of the week.' Instead, women dress up to represent each day. All the women are gorgeous, but of course it's Friday that has his heart.

It's a fun, bouncy video to reflect the song's windows down, volume up nature. Make sure you don't miss the moment where Flo Rida straps on a water jet pack and flies across the ocean. Watch the video here.

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Eric Paslay Talks New Single 'High Class'

(Radio.com) Eric Paslay is preparing to release his next album, Dressed in Black, and he's introduced the album with a song that is country music's answer to "Uptown Funk": "High Class." He tells Radio.com that after his last single, "She Don't Love You", a heartbreaking ballad from his 2014 self-titled debut, fans weren't necessarily expecting something so upbeat.

"We were just thinking 'Let's write a fun song,'" he says. "I probably should be smart enough to think, 'Let's just rip off some people,' but that wasn't our goal at all. But I'm glad people are digging it. I actually get to shake it on the stage now. Like I've always been known as the songwriter hiding behind the guitar, which� I write songs, and I love doing that, but I'm thrilled to death that I'm finally getting to sing 'em myself and busting out some dance moves for everybody."

The dance moves have also taken many by surprise: he says that earlier this year, he played a music industry event and performed the song. "And we did 'High Class' acoustic, and I brought my guitar, and my band's looking at me like 'Why are you playing your guitar, man?' And like, 'Well hey, y'all are great, I don't have to play [guitar], do I?'"

"Sure enough, I just got up there and shook it. And I recognize all the faces [in the audience]. They're going [makes amazed face] 'He can dance! Holy--! But it was fun for me watching that, and it's just been a lot of fun shaking it for the fans that usually see me just standing up there with a guitar and trying to shake it as much as I can with a guitar. But I'm grateful that the way we're introducing this new album is me rocking it a little bit and kind of stirring it up a bit."

The video, he says, was a tribute to a scene in Goodfellas: the one where all the characters are introduced in one long shot. "Yeah, we made the video in Nashville. [But] It was six shots. I was like, 'You know the Diet Coke Heineken commercials where you're like, "Where the heck is that? This isn't even real, but let's go there?"'"

There's also a lot of special guests in the video. Read more here.

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Singled Out: Roses & Cigarettes' Laurel Canyon

Jenny Pagliaro (vocals) and Angela Petrilli (guitars, vocals) from Los Angeles roots rockers Roses & Cigarettes tell us about the song "Laurel Canyon" from their self-titled debut album. Here is the story:

Jenny Pagliaro: I wrote Laurel Canyon with our producer, Michael Lyons. It wasn't long before I met Angela and we formed 'Roses & Cigarettes,' and I was feeling a bit lost about my music career. I was with Michael one night and we were discussing when I first moved to LA, and how I had lived off of Laurel Canyon Blvd. I was sitting on his piano bench, and I reached back to the piano and played something (please note I cannot play piano, this was a stroke of luck that whatever I played sounded good!) and sang "Moved to Laurel Canyon, to chase a dream." Then Michael told me to move out of the way and he riffed on the piano while I recorded it on my phone.

The song was really about my frustrations with LA, and not knowing which direction to take. I feel like I wrote myself out of the problem I was having. I'm originally from the east coast, and I moved out to California because I knew I wanted to chase a career in music. I quickly realized that no matter how great you are at home, there is so much competition in LA and there are so many people that are so talented. This song was about my internal struggle of wanting to be here to pursue my music career, but not knowing which way to step and wondering if moving back to the comforts of home was my best option.

Angela: When we were in the studio recording Laurel Canyon, first and foremost I wanted the story Jenny was telling to be the main focus of our song. It's such a relatable story for so many people. I wanted my guitar parts be a delicate and complimentary sonic movement that meshed flawlessly with Jenny's story about the hardships of being away from home in a city that isn't always kind to those trying to "make it." I knew I wanted strong, breathy guitars that laid down a solid foundation; but after a few listens, the acoustic guitars alone weren't telling the story I needed them to tell. The moment that turned things was when I decided to incorporate an electric guitar in 'Open C' tuning. The open major tonalities and open versions of the chords gave the track a sense of hopefulness and optimism that the song needed. The mix of open and breathy guitars gave "Laurel Canyon" the classic California Sound I was looking for.

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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