Day in Pop Report for 08/11/2014
The Cash Money guys team up on "Grindin," a Lil Wayne song that includes Drake as a featured artist and is scheduled to be one of the lead singles off Carter V. Wayne drops into the new song with his singsong rapping style over minimal piano and a pounding drum machine, name checking Janet Jackson and James Bond ("007, I work 24/7″) along the way. Drake's flow on the song is similar, jumping in at around the three-minute mark. A volatile synth-like sound comes in at this point as well. "I think they hearing me now," he raps. "Someone said they taking you seriously now /I think they might just be scared of me now." Listen here.
After Perry tweeted about her love for Musgraves' "Merry Go 'Round," the pair connected to record a song and an episode of CMT's Crossroads. What kind of common ground does the pop star have with the country star? The Wizard of Oz, of course. Their collaborative song is inspired by the beloved childhood film. "I brought some ideas, and we actually ended up writing a pretty cool song," Musgraves told Billboard. "It's loosely based on Dorothy's version of The Wizard of Oz, her being in love with the Tin Man, but he didn't have a heart. more on this story
Of the $30,000 he needs by Aug. 23, Sanchez has already secured over $13,000. This all started when Sanchez came across Loggins' Kickstarter campaign for his new Probably best known for his 80s hits "Danger Zone" and "Footloose," Loggins has shown surprising interest in Sanchez's efforts. In phone call with Kevin & Bean of Los Angeles' KROQ (a CBS Radio station), Sanchez explained that Loggins has actually ponied up $500 to buy a seat in the Washington, D.C., resident's living room. In other words, Loggins is funding his own Kickstarter campaign while helping Sanchez. While $20 will grant you access to the live stream, $300 would have secured a seat in Sanchez's living room, had all the seats not sold out after a recent Jimmy Kimmel Live! appearance. more on this story
In the vintage clip, a tuxedo-clad 'Ye shows his wide range of facial expressions as his then-girlfriend Amber Rose, made up like a Barbie, robotically dances around him. The video, which was never released in full, was presumably scrapped after the couple broke up. Barbee clearly knows what gold he has on his hands - and how imaginably angry Ye would be if it leaked - so he posted a clip of the stop-motion video with the hashtags: "#donttellnobody #morerarethantheyeezys #kanye #throwbackthursdays #TBT #yeezytaughtme #amberrose #dontaskmeforthevideo." Watch the clip here.
Khalifa adds a touch of heavier bass and reflects on the poignant details of his stoner lifestyle, stems and all. His aesthetic isn't the relentlessly forced cheerfulness of EDM or chart-pop - it's a low-key sense of never-ending ease, a life consisting of simple struggles and simpler pleasures. "High up and we're floating," he raps in the new track. "Don't know where we're going / high up and we're floating / we're rolling, rolling, rolling." Check it out here.
"I absolutely have heard about it, and I'm extremely flattered by it," Yankovic said. "It became sort of a big movement, and a lot of people were putting energy into that. I knew that I would never actually be asked to perform at the Super Bowl, so I never got nervous about it. If I had been asked, I would never stop throwing up from nervousness. I know that's never going to happen in reality, but it got me thinking, 'Well, what would I do if I did in fact play the Super Bowl?,' which is one of the reasons that I wrote 'Sports Song.'" While we contemplate how in the 15-minute Super Bowl halftime slot Yankovic would navigate the tricky costume changes between "Eat It" and "Amish Paradise," you should watch the video to see him pontificate the origins of "Sports Song," which specific sport he'd most enjoy mocking musically and which instrument Michael Jordan would likely shred. Watch it here.
But even an award-winning, chart topping songwriter like Martin isn't a shoo-in. He said he didn't know if we'd be hearing his work for her. Martin told Maxim he was rejected by Beyonc�'s A&R team back in 2010, pre his "Princess of China" success. "She has so many amazing people writing for her. It's like trying to win American Idol, getting a song on Rihanna's album," Martin said. He said the exercise of writing for Rihanna was a "busman's holiday" - meaning he was meant to be on a break from work and decided to spend that time in the studio writing songs. more on this story
Rolling Stone reports that Lizza Connor instigated the lawsuit, claiming that the track's writers, Kelley Lovelace and Chris DuBois, had stolen parts of the song, while DuBois countersued and claimed she "signed a consent agreement at the workshop that would make any such lawsuit illegitimate." "High Life" was written by the same three co-writers as "Remind Me" and takes a verse to poke fun at the lawsuit. "I heard a song a couple months ago/It was Carrie Underwood on the radio," Paisley sings. "Reminded me of a poem my brother wrote/Back in the second grade/Now I know she didn't steal it, but so what?/We lawyered up and we sued her butt/These days we figure we'd pretty much/Get paid to go away." Listen to the track here.
All the Atlanta shows will take at Philips Arena, and the ticket price for each and every seat is $71.50 (including all taxes and fees), available now through Ticketmaster. Brooks' wife Trisha Yearwood is also on the bill. Atlanta is the second stop on Brooks' recently announced World Tour, which kicks off Sept. 4 in Chicago. That single Chicago date soon expanded to a total of 10 shows running Sept. 4-14, all taking place at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont. more on this story
Between Eminem's legendary but reclusive rap status and Rihanna being one of pop music's most consistent hit-makers of the past decade, the Monster tour launch drew an impressively panoramic cross-section of 60,000 fans. From family scenes of tweens with parents in tow to packs of twenty-something men and women to a middle-aged contingent who bought The Slim Shady LP when it first debuted in early 1999, there was a festive, communal energy around the stadium. With the sun setting in the distance, the show started with a short film with Eminem as a Hannibal Lecter-type character in an isolation chamber and Rihanna as his Clarice Starling, leading to the pair hitting the expansive stage to open with "Numb," their collaboration from her 2012 album, Unapologetic. Shifting into a version of Jay Z's "Run This Town," the pair performed a handful of hits together including T.I.'s "Live Your Life" and "Won't Back Down" before Eminem disappeared into the shadows to allow Rihanna to perform an extended set of her icy electro R&B hits. Touching on tracks including "Phresh Out the Runway," "Rude Boy" and "What's My Name," Rihanna took on all aspects of her sound, with a bombastic take on "Rock Star 101″ (complete with an interpolation of The Who's "Baba O'Reilly"), the big ballad "Stay" which turned into a massive singalong and the EDM-tinged party track, "Where Have You Been," all of which set the stage for Eminem's return on the duo's joint single, "Love the Way You Lie." Eminem's diehard fans in the building were rewarded with a string of tracks from the Detroit MC, who charged through "Square Dance," "Still Don't Give a F-k," "Criminal" and "The Way I Am." His mere presence electrified the crowd, which eagerly obeyed his every demand to bounce, sing along and make some noise. More including photos
It had been rumored earlier in the week that the group had fought while recording their new album, with member Dawn Richard reportedly punched O'Day in the back of the head. The incident was confirmed by O'Day in the post. "To be clear, she (Richard) was not physically engaged or threatened prior to her attack on me," O'Day noted. "This is the same information I provided to the police, and witnesses also corroborated this account of the incident. I cannot condone or excuse any form of physical violence, particularly at the hands of someone I considered family. Disagreements happen. But a war of words and ideas should never end in physical aggression. O'Day claims the incident was followed with "no sign of remorse" from Richard and explained that negativity had been stewing for quite a bit over the past year, with the assault the final straw. "As for the actions that have brought us to this broken ending, I cannot speak for anyone or explain their internal struggles that prompted this heartbreaking sequence of events," Bex added. "All I know is what I have seen. I did not witness a shouting match, a cat fight or a brawl. I witnessed a single direct punch." more on this story
Bieber posted a photo of him and Yousafzai to Instagram with the caption, "Just got to FaceTime with Malala Yousafzai. She has such an incredible story. I can't wait to meet her in person and talk about how I can support her and the@malalafund. #love" Since recovering from her gunshot wound, Yousafzai-who was up for a Nobel Prize-has made it her mission to make sure other girls voices are heard. She even launched the Malala Fund last year, which supports female education. more on this story
Adam Duritz confirmed it himself via Instagram. Also in a 2012 interview with Mashable, Duritz did say that Twitter had changed his life admitting "I met my last serious girlfriend [actress Emmy Rossum] on Twitter." In the 50-year-old frontman's profile, which makes no mention of his star status, he writes, "NYC. Grew up in Berkeley. I�umm�I cannot think of anything else to say. Except�is this the freakiest game EVER or what?" Read what Adam had to say about being on the site here.
King's World Team Tennis Smash Hits will benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which, according to John, is looking to secure "an AIDS-free future" by giving "access to lifesaving treatment to more people living with HIV in Africa." King and John will coach teams that feature retired pros like Kim Clijsters, John McEnroe and Britain's Tim Henman, along with German player Sabine Lisicki. More.
In a new essay for The Daily Beast, Aoki has come out in defense of his theatrical shows, explaining the origins of "caking" and why he's continue to do so into the future, critics be damned. "I was thinking of new ways to engage with my audience and with a bit of serendipity and inspiration the cake was born," he said "It was inspired by an Autoerotique music video, an artist on Dim Mak, that made a great music video where cakes exploded in people's faces as they blew out the candles. I literally woke up with the idea of caking someone while playing that song to help promote the video while playing the song. After I retired the song from my set six months later though, I didn't retire the cake. Fans had been shooting videos and showing their friends. They saved their cake-covered shirts like a badge of honor and it became a strong element of my show. The cake had gone viral." Aoki will surely raise some eyebrows and generate more internet discussions for his reasoning behind making his shows such interactive events as opposed to staying hunched over the decks in serious mixing mode the entire time. "For people that don't know what DJs are actually doing up there, when you're not mixing into the next song or out of the previous one, there is not a lot to do," he opined. "Of course twisting knobs (taking out the lows, turning up the highs to create your own musical story is all part of DJing itself) but it's not absolutely necessary�Do I fuxx with the EQs and twist knobs? Yes, of course I do, but I might not do it all the time." more on this story
The comedic rap group and Apatow are reportedly working together on a feature-length film about "the world of music," according to Variety. Historically, only a small percentage of musicians have made a successful transition into film - among them Madonna, Puff Daddy and Eminem - but the Lonely Island already have plenty of acting experience under their belt. Frontman Andy Samberg was a Saturday Night Live cast member for seven years, currently stars on the FOX sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine and has appeared in handful of movies including Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Celeste and Jesse Forever. more on this story
What do you think of when you think of the Bee Gees? The Beatles-eque young lads of "New York Mining Disaster 1941″ fame? How about the guys who did the definitive version of "To Love Somebody," later to be covered by Rod Stewart, Janis Joplin and Gram Parsons? Let's be real: you think of the white suits, feathered hair, and disco jams. Today, "Stayin' Alive," one of their monster smashes from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack is a much celebrated classic that even Bruce Springsteen has covered. But the post-disco era was very much an anti-disco era, and the brothers Gibb were smarting from the backlash. "We are songwriters, mostly," Maurice said. "We are performers secondly." "And," he added, "We don't deal in trends and images." Robin noted, "We didn't even write them for the movie." The band were recording their next album in France, and Robert Stigwood, their record label head and manager asked to use three of the songs for a film he was producing. "We were R&B," he said, as opposed to a disco act like Donna Summer or Chic. Not mentioned in this excerpt was their more ill-fated decision to co-star with Peter Frampton in a disastrous film version of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. By 1988 when this interview was conducted, the stink was still on them, a decade down the road. But, years later, all was forgiven. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. And "Stayin' Alive" was one of the songs they performed at the ceremony. Watch the Minimation here.
What exactly goes into a Pharrell burger? A seasoned patty, melted cheese, a thick tomato slice, mustard-based sauce and chopped onions between two gigantic buns. It's somewhat surprising that the producer, singer and designer, who's now known as much for his music as his fashion risks, didn't go with a bolder combination, but if Pharrell has shown us anything over the past year, it's that there's no way to predict his next move. More on this story.
"[Tedder] was sending my label emails of excitement and swear words," she told Radio.com over the phone while in New York City gearing up for her American television debut on Good Morning America. Henderson still thinks it's funny that he was so taken aback by her cover, which had her mashing Drizzy up with John Newman's song "Love Me Again." "I just thought, 'Why don't I try to put them together?' They're both the same chords," she said rather nonchalantly. "I will sometimes record something and someone will hear it somehow and all of a sudden it ends up online. Sometimes, it's the things I do just messing around that end up being the things people love." Her song "Five Tattoos" falls into this category. The stripped-down track was just something she was playing around with until her A&R guy heard it and told her to record it. That demo of Henderson and her piano will be on her upcoming debut, Chapter One, out later this year. Henderson eventually met up with Tedder in a studio in Denver, CO on her birthday where they spent the day figuring out if they were musically compatible. Though, in Henderson's retelling of the meeting, it was really to see if the OneRepublic frontman wanted to make the time to work with her. "He gets to pick and choose who he works with," Henderson said of the in-demand songwriter. "Like, he's written for Beyonce and Adele. He only writes hits." But the two immediately got along and ended up writing "Ghost" on the piano that very same day in just twenty minutes. It ended up being the track the British singer was waiting for. Henderson had actually finished her debut last year, but felt like she didn't have that first song that she wanted the world to hear. That is until she finished "Ghost," which in her words is a "soulful song with a twist." "It's about this someone or something that just has a hold over you, tormenting you, you're trying to run away from it, but you just can't," she said. "And I think a lot of people can relate in so many different ways." Henderson is a rather relatable character herself. In 2012, a 16-year-old Henderson was the contestant Cher, Adele, Leona Lewis and actress Chloe Grace Moretz were rooting for to win UK's The X Factor. Though Henderson was an early favorite to win, she ended up coming in sixth. But for the shy musician who grew up listening to jazz records on Saturday mornings with her grandfather - "Ella Fitzgerald's 'God Bless The Child' was such a big part of my childhood, always takes me back to a nice place," she said - the show brought her out of her shell. Performing for an average of 8.9 million viewers a night certainly has that effect. More on this story.
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