.

Day in Pop Report for 08/12/2014


Taylor Swift Reveals The Big Secret
(Radio.com) Taylor Swift felt she had kept fans waiting long enough and early this morning (Aug. 11) finally revealed what the heck is going on. Swift revealed three clues last week - the first clue was an Instagram video of her repeatedly pushing an elevator button to the 18th floor, the second was her adorable cat Olivia Benson and the third was just the Yahoo! search bar - but today on Twitter she revealed that, with a little help from Yahoo!, she's having a worldwide livestream for all her fans.

The event is set to take place on Aug. 18 at 5 p.m. EST/2 p.m. PST in New York City. In the tweet with a link to her website, Swift asked fans "Did you guess right?" along with the hashtag #TaylorSwiftYahoo7days. So did you?

Swift is also calling on fans to join her at the livestream by signing up here for a chance to win a spot in the audience. Don't win? She's encouraging you to host your own viewing party. She's even given you some custom invitations to choose from and promises she'll be sending out tips on how to throw the very best Taylor Swift livestream party ever. more on this story

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Nicki Minaj Vs Miley Cyrus Over Spoof
(Radio.com) Since her eye-popping, insta-meme artwork for "Anaconda" first emerged, Nicki Minaj has been a good sport about all of the spoofs it inspired - that is, until now.

There's one photoshopped parody that Minaj isn't having and it includes Miley Cyrus. Over the weekend, the provocative pop singer posted a few different spoofs of the cover with her face in place of Nicki's. One even cleverly combined "Anaconda" with Cyrus' former alter-ego Hannah Montana, dubbed "Hannah-conda."

That prompted Minaj to repost one of them along with the shade-throwing caption: "Give me one good reason why Miley made this her twitter avi. #AnacondaOniTunes." more on this story

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Dawn Richard Tells Her Side Of Alleged Aubrey O'Day Assault
(Radio.com) On Friday (Aug. 8) it was announced that Danity Kane had broken up once again, this time because of the alleged assault of Aubrey O'Day by fellow bandmate Dawn Richard.

O'Day told fans Richard "punched me in the back of my head while I was speaking to another associate. To be clear, she was not physically engaged or threatened prior to her attack on me." She also wrote that the attack was followed by "no sign of remorse" from Richard and explained that negativity had been stirring over the past year, with the assault being the final straw.

Now Richard has written an open letter of her own to that she hopes gives her side of the story. Richard took to Facebook over the weekend to address fans, writing, "I am sorry to everyone that this news has to come out. You're worth more" before explaining "this should have been handled privately not publicly."

She then goes on to say, "Certain choices were made that I am not proud of. However, I will not be disrespected," explaining that she had been unable to release her own statement "via Danity Kane social media because my access to all Danity Kane social media pages has been blocked by DK members. This forces me to make my statement on my personal page. This could have all been handled privately; however, certain parties chose to make this public before it could be rectified. I am not justifying my actions. I am saying this was all done before any changes or conversations could even be had." More.

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Morrissey Dropped By Record Label
(Radio.com) Another week, another Morrissey controversy. The outspoken artist has severed ties with his label Harvest Records, days after ranting about them on his fansite True to You.

According to new post on True to You, the separation comes "as directed by label boss Steve Barnett,", meaning the former Smiths frontman is once again in search of a record label.

The news comes three weeks after the release of Moz's World Peace Is None Of Your Business, an album which was in part the subject of the blog post.

Morrissey came down on Harvest records for, in his mind, the label's failure to promote his new album and thanked fans who had uploaded videos of the title track. more on this story

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Ariana Grande Releases Best Mistake Featuring Big Sean
(Radio.com) Much of the buzz surrounding Ariana Grande's My Everything stems from "Problem," the smash hit and lead single performed with Iggy Azalea, and collaborative hit "Bang Bang" with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj - plus the Zedd-featuring EDM-flavored "Break Free."

But two weeks out from My Everything's official release, Grande has dropped another full track to tease her second album's release, with the Big Sean-featuring "Best Mistake" hit iTunes at midnight ET (Aug. 12).

Prior to its release the song leaked online and was uploaded to Tumblr and other social media sites, plus sites like Audiomack. The song is showcased as more of a slow burner in comparison to the high energy of "Problem" and "Break Free," as well as more in the vein of her R&B side. It also lacks much of the lathered-on instrumentation and production of the preceding singles, opting instead for a minimal beat and keyboards.

"But you know I'll be saving my love for you," she sings. "'Cause you're the best mistake I've ever made / But we hold on/ Hold on." Read more and listen to the track here.

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Duran Duran and Nile Rodgers Together Again
(Radio.com) Duran Duran and Nile Rodgers: together again. Billboard reports that the rock band and the Chic guitarist are paired for Duran Duran's new album, tentatively ready for a spring 2015 release.

Rodgers and the English rockers previously worked together on 1986's Notorious, with Rodgers as producer. The album's title track was a No. 2 hit in the U.S.

Since, Rodgers has gained a second wind of fame in recent years, particularly via his Daft Punk and Pharrell collaboration, "Get Lucky," which was one of 2013's top songs both critically and commercially.

Additionally, Mark Ronson will produce the new album, Duran Duran's 14th. Ronson previously worked with the band on All You Need is Now. more on this story

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Lil Wayne Channels One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest In Krazy Video
(Radio.com) Lil Wayne finds himself in the mental house in his new video for "Krazy." The clip for the Tha Carter V track has Wayne channeling the 1962 Ken Kesey novel, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. But Weezy seems to be trying to outdo Jack Nicholson, who starred in the 1975 film.

On the song, Wayne pumps up his bad boy rep, shouting out his friends on Rikers Island who are playing Uno and promoting the "live fast, die young and leave a beautiful corpse" lifestyle, all while being strapped into a straightjacket. Krazy indeed.

Wayne is currently on tour with Drake and even dropped a new Drizzy-assisted track "Grindin'" on Friday to celebrate the joint tour's kick off. The two debuted the track live that same night in Darien Center, NY.

They also debuted their new Street Fighter-inspired app, where fans can pit the two rappers against each other. On Friday night, it was Wayne who kicked off the night, and later won the battle rap after more fans voted for him.

But for fans that still aren't really show how the app works, they've released an informative video that has Drake doing muck of the talking while Wayne searches for a missing lighter.

Watch that clip and the Krazy video here.

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Kim Kardashian May Include Racy Photos In Selfie Book
(Extra) "Extra's" Renee Bargh was with Kim Kardashian on the blue carpet at the 2014 Teen Choice Awards, where sisters Kylie and Kendell Jenner joined her as they celebrated Kylie's 17th birthday.

Kim talked about her upcoming selfie book. "Selfies are so fun. I have accumulated so many selfies over the years that no one's seen� there's even a section of all the selfies I sent Kanye over the years, really racy ones. He kept them, and they might make the book. We're also including my iconic bikini selfie that everyone freaked out about. It took probably 10 selfies to get that one that I posted, so I'm putting in all the ones that didn't make it."

The reality TV star also dished about her recent Twitter confession that she needed to lose weight. Kim explained, "I'm pretty open and I love to get motivation from my fans. I think every girl� can understand when their clothes just don't fit right and you just let go, even if you look okay you just know you are a couple pounds off."

The "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star said she was looking through photos of herself five years ago when she was 20 pounds lighter. "I definitely love the curves, my butt's a little too big right now, so I just need to lose 5 or 10 pounds."

She did admit she does want a sibling for daughter North. "I grew up with siblings and I know what it's like to have that brother or sister that just understands everything� we're just having so much fun with our daughter. I want another one. I hate that pregnancy thing, but I'm going to have to go through it again." more on this story

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Patti LaBelle Joins Cast Of American Horror Story
(Radio.com) American Horror Story has made some interesting casting choices over the years, including bringing Jessica Lange back to prominence. Now, a more musical star will be taking a turn on the hit anthology series, joining recent guest star Stevie Nicks: Patti LaBelle.

The new season of the series, Billboard reports, will center on the last freak show in America, set in Jupiter, Fla., in the 1950s. Returning to the show will be Lange, along with Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson, Gabourey Sidibe and Evan Peters, among others, as well as AHS newbies Michael Chiklis, The Hunger Games' Wes Bentley, Fargo's John Carroll-Lynch and The Normal Heart's Finn Wittrock.

LaBelle will not sing in the show, but will play a "townie who begins to unravel the deadly secrets of Twisty the clown killer and the mother of Sidibe's character." more on this story

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Jason Derulo Announces His First U.S. Headline Tour
(Radio.com) Jason Derulo has played massive venues before, opening for the likes of Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas - but finally, the R&B singer will be headliner on his next tour.

The songwriter has just announced that he'll be hitting the road in support of his new album Talk Dirty - which rose to No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and has sold 164,000 copies since its April release, according to Nielsen SoundScan - this fall for a 13-date tour starting in Royal Oak, Mich., on Oct. 15.

He'll then head out East, presumably performing his top 20 singles "Wiggle," "The Other Side" and the title track from his recent album along the way. more on this story

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Leonard Cohen Celebrating 80th Birthday With Album Release
(Radio.com) Leonard Cohen isn't letting up with old age, not that anyone expected him to. To celebrate his birthday month next month, Cohen will give the world his own gift by releasing his newest album Popular Problems, Consequence of Sound reports.

The album, Cohen's 13th and first since 2012's Old Ideas, coincides with Cohen's 80th birthday on Sept. 21. An official release date for the album is not yet known.

But according to Rolling Stone, it's planned for the end of September, having been confirmed at a Cohen fan convention in Dublin, Ireland. It was added that, despite a new album, no tour plans to support it have been made as of August. more on this story

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Eric Church Releases Video For Cold One
(Radio.com) Eric Church's new music video for "Cold One" stars a beer delivery guy, because sometimes it's OK to go the obvious route. "Cold One," released on Vevo Monday (Aug. 11), features Church as the beer man who transports his alcohol to a local bar. Once inside, a group of locals follows him into the cooler, where everyone starts jamming on guitars and beer kegs for drums.

Later, Church is seen donning his signature shades as he and his backing band perform in a frigid beer cooler. There's also shots of Church riding around some of the equipment in a distribution warehouse, as you do.

Almost everyone gets a little solo during "Cold One," and generally it corresponds with each member of the band's quick meetup with a lady in the video who decides to steal their shots, cigarettes and generally cause some chaos.

"Cold One" is off Church's The Outsiders album, which was originally released last February. It's the album's third single, following the title track and "Give Me Back My Hometown."

Watch it here.

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Jason Aldean Reacts To Fan Criticism Over Girlfriend
(Radio.com) Jason Aldean got sick and tired of being sick and tired this weekend and took to Instagram to tell his fans about it and to tell the haters to shut it down.

On Sunday night Aldean posted a cute photo of an Insta-famous French bulldog with over 500,000 followers, his girlfriend Brittany Kerr and himself in Chicago. The country star left his wife of 12 years for Kerr, with whom he was having an affair, in 2013. Kerr is a former contestant on American Idol.

The fans weren't too stoked on the photo and didn't hold back in commenting. Aldean noticed and a little later that evening posted a message of his own.

"So sick of people judging me and [Brittany Kerr] over things they know nothing about," Aldean said. "I have made mistakes but I am a better person because of it, and wouldn't change a thing. I'm happier than I have ever been, so thank u [sic] to all the people who support us. We are happy and life goes on. Its time to move on people."

Read some of the fans messages here.

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Dillon Francis Launching Friends Rule Tour
(Radio.com) Shortly after Dillon Francis' new album Money Sucks, Friends Rule hits store shelves and earbuds, Francis will be launching a tour to support the record, his first.

Yesterday (Aug. 11), Francis announced a North American headlining tour in support of Money Sucks, Friends Rule. The tour will stretch across 18 shows starting in November and running through January.

Francis' Friends Rule Tour kicks off Nov. 17 in Nashville at Marathon Music Works. The jaunt will include one set north of the border in Toronto, Canada, before concluding Jan. 16 with one of the tour's biggest shows - at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. more on this story

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Gucci Mane Plans Eight More Projects This Year
(Radio.com) Gucci Mane has already released eight projects in 2014 - not bad, considering he has had his share of legal trouble throughout. But as it turns out, he's only at the halfway point.

Hot New Hip Hop reports that the rapper has eight more releases planned for 2014. Gucci made the original announcements on his Twitter account, posting the name of each project with a release date attached when applicable.

So far in 2014, he's released six mixtapes, a collaborative album and a full-length studio release. He'll add to that total with releases like Trap House 5, Trap God 3 and East Atlanta Santa. The latter will hit the Internet on, fittingly, Dec. 25.

His projects will include collaborations with Young Thug and Chief Keef. First of the releases will be Aug. 15 with Guwop vs Gucci. Christmas' East Atlanta Santa will conclude his 2014 productivity - making 16 mixtapes and albums for the Atlanta rapper.

More details here.

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Ty Dolla Sign Appears In Lupe Fiasco's New Video
(Radio.com) It seems we've come to the ratchet zone in Lupe Fiasco's upcoming album Tetsuo & Youth. And so Fiasco teams with Ty Dolla $ign, who he told MTV was "the King of Ratchetness, and also my homie, and an amazing musician and artist."

What do you get from Fiasco when you put a Dolla $ign next to it? A video that's not of his typical aesthetics. "Next to It" puts the guys and their cast of many next to a white background. A visual play on the lyrics comes in with solo shots of random objects - a toilet, a pink flamingo, a barbeque grill - that are placed alone in the shot, moved along by super quick edits.

They mean nothing alone and Fiasco dives in, rapping, "Money ain't s-t when there's wealth next to it / Wealth ain't s-t when there's health next to it."

The everyday objects are given value by the crowd bidding on them when some Price is Right inspired models step on the set to accentuate them. Watch the video here.

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Flume Releases Arcade Fire's Afterlife Remix
(Radio.com) Earlier this year, emerging young Australian producer Flume raised his profile considerably with a remix of Lorde's "Tennis Court," which he debuted over the first weekend of Coachella 2014 (Porter Robinson recently called it his song of the summer during a Radio.com interview).

Now, Flume has applied his deft remixing hand to "Afterlife," the beat-crazy second single from the Arcade Fire's latest full-length, Reflektor. As opposed to the complete overhaul the producer gave to "Tennis Court," his take on the Arcade Fire track leans more towards an extended edit, although Flume's signature warm organ sounds and skittering percussion have been tastefully slipped into the mix.

Flume recently wrapped up a successful U.S. tour with a sold-out three-night stand at L.A.'s Club Nokia. He's also been spending lots of time with his much more aggressive dance project, What So Not, with fellow producer Emoh Instead.

Give the new remix a listen here.

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Sofia Vegara Discusses Relationship With Joe Manganiello
(Extra) "Extra's" Terri Seymour sat down with Sofia Vegara to talk about her work with Head & Shoulders. Sofia also speaking for the first time about her new beau "True Blood" heartthrob Joe Manganiello.

She tells Terri, "You know I'm just having a great time and it's a special time in my life and I'm trying not to think too much about it and it's something very new so we will see what happens." The two spending a lot of time together, they were even spotted in Miami where he met her family, Terri asking if Sofia's Mama approves, her response, "What is there not to approve of."

Sofia launching the #PartofOurFamily contest with Head & Shoulders, getting her family involved, shooting a commercial for the shampoo with her mom, son, Manolo, niece, cousins, "We've had such a great time doing the commercials. I mean the commercials are so much fun so we decided why not treat one of our fans to be a part of one of these family get togethers."

Sofia saying she and her family have been using the shampoo for twenty years and the idea for the campaign came organically, "We're always in contact, they're in Columbia or they're in Miami and because of technology, like for example, we all have a chat on WhatsApp, we're like almost fifty people�They always ask me what are you doing new and I'm like oh I m shooting this movie in two months, and one day I'm like I think I'm gonna do a new campaign with Head & Shoulders and then one of them send a picture of Head & Shoulders like an old bottle in the back if the bathroom then all started sending them."

Vegara back to work filming the new season of "Modern Family," We have only shot the first episode last week of the season, so we don't really know what's going to happen, but I am always trying to put pressure and hope that before the whole show ends we can go one time to Colombia so we can meet Gloria's family." more on this story

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Robin Williams Dead at 63 of Apparent Suicide
(Radio.com) The entertainment industry was shocked Monday afternoon upon hearing the news that actor Robin Williams died by apparent suicide in his Marin County home. He was 63.

"This morning I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost of it's most beloved artists and and human beings. I am utterly heartbroken," Susan Schneider, Williams' wife, said in a written statement, reports CBS San Francisco.

"On behalf of Robin's family, we are asking for privacy during our time of profound grief. As he is remembered, it is our hope the focus will not be on Robin's death but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions."

"He has been battling severe depression of late," Mara Buxbaum, Robin Williams' press representative, added in a statement. "This is a tragic and sudden loss."

Williams had checked himself into rehab earlier this year. One of his last roles was on The Crazy Ones, a half-hour sitcom on CBS. The show was canceled earlier this year.

Multiple celebrities took to social media to both offer their condolences and pay tribute to the fallen actor.

So sad about Robin Williams�-
KATY PERRY (@katyperry) August 11, 2014

Aw man, that's terrible news. rest in peace and laughter Robin Williams � You had a great run and touched many lives. That counts.-
(@deadmau5) August 11, 2014

Devastated right now. Loved you Robin-
Brad Paisley (@BradPaisley) August 11, 2014

holy sh*t. R.I.P. robn williams. grew up with that man, what beautiful gifts he gave to us-
Flea (@flea333) August 11, 2014

Robin Williams, a gift to the world. So very very sad. My love and condolences to his family. He is awake, and we are all still sleeping.-
sia (@Sia) August 11, 2014

Thank you to the beautifully original + brave artist that is #RobinWilliams. You taught us how to stand on the edge, fearless, + shine.-
JARED LETO (@JaredLeto) August 11, 2014

Robin Williams is gone. What a crying shame. It's raining in Ohio. I met him fleetingly and he had light in his eyes! He was adorable!-
Boy George (@BoyGeorge) August 11, 2014

More tributes here.

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Willie Nelson Covers A World Of Topics In New Interview
(Radio.com) Talking to Willie Nelson is, on one hand, a straightforward experience. He speaks calmly and in small bites, with a gentle laugh and friendly smile always on hand to put you at ease. He's quick with an answer but also patient, thoughtful and willing to go deep when it comes to speaking about his long life experience, the varied terrain of American music, and where the two have (frequently) intersected.

A Willie Nelson conversation can also go in any number of directions. When Radio.com sat down with Nelson for a chat on his bus last month, the conversation started on topic with his latest album Band of Brothers. Soon, though, it moved into text messaging, concept albums, the enduring influence of the Grand Ole Opry, old friends of his like Billy Joe Shaver and Chet Atkins, and why he loves performing and touring so much (six decades down the road and "it's still fun"). It's a meandering path, but it's a hell of a fun journey - and we wouldn't want it any other way.

Two key building blocks of Nelson's long career came up repeatedly: songwriting and performing. The latter has always been at the heart of Nelson's musical world. Even now performing is his chief occupation; he spends more nights on his tour bus than he does at his ranch in Texas.

As for songwriting, that's what jump-started his commercial career, thanks to songs he wrote like "Crazy," "Family Bible" and "Night Life." By his own estimation Nelson has written thousands, and this year he added even more to the roster. His latest album Band of Brothers, released this past June, includes nine newly written compositions that have no problem standing on their own as part of Nelson's extensive catalog.

"It's been a while since I wrote that much," Nelson told Radio.com. We were speaking on his bus before a July 12 show with his band, the Family, at Ravinia, a lovely outdoor amphitheater just north of Chicago.

Curiously, Band of Brothers is the first Nelson album to focus on newly written material since his 1996 album Spirit. What took him so long? "Oh, I don't know," Nelson said. "Roger Miller said it pretty good, he said, 'Sometimes the well runs dry. And you've got to wait till you live a while to let it fill up again.' And I think there's a lot of truth in that."

When pressed, Nelson admitted that it wasn't just surge of personal inspiration that got him writing again. He had some outside motivation. "The secret ingredient here is Buddy Cannon," Nelson said. "He and I work well together. And it's rare I find anyone I can really feel comfortable writing with. But he and I kinda hit a stride there and wrote some pretty good songs."

Cannon is a veteran Nashville songwriter and producer best known for his work with Kenny Chesney (he's produced the bulk of Chesney's albums, including his upcoming collection The Big Revival). All nine of the Nelson-penned songs on Band of Brothers were cowritten with Cannon.

That, however, doesn't mean Nelson and Cannon sat down in a room together to hash things out, as is typical among many Nashville songwriters. Instead, they wrote songs by passing ideas back and forth via text messages.

"It just happened to be the easiest way to do it," Nelson said. "I'll write a verse, he'll write a verse. One of us will put a melody down. And he's got all those great musicians there in Nashville and he can cut the track. And next thing you know we've got an album."

Nelson said he's never written that way before, but he emphasized that "it's a lot easier. You're free to think or say or write what you want to. And Buddy does the same thing. He's got great instincts, and we seem to be fairly successful together."

Band of Brothers isn't the first time Cannon and Nelson have collaborated. "I had him do some producing for me on a couple albums I did," including recent releases Moment of Forever, Heroes and Let's Face the Music and Dance. "We just became good friends and started having a good time writing and making records."

A lot more here.

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. James Brown - Get On Up Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
No cover versions, no imitators, and no famous singers paying tribute to the Godfather of Soul. This soundtrack to the recent James Brown biopic wisely features only music performed by Brown himself- 5 stars! (5 stars) - Read the full James Brown - Get On Up Original Motion Picture Soundtrack review

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