Day in Pop Report for 08/26/2014
The victim is described by Mountain View Police as a 38 year old black male. The shooter is still at large, with witnesses currently being sought by the police. He is described as a black male in his 20's with short hair between 5'6″ and 5'8″, wearing all black at the time of the shooting and possibly a red baseball cap. Police reports indicate multiple calls about the incident were received at 11:05 p.m. PT on Friday evening from Shoreline Amphitheatre, where Khalifa was performing. More including Khalifa's response here.
Jeezy was arrested this past Sunday (August 24) at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, CA on firearms-related charges during the investigation into the shooting, which occurred backstage after at the "Under the Influence of Music" tour stop in Mountain View, CA. The tour featured Wiz Khalifa, Jeezy, Rich Homie Quan, Ty Dolla $ign and more. The Mountain View Police Department, with the assistance of Irvine PD, executed search warrants at the Verizon Amphitheatre show, according to a statement from police. The operation (which turned up an assault rifle) resulted in the arrests of six people, including Jay "Young Jeezy" Jenkins, Kena Marshall, Peter Maynard, David Kuniansky-Altman, William Gilmore and Alexa Beason. More details here.
Not so, says Aphex Twin, aka Richard D. James, who is currently providing rare interviews in support of his upcoming album, SYRO, due on September 23 via Warp. James spoke to Pitchfork and painted a picture of a less-than-kind team Kanye approaching him about the sample ("Avril 14th" from his album Drukqs), and then cutting him out of the equation. "Is it a sample?" asks James. "I actually don't know what it ended up being in the end, I'm so slack. I know that he tried to f--g rip me off and claim that he'd written it, and they tried to get away with not paying." "I was really helpful, and when they first sent it to me," he continues here.
The double-album will include Eminem's new duet with Sia, "Guts Over Fear" and a collection of the label's greatest hits from 50 Cent, D-12, Obie Trice and, of course, label head Eminem. Stans for Shady Records can rejoice: this is going to be a two-album collection. One for the greatest hits and one album of brand new material. See who will be included in the new material here.
The release came at midnight yesterday morning (August 25), with a Beyonc�-esque lack of advance notice.In a recent interview with Billboard, Tony Yayo explained the pressures that led the group to reconnect. "You get all kinds of industry frustration," he said, "but I'll never let it happen again because I realized the only person that ever helped me in my life is 50 Cent, is Lloyd Banks, is Young Buck." More here.
The slow, dirty track produced by Mike WiLL Made It, is a signature Usher cheating/heartbreaking song. Everything You Can Imagine is due out this fall. The album will feature appearances from Diplo, Skrillex, Juicy J, and Chris Brown as well as the Pharrell-produced and Nicki Minaj guesting "She Came to Give It to You." Listen to the new song here.
As the new song "Clouds" played in the background, guitarist Donna Grantis said, "The big announcement is that Prince will be releasing new music very soon." That seemed a bit vague, but happily, drummer Hannah Ford elaborated, saying that "It's going to be a double surprise. There's going to be two albums released, one of them is a Prince solo album called Art Official Age, and the second one is the album we play on, called PlectumElectrum." They are both scheduled for release on Sept. 30 and available for pre-order today. The two albums are Prince's first new full-length releases since 2010, when he dropped the appropriately titled 20Ten. He has, though, released singles since then, including "Rock and Roll Love Affair" and his collaboration with Zooey Deschanel, "Fallinlove2nite." Also noteworthy is that these two albums will be Prince's first releases on Warner Brothers since 1996's Chaos and Disorder. More details here.
Instead, she nudged along a man who was sitting next to her, "Jesse," who, beside an incredibly nervous Fallon, accepted the award "on behalf of the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in the United States, who are starving, lost, and scared for their lives right now." He went on, "I know this because I am one of these people." With Cyrus watching along in tears from the audience, Jesse, who represents My Friend's Place, told the audience and millions watching to check out Cyrus' Facebook page, which had this message: "Help me raise awareness and funds to end youth homelessness! This is just the beginning for me, but we're going to get started now by focusing on My Friend's Place, a homeless center for young people in Hollywood. "You can support the cause by making a donation here: www.prizeo.com/miley! For every $5 donation, you'll be entered to win a trip for 2 to Brazil to hang out with me at my show in Rio de Janeiro on Sept 28th. You'll get the full VIP experience, including 2 of the best seats in the house. #MyFriendsPlace #VMAs2014" Watch the speech here.
Her live show, where she is backed by an 11-piece band that includes a trumpet, tenor sax, bari sax, and trombone-not to mention a trio of back-up singers-is bringing the sounds of the '50s and '60s to the stage, as heard on her most recent album, Everlasting. "We've worked hard to put together a show that is visually entertaining as well as very rich musically," McBride stated in a release. "There's so much for the audience to see and experience. I feel like this show really takes the audience on a musical journey. The songs from Everlasting and my hits blend seamlessly together throughout the night." One of the songs featured on her album and tour is the emotional "If You Don't Know Me By Now" by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. In an interview with Radio.com, McBride explained that she didn't think the song would hit her the way it did when she recorded it. "I had heard that song my whole life but when you actually sing it and interpret it�I didn't realize," she told Radio.com. "For me, it had a sad meaning. The original version is a little more angry and intense. When I was singing it I just felt that it was really sad. These people had been together a long time. That song surprised me with the emotion when I sang it." Check out the entire list of dates for McBride's tour here.
In the Hannah Lux Davis-directed video, which premiered right after the ladies left the MTV VMAs stage, Jessie J struts into town with her hot pink Beats headphones, riling up all the men with her rather forward requests. Grande keeps things naughty in her bedroom, while Minaj helicopters in with a few dancers to plug her flavored Moscato. All three meet up later on top of a roof to let every man know they'll be the bad girl to blow their mind. More here.
It's a big deal. Not since Garth Brooks created his soul-patched alter-ego Chris Gaines back in 1999 has a major country artist stepped away from the genre as deliberately as Swift has done with "Shake It Off." So, what does it mean now that Swift will be releasing her first "documented, official pop album"? When Jeff Kapugi, VP of Programming for CBS Country, and Program Director for WUSN in Chicago (a CBS Radio station), first heard "Shake It Off" he thought it was a smash - just not for country radio. While some country stations have been playing the song, he said the country airplay will die down. "The majority of [country] stations that played it [did so] just once, and that was during the live stream," Kapugi said, referring to Monday's online event where Swift announced the single and her upcoming album 1989. "There were ones that played it during that, and after that was over when the song was officially released, but it doesn't appear that there are a bunch of country stations that have it in active rotation right now." For pop radio, however, the rotation is much more frequent. "This song has pretty much gone into a power rotation on almost every radio station," said Michael Martin, SVP of Programing and Music Initiatives at CBS Radio. "It'll range anywhere from 10 spins a day to 17 spins a day." Some on the country side admit they felt left out when they weren't invited to Swift's recent private listening events in New York, and it is evident why: 1989 is a full-fledged pop album, allowing Swift to sit alongside Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande on the pop charts. Though Martin hates to make comparisons, Swift's new song did remind him of another pop star. "When I did hear this song I thought, 'Oh, she is going right after Katy,'" Martin admitted. "It doesn't sound like Katy so I don't want to say that. It sounds like Taylor, but as far as how does it stack up next to these artists, it stacks right there. It is a pure pop-center-sound song. This fits right in." A lot more here.
In addition to revealing the Pain Killer Tour, the four bandmates also dropped their album artwork via Instagram. In an interview last month with Rolling Stone Country, the bandmembers said they instantly knew the album would be titled Pain Killer. "We knew the record was going to be called Pain Killer way on into the process because we love that song," said Karen Fairchild. "That song is really kind of tongue-in-cheek - 'be the person that numbs my pain.' We started talking about tying that thread through the whole record, to ease your pain. Don't we want the whole record to do that for people, anyway? Whether it's a sad moment, or a song that's more thoughtful and has a lot more substance in the lyric, we want music to take us away. Pain Killer fits, that's the common thread through all the songs." See the artwork and tour dates here.
Stephenson has been a star for a long time: he was the highest scorer in New York's high school basketball history. Now, though, he's decided to demonstrate his skills in a new arena, courtesy of the beat that everyone modern American with a mic and a dream has had a go at: "Hot N-a," of course. Clearly someone's been putting his off-season time to good use: Lance proves himself a totally adequate MC, repping his hometown while riffing on Bobby Shmurda's peculiar flow: "I been going hard since like the fifth grade." No word yet on when we can expect to see Stephenson grace the pages of Datpiff. Watch out, Shaq. Listen to the track here.
The video for "Break the Rules" finds Charli and her team of Heather-like girlfriends doing, what else, but making some trouble. The clip is set in a nihilistic present where graffiti and dress code violations are the biggest form of rebellion and young girls have no problem hijacking a school bus, which soon becomes their discotheque. Charli and her bad girl posse take a break to go shopping at a trashy vintage store that looks more like a Frederick's of Hollywood. There are no "Fancy" moments here. Like Cher Horowitz would be caught dead shopping at a vintage shop named "Trashy." As if. Eventually the group end up at a school dance and, no surprise to anyone who watched the Radio.com Style Files with Charli XCX, she's in a magnificent '90s slip dress. Watch the video here.
Bryan is the newest addition to the two-hour show, a live TV special that takes place Sept. 9 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and is scheduled for broadcast on CBS. He joins a previously announced lineup that includes Afrojack, Duran Duran, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Lopez, KISS, MAGIC!, Miranda Lambert, Nico & Vinz, Pitbull, Rita Ora, The Band Perry and Usher. Bryan will become very familiar with Brooklyn's Barclays Center as he'll be back on Sept. 14 for his own headlining performance, after a show Sept. 12 at Madison Square Garden. Both show are part of his massive 2014 That's My Kind of Night Tour. More on this story here.
Finally the whole thing is out, after several small teasers in film trailers. The pair's new duet, "Guts Over Fear," is in the vein of their previous track together "Beautiful Pain". Tweets from Eminem indicate the track might also end up on his forthcoming Shady XV release, due out on Black Friday. He tweeted, "#GutsOverFear ft @Sia is now available on iTunes�stay tuned for more info tomorrow. #SHADYXV smarturl.it/GutsOverFear" Listen to "Guts Over Fear" here.
Once inside, however, the big reveal finds a raging nightclub packed with scantily-clad women and men bumping and grinding to the big-room beats of the pulsating track. The two DJ superstars have been keeping plenty busy on their own, with Garrix recently being crowned as "the fastest-rising star in EDM" by Forbes as part of the media outlet's annual focus on the world's highest-earning DJs. Read more and watch the video here.
On Monday (Aug. 25), Rolling Stone Country premiered the latter, which is available as an instant download tomorrow when pre-ordering the album on iTunes. The slow-burner has Brice lamenting to an old flame who doesn't sound like herself. "I know it's been a while and I don't mean to pry/But when I asked you if you're happy I didn't hear a smile/And that don't sound like you," he sings. Brice cowrote "That Don't Sound Like You" with Rhett Akins and Ashley Gorley. "I wanted to have control over every drumbeat, every lick," Brice said about his new album in a release. "It was a lot of really sitting down and thinking about every little piece that goes into a song. The result is a hybrid of fresh country sounds with a touch of digital flair - beats underlying banjos, pulses over top of piano." Listen here.
The book includes contributions from country music's biggest stars from the 1960s to today, including Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Loretta Lynn, Alabama's Randy Owen, Reba, Blake Shelton, George Strait, and Marty Stuart. There is also commentary from Kenny Chesney, Merle Haggard, Faith Hill, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and many more. This Is Country: A Backstage Pass to the Academy of Country Music Awards includes backstage and performance photos as well as behind-the-scenes stories and firsthand accounts from artists. More including the cover art here.
Since then, some things have changed, and some have stayed the same. Both rappers have become fashionable accoutrements for successful artists: Lil Herb featured on Nicki Minaj's "Chi-Raq," lending local weight to an outsider's perspective. Bibby, meanwhile, has become something of a protege of Juicy J's, with a verse on the Three 6 Mafia MC's soon-to-be-smash "Low" with Minaj and Young Thug. Now Lil Bibby has tapped Juicy J for a verse on "For The Low Pt. 2," which also features Wiz Khalifa. Produced by Goose, the hard-edged cut allows Bibby to solidify his trap bona-fides while expanding his vision to a widescreen panorama. Listen to the track here.
To be honest, "Near You" kind of wrote itself. One early New Year's Day morning, the words came pouring out. The song was done within fifteen minutes. I wrote "Near You" for my fiancee Lauren (now my wife) not long after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Throughout her mother's treatment, I just tried to be there for Lauren however I could be. Lauren and her mother were both so strong it was amazing. But when her mother's chemotherapy started, it was devastating. Anyone who experiences cancer through a loved one knows how unforgiving chemotherapy is on the body. It's a poison medicine that treats a poison condition. A fire to fight fire with. The stress of seeing Lauren's mother undergoing those chemo treatments was incredibly difficult. It killer Lauren to see her mother like that. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. I tried to reassure her; to tell her everything would be alright. Ultimately, I wanted to make Lauren feel better. But I couldn't make her feel better. The only thing that would make her feel better would be to annihilate her mother's cancer. But I couldn't do that. We could only hope and pray the grueling schedule of chemo would do as much. So I wrote "Near You." Quite simply, it's a song about compassion: about spending time with some one you love when he or she needs you. It's about being there for someone you love. Sometimes there are no right words. You just have to be there. So that's what I kept doing. I helped Lauren however I could. Most of the time I didn't know what to say, most of the time, I couldn't make anything better. But I could be there. The song truly was a gift for me. It reassured me to just be there for Lauren. And, thankfully, Lauren's mother finished chemo in a few months and her cancer is now in remission. Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about Ryan and the upcoming album right here!
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