Day in Pop Report for 12/17/2014
The 22-year-old rapper, who appeared in the Weeknd's "King of the Fall" video four months ago, was arrested on these charges after a 21-year-old stripper alleged to police that she was assaulted and forced into the sex trade by Bissue, as VICE reports. Bissue is currently awaiting his trail from jail, where he'll face charges that include trafficking, making death threats and causing bodily harm, resisting police by choking, weapons, robbery and theft. It is believed that there are more victims. The investigation, which began on Dec. 11, is all the more shocking to process given that Bissue's rap crew operates under the name Get Home Safe. It was until this morning, when the story spread, that Bissue removed a mention of being a part of the Weeknd's XO crew on his Twitter bio--it still says he belongs to GHS, however. Derek Wise's manager Quincy Nanatakyi has issued a statement to VICE denying all of the allegations, and accusing the victim of being "mentally unstable." Read the statement here.
According to Billboard, Juhasz, known as Mitsou, claims Beyonce's track samples a song she recorded with her folk band Ando Drom in 1995 called "Bajba, Bajba Pelem" off the album, Kaj Phirel o Del? That album was later released in the United States in 1997 as Gypsy Life on the Road. In the Manhattan civil case, Mitsou is reportedly seeking unspecified damages, but is also demanding an end to distribution of the song. Listen to "Bajba, Bajba Pelem" and "Drunk In Love" here.
The track, which Lamar told the host was "untitled," has a beat poet feel with the Cali rapper starting off by talking about a snapping girl, only to have his backup singer start to actually snap. "You know what girl, you crazy," Lamar said, before launching into verses about religion, real estate and cash flow. "Hit the bank withdrawal," Lamar repeats. With a little help from Thundercat on bass, Bilal on backup vocals and a saxophonist, Lamar gets a little avant garde repeating, "I shall enjoy the fruits of my labor if I get free today." Read more and watch the performance here.
While the move would hardly turn a head in the rock world, in the traditionally more conservative country landscape, he's predictably seeing a bit of a backlash. As reported by Saving Country Music, some fans are voicing their disapproval. 'From one of the biggest music lovers: Eric Church, you have some great songs and I have been around since your 'Workplay' days, however your concert in Bham tonight was disheartening," said concertgoer Allyson Protho. 'A ginormous Satan'. No thank you' Children were at that concert' That should be enough said right there."� The article notes that the devil is "wearing a 'Nashville' belt buckle made of an upside down pentagram, symbolizing the greed and malfeasance of the country music business and Music Row." Is this hypocrisy on the part of Church or simply a playful, grand gesture? Is he not appropriate for children? Or is he just another example of country music being not as far from mainstream rock and pop norms than we once thought? See the devilish prop in action in the video here.
Young Money president Mack Maine announced in a recent interview that Weezy was nearly done with Carter V, and would be releasing a 'special project for the people," separate from whatever shape Carter V will take. A Young Money affiliate also posted an Instagram which spurred rumors: a photo of Weezy in the studio, captioned 'Sorry 4 The Wait 2" followed by the 'soon" emoji. All this comes in the aftermath of the still-unresolved issue of Wayne's recent tweets, in which he lashed out at Birdman and Cash Money for holding on to his forthcoming record. See the posts here.
On Tuesday night at midnight Ludacris released the culmination of this campaign--a six-song EP entitled 'Burning Bridges' featuring a broad array of big-name guests. Miguel lends his pipes to the single 'Good Lovin'," and Rick Ross, CeeLo Green, John Legend and country singer Jason Aldean all stop by as well. Read more and grab the free download link here.
For Free the Nipple, the Lina Esco-directed film about the movement to legalize toplessness across the country, Cyrus has covered Melanie Safka's 1971 "Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma," a political song penned about the singer's performance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. She does the original justice too, nailing all of Safka's higher pitched lines, and lending the song a warmness that sounds vintage. According to Safka, it only took two takes for Cyrus to get the cover just right. Read more here.
Her new duties will include starring in ads for the brand and designing her own line of athleisure wear, which will followup her past collections for River Island. Rihanna took to her favorite platform to announce the partnership, Instagram, where she posted pics of herself signing the contract in a winter white ensemble that might be the first look at her collection. If so, expect Rihanna to be creating Puma creepers like the pair she posted. Her sweatpants could also be from her first collection since Puma announced that her offerings will include workout clothes as well as shoes. Check out the photos here.
The band announced via their Twitter last night that their new album is called Smoke + Mirrors, and it'll be out Feb. 17 via KIDinaKORNER and Interscope. Imagine Dragons put together a little scavenger hunt of sorts; after revealing the album's name, they noted that 02/17/15 was "more than just a release date." Eventually, it was determined that visiting the website 021715.com allows one to hear another brand new song, "Gold." Smoke + Mirrors was recorded in the band's home studio, which they built themselves. Currently, the album is available for preorder, with those who order now getting free downloads of "Gold" and lead single "I Bet My Life." Read more here.
But when she returns, the man is gone. All that's left is a postcard that reads, "Had to go." Though this could easily be the setup for a suspense or horror flick (remember The Vanishing?), it's actually not as ominous as the scenario might imply. It's a song about drifting, and that's just what the guy here does: drift away. The woman? She doesn't scream or even cry. She apparently knew what she was getting into with this dude (or so we hope--she can't be that much of a pushover), so she takes it in stride. She even smiles when she sees the postcard, answering his message by mumbling out loud, "I know." The song then finally kicks in, showing the guy, pack on his back, walking away down a lonely desert road; the desert shots (which later move to the mountains, showing big trees and waterfalls) are interspersed with clips of the three Band Perry siblings play the song live inside what looks like a vintage theater. The outdoor scenery shifts from the desert to the mountains, showing our now bearded antihero frolicking among big trees and waterfalls, while at the same time thinking back to the woman he left behind. Read more and watch the video here.
In the new song, Radke exposes his hope of being recognized and forgiven by the man behind the pearly gates and coming to grips that his ultimate home may be one reigned by a horned dude with a long red tail. "God cannot save my soul / It's straight to hell for me I know / And when I get there / At least I found a place to call my home". "God, If You Are Above�" is a return to the band's straightforward rock roots with their signature guitar licks and sing-along choruses, unlike the dance beat-oriented direction the band took with Fashionably Late that earned them a healthy dose of hate from critics. Check out the song here.
The group announced their joint mixtape, fittingly dubbed Shmigo Gang, on Twitter, posting the artwork and tagging Rich the Kid, Rowdy Rebel, Migo Domingo, who are also involved. It's the perfect ending to a year where both young upstarts had a breakthrough. Migos became "better than the Beatles," released a whole lot of music, and scored a magazine cover with The Fader, while Bobby Shmurda transcended Vine with his Shmoney Dance, released his debut major label EP Shmurda She Wrote and climbed the charts all the way into the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 with his debut single. Read more here.
We joke, but the string section recording is about as far from hard rock as you'd expect Muse to go, but that doesn't mean that recording with an orchestra is indicative of the new Muse album as a whole. The video was posted with the caption "Milan strings." At this point, Muse have been recording the band's seventh album for two-and-a-half months and are reportedly working with the legendary Robert John "Mutt" Lange. And while recording could conceivably continue indefinitely, the adding of strings onto a song shows significant process in their recording and could indicate that the next Muse album will be available sooner rather than later. Watch the video here.
The role and art that created it all comes from a very personal place for Sting, as he sought inspiration in the creation from Wallsend, a famous shipbuilding town in North East England, where he is from. 'It is a joyous celebration of my community," Sting said. "I was born and raised in that community. If things hadn't gone the way they did, I might have ended up working in a shipyard. 'Most of my life has been leading up to this point'" he concluded, "to really understand where I come from and why I think the way I do, why I behave the way I do. The answers are really in the first 15 years of your life." See the full interview here.
Yes, in a recent photo, pop stars Demi Lovato, Sam Smith, Olly Murs, and One Direction's Niall Horan all posed in the same sweater, a custom designed garb from Target + TOMS: One For One collaboration. It's easy to miss the adorable ginger bread men or the sleds when you are lost in the fact that four people are literally wearing the same sweater. See it in all its undeniable glory below. Also, how tiny is Demi Lovato?! Or, how huge is Sam Smith!? This sweater is sadly not for sale, so you will have to be original at your own ugly sweater party. Just go to Goodwill. The selection is superb. Read more here.
OK, technically they weren't real clowns. They were decorations atop the garbage cans at a once well-known hot dog stand in Nashville called Houndogs. Chesney once worked at Houndogs when he was first gaining attention as a musician--as did numerous other country artists and songwriters, including Tim McGraw in his pre-"Indian Outlaw" days. Houndogs was an infamous fast-food stand owned by a guy named Flash Flanagan that used to be located on Music Row. It was a popular stop for visitors to Nashville, including not just fans but celebrities and even presidents. Many musicians played there for tips, too, on a small stage out front that according to country singer Jerry Mac (who's dubbed "The Number One George Jones Celebrity Impersonator in the Country") was "crudely built" and "about 5′ x 5′ in size." The singers attracted listeners, who in turn bought hot dogs. Chesney was once one of these singers. But his tenure didn't last long, thanks to the aforementioned clowns. Read more here.
The ambient instrumental, produced by his longtime collaborator DJ Mustard, doesn't prevent YG from going in with full force. The video finds him rocking a fedora and dancing his heart out in front of a long red screen, spinning and jumping in time with the piano chords. The whole affair is reminiscent of Michael Jackson--it's not a look we're used to from YG, but he wears it well. Slowly the video pans back to reveal DJ Mustard sitting in a cozy spinning chair in the foreground, letting fistfuls of money fly skyward with each rotation. It's an arresting unusual video for an arresting, unusual song. Watch it here.
"You've seen ex-covert operative Bryan Mills take down his enemies with his particular set of skills. Now he'd like to create a one-of-a-kind video to tell the world about your skills," explains the studio in a release. Entrants will be judged on the uniqueness of their LinkedIn profile. Meaning, you better post that you're a kick-ass omelette chef, not just a short-order cook if you're planning to enter. Any U.S. resident 18 or older who follows the official Taken 3 page on LinkedIn will automatically be entered. The winner will be 'based on their fit with Bryan Mills and his Security International team," says Neeson in the video above. Read more here.
With the upcoming spring release of my new EP "Hello," I wanted to share a bit of background about the first single "Tongue Tied," which is my take on falling in love for the first time. The song came together very organically! It started with me casually singing "you got me all tongue tied," and the rest of the song evolved from there! Inspiration is such an unquantifiable experience, so when it hits, I try not to get caught up in other things. I wasn't necessarily thinking of someone in particular when I wrote this song, but I drew inspiration from my own personal experiences and from the stories of others I've heard and read about. My favorite lyric in "Tongue Tied" is, "But you can't just fight it inside when it just feels right." I love that lyric because� well, it just feels right! You can't stop your heart from feeling a certain way, you just have to go with it. As many can relate, when you fall in love, you really open yourself up to another person. You feel the waves of giddiness and invincibility by taking that leap of faith. The upcoming EP "Hello" will feature more songs like "Tongue Tied," it's a true representation of where I am at in my life, a happy place. I want my music to capture that feeling so I can share it with the world. My hope is to inspire, entertain and motivate others to be themselves and to find what makes them happy in life. Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself here and learn more about the Andy and her new EP right here!
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