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Day in Pop Report for 11/12/2014


Sugarhill Gang's Big Bank Hank Dead At 57
(Radio.com) Henry Jackson, best known as Big Bank Hank from the pioneering rap group Sugarhill Gang, has died. He was 57. News of the rapper's death broke via TMZ on Tuesday (Nov. 11); it was reported that he died early Tuesday morning in New York City. Jackson had reportedly been ailing from cancer.

The Bronx-born Hank was one third of the Sugarhill Gang, which released the song "Rapper's Delight" in 1979. Along with being considered one of the top songs in the genre of all time, it's also considered by many as the track that helped popularize hip-hop across the United States - even entered into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2011 for its historical significance. Jackson was only 22 years old at the time of its recording and release.

"Rapper's Delight" was also the first hip-hop song to find its way into the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at No. 36 in 1980. Read more here.

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Trey Songz, Chris Brown and Tyga Announce Tour
Trey Songz has announced that he is teaming up with Chris Brown early next year to launch their Between The Sheets North American tour that will also feature support from Tyga.

The 25-date tour is scheduled to kick off on January 27th at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va. and will conclude on March 8th at the Forum outside Los Angeles.

Trey Songz will be hitting the road in support of his latest album, "Trigga", which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 when it was released back in July of this year.

Chris Brown will be embarking on the tour in support of his latest album, "X," which was released back in September and Tyga will be supporting the forthcoming album, "The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty", that is expected to be released before the end of the year. Check out the dates here.

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U2 May Unplug
(Radio.com) On the heels on announcing their appearance at the 25th annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas, there is a chance that U2 might be taking the "acoustic" idea seriously, claiming Rick Rubin challenged them to strip down their sound.

"With the U2 sound and Edge's guitar rig, there's sort of orchestration that comes with our songs, and Rick was saying 'What would it be like to just hear things just raw?' Bono said in an interview with KROQ (a Radio.com station) morning show hosts Kevin & Bean.

"So when we put out this album with iTunes, we also put out an album, a physical release where we have acoustic versions of those songs and some people prefer them, which is interesting. And we've been going around the world playing them and we're going to play certainly a few."

That doesn't mean the KROQ ACC appearance will lack the typical U2 fire. "We might turn up the heat a little because you're in the Forum now this Christmas with your birthday party," Bono said here.

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Taylor Swift Releases New Interactive App
(Radio.com) As far as this year's campaigns go, Taylor Swift is unstoppable. On her 1989 run, she's become the first artist to sell a million records in 2014, she's withheld from streaming services, and now she's developed an app.

Released today, it's a visual companion to her recently dropped video for "Blank Space" that allows you to experience a breakup with Swift firsthand - sort of. It places you right in the scene where Swift flips out on her ex, allowing the viewer to navigate the video set, 360-degrees.

All you have to do is tap on your screen to move around Swift's manor. The "American Express Unstaged Taylor Swift Blank Space Experience App" doesn't just let you follow Swift's rocky breakup, it also allows you to explore her dwellings, play with things in the mansion, and even follow the house's butler and gardener in real-time as the video plays on. Read more here.

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Justin Bieber and Cody Simpson Release New Song
(Radio.com) Justin Bieber and Cody Simpson have been teasing a collaboration all year, saying it would come out by year's end and, alas, they are not liars. The collab has dropped and it is just as swoon-worthy as would be expected

Titled "Home to Mama," the track saw its premiere come via a new app, called Fahlo. The song is instantly relatable, for anyone that has met a love and wanted them to come to their place of residence (or their childhood abode) and meet the family, particularly the woman to which all other women are forever compared.

The track is spare, with slight electric guitar noodling, and a whole bunch of emotion-filled declarations of love and affection. It's, in fact, exactly everything a collaboration between Justin Bieber and Cody Simpson should be.

"Home to Mama" is now expected to be a part of a Bieber/Simpson duet LP, anticipated for the not-to-distant future. Listen to the new track here.

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Kenny Chesney Adds Jake Owen, Cole Swindell, Chase Rice To Tour
(Radio.com) Each week, more and more artists are getting added to Kenny Chesney's blockbuster Big Revival tour - and this week brings even more. Chesney announced Tuesday that Cole Swindell, Jake Owen and Chase Rice will join him for select dates on the tour.

Swindell, Owen and Rice join already-announced guests in Jason Aldean, who will combine with Chesney during his Burn It Down tour, Brantley Gilbert and Eric Church.

Currently, Swindell will join Chesney for the largest bulk of the tour, appearing at 12 shows from May to August. Rice will play four shows from May to July, while Owen is only scheduled for one: May 2 at Levi's Stadium in San Francisco.

Chesney's goal with bringing the trio on tour is to highlight musicians he believes in as artists. "When I came to town, I was a writer, trying to get my songs cut - and playing on a stool down on Lower Broadway," Chesney said in a press statement. "I didn't have nearly the success Cole and Chase are enjoying right now, but I know the difference getting your music in front of an audience makes. For both of these guys, who have a lot of energy and a real way of grabbing people, I think it's the perfect way to get the audience fired up for the show."

Read more and check out the dates here.

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Usher Offering New Song In Unusual Way
(Radio.com) Cereal boxes have long been a source of toys for kids. Now it looks the rest of the family will have a reason to expect some surprises with their breakfast. Usher will release a new song through an unusual format: it will be a prize at the bottom of select cereal boxes, Billboard reports.

Beginning Tuesday, consumers will be able to download a new song with a code found only in certain specially marked Honey Nut Cheerios boxes sold at Walmart stores across America.

The track in question, titled "Clueless," is just one more part of the extended promotional rollout for UR, Usher's long-awaited ninth studio album - though so little is known about it that it's unclear if the album will even be called UR. So far he's released several songs and kicked off a tour in support of the project.

Read more here.

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Tyga Misses Performance Due To Police Stop
(Radio.com) Tyga might have just set a new record, at least in rap, for the mildest run-in with the law. Monday night while apparently rushing to get to a party at the House of Blues in L.A. where his future tourmates Chris Brown and Trey Songz were waiting to announce their upcoming Between the Sheets shows, the rapper was pulled over, having been driving too fast in his white Bentley.

School police stopped him at approximately 4:30 p.m. for unsafe lane changes and unsafe speed, according to E! News. Tyga was written up for those violations before he was released by the school police and the LAPD, who assisted. His bodyguard, however, was taken into custody for a weapons violation.

When he arrived at the House of Blues, Tyga had missed his performance but made it in time to do a few interviews and apparently laughed off his citation. Read more here.

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Luke Bryan Leads American Country Countdown Awards Nominations
(Radio.com) Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line lead the list of nominations for the first-ever American Country Countdown Awards, which airs Monday, Dec. 15 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX..

Bryan leads the pack with seven nominations, including Artist of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year. Florida Georgia Line earned six nominations, including Artist of the Year and Group/Duo of the Year.

Jason Aldean earned four nominations, while Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert each earned three. Florida Georgia Line have also been tapped to host the event.

The two-hour program is produced by dick clark productions and will also feature live performances by Bryan, Lambert and Florida Georgia Line. Additional performers are expected to be announced soon.

See the full list of nominees here.

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Sam Hunt Launching Lipstick Graffiti Tour
(Radio.com) After reaching No. 1 on the country charts this month with his debut single "Leave the Night On," country newcomer Sam Hunt is hitting the road. The Cedartown, Ga., singer and songwriter will headline his very own Lipstick Graffiti Tour, which kicks off Jan. 29 at the Troubadour in West Hollywood.

Dates are scheduled so far through early April, with additional shows yet to be announced. Currently, the final scheduled show is April 4 in Milwaukee, Wis., at The Rave.

Written by Hunt, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, "Leave the Night On" is the lead single off Hunt's debut album Montevallo, which he released in late October . While very much a newcomer, Hunt's single has captivated fans with its bright, genre-blurring sound and achieved impressive sales returns, too, already earning platinum status.

As Hunt told Radio.com in a recent interview, Montevallo took an honest look at the last two years of his life. One song, "Single for the Summer," was so honest that Hunt almost didn't record it, afraid people would mix him up with the unlikeable character of the song. Read what he had to say and check out the tour dates here.

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Ghostface Killah Announces Album and Reveals New Song
(Radio.com) In case you haven't heard, Wu-Tang Clan is making their comeback. In December, the reunited collective will release their 20th anniversary album, A Better Tomorrow - and, now, Ghostface Killah has just announced he'll be coming back in a big way on a new album, 36 Seasons.

The release, which will mark Ghostface's 11th studio album, is going to be more conceptual than the rapper's last effort, 2013's Twelve Reasons to Die. Ghostface will be taking on a new persona, a "Staten Island vigilante," according to a press release, who is "inspired by a quest for personal retribution and bent on saving his community from the grips of crooked authority and urban decay."

It seems pretty gory by the looks of the dark gas mask-wearing hooded figure on the album art. Pharoahe Monch, Kool G Rap, The Revelations, AZ, and more will all be making appearances in Ghostface's thrilling new world.

He's already shared the first sneak peek of it, "Love Don't Live Here No More." Listen to it here.

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LL Cool J, Mary J. Blige Added To A Very Grammy Christmas
(Radio.com) A Very Grammy Christmas adds two new faces to brighten the holiday extravaganza. LL Cool J will host the TV special, and Mary J. Blige has been added as a performer.

Blige is a smooth fit, as her new album The London Sessions will be out on the Tuesday preceding the show's Dec. 5 airing. The R&B diva released a holiday album, A Mary Christmas, in 2013.

Blige joins previously announced performers Ariana Grande, three-time winner Tim McGraw and Pharrell, who has seven awards. In addition to performances by all these artists, the GRAMMY Album of the Year nominees will be announced during the telecast. Read more here.

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Deadmau5 Reveals 5 Years of Mau5 Details
(Radio.com) Later this month, Deadmau5 will celebrate a half decade of music with 5 Years of mau5, a double album including tracks spanning his career. Over the weekend the tracklist for the project was unveiled.

The first half of the two-disc release will feature a number of Deadmau5's bigger songs, including "Ghosts N Stuff," "Raise Your Weapon" and more - ten songs in all.

Meanwhile, on the second disc, remixes of many of those songs pop up, with contributions from Dillon Francis, Nero and more. A handful of exclusives via iTunes, Beatport and Spotify will also be available.

The compilation follows the release of his new album while(1<2), which as released in June. 5 Years of mau5 is due out Nov. 24. Check out the tracklisting details here.

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Rodney Jerkins Wants Ariana Grande & Jessie J Remake 'The Boy Is Mine'
(Radio.com) You can't talk about R&B without discussing the work of Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, the producer behind some of the genre's biggest hits ever; Destiny's Child, Brandy and the like continually graced his studios in the '90s.

Now he's looking to commemorate his two decade-long career with a box set of re-releases and remakes of his originals, and he's looking towards the biggest stars of today to do so, he revealed in an interview with Hits Daily Double.

In particular, Ariana Grande and Jessie J are rumored to be recording a new version of "The Boy Is Mine," the classic anthem of jealousy between friends by Brandy and Monica. Jerkins wrote and produced the single in 1998, when it appeared on Monica's album of the same name.

Jerkins also has another big name in mind for another track originally by Whitney Houston, find out who here.

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Yo Gotti Goes All Out On 11:11 Theme For New Song Release
(Radio.com) Yo Gotti has been making major waves in recent weeks, first with the remix to his smash "Errbody" featuring Lil Wayne and Ludacris and more recently with "I Feel Like," featuring Boosie Badazz.

Today he released a new song: "11/11," which, fittingly, came out at 11:11 a.m. Produced by Infamous, the song features a sparkling instrumental, the sound of bubbling champagne or falling coins.

Yo Gotti embraces the jubilant mood, bragging about the "art galore" in his extravagant house, and the athletic contortions of his ride-or-die chick. He switches flows, between a free-wheeling triplicate stream and measured, wordplay heavy bars.

After the first chorus Gotti switches into an extended play on the word "master," describing the "master key" he has for his girl's sexuality and his "master chef" ability to prepare and distribute drugs.

Read more and listen to the track here.

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Rihanna Makes Surprise Appearance At Miyake Mugler Ball
(Radio.com) The stage of the Miyake Mugler Ball, held Sunday night (Nov. 9) in Astoria, Queens, is usually reserved for fashion forward costumes worn by dancers voguing their hearts out.

But this year, one particular pop diamond took a turn on the stage, by demand. Rihanna made a surprise appearance at the event, and, when the crowd insisted by chanting her name, she took a turn of her own on the stage.

She would post a video to Instagram, saying, "When they shout you out at a #MuglerBall it pretty much means'Get yo black a** on this stage NOW!!'" FKA Twigs also took to the stage and gave a little more to the crowd with her modern vogue, twisting her hands and body to the point of collapse - miles away from the voguing you remember from the Madonna days of the early '90s.

Watch it here.

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Chance the Rapper Receives Youth of the Year Award In Chicago
(Radio.com) Chance the Rapper has received an award from none other than the city of Chicago. He was given a plaque by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, which proclaimed him the Outstanding Youth of the Year, Complex reports.

"For your outstanding contributions to the youth of Illinois," the plaque read. "You have given of yourself to the upward mobility of young people throughout the state of Illinois."

Chance took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the honor. "The plaque is awarded to those who earned it based on youth leadership and an ear for the common issues that plague young Chicagoans," he wrote in a caption of a photo of him and the 100 teens who decided the award winner. Read more here.

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Daft Punk Plan Alive Reissues On Vinyl
(Radio.com) Daft Punk concerts have become the holy grail of electronic music shows, thanks to the duo's career-defining performance at Coachella 2006 and followed by the now-legendary "Alive 2006/2007″ tour, which left dazzled audiences in its wake over the course of just a mere 13 shows across North America.

That jaunt was captured on live album Alive 2007, which we now know will get be released on vinyl for the first time, along with a vinyl reissue of the band's first live collection, Alive 1997. The wax reissues will be sold both separately and in a limited box set containing both releases (via Modern Vinyl).

The box set will contain a clutch of collectible goodies, including a 52-page booklet of photos from the '06/'07 tour and the music being pressed on white vinyl. Read more here.

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Singled Out: Roxanna's Here With Me
Today Canadian music star Roxanna tells us about her new single "Here With Me," which features soap star James Scott in the upcoming video and is the prequel to their previous hit video together "Unforgotten". Here is the story:

The hit single, off of my debut album, Exotica is "Here With Me," a story about the love between my mother and father. When my father first met my mother, he presented her with rose and a beautiful poetry book written in Farsi. She bookmarked all of her favorite poems that he wrote for her in the book. When my mother passed away, I inherited the poetry book and the first bookmarked page I opened was this song, "Here With Me".

At this time, I had an amazing opportunity to work with Chris Botti. I always loved Chris Botti. I was on a very bad date in 2008 and his song, "My Romance," came on I fell in love with his music-- it's what got me through the date, ha! I knew then that I had to collaborate with him. When I began writing "Here With Me," I translated the poem from Farsi to English, made a few alterations and I could already hear the smokey jazz sound, the romantic trumpet, it was everything Chris is fantastic at creating. The song soon became this beautiful piece of art, and the first of many collaborations with Chris.

In addition to narrating my parents' love, it also speaks to my own experiences with falling in love, and because they are real life experiences I think it feels even more powerful. This is why I decided to make a music video for this song. I knew I wanted something classy and romantic and James Scott (soap heartthrob) was the perfect fit. I met with James and he immediately loved my sound and the meaning behind the song. We brought in director, Samuel Gonzales Jr. who was really able to bring life to my vision. I truly tried to embody my mother, wearing the classic, chic, style as she used to, dancing with same passion she used to, I wanted to convey her relationship with my father, her yearning for the deepest possible love. Their relationship has inspired mine, because of them I know what it means to find your soul mate, and that is what "Here With Me," is really about.

I hope whoever listens to the song and watches the video understands it is a narration of honest, true love.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself as you check out a preview for the upcoming video here and learn more about Roxanna and her album "Exotica" right here!

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