Day in Pop Report for 01/09/2015
The clip for her newest single off 2014's 1000 Forms of Fear features the young "Chandelier" dancer Maddie Ziegler and fellow plastic bag wearing actor Shia LaBeouf facing off in a dance war. But, given the age difference some felt their interactions in the video were inappropriate, posting tweets that referenced the video's "creepy pedophilia tones." The thing is, Sia wasn't that surprised to hear people were discussing the tone of the video. Wednesday night she even tweeted, "I anticipated some 'pedophelia!!!' Cries for this video. All I can say is Maddie and Shia are two of the only actors I felt could play." While some may have been confused by the video's storyline, Sia explains that the two are meant to be "warring 'sia' self states." But even though Sia is clearing trying to explain that this video was an art piece, she doesn't harp on it. Read her comments here.
"She's doing her thing," Lamar told Billboard in their publication's latest cover story featuring the L.A. rapper. "Let her. People have to go through trials and tribulations to get where they at. Do your thing, continue to rock it, because obviously God wants you here." Lamar seemed relatively zen about most things rap (interesting considering he called out everybody in hip-hop on his "Control" verse). "I appreciate [the Grammys] recognizing me," Lamar said about his loss to Macklemore. "That's not my overall goal� It's best to just go and enjoy the festivities." Read more here.
According to The Boot, the eight-episode mini-series was directed by Mikael Salomon (Band of Brothers) and was written by Michael Frost Beckner. 'A good friend of ours [Beckner] who wrote the episode that we were in of CSI, it's taken him, like, 15 years to write this Civil War mini-series called To Appomattox," Jay DeMarcus said. " It's sort of like Band of Brothers for the Civil War: It follows the same group of guys around from the beginning of the American Civil War to the end." DeMarcus will appear in four episodes of the series as well as take part in scoring the music. Read more here.
Now both are together on their own song. Charli's new album Sucker features the song "Doing It," but on the album it's nothing more than a solo track. However, the singer's released a new remix of the song--and Ora's along for the ride this time. Ora joins up in the second verse, taking over for Charli to give her a little breather. Otherwise, fans of the original shouldn't fret too much--it's pretty much the same track. Listen here.
The clip, shared ahead of the Friday premiere, finds Rachel, set up in the beginning by an appearance from Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), crooning the rafters-reaching song while walking through her school, doors and lockers swinging open, papers whirling about as though by sudden gusts of wind. Eventually, Michele is found as she is in the promo: singing on stage, having changed into a grayish dress. The sixth and final season of Glee first airs Jan. 9 on FOX, with an air date of Fridays at 9 p.m. ET. The two-hour finale will air March 20. Watch the video here.
He's not slowing down anytime soon, either. In an interview at CES this week, he revealed that he's already at work on a new album, and he's doing it with Willie Nelson's sons, Rolling Stone reports. "I'm working on another album now that I'm going to do be doing with Willie Nelson's sons," he said, before suggesting he would title it The Monsanto Years--"It's an upbeat review of the situation." However, he didn't reveal how far along he was on the album, nor a timeframe for its release. But even so, it doesn't look like Young's creative output will dry up with the new album, or likely any coming in the future. More specifically, the rocker just doesn't know at all what it holds. Read more here.
The project will come out in mid-March--produced front-to-back by Pharrell Williams, it will be released on Pharrell's i am OTHER label and Columbia Records. This is Snoop's first album since 7 Days Of Funk, his collaboration with Dam-Funk released under his Snoopzilla nickname. Based on the guests Snoop announced for Bush, it doesn't seem like this one will be any less funky--Stevie Wonder and Charlie Wilson are both set to feature. Read more here.
Makonnen's lyrics also reference Bay Area slang--he raps about making 'a b-- go dumb" on the chorus. His loose phrasing and off-the-cuff imagery has always displayed the clear influence of his idol Lil B--never has that been more apparent than here, where he strings together thoughts based more on word association than coherent narrative. 'Out here moving all day like Maxi Pads, when the b**ches getting periods/ I'm the hottest in the town that's period," he raps. Makonnen had a huge 2014, with his songs blowing up through pure DIY word-of-mouth and a good ol' fashioned celebrity co-sign. 'Super Clean" is a strong sign that he's not toning down his inherent weirdness and unique perspective in the new year. Listen to the new track here.
He is, obviously, Wiz Khalifa, and you're watching his latest video, for the song 'Raw" off his recent album Blacc Hollywood. The video comes with an epilepsy warning, and it's not to be taken lightly: director Gerard Victor pulled no punches when it comes to flashing lights, turning otherwise pedestrian concert footage into a nightmarish environment. It's not for the faint of heart, either. 'How can anyone actually watch this? its literally impossible," remarks a concerned Youtube commenter. Near the end a mysterious girl peers directly at the camera through the murk. Think Fritz Lang's Metropolis meets Datpiff, through a MacBook Photobooth filter. Let's call this what it is: far-reaching and moderately successful abstract video art, with a tangential connection to a famous stoner rapper. 2015 is looking up. Watch it here.
The Queens-bred chef-cum-rapper has tapped Drake's right hand man Noah '40" Shebib for production, which marks a left turn away from his usual soul-sampling fare toward chilly electronics. The lyrics are classic Bronson, though--Action's 'eating oysters" while the cops are chasing him 'in the all white Ford." It's a suave mix of lunacy and bravado: 'I'm feelin' so alive, I think I s- myself," he memorably raps. Read more here.
Complex reports that he's gotten a new one, sort of. His latest, posted to Twitter by a Drake fan group, is of Toronto's CN Tower, an observation deck located in the city's downtown area (and the world's sixth-tallest building). This sign of devotion and hometown pride follows a matching tat of the CN Tower on Drake's back. This new tattoo follows other fresh ink the rapper received recently--which is to say, this fairly wonderful emoji tattoo of the praying hands for which Drake has come to be known over the years. The ink just keeps flowing. Read more here.
The bullfighter in question is Karla de Los Angeles, who he calls a "serial killer" says he "felt delight" in seeing her injured "against her largely defenseless opponent," in a post on his fan site, True to You. "Make no mistake: there is no such thing as bullfighting," Morrissey wrote before breaking down the "illusion" of the contest of bullfighting. "Whenever the matador is suddenly at a disadvantage, other matadors rush to her/his aid, and they stab the bull. However, the bull is not allowed support from other bulls should he find himself similarly in trouble," he said, then saying the event "can only appeal to people who have no intelligence." Read more here.
It's part of the 30 Seconds to Mars frontman's plan to reinvigorate the accessory, which has gotten a bad rap since its introduction decades ago as the bag of choice for frumpy tourists. Leto launched his own line, available on his website, and redubbed them "hip packs." His designs come in black & grey and red & blue. Before you scoff, Leto may be right on trend. Fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham just endorsed fanny packs as an item she'd like to import from London to America in a new video for Vogue. Leto Instagrammed himself rocking the pack, long shorts and tall socks, adding the hashtag #fannypacklife. See it here.
'I had a Marine come up to me after one of the shows and tell me my Up All Night record actually was the only thing that gave him peace as he was camped out in some really rough place where they'd been under fire for a while, and he had his headphones in at this little place they were hiding out, and that record was what gave him peace," Moore said in a release. 'It's a wild thing to know that my thoughts and pen to paper and those dark places that I wrote those songs-not knowing if anyone was going to hear them-can have that kind of impact on somebody's life." It is knowing this that makes him work harder and has him choosing his lyrics more carefully, as he told Radio.com during a tour stop in New Jersey in November. 'It's awesome and it's scary at the same time, because you realize how much weight your words hold. And when you realize your words hold that much weight, you actually think about what you're saying a lot more," Moore said. 'It means a lot to me because that's why I do what I do. I always wanted people to hear my music and I wanted it to impact them in a profound way, so now that it's actually doing that it means a whole lot to me." Moore's new single is 'I'm to Blame," and it is expected to hit country radio starting on Monday (Jan. 12). In an interview with CMT in 2013, he said the track is "going to make people trip out and laugh and it's going to be a rowdy time." Moore has been performing "I'm to Blame" during live shows, too. Listen to a version from this past September here.
Eva telling Tracey there is no engagement news to share, "It's just a Martin Katz ring that I've had forever." Eva went on to say, "I can see where people thought this was true, on New Year's I wore white cause my black dress didn't fit ... I wear a ring on this finger, but I had to move it to this finger because I was so swollen from the flight." Eva's executive producing a series of short films for ESPN called "Verses." Longoria describing it, "It's when the world of sports bumps up against something bigger than the sport." Check out the video here.
Every once in a while, the Internet gives us little gifts that make all the tweets that went without favorites, all the embarrassing Facebook posts, all the endless lists read worth it. This is one of those moments. dotflist is a YouTube user that has recorded alternate theme songs to all your favorite TV shows. Some of them don't even really make sense, as Bart and Homer switch roles on The Simpsons, and Parks & Recreation is apparently on HBO. But the one consistent thing is that they are all amazing. Like Friends, which features the lyrics "I've got Friends, you've got Friends. Let's put our Friends together. All those Friends in one bed. Makin' love forever. Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey. Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey. Chandler, Chandler, Chandler, Ross. Chandler, Chandler, Chandler Ross are Friends." Girls, which doesn't normally have a theme song, gets described as "A bunch of twentysomethings living in New York, they won't leave for no reason. They work s�-y jobs, do coke and all the time. Mom and dad would be so mad. They say funny things, f�n' funny things. Witty banter is so good. It's called Girls." Watch some of the revamped theme songs here.
The show, which was hosted by Mom stars Anna Faris and Alison Janney and aired on CBS, honored the people's favorite artists including Ed Sheeran who took home the award for Favorite Male Artist and Favorite Album for X. His best bud Taylor Swift also took home a few awards, winning Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Pop Artists and Favorite Song for "Shake It Off." Iggy Azalea went home with the prize for Favorite Hip-Hop Artist beating out Nicki Minaj, Drake, Jay Z and her mentor T.I.. The win even had Iggy, who performed "Beg For It" during the show and sat through a joke that had presenters calling her "Igloo Australia"--you know the name Azealia Banks prefers to call the Aussie--surprised. "This is an amazing way to start the year," she told the crowd. "I didn't expect this, so I wrote nothing. It's not wasted on me." Country artists had a good night with Hunter Hayes winning Favorite Male Country Artist and Lady Antebellum winning Favorite Country Group. Read more and see the winner list here.
Perhaps Clarkson's biggest news of all in 2014 was the birth of her first daughter, River Rose, who entered the world on June 12. This follows Clarkson's first marriage to husband Brandon Blackstock in October 2013. Clarkson long shared tales on Twitter of her difficult pregnancy, which included a lot of morning sickness. It precluded much activity from the singer for the first half of 2014, although she did find time to live tweet her reactions to various TV shows, including the Super Bowl, The Voice, the ACMs and Dolly Parton's appearance on the Today show. She tweeted, "Here is our beautiful baby girl River Rose; 6lbs 6oz, 18 inches, and the greatest thing on the planet :) http://t.co/zMlwNQPpRw� Kelly Clarkson (@kelly_clarkson) June 20, 2014" In August, like many celebrities, Clarkson took the ALS ice bucket challenge--to hilarious results. Clarkson recorded a duet with Trisha Yearwood for her fall album release, guesting on the album's title track,"Prizefighter." On Sept. 9, Clarkson joined Kacey Musgraves and Lady Antebellum's Hilary Scott at the 8th Annual ACM Honors concert in the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. In October, Clarkson shot a new music video for the track "Wrapped in Red," giving her Wrapped in Red holiday album a second life. Read more here.
In that short time, Drake released one EP and three full length albums, each selling more in its first week than the one before. His most recent, 2013's Nothing Was the Same, sold 658,000 during that crucial seven-day time period, making it the biggest opening week for a rap album that year. It then hit the million-sold mark in its sixth week on the Billboard 200 chart, making it the quickest rap record in 2013 to move that many copies, besting even Jay Z, who previously held the record with 12 weeks. Drake's already teasing his comeback season, rapping on "0 to 100/The Catch Up" that his fourth album, Views From the 6--a nod to his hometown of Toronto--will be out in spring 2015. Which, we imagine, is just in time for his debut on the main stage at Coachella on Sunday, April 12. But chances are you already know all this, because Drake is not only one of today's top musicians, he's among the biggest stars of the social media era, too. His lyrics have become part of the lexicon--you can thank him, for instance, for making it perfectly OK for any of your relatives to say "YOLO" or drop in a booming baritone shout of "worrrrrsss-T" anytime the word is uttered. Basically, everything Drake does is consumed by the masses and then shared across every social media platform. Read more here.
Related: Q&A: Fergie on Loving L.A., In-N-Out Burger and Paving the Way for EDM As the Clippers blasted past rival Los Angeles ballers the Lakers, Ballmer got into the spirit during a Fergie performance of her new single "L.A. Love," breaking out the flailing arms, singing voice and impeccable businessman polo, going harder for Fergie than probably anyone has since the Duchess days. Because the Internet is a kind beast at times, it was all captured via Vine and uploaded online to be looped again and again and again. Bless you, ESPN writer Arash Markazi. Read more here.
"I think there's something cathartic about changing your wardrobe for the seasons," Ware says. "There's an optimistic approach that, this time I'm going to really wear that jacket I've had for three years that I've never worn but that was going to be my perfect winter jacket." Ware confesses she's got a couple of candidates for perfect winter jacket, one from Miu Miu and another white faux fur number from Calvin Klein. "I did kindly get given this incredible Calvin Klein, like, faux fur white jacket which is completely over the top. I feel like J. Lo in that song that she did with LL Cool J and she's in the snow," confessed Ware, referencing the Jennifer Lopez and LL Cool J duet on the track "All I Have," from back in 2002. "If I'm feeling very sassy, I'll maybe wear that. But then I feel like a bit of a prat. But it does work in New York!" Ware told us one of her more cathartic winter closet exercises is to pop everything into vacuum-sealed bags. One off-season thing not going into her storage, though, is her dream honeymoon dress, because she'll be taking it with her to warmer climates this season. Read more here.
All that practice came to fruition last year when the country singer-songwriter heard a song she had written on the radio for the first time. It was a song she'd written with her husband, Rollie Gaalswyk, over a bottle of red wine called "Wasting All These Tears," which was recorded by Cassadee Pope. "He [Gaalswyk] was in the garage and had the radio on, and the song came on and he runs in the house and he's like, 'Get out here!' And so I run out into the garage and we turn it up all the way and dance around our garage. It was just a super magical moment. Really, really fun," she recalls with a big smile. To some, it might sound strange to write a breakup song like "Wasting All These Tears" with your husband, but for Smith it's just another day at work. "We're both writers and we both have crazy ideas and crazy lines coming," she admits. "I don't always write from, 'I have lived every word of this song.' Sometimes when you write you put on an actor hat and you can play a different character, which makes writing breakup songs with your husband a little easier." She says that the two of them "keep doing it because we like writing with each other. Sometimes it ends in a fight," she laughs, "and sometimes it's awesome." "Wasting All These Tears" became a platinum-selling single for Pope. But it's not the only song that has helped raise Smith's profile as a writer. Her catalog also includes songs that have been cut by such high-profile artists as Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton (the GRAMMY-nominated "You Can't Make Old Friends"), Lady Antebellum ("747″), Rascal Flatts ("Let It Hurt") and even Garth Brooks ("Tacoma"). Read more here.
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