Day in Pop Report for 05/05/2015
The incident reportedly took place in the early hours on a basketball court when Brown allegedly assaulted another male during a game at the Palms Casino Resort after a verbal altercation turned physical. (via Billboard) According to a press release, Brown wasn't the only man to allegedly assault the man. "Mr. Brown has been given the option of signing a citation for misdemeanor battery, or having the case submitted to the Clark County District Attorney's Office for prosecution," the press release said. "As of this release, the LVMPD has not heard from Mr. Brown or his attorney indicating whether or not he would sign the citation." Read more here.
His lawyers are arguing that "the damages and profits awarded by the jury are unsupported by any evidence, let alone substantial evidence, and are contrary to law; and evidentiary errors and legal errors in the jury instructions were prejudicial and prevented Counter-Defendants from receiving a fair trial." It goes on to list a huge number of evidentiary errors, including arguments that the infamous Marvin Gaye/"Blurred Lines" mashup was inadmissible and that the jury's opinions as well as the court's ruling on them were "erroneous, unfair and prejudicial." Pharrell's legal team are trying a letter of the law argument, by insisting that the sheet music of the two songs are the only comparable things under copyright law and not inspiration, groove or other intangible factors. If Judge Kronstadt rules in their favor, it could overturn the entire verdict. Read more here.
Written and produced by the Invisible Men (Iggy Azalea, Rita Ora, Jessie J), the song first surfaced from a leak on Friday in advance of a unique premiere by Spears. The singer officially debuted the track over the weekend in a promotion involving Uber. Fans in Los Angeles were able to request a "Bee" branded Uber SUV and preview the song as many times as they wanted before their ride ended, making the singer the first artist to use Uber to release a single. Last week, Spears injured an ankle in a fall during a performance of her Las Vegas residency show, "Britney: Piece of Me." The singer was forced to postpone her May 1 and 2 concerts under doctor's orders to allow time for the injury to heal. The singer continues her ongoing residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Listen to the new song here.
The social media posts exploded on Monday evening with a tidal wave of photos of a man wearing a white suite tumbling down the red carpet but it turns out to be a case of mistaken identity. The photos are actually from the Cannes Film Festival in 2011, points out Zimbio, when an unnamed attendant (coined the Cannes Fall Guy) ungracefully tumbled down the stairs behind a gaggle of photographers hopelessly unaware of the folly. See the photos here.
According to Billboard, Eldredge and his co-writers offered a percentage of the song to Cee Lo Green and Danger Mouse, as well as gave credit to film composers Gianfranco and Gian Piero Reverberi, who also helped inspire "Crazy." As a result, "Lose My Mind" credits seven songwriters. "I think it's pretty cool to be a co-writer with CeeLo," Copperman told Billboard. "I was saying we better at least get a CeeLo co-write out of the deal." Read more here.
Now, Timberlake is furthering his relationship with tequila by starring in a new ad for the company. The twist here is that Timberlake doesn't star as himself in the spot, but as a lime, as the commercial maps the rise of limes as the favorite condiment of cocktails, and how Sauza's 901 tequila has made limes obsolete. Watch the commercial above. In a follow-up bit, Timberlake plays himself, responding about the rumor that Sauza 901 has destroyed the lime industry, where he golfs limes and mocks their status as a leading citrus product. It's a shame these didn't air during the Super Bowl, as they would have easily won the best ads during the game. Watch it here.
Other acts on the leaked bill include The Weeknd, Disclosure, Hozier, Alt-J, Alabama Shakes, Sturgill Simpson, The Decemberists, Brand New, TV on the Radio, A$AP Rocky, Chance the Rapper, Father John Misty and Brandon Flowers. This year's ACL fest takes place two weekends in the fall, October 2 to 4 and October 9 to 11 in Austin. Check out the leaked full list of performers set to play this year's ACL here.
Well, the duo of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons are back rather quickly after that first taste with another new song, and this track features one of those guest stars: rapper Q-Tip, on the tune that the Manchester natives premiered earlier on the Annie Mac BBC1 radio broadcast. The song is titled "Go" and finds the former A Tribe Called Quest frontman embracing the Chemical Brothers dance roots for a song that is more dance floor ready than pure hip-hop. Either way, the cut holds nothing back, going for broke in both its ambition and its achievement. The Chemical Brothers and Q-Tip have a musical history together, having teamed up on the hit 2005 single, "Galvanize." Check out "Go" here.
Now, we have a video for the album's titular single that continues to try for that next step. In the clip for "Turn It On," the atmosphere is less a country video and more like something you would get out of a pop star or EDM act. The band is surrounded by fans, with one adorned in neon face makeup, and all holding flashlights to exemplify the song's "turn it on" theme. If the next step is appealing to a younger, hipper fanbase, this clip has Eli Young Band on the right track. Watch the new video here.
"Angels of Fenway, hear our prayer," he sings on the chorus. "We have been chastened. We have been patient." The video features clips of Taylor playing the song interspersed with highlights from the Red Sox storied history. Special attention is given to the team's rivalry with the Yankees: "You get a chip on your shoulder, say something that's downright rude, oh, damn them Yankees," he croons, while footage of Sox vs. Yankees brawls plays. "Angels of Fenway" precedes the release of Before This World, Taylor's first album of new material in 13 years. The record is due out June 16 and features contributions from Yo-Yo Ma and Sting. Check out the song here.
"Bring It on Home to Memphis," released on Monday (May 4), is the first song from Crowell and Harris' new collab, due out later this month. The track is an up-tempo jaunt in line with the duo's earlier material together, Crowell grabbing the first verse while Harris' spoken vocal takes over the second. Both voices mesh on a rollicking chorus. "I wrote the song with Larry Klein about 23 years ago and I was looking for a way to do it," Crowell told Billboard, who premiered the song, about the track. "I played for Emmy and she really liked it." The Traveling Kind is due in stores May 12 via Nonesuch Records. The album will mark Crowell's first since last year's Tarpaper Sky, while Harris' last outing was Old Yellow Moon in 2013. Check out the new song here.
This time RiRi has chosen a little less electric of a shade in favor of something more natural, with brown undertones. Rihanna's hair stylist, Ursula Stephens, told VH1 that the first time Rihanna went red, the singer choose the color because she felt there was nothing louder than being a redhead. "With the red, she was like, 'I want to do it,' it was like, 'F- it, we'll do it,'" Stephens recalled. Perhaps Rihanna's new look precedes a new album? The tentatively titled R8 still does not yet have a release date despite the debut of multiple singles, among them "FourFiveSeconds," "B-- Better Have My Money" and "American Oxygen." Check out the Instagram posts here.
As Swift tells him to go to sleep, she'll talk to him soon, he responds "in a bizzle, swizzle." She then joins in on the rhyming name game, writing, "Like you said, Ed," before Sheeran gets another one in, "that's okay, tay." Yeah, it's not top level lyricism, but you don't have to tell Sheeran that twice since he seemed to know how cheesy they were being. "You'd think for multi platinum lyricists we'd do better," he wrote. Now Ed, don't be so hard on yourself, we're more than happy for you two to team up and write a better song about late night texting. If not, this exchange will fuel some fan fiction anyway. Swift's caption to this enlightening exchange is also worth mentioning: "Never not rhyming" with Ed Sheeran. Check out her post here.
He's shirtless, sitting on a fence, sagging his pants dramatically, and turned all the way up: "I don't f--ck with you" he yells, pointing at someone off-camera. "You little stupid a-- b--, I ain't f--king with you!" He could be a promising contestant on a celebrity lip-syncing reality show some day. Lip Sync Battle, anyone? Bieber was part of Mayweather's entourage before the fight; TMZ claims that you can see him displaying his team allegiance by shouting "F--k Pacquiao!" at 33 seconds in the video, before flipping the bird. Watch it here.
The video, directed by Rachel McDonald, takes the viewer on a journey through Monroe's closet, thrift store finds and record store selections. Early on in the video, Monroe primps herself with vintage jewelry while dancing alone in her room. "I'm better dancing when I don't look down/ Hard times show up but they don't hang around/ I feel like I'm on to something good," she sings cheerfully. Fittingly, she's shown dancing along to records at a record store, in between the bowling lanes at Nashville's Pinewood Social and in an open field with an umbrella. Read more and watch the video here.
The seven-minute clip opens with an unassuming fan logging onto the EDC website on his phone, leading him to be whisked away into a surrealistic wonderland of bikini-clad dancers, giant animals, fire-breathers and even a rave couple getting married before jump-cutting to iconic scene from past Vegas EDC events. From fans (known at EDC as the actual "headliners") rushing into the Las Vegas Motor Speedway as the gates open to the wide array of amusement park rides throughout the festival, there is a subtle Burning Man vibe to the opening daytime montage of EDC images in the trailer. As the clip transitions to nighttime, the video captures the kinetic energy that comes as the party kicks into full gear, emphasizing the glow of art installations and the tens of thousands of bodies moving to the beat of the DJs and acts that perform throughout the evening. Read more and watch it here.
The co-creator of Lip Sync Battle, who's perhaps better known for co-writing and directing the British sitcom The Office, is doing exactly that in the next episode of the show. For Lip Sync Battle, Merchant, who is the very definition of a good sport, went with a very hard choice to pull off: Christina Aguilera's squeaky clean image-shedding 2002 hit "Dirrty." He didn't hold back either, from his attempt to create Aguilera's suggestive dance moves to his attire. Merchant performed the track clad in a British flag crop top and a pair of leather chaps exposing "nasty" underwear that nod to the ones Aguilera wore in the video--which eventually went on to inspire an outfit in Miley Cyrus' Bangerz tour wardrobe. Read more and watch the clip here.
The two primetime specials will air on May 17 and 18 at 9 p.m. ET and clock in at an hour each. In them, the cameras will show Jenner's conversations with family members in which he revealed his news and talks about his transition, along with his family's reactions. The specials will feature Kris Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner and Scott Disick. Kim and Kris react to the news in a clip from the specials below, in which a crying Kris says, "I have these memories of this life and it's like it didn't exist." Read more here.
Now, the Material Girl is speaking out about that much talked about kiss. In a recent Q&A session with her fans, Madonna answered a few questions about kissing Drake at Coachella. "What advice would you give to your younger self knowing what you know now?" Madonna reads from a cue-card on camera. Her response? "Don't kiss Drake no matter how many times he begs you to," she deadpans to the camera. Check it out here.
Morning beverages become shorthand for something a bit more adult, over a brooding guitar riff. Miguel has also added a guest verse from Wale, who runs with the coffee and sex metaphor: "What is this macchiato I'm tasting, caffeinated your body, I swear to y'all I'mma stay up." Miguel is working on a new album, titled Wildheart. In an interview with Billboard, he spoke on what he's going for with the project: 'I want everyone to know I am wild, funny, edgy and love women. I need this album to connect." A separate version that's decidedly less explicit can be found here.
The tweet he sent to announce the name change was simple: "I'm changing my album name to SWISH," but it also came with a pretty big disclaimer, "I might change it again but that's the name now." No word on when the album currently known as SWISH will drop. Now, what we really want to know is SWISH a dig at his former sneaker partner Nike? Because if so, he really did just do it. Or, maybe, as Refinery 29 pointed out, this title is all in reference to his wife, Kim Kardashian's body--specifically her naked body. It was the hashtag he used when checking out nude photos of his wife. Check out Kanye's tweets here.
The shuttering of Smith's Twitter came as a surprise to his loyal followers, most of whom simply didn't see it coming. "Jaden Smith just deactivated his Twitter account," announced Jensen Karp on social media. "*walks blindly into Pacific Ocean*" It's unknown if the move is permanent. We're reminded of one of Smith's tweets, posted two days before Christmas 2014. "The Head Of The Sphinx Will Fall Off In The Near Future," he wrote. Read more here.
Instead, the artist who's currently making his musical comeback with a new album Hollywood capitalized on all of the buzz about him and dropped a new track. He didn't miss the opportunity to pick one that flexed his vocals either. "Baby's in Love" is a funk-leaning synth-pop ear worm where Foxx does his best Pharrell Williams impression, dropping lines like, "The earth is like round and round we go / When it's gon' stop, you never know / So in the meantime I'm here and I'm gone in love / Because you chose me, I'm walkin' cloud nine above." He's assisted by Kid Ink, who comes in with a verse about meeting a new flame. Listen here.
We had wrapped up tracking all the songs for the new record, and were about to move on to mixing, when I was asked by a generous supporter if I would consider writing a song for her, inspired by her own story, and put it on the record, in exchange for her financing the whole record! It was an offer I could not refuse... So, I was under somewhat of a time crunch since we had wrapped up everything else and I needed to write and record one more song real quick. I wrote it while down in Florida for an awesome festival called 30A Songwriters Festival. I remember sitting out on the balcony of our condo, looking at the ocean, and praying that I would just be hit with something good! I wanted to give this supporter a song that really reflected her story, but was still true to what I would naturally write and sing. This song is what came out, and it ended up being one of my very favorite songs on the record! The first line, "Love, don't you hurt so much," I felt like opened the song up to be about her experience, while at the same time, universal and something we all have felt and could relate to - so that helped me take the song in a direction that was true to her story and to a lot of others as well. Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!
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