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Day in Pop Report for 05/22/2015


Taylor Swift Breaks Record With 'Bad Blood' Video
(Radio.com) Taylor Swift's flashy premiere for "Bad Blood" has paid off already: she's the newly minted Vevo record holder for one-day views with 20.1 million, Billboard reports.

Swift unseats Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" who previously held the record for one-day views at 19.6 million when she released the song's music video last year.

Swift's action movie of a video shows her famous friends, idols and members of her crew training for a fight against an evil girl gang. The video premiered on TV during the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday (May 17) night and within the next 24 hours got a lot of eyeballs.

Vevo revealed in a press release that Swift's combined views for videos is over 5 billion. Read more here.

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Madonna Delays Kick Off Of Rebel Heart Tour
Madonna's Rebel Heart tour wasn't scheduled to kick off until late August but now fans will have to wait a little longer as the pop star has pushed back the first few dates of the trek over production issues.

The kick off show in Miami on August 29th has been rescheduled to January 23rd and August 30th show moved to January 24th. The September 2nd Atlanta show will now take place on January 20th, and two shows in Puerto Rico have been delayed until September 5th and 6th.

Madonna had this to say about the delay, "As my fans already know, the show has to be perfect. Assembling all the elements will require more time than we realized.

"I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause my fans. I can promise you this show will be worth the wait. Can't wait to share it with all my Rebel Hearts out there."

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Meek Mill Announces New Mixtape 'Meek Season'
(Radio.com) It seems as if Kanye West isn't the only rap star with his own season. While it has been Yeezy season for the past several months, Philly's own Meek Mill is ready for a change, declaring it Meek season on his new mixtape, aptly titled Meek Season.

The mixtape would ostensibly signify the start of the anticipation for the upcoming Meek Mill LP, Dreams Worth More Than Money, which he has been working on since his release from prison in December of last year.

The release of the new mixtape, which will hit the streets on June 5, was announced via the Mixtape app My Mixtapez, in a tweet that said simply "A New Season starts June 5th only on @mymixtapez #MeekSeason." Read more here.

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Vin Diesel Tributes Paul Walker With Tove Lo Cover
(Radio.com) Vin Diesel is once again showing his love for Paul Walker with a song. Wednesday night (May 20), Diesel posted a video of him singing Tove Lo's "Habits" in front of a projection featuring photos of him and Walker.

With just a piano to back him up, Diesel's take on the track, which talks about throwing up in a bathtub after a long night of trying to suppress all the hurt, is even more bittersweet. With a lump in his throat Diesel sings, "I have to stay high to keep you off my mind."

While this track from the Swedish singer may seem like an odd choice as a tribute to his Fast & Furious co-star, who died in a car crash in November 2013, the caption says it all: "The ever continuing process of healing�"

Last month, Diesel remembered Walker with a song, taking on Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's hit "See You Again," featured on the Furious 7 soundtrack.

Watch Diesel's rendition of the song here.

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Rod Stewart Announces New Album 'Another Country'
(Radio.com) Rod Stewart isn't slowing down anytime soon--the 70-year-old singer has announced his 30th solo studio album, to be titled Another Country. It's been more than two years since his last record, Time. This time around, Stewart will be confronting military themes.

'I've wondered about being in the armed forces, away from your sweetheart and your family," he said during a recent Q&A with All Access. 'That must be heartbreaking ' that is what Another Country is all about."

Little else is known about the album at this moment, though the record looks to be on pace for an October release. A specific release date in that month is not known. Read more here.

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Paul McCartney Talks Working With Kanye West
(Radio.com) In an interview with The Evening Standard in London, Paul McCartney talks about what it was like working with Kanye West explaining that he was "lucky" someone like Kanye would want to work with him. But, he still isn't quite sure why he wanted to work with him.

"I was quite flattered," McCartney said. "I thought, 'Why does he want to work with me?'" Bringing on even more self doubt was the fact that after McCartney worked with Kanye it took a few months for the rapper to get back to him making him feel like a neglected girlfriend.

"It was a few months later when I was starting to think, 'Should I ring him and ask him did anything come of the stuff we did?'" McCartney explained. 'But then I thought 'I can't do that -- that's too soppy!' I'll just leave it and try and act cool. And suddenly he sends me 'Only One,' and then Rihanna's on the other record." The other record being "FourFiveSeconds."

McCartney told the paper that he has no qualms teaming up with younger artists. "The secret is I keep myself very open to suggestions -- I still feel like I'm about 30." Read more here.

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A$AP Rocky Reveals Album Guests Including Kanye West and Lil Wayne
(Radio.com) Earlier this week, Kanye West tweeted out A$AP Rocky's newest single, "LSD," in what seemed to just be a music fan sharing something he was diggin'. Now, it appears that the connection goes a little deeper.

Kanye West will be among the many notable guests now revealed for the new A$AP Rocky album, tiled At.Long.Last.A$AP and due June 2. West will appear on a song titled "Jukebox Joint," while Lil Wayne will pop up on a track titled "M'$." "Electric Body" will feature Schoolboy Q.

Also set to guest are heavy hitters Future, Juicy J, Rod Stewart, Miguel, and Mos Def. The album will also offer up posthumous work from the late A$AP Yams. Check out the full track listing here.

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Keith Urban Releases 'Come Back to Me' Video
(Radio.com) Two years have already passed since Keith Urban released his chart-topping eighth album, Fuse, but he's still getting mileage off it. Now the New Zealand country singer has released the music video for "Come Back to Me," a lovelorn post-break up track.

It's a melancholy affair where Urban, playing his guitar amid a bare room, is haunted by memories of his ex. Screens around him project their trips to the beach and happy times.

Urban is currently gearing up for the 2015 CMT Awards, where he'll be performing and competing against Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, and Luke Bryan for Male Video of the Year with the visual clip for "Somewhere in My Car." Urban is also nominated in the category for CMT Performance of the Year for "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World" from the 2014 CMT Artist of the Year.

Watch the new video here.

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Jermaine Dupri And Bow Wow Release New Track 'Where You At'
(Radio.com) Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri might sound like an unlikely pair to hear from in 2015, but nevertheless, here we are. They've just shared a bouncy new track called "WYA (Where You At?)"

Despite the 40 years of shared industry experience between these two, the track sounds like a perfect representation of where pop music is at in 2015: upbeat DJ Mustard-ish chimes, a rubbery bass line, syncopated claps and a hook-y chorus with a repeated short phrase pulled from the youth lexicon.

"Bring me some Waffle House, cheese eggs and toast," raps Bow Wow, driving home the song's theme of geolocation. "What does your GPS say, are you close?"

In an interview with Billboard, Dupri stated that the song is the product of many hours of studio sessions between the two. "It stood out like something that people needed to hear right now, today," he said. Check out the song here.

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Justin Bieber Covers Himself On Carpool Karaoke
(Radio.com) While David Letterman was saying his final goodbye to the Late Show with help from the Foo Fighters Wednesday night (May 20), the host of the show that directly follows him, James Corden, was singing karaoke with Justin Bieber while getting the skinny on his skivvies.

The host of the Late Late Show packed into his SUV with the Biebz for a round of carpool karaoke that included an impromptu dance number to his song "Baby."

Corden's Ludacris impression is pretty spot on, too. But, it's the guys' grand finale of Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" that you need to stick around for. Just perfect harmonies from these two.

For a minute, though, Corden admits he wasn't sure if it was actually Bieber who was riding shotgun."When I picked you up I didn't recognize you for a minute," Corden says. "Because you had a top on."

This leads the two to chat about his Calvins, which Bieber says he does have quite the supply of (boxes and boxes)--a situation that comes in handy as it allows him to only wears his underwear once. Yes, Bieber throws out his underwear after every wear. "I definitely don't wear them twice," he says, though the smile he gives leaves us skeptical about how true that statement actually is.

While in the car, Bieber also gets a text from a girl, whom he jokes he hasn't kissed yet because he's waiting for marriage. Of course he's joking, because minutes later he's talking about music he listens to while making love. Or, rather, music he doesn't listen to: Bieber says he definitely does not listen to his own music during romantic encounters, in case you were wondering. Watch it here.

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'Batkid Begins' Documentary Trailer Released
(Radio.com) The viral feel-good story of 2013, in which a little boy with leukemia wished to be Batman, is coming to a theater near you. And making you tear up when you watch the film's first official trailer.

Batkid Begins, a documentary, follows 5-year-old Miles Scott as he and his family work with the San Francisco Make-A-Wish foundation to realize his wish of being the real Batman. The agency teamed up with the city of San Francisco to give Miles a day of fighting crime and saving the city as Batkid, alongside his grown-up partner Batman.

The trailer captures an entire city rallying around the wishes of one sick kid, with two billion people on the internet coming along for the adventure in real time.

"One of his doctors told us with this disease they just become a fighter," Scott's father said in the trailer. "They fight for life. I think he sees the good versus evil battle in superheroes." Watch it here.

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Nick Jonas Releases 'Good Thing' Video Featuring Sage the Gemini
(Radio.com) Nick Jonas' evolution into a contemporary R&B heart throb undergoes a new twist with the release of his new video for "Good Thing" with Bay Area turn-up wizard Sage the Gemini.

For music video directors, there's one option they can always rely on: It's a time-honored fall-back: when all else fails, take it to the tropics. Hannah Lux Davis, who directed this visual, does just that. She situates Jonas and Gemini in a lush, palm tree-studded environment, with sweeping rainforest vistas and more than enough women to populate the landscape.

There are also heaping plates of fresh fruit piled everywhere, but at no point does anyone seem to take a bite of anything. Sage the Gemini is gearing up to release his sophomore album sometime later on this year. Meanwhile, Nick Jonas will be touring in September, and has posted his full touring schedule here. Watch the video here.

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Sam Outlaw Takes On California Country
(Radio.com) Sam Outlaw is well aware that his stage name will raise some eyebrows. "I know people were thinking, 'What the hell is this? Is this guy for real?'" Outlaw tells Radio.com by phone from his home in Los Angeles. But Outlaw is actually his mother's maiden name--for real--and he credits her with giving him "the artistry part of my brain."

"My mom always encouraged me," he says. "She unfortunately passed away a couple years ago." Outlaw says he didn't know she was about to die. "It was unexpected. She called me up before I was about to leave on tour," he explains. "She said she was proud of me and she thought it was cool I was using the Outlaw name, and she liked my music. A few days later my brother called me up and said she died."

While it is a tribute to his mother, Outlaw knows it would have been just plain stupid not use the name as a country singer who happens to be on the fringe. "It gives me a chance to talk about my mom and honor her and remember her," he says, before noting, "The name is more now than just a catchy thing."

The name certainly works in tandem with his Ry Cooder-produced debut album Angeleno, out June 9, which blends influences that come straight from being a country singer living in California.

Outlaw describes his mix of honky tonk and mariachi as being "Southern California country music" and says it could only come from living in one place.

"Something distinctive about L.A., which you don't get in other places of the country, is the influence of Mexican culture and Mexican music," he says "I've tried to incorporate that as well. You'll hear a couple tunes with mariachis. Ry Cooder channeled that as well, he understands that Mexican style." Read more here.

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Brody Jenner Talks About Father Bruce Jenner Plus Kim And Kanye
(Extra) Brody Jenner is speaking out for the first time since his dad, Bruce Jenner's Diane Sawyer special aired. Brody and his brothers, a big part of the special where Bruce confirmed he is transitioning to become a woman, now, talking only to "Extra's" Renee Bargh and praising his dad's bravery and saying he is "very proud." "It's been a journey for all of us but we're very supportive and I love him to death and it's great to see how happy he is now." Renee asking the 31-year old, "Do you think he is an even bigger hero now then he was as an Olympic gold medalist?" Jenner's response, "100% absolutely, I think it's gonna change a lot of lives and hopefully save a lot of lives."

Brody at the launch party for the new luxury brand tequila Gran Centenario also setting the record straight on all the rumors that there is a divide between the Jenner's and the Kardashian's, "Absolutely not, absolutely not, I love my sisters they're incredible people and we get along just great."

And revealing there is no bad blood between him, Kim and Kanye even though he didn't attend their wedding, "To be honest I never really hang out with them, I love Kim to death but I never see them, they're very busy, as am I, we don't really hang out that much, I didn't go to their wedding, I heard it was great, I wish I would have gone, it just didn't work out, I had some work stuff I had to do." He continued, "It's so funny, I always read these things like that Kim and I are just beefing all the time, it's such BS."

Brody who made a name for himself on reality TV appearing on "The Hills" and "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" now getting ready to host his own show, "Sex with Brody" on E!, "It's a funny show, it is, it's a show that I came up with, about a year and a half ago with a good friend of mine, it's a talk show, more of a PG-13 version of Howard Stern, mixed with 'Loveline'." Check out video from Extra here.

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Luke Bryan Truly Honored By Country Hall of Fame Exhibit
(Radio.com) Luke Bryan took a stroll through his new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on Wednesday (May 20). The exhibit, titled Luke Bryan: Dirt Road Diary, will open to the public today, May 22 at the museum in Nashville.

"This exhibit is like a flash card of so many dreams and so many prayers that have come true, and you're looking at a big ol' blessed life," Bryan told reporters, according to Rolling Stone. "For fans who come to town and come through here, maybe they'll learn a little something that I didn't tell them about myself."

He explained that the exhibit is called Dirt Road Diary because it tells Bryan's entire life story, from his childhood up until his more recent career milestones. "The fact that I'm sitting here today with an exhibit in the Hall of Fame, with so many heroes and people who paved the way and built the dream that I got caught up in, it's pretty amazing to be here. I'm not gonna take it for granted." Read more here.

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Hunter Hayes Releases New Song '21'
(Radio.com) Hunter Hayes has been teasing fans for days during his social media blackout, and it turns out speculation of new music on the way was correct as Thursday (May 21) the country singer-songwriter released his new single "21."

The upbeat track embodies the pop-country radio friendly style for which Hayes is known. Singing of living in the moment, staying up all night like he's wild and young, he promises to party like he just turned 21.

"Well it's your birthday. Let's act like it is and just go crazy. Do what we want with no reason why," he sings at the song's start. "Life ain't long enough so let's celebrate."

According to a press release, "21" is the first of several new songs from Hayes with more music expected to be released in the coming weeks. Read more and check out the song here.

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Scrabble Updated With 21st Century Slang
(Radio.com) Thanx for the lolz, game night has gotten its shizzle back. Perennially popular board game Scrabble has come crashing into the 21st century by adding thousands new eligible words, many of which are current slang terms not found in any dictionary.

According to BBC News, obvs, sexting, hashtag and vape are among the 6500 new words just added to the newest edition of Collins Scrabble Word List, the first update to the list since 2011.

"Dictionaries have always included formal and informal English, but it used to be hard to find printed evidence of the use of slang words," explained Helen Newstead, head of language content at Collins. Read more here.

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Drake Receives Ontario Music Fund Grant For OVO Sound
(Radio.com) Drake's OVO Fest might not have received government funding this year, after Canada's tax payers were dismayed to find that they had funded the 2014 event, but the rapper's OVO Sound branch will be.

The Ontario Music Fund has bestowed a grant to OVO Sound worth $45,000, Hot New Hip-Hop reports. Other recipients include the Canadian electronic outfit A Tribe Called Red, who was awarded $38,000.

While those figures seem steep, many of the other applicants ended up receiving upward of $100,000. Drake has yet to announce his plans for the grant money but he's currently busy at the moment with his second Houston Appreciation Weekend, a four-day festival beginning today, May 21. Read more here.

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Twenty One Pilots Talks New Album 'Blurryface' and Secret Handshake
(Radio.com) Twenty One Pilots, the duo from Columbus, Ohio, are winning hearts and minds at an impressive rate because they're just as passionate and confused about life as the fans to whom they're singing. This sense of being lost in life is what 'the Skeleton Clique" (group of super fans) finds most endearing.

Twenty One Pilots' growing audience and recent commercial success has been anything but manufactured. Much like Paramore, who found an audience before a record label, the band cut their teeth on two smaller albums, Twenty One Pilots and Regional At Best, before being plucked by Fueled By Ramen, which put out their 2013 album Vessel.

The label has also now released the band's fourth album, Blurryface, which dropped May 19. Radio.com caught up with bandmates Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun to discuss the new album, their latest videos, sharing the spotlight with their families and their path to overcome suffocating insecurities.

Radio.com: In the video for "Stressed Out", you guys perform an elaborate secret handshake. Was that made up on the spot or something you've been doing for a long time?

Tyler: When Josh and I first started traveling around in a van and we had to sleep in that van, in parking lots and stuff like that, I remember one of the first times we ever got our own hotel to sleep in instead of sleeping in the van, we shared a room together and we were like, wow, we need to take advantage of this opportunity of us being in the same hotel room for the first time, let's make a secret handshake. So we stayed up to come up with this thing, got really excited and like knocked on the door of the other guys that were on the road with us and we were like, 'Dude, check this out!' So, it's something that we've taught our crew how to do and we think it's funny. You'd be surprised when you're a traveling two-man show how many times you get to show off your handshake. So, this video really just had the vibe that it made sense that we put it in there so we did. Read the full interview here.

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Singled Out: von Grey's Katie
Today Annika from von Grey, the Atlanta based indie-alt sister group, tells us about their new single "Katie" from their forthcoming EP "Panophobia", which will be released on August 14th. Here is the story:

Fiona and I started writing songs at a very early age. Surprisingly (or probably not very surprisingly), we didn't have a lot of life experience to pour into songs at the age of 13.

Somebody once told me that most humans face essentially every emotion before the age of 5. The intensity or cause of the emotional reaction may not quite match that of those with more age, but the ability to feel happiness, loss, confusion, fear, etc. still exists and is exercised. That being said, at a young age, vicariously writing about the experiences of older peers is sometimes more easily translated than writing from the direct perspective of a 12 or 14 year old.

We wrote Katie over a year ago, and it was one of the first pieces of lyrical content that was inspired by a human connection I experienced directly and individually. I wrote and interpret it is a song about a turbulent/not-always-equal-or kind relationship that I was in. At the same point in time, my parents were getting a divorce, I paid attention to my friends' relationships, and I watched the way that human connection develops between many different people - I am sure some of those observations influenced the content. But Katie was and is my honest emotional landscape in response to a singular intimate relationship of mine.

That change in writing approach (and vulnerability) has been apparent in all of the music we've written since then. It's one of the reasons we are so excited about Katie/Panophobia/our future releases. There has been sonic evolution, but the human evolution is just as dramatic and present.

We are SO thrilled that Katie is finally out and available for listening! Hopefully it speaks to you in some way, whether in the form of emotional commiseration or a melody that it stuck in your head. Enjoy! Let me know how you feel. :)

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself here and learn more about the group right here!

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