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Day in Pop Report for 04/12/2016


Today's Top Stories


Drake Reveals 'Views from the 6' Release Date

(Radio.com) Drake told us his new album would be coming in April, now we have the exact date. In a new Instagram video Drizzy revealed that Views from the 6 will officially arrive on April 29th.

The video montage features a voice over from Drake speaking in dichotomies: new ride, old ride, bad times, good times, young money, new money, old crib, new crib.

He even includes a clip of himself as James "Jimmy" Brooks from his role on Degrassi: The Next Generation. Check out Drake's Instagram post including the video here.

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Blake Shelton's Defamation Lawsuit May Move Forward

(Radio.com) There is a new development in Blake Shelton's defamation lawsuit against Bauer Publishing and In Touch magazine with a U.S. District Judge making a tentative ruling.

Shelton is suing the magazine for a September cover story that alleged his drinking led to his divorce from Miranda Lambert and that he was headed to rehab.

Billboard reports that U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder delivered a tentative ruling, saying it appeared In Touch "cherry-picked" facts to support its "Rehab for Blake" headline. This means she is inclined to allow the suit to go forward. Read more here.

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Pink Floyd Classic Synced With 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'

(Radio.com) There's a long tradition of Pink Floyd fans syncing the classic album The Dark Side of the Moon with cinematic masterpieces--most famously, The Wizard of Oz.

This week, a group of Redditors found that the album works surprisingly well when set to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, awakening two fandoms (and especially their overlap on a Venn diagram) to a rock galaxy far, far away.

John Williams' iconic Star Wars score signatures are hard to top, but the lyrics and music Pink Floyd lend new depth and interpretive power to scenes from the franchise's latest installment.

If you're a Star Wars or Pink Floyd fan, this mash-up is pretty neat. But if you love both, this will blow your mind. Check it out here.

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Country Legend Merle Haggard Laid To Rest

(Radio.com) Merle Haggard's life was remembered and celebrated on Saturday (April 9), with a private funeral service held on the country legend's property in Palo Cedro, Calif. The small service included Haggard's family, closest friends and musicians.

According to the Bakersfield Californian, the funeral was officiated by Marty Stuart and music was at the centerpiece of the ceremony. Lefty Frizzell's 'I Love You a Thousand Ways" was played at the beginning of the service while Connie Smith performed 'Precious Memories." Smith and Stuart later sang Haggard's 'Silver Wings" together.

Kris Kristofferson was also in attendance and played three songs including 'For a Moment of Forever" and 'Sing Me Back Home." Kristofferson was joined by Willie Nelson's son, Micah, for a performance of 'Pancho & Lefty" before Haggard's sons Marty, Noel and Ben closed the funeral with 'Today I Started Loving You Again." Read more here.

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Notorious B.I.G. Hologram Is The Works

(Radio.com) Like Tupac before him, Notorious B.I.G. is getting the hologram treatment. Nicknamed the "Humagram," the hologram will be able to appear live for performances, as well as in music videos.

ARHT (Augmented Reality Holographic Technology) Media will partner with ByStorm Entertainment, a firm that oversees Christopher Wallace's estate (in addition to Faith Evans and Biggie's mother Voletta Wallace), to produce the hologram.

ARHT Media's CEO Paul Duffy said about the company's technological advances, "We have a very sophisticated transmission technology for beaming these digital humans through the public Internet to literally any point on the planet. These digital humans can scale to any size of venue so it can be in a window display, your living room or it could be in a 50,000-seat arena for a real-time delivery and display of this human hologram, that we call 'Humagrams" (via Billboard).

As for how the company will design and program the hologram, Duffy said they will pursue several different pathways to make the Biggie hologram the most realistic. " Read more here.

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Blake Shelton Streaming New Song 'Savior's Shadow'

(Radio.com) Blake Shelton released another track off his upcoming album If I'm Honest, and this one takes a religious turn compared to his past music. Titled "Savior's Shadow," it's a slow gospel tune that finds Shelton giving thanks to Jesus Christ.

"Though the devil tried to break me/ My sweet Jesus won't forsake me/ When I'm in my Savior's shadow/ Where I'm supposed to be/ When I'm in my Savior's shadow/ Who I'm supposed to be," Shelton sings on the chorus. It's a shorter song, coming in at under 3 minutes with slide guitar, sweet harmonies and a lighter melodic touch.

Shelton thanked his fans on Twitter for their support, writing, "Can't believe the response to saviors shadow� Thank y'all.." According to songwriter Jessi Alexander, the idea was all Shelton's. But he needed help finishing it, and so Alexander and Jon Randall stepped in to pen the finished product back in August 2015. 'It's beautiful and moving and I can't wait for him to tell the story. It's almost his 'Why Me Lord' -- it's very deep to him and to us," he said, referencing Kris Kristofferson's religious song, "Why Me Lord" (via Taste of Country).

If I'm Honest will be released May 20th. Listen to "Savior's Shadow" here.

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Rob Thomas and Counting Crows Announce Summer Tour

Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas has announced that he will be teaming up with the Counting Crows to launch a North American coheadlining summer tour.

The tour is scheduled to kick off on July 22nd in West Palm Beach, FL at the Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre and they will be concluding the trek on September 30th in Nashville, TN at the Ascent Amphitheater.

In other news, Thomas will be appearing in the season finale of iZombie, which will be broadcast tonight (April 12th), on The CW television network. Thomas will also be featured on CMT Crossroads this summer in an episode that pairs him with Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley. See the dates here.

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DJ Khaled Makes Epic Deal For New Album 'Major Key'

(Radio.com) DJ Khaled has announced he will be releasing a new album titled Major Key, which is another one of Khaled's famous social media catch-phrases. The album announcement comes right after Khaled revealed he signed his label, We The Best Music Group, to a deal with Epic Records.

According to a press release, Khaled signed with Epic Records and Major Key will be the first project released on the new imprint. Khaled's move to Epic is a reunion of sorts for him and label executive L.A, Reid.

Reid signed Khaled to first deal at Def Jam in 2008. Of the recent signing, Reid says, "Khaled is a supremely gifted artist and social media guru whose music has defined hip-hop and R&B for the past decade. With an extremely loyal fan base radiating world�wide out of Miami, every new release by Khaled has now become a firestorm event and his devoted legion of fans only grows bigger by the day. With Khaled's passion and creative savvy, together with our dedicated and versatile staff, we are poised to reach even greater heights together than ever before." Read more here.

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Britney Spears Reportedly Has Selected Her Next Single

(Radio.com) Has Britney Spears already picked her next single? The Las Vegas Sun reports that the first single from Spear's new album is called "Make Me (Oooh)," and that a music video concept is already locked.

'The single and the video will thrill fans because it's all new, totally different and somewhat unexpected," says the publication. "It's different; it's a turn. She's gone from pretty straight-forward pop to a really interesting vibe with a lot of really cool stuff."

It would be her first new music since 2013's Britney Jean, assuming you don't count that Iggy Azalea duet "Pretty Girls." Spears recently sat down with V Magazine to discuss her ninth studio album. Read her comments here.

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Gorillaz Videos In The Recording Studio Hit The Web

(Radio.com) In October 2015, one half of Gorillaz's two founders Jamie Hewlett announced new music from the band would arrive in 2016, and based on his Instagram account it looks as though a new record is definitely happening.

Hewlett posted two videos on Instagram, showing behind the scenes studio footage. Both Hewlett and Damon Albarn can be seen the in the second video, which is a time-lapsed look at their creative process.

Before David Bowie passed away in early 2016, Hewlett posted a piece of artwork to Instagram that showed Bowie's face manipulated into a manic grin. The photo was captioned, "Bad David." At the time, it sparked rumors that Bowie was collaborating with the Gorillaz on their new music.

No word yet on when the new album will be released. Check out the videos here.

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Justin Bieber Plays Drake And Rihanna Hits on Hotel Piano

(Radio.com) Accompanied by only a cameraman, Justin Bieber sat down behind a hotel Piano on Monday (April 11) and proceeded to play Drake's "Hotline Bling" and Rihanna's "Work."

Had the session not been recorded for Instagram, no one would have known the newly dreadlocked heartthrob had busted out the tunes because the hotel lobby was completely vacant. Bieber's performance illustrates just how talented the 22 year-old multi-instrumentalist really is.

It's not the first time the Beebs has plunked down behind the keys in a hotel lobby. In January he played Beethoven's "Fur Elise" for a packed house in Beverly Hills. Watch his piano renditions here.

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Iggy Azalea Would Have Extreme Reaction To Being Cheated On

(Radio.com) On the same day Iggy Azalea sat down with Ellen and told the host everything was fine between her and fiance Nick Young, she got a bit more real in another interview.

Appearing on a Tampa radio station Azalea threatened to cut off Young's penis if he were to ever actually cheat on her. 'Like, you will have half a penis," she said. "I already said [to Young], 'One more video, one more thing, and you will lose a quarter of your meat.'"

Azalea admitted there was no concrete proof that Young had actually cheated, which is why she laid down the threat. "That's why he got to slide this time. 'Let me get some real evidence and you're going to lose half an inch,'" she added. Read more here.

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The Weeknd, Justin Bieber Lead Billboard Award Nominations

(Radio.com) Ludacris and Ciara appeared on Good Morning America on Monday morning (April 12th) to unveil the nominees for the 2016 Billboard Music Awards.

The Weeknd leads the pack with a whopping 19 nominations in 16 categories, earning two nods for Top Hot 100 Song category and three in Top R&B Song catagory.

Justin Bieber received 11 nominations, while Drake and Fetty Wap also earned double-digit attention with 10 each. Adele and Taylor Swift also received nominations..

Ciara and Ludacris have been announced as the hosts the ceremony together on May 22, with music's biggest names in attendance. Check out the full list of nominations here.

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New 'Suicide Squad' Trailer Songs Details

(Radio.com) On Monday we get another look at the forthcoming anti-hero movie Suicide Squad. The trailer is set to Lesley Gore's classic "You Don't Own Me," as covered by Grace, a singer/songwriter from Brisbane, Australia.

Nineteen-year-old Grace Sewell's cover of Gore's 1963 anthem can be found on her debut EP Memo and features rapper G-Eazy. Check out Grace's full cover here.

The new trailer also features The Sweet's 1974 glam classic "Ballroom Blitz," which further adds to trailer's excitement and reinforces the Squad's irreverence. Watch the trailer here.

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