Entertainment
Wazupnaija – Naija Entertainment blogs & Forums – Entertainment
Billy Joel Delivers Poignant “Miami 2017” Performance During Rise Up New York! Benefit Livestream: Watch
Last month, Bruce Springsteen led Jersey4Jersey, a livestreamed concert benefiting COVID-19 relief efforts in the state of New Jersey. On Monday, New York held its own virtual fundraising event, headlined by its own local hero in Billy Joel. Following appearances by New York celebrities (Spike Lee, Jennifer Lopez, Robert De Niro) and politicians (Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayer Bill De Blasio), the Piano Man himself closed out the virtual telethon. Joel aptly chose to pay tribute to the Big Apple, the war-weary epicenter of the pandemic, by playing a moving rendition of his 1976 single “Miami 2017”, also known as “Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway”. As Rise Up New York!’s main event of the evening, Joel’s performance was broadcast on big screens all across the shuttered city, including Times...
Bernie Sanders Has a Red Hot Chili Peppers Poster Hanging Up in His Office
One of the unexpected consequences of the global quarantine is the chance to get a peak inside the homes of celebrities, politicians, and other high-profile public figures. Livestreams and webinars don’t just provide entertainment, they also scratch a voyeuristic itch. For instance, if not for the quarantine, how else would we have learned that Bernie Sanders has a Red Hot Chili Peppers poster and a Prince bass drum head hanging up in his home office? The music memorabilia could be seen in the background as Senator Sanders posed questions during a virtual hearing about COVID-19 on Tuesday. To his left was a framed Red Hot Chili Peppers poster, and to his right hung a bass drum head from Prince’s backing band New Power Generation. It’s worth noting that Bernie previously recruited both...
Moog Announces New Subharmonicon Analog Synthesizer, Shares Musical Score by Suzanne Ciani
Moog has unveiled its new analog synthesizer, the Subharmonicon. The instrument finally arrives on the consumer market after a prototype version was teased during a workshop at Moogfest, the company’s curated music festival, in 2018. To commemorate the occasion, Moog shared a short film, Music as Living Matter, featuring a score by electronic music pioneer Suzanne Ciani, composed entirely with the Subharmonicon. The hype is well deserved. The early models used during Moogfest sold for thousands on the second hand market, leaving artists and hobbyists wondering when the instrument would see an official rollout, much like Moog’s Werkstaat. The latest evolution in Moog’s arsenal of semi-modular analog synths, the Subharmonicon offers a limitless creative portal worthy of the iconic brand. To ...
Lou Barlow Says Next Dinosaur Jr. Album Is Finished, Plays New Song: Watch
Late last year, bassist Lou Barlow revealed that Dinosaur Jr. were in the studio recording their next record. Now, relishing his role as the official Dino-leaker, Barlow has announced that the album is finished and mixed. What’s more, he’s premiered a new, currently untitled song. The news came from Barlow’s laundry room during a lockdown livestream performance on Monday. “We just finished mixing the Dinosaur Jr. record. Of course we did it remotely,” he said, adding that John Agnella had done the work alone in his North Carolina studio. “I have two songs that I contributed. I had three but I couldn’t finish the third one because of…” He gave a shrug that took in the general state of the world. “This. There’s been a lot of cancelled Dinosaur Jr. stuff, too, but we have a record so we have ...
Run the Jewels Announce RTJ4 Release Date, Tracklisting
Run the Jewels have revealed the release date for RTJ4. It will be released on June 5 via Jewel Runners/BMG. The album consists of 11 songs over 40 minutes. A number of heavy-hitters will feature on the album, including Pharrell Williams, Josh Homme Mavis Staples, 2 Chainz, Zack de la Rocha and more. RTJ4 was primarily recorded at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California and Electric Lady Studios in New York City and took two years to complete. Previously, the duo released “Ooh La La” that featured DJ Premier and Greg Nice and “The Yankee and the Brave.” Those songs are the album’s first two tracks. In addition to RTJ4, Killer Mike and El-P are launching a cannabis line in collaboration with the founder of the legendary Cookies strain. Preorder the album he...
Future Is The Father Of Eliza Reign’s Daughter, DNA Test Confirms
Source: Prince Williams / Getty In what should be a surprise to no one, Future is the father. DNA testing has confirmed that the Atlanta rapper is the daddy of Instagram model Eliza Reign’s baby daughter. The homies at Bossip confirmed via court docs that the “Wicked” rapper is on the books as the papi. Reportedly, on Monday (May 11), a judge read in a family court hearing that the man born Nayvadius DeMun Wilburn, 36 is 99% likely the father of Eliza Reign’s baby girl. In case there are any more doubts, said judge plans to issue a court order that officially names Future the baby’s father. Future was not present for the hearing, which occurred via teleconference. “The DNA did confirm that Mr. Wilburn is the child’s father,’ Reign’s attorney, Brandon Rotbart, told Bossip, who added that hi...
Meek Mill Says He’s Going To “Crush” Tekashi 6ix9ine “For The Culture”
Source: Ronald Martinez / Getty Much to the dismay of OG’s, YG’s, and BG’s, Tekashi Snitch9ine made a pretty triumphant return to the rap game last Friday when he made his long awaited return to social media and had his latest music video rack up over 7 million views in just a few hours. But it wasn’t long before the dime dropping troll found himself in familiar territory as Meek Mill got on social media to let off more than a few shots and properly called out Hip-Hop’s “Henry Hill.” Continuing to beef with the government’s rainbow haired star witness, Meek took to Twitter to reference Tekashi by stating that real heads “control the culture” and he was ready to “set a example.” We control the culture lol and ima set a example lol. — Meek Mill (@MeekMill) May 11, 2020 But he didn’t stop the...
Get a Move On: Google Play Gets Busy Migrating Users to YouTube Music
As Google looks to phase out its music streaming service Google Play by the end of the year, it has begun the process of migrating users over to the Google-owned YouTube Music. Starting today (May 12), Google Play users can expect an email instructing them on how to easily transfer their music libraries, listening histories and playlists to YouTube Music. All users’ Google Play podcast subscriptions, on the other hand, will be moved over to the company’s free Google Podcasts app. Google says in a press release that users will continue to have access to both services until it officially kicks Google Play to the curb later this year. Paying Google Music subscribers will be automatically granted the equivalent tier on YouTube Music, at the same price. As it retires Google Play, th...
Universal Music Publishing Group Names Joe Fang Managing Director In China
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) has named Joe Fang — a longtime media executive with a focus on global markets — its first-ever managing director, China. Based in UMPG China’s new Beijing headquarters, Fang reports to Andrew Jenkins, UMPG president, Australia and Asia Pacific Region. In his new role, Fang will oversee the publishing giant’s Chinese language roster, and lead the development of UMPG Hong Kong, working closely with Universal Music Group in China as well as local partners. UMPG recently joined the Music Copyright Society of China, and is deepening its cooperation with Chinese DSPs, tech companies and content providers. “Continuing with our efforts to be best-in-class around the world, we have put a strong and strategic emphasis on UMPG’s gr...
12 Songs You Didn’t Know Julia Michaels Co-Wrote
You may recognize Julia Michaels from her breakout single “Issues,” which peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, or the rock-tinged “Uh Huh,” another track included on her 2017 debut “mini-album” Nervous System. But chances are, you’ve been listening to the 26-year-old’s catchy, emotive, and often tongue-in-cheek lyricism for longer than you think. Michaels began her music career as a songwriter, penning hits for the likes of Fifth Harmony, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. And her co-writing catalog spans a range of diverse artists and genres, from pop radio material to rugged acoustic sounds and rock. Most recently, Michaels imparted her songwriting wisdom on the Monday (May 11) episode of NBC’s Songland, where sh...
Bryan Adams Blasts ‘Wet Markets’ for COVID-19, Faces Accusations of Racism
Bryan Adams posted an acoustic quarantine video performance of his 1983 hit “Cuts Like a Knife” on Monday (May 11) on the day that he was slated to kick off a run of shows at the iconic Royal Albert Hall in London. But it was his angry rant about the COVID-19 pandemic that really caught people’s attention. “Tonight was supposed to be the beginning of a tenancy of gigs at the @royalalberthall, but thanks to some f—ing bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy bastards, the whole world is now on hold, not to mention the thousands that have suffered or died from this virus,” Adams wrote, along with the hashtag #banwetmarkets, the latest in a series of wet market criticisms from the vegan musician. “My message to them other than &...
Peel Sessions From Nirvana, David Bowie, Siouxsie and the Banshees Organized Online
Disc jockey John Peel was a music institution for almost four decades, highlighting influential bands and underground sounds on his BBC Radio 1 program. The shows featured over 4,000 in-studio sessions from over 2,000 artists — captured from 1967 up through his death in 2004. A good chunk of those recordings are floating around YouTube, but it’s exhausting trying to wade through them all. Now, thanks to blogger David Strickland, that process just got a whole lot easier. Over at his “Formally Known as the Bollocks” blog, Strickland is rounding up an exhaustive, alphabetized list of the Peel sessions available online — at least 1,000 so far. Highlights include two Nirvana performances (1990 and 1991), David Bowie’s 1972 recording with the Spiders from Mars, five sets from Siouxsie and the Ba...
