Entertainment News
Cardi B to Star in New Comedy Assisted Living
Cardi B is already one of the biggest forces in contemporary hip-hop, and now she’s setting her sights on dominating Hollywood. As Variety reports, the “WAP” rapper has landed a starring role in the upcoming Paramount comedy Assisted Living. Previously, Cardi made her feature film debut alongside Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu in the 2019 stripper thriller Hustlers, but Assisted Living will mark the 28-year-old’s first time in a lead role. According to Variety, the film is being billed as a “raunchy comedy” with “tremendous heart” a la Mrs. Doubtfire and Sister Act. It sounds like the perfect setting for Cardi’s lovable charisma and provocative humor to shine in. The film follows a small-time criminal named Amber (Cardi) who ends up desperately looking for a place to h...
Minari Composer Emile Mosseri Shares the Origins of “Rain Song” with Yeri Han: Stream
In our new music feature Origins, we give musicians the chance to explore the backstory behind their latest single. Today, Emile Mosseri tells us about composing the score to Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari. To help elevate the intimate storytelling of one of the best films of 2020, Minari, writer-director Lee Isaac Chung turned to composer Emile Mosseri. Mosseri knew well how to write the proper music for a unique family tale, as he had done recently for Miranda July’s Kajillionaire. Audiences will get to hear how he crafted a score befitting Chung’s beautiful American tale itself when Minari and its soundtrack are released wide on February 12th. One of the reasons Mosseri was able to pen such an evocative soundtrack is because of how early he he began working on the process. In what he cal...
Indigo Sparke Unveils New Song “Everything Everything”: Stream
Rising Australian songwriter Indigo Sparke has unveiled the new song “Everything Everything”. Alongside an intimate music video, she’s also announced her signing with Sacred Bones Records to release her debut album Echo, out January 29th. As with all the songs on Echo, “Everything Everything” was produced by Andrew Sarlo and Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief. Over a gentle guitar with occasional piano accents, Sparke sings in an ethereal soprano, which she later undercuts with a section of spoken word. “Everything,” she says, “Everything, everything, everything is dying.” In a statement, Sparke explained how the song came together, writing, “I wrote this song not long after coming back from a magical castle in Italy where a group of us had been making music and soaking in the golden honey days....
Lady Gaga to Perform National Anthem at Biden’s Inauguration
Lady Gaga has been tapped to sing the National Anthem at Presiden-Elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. The Chromatica popstar will perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” during Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris’ swearing-in ceremony on January 20th (via Variety). It’s a grand honor for Gaga, a culmination of her long-standing support for the Democratic politician, which included stumping and performing at a rally on the eve of the 2020 election. Elsewhere on the inauguration docket is Jennifer Lopez, who is set to perform. National Youth Poet Laureate/activist Amanda Gorman will give a poetry reading, while Andrea Hall, the first woman firefighter to reach the rank of fire captain in Fulton Georgia, will deliver the Pledge of Allegiance. Long-time Biden family friends Father Leo J. O’Don...
Tommy Lister Legally Changed His Middle Name to “Debo” in Homage to His Friday Character
“Deebo”, a.k.a. Tommy Lister, in Friday There’s method acting and then there’s Tommy Lister Jr.. Shortly before he died last December, the 62-year-old legally changed his middle name to “Debo” in honor of the character he famously portrayed in the Friday film franchise. According to a death certificate obtained by TMZ, Lister’s middle name is printed as “Debo” in the official document. As his manager tells it, about six months before he passed, Lister decided that since he was best known as Ice Cube’s neighborhood bully in the turn-of-the-century stoner series, he might as well change his middle name to reflect that. The document also implies that he legally changed his first name from Thomas to Tommy at some point, so his final moniker (Tommy Debo Lister) was actuall...
Movie and TV Studios are Cutting Ties with Republicans After Storming of Capitol
The world’s largest entertainment conglomerates have either very recently grown a backbone or found a convenient excuse to save money. But as The Hollywood Reporter and New York Times report, after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol building, coming mere feet and seconds away from a confrontation with lawmakers, companies such as Comcast, The Walt Disney Company, Hallmark, AT&T, Facebook, and the Motion Picture Association are cutting off political contributions to members of the Republican party. Most of the backlash is centered around the man who is somehow still President, Donald Trump. He’s already received bans from Facebook and Twitter, and other digital platforms including Snapchat, YouTube, Reddit, and Twitch have since followed suit. Now, entertainment heavyweights are cuttin...
Hiss Golden Messenger Share New Song “Sanctuary”: Stream
Hiss Golden Messenger are back with their first new song since 2019, “Sanctuary”. Written and produced by bandleader M.C. Taylor, “Sanctuary” isn’t exactly a political track, though it does engage with the national mood. “Feeling bad, feeling blue,” Taylor begins, “Can’t get out of my own mind/ but I know how to sing about it.” There’s a tension in the song between uplifting music and lyrical pessimism. At the chorus, backup singers join Taylor, and you might mistake the song for a sunny anthem if you didn’t listen to the words: “You want good news/ You want sanctuary/ But when you try to get real/ They break you on the wheel.” In a statement, Taylor explained how the song came together and paid homage to John Prine, writing, “Over the past year, I’ve been thinking a lot about how we ...
Blue Stahli Premieres New Single “Catastrophe”: Stream
Blue Stahli, the one-man electro-industrial act masterminded by Bret Autrey, returns with the new album Obsidian this Friday (January 15th). In advance of its release, Heavy Consequence is presenting the exclusive premiere of the track ‘Catastrophe”. Under various names, Autrey has been releasing music since the late ’90s, recording under the Blue Stahli name beginning in 2006. Obsidian marks the the third in his new “deadchannel_Trilogy” of albums, preceded by Quartz in October and Copper in November. The themes of the albums revolve around Autrey’s own tragic loss of his mother to brain cancer in 2018. Regarding the song “Catastrophe”, Autrey tells us, “My songs range from being purely electronic to having more of an electronic rock feel, and ‘Catastrophe’ is a track that will hopef...
Black Sabbath Dio-Era Albums Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules Getting Deluxe Reissues
The first two Ronnie James Dio-fronted Black Sabbath albums, 1980’s Heaven and Hell and 1981’s Mob Rules, are receiving deluxe reissues via Rhino Records. The expanded editions arrive March 5th, and to tide us over, live cuts of each title track are now available to stream. Both albums will be available on CD and vinyl, featuring a 2021 remaster of the original LPs, along with B-sides, alternate versions, and rare live recordings. Do to space constraints, the vinyl versions will feature a selection of the bonus tracks available on the CDs. 1980’s Heaven and Hell marked Dio’s debut with Black Sabbath. It proved to be one of the heavy metal’s greatest comeback albums following the ousting of original singer Ozzy Osbourne. The expanded edition includes live versions of “Children of the Sea” a...
During Impeachment, Donald Trump Reportedly Gave National Medals of Arts to Toby Keith and Ricky Skaggs
Toby Keith (“American Soldier” music video), Donald Trump, and Ricky Skaggs (photo via flickr/Festival of Faiths) Donald Trump lives in an alternate universe where he never lost the election, never incited an insurrection, and Toby Keith is good. We saw that play out during his second (!) impeachment hearing, when Trump reportedly holed up in the White House’s East Room, pretending it wasn’t happening and giving National Medals of Arts to Keith and Ricky Skaggs. Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs and NBC News’ Peter Alexander separately broke the news on Twitter. As the House of Representatives voted to impeach, Trump took the time to honor country-bluegrass veteran Skaggs and jingoistic warmonger Keith. As The Hill notes, both had previously offered their support for...
Armie Hammer Exits Jennifer Lopez Film Shotgun Wedding Amid Social Media Controversy
Over the weekend Armie Hammer found himself embroiled in controversy after an anonymous Instagram user posted explicit messages that appeared to show him fantasizing about various acts of sexual depravity. The 34-year-old act has yet to comprehensively address the accusations, but today he did announce his departure from the upcoming Lionsgate film Shotgun Wedding , and he also released a brief statement on the developing scandal. The validity of the Instagram messages have yet to be confirmed, but under the account name House of Effie, a woman posted screenshots of disturbing DMs that she claimed Hammer had sent her over the last few years. The sexually graphic screengrabs show a user who appears to be Hammer talking about his “slave” kink, cannibalism, and other forms of violent sex...
Orla Gartland Drops New Song “More Like You”: Stream
Emerging Irish songwriter Orla Gartland has dropped the new song “More Like You”. Born in Dublin, Gartland began writing music at 14. Her early attempts to play in Dublin’s 18+ clubs were rebuffed, but this rejection turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as she began cultivating an online presence that continues to serve her today. After a pair of buzzy EPs — 2019’s Why Am I Like This? and 2020’s Freckle Season — she started working on her debut album. “More Like You” was co-written by Tommy King, who has toured and collaborated with HAIM and Vampire Weekend. The song channels envy into an effervescent exploration of insecurity of self-love. “I heard it from a woman on the internet,” she sings, “She told me to eat well and try to love myself/ Then maybe I won’t wish that I wa...
