Pop
Lana Del Rey Responds To Instagram Backlash: “Don’t Ever Ever Ever Ever Bro- Call Me Racist”
It’s been a day for Lana Del Rey. In an Instagram post on Thursday morning, Del Rey announced the September 5th release of her new album and name-checked major pop stars of color like Beyoncé and Cardi B in a lengthy digression on the glamorization of abuse and feminism’s place in pop music. Shocker: It didn’t go down so well, eliciting all sorts of backlash from fans and passersby alike. Del Rey has since responded to the vitriol by replying to comments on her own Instagram post. To further broadcast her sentiments, Del Rey then republished her own comments in an Instagram story. Here’s the first comment: Bro. This is sad to make it about a WOC issue when I’m talking about my favorite singers. I could’ve literally said anyone but I picked my favorite fucking people. And this is the proble...
Why Madonna Brought 14 Cape Verdean Drummers on Tour – And What They Taught Her
In 2017, Madonna thought she was moving to Portugal to “be a soccer mom,” but instead, the 61-year-old icon found inspiration for her then-upcoming album, Madame X, thanks to a friend she calls her “musical plug,” Dino d’Santiago. One night, the Cape Verde-born, Lisbon-based singer — who coached Madonna on how to speak Portuguese and sing in Portuguese and Creole — had arranged a concert for her by Batukadeiras Orquesta, a group of female drummers specializing in batuka, a rhythmic call-and-response style created in Cape Verde during the early days of the slave trade. “I’d never seen anything like it, never heard anything like it. So of course, I couldn’t get it out of my head,” says Madonna. She invited several members of the collective to perform on her album and even brought some to the...
‘This Isn’t a Fad’: Three of Africa’s Biggest Stars on Making the Industry Come to Them
Tiwa Savage, Davido and Mr Eazi are opening doors (and labels’ checkbooks). Here’s what they’re up against. The next musical revolution is brewing in Africa. As the industry buzzes with — and profits from — new languages and sounds from all over, the prospects for artists across the continent have never been brighter or more numerous. There have, of course, always been African superstars — from Miriam Makeba to Hugh Masekela to Fela Kuti — as well as great respect for the continent’s music, thanks to projects like Paul Simon’s iconic 1986 album, Graceland, which famously put Ladysmith Black Mambazo and others on the international map. But despite major-label deals, chart successes and eye-popping sales figures, African artists have often been siloed from the popular music landscape, segreg...
Sia Shares New Song “Together” from Upcoming Directorial Debut: Stream
Sia’s last proper album, This is Acting, hit shelves more than four years ago. The pop superstar has been quite busy since then, though — and not just with her music. Not only is she working on the soundtrack to a movie she herself directed, she has also expanded her own family by adopting two 18-year-old boys. Marking Sia’s feature directorial debut, the forthcoming film is called Music. Co-written by Sia and children’s author Dallas Clayton, it’s based on a short story the singer penned in 2007. The story follows the life of an autistic teenager (Maddie Ziegler) who is cared for by her drug-dealing half-sister (Kate Hudson). If you’ll recall, actor and dancer Ziegler often appears in Sia’s music videos, including the now-classic clip for “Chandelier”, one of the best hits of the 201...
The Weeknd Announces Rescheduled Tour Dates for 2021
After releasing one of the most popular albums of the year in After Hours, The Weeknd was understandably excited about a massive arena tour. Unfortunately the coronavirus pandemic put the kibosh on that, but the Canadian pop star has now announced that he’s rescheduled those tour dates for the summer and fall of 2021. “The After Hours (Rescheduled) Tour” kicks off in Vancouver in June, exactly one year and a day after it was originally set to commence. The 67-date trek criss-crosses North America until October, at which time he’ll take the show to Europe. All of his old performances have found a new home except for a November stop in Glasgow, the exact time of which is still TBD. He’ll be joined on tour with openers Sabrina Claudio, Don Toliver, and Black Atlass. Check out the full sc...
Clean Bandit & Anne-Marie Perform ‘Rockabye’ in Honor of International Nurses Day
In celebration of International Nurses Day, Clean Bandit and Anne-Marie honored the heroes on the coronavirus frontlines with a performance of their 2016 collaboration, “Rockabye.” The members of Clean Bandit delivered the tune from a serene garden, while Anne-Marie video conferenced in from a laptop on a table. Though the song’s third collaborator, Sean Paul, wasn’t present for the performance, the group overlaid a photo of him during his verse. The lyrics are fitting to celebrate nurses, as it features the reassuring maternal pre-chorus, “She tells him ‘Your life ain’t gonna be nothing like my life / You’re gonna grow and have a good life / I’m gonna do what I’ve got to do.'” Watch the performance below. [embedded content]...
Cher’s 20 Biggest Billboard Hits
In honor of the legendary diva’s birthday, we’ve ranked the biggest songs of her inimitable six-decade-long career. To celebrate superstar dance/pop diva Cher‘s 74th birthday today (May 20), Billboard has unveiled the legendary performer’s top 20 Billboard Hot 100 hits. As we … turn back time … in our chart archives, we find that the Academy-, Emmy- and Grammy Award-winner’s 1973 No. 1 hit “Half Breed” leads this exclusive list. The Cher song is one of five No. 1s on this tally; four are by Cher as a solo artist and one from her time as half of Sonny & Cher. The husband-and-wife duo place five songs on this recap, including all five of its top 10 Hot 100 hits. At No. 20 on the tally is Cher’s debut chart hit as a soloist, the ...
Ariana Grande’s 10 Realest Lyrics on Her ‘Dangerous Woman’ Album
Happy anniversary to Ariana Grande‘s Dangerous Woman album, which was released on this day (May 20) in 2016! While Grande certainly sounded in command of her life on previous LPs, the pop star brought a whole new level of realness to her third album. As the stylistically eclectic affair veered between R&B, pop, reggae and dance, Grande gave us some of the most honest and memorable lyrics of her career to date. Some of them (like the lines on “Moonlight”) put you right there in the moment with Ariana and her boo. Others, like the lyrics on “Knew Better/Forever Boy,” show her getting very real about her love life — good, bad, and everything messy in between. In honor of the album’s fourth birthday, we’re looking back at ...
Celebrating 100 Episodes of This Must Be the Gig with Mike Patton, Alicia Keys, Shirley Manson, and More
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Radio Public | Stitcher On today’s episode, host Lior Phillips and engineer Adam Kivel celebrate 100 episodes of This Must Be the Gig. After compiling votes from listeners, the duo reflect on 12 fan-favorite episode and share key clips. Special memories include Mike Patton reflecting on his music piracy while working at a record store, Alicia Keys recognizing herself in music as a teen, and Jacob Collier contextualizing the process of learning music theory. Plus, Lior and Adam look back at powerful clips with David Byrne, Shirley Manson, and Jenny Slate. And don’t forget to stay tuned to the end of the episode for a surprise look at next week’s astounding guest! This Must Be the Gig gives backstage ...
Noah Cyrus’ Song ‘Young & Sad’ Recalls Her Difficult Childhood as ‘Miley Cyrus’ Little Sister’
Noah Cyrus spoke candidly with Apple Music’s Rebecca Judd today (May 19) about her new EP The End of Everything and its themes, including growing up in her sister Miley Cyrus‘ shadow. The project’s fifth track, “Young & Sad,” delves into the younger Cyrus’ main struggles under the spotlight and the pressures to present herself, with a poignant second verse about her star sibling: “My sister’s like sunshine/ Always bringing good light/ Wherever she will go/ And I was born to rain clouds/ When they blew the flame out/ Blessed in our shadows.” “I speak about my body dysmorphia and I speak about my struggles growing up as the world saw it as ‘Miley Cyrus’ little sister,’ Cyrus said in the Apple Mus...
Noah Cyrus Contemplates the Universe in ‘The End of Everything’ Video: Watch
If things seem grim now, locked down, shut out and cut off from all that we used to know, get a load of the video for the title track from Noah Cyrus‘ The End of Everything EP. The beautiful disaster clip released on Tuesday (May 19) contemplates the rapid devolution of our planet and eventual end of it all in a three-minute nature film to end all nature films. “The inspiration behind this song changed my life,” Cyrus says in a statement about the gentle acoustic country pop ballad from the recently released mini-album. “It’s all inspired by a time-lapse video of the universe I saw by John Boswell, who also directed my video for this song. For me, it really put into perspective how shortly lived our moments here as humans are. Situations from when I was younger started ente...
Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber Speak Out After ‘Stuck With U’ Hits No. 1
Following the announcement that Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber’s collab “Stuck With U” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Grande her third Hot 100 topper and Bieber his sixth, Grande wrote a lengthy Instagram note addressed to fans and even some skeptics about the success of the charitable single, which will benefit the First Responders Children’s Foundation. “Thank u to everybody who supported this song, this cause and made this happen. we love uuuuu so much,” Grande wrote Monday (May 18) afternoon. “There’s so much to celebrate today. However, i would like to say a few things. anyone who knows me or has followed me for a while knows that numbers aren’t the driving force in anything i do. i’m grateful to sing. grateful to have peop...
