Happy birthday, Kobe Bryant. To help commemorate the late basketball legend’s 42nd birthday on Sunday (Aug. 23), Nike teamed up with Kendrick Lamar for a 90-second video highlighting Bryant’s Mamba Mentality of always striving to be better. In the inspirational video, appropriately titled Better, Lamar spits rapid-fire spoken word over a montage of clips from Bryant’s unforgettable career, mixed with footage of recent protests across the United States. “Better friend. Better fighter. Better rider. Better eater. Better leader. Better generation. Better nation,” Lamar says over a soft piano melody. “Just be better. Can you do that?” In a post on its website, Nike described the video as a celebration of the “universal relevance of progress and highlights Kobe’s prolifi...
Source: WB Games / Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League There were plenty of big announcements during the first-ever DC FanDome virtual event, but it’s safe to assume Rocksteady Studio’s Suicide Squad game was one of the biggest. Fans waited all-day honestly to see what Rocksteady Studios has been cooking up in the lab for five years since Batman: Arkham Knight. Unlike WB Games Montreal’s Gotham Knights, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League does, in fact, continue the Arkham series. Here is what else we know about the highly-anticipated game. You will control only four members of the ragtag team of DC supervillains brought together by Amanda Waller to do the dirty work law enforcement can’t do like keep metahumans in check. Players can look forward to playing with Harley Quinn, De...
Bright Eyes have returned with their first new album in nine years, Down in the Weeds Where the World Once Was. Stream it below through Apple Music or Spotify. Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nate Walcott released nine albums from 1998 through 2011. Together they led an indie rock revolution off of Dylan-esque folk tunes, but by the time of 2011’s The People’s Key, Oberst had somewhat soured on his earlier work, calling it “rootsy Americana shit.” In retrospect, perhaps they just needed a break. Oberst especially has been busy these last nine years, pumping out solo records, founding Better Oblivion Community Center with Phoebe Bridgers, and then co-writing five songs on her outstanding new album Punisher. While Oberst helped Bridgers become a star, she’s now returning th...
No one saw this coming: the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has been linked to at least seven new cases of the coronavirus, with many more likely to come in the days ahead. On Thursday, the Panhandle Public Health District confirmed seven new cases of COVID-19 in South Dakota and nearby Nebraska “tied to the rally,” according to NBC News. Meanwhile, ABC 5 News reports that local Sturgis officials are planning to conduct mass testing of its residents next week in an attempt to mitigate a possible outbreak of infections from the rally. South Dakota health officials say they’ve seen a 43% increase in positive coronavirus cases over the past two weeks, with 125 new cases alone confirmed on Thursday. Upwards of 450,000 people attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally earlier this month, making it the...
Over a month after it was first reported that Megan Thee Stallion was shot in the foot, the “WAP” rapper has confirmed that it was Tory Lanez who pulled the trigger. News broke in mid-July that Lanez, real name Daystar Peterson, had been arrested for suspicion of possession of a concealed weapon. Megan, né Megan Pete, was in the vehicle with Lanez at the time and reported suffering glass wounds on her feet. However, the very next day, she took to social media to reveal she had actually been shot in both her feet “as a result of a crime that was committed against me and done with the intention to physically harm me.” At the time, the Los Angeles Police Department said Megan had not reported any crime. Over the next few weeks, however, she continued to discuss the experience, including surge...
Every Friday, Consequence of Sound rounds up some of the week’s noteworthy new album releases. Today, August 21st, brings fresh music from Cut Copy, Guided By Voices, Awich, The Lemon Twigs, Bully, Duckwrth, The Front Bottoms, and Maya Hawke. Take a look to each of their new albums below. Also check out new albums from Nas, The Killers, and Bright Eyes, and new singles from Deftones, BTS, and Jay-Z and Pharrell. Cut Copy – Freeze, Melt <img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1058624" data-attachment-id="1058624" data-permalink="https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/08/cut-copy-like-breaking-glass-stream/cut-copy-photo-by-tamar-levine-2/" data-orig-file="https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Cut-Copy-photo-by-Tamar-Levine-.jpg?qualit...
AmeriFilms LLC/Road Rage Films has announced the production of “Black Days”, a film based on true events about the last days in the life of grunge music icon Chris Cornell. The movie will star John Holiday (“Walk The Line”, CMT‘s “Sun Records”). Filming for “Black Days” is set to begin first week of October. Due to COVID-19, producers have taken extra precautions to film most actors by themselves with a small crew, social distancing and masks. AmeriFilms LLC is a Los Angeles-based film production company. Chris Cornell was found hanged in his room at the MGM Grand Detroit hotel in May 2017, following a SOUNDGARDEN show at the city’s Fox Theatre. His body was found soon after he had spoken with a “slurred” voice to his ...
Actor, comedian and acclaimed heavy metal drummer Richard Christy has paid tribute to QUIET RIOT‘s Frankie Banali, who died earlier this week after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Christy, who has played with CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED, ICED EARTH, DEATH and CONTROL DENIED, and who currently works for “The Howard Stern Show”, took to his social media on Saturday (August 22) to upload a video of him playing along to the QUIET RIOT classic “Run For Cover”. He wrote in an accompanying caption: “Here’s a drum tribute video to the legend Frankie Banali. I would not be a drummer if it weren’t for Frankie & the Metal Health album. This is the song that made me want to play double bass. Thank You Frankie. RIP @FrankieBanali @QUIETRIOT @EddieTru...
On July 25, Douglas Blair of W.A.S.P. joined the Turku, Finland-based “fuzz rock” quintet ATOMIC ANNIE for an engaging acoustic version of the W.A.S.P. hit “Wild Child”. Blair holstered his Crimson Oath “Borra” custom aluminum Telecaster, and played an uncharacteristic yet effective slide guitar over the well-adapted version. ATOMIC ANNIE is an active member of the Rock Academy‘s Turku branch, in which Blair has been deeply involved in “band coaching” for several years. The franchised city-funded social programs (there are currently six nationwide) include two-year free enrollments for young bands in which they receive close support, recording and live experience, instructional clinics and personal tutoring from pros. Blair states: R...
Florida’s ATHEIST is widely regarded by those in the know as the pioneers of technical death metal, influencing many of today’s top technical extreme metal bands. During quarantine, ATHEIST members Daniel Martinez, Chris Martin, Yoav Ruiz-Feingold and Anthony Medaglia kept their chops and produced a series of playthrough videos. The first of the series is for “Mother Man”, off ATHEIST‘s second album, “Unquestionable Presence”. Check it out below. Vocalist Kelly Shaefer comments: “Hope everyone is getting through this very oddball year. “Just before all of this madness happened, we were fortunate enough to do an amazing U.S. tour supporting CATTLE DECAPITATION. “As some of you know, my fellow founding member Steve Flynn and I have ...
This will be the second year in a row that BET has aired the show. Gospel fans, rejoice! The Stellar Gospel Music Awards are set to air on BET Networks Sunday night (Aug. 23). Kirk Franklin, Jonathan McReynolds and Koryn Hawthorne are set to co-host the two-hour virtual special, which will air at 6:00 p.m. ET, with an encore airing at 9:00 p.m. ET. McReynolds and Hawthorne are also set to perform on the show. Other confirmed performers include CeCe Winans, J.J. Hairston & Youthful Praise, Travis Greene, Marvin Sapp, Tye Tribbett, Tauren Wells, Pastor Mike Jr., Anthony Brown, James Fortune, Kierra Sheard, Zacardi Cortez, DOE and Rich Tolbert Jr. This will be the second year in a row that BET has aired the show. This year’s special will also be simulcast on BET Her. The Stellar Awa...
From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week: Jessie Reyez’s peaceful protest Wearing a scarf with Breonna Taylor’s name written on it and taking a kneel, Jessie Reyez bravely sang the Canadian and U.S. national anthems at the top of the CN Tower in Toronto. “I don’t want to say much except a quote that’s reverberated with me throughout the years: ‘do what you can, with what you have, wherever you are,’” Reyez expressed after her performance that kicked off the first game of the NBA Playoffs between the Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets. A new milestone for Pedro Capo’s “Calma” This week, Pedro Capo sur...