Music
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Public Enemy, Nas, the Roots, YG, and More Open BET Awards With ‘Fight the Power’
Public Enemy was joined by an all-star group of musicians to open up the BET Awards with their 1989 classic “Fight the Power.” Nas, Rapsody, Black Thought, YG, ?uestlove, JAHI, DJ Lord, Professor Griff and S1Ws all performed on the PE classic, which was recorded (of course) remotely due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Some contributed new verses to the 2020 version of the song. The performance comes a week after Public Enemy released their new single, “State of the Union (STFU),” which was produced by DJ Premier. We spoke with Chuck D. following the release of the single, where he told us about its origins in more detail. “This was an idea that was always floating in my head,” he said. “Every time I used to see the State of the Union with a hashmark in front of it over the last four y...
James Blake Turns Nirvana’s ‘Come As You Are’ into a Soulful Piano Ballad: Watch
James Blake has been treating fans to livestream performances since quarantine began, covering everything from Radiohead to Stevie Wonder. On Saturday, the singer-songwriter hosted a “piano improv concert” via Instagram while encouraging viewers to donate to Rachel Cargle’s Loveland Foundation, “who provide opportunity, access, and therapy for Black women and girls.” During the set, Blake turned Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” into a soulful piano ballad, as requested by a fan, and honestly we’re surprised with how well it works. Watch the cover below. Blake isn’t the only musician to cover Nirvana during lockdown. Last month, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo covered “Heart-Shaped Box,” and in April Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard put his spin on “All Apologies,” while Post Malone and Blink-1...
James Blake Turns Nirvana’s ‘Come As You Are’ into a Soulful Piano Ballad: Watch
James Blake has been treating fans to livestream performances since quarantine began, covering everything from Radiohead to Stevie Wonder. On Saturday, the singer-songwriter hosted a “piano improv concert” via Instagram while encouraging viewers to donate to Rachel Cargle’s Loveland Foundation, “who provide opportunity, access, and therapy for Black women and girls.” During the set, Blake turned Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” into a soulful piano ballad, as requested by a fan, and honestly we’re surprised with how well it works. Watch the cover below. Blake isn’t the only musician to cover Nirvana during lockdown. Last month, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo covered “Heart-Shaped Box,” and in April Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard put his spin on “All Apologies,” while Post Malone and Blink-1...
Conor Oberst Reveals Why Trump Isn’t Mentioned on New Bright Eyes Album
Bright Eyes are gearing up to release their tenth studio album, Down in the Weeds Where the World Once Was, this summer. And while we’ve heard a few songs off the project already, there’s one topic we won’t be hearing about: Donald Trump. Though the band was praised for its 2005 protest song “When the President Talks to God,” which slammed President George W. Bush, Conor Oberst recently explained to the Times why he won’t be expressing his qualms with the current administration through music. “Trump is a different animal from Bush,” he said.“Bush had an ideology and the move to war was easy to protest. But comedians say it’s hard to satirize Trump because he’s the most ridiculous version of himself to start with, and I find the same with writing. How do you approach someone just ...
Conor Oberst Reveals Why Trump Isn’t Mentioned on New Bright Eyes Album
Bright Eyes are gearing up to release their tenth studio album, Down in the Weeds Where the World Once Was, this summer. And while we’ve heard a few songs off the project already, there’s one topic we won’t be hearing about: Donald Trump. Though the band was praised for its 2005 protest song “When the President Talks to God,” which slammed President George W. Bush, Conor Oberst recently explained to the Times why he won’t be expressing his qualms with the current administration through music. “Trump is a different animal from Bush,” he said.“Bush had an ideology and the move to war was easy to protest. But comedians say it’s hard to satirize Trump because he’s the most ridiculous version of himself to start with, and I find the same with writing. How do you approach someone just ...
BTS Keep the Faith in New “Stay Gold” Video: Watch
While it’s easy to feel overwhelmed given the current state of affairs, BTS are adamant about remaining hopeful. That’s the advice they’re looking to pass along to their fans in the new music video for “Stay Gold”. In the clip, members of the beloved K-pop group are separated from one another, left to wander alone through dark and dreary spaces. Still, they keep their heads up, dreaming of one day being reunited for a sunny, puppy-filled afternoon. I won’t spoil the cute ending, but let’s just say their patience is eventually rewarded. Watch the “Stay Gold” clip below. The single is off BTS’ upcoming Japanese-language album Map of the Soul : 7 ~ The Journey ~, due out July 15th through Big Hit Entertainment. Editors’ Picks Consequence of Sound recently named BTS’ previous album, ...
The Boys Season 2 Premiere Date Announced, First Three Minutes Revealed: Watch
Amazon Prime has announced the Season 2 premiere of The Boys. The superhero deconstruction from Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Eric Kripke returns September 4th with three new episodes. Future episodes will then be released weekly through October 9th. The release date was announced during a virtual reunion of the show’s cast hosted by Patton Oswalt, who joins the new season as Tek Knight, a superhero who can only fly in space. The teaser clip features a boardroom pitch to The Seven that hopes to excite them with phrases like, “rousing music,” and “Haaaaaaans Zimmeeer.” Check that out at the 45:25 mark in the video below. You’ll notice another new face in that clip: Aya Cash, who joins The Seven as new member Stormfront. Earlier in the livestream, her character was ...
Beyoncé Announces New Visual Album Black Is King
Beyoncé will return next month with a new visual album called Black Is King. It’s due out on July 31st exclusively through Disney Plus. The project ties back to Beyoncé’s previous collaboration with Disney on last year’s CGI remake of The Lion King and the companion album, The Lion King: The Gift. According to a press release, Black Is King “reimagines the lessons of The Lion King for today’s young kings and queens in search of their own crowns. The film was in production for one year with a cast and crew that represent diversity and connectivity.” Beyoncé wrote, directed and produced Black Is King herself. The album will incorporate music and visuals from The Gift in addition to featuring the album’s collaborators and other special guests. “The voyages of Black families, th...
Sacha Baron Cohen Infiltrates Far-Right Rally Pretending to Be Racist Country Singer
Sacha Baron Cohen is up to his old tricks. On Saturday, the Borat and Bruno actor crashed a far-right rally in Olympia, Washington, pretending to be a racist country singer who led a sing-along about injecting former president Barack Obama and Dr. Anthony Fauci with the “Wuhan Flu”. The event was organized by a far-right militia group called the Washington Three Percenters. It seems Cohen had reached out to event organizers about serving as the musical entertainment, going as far to offer to cover the costs of the stage and sound system. The Three Percenters took him up on his offer, setting the stage for one truly epic prank. Disguising himself in overalls and a fake beard, Cohen proceeded to sing a twangy country number about injecting liberals and scientists with the coronavirus. At var...
How to Watch the 2020 Juno Awards
Following the cancellation of the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan show due to coronavirus, the 49th annual Juno Awards plans to announce this year’s winners in a special, virtual ceremony Monday, June 29. Indigenous artist iskwē, alt-pop duo Neon Dreams and bluegrass ensemble The Dead South will perform during the online awards show organized by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). All three acts are also nominated in four of its 42 categories. Alessia Cara, who was originally scheduled to host the 2020 awards broadcast from Saskatoon, leads this year’s list of nominees with six under the belt — Juno fan choice, single of the year, album of the year, artist of the year, songwriter of the year, ...
Pabllo Vittar Curates a Pride Playlist Featuring Britney Spears, Blackpink and More
At 25 years old, Pabllo Vittar (real name: Phabullo Rodrigues da Silva) has become a household name in her home country of Brazil. The fierce, unapologetic, and empowering singer and drag superstar has gained international success from her collaborations with artists such as Diplo, Lali, Charli XCX, and Thalia, among others. For Vittar, being a Latina artist in the LGBTQ community is very important. “I am a voice for all the LGBTQ community not only in my country Brazil, where we face difficult times but for all of Latin America and the world,” she tells Billboard. “I’ve been to so many countries and I realized that it’s not only in Brazil that we need this voice, but everywhere, and I’m very happy to be one of these voices.” As Pride Month wraps up this week, Vittar also shared her f...
Michelle Obama Stresses Voter Registration During Virtual Roots Picnic: Watch
Michelle Obama helped launch this year’s Roots Picnic with a passionate message about voting. Before kicking off the virtual festival on Saturday (June 27), the former first lady joined The Roots‘ Questlove and Black Thought on a split screen to urge voter registration for the upcoming election in November. “These past few months have been pretty heavy for just about everyone, and the truth is we still have our work cut out for us in the weeks and months ahead,” Obama said. “So before we dive into the Picnic, I want to remind everybody that we’ve got an election coming up, and it couldn’t be more important that everyone makes their voice heard this time around.” This year’s Roots Picnic partnered with Obama’s nonpartisan nonprofit...
