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Kanye West Praises Michael Jackson in New Interview With Pharrell Williams
In a new interview with i-D, Kanye West spoke with fellow studio wizard and Neptunes mastermind Pharrell Williams, comparing his own impact to that of Michael Jackson. “It felt like you really tore down the walls and the doors much like Michael Jackson did a generation before, and in a way, he’s very similar to Michael Jackson, in the ways where Michael Jackson was doing covert, super gangsta stuff, like he’d just pop the needles off,” West said during their conversation. “He kissed Elvis Presley’s daughter on MTV. Black culture used to be… we used to be fronting all night, but Michael was doing stuff that was different to what we were programmed to understand as being what we should do.” And after the compliment, West spoke on Jackson’s influence, later drawing parallels between thei...
Street Taxes: Travis Scott Hit With Copyright Lawsuit Over “Highest In The Room”
Source: Kevin Winter / Getty As we have been reminded time after time with more money come more problems. Travis Scott is being accused of musical thievery. Billboard Magazine is reporting that Cactus Jack is facing some legal issues stemming from one of his most popular songs. As per the report three musicians allege that he and his “Highest In The Room” collaborators stole their melody. They say his team pretended to be interested in working together with the plaintiffs but it was all a rouse to lift their distinct guitar rifts. On Tuesday, June 9 Olivier Bassil, Benjamin Lasnier and Lukas Benjamin Leth filed a lawsuit in federal court in California against Scott. Also named on the paperwork are the accompanying credited songwriters including Oz (Ozan Yildirim), Nik D (Nik Dejan Frascona...
A&E Reality Cop Show ‘Live PD’ Says It Destroyed Tape of Javier Ambler’s Fatal Arrest
Before there was George Floyd, there was Javier Ambler, who also suffered eerily similar death at the hands of the Texas police back in 2019. The investigation was closed, but now it has been reopened. According to Austin American-Statesman, Ambler was headed home following a poker game on the night of March 28, 2019. The 40-year-old was stopped by a sheriff’s deputy from Williamson County after he failed to dim his lights of his Honda Pilot. According to the Statesman, Ambler was tased multiple times before he died in police custody. Before cops hit him with the taser for a final time, Ambler begged the officers to save him. “I have congestive heart failure,” Ambler pleaded “I have congestive heart failure. I can’t breathe.” The Statesman reports that approximately 28-minutes passed betwe...
Cornel West Brings Anderson Cooper To Tears While Praising George Floyd’s Family
Source: Paul Marotta / Getty The senseless murder of George Floyd has both tugged at the emotional core of Black Americans and also invited necessary moments of outrage and protests. As Floyd’s memory lives on, Dr. Cornel West shared a moving testimony of love and healing the wake of the tragedy on CNN, bringing host Anderson Cooper to tears. West, a Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University sat down with Cooper to discuss the state of the nation on Tuesday (June 9) on the day Floyd was laid to rest in Texas. West, using his years of activism and lecturing, spoke not only to Cooper but to viewers on how the resiliency of the Floyd family should be the example going forward as the nation heals. “We’ve got a love that the world can’t take aw...
HHW Gaming: Infinity Ward Reveals When Season 4 Will Arrive For ‘Call of Duty:Modern Warfare’
Source: Bernard Smalls / Call of Duty Infinity Ward just dropped the release date for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare/ Warzone season 4, and it’s coming sooner than you think. Infinity Ward earlier in the month said it was “not the time” to release the highly-anticipated Season 4 update to Modern Warfare and Warzone due to the protests taking place all over the world for George Floyd. To show they were down for the cause they even added a loading screen letting gamers know Black Lives Matter much to the dismay of some players, we enjoyed those salty tears thank you very much. But the show must go on. Players have been waiting for Infinity Ward to drop the new release date and were pleasantly surprised to learn season 4 is dropping TONIGHT at 11pm PDT. As previously reported, COD fans can look...
King Princess, Daniel Radcliffe, And More Rebuke J.K. Rowling’s Transphobic Tweets
In the days after J.K. Rowling, the author behind the hugely popular fantasy series Harry Potter, published a slew of transphobic tweets, many celebrities and organizations have responded by doubling down on their support for the transgender community. And one particularly powerful response came by way of genderqueer pop vocalist King Princess. Previously, on Saturday (June 6), Rowling shared a Devex article detailing the structural health care issues that people who have periods may face, and which have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Responding to the story’s headline, which referred to “people who menstruate” in inclusively non-gendered terms, the British writer tweeted, “I’m sure there used to be a word for those...
Dominic Fike Calls To Defund The Police In Powerful New Essay
Dominic Fike has been poised for his debut breakout moment for the past few years now, scoring a No. 1 on the Alternative Songs chart in 2018 (“3 Nights“) and palling around with Brockhampton. He also got his own song, the ethereal “Dominic’s Interlude,” on Halsey’s album Manic earlier this year, where he managed to make a mere 76 seconds sound like a maximalist celebration. Fike’s first single from his first album was due to be released last week, but in a new note posted to Instagram on Monday (June 8), he explained why that was put on hold. “Instead something much more important happened,” he wrote. “People were forced to have a conversation that’s long been overdue. It doesn’t feel right to release music today but ...
The Grammys Have Dropped ‘Urban’ From All But One Category
Last week, Republic Records — the home of Drake, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and dozens more — announced it would no longer use the term “urban” to describe “departments, employee titles and music genres” in an effort to “not adhere to the outdated structures of the past.” The radio-format term had long been used in the music industry as a synonym for traditionally Black musical genres such as hip-hop, R&B, and more dating back to the 1970s, pioneered by DJ Frankie Crocker. The company said in a memo (per Variety), “As with a lot of our history, the original connotation of the term urban was not deemed negative.” But over time, the term “developed into a generalization of Black people in many sectors of the music industry, includin...
Taylor Swift Makes A Powerful Anti-Racist Statement, Urges Fans To Vote
Taylor Swift has found her political voice, and she is using it to take a hard-line stance against racial injustice. On Tuesday (June 9), the singer took to Twitter to make a passionate statement demanding far-reaching structural change within American politics, while simultaneously voicing her support for the Black Lives Matter movement. “Racial injustice has been ingrained deeply into local and state governments, and changes MUST be made there,” she wrote, urging followers to cast their votes for candidates who are dedicated to combatting harmful legislature. “In order for policies to change, we need to elect people who will fight against police brutality and racism of any kind.” Swift went on to share a link to a Medium article written by Bara...
Report: Coachella 2020 to be Officially Cancelled
Coachella is proof that even the mightiest of festival brands can’t fight off the wrath of COVID-19. According to a recent Billboard report, Coachella is no longer viable after extensive staff cuts at AEG Presents, the parent company of the fest’s organizer, Goldenvoice. According to an internal AEG memo obtained by Billboard, AEG laid off 15% of its staffers earlier this week and also implemented widespread pay cuts. The memo also informed its employees that it’s “clear” live events like Coachella will not resume until 2021. “When we are able to reopen, it will take time until we see our fans, partners and sponsors fully return,” said AEG CEO Dan Beckerman in the memo. The fabled Indio music and arts festival was originally supposed to occur over the second and third weekends ...
Can Music Producers Be Digital Nomads? 5 Ways to Achieve the Lifestyle
If you have activities such as traveling and music production that you are passionate about, it might be difficult to give the same amount of attention and energy to both. This then brings about the question, “Can music producers be digital nomads? Yes! You can be a music producer and digital nomad at the same time. However, this requires having the right approach consisting of the following: A portable recording studio Budget Money-making plan Time management plan Below, we explain how you can go about implementing the approaches above to become both a digital nomad and music producer. Get a Portable Recording Studio For a digital nomad music producer, the tools in a stable recording studio cannot be used on the road. Therefore, you need tools that are portable and can move with you...
This Music Tech Startup Lets Fans Invest in Artists and Reap Returns from Their Streaming Income
Corite, a new music tech startup that enables fans to invest in their favorite artists and receive real financial returns on their contributions, recently announced the close if its initial seed round. The April launch of the company’s “fan-funding” platform in Europe followed the conclusion of its Series A round, which closed at €600K, according to a report by EU Startups. Corite’s unique business model allows fans to invest in a musical artist and receive real-time returns on their investment, which comes from the artist’s future streaming income based on a previously agreed upon percentage. It’s essentially a win-win situation for both parties, since the artist can use any money raised to market their music before sharing the revenue with fans, w...
