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Meek Mill Breaks Down the “Otherside of America” on New Single: Stream
Meek Mill has shared a new single called “Otherside of America” about his childhood growing up black in the US. The political track opens with a sample of a negative Donald Trump speech over romantic orchestral strings, setting the rapper up for an emotional journey. Don’t mistake “Otherside of America” for your usual protest song. While there’s a high intensity to the track, courtesy of producers Butter Beats and Shroom, the Grammy-nominated rapper spends his time talking about the effects of poverty, violence, and racism on black kids-turned-teenagers with nuance and vivid imagery. “Reporting live from the other side/ Same corner where my brothers died,” he raps. “Living like we ain’t got care/ Told my mama I ain’t dying here.” Stream it below. Earlier this week, Mill — who was released ...
International Day of Slayer Celebrated with On-Demand Release of Repentless Killogy Movie
International Day of Slayer is celebrated annually on June 6th, and this year it features the on-demand release of the band’s 2019 movie The Repentless Killogy. This year marks the 18th annual International Day of Slayer. The special day (6/6 — closest date to 666) has seen fans skip work or school to listen to the legendary thrash band’s music all day. And beginning Saturday, fans who didn’t catch The Repentless Killogy in theaters or purchase the Blu-ray can now stream it via video on demand. The VOD stream is available via the band’s website for the appropriate price of $6.66 for 48 hours of access. The Repentless Killogy is essentially two movies in one, combining a narrative story that weaves together the ultra-violent music videos from the band’s Repentless album with a full concert ...
Billie Eilish Talks Body Image, How She’s “Never Felt Desired” in New Interview
As a global, mainstream pop star, Billie Eilish is constantly in the public eye, with everything from her fashion to her politics heavily scrutinized. However, she’s consistently made it a point to reject any forms of objectification, especially when it comes to her body. She recently released a short film on the topic, Not My Responsibility, as well as issued a powerful statement on body-shaming during the kick-off date of her “Where Do We Go? Tour”. Now, in a new interview with GQ, Eilish goes into more personal detail regarding her self-image and why she presents her body to the world in the way that she does. She also talked about her status as mainstream media “clickbait”. In the feature, the 18-year-old megastar admitted that she’s “never felt desired” before. “My past boyfriend...
Serj Tankian Questions If System of a Down Fans Listen to Their Lyrics: ‘You’re Not Really Getting the Message?”
The past few weeks in the U.S. have seen many people’s opinions crystallized, including musicians. System of a Down’s Serj Tankian and John Dolmayan shared completely contrasting opinions on the protests and Donald Trump in the past few days, with the former in support of protests and the latter approving of the president. On the Side Jams With Bryan Reesman podcast, Tankian wondered how System of a Down’s fans could not understand the message of the band’s lyrics after hearing it for 20 years. He said that while he understood how fans could like the tunes if they like heavy music, the message in the words is laid out clearly for them. “So when I get people on my socials that are, ‘I love your music, but I don’t wanna hear your political ideas,’ that’s fair enough — if they’re ni...
Imagine No More Pandering: Why John Lennon’s Protest Perennial Became an Anthem For the Clueless
On Wednesday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio became the latest public figure to reference John Lennon’s “Imagine” during turbulent times. When countering calls for police reform, de Blasio mentioned the enduring rock standard; the latest example of how notables have co-opted its lyrics for their own agendas. Journalist Jack Mirkinson tweeted de Blasio’s full comments, in which the mayor compared calls to defund the police to the lyrics of the popular song. “I’m reminded of the song ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon,” de Blasio began during the Wednesday press conference. “I think everyone who hears that song in its fullness thinks about, ‘What about a world where people got along differently? What about a world where we didn’t live with a lot of the restrictions that we live with now?’ But we’r...
Cam, Honne & More Set For Billboard Live At-Home Performances
A new week brings a new round of Billboard Live At-Home performances, as artists continue to partner with various organizations to raise much-needed funds for coronavirus relief. Country singer-songwriter Cam will kick the week off on Tuesday (June 9) at 1:00 p.m. EST/10:00 a.m. PST via Billboard‘s Facebook page. Other acts slated for the coming week include British electronic duo Honne, Mexican-American rapper Snow Tha Product and drag star Trixie Mattel. Back in March, the Billboard Live At-Home series launched with live-streamed performances by the likes of JoJo, Josh Groban and Russell Dickerson. During their sets, each artist selected a nonprofit to fundraise for, with a focus on aiding communities most at-risk amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the series has ...
Black Music Month 2020: TDE’s Reason on Petitioning For Cops to Be Local to Their Area & Why He’s ‘Never Been Prouder to Be Black’
HIP-HOP 6/5/2020 by Reason With Black Music Month in full effect this year, African American artists are looking for ways to stay active, motivated, and committed on the fight for social change within their communities in light of the recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Adbery and more. Spurred by the callous disregard for Black lives, artists are hoping to use their platforms as microphones to invoke reform in both the short and long term. Every Friday of this month, we will have an artist speak on today’s climate, offer their suggestions for revision going forward, and why being Black continues to be a gift more than a curse. TDE’s Reason is first at-bat with his take on why he wants America to reconsider the hiring process for cops, and why he values his sk...
Lauren London Speaks Out About Gun Violence, Nipsey Hussle’s Legacy: ‘It’s Like He’s Touching People Still’
Lauren London sat down with Jada Pinkett-Smith on Wednesday (June 3) to discuss the impact of growing up around gun violence, the legacy of her late parter Nipsey Hussle and how she educates her sons about handling police interactions. “What I instill in them is more about the police. How to handle yourself when you get pulled over. That’s more of my education, protecting them being black men in America,” said London about what she talks about with her three-year-old son with Hussle, Kross, and her 10-year-old with former partner Lil Wayne, Kameron. London said that growing up in Los Angeles she had schoolmates who were in gangs, and by summertime “they were gone… they had transitioned from gun violence.” And while she never got numb to hearing that one of them had ...
Meek Mill Shares New Protest Song ‘Other Side of America’
As the protests continue to go on throughout America and the world, a number of artists have released new material reflecting the times we’re living in. The latest comes from Meek Mill, who is very familiar with the perils of injustice and racism, to put it mildly. Today (June 5), the rapper shared “Other Side of America,” a song that encapsulates this time and was produced by Butter Beats and Shroom. Starting with words from President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign speech, Mill uses incisive lyrics to trace the perils of what African-Americans are going through and have gone through. “Reporting live from the other side/Same corner where my brothers died/Livin’ like we ain’t got care/Told my mama I ain’t dying here/40 on me I ain’t buying beer/Ain’t have a will, now I’m flying Lear/Bunch of ...
Switchfoot Share Cover of Vampire Weekend’s ‘Harmony Hall’
After announcing their upcoming EP, Covers, Switchfoot have shared a new track from that project. And this time they put their spin on Vampire Weekend’s “Harmony Hall,” off of the band’s latest album, Father of the Bride. Switchfoot stay true to the bones of the song but with the addition of Jon Foreman’s grittier vocals. Along with the song, Foreman explained why they decided to share this specific tune as opposed to any others this week. In the caption for the video, he wrote: During this difficult week, we have been wrestling with whether or not we should release new music — trying to listen more than speak. As an American, there are so many reasons to mourn, to be angry, to lament. There is so much that we need to change. Let’s take a good, long look at who we are and who we’ve been. L...
Sonic Youth Release 12 New Archival Projects
Sonic Youth had added to their ever-growing library on Bandcamp, and just in time for the site’s fundraiser. The group has dropped 12 new archival and side-project releases. It goes along with the other 12 that they dropped in March along with a slew of others that have trickled out in recent months. They’ve also recently shared their out-of-print 1987 EP Master-Dik, and some live albums. Last week, Sonic Youth shared their semi-official Hold That Tiger live album that was recorded in 1987 and released in 1991. These projects include four instrumental droney jams recorded in Melbourne on June 22, 2004, a Lee Ranaldo show from Toronto in 2001, Live In Yugoslavia 1985/1987, Live At Brixton Academy 1992, Live In Irvine 1990, Wylde Rattz proj...
Beyoncé Urges Fans To “Remain Aligned & Focused” In The Continued Fight For Justice
Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty Beyoncé is urging fans to stay in formation as the fight for justice continues. Queen Bey hopped back on Instagram to address fans and, in her latest post, encouraged supporters to stay focus in the fight, telling them, “Let’s remain aligned and focused in our call for real justice.” In the post, the “Lemonade” crafter also points to the world coming together for George Floyd as well as Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others. At the same time, she makes it clear that there is still a long road ahead of us to ensure that justice will be served. Just 5 days ago, Beyoncé used her Instagram platform and asked her followers to sign a petition asking for additional charges against the officers involved in the fatal arrest of Floyd. “If you want to demand more charg...
