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Black Pumas, Brittany Howard, Mavis Staples Highlight ATO Records Black Lives Matter Benefit Comp
“Silence is Not An Option (turn this up)” is out now on ATO Records. ATO Records released a surprise digital compilation on Friday (June 19) that will support Black Lives Matter, Color of Change and the Innocence Project. The 11-track album, titled Silence is Not An Option (turn this up), features songs from the label’s catalog by Brittany Howard, My Morning Jacket, Black Pumas, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Benjamin Booker (with Mavis Staples), Drive-By Truckers and a new songs from Emily King, “See Me.” “ATO Records, an independent record label out of New York City, has been reflecting deeply on the injustices and inequality in our world. We recognize that music is not just an agent for change, but a space of solace,” the label said in a statement. &...
Cory Marks New Track ‘Drive’ Is The Feel Good Country Hit of the Summer
Follow up to “Outlaws and Outsiders” is a made for country radio jam Watch out country radio. Cory Marks has begun the promotional push for his new single “Drive” and the video for the breakout summer anthem is already posting some seriously impressive numbers. The Canadian country singer from North Bay, Ontario is following up his smash hit “Outlaws and Outsiders” with “Drive,” a straight-ahead country pop anthem with a infectious hook and roll-down-your-window feel-good sound that borrows inspiration from country greats like Alan Jackson or Brooks and Dunn. The video is equally summer-ready, with a wide-open landscape and a love story accompanying the road-trip-ready vocals. [embedded content] “Drive” is closing in on 60,000 views on Youtube, 90,0...
First Out: New Music From Victoria Monét, Jozzy, Lauren Ruth Ward & More
As Pride Month continues around the world, LGBTQ people everywhere are looking for uplifting anthems to help them tap into this season’s spirit of activism. Billboard Pride is here to help with First Out, our weekly roundup of some of the best new weekly music releases from LGBTQ artists. From Jozzy’s repeat-worthy new track, to Victoria Monét’s disco-infused Khalid collaboration, here are some of our favorite new releases this week: Victoria Monét ft. Khalid, “Experience” When you hear the names Victoria Monét and Khalid, you’d be forgiven if “disco” isn’t the first genre you thought of. But on their brand new single “Experience,” that is exactly what the pair are serving — with a constantly-grooving bassline, combined...
Cat Power Pays Homage to Cassius’ Philippe Zdar with ‘Toop Toop’
Cat Power paid homage to her late friend, French producer and collaborator Phillpe Zdar of Cassius with a special cover the French duo’s 2006 hit song, “Troop Troop.” Zdar died on June 19, 2019 after “an accidental fall, through the window of a high floor of a Parisian building.” Cat Power, born Chan Marshall, performaned “Troop Troop” with -M-, aka French rocker Matthieu Chedid, at Zdar’s funeral. Marshall and Zdar have collaborated on a number of projects including Cassius’ 2016 album, Ibifornia as well as Marshall’s 2012 LP, Sun. “We were standing by the entrance, not daring to enter the studio room as the events were too recent and surrealistic,” Dyane de Serigny, Zdar’s widow, said in a statement. “It felt unreal to be there without him. Cat Power and -M- started humming ‘Toop Toop’… ...
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Wale Drops Surprise Black Lives Matter Inspired ‘The Imperfect Storm’ EP [Listen]
Source: press handout / Warner Records Wale has been keeping busy during these tumultuous times. Besides keeping tabs on his socials and participating in protests, today (June 19), the Washington, DC rapper dropped a new EP titled The Imperfect Storm. Wale’s new album features the photo of our store the night of the Fairfax riot. The first track has a nod to my essay. Out NOW. https://t.co/fFm1dKgs3g — Bobby Hundreds (@bobbyhundreds) June 19, 2020 The project’s themes line up with the Juneteenth holiday it drops on as well as the unrest being experienced throughout the United States, and the world. Wale’s last proper album, Wow…That’s Crazy, dropped late last year, but this surprise EP was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and Mr. Folarin was moved to get it out stat. Just ...
#Juneteenth: The History Of Juneteenth & The Continued Quest For Freedom
Source: Jeenah Moon / Getty As the blazing fires burn down to warming embers and the cacophony of voices shouting loud for Black lives lower, the work that remains to be done still looms heavy. The fight against racial injustice has never felt more purposeful and with today being Juneteenth, it is immediately important to examine the history of the day while continuing the quest for freedom. Known as Freedom Day, Liberation Day, and also Emancipation Day, June 19 marks when Union Army forces from the north arrived in Galveston, Texas to finally deliver federal orders that slavery was officially ended. While President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly approved the Emancipation Proclamation, which went into effect on January 1, 1863, slaves in Texas remained in the dark for two years in the Lone S...
After #BlackOutTuesday Snafu, Instagram Vows To Amplify Black Voices
Source: ERIC BARADAT / Getty #BlackOutTuesday was a noble cause but wasn’t executed properly inadvertently silencing Black voices in the process. Instagram is now vowing to that it will ensure that it won’t happen on its platform again. Earlier this month, Instagram came under fire following the #BlackOutTuesday movement. The protest was initially organized by workers in the music industry, and Instagram users have been sharing photos of black squares in solidarity with black victims of police violence. Instead, Instagram was accused of “shadowing banning” or blocking important information related to the protests because people were also throwing in the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. Instead of seeing content related to the marches, videos of police abusing their power, users noticed the ...
Nia DaCosta Drops Paper Puppet Show Preview of ‘Candyman’, Rubs Some Amerikkkans The Wrong Way
Source: Universal / Universal The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 completely disrupted all aspects of life around the globe, but for movie buffs such as ourselves knowing that Jordan Peele’s reboot of Clive Barker’s classic Candyman was supposed to be in theaters this weekend hurts the most. Now with a tentative release date of September 25th (barring a dreaded second wave of Coronavirus hitting the US), the hype behind the Nia DaCosta directed feature has begun to hit a fever pitch as – much to the dismay of many MAGA folk – the film will indeed have a racially charged theme (something horrified Twitter users said was not a part of the original film. SMH). Recently DaCoasta gave fans a sneak peak of the film which featured a paper puppet show that not only gave the backstory to the legend of th...
Nicki Minaj Congratulates Lil Nas X On Celebrating His Barb Standom
Long before he was the Billboard Hot 100 record-breaking, Grammy- and VMA-winning megastar maestro behind “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X was a Barb. Still is, in fact. The difference is now he’s a Barb with influence — and on Tuesday night (June 16), he used it to tweet at Nicki Minaj herself to ask if she’d appear on a song of his. This led a fellow Barb to ask, “How come you never claimed her when people asked if you were a barb?? We all knew who you were.” The question digs back into Lil Nas X’s past as the voice behind a popular Twitter account, one he was able to utilize to help “Old Town Road” go stratospheric. As Intelligencer’s Brian Feldman noted in 2019, “By trafficking in memes, viral threads, engagement bait, and Nic...
Back To Beacon Hills: Here’s Where The Characters Of Teen Wolf Left Off
Teen Wolf said goodbye on September 24, 2017, leaving years to go by without the beloved Beacon Hills band of characters. But that’s about to change: The cast is going to reunite for an important cause. Mama McCall instructed her son Scott to “give them hope.” And now we have it! Before the launch of “MTV Reunions,” which will bring together cast members from television’s most memorable shows with the purpose of raising money for charitable causes (this installment will benefit the First Responders First charity), we’re taking a look back at where we last left off with the memorable supernaturals and mortals who will be appearing on the special, along with series creator Jeff Davis. First, a nod to this final moment of Scott McCall’s pack under the...
What It Means To Be Black And Free In America Today
By Virginia Lowman When news of George Floyd’s death began to circulate in late May, I heard Dominique Fils-Aimé’s rendition of Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” play in my mind. This is one of many death rituals I’ve assumed since Philando Castile was shot dead by police on Facebook Live in 2016. Other rituals include preliminary measures I take within my friend groups — screenshots or recordings during laughter-filled FaceTimes with Black friends, particularly male friends, just in case something happens to them after we hang up. I even have practices in place in the event that I become a headline, too. When we talk about freedom in America, we have to acknowledge it as a thing of cultural nuance. We have to reconcile America’s past and the commodification of the Black body as America’s b...
Noname’s ‘Song 33’ Addresses J. Cole, Toyin Salau, And More In Just Over A Minute
Earlier this week, J. Cole dropped the song “Snow on tha Bluff,” which seemed to target Chicago rapper Noname for a tweet in which she called out “y’all favorite top selling rappers” for their silence during a time of mass protests and demonstrations calling for racial justice. In a follow-up tweet thread, Cole clarified that he had respect for Noname, urged his fans to follow her, and said, “I love and honor her as a leader in these times.” But one of Cole’s lines in the song remained at the heart of the dispute, especially among fans: “It’s something about the queen tone that’s bothering me.” Noname apparently even tweeted the words “QUEEN TONE!!!!!!” before deleting it. Now, she’s responded with a ...
