Entertainment
Wazupnaija – Naija Entertainment blogs & Forums – Entertainment
Omar Rodríguez-López Announces Triple Vinyl Box Set The Clouds Hill Tapes
A Mars Volta reunion may be in the near future, but in the meantime, guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López is keeping himself preoccupied with a massive new release. This summer, he will put out a triple vinyl box set called The Clouds Hill Tapes. The 3xLP collection consists of 20 past solo songs from Rodríguez-López, all newly rearranged and produced by Johann Scheerer at the famed Clouds Hill Recording Studio in Hamburg, Germany. These new versions were performed by Rodríguez-López with assistance from a variety of guest musicians. Clouds Hill studio is considered to be Rodríguez-López’s “creative second home” and in the past has also hosted acts like The Killers, Nicolas Jaar, and Pete Doherty. The specific Clouds Hill Tapes sessions took place in late 2018 and early 2019, while the At T...
R.I.P. Rupert Hine, Producer for Rush, The Fixx, and More, Dies at 72
Rupert Hine, who produced two RUSH albums, as well as releases from The Fixx, Howard Jones, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks, and more, has died at the age of 72. No cause of death has been revealed. The veteran UK producer’s passing was reported by the Ivors Academy, a songwriting association of which Hine was a board director. “His passion, wisdom, inspiration and his immense kindness will be hugely missed,” stated the organization. Hine produced RUSH’s gold-certified 1989 album Presto, which included the chart-topper “Show Don’t Tell”, and platinum-certified 1991 LP Roll the Bones, featuring the hit “Ghost of a Chance”. It was in the ’80s new wave scene that Hine really made his mark, producing multiple albums by The Fixx, including the platinum-certified Reach the Beach (highlighted by the si...
Republic Records Will No Longer Use the Word “Urban” to Describe Music
In a move that could be described as woefully overdue, Republic Records will stop using the term “urban” as a synonym for hip-hop, R&B, and other music pioneered by black artists. Republic is the home of such artists as The Weeknd, James Blake, Taylor Swift, and Ariana Grande. In a social media statement, the label indicated that, “Effective immediately, Republic Records will remove “Urban” from our verbiage in describing departments, employee titles and music genres.” The post continued, “We encourage the rest of the music industry to follow suit as it is important to shape the future of what we want it to look like, and not adhere to the outdated structures of the past.” Via Billboard, the term “urban” comes from legendary black DJ Frankie Crocker, who developed the urban ...
Barack and Michelle Obama Host Virtual Graduation Ceremony with Beyoncé, BTS, Lady Gaga: Watch
On Sunday, June 7th, Barack Obama and Michelle Obama will host YouTube’s virtual graduation ceremony “Dear Class of 2020”. Streaming live and for free on YouTube, the festival-style event combines classic commencement day themes with a diverse array of entertainment. Joining the Obamas for “Dear Class of 2020” are Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, BTS, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake, the cast of Schitt’s Creek, and more. You can find all the details — including when and where to watch, who is performing, and much more — below. “Graduation is a tradition that students and families look forward to and with the current state of the world, YouTube is lending some inspiration in the form of a virtual commencement,” said Susanne Daniels, Global Head of Original Content for YouT...
How music legend Majek Fashek passed on
Legendary reggae artiste, Majekodunmi Fasheke, aka Majek Fashek is dead. The artiste died in a New York hospital after a protracted illness on Monday about 5:45pm. He was aged 71. His manager, Uzoma Omenka, confirmed this in a video uploaded on the late singer’s Instagram handle. “Yes, it is true that the legend has gone to be with the Lord. But this time I want to say we should all celebrate him, his achievements. He has done a lot for Nigeria and for Africa. Whatever the family decides, I will get it to you. This is all I have to say for now.” He said. Fashek, who battled a mysterious protracted illness had been down since 2019 and was at a time on admission at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich in England . Fashek was born in Benin-City, Edo state to an Ijesha father and a Benin mot...
46 Black-Run Electronic Dance Labels You Can Support on Bandcamp Right Now
This week has been hard for anyone with a working soul. The black population in the United States and beyond has taken a strong stand against police violence, only to be met with more unbridled brutality. Here are Billboard Dance, we owe everything about the genres we love to this daring and vibrant community, so, we’ve compiled a list of black-run dance and electronic music labels you can support directly today and every first Friday of the month, as well as June 19th. Black is bass. Black is lofi. Black is jazz. Black is techno. Black is house. Black is disco. Black is kuduro. Black is footwork. Black culture is the origin of electronic music itself. Below is just a small slice of what black-run electronic labels have to offer. If you need more black electronic dance musi...
Sony Music Launches $100M Fund to Support Social Justice & Anti-Racist Initiatives
The company has also pledged to expand mental health resources for employees and work with outside experts to advise the company on its inclusion and diversity commitments. Sony Music Group has launched a $100 million fund “to support social justice and anti-racist initiatives around the world,” the company announced Friday (June 5), noting it will immediately begin donating to “organizations that foster equal rights.” “Racial injustice is a global issue that affects our artists, songwriters, our people and of course society at large,” said Sony Music Group chairman Rob Stringer in a statement. “We stand against discrimination everywhere and we will take action accordingly with our community fully involved in effectively using these funds.” Sony Music earlier revealed it would be mat...
First Stream Latin: New Music by Natti Natasha, Bebe, Ed Maverick & More
“First Stream Latin” is a compilation of the best new Latin songs, albums and videos recommended by the Billboard Latin editors. Check out this week’s picks below. Natti Natasha – “Que Mal Te Fue” (Pina Records) After teasing fans on social media, Natti Natasha dropped her first single born during quarantine called “Que Mal Te Fue” (What Went Wrong) released under Pina Records. With a catchy reggaeton beat and Natti’s flirtatious vocals, the song is about a woman who’s questioning her ex for wanting to come back into her life. “What happened, what happened? / You tried being with another girl but it didn’t work out / What happened? / Your plans didn’t work out,” the Dominican urbana sings. In a homemade music video, Natti is seen splashing around in the pool as she ...
‘Why I Protest’: Lauren Jauregui on Why She Marches in Solidarity With Black Lives Matter
Thousands of people have taken the streets, from Minneapolis to Los Angeles to Miami, and beyond, to protest against racial injustice and police brutality in the U.S. The national outrage is in response to the death of George Floyd and other black citizens who have died in the hands of police. Amongst the countrywide protesters, Cuban-American artist Lauren Jauregui walked the streets in Downtown Miami to demand justice and police accountability. “I think it would be irresponsible of me to not lend my voice to this movement in the name of all of the Afro-Latinx people of the world that are the backbone of most of our beautiful cultures all across South America and the Caribbean,” Jauregui exclusively tells Billboard. As part of Billboard’s “Why I Protest” series, Jauregui, known for hits s...
Paul McCartney on George Floyd Protests: ‘Saying Nothing Is Not an Option’
Always one to use his platform as far back as in the ’60s, Paul McCartney has issued a statement in support of the George Floyd protests. Starting with a story about the Beatles’ show in Jacksonville in 1964, McCartney described the band’s reaction to it being a segregated venue and how they decided to cancel the show because of that. “It felt wrong. We said, ‘We’re not doing that!’ And the concert we did do was to their first non-segregated audience. We then made sure this was in our contract. To us it seemed like common sense,” he said. “I feel sick and angry that here we are almost 60 years later and the world is in shock at the horrific scenes of the senseless murder of George Floyd at the hands of police racism, along with the countless others that came before,” McCartney co...
Billie Eilish Says She’s ‘Trapped’ by the Persona She Created
Even before she swept at the Grammys and recorded the theme song for the upcoming James Bond movie, Billie Eilish has long been the subject of conversations about body image due to how she dresses. In an interview with British GQ, Eilish described how she feels “trapped” by the self-image she created. “Sometimes I dress like a boy. Sometimes I dress like a swaggy girl. And sometimes I feel trapped by this persona that I have created, because sometimes I think people view me not as a woman,” she said. Eilish continued speaking about her fame, feeling like she “never felt desired” and wore baggy clothes to express that, and explained her aggravation with being “clickbait.” “I am clickbait at the moment. Anything with my name on it or anything I say or do can and will be used agains...
Run the Jewels’ RTJ4 Is Driving Music for a Cop Car on Fire
Run the Jewels don’t make a reviewer’s job easy because everything that’s great about them is the stuff we’re supposed to ignore to get to the bottom of the hype. They began as the best kind of “supergroup”: An unlikely pairing of beloved talents who still had plenty of room to peak higher. El-P’s fantastic Fantastic Damage and his countless innovative productions for his own previous, self-built Def Jux universe (Cannibal Ox’s The Cold Vein, Mr. Lif’s I Phantom) were unmistakably the most futuristic squelches in dusty-crate-obsessed indie-rap. Jaime Meline set the stage for dystopian soundscapes in hip-hop more than a decade before Death Grips, Yeezus, or the “mutant” scene that’s spawned Black Dresses and Deli Girls. Then you’ve got Michael Render, d/b/a Killer Mike, a firebrand of an MC...
