entertainment blog
Pierre Kwenders Wins 2022 Polaris Music Prize
The Congolese-born and Montreal-based musician and songwriter Pierre Kwenders has won the 2022 Polaris Music Prize for his album José Louis and the Paradox of Love. The honor is annually awarded to Canada’s best album of the year by a jury of writers, programmers, and broadcasters; it comes with a $50,000 prize. The award was revealed tonight at a live gala in Toronto. In his speech accepting the award, Kwenders mentioned that in the past two months, he lost his godfather and two of his cousins. He noted that “life is a motherfucker,” but said, “I remember the reason I do what I do and the reason why I do the music that I do and I tell the story that I tell with my music is to tell the story of the people that inspire me. And all those three people that I mentioned inspired me as fuc...
The Smashing Pumpkins Announce New Album ATUM, a Sequel to Mellon Collie and Machina
The Smashing Pumpkins have announced their new album ATUM (pronounced “autumn”), a 33-song rock opera in three acts that’s billed as the sequel to 1995’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and 2000’s Machina/Machine of God. The new song “Beguiled” is the first taste from the album. Hear it below. Each act of ATUM will be released every 11 weeks, with Act 1 leading off on November 15. Act 2 will follow on January 31, with Act 3 finishing the collection on April 21. A special edition box set featuring the album’s 33 songs plus 10 additional bonus tracks will also be released on April 21. Billy Corgan has announced a new podcast co-produced with iHeartRadio called Thirty-Three With William Patrick Corgan. Each new episode will feature an unreleased Smashing Pumpkins song. The band i...
Mariah Carey Teases Releasing Her 1995 Alt-Rock Album ‘Someone’s Ugly Daughter’
Mariah Carey has teased the idea of releasing her 1995 alt-rock album Someone’s Ugly Daughter. In a recent podcast interview with Rolling Stone, the singer revealed they finally found the version of Someone’s Ugly Daughter containing her own lead vocals, adding that it “will become something we should hear, but also, I’m working on a version where there will be another artist working with me…. Possibly something built around the album.” Carey further explained the importance of the album in both her life and career, calling it her “outlet” that “nobody knew about.” She continued, “I honestly wanted to put the record out back then […] and let them discover that it was me, but that idea was squashed.” Someone’s Ugly Daughter was eventually released with the vocals of her friend Clarissa Dane...
Mystikal Pleads Not Guilty to Rape & Drug Charges
Grammy-nominated rapper Mystikal pleaded not guilty on Monday (Sept. 19) to charges accusing him of raping and choking a woman at his home in Louisiana and of possessing several drugs. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The 51-year-old performer whose given name is Michael Tyler is innocent of all charges, attorney Joel Pearce said after the arraignment in Ascension Parish court in Gonzales, about 15 miles from Baton Rouge. The charges include first-degree rape, which carries an automatic life sentence. Pearce said he has not been able to get copies of the two indictments, but they were read aloud in court. Charges also include simple criminal damage to property, false imprisonment, domestic abuse battery by strangulation, simple...
Robbie Williams Sets Record With 14th U.K. No. 1 Album
Robbie Williams’s XXV (via Columbia) completes its irrepressible charge to the U.K. albums chart summit, a feat that places the singer in the record books. With his latest leader, Williams now boasts 14 No. 1s, a record for a solo artist. Indeed, just one act has bagged more No. 1s in the U.K. — The Beatles, with 15. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news At the halfway point in the cycle, XXV, which celebrates Williams’ 25 years as a solo artist, had accumulated more chart sales that the rest of the top 10 combined. It turned out to be an unassailable lead, and nudges Robbie ahead of Elvis Presley (with 13 No. 1s) into second place all time. As a member of Take That, Williams collected a further five No. 1 albums, including the hits collection Odysse...
Lewis Capaldi Blasts to No. 1 In U.K. With ‘Forget Me’
Lewis Capaldi completes his comeback as “Forget Me” (Vertigo) blasts to No. 1 in the U.K. The Scottish singer and songwriter’s first release in three years is also his third song to hit No. 1, following “Someone You Loved” (from 2019) and “Before You Go” (2020). “Forget Me” racks up more than 56,000 first-week chart sales, according to the Official Charts Company, and it’s the most purchased (physical and digital downloads) single during the latest cycle. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news It’s the third single to start at No. 1 on the Official U.K. Chart this year, after Dave’s “Starlight” and Harry Styles’ “As It Was.” Brits certainly haven’t forgotten Capaldi. As he collects the singles chart crown, his debut album Divinely Uninspired To A Hell...
Believe Is ‘Maintaining All Its Operations’ in Russia — And Some Claim ‘Aggressively’ Growing Market Share
LONDON — Six months after Believe announced it had “suspended activities” in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, the French music company now says it is “maintaining all its operations” in the isolated nation. At best, that means recruiting staff to fill vacated roles and making multi-million dollar deals to renew contracts with label partners. At worst, sources say, Believe is taking advantage of the moment, “aggressively” signing Russian record labels and artists to gain market share in the region while major labels have committed to cease all new business there. In one Aug. 30 email reviewed by Billboard, a senior Believe executive in Russia offered a Russian record label 3 million euros ($3 million) for rights to its catalog and future releases. The email, which was wri...
Kanye West Reportedly Looking to Sell Shares in Catalog for Approximately $175 Million USD
The artist formerly known as Kanye West is supposedly shopping shares in catalog for 35 times its gross profit, amounting to an estimated $175 million USD. According to reports, Ye’s team has been sitting down with several possible buyers over the past year in an attempt to put a correct value on his catalog. He is allegedly looking to sell the shares for 35 times its estimated gross profit; Billboard’s approximations state that the artist’s catalog rakes in around $13.25 million USD in publishing royalties per year, however West himself receives a different amount as his later releases include 10-24 songwriters per song plus the artists sampled. This possibly gives him 35% of his first four albums and around 20% for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy to the present, earning him around $5 m...
August Alsina Claims Pint-Sized Rapper Tory Lanez Sucker Punched Him, Provides Receipts
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Joseph Okpako / Getty August Alsina is back in the news, and no, not for anything Jada Pinkett-Smith-related, but for an alleged altercation, he got into with Yosemite Sam. Oops, we mean Tory Lanez. So here is the tea if you care. Well, of course, you do because you’re reading this post. Things got interesting on social media when the Twitter account @GOTCITYTEA claimed the two artists were involved in an altercation after exchanging barbs online. “Tory Lanez KO’d August Alsina tonight after August got froggy with Tory over something Tory said months ago. Tory was trying to show him love, and August wanted to take it to a negative place & got knocked out!” the initial tweet read. The gossip account would then blame Alsina for the incident in a fo...
50 Cent Sues Plastic Surgeon For Suggesting He Had His Penis Enhanced
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz A plastic surgeon is about to learn that when you try to make a buck off of 50 Cent without his consent, he’s not taking it to the streets but rather to the court room. According to TMZ, 50 Cent is suing plastic surgeon, Angela Kogan and her businesses, Perfection Plastic Surgery and MedSpa for using a photo he took with her to promote her business and imply that Fiddy had some work done on his magic stick (LOL). Posing for a photo with Kogan, 50 learned that the innocent pic was used to make it seem like the Get Rich or Die Tryin’ rapper had some penis enhancement work done and is now taking Kogan to court for the shameless promo. Related Stories According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, 50 Cent says he took a pic with Dr...
Boycott Deez N***: ‘The Woman King’ Slays Initial Projections, Tops Weekend Box Office With $19M Haul
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Courtesy / Sony Pictures The Woman King reigns supreme at the box office. The film, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, took in $19 million over the weekend. The Sony-distributed film starring Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis as General Nanisca, the leader of an African army of powerful Black women called the Agojie whose life mission is to protect the 18th-century African kingdom of Dahomey. The film is loosely based on historical facts, including the practice of kingdoms like Dahomey selling Africans and captured combatants into slavery. That became the subject of intense debate over the weekend with some people who decided to do their Google searches about the Black women warriors and the kingdom the film’s story was based on, calling for a boycott of ...
AB Ft. Young Thug “Get In My Bag,” Fabolous “Easy Freestyle” & More | Daily Visuals 9.19.22
HipHopWired Featured Video The Hip-Hop world knows that Young Thug is currently incarcerated awaiting trial where he could end up serving decades behind bars but apparently the ATLien was able to record a video before feds put those iron bracelets on him. Lending an assisted to former NFL superstar, Antonio Brown (AB) for his clip to “Get In My Bag,” Thugger and AB go bowling with a gang of women whose rear-ends are as rounded as the balls used in the bowling alley. We rooting for Thugger to beat them charges, b. Related Stories Back in Brooklyn, Fabolous continues to drop random videos to remind everyone he’s still got bars and for his latest clip to “Easy Freestyle,” the Brooklynite takes his Lambo for a spin with a thick shorty riding shotgun as they make pitstops around the city. Check...
