entertainment blog
From Luis Fonsi to Taylor Swift, Which Music Video with 3B+ Views Is Your Favorite? Vote!
Taylor Swift‘s “Blank Space” joined an elite club on Monday (July 18) by surpassing more than three billion views on YouTube. The superstar joins the ranks of less than a dozen other music videos to reach the same massive milestone, including Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee‘s record holder “Despacito,” which boasts more than 7.9 billion views as the most-watched video of all time. Interestingly, Swift’s clever tale of exacting revenge on a rotating door of “Starbucks lovers” is only the third visual by a female artist to blow past the three billion mark, along with Katy Perry‘s 2012 hit “Roar” and its jungle-themed antics and her own visual for fellow 1989-era smash “Shake It Off.” (For all their other YouTube records, like being the most subscribed act on the platform with more than 75 m...
UTA Nabs Private Equity Investment From EQT to Fuel Expansion
A fund operated by the private equity firm EQT Partners has made a strategic investment in talent agency UTA, in a deal the agency says “will help fuel the next phase of investments in talent, innovation and international expansion.” EQT will become the largest outside shareholder in UTA in the acquisition, which will also see the firm acquiring stakes from some of UTA’s existing investors, including Investcorp and PSP Investments. UTA partnership and leadership will remain the controlling shareholders of the agency. Specific terms of the deal, including valuation, were not disclosed. However, everyone at UTA is expected to benefit financially from the investment. UTA has been on something of an acquisition spree in recent months, acquiring the strategic advisory firm MediaLink, the U.K. l...
Mabel’s ‘About Last Night’ Leads Midweek U.K. Chart
Mabel is on track for the U.K. chart crown with About Last Night (Polydor), the English pop singer and songwriter’s sophomore album. About Last Night leads the midweek chart, and is set to give Mabel her first leader, besting the No. 3 peak for her 2019 debut LP High Expectations. The race is far from done, the OCC reports. Coming in at No. 2 on the Official Chart Update is beabadoobee’s own sophomore set Beatopia (Dirty Hit), the best-seller in the first half of the chart week on physical formats. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The Filipino-British singer-songwriter (real name Beatrice Laus) should set a new career best, which until now was a No. 8 with her 2020 debut Fake It Flowers. In a midweek Top 10 stacked with new releases, veteran U.S...
The Chainsmokers Ready For a Performance That’s Out of This World
One of The Chainsmokers’ latest hits is “High” and they’re hoping to live up to their lyrics. The hit-making duo of Drew Taggart and Alex Pall have signed up to get into a pressurized capsule tethered to a stratospheric balloon in a few years and perform some 20 miles above the Earth. The feat would make Taggart and Pall the first musical artists to perform at the edge of space, said Ryan Hartman, chief executive officer at fledgling space tourism company World View, to The Associated Press. World View says The Chainsmokers will be on one of the company’s inaugural flights slated for 2024 and will record a performance from inside the capsule, giving viewers the ability to experience the music and the trip firsthand. “We have always dreamed of going to space and are stoked to collaborate wi...
DJ Premier Claims Dr. Dre Once Blocked His 50 Cent Collaboration
DJ Premier has claimed that an early collaboration between him and 50 Cent was blocked by Dr. Dre after the rapper signed with Aftermath Entertainment. Speaking to Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club, the legendary producer explained that he was signed to Terror Squad by Fat Joe and that he initially wanted the Fif collab to be the first single from a Terror Squad compilation project. “This was when everybody wasn’t really messing with 50 to the fullest because he was having too much drama after doing ‘How To Rob,’ and me and Fif hit it off right away and clicked when I got on the phone with him,” Premier shared. “He said he would do the record, and right when it’s about time to do the record, we get a call that Fif can’t do it,” he continued. “I’m like, ‘Why not?’ and they like he’s about to...
Lil Uzi Vert Releases “I KNOW” and “SPACE CADET”
Last week, Lil Uzi Vert officially announced his Red & White EP with a look at the cover artwork for the pre-album. The release is expected to serve as build-up to his upcoming P!NK studio album, the follow-up to Eternal Atake. After releasing “SPACE CADET,” produced by Brandon Finessin, Bally, and ShaunGoBrazy, late last week, the rapper has now dropped “I KNOW.” Both arriving on SoundCloud, the latest track is produced by Sonny Digital and continues the return to form from the rapper seen “SPACE CADET.” Slipping between melodic flows, Uzi delivers relaxed verses and an infectious chorus line that builds on the bouncing beat from Sonny Digital. Already sharing two tracks off of Red & White, the pre-album is expected to release in full officially on SoundCloud in the coming weeks. ...
Desus & Mero Break Up, End Showtime Series
Desus Nice and the Kid Mero, the comedy duo best known for their Bodega Boys podcast and late night TV show Desus & Mero, have broken up. The show’s official Twitter account announced that the duo “will be pursuing separate creative endeavors moving forward” and that Desus & Mero would not be returning to Showtime. The fourth season of Desus and Mero aired weekly on Showtime earlier this year—previous seasons aired two episodes each week. Since moving from the short-lived Viceland network in 2019, the pair made more than 170 episodes, featuring guests such as noname, Lil Nas X, and Vince Staples; The last aired June 23. The duo’s first show Desus vs. Mero aired in 2013 on ComplexTV. They started the Bodega Boys podcast in 2015. Twitter content This content can also be v...
Xenia Rubinos Adds Tour Dates, Shares New Song
Xenia Rubinos has shared “Dia Libre en el Yanky,” a reimagined version of “Working All the Time,” from her 2021 LP Una Rosa. She also announced a run of West Coast tour dates in late October and early November. Check out the video for “Dia Libre en el Yanky” and the new tour dates below. “Dia Libre en el Yanky” is the latest in a series of re-worked tracks made as a part of the Sonos Radio podcast Music Is Everything! The track features Leo Genovese on piano and Yasser Tejeda on guitar, with additional vocals from Modesto Flako Jimenez and El Individuo. Of the session, Rubinos said in a statement: “This was the first track we worked on as a group during this session. It was an all-star cypher with musicians who had never met or played together coming together to improvise on tr...
New NOCTA Basketball Capsule Collection From Drake On The Way
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Cole Burston / Getty Drake’s Nocta collection may not be fetching much on the secondary market but that isn’t keeping Nike from dropping some new merch courtesy of the King Of The North. According to HypeBeast, a new Nocta Basketball Collection is set to hit the shelves and will feature workout tees, shorts, socks, hoodies and a new colorway of the NOCTA x Hot Step Air Terra. Set to release on July 27, the new NOCAT capsule collection is sure to sell out like hotcakes as anything Drake touches is gold, but like we stated before, don’t expect to flip any of the merchandise for a profit as the streets ain’t paying extra for anything other than Off-White or Travis Scott collaborations with Nike. Related Stories Check out the upcoming NOCTA Basketball Collect...
Mayne What?!: Terrence Howard Claims New Tech To Defend Uganda, Everyone Confused
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Jerritt Clark / Getty Terrence Howard is once again putting forth supposed new scientific theories, this time making a claim on developing a new form technology while visiting the country of Uganda. The Empire actor is currently visiting the African nation, and spoke to members of the nation’s press along with government officials last Wednesday (July 13th). Howard was invited to visit by Frank Tumwebaze, the minister of agriculture, animal industries and fishery. In his brief introduction, Tumwebaze said that Howard would “explore Uganda’s uniqueness and spread the word.” During the conference, Howard claimed that he had invented a “new hydrogen technology” that would ultimately defend Uganda’s sovereign status from other nations. “I was able to identify...
It’s Official! Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck Officially Mr. and Mrs. Affleck
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin / Getty Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are finally married. More than a decade after their first love affair, the couple reunited and have officially tied the knot at the Little White Wedding chapel in Las Vegas. “Last night we flew to Vegas, stood in line for a license with four other couples, all making the same journey to the wedding capital of the world,” Lopez shared via her social media newsletter. She added, “Stick around long enough and maybe you’ll find the best moment of your life in a drive through in Las Vegas at twelve thirty in the morning in the tunnel of love drive through, with your kids and the one you’ll spend forever with. Love is a great thing, maybe the best of things — and worth waiting for.” ...
Omeretta The Great Chops It Up At Birthday Bash ATL
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Hot Spot ATL / HotSpotATL Omeretta The Great had the entire city of Atlanta, Georgia buzzing over her smash hit “Sorry Not Sorry” from earlier this year, and she took a little time to explain the reasoning behind it this past weekend. The rapper sat down for an interview with HOT 107.9 ATL before her set at the Birthday Bash ATL concert last Saturday (July 16th). She represented the city with an Atlanta Falcons jersey, although it was noted in fun by host Manni Supreme that it wasn’t a Michael Vick jersey. No time was wasted as Manni Supreme asked her directly about her thought process behind making “Sorry Not Sorry”, her single from February that wound up going viral and being the spark for debates about who truly was from Atlanta and what that enta...
