entertainment blog
Dua Lipa’s Dad Moves Festival From Kosovo Following Political Dispute
An international music festival founded by the father of singer-songwriter Dua Lipa to promote his native Kosovo has led to recriminations for the small European country after it lost the event to neighboring Albania. The Sunny Hill Festival made its debut in Kosovo’s capital, Pristina, in 2018 and took place again in 2019, bringing artists like Miley Cyrus, Calvin Harris, Martin Garrix and Action Bronson to one of Europe’s youngest and poorest nations. British-born Dua Lipa also was a featured headliner. Dukagjin Lipa, the singer’s father and manager, said the festival brought Kosovo priceless publicity, including coverage in more than 500 international media outlets. The event was put on hold in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and ...
NMPA Announces Legal Campaign Against Unlicensed Apps at Annual Meeting
The National Music Publishers’ Association is going after apps that skim music from digital services without getting the necessary licenses. On Wednesday (June 15), during the NMPA’s annual meeting in New York at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, the trade group’s president and CEO David Israelite announced a new copyright infringement lawsuit filed against the music video-making app Vinkle. This was the first action in a new campaign to bring the app sector into line with U.S. Copyright law, Israelite said, which will also include cease-and-desist notices sent to about another almost 100 apps that the organization believes are not properly licensed. These apps may integrate music through licensed streaming services, but do not have their own licensing deals with rights holders. In a mo...
YouTube Shorts Throws Down Challenge to TikTok, Hits 1.5B Monthly Viewers
As YouTube’s short-form video platform gains momentum against competitors like TikTok and Reels, more than 1.5 billion users view Shorts content every month, the company said on Wednesday. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai last shared in April that YouTube had 2 billion logged-in users each month, while YouTube Shorts averaged more than 30 billion daily views. The Shorts monthly viewership figures come in contrast to TikTok, which said it surpassed 1 billion monthly active users last September. The YouTube figures account for logged-in users who have viewed at least one Shorts video on the platform in the span of a month, which doesn’t necessarily differentiate between users who are intentionally seeking out Shorts videos or those who accidentally happen upon them when using YouTube. According to...
Gunna Shares New “Banking on Me” Video: Watch
Gunna has shared a music video for his Valentine’s Day single “Banking on Me.” The rapper directed the romantic clip, which you can watch below. Yesterday (June 14), on his 29th birthday, Gunna issued his first statement about his current incarceration on racketeering charges. Gunna was arrested in May and listed among 28 defendants (one of whom is Young Thug) in a RICO indictment of the label YSL (aka Young Slime Life, Young Stoner Life, and Young Slatt Life). The 56-count indictment defines YSL as a “criminal street gang” with ties to the Bloods. Gunna pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to violate the RICO act. He was denied bond and is set to go to trial in 2023. “I am being falsely accused and will never stop fighting to clear my name!” Gunna wrote in his statement yesterday. “As a Black...
Gunna Shares New “Banking on Me” Video: Watch
Gunna has shared a music video for his Valentine’s Day single “Banking on Me.” The rapper directed the romantic clip, which you can watch below. Yesterday (June 14), on his 29th birthday, Gunna issued his first statement about his current incarceration on racketeering charges. Gunna was arrested in May and listed among 28 defendants (one of whom is Young Thug) in a RICO indictment of the label YSL (aka Young Slime Life, Young Stoner Life, and Young Slatt Life). The 56-count indictment defines YSL as a “criminal street gang” with ties to the Bloods. Gunna pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to violate the RICO act. He was denied bond and is set to go to trial in 2023. “I am being falsely accused and will never stop fighting to clear my name!” Gunna wrote in his statement yesterday. “As a Black...
Diamanda Galás Announces New Album Broken Gargoyles
Diamanda Galás has announced her first new album in two years. It’s called Broken Gargoyles and it’s due out August 26 via Intravenal Sound Operations. The LP consists of two lengthy songs, “Mutilatus” and “Abiectio,” which she composed in 2020 during the beginning of the pandemic. Technically, Diamanda Galás recorded “Mutilatus” back in 2012 and 2013 in collaboration with recording engineer Kris Townes. The song contains segments from Georg Heym’s poems “Das Fieberspital” and “Die Dämonen der Stadt.” The second part of Broken Gargoyles, “Abiectio,” draws inspiration from the Heym poems “Der Blinde,” “Der Hunger,” and the last verses of “Das Fieberspital.” The Broken Gargoyles’ CD will come with a 24 page booklet featuring four Heym poems in both German and English, four paintings by Galás...
Diamanda Galás Announces New Album Broken Gargoyles
Diamanda Galás has announced her first new album in two years. It’s called Broken Gargoyles and it’s due out August 26 via Intravenal Sound Operations. The LP consists of two lengthy songs, “Mutilatus” and “Abiectio,” which she composed in 2020 during the beginning of the pandemic. Technically, Diamanda Galás recorded “Mutilatus” back in 2012 and 2013 in collaboration with recording engineer Kris Townes. The song contains segments from Georg Heym’s poems “Das Fieberspital” and “Die Dämonen der Stadt.” The second part of Broken Gargoyles, “Abiectio,” draws inspiration from the Heym poems “Der Blinde,” “Der Hunger,” and the last verses of “Das Fieberspital.” The Broken Gargoyles’ CD will come with a 24 page booklet featuring four Heym poems in both German and English, four paintings by Galás...
Father John Misty Releases Lana Del Rey’s “Buddy’s Rendezvous” Cover: Listen
“Buddy’s Rendezvous” is a world unto itself. It is a place out of time. My dream for the video is that it would surrender itself to the power of the song. An unnamed man (played by Craig Stark), fresh out of jail and down on his luck makes his way across the fractured landscape of Los Angeles to meet his daughter (played by Arrow DeWilde). All the while he is beset by memories of a more innocent time. Despite her hesitance, his daughter and her boyfriend (played by Gilbert Trejo) agree to meet her father and find moments of sadness and sparks of tenderness in the connection made. Although the video and the song can be considered love letters to Los Angeles, the themes are universal. Disappointments, regrets, forgiveness, tenderness, perseverance, and love. The incredible performances by Ar...
Father John Misty Releases Lana Del Rey’s “Buddy’s Rendezvous” Cover: Listen
“Buddy’s Rendezvous” is a world unto itself. It is a place out of time. My dream for the video is that it would surrender itself to the power of the song. An unnamed man (played by Craig Stark), fresh out of jail and down on his luck makes his way across the fractured landscape of Los Angeles to meet his daughter (played by Arrow DeWilde). All the while he is beset by memories of a more innocent time. Despite her hesitance, his daughter and her boyfriend (played by Gilbert Trejo) agree to meet her father and find moments of sadness and sparks of tenderness in the connection made. Although the video and the song can be considered love letters to Los Angeles, the themes are universal. Disappointments, regrets, forgiveness, tenderness, perseverance, and love. The incredible performances by Ar...
Phoebe Bridgers Performs “Sidelines” on Fallon: Watch
Phoebe Bridgers stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday night (June 15), performing her song “Sidelines” in a skeleton-laden football jersey. She originally released the track back in April for Hulu’s series Conversations With Friends. Watch the performance below. Bridgers is currently on an extensive 2022 tour of North America and will embark on a European string of shows starting next week. She’s also slated to perform at a number of music festivals this summer, including Glastonbury, Roskilde, NOS Alive, and This Ain’t No Picnic. After releasing her sophomore album Punisher in June 2020, Bridgers followed it up that fall with her Copycat Killer EP. Since then, she has covered Tom Waits’ “Day After Tomorrow” as well as Elliott Smith’s “St. Ides Heaven” with Bright ...
Phoebe Bridgers Performs “Sidelines” on Fallon: Watch
Phoebe Bridgers stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday night (June 15), performing her song “Sidelines” in a skeleton-laden football jersey. She originally released the track back in April for Hulu’s series Conversations With Friends. Watch the performance below. Bridgers is currently on an extensive 2022 tour of North America and will embark on a European string of shows starting next week. She’s also slated to perform at a number of music festivals this summer, including Glastonbury, Roskilde, NOS Alive, and This Ain’t No Picnic. After releasing her sophomore album Punisher in June 2020, Bridgers followed it up that fall with her Copycat Killer EP. Since then, she has covered Tom Waits’ “Day After Tomorrow” as well as Elliott Smith’s “St. Ides Heaven” with Bright ...
TEMS’ Last Year Has Been Historic, The Afrobeat Star Is Just Getting Started
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Burak Cingi / Getty Black women have always stood at the center of all musical movements in this world. From as early as Rosetta Tharpe, Big Mama Thornton, to Betty Davis and Donna Summer, they’ve created and contributed to the direction of Rock, Soul, Disco, Hip-Hop and R&B even when their impact wasn’t acknowledged or respected. The revival of Black music that’s coming from the United Kingdom and the continent of Africa with “Afrobeat” is a continuation of that culture, which began with Fela Kuti, but is now reaching its highest levels with artists like Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido, and now TEMS. Born Temilade Openiyi, the singer’s guest appearance on Wizkid’s song “Essence” in 2021 brought her international fame, and her guest appearances on Drak...
