entertainment blog
Taylor Swift to Receive Honorary Doctorate From NYU, Give Commencement Address
Taylor Swift will receive a Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, from New York University with the graduating class of 2022. She will address students and guests at the school’s commencement ceremony on May 18 at Yankee Stadium. Being NYU’s first commencement since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony will honor the 2020, 2021, and 2022 classes. NYU’s Clive Davis Institute recently completed its first-ever class on Swift, taught by Rolling Stone staff writer Brittany Spanos (who has also contributed to Pitchfork). Swift recently previewed a new Aaron Dessner-produced track called “Carolina” in the trailer for Where the Crawdads Sing, a film based on Delia Owens’ 2018 novel of the same name. Last month she joined Ed Sheeran on a new version of “The Joker and the Queen.” Read “Tay...
Bobby Shmurda Released From Epic Records Contract
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Shareif Ziyadat / Getty After months of voicing his displeasure with his record label, it looks like Bobby Shmurda finally got his wish and will be getting his walking papers from Epic Records. According to Variety, the “Hot N*gga” rapper took to his IG stories to inform his millions of followers that Epic Records has granted him his wish and released him from the record label he’s called home since 2014. Posting a pic of himself on a cellphone, Bobby wrote “I JUST SIGNED MY RELEASE PAPERS ALSO JUS MADE AH MILLY TODAY.” Looks like Bobby has more reason to be twerking in his videos these days. Speaking of which, Shmurda also wrote “I’M SHOOTING MY FIRST INDEPENDENCE VIDEO TODAY CALLED GETTING EM BACK.” Related Stories Good for Bobby. Lord knows the man nee...
Diddy Says All Is Well Between Will Smith & Chris Rock
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: ANGELA WEISS / Getty Will Smith and Chris Rock will undoubtedly dominate the news cycle for the new few days easily after their shocking moment at the 2022 Oscars. While tensions appeared to be high, Sean “Diddy” Combs says it’s all “Love” between the pair at the moment. Page Six obtained got an exclusive comment from Diddy regarding the incident, adding to his lighthearted moment onstage at the Oscars of hoping to broker a peace deal between the two after Smith smacked Rock during the broadcast regarding a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. According to the mogul, the moment is in their respective rearview after partying at the Vanity Fair Oscar afterparty together. Related Stories “That’s not a problem. That’s over. I can confirm that,” Diddy said ...
From Tears to Pride To Slaps: The Best & Worst Moments From the 2022 Oscars
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: David Livingston / Getty It’s safe to say that the 2022 Academy Awards will be unforgettable (thanks to Will Smith & Chris Rock), but here’s a rundown of the best and worst moments of the evening for you to savor. The 94th Academy Awards was promoted as the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the motion picture industry’s highest honor with the three women hosts Amy Schumer, Regina Hall, and Wanda Sykes to add to the heightened inclusivity. Much like a great film, there were high and low moments that have many buzzing the morning afterward. The event kicked off with Beyonce herself gracing the crowd with a performance of her song “Be Alive” from the nominated film King Richard featuring Will Smith (who’d win Best Actor) about the fa...
Above & Beyond to Mark 500th Installment of Group Therapy With a Pair of Live Events
This fall marks the 500th installment of Above & Beyond‘s Group Therapy mix show, which has broadcast the best in trance and progressive house to millions of global listeners every Friday night for the last 10 years. The trio will celebrate this accomplishment via a pair of live shows happening this October in Los Angeles. The first show, on Saturday, October 15, will feature a pair of Above & Beyond sets, along with music from other artists. The following day, Anjunadeep — the deep house oriented sister label of A&B’s longstanding Anjunabeats imprint — will present a day-long showcase of melodic house and electronic music. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Lineups for both days will be announced in the coming months. Pre-sale tickets will be available beginning Tuesda...
Pat McGrath Labs Debuts Second ‘Bridgerton’ Collaboration: How to Shop the Collection
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. A collection fit for a queen! Pat McGrath Labs reteamed with Shondaland and Netflix for the second installment of the brand’s exclusive beauty collaboration inspired by the “romance and passion” of Bridgerton. Pat McGrath x Bridgerton II was released ahead of Bridgerton season 2, which arrived on Netflix last Friday (March 25). Inspired by the regency-era looks showcased on the series, the limited collection has lipsticks, eyeshadow, blush, body shimmer and more ranging from $23-$68. Bridgerton fans have the option of purchasing the products separately or in...
Stray Kids React to ‘Oddinary’ Reaching No. 1 on Billboard 200: ‘Is This Actually Happening?’
Stray Kids joined Billboard‘s Jeff Benjamin and Jason Lipshutz via Twitter Spaces on Monday afternoon (Mar. 28), fresh off the announcement that the group’s Oddinary EP debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated April 2). “Woah, so exciting!” the South Korean pop group was heard cheering about hte news, before Bang Chan chimed in, “We heard the news a few moments ago and are like, ‘Is this real? Is this actually happening?’ We were really surprised too.” Explore Explore Stray Kids See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The Billboard 200 milestone for Oddinary isn’t just the first chart-topper for the act, but its first chart entry. The seven-song set, recorded mostly in the Korean language, launches atop the list with 110,000 equi...
Teen Contestant Emyrson Flora Impresses With Adele Cover on ‘American Idol’: Watch
Cleveland teen Emyrson Flora has made the leap from singing in her bedroom to performing on the national stage in the proverbial blink of an eye, and made it seem effortless. Flora has made it to Hollywood Week on American Idol, and for this stage in the journey she played a big hand, by performing an Adele cover. The young Idol hopeful showcased her self-taught piano skills as she performed a solo rendition of “Love In The Dark,” which appeared on Adele’s global hit album 25, from 2015. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Gutsy move. In her pre-recorded intro, the 16-year-old high school recounted how the judges took a chance on her, and how she wanted to repay that faith. She did just that with a tone-perfect effort that had judge Katy Perry on h...
Kaskade and deadmau5 Announce Massive Kx5 Stadium Concert In Los Angeles
When artists of deadmau5 and Kaskade‘s caliber join forces, anything is possible. The two electronic music legends recently joined forces as Kx5 before releasing the first song under their collaborative nom de plume, a dazzling house track called “Escape” (with Hayla). They have now announced a massive stadium concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which is scheduled for December 10th, 2022. The show’s reveal comes as Kx5 are gearing up for their hotly anticipated live debut at EDC Las Vegas in May. The festival’s organizers recently announced a staggering lineup for their 2022 edition. In July 2021, Kaskade organized and headlined the first-ever electronic music show at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Ra...
Chris Lake’s Black Book Records Releases Third Installment of ID Mixtape Series
Chris Lake‘s Black Book Records is once more opening up their treasure chest of IDs to give fans the latest club stunners from their roster. The “Black Book ID’s” mixtape series turned a year old last week—and what better way to celebrate than with the release of a new installment? Spanning five new tracks, Black Book ID’s: Chapter 3 is out now. The record includes mind-bending club heaters from Franklyn Watts, Ango Tamarin, Gettoblaster, DJ Funk, Pimpo Gama, and Lake himself. From Watts’ chunky basslines and analog rich sounds on “Bom Bom” to the frenetic modular basslines on “Play That Bass,” the mixtape features the most exploratory sounds that members of the forward-thinking label have to offer. That includes the head honcho h...
Sven Väth Performs DJ Set at Elon Musk’s Tesla Gigafactory In Berlin
Tesla CEO Elon Musk enlisted electronic music legend Sven Väth to perform a DJ set at the grand opening of the Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin. Väth’s set went down in late February, east of Berlin in Gruenheide, where the factory was built. As his performance took place, crowds were shown new Tesla models via a neon-lit tunnel. His DJ set follows a huge rave that Musk organized at the site, aptly dubbed Giga-Fest, back in October prior to the factory’s opening. “Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending some time with Elon Musk again,” Väth wrote in an Instagram post. “I played some techno beats for his opening of the really gigantic GIGAFACTORY!!!” Väth and Musk are longtime friends. The pair were spotted together in 2020 after the German DJ ...
Grimes Admits to Involvement In Hack That Disrupted Indie Music Blog
Grimes is making it clear she isn’t going to take any Internet backlash sitting down. In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Grimes revealed what she calls her “coolest hacker moment,” reflecting on her inventive approach to dealing with some unfair press that rattled her career in 2012. A photo snapped of Grimes at a party—where she was seen kissing a friend—had been leaked to the now defunct publication, Hipster Runoff. Grimes explained that the story Hipster Runoff published was mean-spirited and made her the subject of a viral meme during a formative time in her career. So she decided to take action, contacting a friend at a video game company who coordinated a DDos attack on her behalf. DDos attacks are illegal in practice, so Grimes kept the story light on any revealing details. Scroll...
