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John Cho Says Playing Spike Spiegel in ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Has Been the “Most Challenging Role” of His Life
For John Cho, embodying the intergalactic bounty hunter Spike Spiegel in Netflix‘s upcoming live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop was no easy feat. “It was the most challenging role of my life,” the 49-year-old actor, who tore his ACL while attempting to perform an athletic move on set, told HYEPEBEAST. “I had to express myself physically in a way I haven’t been asked to do before in terms of the action stuff.” Cho recently starred in another adaptation of a popular TV series — J.J. Abram’s Star Trek – along with the 2018 mystery thriller film Searching. But unlike his usual role preparation process, which largely consists of working with the showrunner to understand a character’s history, Cho underwent physical training in order to embody Spike in the beloved space-western anime. “T...
Rap Song of the Week: Rick Ross and 21 Savage Are “Outlawz”
Every week, our new music feature Rap Song of the Week breaks down the hip-hop tracks you need to hear. Check out the full playlist here. This week, Rick Ross kicks off his Richer Than I’ve Ever Been era with the 21 Savage-assisted “Outlawz.” Rick Ross is one of the most audacious characters in rap history, naming himself a notorious drug dealer and doubling down on his Mafia boss persona after photos of his previous stint as a correctional officer surfaced online. More than a decade after the minor controversy, the Florida rapper is living up to the title of his next album, Richer Than I’ve Ever Been, as a Wingstop franchisee and the owner of a fleet of luxury cars. First-time collaborator 21 Savage was also clowned after a bullshit ICE arrest revealed the Atlanta-based rapper was actuall...
Gov’t Mule on the 5 Artists Who Inspired Their New Album Heavy Load Blues: Exclusive
After more than 25 years as a band, Gov’t Mule is still breaking new ground. Today (November 12th) marks the release of Heavy Load Blues, the Warren Haynes-led quartet’s first-ever blues album. Stream the full project below. A project like Heavy Load Blues has been on Haynes’ mind for many years, but he wasn’t sure if fellow Gov’t Mule members Matt Abts (drums), Danny Louis (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals), and Jorgen Carlsson (bass) would be into the idea. While talking to the band’s manager about their next album, however, she suggested they do a blues record and that settled it. “We play some traditional blues on stage from time to time and although it’s usually never more than a few songs per show, our approach to the blues is unique and based on our collective chemistry as a band,”...
Stallone’s Recut Rocky IV Has More Heart, But Less Charm: Review
The Pitch: In 1985, Rocky IV was released to box office success (netting $300 million, the most the series has ever earned), but critical derision. It’s no surprise, either; the film, which tracks Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) as he seeks revenge against Russian superman Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) for the death of his friend Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), was the ultimate jump-the-shark moment for a series that had heretofore mixed taut boxing action with comparatively tamped-down character drama. It’s a thorn that’s clearly been stuck in Stallone’s paw for 35 years, and with the creative idleness that came with the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 seemed as good a time as any to pick it back up and revisit it. And so, we have Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago – The Director’s Cut, a dra...
Veterans Day Salute: 15 Hip-Hop Stars Who Served In The Military #VeteransDay
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Charday Penn / Getty Today (November 11) marks a special period in American culture. Veterans Day is a moment where we all can reflect on the servicemen and women that donned military uniforms to lend their lives to protect the freedoms of a nation. Many notable figures have gone on to make lasting impacts in society after serving. Over the years, there have been plenty of politicians, actors, and sports figures that got a jump-start on militancy, and surprisingly enough, the same can be said for key figures in Hip-Hop. Some were on the wayward path and used the armed forces to steer them right while others stumbled onto their passion for music during their enlistment. And one particular member of the list just was having a mid-rap crisis. No matter their...
Slayer’s 10 Best Songs
Few bands epitomize heavy metal better than Slayer. From their Satanic speed metal beginnings to the their legendary thrash masterpieces recorded with producer Rick Rubin, Slayer would come to define metal in iconography, aesthetics, and sound. For many, Slayer have proven to be a gateway band to extreme metal. More brutal, aggressive, and blasphemous than Metallica, Megadeth, or Anthrax, Slayer represent the left hand path. Adorning their albums with Satanic and darkly Biblical artwork by Larry W. Carroll, the band would influence the burgeoning black metal scene in the ’80s and ’90s, as well as achieving commercial success as part of the aforementioned Big Four of thrash metal. Slayer’s core lineup of guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, singer-bassist Tom Araya, and drummer Dave Lom...
10 Minute Warning Are Grunge’s Missing Link
Most local music scenes start innocently enough, at least they did before the existence of the internet. Case-in-point, Seattle, a small city that was often skipped by touring bands in the early ’80s. If you lived there then, you would often have to drive to either Portland or Vancouver B.C. to see your favorite band play live. Living there, I would have never expected to play a small part in a history that would end up being the subject of countless books, articles and documentary films. I arrived in Seattle from California in June of 1981, with no sense of what my life would eventually become. I ended up playing in bands for almost a decade and stumbled rather fortuitously into the role of president for Seattle-based C/Z Records, a label that released music from loads of Pacific Northwes...
Courtney Barnett on “Finding Joy Amongst the Mess” with Her New Album Things Take Time, Take Time
When Courtney Barnett turns on her Zoom camera, she’s squinting from the sun. The singer-songwriter, whose new album Things Take Time, Take Time arrives this Friday (November 12th) via Mom+Pop, is calling from outside the house she’s staying at in Joshua Tree, where she’s been rehearsing for her upcoming tour and, deservedly, taking some time to relax. “I’ve just woke up,” she tells Consequence with a laugh. Barnett began writing her follow-up to 2018’s Tell Me How You Really Feel in late 2019 and early 2020, before the you-know-what put most people’s plans on an indefinite pause. Strict COVID safety protocols in her native Australia meant that Barnett had an abundance of free time on her hands: “I was living by myself in Melbourne, and we were in lockdown, and I was writing...
The Bizarre, Booby-Trap-Happy History of the Home Alone Sequels
The abiding premise of Home Alone — a precocious tot in suburban Chicago defending his home against bumbling burglars with an array of increasingly complicated booby traps — feels like the kind of lightning-in-a-bottle pitch that could only sustain itself for one perfect movie. And yet, like its fellow Christmas-siege classic Die Hard, that hasn’t stopped studio execs from mining the concept for, count ’em, four sequels and counting. (A fifth, Home Sweet Home Alone, is set to premiere on Disney+ on November 12th.) After the success of the 1990 original, written by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus — a film that grossed nearly $500 million at the box office and catapulted Macaulay Culkin to superstardom — a sequel naturally followed, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Expand...
5 Tips to Make It As an EDM Vocalist From Karen Harding
If there’s anyone who knows what it takes to make it as an EDM vocalist, it’s Karen Harding. With half a billion streams to her name, the prolific English singer-songwriter is the stentorian voice behind many a dance anthem. Having cut her teeth in the contemporary dance music space for the better half of a decade, Harding is revered as one of the scene’s most in-demand collaborators. MNEK, Disclosure, Giorgio Moroder, Galantis, Purple Disco Machine—the list goes on. These electronic music superstars have sought out Harding to breathe life into their compositions before they become generational anthems. Fresh off the release of her long-awaited debut EP Sweet Vibrations, Harding has linked up with EDM.com to give her firsthand experience and offer five tip...
From Rock to EDM: How Former Guns N’ Roses Guitarist ASHBA Is Cultivating a New Generation of Music Fans
Imagine playing sold-out arena shows with one of the most iconic hard rock bands of all-time—and then spending the rest of your night raving at a dance club. This is how former Guns N’ Roses guitarist ASHBA and legendary frontman Axl Rose would spend their time after their headlining shows across the globe. In the midst of their worldwide tours, ASHBA tells us, the bandmates found themselves in some of the most exclusive techno clubs, dancing among EDM fans. Fast-forward to today, when ASHBA is preparing to perform his first headlining show this Friday as a solo performer at Green Bay’s Epic Event Center. After spending years cutting his teeth with Guns N’ Roses, Sixx:A.M., and Beautiful Creatures, ASHBA is now setting out to pursue his own unique creative venture in the mu...
beabadoobee Says Her Next Album Will Sound Completely New: “Every Single Song is in a Whole Different World”
beabadoobee has had quite a year. Following the release of her long-awaited 2020 debut album Fake It Flowers, the Londoner upped the ante and wrote and recorded Our Extended Play EP, released in June, with labelmates Matty Healy and George Daniel of The 1975. And finally, as restrictions have begun to lift and live music is returning, beabadoobee is back on the road, currently touring through North America with fellow Dirty Hit signees BLACKSTARKIDS and Christian Leave as support. As Bea’s sound has transformed from her lo-fi bedroom pop to a heavier, grunge-forward vibe, her songwriting itself has become much more specific and noteworthy. Seeing her show at Webster Hall in New York City last week, it was extremely clear that this sonic evolution has come to define the project and its futu...
