music blog
From Stray Kids to J-Hope, What’s Your Favorite K-Pop Album of 2022? Vote!
There’s been no shortage of excellent K-pop albums in 2022 and Billboard wants to know which full-length has helped define your year. Though BTS remained on hiatus as the seven members prepare to start their mandatory service in the South Korean military, both RM and J-Hope delivered solo albums to keep ARMY happy. J-Hope’s Jack in the Box came first with its vintage hip-hop sound, colorful cover art by KAWS and concept inspired by Pandora’s Box. Five months later, RM dropped Indigo, complete with a star-studded guest roster that included Erykah Badu (“Yun”), Anderson .Paak (“Still Life”), Tablo (“All Day”) and more. BLACKPINK also came raring back with their full-length sophomore effort Born Pink while TOMORROW X TOGETHER dropped Minisode 2: Thursday’s Child and SEVENTEEN repackaged their...
Queen’s Brian May and Sade Producer Robin Millar Knighted in U.K. New Year Honours List
Queen guitarist Brian May and record producer Robin Millar top the list of music industry professionals recognized in the King’s 2023 New Year Honours List, an annual tradition celebrating the achievements and service of exceptional individuals from across the United Kingdom. Brian May, who co-founded British rock band Queen in 1970 and continues to tour and record with the group, receives a knighthood for services to music and his charity work. May was previously made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2005. Becoming a knight or a dame is one of the highest-ranking awards in the British honours system, followed by CBE, and then Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). A knighthood or damehood entitles recipien...
Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler Sued for 1970s Sexual Abuse of a Minor
Steven Tyler is being sued by a woman who alleges that the Aerosmith frontman sexually assaulted and sexually battered her when she was a minor in the 1970s, Rolling Stone reports. The lawsuit, as Rolling Stone notes, could be filed due to California’s Child Victims Act, which temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for alleged survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file complaints. In the lawsuit, the plaintiff, Julia Holcomb, alleges that she met Tyler in 1973 when she was 16 years old and he was 25. The two apparently had a relationship that lasted three years, and Holcomb now alleges that she “was powerless to resist” the singer’s “power, fame, and substantial financial ability,” and that he “coerced and persuaded Plaintiff into believing this was a ‘romantic love affair.’” In ad...
Dumpster Drizzy: Old Drake Rhyme Book Found In Dumpster To Be Auctioned Off For $20K
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Aaron Lynett / Getty Apparently, when Drake was a teenage aspiring rapper—somebody thought he was trash. OK, that may or may not be the case. But what is true is that the Toronto superstar’s old rhyme book from his pre-fame years ended up in the garbage somehow, and now fans of the “Rich Flex” rapper have the opportunity to own multiple pages of notebook paper with old Drake lyrics in his own handwriting if they get really lucky. And also if they have a spare $20,000 lying around, according to the auction house Moments In Time. From TMZ: A rep for the MIT auction house tells us Drake was working in his uncle’s Memphis furniture factory as a youth and the lyrics were found in the dumpster when the factory eventually closed down. Now, they’ll be posted for ...
DaBaby “Joc In ’06,” Yung Booke ft. Future “Easter Fit” & More | Daily Visuals 12.29.22
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Prince Williams / Getty It’s the holiday season and while many rappers don’t necessarily drop work celebrating the spirit of the season, DaBaby has decided to go that exact route in his latest video. Getting in the Christmas spirit for his latest visuals to “Joc In ’06,” DaBaby showcases what Christmas is like with his family as he dons a Santa Claus hat to bless his kids with cash as they turn up to the beat on the kitchen counter because, well, it’s Christmas. Everything goes we guess. Future meanwhile keeps on poppin’ up in the most random records and in Yung Brooke’s visuals to “Easter Fit,” the Toxic King and Brooke politic in a parking lot while they have their women count stacks of cash back in the lab. Check out the rest of today’s drops including...
Kimbella & Juelz Santana Break Up After 3 Years Of Marriage
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Shareif Ziyadat / Getty After three years of wedded bliss, Juelz Santana and Kimbella Vanderhee are calling it a wrap. This past Wednesday (Dec. 28), the Love & Hip-Hop star took to her Instagram page to announce the news by posting a seductive picture of herself on the beach and simply stating “next chapter…S I N G L E” in the caption. Looking to explain the sudden split, Kimbella went back on her IG Stories and used a few movie clips to demonstrate how she felt while writing things like: “Arguing 24/7 because his feelings were all that mattered… Begging him to change so we could make it work… Feeling numb because he made you feel like the problem… Watching him mess up again when he promised he’d change… Feeling alone after he lied the whole relation...
Back To The Courts: Megan Thee Stallion Battle With 1501 Entertainment Over Contract Headed To Jury Trial
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Jerritt Clark / Getty / Megan Thee Stallion Megan Thee Stallion is not done with court battles. Fresh off of a significant victory in the Tory Lanez trial and getting justice after being shot, she scored another win after a Houston judge sided with her instead of her label, 1501 Certified Entertainment. Spotted on Billboard, Megan Thee Stallion is heading back to court. Her ongoing legal battle with 1501 Certified Entertainment is heading to a jury trial. Related Stories Back in September, the label asked judge Robert Schaffer to decide a dispute in which Megan Thee Stallion claimed 1501 would not acknowledge her 2021 project Something for Thee Hotties as an album, meaning she had not fulfilled her contract back in September. Megan Thee Stallion’s lawyers...
Ultra Emerges As World’s Most International Music Festival Brand
The team behind Ultra Music Festival have secured their spot as the most international music festival brand. After expanding to Peru and Abu Dhabi, Ultra Worldwide further cemented itself as a festival powerhouse with festivals on all six inhabited continents. The inaugural Ultra Abu Dhabi was postponed in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns, but it’s now been confirmed to take place March 4-5, 2023. Ultra’s booming beats and coruscating laser beams will debut at the largest open-air venue in the Middle East, Etihad Park. Ultra South Africa. Ultra Worldwide After the Abu Dhabi fest wraps up, the Ultra tour will make its way to South Africa for its eighth edition, hosting back-to-back events in Cape Town and Johannesburg on Friday, March 10th and Saturday, March 11th. Africa̵...
Influential fabric Promoter, Shaun Roberts, Dies After Long Battle With Cancer
Shaun Roberts, an influential former promoter at London’s iconic fabric nightclub, has died after a long battle with colorectal cancer. fabric has deeply influenced London’s dance music scene for years and Roberts played a key role in the club, where he worked for over 16 years. He was beloved for helping unheralded DJs to secure bookings at the venue. “You were the dearest friend to us, a cherished fabric family member, professional raver, passionate music lover, full of strength, determination and so much more,” fabric wrote on its verified Instagram page. “We love you very much and you will always be a source of inspiration. You paved the way for so many artists that are now at the top of their game and helped to shape fabric into the club it is today...
Here Are The Set Times For Countdown NYE 2022
We’re counting down the hours until Countdown NYE. The return of SoCal’s top NYE electronic music festival will pop off tonight and Saturday, December 31st at San Bernardino’s NOS Events Center. Insomniac Events is gearing up to welcome thousands of guests for this year’s alien-themed fest, “Rize of the Ravebotz.” Attendees will be able to dance 2022 away with over 80 artist performances on four indoor and outdoor stages, which will feature ZHU, Zedd, Madeon, The Chainsmokers, deadmau5, ATLiens and many more. DJ Snake was slated to headline Saturday night, but Insomniac announced he “won’t be able join us Saturday.” His set is being replaced by a B2B performance from SLANDER and Sullivan King. Check out the set times for Countdown NYE 2022 below. We’...
A Decade of Beats: How Chillhop Went From an Unknown Blog to Redefining Lo-Fi Music
If we had to decide what the soundtrack of the post-2010 Internet was, lo-fi would be the only reasonable answer. Since the terms “lo-fi hip-hop” and “chillhop” started circulating more than a decade ago, the genre has undergone quite the metamorphosis. What was once a score for the geekiest places on the web—spread by young kids in the form of amateur mixtapes with anime-inspired art—became a mainstream sensation that even Will Smith and Disney tried to exploit at one point. Between these two points in time, the history of lo-fi is far from linear, but it’s easy to pinpoint its protagonists. Without a shadow of a doubt, one of them is Chillhop. For anyone remotely familiar with lo-fi music, Chillhop and its iconic Raccoon mascot are essentially synonymou...
Here Are All of the Performers and Presenters at the 2023 Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards are often called Music’s Biggest Night, and in 2023 that could be true for the performers and presenters as much as the nominees. The Recording Academy’s annual showcase isn’t just about padding out the trophy case, it’s also a chance for artists to elevate their profile with show-stopping musical numbers, eye-catching outfits, and perhaps the occasional joke — good or otherwise. This year’s nominees are led by Kendrick Lamar, Adele, Harry Styles, and Beyoncé, who has tied with husband JAY-Z for the record for most Grammy nominations of all time. Notably, The Recording Academy added five new categories this year, for Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical; Best Alternative Music Performance; Best Americana Music Performance; Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and O...
