music blog
Ice Cube Says Chris Tucker Declined Next Friday Over “Religious Reasons”
Next Friday — the 2000 sequel to Ice Cube’s beloved stoner comedy, Friday — had a conspicuous missing piece with the absence of Chris Tucker. Though the original 1995 film was made on a small budget, its smash success meant a follow-up had more cash to work with. Still, it wasn’t enough to bring Tucker back, who Ice Cube recently said backed out of the franchise over “religious reasons.” “We were ready to pay Chris Tucker $10-12m to do Next Friday but he turned us down for religious reasons,” Ice Cube wrote in a tweet Wednesday, December 29th. “He didn’t want to cuss or smoke weed on camera anymore.” Considering Tucker’s character in Friday was literally named Smokey, it’s no wonder the sequel’s script didn’t align with his beliefs. He even confirmed himself that weed w...
Future Is the First Artist to Hit 10 Million Soundcloud Followers
Future has officially set a new Soundcloud record as the first artist to hit 10 million followers. According to reports, the Freebandz head first became the most-followed artist on Soundcloud around June with approximately 9.92 million followers — surpassing Big Sean’s No. 2 record of 9.5 million followers. Future responded to the news on social media by sharing an Instagram Story of the announcement and a simple “thank u” to his fans. Back in June, other artists who trailed Future included the Young Money roster with 8.48 million followers, Wale with 8.32 million, Pusha T with 8.20 million, Big K.R.I.T. with 8.07 million, Lana Del Rey with 8.01 million and Justin Timberlake with 7.83 million. Elsewhere in music, Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon III has broken hip-hop vinyl sales recor...
Vinyl Records Earn Biggest Sales Week in 30 Years
Vinyl albums sales just hit a new 30-year high as it sold 2.11 million records in the week ending December 23. According to reports, it marks the largest sales week since MRC Data began tracking vinyl numbers in 1991. The week of December 23 also became the first week that record sales surpassed 2 million, outdoing its previous record of 1.84 million in the week of December 24, 2020. The surge in vinyl records were up by 45% compared to its previous week due to Christmas shopping, with Adele’s 30 holding on to the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Vinyl Album charts for the fifth week in a row. In addition to the new record, Billboard states that the week of December 23 is the sixth consecutive week in where vinyl records surpassed one million copies — this has only happened 14 times since 1991, a...
Tyler, the Creator Says He’s Considering Changing His Stage Name
Tyler, the Creator may be switching up his stage name in the future, according to a new interview with Fast Company. The rapper, who released his sixth album Call Me If You Get Lost over the summer, broke down the origin of his stage name, which dates back to when he was only thirteen years old. “My stage name was from, I made a MySpace page when I was 13,” Tyler, the Creator said. “I had 3 of them, one was regular for friends, another one was for something else, and then the third one was just ideas. I would put drawings and photos I would take, and I would upload beats on there.” “It’s really dumb, but it stuck with me so it just works,” he continued. Now the rapper is considering using his real name for upcoming projects. “But my full name, Tyler Okonma, in all caps just looks really co...
Anne Wilson’s ‘I Still Believe in Christmas’ Crowns Christian Airplay Chart
Anne Wilson notches her second leader on Billboard‘s Christian Airplay chart as “I Still Believe in Christmas” bounds from No. 9 to No. 1 on the list dated Jan. 1. The single drew 2.6 million audience impressions in the tracking week ending Dec. 26, according to MRC Data. Wilson wrote the ballad with Jeff Pardo and Matthew West, the same triumvirate that penned Wilson’s debut hit, “My Jesus,” which ruled Christian Airplay for six weeks starting in August. It also logged four frames atop the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Christian Songs list. “‘I Still Believe in Christmas’ means so much to me,” the 19-year-old Wilson, from Lexington, Ky., tells Billboard. “After losing my brother Jacob in a car accident four years ago, Christmas became the hardest time of year for me. I wan...
LL Cool J Cancels ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ Performance After Testing Positive for COVID-19
LL Cool J will no longer be performing at Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2022 after he tested positive for COVID-19, he announced Wednesday (Dec. 29). The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee was scheduled to take the stage in NYC’s Times Square shortly before midnight to perform his decades-spanning smashes. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I know it’s disappointing to the millions of fans but my test came back positive for COVID, which means I’ll no longer be able to perform as scheduled at NYRE,” LL Cool J said in a statement to Billboard. “We were ready and I was really looking forward to ringing in 2022 in my hometown in a special way, but for now I wish everyone a healthy and happy New Year. The best is yet to ...
How Ledisi’s Tribute to Nina Simone Landed a Grammy Nod for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
Two tribute albums to famed singers are nominated for best traditional pop vocal album at the 64th annual Grammy Awards – Willie Nelson’s That’s Life, which is the ninth tribute to Frank Sinatra to be nominated in this category, and Ledisi’s Ledisi Sings Nina, the first tribute to Nina Simone to be nominated here. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Sinatra virtually personifies the traditional pop genre, which was built around songs from the Great American Songbook. But Simone, a jazz-styled singer who is nearly as well known for her calls for social justice, isn’t usually thought of in those terms. So how did a tribute to Simone wind up in the traditional pop category? Ledisi won her first Grammy in March for best traditional R&B performance ...
BTS’ V Receives Sweet Birthday Tributes From His Bandmates & Lizzo
BTS‘ V turned 26 on Thursday (Dec. 30) at midnight KST, and his superstar bandmates couldn’t wait to wish their “bro” the best on his special day. Some members like RM and Jimin took to BTS’ Twitter account to post goofy and glamorous pictures of V (real name Kim Taehyung) with identical captions: “My love. Happy birthday bro.” J-Hope used his new individual Instagram account to post personal photos with V on his Story, which the birthday boy reposted on his own record-breaking account. The Guinness World Records announced earlier this month that V’s handle, @thv, broke two social media records for being the fastest to reach both one and 10 million followers on Instagram. But over on Twitter, Lizzo shared fanmade artwork of her and V while writing, “#HAPPYVDAY somebody made this and it’s s...
Tupac Shakur’s Handwritten Love Poem Is Being Sold for $95,000 USD
A handwritten love poem by Tupac Shakur is up for sale via the auction house Moments in Time. Penned in August 1995, the poem is titled “All [Eyez] Was Lookin’ 4” and has been cited as the inspiration for the rapper’s single “All Eyez On Me.” The poem opens with references to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and the Biblical story of Sampson and Delilah. “Will she see my true colors,” Shakur writes in the final stanza. “Will she know my heart is pure.” “Will it be here love that heals my heart / can she be the cure. Will she be too scared 2 take a chance / will my affection be ignored. Or does she want me, like I want her? That’s all I was looking 4!” The poem is signed “4 Simi, from the heart of 2Pac.” “All Eyez On Me” is the titular song of Shakur’s fourth LP, the last album that was...
Where’s The Lie?: Issa Rae Says The Music Industry Is “Abusive” & Needs To “Start Over”
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz83 Issa Rae learned quickly that the music industry is the absolute pits. Issa Rae is celebrating a successful five-season run of her hit original HBO show Insecure, which stuck the landing in its highly-praised series finale. One of the show’s many strengths was its top-tier music selection which Rae is very proud of. With the help of the show, Rae is now a highly successful mogul who launched her Raedio music label imprint in a joint venture with Atlantic Records. Speaking with the LA Times, Rae revealed that she believes the music industry is a mess and needs a refresh after she was asked if she felt it was a good place for ideas to flourish. “Absolutely not. It’s probably the worst industry that I have ever come across. ...
Astroworld Aftermath: How Much Money Could Travis Scott Potentially Lose in 2022?
NewsOne Featured Video Source: Rick Kern / Getty Before Travis Scott’s Astroworld Music Festival tragedy on Nov. 5, 2021, the rapper was slowly becoming one of corporate America’s most popular collaborators. Some of the biggest brands in the world were throwing massive checks his way to help market and brand their products. Travis had created sponsorships with brands like Nike, Dior, Epic Games, Playstation, and so many more, but the tragic deaths and injuries during his show have compelled many of his sponsors to rethink their continuing relationship with the rapper, and Travis could be losing huge portions of his earning during 2022. Immediately after the tragic innocent Nike delayed the release of Scott’s Nike Air Max 1 collab, but the sneaker did end up on reseller apps. They have not ...
Rap Cap: Yo Gotti Says Rumors Of CMG Dropping Blac Youngsta Are Fake News
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Prince Williams / Getty Hip-Hop has taught us time after time that everything you hear on the internets might not be true. Yo Gotti is saying that the speculation about Blac Youngsta being released are big cap. As spotted on Complex the Memphis, Tennessee native is facing a new batch of rumors this week. On Monday, December 27 talk about Blac Youngsta being dropped from Gotti’s Collective Music Group record label starting catching steam on social media. While it is unclear how the hearsay got started the chatter naturally landed on Gotti’s radar. Though he did not address it directly some of his posts on Tuesday, December 28 seemingly were intended to squash the talk. Related Stories “I’m seeing too much Rap [cap] on these blogs,” he wrote one tweet....
