music blog
Kris Wu Sentenced to 13 Years in Chinese Prison for Sex Crimes
HONG KONG — Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu was sentenced to 13 years in prison for rape and other sexual offenses, a Chinese court said on its official Weibo account on Friday (Nov. 25). The Chaoyang District People’s Court in Beijing said that from November to December 2020, Wu, also known as Wu Yifan, raped three women at his home when they were under the effect of alcohol. Wu was sentenced to 11.5 years for rape and 22 months for “assembling a crowd to engage in promiscuous activities” in July 2018, according to the Weibo post. Wu, who is a Canadian citizen, will serve a 13-year term in China before being deported. “Justice was delayed, but now it’s here,” Du Meizhu, the Chinese influencer who blew the whistle on Wu, wrote on Weibo after the announcement. Born in Chi...
Ask Billboard: Bruce Springsteen & Elton John Share Another Week of Chart Headlines
Submit questions about Billboard charts, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the U.S. Or, tweet @gthot20. Let’s open the latest mailbag. Hi Gary, Bruce Springsteen debuts at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 chart this week with Only the Strong Survive, scoring his 22nd top 10 album. He has notched top 10s in each of the last six decades, from the 1970s to the 2020s. How rare is that feat, and are there any other notable chart achievements of his that we can celebrate this week? Thanks, Raditya Gunardisurya Jakarta, Indonesia Hi Raditya, Springsteen is one of only three artists with newly charting top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 in each of the last six ...
2022 World Cup: Ultimate Playlist to Stream For the Mexico-Argentina Match
On Saturday (Nov. 26), Mexico and Argentina will meet up for a highly anticipated game between two 2022 World Cup favorites. It’s the second game for both teams — part of Group C along with Poland and Saudi Arabia — who each played their first match on Tuesday (Nov. 22). The Argentina team led by fútbol icon Lionel Messi was expected to win against Saudi Arabia, but was humbled after losing 2-1. Argentina will be looking to rebound from their stunning loss. Meanwhile, La Selección Mexicana was able to walk away with a scoreless draw thanks to their goalie, Guillermo Ochoa, who delivered a heroic save on Robert Lewandowski’s penalty kick. With a missed opportunity to gain any points in their group where, like in all other groups, only two teams advance to the next round, Mexico is looking f...
2022 FIFA World Cup: All the Ways to Watch & Stream From Anywhere
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. Let the games begin! The 2022 FIFA World Cup launched on Nov. 20 with host country Qatar squaring off against Ecuador at Al-Bayt Stadium. There are 32 countries participating in this year’s World Cup, which includes the U.S., Mexico, England, Brazil, Iran, Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Tunisia, Poland, France and Australia. Read on for all the details on how to watch the 2022 FIFA World Cup from anywhere (click here to buy tickets). Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news 2022 FIFA World Cup:...
The Cure Unveil Wish 30th Anniversary Reissue: Stream
It’s been 30 years since The Cure released their beloved album Wish, and now, the band has shared a 45-track deluxe reissue of the record. Pore over that project below. The Wish reissue combines the original album — remastered by The Cure’s Robert Smith and Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios — with 21 previously unreleased demos, four tracks from The Cure’s 1993 mail-order only cassette Lost Wishes, a previously unreleased song called “A Wendy Band” from the 1992 Manor Studio sessions, an alternate mix of “From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea,” and a previously unheard live version of “End” from 1992. In addition to streaming services, the project is also available in 3xCD and 2xLP packages. Besides celebrating Wish, The Cure are also supposed to release their long-teased ne...
The Flaming Lips Unveil Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots: 20th Anniversary Edition: Stream
The Flaming Lips are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their seminal record Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots with the appropriately titled Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots: 20th Anniversary Edition, a massive box set of B-sides, demos, and other rarities. Take a listen to the project below. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots: 20th Anniversary Edition is available digitally, as a 6xCD set, and as a 5xLP set (which will be released on April 14th, 2023). In addition to the original album, the package features live radio sessions, remixes, two complete concerts, and general deep cuts that have never received a proper physical release. Among the gems are fan favorites “Assassination of the Sun,” “Thank You Jack White (For the Fiber-Optic Jesus You Gave Me),” and an instrumental vers...
The Menu, Glass Onion, and the Limits of the Eat-the-Rich Satire
Over these past few years, the phrase “eat the rich” has been accumulating quite a bit of popularity in our cultural lexicon. Originally an anticapitalist slogan coined by political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “eat the rich” has become more applicable than ever, used by the masses as a response to a growing dissatisfaction toward billionaires and other beneficiaries of the 1%. It’s also been thematized heavily in contemporary pop culture, gaining traction starting in 2019 with the advent of films like the riveting Best Picture winner Parasite, the cat-and-mouse thriller Ready or Not, the star-studded whodunnit Knives Out, and the stripper crime comedy Hustlers. Each of these stories attempted to critique the systems and ideologies that drive and preserve the ever-widening wealth gap...
5 New Albums You Should Listen to Now: Stormzy, Fievel Is Glauque, and More
With so much good music being released all the time, it can be hard to determine what to listen to first. Every week, Pitchfork offers a run-down of significant new releases available on streaming services. This week’s batch includes new albums from Stormzy, Fievel Is Glauque, Lykotonon, Wisdom Teeth, and Waajeed. Subscribe to Pitchfork’s New Music Friday newsletter to get our recommendations in your inbox every week. (All releases featured here are independently selected by our editors. When you buy something through our affiliate links, however, Pitchfork earns an affiliate commission.) Stormzy: This Is What I Mean [0207 Def Jam/Interscope] Grime superstar Stormzy is back with his third album. Continuing the evolution from his acerbic early bars to a more international and mellow sound, ...
Watch Bruce Springsteen Sing “Don’t Play That Song” on Fallon
Bruce Springsteen was featured on the Thanksgiving episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Backed by a band and the Roots, he sang his cover of “Don’t Play That Song (You Lied).” In the middle of the performance, Springsteen riffed on Thanksgiving foods. Watch below. Springsteen appeared on three episodes of The Tonight Show last week. He kicked off the mini-residency with “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do),” followed by “Turn Back the Hands of Time” and “Nightshift.” All of the songs appear on the musician’s new covers album Only the Strong Survive. Read about Bruce Springsteen’s latest album of original material, Letter to You, in Pitchfork’s “The 35 Best Rock Albums of 2020.” Content This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
MIKE, Wiki, and the Alchemist Share 3 New Songs: Listen
New York rappers MIKE and Wiki have come together for three new songs produced by the Alchemist. One of the new tracks, “One More,” also comes with a music video directed and edited by Nicholas Stafford Briggs. Check out the songs below. The new music arrives as part of a new campaign from Tommy Hilfiger and Amsterdam-based streetwear brand Patta. The Patta x Tommy collection drops Friday, December 2. MIKE is readying the release of his new album Beware of the Monkey. The follow-up to last year’s Disco! is out December 21 and will include the singles “What Do I Do?” and “Nuthin I Can Do Is Wrng.” Back in February, the Alchemist connected with Curren$y for Continuance. The producer later shared a collaborative full-length with Roc Marciano called The Elephant Man’s Bones. Wiki and New Jerse...
Chinese Canadian Pop Singer Kris Wu Sentenced to 13 Years in Jail for Rape
Kris Wu has been sentenced to 13 years in prison by a Beijing court for charges that include the rape of three women, The Associated Press reports. The Chaoyang District court ruled that the Chinese Canadian pop star and actor, as well as others implicated in the case, supplied three women with alcohol in 2020 and raped them when they could no longer consent. Most of the 13-year sentence stems from that incident, but he also received one year and 10 months for a 2018 event where he “assembled a crowd” and assaulted two women they got drunk. Wu will be deported after completing his sentence, the court said. He was fined 600 million yuan ($83.7 million) for evading taxes. Wu, a former member of K-pop band Exo and one of China’s most popular artists, is among the highest-profile figures to be...
Ladé – Merchant Of Melodies EP
Nigerian songstress drops her debut EP titled “Merchant of Melodies.” Singer Ladé caps her amazing music journey thus far with a brilliant and well-composed EP, “Merchant Of Melodies” and it is exciting to see how she has grown in the music industry and become a big name. The new EP, “Merchant Of Melodies,” is an impressive project containing 5 tracks, with her two previously released singles “Adulthood Na Scam” and “All The Way” included. It also has feature appearances from Crayon and Madé Kuti and it is a follow-up to debut EP – “Omolade.” Tracklist Listen to Ladé – “Merchant Of Melodies” below.
