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Taylor Swift Set to Take U.K. Chart Crown With ‘Midnights’
If 2022 was the year of Taylor Swift in the U.K., the New Year appears much the same as Swift’s Midnights (EMI) takes pole position on the midweek chart. Based on data published by the Official Charts Company, Midnights is on track for the first No. 1 of 2023, and land a fourth non-consecutive week at the summit. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news If it keeps its momentum, the OCC notes, Midnights will eclipse Swift’s 2020 LP Folklore to become her longest-reigning album in the U.K. Meanwhile, SZA’s sophomore album SOS (RCA/Top Dawg) is set to lift 8-2, and the Weeknd’s career retrospective The Highlights (Republic Records/XO) could bounce 15-4 following the release of “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength),” the Canadian R&B singer’s single ...
Australian Music Retailer Sanity to Close Its Physical Stores
BRISBANE, Australia — It’s closing time for Sanity, the once-great Australian music retail specialist which confirmed it would close all its bricks-and-mortar stores in the coming months. In a statement issued Wednesday (Jan. 4), Sanity announced plans to close its remaining 50 stores by the end of April 2023, in line with the lease expiry of each outlet. It’s a sad end to a music and entertainment chain which, like so many brands in the business of racking physical soundcarriers, has been left behind as consumers move to streaming platforms. “With our customer shifting to digital for their visual and music content consumption, and with diminishing physical content available to sell to our customer, it has made it impossible to continue with our physical stores,” explains Sanity CEO and ow...
BLACKPINK’s Jisoo Set to Release Debut Solo Album in 2023
BLACKPINK fans were greeted with good news heading into the new year as Jisoo confirmed that her long-awaited solo album will be released sometime later this year. Jisoo is the last group member to release her solo project. The first member of BLACKPINK to go solo was Jennie with the breakout single Solo in 2018, followed by Rosé’s two-track album R and Lisa’s chart-breaking “Lalisa” music video and album in 2021. Though Jisoo recently voiced her uncertainties in early 2022, telling Rolling Stone that she’s stuck between making “the music I listen to, the music I can do, and the music I want to do,” she now seems to have broken through, enthusiastically updating her fans on Twitter. “BLACKPINK’s Jisoo is currently working hard on recording her solo album. While carrying out a busy wo...
Snoop Dogg Recalls Being “Checked” and “Out-Gangstered” by Dionne Warwick
During his appearance in the newest documentary, Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over, Snoop Dogg recalled the time when he and other rappers where “checked” and “out-gangstered” by legendary singer. According to CNN, the incident happened early on in Snoop’s career. Warwick was not pleased with how misogynistic the lyrics of ’90s gangsta rap were, so she called Snoop, Suge Knight and several other rappers over to her house to confront them about it. She set a 7 a.m. call time and the rappers were all in her driveway by 6:52 a.m., as they “were kind of like scared and shook up,” Snoop said. Warwick then asked the rappers to call her a “b*tch” to her face as they used the term in many of their songs, adding, “You guys are all going to grow up. You’re going have families. You’re goin...
French Montana’s ‘Coke Boys 6’ Will Be a Gangsta Grillz Mixtape
DJ Drama has announced that French Montana‘s upcoming Coke Boys 6 project will be a Gangsta Grillz mixtape. The producer took to social media to unveil the news, sharing a preview of a music video on his Instagram account that sees Montana aboard his luxury jet. “2023 New Year…Same Hustle Droppin 1/6,” Drama wrote as the caption. “@frenchmontana ‘Coke Boys 6…Money Heist Edition’ Gangsta Grillz…I Gave Yall A Chance To Catch Up…What Happened.” Coke Boys 6: Money Heist Edition was initially planned for a December release but it never came to fruition. The tape will be the rapper’s first release since June 2022’s Montega with Harry Fraud, while it will mark Drama’s first Gangsta Grillz tape of the year following December 2022’s Paint the City with Icewear Vezzo. Check out the announc...
Taeyang Teases New Single, “VIBE” Feat. Jimin of BTS
Shortly after his departure from YG Entertainment and transfer to THEBLACKLABEL, BIG BANG‘s Taeyang has now announced his new single with Jimin of BTS, titled “VIBE.” Earlier this week, Taeyang took to Instagram to share a new photo of himself accompanied by the caption “COMING SOON” getting fans already thinking about his first release under THEBLACKLABEL. Confirming early rumors, the Big Bang member took to Instagram once again to share a teaser image showing himself with Jimin. Framed by the song’s title notes and release info, the duo is seen decked out in Chrome Hearts in front of a bright orange backdrop. The single is currently expected to be part of Taeyang’s rumored fourth studio album, which would be his first solo effort since WHITE NIGHT released back in August 2017. Jimin is j...
BYEGOD: Westside Gunn Announces He Plans To Retire After 2023
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty It seems Westside Gunn has had enough. He has announced he will bow out of the game once this year concludes. As per Complex, the Buffalo, New York talent is leaving rap once his business in 2023 is finished. Last week Westside Gunn took to Twitter to make the announcement. “23’ def my last year doing this sh*t, I don’t have nothing else 2prove, I put my team on, I put my city on, I worked w/everybody I ever wanted to work with” he wrote. “plus MFs still don’t even understand 1-10, FLYGOD, Awesome GOD, or Pray for Paris(mind u Virgil did the cover) im the [goat emoji and shrug emoji].” Related Stories He went on to admit that he has said this prior, but he is standing on business this time. “I know I say I’m a retire a...
Freddie Gibbs Responds To Uncle Murda’s “Rap Up 2022” Slander
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Lorne Thomson / Getty For the past few seasons, Freddie Gibbs has found himself squabbling with a few of his rap peers, and now he’s taking aim at Uncle Murda as he’s taken issue with some bars that the Brooklyn rapper threw at him in his annual “Rap Up” track. Known to take shots at any and everyone in his yearly “Rap Up” song in which Uncle Murda analyzes the past years’ events in a comedic and sometimes disrespectful manner, Freddie Gibbs didn’t take too lightly to Murda’s lines which stated: Related Stories “Let’s talk about Freddie Gibbs, like really what’s up with him?/N*ggas robbed him in Buffalo and he got beat up again/He be out here looking like a cold-blooded sucker.” Needless to say that wasn’t something that Gibbs found too humorous. Taking t...
Buffalo Bills Player Damar Hamlin In Critical Condition After Collapsing On The Field, Game Postponed
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty A player for the Buffalo Bills is in critical condition after experiencing cardiac arrest and collapsing during a game, leading to it being postponed by the NFL. On Monday night (Jan. 2), Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin was taken off the field by ambulance after collapsing following a play on Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins in the first quarter during their Football contest on ESPN. Hamlin was unresponsive, reportedly requiring CPR from medical personnel for up to nine minutes before his heartbeat was restored. Hamlin reportedly was transported on oxygen. The Bills released a statement late Monday night, confirming that Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest. Related Stories The 24-year-old is currently listed as being in critica...
‘Rolling Stone’ Leaves Celine Dion Off 100 Greatest Singers List, Twitter Is Pissed
HipHopWired Featured Video CLOSE Source: Getty Images / Getty Nothing riles up the internet like a “best of all time” list. Rolling Stone kicked off 2023 with a list that they are calling “The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time” and boy, did it get people talking. The list was compiled by staff of and key contributors to Rolling Stone, according to the website. This was a major change from when they did a similar list in 2018 which used an elaborate voting process that included input from well-known musicians. They noted that because of that input, the list skewed toward classic rock and singers from the ’60s and ’70s. The 2023 version seems to swing in the opposite direction featuring singers from a number of generations. With one major exception. Pop superstar, Celine Dion, a fi...
How Iranians Influence EDM: Meet Rezz and Other Transformative Artists of Iranian Descent
Stereotypes often box Iranians into the fields of doctor, engineer or realtor, but they sure know how to have a good time. It isn’t unusual for family gatherings—ones that often welcome dozens of guests—to transform from dinner to dance party in the blink of an eye. Guests wield various instruments seemingly pulled from the ether, a circle forms in the center of the room and a party ensues. So it should come as no surprise that vivacious spirit has found its way to electronic dance music. Iranian ingenuity courses through every level of the genre. There are artists approaching the EDM apex, rising DJs blossoming on the festival circuit and enduring veterans, all of whom share Iranian heritage. For months, Iranians have protested the alleged killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini at the h...
10 Rock Albums IDLES Thinks Every Fan Should Own
Crate Digging is a recurring feature in which we take a deep dive into a genre and turn up several albums all music fans should know about. In this edition, IDLES guitarist Mark Bowen shares his exclusive picks. 2022 was as good of a year for IDLES as it could have been. After their stunning 2021 album Crawler found them touring the world with a loaded schedule, they played Coachella, Glastonbury, toured the US twice, and, most recently, nabbed a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album. Since their breakthrough in 2018 with Joy as an Act of Resistance, IDLES have been a leader among their post-punk contemporaries, and their dominance both in their native England and beyond is a testament to their position as one of the biggest rock bands of the last decade. Guitarist Mark Bowen is ...
