music
Taylor Swift Ordered to Face Trial in “Shake It Off” Copyright Lawsuit
Here’s one lawsuit Taylor Swift just can’t shake off. On Thursday (December 9th), a federal judge ruled the pop singer must face a jury trial after being accused of taking lyrics from 3LW’s “Playas Gon’ Play” for her 2014 hit “Shake It Off.” Per Billboard, US District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald turned down Swift’s request to dismiss the case, ruling that there were “enough objective similarities” between the two songs that a jury could come to the conclusion that “Shake It Off” had infringed on the copyright to 2001’s “Playas Gon’ Play.” “Even though there are some noticeable differences between the works, there are also significant similarities in word usage and sequence/structure,” the judge wrote. “It is clear that there are enough objective similarities amongst the works to imply that...
R.I.P. Michael Nesmith, Co-Founder of The Monkees Dead at 78
Michael Nesmith, co-founding member, vocalist, and guitarist of The Monkees, has died at the age of 78. “With Infinite Love we announce that Michael Nesmith has passed away this morning in his home, surrounded by family, peacefully and of natural causes,” his family said in a statement. “We ask that you respect our privacy at this time and we thank you for the love and light that all of you have shown him and us.” According to a representative for the band, Nesmith passed away from heart failure. The Monkees formed in 1965 when television producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider recruited Nesmith, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Davy Jones to be in a sitcom of the same name. As Dolenz recalled, “The Monkees was a TV show about an imaginary band, a band that wanted ...
Fleet Foxes Share New Live Album A Very Lonely Solstice: Stream
The official troubadours of winter, Fleet Foxes, have shared a new live album today. Appropriately titled A Very Lonely Solstice, Robin Pecknold and company recorded the 13-track project in December 2020 at the St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn, New York. Originally broadcast as a livestream, the songs on A Very Lonely Solstice spans Fleet Foxes’ entire career across all four of their studio albums, from their early highlights like 2008’s “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” to modern favorites like “Can I Believe You.” The album also includes Pecknold’s renditions of Nina Simone’s “In the Morning” and a rearrangement of the traditional American folk ballad “Silver Dagger.” Now with its proper release, Pecknold says A Very Lonely Solstice “[honors] the loneliness of...
Mike Nesmith’s 12 Best Songwriting Credits: The Monkees, Stone Poneys & Beyond
If you want someone to extol the late Mike Nesmith’s virtues as a songwriter, you don’t have to look much further than the man who’s been standing beside him onstage for many of the past five and a half decades. “Nes is a great songwriter, always has been,” says Monkees mate Micky Dolenz, who most recently toured with Nesmith as The Monkees Present the Mike & Micky Show and who earlier this year released the album Dolenz Sings Nesmith. “You’ve got to credit him; He was writing incredible stuff from the get-go. He was way before some of the other country electric rock entities. He was way ahead of them in that kind of sound. He was doing that stuff in the ’60s, and I don’t think he’s ever gotten as much credit as he should as a singer-songwriter.” Explore See latest videos, charts and n...
Doja Cat Pulls Out of 2 Jingle Ball Dates After Crew Members Test Positive for COVID-19
Doja Cat will no longer perform at the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball stops in New York City and Boston this weekend after members from her production team tested positive for COVID-19. She shared the update on her socials Friday (Dec. 10), just hours before NYC’s Jingle Ball was set to start at Madison Square Garden. Explore Explore Doja Cat See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “We recently learned that a few members on my production team have tested positive for Covid 19 and are now on quarantine,” reads the message. “For the health and wellbeing of the rest of our crew, we are following all the appropriate safety measurements and necessary precautions, which means I won’t be able to perform at iHeartRadio’s New York Z100 and Boston KISS FM Jingle Ball. I’m extr...
RZA and Flatbush Zombies Team Up for Collaborative Single “Plug Addicts”: Stream
RZA and Flatbush Zombies have released their new joint single “Plug Addicts,” as well as the track’s accompanying music video. Watch it below. “Live now or die today/ We ain’t used to holidays, we ain’t used to commonplace,” Flatbush Zombies’ Erick the Architect raps on the opening verse before tossing the mic to RZA. “We ain’t got no common sense, we ain’t got no confidence/ Fuck a 9 to 5, a n***** worth the length of monuments.” “I’ve had my eyes on the Flatbush Zombies for some time now,” said the Wu-Tang Clan leader in a statement about the collaboration. “Their style of Dark hip-hop lyricism is reminiscent of my days in the Gravediggaz. This type of collaboration was overdue.” Advertisement Related Video Erick the Architect added, “In a lot of ways I saw RZA in myself, as a fellow pro...
Napalm Death Announce New Mini-Album, Release “Narcissus” Single: Stream
Grindcore titans Napalm Death have announced a new mini-album called Resentment Is Always Seismic – A Final Throw of Throes, dropping February 11th via Century Media Records. The new record, which features eight tracks spanning 29 minutes, is a companion set to the veteran UK band’s stellar 2020 full-length effort, Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism. Ahead of the release, Napalm Death have released the first single from the mini-album — the brutal and pummeling “Narcissus.” “You can certainly consider Resentment Is Always… as an extension of — or partner recording to — the Throes… album,” frontman Barney Greenway said of the set in a release. “We had long since wanted to put a mini-album out — in the spirit of the old days — and found we had enough quality tracks even after all the Thr...
Tom Holkenborg Unveils New Junkie XL EP A Fluff Scam: Stream
Tom Holkenborg has dusted off his Junkie XL persona for a brand new EP, A Fluff Scam, which is out today. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. The four-track EDM project arrives via Sasha’s Last Night on Earth imprint, and the idea came to fruition as the film composer was working on the score for the Iziba-set Netflix series White Lines. “These tracks were something fun and personal for me, a chance to stretch my dancefloor muscles again, after recalling so many of my Ibiza memories during White Lines,” Holkenborg said in a statement. “They are quite different from the classic Junkie XL sound, and I never had any intention of releasing them, but when Sasha asked me to, I couldn’t say no.” Advertisement Related Video A Fluff Scam marks the first Junkie XL release in more than n...
Eyedress Gives an Inside Look at His Musical Journey and Life After ‘Mulholland Drive’
Driven by a lifelong passion for music, Eyedress has worked a jam-packed schedule while preparing for his fourth studio album. Like the fast-paced guitar rhythms on Mulholland Drive, which dropped in August, Eyedress doesn’t want to slow down. From creating visuals for songs to tapping in with other LA-based musicians, he’s motivated to keep his creative momentum flowing. Meeting up with HYPEBEAST Diaries, Eyedress warms up on his skateboard, which is where the roots of his music career can be found. “All my favorite skaters were these fools who wore tight pants and liked punk rock. That’s why I’m so into bands,” says Eyedress. Through years of skating and watching skate videos in the Philippines and America, Eyedress eventually developed the sound he wants to share with the rest of the wo...
Juice WRLD’s ‘Burn’ Track Receives a Music Video
Juice WRLD‘s highly-anticipated posthumous album Fighting Demons has officially arrived, and along with it, the title track Burn has received a music video directed by Steve Cannon. The music video snaps between clips of Juice Wrld in the studio rapping to the lyrics and Los Angeles burning under a barrage of meteor showers before the world is seen exploding. The song hears Juice WRLD rapping about his battle with addiction and anxiety in the chorus “Hands up in the fire, burn, burn, burn, burn. I pray to God for some water to wash down these Percs. I been cursed since birth, guess I never learn.” The Metro Boomin produced track continues with him explaining how his success and money couldn’t solve his problems with lyrics that read, “numb the pain with my wealth, a bag from Chanel match t...
David Lasley, Musician-Songwriter and Prized Backup Singer for Music Legends, Dies at 74
David Lasley — an American artist, songwriter and longtime backup singer for a slew of legendary artists — passed away on Dec. 9 at the age of 74, Billboard has confirmed. In addition to a solo career that netted him the 1982 top 40 Billboard Hot 100 hit “If I Had My Wish Tonight,” Lasley sang backup for Burt Bacharach, Neil Diamond, Luther Vandross, Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin and more. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Tributes to the late singer poured in after the news of his passing, with Desmond Child, James Taylor and more expressing their condolences online and sharing his music. Lasley co-wrote Bonnie Raitt’s “I Ain’t Gonna Let You Break My Heart Again” and “Got You On My Mind.” Raitt took to social media with fond words about Lasley, stating, “I am so sorry to hear of th...
Michael Nesmith & The Monkees Set a Billboard Chart Record in 1967 That Still Stands Today
Michael Nesmith, who died Friday (Dec. 10) at age 78, and his fellow Monkees – Davy Jones, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz – set a record in 1967 that no other act has equaled: They became the first and only act to have four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 in a calendar year. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news They were on top as the year began with their debut album, The Monkees, which had spent the last eight weeks of 1966 at No. 1. The Monkees spent the first five weeks of 1967 in the top spot, until it was replaced on Feb. 11 by the group’s sophomore set, More of the Monkees. That album logged 18 consecutive weeks on top. After a one-week interruption by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass – you’ll be reading more about them soon – The Monkees’ ...
