NEWS
Next-Gen Audi RS3 Keeps Its 400-HP-Plus Five-Cylinder Engine
There’s good news and then there’s even better news. The first bit is that Audi, like many automotive manufacturers, has committed to a sustainable future. The expansion electrification of their lineup, with the all-electric E-Tron GT and Q4 E-Tron leading the way. The other piece of good news, the one we’re more excited about? Audi feels internal combustion engines aren’t going anywhere in the near future. To that end, Audi appeared to confirm a great engine for a fun car: A new-generation RS3 is coming and it will carry the brand’s iconic five-cylinder engine under its hood. The news didn’t come in so much an out-and-out statement that these two things were coming as a hint from a photo in a recent release. In it, the new A3 family is picture...
Halsey Unveils Makeup and Skincare Faves as Latest IPSY Glam Bag X Collaborator
“I am so excited to share my Glam Bag X collection,” says Halsey, in a release. “I’ve been a makeup junkie since I was a teenager, always grabbing and experimenting with whatever product I could get my hands on. So I’ve tried it all; drugstore to designer, neutral and natural to experimental and avant-garde. I took this mix and match approach to curating my Glam Bag X collection so I can confidently say there’s something in it for everyone. You can do your basic glow, everyday face, take really amazing care of your skin, and you can play up your adventurous side experimenting with high-impact color.” IPSY has always been known for its vast selection of products, which cater to different skin tones, skin types, makeup styles and sensitivities. As with all their Glam Bag X ...
Migos Roll Up in Vintage Rolls-Royce in New ‘Avalanche’ Music Video: It’s ‘a Masterpiece’
“How would I describe this album?” Offset begins. “It’s a level-up, you know what I’m saying, a masterpiece.” That’s when Quavo chimes in, “We took it back to the roots, took it back to the bando, took it back to the Northside.” Quavo kicks off the tune rapping about his childhood, when the young star-to-be was raised by his single mom, “Papa was a rollin’ stone, but now I got rollin’ stones in the bezel/ Mama at home all alone, hustlin’, tryna keep this s— together.” The Billboard chart-topper then says proudly, “If I go back to the past, my n—-s ain’t know we’d be rockin’ Coachella.” In the next interview segment, the rapper explains his lyrics, saying, “The term ‘rolling stone’ related to me because we just felt like we’re the Rolling...
Five Decades of Lavender Country: Inside the World of a ‘Queer, Screaming Marxist B-tch Country Singer’
For a self-professed “screaming Marxist bitch singer” who dropped a mostly ignored queer country album in 1973, it’s been a busy time for 77-year-old Patrick Haggerty of Lavender Country. On the bootheels of his band’s historical reappraisal after a 2014 reissue and ensuing reunion shows, the pioneering group’s legend continues to grow as the singular beauty and groundbreaking lyrical content of its self-titled album become apparent to more open-minded generations. Not only is there a screenplay about Haggerty’s life floating around Hollywood, but the septuagenarian is reinvesting his energy in recording, duetting with drag star Trixie Mattel last year, releasing the lovely “Treasures That Money Can’t Buy” in January and gearing up...
Kim Jong-un Calls K-Pop a ‘Vicious Cancer’
“To Kim Jong-un, the cultural invasion from South Korea has gone beyond a tolerable level,” Jiro Ishimaru, chief editor of the Japanese website Asia Press International, which monitors North Korea, told the NYT. “If this is left unchecked, he fears that his people might start considering the South an alternative Korea to replace the North.” HYBE, formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment and home to BTS, has done its best to celebrate K-pop and expand its influence globally with a new museum, which opened to the public last month at HYBE’s headquarters in the Yongsan district, and its purchase of Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, which brings K-pop supergroups such as BTS, Tomorrow X Together and Seventeen under the same roof as U.S. pop superstars Jus...
Bruce Springsteen Says That He’s Joining The Killers on an Upcoming Collaboration
Bruce Springsteen said that he’ll be joining The Killers an upcoming song that should be arriving “in a week or so,” or at least that’s what Springsteen said during a DJ set on SiriusXM’s E Street Radio aka his own station. Prior to the confirmation, The Killers had fun teasing their fans with whatever mystery partnership might be in the works. “We’re announcing a killer collab (pun intended) later this week, but you’ve got to figure out who it’s with,” they wrote on their social media accounts yesterday (June 10). We’re announcing a killer collab (pun intended) later this week, but you’ve got to figure out who it’s with. Be on the lookout for clues in coming posts. The first 200 Victims who guess correctly will get early access to the video. Submit your guess: https://t.co/9fHpv2fLOE pic....
Van Morrison and Eric Clapton Are At It Again in ‘The Rebels’
Van Morrison and Eric Clapton joined forces again for “The Rebels,” a duet of “Where Have All the Rebels Gone” from Morrison’s new album Latest Record Project: Vol. 1. An accompanying animated video shows drawings of musicians including Axl Rose, Robert Johnson, Kurt Cobain, Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead on “Wanted: Rebel” posters. The questioning call to action lyrically asks, “Where have all the rebels gone / They’re not saying very much at all,” and surmises that they’re “hiding behind their computer screens.” In December 2020, the duo released “Stand Up and Deliver,” which followed controversial tunes from Morrison that protested lockdown measures in the United Kingdom throughout the pandemic. The elder statement of blues-rock shared the song as Slowhand & Van, which soun...
Metallica Sues Insurer Lloyd’s of London Over Postponed Shows
Metallica is suing insurer Lloyd’s of London for allegedly not paying out the quartet for financial losses suffered when the band postponed a half-dozen shows in South America in April 2020 because of the coronavirus, CBS-LA reports. The band filed the paperwork in Los Angeles Superior Court earlier this week, alleging breach of contract and seeking unspecified compensatory damages. The group had a standard “cancellation, abandonment and non-appearance insurance” policy in case of cancellation, the suit claims. Metallica played two shows in its hometown of San Francisco in September 2019, with six more concerts slated in South America beginning in April 2020, in Santiago, Chile, the suit says. By April 2020, nearly the entire world was shut down due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions,...
Under the Tracks Drives Through Chicago’s Underground Hip-Hop Scene on Vans’ Channel 66
Under the Tracks, Consequence’s bi-weekly show on Vans’ Channel 66, is back this week for a brand new episode. Broadcasting from House of Vans Chicago on Monday, June 14th, this latest edition of the series will find host NNAMDÏ taking a drive through the city’s always vibrant underground hip-hop scene. Joining NNAMDÏ on this journey will be two individuals with very intimate, very different relations to the rap sounds of Chi-Town. Britt Julious is an award-winning journalist and essayist whose writings have appeared in everything from The New York Times to ELLE to Bon Appetit. Currently serving as a music critic for The Chicago Tribune, Julious was awarded the 2019 Studs Terkel Award for her journalistic work surrounding underserved communities. A consistent champ...
Sony Music Launches New “Artists Forward” Campaign, Waives Debts for Pre-2000 Artists
Sony Music Entertainment is introducing a new campaign called “Artists Forward”. The project will prioritize “transparency with creators in all aspects of their development” in an effort to offer stronger “comprehensive support” to the artists on their roster worldwide. There are three main components to the “Artists Forward” campaign, the biggest of which is the Legacy Unrecouped Balance Program, which will no longer apply existing unrecouped balances to musicians’ earnings generated on or after January 1st of this year. To be eligible for this, artists must have signed to SME prior to the year 2000 and never received an advance from 2000 onwards. Of course, every artist’s contract may differ in terms of terminology or deals, but no matter what, “unrecouped balances” in this instance will...
Chromeo Announce Date Night: Chromeo Live! Album, Release “Don’t Sleep (Live)”: Stream
Chromeo have a handful of shows scheduled for this summer, and to get fans hyped, they’re dropping a live album. The duo announced today that their first-ever live LP, Date Night: Chromeo Live!, will be available June 25th via Last Gang Records/eOne. As a preview, they’ve shared “Don’t Sleep (Live in DC)”. The forthcoming live collection will feature 20 tracks spanning the electro-funk pioneers’ entire discography, including favorites like “Fancy Footwork”, “One Track Mind”, “Night by Night”, “Hot Mess”, and “Come Alive” featuring Toro y Moi. The set was recorded at various stops on their pre-pandemic 2019 North American headlining tour, with selections coming from New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Minneapolis, and elsewhere. “We always toured as a duo, but on our last run, w...
He-Man Returns In New Trailer For Netflix’s ‘Masters Of The Universe: Revelation’
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Courtesy of Netflix / Netflix By the power of Netflix! The 80’s have newfound poweeeerrr! Source: Courtesy of Netflix / Netflix After reviving the likes of Voltron, Transformers, and even She-Ra, Netflix is now resurrecting another classic 80’s cartoon series, He-Man and The Masters of The Universe. Helmed by known comic book aficionado and Hollywood actor/director, Kevin Smith, Netflix’s new Masters of The Universe: Revelation will actually continue the story that ended back 1985 and not a reboot of the entire series as their previous 80’s cartoon comebacks. According to The Verge, Kevin Smith set out to keep the original story intact while trying up some loose ends he felt needed answering, hence, “Revelation.” “Narratively our show is set up as th...
