NEWS
A Year After Coming Out As Gay, Producer Spencer Brown Reflects: ‘My Life Completely Changed For the Best’
I was blown away when the article reached a half million people on social media and elsewhere. An outpouring of people around the world flooded my inboxes, expressing how much they could relate to my struggles. It still happens to this day, and, as a result, my creativity and confidence have been at new highs during the pandemic. The article proved the power of my voice as an artist — and its potential to make positive change. In a world where negativity, extremism, and fear feed clicks, I feel empowered to use my voice to spread positivity and peace. I never had an LGBTQ+ idol when I was growing up. In fact, I turned away from (and hated) anything “gay related” — something I later realized was called internalized homophobia. I am so grateful that I can now be that kind of figure in some p...
Sinead O’Connor Announces Retirement From Recording and Touring
In a move that caught a lot of people off guard, Irish singer-songwriter Sinead O’Connor announced via her Twitter account on Friday that she would be retiring from recording, touring, and promoting her music effective immediately. Of course, she still has No Veteran Dies Alone releasing next year, but it sounds like her final album won’t be getting a tour or round of promotion along with it. The “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer recently made headlines for detailing how Prince terrorized her despite writing the chart-topping hit ahead of the release of her memoir, Rememberings. Now in the wake of the book’s release, the iconic vocalist realized she could be her “own boss” and decided she wasn’t going to wait for anyone else to tell her when it was time to walk away. “This is to...
Will Smith Supports Naomi Osaka With Heartfelt Instagram Post
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Xinhua News Agency / Getty When Naomi Osaka made the decision to drop out of the French Open on May 31, a contentious situation that had been brewing publicly for days became one of overwhelming love as many across the world voiced their support in defending her decision. One of the latest and biggest examples comes from the iconic entertainer Will Smith on social media. After her decision, Smith wrote the Haitian and Japanese-American tennis star a touching and supporting letter stating, “Hey Naomi, you are right. They are wrong! I am with you,” and posted it to his Instagram page along with a selfie. Osaka had previously announced that she wouldn’t attend French Open press conferences because she felt that it placed undue pressure on players. After her ...
Foot Locker & Diadora Team With Qias “The Sneakers Guy” Omar For New Release
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Foot Locker / Foot Locker It’s summertime and with that y’all know comes Foot Locker‘s annual collaborative releases as sneakerheads just can’t get enough of exclusive footwear. Source: Foot Locker / Foot Locker Their latest exclusive release will come in conjunction with Qias ‘The Sneakers Guy’ Omar and Diadora to release two exclusive kicks that are set to drop on June 9th. The new “Bay 2 LA” collection will include two versions of the Diadora N9002 and MAVERICK, with the Diadora N9002 sporting a blue base with orange details and the MAVERICK boasting a white silhouette with grey details which represents Q’s journey to LA to realize his dreams. Pretty cool. Needless to say that Qias’ 1.39 million subscribers to his QrewTV channel will surely be checking...
Officially GOAT’ed: Simone Biles Wins 7th National Championship
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Jamie Squire / Getty It’s way past time to add Simone Biles to the Sports Mount Rushmore, which already includes Tom Brady, Michael Phelps, Serena Williams, and Michael Jordan or Lebron James (choose one). The four-time Olympic champion has collected another gymnastic Infinity Stone claiming her 7th straight U.S. national title, the most of any American woman. The 24-year-old won with a two-day score of 119.650 score, claiming titles on the all-around, balance beam, vault, and floor exercise event. She scored nearly five more points than the runner-up Sunisa Lee. “I feel like I did try to enjoy it because it could be one of my last championships that I’ll attend,” Biles told Olympics.com. “But it’s also the road to Tokyo, and after this we have tria...
Lil Yachty and Bhad Bhabie Invest In A Culturally Jewish Dating App
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Paras Griffin / Getty A dating app on the rise that describes itself as “culturally Jewish” just got two notable backers from the Hip-Hop world—Lil Yachty and Bhad Bhabie. The two young stars have partnered with agent Adam Kluger and his Scoop Investments firm to invest $1 million in The Lox Club. The Lox Club is billed as a dating app that has “ridiculously high standards.” Founded in late 2020, it’s also described as an app that is “it’s culturally Jewish, but you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy it.” A statement announcing the news went on to further describe the aesthetic appeal of The Lox Club: “The app itself is a virtual speakeasy hidden within an old-school deli and offers users the chance to speak with a real-life matchmaker instead of solely rel...
U.S. Congress Casts Doubt on Spotify’s Controversial “Discovery Mode” Feature
The controversy surrounding Spotify’s divisive “Discovery Mode” has not subsided since the streaming giant announced the initiative in late 2020. The feature offers some artists and record labels a chance to boost the rankings of their music in the platform’s playlisting algorithm—a crucial tool for exposure—in exchange for a reduced royalty rate. Considering the notion that royalties are already extremely low—fractions of one penny per stream, to be exact—the contentious “Discovery Mode” feature seems to make things even more difficult for artists hoping to get their music in front of as many people possible while earning fair compensation for their works. “Discovery Mode” has now come to the attention of Representative Jerrold Nadler (chair...
KAYTRANADA Nabs 2021 Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year
The 2021 Juno Awards saw The Weeknd dominate, as the international pop superstar added even more accolades to his trophy case after winning in the categories of Artist of the Year, Single of the Year, and Album of the Year. In the Dance Recording of the Year category, renowned producer KAYTRANADA took home the award for his Bubba LP. The seminal 17-track album features major contemporary artists such as Pharrell Williams, GoldLink, Estelle, and Iman Omari, among others. Though it was released in December 2019, Bubba, which also swept the Grammys back in March, still qualified for this year’s Juno Awards. Earlier this month, the organizers of the Juno Awards ceremony announced that a new category for Underground Dance Single of the Year wo...
Michelle Zauner’s Memoir Crying in H Mart to Be Adapted as Movie
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-06-07T18:14:49+00:00“>June 7, 2021 | 2:14pm ET Michelle Zauner, aka Japanese Breakfast, became a New York Times bestselling author when her memoir, Crying in H Mart, was released in April. Now, the book is set to be adapted as a movie by MGM’s Orion Pictures. The film will be produced by Stacey Sher and Jason Kim, with Zauner providing the soundtrack as Japanese Breakfast. “It is a surreal thrill to have the opportunity to memorialize my mother in film, and I consider it of the highest honor to pursue that task alongside creative luminaries such as Stacey Sher, Jason Kim, and Orion Pictures,” Zauner said in a statement. Related Video Crying in H Mart is based on a 2018&nbs...
Sinéad O’Connor Announces Retirement from Music
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-06-07T18:51:41+00:00“>June 7, 2021 | 2:51pm ET Sinead O’Connor is done with the music industry. In a series of tweets this past Friday, the Irish singer revealed that she will be retiring “from touring and from working in the record business” starting immediately. Her upcoming album No Veteran Dies Alone, which she implied is already recorded, is due out next year and will serve as her final LP. “I’ve gotten older and I’m tired. So it’s time for me to hang up my nipple tassels, having truly given my all. NVDA in 2022 will be my last release. And there’ll be no more touring or promo,” she tweeted. “It’s not sad news. It’s staggeringly beautiful news. A wise warrior knows when he or s...
Glassjaw Announce 2022 Tour Featuring Full Album Performances
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-06-07T18:56:57+00:00“>June 7, 2021 | 2:56pm ET Post-hardcore pioneers Glassjaw have announced a 2022 tour featuring full performances of two of their seminal albums: 2000’s Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence and 2002’s Worship and Tribute. The 18-date, 13-city trek kicks off on March 2nd, 2022 with a two-night stand at 1720 in Los Angeles, California, with subsequent multi-night performances in San Francisco, California; Austin, Texas; and Brooklyn, New York. It will wrap up with a pair of shows at The Paramount in Huntington, New York March on 25th-26th. These cities will feature one album performance per night. At stops like Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; and P...
Morrissey, Bauhaus, Blondie to Headline Cruel World Festival in May 2022
It’ll be just like heaven for fans of Emo Brit retro lineups. The Cruel World festival which was originally slated to take place in 2020 will finally happen in 2022. Morrissey, Bauhaus, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Psychedelic Furs, Blondie and more congregate in Pasadena, California on May 14, 2022 for the event. The one-day festival at Brookside at the Rose Bowl will also see Blondie, Devo, Violent Femmes, The Church, The Damned and dozens more will perform. Additionally, L.A. bands Berlin, 45 Grave and Missing Persons will also be on the bill. In terms of health and safety precaution, Cruel World’s website says, “We will follow all COVID-19 related mandates applicable to the festival and will provide more information as the festival approaches.” The all-ages event will...
