NEWS
Ford Ion Park to Pave Way for Company’s Future Battery Cell Plants
Ford is establishing a battery cell research and development center in Michigan as a next step to manufacturing its own batteries for electric vehicles, rather than relying solely on suppliers. It is a tangible example of a mind shift at Ford under new CEO Jim Farley who recognizes the automaker must throw past caution to the wind when it comes to embracing electric vehicles. Under Farley, Ford will accelerate the transition to battery electric vehicles from traditional internal combustion engines and reverse the stance of former CEO Jim Hackett who did not see the value in bringing capital-intensive battery cell manufacturing in-house. Farley sees the EV market developing quickly, creating the scale necessary to justify integrating cell assembly. Shortages of semiconductor chips have heig...
HHW Gaming: T-Pain Takes Out Whole Squad of Racists By Himself During A ‘Call of Duty’ Match
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Gustavo Caballero / Getty T-Pain put all racists playing Call of Duty on notice. The “Rappa Ternt Sanga” let them know if you gonna call him the n-word, you’re going to pay for it in the game. And he took it personally. All Black gamers experience racism when playing their favorite video games online, even celebrities. Call of Duty is notorious for racist trash talk from Caucasian gamers who become very brave and say many things they definitely wouldn’t say to a Black person’s face while playing online. T-Pain, an avid gamer for those who didn’t know, is no stranger to racism while gaming and experienced it during a recent match, and he handled it in the most satisfying way ever. In the video, his white opponents can clearly be heard saying “f*** Black li...
EXIT Festival Uploads Rare High-Quality Skrillex Set From 2014: Watch
While we gear up to hopefully hear new Skrillex music sometime soon, there’s no better time to look back at some old festival footage of the beloved artist. A rare video of his set from Serbia’s EXIT Festival back in 2014 has recently surfaced for the nostalgic. Though seven years ago, the quality of the video feels like it could have just been captured. Skrillex expertly throws down hit after hit like “Make it Bun Dem,” “Bangarang,” “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites,” and many more. The energy in the stadium is palpable and envy-inducing with not a mask in sight. EXIT Festival is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary by releasing some iconic legacy sets, including those by Skrillex, Bad Company, Adam Beyer B2B Ida Engberg, and more....
CAA Signs Eric Prydz With Plans to Bring “Holosphere” to the US
One of the dance music industry’s most groundbreaking artists is making moves to return to the live music scene stronger than ever. In an effort to “bring his artistic vision” to the US market, Eric Prydz has signed with CAA, Billboard reports. The fabled techno and house producer will be represented by music agent Alex Becket, whose roster also includes Lee Burridge and RÜFÜS DU SOL, among others. Becket played a major role in the recent launch of the latter’s impending three-night show run at Los Angeles’ Banc of California Stadium this fall. “2021 will just be about seeing out those commitments and letting the dust settle in a post-COVID world,” Becket says, adding that he hopes the move to CAA will “cement [Prydz’s] status as a trul...
Flaming Lips Cover Bob Dylan’s ‘Lay Lady Lay’ for Dylan Revisited Tribute LP
Bob Dylan is being honored with a covers album, and Uncut magazine, which is offering the Dylan Revisited LP with its June issue, has shared The Flaming Lips’ rendition of Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay” off the collection. Dylan Revisited is in celebration of Dylan’s 80th birthday on May 24 and Dylan himself contributed an acoustic version of “Too Late” that is unavailable elsewhere. As for the slightly psychedelicized version of “Lay Lady Lay,” Lips main man Wayne Coyne told Uncut, “I think every songwriter loves this type of ‘romantic’ Bob Dylan song – he really can be very charming. That line ‘Whatever colours you have in your mind/I show them to you and you see them shine…’ It’s the type of wordplay, though it seems kind of like jumbled surrealism, that actually gets t...
Gucci Mane Announces New Album ‘Ice Daddy’: Exclusive
Gucci’s last album, Delusions of the Grandeur, debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 in July 2019 — becoming his 7th top 10 release. The project boasted features from Justin Bieber, Anuel AA, Lil Uzi Vert, Meek Mill, Wiz Khalifa, Rick Ross, and more. The two-year layover between albums has allowed Gucci to polish his resume as an executive with his label 1017 Records. Anchored by the success of rising star and February R&B/Hip-Hop Rookie of the Month honoree, Pooh Shiesty, Gucci’s label who once housed the likes of Waka Flocka and OJ The Juiceman is now ripe with youthful, spirited energy. Gucci’s other signee, Big Scarr, made his debut this week on the Billboard 200 with his project Big Grim Reaper, landing at No. 25. Fans can pre-order Gucci’s upcoming I...
Altafonte Appoints Ricardo Chamberlain to Global Marketing Senior VP
Ricardo Chamberlain has been appointed Altafonte’s global marketing senior vice president, Billboard has learned. As global marketing svp, Chamberlain will be tasked with developing strategic initiatives and opportunities for Altafonte’s artists, including planning, direction, and coordination of multi-territorial marketing campaigns. He will work closely with the directors and teams of each territory. “Ricardo’s passion for music and his creator and tech spirit together with his deep experience in the music industry are an unbeatable combination to make Altafonte the most innovative independent music company on the market,” said Inma Grass CCO and partner in a statement, coining Chamberlain a “wonderful person and a great professional.” You Deserv...
Maroon 5 Announces New Album ‘Jordi’ in Tribute to Late Manager
The collection will feature their Megan Thee Stallion collab “Beautiful Mistakes.” To hype the album’s release, the band also teased an coming virtual performance, “American Express UNSTAGED With Maroon 5” on June 4, which will feature music from the new album. Jordi was executive produced by J Kash and will also feature the singles “Nobody’s Love” and 2019 single “Memories,” the latter of which was also an homage to Feldstein. Levine also chatted with old friend DeGeneres about their long history on her show, how much he loved quarantining at home with his wife and daughters, the painful waxing he had to endure before the long process of getting his new full left-leg tattoo and his final word on frenemy Blake Shelton’s upco...
Genesis Announce Fall 2021 North American Tour
Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford, the prog-rock group collectively known as Genesis, will return to the road in North America for the first time in 14 years with The Last Domino? tour, kicking off Nov. 15 in Chicago and ending Dec. 15 in Boston. Joined by Phil’s son Nic Collins on drums and the band’s long-time lead guitar and bass player Daryl Stuermer, the iconic group will perform at 14 major venues across the U.S. and Canada, including a Dec. 5 stop at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Count on hits including “Invisible Touch,” “In Too Deep” and “Turn It On Again” from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees. The Last Domino? North American Tour 2021 marks the first time Genesis has performed stateside since 2007’s Turn It On Again: The Tour, which...
Noel Gallagher Shares New Song, ‘We’re on Our Way Now,’ From Upcoming Greatest Hits Album
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds unveiled a new single today, “We’re On Our Way Now,” which the always quotable songwriter dubbed as “a taste of the future-fan-favorites to come.” It’s from the ex-Oasis member’s Back The Way We Came: Vol 1 (2011-2021) greatest hits set to release on June 11 via Sour Mash Records, and also features a second new song, “Flying On The Ground.” Speaking on Absolute Radio, 53-year-old Gallagher tells how he didn’t want to sit around doing nothing during the pandemic. Recalling a conversation with his bandmates, he said, “I realized it was the 10 year anniversary coming up this year and was like, ‘What about a Best Of?’ and we kicked the idea around for a bit. I had a few tunes that I had never finished off for various projects in those 10 ...
Nick Cave Remembers Former Collaborator Anita Lane: ‘The Smartest and Most Talented of All of Us’
Early Bad Seeds collaborator Anita Lane died early this week. In the latest edition of his Red Hand Files newsletter, Nick Cave remembered Lane as “the smartest and most talented of all of us, by far” and called her a “lighting in a bottle.” “You think you’ve become grief-savvy — stronger, wiser, more resilient — you think that there is nothing more that can hurt you in this world, and then Anita dies,” he wrote. Cave admired Lane’s myriad accomplishments and sometimes contradictory qualities, saying, that “She was the brains behind The Birthday Party, wrote a bunch of their songs, wrote ‘From Her to Eternity,’ ‘The World’s a Girl,’ ‘Sugar in a Hurricane’ and my favourite Bad Seeds song, ‘Stranger Than Kindness.’ but was much more than that.” He al...
David Gilmour Plays on New Version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Need Your Love So Bad” Featuring Unearthed Peter Green Vocals: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-28T16:03:35+00:00“>April 28, 2021 | 12:03pm ET Right up until his death last summer, late Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green was still working on new projects. One of those was a book on his life and career called The Albatross Man, which is set for release later this year. Green also gave his stamp of approval to a pair of tracks to be released in conjunction with the tome, including a newly revealed rendition of “Need Your Love So Bad” featuring Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour. “Need Your Love So Bad” was first heard on Fleetwood Mac’s 1969 album, The Pious Bird of Good Omen. Unlike that studio take, however, this newly unearthed version features vocals Green recorded in the ...
