NEWS
Stone Roses Singer Ian Brown Cancels Festival Gig Due to Attendee Vaccination Requirement
Ian Brown isn’t a fan of the lockdown and is outspoken as Van Morrison and numerous others as the “pro-COVID” musicians who seem to be all for letting the disease run rampant for as long as humanly possible. After stating last Friday that he would “NEVER EVER” play a show with a vaccination requirement, the Stone Roses frontman (who was previously best known for opening the door for more talented Manchester bands, like Oasis or maybe even the Chemical Brothers) is making good on that promise by declining his headlining gig at the Neighbourhood Weekender festival due to its mandatory vaccination policy. To be fair, the festival’s been pushed back so many times now due to COVID that it’s a wonder how any artist could stay on the lineup for this long, but apparently making sure it was sa...
CERTIFIED FRESH: Atlanta Duo 2 Player Talks ‘Retro South’ LP & Evolving Through Rap
Source: 2 Player / Out Da Trunk Productions Big Sant and Redcoat Da Poet, of the Atlanta-based rap duo 2 Player, are well aware of the fact that there’s nothing new under the sun. One recent afternoon in a North Atlanta studio, Coat explained the concept behind 2 Player’s latest project, Retro South, released through the independent imprint Out Da Trunk Productions. His stance is: if the East Coast can currently enjoy drill via artists like Fivio Foreign as well as that classic boom-bap from the increasingly ubiquitous Griselda family, then the South could have their subgenres co-exist as well in 2021. And why not? There was Southern rap before the trap. It isn’t that rappers Down South aren’t still out here doing what feels right, either. If Sant’s name sounds especially familiar, it’s li...
Megan Thee Stallion & Her Body-Ody Star In Calvin Klein’s 2021 Spring Campaign
Source: Calvin Klein / Mario Sorrenti Megan Thee Stallion can now add a Calvin Klein ad campaign to her growing list of accomplishments. Thee Stallion and her now boo’d up cakes look absolutely stunning in her in Calvins in the company’s new Spring 2021 campaign that continues Calvin Klein’s minimalistic approach. Source: Calvin Klein / Mario Sorrenti In the campaign’s short film directed by Terence Nance, the “Good News” crafter stars alongside actor/musician Anthony Ramos (Hamilton/ She’s Gotta Have It), futurist/activist Janaya Future Khan, actor Jacob Elordi, musician Koffee, skate collective Queer Skate LA, singer/songwriter Rina Sawayama, musician/skateboarder Sage Elsesser, and dancer Vinson Fraley. Photographer Mario Sorrenti handles the still department capturing Thee S...
6 Dr. Seuss Books No Longer Published Due To Racist Imagery
Source: Scott Olson / Getty Dr. Suess books have been a staple of children’s classrooms, libraries, and the homes of families around the world for decades, but controversy surrounds a handful of previously published releases. On Tuesday (March 2), the business the oversees the affairs of the brand is pulling six of its books from its offerings due to racist and insensitive images. As reported by The Associated Press, Dr. Seuss Enterprises told the outlet that among the six books, such as And To Think That I Saw That On Mulberry Street and If I Ran The Zoo, will be removed from its publishing schedule. “These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises said in a statement to The Associated Press on the late author Theodor Seuss Geisel’s birthday. “Ceasing...
Bun B Keeps It Very Trill, Calls Governor Greg Abbott’s Decision To Fully Open Texas “Batsh*t Crazy”
Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty Texas Governor Greg Abbott had everyone looking at him sideways, including Houston native Bun B, after he announced he was lifting mask mandates and fully opening the state. Bun B kept it real trill on Instagram after Abbott’s ridiculous decision to lift the mask mandate put in place to protect Texans from COVID-19 and allowing businesses to open at 100% capacity despite numerous warnings from health officials. In a caption along with a video featuring a fully-vaccinated Abbott happily making the bonehead announcement, in a room of maskless individuals, the rapper directly called out the governor, “This is bat shit crazy @govabbott, and you know it. As if you didn’t already have enough blood on your hands. SMFH.” Abbott’s announcement comes on the he...
Full-Capacity Concerts, Music Festivals May Return in Texas and Mississippi After Lift of Mask Mandates
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has effectively opened the door for the state’s events sector to reopen, including full-capacity concerts and music festivals. After the passing of Executive Order GA-34, all Texas businesses will be able to reopen with no restrictions—including mask-wearing—starting March 10th. “I just announced Texas is OPEN 100%. EVERYTHING,” Abbott tweeted on Tuesday, March 2nd. “I also ended the statewide mask mandate.” Following Abbott’s executive order, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves announced his own, which reopened the state in similar fashion. “Starting tomorrow, we are lifting all of our county mask mandates and businesses will be able to operate at full capacity without any state-imposed rules,” he tweet...
Van Morrison Announces 28-Song Double Album Latest Record Project
After a spate of controversial anti-lockdown songs in 2020, Van Morrison has switched gears, dropping a song about his songs, titled “Latest Record Project,” with the repeating verse “have you got my latest record project?” It’s the first song released and also opens the album double-album titled Latest Record Project, of course. It arrives May 7 via Exile/BMG. Musically, the lovely soul melody with female backup singers serves as an “ad” for the 28 news songs on the set, written during the lockdown. Some of the songs have some questionable titles, including “Stop Bitching, Do Something,” “They Own the Media, “Why Are You on Facebook?” and “The Long Con” that seemingly refer to things that have occurred during quarantine. Last year’s tracks are not on Latest Record Pro...
Wesley Joseph Drops Thumping Track “Thrilla”: Stream
23-year-old UK rapper Wesley Joseph has released “Thrilla”, his first new song of 2021. The booming track is co-produced by Jai Paul collaborator Lexxx and Joseph himself. It arrives via a self-directed music video featuring one of the two working DeLoreans in the UK. Stream the clip below. “Thrilla” is propelled by a heavy 808, but the production is also layered with funk-inspired guitar licks and gothic strings. In an interview with BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac, Joseph said he freestyled the song’s lyrics while drunk “off the rum and orange juice.” Accordingly, most of the track features swaggering rhymes, but Joseph also gets introspective at times. “Visions in my dreams, who do you believe / They fear the change,” he raps. “Looking hollow tomorrow, dividing barricades / Thought I saw the fu...
Kings of Leon Are Releasing Their New Album as an NFT
Kings of Leon are about to do something revolutionary. On Friday, the Grammy-winning alt-rock band will release their new album When You See Yourself as an NFT, making them the first band to ever release their album in this burgeoning cryptocurrency format. For those who aren’t up on their crypto lingo, NFT is an acronym for non-fungible token. They’re essentially a form of digital currency like Bitcoin, except instead of a monetary value, they contain art, music, or even something unique like a concert ticket. Throughout the last few months, their popularity has soared immensely in the music community — and so has their value. Over the weekend, Grimes sold a collection that contained exclusive songs and art that earned her $6 million via auction. In addition to releasing When Yo...
Michael B. Jordan Wages a One-Man War in First Trailer for Without Remorse: Watch
In the first trailer for Without Remorse, masked assassins shoot Michael B. Jordan and leave him for dead, but it’s okay because he’s definitely not coming back to murder them all, right? Right!? Based on the 1993 Tom Clancy book of the same name, Without Remorse provides the origin story for recurring character John Clark, aka John Kelly. This tale of Cold War revenge has been updated to modern times, with conflict in Syria replacing the Vietnam War. But while portions of the book have been given a facelift, the overall structure is the same: Kelly loses his pregnant wife while he himself is shot. Everyone expects him to die, but lo and behold, he survives, and the experience leaves him… well, you’ve seen the title. “There’s something inside of me that I can’t turn off,” Ke...
Wu-Tang Clan to Release 36 Copies of New 400-Pound Photo Book
Wu-Tang Clan, the band that infamously auctioned off the only copy in existence of their 2015 Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album, does not disappoint with another limited-edition release: a 400-pound photo book by limited to 36 copies. Titled Wu-Tang Clan: Legacy, it will feature over 300 pages of unreleased photos looking back at the group’s 27 years from photographers Danny Hastings, PROTIM PHOTO, Kyle Christie, Andy Cantillon as well as friends and family. All 36 copies will be signed by the group. The book arrives in a steel sculpture (which you can see below) finished with matte black auto paint, designed by sculptor Gethin Jones, and influenced by ancient bronze ritual bowls of the Zhou Dynasty whose first ruler was King Wu-Wang. The handmade book is bound and printed i...
Maroon 5 & Megan Thee Stallion Reminisce on ‘Beautiful Mistakes’ For New Collab
“I was like the little break where you go to the melodic thing, to be honest, it actually shows this new kind of branch of what she does, and this new versatility that she’s going to show everybody right now,” the 41-year-old star elaborated. “That’s a side of her I had never really heard yet. Well it’s just, it’s one of those great songs that I think kind of continues to build. And the way she built her part was just, it couldn’t have been a more epic kind of climax for the song. I mean, it really is absolutely perfect. So, I mean, what she did was just miraculous, and it brought the song to a whole new level.” Levine also reminisced on the all-star rappers Maroon 5 has had the pleasure of collaborating with in the past, including Wiz ...
