It’s a big day for BTS. Not only is it their youngest member Jungkook’s birthday on September 1, but the septet is also celebrating their first-ever Hot 100 chart topper, as “Dynamite” blasts into the No. 1 spot. Jimin took to Twitter to share his moment of overwhelming positivity, kicking his string of tweets off with a birthday message to Jungkook. “Happy birthday to our youngest, Older brother loves you a lot,” reads the sweet Korean message translated to English. “Congrats to my members for our No. 1. I’m happy because you guys are here with me. You know the ones I love and are most thankful for are ARMYs, right? ARMYs need to be congratulated!” He added that he’s “still crying,” before sharing another thought. “I ...
Fresh off the release of his innovative new mixtape, CTV3: Cool Tape Vol. 3, Jaden Smith dropped by Apple Music to chat with Ebro Darden on everything related to his creative project. “This album is a time piece in the sense that I am speaking from the perspective as an artist, as a rapper, as a singer, as a poet,” he explained. “I’m speaking from the perspective of being 16, 17ish. That’s when a lot of people get their first love, or heartbreak, around that time, and same for me. So I’m going back there.” On linking up again with Justin Bieber on “Falling for You,” Jaden shared that he wrote the song “last summer with my guitar teacher, in my room.” “I was thinking ‘Man, I want Justin on this song so bad,’” he continued. “And I di...
Was it really only last year where the VMAs were held at the Prudential Center in New Jersey — with Megan Thee Stallion relegated to the pre-show, Taylor Swift opening the ceremonies with two songs from her then-new album Lover, and host Sebastian Maniscalco cracking jokes about emotional support animals for “triggered” viewers in attendance? Hard to tell which part of that most makes the 2019 VMAs feel like a lifetime ago, but suffice to say, it was a very different MTV Video Music Awards that greeted fans on Sunday night (Aug. 30). With Brooklyn’s Barclays Center a late scratch as the 2020 event’s planned venue, the night’s performances, awards, and host segments (courtesy of engaging hyphenate Keke Palmer) all at least seemed pre-taped — ac...
Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande poured it on at the 2020 MTV VMAs with a stirring rendition of their smash hit “Rain on Me”. When it comes to pop collaborations, some big-name blockbusters are all thunder and no lighting. Not so with “Rain on Me”; this Chromatica standout lights up the dance floor with electrifying hook after electrifying hook. The pair’s moves Sunday night were nothing to mess with either; Gaga, while in a bondage-like outfit, strutted across a stage made to look like an otherworldly planet. Grande, meanwhile, twirled effortlessly in enormous white heels. In addition to “Rain on Me”, the MTV VMAs Artist of the Year also performed “911” and “Stupid Love”. For the latter single, Gaga kicked things off by playing a piano shaped like a brain (really!), before stepping into a gree...
If not for the pandemic, today would have marked the start of Notting Hill Carnival, a celebration of West Indies culture in Britain that dates back to the 1960s. But while the coronavirus has cancelled those plans, Adele chose to participate anyway, with a picture of herself in a Jamaican flag bikini and a Bantu knot hairstyle. The Internet, which posses infinite judgment if not quite infinite wisdom, thought she looked even more strained than the roots of her honey-colored hair. Adele posted the flamboyant image to Instagram Sunday evening. She captioned the picture, “Happy what would be Notting Hill Carnival my beloved London,” and punctuated the remark with the British and Jamaican flags. The Twit wits quickly provided captions of their own. Comedian Jaboukie Young-White pretended to q...
Katy Perry continues to treat fans with new music videos for songs on her latest album, Smile. In the days leading up to — and following — the Friday (Aug. 28) release of Smile, the 35-year-old pop star has dropped daily installments as part of her “Smile Video Series” on YouTube. So far, she’s shared visuals for songs “Never Really Over,” “Harleys in Hawaii,” “Cry About It Later,” “Tucked” and “Champagne Problems.” Perry unveiled her fifth studio set just days after giving birth to her first daughter, Daisy Dove, with fiancé Orlando Bloom. In the lead-up to Smile‘s release, Perry dropped the trippy animated video for “Never Really Over,” which takes viewers on a VR journey thro...
Selena Gomez kicked off her weekend with an inside look at the making of her sweet new “Ice Cream” video with Blackpink. “Blackpink, they’re very known for their videos and they’re known for their personalities, so I felt like I got to step into their world a little bit,” she said from the set in Los Angeles, where she was fanning herself off on a very hot day. “Ironically,” Gomez joked, “hot enough to have ice cream.” The singer got to speak over video chat to the girls of Blackpink, who were in Korea, and offered a glimpse of their adorable virtual meeting to fans. “I wish that I was there with them… I guarantee you there’s this energy that we could have if we could be in the same place, but we’re being s...
So, maybe you were never into Taylor Swift. But you were intrigued by Folklore, and somehow it’s become your quarantine soundtrack. Would you like the rest of her discography? Where should you begin? Folklore is an album of stories, of (as Swift’s liner notes explain) “fantasy, history and memory,” crafted with some of her finest lyrics to date. But Swift has been writing fine songs for a long time. If you haven’t ventured far into her albums, and if you’ve only heard the biggest radio hits, consider this a crash course on what to listen to from Swift’s back catalog. The “deep cut” definition here is a little liberal: They’re all older Swift selects, but one or two suggestions that made this list were singles, ...
Tributes are pouring in for late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, who died Friday (Aug. 28) after a four-year battle with colon cancer. He was 43. In the hours after his passing, music stars like John Legend, Mariah Carey, The Weekend and G-Eazy took to social media to honor Boseman, who also starred in roles portraying funk legend James Brown in 2014’s Get On Up and baseball icon Jackie Robinson in 2013’s 42. “I’m so shocked and heartbroken about Chadwick,” Legend tweeted. “He was such a bright light, such a gifted performer. He brought grace, elegance and power to everything he did. He always seemed to carry our ancestors with him. And now he joins them far too soon.” Boseman died at his home in the Los Angeles area with his wife and family by his ...
Jennifer Lopez and fiancé Alex Rodriguez are expressing their disappointment after losing out on buying the New York Mets. The singer/actress and former Yankee star, who led a group of investors to buy the Major League Baseball franchise, announced Friday night (Aug. 28) that they were withdrawing their bid to buy the Mets. “Alex and I are so disappointed!! We worked so hard the past 6 months with the dream of becoming the first minority couple and the first woman owner to buy her father’s favorite Major League Baseball team with her own hard earned money. We still haven’t given up!!” Lopez wrote on Instagram. The J-Lo-Rodriguez group bid was for $1.7 billion, with the couple putting in $300 million of their own money, ESPN reported in July. With Lopez and Rodriguez out of the ...
Ariana Grande is melting over Blackpink and Selena Gomez‘s new song “Ice Cream.” Grande celebrated the release of the highly-anticipated collaboration, which she helped write, by sending Gomez a huge flower arrangement shaped like an ice cream cone. “Obsessed,” Gomez captioned a photo of the pink-and-white flowers in her Instagram Stories. Gomez also shared a snapshot of the sweet congratulatory note Grande sent along with the flowers. “Selena, Congratulations ice queen! Love & Gratitude, Ari,” the card reads. “Ice Cream” is the second pre-release single off Blackpink’s long-awaited debut album, Blackpink: The Album, scheduled for release on Oct. 2 through YG Entertainment. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Onl...
Rick Astley has been spending quarantine uploading a variety of covers onto YouTube, but on Friday (Aug. 28), the “Never Gonna Give You Up” star took on an unlikely track for his latest at-home performance. There are a lot words in this song. It’s not my song. I don’t really know it properly, but I love it so I’m going to give it a go,” Astley admitted before delving into a stripped-back rendition of Post Malone‘s “Better Now” on acoustic guitar. Other covers on Astley’s channel include Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine,” Foo Fighters’ “Everlong” and Sia’s “Titanium.” Watch “Better Now” below. [embedded content] You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looki...