R&B
The Weeknd Links Up With Maluma For “Hawái” Remix: Stream
The Weeknd has teamed up with Maluma for a remix of the reggaeton icon’s hit song “Hawái”. On it, the After Hours artist sings in both Spanish and English. The two singers began teasing the collaboration on Instagram on Wednesday, and now the track has arrived less than 24 hours later. It begins with The Weeknd singing an altered version of the intro verse in English and before suddenly switching to Spanish for the hook. The Colombian pop star then comes in and handles the rest of the verses while The Weeknd joins him on the refrain. Despite the fact that they both play different styles of music, the two have an incredible chemistry and The Weeknd sounds particularly comfortable singing on a reggaeton beat. The song comes paired with a flashy music video that suits both of their ...
All Hail the Queen: Beyoncé Has 80,000 Bees, Jars Her Own Honey
Beyoncé, a.k.a. Queen B Since launching her solo career, Beyoncé has held a dedicated fanbase endearingly titled the #Beyhive. But it turns out the music titan also keeps up actual, literal beehives — and they contain at least 80,000 bees. The Lemonade singer revealed the fascinating bit of trivia in a new cover story for British Vogue. “What is something I would find surprising about you?” the interviewer asked. Beyoncé did not disappoint with her answer: “I know it’s random, but I have two beehives. Real ones. I’ve had them at my house for a while now. I have around 80,000 bees and we make hundreds of jars of honey a year.” While Bey is singlehandedly doing her part to save the bees from extinction, the R&B star said she originally got into the beekeeping business for her f...
Sharon Jones is Getting a Music Amphitheater Named After Her
A music venue in South Carolina will be officially renamed after Sharon Jones, the soul legend who died in 2016 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. On Monday, the city council of North Augusta unanimously voted to rechristen their local Riverside Village Amphitheater as the Sharon Jones Amphitheater. Jones was born in Augusta, Georgia, but spent most of her early years just across the Savannah River in North Augusta. Even after she moved to New York, the iconic singer often returned to visit and reconnect with family members still in the area. “She could be herself here,” Jones’ sister, Willia Stringer, told Rolling Stone. “She would come back and go fishing. She found that relaxation here.” Stringer, who was present for the city council’s vote, said that Jones “would be flabbergast...
Sam Smith’s Love Goes Offers Perspective from a Tear-Soaked Dancefloor: Review
The Lowdown: In 2014, London-born Sam Smith broke big into US pop with two singles: “Latch”, a compellingly histrionic soul-EDM track with Disclosure; and “Stay with Me”, a choir- and piano-backed, naked plea for momentary companionship. These hits reflect Smith’s twin signatures as a performer: the spectacular power of their distinctive voice and the effortlessness with which they plumb vulnerability. On their third full-length album, Love Goes, Smith delivers more of these familiar, emotional-pop crescendos designed to soundtrack sentimental feelings on and off the dancefloor. However, in the midst of personal transformations, this collection of tracks reflects a shifted perspective: The singer doesn’t cry out for their love to return, but instead watches, with a kind of acceptance, as i...
Ariana Grande’s Positions Is a 2020 Pop Fairytale: Review
The Lowdown: Finally, Ariana Grande answers the question we were all asking: what would it sound like if a 1940s film star woke to find herself in the 21st century, carved out her own corner of pop music, adopted the world’s most recognizable ponytail, and gathered her soaring vocals and stacked harmonies into an exploration of modern love? Positions, Ariana Grande’s sixth studio album, is a journey. It’s not so much a departure from her two most recent entries, Sweetener and thank u, next, as it is an amalgamation of those works with her lauded and beloved Dangerous Woman. It’s certainly her most explicit album to date, but her musings on romance, lust, longing, and heartache have never sounded more at home than on this orchestral yet beat-heavy record. It’s daring. It’s showy. It’s wildl...
Xenia Rubinos Shares New Song “Who Shot Ya?”: Stream
Xenia Rubinos has returned with a new song called “Who Shot Ya?”. Following last year’s singles “Diosa” and “Bugeisha”, and this past April’s collaboration with Helado Negro, “Who Shot Ya?” serves as only Rubinos’ third release since dropping her Black Terry Cat album back in 2016. “Who Shot Ya?” includes stark yet glistening production, fluttering Auto-tune, and a choppy chorus that features the phrase “Get it”, delivered like a righteous demand. Our former CoSign definitely has her own unique style, but artists like FKA twigs and Empress Of are reasonable reference points for her artful yet enveloping breed of experimental R&B. Lyrically, the new single touches on a number of racial justice topics that have dominated the discourse throughout 2020 — from police brutality and our ...
The Weeknd Literally Loses His Head in New Video for “Too Late”: Watch
The Weeknd has literally lost his head in the gory new music video for the After Hours cut “Too Late”. As it happens, the artist born Abel Tesfaye isn’t the only character in “Too Late” who suffers from neck-connectivity issues. Then there are the female protagonists — err, antagonists? — who begin the video driving home from a rousing session of plastic surgery. They spend all their time wearing elaborate face bandages (and little else) so it’s almost as if they, too, are missing their craniums. The plot developments are disturbingly raunchy, extremely graphic, and almost certainly NSFW. Altogether, watching “Too Late” is like an R&B twist on Washington Irving; call it The Headless Hoes, Man. The video was directed by Cliqua, and you can check it out below. The Weeknd c...
Marika Hackman Covers Elliott Smith’s “Between the Bars”, Beyoncé’s “All Night”: Stream
Next month, English indie rocker Marika Hackman will release a new covers album featuring takes on Radiohead, Grimes, Sharon Van Etten, and more. As a preview of the simply titled Covers, Hackman is now sharing her version of the 1997 Elliott Smith song “Between the Bars” and Beyoncé highlight “All Night”. “When it comes to covers, I like to pick songs which I have been listening to obsessively for a while,” the 28-year-old Londoner noted in a statement. “It gives me a natural understanding of the music, and lets me be more innovative with how I transform it.” Hackman just might be underselling herself with the word “innovative”, as her reworks of Smith and Queen Bey are quite remarkable. And not just for their unique arrangements, but also the fact that such contrasting covers somehow exi...
Arlo Parks Announces Debut Album Collapsed in Sunbeams, Shares “Green Eyes”: Stream
20-year-old British singer Arlo Parks has announced her debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams. It arrives January 29th, 2021, and to herald its release, she’s shared the new single “Green Eyes”, featuring vocals from Clairo. Parks has developed a reputation as your favorite songwriter’s favorite songwriter, with co-signs from Billie Eilish, Phoebe Bridgers, and Florence Welsh. Her breathy voice and sensitive lyrics create an atmosphere of vulnerability. To listen to her songs is to be transported to a specific place and time: listening to a friend’s problems over Taco Bell, or trying to get a depressed person out of their bedroom. That immediacy is why her first album-length statement has developed such a buzz. In a statement, Parks explained the goals for Collapsed in Sunbeams,...
Tayla Parx Reveals New Song “Residue”: Stream
Ghostwriter turned solo artist Tayla Parx has shared the new song “Residue”. It’s the latest single from her forthcoming album Coping Mechanisms, which drops on November 20th. After penning hits for Ariana Grande, BTS, Janelle Monáe, and Panic! at the Disco, Parx experienced a breakthrough in 2019 with her debut album We Need to Talk. But success comes with stress, and as the title of Coping Mechanisms implies, the songwriter has spent the last year working on herself. “Residue” wrestles with unhealthy attractions. Parx sings, “Baby you’re a thought/ A thought that’s stuck to me like glue/ No matter what I do/ You leave your residue (doo doo).” In a statement, she explained the impetus to write “Residue” and analyzed her own “avoidant” behaviors. She said, ‘It’s about one of thos...
The Weeknd Officially Releases Saxy New “In Your Eyes” Remix Featuring Kenny G: Stream
The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” may be one of the best songs of 2020, but it’s the After Hours single “In Your Eyes” that’s extra sax-y — quite literally. Today, the R&B superstar has shared a new remix of “In Your Eyes” featuring the one and only saxophone legend Kenny G. The unlikely collaborators first debuted a version of this rework at last month’s TIME 100 event, where The Weeknd was honored as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020. While that live rendition saw Kenny G lend a silky instrumental outro, this official studio release of the remix features two additional solos from the jazz musician and Kanye West associate. We never would have guessed we’d be mentioning The Weeknd and Kenny G in the same breath — they each offer their own very different vision of “sexy mu...
Stevie Wonder Launches His Own Record Label, Releases Two New Songs: Stream
Even as he enters his seventh decade on this planet, Stevie Wonder continues to reinvent himself. The legendary singer-pianist has launched his own record label, So What’s the Fuss Music, which he’s christening today with the release of two new songs. After spending his entire career with Motown Records, Wonder launched So What’s the Fuss Music in partnership with Republic Records. The label takes its name from Wonder’s 2005 collaboration with Prince. For the label’s inaugural release, Wonder has dropped a two-song single. The first, “Can’t Put It in the Hands of Fate”, features contributions Rapsody, Cordae, Chika, and Busta Rhymes. The second, “Where Is Our Love Song”, is a collaboration with Gary Clark Jr. Both songs were made with the hope of providing “instruction and inspiration...
