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On May 1, it was revealed that Dallas Penn, a dot connector, fashion architect, sneaker savant, pioneering podcaster and much, much more—had passed away. He was 53.
“Dallas has ascended to the music that was waiting for him,” posted his wife on Penn’s Facebook page. “From September 1970 to April 2024, he always said it don’t stop, it won’t stop, and he’s waiting for us all at the Funkadelic Stevie Wonder Sean Price party in the sky. Rest my love and see you in our other lifetimes. Love you always, for all time.”
Instantaneously, the tributes began pouring in, a testament to the indelible impact Penn managed to leave on culture. In the early 2000’s Dallas Penn paved ground as a vlogger and podcaster, harnessing the then still relatively untapped power of interconnect networks of “The Internets.”
Penn was critical in the creation of The Combat Jack Show with Reggie “Combat Jack” Show, which is often credited with popularizing the podcast format, particularly in Hip-Hip circles. You can just ask DJ Ben Hameen, he was there.
But it’s DJ Premier who may have said it best about the Queens native with the all-city rep. “To know Dallas Penn is to love Dallas Penn.Funny, Super Hip Hop, Lo Gear Head, will look at you like he doesn’t believe you,” he wrote in an Instagram tribute.
Penn’s sharp wit, passionate insight and enthusiasm for life itself made him a friend to many in this industry—including the writer of this story. Hip-Hop Wired was fortunate enough to include Dallas Penn and the late Combat Jack as contributors.
Hip-Hop Wired’s condolences go out to the family and friends of the inimatable Dallas Penn. Rest in power dear friend—it never stops. See more tributes to Dallas Penn in the gallery.
For all the steps forward the music industry has taken when it comes to LGBTQ inclusion, Drag Race stars Trixie Mattel and Monét X Change say there’s still a ways to go when it comes to drag musicians.
During the latest episode of Mattel’s podcast The Bald and the Beautiful With Trixie and Katya, Mattel and X Change compared notes about life as a drag musician. When Mattel complimented her guest on her musical talents, X Change asked the host whether or not she felt there would ever be recognition for drag artists at the Grammys.
“I recently have been taking a break from music because I feel the glass ceiling so fiercely,” Mattel said in response. “I think I’ve just gotten to do everything that I’m going to get to do, because we’re only ever taken seriously about one month a year. And it kind of takes the wind out of your sails. I want to make music, but if I don’t have this wig on, no one will pay attention. But because I have this wig on, no one will take it seriously. So then what?”
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X Change agreed, saying that she often asks herself why she continues to make music when the industry doesn’t invest in drag artistry. “I often feel like, ‘Why am I even doing this,’” she said. “‘Why am I even putting all of this time, effort, money, everyone’s f–king patience into this thing?’”
Mattel then spoke about the cost of trying to sustain a career in music as an independent artist. “A cheap music video is, like, $30,000. And that’s when the directors are like, ‘Well, we’re not going to have food on set, and you won’t have a ride, and there’s no air conditioning,’” she explained.
X Change jumped in and added that music videos are also billed as being exceedingly necessary in order to maintain a steady following. “There’s such a machine where it’s like, ‘Well, you have to do the music video so it gets more press, you can talk about this thing …’ and it’s like, one thing does lead to another, but we’re independent artists. I have to self-fund all of this. There’s no label behind me pumping all this money into a single and into a project.”
Even with backing from a major label, Mattel pointed out that the industry is still brutal for up-and-coming artists. “I know artists who are signed, and I know about their deals. The record label can collect 80% of what they make, including touring and merch,” she said. “They could be like, ‘Here’s $2-3 million … but it’s an advance, which means that it goes against five album sales. So either you make us that much money or, at a certain point, you owe us an extra album because you didn’t make good on that amount.”
Each of Mattel’s two studio albums and two EPs — 2017’s Two Birds, 2018’s One Stone, 2020’s Barbara and 2022’s The Blonde and Pink Albums — have charted on Billboard‘s Top Album Sales chart, with The Blonde and Pink Albums serving as her highest debut (No. 48). X Change, meanwhile, released her debut EP Unapologetically in 2019, and is currently promoting her forthcoming two-part album Grey Rainbow, with the first volume set to release Friday, May 16, via PEG Records.
Check out the full conversation between Trixie Mattel and Monét X Change below:
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The Music Lounge series at this year’s Tribeca Festival will present a typically eclectic group of performers taking the stage at Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right next month. The series will kick off on June 6 with a show by British electronic act Actress (Darren Cunningham) playing selections from his recent LXXXVIII album, along with a set from New York native ,multi-instrumentalist/Onyx Collective founder Isaiah Barr performing his audiovisual project The Red Zone.
Night two (June 7) will spotlight a collaboration between Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Linda Perry and Stella Rose (daughter of Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan), tied to the world premiere of the documentary Linda Perry: Let It Die Here; Rose and the Dead Language were the winners of the Tribeca Music Lounge’s Battle of the Bands in 2022.
“This year’s music films showcase a wide variety of artists and genres, and we sought to bring diversity to our Music Lounge through unique events,” Vincent Cassous, Tribeca Curator of Music Programming, said in a statement. “There is something for every music fan on our lineup, from pop to experimental.”
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The line-up for the third night (June 8) will feature a tribute to late Psychic TV frontperson Genesis P-Orridge in conjunction with the world premiere of S/He Is Still Her/e – The Official Genesis P-Orridge Doc. Among the acts slated to perform in honor of the pioneering electronic artists are: CHRISTEENE, Bauhaus’ David J and members of Psychic TV (Alice Genese, Jeff Berner, Douglas Rushkoff and Randy Schrager), plus special guests and a PTV-acid house DJ set from Paul McCartney DJ Chris Holmes.
The series will wind up on June 9 with an intimate performance from Irish language hip-hop duo Kneecap in conjunction with the New York premiere of their self-titled musical film, described as a look at a “post-Troubles Belfast when the rap trio erupted as a defiant champion of the Irish language and potent symbol of Ireland’s disenfranchised youth.”
This year’s festival will also feature docs about Avicii, Liza Minnelli, the Montreaux Jazz Festival, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Carl Craig, Harry Belafonte, “Little” Steven Van Zandt and Ani DiFranco, among others.
In addition, the Storytellers series will feature R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe and Jon Batiste in conversation discussing Nat King Cole and a 40th anniversary celebration of landmark hip-hop film Beat Street with an introduction by Nas. This year’s festival, which runs from June 5-16, will also present the first-ever North American screening of the remastered 4K edition of the animated musical inspired by Daft Punk’s Discovery album, Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem.
For Mental Health Awareness Month this May, Billboard is teaming with Brandon Holman of the Lazuli Collective on a series of articles focused on mindfulness and the professional development of executives, creatives and artists in the music community.
Today’s conversation is with Nick Maiale, founder/CEO of jump.global, a community-first marketing agency that that specializes in working with music business executives and music companies. Last November, the company launched its debut summit, which prioritizes professional and personal development and will return to Los Angeles later this year (Nov. 17-20). Throughout the year, jump.global hosts various “No Ego” events across major cities, which are open to everyone (translation: no guest list) and focus on interpersonal connections over networking. Maiale previously spent a decade at the Music Business Association and Music Biz Conference and is now driven to “make the music business more human.”
I think before the pandemic, my entire life revolved around work. I very seldom would think about my growth. It was always like, “How can we grow the company? How can we impact the bottom line?” And I quickly watched over the pandemic people losing jobs or people losing sense of self. And that was very disheartening. I was witnessing that for my friends, but I also witnessed that for me. I realized I worked at a company for 10 years and I never did anything to develop my skills and my life outside of maybe selling sponsorships. So I think that was the number one thing that I noticed coming out of the pandemic. And I’d say the one good part about it is that it was a bit of an awakening.
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My mom’s a social worker. And I would often hear her on the phone talking about very human things…things that we often don’t talk about in the music business. We are going to conferences to learn about streaming, distribution, AI. I love all of that stuff, but when was the last time you heard about someone going to a conference to learn about themselves and how they’re going to better themselves in the areas of leadership, effective communication, financial well-being, mental well-being? I wanted to create this environment where executives, not artists, can be seen as human and talk about things like addiction or parenthood. It was a little cheesy but [the conference tagline was], “Make the music business more human.” At the end of the day, it actually resonated with people.
I’m really proud of what we’ve created, but at the end of the day, my job is to let thousands of people into my life every week, which is really, really scary. It’s a beautiful thing, but what I learned was [I] have to figure out how [to] do things for people in a really structured way. I have calls with people all the time [so I now] post about my calls on LinkedIn, tag a couple people and say, “This person is your person now.” I gave that responsibility to my audience or to other people so that I didn’t have to feel that burden or that responsibility. And that little thing has helped my life dramatically. It just became really hard being that person who does everything for everyone. My mind got so overwhelmed with all this information that it started to shut down. My body started to shut down. And I was like, “What am I going to do? I built a business based off of connecting people. And now that’s the thing that’s killing me.” So, I worked with a health coach to fix it. I still want to build community, but now I’m doing it in a much healthier way.
I started working professionally at 19. I’m 32 now. And I started my company almost four years ago. I spent 10 years doing things and connecting people and going to every single event. And yeah, part of me loved it and part of me didn’t. I had to look back and go, “Where am I now?” I realize I’m building a business. I’m building an agency. None of it makes me money at all. The reason I wanted to do this was because people in the music industry don’t often have these opportunities to think about themselves. They’re often thinking about the business. So I wanted to redefine what it meant to be a communications agency. We focus on thought leadership, which is speaking at conferences; communities and trade works, so if you want to get involved with the Recording Academy; academia, we will not work with a client if they do not want to inspire the next generation, if they do not want to speak at schools; and international delegate programs, helping executives speak overseas.
I have so many clients who are about to be on their first panel and they’re so nervous because they’re like, “I don’t know what I’m gonna say,” or “Am I gonna be as cool as some of these other panelists that you know have been doing this for years?” We talk them through it. We watch them on the panel. They kill it. They’re dropping gems. That happens to me daily for my clients. We had a couple other instances where, for example, one of our clients was going to speak at Iceland Airwaves. Normally they would just go, do their panel and leave. But we convinced them to extend their trip and they got to see the Northern Lights and that was always a personal [dream]. It’s little things.
Four years ago I was in a weird place. I really never thought I would be where we are today…We often are doing things to pad other people’s pockets, which is fine, I get it, but I really am feeling fulfilled with what I’m doing right now. And I don’t know if I’d be working in the music industry if I wasn’t doing what I do right now. At the end of the day, the biggest thing I care about is that I want people to know — and jump.global will eventually be this — but I want us to be the professional and personal development company for the music business. I’m a very mindful entrepreneur. I do not hustle. I don’t work until 3 a.m. I’m a hustler, but I’m a good hustler. I’m just like, “We can do it, but still go out and have dinner with our families.”
[I want to see] more people focusing on the business of their first and last names. If we’re going to have professional development, all of your clients better know about it, all of the artists better know about it. [We need] more companies investing in personal equity and more conversations around this type of wellness. Meditation is just as important as putting yourself in an environment where you’re able to speak clearly and be spoken to clearly.
Saturday Night Live airs at 11:30 p.m. every week and continues well past midnight, so the cast and crew will probably appreciate a little bit of Sabrina Carpenter‘s “Espresso” to keep them awake when she makes her musical guest debut later this month. As announced Thursday (May 2), the 24-year-old pop star has been slated […]
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Doja Cat is not one to shy away from Y2K style and if you’ve gotten tickets to the Scarlet tour you […]
Slash was one of the highlights of Ryan Gosling‘s show-stealing “I’m Just Ken” performance at the 2024 Oscars, but according to the actor, the Guns N’ Roses guitarist barely made it to the event.
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During his Jimmy Kimmel Live! appearance Wednesday night (May 1), Gosling revealed that leading up to the show, he felt anxious about the flamboyant number, which featured dozens of backup dancers, Barbie head cutouts and audience participation, in addition to Slash shredding on guitar toward the end.
“You were nervous about how it would come off, right?” Kimmel asked, to which Gosling jokingly replied, “I wonder why.”
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“We had to have Slash,” the La La Land star continued. “He’s an enigma. It was very tense. He had a gig in China the night before and then one in Thailand the night after. So it was like, ‘Slash is never going to be able to be here.’ He wasn’t at rehearsal.”
As viewers saw on Oscars night March 10, Slash did end up making it to the show. Behind the scenes, Gosling says he was relieved — but he didn’t even get the chance to debrief with the rock star after it was all over. “Suddenly, as I was walking into dress rehearsal, I saw a guitar case and it had a skull with a top hat on it,” he recalled. “And I knew that Slash had arrived. Then after the show, he was gone.”
“I’m Just Ken” was one of five tracks nominated for best original song at this year’s Academy Awards, where another Barbie track, Billie Eilish and Finneas’ “What Was I Made For?,” ended up taking the prize. The sister-brother duo was the first to perform onstage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, while Gosling, Slash, Mark Ronson and Co. served as the final performance.
Gosling’s next project post-Barbie is Fall Guy, which hits theaters Friday (May 3). He recently revealed his favorite Taylor Swift song in honor of his character in the film’s love for the pop star, as did costar Emily Blunt.
“‘All Too Well’ right now has a real soft spot in my heart,” he told Fandango in April, while Blunt said, “‘Cruel Summer’ is pretty up there for me.”
Watch Gosling’s full Jimmy Kimmel Live! interview below.
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Reba McEntire told Jennifer Hudson that she is fired up to host the ACM Awards for the 17th time on May 16th, especially after watching Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks do the honors last year. “They were having so much fun I said, ‘Wait a minute, I want to do that!’” she said on the singer’s daytime talk show on Thursday (May 2).
The 59th annual ACMs will take place in Frisco, Texas at the Ford Center again and will air on Amazon Prime, marking McEntire’s return to the hosting gig for the first time since 2019. When Hudson suggested they should just rename it the “Reba McEntire Country Music Awards” as she unspooled clips of Reba’s many previous hosting stints, the singer smiled as she looked at some of her signature glittering outfits over the years.
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When Hudson asked what was on tap this year, McEntire said her team of fashion experts have picked out some pieces that are unlike anything she’s ever worn before. “I wear a lot of what we call ‘Miss America dresses,’” McEntire said, describing one such 35-pound piece her stylist presented for perusal that nearly bent her arm. “I said, ‘I’m trying to lose weight not gain weight,’” McEntire joked about the hefty dress she suggested her stylist try on instead.
“Comfort is the thing, right girls?” McEntire asked the audience after describing how some dresses are good for a walk-out-and-introduce, while others need to have a different feel and look if she’s doing her show-opening monologue.
McEntire teased the new album coming out “soon,” as well as a single she’s debuting at the ACMs and a new sitcom called Happy’s Place for NBC, which is awaiting a pick-up from the network. After Hudson gushed about the theme song for Reba’s beloved self-titled early 2000s sitcom — which the host said was one of her mom’s favorite shows — the pair bonded over the series’ inspiring theme song, “I’m a Survivor,” which got Jennifer so excited she asked if they could do a duet on the track.
“I get to sing with Reba y’all!,” Hudson squealed. The women then harmonized on the verse about a single mom working two jobs, joining their voices as they crooned, “I’m a survivor.”
McEntire also talked about her longevity, describing entering the music business nearly half a century ago “totally ignorant” about how it worked, slowly learning to trust her instincts as she built up success-after-success. “And when I’d get an idea they said, ‘oh, that’s a good one!,’ or I’d chose a song and they’d say, ‘oh, that’s a good one,’ then it gives you confidence and you can move forward and have more ideas,” she said.
The conversation also touched on McEntire’s second season as a coach on The Voice, with the country veteran saying that she’s no longer the “new kid on the block” after Gwen Stefani, Niall Horan and John Legend made her feel welcome during her first go-round last year. “But it took a while. It’s like going to a new school in sixth grade when everybody’s been together since pre-school,” Reba said of stepping in for Blake Shelton.
But this season, with fellow country act Dan + Shay, Legend and Chance the Rapper, McEntire said “we’ve had a blast,” though she demurred when asked whose rival team she thinks is her biggest competition while praising her team for their “heart and soul.” When Hudson wondered if McEntire is more enticed by the story, the style or the talent of her prospects, Reba said, “when you’ve got all three of those that’s when it’s really magic and that’s what my three artists [Josh Sanders, L. Rodgers and Asher HaVon] have.”
Watch McEntire on The Jennifer Hudson show below.
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Doja Cat likes to play around. And during her visit to The Tonight Show on Wednesday night (May 1), the “Paint the Town Red” singer/rapper was in an especially playful mood while discussing the wild outfits her dancers wear on the tour in support of her Scarlet album. Previewing the hair-forward upcoming European leg of her Scarlet tour, Doja told host Jimmy Fallon, “I wanted it to be modeled after hair, that’s the theme, hair, so it’s going to be a very hairy show.”
Fallon noted that last month Doja became the first female rapper to headline Coachella, cueing up a clip of a performance of “Demons” from that gig during which her dancers bopped around stage in gigantic, white-fur-covered yeti-like costumes. That naturally led to Doja offering Fallon a chance to get in on the action by modeling one of the hair suits, which he awkwardly pulled on, unable to properly cinch up the furry pants.
What followed was a hirsute Fallon bopping and bouncing along to the Roots’ funky beat as he learned some of Doja stage choreo, waving his arms and grabbing the air while holding up the pants with one hand.
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The interview also touched on Doja’s early performance “dance battles” as a kid and the dance crew she was in as a teenager, as well as her memory of her first-ever concert: Earth, Wind & Fire. While checking out her mom’s favorite band, the then five-year-old Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini was unexpectedly given her first spotlight. “It sounds like a lie, but I was pulled up on stage because we were in the front and, like a tiny little peanut like this going ‘ahhhh!!!’… I get it,” she laughed.
Her second show as just as epic, also with her mom: Beyoncé. That time, though, mother and daughter were as far as possible from the stage in the rafters, with only Bey’s whipping hair visible from that nosebleed vantage. “Saw a tiny little Beyoncé, but it was great,” she said.
Doja returned later in the show for an intense performance of the slow-burn Scarlet deluxe edition track “Acknowledge Me,” joined by an angelic six-member choir and full band on a smoke-shrouded stage during which she, of course, wore a white hair coat over white bodysuit.
Watch Fallon’s hairy dance and the “Acknowledge Me” performance below.
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All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. With the “May The 4th be with you” Star Wars holiday just around the corner, it’s the best time to show […]