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Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” has infiltrated election season. Kamala Harris hosted a rally as the likely Democratic party nominee in the upcoming presidential election on Tuesday night (July 30) in Atlanta, and K. Dot’s Drake diss was played at one point.
Footage from the vice president’s livestream of the rally quickly went viral on social media, with the crowd singing along to “Not Like Us” and especially joining together for the “wop, wop, wop” and “A-minor” punch lines. One male fan specifically went viral for his passion while rapping to the song.
“The way everything in this song can apply to Trump too,” a fan responded on X. “She is so smart.”
Another added a shot in at Drake: “Even in presidential rally drake getting cooked!”
Even nearly three months following the release of “Not Like Us,” the track hasn’t lost steam while sitting at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated Aug. 3. Lamar’s Drake diss has been swallowed up by other avenues of pop culture, including the political realm and the sports world.
Hip-hop was definitely in the building on Tuesday night, with Quavo also endorsing the vice president and speaking about his commitment to gun safety following the loss of his nephew Takeoff, who was fatally shot in November 2022.
“One of these issues that I care about is resolving the gun violence issues,” Quavo said to the crowd. “You can’t understand the struggle of gun violence if you not in the field or in the heart of it. So, one thing I learned from working with Vice President Harris is she always stand on business. From inviting me to the White House last year to discuss these solutions, to passing the biggest gun safety laws today.”
Megan Thee Stallion also hit the Atlanta rally stage in a blue pantsuit with her dancers, where she performed hits such as “Body” and the Yuki Chiba-assisted “Mamushi.”
“Now I know my ladies in the crowd love their bodies. If you want to keep loving your bodies, you know who to vote for,” she said to kick off her performance.
It remains to be seen if “Not Like Us” will remain a part of Harris’ campaign when she heads to Philadelphia next week (Aug. 6) for a rally where she’ll unveil her VP pick, per Reuters.
President Joe Biden stepped down from the presidential race on July 21, and plenty of artists have backed Harris in her pursuit of the Oval Office, including Cardi B, Lizzo, Ariana Grande, Charli XCX, Demi Lovato, Questlove and more.
If you don’t remember 50 Cent‘s name on the original lineup of artists for the iconic 2022 Super Bowl halftime show featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem that’s because, according to 50, “they” didn’t want him there.
In a new feature in The Hollywood Reporter, 50 goes into detail about the drama behind the scenes of the Super Bowl LVI performance that featured him as a surprise guest, but which he said almost didn’t happen. “They wanted to leave me out of it. They didn’t want me there,” 50 said, echoing a since-deleted Instagram post from Sept. 2022 in which he said, “[Eminem] is the man, he wouldn’t do the show without me,” after the performance won three Emmy awards; rapper N.O.R.E. also mentioned the initial snub on his podcast around the time.
Asked who “they” were, 50 said it was Jay-Z’s Roc Nation who didn’t want him on stage that night. “Eminem wouldn’t do it without me,” 50 (born Curtis Jackson) reiterated about Marshall Mathers, who first signed Jackson and helped him release his smash 2003 debut studio album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’. “That’s how I ended up on the show because he was not coming if I didn’t do it. When that happens, you go, ‘Damn, so you just lost Eminem because you didn’t bring 50? Damn. All right. Bring 50 then.’ But if it was up to them, they would not have me there. I’m the surprise. I’m not on the bill at all. But they couldn’t get Em to do it without me.”
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The long history of mutual admiration between the two MCs will extend into the future thanks to an upcoming project from 50’s G-Unit Film and Television company, which he said is developing a series based on Em’s 2002 8 Mile feature film. “50 is like a brother to me,” Eminem told THR. “50 has proven again and again that there’s really nothing he can’t do, and nobody gets in the way of him getting it done.”
The story also notes that 50 is expanding his already sprawling TV holdings with an animated series for Amazon Freevee called Lady Danger Agent of B.O.O.T.I. featuring Nicki Minaj. “He’s a blueprint to what resilience looks like,” Minaj said of 50, whose expansive TV portfolio includes the six-season Starz hit Power — and spin-offs Ghost, Raising Kanan and Force — as well as another Starz series, BMF and upcoming shows including the boxing drama Fightland and Queen Nzinga, about an African warrior queen.
“Whenever he’s been counted out in the real world or within the entertainment business, he’s risen to the occasion and come out triumphant. He’s smart. He’s a businessman,” Minaj added. “I can see past the ‘funny 50’ — I see a very deep thinker. He’s honest. He’s mastered the chess game of reinvention throughout many eras of music, entertainment and social media. Yet he still somehow always seems to remain authentic. That is a very difficult feat.”
50 also said he’s launching his own FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) channel, building his own film studio in Shreveport, LA and working on a novel about a Black female Texas Ranger.
With a new version of their hit single, Sam Smith literally will not be the only one. In a post to their social media on Wednesday (July 31), Smith announced that they would be releasing a new version of their In the Lonely Hour single “I’m Not the Only One” featuring R&B icon Alicia Keys. […]
Winning looked real good on the U.S. women’s gymnastics team when they took home the team gold in Paris on Tuesday (July 30). It sounded good too, as team members Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee and Hezly Rivera spent much of the day luxuriating in the golden glow of the champion’s circle […]
Brent Jones banks his second total and consecutive No. 1 on Billboard’s Gospel Airplay chart as “Live Your Best Life!” ascends to the top of the Aug. 3-dated list. During the July 19-25 tracking week, the song advanced by 3% in plays among format reporters, according to Luminate. The single is the title cut from […]
What’s the best way to relax after screaming your lungs out for nearly three hours to a sold-out baseball stadium full of fans? How about doing the viral dance to Charli XCX‘s Brat song “Apple?” Joining the likes of Joe Jonas, Late Show host Stephen Colbert and Glen Powell, Foo Fighters singer/guitarist Dave Grohl hopped […]
Sure, Joaquin Phoenix won an Oscar for his portrayal of Arthur Fleck (aka the Joker) in 2020. But even an award-winning actor gets nervous on set when he has to sing in front of one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. Luckily for Phoenix, when it came to giving the greasepaint goon a voice voice, his partner in crime, Lady Gaga, was totally there for him.
“I do seem to remember her spitting up coffee the first time I sang, so that felt good, that was exciting, and made me feel confident,” Phoenix told Empire magazine about the Grammy-winning singer’s reaction on the set of the upcoming Joker sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux. “Gaga was always very encouraging of just, ‘Go with what you feel, it’s fine.’ For somebody who’s not a performer in that way, it can be… uncomfortable to do that, but also very exciting.”
It was important that they bond that way because director Todd Phillips wanted to bring the music out of the Joker, who at his core is a mercurial, failed comedian whose violent acts land him in Arkham Asylum, where he strikes up a lyrical love story with Gaga’s Harley “Lee” Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn.
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“Arthur has become this symbol to people,” Phillips told the magazine. “This unwilling, unwitting symbol now paying for the crimes of the first film, but at the same time finding the only thing he ever wanted, which was love. That’s always what he’s been about, even though he’s been pushed and pulled in all these directions. So we tried to just make the most pure version of that.”
That expression of love comes through in musical numbers in the film, because, as Phillips said, Fleck has “music in him,” which explains why the latest trailer has Gaga singing the classic tune “Get Happy” and Phoenix tackling “When You’re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You)” in Fleck’s raspy croon.
“It was important to protect that with poor phrasing and occasional bum notes,” Phoenix said in an echo of a recent interview with Gaga where she admitted to purposely tanking her award-winning voice to get into character. “Arthur grew up hearing his mother play these songs on the radio. He’s not a singer, and he shouldn’t sound like a professional singer. He should sound like somebody that’s taking a shower and just bursts out into song.”
Joker: Folie à Deux will open in theaters on Oct. 4.
Australian indie-pop singer-songwriter Gretta Ray has provided an update on her health, announcing the cancelation of all her remaining 2024 shows to focus on her recovery from a serious heart infection.
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Earlier this month, Ray revealed she was hospitalized in London due to an unknown illness, with the news prompted an outpouring of support from fans worldwide. On July 16, she took to Instagram to thank her followers and shed light on her situation.
“I’m overwhelmed by the outpouring of love on my latest post, you are all so incredibly kind and it really means the world to me, thank you x,” Ray wrote.
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“I wanted to clarify that luckily I’m not having to deal with this experience on my own – due to the seriousness of my condition my family are here in London taking care of me I am in good hands here in a really good hospital. Just taking it day by day. Lots of love.”
On July 30, Ray updated her fans again, revealing her diagnosis of infective endocarditis, a severe heart infection.
“I wanted to let you know that the sickness I am recovering from is a rare disease called infective endocarditis – a severe infection in the heart that for me, caused a multitude of distressing repercussions,” she explained in her Instagram post.
“It happened very suddenly and frighteningly, and as a result, took a moment to be diagnosed. Nonetheless I am so, so lucky that I caught it early, and landed in such a great hospital here in London that took amazing care of me. I was then transferred to a second hospital – one that is famous for dealing with this particular disease.”
Ray confirmed that she will need surgery due to the impact on her heart, but for now, she is focusing on regaining strength after completing a long course of intravenous antibiotics and being discharged from the hospital.
“The toll this has taken on my heart means that at some stage I will need to undergo surgery,” she continued. “For now, it’s been a week since I finished a long course of intravenous antibiotics, and two weeks since I was discharged from hospital. Due to the fact that I am stable, the doctors have encouraged me to spend time regaining some strength and immunity outside of hospital.”
Although she is still dealing with some complications, Ray expressed relief at being able to enjoy the world outside the hospital.
“While I’m still dealing with some complications, it’s already been healing being back out in the world… I just take it one day at a time (my mum is also still in London with me x),” she wrote.
All dates are off for the foreseeable future, including her appearance at BIGSOUND 2024.
Ray concluded her update by expressing her gratitude for her fans’ unwavering support, saying, “I know I will be telling this story in more detail when the time is right, but for now I’m processing the trauma and taking things slowly.”
“I can’t tell you how much your kind and thoughtful messages and comments have meant to me in this challenging time, I’m so grateful… sending all my love to you from London, and we’ll speak soon.”
Fleetwood Mac is back in the spotlight with a new release: the release of Mirage Tour ’82, a live album capturing the magic of their iconic performances at The Forum in Los Angeles.
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Mirage, the band’s thirteenth studio album, was issued on 18 June 1982 and produced several hit singles, including “Hold Me,” which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Pop Chart.
Mirage Tour ’82 features 22 tracks, including six previously unreleased recordings from the Oct. 21, 1982 concert.
Some of the band’s greatest hits, such as “Landslide,” “Dreams,” and “Don’t Stop” are among the newly available live tracks. A live version of “Don’t Stop” has been released for streaming ahead of the album launch.
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“In September 1982, Fleetwood Mac embarked on a 31-city U.S. tour in support of Mirage, the band’s fourth consecutive multiplatinum album and third No. 1 in America. Both shows at The Forum were recorded, and Mirage Tour ’82 combines songs from both into a single concert experience,” reads a statement for the album’s release.
The collection, available on Sept. 20, will come in 3xLP vinyl, 2xCD, and digital formats.
The release follows last year’s Rumours: Live, which debuted at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart dated September 23, 2023. This marked Fleetwood Mac’s highest chart debut since their studio album Say You Will opened at No. 2 in May 2003. Rumours: Live featured recordings from the band’s Aug. 29, 1977, concert at The Forum during their Rumours Tour.
Despite the legendary group’s latest release, which follows the loss of Christine McVie in 2022, the prospects of a full band reunion are slim. Mick Fleetwood has described the idea as “unthinkable,” while Stevie Nicks has stated there’s “no reason” for the group to tour again.
Nicks, however, shows no signs of slowing down the touring life as she continues to rock stages worldwide as a solo artist. She currently has upcoming shows in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Hershey, Pennsylvania this September.
Mirage Tour ’82 Tracklist:
Disc One“Second Hand News”“The Chain”“Don’t Stop” *“Dreams” *“Oh Well” *“Rhiannon”“Brown Eyes”“Eyes Of The World”“Gypsy”“Love In Store”“Not That Funny”
Disc Two“Never Going Back Again” *“Landslide” *“Tusk”“Sara” *“Hold Me”“You Make Loving Fun”“I’m So Afraid”“Go Your Own Way”“Blue Letter”“Sisters Of The Moon”“Songbird”
(* previously unreleased)
The 2024 Summer Olympics only kicked off on Friday, and already we’ve seen huge moments from Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, Beyoncé and more music A-listers. It all started with the Opening Ceremony, which included all-French performances from Lady Gaga and Celine Dion, set in scenic landmarks across Paris, as well as a Team USA introduction […]
