Music

28 Oct 2022

Chlöe Bailey & Latto Team Up for New Single ‘For the Night’

Chlöe Bailey and Latto have released their new single “For the Night” on Friday (Oct. 28) via Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records.

The track, which is set to appear on the Chloe x Halle singer’s upcoming debut solo album, finds the rising R&B star singing, “You say you promise and promise, you’ll figure it out / But I can not wait, you’re teasing me, I back down” before tossing the mic to Latto for a guest assist.

Co-directed by Bailey and Shermay Joh, the official music video shows off Chlöe’s first-rate dancing skills. Latto joins in on the fun later in the piece, and has her say on Chlöe’s boy problems. The video also captures footage of Bailey performing at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival Daytime Stage.

Chlöe first teased the existence of the track back in May when she polled fans during an Instagram Live about which song she should release first in the wake of her single “Treat Me”: “For the Night” or its eventual predecessor “Surprise.”

Besides prepping her debut album, the elder Bailey sister has kept busy as the new celebrity spokesperson for Pepsi, following in the well-heeled footsteps of Britney Spears, P!nk and her longtime mentor Beyoncé by recording a new take on “Footloose” for the famed soda brand.

Chlöe and her sister also reunited with Queen Bey at Tina Knowles-Lawson’s 2022 Wearable Art Gala, with the “Break My Soul” singer showing off a picture with her protégés on Instagram.

Meanwhile, Latto has been beefing with Nicki Minaj over Grammy eligibility on Twitter and recently appeared on stage with Stacey Abrams during the Atlanta stop of Lizzo’s The Special Tour.

28 Oct 2022

SZA Teams Up With Lakeith Standfield For New Video ‘Shirt’: Watch

After a two-year wait, SZA gifted fans her long-awaited single “Shirt.” The song is accompanied by the Dave Meyers-helmed visual, which features actor Lakeith Stanfield.

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“Bloodstain on my shirt/New bitch on my nerves/Old n—a got curved/Going back on my word/Damn, bitch, you like thirty,” she sings on the chorus. “Stealing all of my worth/Still question my affection/Let you all in my mental/Got me lookin’ so desperate.

After teasing fans with the song’s snippet in late 2020, “Shirt” later found its way onto TikTok, where a viral challenge began. At the top of 2021, the CTRL singer caught wind of the social craze and said she was “finalizing” the record. She again tantalized fans when she placed the song at the outro of her “Good Days” video. Her July 2022 performance at the Mad Cool Festival in Madrid also raised antennas when she hinted that Doja Cat would appear on the upcoming track.

“Want to know a secret? You all want to know who’s on this song? It’ll be like our secret, right?” she revealed to the crowd. “The hint is we already have a song together. Her name starts with a ‘D,’ and it rhymes with Soulja.” Last month, TDE’s Punch debunked those claims in SZA’s Complex cover story. Then, this week, SZA released a flirty trailer “Shirt” with Lakeith Stanfield alongside her.

“I appreciate [my fans] patience, but constantly trying to people-please and fulfill expectations instead of just thinking about what you need can deter you from your true path,” SZA said to Complex regarding her sophomore album. “And the next thing you know, you’re somebody that you never signed up to be. Even with this album, I just wanna be better than my last project to myself. I wanna be a better writer. I wanna be a better artist, musician… a better thinker. I just wanna do things that make myself proud and interested.”

In a brief interview with TMZ at LAX airport this month, SZA said she recorded 100 records for her forthcoming effort and that the project could drop “any day.”

Watch the official music video for “Shirt” below.

28 Oct 2022

Rihanna Returns to Music With ‘Lift Me Up’: Listen

Welcome back, RiRi!

Rihanna made her much-awaited return to music on Friday (Oct. 28) with “Lift Me Up,” featured on the soundtrack of the upcoming Marvel sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

The arrival of the song was announced earlier this week, preceded by a series of cryptic billboards around New York and a teaser post on social media, which included the forthcoming movie title appearing onscreen before highlighting the first “R” in “Forever.”

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“Lift Me Up” was written as a tribute to the late Panther star Chadwick Boseman, who died from colon cancer in 2020 at 43. Tems, Oscar winner Ludwig Göransson, Rihanna and Black Panther director Ryan Coogler all have writing credits on the track.

The “Love on the Brain” singer hasn’t released an album since Anti dropped six years ago, and spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The project also featured three Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits, including the No. 1 “Work,” featuring Drake. In July 2017, she hit No. 2 with Bryson Tiller on DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts.” 

While she has yet to reveal any plans for a ninth studio album, Rihanna’s break from live shows is slated to end on Feb. 12, 2023, when she headlines the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show.

The Wakanda Forever soundtrack — produced by Coogler, Göransson, Archie Davis and Dave Jordan — will be out next Friday (Nov. 4). Listen to Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” below.

28 Oct 2022

Zach Bryan Pledges to Lower Merch Prices

Zach Bryan has been lighting up the Billboard charts with his album American Heartbreak and songs including “Something in the Orange,” and criss-crossing the United States on his American Heartbreak tour. Along the way has been building a reputation as an artist who also listens closely to his fans.

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On Oct. 26, Bryan took to Twitter to state that he was planning to lower the price of the merchandise sold at his concerts.

“I just learned how expensive the merch was last night,” he said on Twitter. “A hoodie for 60 to 70 dollars is too much and I’m fixing it now. Thank you guys so much for being such a good and kind and rowdy crowd.”

Fans began chiming, with one saying, “I paid 45 bucks for a t shirt.. I wasn’t not gonna buy one but 45 bucks?? dang man,” to which Bryan responded, “I JUST learned how much they were. It’s fixed and I apologize.”

After another Twitter user noted that they would gladly pay $70 if he allowed his merch to be sold online in addition to at his concerts, Bryan responded, “no no no they’ll be 45 at most, 70 is absolutely heinous as hell and and anyone selling hoodies for that amount have completely desensitized from the world.”

His fans quickly responded with sentiments of gratitude for the singer-songwriter’s swift response, with comments. “I love how humble you are and how you put your fans first. you’ll always have our respect and support,” said one Bryan fan.

After his debut major label full-length album American Heartbreak debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s top country albums chart in June, Bryan quickly followed with the release of the EP Summertime Blues in July. His song “Something in the Orange” reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, and he’s notched just over a dozen entries on the chart, including “Highway Boys,” “Oklahoma Smoke Show” and “Burn, Burn, Burn.”

28 Oct 2022

Here Are the Lyrics to Taylor Swift’s ‘Question…?’

Taylor Swift‘s followed up the excitement of her Midnights release by dropping the instrumental version of “Question…?”

According to initial reports to Luminate, the album has earned more than 1.4 million equivalent album units in the U.S. through its first five days of release (through Oct. 25). 

If you need a guide to follow along with Taylor Swift’s “Question…?” find the lyrics below:

(I remember)

Good girl, sad boy, big city, wrong choices
We had one thing going on
I swear that it was something ’cause I don’t remember who I was
Before you painted all my nights a color I’ve searched for since

But one thing after another f—ing situation
Circumstances, miscommunications
And I have to say, by the way
I just may like some explanations

Can I ask you a question?
Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?
And every single one of your friends was making fun of you
But fifteen seconds later they were clapping, too?
Then, what did you do?

Did you leave her house in the middle of the night? (Oh)
Did you wish you’d put up more of a fight? (Oh)
When she said it was too much
Do you wish you could still touch her?
It’s just a question

Half-moon eyes, bad surprise, did you realize?
Out of time, she was on your mind
With some di–head guy that you saw that night
But you were on something

It was one drink after another, f—ing politics and gender-roles
And you’re not sure and I don’t know got swept away in the gray
I just may like to have a conversation

Can I ask you a question?
Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?
And every single one of your friends was making fun of you
But fifteen seconds later they were clapping, too?
Then, what did you do?

Did you leave her house in the middle of the night? (Oh)
Did you wish you’d put up more of a fight? (Oh)
When she said it was too much
Do you wish you could still touch her?
It’s just a question

Does it feel like everything’s just like second-best after that meteor strike?
And what’s that, that I heard, that you’re still with her?
That’s nice, I’m sure that’s what’s suitable
And right, but tonight

Can I ask you a question? (Can I ask you a question?)
Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room? (In a crowded room)
And every single one of your friends was making fun of you? (Making fun of you)
But fifteen seconds later they were clapping, too?
Then what did you do? (Do)

Did you leave her house in the middle of the night? (Oh)
Did you wish you’d put up more of a fight? (Oh, more of a fight)
When she said it was too much
Do you wish you could still touch her?
It’s just a question

Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Written by: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff

28 Oct 2022

Here Are the Lyrics to Taylor Swift’s ‘Bejeweled’

Taylor Swift called on her friends Haim, Laura Dern, Jack Antonoff and Dita Von Teese for her dazzling Cinderella-inspired music video for “Bejeweled,” featured on her 10th studio album, Midnights.

“Midnight, what a storied and fabled hour… On this sparkling evening I’ll be releasing my twist on a fairytale we all know. The one about the girl and her step sisters and the clock striking 12…” she captioned her announcement of the video, featuring a photo of herself as the fairytale princess, sitting in a dark room wearing a worn down dress while sewing a glittery, midnight blue gown. “This video is wild, whimsical and created SPECIFICALLY for you, my beloved fans who have paved this shimmering path.”

If you need a guide to follow along with Taylor Swift’s “Bejeweled,” find the lyrics below:

Baby love, I think I’ve been a little too kind
Didn’t notice you walking all over my peace of mind
In the shoes I gave you as a present
Puttin’ someone first only works when you’re in their top five
And by the way, I’m going out tonight

Best believe I’m still bejeweled when I walk in the room
I can still make the whole place shimmer
And when I meet the band, they ask, “Do you have a man?”
I can still say, “I don’t remember”
Familiarity breeds contempt, don’t put me in the basement
When I want the penthouse of your heart
Diamonds in my eyes, I polish up real, I polish up real nice (nice)

Baby boy, I think I’ve been too good of a girl (too good of a girl)
Did all the extra credit, then got graded on a curve
I think it’s time to teach some lessons
I made you my world, have you heard?
I can reclaim the land
And I miss you (I miss you), but I miss sparkling (ah, hey)

Best believe I’m still bejeweled when I walk in the room
I can still make the whole place shimmer
And when I meet the band, they ask, “Do you have a man?”
I can still say, “I don’t remember”
Familiarity breeds contempt, don’t put me in the basement
When I want the penthouse of your heart
Diamonds in my eyes, I polish up real, I polish up real nice (nice)

Sapphire tears on my face, sadness became my whole sky
But some guy said my aura’s moonstone just ’cause he was high
I went dancin’ all night and you can try to change my mind
But you might have to wait in line
What’s a girl gonna do? A diamond’s gotta shine

Best believe I’m still bejeweled when I walk in the room
I can still make the whole place shimmer (shimmer)
And when I meet the band, they ask, “Do you have a man?”
I can still say, “I don’t remember”
Familiarity breeds contempt, don’t put me in the basement
When I want the penthouse of your heart
Diamonds in my eyes, I polish up real (nice), I polish up real nice

I went dancin’ all night and you can try to change my mind
But you might have to wait in line
What’s a girl gonna do? What’s a girl gonna do? I polish up nice
Best believe I’m still bejeweled when I walk in the room
I can still make the whole place shimmer

Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Written by: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff

28 Oct 2022

Here Are the Lyrics to Taylor Swift’s ‘Anti-Hero’

Taylor Swift took fans deep into her mind with the release of “Anti-Hero,” off her freshly dropped 10th studio album, Midnights.

Swift previously called the track “one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written,” as she’s never “delved this far into my insecurities in this detail before.”

“I struggle a lot with the idea that my life has become unmanageably sized,” she continued. “Not to sound too dark, but I just struggle with the idea of not feeling like a person — don’t feel bad for me, you don’t need to. But this song really is a real guided tour through all the things I tend to hate about myself; we all hate things about ourselves.”

If you need a guide to follow along with Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” find the lyrics below:

I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser
Midnights become my afternoons
When my depression works the graveyard shift
All of the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room

I should not be left to my own devices
They come with prices and vices
I end up in crisis (I’ve realized all this time)
I wake up screaming from dreaming
One day I’ll watch as you’re leaving
‘Cause you got tired of my scheming
For the last time

It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me
At tea time, everybody agrees
I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero

Sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby
And I’m a monster on the hill
Too big to hang out, slowly lurching toward your favorite city
Pierced through the heart, but never killed

Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism
Like some kind of congressman? (I’ve realized all this time)
I wake up screaming from dreaming
One day I’ll watch as you’re leaving
And life will lose all of its meaning
For the last time

It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me (I’m the problem, it’s me)
At tea time, everybody agrees
I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero

I have this dream my daughter in-law kills me for the money
She thinks I left them in the will
The family gathers around and reads it and someone screams out
“She’s laughing up at us from hell”

It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me
It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me
It’s me, hi, everybody agrees, everybody agrees

It’s me, hi (hi), I’m the problem, it’s me (I’m the problem, it’s me)
At tea (tea) time (time), everybody agrees (everybody agrees)
I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero

Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Written by: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff

28 Oct 2022

Everything to Know About #iVoted Festival: Date, Time, Performances & More

Midterm elections are just around the corner, and #iVoted Festival is returning for its election night webcast featuring the top trending artists in key states whose electoral margins are often decided by the size of a venue.

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The event comes just two years after the 2020 iteration of the webcast was the largest digital concert in history.

The #iVoted Early Sweepstakes is also currently live here, in which fans can win tickets to Lizzo, Rina Sawayama, The Who, Demi Lovato, Kevin Hart, Soccer Mommy, Zac Brown Band, Dave Matthews Band, Carrie Underwood, Marc Anthony, Orville Peck, Smokey Robinson, Steve Lacy, Karol G, Omar Apollo, Ozuna, Carly Rae Jepsen, Jessie Reyez, The 1975, King Princess, Keith Urban, Noah Cyrus and many more.

See below for everything you need to know about the non-partisan 2022 #iVoted Festival.

When Is #iVoted Festival?

#iVotedFestival begins at 4 p.m. ET on Election Day (Nov. 8), and runs for six hours until 10 p.m. ET. The event will re-broadcast for 24 hours following Election Day to accommodate any fans voting last minute or stuck in line. 

How to Watch #iVoted Festival

All you have to do to gain access to the #iVoted Festival is by snapping a selfie from outside your nearest polling place, or at home with a blank and unmarked ballot. Underage? U.S. residents older than 14 years old can enter by sharing what election they’ll be 18 for and why they’re excited to vote. Ineligible voters and non U.S. residents can enter by sharing which artist they’re most excited to check out.

RSVP for access to the festival here.

Who Will Be at #iVoted Festival?

#iVoted Festival’s election night webcast features “A Conversation with W. Kamau Bell & Tom Morello,” plus appearances by Billie Eilish, FINNEAS, Steph Curry, Eugene Mirman, Seth Godin, VINCINT, Taylor Bennett, Piper Perabo, Beauty School Dropout and Olympic skateboarder Heimana Reynolds.

Who Will Be Performing at #iVoted Festival?

Run the Jewels, CNCO, Rise Against, OK Go, Lake Street Dive, Los Lobos, The Revivalists, Shakey Graves, Carl Craig, Em Beihold, The Black Angels, The Range, Bully, Umphrey’s McGee, DeVotchKa, 3OH!3, Black Stone Cherry, El Trono De Mexico, La Bouche, Richard Marx, The Starting Line, Jaret Reddick of Bowling for Soup, Twiztid and The Suffers MILCK x Autumn Rowe, Filter, Local H, Post Animal, Dead Sara and more are all set to take the stage, with more than 400 artists confirmed for the #iVotedFestival.

The full lineup, set times and stages are available here.

28 Oct 2022

Lynn Goldsmith Covers the ’80s From AC/DC to Ziggy Marley in New Photo Book & Finds ‘It Was Actually an Amazing Decade’

Renowned music photographer Lynn Goldsmith says that when her editor suggested she put together a book of her photography from the 1980s, her reaction was, “That was a terrible decade! My initial thought would that it just would be a lot of pictures of hair bands.”

But after compiling a couple images of her work from that era, Goldsmith says she realized that “it was actually an amazing decade. There was so much new music and such a variety of music on the charts,” she says. “You had Bananarama and Barry Manilow. Bruce Springsteen and Spandau Ballet. Madonna and Prince. Herbie Hancock had a hit with ‘Rockit.’” Even Goldsmith was writing, recording and performing as Will Powers, a sort of self-help Dry Cleaning for the era.

“So then I was like, ‘I love the ’80s!’” says Goldsmith, whose about-face has resulted in Music in the ’80s, a 352-page hardcover book published by Rizzoli, that is an alphabetically arranged — from AC/DC to Ziggy Marley — collection of Goldsmith’s photos from that decade. (There’s also a shot of her as Will Powers.)

Lynn Goldsmith music in the 80s

Lynn Goldsmith, “Music in the ’80s”

Lynn Goldsmith Collection

A preface of sorts features the quotes of artists depicted in the book summarizing the 10-year period when MTV, new wave, hip-hop and hair metal went pop.

From Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash: “Looking back on it, I would say the ’80s was the last truly definable decade, love it or hate it.”

Blondie‘s Chris Stein: “The ’80s murdered what was left of the ’60s.”

Iggy Pop: “I hated the ’80s, except for the sex and drugs.”

Laurie Anderson: “Everything was so big — big hair, big budgets, big egos, big paintings. Could it really have been as airhead as it seems now?”

A number of the photos look like they might have good stories behind them. A shot of Paul Simon and Lou Reed leaves the impression that they could be in the middle of an argument, and another depicts Keith Richards walking along a deserted New York City street while an elderly woman stares at him as if she is witnessing the first sign of an alien invasion.

But Goldsmith, whose work is among the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum, says she has no tales to tell. “I’m so focused on the visual, you’re safe telling me anything,” says the photographer, who owns a Nashville gallery and is working on a Springsteen photo book for Taschen. “I could never repeat it because I could never remember it.”

Lynn Goldsmith

Lynn Goldsmith as Will Powers in 1984.

Lynn Goldsmith Collection

27 Oct 2022

World Electronic Music Awards to Air From Las Vegas Next Year

A new awards show is bringing dance/electronic music to prime time. On Thursday (Oct. 27), The CW Network announced it will air the World Electronic Music Awards this May 27.

The show will be taped on May 18 in Las Vegas as part of the run-up to the annual dance music mega-festival Electric Daisy Carnival. The festival takes place at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway May 19-21. It’s not yet clear if the festival’s producer, Insomniac Events, will have a hand in the awards show.

The two-hour prime-time event plans to award electronic music greats from around the globe and will feature the first Electronic Music Hall of Fame inductions. Producers note that the major awards categories are European, Asian, North American and World Artist of the Year. Performers and hosts for the show will be announced in the coming months.

“We are so excited to be working with The CW on the World Electronic Music Awards broadcast,” says the show’s creator and executive producer Andy Ruffell. “We are introducing a new format for the show, including regional and world awards, plus Hall of Fame honors with EDM superstars accepting. We are also working with The CW digital team on global livestream, Metaverse and Web3 components. We will be announcing some big music industry partners shortly.”

While the Grammys include two dance/electronic categories — best dance/electronic album and best dance/electronic recording — the awards have never put these categories on the telecast, instead including the genre in the livestreamed Premiere Ceremony. Other awards shows, including the Billboard Music Awards, also include dance/electronic categories; however, the World Electronic Music Awards is the first prime-time awards show in the United States devoted entirely to the genre.