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10 May 2023

Building Costs for MSG’s Las Vegas Sphere Keep Going Up

The price tag on opening the much-anticipated Sphere arena in Las Vegas is now at a whopping $2.3 billion after the company added an additional $125 million recently, according to documents filed with the SEC on Wednesday (May 10).

That’s more than $1 billion increase from the original projection of $1.2 billion when the Sphere was first announced in 2018, although industry experts say the more realistic estimate came the following year when architects from architecture firm AECON estimated the actual cost of the project would likely be $1.7 billion.

The project’s price has continued to rise since breaking ground in 2021 due to negative effects on the construction business caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the the one-of-a-kind entertainment complex’s unusual nature and design. Company officials cited the “overall complexity of the project” for the current increase while noting they had made “significant progress,” including completing the “LED installation on the Exosphere earlier in the third quarter” that will allow the venue to make dramatic design and appearance changes at the push of a button. Company officials have also made significant progress building out “the venue’s interior spaces, including the suites and hospitality areas,” the filing states.

U2 will open the venue on Sept. 29 with a five-week, 17-show run that has already generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales with tickets averaging between $1,200 to $1,500 apiece.

On March 30, Madison Square Garden Entertainment finalized plans to spin off its live entertainment business, and launch a new company called Sphere Entertainment Co. that included the Sphere venue, as well as its MSG’s sports television network MSG Networks and Tao Group Hospitality. Shortly after, the company sold its majority interest in Tao Group to Mohari Hospitality for about $300 million.

As of Tuesday, the Sphere Entertainment Co. had over $230 million in cash available, according to the SEC filing, thanks in part to the Tao Group sale, as well as $65 million in funds in a delayed draw term loan facility with Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. The recently spun-off company reported revenues of $363.3 million for its first quarter as Sphere Entertainment Company — a 3% increase of $10.8 million as compared to the same business sectors in prior year quarter. The company reported a 1.1% decrease in operating loss to $70.3 million and a 2.1% increase in adjusted operating income to $19.4 million.

10 May 2023

CNN Catches Heat For Upcoming Donald Trump Town Hall After He Was Found Liable For Sexual Abuse

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Donald Trump & CNN Are Getting Flamed On Twitter For Town Hall

Source: Brian Lawless – PA Images / Getty / Donald Trump

CNN is hosting MAGA Man, aka Donald Trump, in an upcoming town hall; people are understandably upset about it.

Disgraced, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump is hilariously the front runner to be the “Republican” nominee for President of the United States, setting up a rematch with current POTUS, Joe Biden.

Trump, an incredibly flawed and tainted candidate, is coming off an epic L after a jury found Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation in the E. Jean Carroll civil case, where he will also have to pay her $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages.

For whatever reason, CNN is still hosting the orange menace in a live town hall in New Hampshire, where he will field questions from likely and unlikely voters on Wednesday, May 10, at 8 pm ET. CNN This Morning anchor Kaitlan Collins will moderate the sh*t show.

As expected, the dumb decision was met with criticism, with CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discorvey’s CEO David Zaslav, defending the town hall saying on CNBC’s Squawk Box last week, “He’s the Republican frontrunner. He has to be on.”

Critics & Twitter Are Dunking On CNN

Critics of the decision are deeply concerned that the upcoming town hall will only give Trump a platform to spit his wild lies and bullsh*t and is just repeating mistakes of the past that helped him get in the White House in the first place.

Trump even took a swipe at the network that has been struggling in the ratings department since new CEO Chris Licht has programming pivot trying to lure more of a “centrist” audience and, most recently, gave Don Lemon the boot.

In a social media post, Trump claims they are bringing him on “because they are rightfully desperate to get these fantastic (TRUMP!) ratings once again.”

“Could be the beginning of a New & Vibrant CNN, with no more Fake News, or it could turn into a disaster for all, including me. Let’s see what happens?” Trump continued.

On Twitter, #LookingAtYouCNN is trending as we get closer to the town hall, with many users letting the network have it.

Where is the lie?

You can see more reactions in the gallery below.

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Photo: Brian Lawless – PA Images / Getty

10 May 2023

Foo Fighters Match Shinedown for Most Mainstream Rock Airplay Top 10s with ‘Rescued’

Foo Fighters tie Shinedown for the most top 10s in the history of Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, as “Rescued” zooms from No. 11 to No. 5 on the May 13-dated tally.

“Rescued” is the Foos’ 30th top 10, tying the band with Shinedown for the most upper-chart hits dating back to the ranking’s 1981 inception.

The Dave Grohl-led band first reached the chart’s top 10 with its breakthrough hit “This Is a Call,” which reached No. 6 in August 1995. Prior to “Rescued,” it had last reached the top 10 with the No. 3-peaking “Love Dies Young” in March 2022.

Of Foo Fighters’ 30 top 10s, 11 have reached No. 1, most recently one-week ruler “Making a Fire” in September 2021.

Most Top 10s, Mainstream Rock Airplay:
30, Foo Fighters
30, Shinedown
29, Five Finger Death Punch
28, Godsmack
28, Tom Petty (solo and with the Heartbreakers)
26, Metallica
26, Van Halen
25, Disturbed
25, Papa Roach

Shinedown broke out of a prior tie with Foo Fighters for the most Mainstream Rock Airplay top 10s and became the first act to reach 30 with “Dead Don’t Die,” which reached No. 2 in March and currently ranks at No. 6.

Concurrently, “Rescued” lifts 5-4 on Alternative Airplay — where Foo Fighters set a new mark for the most top 10s (29) a week earlier – and leaps 40-16 on Adult Alternative Airplay.

On the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, “Rescued” remains at its No. 2 high with 9 million audience impressions, up 14%, according to Luminate. Two weeks earlier, the band also garnered a share, again with Shinedown, of the chart’s top 10 record (15 each) with the single.

“Rescued” ranks at No. 3 on the multi-metric Hot Hard Rock Songs survey. In addition to its radio airplay in the tracking week, the song earned 905,000 official U.S. streams and sold 1,000 downloads.

“Rescued” is the lead single from But Here We Are, Foo Fighters’ 11th studio LP and the band’s first since the March 2022 death of drummer Taylor Hawkins. The album is due out June 2.

10 May 2023

Bad Azz Logic: Boosie Says “90% Of Rappers Are Rats” [Video]

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Lil Boosie on set

Source: (Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage) / (Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage)

Boosie has filmed yet another VladTV interview. In this edition he says that the majority of rappers are federal informants. 

As spotted on Complex the Baton Rouge, Louisiana talent has once again shared his unique point of view with the world. This week DJ Vlad released a clip of their newest Q&A and the self-proclaimed BooPac had a very hot take aimed at the entire Rap industry. When discussing the recent announcement that Pras admitted to working with the government, the man named Torrence Hatch Jr. was not surprised at all at the news says “90 percent of rappers” are rats.

“It’s a worldwide movement, bro. It’s a worldwide movement of rats. And it’s turning out the music industry is full of them,” he added. “There’s more rats in the music industry than the streets. Because I think they don’t wan to lose. You know? They don’t want to lose this lifestyle. That’s how they develop into rats, because they want all this sh*t but they don’t want to lose it. And they figure they can go get it back when they come home.”

Boosie went on to detail the effects snitching has on the families related to the individual who got told on. “Most of the time, when those snitches, whatever they do, they end up dying, deaths. They end up living horrible lives. The people who supporting rats don’t give a f*** about children. Those children suffer when you rat on that f***ing family and that daddy. That child grows up without a daddy, that child grows up without a mother. So, anybody supporting f***ing rats, they don’t give a f*** about a kid.”

You can see Boosie discuss snitches and rats below.



Photo: Prince Williams / WireImage

10 May 2023

New Charge Unveiled In Jonathan Majors Case, Lawyer Calls Bias

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2023 Vanity Fair Oscar After Party Arrivals

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Jonathan Majors appeared in a courtroom for a hearing related to the charges of harassment and assault against him, with his lawyer claiming bias in the case.

The Creed III actor appeared at the hearing in the Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday (May 9th) virtually, where the Manhattan District Attorney’s office unveiled a superseding complaint of third-degree assault. Previously, the complaint stated that Majors had allegedly struck the victim’s face with an open hand, giving her a laceration behind her ear. Additional information now states that the woman sustained injuries to her arm and hand and that she had been allegedly pushed into the side of a vehicle by Majors.

The charge carries a punishment of up to a year in prison or three years of probation. The actor did not enter a plea during his appearance before Judge Rachel S. Pauley, who advised him that next time he’s expected to be physically present and not have any contact with the victim per the restraining order in place. “I’m required to inform you that, as you know, if you fail to appear in court on June 13, a warrant can be issued for your arrest within 48 hours and if you’re brought back on the warrant, the next judge can revoke and even set bail. I obviously don’t want that to happen,” she said.

After the hearing, Majors’ attorney Priya Chaudhry savaged the prosecutors, accusing them of racial bias. “This is a witch hunt against Jonathan Majors, driven by baseless claims,” Chaudhry said. “Instead of dismissing the allegations in the face of the woman’s clear lies, the DA has adjusted the charges to match the woman’s new lies. To be clear, there are no new charges against Mr. Majors.” She went on to allege in her statement that Majors was taunted by a white New York Police Department officer at the time of the arrest and that he and others didn’t bother to investigate the Lovecraft Country actor’s injuries at the time.

Majors’ high-trajectory career has taken serious hits since his March 25th arrest. While still on track to star in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s upcoming entries in the Avengers series and season 2 of Loki, he has been dropped from at least one movie role and jettisoned by his PR team The Lede Company and former management team 360 Entertainment as well as dropped from significant ad campaigns run by the U.S. Army.

10 May 2023

Lil Wayne Explains To Missy Elliott How The Rap Game Has Changed In TV One’s ‘Uncensored’

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Lil Wayne In Concert - Austin, TX

Source: Gary Miller / Getty

It feels like with every passing generation of Hip-Hoppers, the OG’s always say “rap isn’t what it used to be” as new artists take the game to different levels. In tonight’s episode of Uncensored, Lil Wayne will be touching on the current state of the rap game and how it differs from when he reigned supreme.

In a brand new clip for TV One’s Uncensored series, as spotted on NewsOne, Lil Wayne sits down with another iconic Hip-Hop artist, Missy Elliott, and in it explains how different and more difficult it was for a music artist to break out during his heyday than it is today.

“Where it’s at today… it makes me appreciate who I am and the time I came in and how different it was and how harder it was when I came. Therefore, all those today, they respect and also understand it’s nowhere near as difficult as it was and hopefully they respect it… It shows that I come from a different time.”

He’s not lying. Spending more than two decades in the rap game, Weezy has seen the game go from artists begging record executives to release their material to artists simply putting a song online and watching it go viral overnight without the help of anyone in an office.

Check out some clips of Lil Wayne’s interview with Missy below, and let us know if you’ll be checking for the season finale of UNCENSORED in the comments section below.

10 May 2023

Interscope Records Is Selling A Limited Edition ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ Vinyl For $2.5K

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Kendrick Lamar Signs Copies Of His New Album

Source: Mike Pont / Getty

One of Kendrick Lamar’s most revered works is about to get a special release. Interscope Records is selling a limited edition vinyl of To Pimp A Butterfly.

As spotted on Digital Music News, the Compton, California MC’s third studio album is being brought to life like never before. Kendrick Lamar’s record label is releasing the project as a collectible. This week, Interscope unveiled the To Pimp A Butterfly by Lauren Halsey Gallery Vinyl. This version features a 11.5 x 11.5 inch gallery quality giclée printed cover by Lauren Halsey, fixed to a tan custom dyed linen wrapped vinyl jacket.

And to up the ante, the packaging is designed by Gucci and bears the iconic logo from the Italian luxury fashion house. The To Pimp A Butterfly by Lauren Halsey Gallery Vinyl release is limited to only 100 pieces and sells for $2,500 a piece.

This co-branded effort is part of Interscope Records’ ongoing limited-edition vinyl series “Interscope Reimagined” via NTWRK. Both entities will donate all the proceeds to the Iovine and Young Foundation in South Los Angeles, which is founded by record executive Jimmy Lovine and Andre “Dr. Dre” Young.

Earlier this year, it was confirmed that his most recent The Big Steppers Tour is now the highest earning concert series ever headlined by a rapper. The 73 show run sold 929,056 tickets and generated a whopping $110.9 million dollars.

You can shop Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly and more here.

10 May 2023

Eslabon Armado & Peso Pluma’s ‘Ella Baila Sola’ Makes History Atop Streaming Songs Chart

Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola” climbs to No. 1 on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart dated May 13.

It’s the first regional Mexican song to top Streaming Songs in the tally’s 10-year history.

In the April 28-May 4 tracking week, “Ella Baila Sola” earned 34.6 million official U.S. streams, a 2% increase, according to Luminate.

The song is the first No. 1 on Streaming Songs for both acts. For Peso Pluma, it’s his first in his premiere appearance on the ranking, while Eslabon Armado had charted once before with the No. 43-peaking “Jugaste y Sufri,” featuring DannyLux, in October 2021.

“Ella Baila Sola” marks the first Streaming Songs ruler either predominantly or completely in Spanish since Bad Bunny and Chencho Corleone’s “Me Porto Bonito” crowned the survey for two weeks – July 30, 2022, and Aug. 6, 2022.

Pluma boasts two tunes in Streaming Songs’ top 10, with “Ella Baila Sola” joined by his Yng Lvcas collaboration “La Bebe” at No. 5 (21.6 million streams).

Concurrently, “Ella Baila Sola” reigns on Hot Latin Songs for a fifth week and remains at No. 4 on the all-format Billboard Hot 100.

The song’s parent album, Eslabon Armado’s Desvelado, also debuts at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 with 44,000 equivalent album units earned, as previously reported.

10 May 2023

YOASOBI’s ‘Idol’ Logs Fourth Week at No. 1 on Japan Hot 100

YOASOBI’s “Idol” continues to rule the Billboard Japan Hot 100, holding at No. 1 for the fourth consecutive week on the chart dated May 10.

While figures for both metrics are down slightly from the previous week, the Oshi no Ko opener continues to rule streaming with 25,433,131 streams and video with 8,570,370 views. The track also returned to No. 1 for downloads this week with 32,878 units, up 7 percent from the week before. These results show the diversification of fan activity in terms of contact and ownership, indicating that this latest hit could be expanding the fanbase of the breakout duo itself.

Additionally, the song rises 9-3 for karaoke with a 90 percent increase, also showing the rapidly expanding fanbase of the “Monster” pair. The track’s point total is more than double that of the song at No. 2 this week and its domination of the Japan charts is likely to continue.

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THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE’s “16BOOSTERZ,” the song at No. 2, and Sexy Zone’s “Cream” at No. 5 were the two new singles vying for No. 1 for physical sales this week, and the four-man Johnny’s group’s 23rd single came out on top with 227,372 copies, ahead of the 16-member LDH group’s 19th single, which launched with 197,450 copies. But “16BOOSTERZ” racked up points in other metrics, coming in at No. 2 for radio, No. 86 for downloads, and No. 45 for streaming, overtaking “Cream,” which only added points through radio airplay (No. 10) and video (No. 55).

The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.

See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from May 1 to 7, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account. 

10 May 2023

Concert Week Is Back! Live Nation Is Giving Music Fans a Chance to See Some Major Artists for Just $25

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With summer concerts right around the corner and festival season heating up, going to see live shows can be expensive, so it’s always nice to find ways to save on ticket prices.

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Live Nation is offering fans access to thousands of shows for just $25 in honor of Concert Week. The weeklong promo that allows fans to buy tickets to more than 3,800 shows at a budget-friendly price launched on Wednesday (May 10).

The list of participating artists include Janet Jackson, Big Time Rush, Shania Twain, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Alicia Keys, Three Doors Down, 5SOS, Bebe Rehxa, Sam Smith, Sum 41, The Roots, Logic, LL Cool J, TLC, Zac Brown Band, MÄNESKIN, Kehlani and lots more.

Fans can purchase tickets to see performance in smaller venues such as clubs, theaters; as well as amphitheaters, arenas and stadiums across a large variety of genres including pop, rock, country, hip-hop, R&B, and dance/electronic.

You’ll have to act fast to get your hands on tickets because the limited deal ends on May 16, or while supplies last.

Live Nation Concert Week Tickets

$25

Although Verizon and Rakuten members received access to the sale a day early, several tickets are still available at the discounted price, and if you need more convincing — concert tickets make a great gift for Mother’s Day, birthdays, graduations and other occasions.

All fees are included in Live Nation’s $25 ticket price but taxes, which vary depending on the state, will be added at checkout. Concert Week tickets are only valid for select shows and most venues limit fans to buying up to eight tickets at a time (check the venue to be sure).

Concert Week isn’t just for music fans, comedy lovers can buy tickets to see comedians like Kevin Hart, David Spade, Phoebe Robinson, Leslie Jones, Nick Offerman, Kountry Wayne, Jim Norton, Margaret Cho, Mike Epps, Darrell Hammond, Ross Mathews and more for just $25.

Visit LiveNation.com/concertweek for a full list of performers, events and venues.

Live Nation’s annual ticket deal marks the kickoff to an epic summer concert season. Planning on hitting up a live show? Read our roundup of venue-approved bags to buy, best festival gear and comfortable travel shoes to wear to a concert.