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20 Apr 2023

Michelle Obama Says She’s ‘Fangirled Out’ Over These 2 Iconic Musicians: Watch

During Michelle Obama‘s time as the first lady of the United States, she was one of the most famous — and identifiable — people, but that didn’t stop her from becoming a superfan after meeting some of her favorite musicians. Obama appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday (April 19) and revealed that she, too, has been a fangirl in her day.

The topic came up when Fallon inquired whether the former first later ever gets starstruck by people anymore, to which she replied, “Absolutely I do.”

“Just imagine the people that we met,” she continued. “Stevie? You know, when I first met Stevie Wonder? I was just like ‘Stevie!’ I fangirled out. Prince? I mean … Prince played at the White House months before he passed, actually. I fangirl out.”

Later in the program, The Light We Carry author dished on her Netflix special with Oprah Winfrey about the book, and shared that Oprah has been nothing but a generous friend to her and husband Barack Obama.

“Oprah was one of the very open supporters before Barack was even thinking about running. She spotted him when he was a U.S. senator,” the 59-year-old revealed. “Oprah is that person who never asks for anything, but is always there with her generosity, her love and support. There isn’t anything you can’t ask her to do if you’re a friend that she won’t try to do. She is who she appears to be, and I’m lucky to call her a friend.”

Watch Obama talk about fangirling over Stevie Wonder and Prince in the video above, and her friendship with Oprah in the clip below.

20 Apr 2023

GloRilla Accused of Taking Unauthorized Sample From ’90s Rap Song For ‘Tomorrow’

A new lawsuit claims that GloRilla used unlicensed samples from a decades-old New Orleans hip-hop song in her hit songs “Tomorrow” and “Tomorrow 2.”

The case, filed Wednesday in Louisiana federal court, alleges that GloRilla’s tracks “misappropriated many of the recognizable and key protected elements” from “Street of Westbank,” a 1994 song by the group Dog House Posse.

The complaint is light on specifics, but claims that GloRilla copied many elements from the earlier song, including “musical arrangements, percussion tracks, synthesized orchestration, including but not limited to piano, cello, violin, contrabass, and drum set, and tone and melody.”

Beyond the sample itself, the lawsuit says GloRilla’s songs also “mimic and copy the arrangement of ‘Street of Westbank’ by the choice of the instrumentation accompanying the rap lyrics, the choice of when the instruments drop out and reenter and what instruments drop in and reenter.”

A rep for GloRilla did not immediately return a request for comment on the allegations.

While GloRilla broke out with “F.N.F. (Let’s Go),” her biggest hit to date is “Tomorrow 2” – a remix featuring Cardi B that reached No. 9 on the Hot 100 in October and ultimately spent 22 weeks on the chart.

Based on a comparison of the two songs, the alleged sample appears to be the first few notes of “Street of Westbank,” which are then looped throughout the song; a similar-sounding sequence appears to be looped throughout GloRilla’s song. But the extent to which those similarities actually constitute any violation of copyright law will be litigated in court.

Listen to both songs here:

Read the entire lawsuit here:

20 Apr 2023

Killer Mike Announces First Solo Album in 10 Years, Releases New Single ‘Don’t Let the Devil’: Listen

Killer Mike is hopping back on the saddle as a solo artist for this forthcoming album, Michael. Announced Wednesday (April 19), the Run the Jewels rhymer also dished out a new record with his partner El-P titled “Don’t Let the Devil” and revealed the project’s June 16 release date. 

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“[Run the Jewels] is the X-Men. This is my Logan,” Mike told Rolling Stone. “It’s our 10-year anniversary, and Michael is an origin story, so I wanted to start with El.”

“Don’t Let the Devil” is co-produced by El-P, No I.D. and Little Shalimar, with Thankugoodsir relegated to hook duties. The soulful tune finds Mike in his element, boasting about the potency of Run the Jewels as a duo, rhyming, “The jewels runners, the product of many cruel summers/ And the description was fittin’, they say it’s two gunners.” 

In a post on Instagram, Mike spoke about his high hopes of making his 12-year-old self happy with his latest collaboration with El-P. “I want to time travel and tell 12-year-old #MICHAEL that he dropped a ? song with his rap potna El-P and had some dope Nike SB collabs on his born-day, plus he had a party,” he wrote. “Life is great, kid. Stay focused and Don’t Let The Devil coerce ya! 

Michael will serve as Mike’s first solo album in 10 years following the release of 2012’s R.A.P. Music. He previously released solo tracks, including “Run” with Young Thug and Dave Chappelle, and “Talk’n That Shit!”

Run the Jewels will also embark on a 10th-anniversary tour in select cities. 

Listen to “Don’t Let the Devil” below. 

20 Apr 2023

Fall Out Boy, Motley Crue, Thundercat Headlining 2023 NFL Draft Concert Series

Are you ready for some… emo?! The NFL announced on Wednesday (April 19) that Fall Out Boy will join metal legends Mötley Crüe and bass thumper Thundercat at next week’s NFL Draft Concert Series. The series of shows will take place next week at the 2023 NFL Draft in Kansas City from April 27-29.

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FOB will be first on the field, hitting the stage after the conclusion of the opening round of the draft on April 27, followed by the Crüe, who will headline after round 3 on April 28. Day three will feature bassist/singer Thundercat, during which the NFL said he will curate a special performance that will “pay tribute to the rich music history and the legacy of jazz in Kansas City.”

All the performances will take place at the Draft Theater in front of the city’s iconic Union Station. General admission fan viewing will be on a standing-room-only, first-come, first-served basis on the North Lawn of the National WWI Museum and Memorial; the lawn will stay open during the draft and for general fan viewing of the Draft Concert Series, which is free with registration.

The performances will be streamed in full here and live on the NFL Facebook and YouTube pages each night. Parts of the performances will also be televised on the NFL Network and ESPN.

Grammy-nominated singer and KC native Oleta Adams will perform the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and country singer Brittney Spencer will sing the National Anthem live from downtown during the opening festivities. KC-based party band Lost Wax will be the house and at the Draft Theater and perform between draft selections each day.

20 Apr 2023

NF’s ‘Hope’ Springs to No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart

NF reasserts his rule on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart as his newest album, Hope, starts at the summit of the chart dated April 22. The set begins with 123,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending April 13, according to Luminate.

With Hope, the rapper achieves his third No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. His first two entries, 2017’s Perception and 2019’s The Search, both debuted at No. 1 and held the rank for one week, while 2021’s Clouds (The Mixtape), entered and peaked at No. 2.

In addition to its Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums coronation, Hope likewise opens at No. 1 on the Top Rap Albums chart and at No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart.

Eighty-one thousand units of Hope’s debut sum come from traditional album sales, bolstered by the album’s availability in an autographed CD edition in his webstore, a Target-exclusive CD with a poster packaged inside, four deluxe CD/merch boxed sets, and a both a white vinyl and a standard black vinyl edition. The figure makes Hope the top-selling album of the week across all genres and debuts at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart.

Of the outstanding balance, 42,000 units derive from the streaming sector, equal to 56.8 million official on-demand streams of Hope’s songs. The remaining 1,000 units are from track-equivalent units. (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.)

As Hope arrives, five of the album’s tracks debut on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. “Careful,” with Cordae, enters the highest, at No. 29, followed by “Pandemonium” (No. 41), “Mama” (No. 46), “Suffice” (No. 47), “Bullet” (No. 48). Plus, two previous Hope releases return to the 50-position list: The title track re-enters at No. 33 after having reached a prior No. 16 peak, while “Motto” comes back at No. 40 after a No. 29 best.

A huge week for NF’s Hope album and its songs prompt the rapper’s re-entry at No. 3 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart, which measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption — album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming — to provide a weekly multidimensional ranking of artist popularity. By earning the bronze medal on this week’s recap, NF earns his highest Artist 100 rank since he claimed a week at No. 1 in August 2019.

20 Apr 2023

Mandolin Shuts Down: Concert Livestream Platform Goes Offline

Livestream concert start-up Mandolin shut down on Monday after its business struggled to survive following the resumption of in-person concerts.

Mandolin launched in the spring of 2020, alongside over two dozen similar platforms, when widespread COVID-19 lockdowns forced in-person experiences online. In 2021, the company raised $12 million from venture capital firms including Mark Benioff’s TIME Ventures to hire more staff to support its mobile version Mandolin Live+ and it to fund the acquisition of competitor NoonChorus.

Mandolin’s chief executive Mary Kay Huse, a former Salesforce executive, aimed for Mandolin Live+ to become a companion app to live concerts, allowing fans who couldn’t make it in person to watch the event live at home — just as fans of a sports team might, but with more interactive features. However, on Monday, the company said it was closing its doors and gave little context.

“We are sad to announce that after 3 incredible years of connecting artists and fans more authentically through digital experiences, we are officially closing down our product and business operations,” a statement on Mandolin’s website reads.

“We’d like to sincerely thank our clients and partners for their belief in our mission and the time spent helping us develop a platform that truly empowered artists to own their fan relationships. Though we can no longer lead the charge, we firmly believe market power will continue to shift toward better supporting artists in this endeavor and we are all so appreciative of the feedback, faith and validation you’ve provided over the years to get us this far.”

20 Apr 2023

Drake Extends Streaming Songs No. 1 Record With ‘Search & Rescue’

Drake widens his lead for the most No. 1s in the history of Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart as “Search & Rescue” debuts atop the tally dated April 22.

In its first week (April 7-13), the track earned 33.8 million official U.S. streams, according to Luminate.

The song’s sum of raw streams marks the week’s second highest, after Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night”; “Search,” however, tops the chart due to the application of weighting to all titles’ paid/subscription and ad-supported on-demand streams and programmed/radio streams.

“Search” is Drake’s leading 16th No. 1 on Streaming Songs – 10 more than the next-closest acts, dating to the ranking’s 2013 inception. Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift are tied for the second most with six apiece.

Most No. 1s, Streaming Songs:

  • 16, Drake
  • 6, Justin Bieber
  • 6, Taylor Swift
  • 4, Cardi B
  • 4, Miley Cyrus
  • 4, Ariana Grande
  • 4, Lil Baby
  • 4, Travis Scott

Drake achieves his first Streaming Songs No. 1 of 2023. He last reigned with the three-week leader “Rich Flex,” with 21 Savage, beginning with its debut atop the Nov. 19, 2022, list.

On R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs, “Search” is Drake’s 19th ruler (over The Weeknd, his closest competitor, with eight). On Rap Streaming Songs, he notches his 16th (ahead of runner-up Lil Baby with eight).

Concurrently, as previously reported, “Search” bows at No. 2 on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100, where it’s Drake’s record-extending 68th top 10. It launches at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, where Drake claims his record-furthering 27th leader.

“Search” is currently a stand-alone single. Drake’s last full-length, the 21 Savage collaboration Her Loss, was released in November, after his dance detour, Honestly, Nevermind, arrived in June.

20 Apr 2023

Here’s Why Fans Think Camila Cabello’s New Song Is About Making Up With Shawn Mendes

Camila Cabello hasn’t addressed the recent rumors she’s getting back together with Shawn Mendes … or has she? Days after she was spotted kissing her former flame at Coachella, the 26-year-old pop star dropped a teaser for new song “June Gloom” with lyrics that fans think are definitely about reconciling with the “Mercy” musician.

“How come you’re just so much better?” she sings through layers of harmony and reverb on the clip posted to her Instagram Wednesday (April 19). “Is this going to end ever?/ I guess I’ll f–k around and find out.”

But if that’s not enough to convince listeners that “Shawmila” has been rekindled, take a look at what she sings next: “Are you coming to Coachella?/ If you don’t it’s whatever/ If you do honey, it’ll be all I think about.”

Mendes, of course, definitely did come to Coachella, and spent time at festival at the “Bam Bam” singer’s side. The two were spotted smooching Friday night (April 14), and curiously, Cabello captioned her new song teaser with the date “4.12.”

Neither of the two stars have publicly addressed rumors they’re getting back together more than a year after breaking off their two-year romance in November 2021. But as far as fans are concerned, they don’t have to. “Only couple I really think deserves second chance cause your love is pure and real,” commented one person on Cabello’s post. 

“NOT THE COACHELLA REFERENCE… OH THIS IS FRESH FRESH,” wrote another fan.

Others left replies such as “Are you coming to Coachella….he did & you did & it’s EVERYTHING” and “Shawn bro this bout u buddyy.” One very stressed fan commented, “OH GAWD GET BACK TOGETHER ALREADY IM BREAKING A SWEAT.”

“Seems like she wrote this cuz she still thinks bout Shawn and wasn’t fully over him/ comparing him to her other relationship,” speculated another fan. “And she posted this specific part now cause she saw him at Coachella and something may have re kindled and she’s feeling all lovey lmaoo and throwing little subs bout it.”

Listen to Camila Cabello’s “June Gloom” teaser below:

20 Apr 2023

‘Nothing Short of Absurd’: ACLU Jumps to Afroman’s Defense In Lawsuit Over Police Raid

A lawsuit filed against Afroman by a group of Ohio police officers after they raided his home is “nothing short of absurd,” the American Civil Liberties Union says – and a clear threat to his First Amendment rights.

In a motion filed Wednesday, the activist group asked an Ohio court to immediately dismiss the case, which claims that Afroman (real name Joseph Forman) caused the officers “emotional distress” by publicizing images of the guns-drawn raid on his home. The ACLU called it “a meritless effort to use a lawsuit to silence criticism.”

“Plaintiffs are a group of law enforcement officers who executed what appears to have been a highly destructive and ultimately fruitless search of a popular musician’s home. Now they find themselves at the receiving end of his mockery and outrage,” the ACLU wrote. “There is nothing the First Amendment protects more jealously than criticism of public officials on a matter of public concern.”

Police raided Afroman’s Ohio home with guns drawn on Aug. 21, smashing down his door and seizing $5,031 in cash and other property. The raid came on a search warrant linked to suspicions of drug trafficking, but no charges were ever filed and the money was later returned.

After the search, Afroman repeatedly posted video and images to social media, using them to express outrage at alleged damage done to his property and at what he viewed as excessive use of force. One video showed officers searching his home under the title “watch cops steal money.” He later used some of those images on t-shirts and other merchandise, including one that compared one of the officers to an obese character from the animated sitcom Family Guy.

Last month, the officers responded by suing the rapper, claiming the posts and merchandise amounted to an unauthorized commercial exploitation of their likeness, as well as an invasion of their privacy. The officers said they had been “subjected to threats, including death threats” because of Afroman’s posts, and had suffered “emotional distress.”

But in Wednesday’s filing, the ACLU said the officers had not come close to making a coherent claim about what Afroman actually did wrong.

“Plaintiffs do not identify the substance of any particular statement in the videos- or for that matter, anywhere else–that they claim is false,” the group wrote. “Instead, the central focus of their complaint is that Mr. Foreman is making money off of his video commentary and related merchandise, and is criticizing Plaintiffs harshly in the process. That is not tortious conduct; it is protected speech.”

As for the accusation about an invasion of privacy, the ACLU called that claim “nothing short of absurd.”

 “They were in Mr. Foreman’s home, not their own,” the group wrote. “Nothing about Mr. Foreman’s expression involves matters of plaintiffs’ intimate personal privacy that could be protected by law. To the contrary, his description–and criticism–of their police work is a legitimate matter of public concern.”

An attorney for the officers did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday.

20 Apr 2023

Meek Mill Honors Victims of Holocaust By Joining ‘March of the Living’ in Poland

Meek Mill joined the annual pilgrimage to honor the victims of the Holocaust this week when he traveled to Poland for the March of the Living. The rapper posted a picture from Tuesday (April 18) from the meaningful mission in which he was seen walking with longtime friend and fellow activist New England Patriot owner Robert Kraft and Warner Bros. Discovery president/CEO David Zaslav in an Instagram post captioned “VERY IMPACTFUL DAY !!!!”

The program that draws hundreds of people from around the world for the educational program about the history of the Holocaust has attendees marching down the same 3-kilometer (1.8 mile) path from the Auschwitz death camp to the Birkenau camp on Holocaust Remembrance Day (also known as Yom Hashoah in Hebrew) as a tribute to the six million Jews slaughtered by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime.

According to the organization, the goal of the March is to help ” inspire our participants to fight indifference, racism and injustice by witnessing the atrocities of the Holocaust. Our hope is that the program will help strengthen Jewish identity, connections to Israel and build a community of future Jewish leaders.”

More than 1.1 million people died at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the Nazi concentration camps — one million of them Jews — from 1940-1942.

Meek and Kraft have worked closely together since 2019, when the Patriots owner joined the rapper and Jay-Z in the ongoing REFORM Alliance campaign for criminal justice/sentencing reform. Last month, Kraft enlisted Meek (born Robert Rihmeek Williams) and former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in a new multi-million dollar effort to combat the unprecedented wave of antisemitism in America.

The 81-year-old billionaire has pledged to invest $25 million in a multi-level campaign to fight antisemitism through his Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS), which has been promoting stories about efforts to combat anti-Jewish hate on it social feeds.

See Meek’s post below.