News

09 Mar 2023

GloRilla Concert Stampede Claims 3rd Victim

A third person has died after being injured in a stampede after a weekend concert by the rapper GloRilla in western New York, police said Thursday (March 9).

Aisha Stephens, 35, of Syracuse was the only person who remained hospitalized following a Sunday evening performance by the Memphis, Tennessee, rap star and Finesse2tymes at the Rochester Main Street Armory. She died Wednesday night.

Two other women, Rhondesia Belton, 33, of Buffalo and Brandy Miller, 35, of Rochester, also died and several people were injured after being caught up in a crush of concertgoers who surged toward the exits after the show.

Police said the stampede may have been triggered by unfounded fears of gunfire.

The city refused to renew the venue’s entertainment license on Wednesday, effectively shutting it down while criminal and regulatory investigations are underway, said Patrick Beath, the city’s deputy corporation counsel. In addition to a police investigation, he said fire and code enforcement authorities are inspecting the building and reviewing photos and video from the concert to determine if there were any violations.

The armory’s owner has not responded to numerous emailed requests for comment.

The main arena in the fortress-like armory has a capacity of about 5,000 people, city officials said.

As the concert ended Sunday, people exiting the venue just after 11 p.m. began to surge dangerously after hearing what they believed to be gunshots, city officials have said. Police found no evidence of gunfire.

Crowd surges at large events have turned deadly before, including one at 2021’s Astroworld concert by rapper Travis Scott in which 10 people died.

09 Mar 2023

TikTok Fights Sprawling Litigation Over Alleged In-App Browser Data Harvesting

TikTok is facing a slew of class action lawsuits alleging it tracks and harvests troves of personal information on users through its in-app browser.

In the most recent suit filed on Wednesday, users allege TikTok has “secretly amassed massive amounts of highly invasive information and data by tracking their activities on third-party websites.” At least a dozen class actions have been filed since November alleging violations of the federal wiretap act, among other claims.

TikTok remains under fire by the government due to concerns that data it collects on American users can be leveraged by the Chinese government to advance its interests. The company could, for example, be forced to tweak its algorithm to boost content that undermines U.S. democratic institutions or muffles criticism of China and its allies, according to lawmakers. A bipartisan bill backed by the White House was introduced on Tuesday that would establish a unified process for reviewing and addressing technology that could be subject to foreign influence. Under the measure, Chinese parent company ByteDance could be forced to sell TikTok or the platform could be completely banned, though that would face significant hurdles.

The first suit, known as Recht v. TikTok, was filed in November. It was based on a report from Felix Krause, a software researcher who found that the company injects lines of code that commands the platform to copy user activity on external websites. Of the seven popular apps he tested — including Instagram, Snapchat, Amazon — he found that only TikTok monitored keystrokes.

The named plaintiff in the complaint, California resident Austin Recht, says he clicked on an ad to a third-party website, where he bought merchandise after he entered private data that included his credit card information. Tiktok “surreptitiously collected data associated” with his activity on the third-party site accessed through the platform’s in-app browser, according to the complaint.

The class actions detail how TikTok intercepts and harvests data. The in-app browser inserts code into the websites visited by users with the purpose of tracking “every detail about [their] activity,” Recht claims.

“In the case of online purchase transactions, this would include all of the details of the purchase, the name of the purchaser, their address, telephone number, credit card or bank information, usernames, passwords, dates of birth,” reads the complaint filed in California federal court.

The data isn’t limited to purchase information and extends to private information about users’ health, the suit alleges. When users click on a link to Planned Parenthood on TikTok, for example, their activity on the site is tracked and harvested. This could identify users looking for abortion services or those looking for information about gender identity, according to the suit.

TikTok has faced legal action for illegally harvesting user data. In 2020, it was sued for alleged violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, a state statute that prohibits private companies from collecting users biometric identifiers without first obtaining consent. It settled the litigation for $92 million.

In response to suits alleging violations of the Federal Wiretap Act, Tiktok has said that the purported class members are covered under the settlement for those who sued for violations of the Illinois privacy law because it “addressed all user data collected through the app.”

Though the plaintiffs in the suit don’t allege any injury, the Federal Wiretap Act doesn’t require proof of actual harm to recover monetary damages. The law prohibits the intentional interception of communications, which includes personal information.

Some of the suits also allege violations of state invasion of privacy and competition laws. A hearing has been set for March 30 on whether the litigation should be consolidated.

In California, TikTok could face massive damages if there’s a data leak. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, companies that mishandle personal data face statutory damages ranging from $100 to $750 for each consumer per incident.

TikTok didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

This article originally appeared on THR.com.

09 Mar 2023

St. Vincent Gets an Assist From The Roots for Sensual Portishead ‘Glory Box’ Cover on ‘Tonight Show’

St. Vincent put her own spin on a classic from Portishead‘s catalog for the Wednesday episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, receiving some assistance from The Roots on the electronic band’s 1994 track “Glory Box.”

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In addition to being joined by The Roots, several violinists also appeared onstage to provide further depth to the track. Vincent took center stage wearing an all-black leather ensemble, red lipstick and shimmering eyeshadow.

“I’m so tired of playing/ Playing with this bow and arrow/ Gonna give my heart away/ Leave it to the other girls to play/ For I’ve been a temptress too long/ Just…/ Give me a reason to love you/ Give me a reason to be a woman/ I just wanna be a woman,” she passionately sang on her rendition of the track.

“Glory Box” was released as the third single from Portishead’s debut studio album, Dummy. Though the track did not chart — the album’s second single, “Sour Times,” peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 53 in February 1995 — the LP became the electronic band’s first entry on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 79.

Up next for St. Vincent is an appearance at the seventh annual Love Rocks NYC event on Thursday (March 9); James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, Pat Benatar and more will also perform at the event.

Watch St. Vincent and The Roots’ cover of the track in the video above.

09 Mar 2023

What Should Win Best Original Song at the 2023 Oscars? Vote!

The 2023 Academy Awards are just days away, and songs by some of today’s biggest artists are up for the best original song Oscar.

Lady Gaga is nominated for “Hold My Hand” (Top Gun: Maverick) and Rihanna is up for “Lift Me Up (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). This is Rihanna’s first and Gaga’s fourth Oscar nomination, and Gaga previously won for co-writing “Shallow” from A Star Is Born. Diane Warren also received her 14th Oscar nom for “Applause” (Tell It Like a Woman). David Byrne, Sox Lux founder Ryan Lott and Mitski are also Oscar nominees in the best original song category thanks to “This Is A Life” from Everything Everywhere All At Once, which is the most-nominated film this year with 11 nods.

Ahead of the Oscars, we at Billboard want to know which song you think should win the trophy. Let us know by voting in our poll below.

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09 Mar 2023

Feid vs. Ferxxo: His Alter Ego & Ultra-Colombian Slang Explained 

Before Feid was called Feid, he was known locally in Colombia as Rayo — his first artistic name. 

Meaning thunderbolt, the artist born Salomón Villada Hoyos was eager to start his music career with this name when he was just a teenager; in fact, the first few singles he released independently were under Rayo. But it wasn’t until people began confusing him and his music for the already-established San Andres-based Colombian duo Rayo y Toby that he decided to look for a second option.  

“All my school friends thought they heard my song on the radio and one day while listening to the radio I realized that it was [Rayo y Toby’s] song and not mine. That’s when I thought ‘music isn’t for me and this is going to be a problem,’” he told Billboard during the interview for his new cover story. “My parents were the ones to tell me that this wasn’t going to be the first obstacle I was going to face, and that’s when I changed my name to Feid.” 

But even then, the Medellin-born artist changed it to “Faith” before ultimately landing on the play-on-word Feid (whose moniker sounds like “faith” when spoken in Spanish). 

“It was because the first interview I ever had in my life the reporter who was interviewing me kept calling me ‘fa-heed’ and I didn’t want to keep having that problem because it was very uncomfortable to tell people how to pronounce my name,” he explains.

In 2010, he officially launched his career as Feid and it wasn’t until 2020 — around the time he finally found his artistic identity — that he introduced his new alter ego El Ferxxo (pronounced Fercho).

“I decided to take an arepa with cheese in my hand and say that I was paisa,” he proudly states, referring to the local word for someone from Medellín. “I began to be more faithful to who I am and my Colombian roots. At that moment, I opened the coolest door that I’ve ever opened, which was finding my identity and introducing El Ferxxo. It took me a long time to realize that this was what I had to do to really, really connect with people.” 

Putting his new alter ego to the test, Ferxxo began incorporating local Medallo slang into his lyrics, like mor (love), que chimba (how cool) and parchar (hanging out) and replacing letters in his titles with X’s to pique curiosity. It worked. The Latin Grammys nominated 2020’s Ferxxo (Vol. 1: M.O.R.) and its Justin Quiles-featuring single “Porfa” for best urban music album and best reggaetón performance, respectively. 

Below, the “Porfa” singer explains the meaning behind some of the slang words heard in his songs. 

NEA: “It’s a word that can mean many things. It can be a friend, a person that dresses a certain way, a nea is someone from the barrio. Period.”

CHORRO: “It’s the drink. It can be whiskey, tequila or anything. Chorro is alcohol.” 

CHIMBITA: “Is a beautiful woman.” 

CHIMBIAR: “Is someone who’s annoying or can also mean to mess around with someone.”

CHIMBO: “Is the man’s private part.” 

PARCHE: “It’s like an invitation. It can be a moment, a situation, or describe someone who’s a cool person.” 

FARREAR: “Going out to party and giving it all at the club”

LA PINTA: “It’s the outfit. We don’t use the word outfit in Medellin.” 

Read the full Billboard cover story here

09 Mar 2023

First-Ever People’s Choice Country Awards Coming to NBC & Peacock This Year

 

The People’s Choice Awards is expanding with the announcement of the first-ever People’s Choice Country Awards airing in September across NBC and Peacock, live from the Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville.  

The two-hour telecast will give NBC a country awards show to compete with the CMA Awards, which have aired on ABC since 2006; the CMT Music Awards, which have aired on CBS since 2022; and the  ACM Awards, which have streamed on Prime Video since 2022.

NBC aired the CMA Awards from 1968-71 and the ACM Awards from 1979-97 but hasn’t been in the country awards game for years.

“We’re excited to partner with the Grand Ole Opry to bring the year’s biggest celebration in country music to Nashville,” Cassandra Tryon, senior vice president, live events, NBCUniversal Television & Streaming, said in a statement. “Country fans are passionate about their music and there’s no better place to host this event than from country music’s biggest stage.”  

As the show’s name implies, the winners will be chosen entirely by the fans, though several honorary awards will also be bestowed.

The People’s Choice Country Awards will extend to social platforms with All-Access Live bringing fans at home behind the scenes as well as interactively connecting country’s most popular stars with their biggest fans.  

The telecast will be produced by Den of Thieves with Jesse Ignjatovic, Evan Prager and Barb Bialkowski serving as executive producers 

The People’s Choice Awards aired on CBS from 1975-2017 and was highly rated for many years. E! acquired the show in 2017; it aired on that channel for the first time in 2018. NBC joined E! in airing the show in 2021.

The People’s Choice Awards has long included country categories and performances. At the most recent People’s Choice Awards, which aired Dec. 6, 2022, Shania Twain performed a four-song hit medley. Carrie Underwood was voted the country artist of 2022, beating Kelsea Ballerini, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett and Morgan Wallen.

The 2022 People’s Choice Awards bucked industry trends with year-over-year ratings growth on the broadcast network, and delivered 173 million total engagements across linear, digital and social platforms, according to an NBC statement.  

This new project is an example of collaboration resulting from NBCUniversal’s equity investment in Opry Entertainment Group alongside Atairos, which was finalized last year.  

The upcoming awards show is the latest in a series of moves from Ryman Hospitality Properties and Opry Entertainment Group. This week, OEG revealed a minority investment in country music lifestyle brand Whiskey Riff. In 2022, Ryman Hospitality Properties closed on its purchase of Block 21, a property that includes ACL Live at Moody Theater, the home venue of the television program Austin City Limits. 2020 saw the launch of Circle Network, a joint venture between OEG and Gray Television that featured Grand Ole Opry performances and more.

—Jessica Nicholson assisted in preparing this story

09 Mar 2023

A Guide To Museums and Exhibits Honoring Hip-Hop’s 50 Years

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Universal Hip-Hop Museum

Source: Sylvester Zawadzki / Universal Hip-Hop Museum

Here’s a quick guide to some of the best exhibits and museums displaying fifty years of Hip-Hop culture that we feel you need to check out as soon as you can and more than once if possible.

Hip-Hop enters its fifth decade of existence this year, and celebrations far and wide are taking place. For those who are devotees of the culture, there will be multiple opportunities to honor and celebrate it thanks to exhibitions being held at various museums and other institutions. Here are a few that we feel are the greatest to see again and again.

Universal Hip-Hop Museum

The Universal Hip-Hop Museum was launched in 2015 to be a “permanent place to celebrate the music that has made the Bronx famous around the world”, located a short distance from its birthplace at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. The current public round of programming, the [R]Evolution of Hip Hop Experience, began in 2019 in its space at the Bronx Terminal Market. Visitors can partake in the sights and sounds of numerous artifacts from artists and those close to the culture spanning 50 years as the permanent home is currently being built at the Bronx Point development at 610 Exterior Street. Once completed, it will occupy 52,000 square feet as part of a residential complex. Recently, it received a grant of $5.5 million.

In an interview, UHHM Executive Director Rocky Bucano spoke about the exciting new developments the museum has in store.  “We will be opening up a traveling museum that will start here in New York City. The traveling museum will debut in Manhattan, so we’re working on a location now,” he said.

The National Hip-Hop Museum

The National Hip-Hop Museum is located in Washington, D.C. in close proximity to Howard University. It launched from the Listen Video studios owned and operated by DJ BOOM, who has been a fixture of the culture there since the 1990s and was integral to helping launch the first satellite-broadcast radio station devoted to Hip-Hop, The Rhyme while serving as a Director of Production at XM Satellite Radio. The gallery space is located within the studio grounds and is home to one of the largest collections of Hip-Hop memorabilia and artifacts around. The museum holds periodic exhibits and sponsors major events featuring iconic and contemporary Hip-Hop artists.

HipHop: Conscious Unconscious

Fotografiska New York is the host of a sprawling exhibition featuring photography capturing Hip-Hop’s fifty years of existence. The exhibit, curated in part with Sacha Jenkins and Mass Appeal, features stunning photographs dating from the culture’s inception in the Bronx to now. It features photographs taken by renowned artists such as Jamel Shabazz, Campbell Addy, Ernie Paniccioli, and more detailing the strong role of women in the culture, and also contains never-before-seen artifacts.

The exhibit runs until May 21st.

The Culture: Hip-Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century

This exhibit is the fruit of a collaborative effort between the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Saint Louis Art Museum, with the aim of giving the public “an opportunity to celebrate the richness of creativity and innovation hip hop has catalyzed by exploring it through social, material, and art historical lenses,” according to the Baltimore museum’s Chief Education Officer Gamynne Guillotte. Covering Hip-Hop from the year 2000, it will feature artwork that shows how the culture has impacted society through changing and reforming narratives on race, sexuality and social justice among other subjects. It will run from April 5th until July 16th in Baltimore, then at the Saint Louis Art Museum from August 25th until January 1st, 2024.

Fresh, Fly, and Fabulous: 50 Years of Hip-Hop Style

As it is well-regarded how much of Hip-Hop culture has fashion embedded within it, this new exhibit which is at the Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City is a welcome addition to the anniversary calendar. Featuring over 100 items ranging from the lauded Adidas tracksuits worn by RUN-DMC to vintage Karl Kani pieces sported by the late Tupac Shakur, the exhibit will also pay homage to urban brands launched by Hip-Hop artists that rose to fame such as Rocawear. The exhibit is currently running until April 23rd.

09 Mar 2023

9 Of The Notorious B.I.G.’s Best Guest Verses

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USA - Crime - People Await Funeral Caravan for Notorious B.I.G

Source: Andrew Lichtenstein / Getty

March 9 marks the 26th anniversary of the tragic passing of the late-great, Notorious B.I.G. And though some of today’s Hip-Hoppers aren’t familiar with just how large the OG King of New York was in the Hip-Hop culture, we are, and because of that we continue to honor his memory to this day.

To celebrate the genius of Christopher Wallace aka The Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls aka Big Poppa aka Frank White, we’ve compiled a list of nine of Biggie’s best guest verses that you may or may not remember. Though Big wasn’t around long enough to hop on many of his rap peers’ songs, the few times that he did, he stole the show and basically made the song his own. For that we thank him.

From outshining Shaquille O’Neal on “Can’t Stop The Reign” to burning down the booth with The Lox on their “Funkmaster Flex freestyle,” Biggie constantly reminded everyone that during Hip-Hop’s golden era, he was the king of the hill. And to many he still is.

Check out nine of Biggie’s best guest verses below, and let us know if any other guest verses should’ve made the list in the comments section below.

Junior Mafia – “Get Money”

“… You knew about me, the fake ID’s / Cases in Virginia, bodies in DC…”



Junior Mafia – “Players Anthem”

“I’ve been robbin’ ni**as since Run and them was singin’ ‘Here We Go’ / snatchin’ ropes at the Roxie / homeboy, you didn’t know my flow?”



Shaquille O’Neal ft. The Notorious B.I.G. – “Can’t Stop The Reign”

“How can players stand there and say I sound like them? Hello / Push wigs back and 6 coups that’s yellow / Plus clips that expand from hand to elbows / Spray up your Days Inn, any telly you in.”


https://youtube.com/watch?v=HFc0iVlCEPY&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

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09 Mar 2023

Post Malone & Swae Lee’s ‘Sunflower’ Music Video Grows to 2 Billion Views on YouTube

Post Malone and Swae Lee‘s “Sunflower” music video officially surpassed 2 billion views on YouTube on Thursday (March 9).

Originally released in the fall of 2018, the song was part of the soundtrack for the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and also ultimately made the tracklist for Malone’s 2019 studio album Hollywood’s Bleeding.

The music video borrows a multitude of scenes from the family-friendly movie to spell out the origin story of a young Miles Morales even as the rappers take turns crooning, “Callin’ it quits now, baby, I’m a wreck/ Crash at my place, baby, you’re a wreck/ Thinkin’ in a bad way, losin’ your grip/ Screamin’ at my face, baby, don’t trip.”

“Sunflower” became Malone’s third career No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — after the 21 Savage-assisted “Rockstar” and “Psycho” featuring Ty Dolla $ign — when it reached the summit of the chart for a single week at the start of 2019. Meanwhile, it was Lee’s very first chart-topper and also scored nominations for record of the year and best pop duo/group performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards.

In November, the two rappers had another reason to celebrate their massive song after it achieved the record as the highest-certified single in the history of the Recording Industry Association of America at 17x Platinum.

Just a few weeks ago, the video for Posty’s 2015 breakout track “White Iverson” joined the Billion Views Club on YouTube, becoming the rapper’s fourth video to do so after “Sunflower,” “Rockstar” and “Congratulations” featuring Quavo — the latter of which is inching closer every day to the 1.5 billion mark.

Revisit the “Sunflower” music video below.

09 Mar 2023

DOJ Exposes Constant Racial Abuse By Louisville Police


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US-JUSTICE-RACISM-POLICE

Source: LUKE SHARRETT / Getty

A new review of the Louisville Police Department by the Department of Justice revealed a damning pattern of racial abuse by its officers for years.

In a report made public on Wednesday (March 8th), the Department of Justice found that both the Louisville, Kentucky  Metro Police Department and the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro government routinely engaged in a pattern of unconstitutional behavior against Black citizens and those with behavioral issues. This was done through police conducting searches using invalid warrants and excessive force on multiple occasions.

Attorney General Merrick Garland discussed the findings at a press conference in Louisville, saying the police department and local government “has undermined its public safety mission and strained its relationship with the community it is meant to protect and serve,” as the city’s acting police chief  Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel and Mayor Craig Greenberg stood nearby.

The 90-page report of the investigation conducted by the Civil Rights Division of the department goes into graphic detail about these abuses initiated by police officers. ”Some officers have videotaped themselves throwing drinks at pedestrians from their cars; insulted people with disabilities; and called Black people ‘monkeys,’ ‘animal,’ and ‘boy,’” the report stated. “This conduct erodes community trust, and the unlawful practices of LMPD and Louisville Metro undermine public safety.”

Further details show how political bias was a major component of the behavior of Louisville Police as well, with a department document from 2018 showing the adoption of the beliefs of the extremist Three Percenters. Another startling discovery was the use of excessive force involving dogs, with 71 bites being recorded over a span of 2016 to 2021. And evidence of excessive force against protesters decrying the death of Breonna Taylor in 2020 was also detailed, with people responding how police used “used riot sticks, less-lethal munitions, or chemical agents” against them. A police officer stated in an interview with DOJ officials that Taylor’s death “was a symptom of problems that we have had for years.”

Mayor Greenberg said of the report, “We will not make excuses, we will make changes.” The city has already paid out $12 million to Taylor’s family in a wrongful-death lawsuit, and council members have begun work towards the 36 recommended reforms from the report. The news from the DOJ comes after it announced a similar investigation into the Memphis, Tennessee police special units after the death of Tyre Nichols in January as well as investigations in Minneapolis, New York and Louisiana among other cities and states.