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Jay-Z 2022 Year-End Playlist Includes: Beyonce, Drake, Bad Bunny, Cardi B, Quavo and Takeoff, More
Jay-Z shared his year-end playlist of favorite songs on Tidal this week, which featured appearances from such usual suspects as Drake and 21 Savage, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Lil Baby, Quavo and Takeoff, and, of course, Beyoncé. And, because he’s a devoted husband, he actually included three songs from Bey’s acclaimed Renaissance album: “America Has a Problem,” “I’m That Girl” and “Plastic Off the Sofa.”
The 41-song playlist of 2022 favorites has Jigga’s go-to tracks from the past 11 months, including SZA’s “Shirt” and “SOS,” Drake and Savage’s “Jimmy Cooks,” Vince Staples and Mustard’s “Magic,” Lil Baby’s “In a Minute,” Kendrick’s “Rich Spirit,” 42 Dugg and Est Gee’s “Thump S–t,” Kodak Black’s “Purple Stamp” and Sno Aalegra’s “Do 4 Love.”
Jigga also paid tribute to late Migos member Takeoff by including the MC’s track with his uncle and Unc and Phew bandmate Quavo, “Hotel Lobby,” and he nodded to rising star GloRilla via her collab with Cardi B on “Tomorrow 2,” while shouting to his friend and former rival Nas with the inclusion of “Thun.” He also threw in a few singles he appeared on, such as DJ Khaled’s “God Did,” where he ripped alongside Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend and Fridayy, as well as Pusha T’s “Neck & Wrist,” which also featured Pharrell.
Among the other songs making the list: two more Kendrick tracks, “N95” and “Savior,” two more Drake and 21 Savage songs, “Rich Flex” and “Major Distribution,” Rosalia’s “Bizcochito,” Burna Boy’s “Last Last,” Bad Bunny’s smash “Tití Me Preguntó,” Benny The Butcher and J. Cole’s “Johnny P’s Caddy,” Metro Boomin, 21 Savage and Young Nudy’s “Umbrella,” Lil Yachty’s “Poland,” Babyface Ray’s “A1 Since Day 1,” Ab Soul and Zacari’s “Do Better” and Lil Uzi Vert’s “Just Wanna Rock.”
Check out a snapshot of Jay’s list below.
Inside Latin Music’s Billion-Dollar Year in the U.S. – And How It Boomed Across the World
Latin music is expected to reach the billion-dollar mark in revenues by year-end in the United States for the first time, according to the RIAA. That’s a big deal. But at the pace the genre has been growing over the past decade, it’s not surprising.
“I feel every year we’re talking about the Latin boom and we’re certainly not going ‘despacito,’” says Hans Schafer, senior vp of global touring at Live Nation. “I’d say this is the best year for Latin because we see it in streaming, in the number of tickets we’re selling, grosses in those shows and it’s not only Bad Bunny.”
Of course, Bad Bunny and his record-shattering album Un Verano Sin Ti — which became the first all-Spanish album to be ranked No. 1 on the Billboard 200 year-end albums chart — played a major role in giving the genre a boost. But the Puerto Rican hitmaker isn’t the only factor at play in what has been a years-long slow boil for Latin music, which was often seen as a fad in the past but is now regarded as a cornerstone genre in the U.S. music market.
Spanish-language music has been having a moment in the U.S. ever since Daddy Yankee released his breakthrough single “Gasolina” in 2004. After the Latin explosion of the late ‘90s, when Shakira and Ricky Martin were recording in English to achieve mainstream success in the U.S., the euphoric anthem became the first time a Spanish-language hit went global. Then, there was Luis Fonsi‘s “Despacito,” the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping song — spending a then-record 16 weeks at No. 1 in 2017 — that changed Latin music forever, spearheading a global Latin movement made possible by streaming.
This year, Spanish-language music in the U.S. and other non-Latin markets has reached new heights across multiple metrics, including on the charts, in market share growth and in global reach. In the U.S. alone, market share for the Latin genre — defined as music sung predominantly in Spanish — was 6.6% of the total market in the first half of the year, up from 5.9% last year, according to the RIAA’s mid-year report in October.
On the Hot 100 chart, a total of 45 Latin songs have entered the tally so far this year, way ahead of 2021’s 25 titles. Among this year’s crop, 22 were off Bad Bunny’s genre-hopping set Un Verano Sin Ti, which powered his extraordinary year along with two history-making U.S. tours. Those back-to-back runs grossed a total of $373.5 million from 1.8 million tickets across 65 shows, allowing the superstar to rank as the top act on Billboard’s year-end Top Tours chart.
Newer acts have also seen success on the touring front this year. Colombian reggaeton artist Feid sold out all 14 dates of his first-ever U.S. tour in a span of 24 hours after announcing it in October. So did up-and-coming sad sierreño act Ivan Cornejo, whose first U.S. trek — supported by local promoters and set to kick off in January for a total of 13 shows — sold out “within minutes,” according to his team, of the pre-sale.
The development of new artists, and understanding how the touring component complements their streaming and music video views, has been key to the continued growth of Latin music in the U.S. Emerging artists across Latin genres, notably in regional Mexican, are more diverse and younger, which has led to a new generation of Latin music fans who are bilingual, tech-savvy and more likely to embrace genre-blurring acts. The rise of Latin also coincides with shifting demographics in the U.S., where Latinos now represent nearly 20% of the population.
Mexican music had a banner year. The legacy genre is reaching a wider audience thanks to a new generation of acts such as Grupo Firme, the first banda outfit to perform at Coachella, who followed up that history-making performance with a stadium tour; Eslabon Armado, whose Nostalgia became the first top 10-charting regional Mexican album ever on the Billboard 200; and artists like Ivan Cornejo and Yahritza Y Su Esencia, to name a few. On Billboard’s year-end Hot Latin Songs Artists chart, seven out of the top 20 are regional Mexican acts. What was once considered music by Mexican artists for a Mexican audience has now become big business in the U.S. market.
“[Regional Mexican] music is a lot more relatable now for a Mexican American kid that lives in the U.S. because the sound and lyrics have evolved,” says Brayan Guerra, label manager at Lumbre Music, whose roster includes Yahritza Y Su Esencia. The sibling trio broke earlier this year with “Soy El Único,” which became the fourth regional Mexican song ever to enter the Hot 100. In November, they signed with Columbia Records in partnership with Lumbre and Sony Music Latin, making them the first Mexican music act to join the Columbia roster.
Streaming has played a huge role in the increase in Latin music consumption, with the RIAA’s mid-year Latin revenue report showing that streaming revenues were the biggest growth driver for the genre. Through the first half of 2022, music streaming formats comprised 97% of all Latin music revenues ($510 million), with paid subscriptions the biggest source of sales at 71%. That amounts to 69% of overall Latin revenues, totaling $350 million in paid subscriptions alone.
“Artists were able to build communities during the pandemic because of the time people spent consuming music during lockdown, and we’re seeing the impact now,” says Carlos Abreu, a London-based music agent at UTA. “Like Karol G when she had all her fans wearing blue wigs, Rosalía with the motomamis and motopapis.”
Success in the U.S. reflects the ever-growing popularity of the genre in other non-Latin markets. “Latin America and the U.S. continue to drive the consumption and engagement, but we do see it becoming more global with bigger acts like Rosalía, Karol G and Bad Bunny being consumed in continents like Africa,” says Maykol Sanchez, head of artist & label partnerships, LatAm & US Latin at Spotify, where 10 Latin artists were within the Top 50 global most-streamed artists this year. “The last few years have been an explosion with our friend Bad Bunny leading the way but a lot of other great artists having big moments too.”
To name a few, Anitta reached the No. 1 spot on Spotify’s Top 50 – Global chart with “Envolver” in March, making her the first Brazilian artist to do so. The same day, Paulo Londra landed in the No. 2 position with his song “Plan A.” And in July, Argentine producer Bizarrap and Spanish artist Quevedo reached the No. 1 position on the Spotify Global tally with their smash hit “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52.”
“It’s more a global business than it ever has been,” says Abreu, whose client Rosalía earned $28.1 million touring on three continents so far this year. Europe is now quicker to embrace Latin music than it did previously, he adds. “I’ve seen the shift in real-time. Especially [when] booking European festivals and tours. Before there was the education that needed to happen, the convincing. Five or six years ago we were trying to convince promoters or buyers that these artists were mainstream. It’s exciting that the world is [finally] catching up and it feels good to say, ‘I told you so.’”
In terms of expanding Latin music’s global reach, the U.S. remains the jackpot market “because it’s the seal of approval” that helps launch Latin artists in other parts of the world, says Bruno Del Granado, head of global Latin music touring at CAA. “When I started working in the label business many years, at the end of the year the U.S. market would generate probably 70% of our revenue and international was 30%. Now it’s the opposite: 30% U.S., 70% international. The U.S. gives you prestige, but you also want China, India and Latin America. It adds into this big puzzle and every artist, the smart ones, always look at the world as their market.”
Virginia Beach to Pay $3 Settlement in Killing of Pharrell’s Cousin
The city of Virginia Beach will pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit from the family of a Black man who was shot by police during a chaotic night of violence on the city’s oceanfront last year. The city and the family of Donovon Lynch — a cousin of musician and Virginia Beach native Pharrell Williams — announced the agreement late Tuesday (Dec. 13).
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Wayne Lynch, Dononvon’s father, filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit in June 2021 against the city and police officer Solomon D. Simmons, who is also Black.
Lynch’s shooting occurred on a warm March night near the city’s crowded boardwalk, which is lined with restaurants and hotels. The evening dissolved into chaos after separate outbreaks of gunfire. At least eight people were wounded and one woman, who was believed to be a bystander, was killed.
Lynch, 25, a former college football player, was at a nightclub with his friend when a shooting occurred outside, the lawsuit stated. The men left and walked toward their cars when they encountered Simmons. “Immediately, unlawfully and without warning, officer Simmons fired his police-issued firearm at Mr. Lynch, shooting him twice and killing him,” the lawsuit states.
In November 2021, a special grand jury found that Simmons was justified. Authorities said Lynch had a gun and racked a round into the chamber before pointing his weapon toward a parking lot filled with people and police. Tuesday’s joint statement said more has been learned “about the facts of that fateful night and encounter.”
“(W)e have come to understand that a series of unfortunate occurrences led to Donovon’s death that night — which in hindsight should never have occurred as it was later determined that neither Donovon nor the officer set in motion the events that transpired,” the statement said.
The statement didn’t elaborate.
The settlement comes more than a month after Williams announced that his music festival, Something in the Water, would return to Virginia Beach. When the festival pulled out of Virginia Beach in 2021, the Grammy-winning musician had said “toxic energy” had run the city for too long and that he wished it had taken a more proactive stance after police shot Lynch. Last month, Williams said demand for the festival in Virginia Beach has “never wavered. If anything it has only intensified.”
Man Charged in Takeoff’s Death Tried to Avoid Arrest: Police
The man accused of fatally shooting rapper Takeoff last month outside a Houston bowling alley sought information about using fake plane tickets to obtain an expedited passport in his efforts to flee the country, and repeatedly made online searches about whether he was a suspect in the case, prosecutors alleged during a court hearing Wednesday (Dec. 15).
But attorneys for Patrick Xavier Clark, 33, say their client never had any intention of leaving Houston and he will likely pursue self-defense in the case, as he has asserted his innocence.
“We feel comfortable that when the time is right that Mr. Clark will have a valid and meritorious claim for self-defense,” Letitia Quinones, one of Clark’s attorneys, said after the hearing. She declined to provide additional details on this to reporters, but during the hearing, she suggested that Clark only fired after someone shot at him first. Police say Clark fired the first shot.
Takeoff was shot in the head and back as more than 30 people were leaving a private party at the bowling alley around 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 1. Houston police have said the gunfire followed a disagreement over a “lucrative” game of dice outside the bowling alley, but that the 28-year-old rapper was not involved and was “an innocent bystander.”
Clark was arrested on Dec. 1 on a murder charge.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Clark’s attorneys had sought to have his bond reduced from $2 million to $100,000. But state District Judge Josh Hill was initially hesitant to reduce his bond, believing he could be a flight risk and that Clark’s “Google searches for fake tickets cause me a great deal of concern.”
During the hearing, Houston police Sgt. Michael Burrow testified that a review of Clark’s cell phone after his arrest found he had made online searches for fake plane tickets. Prosecutors suggested these searches were tied to Clark’s efforts to get an expedited passport. Investigators also found multiple searches on his cell phone in which Clark looked at news articles about the shooting and whether he was named as a suspect, he said.
“It was my belief he was preparing to flee the country,” Burrow said.
Surveillance video showed Clark was holding a wine bottle in one hand when he fired his gun, Burrow said. Clark left the bottle near the scene of the shooting and fingerprints found on the bottle were later used to identify him. FBI sources had also pointed to Clark as being at the shooting.
Quinones denied Clark was trying to leave the country after the shooting, saying that before his arrest he had canceled a previously scheduled trip to Mexico and that on the day of his arrest he had been looking for an apartment to rent in the city.
Hill agreed to reduce Clark’s bond to $1 million if additional security requirements could be met and he agreed to consider next week additional information from Clark’s lawyers about possibly lowering it more, possibly to $300,000. Quinones said she hopes Hill lowers the bond to $300,000 as anything higher cannot be afforded by Clark’s family.
Clark’s father, Joseph, testified that his son works as a DJ and also promotes night clubs but that he has never been financially stable, still lives at home, borrows his truck to get around and wouldn’t have the resources to flee to another country.
During the hearing, prosecutors played a recording of a call Clark made on Dec. 6 from jail to his family in which he could he heard saying that the $2 million bond “can be made right now.” Prosecutors suggested Clark has had access to large amounts of cash in his work as a DJ and with night clubs. But Quinones said Clark indicating he could pay the $2 million was just boastful claims from “a young man talking and talking too much.”
Police have said that during the shooting, another man and a woman suffered non-life-threatening gunshot injuries, and that at least two people opened fired. Police said investigators are still trying to track down witnesses. The gun used to kill Takeoff has not been recovered, Burrow said.
Born Kirsnick Khari Ball, Takeoff was the youngest member of Migos, the Grammy-nominated rap trio from suburban Atlanta that also featured his uncle Quavo and cousin Offset.
Migos first broke through with the massive hit “Versace” in 2013. They had four Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, though Takeoff was not on their multi-week No. 1 hit “Bad and Boujee,” featuring Lil Uzi Vert. They put out a trilogy of albums called Culture, Culture II and Culture III, with the first two hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
Spotify Cancels Live Audio Shows In Latest Programming Cuts
Spotify has canceled at least six of its live audio shows as part of the audio giant’s latest round of programming cuts.
Included in the cancelations are Deux Me After Dark, a celebrity gossip show hosted by the anonymous creator known as Deux Moi; Doughboys: Snack Pack, a food show hosted by the comedians Nick Wiger and Mike Mitchell; The Movie Buff, a movie review show hosted by the comedian Jon Gabrus; A Gay in the Life, a current events and LGBTQ+ culture show from Teen Beach Movie star Garrett Clayton and writer Blake Knight; Taylor Talk, a Taylor Swift fan show hosted by Ellie Schnitt; and Lorem Life, a music show based on Spotify’s Lorem playlist hosted by Dev Lemons and Max Motley.
The cancelations, two of which were not previously reported, were confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter by a Spotify spokesperson.
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At least two deals for the Spotify Live shows were canceled midway through the creators’ contracts, according to a person familiar with the matter. A second source close to the matter said that all the contracts are being paid out in full, despite the cancelations.
The audio giant, which rebranded its live audio offering in April from Spotify Greenroom to Spotify Live, will continue to release live episodes from The Ringer MMA Show and The Fantasy Footballers, the latter of which struck a deal with Spotify earlier this year that included an extension of the show’s partnership with Spotify Live through the next three NFL seasons.
Other creators like Alex Cooper, whose Spotify Live show was promoted as part of the company’s live audio rebrand, have not continued hosting live episodes since launching their shows earlier this year. Cooper’s second and most recent live episode took place in April and was made available for on-demand listening on April 28.
The programming changes, first reported by Bloomberg, are the latest cuts from the audio giant, which recently canceled a total of 11 shows from in-house studios Gimlet and Parcast — 10 of which came to an end last month. The cuts have followed a similar model to cancelations in TV programming for broadcasters and streamers.
This article originally appeared in THR.com.
Bad Bunny Encouraged to Perform Free Concert In Mexico After Ticket Fiasco
Bad Bunny could fix a bad situation in Mexico by playing a free concert.
That’s the suggestion of the country’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a do-over after hundreds were shut out of his concert in Mexico City in a ticketing snafu which is now being investigated.
When Bad Bunny’s World’s Hottest Tour stopped in the capital over the weekend, a flood of bogus tickets ruined the experience for many fans.
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As previously reported, a total of 1,600 faulty tickets were reported for the first concert Dec. 9, and 110 for the second on Dec. 10. Both shows were at Estadio Azteca, with 80,000 people attending each night.
Due to the “oversale” of tickets, Ricardo Sheffield, head of Mexico’s Federal Attorney’s Office for Consumers (PROFECO), said that those affected must receive a 100% refund plus a 20% compensation, and that Ticketmaster Mexico must be fined.
López Obrador has played the ball back into Bad Bunny’s court. Though the government couldn’t offer the Puerto Rican singer a fee, he said taxpayers would cover the cost for lights, stage and sound system, and even install a zip line.
“I would tell him how deeply we were touched to see young people sad because they couldn’t get in, because they had duplicated tickets, because they were victims of fraud,” the Associated Press quotes López Obrador.
Bad Bunny’s representatives did not immediately respond to the AP on the president’s offer.
Mexico’s consumer protection agency has said it will investigate the ticketing fiasco, which saw Bad Bunny’s show on Friday delayed for almost an hour.
According to the AP, Ticketmaster Mexico has said the event was highly sought-after but denied the concerts were oversold. A company statement said 4.5 million requests, with counterfeit tickets blocking some legitimate ticketholders from entry.
Despite the situation in Mexico City, Bad Bunny can look back on another dominant year, one that made him the biggest artist on the planet.
On the live front, Bad Bunny was the year’s highest-grossing touring artist, with over $373.5 million in ticket sales, according to Boxscore (with 20 Latin American stadium shows still left to play and tally).
On the recording side, his May album release Un Verano Sin Ti, via independent label Rimas Entertainment and distributed through The Orchard, is the first non-English album to ever top the year-end Billboard 200, after logging 13 weeks at the summit.
In November, it also became the first all-Spanish release nominated for album of the year at the Grammy Awards, and led Spotify’s annual albums chart.
The singer and rapper came in at No. 1 on Spotify’s most-streamed global artists list, with more than 18.5 billion streams in 2022, and becomes the first artist to top the tally for three consecutive years.
Megan Thee Stallion’s Ex-Assistant Contradicts Earlier Statements, Invokes Fifth Amendment During Day 3 of Tory Lanez Trial
Megan Thee Stallion‘s former friend and assistant Kelsey Harris took the stand Wednesday (Dec. 14) on the third day of the highly publicized trial over whether Tory Lanez shot Megan in the foot on July 12, 2020.
During Harris’ testimony — which saw her become increasingly hesitant about answering Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta‘s questions about what happened on the night in question — a recording from an interview she gave to Ta, Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott and an investigator in September 2022 was played in court to try to jog her memory. During a portion of that earlier interview, Harris could be heard claiming that Lanez had also threatened to shoot her on the car ride back from Kylie Jenner‘s house prior to the shooting. But in a surprising turn, Harris recanted that earlier testimony from the stand.
Earlier in the day, Harris arrived in court with her attorney Daniel A. Nardoni wearing a black blouse and slacks and carrying a black bejeweled Christian Louboutin bag. Before the jury arrived, Nardoni said his client planned to assert her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, leading Judge David Herriford to address her concern as “legitimate.” Prosecutors then offered her “use immunity” — meaning nothing derived from her testimony may be used against her in a criminal proceeding — before she was sworn in and took the stand.
Harris is a key witness because she was one of only two people present with Megan and the defendant at the time of the alleged shooting, aside from Lanez’s security guard Jauquan Smith. During opening statements earlier this week, Lanez’s lead attorney George Mgdesyan pushed the theory that Harris may have been the one who pulled the trigger instead of his client. The defense’s argument heavily relied on an account from another witness, Sean Kelly, whom the police interviewed shortly after the shooting because the SUV carrying Megan, Lanez, Harris and Smith had stopped near his house. Mgdesyan said Kelly saw Harris exit from the back seat of the car and open Megan’s front passenger door before witnessing “a fist fight between the girls” and seeing one of the women point a gun at the other.
During her time on the stand Tuesday, Megan explained to prosecutors that Harris was her “best friend since freshman year of college” who later became her assistant at the end of 2019. During cross-examination, the Grammy-winning rapper (real name Megan Pete) denied Harris was the shooter and told the defense it was their client Lanez (real name Daystar Peterson) who yelled, “Dance, bi—!” before allegedly pointing the gun and shooting her. Megan, 27, also revealed that she and Harris have not seen each other since the incident.
On Wednesday, Harris was initially composed but became increasingly reticent after Ta began interrogating her about her side of the story.
“I don’t want to be here today. It’s a triggering situation. I just don’t want to be here,” Harris told Ta at one point, echoing Megan’s own statements during her testimony the day prior. She also denounced the defense’s argument that she shot Megan, calling the accusation “ridiculous.”
For the duration of the hearing, Harris appeared distracted, consistently asking Ta to repeat her questions and “refresh [her] memory” by playing specific audio clips taken from the September 2022 interview. When asked again how she felt about being in court, Harris blamed “anxiety, post-partum, a death in the family…[and a] sick baby” as reasons why she was not mentally present in the courtroom. However, she told Ta that being in the same room as Lanez, who was wearing a light brown suit and black turtleneck with black velvet loafers, did not affect her ability to testify.
While describing the relationship between herself, Megan and Lanez — which she said started after the two women met Lanez at a Roc Nation brunch in 2020 — Harris claimed the “Luv” singer “was someone that Megan wanted me to pursue beyond a friendship” and that “there were a few nights we had been engaged,” confirming she had an intimate relationship with the singer. After returning from a trip to her hometown of Houston for a few months that year due to COVID, she said she realized that Megan and Lanez had grown closer during her time away.
Harris then began recounting what happened at Jenner’s house, insisting that it wasn’t a “party” but rather a small “gathering” with about six people. “A lot of alcohol had been involved,” said Harris, who said she had drunkenly passed out at Jenner’s home for a few hours before returning to the gathering, at which point only herself, Megan, Lanez, Jenner and Megan’s stylist EJ King — who had driven Megan and Harris to the party that night — remained. Harris described Megan as “drunk” and that “her behavior was a little off” and later said that Lanez was “just being Tory” and “flirting with Kylie” — an admission that caused the defendant to smirk from his seat.
According to Harris, after King convinced Megan to leave the house because her wig was falling off, the rapper argued that she wanted to leave with Lanez and had King move her and Harris’ bags from his car to Lanez’s car. She claimed that Lanez then told Smith to “just take them home” in an “adamant way” because he didn’t want to leave. Shortly after Smith, Lanez’s security guard, began driving the two women home, Megan insisted they all return to the house because she “had left a slipper.” Harris then recalled seeing Megan rush out the house with Lanez, saying, “Bi—, Kylie said we gotta get the f— out!” before the two hopped in the car with Harris and Smith.
Once Ta began interrogating Harris about what happened in the car, the witness became noticeably flustered. “Do I have to answer that?” she asked Judge Herriford, who nodded his head, prompting her to describe the arguments that ensued. “There was a lot of back and forth in the car,” she testified, later explaining how “upset” and “confused” she had felt when Lanez eventually told Harris that he and Megan were “having a relationship.” When prosecutors questioned whether Lanez called the two women “bi—es and h–s” — which the “Savage” MC claimed in court the day before — Harris couldn’t provide a direct response. It was then that Bott started playing bits of the September 2022 recording, which Judge Herriford informed the jury could not be considered as evidence.
After the portion of the recording was played where Harris claimed Lanez had threatened to shoot her, Ta pressed Harris about the validity of her claim. Harris then attempted to assert her Fifth Amendment right, only for Judge Herriford to tell her she first needed to discuss that with her attorney. After returning from an hour-and-a-half lunch recess, Harris went on to recant her prior statement that Lanez had threatened to shoot her, admitting parts of her September 2022 interview “weren’t accurate. There were some things I wasn’t truthful about to protect myself,” she testified. Over the course of her testimony, Harris never explained what she was protecting herself from, nor which parts of the interview were less than “100% truthful.”
Prosecutors went on to play more of the recorded interview, which revealed Harris stating that Lanez verbally threatened her by saying, “My n—a, I’ll shoot you” and then “reached” for something in the “center console” of the vehicle but “never opened it.”
In the midst of Harris’ testimony, Ta grew noticeably irritated with the witness, raising her voice as she questioned why she’d admitted to sending Justin Edison, Megan’s security guard, three texts that read “Help. Tory shot meg. 911” if she didn’t — as Harris testified — see Lanez shoot the rapper. “I was in a panic,” Harris responded. Ta then showed Harris a photo of herself, taken at the police station on the night of the shooting, that showed her with blood on her leg. Harris replied, “I don’t know whose blood that was.” She then testified that Megan had been bleeding — and had put her leg on Harris’ in the car following the shooting — but that she hadn’t known where the blood was coming from and remained uncertain of Megan’s injuries up to the point when she arrived at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where Megan was being treated. Ta then asked incredulously, “This is your best friend, right?”
Lanez, 30, currently faces three felony charges: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence, the latter of which was added to the list of charges ahead of the trial last week. If convicted on all three counts, he faces 22 years in prison.
Harris is due back in court Thursday (Dec. 15) to complete her testimony.
Baker Boy, Julia Jacklin Among Winners at 2022 Music Victoria Awards
Baker Boy adds to his heaving collection of trophies with a hattrick at the Music Victoria Awards, presented Tuesday (Dec. 13) in central Melbourne.
The Fresh Prince of Arnhem Land, and he’s known in these parts, was the big winner, topping categories for best regional act, best song and the coveted best album honor for his full-length debut Gela (Island Records/Universal Music Australia), which peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Chart.
The singer, songwriter, rapper and dancer entered the event in great awards form. He was a dominant force at the 2022 ARIA Awards last month, where he collective five wins, including album of the year, best hip-hop/rap release, and best solo artist.
Also, at the 2022 NIMAs in August, he took home artist of the year and album of the year. In 2021, the year Gela was released, Baker Boy received an Order Of Australia (OAM) medal for “service to the performing arts as a singer and musician,” to go with his young Australian of the year honor, from 2019.
With his Music Victoria triumph, Baker Boy (real name Danzal Baker) boasts eighth Music Victoria Awards, including four scooped in 2018.
Following the release of Pre Pleasure (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group), Julia Jacklin won the Music Victoria Award for best solo artist. Jacklin’s critically-acclaimed third studio album hit No. 2 on the ARIA Chart, No. 1 on the ARIA Australian Album and Vinyl charts, and last month took out the ARIA for best adult contemporary album.
Organized by trade body Music Victoria, the awards were decided by a panel of more than 200 music experts, and the “largest public voting response” in its 17-year history, organizers say. This year’s in-person ceremony took place at The Edge, on Federation Square.
Other winners on the night included soul artist Emma Donovan and her band The Putbacks (best group); Noongar woman and Naarm artist Bumpy (the Archie Roach Foundation Award for emerging talent); “Native Tongue” singer Mo’Ju (best soul, funk, R&B or gospel work); punk band Pinch Points (best rock or punk work); Harvey Sutherland (best electronic act); Georgia State Line (best country), and Alice Ivy (best producer).
In one of the special moments of the event, Deborah Conway, the singer, songwriter and one-time leader of post-punk outfit Do-Re-Mi, was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame. Georgia State Line Conway’s paid musical tribute with a cover of Conway’s glorious love-struck number “It’s Only the Beginning.”
“I played my first gig 44 years ago and was hooked,” Conway said from the podium. “Music has been my lifelong map. I’ve followed the well lit way, the rocky back alleys, the detours and shortcuts, worked and played with incredible people in extraordinary places for the best and worst audiences and the worst and best sound and my interest has never flagged; how tremendous to be rewarded for doing something you would do regardless.”
Meanwhile, Helen Marcou & Ian “Quincy” McLean of Bakehouse Studios were inducted into the Hall of Fame, for their tireless efforts in supporting the country’s music culture.
The Music Victoria Awards 2022 Winners
Hall of Fame Inductees: Deborah Conway AM, Helen Marcou AM & Ian ‘Quincy’ McLean AM
Best Album: Baker Boy – Gela
Best Musician: Xani Kolac
Best Song: Baker Boy – Survive
Best Group: Emma Donovan & The Putbacks
Best Producer: Alice Ivy
Best Solo Artist: Julia Jacklin
Best DJ: MzRizk and Jennifer Loveless (Tied award)
Best Regional Act: Baker Boy
MAV Diasporas Award: Charles Maimarosia
Best Blues Work: Checkerboard Lounge
Best Country Work: Georgia State Line
Best Electronic Work: Harvey Sutherland
Best Experimental or Avant-Garde Work: The Amplified Elephants
Best Folk Work: Kerryn Fields
Best Heavy Work: Outright
Best Hip Hop Work: MAMMOTH. & Silent Jay
Best Jazz Work: Barney McAll
Best Pop Work: The Stroppies
Best Reggae or Dancehall Work: JahWise
Best Rock Or Punk: Pinch Points
Best Soul, Funk, RNB or Gospel Work: Mo’Ju
Arts Access Amplify Award: Evelyn Ida Morris
The Archie Roach Foundation Award for Emerging Talent: Bumpy
Best Metro Festival: Brunswick Music Festival: Wurundjeri
Best Regional Festival: Port Fairy Folk Festival (Gunditjmara)
Best Large Venue (Metro): Forum Melbourne (Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung)
Best Small Venue (Metro): Brunswick Ballroom (Wurundjeri)
Best Regional Venue (Established): Caravan Music Club – Archies Creek (Boonwurrung)
Best Regional Venue (Under 50 Gigs): Daylesford Hotel (Dja Dja Wurrung)
Larry Strickland Speaks Out on His Late Wife Naomi Judd’s Struggles With Mental Health
Larry Strickland, the husband of late country music singer-songwriter Naomi Judd, is speaking out about The Judds member’s lengthy battle with depression and anxiety.
Judd was 76 when she died by suicide on April 30, 2022, just one day prior to The Judds‘ induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and shortly before Naomi was to embark on The Judds Final Tour with her daughter and duo partner Wynonna Judd.
In a new interview with People, Strickland described her final months as “a very chaotic, hectic, hectic time.”
“It was extremely hard,” he revealed. “She had several therapists that she was seeing, and her energy level had gotten really low. She was getting really weak.”
He added, “Nobody can understand it unless you’ve been there. Think of your very worst day of your whole life — someone passed away, you lost your job, you found out you were being betrayed, that your child had a rare disease — you can take all of those at once and put them together and that’s what depression feels like.”
Strickland and Judd married 33 years ago, on May 6, 1989, and he says especially over the past 13-plus years, he rarely left her side, to ensure she was taken care of.
“I never left the house without Naomi knowing where I was going and when I would be back,” he said. “As far as taking care of myself, I’m not sure that fits my situation. When you have a mate that has a mental illness, you walk that path with them.”
Even so, Strickland said he was unaware of just how much his wife was struggling in the months leading up to her passing, and pondered if there were things he could have handled differently.
“I just feel like I might have overdone it,” Strickland remarked. “I was trying to get her to eat. I was trying to get her to exercise. I handled her medications and had to make sure she had what she needed. I was trying every way I could.
“If I had known where she was, I would’ve been much softer on her,” he added. “I would’ve been gentler and more understanding instead of tired and exhausted because it was wearing me out, too…I look back and just wish I had been holding her and comforting her instead of pushing her. I don’t know if that would’ve helped, but it certainly wouldn’t have hurt.”
Following his wife’s death, Strickland has begun speaking out to raise awareness about caring for mental health, including his recent contribution to the Academy of Country Music’s Lifting Lives series The Check-In. In the episode, he spoke about how he manages stress, offered advice for those struggling with mental health, and what he is grateful for.
“I was consumed by what happened, and I want to do anything I can to help relieve any kind of hurting or suffering for others,” he explained. “I’m willing to do whatever I can to hopefully help anyone not go through what our family has.”
The original short-form digital series ACM Lifting Lives Presents The Check-in launched in May and over the past seven months, has featured artists including Jimmie Allen, Brett Eldredge and John Osborne.
Watch Strickland’s episode of The Check-in below:
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