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Charli XCX and Rina Sawayama are not fighting. On Wednesday (Aug. 30), Charli took to X, formerly known as Twitter after she was criticized for unfollowing her “Beg for You” collaborator on Instagram. On social media, fans noticed that Charli — who has openly supported and Sawayama throughout the years — unfollowed the “STFU!” singer […]
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There’s a must-watch visual podcast uncovering new ground in the storytelling of The Notorious B.I.G.’s life as he recorded his final album 25 years ago. In Iconic Records: Life After Death, radio legend and executive producer Angie Martinez interviews 25 subjects to transport viewers in a moment of time as a legendary double-sided album was birthed in the midst of his rising fame while navigating a hostile rap beef with the West Coast in the mid-1990s.
While his life has undoubtedly been examined across various media vertices since his violent passing, this 8-episode effort deserves your undivided attention. There’s no overproduction or distractive acting. It involves two chairs, a coffee table, and a camera crew capturing vulnerable conversations between the rapper’s closest friends and colleagues and a radio Hall of Famer. Notables gracing the opposing chair include Rick Ross, Fat Joe, DJ Clark Kent, Lil’ Cease, 112, Pusha T, and more.
The conversations examine the pillars that made Biggie, born Christopher Wallace, an icon as he broke ground in fashion, lyricism, rap politics, recording style, and demeanor. At the time, he was freshly crowned “King of New York” early in his career, becoming a trailblazer in these areas at a heightened level with his unconventional attractiveness during his ascension to fame.
For starters, he was a visual anomaly with a towering stature, big waist, and dark skin, complimented by his smooth charm and lisping charisma– a unique recipe to make the Brooklyn rapper the perfect muse for fashion stylists and photographers who knew he was destined for greatness.
Renowned photographer Barron Claiborne explained how he snapped the legendary red background photographs of Biggie in a crown. The images grew so popular it forced him to repetitively sue bossy Bad Boy Entertainment honcho Sean “Diddy” Combs (f/k/a Puff Daddy) for using the images without his approval. Photographer Michael Levine also discusses the challenges faced to bring us the Life After Death album art taken at the Cypress Hill cemetery.
In episode 4, Klepto, friend and member of the rap group Junior M.A.F.I.A., gives a first-hand account of how he first came across Tupac Shakur witnessing his brotherhood with Biggie during a wild night out on the town. He was also there the day of the Quad Recording Studios shooting, providing the gruesome details of what he saw when he reached the bloody lobby just as the cops intercepted them coming out of the elevator. This incident marked the beginning of the infamous coastal feud between the two rappers, eventually leading to Biggie’s fatal demise a few years later. By episode 5, DJ Clark Kent unapologetically declares Pac’s ominous account of the shooting a blatant lie promoted to avoid telling the truth about what really happened to him that night.
Some of the most famed tracks off Life After Death wouldn’t have happened without sheer networking and dash of humbled begging.“Ten Crack Commandments” producer DJ Premier tells of how the song almost didn’t make it on the album. In this story, Premo highlights that Biggie’s stardom transitioning from gritty New York rapper to Versace wearing superstar (or “ashy to classy” as many here have donned it) caused a bit of friction with his underground artist Jeru the Damja, the original owner of the track. Angie Martinez and her radio show is intertwined in the story, which aided a begging Puffy to eventually procure the instrumental.
In a similar scenario told in episode 6, Fat Joe– a refreshing edition to the series details how intertwined he was in the New York rap scene– recounts the time he brokered the relationship between Biggie and Realitivity Records label mates Bone Thugs-N-Harmony for the track “Notorious Thugs.” The Bronx rapper colorfully embellished a portion of the story of the group’s unwillingness to work with B.I.G. due to their allegience with Pac and the West Coast, which was challenged and denied by Layzie Bone and the group’s manager Steve Lobel. Eventually, Biggie and Bone Thugs united in a historic studio session filled with weed, Hennessy, and positive vibes. Layzie Bone reveals that Biggie didn’t end up recording his part that night, and heard the final version of the song for the first time after the double album was released weeks after his death.
In a later episode, Lil’ Cease continues the story of how seriously Biggie wanted to master the Bone Thugs’ flow and the lengths he took to perfect it before hitting the booth. It’s now one of the most famous songs to date. In all three stories with Pac, Jeru, and Bone Thugs, a common theme about the “Juicy” rapper and his legacy remained consistent: he prioritized his love of music before rap politics.
The series briefly transitions into a therapy session when Lil’ Cease tells of his relationship with his big brother Biggie. Through the trust of his long-standing relationship Martinez, the Junior M.A.F.I.A. member describes the death as a “trauma” he continues to struggle with today. At 44 years old, he introspectively harps on how young he (17) and Biggie (24) were as they both navigated the deep waters of fame and violence.
Nasheem Myrick, a former Bad Boy producer from the legendary Hitmen who worked on “Who Shot Ya,” “What’s Beef?,” and “Somebody’s Gotta Die,” reveals a heartbreaking story of his beef with Biggie over an unknown love interest they both shared at the time. In this untold story, he eventually achieves closure on the last day the rapper was last in New York before flying out to Los Angeles in 1997.
Interestingly, both Lil’ Cease and Klepto separately came to terms with the potential of their own successes had Biggie never passed away. Junior M.A.F.I.A was set to be the next priority for the superstar rapper following the release of Life After Death, but the group never had their chance. Cease also describes how his solo career would have launched under the vision Biggie had for him to be introduced to the world. However, Puff certainly didn’t have an interest in the group after the assassination, especially since their lyrics were mainly penned by Biggie himself. With all considered, the group disbanded leaving fans with classic hits “Players Anthem” and “Get Money” that are still enjoyed today. Meeting the same fate was The Commission comprising of JAY-Z, Lance “Un” Rivera, Diddy, Charli Baltimore, and Lil’ Cease.
Rick Ross and Pusha T also make an appearance on the show. Both Ross, who respectfully mimicked Biggie’s image, and Pusha, a lyricist who faithfully flows about slinging crack, pay homage to how integral Biggie’s music made in their own approach to their discographies.
Noticeably absent from the interview panel were Life After Death featured artists Diddy, The LOX, Lil’ Kim, Ma$e, and Jay Z. It also would have been nice to see Stevie J, another Hitmen producer who had a heavy hand in the making of this album, join the series. It’s unclear if the reality star’s estranged marriage to Biggie’s widow, Faith Evans, had anything to do with that.
Overall, Iconic Records’s first season is, by and large, a great watch thanks in part to the remarkable journalistic executions between host Angie Martinez and director-writer Bonsu Thompson. Without their contribution to this project, it would have been hard to achieve the same high-quality storytelling in someone elses’s hands.
New episodes air weekly across multiple platforms for viewers and listeners alike for free. Binge watch the first 6 episodes on WMX Hip-Hop channel (Ch. 1137) on The Roku Channel or YouTube. Listeners can also access them in a podcast format across all major audio podcast platforms.
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“I’m a different kind of woman,” Lana Del Rey states plainly on “Sweet,” adding a few seconds later, “If you wanna go where nobody knows, that’s where you’ll find me.” The singer-songwriter has spent her career proving the former statement — taking a personalized approach to pop craft, forever valuing honesty and innovation — but Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, her mammoth and often luminous ninth full-length, indeed exists at a wholly unique intersection in modern music, as the artist’s most singular statement to date.
Del Rey’s voice has always been unmistakable, but no other artist could have come close to showcasing this 77-minute set of ideas, sometimes mysterious and occasionally shambolic, but always exciting and brimming with integrity. The adventurous spirit of this album flirts with a gleeful recklessness: Del Rey has explored her thoughts on sex, devotion, family and American decay in the past, but never with so many unexpected guests, songs mashed into each other and restless detours. In an era of the music industry that rewards TikTok-ready hooks, Del Rey has sprinted in the opposite direction: the songs here proudly stretch out, dismissing verse-chorus structures so that Del Rey can travel across another bridge or three.
Yet Del Rey’s pen holds Ocean Blvd together. Writing primarily with Jack Antonoff, Mike Hermosa and Drew Erickson, Del Rey conjures images that continue to haunt her and presents lyrics that jangle around the listener’s brain. From the boarded-up past of the title track to the post-grief forward motion of “Kintsugi” to the giddy friendship of “Margaret,” Del Rey roams across topics and deftly handles them all. For an album that clearly challenges its creator, Ocean Blvd once again concludes that Del Rey is different, in the best way possible.
While all of Lana Del Rey’s new album is worth digging into, we already have some early favorites after several listens. Here is our preliminary track rankings for Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd:
“Judah Smith Interlude”
Placing a fiery, four-and-a-half minute spoken-word interlude from megachurch pastor Judah Smith in a prime spot on the album track list is certainly an audacious choice from Del Rey — and while the sermon grazes the central themes of the songs around it, the interlude is a chance taken that doesn’t work within the presentation of the album.
“Jon Batiste Interlude”
“Jon Batiste Interlude,” which arrives right after the We Are album of the year Grammy winner’s harmonizing at the end of “Candy Necklace,” functions as a playful extension of that track, with Batiste whooping it up and then crooning with Del Rey as the piano twinkling comes into focus. The interlude creates a voyeuristic atmosphere — you feel the two artists’ bond in the studio — but doesn’t offer much as a standalone track.
“Taco Truck x VB”
The “VB” in the title stands for “Venice Bitch,” and instead of merely nodding to one of her most iconic songs, Del Rey fully revisits the Norman F–king Rockwell! song in the second half of this two-part epilogue, as if she’s remixed the song “Taco Truck” with her former self as the guest artist. “Taco Truck x VB” can’t outrun the looming shadow of one of Del Rey’s most towering achievements, but that’s not its intention anyway: the song encapsulates the album’s ramshackle beauty by demonstrating how Del Rey’s past informs her present, like an endless loop that will never stop spinning.
“Candy Necklace” feat. Jon Batiste
Candy necklaces: sugary and addictive, but the opposite of nutritious! They serve as the metaphor for a poisonous relationship on “Candy Necklace,” where Del Rey floats into a falsetto on the pre-chorus before deploying a hypnotic singsong hook. “Candy Necklace” doesn’t resonate quite as strongly following the blistering first quarter of the album, although it’s worth sticking around for the swirling outro, where Jon Batiste’s murmur joins Del Rey’s own.
“Let The Light In” feat. Father John Misty
Father John Misty shows up to support Del Rey’s lead vocals on the lilting country track “Let The Light In,” and while fans of the kindred-spirit songwriter may be disappointed that he doesn’t have more of a spotlight here, his voice is utilized perfectly in the context of the song — assisting her chorus, forming a sense of comfort around the words “Ooh, turn your light on / Look at us, you and I, back at it again.” Sometimes, a guest spot can be great for its lack of showiness.
“Kintsugi”
Following the gospel flourishes that arrive earlier in the track list, Del Rey approaches “Kintsugi” like a hymn, her voice billowing unadorned above a piano as she prods at her grief. “That’s how the light gets in,” she chants, using the titular Japanese art of repairing broken pottery and leaving the cracks on display as a hopeful method of transforming sorrow into a strengthening feeling.
“Fishtail”
Del Rey upends expectations as soon as the Auto-tune arrives on “Fishtail,” abruptly putting an end to the hushed vocals and abetted by programmed beats. The production choice crystallizes the song’s message of misread perception — Del Rey repeats, “You wanted me sadder,” but defiantly tells the partner trying to bring her down that “I’m not that smart, but I’ve got things to say” — and also just works as an upshift, positively startling the listener during one of the album’s quieter passages.
“Margaret” feat. Bleachers
Instead of pulling frequent producer and co-writer Jack Antonoff, performing here as the leader of Bleachers, into her thematic universe for the duet “Margaret,” the song instead centers on Antonoff’s romance with (and upcoming marriage to) actress Margaret Qualley, going so far as to happily announce a wedding date. “Margaret” offers a glimpse of the intimacy between close friends and collaborators — Del Rey sounds genuinely thrilled to sing “When you know, you know,” about her pal finding his partner — and Antonoff’s voice, deep and a little wobbly, makes for a lovely foil.
“Peppers” feat. Tommy Genesis
While Tommy Genesis presents a catchy-as-hell chorus built around an Angelina Jolie simile, Del Rey shouts out the Red Hot Chili Peppers — another California institution, which provide the song title here — goes for a midnight drive, dismisses a COVID scare and dances sans clothes for her neighbors. “I threw caution to the wind,” she sings, and “Peppers” certainly shrugs off any structural or lyrical hazards to instead barrel toward a mischievous charm, right down to the interlude where the two artists suggest mashing up their songs together into this final product.
“Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd.”
Part of the reason why “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd.” made such an effective lead single for the album of the same name is because it is, simply, Classic Lana, in its sweeping grandeur, idiosyncratic lyrics and musings on faded American beauty. If you listen more closely, however, the nuance in Del Rey’s vocal performance sets the song apart from similar explorations — expertly navigating between resignation and yearning, accepting fate and likewise thrashing against it.
“Sweet”
“Sweet” may open with Del Rey hiking in Griffith Park, awash in memories and regrets, but the track sounds primed to stun across town at the Hollywood Bowl, its melancholy piano and string arrangements the pristine soundtrack for a lightly chilly evening overlooking a town of movie magic. As the song bends toward romance, Lana delivers one of the most effectively simple lines on the album: “I’ve got things to do, like nothing at all,” she blurts out, “I wanna do them with you.”
“Fingertips”
Upon first listen, the sprawl of “Fingertips” is overwhelming: at nearly six minutes and without a chorus in sight, the song is positioned as an extended diary entry, leaping across thoughts and themes while the production lingers in the background. Those themes reveal themselves more clearly after repeat visits to “Fingertips,” however, with allusions to motherhood, psychiatric drugs and unexpected loss deepening when the listener is given time to catch up to Del Rey’s wordplay; on first or tenth encounter, the song stands as one of the album’s most ambitious moments, but the latter makes “Fingertips” one of its most rewarding.
“Paris, Texas” feat. SYML
The album’s most dramatic “now for something completely different” change-up arrives when Del Rey follows the stream-of-consciousness “Fingertips” with “Paris, Texas,” a relatively short and traditionally structured pop song full of breathy exclamations and graceful piano. Within the middle third of the album — after some of the more experimental turns in Del Rey’s songwriting — “Paris, Texas” arrives as an exhalation, but even removed from the track list, the track shimmers with California sunlight (Venice gets name-checked as her “home” here) and a cool simplicity.
“Grandfather please stand on the shoulders of my father while he’s deep-sea fishing” feat. RIOPY
While plenty of moments on the album opt for subtle production flourishes, “Grandfather please stand on the shoulders of my father while he’s deep-sea fishing” boasts a climax with a sumptuous cacophony of electric guitar, keys, synth and even a little saxophone; Del Rey, meanwhile, tries to use her voice to quell the noise and grasp for a sign from above. The lines about the perceived machine behind Del Rey’s success (“I know they think that it took thousands of people / To put me together again, like an experiment / Some big men, behind the scenes / Sewing Frankenstein black dreams into my songs / But they’re wrong”) are some of the most incisive, and memorable, on the album.
“The Grants”
The gospel harmonies on “The Grants” are purposeful: titled after Del Rey’s family name, the opener takes its listener to church with reflections on the afterlife and booming piano that could rattle pews. Yet Del Rey is focused more on legacy than religion here: “I’m doing the hard stuff, I’m doing my time / I’m doing it for us, for our family line,” she asserts, a thoughtful way of framing both emotional and professional work as a means of honoring the blood that precede and follow us.
“A&W”
The seven-minute length isn’t particularly daring for Del Rey: anyone who’s ever vibed out to “Venice Bitch” understands that she can let a song coast beyond standard run times and retain a sense of awe. Yet “A&W” (which stands for “American Whore”) stands as one of most spectacularly brave songs in her discography, a two-sided plunge into sex, drugs and Americana, full of stark declarations about how young women are perceived, and dismissed, in modern society. The first half locks into a haunting finger-picked arrangement, but when “A&W” switches into a dark, minimalist electronic groove — the potential for emotional devastation fully realized — the song transcends its shell, turning an ambitious concept into one of Del Rey’s best songs to date.
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On Saturday night (March 18), the New York City stop of Key Glock’s Glockoma 32-city tour celebrated the February release of his highly anticipated Glockcoma 2 album, but it wasn’t without flaws. Pain-staking patience was required to enjoy the show at the the Knockdown Center in Queens as the crew battled massive wait times switching between show openers Tia Corine, Jay Fizzle, Kenny Muney, and the headliner.
However, it wasn’t enough to ruin the overall experience. Each artist dazzled fans with high-energy performances, showcasing why they were handpicked to join the late, great Young Dolph’s independent label Paper Route Empire.
First up to hit the stage was Jay Fizzle, a cousin to the late Dolph, who appeared 40 minutes earlier than expected from the promoted 8:00 pm showtime. Those interested in watching the performance saw the ski-mask-wearing rapper perform “Standin On Top Of Sh*t” and “Hood Rich.”
By this point, plumes of weed smoke filled the air as the crowd waited 30 minutes for Kenny Muney to arrive. Dressed in a purple puffer, the rapper kicked off his set with “Ashtray” before flinging a wad of cash into the air during “Big Muney Sh*t.” He took off his coat to jump in the crowd for a more intimate performance of “Lowkey.”
Tia Corine also performed while fashionably dressed in a gothic outfit with a blonde mullet. Her set started with the hit single “FreakyT,” a fan favorite. Her voice energetically bellowed through the speakers with “FYK” until her DJ ruined her set on “Dipset.” By this time, she was noticeably annoyed but powered through during “Boogie,” “Pancake,” and “Lotto.” The set wrapped with an encore of her opener.
Key Glock’s set was a painful 40-minute wait that involved a complicated stage breakdown as a hypeman repeatedly promised he was “on his way” to the show. Just as the complaints of leg pain echoed across the crowd, the houselights dimmed, and stage lights suddenly turned on, when a focused Glizzock emerged. It was showtime.
His performance formula is simple: don’t talk too much and just let the music do all the work. To say it was a clever strategy is an understatement.
Glockoma 2’s “Chromosomes” opened the show, the first of 20 songs carefully selected from his vast catalog while cleverly themed video graphics flashed in the background. The crowd remained invested as he performed “Work,” “Bottom of the Pot,” and “On My Soul,” but pure fandom erupted when “Jigsaw” dropped. The crowd pushed closer to the stage as a giant white head darted laser beams out of its eyes with smoke. At this point, the audience joined in tandem with Key Glock as both rapped in the chorus for the remainder of his show, including on standouts “I’m Just Sayin,” “Like Key,” “Juicemane,” and “Dough.”
To hear these songs and not see Young Dolph beside him to recite his parts left a void that was felt all night. This cued Glock to take a well-timed break to pay homage to his mentor with “Get Paid,” “Preach” and “Water on Water on Water.” It was the closest anyone could get to experiencing the fallen rapper live on stage again. The crowd celebrated to pay their respects.
Finally, the show was nearing its end as “Mr. Glock” and “White Russian” whiplashed the audience back to high-energy mode, before wrapping with a closer from “Frozone” by the late Big Scarr. The crowd was pleased, proving that Paper Route Empire remains dedicated to upholding Young Dolph’s legacy by delivering high-quality performances. And they did just that.
SZA‘s five-year absence certainly made fans’ hearts grow fonder on record, as last December’s SOS album enjoys a nine-week (and counting) residency at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. And that’s translating to the live stage, too.
The just-launched SOS North American Tour from Billboard‘s Woman of the Year rolled into Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena on Friday night (Feb. 24) for its third show, a honed and sleek spectacle before a packed house of about 15,000 ecstatic SZA heads who hadn’t seen the star in more than four years. It’s a step up from the theaters the singer (real name: Solana Imani Rowe) was playing last time out, but she came armed with the music and visuals to validate what’s rapidly become a genre-straddling iconic status during the interim.
Best of all, SZA’s new show managed to sidestep the pitfalls that undermine so many other pop diva expositions. She deftly worked a whopping 31 songs — from her two studio albums, with some choice covers and obscure tracks — into the 90-minute set, but they never felt rushed or shoehorned. The costume changes (six total) were nimbly executed without lengthy speed-bump interludes.
The conceptual focus was strong, and SZA and company — three musicians tucked on the stage sides, four dancers and plenty of pre-recorded augmentation (included guest singers) — recreated the tunes with a smooth and convincing precision, rooted primarily in the chill ambience that’s SZA’s stock-in-trade.
The net result was a fat-free concert that maintained momentum and kept the surprises from start to finish. Taking off from the SOS album cover, the show opened with “PSA,” one of 17 of the new set’s tracks on the setlist, as a phalanx of video screens rose to reveal SZA sitting on a diving board above the stage, with an ocean of water projected behind her before she “dove” (via projection) and emerged on floor level with a sinewy “Seek & Destroy.” The singer then took the crowd through a journey, starting with a seaside pier setting for “Notice Me,” “Love Galore,” a short rendition of Erykah Badu‘s “Bag Lady” that segued into “Blind” and more.
After a quick break that included live footage of SZA making a costume change while singing “Smoking on My Ex Pack,” the stage transformed into a full-size fishing trawler that gave the dancers multiple levels to perform their routines. SZA made her way through “All the Stars” (her Kendrick Lamar collaboration from Black Panther: The Album) “Prom” and “Garden (Say It Like Dat)” before seas got rough, with hi-def visual effects, during forceful performances of “F2F” (with guitarist Ari O’ Neal rocking on deck), “Drew Barrymore” and “Doves in the Wind.” A throbbing “Low” then took the Good Ship SZA down to Davey Jones’ Locker with SZA performing an impressive split and full back-bend while O’Neal soloed.
SZA later emerged in outfit number three, singing acoustic renditions of “Supermodel,” Lizzo‘s “Special” and “Nobody Gets me” while riding a life raft above the audience, towards a lighthouse inflated just behind the soundboard. “I’m really, really grateful to be here with y’all to sing these songs about a breakup,” she said in a rare moment of dialogue with the crowd.
“Gone Girl” took her back to the stage, where the SZA crew played a few songs — Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More,” “Love Language” and a particularly soulful “Snooze” — on the ocean “floor,” in front of a giant anchor and images of jellyfish, sharks and other sea creatures streaming by. An assertive “Kill Bill,” meanwhile, was accompanied by silhouetted images of the dancers, swords ‘n’ all, fighting behind the screens.
Rather than close with a bang, SZA finished smooth but with power, particularly on “I Hate U” before a vibey “The Weekend” closed the main show. “Good Days,” with SZA back on the diving board where she started, above now-calm waters, served as the lone encore. She did not have much to say during the night, but the songs and the staging said everything and delivered a message that she’s truly made a next-level step in her career.
The SOS North American Tour visits Toronto on Saturday (Feb. 25) and has 15 more dates slated, wrapping with a pair of shows on March 22-23 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
See SZA’s Detroit setlist below.
“PSA”“Seek & Destroy”“Notice Me”“Love Galore”“Broken Clocks”“Forgiveless”“Used”“Bag Lady” (Erykah Badu cover)“Blind”“Shirt”“Smoking on My Ex Pack”“All the Stars”“Prom”“Garden (Say It Like Dat)”“F2F”“Drew Barrymore”“Doves in the Wind”“Low”“Open Arms”“Supermodel”/”Special”“Nobody Gets Me”“Gone Girl”“SOS”“Kiss Me More” (Doja Cat cover)“Love Language”“Kill Bill”“I Hate U”“The Weekend”
Encore:“Good Days”
Entering London’s evocative Electric Ballroom last night (Jan. 5), we surpassed a queue snaking down two blocks of Camden High Street. The space, which opened in 1978 and typically hosts live acts, suited the surprise event surprisingly well. Perched on the balcony above, we had a clear view to overlook the interaction between the three rather unexpected friends on the bill: Skrillex, Four Tet and Fred again…
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We arrived at 9 p.m. and the crowd was already oozing peak-time enthusiasm. The excitement was obvious, and rightly so — the show had sold out within 10 minutes of being announced via the artists’ Instagram stories hours before the show. (Rather adorably, Fred also posted a story of himself slipping into Skrillex’s hotel yesterday and waking up the sleeping producer, who’d just arrived from L.A., so he could get up and post the event to his own IG.)
There was no support act last night, just a four hour back-to-back between the three artists. Together, the trio have a web of collaborations between them — with U.K. master Four Tet working on Fred again..’s June 2022 track “Jungle” and the 2021 Skrillex and Starrah collab “Butterflies,” and the dance scene’s premier ascendent star Fred collaborating with Skrillex on “Rumble,” released the day before the show (Jan. 5) as the Skrillex hype machine fires to life ahead of his forthcoming album.
Last night, the collision of the three artists’ styles was apparent from the jump; throughout the night you could confidently guess who was behind the selection of each track.
The hosts regularly interacted with the eager, Thursday night crowd, checking in by throwing a singular cordless mic between each other. At one point, Fred jumped on to the mic to ask, “Do you all have enough room to dance?” His rhetorical question was answered by squeals and screams — not dissimilar to hysterical fans at a boy band concert. The sea of people rippled as one, as people stayed put on the dancefloor for the entire set.
At around 9.30pm, a vocal from Disney’s Frozen‘s famous “Let It Go” was laid over the familiar growls and thrums of Skrillex’s signature sound. This was a foreshadowing of the rest of the evening; after all, this clash of styles was bound to present the dancers with some curveballs — we came knowing to expect the unexpected. With the crowd putty in their hands from early on, the three DJs made the most of their playful selections.
Skrillex, a.k.a. Sonny Moore, was bounding around the stage during the performance, hyping up the crowd from the table that also hosted the decks. Below him, Fred and Four Tet (Kieran Hebden) slinked between each other, achieving almost seamless transition between their staple sounds.
The crowd fizzed when any Fred again.. tune was about to be brought in. It perfectly demonstrated his fans’ loyal and impressive knowledge of his back catalogue; tracks such as “Hannah (the sun)” and “Strong” were warmly received. Phone screens peaked up through the sea of heads, as everyone wanted to capture their favorite Fred track.
Four Tet’s recognizable, ethereal vocals blended with grinding bass excited the older, headsier side of the crowd — as the Skrillex sound brought the millennials in the audience right back to our teenage years. This was certainly a whirlpool of old and new, a melting pot of sounds and cultures, a combination of flamboyant American excitement and quiet British confidence. Skrillex even informed the crowd that he had put some money behind the bar, making it very apparent they were hosting what felt like a huge house party.
Bringing us back to the present day, PinkPantheress’ TikTok hit “Just for Me” caused a wave of joy, teased ahead of the release of Skrillex’s own collaboration with the U.K. star and Trippie Redd, “Way Back,” which landed last night as the show was happening. Although many may recognize Skrillex as an artist who was an early influence for many current dance fans, this new release further demonstrates his ability to evolve successfully and authentically, collaborating with fresh and exciting talent here across the pond.
Whether this unlikely trio continue their seemingly unstoppable ascent, or if yesterday’s event was just one of those crazy nights of legend, the collective fanbase of these three huge acts is indisputable. In an age where artists can interact with their fans more closely than ever before, there was a knowing intimacy between the audience and the three conductors that felt like a new wave of dance music fandom.
Tracks featured:
Fred again…, “Hannah (the Sun)“Eskuche, “Passion” (Extended Mix)Hamdi , “Never Let You Go Edit” (Original by Sammy Virji)Romy & Fred again.., “Strong“KH, “Looking at Your Pager”Hackney Parrot, “Tessela” (Remix)PinkPantheress, “Just for Me“Skrillex, “Cinema“Adam F, “Circles” (Pola & Bryson Bootleg)Fred again.., Four Tet & Skrillex, “Baby Again..“Fred again.., “Jungle” Skrillex, Fred again.. & Flowdan, “Rumble”
The last time BLACKPINK performed at Newark’s Prudential Center was under a very special set of circumstances — the K-pop group took the stage at the VMAs in August to perform their sizzling Born Pink hit “Pink Venom,” which also served as the group’s live debut of the track and their first time performing at an American awards show. Though the girl group — which consists of members Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé — dominated at the show, they admitted during their Nov. 14 Born Pink tour stop at Prudential they were nervous to be back. Based on their performance, it was hard to believe.
The moment the group’s iconic “BLACKPINK in your area” tag and establishing horns blared through speakers, Blinks knew exactly which track the quartet was opening with and buzzed with energy and excitement. The set kicked off with BLACKPINK’s personal statement, “How You Like That,” which saw the group expertly hit the song’s memorable choreography with the help from female backup dancers. The opening track served as BLACKPINK’s formal arrival, and concluded with larger than life stage fireworks — in pink, of course — and streamers as if to say “we’re here.”
The hits didn’t stop there — the first act of the concert catered to fans of their high-energy songs, from The Album‘s fan favorites “Pretty Savage” and “Lovesick Girls” to equally pumped up performances of “Don’t Know What To Do” from the Kill This Love EP and the group’s sizzling-yet-sparsely produced debut single “Whistle.” BLACKPINK continued to dabble in pyrotechnics during the show’s second and third acts, with more fireworks, and at times, actual fire onstage by the time “Kill This Love” and “Playing With Fire” rolled around in the setlist. Those were later followed by tracks “Pink Venom”, “Shut Down,” “DDU-DU DDU-DU” and “Typa Girl.”
Fans of BLACKPINK who have seen the group perform either in person or in video know that the girls divide their concert in half, with the second part featuring individual performances from each member of the group, and last night’s performance at the Prudential Center was no exception.
Jisoo was first up to the plate and performed a solo cover of Camila Cabello’s 2019 track “Liar,” a wonderful compliment to her unique vocal tone, while strutting down the runway stage and performing sultry dance moves with the help of the group’s background dancers. Jennie, who often performed her solo debut track “Solo” in previous BLACKPINK concerts, did not go for the obvious choice this time — instead she gave fans a taste of a potential new solo track (fans are calling “You & Me,” though it has no official title yet), which saw her perform equal parts intricate and elegant dance moves with a male dancer, and highlighted her magnetic energy. Rosé, meanwhile, had more than enough solo material to work with but went with Born Pink solo cut “Hard to Love” and R single “On the Ground.” Lisa provided a masterclass in dancing when it came time to perform her solo hits “Lalisa” and “Money,” which saw Blinks in the audience performing the tracks’ moves, sometimes as well as her backup dancers on stage.
One of the sweetest highlights of the show was during the encore. After a near-10-minute wait — which saw fans across the area leading “when I say black, you say pink” and “boombayah” chants to rile up the crowd — the girls came back looking cozy in sweatshirts, hoodies and tees from their merch line, and stripped back their larger-than-life stage personas to goof around and make un-choreographed dances and cute faces with each other while singing “Yeah Yeah Yeah.” Before ending the show, Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé took a picture with the entire stadium, prompting the Blinks in attendance to wave their lightsticks and throw up K-pop finger hearts for the camera.
BLACKPINK’s Born Pink tour shows that despite being a top performing global act, Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé maintain the loving charm that has cemented them such a passionate fanbase. But don’t be fooled by their sweetness — their talent and star power can “shut down” almost any arena the second they decide to turn it on.
In the time since Paramore‘s last performance in New York — which took place in 2018 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center as part of the band’s After Laughter tour — there was a major shift. The group has always had a fiercely dedicated group of fans across different races, genders and sexualities, but when the pandemic saw the rebirth of pop punk and alternative music, seen in the rise of stars like Olivia Rodrigo and GAYLE, fans of the genre went back to the basics and flocked back to Paramore. So when the group announced an intimate gig at the historic Beacon Theatre on Sunday, the energy was fierce, fun and as, expected, energetic.
The gig kicked off with Paramore’s newest single, “This Is Why,” which showcased the agility of lead singer Hayley Williams’ vocals as she hit the snappy track’s high notes and funky low notes with ease, all while expertly performing her signature choreography consisting of intricate footwork, larger-than-life arm movements and head bangs (though the latter was in a shorter supply after a warning from Williams’ personal chiropractor, she told the audience during a speaking break).
The first half of the set saw Paramore catering to OG fans with a series of songs from the band’s first three albums, including Brand New Eyes single “Brick by Boring Brick,” Riot! classic “That’s What You Get,” All We Know Is Falling deep cut and fan favorite “Here We Go Again,” plus intense live versions of “Decode” and “I Caught Myself” for all the Twi-Hards in attendance — all of which the audience members sang verbatim.
If the first half of the set was about appeasing old-school fans, the second half of the set — which commenced after a tear-jerking performance of Brand New Eyes‘ acoustic slow jam “Misguided Ghosts” — was about fans fully committing to dancing as wildly as possible, according to Williams. The latter half of the concert was anchored by hits from After Laughter and the band’s self-titled LP, including the sing-along-inducing “Ain’t It Fun” and “Still Into You,” as well as “Rose-Colored Boy” (with a portion of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”) and “Hard Times” (which included a snippet of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass”), before rolling into the band’s most iconic song to date.
Williams prefaced their signature hit “Misery Business” with a few words to the audience, taking the time before launching into Riot!‘s lead single with a disclaimer.
“The grace that you’ve shown us as we’ve grown up and learned our lessons in front of the world — thank you for that. We’re going to play that TikTok hit not without this disclaimer: Thank you for growing up with us, learning the tough lessons and thank you for being good people. We promise to keep trying to be good people too and to keep learning these lessons.
“This song is about misogyny,” Williams simply said, playing the track that she’s had a complicated lyrical relationship with, even vowing to not perform it live again in previous years.
With nearly 20 years of being in a band, and five of those past years on a break, Paramore’s intimate performance at the Beacon proves what has always been true of the band: God, it just feels so good…to see them live once again.