Month: May 2022

The biggest star in hip-hop just made the biggest move of his career. Variety reports that Drake has signed a new deal with Universal Music Group that could be worth up to $400 million. During a first-quarter earnings call, the company’s chairman Sir Lucian Grainge announced the deal, which is described as an “expansive, multi-faceted” endeavor “that encompasses recordings, publishing, merchandise, and visual media projects.” Drake had completed the deal in 2021 but it looks like he won’t be taking Russ’ advice anytime soon after re-upping for a “Lebron-sized” payday, which Variety’s sources say could reach that above-mentioned figure.

Drake’s signing follows the announcement of a similar deal by his Toronto compatriot The Weeknd (who may soon be going by just Abel). Earlier this year, it was reported that The Weeknd had also signed a similar expansion of his prior deal with Republic (a subsidiary of Universal) which would likewise cover “recorded music, publishing, merchandise, and video.” These deals have become quite popular, according to Variety, as a way for major labels to keep the industry’s biggest stars under their umbrellas as technological advances and cultural shifts have begun enticing more and more artists to strike out on their own outside the label system (i.e. Russ).

Even among those who haven’t commanded the sort of mind-boggling streaming success Drake has, bigger deals are keeping rappers like Lil Durk and Trippie Redd closer to home. Not for nothing, Trippie Redd’s label, TenThousand Projects, is also a subsidiary of Universal, while Durk’s imprint, Alamo, is under Sony. If the major labels are throwing around this kind of money (while buying up pieces of the various DSPs), it looks like their continued dominance over the music industry will remain assured for some time to come.

The Tennessee Titans were among the teams that benefitted from the rest of the league souring on the quarterback class in the 2022 NFL Draft. After using their first three picks on a wide receiver, cornerback, and offensive lineman, the Titans used the No. 86 selection in the Draft on Liberty quarterback Malik Willis, who some prognosticators believed could have been the first signal caller off the board.

While not a sure-fire prospect, Willis’ arm strength, mobility, and raw talent gives him the kind of upside that makes him a potential starting quarterback in the event he hits. And seeing as how starting signal caller Ryan Tannehill turns 34 this summer and is a free agent following the 2023 season, Willis is afforded time to figure out life in the league instead of getting dropped into a starting gig right away.

On Tuesday, Tannehill spoke about the pick, and revealed that he reached out after getting surprised by the selection.

He also expressed that he does not view it as his job to hold Willis’ hand as he gets used to life in the league.

“We’re competing against each other, we’re watching the same tape, we’re doing the same drills,” Tannehill said. “I don’t think it’s my job to mentor him, but if he learns from me along the way, then that’s a great thing.”

While it’s still too early to tell who, if anybody, is going to come out of the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial a winner (Heard’s testimony has only just started) one thing’s for sure: the hearing has done huge numbers for the recently relaunched Court TV. Despite lacking the same stakes as the O.J. Simpson trial, the network has gone whole hog on the legal proceedings, and it’s paid off big time.

In a new feature on the efforts Court TV has gone to cover the trial, including constructing an elaborate network of sprawling cables to keep a non-stop feed from the massive courtroom going, network execs say ratings have been through the roof. Via Vanity Fair:

It has been sometimes-disturbing, occasionally-bizarre, always-tragic television. As such, it has enthralled viewers and, much like the network’s greatest hits in its halcyon days of the 1990s when it provided daily coverage of the Menendez brothers and O.J. Simpson, created a cultural conversation around it. Howard Stern and Joe Rogan have both weighed in. (Anti-Depp and pro-Depp, respectively.) It has all led to Court TV’s peak viewership since its relaunch in 2019, the network said.

“I’m sure it doesn’t shock you, but we’ve more than doubled our daytime ratings due to this trial,” Jon Marks, chief research officer at the Scripps’ national networks, which owns Court TV, told me. Streaming numbers have, he said, practically quadrupled during the trial.

The network reportedly saw its biggest ratings last Monday when Depp finished being cross-examined by Heard’s legal team and was able to continue crafting his narrative that, actually, he’s the real victim here. It was a performance that saw the actor get lambasted by Howard Stern, who wasn’t buying what Depp was selling.

“He wanted it televised [because] that’s what narcissists do. They think they can talk their way out of anything,” Stern said. “I think Johnny Depp is a huge narcissist and what I mean by that is — he figured, ‘I’ll put this on TV and because I’m so persuasive and because I’m so smart, I’m such a wonderful guy.’”

Stern then opined that he doesn’t think Depp’s weird accent and “overacting” will help his case. But, again, it’s too early to tell how the trial will shake out as Heard has only just taken the witness stand to tell her side of the story. It’s all a mess. At least the cable stations are getting ratings and the lawyers are getting paid.

(Via Vanity Fair)

On this week’s episode of People’s Party with Talib Kweli, Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas joined Kweli and Jasmin Leigh to talk about his journey as a multi-platinum rapper, producer, tech leader, investor, and philanthropist. Will also shared a particularly generous take on Ye’s (formerly Kanye West) recent negative comments about Kweli, sharing a theory that came to him while he was on a hike.

For a bit of context, a few months back Ye was a guest on Drink Champs and revealed that he was not the biggest fan of Black Star or Kweli’s style, in particular, stating, “I used them.” An admission that took many hip-hop heads by surprise and hurt Will on a personal level.

“He’s different than the person he broadcasts,” explained Will. “The broadcasting of Kanye is different than the actual Kanye that you sit and talk to. The sensitive one. When these two things exist in the world- the broadcast hurts the one that makes you like ‘Yo, that’s my dude.’”

But while listening to the Ye and Talib collab “Get Em High,” Will came upon a few bars from Kanye weaving a story about trying to use his connection to Black Star to get laid. After you hear Will’s perspective, it reframes the tone Ye brought to Drink Champs.

“Without this lyric and without the doc, it sounded like vampiric, draconian, leech n**** shit. Like “I’m leeching on you and I don’t really care about you. Fuck you. I just did this trickery. But under this umbrella — it’s light.”

Only Will.i.am could share such a Psychology 101 moment, offering insight into the mind of Kanye West. To get more of these insights from the leader of one of hip-hop’s coolest rap groups ever check out this week’s episode of People’s Party with Talib Kweli and watch the clip above to hear Will.i.am’s Charlie Day-level theory.

Becca Moore is a popular TikToker with over 800,000 followers who’s known for her funny, laid-back takes on dating. Like any influencer-type she was at the Coachella music and arts festival in Indio, California recently. While she was at Coachella, she was robbed of her phone, rental car keys and wallet.

“I went to Coachella this weekend and I thought this guy was kinda hitting on me but then he just robbed me,” Becca says at the beginning of her three-minute TikTok video that has nearly 4 million views. After the festival, she was left with no ride, money, or means to get in contact with friends and family. She was stranded in the desert.

Becca’s friend’s hotel called her an Uber so she could get to a local store to buy a new phone. The driver she was incredibly lucky to be connected with was a lot more than a guy with a car in a time of need, he was a guardian angel named Raul Torres from Fresno, California, six hours north of Indio.

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@becccamooore

the uber driver that saved me from going missing is @buds4u559!! 😭 after spending the day w him he told me his daughter is a senior in high school & is having a hard time going through chemo. i made a gofundme, he could’ve left me and didn’t have to help me the way he did! I’d love to help his fam give his daughter a normal end to her senior year of high school this year (prom!!) i’m putting it in my bio!!

“A normal Uber driver takes you to a place and then drops you off. He insisted on coming in with me and making sure that I was going to have a ride after that,” Becca said.

The store wasn’t able to get her a new phone because she didn’t have access to her current plan. But Raul wouldn’t give up, so he took her to the local police station where they were able to locate the Airbnb where the thief was staying. The police let them into the room and they searched it but couldn’t find the phone.

After the big let-down, Becca and Raul decided to take a break from their quest and refresh their spirits with some margaritas, on Raul. “Just because he’s an angel on this Earth,” Becca said in her TikTok video.

While the two bonded over drinks, Raul told Becca his daughter had been battling cancer and that’s why he’s been working as an Uber driver. “He told me all he wants is for his daughter to have a normal end to her senior year, and to be able to go to big events like prom and graduation,” Becca said.

Raul also revealed that his father had cancer as well.

His revelations put Becca’s troubles in perspective and made his decision to drop his driving for the day to help Becca all the more incredible.

@becccamooore

thank god he refused to leave me 😭 raul’s tiktok is @buds4u559. also you can donate to the fam in my bio!! thank you all for your donations and generosity. you today, me tomorrow!! #TipsForRaul

After the final slurps of their margaritas, Becca still wasn’t sure how she’d get home. But Raul wouldn’t give up. “We’re getting your phone,” he exclaimed. He drove her back to the thief’s Airbnb where she found the phone sitting on top of the outside gate. Becca believes the robber abandoned the phone after realizing the police were involved. Then, Raul helped Becca get a rental car so she could get home. Before saying their goodbyes, the two had spent eight hours together.

“Raul ended his Uber shift that morning to spend his day helping me, expecting nothing in return,” she said in her TikTok video. So she used her considerable audience to ask followers to help contribute to a GoFundMe page for Raul and his family. Over the first 4 days, the campaign has raised over $144,000.

“When I was in the car with him it seemed like we were both so focused on my situation. We were only talking about me getting a phone and like things that did not matter. And he completely glazed over the fact that his daughter and his dad were the ones that needed help,” she admitted.

On Friday, April 29, Raul’s dad passed away from cancer.

The story of Becca and Raul is a great reminder that no matter how big our troubles seem, it’s always important to put them in perspective.

Only a few days ago, Vince Staples announced the premiere of a new visual project, Ramona Park Broke My Heart: The Musical, streaming performances from his new album live this week via Moment House. Now that the streams have passed, Vince is sharing snippets for fans in the form of music videos capturing his live performances. The first is “When Sparks Fly,” the standout from Ramona Park Broke My Heart that recounts a doomed love affair between a boy and his gun.

The video sees Vince sprawled on a bus stop bench in front of a flower shop, laying his head in the lap of a woman. Both remain motionless for the duration of the video, while the camera captures them from multiple angles and Vince raps the tragic romance of “When Sparks Fly,” which is told from the perspective of the gun. It’s the perfect antidote to the problem he noted earlier this year. “I think they see the money in the violence,” he said of record labels, decrying the glamorization of violence during an interview with Peter Rosenberg. “When Sparks Fly” depicts the consequences of a life lived on the edge and points out the cyclical nature of that violence, making it sound exactly as devastating as it really is.

During the live show, Vince also performed his entire new album, including “Magic!” and “Rose Street,” as well as tracks from across his catalog.

Watch Vince Staples’ “When Sparks Fly” video from Ramona Park Broke My Heart: The Musical above.

At the moment, it looks like Roe v. Wade, the famous 1973 Supreme Court decision that protected a woman’s right to have a safe and legal abortion nationwide, is in danger: A leaked draft of a reported new majority opinion from the Court suggests the bench is readying to overturn the decision. This has prompted people across the country to take action and that now includes Phoebe Bridgers, who added her voice to the conversation this afternoon by telling the story of an abortion she had in 2021.

In an Instagram Story, Bridgers wrote, “I had an abortion in October of last year while I was on tour. I went to planned parenthood where they gave me the abortion pill. It was easy. Everyone deserves that kind of access.”

She added a link to a recent article from New York Magazine‘s The Cut, which lists multiple abortion funds to which supporters can donate.

Bridgers has long been a vocal supporter of abortion rights. In 2020, she and Bright Eyes released “Miracle Of Life,” a protest song benefiting Planned Parenthood. Then, in October 2021, she released a cover of Bo Burnham’s “That Funny Feeling,” with proceeds going to a variety of Texas-based abortion funds.

Meanwhile, Bridgers popped up at the Met Gala last night in a look that initially had fans thinking she shaved her head. That turned out to not be the case, but a rumor that has yet to be resolved is whether she and Paul Mescal are actually engaged, as recent reports have indicated that they are.

For the past six months, rap fans have been forced to speculate about Kendrick Lamar’s upcoming final album under his Top Dawg Entertainment contract, with little concrete information about the project (other than its elaborate title) to go on. Today though, Kendrick dropped another cryptic clue about Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, suggesting that it might be a double album. Fans checking in on the website he set up to promote the album, oklama.com, found a new folder to click on, leading to an image of a pair of CDs marked “Morale” and “Steppers” bearing the legend “Master Copy” on each along with a hardcover book bearing the album’s title.

Anyone who’s burned a mix CD in their lifetime (so basically anyone born before the year 1996) knows that CDs contain around 74 minutes of space or around 21 tracks. Obviously, most CDs never used the full capacity, but to go over that time limit (or even inching too close to it) meant separating the songs across two discs. Now, I’m not saying that this means Kendrick’s next album is going to be the length of a Marvel movie, but we should probably expect a longer project. It’s also projected to pull down huge numbers — as befits Kung-Fu Kenny’s swan song for the label that has developed his career for the past decade and a half.

As Kendrick inches closer to its release date (the only other solid bit of information we have right now), more details will undoubtedly be revealed at oklama.com. Until then, the speculation continues.

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is due on May 13 on TDE and Interscope.

Donald Trump being a “kingmaker” in the Republican Party is a crucial component if he hopes to run for president again in 2024. However, like everything he touches, it’s not going well. Trump has been backing former GOP Senator David Perdue in the Georgia gubernatorial primary, which has only pushed incumbent Governor Brian Kemp further ahead in the polls… and by a pretty large margin. Whoops.

Via Mediaite:

In a statewide survey released by ARW strategies, 59.4 percent of voters want Kemp, while 21.5 percent are backing Perdue – a difference of 37.9 percentage points. Trump has railed against Kemp since he and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, also a Republican, refused to overturn the 2020 election results in the Peach State. Trump has spent at least $500,000 in his effort to upset Kemp. Perdue has said “the election in 2020 was rigged and stolen.”

Of course, this outcome shouldn’t come as a total surprise. Trump also backed Perdue during his 2020 senate re-election campaign, which resulted in him losing his seat to Jon Ossoff in a stunning upset. It’s almost like being endorsed by Trump is the kiss of death, but good luck telling that to a nationwide Republican base who’s still enthralled with his antics despite the fact that he keeps blowing elections. However, the former president has cooked up a scheme to make it look he’s still the most winningest politician over: Double endorsements!

Back in January, it was revealed that Trump is so desperate to cement his kingmaker status that he’s been mulling endorsing multiple candidates, so no matter who loses, he wins. It’s an odd strategy, to say the least, but it can’t be worse than his current trajectory of absolutely screwing the pooch when he backs a candidate.

(Via Mediaite)

Beach House’s distinct atmospheric music has always been exemplary at setting a scene and now it’s going to set literal scenes: The band has official recorded their first film score, for Netflix’s Along For The Ride, which premieres on the platform this Friday, May 6.

A trailer for the movie premiered in March and music heard in the background of it sounds like it could be from the band’s score:

Variety notes writer/director Sofia Alvarez says teaming up with Beach House:

“Originally, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to have a score, as there are so many needle drops in the movie. But whenever I discussed this with our music supervisors, Jessica Berndt and Jane Abernethy, I always included the caveat — ‘But if there is a score, it would have to be done by Beach House.’ Then Netflix sent us their ideas about whom the right composer might be, and completely independently of our discussions – they wanted Beach House, too! Our music supervisors reached out to Beach House’s manager, Jason Foster, whom I’ve known for a long time, and he sent us instrumental versions of three Beach House albums to use as temp score while we were working on the edit. Once we dropped their music in, it fit the aesthetic of the movie perfectly and beautifully heightened the emotions of the scenes.

I had a couple of initial conversations with Alex [Scally, Beach House guitarist] and Victoria [Legrand, vocalist/keyboardist] and immediately felt a kinship with them. We share many mutual friends and are all from Baltimore. We also discovered through talking about that city, that their best friend lives across the street from the house I grew up in. My husband, Adam Squires, also designed their website. So though we’d never met, it didn’t feel like a collaboration that was starting at zero.

I know they will have a long career as film composers and I couldn’t be more honored that Along For The Ride was their first stop on that journey. I’m personally hoping to work with them again, maybe on a thriller or horror with fewer or no needle drops — I’d be so excited to hear what they would compose to images with a totally blank sound as the starting point.

And because we are all from Balt — Go O’s!”

The publication notes the movie “tells the story of Auden (Emma Pasarow), who’s decided to spend her last summer before college in picturesque Colby Beach,” continuing, “While other teens party in the sun, loner Auden spends her time roaming the streets after everyone else is asleep. Everything changes when she meets Eli (Belmont Cameli), a charming and mysterious fellow insomniac. On their nightly adventures, Eli challenges Auden to a quest to live out all her childhood dreams. Their connection pushes them to confront why they’ve been content living life in the shadows as they begin to show each other how to live life to the fullest.”