Month: August 2024

Kid Cudi canceled his Insano World Tour in April after breaking his foot, but it appears he’s made good use of the time spent off his feet: By May, he had rescheduled a good portion of the canceled dates, and he apparently spent time finishing up a new album.

Yesterday (August 1), in the first of a series of tweets, Cudi wrote, “Im so hype. I got my next album finished and I really cant wait for yall to get a taste. Maybe this Fall?” He added in another tweet, “Im not f*ckin around!! Its been awhile since Ive switched it up and tried something new, and I feel confident u will love the direction.”

He added, “My psychic said 13 was a lucky number for me. And this is my 13th album. I can honestly say ur faces will melt and ur hearts will be filled w happiness.” He wrote in another tweet, “im not slowin down anytime soon. Im inspired. Turnin 40 flipped a switch in my mind and heart. The focus is crazy. Lets see whatelse I can accomplish w this magic.”

Somebody asked if the new project will impact Cudi’s tour setlist and he responded, “Im glad u asked. Yes. The whole tour setlist will be revamped. One big party. Leave your troubles outside of the venue and come to let loose and feel the love.”

Find Cudi’s tweets below.

(This post contains spoilers for Trap.)

Let me be the 586th person to point out the obvious: the Trap trailer gives too much away. If you somehow avoided it and walked into M. Night Shyamalan‘s latest thriller only knowing that it starred suddenly-everywhere Josh Hartnett and the plot had something to do with a The Eras-Tour inspired concert, good on you. Because everyone else already knew Trap‘s “twist”: the concert is a, well, trap set up the FBI to catch a serial killer known as The Butcher.

Except — and maybe this is the real “I see dead people” surprise — Shyamalan doesn’t think of that as a twist.

“That’s the premise of the movie,” he told Slash Film. “You’re watching it from the point of view of someone unexpected, is really what the movie’s telling you. Not necessarily a plot point, but his feeling, like what’s unconsciously happening is, you’re identifying with him as you’re finding out the premise of the movie. So that’s actually the funky twist of it, is not the information, that he’s in a trap or that he’s the killer — it’s that you are the killer.”

Is there another twist on top of the not-twist? Sort of.

During the concert, Cooper Adams (an excellent Hartnett) — who is The Butcher, in case that’s not obvious already — schemes his way to getting his daughter (Ariel Donoghue) a backstage pass to meet her idol, Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan). Cooper confronts Lady Raven in her dressing room after realizing there’s no way he’ll be able to leave the concert without getting caught. He tells Lady Raven that he’s the one they’ve been looking for and if she says anything, he’ll remotely kill a man who’s trapped in a basement.

Lady Raven escorts Cooper and his unaware daughter out of the venue in her limousine, and to stall for time, asks if she can visit their house. That’s where we meet Cooper’s wife, Rachel (Alison Pill), who — to skip some plot points and get to the final twist — is the one who told the feds that she suspected he was The Butcher.

Also, for most of the final 10 minutes of the movie, Josh Hartnett isn’t wearing a shirt. The real twist is the Russian twists you’re going to do after seeing how muscular he is.

Trap is out in theaters now.

Four years ago, Chappell Roan was working at a coffee kiosk in a small town in Missouri. Four years later, she’s performing in front of “one of the biggest crowds ever seen” at Lollapalooza.

It’s been quite a rise for “your favorite artist’s favorite artist,” who has exploded in popularity since releasing her debut album, 2023’s The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess. Roan’s ascension to the top of pop continued on Thursday, where she performed at the Chicago-based music festival wearing a lucha libre-inspired outfit. There’s no estimate for how many people she played in front of, so let’s just go with: a lot.

“Four months ago she had never even hit the Hot 100. Now she’s playing to Reunited One Direction crowds at 5:00 on a Lollapalooza Thursday. I have never seen anything like this,” @AUgetoffmygold wrote on X, while @RaghallaighJ joked (?), “Chappell Roan gets a bigger crowd out than any presidential candidate — and as such, should run for President.”

Have a look:

Chappell Roan’s Lollapalooza Setlist

1. “Femininomenon”
2. “Naked In Manhattan”
3. “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl”
4. “Love Me Anyway”
5. “Picture You”
6. “Hot To Go!”
7. “After Midnight”
8. “Casual”
9. “The Subway”
10. “Red Wine Supernova”
11. “Good Luck, Babe!”
12. “My Kink Is Karma”
13. “Pink Pony Club”

The United States is doing great at the 2024 Olympics so far: As of this post, the US leads in overall medals and trails behind only China in gold medals. Superstar gymnast Simone Biles has contributed to the US medal count, and now she is the subject of a new Beyoncé-narrated video.

The spot, which offers a visual overview of Biles’ journey, is set to the Cowboy Carter song “Just For Fun” and also features narration from Beyoncé. She says, “Let’s talk about power. Because, really, that’s what this story’s about: Physical power. Its beauty, its wonder. The way it never stops amazing you. Then there’s spiritual power, the kind that really matters. The power you can’t see, only sense. The power you need in those moments when life goes a little sideways on you. And, of course, lasting power. Only a select few know what it feels like to get to the top and stay there. And, somehow, keep getting better.”

This comes days after Beyoncé starred in a Cowboy Carter-style hype video introducing the USA athletes, before the games officially kicked off. In the video, she gives props to some athletes specifically while also saying more generally, “Get a look at America, y’all. These hopes and dreams. These superstars that represent us, the people of this big, bold, beautiful, complicated nation, all rooting together for them.”

After becoming one of hip-hop’s biggest rising stars over the past couple years, Ice Spice released her debut album, Y2K!, last month. It turns out she had one more song in the queue, as she just unveiled “Gyat,” a new Y2K! bonus track.

For those not plugged in to what the kids are talking about these days, Urban Dictionary notes that “gyat” is an exclamation typically used in response to seeing a woman with a large behind.

Ice sets the tone on the first verse, rapping (as Genius notes), “I’m from the X, so I’m packin’ that jatt / Got out the hood and I ain’t going back / Built like a Barbie, but act like a brat / You know I’m the baddest, like, keep it a stack / If it ain’t ’bout money, I ain’t talkin’ ’bout that / I be poppin’, you b*tches be flat / I be shakin’, and he like, ‘Gyatt.’”

Meanwhile, Ice Spice just kicked off her Y2K! World Tour a few days ago, so don’t be surprised if “Gyat” gets added to the setlist for upcoming shows, since her setlist includes essentially every song she’s released so far in her young career.

Listen to “Gyat” above.

Y2K! is out now via 10K Projects/Capitol Records. Find more information here.

Today’s episode begins with Steven and Ian dipping into Sportscast discourse about the Olympics and Jordan Love’s recent historic NFL contract. After that, they delve into the week’s new releases, which include a Smashing Pumpkins album not even Steven and Ian care about and an Ian fantasy draft pick that might have been a reach. They also talk about the recently announced American Football tribute album, and Steven’s experience seeing Vampire Weekend live this week.

In the mailbag, the guys answer questions about the validity of predetermined “farewell” albums and their feelings about Father John Misty’s Pure Comedy in light of a new greatest hits album for FJM.

In Recommendation Corner, Ian goes the Swedish emo band I Love Your Style while Steven talks about retro country singer Charley Crockett.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 200 here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

Polo G’s long-awaited fourth studio album was finally given a release date this week, as well as an updated title. While it’s still called Hood Poet, the title is now an acronym, which according to a press release for its new single “We Uh Shoot” with Lil Durk, stands for He Overcame Obstacles During Pain Or Emotional Trauma.

And on “We Uh Shoot,” Polo teams up with the perfect person to represent that concept in Lil Durk. Both of the Windy City rappers grew up heavily entrenched in street life, but at the same time, both have distanced themselves from a lot of that aspect of their artistic expression. Both rap a lot about how their experiences shaped them — and yes, traumatized them — but also have more optimistic outlooks in their music than many of their Second City compatriots, many of whom went the other way and got downright nihilistic during the drill days.

H.O.O.D. P.O.E.T. has seen a bit of a rough rollout; initially announced nearly a year ago in August 2023, the album was pushed back a few weeks later in light of Polo’s arrest for kidnapping, robbery, and assault charges. After getting back to business in February of this year with “Sorrys & Ferraris,” he was derailed again by legal trouble, this time an arrest in New York on weapons charges.

With the album’s new release date just a week away, Polo’s given himself less time for getting into trouble, and that should be good news for fans.

You can listen to “We Uh Shoot” up top.

H.O.O.D. P.O.E.T. is due on 8/9 via Columbia Records. You can find more info here.

During her set at Lollapalooza in Chicago tonight, Megan Thee Stallion was met with a pleasant surprise: An onstage visit from local WNBA star Angel Reese. It’s clear from fans’ videos that she had no idea the Chicago Sky player was backstage, meeting her appearance with a delighted but shocked “What the f*ck?” (or is it “What THEE f*ck?”) She hugged Angel, who was wearing a similar hairstyle, and Reese stayed onstage to dance to Megan’s performance of “Where Them Girls At.” Later, on Twitter, Angel called Megan her “twin.”

This marks the second time the two tall performers shared the stage this summer; back in May (okay, fine, technically fall… but it was still during Megan’s Hot Girl Summer tour, so we’re counting it), Megan and tourmate GloRilla brought Reese out during their tour’s Chicago stop, where Meg twerked on Angel while performing.

No sooner had she been drafted to the Chicago Sky than the WNBA rookie became hip-hop’s favorite WNBA player, attracting the likes of Latto to come hang out with her at a game after being featured in Latto’s “Put It On Da Floor Again” video a year prior. With Meg wrapping up her tour and the second half of the WNBA season coming soon, it probably wouldn’t be surprising to see Meg courtside at a future game. Or, hey, as long as we’re dreaming, bring back the Houston Comets with Meg as part owner, so they can aim for a trade (or an outright signing when Reese’s rookie contract expires) and they can hang out all the time.

In the video for Khalid’s new Sincere song “Heatstroke,” the lovelorn singer compares heartache to global warming. “Even if we’re fakin’,” he pleads, “Thinkin’ maybe we can save this.” Unfortunately for him, as seen in the song’s metaphorical music video, he’s just deluding himself into avoiding facing the inevitable. In the video, the trappings of a life of comfort go up in flames and Khalid himself finds himself melting down under the heatwave.

Sincere, Khalid’s third studio album, arrived tonight after multiple delays and a rather ironic name change (it was originally title Everything’s Changing, and how true that turned out to be). The 16-song album contains only one guest feature, British singer Arlo Parks, and was preceded by three other singles: “Adore U,” “Please Don’t Fall In Love With Me,” and “Ground.”

While the album’s only been out stateside for less than thirty minutes, international fans (or those with VPNs) have already declared the album a return to form for the Texas singer, who was magnanimous about the praise, but unsurprised by it on social media. “I told yall,” he replied to one effusive fan. “American Teen (but mature) sh*t!!!”

You can watch the video for “Heatstroke” above.

Sincere is out now via Right Hand Music Group/RCA Records. You can find more information here.

It has been a little over a month since ASAP Rocky finally announced the official release date for his long-awaited upcoming album, Don’t Be Dumb, and tonight, he has shared the first single since then, “Highjack,” featuring folk singer/songwriter Jessica Pratt. Pratt’s fresh off the release of her own new album, Here In The Pitch.

Despite being the first single since the release date was announced, “Highjack” isn’t the first glimpse of what to expect from Don’t Be Dumb. Since he first announced the album’s title way back in December 2022, he’s released a handful of singles, including “Riot (Rowdy Pipe’n),” “DMB,” and “Same Problems.”

However, one thing we do have an inkling about; Rocky’s feud with Drake isn’t over yet, either. Earlier this week, Hot97’s DJ Kast One told his cohosts that at least one song on the album addresses Rocky’s feelings about his former friend and recent romantic rival. And, of course, this should be taken with a grain of salt, but Rihanna also recently promised that the couple’s music together is so good, they haven’t been able to hash out whose projects it belongs on. Don’t Be Dumb might be a good possibility — or, at least, the most likely to come out.

You can listen to ASAP Rocky’s “Highjack” featuring Jessica Pratt above.

Don’t Be Dumb is due on 8/30 via ASAP Worldwide, Polo Grounds, RCA. You can find more info here.