Month: September 2024

Bands at HBCU Homecomings are a cornerstone of the celebration, embodying the spirit, culture, and tradition of these institutions. Known for their high-energy performances, intricate choreography, and powerful music, HBCU bands play a vital role in creating an electric atmosphere that unites alumni, students, and the community. They do more than just perform; they tell the story of the school’s history and pride through every beat, step, and melody. These bands are a source of inspiration, showcasing the rich heritage and artistic excellence of HBCUs, making Homecomings an unforgettable experience that goes beyond just a football game.

There are always different experiences at Homecoming when you ask the “bandheads”, those students that were in the band and love nothing as much as band performances. Jabari Johnson, a former member of the Mighty Marching Hornet Band of Alabama State and certified “bandhead”, says the approach to Homecoming from the band’s perspective is about celebrating across generations. “It’s dependent on how the different Student Government Associations would like to incorporate their festivities, along with the time constraints the bands have now. The mentality of the band at Homecoming is not as aggressive as ‘Classic’ games due to tradition.”

HBCU Classic football games are special matchups between historically Black colleges and universities, often featuring long-standing rivalries and celebrated traditions – like Grambling vs. Southern in the Bayou Classic. They typically are held at neutral site venues and are large events in their own right, but have a different vibe than Homecoming. For Homecoming, there are a great number of people you have to account for, and to a degree appease, because of the number of people that come back to celebrate and the personal nature of what Homecoming represents. Johnson went on to add from his experiences as a member that most bands, including his, would “pay homage to the ‘old school’ within the show, possibly [with] an Alumni Band, spell the University’s name, a ‘special guest’ performance, or old school dance routine, and then get back to battling in the stands.”

Just like HBCUs in general, each band comes in different shapes, sizes, and styles. While the focus is often on the big-name bands like the Human Jukebox at Southern or the Marching 100 at Florida A&M, the band still shows out at Homecoming for smaller institutions too. I recently spoke with Torre C. Goodson, Interim Director of Bands at Clark-Atlanta University, about the “Mighty Marching Panthers” perspective during such a festive and important time for HBCUs. When asked about the mentality and approach of the band at Homecoming considering what it represents to HBCU students and alums, Goodson spoke to that same unique balance of the past and present at Homecoming as Johnson.

“Football Homecoming is a cornerstone of the HBCU experience; our primary mentality is that we have a legacy to honor, enhance, and elevate. There’s a two-pronged approach to our contribution to the Homecoming experience: enhancing the current students’ collegiate experience and providing the alumni with an opportunity to reminisce on an integral part of their life. We make it a point to prepare music that is relevant to the current atmosphere and culture as well as providing consistency for the returning alum. It’s a very busy week for the band in general: there are on campus events to perform for, alumni take the time to come back and engage with the current students, and it provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the legacy of those that came before us.”

There is also a concerted effort to bridge the gap with that engagement musically. As Johnson noted, there’s an “old school” element to Homecoming shows, but the bands will also mix in hits from today. Hugh Douglas spoke with us for our previous piece about how the football team loves hearing the latest songs from the band while playing and how that impacted his play. I guarantee you this year because of the popularity, Kendrick Lamar’s hit song “Not Like Us” will be blaring through instruments all Homecoming season

Whether at the biggest programs or smaller Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Director Goodson’s perspective reminds us how the bands play a central role in the Homecoming experience, embodying the spirit and pride of their institutions. Though these schools may not have the vast resources of larger universities, their bands are no less passionate or impressive. These ensembles pour heart and soul into their performances, delivering electrifying halftime shows that blend traditional marching band precision with vibrant, contemporary music. Their performances are a source of pride for the entire community, uniting alumni, students, and local supporters in a celebration of culture, history, and school spirit.

The bands at these smaller HBCUs often become the highlight of Homecoming, showcasing their talent and creativity in a way that resonates deeply with everyone in attendance. However, there is a pressure that comes along with the expectation to be one of the most memorable parts of the Homecoming experience, and Director Goodson spoke to how they try to embrace that pressure.

“There is definitely an extra pressure to perform. Homecoming is a time where the alumni-people who have done this before and given their blood sweat and tears to do so and are able to observe and revel in their collegiate experience. As a bandsman, there is tremendous pressure to not let the alumni down. These are people that come and give back to the program and the University, and you always want your stakeholders to feel pride and see the return on their investment. But when it comes to the Mighty Marching Panthers, we stay ready so we don’t have to get ready. The pressure is palpable, but it’s not anything we aren’t prepared for.”

HBCU bands at Homecoming are more than just musical ensembles; they are a vital cultural force that brings together generations of alumni, students, and communities in celebration of tradition, pride, and excellence. Their electrifying performances, marked by precision, creativity, and energy, elevate the Homecoming experience beyond a football game, turning it into a dynamic display of artistry and unity. From the pulsating rhythms of the drumline to the high-stepping majorettes, HBCU bands embody the spirit of their schools, carrying forward a legacy of empowerment, resilience, and joy. Their presence at Homecoming showcases the rich cultural heritage of historically Black colleges and universities, creating memories that resonate for a lifetime.

Janet Jackson is one of the most esteemed performers in music history. Given just how often she’s taken the stage at this point in her career, though, it makes sense that she’s dealt with at least a handful of issues during a performance. One such instance arrived with terrible timing: Jackson once had a wardrobe malfunction while performing for the Queen of England.

In a British Vogue video shared yesterday (September 12), Jackson talks about some of her most iconic fashion choices from over the years. When she get to one look, she explained:

“Funny story about this outfit: I was performing for the Queen of England, and we were doing Rhythm Nation. Sure enough, as soon as I squatted, my pants split right in my booty crack. I couldn’t believe it happened. I thought, ‘Oh my god.’ And then I started feeling air back there, so I knew it had really happened [laughs]. And the whole time, it was fine until, no, you’re going to perform for the Queen of England. So I never turned my back to her, which, some of the choreography, I was supposed to. I just faced forward.”

Beyond that, the video offers a fun look at Jackson’s career through the lens of her clothes, so check it out above.

Kristen Stewart has been acting since she was 12 years old. After bracing the Twilight storm and becoming one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation, with unique performances in Clouds of Sils Maria, Personal Shopper, and Love Lies Bleeding, she’s finally making her directorial debut.

The Chronology of Water is based on author Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2011 memoir of the same name, and it’s been a long time coming for Stewart: the passion project was first announced in 2018. Renesmee Cullen wasn’t even a teenager then — now she’s 18 years old! Here’s everything we know about The Chronology of Water, including plot details and whether there’s a release date.

Plot

The Chronology of Water follows swimmer-turned-writer Lidia, played by Imogen Poots (Outer Range, Green Room), from “her earliest childhood memories in the Pacific Northwest, through explosive misfires and mistakes, children that almost-were, toxic relationships, art heroes, wins and losses.” The synopsis continues, The Chronology of Water is “an in-depth exploration of sexuality, of creativity, an unflinching stare at all the gory details of having a female body and a sensitive depiction of the emotional vocabulary of youth.”

Despite it being her first film (and a “f*cking thrill ride”), Stewart was a dream to work with, according to Poots. “She’s really something. She was born to do it. I’m so proud of her,” she told Collider. “She’s done it her way and it’s the only way. I think she’s punk-rock and authentic, and she’s my favorite girl. I think she’s amazing.” Poots even called Stewart “one of the greatest directors I’ve ever worked with in my life.”

Stewart was so determined to adapt The Chronology of Water that she vowed to quit acting until it was made. “I’m going to make this movie before I ever work for someone else,” she told Variety earlier this year. “Yeah, I will quit the f*cking business. I won’t make a-f*cking-nother movie until I make this movie. I will tell you that, for sure. I think that will get things going.”

The gambit worked: the first image from The Chronology of Water is here.

Cast

Outside of Imogen Poots, The Chronology of Water also stars Thora Birch, Earl Cave, Michael Epp, Susannah Flood, Kim Gordon (of Sonic Youth fame), and Jim Belushi. Name another movie with a member of Sonic Youth (Gordon), the star of K-9 (Belushi), and a human named Imogen Poots (Poots)? You can’t!

Release Date

The Chronology of Water does not currently have a release date, so expect sometime in 2025. If that’s the case, it will be a big year for Stewart. She’s also starring in Sacramento, a road trip comedy with Michael Cera, Maya Erskine, and Michael Angarano; post-apocalyptic romance Love Me with Steven Yeun; and Flesh of the Gods, Mandy director Panos Cosmatos’ sexy vampire movie about a married couple played by Stewart and Oscar Isaac who are “seduced into a glamorous, surrealistic world of hedonism, thrills, and violence.”

Trailer

There’s no trailer for The Chronology of Water yet, so instead, please enjoy Kristen Stewart’s delightful day drinking antics with Seth Meyers.

According to people online, Snoop Dogg is the unofficial patron saint of marijuana. Although the “Gin & Juice” rapper has pretended to give up the sticky icky for a marketing campaign and even volunteered to temporarily turn his back on it for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Snoop Dogg and Mary Jane will never truly part.

Still, streamer Kai Cenat wanted to test the validity of these claims. In a video recorded backstage at the 2024 VMAs (viewable here), Kai challenged Snoop Dogg to see how quickly he could roll a blunt.

“Snoop, how fast can you roll up a blunt,” asked Kai.

Without hesitation, Snoop replied: “Before this song ends.”

The song in question was Shirley Murdock’s beloved 1985 single, “As We Lay.”

Although neither opted to begin an official timer, sure enough before the ballad could end Snoop completed the mission, all while featuring his Death Row Cannabis line. Back in 2019, Snoop Dogg revealed that he actually hired a full-time blunt roller. According to him, she’s already rolled about half a million marijuana cigarettes during her tenure.

But don’t get it twisted, with Snoop catching his first high in the 1970s and maintaining a habit of on average 81 blunts a day, he proved to Kai Cenat that he is never to be questioned again.

Earlier this year, Lil Wayne expressed that he really, really wanted to play the Super Bowl Halftime Show for 2025, considering it would be on his home turf in New Orleans. A few days ago, though, it was revealed that it was Kendrick Lamar who was chosen for the coveted gig.

Days later, Wayne has spoken up, and he’s heartbroken.

Wayne shared a video this morning (September 13). In it, he appears downtrodden as he speaks, saying:

“First of all, I want to say forgive me for the delay. […] I had to get strength enough to do this without breaking.

I’m gonna say thank you to every voice, every opinion, all the care, all the love and the support out there. Your words turned into arms and held me up when I tried to fall back.

That hurt. It hurt a lot. You know what I’m talking about. It hurt a whole lot. I blame myself for not being mentally prepared for a letdown, and for automatically mentally putting myself in that position like somebody told me that was my position. So I blame myself for that. But I thought that was nothing better than that spot and that stage and that platform in my city, and so it hurt. It hurt a whole lot.

[But] y’all are f*cking amazing. It made me feel like sh*t, not getting this opportunity, and when I felt like sh*t, you guys reminded me that I ain’t sh*t without y’all… and that’s an amazing reality.

So, like I said, it broke me and I’m just trying to put me back together. But my God, have you all helped me. Thanks to all of my peers, my friends, my family, my homies on the sports television, and everybody repping me. I really appreciate that, I really do. I feel like I let all of y’all down by not getting that opportunity, but I’m working on me and I’m working. So, thank you.”

Watch the video here.

Jack Antonoff found himself in a bit of hot water at the 2024 MTV VMAs.

As TMZ notes, during Katy Perry’s performance, Antonoff was spotted putting noise-canceling earplugs in his ears. Footage made the rounds and Perry fans took to the internet to express their dissatisfaction with Antonoff’s perceived slight.

Antonoff saw what was going on and responded. In a tongue-in-cheek statement shared on X (formerly Twitter) and his Instagram Story yesterday (September 12), Antonoff explained:

“i would like to tell you directly from me that i did in fact use earplugs the other night. they were blue ‘hearos’ brand and im mortified to admit that i’ve been using them for a long time as well as buying them in bulk. i would also like to be honest and get ahead of that fact that i do not only use them when in 100 plus DB environments. it is humiliating to admit that i use them on planes and every night while sleep. there is nothing left to do but apologize and thank those who have covered this story because although it’s an embarrassment to my family and i, i do believe that this was a very important and pressing issue that needed to be exposed. i’m sorry to those i let down and today i will not being going to work and instead thinking about my earplug use and everyone that has been affected by it. the band and i have decided to keep all dates as scheduled.”

To Antonoff’s point: Per a 2016 paper from the Audio Engineering Society, the noise level at concerts typically ranges from 100 to 105 decibels; Some rock concerts have apparently even reached 130 decibels. The National Institute On Deafness And Other Communication Disorders, meanwhile, notes, “A single very loud noise or long or repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 dBA can cause hearing loss.” So, Antonoff, a musician and producer who heavily relies on his hearing, took a simple step to protect his ears in a loud environment.

Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan will put his most well-known series to rest this fall, which is also the season when he will debut his next star-studded offshoot. Landman isn’t quite considered even Yellowstone-adjacent, yet the series will surely have the trademark touches of a Sheridan show. As always, this prolific screenwriter has penned another adventure that captures a quintessential part of the American essence, and co-star Jon Hamm has made it known that this is not a cowboy-focused show.

Of course, Landman is likely to include a fair amount of cowboy boots and hats like Tulsa King does (and Sylvester Stallone’s show will return on September 15 because this Paramount+ king does not rest), but in vastly different settings. Let’s round up what to expect on this show, starting with the cast:

Cast

Sometime in the future, somebody will attempt to pinpoint the most storied cast of any Taylor Sheridan series, and Landman will surely hit the top three. First, a certain 1883 actor flowed so well with the Yellowstone creator that Sheridan wrote the Tommy Norris role specifically for Billy Bob Thornton. He has portrayed unruly characters (Bad Santa) and written captivating characters of his own accord (Sling Blade) and won one of TV’s highest acting honors (Fargo), but here, Billy Bob will portray a unique but wholly American beast: a wheeling and dealing oil company crisis manager.

Additionally, every show is better with a dose of Michael Peña, who will portray “veteran roughneck” Armando Medina. Jon Hamm will star as oil-industry king Monty Miller (an ally of Tommy), and his wife, Cami, will be portrayed by Demi Moore, who’s having quite a year between her Sheridan debut and with The Substance. Additionally, Tommy’s private life will be under the microscope with his ex-wife portrayed by Ali Larter, who will very much be on the scene, as revealed in a Vanity Fair photo reveal. Their young adult children will be portrayed by Michelle Randolph and Jacob Lofland.

Other cast members include Andy Garcia and Paulina Chávez with locally-based extras for filming oil-field and college-campus scenes.

Plot

Landman is based upon the hit Boomtown podcast and arrives with a synopsis that sets the show “in the proverbial boomtowns of West Texas” as “a modern-day tale of fortune seeking in the world of oil rigs.” Further, this is an “upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires fueling a boom so big, it’s reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics.”

Thornton recently told TV Insider that he and Sheridan had an early-on conversation about Norris’ feeling that he could have had everything in life, but due to various circumstances, that didn’t happen, and he’s very aware of the situation: “Taylor said to me one day, ‘When you go over to this house, and you think of where you live, you’re looking around, and you think: I could have had this – but it went a different direction.’”

Demi Moore further revealed to Deadline that the “boomtown of Fort Worth, Texas” will reveal “kind of this subculture that we haven’t seen before, which is what I think Taylor does so well.” Additionally, Moore promises that in addition to “really exploring the issues around oil, petroleum, on all sides,” there will be plenty of “delicious drama within and family dynamics.” Will there be an endangered ranch somewhere on the peripheral, too? Hopefully, there will be some Yellowstone Easter eggs in there somewhere.

We do know, however, that Billy Bob has something in common with Stallone, who described this filming experience as too hot to handle, temperature wise. In fact, Thornton admitted to Vanity Fair that certain scrubland scenes were “probably” the toughest type of filming that he’s ever physically done. The crew even nearly passed out on a day that Thornton had to run in 100 degree weather in high humidity while wearing cowboy boots on “caliche roads,” which does sound like hell on earth. That’s a day in the life of, according to Jon Hamm, “oil speculators and what they called landmen, which are the guys that run around and try to acquire mineral rights and land rights.”

Release Date

Hold onto your boots, this Paramount+ series will premiere on November 17.

Trailer

The first teaser trailer promises a gripping ride for Sheridan-heads.

Steven and Ian open today’s episode with some jokes (and some empathy!) directed at Dave Grohl. The president of rock is down this week, but the guys are not going to kick him. Steven then laments the state of the Green Bay Packers in a quick Sportscast, and the guys marvel at the unintentional comedy of Donald Trump in Politicscast. Steven gets really depressed during the Fantasy Albums Draft update, but then things perk up when they address the recent controversy about Linkin Park’s new singer and the overall “yay or nay” status of the popular nu-metal band. The guys also review new albums by “indie sleaze” artists The Dare and Fcukers, which brings out the “Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon” side of Steven.

In the mailbag, a listener asks if there is an American band whose reunion would engender as much hysteria as the Oasis reunion in England. (The answer is: Nirvana, maybe, if Kurt Cobain faked his own death.)

In Recommendation Corner, Ian talks up the new album by Foxing while Steven stumps for the latest live record by The War On Drugs.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 206 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.

Poor Finneas. After falling down an elevator shaft in the video for his last single, “For Cryin’ Out Loud!,” his heart gets kicked in its ass in his new “Cleats” video. Obviously, he’s learned a lot from teenage heartbreak, as the overall tone of the song is upbeat and tongue-in-cheek. Finneas sings the lyrics as an address to his younger self with all the wisdom of the intervening years, knowing he was barking up the wrong tree all along — but everything’s obvious in hindsight.

Finneas plays a fly on the wall in the video as his teenaged self hangs out with a girl from the soccer team — honestly, bro, you did this to yourself — until he works up the courage to make a move. Naturally, he promptly goes down in flames, but like… the song is called “Cleats” for cryin’ out loud! (See what I did there?)

For Cryin’ Out Loud is also the name of the producer-songwriter’s upcoming album, on which he steps out of the “bedroom producer” mindset and works with a full band — which sounds like another step toward making that musical with his sister Billie the two have been brainstorming for a while.

You can watch the video for “Cleats” above.

For Cryin’ Out Loud! is out 10/4 via Interscope Records. Find more information here.

After becoming the music business’ go-to call for a hit single feature, the time is ripe for Playboi Carti to finally come through with his long-awaited, oft-delayed album, Music. In typical Carti fashion, the self-declared King Vamp hasn’t given fans much to go on, let alone a solid album release date, but he did offer hope in the form of a new single, “All Red.”

In addition to trading in the high-pitched, squeaky voice we’ve heard him employ on a number of releases for a deeper-voiced, Future-esque flow, “All Red” is also the first official release to streaming services Carti’s shared since 2020’s Whole Lotta Red. Like many of Carti’s tracks, it was first teased through snippets on social media, although he did perform the song in full during his headlining set at Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash in Chicago in June.

Carti’s new flow pairs with his usual approach to wordplay, lending “All Red” a menacing, but playful vibe. It’s certainly a good sign for Music that Carti appears to be fully motivated and actually dropping new music again.

However, just because he wasn’t officially releasing music doesn’t mean we hadn’t heard from him lately. In August, he was featured alongside Drake on the leaked track “No Face,” which still has yet to see an official release as well.

Listen to Playboi Carti’s “All Red” above.