Earlier this month, Blackpink teased a world tour was coming in 2025. Now the dates are here: the K-pop group will play a limited run of stadium shows across North America, Europe, and the UK this summer. The North American dates include stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, and New York.
The Blackpink 2025 World Tour is Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa’s first headlining tour together since the Born Pink World Tour in 2022–2023, which became the highest-grossing tour by a girl group ever. All four have since launched successful solo careers including a top-5 hit for Rosé with “Apt.” (and in Lisa’s case, a starring role on The White Lotus).
Tickets for the Blackpink 2025 World Tour will be available beginning Thursday, February 27. You can find more information at Live Nation’s website. Below, check out the complete dates for the tour, as well as the poster.
Blackpink’s 2025 Tour Dates: Blackpink 2025 World Tour
07/05 — Seoul, South Korea @ Goyang Stadium
07/06 — Seoul, South Korea @ Goyang Stadium
07/12 — Los Angeles, CA @ SoFi Stadium
07/18 — Chicago, IL @ Soldier Field Stadium
07/22 — Toronto, ON @ Rogers Stadium
07/26 — New York, NY @ Citi Field
08/02 — Paris, France @ Stade de France
08/06 — Milan, Italy @ Ippodromo SNAI La Maura
08/09 — Barcelona, Spain @ Estadi Olímpic
08/15 — London, UK @ Wembley Stadium
Chicago-based rapper McKinley Dixon is ready to follow his well-received 2023 album Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? with a new one: Today (February 19), he announced his latest LP, Magic, Alive!. He also shared a video for the lead single, “Sugar Water” featuring Quelle Chris and Anjimile.
Dixon says of the song:
“‘Sugar Water’ is a discussion on how to make fleeting moments last forever, and how to carry those not here with you through time and space. It raises the question ‘what’s the price to pay for an eternal life lived through others memories?’”
He also said of working on the album in his native Richmond, Virginia, “It’s like a celebration when I make a record back in Richmond. Everybody has grown, but now here we are together again.”
Aside from Quelle Chris and Anjimile, the album also features appearances from Pink Siifu, Shamir, Teller Bank$, Blu, and others.
Watch the “Sugar Water” video above and find the Magic, Alive! album art and tracklist below.
McKinley Dixon’s Magic, Alive! Album Cover Artwork
City Slang
McKinley Dixon’s Magic, Alive! Tracklist
1. “Watch My Hands”
2. “Sugar Water” Feat. Quelle Chris and Anjimile
3. “A Crooked Stick” Feat. Ghais Guevara and Alfred
4. “Recitatif” Feat. Teller Bank$
5. “Run, Run, Run Part II”
6. “We’re Outside, Rejoice!”
7. “All The Loved Ones (What Would We Do???)” Feat. ICECOLDBISHOP and Pink Siifu
8. “F.F.O.L.” Feat. Teller Bank$
9. “Listen Gentle”
10. “Magic, Alive!”
11. “Could’ve Been Different” Feat. Blu and Shamir
Magic, Alive! is out 6/6 via City Slang. Find more information here.
On Tuesday, a video of Drake throwing a shoe at a drone went viral.
The footage begins with a shot of an open laptop and a glass of what appears to be rosé on the upper floors of a penthouse in Sydney, Australia. When the “Gimme A Hug” rapper pops into frame, he notices the drone, grabs an orange slide, and hurls it at the drone — he misses wide. The whole thing is staged a little too perfectly, and people immediately wondered whether it was staged.
Forbes thinks it is, noting that the laptop shows a gambling website, “and that really is the dead giveaway — it’s most certainly an undisclosed ad. Drake has long had an endorsement deal, reportedly worth $100 million per year, with gambling service Stake.” There’s also seemingly “a mirror reflection of a second person in the footage, speculating that it’s the drone pilot himself.”
Drake acknowledged the video in a post on his Instagram. “The stakes are high… but so am I,” he wrote, along with a very clear photo of him hurling the slide at the drone and another pic where he’s wearing a Stake shirt. So…
Is Drake’s Drone Video Real?
Based on the evidence, it appears to have been staged. But you can judge for yourself in the video here.
The lineup for Canada’s premier music festival is here. Osheaga is returning to Montreal’s Parc Jean-Drapeau from August 1 to 3, 2025, with headliners The Killers, Olivia Rodrigo, and Tyler The Creator. The bill also includes Doechii, Glass Animals, Dominic Fike, Lucy Dacus, Gracie Abrams, The Chainsmokers, Shaboozey, Cage The Elephant, Jamie xx, Royel Otis, The Beaches, Finneas, Gigi Perez, TV On The Radio, Jorja Smith, Marina, and Amaarae.
The lineup also features 21 Canadian artists, including The Beaches, bbno$, Ekkstacy, Aqyila, Rau_Ze, Hologramme, Ruby Waters, Bibi Club, Debby Friday, PyPy, and Mint Simon.
“Early on we were alternative and then alternative became mainstream,” Osheaga founder Nick Farkas told The Montreal Gazette. “The first few years of Osheaga, none of the bands we had played on the radio. Then all of a sudden you have a Coldplay that was an alternative rock band and then they become huge. The way I would describe it now is that it’s a multi-genre festival that tries to be enough of everything for everyone. We want people to dig deep in the line-up.”
Tickets for Osheaga 2025 go on sale on Friday, February 21, at 10 a.m. ET. Check out more information here. You can also find the full lineup below.
I do this every year — I vote for the latest class of Rock Hall nominees, and then I share my ballot. This is my rationale, which I always state before I begin: I started voting for the Rock Hall in 2021. Before that, I spent a lot of time online complaining about the Rock Hall. I still complain about the Rock Hall online. Therefore, I feel like it is only fair to make my ballot public, so that people can complain about me if they want. (Don’t worry, I won’t hear it, you will be muted.)
Before I share my ballot, here are some disclaimers — most will sound familiar, though at least one is not.
1) There are 15 nominees this year. I did not pick the nominees. I do not know how the nominees are picked. Do not blame me for the nominees. Do not say, “Why didn’t you vote for Warren Zevon?” as that is not an option this year. (I wish it were, but it is not.)
2) “But why are there non-rock acts nominated for the Rock Hall?” Sir, this question has been asked and answered one billion times. I will not waste time addressing it here.
3) You are allowed to vote for seven acts. There are no write-ins.
4) I have no idea how much weight the fan vote is given but my guess is “not much.”
5) This is the most nineties rock-centric class that I can ever remember. And that makes me happy, as I have historically railed about how nineties alternative and indie music remains criminally under-represented in the Rock Hall. (The treatment of eighties alternative and indie is actually much worse — sadly, no remedy for that this year.) Anyway, my votes reflect my gratitude for this development.
6) I understand that you might believe that the Rock Hall “does not really matter” and that you might “not give a rat’s ass about who is voted in.” That is all well and good. Nobody is forcing you to care. You may exit the conversation now.
Okay, let’s get to the ballot.
Bad Company
A quintessential classic-rock radio band. If you have a radio station in your town known as “The Bear” or “The Eagle,” there’s a good chance they are playing “Can’t Get Enough” or “Feel Like Makin’ Love” at this very moment. Rock Hall voters appear dead set on inducting every last notable rock group of the seventies, so I would bet on them making it. And while I’m not personally a fan, I can appreciate their legacy. The frontman, Paul Rodgers, is viewed as one of the great singers of this era of arena rock. And guitarist Mick Ralphs comes from one of my personal glam-rock faves, Mott The Hoople.
They don’t have my vote, but if they make it I won’t be mad (or surprised).
My vote: No.
The Black Crowes
Maybe the biggest surprise of this year’s nominees, though in my case it’s a pleasant one. (There’s another nominee coming up that is just shockingly bad, but we’ll get to that.) I have long been a supporter of The Black Crowes, to the point of co-writing a book about the band with their former drummer and my current good friend, Steve Gorman. So, I won’t even pretend to be unbiased here. But allow me to make a quick case to other voters out there: The Black Crowes are a secretly influential band! Not so much on contemporary rock music, per se, but on that intersection of rock, country, blues, and folk presently classified as “Americana.” It’s fair to assume that any southern musician who has come of age in the past 30 years has spent a lot of time in bars where “She Talks To Angels” and “Remedy” were playing ad nauseum, and the osmosis effect of that is discernible. Also, at their peak — the “classic” lineup from 1992 to ’97 — they were simply one of the finest live rock bands of their time, a hard-rocking and jammy outfit that marks the midpoint of two other bands we will discuss in a minute, Oasis and Phish.
My vote: (Hell) Yes.
Mariah Carey
I thought she was a shoo-in last year, so I will be doubly shocked if she doesn’t make it now. I’ll just repeat what I wrote last year: The most famous and commercially successful nominee this year. Twenty years ago, her stock was at rock bottom in the wake of the Glitter debacle. But now, she is pretty much universally beloved. She has sold 220 million records worldwide, she has the record for most No. 1 singles by a solo act (19), she owns the most popular Christmas song of all-time, and even Glitter is now considered a cult classic.”
I didn’t think she needed my vote last year, which I guess was technically wrong. But I really don’t think she needs it now.
Great singer. Also a distinctive singer, which is different but arguably more important. His Woodstock appearance is obviously iconic. And the Mad Dogs And Englishmen album is one of my favorites. He also recorded a ton of dreck after the early seventies. In most years, that wouldn’t bother me. But this year, given the competition, it’s a liability.
My vote: No.
Billy Idol
As a person whose earliest musical memories involve watching MTV as a young (possibly too young) kid in the early eighties, I have some affection for Billy Idol. It’s possible that he was the first “punk” coded singer I ever heard. (Though The Clash’s “Rock The Casbah” was also popular at the time, so I was luckily getting some Joe Strummer face time as well.) And I still like his most famous songs, including “Dancing With Myself,” “White Wedding,” “Eyes Without A Face,” and the cover of “Mony Mony.” I even enjoy cornball early nineties fare like “Rock The Cradle Of Love” and “L.A. Woman.” But I go back to one of my base criteria for Rock Hall voting: Can you write the history of popular music without this person? With Billy, I think the answer is “yes,” and therefore my answer must be “no.”
My vote: No.
Joy Division/New Order
I didn’t vote for this awkwardly packaged combo in 2023 because I naively assumed the two of the most important post-punk bands ever were a slam-dunk for induction. Alas, I was wrong. I’m not making the same mistake this time.
My vote: Yes.
Cyndi Lauper
I also didn’t vote for Cyndi in 2023 because I thought she was a shoo-in. Despite my love for She’s So Unusual, one of the greatest debuts of the eighties or any other decade. Given the relative lack of women on this year’s ballot, I actually think she’s got a very good shot in 2025. If I’m wrong again, I will feel bad about it.
My vote: No.
Manà
Kudos to the Rock Hall for nominating one of the world’s most popular Mexican bands. But I can’t even pretend here: I know nothing about them other than once hearing a glancing comment about how they’re the Mexican Bon Jovi. I apologize if that’s a mischaracterization!
My vote: No.
Oasis
Anyone who knows anything about me is already aware of how I’m voting here, and not only because I voted for them last year. I thought it was, frankly, incredibly moronic that Oasis wasn’t inducted in 2024. Though maybe, given their upcoming reunion tour this year, the honor is more adequately timed for 2025. Regardless, Oasis remains one of the precious few nineties rock bands that is at all relevant to younger generations, to say nothing of their status as the defining British rock group of the last 30 years. Put them in already, you bozos!
My vote: (Hell) Yes.
Outkast
I could have sworn that I voted for Outkast at least once before. But while they have been eligible since 2019, this is their first nomination. Also, they’re the only hip-hop act on the ballot this year. Perhaps people have forgotten this, but Outkast was the most culturally significant and beloved American musical act of the early aughts — not rap act, but musical act. Pretty much everybody agreed they were great. They had huge hits. They swept year-end critics’ lists. They won Grammys. Indie-rock bands covered their songs (particularly “Ms. Jackson”) like sixties bands reviving blues standards. I can’t think of a comparable “consensus” act from my lifetime, other than Thriller era Michael Jackson. Did I vote for them? Of course I did! Anyone who doesn’t is a fool!
My vote: Yes.
Phish
Similar to The Black Crowes, this nomination was somewhat surprising, but also (in my view) richly deserved. Simply put, Phish successfully created a world around their music that was independent of the mainstream music business. Even more than the Grateful Dead, they garnered a following large enough to fill stadiums without servicing radio with hit singles or playing the game in any remotely conventional sense. That they did this while constantly challenging audiences with long, unpredictable (and frequently brilliant) concerts largely composed of improvised music only makes their career achievements more impressive. For decades, music critics dismissed them out of hand, based mostly on outmoded (and plain ignorant) clichés about drug-addled hippies and noodly guitar solos. The lack of critical curiosity about this kind of music amounts to journalistic malpractice, though Phish obviously proved that building a career without the media results in a much stronger long-term foundation.
My vote: (Hell) Yes.
Soundgarden
In their time they were widely respected but less successful than their fellow Seattle brethren, Nirvana and Pearl Jam. So perhaps it’s fitting that those groups preceded Soundgarden into the Rock Hall. Though, at the same time, it’s extremely not fitting, given Soundgarden’s roots in the American indie underground of the eighties. This is an often-overlooked part of their history — long before grunge, Soundgarden was on the same label as Black Flag and the Minutemen. Of course, neither of those bands are in yet either, another remnant of the Rock Hall’s shameful treatment of a prime decade for American rock music.
My vote: Yes.
The White Stripes
Like Outkast, this one was one of the consensus favorites of aughts-era music, a fact also weirdly lost to time. In recent “best albums” lists like last year’s Apple 100, The White Stripes don’t rate at all, no matter the continued sportsball relevance of “Seven Nation Army.” And they didn’t get in when nominated in 2023. I suspect that’s related in part to Jack White’s unfortunate latter-day reputation as a scold, though that shouldn’t affect his artistic reputation, which over the course of The White Stripes’ career is practically flawless.
ASAP Rocky had a major life moment yesterday (February 19): He received the verdict in his felony gun trial. He was charged with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm over a confrontation with ASAP Relli in 2021. Ultimately, he was facing up to eight years in prison, but fortunately, he was found not guilty.
Following the reveal, Rihanna offered an apparent reaction. In an Instagram Story, she wrote:
“The glory belongs to God and God alone! Thankful, humbled by his mercy!”
When the verdict was announced, Rocky celebrated by jumping into the courtroom gallery and hugging Rihanna (here’s a video). Later, outside the courthouse, Rihanna was seen holding Rocky’s arm and rubbing his shoulder (video).
In a statement outside of the courthouse, Rocky said, “We wanna thank God first. I really want to thank the jury for making the right decision. I’m just so thankful. This whole experience has been crazy for the past four years, but I am thankful nonetheless.”
Rocky isn’t completely out of the woods, though, as he (and lawyer Joe Tacopina) still face a defamation lawsuit from ASAP Relli. The suit claims statements made to the press “damage [Relli’s] reputation and his personal brand; goodwill in the community as a member of A$AP Mob.”
Blink-182’s bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus is a kick ass musician. But, the “First Date” musician has some other rock star talents. Atop the list is his eye for fine art. Now, one of his pieces could earn him millions.
Today (February 18), Sotheby’s revealed Mark Hoppus’ rare Banksy piece is going up for auction. While the painting, Crude Oil (Vettriano), could earn upwards to $6 million. In a statement, Hoppus discussed the highly desired collectible.
“We loved this painting since the moment we saw it,” he said. “Unmistakably Banksy, but different. We bought it because we loved it. It’s borne witness to our family over these past dozen years.”
Although the auction will surely be an impressive payback, Hoppus won’t keep all the proceeds from the sell. According to reports, Hoppus will donate parts of the proceeds to different charitable causes including California Fire Foundation, the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and Cedars Sinai Hematology Oncology Research.
The artwork’s description reads: “Crude Oil (Vettriano) stands as one of the most instantly recognizable and audacious works in Banksy’s provocative oeuvre – a rare, entirely hand-painted canvas that epitomizes the artist’s role as a cultural agitator and sharp-witted social commentator.”
Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary Evening live auction is scheduled for March 4 at 7 pm London time. Find more information here.
Thanks to collaborations with her fiancée Benny Blanco, Gomez’s next full length project is on the way. Today (February 19), Selena Gomez seeming shared a snippet of a I Said I Love You First track.
Over on Gomez’s official Instagram page, she shared a fun and flirty video (viewable here). In the clip, Gomez lip syncs along to an unreleased song.
“Call me when you break up / I want to be the first one on your mind when you wake up / I miss the way we’d stay up / We’d talk about forever while I’m taking off my makeup,” sings Gomez.
The dance-pop fusion is a stark contrast to the project’s initial gentle acoustic teaser track “Scared Of Loving You,” which was co-written by Blanco, Gomez, and Finneas. Given the inspiration behind the forthcoming body of work, supporters should expect a wide array of sonic offerings.
In a press release, the album is described as: “I Said I Love You First celebrates the pair’s love story, giving fans a unique window into their relationship.”
I Said I Love You First is out 3/21 via SMG Music/Friends Keep Secrets/Interscope Records. Find more information here.
Now, according to TMZ, Lil Tjay has been banned from the famed New York City venue and all of its properties.
While attending Keyshawn Davis and Denys Berinchyk’s WBO lightweight championship match on Friday, February 14, Lil Tjay was seen arguing with a security guard. Tension between the two parties eventually reached a boiling point. As shown on the clip, Lil Tjay appears to spit in the guard’s face.
In a statement submitted to TMZ, a Madison Square Garden representative slammed Lil Tjay’s alleged actions. “Our policy is that patrons that engage in confrontational and disruptive behavior will be escorted out and banned from all MSG properties,” said the rep.
A source close to the matter claimed the incident was sparked when Lil Tjay and his entourage were denied access to the VIP area. Lil Tjay nor his legal team have issued a public statement regarding the report or the viral video.
Asap Rocky’s legal fate has been decided by a jury of his peers. Today (February 18), the “Tailor Swift” rapper received the verdict in his felony assault trial.
As read by the juror foreperson, Asap Rocky (real name Rakim Mayers) was found not guilty of assaulting former friend Terell Ephron (professionally known as Asap Relli).
Rocky was formally charged with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm following a confrontation with Ephron back in November 2021. Initially, reports claimed that if Rocky was found guilty, he could face up to 24 years behind bars. However, during the trial prosecutors revealed they would only pursue 8 years shortly after Rocky supposedly rejected a plea deal.
Rocky’s lawyer Joe Tacopina is expected to address the verdict outside of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, California.
Although the felony assault case has officially concluded, Rocky and Tacopina are reportedly still waiting to go up against the civil defamation lawsuit filed by Ephron.
A trial date for the defamation case has seemingly not been assigned just yet.
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