Fresh off his surprise performance at Stagecoach Festival, Texas rapper BigXthaPlug is doubling down on his country aspirations. After dropping “All The Way” with Bailey Zimmerman, he’s now teaming up with Amazon Music for an acoustic version of his Take Care (Deluxe) standout, “Holy Ground.” Stripping down the hard-hitting 808s of the original version, the acoustic edition adds in a thrumming guitar riff, allowing the grit in Murph’s voice to cut through the haunting chorus. The end result turns the thumping street anthem into a far-gazing Western ballad that bridges the sonic gap between genres to highlight the emotive, evocative storytelling inherent to both.
BigX’s breakout this year has seen him crossover into more than just country music mainstays. In April, he made his television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! performing a medley including “Mmhmmm” and “The Largest,” the latter of which has made its way into America’s living rooms via that one Wing Stop commercial that has become truly inescapable if you happen to be a basketball fan. The big fella continues to endear himself to a wider fanbase, ensuring that his reach will stretch far beyond his native Dallas.
You can listen to the acoustic version of “Holy Ground” on Amazon Music here.
Powerhouse producer Darren Star knew that he had a hit on his hands with Emily In Paris even before the show’s release. Despite criticism being piled on the show from its launch, Netflix viewers still cannot resist tuning into this breezy little sugar cookie of a series. The irony, of course, is that every character on this show has managed to elevate themselves professionally despite never doing much, and the character arguably accomplishing the most difficult feat happens to be relegated to being a pouty mess.
Ahhhh, those love triangles and quadrangles simply won’t quit. Nor will the irrational fear that this show could (gasp) become Emily In Rome, so let’s confront that possibility and what else to expect from the fifth season.
Cast
Apple TV+
Honestly, this section will tell us most of what needs to be known (because this show is all about the breakups and makeups), and the rest will fall into place. As viewers will recall, the fourth season ended with Hot Chef Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) losing his sh*t over how Emily (Lily Collins) had seemingly relocated from Paris to Rome. This is officially the case for an Agence Grateau assignment since Sylvie Grateau (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) decided to open up a pop-up agency solely for the purpose of trial representation for Marcello’s (Eugenio Franceschini) family business.
The presumption with that cliffhanger is that Gabriel will dash to Rome like Mr. Big sprinted to Paris in Sex and the City, but a wrinkle surfaced when Lucas Bravo started talking about how disappointed he is with Gabriel’s devolution into a wet blanket. It… wasn’t great. Bravo confessed to The Times, “It takes five months to shoot this series. Do I want to sacrifice them by telling something that does not stimulate me? … I do not want to be a part of a cog that does not tend to take the intelligence of viewers into consideration.” And then phone calls must have happened because Variety has reported how Bravo “is definitely on track to star in Season 5 as of now and his Michelin-rated restaurant will be one of the backdrops of the upcoming season.”
From there, we can assume that Emily’s love life will stay messy because she will be in Rome for both business and pleasure with Marcello, and this will take place after Alfie (Lucien Laviscount, who will also return) referred to Emily as the “greatest girl in the world.” (Oh really?) In other words, do not rule out Emily being asked to choose between the three of these dudes, which means that we should receive another bawdy passport-stamping joke from Mindy (Ashley Park, also confirmed to be back).
The rest of the returning cast includes Luc (Bruno Gouery), Julien (Samuel Arnold), Thalia Besson (Genevieve), and Antoine (William Abadie).
Who won’t return? Camille Razat, who portrayed Camille, has departed the show, which is probably just as well after the show turned her into a villain over a false pregnancy. Not the best look there, but it’s also a soap opera.
Plot
The Netflix series will begin filming in Rome as of May and then move onto Paris, which suggests that, yup, Emily In Italy will not be a permanent thing. As Darren Star recently told Netflix, Emily’s work outside of France “doesn’t mean she’s not going to be in Paris, but she’s going to have a presence in Rome.” Additionally, Star revealed that this switch-up was designed to “stay ahead of the audience and take them to unexpected places” and give this series “a bigger footprint,” apparently beyond publicity galas and ski vacations, which was echoed by Lily Collins declaring, “We want to see her beyond her vacay mode. And he comes at that perfect time.”
Precise plot details remain secret other than the confirmation that this series will remain almost entirely about romance and entanglements therein. Further, Collins emphasized that “Gabriel has to deal with the repercussions of his choice” in breaking off his relationship with Emily, and that the American expat has “a real connection” and “a real spark” with Marcello. How, exactly, a mopey Gabriel will fulfill Lucas Bravo’s desire for a meatier story remains to be seen, but something must have materialized to keep him onboard.
Release Date
With filming beginning in May, Emily In Paris should be good for late 2025 or early 2026 on your streaming devices.
Trailer
No trailer yet, only a sleeker bob that has any right to exist in the below announcement.
Back in October 2024, Summer Walker announced her forthcoming album Finally Over It. Although she has not yet revealed when the project will be made available, she has shared lead single, “Heart Of A Woman,” confirmed a string of live shows as support Chris Brown’s Breezy Bowl XX Tour, and keep supporters in the overall conversation with Over It radio.
Today (May 2), Summer Walker shared the second single from Finally Over It, “Spend It.” The track, which was co-produced by Rami Dawod, Slimwav, and David “Dos Dias” Bishop, is a jarring about-face from Summer’s hopeless romantic persona. Even on “Heart Of A Woman,” Summer clung onto the belief that love is enough.
That is far from the case with “Spend It,” instead of the fluttering feelings of romantic embrace and other intangibles obtained in a healthy relationship Summer demands earthly securities as collateral. “Give me the last four of your credit card / Buy back my love, you can keep your heart / Spend it on me, l love when you to spend it on me / Throw it to me, take me up in Givenchy / Before my love couldn’t be bought / But now that’s all I want / Drip me in diamonds, that’s how you make it right / Drape me in silk, and we would never fight, no,” sings Summer.
Whether you label it pessimism or bitterness, Summer doesn’t care and she unapologetic explained why in the track’s chorus. “Before I just wanted love / But now I just want you to / Spend it on me / Go right ahead and spend it on me / Go right ahead and spoil me, baby / Buy back my love / Keep those sweet nothing’s from mе / They don’t mean nothing to me,” she sings.
Following the Jennifer Lopez ideology of love, left Summer emotional bankruptcy and physically distraught. So moving forward her love will indeed cost a thing.
In case you missed it, Kendrick Lamar and SZA launched their joint Grand National Tour last month (here’s Lamar’s setlist and here’s SZA’s). SZA has decided that while no the road, she wants to share her perspective with fans, and she’s been doing so with a series of vlogs.
She shared the first one (here it is) on April 24, chronicling her and Lamar’s time in Minneapolis. The minute-long video is a compilation of footage, of everything from SZA’s dog to SZA interacting with fans to getting ready to perform. All the while, SZA offers a narration to offer further insight into what’s happening. She captioned the post, “IM LATE AF BUT NIGHT 1 MINNEAPOLIS WAS AN EXPERIENCE [crying-laughing emoji] GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME !I’m so GRATEFUL FOR MY LIFE! Ps im finna start vlogging cause y not . HOUSTON VLOG OTW.”
The promised Houston vlog followed on April 30 (here) and it’s pretty similar to the first video. SZA didn’t have faith in her VO skills this time, as she captioned the post, “ignore this voice over I was sleepy n tipsy.”
The caption also noted her next vlog will show her time in Atlanta, and if precedent holds up, it should arrive a week or so after the previous video.
However, the “Trappa Rappa” rapper’s latest collaboration carries a greater sentimental weight. Today (May 2), Quavo reached into his studio session archives to sonically reconnect with the late Takeoff. Quavo and Takeoff’s chemistry is put on full display thanks to their posthumous collaboration, “Dope Boy Phone.”
“Dope Boy Phone” is a perfect showcase of the musicians’ rap origins. As demonstrated in their Infinity Links release as the duo Unc And Phew, Quavo and Takeoff can’t help but make rap magic anytime they connect on a record. But “Dope Doy Phone,” reminds hip-hop fans of their massive impact on trap rap, especially in the trio, Migos.
Takeoff is no longer here in the physical sense, but Quavo has ensured his legacy is felt with each of his solo drops.
Over on Instagram, Quavo celebrated that track’s release, saying: “Yeah, we back. Huncho and the Rocket. Quavo and Take. The real Batman and Robin. Unc and Phew. The greatest duo of all motherf*cking time. Cheers to my dog.”
Next month, Dove Cameron will open for Dua Lipa on the Radical Optimism Tour. But before then, she dropped a new song. “French Girls” is a pulsating, theatrical banger that has Cameron pleading for someone to “paint me like one of your French girls,” Jack and Rose style.
Cameron described “French Girls” as “a very playful, high energy, and joy-filled dance track, which is the space I was in while writing most of this album. But lyrically, the chorus explores something a little more intricate. I’ve always questioned my own place in the world of celebrity and visibility. What does it mean to be watched, consumed, to give yourself over to the world – the highs and lows of that commitment?”
She continued, “I wanted to explore my feelings around the tension between the joys of connection on a mass scale and the vulnerability that comes with that. The artifice and the intimacy and the surrealism of fame, the people who I look up to, who I consider icons, and where I fit within that, or if I even do. ‘French Girls’ is a love letter to the romance of my relationship with the world around me, which, like any real relationship, has always been and will always be complex.”
You can listen to “French Girls” above, and check out Cameron’s dates with Dua Lipa below.
Dove Cameron’s 2025 Tour Dates: Radical Optimism Tour
06/20 — London, England @ Wembley Stadium
06/21 — London, England @ Wembley Stadium
06/24 — Liverpool, UK @ Anfield Stadium
06/25 — Liverpool, UK @ Anfield Stadium
06/27 — Dublin, Ireland @ Aviva Stadium
“the amount of streams on a song isn’t indicative of the quality or effort put into it. If you disagree with this you could be having an episode and should seek love from the outside. Go for a run. Take a look in the mirror and ask yourself in the safety of your mind if you are proud of that person or if you even like what you see. Next, do not punish yourself. Do not sabotage. Rather take it as an opportunity to become an even better version of who you once were. Look at it as the beginning of a fulfilling life. You deserve an adventure. You deserve to feel the sun on your skin. Don’t trade that for being on this app with the blinds drawn. You deserve more.”
In response, a user wrote, “This is the hypocrisy I talk about, when your song bangs and everyone is bragging about the stats online, you never say sh*t like this to let them know it doesn’t matter to you. You saying this when you’re flopping is counterintuitive and honestly shameful.” Doja replied simply, “Okay :).”
Somebody else tweeted, “It sucks that a lot of fans grew to love you for your commercial success rather than the effort and beauty that you put into your art.” Doja responded, “That is okay. But some people will always listen with their eyes.”
This follows the recent release of Doja and Don Toliver’s F1 movie single “Lose My Mind,” which currently has about 225,000 streams on Spotify since its April 30 release.
Since Car Seat Headrest just put out a rock opera, it only feels appropriate to talk about the most commercially successful rock opera of the century. American Idiot was the first Green Day album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and their second to sell over 20 million copies, after CD classic Dookie. The 2004 album was so popular that it was turned into a Broadway musical, and there’s even been talk of a theatrical film.
During the punk band’s Hollywood Walk Of Fame ceremony on Thursday (May 1), singer Billie Joe Armstrong gave an update on the American Idiot movie.
“There was supposed to be [a film], but it never panned out,” he told Variety. “I’m sure something is gonna happen. The musical did so well and they’ve done it in Australia, Italy, Germany, England… It’s traveled so well. Eventually it’s going to happen, I would think.”
Armstrong also discussed Green Day’s habit of only releasing every four years or so. “You have to live life to write songs about your life,” he said. “I do like to take my time with the lyrics to make sure that they project the way I feel, internalize what’s going on in my own life, and what’s going on in the culture… We live in such a crazy world. Now, everything is wide open.”
The song comes from an upcoming Maroon 5 album that has yet to be officially announced. (the band will be announcing a tour soon, too.) Adam Levine says in a statement:
“It’s just a guitar-based song which we haven’t really done in so long. It happened first for us while we were recording the album. I think it’s just the purest and we are so happy to have Lisa on it. The guitar intro is literally me playing into an audio message on my iPhone with an unplugged guitar. I actually got a little emotional recording ’cause it was sort of reconnecting to our roots, which a lot of our fans have been saying ‘hey we want to hear that sound again.’ It’s been like over 20 years so I think it’s time for that to return.”
The band’s James Valentine adds, “I got super emotional when Adam sent me the original demo of ‘Priceless’ because for me the sound represents Maroon 5’s earlier days. I joined the band in 2001 so when I was seeing them play in 2000, ‘Priceless’ gave me the same sort of excitement from the chords to overall vibe. I was super stoked on it and it established the writing and sound for our upcoming album.”
Steven and Ian open this week with a conversation about financial woes at the LP subscription service Vinyl Me Please, and what this says about the “Big Vinyl” industry. They also talk about Steven’s recent column on the most “CD album” albums, and why certain records work better on compact disc.
In the Fantasy Album Draft update, they talk about new records by Model/Actriz and Jenny Hval. Then they review The Scholars, the latest album by Car Seat Headrest, along with discussing the band’s career. In the mailbag, a reader asks about albums made by comedians, including a recent effort by Kyle Mooney, as well as a “yay or nay” verdict on They Might Be Giants.
In Recommendation Corner, Ian talk about the new album by Club Night while Steven goes for the latest from The Convenience.
New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 237 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.
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