Category: News

As he builds on the success of his breakout hit “Million Dollar Baby,” DMV singer Tommy Richman has swung hard into a desert theme for his upcoming debut album, Coyote. Besides evoking the canine avatars of the driest climates with the album’s title, he’s also announced a tour, Before The Desert, aimed at getting fans in his hometown, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles psyched up for the project.

To that end, he’s also released a new single, following up “Devil Is A Lie” with “Thought You Were The One.” And in keeping with the desert theme, the video for the song — which finds him pondering similar heartbroken subject matter to his prior singles — takes him to a moonlight cactus-riddled landscape, where he gets cozy with a date under the stars in the back of his vintage Jeep. The video has a collage/’zine feel, which matches the semi-punk presentation of Richman’s rollout to date.

In a press release, Tommy said of the song, “It’s a great example of slowing things down a little bit… It’s not always about the hype songs. I’m versatile.” He’ll get the chance to show off even more of that versatility on September 27, when he releases the Coyote LP via Brent Faiyaz’s ISO Supremacy and Pulse. You can watch the video for “Thought You Were The One” above, and find more album info here.

After taking a social media hiatus earlier this month, Halle Bailey returns as promised with one wild video for her seductive new single, “Because I Love You.” Balancing rapping and singing over a driving instrumental, it’s a strong return to form for the younger half of Chloe X Halle.

Even if you think you know where the plot of this twisty thriller of a clip is going, you wouldn’t be able to guess the surreal snarl in the road ahead. What seemingly starts off as an exploration of a steamy love triangle — with Halle herself playing two of its points opposite The Book Of Clarence‘s RJ Cyler — turns into a true mind bender as “faithful partner” Halle catches “exotic dancer/other woman” Halle with RJ on a romantic night out.

The jilted version of the singer doesn’t just confront the unfaithful partner and his paramour, she hops on the hood to put on a show of her own. But right before Clyer’s disbelieving eyes, he’s confronted by a whole cadre of Halle clones (timed to the choral explosion of her duplicated voices on the track itself). The video ends on this cliffhanger, but whatever the many Halles decide to do to the perfidious paramour, you just know it can’t be good.

“Because I Love You” is Halle’s second solo single of 2024 after the more demure “In Your Hands,” and already seems to be much more warmly received among fans online. You can watch the video above.

After a short delay earlier in the month, Big Sean’s new album Better Me Than You is out now and with it, the comically romantic video for standout song, “Who You Are (Superstar).” As suggested by its title, the song is constructed around a sample of Usher’s 2004 Confessions hit, “Superstar,” with Sean whispering sweet nothings and empowering affirmations to a romantic interest.

In the tongue-in-cheek video, which is inspired in equal parts by the call center-oriented films Girl 6 and Boiler Room, Sean gets help in the above endeavor from an office full of Lothario phone operators, played by comedians Mark Philips, Dylan Patel and fellow musicians Jazz Cartier and Aminé, with veteran actor Taye Diggs, who plays their boss.

Opening like an infomercial, with the boys encouraging women to call in to receive some confidence, the rest of the video follows their in-office antics, as they gas each other up with advice and their own encouraging mantras scribbled on post-its. The ladies calling in range from surgeons to jet-setting bigwigs, calling in from work or workouts.

The overall vibe is right in line with much of the rest of Better Me Than You, which has featured other empowering singles such as “Clarity,” “On Up,” “Together Forever,” and “Yes.”

You can watch the video for “Who You Are (Superstar)” above.

Better Me Than You is out now via FF to Def Entertainment. You can find more information here.

Travis Hunter is the most unique football player in the nation. While the Colorado Buffaloes have plenty of question marks during the second year of the Deion Sanders era, they’re going to go into every game they play with the best player on the field, as Hunter is standout on both sides of the ball.

Hunter lines up at cornerback on defense and is a good player, but where he really shines is on offense, where he plays wide receiver and is the top target for fellow NFL hopeful Shedeur Sanders. And while the Buffs got a test on Thursday night from FCS powerhouse North Dakota State, Hunter was able to have a monster night, as he reeled in three touchdowns. The best of the bunch, which you can watch right here, was a ridiculous grab while he was heading to the ground and just plucked it out of the air in the fourth quarter while the team was on the doorstep.

It was as good of a TD snag as you’ll ever seen, and it caught the attention of LeBron James, who could not believe what he saw.

“MAN TRAVIS HUNTER IS RIDICULOUS!!!!!” James posted on Twitter. “WOW”

I said basically the same thing that LeBron did, because my goodness, what a grab. Anyway, we know Hunter is a huge LeBron fan, so I am sure he’ll be happy to see this after the game.

Mexican-American singer Becky G has some questions for a devilish lover in the video for her new song, “Como Diablos.” A pleading corrido, “Como Diablos” finds Becky demanding to know, “¿Por qué diablos fue que tú te fuiste?” which means “Why the hell did you leave?” as she notes that she gave more than asked but ended up alone while her paramour went on to find happiness despite her own anguish.

The song is the lead single from Becky’s upcoming album, Encuentros, which she announced today. The album is set for release on October 10 via Kemosabe Records/Sony Music Latin/RCA Records. Of the video, which was shot in a junkyard in Monterrey, the singer said in an interview with Rolling Stone, “It’s about how internalizing your emotions turns into this power that’s inward, but also how that translates outward. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an anger that is explosive, but it can still have this vibration that causes the ground to shake… And me being a little chaparrita, I loved this interpretation of strength.”

She says she experimented on the album, Encuentros, with each song reminding her of the memory balls from the Pixar film, Inside Out. In addition to releasing the album in October, she’ll be hitting the road for her Casa Gomez: Otro Capítulo tour, hitting 14 stops in cities like Milwaukee, San Antonio, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, and San Diego, playing songs from her album Esquinas. You can find more information here.

You can watch the “Como Diablos” video above.

Encuentros is out 10/10 via Kemosabe Records/Sony Music Latin/RCA Records.

While we got a four-game appetizer in Week 0 (including a stunning top-10 upset), the college football season began in full on Thursday night as Week 1 got underway with a few intriguing games, headlined by FCS powerhouse North Dakota State heading to Boulder to take on the much-hyped Colorado Buffaloes.

It figured to be a competitive game, but Colorado was expected to have an edge with their athleticism at the skill positions. Early on that played out, as the Buffs took a 14-10 lead on a pair of touchdown passes from Shedeur Sanders to Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr., who both ran away from the Bison defense on their way to the end zone. However, as the first half dragged on, the Colorado offense couldn’t continue creating explosive plays and the NDSU offense leaned on the Buffaloes defense, taking a 20-17 lead into halftime. That put some real pressure on the Buffaloes to figure some things out coming out of halftime and find pay dirt again.

The Buffaloes marched down the field early in the third quarter, but saw disaster strike on the goal line on a freak play when a Sanders pass hit a DB’s foot, popped up into the air, and got picked off by the Bison (watch the full video here). It’s a wildly unlucky play, but was also just generally not a very good pass from Sanders to end up hitting the defender’s foot (a rare misfire from him on the night). Sanders would bounce back quickly, though, as the Buffaloes were able to get a rare quick stop on defense and Shedeur was able to find Hunter for a go-ahead touchdown on the ensuing drive.

Earlier this year, André 3000 surprised longtime listeners by announcing that his new album, New Blue Sun, would be full of flute tunes instead of raps. In spite of this, the instrumental album also upset expectations in a good way, making Billboard history and turning him into a jazz legend as well as a rap one.

The new album just begs for an intimate listening session — and that’s exactly what his André’s companion film, Listening To The Sun, is. To star the 90-minute film, André introduces the album, lights a candle, and lets the mood move him as the album plays. “I hope you enjoy the ride as much as we did,” he says. “What you hear is what we did as it was happening.” The film, directed by Terence Nance, isn’t terribly complex, but the soundtrack takes care of that.

Although New Blue Sun was well-received in general, though, André’s comments about rapping after 40 while promoting it certainly ruffled a few feathers. Lil Wayne called André’s thoughts “depressing,” while LL Cool J shot down the idea that there are no new ideas after 40. Still, most fans seem to be holding out hope that André will rediscover his inspiration, after his most recent rap verse, on Killer Mike’s “Scientists & Engineers,” not only scratched their longstanding itch for new André 3000 wordplay, but also helped Mike sweep the Grammys’ rap categories.

You can watch André’s film, Listening To The Sun, above.

With Travis Scott’s breakout mixtape Days Before Rodeo finally coming to streaming after ten years, it looks like the master promoter is making the most of the occasion. In addition to surprising fans with the release of a music video for tape standout, “Drugs You Should Try It,” he’s followed up with a second release of supplementary material, including vaulted tunes, a chopped-and-screwed version, and a live recording from his Atlanta tenth anniversary concert. All the new, old material can be found at shop.travisscott.com.

The consummate multi-brand pitch man, Travis announced that he was branching out yet again and living out one of his biggest dreams: Teaming up with WWE legend Rey Mysterio for an upcoming match. He wouldn’t be the first music star to partner with the wrestling promotion; last year, an extensive storyline saw Bad Bunny team up with, then turn on, fellow Puerto Rican Damian Priest in Puerto Rico, suffering a back injury in the process that should put paid to all those rumors about wrestling being fake.

At the very least, it should give the Houston native a productive outlet for some of that destructive energy, because he’s made almost as many headlines for brawling, trespassing, and assault arrests as for his music this year.

When he first founded New England Barrel Company, James Saunders had no idea that the project, which began as an after-hours gig, would soon grow to become the region’s biggest whiskey brand. Over the span of four years, New England Barrel Company has risen to prominence, winning major awards and becoming the whiskey of choice throughout the six states representing its home base. The credit for that rapid ascent belongs to the visionary entrepreneur behind the brand, who began creating a template for diversifying the alcohol business after he became fed up with what he was seeing at local liquor stores in his backyard.

“What I was seeing take place really bothered me,” said James, “in 2017, I saw prices starting to tick up, and that continued at a steady pace for three years. I realized that the consumer didn’t have an opportunity to enjoy accessible whiskey for under $60 anymore. That’s when I decided I wanted to bring sanity back to the American whiskey space.”

James launched New England Barrel Company in September 2020, and despite the difficulty of launching a business in the heart of a pandemic, he has seen his company flourish. Winning awards from industry-leading tasting competitions like the San Francisco Wine And Spirits Competition has helped raise the brand’s profile among discerning whiskey enthusiasts, and strategic investment from the Diageo-backed incubator program, Pronghorn, has enabled New England Barrel Company to extend its reach outside of its home market.

“I wanted to work with (Pronghorn) because I know it’s not enough to find money for investment; you have to find smart money. For example, I didn’t know I needed to be a geopolitical expert to make whiskey, but having Pronghorn involved, I don’t have to be. They can marshall resources to help me overcome obstacles with the global supply chain for obtaining things like glass for bottles.”

New England has a rich culture of distilled spirits that stretches back to the time of George Washington when rum was all the rage, and the influx of imported molasses into Boston and Providence turned the region into our nascent nation’s biggest rum exporter. Since that time, however, its distilling success has seen a downturn due to shifting tastes, which saw rum fall out of favor as whiskey’s popularity grew. Today, New England is on the rebound, with just north of 30 distilleries calling the area home, and none of them are as nationally recognized as New England Barrel Company.

Still, even as New England has been rebuilding its distilling culture more recently, Covid presented a new set of challenges that caused several distillers to call it quits. James explains,

“We’ve seen a number of distilleries close, which is sad for the communities they’re in. I wanted to create a brand that would put New England on the map because this is not just about me. We’ve got some amazing small distilleries that need to receive recognition as well, and if my success can shine a light on them, that’s something we aim to spearhead.”

By conservative estimates, the U.S. spirits business is a nearly $40 billion industry, and as one of the key pioneers putting a new face on the industry, James Saunders plans to use his influence to create a rising tide that lifts all boats. Starting in New England, he envisions collaborations on the brand level as well as a craft-centric whiskey festival to showcase the spirits that he and his neighboring distilleries are producing.

“Pulling those disparate communities together and paying these things forward is of the utmost importance to me. Raising awareness is just a start.” The idea is that by working together to pull in consumers as well as experts from across the country, New England will once again be one of America’s preeminent alcohol-producing regions.

New England Barrel Company recently received its Distilled Spirits Plant number from the TTB, with licensing set to arrive this fall. That will allow the brand to officially begin distilling spirits on their home turf (up to this point, they’ve been contract distilling at another facility) in Redding, Massachusetts. Having learned from his experience distilling in Kentucky, which he likens to being a guest chef in someone else’s kitchen, James Saunders aims to fully restore New England’s distilling tradition by controlling the entirety of his production process and setting aside a portion of their production capacity to distill spirits for other upstart companies.

Regarding the keys to his success in a space that has historically excluded BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) business owners, James credits his willingness to take such a community-minded approach. Despite its yawning embrace of inclusivity in positions of power, the American whiskey industry is more ready than ever to accept new folks into the fold. In fact, it has to be if the industry’s historic growth will continue.

Thanks to strategic partnerships like the Advancement Initiative established by Uncle Nearest and Jack Daniel’s and the investment from companies like Pronghorn into New England Barrel Company, the alcohol industry has seen an uptick in successful black-owned businesses and their achievements are enriching the category as a whole. Consumers are eager to support these businesses because they know as well as anyone that having diversity in the space only means a wider variety of affordable, high-quality options on the shelf, and that’s the exact problem James Saunders set out to fix.

“The whiskey industry works like this,” James concluded, “you work hard to make your whiskey good, you engage with your consumers, you expand who your consumer is, and if they like your whiskey, they buy it. If they don’t like your whiskey, you don’t survive.”

Before he was known for dating Megan Fox, singing John Denver covers, giving himself realistic fangs, Cleveland, Ohio rocker was better known for an extended rap career that culminated in a vitriolic back-and-forth with Eminem. Departures into rock and country aside, it’s a career he maintains he never turned his back on (with a few recent singles to prove it).

In fact, in a new interview, he assigns blame for his treatment by the public to his hip-hop origins, asserting that he’s stigmatized as a white rapper — but mostly by other white people. On Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, MGK told the internet troll turned part-time WWE superstar, “I won’t deny that there is a subconscious stigma around that — being white in hip-hop. To me, it’s so funny because the streets f*ck with me so tough. It’s honestly from other white people that give me the most sh*t.”

He also has a bit of a theory about why that might be — and it connects to that battle with fellow white rapper Eminem. “The crazy thing is there’s only been one who’s done it,” he said of dissing the hip-hop legend, who has been considered something of a North Star for other white rappers like Jack Harlow, Mac Miller, and Russ. “There’s only been one who’s done it and crossed that line of acceptance.”

You can watch the full episode above; the conversation about hip-hop begins at the 37-minute mark.