Category: Viral

In the Disney+ era, there’s been seven live-action Star Wars shows: The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, and Skeleton Crew. Of those, The Mandalorian is the most popular (it’s even being turned into a movie), Skeleton Crew is the most Stranger Things-y, and The Book of Boba Fett has the most Hutt twins. But Andor is the best.

The prequel to Rogue One, which itself is a prequel to Star Wars, is exactly what a Star Wars show should be. And fortunately, after a long break, it’s coming back for a second and final season soon. Here’s everything to know.

Plot

Andor season 2 will bridge the gap between the ending of Andor season 1, in which Cassian Andor (played by Diego Luna) demands that Rebel leader Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) either kill him or recruit him, and Rogue One. “I think people watching Rogue One, after watching season 2, are going to see a different film,” Luna shared to Entertainment Weekly.

Disney+ has yet to release an official synopsis for season 2, but the cast and creator Tony Gilroy have given some hints about what fans can expect.

“He’s a man fully committed to the Rebellion,” Luna told Empire about Cassian. “It’s someone who has to ascend. There’s a huge mountain for him to climb in order to [become] the guy we meet in Rogue One.”

At Disney’s D23 event, he teased:

“This second part of our story will follow Cassian over the period of four years as he grows into the rebel hero we see fulfill his destiny with the ultimate sacrifice in Rogue One. Every slice of time charts Cassian’s evolution into our revolution, but in this season, the stakes are greater, the enemy is more organized, and the clock is ticking. As the imperial threat grows and the lines have become more dangerous, Cassian is fueled by a sense of high purpose: to fight for freedom and a better tomorrow.”

The La Máquina actor also hyped the (re)introduction of K-2, a fan favorite droid from Rogue One. “From an audience perspective, they’ve probably made their own story about how Cassian and K-2 got to work together,” he said. “It tells you a lot about Cassian that his best friend is a droid. And a droid he had to reprogram. But how did that actually happen and who was he before? Those questions are going to be answered.” (Another Rogue One character in Andor season 2? Imperial baddie Orson Krennic, played by Ben Mendelsohn.)

The positive response to Andor, which was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the Emmys and appeared on numerous Best Shows Of 2022 lists, gave creator Tony Gilroy the flexibility to take creative chances in season 2. “The critical appreciation of the show was really helpful, if not essential, in helping Disney choke down the price of what this is,” he told Empire (the two seasons reportedly cost a collective $645 million). “In terms of creative notes, no one has come to me and said, ‘No, they shouldn’t say that.’”

Cast

Much of the Andor season 1 cast will be back in season 2, including Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, Stellan Skarsgård as Luthen Rael, Adria Arjona as Bix Caleen, Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma, Denise Gough as Deedra Meero, and Kyle Soller as Syril Karn.

Oscar winner Forest Whitaker is confirmed to return as Saw Gerrera, as is Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic. And don’t forget Alan Tudyk as K-2SO!

Release Date

Andor returns to Disney+ a few weeks before Star Wars Day, on April 22.

Trailer

A teaser trailer for Andor season 2 debuted at D23, but it hasn’t been released ro the public yet. So until then, why not revisit Kino Loy’s stirring monologue?

Last week, for the span of about two hours, TikTok went down for what seemed like it might be the last time in this country. A lot of digital ink was spilled on what this would mean for the recording industry. TikTok was where new stars were discovered, where new hits were minted, where old hits were resurfaced and repurposed and revitalized by the app’s cadre of teen dancers and meme-makers.

And it was where I discovered SaxKixAve, a two-man duo hailing from New Orleans consisting of two guys named “Al.” Albert Allenback — the white Al — is an accomplished musician turned producer, who had played with bands like Tank And The Bangas. Alfred Banks, the rapper, is a mainstay of the city’s indie-rap scene. The pair had been making music together since early 2020, but I came across them on TikTok as a result of their wickedly ingenious promotion strategy on the app.

Aside from sharing a monosyllabic diminutive first name, the thing that really bonded these two was their sharp, dry sense of humor, which translated into shorts featuring the duo standing side-by-side deadpanning their way through live performances of both their own songs and covers of rap classics with freestyles from the deceptively polished Alfred. His witty raps might reference their matching ensembles (very high cut shorts, mile-high man-buns), the cartoons and TV shows playing on the TV behind them, or Albert’s purposefully off-beat bopping.

Rather than doing a broad overview of “what TikTok means,” wouldn’t it be interesting to find out how it affects the artists who most directly benefit from the opportunities and tools it provides? With that question in mind, I reached out to SaxKixAve for an interview. There was just one problem; as it happens, they weren’t sweating the then-impending (since postponed) loss of a potential promotion platform/revenue stream.

“We had a cross-platform approach from the jump,” Albert said. “So, when we first started making videos and tried and when we actually had the social media strategy. Because the way the platforms work, we’re like an Uber driver with a decentralized form of authority changing the rules constantly, formats change, algorithms change. And so we made sure that we were posting on both platforms, but we also got lucky that we broke through on Instagram around the same time that we did on TikTok. So we are not feeling super pressed about it, because we have such a large Instagram presence.”

Alfred echoed his ambivalence, saying, “I’m in the middle. I’m not really scared, but I am like, “Aw man,” because we did a mass nice little following there, but at the same time, again, out the gate, I remember when we first kind of broke through on TikTok, I was like, “Yo Al, if we breaking on the Gram, that’s how we…” And then, we broke through. We’ve always posted on four to five different accounts every time. So when you see a video on TikTok, that video is on the ‘Gram, it’s on YouTube, it’s on Facebook, it’s on X, and it’s on Threads now. So, that’s what we’ve always done. And so, I think we’ll be okay.”

However, with that out of the way, there was still plenty to talk about: The group’s newly released album, Terrell Charbonneau (so titled from the duo’s middle names), their upcoming collaboration with New Orleans icon Big Freedia, their Abbott and Costello-inspired double act, and what happens when you play Paul Simon at a Juvenile concert in Baton Rouge — all of which discussed through a nonstop barrage of jokes and the requisite laughs they evoked.

Okay, so you guys basically wrecked my entire plan for this. You posted the Big Freedia video, literally like 90 minutes before we were supposed to do this interview. So now I have to ask about Big Freedia, which I wasn’t planning on doing. What’s the plan with Big Freedia guys?

Albert: It’s on our song “Tryna Get Down,” and we’ve got a remix with Freedia on our song Tryna Get Down, because the song itself, while it’s not a bounce beat, it comes from the energy of the bounce rhythm from down here. So, it just fit Freedia. Like I can’t listen to the original now because Freedia completed the song.

Alfred: Being from New Orleans and also being formally of the management company that we all were a part of, we encountered Freedia a lot in passing and doing shows and stuff. So it was just, I think, inevitable that at some point we were going to do a record — and shouts to Freedia for being so gracious. Pulled up, did the work, was out of there. It’s a beautiful thing.

I think it’s fascinating how tight-knit the New Orleans musical community really is. It doesn’t matter if you’re the biggest star there, or just up and coming, so many of the New Orleans artists are just plugged in. Can you talk about that? Where do you think that comes from?

Alfred: Well, I guess at the base of it, all we have is us, right? And all we have is us, all we have is the community here. That’s what our foundation is based off of collaborating with each other frequently and in so many different ways. So we have to collaborate, even if you are this big act, because nine times out of 10 we’re probably related, right? Somebody’s auntie is somebody’s cousin. My father told me before he passed away, that I was third cousins with Fats Domino.

Albert: Hard stop. Hard stop. You’re a nepo baby? I can’t even do this with you anymore. We can’t have a privileged, beautiful white man and a f*cking nepo baby.

Here is a very, very short answer from someone who’s not from the town. And I think that people from New Orleans are so good at music that people from New Orleans can barely enjoy music, so that when they find ultra talented amongst themselves, they gravitate towards those people.

Terrell Charbonneau is you guys’ longest project to date. I went back noticed, “Oh, they’re slowly getting longer and longer as they go along.” Was that something that was intentional or has that just been a natural outcropping of you guys’ chemistry growing over the years?

Albert: I don’t appreciate having my soul read that accurately. There’s things we have consciously tried to carry forward. I think it was during Nectarine Peels, we looked at each other and we were like, I as a producer, I was like, “I can make full songs now, dude.”

Alfred: Yeah, the projects getting longer… The first project I Don’t Wear Suits was really me and Albert feeling each other out. It was kind like, okay, I want to get weird lyrically I want to do some weird stuff. You’re capable of making this weird stuff and you want to start collaborating in a more hip hop space, so let’s get together and see what happens.

Nectarine Peels is like, okay, we’ve kind of created a synergy here to where we both enjoy creating with each other. That was first. We enjoy creating with each other, so let’s really get in and make a project. Let’s make an album. That’s what that is. Terrell Charbonneau, it actually started off as a song a month in 2024, pretty much up until October. We dropped one song a month and at the end we proverbially ran out of juice, and we was like, “Man, you know what? Let’s do an album. Let’s put this together.”

Albert: We actually made enough juice too fast because we made two songs in one month. So, we ended up with 12 songs and we got to pinch it off.

Alfred: True, true. “Pinch it off” is crazy. Nah, but the album came out the way it came out because of the songs we released every month, and then we added a few extra joints. We needed a full body to let people know what we can bring to the table. I’m saying the lyrics, the musicality, the comedic kind of aspect. I feel like it’s great.

Albert: We had to use 2024 to show, we had to make some music, because we made all these awesome videos in the second half of 2023 and people were like, “This is really cool,” but it was predominantly covers. So we had to show that we have the actual chops. I have the actual production chops. Alfred is one of the best rappers in the world. So we had to prove on our own terms, with an actual recording, that somebody presses play on. We wanted to try to get some of ourselves in there.

Just go with me here. I feel like you guys can handle this. I want to hear you guys’ one sentence, tagline, elevator pitch for specific songs from the project. Let’s start with “Love Muffin.”

Albert: Have you ever wondered why songs from the 1960s gave such direct and terrible metaphors for love? Like “Your love is like a plunger” or “Your love is like a hubcap?” Did you ever think that advice was wrong? Check out Love Muffin.

“Done With” featuring Kr3wcial. You are done with the bullshit, but what is the bullshit that you are done with?

Albert: If you’ve been such a nice person that people think you actually don’t have problems, but really you’re just keeping your problems simmering under the surface and you might snap, “Done With” is for you.

“Whatyougotwhatigotwhatyougottosay?”

Albert: Are you sick of falling in love with AI chatbot waifus and then the company changes the terms of service, and it falls out of love with you? Then “Whatyougotwhatigotwhatyougottosay” is for you.

Alfred: Are you afraid of meeting people in real life? “Whatyougotwhatigotwhatyougottosay” is for you.

Albert: Are you scared to go to a Kroger because of incel bullets? “Whatyougotwhatigotwhatyougottosay” may be for you.

I think my readers would find it instructive to hear the story about, you guys opening for Juvenile.

Albert: So we’re opening for Juvenile in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and we’re playing our songs. We have a very eclectic set, right? We have originals, we have hip hop classics, we have American classics. And we decided to play one of those American classics without proper consideration of the demographics of a Juvenile show in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Alfred: Yeah, for your people. You can “Call Me Al” by Paul Simon and great classic song, great song. It’s cool because both our names are Al, but oh, did we not think about the audience in which we would be. It didn’t go over well. So we did the song, and as I’m singing it, I went to a young lady in the crowd. I was like, “Come on, baby. Sing along. You know you know it.” And she was like, “No baby, I don’t know this damn song.” Which is amazing.

Albert: Can you be more specific about the demographics of the crowd than I was able to be? Numbers-wise.

Alfred: It was about 500 people. There was about 425 Black people in there, and when we played, “You Can Call Me Al,” the 75 White people lost their mind. I mean they went… Yeah, it was like we played Metallica.

Albert: They held their Stanley cups up, dude.

Alfred: Oh, it was great.

Albert: They were going for it. They were in it.

SaxKixAve’s album, Terrell Charbonneau, is out now. You can find it here.

If you ask most any NBA fan, they’ll tell you the best player in the league right now is Nikola Jokic. The three-time MVP has a good chance to make it four this season, as he has somehow taken his otherworldly production over the last five years and gotten even better. Jokic is averaging 30.1 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 9.9 assists per game while shooting 56.3 percent from the field and an absurd 47.8 percent from three.

Despite being a multiple MVP winner and leading the Nuggets to a title two years ago, Jokic remains something of a mystery off the court. If you ask anyone what Jokic likes other than basketball, they will all say horses and probably not much more. That’s because Jokic has managed to keep his personal life pretty walled off from the rest of the world, but every once in awhile a teammate will give us a little glimpse into who Jokic is off the court. Recently, Jokic’s backup DeAndre Jordan revealed that the big fella’s favorite song (non-Serbian folk music division) is “Many Men” by 50 Cent, and that the MVP “knows every word.”

That naturally raised some eyebrows and on Tuesday night after the Nuggets thrashed the Sixers on TNT, Adam Lefkoe and Shaq did their best to get Jokic to rap the song’s lyrics, which Jokic refused (while laughing pretty hard about it).

He did say he liked the song and might consider a performance after he had some time to practice, but I think Jordan was maybe taking some liberties with the “knows every word” thing, as Jokic laughed and said “DJ is a bad teammate”. Jordan also pointed out to Jokic his song was playing in layup lines and the two laughed about it before the game, so I’m guessing the veteran big man was having some fun embellishing Jokic’s love for the 22-year-old hit 50 Cent. That said, we do know Jokic is a fan of rap music and might be withholding how much he knows, because we’ve seen him rapping along to “Not Like Us” earlier this season before a game.

Say what you want to about Drake, but he really is a trendsetter. After he filed a defamation lawsuit against his own label, Universal Music Group, for promoting Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us,” it appears another entertainer has been bitten by the litigation bug.

According to Billboard, Chris Brown has filed his own defamation suit against Warner Bros. Discovery and Ample Entertainment over the newly released documentary, Chris Brown: A History of Violence, accusing the film of “promoting and publishing false information in their pursuit of likes, clicks, downloads and dollars and to [Brown’s] detriment.”

Brown’s attorneys, Arnold Shokouchi and Levi McCathern, write that the Jane Doe accuser quoted in the film “had not only been discredited over and over but was in fact a perpetrator of intimate partners violence and aggressor herself.” They continue, “Mr. Brown has never been found guilty of any sex related crime…but this documentary states in every available fashion that he is a serial rapist and sexual abuser.”

The accuser filed a lawsuit against Brown in 2022, claiming he drugged and raped her after inviting her onto a yacht. Brown published the text conversation between the two as “proof” of his innocence and countersued for defamation. The accuser withdrew the case in August that year.

Brown’s new lawsuit finds him taking the offensive as he wrestles with a number of lawsuits and controversies, including one for an alleged assault during his 11:11 Tour, along with a report that he misused pandemic relief funds.

Welcome to another installment of Ask A Music Critic! And thanks to everyone who has sent me questions. Please keep them coming at [email protected].

I’m already seeing 10th anniversary posts for 2015 albums. Some of my favorites from that year are Beach House, Deerhunter, Deafheaven, Viet Cong, Protomartyr, Royal Headache, and Thee Oh Sees. How do you rate 2015 for album releases and what’s some of your personal favorites? — Alex from Melbourne, Australia

Australia! I love Australia! I hope you don’t mind, but I edited out the “u” in “favorites,” so as not to confuse my American readers. I also removed all the adorable koala bear noises from your email, so we can stay focused on the task at hand.

I have also noticed the rush of mid-2010s nostalgia lately. Lots of people apparently are looking back fondly on the final year before the Trump era. For me, it was the year I turned 38. Was I ever so youthful? My cheeks were so rosy, my beard so free of gray. I was personally invested in the first season of Mr. Robot and I tolerated hearing “Uptown Funk” every 15 minutes. Pretty heady time.

Musically speaking, I regard 2015 as a solid year, but not an all-time year. If there’s an overarching trend, it’s that a lot of artists put out good (or really good) albums, but not necessarily their best albums. Let’s start with some of the acts you mentioned. Depression Cherry is considered a really good Beach House album, but probably not as good as Teen Dream. Fading Frontier is a worthy Deerhunter release, but few would put it above Halcyon Digest. New Bermuda is a good effort by Deafheaven, but Sunbather is their definitive LP. The same can be said of several other indie or indie-adjacent artists — Lana Del Rey, Sufjan Stevens, Kurt Vile, Car Seat Headrest, Wilco, Jason Isbell, and Joanna Newsom all did good work in 2015, but you would likely pick a record from a different year as your personal favorite.

As far as my own personal favorite LP of the year, I want to briefly hold off on answering that question. In the meantime, let’s take a wider view of the year, so we can really marinate in the 2015-ness of it all.

THE BEST-SELLING ALBUM OF 2015: ADELE’S 25

This one doesn’t require a personal value judgement. It’s all about the hard, cold data. And in 2015, nobody moved more units than Adele, who sold just over eight million copies of her third album. Because she only seems to put out new music every five years or so, it’s easy to forget amid the nonstop media onslaught of megastars like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé that Adele has owned the nation’s minivans for the past 15-plus years. The silent majority of mothers can’t get enough of this record.

THE CRITICAL CONSENSUS FAVORITE OF 2015: KENDRICK LAMAR’S TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY

As my friend Rob Mitchum shows in his annual spreadsheet charting year-end lists, Kendrick killed it with music writers in 2015 in a way few artists ever replicate. He landed in in the Top 10 on 15 different publication lists, far more than any other artist that year. (Courtney Barnett came closest, landing in the Top 10 on 10 lists with her debut album Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit.) Even more impressive, Kendrick topped seven of those lists and landed at No. 2 on five more.

(It’s worth noting that Charli XCX’s Brat was even more dominant in 2024, landing in the Top 10 on a whopping 29 lists, with 12 No. 1’s.)

THE MOST 2015 ALBUM OF 2015: HAMILTION (ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST RECORDING)

We’re moving into the subjective categories now, but just barely. Is there a better choice for most 2015 record than the project that inserted Lin-Manuel Miranda into our grills for all eternity? One of my most lasting memories of the year is reading a different thinkpiece every other day by some media professional who lucked into an absurdly expensive Hamilton ticket, and came away waxing rhapsodic about the experience in terms that seemed histrionic in the moment and in retrospect are sort of silly. I can’t imagine what it was like to be a high school kid in 2015 who was involved in theater. This record is either your life or the bane of your existence.

2015 ALBUM THAT AGED THE BEST: DESTROYER’S POISON SEASON

Ten years ago, I would have grouped this with all the indie and indie-adjacent acts who put out good (or really good) albums in 2015, but not necessarily their best album. A decade later, however, I have talked myself into at least considering that this might be Dan Bejar’s finest. It gives you all the elements that you want from a Destroyer album — there’s the “bar band” Destroyer, the “yacht rock” Destroyer, there’s the “chamber music” Destroyer,” there’s the “making arcane references to Escape From New York and Billy Joel” Destroyer. Poison Season rules.

(The flaw in this argument is that my favorite Destroyer album changes depending on whichever Destroyer album I played most recently. But that’s a conversation for a different day.)

2015 THAT AGED THE WORST: BEACH SLANG’S THE THINGS WE DO TO FIND PEOPLE WHO FEEL LIKE US

2015 was an unusual year for me in the sense that I didn’t publish an official year-end list. I lost my job in October after the website I was working for was unceremoniously shut down. (Actually, I technically still had a job since I was under contract. I was just paid to do nothing until the contract expired eight months later. Best job I ever had.) However, I did post a list on the social media app former known as Twitter, and this album was at the very top. When I still was being paid to write in 2015, I described it as “a mix of nostalgia and forward-looking optimism communicated via fearlessly shiny riffs and florid clichés redeemed by the all-in conviction of a true believer.” I’ll take 2015 Me’s word on that because I have not listened to this record in at least five years.

Honorable mention: On a more macro level, Tobias Jesso Jr.’s Goon is notorious as a 2015 flavor of the month that aged like milk. And I feel okay saying that because Jesso went on to a successful career as a pop songwriter and producer. (He has two credits on 25, which I assume bought him a large house or a fleet of expensive cars.) So he can take the heat. Regarding Goon, I initially liked its throwback retro rock sound, which evoked Todd Rundgren or Randy Newman’s most accessible moments. And then I interviewed Jesso and found that he was — how do I say this respectfully? — a bit of a simple-minded himbo. The conversation made me like the record less, which is a less common phenomenon for me than you might think.

MOST INFLUENTIAL 2015 ALBUM: CHRIS STAPLETON’S TRAVELER

Country music is in the midst of a mainstream commercial moment in the mid-2020s, and it’s striking how much of that music resembles this record. At the time it was considered somewhat of an outlier, a neo-traditionalist hit that racked up Nashville industry awards in what felt like a rebuke of the dead-eyed bro-country hordes. But now it just sounds like the establishment. A burly-voiced quasi-outlaw type with genuine pop bonafides, Stapleton set a template that artists like Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers, Luke Combs and (to a lesser degree) Morgan Wallen later took to the bank.

Honorable mention: My second favorite record of 2015 — and the one I have certainly played the most — is Currents by Tame Impala. It’s hard to overstate how much indie rock, pop and even R&B and hip-hop sounds like this album. It’s easily one of the touchstone indie-adjacent releases of the past 10 years. And it felt like that was preordained when it came out. I hung out with Kevin Parker in an L.A. diner for a profile before Currents dropped, and he already seemed bewildered by the success he hadn’t yet fully experienced. “I used to smoke weed and I don’t even smoke weed anymore,” he told me, “because, it’s like, the world’s intense enough as it is.”

MOST MEMORY-HOLED ALBUM OF 2015: DONNIE TRUMPET & THE SOCIAL EXPERIMENT’S SURF

On Rob’s annual year-end spreadsheet, this is the 29th most critically acclaimed of 2015, right before Jason Isbell, Deerhunter and Beach House and just ahead of Wilco, Earl Sweatshirt, Chris Stapleton, and Kacey Musgraves. You could ask 100 music fans to name one song from this album, and I doubt you would have greater than a five percent hit rate. It has been wiped off the face of the planet. I think it’s a ska record? The title sounds like the name of a ska record? I could just press play, I guess, but I don’t want to.

The album’s original appeal stemmed from the group’s connection to Chance The Rapper, who might be the most memory-holed superstar of the 2010s. So, Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment suffer from the double memory-hole, a devastating predicament to be sure.

Honorable mention: It seems cruel to pick on possible ska bands when Dr. Dre put out Compton, generated glowing press for about three days, sold almost 300,000 records, and then convinced the world that none of it really happened.

[One more special category before I get to my favorite album of 2015,]

MY PERSONAL MOST HATED ALBUM OF 2015: FALL OUT BOY’S AMERICAN BEAUTY/AMERICAN PSYCHO

This band has pissed me off for years by being irredeemably terrible, with a uniquely grating and obnoxious singer and a bad habit of taking the worst aspects of emo and pop and turning them into inedible sonic shit sandwiches. But I was singularly offended when they dared to call their 2013 comeback LP Save Rock And Roll, which is sort of like claiming that the United States military “saved” Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. But then they really crossed the line with this album, which unleashed their most annoying (and annoyingly popular) song ever, the crushingly ubiquitous “Centuries,” a favorite of the sadomasochists who pick the bumper music on sports telecasts.

Seriously, if you take nothing else from this column, remember this: Fuck Fall Out Boy.

[Sorry, I’ll finally answer your question now.]

MY PERSONAL FAVORITE ALBUM OF 2015: FATHER JOHN MISTY’S I LOVE YOU, HONEYBEAR

You know that list I mentioned earlier, the one with Beach Slang at the top of it? This album wasn’t even on it! 2015 Me was not smart! I dread discovering what 2025 Me is like in 10 years.

Last year, Lil Wayne and his former group, Hot Boys, reunited for the first time in over 20 years at Wayne’s Lil Weezyana Fest (sorta). Apparently, they had a good enough time that they are extending the party with a limited run of Lil Weezyana concerts in February, hitting Tampa, Charlotte, and St. Louis. Tickets are on pre-sale now, with general sale beginning Friday, January 24 at 10 AM local time. You can find more information here.

Wayne, B.G., Juvenile, and Turk first formed as a group in 1997, releasing just two albums together (1997’s Get It How U Live! and 1999’s Guerrilla Warfare) before disbanding in 2001, although a compilation of their recorded material was released as Let ‘Em Burn in 2003. Despite this, they’re considered a totem of turn-of-the-millennium street and party rap, with their sole Hot 100 single as a group, “I Need a Hot Girl,” being supported by a deluge of pivotal solo singles that feature at least two of the members, such as Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up” featuring Lil Wayne.

Past attempts at reunions were stalled by the group’s legal troubles; Turk was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2006, while B.G. was sentenced to 14 years in prison for gun possession and witness tampering in 2012, just before Turk’s release. B.G. was released in 2023, and the group has allegedly been working on a new album, although there seems to be some discrepancy in their accounts. With all that said, it’s nice to see them all back together again, and here’s hoping for a successful tour that puts them in position for the comeback they deserve.

Lil Weezyana Lil Wayne With Hot Boys Tour Dates

02/21 – Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena
02/23 – Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center
02/28 – St. Louis, MO @ Enterprise Center

Virginia trio Palmyra is in the midst of a new beginning: Today (January 22), the group announced Restless, their debut album for new label home Oh Boy Records. Arriving today is the single “Shape I’m In,” which sees the band’s Sasha Landon sorting through their bipolar diagnosis. A press release describes the track as the album’s “centerpiece.”

Landon says of the song:

“I remember first showing an early version of ‘Shape I’m In’ to Mānoa and Teddy in the basement of Mercury Lounge in New York City, and trying (and failing at the time) to figure out how to distill the message into something less chaotic. I was trying to make sense of the symptoms of a Bipolar diagnosis — intrusive thought loops, sleeplessness, manic depression — and how that was impacting and rapidly changing my relationships with folks I love. As the song grew during our performances and in the studio, we realized what ‘Shape I’m In’ needed wasn’t big changes to distill a message; it needed us to make an arrangement and performance that could capture that feeling of not being able to make sense of the world around you.”

A press release describes the album’s songs as “compulsive and immediate, true-to-life testimonials from three very good songwriters figuring out existence in real-time in verse,” adding, “These are songs to be sung or shouted out loud, to be coveted as anthems as we try to make our own way from whatever shape we’re in toward whatever shape we hope to become.”

Additionally, the band also announced a new run of tour dates from March to May. That includes an album release show at Charlottesville, Virginia’s Jefferson Theatre on the album’s release day, March 28.

Listen to “Shape I’m In” above, and find the Restless cover art and the band’s upcoming tour dates below.

Palmyra’s Restless Album Cover Artwork

Palmyra’s 2025 Tour Dates

01/26 — Nashville, TN @ Hello From The Hills
01/30 — Statesville, NC @ Iredell Arts Council
01/31 — Philadelphia, PA @ XPN Free at Noon
02/20 — Tysons, VA @ The Vault
02/21 — Bridgewater, VA @ Sipe Theatre
02/22 — Grottoes, VA @ Grand Caverns
03/09 — Continuum Art @ Hendersonville, NC
03/21 — Rocky Mount, VA @ The Harvester
03/27 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Crafthouse Stage & Grill
03/28 — Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theater
03/29 — Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room
03/30 — Wilmington, NC @ Live at Ted’s
04/01 — Charleston, SC @ Charleston Pour House
04/02 — Athens, GA @ Georgia Theater Rooftop
04/03 — Nashville, TN @ The Basement
04/04 — Knoxville, TN @ Open Chord
04/05 — Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage Vinyl
04/06 — Greensboro, NC @ Doodad Farm
04/24 — Wrightsville Beach, NC @ The Palm Room
04/25 — Charlotte, NC @ Petra’s
04/27 — Asheville, NC @ Eulogy
04/29 — Washington, DC @ DC9 Nightclub
04/30 — Philadelphia, PA @ MilkBoy
05/01 — New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
05/02 — Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs
05/03 — South Burlington, VT @ High Ground Lounge
05/04 — Manchester, VT @ Billsville House Concert
05/05 — Buffalo, NY @ 9th Ward
05/06 — Ithaca, NY @ Fan Club Collective
05/08 — Amherst, MA @ The Drake
09/21 — Richmond, VA @ Iron Blossom Music Festival

Restless is out 3/28 via Oh Boy Records. Find more information here.

It wasn’t a question of whether Nine Inch Nails would tour in 2025. We knew they were going to. Rather, it was: when will Nine Inch Nails announce their 2025 tour? That day is today. Trent Reznor & Co. have shared the dates for the Peel It Back Tour 2025, which kicks off in Ireland in June and extends to September, where the global trek ends with a show in Los Angeles.

Tickets for the Peel It Back Tour 2025 will be available starting Wednesday, January 29, at 12 p.m. local time. You can find more information here.

Check out the full dates below.

Nine Inch Nails’ 2025 Tour Dates: Peel It Back Tour 2025

06/15 — Dublin, Ireland @ 3Arena
06/17 — Manchester, UK @ Co-op Live
06/18 — London, UK @ The O2
06/20 — Cologne, Germany @ Lanxess Arena
06/21 — Dessel, Belgium @ Graspop Metal Meeting^
06/24 — Milan, Italy @ Parco della Musica Novegro
06/26 — Zurich, Switzerland @ Hallenstadion
06/27 — Vienna, Austria @ Wiener Stadthalle
06/29 — Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Ziggo Dome
07/01 — Berlin, Germany @ Uber Arena
07/03 — Gdynia, Poland @ Open’er^
07/07 — Paris, France @ Accor Arena
07/10 — Madrid, Spain @ Mad Cool^
07/12 — Oeiras, Portugal @ NOS Alive^
08/06 — Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
08/08 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center
08/10 — Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
08/12 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
08/14 — West Valley City, UT @ Maverik Center
08/15 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
08/17 — Saint Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
08/19 — Chicago, IL @ United Center
08/22 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
08/23 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
08/26 — Baltimore, MD @ CFG Bank Arena
08/27 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
08/29 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden
08/31 — Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
09/02 — Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center
09/05 — Raleigh, NC @ Lenovo Center
09/06 — Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
09/09 — Duluth, GA @ Gas South Arena
09/10 — Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena
09/12 — Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
09/13 — Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena
09/16 — Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center
09/18 — Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum

^ festival date

Earlier this month, it was revealed that the 2025 edition of Record Store Day is set to be held on April 12. Every year, RSD organizers also appoint a celebrity ambassador to be the face of the annual campaign, and it was just announced that for 2025, that honor will go to Post Malone.

In a statement, Malone said:

“What an honor, I can’t believe I was chosen to be Record Store Day’s Ambassador for 2025. Record Store Day is so important and I really hope to do my part to keep it alive. We love hitting local shops when we’re on the road, seeing all the crazy artwork, the whole energy in a record store is just super inspiring. I feel at home. It’s really an unexplainable feeling to hit up a shop and dig through crates, just see what grabs your eye. You can be looking for something super specific and end up finding something totally different. It’s the best. Keep supporting y’all and let’s keep records and these local shops going strong. Happy Record Store Day everybody!”

The list of exclusive Record Store Day releases has not been unveiled yet, but there should at least be something special from Malone, given that he’s this year’s ambassador.

If Bruno Mars was in NBA Jam, he’d be on fire. The “Leave the Door Open” singer’s last two singles, “Die With A Smile” with Lady Gaga and “APT.” by Rose, each reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100; they also have over a combined two-and-a-half billion streams on Spotify. These are massive, record-breaking songs, and Mars is back in the studio working on his next hit.

“THANK YOU ALL!” he wrote on Instagram about “Die With A Smile” spending a third consecutive week at No. 1 on the Hot 100. “I’m headed to the studio right now to make a strip club anthem so I can celebrate and properly act up this weekend. Someone please help me get in touch with Sexyy Red!!”

Last year, Lady Gaga explained how “Die With A Smile” came together. “Bruno and I have a lot of mutual respect for each other and were talking about collaborating,” she said. “I was finishing up my own album in Malibu, and one night after a long day he asked me to come to his studio to hear something he was working on. It was around midnight when I got there, and I was blown away when I heard what he had started making.”

Gaga and Mars “stayed up all night” working on the song, and their hard work paid off: the collab is up for Song Of The Year at the 2025 Grammys.