Category: Worldwide

It’s not infrequent that Spotify makes changes to its offerings and pricing structures, and some users are concerned that a particularly unfavorable shift could be on the way.

On X (formerly Twitter), one user wrote, “I’ve just heard that apparently Spotify is going to put ads into premium. I’ve had Premium for about 10 years and I tell you this, the SECOND I hear an ad on my Premium account I’m cancelling my subscription. The SECOND. I’m out.” Another tweeted, “Hey @Spotify just so you know, if you guys *rumoured* decide to start putting ads on Spotify premium and add a new premium plus type subscription to get rid of the ads, I will cancel my subscription indefinitely and so will many many others. Probably shouldn’t FAFO.”

In response to both users, Spotify wrote, “This rumor is false. Premium music listening is ad-free.”

This follows some premium users reporting that they’ve heard ads while streaming despite their account status. In February, Spotify addressed the issue, writing, “Thanks for your patience while we looked into this issue. This should now be fixed. If you’re still having issues, remember to log out of the app and back in again 2-3 times in a row in order to force a resync.”

In 2022, a Spotify representative also noted in response to a premium user reporting ads, “While Spotify doesn’t play ads that interrupt the music listening experience of Premium subscribers, some podcasts may include advertising, host-read endorsements, or sponsorship messages. Creators can choose to include dynamic ads into their episodes with Spotify as the receiving end of content and functioning as an ‘open stage’ streaming platform for all.”

If there are two brands that fit together like a hand and glove, it’s Rolling Loud with Cheech and Chong. And wouldn’t you know it, the festival has teamed up with the comedic duo to create a product that makes perfect sense for both: Pit Punch, a THC-infused carbonated drink. According to its press release, it comes in two flavors, Fruit Punch and Orange, with 10mg of hemp-derived THC per can. Pit Punch was soft-launched during the last Rolling Loud Miami, and will presumably continue to be a staple of the festival’s experience.

Here are the quotes from Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong themselves. “What’s been created with the Rolling Loud festival is something truly special—it’s a cultural force,” says Cheech. “Being part of this next chapter with Pit Punch and helping bring it to people across the country is something we’re incredibly proud of. Meanwhile, Chong adds, “Music and cannabis have always gone hand in hand. Nothing brings people together like a great beat and a good buzz. Pit Punch is the next evolution of that energy.”

You can find stores selling the drink or order direct at DrinkPitPunch.com. For coverage of the most recent Rolling Loud in California, click here and to read our interview with Rolling Loud co-founder Tariq Cherif, click here.

Michael Jordan is famously not a fan of most hip-hop. Rapper N.O.R.E. claims he heard Air Jordan say “f*ck rap” one time during a Def Jam Christmas party. But Jordan apparently has a soft spot for Kendrick Lamar.

There’s a video going viral that shows Jordan (who Lamar named a song after on 2010’s Overly Dedicated mixtape) and his wife Yvette Prieto enjoying Forester’s DJ set at Mary Lou’s in West Palm Beach, Florida, over the weekend. “The DJs said no requests… until Michael Jordan asked,” the caption reads. The song playing: “Not Like Us.” And Drake took that personally.

Speaking of the “Not Like Us” target: the video comes shortly after Drake discussed MJ’s gambling prowess. “He’ll gamble on anything,” he said on Stake’s House Money. “I think I remember it was All-Star Weekend in Toronto and he had an event to be at. I beat him at ping-pong a couple times and he just wouldn’t leave the ping-pong table. He kept just betting me, like, bands. 10 bands, 20 bands. Just kept betting because he just couldn’t stomach the loss, you know? He’s definitely not a quitter. I respect him deeply for his gambling nature. So, yeah, I’d say Michael Jordan’s definitely one-of-one.”

You can watch the MJ / Kendrick video here.

Following a tumultuous period, Arcade Fire is back: Today (April 8), the Canadian favorites have officially announced Pink Elephant, a new album that’s set to arrive on May 9.

Ahead of then, the band has shared the single “Year Of The Snake,” a patient and smoldering track.

A press release notes the album title refers to “that paradoxical effect where the effort to suppress a thought leads to it being impossible to avoid,” and that the project “invites the listener on a sonic odyssey – a quest for life – that exists within the perception of the individual, a meditation on both darkness and light, the beauty within.”

The project clocks in at 42 minutes; was produced by Win Butler, Régine Chassagne, and Daniel Lanois; and was recorded at Butler and Chassagne’s Good News Recording Studio in New Orleans.

Notably, this is the band’s first album without Will Butler, who left the group in 2021, after We was completed but before it was released.

Watch the “Year Of The Snake” video above and find the Pink Elephant album art and tracklist below.

Arcade Fire’s Pink Elephant Album Cover Artwork

Arcade Fire’s Pink Elephant Tracklist

1. “Open Your Heart Or Die Trying”
2. “Pink Elephant”
3. “Year Of The Snake”
4. “Circle Of Trust”
5. “Alien Nation”
6. “Beyond Salvation”
7. “Ride Or Die”
8. “I Love Her Shadow”
9. “She Cries Diamond Rain”
10. “Stuck In My Head”

Pink Elephant is out 5/9 via Columbia. Find more information here.

Over the past couple months, it has appeared like the often-mysterious Death Grips have broken up. Now, though, the group has assured that this is actually not the case.

A message shared on the band’s social media pages today (April 8) reads, “Despite rumor and hearsay we remain active as Death Grips.”

Notably, the message is only signed by members Stefan Burnett (aka MC Ride) and Zach Hill, and not Andy Morin. Morin was the one who sparked the break-up rumors in the first place, as he supposedly wrote in a message to a fan in February, “yeah it’s over, stefan doesn’t want to do any more. But truthfully none of us can ever predict what will happen with the group.”

In 2023, some fans noticed that Death Grips performed a show with Nick Reinhart in place of Morin.

The most recent projects from Death Grips are the 2018 album Year Of The Snitch and the 2019 EP Gmail And The Restraining Orders. Their most recent officially released single is 2023’s “Electronic Drum Solo Dub Mix (Single Take).” Aside from that, as aforementioned, they’ve also been touring. According to setlist.fm, their most recent performance brought them to Texas for Austin City Limits in October 2023.

In addition to being hip-hop’s top pitchman, it turns out Travis Scott is a bit of a cinephile. In a new interview with Complex, the Houston rapper-producer talks up his love for one actor in particular, including making a surprisingly accurate prediction about this year’s Academy Awards.

When asked about celebrities who are fans of his music, Travis revealed a bond with Adrien Brody. “That’s my dog,” he gushed. “Did you watch The Brutalist? That movie is hard as f*ck. I hope he wins Best Actor.”

Maybe we should be asking Travis for his picks on every future awards competition because Brody was indeed this year’s winner of the Oscar award for Best Actor for his work in The Brutalist.

Travis also revealed Brody’s own talent for making music. “He makes music, too,” he enthused. “He’s like, ‘You know, I make beats and shit.’… I’m like, ‘You got to send me some beats!’ So we chopped it up. Man, that f*cked me up. That’s crazy. I get sh*t like that all the time.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Travis teased a tour, new music from his Cactus Jack label, and bringing his debut mixtape, Owl Pharaoh, to streaming services sometime in the future.

It took over a decade of development, but a Minecraft movie is in theaters — and it’s breaking box office records. For starters, A Minecraft Movie had the highest opening weekend at the domestic box office ($163 million) for any video game movie ever. It’s also No. 1 among films released in 2025, and stars Jack Black and Jason Momoa’s biggest domestic opening, as well.

A Minecraft Movie shattered all projections, but maybe it shouldn’t have: Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all-time, with a reported 350 million copies sold. That’s a lot of chicken jockeys. But give credit to director Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre), along with a huge team of screenwriters, for figuring out a formula that worked. He wasn’t the film’s original director, however. The job initially went to Rob McElhenney, who also worked on the script. Yup, Mac from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

Back in 2015, Minecraft publisher Mojang AB announced, “Hello there! Some of you may have seen this guy hanging around MINECON in London a couple weeks ago. He’s Rob McElhenney, and he’s going to be directing the upcoming Minecraft movie.” The film was supposedly going to be animated and star Steve Carell. So, what happened? Why is McElhenney nowhere to be found in the A Minecraft Movie credits?

Why Didn’t It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia Star Rob McElhenney Direct A Minecraft Movie?

“I’m comfortable talking about it, because f*k them at this point,” McElhenney said in a 2020 episode of the HappySadConfused podcast, according to GameSpot. What drew him to Minecraft was the lack of a “fixed narrative. It was an open world experience. All you were essentially give was the building blocks to do whatever you want. I thought, what an amazing tool, much like Legos except now you’re talking about infinite possibilities because it’s digital, to give to kids — and not just kids, but any person who feels powerless.”

Warner Bros. loved McElhenney’s concept for the movie being about “people taking agency over their experience in this digital landscape,” and he was given a $150 million budget. However, in 2016, Warner Bros. movie chief Greg Silverman left the studio and was replaced by Toby Emmerich. That’s when McElhenney’s Minecraft movie “slowly died on the vine,” he explained. “I don’t harbor any resentment. I get it. I get the way that it works.”

Luckily, McElhenney is doing just fine.

Back in January, Lucy Dacus had a big day when she shared two new songs, announced the album Forever Is A Feeling, and unveiled dates on the Forever Is A Feeling tour. Now, as the tour is just days from kicking off on April 16, Dacus has expanded it by adding a bunch of new dates.

The original run stretched from April to May, and the new shows go from July to September. The initially announced dates featured support from Katie Gavin and jasmine.4.t, while the new ones will feature Jay Som, Julia Jacklin, and Julien Baker & Torres.

Pre-sales for the new shows start April 15 at noon local time, followed by the general on-sale on April 18 at noon local time. More information can be found on Dacus’ website.

Check out all of Dacus’ upcoming dates below.

Lucy Dacus’ 2025 Tour Dates: Forever Is A Feeling

04/16 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met #
04/18 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem #
04/21 — Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall #
04/23 — New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall #
04/25 — Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall #
04/29 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium #
05/01 — Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre #
05/05 — St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre #
05/07 — Kansas City, MI @ Midland #
05/09 — Dallas, TX @ Winspear Opera House #
05/10 — Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheatre #
05/12 — Denver, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre #
05/14 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre #
07/25 — Philadelphia, PA @ FDR Park ^*
07/26 — Columbus, OH @ KEMBA Live! *
07/27 — Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theatre *
07/29 — Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple Theatre *
07/30 — Lewiston, NY @ Artpark Mainstage Theater *
08/02 — Shelburne, VT @ The Green at Shelburne Museum *
08/08 — Portland, OR @ Edgefield %
08/09 — Boise, ID @ Morrison Center %
08/10 — Carnation, WA @ Remlinger Farms %
08/12 — Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre %
08/16 — Berkeley, CA @ The Greek Theatre %
09/09 — San Diego, CA @ Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
09/11 — Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre
09/11-13 — Abiquiu, NM @ Blossoms & Bones Ghost Ranch Festival
09/13 — Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion
09/15 — St. Louis, MO @ Stifel Theatre
09/16 — Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Theatre
09/17 — Louisville, KY @ The Louisville Palace Theater
09/19 — Richmond, VA @ Altria Theater
09/20 — Durham, NC @ DPAC
09/23 — Asheville, NC @ Asheville Yards
09/24 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Benedum Center for the Performing Arts

# with Katie Gavin and jasmine.4.t
* with Jay Som
% with Julia Jacklin
^ with Julien Baker & Torres

The Boys‘ showrunner Eric Kripke might be living the dream, but oh, what a complicated dream he is weaving. Kripke has been cranking away at bringing his final vision (i.e., the superhero-skewering satire’s fifth season) for Garth Ennis’ comic book creations to life while also dancing around the backdrop of reality. And as everybody is aware, reality is chaos right now and not exactly moving toward a calmer place, nearly a year after the most recent season finale had to change its title because, you know, reasons.

The fifth season promises to be bring Homelander’s angst back to the forefront, and ideally, Antony Starr’s chief narcissist will implode after everybody else has had their vengeance. Whatever happens will pave the way for the Vought Rising prequel series featuring Stormfront and Soldier Boy, but yeah, we really want to know more about the main attraction right now.

Does The Boys Season 5 Have A Release Date?

No specific date exists yet. However, the final season will arrive sometime in 2026 with Gen V‘s second season set for 2025, also with no precise date revealed yet by Amazon.

Kripke recently revealed on social media that progress is being made, not only for The Boys but also the prequel. “Season 5 halfway through shooting,” he wrote on X/Twitter. “#VoughtRising writers room writing brilliant scripts & new super suits being designed. It’s all happening.”

Additionally, Antony Starr (who is promoting Amazon MGM’s G20 movie) revealed to Collider how he is ready to put Homie’s suit away for good: “It’s strange because as much as I love the show, I don’t like seeing things outstay their welcome, so I’m kind of glad we’re finishing at five, and that’s it. I love the show and the characters, so it’s a bittersweet moment.”

Homelander’s gonna drown in a giant vat of milk, right? Fingers crossed.

With her new album, Paid In Memories, out now, Jessie Reyez has announced the dates for her tour supporting the album, with opener Raahiim. The tour’s US dates will run from June to August, wrapping up in Los Angeles at the YouTube Theater before jumping across the pond for a slate of UK and European dates. Then, she’ll return to North America for a run of dates across her native Canada, finishing up just in time for Christmas break.

Tickets go on sale Friday, April 11 at 10am local time at livenation.com. Artist presales begin Wednesday, April 9 for Citi & Mastercard holders. See the tour dates below.

Paid In Memories was released on March 28, backed by the singles “Jeans,” “Shut Up,” “Ridin,” “Psilocybin & Daisies,” and “NYB.”

Paid In Memories 2025 Tour Dates:

06/10 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
06/12 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore
06/15 – Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed
06/17 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
06/19 – Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works
06/20 – Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
06/22 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
06/23 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
06/25 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met
06/27 – Wallingford, CT @ The Dome at Oakdale
06/28 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues Boston
07/01 – New York, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount
07/06 – Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring
07/09 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz
07/10 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte
07/12 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
07/13 – Miami, FL @ The Fillmore Miami Beach
07/15 – St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live
07/16 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca Cola Roxy
07/18 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
07/19 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek
07/21 – Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom
07/23 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
07/24 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union
07/26 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
07/27 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
07/30 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
07/31 – San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
08/03 – Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
08/04 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre
08/06 – San Diego, CA @ SOMA
08/09 – Los Angeles, CA @ YouTube Theater
09/11 – Dublin, IE @ 3 Olympia Theatre
09/13 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy
09/14 – Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy Glasgow
09/16 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy Birmingham
09/18 – London, UK @ Roundhouse
09/19 – Paris, FR @ Salle Pleyel
09/20 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
09/23 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
09/25 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega Main Hall
09/26 – Berlin, DE @ Huxleys Neue Welt
09/28 – Cologne, DE @ Carlswerk Victoria
09/30 – Madrid, ES @ Sala Wagon
11/21 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
11/22 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
11/24 – Calgary, AB @ The Palace Theatre
11/25 – Edmonton, AB @ Midway Music Hall
11/27 – Saskatoon, SK @ Coors Event Centre
11/28 – Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings
12/02 – Montreal, QC @ MTELUS
12/05 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall