On December 10, Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas set sail on the Ultimate World Cruise—a 274-day global trek that visits 11 world wonders and over 60 countries. This incredible trip covers the Americas, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Mediterranean and Europe with a ticket price that ranges from $53,999 to $117,599 per passenger.
Aboard the Serenade to the Seas is popular TikToker Marc Sebastian, who has been sharing his experience on the platform.
In a recent video with over 4.3 million views, he revealed what he’s learned over his first few weeks aboard the ship; the biggest was the one word you’re not allowed to say: Titanic.
“Who knew that? I didn’t,” Sebastian said. “I brought it up to an entire room of people having lunch that our ship is only 100 feet longer than the Titanic — when I tell you that utensils dropped. Waiters gasped. It’s dead silent.”
someone get whoopi on the line girl i have some goss for her #ultimateworldcruise #worldcruise #serenadeoftheseas #cruisetok #cruise #9monthcruise #titanic
After the unexpected reaction, his cruise friend told him, “You’re not allowed to talk about the Titanic.” It makes sense. Who wants to be reminded of the tragedy that killed around 1,500 people while sinking one of the most impressive engineering feats of the era? “When I went on a cruise, my mom told me saying Titanic was equivalent to screaming ‘bomb’ at an airport,” Mikayla wrote in the comments.
Later in the video, Sebastian admits he was surprised to learn that cruise ships have godmothers and that the pools are filled with seawater.
Spotify users might get the chance to remix songs from their favorite artists, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. The outlet claims that the streaming service is currently “developing tools that would allow subscribers to speed up, mash-up and otherwise edit songs,” as they recognize the popularity that remixes have with younger audiences.
However, this new feature will not be free to the public. Not only would those who want to use it need a Spotify Premium subscription, but they would also need to pay more for the upcoming “super-premium” level that Spotify is planning to roll out soon.
The last part of the agreement is that those who use Spotify’s remix feature cannot share their creations on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. These are the two social media apps that have the most popularity for remixes. Those who want to upload there will need to stick to “unofficial” spins on songs.
This is due to financial and legal reasons, particularly the fact that “artists and labels don’t often get paid for those altered versions of their songs,” and if Spotify would allow that, remixes would run rampant and the money would be even harder to track.
Spotify’s rumored feature is also still at least a few months away, so it will be interesting to see how they approach this.
You know Lily Allen is a real one because she saw David Harbour using a photo of himself on Stranger Things on celebrity dating app Raya, and she still wanted to be with him. She also wanted to have sex with him, but not before checking into Google to see how long she should wait.
On Thursday’s episode of her podcast Miss Me?, Allen shared details about the early days of her relationship with the dad bod king. She had been married before, but Harbour was the first time she really went on an official date with someone. “I remember Googling when I was with him, when I first started dating David, like, how many dates are you meant to go on before you sleep with someone,” Allen shared. “And there was a different answer depending on whether they’re English or American. I think English was five and American was seven. That was the Google protocol that I read.”
Google is no help with “how long do Hellboys wait?”
Recalling how she used to initiate romantic relationships, Lily said: “My thing had always just been, like, when I drank, it was like you go to a pub — not even with the intention, sometimes you just go out with some friends! You get really, really drunk, you meet someone, you’d end up sleeping with them, and then either they called you back or they didn’t. That was how my dating experience went.”
Allen and Harbour exchanged vows in 2020 in Las Vegas after waiting five to seven dates before Doing It for the first time. And speaking of waiting for good things, the wait for Stranger Things season five continues.
When Maggie Rogers announced The Don’t Forget Me Tour Part 1 in February, that “Part 1” spoke volumes: Surely a Part 2 would be on the way. That has of course proven to be true: Today (April 11), Rogers announced additional tour dates, but this time, she’s playing arenas.
When Rogers announced her 2023 tour, she decided to sell tickets in person, and she’s doing that again this time around, with tickets for certain shows available to buy on certain days coming up. Find more information about tickets on Rogers’ website.
Check out all of the dates below, with the dates and locations where Part 2 tickets will be available to purchase in person noted in parentheses.
Maggie Rogers 2024 Tour Dates: The Don’t Forget Me Tour Part 1
05/04 — Charlotte, NC @ Lovin’ Life Festival^
05/23 — San Diego, CA @ Gallagher Square at Petco Park
05/24 — Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre
05/27 — Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre +
05/28 — Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre +
05/31 — Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
06/01 — The Woodlands, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman
06/03 — Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP
06/05 — Indianapolis, IN @ Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park
06/07 — Cincinnati, OH @ The ICON Festival Stage at Smale Park
06/08 — Milwaukee, WI @ BMO Pavilion
06/09 — Sterling Heights, MI @ Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre
06/11 — Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
06/14 — Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival^
06/16 — Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion +
06/19 — Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park
06/20 — Charleston, SC @ Credit One Stadium
06/22 — Miami, FL @ FPL Solar Amphitheater at Bayfront Park
Maggie Rogers 2024 Tour Dates: The Don’t Forget Me Tour Part 2
10/09 — Austin, TX @ Moody Center (4/17 at Moody Center)
10/15 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center (4/14 at The Fillmore Philadelphia)
10/17 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden (4/16 at Paradise Rock Club)
10/19 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden (4/13 at Irving Plaza)
10/22 — Toronto, ON @ Coca-Cola Coliseum (4/14 at Coca-Cola Coliseum)
10/24 — Chicago, IL @ United Center (4/19 at House of Blues)
10/25 — Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center (4/20 at Target Center)
10/29 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena (4/20 at Climate Pledge Arena)
10/30 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center (4/20 at Moda Center)
11/01 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center (4/20 at Chase Center)
11/02 — Inglewood, CA @ Kia Forum (4/17 at Kia Forum)
Don’t Forget Me is out 4/12 via Capitol Records. Find more information here.
On Thursday morning, O.J. Simpson’s family announced on his Twitter account that he had died at the age of 76 after a battle with cancer. Simpson was a former star running back at USC and a Hall of Famer with the Buffalo Bills, but he became a notorious figure well beyond the sports world in 1994 when he was on trial for the murders of his ex-wife and her friend in Los Angeles.
That trial and the bizarre events that preceded it with a slow speed chase in a Ford Bronco became a national fixation, and his acquittal by the jury remains a wildly controversial decision — with renewed interest into the case thanks to recent documentaries and drama series that have come out about the trial in the last decade. O.J.’s death brought back a lot of that conversation, and despite Thursday being a rare off day for Stephen A. Smith on First Take, he could not simply sit idly by while that discussion happened without him.
Smith called in to his own program to talk about Simpson’s death and make clear that he believes O.J. was guilty of the murders, noting if he was on the jury, “he would’ve been under the damn jail.”
Stephen A. Smith on O.J. Simpson: “Most people believe that he committed those murders. I know that if I was on the jury, he would have been under the damn jail. I know that much. I believed he was guilty.” pic.twitter.com/gaJFk2JmET
Kendrick is partnered with his pgLang co-founder Dave Free and South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker on the film, which is described as a comedy about “a young Black man, who is interning as a slave re-enactor at a living history museum,” who “discovers that his white girlfriend’s ancestors once owned his.” It’s written by Vernon Chatman, whose credits include the Adult Swim show Wonder Showzen and stop-motion animated anthology horror comedy The Shivering Truth. He also, unsurprisingly, contributed to several episodes of South Park.
The release date for the as-yet-untitled film was announced by Paramount Pictures at CinemaCon, with CEO Brian Robbins calling the script “one of the funniest and most original scripts we’ve ever read and it’s certain to create some fireworks.” With that release date, even if it doesn’t, there’ll be fireworks aplenty outside.
Kendrick’s docket for the year seems to be wide open, giving him plenty of time to focus on the project. He hasn’t announced any new music or live shows, so this is all he’s willing to let us know he’s doing for the foreseeable future — unless, that is, Drake responds to his “Like That” call-out.
Mariah Carey previously announced her new Vegas residency titled The Celebration Of Mimi, which will kick off tomorrow, April 12 at Park MGM’s Dolby Live theater. Carey has also since added more dates to her show, so it will run through the summer. More information about her residency can be found here.
Here’s what to know about Carey’s merch and how to buy it.
How To Buy Mariah Carey’s Las Vegas Residency Merch
When Mariah Carey starts her new residency tomorrow, she will also be selling some merch for it — which will be available at the venue. As of right now, it has yet to be revealed what specific items there will be and what they’ll look like.
For those who either don’t want to wait in Carey’s merch line or can’t make it to her Vegas residency, she has treated fans by putting some items from her The Butterfly Returns residency on her website. There are currently four options available. She has two hoodie offerrings — one that reads “Always Be My Baby” in white and a black crop top hoodie that reads “Obsessed” after her two songs. Both cost $60.
She also is selling a white “MC” logo beanie for $25 and a white t-shirt with a butterfly on the pocket. The latter is on sale right now for $21.25. It’s unclear if she will add anything else tied to the new residency.
Bob Marley: One Love was released on Valentine’s Day with many critics praising star Kingsley Ben-Adir’s portrayal of the iconic musician. The film centers on Bob Marley’s inspirational rise to fame amid political conflict in 1970s Jamaica and was directed by King Richard’s Reinaldo Marcus Green.One Love also stars Lashana Lynch, Michael Gandolfini, James Norton, Anthony Welsh, Naomi Cowan, and Sheldon Shepherd.
One Love surpassed $175 million at the worldwide box office so far, and it can still be seen in theaters, but if you want to check it out from home, you’re in the right place. Being a Paramount production, the biopic is set to be released on Paramount+ on Friday, April 12. You can also purchase the film on digital from Amazon Prime, YouTube, and the other usual suspects.
Ben-Adir, who was prepping for the role while on the Barbie set, said that getting into character was the hardest part of the filming experience.
In February, he told The New York Times that taking on the role of Marley was difficult but important for him to grapple with. “I understood that the internal journey of Bob had to be about safety. The film is an exploration of trauma, and what it means to feel like you’re not safe or not loved in your own country,” Ben-Adir explained, adding, “He needed music.”
In February, Peso Pluma signed his first-ever brand partnership with Sony. “I’m excited for the opportunity to collaborate with Sony’s ‘For The Music’ campaign to continue opening pathways for Latin music,” Pluma said in a statement at the time. On Thursday, April 11, Pluma and Sony jointly announced the launch of the ULT POWER SOUND series, which is described in a press release as “a new series of Bluetooth speakers and headphones designed to make users feel like they are front row at a concert.”
“The powerful sound and massive bass of the ULT POWER SOUND® series excites me,” Pluma said in a statement. “As a musician who relies heavily on bass when creating my music, I feel that these products provide the best listening experience for my fans, and there is nothing else like it.”
How To Buy Peso Pluma & Sony’s Ult Power Sound Series Speakers
The product launch includes ULT TOWER 10, ULT FIELD 7, ULT FIELD 1, and ULT WEAR. According to a press release, each product will be available sometime in “spring 2024” at Sony’s official website, Amazon, Best Buy, and “other Sony-authorized dealers.”
The pricing is based upon “suggested retail price”:
ULT TOWER 10: $1,199
ULT FIELD 7: $499
ULT FIELD 1 in black, forest gray, off-white, or orange: $129
ULT WEAR in black, forest gray, or off-white: $199.99
In one of Sony’s promotional videos, Pluma jaunts into a quiet museum with a smirk because he knows he’s about to use the ULT TOWER 10 to put on an impromptu concert for the unsuspecting museumgoers. The paintings even come to life!
Watch that video above or the behind-the-scenes video below.
Only J. Cole would include Gucci Mane in a list of features on the opening track of his new mixtape, Might Delete Later, and then turn him into Big Rube. Like most of J. Cole’s output, how you feel about this probably depends on how you feel about J. Cole, in general.
Personally, I’m sort of mystified by him. As a beneficiary of the Wild West days of the blog era, he’s been unexpectedly successful using a style that, by practically any other metric, should be woefully out-of-style, a quixotic, backward-looking flow harkening to the days when Rawkus Records had backpack rappers overachieving left and right. (This isn’t a slight on Rawkus, by the way. But let’s just say that the rappers who most inspired J. Cole weren’t exactly known for their commercial successes amid the shiny suit era.)
I wouldn’t call Cole a “relic,” but his worshipful, borderline quixotic approach to lyrics-over-everything rap has made him a divisive figure among hip-hop fans. My pet theory is that his connections to Jay-Z and the anything-goes openness of the era into which he made his entry into the public consciousness meant he got way further than perhaps he should have with a style that many fans see as regressive and boring. Certainly, he got further than a whole slew of similarly ’90s-obsessed underground sound revivalists.
This isn’t even a new observation for me. In myKOD review in 2018, I said his fifth studio album “doesn’t hold up when you think about it critically for more than ten seconds.” In my review for its follow-up, The Off Season, I questioned whether his commitment to the craft of rap “leads to a more entertaining product” at the end of the day.
I even wrote a feature in 2021 comparing him to controversial director Zack Snyder — a comparison that has taken on some fascinating dimensions in the wake of the critical panning of Syner’s latest two-part film project, Rebel Moon. The obvious parallel is Cole’s new mixtape, which has drawn attention for its warlike intentions — and Cole’s meek withdrawal thereof in the span of a weekend.
That it was the second project overshadowed by this overblown feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar is telling. Even more so is the microcosm of the project in the example I cited above. I’m unsure who exactly was clamoring for Gucci Mane, Big Guwop, the godfather of trap, to perform Def Poetry spoken word like Dewey Jenkins in The Boondocks. And I hate to fall back on cliché, but I found the effect more soporific than energizing, the way their previous collaboration, “There I Go” with Mike Will Made-It was.
Might Delete Later arrived by surprise as fans awaited word of Cole’s long-promised seventh album, The Fall-Off. He’d previously explained the portentous title as the ultimate answer for his self-questioning after reaching the mountaintop of his success. “I had a real talk with myself… ‘You made it to where you wanted to make it to. Do you wanna keep going or do you just want to chill and go start a family? Do you want to retire right now?’”
Might Delete Later might have been better served with a release date after fans had also received that answer, because its misplacement ahead of The Fall-Off suggests mileage on those metaphorical legs that encourage — or even demand — a little more time on the sidelines. Or maybe even the purchase of a spiffy suit and putting that communications degree to work on a regional cable affiliate (what’s the rap equivalent of a broadcast analyst job? Please, just no more podcasts [shudders]). Cole does what he does here, admirably, but… it doesn’t feel like he’s pushing himself, growing, getting better, or feeling the exhilaration he touted as his goal in Slam‘s profile of him a few years ago.
Even the highest point of the tape, the Dipset-sampling “Ready ’24,’ is a nostalgic nod to Cole’s high-school days, complete with an appearance from an original Diplomat, Cam’ron. It’s a moment designed to invoke the same excitement of The Rock reappearing in the WWE a few months before Wrestlemania, but winds up having a similar effect to that particular stunt; a crowd disappointed that the focus had shifted from the possibility of an electrifying future to a storied but stodgy past. Hip-hop has always been about moving forward; why is J. Cole so obsessed with looking back?
And if he’s going to insist on holding over traditions from rap’s past, why, of all things, does he keep employing rap’s problematic treatment of queerness? In an era in which Cakes Da Killa, Lil Nas X, Saucy Santana, and more can share space and mic time with vanguards like Jack Harlow and Latto, J. Cole’s antitrans punchlines on “Pi” feel like the most cumbersome ball of cobwebs clouding his ambitions of immortality. For someone who wants to sit on the mountaintop, he still seems more cozy in his caves, excavating lyrical gems — and the occasional lump of coal — than surveying the landscape and spreading his wings. J. Cole may not be falling off just yet, but his approach could use a refresh.
Might Delete Later is out now via Dreamville/Interscope.
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