GoneTrending

Travis Scott’s upcoming fourth studio album, Utopia, has the world talking, as it’s his first full-length album in five years. It’s also his first since the Astroworld Festival tragedy of 2021. Scott plans to make his comeback in Egypt, where he would perform Utopia in full at the Giza pyramids.

There were reports, though, that the event would not go on as planned due to cultural concerns from the Egyptian Musicians’ Syndicate. However, Live Nation now says that is untrue, telling Pitchfork, “There have been no changes to Travis Scott’s show in Egypt; any reports to the contrary are false. We can’t wait to celebrate ‘Utopia’ with you in Egypt!”

The Egyptian Musicians’ Syndicate issued a statement this morning (July 18) noting that portions of Scott’s performances may not fall in line with traditional Egyptian and Arab customs, and they will therefore not grant Scott the necessary permits for the show. That said, it’s not clear if the group actually has the authority to cancel the performance.

You can read the full statement from Dr. Mohamed Abdullah, an official spokesman of the Musicians’ Syndicate, below (via Egypt Today).

“Regarding the concert scheduled to be held on 28th July at the Pyramids area in Giza by American rapper Travis Scott, the Musicians’ Syndicate, as the entity responsible for issuing licenses for music and singing concerts in Egypt, in coordination with the Egyptian Ministry of Culture represented by the Censorship Authority for Artistic Works and the Ministry of Labor, emphasizes the necessity of considering security aspects and obtaining approvals from the relevant authorities as a top priority when organizing concerts. This is to ensure the safety and protection of the audience.

While the Musicians’ Syndicate has welcomed various art forms and concerts in recent months, it has set conditions and regulations to safeguard the customs and traditions inherited by the Egyptian people.

As the Musicians’ Syndicate is part of the fabric of our beloved country, it works towards its stability and security and rejects any tampering with the societal values, customs, and traditions of Egypt and the Arab world. After examining social media opinions and feedback, as well as the news circulating on search engines and social media platforms, which included authenticated images and information about peculiar rituals performed by the star during his performance, contradicting our authentic societal values and traditions, the Syndicate’s president and board of directors have decided to cancel the license issued for hosting this type of concert, which goes against the cultural identity of the Egyptian people.”

Utopia is out 7/28 via Epic. Find more information here.

Today (July 18) rapper Nas has surprised fans with the announcement of his upcoming album, Magic 2. Like his previous two efforts, — Kings Disease 3 and Magic — Magic 2 will primarily be produced by Hit-Boy.

The album is set to arrive later this week, but even more shocking is one of the features. Upon the announcement of Magic 2, fellow New York rapper 50 Cent has teased a collaboration.

50 shared the album cover on his own Instagram page, along with a caption reading, “Yal ain’t herd me in minute, @nas felt like it was time so it’s done. Check us out Friday 7.21 MAGIC 2 (Office Hours)”

This is perhaps a shock, as 50 and Nas have infamously had beef since the late ’90s, when 50 dissed Nas on tracks like “Life’s On The Line.” The two latter collaborated on a few song’s from 50’s 2002 mixtape Guess Who’s Back. However, the beef was reignited in 2005 when 50 dropped a song called “Piggy Bank.” The two eventually squashed their beef in 2014 at Summer Jam, but they’ve yet to drop an official collaboration.

50 has been quite busy producing all of the shows in the Power universe. But back in January, 50 teased a return to music to remind people that he’s “nice,” despite his trolling ways.

Magic 2 is out 7/21 via Mass Appeal.

This trailer for Billion Dollar Heist might make you think twice about deleting that office reminder to do your cyber security training. Or, it’ll have no effect because it’s not like it’s your money, anyway.

Still, it’s a ton of money.

In February 2016, hackers sent instructions to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to transfer a billion dollars out of an account owned by Bangladesh Bank. It was the bold culmination of a months-long plan to infiltrate, lie in wait, and try to syphon the largest amount of money ever stolen from a bank. Naturally, it was all done using computers.

Complete with a dire, threatening voiceover, the documentary Billion Dollar Bank Heist tells the tale of the hack and the implications for all of our lives.

Here’s the official synopsis:

“Global, dynamic, and eye-opening, Billion Dollar Bank Heist tells the story of the most daring cyber heist of all time, the Bangladeshi Central Bank theft. This feature documentary traces the origins of cyber-crime from basic credit card fraud to the wildly complex criminal organizations in existence today, supported by commentary and fascinating insight from highly regarded cyber security experts such as Eric Chien, Mikko Hypponen, Keith Mularski and renowned journalist, broadcaster and best-selling author of McMafia (which was adapted into a BBC One television series), Misha Glenny. A tale of epic proportions, Billion Dollar Bank Heist shows how the key players on both sides of the law are embroiled in a global game of cat-and-mouse – with our money and security on the line.”

Billion Dollar Bank Heist is available to rent and own starting August 15th, and if you want to get a jump on it, there’s a truly excellent episode of Darknet Diaries that covers some of the key elements.

Wednesday guitarist and songwriter MJ Lenderman has shared a new song “Rudolph” to celebrate signing to Anti- as a solo artist. Drawing inspiration from the popular reindeer character for the chorus, the track follows Lenderman’s 2022 album, Boat Songs.

It also comes complete with a music video to match the fuzzy indie song, as it takes viewers through a range of locations during a storm and a small town at night.

“‘Rudolph’ was the first song I wrote after the release of Boat Songs,” he shared in a statement. “I had been sitting on the guitar part for a long time and slowly worked out the song whenever I could in between tours in 2022. I finished the lyrics with my friend one late night after a Wednesday gig in Atlanta.”

Fans can expect to catch Lenderman along the way of his US summer tour, which kicks off tomorrow in Nashville. He is also stopping in Chicago for the Pitchfork Music Festival.

Check out MJ Lenderman’s “Rudolph” above. Continue scrolling for a complete list of tour dates.

07/19 — Nashville, TN @ The Basement East
07/20 — Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop Bar
07/21 — Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
07/22 — Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
07/23 — Nelsonville, OH @ Nelsonville Music Festival
08/04 — Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon
08/08 — Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy + Harriet’s
08/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
08/25 – Port Townsend, WA @ Thing Fest
09/23-09/24 — Accord, NY @ Woodsist Festival

Nerlens Noel has had quite the career journey in the NBA, as the former No. 6 overall pick of the Sixers in 2013 has played for six different NBA teams, struggling to stay on the floor but being a productive defender when he has been available.

That ability to be a rim deterrent has kept him in the league, peaking with his two years in Oklahoma City where he was able to stay healthy and be a very productive player for the Thunder, followed by a solid first year in New York. The last two years, though, he’s only been able to appear in 42 games with three different teams, spending the 2021-22 season with the Knicks before being traded to Detroit last offseason and then finishing the year in Brooklyn. However, this summer provided an opportunity for Noel to find another chance at a rotation spot in free agency, as his defensive abilities figured to be desirable in a very thin center market, and ultimately he found a new home in Sacramento on a 1-year deal, per Adrian Wojnarowski.

After trading Richaun Holmes to clear space, the Kings needed to add a third center and Noel will bring them that behind Domantas Sabonis and Alex Len. It’s a flier from the Kings on a talented defender, something they very much need, at a position they already go two deep at and won’t be desperate for Noel to log big minutes.

A writer/director known for making important movies has called Oppenheimer the “best, most important film of this century.” Paul Shrader, the maker of several of your favorite films, praised Christopher Nolan‘s latest in the highest possible terms. Although, it’s a little early in the century to call it.

Then again, who knows if movies will even exist in 67 years.

“If you see one film in cinemas this year it should be Oppenheimer,” Schrader said in a Facebook post. “I’m not a Nolan groupie but this one blows the door off the hinges.”

It’s a massive feather in Nolan and company’s cap, but it’s also little surprise that the writer/director who almost solely creates films about men struggling through existential crisis with a side order of violence enjoyed Oppenheimer.

Tons of critics and filmmakers have raved about the film and its performances (particularly Cillian Murphy in the main role), and it’s a good thing, because this is the only kind of publicity they can really rack up with the WGA and SAG strikes keeping famous faces from promoting their work.

Still, Shrader’s gonna have egg on his face when he finally sees Barbie and has to retract this statement.

(via Variety)

Cillian Murphy was on the mother of all diets to play the father of the atomic bomb in Oppenheimer.

“He had such a monumental undertaking,” actress Emily Blunt, who plays his on-screen wife in the Christopher Nolan movie, told Extra. “And he could only eat, like, an almond every day. He was so emaciated.”

Blunt might have been exaggerating with his one almond-a-day diet, although it is funny to imagine Cillian Murphy slicing a single bean into three parts, Mickey Mouse-style, for three meals. And by funny, I mean horrifying. Did he learn nothing from his Batman Begins co-star Christian Bale?

Murphy previously discussed how he prepared for Oppenheimer. “I love acting with my body, and Oppenheimer had a very distinct physicality and silhouette, which I wanted to get right,” he told the New York Times. “I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring; he was very slim, almost emaciated, existed on martinis and cigarettes.” Murphy added, “He had these really bright eyes and I wanted to give him this wide-eyed look, so we worked on his silhouette and expressions a lot before starting.”

Oppenheimer comes out this week on the same day as Barbie, as you might have heard. I hope Murphy celebrates by, like, eating a taco.

(Via Extra and the New York Times)

A staff writer for The Bear who “lived below the poverty line” while making the show did not appreciate Disney CEO Bob Iger‘s recent remarks on the now-dual actors’ and writers’ strikes.

“There’s a level of expectation that they have, that is just not realistic,” Iger told CNBC (via Variety) shortly after SAG-AFTRA authorized a strike. “And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive.”

Alex O’Keefe wasn’t having it. The Bear writer appeared on CNN where he ripped apart not just Iger’s words, but the opulent backdrop for his remarks.

“It’s very funny that this multimillionaire CEO says that we’re not being realistic,” O’Keefe said. “You pan out, there’s a beautiful Sun Valley background there. And if you pan out even more, you’d see a fleet of private jets. It’s funny who gets to imagine in this world who gets to be unrealistic because we’re living in the wildest imaginations of a few billionaires who have designed our economy exclusively for themselves.”

The striking writer then went on to detail the economic situation he and other writers are often forced to navigate even while working for hit shows.

Via CNN:

I wrote for a very big show called The Bear. I made very little money. I saw no profits in it. I lived below the poverty line working on this show that has made millions of dollars for FX and Disney at large. This is not how the world has to be. There is enough wealth in this industry alone for us all to have success. And for a hundred years in this industry that’s how it worked. It was a common expectation. This would be a good, union middle class career. Not for the big actors, but for everyone who makes the machine run.

“And now we’re not even allowed to be in the middle class,” O’Keefe explained to CNN. “We’re told to be grateful to be there. No, we’re mad as hell and we’re not gonna take it anymore.”

O’Keefe also detailed the “huge injustice” of his pay for The Bear to the New York Post where he once again blasted Iger for complaining about the strikes being “disruptive.”

“Strikes are supposed to be disruptions,” O’Keefe said. “Capitalists love disruptions when it makes them money. Netflix and Disney+ were disruptions to the market.”

(Via CNN, New York Post)

Ahead of her upcoming album Hit Parade, Róisín Murphy has shared a new single called “You Knew.” On the hypnotic dance track, Murphy she reclaims her power after a broken heart, reminding the man in question that he knew exactly what he was getting into when he met her.

“What you expect me to toe the line for? / You knew exactly what you were buying / Don’t come the innocent boy / Admit that you’ve got your motives / You knew exactly what motivates me,” sings Murphy on the song’s chorus.

The song encapsulates the forms of love Murphy has experienced throughout her life, and how she refuses to compromise for the sake of someone else’s happiness

“‘You Knew’ is the story of my life,” said Murphy in a statement. “I’m an open book, I put myself on the line and I make my motivations obvious. Many times, I have bravely loved and not been loved in return, and I’m proud of that. That phrase, ‘You Knew,’ just sums it all up, in fact you could put it on my headstone, except I’ve already decided it’ll say… you had your chance!”

Listen to “You Knew” above.

Hit Parade is out 9/8 via Ninja Tune. Find more information here.

It really is only us. Lil Baby’s It’s Only Us Tour was already beset by setbacks, including several canceled dates, and is now plagued by the loss of its biggest headlining act. According to TMZ, Australian singer The Kid Laroi has dropped out of the tour, leaving Lil Baby with a slate of openers whose profiles might not be enough to fill the venues he wanted to book.

While GloRilla, Gloss Up, Hunxho, and Rylo Rodriguez — all rising stars in their own rights — all remain billed for now, this could hurt a tour that’s already reportedly been troubled by low sales. For reference, Lil Baby’s tour now no longer includes an Atlanta date — meaning he won’t even be performing in his own hometown. Other cities removed from the schedule include Denver, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Louisville, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, and San Diego. Baby still shared an updated flyer on Instagram, which suggests he’s planning to proceed in either case.

The tour cancellations have been a hot topic of discussion on Twitter, with industry professionals chiming in to detail the complex logistics that often go into booking and routing a nationwide tour. Meanwhile, fans aren’t optimistic about the future of the tour, asserting that between the price of tickets and the disappointing lineup, it’s no wonder Lil Baby isn’t able to fill the arenas he aimed for. And some have other theories, mainly involving karma:

You can still check out the remaining dates here.