Lena Waithe—the writer, producer, and actor from shows including The Chi, Master of None, Twenties, and more—has launched a new partnership with Def Jam Records with the formation of a new label called Hillman Grad Records. A new press release described the label as an effort “Music and storytelling have always gone hand in hand.
Music
It’s a Wu-Tang family battle: Raekwon and Ghostface Killah have been announced as the next VERZUZ opponents. “Steel sharpen Steel,” Raekwon wrote. It happens on March 20 at 8 p.m. Eastern. It can be viewed the VERZUZ Instagram account or via the Triller app—the new parent company of VERZUZ. After closing out its first season
Lou Ottens, the Dutch inventor of the cassette tape, has died at age 94. Ottens died last Saturday, March 6, according to NRC Handelsblad. Ottens’ daughter Arine confirmed the news to WTOP. Born in 1926, Ottens first became involved with recorded music while working as head of the product development department at Dutch-based technology company
Janelle Monáe was the musical guest on last night’s episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. She performed the new song “Turntables,” which appears on the soundtrack to the Stacey Abrams documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy. Watch the performance below. Janelle Monáe’s last album was the 2018 release Dirty Computer. She appeared
The Brooklyn-based psychedelic rock band Crumb—the quartet of Lila Ramani, Bri Aronow, Jesse Brotter, and Jonathan Gilad—have returned with a new song. “Trophy” arrives with a new music video directed by Haoyan of America and featuring animations by Truba Animation. Watch it below. The new song and video are the first taste of new music
Ibeyi have released the new song “Recurring Dream,” which the duo wrote and composed for Ed Morris’ new movie How to Stop a Recurring Dream. (Ed Morris has directed Ibeyi’s music videos for “River,” “Ghosts,” and “Deathless.”) Listen below and also check out a trailer for the film. Ibeyi last released Ash in 2017. Revisit
Following her 2020 debut, Los Angeles–based artist Helen Ballentine has announced another new Skullcrusher EP. The new release, called Storm in Summer, arrives April 9 via Secretly Canadian. The EP includes the previously released “Song for Nick Drake” and was recorded with collaborator Noah Weinman. Below, check out the new music video for the Storm
A new study from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative reveals the bleak reality for women in popular music. The report—compiled by Dr. Stacy L. Smith, Dr. Katherine Pieper, Hannah Clark, Ariana Case & Marc Choueiti—sought to “assess the gender and race/ethnicity of artists, songwriters and producers across the 800 top songs from
Grimes has signed with Columbia Records. “Thanks for tuning in all these years,” she tweeted. “We’ll meet again soon.” Grimes also shared a link to a new website. Find Grimes’ announcements below. Billboard first reported news of Grimes’ Columbia signing on Friday, March 5. Grimes has released all of her music via independent labels. She
Lady of the House is a new hardcover coffee table book by music promoter Laila McKenzie and writer Ian ‘Snowy’ Snowball that gathers interviews with various women from house music history. Among the DJs, vocalists, producers, and industry figures set to feature are Candi Staton, Barbara Tucker, Sam Divine, Ellen Allien, DJ Maxinne, Kym Mazelle,
Gladys Knight and Alessia Cara performed the national anthems of their respective countries at the NBA All-Star 2021 basketball game, which is being held tonight at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Knight was present in Atlanta to sing “The Star Spangled Banner,” while Cara delivered a remote performance of “O Canada” from Toronto.
Cardi B, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, HAIM, Megan Thee Stallion, Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, DaBaby, Dua Lipa, Post Malone, and more have been announced as performers at the 2021 Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy dropped the news today (March 7), stating in a press release that “artists will be coming together, while still safely apart,
MNEK on stage in 2018. (Burak Cingi/Redferns) When MNEK released his debut album Language in 2018, he didn’t expect the artwork – which puts queer love front and centre – to be a controversial topic. Sadly, it wasn’t exactly plain-sailing for the British singer-songwriter. He got a coveted spot on BBC News to promote Language. The album artwork was never
Last night on The Late Late Show With James Corden, Caroline Polachek performed her cover of the Corrs’ “Breathless.” Originally released as a bonus track on her album of Pang remixes, the cover was paired with a gothic, steamy set for the performance. Watch it go down below. Polachek released Pang in 2019. She’s since
Beyoncé has released a brief a capella medley of songs in memory of Lyric Chanel, a 13-year-old girl whose two-year struggle with brain cancer was documented on Instagram before she passed away on Friday, as Rolling Stone reports. The medley, set to a slideshow of photos of Chanel, includes the songs “Brown Skin Girl” (The
Back in 2016, it was revealed that actor Joe Manganiello had gotten Morrissey’s approval to make his Smiths-inspired film Shoplifters of the World. Many years later, the film’s official trailer has arrived. Watch that below (via Entertainment Weekly). The film, directed and written by Stephen Kijak, is based on a largely embellished story about a
Montreal producer Mike Silver is self-releasing a new CFCF album: Memoryland, the follow-up to 2019’s Liquid Colours, is out April 9. The full album features appearances by fellow Montreal music group No Joy and Kero Kero Bonito frontwoman Sarah Bonito. Take a listen to the new track “Life Is Perfecto” below and check out the
SZA has shared a new video for her song “Good Days.” The Solana-directed clip finds SZA in a psychedelic forest surrounded by giant mushrooms. Check it out below. “Good Days” is the b-side to “Hit Different,” [ft. Ty Dolla $ign] which SZA released in September, directing the video herself. She had previously joined Justin Timberlake