Roc Lit 101, New Roc Nation-Random House Company, to Publish Books by CC Sabathia, Lil Uzi Vert, More

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorVeteran rockers the Deftones have completed their “Adopt-a-Dot” fundraising campaign and made a donation of $52,500 to the University of California at Davis Children’s Hospital and $52,500 to “Crew Nation,” the global relief fund for live music crews who have been impacted by COVID-19.In a statement the group said, “With pride, today we’re making our Adopt-A-Dot donations to UC Davis Children’s Hospital and Crew Nation. Hopefully these will go to making things a

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIt’s not confirmed yet, but after months of delays, Congress announced Sunday that it has finally reached a deal to pass the long-overdue $900 billion stimulus bill to send aid to American citizens and businesses leveled by the pandemic — including the Save Our Stages act to provide around $15 billion in relief to independent music venues and movie theaters that have been almost entirely shuttered since March.The House is expected to finalize the deal on Sunday

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIt’s not time to pop the champagne, but one of the most divided and dysfunctional Congresses in U.S.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs this trainwreck of a year trainwrecks itself to a close, we present the final Fri5 of 2020 — and as if on cue, it’s one of the more confusing batches of songs we’ve highlighted. We’re not even entirely sure who one of these artists is (see Rook Monroe).

Philadelphia rapper Popp Hunna is on the rise off the TikTok success of his single "Adderall (Corvette Corvette)," a boisterous track that packs a walloping punch of character in its trim two-minute run time. This being the City of Brotherly Love, Lil Uzi Vert made a cameo on Popp's Instagram the other day.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRare collaborations between Bob Dylan and George Harrison will be included on a deluxe reissue entitled ‘Bob Dylan – 1970’ that is due on February 26, Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, announced Friday.

NEW YORK -- A decade after publishing his memoir “Decoded,” Jay-Z is forming a more lasting partnership with the book industry.Roc Nation, the entertainment company founded by the rapper, is starting an imprint with Random House called Roc Lit 101.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorEminem has “surprise-dropped” so many albums in the past couple of years that the arrival of a rumor has basically become the official announcement. And sure enough, days after very detailed rumors broke about the impending release of a follow-up to his most recent surprise-dropped album, “Music to Get Murdered by,” it arrived.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a year filled with things we didn’t want to think about, there were few more indulgent escapes than music books.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe charts are usually filled with holiday fare each mid-December, but this year is over the top even by that standard. While Shawn Mendes’ “Wonder” debuted at No.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe annual Ally Coalition Talent Show is one of the best benefits of the year, which has seen stellar performances in the past from Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Kacey Musgraves, Lorde, the (Dixie) Chicks, the National, Carly Rae Jepsen and Antonoff himself.While this year’s event will be virtual, the lineup is just as stellar as ever, with Del Rey, the Chicks, Brittany Howard, St.

Reality TV cameras don’t lie — that’s the lesson the wealthy Vietnamese American family, known as the Hos, learned as they began shooting HBO Max’s new docusoap, “House of Ho”.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPR vets Carleen Donovan, Chloe Walsh and Jen Appel have announced the launch of the Oriel Company, which is described as a “modern creative lab and idea house handling media relations, integrated communications, and entertainment consulting.” for musicians, actors and brands.Its initial client list includes Kelsea Ballerini, André “3000” Benjamin, Arctic Monkeys, Phoebe Bridgers, the Killers, Lenny Kravitz, Zoe Kravitz, Adam Levine and Maroon 5, Juliette Lewis, Old

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs the nation and the globe wake up each morning asking, “Is 2020 over yet?,” the search for the next great new song is one thing that makes getting out of bed a worthy endeavor.We’ve already covered the Taylor Swift, Avalanches, Kid Cudi and Chris Cornell albums as well as the 20-years-late Britney Spears-Backstreet Boys tag team, and fittingly for this odd week, the top songs are an odd batch …James Blake “When the Party’s Over” We don’t usually go for covers in

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorReady to party like it’s 1999? Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys have dropped a new song called “Matches” that’s part of the deluxe reissue of Spears’ 2016 album, “Glory.” Listen to the song below.“‘Matches’ featuring my friends @backstreetboys is out now !!!!,” Spears tweeted after the song dropped on Friday morning.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe North American live events industry lost more than $30 billion in 2020 due to the global pandemic, including $9.7 at the box office, according to the year-end report by Pollstar, the leading live-entertainment industry trade publication.At the top of the year, the industry was projected to hit a record-setting $12.2 billion at the box office in 2020, but instead incurred $9.7 billion in Boxoffice losses after the industry effectively shut down completely in

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorNew Grammy Awards executive producer Ben Winston says he is “looking to do something quite exciting with independent venues” either in or around the 2021 show, according to a comment in an interview with Billboard.Responding to a question about what might be new with the 2021 show, Winston responds, “I’m so struck by the independent music venues around the world, and I’m aware of how hard hit that side of the industry has been.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a surprise announcement, Taylor Swift revealed that she will be releasing a new album tonight (Thursday, December 11) called “Evermore,” which she described as a “sister” album to her latest release, “Folklore.”More to come… I’m elated to tell you that my 9th studio album, and folklore’s sister record, will be out tonight at midnight eastern. It’s called evermore.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFor nearly 20 years, Yo La Tengo’s annual eight-night Hanukkah concert series has been a staple of the New York-New Jersey music scene. However, as with many events in 2020, this year’s celebration will be taking a slightly different form.On Friday, December 18 at 8 p.m.