genius.com - 1 121 Showbiz News and Updates

Linkin Park’s landmark second studio LP, Meteora, celebrates its 17th anniversary on March 25. In a 2003 SPIN cover story, Mike Shinoda explained the arduous process of coming up with the hook for the hit single, “Somewhere I Belong.”

Rapper Slim Thug took to Instagram to announce to his 1.1 million fans that he recently took a Coronavirus test which came back positive.

Guitar manufacturer Fender is encouraging aspiring musicians to take advantage of the extra time they’re spending inside by offering three months of free guitar, bass, and ukelele lessons. The deal is available to the first 100,000 new subscribers who sign up to the company’s Fender Play online learning platform.

Fayetteville, North Carolina’s J. Cole has gone from envisioning himself as one of the greats to calling them his peers.

While the COVID-19 epidemic is upending the music industry and confining millions of people to their homes, it’s also jump-starting the creative process for many artists. One rapper who isn’t hitting the brakes is Pusha-T. During a recent AMA-style Discord discussion with fans, the Virginia MC revealed that he has three separate projects in the works, including collaborations with some big names.

Genius has partnered with Acura for Precision Crafted Performances, a series of live showcases featuring emerging artists. At our third show—which took place on February 5 in Miami, Florida—Mariah took the stage alongside co-headliner Eladio Carrión.

Foo Fighters finished their 10th studio album earlier this year. According to frontman Dave Grohl, the veteran rock band had to battle supernatural occurrences at the 1940s house in Encino, Calif. where they recorded the project. The former Nirvana drummer shared the spooky experience in a print interview with Mojo magazine, which was transcribed by NME.

J Balvin could never be accused of resting on his laurels. For more than a decade, the Colombian superstar has helped usher in a new era of global pop informed by dembow rhythms and a wide swath of Latin culture. He’s worked with everyone from Anuel AA and Ozuna to Beyoncé and Pharrell Williams, crossing genre boundaries without ever compromising his dedication to música urbana.

Lil Loaded has returned to break down his latest hit, “Gang Unit.” On today’s episode of Verified, which premiered exclusively on Apple Music, Lil Loaded explains how gang culture has changed over the years.

Over the weekend, a full recording of the phone call between Kanye West and Taylor Swift about the rapper’s 2016 song, “Famous,” shed new light about Swift’s side of the story. She later addressed the footage on her Instagram Story, citing it as proof she was “telling the truth the whole time” and encouraged fans to donate to Feeding America and the World Health Organization.

Rising teen star Tate McRae recently stopped by Genius for a live performance of “stupid,” which has racked up 43 million plays on Spotify to date. The track is produced by Russell Chell and appears on Tate’s debut EP, all the things i never said.

As the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic confines millions to their homes, a unique phenomenon has begun to take root in the music industry: livestream parties. In addition to at-home concerts from the likes of Swae Lee and James Blake, DJs have attracted thousands of viewers by live-streaming their sets. DJ D-Nice’s broadcast last Friday attracted over 100,000 viewers, including the likes of Drake, Jennifer Lopez, and former First Lady Michelle Obama.

UK pop star Dua Lipa was devastated to discover that her sophomore album, Future Nostalgia, leaked in full online nearly two weeks before its scheduled release date of Friday, April 3. She’s now moving up her entire rollout schedule and dropping the album this Friday, March 27. She announced the plans in a tearful Instagram Live:

Sir Elton John has never been shy about heaping praise, and now The Weeknd is the latest artist to get John’s co-sign. While people all over the world are living in quarantine amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple Music’s Zane Lowe checked in on John and asked him what he thought about The Weeknd taking inspiration from “Your Song” on the After Hours cut “Scared To Live.”

Although Chief Keef is often regarded as one of the decade’s most influential rappers, his recent commercial output hasn’t been met with the same success as his early work. Today, however, the 23-year-old Chicago rapper achieved a major career milestone by earning his first Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Australia’s The Kid LAROI sat down with Genius News to explain his new TikTok-inspired song, “Addison Rae.” The track was named for TikTok star Addison Rae, who helped a snippet of the then-unfinished song go viral online after playing it in one of her videos. It quickly racked up over one million views, and sent fans searching for more. Laroi told Genius that after seeing the success of the snippet, he went back to the studio to craft the full track.

It looks like Post Malone isn’t letting the worldwide coronavirus pandemic hold him back from putting out new music. This afternoon, his longtime manager Dre London teased a potential album that could drop as early as this summer. London shared a photo of himself and Malone on Instagram, revealing in the caption that they are heading into “Quarantine Album mode.”

After emerging as the breakout star from Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack compilation, JACKBOYS, Houston native Don Toliver just landed his first Top 10 album with Heaven or Hell. In a new Complex interview, Toliver revealed that he recorded three of his debut studio album’s 12 tracks during Travis' final ASTROWORLD sessions in Hawaii.

James Blake is the latest artist to bring his performances directly to fans impacted by the ongoing coronavirus epidemic. The singer-songwriter is broadcasting a live show from his home via Instagram Live today at 3 p.m. ET.

Multi-Platinum songwriter Victoria Monét first appeared on Verified for her 2019 duet with Ariana Grande, “MONOPOLY.” On today’s episode of Verified, which premiered exclusively on Apple Music, Victoria is back to talk about the process of creating her latest single, “Moment,” which will appear on her upcoming debut album, Jaguar.

Netflix’s action comedy film, Spenser Confidential, has proven to be a hit with movie fans who have been stuck indoors due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is directed by Peter Berg and stars Mark Wahlberg, Black Panther and Us actor Winston Duke, Alan Arkin, Bokeem Woodbine, and Post Malone. In the movie, roommates Spenser (Wahlberg) and Hawk (Duke) team up to take down criminals after two Boston police officers are murdered.

With After Hours officially out in the universe, The Weeknd is keeping his foot on the gas with the release of a new video for “In Your Eyes.” The track is produced by Max Martin, Oscar Holter, and The Weeknd himself, and will be promoted as the next single from the singer’s new project.

Jadakiss recently stopped by the People’s Party with Talib Kweli podcast, where co-host Jasmin Leigh asked the Yonkers rapper about his reaction to Kanye West’s The LOX-related punchline on “Touch The Sky.” On the 2005 song, Kanye raps:

Eminem famously came up in the battle rap circuit before signing to Interscope under Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment imprint. In a recent appearance on Mike Tyson’s Hot Boxin podcast, the Detroit rapper recalled being evicted the day before his second-place finish at the ‘97 Rap Olympics in LA, which indirectly helped him get signed.

With After Hours officially out in the universe, The Weeknd is keeping his foot on the gas with the release of a new video for “In Your Eyes.” The track is produced by Max Martin, Oscar Holter, and The Weeknd himself, and will be promoted as the next single from the singer’s new project.

Lil Uzi Vert and The Weeknd first developed a relationship while the former artist was opening for the latter on his Starboy: Legend of the Fall tour, and today they reunited on wax for a remix of The Weeknd’s hit single, “Heartless.” The song is produced by Dre Moon, Illangelo, Metro Boomin, and The Weeknd, with remixing courtesy of DaHeala.

Editor’s Note—After being found not guilty of murder and attempted murder charges last July, Drakeo the Ruler is once again on trial for his life. In August 2019, the South Central rapper was charged with criminal gang conspiracy and shooting from a motor vehicle. He’s facing 25 years to life in prison. To get an in-depth view of his case and how his lyrics have been used against him in court, Genius has teamed up with reporter Jeff Weiss—who has covered Drakeo for years.

Just days after releasing his latest album, After Hours, The Weeknd has dropped a deluxe edition featuring five new tracks. One of the songs is the official audio for his Saturday Night Live performance of “Scared to Live,” while the other four are remixes. Lil Uzi Vert, Chromatics, and DaHeala all make appearances.

Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake remains at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a second consecutive week, aided by a new deluxe edition with 14 additional tracks that function as a sequel to his 2016 mixtape, Lil Uzi Vert vs. The World. The album racked up 247,000 equivalent album units for the week ending March 19, according to Billboard.

Jadakiss recently stopped by People’s Party with Talib Kweli and revealed he was the rapper who wrote Diddy’s verse on “All About The Benjamins.” The full episode of the show drops tomorrow, but in the teaser clip above Jada reflects on how the song came together.

Goodie Mob rapper Khujo Goodie recently waded into the still-contentious debate about the origins of trap music. During an interview with VladTV, Khujo credited André 3000 with pioneering the term “trap.”

21 Savage reunites with Childish Gambino on “12.38.” The track appears on Gambino’s new album, 03.15.20, which is now available on streaming services after premiering on his website last weekend. Gambino co-produced the track with DJ Dahi.

Houston native Lecrae is back with his first track since June 2019’s “California Dreamin.” The rapper’s new single, “Set Me Free,” marks his first collaboration with Florida singer and rapper YK Osiris. It’s produced by Lecrae’s frequent collaborator and Reach Records labelmate, GAWVI, and samples contemporary-gospel duo Mary Mary’s 1999 hit, “Shackles (Praise You).”

Last weekend, Childish Gambino launched a new website, DonaldGoverPresents, featuring a live stream of an album’s worth of new music that was shortly taken down and later replaced with a countdown clock.

John Legend made headlines earlier this week when he went on Instagram Live and hosted a free performance for fans all over the world who may be locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic. The singer followed things up by releasing a new single, “Actions,” on Friday. The song is built around a sample of Dr. Dre’s hit “The Next Episode.”

Fans of The Weeknd are still unpacking his new album After Hours. If they take a close look at the credits, they can deduce how the movie Uncut Gems influenced Weeknd’s new album.