Lollapalooza just wrapped up its huge 25th Anniversary this past weekend. With huge headlining performances from Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, Red Hot Chile Peppers, Ellie Goulding and more, perhaps our favorite performance from the extended weekend was Lana Del Rey’s headlining set on the festival’s opening night. Fans began to wait in line for the show as early as 8PM of the night before, with hundreds sprinting to the Bud Light stage as the festival gates opened. After some entertaining performances from Frances, Melanie Martinez, City and Colour and The 1975, Lana’s biggest fans and the thousands that joined in throughout the night, got to see the moment they had been waiting for.
Highlights of her set included her performances of ‘Born To Die’, ‘Carmen’ and her numerous visits into the pit to greet fans and take selfies. And following her memorable closing performance of ‘Off To The Races’, Lana Del Rey said goodbye to the Chicago crowd… Until next time.
Check out our Lollapalooza Photo Series of 2016, of Lana Del Rey’s memorable performance.
A student of ’90s rap, Epic and Culture Republic rapper Nick Grant is an emerging rapper in 2016 but with a style and flow from over a decade ago. And showing his talents, Grant has shared his newest record, ‘NoBody’, a tribute to none other than The Notorious B.I.G. With references throughout the track to Biggie Smalls, Nas, Michael Jackson and all your favorite artists from the past, the South Carolina native kills it in ‘NoBody’. Grant is a pure MC, and it shows throughout the lyrics and style of his new track.
“Lyrically, none of them messing with me. Riding with some Queens, like bumpin’ “The Best of 50.””
Yesterday fans got to see legendary and up-and-coming bands in rock and punk rock, as the Vans Warped Tour made it’s annual stop at the Summerfest grounds in Milwaukee, WI. With some epic performances from Good Charlotte, Sum 41, Yellowcard, Mayday Parade, New Found Glory, Atreyu, We The Kings, Less Than Jake, Big Reel Fish, Prof and many more, everyone in attendance easily got their money’s worth and then some.
Whether it was Jess Bowen (of The Summer Set) making a surprise appearance, backing up 3Oh!3 on the drums, or whether it was seeing one of Yellowcard’s last shows before their forthcoming final tour, the day was full of memorable moments that fans will not soon forget. From the moment the gates opened until the last band said their goodbyes to the Wisconsin crowd, the Vans Warped Tour brought nearly 10 hours of great music to Milwaukee’s lakefront.
Check out our photos from yesterday’s Milwaukee stop on the Vans Warped Tour below and check out the remaining dates at the tour’s official website.
iHeartRadio went all in this year for their epic iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, NV. Taking place in Sin City’s brand new T-Mobile Arena, fans will see the biggest names in music and the festival’s best lineup to date. Performing the festival this year will be mega-stars like Drake, Sia, Ariana Grande and Britney Spears, legends like Sting and Billy Idol, and much more, including performances from Zedd, Usher, Pitbull, Cage The Elephant and many more.
While Vegas gets us all in the betting mode, don’t gamble on this one, get your tickets now before its too late! The 2-day festival will take place on Friday, September 23rd and Saturday, September 24th. The festival will also host its Daytime Village, which will take place on the strip and feature sets from Alessia Cara, Sam Hunt, DNCE, Hailee Steinfeld, The Chainsmokers, Bryson Tiller and more.
Check out iHeartRadio’s official video announcement below.
If you’re gearing up for Lollapalooza in Chicago this weekend, get excited because just over a month later fans will have another epic music festival in the Windy City as Chicago’s own, Chance The Rapper, will host U.S. Cellular Field’s fist ever music festival. Taking place at Chicago’s Southside, the home of the Chicago White Sox, Chance The Rapper will perform at the festival, titled the Magnificent Coloring Day, and he has recruited some huge names!
Also scheduled to perform are John Legend, Skrillex, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Lil Uzi Vert, Alicia Keys, Tyler The Creator, Young Thug and other special guests! Magnificent Coloring Day will take place on September 24, and tickets go on sale Monday at ChanceRaps.com. If it didn’t already go without saying, get your tickets fast because you will not want to miss out on this one.
Check out Chance’s announcement and lineup poster below.
Last night one of rap’s most talented brought his headlining tour to The Rave in Milwaukee, WI. And while everyone in attendance came into the night knowing that artist Jon Bellion is equally talented at rapping, singing, producing and songwriting, those who saw him live for the first time on Friday night now know that the emerging artist can perform his ass off as well. Throughout the night, as the sold out crowd weathered the summer heat in the packed venue with Rave staff passing out water bottles and spraying fans with water guns, Bellion showcased everything that makes him one of the most diverse emerging acts in rap music today. Whether he was remaking his beats live for the crowd, singing at his mic stand, or rapping as he jumped from stage left to stage right, Bellion gave his all last night.
Bellion didn’t travel alone either, as he brought Alec Benjamin, Blaque Keyz and an entertaining opening performance from Son Real to get the night off on a great note. Of course though it was Bellion who stole the show. Performing some of his fan favorites, like ‘All Time Low’, ‘Jim Morrison’ and a number of records from his most recent LP, even with a memorable encore and a nearly 90-minute set, the crowd was still left wanting more.
The highlight of the night though had nothing to do with his records however, as early into his set, Jon Bellion stopped the music for a moment of silence and to have his crowd send positive energy to fans who were unable to attend the night’s performance because they were involved in a car accident. This moment, combined with the fact that Bellion sold out the venue despite not yet having a catalog of huge hits and still being an emerging artist, shows that Bellion has a special relationship with his fans that most artists just can’t match. Even if you weren’t his biggest fan, you could certainly feel that energy in the crowd last night, as Bellion put on a memorable show for Milwaukee.
Check out our photos from Jon Bellion’s Milwaukee performance below and check out the remaining dates of The Human Condition Tour at his official website.
Perhaps known best for his hit track ‘Cha Cha’, which famously influenced Drake’s mega-single ‘Hotline Bling’, rapper Big Baby D.R.A.M. (or simply “D.R.A.M.”) has released his newest music video, for his recent single ‘Broccoli’. Also featured on the track, rapper Lil Yachty joins D.R.A.M. for the track’s Nathan R. Smith and Hidji Films directed visuals.
Speaking on the record, D.R.A.M. explains that the feeling of ‘Broccoli’ is “almost identical (to ‘Cha Cha’), being that the record came out of thin air, and the timing was what it was supposed to be, and it taps into the culture just like ‘Cha Cha’.” As “Cha Cha 2.0”, as D.R.A.M. calls it, continues to climb up the charts, expect it to only gain more momentum with the release of the fun music video.
Watch the official music video for ‘Broccoli’ below.
Very little is known about Sidney Royel Selby III, aka G.O.O.D. Music‘s newest signee, Desiigner. After being blessed by Kanye West with a feature on his recent LP, The Life of Pablo, the 19-year-old Brooklyn native was thrown into the rap scene with tremendous force. His debut single ‘Panda’, which was featured on Kanye’s ‘Father Stretch My Hands Pt 2’, went number 1 and stayed at the top for a number of weeks, making the record more successful than anyone could have ever imagined. Perhaps the only thing bad that came out of ‘Panda’ is Desiigner’s striking similarities in sound to Atlanta rapper, Future. And ever since, you can’t hear Desiigner’s names without accusations of him biting from Future. After catapulting to the top with just one single, many were waiting to see if he would be able to compose a complete project that would match his new found popularity. New English is Desiigner’s attempt at such an LP.
Desiigner starts off New English with a classical string intro, which is not something that you would expect from a new drill artist. The project’s Intro quickly transitions into a hard hitting song titled ‘Caliber’. This is the type of track that you hope Desiigner would make. It’s fast, lots of base, and inaudible, which is a common theme throughout the LP. Just by listening to this first track, one can tell that this album is going to be one that you play when you want to jump around and throw your body in every direction. Desiigner repeats the word “caliber” 41 times in this one song alone, so it’s purpose on the project is clearly not for its substance. If you are looking for music with intricate and witty lyrics like J. Cole or Kendrick Lamar, you are in the wrong place. If you are looking for music to make sure that you keep the aux cord for the rest of the car ride while you are with your friends, then you might want to stick around.
The next song, titled ‘Make It Out’, is especially confusing from the start. The transition between ‘Caliber’ and this record is very abrupt and sudden. The former track stops in the middle of a verse and then you are thrown into the latter. In fact, the majority of his songs were between 24 seconds and 2 minutes. The record is a confusing one, as it sounds like there are 3 different artists on this one track alone, however it’s all Desiigner. One verse sounds like G Herbo and then on another it sounds like DMX. Desiigner is a shapeshifter.
The song ‘Shooters’ consists of Desiigner saying “finna pull up with the shooters” about 24 times and the most aggressive tongue rolls you have ever heard in your life. One of the definite ways to tell if you are listening to a Desiigner song is to listen for his already classic ad-lib grunts or tongue rolls. They have become his signature sound. The next song ‘Monstas & Villains’ is only 37 seconds long and consists of one hook. Perhaps he wants to make his songs short enough so that people actually listen to the entire track. He then fills up time with an interlude in New English, three total throughout the project. When your mixtape has three instrumentals and it’s still incredibly short, you know you’re in trouble. ‘Talk Regardless’ is yet again another repetitive track. As many could expect, this mixtape lacks content and is not up to par lyrically. But with drill and trap music, perhaps that’s what you sign up for.
‘Da Day’ is the longest song on the album and features Milly.CTD. He has some good lyrics and it is refreshing to understand what he is saying. When Desiigner comes on you are sucked back into jumping around. This is not an album that you can listen to by yourself. You are only putting yourself in danger of breaking everything around you. Following up is the ‘Jet’, which features G.O.O.D. Music president, rapper Pusha T. The track speaks on all of the things worthy of spending money on; like cars, chains, women and more.
The final song on the mixtape is of course the song that made this Brooklyn kid the star he is today. The song that gets him invited to Kanye West premieres, add his name to the XXL Freshman Class, and the one that will be the driving force behind his millions of dollars in the near future. ‘Panda’ is one that we can all recognize and recite, well at least the bridge which consists of “Hey Panda, Panda,Panda, Panda, Panda, Panda, Panda, Panda, Panda, Panda.” I guess that’s all it takes to make it in the rap world in 2016. The public was livid when the XXL Freshman Class was released. With all these young artists that rap repetitive lyrics that no one can relate too it’s only a matter of time before it’s too late for hip hop. The silver lining is that there is definitely an audience for New English, and while Desiigner may not be the most conscious rapper today, he doesn’t have to be. He is still a kid in many ways who has a number of projects ahead of him to find his own sound and voice.
After appearing in headlines earlier this week, with the leak of his Chance The Rapper, Jeremih and Big Sean collaboration ‘Living Single’, emerging rapper Smino has dropped a track of his own, with his previously unreleased record ‘Kajun’. The song was recently performed acoustically by the St. Louis rapper, during his recent interview on Soulection Radio with Joe Kay, but you can check it out now. ‘Kajun’ is with Jean Deaux and Phoelix, and is produced by fellow Zero Fatigue artist, Monte Booker.
Joining Harry Styles and Zayn Malik, One Direction’s Liam Payne is now the third member/former member of the hit group to sign a solo record deal. Earlier this morning Liam took to his official Instagram account to announce to fans that he has signed a deal with Capitol Records. “Very happy to have signed to my new record label Capitol Records. They have such an amazing history of artists, I hope I can follow in the footsteps,” Payne wrote to fans. “One Direction will always be my home and family byt I’m very excited to see what this chapter brings.”
While many may be upset that this is another dagger, making One Direction’s current hiatus a potential indefinite breakup, it will certainly be interesting to see how Payne’s solo music will sound, as he was definitely one of the stand out singers from the ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ group.
