BY TER STAFF
So that just happened.
As expected, Kanye West received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award Sunday night at the VMAs to a roaring crowd and none other than Taylor Swift presenting the award. In Kanye’s legendary acceptance speech, he talked about being high, standing up for artistry, and also announced his intentions to run for presidency in the year 2020.
No, we’re not making that up. Watch Kanye’s full speech below.
BY TER STAFF
Minutes ago, fans left the historic Wrigley Field, as The Foo Fighters played through the rain to give a killer set to a sold out Chicago crowd. Attributing the Windy City for the launch of his career, Dave Grohl told fans about the first rock show that made him want to be a rock star, just across the street from Wrigley as he saw his openers tonight (Naked Raygun) perform. In addition to Naked Raygun, fans tonight also saw great sets from more of Chicago’s finest, with Cheap Trick and Urge Overkill. It’s not easy to follow Billy Joel (who performed at Wrigley just two nights ago), but boot and all, nothing was stopping Grohl and The Foo Fighters from giving Chicago a hell of a performance tonight!
Check out our photos below and be sure to check out if The Foo Fighters are coming to a city near you.
Continue reading Photos: The Foo Fighters Perform for a Sold Out Wrigley Field in Chicago
Once upon a time, The Weeknd was poised to be indie-R&B’s most grim and gloomy figure with the release of his moody and ominous mixtapes, later to be repackaged and referred to simply as Trilogy. Instead of lingering in this unique, more sinister take on traditional R&B, the last few years have seen The Weeknd drive towards a more accessible style. His studio debut, Kiss Land was sonically ambitious, foreign, and luxe, but fell flat due to it’s uninspired lyrics and lack of conceptual depth. It became clear that Abel was trying to ditch his callous, sexually explicit themes to head down lyrical avenues that offered more emotional depth, but on Kiss Land, it culminated into a diluted, impotent version of his opus mixtapes. On his second studio album, Beauty Behind The Madness, The Weeknd has successfully pivoted into an effective, full-out pop lane, and although the record will boldly translate into radio formats and the masses, the core of the lengthy record will still come across noticeably hollow.
Continue reading Album Review: Beauty Behind the Madness | The Weeknd
BY TER STAFF
Minutes ago, Billy Joel stepped off stage after his sold-out performance at the legendary Wrigley Field in Chicago, the home of the Chicago Cubs and a second home to Billy Joel in the nation’s Second City. Now the only musician to ever perform four shows at Wrigley and the only musician to perform at the ballpark in consecutive years, the Piano Man gave his Windy City fans everything they wanted and more tonight. Fans were also treated to an opening set from ‘Chariot’ and ‘I Don’t Want To Be’ singer, Gavin DeGraw.
Check out our photos from Billy Joel’s Chicago tour stop below and if he is coming to a city near you, get your tickets now (if it’s not too late)!
Continue reading Photos: Billy Joel and Gavin DeGraw Perform at Wrigley Field in Chicago
BY TER STAFF
During his recent headlining tour, the King Wavy Tour, Ventura rapper/singer Kyle debuted a live performance of his new track, ‘Really? Yeah!” Whether you caught one of the preview performances live, saw it on YouTube, or have never heard it before, today we have the CDQ version of the ‘Keep It Real’ rapper’s new record. This one is fire, so don’t miss out!
Stream ‘Really? Yeah!’ below.
BY DAN GARCIA
One Direction’s huge stadium tour has been out-shadowed this past week by the news that the guys will soon be going on an extended hiatus come next March. While fans can only speculate whether a “hiatus” truly means a hiatus, or whether taking a break will lead to a total break up, fans in Milwaukee Tuesday night, got to put everything aside and just enjoy one hell of a show, even with it being 1D’s first show since confirming their hiatus. With parking lines spanning the length of a hundred semi-trucks and with lines to the door long enough to wrap around the entire stadium (and maybe to Wrigley Field), One Direction’s fans could not wait any longer until showtime. But until Harry, Liam, Niall and Louie hit the stage, the 1D dominated crowd was still treated to a great opening performance by ‘I Love It’ singers, Icona Pop. The Swedish electricpop duo performed about 10 songs, including ‘We Got The World’, ‘Clap Snap’ and ‘Then We Kiss’, until they left the stage asking Milwaukee just one question. “Are you ready for One Direction?” Even if the signs in the crowd were for the eyes of the headliners, with huge recognizable hits from Icona Pop, the duo gave a great set to warm up the crowd.
BY TER STAFF
Being so close to home and so close to Hollywood, you would only imagine that Taylor Swift’s surprise guests for her Los Angeles leg of her 1989 World Tour (aka her sold out residency at the Staples Center) would really turn up. And with appearances from Justin Timberlake and Selena Gomez, Taylor’s fans definitely got their money’s worth and then some (and then some more). But no one could ever have imagined that her best guest would be a fictional one (kind of)!
Last night, during another sold out night at the Staples Center, Taylor brought out actress Lisa Kudrow to perform an awesome duet of ‘Smelly Cat’, the fictional hit from Kudrow’s character Phoebe Buffay, from the huge sitcom Friends. Watch the two perform ‘Smelly Cat’ below and check out our photos from Taylor’s Chicago performance here!
Continue reading Watch Taylor Swift Perform Smelly Cat with Friends’ Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow)
BY WILL LAMPEY
Texas based rapper Kevin Abstract is busier than ever. After premiering his group BROCKHAMPTON’s single on Ebro Darden’s Beats 1 radio show earlier this week, he performed with Allan Kingdom, London O’Connor and Well$ at Pigeons & Planes’ #NoCeilingsNY show last night in Brooklyn. Now, the BH track “Dirt” has officially released as a one off on Fool’s Gold Records. The video for the record is set premiere on MTV sometime in September.
On the track, Kevin, Matt Champion, Ameer Van, Dom Mclennon and Merlyn Wood rap about southern culture over grimy, thumping production. The song is the 3rd release from BROCKHAMPTON since they disbanded AliveSinceForever earlier this year and rebranded themselves. As someone that’s been following Kevin’s career for years now, it’s extremely exciting to watch him and his friends climb closer and closer to mainstream success.
Stream “Dirt” below.
Will Lampley bought Nelly’s SweatSuit CD when he was in the 3rd grade because he really liked Paul Wall’s verse on “Grillz”. Follow him @willcDPR.
BY TER STAFF
Big K.R.I.T. is hitting the road this fall on his forthcoming massive 38-date Kritically Acclaimed Tour, and of course with a new tour you need some new music to perform as well. Well to warm up fans until K.R.I.T. comes to a city near you, the Cadillactica rapper dropped a new track on his Soundcloud. The new record, titled ’86’, is another K.R.I.T. produced banger for your whip, so get ready to blow those speakers out.
Stream ’86’ and check out Big K.R.I.T.’s Kritically Acclaimed Tour dates below and get your tickets here.
BY TER STAFF
Inspired by the early hip-hop movement, GRiZ describes his new track ‘Feelin High” as “a tribute to one of my favorite songs, ‘2000 Seasons’ by Reflection Eternal.” With a trumpet solo by the talented Eric Bloom, this is definitely a smooth record. And for GRiZ’s Chicago fans, hopefully this can keep you warmed up until his forthcoming Chicago performance at Freaky Deaky in October, or until he comes to a city near you (check out his tour dates below).
Stream ‘Feelin’ High’ now, below.
Continue reading New Music: GRiZ – “Feelin’ High’ ft. Eric Bloom
The Early Registration 