Category: pop music

Rihanna is set to make her long-awaited and highly-anticipated musical comeback with a single for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack later this week.

Marvel Studios confirmed the news earlier today (October 26) following rumors spreading online. The company shared a short teaser on social media that saw the film’s name morph into a single ‘R’, with the date “10.28.22” beneath it.

Earlier this month, The New York Times journalist Kyle Buchanan reported that Rihanna’s single – the title of which is currently unknown – would be the end-credits song for the Black Panther sequel. The song will arrive on Friday (October 28), with the film following on November 11.

The track will mark the pop icon’s first solo release in six years, following her 2016 album Anti. Since that record, she has collaborated with the N.E.R.D. on “Lemon,” PartyNextDoor on “Believe It,” Future on “Selfish,” DJ Khaled on “Wild Thoughts,” and Kendrick Lamar on “Loyalty.”

Despite the long wait for new music from the superstar – and her recently becoming a mother for the first time – Rihanna reassured fans earlier this year they were “still going to get music” from her in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

Last month (September 26), Rihanna was announced as the headliner for the Super Bowl LVII halftime show, which will take place at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on February 12, 2023. Speaking to TMZ after the announcement, the singer said of the prestigious performance: “I’m nervous, but I’m excited.”

In January, Rihanna’s Unapologetic single “Stay” passed the one billion streams mark on YouTube. Originally released in 2012, the track features guest vocals from Mikky Ekko and, upon its release, peaked at No.3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

Listen to the best of Rihanna on Apple Music and Spotify.

Montaigne brings ‘Technicolour’ to the Eurovision stage
Since Australia joined Eurovision back in 2015, they have never missed the final and only once finished outside of the top 10. Last year, they selected Montaigne and her dramatic pop song ‘Don’t Break Me’ in a national final. Although there were already plans to host another national selection in 2021, the Australian broadcaster changed their mind after the 2020 contest got cancelled. They decided to give Montaigne another shot and let her select her song internally. And so she did with the track ‘Technicolour’.

Montaigne wrote ‘Technicolour’ together with producer Dave Hammer, specifically with Eurovision in mind. The song is all about the courage to be vulnerable and daring to ask for help, as Montaigne believes we are stronger in solidarity. With that message, one might expect a somewhat cheesy midtempo pop number, but that is not at all what ‘Technicolour’ is. Montaigne serves a bonkers, bouncing, heavily electronic pop banger. The production reminds me of early days La Roux while her expressive vocals echo Marina (and the Diamonds). Both vocally and in terms of production, it is all over the place in the best way.

All productional and vocal quirks aside, ‘Technicolour’ does have an undeniable chorus. Yes, it is a bit repetitive at times, but that key change in the last time it comes around makes you forget all about that. The lyrics are a bit predictable and slightly cheesy at times (“If we stand together, we can do whatever”), but also serves quite unexpected moments (“We got style and lasers, yeah, time to take off your cloaks”). Even lyrically it is all over the place. You can count on Montaigne to at least keep things interesting.

‘Technicolour’ live on the Eurovision stage is something I will be eagerly looking forward to from this day on. I have to admit Montaigne’s ‘Don’t Break Me’ was in my top 5 of Eurovision 2020 songs, but I wasn’t a fan of the live performance both vocally and in terms of staging. ‘Technicolour’ has the potential to turn out even messier on stage, but if she gets it right, this could also be all kinds of brilliant. Either way, I’ll be bopping to this with my life.

MORE EUROVISION 2021 REVIEWS: BELGIUM – CYPRUS – CZECH REPUBLIC – FRANCE – ISRAEL – LITHUANIA – THE NETHERLANDS – ROMANIA

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“Faster” is the first single off Matt Nathanson’s 2011 album ‘Modern Love’. The single in the U.S. came out on March 29, 2011 and it broke the Top 100 landing at #74…so not getting close to the Top 40 countdown. However, on the Adult Top 40 Billboard Chart, it reached #11 so the adults dug, kids…I guess not so much.

The promotional copy I found is from the U.K. and according to the note on the front, it was to be released on August, 6th, 2011. It was talking him up and the fact he was opening for Kelly Clarkson’s tour in America and Train in the U.K. Matt was heading to the U.K. to do his own set of shows. That Kelly Clarkson show was the one my oldest daughter and I caught at their Fox Theater, Atlanta stop. My brother-in-law, Ryan, worked with both Kelly and Matt in that year so we got free tickets to the show and ended up meeting Matt that evening and getting autographs and pictures. He was a truly stand-up guy with the way he treated my daughter. He made her feel that she was the most important girl in the room when he talked to her. Really cool.

The song was written by Matt Nathanson and Mark Weinberg and is about a guy that is so in love with this woman. She drives him crazy. His heart beats faster when he is around her, he will do anything for her and can’t stopping thinking about how she makes him feel. There are a couple lines that make think it is also about giving oral sex to her as well with the lines…

It’s the way you swell, slow
Pushing right out of your seams
It’s the way you smile, baby
When you’ve got me on my knees

Whatever it is, it is a fun energetic track. There is a strange hand clap sounding piece and it is strange in the fact it is on a different beat than you’d expect. I have a hard time doing it myself because I have no rhythm. The song is bouncy, light and pure pop bliss. Sugary sweet, but done in a way that only Matt can do and keep it from sounding too generic pop non-sense.

Give the song a listen and let me know what you think. See if you enjoy it as much as I do. It might be too poppy for some, but I don’t care…everyone needs to have some good fun every now and again.

Thanks for stopping by and we will see you again real soon.

2 Chainz is taking his talents online as the new host of Amazon Music Live, a new weekly live stream concert series premiering exclusively on Prime Video.

Airing each week after Thursday Night Football on Amazon, the show will see some of the biggest musical acts in the world hitting the stage to perform their most popular tracks and fan favorites. 2 Chainz will serve as host and MC, introducing each of the artists and interviewing them during the show.

Amazon Music Live premieres October 27 with musical guest Lil Baby, who will perform cuts off his recently released album, It’s Only Me. Meghan Thee Stallion hits the Amazon stage on November 3, ahead of her LA3C Festival performance, and country star Kane Brown will treat fans to songs from his new album Different Man on November 10. More artists are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

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Filmed in front of a live audience, the concert is streaming exclusively for Amazon Prime Members, who will be able to watch it live or on-demand after each airing (an Amazon Prime membership costs $14.99/month but the site has a 30-day free trial offer that you can use to stream Amazon Music Live online free).

“Every Thursday night, I’m bringing the biggest and the brightest stars in music to the Amazon Music Live stage in Los Angeles,” 2 Chainz says, in a release. “We have the people that are influencing the culture and have carved their own unique path in music, like Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, and Kane Brown. Amazon Music Live is the only place to be for the official Thursday turn up!”

Amazon says music and sports go hand in hand, and they’re betting on Amazon Music Live to find a big audience, especially when paired with Thursday Night Football.

“Whether you’re a sports fan waiting for the first football game of the week, or a music fan staying up late to hear the latest drop from your favorite artist, Thursday is the biggest night for entertainment,” says Kirdis Postelle, global head of artist marketing of Amazon Music. “With Amazon Music Live, we’ve created a new, can’t-miss series for fans to experience the most exciting new music together. For artists, this show represents a massive new stage to share their music with fans after Thursday Night Football—the biggest game of the week, airing live on Prime Video.”

This is the latest live music release from Amazon — the site is streaming Kendrick Lamar’s “Big Steppers Tour” show from Paris on-demand right now and Amazon is set to premiere Rihanna’s latest Savage x Fenty show next month.

NYC pop artist Tripping Jupiter unveiled the music video for their latest single “Torn America” today.

The visual, which can be seen below, features footage from a slew of protests taking place during the past two years. The artist said this about the song, which features David Bowie collaborator Gail Ann Dorsey on bass:

“I wrote the entire album in the middle of the pandemic. Being at home there was a lot of time to think about what was going on in our country and how it was affecting us. The murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests were still on my mind. The economic crash and how many workers across the nation were struggling stuck with me as well. And then more recently with the scapegoating of immigrants or members of the LGBTQ+ community – it all just reminded me how all our struggles are connected – and that it is only through a mass movement of people, collectively, that we can transform our nation and our world. All of this and the fast that climate change is happening before our eyes, made me realize that as an artist, I had to say something.”

“Torn America” stems from Tripping Jupiter’s forthcoming studio album Lipstick of the Brave, which will be released on November 4.