Month: October 2021

Toronto artist The Weeknd is one of the most decorated musicians in the entire world and with his most recent studio album release for After Hours, the 31-year-old created a new world for his fans to be absorbed by. An iconic performance artist, The Weeknd has been teasing his next album, tentatively titled Dawn, for weeks. During Episode 18 of Memento Mori, The Weeknd’s radio show on Apple Music 1, the artist provided an exciting update on Dawn, revealing that the album is finished but that he’s still finishing up some creative aspects behind the scenes.

Introducing the episode, The Weeknd got right into what his fans were waiting for, telling listeners that his new album is finished, but he’s just waiting on “a few characters” that are integral to the narrative to step up.

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“I hope y’all had a great summer. Some exciting features coming out in the fall before the album drops,” revealed the artist. “We’ll slowly be unraveling that info in the next couple months. Some Dawn updates, album is complete, only thing missing is a couple characters that are key to the narrative. Some people that are near and dear to me, some people that inspired my life as a child, and some that inspire me now. More to come in the following months. But the only thing that matters is this very moment.”

Playing everything from Kanye West to Giorgio Moroder on the new episode of the show, The Weeknd explained his radio hiatus, saying, “Yes, it’s true. I am back you aren’t dreaming. You are listening to Memento Mori episode 18, after a quick hiatus. I felt like I let a lot of you down by not continuing the weekly episodes I promised, but a lot has been going down, a lot of moving pieces. I’ve been settling in a new home, been shooting videos, been working on pre-productions for another world, working on music for the pre-productions for the other world, taking time to myself so I don’t completely lose my mind. But now we’re back and you are listening to the best show on Apple Music, Memento Mori episode 18. Let’s go!”

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Are you excited to hear more about Dawn? Stay tuned to HNHH for more information as it gets revealed. Listen to the Memento Mori Episode 18 playlist below.

In October of 2020, Nigerian singer WizKid delivered his fourth album Made In Lagos, a project that introduced the world to the Tems-assisted “Essence.”

Later released as one of the album’s singles, “Essence” went on to become a runaway hit, with the official YouTube video amassing over thirty-two million views in only five months. 

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Now, WizKid and Tems’ “Essence” has achieved a new milestone, as the pair have officially received platinum plaques for their collaboration. Video footage reveals the pair speaking on the accomplishment, with WizKid offering some kind words to Tems. “I appreciate you, love you baby girl,” he says, holding his shiny new plaque. “You’re a superstar, this is your time, this is your moment. The world needs to hear this shit.”

“We have a platinum record,” he continues, to cheers from those in attendance. “I just want to say thank you to all involved in this. From Tems to the producers…Legendary Beats, those are my brothers from early…This is wild to me. Thank you guys for always supporting us.”

It’s certainly a massive win for WizKid and Tems, and it’s likely that “Essence” will continue to run up numbers in the coming months. Congratulations to both artists for securing the first platinum plaque of their careers — are you still keeping the smash hit on steady rotation? 

WATCH: WizKid & Tems – Essence

As you may already know, yesterday, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp were all down for several hours, leaving millions of people unable to communicate with their loved ones all over the world. While the outage provided a relaxing digital detox for some, it was undoubtedly a major issue for many others.

“Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger are coming back online now,” CEO, Mark Zuckerberg wrote late on Monday evening. “Sorry for the disruption today—I know how much you rely on our services to stay connected with the people you care about.”

Complex reports that VP of engineering and infrastructure, Santosh Janardhan, offered up a more thorough explanation about yesterday’s technical difficulties in a blog post.

“Our engineering teams have learned that configuration changes on the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between our data centers caused issues that interrupted this communication. This disruption to network traffic had a cascading effect on the way our data centers communicate, bringing our services to a halt.”

As news of the outage spread across other social media platforms, like Twitter, some expressed their concern about potential data leaks. According to Janardhan, though, there’s “no evidence” that any data was compromised during the outage.

As Zuckerberg and his team scrambled to get Facebook up and running again, the world sat back and watched his net worth fall by over a reported $6 billion.

Were you impacted by yesterday’s worldwide technical difficulties, or are you no longer a fan of Facebook and Instagram’s services? Share in the comment section.

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The celebratory nature of Verzuz has made it the ideal platform for hip-hop veterans, many of whom have assembled impressive discographies throughout their careers. Part healthy competition, part showcase of the classics, Verzuz is about to take it back to hip-hop’s formative years with their upcoming match-up. 

Though it was already heavily speculated for a while now, Swizz Beatz and Timbaland have officially confirmed that Big Daddy Kane and KRS One will be going head-to-head on Sunday, October 17th at the Barclay’s Centre.

“BIG DADDY KANE vs KRS-ONE!!” captions the Verzuz IG page. “I hope you’re ready!!! This one is for Hip-Hop!!! See you on the 17th.”

Older fans who grew up in the late eighties and early nineties — not to mention hip-hop historians with a sound grasp on the culture’s early years — will be thrilled to see two of the game’s most influential lyricists taking the big stage for their moment in the spotlight.

David Corio/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Given that both Kane and KRS rose to prominence around the same time, the pair are clearly familiar with one another. During a recent interview with The Breakfast Club, Kane praised KRS as one of his top-3 of their era, rounding out the selection with a vote for himself and Rakim. With the mutual respect on high, expect this upcoming Verzuz to be a monumental celebration of two larger-than-life lyricists, both of whom have likely influenced your favorite rapper, if even indirectly.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images 

Will you be tuning in to watch Big Daddy Kane and KRS One take the stage on Verzuz this coming October 17th? If so, sound off if your predictions in the comment section below. 

It wouldn’t be Paris Fashion Week without some sort of faux pas; this season’s just so happened to go down on the Givenchy runway. For their Spring/Summer 2022 collection, the brand questionably decided to accessorize some of its models with necklaces resembling a noose.

The show took place in Paris on Sunday, showcasing the designs of Matthew M Williams, who is now facing major backlash from all across the internet for his noose necklace.

“We need POC in these large fashion houses to call out the BS,” one frustrated viewer tweeted. “Come on a noose necklace @givenchy?!?! That’s why I hardly purchase luxury items as they all have done this type of shit. #Disrespectful #tasteless.”

Others were quick to point out that it was only two years ago that Burberry received major criticism for the “noose hoodie” that made it’s debut in their Autumn/Winter 2019 collection.

Popular Instagram account, Diet Prada (known for their poignant commentary on the fashion industry) posted about the Givenchy necklace, saying, “you’d think the industry would’ve learned not to put things that resemble nooses around a model’s neck … really makes you wonder how no one noticed, but alas … history repeats itself.”

Some other Twitter users seemed to share the belief that, after so many racist “accidents,” with seemingly no change, these luxury brands are making these decisions on purpose, and trying to use the publicity to their advantage.

How do you feel about Givenchy’s noose necklace? Let us know below.

Drake’s Certified Lover Boy is a smash record but it doesn’t seem to be able to replicate the same chart success as Scorpion. Mind you, times were different in 2018 when merch bundles accounted for a percentage of album sales and the double-disc effort quickly secured platinum status. CLB has already managed to block Lil Nas X from #1 but it ended up falling to #2 as NBA Youngboy’s Sincerely Kentrell shot to the top of the Billboard 200.

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Initial reports claimed that Drake has a chance of returning to the top of the chart but could be challenged by some fresh releases on Friday. Meek Mill’s Expensive Pain and Taylor Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) were expected to follow shortly behind CLB but it seems like things have changed in the latest forecast. Per HitsDailyDouble, Taylor Swift is expected to blow past Drake and Meek Mill this week with upwards of 130K units, largely from sales from Taylor’s online store. 

Meek’s Expensive Pain was rumored to move nearly 90K. Chances are, it’ll end up falling third behind Taylor Swift and Drake, respectively.

Taylor’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) dropped on April 9th, 2021 as one of six projects from her catalog that will be re-recorded and re-released in response to ownership disputes. The album also became the first re-recorded project to ever debut at the top of the Billboard 200.

Stay tuned for more chart-related news updates. 

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