coachella

Billboards For Travis Scott’s New Album ‘Utopia’ Popped Up In California Ahead Of Coachella

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Travis Scott Astroworld Festival 2021
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Last year, things went sideways for Houston rapper Travis Scott when his signature festival, Astroworld, was the site of mass casualties. Now facing a class action lawsuit, not just from the families of the nine people who died, but plenty more who were injured or traumatized, Scott has been laying low while multiple collaborations were put on hold. He’s was initially slated to headline Coachella next weekend, though, but along with returning to the stage for that massive event, plans for his next project, Utopia, were also delayed.

That became even more clear this weekend when billboards promoting the album popped up near the Coachella grounds. Since local attendees tend to make up the bulk of the crowd at Coachella, the marketing definitely makes sense, but it’s notable because it’s one of the first public acts Scott has taken since the tragedy in Texas. It seems like the billboards were planned in conjunction with his performance, which isn’t happening now, but they’ve been put up anyway. Obviously, Scott alone isn’t responsible for what happened at Astroworld, and at some point he will have to move forward, but it remains to be seen how his next album will fare with the public.

So far, four different billboards have popped up, “PSST….” and “WRONG WAY!” are the most oblique, while “Looking for UTOPIA?” and one with the Cactus Jack insignia are more obvious. Check out photos of the billboards below.

Coachella And 88Rising’s New NFTs Include Exclusive Perks At Coachella 2022

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NFTs have firmly found their way into the music world, with Snoop Dogg and Sia embracing them. Now they’re establishing a presence in festival season, too, as Coachella and 88Rising are teaming up for a new collection that will offer real-world perks at this month’s Coachella festival.

All in all, aside from “digital ownership of 88rising’s historic Head In The Clouds Forever Coachella performances captured by Curry Tian,” the collection includes “physical experiences at the festival, including perks and utilities from 88rising and Coachella, such as dedicated entry lines at Coachella and on-site festival meetups,” along with “early access to music, tickets to Head In The Clouds Festivals, VIP experiences exclusive to holders, early access to merch, future NFT drops, and more.”

There will also be “a one-of-one NFT that grants on-stage access to 88rising’s Coachella showcase and an exclusive party experience at the 88rising Cloud Mansion.”

The NFT sale and auction kicks off on Tuesday, April 12 at 9 a.m. PT on nft.coachella.com/88rising and will run for 24 hours.

Sean Miyashiro, CEO of 88Rising, says, “We wanted to collaborate with Coachella to provide insane experiences at the most iconic festival in the world – and extend them into the future for all of our Head In The Clouds festivals ahead. We want our contribution in this space to be meaningful to the fans and also provide value in real world experiences as well as an ongoing path to deliver amazing art.”

Sam Schoonover, Innovation Lead for Coachella, also notes, “The magic of a concert comes from a personal connection established between viewer and performer. NFTs allow us to build on that connection by commemorating the experience, rewarding the loyalty of those who attended, and enabling a stronger community amongst fans. The 88Rising collections embody the mission of this festival: producing fan-first experiences that support creatives.”

The Weeknd To Replace Kanye West At Coachella, But Demanded “Kanye Money” Or Else

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The Weeknd x Kanye West

The Weeknd confirmed that he would replace Kanye West at Coachella next week, but on the condition that he be paid “Kanye money”.  The last-minute gambit by the award-winning artist resulted in him getting one of the biggest payouts of his career. The Weeknd Demands The Same Pay As Kanye West For Coachella The Weeknd […]

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Megan Thee Stallion Has A New Song She Wants To Debut At Coachella

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Megan Thee Stallion 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
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Megan Thee Stallion has been good to fans this year as she’s dropped a pair of singles so far in 2022: the Shenseea collaboration “Lick” and the Dua Lipa link-up “Sweetest Pie.” She has more new material ready to go, too, and she might event debut it when she performs as Coachella later this month, from April 15 to 17 and 22 to 24.

Megan teased these plans today, writing on Twitter, “I got this song that I recorded and every time I play it for a woman they start jumping and clapping [crying laughing emoji]. I think I wanna perform it at Coachella for the first time before I actually drop it.” She also noted in response to a Twitter user, “Guys be like ‘this sh*t hard’ but I think my girls just feel it in they spirit [crying laughing emoji].”

Coachella is the latest event in a particularly busy period for Megan. She just picked up a Webby Award nomination, she and Dua Lipa presented together at the Grammys, she performed at the Oscars (becoming the first female rapper to do so), and she pie’d one of her dancers on stage at the iHeartRadio awards.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Weeknd Threatened to Pull Out of Coachella Unless He Received Same Money as Kanye West

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The Weeknd scored a major payday after Kanye West backed out of Coachella.

A new report from TMZ claims that the DONDA rapper was being paid $8 million for his headlining gig at the festival before he pulled out at the last minute.

On Wednesday, Coachella officially announced The Weeknd as his replacement. The “Out of Time” singer will join Swedish House Mafia as a headliner on both Sundays of the two-weekend festival.

But the booking almost didn’t happen. According to Page Six, Coachella organizers did not want to pay The Weeknd the same $8 million as Ye, plus $500,000 in production costs. As a result, he allegedly threatened to pull out unless he was given the same amount.

“The Weeknd came in at short notice to take Kanye’s top spot. But Phil Anschutz [who owns the Coachella Festival through AEG Live] wanted to hold on to Kanye’s money and pay The Weeknd far less, just a few million. The festival would pocket the rest,” said a source.

“Even after Coachella announced the new lineup on Wednesday, a deal wasn’t in place for The Weeknd, who threatened to pull out at an hour’s notice if he didn’t get the same deal as Kanye.”

After “fraught negotiations,” the festival gave in to his demands and agreed to match the money. “Finally, on Wednesday — faced with the prospect of a second headline act pulling out of Coachella at the last minute — Anschutz’s company caved and agreed to pay The Weeknd the same money.”

Ye bailed on Coachella less than two weeks before showtime following rumors that he’s “going away to get help.” He had reportedly not been rehearsing for the performance, which usually takes months of preparation.

Other acts were also being considered for Ye’s slot including Silk Sonic, Travis Scott, Justin Bieber, and Doja Cat.

Kanye West Reportedly Walked Away From Over $8 Million By Dropping Out Of Coachella

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kanye west chaney jones
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Next weekend, Coachella will hold its first festival since 2019 after the coronavirus pandemic canceled their 2020 and 2021 iterations. Kanye West, Billie Eilish, and Harry Styles were initially announced as headliners for the upcoming festival which will take over Indio, California during the weekends of April 15-17 and April 22-24. In normal times, Coachella would be conducting last-minute preparations to kick off the first of their two festival weekends, but a wrench was thrown into their plans when Kanye West dropped out earlier this week. This sent officials into a scramble to find a replacement, and luckily they were able to lock in The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia as the new headliners.

According to TMZ, Kanye West reportedly walked away from an $8 million payout by dropping out of Coachella. He also lost a $500,000 production fee by walking away from his headlining performances. For what it’s worth, Kanye is a billionaire so missing out on the 7-figure payment is most likely not that big of a concern for him. Thankfully for Coachella and all attendees, the situation has been fixed but it didn’t come without some tension during negations. Page Six, which sites a “music source,” says that The Weeknd threatened to also drop out as a headliner if he did not receive the same payment as Kanye.

“The Weeknd came in at short notice to take Kanye’s top spot. But Phil Anschutz [who owns the Coachella Festival through AEG Live] wanted to hold on to Kanye’s money and pay The Weeknd far less, just a few million,” the source told the publication. “The festival would pocket the rest […] Even after Coachella announced the new lineup on Wednesday, a deal wasn’t in place for The Weeknd, who threatened to pull out at an hour’s notice if he didn’t get the same deal as Kanye. Finally, on Wednesday — faced with the prospect of a second headline act pulling out of Coachella at the last minute — Anschutz’s company caved and agreed to pay the Weeknd the same money.”

Page Six notes that another source told them that Anschutz was not directly involved in negotiations to secure The Weeknd as a headliner.

The Weeknd Will Replace Kanye at Coachella. Here Are 3 Reasons Why Kanye Might’ve Dropped Out

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The Weeknd

Fresh off announcing a US stadium tour with Doja Cat for his last two albums, After Hours and Dawn FM, The Weeknd and frequent collaborator Swedish House Mafia are now set to replace Kanye West’s controversial dropout from the Coachella Festival, which starts next week. The first 4 months of 2022 have been an absolute […]

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