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Bono Enlisted An All-Star Cast For The Animated Series ‘Pandemica’ In An Effort To Stop Vaccine Hoarding

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The last time a bunch of celebrities got together to try and “help” with the pandemic, it resulted in the dreaded “Imagine” video, which even its participants have admitted was probably not the best idea. We can safely say the new animated series, Pandemica, is definitely not that.

Produced by the Bono-founded ONE organization, which will stream the series for free across its social media channels, Pandemica boasts a stellar cast and centers on a fictional world that’s a “never-ending pandemic purgatory, where COVID-19 never goes away and no one is sure how long they will be stuck there or if they can ever leave.” The series aims to raise awareness about the importance of everyone in the world getting vaccinated to end the pandemic, and the dangers of wealthy nations hoarding the much-needed shots. Via THR:

“Pandemica’s animated world animates a simple truth — that where you live shouldn’t determine whether you get these life-saving shots,” said U2 frontman Bono, co-founder of ONE and (RED). “Even while many of us still wait our turn, we need to commit to making sure that billions of people around the world aren’t left at the back of the line. It’s the right thing to do, obviously, but it’s also the only way out of this pandemic for all of us. If the vaccine isn’t everywhere, this pandemic isn’t going anywhere.”

Here’s the full cast list: Patrick Adams, Samuel Arnold, Bono, Connie Britton, Penélope Cruz, Meg Donnelly, Danai Gurira, Nick Kroll, Laura Marano, Kumail Nanjiani, David Oyelowo, Phoebe Robinson, Michael Sheen, Wanda Sykes and Calum Worthy.

Pandemica premieres March 25 on ONE.

(Via THR)

Rihanna Suggests She Might Release A New Song ‘Soon’ To Celebrate The Anniversary Of ‘Anti’

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Every so often over the past few years, Rihanna says something or writes something on social media that gets fans excited about the possibility of new music. Now she has made yet another comment that suggests new music could be on the way soon.

Rihanna’s most recent album, 2016’s Anti, recently celebrated its fifth anniversary, a milestone that Rihanna observed on social media. Rihanna shared a fan-made video that showed off some clips from the Anti era as well as a recent tweet from Chart Data, which notes, “@rihanna’s ‘ANTI’ has now spent 5 full years on the Billboard 200. First album by a black female artist to reach this milestone in the chart’s history.” In the comments, somebody suggested, “celebrate by releasing a song !!” Rihanna decided to get fans excited with her response: “I think I should [soon emoji].” She added, “just 1 tho lol.”

There’s hope for new Rihanna beyond this. Back in December, she suggested that she wanted to devote some serious energy to her music in 2021, saying, “2021 is a little unknown for everybody and nobody is sure what restrictions there are going to be. My creativity is within my control, though, and I want to take my music and my brands to a different level.”

Brockhampton Wreaks Havoc With Danny Brown In Their Trippy Video For ‘Buzzcut’

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It’s been almost two years since Brockhampton released their fifth album, Ginger, and since then the band has kept things fairly quiet outside of a remix of “Sugar” with Dua Lipa and a string of singles they released last spring, including “Things Can’t Stay The Same,” “Twisted,” and “Downside.” Now it looks like the group is ready to begin the rollout of their sixth album. On Wednesday night they dropped their new single, “Buzzkill,” featuring Danny Brown. The track arrived with a trippy video that finds the Brockhampton collective wreaking absolute havoc in a technicolor universe while Danny Brown joins in for an attention-grabbing verse.

Following the release of Ginger in 2019, Brockhampton kept the pedal to the floor for the next few months. They stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show to perform “Ginger” and “Sugar” before bringing their talents to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to perform the latter once again. They also released a pair of videos for “Sugar,” which later became the band’s most successful single to date.

While their upcoming sixth album remains untitled, Brockhampton’s head producer Romil Hemnani revealed in an interview with i-D that the initials for the upcoming project are “RR.” Some fans believed that its full title is Roadrunner after they noticed band members, including Jabari Manwa, wearing “Roadrunner” apparel. As for the upcoming album, Hemnani said, “I’m excited about it, it’s my favourite one yet.”

You can watch the video above.

Dua Lipa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Miley Cyrus Sent Flowers To Migos To Celebrate The 15th Anniversary Of Her ‘Hannah Montana’ TV Series

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Miley Cyrus’ climb to worldwide recognition began 15 years ago with the Disney Channel premiere of her TV show Hannah Montana. The series, aimed at young viewers, arrived on March 24, 2006 and continued for almost five years before ending in 2011. The show undoubtedly played a huge role in her career and she even admitted that she “would love to” bring it back in some way. But until that happens, a celebration of the anniversary is in order and the singer made sure to take a moment and reflect, but not without showing love to the Migos for their 2013 single “Hannah Montana.”

The rap trio took to Instagram to reveal that Miley sent them flowers as a thank you for the song. While the lyrics weren’t about the TV show or even Miley Cyrus herself, the singer still appreciated their decision to name the song after her character, which she shared in a message attached to the flowers. “I [love] your song about me! Keep rockin’!” she wrote before signing off on the note as Hannah Montana.

Cyrus also shared a lengthy statement that about Hannah Montana that reflected on the highs and lows of the show. She also discussed important life events that occurred while filming what she took away from it when it came to an end.

SWV And Xscape Will Bring Their R&B Classics To The Table In An Upcoming ‘Verzuz’

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Verzuz

The past week has been a busy one for Verzuz, and it looks like the next couple of months will be just as active. Next month, SWV and Xscape will come together for a 20-song competition, bringing some of their best songs for another great showcase of R&B’s past. Surely we’ll be hearing SWV’s “Weak” and “Right Here” from their 1992 album, It’s About Time, and Xscape’s “Justin Kickin’ It” and “Understanding” from 1993’s Hummin’ Comin’ At ‘Cha, among others.

SWV and Xscape’s battle is the latest Verzuz duel announced within the past week. Earlier Timbaland and Swizz Beatz revealed the next battle will be between Earth, Wind & Free and The Isley Brothers on Easter Sunday. Less than three weeks later, Redman and Method Man will go head-to-head in a “How High” special on April 20. The platform also promoted three themed events: “Ladies Night,” “Mother’s Day Special,” and “Rematch,” as well as two additional untitled battles. The participants for these matchups have yet to be revealed.

But there’s one high-profile artist that Verzuz almost coaxed into a battle: Dr. Dre. During an episode of The Breakfast Club, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz revealed the rap legend backed out after Teddy Riley and Babyface’s heavy-flawed battle last April. “When Dr. Dre wasn’t feeling the sound from Teddy Riley and Babyface, that hurt our heart,” Swizz said. “I was like, ‘Oh my god.’”

You can read the announcement for SWV and Xscape’s Verzuz above.

Pop Smoke’s Debut Album Broke A ‘Billboard’ Chart Record That Eminem Held For A Decade

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Pop Smoke ended 2020 with one of his biggest records, “Dior,” landing a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Performance. While Megan Thee Stallion and Beyonce would eventually take home that award, the nomination was proof of the impact he made in his tragically short career. Another example can be seen in the success his posthumous debut album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, which recently broke a Billboard record Eminem held for the last decade.

The record in question is the longest-running No. 1 Rap Album, after it tallied its 20th non-consecutive week atop that chart. The previous record holder was Eminem’s seventh album, Recovery, which spent 19 weeks there between 2010 and 2011. On its way to the top, Pop’s posthumous debut also passed Drake’s Take Care (16 weeks), Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ The Heist (13), and Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. (11).

Should Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon can keep up its chart-topping streak going, it will break another Billboard record. If it reaches 29 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1, the album will break MC Hammer’s record for most weeks atop the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album chart. It also recently passed Michael Jackson’s Bad and Prince’s Purple Rain for most weeks on the chart, which is cool, too.

Open Mike Eagle Will Collaborate With El-P On His ‘What Had Happened Was’ Podcast

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In addition to being an art-rap pioneer and a fixture of the stand-up comedy circuit, Open Mike Eagle also records a podcast titled What Had Happened Was on his own podcast network. In its debut season last year, Mike interviewed guest Prince Paul for 12 episodes of the tales behind some of the legendary producers most storied works, including the Gravediggaz album, De La Soul’s Three Feet High And Rising, and more. Today, Mike announced that the show will return for a second season featuring another storied but sometimes overlooked producer: El-P.

While El-P has become something of an indie favorite in recent years due to his work with Adult Swim and Run The Jewels, his career spans all the way back to the mid-90s and includes underground rap staples like Company Flow’s debut album Funcrusher Plus, Cannibal Ox’s The Cold Vein, Cage’s Hell’s Winter, and his own string of widely-respected albums like Fantastic Damage and Cancer 4 Cure. El-P has plenty to talk about, and as Open Mike Eagle has proven to be an empathetic, enaging host, the second season of What Had Happened Was is sure to be a must-listen for indie rap fans.

The second season debuts 3/31 via Open Mike’s Stoney Island Audio network and continues weekly every Wednesday.

Dr. Dre Opted Out Of ‘Verzuz’ After A Previous Guest’s Sound Issues

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Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s Verzuz was a breakout hit last year, featuring performances from a plethora of big-name stars that made it must-see entertainment for folks stuck at home during the ongoing pandemic. The duo was even able to sell the show to Triller and offer their prior guests equity in the sale. However, despite scooping up some of hip-hop and R&B’s most iconic entertainers for the show, Swizz and Tim unfortunately missed out on securing one of their peers due to one of their shows turning out differently than expected.

Dropping by The Breakfast Club on Hot 97, Swizz and Tim revealed that Dr. Dre, who was in negotiations to participate in a Verzuz battle of his own, canceled on them after seeing the sound issues during the battle between Babyface and Teddy Riley. Swizz explained, “When Dr. Dre wasn’t feeling the sound from Teddy Riley and Babyface, that hurt our heart. I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ If you go back, Dr. Dre was at the Teddy Riley one. He came at the end, but he was supposed to come at the end and announce he was doing Verzuz that night.”

Unfortunately, seeing the shambles that became of the episode when the sound on Teddy’s elaborate at-home display cut-out, Dre decided that a similar fiasco would hurt him more than it helped. “He got on the phone and was like, ‘Man, I can’t be a part of nothing that look like or sound like that,’” Swizz explained. “‘My legacy is quality. My legacy is this, that.’ I was like, ‘Ohhhh we just lost Dre over that. That one felt pretty crazy but since then, the energy has been really good.”

Most recently, Wu-Tang Clan members Ghostface Killah and Raekwon The Chef engaged in a friendly tet-a-tet while the Verzuz heads announced Earth, Wind & Fire and The Isley Brothers would participate on Easter Sunday.

Watch the Verzuz collaborators’ interview with The Breakfast Club above.

Chance The Rapper Tries Out A New Profession In A Hilarious Fake Infomercial

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Chance The Rapper‘s latest rollout has taken advantage of his big house and comedic chops to turn in some pretty clever promotional materials for his new singles. The latest is “1-800-STUNT,” Chance’s take on ’90s infomercials, which is connected to his next track, known for the moment as “House Of Kicks Theme Song.” The spoof infomercial sees Chance take on the role of stuntman, Jump Dustumba, as he stumps for his agency while wearing an arm sling.

However, rather than appearing in movies and TV shows, they’re available to stand in for customers doing regular tasks like working out, taking out the trash, or making a sandwich. Unfortunately, one customer finds out that having an “identical” person around the house has its drawbacks, as he catches Dustumba making out with his wife. It’s a cheeky little distraction of a video but I’m intrigued to see how it plays into the release of Chance’s next single.

Chance’s most recent single, “The Heart & The Tongue,” also came out after a week of social media teasing, so while it’s unclear just what he’s building up to, it seems clear that it’ll be something that he’s crafted with care putting all the free time afforded by pandemic lockdowns — and probably a little bit of boredom, as well — to good use.

Watch “1-800-STUNT” above.

Eminem Recorded A Version Of Rihanna’s Hit Single ‘Diamonds’ Before She Did

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“Diamonds” has proven to be one of the biggest hits of Rihanna’s career, but it almost wasn’t her song at all. In fact, Eminem actually recorded a version of it before she did, according to the song’s co-producer, Benny Blanco.

Speaking about the track with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Blanco revealed that he originally intended the song to be for Kanye West or Lana Del Rey:

“We wanted it to be a Kanye song or a Lana Del Ray song, I remember, at first. And we were like, ‘OK, yeah, cool, let’s do that.’ And then, I remember [song co-writer] Sia, just writing. Sia, being Sia, she can write like 700 songs in one second. This was before Uber and she was like, ‘ I just called the car. It says it’s going to be 15 minutes. Pull up a beat.’ Pull up a beat…. melody, lyrics, everything. Done, OK. Then, we’re listening to it a few days later, and [song co-producer] Stargate’s like, ‘Yo, we’re giving this song to Rihanna. It’s going to go.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know, man. Should we keep the beat for Kanye? I don’t know about it. I don’t know if it’s… I don’t know.’

He then went on to discuss how he learned that Eminem had actually recorded a version of the track before Rihanna did:

“Then I remember I had given a beat CD like a month earlier to Paul Rosenberg to give to Eminem. And apparently, Eminem had done a song to it, too, and I didn’t even know. […] Paul was like, ‘Man, Em had that beat on hold.’ I was like, ‘What? I didn’t even know.’ So, I’m sitting there, and then I finally am like, ‘You know what, Stargate?’ I let go. I said, ‘You guys know better. Let’s do it.’ She cut the song. First of all, the second she cut the song, they were completely right. I was like, ‘This is the best song I’ve ever done.’ And then, this is how life works, full circle: Kanye West does a remix to the song.”

Check out more from Blanco’s interview with Lowe below.