Indie

Kanye West Demands That Billie Eilish Apologize To Travis Scott Or Ye Won’t Perform At Coachella

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Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever, The World Tour is officially in full swing. Last night, she was in Washington D.C. to perform and she and brother Finneas even stopped by The White House to say what’s up to President Joe Biden. But something Eilish said on stage this past weekend at her Atlanta concert has really ruffled Kanye West’s feathers, and now his Coachella headlining appearance could be in jeopardy if Eilish doesn’t act.

A fan in the Atlanta crowd was apparently having trouble breathing and needed an inhaler. Eilish was made aware of this and briefly stopped the show. “Do we have an inhaler? Can we just grab one?” she asks the arena, before someone presents an inhaler to the fan. “We got one! Guys, give her some time. Don’t crowd. It’s ok, relax. We’re taking care of our people!” she says, reassuring the fan. Then as the situation calms down, Eilish walks back to restart the show and says, “I wait for people to be OK until I keep going.”

This was interpreted by some as a reference to Travis Scott and the tragic crowd control issue at the Astroworld Festival that left at least ten people in the crowd dead. Kanye West just caught wind of what Eilish said and in an Instagram post today and demanded (in all caps) that she apologize to Scott for the comment, or he won’t perform at Coachella — where Eilish and Ye are both headlining. He also said that Scott wouldn’t perform either, whom he subsequently confirmed in the post is going to be his guest performer at the festival.

COME ON BILLIE WE LOVE YOU PLEASE APOLOGIZE TO TRAV AND TO THE FAMILIES OF THE PEOPLE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES NO ONE INTENDED THIS TO HAPPEN TRAV DIDN’T HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING WHEN HE WAS ON STAGE AND WAS VERY HURT BY WHAT HAPPENED AND YES TRAV WILL BE WITH ME AT COACHELLA BUT NOW I NEED BILLIE TO APOLOGIZE BEFORE I PERFORM

Eilish has yet to issue a response.

Doja Cat Covers Hole’s ‘Celebrity Skin’ In Her Super Bowl LVI Taco Bell Commercial

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Doja Cat gets one heck of a makeover in her new ad for Taco Bell, as she and a group of friends escape a drab clown college in the search of some Fire sauce. Set to air during Super Bowl LVI, the ad is set to the tune of Doja covering Hole‘s “Celebrity Skin,” which lands right on the red ball nose as Doja and her friends’ clown makeup flies off during their trek to the local Taco Bell (or maybe one a little further away, considering it’s dark by the time they get there).

It’s not the first time a Doja Cat commercial has soundtracked a Taco Bell ad. Late last year, her soon-to-be single “Get Into It (Yuh)” popped up during an ad about geeky cosplayers falling in love at first sight on the subway. Doja wasn’t above using her new position as Taco Bell partner to lobby for the return of the chain’s fan-favorite Mexican pizza menu item, prompting some fans to urge her and Chief Impact Officer Lil Nas X to make it happen.

Doja’s making something of a habit of recreating classic tunes and movies with her brand partnerships, especially the ones for the Super Bowl. Last year, she put her own spin on Grease for Pepsi, stepping into the classic role of Sandy and covering “You’re The One That I Want.”

Halsey Uses A ‘Euphoria’ Scene To Joke About Dominic Fike’s Age Difference Mix-Up

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Dominic Fike is at an important point of his career, as he’s in the midst of his first major acting role as a cast member of hit HBO series Euphoria. He’s doing well in music, too, of course, and he’s rubbed shoulders with some major figures in the industry, including Halsey; Fike featured on “Dominic’s Interlude” from Manic. Now, Halsey has used a clip from Euphoria to share a story about the first time they met.

Halsey tweeted a clip from the show, in which Zendaya’s character hits Fike’s character in the head and says, “He’s a liar and a f*cking snake. F*ck you!” Halsey wrote alongside that, “me and dominic fike when we first met and he told me he thought i was 35 even though im only one year older than him.”

Indeed, Halsey is 27 years old and was born on September 29, 1994, while Fike is 26 and was born just over a year later on December 30, 1995.

Halsey added in another tweet, “ive been doin this so damn long every one is tryna put me in the grave today. y’all better be careful! im 27 the universe might be listening [skull emoji].” Some of their followers apparently weren’t too keen on Halsey’s reference to the infamous “27 Club,” which features a group of famous celebrities who died at 27 years old, as they followed up, “too early in the day for dark humor i see. im sorry im kidding ily!!!”

Hours later, she added, “‘why would u share this’ because it’s funny as hell. i have a kid and i’ve been making music for 10 years i don’t blame anyone who is surprised by my age [crying emoji] y’all suck the fun outta everything.”

Billie Eilish, Beyonce, Questlove, And Other Music Stars Picked Up 2022 Oscars Nominations

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On March 27, actors and others in the film industry will be honored at the 94th annual Academy Awards. Ahead of then, the full list of Oscar nominees was revealed this morning and some folks from the music world made their mark.

Perhaps the most obvious music-related category is Best Original Song, and competing there are Beyoncé and Darius Scott (for “Be Alive” from King Richard), Billie Eilish and Finneas (for the No Time To Die theme), Lin-Manuel Miranda (for “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto), Van Morrison (for “Down To Joy” from Belfast), and Diane Warren (for “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days).

As for Best Original Score, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood earned a nomination for his work on The Power Of The Dog. In the category, he’s competing against Don’t Look Up (Nicholas Britell), Dune (Hans Zimmer) Encanto (Germaine Franco), and Parallel Mothers (Alberto Iglesias).

Meanwhile, Questlove’s Summer Of Soul movie is up for Best Documentary Feature. Elsewhere, the Alana Haim-starring Licorice Pizza fared well, as it’s up for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director (for Paul Thomas Anderson). The Lady Gaga-led House Of Gucci got a nomination, too, for Best Makeup & Hairstyling.

Check out the music-related Oscars nominations below and find the full list of all nominees here.

Best Original Song
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Darius Scott — “Be Alive” (King Richard)
Lin-Manuel Miranda — “Dos Oruguitas” (Encanto)
Van Morrison — “Down To Joy” (Belfast)
Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell — “No Time To Die” (No Time To Die)
Diane Warren — “Somehow You Do” (Four Good Days)

Best Original Score
Don’t Look Up (Nicholas Britell)
Dune (Hans Zimmer)
Encanto (Germaine Franco)
Parallel Mothers (Alberto Iglesias)
The Power Of The Dog (Jonny Greenwood)

Best Documentary Feature
Ascension
Attica
Flee
Summer Of Soul
Writing With Fire

Leon Bridges Linked With An LA Taqueria To Create A Benefit Taco Called ‘The Ft. Worth’

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HomeState, the LA-area TexMex joint known for their popular “Band Taco” benefit partnerships with Southern California groups like Chicano Batman and Tijuana Panthers, just launched a new creation with the pride of Fort Worth, Texas, Leon Bridges. It makes sense, considering owner Briana Valdez grew up in Texas and launched her Los Angeles taco, queso, and margarita emporiums to share the flavors of the lone star state with Angeleños.

Known as “The Ft. Worth,” Bridges’ taco is made with spicy achiote chicken, Beeler’s bacon, lettuce, pico de gallo, tomatillo ranch, and pickled jalapeños, on a flour tortilla. $1.25 of each taco sold goes directly to two organizations: CASA LA, which advocates for children and families in LA County’s child welfare and juvenile justice systems, and The Big Good, a North Texas-based organization started by Bridges, that supports educational and professional opportunities for the community.

“I was super excited to create a taco that reminds me of my hometown Fort Worth, and be able to raise funds for The Big Good to boot,” Bridges said in a statement. “I hope people pull up with my taco, queso, and margs and just vibe.”

“The Ft. Worth” is available at all four HomeState locations in the Los Angeles area now until the end of April.

Mitski’s ‘Stay Soft’ Is More Rollicking Synth-Pop From Her New Album ‘Laurel Hell’

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The music internet can rejoice — new music from Mitski has officially arrived. Her latest album, Laurel Hell, follows up her 2019 project Be The Cowboy, which created so much fervor among fans that the songwriter left the internet completely for a quite a while after it came out, just to get some peace. Perhaps said overzealous fans learned their lesson, as the reception for Laurel Hell has been decidedly cooler.

Indie superstardom has definitely shifted a lot over the last decade or two, and as our own critic Steven Hyden noted in his review of Mitski’s new album, pop star level attention on someone who came up as an independent artist can be a challenging crossroads to navigate. “If she stays, does she want to be a mainstream star who performs in stadiums with other mainstream stars, or does she want to be an enigmatic cult indie hero?” he writes. “Laurel Hell suffers from not resolving these issues before now.”

Tonight’s newest single, “Stay Soft” does feel like it swings between two poles, a rollicking synth-pop melody and Mitski’s always-pristine alto vocals, but even when the song hits a crescendo on the chorus, it never really opens up to anything. The video, however, is a different story, as Mitski gives blood to a greedy Venus flytrap, gets kidnapped, and dances under the moonlight with her captors. She eventually gets free, but at a price. Check it out above.

Who Left Spotify Because Of Joe Rogan?

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Spotify was hit with an ultimatum by Neil Young late last month: cut ties with Joe Rogan and his podcast or remove all of my music from the platform. Young’s demand came after another instance of Joe Rogan sharing misinformation about COVID-19 and the pandemic, which is a month away from entering its third year of effects in the United States. Spotify stuck by Rogan which led to Young sending a letter to his label requesting that all his music be removed from Spotify, which occurred just a few days later. However, Young was not the only person to make this move.

Who Left Spotify Because Of Joe Rogan?

Shortly after Neil Young pulled his music off Spotify, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell took a stand with him and removed her music from the platform as well. Days later Graham Nash, who is Neil Young’s former bandmate from the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young band, also decided to pull his music from Spotify. Then, the rest of the members in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young — David Crosby and Stephen Stills — made an announcement that they too will take off their music from the platform. But wait, there’s more. R&B singer India.Arie also took a stance with Neil Young and revealed that her music would be removed from Spotify, saying, “Neil Young opened a door that I MUST walk through.” There’s no telling who will be next to join Young, but we can almost assume this list will grow to be a bit longer.

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

Who Is Eligible For Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction?

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Every year, the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame (Rock Hall, for short) inducts artists with distinguished careers that have stood the test of time. Being enshrined into the Rock Hall is an honor bestowed upon artists who have demonstrated a body of work across many decades that once in the Rock Hall, can help engage fans with music history and the 2022 class nominees were announced today.

Who Is Eligible For Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction?

The nomination process considers artists whose first commercial recording was released a minimum of 25 years before the year of their nomination, so you won’t see Billie Eilish or Harry Styles nominated anytime soon. With this year’s new crop of 17 nominees for the 2022 Rock And Roll Hall of Fame class, Eminem leads the way as the only nominee who is in their first year of eligibility. A Tribe Called Quest, Beck, Carly Simon, Dolly Parton, Duran Duran, and Lionel Richie are all nominated for the first time despite having been eligible in the past. The other nominees include Devo, Dionne Warwick, Eurythmics, Fela Kuti, Judas Priest, Kate Bush, MC5, New York Dolls, Pat Benatar, and Rage Against The Machine.

From here, fan voting to help determine who will enter the 2022 class is now open now via the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame website. The inductees are scheduled to be announced in May, with a ceremony later in the fall.

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

Kamasi Washington Releases ‘The Garden Path’ And Will Finally Make His Late Night TV Debut

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Would you believe that one of the trailblazing jazz musicians who have been leading the charge in getting hip-hop and indie listeners reconnected with jazz music in recent years, Kamasi Washington, has somehow never performed on a late-night TV show? At a time when seemingly every artist who’s gotten a fair Pitchfork review or been blogged about by East Coast music media gets tabbed to play for Fallon or Colbert or whatever, it’s a head-scratcher that Washington hasn’t gotten the call yet.

Not only does he have a decorated discography of some of the most accessible modern jazz albums since 2015, but he’s also been a go-to sax man appearing on albums by Kendrick Lamar, Thundercat, Flying Lotus, and St. Vincent. He also even scored Michelle Obama’s documentary, no small task.

The above rant comes with a big exhale tonight, though, when Washington will perform his brand new single, “The Garden Path” on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. In typical Kamasi Washington fashion, “The Garden Path” showcases his dexterousness as not only a star on the saxophone but as a composer and bandleader who empowers the talent around him. Breakneck drum beats, with big basslines and dizzying keys to boot, lay the groundwork for a collective explosion of sounds.

Washington only allows himself to shine once he’s given his players room to set the tone; he’s a selfless prodigy. He explained in a statement that the song’s furious rhythm is a function of our collective mind state: “The world feels turned upside down. There’s so much push and pull in every direction, from everyone you meet—no one knows what to think, who to believe, or how to approach life right now. No matter how smart you are, it’s hard not to feel blind.”

Listen to “The Garden Path” above and check out Kamasi Washington’s performance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon tonight on NBC at 11:35 pm local time.

Slowthai Will Play A Handful Of 2022 North American Concerts On His ‘Antisocial Roadshow’ Tour

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Slowthai had one of the defining moments of his career so far (at least in the eyes of American TV viewers) when he joined Mura Masa on The Tonight Show in February 2020 to perform “Deal Wiv It.” During the performance, Slowthai took advantage of the whole set and even stood on Jimmy Fallon’s desk, making for some memorable television. Now, for fans who haven’t been able to forget that appearance, they’ll get the chance to see Slowthai live, as he just announced a handful of April concert dates in North America for the “Antisocial Roadshow” tour.

Performing live certainly isn’t Slowthai’s least favorite part of his job, as he revealed last February that he’s actually not too keen on recording, saying, “I hate getting in the booth. I love writing, and I love doing it over and over again. But then when it comes to the time to laying it down, I’m like, ‘Laugh.’ Yeah, I don’t know. I’m not hitting it the way… Because in my head, we all have that thing where we see it and hear it one way, and then you’re not delivering it, but then you’re self-critical, so you’re being extra critical. And then everyone would be like, ‘That’s the hardest thing ever!’ And you’re like, ‘I can do it better.’ So it will be like every song is a thousand takes.”

Check out the full list of dates below.

04/08 — New York, New York @ Webster Hall
04/09 — Chicago, IL @ Metro
04/10 — Denver, CO @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
04/14 — Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
04/15 — Indio, CA @ Coachella
04/21 — San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
04/22 — Indio, CA @ Coachella
04/27 — Toronto, ON @ The Danforth Music Hall
04/30 — Boston, MA @ Royale