Indie

Grimes Says Her Song ‘100% Tragedy’ Is About ‘Having To Defeat Azealia Banks When She Tried To Destroy My Life’

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On Friday, Grimes brought her talents to Splendour XR, a music festival hailed as one of the most technologically advanced virtual showcases. She joined The Killers, Khalid, Charli XCX, Denzel Curry, and more. Grimes herself used her set to debut a new musical project called Grimes Metaverse, according to Billboard. She played her tentatively titled track “100% Tragedy,” which is currently still unreleased. In a chat with the Splendour XR music festival, the singer shared new details about the upcoming song.

In the chat, Grimes wrote that the song “is about having to defeat Azealia Banks when she tried to destroy my life.” This is in reference to a 2018 incident where Banks claimed she was at “Elon Musk’s house alone for days waiting for Grimes,” which fueled a lawsuit involving Tesla. A subpoena for Banks was proposed in order to have her testify against him involving claims of Musk fraudulently misleading investors.

Azealia Banks

Banks caught wind of Grimes’ comments shortly afterwards and responded on her Instagram page. “So you go make a bootleg @inna song about it. Yikes,” she wrote. “Grimes def has some psychosexual obsession with me. i think it’s bitterness cuz she doesn’t have the musical capacity i have. everything she does is out of pretentiousness and it comes out like that … while everything i do is out of natural swag & geniusness lmaoo.” She added, “Starting to notice all the weird undercover millennial racists hide out on discord.”

Leon Bridges Busts A Move In A Slick New Video For ‘Steam’

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Leon Bridges‘ third album Gold-Diggers Sound is out today, and to celebrate, the Texas soul luminary is releasing a video for album single “Steam.” On top of being a silky-smooth song, “Steam” has Bridges in full-on groove mode. Over the course of several scenes, Bridges moves in synchronized steps with friends (and occasionally solo), while other scenes are more overtly sedate, with the camera moving through clusters of trees in twilight.

Following his last album, 2018’s Good Thing, Gold-Diggers Sound has a few singles already out, including “Sweeter,” “Motorbike,” and “Why Don’t You Touch Me.” Prior to sharing “Motorbike,” Leon gave some insight about Gold-Diggers Sound. “I created this world with @rickyreed and @natemercereau at Gold Diggers Studio in East Hollywood over the course of two very long years,” Bridges wrote in an Instagram post. “With immense joy, greater purpose, and sometimes doubt, I labored over these eleven songs, but the record truly came together when I immersed myself in everything @golddiggersla making it my home, my escape, and the center of my creative world.”

The singer added, “The record features some remarkably talented friends, longtime collaborators and I believe it’s my most personal album yet.” Gold-Diggers Sound is highlighted by guest appearances from Terrace Martin, Ink, and Robert Glasper.

Press play on the video for “Steam” above.

Gold-Diggers Sound is out now via Columbia Records. Get it here.

Leon Bridges Busts A Move In A Slick New Video For ‘Steam’

by

Leon Bridges‘ third album Gold-Diggers Sound is out today, and to celebrate, the Texas soul luminary is releasing a video for album single “Steam.” On top of being a silky-smooth song, “Steam” has Bridges in full-on groove mode. Over the course of several scenes, Bridges moves in synchronized steps with friends (and occasionally solo), while other scenes are more overtly sedate, with the camera moving through clusters of trees in twilight.

Following his last album, 2018’s Good Thing, Gold-Diggers Sound has a few singles already out, including “Sweeter,” “Motorbike,” and “Why Don’t You Touch Me.” Prior to sharing “Motorbike,” Leon gave some insight about Gold-Diggers Sound. “I created this world with @rickyreed and @natemercereau at Gold Diggers Studio in East Hollywood over the course of two very long years,” Bridges wrote in an Instagram post. “With immense joy, greater purpose, and sometimes doubt, I labored over these eleven songs, but the record truly came together when I immersed myself in everything @golddiggersla making it my home, my escape, and the center of my creative world.”

The singer added, “The record features some remarkably talented friends, longtime collaborators and I believe it’s my most personal album yet.” Gold-Diggers Sound is highlighted by guest appearances from Terrace Martin, Ink, and Robert Glasper.

Press play on the video for “Steam” above.

Gold-Diggers Sound is out now via Columbia Records. Get it here.

Leon Bridges Busts A Move In A Slick New Video For ‘Steam’

by

Leon Bridges‘ third album Gold-Diggers Sound is out today, and to celebrate, the Texas soul luminary is releasing a video for album single “Steam.” On top of being a silky-smooth song, “Steam” has Bridges in full-on groove mode. Over the course of several scenes, Bridges moves in synchronized steps with friends (and occasionally solo), while other scenes are more overtly sedate, with the camera moving through clusters of trees in twilight.

Following his last album, 2018’s Good Thing, Gold-Diggers Sound has a few singles already out, including “Sweeter,” “Motorbike,” and “Why Don’t You Touch Me.” Prior to sharing “Motorbike,” Leon gave some insight about Gold-Diggers Sound. “I created this world with @rickyreed and @natemercereau at Gold Diggers Studio in East Hollywood over the course of two very long years,” Bridges wrote in an Instagram post. “With immense joy, greater purpose, and sometimes doubt, I labored over these eleven songs, but the record truly came together when I immersed myself in everything @golddiggersla making it my home, my escape, and the center of my creative world.”

The singer added, “The record features some remarkably talented friends, longtime collaborators and I believe it’s my most personal album yet.” Gold-Diggers Sound is highlighted by guest appearances from Terrace Martin, Ink, and Robert Glasper.

Press play on the video for “Steam” above.

Gold-Diggers Sound is out now via Columbia Records. Get it here.

A Group Featuring John Legend And Keith Urban Sings ‘Imagine’ At The 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony

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The 2020 Summer Olympics are getting started today, and they began, as they always do, with a grandiose Opening Ceremony. This year, singers from around the world came together to sing the John Lennon classic “Imagine” (a song, by the way, that features the lyric, “Imagine there’s no countries / It isn’t hard to do”).

Participating in the pre-taped performance were Keith Urban (representing Oceania), John Legend (America), Coro Suginami (Asia), Angelique Kidjo (Africa), and Alejandro Sanz (Europe). During the performance, a fleet of drones was positioned in the sky to form an image of a globe of Earth. As CNN notes, a guide to the ceremony explains, “Imagination has the power to unite and to move us forward. By singing this much-loved song in relay, we will spread its powerful message all over the world.”

In an interview clip Urban shared, he said, “It’s one of those songs that feels like it’s just always been there. It’s sort of like a spiritual classic. It’s almost more of a hymn than a song, you know? What lyrics stand out to me? Just the ones between the beginning and the end [laughs]. It’s an amazing song! […] Even if you don’t speak English and you don’t know what’s being said in ‘Imagine,’ you can feel it. You can feel that song.”

Watch some clips from the performance above.

A Group Featuring John Legend And Keith Urban Sings ‘Imagine’ At The 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony

by
Getty Image

The 2020 Summer Olympics are getting started today, and they began, as they always do, with a grandiose Opening Ceremony. This year, singers from around the world came together to sing the John Lennon classic “Imagine” (a song, by the way, that features the lyric, “Imagine there’s no countries / It isn’t hard to do”).

Participating in the pre-taped performance were Keith Urban (representing Oceania), John Legend (America), Coro Suginami (Asia), Angelique Kidjo (Africa), and Alejandro Sanz (Europe). During the performance, a fleet of drones was positioned in the sky to form an image of a globe of Earth. As CNN notes, a guide to the ceremony explains, “Imagination has the power to unite and to move us forward. By singing this much-loved song in relay, we will spread its powerful message all over the world.”

In an interview clip Urban shared, he said, “It’s one of those songs that feels like it’s just always been there. It’s sort of like a spiritual classic. It’s almost more of a hymn than a song, you know? What lyrics stand out to me? Just the ones between the beginning and the end [laughs]. It’s an amazing song! […] Even if you don’t speak English and you don’t know what’s being said in ‘Imagine,’ you can feel it. You can feel that song.”

Watch some clips from the performance above.

A Group Featuring John Legend And Keith Urban Sings ‘Imagine’ At The 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony

by
Getty Image

The 2020 Summer Olympics are getting started today, and they began, as they always do, with a grandiose Opening Ceremony. This year, singers from around the world came together to sing the John Lennon classic “Imagine” (a song, by the way, that features the lyric, “Imagine there’s no countries / It isn’t hard to do”).

Participating in the pre-taped performance were Keith Urban (representing Oceania), John Legend (America), Coro Suginami (Asia), Angelique Kidjo (Africa), and Alejandro Sanz (Europe). During the performance, a fleet of drones was positioned in the sky to form an image of a globe of Earth. As CNN notes, a guide to the ceremony explains, “Imagination has the power to unite and to move us forward. By singing this much-loved song in relay, we will spread its powerful message all over the world.”

In an interview clip Urban shared, he said, “It’s one of those songs that feels like it’s just always been there. It’s sort of like a spiritual classic. It’s almost more of a hymn than a song, you know? What lyrics stand out to me? Just the ones between the beginning and the end [laughs]. It’s an amazing song! […] Even if you don’t speak English and you don’t know what’s being said in ‘Imagine,’ you can feel it. You can feel that song.”

Watch some clips from the performance above.

J Balvin Turns Metallica’s ‘Wherever I May Roam’ Into A Reggaeton Anthem

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The rollout of Metallica‘s fascinating covers compilation album The Metallica Blacklist continues, this time with J Balvin’s Latin take on the band’s 1991 single “Wherever I May Roam.” While the original is a driving saga about a drifter who redefines anywhere he lays his head as “home,” Balvin’s cover snatches the saucy sitar loop from the beginning of the song, adds rumbling 808s, and Balvin’s own swaggering review of his impact on the music game.

“Ya son más de diez años metiéndole y todavía sueno como nuevo,” he boasts, roughly translating to, “It’s been more than ten years and I still sound like new.” The hook brings back the wailing guitars, with the buzzsaw ax-work and chorus of the original forming an aggressive bridge.

The previously released singles from the band’s cover album have included Miley Cyrus’s take on “Nothing Else Matters,” which also includes Chad Smith, Elton John, Robert Trujillo, Watt, and Yo-Yo Ma, and two wildly different covers of “Sad But True,” one from St. Vincent and one from Jason Isbell. Other artists expected to appear on the 53-track album include Cage The Elephant, Darius Rucker, Kamasi Washington, Phoebe Bridgers, Pup, Rina Sawayama, and Weezer.

Watch J Balvin’s “Wherever I May Roam” cover video above.

The Metallica Blacklist is out 9/10 via Blackened Recordings. Pre-order it here.

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

Idles Tap Slowthai To Lend A Verse On Their Raucous ‘Model Village’

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Idles shared their latest LP Ultra Mono back in September, which included the track “Model Village.” They’ve now linked up with their friend and fellow UK musician Slowthai to feature on a new version of the song, which they debuted on a special episode of vocalist Joe Talbot’s Balley TV series.

Talbot’s Balley TV first began as a quarantine entertainment show. The latest episode aired a month before Ultra Mono‘s release but this week, Talbot and his band took over House Of Vans in London to record an hour-long episode with musicians Katy J Pearson, Deep Tan, and Nuha Ruby Ra. They were also joined by Slowthai for a raucous performance of their new “Model Village” track, which injects even more energy into the already lively tune.

Sitting down for an interview with Talbot after their “Model Village” rendition, Slowthai talked about his overarching goals with his music. The rapper said he just hopes to inspire others to be themselves and share their own viewpoints with the world:

“I think the aim of life is that you’re born, you learn, you pass on your knowledge. It’s about sharing, discovering, communicating, and coming together. So my thing is being able to take what I learned and give my opinions and people can either steer me in the right direction or I can change their viewpoint. I think with music, it’s always to spark a discussion. People are people at the end of the day so they’re influenced how they’re influenced. But I think it’s a responsibility to just share my viewpoint and mainly bring some kind of joy, even though a lot of my music is miserable, and help people who are from a less fortunate place or haven’t had the opportunity to see that they can do what they want and be who they want to be. They haven’t got to follow no rules or guidelines on the way the world expects them to be. Be yourself, don’t give a f*ck, and do it with a smile on your face.”

Listen to Idles and Slowthai’s “Model Village” single and watch their performance on Balley TV above. Pre-order a 7-inch vinyl copy of the song here.

Childish Gambino Turns In An Optimistic Cover Of Brittany Howard’s ‘Stay High’

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This week will bring Jaime Reimagined, for which Brittany Howard recruited some of her musical peers to put their own spin on songs from her 2019 debut solo album, Jaime. She rounded up quite the cast for the project, as it features folks like Bon Iver, Earthgang, BadBadNotGood, Syd, and Common.

Also appearing is Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover), whose cover of “Stay High” was shared today. Gambino’s rendition of the song starts with a string into before he sings in falsetto over jaunty keyboards, synths, and electronic drums. Howard’s original version of the song has more of an organic sound, but Gambino’s rendition retains the optimistic spirit of the original and doesn’t come across as too much of a departure despite the vastly different instrumentation.

Brittany Howard previously said of the project, “Making Jaime was so much fun for me because I was able to explore so many different genres of music. There were no rules. This reimagination project has been no different. I have been honored to have so many incredible artists from all musical worlds interpret my songs in such interesting and different ways.”

Listen to Gambino’s rendition of “Stay High” above.

Jaime Reimagined is out 7/23 via ATO Records. Pre-order it here.