Music

Topaz Jones Drops The Soulful, Chilled-Out Single ‘D.I.A.L.’

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New Jersey’s own Topaz Jones has a new album and accompanying short film on the way, Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma, although prior to today, he hadn’t unveiled a release date for the projects. Now, though, he has revealed that they are set for April 23. Also today, he shared a new song from the project, “D.I.A.L.,” which stands for “dying is a lifestyle.” The track is full of soul and relaxed vibes, with Jones’ lyrical contributions both perfectly existing within the track and standing out on their own.

Jones previously said of the relationship between the album and the short film, “The film is all the things I couldn’t say in musical notes. The music is everything I couldn’t write in words, even though there’s lyrics that speak to it as well, but emotionally, it’s everything I couldn’t necessarily write down and the film is everything that I couldn’t put in song. It is single-handedly the most gratifying, fulfilling experience I’ve had as an artist.”

The film, by the one, isn’t one to be missed: It recently took home the Short Film Jury Award: Nonfiction honor at this year’s Sundance Festival.

Listen to “D.I.A.L” above.

Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma is out 4/23 via New Funk Academy/Black Canopy.

Kodak Black’s Security Guard Was Reportedly Shot In Florida

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It appears Kodak Black found himself in the middle of a scary situation early this morning, as it is being reported that his security guard was shot in the parking lot of a McDonald’s in Tallahassee, Florida.

According to the Tallahassee Democrat, which cites preliminary incident reports by the Tallassee Police Department, at around 3 a.m. this morning, Black and some associates were leaving Baja’s Beach Club and were followed by multiple vehicles that attempted to cut them off. TPD spokesperson Alicia Turner confirmed the shooting and that one person was seriously injured.

The publication also reports that Black and his associates went to the McDonald’s and blocked the entrance with a vehicle. Black apparently insisted on picking up the order himself in-store, which his security team advised against. One of the vehicles that chased Black’s vehicle earlier arrived, left, and returned when its occupants began shooting. The security guard was reportedly shot in the leg and taken to a hospital. He reportedly underwent surgery after behind shot in the femoral artery and losing a significant amount of blood.

Black himself appears to be alright, as he has made multiple posts on his Instagram Story (not related to the shooting) this afternoon.

Kodak Black is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Inside The Impending Return Of Live Music In 2021

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Audrey Fix Schaefer remembers all too well the last concert she was able to attend in person: a raucous performance by punk godfathers the Dead Kennedys at 9:30 Club, the D.C. venue where she serves as communications director, on March 11th, 2020.

“I had a lot of tears that night,” she recalled during a recent phone call. “At the time, I thought it was going to be the last show I would see for 20 days. Because D.C. was going to flatten the curve. It was a moment where I was relishing being in the place that brings me so much joy. But there was also so much angst thinking about what happens to our employees. What happens to all the businesses around us? What happens to the bands?”

Over a year later, 9:30 Club, like thousands of venues around the world, remains closed. The bookers for the club have been forced to re-book some shows up to 10 times as they wait for that magical combination of COVID cases dropping, vaccination numbers rising, and the decision makers in the district and the federal government to finally give them the go-ahead to hold shows again.

The past month has shown some glimmers of hope that music fans hungry might be able to feel the waves of a PA rumbling through their systems before 2021 is over. Artists such as psych-grunge mainstays Dinosaur Jr. and pop-country duo SixForty1 recently announced tour dates. Bonnaroo, the outdoor festival held yearly since 2002 in Manchester, Tennessee, dropped the lineup for their 2021 edition (set for the weekend of September 2nd) that includes Foo Fighters, Megan Thee Stallion, Tame Impala, and Lizzo. Other festivals, like the roots-oriented DelFest and Americanafest, and the EDM-centric Electric Zoo, followed suit with their own lineup announcements.

Even 9:30 Club has dates listed on their calendar for as soon as May 25th of this year. It’s a positive sign but one that Schaefer and all the other bookers and venue operators around the world is approaching cautiously.

“One of these days we’re hoping that we’re going to get to open,” she said. “And we will. We just don’t know when it is.”

Concert venues, big and small, were some of the first places to close when the pandemic started spiraling out of control last year — and rightfully so, as, for most people, the need to protect themselves and others far outweighed any desires to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their fellow music fans. And those same clubs and theaters will likely be the last to reopen even as more people are vaccinated and infection numbers start to drop.

The impact of this global shutdown has been enormous. According to Pollstar, ticket sales in the first quarter of 2021 are down 99% from the year before. And that’s not even counting the loss of revenue still being felt by everyone from musicians to booking agents to bartenders. So the excitement about the prospect of shows, tours, and festivals happening again soon is understandable. But thankfully, most of the people involved with these events are being very careful and downright suspicious as they set about opening their doors and gates to fans again.

“We’ve got to get the ecosystem rebooted by the end of the summer or I’ll be out,” said Jim Brunberg, owner of three venues in Portland, Oregon, including Mississippi Studios, and the founder of the advocacy group Independent Venues Coalition. “And I’m one of the most solid and optimistic people out there. There has to be a rational and science-based approach to reopening. We can’t be fear-based and throwing darts at a moving target.”

The biggest challenge with that is that every state has their own protocols with regards to the pandemic. In New York, for example, Governor Andrew Cuomo is allowing venues to reopen at either 33% capacity or 100 patrons, whichever is highest, while in Texas and Florida, the restrictions have been completely lifted and venues can operate at 100% capacity if they so choose.

While that still does leave open plenty of possibilities for artists to perform, the spotty landscape for reopening presents challenges for anyone hoping to tour the U.S. any time soon.

“It’s a really long planning process in our business,” says Schaefer, who also serves as communications director for the advocacy group National Independent Venue Association. “You have thousands of bands trying to make their way to thousands of venues across the country. You’re not going to go to one town and then skip seven states to get to the next.”

It’s all still a bit of a mess, but there are plenty of positive signs out there that forecast a slow return to normal for the concert industry. Last weekend, City Winery NYC held their first shows in over a year—two performances by Old 97s leader Rhett Miller — with attendees safely socially distanced and mask mandates in place. And their concert calendar is filling up quickly with names like Patti Smith, Stephin Merritt, and Rufus Wainwright.

The Basement East in Nashville also reopened its doors this past weekend after a year that saw the venue hit not only with the pandemic but also a tornado that ripped a hole in the building last March. With repairs done and safety restrictions in place, the club welcomed 132 people for a sold-out show by local rockers Goodbye June, with future weekend shows already booked. Exciting, yes, but to hear co-owner Mike Grimes talk about, still a little bittersweet.

“To be transparent, doing shows in this context is rewarding but it’s not the same,” he said. “It’s rewarding and fun but not great for the people that can’t get up and go talk to somebody in another pod or hug a friend sitting at another table because all these protocols are in place.”

As well, nearly 2,000 tickets have been sold for Moon Crush, a five-day festival headlined by Sheryl Crow and Jason Isbell being held at the end of April in Miramar Beach, Florida. The event is almost like the experience of a cruise ship on land. Concertgoers are expected to rent a house or condo within walking distance of the venue and, with only three acts every night, there’s ample time for other activities in the area.

“We like to use the term ‘music vacation,’” said Andy Levine, the creator of the event. “We want you to get up and have your perfect day, whatever it is. And then we’re going to have five hours of music waiting for you.”

There are still plenty of restrictions in place. Anyone in attendance must have proof of a negative COVID test or vaccination, and they’re expected to keep to their designated viewing area at the venue every night.

That alone is an indication that we’re not nearly clear of this pandemic. Maybe we are only six months away from thousands of people being safe to bounce between stages at the farm where Bonnaroo is held every year. But for smaller spaces like Nashville’s hub for bluegrass and traditional country The Station Inn, there is no guarantee that they’ll be back in business any time soon.

“We’re not in the clear yet,” said Jeff Brown, the Station Inn’s marketing director. “As much as there’s optimism at the moment that it feels like we’re coming out of this thing, we’re not out yet.”

Lil Nas X Reacts To The ‘SNL’ Skit Featuring Him Giving God A Lap Dance

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St. Vincent was the musical guest on this past weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live, but the show began with nods to Britney Spears and Lil Nas X.

The SNL cold open skit was a talk show hosted by Spears (wonderfully portrayed by Chloe Fineman). Her first guest on the program was Lil Nas X (played by Chris Redd), who spoke about his “Satan shoes” and his “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” video. He explained the backlash to the video, “People are afraid of me because I’m different, but really, I’m just your typical gay, black, country-rap sneaker entrepreneur.” Then, at Spears’ suggestion, she brought out God and Nas gave him a lap dance to “even things out.”

Not long after the skit, Nas took to Twitter to share his thoughts. He tweeted a screenshot from the sketch and offered a tongue-in-cheek caption: “snl going to hell.”

Now that Nas has been parodied on SNL, he just has South Park left. He tried to will an episode of the long-running cartoon about his Satan saga into existence last week when he tweeted, “this gone be a good ass south park episode lmao.”

Watch the Saturday Night Live skit below.

Gallant Masters The Music But Not So Much Love On His Euphoric ‘Neptune’ EP

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Sasha Samsonova

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Success is never a guaranteed thing. No matter the task, it’s never promised that one will complete it on the first try. This doesn’t mean that it’s unlikely, but rather, it’s a logical expectation when the absolute random ways of the world and how things can play out are taken into consideration. With that being said, we like to think that success will arrive at some point along the way. Even if it takes a million tries, the eventual accomplishment proves that we are capable of getting it done. Unfortunately for Gallant, this self-serving moment doesn’t arrive for him on his latest body of work.

The singer’s Neptune EP presents eight elegant songs that float freely in the spacious night sky. On it, Gallant repeatedly comes up short in tying down a longtime partner for the tumultuous ride that is life. Whether it slips through his hands or flies by when he lets his guard down, he repeatedly plays from behind on Neptune in an attempt to gain ground and capture the very thing that’s escaped him too often.

As elusive as love can be, Gallant’s inability to experience the best of it is due to his faults. Blocking your shot can be extremely frustrating, especially when it occurs as a reflex, and the annoyance of it all only skyrockets when the stakes of said shot are realized. In what sounds like a file uprooted out of Usher’s early 2000s hard drive, Gallant confesses to his wrongs on “Comeback” with the hope that his exiting partner will do just that: return his now-prepared arms where he offers a much better experience for her. “I shouldn’t have ever listened to the demons,” he admits, adding, “You can come back / There’s no better time / I’ll leave on the lights.”

Gallant’s blunders continue with “Julie.” The free-floating track, which could very well be classified as “singing in the rain” music at some points, presents the singer as a klutz whenever love comes his way. Despite these neverending mistakes, he still finds himself in short-lived moments of intimacy with a partner who is very much skeptical about his abilities to not ruin yet another chance with her. While her hesitation is still present, she seems a bit more open to a second stab at it than the partner she sings about on “No More Tries.” Back by a guest appearance from VanJess, who play the role of his exhausted companion, Gallant’s journey towards a fulfilling love is cut short by their command to turn around and take him and his inconsistencies to someone else. “Even if we try / It would only end up causing us more pain,” they sing. “’Cause your love was enough for me until / There was nothing left for both of us to lose.”

It’d be criminal to paint a picture of Gallant’s perceived loneliness as something of his own doing. The singer stumbles across individuals who ruin the few moments he has it together. Take “Dynamite” with Brandy, for example, Gallant deals with a woman who’s both insecure and blinded by the fame and money that surrounds her. Blowing up their lives to the most basic element would be nice but it’s highly unrealistic, something he accepts in the song. Gallant even deals with his frustrations on “Scars.” The uptempo, dance-friendly track is enwrapped with both the physical and emotional pain that the singer carries on his shoulders. He balances nonchalance with discontent with a track that ultimately finds him moving one to the next awaiting soul who is hopefully ready for what he has to offer.

Gallant will eventually figure it out, or hey, maybe he won’t. It’s all up to the singer to tie his laces and finally stop tripping over himself on this winding road towards companionship. At least, in that case, he’ll limit his failures to outside circumstances like inapt companions or just sheer bad luck. Despite these missteps, it’s admirable that he at least recognizes his faults, and with each admission comes the claim that he’s fixed them and is far better. Neptune is filled with ear-pleasing music that encapsulates Gallant’s versatility as a singer. From traditional R&B to alternative sounds and everything in between, Gallant proves that his talents span as wide as the distance between Earth and the planet in which this project was named after.

Neptune is out now via EMPIRE. Get it here.

The Weeknd Donated $1 Million To Aid Relief Efforts In Ethiopia

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The Weeknd is known to be philanthropic. Last summer he donated $1 million to pandemic relief, half of which went to his hometown of Scarborough and the other to MusiCares. Nearly a year later, the After Hours singer has lent another million, this time towards relief efforts in Ethiopia, the birth country of his parents.

In a statement to his social media pages, wrote, “My heart breaks for my people of Ethiopia as innocent civilians ranging from small children to the elderly are being senselessly murdered and entire villages are being displaced out of fear and destruction.” The singer added that the donation would provide “2 million meals through the United Nations World Food Programme and encourage those who can to please give as well.” The conflict in the East African country stems from tensions between the government in Addis Abada and the Tigray region.

The donation comes after The Weeknd hosted an NFT auction to sell an unreleased song. Prior to that he dropped a video for his 2018 track “Try Me” to celebrate the three-year anniversary of his My Dear Melancholy. Earlier this year, he also announced a boycott of the Grammys, citing their use of what he called “secret committees.” His decision prompted the awards body to announce they were trying to “improve our awards process, including the nomination review committees.”

Rod Wave Lands The First No. 1 Album Of His Career With ‘Soulfly’

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Rod Wave’s rise to stardom began less than two years ago thanks to his single “Heart On Ice,” a track that was boosted by a remix from Lil Durk. That song would later be housed on his debut album, Ghetto Gospel, and soon enough the Florida rapper’s upward climb was underway. That project landed a Gold certification while his 2020 sophomore album, Pray 4 Love, went Platinum. But there was one feat that Rod Wave had not accomplished yet: He hadn’t nabbed a No. 1 album. All of that changed with the rapper’s third full-length effort, Soulfly.

The Florida rapper landed his first No. 1 album thanks to 130,000 units sold for the chart dated April 10. Of that number, 126,000 comprised streaming equivalent album units, which tallies to 189.2 million on-demand streams, the largest streaming week for a hip-hop or R&B album in 2021. Soulfly is also the second hip-hop/R&B album to reach No. 1 in the past five months. The last release to do so was Playboi Carti’s Whole Lotta Red, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated January 9. Lastly, Soulfly earned the best-selling single week for a hip-hop/R&B album since 21 Savage and Metro Boomin’s Savage Mode II put up 171,000 units back in October.

Elsewhere on this week’s chart, Justin Bieber’s Justice fell to No. 2, Morgan Wallen’s record-breaking sophomore effort, Dangerous: The Double Album, dropped to No. 5, and Young Dolph and Key Glock’s Dum And Dummer 2 debuted at No. 8

DMX’s Family Issues A Statement About The Rapper’s Condition To Fight ‘False And Misleading’ Reports

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DMX reportedly suffered a drug overdose on Friday night and was rushed to the hospital where he remains in “grave condition” at a White Plains, New York hospital’s critical care unit. The news of his hospitalization broke on Saturday and for a few hours, updates about his condition were nonexistent. This changed when his lawyer spoke to New York’s Pix11 News and revealed the rapper was removed from life-support and “breathing on his own.”

While this was certainly relieving news, he returned hours later to say the information that was given to him was wrong and that DMX remained on life-support as of Saturday night. As a result of the misleading information regarding DMX’s current condition, the rapper’s family delivered statements to TMZ and VladTV in order to set the record straight.

“We are issuing this statement to combat all the false and misleading reports that are circulating on social media,” they said. “Last night Earl ‘DMX’ Simmons was rushed to the hospital after collapsing at home. At this time he remains in ICU in critical condition. Earl has been a warrior his entire life. This situation represents yet another road he must cross.”

They continued, “The Simmons Family appreciates the overwhelming outpouring of heartfelt love, encouragement, support and prayers for Earl. Earl is someone whose life and music has been a source of inspiration and strength to so many people around the world. It is reassuring to see his fans return that same passion and energy to him during his time of need.”

Prior to the statement, TMZ also reported that paramedics spent 30 minutes trying to resuscitate him, during which he was deprived of oxygen. A family source told TMZ on Saturday “it’s not looking good” in regards to his condition and that his children are flying in to see him.

Matt Gaetz Got Skunked During A Britney Spears-Focused ‘SNL’ Cold Open

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For much of its current season, Saturday Night Live has featured a politically-themed sketch in its cold open. In recent episodes, however, they’ve managed to do this using Chloe Fineman’s impression of Britney Spears. In its most recent episode, the NBC sketch comedy show brought back Oops, You Did It Again to “shine a light on the social pariahs of the week.”

The sketch started with Lil Nas X, whose “Satan Shoes” have riled up conservatives and caused Nike to step in and prevent the sales of the modified pairs. While Chris Redd doesn’t look very much like the rapper, he was absolutely down to twerk on a guy dressed up like “god” to even things out on the outrage scale.

Next up was Kate McKinnon dressed as a giant skunk, playing a “canceled” Pepe Le Pew. The sketch addresses some recent news that the Looney Toon was taken out of the new Space Jam, yet another example conservatives have given regarding cancel culture.

“Any good basketball film needs a horny skunk. My part was, I see a basketball in a blonde wig and I make love to it for 10-15 minutes before LeBron James says ‘Bro, that’s a basketball,’” Le Pew explained. “Not my finest moment, but the crew loved it.”

The star of the segment, however, was Pete Davidson playing suspected “sex pest” Matt Gaetz. Davidson, who had played New York governor Andrew Cuomo, another politician under fire, on the segment earlier in the year got to play a Family Guy-inspired Gaetz. Gaetz tries hard not to admit any wrongdoing, at one point comparing himself to Le Pew. Who wasn’t having any of it.

“No, I’m a cartoon skunk. You’re a United States congressman,” McKinnon said. “Be better.”

Bankroll Freddie And Megan Thee Stallion’s Energetic ‘Pop It’ Video Is A Big Time Flex

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Nearly two years after signing a deal with Quality Control Music, Arkansas rapper Bankroll Freddie announced a deal with Motown Records to start off the year. The news was shared with a lavish video for his “Add It Up” track.

Fast forward two months and the rapper returns with a full body of work, one that’s accompanied with another video, this time for “Pop It.” The Megan Thee Stallion-featured visual sees the two rappers surround by luxury cars, a large sum of money, and women who, along with Megan, twerk and dance for the majority of the visual.

Bankroll Freddie’s major-label debut, Big Bank, also comes with guest appearances from EST Gee, 2 Chainz, Gucci Mane, PnB Rock, Young Dolph, Young Scooter, and Big30. The album was released a little over a year after he dropped From Trap To Rap, his first project on Quality Control. As for Megan, the track is her first release since picking up three wins at last month’s Grammy Awards in categories that included Best New Artist and Best Rap Performance. She will also headline this fall’s Bonnarro Festival with Tame Impala, Lizzo, and more.

Watch the “Pop It” video above.

Big Bank is out now via Quality Control Music. Get it here.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.