Music

Pusha T Sticks To His Guns In The Stripped-Down ‘Diet Coke’ Video With Kanye West

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After teasing the video for his new song “Diet Coke” via Elliott Wilson’s Twitter, Pusha T has released the full video in all its glory. In the video, Pusha is joined by Kanye West, who vibes out in the background as Pusha performs the song with his usual wild-eyed enthusiasm. Aesthetically, it’s a clean look, shot in black and white in front of a white backdrop that keeps the focus resolutely on the two stars. The white background also works thematically, if you get my drift.

The video’s release completes an immaculate rollout for Pusha’s first solo single since his 2018, Kanye-produced album Daytona plugged him back into the forefront of rap fans’ collective consciousness as one of the rappers that most bear watching in the streaming era. Daytona was a critical hit, considered by many to be the best rap album of 2018, while its heat-seeking intro Infrared sparked the career redefining feud between Pusha T and Drake.

And while Pusha refocused his efforts since then on establishing himself as more of a force on the business side of hip-hop, fans haven’t stopped clamoring for more new music from the Virginia veteran. While he’s given periodic updates that point to multiple projects with the likes of Tyler The Creator and Madlib, he guarantees that his next project (from which “Diet Coke” presumably hails) will absolutely top his last.

Watch Pusha T’s “Diet Coke” video featuring Kanye West above.

Questlove’s ‘Summer Of Soul’ Is Nominated For A 2022 Oscar Award And He’s Pretty Pumped About It

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Despite only being a first-time director, The Roots’ drummer Questlove has already entered rarified air as one of the nominees for the 2022 Academy Awards. he’s nominated for Best Original Documentary for his debut film, Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), which captured the subversive energy and vibrant performances of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. The documentary is also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music Film, an impressive achievement for the veteran musician.

Questlove himself seemed pretty pumped about the new nomination online — to the point of incoherence. He tweeted out an unintelligible string of characters before he was able to compose himself enough to write a tweet genuinely expressing his excitement. “Oscar Nominated Film Director Questlove……I just need to see this in print,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, over on Instagram, he needed the help of some archival video to tell his followers “THIS IS HOW I FEEL.” “Man I’m so happy about this,” he wrote in the caption. “Thank you to every last soul that assisted in this journey from 1969 to tomorrow!!!”

Should Questlove win the category (out of a field that also includes Ascension, Attica, Flee, and Writing With Fire, he’ll be halfway to an EGOT — and with Black Thought’s musical Black No More still in the works, there’s time for Quest to attach his name and position himself for a potential Tony as well. Then all he’ll need is for John Oliver to take a season off and that EGOT’s in the bag.

Pusha T Returns With ‘Diet Coke,’ A Blistering Single About His Favorite Subject

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The weather this winter might be wonky, but today a snowstorm finally blew in bringing with it a blistering blizzard of the powdery white stuff. Of course, we’re talking about Pusha T’s new song “Diet Coke” here, so maybe don’t get it near your face.

The veteran Virginian rapper returned today with the new single after a long hiatus to deliver his first solo song in nearly four years (not counting the Adidas commercial he did for Damian Lillard’s shoe in 2020). Yesterday, Elliott Wilson got the hype train started by tweeting out a snippet of the new song — which is produced by 88 Keys and Kanye West — along with a clip of the upcoming music video.

Shot in greyscale, the video sees Pusha and his G.O.O.D. Music benefactor Kanye dancing to the song against a white background. Just that clip was enough to set Push’s name trending on Twitter for the next several hours as fans stated their excitement for more of the former Clipse member’s signature drug talk. Ever self-aware, Pusha himself joked that he “raps abt more… well you know.”

Although “Diet Coke” is Pusha T’s first solo song in a while, he’s cropped up on a number of collaborations in the meantime, including Babyface Ray’s “Dancing With The Devil,” Pop Smoke’s “The Vision,” and Alicia Keys’ “Plentiful.” Meanwhile, he’s also working on his own new album, which he promises will top 2018’s Daytona.

Listen to Pusha T’s new song “Diet Coke” above.

Lil Dicky Announces His Super Bowl ‘Quartertime Show’ With Help From Cardi B

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Last week, Lil Dicky teased some sort of endeavor seemingly connected with the upcoming Super Bowl, tweeting, “I’ve always wanted to perform at the halftime show. This year, I’ll be taking matters into my own hands.” Now, we know what Dicky’s cooking up: He’s teaming up with delivery company Gopuff for the “Quartertime Show.”

He made the reveal with a video today, in which he introduces the idea and explains, “It’s a show that exists between the first and second quarter. Interesting, innovative, I know! I know. Now, there’s not the same amount of time in between the first and second quarter as there is at halftime, so I’m going to have to put on the fastest show anyone’s ever put on.”

He then teased another celebrity joining him in this endeavor and hopped on a video call with Cardi B, who was dispensing some of her vodka-infused Whipshots into her hand. Dicky asked if she’d perform with him and she surprised him by shooting down the idea with a laugh.

The “Quartertime Show” is set to go down on February 13 early on during the Super Bowl and will be broadcast on Dicky’s Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook profiles.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Kanye West’s Latest ‘Jeen-Yuhs’ Demand Is Apparently For Drake To Narrate It

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The Jeen-Yuhs documentary series on Ye (aka Kanye West) is set to premiere on Netflix on February 16. That’s pretty soon, but Ye, who has plenty of experience of working up until and often beyond deadlines, wants to make a last-minute change.

In a now-deleted Instagram post (archived by The Shade Room), Ye shared a screenshot of a text conversation with somebody represented by a “C” icon… perhaps Clarence Simmons Jr. or Chike Ozah, aka Jeen-Yuhs directors Coodie & Chike? In response to a message that reads, “Would love for you to see all 3 movies,” Ye responded, “I need Drake to do the narration.” Ye also captioned the post, “DRAKE WANNA NARRATE THE DOCUMENTARY.” Furthermore, Drake actually liked the post, suggesting that he’d be interested in taking Ye up on that proposal, or at least that he was amused by the post.

It doesn’t seem like this request will be fulfilled. Ye previously requested final edit approval, but Coodie & Chike shot that down considering the documentary was already complete. Coodie also noted, “Me and Chike have a company called Creative Control, because you don’t want to lose your creative control.” Coodie also said of running into Ye, “I asked him, ‘Did he watch the film?’ And he said, ‘I have a process.’ I said, ‘That’s great that you got your process.’ And we just talked as brothers from that point.”

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

The Estates Of Robin Williams And George Carlin Are Both Suing Pandora For Unpaid Streaming Royalties

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Robin Williams and George Carlin are two of the most prolific, ubiquitous, and downright hilarious comedians of all time. Sadly, Williams has been dead since 2014 and Carlin since 2008. But that still hasn’t stopped streaming service giants Pandora from profiting off of their stand-up comedy recordings without paying royalties to their respective estates. At least that’s what copyright infringements lawsuits filed by both Williams’ and Carlin’s estates are claiming.

According to filings of these lawsuits obtained by Rolling Stone, Williams’ estate is seeking to get $4.1 million in damages, while Carlin’s camp is suing for $8.4 million. The lawsuits claim that Pandora knew that they were streaming the recordings, even though they didn’t have the proper licensing right to do it. Furthermore, they haven’t paid any money to the estates that preside over the comedians’ posthumous earnings.

The claims state that Pandora “gained listeners, subscribers and market share with full knowledge it did not have licenses.” In 2018, Pandora was sold to SiriusXM for a whopping $3.5 billion and recordings from comedy titans like Williams and Carlin were (and still are) a part of the service’s offerings.

The filing from Carlin’s estate cheekily states, “While Carlin would have been thrilled for his works to live on through valid licenses and payments, he would have seven dirty words to say about Pandora’s actions and willful copyright infringement, no doubt.”

For what it’s worth, Pandora also received complaints from comedians Andrew Dice Clay, Ron White, and Bill Engvall. It sounds like they need to legitimize this portion of their operation in regards to comedy recordings, or the names on that list are going to grow even bigger.

Why Are People Leaving Spotify?

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This past January 24th, legendary musician Neil Young wrote an open letter threatening to remove his entire catalog from Spotify if the streaming service did not remove Joe Rogan and his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, from the platform. Young cited how Rogan continuously spreads COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on his show. “Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” he said.“They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both.” This was the first domino to tip and quite a bit has happened since.

Why Are People Leaving Spotify? Inside The Controversy

Soon after Young’s statement, Spotify sided with Joe Rogan, their $100 million man who signed a very rich exclusive licensing deal in 2020. Young’s music was removed, but other artists began to follow his lead. Joni Mitchell joined Young in removing her music, then the rest of Young’s Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young bandmates announced that they were pulling their music as well. This led to numerous artists beginning to question their relationship with Spotify — who already pays artists a criminally low amount of money per song play — and then India.Arie took an even deeper stand against Rogan and Spotify. Arie announced that she was removing her catalog and her podcast, Songversation, citing not necessarily Rogan’s vaccine misinformation as the reason, but rather his problematic language around issues of race. “Neil Young opened a door that I MUST Walk Through,” she posted on Instagram. Rogan soon issued an apology for his misinformation and later for his language.

Arie later posted a video showing numerous instances of Rogan using the n-word on his show, called for a full-on Boycott, and Spotify, in turn, removed 70 episodes of the podcast from the streaming service. But why this issue isn’t going away anytime soon, and why people will likely continue to leave Spotify, is because of the platform’s tepid measures taken. A “content advisory” warning has been added to the platform and CEO Daniel Ek wrote a letter to all employees, which felt a bit more like damage control and a potential PR play.

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

Who Are Tyler The Creator’s Tour Openers?

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Tyler The Creator AMAs Performance 2021
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Two years after he released his fifth album Igor, which eventually gave him a Grammy award for Best Rap Album, Tyler The Creator returned with his sixth album Call Me If You Get Lost. The project stands as a 16-track effort with contributions from Ty Dolla Sign, Lil Uzi Vert, Pharrell, Brent Faiyaz, Lil Wayne, and more. Months after releasing that project, Tyler The Creator received another Grammy nomination for the album, one that found him in the Best Rap Album category for the 2022 Grammy show. Later on, Tyler The Creator announced the full dates for a tour in support of Call Me If You Get Lost and it features a strong lineup of opening acts.

Who Are Tyler The Creator’s Tour Openers?

The opening acts for Tyler’s 2022 tour in support of Call Me If You Get Lost are Kali Uchis, Vince Staples, and Teezo Touchdown. Kali and Vince both released projects within the last couple of years. The former shared her sophomore album, Sin Miedo (Del Amor Y Otros Demonios), in 2020 while Vince dropped his self-titled third album last year. Teezo Touchdown, on the other hand, has yet to release a project. In addition to his eccentric and extremely unique appearance, the Texas native has steadily released singles over the past two years that have helped to boost his stock. Altogether, these opening acts are sure to provide a good show with Tyler for his upcoming tour.

You can see the full dates for Tyler’s upcoming tour below and purchase tickets for a show near you here.

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

NLE Choppa Lives A Life Of Leisure In His ‘Lick Me Baby’ Video

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For as much attention as NLE Choppa has gotten for some of his social media antics and possible NBA YoungBoy feud of late, the number-one reason to stay tuned to the charismatic Memphian is still his music. Just two weeks ago, he released his new album, Me Vs. Me, rightfully putting the focus back on his musical output after threatening to quit rap to become a herbalist and hawking chlorophyll drinks online.

After dropping a strong run of singles from the album including “Too Hot” with fellow Memphis rapper Moneybagg Yo, “Stompin,” and “Trap Phone,” he followed up today with another new video for the salacious standout, “Lick Me Baby.” On the song, he invites a female companion to to give up her inhibitions and the video follows that theme, with Choppa living a life of leisure surrounded by beautiful women. Scenarios he finds himself include giving CPR to a drowning victim (because he gets to touch her chest), shooting a parody sex tape, and dreaming about twerking women while a woman twerks next to him.

Watch NLE Choppa’s “Lick Me Baby” video above.

Me Vs. Me is out now via NLE Choppa Entertainment and Warner Records.

NLE Choppa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.