Music

Basically Every Popular Musician Performed On ‘The Voice’ Season Finale, Like Kid Cudi, Ed Sheeran, And Coldplay

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Kid Cudi Ariana Grande The Voice Finale 2021
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Usually, your best bet to see a bunch of well-known artists performing on TV in rapid succession is to catch an awards show like the Grammys. Well, the next Grammy ceremony is set for late January, but ahead of then, last night offered a different kind of opportunity to watch a ton of musical firepower taking the stage on the same broadcast: The Voice aired the live finale episode of its 21st season last night and pretty much every musician you’ve ever heard of took the stage.

Aside from the show’s contestants, artists who performed included Coldplay and BTS; Walker Hayes; Tori Kelly, Keke Palmer, and some contestants; Ed Sheeran; Jennifer Lopez and Lukas Nelson; Carrie Underwood and John Legend; Alicia Keys; Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi; Kelly Clarkson; Blake Shelton; and John Legend.

Of particular note was Kid Cudi and Ariana Grande giving their Don’t Look Up single “Just Look Up” its live debut. Meanwhile, Coldplay opened the show with “My Universe,” and while BTS couldn’t be there in person, they did show up on stage as holograms. Later, Ed Sheeran, who was a Mega Mentor on the show this season, stopped by to play “Shivers.”

By the way, Ohio sibling trio Girl Named Tom ended up winning the season, making them the first group to do so.

Check out the other performances from The Voice finale below.

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

Cardi B Showers Offset With Love In A Celebratory Post For His 30th Birthday

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Cardi B and her husband Offset have certainly had their ups and downs, but things have been smooth sailing for quite some time now. Back in September, Cardi gave birth to their second child, a baby boy, and a month later, Offset celebrated his wife’s 29th birthday by purchasing a home for her in her family’s homeland of the Dominican Republic. Now, Cardi is returning some love for her husband’s 30th birthday today.

“Happy birthday to my huuuuusband, best friend and babydaaadddyyy,” Cardi wrote on Instagram. “I love you so much and I’m so proud of you. We have overcome so much together. I love the man that you’re becoming and I love the father that you are. Thank you for always being there for me, for being a great confidant and advisor and for never allowing me to sell myself short. I’m so lucky to have you as a partner raising our beautiful kids.”

She continued, “You have soo many projects and businesses that you are managing and leading yet you have helped me so much in this journey wit our two babies. May life keep blessing you and you continue to thrive. I’m so excited for the world to see what you got coming. I love you!! We turning up tonight and next week for your party.”

Cardi shared the message with a carousel of images of her and Offset together as well as pictures and videos of him with their daughter Kulture and their newborn baby boy.

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

Rowdy Rebel Won’t Release Music After He Claims His Label Hasn’t Paid Him Since His 2014 Signing

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Back in the summer of 2014, Rowdy Rebel signed a deal with Epic Records. Six months later, he was arrested and charged with conspiracy, attempted murder, attempted assault, reckless endangerment, and criminal possession of a weapon. He was sentenced to 6-7 years in prison after he accepted a plea deal. He was released nearly a year ago on December 15, 2020, and was greeted by the likes of Young Thug, who gave him diamond chains as a welcome-back present.

After his release, Rebel returned to his music career and dropped tracks like “Jesse Owens,” with Nav, and “9 Bridge,” with A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie. However, it may be a while until we hear more from him. “I’m not dropping no more music until @epicrecords pay me,” Rowdy wrote in a post to his Instagram Story. “I haven’t received one check for all the music I put out since 2014. I been patient but enough is enough.” Rebel later deleted the post but not before people could screenshot it.

Since his release, Rebel has released more music than the songs we already mentioned one paragraph above. That includes an a cappella freestyle he dropped back in March and a collaboration with French Montana for a remix of CJ’s “Whoopty.”

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

Tory Lanez Reportedly Apologized To Megan Thee Stallion After Allegedly Shooting Her In The Foot

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Last summer, Tory Lanez was accused of shooting Megan Thee Stallion. More than a year later, a preliminary hearing was held regarding the case, and it ended Lanez charged with one felony count each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. While there’s no doubt that Megan was shot in the foot, Tory denies being the person who fired the gun. Despite this, an LAPD detective reporter testified during today’s hearing that Tory actually apologized to Megan for shooting her.

XXL reports that a source says an LAPD detective testified that “Tory called Megan’s friend Kelsey in a jailhouse call that was recorded to apologize for shooting Megan.” Another report, from the Los Angeles Times, revealed the detective’s name to be Ryan Stogner and confirmed that he said Tory made said call. Tory’s attorney, Shawn Holley, claimed that a shooting was not mentioned during the call.

Furthermore, James Queally, a reporter for The Los Angeles Times, mentioned another “interesting exchange,” which happened during the trial, over Twitter: “As an LAPD detective testified about an apologetic jail phone call Lanez made to one of Megan’s friends, the rapper had enough: ‘How about you tell me what I was apologizing for bro? That don’t make no sense,’ he yelled at the investigator.” Queally added, “Peterson’s attorney seemed to be hinting that another person in the car (a friend of Megan Thee Stallion) may have actually pulled the trigger.”

The next hearing for the shooting case has been set for January 13.

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

Roddy Ricch Taps Future, Lil Baby, And More As Guests On ‘Live Life Fast’

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Roddy Ricch’s new album, Live Life Fast, drops this Friday, and the latest part of the rollout has arrived: The guest list, which includes collaborators like Future, Lil Baby, and more. Roddy shared the guest list on social media today building on the momentum he created by the trailer he released last week and the cover art, which he shared before that.

In addition to the above-mentioned superstars, the guest list Roddy shared includes names like deadpan Atlanta bogeyman 21 Savage, rising R&B star Alex Isley, alt-R&B singer Bibi Bourelly, Brooklyn drill flag-waver Fivio Foreign, drip purveyor Gunna, the multihyphenate Jamie Foxx, Florida rap rebel Kodak Black, Migos member Takeoff, and LA hook master Ty Dolla Sign. Roddy also showed off the producers at the bottom of the poster he shared: Beezo, Boi 1-Da, Cardo, D Keyz, G-Ry, Heavy Mellow, Jasper Harris, Kenny Beats, Lil CC, Mustard, Rex Kudo, Ronny J, Sonic, Southside, Tarentino, TM88, and Wheezy.

Roddy’s ending the year strong with his new album, much as he did with the release of his debut, Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial. Led by the inescapable lead single “Late At Night,” Live Life Fast is set to launch Roddy into an even higher level of the atmosphere in 2022.

Live Life Fast is due on 12/17 via Atlantic Records.

Masked Wolf Shows Off His Verbal Dexterity With Performances On ‘The Eye’

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In The Eye, music’s most intriguing up-and-coming artists take to an intimate and sparse studio space to perform their best songs with just one microphone and one take. Next up is somebody whose music you’ve almost certainly heard before: Masked Wolf.

The Greek-Australian rapper is best known for “Astronaut In The Ocean,” which he originally released in the summer of 2019 and which saw some success in Australia at the time. The track blew up on a global scale, though, when it started gaining traction on TikTok in late 2020 and was subsequently re-released by Masked Wolf’s new label, Elektra, in January of this year. The track was more than a passing fad: In TikTok’s recently shared slew of year-end data, it was revealed that the song was the platform’s most popular track of 2021 worldwide, beating out hits by artists like The Kid Laroi, Megan Thee Stallion, and Cardi B. Furthermore, it ended up rising to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Since “Astronaut In The Ocean” took off, Masked Wolf has been able to leverage the success into some big-time collaborations: His recently released singles include the X Ambassadors-featuring “Razor’s Edge” and the Bebe Rexha collaboration “It’s You, Not Me (Sabotage).”

Now, he finds himself in The Eye. While most artists in this setting tend to strip down their songs to the core elements, Masked Wolf instead kept the full instrumentation intact for “Astronaut In The Ocean,” which, as the original song does, allowed the rapper to flex his verbal dexterity with his rhythmic and often rapid-fire lines.

He took the same approach for the other two songs he performed, “Pandemonium” and “Paper Planes,” a couple of album tracks from Astronomical, which was just released back in September. While “Pandemonium” has a swaggering and aggressive tone, “Paper Planes” is a more vulnerable and less in-your-face tune in which Masked Wolf gets candid about his struggles with depression. All in all, the three performances show that the rapper is capable of more than just his one massive hit.

In an interview with The Eye, Masked Wolf explained why he thinks his debut single “Speed Racer” was a “breakout” moment for him and how it led to “Astronaut In The Ocean,” saying, “It was really where I found a way to describe what I’m talking about in a song, have an actual storyline of what I wanted to speak about. The most important part was the listeners being able to grab that, not about me just writing it. And then from that, ‘Astronaut In The Ocean’ came, and that’s when I started writing and rapping at the mic with a story and imagery.”

Watch Masked Wolf perform “Astronaut In The Ocean,” “Pandemonium,” and “Paper Planes” for The Eye above.

Masked Wolf is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Tyler The Creator And Tame Impala Are Headlining the Buku Music + Art Project

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Tyler The Creator AMAs Performance 2021
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For a festival that dubs itself as “boutique,” Buku Music + Art Project has some pretty heavy-hitting names on its newly announced 10th-anniversary lineup. After a three-year hiatus, the New Orleans festival will be back along the banks of the Mississippi River in the Lower Garden District near the imposing defunct Market Street Power Plant from March 25th – 26th. So, about that lineup…

Tyler The Creator and Tame Impala are titanic headliners at the top of this one, but it doesn’t stop there. Arena-rockers Glass Animals and Colombian-American pop superstar Kali Uchis are joining them on the bill along with surging rappers Tierra Whack, Trippie Redd, and Baby Keem. There’s also a concerted effort to reflect electronic music and artists like Porter Robinson, Allison Wonderland, Lane 8, and Rezz lead a formidable slate. There’s also a focus on local New Orleans artists too from the hip-hop of Glbl Wrmng (who put out 0ne of our best sleeper albums of 2021), Neno Calvin, and 504icygrl, to the dubstep of Tvboo and sfam.

Buku prides itself on a “festival experience that proudly reflects the progressive, artistic, and diverse subculture of New Orleans.” The lineup is just one aspect of an event that features indoor and outdoor stages, art installations, pop-up breakdancing, live graffiti art, etc… Buku also partners with the Take Action project (TAP) to use the fest’s platform “to elevate awareness around issues of various social & environmental justice issues.” TAP and the music education nonprofit Upbeat Academy will receive a portion of proceeds from all tickets sales.

Buku Music + Art Project is from 03/25/2022 – 03/26/2022. Presale tickets go on sale 12/17/2021 and registration has begun here. Buku’s general on-sale begins on 12/20/2021 at the same link.

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Jhene Aiko’s ‘Wrap Me Up’ Offers The Gift Of Love For The Holidays

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As the year winds down, Jhene Aiko gives fans plenty to look forward to for the new year, although she hasn’t let on whether that means the follow-up to her Grammy-nominated 2020 album, Chilombo, or more collaborations. For now, it’s enough to get cozy by the fire with her latest single, “Wrap Me Up.”

Aiko’s new single isn’t quite a traditional holiday song, but it has elements that allow it to fit into the overall spirit of the season, like jingling bells and tinkling piano keys. She also uses imagery that uses some of the hallmarks of the genre as she mentions gifts, mistletoe, and references to “Silent Night.” It’s a pretty, emotional song that highlights the love the holiday season should bring. “Wrap me all up with your love,” she sings. “All that I want, fill me up, fill me all up with your love.”

Although Jhene hadn’t released a new project in 2021, she remained relatively visible thanks to a series of collaborations with the likes of Ty Dolla Sign and Bryson Tiller (“By Yourself“), Swae Lee (“In The Dark“), and Moneybagg Yo (“One Of Dem Nights“). She also re-released her breakout mixtape Sailing Soul(s).

Listen to Jhene Aiko’s “Wrap Me Up” above.

Flavor Flav Narrowly Avoided Being Crushed By A Boulder While Driving To Las Vegas

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TMZ reports that hip-hop pioneer Flavor Flav of Public Enemy was nearly crushed by a falling boulder while driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, totaling his car and coming “very close to death.” The iconic hype man was driving through La Tuna Canyon when the boulder, loosened by recent local rain, fell down the side of the cliff, smashing into the car’s right side and making Flav lose control of the car.

A passerby who saw the collision stopped to make sure he was okay and Flav was able to contact AAA, telling reps that he was physically okay but mentally “shaken up.” He said, “God is good,” and that he’s “super grateful to be alive.” The car was totaled, though, with the passenger side all banged up and missing a headlight.

When last we heard from Flav, he was getting “fired” from Public Enemy for failing to perform as an April Fool’s joke ahead of the group dropping a new album and returning to Def Jam, the label that defined their early career. The group played their new song “Grid” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert from the album, What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down.

MAY-A’s Holiday Playlist Brings Back Fond Memories

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Winter in the United States is summer in Australia, so May-A typically spends Christmas holidays by the beach, “attempting surfing or passed out in the sand somewhere,” they tell us via email. In fact, one of MAY-A’s favorite holiday memories comes from a camping trip when they spent the whole day kayaking. “The kayak was made out of fiberglass and it had split somewhere along the side but I hadn’t realised, the fiberglass particles all got stuck in my skin and I couldn’t move for the entire day,” they remember. “My cousin lost his phone in the river and we ended up having to sleep in a trailer because there weren’t any beds, so many things were chaotic but it was the closest I’d felt to my family and the last time I saw some of them.”

Despite the differing scenery of the season in Australia, holiday music still plays a big role in the appreciation for the time of year — when you want it to. “Holiday music can be the most overly positive overly cheery shit sometimes,” MAY-A explains. “When you’re in the mood for it, it’s uplifting and fun, when you’re not, it makes you feel like the grinch. I’m on both sides of the spectrum for sure. Despite the varying appreciation for holiday music, May-A still sat down to take part in the latest installment of the Uproxx holiday playlist.

Check out the full playlist, along with MAY-A’s explanations for each of their picks, down below.

Michael Bublé – “Holly Jolly Christmas”

This song is the epitome of a love/hate relationship. For instance, I hate this song most of the time. But sometimes, in the right setting and the right mood, surrounded by family it’s a nice warm feeling. If this song comes on the radio when I’m by myself I’ll probably try to pull it out of the car.

Wham! – “Last Christmas”

I remember last year around Christmas this song came on the radio about every 20 minutes, and it was great. I listen to this song outside of the holidays as well.

Justin Bieber – “Mistletoe”

Was in love with Justin Bieber as a kid so when this song came out i was stoked. I remember watching the music video wishing it was about me.

Bobby Helms – “Jingle Bell Rock”

A nice feel-good christmas song

Michael Bublé – “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas”

This song makes me feel calm and I feel like I’m in a Mary Poppins movie or something. I feel classy.

Mariah Carey – “All I Want For Christmas Is You”

An absolute banger. I live and die for Mariah and this song. enough said.

Joel Feliciano – “Feliz Navidad”

This is the definition of a Christmas party song. Put this one on at a Christmas party and you’ll get everyone up and dancing.

The Jackson 5 – “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”

Just a funky Christmas song, the Jackson 5 always bring a good vibe.

MAY-A is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music.