Music

Travis Scott And Live Nation Are Being Sued By The Family Of A Man Who Died Saving His Fiancee At Astroworld

by
travis-scott.jpg
Getty Image

Another new lawsuit against Travis Scott and Live Nation has emerged in the wake of the tragedy at this year’s Astroworld Festival, this one brought by the family of a man who allegedly died while trying to get his fiancee to safety during the sudden crowd surge during Travis’ closing set on the first night of the festival.

According to The Houston Chronicle, the parents of 27-year-old Mirza Danish Baig tapped Dallas-based law firm, Lyons & Simmons, to sue the festival’s organizers for upwards of $1 million, alleging that Baig was one of the eight people killed at the festival (10 have died in total after another pair of attendees succumbed to injuries sustained during the rush) as he tried to lead his fiance Olivia away from the crushing crowd. However, the two were separated, and he later died from injuries after being trampled by the crowd. Olivia and Baig’s brother Basil were also injured.

According to Simmons, “Each of the responsible parties pushed boundaries of common sense and turned their heads to the dangers, simply for profit. And when it was obvious they had lost complete control of the situation, instead of stopping the show, they made the decision to continue. That disregard resulted in one of the worst mass-casualty events at a concert in history. It’s a total disgrace.”

Scott has been named in over 20 lawsuits — a number that continues to grow — for his role in the crowd surge that caused dozens of people to be crushed, suffocated, or trampled. Ahead of the concert, Travis tweeted encouraging fans to “sneak in,” and previous to it, incidents in which attendees at his other concerts were injured were also attributed to his goading. While Travis has his share of supporters, including Chuck D, who wrote an open letter condemning Travis’ partners in the festival, Live Nation and ScoreMore, with lawsuits ranging all the way up to $750 million have ensured that Astroworld is becoming costlier by the day.

Khalid Reveals The Release Date For His New Album, ‘Scenic Drive’

by
khalid
Getty Image

It has been well over two years since the last full-length solo release from El Paso, Texas singer Khalid Robinson, who last dropped an album, Free Spirit, in April of 2019. Understandably, the former teen star’s fans have been anxious for any new information on his forthcoming third album — information that he’s been reluctant to supply. Despite previously calling finishing the album “overwhelming” and saying he was losing passion for it, today, he finally shared all the information his fans could want on a new project, including the project’s title, tracklist, and most importantly, its release date.

The new project will be titled Scenic Drive and it will drop on December 3. Consisting of nine all-new tracks, the album will feature guest appearances from Alicia Keys (with whom Khalid previously collaborated on “So Done” from her 2020 album ALICIA), 6lack and Lucky Daye (on the song “Retrograde”), LA-based singer Quin (who has collaborated with and dates 6lack), Dreamville rapper JID, blooming R&B singer Kiana Lede, OVO dance-pop duo Majid Jordan, and rapper/singer combo Ari Lennox and Smino (on the album’s title track).

“Been waiting for this one and I can’t wait for you guys to hear it,” he wrote in a tweet announcing the new project. While his tweet didn’t cover whether this would be the same project as the previously announced Everything Is Changing, I’m sure fans are more than happy just to be getting a new project at all, whether it’s been renamed or this is just a side project to hold them over. Naturally, the announcement caused quite the stir on Twitter as fans marked their calendars, set their alarm clocks, and prepared to take this long-awaited Scenic Drive.

Adele Explains Why Her Drake Friendship Is ‘One Of The Biggest Gifts Of My Entire Career’

by
adele-getty-full.jpg
Getty Image

In October, Adele revealed that at that point, one of the only people who had heard her then-unreleased album 30 was Drake. It turns out the two are quite close, with Adele going as far as to say that Drake’s friendship is “one of the biggest gifts of my entire career.”

She spoke about Drake and herself with Q‘s Tom Power, noting of their status in the music industry, “We are a dying breed. […] There was like ten of us. You know, I don’t think there will ever be that many of us again, at the top doing it the way we were doing it. We came out before streaming. We came out before all the social media frenzies of, like, you know, ‘You’ve got five seconds to entertain; otherwise, get the f*ck out.’ We existed in the old school.”

She added, “I can say something to him, and he won’t judge me for it, you know? […] So to have access to someone that’s in the same position as [me] is, like, one of the biggest gifts of my entire career.”

Adele also talked about her relationship with fame, saying that it’s complicated: “My hobby became my job. I was unable to differentiate the two. So why do I want to go and do my hobby when my hobby is my job? […] Fame scares me. And, you know, fame comes with my job.”

The Ye Clones Reappeared In LA, Possibly For A Music Video

by
kanye-west.jpeg
Getty Image

The infamous Kanye West — aka Ye — doubles that took over New York to promote the deluxe release of the rapper’s new album Donda reappeared recently, this time taking over LA venue Soho Warehouse as captured by a bystander who caught them on camera. In the video below, you can see dozens of Kanyes, dressed once again in the unusual mask he wore while promoting the original Donda in New York earlier this year, mostly just milling about with massive headphones on and gathering around what appears to be a parking or concession booth in the lot outside.

The person filming is apparently unnerved by the sight and posits that there is a music video shoot happening nearby. It wouldn’t be all that unusual for Ye to shoot a guerilla-style music video in LA, or for that music video to prominently feature copies of the principal artist (Eminem famously utilized dozens of lookalikes in the video and performances for his 2000 single “The Real Slim Shady”). It’s clearly unsettling for those encountering the clones without warning, but since Kanye’s whole schtick these days seems to be trying to unsettle people, it’s right in line with what we’ve seen from him over the past few months.

Gunna Denied Dating Chloe And Said He Was Flattered By Rihanna’s Halloween Costume

by
gunna
Getty Image

Gunna is over a year removed from his last album — 2020’s well-received Wunna — but his name has been all the buzz in the past few weeks thanks to singers Chloe Bailey and Rihanna. Gunna went viral two separate times in the past month: once, when Rihanna dressed up as him for Halloween, and again, when he and Chloe were photographed at an NBA game, sparking rumors that the two were dating (and a bizarre fascination with Chloe drinking a Dasani water bottle).

On the red carpet at last night’s American Music Awards hosted by Cardi B, Billboard caught up with the YSL rapper to check in and get the scoop on his latest viral moments. Of Rihanna’s Halloween costume, he recalled his reaction to seeing the photos, saying, “I’m like, ‘Oh my God, the GOAT just went in my closet and got dressed.’I couldn’t believe it, but I was very, very flattered and honored. I ain’t know where it came from, you know what I’m saying? Nobody ever dressed like me.”

Meanwhile, he shot down the Chloe dating rumor, explaining that the two are friends and revealing that they’d worked on music, as well. “We’re not dating,” he said. “That was just like a date, though, where you just go to the game and catch a vibe. But she’s my friend. We went to the studio after and locked in, she’s very creative. She’s very talented. And you will be seeing us more… We did two songs, but I think she might want to use it for her album, or I might take it for my album, but who knows? We definitely got new music coming up for sure.”

You can watch the interview below.

Phife’s Upcoming Posthumous Album ‘Forever’ Gets A Release Date

by
phife dawg
Getty Image

It has been a few months since we last received word on Phife Dawg’s posthumous album, Forever. The late member of A Tribe Called Quest had been working on the album at the time of his death and it was initially to have been released in the first quarter of 2017, but those plans were scrapped and the album had been in limbo ever since. However, in late 2020, Tribe released a statement promising the album’s release sometime in 2021 and the first single, “Nutshell Part 2,” was released in February, followed by an animated music video in March.

A live-action video followed a few weeks later, and in May, a second single, “French Kiss Deux,” dropped, but since then, there has been little information about the status of the album itself. Today, though, A Tribe Called Quest was finally able to announce an official release date for the long-awaited project: March 22, 2022, the sixth anniversary of Phife’s passing. Dion Liverpool, a frequent Phife collaborator, helped to finish the album and will also be releasing it through his Smokin’ Needles Records imprint, distributed by AWAL.

In a statement, Liverpool said, “We faced a lot of ups and downs trying to get the album completed, and only by God’s grace and patience were we able to. I would like to thank his fans for being patient and understanding that nothing that is good and timeless will happen overnight. I took on the responsibility to help the family complete Forever and honored that I was trusted to do so.” Phife’s widow, Deisha Taylor, added, “As we celebrate his life on this day, we are overwhelmed with excitement of completing Forever. This album is truly a masterpiece and will exceed all expectations. The world will absolutely love and cherish this amazing album.”

His mother, Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, was also quoted, saying, “Forever, soon come. His voice a steel pan cruising the sea salt edge of Trini waters. A balm, a salve, a son’s kiss on his mama’s cheek.”

Ye’s Sunday Service Choir Covers A Drake Hit In The Wake Of Their Recent Treaty

by
kanye west
Getty Image

During the most recent edition of Ye’s Sunday Service, his Sunday Service Choir introduced an unusual new selection to its repertoire: Drake’s 2018 no. 1 hit, “God’s Plan.” While the choir has played numerous contemporary classics over the course of the past few years, this one was different in that Kanye and Drake had been feuding for nearly the entirety of the choir’s existence. Although the origins of the feud remain unclear to this day, the performance of the new song was made possible by the recent ceasefire the two stars called at the behest of J. Prince and Larry Hoover Jr.

In fact, Ye was apparently so amped about their reconciliation, the choir not only opened Sunday Service with “God’s Plan,” but also reprised it after several Donda songs, according to HipHopDX. The performance may well have constituted a preview of Drake and Ye’s upcoming concert to benefit the elder Larry Hoover’s efforts to have his life prison sentence commuted, which the pair officially announced yesterday as well.

The concert is set for December 9 at the Los Angeles Coliseum and will see the two rappers join each other on stage for the first time in nearly a decade. The architect behind both the concert and the truce was apparently Houston impresario (and rumored threatening figure) J. Prince, who first posted alongside Kanye imploring Drake to bury the hatchet before the two rappers were seen together with Prince in a photo suggesting they’d done just that.

T-Pain And Usher Reunite Onstage To Make Up Over Their Decade-Long Autotune Dustup

by
t-pain usher reconcile
Getty Image

HipHopDX reports that the longstanding discord between R&B/pop stars T-Pain and Usher finally came to an end last night in Atlanta as the two singers met onstage at a concert afterparty for Dave Chappelle’s documentary premiere event. After the initial film and comedy set, the show reportedly consisted of sets from the likes of local legends such as 2 Chainz, 21 Savage, Jeezy, Monica, and more.

Although phones weren’t allowed inside the venue, a video of Pain and Usher reconciling still found its way online, giving a glimpse into their reunion. T-Pain told Usher, “I love you, bro. I’m telling you, we ain’t going through nothing, bro. We ain’t going through a god damn thing. It’s all love. In a time when we’re divided the most, we need to be together the most. I love you, bro. I’m never not gonna love you, bro, trust me.”

While there was likely never any real ill will between the two artists, Pain’s comments on Netflix’s This Is Pop docuseries could have lent the impression that he held a grudge after he admitted a chance encounter between the two sent him into a deep depression. “[Usher] was like, ‘Yeah man you really f*cked up music for real singers,’” he recalled. Meanwhile, Usher claimed that the encounter never happened in Billboard, prompting T-Pain to tell Power 105’s Angie Martinez that he’d reached out to Usher to settle the dispute.

“I hit Usher after the interview came out, and I’m like, ‘I’m sure you saw what happened,’” he said. “‘That was the truth. That’s what happened, you definitely said that.’ I remember that whole day. Then all he texted me back was, ‘Let’s not text, let’s talk.’ And I was like, ‘Cool, hit me up.’ And I never heard from him, he never called me. I feel like I initiated the contact.”

It appears that the two were able to make good on Usher’s suggestion and turn the page on that particular chapter of both their lives.

Tupac Photos From His Debut Album Release Party Will Be Made Into NFTs

by
tupac
Getty Image

The non-fungible token craze will continue with rare photos of a rap legend who never lived to see high-speed internet. According to Rolling Stone, rare photos of Tupac Shakur from the late rapper’s debut album release party will soon be sold as NFTs on the OpenSea platform. The flicks are being released by the original photographer, Lawrence “Loupy D” Dotson, who took the photos at the party for 2Pacalypse Now in Los Angeles in 1992.

There will be 17 photos released, as well as one “Super NFT” collage of all 17 for a total of 18 NFTs. Each will come with a signed, framed print, and part of the proceeds will be used to plant trees in Shakur’s hometown — although it isn’t specified whether that means New York (where he was born), Oakland (where he grew up), or LA (where he became a superstar). Dotson explained how the photo collection came to be to Rolling Stone:

“I bought a disposable, black and white 35mm camera from the Thriftys on the corner of La Brea and Rodeo,” he said. “Later that night I got to Glam Slam, Prince’s old club on Boylston Street downtown. I couldn’t wait to see this brotha perform. I loved the energy he put out on stage as a backup dancer for Digital Underground; the same with his performance in the video when he dropped the verse on ‘Same Song.’ I knew that he was going to give it up that night for his debut release party. Surprisingly, there weren’t many people at the show: mostly industry execs and a few heads from the underground community.”

He says he never published the photos and remained unsure of what to do with them, although they came in handy in his job as a substitute teacher as a reward for students. Now, he says, he wants to “create a traveling exhibit of the collection” and show them worldwide.

Key Glock Speaks Out For The First Time Since Young Dolph’s Death

by
Young Dolph Key Glock QC Black Tie Affair 2021
Getty Image

Young Dolph’s tragic death is still a shocking and unfortunate reality for the music world. The Memphis native was shot and killed in his hometown as he stopped by a bakery. Investigators have yet to find a suspect in the incident, but they have released surveillance camera footage that will hopefully point them in the right direction. As the world continues to mourn his death, many wonder how Key Glock, fellow Memphis native and close collaborator, was holding up after the news. After a few days of silence, Glock spoke out for the first time since Dolph’s death.

key glock instagram
Screenshot from REVOLT

“STOP asking me if I’m ok,” Glock wrote in a post to his Instagram Story with a broken-hearted emoji. “Knowing damn well I ain’t.” When news about Dolph’s death first broke out, Glock quickly deactivated his Twitter and Instagram pages. In addition to sharing the same hometown, Key Glock and Young Dolph are cousins by marriage. Dolph also Glock to his Paper Route Empire label back in 2017 and they collaborated on numerous occasions including their respective 2019 and 2021 projects, Dum And Dummer and Dum And Dummer 2.

Glock’s post after a man was shot near the memorial for Young Dolph in Memphis. The incident in three arrests as police officers apprehended two of the suspects at the scene while the remaining one was detained at a nearby intersection.

You can view Glock’s message in the screenshot above.