Music

Pharrell’s Something In The Water Festival Will No Longer Be In Virginia Beach Due To Its ‘Toxic Energy’

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In 2019, Pharrell invited some of today’s top stars to take the stage in his Virginia Beach hometown for his Something In The Water festival. The event was canceled in 2020 and 2021, but in 2022, things will be a little different. The musician has decided to move the festival away from Virginia Beach, citing the city’s “toxic environment” in a letter to officials.

Pharrell’s letter comes as a response to Virginia Beach City Manager Patrick Duhaney’s memo to the musician dated September 26, which detailed his “immense disappointment” in learning Something In The Water would be moved from the city. In Pharrell’s response to Duhaney, the musician explained that much of his decision to move the festival is due to the city’s response to his cousin’s murder by a police officer who did not have their body camera turned on:

“I love the city of Virginia Beach. I’ve always loved the city of Virginia Beach and most importantly our people. It’s a part of my beloved 757.

When we did the festival, it was to ease racial tension, to unify the region, bring about economic development opportunities and broaden the horizons of the local business community. We achieved those things! I wish the same energy I’ve felt from Virginia Beach leadership upon losing the festival would have been similarly channeled following the loss of my relative’s life.

I love my city, but for far too long it has been run by — and with toxic energy. The toxic energy that changed the narrative several times around the homicide of my cousin, Donovan Lynch, a citizen of Virginia, is the same toxic energy that changed the narrative around the mass murder and senseless loss of life at Building Number 2.

I sang about a room without a roof, but I am tired of kindly and politely being shown the door.

Until gatekeepers and the powers-that-be consider the citizens and the consumer base, and no longer view the idea of human rights for all as a controversial idea… I don’t have any problems with the city, but I realize the city hasn’t valued my proposed solutions, either.”

Read Pharrell’s full letter here.

Masego Invites JID And Big Boi To Attend His Dream-Like ‘Garden Party’

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Virginia rapper-singer-saxophonist Masego hasn’t confirmed that he’s working on a new project yet, but he’s definitely been working, capitalizing on the additional attention he’s received from his participation on Drake’s new album Certified Lover Boy. Today, he released a smooth new single with Atlanta rappers Big Boi and JID, “Garden Party.” A celebration of all the things these boys enjoy, the Iman Omari and Jack Dine-produced single makes references to the film Stomp The Yard and the seminal 1985 Doug E. Fresh and MC Ricky D (aka Slick Rick) song, “La Di Da Di.”

The new track is the latest in a run of impressive guest verses for JID, who has popped up throughout the year on releases from Conway The Machine, Doja Cat, and fellow Dreamville rapper Lute. Conway’s song “Scatter Brain” also linked JID to another Atlanta legend, Ludacris, so it’s fair to say JID is making the most of the wait for his own next album.

Big Boi, meanwhile, recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of his and Andre 3000’s pioneering sophomore Outkast album ATLiensreissued pieces of vinyl. Big Boi also has a joint album with Sleepy Brown titled The Big Sleepover coming soon. Maybe he and JID can bond over their apparent shared love of Raymond Chandler adaptations.

Listen to Masego’s “Garden Party” featuring JID and Big Boi above.

YouTube Shuts Down R. Kelly’s Channels, Wiping Many Official Videos From The Platform

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Following R. Kelly being found guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering, it is now a bit harder to find his songs and videos: YouTube has permanently suspended the RKellyTV and RKellyVevo channels, which hosted official uploads of Kelly’s videos and songs.

Nicole Alston, YouTube’s head of legal, told Bloomberg, “Egregious actions committed by R. Kelly warrant penalties beyond standard enforcement measures due to a potential to cause widespread harm. Ultimately we are taking this action to protect our users similar to other platforms.”

Alston also noted that Kelly will no longer be able to use, own, or create YouTube channels. A YouTube spokesperson also said in a statement, “We can confirm that we have terminated two channels linked to R. Kelly in accordance with our creator responsibility guidelines.”

That said, as it stands now, at least a portion of the videos that originally appeared on these channels are still accessible, but with caveats. Searching YouTube for “Ignition (Remix),” for example, shows an audio-only result (a video just featuring cover art) that appears to be from the RKellyTV channel. When clicking on the channel link, though, the channel is blank except for the message, “This account has been terminated for a violation of YouTube’s Terms of Service.”

When going to watch that actual “Ignition (Remix)” video, the page is accessible and the video is able to be played, but the page indicates the video is from the “R. Kelly – Topic” channel, instead of RKellyTV as indicated in the YouTube search results.

Meanwhile, the page for the RKellyVevo channel behaves differently than the RKellyTV channel. Instead of a message about the channel’s termination, it is as though the channel never existed at all, as the error page is the same one yielded when trying to access an invalid YouTube URL: “This page isn’t available. Sorry about that. Try searching for something else.”

Videos for songs on which Kelly features, like Ja Rule’s “Wonderful” and Nick Cannon’s “Gigolo,” are still available on YouTube, as they were uploaded to different channels. As of now, Kelly’s music is still available on YouTube Music, as it is on other audio streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.

Yung Bleu Surprises His Childhood Crush With A Spaceship In His Video For ‘Unforgiving’ With Davido

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Yung Bleu is currently on a US tour in support of his debut album, Moon Boy, but it hasn’t stopped him from showing how life is for him overseas. Fresh off a performance in New York, the Alabama native returns with a music video for “Unforgiving” with Davido and it finds both acts in Lagos, Nigeria for the visual. In it, Bleu grows up and falls in love with his childhood friend, and in order to show his appreciation for her, the singer decides to build a spaceship for her from scratch due to their mutual love for space.

Moon Boy arrived at the end of July complete with features from John Legend, HER, Kehlani, Moneybagg Yo, Big Sean, Drake, Jeezy, Gunna, 2 Chainz, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, and more. The album’s release has also been supported by videos for “Ghetto Love Birds,” “You’re Still Mine,” “Baddest,” and “Way More Close (Stuck In A Box).”

It’s all been smooth sailing for Bleu since Drake helped boost his popularity by remixing “You’re Still Mine” last summer. The addition of the Toronto rapper to the song helped pushed it into the top 20 of the Billboard singles chart.

You can watch the video for “Unforgiving” with Davido above.

Moon Boy is out now via Vandross Music Group Inc/Empire. Get it here.

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

Okeechobee’s 2022 Festival Lineup Features Tame Impala, Porter Robinson, Megan Thee Stallion, And More

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After taking a break in 2019, Florida’s Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival was one of the last festivals to fully run its course in 2020 before the pandemic shut down the music world for over a year. Okeechobee wound up skipping the 2021 festival season, but thankfully the Florida showcase will be back in 2022. On Tuesday, organizers revealed their full lineup.

Okeechobee will return to Sunshine Grove during the weekend of March 3-6, 2022 to celebrate the festival’s fifth anniversary. Tame Impala, Porter Robinson Megan Thee Stallion, Rezz, and Griz are among the bigger names. Others include Denzel Curry, Jungle, Gary Clark Jr., Ashinko, Flying Lotus, Troyboi, Jai Wolf, Four Tet, Caribou, The Glitch Mob, Clozee, Smino, Coi Leray, Mt. Joy, BIA, Sven Vath, Tobi Lou, Chiiild.

After announcing the festival’s 2022 dates back in June, Pasquale Rotella, the founder and CEO of Insomniac Events (one of the companies behind the festival), shared their excitement about their return. “After this long year, I couldn’t be more excited to return to Sunshine Grove and be back in nature with all my Okeechobee friends and fam,” Rotella said in a statement. “This festival is all about music, camping out, and making s’mores while dancing in a jungle, grass fields, and on a beautiful beach. It was the last festival I attended before the pandemic hit so I can’t wait to be back!”

You can check out the full lineup for Okeechobee’s 2022 showcase in the post above.

Big Daddy Kane And KRS-One Will Face Off In An Upcoming ‘Verzuz’

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Verzuz has a new battle: Legendary rappers Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One will face off later this month. This means it will be the third straight matchup between New York stars following last month’s battle between Fat Joe and Ja Rule and the one between The LOX and Dipset in August.

Big Daddy Kane, who hails from Brooklyn, and KRS-One, who calls Bronx home, will face off at the Barclays Center on Sunday, October 17 for a matchup that kicks off at 7pm EST. While their matchup is highly anticipated, there’s another artist many Versuz watchers have been long hoping will finally take the stage.

That person is Diddy. A number of names have been proposed for who he’d b attle, but Diddy has made it clear that only one person is worthy: Dr. Dre. Jermaine Dupri attempted to put his own name in the mix, but Diddy shot the idea down, tellin ghim, “your arms too short to box with God!!!” This resulted in a passionate Instagram Livestream that saw Dupri and Diddy taking playful shots at one another.

Prior to that, Damon Wayans expressed his desire to challenge Dave Chappelle to a comedic version of Verzuz. “Chappelle, I’m calling him out!” Wayans said during an August appearance on KBXX 97.9 The Box.

EST Gee Threatens Revenge In His Borderline Blasphemous ‘Make It Even’ Video

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Louisville rapper EST gets borderline blasphemous in the new video for “Make It Even” from his recently released mixtape Bigger Than Life Or Death, out now on Interscope Records. Actually, I guess it’s probably more sacrilegious, with its irreverent use of Christian iconography including crucifixes, altars, and confessionals as he threatens bloody revenge on his enemies.

The wicked concept constitutes something of a departure for the Collective Music Group rapper, whose videos are usually meditations on the spoils of rap and other, less legal activities. Generally, he’s surrounded by women, as he is in the “Price Tag” video, or money, like in the videos for “Riata Dada,” “5500 Degrees,” and “In Town.” Even when he’s making a guest appearance, as he does on G-Eazy’s “At Will” and 42 Dugg’s “Rose Gold,” it seems like his singular focus is money — which is why the imagery in “Make It Even” is even more jarring, whatever your spiritual affiliation.

Whatever visual cues he uses, it’s clear he’s having a stellar year, from featuring on fellow Louisville citizen Jack Harlow’s album to meeting with Jay-Z. EST Gee’s profile is rising, bit by bit, thanks to his consistency where it counts: His gritty, unapologetic lyrics.

Watch EST Gee’s “Make It Even” video above.

Bigger Than Life Or Death is out now via Collective Music Group and Interscope Records. You can stream it here.

Majid Jordan Announce Their First Album In Nearly Four Years, ‘Wildest Dreams’

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Lawrence Cortez

It’s been a while since experimental R&B duo Majid Jordan — that’s Majid Al Maskati and Jordan Ullman — have released a full-length body of work. The Canadian duo’s last album, The Space Between, dropped October 27, 2017, climbing to No. 30 on their home country’s Billboard albums chart and No. 74 stateside. However, in all that time, they’ve never been forgotten or overlooked by fans, who have patiently awaited news of a follow-up.

They rewarded that patience today with the announcement of their upcoming third album, Wildest Dreams. Building on the momentum of singles “Been Through That,” “Waves Of Blue,” and “Summer Rain,” the duo is set to release their latest album on October 22 through Warner Records and, as always, Drake’s OVO Sound. In addition, they’re planning a short, celebratory tour to commemorate the project’s release, hitting four US cities including Brooklyn, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco ahead of a triumphant homecoming to Toronto to complete the run.

The singles that they’ve released so far promise a return to the New Wave-inflected, dance-pop-grooving R&B we’ve come to enjoy from them — and look forward to hearing again, very soon.

Wildest Dreams is due 10/22 via OVO and Warner Records.

Majid Jordan is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Meek Mill Plays Chess And Shops Watches In His Reflective ‘Expensive Pain’ Video

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Meek Mill’s new album Expensive Pain is out now and today, he followed its release with a music video for the reflective title track.

The video splices together clips from Meek’s lavish life, from riding in private jets and relaxing at luxury resorts to playing chess with his friends and shopping for new Richard Mille watches. Interludes sprinkled throughout the video use clips from Meek’s battle rap DVD days to contrast his gritty comeup with his glitzy current.

Meek’s album, which features appearances from A$AP Ferg, Brent Faiyaz, British rapper Giggs, Kehlani, Lil Baby & Lil Durk, Lil Uzi Vert, Moneybagg Yo, Vory, and Young Thug, finds Meek exploring new territory and stretching his creative faculties, whether that’s finding new styles of beats to rap over or trying his hand at Autotuned crooning. After releasing the album alongside new videos for “On My Soul” and “Intro (Hate On Me),” Meek received praise from frequent collaborator Drake, who expressed his pride in his colleague.

Watch Meek Mill’s “Expensive Pain” video above.

Expensive Pain is out now via Atlantic Records and Maybach Music Group. You can stream it here.

Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Elton John Compares Young Thug’s Freestyles Favorably To Eminem’s

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Elton John’s been pop icon for literal decades, yet he shows few signs of slowing down, even as age is starting to catch up with him. In fact, he’s experienced something of a career resurgence, expanding into the world of hip-hop via collaborations with Lil Nas X and Young Thug. In a new interview with Billboard, Elton praised the latter, revealing the career advice he gave to Thug (despite having “no understanding of how rap records are put together”), and explaining why he was so blown away by Thugger’s recording process, even going as far as comparing it favorably to Eminem’s, another rapper with whom Elton maintains a friendship.

Recalling meeting Thug after the Atlanta rapper sampled his hit “Rocket Man” on the 2018 single “High,” Elton said, “He wanted to meet me…and we shot the breeze for 40 minutes. He said, “What do you think? What advice would you give me?’ I said, ‘Did you sing in the choir?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, of course I sang in the choir. Gospel choir.’ I said, ‘Sing more. Don’t just rap, sing more, because the mixture of rap and musicianship and melody is what really makes rap take off.’ And he’s doing that now.”

Of watching Thug record his song “Always Love You” by essentially freestyling it, Elton remembers being “just blown away. I mean, I’ve seen Marshall [Mathers] do it in Detroit, but I’ve never seen someone like Thug come in and do that. In the end, I had to leave because I think he felt a bit intimidated that I was there and I just wanted him to relax. But it’s just an amazing moment in my musical life… I have no understanding of how rap records are put together and it’s fascinating to watch.”

Read Elton John’s full interview here. Elton’s duet album Lockdown Sessions, which will feature Thug, as well as 6lack, Lil Nas X, and Nicki Minaj, among others, is due 10/22 via EMI and Mercury.

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.