Music

Coachella 2022 Sold Out Instantly, But You Can Join A Waitlist For Passes

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After a series of rescheduled dates due to the pandemic, Coachella 2022 is officially on the books for next year. The storied festival is not only confirmed for its normal April slot, but has apparently already sold out completely. Fans might be a little hesitant still this year to attend a large scale event, but by next year it seems like that hesitation will be completely gone.

As Variety reports, the passes went on sale at 10 AM PST last Friday, June 11, and were sold out by 2:16 PM. Even for the most anticipated festival of the year, a four-hour sales window is pretty significant. Still, the upcoming event, which is now scheduled for slated for April 15-17 and 22-24, is honoring the 2020 passes that were held onto by fans who were confident the rescheduled festival would be worth the wait.

“Passes no longer available. 315 days till we meet again,” read the caption on an Instagram post the brand made over the weekend. But for those who did hold onto passes and might not be able to make it to the 2022 dates after all, Golden Voice has set up waiting lists on their site for weekend one and weekend two that fans can join in case tickets become available.

Get more info on Coachella’s website. Lineups won’t be reported until next year though, so at least that element is still very much up in the air.

EST Gee Calls Out Internet Gangsters In His ‘Bigger Than Life Or Death’ Video

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Louisville, Kentucky upstart EST Gee has been primed to blow ever since featuring on Lil Baby’s “Real As It Gets” last year. Since then, his buzz has only gotten louder after appearing on “Route 66” from fellow Louisvillian Jack Harlow’s debut album and signing with Yo Gotti’s record label CMG earlier this year. As he prepares to make his festival debut next month at Rolling Loud Miami, he shares the video to his latest solo single, “Bigger Than Life Or Death.”

In the Diesel Films-directed video, EST Gee shows off his jewelry, throws dollar bills, and takes over the mic in a club. Adding a quirky twist to his performance, he wears a shark-themed ski mask for the bulk of the video, highlighting his killer instinct and kill-or-be-killed mentality.

In addition to his high-profile co-signs, EST Gee released two mixtapes in 2020: Ion Feel Nun in March, which featured rising Michigan stars Icewear Vezzo, Payroll Giovanni, and Sada Baby, and December’s I Still Don’t Feel Nun, on which he scooped up two more Detroit-based sparkplugs, 42 Dugg and Babyface Ray, as well as adding his CMG compatriots Moneybagg Yo and Yo Gotti. Kevin Gates, YFN Lucci, and Harlow also appeared on the tape, helping him to stretch his appeal from the Midwest to the South and keep his audience growing. The hustle is paying off; don’t be surprised to see him join this year’s list of XXL Freshmen.

Watch the “Bigger Than Life or Death” video above.

Yung Baby Tate Joins The Cast Of ‘Love & Hip-Hop: Atlanta’ For Its 10th Season

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After releasing the deluxe version of her acclaimed EP After The Rain and becoming a viral star with the video for her breakout hit “I Am,” Yung Baby Tate is now aiming to take over America’s televisions. The rising Atlanta star is joining the cast of the VH1 reality series Love & Hip Hop for its 10th season, making the announcement with a tweet bearing a teaser featuring “I Am” and revealing the new season’s air date: Monday, June 5.

Tate, whose tales of romantic entanglements have formed the foundation of some of her standout projects like Boys and After The Rain, will join a cast that has included longtime mainstays Rasheeda, Karlie Redd, and Mimi Faust, as well as Atlanta rap veterans such as Lil Scrappy and Yung Joc. The New York iteration of the show previously helped turn Cardi B into a household name; perhaps Tate hopes that the added exposure will help do the same for her.

Yung Baby Tate is already thoroughly established in the entertainment world thanks to her links to Insecure creator Issa Rae — whose label Raedio put out After The Rain — and her string of well-received albums, mixtapes, and EPs, as well as her appearance on Dreamville’s “Don’t Hit Me Right Now.”

Yung Baby Tate is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Weeknd Won Five 2021 Juno Awards Including Artist Of The Year

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After excoriating the Grammys for leaving him locked out this year, The Weeknd got some measure of redemption over the… ahem… weekend at his home country’s analogue awards ceremony, the Juno Awards. Sunday night, he was awarded two wins, Album and Artist Of The Year, after taking home awards for Contemporary R&B Recording Of The Year for After Hours, Single Of The Year for “Blinding Lights,” and Songwriter Of The Year. All told, he took five awards out of the six for which he was nominated, only missing out on the Juno Fan Choice Award, which Shawn Mendes won.

The Weeknd lashed out at the Grammys committee after the nominees were announced last year, revealing that he wasn’t nominated for any awards, astonishing fans who assumed he’d be a shoo-in with one of the biggest records of both the year and his career. The Weeknd himself accused the committee of corruption, a claim which the Recording Academy denied. However, that didn’t stop him from boycotting the show, proclaiming he’d no longer submit for consideration — even after the Academy worked to address some of the issues that caused him to be snubbed.

Meanwhile, he also led the nominations for the 2021 Billboard Music Awards, taking home ten, and has been teasing a new era, putting the controversy — for the most part — in the rear view.

Megan Thee Stallion Teases Her Comeback Single ‘Thot Sh*t’

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Megan Thee Stallion‘s been on a break but it looks like she’s coming back just in time for the return of Hot Girl Summer. After posting a tweet proclaiming her alter ego “Tina Snow is back” yesterday, the Houston Hottie followed up today with the pre-save link to her first post-Good News single, “Thot Sh*t,” which arrives this Friday, June 11.

Meg spent the last two months on a social media hiatus, calling it a “period of regeneration” in a tweet announcing the break. “Due to the demands of the Hot Girl lifestyle has now entered a period of regeneration to prepare for what’s next,” the announcement read. “In her absence; mgmt will manage all social posting on behalf of Thee Hot Girl Coach. Meg herself followed up, adding, “I’ll be back when it’s time.”

It seems that she used the time off to recalibrate. Although she’s become a chart-topping superstar since the release of her Tina Snow mixtape in 2018, some fans have grumbled that EPs like Fever and her debut album Good News, although spawning a number of hits, haven’t had the same energy as her breakout tape. Hopefully, by returning to the alter ego that first endeared her to fans, she can get back on the right track.

Meanwhile, despite her time spent “away,” there’s still been plenty of Stallion news, as she appeared in DJ Khaled’s “I Did It” video, led the 2021 BET Awards nominations, and landed a number of festival roster spots, including Governor’s Ball in New York, Bottlerock in California’s Napa Valley, and Barcelona’s Primavera Sound.

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

Prince Had One Demand Of Alicia Keys Before Letting Her Perform At Paisley Park

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Over the weekend was the 20-year anniversary of Songs In A Minor, the breakout debut album from Alicia Keys. She marked the occasion over by joining Ebro Darden on Apple Music Hits to discuss the album. Since the release contains a cover of Prince’s “How Come You Don’t Call Me,” they talked about The Purple One (who would have celebrated his 63rd birthday today, June 7), including the specific demand Prince had of a young Keys before letting her perform at Paisley Park.

Keys told the story:

“He takes me to Paisley Park, and this place is like a dream. And he’s walking me through Paisley Park, [I’m] 18 years old. He has like 900 pianos. ‘This is the piano from Purple Rain. This is the piano when I wrote ‘When Doves Cry.’ This is the room that we sit on the floor with the purple things, and we write songs.’ I could not believe it. Then he says, ‘This is the stage. We want you to perform a little set for my closest people.’ He would invite them to Paisley Park every whatever he did. He had his own universe going. And he was like, ‘One thing: You can’t curse.’ And I was like, ‘Well, he must not know me, because I curse.’”

Keys was there to request Prince’s approval of her cover, which she eventually got. During a Tonight Show appearance from 2017, Keys spoke more about her first phone call with Prince, the first step in getting his blessing for the cover:

Watch the full Apple Music Hits interview here. Also revisit Keys’ cover of “How Come You Don’t Call Me” below.

Mariah Carey Quotes Jay-Z To Shut Down Rumors That She Split With Roc Nation

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Over the weekend, a report from British tabloid The Sun sparked rumors that Mariah Carey had split with Jay-Z‘s Roc Nation management after an “explosive meeting which did not go well at all.” The Sun reported that a source said that Carey is working on a new album and was seeking other management. However, Mariah herself shut down the rumor on Twitter this morning, quoting her longtime business partner Jay-Z and sharing a clip from their 1999 collaboration “Heartbreaker” to remind followers just how deep the roots of their partnership run.

“The only ‘explosive’ situation I’d ever ‘get into’ with Hov is a creative tangent, such as our #1 song ‘Heartbreaker!!’” she wrote. “To the people who make up these lies I say ‘Poof! —Vamoose, sonofa*****”!’” The final quote of her missive comes, of course, from Jay-Z’s 2001 Blueprint single “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” on which Jay addressed naysayers and detractors: “He who does not feel me / Is not real to me, therefore he doesn’t exist / So poof – vamoose, son of a b*tch!”

Clearly, Mariah Carey has similar feelings toward The Sun and its unnamed source. It wasn’t the first time the longstanding pop-R&B icon used her social platforms to clear up misunderstandings. In May, she jokingly teased a Baltimore rapper who sampled her 2005 hit “Shake It Off,” but eventually revealed she had allowed the use of the sample after Questlove got in touch. Meanwhile, Jay-Z is said to be expanding Roc Nation’s already extensive list of services to include television and film production sometime in near future.

Snoop Dogg Takes A Role At Def Jam As Executive Creative Consultant

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After 30 years as one of the foremost elder statesmen of the rap game, West Coast godfather Snoop Dogg has joined forces with another storied, foundational entity within hip-hop culture. Today, he announced he is joining Def Jam as executive creative and strategic consultant, according to Variety. In conjunction with Variety‘s report, Snoop also released a short announcement video explaining the move, which again has come nearly thirty years deep into a legendary career.

As Snoop himself puts it, “As a young rapper, Def Jam Records was the Holy Grail of hip-hop… they did all types of sh*t that I wanted to be a part of. Then Death Row Records happened, so I didn’t get a chance to be on Def Jam. But I always had a dream to be on Def Jam and to be in the place where hip-hop was originated.”

According to Variety, Snoop’s new role will see him continuing to be based out of Los Angeles and focusing on A&R and creative development. For those in the know, this is actually great news, as Snoop’s always had an ear for rising talent, lending early co-signs to any number of rising stars from the Golden State, including (but certainly not limited to) The Game, Kendrick Lamar, and Nipsey Hussle. “When I got the opportunity, my main focus on Def Jam was to help the artists and give them love and wisdom and guidance and understanding, teach them some tricks that I learned in the game — to diversify their portfolios to be superstars,” he says in his announcement.

One thing is for sure: Snoop’s presence as a playable character in Def Jam: Fight For NY finally makes sense now. Watch his announcement/explainer above.

One Of T-Pain’s Biggest Hits Actually Started Out As A Joke

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In the mid-2000s, T-Pain was an absolute hit machine, with one of his biggest and most memorable being “I’m N Luv (Wit A Stripper).” During a recent appearance on Mike Tyson’s Hotboxin’ podcast, he spoke about how that song actually began its life as a joke among friends.

He told Tyson of the single, “My homeboy was tryna save strippers in the club. The song was a joke. I was literally making fun of him. We was just in the studio f*cking around and Big Boi [was] saying it was dope and I said, ‘Yep.’”

T-Pain has actually told this origin story before. In a 2015 interview with USA Today, for example, he went into greater detail:

“We got one girl to dance on him and he was just automatically trying to take her out of the club, pay for her tuition and do everything. The next couple days in the studio, everybody was still laughing about it. I started playing with GarageBand on my Mac and singing, ‘I’m in love with a stripper,’ and everybody was like, ‘Yo, lay that down and we’ll give it to (him) as a joke.’ Then the label came in and we were going through some songs I had recorded. They heard the ‘joke’ and were like, ‘This is the furthest thing from a joke. We’re putting this out next week.’ [The fact that it became a hit] threw me off. I was literally trying to make a bad song but it didn’t work.”

Watch the full Hotboxin’ episode below.

Kehlani Shares How Her Daughter’s Father Reacted To Her Coming Out As Lesbian

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Kehlani has been known to date both men and women, but at the end of April she came out as strictly lesbian. “Wanna know what’s new about me?” she said during an Instagram Live. “I finally know I’m a lesbian.” A couple of weeks later, she doubled down in a TikTok video, saying, “I am gay gay gay gay gay.” Recently, Kehlani, who has a two-year-old daughter, shared how her child’s father, Javaughn Young-White, reacted to her coming out as lesbian.

“I have a two-year-old daughter…She’s the best,” Kehlani said during Facebook Watch’s Pride On! Kehlani & Larray’s Excellent Pride Ride. “Me and her dad are like really, really close friends, and the decision to start a family was really easy for us because we both believed in each other’s ability to be good parents.” She added, “We just focus on being a team, honestly, and when I was able to tell him, like, I’ve come to newer terms with my sexuality and he’s super super super supportive.”

Kehlani also detailed how she and Young-White normalize different parental relationships with their daughter, saying, “Like usually where people would bring up ‘mom and dad,’ we also say ‘mom and mom’ and ‘dad and dad.’”

You can watch the full Pride On! Kehlani & Larray’s Excellent Pride Ride episode here.

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