On Thursday, July 25, Anderson .Paak and Stefani released “Hello World (Song of The Olympics)” with a video posted to the Olympics’ official YouTube channel.
“The Olympics and The Coca-Cola Company teamed up with Ryan Tedder, Gwen Stefani, and Anderson .Paak to create a song that celebrates the magic that happens when the world comes together at the Olympic Games,” the YouTube description reads.
Tedder co-produced and co-wrote the feel-good anthem. In the video, .Paak sets the tone by singing, “Hello, world, where ya been? / I’ve been waiting for you and your friends / One love begins / Tip-top, we’re starting at ten / If you believe that we can make some magic happen, say yeah.”
.Paak’s performance is spliced with footage of Olympic athletes being generally awesome, and eventually, we’re joined by a glittery Stefani. “I was mindin’ my business, taking care of business,” she sings. “Doin’ my thing / Woke up in the middle of the night like, ‘Ooh’ / Heard the telephone ring / I don’t need to tell you, I don’t need to explain / It’s ‘Hello World,’ we showin’ up, we changing the game.”
The 2024 Paris Olympics will run from July 26 to August 11, and you can expect to hear this song umpteen times in between.
Elle does a video series called “Phoning It In,” where they get their celebrity guest to prank call some of their famous contacts. Billie Eilish is the latest participant, and her call to Tyler The Creator is pure gold.
The show gives Eilish some prank prompts to go with, but she got to do her own prank idea for Tyler. So, she decided to tell him she was calling him from the bathroom on a date because she pooped her pants.
Tyler was on one right away, as he answered the call, “‘Sup, gay man?” After Eilish fed him the poop lie, he quickly responded, “Fire. Honestly? Fire. You deserve it.”
Eilish, through laughter, told Tyler she didn’t know what to do and asked if she could go to his house. He eventually said yes before wanting to go over the poop story again. Eilish told him she thought it was a fart, and he replied, “Bro, you don’t… you don’t stop once you feel it?”
She then gave up the gag and told him he was being pranked. After some silence, Tyler responded, “That’s amazing. That’s the content that they’re doing for journalism now? Nice.” He added, “Look, I sharted like two months ago.”
The overall theme of that and Eilish’s other prank calls is the prank victims were all very kind. Margot Robbie was super supportive in trying to help Eilish find a new place to shoot a music video, her label head Justin Libliner looked out for Eilish’s well being when she told him she wanted to quit music, and Dakota Johnson did her best to help when Eilish wanted advice about being cast to play a baby in a movie.
The whole video’s pretty fun, so check it out above.
Last night (July 22), Kamala Harris made her first official visit to her presidential campaign headquarters. When she did so, she walked out to Beyoncé’s Lemonade song “Freedom.” Tons of musicians have gotten mad at Donald Trump for using their music at his public showings, but Harris apparently did things by the book and got Beyoncé on her side.
CNN reports that “a source close to Harris” told them Harris’ team “got approval from Beyoncé’s representatives to use the song throughout her presidential campaign,” and that Beyoncé “gave quick approval to Harris’ campaign” to use the track “just hours before she walked out to the song.”
As of yet, Beyoncé has not officially endorsed Harris’ presidential campaign.
Harris previously said in a statement, “On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country. I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.”
Abdul “Duke” Fakir, who sang in the Four Tops for 70 years, has died at age 88, as the last original member of the group. According to Rolling Stone, his family confirmed to the Associated Press that he died of heart failure today.
In a statement, the family wrote, “We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our loving husband of 50 years, beloved father, grandfather, great-grandfather, friend and forever Four Tops, Abdul Kareem Fakir, better known as Duke. Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of a trailblazer, icon and music legend who, through his 70-year music career, touched the lives of so many as he continued to tour until the end of 2023, and officially retired this year. As the last living founding member of the iconic Four Tops music group, we find solace in Duke’s legacy living on through his music for generations to come.”
The Four Tops was formed in 1953 when its members were students at Detroit’s Pershing High School. The band originally consisted of Fakir, Levi Stubbs, Renaldo “Obie” Benson, and Lawrence Payton. Unlike many bands of the time (especially their labelmates on Motown), the lineup remained consistent throughout its tenure until Peyton died of liver cancer in 1997. Benson and Stubbs passed in 2005 and 2008, respectively, and Fakir continued the group after recruiting a new group of vocalists, who have continued performing to this day. Fakir made it a point not to retire; he only stopped performing in 2023 for medical reasons.
In his 2022 memoir I’ll Be There: My Life With The Four Tops, he wrote, “I’m not going to ever retire. The Lord can retire me, but I’m not going to into the dark night quietly. I know I’m not in the fourth quarter anymore. I’m in overtime.” Through their 70 years, the Four Tops became known for a string of hits, including “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” and “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” both Billboard No. 1s, and “Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got).”
The Weeknd delivered major news for the people of Brazil yesterday, July 17: He’s playing a big one-off concert in São Paulo on September 7. Today, though, he followed that up with a dispatch that’s more applicable to his fans from all over the world.
The two-minute CGI video posted on social media starts with imagery of The Weeknd during the After Hours era, throwing dice in a casino. Then, we get a glimpse of the older, gray-haired version of The Weeknd from Dawn FM. Finally, we see what appears to be a child version of The Weeknd. A spotlight illuminates the kid and expands to reveal verdant-looking grass around him, and on-screen text reads, “There are three chapters to this tale.”
So, it seems The Weeknd is suggesting a third album in the After Hours/Dawn FM trilogy is on the way, and this isn’t exactly a surprising development: Way back in 2022, The Weeknd teased on Twitter (now X), “i wonder… did you know you’re experiencing a new trilogy?”
A number of fan theories at the time speculated that the third album would be about the afterlife, and that appears to still be in play in light of the new teaser: Perhaps the kid version of The Weeknd is some sort of reincarnation.
It’s your weekend, Chicago: From July 19 to 21, Pitchfork Music Festival is going down at Union Park. The lineup is led by Jamie xx, Black Pumas, Carly Rae Jepsen, Alanis Morissette, 100 Gecs, and more.
If you want to know who’s playing when, check out the schedule highlights below and find the full set times here.
Pitchfork Music Festival Set Times For Friday, July 19, 2024
Among the first-day highlights are Tkay Maidza at 3:20 (all times p.m. and local) on the Red Stage, Billy Woods & Kenny Segal at 4:15 on the Green Stage, Amen Dunes at 5:15 on the Blue Stage, Yaeji at 5:15 on the Red Stage, 100 Gecs at 6:15 on the Green Stage, Sudan Archives at 6:30 on the Blue Stage, Jai Paul at 7:25 on the Red Stage, Jeff Rosenstock at 7:45 on the Blue Stage, and Black Pumas at 8:30 on the Green Stage.
Pitchfork Music Festival Set Times For Saturday, July 20, 2024
Those playing Saturday include Hotline TNT at 2:45 on the Blue Stage, Wednesday at 4:15 on the Green Stage, De La Soul at 5:15 on the Red Stage, Jessie Ware at 6:15 on the Green Stage, Carly Rae Jepsen at 7:25 on the Red Stage, and Jamie xx at 8:30 on the Green Stage.
Pitchfork Music Festival Set Times For Sunday, July 21, 2024
Closing the fest out on Sunday are Joanna Sternberg at 1:45 on the Red Stage, Jessica Pratt at 4:15 on the Green Stage, Grandmaster Flash at 5:15 on the Red Stage, Mannequin Pussy at 5:15 on the Blue Stage, Muna at 6:15 on the Green Stage, Crumb at 6:30 on the Blue Stage, Brittany Howard at 7:25 on the Red Stage, Les Savy Fav at 7:45 on the Blue Stage, and Alanis Morissette at 8:30 on the Green Stage.
During the Home Run Derby on Monday as part of Major League Baseball’s All-Star festivities, the four-time Grammy nominee gave a “trainwreck” performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” To be fair, it’s a tough song to sing! But that’s probably small consolation for Andress, who has yet to publically comment on what the heck happened. But at least she’s in… well, maybe not “good” company, but company nonetheless. Below, you’ll find some of the worst anthem renditions (U-S-A? U-S-A? U-S-A?) of all time.
Jesse McCartney (October 11, 2009)
If there’s one crowd you don’t want to forget the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner” in front of, it’s a NASCAR crowd.
Roseanne (July 26, 1990)
Back before Roseanne Barr lost her mind, she was the queen of sitcoms, thanks to her brilliant self-titled ABC comedy. One of Roseanne‘s executive producers was Tom Werner, who also owned the San Diego Padres at the time. His synergistic plan to have Roseanne perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” backfired when during a break between games of a Padres vs. Cincinnati Reds doubleheader, she intentionally sang off-key and grabbed her crotch, eliciting a think-of-the-children rebuke from then-president George H. W. Bush. As the game’s first-base umpire Steve Rippley told the Sporting News, “We [immediately] knew it was a disaster.”
Alexis Normand (May 18, 2013)
This is why you don’t have a Canadian sing the American national anthem (except Celine Dion… and Neil Young… and Joni Mitchell… and Japandroids, just to see what that’s like — they’re all allowed to).
Victoria Zarlenga (May 26, 2012)
The most common explanation for a pitchy live performance: in-ear monitor issues. “This was not a good performance and I take full responsibility for it! I did not realize I would need ear buds as monitors and to block out the stadium sound delay, lack of knowledge on my part,” Victoria Zarlenga explained following her flat, uh, interpretation of the national anthem at a USA vs. Scotland soccer match. “Therefore, I had to borrow a pair from the sound crew that were too large for my ears and were popping out.”
Carl Lewis (January 21, 1993)
Two words: “Uh oh.”
Fergie (February 18, 2018)
How did Fergie respond to the audible laughter for her performance at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game? By apologizing, basically. “I’ve always been honored and proud to perform the national anthem and last night I wanted to try something special for the NBA,” she said the next day. “I’m a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn’t strike the intended tone. I love this country and honestly tried my best.” Fun fact: before Fergie performed the United States national anthem, Barenaked Ladies did the same for Canada.
Picture this: It’s late Thursday night, minutes away from Friday. In a few moments, this week’s wave of new music releases will hit Spotify. Somebody inevitably goes for Drake’s throat on a new song again. Once fans get their first listen of the diss track, they’ll flock to X (formerly Twitter) to talk about Drizzy’s latest L. Topics related to new music are regularly X’s top trending topics on Friday morning, and it’s where much of the online conversation about what’s new in music happens.
The obvious reason is that Spotify isn’t a social media platform. But, Spotify execs have perhaps also gone through the thought process I just laid out.
Earlier this week, Spotify introduced the ability to leave comments on podcast episodes. In the announcement post, Spotify notes, “Our new Comments feature expands on the Q&A and polls functionality we introduced in 2021 as a way to bring interactivity into the podcasting industry for the first time. And interactivity is a feature that already has listeners and creators buzzing: More than 9 million unique Spotify listeners have interacted with a Q&A or poll just this year, and there’s been 80% year-over-year growth in the number of total Q&A responses and votes from listeners.”
So, Spotify has the users and at least a portion of them have expressed interest in more interactive ways to use the platform. Perhaps introducing commenting to podcasts is a way for Spotify to test and soft-launch a new era: Spotify as music-based social media platform, where users can listen to and discuss music in the same place.
If that is their plan, though, and they already have a framework for comment functionality, why not just roll it out big-time and let users comment on songs and albums now?
Well, being a giant internet company doesn’t mean a social media expansion will be an automatic success. We saw this happen with Google: They launched Google+ (which you probably forgot about, or perhaps never heard of) in 2011. The Facebook clone failed to gain significant traction and ceased operations a few years later. That’s not to say that Google rushed into it, but this does illustrate that nothing is guaranteed, no matter how dominant you are in other areas.
So, trying to pivot into social media is a big swing, and it’s smart of Spotify to take some practice cuts in the on-deck circle before stepping up to the plate. After all, if full-fledged social media is on Spotify’s agenda, there are still so many factors to consider. Would the platform be purely comments-based, or could users make their own posts? Will there be a way to see the best posts and users across the entire platform, or will each song’s/album’s comments section be its own beast? Will there be appropriate moderation in place to stop Neil Young from spamming comments about audio quality? That’s just a sampling of the major questions Spotify would have to work out ahead of a launch of this scale.
The opportunity appears to be there, though: Spotify is the world’s biggest music streaming platform and it continues to grow. Public opinion of X has waned ever since Elon Musk took over. (That’s not to say Spotify is without its controversies, though.) Many social media users would seemingly embrace a new forum for discussing music, especially one that lets them do it without switching out of the app they’re already listening in. It could certainly be a major value proposition for Spotify to help increase the gap between them and streaming competitors like Apple Music. It would also make them a unique presence in the social media landscape.
This is all assuming that Spotify even wants this — that they actually aim to expand comments beyond podcasts. We don’t know that for sure, but if that is the path they’re on, our Thursday nights and Friday mornings could look very different in the future.
NOS Alive 2024 attendees are in for a fantastic weekend: The festival — which goes down just outside of Lisbon, Portugal — boasts a lineup featuring Dua Lipa, Arcade Fire, Pearl Jam, Tyla, and more. It kicks off soon, too, as the first day is tomorrow, July 11.
For more on which artists are performing when and on which stages, keep scrolling.
NOS Alive Set Times For Thursday, July 11, 2024
Highlights from the fest’s opening day include Black Pumas at 8:40 (all times local and p.m. unless otherwise noted) on the Heineken Stage, The Smashing Pumpkins at 9:50 on the NOS Stage, Arcade Fire at 12:00 a.m. on the NOS Stage, and Jessie Ware at 1:30 a.m. on the Heineken Stage.
NOS Alive Set Times For Friday, July 12, 2024
Gracing the Friday lineup are T0Rex at 6:30 on the NOS Stage, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats at 7:30 on the Heineken Stage, Ashnikko at 8 on the NOS Stage, Tyla at 10 on the NOS Stage, Dua Lipa at 11:45 on the NOS Stage, and Genesis Owusu at 1:30 a.m. on the WTF Clubbing Stage.
NOS Alive Set Times For Saturday, July 13, 2024
Helping wrap the festival up on its final day are The Breeders at 7:50 on the NOS Stage, Alec Benjamin at 8:35 on the Heineken Stage, Sum 41 at 9:20 on the NOS Stage, Khruangbin at 10 on the Heineken Stage, Groove Armanda at 11:10 on the Coreto Stage, and Pearl Jam at 11:10 on the NOS Stage.
Things used to be so simple. June hit, summer vacation started, and you had all day to do whatever you wanted for three months — even if all you wanted to do was nothing at all. Things were even simpler in the time period depicted in the video for Toro Y Moi‘s new Kevin Abstract-featuring song “Heaven,” before computers were the size of Pop Tarts, fit in your pockets, and demanded your attention all hours of the day and night.
Even friendships were easier; the youthful stand-ins for Toro and his childhood friend run through flower-dappled fields and splash in ponds in the wilderness surrounding their suburban housing development. It’s cute and innocent — sure, the seeds of a later romance can be seen, but for now, these kiddos are more concerned with enjoying their idyllic summer days to their fullest.
“Heaven” is the second single from Toro’s upcoming album Hole Erth, following his June track “Tuesday,” another nostalgic look at the singer-producer’s laid-back childhood. That seems to be the running theme for Hole Erth, which is due on September 6 via Dead Oceans and features appearances from Don Toliver, Duckwrth, Kenny Mason, and more.
You can watch Toro Y Moi’s “Heaven” video featuring Kevin Abstract and Lev above.
Hole Erth is out 9/6 via Dead Oceans. You can find more info here.
)” with a video posted to the Olympics’ official YouTube channel. 
(@Shad0wS4crifice) 
