Pop

Megan Thee Stallion Takes Normani To Prom For Her Snapchat Show ‘Off Thee Leash’

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Everywhere you look, Megan Thee Stallion is there. And honestly? Former Fifth Harmony member turned breakout star Normani isn’t too far behind. The pair previously worked together on the song “Diamonds,” off the Birds Of Prey soundtrack, and it seems like they’ve developed a pretty tight bond. Which makes their latest bit of content together just that much cuter.

As part of Megan’s new collaboration with Snapchat on a short series called Off Thee Leash, she decided to do an episode with Normani. And once she found out that Normani missed her own prom because of touring with aforementioned girl group, there was nothing left to do but throw the “Wild Side” singer an idyllic prom. In the clip, Normani mentions that she might decide to turn one of her birthday parties into a full-on prom in the future, so this might not be the last prom-themed Normani we ever get.

Back to the most important aspect — Off Thee Leash is a show about pets, so Normani brings her dog, Sir Dior, with her during the episode. Fellow dog lovers will definitely appreciate his big, slobbering presence in the short. But Normani’s excitement about finally experiencing prom, broken corsage and all, is definitely the highlight. Watch above.

Doja Cat Praises Nicki Minaj’s Career: ‘I’m In Love With Everything’

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Doja Cat has been one of the most prolific female rappers in recent memory. The rising hip-hop and pop star has been continually featuring on tracks with other artists, sharing her life on social media, and released her own full-length, Planet Her to immense critical acclaim last year. But as Billboard kicks off another round of interviews with women in the music industry, honoring how much harder we have to work for recognition, it’s Doja’s turn to give flowers to someone who influenced her deeply. And it shouldn’t come as any surprise that the person she most wants to shout out is none other than Nicki Minaj.

Billboard asked Doja: “What performers did you look to growing up?” And her response included flowers for Nicki first and foremost, along with Janet Jackson, and Beyonce. “It’s pretty obvious that I’m in love with everything Nicki Minaj has put out into the world,” Doja assert, before citing some other artists she admires. “You have your Janets and your Beyoncés. I look at [other artists’] projects and performances and go, “Wow, I hope one day I get to that point.”

Well, most of us think she’s well on her way there. Check out the full interview here.

John Mayer Tests Positive For COVID And Consequently Postpones Some Concerts

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John Mayer is in the midst of a tour, and so far, COVID has taken its toll on proceedings. A few days ago, Questlove filled in for Mayer drummer Steve Ferrone, who tested positive for COVID. Now, Mayer himself and other band members got COVID, too, so a few upcoming tour dates have been postponed.

In a post sharing the news yesterday, Mayer wrote, “Whelp. More members of the band tested positive for Covid today, and I was one of them. This means we have to reschedule the next four shows, which we’ve already rescheduled and posted above. I’m so sorry to make you change your plans. This is a bummer for everyone in the band and crew, to say nothing of the question hanging over everyone’s head — mine included — as to how I tested positive on PCR twice in two months. (The first was extremely mild, but this one’s got the better of me.) We’ll give you everything we’ve got at these upcoming shows, just as soon as we rest up and regroup. With love and appreciation… me.”

As for the altered shows, they were originally scheduled for tonight (February 25) in Pittsburgh; March 1 in Belmont Park, New York; and March 4 and 5 in Boston. Those concerts have been moved to May 5, 7, 9, and 10, respectively. It appears Mayer’s next show will be at Las Vegas’s The Grand Garden Arena in March 11.

Eurovision Bans Russia From The 2022 Song Contest Just A Day After Opting Not To

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This year’s Eurovision Song Contest is set to take place in Turin, Italy in May, when musical representatives from many countries will take to the city to show off the best of what their nations have to offer. Given the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, many wondered if Russia would be allowed to participate in this year’s event. Initially, Eurovision organizers (the European Broadcast Union) told NPR yesterday, “The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political cultural event. The EBU is however concerned about current events in Ukraine and will continue to closely monitor the situation.”

The EBU has quickly changed its tune, though, as they’ve now gone ahead and banned Russia from the 2022 contest. In a new statement today, they said:

“No Russian act will participate in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The decision reflects the concern that, in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s contest would bring the competition into disrepute. The EBU is an apolitical member organization of broadcasters committed to upholding the values of public service. We remain dedicated to protecting the values of a cultural competition which proves international exchange and understanding, brings audiences together, celebrates diversity through music, and unites Europe on one stage.”

In recent years, Russia has been one of the strongest-performing countries in the contest: As BBC notes, they’ve had five top-five finishes over the past decade. They last won in 2008 and the next year, the contest was held in Moscow. Meanwhile, the Eurovision website notes of Ukraine, “Ukraine first entered the contest in 2003 and rapidly became one of the most successful countries in the competition. In 15 appearances at the Eurovision Song Contest, Ukraine has never missed a Grand Final. 9 of those 14 entries have finished in the top 10, 5 have finished in the top 3, and 2 have been winners.” Those wins came in 2004 and 2016.

Joshua Bassett’s Doppelgänger’ Video Co-Star Bears An Uncanny Resemblance To A Certain Pop Star

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Well, Joshua Bassett has been having a strange one lately! The rising pop star and High School Musical: The Musical: The Show star was caught up in a rumored love triangle last year when his alleged ex-girlfriend Olivia Rodrigo became one of the biggest pop stars in the world with a trifecta of searing breakup songs. As Sour took over the world, Joshua’s profile as her co-star on High School Musical was pretty impacted by her newfound fame. And from the sound of Olivia’s album — which, to be clear, could’ve been about anyone or completely fictional! — Bassett would’ve been the one who ended the relationship.

Since then, Bassett has been pretty mum about the subject, releasing plenty of songs about love and loss on his own, but perhaps today’s is the most direct update he’s given on the subject for a while. In a video for a new song called “Doppelgänger,” Bassett falls for a girl who looks very similar to Olivia. It’s like all the drama of early 2021, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Skin,” and Bassett’s own “Lie Lie Lie” is starting back up all over again. As for the video, Bassett co-directed it with Elle Mills. Check out the clip above and see if you notice any similarities, and you will, because they’re basically impossible to miss.

Dominic Fike Discusses A ‘Euphoria’ Fan Theory He Might Actually Believe And Performs On ‘The Tonight Show’

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Dominic Fike is in the midst of a major moment: His music career is going swimmingly and he’s a star of one of the biggest shows of the moment, Euphoria. He brought both those sides of himself to The Tonight Show yesterday, where he performed and sat down for a chat with Jimmy Fallon.

Fallon presented a few Euphoria fan theories to Fike, and the first of them is one that Fike said had him really thinking about it. Regarding the idea that Fike’s character Elliot is actually Nate’s estranged brother, Fike said, “I’m not even going to lie: I saw this one online, and I looked at it for a while and there were so many things connecting and so many people were talking about it all through these Reddit threads, and at the end of it, I was like, ‘Am I Nate’s brother?’ I almost called him up and asked him.”

He wasn’t as convinced by the idea that Elliot doesn’t actually exist and he skirted a question about whether Tom Holland, Zendaya’s Spider-Man co-star, would appear on the current Euphoria season.

Fike also spoke about working with Paul McCartney on his McCartney III Imagined album and said that he initially blocked McCartney’s phone number, telling Fallon, “Naturally, when you get a call from anything that you think is spam, you block the number, you delete it, you know what I mean?” Fallon asked, “You blocked Paul McCartney’s number,” and Fike responded, “Immediately, yeah.”

He also performed “Babydoll” on the show and smoothly found his way through a minor mishap. About a minute into the performance, he accidentally knocked down a microphone stand while turning around. When he realized what happened, he slipped a quick “Oh, that fell” into his lyrics and didn’t miss a beat as Fallon helped out by picking the stand up.

Check out the interview and performance above.

Megan And Her Many Personalities Take Us Through A Day In The Life Of Thee Stallion

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It’s Megan Thee Stallion’s world, the rest of us are just trying to twerk our way through it with half the grace and talent she has. Even if she’s been facing down serious demons of late, like all the drama with Tory Lanez who won’t take responsibility for the violence he enacted against her, or even more of a struggle to get free from the label deal that has caused her so much trouble during her rise to fame.

So, instead of focusing on those negative things, why not focus on what it must be like to spend a day in the life as Megan Thee Stallion? Being successful, beautiful and talented is a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it, and a new artist spotlight from Youtube gives fans a chance to peek inside Meg’s brain. Who else is up there? Suga, Tina Snow, and Hot Girl Meg, of course, all three of these brain divas round out the cast of characters in this ten-minute short. In the clip, Megan goes about her day assessing potential suitors, remembering old flames, and plenty more shenanigans that only Megan Thee Stallion would be involved in. Check out the carefree clip above.

Warner Music Invests $750 Million In Female And Diverse Artists With BlackRock

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BlackRock investment management company and Warner Music Group have made a huge investment in female and diverse artists according to The Wall Street Journal, putting $750 million into a fund dedicated to collecting rights catalogs from such artists in what the Journal calls a novel approach to the current trend of funds buying up artists’ catalogs.

While many of those efforts have focused on collecting older artists’ catalogs such as Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen — both of whom recently sold their catalogs for huge payouts — the new fund is buying up music rights from artists who are still actively writing, particularly women, who want to maintain stakes in their catalogs. So far, $300 has been paid out for 20 catalogs, including those of Tainy, the reggaeton star who has worked with Bad Bunny and J Balvin, the Stereotypes, who co-wrote “24K Magic” with Bruno Mars, and popstar Jessie Reyez.

Some commentators, according to WSJ, consider these investments higher risk; while older catalogs have proven to be safe bets — think about how many songs from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s are still being used in movies, let alone other commercial uses — newer music isn’t as sure to still be popular in 20 or 30 years. However, some artists have maintained their popularity, so some investors like BlackRock are willing to go all-in as newer music finds more use in streaming, video games, fitness apps, and social media.

Meanwhile, by allowing songwriters to maintain stakes in their own work, it gives them the incentive to not only accept investors’ terms but keep actively promoting their works to keep the checks rolling in.

Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.