It’s Already Time to Buy Next Year’s Coachella Tickets…
Not even a month has passed since this year’s double weekend Coachella, but tickets for festival’s two 2013 weekends, to be held at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, CA, will go on sale this Thursday, May 17th, at 10PM EST. Passes for April 12th-14th and the 19th-21st will be available here. Let the lineup (and potential hologram) rumors begin. (via The Fader…)
New Music: “US”, Azealia Banks…
As Azealia Banks makes us wait for the release of her anticipated new EP 1991, it’s nice to hear new stuff pop up from her in the meantime.
A few months back, an unfinished version of Azealia’s extra-cocky track “US” appeared online. It flew under the radar, and she left it out of her Coachella sets. But now the mastered version has come out, and it’s special because this might be the last time for a while that we get to hear a track from Azealia’s lo-fi days.
Since signing her new management deal with Lady Gaga’s manager Troy Carter, Azealia says she’ll be putting out higher-quality material from now on. She tweeted, “No more ghetto mixes and closet recording.. I have a budget now!”
But “US” was definitely one of those do-it-yourself productions, probably made in the bedroom. While singing on the track, Azealia shows that wordplay is her specialty by rapping about jealous chicks and having to watch out for suspect dudes. (Listen at Necole Bitchie…)
Watch the Weeknd’s Weekend Shows in Boston and New York…
Anyone with a Twitter feed and a passing interest in music has realized a good chunk of the population has been going ballistic over Canada’s newest R&B export the Weeknd’s first tour dates, which were announced earlier this month. Following two Coachella performances, Abel Tesfaye has kicked it off with dates in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia and sharing live footage on his website. Now clips from his Brooklyn, Boston, and Manhattan gigs have surfaced (concertgoers from Philadelphia are probably still sleeping it off). Check out Tesfaye performing — with surprising energy, given his music’s lugubrious trudge — multiple cuts off his trilogy House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence. Additional clips from Thursday’s Brooklyn kick-off show, are also plentiful. It’ll almost feel like you were there… screaming women included. (Read More and Watch at SPIN…)
Tupac’s Virtual Coachella Appearance Spurs Huge Sales Bump…
News of the late Tupac Shakur’s virtual appearance on the first Sunday (April 15) of the annual Coachella Festival has spurred a re-entry for his “Greatest Hits” album on the Billboard 200 chart and a jump on the Social 50 for his onstage duet partner, Snoop Dogg.
Tupac’s 1998 album “Greatest Hits” returns to the Billboard 200 for the first time since 2000, as it jumps back in at No. 129 with 4,000 copies sold according to Nielsen SoundScan (a gain of 571% over the previous week). The MC’s other albums also saw gains, including “All Eyez On Me” (2,000; up 95%) and “Me Against the World” (1,000; up 53%).
The late rapper’s songs got a boost too. (Read More at Billboard…)
The Weeknd Makes NYC Debut with Flawed, Fascinating Performance…
Fresh from a buzzy two-weeknd run at Coachella, The Weeknd (a.k.a. Abel Tesfaye) hit Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg for his first headlining New York show on Wednesday night (Apr. 25).
Despite the fact that fans could see what ended up being virtually the same set at Coachella online for free, the show was in high demand (tickets were running as high as $375 on secondary sites — face value was $30.) Music Hall itself was so packed with diehard fans anxious to sing along with Tesfaye on songs like “Loft Music,” “Montreal” and “The Party & The After Party” that the hipster chorus drowned out Tesfaye’s noticeably strained voice, which often struggled to hit the constant falsetto melismas his songs require. (Read More at Billboard…)
TLC to Tour With Film Projection of Left Eye…
Okay: TMZ reports that TLC will tour in 2012, with members Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas performing with a film projection of the late Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, who died in a car accident ten years ago today. The concept may recall Coachella’s recent 2Pac hologram, but it’s exactly what TLC’s surviving members did at their last performance in 2003. According to TMZ, five major cities have already been confirmed. (Read More at Pitchfork…)
Dr. Dre: Tupac Hologram Only for Coachella…
In a backstage video from Coachella, Dr. Dre has clarified that the Tupac hologram was specifically conceived for the festival and not as a first run for a future tour.
“It was strictly for Coachella,” says Dre in the video. “Get it right. I want to get rid of all the rumors out there. This was not done for a tour.” Dre did leave the possibility of a tour open, adding, “If a tour happens, we’ll see.” (Read More at Rolling Stone…)
Suge Knight: ‘Tupac’s Not Really Dead’…
Death Row Records Mogul Suggests that the Rapper Faked His 1996 Death
Former Death Row Records label boss Suge Knight has suggested that rapper Tupac Shakur could still be alive.
The hip hop star – who appeared at last weekend’s Coachella Festival in hologram form - was shot and killed in Las Vegas in 1996.
Knight, however, who was with him on the night of his supposed murder, has now told Los Angeles radio station KDay – via TMZ - that the hip hop star faked his own death. (Read More at NME…)
Rihanna Comes Under Fire After Posting Picture with Mystery White Powder Online…
Rihanna has faced criticism after posting a picture of herself online with an unidentified white powder.
The picture, posted on photo-sharing site Instagram, appears to show her cutting up an substance on top of her on her bodyguard’s shoulders. The image was taken at this weekend’s Coachella Festival in California and has sparked outrage from Instagram users, with comments suggesting the powder could be an illegal substance.
The singer has yet to respond to the claims, but she tweeted MTV, who have since removed the pictures on their website, stating simply: “PATHETIC C*NTZ”. (Read More at NME…)
Jackson 5 Reunion Tour May Unfortunately Star Hologram Michael…
Jackie hints that the remaining four Jacksons have a terrible idea
The Hologram Coachella lineup making the Internet rounds this week isn’t looking quite so ridiculous anymore. While discussing the recent announcement that the surviving members of the Jackson 5 would be playing a 27-date Unity Tour, Jackie Jackson dropped an interesting bomb on E! News yesterday. Now that they’ve seen what Tupac Shakur’s hologram can do, he doesn’t discount the possibility of Holo-Michael joining the gang on the next tour, which will happen next year after the remaining Jacksons release a new album, on the recently revitalized Motown Records. Which, given the Jacksons’ reunion efforts so far, may never happen at all. (Read More at Spin…)
M83 Offers to Write Katy Perry’s Next Album…
M83 has bizarrely offered to write Katy Perry’s next album.
The French dance producer, who released his double album ‘Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming’ last year, wrote on his Facebook page Facebook.com/M83 that he wanted to write Perry’s next album after she said she’d watched his set at Coachella over the weekend.
In case Perry is currently considering making the follow-up to ‘Teenage Dream’ an epic, soundscaped electro record complete with the whispers of a small child, M83, whose real name is Anthony Gonzalez, wrote: “I think I saw Katy Perry dancing on ‘Midnight City’ yesterday night. Katy, let me write your next album:).” (Read More at NME…)
The Tupac Hologram Might Tour…
The Tupac hologram that headlined Coachella last weekend may go on tour with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, a source tells the Wall Street Journal. Dre and Snoop are evidently discussing logistics for two “likely but not guaranteed” tour options: a stadium tour involving the the virtual Tupac, Eminem, 50 Cent and Wiz Khalifa or a smaller Dre, Snoop and Tupac hologram arena tour.
Dre and Digital Domain, the visual effects company who created the virtual Tupac, talked about creating the hologram a year ago, and worked on it for four months leading up to Sunday’s show. Digital Domain’s Chief Creative Office Ed Ulbrich told the Journal that their Tupac was an entirely fabricated, 2-D image:
Read More at The Fader…To create a completely synthetic human being is the most complicated thing that can be done. This is not found footage. This is not archival footage. This is an illusion.
Childish Gambino to Release New Mixtape ‘Extremely Soon’…
Relaxing before his Saturday mid-afternoon set at Coachella, Donald Glover, a.k.a. Childish Gambino, revisits a debate that he had earlier with his team about when to put out his new mixtape. “We were discussing on the bus whether or not to release it in a couple of hours,” the 28-year-old actor-rapper, who is wearing a ZZ Top Eliminator cut-off, tells Rolling Stone. Glover opted against releasing the tape during the fest – and at press time, it has yet to hit the Web – but he says it’s only a matter of time before he drops his new material. “It will be coming out extremely soon,” Glover says. “Like, extremely soon.” (Read More at Rolling Stone…)
Coachella Coverage: April 15th…
Watch Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s Coachella Performance, Starring a Hologram of Tupac HERE…
Watch Jeff Mangum Perform at Coachella HERE…
Watch Real Estate’s Coachella Set HERE…
Watch the Reunited At the Drive-In Perform “One Armed Scissor” at Coachella HERE…
Watch Santigold’s Entire Coachella Performance HERE…
Watch The Weeknd’s Entire Coachella Set HERE…
Pass the Weed Mic: Rihanna Hits The Coachella Stage, Wilds Out With Bestie Katy Perry…
Rihanna knows how to have a blast on stage. The 24-year-old “We Found Love” singer took over Day 3 of Coachella Music festival yesterday in Cali while performing with DJ Calvin Harris—and wilin’ out with her bestie Katy Perry.
More Pics at TheYBF…
