Music

The anticipation for the “Better Thangs” collab Ciara and Summer Walker delivered earlier this week was just as high for the music video the ladies dropped off Friday. 

R&B veteran Ciara gushed about working alongside Summer for the energetic new track and the woman empowerment felt throughout the song and visual. 

“She and I have been rolling ever since we’ve connected,” Ciara told Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe. “We’ve just had a great flow as moms, as girls. In this video, you feel the ultimate girl vibes with us. We’re having a good time. We’re laughing. You can feel the empowerment of us. There’s other girls in the video too, as far as dancers and all that good stuff. So you just feel the power of all of us.”

The song and video gives off ’90s R&B vibes with its upbeat tempo, ’90s inspired hairstyles and carefree lyrics. 

The “Level Up” singer said the new track is all about being and staying positive and “getting to joy.”

“It’s too much going on in the world. Life is way too short,” she said. “So for me, I’m like, how can I get to joy? How can I get to good times? I love laughing. I love smiling. I just love good times,” she continued adding, “The ultimate goal, I think, is to motivate everyone to get the better things that they deserve in life.”

“Better Thangs” released Wednesday, two days ahead of its expected arrival. Ci Ci says she couldn’t keep it from fans any longer. 

“The fans have been asking for this record for so long,” she explained. “I’ve been teasing it for a long time on my pages. So it’s time.”

Head over to Ciara and Summer Walker’s official YouTube for the “Better Thangs” video. 

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The Beatles have debuted the first take of their classic experimental song “Tomorrow Never Knows,” one of the bonus tracks from the forthcoming deluxe reissue of the Fab Four’s landmark 1966 album Revolver.

The track features John Lennon‘s eerie, distorted vocals over a tape loop of a drum sequence and an Eastern-influenced guitar line that’s slower and more stark than the version that made the original album.

As a new Rolling Stone article explains, The Beatles began recording “Tomorrow Never Knows (Take 1)” on the first day of the Revolver sessions and nearly finished the track by the end of the second day.

Lennon famously told producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick that he wanted “to sound like the Dalai Lama singing from a hilltop” on the track. To achieve the effect, his vocals were run through a rotating Leslie speaker.

The finished track, which was one of the band’s earliest forays into psychedelia, became Revolver‘s closing song.

“Tomorrow Never Knows (Take 1)” is available now via digital formats, while a companion video, posted on YouTube, features archival photos, footage of the Beatles members and animated rotating tape reels, planets, clocks and flowers.

The deluxe reissue of Revolver will be released on October 28 in multiple configurations.

Among the versions of the reissue is a special edition that features new stereo and Dolby Atmos mixes of Revolver; the original mono mix of the album; 31 tracks of session outtakes; a four-song EP that includes the non-album tracks “Paperback Writer” and “Rain”; and a 100-page hardbound book.

You can preorder the Revolver reissue now.

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Russell Dickerson returns this week to announce his third studio album, a self-titled project boasting 15 tracks — all of which he co-wrote.

The singer says the new music will continue to share his story with his fans, fleshing out his introspective side while also delivering the energetic onstage personality that concertgoers already know and love.

“No matter how far we get into this, I want people to know it’s still me,” Russell reflects. “I’m still the hyper, outgoing, fun-loving crazy dude onstage. But also these songs are so meaningful to me. It’s not all hype and smoke and lights. I am a songwriter, I trust my instincts, and now my instincts are telling me to share 100 percent me, and creatively just let it flow.”

Russell Dickerson is set to arrive on November 4, but ahead of release day, the singer is sharing one of its tracks, the anthemic “I Wonder,” along with a music video to match.

Russell’s new album is available to pre-save and pre-order now.

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Ed Sheeran‘s legal woes are far from over. Even though he emerged victorious in his “Shape of You” copyright suit, he is now going toe to toe over a Marvin Gaye hit.

Billboard reports a federal judge has ordered the Grammy winner to stand trial in the copyright lawsuit alleging he stole elements from Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” to make his 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud.” The lawsuit was brought on by Structured Asset Sales, who owns a third of Ed Townsend‘s copyrights.

Townsend co-wrote “Let’s Get It On” with Gaye; his heirs have filed a separate suit on the matter.

This case now heads to a jury trial, which Ed, who previously filed a request to dismiss the lawsuit, hoped to avoid. His team argued the elements he’s accused of stealing — a chord progression and harmonic rhythm from the 1973 song — were not unique enough to be protected under copyright. 

The British singer’s team noted the same elements were found in a song that predates “Let’s Get It On” — The Temptations‘ 1965 hit “Since I Lost My Baby.”

Judge Louis Stanton sided against Ed and ruled nothing would preclude the artist from relaying his arguments to a jury. “There is no bright-line rule that the combination of two unprotectable elements is insufficiently numerous to constitute an original work,” the judge wrote. “A work may be copyrightable even though it is entirely a compilation of unprotectable elements.”

Judge Stanton also ruled that should Ed be found guilty of copyright infringement, the profits he made from concerts when he performed “Thinking Out Loud” will be included in awarded damages. 

No date has been set for the upcoming case, but it is expected to take place in a Manhattan federal courthouse.

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Founding Oasis guitarist Paul “Boneheard” Arthurs has some good news regarding his battle with tonsil cancer.

In a tweet Thursday, Arthurs shares he “had a full scan 10 days ago” and his cancer is “all clear.”

“It’s gone,” Arthurs writes. “Thank you so much all of you for the messages I’ve had throughout, you’ve helped more than you know.”

Arthurs first revealed his diagnosis in April. At the time, he called the cancer “treatable” and said he was “going to be taking a break from playing for a while.”

An original member of Oasis, Arthurs played on the albums Definitely Maybe, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? and Be Here Now before leaving the band in 1999. More recently, he’s been playing in Liam Gallagher‘s solo band.

Following Arthurs’ good news, Gallagher responded in his usual way tweeting in all caps, “YES BONEHEAD WE KNEW YOUD KICK ITS A*** SOOOOO F***ING HAPPY.”

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Roddy Ricch continues his string of recent music releases with his latest single and accompanying music video for “Stop Breathing.”

The Los Angeles hitmaker teamed up with top hip-hop producers Turbo, JetsonMade and Pooh Beatz for the hot new track, on which he raps lyrical bars about his lavish and successful lifestyle. 

Here are a few quotable lyrics: “Carti please, four G’s make them stop breathin’ / Mustard just sent the new Ferrari, I might just cop me one / They can’t be rich they just tryna make a carbon copy of ’em / Countin’ up this new money, every single day I’m home.”

The visuals match. Roddy is seen driving expensive cars, boarding jets, in the studio and rocking lots of jewelry. Also sprinkled throughout are clips of Roddy and Post Malone on the road during Post’s Twelve Carat Tour, where Roddy is a special guest. 

While not yet confirmed, all of Roddy’s new releases could appear on his next album, Feed tha Streets III, which, via a Tweet last December, the rapper promised to deliver some time this year. 

“Stop Breathing” is available for download all on major streaming services.

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Scooter Braun wishes he had done things differently with Taylor Swift.

To recap, Scooter acquired Taylor’s masters up until her Reputation album when buying her former record company, Big Machine, in June 2019. That same day, Taylor called the buyout her “worst case scenario” on Tumblr, and they’ve been at odds since.

Speaking on The Limits with Jay Williams podcast, Braun admitted he “would have” handled the situation differently and that he “learned an important lesson.”

Scooter reflected on when “all hell broke loose” — as in Taylor’s Tumblr post — and believes the issue arose because “a lot of things got lost in translation.” The talent manager said he was “under a very strict NDA” when acquiring Big Machine, so he “wasn’t legally allowed” to “tell any artist” about the deal beforehand.

“So the regret I have there is that I made the assumption that everyone, once the deal was done, was going to have a conversation with me, see my intent, see my character and say, ‘Great, let’s be in business together,'” he said. Braun admitted that his mindset was coming from “a place of arrogance.”

As for what he learned, Braun said, “I can never make that assumption again.” He added, “I think that when you have a conflict with someone, it’s very hard to resolve it if you’re not willing to have a conversation.” 

He also learned to see things from Taylor’s point of view. “I didn’t appreciate how that all went down,” he confessed. “I thought it was unfair. But I also understand, from the other side, they probably felt it was unfair, too.”

Braun, who has since sold the rights to Taylor’s first six albums for a reported $300 million+, says he’s “rooting” for Taylor and “wish[es] everyone involved well.”

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Looks like Dua Lipa has a new man in her life — late night host Trevor Noah.

Page Six reports the Grammy winner was seen palling around New York City with Noah on Wednesday night, and the two were even caught sharing a kiss. It is unknown when Dua, 27, began seeing Noah, 38.

Despite the unknown origins of their rumored love story, spies who caught them moseying around the Big Apple say they seem to be very happy to be in the other’s company. The rumored couple also grabbed a dinner at Miss Lily’s, a Jamaican restaurant.

“They were quietly sat away from everyone else at restaurant,” one source told the outlet. “It was clear they were into each other and sat close together throughout the meal.”

Once they finished eating, they “left together and walked,” says the source, who added that the two took a moment “for long embraces” and “kissed.”

Reps for the Daily Show host and Dua have not responded to the outlet’s request for comment at this time.

Dua parted ways with her boyfriend of two years, Anwar Hadid, earlier this year. 

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