Music

Doja Cat is not picking up the glow sticks and poi balls in her new album. The Grammy winner shut down talk that her next studio effort is inspired by “German rave culture.”

Doja told CR Fashion Book last week that she was working on her next album and they quoted her saying, “I’m very into this ’90s German rave kind of vibe right now and it’s really fun. I know that’s kind of the trend at the moment but I loved that stuff as a kid and now that I can express it… That’s kind of a hint to the album. Rave culture, not house.” 

Those comments made waves on social media — so much so that the “Kiss Me More” singer clarified the comments in a series of tweets on Tuesday.

“im not doing a german rave culture album you guys,” she wrote. “i was pranking the outlet that interviewed me about it.”

Doja then followed up in a series of two tweets, saying “I’m doing an R&B album” and “Straight R&B no rap at all.”

Then, she got silly and further muddied the waters about her forthcoming work. “Yall I was lying. I’m doing an experimental jazz album. I thought it would be funny to steer you into believing i was doing r&b cuz i knew it would work but I’m doing experimental jazz now, honest truth,” she cracked.

Doja then tweeted in a voice note that she is actually “putting out a rock album,” named Rock Out Vol. 1: The Abyss 5000, that will have “emo jams.”

“I’m entering a rock phase,” she said. “… I’m gonna spit flames from my mouth on stage.”

It’s assumed this, too, is a joke. It is currently unknown when Doja will be issuing her fourth studio album.

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One of the two people who accused Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears of child molestation have reportedly withdrawn their lawsuit against the stars, TMZ is reporting.

The celebrity comics were accused of hiring two then-children to appear in a past Funny or Die sketch called Through a Pedophile’s Eyes.

The two plaintiffs in the withdrawn suit, identified as Jane Doe, 22, and her now-14-year-old brother, John Doe, were respectively 14 and 7 years old at the time they were paid by family friend Haddish to appear in the sketch, the suit alleged.

One reportedly had the female eating a hero sandwich while moaning and simulating sex acts she was coached to perform; the other had the boy playing and bathing as Spears’ character leered and interacted with him suggestively.

In a statement to TMZ on Tuesday, Jane Doe noted, “My family and I have known Tiffany Haddish for many years – and we now know that she would never harm me or my brother or help anyone else do anything that could harm us.”

She concluded, “We wish Tiffany the best and are glad that we can all put this behind us.”

The statement didn’t mention Spears, who called the suit “extortion” in an Instagram video.

After the suit was filed, Haddish told her fans, “Unfortunately because there is an ongoing legal case, there’s very little that I can say right now. But, clearly, while this sketch was intended to be comedic, it wasn’t funny at all — and I deeply regret having agreed to act in it.”

Haddish’s attorney, Andrew Brettler, insisted to Vanity Fair that the suit was baseless.

He added of the two now-adult accusers, “The two of them will together face the consequences of pursuing this frivolous action.”

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Carly Pearce, Kane Brown and Walker Hayes are three of the stars who will be honored at the 2022 CMT Artists of the Year ceremony, an annual event tributing those artists who dominated the country music industry over the course of the last year.

Luke Combs is another of the evening’s honorees, and Cody Johnson rounds out the five acts at the center of the show. Each act has had a banner year in their career: They have all found major success at country radio this year, been at the head of A-List tours and expanded their careers in new and diverse ways within the country format.

Cody, Carly and Walker are all first-time Artists of the Year nominees, while Luke and Kane are both being honored for the third time. A variety of yet-to-be announced performers will be on hand at the show to tribute each artist.

The event will take place at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center, premiering Friday, October 14 at 9 p.m. ET on CMT.

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Accepting the Nashville Songwriters Association International award for Songwriter/Artist of the Decade Tuesday night in Nashville, Taylor Swift took the opportunity to reveal a songwriting secrets: It’s apparently all about the pen.

After thanking the NSAI and the city of Nashville for inspiring her earliest songwriting endeavors, Taylor talked about how her favorite part of the process is writing lyrics. She then revealed the “dorky” way she thinks about her lyrics: She puts them into three categories, based on the kind of pen she imagines herself using to write them.

According to Taylor, “quill lyrics” are things that sound antiquated or, as she put it, “If my lyrics sound like a letter written by Emily Dickinson’s great grandmother while sewing a lace curtain, that’s me writing in the quill genre.”  She gave an example by reciting lyrics from “Ivy,” from her album evermore.

Next, she said, are “fountain pen” lyrics, which have “modern references, but with a poetic twist,” and sound like “confessions scribbled and sealed in an envelope, but too brutally honest to ever send.”  She quoted “All Too Well” — which she performed at the ceremony — as an example of that genre.

The third category, Taylor said, is “glitter gel pen,” which she described as “frivolous, carefree, bouncy.” To illustrate that genre, she quoted “Shake It Off.”

Taylor added, “Why did I make these categories, you ask? Because I love doing this thing we are fortunate enough to call a job. Writing songs is my life’s work and my hobby and my never-ending thrill.”

She concluded, “I am moved beyond words that you, my peers, decided to honor me in this way for work I’d still be doing if I had never been recognized for it.”

There’s fan-recorded video of the whole speech on YouTube.

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Blake Shelton has a special gift for members of his team on The Voice this season. 

The country superstar took to Twitter to reveal that over the years, it’s become “tradition” for the judges to give a gift to the contestants who pick them as their coach. For season 22, the lucky people who wind up on Blake’s team will be rewarded with a camo print ice chest, complete with The Voice logo and an emblem reading “Team Blake.”

It also features insulated and water proof lining inside. “Perfect for beer and popsicles,” the hitmaker says while modeling the bag. 

The ice chest was created by Land’s End, who Blake has also partnered with on a new apparel line.  

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As Luke Combs‘ career continues to skyrocket, he’s intentional about keeping trustworthy people around him, especially the songwriters he’s been working with since the start of his career. 

Since moving to Nashville in 2014, Luke continues to work with the same songwriters that he did when he was an unknown artist, including Ray Fulcher, Randy Montana and Dan and Randy Isbell. Noting that his circle of songwriting collaborators is close-knit, Luke says that he feels grateful to have that sense of consistency in his life. 

“I’m lucky that those people have been really talented and willing to share their ideas with me and share their songs and stories with me and be willing to go out of their way to make time to write with me, especially when they didn’t have any reason to, other than that they believed in what I was doing or believed in my voice or my shows,” Luke expresses. “So I would really give all the credit to those folks.” 

In addition to his writing partners, the hitmaker also acknowledges the team of people behind-the-scenes who’ve made his career a success, sharing that the only pressure he feels is to honor their hard work and dedication.  

“There’s so many other people that make this thing tick, and I think those people hardly ever get the credit that they deserve. I’m the guy that gets to be on the interviews and on the album covers, but there should be 250 faces on the front of that thing to make it happen,” he says. “I’m real thankful for those people and the only pressure I would feel is to continue to make those people proud.”

Luke achieved his 14th consecutive #1 hit this week with “The Kind of Love We Make.”  

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Mental health has been a constant trending topic during the pandemic, and now Omarion is offering his keys to wellness in his new book.

The former B2K lead singer published Unbothered: The Power of Choosing Joy, on September 13. This is his second book, following O in 2005.

“Being unbothered is about emotional intelligence, unbothered is giving yourself space to create the life that you want instead of reacting to life,” the “Post to Be” singer tells Rolling Out. “Being thoughtless, responding to life, and being thoughtful. That’s what being unbothered is all about. I have journal prompts, mantras, yantras, and affirmations. This book is what I would call the power for people that want to create wellness in their life.”

In Unbothered, Omarion shows how he has centered his life around holistic wellness, detailing the practices he uses including breathing exercises, meditation, yoga, dancing, and ancient mantras.

Omarion says his book provides a guide on how to improve mental health.

“This is a full circle moment for me because, through all of the ups and downs as artists, you have to ask yourself, ‘Why am I going through this?’ For it to manifest into a book and a tool that not only I use, but that can be useful to someone else is an amazing feeling,” he continues.

After over 20 years as a recording artist, Omarion says the book is one of the most intense projects of his career.

“It took me a year and a half to write this book, so this is the densest work that I’ve ever done,“ the BET and Soul Train Music award winner says. “So to be able to inspire, which is the highest human act, feels good.”

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