Music

Vic Mensa is celebrating two years of sobriety.  

The Chicago rapper took to Instagram with the update, writing that he is “building the best version” of himself. 

“2 Years Sober,” he began in his lengthy post. “In many ways i would liken it to running up hill – at first it is difficult, but after time your strength increases, your endurance increases. Two years i’ve been raw dogging life [laughing emoji] I’ve had to learn how to face my emotions head on, nowhere to run to, nothing to hide behind.”

He added, “I have thought a lot about the difference between fun and joy. Many of the things I’ve always done in the pursuit of fun didn’t actually bring me joy, were actually antithetical to the pursuit of joy. I’m at a point where if an action is not actively furthering my goals, professionally, mentally, spiritually, physically… it doesn’t have a place in my life right now.

Mensa said he’s “gotten used to saying no,” and as far as partying, he “might show up to the club for 6.3 minutes but more likely not at all.”

The “Victory” rapper, who recently dropped a vulnerable new single, “Blue Eyes,” posted a series of images showing off his ripped physique while working out. 

“I’m building the best version of myself brick by brick, day by day, moment by moment,” he ended the post saying. “Everyone doesn’t have to see it, they don’t have to honor it, but i promise you, by the time im done they will respect it.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Miley Cyrus‘ new single “Used to Be Young” has become her 12th top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at #8.

“Used to Be Young” is also Miley’s second top 10 of 2023 following “Flowers,” which was number one for eight weeks earlier this year. Her previous top 10s include “Malibu,” “Wrecking Ball,” “We Can’t Stop” and “Party In the U.S.A.”

Meanwhile, Billboard‘s official Songs of the Summer chart has been revealed, and Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” is in the number-one spot. That’s not surprising since the Songs of Summer chart tracks the most popular songs between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and “Last Night” has been number one every week.

The rest of the Songs of the Summer for 2023 are as follows:

#2 “Fast Car,” Luke Combs
#3 “Calm Down,” Rema & Selena Gomez
#4 “Flowers,” Miley Cyrus
#5 “All My Life,” Lil Durk feat. J. Cole
#6 “Cruel Summer,” Taylor Swift
#7 “Karma,” Taylor Swift feat. Ice Spice
#8 “Snooze,” SZA
#9 “Kill Bill,” SZA
#10 “Fukumean,” Gunna

According to Billboard, Taylor’s “Cruel Summer” is the first Songs of the Summer hit to contain the word “summer” since her ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris‘ song “Summer” back in 2014.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Paul McCartney’s original Höfner bass guitar has been missing for years, but now some folks are trying to change that. 

The Lost Bass Project is a global search to find the instrument, which has been described as “the most important bass in history.” The two-time Rock & Roll hall of Famer purchased the bass in Hamburg, Germany, in 1961, but eight years later, it disappeared, reportedly after being put away following the filming of 1969’s Get Back.

Nick Wass, who has written articles about the missing instrument, has teamed with two BBC News journalists, Scott and Naomi Jones, to try and track down the bass, which McCartney used on such classic Beatles classics as “Love Me Do” and “She Loves You.” Wass tells the BBC, “For most people, they will remember it… it’s the bass that made the Beatles.”

While Beatles guitars have sold for big bucks at auction, The Lost Bass Project isn’t searching for it for financial gain, even though they realize if someone finds it, they may try to make money off it.

“It would be nice if it could go on public display one day – and if the only way someone is going to come forward is to make some money from it, then so be it, because at least it would be found,” Scott Jones says. “But ultimately we’re just doing this to get Paul his guitar back. We know via Nick and Höfner that it’s what he’s always wanted.” 

Since launching, The Lost Project has gotten hundreds of tips regarding the missing bass. As for how to identify it, it will have the Höfner logo written vertically on the headstock. It also had the pearl pick guard removed and the two pickups mounted in a single piece of black wood.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The wait for Nicki Minaj‘s Pink Friday 2 is getting shorter and shorter. 

Ahead of the release of her first full album in five years, Nicki unveiled the first of two versions of album cover art. 

In the image, Nicki rides a pink-themed sky train that sits atop pink clouds in front of a pink-hued city skyline. 

The destination: Pink Friday 2. 

“Album cover #1 of 2,” she captioned her Instagram post along with tagging a list of crew members who helped bring the project to life. 

Pink Friday 2, the much-anticipated follow up to her 2010 debut album, Pink Friday, is expected to arrive November 17.  

Since alerting fans of its release earlier this year, she’s since dropped a few singles that should land a spot on the track list, including “Super Freaky Girl,” “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” and her most recent, “Last Time I Saw You.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Gaslight Anthem has shared a new song called “Little Fires,” a track off their upcoming album, History Books.

“Little Fires,” which is available now via digital outlets, is the third cut to be released from History Books following the single and the Bruce Springsteen-featuring title track.

“‘Little Fires’ is like the opposite end of the spectrum from the frustration you feel in ‘History Books,'” says frontman Brian Fallon. “It’s an empowerment song, about refusing to play along with the kind of people who always seem to be throwing a grenade into the room for no particular reason.”

History Books is the follow-up to 2014’s Get Hurt and is the first Gaslight album since they announced in 2022 that they were “returning to full time status as a band.”

Gaslight will launch a U.S. headlining tour September 16 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The lead single from Olivia Rodrigo‘s new album GUTS, “vampire,” seems very obviously to be about a relationship gone wrong, which is why Olivia can’t believe that some people think it’s about Taylor Swift.

As The Guardian reports, some fans thought that Olivia’s lyrics “bloodsucker, fame f*****, bleedin’ me dry like a god**** vampire” was inspired by the fact that she gave 50% of the royalties for “Good 4 U” to Taylor because of its resemblance to “Cruel Summer.” What does Olivia say about that theory?

“How do I answer this?” she tells The Guardian. “I mean, I never want to say who any of my songs are about. I’ve never done that before in my career and probably won’t. I think it’s better to not pigeonhole a song to being about this one thing.” She adds, “I was very surprised when people thought that.”

That being said, The Guardian says GUTS contains “several songs about being gaslit by chaotic older men.”  When asked if those relationships were “abusive,” Olivia says, “I don’t really know the exact definition. I’d just describe it as not great! Not ideal.”

Explaining why she might have been drawn to this type of guy, Olivia says, “It’s a classic good-girl, bad-boy trope! Sometimes when you feel you have to be perfect all the time, you have to find the chaos in your life a different way.”

But Olivia wants to make it clear that GUTS isn’t a breakup album. As she puts it, “It’s so much about growing up and finding your footing in the world.”  

“It’s a unique experience,” says Olivia about being a pop star. “There’s no rulebook. That’s the beauty and the anxiety of this job. You forge your own path.”

GUTS is out September 8.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Diddy was in a giving mood recently.  

The music mogul reportedly gifted the publishing rights back to all the music artists who helped build his Bad Boy record label. 

Ma$e, Faith Evans, The LOX, 112 and the estate of The Notorious B.I.G are among those who have signed agreements to earn back the rights, according to Billboard. The magazine reports that Diddy started to reach out to artists and writers in May of 2021, and most signed offers with a few more agreements still in the works. 

The generous move comes after years of public scrutiny over artist rights, most notably with Ma$e, who has called his former boss out over “unfair” practices multiple times. 

“I heard u loud and clear when u said that u are now for the artist and to that my response is if u want to see change you can make a change today by starting with yourself,” Mase wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post, shared by the Associated Press. “Your past business practices knowingly has … been extremely unfair to the very same artist that helped u obtain that Icon Award on the iconic Badboy label.”

Diddy’s latest business decision also comes ahead of The Love Album: Off the Grid, his upcoming project expected out September 15. 

Earlier this week, he shared the presave link and track list, revealing album features with Swae Lee, Busta Rhymes, Mary J. Blige, Jeremih, Teyana Taylor and more. 

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.