Music

Kacey Musgraves continues to roll out new music this week, unveiling another new song off her recently-announced star-crossed album. That song is “justified,” the sixth track on the upcoming collection.

In its lyrics, Kacey comes to terms with the non-linear, zig-zag pattern of healing that follows a breakup. “If I cry just a little and then laugh in the middle / If I hate you and I love you and then I change my mind / If I need just a little more time to deal with the fact / That you should’ve treated me right / Then I’m more than just a little / Justified,” she reflects in the chorus.

Set to a mesmerizing, bubbly pop beat, the new song follows “star-crossed,” the atmospheric album-opener that Kacey dropped earlier this week. 

Along with “justified,” Kacey also shared a music video, which follows her as she’s driving down a variety of different rural roads and city streets, tracing a complicated emotional range that bounces between tears and laughter.

The end of the music video teases another new song ahead: The car radio static fizzles into the sound of Kacey’s voice singing “Don’t go through your camera roll” against a somber musical backdrop. Her phone beside her starts buzzing and lighting up, showing her old photos from her camera roll that are titled things like “The day it fell apart” and “denial.”

Kacey’s new collection will arrive in full on September 10, along with an accompanying film. Two days later, she’ll give the world premiere performance of the title track of star-crossed at the 2021 MTV VMAs.

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R. Kelly‘s sex trafficking trial continued Thursday with his ex-manager, Tom Arnold, taking the stand as the twelfth witness, testifying that the singer would punish employees by withholding pay, or fining them over small transgressions.

Arnold served as Kelly’s studio and tour manager from 1998 to 2011, reports Billboard, and told the court Kelly would punish staffers by hitting them in the wallet, and that there were “quite a few” occasions where Kelly docked his pay over “menial” mistakes. 

One standout claim was that Kelly “fined” his employees “because someone ate his donuts.” Arnold also alleged he lost a week’s salary because he hired a male tour guide, instead of a woman, to take Kelly and his companions around Disney World. Because of that, Arnold said Kelly docked his pay $1,500 and canceled his Disney getaway.

Arnold said he quit after that, telling the court, “My wife wasn’t happy, I wasn’t happy, Rob wasn’t happy,” referring to Kelly by his birth name, Robert.

Arnold’s testimony was similar to claims made by former assistant Anthony Navarro, who also told the court about Kelly’s methods of punishing staffers.

During cross-examination, Arnold recalled the number of famous individuals visiting Kelly at his recording studio and confirmed people around him were “eager” to sue him.  Because of that, Kelly required all guests to sign confidentiality agreements.

Kelly, 54, whose birth name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, faces state and federal charges for sex trafficking, racketeering, coercion and other charges related to the alleged abuse and exploitation of six women — three of whom were underage at the time — over the course of 25 years. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

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It turns out Shawn Mendes did not put a ring on it. 

Fans started to speculate about a possible engagement between the power couple after girlfriend Camila Cabello posted a workout video on TikTok that showed a dazzling jewel on her ring finger. But Camila shut down the rumors on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. 

“He has not and I am not engaged,” she replied when the host inquired if Shawn had popped the question.  

In fact, the superstar admits she’s clueless as to which hand the engagement ring goes on, revealing that while her parents are still married, both of them have lost their rings.  

“I swear to God I don’t know what hand the engagement ring goes on, so sometimes I’ll just put it on my ring finger,” Camila explained, inviting Jimmy to “enlighten” her on this quandary. “My parents are married and they both lost their rings, so my mom couldn’t tell me either. She could save me from this, but she doesn’t, because she doesn’t know either.” 

After Fallon shared that he also doesn’t wear his wedding ring, he joked that he has his wife Nancy‘s name tattooed on his back.

“I have a tattoo of Shawn on my lower back…It says señor and he has one on his lower back that says señorita,” Camila quipped. 

Camila and Shawn celebrated their two-year anniversary in July with a trip to the Caribbean.

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Marilyn Manson made one of his first public appearances Thursday night after being accused of abuse and sexual assault by multiple women.

As The Hollywood Reporter points out, the embattled shock rocker, born Brian Warner, showed up on stage during rapper Kanye West‘s Chicago listening event for his still-upcoming new album, Donda.

Along with Warner, West was joined by another controversial artist, rapper DaBaby, who’s been under fire for making homophobic remarks during a recent music festival set.

This past February, Warner’s ex-fiancée, Evan Rachel Wood, publicly accused him of having “horrifically abused [her] for years.” Multiple other women came forward with similar allegations, including actor Esmé Bianco, model Ashley Morgan Smithline and Warner’s former assistant, Ashley Walters, all of whom are suing the musician.

Warner has denied allegations as “horrible distortions of reality.” In July, TMZ reported that Warner’s legal team asked that Bianco’s lawsuit, which accuses him of sexual assault, be dismissed.

For anyone affected by abuse and needing support, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or if you’re unable to speak safely, you can log onto thehotline.org or text LOVEIS to 1-866-331-9474.

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Like many recording acts, BTS had to scrap their global Map of the Soul Tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they got really creative during their time off by learning to sing completely in English, a move that paid off for the K-Pop superstars.

The band released three singles in English — “Dynamite,” “Butter” and “Permission to Dance” — all of which shot to #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40 Airplay chart.  However, not everyone in the band — which includes of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook — thought it was a good idea.

RM, the band’s de facto spokesperson, tells Billboard he wasn’t fond of the idea, but admits it was a crucial way to keep buzz alive during the pandemic and, quite frankly, “There was no alternative.”

Jin tells the music publication that singing in English felt totally unnatural at first, explaining that he learned to mimic the guide track’s pronunciations by writing them down in Korean characters.

“The English I learned in class was so different from the English in the song,” he adds. “I had to erase everything in my head first.”

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Selena Gomez delighted fans on Thursday by releasing her brand-new single, “999,” and its accompanying music video.

The gentle Spanish ballad, which features vocals from Colombian singer Camilo, follows two love-struck individuals pining for one another and living through fantasies in their head about what would happen should they make a move.

The two agree that they don’t want to take it slow in their theoretical relationship, and see it lasting forever.

Selena Gomez praised her collaborator in a statement obtained by ABC Audio, declaring, “Camilo is a fantastic songwriter and singer who proudly wears his heart on his sleeve which is something we connected on immediately. I couldn’t have been more excited to collaborate with him.”

Camilo also gushed about the “Lose You to Love Me” singer, and expressed, “Working with Selena Gomez is a tremendous honor and a huge moment in my career. From the beginning, 999 was written based on the color of her voice, and it wouldn’t have existed if it wasn’t for the dream of this collaboration.” He also said he’d been wanting to work with Gomez for some time.

Gomez previously opened up about why she’s shifted toward making Spanish music, telling Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in January, “I just hope that people understand how much I put my heart into this, and how amazing I feel about it… I’m targeting my heritage, and I couldn’t be more excited.”

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One year down, a lifetime to go! Katy Perry is celebrating her baby girl’s first birthday. 

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, the American Idol judge gushed, “1 year ago today is the day my life began… Happy first Birthday my Daisy Dove, my love [red heart emoji].”

Daisy is the first child for Perry and her fiancé, Orlando Bloom. Bloom also shares 10-year-old son Flynn with ex-wife Miranda Kerr. 

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Michael Ray‘s Higher Education falls somewhere between classic country and Southern rock. 

Its track list still includes self-penned cuts like the autobiographical “Didn’t Know I Was Country” and the emotional “Picture,” plus his top-twenty throwback to nineties country, “Whiskey and Rain.” 

Simultaneously, the EP’s title track features Kid Rock and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. So is the Sunshine State native feeling like he needs to rock a little more these days? After a tough 2020 and some serious self-reflection, Michael says the answer is an authentic yes. 

“Everything got taken away from us all…” he says of the pandemic. “I was back in Florida, and I was like, ‘What if that’s it? What if… that was all… my last body of work anybody’s ever gonna hear? Am I 100% happy to hang my hat on that and that be it?'”

“I think we all had a moment in time of going, ‘Okay, I’m coming out of this better than I went into it,'” he adds.

Having grown up playing in his family’s country band, Michael immortalized his grandfather, Amos, with the title of his last record. But he realized he has more roots worth showcasing.

“I went back to what I fell in love with…” he reflects. “My dad was playing ZZ Top and Marshall Tucker [Band] and Lynyrd Skynyrd and Allman Brothers and that whole list. My grandpa was playing Ray Price and Porter Wagoner and Bobby Bare and Earl Thomas Conley and John Conlee.”

“So I grew up kind of always in the middle of this rock and fiddle… thing,” he laughs. “And so I think it’s comfortably where I like to live, and I like showing those both sides of it.”

You can stream or download Michael’s Higher Education now.

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