Music

Back in the early 2000s, the idea would have been sheer lunacy, but now, Backstreet Boys say they’re open to doing a joint tour with *NSYNC one day.

Speaking to PEOPLE (The TV Show!), Backstreet’s Nick Carter said of the proposed pairing, “I think it would just be good for the nostalgic side of it, for the fans, if we did something like that.”  AJ McLean chimed in, “The fans would lose their mind[s].”

Nick explains, “What’s happening now is that we are realizing that we’re the only ones that have gone through what we have together, and we relate to one another. It was a place in time, and our lives were very parallel. So, all this unity and coming together and all this love, it’s really cool.”

The comments come after AJ teamed with *NSYNC’s Lance Bass and Joey Fatone for a charity event last month, and after Joey, AJ and Nick — along with Boyz II Men‘s Wanya Morris — announced a four-night engagement in Las Vegas.  

Around the time of the charity event last month, AJ told People that the two groups’ supposed “feud” had been “fabricated,” and added, “Just to be able to do something like this together hopefully squashes all that crap that was never true in the first place.”

As previously reported, Backstreet have scheduled a 12-night Very Backstreet Christmas Party residency show in Las Vegas later this year.

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 Kentucky rapper EST Gee is making headlines with his latest mixtape, Bigger Than Life or Death, which features Yo Gotti, Lil Durk, Future, Young Thug, and more. 

Fans on social media are enjoying the 15-song project, including Gee’s previously released songs, “Lick Back,” Capital 1,” and the title track, “Bigger Than Life or Death.”

“Six songs deep in this new EST Gee and it ain’t got no skips,” tweeted one fan, while another said, “EST Gee is such a breath of fresh air. His sound is exactly what I’ve been wanting to hear.”

Some fans hinted that the Louisville rapper should have been placed on XXL‘s 2021 Freshman class list for emerging artists. Meanwhile, many were impressed with Gee’s track “5500 Degrees” with Rylo Rodriguez, 42 Dugg, and Lil Baby. 

Baby closes out the track, which flips Juvenile‘s 1998 Cash Money classic “400 Degreez,” by declaring himself the “Lil Wayne of this new generation.”

“I’m going too crazy I’m the Wayne of this new generation / [Rappers] fugazi, they can’t f*** with us no types of ways/ these [rappers] too lazy / I’m cut from a different cloth, I don’t know who raised em,'” Baby raps.

Bigger Than Life or Death is out now.

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During his Verzuz battle with Bow Wow last month, Soulja Boy brought out French Montana to perform the “She Make It Clap” remix. Now, the two rappers have linked up to shoot a matching visual at a lavish estate.

Soulja and French can be seen kicking it with a gang of beautiful women while rapping about their fame and fortune. Soulja’s verse from the original “She Make It Clap” remains intact, while French’s verse references his ex, Khloe Kardashian, and Beyoncé’s protege, singer Chloe Bailey.

“Make it clap like Chloe / Not my ex Khloe, that Chloe with Beyoncé / Met her at Liv on Sunday / Had her trending by Monday,” French raps.

Meanwhile, rising hip-hop/R&B singer Ryan Trey is back with a music video for his new single, “It’s About a Girl.” The dark visual opens with Ryan arriving at a house party, where he meets a beautiful girl. As the night continues, Ryan begins hallucinating and wakes up on the front lawn. It becomes clear that he never made it to the party due to crashing his car on the way there. He then realizes the girl from the party is a paramedic assisting him.

And last but not least, Jamaican dancehall singer Shenseea is back with her new single, “Run Run.” In the accompanying visual, Shenseea and her girls chase down a man who played with her heart and lock him in a cage. Shenseea’s spicy vocals helped her land collaborations with instrumentalist Masego and Tyga, to name a few.

(Videos contain uncensored profanity.)

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After debuting his single “New Normal” during Richard Branson‘s Virgin Galactic Spaceflight earlier this month — and performing it live for Branson and crew after they returned to Earth — Khalid has officially released the song, as well as a music video.

In addition, Khalid has announced his third album: It’s called Everything Is Changing, which will be released this fall. It’s now available for pre-order.

”’New Normal’ was inspired by how I was feeling during the pandemic and the emotional toll that quarantine took on me and my friends,” Khalid explains. “Everything Is Changing, as an album, really takes that a step further with all of the songs centering around trying to find a purpose and a sense of self in a world where everything is digitally connected but emotionally disconnected.”

“As we all come out of quarantine and venture more into the world and try to reconnect with people we haven’t seen in over a year, I hope the messages explored within the album open up conversations and allow people to access their feelings in a new way,” he adds.

Everything Is Changing is the follow-up to Khalid’s 2019 album Free Spirit, which featured the hits “Better” and “Talk.”  His current single “Working,” is a collaboration with Tate McRae.

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Luke Bryan wasn’t in attendance when his fellow country superstar Blake Shelton got married to Gwen Stefani in an intimate Oklahoma ceremony earlier this month.

“I did not know it was happening. I found out with the rest of the world,” Luke tells People.

According to the details that have since emerged about Blake and Gwen’s wedding, that’s not a huge surprise: The A-List couple were aiming for a small, family-focused ceremony with few celebrities in attendance. However, they did pay homage to the way they met — on the set of The Voice — by enlisting The Voice host Carson Daly to officiate.

But just because he didn’t attend the wedding doesn’t mean Luke won’t be getting the happy couple a gift. The country superstar says his present for Blake and Gwen is inspired by his prankster side.

“I have started my mental wedding gift soirée. I am going to get a big box and there will be embarrassing items in there,” Luke hints. “They’ll be funny, sarcastic items. So Blake and Gwen can expect my wedding gift with the Luke Bryan touch on it.”

Luke can take a joke gift as easily as he dishes one out. Last weekend, he celebrated his 45th birthday on tour, and his famously prank-happy wife, Caroline, couldn’t resist surprising the singer onstage. Luke opened up a selection of gag gifts of his own — including a six-pack of his own Two Lane beer, a lamp and Jockey underwear — in front of his family, friends and an arena packed with fans. 

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Olivia Rodrigo has worn many hats in 2021: Chart-topping artist, SNL musical guest and high school graduate. But now you can see her as you’ve never seen her before: dressed as cutlery.

More specifically, Olivia plays a dancing fork in a new clip of this Friday’s episode of her Disney Channel show High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, available now on YouTube.  In the show, the East High Wildcats are staging Disney’s Beauty & the Beast as their spring musical, and Olivia’s character, Nini, portrays one of the dancing knives and forks who surround Belle, as Lumière the talking candelabra welcomes her to the castle.

Billboard reports that the show’s season two soundtrack, which comes out July 30, will feature Olivia and co-star Joshua Bassett‘s duet, “Even When”/”The Best Part,” as well as Olivia’s solo rendition of “The Best Part,” and a few other performances from the “Drivers License” star, including “Granted” and “The Rose Song.”

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Legendary actress and comedian Marla Gibbs, whose career has spanned five decades, is doing much better after she appeared to faint while accepting her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday.

During the event, which was also livestreamed, the 90-year-old actress, who starred in classic sitcoms The Jeffersons and 227, paused mid-sentence, drawing concerns from onlookers who thought she might fall during the ceremony. Gibbs was helped to a chair by her son, who later moved her inside due to concerns about heat exhaustion.

A rep told Entertainment Weekly that Gibbs was overheated but is “doing great” and had a “great time at the after-party.”

“I never thought it would happen, but here it is,” Gibbs said after the ceremony resumed, 30 minutes later. “I just got overwhelmed for a minute. I haven’t been excited until this moment!”

The Emmy-nominated performer also thanked fellow actress Tisha Campbell and The Jeffersonsproducer Norman Lear, who both gave speeches before Gibbs took the stage.

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Fans on social media are complimenting singer-songwriter Vory for his performance on Kanye West’s new song, “No Child Left Behind,” from is forthcoming album, DONDA.

The Grammy-winning artist sang vocals on the song used in the latest Beats by Dre commercial, starring runner Sha’Carri Richardson, who was suspended from the U.S. Olympic team after testing positive for THC earlier this month.

“Our voices must be heard. Sha’Carri, we standing with you,” Vory wrote on Instagram, sharing a clip of the video. “Wait til y’all hear what we got on the album… DONDA OTW.”

Fans in the comments shared fire and diamond emojis – a nod to Vory’s label Dream Chasers Records.

“Legendary. I’m proud of you, bro! Glad I got to witness history being made,” wrote social media personality Justin Laboy, who listened to Ye’s album earlier this week. “You just getting started, king. You belong here! BLESS UP.” Other fans called 24-year-old Vory a “legend” in the making.

Vory is among the featured guests on Kanye’s tenth album, DONDA, which drops this Friday. Before releasing his self-titled EP in December, the Kentucky-bred artist appeared on Meek Mill’s EP, Quarantine Pack. Vory also vocally contributed to Bryson Tiller’s Trapsoul, Drake’s Scorpion, and The Carters’ Grammy-winning album, Everything Is Love, which won Best Urban Contemporary Album.

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