Music

We won’t have to wait too long to hear what a Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross-produced Halsey album sounds like.

The pop star’s upcoming record If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, which was produced by the Nine Inch Nails duo, is due out next month, on August 27. 

Halsey, who revealed in January that she’s pregnant, describes If I Can’t Have Love as a “concept album about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth.” That’s certainly reflected in the record’s cover artwork, which features Halsey sitting on a throne with a baby on her lap and one of her breasts exposed.

“It was very important to me that the cover art conveyed the sentiment of my journey over the past few months,” Halsey says. “The dichotomy of the Madonna and the Whore.”

Halsey has previously collaborated with rock artists including Bring Me the Horizon, Travis Barker, Machine Gun Kelly and Yungblud. Her early single “New Americana” was a top-20 hit on Billboard‘s Alternative Airplay chart.

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City Girls are back with a music video for their single, “Twerkulator. The visual features brightly-colored costumes, tons of twerking, choreography, and a voiceover from the one and only Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott.

“This an emergency. This is not a test. Everyone, please take shelter immediately,” Missy says. “The twerkulators have already invaded Twerk City and you don’t have much time. They’ve already landed and they’re taking over!”

Missy Elliot also serves as director of the chaotic “Twerkulator” video, which is centered on Caresha and JT dancing around ‘Twerk City.’ The video also spotlights major fashion and hair brands such as MCM, Kaleidoscope hair growth drops, and the swimwear company, Icon Swim.

City Girls launched their first collection with Icon Swim earlier this year, featuring a variety of swimsuit styles, dresses, and cover-ups in tiger and zebra prints. 

“Twerkulator” samples the 1982 song “Planet Rock” from Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force. 

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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Badflower has released a new song called “Family,” the lead single off the band’s just-announced sophomore album, This Is How the World Ends.

The raw, emotional track finds frontman Josh Katz confronting his fractured relationship with his family, alongside a video featuring old home video footage.

“Family” is available now for digital download, and you can watch the video streaming now on YouTube.

This Is How the World Ends arrives September 24. It’s the follow-up to Badflower’s 2019 debut OK, I’m Sick, which spawned the singles “Ghost,” “Heroin,” “Promise Me” and “The Jester.” Since then, they’ve released a pair of standalone singles — “30” and “F*** the World” — neither of which will appear on the new album.

Here’s the This Is How the World Ends track list:

“Adolescent Love”
“F**boi”
“Family”
“Johnny Wants to Fight”
“Stalker”
“Everyone’s an A*****e”
“She Knows”
“Only Love”
“Sasshole”
“Don’t Hate Me”
“Tethered”
“Machine Gun”
“My Funeral”

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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Halsey revealed the symbolic cover art for her new album on Wednesday, with an unveiling at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The cover of If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power features Halsey posed in the style of historical paintings, sitting on a golden throne with a baby on her lap and one of her breasts exposed. Halsey explains the significance of the portrait in a post on social media.

“This album is a concept album about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth,” the singer, who’s expecting her first child, writes. “It was very important to me that the cover art conveyed the sentiment of my journey over the past few months. The dichotomy of the Madonna and the Whore.”

She continues, “The idea that me as a sexual being and my body as a vessel and gift to my child are two concepts that can co-exist peacefully and powerfully. My body has belonged to the world in many different ways the past few years, and this image is my means of reclaiming my autonomy and establishing my pride and strength as a life force for my human being.”

Halsey adds that the cover image “celebrates pregnant and postpartum bodies as something beautiful, to be admired.”

She concludes, “We have a long way to go with eradicating the social stigma around bodies & breastfeeding. I hope this can be a step in the right direction!”

Halsey also revealed the release date for the album, which was produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of the rock band Nine Inch Nails. If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power comes out August 27.

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Martina McBride is bringing some of the biggest hits of her career to vinyl.

This week, the singer announced plans for a double LP called Greatest Hits: The RCA Years, which will be available exclusively on vinyl. Hits like “Independence Day,” “A Broken Wing,” “Concrete Angel” and “This One’s for the Girls” are just a few of the songs that will be included on the project.

“When I signed my record deal with RCA in 1991, vinyl was out and CDs were in. Even though I’ve always been happy to see my name on any form of recorded music, I’ve always hoped to see my music on vinyl,” Martina explains. “…This is a very special project to me and I’m excited that everyone will be able to add it to their vinyl collection.”

Plus, if you pick up their copies at Walmart, you can grab an exclusive edition of Martina’s Greatest Hits that’s pressed on special sea blue vinyl.

Greatest Hits: The RCA Years comes out on August 20. In the meantime, find Martina on the road in 2021 as an opening act for select dates on Alabama’s 50th anniversary tour. She’s also joining Blake Shelton’s Friends and Heroes 2021 tour.

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Get ready to kick your nostalgia into overdrive.

Members of three iconic ‘90s boy bands — *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys and Boyz II Men — are teaming up for The After Party, a new show at the Venetian in Las Vegas.

*NSYNC’s Joey Fatone, Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean and Nick Carter, and Boyz II Men’s Wanya Morris will perform a variety of classic hits with a live band during the four-night engagement. There will be comedy, storytelling and special guests, and the set list will change nightly.

“Being on stage has always been a part of all of us so having the opportunity to create a show with the best songs of all our groups has been a lot of fun,” Joey says in a statement. “Working together has brought up so many memories and I’m excited to see how the fans react to seeing us all on stage together. Plus, we have some surprises in store!”

AJ adds, “We’ve had so much fun putting this show together and finally sharing a stage, I can’t wait to share it with the fans. I promise an incredible night of wild surprises, this is an absolute must see!”

The show will run from Thursday, August 19 through Sunday, August 22, with tickets going on sale to the general public on Saturday, July 10 at 10 a.m. PT.

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For the first time in six years, Garth Brooks is returning to the Boston area for a major concert event. This week, he added a new stop on his Stadium Tour in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The show will take place October 9. It’ll be the first time Garth has ever played the venue — Gillette Stadium — as well as the first concert that’s been held there in 2021.

But that’s not the only reason the show will be a special one, says Garth, pointing out that “[o]ne of the many reasons why I’m so excited about playing Gillette Stadium is this is kind of where it all began for us.” The venue is owned by billionaire businessman Robert Kraft, whose holdings also include the NFL team the New England Patriots, and whose family encouraged Garth early on to branch out into the realm of stadium shows.

“The Krafts were the first stadium — and the first family — to come to us and say, ‘Hey, man — you can play stadiums, and you should play stadiums.’ It was very sweet,” the singer says. “They believed in us years and years ago. Now it’s neat that it’s finally coming to fruition and the circle is kind of being complete.”

Tickets to Garth’s Foxborough show go on sale next Friday, July 16 at 10AM ET. As always for Garth’s stadium stops, the show will feature in the round seating, and tickets will cost $94.95, all-inclusive.

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Fans on social media have high hopes to receive another collaboration with Drake and Nicki Minaj before the end of the year.

The OVO head honcho shared two cryptic posts on his Instagram Story Tuesday night, including a pic taken inside Nicki’s studio — hence the wall with her name written on it in neon pink.

The other photo shows Drake sitting in the back of a vehicle rocking a YMCMB hoodie, which stands for Young Money Cash Money Billionaires. It represents Drake, Nicki, and other artists signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment label and Birdman’s Cash Money label.

Drake’s posts came hours after Nicki Minaj made public service announcement on her Instagram account.  “There’s something I urgently need to share with you guys. I’ll go LIVE on IG THURSDAY @ 10:30 PM EST,” Nicki wrote in the caption. “No, I won’t be late. In fact, I’ll be early. This is VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT. Love you so much.”

Nicki and Drake recently collaborated with Lil Wayne on “Seeing Green,” from the re-release of Nicki’s critically acclaimed mixtape, Beat Me Up Scotty. Throughout the project, Nicki lyrically mentions working on the follow up to 2018’s Queen. 

Fans are still waiting on Drake’s album, Certified Lover Boy, which was set to arrive this summer. The Toronto rapper recently changed his Instagram bio to Certified, which gives the impression the album has a new title or has been delayed.

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The Offspring has premiered the video for “This Is Not Utopia,” a track off the band’s new album, Let the Bad Times Roll.

The clip finds the SoCal punks sporting gas masks as they rock out in a smoky blue room while a woman dances in an American flag bikini. That’s all cut with microscopic footage of blood, which a press release describes as a “sly wink” to vocalist Dexter Holland‘s PhD in Molecular Biology.

You can watch the “This Is Not Utopia” video streaming on YouTube.

Let the Bad Times Roll, the first new Offspring record in nine years, was released in April. Its lead single and title track hit number one on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.

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98 Degrees is back to heat up your summer with a brand new song.

The reunited boy band teased their new single, “Where Do You Wanna Go,” and gave a behind-the-scenes look at the recording process this week.

The song, which drops Friday along with a music video, was recorded at a makeshift recording studio at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino during quarantine. In a clip posted to the band’s social media, we see the group playing around with melodies for the upbeat pop tune.

“Where Do You Wanna Go” is part of their 98 Days of Summer campaign, which they launched last month. The campaign will include the release of a new EP, titled Summer of 98, with new songs and remixes of their most popular hits, including “Heat It Up,” “I Do (Cherish You),” “Invisible Man,” “Because of You,” “The Hardest Thing,” and more.

The group — Nick Lachey, Drew Lachey, Jeff Timmons and Justin Jeffre — most recently released a Christmas album, Let It Snow, in 2017. Their last album of original music was 2013’s 2.0.

 

 

 

 

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