Music

The Used guests on a new song from blackbear called “Toxic Energy.”

Frontman Bert McCracken lends his vocals to the pop-punk rocker, which is described as a “love letter to that toxic person that you have reached your limit on.”

“It’s when you’re done babysitting and giving your heart away and you need to take time for yourself,” blackbear explains. “This person lifts you up like cocaine but drops you in the dark like a lightning storm, the only way out is inward, enjoy.”

You can listen to “Toxic Energy” now via digital outlets. The track is also set to appear on blackbear’s upcoming album, In Loving Memory, along with the previously released Machine Gun Kelly collaboration, “gfy.”

In Loving Memory is due out August 26.

The Used, meanwhile, is currently on tour with Rise Against.

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On Friday, Dolly Parton announced a new roller coaster called Big Bear Mountain, which is coming to her Dollywood theme park next spring. At 3,990 feet, it’ll be the longest coaster in the park.

Big Bear Mountain is based on the legend of a massive black bear who roams the Smokies, leaving signs and clues as to his whereabouts, though no explorer has ever seen him. That just might change with the construction of the new coaster, which invites Dollywood guests on a rollicking ride through the wilderness.

Featuring immersive on-board audio, a first for the park, a top speed of 48 mph and a pass behind a waterfall, Big Bear Mountain will be filled with thrills, twists, turns, steep drops and near encounters with the black bear.

“The Smokies are all about adventure and going exploring,” Dolly says. “I’m excited our guests will be able to head out on their own trip into the Smokies to see if they can find that Big Bear! Whether he’s out there or not, I’m sure they’ll find a lot of memories along the way that they’ll keep forever.”

Big Bear Mountain has an anticipated opening date of spring 2023. Guests can preregister for their 2023 Dollywood passes from August 5 to September 30.

Those who register early will have access to an exclusive Big Bear Mountain ride event when it opens, as well as the guaranteed lowest price on passes.

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It’s Friday, so you know what that means: another set of newly released music is out for fans. Check out some of this week’s releases below.

Eminem, Curtain Call 2 — Slim Shady is back with another greatest hits compilation following 2005’s Curtain Call. This project features some of his best singles from 2009’s Relapse onward, as well as an unreleased track featuring 50 Cent, “Is This Love.”

NBA Youngboy, The Last Slimento — After releasing a sample project earlier this year, NBA officially dropped the project in full. It includes features from Kehlani, Rod Wave and Quavo, as well as the newly released single “I Know,” which is accompanied by a video streaming now on YouTube.

Bobby Shmurda, Bodboy — The Brooklyn rapper endured a lengthy prison sentence and some issues with his former record label, but now he’s a free man. Though he’s released a few singles, this is his first project since his debut EP, Shmurda She Wrote. “1st project since 2014 9songs long I’m excited,” he wrote on Instagram.

DJ Khaled, Drake, Lil Baby, “Staying Alive” — The men take on the roles of health care workers at Khaled Khaled Hospital in the new visual. The song interpolates the Bee Gees song of a similar name, “Stayin’ Alive.”

The Weeknd, Summer Walker, “Best Friends” remix — Walker adds her flair to “Best Friends,” released on 2022’s Dawn FM. “she fucking CRUSHED it,” The Weeknd said of Walker’s contributions.

John Legend, Saweetie, “All She Wanna Do” — The unlikely pair teamed up for a song “about a woman that you see out in a club who is just living her best life, embracing the party life and you want to be a part of it! You want to touch this energy that she has,” John said.

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) Megan Thee Stallion‘s music supposedly leaked, and she believes her record label is to blame. In a social media rant Thursday, she vented and publicly questioned the early releases.

Meg wrote, “I can’t catch a break my label hate me and my s*** always leak,” she wrote in a now-deleted post on her Instagram Story. “At this point invite the hotties to the studio and shoots.”

While it’s unclear which one of her tracks was leaked, her anger was quite apparent, as she continued her rant on Twitter.

“Why continue to choose peace when everyone else choosing violence???” she wrote. “Lol I got money I PAY FOR ALOT OF MY OWNNNN S******* I’ll start from scratch bc I’m a mf hustler BABYYYY.”

Megan has a management deal with Roc Nation, but she’s signed to 300 Entertainment and 1501 Certified Entertainment. She’s filed several lawsuits against 1501 over owed money and restrictions on her album releases.

Though upset about the leak, Meg says she is talented enough to start from scratch and make more music if need be.

“More s*** my leak idk hotties lol idk but I really RAP so I can make MORE music any time…,” she concluded, noting she was “done with Twitter for the day.”

Megan is currently gearing up for the release of her upcoming album, which she confirmed was completed last week. “So happy abt my album,” she wrote on her Story. “it’s finished. it’s for the hotties. it’s honest. it’s me. it’s real.”

The rapper also deleted her Instagram posts, recently adding a photo that defines “traumazine,” a word the post says is synonymous with “self-realization.”

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Breland shows off his slow jam chops with “Told You I Could Drink,” a new collaboration with country trio Lady A.

Attended by the group’s signature vocal harmonies, Breland captures the sting of a breakup in his heartache ballad, with lyrics that recount memories of turning to the bottle, first to toast a new relationship and then to mourn its loss.

“I told you I could drink / Told you I’d be fine / Told you I would move on if you left me behind,” Breland sings in the chorus. “‘Cause you pushed me to the brink / And I ain’t got no time / To sit around and wait for you to make up your mind …”

“Told You I Could Drink” brings out some R&B elements — a relatively new turn for Breland, but one that’s consistent with his commitment to genre-bending country music.

Fans already got to know his rafter-raising vocal runs and sing-a-long country chops on “Beers on Me,” a collaboration with Dierks Bentley and Hardy, which was the up-and-comer’s first #1 at country radio.

He also showed off his gospel leanings on “Praise the Lord,” a duet with Thomas Rhett, and pop stylings with “Cross Country,” released both as a solo version and as a duet with Mickey Guyton. Through it all, Breland is establishing himself as a lyrical master with a fresh spin on country songwriting. He’ll paint a more complete picture of his artistic identity with the release of his full-length debut, Cross Country, due out in early September.

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Forget swoon-worthy tales of romance, white horses and steamy love scenes: Kelsea Ballerini’s latest song is all about the little moments that make a relationship great.

“It’s when we’re in a crowded room, put your hand on my back / And waiting on me in the morning with my coffee black,” Kelsea sings in the chorus of her song. “Back to the basics, ‘cause they’re bigger than they seem / Give me that typical, simple love, it’s the little things.”

“The Little Things” is the latest song to come off of Kelsea’s forthcoming new project, Subject to Change, which comes out in full on September 23. Fans have already heard a couple of other new songs off the album, including “Love is a Cowboy” and the lead single, “Heartfirst.”

“Let’s not go big, let’s just go home,” Kelsea wrote on social media when she shared her new song. “My little ‘90s inspired windows down giddy song ‘The Little Things’ is out now.”

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Machine Gun Kelly has words for the “idiot” who thought they were vandalizing his tour bus early Thursday morning.

According to photos published by TMZ, one of at least four buses the “Bloody Valentine” rocker is traveling with on tour was tagged with a homophobic slur and a graphic image while it was parked in Omaha, Nebraska, where MGK played Thursday night.

In a series of Instagram Stories responding to the incident, Kelly declared the unidentified vandal to be “so dumb,” for one reason in particular: the bus that was tagged is not the bus he’s actually touring in.

“You spray-painted a bus thinking it was my bus,” Kelly said. “Wrong bus, you f***ing idiot. Do the first part of the crime right!”

Continuing to make fun of the culprit, Kelly noted that he’d been standing near the buses until about 4:30 in the morning, which means the person responsible “waited until 5 a.m. to spray-paint a d***.”

“You could have been at home, cuddling with your partner, doing something,” Kelly continued. “Instead you were, like, ‘I just wish he would go up to his hotel room so I could spray-paint this d***!'”

Kelly added that he didn’t even see the graffiti on the bus before it was washed off.

“Aren’t you sad?” Kelly said, adding a “you suck” for good measure.

Machine Gun Kelly is current on tour in support of his new album, Mainstream Sellout, which was released in March. The outing continues Saturday in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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Yungblud has premiered a new song called “The Emperor.”

The track will serve as the anthem for ESPN’s coverage of the upcoming 2022 college football season. You can hear a clip of “The Emperor” in a new ESPN college football commercial and listen to it in full now via digital outlets.

Meanwhile, Yungblud is gearing up to release his new, self-titled album on September 2. The record — Yungblud’s third full-length effort — features the previously released songs “The Funeral,” “Don’t Feel Like Feeling Sad” and the WILLOW collaboration “Memories.”

You can also catch Yungblud at a number of U.S. festivals this fall, including Riot Fest, Firefly and Austin City Limits.

ESPN is owned by Disney, parent company of ABC News.

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