Music

Trivium‘s Matt Heafy has released the first single from his new project Ibaraki.

The song features Heafy teaming up with Ihsahn, guitarist and vocalist of the Norwegian black metal band Emperor.  It’s called “Tamashii No Houkai,” which Heafy explains means “the breaking of the soul,” or “soul collapse.”

“It’s a Japanese term that didn’t exist before, but one we forged to reflect the song’s meaning,” notes Heafy, who was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and an American father. Ibaraki is the name of a Japanese demon of legend.

Heafy adds that Ihsahn has been “a longtime influence and mentor to so much that I do in music,” and says, “The writing of this song was the turning point for Ibaraki — it summarized everything from the past, present, and future of what I thought black metal was, is, and could be.”

Heafy notes, “‘Tamashii No Houkai’ is the perfect summary and representation of everything that Ibaraki is… and will be.”

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After postponing their long-awaited reunion tour last year, the Fugees announced Friday that the tour has been canceled.

“We anticipate and understand disappointment but our anniversary tour will not be able to happen. The continued Covid pandemic has made touring conditions difficult, and we want to make sure we keep our fans and ourselves healthy and safe,” the group wrote in a social media post.

“An idea sparked to honor and celebrate this 25th anniversary of The Score, but we see now it may not currently be our time for revisiting this past work,” the post continued. “We’re grateful for the special night we did get to share with some of you in New York, with that rare live moment.”

Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel previously announced in September 2021 that they were reuniting for a 12-city international tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their 1996 iconic debut album, The Score. The album has sold over 12 million copies and earned two Grammy Awards: Best Rap Album, and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, for “Killing Me Softly.”

The Fugees performed a free show on September 22 in New York City as part of the Global Citizen Live series of concerts. It was the trio’s first performance together in 15 years.

Following the NYC performance, the tour was initially scheduled to continue on November 2, 2021, in Chicago, and then make stops in Oakland, California; Los Angeles; Atlanta; Miami; Newark, New Jersey; and Washington, D.C. December performances in Paris, London, Nigeria and Ghana were to have followed.

However, in October 2021, the group revealed that the tour was being postponed until 2022 “to ensure the best chance that all cities on the tour are fully open so we can perform for as many fans as possible.”

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Congratulations are in order for Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra, who made the surprise announcement Friday that they are the proud parents of their first child.

The couple issued the joint statement on their respective Instagram accounts, which read, “We are overjoyed to confirm that we have welcomed a baby via surrogate.  We respectfully ask for privacy during this special time as we focus on our family.”

The couple thanked their fans for their support, but declined to share further information at this time about their newborn.  Friends and family were quick to send in their well wishes, including Nick’s brothers, Joe and Kevin Jonas as well as Ryan Tedder and Vanessa Bryant.

Nick and Priyanka, who celebrated their third anniversary in December, have previously spoken to the media about their future family plans.  Last February, the “Jealous” singer told E! News that he wants “many” children.

“It’s obviously something we hope happens, and God willing, it comes together,” he said at the time. “It’s going to be a beautiful journey, and I hope for many, or whatever that is.  We’ll go figure that out when they get there.”

His words echoed what Priyanka told The Sunday Times the month prior, where she remarked, “I do want children, as many as I can have.”

The two never shared plans on when they intended to start a family and, instead, would say they were content being a family of two.  Now, they’re a family of three.

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Photos from a 1991 gig Nirvana played six days after the release of Nevermind are being turned into NFTs, with some of the proceeds from their auction going to charity.

Forbes reports that the pictures were taken at J.C. Dobbs in Philadelphia on October 1 by photographer Faith West, as the band played to about 150 people.  To mark what would have been Kurt Cobain‘s 55th birthday, the NFTs are going up for auction on February 20 via Pop Legendz, a website West founded, and the NFT platform Rarible.

There are four unique NFTs created from 10 never-before-seen images, and bidding starts at 67 Ethereum, a digital currency, which is worth about $250,000.  Each buyer will also get a fine-art print of one of the images, signed by the photographer.  The 10 images are also being auctioned off individually as NFTs, in both black-and-white and color versions.

A second tier will allow 200 Nirvana fans to buy 14 artworks that have been created from three of the images, for $499. 100 copies each of 21 still images will be sold for $99 each.  You can buy those with either Ethereum or a credit card.

According to the Pop Legendz site, half of the auction’s proceeds will benefit The Trevor Project, which works to prevent suicide among at-risk LGBTQ+ youth.  Additionally, a portion of the other half of the proceeds will go to Grid Alternatives, which brings solar power to working poor families.

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Kanye West always has control of his music and fashion empire, and now he’s demanding final approval of the three-part documentary about his career, jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy.

“I’m going to say this kindly for the last time. I must get final edit and approval on this doc before it releases on Netflix,” the 22-Grammy winner posted on Instagram Friday morning. “Open the edit room immediately so I can be in charge of my own image,” he continued. “Thank you in advance.”

Directed by Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah, the film’s title was derived from West calling himself a “genius.” jeen-yuhs features never-before-seen footage from the last 20 years of Ye’s life. The docu opens at the beginning of his career in 2002, one year before he released his debut single, “Though The Wire.”

The film is set to premiere on Sunday, January 23 at the Sundance Film Festival and can be viewed online. The doc’s first act, Vision, will be shown in theaters nationwide on February 10 for a one-day engagement. jeen-yuhs will debut February 16 on Netflix.

The trailer includes scenes in the studio with Jay-Z and Pharrell Williams, the latter of whom says of Kanye, “This man can do everything himself.”

Ye also reviews a song from his debut album in the clip. Yeezy appears with Yasmine Bey, then known as Mos Def, and they rap “Two Words” from West’s 2004 album, The College Dropout. It was RIAA-certified four-times Platinum and remains Kanye’s best-selling project of his career.

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If you keep up with Kane Brown, you probably know the singer’s on a path to “be the fittest guy in country music,” as he recently told Men’s Health. 

If you happen to be on a similar journey, you’ll be interested to know the “One Mississippi” hitmaker’s also giving us a glimpse at how he plans to do it. 

On the road, he likes to do high reps of simple exercises that use only his body weight for resistance, like pushups, squats, and planks that add a shoulder tap. If he can find a boxing gym, he’ll head there, too.

If your gains aren’t equal to Kane’s, don’t worry. He also revealed to Men’s Health something he hasn’t talked about a lot: In high school, he was the QB of the football team, the captain of the basketball squad and a baseball pitcher, while also running track.

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Chris Janson’s next studio album is officially on the way. On Twitter, he shared that the project, called All In, is “coming this spring.” To kick off the song rollout, he released the title track.

“All In” is a catchy, irrepressible declaration of love, and it’s firmly rooted in the singer’s real life. The music video for the song features snapshots of Chris and his wife Kelly Lynn, piecing together a collage of the early days of their relationship and their life together as a married couple.

It’s not the first time Kelly has inspired one of Chris’ songs: In 2020, he topped charts with the romantic “Done.”

Beyond saying it’ll arrive in the spring, Chris didn’t offer up too many details about when fans can expect his new album to arrive. In the meantime, though, you can catch him live on the road, since his Halfway to Crazy Tour launches next month.

Last year, Chris released his heartstring-tugging single, “Bye Mom.”

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Following the success of his Power franchise and his BMF series, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson will now explore the murders of Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., and other rappers in Hip Hop Homicides.

Fiddy will produce the eight-part series with Mona Scott-Young who created the Love & Hip Hop franchise. Hosted by former TMZ personality Van Lathan, Hip Hop Homicides will air later this year on WEtv as well as the ALLBLK streaming service, Deadline reports.

“G-Unit Film and Television has thrived by telling real stories. As I continue to grow my current slate, premium non-scripted programming will be a major focus,” the rapper/actor/producer says in a statement. “Hip hop loves things that are damaged. This series will shed light on the artists that didn’t make it through the struggle.”

Scott-Young adds, “50 and I created this show in response to the disturbing number of murders in hip hop. With this boots-on-the-ground investigative series, we will look to closely examine and explore leads surrounding these cases with the hope of finally providing loved ones with answers.”

As previously reported, last month, Jackson announced that he is developing a series based on Snoop Dogg’s 1996 murder trial. Named after Snoop’s 1993 hit song, “Murder Was the Case,” the show will explore when the “Gin and Juice” rapper was charged with first-degree murder for the shooting of Philip Woldemariam, a member of a rival gang. Snoop, who was acquitted, was represented by the late Johnnie Cochran, famous for also representing O.J. Simpson in his 1995 trial for the murder of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman.

50 Cent will also be hosting the annual Maxim Super Bowl party on Saturday, February 12 at the City Market LA.

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Michael Bublé announced a rather unique way he plans to hype his upcoming single, “I Will Never Not Love You,” which drops next Friday — he’s allowing himself to be grilled by his fans.

In a press release, the Canadian singer announced that he’ll be opening himself up to a fan-fueled Q&A session that will be streamed live.  Fans are invited to record themselves asking Michael their burning questions and share them on social media using the hashtag #AskAwayWithBuble.  It appears written questions will not be accepted.

The deadline to get your on-video questions in on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is Monday, January 24, at midnight PST.  Then, the singer will be subjected to answering them on a livestream set for Friday, January 28 — the same day his new single drops.

So, while you’re thinking about what you want to talk with Michael about, go pre-save his new song on Apple Music, Spotify or Deezer.

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