Music

If you wondered if Lil Nas X was okay after the “Industry Baby” rapper suddenly disappeared in mid-December after revealing in since-deleted tweets that he tested positive for COVID-19, fear not. He’s quietly made his return by starring in a new commercial for wireless headphones.

Teaming with Logitech for their UE Fits Custom Earbuds, the Grammy winner is seen pacing around his home in his neon pink silk pajamas before putting on his new headphones.  He’s then transported to another world full of neon-colored butterflies and blooming flowers. 

Lil Nas X drinks it all in while bopping his head to the instrumental of his song “That’s What I Want.”

It is unknown when the commercial was filmed, but this marks the first time Lil Nas X has appeared publicly since December 17, when he posted a string of tweets about contracting COVID-19.  He said at the time, “I’m not sure whether i’ve had the omarion or alicia keys variant of covid but this has not been a fun journey.”  He also promised fans, “Now that i’m sure i won’t die from covid i will now begin making mildly funny jokes about having it.”

Soon after, the tweets were deleted and Lil Nas X’s once very active social media presence went dark, leading fans to worry about his well-being.   Fans caused his name to trend several times on Twitter as they tried to locate the “Panini” rapper, while others wondered if this was all an elaborate publicity stunt.

We may soon have an answer: After the commercial dropped, Lil Nas X wiped his Instagram account clean — sans for one image promoting his album, Montero — and cryptically wrote “love & miss u guys. back soon.”

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Going fishing, riding four-wheelers and throwing something on the grill that you caught yourself: It’s all just part of the beauty of life “Out in the Middle.”

Zac Brown Band offers their homage to country life in the music video for their new single, “Out in the Middle,” which takes the group way out to the backwoods for a celebration of all things country. The clip was filmed in the lush rural areas of Leesville, South Carolina.

The message behind the song and video is the heart of ZBB’s new The Comeback album, says lead singer Zac Brown.

“It has the pulsating sound and feeling your heart gets when you’re adventuring the great outdoors and your adrenaline starts pumping,” he says. “We combined our old school country roots and Southern rock style, creating an ode to our country pride and life’s simple pleasures.”

For a live taste of the ZBB style, pick up tickets to a show on their upcoming Out in the Middle Tour. The run kicks off in late April.

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It’s new music Friday, so let’s see who’s out with new tunes:

The Chainsmokers released “iPad” and its accompanying music video, which marks the next song off their highly anticipated fourth studio album.  The breakup anthem, which is stuffed with hypnotic beats and synths, has the two pondering, “Isn’t it strange how we’re strangers again?”

Alanis Morissette dropped “Olive Branch,” which is about her taking the high road after a nasty fight with another, which leads her questioning, “How much salt could I pour in/ To think that I called myself a friend?”  The extended mea culpa has her ready to accept the consequences of her actions.

Fresh off his collaboration with DNCE, Kygo dropped his remix of Coldplay and Selena Gomez‘s heartbreak anthem, “Let Somebody Go.”  Kygo amps up the drums and adds an underlying beat to carry the track.

Latto is following the success of “Big Energy” with her brand-new single, “Wheelie,” which features 21 Savage.  The suggestive track is about how the players — let alone men in general — are no match for Latto’s sexual energy.

Following the success of “The Motto,” Tiësto re-teamed with Ava Max to reshoot an all-new music video.  The new black and white clip pays tribute to vogue style dancing and hired professional dancers to bust some iconic moves around Ava, who is rocking her classic platinum lopsided cut.

Jennifer Lopez released the music video for the ballad version of “Marry Me,” the title track of her new movie rom-com, starring both her and Maluma, who’s featured in the song.  The video serves as a prelude to the events of the movie, showing the two happy and in love before Maluma’s character, Bastian, is caught cheating on JLo’s character, Kat, on the day of their wedding.

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Weezer has shared more details about the band’s upcoming SZNZ project.

Originally announced last year as a set a four albums corresponding with each of the year’s four seasons, it now appears that SZNZ will consist of four EPs, instead.

“This year we’re releasing 4 EPs inspired by magic, Pagan myths, religious rituals, Vivaldi‘s The Four Seasons, Shakespeare & more (so much more),” the “Buddy Holly” rockers explain. “Each one will take you on an enchanting journey.”

The first entry in said enchanting journey will be the song “A Little Bit of Love,” which premieres next Wednesday, March 16. That’ll be followed by the release of the SZNS: Spring EP, which drops the first day of spring, March 20.

“Lots more coming soon, so mark your sundial for the coming solstices and equinoxes,” Weezer says.

SZNZ follows Weezer’s two 2021 albums, OK Human and Van Weezer.

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Another new track off Maren Morris’ upcoming Humble Quest album is here. Called “Nervous,” the groove-heavy new track delivers grungy guitars and spicy lyrics about the kind of love that leaves a person “out of control,” with their “inhibitions exposed.”

It’s the latest in a series of teaser tracks off Humble Quest, which is due out in full March 25. Maren already shared the song’s first single, “Circles Around This Town,” plus another love song called “Background Music.”

“Circles Around This Town” chronicles Maren’s journey to the top of her game as a country artist in Music City. Meanwhile, she’s said that another song, “Hummingbird,” is an ode to her nearly two-year-old son, Hayes.

Maren also recently announced a tour in support of her new batch of songs. Beginning in June, she’ll hit amphitheaters and arenas across the country, bringing a crew of Americana acts including Ruston Kelly and Brittney Spencer along for the ride.

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Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa smashed it out of the park with their new collab, “Sweetiest Pie,” and Meg revealed that was all by her design.

Speaking to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, the “Savage” rapper revealed how the hot track came to be. “I be seeing everybody making mashups of me and Dua songs and I’m like, ‘No, this sounds too good. We have to make a song,'” Meg explained. “So when I hit her up about it, I was like, ‘Dua, I really want us to do a song, but I got to find that right beat. It has to be perfect.'”

The Grammy winner continued, “I didn’t just send her no any track. I waited till I had the perfect one and I feel like we both came to a mutual agreement that it was greatness.”

Meg explained she wanted her collaboration to feel “organic,” too, adding, “I want us to both really thrive on it and really shine.”

Meg said working with Dua was a blast — even though she worried at first if the “Levitating” singer was unfriendly. “When I first saw her on Instagram, I was like, oh my gosh, I don’t know what it’s given. She really look kind of mean,” the rapper admitted,  “When I met her, I was like, ‘Love, you might be my friend.’ She is so cool. She’s so chill.”

“It was just super easy the whole time, and I really liked that about her,” Megan said when describing what it was like working together. “Because she could be a diva, but she is just so humble. We are all divas in our own right… Shout out to a kind person in the industry because you don’t meet a lot of them.”

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Muse has another new song on the way.

The track, titled “Compliance,” will arrive next Thursday, March 17, and is available to pre-save now. It follows the single “Won’t Stand Down,” which dropped in January.

In a tweet announcing the new tune, Muse says, “Compliance is about the promise of safety and reassurance to us by powerful entities during times of vulnerability.”

“Gangs, governments, demagogues, social media algorithms and religions seduce us with misleading untruths and comforting fables,” the band continues. They want us to join their narrow worldview in exchange for obedience and turning a blind eye to our own internal voice of reason and compassion. They just need our Compliance.”

The “Compliance” news follows a teaser video released earlier this week, which features a group of masked soldiers in a desert tearing down giant statues of the three Muse band members while a chorus chants the line, “The will of the people.”

“Compliance” and “Won’t Stand Down” follow Muse’s most recent album, 2018’s Simulation Theory.

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Since Cardi B recently pulled out as the star of the used-to-be-upcoming film Assisted Living, production company Paramount Players pulled the plug on the project until further notice. 

According to Deadline, the $30 million film was just a week away from starting production, and the reason for Cardi’s pullout is that the Grammy-winning artist is overextended. 

In Assisted Living, Cardi B was to play Amber, a small-time crook on the run after she’s wrongly accused of a crime. After struggling to find someone to take her in, Amber disguises herself as an elderly woman and hides out in the one place no one will look — her estranged grandmother’s nursing home.

Though legal action is often the follow-up in a situation like this, sources tell Deadline the hope is to put the pieces back together to begin production later this year.

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The Batman has a whole lot of people listening to Nirvana‘s “Something in the Way.”

According to Billboard, streams for the Nevermind closer — if you don’t count the hidden track “Endless, Nameless” — have increased about 734% in the first four days since the Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz-starring film premiered last Friday.

“Something in the Way” is used multiple times in The Batman, and was also heard in the movie’s trailer. In fact, the song heavily influenced writer-director Matt Reeves‘ interpretation of the comic book icon.

“Early on, when I was writing, I started listening to Nirvana, and there was something about ‘Something in the Way’…which is part of the voice of that character,” Reeves told Esquire magazine.

“When I considered, ‘How do you do Bruce Wayne in a way that hasn’t been seen before?’ I started thinking, ‘What if some tragedy happened and this guy becomes so reclusive, we don’t know what he’s doing? Is this guy some kind of wayward, reckless, drug addict?'” the filmmaker explained. “And the truth is that he is a kind of drug addict. His drug is his addiction to this drive for revenge. He’s like a Batman Kurt Cobain.”

The Batman is in theaters now.

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