Music

Drake lived up to his title as the Toronto Raptors’ global ambassador by joining the television broadcast team for the Raptors’ pre-season home game against the Houston Rockets on Monday night.

“So good to be home,” Drizzy said, referring to the fact that due to the pandemic, the team has played “home” games for the past two seasons in Florida.

“Everything’s feeling great, looking great, so great to be around people again, see all these faces. I’m feeling in high spirits,” the Champagne Papi continued.

He also laughed about hosting a few of the players at his home during the off season, but not working out with them because he was exhausted from recording his Certified Lover Boy album. “I think I woke up in the pool that day from what I remember,” he joked.

As Toronto celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving Day on Monday, the four-time Grammy winner said, “I know the city’s watching tonight. I just want to send my love to everybody. You know, it was a tough fight, a tough fight for the last couple years…[I hope they’re doing] as well as possible given the circumstances.”

Drake added that he can’t wait to perform again for the home crowd at the Scotiabank Arena. The Raptors’ biggest fan brought his team good luck, as Toronto defeated Houston, 107-92.

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Apparently, Paul McCartney doesn’t think much of The Rolling Stones, at least in comparison with his own famous band.

During an interview with The New Yorker published on Tuesday, the rock legend seemingly shaded his British Invasion counterparts, suggesting that The Beatles worked from a broader range of musical languages.

“I’m not sure I should say it, but they’re a blues cover band, that’s sort of what the Stones are,” McCartney, 79, said. “I think our net was cast a bit wider than theirs.”

McCartney also made headlines recently by again stating that his late band mate John Lennon was the one who broke up The Beatles.

“I didn’t instigate the split. That was our Johnny,” McCartney said regarding the late Lennon in the upcoming BBC Radio 4 special, This Cultural Life, as reported by The Guardian.

Paul went on to say that he and his band mates Ringo Starr and George Harrison were “left to pick up the pieces” by being forced to keep Lennon’s exit a secret.

“So for a few months we had to pretend. It was weird because we all knew it was the end of The Beatles but we couldn’t just walk away,” Sir Paul recalled.

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Chris Stapleton recently recruited late-night host Jimmy Fallon to fill in as his guitar player during a performance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Apparently, creative sparks flew, because the two men have teamed up yet again on the show, this time for a hilarious musical spoof skit.

The object of Chris and Jimmy’s lighthearted joking is filmmaker Nancy Meyers, as well as the distinctive aesthetic of her movies, such as Something’s Gotta Give, The Parent Trap and It’s Complicated.

Chris and Jimmy strum guitars and harmonize, while reenacting iconic scenes from Meyers films. No detail is too small: From Chris’ linen pants to a glass jar filled with rocks, the pair perfectly capture Meyers’ signature style.

The “A Film by Nancy Meyers” sketch is just the latest example of Chris’ artistic versatility. He also recently appeared as a featured guest on Carlos Santana‘s new album, Blessings and Miracles, on a track called “Joy,” which Chris produced and co-wrote.

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They both started out as child actors, and became famous by releasing angry, brutally honest and super-successful albums at a young age.  So it’s no wonder that Rolling Stone tapped Alanis Morissette and Olivia Rodrigo for its latest Musicians on Musicians conversation.

“I love how you’re so honest and talk about stuff that normally isn’t talked about in songwriting,” Olivia tells Alanis early in the conversation — to which Alanis replies, “Well, you’re doing the same.”  Olivia also reveals that hearing Alanis’ iconic album Jagged Little Pill at age 13 was mind-blowing for her.

Olivia and Alanis then compare notes on their similar experiences.

“How did you handle it when your album came out? Did you have any hard times dealing with criticism or the spotlight?” asks Olivia.

“There was a lot of bullying and a lot of jealousy and a lot of people whom I’d adored my whole life being mean girls,” says Alanis, to which Olivia replies, “Same!”

Olivia also asks Alanis, “Did you have a hard time with your relationship being pulled apart and poked and prodded and wanting details of your personal life that you don’t feel comfortable giving?” 

Alanis replies, “Yeah. When I write songs, I’m not writing them to ruin someone’s life. If I were doing that, I’d probably give names and addresses. None of these songs are written to eviscerate someone or seek overt revenge, although I think revenge fantasy is awesome.”

The conversation ends with Olivia asking Alanis for advice.

“If I could have done anything differently, I would have had a few more friends around me, period,” the Canadian star responds. “Just a little bit more emotional support…a few really deeply loving, unconditionally caring people around me to just check in with me…Let’s make sure you have that.”

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How’s Tai Verdes doing? “A-O-K,” thank you very much. He’s just hit number one on Billboard‘s Emerging Artists chart.

The Emerging Artists chart measures how artists are doing across all Billboard charts, but you can only be on it if you still haven’t hit the top 25 on either the Billboard Top 200 album chart or the Hot 100 singles chart.  So out of all the artists out there who haven’t quite reached those heights, Tai is currently doing the best.

The multi-genre appeal of “A-O-K” is the key to Tai’s chart success: It’s currently #34 on the Hot 100, number five on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, #20 on Alternative Airplay, #12 on Pop Airplay and #27 on Adult Pop Airplay.

Prior to “A-O-K,” which is from Tai’s debut album TV, he’d previously had some success with his viral TikTok hits “Stuck in the Middle” and “Drugs.”  He’ll wrap up his first headlining tour next month in New York City.

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Longtime behind-the-scenes hitmaker Shy Carter has recently been stepping out into the spotlight as an artist with songs like the R&B-flavored “Good Love” and “Beer with My Friends,” a country banger collab with Cole Swindell and David Lee Murphy.

Now, Shy’s following those releases with a bigger project. This week, he announced his debut EP, The Rest of Us, arriving later this month.

The eight-song collection includes “Good Love” and “Beer With My Friends,” plus six as-yet-unheard new tracks, all of which Shy co-wrote. Each of the tracks has a personal connection to his life, the singer explains.

“The title track in particular is really important to me. It’s about how some people seem to have their lives in order and everything seems to be going well for them, and then there’s the rest of us,” Shy explains. “There’s the people who struggle, who have pain, who have messed up and have made it this far only by the awesome grace of God. I am one of the rest of us, and I’m so grateful for everything I’ve been through — because now it can all be used to make this amazing music.”

The Rest of Us arrives October 29.

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Boosie Badazz was arrested Monday in Atlanta on multiple charges stemming from an on stage brawl at a concert in the city on October 1.

The “Wipe Me Down” rapper, whose birth name is Terrence Hatch, was charged with second-degree criminal damage to property, inciting a riot, disorderly conduct property and criminal trespass, as reported by Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB-TV.

On the second night of the “Legendz of the Streetz” tour, headlined by Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Jeezy and Gucci Mane, police were called to the State Farm Arena in A-T-L around 12:40 a.m. to investigate a report of vandalism at the facility. Officers were told that a man, identified as Hatch, and several of his associates, ran onto the stage during the show, damaged several items, then destroyed more arena property when they were escorted from the stage.

Hatch was booked into the Fulton County Jail late Monday and was released Tuesday on bail. He was previously arrested in Atlanta in 2019 on drug and gun possession charges.

As previously reported, Badazz was kicked off the tour following the incident in Atlanta.

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Death Cab for Cutie has announced a deluxe reissue of the band’s 2001 release The Photo Album in honor of its 20th anniversary.

The expanded collection is set to be released digitally on October 29. Its 35 tracks include the original album, the 2002 EP The Stability, and various previously unreleased demos, live recordings, acoustic versions and outtakes.

You can listen to the demo version of the song “Coney Island” now via digital outlets.

A vinyl version of the reissue, set to arrive by next spring, is available for pre-order now via Death Cab’s web store.

The Photo Album, Death Cab’s third studio effort, would end up marking the end of the band’s early era before they broke out with 2003’s Transatlanticism and 2005’s Plans. The record notably includes the single “A Movie Script Ending,” which would introduce many listeners to Death Cab thanks to its placement in The O.C. TV series.

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