Music

As many artists release ultra expensive NFTs, Cordae is making sure his NFTS are affordable for his fans.

Last week, the “Gifted” rapper debuted his first NFT collection titled “IDENTITY,” a collaboration with designer Shaylin Wallace, which sold out in less than a minute.

“In general, I like to think into the future,” Cordae tells Hypebeast. “Learning and doing research, NFTs were definitely something that caught my interest.”

The two-time Grammy nominee wanted to keep the price reasonable. Each of the 5,555 IDENTITY NFTs is priced at $55.

“I’m not one of these people that’s trying to just come in and, you know, bleed out the community,” Cordae said. “The NFT space has its own ecosystem, its own community. To be a part of that is something that’s huge for me. To just enter into space with open arms.”

With Wallace, he created a series of graphic pop-art images inspired by his fashion style, with each NFT featuring a faceless rendering of Cordae in a different outfit.

“A lot of these NFTs are based upon my earlier style, around The Lost Boy era,” Cordae explained, referencing his 2019 debut album. “Like the OG hair colors and the things I used to wear, like vests all of the time.”

Cordae is considering releasing new music as NFTs.

“There are so many different aspects and possibilities in NFT space that are really exciting,” he says.

Cordae is continuing his concert tour promoting his new album, From a Bird’s Eye View. He will perform Monday in Chicago, Tuesday in Minneapolis, and the tour continues through March 19 in Sacramento, CA.

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Carrie Underwood fans have come to know and love her for her dazzling onstage outfits and jaw-dropping mid-show costume changes, so the country superstar knew right off the bat that she wanted to turn up the bling for her Reflection Las Vegas residency, which opened last December.

“For Reflection, it is all about more rhinestones and more fringe,” Carrie explains to People, offering a peek at the 20-outfit ensemble she assembled for the residency, with help from stylist Emma Trask.

To that end, one of her favorite looks is the outfit she wears to open her show: a rhinestone-and-pearl-drenched white number with ankle-length fringe.

“I’m always inspired by Dolly Parton, and we had one of her associates that’s worked with her on our team,” Carrie says. “With all the white and the fringe and rhinestones, I immediately thought of Dolly.”

Emma says that the “Nash Vegas” concept was a major theme she drew from in assembling every look — and the creative team took that direction literally with one bedazzled denim jacket, which reads “Nash Vegas” on the back along with Carrie’s name.

For behind-the-scenes shots of all of Carrie’s Vegas residency looks, head over to People.

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Last week, Journey kicked off their Freedom Tour 2022 with opening act Toto, marking the first time the two bands have hit the road together.

Toto frontman Joseph Williams tells ABC Audio that he’s “insanely excited” to be touring with Journey, noting that not only is he a “huge fan” of that band, but that the trek also is giving his own group the opportunity to play larger venues than they usually do in the U.S.

The 41-date U.S. leg of the 2022 Freedom Tour is scheduled through a May 11 concert in Hartford, Connecticut. Toto initially planned to launch its own headlining trek dubbed The Dogz of Oz Tour in late February, and then were supposed to have joined Journey’s outing in April, but things changed when Billy Idol was forced to drop off the February-to-April opening slot with Journey because of a sinus ailment.

Williams says the set Toto is playing as opening act on the Journey tour obviously is shorter than the one they showcase as a headliner, but notes, “[I]t’s still a great show. And it’s…mostly just sort of hit, hit, hit that way.”

Meanwhile, Toto announced last year that founding keyboardist/singer David Paich — who had retired from full-time touring in 2020 because of health reasons — “could pop in any time for a show as a special surprise” during the band’s 2022 trek.

Regarding how often Paich might perform with Toto this year, Williams says, “The frequency of his appearances…we still don’t know. What I can tell you is that he’s looking great, sounding great.”

Joseph adds, “We will invite him and try and coax him to…all of the concerts, as many as he wants to go to.”

Check out Toto’s full schedule at TotoOfficial.com.

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It’s been a bit since we’ve heard new music from Highly Suspect, but that’s set to change in the coming months.

In an Instagram post, the “Lydia” rockers tease that they plan to put out fresh material in time for their recently announced three-show run with Papa Roach, set to kick off May 22 in Springfield, Missouri.

“These shows will be dope,” the post reads. “We’ll have new music out by then too.”

Highly Suspect hasn’t released any new tunes since their most recent album, MCID, dropped in 2019. That record spawned the singles “16” and “These Days.”

Ahead of the Papa Roach shows, Highly Suspect will be playing Tampa, Florida’s Innings Festival in March, and Atlanta’s Shaky Knees in April.

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American Idol is back!

That’s right — the show dedicated to finding the next singing superstar returned Sunday night with judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie along with host Ryan Seacrest.

This isn’t just your average season of American Idol though, it’s the 20th season, and, as part of the milestone year, they’ve introduced the coveted Platinum ticket.

“We all know the Golden Ticket gets you to Hollywood Week but this year, this is historic, for the first time, we have the Platinum Ticket,” Seacrest said in a short video. “There are only three of these for the entire season, and if the judges vote unanimously for you to get this as a contestant, then you bypass the first round of Hollywood Week. I mean, it is, it’s a game-changer.”

With a ticket to Hollywood on the line, there was some serious talent that came across the judges’ paths. Here are some of the night’s highlights.

Kentucky’s Noah Thompson was one of those gifted people and thanks to his friend, who signed him up for the show, the 19-year-old was able to show off his skills and earn a ticket to Hollywood after singing Kameron Marlowe‘s “Giving You Up.”

Tyler Allen, 24, from Alabama, brought Katy to tears after sharing the tragedy he and his family experienced when his sister and barely one-year-old nephew were killed after being struck by an 18 wheeler. He sang Whitney Houston‘s “I Believe In You And Me,” the song he used to sing to his nephew, and made his way through to the next round.

Normandy, 29, from Maryland took the judges by surprise when her cartoonishly high-pitched talking voice turned into a deep singing voice. After having a go at Tina Turner‘s “Proud Mary” and Adele‘s “Rolling In The Deep” she earned herself a ticket to Hollywood.

Unfortunately, not everyone shown on Sunday night’s episode scored a trip to Hollywood. Grace, a 15-year-old from Michigan, who also happens to be the granddaughter of the late, great Aretha Franklin, didn’t make it to the next round of competition, but Lionel urged her to “put in the work” and come back.

Last up, was 23-year-old Huntergirl, real name Hunter Wolkonowski, from Tennessee, who earned a standing ovation from the judges and even had Luke ranking her in the Top 10 and calling her the “new-age” Miranda Lambert. Later in the episode, after performing at Luke’s Nashville bar, the judges bestowed the first Platinum ticket of the season to her.

Who else will score a Platinum ticket? Find out when the American Idol auditions continue Monday, March 6 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Nick Lachey is looking forward to celebrating 98 Degrees‘ 25th anniversary this summer but, ahead of the milestone celebration, he entertained the possibility of doing a “massive” tour with the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC.

BSB first floated the idea in July, which Brian Littrell dubbed “the boys of summer” tour.  Does Nick see that happening?

“If we’re able to ever come together, I think it would be a massive, massive, massive success,” Nick told ABC Audio. “I think people would love to see that line up, and I think it would be certainly a once in a lifetime tour.”

While “The Hardest Thing” singer said his band mates would be “thrilled and honored to be part of that,” he cryptically added “there’s always a chance” of that mega-tour happening.  As for when that’ll be, Nick mused, “We’ll see… One of these days.”

What is certain is a massive celebration ahead to mark 98 Degrees’ eponymous debut studio album, which was released on July 29, 1997.  “This is our 25th anniversary year,” Nick proclaimed, adding, “We’re going to celebrate that anniversary with new projects.”

He confirms a new EP is on the way and said, “We’re actually working in the studio on that right now.”  Nick expects the EP to drop “by early summer.  That’s the goal.”

Nick also took a moment to reflect on his storied career, saying he is “blessed to still have amazing fans” because they’re the reason “we still get to do this.”  98 Degrees surprised fans last summer by releasing the single, “Where Do You Wanna Go.“.

The Grammy-nominated artist says, “It is truly shocking to us and amazing to us” they are still performing 25 years later, and vowed, “We’ll keep doing it as long as people are there to listen.” 

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Dierks Bentley’s latest single, “Beers on Me,” gets an assist from two of country music’s brightest up-and-comers, Hardy and Breland, each of whom had a hand in writing the song.

While Hardy lent his pen to “Beers on Me” in the kind of writing session that’s pretty standard for Dierks and his collaborators, Breland’s contribution came about in a way that’s a little more unorthodox.

It all started when Dierks played him the song — which, at the time, he thought was finished — and asked if Breland would like to sing a verse. Breland jumped at the opportunity, but asked if he could put his songwriter’s stamp on “Beers on Me,” too.

“We play the track over and over again, and he just started pulling things out of the air,” Dierks remembers. “Laughing to himself, messing with his hair…[I’m] like, ‘What is he doing?!’ And writing stuff on his phone. It was just like watching a mad scientist.”

The result? Lyrics so colorful and clever that Dierks had to think about them for a minute before he understood them. “You know, ‘I like my drinks like my roof — on the house.’ Like, ‘What does that mean? Oh my gosh, he likes free drinks!’” the star offers as an example.

“What he wrote was so well-written,” Dierks continues. “I feel like the rest of us had been painting with, like, six colors and he was using a paint set that had, like, 120 different colors to draw from.”

“Beers on Me” is currently inside the top 10 at country radio.

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At the 53rd NAACP Image Awards, airing Saturday on BET, singer and actress Jennifer Hudson took home the biggest award of the night: Entertainer of the Year.

The 40-year-old American Idol alumna accepted the award in person and thanked the NAACP for recognizing her work. The Respect star also nabbed the award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture.

“I did not see this coming by any means, but Lord knows I’m grateful,” she said in her acceptance speech.

Joining her in the winner’s circle for top awards of the night was actor, producer and writer Issa Rae, who won Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for Insecure. The show, which was created by Rae, took home the award for Outstanding Comedy Series.

Will Smith accepted the Outstanding Actor Award for his role as Richard Williams in the biographical drama, King Richard. The film, which is based on the life story of Serena and Venus Williams’ father, is also a six-time Oscar nominee.

Host Anthony Anderson, who nabbed his eighth win for the show Black-ish, introduced Mary J. Blige who serenaded the virtual audience in a mid-show performance.

Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP, presented the most prestigious accolade of the night, The President’s Award, to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle said they were “humbled to be here” after accepting the award on stage.

Other honorary awards, such as the Chairman’s Award, went to actor Samuel L. Jackson. The New York Times’ award-winning investigative reporter, Nikole Hannah-Jones, proudly accepted the Social Justice Impact Award.

The night rounded out with the coveted Outstanding Motion Picture Award, won by the Black Western film, The Harder They Fall.

Below is a list of the night’s winners. For a full list of winners, visit NAACPImageAwards.net.

Outstanding Actor in Drama Series
Sterling K Brown, This Is Us

Outstanding Actress in Drama Series
Angela Bassett, 9-1-1

Chairman’s Award
Samuel L. Jackson

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
Issa Rae, Insecure

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish

Social Justice Impact Award
Nikole Hannah-Jones

Outstanding Comedy Series
Insecure

President’s Award
Prince Harry & Meghan Markle

Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
Jennifer Hudson, Respect

Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture
Will Smith, King Richard

Outstanding Motion Picture
The Harder They Fall

Entertainer of the Year
Jennifer Hudson

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Dirty Honey has premiered the video for “Another Last Time,” a track off the band’s self-titled debut album.

The clip, which is shot all in one continuous take, finds the “When I’m Gone” rockers providing the soundtrack to a host of illicit activities, including affairs, robbery, gambling and drug use, all taking place around a seedy motel.

“The song’s lyrics tell the story of a toxic relationship you can’t seem to get out of, and you keep going back for more,” says frontman Marc LaBelle. “But it’s as much a song about any addiction or compulsion, anything you just can’t kick — drugs, money, danger, whatever.” 

He adds, “Shooting the video the way we did presented a real challenge, but I think that when you take on doing something special like this and you succeed, you come out with something really great. And I think we did.”

You can watch the “Another Last Time” video streaming now on YouTube.

Dirty Honey is currently traveling the U.S. on the Young Guns tour alongside Mammoth WVH.

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