Music

Jordan Oram has worked on music videos for Usher, Coldplay and others, and feature films such as Spiral, starring Chris Rock. Yet, the Canadian cinematographer says the video for Drake’s Grammy-winning single, “God’s Plan,” holds a special place in his heart.

“I mean, all of the projects that I’ve collaborated on have a special place in my heart because they came at a time where I was crafting my story, crafting my voice, and crafting my vision,” Oram tells Complex. “So independently, I think the most important one for me was ‘God’s Plan’ with Drake because it signified my relationship with my belief, as well as whatever I was dedicated to at the time.”

Oram adds that he manifested working with Drake almost a decade ago when he landed a collaboration in Toronto to work on a music release for Drizzy’s Take Care album. 

“And I remember having a micro conversation with him. And I said, ‘I’m going to shoot your music videos one day. I remember saying that,” Oram says. “And since then, it’s been beautiful to just remember those conversations with him, like, ‘Yo, do you remember when I was telling you like ten years ago that we were going to work together?” And then it happened.”

“And it happened with Miguel,” he says. “[It] hadn’t happened with Usher in quite the same way, but [I] definitely manifested a lot of the things that happened to fall into my ecosystem.”

Jordan Oram has also worked on other music videos, such Drake and Future‘s “Life Is Good,” Miguel’s “R.A.N.,” and Usher‘s “Don’t Waste My Time,” featuring Ella Mai.

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Elton John may be in his 70s, but he’s still relevant: After all, the biggest group in the world just namechecked him in their latest single.

On Friday, K-pop superstars BTS released a new single called “Permission to Dance,” which was co-written by Elton’s pal, Ed Sheeran. In the lyrics, the group sings, “When it all seems like it’s wrong/Just sing along to Elton John.”

Elton responded by tweeting, “When it all seems like it’s right, I sing along to BTS.”

BTS’ devoted fans, who call themselves ARMY, were delighted, and responded by praising Elton as legendary and thanking him for showing love to their idols.  Other fans, of course, immediately started calling for a collaboration.

It may not be such a stretch to imagine Elton doing something with BTS: He’s a major supporter of young artists and during the pandemic, he kept himself busy by working with everyone from Lady Gaga and Dua Lipa, to the alternative rock band Gorillaz and British singer Rina Sawayama.  He also plays piano on a new version of a Metallica song that features Miley Cyrus on vocals.

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Twelve Foot Ninja has announced a new album called Vengeance.

The third studio effort from the Australian metallers will arrive October 15. It includes the previously released singles “Start the Fire” and “Long Way Home.”

To flesh out the world of Vengeance, Twelve Foot Ninja will be releasing a fantasy book titled The Wyvern and the Wolf, written by author Nicholas Snelling, as well as a graphic novel also called Vengeance.

You can also get a preview of the Vengeance story with the newly released video for “Start the Fire,” streaming now on YouTube.

Vengeance is the follow-up to 2016’s Outlier, which spawned the single “Invincible.”

Here’s the Vengeance track list:

“Start the Fire”    
“Long Way Home”    
“Vengeance”    
“IDK”    
“Shock to the System”    
“Gone”    
“Culture War”    
“Dead End”    
“Over and Out”    
“Tangled”

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Another summer means another summer music playlist from Barack Obama.

Over the weekend, the former president took to social media to share what he’s listening to these days. Like past playlists, the 2021 edition encompasses a range of genres, and it includes songs by several famous rock veterans.

Among the tunes that appear on the 38-track playlist are The Rolling Stones‘ “Tumbling Dice,” George Harrison‘s “My Sweet Lord,” Bob Dylan‘s “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight,” Chicago‘s “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” and Joni Mitchell‘s “Coyote.”

Alongside the list, Obama wrote, “With so many folks getting together with family and friends, there’s a lot to celebrate this summer. Here’s a playlist of songs I’ve been listening to lately — it’s a mix of old and new, household names and emerging artists, and a whole lot in between.”

Other artists that Obama has been listening to include Bob Marley & the Wailers, Stevie Wonder, Simply Red, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, The Staple Singers and Miles Davis.

With so many folks getting together with family and friends, there’s a lot to celebrate this summer. Here’s a playlist of songs I’ve been listening to lately—it’s a mix of old and new, household names and emerging artists, and a whole lot in between. pic.twitter.com/xwTPun9wsw

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 10, 2021

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Considering her net worth is something like $190 million, you wouldn’t think Adele would have to shop at an outlet mall, but apparently she likes a bargain just as much as everyone else.

Page Six reports that it’s been told Adele was seen shopping at the Prada store at an outlet mall near San Bernadino, CA called Cabazon Outlets, and that she was with British rapper Skepta, with whom she’s been linked romantically.  A spy told Page Six that they clocked Skepta because he was British and reportedly had the same tattoos that Skepta has.

“She was sitting watching him while he was picking sweaters, pants, trying on jackets and coats and having the employees help him,” the spy says of Adele and Skepta. “She was giving him feedback and saying what she thought he looked great in.”

“It was cute that she was just waiting and being a normal girlfriend while he looked,” the spy added. “He must have shopped for 45 minutes.”  Adele also played with another customer’s puppy, notes the spy.

Page Six speculates that the two were at the outlet because it’s near celebrity hangout Palm Springs, and it was around the time of the Fourth of July holiday.

In other Adele news, she’s posted a photo of herself rocking an England soccer jersey, praising her home country’s team even though they lost to Italy in the Euro championship.  Noting that the final match took place at London’s Wembley stadium, she wrote, “You did us so proud! You brought our game home and brought us all together.”

 

 

 

 

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Fans on social media believe rapper G Herbo is in hot water with his girlfriend, Taina Williams, after being spotted at his ex-girlfriend’s party this weekend.

Herbo and Williams welcomed their baby boy, Essex, in May, but according to The Shade Room, the couple no longer follow each other on Instagram. Williams jumped into the comments to share a few laughing emojis and let everyone know she temporarily blocked Herbo.

“…That’s still my man he just blocked. Nothing to see here,” she wrote, along with a heart-eyes emoji.

It’s unclear what exactly prompted Taina to block G Herbo, though many believe it had to do with G Herbo attending his ex Ari Fletcher‘s birthday party on Saturday. Fletcher and Herbo co-parent their three-year-old son, Yoshon.

Hopefully, things are OK between G Herbo and Taina.  Twitter, however, seems to be having a field day going over the timeline of when Ari and G Herbo broke up in 2018 to when he began publicly dating Taina in January 2019.

“Y’all surprised about G Herbo being at Ari’s party last night. Y’all forgot he left Ari for Taina when they had an infant child,” one fan tweeted.

Another said, “Even if y’all think its okay for a [baby daddy] to go to his [baby mama] birthday party, Taina just had a damn baby. If G Herbo leaving her at home with the baby, it should not be for that reason.”

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Volbeat has premiered the video for “Wait a Minute My Girl,” the band’s latest single.

The animated clip is a hectic collage of strange images that definitely wouldn’t have seemed out of place in Sid’s Toy Story room. You can watch it now streaming on YouTube.

“Wait a Minute My Girl” dropped in June along with another new song, “Dagen Før.” It currently sits in the top 10 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.

Volbeat’s most recent album is 2019’s Rewind, Replay, Rebound.

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A stacked lineup of stars are confirmed to perform for the Country Music Association’s newly announced CMA Summer Jam, a two-night outdoor event taking place in downtown Nashville on July 27 and 28.

Performing the first night will be Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Carly Pearce, Mickey Guyton, Cole Swindell, Dwight Yoakam and Lainey Wilson.

The following night, Jimmie Allen, Gabby Barrett, Luke Combs and Dierks Bentley will take the stage, as will Florida Georgia Line, Brothers Osborne, Miranda Lambert, Jon Pardi and Thomas Rhett.

The show will take place at Music City’s Ascend Amphitheater, and it will be filmed as part of a three-hour primetime TV special, which will air later this summer on ABC. More details on that special, including additional performances filmed at other locations in Nashville, will be announced soon.

CMA Summer Jam marks the CMA’s first new outdoor concert event in two years. The COVID-19 pandemic has halted the annual CMA Fest, which usually takes place in June, for both 2020 and 2021.

Tickets for the show go on sale beginning July 14 at 10AM CT, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the CMA Foundation, which supports music education programs across the country.

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You won’t have to wait until next year to see AJR‘s OK ORCHESTRA tour.

The brother trio has announced a run of live headlining dates for this fall, kicking off September 7 in Madison,  Wisconsin. The trek will precede the previously announced 2022 OK ORCHESTRA tour, set to launch next April.

Tickets to the 2021 shows will go on sale this Friday, July 16, at 10 a.m. local time. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit AJRBrothers.com.

OK ORCHESTRA, AJR’s fourth studio album, was released in March. It includes the singles “Bang!” and “Way Less Sad.”

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