Music

If you’re a “Sucker” for popcorn, then you’ll love The Jonas Brothers‘ new business venture.

Turns out the brothers have been enjoying a unique backstage snack for years: popcorn dressed up with a special blend of seasonings.  The popcorn is the invention of Rob Garbowsky — the father of Greg Garbowsky, a current member of JoBros’ management team — and back in 2011, Nick Jonas convinced Rob to start making it for them and their crew. 

The popcorn quickly became everyone’s favorite snack, and now, JoBros have partnered with the food and beverage company The Naked Market to make it available to you. Rob’s Backstage Popcorn is now for sale at EatRobs.com; it costs $19.99 for four bags.

“All three of us are thrilled to bring Rob’s Backstage Popcorn to the world, and we truly mean that – from busy moms juggling multiple things at once, to the on-the-go college student looking for a quick bite, we couldn’t be more excited to finally share Rob’s Backstage Popcorn with everyone,” says Nick in a statement.

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Ed Sheeran will be this year’s “Mega Mentor” on The Voice as the show moves from the Battle Rounds to the Knockout Rounds.

During the Knockouts, each team’s contestants will compete against each other in pairs, each singing their own song. Ed will work with all the contestants and help them choose songs and make performance decisions that play to their strengths.  The contestant’s coaches will then choose which one stays and which one goes.

Ed’s run on The Voice starts Monday, October 25, conveniently just days before the release of his new album = (Equals), which arrives October 29.

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Hey now, Steve Harwell is still the lead singer of Smash Mouth.

Fans who attended the “All Star” group’s recent concerts were surprised to see Harwell absent from behind the mic and replaced by a new vocalist, leading to speculation that the founding frontman was no longer in the band. However, a rep for Smash Mouth tells TMZ that isn’t the case.

The rep explains that Harwell took a brief leave of absence from Smash Mouth due to his ongoing cardiomyopathy heart condition, which he’s had since 2015. Issues with his heart previously landed Harwell in the hospital in 2017.

The unidentified fill-in singer, who is only described as “someone the band knows,” was recruited to handle vocal duties in place of Harwell on merely a temporary basis, the rep adds. Harwell is set to return to the stage with Smash Mouth this Thursday in Jackson, Mississippi.

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Boosie Badazz is in trouble once again as he’s been kicked off the Legendz of the Streetz tour headlined by Rick Ross, Jeezy, Gucci Mane and 2 Chainz.

During the second show on the tour, Friday night in Atlanta, a fight broke out on stage while Boosie was performing his second song, according to HotNewHipHop.com. The “Wipe Me Down” rapper’s set abruptly ended and he was rushed off stage.

He did not perform on the next show on the tour, Saturday night in Greensboro, NC. Boosie tweeted, “THIS IS THE MOVE THEY PULLING OFF ON THE TOUR SO U CANT GET REFUNDS.”

Last week, Badazz was suspended from Instagram and he claims it was because he asked Drake to promote his new biopic titled, My Struggle.

After being kicked off the tour, Boosie promoted his appearance on Twitter at a party Sunday night at the Euphoria nightclub in Baltimore. A man is in critical condition after a large fight and shooting at the event, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Baltimore police said officers on foot patrol around 1:38 a.m. Monday heard gunshots and found a car with numerous bullet holes and a shattered window. The shooting victim, a 27-year-old man, was shot in the upper body and head.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 410-396-2422 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 866-7-LOCKUP.

The next stop on the Legendz of the Streetz tour, which also features special guests Fabolous, Lil Kim, and Trina, will be Friday night in New Orleans, The tour is scheduled to wrap up October 22 in Memphis.

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Following the release of his new single “Damn It Feels Good to Be Me,” Andy Grammer has announced a new tour.

The Art of Joy tour starts February 4, 2022 in Monticello, NY and is scheduled to wrap up March 3 in Napa, CA. Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday, October 8 at 12pm local time via AndyGrammer.com.

Andy’s new album, his fifth, is due out in early 2022. It’ll include “Damn It Feels Good to Be Me,” and “Lease on Life,” the latter of which was inspired by the birth of his daughter, Izzy, who arrived two weeks into lockdown last year.

 

 

 

 

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Luke Bryan speaks to the heartland of America with his new single, “Up.” 

With lyrics crafted around the word “up,” the song opens with Luke singing about rural farmers waking up at sunrise to tend to the land, followed by a verse about a young man riding around a small town in a hand-me-down truck and another verse about running up the scoreboard during a Friday night football game. 

“Up in the sky/ There’s a guy/ Looking down on us/ Looking up our whole life/ Raised up right/ In a town nobody knows/ What a way to grow up,” Luke sings with conviction over an anthemic melody. 

“‘Up’ is a song that just checks all the boxes for a country song to me. It talks about what I love and what’s dear to me. About my home and my faith,” the Georgia native explains in a statement. “Add to that the fact that the songwriters used just a simple word as ‘up,’ to create so many images is pretty special.”

“Up” is the sixth single off Luke’s most recent album, 2020’s Born Here Live Here Die Here. Each of its predecessors have reached #1 on the country charts: “Knockin’ Boots,” “What She Wants Tonight,” “One Margarita,” “Down to One” and “Waves.”

The new single will officially be released to country radio on October 11.

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To mark its 25th anniversary, the influential music website Pitchfork has put together a list of 200 artists that it deems the “most important” of its 25 years of existence, and Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Rihanna are among those who made the list.

The roster is split into 50 “Icons” and 150 more “Essentials” who “helped shape the last 25 years of music.”  Taylor and Rihanna are on the Icons list, as are Beyoncé, JAY-Z, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, Outkast and Aaliyah.

Pitchfork says Taylor’s work is “is singularly perceptive while remaining keenly attuned to musical and cultural shifts — especially her own.”  As for Rihanna, Pitchfork says of her influence, “You can hear molecules of her vocal style swarming around everywhere.”

On the “Essentials” side of things, Pitchfork praises Ariana’s re-emergence following tragedy with Sweetener, noting that her music “pushed her artistry further as it asserted a magical trifecta of hope, joy, and a powerhouse voice.”

Other “Essentials” on Pitchfork‘s list include Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Carly Rae Jepsen, Amy Winehouse, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Pharrell, and The Weeknd.

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Drake‘s three-week reign at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart has ended as YoungBoy Never Broke Again is the new king with his latest release, Sincerely, Kentrell.

The 21-year-old rapper, whose legal name is Kentrell Gaulden, earned 137,000 units to debut at number one with the biggest sales week of his career. Drake’s Certified Lover Boy fell to second with 135,000 units.

YoungBoy is the first hip hop artist to have a number-one album in each of the last three years: 2021, 2020 and 2019. His previous studio album, 2020’s Top, and his respective 2020 and 2019 mixtapes, 38 Baby 2 and Al YoungBoy 2, each reached the top of the Billboard 200.

Gaulden has kicked off the Sincerely, Kentrell freestyle competition by inviting fans to rap over album instrumental tracks on a special YouTube channel. The grand prize winner will receive a free recording session with his studio engineer, Jason “Cheese” Goldberg.

As Sincerely, Kentrell sits at number one, Gaulden has been awaiting trial at the St. Martin Parish Correctional Center in Louisiana since April, after being charged with selling drugs and possession of stolen firearms. He recorded the album over the phone while incarcerated.

Over 75,000 people have signed a Change.org petition asking President Joe Biden to release Youngboy.

 

 

 

 

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Maybe don’t hold your breath for new Rage Against the Machine music.

Speaking with NME, guitarist Tom Morello remains noncommittal about the prospect of the rap-metal titans’ reunion tour possibly leading to fresh material.

“There are no plans beyond starting rehearsals in January,” Morello says.

Rage’s tour, which will mark the first time the “Killing in the Name” outfit has shared the live stage together since 2011, was originally scheduled to kick off in 2020 before being postponed to a March 2022 launch because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While they’ve had to wait a bit, Morello says the fire is still there.

“From day one, Rage has had that sound and that fury,” he says. “It felt like that on day one and it felt like that in rehearsals two years ago.”

Morello, meanwhile, is gearing up to release a new solo album, The Atlas Underground Fire, on October 15. The record, Morello’s second under his own name, features guest spots from Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder, Bruce Springsteen, Bring Me the Horizon, Phantogram and grandson.

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