Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic, Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
(NOTE LANGUAGE) It’s the collaboration no one saw coming. Latto and Mariah Carey teamed up for the remix of Latto’s hit single “Big Energy,” and she even called on DJ Khaled to add his flare.
The hot new track, which opens with Mariah hitting her legendary high note, dropped Monday– just three days after Latto released her second studio album, 777. And, in the midst of the crazy success the album has already seen, the Atlanta rapper was excited to announce the iconic feature.
“Ima be ya fantasy, you ain’t gone believe this // hol’ up, got Mimi on the remix,” Latto says on the track.
She’s since blown up Twitter, re-tweeting coverage of the news and answering fans’ questions about working with Mariah Carey.
“I originally thought Mariah for the remix back in like November when it first started going up but didn’t think I could get her realistically… fast fwd I said f*** it and reached out. She was down.” Latto said.
Once Mariah was locked in for the feature, Latto says she was “sooooo nervous” to work alongside her. “I was like what do I say y’all lol but the conversation just floweddd she was so genuine and I definitely was overthinking.”
Mariah returned the love in a response tweet to Latto’s Sunday birthday message to the singer, and congratulated the younger star on all of her success.
“So excited for this moment dahhhhllling!!!!! So happy and proud of you and all you’re accomplishing!!!,” Mariah said. “But I don’t have BIRTHDAYS! ‘It’s my anniversary!!!’ Congratulations Beautiful.”
The best part of working with the “Fantasy” singer, was “HEARING HER HIT THAT HIGH NOTE IN PERSON!!!!,” Latto said.
Lee Brice has nothing but pride in his upcoming tour.
The “I Don’t Dance” singer is embarking on the Label Me Proud Tour that begins on June 2 in Hampton Beach, N.H. Michael Ray and Tyler Farr are set to join as special guests, along with newcomer Jackson Dean and songwriter Tim Montana.
Throughout the summer, Lee and crew will be making stops at 23 arenas and amphitheaters across the country including The Anthem in Washington, D.C., PNC Pavilion in Cincinnati, Ohio, First National Bank Arena in Jonesboro, AR and more. The tour wraps on September 24 in Sugar Land, Texas.
“Can’t wait to be back in all these places I’ve grown to love over the years with fans that are bar none the best ones out there!” Lee shares in a statement, calling it a “blessing” to have Michael, Tyler, Jackson and Tim on the road with him. “See y’all this summer!”
Lee’s current single “Soul,” is in the top 30 on country radio. He and Carly Pearce topped the charts in 2020 with “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” which went on to win Musical Event of the Year at the CMA Awards, as well as Single of the Year and Music Event of the Year at the ACM Awards.
Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time. Visit Lee’s website for a full list of dates.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge has found that former President Donald Trump “more likely than not” committed felony obstruction in the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The judge said Trump’s former lawyer John Eastman must turn over documents to the Jan. 6 House committee investigating the attack on the U.S Capitol.
(SALEM, Ore.) — A 24-year-old man was under arrest after police alleged he killed four people when his car left a roadway and slammed into a homeless encampment in Salem, Oregon.
Enrique Rodriguez was being held without bail on Monday in Salem on multiple counts of felony manslaughter, according to online jail records.
The episode unfolded at about 2 a.m. Sunday when Rodriguez’s sports car careened off a road, jumped a sidewalk and crashed into several tents, according to the Salem Police Department.
Two people were pronounced dead at the scene in northeast Salem and two others died after being taken to Salem Health Hospital, police said. Three other people, all believed to have been living in the homeless camp, were hospitalized with injuries.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Police said in a statement that investigators “believe alcohol may have been a contributing factor.”
A preliminary investigation by the Salem Police Traffic Team indicates Rodriguez was driving a two-door sports coupe northbound when the vehicle left the roadway and crashed into the encampment, pinning two people under the car.
The names of those killed and injured were not immediately released.
Rodriguez was the sole occupant of the car and was also taken to a hospital with injuries, police said.
He was later booked into the Marion County Jail on four counts of first-degree manslaughter and charges of second-degree assault, third-degree assault and six counts of reckless endangerment.
Police said the exact number of people at the encampment at the time of the incident was unclear and referred questions to the Marion County District Attorney’s Office.
The homeless camp was on the property of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and just feet from a railroad track, according to ABC affiliate station KATU-TV in Portland.
A KATU news crew reported on the same homeless camp about a week ago after neighboring business owners expressed frustrations over the city’s handling of the homeless problem.
(WASHINGTON) — A bipartisan coalition of senators introduced legislation on Monday meant to improve transparency in the highly competitive and notoriously murky federal contracting process, taking aim at companies that accept lucrative work from government agencies without having to disclose potential conflicts of interest.
The bill, called the Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act, would seek to mitigate conflict-of-interest concerns by forcing contractors to “disclose other parts of their business that conflict with the work they are bidding to perform for the government,” according to Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
“If we don’t know whether [federal contractors] are serving other, potentially conflicting interests, we can’t be confident that Americans are getting exactly what they pay for,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a cosponsor of the bill.
For many American companies, federal contracts represent a crucial source of revenue, as well as visibility and credibility. Firms from every major business sector compete for this work, and winners often execute their end of the agreement while pursuing outside business opportunities — which sometime overlap with their federal contracts.
While existing rules stipulate that government agencies assess potential conflicts of interest before determining contract winners, watchdogs say the process remains opaque.
“Based on current federal contract regulations, agencies cannot always discern whether government contractors have business relationships with foreign governments and private entities that could create a conflict of interest,” said Noah Bookbinder, president of the nonprofit government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Scott Amey, general counsel for the government ethics watchdog Project on Government Oversight, warned that “without more guidance, organizational conflicts of interest can result in unfair competitive advantages and biased contract awards — both of which compromise the impartiality of the federal government and the integrity of the contracting process.”
In a press release announcing the new legislation, lawmakers cited reporting in ProPublica that raised conflict-of-interest questions about consulting giant McKinsey & Company’s recent work for the Food and Drug Administration. ProPublica reported that in at least one FDA contract, McKinsey allegedly failed to disclose its conflicts of interest with corporate pharmaceutical clients despite its contract with the agency obligating the firm to do so.
According to documents obtained by ProPublica, McKinsey allegedly advised the FDA’s drug-regulation division for more than a decade while simultaneously accepting work from major pharmaceutical companies. In some cases, according to ProPublica, McKinsey helped those clients navigate FDA regulations while advising the FDA on how to strengthen regulations for the pharmaceutical industry.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said McKinsey’s handling of its work with the FDA demonstrates “the danger that conflicts of interest can pose in government contracting.”
“Our bipartisan bill would help ensure that companies that enter into a contract with the government are acting in the best interest of the American people,” Hassan said.
A McKinsey spokesperson told ProPublica that the firm “had been fully transparent that we serve pharmaceutical and medical device companies.”
Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa joined Peters, Grassley, and Hassan in sponsoring the federal legislation.
The Sandra Bullock/Channing Tatum romantic treasure hunt romp The Lost City hit paydirt at the box office over the weekend, unseating last week’s champ The Batman with a $31 million debut.
Matt Reeves‘ acclaimed Caped Crusader film swung in at second place in its fourth week in theaters, taking in $20.1 million. To date, the movie starring Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight and Paul Dano as The Riddler, has earned more than $332 million domestically, and has a worldwide total to date of more than $672 million.
In third place this week was the RRR, from Indian director SS Rajamouli. The picture made around $10 million, slightly under what was expected from the hitmaker.
In fourth place this week was the Tom Holland-starring video game adaptation Uncharted, which added $4.9 million to its coffers; to date, the film has made more than $357 million globally.
In other Tom Holland-related news, however, his Spider Man: No Way Home crossed the rarefied $800 million domestic high-water mark; while it landed at #8 this week, it has made more than $1.8 billion worldwide since its release in December.
Rounding out the Top Five this week was the manga film Jujutsu Kaisen 0, which earned $4.5 million.
Olivia Rodrigo was in elementary school when Beyoncé took over the Grammy’s stage in 2010 to belt out her hit “If I Was a Boy.”
12 years later, Olivia will experience a full circle moment when she will not only take the Grammys stage, but vie for seven awards for her debut studio album, SOUR. Olivia explained how transformative Bey’s performance was for her, recalling toPeople, “I remember watching it like 25 times, being so enamored with her.”
The 19-year-old singer added, “It’s so crazy that, maybe one day, a younger girl’s going to watch my performance many times and think that it’s cool. That’s the dream. That’s all I want.”
Olivia is up for several major awards on Sunday, including Album of the Year. She said of her studio debut, “The process of making SOUR, and putting it out in the world really challenged me, and I’ve grown so much, and I’ve learned so much more about myself… I definitely feel like I am a more confident person today because of it.”
The “brutal” singer revisited making her breakthrough album in the recently premiered Disney+ doc Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u, and said making it was “super nostalgic” for her. “It was all kind of about revisiting this past era of my life, and closing that chapter,” she noted.
In addition to nostalgia, Olivia also looks at the heartbreak that inspired that album in a new light and dives into what she was feeling at the time.
The documentary also includes a never-before-heard demo that she co-wrote with producer Daniel Nigro. Olivia recalled feeling “so sad” when making that song. “And I’m still not over it,” she added, saying she wrote the song when she saw her ex “with someone else, which was devastating to me.”
Wallows have announced a second U.S. leg of their Tell Me That It’s Over World Tour.
The tour starts September 28 at L.A.’s Greek Theater and is scheduled to wrap up October 13 in Oklahoma City, OK. Wallows newsletter subscribers can access pre-sale tickets tomorrow at 10 a.m. local time; the general public on-sale date is April 1 at 10 a.m. local time.
Tickets for the previously announced dates are currently on sale. Visit the band’s website for all the details.
Last week, Wallows released their new album Tell Me That It’s Over. On Wednesday, the band performs on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!
BTS will soon be making new music with Snoop Dogg. The “Drop It Like It’s Hot” rapper confirmed that he is hashing out details with the Grammy-nominated singers.
“I’m going to let them tell you about it,” he told The AV Clubwhile walking the red carpet premiere of American Song Contest. “It’s official like a referee with a whistle. I love that entertainment world. It’s good music. It’s [a] vibe.”
BTS has long admired Snoop and even referenced his music in their 2014 track “Hip Hop Phile.” Admiration is a two-way street and the rapper says he has nothing but respect for the “Butter” singers.
“I love that entertainment world. It’s good music. It’s [a] vibe. I make good music. They make good music,” he said when talking about why it’s natural for them to collab. “And we end up doing this. This is what it’s always about, bringing our worlds together.”
“I’ve been experiencing the K-pop experience for a long time, connected to the music world [and] scene,” he added, noting his work with 2NE1, PSY and girl pop group Girls Generation. “Come on now, it’s what I do.”
Snoop first hinted something was in the works when appearing on the Mogul Talk podcast in January, when he said BTS is “waiting on me to do a song with them right now.” He also admitted finding time to make music with the septet was a little dicey given his ultra jammed packed schedule.
As for BTS, Suga said in an interview with the BBC last July that the group is thinking about offering more hip-hop focused tracks in the future.
No word yet on when we can expect the new track. Stay tuned!
Roxy Music will reunite this fall for its first tour in 11 years, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the influential art-rock band’s self-titled debut album.
The trek will feature 10 North American dates, kicking off September 7 in Toronto and mapped out through a September 28 show at the famed Los Angeles-area venue The Forum. The trek also will visit Washington, D.C.; New York City; Philadelphia; Boston; Chicago; Austin and Dallas, Texas; and San Francisco.
The band will feature four members of Roxy Music’s classic lineup — singer Bryan Ferry, sax player Andy Mackay, guitarist Phil Manzanera and drummer Paul Thompson.
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday, April 4, at 10 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster.com. Pre-sales will be available starting on Tuesday, March 29, at 10 a.m. local time, and a number of VIP packages also will be offered. Visit BryanFerry.com, LiveNation.com and VIPNation.com for more information.
Alt-rocker St. Vincent will open all of the North American shows except for the Boston concert. Roxy Music also has announced three U.K. dates in October — in Glasgow, Manchester and London.
In related Roxy Music news, the band also will celebrate its 50th anniversary by reissuing special vinyl editions of its eight studio albums. The LPs will be half-speed mastered, and will feature revised artwork. The albums will be released two at a time in installments, with the first pair — 1972’s Roxy Music and 1973’s For Your Pleasure — due out this Friday, April 1.
Roxy Music was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. They are best-known in the U.S. for the 1975 dance hit “Love Is the Drug” and the acclaimed 1982 album Avalon, which included “More Than This” and the title track.
