Chance the Rapper just released a new video for “Same Drugs,” a track off last year’s Coloring Book. As he is known to do, Chance tried to switch up the industry standard by premiering the video on Facebook Live — except it wasn’t exactly live. The video, a strange, woozy, puppet-filled thing, was prerecorded and then streamed directly from Facebook in high-def before moving over to YouTube.
For an artist like Chance the Rapper, who has a relatively young following, Facebook (your parents’ social media platform of choice) seemed like a strange choice for a premiere partner. But according to Chance, he had attempted to premiere the video on other platforms before falling back on Facebook as a last resort.
About 10 minutes before the “Same Drugs” video premiered, Chance tweeted a different video in which he called out Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat for not allowing him to premiere the video live directly from their platforms. He says the companies told him to take a video of his computer screen using his phone, and premiere the video that way, which would have resulted in a clunkier viewing experience.
Then, his pre-video-video basically became a commercial for Facebook Live, as he singled out the company for agreeing to host his video.
“That’s Facebook Live holding me down with a countdown to an HD premiere,” he says in the Twitter video. “What I want you to do is log off [Twitter], get on Facebook, and watch this motherfucking video.”
The producer Klingande was the first musician to shoot and stream a video on Facebook Live last year, but Facebook is not the only platform that has made itself available to artists.
Snapchat has previously premiered a video for Madonna, Twitter has hosted a posthumous Michael Jackson video release, and Jason Derulo has premiered a music video on Instagram Stories, so it’s not clear why exactly the companies all passed on Chance’s offer, if what he says is true. At its peak, the “Same Drugs” video attracted more than 33,000 eyeballs — not too shabby for a video premiered will very little advance notice.
Following the release of his latest single “Occasion,”, Mus Matos premieres his next highly anticipated single called “Enough to Go Around” for #MatosMondays series.
This new track tells the story of a man who is torn between lovers, as both women battle for his affection. With R&B making its way back to the fore front, “Enough To Go Around,” sets itself as a staple for Matos catalogue.
Mark Moore, a 30-year veteran of NASA, has left the aeronautics agency for a seemingly more terrestrial business: ride-hailing giant Uber. But Moore won’t be working on anything as boring as expanding Uber’s ground operation. According to Bloomberg, he will be working on the company’s nascent on-demand aviation service, also known as Uber’s flying car project.
To be sure, Moore won’t be building a flying car for Uber — at least not yet. Last October, the company released a white paper that envisioned a flying taxi service as a network of lightweight, electric aircraft that take off and land vertically from preexisting urban heliports and skyscraper rooftops. These VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing, pronounced vee-tol) aircraft would operate using fixed wings with tilt prop-rotors.
Most notably, Uber said it wasn’t going to build its own flying car, but stood ready to “contribute to the nascent but growing VTOL ecosystem and to start to play whatever role is most helpful to accelerate this industry’s development.” That probably translates into, “Come to us with a decent prototype and we’ll buy it.”
But as you can tell by looking out any window right now, flying cars don’t exist yet. We haven’t really even seen a halfway decent prototype. Numerous challenges lay ahead, such as noise level, battery life, and air-traffic restrictions, before we can reasonably expect to see any flying cars, let alone flying Ubers, soaring through the skies.
That’s where Moore steps in. He won’t be running Uber Elevate, the name the company gave to its flying car project, but he will be helping smooth out many of its hurdles. Before joining Uber, his title was chief technologist for on-demand mobility at NASA’s Langley Research Center. In 2010, he produced a research paper outlining the feasibility of short-range, electric-powered VTOL aircraft called the “Puffin Electric Tailsitter.”
It was a somewhat goofy, but totally sci-fi prototype that went on to inspire Google founder Larry Page to launch his own flying car startups, Zee Aero and Kitty Hawk, late last year. Uber launched Elevate soon after, and suddenly this niche, totally unrealistic idea for personalized, autonomous aircraft had serious money behind it.
Moore certainly is a true believer. According to Bloomberg, he left NASA one year before he was eligible for retirement, giving up a significant portion of his pension and free health care for life. That’s a lot to leave on the table. Let’s hope Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, who is personally overseeing the flying car project, made it worth his while.
Lady Gaga used her abnormal style during the Super Bowl Half time show to send a message to the Nation.
In a Super Bowl performance that spanned her entire discography, Lady Gaga opened her act with a rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land,” which has become a popular anthem at rallies protesting President Trump across the country. Standing atop the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, Gaga started the song back by a massive fleet of drones before leaping onto her stage. It was a stunning start to an over-the-top set that, while not overtly political, was certainly aimed at her political fans.
Tonight’s performance, which included acrobatics, pyrotechics, and dancers, included such hits as “Poker Face,” “Telephone,” “Bad Romance,” and “Paparazzi.” However, those looking for more of a politically-charged show might have come away slightly disappointed. Save for “Born This Way” and the opening cover, there was no speech or visual that could quite compare to Beyoncé’s performance of “Formation” last year.
That said, the use of both “God Bless America” and Guthrie’s 1944 song can certainly be read as a subtle dig at the administration. The former was written by Jewish immigrant Irving Berlin. However, “This Land Is Your Land” was written as a critical response to Berlin’s more soaring song. It’s recognized today as a protest song, and the original lyrics’ mention of a “big wall” are absolutely pertinent today.
That’s shouldn’t be surprising; though the performance was meant to be inclusive and tailored in the “spirit of equality,” Gaga said that her act would be for everyone. “This performance is for everyone,” she said at a press conference last week. “I want to, more than anything, create a moment that everyone that’s watching will never forget.”
In the end, embracing inclusivity with drones might have been enough.
Sony is rolling out the beta preview of the PlayStation 4’s latest firmware update, version 4.50, and it includes a pretty great new feature for early owners of the PS4 Pro console. In short, many older PS4 titles will run better on the new hardware — even if they’ve not been optimized to do so by developers. Once you’ve installed the software upgrade, you’ll find a new “Boost Mode” option in the settings menu. This is exclusive to the more powerful Pro console and won’t appear on the regular PS4.
When activated, Boost Mode “lets PS4 Pro run at a higher GPU and CPU clock speed in order to improve gameplay on some PS4 games that were released before the launch of PS4 Pro,” a company spokesperson told The Verge. “Games that have a variable frame rate may benefit from a higher frame rate, and load times may be shorter in some games too.”
Sony is by no means promising those benefits for all titles, but Boost Mode still represents a nice attempt to help PS4 Pro buyers get a little bit more out of the beefed up console. So if 4K gaming and HDR weren’t enough, well, now some of the games you’ve had for years might start playing a little better the next time you return to them. Sony advises that Boost Might might cause unexpected behavior in some instances with the PS4 Pro running at full speed; turning off the setting should resolve any glitches. For now we’re not sure if there are any limitations around Boost Mode. Can you just keep the console running at full speed all the time? Does it result in the PS4 Pro getting hot or using more energy than normal? I’ve asked Sony for more specifics.
Aside from Boost Mode, the upcoming 4.50 firmware update will add support for external hard drives to all PS4 models, introduced some redesigned menus, and let players watch 3D Blu-rays in PSVR.
Professional creative apps cost hella money, but a new bundle from Apple could help alleviate the costs for students and educators. For $199, you can snag Logic Pro X, Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, Compressor 4, and Main Stage 3 — a $430 savings versus buying each separately. Considering that Logic already costs $199, it’s basically like buying one app and getting four additional ones for free. Together, the apps help students and educators edit video, audio, images, and motion graphics.
According to Apple, the bundle is only available to teachers, faculty, staff, and college students. Apple’s student discounts policy require verification by UNiDAYS, a popular savings program for college students. After you purchase the bundle, you’ll receive a redemption code by email to unlock those apps from the Mac App Store.
Valentine’s Day is typically one of the busiest nights of the year for restaurants and bars.
Not being one for crowded places on what is supposed to be a quiet romantic evening, I’ve compiled this list of Valentine’s Day-themed drinks you can make at home.
RED VELVET CAKE MARTINI
This is a great break from the boring-yet-classic martini. Picture this: You’ve just finished a scrumptious, home-cooked meal. What’s for dessert? Booze! And it’s delicious.
5 ounces Whipped Cream Vodka
5 ounces Creme De Cocoa
1 tablespoon Red Velvet Cake Mix
6 ounces milk
1 Ice Cube
Cream cheese icing for garnish (optional)
LOVE MARTINI
What’s the difference between “like” and “love”? Some say alcohol. This Love Martini is a little more involved, but it’s made with common, easy-to-find ingredients that won’t cost you a lot of money.
\¾ ounce Malibu Rum
¾ ounce Peach Schapps
¾ ounce Citron Vodka or plain vodka
5 ounces cranberry juice
Strawberries (optional)
Lime wedge (optional)
Sugar for rim garnish (optional)
Blend ingredients in a shaker and shake gently.
BERRY PUNCH
The holiday doesn’t have to be all about booze (though it often helps some of us get through it). This is a sweet and refreshing beverage that both kids and adults can enjoy. This drink is cheap, but requires a little extra preparation.
Heat the raspberries and sugar in a saucepan on medium heat for about five minutes. Refrigerate the puree for two hours. Once properly chilled, combine the puree, strawberry lemonade concentrate and soda in a large pitcher over ice. Add a few scoops of sorbet. Garnish with strawberries.
Detroit rapper Big Sean is continuing to build hype for his impending album, I Decided, with the release of a new trailer.
Although brief, the 30-second teaser features music from “Halfway Off The Balcony” and “Voices In My Head,” two tracks that are set to appear on the album that’s coming out Friday (February 3).
In the stylish visual (see above), which was directed by Canadian filmmaker Andy Hines, Big Sean can be seen standing in the middle of a desolate street as it floods.
In addition to today’s video teaser, Sean Don hit fans with another dose of good news. The Motor City rapper will launch four separate pop-up shops to celebrate the release of his fourth studio album.
Pop-up shop locations include Detroit, New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto.
“I’m too excited to be Dropping new merchandise this weekend for y’all exclusively at the I Decided pop-up shop. Detroit, New York, LA & Toronto. 4 locations each one starts Friday and ends Sunday,” Big Sean wrote in the caption to a photo of the flyer for the pop-up shops.
With a new album and nationwide pop-up shops on the way, Big Sean has clearly come a long way since his Shakespearean days.
Since Inauguration Day, several terrestrial radio stations from around the country have been dealing with the same problem: an unstoppable audio loop of YG and Nipsey Hussle’s track “FDT (Fuck Donald Trump).” Stations in South Carolina, Indiana, Texas, Tennessee, and Kentucky have all had their signals hacked over the past two weeks resulting in unexpected airtime for “FDT,” according to multiplesources.
On January 20th, reports began to surface of radio stations in Kentucky and Texas playing the song on repeat for hours. HeatStreet confirmed with Crescent Hill Radio in KY and 100.5 KCGF-LP in TX that the broadcasts were not intentional. Crescent Hill Radio reportedly had to go off the air entirely for several hours to fix the problem.
El Jefe 96.7 in Tennessee and Mother of the Redeemer Radio in Indiana were also hacked on January 20th, according to Radio Insight.
The stations eventually discovered it was through their Barix Estreamer devices that the hackers had gained access to their transmissions. The simple internet-connected antenna isn’t secured by default, according toBuzzFeed, which left the stations vulnerable to attack.
“Other stations that it happened to have contacted me, and we all used the same device, and none of us had set a password to the device,” Kathy Weisbach, founder and president of Crescent Hill, told HeatStreet. “My bad, as I had done other security measures at the tower and the studio but failed to password protect this device. You can bet it is now.”
But, days later, the hacks continued at other stations.
In a January 30th post screencapped by BuzzFeed that has since been deleted, Frank Patterson, president of the Lake Keowee Broadcasting group in Salem, SC wrote on the WFBS-FM Facebook page, “Our internet has been HACKED at our transmitter site and the station has played anti-Trump songs. This is NOT our broadcast!”
Patterson said in the post that he planned to contact the FCC about the hack.
Radio Insightpoints out that this is not the first time this kind of hack has happened because of an unsecured Barix device. Last April, multiple stations reported their regular programming was suddenly interrupted by a podcast about furry sex.
It ain’t over until the fat lady sings or until someone’s “Baby’s Moma” is involved. The running feud between Yo Gotti, Blac Youngsta, and Young Dolph has just been reignited. Dolph drops off a new diss that will surely ruffle some feathers. Most of the shots are at Gotti, which is pretty surprising being as though he’s been rather removed from the beef between Youngsta and Dolph…
Rihanna is breaking out in every way possible, with releasing her most heartfelt and groundbreaking album Anti. Now, she is landing major movie roles such as Bates Motel, the all women cast of Oceans Eight, which is set to be released of Summer 2018, and alien movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Rihanna cannot sit still, but who can blame her.
In the A&E drama, the pop sensation plays the role of Marion Crane, the fictional character featured in 1959 novel Psycho. Executive producer Kerry Ehrin said that Rihanna will play a more fleshed out version of the character Leigh portrayed in Psycho. Little is known about her fate but if the past is any indication of Rihanna’s performance, you can be sure that she’ll absolutely kill her role.
Bates Motel returns February 20th on A&E. Along with her multi-episode arc on the show, Rihanna has several more forthcoming acting projects including Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets and Ocean’s Eight.
“I don’t have to care about what I say—I can rap about what I want,” he made clear to us in November. So, as the title hints, here’s a song in which Ugly God says the word “bitch” 83 times (I counted, twice) over a beautiful self-produced beat. That has to be some kind of record, right? Listen below.
While the world may have its racial differences, hip-hop seems to be blind to race, color and creed, leaving its door open for all to come in, with endless possibilities for anything magical to be created.
Originally from Newington, Connecticut, OnCue fell in love with hip-hop at a very young age, thanks to his older brother who introduced him to the genre.
“I’ve been listening to hip-hop since I was around 3 or 4. It was just a lot of random stuff back then as a kid that made me fall in love with hip-hop, such as Method Man and Kris Kross. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony was actually the very first CD I bought. But there was no one specific artist that inspired me to start writing rap records, I just fell love with the music and culture since I was a little kid. I was a white kid, in the average normal suburbs and it was kind of a backwards, but I was blessed to have an older brother who had good taste in music.”
While coming from a white background, OnCue did however face some hardships with trying to emerge himself in the industry. The 27-year-old artist mentioned some hesitance before actually committing himself to become a rapper.
“It’s so crazy because I started so young. I wrote my first raps before Eminem even came out. I wrote my first rap when I was 9 and always hid it from my parents and brother just because I thought that at this moment, there was so much back lash from Vanilla Ice in ‘97, ‘98, and around the time when Biggie and Pac passed, there was even more back lash on white rappers. But when Em came along, he kind of made me feel like okay, maybe I’m not insane, maybe I can do this. And then when Kanye came out, I felt like oh, I think there is a place for me. I say that because before Kanye came along, it was all gangster, drug and street rap, and then when he came in the game, he kind of made it okay to be yourself.”
While Eminem and Kanye gave him that drive to pursue his dreams, when asked, “If you had to choose someone to listen to your last piece of work, who would it be and why?”, OnCue responds, “I would have to go with Kanye. Ye cares about every last detail and I am the very same way…In fact, I was hype and freaking out that someone from Good Music was listening to my shit. Obviously I work with Just, but when I found College Dropout, that’s when my soul really connected with something”.
While OnCue had some reservations with bringing his raps to the light during his childhood, all his efforts would soon pay off. Before moving to New York and becoming the artist he is today, his formal introduction into the industry wasn’t planned, it just happened. Upon finding a craft in graphic designs, he used that skill as a means to network and build relations with figures in the industry. After one of OnCue’s graphic designs clients played his beginning records to producer, Just Blaze, it marked the beginning of his and Just Blaze’s collaborations. It was almost as if fate took its course for the two to meet. From that point forward, OnCue only went up.
OnCue’s music has definitely shown the evolution of his life and growth. He released Angry Young Man in 2014, but spent three years working on it prior to the release. The young artist described AYM as a mere description of everything he was going through at that time of his life.
“I was angry at the past, angry at my present and angry about my future because I was dealing with a lot of shit, from dealing with my father’s drug addiction, my brother’s issue with alcohol, my breakup, and I just put it in those 12 songs. Instead of running with the drugs and alcohol, I buried myself in music. It’s where I found peace. The track, “Broken Language” specifically was about a girl I was with for years, and once my career took a turn, it was that moment where I actually became a man and made that decision that changed me forever. I did not want to say goodbye at all, but sometimes you have to make decisions for the long run. I had always been this voice of uplifting and reason, and trying to find the silver lining in things and that was really what it was about. I had to get this out emotionally and that was Angry Young Man.”
In regards to the latest EP he dropped, You Knew All Along, OnCue says, “I am just kind of giving you myself. Its not like you are going to be able to necessarily find OnCue’s voice, metaphorically speaking in someone else because I am telling my story and no one else’s. So even in the new material, You Knew All Along, was kind of fun, but it wasn’t really planned, it more so just happened. I had some records sitting in the stash, “3AM” and “Boy On The Come Up”, along with some other records I made throughout the year and basically complied them together”
In transition, Perfectly, Tragically Flawed is a more thought out, short album of me accepting who I am, growing from those growing pains, moving through heart breaks, dealing with domestic issues and all the other bullshit I had to deal with in AYM. I now have such a different perspective, because once you really hit rock bottom, anything but rock bottom is amazing. I really hit rock bottom making AYM. I went through heavy depression and after the break up, I just couldn’t deal with it. While I was simultaneously trying to work on my first project with Just Blaze, depression really got to me, certain things fell out around me in terms of my team and I mean I was really in a dark place. I was waiting on iTunes royalty checks just to buy food, a couple hundred dollar checks just to literally put food in my belly. But now, everything is really starting to look up. Life isn’t perfect but I understand that now”.
While OnCue’s life took a 360-degree spin for the best, the color of his skin was something he had no control over. “Being white in hip hop, I would be a liar to say that it does not have some benefits, but obviously on the other hand, it has been it uphill battle. Like I know I have fans that only listen to white rappers, saying things like OnCue, G-Eazy and MGK are like the dopest, and then its like, is that all you listen to? Like it is bizarre. But then on the other hand its kind of hard to get respect. More or less it’s difficult to be a white rapper. There is an uphill battle when you are trying to actually be taken seriously within the culture. But in this day in age, living with the internet, blogs, and other media outlets including SoundCloud YouTube and Spotify, there are all these counter cultures of white rap, which kind of exist outside of the culture. There is a subculture inside of the culture, which G-Eazy blew up within, and then next thing you know, he has a huge record in the country and a lot of people within hip hop are confused because a lot of times, when you are trying to make the uphill battle as a white guy and gain respect from a predominantly black art form, its totally difficult.”
Understanding that OnCue’s music has shown a true evolution of his life, he said, “I get bored easily, so AYM is very sonically and lyrically heavy and super experimental. The newer stuff is a little bit lighter, very much trap drone kid and very much what OnCue would sound like in 2016, 2017 without really losing that experimental and adventurous side… I just want to fuck shit up, but right now I am really enjoying the music that I am currently working on and I’ve never felt so proud”.
Perfectly, Tragically Flawed is expected to be released next month in February, but OnCue hopes that from his music his audience understands that everyone has issues.
Philadelphia artistAnyee Wright has been relatively quiet since the release of her stellar projectBusy. Bust she is back to grind more than ever. Anyee’s previous body of work has been hands down some of her best.
But, with her new video “Street Smart,” she is showing that she still has the drive to get her voice heard. In the David Hager-directed video, viewers are able to see the city from her perspective, e.g. what she does on a regular basis in Philly.
Is this young artist ready to be crowned as Philly’s next upcomer? We shall see.
