| My biggest regret is not following my dreams earlier. | | |
| | | Handshake deal: Bobby Shmurda at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, Oct. 30, 2014.
(Taylor Hill/Getty Images) |
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| | | “My biggest regret is not following my dreams earlier.” | |
| | The Plugz
I kind of still believe words should have meanings—I'm a writer, sorry—but who am I to argue with the eight or nine accounts I read of BTS's Tuesday night MTV UNPLUGGED special that all failed to grapple with the meaning of the word unplugged, or how it was or wasn't being used in this instance, or to even notice that it is in fact a word, a word with a history on the network that was airing this half-hour TV episode, which was, to tell the truth, a very good TV episode. Why would anyone besides me be thinking of the etymology of the word unplugged while watching BTS in a game-filled loft that might work as the living room in an ADAM SANDLER movie, playfully singing "TELEPATHY" to a not-at-all-unplugged backing track? Or in an a modern art museum's idea of a greenhouse giving an affecting reading of the ballad "BLUE & GREY" to a bright acoustic backing track that follows the one from the record pretty much note-for-note. (The contrast between V's breathy, guttural delivery of the song's opening lines and the crystal clear tenor that JUNGKOOK replaces him with a few moments later—they sound like two halves of the same voice—could quickly sell that one to anyone who possesses a heart.) Or sitting on seven stools lined up on a soundstage, delivering a moving cover of COLDPLAY's "FIX YOU" to a faithful-to-the-original backing track that starts soft, spare and piano-driven and ends big, electric and power ballad-y. Or, finally, BTS with a modest, stripped-down live band, letting its collective hair down to finish with the hits "LIFE GOES ON" and "DYNAMITE" and sounding live in the room. Speaking at length to their fans between songs, in subtitled Korean with a bit of English slipped in, the seven members of BTS say the words MTV and unplugged a lot, possibly to irk me along with any dads who still own GREAT WHITE t-shirts, but also possibly to honor the history they clearly do want to be a part of. Like any good performers, they want to both honor history and rewrite it. This is their show, not mine, and not NIRVANA's. Shoutout, though, to the cardigans a couple of them are wearing during "Blue & Grey." They feel, let's say, plugged in. Maybe they should've called it that.
Freedom
BOBBY SHMURDA, the viral 2014 hip-hop sensation who spent the entirety of 2015-20 behind bars, got his freedom back Tuesday morning, walking out into a very different world than the one he knew seven years ago. A timeline of his life and his troubles, why the "Free Bobby Shmurda" movement resonated and what his case says about prosecutors and the hip-hop community in the 21st century. And in the mix below, the long version of the Bobby Shmurda story, courtesy NPR Louder Than a Riot podcasters SIDNEY MADDEN and RODNEY CARMICHAEL.
Same Vocoder Different Park
A twangy Auto-Tuned shoutout to DYLAN BYERS for letting me know exactly how wrong I was when I wrote Tuesday, "The DAFT PUNK influence hasn't quite hit Nashville yet but give it time." I was exactly this wrong. Here's an interview with the singer literally saying her goal was, "Daft Punk meets country," lest there be any misunderstanding. "The most influential pop musicians of the 21st century," posits the Guardian's ALEXIS PETRIDIS.
Etc Etc Etc
A sad, beautiful project launched by NPR as the US surpassed 500,000 Covid-19 deaths. "Songs of Remembrance" tells the stories of victims through the songs they loved, as remembered by members of their families... FLORIDA MAN (sorry) was sentenced to five years in prison Monday, closing out a case against fake concert promoters who bilked investors for $31 million by telling them they were producing shows by the WEEKND, KENDRICK LAMAR, DRAKE and others. But the real display of chutzpah was buying tickets to the shows on TICKETMASTER and STUBHUB and giving them to investors as comps... Eleven records or tapes for a penny!
| | | Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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| | | | Montage Of A Dream Deferred | | by Sidney Madden and Rodney Carmichael | | The true cost of rapper Bobby Shmurda's rise, fall and coming return. | |
| | Extremely loud and incredibly close: An inside look at the new era of music documentaries | | by Marcus Jones | | From Billie Eilish to Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift, the music documentary is undergoing a fascinating, intimate overhaul. We go inside the transformation. | |
| | Spotify, Apple and Amazon at the UK streaming economics inquiry | | by Stuart Dredge | | There were some strong signals about where the committee is heading in terms of its likely recommendations, and some interesting signs of willingness on the part of the DSPs to engage with them. Plus some useful back-and-forth on whether streams are sales or rentals; some blunt comments on YouTube; and a great big red herring about Harry and Meghan’s podcast fees. | |
| | What the major record companies really think about the economics of music streaming | | by Murray Stassen | | Universal, Sony and Warner have each filed written responses to a UK Parliamentary investigation into streaming. | |
| | Cardi B Gets a Pep Talk From Mariah Carey | | by Mariah Carey and Ben Barna | | As she puts the finishing touches on her highly anticipated sophomore album, the self-described “strip-club Mariah Carey” still needs a little pep talk. So we put her in touch with the real one. | |
| | Britney Spears Was Never in Control | | by Tavi Gevinson | | Why did I ever believe a teen girl could hold all the power? | |
| | When Daft Punk went to Wee Waa: an ode to the strangest album launch of all time | | by Jack Tregoning | | The tiny Australian town was surprised but got into the spirit, selling daft pork sausages and random access rissoles while celebrating a dusty agricultural show it will never forget. | |
| | Cherie Hu Is Not Just Another Talking Head | | by Shawn Reynaldo | | A conversation with the Water & Music founder about journalism, media and the trends shaping the future of the music industry. | |
| | State of Play: FUSER, the new DJ video game from the makers of Guitar Hero | | by Cherie Hu | | In its marketing materials, Fuser seems to want to achieve a similar goal as the Guitar Hero franchise, selling aspirational stardom on the world stage. But in practice, I think Fuser is selling permission to experiment — to express yourself freely with the raw materials of existing music, a feat that’s increasingly difficult to achieve in an era of DMCA takedowns. | |
| | ‘I love streaming, I just hate the remuneration system sitting inside it’ | | by Tom Gray | | Tom Gray, musician and founder of #BrokenRecord, explains the objectives of the campaign. | |
| | | Songs Of Remembrance | | We just passed 500K Covid-19 victims. Here are some of the songs they loved and why. | |
| | How Music’s Business Managers Are Tracking Revenue -- And Getting Their Artists Bi-Weekly Paychecks | | by Micah Singleton | | A new startup is offering to help solve what’s become an unlikely mystery for music's top artists and their business managers: how much money they’re actually making. | |
| | From Pearl Jam To The Beastie Boys To Kenny Chesney: Malchijah Bailey On The Vibe & Art Of Artist Security | | by Holly Gleason | | "Rock and alternative can have a bit of a dark edge, not in a bad way, just you know once the music starts, you’re in a risk management head – scanning the crowd, looking for ways people can get hurt, or harm each other. It’s a lot of energy being pushed out there." | |
| | Ghetts Is Evolving in Real Time | | by Robert Kazandjian | | The grime legend called us up off the back of his major label debut, "Conflict of Interest". But who was on the line – Ghetts, Ghetto or J.Clarke? | |
| | Black Gospel's Roots Give Country Music's Growth Strong Foundation in Faith-Based Values | | by Marcus K. Dowling | | The relationship between the African-American gospel tradition and country music is older than country music itself. | |
| | 5 Reasons Why CD'S Need to Return (The Resurgence of the Compact Disc) | | by Mike Perez | | Only interest and time will tell if the CD just remains a relic of the past or if there is a new adventure that awaits the beloved media. | |
| | The Robots Who Ruled the World | | by Justin Sayles | | If this is really the end, the electronic duo’s myth and legacy remains unvarnished. | |
| | Meet Toasty Digital, the DJ bringing classic Kanye tracks into the future | | by Ethan Shanfeld | | His latest project, "Good Kid Twisted Fantasy," is a mashup album that brings together Mr. West and Kendrick Lamar. | |
| | A Timeline of the Legal Battle Between Chris Cornell’s Widow & Soundgarden | | by Rania Aniftos | | In the four years since Chris Cornell died by suicide in a Detroit hotel room, his widow Vicky and his surviving Soundgarden bandmates have been tangled in a heated legal battle over the late frontman's royalties, recordings and more. | |
| | In ‘Liner Notes for the Revolution,’ a History of American Music With Black Women at Its Center | | by Jennifer Szalai | | Daphne A. Brooks proposes an expansive lineage that includes Zora Neale Hurston, Pauline Hopkins, Rhiannon Giddens and Beyoncé. | |
| | Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia Changed American Culture | | by Parke Puterbaugh | | In her book "Cool Town," Grace Elizabeth Hale offers a history of the Athens, Georgia, music scene, how it came about, thrived and then served as a model for other towns beyond the pale (and free from the dilution) of the mainstream music industry. Veteran rock journalist Parke Puterbaugh spoke with Hale about her book and her Athenian experiences. | |
| | | Music | Media | Sports | Fashion | Tech | | “REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in
everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask ‘why?’” | | | | Jason Hirschhorn | | CEO & Chief Curator |
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