Jem Aswad-Senior: Last News

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWith a hit single in “About Damn Time” and a new album, “Special,” due in July, Lizzo has unveiled dates for her tour in support of the album, with support from special guest, Atlanta rapper Latto.Produced by Live Nation, the tour kicks off on September 23rd in Sunrise, FL and runs through November with stops including New York City on October 2nd and Los Angeles on November 18th, full routing is available below. Public onsale will begin Friday, April 29th at 10 a.m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAfter months of gradually unveiling details, Megan Thee Stallion specifically recounted her recollections of the July 2020 incident in which Tory Lanez allegedly shot her in the feet after an argument following a party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood home.In a long and tearful interview with Gayle King on “CBS Mornings,” Megan unambiguously confirmed previous statements on social media and in the press that Lanez (real name: Daystar Peterson) shot her in the feet as she attempted to walk away from a car in which they were traveling with friend Kelsey Nicole and Lanez’s bodyguard, shouting “Dance, bitch!”She also admitted that she initially lied to police about the incident in an attempt to protect the people in the car — all of whom were Black and were being detained at gunpoint by police — saying that she had stepped on glass. She said her instinct was to protect her friends, even though they had just argued, especially because the incident took place at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMegan Thee Stallion will talk about the 2020 incident in which Tory Lanez allegedly shot her on “CBS Mornings” Monday. The incident, in which Megan has claimed publicly that Lanez shot her in the feet after an argument following a party at Kylie Jenner’s house in July of 2020, has never been fully explained; the court case is ongoing. Megan has slowly revealed details on social media and in interviews; Lanez has vaguely denied it in statements and in several songs.But according to a preview clip of the interview with Gayle King that airs tomorrow (Monday, April 25), Megan tearfully discussed the issue on television with her for the first time.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCynthia Albritton, a.k.a. Cynthia Plaster Caster, the legendary artist and “recovering groupie” renowned for the plaster casts she took of many top musicians’ erect penises and other body parts, has died after a long illness, her rep confirms to Variety. She was 74.Her collection included Jimi Hendrix, Wayne Kramer of MC5, Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks, Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys as well as female breasts from the likes of Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab, Sally Timms of the Mekons, Peaches, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and many others.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJustin Bieber and Dan + Shay have been hit with a copyright lawsuit that claims they borrowed the “core portion” of their Grammy-winning hit “10,000 Hours” from a comparatively obscure 1980 song called “The First Time Baby Is A Holiday.” The complaint was filed Thursday in Los Angeles federal court by a company called Melomega.“Defendants’ theft is impudently bold,” reads the complaint reads, which also names Dan + Shay’s label, Warner Music Group, as a defendant. “One need only listen to ‘First Time’ and the infringing ‘10,000 Hours’ to discern the unmistakable similarities between the songs.” The claim is supported by musicologist Dr.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMTV announced that the 2022 VMAs will air live and around the world in more than 170 countries on Sunday, August 28th from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.“We are thrilled to be back in New Jersey for this year’s VMAs live from Prudential Center,” said Bruce Gillmer, president of music, music talent, programming & events, Paramount and chief content officer, music, Paramount+. “Our 2019 show in Newark was undoubtedly one of our biggest and most successful shows yet and we’re excited to bring back the incredible fan energy for one of music’s most anticipated and iconic nights.”“New Jersey is honored to once again host the MTV Video Music Awards at one of our many world-class entertainment and sports venues,” said Governor Phil Murphy.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSome 57 years ago, Bob Dylan famously enraged folk purists by strapping on an electric guitar and performing with a rock band.What might those purists might have said upon learning that he’d sold his precious song catalog — including such timeless, era-defining classics as “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Masters of War,” “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Hurricane” and “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” — to a multinational conglomerate for nearly $400 million?On a purely emotional level, selling one’s songs can seem uncomfortably close to selling one’s soul: After all, what is a song if not an expression of its writer’s spirit? But in practical terms, these deals make sense for both sides.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Midem conference, which ran for 55 years before its owner canceled the 2022 edition, will return in 2023, according to a report in Music Business Worldwide.While the 2022 event was officially canceled by Reed Midem in December, it was reported at the time that the city of Cannes, which has hosted the event since its inception, would take it over, and that appears to be the case: according to the report, the Midem brand was recently sold to the City of Cannes Municipality by RX France, Reed Midem’s parent company.“In order to rediscover this emblematic event on the Cannes calendar, the City of Cannes is taking over the Midem so that it once again becomes the essential meeting place for music professionals from all over the world,” said the city’s mayor, David Lisnard, in a statement cited by MBW. “Maintaining this show in Cannes represents an economic challenge for local employment and attractiveness for the destination.” Lisnard said the city consulted with “several professionals” representing the French and global musical businesses, including major and independent record labels, concert promoters, streaming platforms and others “in order to offer a qualitative program [for Midem] that is as close as possible to the realities and developments in the [music] sector.”The city’s statement added that “the health crisis, as well as the reorganization of the activity of the RX company led [the firm] to give up the organization of Midem.”The conference launched in Cannes in 1967 and for decades was a showcase for the world’s biggest artists and executives.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA$AP Rocky was detained on Wednesday at Los Angeles International Airport in connection with a November 2021 shooting, NBC News reports, citing “multiple law enforcement sources familiar with the matter” and the rapper’s attorney.Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was arriving on a private plane from Barbados, where he had been on vacation with Rihanna, his girlfriend. The two are expecting a child together.Rocky’s attorney, Alan Jackson, confirmed to NBC News that his client had been arrested.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Smile — a trio comprising Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood and Sons of Kemet’s Tom Skinner — will release their debut album, “A Light for Attracting Attention,” on May 13on XL Recordings.The 13-track album was produced and mixed by Nigel Godrich and mastered by Bob Ludwig. Tracks feature strings by the London Contemporary Orchestra and a full brass section of contemporary UK jazz players including Byron Wallen, Theon and Nathaniel Cross, Chelsea Carmichael, Robert Stillman and Jason Yarde.The group has previously released four singles: “You Will Never Work in Television Again,” “The Smoke,” “Skrting on the Surface” and “Pana-vision,” the latter of which appeared in the finale of “Peaky Blinders” — and premiere a fifth, “Free in the Knowledge,” with today’s announcement, accompanied by a video directed by Leo Leigh.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFrom the T.S.A. to the Coachella festival, from your local supermarket to your local music club, mask and vaccination mandates continue to fall across the country, in the face of all credible scientific evidence that yet another coronavirus surge is not only taking place, but raging.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLorde covered Rosalía‘s track “Hentai” during her concert at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on Monday night — and Rosalia gave her a big thumbs-up for her version in her Instagram story.The song is from Rosalía’s innovative latest album “Motomami,” which has earned rave reviews almost across the board, including from Variety.Fuckin hell @lorde covering @rosalia I can die now pic.twitter.com/vANjLYG7nM— Austin Rieders (@RiedersDigest) April 19, 2022Early Tuesday, Rosalía shared footage of Lorde’s performance on her Instagram Stories this afternoon and wrote: “Lorde que bonitaaaaaa” [how beautiful].As noted by NME, Lorde raved about “Motomami” in a recent letter to fans. “I’ve listened to the Rosalía album every day since it came out, fuck, it’s so good,” she wrote.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFormat, a new festival merging the worlds of music, art and technology, will hold its premiere event on September 23-25, 2022, on the private Sugar Creek Airstrip in Bentonville, Arkansas.The three-day event will feature more than 50 music artists, including Rüfüs Du Sol, Phoenix, Khruangbin, Beach House, The War On Drugs, Nile Rodgers & Chic, the Flaming Lips, Jungle, and Herbie Hancock — along with integrated performances, installations, and art experiences from world-renowned artists including Doug Aitken, Nick Cave (NOTE: not the singer Nick Cave), Jacolby Satterwhite, Pia Camil, Marinella Senatore, Maurizio Cattelan’s Toiletpaper Magazine, John Gerrard in collaboration with Richie Hawtin, Justin Lowe & Jonah Freeman, Sissel Tolaas, Charlap Hyman & Herrero, and many more. Tickets will go on sale Friday, April 22 at www.format-festival.com.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe France-based streaming service Deezer, which has a relatively low profile in the U.S. but is one of the world’s largest streamers, is merging with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with an eye toward going public at a $1.13 billion valuation, the companies told the Wall Street Journal.Deezer, which launched in 2007, is merging with Paris-listed I2PO SA.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs if it didn’t take long enough to get to the 21st installment of Coachella — what with a pandemic, four postponements and yet another recent Covid spike — when original Sunday headliner Kanye West pulled out two weeks ago, Swedish House Mafia had to transform their vaguely defined position on the lineup into a headlining set. In short order the Weeknd — who is still deep in work on his HBO series “The Idol,” which he cowrote, coproduced and stars in — agreed to bump up his previously planned brief appearance with the EDM titans to a co-headlining spot with them, but he had just two weeks to pull together a set.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSpanish singer Rosalia has announced dates for a massive world tour in support of her breakthrough album “Motomami,” which launches with 12 dates in Spain in July and covers a total of 46 shows in 15 countries in Europe, North and Latin America and will see her through the rest of the year. Dates appear below.Variety called “Motomami,” Rosalia’s third album, “as musically innovative an album as we’ve heard in the past year.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLizzo got a workout not seen since Donald Glover did double-duty as host and musical guest on “Saturday Night Live,” performing two songs from her forthcoming album “Special,” showing impressive comic timing and stamina by appearing in nearly every sketch — she even played flute twice, once while twerking (in fact, the entire sketch was framed around an orchestra learning to twerk while playing their instruments).For the first musical performance, she introduced herself as “Ladies and gentlemen, me!,” and sang her latest single, the discofied groove “About That Time,” accompanied by a drummer, bassist and of course her dancers, the Big Grrls — who are themselves the subject of an Amazon reality show, “Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” (a commercial for which aired just before the first song).

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorEarly Sunday morning, BTS announced a new album with the tagline “We Are Bulletproof” coming on June 10, in a teaser video posted on social media. The group usually releases information gradually and this is no exception, as there is no further information in the video except a series of images.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor“The only way that this could be more elegant,” said Father John Misty as he surveyed the crowd in New York’s legendary Rainbow Room, a venue that epitomizes elegance, “is if we had three tables heaped with shrimp cocktails.”He wasn’t wrong. The opulent venue, opened in 1934 and located on the 65th floor of 30 Rock, has multiple chandeliers, a sunken, circular dancefloor and a 15 or so floor-to-ceiling windows offering breathtaking views of Midtown Manhattan and beyond, with the Empire State Building’s nightly light show occasionally distracting from the performance onstage.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPhoebe Bridgers has dropped “Sidelines,” her first original song since her Grammy-nominated 2020 album “Punisher.” The moody and low-key track is from Hulu’s adaptation of Sally Rooney’s low-key blockbuster novel “Conversations With Friends.” According to the announcement, it will be Bridgers’ only new original song of 2022, although she’s released multiple covers and reworked versions of “Punisher” songs over the past few months.Bridgers will be making her first-ever appearance at the Coachella festival this and next weekend, and then will launch a long tour of North America and Europe through the end of August; dates appear below.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorVeteran PR executive Dvora Englefield is joining WME as a partner and head of music artist strategy. According to the announcement, in the newly created role, Englefield will focus on ways for WME to identify and maximize new business opportunities, strategic partnerships, and client services on behalf of the agency’s music division and client roster.The Los Angeles-based excecutive arrives from the Lede Company, the top PR firm that she joined in 2018, where she was partner and head of the music division; she will finish out the month at the Lede and officially start at WME on May 9. Previously, Englefield led the music department at 42West and ran the music department at BWR.