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Lupe Fiasco has long owned the distinction of being one of the sharpest lyricists in Hip-Hop, and also showed and proved that he is adept at the art of battle. During his set at Coachella over the weekend, the Chicago rapper put any rapper who wants to test his pen on notice in a defiant speech with folks online reacting in kind.
I’m going to break the wall here and state that I feel that Lupe Fiasco might very well be the best on-paper lyricist in modern Hip-Hop. Songs like “Mural,” “The Cool” and countless others demonstrate his immense ability as a writer but also reveal the deep layers of his skillset.
As I’ve written about before, the quick back-and-forth between him and Royce Da 5’9 was largely ended by an inspired Lupe Fiasco on the track “Steve Jobs: SLR 3 1/2” which I still believe was largely freestyled or, at the very least, delivered in one take. Everyone should know and understand that Lu is a dangerous MC if one is a student of this game.
During a pause at his set at Coachella, Lupe addressed the crowd as only he could and let off a profanity-laced barrage by saying that under no uncertain terms can any rapper on the planet take him out when it comes to rhyming.
“Hear me clearly when I say this and I mean it from the bottom of my heart. When it comes to this art, and I quote, I will battle any motherf*cking rapper. Anywhere. Any motherf*ckin’ time,” Lupe said to an uproarious crowd.
This declaration from Lupe has the culture in a bit of a daze considering the mock meat shenanigans between Drake, Rick Ross, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar with K-Dot the only one putting a strong bullet on names while the antics are front and center from everyone else. Even proponents of battle rap culture like Aye Verb got involved and seemingly called out Lupe via X but that was shut down somewhat quickly.
However, Lupe did join Aye Verb in a Twitter Spaces conversation and explained his position on Kendrick Lamar and other rappers.
On X, we’ve got some reactions to Lupe Fiasco putting the game on notice, Aye Verb’s Twitter Spaces chat, and more.
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Photo: ANGELA WEISS / Getty
A cryptic mural teasing Taylor Swift‘s fast-approaching new album The Tortured Poets Department has appeared in Chicago, complete with an enormous QR code that leads fans to an error message on the pop star’s YouTube channel. A group of painters was still working on the mural as of Monday (April 15), brushing the black-and-white piece […]
Three years after he blew Fab Four fans’ minds with his The Beatles: Get Back series, director Peter Jackson is dipping back into his Beatle bag on May 8 with the re-release of Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s legendary 1970 documentary Let It Be.
The film chronicling the final days of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr will be available for the first time in more than 50 years when it airs exclusively on Disney+ on May 8.
According to a release, the film recorded during the midst of the group’s breakup “now takes its rightful place in the band’s history. Once viewed through a darker lens, the film is now brought to light through its restoration and in the context of revelations brought forth” in Jackson’s Emmy-winning 2021 docuseries.
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“Let It Be was ready to go in October/November 1969, but it didn’t come out until April 1970. One month before its release, The Beatles officially broke up. And so the people went to see Let It Be with sadness in their hearts, thinking, ‘I’ll never see The Beatles together again. I will never have that joy again,’” director Lindsay-Hogg said in a statement. “And it very much darkened the perception of the film. But, in fact, how often do you get to see artists of this stature working together to make what they hear in their heads into songs. And then you get to the roof and you see their excitement, camaraderie and sheer joy in playing together again as a group and know, as we do now, that it was the final time, and we view it with full understanding of who they were and still are and a little poignancy. I was knocked out by what Peter was able to do with Get Back, using all the footage I’d shot 50 years previously.”
In fact, the restored Let It Be features footage that appeared Get Back, taking viewers into the studio and onto the Apple Corps London rooftop in Jan. 1969 for what would be the quartet’s final live performance. It also features the band in the studio writing and recording their Let It Be album. In the wake of the rapturous appreciation for Jackson’s series, and with Lindsay-Hogg’s support, Apple Corps asked Jackson’s Park Road Post Production team to restore Let It Be from the original 16mm negative, a process that also included the remastering of the film’s sound using the same MAL de-mix technology that was employed on Get Back.
“I’m absolutely thrilled that Michael’s movie, Let It Be, has been restored and is finally being re-released after being unavailable for decades,” said Jackson in a statement. “I was so lucky to have access to Michael’s outtakes for Get Back, and I’ve always thought that Let It Be is needed to complete the Get Back story. Over three parts, we showed Michael and The Beatles filming a groundbreaking new documentary, and Let It Be is that documentary – the movie they released in 1970. I now think of it all as one epic story, finally completed after five decades. The two projects support and enhance each other: Let It Be is the climax of Get Back, while Get Back provides a vital missing context for Let It Be. Michael Lindsay-Hogg was unfailingly helpful and gracious while I made Get Back, and it’s only right that his original movie has the last word…looking and sounding far better than it did in 1970.”
On Monday, prior to the announcement — and six months after the Fabs dropped what was billed as their final song, the melancholy “Now and Then” — the Beatles site teased “There will be an answer,” a lyric from 1970’s “Let It Be.” The post was accompanied by four blank frames positioned to resemble the Let It Be album artwork, as well as what seemed like a cryptic clue, “At last…” and the Disney+ and Apple Corps logos.
Though Let It Be premiered in movie theaters in 1970 and was released on home video formats in the early 1980s, it has never been officially issued on DVD, blu-ray or streaming.
The U.S. Department of Justice is planning to sue Live Nation over alleged violations of federal antitrust laws, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
A lawsuit will be filed within weeks that alleges the concert giant leveraged its dominance over the live music industry to undermine competition for ticketing, the Journal reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Few other details about the planned case were revealed.
Live Nation has faced widespread criticism from angry fans and lawmakers since its botched handling of Taylor Swift’s “Eras” tour in 2022. Days after the incident, news broke that the DOJ had already been investigating Live Nation for months over potential antitrust violations.
Trending on Billboard
Representatives for Live Nation and the DOJ did not immediately return requests for comment from Billboard.
Since Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged in 2010, the company has long faced criticism that it exerts an unfair dominance over the market for live concerts. The DOJ approved the merger at the time, but imposed a so-called consent decree designed to prevent the company from abusing its position. Those restrictions were set to expire in 2020, but they were extended by five years after the DOJ accused Live Nation of repeatedly violating the decree.
That same criticism resurfaced in late 2022 with the disastrous roll out of tickets to Swift’s tour, which saw widespread service delays and website crashes as millions of fans tried – and many failed – to buy tickets. Live Nation pinned the blame on a “staggering number of bot attacks,” but lawmakers quickly argued that the incident was the result of a market dominated by one company.
“Ticketmaster’s power in the primary ticket market insulates it from the competitive pressures that typically push companies to innovate and improve their services,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the chair of the Senate subcommittee for antitrust issues.
In December 2022, the New York Times reported that DOJ had already been investigating Live Nation for months before the Swift debacle, including reaching out to venues across the country to ask about the company’s conduct. A year later, Reuters reported that the probe was ongoing, with federal investigators focusing on whether Live Nation imposed anticompetitive agreements on venues.
Last year, Live Nation hired Dan Wall, a veteran competition attorney who previously headed the antitrust practice at the law firm Latham & Watkins, as an executive vice president for corporate and regulatory affairs. In a blog post last month, Wall publicly defended the company against allegations similar to those that could be coming in the DOJ’s lawsuit, arguing that ticket prices were set by artists and driven up by the forces of supply and demand.
“In the ongoing antitrust attacks on Live Nation and Ticketmaster, a constant theme is that their alleged ‘monopolies’ are responsible for high ticket prices,” Wall wrote. “Rhetorically, that’s understandable, because if you want to rile up fans against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, there is no better way than to blame them for something you know fans dislike.”
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Source: Momodu Mansaray / Getty / Keanu Reeves
It’s not often that we get perfect castings in films, but according to X, Paramount got this one right.
Multiple sources are telling The Hollywood Reporter that Keanu Reeves and his iconic voice will bring to life fan-favorite character Shadow The Hedgehog in the highly anticipated film Sonic 3.
The news first reported by The John Campea Show comes after Paramount had a strong showing at CinemaCon last week in Las Vegas, where attendees saw some early footage from Sonic The Hedgehog 3.
In the footage, attendees were happy to see that Jim Carrey is back as Dr. Robotnik, who is now depressed and overweight after being defeated by his long-time nemesis, Sonic.
Robotnik regains his mojo after creating Shadow, who is, in every sense, the dark version of the Blue Blur and has similar abilities.
Following a lackluster trailer that first introduced a hideous Sonic The Hedgehog design that Twitter bullied the studio into changing, the first movie raced into theaters in 2020, earning a whopping $319 million at the box office and becoming one of the last theatrical blockbusters right before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down.
Sonic 2 arrived in 2022, introducing more characters like Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) and Knuckles (Idris Elba), earning $404 million.
Reeves continues to stay quite busy in Hollywood, most recently starring in John Wick 4, bringing back Neo in The Matrix: Resurrections, reprising his role as John Wick in the upcoming spinoff John Wick Presents: The Ballerina, and a role in Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune.
Social Media Users Chime In On The Casting
Following the announcement, X, formerly Twitter, celebrates Reeves casting in the film.
“THIS IS GONNA BE THE GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH,” one X user wrote.
Another post read, “perfect casting.”
Some fans are disappointed because they wanted Star Wars star Hayden Christensen to voice Shadow.
If you ask us, this sounds like a win to us. You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
2. We will be seated for this epicness.
3. Sonic fans we are eating
4. We would love to see it.
7. Howling
9. Yes, yes they do.
10. Continue to cook
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Unless you’re spinning vinyl on your record player or listening to the radio, you most likely have a music subscription to stream your favorite artists and the latest album drops. Apple Music, much like Spotify and Amazon Music, is an all-in-one hub to go to for playlist creation, music discovery and taking your favorite songs on the go.
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Attached to each music subscription is a monthly or annual cost, but with a little help from Apple Music deals, promos and bundles going on, you can use the platform for free.
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The easiest way to test out the music-streaming platform is through Apple Music’s standard free trial option. New users will receive one-month free of the streamer when they sign up and get access to all of the benefits like Spatial Audio and playlists that are always ad-free.
If you find commitment scary, you can read on to discover more ways on how to get a free Apple Music subscription.
How to Get a Free Apple Music Subscription
Instead of finding the deals yourself, Shop Billboard put together a list of the latest deals and promos that’ll instantly get you free Apple Music.
Standard Apple Music Free Trial
If you’re new to Apple Music, you’re eligible for a free one-month subscription when you sign up through Apple. After that, it’s $10.99 a month, but includes benefits such as an ad-free listening experience, curated weekly playlists, access to the streamer’s library of more than 100 million songs and more.
Still in school? Apple Music has a student plan that offers the same 30-day trial before charging $5.99 a month. For families, there’s even the option to test it out for a month before paying $16.99 per month. And for those who prefer to only use Siri, the Apple Voice plan provides the same free trial before charging $4.99 a month. All you have to do is click the button on the page that says “try it free” and sign up.
Purchasing an Eligible Apple Device
Apple has a couple more methods to earn a free subscription without even leaving its site. The first being if you purchase an eligible Apple device such as AirPods, a HomePod Mini or Beats. Once redeemed, you’ll receive six months of Apple Music at no additional cost.
Once your subscription is up, the individual Apple Music plan is $10.99 a month, but for further savings, you can do the Apple Voice plan for $4.99 a month, which requires you use Siri for all your streaming needs. Students can grab a student plan for $5.99 a month, while families can enjoy streaming together for just $16.99 a month.
Apple One Subscription
Sick of having multiple subscriptions? Apple released one of its newer services: Apple One, which bundles up to six apps together to create a lower monthly price. This even includes up to 2TB of iCloud+ storage and one month free of Apple Music. Rather than have various apps charging you different subscriptions costs, this will put it all together.
To score a free trial, go to the Apple One page and click “try Apple One for free.” From there you’ll have the option to choose from one of three plan options with the basic one being an Individual plan for $16.95. month that provides 50GB of iCloud+ storage and up to four apps bundled.
Need more space?You can opt to go with the Premiere plan for $32.95 a month, which will allow you to share it with up to five people, has 2TB of iCloud+ storage and can bundle up to six apps. Families can also snag a Family plan for $22.95 a month giving them access to 200GB of iCloud+ storage, the ability to bundle up to four apps and sharing with a max of five people.
Verizon Unlimited Plan
For anyone looking for an excuse to upgrade their cell phone, this is your sign to do it. Verizon Wireless has a promo where you can score six months of free Apple Music, and all you have to do is be on an eligible Verizon Unlimited Plan.
After the Verizon free trial is up, the subscription follows Apple’s different tiered plans including Apple Voice for $4.99 a month, a Student plan for $5.99 a month, the Standard plan of $10.99 a month and the Family plan for $16.99 a month.
Best Buy Promo
Arguably one of the easiest ways you can start streaming for free is through Best Buy’s promo. Just add Apple Music to your cart from the site and you’ve automatically earned three months of free, unlimited music (only eligible for new or returning subscribers).
Plans for Apple Music follow its own tiered plan that’s separate from Best Buy’s promo. The standard plan will cost $10.99 a month, but if you’re looking for additional savings you can subscribe to Apple Voice (a Siri only listening plan), the student plan or the family plan.
For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of how to get free Amazon Music Unlimited, the best tech deals and streaming device deals.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce stole the show at the first weekend of Coachella 2024, where they made a surprise appearance to watch performances from the pop star’s collaborators Jack Antonoff and Ice Spice. And based on a newly shared photo, the couple also spent some quality time with friends backstage on Saturday (April 13) […]
Future and Metro Boomin are following their two new collaborative releases—We Don’t Trust You and We Still Don’t Trust You—with a joint tour. The We Trust You Tour begins this summer at the end of July and stretches into early September. See the hip-hop artists’ upcoming tour dates below.Beginning tomorrow (Wednesday, April 17), Cash App is making pre-sale tickets available to Cash App cardholders. The general public can start getting tickets on Friday, April 19.Future and Metro Boomin caused a stir when they released We Don’t Trust You in late March. The album housed a collaboration with Kendrick Lamar called “Like That.” On that track, Lamar dissed J. Cole and Drake, and Cole responded with his own diss track, “7 Minute Drill.” The North Carolina rapper, however, apologized for his song and pulled it from digital streaming platforms.All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.Future & Metro Boomin: We Trust You TourBuy Now at TicketmasterFuture & Metro Boomin:07-30 Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center07-31 Saint Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center08-02 Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum08-03 Chicago, IL – Lollapalooza (Grant Park)08-04 Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena08-06 Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena08-08 Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena08-10 Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center08-11 Toronto, Ontario – Scotiabank Arena08-13 Boston, MA – TD Garden08-14 Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center08-15 Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center08-17 Washington, D.C. – Capital One Arena08-20 New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center08-22 Houston, TX – Toyota Center08-23 San Antonio, TX – Frost Bank Center08-24 Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center08-25 Tulsa, OK – BOK Center08-27 Denver, CO – Ball Arena08-28 Salt Lake City, UT – Delta Center08-30 Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena08-31 Inglewood, CA – Intuit Dome09-03 Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center09-04 Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena09-06 Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena09-07 Portland, OR – Moda Center09-09 Vancouver, British Columbia – Rogers Arena
Carol Burnett will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 49th Annual Gracie Awards Gala on May 21 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. The award recognizes a woman whose work in media honors the legacy of Gracie Allen, a pioneering force in the industry and the award’s namesake. The awards are presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF).
Rachel Platten, who had a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2015 with “Fight Song” and who won a Daytime Emmy the following year for a performance on Good Morning America, will perform at the gala.
“Carol Burnett is a true icon of television and entertainment, whose impact spans decades and resonates with audiences of all ages,” Becky Brooks, president of the AWMF, said in a statement. “Her groundbreaking work on The Carol Burnett Show set a standard for excellence in comedy and storytelling.”
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Burnett won her seventh competitive Emmy Award in January for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) for Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love. The two-hour NBC special featured such pals as Julie Andrews and Cher and a performance by Katy Perry of “I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together,” the theme song to The Carol Burnett Show.
That award gave Burnett a 61-year span of Primetime Emmys. She won her first such award in 1962 for outstanding performance in a variety or musical program for The Gary Moore Show.
In 2017, Burnett won a Grammy for best spoken word album for In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem & Fun in the Sandbox.
In 1985, Burnett became just the second woman (after Lucille Ball) to be inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Her many other honorary awards include the Kennedy Center Honors (2003), the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005), the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (2013), and the life achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild (2015). In 2019, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association created The Carol Burnett Award which is an honorary Golden Globe to celebrate outstanding contributions to television. Burnett was the first recipient.
Burnett co-stars in the new series Palm Royal for Apple TV, which premiered March 20. The cast includes Kristin Wiig, Allison Janney, Laura Dern, Ricky Martin and Josh Lucas.
As a non-profit organization, AWMF is committed to developing educational programs, charitable activities and scholarship initiatives that directly benefit women in the media.
Future and Metro Boomin are looking to heat up the summer, as the rapper-producer duo will be hitting the road in support of their pair of albums.
Live Nation announced the We Trust You Tour on Tuesday (April 16), and the arena trek is slated to kick off in Kansas City, Mo., at the T-Mobile Center on July 30. Openers and supporting acts have not yet been announced.
Metro Boomin and Future’s 27-date North American tour will be making stops in Detroit, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Boston, Philly, Houston, Toronto, Las Vegas, Seattle and more before wrapping up north of the border on Sept. 9 in Vancouver, B.C., at Rogers Arena.
Tickets will be available to Cash App card customers starting on Wednesday (April 17), while the general public will get their chance on Friday (April 19) on the Live Nation website at 10 a.m. local venue time.
VIP packages are also available for those interested in a package that will include a photo-op in front of the stage, access to a VIP lounge, a VIP gift item and more perks.
Trending on Billboard
Future and Metro sprinted out of the gates with their We Don’t Trust You album in March, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 251,000 total album-equivalent units in the week ending March 28, per Luminate.
Album standout “Like That” featuring Kendrick Lamar’s atomic bomb on the rap game is spending a third week atop the Billboard Hot 100. The fiery track soared to No. 1 on the Hot 100 and is the first rap song to spend its first three weeks at the summit since Drake’s “Nice for What.”
“HIP HOP IS ALIVE AND WELL #WEDONTTRUSTYOU,” Metro wrote on social media after learning “Like That” had notched him his first No. 1 hit as a billed artist. (He previously reached the summit as a co-producer and co-writer on Migos’ “Bad & Boujee” and The Weeknd’s “Heartless.”)
The duo could be making yet another splash on the charts as Pluto and Young Metro returned to give fans 25 more tracks packaged as another album, fittingly titled We Still Don’t Trust You.
Find all of the We Trust You Tour dates below.
July 30 – Kansas City, Mo. @ T-Mobile CenterJuly 31 – Saint Paul, Minn. @ Xcel Energy CenterAug. 2 – Milwaukee, Wis. @ Fiserv ForumAug. 3 – Chicago, Ill. @ Lollapalooza Aug. 4 – Detroit, Mich. @ Little Caesars ArenaAug. 6 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Bridgestone ArenaAug. 8 – Atlanta, Ga. @ State Farm ArenaAug. 10 – Columbus, Ohio @ Schottenstein CenterAug. 11 – Toronto, Ontario @ Scotiabank ArenaAug. 13 – Boston, Mass. @ TD GardenAug. 14 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Wells Fargo CenterAug. 15 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Barclays CenterAug. 17 – Washington, D.C. @ Capital One ArenaAug. 20 – New Orleans, La. @ Smoothie King CenterAug. 22 – Houston, Texas @ Toyota CenterAug. 23 – San Antonio, Texas @ Frost Bank CenterAug. 24 – Dallas, Texas @ American Airlines CenterAug. 25 – Tulsa, Okla. @ BOK CenterAug. 27 – Denver, Colo. @ Ball ArenaAug. 28 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ Delta CenterAug. 30 – Las Vegas, Nev. @ T-Mobile ArenaAug. 31 – Inglewood, Calif. @ Intuit DomeSept. 3 – Sacramento, Calif. @ Golden 1 CenterSept. 4 – Oakland, Calif. @ Oakland ArenaSept. 6 – Seattle, Wash. @ Climate Pledge ArenaSept. 7 – Portland, Ore. @ Moda CenterSept. 9 – Vancouver, B.C. @ Rogers Arena
