By Niy Birden

Kendrick Lamar is Killmonger. If he hasn’t made it clear before, the album he’s curated definitely puts it into a higher perspective now.

We’ve seen him state that he wanted to be a villain in Black Panther-and for quite obvious reasons. The film version of the Marvel comic book series has created a wave in the film industry with its Afro-futurist, Black diaspora atmosphere that has re-surged discussion of African Americans in cinema.

Released one month after Black Panther’s film debut at the Dolby Theatre, Kendrick Lamar’s curated album is an exploration into the world of Wakanda-or, at least, Killmonger’s world.

With song highlights such as “Paramedic” taking such a strong homage to the narrative of African Americans in urban settings, “Black Panther The Album: Music From and Inspired By” is a very dark, flow-heavy, gritty environment. The artistic, lyrical and even musical content does not do the whole film justice, for many reasons. While the film was heavy on female-empowerment and showing both sides of a common race to liberation for Wakandans, this album only featured 4 females and played on a very rebellious theme catering to the unapologetic Black Panther lover. The kind of fan who would probably agree with the main antagonist, Killmonger’s style of conflict. A bit of backstory:

In the film, Killmonger is a fellow Wakandan whose father is killed by the King T’Chaka because he tried to sell off their most valuable resource-a metal that has kept Wakanda an independent nation with advanced technology unlike any other. Killmonger’s father is betrayed by his aid who works for the King, and Killmonger is left in 1990’s California fatherless, and to experience a Black experience that is now well-documented in American history. He feels abandoned, but seemingly for the cause, and sets out to take over Wakanda, in order to use its resources to liberate fellow Africans all over the world, but mainly for sake of knowing that he was able to take the King’s son- T’Challa, who has now ascended the throne- and replace him.
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By Creative Media Times

Its an end of an era. CDs, once the bread the butter of the music industry, is on their way out.

Best Buy, once the major music merchandiser in the US, will soon be pulling CDs from all of its stores by July 1, Billboard reports.

The article also claims that Target will follow suit if their consignment condition is not met. Specially, Target is only willing to pay labels for sold CDs. Currently, Target takes inventory risk by paying for goods shipped within 60 days, and ships back unsold CDs to the label for credit.

With strong performance of streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify continued unabated, dominating US music industry revenue last year for up to 62 percent of the total market, the news is both heartbreaking and unsurprising. There is also growing competition from smart speakers like Google Home, Sonos One, Amazon Echo which is changing the way people listen to music.

Last year, CD sales in the US were down 18.5 percent. while Best Buy, once the biggest seller of CD units in the US, now only sells $40 million annually. Overall CD sales dropped from its peak of 800 million in 2001 to 89 million in 2017, according to Consumer Affairs.

The good news: Best Buy looks to continue offering vinyl to customers, at least for the next two years. And for good reason. Vinyl seems to be making some sort of a comeback, with sales growth for the 12th consecutive year, or 14% of all physical album sales in 2017.

By Creative Media Times

It was a big night at the 60th annual Grammy Awards for Bruno Mars, who took home three awards out of the four major categories for “24K Magic” and “That’s How I Like It,” and a total of six Grammys overall. Kendrick Lamar followed with five Grammys.

Mars and Jay-Z led the nominations heading into the awards, but the latter was completely shut out and went home empty handed.

Hosted by James Corden, the event featured live performances by Elton John, Miley Cyrus, Little Big Town, Kesha, U2, Lady Gaga, Pink, Bruno Mars, Khalid and many others.

Below is a list of the night winners:

Album of the Year: 24K Magic — Bruno Mars
Record of the Year: “24K Magic” — Bruno Mars
Song of the Year: “That’s What I Like” — Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip, songwriters (Bruno Mars)
Country album: “From a Room, Vol. 1,” Chris Stapleton
New artist: Alessia Cara
Comedy album: “The Age of Spin & Deep in the Heart of Texas,” Dave Chappelle
Rap album: “DAMN.,” Kendrick Lamar
New artist: Alessia Cara

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By Armando

They may be a couple of steps behind the streaming landscape but on Friday, Def Leppard is finally ready to get rocked as the classic catalog of the band is now available for streaming, the English rock band announced on it’s website and social media.

“It’s officially #DefLeppardDay! For the first time EVER stream & download our entire catalog globally.” the band posted on Twitter. The band’s catalog is now available for streaming and download on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, Pandora and many other digital platforms.

Def Leppard is one of the world’s best-selling artists, having sold more than 100 million records. In 1987, they released their fourth album which would become their best-selling album to date “Hysteria.” The album spawned seven hit singles including their lone chart topper, the power ballad “Love Bites.” They remain one of the only five rock bands with two original studio albums that sold over 10 million in the U.S.

The band’s sentiments about streaming platform wasn’t always a positive one. They were one of the major artists opposed to streaming and were on holdout for a long time. Back in 20015, lead singer Joe Elliott remained ambivalent about the streaming format. “When you get on Spotify, it’s very insular. Which the whole industry has become. Everybody is on headphones now. It’s just Zombieland, and we’re all guilty of it,” says Elliott in an interview with Maxim.

Since then, a lot has changed with the band. As noted by Billboard, the band was at odds with former label Mercury Records over licensing and compensation, but later resolved their digital song rights with Universal Records.

The streaming space have also seen the likes of the Beatles and Prince finally embracing the platform in recent years.

The announcement couldn’t be more perfect as the band is set to co-headline a North American tour with another 1980s staple Journey this coming summer.

Eric Gasa

Kendrick Lamar and SZA have both had a great 2017; Lamar, fresh off the success of his record DAMN, and six wins at the VMAs now has a sneaker line in tow, while labelmate SZA celebrates five Grammy nominations for her first mainstream success, the sultry R&B release, CTRL. The pair jet-sets into 2018 with an even greater start as the musical genius behind one of the most anticipated movies of the year, Black Panther.

Lamar’s label, Top Dawg Entertainment announced that it would be overseeing the soundtrack with the help of director Ryan Coogler.

“I’m truly honored to contribute my knowledge of producing sound and writing music alongside Ryan and Marvel’s vision,” said Lamar in a press release.
Coogler is best known for his award-winning 2015 movie, Creed which pitted Michael B. Jordan in a dramatic take on the Rocky series. Black Panther, much like Creed, flips the script for black audiences with an exclusively African-American cast and fresh take on the Marvel Universe.

The film wears its cultural heritage on its sleeve, starring Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, battling for the future of Wakanda against Creed’s Michael B. Jordan. Capes and hammers have been traded out for African aesthetics and costumes designed by Ruth Carter. Forest Whitaker, Angela Basset, and Lupita Nyong’o also share their names among the credits.

Of course, topping the project are the towering hip-hop singles from Lamar and SZA. The first salvo from the soundtrack, “All The Stars” is a bumping anthem for the silver screen. Dark, synth-y, and nocturnal, the song sounds like a single from SZA’s own CTRL; her voice pierces the veil with the thump of a drum machine while Lamar unloads a verse fit for a superhero: “Tell me what you gonna do to me/ Confrontation ain’t nothing new to me/ You can bring a bullet, bring a sword, bring a morgue/ But you can’t bring the truth to me.”

SZA’s elastic voice floats, sashays, and sails throughout the chorus, “All the stars are closer, all the stars are closer,” she sings. At its core, “All The Stars” is a song about love and determination.

Even if Black Panther doesn’t live up to they hype, despite already beating Captain America: Civil War as the most preordered Marvel film ever, it’s sure to have the greatest sound of any superhero movie out there.

As Black Panther pounces on the bad guys he’ll have hip-hop greatness at his back.

By Eric Gasa

It’s that wonderous time of the year again for festivalgoers, the always highly contested and anticipated Coachella lineup has been announced and with it comes the collective cheers, gasps, and sighs of the hundreds of thousands of people who will be attending in the sweltering California desert heat this April 12-15 and 20-22.

With it comes the hierarchy of headliners, characterized by the big named fonts (the headliners and Beyoncés of this world), the heavy hitters (Post-Malone, Fleet Foxes) until you go all the way down to the bottom of the list and hit the sleeper agents (Mild High Club, Japanese Breakfast, Princess Nokia).

This year’s lineup shows an expectant shift towards hip-hop and R&B. The three headliners, The Weeknd, Beyoncé, and Eminem could’ve been a big hint, along with other top acts like Cardi B, Migos, SZA, and Vince Staples. As the streaming culture shifts in favor of hip-hop we’ll see more and more of this, but this doesn’t mean rock & roll has left the desert festival forever. Alt-rockers like St. Vincent, The War on Drugs, Fleet Foxes, and Angel Olsen still bill high in the lineup, each act featuring dazzling guitar chops and fills.

This year also marks Beyoncé’s first performance since her pregnancy in June of last year as well as the first time a black woman has headlined the event. Eminem also tops the third day as he hits the festival circuit in support of his newest album Revival. His last appearance at Coachella was back in 2012 with Dr. Dre. The Weeknd on the other hand has been touring nonstop since 2016. This year also marks his third and highest-ranking appearance at the festival as the day one headliner.

As the festival grows bigger each year, its often looked to as mainstream music’s tastemaker. Compare to Coachella’s lineup 10 years ago which featured Jack Johnson, Prince, and Roger Waters, 2018 is a year dominated by hip-hop and R&B hitmakers.

By Armando

Music legends Queen, Neil Diamond and Tina Turner are set to be the honored with the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. They will join Hal Blaine, Emmylou Harris, Louis Jordan and the Meters as recipients of the award which “celebrates performers who have made outstanding contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording.”

“This year’s Special Merit Awards recipients are a prestigious group of diverse and influential creators who have crafted or contributed to some of the most distinctive recordings in music history. These exceptionally inspiring figures are being honored as legendary performers, creative architects and technical visionaries. Their outstanding accomplishments and passion for their craft have created a timeless legacy,” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of the Recording Academy.

Other honorees include Bill Graham, Seymour Stein, and John Williams for the Trustees Award, while Tony Agnello and Richard Factor will be the Technical Grammy Award recipients.

A special award presentation ceremony and concert which will celebrate the Special Merit Awards honorees will be held this summer. The Grammy Awards will be held at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on January 28.

Queen, led by the late Freddie Mercury, is one of the world’s best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of 150 million to 300 million records, including classic rock hits “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” Often to as “The Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Tina Turner’s hit-making career spans decades, once as a member of the Ike & Tina Turner husband-and-wife musical duo with then husband Ike Turner, leading up to global success as a solo artist. In 1983, Tina launched “What’s Love Got to Do with It” which would become her signature hit single.

Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond scored numerous hits during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s including “Sweet Caroline,” “America” and “Heartlight.” He wrote for chart hits for the Monkees and later hit no.1 with his own single “Cracklin’ Rosie” (1970).