By Armando

Its only four days away from music world’s big event and the excitement is already heating up as to who will be getting a Moonman this year.

Set to be held this Sunday August 27, 2017 at The Forum in Inglewood, California, MTV’s annual Video Music Awards will be hosted by Katty Perry, marking the first time for Perry as host of the event.

On Wednesday, Demi Lovato took to Twitter to announce her scheduled performance on Sunday. “See you at the VMAs this year,” Lovato wrote complete with emojis. Gucci Mane, Logic and Post Malone are also set to perform, joining previously announced artists Ed Sheeran, Miley Cyrus, Fifth Harmony, The Weeknd, Lorde, Kendrick Lamar, Julia Michaels, Thirty Seconds to Mars, and Shawn Mendes.

Also this week, Cardi B was announced to perform at the pre-show stage. She will be joined by “Location” singer and songwriter Khalid and indie pop act Bleachers.

The event is set to be a big night for P!nk, who will be receiving a Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award for her accomplishments in music and film. Sometimes called “Lifetime Achievement Award” in some years, the accolade has been given to some of music’s biggest names, most recently Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Kanye West, and Rihanna.

The top nominees for this year’s Video of the Year include Kendrick Lamar for “Humble”, Bruno Mars for “24K Magic”, Alessia Cara for “Scars to Your Beautiful”, DJ Khaled (featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller) for “Wild Thoughts”, and The Weeknd for “Reminder.”

The ceremony on Sunday will start at 8 p.m. ET while red carpet starts at 7 p.m. ET. The pre-show will be hosted by rapper Lil Yachty.

By Eric Gasa

Weezer – Pacific Daydream

Weezer are back with a follow up to last year’s White Album. Pacific Daydream, their 11th record, is due out October 27 with an extensive summer tour heading far into 2018. Originally suspected to be the long awaited Black Album, Pacific Daydream came to be as the songwriting process shifted from darker elements to “reveries from a beach at the end of the world,” according to a press release.

Pacific Dream’s first single, “Feels Like Summer” trades the pop-punk guitars for a bouncy electronic pop beat ala Imagine Dragons or 21 Pilots. Frontman Rivers Cuomo shouts about youthful insecurities despite being 47 years old but still sings like he’s 24 again. It’s a far cry from 90’s classics like “Sweater Song” and “Buddy Holly” but “Feels Like Summer” is sure to be heard blasting at a beach somewhere.

The more traditional “Mexican Fender” finds the band doing what they do best; singing about girls, guitars, and nerdy idiosyncrasies. Fitting to the title, Pacific Daydream is still stepped in Weezer’s signature sunbaked, California style. Check the charming video for “Mexican Fender” starring a lovesick seagull.

Robert Plant – Carry Fire

Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant delves into his love for blues and acoustic guitars on his newest single, “The May Queen”. The song is the first from his forthcoming record, Carry Fire, which is due out October 13 via Nonesuch Records. On “The May Queen” the fiery singer takes a break from the heavy rhythms to deliver a softer, sweeter slice of his songwriting. Think more “Stairway to Heaven” or “Going To California” than “When The Levee Breaks” or “Immigrant Song”.

Some Zeppelin fans will notice the sly “Stairway to Heaven” reference in “The May Queen” but this song could not be more different from his original work. Regarding the recording process, Plant says that he prefers “mixing old with new”.

“The May Queen” is especially unique wherein we see Plant take a twangier approach reminiscent of Paul Simon and acoustic world music. Country-style fiddles permeate the song alongside slide guitars and a choir. If “The May Queen” is a primer to Carry Fire then fans should expect a warmer side of the former frontman.

“Out here the fire’s still burning so long into my night,” Plant sings, “Still captive and still yearning/Surrender to your light.”

By Cameron Pridmore

Way back yonder before there was Spotify or Pandora, and way before music download services like iTunes, the way that you found out about new music was MTV. The music powerhouse was launched in 1981, and brought with it the music video revolution, as well as some pretty memorable television shows. Now of course you had your Bevis and Butt head, but there was also a wonderful little morsel called Unplugged. The show which ran in two different formats one from 1981 to 1999, and then Unplugged 2.0 which was ran until 2009, was one of the most popular music television shows of its time.

The press release by new the network on Tuesday illustrates that the network is bringing the franchise back, acknowledging that Unplugged was one of the networks strongest franchises and one that built MTV over the years. The press release did not exactly illustrate what type of format the show will take on this time, but undoubtedly it will most likely take on its previous tremendously popular format as before. The return of this iconic television franchise is MTV admitting that their network has really fallen off as of late, the channel which was built on music is now nothing more than a cesspool of reality television programs.

The unplugged series was built on live performances, and the premise of the show is built around the fact that it is an acoustic performance. Generally it was a showcase of the artist’s vocal talents, as well as their song writing abilities. The lack of the use of an amplifier or any electronics gave fans an intimate experience with their favorite artists and this helped the ratings explode during the last half of the 90s. The show also spawned some great album releases from the live sessions, which all sold double platinum. Some of these releases were from Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, and even the Eagles just to name a few.
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By Armando

The longest-serving CMA Executive Director and one of the most influential advocates of country music, Jo Walker-Meador, has died. According to the Country Music Association and the Country Music Hall of Fame release, she died Tuesday night in Nashville after a stroke. Jo Walker-Meador was 93, and he is survived by her brother Pete Denning, daughter Michelle Walker, and step-children Rob and Karen Meador.

“Jo was a champion for Country Music around the world and a groundbreaker for women in the entertainment business,” said CMA Chief Executive Officer Sarah Trahern. “On a personal note, I will miss her guidance, humor, and friendship. She was the first meeting I set up before I took this job. She taught me lessons in how to gracefully navigate the Board. She was always diplomatic in her storytelling and she had some great ones to share. Over the last six months she was a little more candid and I always looked forward to our time together. She will be greatly missed by all. My heart is broken.”

It is during her tenure that many of country music’s major initiatives were conceived, including The Country Music Hall of Fame which was created in 1961, the CMA Awards which created in 1967 and began its national tv broadcast a year later, and the CMA Music Festival; all of which are staples in celebrating the genre while also helping global awareness of Country Music.

Eric Gasa

Miley Cyrus has announced a release date and title for her highly anticipated album, Younger Now, which is slated to drop September 29. The advent of this new record finds Cyrus in a very unique position musically. Three years after her viral twerking stunt at the VMAs with Robin Thicke, the party-hard pop artist is now looking to dial back her persona of sex, drugs, and rock & roll, for a more wholesome approach.

The first single from Younger Now, “Malibu” trades the hip-hop beats for a sweet, joyful, and sun-kissed guitar ballad. The music video features Cyrus smiling, dancing, and running alongside the beach with flowers in her hair. When compared to Cyrus licking a sledgehammer and straddling a wrecking ball naked in 2013’s “Wrecking Ball” video, “Malibu” is a complete 180.

The stylistic change comes after the release of Cyrus’ last record, Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz, a glittery and experimental release that found the artist wearing rainbow colored hair and a unicorn costume onstage. After the tour, Cyrus went on a social media blackout, became politically involved, and moved out to Malibu to get back to her roots.

According to a May 2017 interview with Billboard Magazine, Cyrus is now off drugs, drinking, and going completely clean.
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By Niy Birden

Last year brought in a wave for newcomer Khalid, a 19 year old singer from Texas who has created yet another obsession for teenagers in the popshphere, alongside the label he is signed to, RCA Records. RCA has played a very integral role in the development of teenagers in pop culture, with one of its most famous artists, Christina Aguilera, who became a powerhouse singing sensation during the 90’s.

Khalid, who is at the same age of Christina when she got her fame, has burst through the music industry door with his first charting hit “Location”, and collaboration with Logic and Alessia Cara on “1-800-273-8255” , recently came back to the charts with his “Young Dumb and Broke” single, and accompanying music video. In the song, Khalid is talking to a love interest about the beauties and inevitability of being young, dumb, and broke, but in a romantic way that makes you reminisce your own youth. The pinnacle of most teenage anthems in America.

While the first verse is a bit too fast in the sense that it gives off the entire theme of the song in just a few bars, the vocal delivery and lines themselves go perfectly together, completing the nostalgic feeling that he is trying to play to. “So you’re still thinking of me/Just like I know you should/I can not give you everything, you know I wish I could/I’m so high at the moment/I’m so caught up in this/Yeah, we’re just young, dumb and broke/But we still got love to give”.
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Eric Gasa

“Lust for life” has always been a phrase with big shoes to fill. It’s the title of the iconic, larger than life song by Iggy Pop, a story about lusting, drugs, and living on the edge, as well as the sunshine-y jangle of the 2009 single by the band Girls. The latter sings plenty about lusting as well— “Oh, I wish I had a boyfriend, I wish I had a loving man in my life…Maybe then I would’ve turned out right.”

The same titled song by Lana Del Rey, though not as fun or iconic as the other songs listed, falls somewhere in the middle. It’s not a loathsome, sunbaked rocker, or even a love story really; it’s a sex-fueled, pop-centric kiss off.

The cover of Lana Del Rey’s newest album, Lust For Life betrays her persona all too often. On Lust For Life, the All-American sweetheart smiling in front of the pickup truck with the flowers in her hair chants for The Weeknd to take off his clothes with lusty abandon.
“Climb up the H of the Hollywood sign, yeah,” Del Rey sings, “In these stolen moments the world is mine.”

It’s a bit of an ironic shtick but one that has stuck all along for Elizabeth Grant, who’s made a career as America’s pop idol next door. She lives in a world ruled by fast cars and James Dean types crossed with hip-hop verses and Mountain Dew.

The aesthetic is no different on Lust For Life which finds Del Rey doing what she does best; being drab, dramatic, and suave as hell.
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By Niy Birden

It has been a long, courageous fight for Kesha Rose Sebert, a.k.a Ke$ha, but now stylized as simply, Kesha. When she first came out, she was ostracized and criticized for her extensive auto-tune, party glam, drunk- girl-appropriating- cultures tone of music and imagery, and then three years ago we learned that she had been suffering from sexual abuse from her main producer Dr. Luke , who used to be the owner of Kasz only Inc., which partnered with Sony Records.

While the law dispute seems to have quieted down, Kesha’s voice definitely has not. And for good reasons, of course. If anything, her voice is more unique and louder than ever. Most people don’t know that before and during her “Tik Tok” fame in 2009, she was a singer-songwriter. So it’s actually no surprise at all that her return would not only be one to shatter her prior musical image, but it also shatters the opinions of most of her listeners. “Praying” is Kesha’s most powerful song to date. Don’t be surprised if you hear about the next singing competition winner getting their fame through use of this song. It’s that good. With its powerful chorus, whistle tone-like belt, and catchy melody, it makes you wonder what powerhouses Adele and Christina Aguilera are doing with their releases.

Premiering on July 6th as the first single from her new album “Rainbow”, Kesha actually released her new golden song with an interesting music video, filled with religious symbolism, oddly-masked men, and her walking around a very large outside environment, doing a ritualistic dance and prayer straight from the Indigenous people that she so often uses for accessory. While the video isn’t nearly as powerful as the song, it is classically, a very Kesha video. The most visually stunning shots, however, are the almost-still moments when the color of the video is in a black and white shot, with Kesha laying down on a surface, against a landscape of beautiful water. While the shot is supposed to be one of a solemn moment, it creates a beautiful effect on the eye. A similar scene returns at the very end of the video when she is now walking-on water, might I add- but this time, with a golden sunset played out before her. Looks like she’s been praying indeed.
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