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.