Jenny Lewis (Opening for Harry Styles) - Love On Tour - Atlanta, GA - 10/28/21 - State Farm Arena

If there's one thing that could be said of our modern era, it's that nothing exists in isolation.

One could even say that nothing goes in just one direction anymore—instead, things are moving in multiple directions, operating in loops, often meeting at crossroads. For a long time, at least in the music industry, things appeared to be stratified, separated by genre, linear visions, and arbitrary categories. Rock artists toured with rock artists; indie stars opened for indie stars. Patrician music lovers looked down on pop-lovers, and pop-lovers bullied indieheads. Success could be purchased with a record deal and marked by a position on a top chart. Gender was divided between a man and a woman. Feminism was disconnected from race and class.

Times are changing. Pop, like fashion, has become fluid and multidimensional. Elton John can collaborate with Young Thug. Lady Gaga can ricochet from electronica to folk and back. Harry Styles has become a bisexual icon and a truly great songwriter, capable of drawing from multiple genres to create nuanced and political pop music.

And now he's going on tour with Jenny Lewis, Koffee, and King Princess. They'll all be opening for him on different stops on his 2020 "Love on Tour" tour, which will begin in April.


A little background: Jenny Lewis is an iconic songwriter who fronted the band Rilo Kiley before creating a body of intensely powerful solo work. Koffee is a singer-songwriter, rapper, and musician from Jamaica who's generated a huge amount of buzz in a short time by putting a fresh and experimental spin on reggae. King Princess is a dream pop star who may or may not be capitalizing on queer aesthetics but still embodies an inspiringly out and proud image.

Styles' choice of openers is brilliant because it brings together so many different devoted and passionate fan-bases. Queer fans will relish the chance to dance along to King Princess, while indie traditionalists and older millennials will come for Jenny Lewis, and Gen-Z fans of cutting-edge music will show up for Koffee. All these musicians are bound together by one common thread: Their music is really, really good. And isn't that what matters in the end?

Rilo Kiley - A Better Son/Daughterwww.youtube.com


King Princess - 1950www.youtube.com


Koffee - Toast (Official Video)www.youtube.com

Unfortunately, the existing tickets sold out with stunning speed and cost an exorbitant amount of money, sadly prohibiting many of Styles' fans from enjoying the experience. (Many of them feel scammed). If Styles were to truly embrace the ethos of his commitment to breaking down all genres and boundaries, he'd make his concerts free, but alas, one can only dream... Until then, let us keep listening to our descriptively titled crossover Spotify playlists (shoutout to "Creamy" and "Pollen"), saying "okay" to Boomers who insist that there are only two genders, checking Co-Star for evidence of discernible meaning, and praying for the day when everything and everyone will truly be free.

Harry Styles - Sign of the Times (Video)www.youtube.com

MUSIC

6 Times Inductees Didn't Give a F*ck About the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Ironically, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is not very rock n' roll.

Sex Pistols

Elisa Leonelli/Shutterstock

While it's rare to hear anyone excited about anything that happens in Cleveland, the music world is abuzz with news of the 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

Being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is among the top honors any musician can hope to achieve, and past inductees include a wide range of icons from Bob Dylan to Etta James to The Grateful Dead. This year's honorees include Notorious B.I.G., Whitney Houston, Pat Benatar, Dave Matthews Band, Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Judas Priest, Kraftwerk, MC5, Motörhead, Nine Inch Nails, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Todd Rundgren, Soundgarden, T. Rex and Thin Lizzy. Those who receive the most votes will be inducted May 2nd, 2020 at a ceremony at Cleveland's Public Hall.

While fans and media personnel take the Hall of Fame very seriously, it's not uncommon for rock stars to display nothing but nonchalance and cool when faced with this great honor, or even to snub it altogether—which, honestly, is pretty rock and roll. So, in celebration of the 2020 nominees, we've compiled a list of times musical icons didn't give a f*ck about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1.Todd Rundgren

Todd Rundgren

Kevin Nixon/Future/Shutterstock

Todd Rundgren

Todd Rundgren, among the 2020 nominees, met news of this honor with a simple, "No comment." This is the second year in a row Rundgren has been nominated, and many consider it a major slight that he has yet to be included in the hall of fame. He told Billboard last year: "I didn't expect it and have never cared about it. The hardest thing was keeping my fans' expectations within reasonable bounds because they are very naive about it. I'm not; It's some weird Illuminati thing and nobody understands how it works and who does the voting and the nominee selections and all that sort of crap.

I'm not looking for some organization to acknowledge me, somehow. Besides, the Hall of Fame doesn't make any sense to me because musicians don't have to retire. Athletes retire, and that's when they go into the Hall of Fame, because they're not playing anymore. But everybody (the Rock Hall) is inducting now is still playing, so how can you say you've got the measure of them? You don't. So, no, I really don't care."

MUSIC

Fragmented Reviews for Every Song on "Yandhi"

An incomplete review for an incomplete album

Image By Ovidiu Hrubaru via Shutterstock ID

Kanye West's gospel album Jesus Is King may have been delayed indefinitely, but he's certainly not keeping quiet.

September 3rd saw the release of Francis and the Lights' atmospheric "Take Me to the Light," which Kanye appeared on alongside Bon Iver. On Sunday, Kanye performed with a gospel choir in a church in Jamaica, Queens. And today, nine of his unreleased songs surfaced on the Internet—as iTunes ringtones.

Take Me to the Light (feat. Bon Iver and Kanye West)www.youtube.com

In September 2018, Kim Kardashian announced that her husband's next album would be called Yandhi. That album never appeared and was eventually scrapped, or so we thought. But as of today, people can listen to 26-second excerpts of nine songs from the album via the ringtones section of the iTunes store. To own the tracks, you'll need to fork over $1.29 for each.

In the age of streaming and texting, does anyone call each other or use ringtones anymore? It's hard to say what Kanye's up to, but then again, he's been a reliable wild card for years.

There is heavy speculation that the songs were all leaked by someone other than Kanye, meaning that it's possible that these songs reached us illegally. Regardless, this could be the last collection of secular material we ever hear from West, judging by his recent declaration that he'll "only do gospel music" from now on.

So, to match the nature of the brief samples we were given, here's a short, incomplete review of each song:

The first track, "New Body," places a punchy, vintage hip-hop beat and record-scratch sound over a recording of a flute. The song, which features Ty Dolla $ign and Nicki Minaj, leaked in July. Its release comes after Nicki announced her possible retirement from music, so these might be the last bars we hear from either of them for a while.

Kanye West Ft. Nicki Minaj, Ty Dolla $ign - New Bodywww.youtube.com

"Slave Name" places a triumphant electric guitar solo over chill-inducing choral melodies and flickers of electric piano. In its emotional intensity, it resembles the iconic climax of "Runaway" (though it never quite reaches that level of spiritual grandeur, but then again, it never gets the chance to). The far-too-short fragment now available on iTunes appeared in several versions as a leak and samples the song "Wally Wider" by Delicate Stevens.

kanye - slave name (extended)www.youtube.com

"80 Degrees" puts a trap beat over synthy flourishes and slurred falsetto vocals. You can make out the statement, "I can walk on the water," which goes well with Kanye's new born-again religious convictions. Kanye previously teased the song in a promo video, but this is the first we've heard of its release since then.

KANYE WEST- 80 DEGREES (HURRICANE) FULL LEAKwww.youtube.com

"Alien" is all lush, stratospheric synths and spaced-out woodwinds, which seem to be the defining characteristic of this album. Opening with the line, "I won't let them get the best of me," this song is reminiscent of the wide-eyed aggression of the Graduate. It leaked in full in July, but it's tough to find online, so you might be stuck with the ringtone for now.

On "Law of Attraction," Wyoming's newest resident begins with a chorus made up of muddled harmonies. It then veers into a rap verse over what sounds like a car door alarm (which has annoyed some fans so much that one made a version without the beeps, though some firmly stand by the beeps). This song was also leaked in full in July and is sometimes called "Chakras/Law of Attraction." It's a seductive collage of futuristic sounds and autotune, the kind of thing that, ultimately, only Kanye could make.

YANDHI - LAW OF ATTRACTION (WITHOUT BEEP)www.youtube.com

"The Storm" is smooth and glossy, with R&B elements that are almost reminiscent of Drake. "Don't troll yourself," the lyrics say. "Girl you owe it to yourself." Well, that's good advice, but the song itself unfortunately features the late, disgraced rapper XXXTentancion (alongside Ty Dolla $ign), making it somewhat hard to listen to. It does contain the poetic couplet, "We began after the storm inside / leaving then it's just the morning light," but as to whether its lyrical merits outweigh the presence of XXXTentacion (and Kanye's fraught persona, for that matter), that's for listeners to decide.

"We Got Love" features Teyana Taylor. Kanye debuted it on SNL in September 2018, then released the full track on SoundCloud in November, and it can be listened to in full online. It's an ode to success as a protest to struggle. "Love is the new money," goes the chorus—a rallying cry for today's world if there ever was one. A voiceover recording at the end goes, "You can have all the money in the world...but if you can't be a person of integrity while having all these things, then what does it mean? Your value is internal." One would wonder if Kim Kardashian believes this. Regardless, the song seems to indicate the presence of a newly inspired, enlightened Kanye.

Kanye West - We Got Love (Feat. Teyana Taylor)www.youtube.com

"Bye Bye" leaked in July (under the name "Bye Bye Baby") alongside "Law of Attraction." It was the third song on an early album tracklist. It's about overdosing, excess, UFOs, and refusing to take one's meds; and in its chaotic energy, it's most similar of ye and the singles that came out last summer.

As songs like "Bye Bye" highlight, Kanye has clearly struggled a lot. If religion is a way for him to make peace with the world and his own mind, and especially if it gets him to renounce his troublesome political viewpoints, we should all be here for it—even if it means that the best we'll get of Kanye West's secular repertoire are 26-second glimpses.

Popdust does not own or endorse any of the audio or videos linked to in this article.

TV

Stranger Things Season 3 Trailer: Eleven Fights Back

Instead of locking the monster out, it seems that Eleven trapped it in Hawkins.

In the latest trailer for the third season of Stranger Things, things seem to be more chaotic than ever in Hawkins.

The series seems to be continuing to do what it does best—taking nostalgic, neon-lit images of 1980s suburbia and throwing them under the threat of destruction from a mysterious, otherworldly force. The trailer, however, is almost excessively dramatic. A string-heavy score plays while warehouses and fairgrounds meet impending doom and our favorite gang of bicycle-riding misfits continue to fight the dark forces at work. Other highlights: Max's older brother seemingly gets possessed, Eleven is her typically badass self, Winona Ryder brandishes a knife, and swarms of helicopters hint at a potentially violent and certainly action-packed end.

Stranger Things returns July 4th.

MUSIC

U2 releases the Official Music Video for "Get Out Of Your Own Way"

GRAMMY WEEK | Playing at the Grammys & new tour dates on sale Jan 26th

The Animation for this music video is captivating.

It seems like there is a lot going on with U2 lately. For a band that has been active in music for decades, they have invigorated themselves once again, video, new album, tour dates, Grammys... is it me or have they done anything but slow down? If anything they have been a constant force for peace and bring about positive manifestations through their art. The "Get Out Of Your Own Way" music video animation is no exception, creating some very catchy eye candy, for an incredible audio/visual experience. Reminds me a little of South Park style, with cut paper. They embody some of aesthetic that Radiohead has embraced. No strangers to art rock, U2 produced a video that has a message and retained an artistic ethic.

Not to be overshadowed by their video release, U2 will be performing at the 2018 Grammy Awards. Popdust is going hard for the Grammy's this year, so we will be sure to Tweet you all during the live event. Madison Square Garden will host the 60th GRAMMY Awards on Jan. 28, 2018. This is the first GRAMMY event in New York City since 2003.

"Get Out Of Your Own Way" (Afrojack Remix) is out 1/26. Announced the UK/Europe leg of the eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour 2018 - new dates to go on sale January 26th.

Broken Fingaz Crew, the fearless Israeli graffiti collective whose provocative, groundbreaking and often disturbing fluorescent sketches were among the first street art in their native Haifa, have directed U2's new video for "Get Out Of Your Own Way."

Known only by the pseudonyms that preserve their anonymity with local authorities--Unga, Tant, Kip and Desco—the enigmatic Broken Fingaz Crew approached U2 with the concept of an animated visualization of the second single from the band's new Songs of Experience. After a successful collaboration on U2's video for "American Soul," the band were inspired to give Broken Fingaz Crew full creative control based on their impassioned interpretation of "Get Out Of Your Own Way." The result reaffirms Broken Fingaz Crew's standing as artistic and social pioneers emerging from an underground of their own creation.

Broken Fingaz Crew described the mission statement of their "Get Out Of Your Own Way" video as follows. "The video addresses the current political situation: 2017 for us was the year fascists worldwide felt confident enough to raise their heads again, encouraged by Trump and other world leaders, who use people's fear to build more walls and segregation.

The song is both a personal letter and a clarion cry to the global situation, and in the same way, we've combined our psychedelic pop style with political imagery; shot entirely analogue, using paper cut and stop motion animation techniques in collaboration with Adam Albo, who edited the video."

[UXOGQE1516301918]

U2 | eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour 2018

May 2 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
May 4 – St. Louis, MO – Scottrade Center
May 7 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center
May 8 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center
May 11 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena
May 12 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena
May 15 – Los Angeles, CA – The Forum
May 16 – Los Angeles, CA – The Forum
May 22 – Chicago, IL – United Center
May 23 – Chicago, IL – United Center
May 26 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
May 28 – Atlanta, GA – Infinite Energy Arena
June 5 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
June 6 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
June 9 – Uniondale, NY – NYCB Live, Home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
June 13 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
June 14 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
June 17 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
June 18 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
June 21 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
June 22 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
June 25 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
June 26 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
June 29 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
August 31 - Berlin, DE – Mercedes-Benz Arena
September 4 – Cologne, DE – Lanxess Arena
September 8 – Paris, FR – AccorHotels Arena
September 9 – Paris, FR – AccorHotels Arena
September 16 – Lisbon, PT – Altice Arena
September 20 – Madrid, ES – WiZink Arena
September 29 – Copenhagen, DK – Royal Arena
October 3 – Hamburg, DE – Barclaycard Arena
October 7 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome
October 11 – Milan, IT – Mediolanum Forum
October 12 – Milan, IT – Mediolanum Forum
October 19 – Manchester, UK – Manchester Arena
October 23 – London, UK – The O2

Follow U2 at Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Dan Victor is editor of Popdust and producer of Popdust Presents. He is also a music producer, bassist for Low Profile (live hip hop) & The Coldpress (indie rap) and front-man for Ductape Halo (indie rock). Follow on Youtube.


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