Beloved British pop star Jessie J has released a new music video for her uplifting single Flashlight, written by Sam Smith and Sia. Besides appearing on the soundtrack to Pitch Perfect 2, Flashlight is also featured in the movie as the finale in a breathtaking moonlit concert.
Before the concert you get to see Jessie J looking like one of the students in Barden University (aka the UCLA campus), rocking some leather overalls and belting out the beautiful track in the university gardens. Directed by Hannah Lux Davies, the video also shows a lot of unseen footage from the upcoming movie.
Jessie J premiered the video exclusively with ET online before uploading to Vevo the next day. In the interview with ET she talked about the song’s meaning: “I guess the ultimate feel behind the video and the concept is about giving someone something happy, you’re my flashlight,” she says. “Having someone that gives you light in moments of darkness.”
Slim Shady and his protégé Yelawolf pay tribute to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost in their soulful new music video for Best Friend. The track is the lead cut from Yelawolf’s second studio album, Love Story, which is currently soaring up the Billboard album charts heading for a top 10 debut this week.
Directed by Spidy, the video is a simple and powerful visual which sees the rappers delivering their verses inside an empty church with sunlight pouring through the stained glass windows. Yelawolf keeps it fairly calm whilst Eminem aggressively delivers more than 16 bars, as per usual.
Best Friend is the only track on Love Story that features a guest collaboration, and it marks Eminem’s first musical release this year. “There’s one feature on this album, and that’s Eminem,” Yelawolf told Complex. “Why am I gonna get such-and-such? For what? Hype? I’m just trying to make a good record.”
In a recent interview with MTV Yelawolf said that Best Friend was a perfect fit for Eminem. “The song was already really strong, and I knew that I was touching on something that was serious — or, to me, it was. The melody in the song, it came together, and I just thought, If Marshall, if he gets on this and understands this concept, that it would be outta here. So I just crossed my fingers and sent it to him. Luckily, he understood it perfectly, and obviously killed it.”
Most fans seem to be in agreement that the song is amazing. Nearly all the YouTube comments are positive – we rather liked the one: “Even though im an atheist I still love this song, both Em and Yelas part.” and this one: “God speaks in amazing ways. Through many people. ”
Sunday Sessions this week comes from the heart of Arizona, USA, where the all-American, 5-man alternative rock band, The Maine, are making waves and claiming their space in the industry. We have an awesome playlist from them this week! The Maine is John O’Callaghan (vocals), Pat Kirch (percusion), Kennedy Brock (guitar, vox), Garrett Nickelsen (guitar) and Jared Monaco (guitar).
The Maine are now in their eighth year together. They have 4 full-length albums under their belt including their major label debut album Black & White, released in 2010. They dabble in many areas of the music industry having recorded and produced their own EP Imaginary Numbers in 2013.
Their 5th studio album – American Candy – was released at the end of March via 8123 and it’s a collection of tight, catchy songs that will remind fans why they fell in love with The Maine in the first place. Frontman John O’Callaghan said of the album: “A sort of innocence resounds throughout it that to me is reminiscent of our headspace in years past. We set out to bounce things a bit more sonically and produce a record that has an energy throughout. I believe this record has birthed a rejuvenated and optimistic outlook on life that we can only hope is evident and contagious within the 8123 family.”
The lead single from American Candy is English Girls – check it out below:
The band have been plane hopping across the globe performing as headliners and support roles for the likes of Taking Back Sunday, Anberlin, A Rocket To The Moon and Augustana to name a few. The band has made numerous festival appearances including The Vans Warped Tour, Bamboozle and SXSW. They are currently on their American Candy Tour which finishes May 16 in Orlando, Florida.
The fiery five are recognised within the industry for the close relationship they maintain with their fans – many of whom are now college age and have grown up alongside the band. Their loyal and tight knit fan base is a sure indicator of a fruitful career.
John O’Callaghan chose our Sunday Sessions this week:
1-Beach Slang – American Girls & French Kisses
“Occasionally a band will come along and make me fall madly in love with music all over again. Beach Slang has done just that and has been consistently spinning since I discovered them. I need their new full length to be out now!”
2-Miguel – Coffee
“I really dug Kaleidoscope Dream, and I’ve been fervently anticipating the next LP Miguel will release this year (hopefully). He has released 3 tunes via SoundCloud, and “Coffee” has me thinking that whatever is to come, whenever it comes, will be well worth the wait.”
3-The Japanese House – Still
“Many of my religious visits to the hypemachine blog rarely leave me with tracks that move me like “Still” has. I know nothing about this group other than the fact that google-ing them won’t get you anywhere and they write great songs. Can’t wait to hear what’s to come from The Japanese House and thanks to them I now know what suburban housing looks like in Japan.”
Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) have lifted their ban on Dal Shabet‘s new title track Joker. The reason they banned it is surprising – it’s not the sexy dancing or the sexy outfits, it was the lyrics that caused KBS to deem the video inappropriate, and they really were inappropriate.
In Korean “Joker” is pronounced as “joh-kuh” which is emphasized in Dal Shabet’s song as like “jot”, which means dick or cock. “Kuh” means big, so they were essentially singing about big cocks:
“Fill my heart from top to bottom, I wanna, gimmie wanna baby, gimmie wanna baby, big cock, big cock, I wanna, show me wanna baby, show me wanna baby, big cock, big cock.”
So now you understand the problem! Happy Face Entertainment, the agency that looks after the 6-piece girl group Dal Shabet, re-submitted a modified version of the song with several of the lines changed and KBS lifted the ban. With the lifted ban and modified lyrics the group are set to perform their comeback stage tonight (April 24) on Music Bank.
The track comes from the girls 8th ‘mini’ album Joker is Alive and blends a retro-sounding horn section with some Britney-esque crooning and a beat that would get most people onto the dance floor.
With a title like Wet Dreamz and the explicit lyrics that make you blush you would expect the music video to be soft porn – but this is so much better! J Cole has been very creative with his latest music video. The song tells the story of all the fears and doubts that run through a guys mind in the run up to losing his virginity. But instead of using human actors the Ryan Staake directed visual uses a German Shepherd and Cocker Spaniel puppy to act out the emotional story. The result is clever, funny and completely adorable – plus you can play it in public without worrying!
J Cole’s fans seem to love t too, as can be seen from the plethora of positive comments on YouTube:
– Pretty funny actually, did not expect dogs telling the story of him getting laid 🙂
– I laughed throughout the entire damn video. Well-made. A great metaphor for how love encompasses the entire damn animal kingdom, and it’s simply told through his dog’s eyes but the video still ends with J.Cole (shot at his and his girl’s feet on the bed). Any video that brings about multiple interpretations is a good damn video.
– Oh, this was adorable and well done. I love a well told story and using dogs perspective was highly entertaining – had me blushing…
This is the 4th music video taken from Cole’s third studio album Forest Hills Drive (2014) which went to Nº1 on the Billboard album charts – moving 375,000 units in the week ending Dec. 14, according to Nielsen Music. It’s Cole’s third Nº1 album.
Today Sia shared her new music video for Fire Meet Gasoline from her latest album 1000 Forms Of Fear (2014). It’s the first video from the album that doesn’t star Maddie Zeigler – but to make up for that Sia has enlisted German top model and TV Personality Heidi Klum and Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal, who portrayed Oberyn Martell on HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones. The last time we saw Pascal on screen he met his horrific eye-popping demise – so you’ll be pleased to know that his face is back to normal in this visual!
Directed by Francesco Carrozzini the video shows the steamy love affair between the pair. One can only guess at what has happened and our guess is that Pascal’s character has killed someone inside their house – he reveals a bloody rock to Klum – so they burn the whole house down to destroy the evidence. Whatever did happen, one thing is for sure, they get along like Fire and Gasoline.
Refreshingly, there are no Beats headphones in this music video, but there is still plenty of product placement in the form of Heidi Klum’s exclusive range of lingerie. Better than headphones, right?
As usual Sia never appears in the visual but her blonde wig does – you get a glimpse of it right at the end of the video.
#ThrowbackThursday – We go back to 1983 when David Bowie was Nº1 in the US and the UK with the title track from the Nile Rodgers produced album Let’s Dance. The song was the first single to be lifted from the album and became Bowie’s biggest-selling hit. The track also went to Nº1 in 7 other countries. This was Bowie’s 4th UK Nº1 featuring blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, who played lead guitar.
Let’s Dance was Bowie’s only transatlantic Nº1 and it’s not hard to understand why. The upbeat song has mass appeal and Bowie himself described it as “positive, emotional and uplifting.” “I tried to produce something that was warmer and more humanistic than anything I’ve done for a long time. Less emphasis on the nihilistic kind of statement.”
The music video was filmed on location in Australia and directed by David Mallet and Bowie. Locations included in the video was a bar in Carinda in New South Wales and the Warrumbungle National Park near Coonabarabran. It featured Bowie playing with his band while impassively watching an Aboriginal couple’s struggles against metaphors of Western cultural imperialism. The red shoes mentioned in the song’s lyrics appear in several contexts. Bowie described this video (and the video for his subsequent single, “China Girl”) as “very simple, very direct” statements against racism and oppression.
C5 users you will find this music video in Playlists >> Throwback Sessions.
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We can’t stop listening to Major Lazer’s Lean On. It’s an Indian-reggae culture mash-up full of positive vibes! In case you didn’t know Major Lazer is a music project created by American DJ and record producer Diplo and consists of Diplo, Jillionaire and Walshy Fire. The track is a collaboration with French DJ and producer, DJ Snake with guest vocals by Danish rising star MØ (featured on Iggy Azalea’s single Beg for It.)
The electronic music tycoons headed to the Indian countryside to film the music video for the track. We see some Bollywood-inspired choreography and a traditional Indian dance troupe. The video was directed by Tim Erem and shot in Mumbai in December last year. Here’s what Diplo had to say about the experience:
“India is special and its beauty absolutely humbled me. When we toured there as Major Lazer, it was mind blowing to see our fan-base and we wanted to incorporate the attitude and positive vibes into our video and just do something that embodies the essence of Major Lazer. Major Lazer has always been a culture mashup and to us, India feels like some kind of special creature with one foot in history and one firmly in the future. The experience is something we’ll never forget.”
The track has reached Nº1 in 5 countries and the Top 10 in 9 countries. It is now racing up the UK charts and is currently at Nº13. It is taken from Major Lazer’s upcoming third studio album, Peace Is The Mission, to be released in June.
It’s RihannaRama! If you’re not quite in the summer mood yet these semi-NSFW photos of Rihanna should help. V magazine’s Summer 2015 issue features pages of Rihanna in a sizzling hot photo shoot. The Bad Girl of Pop dons a blonde platinum wig, chalky blue eyeshadow, long thick eyelashes, bubble gum pink lipstick, orange nail polish and… not much else for these fantastic retro pin-up images.
Shot by high-flying photographer Steven Klein and styled by Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, RiRi is a tanned goddess oozing self confidence and sexiness, even with this completely new look. In some of the photos she dons sheer luxury swimwear matched with colourful furs and cheeky shorts that show off her curves. This is fun-fashion and RiRi completely killed it!
Inside the issue Rihanna discusses her highly anticipated new album, social media, her latest singles and many other issues. Here are a few juicy excerpts:
Rihanna shot back at those who criticized her for “taking time off”:“I didn’t actually take time off. The past two years are the hardest I’ve ever worked,” she said, pointing out that she’s been at work on several projects, including two albums, the animated movie “Home,” a summer tour and her first annual Diamond Ball, which she launched in December.
On her privacy issues: “Do I even give a dick about that anymore?”
On FourFiveSeconds: “The thing that made me fall in love with [‘FourFiveSeconds’] is the juxtaposition of the music and the lyrics. When you read the lyrics it’s a completely different song than what you are hearing. The music is easygoing, but the lyrical content is very loud and in your face. In performing this, the key was to make sure the aggression wasn’t lost.”
On her upcoming eighth album: “Dude, I’m in love with my interludes. This one called ‘James,’ joint is on constant repeat. [The album is] soulful and aggressive, whether it’s lyrically, musically, or just the tone of my voice.”
On her social media impact: “I run away from anything that does not stimulate me. I often find myself gravitating toward the underground. There is a certain creative freedom there that you can’t experience anywhere else.”
The summer 2015 issue of V Magazine, V95, will ht the newsstands on May 7. Click here to pre-order via the magazine’s official website. On the same site you can also order a Deluxe Edition Box-Set of the Summer Issue which features a case covered with Steven Klein’s explosive RiRi photographs, a copy of V95, and three different mystery posters created by Klein, Bess NYC, and Slava Mogutin.
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Dej Loaf, the pint-sized MC from Detroit, has been on everyone’s radar ever since her 2014 club anthem Try Me blew up on the charts. Her brilliant Sell Sole mixtape (2014) and a deal with Columbia Records have put her under the spotlight. Now, with the release of the super sultry Me U & Hennessy, she seems to be the next big thing for female rap.
Me U & Hennessy is an intimate, romantic song – a heartfelt sex ballad really, and the first time we have seen this side of the 24-year-old rhymer. Marshawn Lynch of the Seattle Seahawks recently named her as one of the “hottest females in entertainment”. Some rappers have even written songs about their affection for her.
At the end of the video we hear Lil Wayne’s voice and there follows a “To be continued” message teasing a remix of the track featuring him. Yesterday (April 20) the remix was released and it certainly turns up the heat! Weezy gets down to business with his sexually explicit verse, singing about codeine and Adderall, threesomes, doing it doggy style and no TVs reporting bad news.
