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The superstar releases a new album and the hype around it is as epic as the disc itself. First, Eminem gives the fans a clue by appearing on the Monster tour with Rihanna in August wearing a T-Shirt depicting the words Shady XV. He then also tweeted a photo of himself wearing the same shirt. The next clue was on the night of the MTV VMAs, when he again used Twitter to build up the mystery. Eminem tweeted a trailer for Shady XV and noted the project would arrive on Black Friday. The trailer didn’t exactly reveal what Shady XV actually was, but it did flip through images from Eminem’s past, including some D-12 snapshots and a 50 Cent cameo or two.

Eminem’s camp soon confirmed that Shady XV would be the two-disc compilation spanning the greatest hits of Eminem’s Shady Records. The Roman numeral title represents that it is the fifteenth release from the label on its fifteenth anniversary.

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The next lure and snippet to keep the fans on their toes came two weeks before the album’s release when Eminem made headlines for a lyric he dropped as part of a promotional cypher featuring himself, Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf. The cypher was a nearly nineteen minute long video of the stars giving us a cappella lyrics with the backdrop of their home towns. The rough and ready Shady Cxvher includes Eminem talking about punching singer Lana Del Rey like he was Ray Rice, (the Baltimore Ravens running back who was suspended for domestic abuse) amidst a lot of other tumultuous insults and lyrical mastery. His talents run riot here as he runs rings around his counterparts for delivery, timing and flow. See for yourself…

Eminem – Shady CXVPHER (A capella verse)

Eminem also sent out a series of short videos to promote the album which depicted old black and white cartoon like clowns juggling chainsaws and little girls wielding machine guns! Not your average cartoons to say the least. Coordinating with the new album title the series is appropriately (or inappropriately if you like) named Shady XV Quinceañera, which means the celebration of a girl’s fifteenth birthday – Shady Records turns fifteen this year.

Leading up to Shady XV’s release, Eminem also shared a demo version of his iconic track Lose Yourself where the rapper revealed that he can’t even recall recording it. “I don’t remember where I was at when I recorded it,” he said. “I don’t remember any of the first verse.” Dr. Dre had to remind him of the song’s existence! This is the one they didn’t release…

Eminem – Lose Yourself (Demo version)

Never has a greatest hits album been so highly anticipated, as this one comes with a whole disc of original music to boot. To add to this Eminem is currently the second-highest selling male artist of the modern era (second to the talents of, believe it or not, Garth Brooks!) and therefore anything new coming from the house of Shady is going to be met with seriously high expectations. The album was released on November 24th; Shady XV is a two-disc compilation that features both new and classic tracks from Eminem and members of his Shady Records label roster.

All of the new music on Shady XV lives on the first disc featuring twelve tracks from Eminem, Yelawolf, Slaughterhouse, D12 and more. Eminem serves as the executive producer of the entire project and features on most of the tracks on Disc one. There are many collaborative moments on the first disc; the debut single from this was Guts over Fear starring the haunting vocals of Sia. The track was released on the same day as the album and features on Denzel Washington’s new film The Equalizer. Hear it now…

Eminem – Guts Over Fear ft. Sia

The track Detroit vs Everybody has Big Sean, Danny Brown, Royce da 5’9”, Trick Trick, Dej Loaf alongside Eminem…

Eminem – Detroit vs. Everybody

Paul Rosenberg (Eminem’s manager and co-founder of Shady Records) commented on the idea behind the new album in a recent interview with Music Times; “One day we were sitting talking about what we were gonna do this year. We’ve starting rolling out the Yelawolf album, that’s going to continue this year, and Slaughterhouse is still working on their project, so we were like, ‘Alright, we want to get something out this year because it’s the 15th anniversary of the label,’ and then it dawned on us that this would actually be the 15th project we’d be releasing, which just sort of lined up nicely. So we thought it would be a good time to go back and do a retrospective on the ‘greatest hits.’ They’re not gonna all just be hits like, Lose Yourself and In Da Club, these massive songs, but some of the sort of favorites of the fans and ourselves as well. And then also the chance to put out some new music, as well, because we just want to keep releasing stuff. So there’s gonna be a compilation of new music from the artists on the label as well.”

The second disc is a showcase of the best artists on the Shady Records label including some classic tracks by Eminem, 50 Cent, Slaughterhouse, Yelawolf, D12, and more. Joe Budden (Slaughterhouse member) expressed gratitude for being included on the album. “We’re all really happy to be a part of it,” he said “I, for one, am extremely blessed to be a part of such a consistent, dominant label with a label head who’s one of the greatest MCs who has ever graced the microphone.”

Due to there being extensive material on the label, a lot of tracks could not be included on the second disc of the Shady XV album. This gave rise to the release of the Shady Classics compilation; a 66-track, three-hour mix-tape of previously released material that is now mixed together for the first time. This archive of the Shady Record label’s legacy is also available now.

Shady XV Tracklist Disc 1 1. Eminem, “ShadyXV” 2. Slaughterhouse, “Psychopath Killer” (feat. Eminem and Yelawolf) 3. Eminem, “Die Alone” (feat. Kobe) 4. Bad Meets Evil, “Vegas” 5. Slaughterhouse, “Y’all Ready Know” 6. Eminem, “Guts Over Fear” (feat. Sia) 7. Yelawolf, “Down” 8. D12, “Bane” 9. Eminem, “Fine Line” 10. Skylar Grey, Eminem, & Yelawolf, “Twisted” 11. Eminem, “Right for Me” 12. Eminem, Royce Da 5’9″, Big Sean, Danny Brown, DeJ Loaf & Trick Trick, “Detroit Vs. Everybody”

Disc 2 1. 50 Cent, “I Get Money” 2. D12, “Purple Pills” 3. Eminem, “Lose Yourself” 4. Obie Trice, Kuniva, Bobby Creekwater, Ca$his & Stat Quo, “Cry Now (Shady Remix)” 5. Yelawolf, “Let’s Roll” (feat. Kid Rock) 6. Slaughterhouse, “Hammer Dance” 7. 50 Cent, “P.I.M.P.” 8. Eminem, 50 Cent, Ca$his & Lloyd Banks, “You Don’t Know” 9. D12, “My Band” 10. Obie Trice, “Wanna Know” 11. 50 Cent, “Wanksta” 12. Obie Trice, “The Setup” (feat. Nate Dogg) 13. 50 Cent, “In Da Club” 14. D12, “Fight Music” 15. Yelawolf, “Pop the Trunk” Bonus: Eminem, “Lose Yourself” (Original Demo Version)

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Kina Grannis burst into the world of YouTube in 2007, when her video for debut single Message From Your Heart won the Doritos Crash Superbowl contest and aired to nearly 100 Million viewers during Superbowl XLII.  Shortly after, Grannis released her first full-length album Stairwells and on the strength of the record, played sold-out across the globe.  In the fall of 2011, Grannis was catapulted into the limelight again when she released a stop-motion music video for In Your Arms off of Stairwells.  Made with more than a quarter of a million Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, the video went viral and has since amassed more than 11 million views.  This May, Kina returned with her sophomore full-length effort Elements.  Elements landed in the Top 50 on the Billboard 200,  #4 Folk Albums (Billboard), and #2 Singer-Songwriter Album (iTunes). Recently, Kina broke the 1 million subscriber mark on YouTube and boasts an incredible 150,000,000+ views.

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Kina, you’ve just wrapped up the first leg of your Elements tour. You’ve been all over Europe meeting fans and giving intimate performances. You’re now back in the states and gearing up for more shows. Tell us what shows you have lined up for this last month of 2014 and what you loved about your tour time in Europe?
December should be a great month! I’ve got a short run of shows down the west coast of North America that I’m really looking forward to. After that, it’s basically straight into Christmas time! I’m very much looking forward to having some down time at the end of the year with my family.

The Europe tour was one of my favourites yet. We had just enough time to wander and explore in all the cities, which was amazing, and the crowds were just the best I’ve ever had. So much fun!

The Fire

Our most favourite thing we’ve read about you is that you first debuted your performance skills in front of stuffed animals at the adorable age of 4. Now you’re touring the world and practically becoming your own brand. When did what you love doing turn into a career?
Haha, yes, that was certainly a favourite pastime. Music didn’t become my career, however, until about a year after I graduated from college when I started sharing my music on YouTube for the first time. From there, things really took off.

Your YouTube channel has some crazy numbers going on. Right now you’re at almost 159 million video views and over 1 million subscribers. How long has it taken for these numbers to get to where they are today?
It’s definitely been a slow and steady. I started my YouTube channel just over 7 years ago. For my first 2 months on YouTube I did a video a day, and then switched to a video a week for a long time.

Kina Grannis – In Your Arms

How many original songs have you made since you were first capable of creating, writing and recording your own material?
There must be a few hundred at this point. (Most of which no one will ever hear.)

Out of all of these songs, which is your favourite at this point?
Can never pick a favourite. They’re all just parts of me.

Kina Grannis – Valentine

It’s interesting that your new album is available on vinyl. Why did you decide to have this option available to fans, and do you plan on releasing more material on vinyl in the future?
People had been requesting vinyls for some time, and I personally had always wanted to release something on vinyl as well – it just seemed like the right time. The problem is that pressing to vinyl is a lot more expensive. I hope I get to offer more music on vinyl in the future.

Can you tell us a bit about the triangles featured in the artwork of your new album Elements, how the album title came about, and how it all relates?
The triangles are the symbols for the 4 elements – earth, air, water, fire. The album logo is actually a combination of all 4 (and just so happens has a K in the middle of it as well). The name Elements came to me very naturally when I was driving one day. I was thinking about the song titles – winter, dear river, the fire, write it in the sky, and I realized that there were a lot of natural and elemental themes in the songs. On top of that, these songs are really about what’s most important – love, loss, future, past, growth, beginnings, endings – all the many elements of life.

Kina Grannis – Write In The Sky

How would you sum up your new album in just three words?
Honest, emotional, hopeful.

Kina Grannis – Dear River

Speaking of your music videos, the emotion filled vid to your song My Dear shows beautiful clips of your wedding day. We are assuming the song was written about your husband, Jesse Epstein. When you wrote the song, had you already planned out how it would be filmed? Or was it the other way around? Also, how did Jesse react to it all?
The idea for the music video for My Dear actually didn’t come to be until long after the wedding. We’d had all that footage taken for ourselves to look back on, and at some point it just seemed like it would be a really special thing to get to share it with everyone. Jesse and I made the decision together, he’s always been very supportive of me, whether it’s wanting to keep things private or share things.

Kina Grannis – My Dear

It’s pretty cool that Jesse is also very musically talented and you two have collaborations together. Is this how you met?

We actually met in high school at a community service event. I later taught him how to play guitar (and he quickly became better at it than me).

Kina Grannis & Jesse Epstein – Riptide (Cover)

Speaking of collabs, you’ve done many which can be seen on YouTube with different artists. Do you have anyone on your wish list that you haven’t paired up with yet?
The #1 collab of my dreams would be with Imogen Heap. I admire and respect her so much as a musician and I would just about die to be able to collaborate with her in some way or another.

Your song Little Worrier off of your new album is very nurturing. What inspired the lyrics to this song?
To make a long story short, I went on a writing retreat by myself in the woods, the sun went down, I realized I am by no means brave enough to be alone in the woods at night, I heard footsteps downstairs, I was paralyzed and thought I was about to be murdered, and then… it was a mouse. The next day, I realized I’ve always been a worrier – whether about the past, future, friends, what other people are thinking, etc–so this song is a reminder to myself and other worriers out there to just let it go. Worrying doesn’t change anything, it just makes now more sad/stressful/scary.

Kina Grannis – Little Worrier

Going back to your younger years, what were your earliest musical influences, and do you remember when you first discovered Indie music?
My biggest early influence was a Belgian band called K’s Choice. None of my friends knew them, but they felt like my little secret. They taught me how important music could be to people (namely, me).

Your style seen on tour and in music videos is so trendy and wacky, yet entirely unique and simplistic. Where do you get your clothes and accessories?
My current favourites are Topshop, Urban Outfitters and Madewell.



You have your own clothes/Kina merchandise available in your online store. Would it be a dream of yours to have your own clothing line some day?
I think that would be incredibly fun.

2014 has kept you pretty busy with a new album release, loads of YouTube videos and touring. What is in store for Kina in 2015?
That is something I am very interested in finding out, myself 🙂 I guess we’ll just see how it unfolds.

Elements (Deluxe Version) tracklist 1. Dear River 2. The Fire 3. My Dear 4. Winter 5. Oh Father 6. Little Worrier 7. Throw It Away 8. Forever Blue 9. Maryanne 10. Write It in the Sky 11. My Own 12. This Far 13. Sorry (bonus) 14. Home (bonus) Elements Extended Trailer Digital Booklet

Buy Elements (Deluxe Version) on iTunes, Google Play or her website.

Kina Grannis chose our Sunday Sessions this week. Click here for the playlist.

Follow Kina Grannis on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram or become a Patron.

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The 27 Club became a well known group of famous musicians in the late 60’s including Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin, but really hit the mainstream when twenty-five years later Kurt Cobain (then once again in 2011 with Amy Winehouse’s death), joined the long line of famous musicians that have died at the tender age of twenty-seven. Generally, the main causes of death were drugs, alcohol, suicide or a violent end. Welcome to the 27 Club.

It’s a phenomenon and a mystery… Why were these young people so troubled? What is the significance of the age 27, if any? There are plenty of theories as to why this age seems to be so unusually common for these performers to only reach this young age. Some consider that the psychological problems concerned with fame, fortune and a cocktail of drugs and alcohol take their toll at this age between youth and maturity consequently affecting their decision-making and luring them down the path of destruction before being able to get a grip on their own true being and reality.

Some theories go as far as reading in to the moon and the stars and their alignment during the times these people died or were killed. Many theories are simpler and look into the similarities of the psyches between those who died similar deaths. The following is a brief look into the most famous musicians on the list of FIFTY stars that joined the 27 Club over the last 122 years.

1. Brian Jones – July 3rd 1969, Cotchford Farm, Hartfield, East Sussex

Brian Jones; excellent guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, was the founder and original bandleader of the Rolling Stones. Once fellow band members Keith Richards and Mick Jagger formed a strong bond and songwriting relationship between them, Jones’ position in the band flagged. He developed a serious drug dependency resulting in his eventual expulsion from the Stones in 1969. Jones was found drowned a month later in his swimming pool at his home. The bassist for the Stones Bill Wyman quoted, “He formed the band. He chose the members. He named the band. He chose the music we played. He got us gigs… Very influential, very important, and then slowly lost it – highly intelligent – and just kind of wasted it and blew it all away.” The cause of death was concluded as and remains to be, death by misadventure, despite later claims that murder was a possibility.

2. Jimi Hendrix – September 18th 1970, Notting Hill, London

The most influential time of Jimi Hendrix’s short career spans only four years but he managed to become one of the most influential instrumentalists and electric guitarists ever. At the time of his death there was much speculation as to the cause of death. At one point it was thought he committed suicide, due to struggles with his management, his rock and roll lifestyle and consequently poor health. After some dispute it was claimed that the cause of death was asphyxia due to choking on his own vomit after taking an overdose of sleeping tablets. An overworked, overstressed accidental death? Or, a plea for peace?

3. Janis Joplin – October 4th 1970, Hollywood, L.A., California

Janis Joplin was a big name in the psychedelic acid-rock scene in the late 60’s becoming better known as the “Queen of Psychedelic Soul” and “Pearl” to her friends and was described as having a “devastatingly original voice”. Joplin was one of the stars to grace the stage at Woodstock warbling out the opening number (and shockingly her only number one hit) Mercedes Benz. Janis joined the 27 Club just a few weeks after Jimi Hendrix after being found dead on the floor alone in the hotel room in which she was staying. Cause of death was listed as heroin overdose, possibly compounded with alcohol. Intentional overdose or just a lonely way out?

4. Jim Morrison – July 3rd 1971, Paris, France

Jim Morrison, lead singer of the power band The Doors, a self-confessed poet, singer songwriter and eclectically wild performer was pronounced dead in Paris aged 27. Being labeled one of the most iconic and influential frontmen in rock music history Morrison was the embodiment of the hippie counterculture rebellion.  Morrison was apparently found dead in the bath in a Paris apartment. The cause of death was allegedly a heroin overdose yet is still under dispute. There was no postmortem or autopsy on his body due to French law at the time claiming no sign of foul play. Morrison was also an alcoholic and a troubled soul that dabbled in many illegal substances over his short life; his long term companion Pamela Courson claimed that he accidentally snorted the heroin that killed him believing it to be cocaine.

5. Kurt Cobain – April 5th 1994, Seattle, Washington, USA

Best known as the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for the band Nirvana, Kurt Cobain became a 90’s icon for Generation X and “the spokesman of a generation”. Since their debut, Nirvana, with Cobain as a songwriter, has sold over 25 million albums in the US, and over 75 million worldwide. During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with heroin addiction, illness and depression. He also had difficulty coping with his fame and public image, and the professional and lifelong personal pressures surrounding himself and his wife, musician Courtney Love. On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle, the victim of what was officially ruled a suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. The circumstances of his death at age 27 have become a topic of public fascination and debate. After a tumultuous few months of alleged suicide attempts, sickness, rehab attempts and disappearance from the detox programme, he was found dead at his home by an electrician. He had apparently been lying dead for almost five days with a gunshot wound to the head plus heroin and diazepam in his blood system. He left a note to his imaginary childhood friend “Boddah” which claimed that he had not “felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing…for too many years now”.

6. Amy Winehouse – July 23rd 2011, Camden, London, UK

The multi-award winning singer songwriter Amy Winehouse was the biggest female artist of her time when she met her maker in 2011. She was only on her second album but had achieved world-wide success and a huge acknowledgement from the world of music. Her music stretched over the genres of Reggae, Soul, Ska, Jazz and R&B producing hit after hit and touring frequently over her short-lived career. Her blast to fame and fortune alongside an alcohol and drug problem plus a volatile, attention grabbing relationship led Amy’s demeanor to change as well as a dramatic alteration in her physical appearance (something which was prominent for her, see the beehive hairstyle and many many tattoos for example) and consequently her ability to stay focussed on her career faltered. She was often incapable of singing, on occasion of even being able to stand when about to go onstage. Her fame became as much of a problem for her as her alcohol and drug dependencies. Those close to her claimed that Amy just wanted to go down to the pub and hang out with the locals and that her new found fame could not permit such a simplistic outing causing her to go on a downward spiral. It was a sad day when this talented young lady let it all get flushed away. She was found dead in her home in Camden, due to alcohol poisoning. Following her death was the revival of the media attention to the 27 Club, of which three years earlier she had expressed a fear of joining.

People identified as being in the 27 Club

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