All posts by msmith

The Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco Album Is A Full-Circle Moment

Petra Collins

Selena Gomez might not be your favorite pop star’s favorite pop star, but she’s probably got a track or two on their favorite playlist. She began her career as an actress on Disney’s Wizards Of Waverly Place, but despite sustaining a decades-long musical career with many Top 10 hits, she’s never quite escaped her former-Disney-kid image. She is quietly a billionaire, largely because of non-musical ventures such as her Rare Beauty makeup line and various luxury endorsements. She continues to be an actress, on notably outre projects, like the Oscar-nominated (albeit rapidly self-discrediting) film Emilia Pérez, and the Emmy-nominated true-crime series Only Murders In The Building with Steve Martin and Martin Short. This goes back to 2013, where Gomez damned her Disney past by starring in A24 and Harmony Korine’s sleazefest Spring Breakers (though she hedged her rep a little by having her character dip out before the real debauchery begins). But there, too, her past precedes her; last year Gomez told The Hollywood Reporter that she frequently sends casting directors anonymous tapes or has her agents withhold her name until she showed up to the audition, so they wouldn’t automatically reject her as Disney fluff.

bb trickz Samples, Pays Tribute To Clairo On “not a pretty girl”

These days Clairo’s Instagram is full of pro photography and stylish outfits, but the alt-pop star first broke through with a pointedly un-made-up DIY music video for her lo-fi bedroom-pop tune “Pretty Girl.” That song and video are the basis for “not a pretty girl,” the new single from Spanish rapper bb trickz. The song samples the chillwavey keyboards and drum machines of “Pretty Girl,” and its video finds bb trickz re-creating the webcam vibes of the original Clairo vid, prominent figurine placement included. The Spanglish rapping and booming bass ensure “not a pretty girl” becomes more than pure homage. Watch below along with the original.

Lydia Loveless – “Oklahoma”

In January Lydia Loveless announced plans to record a new song each month for release on Bandcamp, starting with a cover of the Irving Berlin standard “What’ll I Do.” In February she shared “Accolades,” a single billed as part of a project called The Secret Sessions. Presumably the title refers to Secret Studio, the Columbus locale where Loveless works as a recording engineer. But based on a new Instagram post, today’s new Secret Sessions track came about far from Ohio.