The Belfast rap group Kneecap have always been politically outspoken, and lately that outspokenness has involved some major career tumult. During Coachella’s first weekend, the group’s messages condemning Israel’s genocidal ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza were censored on the festival’s official livestream, so for the fest’s second weekend they got Twitch streamer Hasan Piker come onstage with them to broadcast their show on his own feed.
“I’m from the UK, you know.” This phrase, repeated incessantly and accented with the words “UK daddy,” becomes the core of Love Remain’s infectious new techno/house track. The mysterious producer has given us “U.K” at the dawn of the summer, and it feels like something that could send the season’s dance parties spinning out of control. Take it for a spin yourself below.
Following his historic MSG residency, 76-year-old Billy Joel has still kept himself busy with quite a few stadium shows in the past few months. He was supposed to embark on another US/UK tour this year, but now all of those dates have been canceled due to Joel’s recent normal pressure hydrocephalus diagnosis. Also called NPH, it’s when cerebrospinal fluid builds up in your skull and presses on your brain.
In 2021, Afrika Bambaataa was sued for child sex trafficking. The hip-hop pioneer has lost the civil case after failing to show up in court. The plaintiff’s motion for a default judgment was “granted without opposition” in New York State’s Supreme Court by Judge Alexander M. Tisch.
Since the release of their 2023 album Heavy Heavy, Young Fathers were nominated for a Mercury Prize and contributed to the Ceasefire benefit EP to help Gaza. Today, the hip-hop group announced they’re scoring the forthcoming post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Years Later.
This morning, a plane crashed in a San Diego neighborhood, tragically killing all six of its passengers. One of the lives taken was former the Devil Wears Prada drummer Daniel Williams, and three were talent agents for Sound Talent Group.
Brooklyn Mirage was supposed to reopen May 1, but things aren’t going as planned. In December the East Williamsburg music venue announced major renovations, hoping to fix their not-great reputation, especially after two men left separate shows there and were later found dead in the nearby creek in 2023. But the reopening weekend was canceled, and then so was the weekend after that, and the one after that. Now, the CEO of its parent company Avant Gardner is no longer with the company, according to an email sent to employees.
Two weeks ago Taylor Swift was subpoenaed to testify in her longtime friend Blake Lively’s lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, the director of her movie It Ends With Us. Lively is suing Baldoni for sexual harassment and a supposed online smear campaign waged against Lively after the harassment allegations came out. Confirming the subpoena, a rep for Swift noted that she “never set foot on the set of this movie, was not privy to its creation in any way, “and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history.” She did, however, hang out with Blake Lively during the making of the movie; the photo above shows them together at the Super Bowl in February 2024.
Pop stars loving acting at the moment. Charli XCX starred in the new season of Overcompensating and the Weeknd’s new film Hurry Up Tomorrow just hit theaters. Now, Bad Bunny is joining Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz for Darren Aronofsky’s forthcoming movie Caught Stealing.
We have a pope from Chicago, and now Finland has an envoy from a metal band. Freddy Lim is the frontman of the group Chthonic, and he was chosen by President Lai Ching-te as Taiwan’s ambassador of the Scandinavian country.