Rhianna and Axl Rose Outraged at Trump for Stealing Music

The Trump administration is not new to offending hoards of people but legal trouble may befall the President for his latest offence. Over the week numerous artists have been informed that their music was being used by the Presidents administration to amp-up crowds at his political rallies. For obvious reasons the owners of these tracks were not happy with their songs being unknowingly taken for the personal use of boasting the President. Many artists were being taken advantage of including the Rolling Stones, Elton John, and Journey along with many more. Axl Rose and Rihanna were the only two to comment on the issue on social media.

Axl the front man of rock band Guns N’ Roses sent out a tweet commenting on the use of the band’s music: “Just so ya know… GNR like a lot of artists opposed to the unauthorized use of their music at political events has formally requested r music not b used at Trump rallies or Trump associated events.”

Rihanna learned about the use of her music from a tweet by a Washington Post reporter Phillip Rucker tweeting “It’s been said a million times, but here’s a million and one – Trump’s rallies are unlike anything else in politics. Currently Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music” is blaring in Chattanooga as aides toss free Trump T-shirts into the crowd, like a ball game. Everyone’s loving it.” To which Rihanna responded “Not for much longer… me nor my people would ever at or around one of those tragic rallies, so thanks for the heads up Phillip!”

Jordan Siev, Rihanna’s lawyer, issued a “cease and desist” letter to the White House. “As you are or should be aware, Ms. Fenty has not provided her consent to Mr. Trump to use her music. Such use therefore is improper.”

This is one of the many cases of political groups in recent years using artists music without any consent from the recording artist or record label. The issue can fall into a legal gray but lawsuits have been made in past years with successful outcomes.

Red Hot Chili Peppers Surprise Students With Halloween Concert

The Red Hot Chili Peppers seemed to have some free time yesterday and decided to make the best of it by giving students at a California school an unexpected live performance. Costumes and all the band played their hit song “Can’t Stop” for the children and staff at Viewpoint School in Calabasas, California where the kids of drummer Chad Smith attend.

“Who Rocks out at 9:30am at my kids’ school?… we do!” Smith tweeted after their set.

The group played at the school during its Great Pumpkin Day Assembly. On stage Anthony Kiedis appeared in a schoolboy styled outfit complete with a mask. Josh Klinghoffer rocked a suit accompanied by a neon green wig and sunglasses. The bands bassist Flea danced around in a skeleton body suit while Chad Smith sported a papal outfit complete with hat and Guy Fawkes mask covering his face on the drums.

I’m sure parents of the students were kicking themselves later that day when their children surprised them with the news of what had happened at school as they got in the car. Hopefully they will kick off their middle school tour soon.

Slipknot Debuts Brand New Song on Halloween Day

Slipknot returns to us after four long years astray and the wait was definitely worth it. The bands new song ‘All Out of Life’ is a fresh nostalgic sound of the slipknot many grew to love over the years. The groups sound and style is un-comparable to any of its kind and holds true to its unique brand time and time again. The surprise release of the song was an unexpected one to fans and was obviously halted for the perfect time on Halloween day to be freed to the world.

The song starts out with a lengthy build before its heavy fast riffs and double pedal drums starts its attack on your eardrums. The feeling is nothing short of exciting hearing the bands signature fast paced rhythm for the first time in years. Corey Taylor’s voice roars in as the first verse begins terrifying a whole new generation of parents. Multiple times there are waves of the music shortly pausing and Taylor ascending his voice giving more intensity to the next section of the song. The new release keeps your heart pacing through the entirety of the track which is what makes it a genuine Slipknot song.

Being as the band had not come out with any new work since 2014 there were high expectations for their next track. Also with the parting of the bands prior drummer Joey Jordison it was questionable if any drummer had the talent comparable to Jordison’s blast beats and quick double bass. All doubts were destroyed when Jay Weinberg, the bands new drummer, played in “The Devil in I” showcasing his amazing talent for the first time and fans were more than pleased. This new song has showed us never to doubt the band and to look forward for new work hopefully to be released soon.

A$AP Rocky’s Upcoming North American Tour “Injured Generation”

A$AP Rocky announced he will be touring through North America following the release of his third studio album Testing which came out in May earlier this year. Months of waiting has paid of for fans of the rap artist eagerly awaiting a tour announcement. Starting in early 2019 the tour will kick off in Minneapolis on January 6th and will run through early February. The rapper is scheduled to appear in Canada twice along the way stopping in Toronto and Montreal. Hopefully the artist has much in store for the lucky towns he is scheduled to appear in.

Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter’s New Single ‘Riga(Take 5)’

Thomas Bangalter co founder and producer of the French electronic duo Daft Punk has come out with his own new single earlier this week. The 14 minute long track consists of the classic techno song layout with slow build ups and rhythmic beats complimented by the unique sound of the French born artist. The song is an alternate version from one in his soundtrack for the Latvian film Riga (Take1). The film soundtrack was nominated for the Latvian Film Prize’s Best Score Award. The songs smooth pulsating synths and constant built up beats are sure to be a treat for any old-school techno fan.

Tekashi6ix9ine Given 4 Years Probation

The Brooklyn born rapper Daniel Hernandez aka Tekashi6ix9ine was sentenced to four years probation at a court hearing in Manhattan earlier today. During his sentence he must complete 1,000 hours of community service and avoid any additional arrests. Earlier in the year prosecutors were pushing for a one to three year sentence in prison and to register as a sex offender which fell through. The defense made the argument that a young man with his upbringing and his amount of fame and followers make the defendant unable to deal with life as any ordinary person would.

In previous years Hernandez was in court for his part in using a 13-year-old girl in a video posted online showing the minor in sexually suggestive acts. He agreed to a deal of community service, obtaining his GED, and two years of good behavior all of which never happened. In the year 2018 he has been arrested twice: once for allegedly attacking a 16-year-old boy in Texas and again in New York for driving with an expired license and assault on a police officer.

Tyler the Creator in the new Grinch movie?

With the announcement of the new upcoming film The Grinch there has been a commotion of people both young and old anxiously waiting for its arrival on the big screen. This will be the third movie adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ original How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. What most people might not know about the movie is the hip hop recording artist Tyler the Creator will contribute two tracks to the film.

This news comes to a shock of any person who has heard or even heard of the music Tyler the Creator is known for. He has a signature low voice accompanies his eerie sounding beats in his tracks to give them an underlying dark tone. His lyrics aren’t any different with songs containing lyrics upon lyrics of cussing, crude talk about sex and rape, as well as drugs and alcohol. All things you would come to expect from a rap song but all others seem tame compared to this artists blatant carelessness of morals and reputation. Recently though he has seemed to try to take his music in a different direction with his latest tracks rapping mostly on the subjects of love and loss. However much he changes his sound for most parents he will always be known for the crude songs which catapulted him to fame in the early 2010’s.

In the movie Tyler is responsible for the song “You’re a Mean One” which plays during the trailer and “I am the Grinch”. Although controversial for writer Danny Elfman to include him in the new family friendly film hopefully many parents won’t blacklist the movie due to the decision. The Grinch hits theaters Nov. 9th.

Drake’s Record Breaking Talent

At one point or another all music fans have heard of the long standing record the Beatles held for most US top 10 hits in a year. For more than 50 years in fact the record had remained untouched since 1964 when the record was first set by the band. Unsurprisingly though the main man of hip hop Drake has finally shattered the seemingly unbeatable record. Drake has had an amazingly successful year topping the charts with his new singles: God’s Plan, Nice for What, and In my Feelings. Along with his new record the Canadian born rapper has also surpassed the previous record holder Usher for longest time at No. 1 in a single year. Not willing to back down the hip hop artists single MIA is third in line for most top 10 hits at 32, standing only 2 behind the Beatles and 6 behind Madonna. Catch Drake on his current tour of the US proceeding his fifth studio album Scorpion.

‘Nightmare on Rezz Street’ Review

Today was the release date for the anticipated visual/audio mix put out by the up and coming EDM behemoth Rezz. The electronic music star’s halloween inspired mix contains haunting imagery and hypnotic sounds that pull you in fast and keep you in a trance.

Borrowing themes from numerous classic horror movies such as Freddy Krueger, Poltergeist, and Scream tie in the horror element that makes this mashup so enjoyable. Rezzs signature low frequency static beats are sure to give you chills at every drop and keep you in a dream like state till the last second.

The mix is intended to stay as just that, a mix, making listeners unable to listen to each song independently. The decision to keep all new tracks as a conglomerate may be frustrating to some but was produced for the sole intent to be heard all together accompanied by the visuals made specifically for this mashup making it more of an experience.

Aside from the music, the animations in the video are spectacular. While the music is easily able to give you the intended feel of intensity, the visuals added in make it just what it was made to be, an experience. Although I understand the frustration of not being able pick out your favorite tracks I whole heartedly agree with the decision that was made.

Unfortunately the mix was leaked onto the streaming service Spotify due to a glitch and was released two days earlier than intended. That aside the response has been tremendous and fans could not be more pleased with the work of the electronic goddess Rezz.

Disturbed: ‘Evolution’ Review

Three years of silence from the iconic heavy metal group Disturbed left a lot of fans anticipating the day their next album would be released and boy was the wait worth it in the end. There is no doubt their cover of “The Sound of Silence” was one of if not the greatest song they had put out and opened a lot new doors to the band to explore a more softer rock sound. On the other hand the release of the cover was so well received it set a high bar for them to reach on whatever new project they were to come out with and they continue to set the bar higher and higher.

I have never been the biggest fan of Disturbed, of course their biggest songs “Down With the Sickness,” “Stricken,” and “Stupify” have blasted through my car stereo without the thought of changing the channel so I can understand the hype for the band. Unlike previous albums, Evolution takes from different genres, styles, and sounds to create something no person was expecting. Of the ten new songs released there were only a couple I did not enjoy straight from the beginning. The biggest surprise to me was the amount of slower more relaxed sounding tracks they included on the album. David Draiman was able to really explore his own sound switching from his known rugged growl to a beautifully hypnotic voice everybody has fallen in love with. The band is able to retain their signature heavy sound but perfectly blends it with a softer tone. New elements such as the heavily acoustic influenced songs as well as slipping in electronic synthesized sounds are what make this album so unique and fun to listen to.

Although I cannot say a single newly released song was bad, I ranked the three of my personal favorite with “The Last Ones Lie” being my favorite while “A Reason to Fight” came in at third on my list. “Are You Ready” slipped in at the second spot. I urge every heavy metal fan to go give their new album a listen it’s definitely worth your time.