Twenty One Pilots, Ariana Grande, the Strokes lead Lollapalooza 2019 lineup

Twenty One Pilots, Ariana Grande, and the Strokes are just some of the big-name acts heading to Illinois this summer for Lollapalooza 2019. On Wednesday (March 20), festival organizers unveiled their genre-diverse and lengthy lineup for this year’s festivities.

Joining Twenty One Pilots, Ariana Grande, and the Strokes on this year’s roster are: Childish Gambino, Janelle Monáe, Tame Impala, Kacey Musgraves, Lil’ Wayne, 21 Savage, Tenacious D, Death Cab For Cutie, Gary Clark Jr., The Chainsmokers, Fitz and the Tantrums, Bring Me the Horizon, Bishop Briggs, AJR, Chevelle, Hayley Kiyoko, The Revivalists, Meek Mill, Rüfüs Du Sol, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, Flume, J. Balvin, Hozier, and many more.

According to Billboard, a total of 170 acts will perform on one of eight stages during the weekend-long event.

Four-day general admission and VIP passes for Lollapalooza are currently available on the music festival’s website. Like many major music festivals, Lollapalooza will be offering layaway options for those who may be a little strapped for cash at the moment but still want to experience the insanity.

Single-day passes are currently not available, but according to Lollapalooza’s website, they are “coming soon.”

Lollapalooza will return to its longtime home of Grant Park in Chicago. The four-day event will take place during the weekend of Aug. 1 – 4.

Last year’s Lollapalooza included performances by Vampire Weekend the Arctic Monkeys, Jack White, Travis Scott, and more. For now, the full lineup can be found below.

Twenty One Pilots, Tame Impala, Travis Scott lead Boston Calling 2019 lineup

Twenty One Pilots, Tame Impala, and Travis Scott are just some of the artists who will make their way to Boston during Memorial Day weekend for the 2019 edition of Boston Calling. On Thursday (Jan. 10), festival organizers unveiled the complete lineup for the music festival’s ten-year anniversary set to take place later this spring.

Joining the aforementioned acts on this year’s roster are ODESZA, Logic, Greta Van Fleet, Anderson .Paak, Hozier, Janelle Monáe, Brandi Carlile, Lord Huron, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Christine and the Queens, Guster, Pale Waves, and more.

In total, over 50 musicians will take over one of three stages during the weekend-long festivities.

In addition to all the musical acts, Boston Calling will also feature a comedy and entertainment lineup. This year, current and former “Saturday Night Live” cast members such Michael Che, Fred Armisen, and Boston native Jenny Slate will perform at the festival. There will also be some non-comedy performances by the Boston Ballet and a spoken word performance by Imogen Heap.

Boston Calling will take over the Harvard Athletic Complex in Allston, Massachusetts during the weekend of May 24-26.

Three-day general admission, VIP, and Platinum passes are currently available on the music festival’s website with a special “Announce Day” pricing. This offer is only valid for the next 24 hours. After that, prices for passes will gradually increase. Like many music festivals as of late, Boston Calling is also offering payment plans.

For more information about the music festival, tickets, or the lineup, head on over to Boston Calling’s website here. The full lineup for the festival’s ten-year celebration can be seen below.

Childish Gambino, the 1975, Ariana Grande to headline Coachella 2019

Time to start packing your flower headbands, glitter, and short shorts because the lineup for the 2019 incarnation of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was just announced. On Wednesday (Jan. 2), Coachella festival organizers unveiled the complete roster for the springtime event’s 20th anniversary. Boosting an eclectic and diverse set of acts, this year’s event will include some top 20 artists, some indie/rock bands as well as some up-and-coming musicians.

This year’s headliners include Childish Gambino, the 1975, Ariana Grande, Janelle Monáe, Tame Impala, Solange, Kid Cudi, Khalid, Zedd, and more.

In addition to the aforementioned acts, the lineup will also include Weezer, Pusha-T, Blood Orange, Diplo, Kacey Musgraves, Anderson .Paak, Juice WRLD, the Interrupters, Aphex Twins, J. Balvin, Billie Eilish, Bassnectar, Wiz Khalifa, Christine and the Queens, Bazzi, Bad Bunny, Dillon Francis, CHVRCHES, and even a DJ set from actor/musician Idris Elba.

Coachella will return to the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California for its usual two-weekend takeover. This year, those weekends are April 12-14 and April 19-21. Coachella passes are set to go on sale on this Friday, Jan. 4, at 11 a.m. PT.

For those not able to make it to California, there’s no need to worry. As with past years, YouTube has been named the festival’s exclusive live-streaming partner. This marks the ninth year YouTube and Coachella have joined forces to give fans the chance to watch the festival sets from the comfort of their homes.

The official lineup reveal comes hours after it was announced that widely speculated headliner Kanye West would no longer perform at the annual music festival. According to TMZ, the rapper was dropped from the bill following a disagreement over the stage’s size and design.

For now, the complete lineup for Coachella 2019 can be found below.

Janelle Monáe drops two ‘Dirty Computer’ music videos

Last week, Janelle Monáe surprised fans when she announced that she will be releasing her third studio album sometime this year. After taking a five-year break to focus on her successful acting career, the songstress has returned with not one, but two new songs from the upcoming record as well as its official release date. On Thursday (Feb. 22), the Kansas native unleashed two music videos; one for “Make Me Feel” which can be seen above and “Django Jane” which can be seen below.

The video “Make Me Feel” was directed by Alan Ferguson and, according to a press release, “captures the spirited, celebratory voice of Monáe as she affectionately nods to the ripe sounds surrounding the 1980’s music and dance revolution. Delivering electric vocals, pop hooks and confident, female-driven lyrics, Monáe brings the song to life in a vibrantly colored video highlighted by provocative silhouettes moving across the screen.”

If “Make Me Feel” sounds like an ode to Prince, then the song did it’s job. According to an interview The Guardian, Monáe reveals that Prince was helping her with her new album before he passed away. It’s difficult for me to even speak about this because Prince was helping me with the album, before he passed on to another frequency,” she tells the publication.

Unlike “Make Me Feel,” “Django Jane” finds Monáe rapping and celebrating black girl magic.

“The song is a powerful black girl magic womanifesto that celebrates the strength of black women and black culture while addressing the trials and tribulations of identity in the 21st century,” the same press release reads about the new song.

“Django Jane” was directed by Andrew Donoho and Chuck Lightning while the additional vagina monologue footage was directed by Lacey Duke.

Both “Make Me Feel” and “Django Jane” will be featured on Monáe’s upcoming new album, Dirty Computer. Dirty Computer is set to be released on April 27 through Wondaland / Atlantic Records. Pre-orders for the album are currently available on Monáe’s website will all pre-orders including instant downloads of both tracks.

In addition to the record, Monáe also revealed that the album will be part of an emotion picture project which will also feature a narrative film. The project made its debut last weekend before the screenings of Marvel’s record-smashing new film, Black Panther.

Monáe’s last studio album was 2013’s The Electric Lady.

Watch Outkast’s Return Set at Coachella

Coachella is still going and if haven’t already tuned in sometime this weekend to see weekend one of the annual music festival, you might be missing out on some great performers including The Arcade Fire, Queens of the Stone Age, Foster the People, Muse, Beck, HAIM, The Replacements and many more. 

One of the most anticipated performances of the weekend took place on Friday; the return of Outkast. After being on hiatus for the past decade, the duo revealed that they would be performing at every single music festival known to mankind this Summer beginning with Coachella. Though there was nothing but mixed reactions about the performance, they did not skip on guests including Janelle Monae, Sleepy Brown and rapper Future. 

Andre 3000 did reveal that Prince was backstage, but sadly, the purple one did not join them on stage. 

Watch their full set which includes tracks from 1998’s Aquemini, 2000’s Stankonia and 2003’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. 

 

Janelle Monae and M.I.A. Perform Together Via Holograms

Janelle Monae and M.I.A. took to the stage last night to perform a duet, but before you that it’s just some ordinary duet with two performers on a stage together, you would be wrong.

Leave it to Monae and M.I.A. to share a stage during separate concerts on opposite coasts through the magic of holograms. The advance technology which is similar to the one that brought Tupac back from the dead during Coachella 2012, was used during unique set. The idea was all sponsored by Audi as a way to launch its A3 model.

Unlike Tupac’s hologram, this project required more advanced 3-D projection and video mapping technology. Reportedly, the two artists performed together in person to help create the holograms, but did not get to see the final outcome until they took the stage, at their respected locations, that night.

“I wish I were in the audience because I’m sure it looked cooler from the audience, but it felt great,” Monae said after closing her 40-minute set. “I felt M.I.A.’s spirit up there.”

The Sri Lankan rapper’s hologram appeared during the performance of Monae’s lead single “Q.U.E.E.N.” from her recently released album, Electric Lady. Across the country, M.I.A. was joined on stage by Monae’s hologram during her song, “Bad Girls” where the hologram ‘sang’ a verse from the track.

Watch some footage from M.I.A’s performance at New York’s SIR Stage 37 here.

VH1 to Hold “Super Bowl Blitz” Concert Series

While football fans are getting excited for the Super Bowl, fans of music might have something to look forward to that weekend as well; a whole lot of music.

VH1 is taking charge and hosting not one or two concerts in preparation for football’s biggest night, instead the network has revealed that they will be holding a series of six concerts in New York City’s five boroughs and one in New Jersey beginning on Monday, January 27. The concert series has been named VH1’s Super Bowl Blitz.

The shows will feature a slew of artists including: J. Cole at Queens College (Jan. 27), Janelle Monae at Lehman College in The Bronx (Jan. 28), Fall Out Boy at Brooklyn Bowl (Jan. 29), TLC at Manhattan’s Beacon Theatre (Jan. 30), Goo Goo Dolls at Staten Island’s St. George Theatre (Jan. 31) and Gavin DeGraw at Montclair, New Jersey’s Wellmont Theatre (Feb. 1).

“Normally we would do one big show in the market where Super Bowl is being played, as we have with All American Rejects to Maroon to B.o.B. to Rihanna – twice,” VH1 president Tom Calderone said about the network’s decision.

“But we wanted to celebrate the fact that it’s not only in New York and New Jersey for the first time, and it’s an opportunity to do an outdoors, against-the-elements kind of show.”

The concerts will air live each night on VH1 at 11 p.m. ET/PT and stream live via the VH1 mobile app and at SuperBowl.VH1.com.

For those wanting to go to the shows or live in that area, tickets will be made available starting Monday, January 13, but you will have to keep your Twitter account locked down to VH1’s official Twitter (@VH1) for more information.

Janelle Monáe Album Details Revealed

Earlier this year, the always wearing a suit, Janelle Monáe released a new song titled, “Q.U.E.E.N.” which featured  Erykah Badu and now we’re getting a lot more information about the album including confirmation that Prince, Miguel, and Solange will all be featured on the new album.

In 2012, when she was releasing her “soul clock” LPs, she revealed that she had said she was “84.799 percent of the writing is done” for her upcoming new record. That new album is The Electric Lady which will be a follow-up to 2010’s hit album, The ArchAndroid. As of now, fans have heard several of the tracks including “Dance Apocalypse,” “Electric Lady” which features Solange as well as”Givin Em What They Love” which will feature Prince.

Monáe has revealed the cover art for the album which can be seen above as well as the tracklist for the two-disc set. The Electric Lady is scheduled to hit stores on September 10. The full tracklist for both discs can be seen below.

TRACKLIST:

Disc 1
1. “Suite IV Electric Overture”
2. “Givin Em What They Love” feat. Prince
3. “Q.U.E.E.N.” feat. Erykah Badu
4. “Electric Lady” feat. Solange
5. “Good Morning Midnight (Interlude)”
6. “PrimeTime” feat. Miguel
7. “We Were Rock & Roll”
8. “The Chrome Shoppe (Interlude)”
9. “Dance Apocalyptic”
10. “Look Into My Eyes”

Disc 2
11. “Suite V Electric Overture”
12. “It’s Code”
13. “Ghetto Woman”
14. “Our Favorite Fugitive (Interlude)”
15. “Victory”
16. “Can’t Live Without Your Love”
17. “Sally Ride”
18. “Dorothy Dandridge Eyes” feat. Esperanza Spalding
19. “What an Experience”

Janelle Monáe and Erykah Badu’s ‘Q.U.E.E.N.’ Premieres

Last week, Janelle Monáe premiered her new song “Q.U.E.E.N.” which features Erykah Badu or Badoula Oblongata if we’re going by the music video. The video features the two musicians and dancer wearing different costumes including stripped dresses on the dancers that helped camouflage them with the black and white stripped background. But the one costume that stays the same is Monáe famous tuxedo.

Watch the full video below.