The word 'my' in that song says a lot. There's not more of a possessive or obsessive word in the English vocabulary. He thought I was his soul mate, his other half, but it was a lot. | | | | Morgan Wallen in Nashville, Nov. 10, 2019. "Dangerous: The Double Album" is out today on Big Loud/Republic.
(Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) | | | | | |  | “The word 'my' in that song says a lot. There's not more of a possessive or obsessive word in the English vocabulary. He thought I was his soul mate, his other half, but it was a lot.”
| | | | | | rantnrave:// The not-so-secret secret of reality shows like THE VOICE and AMERICAN IDOL is that they're not in the business of looking for, or creating, future pop stars. They're in the business of making good reality TV, which requires characters, conflicts and heart-tugging storylines more than it requires, say, the ability to really, truly inhabit and sell a pop, country or R&B song. "Idol" lucked out a few times, especially in its early years, and got a little of that latter magic. "The Voice," in which the conflict and competition elements are more central, hasn't been so lucky. Though it's been on the air since 2011, none of its hundreds of alumni landed a song in the BILLBOARD top 10 until last summer, when an afterthought from season six reached #6 with a song called "7 SUMMERS." The infamously mulleted singer of that country crossover hit (which "uses a pair of major-seventh chords to evoke the breezy sound of FLEETWOOD MAC," in the words of the New Yorker's KELEFA SANNEH) is MORGAN WALLEN, who won the hearts of judges SHAKIRA and USHER when he auditioned for the show 7 winters ago (he picked Usher as his coach) and was all but ignored by the show's country expert, BLAKE SHELTON. He lasted two rounds before being knocked out. He returned home to Tennessee and, in time, found a sympathetic country-rock producer, JOEY MOI, and got a radically retro haircut inspired by an old photo of his father. Songwriters BEN BURGESS and KEVIN KADISH brought him "WHISKEY GLASSES," which Wallen voiced into one of the best country songs of 2018-19, and he was, more or less, on his way. He had a famously rocky 2020, involving one arrest, one viral photo of bad pandemic behavior and one canceled SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE performance (SNL gave him a second chance in December, and he made the most of it)—which would make a great backstory for, say, "The Voice," should he ever want to give it another go. He won't need to, of course. In between all that, he used his pandemic downtime to record a 30-song double album, featuring a handful of good Burgess co-writes and 16 co-writes of his own (including "7 Summers," written with the all-star team of SHANE MCANALLY and JOSH OSBORNE). DANGEROUS: THE DOUBLE ALBUM is out today and it pays off its 100-minute sprawl with a raspy barroom magnetism worthy, finally, of a four-chair turn... It's FRIDAY and that means there's also new music from BARRY GIBB (country duets), JAZMINE SULLIVAN, AARON FRAZER, MIGUEL ZENÓN & LUIS PERDOMO, CASPER CLAUSEN, VIAGRA BOYS, FROZEN SOUL, SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE, AARON WATSON, the 8-BIT BIG BAND and the soundtrack to the GRISELDA RECORDS movie CONFLICTED, featuring BENNY THE BUTCHER, CONWAY THE MACHINE, WESTSIDE GUNN and others... DAVID BOWIE would have turned 74 today, and ADAM LAMBERT, PERRY FARRELL, DURAN DURAN and WILLIAM CORGAN are among the long list of performers who'll celebrate at a ticketed livestream concert produced by longtime Bowie pianist MIKE GARSON starting at 9 pm ET tonight. Tickets here and here. (Sunday will be the fifth anniversary of Bowie's death)... RIP JAMIE O'HARA. | | | - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator | | | |  | The New York Times | | What’s it like to be name-checked by Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Amy Winehouse, et al? We asked, among others, “our” Sharona. | | | |  | Variety | | "We went through every scenario: other cities, other times, other types of shows, and no, it does not have to be in L.A. We’ll continue to evaluate over the next weeks." | | | |  | Billboard | | Plus: U.S. album equivalent audio music consumption grew 12%; Taylor Swift’s 'Folklore' is the only million-selling album of 2020; on-demand audio song streams jumped 17%; and vinyl album sales notch 15th straight year of growth. | | | |  | Haulix Daily | | Many music business strategists preach the 1,000 fan theory as gospel, but is achieving lasting success as easy as it sounds? | | | |  | The Independent | | The singer’s best-known song has been missing from repeats of the Nineties teen drama, but a fan outcry has caused a rethink, Cole tells Rachel Brodsky. | | | |  | The Guardian | | She was a genius songwriter and singer but could never escape her sibling’s shadow -- and died at just 43. Family and friends including Martha Reeves and Bettye Lavette celebrate the life of a cruelly overlooked artist. | | | |  | HUCK Magazine | | The police have long seen Black music as synonymous with violence. Now, they're targeting drill artists by using their music as evidence to link them to crimes. | | | |  | Complete Music Update | | The Chair of the UK Parliament's culture select committee has called for the creation of a government-backed insurance scheme to cover festivals and live music events to help ensure that the live industry is able to kickstart its recovery as COVID rules begin to relax later this year. | | | |  | Complex | | 2020 was marked by controversial political decisions from rappers. Here's what we can learn about our relationship with celebrities and politics. | | | |  | Consequence of Sound | | We continue our celebration of the life and art of David Bowie with an exclusive new tribute from Trent Reznor. | | | | | Variety | | Twenty nearly solid reasons to live through the next 12 months. | | | | | The New York Times | | The Newark native has long been lauded for his brilliant abstractions. Lately he’s writing about something more concrete - and producing his most powerful music yet. | | | |  | Okayplayer | | For a handful of MF DOOM fans, Adult Swim served as the platform that introduced them to the late enigmatic rapper. Jason Demarco, Adult Swim's Senior Vice President and Creative Director, talked with Okayplayer about how he brought DOOM into Adult Swim's world. | | | |  | VenuesNow | | Industry officials are making headway toward securing more federal dollars to help venues prepare to reopen their doors. | | | |  | The Muse | | Rarely do they emerge this great. When Danish punk band Iceage descended upon New York in 2011, months after releasing their debut album, "New Brigade," 20 years ago, something in the air shifted and become inert, like sweat levitating above a reverberating snare drum. | | | |  | The Ringer | | Reliving the most unforgettable bass line of 1990s alt-rock, with help from Open Mike Eagle. | | | |  | Midia Research | | Where is the centre of success for music artists in 2021? | | | |  | BBC News | | The Sound of 2021 winner tells stories of friendship, family, violence and racism. | | | |  | Afropop Worldwide | | Umm Kulthum has been called the greatest singer in the Arabic speaking world in the 20th century. Born in 1904 the humble daughter of an Egyptian village imam, she went on to become a glamorous Cairo celebrity in her 20s, and soon after that, a cultural icon whose monthly live radio broadcasts brought much of Egypt to a standstill. | | | |  | MetalSucks | | China's thrash metal scene is vibrant! Learn about its top bands: Ancestor, Suffocated, Punisher and Tumour Boy. | | | | |  | | YouTube | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | © Copyright 2021, The REDEF Group | | |
