Jimmy Cliff, John Prine, Missy Elliott And Others Among Nominees to Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame has released a list of nominees. The list includes Missy Elliott, Mariah Carey, Jimmy Cliff, Vince Gill, Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra, Yusuf Islam, formerly of Cat Stevens, Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox of The Eurythmics, Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, Mike Love of The Beach Boys, Tommy James of The Shondells, and John Prine who is also a nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
There are some non-performing nominees who include Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn, Jack Tempchin, Jerry Fuller, Bobby Hart and Tommy Boyce, Steve Barri and P.F. Sloan, Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford, Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, Roger Nichols, and Tom T. Hall.
Just 6 out of the 24 nominees will be inducted. Inductees will be determined by a vote among the voting members among the Songwriting Hall of Fame. Artists must have a minimum of a 20-year career with a good catalog of hit songs. Eligible members and voters have until December 17 to vote for three performing songwriters and three non-performing songwriters.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame honors those whose work and musical legacy represents the heritage and legacy of the best songs from popular songbooks loved by music aficionados all over the world. The Songwriters Hall of Fame is also involved in developing expert songwriters and talents through various scholarships and workshops.
If Missy Elliott gets admitted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, she will become the first female writer to be admitted and the third rapper to be admitted after Jermaine Dupri (2018) and Jay-Z (2017). She is already the first female rapper to be among the nominees. Missy Elliott has worked on songs for Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Destiny’s Child, Mary J. Blige, Janet Jackson, Monica (So Gone), Aaliyah (One in A Million), Ciara (1,2 Step), and Beyoncé (Signs).
Missy Elliott is known for singing, producing and writing her songs. Her hit track ‘Work it’ has the lyrics inverted so people could sing the lyrics backward without even knowing. That’s a testament to her songwriting prowess. Her other hit songs include ‘Get Ur Freak On,’ ‘The Rain,’ ‘One Minute Man,’ ‘Supa Dupa Fly’ etc. Her songs have also spawned creative and funny music videos all through her almost 30-year long career. Missy Elliott has been nominated for the Grammys 22 times, and she has won four times. Adding the Songwriters Hall of Fame nomination to her belt, it seems there is no stopping Missy Elliott any time soon. Nominees were announced through the Associated Press. Niles Rodgers is the chairman of the Songwriter Hall of Fame. He took over after Leon Huff and Kenneth Gamble. Niles Rodgers was inducted in 2016.
All three members of the Bee Gees were inducted in 1994 while all band members of Queen were inducted in 2003.
On June 13, 2019, the six inductees will be admitted to the Hall at the 50th annual Induction and Awards gala in New York.
Nowhere2Go by Earl Sweatshirt
Earl Sweatshirt is a one-of-a-kind musician with his own unique style. He has been belting out catchy tunes right from time. He started with his debut mixtape called Earl which was released in 2010. He followed that up with Free Earl. He eventually ventured into rapping showing his versatility.
His latest release called Nowhere2go is an old soul vibe that is sure to make heads sing along. Before releasing the track, he had been teasing it on his social media handles and YouTube. He posted a few snippets that hinted at new music before releasing the full thing. The man sure knows how to keep us all anticipating what he’s cooking.
His new track has him delving a little into mumble rap as they call it these days. But it is clearer than other mumble rappers with strong lyrics that tell a deep story of his past, his present and his future. Quite unlike mumble rap which is majorly about the party life, the women, the drinks and the drugs.
Nowhere2Go is a deep reflective song that has Earl Sweatshirt reflecting on his past. He talks about depression, just going with the general flow of life and not thinking much about things.
Earl Sweatshirt constantly changing music style tells us that he is still on the path to discovery and this new track confirms this. Nowhere2go is no different, and it tells us more about his journey to self-discovery. He explains how he’s had to do a lot of things all by himself and how he’s always being a loner without friends. He explained that he had to find himself and he relied on his wits to make it this far.
Earl Sweatshirt hasn’t said much about any full-length project, but it seems that Nowhere2Go will be a forerunner for an upcoming full-length project. That will give fans something to anticipate since the 2015 release of the album ‘I Don’t Like S***, I Don’t Go Outside.’
Since the release of that album, Earl Sweatshirt had only released singles like ‘Balance,’ ‘Solace,’ and ‘Wind in My Sails.’ He also appeared on Vince Staples album called FM and he recently performed at Mac Miller’s tribute concert.
Thankfully, Earl Sweatshirt is getting back on the radar after being out of public eye for so long. He cancelled some tour dates due to depression and anxiety. Early this year, his father Keorapetse Kgositsile, a poet passed on so we can understand his reason for keeping a low profile.
Some fans hoped for a full-length project after the teasers, but they will have to make do with Nowhere2go for now. Hopefully, the song will keep them satisfied for the moment until Earl Sweatshirt decides to bless us with more songs.
Nowhere2go was produced by Adé Hakim Sayyad (fka Sixpress) and Darryl Johnson. It was first released on Apple Music alone for signed in users. But it is now available on Spotify, YouTube and other platforms. Go get it now and have a feel for yourself.
First Listen: Azusa, ‘Heavy Yoke’
In metal, lineage can be everything. These musicians are lifers — sworn to the riff, defenders of the faith. It’s what keeps metal alive. But when the bloodlines cross streams, the lineage doesn’t get broken so much as emboldened. Azusa contains decades of experience, but Heavy Yoke reaches across the metal spectrum for a debut album wrapped in rapturously beautiful discord.
Azusa began with a message from American bassist Liam Wilson (The Dillinger Escape Plan, John Frum) expressing his admiration for Extol, the long-running Norwegian progressive metal band. Years later, demos were traded online with guitarist Christer Espevoll (who left Extol after 2003’s Synergy) and drummer David Husvik. The songs reflected the unconventional nature of both bands, but the switchback energy demanded a far more dynamic vocalist. The Berlin-based Greek singer Eleni Zafiriadou makes incredible leaps from her indie-pop duo Sea + Air to claw, coo and scream through a labyrinthine construct of Azusa’s making.
Heavy Yoke gallops from the first few seconds of “Interstellar Islands,” a thrilling fusion of Espevoll’s melodically furious riffs, Husvik’s pin-drop-precise drumming and Wilson’s brawny bass tone. Every 30 seconds feels like a time-warp to another level of metal wizardry, as the band revs to thrash speed only to break apart the melody in a psychedelic waltz. Zafiriadou here, and across the album’s brisk but crucially executed 34-minute run time, is more than up to the challenge; her elastic voice doesn’t adapt so much as it evolves Azusa’s sound in real time. You can find more twisty-turny patterns in the title track and “Lost in the Ether,” but also more straight-ahead hardcore (“Heart of Stone”) and songs that split the difference — like “Spellbinder,” which takes brief detours to atmospheric, Cynic-like death-metal.
But then there are the metal ballads bathed in crushingly elegiac riffs. The heavy pop experiment “Fine Lines” feels like it should extend past two minutes, but acts a beautiful breather between tracks. “Programmed to Distress” is a fractured waltz that picks up in the back half, when Zafiriadou pointedly sings, “Are you ready to kill my dream in a heartbeat?” This is a central theme to Heavy Yoke, which explores humanity’s dual nature and the weight of relationships. Likewise, the album works in tension and release to create a harmonious (and heavy) resolution.
Logic Second Freestyle Friday
Logic kicked off his weekend with some freestyle. His latest episode of Freestyle Friday has him releasing a one-minute clip where he raps and dance in front of a car and he then rolls a joint on a couch in his living room. In the background of the video, there is a neon sign that says ‘Bobby Boy.’
The freestyle focuses on cocaine and Logic asks readers about how hard drugs has affected them and their community. The first bar goes ‘Think about kids, think about bills, Think about how to maintain these mills, Think about youth on drugs and pills, Tryna’ remember just how that shit feel.’ Then the second bar goes, ‘Cocaine, cocaine, cocaine, cocaine, molly, Percocet, my rent move up like a dolly, If I talk about this shit more often, prolyl.’ He says, ‘I ain’t never fuckin’ with no sneak diss/Best get off my dick, boy, you better not repeat this/Cocaine what I flip, jump in the whip, cannot compete with/A real G like me, know I get that dough like deep dish,’ He also raps, ‘Got the party jumping in Atlanta like I’m Donald Glover/I don’t want no good girl, I’m thinkin’ I need a freak bitch/ I don’t want no good girl ’cause ya boy ain’t no lover.’
The rapper from Maryland has never being one to shy away from the issue of drugs. He has always been outspoken about the misuse of drugs and he has warned against it and its potential harm. But of course, Logic does enjoy the occasional marijuana joint.
The weekend freestyles are something to look forwards to and who knows, Logic might combine these freestyles into bigger release for his audience. It’s less than 2 months since Logic released YSIV which was his fourth studio album. The album featured members of the Wu-Tang Clan, Ryan Tedder, Jaden Smith and other musicians. After releasing the album, Logic and Joseph Gordon-Levitt announced that they were working on a special project which will be released on YouTube in 2019. Both of them has called for songwriters, vocalists and other musicians to upload and contribute what they can towards their unfinished song. All contributions will be merged together during the special release.
Logic and Joseph Gordon-Levitt explained that they were aiming to make something truly unique and special for fans. They explained that too many collaborations were done just to make sales, top charts, get more popular and make more money. But their collaboration will be for the production of something special that the fans deserve.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt said that he loved working with Logic and he enjoyed his inclusive style. Joseph Gordon-Levitt said his album is called ‘Everybody’ and he has agreed to create something special from the works of several people that work on music. Fans hope that the YouTube Special will turn out as well as Logic’s last two albums which were released in 2018. Bobby Tarantino II and Young Sinatra IV sold well and Logic is still dishing out more with the Freestyle Fridays.
Jeff Goldblum The Jazz Artist? Life, Uh, Finds A Way
When he’s not busy on a movie set, Jeff Goldblum owns Wednesday nights in Los Angeles.
The actor, known for roles in Hollywood blockbusters and a singular, chin-stroking comic persona, plays piano in a jazz band with a standing weekly gig, which he calls The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. The performances are casual and unstructured, with the man of the hour playing keys one moment, holding court and posing for photos with attendees the next, just generally being … well, Jeff Goldblum.
NPR’s David Greene joined Goldblum to talk about The Capitol Studios Sessions, an album that captures the live show by recreating it — bringing a stage, a buffet, a live audience and guest stars including comedian Sarah Silverman into the storied recording space.
<strong>Interview Highlights
On discovering jazz as a teenager</strong>
Some of these chords started to do something to me that I hadn’t experienced before, and that was just delicious to me — when I discovered that blues scale, my God. So I learned a little bit about that, and got to start to play things. And then — listen to this, what a strange boy I was — one day when I was 15, I locked the door from the inside in our study, where I didn’t think anybody would find me, hear me or bother me. Got the yellow pages, looked up cocktail lounges, and starting with A and going down to Z, I cold-called. I thought I was some kind of scammy salesman or something like that. And I said, “Hi, I understand you need a piano player.” Most of them would say, “No, you’ve been misinformed” — hang up on you. [But] some would say, “Well, jeez … we have a piano. Nobody’s been playing it. You play?” And so I did, and I got a couple of jobs. It was magical.
<strong>On how his two creative practices affect one another</strong>
There’s a cross-training aspect of this, so that my music, I’m just doing it for fun, without nerves really. It has bled over into my acting experience. … I didn’t [used to] feel like a fraud exactly, but I felt like I had to shock myself into functionality. I felt I had to rearrange my molecules and achieve some kind of condition of freedom or aliveness, in order to be worthy of participation in some show or another. The seeds of me knowing myself were there, but it was unformed and underdeveloped, and I had good reason to be scared.
<strong>On the social element of his jazz shows</strong>
It has become kind of an improvised show, where I commune with people and meet them, and interesting people show up. It’s kind of a living room experience that we turn it into. No one’s turning on the lights or introducing me; I kind of start talking and taking pictures with them and finding out who they are and playing games with them, which I like to do. Everything is sort of playful. … People seem to get a kick out of it. And then I go on my Instagram account the next day, see if they’ve posted anything … see how I looked the night before, see how they looked. See if they’re people I can remember. “Oh, yeah. They were nice.”
Katy Perry Slams Donald Trump on Twitter
On November 10, 2018, Donald Trump posted a tweet about the Californian wildfires that caused a lot of outrage. In that tweet, Donald Trump blamed poor forest management for the wildfires that have taken lives and caused several people to lose their properties. He tweeted that billions of dollars were provided every year and the forests remained grossly mismanaged. In the tweet, he threatened that there would be no more Federal payments unless there were remedies.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href=”https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1061168803218948096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>November 10, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Katy Perry responded by telling Trump that his tweet was heartless. She said that everything shouldn’t be politicized, and his tweet won’t do much to help the poor Americans who were being evacuated into shelters after losing their homes.
The wildfires have razed down acres of land and killed at least 13 people. Apart from Katy Perry, numerous other Americans responded with outrage at Donald’s Trump tweet. Katy Perry wrote that there were a lot of unknown things happening, but she and others will be there for other victims. She thanked the first responders who were battling the inferno. John Legend also responded to Donald Trump’s tweet and called Donald Trump a National Embarrassment who couldn’t show sympathy to those suffering from a horrific disaster. Rod Stewart also responded and called out Trump for pointing fingers and accusations when people were losing their lives, and their properties and firefighters were risking their lives. Rod Stewart ended his tweet by asking for Winston Churchill.
On his website, Neil Young responded by explaining that Climate Change was a major factor responsible for the California fires and not poor forest management as the President said. He explained that the extended drought and the extreme weather events played a huge role in causing the fires.
It seems Trump hearkened to them because his recent tweets about the California wildfires were mellow and sympathetic, unlike his first cold tweet. He tweeted about how the fires have burned over 170,000 acres. He tweeted that everyone was with the 52,000 people that have been evacuated and those that lost their lives. He warned people that the fires were expanding at the rate of 80-100 acres a minute and told them that they risked losing their lives if they did not listen to evacuation orders from Local and State officials.
Trump has also been under fire for missing a WW1 memorial ceremony in France due to a light drizzle. Over 1000 American soldiers died in a region in France, and the ceremony was to honor them. But Trump cancelled his appearance citing scheduling differences caused by the weather. Winston’s Churchill grandson called him out on Twitter for this and told him that he wasn’t fit to lead the country.
The California wildfires have destroyed the set of Westworld and the mansion where the Bachelor was being filmed. It has also forced celebrities like Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, Alyssa Milano, Rainn Wilson and others to evacuate their homes. Miley Cyrus also lost her home to the fire. The fires have raised homes in upscale neighborhoods in Calabasas, Malibu and other high-profile areas outside Los Angeles.
Cardi B Parties With Husband Offset And Dances to New Song ‘Money’ On A Yacht
Almost everyone loves a good party, and Cardi B is no exception. The hip-hop rapper posted a video on Instagram showing her on a yacht twerking in a bikini to her latest release called ‘Money.’ In the video her husband, Offset was spanking his wife playfully as she was rapping to the track.
Her caption of the clip read, ‘Peace, love and family that’s the real MONEY.‘ The video did not show their daughter, Kulture so it is unclear if she was on the yacht with them.
The two rappers have been married for over a year, and they still continue to play with each other and have fun like newlyweds. The 26-year-old rapper and her 26-year-old rapper were scantily dressed in the video.
Offset wore a singlet and boxer shorts with his blings on display while Cardi B wore a bikini. Offset enjoyed the view of her twerking so much that he spanked her playfully on her buttocks twice. Their location was not revealed in the short video.
In October, Offset gifted Cardi B grey Lamborghini Urus for her 26th birthday in October and threw her a surprise party. But the rapper later swapped the Lamborghini for another one with a red interior. The couple is fond of gifting each other cars as she surprised him with a Rolls Royce Wraith for his 26th birthday in back in December 2017. In July, both of them purchased matching Lamborghini Aventadors. The power music couple have a good car collection that makes them the envy of other couples.
It seems Cardi B is going for peace and love these days. The rapper recently ended her feud with fellow female rapper Nicki Minaj. Cardi B had to be escorted out of a fashion show after she attacked Nicki Minaj and threw a shoe which hit someone. She later took to social media to talk about how Nicki Minaj had been attacking her and her daughter. She said she could take anything, but she could never take an attack on her daughter.
Nicki Minaj made a post on Twitter where she said that everyone should focus on positive things alone. In the post, she said that everyone was blessed, and the beef might be funny and entertaining to a lot of people, but she won’t be discussing the issue with anyone again. She ended the tweet by thanking her fans for the love and encouragement over the years. She ended it with a love emoji.
Cardi B screen grabbed the tweet and posted it on her Instagram page. She captioned the picture with ‘Alright then! Let’s keep it positive and keep it pushing!’
In October, Cardi B told W Magazine that the couple had a lot of doubts when they got married. She said that their schedules were both tight as both of them were always traveling. She said that they were seeing each other only twice a week and Offset was always known for seeing various women and she as known for not taking any nonsense from any guy that she was dating. She said their love came through for them as they were scared to lose each other.
Elvis Costello Provides Update on Cancer Scare
Elvis Costello had an interview on the show ‘CBS This Morning.’ Apart from his live performance on the show Elvis Costello gave an update on his battle with cancer.
When a small but very aggressive cancerous malignancy was discovered on Elvis Costello, he was forced to cancel several performances on medical grounds.
In the interview, Elvis Costello revealed that he was making a full recovery. Elvis Costello pointed out that he was happy that the malignancy was discovered early. He had a surgery operation to remove it.
Elvis Costello said that his health issue was not as serious as it seems. He said a lot of fans, friends and family had blown things out of proportion. Costello revealed that he was receiving a lot of letters for three weeks. He said he wasn’t dying, and people should not worry about him.
Elvis Costello explained his feelings about Cancer and how it affects those with it and their families.
Costello also talked about the album he was working on with his band, The Imposters. The album was titled ‘Look Now,’ and the album is going to be a means of pushing his sound into new territory.
Costello understands that this may alienate some of his fans and he knows that some of them might feel horrified at the decision to push his music past current boundaries and try out new things. He explained that a lot of people are used to seeing him within a certain territory, and they freak out if he tries new grounds.
The new album will contain two songs which were co-written with Burt Bacharach. Elvis Costello performed three live tracks on the show. The tracks include ‘Unwanted Number’ and ‘Suspect My Tears’ which are new tracks. Videos of the performance can be seen on CBS This Morning YouTube page.
The new album, ‘Look Now’ was released a month ago. It is the first album that Elvis Costello will release with the Imposters since ‘Momofuku’ that was released in 2008. It is also Elvis Costello’s first album since ‘Wise Up Ghost’ which he released in 2013. ‘Wise Up Ghost’ is a collaboration with The Roots.
The album has been teased for a while by Elvis Costello who explained that he needed to return to the Studio after embarking on the Imperial Bedroom & Other Chambers’ tour in the United States last summer.
‘Look Now’ features ‘Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter,’ which is a song that Elvis Costello wrote with Carole King. He explained that he met Carole King while on tour with Bob Dylan in 995. They had gotten to Dublin, Ireland and Carole King was in the band.
Costello got news of the cancer malignancy 75% finished into the recording of ‘Look Now.’ But he said that did not affect him in any way. It only pushed him to work harder on the album till it was completed.
The album turned out to be one of his best-received albums, and the collaborations with Carole King and Burt Bacharach were well received.
Insider Tips That All Independent Artists Can Benefit From
The music business has transformed right before our eyes and the internet has created a level playing field for all stakeholders and artists to skip all middle men and go directly to consumers. However this means that we now have competition like none we have seen before. The big labels still take a large percentage of the market accounting for about 80% of industry revenue but still you now have various means with which you can build a self-sustained career in music.
We interviewed experts in the music field from booking agents to distribution and management for their own advice to the independent artist and these are some of the things they have to say:
<blockquote>”Every artist needs a strong team around them. Just because an artist is independent, it doesn’t mean they have to do it all by themselves. Look for people who you can trust, who understand the vision, and most importantly, who can do the job! You can work with your family and friends as long as they are accountable for the responsibilities given. Having a solid team going into any situation, especially when signing with a major, is a huge leverage, because you’ve already built that safety net, that foundation for yourself.”</blockquote>
—<em>Julie Rene Tran, Founder of </em><strong><em>All the Best Media</em></strong>
<strong>Define your own success.</strong>
A lot of independent artist fall into the wrong notion of trying to compete with all the label artist who have a lot more resources and machinery behind them. You don’t have to do this. In reality they are two separate playing fields and the most important thing you can do for yourself is to set your own success goals. Do not set the bar based on someone who is on another playing field. Just focus on what you are doing and celebrate your own achievements and scale up appropriately.
<strong>Don’t rush your releases.</strong>
You need to have a structured plan on how you are releasing your singles. Don’t rush into releasing it all at once with the hope that one of them will become a hit. There is so much competition online for ranking and placement and it is vital that you have a structured and detailed plan going forward. Study the internet game and see what people are doing to get higher ranking and try to see how you can model your online activity to mirror theirs in ways that suit you.
<strong>Don’t rush into signing a deal.</strong>
It can be very tempting to jump on any deal that is eventually placed in front of you after spending so much time, energy and resources to get to where you are. But it is vitally important that you carefully analyze every deal placed in front of you and see if it is the best thing for you in the long run. You must understand your value to be able to adequately make an informed decision. It will be in your best interest to seek advice from your lawyers, older veterans in the music business and trusted confidants.
Music Promotions for the Indie Artist
Unless you have the machinery of the music label behind you, you must learn how to self-promote your own content and this is perhaps one of the most crucial skills to be had. As is often the case, you don’t have enough money to hire PR people to help run your media campaigns and it is entirely up to you to get the people to know your music. It can be a lot to get started but with a few steps and tips, you can start on the right foot and get good results.
Identify your goals:
When you aim to self-promote your own content, you must clearly identify achievable goals and try not to do everything all at once. Observe the way the bigger artist are promoted and you see that they have specific campaigns targeted at specific things. Promote one thing like a single, a show or a website.
Once you are clear on what to promote, you will be better placed to set clear goals for yourself. If you want to promote your website, the goal is to get more traffic. With this in mind you can create strategies that will fit into that goal and get you results.
Target the Right Audience:
With your promotional aims and objectives at the back of your mind, you must figure out the best audience for your campaign. If you have something important coming up, look at the best channel to use to reach the specific audience you have in mind. Sometimes it is better to use local print publications, sometimes a mailing list will suffice. There are many channels you can exploit and whichever you choose should depend on the audience you want to reach.
Identify your niche:
In the world of today where there is a constant bombardment of content from every side, you need a reason to stand out in the minds of your audience. They need to identify you foe something so specific that they only want to get it from you. Try to find something that makes you stand out from the multitude of people all looking for audiences. Give your listeners and consumers a reason to want more of the same from you.
Branding:
Make sure you have a brand that people can easily identify you with. Design your stickers, badges, posters and flyers and include your brand name, pass them out to your favorite people and clubs and leave them on shop counters etc. let people identify you for something and know what you stand for.
For a lot of people, the concept of self-promoting their own music to their fans is easy to grapple with but the idea of calling press conferences and similar evens can be terrifying. The truth is some of the people you reach out to will be accommodating and others won’t. Some people will return your calls and emails, others won’t. This is a part of the grind and hustle so you must embrace it.