In an exclusive interview with Billboard, Jessie J shares insights on her next album with producer DJ Camper and her new Propel commercial.
On being inspired by DJ Camper: "...I’m so happy I found an amazing friend as well as a producer in the process. It’s been a really beautiful experience for both of us....I’m so excited for people to hear the music. It’s a side of my voice that I haven’t celebrated enough." On new music: "Where I’m at with the new music, everything written thus far I’ve written by myself. I’m really proud of it. It doesn’t reflect anything I’ve ever done before, which is exciting. It’s an album musically that I’ve wanted to make for a long time and had to find the right time. Everyone who’s heard the album so far says it’s very honest and very grown. I’m speaking on issues that a 29-year-old goes through which is different from what I’ve sung about in the past."
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Celebrated global music artist and activist Alicia Keys has been honoured with Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award for 2017, the human rights organisation announced today.
The Ambassador of Conscience Award celebrates individuals and groups who have shown exceptional courage standing up to injustice, used their talents to inspire others and who have furthered the cause of human rights. Alicia Keys said: “To receive the Ambassador of Conscience award from Amnesty International is a huge honour. Especially as an activist, as a woman, here in this world, who is driven to recognise the injustice in the world and recognise the unfairness the inequality, the things that have to change, the ways that we as everyday people, all of us, have a part to play in that. It is one of the most proud moments of my life. “It encourages me to continue to speak out against injustice and use my platform to draw attention to the issues that matter to me. “Our conscience is something we are all gifted with at birth, no matter who we are. That little voice that speaks to you and tells you when something is not right, I always use as my guide. Since I was a small girl my inner voice would yell at me! Now I just say, okay, what can I do? That is a question we can ask ourselves and then act upon." Throughout her illustrious career, during which she has won 15 Grammy Awards, Alicia Keys has inspired and campaigned for change on critical issues, such as criminal justice reform, HIV/AIDS, gun violence and the refugee crisis. Alicia Keys: From music to activism Alicia Keys’ extensive philanthropic work includes co-founding Keep a Child Alive (KCA), a non-profit organisation providing treatment and care to children and families affected by HIV in Africa and India. KCA identifies and partners with local leaders in grassroots organisations to design, implement and share innovative solutions to some of the most pressing challenges in the fight against AIDS. KCA has raised more than $60 million to provide AIDS care to hundreds of thousands of children and their families, as well as advocate for more understanding and support. In 2014, she co-founded the We Are Here Movement to encourage young people to mobilise for change, asking the question “Why are you here?” as a call to action. Through the movement she has sought to galvanise her audience to take action on issues such as criminal justice reform and ending gun violence. Stunned by the fact that there are now more refugees in the world today than at any other point in history, the musician helped create and appeared in a short film entitled ‘Let Me In’ to mark last year’s World Refugee Day. With her song, ‘Hallelujah’ at its centre, the film brings the issue of the refugee crisis home to viewers by telling the powerful story of a young American family forced to flee to the US-Mexico border. Coachella Turned Down Booking Kate Bush Because “Nobody Is Going to Understand It,” Apparently11/4/2017
A new feature in The New Yorker contains a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of the inner workings of Coachella, detailing the past, present, and future of the festival, promoter Goldenvoice, and Goldenvoice CEO Paul Tollett. Tollett maintains a hands-on role in the Coachella lineup; The New Yorker reports that he personally curated and booked all 150 artists playing this year's festival. (He also found out that former Coachella headliner Beyoncéwas pregnant the same way we all did: Her Instagram post.) But one artist that Tollett reportedly did not want to book? Kate Bush.
The New Yorker quotes Marc Geiger, the head of music at the agency William Morris Endeavour, as saying “‘I’ll say, ‘Kate Bush!’ And [Tollet’ll] go, ‘No!,’ and we’ll talk through it. I’ll say, ‘She’s never played here, and she just did 30 shows in the UK for the first time since the late seventies. You gotta do it! Have to!’ ‘No! No one is going to understand it.’” Bush did indeed sell out 22 shows in London back in 2014. They were her first live performances since 1979. (The shows were chronicled on the live album Before the Dawn.) She has never performed in the United States, and has not performed anywhere since those 2014 shows. Pitchfork has reached out to reps for Kate Bush, William Morris Endeavor, and Goldenvoice for comment. By Noah Yoo and Amy Phillips
NEW YORK (AP) — Love, grief, loss and legacy are just a few of the reasons Mayte Garcia is stepping back into the purple light with a new memoir covering her 11 years with the late music icon Prince.
Garcia was just 16, a fan and already a professional belly dancer, when her mother slipped one of Prince's entourage a videotape of her daughter dancing. They were at one of his concerts and Prince watched right away, summoning her backstage. Letters and phone calls followed as a friendship blossomed, regardless of their 15-year age difference. At nearly 18, she became part of his working life; by 19, she was his lover (it's time, he told her, for birth control). They married when she was 22. She was pregnant two months later, but they lost their baby boy to a rare genetic disorder six days after birth. Their grief over the passing of their precious Amiir, which means Prince in Arabic, would contribute to their divorce in 2000, Garcia said while promoting the recently released book "The Most Beautiful Girl: My Life with Prince." Garcia — the subject of Prince's hit "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" — hadn't seen him for many years when he died April 21, 2016. The 43-year-old regrets that she didn't get in touch earlier that year when she learned through old friends that he wasn't doing well. Highlights of The Associated Press' conversation with Garcia: ___ THE BOOK "I started writing this book years ago. I wanted to remember, just, my childhood," Garcia said. "People would tell me, especially after my marriage to Prince, you need to write a book because you've had a crazy life." She added: "It was never like a tell-all or to talk bad about my relationship and my past. Actually it was done for love, and then when he passed, then I really felt the urgency to do it because I know a lot of people are going to come out with books and stories, but none like mine." Prince was intensely private; he shied away from the spotlight, did few interviews and cultivated a mysterious image. But Garcia, who later starred in VH1's reality show "Hollywood Exes," said he didn't try and stop her from writing a memoir. "He was aware that I was writing a book. He never said anything." ___ LOSING AMIIR The loss of their baby to a severe and disfiguring form of Pfeiffer syndrome was gut-wrenching. Their grief played out in different ways. Prince refused to acknowledge the death publicly, dragging her out of bed for a bizarre interview with Oprah Winfrey along with a tour of Paisley Park that included a nursery and playroom Prince had installed as a surprise. "I can't speak for him and his loss," Garcia said. "He just got into the work. ... That's what he does, through anger, through love. My journey was different. For me it was really hard on my body, on my soul, the loss, and for many years I kept it trapped, and to release it has been really healing. I feel like I'm honoring him and our son with this book." ___ A WILL? The question of whether Prince had a will has slowed settlement of his estate for a year. None has been found. All Garcia knows is at one point he had one. "Absolutely. I mean I don't know if it exists anymore because people were very respectful of him. He could have said, 'Destroy that,'" she noted. "I know for a fact there was a will when I was pregnant and married because I asked him. I remember thinking, 'What's going to happen? What do you want, because I don't want to be stuck here having to deal with all of this. Please leave a guideline of what you want,'" Garcia said. "I never saw it, but I know that he did. I don't know what happened to it." ___ DRUG USE Garcia says she never saw Prince take drugs. A medical examiner has ruled his death was due to an accidental opioid overdose. What she does know is this: He was once rushed to the hospital to have his stomach pumped after passing out, saying that he mixed wine and aspirin for a migraine. There were times he seemed "loopy," and there was the issue of her Vicodin pills going missing after they lost the baby. She thought he might have been taking the pain medication to prevent her from doing herself harm. "He never complained about pain. I never saw him drunk. The three incidences that I mention in the book, the first one was aspirin and wine. I didn't think that much of it because it was such a happy time in our lives. We were newlyweds and I was freshly pregnant. I was like, 'OK, well maybe he did have a headache.'" There was a time he asked her to flush some pills down a toilet after falling ill before a concert. "I know that the loss of our son was really hard on him and I think that that's what I thought. I remember thinking, 'Wow, he's really affected by it. I really need to be there for him.' I just went into that, trying to be there for him instead of, what is this and why are you doing that and where did you get it from? Now that I'm older, I probably would have done that, but it just was a very sensitive time." PRINCE'S DEATH AND THEIR DIVORCE Garcia learned the news of his shocking end from an unlikely source: Manuela Testolini, Prince's second wife who he also divorced. Testolini was involved in his charitable foundation and a Jehovah's Witnesses study group he attended while he and Garcia were still married but she was living mostly in Spain. "All I know is that she was around when I wasn't," Garcia said. Years later, Testolini apologized to Garcia after reaching out on social media. The two struck up a friendship, of sorts, that endures. Garcia was driving in Los Angeles, where she lives with her 5-year-old daughter, when Testolini texted for her to call, and told her of Prince's death. "It was just an out of body experience. It was horrible. I didn't want to believe it," she said." As for forgiving Testolini, she said: "I just don't like to have bad energy with people. It's like a disease. I even said that with Prince, 'I don't want to have any kind of bad energy with you. We need to clear all this.' I'll always love him." Today, Armin van Buuren has become the first-ever artist to release his UMF set on streaming services. His set at the main stage of Ultra Music Festival Miami 2017, which is one of the most-viewed live sets of the festival on YouTube, is now available on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and more.
This year, Armin van Buuren performed on the main stage and on his own designated A State Of Trance stage during Ultra Music Festival Miami 2017, which is one of the biggest festivals in the world. His set on the main stage has now been made available on the world’s most popular streaming services, which also means that Armin van Buuren is the first artist to upload an Ultra set at the highest sound quality, as YouTube uploads have not yet been able to reach that level. Additionally, it ensures that Armada Music, the Amsterdam-based record label facilitating the upload, is the first record label to release a set of Ultra Music Festival on the streaming platforms. Stream Armin van Buuren’s live set at the main stage of Ultra Music Festival Miami 2017 – Stream Armin van Buuren’s set on Spotify – Stream Armin van Buuren’s set on iTunes – Stream Armin van Buuren’s set on Deezer – Stream Armin van Buuren’s set on Tidal By The Hammer |
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