SZA has said her second studio album ‘S.O.S.’ almost featured more collaborations, but claimed that those artists ultimately didn’t “show up”.

Announced last month, the long-awaited follow-up to 2017’s ‘Ctrl’ is due for release this Friday (December 9) via Top Dawg Entertainment/ RCA. The 23-track record has already been previewed by the singles ‘Good Days’, ‘I Hate U’ and ‘Shirt’.

READ MORE: SZA – ‘Ctrl’ review: TDE protégé makes a huge statement with her debut

Elsewhere, there are team-ups with with Phoebe Bridgers (on ‘Ghost In The Machine’), Travis Scott (‘Open Arms’) and Don Toliver (‘Used’). The album’s closing song, ‘Forgiveless’, features the late Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard.

During a new interview on New York radio station Hot 97, SZA was asked how such collaborations come about. “DMs and like begging people,” the R&B artist replied. “Sometimes people turn in their verses and sometimes they don’t.”

SZA continued: “And a lot of people just like did not turn in their verses, but I’m grateful for who did.”

The interviewer then asked the singer whether she took such rejection from other acts “personally”, to which she responded: “For a lot of these people, I didn’t turn in my verse – so I can’t be too mad.

“But also, in the same token, it’s like, ‘Damn this sucks, I really needed you. I wish you showed up for me’. But I’m sure they felt the same way for me.”

Speaking about Travis Scott, SZA explained: “I really appreciate that he’s just a consistent friend in my life and really believes in me as an artist.”

She also said she was “grateful” Phoebe Bridgers contributed to ‘S.O.S.’. “I didn’t think she would come to the studio in person,” SZA added. “She did, which is crazy. We laughed, it’s just hilarious.”

You can watch the full interview in the video above.

Last month, during a wide-ranging interview with Billboard, SZA opened up about her forthcoming album, saying that she was “stressed” about its impending deadline.

She elaborated on the “red tape analytics” that came with releasing a new record. “It’s not like the album pressure, it’s just, life is fucking hard,” SZA said.

SZA performs live. CREDIT: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

“To be expected to do anything at a high level while life is life-ing is fucking crazy. This isn’t meant for a person, it’s meant for a machine.”

Last weekend, SZA debuted an unreleased ‘S.O.S.’ song called ‘Blind’ during her appearance on Saturday Night Live.

The artist then shared the full album tracklist on Monday (December 5) – check it out here.

Meanwhile, SZA has responded to fans calling for her to collaborate with Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams.

The post SZA’s ‘S.O.S.’ almost featured more collaborations, but artists didn’t “show up” appeared first on NME.

Seth Rogen teased Kim Kardashian during The Hollywood Reporter’s “Women in Entertainment Breakfast” on Wednesday. Confused by Kardashian’s absence, Rogen joked about her having nothing better to do.

“Are we going to talk about how Kim Kardashian didn’t show up?” Rogen asked the crowd. “I have seen every episode of ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ I know she doesn’t have anything more important to do than this.”

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 28: Seth Rogen arrives at Premiere Of Warner Bros Pictures’ ‘Motherless Brooklyn’ on October 28, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images)

Rogen then back down remarking that she probably had good reason to miss out.

“She’s honestly… she’s probably dealing with a lot right now,” he added.

As for why Kardashian skipped out on the event, her team explained the decision in a statement provided to TMZ.

“The wrong event date was given to Kim’s team several weeks ago,” they said. “The error was realized only on Monday and unfortunately, her schedule could not be moved around at the last minute due to a prior work commitment. She was incredibly disappointed to not be able to attend since she never cancels.”

Season 2 of The Kardashians finished airing on Hulu, last month. Rogen, on the other hand, recently starred in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans.

Rogen wasn’t the only one to make fun of Kim Kardashian at the event. Chelsea Handler also poked fun during her time on stage, joking about security at the event not being enough for Kim.

While she wasn’t in attendance at the breakfast event, Kardashian did post new pictures on Instagram.

Check out Seth Rogen’s comments at the Women in Entertainment Breakfast below. Hollywood Reporter held the event in honor of its 2022 Women in Entertainment Power 100 list.

[Via]

Kanye West shared new music on Instagram, Wednesday, referencing marriage, his antisemitism, and more. The track is the first new music from West since praising Hitler during his recent appearance on InfoWars. It heavily samples Donny Hathaway’s 1973 song “Someday We’ll All Be Free.”

“Waking up to / I can’t do this anymore text / And The Bible said / I can’t have anymore sex / Till marriage / And no drip till Paris / And the meek shall flurish,” he raps on the song. West has since deleted the post.

INDIO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 21: Kanye West performs Sunday Service during the 2019 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival on April 21, 2019 in Indio, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for Coachella)

West goes on: ”And everyone’s a Karen / When they claim they care and / Wasn’t given a fair hand / Getting calls from parents / God calls for prayer rants.”

“I ain’t never rock with none of y’all no way / I’m pulling up in that white OJ,” he continues. “And the watch filled up with Oshays / that’s Jackson cause it’s nasty / Tweeted deathcon / Now we past three / Tweeted deathcon / Now we past three.”

Elsewhere, West references the women in his life, including Kim Kardashian and Juliana Nalú, leaving him over the “headlines.”

The song ends with a clip of West’s interview with Alex Jones playing. During the interview, Ye mentioned liking Adolf Hitler.

While Ye has since deleted the Instagram post containing the song, he allowed Alex Jones to publish it on InfoWars. The move comes despite Jones distancing himself from West during a recent interview with Steven Crowder. Jones remarked that West and Nick Fuentes have a “Hitler fetish.” He also said that he doesn’t believe West is “mentally ill” and is instead “enjoying himself.”

Check out Kanye West’s new music here. The song is not available on Spotify, Apple Music, or Tidal.

[Via]

Rookie Simone Fontecchio made a last-second, game-winning dunk just after Malik Beasley hit a 3-pointer as the Utah Jazz scored five points in the final 7.8 seconds to earn an improbable 124-123 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday in Salt Lake City. Jordan Poole led all scorers with 36 points in a game […]

The post NBA: Jazz top Warriors on Simone Fontecchio’s last-second dunk appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

Ja Morant had 26 points, a career-high-tying 13 rebounds and 11 assists to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 123-102 victory over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday. The Grizzlies have won a season-high four consecutive games and six of their last seven. The Thunder’s three-game winning streak was snapped. Morant took over in […]

The post NBA: Ja Morant’s triple-double sparks Grizzlies over Thunder appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

Giannis Antetokounmpo poured in a game-high 35 points, Jrue Holiday was nearly as productive with 31 and the Milwaukee Bucks pulled away late to defeat the visiting Sacramento Kings 126-113 on Wednesday night. All five starters scored in double figures as the Bucks won their third straight in their first meeting of the season with […]

The post NBA: Bucks pour it on late to topple Kings appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

Kyrie Irving collected 33 points and nine assists as the Brooklyn Nets took a big lead in the first half and held on for a 122-116 victory over the visiting Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night in New York. Irving scored 12 of his points in the fourth when the Nets fended off several Charlotte attempts […]

The post NBA: Kyie Irving score 33, Nets fend off pesky Hornets appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

Moritz Wagner went for a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds, Bol Bol scored another 20 points, and Paolo Banchero sank six free throws down the stretch to cap his game-high 23-point effort as the Orlando Magic snapped a long losing skid with Wednesday’s 116-111 overtime defeat of the visiting Los Angeles Clippers. Orlando […]

The post NBA: Magic drop Clippers in OT to end skid appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

Taylor Swift was reportedly in talks to partner with FTX – a Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange in the midst of bankruptcy – just months before the company collapsed.

READ MORE: Taylor Swift – ‘Midnights’ review: a shimmering return to pure pop

As reported by the Financial Times, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried had made it to “the late stages of negotiating” with Swift, looking to enlist the singer for a sponsorship campaign tied to an upcoming tour of hers (likely the ‘Eras’ tour that Swift recently announced). 

It’s said that the deal, worth more than $100million (£820,550), would have included an arrangement to have concert tickets minted as NFTs, similar to the Coachella Key effort that FTX was also involved in. It would have followed a string of the company’s other high-profile sponsorship deals, including those with sports stars like Tom Brady, Shaquille O’Neal and Steph Curry.

According to sources that spoke with the Financial Times, Bankman-Fried was enthusiastic about a deal with Swift because he was a noted fan of hers – as was senior executive Claire Watanabe, who is said to have been “a driving force behind the pursuit of Swift”. 

The prospect was reportedly favoured less by other executives – including FTX US president Brett Harrison – with one unnamed source saying: “No one really liked the deal. It was too expensive from the beginning. [The price was] really fucking high. That’s front of the soccer jersey level prices.”

An unnamed former employee of FTX reportedly expressed concern that Swift “would not add value to [the company’s] user base”, while a third source involved told the publication that Swift “would not, and did not, agree to an endorsement deal”.

FTX was launched in 2019 by Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang, and by July of 2021, had become the world’s third-largest crypto exchange with more than a million users. The company began tanking at the start of November this year, after it was reported by CoinDesk that Bankman-Fried’s trading firm, Alameda Research, held much of its assets in FTX’s proprietary FTT currency. 

Days after that report was published, The Wall Street Journal reported that $10billion (£8.21billion) in crypto assets were funnelled out of FTX users’ accounts to fund Alameda’s trading – an activity barred by FTX’s own terms of service. The company declared bankruptcy on November 11, with executives citing a “severe liquidity crisis”.

In the wake of FTX’s collapse, many users reported being unable to access their crypto holdings – including NFTs like the Coachella Keys. Those lifetime passes to Coachella were valued at a total of $1.5million USD (£1.2million), but as of last month, those are frozen on the now-defunct FTX blockchain.  

Ticketing for Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour has been tumultuous without FTX’s involvement; when tickets went on sale last month, Ticketmaster was inundated by “historically unprecedented demand”, leading to egregious wait times, website outages, and hyper-inflated prices on resale sites (including Ticketmaster’s own). The ticket sale was subsequently shut down altogether.

The controversy led to US lawmakers calling for an investigation into Ticketmaster, while a Senate-backed antitrust panel has organised a hearing on the lack of competition in the ticketing industry. In addition, two US senators have called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to answer for “the steps” it’s taking to “combat the use and operation of bots in the online ticket marketplace”.

Swift’s fans have also mounted their own efforts to protest Ticketmaster, with some three dozen of them – who are mostly lawyers – launching an initiative called ‘Vigilante Legal’. Last week, too, a group of fans filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster, claiming that the company violated two laws – the California Cartwright Act and the California Unfair Competition Law – during its “verified fan” pre-sale. 

The post Taylor Swift had talks with imploded crypto group FTX about NFT ticketing arrangement appeared first on NME.

K-pop rookie girl group bugAboo have officially disbanded, A Team Entertainment has announced.

READ MORE: bugAboo: “We want to become somebody else’s role model someday, and inspire them to reach for their dreams”

The announcement was made earlier today (December 8) by the South Korean music label via the band’s fan café page, where it was revealed that group activities for bugAboo have been halted and all members’ exclusive contracts with the agency have been terminated.

“bugAboo, who have worked hard since debut until now while receiving love from fans, will be halting group activities from today,” the statement read, as translated by Soompi. “The agency and the members decided to halt group activities and terminate all the members’ contracts after lengthy consideration and discussion.” However, A Team Entertainment notably did not share the circumstances or reasons behind the decision in its statement.

“We once again express our gratitude for all the support, and we sincerely apologise for delivering sudden news to fans who loved bugAboo. Please show your unchanging warm love and support for the members ahead of their new start,” concluded the label’s brief notice.

bugAboo – which consisted of members Choyeon, Eunchae, Yoona, Rainie, Cyan and Zin – made their official debut just a little over a year ago with an eponymous single album. The record included a title track of the same name alongside a B-side song titled ‘All Night Play’. Both tracks were both co-composed and -produced by K-pop producer Ryan Jhun, who is also the CEO of A Team Entertainment.

In an interview conducted days before their debut, bugAboo told NME about how they hoped to inspire others. “We want to become a good influence to lots of people,” said Cyan. “I want people around the world to realise they can become whatever they want regardless of where they’re from and what language they speak,” added Yoona. “I want to give them the courage to pursue their dreams and know that anything is possible if you work hard.”

The band later made their first-ever comeback in June this year with a follow-up single album ‘Pop’, headlined by a title track of the same name. That three-track record also included B-side ‘Easy Move’ as well as an instrumental version of ‘Pop’.

bugAboo were the first-ever girl group launched by Jhun, who has spent the past decades creating hits for several top K-pop groups such as TWICE, SHINee and Red Velvet. The girl group were originally set to debut in 2020 but ended up delaying their debut due to the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The post K-pop girl group bugAboo have disbanded, label announces appeared first on NME.

Two years removed from their last collaborative effort, Sci-Fi Fantasy owner and renowned skateboarder Jerry Hsu has teamed up with the California-based action sports brand for a second coming of his obscure nostalgic imprint onto the board riding sneaker community.

Commemorating the storied 30th anniversary of the iconic Half Cab, the collaborative capsule from Vans indulges in a retooled take on the latter coupled with the return of the Vans Skate Sid VCU. Joining a long-list of collaborative partners that have continued to provide fashionable relevancy to the celebratory model, the Half Cab construction enjoys a fully revised upper affixed with a recut DURACAPÔ underlay. Coating a dominant majority of its real estate in Eden green suede, debossed printed character panels achieve a pitch-dark ensemble underneath, contrasted by way of crisp white stitching and vibrant “Flame Orange” Sci-Fi branding attached to the tongue tabs of both models.

The Skate Sid in comparison indulges in a near-clad jet-black upper, employing cracked leather uppers akin to the textile of an alligator while the latter titular orange hue illuminates the midfoots embroidered Flying V logo in conjunction with a solid white molded sole unit underfoot.

Enjoy official images of the Vans x Sci-Fi Fantasy collaborative capsule below; the shoes are available at vans.com beginning December 8th.

In other news, check out the Air Jordan 13 “Black/University Blue”.

© Sneaker News, 2022.
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