Durand Bernarr took the stage for Salt Lick Sessions’ Songs of U.S., a YouTube series in which musicians from different genres reimagine songs that have shaped the country’s cultural identity, according to a press release.
He sings George Gershwin’s “Summertime,” which Ella Fitzgerald famously covered, as well as Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic” and his original track “Undivided.”
“I wanted to talk about … the challenges that I’ve been going through with my star rising and people seeing this fire that has been closely observed by my community and by my tribe, and so now it’s gotten bigger and the world is able to experience it and it’s taken me away from people,” he explains of “Undivided.” “It’s my letting the people in my life that I’m closest to know this is what’s been going on.”
Durand’s performances of “Summertime” and “Ironic” are out now. The “Undivided” performance premieres on YouTube Wednesday.
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While performing his song “Work Out” at a stop on his Fall-Off World tour, J. Cole was gifted a bra from the crowd. He laughed as the item landed on the stage, but didn’t miss a beat, continuing through the verse. At the end of the song, he said, “N**** ain’t got a bra onstage in a long motherf****** time. You got to cherish that s***.”
Netflix released the first-look photos for A Different World ahead of its Sept. 24 premiere. The images feature a blend of Hillman College’s new generation, alongside some fan-favorites, including Jasmine Guy’s Whitley Gilbert, Kadeem Hardison’s Dwayne Wayne, Charnele Brown’s Kimberly Reese, Cree Summer’s Freddie Brooks and Darryl M. Bell’s Ron Johnson.
Travis Scott performed at Fanatics Fest Sunday, with his daughter, Stormi, by his side. During his performance of his song “FE!N,” he brought her onstage, where she quietly mouthed the words while standing behind him.
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Ashanti’s time to perform at SeaWorld came on Saturday, but it was interrupted by a protest by PETA activists.
While the singer was onstage at the San Diego park’s Bayside Amphitheater, a group of PETA supporters held up signs reading, “Ashanti: No Dolphin is Happy in a Tank” and “Ashanti: It’s Foolish to Support SeaWorld,” referencing two of her hit songs.
“The real heartbreak isn’t in Ashanti’s lyrics, it’s in SeaWorld’s tanks where dolphins are drugged and sexually abused, mother orcas have had their babies taken away, and thinking, feeling animals waste away in concrete prisons,” PETA President Tracy Reiman said in a statement. “PETA urges everyone to help spare animals a life of misery by never going to SeaWorld.”
According to a PETA press release, the group’s goal is “to urge SeaWorld to stop breeding dolphins and whales and send them to seaside sanctuaries where they can live in peace.”
Snippets of Ashanti’s performance showed her live renditions of “Rock Wit U (Awww Baby),” “Mesmerize” and “Foolish,” to which the crowd sang along.
The remaining performers in the SeaWorld summer concert series are Soulja Boy and Paul Wall, Jordin Sparks, Too $hort and Warren G.
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The Stakes is High, as De La Soul’s approaching the 30th anniversary of the album. They are set to release an anniversary edition on Oct. 23.
The project will feature the original album and an instrumental version, complete with remastered audio, remixes and rare recordings, including “Chanel No. Fever” and “I Can’t Call It.”
Fans can now preorder the album, which will be available digitally, as a two-CD hard cover and an Amazon exclusive silver vinyl, among other formats.
Released in 1996, Stakes is High is De La Soul’s fourth studio album and their first without producer Prince Paul.
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Kid Cudi and Kanye West are taking steps to repair their friendship, the Man on the Moon artist revealed in a recent post.
He responded to a fan who asked if there was “any chance that You and Ye will work together again?” He replied, “Im sure we will yea. Right now were [sic] rebuilding our friendship. I hit him a week ago to check in on him, today he hit me to check on me. No work talk. Just seeing how I was doing. It was nice.”
Cudi and Ye have had several public falling-outs over the years, including Cudi’s frustration in 2014 after learning his unauthorized vocals were on Ye’s album Yeezuz, per Pitchfork. Ye later announced Cudi would no longer appear on his album Donda because of his friendship with Pete Davidson, who dated Ye’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
The promise of a collaboration marks a shift from Cudi’s 2025 interview with CBS Mornings, where he claimed Ye said “things that there’s just no coming back from.”
“Like, I’m done with you, and it breaks my heart, because I loved Kanye, you know? I really loved him; he was a part of my life changing,” Cudi explained. “And at some point, he was a really good friend, but the man that he has become, I just don’t know that guy anymore. I don’t know him. I don’t know that version of him, and it’s really heartbreaking.”
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Future has earned his 12th #1 album with his latest release, The Real Me.
The project debuted atop the Billboard 200 after earning 131,000 equivalent album units in the United States during the week ending July 16, according to Luminate. The milestone gives Future the third-most #1 albums among rappers. Overall, only The Beatles (19), Drake and Taylor Swift (15), and Jay-Z (14) have more chart-toppers, according to Billboard.
Released on July 9, The Real Me features the lead single “Radio” and marks Future’s 10th studio album. It also debuted at #1 on the Top Streaming Albums chart, with 118,000 of its total units coming from streaming.
Elsewhere on the Billboard 200’s top 10 are Drake’s Iceman at #6 and Michael Jackson’s Thriller at #8.
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