[Album Stream] Major Lazer: "Apocalypse Soon"
Major Lazer has been teasing his latest project, Apocalypse Soon for a minute now, and over the weekend the moombahton king dropped a stream of the album on his Soundcloud. In the past couple of weeks, the side project of mega-producer Diplo offered up "Aerosol Can" with Pharrell and the revival of dancehall singer Sean Paul who seems to have been gone from the spotlight since MTV stopped broadcasting 'TRL'. The project is a continuation of the kind of back-side wobbling production that lead Major Lazer to host a 'twerk wall' at last year's Electric Zoo festival. Top to bottom, the project shows Diplo can launch a variety of bass-infused attacks under whatever moniker works. Check out the project, streaming below.
[Video] Pharrell Talks New Album, 'Girls' with Zane Lowe
Pharrell has a knack for finding his way into the news cycle for all the right reasons. The baby-faced 40-year-old super-producer announced earlier this week that he had a new album expected, unveiling the title that was as simple as his epic day-long video for "Happy". It's no great revelation that Pharrell likely lives one of the most satisfying lives in America, and he stopped by BBC Radio 1 to chop it up with Zane Lowe and give the public a little glimpse into how his mind works, what the deal with the hat has been and what the plans are for Pharrell's first solo project. Check out the full video, streaming below.
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[Video] Pharrell, Kendrick Lamar & More Perform at 2014 NBA All Star Game
Ever since Michael Jordan retired and the new breed of superstar was established in the NBA (a la Allen Iverson, Dwight Howard), the NBA All-Star game has been much more performance than true sporting event since Tracy McGrady threw himself an alley-oop off the backboard in-game, and this weekend's jam-packed 2014 edition was no less light on the entertainment. Held in New Orleans, the 63rd installment of the annual competition of the league's brightest stars saw performances from the likes of Pharrell, who showed up with both his infamous hat, and former Neptunes/N.E.R.D. partner Chad Hugo in tow, performing a slew of his hits on both the production and singing tips. He did the classic, decade-old song, "Frontin", brought out Nelly for "Hot in Herre", did the hook on Jay Z's "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It to Me)", although Mr. Carter wasn't in attendance, and brought out Busta Rhymes and Diddy for a fresh version of "Pass the Courvoisier Part II". He aldo did "Blurred Lines" for which Robin Thicke was also a no-show and followed it with the cult classic, "Rock Star" with his Hugo, who played the keytar flawlessly. Pharrell finally finished, playing "Beautiful" with Snoop Dogg and, following the Western Conference introductions, did an interpretation of "Get Lucky", again, without Daft Punk, and during "Happy", he popped on the big hat. Kendrick looked as intense as ever, performing "m.A.A.d City" and "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" in an understated black hooded sweatshirt. Janelle Monae continued to prove why she is a favorite for performances like these, tapping none other than Trombone Shorty, Gary Clark Jr., Doctor John and Earth Wind & Fire for a memorable performance that included a rendition of her song, "Electric Lady", before joining Earth, Wind and Fire for "Shining Star". All in all, there was plenty to make up for the mediocre basketball. Watch it all below.
Pharrell:
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Kendrick Lamar
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Janelle Monae & Trombone Shorty
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[Songs of the Day] 2/6/14 (Feat. Pharrell, Future, Dillon Francis & More)
Songs of the day is back again with the latest singles to hit the Internet. We get some Midwest flavor with Murph Watkins' "Loose Women n' Booze" and Psalm One's teaser to her upcoming album Hug Life, "So Silly" which features trap drum wunderkind Young Josh of Flosstradamus on production. Some heavy hitters dropped collaboration tracks, as well. T.I. teamed up with Iggy Azalea, Young Dro, and Travi$ Scott, while Future teamed up with Pharrell, Pusha T and Casino on their new track "Move That Dope". Mac Miller put on his alternative indie hat for a cover of Bright Eyes' "Lua", which comes off as questionable at best, Lily Allen offers up her latest in "L8 CMMR" and Dillon Francis and DJ Snake come together for the thumping "Get Low".
Track of the Day: Vic Mensa: "Magic" (Smoko Ono Remix) - Chicago producer Smoko Ono puts a creative new spin on Vic Mensa's "Magic" off his recent Innanetape, allowing it a distinctly new, dance-worthy flavor that takes the track into a different realm while staying grounded in the original track.
Murph Watkins: “Loose Women n’ Booze”
T.I.: “Hell You Sayin’” (Feat. Iggy Azalea, Young Dro & Travi$ Scott)
Future: “Move That Dope”(Feat. Pharrell, Pusha T & Casino)
Mac Miller: “”Lua”
Dillon Francis & DJ Snake: “Get Low”
Psalm One: “So Silly” (Young Josh of Flosstradamus)
Lily Allen: “L8 CMMR”
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Vic Mensa: “Magic” (Smoko Ono Remix)
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[Video] RDGLDGRN: "Doing The Most"
RDGLDGRN is a decent band that doesn't like vowels. The Pharrell-backed project dropped a video for their most recent single, "Doing The Most" the other day, getting a little bit caught up in the Grammy hysteria of the weekend. The Washington D.C.-based group first came to national attention with their song and video for "I Love Lamp" that garnered them a heavy online following and caught the ear of the likes of Dave Grohl and Pharrell, who has had his hand in the most recent production to come from the band. "Doing The Most" is off the band's self-titled project released in September of last year, check out the video streaming below.
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[Video] 2014 Grammy Awards Performance Recap
While the awards may have left some excitement on the table, the performances of the 2014 Grammy Awards certainly did not disappoint. Jay-Z and Beyonce started things off with a rousing performance of their track "Drunk in Love" from her recent release that got the energy going in the Staples Center. Lorde performed her 2013 seminal track "Royals" to a certain degree of minimalism, sporting a darker new look and Pharrell and Daft Punk teamed up with none other than Stevie Wonder for a rendition of "Get Lucky" which went on to win record of the year and Kendrick Lamar linked up with Imagine Dragons for an inspired performance than skipped across songs, opening with "m.A.A.d City" which had at least two in the front row out of their seats. Alas, all the showmanship was thus in vain to the almighty Macklemore & Ryan Louis whose Teflon-esque evening continued into their live performance as they trumped the rest of the field by hosting 33 gay marriages onstage with Madonna. There's a lot you can do to create entertainment, but I have to say there's not much more than that. We rounded up the whole lot of Grammy performances and have them streaming here below for your viewing pleasure. Check them out and stay tuned to RH for continuing Grammy coverage.
Beyonce & Jay Z: "Drunk In Love"
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Imagine Dragons & Kendrick Lamar: "Radioactive"
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Lorde: "Royals"
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Pharrell, Stevie Wonder & Daft Punk:
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Katy Perry & Juicy J: "Dark Horse"
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Taylor Swift: "All Too Well"
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Keith Urban & Gary Clark Jr. "Cop Car"
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Pink: "Try"
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Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Mary Lambert & Madonna 'Same Love"
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[Video] Pharrell Interviews Leonard Nimoy for ARTST TLK
Pharrell Williams returns for another episode of his interview series ARTST TLK featuring actor, director, poet and photographer Leonard Nimoy. The two sit down and talk about a variety of topics such has how the character Spock was created, how the character evolved, and the trouble Nimoy had taking on the role. We also learn the background story of the now iconic Vulcan salute. Another topic that was brought up was Nimoy's love for photography, and the interview shined light on some of the great photography projects he's created. Looking at Pharrell's body of work, it's apparent that he has been inspired by Nimoy, and by watching the interview you get some insight into how much he's gone through in his career.
[Via Reserve Channel]
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Bruno Mars: "Gorilla (G-Mix)" (feat. Pharrell & R. Kelly)
Look at God! Although unexpected, I don't think anyone is mad at this G-Mix of Bruno Mars' smash "Gorilla" off of his sophomore album, Unorthodox Jukebox featuring the almighty R. Kelly and Pharrell. On the remix, Kellz delivers a sexciting verse as expected while Mr. Williams heavenly floats all over this bedroom anthem.
This [already] banger just got a tune up - listen to the "Gorilla" the G-Mix below.
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