Tag: Song

6-7 becomes word of the year. What does it mean?

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6-7 becomes word of the year. What does it mean?

Today’s class is in session and we’re learning to speak fluent gin alpha. Our instructors, PE teacher Aidan Worzea. Be in the middle school, um, we got 900 kids here. Uh, we have over 50 in every PE class here, so I’m constantly around them. Hadley. He did get on that one. I’ll give you that one. Today’s lesson translating the ever evolving middle school dictionary. Do you agree with what’s on the board so far? He did like kind of *** good job. According to Mr. Worzea, the top tier terms are locked, rage bait, hu, and their ultimate favorite, 67. So I give the 67 there. 67 is the most. Um, I hear clock it now recently *** ton. I see clock it and before you can even instruct once you say 6, you know it’s 7 and they’re going to interrupt. What does it? Mean? I believe it came from *** basketball player, the Ball family, LeAngelo Ball, I think, came up with the song of it, um, and then I heard that it was, they asked how tall was he? and they’re like, I don’t know, maybe 6 or 7. I think it really like popped off when like *** kid, Mason said 67. Just when you thought you had those, the kids hit you with *** new 1, 41, the opposite hand motion, and then bop. That’s like someone who’s had multiple girlfriends or boyfriends. It’s like, you’re *** bop. Got it. Don’t be *** bop. And then there’s Italian brain rock. Characters. So if you look up, there’s like burper Bata bump, shore. Um, ballerina cappuccino and perhaps the strangest one, it’s just like something people like to say like they’ll just like go around and be like, stop digging in your *** twin, which means nothing. random stuff on the internet. Huzz is *** new one as well. I hear it. I got some mixed emotions, but what I think it means is like crush. Maybe next week I’ll be told *** new one from one of the students, but uh. Uh, I learned from them and, uh, right now this is the main ones that I’m hearing for sure. Translation, just smile, nod, and clock it. Any advice for parents? I would say just if you’re hearing some of these different words, let’s make sure we kind of ask the meeting, um, because we don’t want our kids to go around, uh, saying things that they don’t know the meaning of it, um, and also that the meeting is, you know, good, something we want to be sharing out for sure.

A new internet slang meme taking over children’s vocabulary, 6-7, is now Dictionary.com’s 2025 Word of the Year.The meme is pronounced “six seven,” not “sixty seven,” like most would think, and has become a cultural phenomenon for Gen Alpha. Children have been saying the two numbers together with a hand gesture that someone would use to weigh two options. The phrase has gone viral on TikTok, with many people confused about its meaning. However, the meme itself has no real meaning and is said in a variety of ways. “It’s part inside joke, part social signal and part performance,” Steve Johnson, director of lexicography for the Dictionary Media Group at IXL Learning, said to USA Today. “When people say it, they’re not just repeating a meme; they’re shouting a feeling. It’s one of the first Words of the Year that works as an interjection – a burst of energy that spreads and connects people long before anyone agrees on what it actually means.”The meme started when Skrilla released his song “Doot Doot,” where he raps, “6-7, I just bipped right on the highway.”From there, people began using the lyrics “six seven” from the Skrilla song as background audio in videos. One video in particular that went viral said NBA player LaMelo Ball plays basketball like he’s 6 feet, 2 inches tall instead of his height of 6 feet, 7 inches.After that one video went viral, 6-7 became all the rage for the kids, and now it is being said everywhere.

A new internet slang meme taking over children’s vocabulary, 6-7, is now Dictionary.com‘s 2025 Word of the Year.

The meme is pronounced “six seven,” not “sixty seven,” like most would think, and has become a cultural phenomenon for Gen Alpha. Children have been saying the two numbers together with a hand gesture that someone would use to weigh two options.

The phrase has gone viral on TikTok, with many people confused about its meaning.

However, the meme itself has no real meaning and is said in a variety of ways.

“It’s part inside joke, part social signal and part performance,” Steve Johnson, director of lexicography for the Dictionary Media Group at IXL Learning, said to USA Today. “When people say it, they’re not just repeating a meme; they’re shouting a feeling. It’s one of the first Words of the Year that works as an interjection – a burst of energy that spreads and connects people long before anyone agrees on what it actually means.”

The meme started when Skrilla released his song “Doot Doot,” where he raps, “6-7, I just bipped right on the highway.”

From there, people began using the lyrics “six seven” from the Skrilla song as background audio in videos. One video in particular that went viral said NBA player LaMelo Ball plays basketball like he’s 6 feet, 2 inches tall instead of his height of 6 feet, 7 inches.

After that one video went viral, 6-7 became all the rage for the kids, and now it is being said everywhere.

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October 30, 2025
Timeline: Two fateful hours that planted the seeds of destruction in Pacific Palisades

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For months, there has been intense speculation about what caused the Palisades fire.

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors offered a detailed timeline about what they allege caused the fire, which charred 23,400 acres and leveled more than 6,800 structures, including many homes in Pacific Palisades and Malibu and killed 12 people.

They alleged the seeds of destruction began not on Jan. 7 when the flames entered Pacific Palisades but on Jan. 1. They claim an Uber driver intentionally set the fire on a popular hiking trail in what they claim was a bizarre series of events that included listening to a French rap song. Firefighters responded and believed they had snuffed it out. But intense winds on on Jan. 7 reignited it.

The suspect, Jonathan Rinderknecht, could not be reached for comment and is in custody in Florida. This is a timeline of those fateful two hours over New Year’s Eve as laid out in court records. Some of the precise times are estimates. Authorities allege this led to the destruction of so much of Pacific Palisades:

LAPD officers keep the public and media out of the Skull Rock Trailhead as they investigate the fire on Jan. 13.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

11:15 p.m.: Rinderknecht drops off passengers in his Uber. They later told authorities he seemed agitated.

11:28 p.m. Suspect listens to the song “Un Zder, Un The,” by the French artist Josman, on his iPhone. Investigators allege the song included themes of “despair and bitterness… Google records indicate that he had listened to the same song nine times in the previous four days.”

11:34 p.m.: He drops off a passenger on Palisades Drive and drives toward Skull Rock Trailhead.

11:38 p.m. He parks at Skull Rock Trailhead and tries unsuccessfully to reach a friend living nearby. He walks up the trail to a small clearing, passing a sign saying “No Fires/Smoking.”

11:47 a.m.: He takes photos and a video of the area.

11:54 p.m. He listens to “Un Zder, Un The” again.

Las Lomas Place homes were destroyed near from Skull Rock.

(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)

12:12 a.m. A camera shows the first indication of a fire in the area. He calls 911 but it “did not go through, most likely because he was out of cellphone range.” He tries again, unsuccessfully. Over the next few minutes he tries to reach 911 several times. Authorities allege he waited at least a minute before his first 911 call. He also allegedly recorded himself trying to reach 911. “This indicates that [he] wanted to preserve evidence of himself trying to assist in the suppression of the fire and he wanted to create evidence regarding a more innocent explanation for the cause of the fire,” prosecutors wrote.

12:17 a.m. He finally gets through to 911. According to the complaint, “he reported the fire (by that point a local resident already had reported the fire to 911). During the call, [he] typed a question into the ChatGPT app on his iPhone, asking, ‘Are you at fault if a fire is lift [sic] because of your cigarettes.’ (ChatGPT’s response was ‘Yes,’ followed by an explanation.)”

12:20 a.m. He drives around the area, sees fire trucks headed to the fire and follows the trucks. He gets to the trail area where firefighters were now battling the blaze. He “later told investigators that he offered to help the firefighters fight the fire,” the complaint said.

1 a.m.: Investigators said a witness later told them they encountered the suspect at this time. He allegedly told the witness he had “been down the hill at a house party” when he noticed the flames.

1:02 a.m. He takes several photos capturing firefighters battling the flames.

1:44 a.m. Authorities say his own video shows the glove box of his car opened. Authorities said when they later searched the car, they found a barbecue lighter inside the glove box. The suspect later told investigators he admitted bringing a lighter to the trail that night but could not remember what time, the court filing says.

Rest of Jan. 1: Firefighters used water dropping aircraft and hand crews. “Suppression efforts continued during the day of January 1, 2025, as firefighters continued to wet down areas within the fire perimeter. When the suppression efforts were over, the fire crews intentionally left fire hoses on site, in case they needed to be redeployed.”

Jan. 2: “LAFD personnel returned to the scene to collect the fire hoses. It appeared to them that the fire was fully extinguished.”

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October 10, 2025
On Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl,’ love and reputation are on the line

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Taylor Swift’s new album is set to be released next month, and you could buy it right here in New Hampshire. Target says select stores across the US will open at midnight on Friday, October 3rd. That’s when you could be the first to get 3 Target exclusive CDs of the life of *** showgirl. The participating locations in New Hampshire are in Concord, Nashua, and Somersworth. You can bet there will be long lines for that.

Who is Taylor Swift’s heir apparent? Her 12th album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” offers an answer. It’s Taylor Swift.Her last album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” ended with the cautionary “Clara Bow,” an allegory that seemed to suggest her tenure atop the cultural mainstream was inherited from stars of the past, like the namechecked Stevie Nicks — and that a new generation of younger, elastic female pop performers could soon take her place. In 2025, there are many to choose from: Consider Chappell Roan’s full-throated theatrics, Olivia Rodrigo’s fiery punk-pop feminism, Sabrina Carpenter’s cheeky sexuality. In the knotty themes of Friday’s “The Life of a Showgirl,” best illustrated in the title track, Swift asserts that the baton hasn’t been passed, but rather shared. Because she isn’t going anywhere.Video above: Taylor Swift album released “And all the headshots on the walls / Of the dance halls are of the b—— / Who wish I’d hurry up and die,” she sings with a wink, “But I’m immortal now, baby dolls / I couldn’t if I tried.” Notably, if she has a chosen successor in someone else, it’s the album’s sole feature: Carpenter, who sings on the stomp-clap closer in her newly adopted twang. The mournful glissando of lap steel — the album’s most country moment — arrives only with Carpenter’s introduction. The western genre is Swift’s past and Carpenter’s future.Suggestive bangers and a ‘New Heights’ namecheckIf Swift is co-signing Carpenter, she’s also learning from her. Carpenter has cornered the market on tight pop songs with pert, provocative messages; Swift does the same with the manspreading swagger of the George Michael-interpolating “Father Figure,” which mentions a protege, and the funky “Wood.” (A carefully veiled PG-13 lyric: “His love was the key / That opened my thighs,” she sings. “Girls, I don’t need to catch the bouquet / To know a hard rock is on the way.”) Interwoven are suggestive, sensual ad-libs … and a direct reference to fiance Travis Kelce’s podcast.Across a brisk 12 tracks — Swift’s tendency toward abundance doesn’t manifest itself in a double album this time around, but instead in her endless vinyl variants — “The Life of a Showgirl” mostly delivers on its promise of up-tempo pop “bangers,” to borrow her own vernacular. Fans need not wait up for the long-anticipated “Reputation (Taylor’s Version),” because “The Life of a Showgirl” pulls from its essence. But this time, with a lot of affection, like a truer “Lover” era.Swift has long internalized criticisms and responded to them in her art, most directly in 2017’s “Reputation.” Here, she is once again concerned with her perception, articulated over booming, lush production on “CANCELLED!” or “Elizabeth Taylor.” On the latter, she sings, “Hollywood hates me / You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby.” Except this time, her love acts as an anchor. “I can’t have fun if I can’t have you,” she flirts.Welcome (back) to SwedenFor “The Life of a Showgirl,” Swift enlisted Swedish producers Max Martin and Shellback, the hitmaking duo she collaborated with on 2012’s “Red,” 2014’s “1989” and, of course, “Reputation.” Notably absent is her frequent producing partner Jack Antonoff. It’s a wise decision: In years past, Swift, Shellback and Martin’s pop experiments shifted not only her career trajectory but the genre itself. Before “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” an EDM drop in the middle of a radio pop hit was unimaginable. After, the style would dominate for half the decade.“The Life of a Showgirl” isn’t as seismic, but there are addictive and idiosyncratic Swiftisms here: acerbic wit and thick literary references in glassy pop hooks. Where a song like “Opalite,” if attempted by another other performer, would lose its weightlessness under its voluble aspirations, Swift manages to swoon. Stacked, opalescent harmonies and a vintage swing give the song, fittingly, an almost iridescent quality.Video below: 95-year-old local retirement home resident starts his own Taylor Swift fan clubAnd there are bops, like the undeniable opener “The Fate of Ophelia” with its 1980s-via-Robyn synth-pop and momentary “Summertime Sadness” vocal delivery.There’s a treasure trove of deliciously quotable lines, too, as expected. “Please God bring me a best friend who I think is hot,” she manages to make effortless in the “Midnights”-esque “Wi$h Li$t,” a lovely song about the mundanity of romance and the suburban fantasy of “a couple kids … a driveway with a basketball hoop.”The dictionary of a showgirlSwift’s dense vocabulary is on full display, often full of charm. But it is sometimes unwieldy, a common criticism of “The Tortured Poets Department,” like when she overstuffs “Our thoughtless ambition sparked the ignition on foolish decisions which led to misguided visions” into “Father Figure,” momentarily overvaluing clever writing over clever cadence.Or she is too modish. The colloquial “Eldest Daughter,” for example, mentions “trolling,” “memes” and “comments,” immediately dating itself. But sonically, it is a thoughtful acoustic ballad with emo movement, in which Swift contends with her “terminal uniqueness” and deep dedication to a loved one. It juxtaposes nicely with something like the casually cruel, pop-punk affected “Actually Romantic.” It’s hard not to hear some brief Hayley Williams in the distorted speakerphone vocals in the song’s coda or boygenius in its harmonies: another example of Swift pulling from those she’s influenced — and enlisted on her tours. Swift has said “The Life of a Showgirl” is meant to embody her “Eras Tour” — a singular global phenomenon, a canonical event in the history of pop performance that, in its over three-hour runtime, was a sensory explosion. On these 12 tracks, she’s approximating glitz and glamour with humanity and humor. She spends no time waiting in the wings. So let the show begin.

Who is Taylor Swift’s heir apparent? Her 12th album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” offers an answer. It’s Taylor Swift.

Her last album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” ended with the cautionary “Clara Bow,” an allegory that seemed to suggest her tenure atop the cultural mainstream was inherited from stars of the past, like the namechecked Stevie Nicks — and that a new generation of younger, elastic female pop performers could soon take her place. In 2025, there are many to choose from: Consider Chappell Roan’s full-throated theatrics, Olivia Rodrigo’s fiery punk-pop feminism, Sabrina Carpenter’s cheeky sexuality. In the knotty themes of Friday’s “The Life of a Showgirl,” best illustrated in the title track, Swift asserts that the baton hasn’t been passed, but rather shared. Because she isn’t going anywhere.

Video above: Taylor Swift album released

“And all the headshots on the walls / Of the dance halls are of the b—— / Who wish I’d hurry up and die,” she sings with a wink, “But I’m immortal now, baby dolls / I couldn’t if I tried.” Notably, if she has a chosen successor in someone else, it’s the album’s sole feature: Carpenter, who sings on the stomp-clap closer in her newly adopted twang. The mournful glissando of lap steel — the album’s most country moment — arrives only with Carpenter’s introduction. The western genre is Swift’s past and Carpenter’s future.

Suggestive bangers and a ‘New Heights’ namecheck

If Swift is co-signing Carpenter, she’s also learning from her. Carpenter has cornered the market on tight pop songs with pert, provocative messages; Swift does the same with the manspreading swagger of the George Michael-interpolating “Father Figure,” which mentions a protege, and the funky “Wood.” (A carefully veiled PG-13 lyric: “His love was the key / That opened my thighs,” she sings. “Girls, I don’t need to catch the bouquet / To know a hard rock is on the way.”) Interwoven are suggestive, sensual ad-libs … and a direct reference to fiance Travis Kelce’s podcast.

Republic Records via AP
This album cover image released by Republic Records shows “The Life of a Showgirl” by Taylor Swift.

Across a brisk 12 tracks — Swift’s tendency toward abundance doesn’t manifest itself in a double album this time around, but instead in her endless vinyl variants — “The Life of a Showgirl” mostly delivers on its promise of up-tempo pop “bangers,” to borrow her own vernacular. Fans need not wait up for the long-anticipated “Reputation (Taylor’s Version),” because “The Life of a Showgirl” pulls from its essence. But this time, with a lot of affection, like a truer “Lover” era.

Swift has long internalized criticisms and responded to them in her art, most directly in 2017’s “Reputation.” Here, she is once again concerned with her perception, articulated over booming, lush production on “CANCELLED!” or “Elizabeth Taylor.” On the latter, she sings, “Hollywood hates me / You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby.” Except this time, her love acts as an anchor. “I can’t have fun if I can’t have you,” she flirts.

Welcome (back) to Sweden

For “The Life of a Showgirl,” Swift enlisted Swedish producers Max Martin and Shellback, the hitmaking duo she collaborated with on 2012’s “Red,” 2014’s “1989” and, of course, “Reputation.” Notably absent is her frequent producing partner Jack Antonoff. It’s a wise decision: In years past, Swift, Shellback and Martin’s pop experiments shifted not only her career trajectory but the genre itself. Before “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” an EDM drop in the middle of a radio pop hit was unimaginable. After, the style would dominate for half the decade.

“The Life of a Showgirl” isn’t as seismic, but there are addictive and idiosyncratic Swiftisms here: acerbic wit and thick literary references in glassy pop hooks. Where a song like “Opalite,” if attempted by another other performer, would lose its weightlessness under its voluble aspirations, Swift manages to swoon. Stacked, opalescent harmonies and a vintage swing give the song, fittingly, an almost iridescent quality.

Video below: 95-year-old local retirement home resident starts his own Taylor Swift fan club

And there are bops, like the undeniable opener “The Fate of Ophelia” with its 1980s-via-Robyn synth-pop and momentary “Summertime Sadness” vocal delivery.

There’s a treasure trove of deliciously quotable lines, too, as expected. “Please God bring me a best friend who I think is hot,” she manages to make effortless in the “Midnights”-esque “Wi$h Li$t,” a lovely song about the mundanity of romance and the suburban fantasy of “a couple kids … a driveway with a basketball hoop.”

The dictionary of a showgirl

Swift’s dense vocabulary is on full display, often full of charm. But it is sometimes unwieldy, a common criticism of “The Tortured Poets Department,” like when she overstuffs “Our thoughtless ambition sparked the ignition on foolish decisions which led to misguided visions” into “Father Figure,” momentarily overvaluing clever writing over clever cadence.

Or she is too modish. The colloquial “Eldest Daughter,” for example, mentions “trolling,” “memes” and “comments,” immediately dating itself. But sonically, it is a thoughtful acoustic ballad with emo movement, in which Swift contends with her “terminal uniqueness” and deep dedication to a loved one. It juxtaposes nicely with something like the casually cruel, pop-punk affected “Actually Romantic.” It’s hard not to hear some brief Hayley Williams in the distorted speakerphone vocals in the song’s coda or boygenius in its harmonies: another example of Swift pulling from those she’s influenced — and enlisted on her tours.

Swift has said “The Life of a Showgirl” is meant to embody her “Eras Tour” — a singular global phenomenon, a canonical event in the history of pop performance that, in its over three-hour runtime, was a sensory explosion. On these 12 tracks, she’s approximating glitz and glamour with humanity and humor. She spends no time waiting in the wings. So let the show begin.

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October 2, 2025
Selena Gomez marries Benny Blanco: ‘My wife in real life’

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Selena Gomez has married music producer and songwriter Benny Blanco, announcing the news in an Instagram post showing the couple kissing and embracing on a lawn.”My wife in real life,” Blanco responded to the post Saturday by the Grammy- and Emmy-nominated performer. Gomez wore a white halter bridal dress with floral flourishes, and Blanco wore a tuxedo and bow tie, both custom-made by Ralph Lauren. Video above: Selena Gomez goes cold turkey for good reasonPaparazzi had snapped photos of a massive outdoor tent and other preparations in the Santa Barbara area.Friends in the entertainment industry and brands she’s linked to responded with heart emoji and congratulations. “Our Mabel is MARRIED,” said the account of her “Only Murders in the Building” series, and her Rare Beauty line of cosmetics posted: “so happy for you two.” Best wishes were also sent by Camila Cabello, Amy Schumer and others.Blanco, 37, and Gomez, 33, met about a decade ago and got engaged at the end of last year. They worked together on the 2019 song “I Can’t Get Enough,” which also featured J Balvin and Tainy. Among the songs he’s credited on as a writer and producer: Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” “Circus” by Britney Spears and Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger.”Gomez, whose hits include “Calm Down,” “Good for You,” ”Same Old Love” and “Come & Get It,” has been in the spotlight since she was a child. She appeared on “Barney and Friends” before breaking through as a teen star on the Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place.” She earned awards nominations in recent years for her ongoing role alongside Martin Short and Steve Martin in Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.” Gomez has a massive audience on social media with 417 million Instagram followers, the most for any woman on the platform.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. —

Selena Gomez has married music producer and songwriter Benny Blanco, announcing the news in an Instagram post showing the couple kissing and embracing on a lawn.

“My wife in real life,” Blanco responded to the post Saturday by the Grammy- and Emmy-nominated performer. Gomez wore a white halter bridal dress with floral flourishes, and Blanco wore a tuxedo and bow tie, both custom-made by Ralph Lauren.

Video above: Selena Gomez goes cold turkey for good reason

Paparazzi had snapped photos of a massive outdoor tent and other preparations in the Santa Barbara area.

Friends in the entertainment industry and brands she’s linked to responded with heart emoji and congratulations. “Our Mabel is MARRIED,” said the account of her “Only Murders in the Building” series, and her Rare Beauty line of cosmetics posted: “so happy for you two.” Best wishes were also sent by Camila Cabello, Amy Schumer and others.

Blanco, 37, and Gomez, 33, met about a decade ago and got engaged at the end of last year. They worked together on the 2019 song “I Can’t Get Enough,” which also featured J Balvin and Tainy.

Among the songs he’s credited on as a writer and producer: Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” “Circus” by Britney Spears and Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger.”

Gomez, whose hits include “Calm Down,” “Good for You,” ”Same Old Love” and “Come & Get It,” has been in the spotlight since she was a child. She appeared on “Barney and Friends” before breaking through as a teen star on the Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place.”

She earned awards nominations in recent years for her ongoing role alongside Martin Short and Steve Martin in Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.” Gomez has a massive audience on social media with 417 million Instagram followers, the most for any woman on the platform.

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September 27, 2025
Lady Gaga will perform during the MTV Video Music Awards. Here’s everything to know about the show

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Lady Gaga is extending her dominance of this year’s MTV Video Music Awards and has been added as a performer, show organizers announced Saturday.Related video above: A flight delay, a jazz band and a viral momentThe Grammy-award winning musician leads this year’s VMA nominations with 12 nods, including artist of the year and best album for “Mayhem,” which was released earlier this year.Gaga has a long-standing history with the VMAs, with 57 total nominations throughout her career. Mother Monster, as she’s known, last took the stage in 2020, singing various hits from her album, “Chromatica,” including a performance of “Rain on Me” with Ariana Grande.She joins a slate of other seasoned VMAs performers confirmed for this year’s roster, including Doja Cat, who will give the first ever televised performance of her new single “Jealous Type.” Jelly Roll will also perform and is competing for the first time in four categories. Post Malone, a six-time VMA winner, is also set to take the stage.Pop singers Conan Gray and Tate McRae will each make their performance debut on the VMAs stage next month.Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s MTV VMAs.New awards honor Latin and Rap artistsThis year’s MTV Video Music Awards is shaking things up, handing out two new awards to decorated artists in the rap and Latin music genres.Rapper Busta Rhymes will receive the first ever MTV VMA Rock the Bells Visionary Award and Ricky Martin will be honored with the inaugural Latin Icon Award.The Rock the Bells Visionary Award celebrates the hip-hop star’s “boundary-breaking cultural impact and an indomitable musical career,” the announcement read. Rhymes, who has taken the VMAs stage various times since his first performance in 1997, will also perform during the ceremony.Martin, whose long VMAs history began with his first performance in 1999, will also perform and be honored for a “four-decade career that launched Latin music and culture into the mainstream,” according to the announcement.Who is performing at the VMAs?Gaga joins a growing list of confirmed performers for this year’s VMAs, including Gray, McRae, Jelly Roll, Doja Cat, Post Malone and more.Rhymes and Martin will both perform, as well as a slew of other artists, including Alex Warren, J Balvin, Sabrina Carpenter and sombr.Warren, who’s nominated for best new artist, best pop and song of the year, will take the VMA stage for the first time, performing his breakout hit, “Ordinary.” Newcomer sombr, a singer-songwriter and producer, will also be making his award show debut.Balvin will perform “Zun Zun” with Latin singers Justin Quiles and Lenny Tavárez, and “Noventa” with producer DJ Snake.Carpenter, who offered a debut performance at the VMAs last year, taking home song of the year, will return to perform “Manchild.”McRae is also up for four first-time nominations, including song of the year and best pop artist.When are the MTV Video Music Awards?The 2025 VMAs will air on Sept. 7 at 8 p.m. Eastern, live from the UBS Arena on New York’s Long Island.Who will host the VMAs?LL Cool J has snagged wins, co-hosted and performed atop the MTV Video Music Awards stage. Now, the Grammy-winning rapper-actor-author is going solo to host the 2025 awards ceremony.He’s retaking the stage, this time without Nicki Minaj and Jack Harlow, with whom he co-hosted in 2022.He’s also up for the best hip-hop award for his single “Murdergram Deux” featuring Eminem. The single is part of his most recent album, “THE FORCE,” which released in September and was his first album in 11 years.LL Cool J is a longtime champion of the VMAs, having won his first Moon Person in 1991. He became the first rapper to receive the Video Vanguard Award, in 1997. He also performed in an all-star tribute to hip-hop’s 50th anniversary in 2023 and a celebration for Def Jam Records’ 40th anniversary last year.Can I stream the VMAs?Yes, the show will be broadcast by CBS for the first time, and also simulcast on MTV and available for streaming on Paramount+ in the United States.Who’s nominated for the VMAs?Gaga is leading this year’s awards with 12 nominations, including artist of the year. The “Mayhem” singer was nearly tied with Bruno Mars, who has 11 nods. The pair’s duet, “Die with a Smile,” is up for four awards, including song of the year.Gaga’s plethora of nominations dethrones Taylor Swift, who held the top spot for two years. This time around, Swift received one artist of the year nomination. The two are accompanied by Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Morgan Wallen and The Weeknd in that category.Gaga and Mars are followed by Lamar with 10 nominations, ROSÉ and Carpenter with eight each, Ariana Grande and The Weeknd with seven each and Billie Eilish with six.Charli XCX also received love with five nominations for her “Brat” Summer success “Guess,” featuring Eilish.Bad Bunny, Doechii, Ed Sheeran, Jelly Roll, Miley Cyrus and McRae have four nominations each.How can I vote for the VMAs?Fan voting across the 19 categories is live now on the VMAs website. Voting closes on Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. Eastern, except for the best new artist category, which will accept votes into the live show. The public can vote up to 10 times a day until voting closes.Who will receive the Video Vanguard Award?Mariah Carey will receive this year’s Video Vanguard Award.The award was given to Katy Perry last year. Previous recipients include Shakira, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj and Madonna.

LOS ANGELES (AP) —

Lady Gaga is extending her dominance of this year’s MTV Video Music Awards and has been added as a performer, show organizers announced Saturday.

Related video above: A flight delay, a jazz band and a viral moment

The Grammy-award winning musician leads this year’s VMA nominations with 12 nods, including artist of the year and best album for “Mayhem,” which was released earlier this year.

Gaga has a long-standing history with the VMAs, with 57 total nominations throughout her career. Mother Monster, as she’s known, last took the stage in 2020, singing various hits from her album, “Chromatica,” including a performance of “Rain on Me” with Ariana Grande.

She joins a slate of other seasoned VMAs performers confirmed for this year’s roster, including Doja Cat, who will give the first ever televised performance of her new single “Jealous Type.” Jelly Roll will also perform and is competing for the first time in four categories. Post Malone, a six-time VMA winner, is also set to take the stage.

Pop singers Conan Gray and Tate McRae will each make their performance debut on the VMAs stage next month.

Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s MTV VMAs.

New awards honor Latin and Rap artists

This year’s MTV Video Music Awards is shaking things up, handing out two new awards to decorated artists in the rap and Latin music genres.

Rapper Busta Rhymes will receive the first ever MTV VMA Rock the Bells Visionary Award and Ricky Martin will be honored with the inaugural Latin Icon Award.

The Rock the Bells Visionary Award celebrates the hip-hop star’s “boundary-breaking cultural impact and an indomitable musical career,” the announcement read. Rhymes, who has taken the VMAs stage various times since his first performance in 1997, will also perform during the ceremony.

Martin, whose long VMAs history began with his first performance in 1999, will also perform and be honored for a “four-decade career that launched Latin music and culture into the mainstream,” according to the announcement.

Who is performing at the VMAs?

Gaga joins a growing list of confirmed performers for this year’s VMAs, including Gray, McRae, Jelly Roll, Doja Cat, Post Malone and more.

Rhymes and Martin will both perform, as well as a slew of other artists, including Alex Warren, J Balvin, Sabrina Carpenter and sombr.

Warren, who’s nominated for best new artist, best pop and song of the year, will take the VMA stage for the first time, performing his breakout hit, “Ordinary.” Newcomer sombr, a singer-songwriter and producer, will also be making his award show debut.

Balvin will perform “Zun Zun” with Latin singers Justin Quiles and Lenny Tavárez, and “Noventa” with producer DJ Snake.

Carpenter, who offered a debut performance at the VMAs last year, taking home song of the year, will return to perform “Manchild.”

McRae is also up for four first-time nominations, including song of the year and best pop artist.

When are the MTV Video Music Awards?

The 2025 VMAs will air on Sept. 7 at 8 p.m. Eastern, live from the UBS Arena on New York’s Long Island.

Who will host the VMAs?

LL Cool J has snagged wins, co-hosted and performed atop the MTV Video Music Awards stage. Now, the Grammy-winning rapper-actor-author is going solo to host the 2025 awards ceremony.

He’s retaking the stage, this time without Nicki Minaj and Jack Harlow, with whom he co-hosted in 2022.

He’s also up for the best hip-hop award for his single “Murdergram Deux” featuring Eminem. The single is part of his most recent album, “THE FORCE,” which released in September and was his first album in 11 years.

LL Cool J is a longtime champion of the VMAs, having won his first Moon Person in 1991. He became the first rapper to receive the Video Vanguard Award, in 1997. He also performed in an all-star tribute to hip-hop’s 50th anniversary in 2023 and a celebration for Def Jam Records’ 40th anniversary last year.

Can I stream the VMAs?

Yes, the show will be broadcast by CBS for the first time, and also simulcast on MTV and available for streaming on Paramount+ in the United States.

Who’s nominated for the VMAs?

Gaga is leading this year’s awards with 12 nominations, including artist of the year. The “Mayhem” singer was nearly tied with Bruno Mars, who has 11 nods. The pair’s duet, “Die with a Smile,” is up for four awards, including song of the year.

Gaga’s plethora of nominations dethrones Taylor Swift, who held the top spot for two years. This time around, Swift received one artist of the year nomination. The two are accompanied by Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Morgan Wallen and The Weeknd in that category.

Gaga and Mars are followed by Lamar with 10 nominations, ROSÉ and Carpenter with eight each, Ariana Grande and The Weeknd with seven each and Billie Eilish with six.

Charli XCX also received love with five nominations for her “Brat” Summer success “Guess,” featuring Eilish.

Bad Bunny, Doechii, Ed Sheeran, Jelly Roll, Miley Cyrus and McRae have four nominations each.

How can I vote for the VMAs?

Fan voting across the 19 categories is live now on the VMAs website. Voting closes on Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. Eastern, except for the best new artist category, which will accept votes into the live show. The public can vote up to 10 times a day until voting closes.

Who will receive the Video Vanguard Award?

Mariah Carey will receive this year’s Video Vanguard Award.

The award was given to Katy Perry last year. Previous recipients include Shakira, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj and Madonna.

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August 30, 2025
Bread and Roses Festival rooted in strength, solidarity

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LAWRENCE — Labor Day’s Bread and Roses Heritage Festival will rally in the face of adversity, pull from the past and prepare for the future.

At the 41st festival Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Campagnone North Common, visitors will join circle discussions revolving around strength and solidarity.

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By Terry Date | tdate@eagletribune.com

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August 29, 2025
MF DOOM Song Draft

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Cole, Cam, and Justin celebrate the end of the Season 12 with an MF DOOM song draft, selecting DOOM tracks across five categories. Share your picks with the guys on social media, tagging @dissectpodcast.

Host/EP: Cole Cuchna
Guests: Camden Ostrander, Justin Sayles
Audio Editing: Kevin Pooler
Theme Music: Birocratic

Subscribe: Spotify

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Cole Cuchna

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June 25, 2024
Radiohead Song Draft

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The Ringer’s Sean Fennessey and Chris Ryan join Cole to draft their favorite Radiohead songs. Each of them must choose one song from every studio album, plus one wild-card pick from the band’s B-sides, for a total of 10 songs each.

Follow @dissectpodcast on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.

Host/EP: Cole Cuchna
Audio Editing: Kevin Pooler
Theme Music: Birocratic

Subscribe: Spotify

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Cole Cuchna

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December 19, 2023
November games you might have missed

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Welcome to November, the mild hangover after October’s proverbial keg stand of awesome games. Even for a quieter month, if you gave the November’s game release calendar a thwap with the ol’ broom, a few huge AAA-tier games would drop to the ground. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Super Mario RPG, and more will kick up a cloud that overshadows the arrival of smaller games — potentially great ones, even, from developers you might’ve heard of and new indie creators alike.

We don’t want to let these games slip by (and you’d probably like to know about them, right?), so as we do each month, we’ve rounded up a handful of notable game launches that you shouldn’t overlook. Stay tuned near the end of every month for our next batch of video game deep cuts.

RoboCop: Rogue City

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

A RoboCop game in the year 2023? And it’s half decent? Polygon’s review calls out that RoboCop: Rogue City is a solid first-person shooter that attempts (with decent success) to serve as the RoboCop 3 film that we should have gotten, and is filled with underdog charm and personality. It even has Peter Seller, who played the original RoboCop, voicing the titular action character in this game.

The Talos Principle 2

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Portal walked so 2014’s The Talos Principle could run. But now, after a long wait, The Talos Principle 2 is sprinting on a gorgeous, puzzle-filled path of its own. This sequel builds on its foundation, with fantastic, stop-you-in-your-tracks environments and visuals, a story that’s a stirring crash course in philosophy. Of course, it’s also packed with puzzles that’ll likely have you scratching your head before figuring out a clever solution.

Thirsty Suitors

Where to play: PlayStation consoles, Xbox consoles, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC via Steam.

If you’ve only seen video clips of Thirsty Suitors, you might think it’s a game consisting entirely of the quirkiest quick-time events imaginable. Those scenes, where your character is prepping South Asian-inspired dishes, or petting a dog don’t represent all that you can do in the game. The game’s director Chandana Ekanayake describes the game as “a baby Yakuza,” in the sense that it’s filled with an eclectic variety of activities that’ll leave players guessing. You can skateboard, cook, and then hop into turn-based battles — all delivered in a maximalist package, as our review points out.

Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story

Where to play: PlayStation consoles, Xbox consoles, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

League of Legends’ most recent spinoff comes in the form of Song of Nunu, a game developed by Tequila Works that’s friendly for all ages. Between fun (if occasionally frustrating) platforming sections, the game expands into a third-person adventure that incorporates brawling as Willump, the big yeti, and solving environmental puzzles with Nunu’s magical flute. It’s a heartwarming game that succeeds in more closely examining characters from League of Legends’ MOBA experience. Read our full review to learn more.

Teardown (PS5, Series X)

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X. The game was previously made available for Windows PC via Steam.

Teardown is a physics sandbox for pure destruction. Not since Red Faction: Guerilla have I had so much fun breaking, well, everything in sight. The game, which originally debuted on PC in 2022, includes a story more where you’re given missions that both expand your arsenal of weaponry and puts your expertise with explosions to the test. The fact that they’re time-based missions amps up the excitement. Beyond the missions, its free play mode never gets old, and can serve as some good ol’ stress relief when you want to blow everything up without the usual real-world repercussions.

Teardown

Prices taken at time of publishing.

The Invincible

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

It cannot be denied that The Invincible has some of the most stunning looks of any 2023 game. In addition to the graphical swagger of this adaptation of Polish author Stainisław Lem’s book of the same name, I’m taken by this title’s blend of calm-but-eerie atmosphere, the rad “atompunk” tech you’ll use to find missing crew members, and being stealthy to avoid facing down intimidating robots.

Jurassic Park Classic Games Collection

Where to play: PlayStation consoles, Xbox consoles, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC via Steam.

Limited Run Games is cracking open the gates of Jurassic Park so that gamers with modern consoles have a chance at the handful of titles that debuted during the franchise’s heyday in the early to mid 1990s. The Jurassic Park Classic Games Collection includes multiple versions of the original game, made for 8-bit, 16-bit (both SNES and Sega Genesis), and portable systems. It also includes Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues and Rampage Edition for the Genesis.

I want to give a special shoutout to how frightening Jurassic Park for the SNES (the 16-bit version in this collection) was for me to play as kid. The game’s first-person mode that switched on while indoors successfully captured the dread of the famous velociraptor kitchen scene.

Gangs of Sherwood

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Even though Gangs of Sherwood sounds like the name of a Netflix show that I would absolutely skip, a playable version sounds like fun. It’s a third-person action game set in a futuristic dystopia inspired by Robin Hood. Gameplay-wise, it looks like Dragon’s Dogma, with its multiple classe, each with different fighting styles and weaponry, mixed with Bayonetta-like action games, given that Gangs of Sherwood features a combo counter and a grading system. You can play this game alone, or with up to four players teaming up for some co-op.

FROM OUR SPONSOR: Aliens: Dark Descent

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Battle to keep your squad alive against the deadliest foe mankind has ever faced! In Aliens: Dark Descent, command a squad of hardened Colonial Marines to stop a terrifying Xenomorph outbreak on Moon Lethe. Lead your soldiers in real-time combat against iconic Xenomorphs, rogue operatives from the insatiable Weyland-Yutani Corporation, and a host of horrifying creatures new to the Alien franchise.

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Cameron Faulkner

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November 20, 2023
Eazy-E is getting a Compton street named after him: Rapper ‘loved where he was from’

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Soon, you can be cruising down Eazy Street in your ’64.

Next week, Compton will unveil the newly renamed road dedicated to the late rap icon Eazy-E, who was born and raised in the city. The rapper, alongside fellow N.W.A. members Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella, MC Ren and Arabian Prince, popularized Compton through their era-defining West Coast rap albums. Eazy-E, whose real name is Eric Lynn Wright, died in March 1995 at age 30, days after he announced he had been diagnosed with AIDS.

In September, the Compton City Council unanimously voted to rename the 100 block of Auto Drive South, which runs off of Alameda Street and into the Gateway Towne Center shopping plaza, as “Eazy Street.” A block party will be held at the street on Nov. 22 to celebrate the moment with performances and appearances from the “Boyz-n-the-Hood” rapper’s children and his former collaborators.

“My dad loved where he was from,” said Erica Wright, the rapper‘s daughter, in a statement. “Nothing could keep him from Compton. Nothing could keep his parents from Compton. This will forever be a highlight in my life.”

Eazy-E’s son Eric Darnell Wright Jr., who rapped under the name Lil Eazy-E, added, “The street naming serves as a symbol of recognition and commemoration, ensuring that our father … has a legacy that will be remembered and celebrated for generations to come.”

“It is a wonderful way for the city of Compton to honor his influence and the cultural significance that he brought to the community,” said Wright Jr., who will perform next week alongside DJ Yella.

Compton native Eric Lynn Wright was a high school dropout who dealt drugs for a living before shooting to stardom in 1988 when his rap group, N.W.A., dropped the debut album “Straight Outta Compton” as well as Wright’s solo project, “Eazy-Duz-It.” Both albums were released under Wright’s label, Ruthless Records, which he co-founded with Jerry Heller. The releases would be considered the opening of a new era for hip-hop, a genre and industry that had primarily been defined and commercially dominated until that point by East Coast acts.

With iconic music videos showing Wright and his group parading through the streets of Compton, they placed the Los Angeles County city in America’s pop-cultural consciousness.

Alonzo Williams, one of Wright’s earliest collaborators, is known as the godfather of West Coast hip-hop and now heads the Compton Entertainment Chamber of Commerce. He spearheaded the naming of Eazy Street. Williams was the owner of Compton’s Eve After Dark nightclub, which helped launch acts including Dr. Dre and Eazy-E and was referenced in the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show.

Wright went to Williams for advice when setting up Ruthless Records and introduced him to Heller, Williams recalled in an interview with The Times’ 404 correspondent Greg Ruben. And even after Wright found fame, Williams said, the rapper would often visit him at his garage, where N.W.A. recorded their first songs. The two would pass time cracking jokes.

Wright was active in the community and often paid for and hosted events for residents, Williams said. He hoped having Eazy Street would be an extension of that legacy.

“People come to Compton to see what Compton has to offer,” he said, “and there are no tourist attractions in Compton.” He also plans to start the city’s own walk of fame.

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Jonah Valdez

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November 14, 2023
Five Thoughts About the Beatles’ Last Song, “Now and Then”

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The last album the Beatles recorded ended with “The End.” (Unless you count “Her Majesty.”) But the actual end of the band’s official output—at least according to the marketing materials—came on Thursday, when the corporate entity called the Beatles released “Now and Then.” The song, which was written by John Lennon in the late 1970s and demoed on a handheld cassette recorder perched on his piano, was considered for the full-band treatment during the 1995 Beatles Anthology project, when the surviving “Threetles” (Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr) worked with producer Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra and Traveling Wilburys fame to finish a few of Lennon’s songs.

Included on the tapes Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, had given McCartney were demos of four tracks: “Free As a Bird,” “Real Love,” “Grow Old With Me,” and “Now and Then.” Lennon’s former bandmates recorded the first two but passed on recording “Grow Old With Me,” which had already been released on the posthumous Milk and Honey in 1984. (Starr and McCartney would eventually cover it on Starr’s 2019 solo album, What’s My Name.) After some experimentation, they also rejected “Now and Then,” largely at the behest of Harrison, who thought the quality of Lennon’s demo was insufficient for a full-fledged recording.

Harrison passed in 2001, but McCartney never dropped the idea of returning to the song, which seems to hold some special significance for him: According to Carl Perkins, Lennon’s last words to McCartney were “Think about me every now and then, old friend,” which may have made the demo smack of a message from the beyond. Recent technological advances made that message much clearer: Peter Jackson’s machine audio learning algorithm (MAL, named for Beatles roadie and confidant Mal Evans), which was developed for the 2021 documentary The Beatles: Get Back, isolated Lennon’s vocal from its piano accompaniment and removed the hum and background sounds that marred the original recording. The Beatles version of the song, which was coproduced by McCartney and Beatles producer George Martin’s son Giles, incorporates Lennon’s singing, Harrison’s 1995 guitar work, harmonies sampled from Beatles songs of the ’60s, new recordings by McCartney and Starr, and additional orchestration.

Speaking of orchestration, “Now and Then” is the centerpiece of a three-part, three-day rollout: on Wednesday, a short film about the making of the track; on Thursday, the song itself; and on Friday, Jackson’s music video. It’s also an enticement to purchase some merch: For the full-circle feels, the song is being sold as a double-A-side single alongside a MAL-demixed, stereo version of the Beatles’ mono first single, “Love Me Do”—a figurative “Hello, Goodbye.” It will also appear on newly expanded, remixed, and demixed releases of the band’s vintage greatest-hits compilations, known as the Red and Blue albums.

“Now and Then” almost certainly won’t remain in your rotation as long as the rest of the cuts on those classic comps, but at minimum, it’s a fascinating artifact. And if it’s the official farewell from a group whose legacy will long outlive any of its members, it merits a close listen. At slightly more than four minutes long, the track is a trifle compared to the nearly eight-hour Get Back, but after asking five questions sparked by that chronicle of the Beatles’ last released album, I’m back to share five thoughts prompted by the band’s last released song. Now, then: Let’s examine “Now and Then.”

Yes, this is all slightly disconcerting.

As with “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love,” but even more so, the release of a new “Beatles” song without the knowledge, approval, and active participation of all four Beatles may strike some fans as morbid, presumptuous, or creatively questionable. Before he was murdered in December 1980, Lennon sometimes sounded receptive (or was said to have sounded receptive) to the idea of all four Beatles working together again. At other times, not so much. I tend to think that had he lived longer, there would have been some sort of Beatles reunion: the repair (for the most part) of his and McCartney’s relationship after the acrimony of the Beatles’ breakup, the fact that up to three of the former bandmates often played on one another’s songs, and the Anthology project (and the examples of so many other ’60s and ’70s groups who eventually got the band back together) all suggest that the four Fabs would have been seen at some point on stage or in studio. But would Lennon have wanted a reunion to take this form, with this demo of this song? Not even those who were closest to him can know with absolute certainty.

Harrison’s absence adds an additional layer of uncertainty, given that he was the one who scuttled the first attempt to finish “Now and Then.” In 1997, McCartney told Q Magazine, “George didn’t like it. The Beatles being a democracy, we didn’t do it.” Fifteen years later, long after Harrison’s death, McCartney said, “George went off it,” recounting how Harrison had called it “fuckin’ rubbish.” But those quotes are unclear: rubbish because the demo was so rough, or rubbish because he simply disliked the song?

Possibly both. In 2021, Mark Cunningham, the technical musical consultant to Beatles press officer Derek Taylor, told The Daily Beast what Harrison had told him when Cunningham had asked why the Threetles didn’t record the third song. “He was very critical,” Cunningham said. “He was a real downer about it and said, ‘I wasn’t really interested.’ He said, ‘Apart from the quality, which was worse than the other two, I didn’t think it was much of a song.’”

The Beatles are still a democracy, but Harrison no longer has his own vote. His family does, and his wife and son say his objections were limited to the demo’s vocal quality. In a recent press release about the new song, Harrison’s widow, Olivia, said, “George felt the technical issues with the demo were insurmountable and concluded that it was not possible to finish the track to a high enough standard. If he were here today, Dhani and I know he would have wholeheartedly joined Paul and Ringo in completing the recording of ‘Now and Then.’” That’s certainly plausible—it was Harrison who first spoke to Ono about the surviving Beatles tinkering with John’s songs, and he helped out with “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love.” But even if Harrison would have signed off on the MAL-enhanced vocal, the new “Now and Then” lacks whatever adornments he might have added to the basic rhythm track he laid down in ’95.

Asked about the prospect of a Beatles reunion in 1974, Harrison said, “If we do it again, it will probably be because we’ll be broke and need the money.” That’s clearly not what’s happening here: This song seems to have flowed from the best of intentions of McCartney and Starr, with green lights and love from the families and estates of Lennon and Harrison. Still, I’d understand if any fans shared the late George Martin’s misgivings about long-after-the-fact recordings. When Martin was asked in 2013 about why he didn’t produce “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love,” he said, “I kind of told them I wasn’t too happy with putting them together with the dead John. I’ve got nothing wrong with dead John, but the idea of having dead John with live Paul and Ringo and George to form a group, it didn’t appeal to me too much.”

Decades earlier, in 1976, Martin told Rolling Stone, “What happened was great at its time, but whenever you try to recapture something that existed before, you’re walking on dangerous ground, like when you go back to a place that you loved as a child and you find it’s been rebuilt. … The Beatles existed years ago; they don’t exist today. And if the four men came back together, it wouldn’t be the Beatles.”

That’s no less true now that two of the men are gone and the others are in their 80s. I don’t object to the exercise so much as the branding: This obviously isn’t a Beatles song in the same sense as the songs from the ’60s, or even “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love.” Which doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable. But …

How you feel about the music depends in part on whether you’ve heard it before.

If you haven’t heard Lennon’s demo, don’t listen to it before you take in the new “Now and Then.” I’ve heard the former untold times over many years, and my familiarity with it can’t help but color my perception of the “Beatles” track.

Lennon’s demo is spare, imperfect, and fittingly ghostly. The new release is heavily produced (after the fairly faithful, unvarnished first minute), and so sonically compressed in its streaming incarnation that the muddy mix obscures some of the depth and detail in the bass and strings. In some respects, the more polished approach is preferable. In others, the haunting, ethereal, stripped-down demo sounds more appropriate for a plaintive love song sung by a man who’s been dead for longer than he was alive. It’s a little like the difference between the Let It Be version of “The Long and Winding Road” and the Let It Be … Naked version without the wall of sound. Both have adherents, but the latter’s intimacy is more my speed. (In the case of “Now and Then,” though, McCartney and the younger Martin added the overdubs, whereas Macca and the older Martin were the ones excoriating Phil Spector’s alterations to “The Long and Winding Road.”)

However, my primary source of dissatisfaction (which has lessened a little as I’ve listened more) stems not from the sound of the new “Now and Then,” but from its structure. Earlier, I referred to the Threetles “completing” or “finishing” Lennon’s musical sketches, but this time, McCartney collaborates with his former muse not just by building on Lennon’s work, but by undoing it. The Lennon demo is almost a minute longer than the Beatles release, largely because the former includes two pre-chorus bridges that the latter removes (aside from a subtle, hard-to-hear allusion in McCartney’s piano chords during the new solo).

I understand why McCartney cut these “I don’t want to lose you / Abuse you or confuse you” sections. For one thing, Lennon’s lyrics trail off into placeholder scatting. It was one thing for McCartney and Harrison to replace Lennon’s incomplete pre-chorus vocals on “Free As a Bird” in 1995. It would have been another for McCartney to do the same on “Now and Then” in 2023, with his husky, warbly, 81-year-old voice. Moreover, a reference to abuse might have landed differently now, what with the wider awareness of Lennon’s history with women.

Setting aside the unanswerable question of whether Lennon would have wanted the song released without a section he may have considered essential, I can’t help but be a bit let down by the bridge’s omission. Without those surprising, distinctly Lennon-esque digressions, the song’s structure is simpler and more repetitive: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, verse. Plus, its sentiment is less poignant without some of the singer’s self-doubt. Even if there were no respectful, seamless way to preserve those fragments, I miss them sorely, having grown accustomed to them during my many spins of the demo. It’s enough to make me do a “distracted boyfriend” glance at the fan edits and covers that keep the pre-choruses in.

MAL is magic.

Whatever one might think about the “Beatles” arrangement of “Now and Then,” the vocal revealed by Jackson’s proprietary software is a minor miracle. In contrast to the reedy original rendition, Lennon’s voice sounds strong and clear yet in essence the same, dispelling any misplaced panic conjured by mentions of “AI.” It isn’t studio caliber, but it’s close enough that “Now and Then” doesn’t suffer from the Anthology tracks’ somewhat distracting dissonance in vocal quality and unscrubbable snippets of piano. “There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear,” McCartney said of hearing the cleaned-up performance. “It’s quite emotional.” Starr agreed: “It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room, so it was very emotional for all of us. It was like John was there, you know. It’s far out.”

It is far out! Even after the incredible demonstrations of this tech’s potential in Get Back, I’m as thrilled and delighted by each new implementation as a baby is by peekaboo. MAL is magical in an Arthur C. Clarke kind of way. I’d imagine that we’ll hear much more of its output in the coming years, with the Beatles and beyond; training this tool on more mono mixes and crackly recordings should give Apple Corps, Capitol, and Universal an excuse to sell us portions of the Beatles’ back catalog yet again. (Sign me up for MAL-aided remixes of “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love,” and perhaps a less screamy Live at the Hollywood Bowl.)

Jackson hasn’t directed a narrative feature film since 2014’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, but since then he’s been bringing the past to vibrant life—both visually, via the colorized, retimed footage in World War I documentary They Shall Not Grow Old, and audibly, through the gifts he’s given fellow Beatles fans. His greatest triumphs as a filmmaker have come from using technology to render real and fictional characters and worlds in unprecedentedly lifelike ways, making them feel fresh, vital, and visceral. I’m not saying he shouldn’t make more movies about Tintin, but selfishly, I hope he keeps catering to my personal interests. Thanks for fixing Get Back and “Now and Then.” Now do Magical Mystery Tour.

This is a better Beatles tribute than it is a song.

Considering that “Now and Then” is an amalgamation of music made over four different decades with varying levels of fidelity, constrained by both the unreachability of John and George and the need not to tamper too much with their past contributions, it’s a wonder that it sounds as cohesive as it does. But the song’s greatest strength isn’t its sound—it’s the way its production echoes and amplifies the motif of the melding of past and present.

The Anthology recordings are as old now as some of the Beatles’ songs were when the Threetles convened in the mid-’90s, and time has taken its toll on both the band’s roster and its surviving members’ skills. Paul’s voice is much diminished these days, but on “Now and Then,” that’s an asset: Like the footage old Paul plays of young John as they do live “duets” on “I’ve Got a Feeling” in concert, the blending of the 30-something Lennon and the 80-something McCartney on this track is a guaranteed tearjerker. The first words McCartney sings alongside Lennon are “love you,” and in the chorus’s confession and plea, “Now and then / I miss you,” the two seem to be talking to each other while we listen and gently weep. Jackson’s irreverent, touching, time-hopping music video doubles down on these themes.

“Now and Then” is Lennon’s song, but this recording is unmistakably a Paul project. Of course, the Beatles were often a Paul project in their later years, and it wasn’t uncommon for the bandmates to write and record individually and then stitch their creations together. This isn’t the first Beatles song recorded without Lennon at the sessions, or the first on which McCartney subbed in for Harrison on the solo. McCartney may be “a bit overpowering at times,” as Harrison once said, but here he recedes into the swirl of sound enough for John to stay center stage.

Between McCartney’s George-inspired (but not George-soundalike) slide solo and a piano that could’ve been ported from one of Paul’s 21st-century solo tracks—I hear shades of the Harrison-inspired “Friends to Go”—“Now and Then” slightly updates the band’s sound amid its many conscious invocations of the Beatles’ musical hallmarks. Then again, the Beatles’ sound was always evolving, and if they were all alive and aligned on a track today, they wouldn’t sound the same as they used to. “Now and Then” bears the sonic stamps of more recent efforts, just as “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love” reflected Harrison’s, McCartney’s, and Starr’s separate work with Lynne.

“Now and Then” isn’t an authentic song by the Beatles in the same way that Hackney Diamonds is an authentic album by the Rolling Stones—the British Invasion is back!—but it’s a convincing spiritual successor. “It’s not some sort of cynical marketing exercise to try and push catalog sales,” Giles told Variety, adding, “I think [Paul] just misses John and he wants to work on a song with him. It’s just as simple as that.” If this song brings some creative closure to McCartney, a tireless and responsible steward of the band’s IP, I won’t begrudge him that. All in all, I’m moderately happy to have this recording, although musically, it’s my least favorite of the post-Lennon Beatles songs, and I doubt it will displace the demo in my affections. There was no way for “Now and Then” to live up to the hype of a new Beatles song or, for that matter, to match the standard set by the Beatles’ library, but it’s a sweet, nostalgic, and not excessively schmaltzy or self-referential postscript.

The Beatles’ body of work didn’t need another coda, but this one works. “Good one,” Ringo mumbles at the end. Not great one, but we’ll take it.

The Beatles always return to us.

The long-awaited arrival of “Now and Then” is bittersweet because, barring a creative reversal or the discovery of a new stash of songs, it’s the end of the end, the last new track that will ever be released by the Beatles (air quotes or asterisk implied). But the band as a cultural touchstone and source of inspiration is almost immortal. The rereleases, documentaries, and books will keep coming, and so may periodic deliveries from the vault. (With “Now and Then” unveiled, Beatleologists will focus their willpower on unearthing McCartney’s “Carnival of Light.”)

This may be the band’s final single, but in the end, the enjoyment we take is greater than the music they make. As Lennon—and only Lennon—sang in his “Grow Old With Me” demo: “World without end / World without end.”

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Ben Lindbergh

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November 3, 2023
New York City Underground Producer and Multi-Instrumentalist MR. RIGHTNOW Unleashes Moody Dance Floor Anthem ‘Looking High’

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MR. RIGHTNOW Releases New Track “Looking High” with a Visual Spectacle Music Video

Press Release
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Feb 9, 2023 07:00 EST

NEW YORK, February 9, 2023 (Newswire.com)
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MR.RIGHTNOW, the underground producer and multi-instrumentalist, has just released his latest dance floor anthem, “Looking High,” along with its official music video. It’s a retro futuristic anthem reminiscent of the iconic sound of 1980s goth dance music. The song is accompanied by a visually stunning music video directed by MR.RIGHTNOW, filmed by Gabriel Dean Roberts and starring Grey Scott.

The music video is a feast for the eyes, transporting viewers to a neon-lit and otherworldly dance vibe. The soundtrack features a blend of brooding lyrics, inventive sounds and an earth shaking beat. “Looking High” is a true standout track for MR.RIGHTNOW, who continues to push the boundaries of the alternative and dance music genres. With its catchy chorus and infectious energy, the song is sure to have fans everywhere singing along and hitting the dance floor. Encapsulating the song’s emotional core, the lyrics ask:

I’ve been looking high

I’ve been looking low

can you ease my mind

and my troubled soul?

“Looking High” is available now on all major streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify and Tidal. The music video can be viewed on MR.RIGHTNOW’s official YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/YmP_JZoXwdY.

For more information on MR.RIGHTNOW and “Looking High,” please visit his Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/track/4quL26cRBeWxky8C6FFpYo?si=6cae9f96e72d4ae3, or follow him on YouTube, Instagram @mr.rightnow_music https://www.instagram.com/mr.rightnow_music/?hl=en and TikTok @mr.rightnow.music https://www.tiktok.com/@mr.rightnow.music

Source: MR. RIGHTNOW, the artist

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February 9, 2023