As an artist who had been established as a frontrunner in Pop music with the release of two back-to-back chart-toppers, ‘In the Lonely Hour’ and ‘The Thrill of It All,’ pressure has undoubtedly been mounting for Sam Smith to meet or exceed those critical and commercial successes with a follow-up.

Seemingly en route to doing just that with the Normani-assisted ‘Dancing with a Stranger’ – one of 2019’s biggest hits – but the rollout of the era in its entirety, christened ‘To Die For,’ went downhill from there.

The lack of buzz for the project – coupled with a global pandemic – certainly served as reason enough to not only delay the LP from its original May 1 release date (as we reported here), but also rename it to avoid perception of insensitivity to said health crisis.

Taking to our friends at PopBuzz recently, Smith spoke on the strategy behind revamping ‘To Die For,’ gave insight into its rerouted conceptual direction (which potentially includes omitting ALL of the previously released singles), and so much more.

See what they said inside:

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Those who thought Lil Wayne had put promotion of his latest album ‘Funeral’ to rest will be pleasantly surprised to see there are more tunes getting the visual treatment.

The latest launched from the LP are ‘Piano Trap’ and ‘Not Me.’

Doubling up by releasing one extended music video featuring both songs, the Ricky x Willis-directed visual sees Wayne showing off his skateboarding skills.  Taking to our friends at ‘Rolling Stone’ to discuss the creation of the clip, the 37-year-old said:

“I was happiest with the banger at the end! In Barcelona, the 180 to fake shuv! It was like 5 a.m. and those homies who was lit at the end were unknown to me!They were just out there kickin it,” he exclaimed. “And they literally didn’t bother me until I landed that shit! And it took me about an hour or two.”

See the action inside:

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Khalid has sent fans into a frenzy with the announcement one of his latest singles will be getting the remix treatment from none other than R&B beauty Summer Walker.

Details inside:

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JoJo is wasting no time lighting a match under new song ‘Lonely Hearts.’

The scintillating slow jam is the latest sonic slice to be lifted from the singer’s fourth studio album ‘Good To Know’ – which arrives this Friday (May 1st).

Committed to delivering content despite the current health crisis, Jo has unwrapped the video for the track.

Watch below…

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He may have lost his grip on the Billboard 200’s top spot thanks to DaBaby‘s new album, ‘Blame It on Baby’ (click here to read more), but The Weeknd‘s reign atop the Hot 100 is still going strong.

Details inside:

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His critically acclaimed debut studio album, ‘Big Day’ (2019), may not have gotten the critical or commercial response its mixtape predecessor ‘Coloring Book’ received, but that’s not stopping Chance the Rapper from moving on to the next big thing.

Between readying ‘Day’s follow-up, promoting the Quibi reboot of MTV’s celebrity prank show ‘Punk’d,’ and season 2 of Netflix’s ‘Rhythm + Flow’ (click here to see more on that), the 27-year-old’s begun using his official Instagram account as a platform to release new music.

The latest untitled release, simply known as ‘Instagram Song #8,’ Chance calls on help from Lil Wayne and Young Thug.

Hear the braggadocious bop inside:

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“I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b*tch famous (God damn) / I made that b*tch famous” is the line from Kanye West‘s 2016 ‘Life of Pablo’ hit that’s made its way back atop headlines thanks to reheated beef between West and Taylor Swift (click here to read more).

As the singer’s fans, affectionately called #Swifties, continue to defend their fave, one of the song’s listed producers – Havoc (of Mobb Deep) – comes to the aid of his friend Kanye.

Taking to our friends at the Daily Beast recently, Havoc asserts Swift’s response to the line is ‘too serious’ and suggests she is ‘too sensitive’ considering Yeezy spat the line as a compliment.

Read what else he had to say inside:

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Ledisi‘s latest single, ‘Anything for You,’ serves as the first taste from her yet-titled 9th studio album.

Drenched in Neo-Soul, the slow-burning cut was greeted with critical acclaim upon its release earlier this month.  Now, in a bid to push it up the Hot 100, she’s unveiled the accompanying music video.

Shot by husband Ron T. Young, the clip sees the Grammy-nominated powerhouse take center stage in the one woman show.

See the master at work inside:

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Fan of his music or not, one thing you can’t knock is DaBaby‘s hustle.

The 28-year-old (born Jonathan Kirk) may have seen his latest album, ‘Blame It On Baby,’ met with disappointment by critics but that didn’t stop the effort from topping the Billboard 200 (as we reported here).

Now, as he continues his promo rounds for the LP (his third in a year), Kirk took to Ebro on Apple Music to not only confirm he will soon be working on his fourth, but that the set is due to drop before the end of the year.

More inside:

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With a catalogue as colossal as Mariah Carey‘s, it’s become somewhat common for the diva’s material to strut its way back up the charts.

And fresh from nabbing her 19th #1 with a festive classic, Mimi finds herself atop of another tally with her 2008 album ‘E=MC².’

Details below…

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DaBaby has done it!

The rap sensation reigns atop of this week’s Billboard 200 with ‘Blame It On Baby’ – his third album in the span of a year.

Full story below…

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This week, From The Vault honors the ever-iconic TLC. And the timing is apt.
Yesterday marked 18 years since Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes’ passing and today is Tionne ‘T-Boz’ Watkins 50th birthday,

As such, our latest is lifted from their uber-successful sophomore album. Cue ‘Diggin’ On You.’

‘Diggin’’ was the final single to be released from the ladies’ classic ‘CrazySexyCool’ LP and was written and produced by musical genius Babyface in 1994.

After the monumental hit that was ‘Waterfalls’ (which spent 7 weeks at #1 in the US), with this cut the girls managed to score yet another Top 5 smash; their fourth consecutive. It peaked at #9 in Australia and reached the 18th position of the UK Singles Chart.

F. Gary Gray – who worked with the ladies on ‘Waterfalls’ – directed the song’s video.
The cinematic visual showcased TLC performing the track on what looks like the opening of a set. Amidst the big production of their stage show, an air of “cool” and simplicity exudes from the group, and it’s still as endearing today as it was during the 90s.

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Ironically, despite their high chart positions and big video budgets, TLC was in financial disarray at the time ‘Diggin” was released.

Hence, it would stand as their last musical output until colossal comeback ‘No Scrubs’ in 1999.

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Through the years, TLC has shown that they are well-versed in resilience. It’s beautiful seeing T-Boz and Chili keeping Left-Eye’s memory alive with their touring around the world.

We say the younger generation could learn a lot from a girl group that paved the way for so many acts; not only through their image and sound, but also their message and their values.

TLC, we appreciate you. We thank you.

Your thoughts?