The Weeknd continues to shine with ‘Secrets’ – the latest offering from his sophomore album ‘Starboy.’

Pedro Martin-Calero takes on directorial duties for the the track’s accompanying video, which was unleashed moments ago.

In trademark form, the clip is slick, suave, and stylised.

Check it out below…

Solid. This could well be another hit for Abel.

He remains a bit too mono for us, but if he rocks your boat, check him out on ‘The Legend Of The Fall Tour.’

Your thoughts?

Rita Ora received a rapturous response to new single ‘Your Song’ upon its release last month.

Currently performing well globally (with a #13 peak on the UK tally), the Ed Sheeran track looks set to boom in the weeks ahead with the arrival of its accompanying video.

26-year-old media maven Ora shot the visual in Vancouver, Canada this week – and snaps from the set have surfaced.

Check ’em out below. She looks stunning!

A post shared by ➰Rita Ora Follows 11/01/2015➰ (@biggestbotx) on Jun 11, 2017 at 10:41am PDT

A post shared by Rita Ora (@ritaoratr) on Jun 11, 2017 at 8:28am PDT

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A post shared by Austrian Ritabots (@ritaoraaustria) on Jun 11, 2017 at 8:06am PDT

Your thoughts?

From The Vault is back this week honoring a band that has been showered with a lot of love as of late – and with good reason.

Today’s pick is ‘If It Isn’t Love’ by R&B titans New Edition.

Released as the lead single from the group’s fifth studio album ‘Heart Break,’ ‘Love’ was considered the band’s comeback single and was their first with Bobby Brown’s replacement, Johnny Gill. It was produced by the ever sought-after  Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and (as planned) was a home-run on the charts, returning the quintet to the top 10 of both the Pop and R&B tallies (#7 and #2 respectively).

Although the song stands as an R&B classic, its accompanying visual is one of the group’s most enduring offerings. For, this video is the one that pops up in mass consciousness when considering the dance moves, aesthetics and creative direction of late 80’s/early 90’s boybands. Especially the mic stand/rehearsal/synchronized choreography theme that has been the inspiration behind many a visual – including Beyonce’s ‘Love On Top.’

As seen on their BET biopic earlier this year, New Edition’s story is undoubtedly compelling and we hope groups the world over take the time to study it. Because, in doing so, important lessons about work ethic, dedication, unity, and the effects of ego can be sourced.

Ralph, Michael, Ronnie, Ricky, Johnny and Bobby – we salute you!

Your thoughts?

Fifth Harmony have taken flight with the promo campaign for new single ‘Down.’

The popular quad brought the heat to Miami this weekend with a scorching performance at iHeartSummer 2017.

As well as their newest number, Normani, Dinah, Lauren, and Ally thrilled with high-octane showings of fan favorites too.

Check out the setlist and full performance below…

Setlist:

Worth It
That’s My Girl
Down
All In My Head (Flex)
Work From Home

It appears the departure of a certain someone has actually elevated the group. Maybe as a direct effect or simply because they’ve felt the need to up the ante. Maybe its both.

Whatever the case, they appear more cohesive and it’s easier to appreciate each member’s individual contribution.

More of this and this may end up as their best era yet.

Your thoughts?

Mariah Carey‘s relationship with dancer Bryan Tanaka is back on.

Initially, the union appeared like a synthetic storyline conjured up for her poorly performing reality series ‘Mariah’s World.’ A stance not helped by the fact that the pair went their separate ways almost as soon as the show wrapped.

However, recent weeks have seen the duo smitten once again.

The latest snap shared on social media saw Tanaka looking adoringly at Mimi – 13 years his senior – in the studio.

According to the 34-year-old, his 47-year-old bae was hard at work baking material for her next project.

He told his followers:

In the studio watching the Queen in her element the way nobody else gets to see. ??? #Moments4Life#MuchLove

As reported, Mimi recently inked a deal with Epic Records – who’ll house her new label, Butterfly MC Records. At the time of the announcement, it was stressed that an album would follow by the end of the year.

Although the recent departure of Epic head L.A Reid potentially puts that in question.

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We want to be excited, as Mariah tends to come through with the quality even when underperforming commercially (see: ‘Elusive Chanteuse,’ ‘Memoirs,’ and even ‘Charmbracelet’.)

However, she still has a fair amount of work to do with her image – this showmance included – before we can muster up anticipation.

Music, as ever, is only one piece of the product puzzle. Image and perception matters. And looking at the image above doesn’t fill us with hope.

Your thoughts?

Taylor Swift‘s supposed attempt to steal Katy Perry‘s chart thunder this week has done little to kill the love the latter has for the ‘White Horse‘ vocalist.

For, Perry has revealed that she forgives Swift for everything she may or may not have done to her and hopes that they can come to a place of peace and understanding.

She told The Thrive Global Podcast…

I am ready to let it go. I forgive her and I’m sorry for anything I ever did, and I hope the same from her. I think it’s actually like, I think it’s time. There are bigger fish to fry, and there are real problems in the world. You know what I’m saying?

I love her, and I want the best for her. And I think she’s a fantastic songwriter, and I think that if we, both her and I, can be representatives of strong women that come together despite their differences, I think the whole world is going to go like, ‘Yeah, well we can do this.’ I don’t know. Maybe I don’t agree with everything she does and she doesn’t agree with everything I do, but I just really, truly want to come together in a place of love and forgiveness and understanding and compassion.

Your thoughts?

Katy Perry has revealed that she is deeply sorry for engaging in cultural appropriation.

During the live streamed launched to promote her #1 album ‘Witness‘, the Pop princess came clean during a conversation with DeRay McKesson about the bad habit and revealed how and why she was able to stop it.

I’m proud of Katy for acknowledging her mistakes with cultural appropriation. She’s learning pic.twitter.com/uyHd3upmzx

— la bella vita (@drugproblem) June 11, 2017

Her admission makes her one of the first Pop purveyors to address the problem head on publicly after the rapper Iggy Azalea saw her career derailed by criticism she faced for the same thing in 2014.

So, why millions around the world are against cultural appropriation?

Your thoughts?

Little Mix have become one of the world’s biggest girlbands and today proved why with an electrifying showing at the 2017 Capital FM Summertime Ball.

Jesy, Jade, Perrie, and Leigh-Anne brought some of their biggest hits – including ‘Black Magic’ and ‘Touch’ – to the Wembley Stadium extravaganza. Much to the delight of the 50,000 in attendance.

Watch the ladies werk it below…

It’s been a busy week for the Pop quad, who this week also premiered the video for new single ‘Power.’ Click here to watch. 

Your thoughts?

Liam Payne‘s solo train pulled into Wembley Stadium today for the 2017 Capital FM Summertime Ball. 

Opting to take residence in the “Urban” space, the 23-year-old recently released single ‘Strip That Down’ – which he performed for the 50,000 in attendance.

Backed by dancers and getting down to choreography himself, Payne is clearly trying. Is it enough, though? Watch below and let us know…

Sigh.

It’s odd because he’s hitting his marks, but he still makes for an uncomfortable watch. One look at his expression and it’s clear he’s counting every single step. Every one of them.

Elsewhere, the vocals are present but in scarily thin quantity.

Thus far, we’re yet to be convinced by this game of Justin Timberlake dress-up Liam is playing. Perhaps it’s this single, “him,” or both. Whatever the case, it’s not working. Yet.

Your thoughts?

Katy Perry‘s set to bear witness to her name atop the Billboard 200 yet again.

The singer/songwriter – whose latest era has admittedly not been greeted with nearly the same amount of buzz its predecessors have – caused worry among her faithful #Katycats releasing it with no #1 Hot 100 hits to antecede (the first time this has happened since Perry’s been on a major label).

Yet, with a massive promo campaign that’s seen her now not only showcase the music on major platforms worldwide (and a few big business players in pocket), the moves seem to have saved what was surely on course to be a poor opening week.

Curious to see how many units Katy’s fifth official LP will shift? Look inside:

(more…)

Fleur East is firing up new music for release this summer.

It’s been a fair while since The X Factor graduate dominated the dancefloor and airwaves alike with the sassy ‘Sax.’

A year and some change later, she says that her new single – the first from the follow-up to 2015’s ‘Love, Sax, & Flashbacks’ – is due in August.

Speaking in a recent interview, she said:

“This is the start of the second era, my next single is out in August. A few people have heard it in SyCo and everyone is buzzing. So we are literally just trying to get it right.”

She went on to assure that the delay between projects wasn’t due to any drama, adding:

“Everyone is still on board and everyone still supports me, it’s great.

You just can’t rush the creative process, it has to be right. It comes in waves and you put pressure on yourself and think ‘Oh, I need to release now’ but then I took my foot off the gas a little bit and thought I would just enjoy it.

I’m just making sure I’m getting it to the best it can be.”

Awesome news. And, if we’re to read between the lines, it looks as though the timeline of her roll-out will coincide with the return of The X Factor – a huge promo platform for her.

Fleur is a world-class talent and turned in a solid debut project, so here’s hoping album #2 delivers and is pushed accordingly.

Your thoughts?

It’s hard to believe that twenty years have passed since the release of Janet Jackson’s ‘Velvet Rope.’

Steeped in tales of love, loss, lies and loneliness, the moody R&B album saw Jackson launch one of the biggest promotional efforts to support it and the monumental tour she built to deliver it to her fans live.

One of the era’s highlights?

Her tell-all conversation with Oprah Winfrey.

Yet to see it?

Press play for a moving conversation on life beyond an icon’s ‘Velvet Rope.’

Your thoughts?