Jay-Z has dropped a new track dubbed “Open Letter” this morning produced by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland. It was written less than 24 hours ago and is fresh off a trip to Cuba which some people aren’t happy about and word that he’s selling his stake in the Brooklyn Nets to be able to expand his Roc Nation Sports representation business into basketball.
On his 43rd birthday, Mr. Shawn Carter drops this special. In this documentary short, Life + Times takes an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Jay-Z’s Barclays Center opening concerts. From a year ago when the stadium was still being completed to just weeks ago when the hip-hop artist blessed the stage of the newly minted arena in his hometown of Brooklyn for eight days.
Monster recently gave us the opportunity to give one of their latest designs, a collaborative effort with Diesel. The VEKTR takes much of what we know about the Beats-making headphone brand and throws it out the window, along with the mixed reviews of past headphones. These ones having a backing of a reputable clothing label and feature a design that’s equal parts functional and futuristic. Win-win. The multi-planar, tri-fold design can be easily collapsed to fit your backpack and pull out with ease with a detachable triangular cable for tangle free use. The quality of listening is higher than what we’ve seen in past designs, a sign Monster continues to focus on research and innovation even while reaching widespread success. We’ve put together a short video (below) for your viewing, giving a closer look at the headphones and showing off some of the VEKTR’s finest aesthetic details.
The Diesel VEKTR headphones can be had now via Monster.
A week ahead of its worldwide release, Frank Ocean’s channel ORANGE has been made available via iTunes alongside a full album stream make things ever more enticing. Early reviews are giving much praise to FO for this one so be sure to check out the full stream below and see for yourself.
Jay-Z has announced that he will be doing not one, not two, but three shows at the end of September to mark the opening of Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, the new home of the Brooklyn Nets. The concerts will take place on September 28, 29, and 30th with 7,000 tickets being available for each show. Prices will start at just $30 and will be going on sale this Friday, July 13th through Barclays Center and Ticketmaster.
Lana Del Rey drops the official video for “National Anthem” which comes off her debut album Born to Die. The visual features the songstress playing Jacqueline Kennedy and none other than A$AP Rocky making an appearance as former President John F. Kennedy. The art direction and attention to detail is really epic and the seven-minute video is worth checking out just for that.
R&B artist Frank Ocean drops his latest piece of work next month and we’ve gotten turned to some new info on the album release. Dubbed Channel Orange, it’s a follow up to FO’s Nostalgia, Ultra mixtape. The minimalistic cover art is seen above while we also have the official tracklist below. Guest appearances include Odd Future’s Earl Sweatshirt, Andre 3000 and John Mayer. Release date is set for July 17.
D.A. Wallach and Maxwell Drummey of Chester French have dropped their sophomore album. Dubbed, MUSIC 4 TNGRS, the 11-track LP comes two years after Love the Future, and features guest appearances from Travis Barker, Pusha T, & Pharrell. The refreshing sound Chester French brings to the industry is heard throughout the album and gives us something we don’t get from other artists.
MUSIC 4 TNGRS can be had through Chester French.
Romain-Gavras directs the third visual from Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch The Throne album — “No Church in the Wild”. The track features a guest appearance by Frank Ocean while the video was shot on the streets of Prague just last month.
Last week, Jay-Z announced that he’d be putting together a multi-day music festival in Philadelphia over Labor Day Weekend and today “Phase 1″ of the lineup has been unveiled. The artists announced are: Jay-Z, Pearl Jam, Skrillex, Miike Snow, Afrojack, Calvin Harris, Odd Future, D’Angelo, Maybach Music (feat. Rick Ross, Wale, Meek Mill), Passion Pit, Santigold, Dirty Projectors, X, Janelle Monae, Prince Royce, Rita Ora, Savoy (DJ set), The Knocks. The two-day event will cover three stages on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park on Saturday, September 1, and Sunday, September 2. Budweiser and Live Nation are producing the performances, and a portion of the revenues will go to the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey.
Tickets for the event will go on sale on Wednesday, May 23rd, via Ticketmaster.com and Livenation.com. A limited number of 2-day tickets will be available for $99 (plus service charges). Tickets will be made available a day early on Tuesday, May 22 on Budweiser Facebook fan page.
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