Harlem rapper Dave East has been around for a minute, but absent the big-name co-signs or signature hits that drove some of his peers’ careers, mainstream success has eluded him. With that said, his latest project, the Harry Fraud-produced Hoffa, is a masterclass in ignoring mass appeal in favor of crafting high-quality work and staying true to yourself — the album Dave East always needed in his catalog. However, it turns out one of East’s peers had some advice for him to improve his chances to gain traction on future projects.
Speaking with Apple Music 1’s Ebro, East recalled how J. Cole helped him make some adjustments to improve his rap voice — a key component in any rap artist’s success. “I got a chance to lock in with J. Cole, just me and him in the studio with the engineer, and he asked that same question, like, ‘Bro, I’m a fan of what you do, I really respect your pen, but you rap with one tone,’” he recounted. “And I really sat and listened to myself, and a lot of my sh*t is one tone.”
The rest of the session, he said, consisted of “me and him in the studio testing tones. He’s just really seeing how high I can take my voice, how low I can take it, and then he just was like, ‘Apply that to your music. Watch the difference. That’s just something I gotta keep working at, keep working at. I think it will be something dope to add to my music.” Listening to Hoffa, it’s clear the advice paid off, as Dave sounds more energized than ever, partly as a result of Harry Fraud’s complementary beat choices but also because his inflections bring a new-found dimension to his delivery, highlighting the emotional stakes of his rhymes.
Watch Dave East and Harry Fraud’s interview with Ebro below.
Tierra Whack‘s latest track, “8,” constitutes her contribution to the soundtrack of the upcoming 2022 edition of EA’s Madden NFL video game series and finds the Philly rapper going in over a grumbly, buzzing beat produced by frequent collaborator J Melodic. It’s a short but hypnotic track that it’s easy to imagine backing a late-night session of shotgun passes and QB dives. Joining Whack on the soundtrack — which is out now on Interscope — are buzzy artists like 42 Dugg, BRS Kash, JID, Sally Sossa, and Tank And The Bangas.
In addition to popping up here, Whack’s latest mercenary efforts have included a collaboration with Lego on “Link” and with her hometown’s NBA franchise on “76.” While the former found her working with school kids to come up with a cute narrative music video as part of the brand’s Rebuild The World campaign, the latter celebrated the 76ers’ playoff run and had Whack name-checking the team’s players while showing off her own ball skills in the video.
Of course, she’s still had time to build on the impressive body of work she kicked off in 2018 with the attention-grabbing Whack World. As well as showing off her impressive, battle-honed flow on freestyles over “Whoopty,” “Last Dayz,” and “Stand Up,” she recently dropped her own original, house-influenced single “Walk The Beat.” She also celebrated her birthday this week.
The meat of this week’s episode comes in the form of a discussion of new albums from The Killers and Bleachers. The Killers are back with Pressure Machine, the band’s seventh LP that comes almost exactly a year after their last full-length effort, Imploding The Mirage, and finds the band exploring new sonic territory that is markedly more downbeat and introspective. Bleachers, on the other hand, found Jack Antonoff trying to go as Springsteen as possible on his third solo release, Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night. How do both of these albums stack up in their respective catalogues?
In this week’s Recommendation Corner, Ian is plugging the new LP from emo greats A Great Big Pile Of Leaves, while Steve wants to shout out the forthcoming LP from Baltimore experimental hardcore outfit Turnstile.
New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 52 on Spotify below, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts here. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at indiecastmailbag@gmail.com, and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.
“There won’t be any additional concerts. This was a hard decision for us to make, as he is a capable performer. This is, however, doctors’ orders. His continued health is the most important part of this, and when we heard the doctors — when Tony’s wife, Susan heard them — she said, ‘Absolutely not.’ He’ll be doing other things, but not those upcoming shows. It’s not the singing aspect but, rather, the traveling. Look, he gets tired. The decision is being made that doing concerts now is just too much for him. We don’t want him to fall on stage, for instance — something as simple as that. We’re not worried about him being able to sing. We are worried, from a physical stand point… about human nature. Tony’s 95.”
Danny didn’t expand on what he meant by his father being able to do “other things,” but perhaps there will be further promotional appearances of some sort for his and Gaga’s upcoming album, Love For Sale.
When Bill Burr showed up in The Mandalorian as rogue outlaw Migs Mayfield, it started out as a gag because the comedian had made a lot of jokes dunking on Star Wars. Burr has repeatedly shared the story of how Jon Favreau asked him to be on the show while at a party, and that the comedian was initially reluctant because, again, he hasn’t been the kindest to Star Wars fans. But some nudging from his wife and Favreau sealed the deal, and Burr’s character ended up becoming one of the highlights of The Mandalorian. Not many people can hold up the only Baby Yoda-free episode of the series (so far).
However, while Burr ended up battling stormtroopers because of his jokes, he recently addressed the misconception that he hates Star Wars. The comedian set the record straight on Tom Segura’s Your Mom’s House podcast. Via The Hollywood Reporter:
Burr explained that there was a misconception that he actually hated Star Wars, which he said was not the case. “I was just hating on it as a comic,” he told Segura. “You see 1,000 people excited about something, you’re going to make fun of it.”
In fact, after just one season of The Mandalorian, Burr had a newfound respect for Star Wars fans who have been nothing but nice to him even after he used to rip on them waiting in lines to see the movies.
“Well, I will tell you this, Star Wars fans are cool as shit,” Burr told Uproxx‘s Mike Ryan back in June 2020. “They’re very polite. They’re respectful.”
When you’ve been a world-famous artist and father for as long as Dave Grohl has been, it’s inevitable that you’re going to miss some parts of your children’s lives. There was one event that Grohl was committed to attending, though, so much so that he flew from Australia to Los Angeles while in the middle of a Foo Fighters tour.
Speaking with Mark Hoppus on his After School Radio show (as NME notes), Grohl told the story of the measures he took to make it to a father-daughter dance:
“I had to fly back from Australia for one day to take my kids to the daddy-daughter dance. It was ridiculous. I could not not go to this daddy-daughter dance, it was not an option. And I told everybody, ‘I’m sorry, we’re going to have to cancel that Perth stadium [show] because I have to do this thing.’”
Ultimately, Grohl and the band’s tour manager, Gus Brandt, came up with a plan that allowed him to get to LA in time for the dance without missing any concerts.
Grohl continued, “Going to this dance, the kids didn’t even care I was there. They were like, ‘OK, dad, bye.’ And then [I] go straight back to the plane and then land in Australia, and literally have a show in four hours. It was ridiculous.”
On top of the normal stresses that traveling brings, Grohl also had to deal with a bout of food poisoning: “We get on the flight back to Australia and I’m like, ‘I’m just going to drink a bottle of wine and pass out. I’m just going to sleep for 15 hours. This is going to be great.’ And within three or four hours, I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I felt like someone was stabbing me in the stomach.’ I had the gnarliest food poisoning three hours into a flight to Sydney. It was the worst-case scenario.”
Cher’s already thrown her support behind Britney Spears during her conservatorship fight, and she did so again on Thursday night over a report that Jamie Spears would be stepping down. Before that happened, however, the legendary singer and actress had a slip of the fingers, and all hell broke loose. This turned into a rare moment of real fun on Twitter, so we must talk this out.
Things were going well, given that Cher had been previously tweeting about an HSN (Home Shopping Network) appearance. When all was said and done, however, Cher popped onto her phone and simply tweeted, “I had a great time on H.” Oh no.
So, very clearly, this was a typo, yet Cher’s immediate replies turned into a mixture of people playing along and/or wondering what the heck was going on (especially since Cher’s former husband, Gregg Allman, was a heroin addict, and Cher is anti-drug and even campaigned against marijuana use in the 1960s).
Very quickly, Cher realized what had happened, but (like a champ) she did not delete her erroneous tweet. Instead, she explained (in her frequent ALL-CAPS fashion) that she’d pushed send too early. Then Cher communicated that the camera work on HSN was less than desirable, and had ‘MADE ME LOOK LIKE’ she had… eaten a turkey? Alright.
DAMN …PUSHED SEND I HAD A GREAT TIME ON HSN LAST NIGHT,BUT… “OUR”CAMERA WAS TOO LOW…WHICH MADE MY EYELINE TOO LOW,WHICH MADE ME LOOK LIKE…I, A) JUST WOKE UP B)WAS DEAD ON MY FEET C) HAD JUST EATEN A
Cher then lamented losing all her ‘CRED’ over a ‘MANGLED’ tweet. The Oscar winner then declared a divorce from grammar, so please lighten up, everyone.
OK,SO ALL MY ST.CRED IS GONE BECAUSE I MANGLED A TWT YOU KNEW “&.?’ #% ! GRAMMAR & I WERE ESTRANGED,SEPARATED, GETTING A DIVORCE
Fair enough. And here’s the aforementioned support for Britney Spears, even though her dad hasn’t stepped away from the conservatorship quite yet. Cher ‘COULDN’T HAPPIER 4 HER IF I WAS TWINS.’ Same, Cher!
IF I WAS BRIT I’D GET A FORENSIC ACCOUNTANT. I COULDN’T HAPPIER 4 HER IF I WAS TWINS
Do we want to do a redo on 2021 yet? Too late, but there’s plenty of time for all of us to make a difference by staying at home and watching TV. Or perhaps that’s simply an excuse that happens to be altruistic as well, so all the better. Netflix knows that this year’s a lot messier than humanity collectively hoped that it would be, so let’s make the best of an unfortunate global situation. There’s plenty to distract you, too, from a sensational sports docuseries to a conspiracy-thriller film to a limited series that would feel right at home during the Halloween season. A romantic comedy trilogy wraps up, and there’s a baking show and a friend-filled adventure series, all for the taking. Relax, at least for a few hours, because we picked the most bingeworthy fare, so that you never have to step outside your door this weekend for fun.
Here’s everything else coming to (and leaving) the streaming platform this week.
Brand New Cherry Flavor (Netflix film streaming 8/13)
Every so often (Warrior Nun, hint hint) a pulpy-looking Netflix series looks as though it may not last long due to its niche quality, but it’s still worth some time to peruse. And who knows? This pulpy series could find a devoted fanbase, too. There’s sex, magic, revenge, and felines on hand for an early 1990s filmmaker character, who’s attempting to make it big in Hollywood, but things get very spooky. Halloween arrives early this year here, and since time means nothing anymore, go for it.
Untold: Malice at the Palace (Netflix docuseries streaming 8/10)
The Wild Wild Country creators bring a fresh, five-part sports docuseries that will drop weekly. The episodes will cover basketball, boxing, tennis, and more, to tell stories that you’ve not heard before about pivotal moments, including playoff and the Olympics. Each episode will go beyond the headlines to reveal what really happened to those at the center of the stories. Yes, there will be a deep dive into the “Malice at the Palace” Pacers-Pistons brawl, but also Caitlyn Jenner reflecting on what it took to win gold. Also, the show shines light on the Trashers, a misfit band of hockey players who were in deep with the mob. Oh boy.
John David Washington stars as an American tourist, Beckett, who finds himself targeted by authorities following a tragic accident in Greece. Cue the international conspiracy-and-thriller vibes while Beckett desperately tries to clear his name amid political unrest throughout the country. Can he reach the American embassy in time? Who knows, but this movie’s sure to be less confusing than Washington’s most recent release, Tenet.
The insanely popular yet objectively bad trilogy comes to a close with Joey King’s Elle heading to college while facing a dilemma. Should she go to college with her best friend or throw it all away to move away with the dreamy Noah? If you started these movies, you gotta finish!
Bake Squad: Season 1 (Netflix series streaming 8/12)
A batch of brilliant bakers will heat up a delicious storm here for competition’s sake and to make someone’s special day even better. The competitors were chosen by Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi, who already built her own cookie-dough empire, and now, she wants to see more dessert dreams come true.
The title character, a “writer in crisis,” returns to chaos in both her personal and professional life. She’s got friends, fortunately, who are there to help her through the process of coping. That mean that we should expect whirlwinds of adventure and emotions, from high to low and everywhere in between.
Someday, Kanye West may actually release Donda, the album for which he has already hosted two stadium-sized listening events. The album has already missed multiple expected release dates, including today, August 13. Information on that front isn’t really pouring out of West’s camp, but regardless, the album has a new projected release day: August 20.
Again, that’s not according to anybody on West’s team, but rather, the current Apple Music listing for the album. Furthermore, the page shows off a 24-song tracklist, but without any song titles, save for “Hurricane” featuring The Weeknd and Lil Baby. The listing indicates that users can listen to that song now, but it doesn’t appear to be available in the US (or the UK either, per NME). The tracklist also has star icons attached to Track 1, 2 (“Hurricane”), 8, 9, 12, 17, and 19.
After dropping two career-boosting projects for fans in 2020 thanks to Poetic Pain and Platinum Hearts, Toosii returned to 2021 with plenty of music for fans. He got the ball rolling on the year with his latest full-length release, Thank You For Believing. Across the project’s 13 tracks came an early highlight in “5’5” with Latto. The track is seemingly inspired by a line from Lloyd’s hit song, “You,” which has confused fans for years as some believed the singer says “5’2” while others insist he says “fine too.” The inspiration comes alive as Toosii raps, “5’5” and she too fine” on the song. More than three months after the track’s arrival, Toosii returns with a video for it.
The New York rapper finds himself at what appears to be a 2000s-themed party as oversized t-shirts, baggy clothes, velour clothing, and more take up most of the screen time for the visual. However, through it all, Toosii grabs the attention of a certain woman at the party and successfully shoots his shot with her as he exits the party with her number. Elsewhere, he and Latto also perform the TikTok dance that’s accompanied the song for the past few months.
The new video comes after Toosii released a deluxe version of Thank You For Believing, titled Thank You For Believing (The Manifestation), with ten additional songs including “Spin Music” with Fivio Foreign which also received the visual treatment.
Press play on the nostalgic video for “5’5” in the video above.
Thank You For Believing (The Manifestation) is out now via South Coast Music Group. Get it here.
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Cher maybe soon more blonde wigs? 
(@cherornothing) 
