Travis Scott, SZA, and The Weeknd are collaborating on a new song for the upcoming Game of Thrones-inspired album, For the Throne. The song will be called Power is Power, which will likely be about different Game of Thrones characters’ drive for power. In the 30 second snippet that was released (but since taken down), we were able to hear what appears to be the chorus sung by the Weeknd:
I rise from my scars/ Nothing hurts me now/ ‘Cause power is power/ Now watch me burn it down
Two characters that come to mind that this is referring to is Daenerys and Cersei. Both of them had to rise from the scars and used fire to come to power. They are also the most powerful characters in the show right now, so it would make sense to refer to both of them, symbolically.
Other guests on the upcoming album include Joey Badass, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Peep, and more. The full album will be released April 26th.
Let us know who you think that chorus is referring to in the comments.
According to a vigilant fan on Reddit, Jaden Smith has officially dropped his last name on streaming services, YouTube, and more. Jaden has not officially commented on the change. Smith, I’m sorry I mean Jaden, has been trying to distance himself from living in the shadow of his father, Will Smith. That distancing was one of the topics in his lyrics on his album, Syre and this changing of his stage name is clearly one concrete way to do that. However, some would argue that Jaden should embrace his father’s name and use his background as a way to increase popularity.
Let’s be honest, how much will Jaden dropping part of his stage name really change his popularity at this point? He’s already really, really big and his first name, Jaden, is memorable in of itself. Also, he is already one of the first suggestions that drops down when you type “jad” into the search bar, which would have been true regardless if he dropped “Smith”. But that’s also an argument against dropping the last name because, since Jaden’s so big, he doesn’t need to distance himself from his father anymore and that it will just be a hassle to have to remember that he dropped it.
Another possible objection to the name drop is that because “Smith” is the stereotypical common last name, keeping and exploring that could lead to some interesting artistic statements. I know that this is a little abstract, but I’m thinking something along the lines of Jaden Smith expressing in his lyrics about him trying to either break from being normal, or become normal. Just an idea Jaden, so let me know if you want to use it.
To be fair, dropping his last name is certainly better than if he dropped his first name.
NYC’s iconic Webster Hall will reopen later this month. After much renovation, Webster Hall will host Jay Z as it’s first performer since the reopening on April 26th. Jay Z’s show is called “B-Sides 2” and will feature a setlist full of rarities. His first time playing “B-Sides 2” was an exclusive event at Terminal 5 for his Tidal subscribers.
American Express card members will have access to limited tickets on Thursday April 18th and general admission starting at Friday April 19th.
Concerning the renovation, Jay Marciano, CEO of AEG, said that the goal was to maintain the integrity of Webster Hall while at the same time modernizing it to provide the best experience possible for concert goers.
Many have performed at the historic venue before including Patti Smith, The Broken Social Scene, and one of my favorite bands, Built to Spill. When asked about the decision to have Jay Z as the first performer, CEO of BSE Global Brett Yormak said “When we were thinking about who would be the right choice to open this legendary venue, we knew it had to be a world-famous New York City icon. No one fits that description better than JAY-Z, who will join an unparalleled list of celebrated performers who have played Webster Hall.”
I’m excited to write this article because one of my favorite rappers, Childish Gambino, performed a new, unreleased song for his headlining set at Coachella on Friday. In the clip, Gambino called for the audience to chant with him, and then started a song with a heavy beat and trippy instrumentation. Along with performing other recent songs “It’s Summertime”, “Feels like Summer”, and of course “This is America”, the talented Donald Glover sang a cover version of the Gnarls Barkley classic, “Crazy”.
Gambino has been pretty hot recently, without even releasing a full album. His single, “This is America”, won multiple Grammys: Record of the Year, Video of the Year, Best Rap Performance, and Song of the Year. Right after his Coachella performance ended, Gambino’s film Guava Island came out on Amazon Prime. He and Rihanna are the co-stars.
Childish Gambino has been getting a lot of hype and his upcoming album, set to release later this year, should have a lot of press. I’m really liking his current sound, which is very R&B based but also has hard hitting beats. I’m probably going to be streaming his album constantly when it comes out.
The first trailer for the next Star Wars movie was released. The movie is titled The Rise of Skywalker, and will conclude the trilogy that includes The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. The trailer opens with Rey walking through the desert, holding what looks like Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, and Luke’s voice saying, “We’ve passed on all we know. A thousand generations live in you now. But this is your fight”.
Next, We see Kylo Ren fighting with his signature red lightsaber in a forest, Chewbacca and Lando flying in the Millennium Falcon, and unused footage of Carrie Fisher hugging Rey in a forest. The most revealing information came from the end, in which Rey and her squad are in a desert, looking at wreckage of the Death Star. We then hear an evil laugh that sounds too much like The Emperor/Palpatine to not be him.
To me, the name of the movie, and beginning and end of the trailer are the most telling. Yes, General Leia is still alive after miraculously flying through space with presumably her force powers, so “The Last Skywalker” could mean her. However, I have a feeling that Rey is also a Skywalker, a popular fan theory, so the title refers to her. This is supported by Luke’s quote in the beginning which yes, on the surface, could easily be referring to Rey inheriting all the history of the Jedi. However, I think this is Luke telling Rey she is a Skywalker, because of the use of the word “generations”. After all, “generations” is often used when describing a position within a family tree.
And then obviously, the Palpatine reveal is huge because we all assumed he died at the end of The Return of the Jedi. I wouldn’t be surprised if he attempts to corrupt Rey too, and possibly successfully, like Anakin Skywalker. If that happens, I assume C-3PO will save the day as a social commentary on the rise of AI.
Let me know what you think about this trailer in the comments
![[Music] Travis Scott, SZA, The Weeknd collab on Game of Thrones inspired album](https://i0.wp.com/sloppyvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/forthethrone.jpeg?resize=225%2C225&ssl=1)
![[Music] Jaden Smith drops his last name from streaming services](https://i0.wp.com/sloppyvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/jaden-1.jpeg?resize=275%2C183&ssl=1)
![[Movies] New ‘Star Wars’ trailer drops](https://i0.wp.com/sloppyvinyl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/starwarsdownload.jpeg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1)