The Willennium may have started nearly a quarter of a century ago, but Will Smith has been dominating on screen since the early 1990s. The Academy Award-winning star has been a blockbuster juggernaut with a commanding presence on screen, dabbling in anything and everything. Serious fare like "Concussion," edgy superhero stories like "Hancock" and "Suicide Squad," action-packed dramas like "Enemy of the State," sci-fi thrillers like "I, Robot," musicals like "Aladdin," and plenty of goofy nonsense like "Shark Tale" and "Wild Wild West" have all let Big Willy Style flex his acting muscles and show that he truly is a jack of all trades. From his humble beginnings in the ensemble piece "Where the Day Takes You" to the recently announced "Bad Boys: Ride or Die," Smith is one of Hollywood's most prolific and profitable performers. And fortunately, he's also one of the best. It's time to get jiggy wit'...
- 4/2/2024
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has revealed its 2024 lineup featuring The Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, The Killers, Chris Stapleton, Jon Batiste, and Queen Latifah as among the headliners.
Other notable acts set to play include Vampire Weekend, Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals, Hozier, Heart, Greta Van Fleet, Widespread Panic, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Bonnie Raitt, Earth Wind & Fire, The Beach Boys, Fantasia, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, The Wallflowers, Joe Bonamassa, Big Freedia, Rhiannon Giddens, Nickel Creek, Juvenile with Mannie Fresh, George Thorogood & The Destroyers, The Allman Betts Band, Bomba Estéreo, Stephen Marley, Steel Pulse, Tower of Power, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Charles Lloyd, Pj Morton, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Béla Fleck, Samara Joy, The Soul Rebels, and more. Additionally, Jazz Fest will honor the legacy of Jimmy Buffett with a special tribute set.
New Orleans Jazz Fest 2024 takes place over eight...
Other notable acts set to play include Vampire Weekend, Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals, Hozier, Heart, Greta Van Fleet, Widespread Panic, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Bonnie Raitt, Earth Wind & Fire, The Beach Boys, Fantasia, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, The Wallflowers, Joe Bonamassa, Big Freedia, Rhiannon Giddens, Nickel Creek, Juvenile with Mannie Fresh, George Thorogood & The Destroyers, The Allman Betts Band, Bomba Estéreo, Stephen Marley, Steel Pulse, Tower of Power, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Charles Lloyd, Pj Morton, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Béla Fleck, Samara Joy, The Soul Rebels, and more. Additionally, Jazz Fest will honor the legacy of Jimmy Buffett with a special tribute set.
New Orleans Jazz Fest 2024 takes place over eight...
- 1/18/2024
- by Scoop Harrison
- Consequence - Music
Exclusive: Laura Karpman was drip-fed jazz notes when she was a baby. Her mother’s turn-table featured a playlist that included Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Wes Montgomery and Thelonious Monk, the virtuoso pianist, whose music informs and underpins her own jazz-infused score for Cord Jefferson’s scorching American Fiction.
“So I remember in her painting studio, my mother had a record player and she would play everything,” Karpman recalls, and for good measure her mother would spin Beethoven’s violin concerto and a piece by Stravinsky.
Karpman lapped it all up, just as her mother had planned, because Mrs.Karpman had preordained “that I would be a composer when she was pregnant,” she tells me.
Her mother was a painter and sculptor “and she always, I think probably inappropriately, thought that music was the highest art. And so she wanted me to be an artist and she wanted me to be a musician.
“So I remember in her painting studio, my mother had a record player and she would play everything,” Karpman recalls, and for good measure her mother would spin Beethoven’s violin concerto and a piece by Stravinsky.
Karpman lapped it all up, just as her mother had planned, because Mrs.Karpman had preordained “that I would be a composer when she was pregnant,” she tells me.
Her mother was a painter and sculptor “and she always, I think probably inappropriately, thought that music was the highest art. And so she wanted me to be an artist and she wanted me to be a musician.
- 12/18/2023
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
The double handclap – most powerfully deployed in Patrice Rushen’s Forget Me Nots – is now a staple of pop thanks to Dua Lipa and more. Its practitioners explain why it’s still so catchy
The trailer for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie begins with the doll (played by Margot Robbie) describing her modest plans for that evening: “A giant blowout party with all the Barbies and planned choreography and a bespoke song.” Sure enough, there’s a big, pink, extremely sequined party, soundtracked by Dua Lipa’s Dance the Night. The song provides the Barbies’ slick choreography with a gesture that’s very familiar to pop music fans: the disco double clap.
Like the disco string sound, gated reverb or the orchestra stab, it is traceable through generations of pop.
The trailer for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie begins with the doll (played by Margot Robbie) describing her modest plans for that evening: “A giant blowout party with all the Barbies and planned choreography and a bespoke song.” Sure enough, there’s a big, pink, extremely sequined party, soundtracked by Dua Lipa’s Dance the Night. The song provides the Barbies’ slick choreography with a gesture that’s very familiar to pop music fans: the disco double clap.
Like the disco string sound, gated reverb or the orchestra stab, it is traceable through generations of pop.
- 7/31/2023
- by Hugh Morris
- The Guardian - Film News
Solange Knowles took the lead on this year’s curated music series at the Brooklyn Academy of Music for Saint Heron. The series, titled Eldorado Ballroom, is comprised of seven shows showcasing themes derived from the historic Black music hall it’s named after.
Eldorado Ballroom was a performance space for blues, jazz, R&b, and pop musicians in Houston’s Third Ward, where Solange is from and where she learned the art of performance.
“I approach my work as an artist and my reentering the curatorial space through Saint...
Eldorado Ballroom was a performance space for blues, jazz, R&b, and pop musicians in Houston’s Third Ward, where Solange is from and where she learned the art of performance.
“I approach my work as an artist and my reentering the curatorial space through Saint...
- 2/16/2023
- by Larisha Paul
- Rollingstone.com
This summer, Shalfi Edu went viral without singing a note. The 25-year-old guitarist posted a video of his playing — full of flitting fingers, though the mood remains insistently tranquil — on the app TikTok, which now functions as music’s primary discovery engine. Edu added a caption out of a teen romcom, a stamp of emotion on all the casual showmanship: “You’ve hurt someone who’s hurt you. Seeing them suffer causes you pain, but you’re too angry to apologize or stop. You feel conflicted.” The clip has earned...
- 9/9/2020
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
The R&b veteran Kem hasn’t released a new album since 2014: He took time away to get married, have two kids, change management, and chase a life of domesticity rarely conducive to the rigors of being a working musician. After returning from that sort of hiatus, most singers would try to keep risks to a minimum. But “Not Before You” arrives as a pleasant jolt on Kem’s latest album, Love Always Wins — a traditional ballad enlivened by unexpected, enticing choices.
The song starts with a tender acoustic guitar riff,...
The song starts with a tender acoustic guitar riff,...
- 8/24/2020
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
Image Source: Netflix
Netflix film Fatal Affair is a thrilling (though predictable) story of a married woman who ends up entangled with an old flame that goes horribly awry. Ellie (Nia Long), whose marriage to Marcus (Stephen Bishop) is a little on the outs, runs into college pal David (Omar Epps) at her work, and he swoops in. It's been 20 years since they've seen each other, and after almost hooking up, David can't get over Ellie. He starts stalking her, including leaving a vinyl record outside her house.
Ellie's daughter Brittany (Aubrey Cleland) spots the record on the kitchen counter and tells her mom what a good album it is, but it's clear from Ellie's face that she knows where it came from and what it means.
Later, when David breaks into the house to attack Ellie and her family, he puts on the record to play. Even though it's battered and broken,...
Netflix film Fatal Affair is a thrilling (though predictable) story of a married woman who ends up entangled with an old flame that goes horribly awry. Ellie (Nia Long), whose marriage to Marcus (Stephen Bishop) is a little on the outs, runs into college pal David (Omar Epps) at her work, and he swoops in. It's been 20 years since they've seen each other, and after almost hooking up, David can't get over Ellie. He starts stalking her, including leaving a vinyl record outside her house.
Ellie's daughter Brittany (Aubrey Cleland) spots the record on the kitchen counter and tells her mom what a good album it is, but it's clear from Ellie's face that she knows where it came from and what it means.
Later, when David breaks into the house to attack Ellie and her family, he puts on the record to play. Even though it's battered and broken,...
- 7/21/2020
- by Hedy Phillips
- Popsugar.com
Image Source: Caleb Griffin
When 22-year-old singer Amir Kelly was younger, his grandmother always told him that he was royalty. In fact, his name directly translates to "a few things in Hindi and Arabic," including "king," "prince," and "ruler." For the rising La-based pop-r&b crooner - and "self-crowned Blindian," as his Instagram bio says, referring to his half-Black, half-Indian identity - that's been a major driving force behind his musical career. And it's motivated him to help intersectional communities embrace every part of themselves.
Pursuing a métier in music was never just a path for Kelly; it was the path. He's always found solace in songs and compositions and as of late, it seems like those dreams of creating impactful melodies are coming to fruition. But the ride has been anything but smooth, as I - Kelly's former middle school and high school classmate - recently learned when we...
When 22-year-old singer Amir Kelly was younger, his grandmother always told him that he was royalty. In fact, his name directly translates to "a few things in Hindi and Arabic," including "king," "prince," and "ruler." For the rising La-based pop-r&b crooner - and "self-crowned Blindian," as his Instagram bio says, referring to his half-Black, half-Indian identity - that's been a major driving force behind his musical career. And it's motivated him to help intersectional communities embrace every part of themselves.
Pursuing a métier in music was never just a path for Kelly; it was the path. He's always found solace in songs and compositions and as of late, it seems like those dreams of creating impactful melodies are coming to fruition. But the ride has been anything but smooth, as I - Kelly's former middle school and high school classmate - recently learned when we...
- 11/17/2019
- by Brea Cubit
- Popsugar.com
Soul, jazz and disco star Patrice Rushen will collect her most memorable recordings from her days on Elektra in a new compilation, Remind Me: The Classic Elektra Recordings 1978 – 1984, out July 19th via Strut Records.
The 15-track project will feature all of Rushen’s chart singles from that era, including R&B and dance hits like “Haven’t You Heard,” “Feels So Real” and “Forget Me Nots” (the latter was her highest Billboard Hot 100 hit, peaking at Number 23; it later served as the foundation for Will Smith’s “Men in Black...
The 15-track project will feature all of Rushen’s chart singles from that era, including R&B and dance hits like “Haven’t You Heard,” “Feels So Real” and “Forget Me Nots” (the latter was her highest Billboard Hot 100 hit, peaking at Number 23; it later served as the foundation for Will Smith’s “Men in Black...
- 6/7/2019
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
People of Earth, behold. A new “Men in Black: International” trailer dropped at midnight Thursday, with Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson starring as the new London-based Men in Black agents.
The spinoff is being compared to “Jurassic World,” in that it will take the series in a newer, bigger direction while giving a nod to the previous films and characters in the series. It also stars Liam Neeson, Kumail Nanjiani, Rafe Spall, Rebecca Ferguson, and Emma Thompson.
In this London-based adventure, the new recruits tackle their biggest, most global threat to date: a mole in the Men in Black organization. From the looks of this trailer, there are some cute little aliens too. And some flying cars. But, sadly, no Will Smith songs that sample Patrice Rushen songs. But we can dream. Unless they won’t let us remember. Oh, come on, you know the song.
Also Read: 'Avengers: Endgame...
The spinoff is being compared to “Jurassic World,” in that it will take the series in a newer, bigger direction while giving a nod to the previous films and characters in the series. It also stars Liam Neeson, Kumail Nanjiani, Rafe Spall, Rebecca Ferguson, and Emma Thompson.
In this London-based adventure, the new recruits tackle their biggest, most global threat to date: a mole in the Men in Black organization. From the looks of this trailer, there are some cute little aliens too. And some flying cars. But, sadly, no Will Smith songs that sample Patrice Rushen songs. But we can dream. Unless they won’t let us remember. Oh, come on, you know the song.
Also Read: 'Avengers: Endgame...
- 4/25/2019
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
If there was any doubt that streaming has transformed the music-publishing business, it was laid to rest on the opening day of the Ascap “I Create Music” Expo at the Loews Hotel in Hollywood.
More than 3,000 participants – from songwriters, music publishers, label executives, artist managers and more – gathered to network for a series of panels by day and showcase performances at night. Among the big names on hand Monday were St. Vincent and Jermaine Dupri, who took to the Dolby Ballroom stage for a session dubbed “Under the Hood,” where he weighed in on the making of Usher’s landmark “Confessions” album.
In welcoming participants to the 13th annual event, Ascap President Paul Williams paid tribute to “the only conference of its kind — totally dedicated to the craft and business of creating music.”
Pointing out that Wednesday’s keynote speaker Meghan Trainor first attended the Expo in 2010 as an aspiring...
More than 3,000 participants – from songwriters, music publishers, label executives, artist managers and more – gathered to network for a series of panels by day and showcase performances at night. Among the big names on hand Monday were St. Vincent and Jermaine Dupri, who took to the Dolby Ballroom stage for a session dubbed “Under the Hood,” where he weighed in on the making of Usher’s landmark “Confessions” album.
In welcoming participants to the 13th annual event, Ascap President Paul Williams paid tribute to “the only conference of its kind — totally dedicated to the craft and business of creating music.”
Pointing out that Wednesday’s keynote speaker Meghan Trainor first attended the Expo in 2010 as an aspiring...
- 5/8/2018
- by Roy Trakin
- Variety Film + TV
With Prince's shocking death, the monumental scope of his influence on music is just starting to become clear. The rock, funk and R&B icon has inspired dozens of today's award-winning artists and has crafted numerous albums that ended up greatly reshaping our current musical landscape. He is not just Prince; he is a king. And unlike some royalty, Prince loved to share his wealth, writing numerous songs for his fellow artists and allowing his music to be covered by other performers as well. Some of Prince's successful pieces may surprise you, especially since he doesn't sing a word on the tracks.
- 4/21/2016
- by Kelli Bender, @kbendernyc
- PEOPLE.com
No MIBs coming this time around for the "Men In Black 3" soundtrack. Just the dulcet grunts and growls of pop star Pitbull, who has appropriated the classic Mickey & Sylvia song "Love is Strange" for "Back in Time," the first single from "Men In Black 3."
Written by Pitbull himself (real name: Armando C. Perez), Marc Kinchen, Adrian Trejo and Urales Vargas, "Back in Time" features lyrics that reference the fact that its a soundtrack song ("You're groovy baby/let's make a movie baby") as well as the "Men in Black" franchise itself. Agent J and Agent K -- Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in the films, respectively -- are given shoutouts, as are their signature black suit-black skinny tie look.
Early impressions of the single from online observers have been muted. Movieline's Jen Yamato noted "the 9 worst, most idiotic and insufferable and insulting parts of this future hit single," while...
Written by Pitbull himself (real name: Armando C. Perez), Marc Kinchen, Adrian Trejo and Urales Vargas, "Back in Time" features lyrics that reference the fact that its a soundtrack song ("You're groovy baby/let's make a movie baby") as well as the "Men in Black" franchise itself. Agent J and Agent K -- Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in the films, respectively -- are given shoutouts, as are their signature black suit-black skinny tie look.
Early impressions of the single from online observers have been muted. Movieline's Jen Yamato noted "the 9 worst, most idiotic and insufferable and insulting parts of this future hit single," while...
- 3/27/2012
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.