Music

Married novelists Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman confirmed this week that they were in the process of developing a TV series about the tragic 2016 Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland, which resulted in the deaths of 36 people. After an outcry on social media, Waldman had conversations with families and friends of victims. She announced on Twitter yesterday that the Ghost Ship show is no longer in development.

“Over the past few days, however, we’ve heard from parents of the victims, from friends and survivors, and from conscientious members of the community, appealing to us to reconsider telling the story of the Ghost Ship,” she wrote. “These appeals have been heartbreaking to hear, and they have changed our minds. … At this time, therefore, we will not be proceeding, and will do our part to leave the families and survivors to their grief and their loss, in the fervent hope that someday they find not just comfort but also a measure of justice.”

The Ghost Ship fire resulted in multiple trials and lawsuits. Max Harris (the “creative director of the warehouse”) was acquitted on all charges, while Derick Almena (the master tenant of the warehouse) is set to be retried.

Read “After Ghost Ship Fire, Oakland DIY Grapples With a Broken System” on the Pitch.

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As she took the stage to perform a mini-concert on Jimmy Fallon’s late-night show, Solange revealed that a new version of her When I Get Home short film would arrive later in December for all platforms (the original was only on Apple Music).

That updated, “director’s cut” version, has now been released. While it’s largely the same as its predecessor, it is roughly five minutes longer and contains an extra song — “Dreams (Demo/2)” — previously not seen in its Apple Music format (this version was was only shown in museums). Filmed in Marfa, Texas, the short film can be seen below.

Solange Releases Director’s Cut Of ‘When I Get Home’ Short Film was last modified: December 14th, 2019 by Meka

Stormzy has spoken out about Michael Gove’s comments on the rapper and subsequent appropriation of his lyrics, calling it a “weaponised tactic”.

After Stormzy publicly backed Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party on November 26, Gove said: “I think we again know that Stormzy, when he took to the stage at Glastonbury wearing a stab vest, he made clear what his political views were then. He is a far, far better rapper than he is a political analyst.”

Gove then went on to channel Stormzy in a tweet that backfired on Twitter. “I set trends dem man copy,” Gove tweeted in reply to Labour MP Angela Rayner. The tweet was subsequently ridiculed.

I set trends dem man copy https://t.co/85mTHXaZDn

— Michael Gove (@michaelgove) November 26, 2019

In a new interview published in today’s issue of The Observer Magazine (December 15), which Stormzy has guest edited, the ‘Vossi Bop’ rapper responded to Gove’s comments and attitude.

“It’s the classic, ‘You’re just a rapper,’” he said in the piece. “Using ‘I set trends dem man copy’… No one was talking about that. I wasn’t talking about music, I wasn’t talking about ‘Shut Up’ – I was talking about politics. So him saying that is like he said: ‘Oh, no, forget politics. This is what he does. He’s a rapper.’ It’s a weaponised tactic.

“They do it to young people, they do it to black people, they do it to rappers, they do it to entertainers: ‘Just shut up and rap.’ Stay in your lane. It’s very telling of who these people are.”

Stormzy added he had no concerns about his own intelligence. “As much as I’m a rapper, I’ve also done X, Y, Z. But they’re dismissing everything else. They just look at me and say: ‘No.’ They reduce us to whatever they need us to be and dismiss it.

“So when they dismiss me it’s like, ‘You lot picked the wrong fucking rapper.’”

Speaking to BBC Radio 1Xtra, Stormzy said the Conservatives party’s general election victory felt like a “dark cloud”.

“As soon as it hit midnight I was signing albums. But it was like a dark cloud, you could feel it,” he said, describing Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a “sinister man”.

Gershon Kingsley, whose work with synthesizers helped popularize the instrument in its early days, has died. He was 97, according to Billboard.

Kingsley was most famous for his 1969 song “Popcorn,” which was one of the first electronic singles to hit the airwaves. The song became a hit for the group Hot Butter in 1972, and Crazy Frog revived it again in 2005. (Aphex Twin and Muse have covered it, too). Kingsley also co-wrote “Baroque Hoedown,” which was used as the theme song to Disneyland’s Main Street Electrical Parade, with fellow synth pioneer Jean-Jacques Perrey. His song “Rebirth” has been sampled in multiple hip-hop songs, including Freddie Gibbs’ and Madlib’s “Soul Right.”

Kingsley was born Goetz Gustaf Ksinski in Bochum, Germany, in 1922. As violence increased against German Jews, Kingsley fled his home country in 1938 before immigrating to the United States in 1946. He landed in New York before relocating to Los Angeles, and he moved to New York in 1955 after earning a degree in music from the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. In New York, Kingsley worked on Broadway and off-Broadway productions including La Plume de ma Tante, Porgy & Bess, and The Entertainer. He was nominated for a Best Musical Direction Tony award in 1958. He went on to work as a musical director for Josephine Baker, the Robert Joffrey Ballet, and the TV special The World of Kurt Weill, which starred Lotte Lenya.

Kingsley first joined forces with Perrey in 1966, and they released their collaborative album The In Sound From Way Out that year. In 1967, Kingsley staged a performance with John Cage where he improvised tape-recorder sounds while Cage read work by Buckminster Fuller. Inspired by rock operas, Kingsley wrote Shabbat for Today as an effort to draw younger people back into worship services. He premiered it at a New Jersey synagogue in 1968. Kingsley’s work with the Moog synthesizer in this period distinguished him as a pioneer on the instrument.

Kingsley went on to form the First Moog Quartet in 1970—the first ensemble of synthesizers. Their October 1970 performance at Carnegie Hall was the venue’s first live performance of synthesized music. In the 1980s, Kingsley moved toward New Age music and digital synthesizers like the Fairlight CMI and the Sinclavier II. He continued to work on music throughout the rest of his life, releasing multiple projects about the lingering trauma of the Holocaust and occasionally uploading new works to his Soundcloud page.

This weekend’s Saturday Night Sexy selection may be the reason your favorite NFL team (Shake, we’re looking in your direction) is favored for a deep postseason run.

Meet Angela, the partner of San Francisco 49ers linebacker Kwon Alexander. He may have been placed on injured reserve back on Week 9, but the Niners have been chugging right along without him… maybe she’s their good-luck charm?

Either way, follow Angela on Instagram, and check out highlights below.

Saturday Night Sexy: Angela was last modified: December 15th, 2019 by 2DBZ

New York rapper Lil Tjay has shared his latest single. “Go In” is produced by JD on Tha Track. Give it a listen below.

Lil Tjay shared his studio debut True 2 Myself back in October. That album featured contributions from Lil Baby, Lil Wayne, Lil Durk, and others. True 2 Myself included Lil Tjay’s single “LANESWITCH”—also produced by JD on Tha Track—which arrived with a summery music video.

Read Pitchfork’s Rising interview “Get to Know Hip-Hop Heartthrob Lil Tjay, Who Wants to Be the Next Usher.”

Offering a behind-the-scenes look at the making of their major label debut, WWCD, fans have gotten one-on-one time with Westside Gunn and producer Daringer. Now, the third part of Griselda’s mini-documentary series — “May Street” — turns the spotlight onto Conway The Machine.

Getting into detail about the night that would change his entire life both physically and mentally, the doc fast-fowards three years later from the block to the studio sessions for WWCD, where Conway admits that the crew aren’t together in the studio as much as they were before due to their lives changing and improving. Like its two predecessors, its a fascinating watch, and can be seen below.

Watch Part 3 of Griselda’s WWCD Documentary: “May Street” was last modified: December 14th, 2019 by Meka

Roy Loney, the original frontman for ’60s rock group Flamin’ Groovies, has died, according to a post on the band’s Facebook Page and San Francisco CBS affiliate KPIX 5. “We are all deeply saddened and stunned to learn that our dearest friend and bandmate, Roy Loney, passed away this morning,” the group wrote. A cause of death has not yet been revealed. Loney was 73 years old.

Loney founded Flamin’ Groovies in the Bay Area in 1965, though they were originally called the Chosen Few. The group’s first release was the 1968 EP Sneakers. Their debut LP Supersnazz featured a version of Bobby Toup’s “The Girl Can’t Help It,” as well as John Vincent and Huey “Piano” Smith’s “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie ‘Flu.” Loney remained in Flamin’ Groovies for the band’s next two albums, 1970’s Flamingo and 1971’s Teenage Head. Following his departure in 1971, lead guitarist Cyril Jordan took over as frontman.

Loney left Flamin’ Groovies to pursue a solo career, releasing a handful of albums as Roy Loney & the Phantom Movers between 1979 and 1993. His most recent project was 2009’s Got Me A Hot One! with Señor No.

After releasing his new album SUGA in May (a DopeHouse review can be read here), Kyle Dion perhaps ends his 2019 with a new single, “Stay The Night.”

Dedicated to those who are trying to have a baby in September (that’s nine months from now… get it?), the track can be heard below.

Kyle Dion – “Stay The Night” was last modified: December 14th, 2019 by Meka