Today, Macklemore releases his first-ever holiday song, an original entitled “It’s Christmas Time.” The song features UK soul singer Dan Caplen doing his best Bing Crosby-worthy croon, as well as Macklemore’s eldest daughter Sloane. “It’s Christmas Time” is co-produced by Tyler Dopps and Josh “Budo” Karp. Macklemore will perform the song on Ellen Wednesday, December 18.
Macklemore says of the song,
“Every year around Christmas time I think to myself ‘Just do it Ben. Make the song. You can be the new Mariah Carey’. Well, this year I finally am.”
Baton Rouge, LA rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again continues his streak of delivering standout singles with the release of his latest record, “Dirty Iyanna.” The unique melody features the rap superstar’s hard lyrics over the legendary Michael Jackson’s classic “Dirty Diana” beat. The track is available now via all digital retailers and streaming platforms HERE. In addition, the new release is accompanied by an official visual based on a series of trying life events for the multi-platinum rapper.
“AI YOUNGBOY 2,” was recently announced as the #1 project in the United States, topping Billboard 200 with over 110,000 sales within its first week. The newly released tape, which is the artist’s first ever number one project, is a lyrical masterpiece; it was immediately placed at no. 1 on Apple Music’s Overall Album and Hip-Hop/Rap Album charts upon its release.
He recently gifted fans with another classic visual for “Carter Son,” a standout record from his #1 mixtape. “AI YOUNGBOY 2” – which marks the long awaited follow-up to 2017’s RIAA gold certified “AI YOUNGBOY” – includes the hit singles, “Self Control” and “Make No Sense.” “Self Control” is originally found alongside “Slime Mentality” on YoungBoy’s recently released single-bundle, “THE CONTINUANCE,” with the two tracks each earning critical acclaim upon their release, with HYPEBEAST praising the former for “(showcasing) the rapper’s more introspective and reflective side.”
In this episode of “The Way I See It,” actor and comedian Steve Martin looks at paintings by two early pioneers of American abstraction and takes us on a journey of seeing—shape and color transform into mountains, sky, and water.
At the time, The Beatles’ Let It Be had the highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100, beginning its chart run at No. 6. Paul McCartney first began to play around with “Let It Be” in the recording studio in between takes of “Piggies” in September 1968. Some months later, the song would be rehearsed at Twickenham Film Studios on 3 January 1969, where the group had, the previous day, begun what would become the Let It Be film. It was their final single before Paul McCartney announced his departure from the band.
— Canadian hip hop icon Maestro Fresh Wes is set to perform at the most highly anticipated Toronto Raptors game of the season this Wednesday, December 11th, as the reigning NBA champions face-off against former teammate Kawhi Leonard for the first time since he left for Los Angeles.
“I’m definitely looking forward for Kawhi’s return and to see how he will be received,” says Wes of the mid-week game against the L.A. Clippers.
Ahead of the game, the multi-JUNO Award-winning artist has released his premiere edition of THIS IS EPIC, a curated playlist on Spotify featuring songs from The Weeknd, PARTYNEXTDOOR feat. Drake, Tory Lanez, Killy, and of course, the Maestro himself.
He’ll be bringing that fire to half court this Wednesday in an electrifying, fan-favourite show.
“I’ve performed at Raptors halftime games before,” he says, “but this is the biggest one yet.
“We’re now the world champions, and I’m honoured to be added to the lineup of entertainment.”
Speaking of champions, for starters, Maestro Fresh Wes (Wes Williams) is fresh off his 2019 induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
He’s a multi-award winning recording artist, and the first Canadian Hip Hop artist to have a single — “Let Your Backbone Slide” — hit Gold status on the charts. His iconic 1989 album Symphony In Effect was the first to receive a JUNO Award for Best Rap Recording of the Year, as well as the first Canadian Hip Hop album to go Platinum. A true pioneer, he was also the first Canadian hip hop artist to have a song rank on Billboard’s Top 20 Rap Singles chart.
Maestro’s songs “Reach For The Sky (feat. Classified and Blue Rodeo)” and “The Distance (feat. Saukrates)” were featured throughout the Olympics, 2014 Winter and 2016 Summer, respectively.
As an actor, Williams has appeared on numerous film and television projects, including The Line — for which he was nominated for a Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series — and as the character of Paul Dwyer in the CBC hit sitcom, Mr. D.
He has been inducted into the Scarborough Walk of Fame, received the 2003 Reel World Film Festival Trailblazer Award, and was a guest speaker for the Governor General of Canada’s Summit on Urban Arts.
Williams’ paths as both an author and motivational speaker merged with the release of his motivational book, Stick To Your Vision. With its foreword written by Public Enemy’s Chuck D, and content long-credited for inspiring fellow Canadian hip hop star Drake, the book has been incorporated by multiple school curriculums as required reading. His 2017 TED Talks on the subject of Self – Revision has been inspiring to many who have watched him evolve for over three decades.
2019 commemorates the 30 year anniversary of his first album and it’s a great time to celebrate as well as to motivate young minds. Recently, Wes performed and was a presenter at the 2019 JUNO Awards, performed at the final home game for the Vancouver Canucks’ 2019 NHL season, and supported the Kidney Foundation of BC.
Bill McClintock has just released a soon-to-be classic Christmas collaboration that combines Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” with the heavy metal Marilyn Manson vocals from “The Beautiful People”.
With a voice CBC calls “incredibly earnest” with an “honest purity,” Canadian singer/songwriter Alex Whorms continues to shine in her favourite holiday song, releasing a video covering Joni Mitchell’s “River” as the season swings into full-gear.
“Joni Mitchell’s ‘River’ has been my favourite Christmas song for years,” says the Ajax-born, Hamilton-based artist of her affections for the track, originally released in 1971. “I heard it for the first time when I was about 13… My family was watching an old rerun of ‘Ally McBeal’ — it was the episode where Robert Downey Jr’s character sang it, and I couldn’t believe how beautiful the song was.
“I immediately looked up the lyrics and taught myself how to play it on the piano.
“I’ve pulled it out again and again every year.”
“It’s cool for me that the lyrics mention ‘skating away’ because I was a competitive figure skater for most of my life,” she marvels. “Skating is extremely therapeutic for me… It feels like flying.
“With so many concerts to perform and events to attend, the holidays can start to feel pretty overwhelming for me, so the line ‘I wish I had a river I could skate away on’ holds real meaning to me.”
The video was recorded in one take live with Konrad Swierczek producing the audio and Zach Symak directing the video, and comes at the close of an equally busy year — not just season — for Whorms; she released her second EP, Burgundy, in September, and its premiere single “Sunset” was featured on CBC Radio One’s ‘In The Key of C.’
Previously, her debut album — 2017’s Our Lives — landed space on CFMU 93.3’s Top 20, I Heart Hamilton’s Top 5, and WRUW 93.1, and Whorms also received the 2019 Hamilton Arts Award for Emerging Artist in Music, and performed at Canadian Music Week, Hamilton’s Festival of Friends, and completed Canada’s Music Incubator’s Artist Entrepreneur Program.
Boyd to Welcome the Holidays with A WINTER FANTASY Concert Special on PBS flagship station WNED serving viewers in Toronto, Buffalo and Southern Ontario.
The special is now also available to stream in Canada on CBC GEM.
World-renowned classical guitarist, Liona Boyd and her protégé, Andrew Dolson perfectly capture a magical evening in the concert A Winter Fantasy airing at on WNED-TV and several other PBS stations. WNED Airdates are Dec 16th at 10:00pm and Dec 25th at 1am.
Ever since her platinum album, “A Guitar for Christmas,” Boyd’s music has been part of the holidays. A Winter Fantasy is a one-hour concert film that interweaves beloved traditional pieces, such as “Silent Night” and “The Huron Carol,” with Boyd’s own original material and the ethereal orchestrations of Peter Bond. Dolson accompanies Boyd on guitar and vocals as well as giving soaring operatic vocal renditions of “O Holy Night” and Boyd’s own epic “Aurora Borealis,” a tribute to the beauty of the northern lights.
Recorded in historic Richmond Hill United Church, A Winter Fantasy also features special guest, Grammy nominated flautist Ron Korb, as well as the Chancel Choir of Richmond Hill. Korb adds his acclaimed playing on two pieces, and The Chancel choir joins along with the exuberant Caribbean rhythms of “Christmas Dreams” to close out this special concert. Stunning winter scenery from Boyd’s homeland of Canada add visual beauty to the production.
A Winter Fantasy brings Boyd’s unique blend of romantic style and serene classical guitar music to the screen. A Winter Fantasy, the album is available around the world on iTunes, Spotify and in stores across Canada. The audiobook of Liona’s best selling autobiography In My Own Key, read by the author, is also available now on audible.com and audible.ca
Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien has confirmed details of the North American debut of EOB’s live incarnation: EOB will play intimate shows in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Toronto in February 2020.
These exclusive events will serve as prelude to a full scale tour in support of EOB’s debut album, due out early 2020 on Capitol Records. EOB’s live band on these four dates and the upcoming tour will be comprised of Hinako Omori, Ross Chapman, Dishan Abrahams and Alvin Ford, Jr..
Ed recently unveiled the first sights and sounds from his debut under the EOB moniker, in the form of the song “Brasil.” Described by STEREOGUM as “a nine-minute shapeshifting epic,” “Brasil” begins life as a plaintive ballad built on the bare bones of O’Brien’s voice and acoustic guitar before blooming into “a pulsing motorik driver that beats out into space” (CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND). “Brasil” was also adapted into a nine-minute short film, bringing to life a concept by Ed and director Andrew Donoho that—in the words of ROLLING STONE—”shows humanity coming together after Earth is visited by an alien power.”
The early 2020 release date of the EOB album will be revealed shortly, as will its title. The album was recorded from the fall of 2017 through early 2019. Produced by Flood and mixed by Alan Moulder, EOB’s debut album features contributions from Omar Hakim, Colin Greenwood, Adam “Cecil” Bartlett, David Okumu and Richie Kennedy, Laura Marling, Adrian Utley, Nathan East and Glenn Kotche.
Tickets for these shows will be on sale to the general public Friday, December 11 at 10am local time.
February 7 Toronto, ON Great Hall
February 8 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
February 10 New York, NY Le Poisson Rouge
February 13 Los Angeles, CA Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever
