Lil Wayne performs at Billboards Hot 100 Music Festival on August 22nd, 2015 (Benjamin Esakof/Roman's Rap-Up).
The sun was shining bright on the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in New York for the first annual Billboard Hot 100 Music Festival. Day 1 of the jam-packed weekend brought A-list artists like Lil Wayne, Jason Derulo, Axwell^Ingrosso, The Weeknd & more.
Check out photos below:
(Universal Pictures)
When Kendrick Lamar is the interviewer, you know whoever is sitting across from him at the table must be good. Lamar recently sat down for a Billboard cover story with all the living members of the iconic hip-hop/rap group, N.W.A. (N***as Wit Attitude), in wake of the release of Straight Out of Compton, a movie based on N.W.A.’s development and influence in music in the 80s and 90s. Lamar perfectly compliments N.W.A. as both sensations originated from Compton, California. The Hollywood blockbuster is smashing through theaters in its opening weekend. The story is a rare outlier from the historical dramas usually seen rolling through the big screen.
The group was comprised of five main members: Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, DJ Yella, and MC Ren. Its message delved from a raw power growing out of the Compton ghetto, from angst-filled teenagers who passionately threw themselves into a music career without comprehending the enormity of the outcome. Hits off of their first studio album, Straight Out of Compton, included “F**k tha Police.” This song in particular carried harsh words towards the treatment of the black man against some of the madly authoritative, racist policeman. N.W.A never seemed to shy away from crossing the line. Though the group did fall apart as Cube and Dre pursued successful solo careers, N.W.A. seared the image of gangster rap and West Coast hip-hop into mainstream’s memory. Many of their songs were banned from the radio due to the violent content. Dre’s recent and final album, the simply titled Compton, is an ode to not only the movie and N.W.A.’s first album but to the place where the outlier tale began.
You’ve seen Eminem’s relentless pursuit of success in 8 Mile. You’ve seen white brutality and minority suffrage historically unfold in Selma. Straight Out of Compton is a delicate mix of two extremely harsh but intertwined worlds of race and rap. While the plot unfolds in layers of tension revolving around governmental threats, shallow management, and shady entourages, the film also incorporates historical grounding in relation to events that shaped N.W.A and its members. The “not guilty” verdict in the trial of police officers filmed violently beating Rodney King sparked the intense L.A. Riots in 1992. This huge national event attracted the attention of N.W.A. members as the viewer witnesses its impact on their lives. In addition, the AIDs crisis hovering over homophobia makes a noteworthy statement in the film; Eazy-E passed away from the disease at age thirty-one in the mid 90s. His diagnosis depicted onscreen emotionally reconnects the former members of N.W.A. and also demonstrates a soft side to the otherwise fierce reality of gangster rap culture.
In addition to Eazy-E’s character development, Dre and Cube intensify as both artists and individuals throughout the plot line. Both men oversaw the production of the film; Cube’s son, O’Shea Jackson Jr., plays a younger Cube in the film. The viewer can notice their influences in the story’s portrayal. Though Dre and Cube are undoubtedly the most talented and successful of N.W.A., their characters are also easily empathetic with an audience as N.W.A’s former manager, Jerry Heller, and other side characters take on the offbeat villainous roles that act as mere obstacles in the way of their current successes. Cube’s lyrical talent flows through all of the film’s studio and concert rap scenes, particularly in his recorded disses towards N.W.A. at a time when his solo career success and his former group were at odds with one another. Dre also rolls in as a powerful, dark cloud of intangible talent as his character discovers new paths to follow as a rising producer. Arguably the most iconic scene in the film occurs when Dre decides to leave the bullying atmosphere of Death Row Records and declares that his new label will be called Aftermath. Audiences that understand Aftermath’s success fully embrace the directing genius behind this on camera moment.
The film is full of turmoil and metamorphosing talent, yet it does not fail to humor its viewers. The youthful ages of N.W.A. members create a perfect backdrop for the music industry’s glamorization of parties and sex, but it’s never without a character’s side joke or goofy dilemma to entertain. In addition, there are many well-known artists who are represented due to their connections with N.W.A., specifically with producer Dre. Snoop Dogg and Tupac are both discovered by Dre in the film during his time at Death Row Records. The imitations of the mega rap stars are well done to anyone who appreciates hip-hop. Names such as Snoop and Tupac begin to slowly fill in the range of influence N.W.A. had on the development of their genre; it creates familiarity to the viewer while also demonstrating the intertwinement of hip-hop subgenres.
Straight Out of Compton’s story is more than an inevitable box office success or big-time artist advertisement. Instead, it combines the immature and raw drive of youth with the evolution of a once-sheltered culture. As a viewer, you cannot believe the horrors of the King beating or the misconduct of officers towards rambunctious boys who later become some of the hugest names in the industry. Yet, there’s Michael Brown. Trayvon Martin. The Baltimore Riots. Fresh gears in the hip-hop realm: Kendrick Lamar. These forces between race and rap are still at work. Society has not completely healed from the reality that N.W.A. experienced and honestly spoke about. The fourteen-year fight for the creation of this film stands legitimized. Compton, California is on the map. Much more than just a ghetto where a few boys recorded music, it stands for the ever-changing dialogue between societal issues and the development of hip-hop culture.
Straight Outta Compton is now playing in theaters everywhere.
Meghan Trainor performs on August 6th, 2015 in Boston, MA (Jenna Cavanaugh/Roman's Rap-Up).
Meghan Trainor’s “MTrain" Tour pulled into Boston’s Blue Hills Bank Pavilion Thursday night for another sold out hometown show. Much like Trainor’s personality, the show was high energy and upbeat. Since it was Trainor’s hometown show, her family attendance made the night particularly special. Trainor sang her hits “Lips Are Movin’” and “Dear Future Husband” as well as an “All About that Bass” encore that included an explosion of canon confetti into the crowd. She certainly sang with fans in mind as she pulled two crowd members up onstage for a dance party and made her way through the audience. The openers Life of Dillon and Charlie Puth complimented the tour vibe well, and Puth went back onstage to sing his collaboration, “Marvin Gaye,” with Trainor during her set. She demonstrated that her success as a female artist combines a punch of girl power with a dusting of sparkle.
Berner performs at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA on July 28th, 2015 (Jenna Cavanaugh/Roman's Rap-Up).
If you were anywhere near the corner of Massachusetts Ave and Brookline late last night, you could hear the faint sound of fire alarms echoing from a nearby building. The rings seeped under the closed doors of Middle East Upstairs, a well-known Cambridge music venue connected to the Middle East Restaurant and its sister venue, Middle East Downstairs. Behind the closed doors, plumes of smoke filled the intimate space as rapper Berner laid out lyrics onstage. The alarms screamed at the increasing smokiness, but Berner and the crowd couldn’t have seemed more pleased to let the show go on as they strongly chanted, “Let us smoke!”
Hours before Berner’s "Cookies or Better Tour" stop in Boston, the rapper spoke on his first headlining tour. “We feel like Cookies is some of the best weed out right now, and if you’re going to come to the show, bring Cookies or better, if you got something else, come smoke it up, come share it.”
The leafy green plant pokes its head into every aspect of the business that Berner is so successfully a part of. Instead of using weed as solely a drug to get high, Berner and his boys create a social bond and experience in order to connect to fans. Have weed? “Come share it.” This leads to Berner’s version of meet-and-greets; instead of solely taking a selfie and talking for a few minutes, Berner has offered a deal where fans can get high and hang out. He put simply, “If I was a little kid, and I could pay to go smoke with Snoop, I’d definitely do it. Not comparing myself to Snoop or nothin’, but there are people who just want to smoke.” The rapper connects with his fans on that personal level by taking time to embrace the common interest: getting high. “Just seeing how far music reaches,” Berner acknowledged, is the difference between a microphone in a studio and onstage.
As he mentioned Snoop, Berner has collaborated with many other iconic artists including Wiz Khalifa whose record label, Taylor Gang Entertainment, signed Berner years earlier. “If you’re in the room with a bunch of rappers, you’re going to want to rap dope… every time I’m in a room with all rappers, I come tighter than I usually do.” The nature of the small group at Taylor Gang Entertainment, including Juicy J who toured through the House of Blues Boston earlier this summer, seems to push Berner as an artist. In response to a possible next collaboration, Berner hopefully answered, “Ghostface Killah. That’d be tight.”
The rapper has dropped a new track recently that producer Scoop Deville played during the show. “Murda Murda” is a new collaboration with Paul Wall and Demrick that stemmed from a session in Houston. Berner explained, “We just met up with Paul Wall in Houston, poured some syrup, popped a Xanax, smoked some weed, and just made a song… it wasn’t a planned release or anything.” Berner’s career as a rapper stemmed from his extensive background with weed. It begged the question: does he have a favorite type? “Right now… Skittles… you know, you move around… I’ll go for Skittles or Lemon Tree.” Joint preferable.
The crowd was nothing short of ecstatic to see Berner and his boys lighting up onstage as he laid down hits such as “20 Joints.” “We wanna say thank you on this tour,” Berner noted, “for everyone who pushed the envelope, meaning in these cities where weed is not legal… where venues don’t let you smoke, they fire it up and risk their little freedom… so we appreciate it.” You heard the guy. Let them smoke.
Taylor Swift performs in Foxboro on Saturday, July 25th (Angela Smith/Patriot Ledger).
Taylor Swift brought her sold-out “1989 World Tour” to Foxborough, MA on Friday and Saturday for a double header.
Opening with her song “Welcome To New York,” Taylor stood at attention after each line, taking in the energy from the over 55,000 people in attendance. Electronic bracelets, given to fans as they entered the stadium, lit up in unison for a dazzling light show— but that wasn’t the only light show the Boston crowd was in for.
After making the crowd go crazy with her radio hit “Bad Blood,” the singer slowed things down with a dark, acoustic rendition of “I Knew You Were Trouble,” before speeding things up and getting back to her heart-pounding set.
Addressing the crowd, Taylor said that she’d been “counting down the days to these two [Massachusetts] shows,” and how excited she was to be back. “I’ll never forget that this was the first NFL stadium I sold out,” the singer said.
Swift quickly got back to the music, but not without a surprise. The singer proudly introduced her surprise guests for the night, pop-duo MKTO. Oller and Malcolm, assisted by Taylor, sang their radio hit, “Classic.”
Swift soon rose above the crowd to sing “15,” with the stage rotating around the entire audience for the following song, “You Belong with Me.”
You can only say so much about a Taylor Swift show. Hit after hit, seamless transitions, getting the crowd to belt every word to “Bad Blood,” it’s how the singer connects with the crowd that makes her show so special. Swift said to the audience, “You’re going to make mistakes over and over and over again in your life.” She continued, “One thing I can tell you is the mistakes you make do not make you damaged, they make you wiser if you take something from them.”
“I think you’re amazing,” was the vibe that the “Love Song” singer made sure everyone felt before they left.
The show ended with a bang (literally) as fireworks shot above the stadium with Taylor performing “Shake It Off” to a rainbow-lit crowd.
