• 5 Times Square Music Events from 2014 That Weren't 'Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve'; Featuring U2, Kanye West, Michael Jackson and More

    Happy New Year to those who read this article seven hours late, and happy preparation for the new year to those of you reading it today. Right now most of the music world's attention is on Times Square for another night of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, featuring performances from Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line and Idina Menzel. Midtown's main tourist attraction has long been the headquarters for the American celebration of another year coming to close but this isn't the only time big name musical acts have stopped by. Here are five other musical events you may have missed in the last year as you were clawing your way toward the Bubba Gump's location for lunch.

  • Nicki Minaj Speaks On Black Artists Taking a Political Stance, References Kanye West [PHOTO]

    Inside the new issue of "Rolling Stone," due out on newsstands this Friday, Jan. 2, Nicki Minaj speaks out for the first time about the role of black artists in relation to recent events regarding police violence and racial tension.Cutting straight to the core issues surrounding Eric Garner's tragic death, Minaj said that, "It's gotten to the point where people feel like there's no accountability. If you are law enforcement and you do something to a black person, you can get away with it."Minaj also reflects on the silence from other celebrities, such as Kanye West specifically, who received media backlash for discussing racism in the past. She referenced West's comments in 2005 during A Concert for Hurricane Relief."People say, 'Why aren't black celebrities speaking out more?' But look what happened to Kanye when he spoke out. People told him to apologize to Bush!" she said.

  • Shabazz Palaces Share New Track 'Ham Sandwich' [LISTEN]

    Seattle experimental hip-hop duo Shabazz Palaces have shared a new track titled "Ham Sandwich," which you can check out below. The brief track is backed by a relatively traditional boom bap beat, along with some wonderfully spacey and psychedelic production flourishes that would make Dan the Automator proud. Since the track cuts off so suddenly after just two minutes, this might just be a teaser for the actual song.Shabazz Palaces shared the song earlier this morning, Dec. 31, through their Twitter account, along with this cryptic message: "Magic Makes the Music More." You can check out that tweet here:Magic Makes the Music More https://t.co/xVAqkW0XHY — Shabazz Palaces (@shabazzpalaces) December 31, 2014You can check out Shabazz Palaces's "Ham Sandwich" here:

  • Taylor Swift No. 2 All Time for Weeks at No. 1 with '1989'; No New Albums to Interrupt Nicki Minaj, Pentatonix and One Direction Post-Christmas

    Another week and another run at history by Taylor Swift: Her album 1989 managed to top the Billboard 200 for the seventh time during its nine weeks on the charts, selling 326,000 full copies and generating 430 multi-metric equivalent albums (MME's). That no. 1 spot moves her into second place all-time for women atop the Billboard 200 with 31 weeks at no. 1, trailing only Whitney Houston and her crazy 46 week total.

  • Deadmau5 Announces Remix Contest For Dillon Francis's Remix Of 'Some Chords' From '5 Years Of Mau5'

    This one is a little meta, but bear with us -- it is deadmau5 and Dillon Francis, so anything is possible. Deadmau5's label, mau5trap is inviting producers to remix Dillon Francis's remix of deadmau5's classic 2010 track "Some Chords." The grand prize winner will take home a large pile of loot that includes a large stack of modular synth modules, some software, an official mau5trap release and other goodies. The remix contest ends on Jan. 19, 2015, so get your DAW open ASAP and get working on this remix for the chance to impress deadmau5 and his team.

  • Taylor Swift's Former Classmate Reveals Inspiration Behind "Picture To Burn"

    Taylor Swift is known for writing breakup songs about her ex-boyfriends. Fans get a kick out of trying to decipher the boy behind the ballad. Following the release of Swift's latest album, 1989, the wife of one of Swift's high school crushes is claiming that her husband is the man behind Swift's 2008 hit "Picture To Burn" off her eponymous debut album.

  • Dimebag Darrell: Unreleased Song 'Whiskey Road' Surfaces from Late Pantera Guitarist [LISTEN]

    Guitar magazine "GuitarWorld" has unearthed a previously unreleased song by late Pantera/Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott titled "Whiskey Road", which you can check out below. According to "Rolling Stone," "Whiskey Road" was recorded back in 2001 as Pantera was finishing up their final U.S. tour, with Dimebag playing every instrument on the recording himself. The song has been pressed to a special vinyl flexi-disc by GuitarWorld as a part of their upcoming Dimebag tribute issue, and have even shared the song's guitar tabs.Although Dimebag's work with Pantera and Damageplan was pretty riff-heavy and brutal, "Whiskey Road" is more mellow and country-tinged, with acoustic guitar being the primary instrument, though Dimebag still makes room for some bluesy, distorted guitar solos.You can check out Dimebag Darrell's "Whiskey Road" here:

  • Usher, Migos Get Bold on New Single "I Still Got It" [LISTEN]

    Both Usher and Migos love then some Atlanta, so it was just a matter of time until they pair up to release a new single. And, now we have our wish. Today (Dec. 31), a hot track from Usher and the "Versace" group was released, "I Still Got It."

  • Rich Homie Quan, Yo Gotti Appear on SBOE's 'Better Than Them' with Boosie Badazz [LISTEN]

    Queens hip-hop group SBOE — Slow Bucks Over Everything — have shared a new track titled "Better Than Them," featuring guest appearances by Rich Homie Quan, Yo Gotti and Boosie Badazz, which you can check out below. According to "Hot New Hip-Hop," this track originally appeared earlier this year on an SBOE mixtape, only without the guest spots from Quan, Gotti and Boosie, so this seems like a deliberate attempt to turn this into a hit. The hook is decent enough, so it might actually work — though the "Scarface" sample at the beginning is almost laughably clichéd at this point in the history of hip-hop.You can check out SBOE's "Better Than Them" featuring Rich Homie Quan, Yo Gotti and Boosie Badazz here:Here is SBOE's original version of "Better Than Them," just in case you were curious:

  • A-Trak Looks Back on Hip-Hop in 2014 with New Op-Ed

    A-Trak has become associated with the dance music scene over the past few years, but his roots in hip-hop are deep. He started out as a hip-hop DJ, winning the DMC DJ Championships at age 15. He was Kanye West's touring disc jockey in 2004 and has been a frequent collaborator with other DJs and rappers like DJ Craze, Wale and Cam'ron. He recently penned a new editorial on Medium on the state of hip-hop and how he thinks the genre has shifted so rapidly over the past year in new and fascinating ways.The main shift has been the fact that the status quo in hip-hop has been challenged and it is being broken down. He uses "Yeezus" as his primary example, as "it broke formats of song structure and challenged the industry. One year later, the left field seeped out of the margins and into the mainstream."One of the primary ways the genre has shifted directions is a move online and how new types of sounds and artists are able to get a voice."More than ever, rap and tech go hand in hand. 2014 was the year of SoundCloud rap — why hasn't anybody pointed that out?" he said.His best example is Drake, who has found OVO rappers on SoundCloud and releases the bulk of his music through the platform.
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