The Wrap-Up: Week of July 20th

Welcome to the Wrap-Up, our highlights in music news from the week, brought to you by the faces of BRU. Zoe, Alisa, and Gabriella are members of the editorial team, here to feature our favorite snippets of recent events.  Zoe’s notes: The new trailer for Hustlers, released this week, features a roll-call of badass singers and actors, including Cardi B, Lizzo, J.Lo, Julia Stiles, and Constance Wu. This upcoming movie, directed by Lorene Scafaria of Seeking A Friend for the End of the World, is based on the true story of strip club workers who swindled Wall Street suits out of their money in the mid-2000s (if you want to read the original story, check out Jessica Pressler’s article “The Hustlers at Scores).” Set to Cardi B’s “Money,” the extravagant neon-lit trailer shows these women dancing, scheming, and rolling in cash, all while wearing some bomb outfits. With their fame, strong personalities, and take-no-BS images, the women cast in this film will no doubt play the roles of the brilliant and ruthless scammers perfectly. The movie will come out on September 13th — you can watch the trailer below. Rappers Lil Baby and DaBaby have come together for one of the most fitting collaborations ever. The pair teamed up for a single on hip hop collective Quality Control’s new album. Produced by Wheezy, the track is called — you’d never guess — “Baby.” (It’s the perfect soundtrack to the 2019 “im baby” meme)!  This track is actually Lil Baby and DaBaby’s third collab, and the Southern rappers trade off bragging about their jewelry, private planes, and fame. It’s a pretty typical trap song, but the Babies of the hip hop family have enough novelty draw and wacky charisma to pull it off. The Quality Control compilation album is coming out on August 16th — until then, listen to “Baby” below. Red Hearse is the new musical project by producer and Bleachers singer Jack Antonoff, hip hop singer/songwriter Sam Dew, and producer Sounwave. The group’s debut album is set to drop this summer, and their newest single “Half Love” was released on July 17th with a eerily beautiful music video starring indie-rock queen St. Vincent. This isn’t the first time Antonoff and St. Vincent have collaborated; he produced her 2017 album Masseduction. In the video, St. Vincent breaks into a creepy, abandoned department store to buy figurines of the Red Hearse members; the checkout clerk is none other than Antonoff himself. As she walks out of the store into the night, wearing an angular purple dress and killer pumps, she passes a red hearse idling in the parking lot. The dark, ghost-town feel of the video is at odds with the song’s dancey funk, but it makes for an exciting combination — I’m intrigued to hear the new album. Watch “Half Love” below! Alisa’s notes: King Princess has announced her debut album Cheap Queen and has dropped the second single, “Prophet.” The album has been hyped up for about a year now, and the singles have only added to the intrigue. “Prophet” has all of the sultriness that other iconic King Princess songs like “Talia” and “1950” have made us crave. Additionally, “Prophet” showcases a more nuanced style for the indie singer. She’s refining her style, focusing on her production, and letting her fans eagerly await for the arrival of that intersection. Stay tuned for the album, which should be released sometime this fall. Believe it or not, another music festival has filed for bankruptcy! At this point, I truly don’t know how people managed to throw music festivals in the first place. Anyways, the newest festival to file for bankruptcy is the Canadian Roxodus Festival which was a rock-dominated event featuring musicians like Nickelback, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kid Rock, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Blondie. The festival was canceled days before it was set to begin and has left vendors and fans alike wondering where their money has disappeared to. Eventbrite has created a relief program for fans who bought tickets through their service. Other than that, there have been no set answers given on where the money needed to refund everyone will come from. Willow Smith has released her self-titled album, which has been eagerly anticipated (at least by me.) The 18-year-old continues to astound with her musical complexity, which can only be categorized as experimental. Yet, the music doesn’t drive the listener away with its abstraction. Rather, it continues to draw people in with its oddities, making the tracks ever more engaging. Willow’s brother Jaden has also released music this month. Willow has one track that features her brother, perfectly finding an intersection between her unique voice and his more classic rap style. If you haven’t heard her music before, give this album a listen ASAP and watch as she sonically breaks away from her own familial fame and the music that has come before her. Gabriella’s notes:  “Cats” the musical is being reprised once more. The long-running Broadway show is making its way to Hollywood in the most grandiose way possible. The trailer, which was released on YouTube on July 18, features an array of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Taylor Swift, Judi Dench, James Corden, and Jason Derulo are all set to headline the film, which seems to be an eerily true-to-script reenactment. The trailer has received immense buzz, not only for all of its noteworthy names, but also its unsettling cross between live action animation and poor costuming. All the actors wear catsuits for the film, allowing each to truly be in character. The film, which is set for release this holiday season, is sure to gain a lot of attention, but we’ll see if it’s for the right reasons. One highlight is Jennifer Hudson’s rendition of “Memory,” the show’s most remarkable song. Concerns over the film have emerged, however, including the not-so-subtle whitewashing of the lead, Francesca Hayward (who is a Black woman), in her role of the white cat. With decades of fame and musical fortune under his belt, Paul McCartney has made it clear his career is still nowhere near over. The singer, songwriter, and Beatles legend confirmed earlier this week that he’s expanding upon his in-studio talents. In fact, he’s taking his musical prowess to Broadway with It’s a Wonderful Life. McCartney plans to develop a musical version of the famed feel-good family movie for the stage. Developing music for such a classic is by no means an easy task, and it’s not a project McCartney ever planned on taking on, but it’s sure to be a hit. The play will hopefully be hitting the stage by 2020, most likely just in time for the holidays. Keep an eye out, you’ll probably want to grab those tickets far in advance. Beyonce and Meghan Markle met this past weekend. That’s it. That’s the update. We can thank the Mercury retrograde.