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    Lil Nas X Accepts Invitation to Join Recording Academy Ahead of 2021 Oscars

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    The ‘Old Town Road’ hitmaker is among the new members of the Recording Academy as the organization vows to fight lack of diversity ahead of the 93rd Oscar Awards.
    Jul 10, 2020
    AceShowbiz – Lil Nas X and Victoria Monet lead a diverse class of more than 2,300 music professionals invited to join America’s Recording Academy.
    The 21-year-old rapper, who has won two of the Academy’s Grammy Awards, expressed his delight at joining the organisation as a new member in a statement posted on Grammy.com.
    He said, “I’m so honoured to join the Recording Academy’s membership class of 2020. I’m so excited to officially be a part of the family with so many legends in the industry, and to be a new voice to represent other music creators like me out there.”
    Other musicians listed in the class – which is 48 per cent female, 21 per cent African-American, and eight per cent Hispanic – include Victoria Monet, Kiana Lede, Gunna, and Le’Andria Johnson.
    In a roundtable with some of the new honourees, existing member John Legend shared, “We can literally be the change that we want to see in the academy. We still need to (be) more diverse… Rather than throw up our hands and say ‘it’s going to be a stodgy, old white guy organization,’ we’re the people that are going to change it.”
    The class of 2020 is nearly twice as large as 2019’s, with Recording Academy chiefs determined to transform its membership and boost the profile of previously underrepresented groups.

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    Lady Antebellum Files Lawsuit After Lady A Demands $10M Payment in Moniker Dispute

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    Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood, and Hillary Scott have launched a legal action against the blues singer, real name Anita White, following dispute over the clash of their stage names.
    Jul 9, 2020
    AceShowbiz – Country trio Lady A’s name battle with a Seattle-based blues singer has turned nasty with the band suing her for refusing to vacate the moniker.
    Anita White, who performs as Lady A, attacked the “Need You Now” hitmakers, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, for grabbing her name after the trio decided the word ‘Antebellum’ was too closely associated with slavery in America’s southern states, but it appeared the two sides had settled the dispute last month (Jun20).
    However, Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood, and Hillary Scott have now filed suit at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, accusing White of attempting to “enforce purported trademarks rights in a mark that Plaintiffs have held for more than a decade.”
    Negotiations between the band and the singer and their respective attorneys broke down after White’s attorney “delivered a draft settlement agreement that included an exorbitant monetary demand,” according to the suit obtained by Billboard.
    “Today we are sad to share that our sincere hope to join together with Anita White in unity and common purpose has ended,” the group says in a statement. “She and her team have demanded a $10 million payment, so reluctantly we have come to the conclusion that we need to ask a court to affirm our right to continue to use the name Lady A, a trademark we have held for many years.”
    After learning of the trio’s name change a month ago, White told Rolling Stone, “This is my life. Lady A is my brand, I’ve used it for over 20 years, and I’m proud of what I’ve done… They’re using the name because of a Black Lives Matter incident that, for them, is just a moment in time… It shouldn’t have taken (police brutality victim) George Floyd to die for them to realise that their name had a slave reference to it.”
    Lady A made the name change following renewed discussions about racial injustice and inequality in the U.S. Antebellum refers to southern culture before the American Civil War, during which many households kept slaves.
    “Our hearts have been stirred with conviction, our eyes opened wide to the injustices, inequality and biases black women and men have always faced and continue to face every day,” the band wrote. “Now, blind spots we didn’t even known existed have been revealed. After much personal reflection, band discussion, prayer and many honest conversations with some of our closest black friends and colleagues, we have decided to drop the word ‘antebellum’ from our name and move forward as Lady A, the nickname our fans gave us almost from the start.”

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    Charlamagne Tha God Is Team T.I. in His Hypothetical 'Verzuz' Battle With 50 Cent

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    Meanwhile, during an interview with AllDef’s ‘Roast This’, the ‘Friends and Family Hustle’ star reveals that Fiddy isn’t his first choice as he initially wants to go against Jay-Z.
    Jul 9, 2020
    AceShowbiz – It remains to be seen if T.I. will ever have a “Verzuz” battle with 50 Cent. However, should the “In Da Club” rapper accept Tip’s challenge for the song battle, the latter has already one person that will be in his team and that’s Charlamagne Tha God.
    The “Breakfast Club” host revealed that he believed Tip would beat Fiddy in a recent episode of the radio show. “Love everything that 50 Cent is about when it comes to his business, but in that Verzuz versus T.I., y’all know I’m on record as saying T.I. is one of my top five to seven favorite rappers of all time, I think T.I. washes 50 Cent in a Verzuz battle,” so he said.
    “When you put together [T.I.’s] own catalog [and] features, it’s not even close,” CTG went on to reason. “It’s really not.”

    Meanwhile, T.I. is pretty confident with his catalog as well. During an interview with AllDef’s “Roast This”, the “Friends & Family Hustle” star shared that he can top Fofty. “I’m doper,” said T.I. “I don’t care who sold however many records.”
    “I don’t care who has more number ones whether that means I’m up, meaning I have more number ones, more records sold, less records sold. Don’t care about that. I think my catalog is doper,” he added.
    Additionally, Tip revealed that 50 wasn’t his first choice for his song battle opponent. “To be honest with you man, I want [Jay-Z!” the husband of Tiny (Tameka Cottle]) said. “Who can see [Jay-Z] sitting down to do a battle? If I’m a billionaire, I’m not finna do that, either, but me and 50 ain’t that far off. As far as our confidence, as far as our bankrolls go, we kinda neck and neck, whether he wants to [admit] it or not. And another thing, it’s personality. I need somebody who has a personality that won’t be so intimidated by my bravado.”

    T.I. challenged Fiddy for a “Verzuz” battle on the latter’s birthday on Monday. “For your birthday, I offer you a challenge, sir,” Tip said in a video that he shared on Instagram. “Pull your a** up with 20 of your records, sit across from me, and get this work, man.”
    “But, I understand if you don’t want to answer to that challenge. Because last time you got challenged Kanye West dusted your a** off, so, you might not wanna do that. Well, guess who ain’t scared of your mothaf***in’ a**, 50?” he went on saying, referencing to the “Clash of the Titans” episode of BET’s 106 & Park featuring Kanye and Fofty as they discussed their respective albums “Graduation” and “Curtis” which were released at the same time.

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    Paloma Faith Snubbed by Record Label After Refusing to Reshoot Interracial Kiss Video

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    The ‘Technicolor’ singer recalls being asked by a music industry executive to reshoot a video in which she kissed a black man at the beginning of her music career.
    Jul 9, 2020
    AceShowbiz – Paloma Faith has claimed her refusal to reshoot a video in which she kissed a black man was responsible for stalling her plans to break America.
    The 38-year-old singer was interviewed by Samira Ahmed for an Intelligence Squared+ online event last month (Jun20) when she revealed that she was asked to reshoot her music video for her 2014 tune “Only Love Can Hurt Like This” because it featured her kissing a Ugandan childhood friend.
    Paloma alleged executives told her “America will not buy a song with a white woman kissing a black man like that,” a request which left her “completely shocked and obviously taken aback.”
    [embedded content]
    The music industry boss – a “very high-up exec who was African American” – told Paloma that “this is the biggest chance we’ve got at breaking the States with your music career.”
    However, Paloma refused, insisting, “If I broke America and made loads of money as a consequence of that, knowing that I’d re-shot a video to make it not a biracial relationship, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself, I don’t want that money. It’s dirty.”
    When the “Stone Cold Sober” star told the exec she would “break America on my terms,” he is said to have responded “OK” and flown her back to her native England.
    “And I didn’t hear from my record company again after that,” she added.
    But Paloma hasn’t given up on her dreams of finding success Stateside, smiling, “There’s still time.”

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    Young Thug Responds to Pusha T Accusing Drake of Snitching: Do It on Your Song

    WENN

    Blasting the former Clipse member’s verse as ‘weak,’ Thugger doesn’t take his collaborator’s explanation about his beef with the Canadian star and alleges that he only wanted to ride Pop Smoke’s coattails.
    Jul 8, 2020
    AceShowbiz – Young Thug and Pusha T’s social media war continues as the former blasts the latter for using Pop Smoke’s song to diss Drake. Responding to the GOOD Music president’s claims that the Canadian superstar is a snitch, Thugger still doesn’t care about the two rappers’ beef and has called out Pusha again for riding Smoke’s coattails.
    “First of all, your verse is seven days if you know what I mean,” Thug said in an Instagram video posted on Tuesday, July 7. “I’m talking about weak. Second of all, you already went crazy the first time, so you ain’t nuthin’ but a sucka going on double takes, triple takes and quadruple takes. You should’ve just got all of that out when you put the first song out. You didn’t even need to do all that.”
    “You just feel like you not going to get enough views on your own s**t, so you came up with some bulls**t on a n***a who’s resting in peace music. Trying to f**k up a n***a’s whole vibe,” he added. “But you feel like it’s the perfect platform – Thug, Gunna and Pop Smoke – to go at this n***a’s a**. This is the perfect song to do it on.”
    Telling the former member of hip-hop duo Clipse to take his beef with Drake to his own song, Thugger slammed Pusha, “Why the f**k don’t you do that on your own song? Do that s**t on your own song, n***a. I don’t give a f**k what y’all got going on. We kill for real.”

    Prior to this, Thug angrily slammed Pusha for taking a shot at Drizzy in Smoke’s song titled “Paranoia” that was supposed to be included in his posthumous album “Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon”. The song, which eventually didn’t make the cut into the album, also features Gunna.
    “I don’t respect the pusha t verse on the song with me and gunna cause I don’t have nun to do with y’all beef nor does Gunna,” he wrote on Instagram Stories earlier on Tuesday. Claiming that he would never approve it, the “Danny Glover” spitter added, “and if I knew that was about him I would’ve made changes on our behalf.” He went on calling out Pusha for fanning his feud with Drake, writing, “This rapper s**t so gay.”
    Catching wind of Thug’s remarks, Pusha later responded on his own Stories as writing, “1. Don’t feel bad, NOBODY knew what the verse was abt. The label heads that stopped it didn’t even know. They ONLY ASSUME because he told em.”
    Accusing his nemesis Drake of snitching, he continued, “The same way HE TOLD abt the Ross ‘Maybach 6′ verse. And if HE’LL TELL record executives abt rap verses, God only knows what else HE’LL TELL! I don’t deal in Police Work, Police Rappers of Police N***a.”
    He went on trolling Pusha, pointing out, “@youngthug you were the last verse added to the song and that’s ONLY because I requested YOU!!” He also claimed that he was the one who asked to be removed from Smoke’s album to “avoid any confusion.”

    In the next cryptic post, he added, “From rappers crying to record execs to blatant label censorship, I don’t ride with none of it…but love every bit of it!!” Possibly hitting back at the haters who have put him under scrutiny, the New York City native remarked, “Now y’all run along and be gangsters, but u leave the devil alone!”

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    Demi Lovato Blames Music Industry for Making Her Focus on Looks Instead of Lyrics

    WENN

    When talking about finding back her joy for music, the ‘Cool for the Summer’ singer claims that #MeToo movement has helped change the way record bosses operate.
    Jul 8, 2020
    AceShowbiz – Demi Lovato is happier than ever because her music career no longer revolves around how she looks.
    The “Cool for the Summer” singer admits she lost her “joy” for music because of the focus on her body, which led her to some very dark places in the past.
    “I want a career that has nothing to do with my body,” Demi told Bustle. “I want it to be about my music and my lyrics and my message… and I want a long-lasting career that I don’t have to change myself for.”
    “Music brought me so much joy when I was younger and I lost that joy throughout the hustle and bustle of the music industry. I got miserable. And I don’t ever want it to be like that again.”
    “I used to have people watching me the night before a photo shoot to make sure that I didn’t binge or eat and be swollen the next day.”

    The pop star insists her success, coupled with women’s rights movements like #MeToo, have helped change the way record bosses operate – and she has benefited from the new culture.
    “It’s just a totally different world now,” she added. “I don’t prepare for photo shoots, even. I can eat Subway (sandwiches) for breakfast.”
    She has also found happiness with new boyfriend Max Ehrich and admits even the coronavirus lockdown has been good for her, adding, “Before quarantine, it was very difficult for me to cry. I had programmed the thought into my head when I was 16 that I’m only going to cry if people pay me to.”
    “I started doing all this work, allowing myself to feel the pains of all the losses that I’ve had or the adversities or traumas that I’ve faced. I think my ability to be vulnerable and be more intimate with people has really heightened.”

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