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Ariana Grande Made a Subtle Reference to Manchester in Her New Music Video


Ariana Grande‘s new era is upon us. The pop star released her first solo single in over a year, “No Tears Left to Cry,” on Friday (April 20), and fans are obsessed with it. Rightfully so: “No Tears” takes the glittery electro-pop genre Grande explored on 2016’s Dangerous Woman and updates it, infusing elements of nineties house, R&B, and even some spoken word. The song is the literal embodiment of using dance as catharsis—a way to combat any issues in your life, be they small or large.

Many of Grande’s fans are using the song to continue their healing from the bombing that took place at her May 2017 concert in Manchester. The senseless terrorist attack killed 22 people—some of them very young—and injured many more. Grande organized a benefit concert for Manchester the next month, which raised more than $13 million for the victims and their families. In a statement released several days after the attack, Grande said the Manchester victims will be “in [her] heart every day” and that she’ll think of them in “everything [she does] for the rest of [her] life.”

This rings true in the video Grande released for “No Tears Left to Cry.” At the end of the clip, a large bee flutters across the screen and then out of frame—and that’s not a coincidence. The worker bee is actually the symbol of Manchester, used to represent the city’s resilience during the Industrial Revolution. Watch the video for yourself, below, and pay close attention to the end.

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The reference, naturally, moved Grande’s legion of fans, who took to Twitter to express their thoughts. Here are just a few of their responses:

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Female Music Executives Are Calling for Neil Portnow's Resignation


More than a dozen female music executives have issued an open letter calling for the resignation of Neil Portnow as the Recording Academy president and CEO. They say that the comment Portnow made on Sunday about women needing to “step up” to get more recognition at the Grammys was “wrong and insulting and, at its core, oblivious to the vast body of work created by and with women.”

“Your most recent remarks do not constitute recognition of women’s achievements, but rather a call for men to take action to ‘welcome’ women,” the women wrote. “We do not await your welcome into the fraternity. We do not have to sing louder, jump higher or be nicer to prove ourselves.”

The letter was signed by industry veterans and leaders, such as music attorney Rosemary Carroll, Warner/Chappell publishing vice president Katie Vinten, Pharrell Williams’ manager Caron Veazey and John Legend’s manager Ty Stiklorius. Label executives were, surprisingly, missing from the effort.

Portnow tried backpedaling from his initial comments earlier this week, after facing a wave of backlash from artists like Pink and Charli XCX. He released a statement that didn’t explicitly apologize for what he said, but acknowledged that he’d used clumsy language to address the gender gap.

“Regrettably, I used two words, “step up,” that, when taken out of context, do not convey my beliefs and the point I was trying to make,” he said.

He also announced yesterday that the Recording Academy would put together an independent task force, designed to review biases and barriers that keep women from advancing in the industry. The initiative seemed to be an attempt to show that Portnow was truly committed to understanding and affecting change in music.

But his efforts may be too late—and not nearly enough to address a widespread problem that many women say he’s only made worse.

In their statement, the female executives outline several statistics from a recent study that the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism conducted to examine gender disparities in the music industry. Some of the most salient points include the fact that last year, 83.2 percent pop artists were male, while 16 percent were women. Additionally, only nine percent of the 899 artists nominated for Grammys over the last six years have been female.

“Your comments are another slap in the face to women, whether intended or not; whether taken out of context, or not,” the letter reads. “Needless to say, if you are not part of the solution, then you must accept that YOU are part of the problem. Time’s up, Neil.”



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Janelle Monae Calls Time’s Up on the Music Industry at the 2018 Grammys


The 2018 awards season has already delivered many powerful moments, particularly in light of movements such as #MeToo and Time’s Up. From fashion displays of solidarity to emotionally charged acceptance speeches, inspiration has abounded from the red carpets to the ceremony stages and beyond. The 2018 Grammy Awards continued this long-overdue tide of change, with one moment in particular standing out: Janelle Monae’s gripping speech calling Time’s Up on the music industry.

Monae took the stage to introduce Kesha’s performance of “Praying”—a performance already loaded with meaning, given Kesha’s personal story of survival and resilience in the face of alleged workplace harassment and sexual assault. But Monae’s spoken words were every bit as riveting as the onstage performance that followed, with the artist calling for the waves of change to carry over into the music industry.

“I am proud to stand in solidarity as not just an artist, but a young woman, with my fellow sisters in this room who make up the music industry—artists, writers, assistants, publicists, CEOs, producers, engineers, and women from all sectors of the business,” Monae opened. “We are also daughters, wives, mothers, sisters, and human beings. We come in peace, but we mean business.”

She went on to declare that this movement isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. “To those who would dare try and silence us, we offer you two words: Time’s up,” Monae said. “We say time’s up for pay inequality, discrimination or harassment of any kind, and the abuse of power.” She continued: “It’s not just going on in Hollywood, or in Washington, it’s right here in our industry as well. And just as we have the power to shape culture, we also have the power to undo the culture that does not serve us well. So, let’s work together, women and men, as a united music industry committed to creating more safe work environments, equal pay, and access for all women.”

Monae concluded by calling the “fearless” Kesha, as well as Cyndi Lauper, Camila Cabello, Andra Day, Bebe Rexha, Julia Michaels, and the Resistance Revival Chorus, to the stage for a performance of “Praying” that echoed the sentiments Monae spoke of: solidarity, strength, and, support.

Watch the powerful moment below:





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Taylor Swift Fans Spotted Snake References in Her 'End Game' Music Video


Taylor Swift’s music video for “End Game” has dropped, and if you thought she was going to leave the snake motif in 2017, think again. In fact, the pop star now appears to be doubling down on the whole snake thing for the new year, featuring not one, not two, but at least four serpenty references in her new video. She puts a slew of snakes in very obvious places, making sure to include enough lingering close-ups for social media-bound screen-caps. And as usual, Twitter has spotted them all.

The premise of “End Game,” which features Future and Ed Sheeran, is that Swift is partying in three cities around the world with her friends. All of these parties take place at night, the implication being that Swift’s reputation is so bad she has to be ferried from soiree to soiree under the cover of darkness. The first snake pops up in city number 1, Miami. As Taylor Swift saunters down a hotel hallway with Future, a black earring wrapped with a silver snake can be spotted dangling from her ears. The second and third snakes reside in city number 2, Tokyo. Spotted by eagle-eyed Swifties @steady7phine and @rebekahswiftie, Swift enjoys a drink with a neon green snake-shaped stirrer while she parties with Ed Sheeran and zooms down the streets of Tokyo in a snakeskin-printed suit, respectively.

Swift, however, saves the best for last, in city number 3, London. In a very aggressive visual pun, the “Look What You Made Me Do” singer sits on a bar-top playing the mobile game “Snake”, while a clubgoer feeds her a drink. As explained by YouTuber Raphael Gomes and Twitter user @swiftienanami, Swift is, literally, “playing snake.” And, better yet, she’s on level “1-3” referencing her lucky number.

Swift has not been subtle about her snake-reclaiming branding, having decked herself in snake-shaped jewelry since before Reputation dropped, literally handling a serpent while sipping tea in her “Look What You Made Me Do” video, and even sending out a “ssssss”-filled card over the holidays. If you’re growing weary of the references, though, they’re probably not going to end any time soon. This is, after all, the woman who has written almost an entire album about a moment that’s ancient history in Kardashian-Jenner years.

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Related: Taylor Swift’s Fans Have Already Figured Out the Secret Words in the ‘End Game’ Video





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Camila Cabello Was Hurt by Fifth Harmony's 2017 MTV Video Music Awards Dig


Camila Cabello officially left Fifth Harmony more than a year ago, but there still seem to be some unresolved hurt feelings. In a new interview with The New York Times, Camila discusses her solo career and touches on the pain that Ally Brooke, Normani Kordei, Dinah Jane, and Lauren Jauregui caused her with their 2017 MTV Video Music Awards performance. When asked about the moment, Camila began to tear up and said, “It definitely hurt my feelings. I wasn’t expecting it, I wasn’t prepared for it — especially because at that point I’d moved on from it. I was just like, ‘What? Why?'”

She also called out her former band members for being “petty” with the stunt. “I have to make space for the good stuff to happen in my life,” she said. “I don’t like holding onto the past, especially when it’s stuff that, in my opinion, is just petty.”

Fans will remember that the remaining members of Fifth Harmony took the stage at the VMAs with a fifth person, who many speculated was meant to represent Camila, before the silhouetted figure was dramatically pushed offstage, leaving the rest to perform. (For what it’s worth, the remaining Fifth Harmony members later clarified on Good Morning America that the message was more about who is in the group rather than who’s not.)

Meanwhile, Camila seems to be doing just fine as a solo act. Her first album drops January 12, and she was just nominated (alongside every member of One Direction) for best solo breakout award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.

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Camila Cabello’s Story About Attending Taylor Swift’s Halloween Party Is Surprisingly Relatable

Camila Cabello Came From Cuba With Only a Doll and a Dream



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Taylor Swift's 'End Game' Music Video Trailer Is Here—Watch Now


Say what you want about Taylor Swift, but the music videos she’s released during her Reputation era have been on point. Love or hate the song, the video for “Look What You Made Me Do” is so cinematic: Fifteen of her clones fight! She turns into a zombie and digs her own grave! At one point, she literally hisses! If it doesn’t sweep the MTV Video Music Awards this year, then what the hell is even the point of music video-making?

The “Ready for It” visuals, while not as dynamic as “Look What You Made Me Do,” are still badass. Swift seems to take a knock at Kanye West in the clip, rocking her birthday suit while channeling “Matrix”-esque superpowers. She also battles herself in the video, continuing the loose theme she started with “Look What You Made Me Do.”

And now we have a third video: “End Game.” Yes, my friends, despite having insanely better songs to choose from—cough, “I Did Something Bad,” cough—Swift is making “End Game” her next single. Don’t get me wrong: The mid-tempo jam, featuring Ed Sheeran and Future, is a bop, but there are better bops on Reputation.

That’s a debate for later, though. For now, let’s focus on the task at hand: the “End Game” video. Swift just teased a snippet of the video on her Instagram, and it looks interesting. Sheeran and Future make appearances, and a big portion of it seems to take place on a yacht. There’s drinking, there’s dancing, there’s hair-flipping—turn-up Taylor is in full swing here. Check it out for yourself, below:

The full “End Game” video drops at midnight. Let the fan theories begin.

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