First up in September we have the
prestigious Mercury Prize 2018. Wolf Alice won the prestigious award bestowed
on the best of UK and Irish music for their album Visions of a Life. The group
saw stiff competition from fan favorites Lily Allen, Florence + The Machine and
Arctic Monkeys.
Next up we have two award
ceremonies which announced their nominations. Drake and Cardi B led the
nominations at the 2018 American Music Awards with 8 nods each. Drake will face
off against Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Imagine Dragons and Post Malone for Artist
of the Year while Cardi B was up against Camila Cabello, Khalid, Dua Lipa and
posthumously XXXTentacion for New Artist of the Year.
The Latin American Music
Awards 2018 also announced their list of nominees with Ozuna and J Balvin
leading the tally with 9 nominations each. Both are up for Artist of the Year
as well as Favorite Male Artist and Album of the Year for Odisea (Ozuna) and
Vibras (J Balvin). In addition, J Balvin is up for two nods in the Song of the
Year for X with Nicky Jam and Mi Gente with Willy William ft. Beyonce and Ozuna
for being featured on Wisin’s Escapate Commigo. Close behind is Nicky Jam with
8 nods who is also up for Artist of the Year, Favorite Male Artist and Album of
the Year for Fenix.
The devastating deaths in the
music industry continue as rapper Mac Miller died of an apparent overdose at
the age of 26. Miller was found dead in his San Fernando Valley home. Prior to
this Miller admitted he had been struggling with drugs and addiction issues.
In more morbid news, a coroner’s
report has confirmed the cause of death of the lead vocalist of The
Cranberries, Dolores O’Riordan. The singer who passed away in January evidently
died by drowning due to alcohol intoxication.
The latest rap beef is Eminem
vs. Machine Gun Kelly. The bad blood between the two was due to MGK derogatory
remarks about Eminem’s daughter Hailie on Twitter. Thereafter, MGK accused
Eminem of blackballed him from major record labels. The beef escalated to a war
when Eminem released his Not Alike from his surprise new album Kamikaze. This
led to MGK’s retort with Rap Devil a direct reference to Eminem’s Rap God.
Eminem fired his final torpedo with a brilliant track – Killshot – which demolished
MGK and literally put to rest the warfare with Eminem as the victor.
As a part of Global Sound’s
initiative to bring the best of EDM to Sri Lanka, Alan Walker performed live as
the headline artist of a set which included Lost Stories and Ella Rose. At the
venue he performed his latest unreleased single Diamond Hearts ft. Sophia
Somajo.
In chart news in the US, Drake
continued at the top with In My Feelings throughout the month which was however
overthrown by Maroon 5 & Cardi B’s Girls Like You in the last week. During
the month Ariana Grande’s God is a Woman, Khalid & Normani’s Love Lies and
Eminem’s Killshot all entered the top 10.
In the UK, Benny Blanco,
Halsey & Khalid’s Eastside began the month at the top, which was however
short lived as Calvin Harris & Sam Smith’s Promises stormed to No.1 in the
second week and remained at the top for the rest of the month. During the month
Marshmello & Bastille’s Happier, Kanye West & Lil Pump’s I Love It and
Juice Wrld’s Lucid Dreams all entered the top 10.
Other songs which became
popular during the month were:
1. Dean
Lewis – Be alright
2. Silk
City & Dua Lipa – Electricity
3. BLACKPINK
– Ddu-du ddu-du
4. Jason
Derulo & David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj & Willy William – Goodbye
5. LSD
– Thunderclouds
6. Dynoro
& Gigi D'Agostino – In my mind
Till the next beat...
At Ease!!!
