Xposition - February, 2018

Attention!!!

Although the Grammys are over, we are not done with the awards season, as we have UK’s biggest music night to celebrate with Dua Lipa and Stormzy emerging as the top winners at the 2018 BRIT Awards. Lipa took home British Breakthrough and British Female while Stormzy took home the British Male and the coveted Album of the Year for Gang Signs and Prayer. The night’s memorable performances included Dua Lipa with her summer smash New Rules, Ed Sheeran with Supermarker Flowers, Rita Ora with a medley of Your Song, Anywhere and For You accompanied by Liam Payne and a surprise performance by Liam Gallagher with Oasis hit Live Forever. Other recipients include:

·         British Group: Gorillaz

·         British Producer of the Year: Steve Mac

·         British Single: Rag ‘n’ Bone Man – Human

·         British Artist Video of the Year: Harry Styles – Sign of the Times

·         International Male Solo Artist: Kendrick Lamar

·         International Female Solo Artist: Lorde

·         International Group: Foo Fighters

·         BRITs Global Success Award: Ed Sheeran

In other music news, Justin Timberlake performed at the Pepsi Super Bowl LII Halftime Show. With mixed to negative reviews, Timberlake had big shoes to fill as Lady Gaga put on quite a legendary performance the year before. Introduced by none other than Jimmy Fallon, Timberlake performed a medley of songs including his newest single at the time Filthy and his former hits Rock Your Body, Senorita, SexyBack, My Love, Cry Me A River and Until The End of Time. He then gave tribute to Prince in his Minneapolis-native Prince with the latter’s hit I Would Die 4 U and proceeded to close the set with Mirrors and Can’t Stop The Feeling!

Meanwhile, IFPI has released the world’s top 10 bestselling music acts of 2017 and none other than Ed Sheeran the sole Brit on the list takes the crown.  It’s a no-brainer that he would top the list after whopping album sales for his latest studio album ÷ and the global smash hit Shape of You which topped almost all the charts worldwide. The acts compose of 7 Americans and 2 Canadians. The 10 acts are:

1.       Ed Sheeran

2.       Drake

3.       Taylor Swift

4.       Kendrick Lamar

5.       Eminem

6.       Bruno Mars

7.       The Weeknd

8.       Imagine Dragons

9.       Linkin Park

10.   The Chainsmokers

In the US, Drake’s God Plan debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 from the first week ending Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug’s Havana short stint at the top during the last week of January. God’s Plan remained at the pole position throughout the month. During the month Bebe Rexha featuring Flo Rida Georgia Line’s Meant To Be, Justin Timberlake featuring Chris Stapleton’s Say Something as well as the theme songs from the Black Panther: Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd’s Pray For Me and Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s All The Stars all entered the top 10.  

In the UK too, Drake debuted atop the charts with God’s Plan ending Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran’s River one week No.1. During the month Dua Lipa’s IDGAF, Jax Jones ft. Ina Wroldsen’s Breathe, Sigrid’s Strangers and the theme song from The Greatest Showman, Keala Settle’s This is Me all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       Rudimental ft. Macklemore, Jess Glynne and Dan Caplen – These days

2.       Marshmello & Anne Marie – Friends

3.       Drake – Diplomatic immunity

4.       G-Eazy ft. Charlie Puth – Sober

5.       Migos – Stir fry

6.       BlocBoy JB ft. Drake – Look alive

7.       Paloma Faith – Till I’m done

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - January, 2018

Attention!!!

Music’s biggest night kicked off things in 2018 as the 60^th Grammy Awards was held in January hosted by James Corden. While Jay-Z was the top nominee with 8 it was Bruno Mars who was the biggest winner of the night earning 6 wins including all three major awards with 24K Magic as the Record of the Year, the album of the same name as the Album of the Year and Song of the Year going to his That’s What I Like. Kendrick Lamar was also a big winner at the Grammys taking 5 awards including Best Rap Album for DAMN., Best Rap Song and Best Music Video for HUMBLE.

Some of the great performances of the night included DJ Khaled, Rihanna and Bryson Tiller with Wild Thoughts, Elton John and Miley Cyrus with Tiny Dancer, Kesha with Praying accompanied by Camila Cabello, Cyndi Lauper, Andra Day, Bebe Rexha and Julia Michaels as well as tributes to Tom Petty, Chester Bennington and Chris Cornell as well for the Las Vegas Shooting and Manchester Arena Bombing. Other significant wins included:

·         Best New Artist: Alessia Cara

·         Best Pop Vocal Album: Ed Sheeran - ÷

·         Best Rock Song: Foo Fighter – Run

·         Best Country Song: Christ Stapleton – Broken halos

·         Best Latin Pop Album: Shakira – El Dorado

·         Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media: Justin Hurwitz – La La Land

·         Best Song Written for Visual Media: Lin-Manuel Miranda – How far I’ll go

·         Producer of the Year, Non-Classical – Greg Kurstin

The 75^th Golden Globe Awards were also held in January hosted by Seth Myers. Alexandre Desplat won for Best Original Score for The Shape of Water whilst the Best Original Song went to This Is Me performed by Keala Settle from The Greatest Showman written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

Meanwhile, some highly anticipated nominations were announced during the month. First up we have the coveted 90^th Academy Awards nominees for Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

Best Original Score:

·         Dunkirk – Hans Zimmer

·         Phantom Thread – Jonny Greenwood

·         The Shape of Water – Alexandre Desplat

·         Star Wars: The Last Jedi – John Williams

·         Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Carter Burwell

Best Original Song

·         Mighty River: Mudbound – Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson

·         Mystery of Love: Call Me by Your Name – Sufjan Stevens

·         Remember Me: Coco – Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

·         Stand Up for Something: Marshall – Diane Warren and Common

·         This Is Me: The Greatest Showman – Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Secondly we have the BRIT Awards 2018 nominations with Dua Lipa leading the fray with 5 nods including British Female, British Breakthrough, British Single and British Artist Video of the Year for New Rules, Album of the Year for her self-titled album. She sets a record as the female artist with the highest nominations at the BRIT Awards in one ceremony. Ed Sheeran is also up for 4 awards including British Male, Album of the Year for ÷ and British Single and Video for Shape of You. Breakthrough act last year, Rag N’ Bone Man has 3 nods including British Male and British Single and Album of the Year for Human.

Finally, we have the 5^th iHeartRadio Music Awards nominations. Rihanna, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, DJ Khaled and Luis Fonsi top the nominations each receiving 5 nods. For song of the year the following go head to head for the coveted title:

·         Despacito – Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber

·         Shape of You – Ed Sheeran

·         Something Just Like This – The Chainsmokers & Coldplay

·         That’s What I Like – Bruno Mars

·         Wild Thoughts – DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna & Bryson Tiller

Mary J. Blige adds another accolade under her belt after being nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Mud Bound as well as her contribution to the Best Original Song nominee Mighty River as she received the honor of her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In other accolade news, Sigrid won the BBC Sound of 2018. The 21-year old rose to fame in 2017 through her critically acclaimed debut single Don’t Kill My Vibe. Previous recipients of this coveted title include Adele, Years & Years, Sam Smith and Ellie Goulding.

Ray Thomas, flautist and vocalist for British Rock group The Moody Blues died on January 4, at the age of 76. Although no cause of death was given, Thomas was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2013. Alternative Rock suffered another massive blow when Dolores O’Riordan lead singer of The Cranberries died at the age of 46, when she was in London for a recording session on January 15. Although the cause of death was not made public, police ruled out any suspicions.

In the US, Ed Sheeran & Beyonce continued their reign with Perfect for the first 3 weeks of the month before Sheeran was billed as a solo artist in the last week at the top after which Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug’s Havana took the crown.  During the month Dua Lipa’s New Rules, Justin Timberlake’s Filthy and Bruno Mars featuring Cardi B’s Finesse all entered the top 10.  

In the UK, Ed Sheeran’s formidable rule with Perfect fueled by duets with Beyonce and Andrea Bocelli continued at the top until Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran’s River replace the former as the UK No.1 During the month Ramz’s Barking, Bruno Mars featuring Cardi B’s Finesse, Jason Derulo’s Tip Toe and Camila Cabello’s Never Be The Same all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       Rita Ora & Liam Payne – For You

2.       Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line – Meant to be

3.       Dua Lipa – IDGAF

4.       Keala Settle – This is me

5.       Kendrick Lamar & SZA – All the stars

6.       Jax Jones ft. Ina Wroldsen – Breathe

7.       Rudimental ft. Macklemore & Jess Glynne – These days

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!