Xposition - March, 2018

Attention!!!

The curtains closed on the biggest night for music scores and original songs for visual media. At the 2018 Academy Awards Alexandre Desplat received the award for his Original Score on The Shape of Water which went onto win the Best Director and Best Picture as well. Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez took home their second prize for Original Song for Remember Me from Coco. Prior to this the Lopez’ received the award for their song Let It Go written for Disney’s box office hit Frozen in 2014.

Ed Sheeran was the top recipient at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards sweeping 4 awards including Male Artist of the Year and Song of the Year for Shape of You. Some great performances of the night were Camila Cabello & Young Thug with their hit Havana, Charlie Puth with How Long and Cardi B who won Best New Artist performed a medley of her hits Bartier Cardi, MotorSport, No Limit (with G-Eazy), Finesse and Bodak Yellow. Bon Jovi who received the Icon Award also played a medley of It’s My Life and Who Gives Love a Bad Name. Taylor Swift who was the recipient of the Female Artist of the Year premiered the music video for her newest single Delicate at the ceremony. Some of the other significant wins were:

• Best Duo/Group of the Year: Maroon 5
• Best Collaboration: The Chainsmokers & Coldplay – Something just like this
• Alternative Rock Song of the Year: Portugal. The Man – Feel it still
• Country Song of the Year: Sam Hunt – Body like a back road
• Dance Song of the Year: Zedd & Alessia Cara – Stay
• Hip-Hop Song of the Year: DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna & Bryson Tiller – Wild thoughts
• R&B Song of the Year: Bruno Mars – That’s what I like
• Latin Song of the Year: Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee – Despacito
• Best Music Video: Harry Styles – Sign of the times
• Best Tour: U2

Luis Fonsi and Residente were honored with the President’s Award and the Champion’s Award respectively at the BMI Latin Awards for their social work and philanthropy as well as their status as songwriters and artists with immense contributions to the Latin community.

The biggest shock of the month or not something super shocking was when Fifth Harmony (or Fourth after Cabello left in 2016) announced their hiatus to pursue solo endeavours. However, their upcoming shows through to the end of 2018 will go ahead as planned. Fifth Harmony seems to be another casualty of the curse where a group could not survive the departure of a member. Prior to this One Direction went on a hiatus, one year after Zayn Malik left to pursue a solo career.  

On the legal front in the music industry, the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the jury’s verdict in the District Court wherein damages were awarded against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for infringing the copyrights of Marvin Gaye’s hit Got To Give It Up in their global hit Blurred Lines. The decision was a huge victory for Gaye’s family who was awarded US $ 5.3 million by the jury. Whilst the industry had mixed opinions with some believing this may hinder musical creativity, some believe that artists should be more responsible in their creations so as not to sample existing music without proper authorizations and royalties.

Meanwhile in chart news, in the US, Drake’s God Plan continued its formidable reign in the US with no proper competition except for Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign’s Psycho which debuted at No.2 during the month. During the month Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey’s The Middle, XXXTentacion’s Sad! and Lil Dicky featuring Chris Brown’s Freaky Friday all entered the top 10.  

In the UK too, Drake’s God’s Plan remained at the top during the entirety of the month with Rudimental featuring Macklemore, Jess Glynne Dan Caplen’s These Days struggling at No.2 throughout. During the month Marshmello & Anne Marie’s Friends, Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s All the Stars, Justin Timberlake featuring Chris Stapleton’s Say Something and Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey’s The Middle all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       George Ezra – Paradise

2.       Sigala & Paloma Faith – Lullaby

3.       Troye Sivan – My my my!

4.       Calum Scott & Leona Lewis – You are the reason

5.       Iggy Azalea ft. Quavo – Savior

6.       Niall Horan – On the loose

7.       Pink – Whatever you want

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!!!

Xposition - March, 2017

Attention!!!

Although we may be just recovering from the hangover of the Grammys, award season is still not over. March kicked off with the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards where Justin Timberlake won the coveted Song of the Year for Can’t Stop The Feeling! The Innovator Award was bestowed on Bruno Mars while the Male and Female Artists of the Year were won by Drake and Adele respectively. Katy Perry and Skip Marley performed their newest hit Chained to the Rhythm for the third award show in a row. Ed Sheeran performed a medley of Castle on the Hill and Shape of You and Bruno Mars performed a medley of Treasure and That’s What I Like. Other big winners of the night include:

·         Best New Artist: The Chainsmokers

·         Best Duo/Group of the Year: Twenty One Pilots

·         Rock Song of the Year: Green Day – Bang bang

·         Country Song of the Year: Dierks Bentley – Somewhere on a beach

·         Dance Song of the Year: The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – Closer

·         Hip-Hop Song of the Year: Drake ft. Wizkid and Kyla – One dance

·         R&B Song of the Year: Rihanna ft. Drake – Work

·         Latin Song of the Year: Enrique Iglesias ft. Wisin – Duele el corazón

·         Best Lyrics: Justin Bieber – Love yourself

·         Best Producer: Benny Blanco

·         Best Tour: Coldplay – A Head Full of Dreams Tour

·         Best Video: Fifth Harmony ft. Ty Dolla $ign – Work from home

Next up we have the 2017 Kids’ Choice Awards. There were only two performances during the show – Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello with Bad Things and a medley of Touch and Shout Out To My Ex by the Little Mix. Favorite Song was won by Work From Home by Fifth Harmony featuring Ty Dolla $ign. Favorite Group went to Fifth Harmony while Favorite Male and Female Artists went to Shawn Mendes and Selena Gomez respectively. The other winners of the night for music were:

·         Favorite New Artist: Twenty One Pilots

·         Favorite Music Video: Zay Hilfigerrr and Zayion McCall – Juju On The Beat

·         Favorite DJ/EDM Artist: Calvin Harris

·         Favorite Soundtrack: Suicide Squad

·         Favorite Global Music Star: Little Mix

Rock n’ roll legend Chuck Berry died at the age of 90 from cardiac arrest. On March 18, 2017, police in St. Charles County, Missouri, were called to Berry's house, where he was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene. Berry was set to release “Chuck”, his first studio album in more than 35 years. More on musician deaths, the remaining members of Sister Sledge confirmed that their sister Joni passed away at the age of 60 from natural causes which arose from complications from a preexisting condition. They also vowed to continue touring as a duo.

Moving onto chart news, in the US Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You reigned supreme throughout the month accumulating 7 non-consecutive weeks at the top. Meanwhile, Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley’s Chained to the Rhythm debuted at No.4 and The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk’s I Feel It Coming, Rihanna’s Love On The Brain, The Chainsmokers & Coldplay’s Something Just Like This and Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne Marie’s Rockabye entered the top 10.

In the UK too Shape of You continued the apparent global dominance alongside the debut of Sheeran’s latest album ÷ which topped album charts worldwide and the singles therein peaking within the singles charts. During the week of the debut nine of the top 10 were by Ed Sheeran. The most notable out of these singles are Galway Girl, Perfect and How Would You Feel (Paean). Other than this Martin Jenson’s Solo Dance, Kygo & Selena Gomez’s It Ain’t Me, Drake’s Passionfruit and Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson’s Symphony all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       Jason Derulo ft. Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign – Swalla

2.       Kodak Black – Tunnel vision

3.       Calvin Harris ft. Frank Ocean & Migos – Slide

4.       Anne Marie – Ciao Adios

5.       Ed Sheeran – New man

6.    Lana Del Rey – Love

7.       Inna – Gimme gimme

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - April, 2016

Attention!!!

April was quite an eventful month. First we had the iHeartRadio Music Awards with Taylor Swift leading the nominees and taking most of the hardware as well. There were so many good performances including Iggy Azalea's Team, Meghan Trainor's No, Jason Derulo's If It Ain't Love and DNCE's Cake By The Ocean. Adele won Song of the Year for Hello while Taylor Swift won Album of the Year for 1989. Other winners include:

• Female Artist of the Year: Taylor Swift
• Male Artist of the Year: Justin Bieber
• Best New Artist: Fetty Wap
• Best Duo/Group of the Year: Maroon 5
• Alternative Rock Artist of the Year: Twenty One Pilots
• Alternative Rock Song of the Year: Twenty One Pilots - Stressed out
• Rock Artist of the Year: Foo Fighters
• Country Artist of the Year: Luke Bryan
• Dance Song of the Year: Skrillex & Diplo ft. Justin Bieber - Where are u now
• Dance Artist of the Year: Calvin Harris
• Latin Artist of the Year: Pitbull
• Best Lyrics: Rachel Platten - Fight song 
• Best Collaboration: Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - Uptown funk 

The 51st Annual Academy of Country Music Awards was also held. Chris Stapleton was the big winner sweeping both Album of the Year for Traveller and Song of the Year for Nobody To Blame. The other winners of the night include:

• Record of the Year: Thomas Rhett - Die a happy man
• Entertainer of the Year: Jason Aldean
• Male Vocalist of the Year: Chris Stapleton 
• Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert
• Vocal Duo of the Year: Florida Georgia Line
• Video of the Year: Eric Church - Mr. Misunderstood 

The Juno Awards were also held in April with brilliant performances by The Weeknd, Alessia Cara and Shawn Mendes. The Weeknd won Artist of the Year as well as Album of the Year for Beauty Behind The Madness, Single of the Year for Can't Feel My Face and Songwriter of the Year for Can't Feel My Face, In The Night and The Hills. Some of the other significant wins included:

• Group of the Year: Walk Off The Earth
• Breakthrough Artist of the Year: Alessia Cara
• Breakthrough Group of the Year: Dear Rouge
• Video of the Year: Adele - Hello 
• Pop Album of the Year: Justin Bieber - Purpose
• International Album of the Year: Adele - 25

This April we bid adieu to American Idol on its final run in the 15th season. With a two-hour plus series finale with an evening packed of performances by past winners and finalists such as Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard, Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken as well as the original trio of judges adorable Paula Abdul, goofy Randy Jackson and the cynical Simon Cowell. In the end host Ryan Seacrest named Trent Harmon the winner over La'Porsha Renae. 

Meanwhile, the highly anticipated Billboard Music Awards 2016 is to take place in May and the nominations were revealed wherein The Weeknd has been nominated a whopping 19 times in 16 categories. Some of the important nominations are:

• Top Artist: Adele, Justin Bieber, Drake, The Weeknd, Taylor Swift
• Top Male Artist: Drake, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Ed Sheeran, Fetty Wap
• Top Female Artist: Adele, Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Rihanna
• Top Hot 100 Song: Adele's Hello, Fetty Wap's Trap Queen, The Weeknd's Can't Feel My Face, The Weeknd's The Hills, Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth's See You Again
• Top Billboard 200 Album: Adele's 25, Ed Sheeran's x, Taylor Swift's 1989, Justin Bieber's Purpose, The Weeknd's Beauty Behind The Madness

The 61st annual Eurovision Song Contest is to be held in May in Stockholm, Sweden following the country's victory in 2015 with Måns Zelmerlöw's Heroes. 42 countries will participate. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia and Ukraine will return after absences from recent contests, while Australia will also return after debuting as a special guest in 2015. The contest will also be the first to implement a new voting system since 1975, with each country now awarding two sets of points: one from their professional jury and another from televoting. And the favourites are Russia, France, Malta, Sweden and Bulgaria. 

2016 seems to be taking away the legends in music and this month the victim is Prince. Prince Rogers Nelson, known by his stage name Prince was extremely popular in the 1980s for his hits including the global smashes When Doves Cry, Purple Rain and Kiss. He passed away on 21st April aged 57. With the artist's demise his previous hits and albums will definitely make an impact on the charts in the coming weeks. 

The full lineup for Mysteryland USA to be held from June 10 - 13 was revealed composing of more than 90 acts with Odesza, Skrillex and Bassnectar headlining the festival. This year the age barrier has been reduced to 19 from 21. 

Moving onto chart news, in the US Rihanna ft. Drake's Work ruled the roost with Lukas Graham's 7 Years initially struggling at No.2 and thereafter Desiigner's Panda. With a whopping 9 weeks at the top Rihanna has accumulated 60 weeks at No.1 and is now the artist with the second-most weeks at No.1 of all time passing The Beatles with their 59 weeks and just behind Mariah Carey's titanic 79 weeks. As of the last week of April its 41 straight weeks that non- American born acts have led the Hot 100. Meanwhile, former chart leader Justin Bieber's Love Yourself broke his own record for the most consecutive weeks in the top 10 as Love Yourself surpasses Sorry's 21 weeks with 22 weeks inside the top 10. Other songs which peaked within the top 10 during the month are Ariana Grande's Dangerous Woman, Fifth Harmony ft. Ty Dollar $ign's Work From Home and Meghan Trainor's No.

In the UK, Mike Posner's Seeb Remix of I Took A Pill In Ibiza ruled for two weeks after which Drake ft. Wizkid & Kyla's One Dance took the helm. This was all at the peril of Sia's Cheap Thrills which was prevented from gaining the top spot. Other songs which peaked within the top 10 are Alan Walker's Faded and DNCE's Cake By The Ocean.

Other songs which became popular during the month are:

• Disturbed - The sound of silence
• The Chainsmokers ft. Daya - Don't let me down
• Inna - Rendez vous
• Alexandra Stan ft. Mohombi - Balans
• DJ Snake ft. Bipolar Sunshine - Middle 
• Bebe Rexha ft. Nicki Minaj - No broken hearts
• Chris Brown - Back to sleep 
• Nick Jonas ft. Tove Lo - Close 
• Alessia Cara - Wild things
• Iggy Azalea - Team 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

(All images used in the posts unless otherwise mentioned are drawn from https://images.google.com/ and the author does not hold copyright over the photos used.)