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Adidas Originals unveiled a star-studded, Avengers level lineup of musicians for their latest campaign. Narrated by Nick Fury (aka Samuel L. Jackson), the campaign video features artists such as Missy Elliott, GloRilla, JENNIE and Teezo Touchdown as Three Stripes celebrates the legacy of its iconic sneaker, the Superstar II.

The impressive campaign unfolds in two chapters. First is “Pyramids,” a teaser video that includes Jackson reflecting on the ancient Egyptian pyramids, describing one of the seven wonders of the world as a “big old piles of rock, middle of the desert, they ain’t shiny, they don’t light up, no Wi-Fi, no holograms and not even a food court. But 4,000 years later, people still fly across the world to see them. Why? Because they were made to last.” The video ends with the actor — dressed in the classic Firebird track suit with the signature Adidas three stripes — putting his Superstars up on a table.

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The quote draws a parallel between the ancient structures and the lasting cultural impact of the Superstar shoe. The second chapter, “Clocks,” unites the list of superstar musicians and athletes as the seven faces from music, basketball and street culture. “When icons wear icons, culture moves,” the German sports brand said in a statement.

“The Superstar has always been more than just a sneaker — it’s a symbol of originality and a spark for cultural change,” said Annie Barrett, vice president of marketing at Adidas Originals. “From street corners to global stages, it’s been worn by those who don’t wait for permission to lead. This campaign isn’t about looking back — it’s about spotlighting a new generation of Originals who are building what’s next, unapologetically.”

At the heart of it all stands the Superstar II, returning in two classic black-and-white colorways alongside the iconic Firebird Tracksuit. The Superstar II has been refined with enhanced padding in the tongue and collar, but keep its timeless appeal that helped defined streetwear in the ’90s. Shop the iconic Adidas Superstar II on the brand’s website for $100.

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The campaign was directed by photographer and filmmaker Thibaut Grevet. Watch both chapters of the Superstar II campaign below.

Grammy and International Bluegrass Music Awards winners Trey Hensley and Rob Ickes, who have performed together as an acoustic duo for more than a decade, are taking a hiatus from their musical partnership at the end of 2025.

After honoring their touring commitments through the end of the year, Hensley will pivot to focusing on his solo career in 2026, with plans to release new solo music and launch a solo tour in 2026. Ickes will focus on session playing and touring with other artists.

“We are starting to wind down ‘Rob and Trey’ and beginning to wind up ‘Trey Hensley solo,’” Ickes said in a statement. “I’m ready to pull back a little bit in terms of touring, and Trey’s career is really taking off, so we both think it’s time for him to focus on that. I’d like to thank Trey for being such a solid musical/business partner and friend for the past decade. I can’t imagine working with anyone more talented and more fun. I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished together, and I’m very excited to see what comes his way with his career — I know it’s going to be incredible!” 

“Rob and I have covered a lot of ground together over 10 years, winning a Grammy Award this year, earning a Grammy nomination for our first duo record, collaborating with so many of our musical heroes and touring all over the United States, Europe and Australia — it’s truly been an amazing ride!” Hensley added. “As I step out of the duo to focus on my solo career, I want to say a big thank you to Rob, who has been a great mentor and friend to me and my family over the years, and although it sounds cliché, this isn’t the end, but a new chapter. I know we will make more music together in the future. This change is simply going to allow me to focus on some other projects that I am excited to share with everyone.”

As a duo, Ickes and Hensley earned a best bluegrass album Grammy nomination for their 2014 debut collaborative project Before The Sun Goes Down. They followed with albums including 2016’s The Country Blues, 2019’s World Full of Blues and 2023’s Living in a Song. Between them, Ickes and Hensley have collaborated with artists including Tommy Emmanuel, Taj Mahal, Vince Gill, Dolly Parton, Little Feat, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Rodney Crowell and Jorma Kaukonen.

Dobro player Ickes previously became a founding member of the band Blue Highway in 1994. He’s won the IBMA’s dobro player of the year honor 15 times, in addition to other IBMA Awards wins. Hensley was named the IBMA’s 2023 guitar player of the year.

Ickes and Hensley have also been part of other IBMA Award-winning projects, including earning the instrumental recorded performance of the year honor for their work as part of Special Consensus on the song “Fireball,” along with Alison Brown.

aespa get to live out their rogue warrior dreams in the shoot-em-up video for the K-pop quartet’s new single, “Dark Arts.” The follow-up to their recently released single Billboard Global 200 No. 5 hit “Dirty Work” finds KARINA, WINTER, GISELLE and NINGNING dropping into the battle zone world of KRAFTON’s PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS battle royale video game as they wield long guns and sharp-shoot enemies from the back of motorcycles.

“Ain’t no stoppin’ no, ain’t no stoppin’ no, ain’t no stoppin the show/ Got you movin’ now, got you movin’ now, got you movin’ now slow/ I go savage when I pull up, I’m a classic you can’t get enough,” they sing over the spare track’s jittery R&B beat before dropping into the alluring chorus, “Dark arts, black magic/ Can’t handle it?/ Can’t have it/ Feel the power, feel the force/ We a-ta-ta-tackin’/ Dark arts, black magic/ One show go maximum damage.”

In the visual, the women enter a warehouse filled with enemies who they dispatch with pinpoint rifle shots from their band logo’d weapons when they’re not sitting in wait on hilltops and sniping at waves of bad guys in tactical gear. After securing their objective — a shiny silver rune — they hop into their convertible and enter a galactic portal to another dimension.

The group will perform the song live for the first time at the eSports PNC 2025 Grand Finals on July 27 at the Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Seoul, South Korea. The women are also slated to perform at KCON LA 2025 (Aug. 1-3) alongside fellow K-pop superstars including NCT 127, RIIZE, KISS OF LIFE, MEOVV, NOWADAYS, MONSTA X, KEY, HWASA, YUQI and CHOIHOJUNG.

Listen to “Dark Arts” below.

Was Justin Bieber pulling a long con on us this whole time? The singer who surprise dropped his soulful, 21-song Swag album on Friday doubled-down on his seventh album’s swerve to a more spare, less pop radio-ready vibe in a throwback video he posted on Tuesday morning (July 15).

In the way back clip from a 2008 interview with Canadian broadcaster CTV’s eTalk program, Bieber, 31, is asked by the interviewer if he gets nervous when he sings. “To be honest, no, not really,” says tween JB, who was likely 12 or 13 when the chat was recorded. Looking dwarfed by the red leather chair he’s sitting on, Bieber says of his chance to showcase his talents, “I would never have thought this opportunity would happen, like, it’s out of this world.”

Flashing forward to the day when he might have some success and a recording deal, London, Ontario-born Bieber predicts that when his day comes, “I see myself doing more, like, R&B.” The video is cued to the sultry Swag between-the-sheets soul ballad “Too Long,” which features the grown man lyrics, “Yeah, sometimes I get insecure/ I be trying you know I do/ But I wanna let go/ Keep on stroking my ego while you’re stroking my…”

In the full version of the conversation, Bieber talks about playing guitar, piano and trumpet after teaching himself to strum when he was “really little,” and posting videos online of his early efforts that, at that point, were starting to rack up views. “It’s kind of weird, because I’m just like a normal person. I play sports and stuff with my friends… it’s kind of different for me,” he says shyly about the widening spotlight. He admitted then had sometimes didn’t tell his friends about his cover song videos because he just wanted to be “a regular kid.”

At the time the video was recorded, Bieber said he had just returned from hanging out with one of his musical heroes, Usher. Soon after, he would sign with his longtime, now former, manager Scooter Braun, who discovered those early YouTube videos and signed the singer to a joint venture management contract with Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG). The pair would team with Island Def Jam to release Bieber’s debut EP, My World, in Nov. 2009.

While Bieber’s career would mostly follow a pop path in the years to come thanks to hits such as breakout 2010 smash “Baby” and Billboard Hot 100 No. 1’s “Boyfriend,” “What Do You Mean?,” “Sorry,” “Love Yourself” and “Peaches,” on his first full-length since 2021’s Justice he appears to have been fully in charge of the look, feel and sound following his split with Braun in 2023.

The result is an album featuring a new cast of contributors including Carter Lang (SZA), Australian singer Eddie Benjamin, indie guitarist-singer Mk.gee and Dijon (Kanye West, Bon Iver), as well as features from rappers Gunna, Sexyy Red, Cash Cobain and Lil B on songs that get back to his early love of Usher-like balladry. On seductive, spare tracks that chronicle his turbulent personal life and struggles in the spotlight, Bieber seems to have achieved his early dream on an effort Variety said in a review, “lands somewhere in between Bieber’s greatness and his proclivity to give in to his artistic impulses, for better or worse, existing in a pocket of R&B that can often feel aimless but is nevertheless intentional.”

Check out Bieber’s clip below.