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Hilltop Hoods have smashed records in their homeland, Australia. Now the hip-hop veterans are set to take-down aliens, through a groundbreaking alliance with Z2 Comics.
The Adelaide trio will make the leap into graphic novels for Hilltop Hoods Present: Noctis, and become the first Aussie act to work with the U.S. comic publisher.
Hoods founding members Pressure, Suffa and DJ Debris are characters in the sci-fi adventure and they’ll have their work cut out, as they tackle “demonic aliens from another dimension,” a joint-statement reads.
It’s a “childhood dream” realized, comments Suffa, who wrote the book with his bandmates in partnership with Scott Dooley (The New Yorker) and Andrew Archer (The Tokyo 5), with art by Jeff Nice (The Tokyo 5).
As a lifelong fan of Deathlok, X-Force, Spawn and others franchises, “I never thought I’d be able to play a part in putting a comic together, and Z2 have been so generous with their knowledge, resources and time,” Suffa notes.
“As for the writing and illustrations – I’ve been a fan of Tokyo 5 since its inception,” he adds, “Nice’s artwork is stunning, and Andrew Archer writes like someone who really understands how comic book universes should be constructed. Teaming them up with comedian Scott Dooley, who injected his sense of humor throughout, has resulted in a really exciting comic that everyone’s really proud of.”
Hilltop Hoods Present: Noctis will hit racks this October, with multiple versions available for preorder through Z2, including a deluxe and super deluxe edition, featuring limited edition art prints, vintage trading cards and sticker sheet.
In the past, Z2 Comics has worked on graphic novels with the likes of Gorillaz, Yungblud, Babymetal and Jimmy Eat World. “Ever since I saw the Parade of the Dead concert I knew the Hilltop Hoods would be down for anything,” enthuses Archer. “In the comic we throw monsters at them, we drown them in interdimensional ectoplasm and we blast them across a planet in a rocket car. They read our story idea, nodded their heads and said ‘We love it’. It’s been an absolute dream.”
It’s the latest outside-the-box project for The Hoods, who founded Golden Era Records, launched a sneaker range, and in 2016 teamed up with Google Play Music on a world-first immersive 3D video, for “Through The Dark”.
Hilltop Hoods have won multiple ARIA, APRA and AIR Awards and in 2019 set the record for most leaders by an Aussie band or group (six), when The Great Expanse debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
Pre-order Hilltop Hoods Present: Noctis here.
The family of Chris Cornell has settled a malpractice lawsuit with the doctor they allege overprescribed medication to the late Soundgarden frontman prior to his suicide in May 2017, according to court documents obtained by Billboard.
Filed on April 2, 2021, in Los Angeles Superior Court, the motion reveals that the plaintiffs — Cornell’s widow Vicky Cornell and their two children, Toni and Christopher — reached a confidential settlement agreement with defendants Robert Koblin, M.D. and his Beverly Hills practice, Robertson Cardiovascular Center.
Filed by the Cornells’ lawyer, Melissa Lerner, the motion requested that all documents pertaining to the settlement remain sealed or redacted, citing privacy concerns. Lerner writes that “troubled individuals” have “harassed” the Cornell family in the wake of Chris Cornell’s death, including by threatening the lives of Toni and Christopher.
A lawyer for the Cornells tells Billboard the settlement agreement is still subject to court approval. An attorney for Koblin did not immediately return a request for comment.
Filed in Nov. 2018, the Cornells’ lawsuit claimed that Koblin and his Beverly Hills practice “negligently and repeatedly” prescribed medication to Cornell that clouded his judgment and cognition, leading him to engage in reckless behaviors that ultimately resulted in his suicide by hanging. The suit particularly focused on allegedly excessive amounts of the anti-anxiety medication lorazepam (sold under the brand name Ativan) prescribed to Cornell by Dr. Koblin’s office beginning in Sept. 2015, 20 months prior to his death. It also claimed that Koblin had prescribed the painkiller Oxycodone to the singer.
Key to the Cornells’ lawsuit was their claim that Koblin failed to adequately warn Cornell, who had a history of substance misuse, of the potential risks and side effects of taking the prescribed medications. Vicky Cornell has long upheld that the drugs prescribed by Koblin were the overriding factor in Cornell’s suicide.
Post-mortem toxicology results showed the presence of lorazepam, barbiturates, the sedative butalbital, caffeine and decongestants in Cornell’s system, along with the anti-opioid medication naloxone, which was reportedly administered by medics upon arrival at the Detroit hotel room where his body was found. A corresponding autopsy report determined that drugs were not a cause of death, however.
The Cornell family’s suit against Koblin isn’t the only one stemming from the singer’s untimely death. Vicky Cornell has been locked in a pitched legal battle with the surviving members of Soundgarden over control of Chris Cornell’s recordings, royalties and more after suing the band in Dec. 2019.
Fans of the sweet, melodic sounds of New Orleans’ legendary vocalist Aaron Neville won’t have many opportunities to hear him live from now on.
In posts Thursday (May 6) on his official website and via social media, Neville announced his official retirement from touring.
Now 80, Neville said embarking on multi-date tours is no longer appealing.
“The time has come for me to stop ripping and running on the road,” Neville wrote. “I waited for someone to invent a way to beam me from show to show but no such luck. … Unfortunately, the grueling nature of travel and the schedule needed to make a tour work has become less than desirable. The current climate of our world brought me many realizations. Life is short and I’d like to spend my remaining time on this earth being less hurried.”
Still, Neville said his love for singing has not waned.
“It provides so much joy for me, at least as much as for those listening, if not more,” he said.
“Don’t see this as a permanent goodbye, by the grace of God, I will keep making more music and may show up at a special event or concert down the road,” he promises.
Neville hasn’t performed live since March 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic caused concerts to come to an abrupt halt in the U.S. Instead, he has livestreamed solo performances from Freville Farm, the 12-acre home in upstate New York where he and his wife, photographer Sarah A. Friedman, have lived since 2013.
The virus is of great concern to Neville, whose old age and asthma makes him especially at risk of developing a severe case of COVID-19.
“I don’t want to get sick,” Neville said in an article last year written for AARP. “So, I canceled my tour dates and we’ve been home and isolated on our farm in New York.”
Neville’s solo career flourished after the 1966 release of “Tell It Like It Is,” followed by collaborations with Linda Ronstadt on “Don’t Know Much,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989, and “All My Life” (No. 11 in 1990).
He garnered much of his fame from his work with the Neville Brothers, an R&B, funk and soul group that was based in his hometown of New Orleans and also consisted of his brothers Art, Charles and Cyril.
The group, which formally disbanded in 2012, was known for closing out the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival’s two-weekend run each spring.
Ahead of Mother’s Day on Sunday, Ciara plays one of her own songs dedicated to all the moms and reflects on all the “sentimental” and generational feelings surrounding it.
She dedicated her #BehindTheJam segment on Thursday’s (May 6) episode of her Level Up Radio show on Apple Music Hits to her 2015 maternal anthem “I Got You,” remembering her special helpers on the song: songwriter Diane Warren, producer Harmony Samuels and featured artist Future Zahir Wilburn, Ciara’s first-born son. He was only 1 at the time his Grammy-winning mother recorded the song, but his precious laugh and adorable coos made it in the introduction shortly following Ciara’s lullaby.
“I remember recording this song. I used to carry Future with me everywhere I went in the studio. He was right on my hip, and I just remember wanting to sing a song like this and make a song like this,” she said. “And it’s a beautiful song that all my kids love me singing to them. Sienna will ask me to sing it over and over and over. And it’s so cute because you hear Future at the top of the song, his little coos.”
“I Got You” comes from Ciara’s sixth studio album Jackie, which is named after her mother Jackie Harris. The singer honored her mother on her birthday Wednesday with pictures of the two over the years. “HBD Mamma! I love you,” she wrote on her Instagram Story, adding on the next slide, “Grateful for you.” As much as the album is a tribute to her own mother, the 35-year-old singer knows firsthand what it’s like to feel “a mother’s love” for her own children.
“[It’s] just a really special song to me, and a timeless song for me, will forever have great meaning for me, because again, it’s the feeling that I think we have as a mother’s love. The mother’s love is real and there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for your little ones. There’s no place you wouldn’t go for them. I’d lay it all on the line for my babies, she continued. “And so in this song, I expressed that. And I thought it was only right that we make this song the BTJ of the day. And it’s also from my album that I titled Jackie after my mother. So it’s really sentimental for so many reasons.”
Much like baby Future’s cameo in “I Got You,” her now-6-year-old son and Russell Wilson’s 4-year-old daughter Sienna Princess Wilson wished Ciara a happy Mother’s Day at the end of the segment. “Happy Mother’s Day Mommy! I love you to the moon and back,” the two shouted.
Listen to Ciara’s special #BTJ session from Apple Music Hits’ Level Up Radio below.
The Weekend’s “Save Your Tears” remix with Ariana Grande may have captured the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, but another high-profile collaboration — Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA — reached its own milestone on the chart by ranking at No. 6, its highest position on the tally yet.
The track — the first song to be released off Doja Cat’s forthcoming studio album Planet Her — debuted at No. 7 on the Hot 100 two weeks ago. It’s the second top 10 song for Doja Cat on the chart after “Say So” feat. Nicki Minaj, which peaked at No. 1 in May 2020, and the fourth for SZA.
Explore the team of musicians, producers and more behind the track with recording credits provided by Jaxsta below.
Artists:
Main Artist – Doja Cat
Featured Artist – SZA
Songwriters:
Composer Lyricist – Amala Zandile Dlamini
Composer Lyricist – Carter Lang
Composer Lyricist – David Sprecher
Composer Lyricist – Gerard A. Powell II
Composer Lyricist – Lukasz Gottwald
Composer Lyricist – Rogét Chahayed
Composer Lyricist – Solána Rowe
Composer Lyricist – Stephen Kipner
Composer Lyricist – Terry Shaddick
Producers:
Co-Producer – Carter Lang
Co-Producer – tizhimself
Producer – Rogét Chahayed
Producer – Yeti Beats
Engineers:
Engineer – Joe Visciano
Engineer – John Hanes
Mastering Engineer – Mike Bozzi
Mixing Engineer – Serban Ghenea
Labels:
Distributor – Sony Music Entertainment
Label – Kemosabe Records/RCA Records
Explore the full “Kiss Me More” credits on Jaxsta here.
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