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Gwen Stefani is reminding everyone she’s “still the original old me” with her new music video for “Let Me Reintroduce Myself,” which makes its debut on New Year’s Day.
The fun clip, directed by Philip Andelman and released on Jan. 1, is set in 2020 but is also a throwback to some of Stefani’s most iconic looks from throughout her career.
Various past versions of Stefani bring her latest ska-influenced pop single to life, from classic No Doubt-era “Just a Girl” and “Don’t Speak” replicas to revisits to her standout solo moments.
The video mirrors the light and celebratory tone of the song itself, which gives a nod to “Hollaback Girl” in its first verse when Stefani gives listeners a wink with the line “I already gave you bananas.”
Watch the “Let Me Reintroduce Myself” video below.
New year, new Rihanna album? Fans wasted no time asking when she shared some new photos and a New Year’s resolution on Instagram.
But nagging her for an update on what would be the singer’s ninth studio album didn’t get them very far.
“new year’s resolution: apply the pressure,” Rihanna captioned her first post of 2021, a set of snapshots of a fierce New Year’s pose.
“Resolution should be releasing the album,” one fan wrote about R9 in the comments — which didn’t seem to amuse Rihanna.
“this comment is sooo 2019. grow up,” Rihanna retorted. The superstar later added, “2021 energy.”
Stylist Jahleel Weaver sprinkled in a comment on the subject, too: “Speaking of pressure, it’s the album for me.”
“ph— u,” Rihanna quipped.
In the fall, she gave a little insight into her views on her next project, whenever that might be happening: “You do pop, you did this genre, you do that, you do radio, but now it’s just like, what makes me happy?” she said. “I just want to have fun with music. Everything is so heavy. The world that we live in is a lot. It’s overwhelming every single day. And with the music, I’m using that as my outlet.”
See her new photos and the Jan. 1 comment thread on Instagram.
Donald Trump was reportedly not in attendance at this year’s New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago, but Vanilla Ice was.
Video clips from the party ringing in the new year at the Palm Beach, Fla., resort made rounds across social media on Friday (Jan. 1), give glimpses at the event’s entertainment and dance floor.
In footage from Mar-a-Lago, Vanilla Ice can be seen on stage performing “Ice Ice Baby.”
“Ok this is amazing,” the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. captioned a live video uploaded from the party to Facebook Thursday night, showing him mouthing the words to the song. “Vanilla Ice is playing the Mar-a-Lago New Years Eve party. As a child of the 90s you can’t fathom how awesome that is. Beyond that I got the birthday shoutout so that’s pretty amazing.”
Vanilla Ice also played his cover of “Play That Funky Music.”
“Play that funky music ’til you die,” the crowd sang along with him.
Vanilla Ice’s name trended on Twitter throughout Friday.
To help kick off the new year, Tituss Burgess, Andrew Barth Feldman, Ashley Park and more stars of the screen and stage sang of Parisian cooking and one rat’s dream to be a culinary icon in the virtual benefit performance Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical.
The pre-filmed musical, put on by Seaview Productions to raise money for the Actors Fund, will be available to stream for three days and features content created by members of TikTok’s #RatatouilleMusical Community (whose collective work has garnered over 200 million followers around the globe).
The musical generally follows the plot of Disney’s Ratatouille: Remy (Titus Burgess) the rat, who has a refined palate and dream to cook, teaches kitchen worker Alfredo Linguini (Feldman) how to cook by hiding under his chef’s hat. Linguini rises to the top of famed Paris restaurant Gusteau’s, raising suspicion from fellow chef Skinner (Mary Testa) and the curiosity from hard-to-please critic Anton Ego (André De Shields).
A recurring theme throughout the musical, which is told through the point of view of Remy, was his and Linguini’s admiration for renowned and talented chef Auguste Gusteau, and their hopes that his motto “anyone can cook” was true. From Burgess and Feldman singing of their desires to be successful chefs as Remy and Linguini to Adam Lambert’s poppy tune about a rat’s way of life as Emile, the virtual musical showcased an eclectic range of performances that were fairly on par with what one would expect for a musical version of the 2007 animated film.
The pivotal moment for the film — Ego’s critique of Remy’s ratatouille creation and him subsequently learning a rat was behind the dish — offered a touching monologue from Owen Tabaka.
“The bitter truth we critics must face is that the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. The world can often be unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends. Last night I experienced something new and extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. I now know not anyone can but cook but a great cook can come from anywhere,” Tabaka said, paraphrasing the critic’s speech originally performed by Peter O’Toole in the film.
The one-time performance was cast with Broadway stars including Tony Award winner De Shields (Ego), Tony winner Priscilla Lopez (Mabel), Tony nominee Park (Colette), Tabaka (Young Ego), and three-time Tony nominee Testa (Skinner) and the 20-piece Broadway Sinfonietta orchestra.
Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical also starred Wayne Brady (Django), Burgess (Remy), Kevin Chamberlin (Gusteau), Feldman (Linguini), Grammy Award nominee Lambert (Emile), with Cori Jaskier, Talia Suskauer, Nikisha Williams, JJ Niemann, John Michael Lyles, Raymond J. Lee, and Joy Woods as the ensemble.
The musical was adapted for this virtual benefit event by Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley, choreographed by Ellenore Scott, directed by Lucy Moss, and features music from Danny Bernstein (@dannykbernstein), Gabbi Bolt (@fettuccinefettuqueen), Chamberlin (@chamberlin_kevin), RJ Christian (@rjthecomposer), Nathan Fosbinder (@fozzyforman108), Emily Jacobsen (@e_jaccs), Sophia James (@sophiajamesmusic), Katie Johantgen (@katiejoyofosho), Daniel Mertzlufft (@danieljmertzlufft), Alec Powell (@phisherpryce), and Blake Rouse (@blakeyrouse).
Jeremy O. Harris, Michael Breslin, and Patrick Foley served as executive producers.
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
Demi Lovato kicked off the new year by figuring out a way to “be present with ourselves, together.”
As part of YouTube’s Hello 2021: Americas series, the singer filmed a meditation session and spread the word about how to practice mindfulness after a tough 2020.
Lovato led a meditation “to start turning the page from this totally unprecedented chapter and to help us all move forward into 2021 with a clear heart.”
“I feel like I’ve been shallow breathing for this entire year, but it’s time to finally take that deep breath,” she said. “And I want you to feel it all the way in your toes. We are in a moment of transformation. A shift of the weight of this year is in motion.”
Lovato welcomed 2021 as “a year of great new beginnings” and “a beautiful opportunity for anything, including picking ourselves back up again.”
“I’m choosing to find the good — the good in my flaws, the good in my failures, the good in myself, in my breath, in all of it, and all of you,” she said in the calming clip.
Sit back and take a deep breath on New Year’s Day with Lovato below.
Eslabon Armado claims its third No. 1 on the Regional Mexican Albums chart as Corta Venas starts atop the ranking dated Jan. 2, 2021.
The latest chart reflects sales and streaming data compiled in the week ending Dec. 24, 2020. The trio’s third studio album concurrently arrives at No. 2 on the Top Latin Albums chart, becoming just the fourth regional Mexican effort to open in the top two on the all-Latin genre chart.
“Corta Venas is my favorite album because I feel all songs are good and reflective,” says Pedro Tovar, lead singer of the group. “This album is different because it has a variety of flows I would say that it is a combination of my two previous albums.” Tovar . composed 22 of the 24 tracks of the set.
Corta Venas was released Dec. 18 via Del Records. It earns 2020’s second-biggest week for a regional Mexican album in terms of overall units. It comes close to Eslabon Armado’s own Vibras de Noche which started with 2020’s largest week for a regional Mexican set: 23,000 equivalent album units.
Regional Mexican Albums ranks the most popular regional Mexican albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). In terms of streaming data, Corta Venas also takes the second-biggest streaming week for a regional Mexican album in 2020.
The set bows with 20,000 SEA, which equates to 31.6 million on-demand streams generated by the songs on the album. The group’s own Vibras de Noche spawned 32 million on-demand streams (chart dated Aug. 1).
As Corta Venas arrives, all three of Eslabon’s albums grab a spot on Regional Mexican Album’s top five: the new album at No. 1, Tu Veneno Mortal at No. 3 and Vibras de Noche at No. 4. It’s the only group to place three simultaneous titles in the same chart week in 2020.
“We feel more than happy to be back at No. 1. Thank you to the fans, God, my family and the Del Records company that supports and trusts my ideas,” Tovar says.
Four cuts off the set arrive on Hot Latin Songs, including one top 10. Here’s a rundown of Eslabon’s new arrivals to the list:
No. 10, “Ando Más Que Mal
No. 26, “La Mejor De Todas”
No. 28, “Mi Historia Entre Tus Dedos”
No. 47, “El Tiempo Nos Cambió”
Beyond its No. 1 start on Regional Mexican Albums and its No. 2 arrival on Top Latin Albums, Corta Venas also secures the trio their second entry on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, with a No. 56 debut.
MF Doom, the British-born artist who performed in a supervillain mask and started his rapping career more than 30 years ago, died on Oct. 31 of unknown causes, his wife announced Thursday (Dec. 31) — exactly two months after his death. He was 49 years old.
“Begin all things by giving thanks to THE ALL!” Jasmine wrote in the post about her late husband (born Daniel Dumile) on the MF Doom Instagram account. “To Dumile, The greatest husband, father, teacher, student, business partner, lover and friend I could ever ask for. Thank you for all the things you have shown, taught and given to me, our children and our family. Thank you for teaching me how to forgive beings and give another chance, not to be so quick to judge and write off. Thank you for showing how not to be afraid to love and be the best person I could ever be. My world will never be the same without you.”
Jasmine ended her note by also sending love to her late son, Malachi Ezekiel Dumile, who died in 2017 at age 14. “Words will never express what you and Malachi mean to me, I love both and adore you always,” the message concluded. “May THE ALL continue to bless you, our family and the planet. All my Love, Jasmine.”
Doom’s former label Rhymesayers shared a link to Jasmine’s post, along with this message: “With heavy hearts, we share these words from MF DOOM’s family.”
Dumile was born in London and moved with his family to New York as a child. Under the stage name Zev Love X, he co-founded the trio K.M.D. with his brother Dingilizwe, who went by DJ Subroc. Dumile first made Billboard’s charts as a member of K.M.D., which notched a pair of top 20 hits on Hot Rap Songs in 1991: “Peachfuzz” and “Who Me?” His brother’s April 1993 death in a car crash at age 19 caused Dumile to take a break from the industry before returning to rap in 1997 and adopting the MF Doom persona, modeled after Fantastic Four villain Doctor Doom. From then on, he always performed wearing his signature mask.
Doom may be best known for the 2004 album Madvillainy, which was recorded under the duo name Madvillain alongside producer Madlib and marked Doom’s first appearance on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The release also hit No. 9 on the Heatseekers Albums chart upon its 2004 debut. Madvillainy was chosen as one of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and the album’s 10th-anniversary 2014 re-release returned to the Billboard 200 and peaked at No. 3 on Vinyl Albums.
Another of his high-profile collaborations was Danger Doom alongside DJ Danger Mouse (ahead of his Gnarls Barkley days) on The Mouse and the Mask, which was made in conjunction with Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block. Doom was also featured on Gorillaz sophomore album Demon Days on the song “November Has Come.”
The enigmatic artist released his last full-length solo album, Born Like This, in 2009. Most recently, Doom hit No. 1 on Heatseekers Albums in April 2018 with Czarface Meets Metal Face, alongside Czarface. The acts collaborated for a second top 10 on the chart, the EP Man’s Worst Enemy, the following month.
There’s no word yet on Doom’s cause of death.
