Britney Spears Says She’s ‘Never Been More Happy in My Life’

Britney Spears is living her best life since the termination of her 13-year conservatorship in November.

In a lengthy Instagram post shared on Thursday (May 19), the pop star shared that doesn’t want to speak about the “traumatic” experiences from her conservatorship anymore. “I feel like I would entertain the people who hurt me … I do believe they would secretly like the embarrassment I would go through bringing it up 100 percent … They will no longer get the best of me and humiliate me.”

The “Circus” singer went on to reveal that she’s “never been more happy in my life,” except for the news of her recent miscarriage. “My spirit feels lighter and I genuinely laugh and smile now and my eyes are hungry for more each day,” she wrote.

Spears added that she’s sharing her mental growth for her fans to know that they’re not alone. “Trust me I KNOW if you’re going through something and you feel so distant from everything … it’s hard to confront your mind and say … oh you’re not alone … it’s easier said than done, but I need to share through it all … my subconscious knew it was gonna be ok … the spirit within me that told me to keep moving forward was all I had … it’s what I hung onto,” she assured.

She wrapped up her heartfelt message by thanking her fans for their support through the tough times. “Their hearts knew and there’s not a single day that goes by that I’m not aware of that and I’m so grateful to have my fans,” she concluded.

See her full message in the post below.

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Allison Russell Wins Big at 2022 International Folk Music Awards: Full Winners List

Allison Russell won both artist of the year and album of the year at the 2022 International Folk Music Awards, which were presented Wednesday (May 18), the opening night of the 34th annual Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City, Mo.

Russell took album of the year for her first solo album, Outside Child, which has been an awards magnet in recent months. Last November, it was nominated for a Grammy for best Americana album. On Saturday, it won a Juno Award in Russell’s native Canada for contemporary roots album of the year. On Monday, it became an Americana Honors & Awards nominee for album of the year.

Crys Matthews’ “Changemakers” garnered song of the year honors. Matthews performed on the show, as did fellow nominees John Smith and Diana Jones. The show opened with a song by gospel artist Isaac Cates & Ordained.

Accordionist Flaco Jiménez, the late songwriter and interpreter Nanci Griffith, and Denver-based folk music center Swallow Hill Music were this year’s recipients of the Elaine Weissman lifetime achievement awards. The awards are presented each year to honor the cultural impact of legendary folk music figures.

Jason Mraz, known for his attention to conservation, human rights and LGBTQIA+ issues, received The People’s Voice Award, which is presented to an individual who “unabashedly embraces social and political commentary in their creative work and public careers.” Past recipients include Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ani DiFranco and Bruce Cockburn.

On receiving the award, Mraz said, “I was a little shy at first, thinking I’m too young for this award, that I haven’t done or said enough. Then I realized those thoughts and feelings never go away, that nagging thought that I haven’t done enough. But it’s that nagging thought that’s an indication that we still have energy to give and want to and will.”

Mali Obomsawin, a Smithsonian Folkways Recordings artist, member of the band Lula Wiles and journalist, received the Rising Tide Award. The award was launched in 2021 to celebrate a new generation (under age 30) artist who inspires others by embodying the values and ideals of the folk community.

The 2022 recipients of the Spirit of Folk Awards included musician, educator and documentary producer Eugene Rodriguez of Los Cenzontles; composer, producer, performing artist and Louisiana Red Hot Records vice president and head of A&R Lilli Lewis; NPR Tiny Desk contest winner, musician and disability rights activist Gaelynn Lea; Canadian Live Music Association president & CEO Erin Benjamin; Bolivian-American multi-instrumentalist, composer and instrument maker Amado Espinoza; and Sound Diplomacy founder Shain Shapiro. These awards are presented to honor people and organizations actively involved in the promotion and preservation of folk music.

Colorado-based Planet Bluegrass received the Clearwater Award, which is presented to a festival that prioritizes environmental stewardship and demonstrates public leadership in sustainable event production.

Angela Page and Dr. Johnathan Øverby were inducted into the Folk DJ Hall of Fame, which was established to recognize radio DJs who have made outstanding contributions to the preservation, promotion and presentation of folk music. Page has hosted Folk Plus since the early 1990s on hydro-powered WJFF 90.5 FM Radio Catskill in Jeffersonville, N.Y. Dr. Øverby is a DJ and Wisconsin Public Radio host and a noted ethnomusicologist and scholar.

Folk Alliance International was founded in 1989. Its more than 3,000 members constitute a worldwide community of artists, agents, managers, labels, publicists, arts administrators, venues, festivals and concert series presenters.

Folk Alliance International produces the world’s largest conference for the folk music industry, the Folk Alliance International Conference; the International Folk Music Awards; an artist-in-residence program; the Folk ExChange market development program; the Ethno USA gathering (on behalf of JM International); community outreach; and a Finest Folk concert series.

Folk Alliance International defines folk broadly as “the music of the people” (reflective of any community they are from), and programs a diverse array of sub genres including Appalachian, Americana, blues, bluegrass, Celtic, Cajun, global roots, hip-hop, old-time, singer-songwriter, spoken word, traditional, zydeco, and various fusions.

Here are the winners in key categories:

Artist of the year
The Longest Johns
Kalani Pe’a
WINNER: Allison Russell
Arooj Aftab
John Francis Flynn

Album of the year
They’re Calling Me Home, Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi
Wary + Strange, Amythyst Kiah
Un Canto por México, Vol. 2, Natalia Lafourcade
WINNER: Outside Child, Allison Russell
The Fray, John Smith

Song of the year
“On Solid Ground,” Reggie Harris
“Painted Blue,” Sarah Jarosz
“We Believe You,” Diana Jones
“Call Me A Fool,” Valerie June
WINNER: “Changemakers,” Crys Matthews

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‘The Masked Singer’ Reveals Season 7 Champion

The last masks came off, and the final celebrity was outed Wednesday night (May 18) as season seven of The Masked Singer reached its conclusion.

For the finale, three “Team Good” celebs battled it out for the Golden Mask. There could be only one champ, Firefly, who was revealed to be R&B singer Teyana Taylor.

Second place went to “The Goldbergs” star Hayley Orrantia (as the Ringmaster) and third went to while “Call Me Kat” star Cheyenne Jackson (Prince).

Taylor, who performed at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards and has charted three times on the Billboard 200, including a No. 8 best for 2020’s The Album, sang Usher’s “Bad Girl” for her final song.

Previous performances included “Ain’t Nobody” by Chaka Khan; “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” by Michael Jackson; “Attention” by Charlie Puth; and, in a finale face-off with Ringmaster, hit Robin Thicke’s “Lost Without U”.

The latest season of Fox’s surprise hit boasted a combined 112 film appearances, 15 Grammy nominations, eight Emmy noms, seven Super Bowl performances, two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and, in Rudy Giuliani, the disgraced former personal attorney of Donald Trump.

Watch the final moments of The Masked Singer 2022 below.

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Lil Wayne Fires Back at Mark Cuban Amid NBA Drama: ‘I Will P— in Ya Fkn Mouth’

Lil Wayne and Mark Cuban have traded insults like the NBA trades players amid the Western Conference semifinal face-off between the Phoenix Suns and Cuban-owned Dallas Mavericks.

As the two basketball teams duked it out in a seven-game series (which the Mavericks ultimately won 4-3), decade-old tensions arose on Twitter when Lil Wayne — who is longtime friends with Suns point guard Chris Paul — tweeted that Mavericks point guard Luka Dončić is “a ho” during Game 4 on May 8.

More than a week later, Cuban fired back with an insult to Lil Wayne using the Grammy-winner’s own song lyric from the 2018 bop “Uproar.” “It’s a s–t show, put you front row’ #MFFL,” the mogul tweeted on Monday (May 16) with a photo of the hip-hop hitmaker sitting court-side. 

Lil Wayne didn’t take much time to hit back at Cuban, tweeting a since-deleted comeback the following day,” Mark Cuban don’t make me get u [sic] smacked boy U [sic] playin w me?? I will p— in ya fkn mouth ho.”

Though the two’s feud may seem new to many, according to Fox Sports 1 commentator and Undisputed host Skip Bayless, the drama dates back to circa 2011.

Per Bayless, Cuban and Lil Wayne were friends when Tunechi lived in Miami and was an avid Heats fan. He allegedly attended an afterparty with Cuban, where then Miami Heat teammates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade ultimately weren’t too thrilled to see the rapper. Bayless says the party encounter led to Lil Wayne temporarily being banned from attending Miami Heat games.

See a timeline of ex-friends Lil Wayne and Mark Cuban’s beef as told by Bayless below:

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Anghami Posts Double-Digit Subscriber, Revenue Growth in First Quarterly Earnings

Anghami, a music streaming service that operates in the Middle East and North Africa, finished the first quarter of 2022 with 18.5 million active users, a 20% increase year over year, and revenue of $9.3 million, up 23% from the prior-year period, the company announced on Tuesday (May 17) in its first earnings release since going public in February.

The subscription side of the business dominated the ad-supported side of the business, accounting for $7.3 million of the $9.3 million in quarterly revenue. The number of monthly paying subscribers (excluding free trials) grew by 43% to 1.24 million, while average revenue per user increased 10% year over year to $1.87. Anghami attributed the improvement in subscriptions to its emphasis on monthly subscriptions – it also offers daily, weekly, quarterly and annual subscription plans.

“Anghami has met many expectations in the run-up to its Nasdaq listing and remains committed to launching more innovative offerings, expanding its global reach and delivering value to customers through best-in-class content and innovative new features,” F. Jacob Cherian, Anghami’s co-CEO, said in a statement. “We are confident that this positive development will continue through 2022 as we benefit from our growing partnerships and offerings.” At the end of 2021, Anghami had 41 partnerships with telecom operators, up from 35.

In 2021, Anghami posted revenues of $35.5 million in 2021, up 16.3% from 2020. Subscription revenue amounted to $25.7 million but grew only 3.8% from 2020 and accounted for just 19% of the annual growth. Advertising revenue improved 69.6% to $9.8 million and represented four-fifths of the revenue gain. Expenses rose faster than revenues did, however – particularly the 215.3% increase in general and administrative costs that helped Anghami’s operating loss deepen from $2.5 million in 2020 to $17.2 million last year.

The operating losses stem in part from “significant costs to license content” and pay royalties to record labels, music publishers and other copyright owners, the company stated in its prospectus released Wednesday. What’s more, Anghami expects costs “to increase in future periods” and “to expend substantial financial and other resources” on securing content from labels, distributors and publishers, and creating original content, in addition to technology costs and scaling the business and growing internationally.

Anghami’s share price fell 4.2% on Wednesday to $7.28, which gives the company a market capitalization of $189.3 million. The 10-year-old, Abu Dhabi-based company went public in February by merging with Vistas Merger Acquisition Company (VMAC), a blank-check company that had an initial public offering on the Nasdaq in 2020. Although VMAC raised $100 million, holders of about 97.6% of VMAC common shares redeemed their shares prior to the business combination, according to the prospectus. As a result, Anghami raised less capital than planned and may seek additional capital through “a combination of private and public equity and debt offerings” or other services, which would dilute existing shareholders’ equity. Prior to the merger, VMAC sold $40.6 million of common stock in what’s called a private placement. After merger transaction costs and settlement of loans and borrowings, Anghami’s cash and bank balance was $22.3 million on Dec. 31 on a pro forma basis.

The prospectus relates to the issues of up to 10.9 million shares issuable upon exercise of its warrants – each warrant is exercisable for one ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50. However, with Anghami shares currently trading near $7, those warrants are “out of the money,” and the company does not expect holders to exercise their warrants. If exercised, however, the warrants would provide Anghami with up to $125 million which it would use for general corporate purposes and possibly the repayment of debt.

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Sharon Van Etten’s ‘We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong’ Debuts in Top 10 on Multiple Billboard Charts

Sharon Van Etten hits the top 10 of Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated May 21) for the first time with her new album, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong. The set debuts at No. 10 on the latest ranking, selling 5,500 copies in the U.S. in the week ending May 12, according to Luminate.

The album also bows in the top 10 on Billboard’s Americana/Folk Albums, Tastemaker Albums, Vinyl Albums and Top Current Album Sales charts.

We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong is Van Etten’s sixth album and first since Remind Me Tomorrow, which was released in 2019.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Americana/Folk Albums lists the week’s most popular Americana/folk releases, ranked by equivalent album units. Tastemaker Albums ranks the best-selling albums at independent and small chain record stores. Vinyl Albums lists the top-selling vinyl albums of the week across all sellers. Top Current Album Sales ranks the week’s biggest-selling current albums (not including catalog – older – releases).

Also in the new top 10 on Top Album Sales, Arcade Fire scores its fourth No. 1 as We debuts atop the tally with 26,500 sold. The album is one of seven debuts in the top 10. Also starting in the region are Halestorm’s Back From the Dead (No. 2; 14,000), Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti (No. 3; 11,500), Thrive Worship’s Pour Your Spirit Out: A Live Album (No. 4; 9,000), Jack Harlow’s Come Home the Kids Miss You (No. 5; 8,000), Three Days Grace’s Explosions (No. 6; 7,000) and Van Etten at No. 10.

A trio of holdover titles populate the top 10, as Miranda Lambert’s Palomino trots from No. 2 to No. 7 in its second week (7,000; down 72%), Olivia Rodrigo’s chart-topping Sour falls from No. 6 to No. 8 (6,500; down 7%), and The Weeknd’s former leader Dawn FM drops from No. 1 to No. 9 (5,500; down 88%).

In the week ending May 12, there were 1.697 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 7.1% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.284 million (down 9.6%) and digital albums comprised 413,000 (up 1.6%).

There were 623,000 CD albums sold in the week ending May 12 (down 7% week-over-week) and 653,000 vinyl albums sold (down 11.6%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 11.991 million (down 12.2% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 14.056 million (up 4.2%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 33.911 million (down 7.8% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 26.224 million (down 3.9%) and digital album sales total 7.687 million (down 19.1%).

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