The looooooong anticipated film about N.W.A. doesn’t hit the big screen until August but released today, the trailer for Straight Outta Compton. You can read up all about the film from MTV, HERE but in short, the film revolves around the rise and fall of the Compton, California rap group N.W.A, and members Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren and DJ Yella. Shout out to Paul Giamatti who plays the role of Jerry Heller, manager of N.W.A. Can’t wait for this to come out!
These days I wish I was back in college but not for the reasons you might be thinking. To be a student at NYU or USC is pretty special right now.
On the east coast, NYU with the assistance of Steven Van Zandt’s Rock and Roll Forever Foundation in partnership with the GRAMMY Museum are introducing Rock and Roll: An American Story (RRAAS), an interdisciplinary middle and high school curriculum that explores Rock and Roll from its roots in blues, country music, gospel, and R&B to its latest incarnations today.
Out west at USC, the university announced plans with Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre to develop an Arts Academy after a $70 million donation from the music heavyweights. The money will be used to create the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation will enroll 25 students beginning in 2014.
Another year of anticipation has come and gone as the 2012 Coachella line-up was released and while it’s pretty awesome they secured all the acts for back-to-back weekends on April 13-15 and April 20-22 I have to say my initial reaction was meh. Don’t get me wrong, there are a ton of phenomenal musicians slated to play the festival but I personally feel they lacked in the bigger acts category but did a stellar job with the smaller ones.
Headliners: Radiohead, great score and definitely one of the most sought after acts this year, The Black Keys love ‘em but bumping them up one slot from last year into the headline act…., Dre and Snoop, ok I get it and Cali kids will probably love this but is this how you really want to close out three days of music (I’ll probably be eating my words as this may end up being the most talked about performance)?
Also this year has so much more EDM and on the main stages, I know its music of the present but I wonder if/how it will influence and change the dynamic of the festival since it’s thrust to the top. I’m a big fan of EDM and these artists but Swedish House Mafia, David Guetta, Avicii, Kaskade, Afrojack, Justice, Sebastian Ingrosso and Madeon all as “main acts” it could get interesting just look at how many other EDM acts are booked.
Now what really excites me about Coachella:
Friday: M83, Jimmy Cliff & Tim Armstrong (oh wow this is going to be awesome), GIRLS, The Rapture, Madeon, Yuck, Dawes, WU LYF, GIVERS, Wolf Gang, Ximena Sarinana, Band of Skulls, honeyhoney
Saturday: Miike Snow, St. Vincent, Manchester Orchestra, AWOLNATION, Azealia Banks, Kaiser Chiefs, The Head and The Heart, Laura Marling, tUnE yArDs, The Black Lips, Childish Gambino, The Vaccines, Grouplove, Gary Clark Jr., We Are Augustines
Sunday: Beirut, The Weeknd, The Hives, Real Estate, Wild Flag, Fitz & The Tantrums, araabMUZIK, Lissie, Gardens & Villa
Something else that I love and hope is a trend for all the festivals this year is the addition of acts from outside the United States. Bands like WU LYF, Wolf Gang, M83, The Vaccines, The Hives and others that are extremely talented will get introduced to so many new fans.
All in will it be fun, heck yeah but what else will be fun is Coachella East aka Las Vegas. With a week in between you better believe Las Vegas is going to be a mid-week retreat with acts popping up for DJ sets in clubs and concerts peppered all over the Las Vegas Strip.
