XXXTentacion’s Reported Victim Details Grim Pattern of Abuse in Testimony

Pitchfork

Pitchfork:

On August 25, Florida rapper XXXTentacion released his debut album, 17, which entered at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. The music arrived amid online debate over the criminal case against the 19-year-old, whose real name is Jahseh Onfroy. Last October, prosecutors charged him with aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, domestic battery by strangulation, false imprisonment, and witness-tampering. […]

Now, Pitchfork has obtained a 142-page transcript of testimony by XXXTentacion’s reported victim, delivered over two and a half hours in January at a public defender’s office in Miami.

Spotify and Hulu Partner on a Discounted Bundle For Students

Sarah Perez, writing at TechCrunch:

Hulu and Spotify announced a partnership today that will see the two companies working together to market entertainment bundles offering both services which will be jointly sold through a single subscription plan. Initially, this bundle will be targeted towards U.S. college students and will cost just $4.99 per month – the same as Spotify’s existing student plan. The bundle includes access to Spotify Premium, the company’s on-demand music service, and Hulu’s “Limited Commercials” plan.

Science Fiction – Part Two (Encore Episode 153)

Encore 153

On this week’s episode of Encore I am once again joined by special guest Thomas Nassiff. Thomas returns to the show to discuss the album we spent most of our time recording this show waiting on … Brand New’s Science Fiction. This episode of the show differs from the previous episode in that we we spend most of the time talking about the album roll-out and the industry ramifications of this new album. We talk about the band going #1 on the charts, how this specific roll-out was the only way they could live up to expectations, and the chance of there ever being a band like this again.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself that this actually happened.

Read More “Science Fiction – Part Two (Encore Episode 153)”

Why I Deleted the Recent Makeout Video Post

Chorus.fm

On Tuesday I posted the new video for a band called Makeout here on the website. I had posted about the band before, they’re on Rise Records, they recorded an album with John Feldmann, and the first single sounded like pretty standard pop-punk music that people like. So, I posted the new video without even listening to the song.

That was a mistake.

Not long after, I checked the forums and I saw people commenting on the lyrical content. I clicked over to the YouTube channel and read the lyrics. They’re disgusting sexist bullshit. (Also, the song sucks.) I deleted the news post from this site and won’t be posting about this album again. I debated if I wanted to write a post explaining this because I knew it would draw more attention to the song, and because I know the exact responses that will come from a certain type of internet commenter. However, I think it’s important to speak out about this kind of bullshit when we see it in our music scene. I hope that the band take some time to listen to the criticism coming their way right now and think about what kind of musicians and artists they want to be. (So far, it seems to be going about as I expected.) If any member wants to reach out to me privately, I’d be happy to explain my thoughts in more detail and what I think they should do going forward. You all look relatively young, you can do the right thing here and be better.

And, on that note: I recommend following Megan Thompson and Anna Acosta on Twitter for more, and I’m sorry that I let this video slip through when I posted it the first time.