In the late 2000s, members of some of the most memorable Myspace-era post-hardcore bands joined forces. On August 30, 2008, Craig Owens of Chiodos and Jonny Craig of Dance Gavin Dance and Emarosa secretly formed a side project called Isles & Glaciers. The two singers’ bands had performed together in Lexington, Kentucky, and rumors of a collaboration were swirling shortly after.

These rumors were later confirmed in September 2008, with an official project announcement later that year on December 15, 2008. With this announcement, two members of Pierce The Veil were attached to the project: vocalist Vic Fuentes and his brother, drummer Mike Fuentes. Additionally, guitarist Nick Martin, who had previously performed in the post-hardcore band Underminded, was in this announcement as well. Martin had also previously worked with Chiodos vocalist Craig Owens in a pop-punk side project called Cinematic Sunrise.

Guitarist Brian Southall was also included in the supergroup announcement. He had previously played in the post-hardcore bands Boys Night Out and fordirelifesake. Southall also spent years as a tour manager for bands such as Motion City Soundtrack and All Time Low, in addition to playing in multiple Myspace-era bands. He transitioned into production in 2018, working with artists such as Billie Eilish and Pharrell Williams. Chiodo’s bassist Matt Goddard also joined the supergroup in late 2008, rounding out the seven-member supergroup.

Isles & Glaciers Released Only One EP in 2010

This supergroup featured three powerful vocalists and multiple guitar players. Despite this, Isles & Glaciers only recorded one EP. Released on March 9, 2010, The Hearts Of Lonely People proved the supergroup had some serious chemistry. Fans were instantly impressed with the release, which went to No. 1 on the US Top Heatseekers albums. Sadly, in 2010, Craig Owens announced that this was a one-time thing and fans shouldn’t expect much more from this supergroup. That turned out to be true, as 15 years later, the group has yet to follow up.

Fans had a glimmer of hope when Vic Fuentes hinted in 2011 that the supergroup may release more material in the future. Despite this, the project has been lost in the past, with no follow-up release. For years, fans have pushed for a reunion, with rumors generating once again in 2026. Nothing has been confirmed, and it appears to be unlikely to ever happen given the severed ties between Craig Owens and Jonny Craig.

Many millennials may have forgotten about this Myspace-era gem that is worth revisiting. Ahead of their release, the band only performed together one time. This took place on March 21, 2009, at a showcase during the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

Photo by Joey Foley/Getty Images

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We now have a little more insight into the three deaths at Burning Man 2026, and they’re coincidentally connected.

According to the SF Gate, all three men had heart disease. This is per the findings of the Washoe County Medical Examiner. Certainly, as noted, it’s a bizarre and unfortunate coincidence. More specifically, though, there were other factors to each of the men’s deaths.

The first death was 62-year-old lawyer Tshombe Sampson, of Santa Monica, CA. The beloved Burning Man figure reportedly collapsed while attending the fest on Sep. 3. On-hand emergency personnel delivered CPR, but Sampson died at the scene. The medical examiner determined that his cause of death was due to hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Burning Man reportedly averages one death per year, but 2026 sadly saw three deaths

Just one day after Sampson passed away, a 51-year-old man from Truckee fell ill. He began experiencing severe chest pains and was taken away from Burning Man in an ambulance. Sadly, he died on the way to a Reno-area hospital.

In their ruling, the medical examiner determined his death was accidental. It was due to a combination of methamphetamine and MDMA toxicity, as well as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The medical examiner also reported that long-term methamphetamine use was a contributing factor.

Lastly, on Sept. 5, a 60-year-old man was found unresponsive in his trailer. The Yuma, AZ native was pronounced dead at the scene. His death, too, was ruled accidental. The cause was reported as cocaine and methamphetamine toxicity. There was also one contributing factor: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Following the third death, Jerry Allen, Pershing County sheriff and coroner, issued a statement. “Although we average 1 death a year at the Festival, we have had two so far this year within the confines of the Festival, and I have received information regarding a third who died in transit to a hospital in Reno,” he said.

In multiple separate statements, Burning Man organizers offered their sympathies for all the deaths: “Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the participant’s family, friends, and those affected by this loss.”

Photo By Michael Macor / The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

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We’ve all been there; you discover a band for the first time and they become your entire personality for a few months. Telling everyone about them, listening to their albums on repeat, essentially becoming a walking, talking press release for your new favorite band. For many Millennials in the 2000s, the following indie bands were just some of the artists that became our entire personalities.

The Strokes

Depending on who you ask, The Strokes were either the indie rock band of the early 2000s or annoying nepo baby posers. For those who loved them, though, The Strokes became something of a personality trait. Their 2001 debut EP The Modern Age had several labels fighting over them, with RCA releasing their debut LP It This It that same summer. This record sparked a wildfire of Strokes mania, with “Last Nite” effectively becoming their most well-known song.

The Strokes are often considered a mainstream indie rock band, an oxymoron that most likely frustrates quite a few fans. Still, for many Millennials, they’ve come to symbolize a unique moment during the 2000s. The Strokes were one of the bands at the forefront of indie rock, which gave way to the indie sleaze aesthetic through the 2010s. Whatever your opinion of them, there’s no denying their relevance.

Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend debuted their self-titled album in 2008, combining academic style with indie pop sound to create a literate yet laid back album. Albums like Vampire Weekend and Contra from 2010 buzzed with nervy energy in the vocals and instrumentation, but seemed to possess an effortless cool as well. Especially the debut, which featured elements of African pop styles and various string textures. This creates an interesting mix of preppy east coast sentiment and worldly musical interests.

This attitude came from tracks like “A-Punk”, “Oxford Comma”, “The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance”, and “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”. At the time, Vampire Weekend represented a specific aesthetic of urban college campuses and indie pop academia. And it’s possible that those who latched onto that energy probably ended up getting some sort of liberal arts degree.

Death Cab For Cutie

Death Cab For Cutie is technically a late-90s indie rock band, but they gained more widespread attention in the 2000s with albums like Transatlanticism, Plans, and Narrow Stairs. Additionally, frontman Ben Gibbard’s side project The Postal Service helped give Death Cab a boost. Their sensitive, introspective, often bittersweet and sad indie rock built them a fanbase of devoted Millennials at that time.

Many of those fans remain Death Cab devotees years later. They defined the early 2000s experience for many high schoolers just trying to survive and young adults finding their way in the world. Death Cab For Cutie made a great companion for all kinds of emotional experiences, and their discography still holds up to today’s standards.

Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc

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A private jet skidded off the runway at Las Vegas’ main airport and crashed into a fence this weekend. New Kids on the Block star Donnie Wahlberg was on board.

In an Instagram post, the 57-year-old boy band singer explained that the incident happened in the late morning at Harry Reid International Airport on Sunday, Oct. 18. “We were taking off and didn’t get up in the air and ran out of runway,” Wahlberg said in a video clip.

“I’m just going to tell you these pilots saved our lives. And God covered us,” he continued. “We just finished praying, and I looked out the window and said, ‘We are not getting up in the air today.’ But we’re safe and thankful, and all is well.”

Wahlberg clarified that the aircraft was able to avoid hitting “heavy” equipment, like other planes. However, it did crash into a fence.

New Kids on the Block member Donnie Wahlberg was on board a private jet that incurred a runway incident at Harry Reid International Airport

In the post’s caption, Wahlberg added more comments and thanked fans for their support. “Getting a lot of concerned messages and texts about my flights failed attempt at leaving Las Vegas this morning. Thank you to all!” he penned. “I appreciate your concern and well wishes.”

He went on to say, “I made this video for my friends and family after the incident, but so many of you all are my family too, so I figured I’d share with you. Yes, it was me and my team/friends onboard the aircraft. It was a rather intense few moments (which felt like a few long minutes).”

“Thankful to God, of course,” Wahlberg continued, “and to our incredible pilots who did an amazing job of keeping us safe and avoiding a serious disaster. The airplane did take some lumps – but we did not. Thank you to all the emergency personnel on the ground in Las Vegas! You all were absolutely wonderful.”

“All glory to God! By His grace, we are all ok,” Wahlberg concluded his message. “His love truly is eternal.”

At this time, no injuries have been reported. It’s unclear who else was on board the plane with Wahlberg.

Photo by Ted Horowitz Photography / Getty Images

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Southern rapper Pooh Shiesty continues to battle legal troubles before his career can take off. On August 7, 2026, Shiesty released his debut studio album, All Eyes On Shiest, after years of releasing compilations, mixtapes, and singles. Following an arrest in April 2026, the rapper released his debut album while still incarcerated.

Shiesty’s legal troubles date back to October 2020, when he was arrested in connection with a shooting in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida. In June 2021, he was arrested once again in connection with a different shooting in Miami. Later that month, Shiesty, whose real name is Lontrell Donell Williams Jr., was indicted on charges for the Bay Harbor Islands shooting. He pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy in January 2022. Williams was sentenced to five years and three months in prison. On October 6, 2025, Williams was released after serving only three of the five years.

On April 1, 2026, FBI agents in Memphis raided a home owned by Williams with search and arrest warrants. Agents arrested Pooh Shiesty, along with eight others in Memphis, Dallas, Nashville, and Atlanta. Among those arrested were Williams’ father and rapper Big30.

Allegedly, Williams and eight others robbed and kidnapped rapper Radic “Gucci Mane” Davis at a recording studio on January 10, 2026. Reportedly, they used intimidation tactics and an AK-style pistol to force Davis to sign a release from a recording contract. Others involved in the incident robbed two other victims, stealing their Rolex watches and jewelry. While Williams and the co-conspirators remain behind bars, their trial has been pushed back to February 22, 2027.

Shiesty Reports That He Is In Solitary Confinement

On October 15, 2026, Williams filed an emergency motion. He claims he’s been in 23-hour solitary confinement while incarcerated at the Rolling Plains Regional Detention Center in Haskell, Texas. The jail claims it’s for his own protection without providing any specific reason for this. Williams attorney has stated, ” Mr. Williams reports that the isolation is adversely affecting his mental health.” Additionally, his in-person family visitations have been restricted to only two hours per month, half of the four-hour minimum mandated by the Bureau of Prisons standards.

Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage

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Before Corey Taylor, there was Anders Colsefni, the original singer of Slipknot. Colsefni recorded one album with the band—Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat.—but was ultimately replaced.

In an October 2026 interview with the Minnesota Music Note podcast, Colsefni opened up about his time with the band. During the conversation, he shared his side of the story on what happened when Taylor took over the lead vocalist slot.

The frontman switch came as the band was working on some new music to present to their label, Roadrunner Records. They’d compiled a project dubbed Crowz. Setting the record straight about how the vocal duties were divided up, Colsefni told MMN host Will McLeod: “Well, ‘Crowz’ wasn’t me and Corey recording anything together at all.”

Anders Colsefni was the original Singer for Slipknot

“It was just after we’d submitted Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. to Roadrunner,” he continued, “they wanted to hear where we’re going next. They’re like, ‘Okay, this is a really disassembled group of songs that don’t make any tangible sense together. Let’s hear what direction you’re going in.’

“So the ‘Crowz’ songs were us writing our next stuff,” Colsefni added, as transcribed by Blabbermouth. “‘Me Inside’, ‘Prosthetics’, ‘Heartache And A Pair Of Scissors’, which turned into ‘Scissors’, and a number of other songs, ‘Crowz’, ‘Carve’, those were our next offerings to Roadrunner.”

Colsefni went on to say that “the only reason why Corey’s vocals are on any of them is because they brought him in while I was gone.” The ex-Slipknot member said he went to visit “family in Minnesota,” and while he was gone the band brought Taylor in to “record vocals over mine or with mine.”

During his time as vocalist, Colsefni recorded one album with Slipknot: ‘Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat.’

“When I got back,” he continued, “they sold it to me as, ‘Hey, this is what’s gonna work best. You’re gonna do background vocals, and he’s gonna do lead vocals, ’cause we need a lead man.'”

“I agreed with that,” Colsefni admitted. “They needed somebody out front with a mic that’s not beating on something else. And so, really, the Crowz songs were really me first, and then they brought Corey in to redo them, and then sold it to Roadrunner so that they could get their record deal.” He finally added, “I have no regrets about it.”

Colsefni has since re-recorded the Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat. album and toured performing the songs.

Photo by Paul Bergen/Redferns/Getty Images

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On September 24, 2026, former Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman performed piano for over 150 rescued moon bears at the Animals Asia sanctuary in Vietnam. In contrast, a North Carolina man used metal guitar riffs and pinch harmonics to scare off Black Bears earlier this year. In a video posted to Instagram on April 22, 2026, Andy M. Phail used his guitar and a half-stack guitar amp on his porch in North Carolina. For those unfamiliar with the term, a half-stack includes a speaker cabinet and a separate amplifier head mounted on top. Together, they produce a heavy guitar sound, loud enough for genres like heavy metal.

In the video caption, Phail explained, “Dude, since these dudes broke into my Jeep and ate 5 chocolate cakes, they will not leave my complex alone. Halfstack vs da bears, (I think they call her stumps cause she has 3 legs).” Playing metal riffs on his porch worked, driving the bears back into the woods behind the dumpster.

Viewers took to the comments to point out a hilarious minor detail. It soon became the focal point of the video. The guitarist appears to have an ankle monitor attached to his right ankle. Viewers joked, with comments such as “The ankle monitor makes this go harder” and “The ankle monitor is there for the bear’s protection.” Another commenter hilariously referred to the ankle monitor as the “Irish Rolex”. Given this minor detail, it now makes sense why the guitarist is safely positioned on the porch, aside from the obvious threat of a bear. It adds to the overall success of the guitar playing, driving the bears away from a safe distance.

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Other Instances Where Instruments Have Been Used To Scare Away Bears

This isn’t the only time music has been used to drive away bears. In 2024, a trumpet player used this technique at Lake Tahoe in California when a bear got too close for comfort. Mateo Mavero Duran, trumpet player for The Outlaw Mariachi Band, whaled on the trumpet, defending their campsite. Much like the video from earlier this year, this successfully scared the bear away. With these three examples, we can easily determine that bears don’t like heavy metal or mariachi. However, they do respond and take interest in classic piano playing.

Photo by George Rose/Getty Images

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On October 17, 2026, the third day of the Honolulu Pride and Festival closed out with a mainstage concert headliner, former Danity Kane singer Aubrey O’Day. This day opened with a large Pride parade, starting on Kalakaua Avenue at 3 pm. Other headliners booked for this year’s festival include Big Freedia, Anetra of RuPaul’s Drag Race, DJ Mark Kanemura, and DJ Hector Fonseca. O’Day performed at the Tom Moffatt Waikiki Shell, a large shell-shaped outdoor venue at the tail end of the parade route. Her headlining set ran from 7 pm to 9 pm.

This became one of the singer’s toughest performances. Following the performance, O’Day posted on X that she was served lawsuit papers on stage. She somehow managed to keep her emotions at bay enough to continue to perform.

On the morning of October 18, O’Day posted to X, “So much fun tonight for Honolulu Pride. I don’t know how I got through getting served a lawsuit as I started the show… coming out of COVID with no voice the day before. But I’m just thankful that I have surrounded myself with people who support me unconditionally.”

O’Day Has Been Outspoken Against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

Throughout the last year, O’Day has been closely tied to controversies involving Sean “Diddy” Combs. She appeared in the Netflix documentary Sean Combs: The Reckoning, reading an affidavit alleging Combs and a studio member sexually assaulted her in 2005. However, it’s unclear whether the lawsuit presented to O’Day on stage has anything to do with Combs. In June, a federal judge dismissed a civil suit filed by Dawn Richard, her former Danity Kane bandmate.

Danity Kane and Combs have quite a bit of history. They appeared together on the MTV reality series Making The Band 3 in 2008. On the show, Combs fired members Aubrey O’Day and D. Woods. At the time, Combs claimed O’Day’s image became too sexualized, which led to her firing. Years later, O’Day claimed that Combs fired her after denying his sexual advances. Following this, the remaining members, Dawn Richard and Aundrea Fimbres, briefly attempted to continue with the group. In 2009, Combs released their contracts, officially disbanding the group.

Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

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Power metal can be a challenging genre for vocalists. With all the high registers they have to hit and whatnot. For ex-Kamelot singer Roy Khan, after years of singing, he’s revealed that he can no longer perform some of his biggest songs the way he used to.

In an October 2026 interview with El Cuartel Del Metal, Khan—who is currently singing with Conception—discussed his “The Black Halo And Beyond” tour. The trek, which traverses Latin America, finds Khan performing tracks from Kamelot’s iconic The Black Halo album, along with other songs from his storied career.

Former Kamelot vocalist Roy Khan admits that it’s hard for him to still sing the way he did as a younger performer

During the conversation, Khan admitted that some of his songs are much more challenging to perform these days. “You can’t really hear it,” he said, as transcribed by Blabbermouth. “What we do with the songs is we take some of them down one or two half steps, depending on how tricky they are for me to sing these days. And then it’s like being back when my voice, my register, was a little bit higher.”

“So, that’s how we deal with it,” he continued. “You have drop-tune pedals now that you can use on bass and guitars, and that’s how it works. So a lot of the songs are not in the same key as back in the day. Which before was a problem because you couldn’t really tune guitars and bass, let’s say 20 years ago, in a way that wouldn’t mud up the sound and make things sound ugly. But nowadays, the technology is so good that you can do that. Which is a big help. Otherwise, I would have had to structure the lines a little bit differently from what I used to do it.”

Roy Khan is currently playing Latin America on a legacy tour of his older Kamelot material

Khan eventually weighed in on how his changing voice has impacted how he crafts new music. “I always like to push myself to the edge of what I can do on records,” he said. “On albums, I kind of like being on the edge of what I can do. And I haven’t really gone for the really, really high stuff since way back with Conception.”

“On Flow [1997], for example, the last album we did in the ’90s, there were no like really super-high vocals. So that ended with ‘In Your Multitude’ [1995] way back,” he recalled. “So, I don’t really feel that I think any differently from what I did back then. I just naturally came to the conclusion that my voice sounded better in a slightly lower range.

Khan finally added, “Of course, there’s a lot of people that will wanna hear me do the really high stuff still, which I can do, but I don’t have that… It’s more airy, it’s more falsetto-like than what it was on the very first Conception records.”

Photo by Steve Thorne/Redferns

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If you spend any time on r/synthesizers or watch a lot of synth videos on YouTube, you've probably noticed the explosion of custom firmware for hardware synthesizers, samplers, and grooveboxes. What unites almost all of them is that they were made possible by increasingly sophisticated vibe-coding tools.

These sorts of custom firmware were exceedingly rare in the pre-LLM days and required both deep expertise and an incredible investment of time. It could take weeks or months to add a simple feature like velocity sensitivity to a Korg Volca. Now, hobbyist hackers are able to turn Temu synths into full-fledged grooveboxes in a matter of days.

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Read the full story at The Verge.

For years, fans were anxiously wondering if D’Angelo would ever return with a new album. A decade had passed since he released his incredible comeback album Black Messiah. Before that, it was a 14-year hiatus since Voodoo in 2000. With every album, his diehard fanbase was left thinking they may have heard his last album.

But behind the scenes, he was always working. Close friend and collaborator Questlove teased that he was hard at work on songs up until his tragic passing in October 2025. Now, his family has confirmed that there’s a vault of music they’re ready to share with fans.

In an interview with Kiss Richmond, D’Angelo’s brother Luther Archer revealed that a posthumous album was finally in the works. Currently, they have six songs locked and loaded that were made intentionally for an album. Then, there’s an additional set of records sitting in the vault they’ll pick to match.

“Just him. So no collaborations. There are six tracks [so far]. But then we have a whole vault of music that’s never been released. So we’re trying to figure out what we’re going to add, what we’re going to take away… But yeah, there’s a posthumous album,” he shared.

D’Angelo’s Brother Teases Blockbuster Collaborations sitting in the Vault

Additionally, there are various B-sides and covers that Archer is mulling over for release in the future. In the mix, there is a blockbuster collaboration that any R&B fan is probably dying to hear. “We’re also thinking about a whole album of B-sides. And then we’re also thinking about—because he was big on covers… so there’s several projects down the road. There’s one with Mary J. Blige and Michael Jackson,” D’Angelo’s brother said.

Ultimately, the “Brown Sugar” crooner’s relationship with the music industry also informed a lot of his long gaps between releases. In an old Rolling Stone interview leading up to Black Messiah, he admitted that the music business was significantly different by the time he was ready to work on another album.

“So much of the weight and the time that elapsed had nothing to do with me musically,” D’Angelo said. “At first, it had a lot to do with me personally. And then once that got straightened out, this business just really went through a complete metamorphosis, and it took me time to readjust. It was just a totally different game than it was when I put Voodoo out. If it was solely just about the music, it would’ve been out a lot sooner.”

(Photo by Paul Bergen/Redferns)

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People on the internet are understandably on high alert when it comes to AI. Many remain vigilant at all times that something they’re watching might be AI and/or flatly incorrect. However, many artists themselves are embracing the technology for their work. But not Olivia Rodrigo.

When she released the music video for her song “expectations” with Chappell Roan, many people online suspected that it was made with AI-generated visuals. They pointed to various inconsistencies in how the fingers looked or certain animation choices. However, through her official fan account, she revealed that the music video was hand-drawn and created with 2D and 3D animation. Then, they used analog TV screens for the desired graphic texture to recreate the 80s aesthetic.

You can check out the process down below:

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Her diehard fans rejoiced and clapped back against haters online for even speculating that Olivia Rodrigo would use AI. However, this isn’t even the first time skeptics assumed that she would be pro-artificial intelligence. In an October 7th cover story with the Hollywood Reporter, she addressed rumors that she was dating a private equity associate for an AI investment firm. Before she even tackled the AI, she made it clear that she was single anyway. Then, she lamented the invasiveness of her love life in the first place.

Olivia Rodrigo Makes it Clear That She Doesn’t Like AI in Music

“To be stalked outside of your home and then these pictures are being used as evidence that you’re a bad person, it’s just the craziest thing. But I know who I am, and I know what my values are, and I try to just hold on to it at the end of the day. I wish that I could be 23 years old and experience life normally,” Olivia Rodrigo told the outlet.

“It’s so hard and kind of sad, especially because relationships are supposed to be something private,” she continued. “I feel like every time I go on a casual date with a guy, there’s a picture of it on the internet, which feels really invasive. Sometimes you’re out with a guy who’s not your boyfriend, and suddenly the internet’s like, ‘They’re married, blah blah blah.’”

When it came to AI itself, Olivia Rodrigo recoiled at the thought. To affirm her belief, she and her producer tried ChatGPT just to see the results. Safe to say, they loathed what came out.

“Absolutely no. Hard line on that,” Rodrigo stressed. “The closest I’d ever got is that once, me and [producer] Dan [Nigro] were like, ‘God, I wonder what ideas ChatGPT would have for an Olivia Rodrigo title.’ They [were] all f**king awful.”

Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation

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The idea of cancel culture today doesn’t make sense because people have criticized artists for decades over their choices. The only difference is today, fans might “cancel” an artist for something actively harmful they’ve done. Back in the day, public outrage was over trivial matters like censored words or evocative imagery that’s meant to make you think. If it even registered as mildly offensive, people would organize and share their disdain until authorities did something about it.

Were they always successful? No, not really. Similar to ‘cancel culture’ today, it only ever works when the public doesn’t find the artist that interesting anymore to warrant them sticking around.

Still, it’s easy to wonder how the public today would react to the controversial music videos of the past. So we’ve picked three songs from decades past with wild videos that would’ve caused a stir if they came out in the modern world.

3 Controversial Music Videos That Would Have Got These Artists in Serious Trouble Today

‘Pumps and a Bump’ by MC Hammer

If you can believe it, MC Hammer of all people was actually controversial at one point. It’s hard to initially wrap your mind around the idea that the “U Can’t Touch This” guy could be anything other than great for a Taco Bell commercial. He could dance, his energy was contagious, and he didn’t cuss in his lyrics. Hammer was extremely marketable, from his friendly rapping to his outrageous pants.

However, people also used those cleaner aspects of his image and tore into him accordingly. A Tribe Called Quest and Redman made it a point to mock MC Hammer and his over-the-top nature. That meant people didn’t take him seriously, and that was a massive concern to him. Consequently, he made a hard pivot to the stylings of G-Funk, all while still somehow maintaining his dancing. It was weird, complicated, and frankly didn’t make any sense.

The first music video ushering in this moment was “Pumps and a Bump”. There, you can find him strutting around in a Speedo, gyrating all in the camera. MTV took it off the air accordingly, prompting MC Hammer to have to make a new music video if he wanted his promotion to go right.

‘Like a Prayer’ by Madonna

People will always get defensive over Christianity. No matter how a critique might be, it’s always seen as too sacred to disparage. Consequently, when Madonna used Catholic iconography to point out hypocrisy, MTV viewers were outraged. Eventually, her daring music video cost her a Pepsi commercial but won her an MTV VMA in the end. Considering how people treated Lil Nas X in his wilder videos, they would’ve crucified Madonna all the same.

‘Tip Drill’ by Nelly

The rampant misogyny alone would’ve seen Nelly in hot water for “Tip Drill”. Before you get into the lyrics of the St. Louis rapper scoffing that “it must be your a** ’cause it ain’t yo face“, the music video is wildly explicit. The only way you could’ve seen it in its full form was on BET Uncut, where women were completely topless and in bathtubs. Meanwhile, Nelly and the St. Lunatics were slapping their butts and sliding credit cards in their cracks. If people today find that there’s somehow too much sex in movies today, they’d have a heart attack over “Tip Drill”.

Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

The post 3 Music Videos That Nearly Got Their Artists Canceled (Before Cancel Culture Existed) appeared first on VICE.

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Mauri Tapia, the artist behind Los Retros, has been charged with deeply disturbing crimes before his show in Los Angeles. In a report from The Los Angeles Times, he was arrested on October 8th, with bail set at $3 million. The Ventura County Superior Court charged him with four felony counts of unlawful acts with a child under the age of 10. Currently, there’s been no plea deal taken, and Tapia remains in jail.

Additionally, the reports deemed the singer to be in a “trustworthy position” with the minor and abused it accordingly. His next court date is slated for October 22nd.

Mauri Tapia was slated to perform at the Stones Throw 30 music festival in LA as part of the label. However, he was promptly removed for “unforeseen circumstances” at the time. The label addressed the damning allegations, admitting they had no clue about them when removing him from the show. Now that they know, they’ve taken all the steps necessary to remove Tapia from the label and distance themselves from his work.

“We take these allegations extremely seriously and will continue to assess the situation as more information becomes available,” they said in a statement on Instagram.

Mauri Tapia Charged With Heinous Crimes Against a Minor

Los Retros was a prominent band on Stone’s Throw and one of the most prominent Latino bands working today. They netted 2.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify, with their song “Someone To Spend Time With” sitting at over 271 million streams.

The band’s bio revealed that they started as a trio with Mauri Tapia as the frontman. Most of the recordings typically took place at his house. By 2022, the other two members of the band left, leaving him as the sole person in Los Retros.

“His goal from the start has always been to record and compose songs that sound as if they were made in previous generations. Although he was born in 2000, his favorite selection of music is inspired by video games he grew up playing,” the bio read. “Having sounds that usually resembled Jazz Fusion and genres from the 70s-80s.”

Ever since Mauri Tapia headed the band by himself, he handled every aspect of the music completely on his own. Every piece of musical engineering, singing, and instrumentation was solely his work.

Currently, past members of Los Retros haven’t made a statement about the allegations.

Photo by Josh Brasted/FilmMagic

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Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis is known as something of a slacker guitar god. He stands stoically onstage, barely moving, as he seemingly effortlessly works through deft guitar solos and lopsided riffs. Unfortunately, Mascis has developed a similar reputation as an interview subject, quietly sitting and offering deft nonanswers.

That's not to say that Mascis can't be funny or charming. As our interview was winding down and I was thanking him for his time, he started to loosen up a bit. He told me about his youth as a mini golf "enthusiast." "I had a 3-foot putt for the win" at a mini-golf tournament, he said, but "that's when I realized tha …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Drake has been having an incredible year in 2026. After dropping three blockbuster albums that brought him back in fans’ good graces, his old feud against Kendrick Lamar almost feels like an asterisk. Despite the nasty beef, it’s as if he never stopped being the biggest rapper in the world.

To help with his case is his number one hit “Janice STFU”, a darker, moodier track that saw him take subliminal shots at Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar. However, despite this success, a new lawsuit suggested that he actually stole the catchy chorus for it. A member of his team essentially scoffed at the accusation.

In a new report from TMZ, they said, “These allegations are categorically, unequivocally, and unequivocally denied. There is not one iota of truth to these accusations.”

Additionally, they called it a “manufactured and baseless attempt” at gaining publicity and discrediting his work. “Drake wrote this song and has no connection or knowledge of this person, full stop,” they stressed.

The lawsuit was reported by Billboard, where hip-hop artist, producer and engineer Aviel Calev Hirschfield claimed he wrote the infamous hook. Moreover, it was made with the Toronto MC specifically in mind after hearing Lykke Li’s “I Follow Rivers”. He alleged that the final products were basically identical and the stem recordings were still intact to prove it.

Drake Gets Hit With Hefty Lawsuit Over His Hit Song ‘Janice STFU’

This isn’t the only time that he’s been accused of ripping off another artist. Back in May 2026, Florida rapper 1900Rugrat felt slighted, alleging that the ICEMAN rapper reached out about working on music. As a result, he sent over a few different records and immediately gravitated to a song that would eventually become his intro.

Once it was made clear that he was saving it for his album, Drake still allegedly affirmed that he would utilize him on the album. However, the stars never aligned, and afterwards, he claimed he heard a record on ICEMAN that sounded like his work. “Twin, that’s the only beat I’ve ever produced,” he said. “Don’t rip my s**t and repitch it like that, fam. That’s fried out and f**ked up, twin.”

After the video he made, he posted DMs between him and Drake that proved he wasn’t lying about the potential of them working together. In the end, he never took him to court for allegedly stealing his work, though.

Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images

The post Drake Trashes Lawsuit Claiming He Stole the Chorus for One of His Biggest Hits: ‘Not One Iota of Truth’ appeared first on VICE.

Not long ago, Diddy was living as well as you could possibly live in prison. He had his other inmates doing a litany of favors for him at any moment. Massages, special meals, and people to do his laundry and clean restrooms at any given notice. He even had his own phone and a tablet to watch 50 Cent’s documentary about him.

According to a fellow prisoner, this is the kind of lifestyle you have when you’re as rich as Puff Daddy. “You can pretty much get anything except a key to the front door and a female,” one person told NBC News. “He’s a billionaire. People are in awe of him. Money is power, especially behind bars.”

However, after an alleged fight with Jamaican drug lord Christopher “Dudus” Coke, Diddy suffered a head injury that landed him in the hospital. Apparently, Dudus didn’t take kindly to the special treatment that was being given in prison. Reports suggested this led to prison raids and cell phone confiscation.

Now, according to TMZ, the Bad Boy mogul was transferred from his usual New Jersey prison to a new facility in Pennsylvania. The security isn’t as intense, and there are only 1,000 inmates. TMZ presumed that this meant there would be more eyes on him and allow for more protection from massive fights.

Diddy Transferred to Pennsylvania Prison After Nasty Brawl at Fort Dix

Currently, the state of Sean Combs’ health is unknown. What we do know is that his archenemy 50 Cent finds the whole debacle to be extremely amusing. He joked on Instagram that Diddy is bound to make the next prison he goes to even crazier than Fort Dix. Then, he posted an absolutely deranged video of a toy that resembles Combs blowing bubbles out of his butt.

50 has notoriously trolled his enemies, Puff included. He even made money off trolling his adversaries through a partnership with DoorDash. Back in February 2026, he was in a Super Bowl commercial that saw him tease Diddy’s lengthy 50-month prison sentence and make reference to his name through cheese puffs and a pack of combs.

“I’ve always been about keeping it real, so when DoorDash approached me about a social campaign around beef, it felt authentic from the start,” 50 Cent said in a statement. “They’ve got everything you need, and just like with beef, the receipts speak for themselves.”

Photo by Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images for Sean “Diddy” Combs

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It’s been over a decade since One Direction decided to go their own way and pursue solo careers. It seemed to work out for all parties involved, especially Harry Styles, one of the biggest pop stars working today. Still, fans dreamed that one day the group would eventually reunite, even if it was for just a performance or a throwback tour.

However, tragedy struck when Liam Payne died in 2024 after a horrific fall from a third-floor balcony at a hotel in Argentina. Two years later, Styles had a concert at Madison Square Garden and decided to honor his old friend and bandmate with an unreleased song. Check it out below:

Harry Styles performs an unreleased song he wrote for Liam Payne at his show at Madison Square Garden. pic.twitter.com/NL8Y6PP5Sq

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) October 17, 2026

Before he performed the song, Harry Styles gave a heartfelt speech to the crowd, addressing the whirlwind feelings that revolve around grief. Ultimately, he stressed the importance of being there for the people you care most about in life.

“I’m sure a lot of you have been through similar things. I hope you haven’t. But really, it’s just about looking after each other,” he told the audience. “So many people who have touched my life in such special ways. I wouldn’t be here without. I’m gonna play you a song I wrote for my friend about two years ago, if that’s all right.”

Harry Styles Pays Tribute to the late Liam Payne Two Years After His Tragic Death

Currently, the “As It Was” crooner is on a lengthy residency tour, where he’ll perform a string of shows at dedicated venues across the world. Currently, he has taken over Madison Square Garden for seven more shows. Then, he heads overseas to Australia for four shows at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne and two shows at Accor Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park in December. After a small hiatus into the new year, Harry Styles will complete the rest of his world tour and eventually finish at Wembley Stadium on August 28th, 2027.

At the time of Liam Payne’s death, One Direction reunited for a group statement to pay tribute to their late friend. “We’re completely devastated by the news of Liam’s passing. In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say. But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly,” they shared on behalf of Harry Styles, Zayn, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson.

Photo by Jason Howard/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

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Politics have made rock royalty beef now more than ever. During a recent concert, James Hetfield seemingly threw shade at the Macklemore controversy by affirming that they’re not like that. Instead, they’re politically neutral and don’t want to convince any fans to feel strongly about anything in particular. Just have fun and rock out at their shows. “Metallica is not here, like some other entertainers, to influence you with their bulls**t,” he shared.

Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame found this perspective to be essentially useless. What kind of artist makes it a point to not say anything at all? Consequently, he called Hetfield a “prick” on the latest episode of The Katie Halper Show.

“He’s just showing that he’s a complete prick,” Waters said of the Metallica frontman. “He’s got an IQ of about three, and why we’re talking about him, I don’t even know, because he’s a nobody. He may have a few hundred million dollars or whatever, but he’s a prick.”

Additionally, Roger Waters slammed Hetfield for his artistry, claiming that Metallica aren’t real musicians. “I heard them playing acoustic instruments and it was appalling,” he scoffed.

In the war between the two rock legends, the Osbourne family made their loyalties very clear by calling out Waters. For a limited time, they released a shirt that says ‘Another Prick In The Wall’, in reference to the Pink Floyd classic. Then, you can see Ozzy Osbourne peeing a rainbow on it.

The Osbourne Family Stood up for Metallica in Their Feud With Roger Waters of Pink Floyd

Waters is also on the record for not liking Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath that much either. In a 2025 interview with The Independent Ink, he shrugged off their music in the aftermath of his death. Moreover, he recalled the “idiocy and nonsense” that Osbourne publicly spouted over the years.

“I don’t care about Black Sabbath, I never did, I have no interest. I couldn’t care less,” Roger Waters said at the time. “Ozzy Osbourne, who just died, bless him, in his whatever that state that he was in his whole life. We’ll never know, we didn’t, you know? Although he was all over the TV for hundreds of years with his idiocy and nonsense.”

Naturally, the Osbourne family was quick to defend Ozzy from the onslaught from Roger Waters. As captured by PEOPLE, Jack Osbourne revealed that his dad never quite cared for the Pink Floyd singer. “Hey @rogerwaters. F**k You. How pathetic and out of touch you’ve become,” he wrote on Instagram. “The only way you seem to get attention these days is by vomiting out bulls**t in the press. My father always thought you were a c**t – thanks for proving him right.”

Photo by KMazur/WireImage

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One of the most infamous albums in hip-hop history is Once Upon A Time In Shaolin. Back in 2014, RZA, Method Man, and the rest of the Wu-Tang Clan were fed up with how streaming made music feel like it doesn’t have any value. Consequently, they made the album to be consumed like high art and only made one copy of the album. Then, they deleted every master recording so that there would be no possible way for the album to ever be leaked.

By 2015, only 150 people got to come together and listen to a fraction of the album. Then, Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli bought it for $2 million and thought about destroying it just to really make sure no one heard it. By 2021, PleasrDAO had acquired it and revealed that it could only be heard at listening parties and art exhibits.

Decades later, Method Man finally got to hear the work they spent so much time working on. Now, we get a pretty solid review for it. During an episode of the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, they brought the New York legend for an informal listening party with Once Upon A Time In Shaolin. According to Meth, it’s reminiscent of the prime work RZA used to make.

Method Man Finally Got To Hear the Lost Wu-Tang Album After its Inception over a decade ago

“I could see why people will like this album, and I could see why people will love this album,” he shared. “I don’t hate it. The production is on par with some of the stuff that RZA used to do back in the day … I’m gonna give him his props on this one. And I’m gonna validate, this is a valid piece of art right here.”

How come Wu-Tang Clan can’t just buy the album back? After all, it is still their work. Why can’t they just take the record back and finally release it for die-hard fans to listen to? Or at the very least, Method Man and co. would be able to play it again like normal.

According to RZA, he tried to buy it back when Martin Shkreli was trying to get rid of the album. However, due to limitations in the contract of their sale, it prevented the Wu-Tang Clan from ever having real ownership over the record again. Instead, it could only be heard in listening parties, like the one Pablo Torre did for the New York legend.

Photo by David A. Smith/Getty Images

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