NEWS
LETSGETFR.EE unveiled the lineup for its inaugural festival on Tuesday (March 1), and it includes Missy Elliott, Wizkid, Jhené Aiko and more.
The fest, which organizers are calling “a conscious carnaval,” will take place Aug. 20 and 21 at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New York. Additional performers on the lineup include Jorja Smith, Major Lazer Sound System, Anderson .Paak and the Free Nationals, Ozuna, Kali Uchis, Flatbush Zombies, Beenie Man, Tiwa Savage and more, with additional artists to be announced soon.
“Carnaval is the world…And the world resides in Queens. Get ready for a real diverse lineup and show that breaks the mold,” LETSGETFR.EE captioned the post announcing the lineup and revealing the colorful poster on Instagram.
According to a press release, the mission of the event is to “close the equity gap for Black, Brown, Asian, and other underrepresented people in the entertainment industry, with the aim of achieving a diversified workforce across all levels in the industry by 2030,” as well as to “drastically shift and empower the advancement of the next generation of…thinkers, artists, activists, and innovators.”
Tickets for the two-day festival go on sale to the general public March 9 at 10 a.m. ET via ticketing platform DICE. Meanwhile, local residents of Queens can register for an exclusive pre-sale beginning March 1 through the event’s official website.
Back in December, Timbaland teased that he was working with Elliott on a new album, which would serve as the artist’s first full-length studio set since 2005’s The Cookbook. Wizkid, meanwhile, is also set to take part in the in-person return of The Roots Picnic this June with Mary J. Blige, Kirk Franklin and more.
NEWS
Olivia Rodrigo is stepping into a confident new chapter with the arrival of her third studio album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love. During a conversation with Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s The Zane Lowe Show, the 23 year old singer-songwriter opened up about the personal growth behind the record, explaining how a more developed understanding of love, relationships, and heartbreak influenced the songs she created.
Looking back on the album title, Rodrigo said it perfectly captured her long standing fascination with emotions that are both beautiful and painful. "I always just thought that my favourite love songs were songs that were a little bit sad and a little bit broken, a little bit gut-wrenching," she said. "I love that title because it also reflected all of my favourite love songs. Songs that were about romance and about positivity but were also a little bit broken." She added that the title became even more meaningful as her own experiences became more layered. "Life has two sides. There's two sides to the coin of love."
One of the album's defining moments comes on the song "the cure," which Rodrigo described as the emotional center of the project. The track emerged after a powerful discussion with a close friend about the often complicated nature of modern relationships. "I was like, 'I want to write this record about love... I have all these love songs that I just love and I'm in this relationship that is "happy." why do I feel so depressed? Why can't I feel how I think it's supposed to feel in my head?'" Rodrigo recalled.
Creating the song gave her the opportunity to examine feelings in a way she could not during the SOUR and GUTS years. "Songwriting for me is best done when you're a little bit afraid to write it," she told Lowe. "Having written that song, I learned so much about myself... Just being a teenager, you look at love like black and white. You're like, 'This person hurt me and I hate them.' Or like, 'I love this person. They're the best person to ever exist.' And I think this record for me... is me playing in the gray area a little bit more."
