In a Rap Radar Podcast interview that dropped on Christmas day (Dec. 25), Drake explains why he won’t end beef with King Push or Yeezy. As rap fans know, Pusha previously dropped “The Story of Adidon,” which is a diss song in which he revealed the existence of Drizzy’s son Adonis.

When asked if he’d be open to speaking to Kanye, Drizzy says, “No, not really, because it’s not on my end. I had no problem with any of these guys. I don’t even know these guys like that.”

posted by David Miller

Diplo and Dillon Francis—two of the biggest DJs on the planet—have two simple choices in this Hot Ones spinoff: Tell the truth, or suffer the pain of the Last Dab. Watch as host Sean Evans drills the hit-making BFFs with high-stakes questions about everything from how much money they make, to who reigns supreme in the world of celebrity DJs. The only way to escape the truth is to eat an incredibly spicy wing.

posted by P. Ennis

Denon DJ has announced an industry first for DJ gear: starting today, a new software update allows its Prime 4 standalone player and its SC5000 and SC5000M media players to directly connect to the internet via Ethernet or built-in Wi-Fi. The feature was first beta tested a few months ago, but is now available for all and allows Denon’s devices to play music straight from streaming services. The company’s first partner is Tidal, and it plans to integrate SoundCloud, Beatport, and Beatsource early next year. This rollout means a DJ could show up to a club with Denon gear and play from Tidal’s entire catalog without having to bring any additional hardware.

Built-in internet connectivity feels like a wild landmark feature for a product category in 2019, but DJ gear has mostly stayed away from integrating it. Aside from the complications of inking and carrying out deals with streaming services, the idea of relying on stable Wi-Fi with no latency or dropouts while DJing is still a valid fear.

posted by David Miller

Breathe new life into your DJ sets now with Audio Tracks in Serato Studio.

In this video we show you how to make three common types of edits to work into your sets: a remix edit (re-drum), an acapella edit (mash-up) and an intro/outro edit.

posted by David Miller

Fresh off releasing the 25th instalment of its vaunted compilation series, ‘The Annual’, Ministry of Sound has dropped a mini-documentary, which explores how the club has grown into a dance music powerhouse, particularly via ‘The Annual’.

Judge Jules, Tall Paul (who both mixed ‘The Annual – Millennium Edition” and ‘The Annual 2000’) and Ministry fan Paul recall their personal experiences of the club in its early days, and dance music more broadly.

posted David Miller (via mixmag)

On Monday morning (Dec. 9), Nick dropped “The Invitation,” a Hitmaka-produced track featuring Suge Knight and battle rappers Hitman Holla, Charlie Clips and Prince Eazy. With artwork that reads, “Eminem – you are cordially invited by the Black Squad,” Nick and his crew call out Eminem and challenge him to appear on Nick’s show, Wild’N Out. Suge opens up the track with a call from behind bars.

posted By David Miller

Serato DJ Lite 1.3.2 brings Beatgrids, free music and in-app tutorials. Serato DJ Lite is a free DJ software that can be used with a wide range of supported DJ controllers. It’s the best software for learning how to DJ.

Posted by David Miller

The birthday wishes are pouring in for JAY-Z, who turned the big 5-0 on Wednesday.

Hip-hop figures have taken to social media to celebrate Hov’s milestone, as well as salute his indelible contributions to the culture as well as his impressive list of accomplishments, like nabbing nearly two dozen Grammys, dropping 14 No. 1 projects, and selling more than 100 million records.

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Posted by David Miller (Via Complex)

It’s official: Mariah Carey Is Christmas. At least, that’s the title of Mariah Carey’s new mini-documentary for Amazon Music, which dropped its first trailer on Wednesday (Dec. 4).

In the clip, the superstar reminisces about writing her iconic holiday classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and looks back on its cultural impact 25 years after its initial release. “I just remember where I was coming from, wanting it to feel like a classic” Carey says earnestly of the song while wearing — naturally — a festive, floor-length red gown. “It was an accomplishment for me that I was really proud of.”

The mini-doc also features interviews from Carey’s longtime collaborator and back-up singer Trey Lorenz, Variety music editor Shirley Halperin, Billboard’s own Gary Trust and producer Randy Jackson — who helmed production on the 1994 Christmas smash and declares in the trailer, “To come up with an original holiday song that becomes a hit? Next to impossible…Mariah Carey is Christmas.”

posted by David Miller (via billboard)

Kanye West’s latest album Jesus Is King finally dropped last month after much delay. Following a charming video for his song “Follow God” starring his dad, which dropped on November 8, the rapper formerly known as Yeezus has returned with a new video for “Closed On Sunday,” his Chick-Fil-A-referencing song from Jesus Is King.

Like the video for “Follow God,” his latest clip opens on plains of Wyoming, looking out onto a caravan of UTV/side-by-side vehicles. West appears with his wife Kim Kardashian-West and kids North, Saint, Chicago, Psalm, nestled peacefully in the state’s rocky cliffs. Eventually, Kris Jenner steps out of one of the vehicles, and a sprawling group of friends and family members join the Kardashian-West household in the Wyoming wildlife. Later in the clip, West is shown by himself on top of a mountain and surrounded by members of his “Sunday Service” performance group, who sing and dance along to the track.

Jesus Is King debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, marking the rapper’s ninth No. 1 album with 264,000 album-equivalent units. West is currently tied with Eminem for the longest still-active streak of No. 1 albums in Billboard chart history. Last month, the rapper told Beats 1 Radio host Zane Lowe that he was planning to release a Christmas album called Jesus Is Born sometime soon, though the release date still hasn’t been announced. He also released a documentary film, also titled Jesus Is King, accompanying his latest album last month.

posted by David Miller (via Spin)

With every technological advancement there is both anticipation and fear as to how change will impact one’s life and work. This has always been especially prevalent with the DJ community.

The introduction of digital formats, streaming, and stems has led to apprehension by many but overall acceptance in the long run. At the end of the day, DJing rarely subverts from its basic principles: to mix one or more tracks together in a conscientious flow of rhythms and sounds.

With the introduction of virtual reality technology, we are witnessing the next era of DJ technology, one that exists in a new, interactive online world. But what impact will VR DJing really have, and how it will affect the way in which we interact with DJ culture? DJTT spoke to the proponents of three companies in the field to get more overarching view of if this is something that all DJs should take seriously.

Tom Impallomeni is co-founder of Tribe XR, which launched on Oculus Quest September of last year to great reviews. It focuses on helping aspiring DJs become performers, and ultimately creating a new roster of talent.

“Right now, if you want to become a professional DJ you have to buy hardware, or you have to go and get apps, or go to DJ school,” says Impallomeni. “We recognize that by using VR you can train people on virtualized versions of real equipment. You’re getting access to virtualized versions of equipment worth around $6,000 — CDJ equivalents — for just $20, plus a headset, and headsets are so cheap now.”

posted by David Miller (via djtechtools)

Spotify has announced that on March 5th, 2020, they will host the first annual Spotify Awards in Mexico City. According to the streaming giant, the show’s categories, nominees, and winners will be decided entirely based on user streaming data to “provide a true reflection of what fans are listening to.”

Coming fresh off the heels of the Grammy Award nominations, it seems Spotify is looking to capitalize on sentiments from some music fans that the Grammys may be a bit out of touch in the streaming era. Spotify’s news release regarding the announcement states, “you can get excited for an awards ceremony that actually speaks to what the people are streaming.” Since the Grammy’s peak viewership of 39 million in 2012, viewership has consistently trended downwards. According to Statista, last year only 17.95 million tuned in, not even half of 2012’s mark.

The news also closely follows the announcement of Apple Music’s upgraded musical tracking program, as well as Amazon’ Music’s addition of free ad-supported streaming. Both of these changes cut into features unique to Spotify in the streaming realm, but with the Spotify Awards they’ve reclaimed a perk of their service that no other platform currently offers.

The show will take place in Mexico City, where Spotify has the most monthly listeners. It will be streamed in partnership with Turner Latin America.

posted by David Miller (via dancingastronaut)