December 28, 2020 The Memphis pop band Big Star (composed at one point of, from left to right, Andy Hummel, Jody Stephens, Chris Bell and Alex Chilton) would eventually be acknowledged as a significant force among purveyors of power-pop, though not until years after the group s demise. (.Magnolia, via NPR)
History Highlight:
Alex Chilton was born on this day in 1950, and in 1978 on December 27, Chris Bell was killed in a car crash at the age of 27. Both of these events are significant in the history of the band Big Star, who formed in 1971 and were only active for four years until their reunion 18 years later. They released three albums in their first incarnation and their fourth and final album in 2005. Describing their early days, Rolling Stone said they created a seminal body of work that never stopped inspiring succeeding generations , and were the quintessential American power pop band , and one of the most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & r
After kicking off the year with the surprise release of his eleventh studio LP,
Music to Be Murdered By, Eminem is ending this universally shakey year the same way. Released as a deluxe version of the LP,
Side B is a 16-track expansion that delivers familiar territory with some pops of Em at his sharpest.
As always, he remains incredibly self-aware whether verbalizing common and obvious criticisms à la
Eight Mile B-Rabbit vs. Papa Doc while flexing a 2020 rap flow on “Book Of Rhymes” or reiterating his Rap God title on the White Gold featured “Zeus.” The latter, aside from an ominous warning to Drake, Future and Migos that fans will one day turn on them, too, includes a rubber bullet shot at Snoop, who publicly snubbed the rapper on his personal greatest rappers of all-time list (“Snoop doggin’ me, man, dogg, you was like a God to me, nah, not really, I had “dog” backwards, but I’m starting to think, all these people takin’ shots at me.”)
In 2002, they unleashed their first mixtape 50 Cent Is The Future, but it was Fiddy’s 2003 debut solo effort
Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ that took things to a whole other level. During a recent interview with VladTV, Buck took a trip down memory lane and explained how the
GRODT track “Blood Hound” led to a record deal with G-Unit Records, ultimately altering Buck’s path forever.
“Out of nowhere bro, I got this call bro, from Sha Money, through CeeLo,” Buck said. “CeeLo had called me and was like, ‘Yo bro, Sha Money just called and asked about some record you was playing.’ And I was like, ‘The record I was playing on the bus?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, bro. 50 wants to buy that record and put it on his album.’