Tag:

Roots

Ariana Grande Just Went Back to Her Brunette Roots
Fashion

Ariana Grande Just Went Back to Her Brunette Roots

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Ariana Grande is officially a brunette again, and her fans, to quote her Wicked character, “couldn’t be happier.”

The 32-year-old singer shared her new look in an Instagram post on October 29, which racked up well over a million likes in an hour. And while the caption is a nod to Glinda (“It’s good to see me, isn’t it?”), the sentiment as well as her hair transformation seem to reference the end of her Wicked era.

Grande dyed her hair honey blonde after being cast as Glinda in the massive movie musical. “As soon as Ariana came in, she wanted to go blonde, which was a great idea because it gave her the feeling every day of being Glinda,” hair and makeup department lead Frances Hannon told Glamour in an exclusive breakdown of Wicked’s approach to beauty.

According to Hannon, going blonde in real life helped Grande fully embody her character, even though she wore a blonde wig for filming: “So for all the dance rehearsals and everything she had to do, she went in blonde herself.… She wanted to feel like she was bringing Glinda into everything,” she said. “The visual of the blonde, no different from [Elphaba’s] green, was very important to her.”

Grande has also embraced her light hair in her life and career outside the Wicked universe for the past three years: It graced the cover of her 2024 studio album, Eternal Sunshine, and has accompanied her to every red carpet, from the Grammys to the Met Gala. But with Wicked: For Good, the conclusion of the Oscar-winning Broadway adaptation, premiering on November 21, 2025, she’s teased a return to her roots in more ways than one.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Mass MoCA Releases Malawian Roots Album to Launch Its New Label: Listen
Music

Mass MoCA Releases Malawian Roots Album to Launch Its New Label: Listen

by jummy84
written by jummy84

A new album of Malawian roots music is the inaugural release of a new record label from the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA). A collaboration with California label Hen House Studios, Mass MoCA Records released the Kasambwe Brothers’ self-titled album today, and you can hear it below.

The Kasambwe Brothers are a band of four decades, based in the Ndirande township near Malawian capital Blantyre. They found their way to a Mass MoCA residency with help from Hen House and Luc Deschamps, the director of the Jacaranda Foundation and France’s honorary consul to Malawi. Watch a documentary on the making of the album, which involves collaborators from the Massachusetts music scene, below. Clement Kammwamba is the artist behind the cover painting.

Mass MoCA Records will operate in tandem with the museum’s curatorial ethos, a press release notes, and is running as a three-year pilot. Museum director Kristy Edmunds said, “By joining forces with Hen House Studios and being able to tap into the remarkable number of music studios and intimate venues in the local area—the ingredients for a hand-made record label were all around us. I see this label as an extension of how we innovate to support the mobility of artists’ ideas and connect audiences the world over.”

Harlan Steinberger, the producer and engineer behind Hen House, added, “Though technology today can work wonders, the digital world has de-humanized us. I believe in an older-world method that emphasizes the magic of a band making music together in one room, playing off the creativity of the moment. The humanistic approach creates a deeper emotional listener experience that can not only be heard, but also felt.”

An album from Compton jazz artists Black Nile will follow in 2026, the press release notes.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Mass MoCA Releases Malawian Roots Album to Launch Its New Label: Listen
Music

Mass MoCA Releases Malawian Roots Album to Launch Its New Label: Listen

by jummy84
written by jummy84

A new album of Malawian roots music is the inaugural release of a new record label from the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA). A collaboration with California label Hen House Studios, Mass MoCA Records released the Kasambwe Brothers’ self-titled album today, and you can hear it below.

The Kasambwe Brothers are a band of four decades, based in the Ndirande township near Malawian capital Blantyre. They found their way to a Mass MoCA residency with help from Hen House and Luc Deschamps, the director of the Jacaranda Foundation and France’s honorary consul to Malawi. Watch a documentary on the making of the album, which involves collaborators from the Massachusetts music scene, below. Clement Kammwamba is the artist behind the cover painting.

Mass MoCA Records will operate in tandem with the museum’s curatorial ethos, a press release notes, and is running as a three-year pilot. Museum director Kristy Edmunds said, “By joining forces with Hen House Studios and being able to tap into the remarkable number of music studios and intimate venues in the local area—the ingredients for a hand-made record label were all around us. I see this label as an extension of how we innovate to support the mobility of artists’ ideas and connect audiences the world over.”

Harlan Steinberger, the producer and engineer behind Hen House, added, “Though technology today can work wonders, the digital world has de-humanized us. I believe in an older-world method that emphasizes the magic of a band making music together in one room, playing off the creativity of the moment. The humanistic approach creates a deeper emotional listener experience that can not only be heard, but also felt.”

An album from Compton jazz artists Black Nile will follow in 2026, the press release notes.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Fat Joe Says Bruno Mars "Screamed On" Him After He Asked About His Puerto Rican Roots: "Man, Broke My Heart."
Celebrity News

Fat Joe Says Bruno Mars “Screamed On” Him After He Asked About His Puerto Rican Roots: “Man, Broke My Heart.”

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Fat Joe Says Bruno Mars “Screamed On” Him After He Asked About His Puerto Rican Roots: “Man, Broke My Heart.”

Fat Joe says his long-awaited meeting with Bruno Mars didn’t go as planned.

During a recent episode of Joe & Jada featuring producers Hit-Boy and The Alchemist, the Bronx rapper shared a story about meeting the 24K Magic star for the first time — and how things allegedly went left after he brought up Bruno’s Puerto Rican heritage.

Joe said he’d been a fan of Bruno for years and was excited to finally meet him at an awards show. But before approaching the singer, someone nearby warned him not to.

“The guy next to me said, ‘You might not want to do it. He’s a f— n—a,’” Joe recalled.

Still, he went over to say hello.

“I said, ‘Yo, Bruno, what’s up, man?’” Joe recounted. “‘Yo, what’s up, Joe?’ [he replied]. He’s with Anderson .Paak. I’m like, ‘Yo, you Puerto Rican?’ He got up.”

That’s when Joe says Bruno became visibly upset.

“‘The f— you mean? I’m a real Puerto Rican from Bushwick, Brooklyn! Don’t ever ask me that s—t in your life,’” Joe claimed Mars told him.

According to People, Bruno’s father, Peter Hernandez, is from Brooklyn and is of Jewish and Puerto Rican descent.

Fat Joe said the interaction left him disappointed, explaining that Bruno walked away from the conversation and sat on the other side of the venue.

“Man, broke my heart. I wasn’t challenging him,” Joe said. “Like, ‘Tell me something. Who’s your father?’ [I asked in] the nicest way… Man, screamed on me. Went to the other room and was mad.”

Joe ended his story with forgiveness.

“Bruno, if you don’t remember it, I forgive you. But you did that, brother.”


0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Music Review: Jon Batiste opts for chill vibe on stripped-down album, 'Big Money'
Bollywood

Music Review: Ed Sheeran returns to his roots on ‘Play,’ a cross-cultural playground

by jummy84
written by jummy84

NEW YORK — Ed Sheeran has long sought to bring people together with his music, whether it be his emotionally resonant acoustic ballads or unproblematic, danceable pop hits. “Play,” his eighth studio album out Friday, stays in that familiar lane for the most part.

Music Review: Ed Sheeran returns to his roots on ‘Play,’ a cross-cultural playground

In his quest, Sheeran has maintained an everyman quality by carefully evolving with the status quo . The aesthetic of Ed Sheeran, global star, still matches that of Ed Sheeran, up-and-coming troubadour. Most of the time, it’s still just Sheeran, his guitar and his loop pedal against the world.

Of course, Sheeran, like most pop stars, knows that as his stardom has risen and his audience widened, the meaning of that relatability has shifted. His listeners, over a decade in, know that too. So “Play,” the first project in a new series from Sheeran named for symbols , uses Sheeran’s global acclaim to his advantage — without straying too far from his singer-songwriter roots.

Recorded throughout his “Mathematics World Tour” and finished in Goa, India, the project feels split. There are moments that herald the return of Sheeran the hitmaker, an exciting development after his last two albums — the final chapter of his mathematics series, “Subtract,” and the folk-pop “Autumn Variations” — were well received but failed to produce the kind of chart-toppers that created Sheeran, the megastar. Most tracks, however, fall more in line with those albums, deviating little from the narrative songwriting toolkit that raised Sheeran, the artist.

Sheeran turned to new collaborators for a couple songs that are already established hits. The addictive “Sapphire” features Indian singer Arijit Singh, who ranks among Spotify’s most popular artists globally. A Farsi version of the single “Azizam,” written and produced with Ilya Salmanzadeh, Savan Kotecha and Johnny McDaid, was released in April featuring Iranian singer Googoosh. Sheeran isn’t just eyeing the U.S. and U.K. charts here — he’s playing for cross-cultural domination, and having fun while doing it.

The rest of the tracks, those that feel more classically Sheeran, see old themes recycled: “Old Phone” provides him the space to remember old friends and reminisce about his changing personal life, just as the landscape in 2017’s “Castle on the Hill” provided a tangible marker of memory. The conceit of the sappily sweet “Camera” — “I don’t need a camera to capture this moment” — comes in conflict with that of Sheeran’s own beloved “Photograph” from 2014’s “Multiply.”

There are still moments that feel like they’ll stick: Sheeran’s ode to his daughters, “For Always,” with cooing backing vocals from co-writer Amy Allen, is sure to be a favorite father-daughter dance track, right behind the groovy “The Vow” on wedding playlists.

Sheeran flexes his pen on “Opening,” the album’s first track. Bounded by glittery verses about boundaries, he raps about his family, his mental health, that court case, fame and what comes next. “Been a long time up top but I ain’t complacent/If I look down I can see replacements,” he raps at one point. “Gotta make dreams and chase them.”

Sheeran wants to be for everyone. And to do that, he’ll still be an everyman.

“Play” by Ed Sheeran

Three stars out of five.

On Repeat: “Opening”

Skip it: “Camera”

For fans of: Romance novels, Bollywood playback singing, “Shape of You,” Coldplay

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Priyanka Chopra's 'Namaste' As Warm Greetings At New York Fashion Week Convinced Netizens of Her Cultural Roots
Bollywood

Priyanka Chopra’s ‘Namaste’ As Warm Greetings At New York Fashion Week Convinced Netizens of Her Cultural Roots

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Our desi girl, aka Priyanka Chopra, and her husband Nick Jonas turned heads and set major couple goals with their charming appearance at New York Fashion Week 2025. The power duo recently attended the Ralph Lauren show, where they instantly became the center of attention. Dressed in perfectly coordinated brown ensembles, Priyanka and Nick looked effortlessly stylish as they posed for the cameras and mingled with the fashion elite.

Priyanka Chopra And Nick Jonas

Even while attending one of the world’s biggest fashion events, Priyanka proudly carried her Indian roots. A video from the evening shows her greeting photographers and fans with a warm “Namaste” as she walked hand in hand with Nick. This simple yet graceful gesture won hearts across social media, with fans praising her for staying connected to her culture even on such a global stage. The clip of her sweet greeting has since gone viral, with viewers calling it both classy and adorable.

Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka and Nick’s fairytale romance is no secret to their followers. The couple first crossed paths at the Met Gala in 2017, where they walked the red carpet together as guests of designer Ralph Lauren. At the time, Priyanka believed Nick had placed her firmly in the friend zone, especially since she arrived nearly an hour late to meet him. However, fate had other plans. Shortly after the event, Nick slid into her DMs, and their friendship soon blossomed into a full-fledged love story.

Priyanka Chopra And Nick Jonas

By July 2018, the pair were inseparable and took a romantic trip to Greece, where Nick proposed. Their whirlwind romance led to a spectacular wedding just a few months later in December 2018, held in India with both Hindu and Christian ceremonies that beautifully blended their cultures. Today, Priyanka and Nick are proud parents to their adorable daughter Malti Marie, who was born via surrogacy in 2022.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Tash Sultana announces 2026 'Return To The Roots' UK and European arena tour
Music

Tash Sultana announces 2026 ‘Return To The Roots’ UK and European arena tour

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Tash Sultana has announced a ‘Return To The Roots’ tour of UK and European arenas for 2026 – see all the dates below.

The Australian singer-songwriter released an EP of the same name in May, and now they have confirmed details of a run of major shows to take place in March next year.

Sultana will kick off in Madrid’s Movistar Arena on March 11, before taking in dates in Paris, Antwerp, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Amsterdam. They then play a final pair of shows in Dublin’s 3Arena and London’s OVO Arena Wembley before the end of the month.

Support for the shows will come from Jeremy Loops and South Summit, and tickets for all shows go on general sale on Friday (September 5) – you can find yours here. Alternatively, fans can respond to Sultana’s Instagram post below and they will send you a pre-sale link for tickets, which will begin at 10am on Wednesday (September 3).

They will also be playing three shows in their home country in October – at Brisbane’s Fortitude Music Hall on October 1, Sydney’s Enmore Theatre on October 3 and Melbourne’s Forum on October 4.

Tash Sultana will play:

MARCH 2026
11 – Madrid, Movistar Arena
13 – Paris, Adidas Arena
14 – Antwerp, Lotto Arena
15 – Frankfurt, Festhalle
17 – Stuttgart, Porsche Arena
18 – Vienna, Wiener Stadthalle
20 – Berlin, Velodrom
21 – Hamburg, Barclays Arena
24 – Cologne, Lanxess Arena
25 – Munich, Olympiahalle
26 – Amsterdam, Ziggo Dome
28 – Dublin, 3Arena
31 – London, OVO Arena Wembley

‘Return To The Roots’ is Sultana’s first release since the 2023 EP ‘Sugar’, with both records released via their own label Lonely Lands. They talked NME through ‘Sugar’ track-by-track at the time, which you can explore here.

Their last full-length album was 2021’s ‘Terra Firma’, which was created during the COVID-19 lockdown. Speaking to NME at the time, Sultana said: “I can’t do the same thing forever. I need to do this for myself.”

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Drake Returns To 'Degrassi' Roots In New Documentary: Watch
Music

Drake Returns To ‘Degrassi’ Roots In New Documentary: Watch

by jummy84
written by jummy84

“Whatever it takes/ I know I can make it through,” the opening lyrics from Degrassi: The Next Generation live rent-free in the minds of a certain generation, but the phrase, “Whatever it takes,” is about to take on a whole new meaning as the cast and crew open up about the highs and lows of the beloved franchise.

Aubrey “Drake” Graham stars alongside Amanda Stepto, Stefan Brogren, Shenae Grimes-Beech, Jake Epstein, Miriam McDonald, and more in the new documentary, Degrassi: Whatever It Takes.

The franchise started with Kids of Degrassi Street, which aired from 1979 to 1986. Its spinoff, Degrassi Junior High, lasted two years from 1987 through 1989, along with Degrassi High (1989-1991). The franchise attracted a slew of new viewers when Degrassi: The Next Generation premiered in 2001. The lead cast included McDonald, Drake, Grimes-Beech, Epstein, Cassie Steele, and Nina Dobrev. This iteration was the franchise’s longest, running from 2001 to 2015. The latest installment, Degrassi: Next Class, aired on Netflix from 2016 to 2017.

“Degrassi changed the landscape of television with real, unvarnished storytelling and did it unapologetically from a teenage perspective,” said the film’s director, Lisa Rideout. “I was inspired by how fearless the series was in tackling issues that others wouldn’t touch. This documentary celebrates the iconic Canadian franchise while revealing the impact it had on the people who made it and the audiences who loved it.”

Carrie Mudd, executive producer for Peacock Alley, added, “Degrassi is more than a TV show. It’s a time capsule of growing up, full of heart, honesty, and every ‘first’ experience you can think of. Nothing then, or now, has captured the teenage experience in a more raw, authentic, or unfiltered way. Degrassi is one of Canada’s most significant cultural exports, having helped shape four decades of TV and touched multiple generations of kids around the world. Telling its story felt like honoring a piece of the Canadian identity.”

The trailer for the documentary was released on Wednesday (Aug. 27) with Drake detailing how he wound up landing his breakout role as Jimmy Brooks.

Franchise creator Linda Schyuler also appears in the trailer, noting, “Have we always gotten it right? Probably not. Have we told our stories with the best of intentions? Yes, we have.”

Dawson’s Creek alum Joshua Jackson described Degrassi as the “big grandaddy” to coming-of-age shows, including his own and Beverly Hills, 90210.

Degrassi: Whatever It Takes will premiere on Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Toronto International Film Festival as a TIFF 50 Official Selection. Watch the trailer above.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail