Aida Balistreri

31/08/2023

i love classic music tho

Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step

31/08/2023

Drake Explains “For All The Dogs” Album Not Dropping, Brings Hello Kitty Headband To The Studio

When unofficial reports began circulating about Drake’s For All The Dogs album dropping this past New Music Friday (August 25), hip-hop heads were buzzing with excitement. The Canadian’s past two projects, Honestly, Nevermind and Her Loss didn’t satisfy all of his listeners, but seeing as he’s promised a return to the “Old Drake” on this next LP (as well as a collaboration with Nicki Minaj), we can’t wait to hear what he has in store. Unfortunately, the project didn’t hit DSPs yesterday. During his latest tour stop, Drizzy gave fans an update explaining why, though he still didn’t give an exact arrival estimate for his LP.

“I know everybody’s upset because I didn’t drop my album last night,” he told the crowd. “I didn’t say it was dropping last night,” the Certified Lover Boy reminded fans. “So don’t be mad at me. I just said it was coming soon,” he added. As you may recall, earlier in August, Drake announced that For All The Dogs would be arriving in a few weeks, but any specific dates circulating online in the time since then have only been rumours.

“It’s not going to be that much longer,” the father of one promised. “Trust me, you now I got shows every night. But I promise you, ‘For All The Dogs’ is on the way. If you never loved anything I’ve ever done in the past, I promise you, this album will be for you,” Champagne Papi continued to speak. “It’ll be worth the wait.” As DailyMail reports, he was photographed arriving at the studio in a pink hoodie on Friday morning, notably carrying a Hello Kitty headband in his hand.

Drake may be playing coy about when his next studio album will actually drop, but he has at least confirmed the project’s cover art. The 36-year-old recruited his son, Adonis, to draw a picture to grace the front of For All The Dogs, and while it’s impressive for his age, it has some people concerned about what “demons” the young boy might be seeing. Read the internet’s discourse on the topic at the link below, and check back later for more hip-hop/pop culture news updates.

30/08/2023

ASAP Rocky Shares Rolling Loud Photo Dump

ASAP Rocky had an eventful time over the weekend performing at Rolling Loud. After his performance made headlines for reasons both music related and otherwise, he took the opportunity to share some pics with fans. Last night, he dropped numerous up-close pictures of his elaborate outfit and a video of the performance for fans to chew on. In the caption of the post, he seems to double down on some headline-grabbing stories from this weekend. “GHETTO EXPRESSIONISM. IMA NEED MY 10%,” it reads.

Comments were unsurprisingly talking about ASAP Rocky and Travis Scott. “Rocky is better than Travis on any f*cking point, stop trying so hard to prove the opposite,” one of the top comments reads. Another comment takes the opposite approach. “mf bit houston’s whole swag and wanna claim he was copied asap been biting since raider klan. y’all was built off stealing swag.” Given that it was Rocky’s own comment section that one didn’t go over very well. All of that discussion spawned from a lyric in one of the new songs Rocky played over the weekend. “First you stole my flow, so I stole your bitch/Then you stole my style, I need at least like 10 percent/ All due disrespect, I hope you take offense,” he said. Many have interpreted that as a direct shot at Travis Scott.

Another story that spawned over the weekend was about ASAP Rocky dissing Ian Connor and ASAP Bari. While many fans agreed with him, they were a bit disappointed when he walked back on his comments. Connor shared DMs he had with Rocky afterward that seemed to say there was “no pressure” between the two. In the DMs, Rocky claims that he improvised the jab after forgetting lyrics in a song.

Over the weekend ASAP Rocky released a new track called “ROWDY.” The song was produced by Pharrell and marked the second new song he’s released this year. What do you think of ASAP Rocky’s new post? Let us know in the comment section below.

29/08/2023

Live Nation Sued By Stagehand For The Weeknd

Live Nation is facing a new lawsuit after a stagehand was injured at a show in Texas. The show was one of the stops on The Weeknd’s After Hours tour, which is still going on. The tour will head to Latin America starting next month and it’s been going on since last year. The show in question happened at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas over a year ago on August 14, 2022. The show drew an incredible crowd of over 60,000 people, but it didn’t go off without a hitch. Now a new lawsuit is emerging by a stagehand claiming he was injured while setting up the massive stage design for the show.

According to Pitchfork, the lawsuit was filed by Steve Genovese, who claims that an on-site accident happened on August 9 while he was working to set up the show. “While marking the floor for the stage dimensions, [Genovese] was run over by a forklift which was being operated by another worker on site,” the filing reads. “As a result, [he] suffered severe, excruciatingly painful, and permanently disabling injuries to his leg. The flesh and muscle were torn away from [his] leg and were detached from the bones.” Live Nation, Cowboys Stadium LP, C3 Presents, and David Weise & Associates are all named in the lawsuit.

The Weeknd has been piling on records for his After Hours tour. In terms of total gross, it’s the highest-selling tour of the 2020s so far. He also broke the attendance record at the London Stadium with an astonishing 80,000 fans in attendance.

The Weeknd also makes two appearances on one of the biggest albums of 2023, Travis Scott’s UTOPIA. He teamed up with Scott and Bad Bunny for the album’s lead single “K-POP.” Then he appears again on the album proper alongside Swae Lee on the track “CIRCUS MAXIMUS.” What do you think about the new lawsuit filed by a stagehand for The Weeknd? Let us know in the comment section below.

23/08/2023

Travis Scott Van Surfs In Rome

Travis Scott is currently on top of the music world. UTOPIA is currently #1 on the Billboard Album 200. Meanwhile, songs from the album currently occupy 15 spots on the Billboard Hot 100. At the time of writing, the highest-ranked single of the album is the Drake feature “Meltdown” at #12. The long-awaited, and much-hyped, album has also helped Scott break Drake’s long-standing Spotify record for the most rap listeners. At the time of writing, Scott stands as the 6th-most streamed artist on the platform.

Of course, Scott has been spending a lot of time in Europe since the album’s release. It’s where he celebrated the launch of the project in late July as well as performing at a few of the remaining summer festivals. There has been plenty of headlines about Scott’s time in Europe. However, fans are starting to discover some hidden gems that slipped under the radar on platforms.

15/08/2023

Travis Scott Promises Fans He Will Make More Beats This Year

Travis Scott just dropped his highly anticipated new album UTOPIA. The project immediately made waves with both fans and critics. UTOPIA had the biggest first-week sales for any rap album released this year at nearly 500k. That impressive total marked the third biggest debut for any album this year behind new projects from Morgan Wallen and Taylor Swift. Its feature packed tracklist seemed to include almost everyone fans could hope for and more. Drake, Beyonce, SZA, Young Thug, Future, Playboi Carti, and many more artists appear in the tracklist.

Now Travis could have some more collaborations coming soon. While he often produces or co-produces many of his own instrumentals, many forget just how good he can be at beat-making. In a new tweet, the rapper appears to want to get back in the studio soon. “Making more f*cking beats this year. Sh*t is tooo fun,” he promises fans. While that doesn’t necessarily indicate that any new material is coming soon, fans were nonetheless excited about the idea of Scott producing again. The quickly rushed to the comments to suggest which rappers he should produce for. Lil U*i Vert, Playboi Carti, and even Kanye West are among the artists suggested.

Earlier this week Travis Scott hosted a massive UTOPIA concert in Rome. It was originally supposed to take place in Egypt shortly after the release of the album but the show was delayed due to production issues. After it was ultimately rescheduled to Rome over 60,000 fans piled in for the concert.

Unfortunately, the show didn’t go off completely without a hitch. Someone reportedly sprayed a bunch of fans with pepper spray during the show. It resulted with over 60 fans getting treated for various injuries that resulted. The fans during the show reportedly caused a small earthquake. Fans who want to be a part of similar experiences will get the chance to see Scott on the “Circus Maximus” tour later this year. What do you think of Travis Scott wanting to get back to producing? Let us know in the comment section below.

08/08/2023

Drake Honors Son Adonis With Tattoo Of His Name On Back Of His Neck

There was once a time when Drake declared that he wasn’t hiding the kid from the world; he was hiding the world from his kid. However, after the drama around Adonis’ reveal amid the Pusha T diss died down, the Canadian superstar clearly grew a lot as a parent. At least publicly, since we hope that he had already grown as a father during that time. Nevertheless, the two share a very wholesome and heart-warming relationship in the eyes of the media, going to NBA games together and the like. Now, the 6 God took his love for Adonis to another level: making sure he displays it everywhere he goes.

Furthermore, Drake tattooed Adonis’ name on the back of his neck, and fans spotted him with recently. Pictures of the new ink surfaced around Monday (August 7), and it heartened fans while not coming as much of a surprise. After all, according to Pop Sugar‘s last count back in May, the 36-year-old has at least over 55 tattoos. In addition, this isn’t a particularly new instance, as he already has a portrait of his five-year-old on his back.

Of course, a tattoo can’t replace the feeling of having your son with you. That being said, hopefully this new body art means that the OVO mogul feels at least a little bit closer to Adonis when they’re apart. That’s not to say that they don’t see each other often, though, because Drake always makes sure to document special times together. Most recently, he posted a picture of his son with his mother, Sophie Brusseaux, for Mother’s Day. Also, he paid tribute to his mother, Sandi Graham, and commemorated some family love.

Meanwhile, Adonis has probably accompanied his father to a tour stop or two. We can only guess at how much fun that must be, albeit how hectic being the son of one of the biggest artists in the world must be. In any case, Drizzy is his son’s biggest fan along with Sophie, and you’ll never see him from behind and not see that. For more news and the latest updates on Drake, stay posted on HNHH.

02/08/2023

New AI systems collide with copyright law

Kelly McKernan says she "felt sick" when she discovered her artwork had been used to train an artificial intelligence system.
Curiosity spurred her to type her name into a website called Have I Been Trained, which searches LAION, a data set which feeds artificial intelligence (AI) image generators including Stable Diffusion.
She found over 50 pieces of artwork had been uploaded on to LAION.
"Suddenly all of these paintings that I had a personal relationship, and journey with, had a new meaning, it changed my relationship with those artworks," says the watercolour and acrylic illustrator from Tennessee.
"I felt violated. If someone can type my name [into an AI tool] to make a book cover and not hire me, that affects my career and so many other people."
The new wave of generative AI systems are trained on vast amounts of data - text, images, video, and audio files, all scraped from the internet. Content can be created within seconds of a simple text prompt.

However, artists like Ms McKernan are fighting back.
Together with cartoonist Sarah Anderson and illustrator Karla Ortiz, Ms McKernan has filed a lawsuit against Stability AI, the company behind Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, and DeviantArt, an online art community with its own generator called DreamUp.
It adds to a growing stack of lawsuits against AI firms, which are testing issues of copyright.
Earlier this year Getty Images filed a case against Stability AI, alleging that the company unlawfully copied and processed 12 million of the company's images without permission.
Eva Toorenent, an artist creating mostly creature design, monster and fantasy illustrations, says she became concerned about AI after attending a gallery where she was surprised to see a piece of art with similarities to her own - which she describes as a "corrupted version".
"I remember thinking, if this can happen on a small scale, it can happen on a giant scale," says the artist from Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Aggrieved by the lack of protection for artists, she grouped together with five other artists to set up the European Guild of Artificial Intelligence Regulation.
"The aim is to create legislation and regulation to protect copyright holders and artists from predatory AI companies," she says.

Ms McKernan agrees that there needs to be more regulation and protection for artists. "As it is, copyright can only be applied to my complete image. I hope it [the lawsuit] encourages protection for artists so AI can't be used to replace us. If we win, I hope a lot of artists are paid. It's free labour and some people are profiteering from exploiting."
In December, Stability AI said that artists could opt out of the next version of Stable Diffusion, a statement that did not go down well with artists who felt that the default should be "opt-in".
In response, Ms Toorenent says: "Firstly, I would never put my work into it. But if artists do want to, it should be opt in. If I'm the owner, I should decide what happens to my art."
Stability AI said is not able to comment on ongoing legal proceedings, but in December 2022 chief executive Emad Mostaque tweeted that future models would be "fully licensed".
Performing arts and entertainment union Equity says AI has become an increasing threat to artists. "There is a legitimate fear," says Liam Budd, industrial official for audio and new media at Equity.
He says the current rights framework for artists does not reflect the business opportunities of generative AI.
Mr Budd says an artist might receive a one-off payment of £300 ($390) to have their image or voice reproduced using AI, but that original work might be used thousands or millions of times, with no financial benefit to the artist.
"We need more clarity in law and are campaigning for the Copyright Act to be updated," he says.
Last year Equity launched a toolkit to help performers understand the issues and protect themselves.

01/08/2023

How the Barbour became the ultimate British symbol

From the Royal Family to Glastonbury, the Barbour jacket – in all its slightly dishevelled glory – has come to symbolise Britishness. Lindsay Baker traces the life and times of an iconic garment.

It would be hard to imagine a more quintessentially British garment than the venerable Barbour jacket – the famed olive-green, wax coated, all-weather wardrobe staple beloved by the Royal Family. So it makes perfect sense that UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak offered a personalised version of the iconic jacket to President Biden when the two met yesterday. As an offering it's a symbol of Britishness, and the pair's bromance – the jacket is customised, with the moniker "Mr President" embroidered on the front.

It's a personal gift, and also a symbolic one. The high-end, family-owned Barbour brand is based near the PM's constituency in the Northeast of England and is a British institution. Mr Sunak himself is a fan and has been seen frequently sporting the brand. It was the late Queen and US movie icon and motorcycle enthusiast Steve McQueen who were at one point the two most iconic Barbour wearers.

And the Barbour has become increasingly popular in US in recent years – an article in The Spectator by a US writer describes "How the Barbour cracked America". It has increasingly been seen on TV screens in episodes of Succession – sported mainly by the patriarch Logan Roy – Industry, and, most notably, The Crown.

Traditionally the brand is synonymous with the British upper classes, a horsey, hunting staple on a par with Land Rovers and Hunter wellington boots. It shares a similar cachet to Burberry or Harris Tweed – a signifier of class, history, heritage and quality. But the trajectory of Barbour is a nuanced one, and its appeal now much wider.

Rural origins

Founded by Scotsman John Barbour in 1894 in Newcastle's South Shields, the brand began strictly as utilitarian wear for the countryside, for hunting and fishing. There were pockets for storing gaming cartridges, the "thornproof" wax coating for scrambling through hostile brambly countryside, and some versions even have a capacious "game pocket" with enough space for an entire pheasant. Another style is cut short for easy horseback riding.

The jackets over time develop a shabby patina, lending them a charmingly dishevelled character – there is traditionally a cachet attached to the well-worn Barbour. They also emit an unmistakeably musty odour, emanating from the wax coating.

24/07/2023

The rise of the Gen Z side hustle

Young workers are increasingly chasing multiple jobs and sources of income as they embark on their careers. And it could change the workplace for good.

Shola West, 22, works on the media-partnerships team at advertising firm OMD. She combines her full-time role with a part-time business: providing Gen Z career advice through freelance consultancy work.

West, who is based in London, says her employer is aware – and supportive – of her side hustle. “At my interview, they made it clear I was welcome to have my personal brand on the side. My CEO recently commented on my LinkedIn post saying what I’d done was brilliant, even though it had nothing to do with my full-time job,” she says. “Their openness means it doesn’t feel like a 9-to-5: it’s a job that works with my passions.”

Flexible work arrangements have also enabled West to pursue other passion projects. During working hours, she creates content for her TikTok account, offering insights into the media industry. “Hybrid working has complemented my side hustles,” she says. “It’s when I’m at home in between meetings that I can film videos or work on my business.”

West is one of many young workers who believe a full-time role alone isn’t enough for a fulfilling career. Generational shifts, an uncertain economy and a dynamic workplace situation mean the typical career of a young worker today looks very different than years ago, pre-pandemic.

Gen Z is moving into the workforce in significant numbers: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data shows there were 21 million employees aged 16 to 24 in the US by July 2022, with the employment rate rising 54.4% year-on-year. And as they age in, the side hustle will likely grow in popularity and acceptance. Over time, pursuing passion projects and multiple streams of income may well prove to be one of the most significant differentiating factors of the youngest generation in the workforce.

The rise of the hustle

Side hustles existed before the pandemic, but they were often borne from a place of necessity rather than passion. In the past several years, they’ve come in the form of gig-economy jobs, either in lieu of a full-time role, or as a means of supplementing wages. Even now, side hustles are necessary to supplement income for many people: one September 2022 survey of 4,000 UK workers, from insurance company Royal London, shows 16% of respondents had taken on an additional role to help pay for cost of living increases.

“The stacking of jobs has always existed, but it’s usually been done by workers who’ve needed to as a means of economic survival,” explains Meredith Meyer Grelli, assistant teaching professor of entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, based in Pittsburgh, US.

While the layering of jobs will continue to be the reality for sections of the workforce, the changed world of work has meant a new kind of side hustle has emerged for knowledge workers. Adopting flexible working patterns, employees have a greater opportunity to pursue passion projects and make extra money through choice rather than necessity.

“Without full-time office settings, there’s less visibility on the worker,” says Caroline Frankum, CEO of consulting firm Kantar’s Profiles division, based in London. “Working hours have also become less fixed and regimented, while commuting times have reduced – it’s enabled more people to do more side hustles.”

The result is that a second source of income has become desirable even for employees in well-paid full-time roles. “Following the pandemic, side hustles have appealed to a different level of worker and expertise,” says Meyer Grelli. “These workers are higher up the job value chain: they can now figure out how to combine roles and side projects in their lives as a way of maximising income against their skills.”

The rise of online platforms like Shopify and Etsy that allow workers to easily monetise hobbies, and social media accounts customised for personal branding, is a main driver. “The model that’s been used by workers layering jobs out of necessity has created a pathway for those in higher-earning jobs to adopt themselves,” says Meyer Grelli.

24/07/2023

'Yum-yum yellow': Could your swimwear attract sharks?

Sharks were long thought to have poor eyesight, but recent research is revealing new insights into their ability to see colours and if they can distinguish prey from people.

Rescue equipment is the colour it is for a very good reason. A splash of orange or yellow stands out against the blue and black of the open ocean. This flash of colour might be the only chance a floating sailor or air crash survivor has of being spotted from a passing ship or plane.

But what else might be attracted to these bright colours on the water's surface?

The US Navy finished World War Two with a great deal of eyewitness accounts of shark attacks on sailors and airmen who had found themselves cast into the ocean. These included the sinking of the USS Indianapolis near the war's end, which resulted in possibly hundreds of survivors being picked off by sharks. The navy's scientists knew that sharks were attracted by the splashing of survivors, and the blood from injured or dead sailors. But what if the colour of their life preservers played a part as well?

The hunch that the bright colours of the navy's life-saving equipment attracted sharks led to some dubbing the colour "yum-yum yellow". The propensity for some colours to attract curious sharks has become a particularly long-lasting myth, resurfaced whenever a spate of shark attacks takes place.

This month there have been reports of a spate of people being bitten off the beaches of New York's Long Island, raising questions about what might be behind the incidents. The shark species involved – the normally docile and aquarium-friendly sand tiger – mainly eats fish and crustaceans such as lobsters. It is thought that the bites could be the result of mistaken identity – the sharks are confusing the arms and legs of swimmers for the fish it hunts in shallow summer waters – or exploratory behaviour by a curious animal. (Read more about the reasons why sharks attack humans.)

While the exact reasons for shark attacks are often complex, and still not fully understood, could the colour of swimwear, surfboards and other equipment play a role as the US Navy suspected?

Sharks are blessed with some senses that seem almost supernatural compared to ours; sharks can detect smells at range between one part per 25 million to one part per 10 billion, and can sense movement in the water via a line of sensors which run across their body and the electrical signals from thrashing fish. But what about eyesight?

Sam Gruber, a prominent shark scientist who set up the American Elasmobranch Society, was one scientist who put shark eyesight under the microscope. In this 1970s-era video for the US Navy – menacingly titled Sharks: The Danger in the Sea – Gruber (who died in 2019) recounts: "I became interested in the vision of sharks when the navy came to us with the following story: in an air/sea disaster, pilots were wearing orange suits while the crew was wearing green khaki suits. Pilots – to a man – were attacked by sharks, apparently because they were wearing orange suits, while the men in the green suits were left entirely alone."

18/07/2023

The Real Secret to Having a Perfect Team, According to Google’s Research

What does it take to build the perfect team? This is the question that Google had in mind last 2012 when they set out on a mission to find out the main characteristics in building a good team.

This is a matter of great importance especially with a company with a large number of people wherein you want to foster a harmonious working environment. Here are the top five traits of a successful team that they have concluded in their research.

One is feeling safe in the workplace. It’s important that team members feel comfortable doing whatever action they deem necessary, especially when it comes to their work.

Everyone should have a feeling of openness and acceptance in the group and are not afraid to show their ideas. The second trait is dependability, the team members must be able to turn in quality work with efficiency.

The third is the structure. Every member should be aware of their role and what is expected of them, these expectations should also pose and challenge but is still feasible. Everyone should also find purpose and meaning in their work. And finally, members should see that what they are doing is actually contributing to the overall success of the company.

These traits are what Google found to be the most important factors in building a team. However, not all researchers seem to agree with the results of this study. Some find that the results are too skills-based and do not take into account the importance of a team member’s personality and their attitude towards their work and their workmates.

Another study looked at the problem from a different perspective. This one looked into left-brained compared to right-brained personalities and looked at what each type’s strengths and weaknesses were. It is said that right-brained people tend to be more creative, intuitive, free-thinking, and have higher cooperation skills.

They are the ones who play a big part in relationship-building within the team. Left-brained people are the ones whose mindsets are more on the objective side. They tend to focus on logic and facts and are more pragmatic.