What The Hell Just Happened In Music This Week?

A$AP Rocky and Childish Gambino dropped new music, Rihanna was offered a huge role, and more.

October 4, 2014

Image via Complex Original

A$AP Rocky made a triumphant return to music this week with the release of his new single "Multiply." The accompanying video is pretty much grittier than anything we've ever seen from the Harlem native, and he also takes shots at Been Trill and Hood By Air in the process. He's been relatively quiet on the music tip following the success of his studio debut LONG.LIVE.A$AP last year, but from the looks of it, #FlackoJodyeSeason is finally upon us.

In other music news, Rihanna was offered a huge movie role, Nicki Minaj was tapped to host an awards show, Justin Bieber had another nasty run-in with the paparazzi, and Childish Gambino released an incredible new mixtape. Check out all that and more in What The Hell Just Happened In Music This Week?

Nicki Minaj will host and perform at this year's MTV European Music Awards.

Date: September 30

Nicki Minaj took to her Twitter and Instagram to reveal the big news that she will be hosting and performing at the 2014 MTV European Music Awards. The year's awards, which will take place on November 9 in Glasgow, Scotland, will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the show, and will mark Nicki's first ever hosting gig at an Awards event. Other performers at the show this year will include Sam Smith, Eminem, Iggy Azalea, One Direction, and more. With the awards taking place just weeks ahead of the release of Nicki's highly-anticipated album, The Pinkprint, you can bet that Nicki has something special planned for the occasion. —Zach Frydenlund

Rihanna has reportedly been offered a role in the upcoming James Bond film.

Date: September 30

Rihanna could potentially play the next “Bond Girl” in the new James Bond film, according to London's OK! magazine. The report states that Rihanna has officially been approached by the producers of the film for a potential cameo appearance alongside Daniel Craig, who has played Bond in the past three films. No word yet on if Rihanna has agreed to appear in the movie, which is slated to hit theaters in November of 2015, but the source says, “She's really excited."

This would mark RiRi's third appearance on the big screen, following her cameo in the comedy/horror film, This Is the End, and her substantial role in the 2012 action-thriller, Battleship. We will continue to update this story when more details are made available. —Zach Frydenlund

Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video will be released in 3-D sometime next year.

Date: October 1

Michael Jackson's iconic 14-minute “Thriller” video is about to become realer than ever. In an interview with the NY Daily News, the original video's director, John Landis, announced that he has been hard at work for months on making a 3-D version of the classic video, and is aiming to release the project in 2015.

The 3-D version of the video was finally put into motion after a long legal dispute between Landis and Jackson's estate was settled. To get fans even more excited, there has been talk that the short film/music video will be hitting theaters in 2015, as well as a special Blu-Ray promotional release. “It is going to reappear in a highly polished and three-dimensional way that is very exciting on the big screen,” said Landis of the upcoming project.

A source close to the Jackson family confirmed the news with the NYDN, and said that it was always Michael's vision to release the video in this format, and that the a 3-D performance was originally in the plans for his London “This Is It” concert. —Zach Frydenlund

Justin Bieber found himself in the middle of another paparazzi controversy.

Date: October 1

Justin Bieber has been living it up in Paris as of recent, but it looks like he had a little run in with some paparazzi on his way to dinner with his crew. In the photos obtained by TMZ, Justin is seen pushing away one photographer under his neck and in another photo, Justin appears to be in mid-punch to the face of another photographer. It's not known whether Justin was taken into custody or questioned by the police for his latest run in with the press. —Zach Frydenlund

Jaden Smith dropped new music, and while it definitely reminded everyone of his tweets, it sounds pretty good.

Date October 1

Jaden Smith recently took his fans on an emotional seven-minute journey with his song, “Blue Ocean.” Jaden appears to be serious about his musical career as he returns with another new song titled “Trophy,” which is actually pretty good. Over some uplifting production that will remind you of a summer day in California, Jaden displays a rather legit flow while rapping about his day-to-day life. This song is set to eventually land on Jaden's upcoming mixtape, Cool Tape Vol. 2, which is reportedly coming soon. —Zach Frydenlund

Prince released two albums, and the world shed tears of joy.

Date: October 1

“You should never underestimate the power of a kiss on the neck when she doesn’t expect,” he sings on the strongest song (“Clouds”) of his latest solo album, Art Official Age. This is Prince we’re talking about here. As far as I know, the man invented kissing. The fact that he’s 56 years old spitting game is, if anything, a testament to the success of his stratagem, and to good will, and the longevity it’s afforded him. Unlike Paul McCartney, unlike U2, unlike Stevie Wonder (gasp!), and despite a preceding decade of untidy studio releases, Prince has two projects that are loaded to my phone. “You never saw it coming cuz I made no claims—till now.” With this glut of new music from Prince—one solo album, one rock collaboration tape with his tour band 3RDEYEGIRL—we’re witness to a reemergence that’s not quite a resurgence, more like a covert encore set, just another art that Prince has mastered. In 2014, this brand-new age that’s but another year of awesome genre reconfigurations and disintegration, Art Official Age, the solo album, is funkified R&B (a.k.a. R&B). I establish this categorization at the onset simply to clarify an artist whose legacy varies: prototypical rocker, the definition of funk, a hell of a singer, additionally blessed with god’s guitar and all the king’s bass.

Art Official Age isn’t as expansive and quirky as Sign o’ the Times, nor is it as stylistically determined as Graffiti Bridge, Come, or The Gold Experience. It’s rather driven by fluctuation of decades, moods, and maturity levels, not to mention genres. “THIS COULD BE US” is a wink, “WAY BACK HOME” is wayward, introverted despair, “ART OFFICIAL CAGE” is disco immortal, “FUNKNROLL” is simply the jam. The chief constant being how thoroughly Prince has influenced today, even while imitating past and present here. “THE GOLD STANDARD” is Aretha's “Freeway of Love,” basically, retrofitted from a pink Cadillac to a purple Prowler starship. “CLOUDS” is the ouroboros that leads Prince to Grandmaster Flash to Lauryn Hill to Drake to Prince again, with Prince himself never straining to approximate the contemporary relevance of his successors. Brace yourself for blasphemy when I insist that Art Official Age's “The Gold Standard” wouldn't be out of place nor out of its league on 1981's Controversy.

He is Prince, he can write, he can sing, he knows this already; leave it to the fat bass jabs and pristine mastering to yield this album that's sonically, modernly gorgeous. PlectrumElectrum, the joint project pairing Prince with 3RDEYEGIRL, reboots Prince as a rock star specifically, a live instrumentalist whose songs are massive gyrations. Yet the generational vacuum —3RDEYEGIRL’s drummer, Hannah Ford, is 23—strikes discord; “AINTTURNINAROUND” and “FIXURLIFEUP” underscore how little Kid Rock and Marcy Playground have in common with His Purple Majesty. There’s a youthfulness here (“Wanna be high as the sky; rock ’n’ roll forever and never die/And I don’t need a reason to fly; now I see you’re the only reason to try”), and it’s refreshing, even if somewhat unbecoming of a Prince album. Oddly, “TICTACTOE,” “STOPTHISTRAIN,” and the Prince-less “BOYTROUBLE” suit the Prince solo album better than that project’s couple duds, “ART OFFICIAL CAGE” and the trending-topical “THIS COULD BE US.“

Prince is definitively experimental. He’s any #weirdo musician’s spiritual advocate. That’s his DNA. So Art Official Age and PlectrumElectrum are just about what I’d expect of Prince at this stage, the demigod aging out of, well, several genres that he can’t help but smile upon. When he panders to “this brand-new age,” he does so curiously, never desperately. “The only way to get you where you never been/Is to party like you ain’t gon party again!” That’s from “FUNKNROLL,” the one track that’s included on both albums, and don’t you make him say it again, now. —Justin Charity

Childish Gambino dropped his Atlanta-inspired mixtape/EP STN MTN/Kauai.

Date: October 2

With little warning, Childish Gambino releases his new double mixtape, STN MTN/Kauai. This tape marks Childish's first project since the release of his highly praised album, Because the Internet, in December of 2013. Since that point, Gambino has hit the road for a number of shows while continuing to drop new music via remixes or original songs. Gambino recently spoke with Complex about the mixtape, how he isn't perceived as an Atlanta rapper, and why the joint EP with Chance The Rapper probably won't be happening:

It’s a Gangsta Grillz mixtape that goes into an EP. The Gangsta Grillz mixtape is a dream, and the dream ends when I wake up in Kauai. And they go into each other; it’s one complete project. You can download the mixtape and you can go buy the EP.

—Zach Frydenlund

A$AP Rocky proves he hasn't lost a step on “Multiply,” his first release in a year.

Date: October 3

The wait is over. After teasing fans earlier this week on Twitter with a viral site, A$AP Rocky has released the video for his new single “Multiply.” The video, which contains a special intro and appearance from Juicy J, takes place in New York City where Rocky and the A$AP Mob converge with the haunting beat serving as the background. Rocky spits a verse that may be familiar for those who remember his performance from Coachella where he takes aim at fashion line “Been Trill”: “I ain't really fuckin' with that Been Trill, I swear shit is booty like Tip Drill, & I ain't really into throwin' shots, but these motherfuckers better gimme props.“

There's no word on where this will end up, but it seems that A$AP Rocky is making a firm statement about his return to rap with this video. —Justin Davis

South Central newcomer Cozz lived up to expectations with his debut album, Cozz & Effect.

Date: October 3

Since signing to J. Cole's Dreamville/Interscope label this past June, West Coast rapper Cozz has dropped a handful of records that showcase his skills on the mic, as well as a distinct maturity beyond his 21 years. In essence, he proved he had the intangibles to be considered a threat, even if listeners weren't fully aware of his presence. These skills come out in full force on his debut album, Cozz & Effect.

Lyrically, Cozz carries himself like a tried-and-true individual, weaving his personal narrative through the gritty streets of South Central. There's moments of malice, like “Murda,” where Cozz is living only for himself and seemingly destroying everything in his path. “I claim to be a Christian/I ain't prayed in a minute/Been shootin' and stabbin'/Going against all the 10 commandments.” Other times he takes a step back and refocuses, viewing the world that has been created by his environment, for better or worse. Cause and effect, indeed. What's most evident throughout the album is that Cozz has the confidence necessary to survive in the rap game, and this is just the beginning.

Cozz & Effect features a minimal guest list, with labelmate Bas included on “I Need That.” Some listeners may immediately skip to the last track on the album, and with good reason. Cozz is joined by J. Cole on the remix of “Knock Tha Hustle,” and Jermaine goes full throttle for two verses, rapping about the struggles he still faces in life despite fortune and fame. “I take a trip back to the 'Ville, only corpses remain/Some of them niggas still breathing but they dead inside/Victims of a genocide, tears fill my eyes.” Shit is so real.

Cozz is planning some shows for the near future, which will be available on Dreamville's official website when announced. —Edwin Ortiz