Amongst the craziness of #COVID19, many musicians are using their platforms to encourage positivity and creativity amongst all of the unknown of this pandemic. So now is the perfect time to reflect on the positives that have come out of this past week in music.
Many musicians have been live streaming in-home concerts via Instagram live. Kali Uchis and Steve Lacy went live together on Instagram at the beginning of last week, where the alternative R&B artists goofed around with each other as Uchis teased some new music in the background. Alternative artist Rex Orange County went live for a second at-home show, performing for an hour on March 28, 2020, where he sang originals as well as a cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Other artists have teased new music. For instance, Ariana Grande shared a selfie of herself and Lady Gaga from the recording studio for Gaga’s birthday, sparking rumors that there may be a collaboration in the works.
On the topic of everyone’s favorite pop princess, Grande also sparked rumors that a Victorious reboot/reunion was to be in the works before the pandemic struck when she shared a screenshot from a Zoom call with the cast. The Nickelodeon show from 2010-2013 resurfaced in popularity (especially on TikTok) for many Gen Z-ers after it was added to Netflix in November of 2019.
Lots of new music has been released lately, keeping bored listeners very thankful. One of the most unexpected releases was a Rihanna feature on one song from the new PARTYNEXTDOOR album. Rihanna had previously disappointed fans after breaking her promise that she would release her ninth studio album sometime before 2020, so fans were not expecting a feature from her anytime soon.
Another unexpected recent release was the drop of a new album from Childish Gambino. Originally, Donald Glover, the multi-talented man behind Gambino released the very experimental album via donaldgloverpresents.com. On this website, the songs were played live streaming on a loop. Then, on March 15, 2020, Gambino released the album, entitled “3.15.20” on official streaming platforms. The album is 12 songs and also features Ariana Grande, 21 Savage, and Khadja Bonet. Most songs are titled as their chronological time on the album as a whole, leading several fans to find many mysterious aspects to this new album.
With so much of our lives up in the air as we hope that this virus ends soon, it is so important to do your part by staying home. Quarantine is not fun for anyone, but all of this great new music should make it a bit easier!
