Women in music

It's only Tuesday, but the weekend is already stacking up with a fresh lineup of dance music livestreams.
This week, the party starts a day early with Net.Werk, a Thursday female-focused event featuring Mija, Kittens, Krewella, Ducky, Uniiq3, Dani Deahl, Sophie Hawley-Weld of Sofi Tukker and gents including Varien, Elephante and Kandy. The 12-hour show will be hosted by Cray and stream on live.bandsintown.com.
The event kicks off at 3 p.m. ET, with all proceeds going toward the MusiCares COVID-19 relief fund.

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Katy Perry doesn’t mind dressing up for the occasion. She attended the 2019 Met Gala dressed as a chandelier and a hamburger. Just what everyone wants.

On Sunday, the “Firework” singer took to her social accounts to talk up the new remotely-filmed episodes of American Idol. Katy came dressed as a giant bottle of hand sanitizer. Just what everyone needs.

Fancy dress aside, Perry delivered a wholesome PSA. “Oh hey. Katy Perry here, reminding you to stay safe, wash your hands, and tune into an all new, like never before episode of American Idol, tonight,” the Idol judge says in the video.

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Camila Cabello is inviting one lucky fan to spend a day on set with her and make an appearance in her next music video as part of the All-In Challenge.

"I'm offering a day on set of my next music video when social distancing is over," she said in a clip shared on social media Saturday evening (May 2). "You will make a cameo in the music video, you will learn choreography with me, I'll teach you all the moves -- well, my choreographer will teach us the moves."

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At the end of nearly two months of battles between regional producers, legacy producers, legendary rap producers, R&B and pop producers and writers, the Verzuz series of Instagram live song battles still had a glaring omission from their line-up: women.

Lack of women behind the boards in music creation and production is a long-time industry issue, but Verzuz creators and battle commissioners Swizz Beats and Timbaland told fans they were working on a way to bring women into the fold soon. Last night, it finally came to fruition.

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Two pop queens have at last crossed paths in the highly anticipated "Rain on Me," which dropped on Friday (May 22).

The song showcases both Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga's unmatched vocals, and comes just one week after the duo announced the release date for their high-profile collab.

"I said to her, 'OK, now everything that you care about while you sing, I want you to forget it and just sing,'" Gaga recently told Zane Lowe of the collaboration on Apple Music. "'And by the way, while you're doing that, I'm going to dance in front of you. And she was like, 'Oh my God. Oh my God, I can't, I can't. I don't know. Oh my God. OK, OK.' And then I did it and she sang, and she started to do things with her voice that was different. And it was the joy of two artists going, 'I see you.'"

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Gloria Estefan’s new single was originally slated for a fall 2019 release. Lucky for us, it comes today (June 12) at a time when the song, and its title, are sorely needed.

“Cuando hay amor” (When There’s Love) is a celebration of love set to the beat of Brazilian and Colombian drums. The video, shot in Salvador Bahia, features Estefan dancing a samba de roda – a traditional Afro-Brazilian dance -- surrounded by Bahian women of all ages.

“We wanted to highlight the movements and singing of the beautiful Bahianas who are important historical representatives of the Samba culture,” says Estefan. “I felt we need to put some love vibes out in the universe right now,” she added about the timing of the release. “We need some alegría, we need some joy. It’s very unifying. I really wanted this message to be the first thing to come out. And it’s a coincidence. I was supposed to put out this album three years ago.”

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City Girls reflect on the turbulent journey toward their second LP, City on Lock, in a trailer for the rap duo’s upcoming YouTube docuseries. The project will air in five weekly installments, starting Thursday, July 2nd at 3 p.m. ET.



The clip opens with Yung Miami managing the pressure of the group’s high profile while JT serves out her prison sentence for credit card fraud. “I was nervous,” the former admits, assessing a solo performance at the BET Awards. She also talks about hiding her pregnancy because she didn’t want people to think “there’s a limit to what [she] can do.”

The trailer also shows JT’s prison release and City Girls’ recording sessions for the recently released City on Lock. “When JT get home,” Yung Miami says, “it’s just gonna be bigger than ever, and they really gonna see that we the superstars that we is.”

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The "Monster" clip finds the duo preaching their confident individuality, and the "monster" inside as they deliver sultry choreography weaved in with eerie, paranormal scenery.

"I'm a little monster, be scared of me / I'm bothering you making you dream only about me / I'll dance and play as I cast a spell / On your body in a nightmare," they fittingly sing in the chorus.

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Bikini Kill have announced the rescheduled dates for their 2020 tour, which was previously postponed due to COVID-19.

The trek was supposed to kick off in March - right as the pandemic was taking hold in the United States - with a pair of hometown shows in Olympia, Washington. In 2021, the band will still launch the tour there, with shows at the Capitol Theater September 2nd and 3rd. The trek will then stretch through the fall, wrapping November 20th at Iron City in Birmingham, Alabama.

Original tickets will be honored at the rescheduled dates, although refunds will be available for those unable to attend.

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Madame Gandhi performed a new song "Set Me Free" during her Billboard Live At-Home set Thursday (July 30) that raised money for the Downtown Women's Center.

"Set Me Free" comes from her upcoming album Vibrations. She sang the groovy, downtempo track into a bright yellow microphone that perfectly paired with her Beats headphones. The electronic musician/drummer/activist constantly fights for gender liberation in her music, so a song titled "Set Me Free," which focuses on being free from a toxic relationship rather than an oppressive system, is completely fitting.

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