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Kanye West has found himself in another legal dispute, this time against a person who has been leaking his music online.

As per court documents accessed by Radar Online, the Yeezy boss has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against a defendant listed as “Does” for releasing his songs on social media without permission.

The account in question goes by DaUnreleasedGod across platforms and is allegedly responsible for uploading footage of Ye in the studio as well as numerous unreleased tracks, one of which features Rihanna and Pusha T.

The Chicago native claims to have “suffered significant financial losses and damages as a direct result of the Defendants’ actions. In addition, the Defendant’s actions amount to the theft of a trade secret. Ye’s musical composition, with its distinctive arrangement and unique elements, constitutes a trade secret due to its economic value, secrecy, and the efforts taken to safeguard it.”

The illegitimate releases began in May this year and continued into August, and West is now demanding a permanent injunction from those responsible.

The legal drama is never-ending for the Graduation hitmaker. New reports indicate that he and his wife are now being investigated over the “obscenities” that took place during their recent boat ride in Venice, Italy.

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Photos and videos surfaced late last month of Kanye baring his butt cheeks, with his wife Bianca Censori spotted with her head in his lap in a sexually-suggestive position. According to the Daily Mail, Venice police is now looking to take action following the couple’s apparent intimate moment in public.

The driver of the boat has been identified and is expected to be questioned about what he saw, while police are also asking photographers to hand over the images that were taken.

A Venice police source told the outlet: “There are standards of public decorum that have to be followed by tourists and locals alike and any breaches are severely punished. The images of West with his trousers down while in a taxi as he and his partner crossed the lagoon were seen all over the globe.

“You could clearly see his trousers were half down and we have received complaints from people who witnessed it. Now we have identified the driver of the boat and we will be asking him what he saw as well.”

The 12 faculty members had just experienced one of the most tragic things to ever happen at the tiny college in the Mississippi Delta. Their department chair, Karen Fosheim, had been beaten to death in her home. Her stepson, then 14 years old, confessed to killing her. 

It was on Green to hire a new chair for the grieving department. That day in August, she said she’d finally settled on someone to do it: Kent Wessinger, Ph.D. 

A self-proclaimed “people scientist,” Wessinger has been called by one professional development group the “world’s foremost authority on workforce trends and solutions.” The tagline for his consulting company, the Florida-based Retention Partners, which focuses on millennials in the workforce, is “attract, engage and retain.” 

He had been the headmaster of a missionary school in Jamaica, a program coordinator at the University of the Virgin Islands, and a visiting faculty member in entrepreneurship at a university in Belize, where in 2018 or so he says he struck up a friendship with Andy Novobilski, who’d go on to become Delta State’s provost. Novobilski announced in August that he was stepping down. 

But Wessinger was not a musician. He was not even a tenured faculty member at Delta State or any university. According to his LinkedIn profile, he had never run a university department. 

Green acknowledged it was “highly unusual.” That’s why the university planned for Wessinger to have a co-chair, a music faculty member who he’d simultaneously train to eventually take over full leadership of the department.

“He is a people person,” Green said, according to a recording of the meeting. “He is very likable. I found him to be — how do I put this? He likes building relationships. He understands what we do is all based on relationships.” 

Despite Wessinger’s professed leadership expertise, his year helping lead the embattled music department did not raise morale or build bonds between faculty and students, but rather further grieved faculty who already feared for the department’s future, according to interviews with more than 16 faculty and current and former students. Multiple people asked not to be named, fearing retaliation. 

Wessinger’s legacy in the department goes beyond personal or professional disagreements. He has been accused of domestic violence — a fact that, once uncovered, didn’t sit well with faculty still rattled by Fosheim’s killing.

His appointment raises a crucial question: Did Delta bring in the right person to lead its respected music department, and did it do enough — or anything — to vet him? And, if it did know about the past claims against Wessinger, what was Delta State’s responsibility to inform its faculty and students after the trauma they had suffered? 

For some faculty, Wessinger’s decisions as department chair — made with the administration’s support — were possibly career-ending. He was involved in an attempted firing of the tenured band director, Erik Richards, a decision that a university committee recommended be overturned. He recommended denying tenure to an award-winning vocal teacher, Jamie Dahman, based in part on what Wessinger admitted, in his denial letter, was speculation. 

A third faculty member who asked to not be named was reprimanded by the dean for unacceptable conduct and saying Wessinger had been accused of domestic violence, which the dean called “defamatory,” according to a letter the faculty member sent to Human Resources. 

Students were also affected by the seeming disarray. In at least one instance, Wessinger took standard student complaints to human resources instead of following the typical process in higher education: To run them up the academic chain.

“The entire music department and the faculty were already mourning Dr. Fosheim, and now I feel like it’s just been constantly going downhill ever since she died,” said Lexie Johnson, a fifth-year music education major. “We just can’t catch a break.” 

For his part, Wessinger says that every decision he made was for the students and in consultation with Julia Thorn, his co-chair. After granting an interview to Mississippi Today in July, he stopped discussing matters related to the university, claiming Delta State had instructed him and other administrators to “have no further contact with the press.”

“All of those decisions were made out of one single spirit and that spirit was for the students,” he said in July. “We don’t want this department to die.” 

Delta State declined to comment on a majority of Mississippi Today’s inquiries, responding only to three questions a spokesperson said were not about “confidential personnel matters.” 

Wessinger’s controversial handling of the department comes as Delta State is experiencing an employee retention problem. Since 2018, it has lost 46 faculty members, more than any other public university in the state, according to data from the Institutions of Higher Learning. Last school year, multiple departments were helmed by interim chairs, though music was the only one where an interim wasn’t an expert in its speciality. 

And IHL recently cited one music degree for producing few graduates, putting it at risk of shutting down. 

“If it doesn’t work with Dr. Wessinger, it’s four months, okay?” Green told the faculty. “This is very, very temporary.” 

The Heartbeat of the Department

Like much at Delta State, the music department has seen better days. 

Its building, Zeigel Hall, which sits on the campus’ historic quadrangle, in recent years has been plagued by asbestos and a faulty elevator that’s known to trap students for hours at a time. 

The instruments are aging. The enrollment has shrunk. The band used to be renowned for producing band directors, but nowadays, students go to other schools, seeking the pomp of a traveling SEC game or the bravado of the Sonic Boom of the South. 

In the midst of this challenge was Karen Fosheim. She was, students and faculty say, the heartbeat of the department. A pianist who became chair in 2016, she had a preternatural ability for knowing what was going on in the department at all times, many said, attending every concert and remembering the names of every student. 

She was also skilled at uniting people, the chair’s most important role, recalled Mary Lenn Buchanan, Fosheim’s close friend and a retired Delta State music professor. 

This was important because musicians have notorious egos. And there was already a rift in the music department. In 2019, Richards, the band director, received tenure despite opposition from some music faculty. The disagreement had dogged Zeigel Hall ever since. 

But Fosheim commanded respect, Buchanan said, by always telling the truth. 

“Unless Karen needed to tell someone they were pretty and they really weren’t, she did not lie,” Buchanan said. 

Fosheim also directed that straightforwardness toward Delta State’s administration, especially during the pandemic, which may not have endeared her to them. By last summer, a rumor was circulating that Fosheim was going to be replaced. 

That day, concerned faculty asked the university police to request a wellness check on her home in Boyle, a small town just south of Cleveland. Her husband was out of state, and though Fosheim had been responding to texts, the replies were strange, unlike her.

Worried that Fosheim’s stepson, Alseny Camara, who is Black, would feel unsafe around police, two faculty members drove over that afternoon. They walked through the home with a detective. It was freezing inside and smelled. 

Fosheim’s bedroom door was locked. The officer said he could get in via a window. As he removed the screen and peered through the glass, he saw a body prone on the floor. 

That’s when Camara ran, according to testimony from a Bolivar County sheriff’s deputy during an August circuit court hearing. Deputies using K-9s found him shortly after 9:30 p.m., hiding in the woods near Fosheim’s home. 

At the precinct, Camara confessed to killing his stepmom with an aluminum baseball bat. He was upset Fosheim, who was 57, had scolded him for trying to get out of his shift at a pet motel, according to the court hearing. He admitted he had impersonated her over text. 

Jamie Dahman, then an assistant professor of music, had checked on Camara that day while Fosheim was still considered missing. 

It still haunts Dahman that while he was talking to Camara, Fosheim was dead on the floor of her bedroom. It “sat with me for a long time,” he said, “and it still kind of gives me chills.” 

If that weren’t enough, the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees had suddenly fired the president, William LaForge, sparking fears of budget cuts across the cash-strapped university. 

And the music faculty still hadn’t heard from the administration about who would lead the department. The lack of leadership was becoming a problem. An important lock in the building wasn’t working. A new sound engineer needed to be hired. 

Frustrated, Dahman sent an email to the department. He cc’d the dean, Green, and the provost, Novobilski. Since Novobilski, whose background is in business, came to Delta State in 2021, he had earned a reputation as a stickler for the hierarchy of academia. 

The email got their attention. On Friday, Aug. 12, Green and Novobilski met with faculty. 

A recording of the department meeting, the first without Fosheim, shows it was tense from the start. Voices were strained and shaky. Their anxiety stemmed from the stakes: Chairs have immense power in a department. Everyone wanted to trust that whoever took the role would be on their side. But faculty were worried administration, particularly Novobilski, had already come up with a plan for the role without them.

When Novobilski began the meeting, he seemed to confirm that fear by noting he had in fact been working to replace Fosheim. He acknowledged he should have called a meeting over the summer.

Dahman loudly interrupted him: “May I ask why we weren’t informed of what was going on?” 

Then, a back-and-forth ensued. Novobilski told Dahman to take a deep breath. 

It ended when Green asked if other faculty wanted to speak. One teared up explaining that he would have felt guilty volunteering for the vacant role. Another said that without Fosheim, the atmosphere in the department felt more toxic than ever.

Finally, Novobilski intimated he thought the department could benefit from someone outside “the music community” given its history of division. 

“I have someone in mind, I’ll be honest with you,” Novobilski said. “This is someone I have worked with. … He has a lot of experience working with conflict resolution, mediation and he brings a lot of experience working with different groups of people, plus he’s a listener.” 

This person, Novobilski said, did have administrative experience at the “college level.” But his specialty was business. 

Dahman groaned.  

Faculty barely trusted a colleague to take the job — let alone a non-musician. One faculty member protested that he thought the department could make it work with an internal hire. Josh Armstrong, then the faculty senate president, said “this definitely feels much more like here’s your new boss, and here you go.”

If faculty weren’t happy with Wessinger by the end of the semester, Novobilski conceded, “we’ll put him to work doing something else.” 

But his mind seemed made up. Wessinger would be on campus by the end of August. 

‘People Crisis’

About eight years ago, Wessinger set out on a mission to understand the relationship between millennials and organizational structures. 

Ever since, the 59-year old Georgia native says he’s been trying to help Fortune 500 companies, churches, regional banks, rotary clubs and insurance companies — that is, “anyone who would listen” to him — solve their workforce crisis.

“I’m not just about identifying the problem,” he says in a January 2022 YouTube video titled “People crisis.” “I want to be the guy who helps you to understand what’s going on but also provides sustainable solutions for you.” 

When faculty scanned his LinkedIn, Wessinger appeared impressive at first. He was a keynote speaker at more than 30 conferences a year, the author of three books and the creator of a proprietary database on millennials. His companies had ambitious names — Create2Elevate, Generational Forces, Retention Partners. 

After a closer look, faculty didn’t understand how an accomplished business consultant had time to uproot to the Mississippi Delta. 

Most notably, his experience in higher education was patchy. The administrative work Novobilski referenced at the Aug. 12 meeting appears to have primarily consisted of Wessinger setting up a satellite campus of the University of the Virgin Islands that offered remote classes, according to his LinkedIn.

They also discovered something particularly troubling. A 2012 opinion from the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands in a divorce proceeding with an ex-wife, Robin Wessinger.

One line from the third page caught their eye: “The Motion stated that Kent ‘has been found to have committed repeated acts of domestic violence against [Robin] and was held in contempt of Court by [a Superior Court Magistrate] as a result of his continued violations of the January 20, 2010 Domestic Violence Restraining Order, which is in itself an act of Domestic Violence.” 

This concerned faculty, who were still reeling from Fosheim’s death. It made many of them distrust Wessinger from the beginning. 

Many students didn’t meet Wessinger until mid-October, almost two months into the semester, when he spoke to the recital class, according to an email. 

Piper Gillam, a fifth-year music education major, said it “felt like a sales pitch.” Gillam said he called the students in the department, who were mainly born after 2000, “millennials.” 

“In my head I was like, ‘I’m not a millennial. I’m Gen-Z,’” Gillam said. “And he was like, ‘and I know what you guys are thinking,’ and I was like, ‘OK, thank God, he’s gonna correct me,’ and he was like, ‘but you guys are millennials.’ So I googled it to see what age group am I, and it said Gen-Z, and I was like, alright, alright. I’m not trusting this man.” 

Faculty said he ignored their emails. But when they sought him out, they said he was hard to find in his office. Some meetings that Fosheim had scheduled months in advance now came with a few-hours notice from the department secretary. One faculty member said Wessinger neglected to notify them about a key deadline related to their tenure portfolio.

His lack of music knowledge was obvious, faculty said. He didn’t know what a “tone-row,” a basic composition method, was. He mispronounced the word “viola.” 

“He said, ‘Vye-Ola,’” Richards recalled. “As in Davis.”

It didn’t make faculty feel like Wessinger was qualified to assess their work. In December, with evaluations around the corner, Green extended Wessinger’s part-time contract through the spring. 

By then, faculty’s relationship with Wessinger had gotten so toxic, some started recording their interactions with him. 

Wessinger seemed to have soured, too. According to sources close to Wessinger, and a text message sent on Oct. 18 by a faculty member to Wessinger’s co-chair, he started saying that Fosheim had left a “mess” in the department that he was going to “clean up.”

His prime target was Richards, the band director. A blunt and, by his own admission, polarizing figure in the department, Richards said he had questioned Wessinger when they first met. He wanted to know more about Wessinger’s dissertation on how limited opportunities for creativity in the Caribbean contributes to the region’s socio-economic crisis. It has several misspellings, including the name of a Haitian town. 

Wessinger, according to sources close to him, talked openly about how he did not like Richards, who had other detractors as well.

On Feb. 22, Wessinger placed Richards on administrative leave pending an investigation into his “alleged contumacious conduct” – or as Webster’s dictionary defines it, “stubbornly disobedient” conduct.

About a month later, Lisa Giger, the human resources director, met with Richards’ wind ensemble class, according to a text message. She spent the session asking about the atmosphere of the class, multiple students said, and when they mentioned Richards, she had follow up questions. 

Then on April 10, Richards received a letter from Novobilski: After a “thorough investigation by the Human Resources Department,” Richards was fired. 

A university committee ultimately found that while Novobilski’s letter listed a slew of student and faculty complaints against Richards, only one had ever been formally documented. The previous administration had investigated and resolved that complaint in 2018-2019. 

The thorough investigation, the committee wrote, seemed “one-sided,” but the committee couldn’t confirm that appearance because Richards was not allowed to ask any questions, which appears to be a violation of Delta State’s policies. 

It is “completely outside of what is considered normal” for human resources to get involved in student complaints, said Daniel Durkin, a University of Mississippi professor and the president of the United Faculty Senate Association of Mississippi.

It is also “very unusual,” Durkin said, for someone like Wessinger who has not achieved tenure to evaluate applications for the prestigious distinction. 

But that’s what Wessinger proceeded to do. 

Dahman, a vocal teacher who researches Bulgarian art song, had lots of reasons to be confident. In seven years of teaching at Delta State, he had never received a low mark on his annual evaluations, according to his tenure application. He’d earned a Mississippi Humanities Council Teaching Award in 2019. His students were accepted into graduate programs, won national competitions and sang in churches and funeral homes. 

And chance was on his side. Most people who apply for tenure at Delta State end up getting it, according to an analysis of IHL data. 

That’s why when Dahman was offered an extension on his tenure application in the fall, he did not accept it. In retrospect, he wonders if he should have. Dahman had received a verbal reprimand after his behavior at the Aug. 12 meeting, then he was put on a performance improvement plan in December. The plan required him to demonstrate “collegiality” with students, faculty, administration and campus visitors. 

In late January, the department’s tenure committee, a panel of Dahman’s peers, recommended that Dahman receive tenure, and raised only minor concerns.

Then in mid-February, Wessinger recommended Dahman be denied on the basis of his teaching and collegiality, speculating there were more “violations” than the committee knew of. Two days later, Green, the dean, also recommended denial, claiming Dahman had “aggressively pounded the table” during the Aug. 12 meeting, an allegation that is not substantiated by the recording. 

Dahman was devastated and angry.  

His feelings spilled into his annual evaluation with Wessinger and Thorn in March. Wessinger began by asking if he could record due to the “environment” in the department, not knowing Dahman was recording as well.  

Then, Wessinger revealed that he had recently taken Dahman’s students to HR and told them Dahman was on a performance improvement plan, something meant to be confidential. The students had complained about a remark Dahman had made in defense of his teaching — yet another issue that should have been resolved without HR.  

Wessinger topped off the meeting by giving Dahman low marks for teaching and service. Dahman protested, but there was nothing he could do. 

“This is my life, this is my livelihood, it’s how I support my children,” Dahman told them. “I feel like I’m being unfairly targeted because I snapped at the provost.” 

Deconstructing hope

As the fall semester starts, many students and faculty say the music department is still struggling to get out of Wessinger’s shadow, even as he has moved on to lead a new department. 

In June, Novobilski announced that Wessinger was going to be the interim chair of the Division of Management, Marketing and Business Administration. 

Some faculty made a last-ditch effort to get rid of him. They sent an anonymous letter to Daniel Ennis, the new president of Delta State, summarizing their concerns with Wessinger — the adminstration’s decision to bring him on, his lack of music qualifications, the court document that said he had “committed repeated acts of domestic violence.” 

Ennis didn’t respond to the letter, but even he has had to address the after-effects of decisions Wessinger had a hand in, like the hiring of Steven Hugley, the interim band director who made transphobic remarks on a podcast. Ennis also made the final call on Dahman’s tenure application, ultimately deciding to grant it.

A month later, Wessinger stood in a music room facing rows of empty risers for an interview with Mississippi Today. He talked about why he wanted to come to Delta State and how he had grown to care for it. Cleveland, he said, reminded him of the Virgin Islands — a place that needed help and where educational institutions are bastions of hope.

But some people had troubled him, deep in his soul. 

“My personal issues have been accentuated to tear down and deconstruct the very opportunity that every student has here in this university,” he said, sweeping his hand out wide. 

Wessinger acknowledged Fosheim’s killing had traumatized many faculty. But when he spoke about the anonymous letter, he grew agitated. He said it was full of “half truths, lies, manipulations.” He added that if Mississippi Today printed its reference to domestic violence, he was “not gonna be a happy camper.” 

“We know who they are,” he said. “Anonymous, they’re not, and libel, they are.” 

Yet Wessinger’s alleged past mistreatment of women goes beyond the restraining order that he violated in his divorce in the Virgin Islands, according to documents obtained by Mississippi Today. 

Three other women across the U.S. have been granted restraining orders against him, all based on claims of domestic violence or mistreatment. In two of those cases, Mississippi Today confirmed through court records that Wessinger either sought or received a restraining order as well. 

That was the case in Georgia, where a divorce was filed against Wessinger in 2016 in part on the basis of “fraud, cruel treatment,” which he denied. Affidavits submitted on behalf of his ex-wife, Laurie Higginbotham, allege that Wessinger wrote letters containing elaborate “false statements” that she had Huntington’s disease, and it was causing her to live in an altered state of reality. 

In a phone call, Wessinger told Mississippi Today that every person who had accused him of domestic violence was “connected” and that he had believed at the time what he wrote in the letters about Higginbotham. He denied that he had ever mistreated or been violent toward a woman, adding that if he had, a judge would have taken away custody of his children.

“Attorneys will say anything in motions,” Wessinger said. “You’re reading a motion. You’re not reading the truth. You’re reading allegations. That doesn’t make it the truth.”

Faculty don’t know about the additional allegations against Wessinger, and it is unclear if Delta State’s administration knew before hiring him. The restraining orders may not have shown up on a background check since they are not public information or were hidden in court files. 

Through a spokesperson, the president’s office declined to comment, citing personnel matters.

On Aug. 10, Ennis gave his first convocation.

“I’m here beside you to tackle the challenges we face, but today, put them aside and join me in celebrating what we do,” he said in his address. 

Wessinger wasn’t there to hear it. He was in Florida, speaking to the CEO Council of Tampa Bay, giving a speech about solving the workforce crisis. 

THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING: Just like death, taxes and new residents driving the wrong way on Clayton Street, you can always count on a new batch of releases from the Hooker Vision label. Due to space limitations, I can only concentrate on one of these this week, and that winner is the new release Labyrinth from Grant Evans (Quiet Evenings, Ornamental Hairpin, et al). This two-track release runs nearly 30 minutes, and opens with the buzz and gurgle of “The Idiot (‘a giant is hiding behind the bed. tell that giant to come out, come out​.​‘),” which is a large drone number that makes the walls feel like they’re inching inward. Next up is “Storm (‘and that tree was his house. and then no one found him.’),” which opens up from its predecessor only slightly, and is populated by tape hiss and manipulations. Between the pair, this is probably the most enjoyable, but please keep in mind that such a descriptor means something, perhaps, entirely different when it comes to these types of experimental noise compositions. Even so, I dug it. Figure it out on your own at hookervision.bandcamp.com.

WORTH THE WAIT: After what has seemed like a really long time—actually two years—the new full-length album from Garett Hatch is finally out. As mentioned in these pages a few weeks ago, it’s titled The Remover, and it stretches out what we’ve come to expect from Hatch. For example, the slithery title track easily falls somewhere right in the middle between Prince and INXS with its steady pacing, heavy bass line and seductively menacing vocals. The rapid fire vocals of “Rabbit Heart” are well-matched for its similarly moody instrumentation that is fleshed out with some groovy psych-surf solos. Of course, Hatch is known for being such a reliable rocker you could set your watch by him. He delivers plenty of his signature material here, too, including “Bones,” “Nobody” and “Ego Death.” It’s just an all-around really solid and creative release, so if you’re inclined go check it out at garetthatch.bandcamp.com. While you’re there, dig into his back catalog, too. Hatch will play live at Star Community Bar in Atlanta on Oct. 12 and at Nowhere bar here in town on Oct. 13.

PERSISTENCE PAYS: Songwriter and musician Kevin Murphy has certainly put the decades into his craft. Across a handful of cities and a major label deal with his old band The Lounge Flounders (Nashville, TN), he now calls Athens home and has a new album named Stare Down Stare Down that he released under the name Jones Murphy and the Indefinite Rest. Players on the record include members of old Athens band Michael, as well as members of current Athens bands Nanocar, Nuclear Tourism and Telemarket. This 11-song album does have a distinctly 1990s indie rock DNA even if it doesn’t show through on all songs. Perhaps the most readily recognizable of this sort are the album opener “Time” as well as “It’s A Drag.” Jones actually moves around quite a bit within the parameters of mid-tempo pop-rock and flexes some ‘60s folk styling on “Nosebleed,” softer singer-songwriter acoustic playing on “Always Blue” and even a Vic Chesnutt-ish waltz tune with “Persephone.” He celebrated this release with a live show last week. Find it on all major streaming services.

GET INSIDE: Hendershot’s is hosting a special pop-up event Saturday, Sept. 9. The popular coffee shop and performance space will host a visit from Chattanooga’s record store and label Yellow Racket Records. It includes performances from two Yellow Racket artists: the “90s alt-rock and shoegaze” influenced El Rocko and experimental pop band Telemonster. A pop-up record store will be open all night. Doors open at 7 p.m. and El Rocko plays at 8 p.m. followed by Telemonster at 9:30 p.m. The cover charge this night is $10.

FIFTY CENTS A WORD: Athens band Swear Jar released a new EP a couple of weeks back named What’s Your Problem?. And, honestly, most of my problems with this have to do with this awful band name. Outside of that, 80% of this record is 100% killer. The only songs that didn’t really do anything for me are the seemingly uncharacteristic heavy songs at the very end (the bluesy-grungy “Hypocrisy” and bar rocker “Deal With The Devil”). The first four tracks are a nearly perfect set of modern new wave (“Haunted,” “Unlikely Duo,” “Run”) and alt-folk (“Eyes Wide Open”). These songs are supported largely by a thoughtful bass guitar and, as such, provide an emotional underpinning that would be missing from other groups. Swear Jar’s lineup is Evan Ayers (guitar), Jon Ngo (bass), Ethan Houseman (drums) and Emilee Campbell Harden (vocals). A few weeks back, I mentioned Harden in relation to her vocalist duties in Way Past Cool. She shines here just as brightly and, while I’ve no doubt she’s committed to her groups, there’s just a feeling I get that eventually there’s going to be a long line of musicians whose main claim to fame will be having once played with her. In any case, this is worth a listen, so if you wanna take the plunge head to swearjartheband.bandcamp.com.

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• In 2018, Miley Cyrus was shooting “Black Mirror” in South Africa as the Woolsey Fire raged in California.
• In a new interview clip, she said the experience gave her an “anxiety vision” for years to come.
• Cyrus also revealed she filmed the “On a Roll” music video the day after she found out her house burned down.

Miley Cyrus was dancing in a purple wig just one day after her home burned down — because, in her words, “the show must go on.”

The singer-slash-actor reflected on her scandals, triumphs, and tribulations in a new video series promoting her single, “Used to Be Young.”

In a recently released clip, Cyrus opened up about filming an episode of “Black Mirror” in South Africa as the 2018 Woolsey Fire raged in California. Cyrus and her then-fiancé, Liam Hemsworth, were two of the many Malibu residents who lost their homes in the blaze.

“I was in South Africa, but it was taking place in Malibu, so it was just a real trip,” Cyrus explained.

The season five installment in the anthology series, “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too,” stars Cyrus as Ashley O, a picture-perfect pop star with a sinister backstory. As the episode unfolds, we discover (spoiler alert!) that Ashley O is being physically subdued and exploited by her aunt.

“Like probably two or three years later, after this happened, I didn’t understand, but I would have this anxiety attack with a vision attached — that I would be strapped down to a gurney. So I would have these dreams any time I would go to perform,” Cyrus said. “I thought that was just an anxious vision that made no sense, but actually, as my house was burning down, I was strapped to a gurney with my hands locked in handcuffs, strapped to a bed.”

Cyrus recorded and released Ashley O’s hit single “On a Roll” for the “Black Mirror” soundtrack; in real life, the song appeared on several Billboard charts.

In the new interview clip, Cyrus also revealed that she filmed the “On a Roll” music video the day after her house was destroyed by the Woolsey Fire.

“I found out that my house had burnt to the ground. This was the next day,” she said, pressing play on the music video. “The show must go on.”

At the time, Cyrus said she was “completely devastated” by the news, but also considered herself “one of the lucky ones.” She reassured fans that Hemsworth managed to escape and rescue the couple’s pets.

“My animals and LOVE OF MY LIFE made it out safely & that’s all that matters right now,” she wrote on Twitter. “My house no longer stands but the memories shared with family & friends stand strong. I am grateful for all I have left.”

Cyrus later described the loss of their home as the catalyst for their wedding, which took place somewhat spontaneously just one month later. They split after seven months of marriage.

“In a way, it did what I couldn’t do for myself,” Cyrus said of the fire in a 2020 interview with Rolling Stone. “It removed me from what no longer was serving its purpose.”

“And then as you drown, you reach for that lifesaver and you want to save yourself,” she continued. “I think that’s really what, ultimately, getting married was for me. One last attempt to save myself.”

Canadian sci-fi metal innovators VOIVOD celebrated 40 eventful years of existence in 2023 with a special anniversary studio album titled “Morgöth Tales”, which was released on July 21 via Century Media Records. The LP’s latest single is “Fix My Heart (2023 Version)”, accompanied by a video directed by Above The Void.

VOIVOD guitarist Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain comments on the new single: “It’s always the highlight of our live show when the audience claps with big smiles all round. To me it’s about keeping hope and focus towards a better future, moving on, leaving the past behind and exploring new worlds within. ‘I’m not afraid to live’.”

Once more recorded and mixed by Francis Perron at RadicArt Studio, mastered by Maor Appelbaum and produced by VOIVOD, “Morgöth Tales” includes fresh studio re-recordings by the band’s current lineup of nine especially selected, not-so-obvious picks from the band’s hyper-classy and extremely diverse back catalogue (between 1984 and 2003) as well as a brand-new song and the album’s title track, “Morgöth Tales”.

VOIVOD drummer Michel “Away” Langevin comments: “‘Morgöth Tales’ covers 40 years of space exploration.

“It was really exciting for us to revisit a more obscure part of the VOIVOD catalogue, from thrash-punk to prog-metal.

“The title track is a new song, which we started writing on the tour bus and hotels during the OPETH European tour in November/December 2022. It has the vibe of the experimental music we are doing nowadays, with a new twist I think. We also had the great thrill of getting Eric [Forrest] and Jason [Newsted] involved on this album.

“I hope you’ll dig it. Chewy, Rocky, Snake and I certainly had a blast recording it. All aboard and ready for take off!”

“Morgöth Tales” track listing:

01. Condemned To The Gallows (2023 Version) [originally on “Metal Massacre V” compilation, 1984]02. Thrashing Rage (2023 Version) [originally on “Rrröööaaarrr”, 1986]03. Killing Technology (2023 Version) [originally on “Killing Technology”, 1987]04. Macrosolutions To Megaproblems (2023 Version) [originally on “Dimension Hatröss”, 1988]05. Pre-Ignition (2023 Version) [originally on “Nothingface”, 1989]06. Nuage Fractal (2023 Version) [originally on “Angel Rat”, 1991]07. Fix My Heart (2023 Version) [originally on “The Outer Limits”, 1993]08. Rise (2023 Version, feat. Eric Forrest) [originally on “Phobos”, 1997]09. Rebel Robot (2023 Version, feat. Jason Newsted) [originally on “Voivod”, 2003]10. Morgöth Tales [New Song]

VOIVOD vocalist Denis “Snake” Bélanger spoke about “Morgöth Tales” in an interview with Agoraphobic News. He said: “It was a really fun thing to do. It was like a time capsule, going back in time [to] revisit these old songs, especially one in particular, which was first song we ever recorded [‘Condemned To The Gallows’]; that was for ‘Metal Massacre V’ [1984] on Metal Blade Records back in the day, before our first album. And the funny thing about it was there was no lyric sheet in the compilation itself. It was us, including many other bands. And the way it was recorded, it was really hard to figure out the lyrics; I couldn’t remember what I was singing. So we’re looking everywhere on the Internet, if someone has it or whatever. And it was nowhere [to be] found. And then I said to myself, ‘Maybe mom has it in the attic somewhere.’ And then I called my sister: ‘Can you check at mom’s place? Maybe she put it somewhere.’ And she went, and my mom classified — everything is in order with mom. And she was, like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I have it. File number six.’ And then she pulls out the only copy of the lyrics in the world of that song.’ And we were, like, ‘Yeah!’ ‘Cause [music for] the song was already recorded. And we were, like, ‘Oh my God. What are we gonna do?'”

VOIVOD is a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Québec. Their musical style has changed several times since the band’s origin in the early 1980s. Starting out as a speed metal band, VOIVOD have added a mix of progressive metal and thrash metal to create their own unique metal style, and are credited as one of the “big four” Canadian thrash metal bands, along with SACRIFICE, RAZOR and ANNIHILATOR. They are considered by many as one of the most influential metal bands from the ’80s, influencing and gaining praise from multiple bands and across numerous genres.

VOIVOD found mainstream success in the late 1980s with their fifth studio album, “Nothingface” (1989),which is the band’s only album to enter The Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number 114.

Last November, VOIVOD released an EP, “Ultraman”, via Century Media Records. The effort featured a highly original tribute to the “Ultraman” TV series theme as well as previously unreleased bonus live cuts, available both as a 12-inch vinyl EP or as a digital EP.

VOIVOD‘s 15th studio album, “Synchro Anarchy”, was released in February 2022 via Century Media Records. The follow-up to 2018’s “The Wake” was produced by Francis Perron at RadicArt Studio and features cover artwork created by drummer Michel Langevin (a.k.a. Away).

Photo credit: Catherine Deslauriers

The screening of Khalnayak (1993), arranged by Radio Nasha on the occasion of the film’s 30th anniversary, was a memorable affair. It was graced by Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Ali Asgar, Anand Balraj, director Subhash Ghai, singers Alka Yagnik and Ila Arun, art director Bijon Das Gupta, dialogue writer Kamlesh Pandey and costume designer Neeta Lulla. They entertained the media with their bytes on the radio carpet to RJ Divya Solgama. Inside the auditorium, they spoke to RJ Rohini about the film and a lot more.

30 Years of Khalnayak premiere: Ramesh Taurani reveals how he wooed Subhash Ghai for music rights: “I sent him a 3 feet x 3 feet cake on which I wrote, ‘Saudagar, Tips ke saath sauda kar’”

Ramesh Taurani’s quotes stole the show. He said, “I was behind Subhash ji since Saudagar in 1991. I asked him to give us the rights. But he declined as he had already committed to HMV. He assured he’ll speak to me for future films. Main bhi ekdum young tha. He must be wondering ki yeh kaun hai. Serious hai ya nahin.”

He raised laughs as he said, “When Saudagar’s music was released, I sent him 3 feet x 3 feet cake. I wrote on the cake, ‘Saudagar, Tips ke saath sauda kar’!” He loved it that he called all the distributors of India and told them how this new company is passionate.”

That’s not all. Ramesh further said, “When this cake got ready, I told my office boys to send it to Subhash ji’s house. They called and told me that ‘yeh cake taxi mein fit nahin ho raha’. So, we ordered a tempo!” As expected, it brought the house down.

Ramesh Taurani continued, “Subhash ji invited us to Khalnayak’s premiere and thus, a bond was formed. When Khalnayak was being made, I told him, ‘Khalnayak (ke music rights) toh chahiye kisi bhi haalat mein’. He charged double the market price! We paid the amount as we had full faith in Subhash ji.”

At this, Subhash Ghai admitted that he never thought Ramesh Taurani would agree to the price, “I told Laxmikant ji (of music director duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal), ‘Mujhe hit music chahiye’. He was confused and asked me, ‘You usually ask me for good songs. Aapka gaana toh hamesha hit hota hai. Then why are you asking for hit songs’?. I explained, ‘Maine aise hi ek price feki aur unhone de di’!”

Ramesh Taurani further narrated, “He told Laxmikant ji, ‘Maine itna paisa liya hai music company se ki mujhe usko justify karna hai’.”

The Tips head honcho also opened up on one more funny anecdote, “When Anand Bakshi ji said that the lines of the song were ‘Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai’, Subhash ji ke haath se phone gir gaya!.”

Khalnayak led to the birth of a new partnership between Mukta Arts and Tips. Ramesh Taurani proudly said, “Ever since Khalnayak, all the songs of Subhash ji are with us.”

Although both filmmakers didn’t reveal the price, as per Komal Nahta’s Film Information magazine, Tips paid Rs. 1 crore for the music rights. It also mentioned that Subhash Ghai broke ties with HMV because the music company didn’t pay him a single rupee of royalty for his earlier hits Saudagar (1991) and Ram Lakhan (1989) and also didn’t provide the statements for the years, 1990, 1991 and 1992.

Also Read: BREAKING: Khalnayak’s special screening to be held in Mumbai on the occasion of its 30th anniversary; Sanjay Dutt, Subhash Ghai and others are expected to attend

More Pages: Khalnayak Box Office Collection

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Catch us for latest Bollywood News, New Bollywood Movies update, Box office collection, New Movies Release , Bollywood News Hindi, Entertainment News, Bollywood Live News Today & Upcoming Movies 2023 and stay updated with latest hindi movies only on Bollywood Hungama.

Universal Music Group (OTCMKTS:UNVGY – Get Free Report) announced a dividend on Monday, September 4th, NASDAQ reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 5th will be given a dividend of 0.0856 per share on Monday, November 13th. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 4th.

Universal Music Group Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of OTCMKTS UNVGY traded down 0.20 during midday trading on Monday, hitting 12.16. 49,200 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 102,975. Universal Music Group has a 1 year low of 8.11 and a 1 year high of 13.40. The company has a fifty day moving average price of 12.16.

Universal Music Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Universal Music Group N.V. operates as a music company worldwide. It operates through Recorded Music, Music Publishing, and Merchandising & Other segments. The Recorded Music segment discovers and develops recording artists, as well as markets and promotes their music across various formats and platforms; and engages in the live events, sponsorship, film, and television operations.

Further Reading

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Rehaan Rasul

Singer, composer and songwriter Rehaan Rasul has said that it is crucial for musicians to protest against anomalies in the society as music can play a significant role in changing people’s outlook.

‘I have been raising voice against anomalies through music. On a certain day, I came across a news about child rapes, and felt extremely fretful. The news left a huge impression on me. Later, I wrote, composed and lent my voice to a song titled Kalankini Kaali,’ Rehaan Rasul told New Age.

Mentioning Lalon Shah and Kazi Nazrul Islam, Rehaan said that he wrote the song and made its music video because music could leave an impression on people and facilitate social change.

‘Music has been playing a far-reaching and effective role in raising awareness against various anomalies for hundreds of years. In this regard, I would like to mention particularly the names and works of Lalon Shah and Kazi Nazrul Islam,’ said Rehaan.

Lalon Shah was not only a mystic poet or a philosopher, but he was also a social reformer. In his many poems and songs, he protested against the inconsistencies and injustice of his time, added Rehaan, mentioning, ‘On the other hand, our national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam also raised his voice and protested against the inconsistencies, injustices of his time through his songs and poems.’

Rehaan Rasul earned acclaim for a number of tracks, including Baje Shobhab, Rupkothar Jogote, Ferate Parini, Shanti Chukti and others. Rehaan-penned and composed song ‘Baje Shobhab’ has garnered more than 46 million views while his duet song with Abanti Sithi ‘Rupkothar Jogote’, penned by poet Shomeshwar Oli, has garnered more than 34 million views on YouTube till date.

Although a number of the singer’s songs have garnered millions views on YouTube and different social media, he thinks that a song should not be evaluated based on the number of views it garners on YouTube or online platforms.

‘I think that a song only can leave an impression on music lovers if the song can touch hearts. The first song I sang after ‘Baje Shobhab’ was Shomeswar Oli-penned and Sajid Sarker-composed “Bhalo Thakbo”. Although the song sounded great to me, it did not garner a lot of views on YouTube,’ he mentioned.

He also thinks that due to various reasons many quality songs do not garner a lot of views on YouTube or social media,

‘Even a poor-quality song can garner a lot of views nowadays. Therefore, the quality of a song should not be determined based on views,’ he said.

Rehaan Rasul’s debut playback song titled Bhuler Gaan has been featured in Fakhrul Arefeen Khan-directed film ‘Gondi’. Following which, the singer has lent his voice to a number of playback songs, including Priyotoma film’s Govire, Surongo film’s Gaa Chuye Bolo and Antarjal film’s Path Bhola Pakhi.

The singer has also received huge response for his songs, including Bhalo Thakbo, Eso, Samay, Rangmilanti, Anagoto, Mayajal, Ami Tomar Hoye Jai, Porajoy, Tomar Preme Parchhi Na, Dhrubotara, Smrittir Alpin and Tomar Jonno.

‘If the lyric and tune of a song is to my liking, I try to release it for music lovers. When I listen to my songs being played in cinemas, I really miss my mother. If she was next to me today, it would have felt that I am in heaven,’ shared Rehaan.

 His songs, including Ekdike Prithibi, Tomar Moto, Ei To Ami Achhi and Feriwala have been released recently. He also spoke about his upcoming venture.

‘I am working with Joy Shahriar in a song written and composed by Ketan Sheikh, which will be released soon. Besides, if I can collect funds, I want to release a music video of a song written and composed by me towards the end of December,’ Rehaan Rasul concluded.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Our monthly beer review covers a mixed 12-pack from Shiner along with a few other brews. Plus, we offer some beer and brewery news at the end.

As usual, all should be available on local store shelves. Our photos show what the beers look like, and we note our favorite at the end.

Cheers!

Hopora

Troegs Brewing, Pennsylvania, India Pale Ale, 6.5%

Light-bodied and a bit thin (almost tastes like a sessionable ale). Hops are restrained with subtle tropical flavors. Not a huge citrus bomb but a drinkable IPA.

Narragansett Lager

Narragansett Brewing Co., Rochester, New York; Lager, 5%

Smooth, nothing crazy but very quaffable. Very slight sweet tinge. Old-school lawnmower beer. The brewery makes its beers in Rochester, Providence, Rhode Island; and Connecticut.

Franco Crisp

Southern Grist Brewing Co., Nashville, Pilsner, 4.8%

Very hoppy, a bit grainy, and even pithy – surprising for a Pilsner, but it’s there. Usually if you taste pith you’re probably drinking an India Pale Ale, so this was different.

Shiner TexHex

Shiner’s Desert’s Dozen mixed 12-pack of TexHex includes four beers brewed with cactus water – usually prickly pear juice. But it really isn’t notable on the palate. Still, a few hearty offerings from Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas, with a variety of International Bittering Units for each:

Desert Mirage

Hazy India Pale Ale, 8%: This hazy has nice body with a healthy dose of hops definitely making their presence known, especially on a lingering finish. Some tangerine notes. Made with Strata hops. IBUs: 45.

Twin Dream

Double India Pale Ale, 9.5%: Nicely balanced ale. Peach and tangerine flavors pop through with hops surging through. Not alcoholic tasting at all despite pushing double digits in alcohol percentage. Brewed with Idaho 7 and Citra hops. IBUs: 80.

Wicked Haze

Double Hazy India Pale Ale, 9.5%: Orange is dominant in this big beer – good mouthfeel, slight alcoholic tasting though very limited burn on the finish. Brewed with Idaho 7 hops. IBUs: 40.

Bruja’s Brew

India Pale Ale, 7%: Smooth, nothing crazy here in this drinkable beer. Hint of orange meshes with hoppiness on the palate. For those who remember Spanish I, “bruja” means “witch.” Made with Amarillo hops. IBUs: 60.

RELATED COVERAGE: Yes, pumpkin ‘beer’ for dogs is now available

Six-pack of brewery news

As you get set to celebrate National Beer Lovers Day on Thursday, Sept. 7, and National Drink Beer Day on Thursday, Sept. 28, here are a few brewery and beer notes from around the country:

• Stone Brewing has created the first official beer for the University of Southern California’s athletics programs. Stone Fight On Pale Ale is 5.5% alcohol and will be distributed throughout Southern California at stores, bars, restaurants and at the Los Angeles Colosseum and Galen Center, home of the USC Trojans.

• Silver Eagle Distributors Houston is teaming up with Kona Big Wave and Anheuser-Busch to support the Maui community in the aftermath of the devastating wildfires. Every case of Big Wave sold this month via Houston retail sales will provide a 50-cent case contribution to the Hawai’i Community Foundation Maui Strong Fund.

• Thousands of people signed a petition calling on Sapporo to allow Anchor Brewing Co. employees to purchase Anchor Brewing, which Sapporo shut down in July. Also, Enterprise Brewing released Solidarity Ale to raise money for Anchor’s union workers. At least two online petitions were offered: change.org/anchorunion and change.org/saveanchor. Anchor and Enterprise are neighbors in San Francisco.

• For the third consecutive year, Tröegs Independent Brewing’s guided production tour has been voted the nation’s best brewery tour in USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice poll. Also, the Hershey, Pennsylvania, brewery is bringing back Oktoberfest Lager for the fall. For a lager, it’s a hearty 6.1% alcohol.

• Shiner has released Storm Caster IPA (5.5% alcohol) and Black Lager (4.9%) for the fall. Storm Caster is made with cactus water experimental hops, and the lager is returning with a new design.

• Coors Banquet has launched “Protect Our Protectors.” It supports firefighters through Wildland Firefighter Foundation and other fire organizations nationwide. Go to protectourprotectors.com.

This month’s favorite: The Shiner quartet was fine, but maybe it’s because I’ve been cutting the lawn a lot that makes me choose Narragansett.

Our reviews: Most of the beers we buy come from Northeast Ohio retail shops and stores. We choose Heinen’s, Red, Wine & Brew; Acme, Giant Eagle, Mustard Seed Market, Whole Foods and others.

Like beer? Check out GiveThemBeer for gifts for beer lovers. The company offers craft-beer baskets, seasonal selections and more.

I am on cleveland.com’s life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, here’s a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. Twitter: @mbona30.

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