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Author Archives: Jennifer White
Justice For Rita Ora!
Nothing like a little schadenfreude with your Thanksgiving turkey, amirite? The internet was equal parts aghast and thrilled to see Rita Ora’s train wreck of a performance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, where she was lip syncing a line or two off of the actual song – or at least, what tv audiences were hearing. Everyone assumed this was a HUGE mistake on Rita’s part, or that it was some kind of terrible revelation that she wasn’t singing live. But no one should be shocked. If you’ve watched any of the performances closely over, oh, I don’t know, the last two or three DECADES, you would know that ALL those performances are lip synced!
John Legend – who also performed in the parade – confirmed as much in a tweet defending Rita: "Fun fact. We all have to lip sync on this parade because the floats don't have the capacity to handle the sound requirements for a live performance. Hope y'all enjoyed it anyway. Know that if you come to my shows, the vocals are 100% live!”
Rita’s response simply read: "Thank you for clarifying what I was about to also tweet.”
And for those saying that Kelly Clarkson’s performance wasn’t lip synced – you’re right, it wasn’t. But Kelly was set up in the official broadcast performance area – not on a moving vehicle traveling over two and a half miles, outside, on one of the coldest parade days ever.
So congratulations to Rita, who kept her cool under a ton of internet ridicule, after a giant flub in front of one of the biggest television audiences of the year… that wasn’t even her fault. Macy’s confirmed with a tweet of their own:
"During today’s NBC broadcast of the #MacysParade several recording artists experienced technical difficulties that negatively impacted their performance. We apologize and want fans to know these issues were out of the artist’s control.”
So THERE. Some good news for Rita Ora – she just dropped the brand new disc Phoenix, and it’s Slacker’s Album Of The Week! Listen to it over & over again here. Feel free to lip sync to your heart’s content.
TV Legend Ralph McDaniels, ‘Menance To Society’ Film Salute Iconic Champion Clothing
The clothing giant is gearing up for their big anniversary in 2019 celebrating at Complex Con.
Bathing Ape Takes Over Complex Con
The famed clothing brand introduced their new “Ape” line during Complex Con with the assistance of artist Steve Harrington.
Complex Con Draws Record Setting Attendees
The 2018 Complex Con brought out fans of the culture from all sections of the world to celebrate weekend of music, fashion, technology and overall culture.
Swizz Beatz Says Nas 'Echo' Video Is Done
If you were excited about the song, the producer says wait until you see the visuals for Esco's masterpiece.
Our own Raymond T goes in depth with Tech N9ne for an exclusive sitdown at the Slacker studios.
From social media to disgruntled fans to scary clowns to Tech’s infamous facepaint, they cover it all and more!
Chopping It Up with the Artists of Complex Con 2018
Redman, Victor Cruz, Jonathan Mannion, Shiggy and more warm things up at Complex Con 2018.
Travis Scott Talks About Stormi On Ellen
We don’t always get a chance to get to know rappers outside of their music, so when Travis Scott sat down with Ellen, we knew we were going to learn some interesting stuff. Like that he’s into musical theatre? Or that his name isn’t really Travis Scott.
He also clearly loves being a dad and shares details of his life with baby Stormi Webster, his daughter with Kylie Jenner. Travis talks that new dad exhaustion, admits he didn’t know what a placenta was before his baby’s birth, and reveals his feelings when he finally got a chance to hold her.
"Going into it I was, like, nervous and scared. You know, we were just both, like, young. But when you first have a baby in your arms, it's just, like, it's uncontrollable. It's like this whole, like, warp that takes over your whole body. I never thought I could just, like, love something so hard, you know? It's crazy.”
That is SUPER sweet.
Justin and Christian Combs welcome you to their haunted Hollywood extravaganza.
We take you inside this exclusive Halloween party.