Every week there’s a bunch of music-related stories, links, videos and other internet goodies that are a little on the trashy side, but for whatever reason get everyone in the office talking.
This is what the Tone Deaf Trash Can is all about: it’s our avenue for sharing the funniest, weirdest and downright tackiest music stories of the week to help you keep up to date with the best (and worst) things happening in pop culture.
Don’t feel guilty – you’re allowed to enjoy it.
Prince Sports Bedazzled Sceptre At The Tennis, Wins At Life In Straight Sets
Not everyone can comfortably turn up to a sporting event rocking a turtleneck-and-tunic combo, a knowing grin, and a regal sceptre. Then again, not many people are Prince.
The Purple One turned heads this week when he sat courtside at Rafael Nadal’s fourth-round match at the French Open, out-Princing that Harry guy and then some with an ensemble that redefines the meaning of royalty.
Honestly, no-one else could get away with this. Even though Nadal ended up making easy work of his opponent Dusan Lajovic, we all know who the true winner was.
Honestly, I’d pay to sit opposite Prince and just watch tennis in the reflection of his aviators pic.twitter.com/xGDvKnl11V
— kevindreyfuss (@ssufyerdnivek) June 3, 2014
Peasants rest their hands on umbrellas, Princes rest their hands on bejewelled canes. Game, set, match.
Sia’s Cameo Appearance On Home & Away From The ’90s Washes Up Online
In 2014, Sia Furler has arguably become the most intriguing name in pop. Breaking all the traditional conventions of what is to be a pop star, she hates fame, she hates attention, and she’ll go to any costs to avoid being in the public eye. But back in 1997, before she was turning her back to the audience during her performance on Ellen or appearing on the cover of Billboard with a paper bag over her head, Sia was a little-known singer-songwriter trying to catch a break in more conventional ways: like making a guest appearance on classic Aussie soap, Home & Away.
The archival footage is absolute ’90s gold – from the dorky “Hey, that’s Sia!” introduction (thanks for that, Rebecca) right down to Sia’s confusing capri-kaftan get-up and the straight-up dizzying dramatic crane shots of Summer Bay. Still, while the visuals are enough to trigger some serious cultural cringe, our girl still sounds flawless as a wedding singer belting out her song ‘How To Breathe’ which she wrote specifically for this scene.
Try as you might, Sia, but the internet doesn’t forget anything.
Don’t Worry, Even Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Fans Don’t Know Who Ryan Lewis Is
If Sia is looking for ways to get out of the spotlight she should probably call up Ryan Lewis, because even his own fans don’t recognise him when they’re standing right in front of his face.
ICYMI, because apparently a lot of people have (and we really don’t blame you), ‘Thrift Shop’ and ‘Same Love’ et al aren’t just performed by Macklemore, they’re performed by Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis. As in, there’s two of them.
The latter and oft-forgotten half of the duo recently put his anonymity to the test in a skit on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. The “producer, DJ and professional photographer” (cheers, Wikipedia) hit the streets as himself, sans costume, and asked Mackelmore fans what they thought of this mysterious Ryan Lewis guy.
“Ryan Lewis… Don’t really know what he does. I know he’s a package deal, though. He comes with Mackelmore a lot,” says one self-proclaimed fan, while another meekly offers, “It seems like he’s doing something with the computers and whatnot.”
Watch the video below. It’s easy to feel sorry Lewis, but remember he’s probably too busy polishing his four Grammys to let it get to him too much.
Justin Bieber Caught Being Racist Twice In A Week, Somehow Not Hard To Beliebe
In case you weren’t yet convinced that Justin Bieber might not be a very good person, two videos have emerged this week showing the politically-troubled singer being awfully racist as a chart-topping teenager.
The latest, which TMZ leaked this morning, shows Bieber at aged 14 replacing lyrics to his song ‘One Less Lonely Girl’ to sing out “One less lonely n—-r,” and then, more worringly, “If I kill you, I’ll be part of the KKK, but there’ll be one less lonely n—-r.”
Yep, that’s Justin Bieber making explicit jokes about joining the Ku Klux Klan. You really can’t make this stuff up.
Perhaps more concerning, then, are the Bieber apologists excusing the singer’s behaviour under the reasoning that he was young, confused, and I shit you not, “everyone does it loool”, so that makes it totally fair game. Instead, we tend to think that becoming racist isn’t some whacky thing that happens to people during puberty, and singing about killing black people isn’t normal behaviour for a 14-year-old. The best way to respond to this is to be disgusted, not defend it. We hope he has changed, but we’re really not convinced.
Ugh, this guy.
50 Cent Blames His Jerky Ball Throw On “Excessive Masturbation”
Rapper, star of his own biographical movie and former laughing stock of P.E. class, 50 Cent, is still feeling the aftermath of what happens when the internet catches you doing something really embarrassing. For Curtis James Jackson III, it was that really embarrassing, god-awful opening pitch he threw last week for the New York Mets.
So when Fiddy decided to hold a Reddit AMA yesterday, naturally someone was going to ask him what went wrong. Maybe he lost his footing, or perhaps his palms were sweaty knees weak, mum’s spaghetti à la Marshall Mathers. Either way, it’s safe to say no-one was expecting this:
Never change, Curtis, never change.