Pop Shots – Get Off

Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from Lil Wayne being a little off in an interview, to Meek Mill signing off Instagram, to Mark Ronson and The Chainsmokers going off on each other, and since this is Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* Lil Wayne was ripped by critics and fans alike this past week when a clip from a Nightline interview showed him to be uninterested in the Black Lives Matter movement. In response to a question about BLM, Weezy said, "I don't feel connected to a damn thing that ain't got nothin' to do with me." Sooo, is he implying he isn't Black, or that he isn't alive? Zombie Lil Wayne could be a thing!

* Bono will be honored at Glamour magazine's Women of the Year ceremony on November 14th. I hear he already has the perfect dress picked out.


* Taylor Swift and Drake are reportedly working together on music. With how often these two write about their exes, they’re just a few Dashboard Confessional, and Death Cab For Cutie members away from being some sort of emo Voltron.

* Meek Mill deactivated his Instagram account, saying, "I stepped out the circus, period.” I guess he finally figured out dating Nicki Minaj is way better than typing out insults to other rappers.


* Mark Ronson ripped into The Chainsmokers after the production duo said in a recent interview that they thought Lady Gaga's Ronson-produced single "Perfect Illusion" "sucked." Seeing a tweet from The Chainsmokers that was just a middle finger emoji, and the words, "And we're back," Ronson replied, "Back to being the charisma-bypassed champions of 2 bar Ableton loops? Well, smash it while it lasts, fellas!!" The Chainsmokers claim their original tweet had nothing to do with Gaga. In other pop producer news, Max Martin was somewhere in Sweden during all of this, writing next summer’s entire Top 40.

* Staying on the topic of Mark Ronson, when he was writing "Uptown Funk," he probably never imagined the "it" in "Uptown Funk gon' give it to you" was going to be "endless lawsuits," but when your song sounds like every funk song ever, every funk band ever is going to sue you. The latest litigation comes from Collage, who claim “Uptown Funk” is “almost indistinguishable” from their 1983 song "Young Girls," adding they heard Ronson, and Bruno Mars, previously mention being influenced by early ‘80s Minneapolis electro-funk, and soul music. You gotta love the ego of a band who doesn’t realize when a funk/soul artist says they’re influenced by anything ‘80s Minneapolis related, they mean Prince ... or Kirby Puckett.


* The iHeart80s Party is returning for a second year with a lineup that includes New Kids on the Block, UB40, Rick Astley, Men at Work's Colin Hay, Starship, Eddie Money, and Night Ranger. The show, which will take place at the SAP Center in San Jose on January 28th, will be hosted by original MTV VJ Martha Quinn. While some venues suggest taking public transportation, the most convenient way to get this show will be via time machine.


* Mick "Woody" Woodmansey, who was David Bowie's drummer from the Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars years, said he turned down an invitation to perform with Lady Gaga for last year's Grammys tribute to Bowie, deeming it "stupid" and "tacky." The world is now anxiously awaiting tweets about this from The Chainsmokers, and Mark Ronson.

* Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Babyface will all be contributing to BET's forthcoming biopic about New Edition, titled The New Edition Story. The biopic will premiere as a six-hour, three-night event, with the first episodes airing on January 24th. Six hours?!?! Listen, they were a great group, but if it isn’t love ... I can’t see someone watching six hours of New Edition.


And with that, my time is up for the week, but I'll be back next week with more shots on all things pop.