Pop Shots – Going, Going, Gone

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 a strip of highway going purple in honor or Prince, to TMZ going low with a new special on Britney Spears, to Lizzo going nowhere due to an illness, and since this is Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* In Minnesota, purple signs honoring Prince will be going up along a seven-mile stretch of State Highway 5 that runs past Prince’s Paisley Park museum and studios, designating it the Prince Rogers Nelson Memorial Highway. Those signs will likely disappear, and end up on eBay, just as quickly as they go up.

* The Weeknd has joined a group led by Toronto billionaires Jeffrey and Michael Kimel that’s looking to purchase the Ottawa Senators. Someone should let them know it’s much easier to buy senators in America.

* Becky G has announced her first headlining tour, a 16-date early fall run that will begin on September 14th in Boston. I secretly want Becky G and Karol G to team up for an album of G-Unit covers. This has nothing to do with the tour, I’m just trying to speak something into existence here.

* Because TMZ is nothing but class, the gossip outlet is diving into Britney Spears’ post-conservatorship life in TMZ Investigates: Britney Spears: The Price of Freedom, which will air tonight on FOX. In a related story, there are a lot of other things you can watch tonight.

* The coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla officially has a mixtape, as the service and pre-service music was recorded and released by Decca Records. I’m sorry, not to be blunt, but didn’t we win a war so we wouldn’t have to listen to that?

* Machine Gun Kelly is back to rapping, and dissing other white rappers, this time taking shots at Jack Harlow in a new freestyle. MGK vs. Jack Harlow? Take it away Eric Cartman!

* NewJeans has set a record, becoming the K-pop act to hit 1 billion streams the fastest on Spotify, achieving the feat a mere 219 days after the group’s debut. New jeans are nice, and all, but if we’re being honest here, wouldn’t we all actually prefer a comfy pair of sweatpants?

* Lizzo was forced to cancel concerts in Montreal, and Hartford, CT due to strep throat. This makes strep throat my new favorite battle rapper.

* Sia married her boyfriend, Dan Bernad, in Italy. Please note his last name is Bernad, not Bernard. In other words, Sia is not currently a member of my family, no matter how many chandeliers the rest of us may swing from.

That’s all for this edition of Pop Shots, but come back next Monday for more shots on all things pop.