Pop Shots – Questions and Answers

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 Carly Rae Jepsen having no more maybes, to Journey’s lead singer wondering if he should stick around, to another Jay-Z promise that has some holes in it, and since this is Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* Carly Rae Jepsen revealed that she and producer boyfriend Cole M.G.N. are now engaged. I guess he called her.

* Lady Gaga released an new album titled Harlequin, which is a companion to the movie Joker: Folie à Deux, in which she plays Harley Quinn. I’m now wondering why Jennifer Lopez didn’t do something similar for Anaconda.

* The Weeknd now has 18 songs that have hit one billion streams on Spotify, the most of any artist. Previously he was in a tie with Drake. So people have access to a bajillion songs, and still actively choose what’s on the radio? This is like having the world’s largest buffet, and always going with chicken fingers.

* Becky G teamed up with the Vita Coco Company to build a new greenspace at her old elementary school in Inglewood, CA. Snoop Dogg will be disappointed when he finds out it’s not that kind of greenspace.

* Usher’s Twitter account was completed scrubbed the other day, sparking conversation that it may have had something to do with his connection to Diddy. Usher eventually responded to the murmurs, claiming his account was hacked. Of course, had it actually had been hacked it wouldn’t have been blank, it would’ve been someone trying to sell us Bitcoin.

* Elle King announced she’s expecting her second child with Dan Tooker. Rob Schneider may not learn about this until he reads this column.

* Arnel Pineda, who is the current frontman of Journey, jumped on Facebook to respond to criticism regarding his Rock in Rio performance, asking fans to comment “Stay” or “Go” to let him know if they want him to continue as a member of the band. He wrote that if “Go” reaches a million votes, he’ll leave. This isn’t as dangerous of a game for Pineda as it may seem, as his Facebook page has less than 250k followers, and all of those people are fans. Regardless, if you’re in Journey, you shouldn’t try to cover The Clash.

* Weird Al announced a 65-city 2025 tour. This makes me miss the good ol’ days of waiting in line for tickets, because a Weird Al line would be the most colorful line imaginable … and I’d be in it!

* Jay-Z and Roc Nation claim they’ll commit more than $250 million in grant money for the Hell’s Kitchen area of NYC if they land the bid to create a Caesars Palace Times Square casino. The reported offer would give an initial $15 million to the local community, plus regular grants based on .5% of the casino’s performance. The people of Hell’s Kitchen shouldn’t get too excited, though, Brooklyn is still waiting for the affordable housing, and amenity space he promised when he convinced the borough to build the Barclays Center, and take the Nets.

* Closing things out with something awesome, a-ha’s “Take On Me” has become the first video from the 1980s to surpass two billion views on YouTube. In a related story, it’s also still the greatest music video ever made.

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