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As you may know, we live in our media zone. So we've decided to wheel out a new concept called The Backspace Brief; we’re aggregating ten news stories in pop culture that we think you should know about every Thursday morning for a read in under five minutes. From the ultra-serious to the batshit crazy. Check out our Rolling News on our homepage and throughout our site and our Instagram Story for more news.
Rihanna and A$AP are pregnant - The internet firestorm of the week goes to “it couple” Rihanna and A$AP Rocky whose pregnancy announcement reported by TMZ in the early morning hours of Monday has been at the centre of the week’s celebrity conversation. What appeared to be a candid series of shots turned out to be entirely choreographed, snapped by Vogue’s Miles Diggs on the streets of Rocky’s native Harlem, and sold to a variety of media outlets. Rihanna’s puffer coat and gold and leather belt are vintage Chanel, Rocky wore Carhartt.
The New York Times bought Wordle - The web-based word game created by Josh Wardle of Reddit, which became available for public play in October 2021 and had 1.2 million results shared to twitter in the first two weeks of January, sold to The New York Times for an undisclosed seven figure sum. The acquisition is part of the Time’s strategy to gain more subscriptions through downloads of their game app which also includes the magazine’s crossword puzzles. Many skeptical the Times will keep it free, have downloaded the complete game by saving the webpage for offline use.
Official XXXTENTACION documentary on the way - A documentary about controversial soundcloud rapper XXXTENTACION will hit SXSW with participation from the rapper’s family, friends, lovers, and includes unseen archival footage. The film’s synopsis promises “a sensitive portrayal of an artist whose acts of violence, raw musical talent and open struggles with mental health left an indelible mark on his generation before his death at the age of 20.”
Coachella are selling lifetime passes as NFTs – On Tuesday, Coachella announced a long term partnership with cryptocurrency exchange giant FTX with plans to launch an NFT marketplace. Starting Friday, Coachella will sell three NFTs that each include 10 one-of-one lifetime festival passes among other experiences and products year to year, all of which will be verifiable through the permanence of the blockchain.
The Keith Moon biopic is coming together - Roger Daltrey’s long gestating Keith Moon biopic, now called The Real Me is finally shooting this June in Britain. The announcement marks a major milestone for Daltrey who through various production companies has been trying to get the film off the ground since the early 2000s, when Mike Myers was in talks for the part. Pete Townsend and longtime manager Bill Curbishley will serve as exec producers. The role of Keith Moon has yet to be cast.
Elon Musk’s Starlink launched a $500 a month premium service – Starting in Q2, Starlink, the high speed internet network available throughout the world via SpaceX’s satellites will begin offering a premium tier: 150 and 500 Mbps up from 50 to 250 Mbps and double upload speeds. It ain’t cheap however, starting with $2500 in setup costs for the antenna and $500 a month for a subscription.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees were released
As you may know, we live in our media zone. So we've decided to wheel out a new concept called The Backspace Brief; we’re aggregating ten news stories in pop culture that we think you should know about every Thursday morning for a read in under five minutes. From the ultra-serious to the batshit crazy. Check out our Rolling News on our homepage and throughout our site and our Instagram Story for more news.
Rihanna and A$AP are pregnant - The internet firestorm of the week goes to “it couple” Rihanna and A$AP Rocky whose pregnancy announcement reported by TMZ in the early morning hours of Monday has been at the centre of the week’s celebrity conversation. What appeared to be a candid series of shots turned out to be entirely choreographed, snapped by Vogue’s Miles Diggs on the streets of Rocky’s native Harlem, and sold to a variety of media outlets. Rihanna’s puffer coat and gold and leather belt are vintage Chanel, Rocky wore Carhartt.
The New York Times bought Wordle - The web-based word game created by Josh Wardle of Reddit, which became available for public play in October 2021 and had 1.2 million results shared to twitter in the first two weeks of January, sold to The New York Times for an undisclosed seven figure sum. The acquisition is part of the Time’s strategy to gain more subscriptions through downloads of their game app which also includes the magazine’s crossword puzzles. Many skeptical the Times will keep it free, have downloaded the complete game by saving the webpage for offline use.
Official XXXTENTACION documentary on the way - A documentary about controversial soundcloud rapper XXXTENTACION will hit SXSW with participation from the rapper’s family, friends, lovers, and includes unseen archival footage. The film’s synopsis promises “a sensitive portrayal of an artist whose acts of violence, raw musical talent and open struggles with mental health left an indelible mark on his generation before his death at the age of 20.”
Coachella are selling lifetime passes as NFTs – On Tuesday, Coachella announced a long term partnership with cryptocurrency exchange giant FTX with plans to launch an NFT marketplace. Starting Friday, Coachella will sell three NFTs that each include 10 one-of-one lifetime festival passes among other experiences and products year to year, all of which will be verifiable through the permanence of the blockchain.
The Keith Moon biopic is coming together - Roger Daltrey’s long gestating Keith Moon biopic, now called The Real Me is finally shooting this June in Britain. The announcement marks a major milestone for Daltrey who through various production companies has been trying to get the film off the ground since the early 2000s, when Mike Myers was in talks for the part. Pete Townsend and longtime manager Bill Curbishley will serve as exec producers. The role of Keith Moon has yet to be cast.
Elon Musk’s Starlink launched a $500 a month premium service – Starting in Q2, Starlink, the high speed internet network available throughout the world via SpaceX’s satellites will begin offering a premium tier: 150 and 500 Mbps up from 50 to 250 Mbps and double upload speeds. It ain’t cheap however, starting with $2500 in setup costs for the antenna and $500 a month for a subscription.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees were released
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