Welcome back all you E16 fans, I’m Kelly Wakelee here with your latest music news. As
most of you may have heard after Kanye West’s outburst at the MTV music awards he
made an appearance on the Jay Leno show to explain himself to viewers. Now while on
the show he stated he was going to keep a low profile, yet it seems once again Kanye has
changed his mind. He will be embarking on a new tour with Lady GaGa starting net
month. Way to keep a low profile Kanye. Lets take a closer look and see how this tour
came to be.
Last June Kanye West made an appearance on the talk show, “The View” where he
announced future plans to tour with Lady GaGa but did not release any kind of detail to
the media. Well, last week everything became official as Kanye posted a teaser for his
upcoming tour with Lady GaGa. This controversial trailer features a topless Lady GaGa
writhing around in the arms of a faceless man we can only assume is Kanye. As this
scene continues it is enhanced with a moody, ominous soundtrack at the end of which the
tours name, “Fame Kills” appears on the screen. Although GaGa uses her hand to cover
her nude top half, many believe that by attempting to blur the lines between “pop music
and high art” the creative duo has gone too far. Under the clip West continued to reate
this artistic feel by posteing a headline that read, “What happened to all the Rock stars?
The Fame Killed Them!” Last month, GaGa told BBC that the tour would be especially
“groundbreaking” and that she and West were busy trying to create the look and feel for
this one time only tour. However, GaGa later stressed on her blog that although she is
touring with West her show is “gay, her music is gay, and she is gay.” She made it very
clear that she will not compromise her own vision and wants to thank all her gay and
lesbian fans for their continuing support. It is said that West not only supports GaGa in
this but may also join her with provocative dances and elaborate stage decorations. With
all this controversy surrounding the tour many wonder if it will be a success or a failure.
An anonymous program director for a major urban mainstream radio station said, “This
isn't an urban tour -- urban audiences can be a bit more forgiving than mainstream
audiences are. I can see him going on stage and people booing him. It's unfortunate." The
tour is set to open on November 16th, in Phoenix Arizona, and will close January 24th, in
Dallas Texas. We here at E16 wish the duo the best of luck as we’re sure this tour will be
anything but ordinary.
And now for your ITunes Pick of the week…this week’s song is “Scared to Feel” by new
and upcoming artist Lelia Broussard. At only 18, Broussard has had a pretty impressive
rise. Her debut EP, "Louisiana Soul," first turned heads in 2004 and since then she has
released two more albums, Her most recent being, “Waiting on the 9.” Her most loyal
listeners describe the artist as a sultry, soulful pop artist. Lelia's music has been
influenced by her South Louisiana heritage, but has also taken influences from the Philly
soul sound since her move to Philadelphia seven years ago. While Broussard writes all
her own songs and plays guitar and piano she says her music is more likely geared to
listeners and viewers of 'XPN and VH1, not so much MTV and TRL. Her music is
available on ITunes today so take a minute and check out this artist that’s sure to shake
up the music industry.