The iconic rapper surprised fans as the model for their 2025-26 home kit recently, as reported by BBC Sport.

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Since then, it’s been announced that Snoop has joined the club’s ownership group. In a statement on A.F.C’s official website, Snoop wrote: ““My love of football is well known, but it feels special to me that I make my move into club ownership with Swansea City.”

“The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me. This is a proud, working class city and club. An underdog that bites back, just like me.”

“I’m proud to be part of Swansea City. I am going to do all I can to help the club, and I look forward to getting to know all my YJBS.”

Tom Gorringe, Swansea City chief executive, continued: “It is very exciting for us as a football club to formally welcome Snoop Dogg as a co-owner and investor into Swansea City.

 

 

 

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“His enjoyment and love of football is well documented, and he has often spoken of a desire to get more involved in the sport. We are delighted he believes that being part of Swansea City is the right way to realise that ambition.

“Dogg is passionate about this project and helping us continue to raise the profile of the club to as wide an audience as possible.”

This isn’t Snoop’s first venture into the business of sports. He worked as a correspondent for NBC and a symbol for Team USA at last year’s Olympics, making appearances at events and even carrying the Olympic torch.

The rapper/businessman has also had close involvement in American football. His Snoop Youth Football League was born in 2005, giving kids aged 5-13 opportunities with football and cheerleading in Los Angeles. Since its establishment, the league has put over 50 players in the NFL.

As far as football/soccer goes, Snoop has said that he’s a longtime fan of Celtic F.C., and that he wishes to buy shares in them. He’s also developed a unique tradition for his EU performances – for many of his European concerts, he’ll wear the football shirt for the team of the city he’s playing in. You can view a gallery of his many match kits here.

The grunge legends were set to join the bill for ‘Back to the Beginning’, the final show of heavy metal icons Black Sabbath, featuring founding members Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, Tommy Iommi and Bill Ward. The stacked support lineup featured other rock and metal royalty such as Metallica, Alice In Chains, Gojira, Anthrax, Guns N’ Roses, KoRn, Tool, Slayer, Pantera and more.

@consequence Black Sabbath perform “War Pigs” at their farewell concert. Credit: Universal Music Group #blacksabbath #ozzyosbourne #backtothebeginning #warpigs #heavymetal ♬ original sound – consequence

But during the event, fans noticed that Soundgarden didn’t make their planned appearance at the show. It was speculated that they may have been the band that organiser Sharon Osbourne kicked off the show due to a dispute, where Sharon claimed their manager was making up “bulls**t lies”, as reported by NME.

But Soundgarden have now shared an explanation of their absence on social media, clarifying that they weren’t the act to be booted off the lineup. On the band’s Instagram account, they wrote: “Congratulations to Black Sabbath on the grand and final pealing of their vesper bells!

 

 

 

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“Thank you for an astounding career that provided us and your legion of fans with a lifetime of beauty, horror, love, power, happiness, melancholy and a profoundly sublime, yet viscerally rocking transcendence informed by both doom and hope. Your majestic brilliance has inspired greatness in scores of other bands, musicians and songwriters. However, the crown will forever remain yours!

 
“We are very grateful to Tony, Ozzy, Geezer and Bill, as well as Sharon Osbourne and music director, Tom Morello for the honor and invitation to Soundgarden to perform at the Back to the Beginning festival! We are super bummed and regret that we were unable to coordinate the schedules of our individual and collective projects to attend and contribute to the festival. The warmth, love and support from the Black Sabbath team has been a continuing source of encouragement and strength throughout our career.”

Alongside their kind words, they shared pictures of themselves with members of Black Sabbath. This included a cheery snap of the band with Tommy Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Soundgarden’s late singer Chris Cornell at Download Festival in 2012.

You can catch MXDWN’s highlights of the Black Sabbath farewell show here.

The Blur/Gorillaz frontman told The Sun that he’s kept himself occupied musically since the reunion of Blur. He highlighted some of his most recent ventures, saying “I was doing an opera in Paris and starting on the new Gorillaz record. It’s been crazy, it really has. But the world’s gone crazy so it doesn’t seem in any way strange.”

He said that he’s back in the creative swing of songwriting, saying “I’ve been incredibly busy making music — it’s what I love to do. I suppose I’m going to have to share some of it soon. Inevitably there will always be a dustbin bag full of stuff that needs dropping off at the recycling!”

In another interview with The Times a few days ago, Albarn predicted the next Gorillaz album would drop in 2026. He also revealed that the new record is in four languages.

Some may find this revelation feels in line with Gorillaz, given their eclectic sound and incorporation of world music into their other releases. Throughout their discography they’ve taken influences from Jamaican dub, Latin, African and Asian music. The last record from the virtual band came in 2023, with ‘Cracker Island’, their first number one on the UK album chart since ‘Demon Days‘ in 2005.

Gorillaz are scheduled to return to the stage later this year, with four one-off shows in London at the Copper Box Arena. The shows will see them perform three of their classic albums in full – their self-titled debut on August 29, ‘Demon Days’ on the following night, ‘Plastic Beach’ on September 2, and a “mystery show” on September 3.

Fans will get to see the original visuals and structures from the early live shows of each album, as they perform each iconic record in full.

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Alongside their live shows, Gorillaz are celebrating their 25^th anniversary with a new immersive exhibition in London, also running at the Copper Box Arena from August 8 to September 3. In a press release, the “House of Kong” exhibition is described as “a journey through the band’s life of misadventures, musical innovation, and ground-breaking virtual ways.”

You can read MXDWN’s coverage on the upcoming exhibition here.

The separate days of the festival had different themes – for the Friday (July 11), fans were treated to a day of R&B/soul music. Speaking to the crowd, Drake said, “You came to a very special night. It’s night one. It’s a celebration of all things R&B. All things melodies. All classics.” The audience enjoyed sets throughout the day from rising UK stars like Nippa and KWN, as well as American artists such as Summer Walker and Leon Thomas. During Drake’s set, he pulled through with a host of guests including Giveon, Bryson Tiller, Bobby Valentino and Mario.

@wirelessfestival We said we were making history this weekend @Rockstar Energy UK #drake #laurynhill #mslaurynhill #wirelessfestival #20yearswireless #wireless2025 #wireless ♬ original sound – Wireless Festival

One of the biggest surprises of the day came as Lauryn Hill took to the stage. A famously reclusive artist whose live appearances have been notoriously disorganized, she came out to perform “Ready Or Not” and “Ex Factor”, the latter of which transitioned into Drake’s hit “Nice For What” which samples the soulful classic.

The tempo and tone was changed for the Saturday show (July 12), as the mellow vibes of the previous night were switched for a high-energy day of hip-hop. ““London, tonight is different,” Drake said onstage, hyping up the audience. “All that sweetheart, singing sh*t? That sh*t is over tonight. This is for my motherf*cking dogs.” A lineup of homegrown UK talent was featured throughout, with experimental trap rapper Lancey Foux and grime collective Boy Better Know providing sets.

@wirelessfestival You asked for Dave & Cench, we delivered DRAKE SPECIAL GUESTS NIGHT 2 @Rockstar Energy UK @CentralCee #drake #dave #centralcee #cench #wireless #wireless2025 #20yearswireless #wirelessfestival ♬ original sound – Wireless Festival

When it was Drake’s time to take to the stage, he gave another star-studded set featuring guests like Dave, Central Cee, J Hus, Yeat, Skepta, Latto, Sexyy Redd, K-Trap, Headie One and 21 Savage.

The Sunday (July 13) saw the styles travel from London to around the world for a “global” themed day, featuring afrobeat and dancehall artists legends like Vybz Kartel, Burna Boy, Spice and Popcaan. Unfortunately, Drake only managed to perform for 40 minutes, due to a strict 9:30pm curfew, as he opted to give the other acts more stage time.

@wirelessfestival VYBZ X DRAKE @Rockstar Energy UK #wireless #20yearswireless #wireless2025 #wirelessfestival #drake #vybzkartel ♬ original sound – Wireless Festival

During the Saturday night, Drake seemingly weighed in on the debate brewing as to who would reign victoriously in a clash between UK and US rappers. He said to a supportive crowd, “London rappers are the best lyricists in the world. No disrespect to America, but nobody in the world can out-rap London rappers. This is the highest level – this is what I aspire to be.”

To read more into the growing UK vs US battle debate drawn up by Skepta, click here.

On July 10, the band shared a new single, ‘my mind is a mountain’, along with details of the project. The record has been co-produced by Nick Raskulinecz, who previously worked with the band on 2010’s ‘Diamond Eyes’ and 2012’s ‘Koi No Yoka’.

The brutal instrumentation might remind listeners of their earlier work, though with a new polish to it. Fans have shared their joy at hearing a fresh release from the group, giving a warm reception to the new single.

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The band began teasing new music at their massive headline show in London earlier this month, with projections on screens that read “Private Music” and “X.VII.MMXXV distributed by Deftones, all rights reserved.”

It’s been five years since Deftones’ last release, ‘Ohms’, which came out in 2020. The record received positive reviews from critics, with Consequence of Sound describing it as “their hardest hitting effort in years”.

Alongside their upcoming album, Deftones have announced a 2026 headline tour that will see them travel through Europe and the UK. The 15-date tour will see the band visit Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Dublin and Cardiff in February, before wrapping things up at The O2 in London on Feb 20.

Joining them as support will be Florida hip-hop star Denzel Curry and New York post-hardcore band Drug Church. You can view the full list of dates below.

Deftones 2026 tour with Denzel Curry and Drug Church

January

29 Paris, FR – Adidas Arena
30 Brussels, BE – Forest National

February

1 Hamburg, DE – Barclays Arena
3 Munich, DE – Zenith
5 Lodz, PL – Atlas Arena
6 Berlin, DE – Max-Schmeling-Halle
7 Dortmund, DE – Westfalenhalle
9 Stuttgart, DE – Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
10 Amsterdam, NL – AFAS Live
12 Birmingham, UK – BP Pulse Live
13 Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
14 Manchester, UK – Co-Op Live
16 Dublin, IE – 3Arena
18 Cardiff, UK – Utilita Arena
20 London, UK – The O2

Tickets will go on sale this Friday, July 18 from 9am local time. You can find them here.

The track, produced by Jon Shave, who’s also produced for Charli xcx, features a pulsing electro beat with plucky basslines and the groups classic harmonies. An accompanying music video has been released, showing the girls singing and dancing around a London setting.

In a press release, the band said ““We’re so excited to share ‘Shook’! Our third single with Jon Shave and Anya Jones. From the moment we started writing and then putting the harmonies together, we knew it had to be a single. It has an unmistakable Sugababes chemistry, somewhat instinctive once you lock in creatively in the studio – it just felt right. ‘Shook’ is our summer party banger!”

The new track has been received positively by critics like DIY, who claimed that the band are “back with what could well be one of the songs of the summer.”

Since reuniting in 2019, the original lineup of Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Siobhan Donaghy have been going strong. The band has been known for its changing members, with different six different versions of the group being created over its career – at one point in 2009, there were no original members left.

In 2012, the original members got back together under the name MKS (Mutya, Keisha, Siobhan), signing to Polydor and performing together from 2012 onwards. The trio got the rights to the Sugababes name back in 2019, and have been performing under it since.

Since then, the group have performed at Glastonbury twice, completed their largest arena tour, appeared at festivals across Europe and released new music. In 2022, they released their eight studio album, ‘The Lost Tapes’, a project with material dating back to 2011 that remained unreleased.

When the group performed at Glastonbury back in 2024, there was a great rush for the reunited group. At the West Holts stage, many fans had to be turned away due to overcrowding.

It seems the group have added another surprising name to their fanbase – King Charles. It’s been reported by The Independent that The King has requested the Sugababes be played on the red carpet at his King’s Trust Awards ceremony in 2026.

The group expressed their gratitude of the King’s approval, with Buchanan saying: “That’s very, very cool to know the King has requested us.

“We said to the King we’ve been around for 25 years and he was like wow, he was a bit taken a back.

“He said he wanted a CD and we think we’ll introduce him to Overload first, he was really lovely.”

Sugababes currently have tour dates booked for the summer. You can find tickets here, and view dates below.

JULY 2025

19 Zwarte Cross Festival, Lichtenvoorde, Netherlands

AUGUST 2025
01 Camp Bestival, Dorset
03 Brighton Pride
09 Salt & Tar, Liverpool
14 Boiler Room / Homobloc, Amnesia, Ibiza
23 Newmarket Racecourse

SEPTEMBER 2025 
05 Crammerock Festival, Belgium
06 Hullabaloo Festival, Netherlands
12 Dreamland, Margate

The R&B/electronica project of British producer and artist Dev Hynes will hit home soil in November, with three back-to-back performances at Alexandra Palace Theatre on Nov 8, 9 and 10.

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He will then play at Electric Bristol on Nov 13, before closing out his UK dates with a show at Manchester’s AO Arena on Nov 15. This final show will be as the supporting act for Lorde on her tour celebrating the release of her new album, ‘Virgin’, a record which Hynes had a hand in producing.

The London shows will feature an “in the round” stage production, with Blood Orange performing in the centre of the venue, giving fans an intimate, immersive live experience and a 360-degree view.

These UK stops will follow on from Blood Orange’s US tour dates, which will also see him as a support act for Lorde, and also for punk/hardcore band Turnstile, another act who Hynes helped for the production of their new album, ‘Never Enough’.

Two weeks ago, Devonte Hynes shared the first Blood Orange song in three years, titled ‘The Field’. The dreamy, ethereal tune features contributions from Caroline Polachk, Eva Tolkin, Tariq Al-Sabir and Daniel Caesar. It also contains a sample of  ‘Sing to Me’ by The Durutti Column, the art rock project of instrumentalist Vini Reilly.

Hynes’ last release as Blood Orange came in 2022 with his ‘Four Songs’ EP. Its last full-length project came in 2019, with the ‘Angel Pulse’ mixtape, which received a mainly positive reception. Of the eclectic, multi-genre mixtape, The Guardian wrote that”“Angel’s Pulse demonstrates the most appealing aspect of Hynes’ apparent restlessness: a broad gush of musical ideas and influences.”

Hynes has still been active musically, scoring for film and theatre, providing the soundtracks for projects like Paul Schrader’s drama Master Gardener in 2022. Previously, he’s composed scores for films like the romantic drama Queen & Slim, and has been nominated at the Grammys for the Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance in 2021 for his work on ‘Fields’, a collab album with Third Coast Percussion.

Tickets for the new shows will go on sale on Friday, July 11 at 10am local time. Pre-orders will be available from tomorrow, July 9. You can visit here for UK tour tickets and details, and find the full list of UK dates below.

Blood Orange – November UK Tour Dates

8 – London, UK, Alexandra Palace Theatre

9 – London, UK, Alexandra Palace Theatre

10 – London, UK, Alexandra Palace Theatre

13 – Bristol, UK, Electric Bristol

15 – Manchester, AO Arena w/ Lorde

Last week on July 3, Skepta posted “I want to clash an American rapper” on X, to “get this UK/US rap debate sorted”. In following posts, he selected some lyrical lineups to battle it out. In full, he suggested Chip vs Kendrick Lamar, Dave vs Lil Wayne, Central Cee vs Jack Harlow, Queenie vs Megan Thee Stallion, JME vs Tyler, the Creator, Eminem vs Ghetts, Lancey Foux vs Travis Scott, Youngs Teflon vs Meek Mill and Blade Brown vs Pusha T.

I wanna clash an American rapper anyway, finally get this UK/US rap debate sorted.

— Big Smoke – (@Skepta) July 3, 2025

Skepta even put himself forward for a clash with a surprising opponent: friend and longtime collaborator, A$AP Rocky. Some fans were confused at the idea given the two’s close relationship, but Skepta emphasized that the competition is all in good nature. “It’s not beef, Rocky is my family,” he posted. “Rap is a sport, same way we have dissing matches on the block we can do it on record.” He wrote that it’d be a “fire clash,” between him and Rocky, with “No violence, just bars, punchlines and counteractions.”

The Tottenham grime veteran also argued that the Brits would have the upper hand in this match up, as they’ve gotten to know the styles of their American counterparts over the years, whereas UK rap has been under appreciated (and sometimes unnoticed) by US artists and fans: “The average American rapper don’t even listen to UK rappers, but we’ve listen to them (for years) and that is exactly why the UK can’t lose”

While none of the proposed clashes have been confirmed, American rapper Joyner Lucas confidently came forward to join in battle, posting on X: “The moment I’ve been waiting for… say the word, Joyner Lucas vs Skepta #UKvsUS”

The moment I’ve been waiting for… say the word, Joyner Lucas vs @Skepta #UKvsUS pic.twitter.com/G78knC2ySE

— Joyner Lucas (@JoynerLucas) July 4, 2025

In response, Skepta goaded Joyner, while offering him some respect for stepping up to the plate. In a short video, he said: “I’m gonna respect the fact that you stood up and said something. The first man, you get me? But this is just another example of the ignorance. Jonah, if you was from the UK, fam? Quiet, bro, understand?”

“So, when I make my diss track for Rocky, I’m gonna give you two bars and then make one of the young Gs just rub you out… I didn’t do the work that I did for Jonah Lucas just to be saying my name anyhow. I got diss track on YouTube with 30 million views, no ad-libs. It’s levels, bro.”

Skepta responds to Joyner Lucas calling him out to battle him:

“You make up the numbers out there”

“When I make my diss track for A$AP Rocky I’m gonna give you 2 bars”

“I didn’t do all the work I did my life just for Joyner Lucas to be saying my name” pic.twitter.com/eYyiu1YU9C

— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod (@big_business_) July 6, 2025

Skepta recently made a surprise appearance at Glastonbury, filling in last minute after Deftones dropped out of their set. You can read our coverage on that here.

Along with the announcement on July 4, the group dropped a new single titled ‘You Say It’s Love’, giving fans a taster of what the upcoming album will hold. In a press release, they broke down the meaning of the new song: “Following the bruised introspection of ‘Save Your Words’, ‘You Say It’s Love’ sharpens the focus – no longer lost in aftermath, but standing face-to-face with the quiet duplicity of love spoken, not shown.

“This is not a song of heartbreak, but of exposure. It peels back the veneer of romantic performance, revealing the rot beneath sweet words left unproven. There is a simmering restraint here – a tension that asks, ‘What is love without truth?’ It’s a confrontation, not a collapse. The bitterness is measured, precise – ‘bleeding out the bitter heart of you’ doesn’t scream; it cuts. In that wound, the track finds its strength: the clarity that comes when illusions finally fall away.

“In the end, ‘You Say It’s Love’ doesn’t mourn what was lost – it questions whether it was ever there at all.”

A recent article from Already Heard detailed some of the storytelling behind ‘In The Hope This Finds You’, visually and conceptually. The release will centre around two characters: the anonymous figure (concealed beneath a red sheet) and the main protagonist. It’s said that the anonymous figure represents the “personification of deceit”, while the protagonist is embodied by two symbols: a blindfold and a crown. You can see some of this imagery manifest in their music video for ‘You Say It’s Love’, where both characters are present.

@lonesomebanduk Describe this in one word #metaltok #altmusic #posthardcore #bandsoftiktok ♬ Liar – Lonesome

It will be Lonesome’s first release through Easy Life Entertainment, and independent business that provides artist management, recording and PR services. Founded in 2020, their roster has included acts like Bury Tomorrow, SOTA and Bears In Trees, and has also delivered Top 40 albums for groups like Lower Than Atlantis and Tonight Alive.

You can find the full tracklist for the upcoming album below.

Lonesome – ‘In The Hope This Finds You’ Tracklist

1. Liar
2.  Save Your Words
3.  Can You Hear Me
4. When I Speak To You
5. You Say It’s Love
6. We Are Sleepless
7. And I Am Just Alone
8. For We Are Strangers Again
9. You’re Nothing
10. Just Like You Wrote To Me

The American singer-songwriter announced that she would add a UK and European leg to her ‘Don’t Click Play’ tour just two weeks ago, to support her forthcoming album of the same name, set to be released on August 22.

The tour was set to start in Los Angeles on September 3, from where she would continue her North American travels with 15 dates stopping in cities like Houston, Atlanta, Boston, New York and Chicago. She would then kick off her UK and European leg at London on October 25, before playing shows all around Europe through October and November.

Now, the popstar has told her followers that the tour isn’t quite ready yet by her measure. In an Instagram post, Ava wrote: “Pushing back my tour is [the] most difficult decision I’ve had to make, but when I perform for you, it has to be of a standard that I’m happy with, and it’s just not there yet.”

She went on to tell her fans that when she eventually comes back on the road, it’ll be an experience that meets expectations: “Being on stage is my favourite thing in the world. In order to put on a show that you all deserve, I need more time. I promise you all it will be worth the wait. I love you all and can’t wait to see you. SOON, I PROMISE.”

Fans shared their frustration with the cancellation. On Ava Max’s subreddit, users spoke of their disappointment:

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Her upcoming album, ‘Don’t Click Play’ is set to include her previously released singles ‘Lovin’ Myself’ and ‘Lost Your Faith’. While a full tracklist and features are yet to be revealed, the album artwork has been shared, showing Ava posing while holding a burning triangle, angled in the same manner as a play button.

The new album will follow up her 2023 project, ‘Diamonds & Dancefloors’ which reached the top 40 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Earlier this week, she dropped ‘Wet Hot American Dream’, an up-tempo synth-laden summery tune that came out just in time for the fourth of July celebrations. You can watch the new video for it below.