The following article is from Billboard, as they dropped the exclusive interview with King Bach.
Andrew Bachelor (better known as King Bach) has announced his debut comedy album Medicine, exclusively via Billboard today (Aug. 14th).
The visual album, set to be released on Aug. 30, will feature songs encompassing a wide array of genres, from hip-hop to reggae, plus stand-up comedy.
While the major Internet personality wears several hats — including social media, acting, and YouTube — it makes perfect sense for him to release a comedy album. “All my supporters and I relate to music,” he tells Billboard. If you visit his Instagram, which has garnered over 18.3 million followers, you’ll see Bachelor always poking fun, creating content and making silly clips.
Each of the 15 songs will come with a corresponding video co-directed by Bachelor, to be released on the same day as the album.
Billboard asked King Bach a couple of questions about the forthcoming record as he gears up for the release. Check out our Q&A below, and find the Medicine tracklist at the very end.
What made you decide to record a comedy album?
I always search for new comedic outlets. Music is universal. All my supporters and even I relate to music. Over the past few years, I experimented with music parodies and people connected with it. This evolved into me making original music over time.
How did the idea for the visual aspect come about?
I am constantly envisioning stories in my head. Whether they are 6 second stories that I turned into videos on Vine or longer, five-minute sketch videos that I would post on YouTube. I saw the same thing in the music I was making, visual stories. So naturally, I made a visual album.
How did you choose your collaborators (Poo Bear, King Los)? What was it like working with them?
I met Poo Bear through a mutual friend, and then Justin Bieber vouched for him. We creatively connected and he was a great person, so I knew it was meant for us to work on a project together. King Los is a lyrical genius and an alien. I stole him from Area 51 and put him on the track.
What do you want fans to take away from the album?
I just want them to laugh and have fun. This is a carefree album that you can listen to and dance, but also laugh at the topics. It should be a time for my fans to escape and enjoy themselves.
Can fans look forward to any live dates/a tour?
I did a comedy tour in 2018/2019, and those who came out to the tour got a sneak peak of the music. But I will have additional dates in 2020!
How have all of your different experiences informed your album?
I combined all those elements within my album. You see the comedic acting within the visual album, and you will also see some of your favorite YouTubers and people from social media in the videos. If you have watched my social media over the past year, you have seen my journey in the studio and you got a BTS look at some of the shoots. I enjoy juggling it all, because I enjoy doing new things every day and discovering new outlets for my comedy and creativity.
Anything else in the pipeline?
I just finished filming Greenland with Gerard Butler in Atlanta. I also recently filmed Coffee and Kareem with Taraji P. Henson and Ed Helms. I am on Sherman’s Showcase, a funny and crazy sketch comedy show, which you can watch now on IFC. I am also in Meet the Blacks 2, releasing this fall in theaters.
Medicine Track List:
1. “Canadians Are Nice”
2. “Compliments”
3. “Honesty”
4. “Secrets”
5. “Vegan”
6. “Internet Trolls”
7. “Bulimic”
8. “Blue Pantalones”
9. “Slangin D”
10. “You Are Not The Father”
11. “Say Daddy”
12. “House Party”
13. “HTH”
14. “I’m An Addict”
15. “Abstinence”
Fuse has unveiled the premiere date for its upcoming talk/variety show, The Read With Kid Fury And Crissle West, which is based on the duo’s popular podcast. The show will debut on October 11.
The project was first announced in March. The show has a first season order of ten, 30-minute episodes. The official description reads: Inspired by their juggernaut podcast, with more than 85 million listens worldwide and 1.5 million unique listens a month – Kid Fury and Crissle host this talk/variety format that carries over their beloved segments like Hot Tops and The Read, while additionally featuring a special celebrity and/or musician guest. The duo uses their sharp, honest brand of cultural commentary and perceptive opinions to drill deep into the roots of the issues and stories affecting their millennial and Gen Z peers, from social justice and politics to dating and music culture, and everything in between.
From Avalon Television, Chloe Pisello, David Martin, Jon Thoday, and Richard Allen-Turner will executive produce alongside Kid Fury (whose real name is Gregory A. Smith), Crissle West and Alexandra Rago.
Fury is also currently developing a dark comedy series at HBO about a Black gay man navigating adulthood. Lena Waithe is executive producing that project.
Source: Shadow & Act
The first trailer for the romantic comedy The Weekend is now available for our viewing!
The movie stars SNL alum Sasheer Zamata as Zadie, a stand-up comedian who takes a road trip with her ex-boyfriend, Bradford (Tone Bell), to his mother’s bed and breakfast. As if that wasn’t much of a challenge, joining the ride is Margo (DeWanda Wise), Bradford’s current girlfriend. Y’lan Noel and Kym Whitley also star.
The Weekend premieres in a limited theatrical release on Sept 13. It will be available on-demand the same day.
Watch the first trailer below.
“2 Dope Queens” star Phoebe Robinson is getting into the interview business.
Comedy Central has ordered an interview show from the multi-talented stand-up comedian. The order consists of 10 half-hour episodes during which Robinson will interview guests one-on-one. The projects represent the first to emerge from Robinson’s recently formed production company, Tiny Reparations.
“This show will hit that sweet spot between educational and charmingly ignorant,” said Robinson. “Who doesn’t love that? Well, all older black people who struggled and marched for my rights. But besides that, everyone else does!”
The series is produced for Comedy Central by Embassy Row and Tiny Reparations. Robinson will serve as an executive producer of the series, alongside Michael Davies for Embassy Row. Christian McLaughlin and Samantha Schles will be the execs in charge of the series for Comedy Central.
“2 Dope Queens,” which Robinson created and co-hosted with former “Daily Show” correspondent Jessica Williams, began life as a podcast in 2016 and later morphed into a four-episode HBO special in 2018.
Robinson is also known for her stand-up comedy and her second podcast, “Sooo Many White Guys,” for which she has interviewed celebrities such as Tom Hanks, Issa Rae and Reese Witherspoon. Her TV credits include the Amazon series “I Love Dick.” Feature-wise, she starred in the Taraji P. Henson and Tracy Morgan comedy “What Men Want” earlier this year.
Source: Variety
Vanessa Bell Calloway is set to reprise her role as Imani Izzi in Paramount Pictures’ upcoming sequel “Coming 2 America.” Comedian Luenell will also join the cast.
Luenell
In the original pic, Calloway portrayed Prince Akeem’s wife-to-be after a marriage arranged by his father.
Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall are returning to star in “Coming 2 America” alongside Wesley Snipes, Jermaine Fowler, Kiki Layne and James Earl Jones.
“Hustle & Flow” helmer Craig Brewer will direct the project with Murphy, Kevin Misher, and Kenya Barris producing.
The 1988 original movie, directed by John Landis, starred Murphy as the charming African prince Akeem, who traveled to New York City to escape an arranged marriage. Hall played Akeem’s best friend Semmi, with Jones as his father. The comedy was a major hit, grossing nearly $300 million at the worldwide box office.
In the sequel, Prince Akeem is set to become king of the fictional country of Zamunda when he discovers he has a son he never knew about in America — a street-savvy Queens native named Lavelle. To honor the former king’s dying wish to groom his grandson as the crown prince, Akeem and Semmi set off to America.
Calloway’s previous film and television credits include “Shameless,” “Saints and Sinners” and “What’s Love Got To Do With It.” Luenell has appeared in “A Star Is Born,” “Think Like a Man,” “Californication” and “Lopez” with George Lopez.
Calloway is repped by Zero Gravity Management.
Source: Variety
Quibi is developing a new comedy series that boasts Dwayne Johnson among its executive producers.
Titled “Last Resort,” the series centers on a Polynesian family-run resort in Hawaii that’s suddenly thrown into a whirlwind when a tech billionaire puts in a bid to buy the land. Johnson and Dany Garcia will executive produce via Seven Bucks Productions along with Paul Feig and Laura Fischer under their Powderkeg banner. Sameer Gardezi will serve as producer for Powderkeg’s Break the Room along with Hiram Garcia, Kevin Hill, and Brian Gewirtz for Seven Bucks. Hannah Kitziger will oversee the project for Quibi
Break the Room, which was launched by Powderkeg to create writers rooms composed of underrepresented voices and is headed by Gardezi, is currently building a room for the series comprised of Hawaiian and Polynesian writers.
News of the series comes as Johnson, who is half Samoan, is developing a film based on the life of King Kamehameha titled “The King” for Warner Bros in which he will star. He previously voiced the Polynesian demigod Maui in the Disney animated film “Moana.”
Johnson has also become a vocal opponent of plans to build a massive astronomical observatory at the summit of Mauna Kea. Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in Hawaii and a sacred place for native Hawaiians and many Polynesian cultures. He has also recently been praising the inclusion of a storyline in his most recent film, “Hobbs & Shaw,” that featured his character returning to his childhood home in Samoa and reuniting with his brothers, all of whom were played by actors of Polynesian descent.
Seven Bucks produced “Hobbs & Shaw,” as well as many of Johnson’s other theatrical releases like “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” and “Rampage.” The company also produces his HBO series “Ballers” and shows like “The Titan Games,” “Finding Justice,” and “Rock the Troops.”
Feig and Fischer launched Powderkeg in 2018 as a digital studio committed to championing the voices of women and the LGBTQ community in comedy. The company’s first series, “East of La Brea” created by Sameer Gardezi, premiered in competition at SXSW. Their inaugural female directors program, Powderkeg: Fuse, launched this past spring. Powderkeg also has projects in the works at YouTube Premium, Snapchat, and Freeform among other platforms. It is funded by Superbrand LLC.
Quibi is a mobile-only video platform set to launch in April. Other recently announced projects include a Kevin Hart action series, a reboot of “Varsity Blues,” and various other projects from A-listers like Guillermo del Toro, Antoine Fuqua, and Sam Raimi.
Source: Variety
It’s been made official: Shari Headley will return to star in Coming to America 2.
She joins other returners Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall James Earl Jones, Paul Bates and newcomers Jermaine Fowler, Kiki Layne, Wesley Snipes, Leslie Jones and Rick Ross. The film will see Akeem return to the U.S. to discover the son he never knew he had, Lavelle. Headley was the last outstanding main cast member that still needed to close a deal.
An April report told us that the character of Lavelle (Fowler) was a 30-year-old Queens hustler with a heart of gold. Raised by his mother, LaVelle wants a better life for himself, which could be right around the corner as he learns that he’s the possible Zamundan heir. LaVelle “has the gift of gab, able to crack wise with humor, but is by no means a clown” and he “struggles with discipline, authority and self-motivation.” Meeka, on the other hand, is the 20-year-old “proud and principled daughter of Zamunda” who is “athletic and skilled in the art of self-defense, but she is also measured in her temperament, always seeking a calm, diplomatic solution to conflict.” Meeka is beautiful and capable, but still holds anxiety over “wanting to be the son Akeem never had.” Her challenge is to show her father her true self and “be brave with her heart.”
Coming to America 2 will be directed by Craig Brewer from a script by Kenya Barris. The film will be out in theaters in 2020.
Colman Domingo and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett have joined Jordan Peele’s “Candyman” reboot, which has started shooting in Chicago.
Written by Peele and Rosenfeld and directed by Nia DaCosta, the new “Candyman” is being described as a spiritual sequel to the 1992 gothic horror film, which was based on Clive Barker’s short story “The Forbidden” about the deadly ghost of an artist and slave.
MGM is producing and financing. Universal will distribute “Candyman” globally with the U.S. release date slated for June 12.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Bill Cosby’s lawyers will fight to overturn his sexual assault conviction Monday as the 82-year-old comedian serves a three- to 10-year prison term in Pennsylvania.
Cosby was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era. He insists the sexual encounter with a young woman seeking career advice was consensual.
A jury last year found Cosby drugged and molested her at his suburban Philadelphia estate in 2004.
Defense lawyers contend the trial judge erred in letting five other accusers testify to bolster the prosecution’s case.
A three-judge Superior Court panel will hear arguments Monday but is not expected to rule for several months.
The decision will be closely watched by both sexual assault victims and lawyers for Harvey Weinstein and other high-profile men accused of similar misconduct.