XXXTentacion raring to go back to (art) school

Is XXXTentacion a changed man?The 20-year-old south Florida rapper recently announced he would be going to art school. He has now used a video posted on his Instagram page to say he will be attending college.“I never thought I would say this but, I’m going to college,” he exclaimed. “I will do better than those before me. I will surpass all of you.”Most of those commenting on the news left a positive response but there were others whose words were perhaps more practical. One wondered how he could be accepted by a university when he doesn’t even have his high school diploma. Another suggested XXXTentacion ‘announces’ a lot of things. Not many of them happen.There is another factor which XXXTentacion, real name Jahseh Onfroy, seems to have overlooked. He is currently facing multiple charges arising from false imprisonment, domestic battery by strangulation and aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, his former girlfriend Geneva Ayala. Further felony counts of witness tampering and witness harassment have now been added to the original charges all of which leave him looking at the possibility of spending decades in jail.This is by no means his first brush with the authorities. At six, he stabbed a man who was ‘messing’ with his mother. He was expelled from his first middle school for fighting. He was kicked out of his high school choir for punching a classmate before dropping out of school in the tenth grade.XXXTentacion then spent around a year in juvenile detention on gun possession charges. During this time, he violently assaulted a fellow inmate. After being released, despite having now begun his music career, he pleaded no contest to charges of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.There have also been fights with fans and an assortment of beefs with other rappers. The latest of these is with former collaborator Trippie Redd. It stemmed from XXXTentacion’s feud with Drake. As Trippie Redd reportedly worked with Drake on the Canadian superstar’s world-wide smash hit single, God’s Plan, XXXTentacion apparently regarded this as a betrayal.But evidence of XXXTentacion seemingly mellowing is his reaction to Trippie Redd’s recent comments. Rather than respond, XXXTentacion said; “I’m not trying to entertain no stuff. The only thing I’m entertaining is what’ll make my people feel good, make my support base feel good. What’s going to make the world a better place and change people’s perspective on me to make me be seen as a better person.“Any negativity sent my way is being transmuted to positive energy. At the end of the day, if I gotta shut my mouth and I gotta let people act like hoes, that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve done learned my lesson.”Let’s hope XXXTentacion keeps to those words. Money should certainly not be a problem. After self-releasing a number of singles, EPs and mixtapes over a three-year period, his debut album, 17, was issued last August. It peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and proved hugely popular throughout much of the world.This has now been followed by ? which looks certain to become even more successful. XXXTentacion also has another two albums ready for release later this year.He additionally has a big international hit track with Sad!, the lead single from ? XXXtentacion has enjoyed other hit singles but this is his first to crack the top 20 on Billboard’s Hot 100.He says of his new music; “This album is not about the words, it’s about the feeling. It will be very hard to understand, but very easy to listen to. It’s not what you’re expecting. Even if you feel like you understand my music, be prepared to not understand this music.”Philanthropy is now part of XXXTentacion’s life. He donated 100,000 USD to domestic violence prevention programmes. He has become an ambassador for Miami’s Children Initiative and recently performed the first of a promised six benefit concerts for the charity. He has also donated money to those impacted by the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.If he can stay out of jail, something which is unlikely considering the seriousness of the charges levied against him, perhaps XXXTentacion will have the opportunity to continually demonstrate this new positive attitude to life. He summed himself up in one sentence spoken to the audience during the benefit show.“I was not a good person but I’ve been trying my best to change myself.”in briefThe Greatest ShowmanKeala Settle’s This Is Me lost out on the Best Original Song Oscar to Remember Me from the Disney animation, Coco. But there seems to be no end to the phenomenal success of The Greatest Showman soundtrack album.The LP has now notched up 11 consecutive weeks atop the U.K. chart. In so doing, it has matched the mark set by Adele’s 21 in 2011. These are the only two albums to spend so many successive weeks at number one since Bob Marley & The Wailers remained there for 12 straight weeks with Legend in 1984.Remarkable as this success may be, it pales in comparison to The Beatles who held top spot for 30 consecutive weeks in 1963 with their debut album, Please Please Me. They displaced themselves on December 7, 1963, when With The Beatles took over at number one. This album stayed in pole position for the next 21 weeks giving the Fab Four 51 continuous weeks atop the chart.Even this achievement is dwarfed by the original soundtrack album for the film musical, South Pacific. This LP took top spot in Britain on November 2, 1958. It was finally ousted on March 6, 1960, by American rock and roll singer Freddy Cannon’s The Explosive Freddy Cannon.South Pacific returned to number one the following week and remained there for 19 weeks. Indeed, it spent all but seven weeks atop the chart during 1960.Fifth HarmonyFifth Harmony are going on what Dinah Jane, Lauren, Normani and Ally describe as a hiatus. The girls intend to fulfil their scheduled concert obligations this year but will then undertake solo projects.In some ways, it is surprising that they lasted this long. Camila Cabello left to embark on a solo career in December, 2016. Music insiders were predicting the group would break up soon afterwards.But they proved more resilient than many expected. Fifth Harmony released their self-titled third album last August. It peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and number ten in Britain suggesting the fallout from Camila’s departure was nothing like so bad as had been anticipated.The girls have posted a message to fans on social media. In part, it reads; “Reflecting on the past six years since we started on X Factor, we’ve realised just how far we’ve come and we appreciate everything so much, more now than ever.After going hard, non-stop, we also realised that in order to stay authentic to ourselves and to you, we do need to take some time for now to go on a hiatus from Fifth Harmony in order to pursue solo endeavours.“We are all very excited and grateful to be able to take this time to learn and grow creatively and really find our footing as individuals. In doing this, we are allowing ourselves to gain new experiences, strengths and perspectives that we can bring back to our Fifth Harmony family.”Will they re-form at some point in the future? Only time will tell, of course. But if the girls achieve anything like the solo success enjoyed by Camila Cabello, it seems likely that their show on May 16 at the Laugardalshollin in Reykjavik, Iceland, could well be the last time fans will ever see Fifth Harmony.Katy Perry/ Taylor SwiftCould there be a thaw in the icy relationship between superstar singers Katy Perry and Taylor Swift?Their feud dates back to 2014 when three of Taylor’s backing dancers left her Red Tour early to join Katy’s Prismatic Tour.Katy attempted to patch things up last year when she expressed sorrow for the dispute during an interview. She has now voiced her love of Taylor’s songwriting ability in response to an American Idol contestant’s reluctant confession that he loved Taylor Swift.For her part, Taylor has made no positive response to Katy’s gestures of conciliation. Indeed, Katy was one of the numerous people lambasted by Taylor in her video for Look What You Made Me Do. She was shown destroying the same model of Lamborghini car which Katy had used in one of her videos.