SlipKnot
Entertainment

From Slipknot to Lil Nas X This Summer’s Music Rocked and Popped

As the days start to get cooler and back-to-school commercials begin their annual media takeover, it’s nice to look back on the summer that’s just passed and reminisce about all the memories that you’ve made with friends and family alike.

Or, if you’re anything like us here at The Outlook, you’re looking back on all the awesome music-related things that have happened over the last few months.

So without further ado, here’s a recap of summer 2019 in music!

Slipknot promptly booted Ed Sheeran off the top of the charts. The Iowa heavy-metal icons’ newest album We Are Not Your Kind was met with critical acclaim following its Aug. 9 release date.

Forbes writer Quentin Singer even called it a “metal magnum opus.”

In fact, one might be hard-pressed to find a largely bad review of the record in general.

Sheeran’s latest release No. 6 Collaborations Project spent four consecutive weeks at number one before We Are Not Your Kind took its place mid-August, marking Slipknot’s first number one album since 2001’s Iowa.

The Vans Warped Tour went out with a bang. While the long-running touring festival went on its final cross-country run in 2018, the iconic festival held a final hoorah to celebrate their 25th year with a handful of larger-scale festivals throughout June and July.

Dates were held in California, New Jersey, and Ohio.

Warped Tour icons such as The All-American Rejects, A Day To Remember, Blink-182, Taking Back Sunday, and many more joined the party to celebrate the tour that helped launched their careers.

Brick-based pop punkers The Ones You Forgot, fronted by Monmouth alumn Jenna Bruno, had the pleasure of opening up the June 29th date of the festival in Atlantic City.

The band performed a selection of songs from their newest EP Too Afraid To Say, which they released independently the summer prior.

The well-received record has since taken the band on several tours of the northeast and parts of the south, sharing the stage with bands such as We The Kings and Skyward Story.

DJ Khaled reportedly threw a fit at his record label after Tyler, The Creator’s Igor beat his newest record to number one. Khaled pulled out all the stops when it came to marketing his new album Father Of Asahd, which dropped in early Aug.; seven expensive music videos, guest performances from major stars such as Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Cardi B, and Travis Scott to name a few, only to have his dream be promptly swept from his grasp by Tyler, The Creator’s Igor.

When Khaled found out his album debuted at number two, he reportedly stormed Epic Records with an entourage and proceeded to “throw a temper tantrum” according to various music industry sources.

Who’s the best now?

The Jonas Brothers (of all people) made a stellar comeback at the MTV Video Music Awards, and the performance was closer to home than one would expect- literally! The iconic Disney pop-rockers chose the historic Stone Pony in Asbury Park as the location for their VMA performance, and they went off with a bang.

The band performed their hit “Sucker” on the indoor stage before smoothly strolling outdoors to the summer stage where they were met with a full backing band and went into a beach-worthy performance of “Only Human.”

The performance was free to attend for all patrons.

Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’ finished in first place on Billboard’s Songs of the Summer chart. The record-breaking country rap hit not only finished at number one, but it led the competition from start to finish.

You’re reading that right- start to finish. The Songs of the Summer chart tracks the most popular singles based on cumulative performance in weekly streams, airplay, and sales.

“Road” held the lead in each of the 14 weeks since the ranking made its annual return; closely followed of course by Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy.”

“Road” also decimated the weekly Hot 100 for a record breaking 19 weeks; officially making it the longest leading Hot 100 number one single ever.

Say what you want about “Old Town Road,” but it’s clear that Lil Nas X has made music industry history.

This summer was certainly one for the books for the music industry.

Of course there were the hot pop songs of the summer like “Old Town Road” and “Sucker,” as expected.

But with bands like Slipknot and Tool reappearing in the public eye, you may wonder whether or not rock and guitar-driven music is starting to make a mainstream comeback.

Time will only tell, but one thing is certain; head-bangers across the country aren’t throwing in the towel quite yet.

IMAGE TAKEN from Kisspng