BBC 6 Music

That's you lot for today folks, we're off.

As we mentioned earlier today Sir Paul McCartney is set to return later with two new tracks.

Fans of the Beatles legend may be interested to know they can listen to Sir Macca talking to Radio 2's Jo Whiley and Simon Mayo later from 1700 BST.

He told the pair about his recent trip back to his old house in Liverpool with Late Late show host James Corden and you can listen above.

If that isn't enough Macca for your money, on 6 Music tomorrow morning from 08:30, you'll be able to hear him again, this time in conversation with Matt Everitt.

Paul told Matt the key to success is to stay humble (like Kendrick) and keep striving for perfection.

Listen to that below.

Plus scroll down for plenty more music news from today including Foos fans being forced to miss some top support acts in Manchester due to an epic ticket fail, a Hottest record from Nas/Kanye and a Michael Jackson musical coming to Broadway in 2020, as well as some hot new acts named for Latitude and Lady Gaga doing her best Gwen Stefani impression at the MTV Movie & TV Awards

Back tomorrow with more Music News LIVE about... well, we don't know yet.

Tomorrow (never knows).

The video for his latest single, God's Favourite Customer, sees Father J walk, bruised and bloodied, around Manhattan looking for all the world like a handsome tramp in skinny jeans.

The video was filmed in a single shot and was directed by his wife, artist Emma Elizabeth Tillman.

It also sees him steal flowers from a memorial, drink beer and smoke a cigarette - none of which we can condone.

Image source, Getty Images

US-born Senegalese artist Akon is launching his own cryptocurrency, called... wait for it...

...The Akoin.

He made the announcement at a conference in Cannes, external, in the south of France.

The singer told an audience: "I think that blockchain and crypto could be the savior for Africa in many ways because it brings the power back to the people and brings the security back into the currency system and also allows the people to utilise it in ways where they can advance themselves and not allow government to do those things that are keeping them down."

As for the finer details involved in setting up your own brand of digital assets working as a medium of exchange to secure financial transactions, he added he would "let the geeks figure it out".

"I come with the concepts," he clarified.

Clearly his main currency is ideas.

The heavily-pregnant rapper and her Migos babyfather are the cover stars of the magazine's latest issue.

During the interview, Cardi reveals she wants a "lit baby shower" that will start at 9pm and talks about achieving success on her own terms.

"No record label, no money, nothing can make you. You make yourself."

Read more, external.

Image source, Getty Images

The veteran rockers have offered their sympathy to fans who travelled to their show at Twickenham Stadium in south-west London on Tuesday night.

Thousands of fans were left stranded as travel disruptions caused havoc at several London train stations.

South Western Railway apologised for the disruption, which it said were caused by a "series of incidents".

The Stones tweeted: "We are so sorry to hear many of you had terrible journeys home due to transport issues on the trains."

Music fans leaving Twickenham Stadium, which holds 50,000 people, took to social media to complain about the lack of transport.

Lucie Scholey tweeted it took her three houses to get home and had suffered "absolutely appalling service".

Image source, PA / ST ELIZABETH HOSPICE

Ed Sheeran has donated a life-sized Lego model he made of his own head to his local charity shop.

Staff at St Elizabeth Hospice in the singer's hometown of Framlingham, Suffolk, praised the brick bust as an "incredible" donation.

Sheeran also donated a record player, skateboard, headphones, school books and Heinz tomato sauce memorabilia.

"He's been really generous - every now and again he has a clear out," said hospice spokeswoman Helen Owen.

Read more

While we agree on his generosity, we're pretty sure that Lego doesn't sell a build-your-own Ed Sheeran, which means he either had all the pieces or went out to buy them in bulk for this project.

And we're sure we've seen that face before...

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Music Introducing will once again host some of the UK's most up and coming artists at its own stage in the woods of Henham Park, Suffolk, next month.

The Killers, Solange and alt-J will headline the event and may well go down to the woods to see what new music is on offer.

The stage will be hosted by an array of BBC presenters including Radio 3's Max Reinhardt (Late Junction) and Suzy Klein, as well as 6 Music's Tom Robinson and Radio 2's Zoe Ball.

They'll welcome two MNL Newbie Tuesday feature favourites in the form of lovable local singer/songwriter Bessie Turner and north London neo-soul singer Ruby Francis.

Read more and check out the full lineup below.

Image source, Getty Images

This next post goes out to anybody pretending to work right now, while sneakily watching Cristiano Ronaldo play.

The Robster caused a stir in Moscow last week when he flipped the bird to the camera during his tournament opening performance at Luzhniki Stadium.

Now, he's told This Morning's Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on ITV that it wasn't a one-finger salute at all and was in fact a one-minute warning signal.

“I was under a lot of pressure because there was one minute left and I didn’t know if I could do it in half a minute,” he said.

“So I just did a one-minute countdown.

“I can’t trust me,” he added.

Fair enough Robbie but why didn't you just use the other finger?

Anyway, Phil and Hollie were impressed with the singer's honesty but unconvinced by his failure to confirm that he'll appear as a judge on the X Factor.

BBC Radio 2

The ladies with large voices were guests on Radio 2's Breakfast Show and all but ignored host Chris Evans as they lavished praise on each other over their reworking of LeAnn's track Borrowed.

"I turned on the TV and she was singing that song and I just broke down and started to sob and thought, 'One day I'm going to sing that song with her'," gushed Stevie.

Listen above for more and check out the track below.

Image source, Getty Images

Fans of XXXTentacion have gathered in Florida to pay tribute to the rapper, who was shot dead on Monday.

Hundreds of mourners laid candles, flowers and teddy bears at the site of his murder, and raised their arms in an "x" symbol at the makeshift memorial.

According to the Los Angeles Times, between 300 and 500 people gathered at Melrose Avenue, blocking traffic.

Police eventually became involved and dispersed the mourners shortly before 9pm local time.

The rapper - whose real name is Jahseh Onfroy - was one of the fastest-rising stars in rap, and recently scored his first number one album in the US.

At the time of his death, he was awaiting trial for domestic battery by strangulation, false imprisonment, and aggravated battery of his pregnant girlfriend.

She took to Twitter to call out fans of the rapper for trolling her following his death.

"Please stop tagging me in disrespectful threads and arguments," she wrote, external.

"I honestly don't care for any of the hype. I lost someone close to me. Leave me alone."

Read more.

Image source, Getty Images

You don't get many pop stars with a degree in economics... but that's just one of the things that makes Camille Purcell unique.

The south London singer quit a lucrative job as a City stockbroker six years ago to try her hand at songwriting.

Her first song, What About Us, gave girl group The Saturdays a number one. Since then, she's become Little Mix's go-to songwriter, composing hits like Black Magic and the Brit award-winning Shout Out To My Ex.

Purcell also wrote this week's number one single, Jess Glynne's I'll Be There, while another of her compositions, Clean Bandit's Solo, looks set to replace it on Friday.

Meanwhile, the 29-year-old just released her own song, Emotional, external, under the stage name Kamille.

She's been speaking to our music reporter Mark Savage.

BBC Arts

To concide with a major new exhibition on Scotland's pop music, external at the National Museum of Scotland, BBC Arts have selected eleven defining moments from the Scottish songbook.

You might not agree with all of the choices (no Primal Scream, Simple Minds, Deacon Blue, The Shamen, Glasvegas, Annie Lennox) but you'd be hard pushed to disagree that there are some absolute tunes in here.

From Young Fathers' Get Up, to Lulu's Shout, via Alex Harvey's Midnight Moses and this tearjerking singalong below.

Tweet us @BBCMusic if you think there are any glaring omissions.

The BBC is also broadcasting a three-part TV series tied to the Rip It Up exhibition.

Deadline Hollywood

Image source, Getty Images

The rapper/singer/producer is writing a show inspired by the African American holiday celebrating the final day of slavery in the US.

According to a report in Deadline, he is working alongside Kenya Barris - creator of the Golden Globe-nominated series Black-ish.

Barris has already tackled the subject in a 2017 episode of the show titled Juneteenth: The Musical.

Pharrell is due to write and compose the music and produce the musical while Barris will write lyrics with his series collaborator Peter Saji.

In a statement, Barris said teaming up with Pharrell "is something that neither of us in a billion years would have thought possible.

In return, Pharrel called the writers "geniuses".

Juneteenth marks 19 June 1865, when US Army ships forced Texas landowners to free the last of their slaves.

Read more, external

Kanye West released the fourth out of five straight albums he's been involved with last week, this time with Queens rapper Nas up front.

Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac loves the record that much that she treated us to two tracks from it as her Hottest Record last night, including the provocative Cop Shot the Kid.

The track sees the rapper spit lyrics over the title refrain being repeated on loop.

It contains the lyrics; "Tell me who do we call to report crime / If 911 doing a drive-by."

Image source, Getty Images

The track follows Childish Gambino's controversial video for This is America track which tackles US gun crime and has now been viewed more than 286 million times.

Check out the track plus a second, Adam and Eve (featuring The-Dream) above.

There'll be a fitfth and final Kanye-produced album along this Friday, from Teyana Taylor.

Each of the albums have seven tracks relating to the seven deadly sins... either that or Snow White's dwarves.

Image source, Getty Images

Sir Macca will release a double A-side featuring two new singles, I Don’t Know and Come On To Me, later on Wednesday.

The 76-year-old Beatles bassist debuted the second track during a surprise birthday appearance in Liverpool as part of filming for the Late Late Show with carpool karaoke driver James Corden., external

His last album, New, was released in 2013 and a new one is due in the autumn.

We last heard from him - musically speaking - when he appeared alongside Kanye West and Rihanna on FourFiveSeconds, external back in 2015, following earlier solo track Hope for the Future, external, from the Destiny 2 soundtrack.

All we have to go off so far is a montage of plane/train tickets from Paul's recent adventures.

Shamone!

A new musical based on the life of Michael Jackson is set for a run on Broadway in 2020.

The show, which currently has no title, is being written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage.

The Michael Jackson Estate and Columbia Live Stage company announced the news on Tuesday, but didn't say in which theatre the show will play.

The musical will encompass many of Jackson's greatest hits, including Thriller, Beat It (above) and Smooth Criminal.

Tony Award-winning Christopher Wheeldon will direct and choreograph the show, which is likely to contain some of the recognisable dances moves from Jackson's music videos and tours.

So expect moonwalks, hip thrusts and the odd crotch grab.

Read more.

Image source, Getty Images

Lady G picked up the award for best music doc for her film Gaga: Five Foot Two, which tells the story of the making of her fifth studio album, Joanne, and her 2017 Super Bowl half-time performance.

The singer jokingly confessed: "I recently found out I'm actually five foot three and three quarters.

"I'm so, so sorry."

The 32-year-old New Yorker also gave a shout out for Pride Month on a night when messages about tolerance were a theme.

As well as sexuality, comments about trolls and gun violence punctuated this year's MTV Movie & TV Awards, where sci-fi drama Stranger Things won the main prizes.

She then presented the award for best movie to the cast of Black Panther.

Some fans pointed out that Gaga's side combed blonde fringe / red costume combo reminded them of another US singer...

No Doubt about it, is there?

Check out five big moments from the show.

BBC Radio 2

The Sheffield band were in with Simon Mayo and Jo Whiley yesterday.

Alex Turner and Matt Helders from the band put a bit of classic Barry Manilow into Jo and Simon's Record Store.

They also told the story of the time that the late great David Bowie came to see them and their tour manager unwittingly kicked him out his seat.

Find out what happened next above.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA

The promoters of last night’s Foo Fighters gig in Manchester have apologised after 2,000 fans were unable to get into the venue for up to two hours because their tickets didn’t work.

The gig-goers, who had all bought from Ticketmaster, turned up to discover that their tickets were rejected by the automatic turnstiles at the Etihad stadium.

The fans were growing increasingly anxious and irate until the problem was fixed at around 18:30 – by which time they had missed support band The Cribs and the start of Wolf Alice.

SJM concerts blamed “human error” and said they “sincerely apologise”.

Ticketmaster issued the same statement on behalf of SJM:

Ahoy there shipmates.

Welcome back aboard the good ship MNL.

Today we'll be passing through the following music news stories.

• A Michael Jackson musical is coming to Broadway
• Lady Gaga's channels her inner Gwen Stefani at the MTV Movie & TV Awards

• Kanye West and Nas have a Hottest Record
• Meet the Stockbroker who writes hits for Little Mix
• Pharrell is collaborating on a new post-slavery musical
• Eleven songs which BBC Arts says define Scottish pop

While we get everybody on deck, check out a snippet of Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj's new track above (the full one is online now too but contains a swear word) then we'll hit the high seas of music news.