In celebration of Cypress Hill‘s seminal sophomore effort Black Sunday, the rap group announced it’ll be launching a new graphic novel titled CYPRESS Hill: BLACK SUNDAY.

On Tuesday (April 8), the news broke that the band had been hard at working crafting the comic alongside Z2 Comics and writers Noah Callahan-Bever and Gabriel Alvarez. The forthcoming graphic novel celebrates the groundbreaking impact of Black Sunday, taking readers on a journey through the making of the album and its everlasting impact. The comic’s cover is designed by artist Jay Papke, who made Black Sunday‘s original cover art, and the back of the book will include a new interview with the band.

“We called it Black Sunday because we’re Raiders fans and also Black Sabbath fans,” B-Real said in a press release about the graphic novel. “So Black Sunday felt like an appropriate title for the album. We tried to match the imagery up with what we were putting down musically.”

Platinum Edition-buyers will also receive an exclusive vinyl of Cypress Hill and the London Symphony Orchestra’s live run through of Black Sunday at Royal Albert Hall that went down last July. The live album will also drop June 6. The graphic novel is currently available for pre-order on Z2 Comics’ website, and will release to the masses on June 3.

This marks the second time Cypress Hill has linked with Z2 Comics. They had previously joined forces for a Tres Equis graphic novel back in 2021, charting the group’s time after the release of its groundbreaking debut.

“The work we started together on Cypress Hill: Tres Equis only gets better. Collaborating again with Cypress, Noah and Gabriel to tell the true story of Black Sunday resulted in another sequential masterpiece,” Z2’s president, Josh Bernstein, said in a statement. “It’s an honor working with B-Real, Sen-Dog, Muggs, Bobo and the entire Cypress Hill + Z2 families to ensure this project smokes.”

Rubby Pérez has been hospitalized following the deadly roof collapse at the Jet Set nightclub in the Dominican Republic, where he was performing early on Tuesday (April 8).

The 69-year-old Dominican merengue singer — known for Billboard hits such as “Tu Vas a Volar,” “Enamorado de Ella” and “15,500 Noches” in collaboration with Romeo Santos, Toño Rosario, Fernandito Villalona and Raman Orlando — has been transferred to the Plaza de la Salud hospital, according to medical director Nepomuceno Mejia.

“He’s hospitalized, he’s inside, and we hope to God that he recovers soon,” the singer’s daughter, Zulinka Pérez, told local news outlets. “He’s injured, but he’s hospitalized; they found him singing. He started singing so they could hear him. He’s always told me: ‘If something ever happens to me, cover me so no one takes pictures.’”

Zulinka, who’s also a backup singer for Pérez and was present when the roof collapsed, shared: “I’m his backup singe — my husband and I are backup singers. My husband covered me, threw himself on top of me, and he got trapped. He told me, ‘Get out quickly.’ The musicians were able to get out; the bass player is in critical condition; I think he had surgery in the hospital. And one of the saxophone players is dead.”

The roof collapse left nearly 50 dead and over 150 injured, according to multiple reports. A cause for the roof’s collapse is not yet known.

On Valentine’s Day, Pérez released his latest single, “No Voy a Llorar,” and announced a few shows in the U.S. kicking off in May, including one slated for July 18 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.

Arcade Fire‘s seventh studio album is on its way, with the band announcing that new LP Pink Elephant is set to arrive this spring and dropping lead single “Year of the Snake” Tuesday (April 8).

Featuring 10 tracks recorded at married bandmates Win Butler and Régine Chassagne’s Good News Recording Studio in New Orleans, the project is described as a “cinematic, mystical punk” offering that “invites the listener on a sonic odyssey” exploring themes of light, darkness, inner beauty and “the perception of the individual.” The album’s title apparently refers to the paradox of actively trying to suppress a certain thought, and in doing so, making that thought impossible not to think about.

As shared in a post on Arcade Fire’s Instagram, Pink Elephant will arrive May 9. The band also unveiled its cover art: a photo of a small elephant-shaped candle burning against a hot pink backdrop.

Fans’ first taste of the album via “Year of the Snake” is chill, contemplative alt-rock, with Butler and Chassagne singing together over a thrumming bass line and anthemic glimmers, “It’s the season of change, and if you you feel strange, it’s probably good.” The song comes third on a tracklist that also includes the titles “Open Your Heart or Die Trying,” “Pink Elephant,” “Circle of Trust,” “Alien Nation,” “Beyond Salvation,” “Ride or Die,” “I Love Her Shadow,” “She Cries Diamond Rain” and “Stuck in My Head.”

Pink Elephant will mark Arcade Fire’s first LP since 2022’s We, which reached No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and climbed to the summit of the Top Rock Albums chart. It’ll also be the band’s first release since Butler was accused by multiple former fans of sexual misconduct, after which the frontman released a statement denying that any part of his relationships with those women was nonconsensual — though he did also apologize to “anyone who I have hurt with my behavior.”

A few days prior to the album announcement, Arcade Fire also rolled out a new app called Circle of Trust, where fans can now access special content including music, videos, early access to tickets, exclusive merch and more. This week, the band shared exclusive song “Cars and Telephones” — billed as the first composition Butler ever played for Chassagne — on the app.

See the Pink Elephant album cover and listen to “Year of the Snake” below.