State Champ Radio Author: djfrosty
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Warner Music Group announced changes to its division overseeing Argentina and Chile on Tuesday (Feb. 11), bringing in Tomás Talarico as the new managing director of Warner Music Southern Cone (née Cono Sur), effective immediately. He succeeds Guillermo Castellani, who will stay on as a consultant during the transition. Talarico will report to Alejandro Duque, president of Warner Music Latin America.
Talarico brings extensive industry experience, having founded MOJO, an independent record label and digital distributor, in 2014. Under his leadership, MOJO expanded across Argentina, Chile and Peru, becoming a key player in the tropical and urban music markets. The company has collaborated with approximately 150 artists and labels, managing audiovisual production and music publishing. According to the hiring announcement, MOJO’s success includes more than 50 Gold and Platinum certified singles and multiple industry awards, including eight Gardel Awards and two Pulsar Awards.
Throughout his career, Talarico has played a significant role in developing emerging artists such as ECKO, Grupo Zumbale Primo, Kaleb Di Masi, Papichamp and Uriel Lozano, among others. He was also a key contributor to the collaborative project Un Poco de Ruido. He’s also a musician, having released five rock and pop albums as a guitarist and singer-songwriter.
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Before founding MOJO, Talarico was a pioneer in digital music distribution, working with companies focused on MP3 and ringtone sales. His early career included a role as a supervisor at Tower Records.
Duque praised Talarico’s entrepreneurial mindset and ability to bridge music and technology “to the service of artists,” also praising Castellani role in developing the careers of major Warner artists such as Maria Becerra and Tiago PZK.
Talarico expressed excitement about joining WMG, highlighting the opportunity to utilize the resources of an international label to support the region.
“To be able to tap into the resources of a major label to superserve the exceptional talent in this region is an incredible opportunity,” he said. “I also want to pay tribute to the remarkable Guillermo Castellani who has nurtured such a strong team and played a huge role in the wider music industry. He leaves big shoes to fill, and I’m looking forward to building on his legacy!”
Castellani reflected on his time at Warner Music, which dates back to early 2002, and lauded the support of Duque and the Warner Music Southern Cone team.
“I am grateful to the family of Warner Music Southern Cone for allowing me to enjoy my work every day: without them it would have been impossible to reach the goals we achieved,” he said. “I wish Tomás success in writing the following chapter in the Southern Cone. I am sure that he will lead Warner Music in its continuous growth so that it will remain a magnet for new music talent in this part of the world.”
Winter Music Conference 2025 has announced a long phase one list of speakers for its March event in Miami.
The dance industry conference, returning to Miami Music Week for the first time since 2019, will feature input from artists including Aluna, LP Giobbi, Hayla, Sydney Blu and more.
Additionally, programming will include more than 60 industry representatives from a wide range of labels, management companies, agencies, publications, streaming services and more. See the complete list of phase one names and companies below.
Panels themes, keynote speakers and more will be announced in the coming weeks, with the event also set to feature mixers, a pool party and workshops, along with the inaugural hybrid awards show from the EDMAs and IDMAs. The Conference and tangential events will happen at Eden Roc Miami Beach Resort on March 26-28. Tickets are on sale now.
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Winter Music Conference is owned by Ultra Music Festival, which kicks off in Miami the same day the conference ends, Friday, March 28. Launched in 1985, Winter Music Conference was held every March in Miami (prior to the pandemic) and is part of the larger event known as Miami Music Week, a marathon of dance music performances and parties. Drawing an estimated 100,000 attendees and 3,500 music professionals from more than 70 countries at its height, WMC hosts a schedule of events, parties, seminars and workshops and serves as one of the largest industry networking events in the dance/electronic music genre.
Though the Ultra Music Festival was originally spawned by the conference, it eventually surpassed it in terms of influence, and its parent company went on to acquire WMC in 2018.
Winter Music Conference 2025 Industry Speakers:
Alex Greenberg – Falcon PRAlex Jukes – Jukebox PR/The TribesAndy Daniell – Defected RecordsAnna Horowitz – WMEBina Fronda – Ultra RecordsBlake Coppelson – Proximity II Kompass Music GroupCameron Sunkel – EDM.comCandace Silva-Torres (p/k/a SiLVA) – KCRWaCarly Peterson – CircaCelena Fields – EVENChris Johnson – SoundCloudChuck Fishman – Soul Clap RecordsConnie Chow – FUGA II shesaid.so AMSCristiana Votta – Alegria AgencyDani Chavez – Good Girl ManagementDani Deahl – BandLabDanny Klein – SPIN Magazine II Robot SunriseDavid Waxman – Ultra RecordsDeron Delgado – EMPIRE Dance/DirtybirdDilini Weerasooriya – Merrill Wealth Management (Bank of America)Dorothy Caccavale – FM Artists/Three Six ZeroEddie Sears – Republic RecordsElyn Kazarian – Women In Visuals/dublabEmma Hoser – Liaison ArtistsEric Silver – Red Light ManagementEryk Puczek – FriendsOfFriends.AgencyGavin Ryan – Big Beat Records/Atlantic RecordsGeorge Hess – G5 EntertainmentGina Tucci – 146 RecordsHallie Halpern – SeriouslyHallie StudiosHarmony Soleil – c895 SeattleHilary Gleason – BacklineJason Adamchak – Calculated Creative AgencyJaye Hamel – 1of1 CustomJeroen te Rehorst – BEAT Music Fund/ArmadaJess Page – RareformJordyn Reese – Do Better For ArtistsKat Bein – Super Kat WorldKatie Bain – BillboardKatie Knight – Can U Put Me On Guestlist PodcastKyle Jones – EDM.comLauren Anderson – LabelWorxLewis Kunstler – 2 + 2 Management II Young Art RecordsLorne Padman – Dim Mak RecordsMatt Sherman – Sherm In The Booth Podcast II Hood Politics RecordsMegan Venzin – DJ MagNicholas Saady – Pryor Cashman LLPOlivia Mancuso – Elevated Frequencies PodcastOllie Zhang – 88risingPaula Quijano – Little Empire MusicPete Anderson – ETP AgencyPeter Slayton – Slayton CreativeSam Mobarek – Major Recordings (Warner Records)Seth Shapiro – Shapiro Legal, PLLCShannon Herber – Wise River ConsultingSilvia Montello – Voicebox ConsultingSimon Scott – Cirkay LTDSonya Okon – Helix Records/Ultra PublishingSteph Conlon – Easier SaidTaryn Haight – WassermanTom Williams – L’Affaire MusicaleVivian Belzaguy Hunter – Ultra Music Festival II Ascendance Sustainable EventsWatse de Jong – Manager, Martin GarrixWill Scott – Helix Records / Ultra Publishing
Jimmy Kimmel is coming to Taylor Swift‘s defense after Donald Trump taunted the pop star on social media following the 2025 Super Bowl. On the latest episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Monday (Feb. 10), the late-night host recapped the night prior’s big game — which ended with the Kansas City Chiefs losing 22-40 against the […]
Ariana Grande has seen how fans have been shipping her with Cynthia Erivo during the Wicked promotional cycle, to the point where some people think there’s actually something going on between the two stars in real life.
And in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Tuesday (Feb. 11), the “Yes, And?” singer addressed the theories surrounding her relationship with her costar. “People think we’re secretly married,” she told the publication.
It’s clear to anyone watching that Grande and Erivo are very close, often comforting each other during teary-eyed interviews and red-carpet appearances. But some fans have taken things one step further and have started speculating that there’s a romantic connection between them, despite the fact that both women are in relationships with other people; the Victorious alum has been dating fellow Wicked star Ethan Slater since 2023, while the Pinocchio star has reportedly been with actress Lena Waithe for several years.
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So why the rumors? Grande says it’s likely “the Gelphie stuff,” aka people shipping her Wicked character, Glinda, with Erivo’ s Elphaba.
“I wish I could unsee some things,” the two-time Grammy winner said of the sexual artwork people have made using their characters’ likenesses. “I mean, wow, I had a feeling, but I didn’t know it would be on this scale or this graphic.”
To be fair, the theory that Elphaba and Glinda are more than just friends is a little less unfounded than the theories about their real-life counterparts. Grande has said herself that she thinks her character “might be a little in the closet,” and in January, she told Variety, “[Glinda] loves Elphaba so much, and that forgiveness and that unconditional love that they share — I think they’re in love with each other.”
Despite the pervasiveness of the speculation surrounding Grande and Erivo, it’s not the first time the “We Can’t Be Friends” artist has had to deal with whispers about her love life during the Wicked era. The rumor mill went crazy when it was first reported in 2023 that she and Slater were in a relationship following their respective splits from ex-husband Dalton Gomez and ex-wife Lilly Jay, a tabloid cycle Grande slammed as “bulls–t” in a September Vanity Fair article, adding, “The most disappointing part was to see so many people believe the worst version of it.”
Now, Grande tells THR that dealing with rumors will “never be unpainful.” “But also, I walk with the awareness that I’m an artist and this is a path that I’ve chosen,” she added. “So I just try to protect myself so that I never start to resent the art.”
See Grande on the cover of THR below.
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Check out all the answers from this year’s honorees, including Usher, WNBA star Angel Reese and football legend Shannon Sharpe.
02/11/2025
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The power ballads and rave-ups to best have you swooning this Valentine’s Day.
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Dave Chappelle will become the first comedian to receive the President’s Award during the 2025 NAACP Image Awards, which is set to air live from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, Calif., on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on BET and CBS. This year, the broadcast will be extended 30 minutes to 2.5 hours.
The President’s Award is presented in recognition of special achievement and distinguished public service. Previous recipients include a wide range of public figures, including six recording stars – Ella Fitzgerald (1967), Ms. Lauryn Hill (1999), John Legend (2016), Jay-Z (2019), Rihanna (2020) and Usher (2024).
“The President’s Award honors an unwavering dedication to community, and throughout his distinguished career, Dave Chappelle has consistently been recognized as a powerful voice of social consciousness,” Derrick Johnson, NAACP president and CEO, said in a statement. “Through his unique ability to transform complex political issues into thought-provoking humor, Dave has solidified his place as one of the most impactful voices of our time. His work sparks conversations that compel people to examine their own beliefs, proving that in an age where open dialogue is increasingly rare, comedy can be both a powerful truth-teller and a driver of progress.”
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Chappelle, 51, was the 2019 recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. On Feb. 2, he won his sixth Grammy Award for best comedy album, which is just one shy of Bill Cosby’s record seven wins in the category. Chappelle has also received five Primetime Emmy Awards – three for his Netflix comedy specials Equanimity (2018) and Sticks & Stones (2020), and two for hosting Saturday Night Live (2017 and 2021).
By visiting the NAACP Image Awards’ website, the public can vote to determine the winners of the 56th annual event in select categories. NAACP will recognize winners in non-televised categories virtually on Tuesday, Feb. 18, and Wednesday, Feb. 19, on its YouTube channel and at the 56th NAACP Image Awards Creative Honors Friday, Feb. 21.
BET Media Group, NAACP, JSSK (Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole, a media and entertainment law firm) and the WME entertainment agency have partnered with L.A. County to launch the Altadena Community Preservation Fund to support the recovery of historically Black neighborhoods impacted by the Eaton Fire. This effort, a collaboration with local community organizations such as Community Aid Dena, Altadena Heritage and WalkGood L.A., is aimed at protecting homeowners from displacement and preserving the community’s cultural heritage.
South by Southwest has announced new keynotes and its latest round of featured speakers for its 39th edition, taking place March 7-15 across Austin.
Newly announced keynotes include Issa Rae, the creative force behind HBO’s Insecure; Meredith Whittaker, president of Signal; and Ben Lamm, CEO of Colossal Biosciences, who’ll be joined by actor Joe Manganiello to discuss advancements in… cloning. They join previously announced keynotes such as Creedence Clearwater Revival icon John Fogerty, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber, and IBM chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna.
The featured speakers lineup includes the cast and creators of HBO’s The Last of Us, game designer Hideo Kojima, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, comedian and podcaster Conan O’Brien, actor and musician Kevin Bacon, and Something Corporate singer-songwriter Andrew McMahon. Additional speakers include comedian Taylor Tomlinson food critic Keith Lee and social health expert Kasley Killam.
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This new slate of speakers complements SXSW’s rounds of announcements, which included Donald Passman, Ghazi, Dr. Peter Attia, Johanna Faries, Douglas Rushkoff, and more.
Highlighted sessions include “Colossal: Technology Company Turning Science Fiction to Science Fact,” where Lamm and Manganiello will explore advancements in gene editing and cloning. “A Conversation with Issa Rae” will cover her career and media company, HOORAE, while “A Conversation About Online Security and Confidentiality” will see Whittaker discussing privacy with Guy Kawasaki. Other panels include “Balloonerism – A Film Based on the Album by Mac Miller,” a discussion on a new film inspired by the late artist’s work, and “Breaking Barriers by Turning Prisoners into Firefighters,” focusing on rehabilitation through firefighting programs.
Entertainment-focused chats will include “Fans Over Fees,” where McMahon will address ticket scalping and fair access to live events; “Claiming the Future of Entertainment,” where O’Brien and gaming exec Johanna Faries will discuss gaming’s influence on media; and “DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH,” where Kojima will reveal details about the video game.
Other notable discussions include “Fireside with Arm CEO Rene Haas,” covering AI’s impact on technology, and “Funny AF Comedy Showrunners,” where Universal Television’s top creators will share insights into comedy production. Business-oriented panels include “How America’s 33M Small Businesses Can Grow and Prosper,” featuring Mark Cuban; and “How Technology Is Transforming Urban Spaces,” examining AI’s role in city infrastructure.
Additional sessions will feature discussions on AI in media with Paramount CTO Phil Wiser, immersive storytelling with ILM Immersive, and influencer entrepreneurship with Keith Lee and Jennifer Quigley-Jones.
“Every year, SXSW assembles a group of speakers who are doing extraordinary and often surprising things, such as breaking boundaries in storytelling and representation, advocating for secure communication, and bringing back the woolly mammoth,” said Hugh Forrest, president and chief programming officer of SXSW. “Issa Rae, Meredith Whittaker, Ben Lamm, and Joe Manganiello make up a stellar group of changemakers who are a perfect fit for the SXSW community.”
SXSW will take place from March 7-15 in Austin, Texas, with full details regarding their newly-announced speakers and sessions available via their website.
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Like when Elon Musk stupidly changed Twitter’s name to X, Google is doing the same for Donald Trump and has officially renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” for US users to see.
We’re still gonna call it the Gulf of Mexico; just saying.
Google has officially capitulated to Orange Mussolini’s dumb executive order calling for the name change of the Gulf of Mexico to be now called the Gulf of America.
According to a blog post, Google claims it made the move because Trump’s ridiculous administration has already updated the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), which ultimately decides the “federal and national standard for geographic nomenclature.”
Google claims it has a longstanding policy of waiting for government resources to be updated before applying name changes, even though Trump signed the executive order renaming the body of water in January.
Hilariously, it’s not a complete name change. The Gulf of Mexico will only be visible to US Google Maps users. People in Mexico will still see the Gulf of Mexico, and people in other countries will see it specifically (Gulf of America).
Also, Trump ordered the Denali, the highest mountain peak in the United States, to be renamed Mount McKinley. Why, you ask? We are pretty sure it has everything to do with Barack Obama renaming the mountain in 2015 as a symbolic gesture to Alaska natives. So yeah, Trump is just doing this because he doesn’t like Obama.
After checking the map, we noticed that the location is still referred to as Denali.
Users On X Are Sounding Off On Stupid Name Change
Social media is clowning the name change because it’s just another one of Trump’s stupid stunts to take the focus off the real promises like lowering grocery and egg prices, things he already admitted weren’t top priorities for him.
“This petty, childish bullshit just serves to embarrass our nation on the world stage. It makes us look as stupid, weak, arrogant and petulant as the worst stereotypes about Americans globally,” one user wrote in response to The White House’s post showing the name change on the map.
Another user accurately asked, “And this is supposed to help Americans how?”
Welp.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
1. Same sis, same
3. At this point Idiocracy was a work of non-fiction
4. Eggxactly
5. Pretty much
7. This is what the MAGA cult wanted
9. Damn Google
11. Gulf of America Day?
Chris Brown scores a historic milestone on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, becoming the second artist to reach 100 cumulative weeks at No. 1 on the radio ranking, across 11 No. 1 songs in his career. The R&B hitmaker achieves the feat on the list dated Feb. 15 as current single “Residuals” jumps 2-1 for its first week in the top slot. The singer joins Drake, who has a record 176 weeks at No. 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, in the triple-digit club among all artists since the chart launched in 1992.
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A CBE/RCA Records release, “Residuals” crowns R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, which ranks songs by combined audience totals from adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations, with 15.8 million audience impressions in the tracking week of Jan. 31-Feb. 6, according to Luminate, up 3% from the previous week’s 15.3 million.
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The single advances to the summit in its 27th week on the list, the seventh-longest wait in the chart’s history. After 11 nonconsecutive weeks in the runner-up spot, “Residuals” likely crosses the finish line with added buzz from its official music video release on Jan. 23 and its nomination for best R&B performance at the Grammy Awards. While the track lost its nod at the Feb. 2 ceremony, Brown won best R&B album for 11:11, his second career trophy.
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Brown’s 100 weeks at No. 1 are spread across 11 No. 1s. Notably, more than half of his career total derives from just two songs: “No Guidance” featuring Drake, and a collaboration with Young Thug, “Go Crazy.” The former logged 27 weeks on top in 2019-2020, while the latter dominated for 29 frames in 2020-21. At the time, both tracks set records for the longest run by any song in the chart’s history; SZA’s “Snooze,” at 37 weeks in charge, now holds the title.
To recap his 100 weeks at the summit, here’s a review of Brown’s 11 No. 1s on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay:
“Say Goodbye,” six weeks at No. 1, beginning Oct. 14, 2006
“Deuces,” feat. Tyga and Kevin McCall, nine, Sept. 11, 2010
“Look at Me Now,” feat. Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, eight, April 2, 2011
“Loyal,” feat. Lil Wayne and French Montana or Too $hort or Tyga, eight, June 7, 2014
“New Flame,” feat. Usher and Rick Ross, four, Oct. 25, 2014
“Hold You Down,” DJ Khaled feat. Chris Brown, August Alsina, Future and Jeremih, five, Nov. 15, 2014
“All Eyes on You,” Meek Mill feat. Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj, one, Sept. 26, 2015
“No Guidance,” feat. Drake, 27, Aug. 24, 2019
“Go Crazy,” with Young Thug, 29, Aug. 22, 2020
“Under the Influence,” two, March 25, 2023
“Residuals,” one (to date), Feb. 15, 2025
With an 11th No. 1, Brown breaks a tie with Beyoncé for sole possession of the fourth-most leaders on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. Drake leads the count with 29, with Usher (16) and Lil Wayne (12) in second and third place, respectively.
Elsewhere, “Residuals” pushes 15-13 on Adult R&B Airplay, sparked by a 49% surge in weekly plays. It also repeats at No. 6 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, a chart it topped for four weeks in December-January, and essentially remains even in plays with last week’s total.
