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23 Jul 2024

Ricardo Montaner Re-Records His First 6 Albums: ‘I Need My Legacy to Pass Into the Hands of My Children’

Last week Ricardo Montaner released Ricardo Montaner 2 (Versión Montaner), a re-recording of his 1988 album that included classics like “Tan Enamorados” and “A Dónde Va el Amor.” The new set comes less than a month after Ricardo Montaner (Versión Montaner), and is part of a broader project in which the acclaimed Latin pop singer-songwriter aims to give his old music a more contemporary sound.

“I think it has a lot to do with responsibility,” Montaner tells Billboard Español about this initial six-album project, all under his own independent label Hecho a Mano. “The sound of my music from that era does not match the technical advances available today. […] I want fans from that time to enjoy my music today and to do so under exactly the same conditions as the music people make today.”

But that is not the only motivation for the Argentine-Venezuelan musician. A contract he signed at the beginning of his career with Love Records, part of then-Venezuelan record company Sono-Rodven, did not include rights to his masters, which he says are now in the hands of Universal Music Group. (In 1995, Sono-Rodven transferred its operations to PolyGram, which was later acquired by the multinational).

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“I need my artistic legacy to pass into the hands of my children,” Montaner explains. “I never earned a penny in royalties from any of my first six albums. To this day, with more than 40 years of career, I have not received a single penny from the sales of ‘Yo Que Te Amé,’ ‘Tan Enamorados,’ ‘La Cima del Cielo,’ the album Los Hijos del Sol, the album En El Último Lugar del Mundo.“

“The contracts at that time were predatory and totally disadvantageous for the artist, so that is a very, very strong motivation. If I didn’t earn a single penny for my music at the beginning of my career and at the time when I was most successful, today I am looking to record independently so that my children will have, at least from now on, the peace of mind that the music of their father — especially the most important, the most emblematic or iconic music of his career — will pass into their hands,” he continues. “I am also complaining to the people who have the original masters, the first masters of my career, considering they have been recorded already 40 years ago. I am asking that they return them to me.”

Neither Montaner nor his team has specified whether there is a formal complaint or lawsuit, “beyond the fact that Ricardo is trying to get his masters back,” a person from his team told Billboard Español. Universal Music Latin had not replied a request for comment sent on Monday (July 22) by the time of publication.

Montaner’s re-recording of his albums — something reminiscent of Taylor Swift‘s successful “Taylor’s Version” series — is a meticulous project with “exactly the same” musical arrangements as the originals, and the art cover from the era reproduced with great detail (from set design and wardrobe to the pose of the singer) in a fun and exciting nostalgia trip.

Montaner’s voice remains practically entirely intact. The only change, besides the better sound quality, is in the freedom that comes with age and maturity.

“I recognize that today I sing ‘Me Va a Extrañar,’ ‘Tan Enamorados’, ‘La Cima del Cielo’ or ‘Yo Que Te Amé’ differently than I sang them at that time,” he admits. “But today, sitting from another angle of my life, seeing that I have nothing else to prove in the sense that these songs do not have a risk as they did at that time […] it gives me a lot more freedom to sing them.”

The next releases from the project will arrive Sept. 6 with the album Un Toque de Misterio (Versión Montaner) and the single “La Cima del Cielo (Montaner Version),” followed by En El Último Lugar del Mundo (Versión Montaner), with “Será (Versión Montaner)” as the focus single, on Nov. 1. The re-recordings of Los Hijos del Sol and Una Mañana Y Un Camino would arrive by early 2025.

After these, three more versions of later albums in Montaner’s career will come, this time only for pure pleasure: “I felt like repeating the albums Con La London Metropolitan Orchestra, which were two unforgettable projects for me,” he says excitedly, without revealing what the third one would be. “We already have Abbey Road studios booked for the beginning of November of this year to record the three versions in a single session.”

Retired from the stage at least for a while, Montaner is now enjoying going in and out of the studio while making the most of his time with his family, which includes his wife Marlene, his children Alejandro, Héctor, Mau y Ricky, and Evaluna (all musicians), as well as six grandchildren who will soon become seven with the imminent arrival of Evaluna and Camilo‘s second baby.

“I want to have time to live this,” Montaner says from Medellín, Colombia, where his wife was releasing a new book, El Libro del Corazón. He also traveled recently to Spain and to Argentina to watch his children perform. For many years, he “missed many things of Marlene and my loved ones, because I was doing my own thing, so […] I don’t want it to be once in a while and because time allowed it. Today I want to own my time and be everywhere with them.”

23 Jul 2024

Another Double Shot of ‘Espresso’: Sabrina Carpenter Tops Both Billboard Global Charts

Sabrina Carpenter boasts the top song in the world, as “Espresso” rebounds for a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and brews up an eighth week atop the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. survey.

Notably, “Espresso” ties for the longest command on Global Excl. U.S. this year, matching the No. 1 run of Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things.”

Meanwhile, Eminem’s “Houdini” reappears in the top 10 of both tallies as his new album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), launches at No. 1 on the U.S.-based Billboard 200.

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The Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts, which began in September 2020, rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.

Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.

“Espresso” tops the Global 200 with 80.9 million streams (down 7%) and 8,000 sold (up 3%) worldwide July 12-18.

Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” drops to No. 2 after two weeks atop the Global 200; Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” holds at No. 3, following two weeks at No. 1 in June; Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” rises 5-4, after hitting No. 3; and Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” descends 4-5, off its No. 3 best.

Also in the Global 200’s top 10, Eminem’s “Houdini” bounds 16-8 with 53.9 million streams (up 38%) and 9,000 sold (up 11%) worldwide. It led the list in its debut week in June.

Carpenter’s “Espresso” rules Global Excl. U.S. with 58.1 million streams (down 7%) and 3,000 sold (down 4%) outside the U.S. July 12-18.

Most Weeks at No. 1 on Global Excl. U.S. in 2024:

  • 8, “Espresso,” Sabrina Carpenter
  • 8, “Beautiful Things,” Benson Boone
  • 4, “Greedy,” Tate McRae
  • 2, “Fortnight,” Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone
  • 2, “Yes, And?,” Ariana Grande

Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” is steady at its No. 2 Global Excl. U.S. high; Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” keeps at No. 3, four weeks after it led; and FloyyMenor and Cris Mj’s “Gata Only” holds at No. 4 after reaching No. 3.

Karol G’s “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” rises 7-5 on Global Excl. U.S., up 10% to 53.9 million streams worldwide. Her seventh top 10 becomes her sixth to reach the top five.

Plus, Eminem’s “Houdini” unlocks a 14-8 move on Global Excl. U.S. with 33.4 million streams (up 24%) outside the U.S. As on the Global 200, it topped Global Excl. U.S. in its first week in June.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated July 27, 2024) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, July 23. For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

23 Jul 2024

Rita Ora Talks ‘Ask & You Shall Receive,’ Feeling ‘Super Inspired Creatively’ on Upcoming Album & More

Rita Ora is fresh off the release of her latest single, “Ask & You Shall Receive,” and to celebrate, the pop star sat down with Billboard‘s Rania Aniftos to discuss her next musical era.

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“The song I got it sent to me in my email from RAYE, who was a great friend of mine,” she explained. “She’s also another British pop sensation, and I love her. I’ve known her for a very long time as a songwriter and as an artist, and she came on tour with me back in 2017 sent me the song, and I loved it. Sometimes it’s not that deep. My third record, You & I was very deep and emotional. It was about my personal life changing, I got married and really wanted to share a story with the world. Well, with this one, I was like, you know what? Let’s just put out great things that feel good, you know? The sun is out. I’m always about the sunshine. Everything with my music has been super positive. If you’ve followed me for a decade-plus, I’ve always tried to integrate a community and my fan base, and everyone comes the show and just has a good time.”

She continued, “This record is really just about my girls, my vibes, everyone feeling good. So, with the music video and all the visuals, I really wanted to create a world that felt a bit sort of uncomfortably comfortable. […] I just wanted to try and challenge myself and do things a bit more experimental with the music and the beats and everything.”

Ora continued that “Ask & You Shall Receive” is indicative of an album that she’s currently working on. “This album is something I’m actually really excited about,” she shared. “I’m spending the rest of the year making it. I’m feeling super, super inspired creatively, just having that essence of feeling a bit like not everything is perfect, which was kind of my motive with this. Everything’s just a bit left like that. Sonically, feeling a bit darker, a bit more spicy, a bit more aggressive, just getting in my like, uncomfortable era.”

Watch Billboard‘s full interview with Rita Ora above.

23 Jul 2024

Rita Ora Talks ‘Ask & You Shall Receive,’ Upcoming Album, Working With Brandy & More | Billboard News

Rita Ora stopped by to chat about her newest single” Ask & You Shall Receive.” She elaborates on how her upcoming album will be drastically different from her previous album ‘You & I,’ how she prepared herself to play the Queen of Hearts in ‘Descendants: The Rise of Red,’ working with Brandy and more!

Rita Ora:

He, for fun, made like a music video on AI where like you just sit and type in what you want with your favorite song. And he was like, Why do you guys spend so much money on music videos? You can just do this now. I’m like don’t. Hey, I’m Rita Ora and you’re watching Billboard News.

Rania Aniftos:

We got to talk about “Ask & You Shall Receive.” 

Rita Ora:

Yes, the best mantra in my opinion.

Rania Aniftos:

It really is. I love that mantra. Tell me a bit about how you kind of came up with that and where you wanted to go with it.

Rita Ora:

Well, the mantra has been around for a long time. The song I got it sent to me in my email from RAYE, who’s a great friend of mine. She’s also another British pop sensation. And I love her. I’ve known her for a very long time as a songwriter and as an artist. And she came on tour with me back in 2017, sent me the song and I loved it. Sometimes, it’s sometimes it’s not that deep. My third record ‘You & I’ was very deep, emotional. It was about my like, personal life changing. I got married, and I really wanted to share my story with the world. Well, with this one. I was like, You know what, let’s just put out great things that feel good, you know, and the sun is out. I’m always about the sunshine. Everything with my music has been super positive. 

Keep watching for more!

23 Jul 2024

Every Lip Sync From ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 9,’ Ranked

On a scale of one to Roxxxy Andrews.

Jorgeous and Roxxxy Andrews on 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars' season 9.

Jorgeous and Roxxxy Andrews on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ season 9.

Courtesy of MTV

With so many global editions of RuPaul’s Drag Race, it would be safe to assume that the lip sync format can’t change much more than it already has. Between lip syncs for your life, for your legacy, for the crown and for Lalaparuzas, the franchise has seemingly reinvented the concept enough. 

But RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season 9 proved that there is still more to be done with the art of lip synching. For the latest season, the show introduced the Lip Sync for Your Charity format, wherein the competition’s 8 queens each got a chance to win money not for themselves, but for the charity of their choice by winning a head-to-head performance battle. With $10,000 donations at stake, the slate of competitors committed themselves to dominating on the main stage. 

The format comes alongside a star-studded season of the reality program, with fan-favorite stars returning to the work room for a chance to earn their long-awaited crown. Much like All Stars 7, this season’s format removed the elimination structure of normal Drag Race seasons and instead saw the competitors earning badges for their challenge wins. In Friday’s finale, each of the show’s queens will vie for the show’s $200,000 charity prize, and the chance to join the Drag Race Hall of Fame.

With a season chock-full of dramatic lip syncs, which ones lived up to the legend, and which ones cracked under the pressure? Below, Billboard takes a look back at every lip sync showdown from RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 9 and ranks them from worst to best. 

23 Jul 2024

Shaboozey’s ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ Rebounds for Second Week at No. 1 on Hot 100

Shaboozey is “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is top shelf on the Billboard Hot 100 again, rebounding from the runner-up spot for a second week at No. 1. Two weeks earlier, the single became his first leader on the chart.

The song by the Virgina native (born Collins Obinna Chibueze) is from his LP Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, which debuted at its No. 5 high on the Billboard 200 in June. It has spent two weeks at No. 1 on Americana/Folk Albums and reached No. 2 on Top Country Albums.

Of his breakthrough this year, Shaboozey, who has been releasing music for a decade, recently told Billboard, “We were pretty prepared for this moment.”

Plus, Eminem’s “Houdini” returns to the Hot 100’s top 10, wriggling 18-10, as his new album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), soars in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated July 27, 2024) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, July 23. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

“A Bar Song (Tipsy),” on American Dogwood/EMPIRE (with country radio promotion by Magnolia Music), rules the Hot 100 with 77.2 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 11%, good for top Airplay Gainer honors for a third week), 39 million official streams (down 6%) and 16,000 sold (down 24%) in the United States July 12-18.

The track keeps at its No. 2 high on Radio Songs; holds at No. 2 on the Streaming Songs chart, following a week at No. 1; and dips to No. 2 after nine weeks atop Digital Song Sales.

Reflecting its mass appeal, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which interpolates J-Kwon’s 2004 hip-hop classic “Tipsy,” became the first song ever to go top 10 on all four of the following Billboard radio charts, where it continues to gain: It pushes 4-3 on Country Airplay and 7-5 on Pop Airplay; repeats at its No. 5 high on Rhythmic Airplay; and is steady at its No. 6 best on Adult Pop Airplay.

“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” concurrently crowns the multimetric Hot Country Songs chart for a sixth week.

Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” featuring Morgan Wallen, rebounds 3-2 on the Hot 100 following six nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 beginning in May. It tops Radio Songs for a fourth week (84.8 million, up 5%) and the multimetric Songs of the Summer chart for an eighth frame.

Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” drops to No. 3 on the Hot 100, a week after it returned to the summit for a second week on top. It commands the multimetric Hot Rap Songs chart for a 10th week and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for an eighth week.

Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” holds at No. 4 on the Hot 100, after hitting No. 2, as it leads the multimetric Hot R&B Songs chart for a 12th week.

Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” keeps at No. 5 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 3, and her “Please Please Please” repeats at No. 6, four weeks after it became her first No. 1. She claims a sixth week with multiple songs in the top 10, the most of any artist this year.

Hozier’s “Too Sweet” lifts 8-7 on the Hot 100, following a week at No. 1 in April. It rules the multimetric Hot Rock Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts for a 16th week each and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs for a 15th week.

Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control,” which led for a week in March, rises 10-8 on the Hot 100 and Benson Boone’s No. 2-peaking “Beautiful Things” is stationary at No. 9.

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Eminem’s “Houdini” escapes from below the tier, bounding 18-10 as the top Streaming Gainer award winner (21.6 million, up 64%); it’s also up 11% to 24.6 million in airplay audience. The lead single from his new album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), which launches at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, hit No. 2 on the Hot 100 upon its debut in June, becoming his 23rd top 10.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

23 Jul 2024

Will The Rolling Stones Win a Grammy for ‘Hackney Diamonds’?

The Rolling Stones have been known as the world’s greatest rock and roll band for six decades, but Grammy voters were shamefully late in getting on board. The Stones weren’t nominated in any category until the 1979 ceremony, when Some Girls was nominated for album of the year.

How could that be? How could such classic albums as Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St. have been completely ignored – not to mention such landmark singles as “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Honky Tonk Women” and “Brown Sugar”?

One reason is that Grammy voters in ’60s and ’70s were resistant to rock, favoring pop and what we now call traditional pop. (Nowadays, Grammy voters love rock and have been slow to embrace hip-hop. Resistance to the new and different is often a byproduct of institutional voting.)

The Beatles landed five consecutive album of the year nominations in the ’60s, but The Beatles were more in line with Grammy tastes. They were more often on the pop side of pop/rock, and Lennon/McCartney’s songwriting was more rooted in traditional songcraft.

Another reason The Stones were left out for so long was the Grammys didn’t have performance categories dedicated to rock until 1990 – and didn’t have a best rock album category until 1995. (Fittingly, The Stones were the first winner of the latter award.)

Since Grammy voters belatedly discovered The Stones, the band has fared pretty well in the nominations. They won a Grammy (best traditional blues album) for their previous studio album, High & Lonesome. Their three studio albums before that were each nominated for best rock album.

The band’s 2023 album Hackney Diamonds, which was mostly produced by Andrew Watt, has an excellent chance of landing a best rock album nod and an outside chance of landing an album of the year nod. “Angry,” the album’s opening track and lead single, was nominated for best rock song at the ceremony in February. The 2025 nominations will be announced on Nov. 8. The awards will be presented on Feb. 2, 2025.

Watt (profiled here) has his own following in Grammyland – he won producer of the year, non-classical in 2021, which makes him the most recent producer not named Jack Antonoff to win that award. Watt, who is just 33, wasn’t even born when The Stones’ Steel Wheels album was released in 1989.

Look and see how The Stones have fared in the Grammy nominations since 1979, the year Grammy voters first invited them to the party. The year show is the year of the Grammy ceremony.

23 Jul 2024

Beyoncé Helps Kamala Harris Get Into Presidential Formation With Permission to Use ‘Freedom’ At Rallies

Kamala Harris kicked off the first official day of her 2024 presidential run in epic fashion on Monday (July 22), raising more than $81 million in the first 24 hours after the nation’s current Vice President was endorsed by President Biden following the commander-in-chief’s announcement ending his bid for a second term.

The historic fundraising haul — which was boosted by 62% of donors making their first contribution to a campaign — was matched by an equally gaudy number of sign-ups for new volunteers in key swing states topping more than 28,000 as enthusiasm for Harris re-energized a democratic base that had grown pensive about Biden’s chances of defeating former President Donald Trump.

But perhaps the biggest bump of approval of all came from an unlikely source: Beyoncé. According to CNN, when Harris walked into her campaign headquarters on Monday night (July 22) night for her first official visit she did it to Bey’s 2016 Lemonade track “Freedom.” A source told CNN that Harris’ team got approval from the singer’s reps to use the song throughout her surprise second presidential bid.

Trending on Billboard

At press time spokespeople for Harris and Beyoncé had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment.

The Grammy-nominated song featuring Kendrick Lamar became the soundtrack for many of the street demonstrations around the nation following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. “Freedom, Freedom/ Where are you?/ ‘Cause I need freedom, too/ I break chains all by myself/ Won’t let my freedom rot in hell/ Hey! I’ma keep running/ ‘Cause a winner don’t quit on themselves,” Beyoncé sings on the track’s soaring chorus.

The network noted the Bey is notorious for being very guarded about licensing her music, but that she gave “quick approval” to the Harris campaign when they reached out to ask for permission to use “Freedom” on Monday, just a few hours before the campaign HQ entrance. At press time Beyoncé had not officially endorsed Harris, though CNN speculated that the permission to use “Freedom” suggested that the fledgling campaign has the singer’s support. Though Bey has not given Harris her official thumbs up, her mother, Tina Knowles, joined a group of stars giving the veep’s run their stamp of approval.

“New, Youthful, Sharp , , energy !!!!” Knowles wrote on Instagram alongside a pic of her with Harris. “Putting personal Ego , power and fame aside . That is the definition of a great leader, . Thank you, President Biden for your service and your leadership . Go Vice President Kamala Harris for President. Let’s Go”

Beyoncé has been a supporter of democratic candidates in the past, singing the National Anthem at Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2013, headlining a pre-election show for Hillary Clinton along with husband Jay-Z in 2016 and endorsing the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020.

Former prosecutor Harris wasted no time during her first public appearance in taking it to twice-impeached convicted felon Trump, who is making his third run at the White House after Biden sent him packing in 2020 after a single term; Trump continues to falsely claim that Biden did not win the election.

“I took on perpetrators of all kinds: Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own game,” Harris told the crowd at her Wilmington, DE campaign HQ. “So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type. And in this campaign, I will proudly put my record against his.” Once her 20-minute speech ended, Harris walked off stage to “Freedom” again.

The reported Beyoncé approval is in stark contrast to the long list of musicians who have repeatedly asked Trump to cease and desist from using their music during his campaign events. Similarly, a long list of A-list musicians have quickly leapt to support Harris’ bid — including Cardi B, Ariana Grande, Charli XCX, Katy Perry, Lil Nas X and many more — while the Trump-topped Republican National Convention last weekend featured appearances from a mixture of stars such as Kid Rock, Jason Aldean, Lee Greenwood and Chris Janson, as well as former wrestler Hulk Hogan, fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Russell Brand and Amber Rose.

23 Jul 2024

Kamala Harris Calls for a ‘Femininomenon’ This November With Chappell Roan Sync

With the U.S. presidential election coming up in November, Vice President Kamala Harris is making sure that voters hit the polls like rom-pom-pom-pom.

In one of the Harris campaign’s latest TikTok videos, the vice president pitched herself as the best alternative to former president Donald Trump with a little help from rising pop star Chappell Roan. Set to the singer’s 2022 single “Femininomenon,” the campaign juxtaposed photos of the former president golfing and wearing his signature “Make America Great Again” hat with stills of Vice President Harris.

“But what we really need is a femininomenon,” Roan’s voice declared over the pictures. “A what? A femininomenon!”

The video comes on the heels of President Joe Biden’s announcement on Sunday (July 21) that he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. While the president went on to offer his “full support and endorsement” to Harris in her bid for the presidency, the vice president has not yet secured the party’s nomination. The Democratic National Committee will hold its national convention starting on Aug. 19 in Chicago, where Harris is expected to accept the official nomination.

Chappell Roan is also far from the first pop star who the Harris campaign has used to promote the vice president’s bid. After Charli XCX declared that “Kamala IS brat” on her X account, the veep’s campaign shared a still of the tweet as well as an updated banner photo in the style of the singer’s Brat album art with its account title (Kamala HQ).

For the last few weeks, Harris has also become the subject of a growing number of memes online. Fans have taken a clip of the vice president’s May 2023 remarks swearing in the commissioners for the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics — where she quoted her mother asking her “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” — and edited them into pop songs. Some artists even joined in one the fun, with Kesha posting a video of the clip mixed with her 2010 hit “Blow.”

23 Jul 2024

Warner Chappell Partners With Salaam Remi’s Analog Metaverse

Warner Chappell Music has entered an agreement to jointly administer the majority of the music library of Analog Metaverse, a rights management company founded by producer-songwriter Salaam Remi. The publishing catalog is anchored by Remi’s list of credits, including the debut singles of Amy Winehouse and Miguel, respectively, and one of Alicia Keys‘ best-known songs, plus also includes works by songwriters Dennis Brown, Don Blackman, Bobby “Digital” Dixon and Terri Walker.

Remi co-wrote and produced much of Winehouse’s 2003 debut, Frank, including her debut single “Stronger Than Me,” which won an Ivor Novello Award in 2004, and produced roughly half of the late neo-soul icon’s global breakthrough, 2006’s Back to Black. He also got in on the ground floor of Miguel, co-writing and producing his lead single “All I Want Is You,” featuring J. Cole, and notably co-wrote and co-produced Keys’ 2012 hit “Girl on Fire.”

Trending on Billboard

Analog Metaverse said its catalog features more than 2,000 songs, though it’s unclear how much is included in this joint administration deal. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed. Remi’s team at Analog Metaverse includes Kwame Kandekore as head of legal and business affairs and Josephine Westphal, vp of royalties and administration.

“I’ve personally known Salaam for more than three decades, and it’s such an honor to be entrusted to shepherd not only his own life’s work, but that of legends like Dennis Brown,” said co-chair and CEO Guy Moot. “Carianne [Marshall, WCM Co-Chair/COO] and I are very intentional about the catalogs we work with and really think about how we can grow and tend to them, both today and for the years to come.”

Moot said he sensed a “lot of synergy” between WCM’s approach to asset management and Analog Megaverse’s mission — “it’s great to be joining forces to help writers and their estates realize their full potential.”

Remi added: “Having the benefit of being a songwriter and publisher myself, I fully understand the importance of having partners who not only appreciate the wonderful creations of the icons from the last few generations but also can help us carry them into the future.”

The Analog Metaverse pair-up follows on the heels of WCM’s publishing administration deal with Tom Petty’s estate covering the “vast majority of songs” dotting the late artist’s catalog.