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17 Apr 2023

Utopia Music Sheds 15% of Global Workforce in Latest Round of Layoffs

LONDON — Swiss-based tech company Utopia Music is undertaking a fresh round of job cuts, eliminating around 15% of its global workforce, co-founder and interim chief executive Mattias Hjelmstedt said in a memo to staff on Monday.  

Hjelmstedt said the cost-trimming measures follow a review of the organization’s business and form part of an ongoing “strategic shift” towards a focus on delivering financial services for labels, publishers and distributors. Billboard understands that around 100 jobs are being cut.   

In the staff memo, which has been seen by Billboard, Hjelmstedt says that Utopia’s distribution companies are not affected by the staff cuts. They include Proper Music Group, the United Kingdom’s leading independent physical music distributor, which provides distribution services for 1,000-plus indie labels and service companies, and Cinram Novum, which provides warehouse, fulfilment and distribution services to a range of labels, including UMG, Sony Music Entertainment and [PIAS]. 

Monday’s announcement is the second round of layoffs to take place at Utopia in the past six months. 

In November, the Zug, Switzerland-based tech company cut its workforce by around 20%, representing about 230 jobs. That was followed by a restructuring of Utopia’s business into two separate divisions: Music Services and Royalty Platform in December and the exit of former CEO Markku Mäkeläinen in January. Earlier this month, U.K.-based Roberto Neri announced that he too was leaving his position as CEO of Utopia’s Music Services division to join French music company Believe.  

The start of this year has also seen Utopia, whose motto is “Fair pay for every play,” divest two of the 15 companies it acquired over the past two years during a frenetic buying spree. On Feb. 7, Utopia announced that it had sold U.S.-based music database platform ROSTR — which has a directory of artists, managers, booking agents and record labels — back to ROSTR’s founders for an undisclosed sum.  

Last month, French music company Believe acquired U.K.-based publisher Sentric, which represents more than four million songs and over 400,000 songwriters in more than 200 territories, from Utopia in a deal worth €47 million ($51 million). Utopia owned Liverpool-based Sentric Music Group — which also has offices in London, Hamburg, New York and Los Angeles – for just over a year before selling it to Believe.  

“Today’s market requires that companies that embarked on a hiring spree during ‘hyper growth’ now restructure,” wrote Hjelmstedt. “We are a company that is not afraid to adjust when necessary. That means we take active decisions, however hard they may be, to ensure we can deliver our vision to serve the music industry.”  

Hjelmstedt went on to say that adjusting to these strategic changes “has been a big, but necessary undertaking” that has optimized the company’s client offering “and already seen an uplift in customers.”  

Referencing recent reports by Scandinavian news outlet Breakit that some Utopia employees had not been paid and the company’s Swedish arm, Utopia R&D Tech, owes 8 million SEK ($770,000) to the Swedish tax authorities, the CEO said “all outstanding tax debts have been cleared” and legacy issues regarding staff payments were “in the process of being cleaned up.”     

“We continue to actively work on this process to ensure that we never find ourselves in this position again,” said Hjelmstedt, adding that the company – which had a workforce of around 1,000 employees internationally prior to sale of Sentric – will soon share information on “commercial initiatives, deals, and sales strategies” that will drive future revenue growth. 

Read the memo in full here:  

Dear Utopians, 

Since taking on additional responsibilities as your Executive Chairman, I’ve been committed to sharing the steps we must take for Utopia to become a profitable and sustainable business. The new leadership team and I have had to make some important, and sometimes very tough, decisions as part of this ongoing process. Today I need to share news of that nature.  

Together, we’ve very carefully reviewed our organization against our refocused product and commercial roadmaps, and specific needs, and must share the unfortunate news that, as part of this strategic shift, we need to say goodbye to around 15% of our Utopian colleagues. Our distribution companies are not affected by this review.  

Thomas and I created Utopia by combining two of our great loves – music and technology – and we’ve built it together with you. That’s why this is the most difficult decision we’ve had to make so far, and I fully appreciate that after these past few months this will be hard to read. If you are one of the affected individuals: Please know that this is in no way based on your individual performance – we hired you because we value you and you are great at what you do – this is about doing what is necessary to secure the future of the company. We’re truly sorry to see you go and feel both humbled and grateful for all the amazing work you have done for Utopia. 

It’s been very hard to see how Utopia was treated last year and you already know how I feel about decisions taken that put us in a difficult situation. Additionally,  like the rest of the tech industry, we’re facing challenges brought on by changed market conditions. We’ve seen several waves of redundancies from companies large and small – Meta, for example, recently announced its “year of efficiency” to cater to its long-term vision. Today’s market requires that companies that embarked on a hiring spree during “hyper growth” now restructure. The likes of Spotify, Microsoft, and PayPal (and so many others) now need to adapt to the new reality of focused sustainable growth – just like we have to at Utopia. We are a company that is not afraid to adjust when necessary. That means we take active decisions, however hard they may be, to ensure we can deliver our vision to serve the music industry with technology for processing royalties, distributing music, and facilitating Fair Pay for Every Play while reducing complexity for our customers.

Adjusting to these changes has been a big, but necessary undertaking. We’ve sharpened our strategic focus these past three months through targeted sales (ROSTR and Sentric) – bringing in further capital as an additional benefit – and we  appointed a new, mature leadership team that’s equipped to move Utopia towards profitability. We have optimized our offering and already seen an uplift in customers – we have strong products on the market that we will continue to improve, a top-of-the-line platform, a world-class distribution arm that represents 98% of UK labels (including all majors), and a plan to first break even and then grow even further, sustainably. The legacy from last year is in the process of being cleaned up. All outstanding tax debts have been cleared, including our financial obligations in Sweden. We continue to actively work on this process to ensure that we never find ourselves in this position again. We’re humbled and grateful to all of you who stepped up to support this large, strategic shift, and have shown patience while we do so.  

Soon we will share more information on commercial initiatives, deals, and sales strategies that will drive Utopia’s revenue growth. But for now, let’s allow ourselves time to reflect and give the great people that will unfortunately have to leave us a proper goodbye. Some colleagues will receive difficult news and some will lose teammates and friends, so please be there for them.  

I want to express my sincere apologies to everyone affected. Utopia was built to be a high-impact company and we have attracted extremely talented people who we truly appreciate and respect. That’s why this decision is so hard to make. I know you will have a lot of questions, please know that more information on next steps will be provided by the P&C team shortly.  

Take care of yourselves and each other, 

Mattias 

17 Apr 2023

Adele Sings Along to Katy Perry’s ‘Teenage Dream’ During Night Out in Miami Beach: Watch

Adele is living her teenage dream…with the help of some adult beverages. The 34-year-old superstar was spotted having the time of her life this weekend at a gay bar in Miami Beach, enjoying drinks, lighting up the dance floor and happily singing along to pop hits like Katy Perry‘s 2010 smash.

Long hair tossed over her shoulders, Adele was captured in one video belting to a remixed “Teenage Dream,” sped-up with an appropriately danceable electronic beat added underneath Perry’s iconic lyrics. “I can’t sleep, let’s run away and don’t ever look back,” the musician sang along, making up corresponding dance moves as she went.

Fan photos and videos of the “Easy On Me” singer’s night out pinned her to Twist nightclub in South Beach, with one partygoer tweeting: “adele singing with us at twist???? i LOVE to see it.” That same fan also shared a video of the 16-time Grammy winner hitting all the high notes to Sia and David Guetta’s 2011 blockbuster hit “Titanium,” encouraging the crowd around her to sing along, too.

Though it seems the star is currently enjoying some time down south, she’ll soon be headed back out west to resume her acclaimed Las Vegas residency. A few weeks ago, while closing out her initial run of Weekends With Adele shows at Caesars Palace, Adele announced that an additional 34 shows starting June 16 would be added to the lineup.

“Playing to 4,000 people for 34 nights is not enough, and I know that, so I am coming back,” she told fans at a recent show. “I’ll be back for a few weeks in June, and I’m going to film it and I’m going to release it to make sure that anyone who wants to see this show can see it.”

See clips of Adele enjoying her night out in Miami below:

17 Apr 2023

Ahmad Jamal, Influential Jazz Pianist Dies at 92

Influential jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal has died at age 92. The New York Times reported that Jamal died at his home in Ashley Falls, MA on Sunday April 16) due to prostate cancer.

A beloved piano player and composer, Jamal’s unique sound influenced fellow jazz greats Miles Davis and McCoy Tyner, as well as a generation of crate-digging hip-hop lyricists and producers who sampled his music, including J Dilla (who snagged Jamal’s 1974 tune “Swahililand” for De La Soul’s “Stakes Is High”), Nas (“The World is Yours”) and DJ Premiere (for Gang Starr’s “Soliloquy of Chaos”) among many others.

Renowned for a light touch that favored lyricism over a barrage of notes — in contrast to the heady, sometimes hectic sound of bebop that ruled when he began playing as a teen in the 1940s — Jamal sought to create more space with a style that has been credited as one of the most admired in the genre’s history.

After getting his start performing as Fritz Jones in the late 1940s, Jamal began to develop what the Times described as a “laid-back, accessible style, with its dense chords, its wide dynamic range and above all its judicious use of silence,” which led to some dismissive, negative reviews from the jazz press early on, including writer Martin Williams describing his sound as “chic and shallow.”

That criticism would not stick, however, as more and more jazz greats began to cite Jamal as an inspiration, including Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett. Legendary trumpeter Davis — who became a friend and who later recorded Jamal’s songs — once said “all my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal,” the paper noted.

Jamal was born Frederick Russell Jones in Pittsburgh, PA on July 2, 1930 and began playing piano at an early age, going pro at 14 and hitting on the road in 1948 with George Hudson’s Orchestra after graduating from high school. A move to Chicago in 1950 brought more work, as well as a conversion to Islam that birthed Jones’ new stage name. His piano-guitar-bass trio, the Three Strings, caught the ear of legendary producer/talent scout John Hammond, who signed them to Okeh record label, which launched a long and fruitful recording career for more than a dozen labels.

Jamal first full-length album, Ahmad Jamal Plays, was released on the Parrot label in 1955 — and later rereleased on Chess Records under a different name — and featured the original track “New Rhumba” and covers of such jazz standards as George and Ira Gershwin’s “A Foggy Day” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and Cole Porter’s “All of You.”

It was 1958’s live album, At the Pershing: But Not for Me, which was recorded at the famed Chicago nightclub, however, that introduced the world to Jamal’s sound. The record spent more than two years on the Billboard 200 album chart, a rare feat for a jazz album. The album collection featured the pianist’s best-known track, his energetic take on the standard “Poinciana.”

Over the course of his career Jamal would release more than 60 albums and earn a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master award, as well as lifetime achievement honor from the Grammy Awards and a Living Jazz Legend designation from the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

Jamal continued to perform and record well into his 80s, releasing his final album, the mostly solo piano collection Ballades, in 2019, which included a solo version of “Poinciana” that served as a poignant bookend to a prodigious, acclaimed career that also included the founding of several record labels and the short-lived Alhambra jazz club in Chicago. Two double-disc compilations of previously unreleased live recordings in Seattle, Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse (1963-1964) and the sequel, (1965-66), were released last year.

Listen to the Jamal Trio perform “But Not For Me” and “Poinciana” below.

17 Apr 2023

Aespa Unveils Third Mini Album Title & Release Date: Here’s When It Arrives

Get ready, MYs! aespa is gearing up to release its third mini album, and it’s arriving much sooner than you think. On Monday (April 17), the K-pop group — which consists of members Giselle, Karina, NingNing and Winter — announced the title of the forthcoming project and dates pertaining to its release.

“aespa to release 3rd mini album ‘MY WORLD’ on May 8th and warm up for the comeback with the pre-released single ‘Welcome To MY World’ on May 2nd! Pre-orders start today!” the quartet’s official Twitter account revealed, alongside a series of teaser images of the album title, MY WORLD, in balloon lettering.

The album announcement was released alongside the project’s introductory teaser, which featured Giselle, Karina, NingNing and Winter in white outfits surrounded by a rocky landscape and other arid locations. Guitar-based instrumentals fade in toward the end of the brief trailer, as NingNing delicately sings the title of the pre-release single, “Welcome To MY World.”

MY WORLD will mark aespa’s second album following the release of Girls in 2022. The set ranked at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200, and spent a total of three weeks on the chart. The K-pop stars most recently released single “Hold On Tight,” which appeared on the Tetris original film soundtrack.

The album news is likely a sigh of relief for MYs, as asepa debuted several new and unreleased tracks during its SYNK: HYPER LINE concert back in February.

See aespa’s album announcement and its intro teaser in the tweets below.

17 Apr 2023

Usher Announces Four Exclusive European Shows in Paris

After taking over Las Vegas with his sold-out residency in 2021, Usher looks to expand his dominance globally by announcing his new European mini-jaunt, Rendez-Vous Á Paris. 

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Kicking off Sept. 24 in Paris at La Seine Musicale, the four-date festivity will include Hot 100 chart-topping hits “Yeah,” “You Got It Bad,” and more from Usher’s decorated 30-year career. European fans can experience never-before-seen costumes, state-of-the-art lighting and special effects. Fan presale starts on Wednesday (Apr. 19) at 10 am, while Live Nation, Ticketmaster, and venue presales begin Thursday (Apr. 20) at 10 am. General tickets will be available to everyone on Friday (Apr. 21) at 10 am. You can purchase here.

Earlier this year, Usher announced 15 additional dates to his sold-out My Way residency. The new shows will take place in June and October.

“I like the idea of what I’ve found in Las Vegas,” said Usher in an interview with GQ earlier this year. “It gives me an opportunity to settle. I have children now. I got a life, so [I like] being able to have a few days in certain places and being able to celebrate those places and enjoy them. At this age, you try to hold on to the moments.”

Usher recently released his new single “GLU” and is coming off a headlining performance at J. Cole’s Dreamville Festival earlier this month. With a potential new album on the way, Usher hopes to give avid fans great music, as R&B supremacy isn’t on his mind anymore.

“No. 1 is always going to mean a lot to everybody. But it doesn’t, and shouldn’t, change your passion,” he told Billboard in 2021. It hasn’t changed mine, whether I put out a record that hit No. 1 instantly or took time to get there. I have a record company that’s willing to fight for it and get it heard, to connect with my audience and prospective new fans. I’ve tried a lot of stuff. There’s a way to play in R&B where you can be as creative as you want. Don’t cut yourself off — don’t feel you need to be tied so authentically to one thing.” 

Rendez-Vouz Á Paris at La Seine Musicale:
 
September 24
September 25
September 27
September 28

17 Apr 2023

Ahmad Jamal, Legendary Jazz Pianist, Has Died

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Ahmad Jamal, a legendary Jazz pianist who released a bevy of songs heavily sampled in the Hip-Hop sphere, has died after combating prostate cancer according to reports. Ahmad Jamal remained an active and curious musician well into his 80s, including a Kennedy Center set he expertly performed two years ago.

Ahmad Jamal (formerly Frederick Russell Jones) was born on July 2, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pa. According to biographical accounts, Jamal began playing piano at the age of 3 and became a professional player at 14. Shortly after high school, Jamal’s touring career began and his travels led him to Islam, thus changing his name to Ahmad Jamal and keeping with the Muslim traditions of prayer.

In 1951, Jamal’s recording career would officially begin, culminating in his touring nationally and around the world behind the success of the At the Pershing: But Not for Me album. Jamal was also known as a prudent investor and used his fortunes to make investments across Africa. In 1962, Jamal stepped away from music for more than two years, returning to recording with the release of three albums in 1965, including the acclaimed Extensions album.

In 1973, Jamal released an instrumental version of the theme song for the 1970 film M*A*S*H*, a song originally known as “Suicide Is Painless” by The Mash and featured on the film’s original soundtrack.

The American Jazz Masters award, National Endowment for the Arts gave Jamal an American Jazz Masters award in 1994. In 2007, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts named Jamal a Living Jazz Legend. In 2017, Jamal was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by The Recording Academy.

Jamal’s music was famously sampled by Hip-Hop acts such as De La Soul, Pete Rock, Nas, 9th Wonder, Earl Sweatshirt, and countless others over the past two decades and more. Jamal’s last official recording was 2019’s Ballades album.

According to a report from the Washington Post, Jamal’s daughter, Sumayah Jamal, confirmed the passing of her father.

Ahmad Jamal was 92.

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Photo: MARTIN BUREAU / Getty

17 Apr 2023

Scam Vibes: Ja Rule Says He Knows “Nothing” About Billy McFarland’s New Fyre Festival

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“If at first you don’t succeed, try again” is generally a good motto to live by, but we’re not sure if the man behind the ill-fated Fyre Festival of 2017 should actually be taking heed to the age-old proverb.

Recently the co-founder of the original Fyre Festival, Billy McFarland confirmed that he’d be bringing back the real life “Hunger Games” that had social media talking back in 2017, but this time around his partner-in-crime, Ja Rule is distancing himself from what could be another struggle jamboree in the islands. Speaking to People about McFarland’s attempt to resurrect the controversial event that featured fancy government cheese sandwiches for its attendees, Ja had no qualms about not being a part of Billy’s brainchild.

“I don’t know nothing about it!” the 47-year-old rapper tells PEOPLE at TuneCore’s 50 Years of Hip Hop event in New York City Thursday night. “I don’t know nothing about it. I ain’t in it!”

Ja Rule’s finally doing shows again and y’all think he’s gonna risk the little bit of popularity he’s gotten back for another struggle debacle?! Not bloody likely!

Naturally McFarland caught wind of Ja Rule’s comments and took to Twitter to formally deny him entrance to the party that Ja didn’t even want to attend by writing “definitely not invited.”

The question is, who wants to be invited? Scamming dozens of investors and thousands of would-be festival-goers with promises of a music-infused weekend complete with big name music artists and luxury accommodations at the Bahamian island of Great Exuma, McFarland’s original Fyre Festival proved to be a disaster. The luxury accommodations were basically FEMA tents, the food provided was straight out of an episode of Survivor, and the only music guest actually involved was Ja Rule who didn’t even make the trip out to the island.

Eventually that same year McFarland and Rule were hit with a $100 million class-action lawsuit and the following year McFarland pleaded guilty to wire fraud and other fraud charges relating to a different ticket-selling scam that July. Billy was sentenced to six years behind bars and was released in 2022 after serving four.

Luckily for Ja, he ducked charges related to the festival and has since gone on to regain some of his music momentum as of late.

How Billy McFarland plans to make things right with another Fyre Festival is anyone’s guess but if you’re willing to give that man your money and fly out to a tropical setting knowing it could lead to the government rescuing you at some point, that’s on you.

Would y’all be willing to go to a Fyre Festival without Ja Rule’s blessing? Let us know in the comments section below.

17 Apr 2023

Bad Bunny Spotted Getting Cozy With Kendall Jenner at Coachella

Romance rumors about Bad Bunny and Kendall Jenner definitely won’t be dying down any time soon. As the 29-year-old Latin music megastar took over Coachella this weekend as one of the festival’s headliners, the 27-year-old Kardashians reality star was spotted at his side numerous times.

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The pair were captured at several different moments throughout the weekend by onlooking fans. At one point, Benito — his mouth concealed by a checkered bandana — whispered something in Jenner’s ear. In a video taken after sunset, the “Me Porto Bonito” musician was filmed holding Jenner from behind as the couple swayed along to Frank Ocean’s Sunday night (April 16) set.

Two nights prior to that, Bad Bunny became Coachella’s first ever solo Latino musician to serve as a headliner, performing on the main stage Friday (April 14). Supporting him from the crowd during his history-making set was Jenner, filmed by fans dancing along to his biggest tracks.

Bad Bunny and the 818 Tequila founder have been stoking romance rumors since February, when they were seen at a restaurant with Justin and Hailey Bieber. Since then, they’ve been spotted spending time together, most recently trying out horseback riding during an outing in Hidden Hills, Calif.

It’s worth noting, though, that during his Weekend 1 performance, the Puerto Rican star took a moment to remind fans that what they see about his life on social media is only a fraction of the true story. “Humbly speaking, people think they know the lives of famous people, but they don’t,” he told his crowd.

“They don’t know what we feel, what we live through,” he continued. “They will never know what a heart can feel. Don’t believe everything you hear. You won’t get to know the real me through a video on Instagram, an interview or a TikTok.”

Read more about his headlining Coachella performance here.

17 Apr 2023

Live Nation Defeats $25M Lawsuit Over Concept for All-Women Country Music Festival

A federal appeals has rejected a lawsuit claiming Live Nation was “stringing along” a country singer when the company considered – but ultimately passed on – her proposal for an all-female country music festival in Chicago.

Rae Solomon claimed the concert giant led her to believe it would invest in her idea – a “modern” riff on the famed Lilith Fair with a “predominantly country spin” – only to unfairly back out later. She says Live Nation then stole the concept when it organized an all-women day at 2019’s Lake Shake Festival.

But in a ruling Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that Live Nation had not made “any misrepresentations in its dealings with Solomon.” The court said Live Nation had offered only “sales talk, future intention, and opinion,” not concrete plans to work with her.

“An expression of interest in participating in a project is not a promise to do so,” the court wrote. “The statement represents nothing more than Live Nation’s interest in the project.”

All of Live Nation’s interactions with Solomon were “non-specific and noncommittal nature,” the court wrote, and the company “did not conceal its questions, doubts, or lack of commitment” to her project.

Solomon pitched the idea of her “Zenitheve” festival to Live Nation’s Women Nation Fund, a program that aims to help “underrepresented female entrepreneur” in the live music industry. And Live Nation’s interest was initially piqued; in early meetings in 2018, company reps told her that Zenitheve was “right down the fairway for the kind of stuff we’re interested in” and “exactly what the fund is set up for.”

But according to court documents, Solomon soon ran into hurdles. She envisioned a lineup including Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris and other female country stars, but she had not actually booked artists to perform. And after meetings in which Live Nation suggested “keep[ing] the conversation going,” the company soon expressed serious doubts.

Michael Wichser, Live Nation’s senior vice president for mergers and acquisitions, said Solomon’s business plan was “lackluster” and “worried about Solomon’s abilities to obtain artists or get a team in place.” Live Nation’s chief communications officer Carrie Davis, meanwhile, thought her idea was not “compelling or unique” and noted that Solomon had not “confirmed any sponsorships or artists.”

A month after Live Nation formally passed on the idea, the company announced the plan for the all-women day at Lake Shake, a yearly country festival in Chicago. Solomon claims the move led her investors to pull out of Zenitheve, forcing her to halt the project.

She quickly sued, claiming Live Nation had made intentional and negligent misrepresentations to her and demanding more than $25 million in damages. Among other things, she claimed that Live Nation had acted the way that it did so that it could copy her plan.

But in Thursday’s decision, the Sixth Circuit said that motive was directly contradicted by the facts of the case.

“[Solomon] claims that Live Nation misrepresented any intention of working with [her] because it had only one motivation from the start: stringing Solomon along and stealing her idea,” the appeals court wrote. “That speculation, however, crumbles against Live Nation’s uncontradicted evidence that the organizer of the Lake Shake Festival, Brian O’Connell, had no knowledge of the Zenitheve proposal.”

17 Apr 2023

Doja Cat Laughs Off ‘Demonic’ Accusations After Sharing Monstrous New Tattoo

Doja Cat is above the demonic discourse — if anything, it amuses her. The “Need to Know” rapper inadvertently reignited satanic panic on Sunday (April 16) after revealing her new tattoo of a scaled, animal figure crossbred with female attributes, and she had some choice words for those claiming she is engaging in unholy behavior.

In response to a tweet regarding her forthcoming album, one Twitter user enquired, “What’s the point of writing your music and creating something if it isn’t considered timeless?! I HOPE THAT THIS ALBUM has no demonic influence. If it does, not worth listening to. I said what I said. If you don’t like it, take your grievances to @god and @jesus.” Doja’s response? “Slay girl yas.”

A separate user also questioned the 27-year-old rapper’s recent postings, writing, “I show up when it’s time for their soul to GO TO HELL. Now play on that @dojacat, the only person in a ritual putting demonic s–t on my page,” to which Doja replied, “Honestly werk.” The rapper later made a follow-up to both tweets, asserting that she loves when people accuse of her of being satanic. “If ur calling me demonic honestly werk cuz like i love that u ate fr,” she wrote.

After showing off her tattoo on Instagram, Doja made a follow-up post that contained an explanation regarding her ink’s origins, captioning the photos, “your fear is not my problem.” A slide in the carousel explained that the semi-animal creature that now lives on her forearm is inspired by Fortunio Liceti’s 1655 Monsters series, where he made illustrations inspired by deformities in nature.

Some fans on Instagram supported the rapper’s tattoo — and open mindset — in the comments section. “People want to scream the words demonic or illuminate [sic] at the sight of anything they’re unfamiliar with,” one user wrote. Another fan added, “Quite a wholesome and profound inspiration to draw from. Finding beauty in our imperfections. Makes me even more excited for this album.”

See Doja’s new tattoo here, and her tweeted responses below.