African Muisc
Ahead of the arrival of her eponymous debut album on Friday (March 22), Tyla is reveling in romance in the Travis Scott-assisted “Water (Remix)” video.
The blue-tinted clip arrived on Tuesday (March 19). Tyla sensually dances through the rain and gets intimate with La Flame while they’re separated by a glass window.
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A shirtless Scott disregards the drizzle and pushes up on Tyla to deliver his intoxicating verse, staring through his white shades into her soul. “You keep it wet, that’s a real-life challenge/ All that ass gotta pour out of gallons/ Beauty in the top, keep balance,” he raps.
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The burgeoning amapiano/R&B star initially didn’t want to have a “Water” remix, but after Travis reached out, she couldn’t resist wanting to hear what he’d bring to the record.
“I didn’t really think of doing a remix. I was like, ‘Nah, like, let’s just have “Water,” it’s cool, whatever.’ But then people were reaching out and I was like, ‘oh my word, oh my word,’” Tyla told Complex in December.
“And I started getting excited and then Travis reached out and I literally couldn’t… like, I could not say no; his music is crazy. So after he reached out, we sent him that open verse and he came back and he killed it, you know, he killed it.”
“Water” was released by Tyla last July, with the Cactus Jack boss hopping on the official remix in November. Marshmellow also joined in on a second remix.
Tyla’s breakout hit has remained a Billboard Hot 100 staple for over five months. The track sits at No. 17 on this week’s chart after reaching a peak of No. 7.
“From the beginning of the record-making process, we made it a point to find the best chemistry between creatives from different backgrounds to reflect the worldly influences you hear in the song,” Epic Records president Ezekiel Lewis said to Billboard in January. “That is a key factor in enabling it to appeal to audiences not only in the U.S. but across the globe.”
Tyla’s self-titled debut will be unleashed on Friday (March 22) with features from Gunna, Tems, Becky G and more.
Watch the “Water (Remix)” video below.
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The Universal Music Group purchased a majority stake in Nigerian record company Mavin Global, the iconic label founded by Don Jazzy that is home to Rema, Ayra Starr, Crayon and Ladipoe, among others. The deal is expected to be completed by the third quarter, pending regulatory approval, the companies announced.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, Billboard reported in October that Mavin was being shopped by Shot Tower Capital at a valuation north of $125 million, with a sale price in the region of $150 million to $200 million; it was unclear if publishing was involved in the deal. As part of the investment arrangement, Don Jazzy — who founded Mavin in 2012, and also serves as CEO — and COO Tega Oghenejobo will continue to run the label.
“Our criteria for identifying partners is straightforward: great artists, great entrepreneurs, great people,” UMG chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge said in a statement announcing the deal. “With Don Jazzy, Tega, the Mavin Global team and their artist roster, we’ve found ideal partners with whom to grow together. Mavin’s brilliant artists have been catalysts in the transformation of Afrobeats into a global phenomenon and we’re thrilled to welcome them into the Universal Music Group family.”
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Mavin had already established a relationship with UMG, with Rema’s “Calm Down” — the biggest Afrobeats song of all time, which reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 last year — initially distributed by Virgin Music, with its remix featuring Selena Gomez licensed to Interscope; Starr, meanwhile, has a deal in place with Republic. “Calm Down” has racked up more than 1 billion on-demand streams in the U.S. alone since its release, with its global count many multiples higher.
The investment is designed to spur Mavin’s growth around the world, according to a press release, with focuses on both Mavin’s Artist Academy, which nurtures its roster in various musical and performance skills, and its executive leadership team, which is aimed at growing the next generation of African leaders in the music business.
“With our proven history of collaborations within the UMG family, we have a strong belief that they are the ideal partner for the next phase of our growth, given the diversity and potential of our business,” Oghenejobo said in a statement. “UMG is home to some of the world’s foremost music entrepreneurs and artists, making them a perfect match for our aspirations. By collaborating with UMG, we are dedicated to cultivating a vibrant creative environment that propels African music to new heights on the global stage.”
Winning the Mavin auction catapults UMG deeper into the Nigerian Afrobeats scene — the umbrella genre that encompasses Afropop, Afro fusion, high life and others that continues to explode around the globe. In the past several years, artists such as Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy have blossomed into global superstars, while the likes of Rema, Starr, Tems, Tyla, Ckay, Asake and Fireboy DML have led a wave of young, emerging talent coming from the African continent. The movement has gained momentum to the point that the Recording Academy introduced a new Grammy Awards category for best African music performance, which was awarded to Tyla’s “Water” at the honors earlier this month.
Additional reporting by Ed Christman.
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