State Champ Radio

by DJ Frosty

Current track

Title

Artist

Current show
blank

State Champ Radio Mix

1:00 pm 7:00 pm

Current show
blank

State Champ Radio Mix

1:00 pm 7:00 pm


Features

Page: 7

Roughly 30 years ago, Boyz II Men seduced and cajoled their way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’ll Make Love to You.” They enjoyed the view from No. 1 for 14 weeks — tying a record at the time — before dethroning themselves with another soaring, imploring ballad, “On Bended Knee.” In 1994, it wasn’t unusual for a vocal quartet like Boyz II Men to top the Hot 100, or get close to it; roughly a third of all top 10 hits that year were the work of R&B groups, rock bands, or ensembles in other configurations. 
“When I grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, there was a constant barrage of groups,” says Michael Paran, a manager whose clients include Jodeci, a quartet that vied with Boyz II Men on the charts. R&B-influenced pop groups like the Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys dominated the late 1990s. But the barrage started to let up in the 2000s, according to an analysis of top 10 hits between 1991 and 2023. Solo artists like Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake — who got his start in a group before striking out on his own — set a new standard for pop stardom, while rappers like Eminem and Nelly helped hip-hop reach commercial peaks that suddenly seemed out of reach for most rock bands.

And on today’s Hot 100, groups are an endangered species: Since 2018, groups account for less than 8% of all top 10 singles. The last ensemble to summit the chart was Glass Animals with “Heat Waves” in March 2022. No group scored a top 10 hit as a lead artist in the first half of 2024, and there is not a single group anywhere on the latest Hot 100.

Trending on Billboard

There are many reasons for the demise of groups. The decline of rock, a historically group-focused genre, as a commercial force on the Hot 100 has certainly played a big part. But perhaps more important, advances in music technology have given artists in all genres the ability to conjure the sound of any instrument they desire without the need for collaborators. And social media, a key aspect of modern promotion, tends to reward individual efforts rather than collective enterprise. “Social media is about your voice,” says Ray Daniels, a manager and former major-label A&R. “Not y’all’s voice.” 

% of Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 Hits by Groups

Getty Images

In addition, aspiring artists have a better understanding of the financial realities of groups, which are costly to develop and then split any profits multiple ways. And labels aren’t matchmaking groups the way they did decades ago. 

“I’ve been in bands, put the bands together, got the record deals, done the whole thing,” says Jonathan Daniel, co-founder of Crush Music, a management company with a roster that includes both major groups (Weezer) and star soloists (Miley Cyrus). “Trust me, if I was a kid now, I would never be in a group — I would be solo all the way. I wouldn’t need these other guys.” 

Groups always used to have a practical purpose: Making a tuneful racket was considerably easier with the help of collaborators playing other instruments or belting harmonies. “Historically you often needed a group to make money — it was almost harder to be a solo artist,” Daniels explains. “You had to have people get together and play the music.”

This has not been the case for some time now. GarageBand hit Mac computers in 2004. Online sites like BeatStars allow vocalists to rent fully formed instrumentals. Artists can make beats and record vocals on their phone. “One guy can go in there and make himself sound like a group if he needs to,” Paran notes.

This can make artists’ lives considerably breezier, because they don’t have to spend time persuading — or arguing with, or massaging the egos of — group members who probably have their own views on songwriting and production. “It’s just much easier to have your own say than to have group members opining on what they want,” says Bill Diggins, longtime manager of TLC.

At the same time that technology has largely nixed the need for musical collaborators, executives believe that the prominence of X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, TikTok and other similar platforms further elevates individuals over groups. “How often are groups doing content together on TikTok?” asks Joey Arbagey, another former A&R who worked with Fifth Harmony, among others.

Even bandmates or singers who are in a group probably work to stoke their own social media presence — which represents a safety net if the group falls apart. “Every artist is focused on building their own numbers,” Arbagey continues. “That kind of destroyed that feeling of creating together.”

And those artists that still want to create with others are often aware of the financial implications of this decision: If they hit it big together, they don’t make nearly as much as if they hit it big alone. “When we were kids, we saw The Rolling Stones and thought, ‘They’re rich, they have a plane,” says Daniel from Crush. “We didn’t go, ‘Well, they have to split all the money five ways, but Elton John doesn’t.’” Today, however, thanks to the internet, “artists are much more cognizant of all facets of the music industry,” Diggins says. 

On the flip side of that, when labels get involved, groups are also more expensive for them to support. “It’s cheaper to be in the business of a solo artist than it is to be in the business of moving multiple people around and styling and marketing multiple people,” says Tab Nkhereanye, a songwriter and senior vp of A&R at BMG.

The heyday of groups also coincided with a time when labels had much more sway over what music was popular — largely because anyone with aspirations to be heard outside their region needed the labels’ deep pockets and close relationships with radio and television. Record companies scouted for talent, helped put groups together, found songs for them to cut, and then pushed them out through dominant mainstream channels. “It was kind of a machine,” Paran says. 

Today, however, U.S. labels aren’t typically involved with artists in the early stages of their careers when they might once have been shunted into a group. Instead, the record company often shows up after acts have already proven their ability to attract a devoted audience, typically through a combination of social media — which, again, caters to individual personalities — and streaming. And on top of that, the influence of traditional outlets like radio and television, which served as the launching pad for so many groups in the past, has nosedived. 

Chris Anokute, a longtime A&R turned manager, points out that “most of the breakout boy bands and girl groups of the last 10 years came from TV shows like The X Factor — One Direction, Fifth Harmony.” “I don’t know if you can break acts like that if mainstream platforms like TV or radio don’t really move the needle in the same way,” he continues. “Everybody was watching when those groups went on TV 10 or 15 years ago,” Arbagey agrees. “Now nobody has cable.” 

There is at least one country where music-based TV shows still drive listening behavior: South Korea continues to pump out groups at a steady clip, and BTS has made nine appearances in the top 10 on the Hot 100 since 2018. (Still, it’s notable that HYBE — the company behind BTS — and Geffen Records are attempting to develop a new girl group in the U.S. via a Netflix series, rather than network television.) In addition, the recent eruption of the catch-all genre Regional Mexican has propelled new ensembles onto the Hot 100, including Eslabon Armado and Grupo Frontera.

And while groups aren’t peppering the Hot 100 with major singles the way they used to, they maintain a prominent presence in another corner of the industry. “The one place that groups still hold a hell of a lot of water is the live experience,” Daniel notes. In the U.S. in the first half of 2024, U2 had the top tour by a wide margin, according to Billboard Boxscore, and Depeche Mode and the Eagles appeared in the top 10 as well. 

While those are all veterans, more recent groups like The 1975 and Fall Out Boy also made it into the top 50. The presence of ensembles on this chart makes sense: On tour, even most solo acts bring backup bands or other musicians to help them bring their songs to life. Musical wunderkinds are few and far between, and crowds aren’t always interested in watching a lone performer sing or rap over a backing track for two hours, so group performance is still common. 

But on the upper reaches of Hot 100, the closest thing to a group is usually a collaboration between two or three high-flying solo acts. “When you don’t see it, then you don’t want to be it,” Nkhereanye says of groups. “These days, it’s sexier to be a solo artist.”  

HipHopWired Featured Video

Source: Bounty Tank / Youtube
HipHopWired got the chance to speak exclusively with YouTube star Bounty Tank, who is preparing to release his new album Kick Door University.
The world of reality television has produced quite a few notable stars, and with that in mind, it’s not hard to see how Bounty Tank is the next one up in that progression of fame. The Cleveland, Ohio native is the star of his own YouTube series (recently added to Tubi) which is in its sixth season and has over 780,000 subscribers including paid members in addition to a social media following of over 1 million subscribers. For Bounty Tank aka Franklin Frazier, becoming a bounty hunter was a pivot after attaining a nursing degree from Hampton University which he attended on a football scholarship. His goal to become a U.S. Marshal was put on hold due to hiring freezes, which led him to the world of bounty hunting.

A desire to serve his community and lead with understanding is at the heart of Bounty Tank’s mission, and that energy has led him to dive further into creating music, which is another passion of his. Beginning in 2019, Bounty Tank started to create and release singles, leading to his first album Skeletons being released in 2021. On the verge of his upcoming album, Kick Door University, HipHopWired got the chance to talk extensively with him about his music and his career.
HipHopWired: With your pivot into getting into rap, what was the inspiration for that? 
Bounty Tank: Honestly, what planted the seed was – “I got my own show, so why pay someone or pay somebody else for music on the show, when I can do my own?” I’ve always had a passion for music, so it just made sense.

HipHopWired: So with that – when you rhyme, what’s the energy that you like to evoke? Every MC pretty much has their own energy that they want to give off to their fans like for you? How would you define that?
Bounty Tank: I have energy just telling stories about what’s going on in my life. I’m a regular guy. So whatever the vibe is, or the story of the lyrics that I’m talking about, I just like to give. I have a lot of laid-back stuff. I got some songs where I’m just amped up. I mean, it just depends on the vibe of the song. So I think I’m naturally just a laid-back, kind of smooth type of rapper.
[embedded content]

HipHopWired: With the album coming out, are we going to get that mixture?
Bounty Tank: The album is called Kick Door University, but the next single coming out, “Mr. Kick Door” is pure energy – I’m talking about “Okay, I need my money”, (laughs) and it’s full energy. It’ll be a mixture. There’ll be some smooth songs on there too.
HipHopWired: Pivoting back to the show – how’s the feedback been from fans who’ve stuck with you starting the show, seeing you evolve into this artist, in addition to being in the bounty hunter profession, how’s that feedback been?
Bounty Tank: Everybody’s excited. Everyone’s happy to be back. I’ve been gone for six months filming. So everyone’s excited man, they’re loving it. I mean, they like the excitement that the show brings, they like the music, and the energy coming with it. So yeah, it’s a good feedback. It’s crazy.
HipHopWired: One thing that I got from just getting the chance to watch some of the show -the one thing that stands forth is you pretty much being that presence of a guiding light. You’re doing it in a way that most people who have their own preconceptions of being a bounty hunter have them shattered. That is amazing to see. Is it challenging at times to keep that consistent?
Bounty Tank: No, that’s just embedded in me. At the core, I just like to help people so it’s not hard. You know, the people that receive it, they’ll get it and the people that don’t receive it, they just don’t get it. But I’ve always had that door open and lane open. So that’s easy for me because that’s just it’s me, it’s my core. 
HipHopWired: And you’ve gotten some great feedback already from like Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre giving you a shout-out. Has there been anybody else, you know, from the rap world that’s been giving you the green light, like, “keep going”? 
Bounty Tank: It’s a lot of people that watch the show, man…Justina Valentine. she rocks with the show, man. Nick Cannon. There’s a ton of people. I was talking to DJ Drama a couple of months ago, he was on tour and he was watching the show, man. So it’s a lot of people tapped in. 

HipHopWired: So, what are your go-to songs, aside from your music, what are your go-to Hip-Hop tracks?  Something like, “I need to get my day started or maybe I want to wind down a little bit?”
Bounty Tank: Man, it depends on the vibe, what I’m doing. If I’m on some therapeutic, trying to chill and get my mind right, I’m going to listen to some J. Cole or Kendrick Lamar…it depends on the vibe and really what I have going on to get my day started. Just to get pumped up, man, I might throw some Lil Wayne. The Carter. 
[embedded content]

Cash Cobain is up to his old antics again. The Bronx rapper and producer has been known to post snippets of songs he’s making on social media. Sometimes he releases the finished product, sometimes he doesn’t. So there’s no telling if he will ever officially drop his remix of Laila!’s viral “Not My Problem” song. […]

Last summer, salute spent two days in a Tokyo hotel room putting the finishing touches on their debut album. This may seem like a glamorous situation. It wasn’t.
“It sounds cool, finishing your album in Tokyo,” the Manchester-based producer says, “But the last thing I want to be doing in Tokyo is sitting at my desk. I wanted to be outside.”

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Talking to Billboard over Zoom from London on a recent Friday afternoon, salute says these tedious finishing touches were the hardest part of making an album that emerged during writing sessions with friends at a massive house in the English countryside, where a No Social Media rule was put in place. After additional sessions in London, the project, True Magic, reaches its final stage of completion Friday (July 12) when it’s released via Ninja Tune.

A 14-track collection of shimmering, sometimes tough, occasionally sexy and always sleek music that fuses house, garage, synth and French touch, the album is the culmination of nine years worth of single and EP releases, a steadily growing profile and the connections the producer has made along the way.

Trending on Billboard

“Most of the people on the album are just friends of mine,” they say of the set’s collaborators — a list that includes longtime pal Rina Sawayama (“one of my closest friends in music”), Disclosure, who initially got in touch by DM-ing an invite to their L.A. studio, and other friends including Sam Gellaitry, Empress Of, Karma Kid and Leilah.

Following 2024 U.S. sets that included salute’s Coachella debut in April and a performance at the Four Tet & Friends festival in New York this May, True Magic will bring them back to the States this fall for a nine-date run that ends at III Points in Miami.

Amid the release, salute talks about making True Magic, using an inclusion rider to ensure they play on more inclusive lineups and why they’re happy about not being an overnight success.

[embedded content]

1. Where are you in the world right now, and what’s the setting like?

I’m in London at the moment for a show that I’m playing tonight. This is a very boring hotel lobby.

2. What is the first album or piece of music you bought for yourself, and what’s the medium?

This is so cringe: My parents are super Christian, so they wouldn’t let me buy any secular music. I wanted to buy hip-hop for example, and had to buy Christian hip-hop. I was nine or ten, and they took me to this Christian bookstore, and I bought this CD and had no idea who any of the artists were on it. But that’s not the album I recognize as being my first. The one I recognize as my first is Aaliyah’s [2001] self-titled.

3. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid, and what do they think of what you do for a living now?

My dad was a cab driver, and my mom was a nurse. I think at first they were confused, because they hadn’t considered you could make a living with dance music. They were probably worried about me, so they weren’t super supportive at first. But further down the line when they understood that it made me happy, that I was able to sustain myself and there was an actual job, they supported it, which is great.

4. What is the first non-gear thing you bought for yourself when you started making money as an artist?

I bought these expensive New Balance shoes. I was 18, went into the shop in Vienna and did that thing where you buy something without looking at the price. I had all this cash in my hand, and I was like “I’m going to get those shoes, they look amazing.” They ended up costing me like, 250 Euros, which was so much money to me at the time. I was like, “F–k it.” I committed to them. I still own them, and I still wear them sometimes. When I put them on for the first time, I felt rich.

5. What is the last song that you listened to?

I was just listening to the new Kaytranada album — the last song was “Lover/Friend” by Kaytranada and Rochelle Jordan. The album is absolutely amazing.

6. If you had to recommend one album to someone looking to get into dance music, what album would you give them?

Settle by Disclosure, it is your best bet. That album perfectly combined house, garage and pop music, and I don’t think anyone has come close to doing that, in terms of U.K.-leaning dance music. The first Kaytranada album, 99.9%, was really important music for electronic music. But I think overall, in terms of cultural impact, it’s Settle.

7. Amid your rise and all of your success, what have been the most surreal moments?

I was in Colombia playing a festival and sightseeing, so I was in Medellín for a week. I was on the metro at like, 2:00 p.m. listening to music, and this guy calls out to me and says, “This is going to sound strange, but you’re not a DJ, are you?” I was like, “Yeah.” He shows me his phone, and he was listening to one of my songs. I was on the metro, in the backend of the city, thousands of miles away from home, and this guy is telling me how much he loves my music and how excited he is to see me perform.

That happening is bizarre and very humbling as well – people coming up to me and telling me how my music has helped them. Also going to places that are so far away, where I don’t speak the language and there’s a complete cultural disconnect, but you’re bonding over music you’ve made. That, to me, is so surreal.

8. You wrote that “writing this record nearly cost me my nerves.” Care to tell me more about that?

I love writing music and the creative part of it, having a few friends around and writing songs. But actually sequencing the album, finishing those songs and doing all the technical bits at the end, that probably takes up most of the time. None of the songs on the album took that long to write. It’s the last bit, doing all the technical stuff, re-recording elements, that is so tiring. I hate it. That’s when you’ve heard every song a few hundred times, and it’s like “I don’t even know if this sounds like music anymore.”

9. How did you know when it was done?

When is anything done? When there was nothing obvious that stood out to me, and I was able to listen through without cringing at anything. [Laughs.] That’s when I knew. For the most part, it was like, “Am I broadly happy with this? Am I going to regret putting this out? No? Then it’s done.”

10. What does success for the album look like to you?

I think of success less in streaming or units sold and more in cultural impact. If my album inspires a bunch of producers to move into being album artists, rather than just dance music producers who release three or four track EPs, breaking out of the DJ mold and working more on their artistry. That’s what I think Disclosure did with Settle. It influenced a whole generation of producers to realize that there was crossover into pop music. That’s what I want to do through True Magic, to have the level of confidence that Settle did. I know it’s a lofty goal, but that album inspired me so much.

[embedded content]

11. It feels like a healthy moment for dance music, with new albums by Kaytranada, Peggy Gou, Justice, you, among others, all released this year. Does that track for you?

It definitely tracks for me. There’s so much happening in all corners of dance music, and I think we’re back in low-level golden era without realizing it. Historically, dance music has suffered from a lack of really good albums — and all of the sudden, all of these amazing projects are dropping. For all of these artists to be releasing music in the space of a year, and for most of it to be so good, that’s rare. It shows how healthy dance music is.

What underlines that for me: in America, it’s mainly tech house and dubstep, but there is such a huge appetite for stuff outside those genres. When I go [to the States] and see the tickets my friends are selling, and how many people show up to these pop-up shows we do, it’s really encouraging. America has always had that thing where people say, “Oh America is a few years behind everywhere else,” but I don’t think that’s the case anymore. When I go America, my crowds are really knowledgeable — they’re very open as well, which is super important. So I agree, dance music is in an amazing place.

12. Who have been your biggest supporters?

Within music, Hudson Mohawke is a big supporter of mine. He shows me so much love. DJ Seinfeld is a huge supporter of mine. Barry Can’t Swim has my back through and through. Mall Grab has shown me so much love over the years — he’s introduced me to his audience, and is part of the reason I’ve been able to tour Australia. Annie Mac from Radio 1, she’s obviously retired now, but she was a very vocal supporter of my music for like, eight years. She is responsible for showing my music to so many people. Without her, my career would not be anywhere near what it is right now.

13. I read in your DJ Mag profile that you have an inclusion rider. What prompted that decision?

I was playing a show in Newcastle in the north of England, and I got there and every DJ on the lineup was white and male. It wouldn’t have been an issue for me if they were good DJs, but pretty much everyone sucked. They were like, really bad. Basically, the promoter had just booked his best friends to play. I was there [thinking] like, “So many of my girl mates, so many of my queer mates, so many of my Black mates would have absolutely killed this night.” But it’s just kind of how it is, where a promoter will just book his mates rather than booking a good DJ.

I got back to my hotel and texted my agent like, “I want to make sure that I am performing among more people who look like me, and among more people who are nonbinary and trans, etc.” I found a template for an inclusion rider online, and it basically stipulates that 30% of the lineup of any stage I play on has to be from an underrepresented group, and has to be approved by me.

14. How has that worked out?

It’s been really great. It’s not the solution to a problem, because the problem is very much systemic. There is a reason why there is such a drought of non-white, non-male DJs at the top of the DJ sphere, and it goes further than just implementing an inclusion rider, but I think it’s better than nothing. It’s a good start.

I had this queer DJ that was supporting me in Belgium say “thank you so much, I’m so grateful that I’m able to play for a crowd this big.” That is, to me, what it’s about — because those opportunities are not usually given to people outside a very specific category of DJs. As a Black person myself, I’ve had to deal with being on lineups where I’m the token, and I just want it to feel less tokenistic and more like the promoter actually gives a f–k, and it makes a difference. I’ve had promoters who weren’t interested in it, so those are promoters I’m just not going to work with anymore.

[embedded content]

15. What’s been the best business decision you’ve made so far in your career?

It’s realizing I don’t want A&Rs involved in my creative process. The label I’m releasing on now, at the start they said, “We can be as involved or not involved as you want us to be with A&R-ing the album.” I said, “Actually, I want you to back off completely and I will deliver it to you at the end.” I sent them a draft of the album halfway through the production process, and then again at the end — and they were like, “This is amazing.” I was like “Yes, because you let me do my thing.”

16. Has that now always been the case?

The previous label I was signed to — it’s not their fault, because I didn’t say anything, but the A&R was meddling quite a lot. That’s when I realized I wasn’t making music I was happy with; I was letting someone else dictate what I should be making. It wasn’t great for me. But I love A&R-ing, and I think I’m good at it. I love putting people in rooms and making great stuff. If I’m given space to do that, that‘s where I flourish.

17. What’s the most challenging aspect of your career right now?

Being away so much. Not seeing the people that matter to me. I was recently away for like, six weeks. I did Coachella, then went to Japan, and then randomly did more shows in the U.S. I’ve been touring at this level for two years now — and it’s amazing and I love it — but it does suck that I can’t just call my mate and say “do you want to go for a drink?” because I’m halfway around the world.

Obviously I appreciate meeting people on the road, and I’ve met so many amazing friends, but it’s just not the same as going to your best friend’s house to chill. It’s made me appreciate the time I do have when I’m at home. It’s made me a lot more present. I don’t take it for granted as much, when you might not see the person sitting opposite from you for a few months.

18. Maybe it’s also that you’re having these peak experiences, but you’re not with the people you’d like to share them with while they’re happening?

Right. I did this amazing show in America. I was playing Four Tet & Friends in New York [in May.] It was my birthday, and people were like, “This must be the best birthday you’ve ever had, right?” It was an amazing birthday, but I kind of wished my people were there with me.

19. Who’s been your greatest mentor, and what’s the best advice they’ve given you?

My greatest mentor is still my manager, Will. I’ve been with him for 10 years. He is probably the person who understands me the most, when it come to my career. Obviously it’s his job too, but he always just reminds me of the best version of myself.

It’s cliché, but when you really think of that, it translates into so many things. Everything I’ve done over any other project has reminded me to do what feels right for me and not try to please the label or [my manager]. In the past, when I’ve done what I thought someone else would want me to do, or what I thought I needed to do, it’s fallen flat. But Will is a constant reminder that people love me for me, and I shouldn’t forget that.

20. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to your younger self?

I used to worry so much and compare myself to other people so much. I’d see my friends’ careers blowing up, and I was like “I wish that was me.” It used to really mess with my self esteem. But when I see some of the careers where people have been really successful and it’s gone really quickly, it’s often happened that they’ve crashed afterwards. Maybe they didn’t have the support they needed, or things were moving too quickly and they didn’t find their feet properly.

I’m so grateful now that it wasn’t like that for me. My career has been such a slow burn. It happening like this has given me time to adjust. So I would tell my younger self not to worry, because it will all turn out just fine.

HipHopWired Featured Video

Source: @aldreday courtesy of @hiphopwired / A.L. Dre | iOne Digital
The spirit of competition has always fed the beast that is Hip-Hop. Not just anyone could set up a sound system, plug into a streetlight and DJ for the block party.

The streets had to be with you (or else, you’d be risking robbery or bodily harm). Same goes for the rappers who would soon enough come to the forefront. Sure, you might have been friends with the DJ, but the crowd would expeditiouslymake it clear if that alley-oop was either adept curation or “you might want to give up the mic before you get really booed, or jumped” folly. This hierarchy, along with the human propensity for misguided dislike or “hating,” meant that “beef” has long been intrinsic to Hip-Hop’s DNA. Whether for the sake of getting your own time in the spotlight or just letting the listeners know why you’re the better option, the thin line between a friendly feud and cold-blooded animus has always been there.

At its worst, the bitter rivalries led to spilled blood, even homicide (rest in powerful peace Tupac and Biggie). But at its best, which is more common, it spurned innovation and timeless records. Beef has permeated Hip-Hop throughout its 50 years and going life, as covered in By The Numbers: How Rap Beef Affects the Culture and has moved the culture, as noted in It’s What’s For Hip-Hop: 9 Rap Beefs That Shifted Hip-Hop Culture. Also, the tour de force that is Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” makes it clear Hip-Hop will always have an appetite for well-crafted and no holds barred battle.
Back in the early 1990s, before the Internet, artist André LeRoy “A.L. Dre” Davis cooked up a artistic depiction of one of Hip-Hop most infamous if now forgotten beefs—KRS-One vs. PM Dawn. The story goes The Teacha stepped to PM Dawn’s Prince B at a now-shuttered venue in NYC called Sound Factory, and it ended badly for the “Set Adrift” rapper. There were no cell phone cameras in the building 30 or so years ago, so Dre artfully recreated what allegedly went down for The Source magazine, and the rest is history.
So we felt it would be dope to use A.L. Dre’s artwork, with his permission of course, to flip a homage to Hip-Hop for Hip-Hop Wired’s first-ever digital cover. The assignment was understood and executed to perfection.

Over the last three years, Odesza‘s The Last Goodbye Tour has spanned 54 shows at 48 venues throughout North America, including headlining sets at festivals like Governor’s Ball and Bonnaroo.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Tomorrow marks the beginning of its end. From July 4-6, Odesza will play the three finale shows of The Last Goodbye run at The Gorge Amphitheatre, the iconic venue roughly 150 miles southeast from the duo’s hometown of Seattle. 66,000 fans are expected over the three nights, and if things go according to plan, almost all of them will pass through an on-site installation the band has created as a tangible, extraordinary and this time truly final goodbye.

Trending on Billboard

Called Echoes, the installation is built from six 30-foot towers, 120 LED screens and loads of cutting-edge tech that will involve projection mapping and, naturally, sound. Made of brushed aluminum so the installation reflects sunlight by day, after dark Echoes comes to life with video content incorporating brand new visual content from the band, the epic three-year tour and which is also, says the project’s head of creative Steve Bramucci, “in part inspired by the fans.”

This eight-minute video loop will be synced with sound mixed by Odesza’s Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight. Known for the meticulous attention to detail they bring to their music and all elements of the Odesza universe, the pair have also been heavily involved in the design and execution of Echoes.

Their 10-minute soundscape is built from gentle ambient music mixed with voice notes left for the band by fans about what the Last Goodbye era has meant to them, with people offering comments reflecting on things like how they never felt comfortable dancing in public until seeing the show, how the music helped them deal with the loss of parents, grandparents, best friends and relationships, how attending shows expanded their friend group and how this chapter of Odesza generally contributed joy to their lives.

It’s a soundtrack with the power to make one tear up while listening to it at their office desk, and it’s thus likely to have high emotional impact when experienced by fans onsite at The Gorge. (For fans who can’t make it The Gorge, the final show on July 6 will be livestreamed on Veeps.)

The project is designed “to be experienced in the ramping-up period before a show or ramping down after a show,” says Bramucci, “but you can tell that Odesza is thinking people are going sit in here for a few minutes. They’re not just gonna race through, take a couple Instagrams and bounce.” Given crowd flow at The Gorge, Bramucci expects “97 to 98%” of attendees will pass through Echoes. (Another 3% will enter through the VIP area that doesn’t lead past the installation.)

The hope is that fans will indeed spend some time in a project that a global team has dedicated the last two months of their lives to creating. Echoes takes influence from a design originally built in Russia by Russian creative studio Setup, with a second creative studio, The Vessel, expanding on that design and project managing Echoes in the States. The Vessel’s operator Jenny Feterovich serves as Echoes’ creative director.

Meanwhile, Bramucci’s team at Uproxx was tasked with user experience, coordination and storytelling around the project, with a host of other companies involved with AV and scenic building. A 30-person crew has been on site since June 30, working around the clock to get Echoes up and functioning by the time doors open tomorrow at 5:00 p.m.

Echoes being built this week at The Gorge Amphitheatre

This challenge has been compounded by the logistics of working at The Gorge. “It’s literally in the middle of nowhere,” says The Vessel’s co-founder Jenny Feterovich. “We have to truck everything that’s going there, and there is no room for error, because you can’t run back to an office that’s three hours away to go get something. Preparation here is of utmost importance.”

The other major challenge is the weather — with the build teams preparing for possible high winds and assured heat, with temperatures during the build in the mid-80s and temperatures on show days forecasted to hit the 90s, and Saturday expected to reach 100 degrees.

Echoes was designed on PCs equipped with Snapdragon, a microchip from Qualcomm that uses predictive AI to anticipate a user’s movements, in order to shut down and reignite programs and save battery life. On-site, Snapdragon-powered PCs will be used to projection-map, troubleshoot and modify designs in real time, with the team also running visual and audio elements with Snapdragon PCs. Qualcomm also subsidized the project, with the hard costs totaling in the high six figures.

“We’ve found that there are a lot of synergies between Snapdragon technology and this genre of music,” says Qualcomm CEO Don McGuire. “EDM artists embrace innovation and are open to experimenting with technology and new tools, making them great partners.”

Ultimately though, all of the tech is intended to elicit an exclusively human response.

“If I see the face of even one fan who has a serious emotional connection to it, who’s like, ‘the aperture of my appreciation for music and what it means to connect to music has shifted because of this installation, then that’s the perfect win,” says Bramucci.

HipHopWired Featured Video

Source: Theo Wargo / Getty
There is a thin line between competition and conflict and in the ever-evolving landscape of Rap and Hip-Hop, all it takes is a few words or actions to tilt the scale towards beef.

At their best, the beefs gave us quotables and songs that have become a part of our cultural catalogue from KRS-One’s iconic lines on “The Bridge is Over” or Jay-Z’s jab at Nas’ iconic song “The World is Mine” on “Takeover.” At their worst, the beefs led to violent interactions that served as warnings for the future (rest in powerful peace Tupac Shakur, Christopher Wallace and too many more).

Whether you rooted for the underdog or cheered for the villain, here is a list of nine Hip-Hop beefs that altered the way we listened to the culture’s music to this day.
9. Kool Moe Dee and LL Cool J
Considered by many as one of the first instances of rap beef, the two’s feud not only produced some of the biggest rap moments (Kool Moe Dee’s rap Grammy performance and LL’s Jack the Ripper series), but also set a precedent of using rap disses to enlarge both stars’ brand. For LL, he’d become one of rap’s earliest commercial successes, leading the line of success and respect into the 90s and beyond. His rise also foreshadowed a theme with the pioneer’s anger with younger MC’s who felt slighted by the next generation’s hubris.
[embedded content]
[embedded content]
8. Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown
Kim’s ascent into rap in 1996 alongside the Notorious B.I.G. and Junior Mafia brought a new aesthetic for female rappers as she embraced a more sexual and aggressive energy. Unfortunately, competition between her and fellow Brooklyn rapper Foxy Brown became inevitable as the two traded words over the years on various songs including Kim’s verse on Lil Cease’s 1999 song, “Play Around,” “The Notorious Kim”, and Mobb Deep’s “Quiet Storm Remix”. Foxy’s venomous verse on “Bang Bang” proved prophetic, and the violence and residual tension that followed over the years make it one of rap’s most memorable beefs.

[embedded content]
[embedded content]
7. Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy
For these two southern MC’s who have since gone on to rectify their differences, their dispute over Gucci’s first commercial record, “So Icy,” ushered in a flurry of diss records back and forth that escalated to alleged violence off the records. Unfortunately, their antics and the energy behind it ushered in a new dimension of dissing enemies, encapsulated by Gucci’s gesture of smoking on the remains of an enemy, a move he’s since condemned.
[embedded content]
[embedded content]
6. LL Cool J and Canibus
For Canibus, the rising phenom in rap at the time, being featured on a song with someone as accomplished as LL Cool J was an honor. His initial verse on the posse cut, “4,3,2,1,” however innocent, prompted LL’s furious response, and the records that followed only made LL’s battle rap status grow larger. Canibus’ “Second Round KO” and L’s “The Ripper Strikes Back” also introduced whether fans preferred battle records from overtly lyrical rappers or more commercially renowned artists.

[embedded content]
[embedded content]
5. 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G.
Largely remembered for the shocking claims made by 2Pac against Biggie on the song “Hit Em Up”, the primarily one-sided beef spurred a slew of responses from Biggie and others, both directly and subliminally which fueled the environment that led to their untimely deaths. The behind-the-scenes antics between Bad Boy Records and Death Row only exacerbated the tension and forced former friends to cross all types of lines that rap had yet to see before then.
[embedded content]
[embedded content]
4. Jay-Z and Nas
After years of tension and perceived disrespect, Jay-Z and Nas’ early 2000s beef produced two of rap’s biggest diss records, “Takeover” and “Ether,” and simultaneously added to both stars’ classic repertoire of albums and songs. Despite the propensity for violence that existed, both men’s decisions to end their issue and work together represented a rare display of maturity, unlike anything we’d seen at that time for stars of their magnitude.

[embedded content]
[embedded content]
3. Ja Rule and 50 Cent
Arguably one of the most influential rap beefs of the early 2000s, 50 Cent’s and Ja’s behind-the-scenes issues spilt onto the national stage when 50 attacked Ja multiple times on his debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’. 50’s unrelenting vendetta against Ja and Murder Inc. successfully made him a legend in many eyes and all but erased the stellar run of one of rap’s most influential and successful rap labels. Despite both artists moving on to different endeavours, the beef between them remains one of rap’s most noticeable land mines, going off at least once a year on social media without fail.
[embedded content]
[embedded content]

2. Ice Cube and N.W.A
In the eyes of many rap fans including Cube himself, his 1991 diss response “No Vaseline” is arguably the most known and well-crafted. Before rap fans became accustomed to the idea of a 20 v 1 type battle, Cube took it upon himself to diss his former group N.W.A singlehandedly, so much so that they decided not to respond. At the top of his game both critically and commercially, his diss carried the same weight as Jay-Z and Nas with a level of sophistication and execution that has yet to be reached by a diss record since.
[embedded content]
[embedded content]
1. Kendrick Lamar and Drake
Much like how Jay-Z and Nas’ beef festered over the years before exploding onto the scene, Kendrick and Drake’s feud following his verse on Big Sean’s “Control” grew, culminating in years of subliminal jabs. Kendrick’s feature on the Future and Metro Boomin’ single, “Like That” forced both sides into the competition and from there, we got more rap disses in a week than we’d ever seen from two competitors. The speed of their releases, rollout strategies and cleverness upped the ante for rap feuds that typically played out over time and showed us the lyrical brilliance of both camps regardless of who you felt was the victor.
Culturally, the response to Kendrick’s song, “Not Like Us” both online and during Kendrick’s Juneteenth concert, continues the communal call-and-response aspect of rap disses that we’ve loved since its inception. In a short amount of time Not Like Us has become a rap anthem and one of the year’s most streamed songs, much like Drake’s Back to Back became a Grammy-nominated song.

[embedded content]
[embedded content]

HipHopWired Featured Video

Source: Rebecca Sapp / Getty
In an exclusive interview with Amazon Music’s Phylicia Fant, HipHopWired got to talk about her love of music, her career journey and her motivation.
As Black Music Month is underway, we have an appreciation of the artists who bring us the music that we remember as well as those who’ve worked to support those artists in their careers through their own visionary efforts. Phylicia Fant, who is currently serving as the head of music industry partnerships at Amazon Music, is definitely one of those figures.

Before taking that role the Marietta, Georgia, native forged a sterling career as the former head of urban music at Columbia Records and the vice president of publicity and lifestyle at Warner Records after rising as a public relations genius working with numerous artists including Erykah Badu and Amy Winehouse with her firm, The Purple Agency, in 2008. HipHopWired got the opportunity to speak to Phylicia Fant about the significance of music, the connections, and how it helped her understand and utilize “the pivot” on her career journey.
HipHopWired: What was your first moment of true connection with music? And how did that love direct you to work in the music industry through public relations?
Phylicia Fant: I think true connection always comes from—I won’t say always, but I think if you grew up in the church, then you’re connected to music in the church. That is something that I think when parents are trying to find activities for you to do. My dad is a deacon, and my mom is a deaconess. My great-grandmother on my dad’s side was a pastor, which was rare for females in the South. So music was always kind of in your life. Now, I can’t sing at all. [Laughs] Okay, I will make sure I say that. But you know, they’re always nice to kids.
But what you recognize in those moments is a certain emotion. Even if you’re not the best singer, there’s nothing like that energy where you get up, you sing in front of the church, and they support you, right? It’s that kind of conversation. And then when the soloist comes out, and they bring people to tears, you understand the effects of music in that way. That’s the immersive experience.
My dad played piano as well, so he would have vinyl in my room growing up. And then my first concert was seeing Michael Jackson with my parents. So I’ve always had parents who kind of kept me in different spaces of music and culture, and I think between church, between the vinyl that was placed in my room strategically, which was Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, and the first Sugar Hill Gang record, those are the kinds of ways you will discover music though you may not understand it [then].

What I’ve learned over time is the importance of the pivot and how many times I have pivoted, but at the same time, within those pivots, how I still am true to what I love at my core.
How’s it been so far in your role at Amazon Music in terms of expanding all that the platform has to offer? What challenges and successes have you faced?
I always get nervous with the word challenges, because I think they are more or less about challenges than pushing yourself into a different thought process, right? If you grew up in the label system like I did, then it’s always been very much art as sport, right? So how do I relate to an artist who has to deal with criticism, has to deal with their own personal schedules, their own personal lives? How do I build trust with that artist? So the trust factor kind of leads me into the Amazon conversation in that, while we are a tech company, the principle is to make sure we are making sure the consumer is happy. 
So, the consumer being the person that’s listening to the music, but also the consumer, as I think we expand that definition to the artists and to the people that we collaborate with, to have a symbiotic relationship of how data and music can come together for the greater good of how we expand music for people. So the benefit of me being on this side is, while I am always “artist first” and have been, it’s great for me to know what products are being made to make that experience that much better. And that’s not something I’ve really thought about until I got here, right? You look at it as, “Oh, it’s just streaming.” But then you realize it’s much more than streaming.

How you share music, or how you use music, what technology is, is created for you to be able to have that maximum experience to even think about what it means to actually collect music and create a playlist. I wasn’t thinking about that type of conversation inside a tech company. You just think these things are there. And because they’re there, when you recognize what it takes to get these things off the ground, there becomes a respect for the type of collaboration behind the scenes that makes your music experience seamless.
Source: Paras Griffin / Getty
So that takes me to this next question in terms of your path and being a Black woman who’s carved out such a brilliant path in the industry. For those that are coming up, what’s the most important thing to you that you share with those who inquire about making their own way?
It’s funny because I just got off the phone with one of my mentees, and she was talking about how she loves sports and how she doesn’t know how to get into sports. I said that what I’ve learned over time is the importance of the pivot and how many times I have pivoted, but at the same time, within those pivots, how I still am true to what I love at my core. At the core, I love music. And what you recognize in loving music is that the music extends to different places.
So my career evolved, because I recognize where music could take me. It wasn’t just within the walls of a concert, it was now in the walls of an arena, it was Fashion Week, first row. Taking people like JoJo and Lindsay Lohan to fashion week, when the city was at its peak and living in New York, you recognize different ways to use it to carry you in different spaces. 

And so once you realize that your core passion can also expand those doors, and you don’t see it as a linear situation, then the pivot becomes more fascinating. It doesn’t become easier. But it becomes fascinating in the sense of, “Oh, I can take this thing that I love, I can open up different doors.” I can understand music from a seat perspective and see what it’s like to have a song placed on television.
Because now I understand how music works in film. I understand music works with intelligence. “Oh, I can get this artist’s song played in the stadium, like Lil Nas X, and see how people react. And see this song becomes a chance for Texas Tech before they get ready to play the game because it pumps them up. I can look at who was curating music for fashion shows when I was in New York. So it still stems from music. But music opened doors for me to go into all these different spaces because I recognize music is universal for a reason.
It is Black Music Month, and I couldn’t end this interview without asking you for your favorite artists that we should be checking for if we aren’t already – like what would be on your select playlist?
It’s such a unique thing because I think about – like, I love Andra Day because I think she has a richness. I worked with Amy Winehouse and I think the ability to blend jazz and R&B and all those conversations is great. But I also love Tommy Richmond’s new song “Million Dollar Baby” because I love what the HBCUs and the Divine Nine’s step teams have done with that song and how you can take one song and it becomes a movement and become also a self-esteem booster at the same time. So there’s different artists I think for different reasons, different moods that I really like. I gotta think about that. 
I think that people don’t know this artist named Q live on Columbia Records, who’s R&B. I think Durand [Bernarr], you might know him as a backup vocalist like I do, but his voice is just rich. It’s absolutely phenomenal. I’m really proud of the R&B space, like Muni Long – even though the song became viral on TikTok I like her ability to be bold and kind of say what’s on people’s minds, which is why I think I’m excited about music right now where I think a couple of years ago, I was frustrated because I do think we are looking for our next superstars. 

But, you know, I’m also an old-school girl. Never gonna not want to hear Marvin Gaye and Prince. They inspire me all the time. Those are staples on my playlist as well as Stevie Wonder. It’s just a place to take me to. I love Mariah Carey, you know, I’ll never not love her. So I think it’s that constant lens of past, present, and future, which I think is ironic because of our campaign which is called “Forever The Influence.” And if you think about people like Uncle Charlie [Wilson], who will pop up on a Don Tolliver record, who I also love. So I think it will always be a combination of past, present, and future, and I’m excited about the future, but these are the artists that have stuck out to me.

Grammy award-nominated singer-songwriter Tayla Parx has always been country. Hailing from Dallas, the 30-year-old multihyphenate became just the fourth Black woman in history to write a Country Airplay No. 1 with Dan + Shay’s “Glad You Exist” (2021), and a few months ago, Parx moved to Nashville.
There, she has been developing a sustainable ranch while prepping her forthcoming third album, Many Moons, Many Suns (out on her TaylaMade Records), which explores the unexpected end of her engagement and combines country, rock, house, soul and contemporary pop. “I’m buying goats, sheep and cows,” she says of her new home. “I’m already excited about the songs that I’ll create just being here.”

Below, Parx previews her new album and reflects on queer pop stardom. 

Trending on Billboard

What’s the first thing you did when you woke up today? 

The first thing I did when I woke up today was load a tractor. I got a tractor to live in and my friend just dropped it off. I’ve been working on my little ranch. 

What drew you to Nashville?

I started to come down here last year, but maybe three or four months ago, I officially was [here] full time. I’m still in Los Angeles once or twice a week, but this is my home. 

What was a key moment on the journey to your new album?

Being able to take four years, I finally was like, “I feel new again.” [We] go through these feelings of breaking down and building up and breaking down your new version of yourself … I’m in that moment now. [That’s] when it’s the right time for me to create, or finish, the album.

Last year you co-wrote on Troye Sivan’s “Got Me Started” and Janelle Monáe’s “Water Slide.” Did you carry any inspiration from those sessions into your own?  

We have a problem in the songwriting world where you’ll see a queer artist and they have only straight writers on the project, and that’s a bit weird. Or we see a woman artist and they only have straight men as writers, and that’s also a bit weird. I’m not saying we can’t have that perspective, because I’ve written for a lot of different people and I haven’t experienced their version of life. However, it’s always important to have at least somebody be a part of the project that can see you in a very different way — and maybe that’s because they’re queer. So I’ve been choosing to write with a lot of artists [with whom] I can write from that perspective. I’ve been a lot more selective these days.

“Era” has heavy ballroom energy, as does “10s.” How did examining your relationship affect your influences while recording?

We have that ballroom energy, New Orleans energy, all the things that I’ve experienced in my life that are such a huge part of queer culture. With “10s,” I played a lot with pulling from my community, the different sounds that inspire us and make us move. I really wanted to go to the extreme. A lot of the music that is the most groundbreaking is ballroom. We’ve been forced to be out of the boundary, or seen as that, for so long that it was like, “F–k it. Well, I might as well be the best version of me — and do me to the max.”

[embedded content]

When you were coming up, who were the songwriters that made you feel most seen? 

I feel like I’m just now having an opportunity in the past few years to have artists that actually make me feel seen. Around 2015, I was listening to Marika Hackman’s “Boyfriend,” and it’s a queer song and I had never heard something lyrically like [that.] That’s not to say that there [aren’t] any queer artists that have been out there being very forward, I’m just saying what spoke to me. Being born in ‘93 and a teenager in the 2000s, it’s a very different thing. 

If you had to pick three essential tracks from the new record, what would they be? 

I would say, “Standing Up to the Wind,” “Gentlewoman” and “I Don’t Talk About Texas.” 

Beyond the album, what are your plans for the rest of the year? 

We are getting back on the road. I’m super excited because it’s been a minute since I’ve been on the road. I went from consistently touring to taking a break and really allowing the music to come. We got some crazy sustainable and biodegradable merch coming, which is really cool. And more behind the scenes of the process — I’m making sure that everything within the TaylaMade world reflects [my] values.

A version of this story originally appeared in the June 22, 2024, issue of Billboard.

Early in May, the New York house music stalwarts at Nervous Records were enjoying two hits in the top 10 on the Beatport chart: A zippy, heavily syncopated reimagining of Kendrick Lamar‘s “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” by Liquid Rose and Trace (UZ), and a thunking version of Diddy and Keyshia Cole’s “Last Night” by Loofy. 
In both cases, the older track was outfitted with a fresh vocal and re-tooled for dancefloors, swooping at just under 130 beats per minute. “There’s something special about being able to know all the lyrics and sing along to a brand new song — even though it’s not a brand new song,” says Rida Naser, associate director of music programming for SiriusXM’s BPM and The Pulse.  

Many producers have taken note. Ghostbusterz tackled the Doobie Brothers’ “Long Train Running,” while Armonica, Zamna Soundsystem, and ROZYO took on the dance version of Lana Del Rey’s “Summertime Sadness;” both hit the Beatport Top 100. (Beatport, a popular site for DJs and electronic music enthusiasts, ranks songs according to the number of downloads.) Mr. Belt & Wezol’s re-do of Whitney Houston‘s resilient late-’90s classic “It’s Not Right But It’s OK” recently surpassed 65 million streams on Spotify.

Trending on Billboard

“We’ve been doing loads of these since 2018,” says Kevin McKay, a DJ, producer, and founder of the label Glasgow Underground. “A lot of artists were shying away from it because they felt it was uncool, or that they would be looked down on for it. Now almost all the labels are doing them.” For a time, Joe Wiseman, head of Insomniac Music Group, “was getting sent so many dance covers” that he considered issuing a moratorium on signing them. 

[embedded content]

Dance music has a long history of referencing the past, often through club-ready remixes and prominent samples. But while most aspiring rockers cut their teeth in a cover band, “in dance music, that part gets skipped,” McKay says, “and people go straight to writing originals.” 

Still, as anyone who’s ever attended a wedding knows, many people need to be coaxed onto the dance floor — often by hearing songs they already recognize. Plenty of club-goers need the same enticement.

Dance covers “evoke a sense of nostalgia, reminding [listeners] of the original hits and the memories associated with them,” says Wez Saunders, managing director of the label Defected Records. And those “reworks often serve as a gateway, drawing attention to the genre and leading listeners to discover new music.”

George Hess, a veteran dance radio promoter, believes the lack of shared experiences during the pandemic — when “new memories were difficult to create since people basically weren’t together enjoying each other’s company” — further heightened listeners’ desire for familiarity. 

Around this time, mainstream pop saw a spike in “I know that one!” samples and in-your-face interpolations, offering some potential support for Hess’ theory. And two of the biggest singles to come out of the commercial dance world recently, ACRAZE’s “Do It To It” and David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue),” borrowed liberally from old hits by Cherish and Eiffel 65, respectively.

[embedded content]

In a world where anyone with a computer can cobble together a dance track, it’s also possible that producers are increasingly incentivized to make covers as a way to lasso listeners overwhelmed with similar-sounding releases. In 2023, Luminate reported that more than 120,000 tracks hit streaming services daily. The flow of new tunes is more controlled at Beatport; still, between 20,000 and 25,000 fresh tracks hit the platform per week.

Nervous Records works with Louie Vega, “who always uses live musicians” to inject different tones and textures into his tracks, says label co-founder Mike Weiss. “With fewer producers doing that, a lot of them are all using the same plugins,” and covers offer a way to stand out. 

McKay believes the covers trend may be more about channeling the knock-out top lines and gleaming hooks of the originals: “We have a dearth of songwriting talent, so when you’re on the dance floor, you get this amazing song from the past and it just blows away a lot of the current content.” Glasgow Underground has done well on the Beatport chart with covers of The S.O.S. Band, Kylie Minogue, ABBA and more.

In addition, the complex dynamics of the music business ensure that sampling or interpolating a song is an arduous process, potentially making covers a more attractive proposition. To clear a sample, a producer needs to obtain permission from the owner(s) of both the original composition and the recording. “Independent artists without representation might struggle to even get a response to their request,” explains Tim Kappel, an entertainment attorney and founder of the firm Wells Kappel. Their request might also be denied, he continues, or be granted only if the artist agrees to pay hefty up-front fees for using the material. 

In contrast, artists can typically cover songs in the U.S. without the explicit approval of the original songwriters, under the somewhat vague condition that their “arrangement shall not change the basic melody or fundamental character of the work.” The original writers receive all the songwriting royalties from the resulting cover. “For a dance artist that just wants to consistently release music, the obstacles to clear samples and interpolations might outweigh the desire for the artist to have publishing on the underlying composition” and drive them to produce more covers, says Jodie Shihadeh, founder of Shihadeh Law.  

[embedded content]

While dance music remakes have increased, they are not an automatic home run. In Wiseman’s view, the most obvious source material is “never the best” — he’s not looking for a house remake of Britney Spear’s “Toxic,” for example. “You want to get that feeling where someone’s like, ‘I know I heard that song years ago, and I loved it back then, but I don’t quite remember it,’” he continues.

And several label executives also emphasized that covers are just one tool they use to hook audiences. “As a label who’s been around for 33 plus years, [covers] can’t be our sole focus,” says Andrew Salsano, vp of Nervous Records. 

Nervous Records is hopeful that one more reimagined classic can light up dancefloors this summer: On July 19th, the label will put out a new version of Cher‘s “Believe” from Super Flu. While the original thrums like an overheated racecar engine, the Super Flu release builds slowly, replacing Cher’s Auto-Tune flourishes with a conversational delivery, trading in triumph for something more ambivalent. 

DJs are already testing the Super Flu single in their sets. “I’ve been in clubs when it’s been played,” Weiss says. The dancers’ response?

“Very emotional.”