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06 Oct 2023

P!nk Wishes She’d Never Released This Song: ‘That Was a Real Mistake’

P!nk is beloved for her no-holds-barred honesty, even when it comes to her own music. In a new Los Angeles Times interview, the singer was asked to rate her best and worst singles and, without hesitation, she picked her 2001 Missundaztood song, “Get the Party Started,” which hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

She also tagged 2008’s No. 1 hit “So What” from Funhouse, which she said was “fun from start to finish — writing it, singing it, performing it, the video,” also crediting the high-energy track with reuniting her with husband Carey Hart after their earlier separation.

She also got really real about the songs she wished she’d never recorded, which include her 2013 love hurts anthem “True Love,” which features the lyrics, “Sometimes I hate every single stupid word you say/ Sometimes I wanna slap you in your whole face/ There’s no one quite like you, you push all my buttons down/ I know life would suck without you/ At the same time, I wanna hug you/ I wanna wrap my hands around your neck.”

Why that one? “Because it’s mean. Carey’s got thick skin, but I owe him a love song,” she said of the song whose chorus has her singing, “True love, true love/ It must be true love/ Nothin’ else can break my heart like/ True love, true love/ It must be true love/ No one else can break my heart like you.”

Worse yet, though, she said, was the minute-long “We’ve Got Scurvy” from the 2009 SpongeBob’s Greatest Hits album, in which she yarrrs, “Our gums are black, our teeth are falling out/ We’ve got spots on our backs, so give it up and shout/ We’ve got scurvy, we need some vitamin C/ We’ve got scurvy, we need a lemon tree.”

“I wish I never did that,” she said. “That was a real mistake.”

Asked if she’d ever make a full-on country record, P!nk noted that she has made country songs, pointing to tracks she’s recorded with Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney, with the latter team-up on “Setting the World on Fire,” hitting No. 1 at country radio that year. But a whole country album? “Nah,” laughed the singer who has dabbled in pop, R&B, dance and rock over the years. “I don’t do whole albums of anything.”

With just three dates left on the U.S. swing of her high-flying Summer Carnival tour, P!nk told the Times that she “100%” thinks she’s a better live performer than recording artist, despite her 36 Billboard Hot 100 charting hit singles over the past 28 years.

“Because live is messy. It’s life, it’s gritty, it’s authentic — it’s unrehearsed,” said the singer whose meticulously plotted acrobatic moves and high-wire work are a staple of her shows. “I mean, we rehearse to a certain extent for safety. But you never know what’s gonna happen. And I’m never in my head. The second I step onstage, I’m in my heart, I’m in my body. There’s no other place that I operate — as a Virgo, as a mother, as the most responsible person I know — like the stage. It’s where I live.”

And though the former gymnast seems to effortlessly soar above the crowd, she said she is “absolutely” scared every time, which is why she started doing it. “I’m afraid of heights, and I don’t want to be afraid,” she explained. “I’ve been in some situations that don’t feel good. I wonder every night if my bungees are gonna work. But it’s a cool way to go if they don’t.”

With so many stars putting down roots for residencies in Las Vegas, P!nk said she would consider her own stay-put (“when I do Vegas, it’ll be the best show Vegas ever saw”), but she hasn’t agreed yet because her children are still young enough to join her on the road. “Vegas is something I can do when they don’t want to be with me anymore. Willow’s getting close,” she said of her 12-year-old daughter; she and Hart also have a six-year-old son, Jameson.

As for whether she was surprised by the recent dust-up around Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Wenner’s sexist, racist comments suggesting that women and Black artists weren’t as “articulate” or interesting the white men he interviewed for his recent book, she was not.

“Misogyny and racism are so prevalent today. But they’re the dinosaurs, and they’re on their way out,” she said of men like the 77-year-old Wenner, whose comments got him booted from the board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. “I don’t know how successfully they passed down their poison.”

06 Oct 2023

X Reacts To Marshawn Lynch Saying He “Didn’t F*ck With” Pete Carroll & Russell Wilson

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Marshawn Lynch on Club Shay Shay

Source: Club Shay Shay / Youtube

Retired NFL running back Marshawn Lynch was back on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast and kept things all the way real about his relationship, or lack thereof, with Russell Wilson and Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. Apparently, Lynch wasn’t inviting Carroll to any proverbial or real-life cookouts, and as far as he was concerned, he and Wilson were just co-workers who didn’t really vibe like that off-field.

“I wouldn’t be the right person to speak on their relationship because I didn’t f-ck with them,” Lynch told Sharpe. “I didn’t f-ck with Pete, and then, I mean, Russ was just a quarterback for me.”



Lynch still wasn’t quite as dismissive of Wilson as he was of Carroll, and, apparently, that was intentional because he didn’t want to come off petty.

From ESPN:

“I’ll take Russ and I’ll put him at quarterback and I’ll rock with him because I’ve done that,” he said.

But, according to Lynch, anything he says might be taken with malice because of the fallout from the goal-line interception Wilson threw in Super Bowl XLIX that led to the Seahawks’ 28-24 defeat to the New England Patriots and contributed to Wilson’s eventual departure for the Denver Broncos. In terms of a relationship, Lynch said, he and Wilson didn’t have one off the field.

“Can’t pick up the phone or call old boy or nothing,” Lynch said.

Of course, that didn’t stop the fine folks on X from saying what Lynch was unwilling to.

Here are some of the best reactions in the gallery.

06 Oct 2023

Get to Know Ovy on the Drums, Karol G’s Go-To Producer

As he watched from a suite while Karol G performed at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Sept. 8, Ovy on the Drums was nostalgic and teary-eyed. Over 70,000 fans were chanting the Colombian reggaetón star’s biggest hits at the top of their lungs — the majority produced by him.

“I cried that day because there were no words,” he recalls, slouched on a couch in his Miami-area home a few days later. “One day, we are working with the hopes of making it big, that our music will go around the world, and life itself makes sure things happen. God himself has given us these blessings, and it’s because we have worked with love, with dedication, without stopping. We are dreamers and unstoppable.”

After accompanying Karol G on most of her shows during her Mañana Será Bonito summer stadium tour, Ovy (real name: Daniel Echavarría Oviedo) is finally back at his three-story corner house in Doral, Fla., where he resides with his personal manager, Alejandro Muñoz, and his aunt Gloria. He’s relaxed, wearing a neon-green Nigeria soccer jersey and black Nike shorts, and his signature spiky, blond dreadlocks are tamed. It’s a typically hot summer Florida day, but inside, the 32-year-old’s aunt is cooking lunch while he catches up on laundry and sips homemade hibiscus tea. “This is amazing for your health. I drink it every day to stay hydrated,” he says, offering a glass.

As Karol’s longtime producer, Ovy is behind her biggest hits, including “Tusa,” with Nicki Minaj; “Provenza”; “TQG,” with Shakira; “Mi Ex Tenía Razón”; and the Peso Pluma-assisted “QLONA” — which all hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart. But his road to success has not been, as he puts it, “llegué y pegué” (“I came, and I conquered”). In fact, Ovy says he never knew music would be his calling.

Fifteen years ago, Ovy, then 17, was working at a plaza in Medellín carrying bags of chicken and selling disposable party supplies when he realized he had to find a passion if he wanted to succeed in life. His first taste of music production came a few years later, in 2012, when a cousin’s friend offered to install the digital audio workstation FL Studio on his laptop and give Ovy a beat-making crash course.

“From that moment, my life changed. Look, I even have the [company’s] fruity logo tattooed,” he says, flaunting the mango-strawberry ink on his right forearm. “I didn’t know what a melody was, I didn’t know anything [about making music], but when he showed me that program, that was where I, Daniel Echavarría Oviedo, discovered a new planet.”

Ovy on the Drums

Devin Christopher

As he practiced each day and sold his first beats for only $5 each, Ovy made headway in the Colombian music scene, working with artists such as Landa Freak, Lorduy and DVX. He also connected with producers Ronald El Killa and La Compañía (the production group of Mr. Pomps, DJ Maff, Migueman and Gotex), whom he credits as the first people to give him an opportunity in the music industry. The latter, which produced Karol G’s 2013 Nicky Jam collaboration, “Amor de Dos,” ultimately connected Ovy with Karol.

“The first day we met, I overheard her talking to her father about needing a DJ for a presentation, and I respectfully offered myself,” he remembers. “At first, she didn’t take me seriously. But about a month later, my friends at La Compañía called me to share the news that Karol wanted me as her DJ.”

After a successful debut performance together at a local university, the duo embarked on a “school tour” across the country while also promoting themselves on local TV and radio. Along the way, Ovy decided to play Karol some of his beats, and they immediately began creating music. The first song they worked on together was “Ricos Besos,” a flirtatious reggaetón track released in summer 2014.

“She was happy because I was the only person who understood what she wanted to express with her sound,” he says. “I remember that we were on a balcony one day when I proposed that we become a team — just like The Rudeboyz with Maluma, Sky Rompiendo with J Balvin — and she told me, ‘Let’s do it!’ ”

Since then, Ovy — whose style is characterized by minimalist urban-fusion beats backed by edgy keyboards, dramatic violins and hard-hitting drums — has produced a handful of Karol’s bangers, such as “Tusa,” which earned him his first No. 1 as a producer on the Hot Latin Songs chart, and the EDM-fueled “Cairo,” which marked his first Billboard Hot 100 entry.

His work on Karol’s studio albums Unstoppable (2017), Ocean (2019), KG0516 (2021) and the historic Mañana Será Bonito (2023) — the first all-Spanish-language album by a female artist to top the Billboard 200 — ultimately has kept him at No. 1 on the Latin Producers chart for 25 nonconsecutive weeks since February 2020, the third-longest reign atop that chart, following Tainy and MAG. He was less involved on Karol’s latest, Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season), released in August, but still produced three of its 10 songs: “S91,” “QLONA” and “Dispo.”

“I’m taking time for myself,” he says as Gloria serves warm picadillo (ground beef), rice, salad and noodle soup. “It hurts me because I want to be making new music with Karol like the old days. But it’s not a bad thing — it’s just that now I want to focus on my project.”

Inspired by the multihyphenate Dr. Dre, Ovy wears many hats: he produces; he composes; he develops artists under his record label, Big Ligas; and at one point, he even had a singing career — though after releasing music with Mike Bahía, TINI and Danny Ocean, he decided to quit because “Ovy on the Drums has respect as a producer, not as a singer.”

At the dining table, where Muñoz and Gloria join him, Ovy says that moving to Miami in 2020 was the best decision of his life, mainly because it allowed him to grow as a producer. “I got to a point where I asked myself, ‘What am I doing in Medellín?’ I felt like there was nothing more to do. Other than enjoying my country, my family and relaxing, I wasn’t being productive,” he explains. “Once I moved to Miami, I started creating and creating more, and establishing more relationships.”

Ovy on the Drums

Ovy on the Drums photographed on September 12, 2023 in Miami.

Devin Christopher

And while he’s best known for his work with Karol G, he has now worked with numerous other artists, including Enrique Iglesias, Zion y Lennox, Camilo, Ozuna, Prince Royce and Peso Pluma. When he hits the studio with those other acts, he prepares thoroughly, studying them, observing their musical styles and making sure to arrive with the best energy.

“He is a master of his craft,” says Leslie Ahrens, senior vp of creative, Latin America at Kobalt Music, where Ovy signed in December 2018. “He can create an entire song by himself — production, lyrics and melody — and 99% of the time, they are hits! Beyond that, when you meet him, you want to be his best friend and confidant. He also has a great sense of humor, and all that is a part of his magic.”

Now, as he shifts his focus to his personal musical projects, Ovy is also planning his next move: expanding to work with mainstream artists.

“I’ve had opportunities. Producers like London on Da Track who has worked with Drake have written to me, but nothing has happened yet because I feel that I need to learn to speak English first,” he says. “If I speak the language very well, I will get along with the mainstream producers and artists and even create a solid friendship like the one I have with artists in the Latin music world. I’m on it right now.”

In the meantime, he’s preparing his debut album as artist-producer, titled Dr. Drums, which will include features from Karol G, Quevedo, Sech, Ryan Castro and Blessd.

As we finish lunch, he reminds me that his trajectory hasn’t been “llegué y pegué” but rather working hard for his dreams with the hope of one day inspiring others.

“Tomorrow, when I’m not in this industry or in this world anymore, people will simply remember me because I created different music from everything that has ever existed, and hopefully, they will be inspired by the music I made. That’s my goal,” he says with a smile. “Every day I wake up with that hope — with the purpose of leaving a legacy.”

This story will appear in the Oct. 7, 2023, issue of Billboard.

06 Oct 2023

Executive Turntable: Warner Music Flips the Script in Finland; Seeker Finds Top Lawyer

If it’s Friday that means another spin around the Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across the music industry.

Warner Music Finland‘s front office is getting a new look. Managing director Niko Nordström and head of A&R Asko Kallonen, who arrived at WMF in 2007 after Warner Music acquired their Helsinski Music Company label, are both headed for the ovi. Taking over later this year in the MD role will be current general manager Ramona Forsström, who has clocked 15-plus years at the imprint. In Kallonen’s old office in the A&R department will be veteran producer Jukka Immonen, who starts on New Year’s Day and brings with him the artist roster of his Fried Music label (which WMG has additionally acquired via undisclosed terms). Kallonen, meanwhile, will continue to serve as an A&R consultant for Immonen and his team after he passes the mic. The Warner Music Finland roster includes Antti Tuisku, Arttu Wiskari, BEHM, Ellinoora, Kaija Koo and SANNI, among others. Immonen will report to Forsström, who will report to Warner Music Nordics president Mark Fry. Calling Forsström a “huge talent whose counsel I value and who delivers time and again for our artists and our business,” Fry added that “her fresh leadership perspective will help us grow our roster and our artists’ careers.”

SoundExchange appointed Peter Karafotas as senior vp of government relations and public policy. Based in Washington, D.C., he will report directly to the organization’s president and CEO Michael Huppe. Karafotas arrives from Capitol Hill, where he recently served as chief of staff to Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-RI) until his resignation earlier this year to run a nonprofit. In his new role, Karafotas will lead on global public policy issues affecting music creators. He replaces Linda Bloss-Baum, who left over the summer for a full-time teaching gig at American University. Said Huppe: “I am thrilled to have someone with Peter’s expertise at the helm of our Government Relations & Public Policy department at a time when SoundExchange is amplifying our legislative efforts to ensure creators are paid fairly.”

Evan Bogart‘s music rights, label and publishing company Seeker Music hired Dan Stuart as general counsel. Stuart previously completed a five-year run as senior vp of business affairs at AWAL, during which AWAL’s U.S. clientele enjoyed significant growth and AWAL was acquired by Sony Music. Prior to that, Stuart worked for five years as a partner at King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano, and worked for 15 years as an attorney at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Stuart’s career also includes time well spent as a music journalist, a DJ-in-residence, and in radio. “What I’ve known about Dan since the day I met him” about 20 years ago “is how smart, dedicated, passionate, authentic, and well-respected he is,” said Bogart. “He is one of the best in the business, and in my view it’s because he’s not just a lawyer, he’s an OG music guy who really cares about music and music creators.” –Jessica Nicholson

Kobalt promoted Kat Basolo to senior vp of creative synch. The Los Angeles-based exec was most recently vp of creative synch and in the past year helped score a number synch opportunities for Kobalt artists with several major brands, TV shows and films. Prior to joining Kobalt in 2014, she worked at Sony Music Entertainment for 10 years. Global head of synch Rob Christensen credited Basolo with “procuring thousands of synch opportunities” for clients during her tenure. “But more than any stat,” he added, “she has excellent relationships with so many of the world’s top music supervisors because she works hard to understand their needs and then delivers time and time again.”

Dreamcatcher vp of promotion Jim Dandy announced his departure from the company for a new opportunity at New Revolution Entertainment . Following the recent departures of national director of promotion Kellie LaJack, West Coast regional Rick Young, Midwest regional Charlie Dean and promotion manager Annie Brooks, the label is operating without a promotion staff. Dreamcatcher partner Jim Mazza said the situation is temporary, explaining that the promotion team is independently contracted and was let go with no current singles at radio. The label intends to re-form a promotion staff when its lone artist, Tenille Arts, releases her next single in early 2024. Under the circumstances, Mitch Rosell, who signed with the label in August, asked for — and received — his release from his contract. –Tom Roland

Amanda Rae Kopp is promoted to chief product officer at JKBX, a start-up offering investors fractional shares in hit songs. Kopp will be responsible for refining product strategies and driving innovation at the emerging platform. Prior to JKBX, which officially launched Sept. 12, Kopp was a global product leader at Warner Music Group.

Fantasy Records appointed Lindsay Brandt as vp of marketing and creative. In the newly-created position, Brandt will serve as in-house creative director and head of marketing, focusing on content development and digital strategy. Previously, Brandt served as senior director of creative & digital at Activist Artists Management, working with artists including The Lumineers and Bob Weir. Brandt said in a statement, “My vinyl collection boasts numerous albums with the iconic Fantasy Records logo. I’m humbled to join a team that holds music in such high regard and delighted to tell the story of these profound artists.” –JN

FlyteVu, the full-service marketing agency founded in 2015 by former Warner Music Nashville senior vp Jeremy Holley and ex-CAA agent Laura Hutfless, made several promotions and hires of late. Sina Seger, on staff since 2017, is the firm’s very first general manager — and will oversee day-to-day operations. Elsewhere, Nicole Ranieri has been promoted from account director to head of accounts, and industry veteran Ally Venable joins the team as head of talent. Venable joins from Mandolin Entertainment, a boutique artist and brand management firm. In the past 12 months, FlyteVu has launched two new sister agencies: FV Incubator, handling marketing for start-ups, and FV3, focused on brands and Web3. “Over the past eight years, FlyteVu has built a solid reputation for innovation, excellence, and generosity in the industry,” said Hutfless. “Sina and our Leadership Team have played instrumental roles in our growth and success. We are thrilled to enter FlyteVu’s next chapter as we continue to innovate, disrupt and propel our clients forward.”

Shore Fire Media elevated Haley Griffin and Henry Thomas to junior account executives. Both joined the leading PR firm a mere year ago as interns and were promoted to publicity assistants late in the year. Griffin is a Berklee College of Music graduate, while Thomas is a Skidmore College grad. “In just over a year, Haley and Henry have displayed their talent, commitment, and growth,” said senior vp Rebecca Shapiro. “We’re excited to recognize their contributions and confident that they will shine in their new roles.”

Kobalt promoted Kat Basolo to senior vp of creative synch. The Los Angeles-based exec was most recently vp of creative synch and in the past year helped score a number synch opportunities for Kobalt artists with several major brands, TV shows and films. Prior to joining Kobalt in 2014, she worked at Sony Music Entertainment for 10 years. Global head of synch Rob Christensen credited Basolo with “procuring thousands of synch opportunities” for clients during her tenure. “But more than any stat,” he added, “she has excellent relationships with so many of the world’s top music supervisors because she works hard to understand their needs and then delivers time and time again.”

ICYMI: Warner Music‘s chief digital officer Oana Ruxandra announced she’s leaving the label … Anthem made it official with Jason Klein and Sal Fazzari … and Kenny MacPherson was placed on leave from his job at Hipgnosis Songs Fund, following the filing of a lawsuit claiming he sexually assaulted a staffer in 2005 while he ran another company.

Melanie Johnson is named chief commercial officer at Audoo, the music tech company looking to shake up the royalty reporting system for musicians. Based in London and reporting to CEO Ryan Edwards, Johnson is tasked with overseeing the continued global expansion of the company’s proprietary platform Audoo Audio Meter. She arrives with a packed CV that includes lengthy tenures at Facebook, Sony Music Publishing and EMI Music Publishing. Most recently, Johnson served as vp of partnerships at Utopia Music. “Mel’s stellar professional and personal reputation precedes her,” Edwards correctly notes. “Adding her expertise to Audoo as we mark a milestone five years in business, we move closer to our goal of being the partner of choice for PROs and CMOs, and continue on the mission of revolutionising the public performance royalties space worldwide.”

Reactional Music, the maker of an interactive music engine for video games, hired Spotify veteran Jacob Deshayes as chief operating officer. In his new role, Deshayes will oversee Reactional’s platform and manage partnerships, technical programs and strategy. “In joining Reactional Music I am thrilled to have the opportunity to apply my experience on three of my foremost passions – music, tech and video games – as we unlock groundbreaking tools for a new innovative form of music creation, as well as ways for the world of gamers to personalize their musical experience,” he said. Additionally, Reactional selected one of its founders, former Take Two Interactive CEO Kelly Sumner, as board chairman.

Croshal Entertainment Group, the artist management and label service firm founded by longtime Sony Music and Maverick executive Fred Croshal, made a pair of key promotions. Jimmy Brunetti, previously vp of label services, has been elevated to executive vp of business development and project management. Kirbie Croshal, most recently director of social media and project management, is now senior vp of marketing and digital strategies. Brunetti and Croshal have logged 15 and 17 years at CEG, respectively.

Last Week’s Turntable: Glass Ceiling Breaker Departed Sony

06 Oct 2023

The Core Entertainment Launches Producer Management Division

The Core Entertainment, known for its work with artists including Billboard’s 2023 country rookie of the year winner Bailey Zimmerman, as well as Nickelback and Nate Smith, has launched a new producers management division, with a focus on guiding the careers of emerging writer/producers. 

Founded by The Core Entertainment’s Kevin “Chief” Zaruk and Simon Tikhman, the new producer management division will be led by Tim Crane.

The new venture launches with Zimmerman’s producer Austin Shawn, as well as writer-producer Marty James and Josh Ross’s producer Matt Geroux.

Shawn, a writer/producer/mixer/engineer who worked on Zimmerman’s Religiously: The Album, has spent 11 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot Country Producers chart, for his work on Zimmerman’s three No. 1 Country Airplay singles “Fall in Love,” “Rock and a Hard Place” and “Religiously.” His credits also include Chase Matthew’s breakthrough song “County Line.”

Geroux produced Ross’s single “Trouble,” which topped the Canadian Country Radio Chart, and debuted at No. 43 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart earlier this year. Another Geroux-produced song from Ross, “On a Different Night,” was nominated for single of the year at the 2023 Canadian Country Music Awards.

Meanwhile, James is credited as a co-writer on the Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee (feat. Justin Bieber) song “Despacito,” which spent 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2017. James also co-wrote Zimmerman’s “Religiously,” with other credits including songs from Enrique Iglesias, Wiz Khalifa and Christina Aguilera.

“The idea behind creating this division is to work with the most talented writers and producers that are not afraid to push the boundaries of music,” the company’s co-founders/CEOs Tikhman and Zaruk said in a joint statement. “With Austin, Marty and Matt, they have all shown exactly that. They challenge artists to be the best they can be, while maintaining their visions and the integrity of the songs. The goal here is to work with producers around the globe that touch every genre of music and continue to disrupt the industry with their unique artistry.”  
 
The Core Entertainment launched in 2019 as an artist management company in partnership with Live Nation, with a roster including Zimmerman, Nickelback, Smith, Ross, Dillon James and Valley. In July, Zaruk and Tikhman launched The Core Records, via a separate partnership with Universal Music Group; The Core’s producer management division operates as a third standalone team.

06 Oct 2023

In the Studio With ‘Synth God’ Mike Dean

“I just need to make one edit. Could we start talking while I do it?” Mike Dean asks, lowering himself into a leather office chair in his Los Angeles home studio.

He swivels his seat to face a widescreen monitor and scrolls through scores of waveforms in his Pro Tools session, searching for the right spot to doctor. It’s a song from Diddy’s just-released The Love Album: Off the Grid called “Another One of Me” (featuring The Weeknd, French Montana and 21 Savage), and mere days before its Sept. 15 release, Dean has been tasked with crafting a slightly cleaner version of 21’s verse.

Despite the clear urgency of the work, Dean appears unfazed, steady. “It’s OK. I like to do eight things at a time,” he explains while he rotates among vocal editing, answering questions, FaceTiming a manager and ripping from his bong. This is not the first time the writer, producer and engineer has performed last-minute miracles for an A-lister’s song — and it certainly won’t be the last.

Dean’s stoicism and keen editing ear are among the many reasons he has been hip-hop’s most in-demand collaborator for decades, often skillfully guiding the genre’s most temperamental and perfectionistic talents — from Kanye West to Travis Scott to Jay-Z — to complete their best work.

He recalls the February 2016 evening when West played his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo, for fans at Madison Square Garden in New York. With a packed house of nearly 20,000 at the arena and 20 million tuned in at home through a livestream, West shared a sampling of its tracks, including now essential hits like “Famous” and “Ultralight Beam.” As on the six West albums that had preceded it, Dean was a trusted collaborator in creating Pablo. Fans waited well past the event’s scheduled start time, but few could have guessed the reason for the delay: Almost none of the songs were done.

“It was crazy,” recalls Dean as he clicks over to his camera roll on the monitor, searching back to the photos he took that night. “We had 16 songs unfinished. I think we finished something like four songs, gave them to Kanye, and he went down there and played that shit in front of 20,000 people.

“Then I finished some more and rushed from the studio. We had to jump out of the cab about 10 blocks before the arena because the traffic was so bad,” he continues, still searching for that specific night on his camera roll, casually whisking his cursor past other culture-defining moments in the process: The Weeknd’s headlining Coachella set, West’s Yeezus-era Saturday Night Live performance and many raucous Scott shows. “I ran to MSG, fought to get to the basement and then to the floor and gave him the memory stick.”

Mike Dean

Michael Tyrone Delaney

Finally, Dean locates one of the pictures of that night. In it, West stands in the center of the frame in a red long-sleeve shirt and black baseball cap, arms lifted above his head. Under the halo of a white spotlight, he appears to be leading a religious rite rather than a listening party. Dean stands to West’s right sporting a flat bill hat from MWA, his label, and a slick black windbreaker. Despite the preceding chaos, Dean’s countenance betrays no signs of alarm. “I’m calm, really,” he says with a shrug, zooming in on himself in the background. “I’ll put a memory stick in a computer in front of thousands of people.”

His most prolific relationship of all is with West, whom the Texas born-and-bred producer-engineer met when he was still living in Houston circa 2002. In the preceding years, Dean had become a local legend, defining the sound of the Dirty South by producing, writing and mixing records for Geto Boys and Scarface and touring with acts like Selena.

“Kanye first came to my house when he was working on his mixtape, songs like ‘Through the Wire.’ I remember he had on a backpack and tight pants,” he says with a laugh. “You know, people in Texas don’t wear tight pants.”

Though West has now cycled through dozens — if not hundreds — of other creative collaborators throughout his career, Dean has been his singular through line. He has been with the artist from mixing parts of The College Dropout (2004) to producing much of Donda 2 (2022). He says the key to fostering such long-term relationships with artists, including West, is to not “try to follow them too much” and “stand up for what [I think] is right” for a song. “You let them do their thing but steer them in the right direction,” he says, though he admits “that gets harder, though, as they get bigger and bigger.” (Dean declined to comment about the current status of his creative relationship with West.)

Mike Dean

Michael Tyrone Delaney

Don Toliver, who worked on his 2020 hit “After Party” with Dean, says he loves collaborating with the producer because he is “the ultimate badass at mixing and mastering. If Tony Montana from Scarface worked in the music industry, he would be Mike Dean, deep into his craft and bringing that essence and vibe to the music as well.”

But Dean’s best-known strength is his penchant for synthesizers. From where he sits in his studio, these analog instruments cocoon him, stacked in columns up and down all four walls of the room. He points out a few of his favorites: a Memory Moog from 1978, the latest Prophet from Dave Smith Instruments. Then Dean gestures across the room to a clunky keyboard with colorful knobs and buttons and wood grain siding. “That’s the one Michael [Jackson] played ‘Billie Jean’ on. That’s the most important synth in the room,” he says, beaming. Of course, he has other favorites in storage — in his two garages, his other studio or his Texas house.

In recent years, some Dean acolytes have dubbed him “The Synth God.” “Every year, I turn the synths up a couple dBs [decibels],” he jokes. “On [West’s 2005] Late Registration, the synths were really tucked in, but since then it has just gotten louder and louder.”

While many of his contemporaries add so-called “producer tags” — audio identifiers on tracks where they stake their claim — Dean mostly shies away from that. “My sound is usually my tag,” he says matter-of-factly. It’s a claim that’s evident on records that feature what has become known as a Mike Dean Outro — a 30-second- to minute-long ending devoted to Dean’s transcendent synth work; one of the best-known examples is on Scott’s 2019 single “Highest in the Room.” Of the 59 total producer credits and 106 songwriter credits Dean has amassed on the Billboard Hot 100, “Highest in the Room” is one of his few No. 1s (along with Scott’s Drake-featuring “Sicko Mode” and Kid Cudi collaboration “The Scotts”). “That’s when the outro really went viral,” he says, though that was far from its first iteration. He has been doing these characteristic endings since West’s “Stronger” in 2007. “I just always jam on songs as much as possible… But [the outros are] becoming almost cliché to me now,” he says.

Savvy rap fans have known about Dean since the 2000s — or earlier, if they followed Houston hip-hop — but the producer, 58, has intentionally increased his visibility in recent years. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, Dean started to see himself as more of an artist in his own right. He began a series of solo albums, released annually every April since 2020, each titled 4:20, 4:21, 4:22 and, most recently, 4:23.

He also started livestreaming as he played around on his synths, building avant garde instrumentals from scratch as teenagers frantically sent goat and fire emojis in the chat. The videos let Dean be more transparent with his process, and they amassed a following quickly, even among his famous friends like The Weeknd — who texted Dean, “You should open for me on tour.” Soon he was performing with the singer in stadiums around the world. To keep up with his other musical commitments, Dean worked out of a 10-foot-by-10-foot makeshift studio, designed for the back of his tour bus.

“It wasn’t too hard to work out of there, really,” he explains. “I did Travis’ second album in the back of a bus once. Plenty of my songs have been made like that.” It was during that time on the road, he says, that he created much of the songs and score for The Idol, the dark HBO drama co-created by The Weeknd and Euphoria producer Sam Levinson. The show was widely panned and ultimately canceled; one of its highlights, however, was Dean’s scoring work and soundtrack. Apart from co-writing the score for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, The Idol was Dean’s first major gig as composer, and his synth mastery laid the perfect morose undertone for the action onscreen.

Dean himself was also written into the show, playing “Mike Dean,” and furthering his mystique. In his first scene, he arrived in a matte black Tesla, emerging from the car’s butterfly doors in a fog of smoke, bong in tow — a meme-worthy entrance caricaturing his real-life demeanor and pot habit. It was Levinson’s idea: “I was first approached about Euphoria season two,” Dean says, which ultimately did not happen. “Then they asked me if I wanted to do music for The Idol, and when I met Sam, he asked me, ‘Well, do you want to be in the show, too?’ I guess he thought I was funny.”

Mike Dean

Michael Tyrone Delaney

But moving forward, Dean says TV and film work isn’t a priority: “I’d work on some select projects but not too much. I’m looking more at being an artist and putting out my own music and touring than anything else right now.” And as usual, he’s dutifully at work behind the scenes on the year’s biggest records. In 2023, he has already lent his expertise to Scott’s Utopia, the Idol soundtrack and Metro Boomin’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack. And because Dean is never entirely predictable, he also worked on Paranoia, Angels, True Love by Christine and the Queens.

“I don’t work much,” he insists. “I just smoke weed and f–king hang out and make music — it’s not work.” He swiftly turns his head to look back at the monitor, refocusing. “Sorry,” he says. “I actually need to get to editing this.”

This story will appear in the Oct. 7, 2023, issue of Billboard.

06 Oct 2023

Mike Shinoda Unveils High-Powered New Single ‘Already Over,’ Talks Returning to ‘Making Stuff for Myself’

“Let’s just call this a chapter,” Mike Shinoda tells Billboard, “instead of a single or an album.”

His tenacious new track, “Already Over,” marks the next phase of a solo career that Shinoda says is rumbling back to life, while refusing to abide by traditional release formats. “The first question everybody asks is, ‘Is there an album?’” Shinoda continues. “And the answer is no, but also, [‘Already Over’] is not a standalone single. It’s something in between.”

Shinoda fans and longtime Linkin Park listeners will likely wrap their arms around the first part of this new chapter: released on Friday (Oct. 6), “Already Over” gallops with renewed purpose from the veteran artist, who deploys its power riffs and lashing hooks with speed and gravity. Along with providing the hot-blooded vocals, Shinoda wrote, produced and played every instrument on “Already Over,” after inspiration struck while he was noodling around on his favorite Fender Stratocaster one day in his home studio.

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“This very alternative-rock thing came out of me,” Shinoda says, “and I think if that had happened 10 years ago, I would have run away from it. But this felt right.”

Following his 2018 album Post Traumatic and its subsequent world tour, Shinoda poured himself into studio experimentation: he began hosting interactive livestreams on Twitch during the pandemic lockdowns of 2020 — concocting instrumental tracks, often alongside fans and viewers — as well as writing and producing for other recording artists, and revisiting classic Linkin Park albums for anniversary reissues. Earlier this year, as Linkin Park’s unearthed single “Lost” scored a top 40 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart prior to the release of the Meteora 20th Anniversary Edition, Shinoda produced and co-wrote tracks for Demi Lovato and PVRIS, among others.

For a while, Shinoda made a point of not featuring his voice on any new material, content to stay in the background as a studio player. “I really enjoyed the mentorship part of it, and the learning part of it,” he says. “And at a certain point, that ran its course — I felt like I tried so many things, and I had been away from making stuff for myself. I started making things that were intended for my voice, and to be honest, working on my voice a little bit. I was trying to get better at the different things that I do.”

That process began earlier this year with “In My Head,” Shinoda’s darkly catchy collaboration with Kailee Morgue that was featured in Scream VI, and continues with “Already Over,” which sounds ripe for rock-radio power rotation. Both songs are featured in a new eight-song music pack for the VR rhythm game Beat Saber that was announced on Thursday (Oct. 5), along with Linkin Park classics like “Crawling” and “Numb/Encore” and Shinoda’s hit as Fort Minor, “Remember the Name”; the release makes Linkin Park the first band to receive a second music pack on the platform.

Meanwhile, Shinoda’s official site now features a sci-fi web game that he was involved in creating — “I think it’s gonna be really, really hard!” he says with a laugh — and which may evolve in the coming weeks. “Things like that are what I mean when I’m talking about how this is not just a single release,” he explains. “I’m trying to build out a few other things that are really fun for me to do, that I can do from home.”

That’s part of the calculus as to why “Already Over” is not preceding a proper album release from Shinoda: He’s feeling his creativity sparked in his Los Angeles home studio, and doesn’t feel the urge to stray too far from it. “One of the biggest pros of an album is that it’s a really intense artistic statement, and the con is that it comes and goes really fast — people just move on so fast, so the thing that everybody pairs it with is a tour,” he says. “Well, I don’t know if I want to do an album that comes and goes really fast like that, and I want to stay in the studio and make more stuff. I don’t want to go on tour and leave the studio, and so I had to think of this in a different way, where I can achieve those things.”

More music — and projects that complement that music — is coming, the result of Shinoda’s reinvigorated creative process as a solo artist. Yet he hopes that fans can stay in the moment, and appreciate dynamic songs like “Already Over” as he rolls them out, regardless of how they’re classified in his greater discography.

“I’ve got a few things that I’ll be rolling out over the next few months that I think the fans are going to have a lot of fun with,” he says. “If you can separate yourself from what I or what [other] artists normally do, and just go, ‘Is this fun to listen to?, Is this fun to experience?,’ I think that’s the best headspace to be in to engage with it.”

06 Oct 2023

Rihanna & A$AP Rocky Spotted Out In NYC For Rapper’s Birthday

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Celebrity Sightings In New York City - May 05, 2023

Source: Gotham / Getty

When Rihanna and A$AP Rocky step out they do it in style. The two were spotted out to celebrate his birthday.

Bossip is reporting that the celebrities were outside this week. On Tuesday, October 4 the duo publicly hit the streets of Manhattan for a very special occasion. The “Good For You” MC turned 35 and they went to celebrate the day by eating out at Carbone. Getting a table at the popular Italian hotspot can be very difficult but the two were given the VIP treatment as soon as they walked in.

As expected the power couple did not disappoint when it came to their clothing selections. A$AP Rocky wore a white button-up shirt under a grey crewneck sweater. Layered on top was a tartan suit jacket that was paired with some light jeans and black chunky boots. Pretty Flacko also has held on to the pearl hair clips he originally debuted at Rolling Loud in July. RiRi was fashion forward as ever with an all black ensemble featuring a cropped leather bomber jacket, a tulle top and shiny pantaboots. She completed the fit with black Gucci sunglasses and what seems to be a diamond necklace.

The Hollywood Fix reports that Rihanna and A$AP Rocky were at the restaurant for roughly two hours. You can see them exiting to their car below.



06 Oct 2023

Nigerian Record Label Mavin Records Seeking Investment or Sale

Mavin Records, the hot Nigerian label that’s home to Rema and Ayra Starr, is seeking investment or eying a potential full sale with bidding coming from the the Universal Music Group, HYBE and strong interest from music asset investors in the financial sector, according to sources.

Mavin’s valuation in the proposed deal is above $125 million and could be worth $150 million to $200 million, according to those sources. (It’s unclear if the label owns music publishing and if that is involved.) Sources further say that Shot Tower Capital is shopping the deal.

The move is expected to raise funding to help position the label for more growth. The African continent is anticipated to be the next geographical repertoire to have a commanding presence on the global stage, similar to how Latin and K-pop have had an impact on the international marketplace in recent years.

Even if the investment comes from a strategic investor like UMG or HYBE, or results in another label or music company taking a stake in Mavin or even buying the African music company outright. The Mavin management team, led by legendary Nigerian music business executive Don Jazzy, is expected to remain in place and retain some form of control over its destiny.

Selena Gomez & REMA

Selena Gomez & Rema

Courtesy of Rema*

Among strategic music industry suitors, sources say HYBE is in pole position with UMG in second place, even though some of Mavin’s bigger artists are distributed in the U.S. through various UMG entities. For instance, Rema’s big hit “Calm Down” — which peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 and remains in the top 10 on the chart after 56 weeks — was distributed by Virgin, one of UMG’s indie distribution arms; the subsequent remix version by Rema and Selena Gomez is licensed to Interscope; and sources say some other Mavin artist or artists might be going through Republic, as Mavin is listed under that label in Luminate.

Both Rema and Ayra Starr have racked up more than 1.5 billion global on-demand streams, according to Luminate, though Rema’s collaboration with Gomez on “Calm Down” is not counted under his artist page; that song has reached 9.07 billion global streams, with 164.5 million and 165.7 million in just the last two weeks, as of Sep. 28. Several other Rema collaborations are also listed elsewhere in Luminate, which means his overall share of streams is multiple times larger than what he is credited for solely under his own artist page in that system.

Moreover, both Rema’s and Starr’s emergence on the global stage is far bigger than their impact in the U.S. where Rema has 287 million streams and Starr has 203 million streams. Put another way, Rema’s collaboration with Gomez in the U.S., at 861.2 million streams, accounts for less than one tenth of the song’s total activity of over 9 billion streams.

In addition to hot artists like Rema and Starr, Mavin’s roster features more up-and-coming artists like Ladipoe, Crayon, Boy Spyce and Magixx, while its catalog includes music from Tiwa Savage, Wande Coal, Iyanya and Reekado Banks.

For a strategic suitor, the deal comes with other promising benefits besides landing a strong artist roster in a leading music company on the African continent. Winning the Mavin auction would catapult that bidder into a key player in the Nigerian Afrobeats scene — the umbrella genre that encompasses Afropop, Afro fusion, high life and others 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, 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 has introduced a new Grammy Awards category for best African music performance, which will be awarded for the first time at the forthcoming awards in February.

Beyond that, the buyer would also land the executive talent of Don Jazzy, born Michael Ajerehwho, who has already established Mavin as one of the leading record labels on the continent. Don Jazzy has become a leading figure in the development of the music business in Nigeria, having established Mo’ Hit Records alongside iconic recording artist D’Banj in 2004, before launching Mavin in 2012.

All companies mentioned in this story either declined to comment or didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.

06 Oct 2023

YNW Melly Hit With Witness Tampering Charge In Murder Case

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YNW Melly Police Booking Photo

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YNW Melly has been given a charge of witness tampering by Florida prosecutors as he’s approaching a retrial for double murder.

According to reports, Broward County prosecutors charged YNW Melly with witness tampering on Wednesday (October 4) ahead of his retrial for double murder. They allege that the rapper, who is affiliated with the Bloods street gang, used phone calls by other jail inmates at his request as well as letters passed between them to get messages out to other Blood members on the street. Those gang members then made sure a key witness in the case didn’t testify, said prosecutors.

YNW Melly, also known as Jamell Demons, remains incarcerated without bond. He and Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry are accused of shooting and killing Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams inside of an SUV after a late-night recording session in 2018 and then staging it to look like a drive-by shooting. If convicted, YNW Melly faces a potential death sentence.  The first trial ended in July with a hung jury which voted 9-3 to convict.

YNW Bortlen was arrested on Monday (October 2) in Miami-Dade County for witness tampering. A co-defendant in the double murder trial, YNW Bortlen was on house arrest when detained with documents detailing the charge as “misleading conduct toward another person with the intent to cause or induce (that person) to withhold testimony”.

The rapper’s legal team is set to appear in court on Friday and plans to present a case before Broward County Circuit Judge John J. Murphy that Broward County State Attorney Harold Pryor and lead prosecutor Kristine Bradley conspired to cover up information about the lead detective, Mark Moretti of the Miramar Police Department, in the case. They aim to call for Bradley’s dismissal.

“This is a transparent and desperate attempt by the State Attorney’s office to distract the public from the deposition of an Assistant State Attorney who accused this case’s lead detective and lead prosecutor of felonies by falsifying and covering up evidence damaging to the state’s case,” Raven Liberty, YNW Melly’s attorney, said of the additional charge.