News

29 Aug 2023

‘I’m Just Ken,’ ‘Peaches’ and More Front-Runners for 2024 Oscar Nods for Best Original Song

When the Oscar nominations are announced on Jan. 23, 2024, we could see two humorous songs in the running for best original song – “I’m Just Ken,” which provides one of Ryan Gosling’s funniest scenes in Barbie, and “Peaches,” which Jack Black sings in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Amusing songs are nominated occasionally in this category. Relatively recent examples include “Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020), “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), “Everything Is Awesome” from The Lego Movie (2014) and“Blame Canada”from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999).

Here are 10 early front-runners for nominations for best original song at the 96th annual Academy Awards. The awards will be presented on March 10, 2024.

Two veteran songwriters, Alan Menken and Diane Warren, are each hoping to collect their 15th nominations for best original song, a benchmark that has been reached by only five songwriters in Oscar history. Menken’s strongest contender is “For the First Time” from The Little Mermaid; Warren has two songs vying for a nod – “The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot and “Gonna Be You” from 80 for Brady. If one is nominated, she will tie the late lyricist Marilyn Bergman as the woman with the most best original song nominations.

And two songwriters, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt, are vying to become EGOT winners. Miranda is competing with the aforementioned “For the First Time” from The Little Mermaid; Platt with songs from Theater Camp.

We’re showing two songs from Barbie – “I’m Just Ken” and “What Was I Made For?” Current Oscar rules state: “No more than two songs from any one film, regardless of writers, may be nominated for the original song award.” Four films in Oscar history have spawned three nominated songs – Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Dreamgirls and Enchanted. None of the songs from the latter two films won the award, which demonstrated the very real risk of a film splitting its votes. In response, a new rule was instated in June 2008 that a film could have no more than two songs nominated.

As a result, the Dua Lipa hit “Dance the Night” and the Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice collaboration “Barbie” (with Aqua) may be squeezed out. “Dance the Night” is a trifle, but it has proven to be a most engaging one — and Lipa is at the level of fame that many previous pop stars were at when Oscar took notice. “Barbie,” which is built around a sample from Aqua’s 1997 hit “Barbie Girl,” may be ruled ineligible. Last year, the Academy did not consider Doja Cat’s “Vegas” from Elvis, which was built around a sample from “Hound Dog.”

A little more than four months remains in the eligibility year. Songs from a few upcoming films – Trolls Band Together, Wonka and The Color Purple – could also be contenders. Trolls Band Together, due Nov. 17, is the third installment in the Trolls franchise. Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” from the first Trolls was nominated in this category seven years ago.

Wonka is due Dec. 15. Neil Hannon, lead singer of The Divine Comedy, contributed original songs for the film. The first Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) did not spawn a best song nominee, though “The Candy Man” became a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for Sammy Davis Jr. and “Pure Imagination” was covered by several artists, including Lou Rawls.

A remake of The Color Purple is due on Christmas Day. Siedah Garrett, a two-time Oscar nominee for best original song (for “Love You I Do from Dreamgirls and “Real in Rio” from Rio), teamed with Stephen Bray and Brenda Russell to write the songs for the film. If one of them is nominated, Garrett will become the third Black songwriter, following Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie, to land three best original song nominations. Jones and Richie collaborated with the late Rod Temperton on “Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister)” from the original 1985 film, which was nominated in this category.

Here are 10 early front-runners for best original song nominations.

29 Aug 2023

Lil Wayne Pens New Theme Song ‘Good Morning’ for Skip Bayless’ Sports Show ‘Undisputed’

As sports journalist Skip Bayless assembled his new all-star cast for his revamped Undisputed show — which premiered on Fox Sports 1 on Monday (Aug. 28) — he called on his friend Lil Wayne to complete the comeback with a new theme song. 

Titled “Good Morning,” Wayne — who was the cover star of Billboard‘s Hip-Hop 50 issue — barrels his way through the track with vigor, spewing a bevy of sports metaphors. “If you ain’t got no haters, you ain’t poppin, I ain’t tryin to hate/ Let’s have a Jordan and Lebron debate, I got time of day/ Drippin’ on the chain, my diamonds say what they gotta say/ If you think it’s a game, I commentate, I ain’t got to play.”

Along with debuting the show’s new theme song, Wayne will serve as a guest analyst every Friday alongside Bayless. 

“I try to make everything I do better than the last thing I did,” Wayne said during Monday’s episode. “Just to impress you just because I know how much you love ‘No Mercy.’ Just to capitalize on what you’ve done. It’s not complicated. It’s not hard. I love the challenge of it anyway. I attacked it like an SAT exam — like, if I don’t pass this, I can’t get in.”

Earlier this month, Bayless showered Wayne with praise about his sports knowledge while filming his podcast The Skip Bayless Show. “Brother Wayne is as into our relaunch as I am,” Skip said. “He is the heart and soul into the relaunch and by the way, bigger picture, Wayne has agreed every Friday going forward to doing a segment with me live. He might not always be in the studio, depending on his schedule, but he is going to join me every Friday for a segment.”

Bayless’s new lineup will include former ESPN analysts Keyshawn Johnson and Michael Irvin, along with Seattle’s great Richard Sherman, who will be his co-host.  

Listen to “Good Morning” below.

29 Aug 2023

Warner Music Employees to Return to Office Four Days a Week, Get Flexible Time Off

As the world continues to adjust to different types of “new normal” following the generational disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic of the past few years, Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl outlined a new policy for the major label requiring employees to return to the office four times a week, while expanding free lunches and offering more flexible time off in a memo to staff today (Aug. 29) obtained by Billboard.

The change will go into effect on Oct. 1, the start of WMG’s next fiscal year. Accordingly, the company will expand access to its employees’ Sharebite — a food ordering company that allows corporate employees to order a meal, then donates a meal to the local community — to four times per week.

Probably most significantly for employees, WMG is also moving from a fixed vacation day time off policy to a flexible time off policy, which allows employees to take time off when they need it regardless of whether it’s sick leave, vacation time or any other reason. That policy will go into effect Jan. 1, 2024.

“We are a creative company and we’re here for our artists and songwriters,” Kyncl wrote in a memo to staff. “That’s our heritage and DNA — which needs to be preserved and nourished.”

Kyncl then outlined three reasons for the change to the four-day work week, emphasizing employee collaboration and how it drives creativity; corporate talent development, and how that contributes to a stronger team; and the relationships among staffers, which he says helped Warner get through COVID successfully, and is an essential element of a company based on shared experiences.

“I am very impressed by the hustle, scrappiness and inventiveness of our team,” Kyncl wrote. “We don’t copy, we chart our own path. Our momentum through the summer is a great example of that. Leaning into that energy, creating more of it and driving excellence together, is an exciting prospect for our path forward. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to meet more of you in person as we are all in the office more.”

29 Aug 2023

Here’s Why Dolly Parton Turned Down Tea With Kate Middleton

Kate Middleton may be the Princess of Wales, but the Queen of Country runs on her own schedule. In an interview with BBC Radio 2‘s Claudia Winkleman, Dolly Parton revealed that she was recently invited to have tea with the royal, though she had to turn it down for album promotion reasons.

“This time, Lordy, I even got invited to have tea with Kate,” Parton told BBC Radio 2 after she was asked whether she planned on exploring London while in the city for her promotion cycle. “And I felt so bad … I couldn’t even go! [My team] had all this stuff set up.”

“But I thought that was very sweet and nice of her to invite me to tea,” the “Jolene” singer continued. “And one of these days I’m going to get to do that … That would be great!”

Parton, who’s currently gearing up for the November release her album Rockstar, went on to joke that the future queen “wasn’t going to promote my rock album, so I had to say no.” She added, “I hope she hears it though!”

Be that as it may, there are some English members of rock ‘n’ roll helping out with Parton’s new record. The Beatles’ Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as Fleetwood Mac founder Mick Fleetwood, are featured on Parton’s cover of “Let It Be,” which she dropped on Aug. 18. Debuting at No. 2 on Rock Digital Song Sales, No. 15 on Country Digital Song Sales and No. 22 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart, the song marked the first featuring McCartney and Starr — or any of the four Beatles, including the late George Harrison and John Lennon — to be credited together on an entry on a Billboard songs chart outside the Beatles.

A handful of new original songs will be included on Parton’s first ever rock album, but much of it will be made up of covers featuring dozens of rock stars who’ve dominated the charts through the ages. Sting, Joan Jett, Stevie Nicks, Elton John and Debbie Harry are all on the billing, as are Miley Cyrus, Pink, Lizzo and Brandi Carlisle.

29 Aug 2023

5 Best Moments of The Equality Ball, Hosted by Human Rights Campaign & Beyoncé’s BeyGOOD

“We love y’all watching Pose and Legendary, but we also want y’all to come outside and support!” proclaimed Stephanie “Packrat” Whitfield, one of the executive producers of Sunday night’s powerful Equality Ball (Aug. 27).

The urgency of her words was the guiding principle of the night, as some of the most iconic names in ballroom convened for an unforgettable night — one that paid tribute to the progress of LGBTQIA+ rights and highlighted the many avenues through which people continue to push for queer liberation across American politics. Hosted by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest LGBTQIA+ civil rights organization, in association with Beeline Productions and the Shady Gang, with support from BeyGOOD Foundation, the Equality Ball brought authentic ballroom culture to KAOS Nightclub in Las Vegas, Nevada.

With Carlos Irizarry of the House of Basquiat, one of the choreographers and dancers on Beyoncé’s record-breaking Renaissance World Tour, as one of the figures spearheading this event, which was seven years in the making, Queen Bey’s influence loomed large over the night. For the night’s final category, the aptly titled “OTA Performance — Bring It Like Beyoncé,” participants recreated some of the singer’s instantly iconic tour ensembles and crafted custom pieces inspired by Renaissance tracks. From the “Cozy” robot arms to several renditions of her sparkly gold Loewe bodysuit, Beyoncé was omnipresent. Not to mention, several key Renaissance Tour figures were in attendance, including Honey Balenciaga, Les Twins, and some of the tour’s film crew.

Nevertheless, the Equality Ball was never dominated by Queen Bey. In fact, the ball was arguably a pitch-perfect example of how allies can assist marginalized groups in achieving their visions, while still allowing them to take center stage. From Kevin Jz Prodigy and Shannon Balenciaga to Dashaun Wesley and Precious Basquiat, the Equality Ball was spearheaded by pillars of the culture, people who live and breathe the freedom, catharsis, and resistance of ballroom.

In the wake of the harrowing, unjust murder of O’Shae Sibley, the Equality Ball stood not only as a celebration of the vitality of LGBTQIA+ life and culture, but also as a staunch reminder that this community will not be silenced or erased. “Ballroom culture is synonymous with the Black queer community — it creates a safe space for LGBTQ+ people at a time when being your authentic self was dangerous. But, let’s not get confused, it’s still dangerous for us — Black and Brown trans women are facing an epidemic of fatal violence,” says Human Rights Campaign President, Kelley Robinson. “The Equality Ball serves as another space for those who feel overlooked to take center stage and let the
world know that — as Beyoncé sings — you won’t break our souls.”

The Human Rights Campaign offered countless educational resources at the Equality Ball, including HIV testing, voter registration, and direct access to information about local LGBTQ+ programs and initiatives.

Here are the five best moments from the Equality Ball on Sunday:

29 Aug 2023

ASCAP Appears to Reply to BMI Sale News With Social Media Campaign

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) has launched a new social media campaign that appears to be in response to a recent Billboard exclusive that revealed that ASCAP’s main competitor, Broadcast Music Inc (BMI), may sell itself to a private equity firm. Sources say the potential deal has an estimated price tag of $1.7 billion.

Just two days after the Billboard story was published on last Wednesday (Aug 23), ASCAP — which, along with BMI, is one of the largest U.S.-based performing rights organizations — posted a graphic on Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter) that read: “ASCAP. Creators first. Not for profit. Not for sale.” In the caption of the post, ASCAP continued to point out that it is the “only U.S. PRO that operates as a not-for-profit” and that it is the “only one founded and governed by songwriters, composers and music publishers.”

In the last three days, the organization has posted seven other similar posts on its socials, seemingly highlighting their distinctions from BMI. The posts include quotes like: “Private equity never wrote an iconic love song,” “ASCAP. Growth without greed,” and “ASCAP writers. Who owns us? Who gets paid? You. And you.”

ASCAP CEO, Elizabeth Matthews, provided a statement about the social campaign to Billboard, saying “it’s important for everyone to understand what makes ASCAP different. We are a membership association, founded and run by songwriters, composers and music publishers. We are the only US PRO that operates as a not-for-profit, and our distribution policy is set by a board of writers and publishers, who are elected by our members. ASCAP’s governing articles require us to put creators first, which puts us in a category of one. And we’ve been overwhelmed by the positive response from our members.”

“Our focus is not on how our competitors position themselves,” replied a representative of BMI when asked to comment on ASCAP’s latest social posts. “Relying on the past never sustained a business for the future. Our goal is to stay ahead of the changing industry and invest in our business to grow the value of our affiliates’ music. Any path forward would prioritize the best interests of our songwriters, composers and publishers, including their financial success. Our focus is on delivering for our affiliates.”

BMI first began experimenting with its business model in March 2022 when it hired Goldman Sachs as an outside advisor to explore new strategic opportunities for growth. This was believed to include a possible sale to an outside firm, but by August 2022, Bloomberg announced that BMI had ditched its exploration of such a sale. A few days later, Billboard found that the PRO laid off about 30 staffers from its workforce, citing “uncertain” economic conditions.

By October 2022, BMI announced that it would be switching from its 80-plus year status as a non-profit organization to a for-profit company. In an interview with Billboard at the time, the company’s CEO and president, Mike O’Neill, explained that the company made this switch because “growth requires investment, not just maintenance… This new [commercial] model will grow at a faster rate.”

This summer, reports surfaced that BMI was once again considering a sale. O’Neill explained to his staff in a memo that the company’s new for-profit model and recent investments into improving its operations “has only intensified outside interest” in purchasing the PRO.

Amid growing concern about the future of BMI, songwriter groups — including Songwriters of North America, Black Music Artists Coalition, Music Artists Coalition, Artists Rights Alliance, and SAG-AFTRA — provided Billboard with an open letter to BMI on Aug. 18. Outlining three areas of concern, the songwriter groups question how they will be impacted by BMI’s increased profits; the proceeds from any potential BMI sale; and what may happen operationally at BMI in the event that the organization is sold. “Songwriters have a right to understand these decisions and how it impacts us,” the letter read.

Days after, Billboard reported that multiple sources say BMI is considering an offer to sell to New Mountain Capital, a private equity firm that has been quietly shopping for music assets over the last few years, according to sources. The deal has yet to be signed, as New Mountain Capital has entered an exclusive window to scrutinize the deal. Sources suggest that the deal, if it takes place, will be worth around $1.7 billion.

In response to that exclusive, the same songwriter groups provided Billboard with another open letter to BMI on Aug. 28, expressing that they were “extremely disappointed and upset” to hear the news of a possible sale. The coalition asked for BMI’s chief executive to respond to songwriters with more information “prior to taking any other action” towards the possible sale to New Mountain.

29 Aug 2023

Miguel Posts Bloody T-Shirt Pic After Concert Body Suspension Stunt: ‘What Is Your Relationship to Pain?’

Miguel previewed songs from his upcoming fifth studio album, Viscera, on Friday in Los Angeles during an event dubbed the “Viscera Experience,” in which the singer warned the small crowd that the performance would include “boundary-pushing artistry including body manipulation [and] skin piercing.”

According to a description of the show posted by Vibe, after taking the stage at Sony Studios in a white tank, baggy black pants and black rubber boots, the “Sky Walker” singer was joined by two men who pushed metal hooks through the skin on his back, then attached them to wires that lifted him off the ground by the hooks. He then hung for nearly five minutes while singing an unreleased song — featuring the apropos lyrics “I’m hanging onto nothing/ I’m hanging from the ceiling” –before being lowered and having the hooks removed.

On Monday (Aug. 29), Miguel posted a series of pics on Instagram showing the aftermath of the S&M stunt, including the series of holes in his back as well as the white tank top, streaked and spotted with his blood alongside the caption, “What is your relationship to pain? What is your relationship to change?”

The type of suspension Miguel used in the performance is typically referred to as a “suicide suspension” and Miguel isn’t he only one who has employed it as type of body modification that dates back at least 5,000 years to India as part of a spiritual piercing rituals during Hindu festivals. Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro waxed poetic about the therapeutic aspects of putting large-gauge hooks through the skin of your back in a 2013 Guardian interview, saying, “To be honest, at first I just wanted to try it because it was interesting; I didn’t know that there was going to be an experience attached to it. I saw it as just a mind-over-matter thing until I got off the ground the first time. Then a lightbulb went off.”

He said while some people are horrified by the act — admitting that there is definitely pain, and blood, involved — he found it to be “a very intensely gratifying emotional release. Sometimes it’s just fun, but it can also be very meditative.”

Last month, Miguel pushed boundaries as part of Sony’s “For the Music” campaign, scaling a massive skyscraper and breaking through a glass window in a one minute visual that director Liam McRae said symbolized the singer’s next era and Sony’s commitment to supporting artists like him breaking through “creative barriers” and connecting directly with their fans.

Viscera, which does not yet have an official release date, is the follow-up to 2017’s War & Leisure; he released the single “Give It to Me” in April.

See Miguel’s posts below.

29 Aug 2023

Taylor Swift Extends Record Reign on Artist 100, J-Hope, Hozier & JIHYO Hit Top 10

Taylor Swift spends a record-extending 78th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated Sept. 2), thanks to 10 albums on the Billboard 200 and four songs on the Billboard Hot 100.

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Leading her Billboard 200 saturation is Midnights at No. 5 with 53,000 equivalent album units earned in the Aug. 18-24 tracking week, according to Luminate. Her latest set, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), follows at No. 7.

Here’s a recap of Swift’s current Billboard 200-charting titles.

Rank, Title:

  • No. 5, Midnights
  • No. 7, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
  • No. 8, Lover
  • No. 13, Folklore
  • No. 17, 1989
  • No. 19, Reputation
  • No. 26, Red (Taylor’s Version)
  • No. 31, Evermore
  • No. 35, Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
  • No. 182, Taylor Swift

On the Hot 100, Swift charts four songs: “Cruel Summer” (at No. 4 after reaching No. 3), “Karma” featuring Ice Spice (14-15), “Anti-Hero” (20-18) and “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” (71-74).

Elsewhere on the Artist 100, BTS member J-Hope re-enters at No. 6, a new high (surpassing his prior No. 9 peak), thanks to the CD release of his album Jack in the Box. The set, released in July 2022, debuted at No. 17 last year and re-enters at a new No. 6 best (50,000 units).

Hozier re-enters the Artist 100 at No. 7, his highest rank since 2019, thanks to his new LP Unreal Unearth. The album debuts at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 (62,000 units), marking his third top 10, following Hozier (No. 2, 2014) and Wasteland, Baby! (No. 1, 2019).

Plus, TWICE member JIHYO debuts at No. 10, powered by her new solo EP Zone. The release enters the Billboard 200 at No. 14 (41,000 units), becoming her first solo entry on the chart. (TWICE has tallied four top 10 albums.)

The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.

29 Aug 2023

What’s Gamma Planning in Africa & the Middle East?

Of his previous trips to Africa, Larry Jackson says simply, “[They have been] tattooed on my heart.” Now, with his latest venture, he’s looking to put his own stamp on the continent.

Gamma, Jackson’s recently launched media company, announced in May that it was expanding operations into Africa and the Middle East with Sipho Dlamini and Naomi Campbell onboard as president and special advisor for Africa and the Middle East, respectively. And this month, the company named Larry Gaaga vp/GM for Africa and Dany Neville as vp of A&R for the Middle East. One of Gaaga’s primary focuses will be spearheading initiatives to develop local talent, and he’s already begun discussions with Dlamini and Campbell on how they’ll discover and develop more African female artists. In his role, Neville will be identifying and nurturing Middle Eastern talent.

The move into both regions comes at an opportune time. According to the 2023 IFPI Global Music Report, Sub-Saharan Africa became the fastest-growing region in the world last year, with a 34.7% increase in revenue largely driven by South Africa’s booming market, where sales were up by 31.4%. Meanwhile, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), 2021’s fastest-growing region, experienced a 23.8% increase in revenue driven almost entirely by streaming, which has a 95.5% share of the region’s recorded music market — the highest of any in the world.

Gamma is joining a long list of Western music companies to have set up shop in both territories over the last few years. UMG Nigeria and Sony Music Entertainment West Africa have both established offices in Lagos, Nigeria. In 2020, EMPIRE signed a distribution and publishing deal with Olamide’s independent label YBNL Nation, leading to the launch of EMPIRE Africa in Lagos two years later. Elsewhere on the continent, Warner Music Africa is based out of Johannesburg, South Africa, where Universal Music Africa also established one of two regional headquarters (the other is in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire). UMG has also been making inroads in the MENA region, from Republic Records partnering with Wassim “Sal” Slaiby to launch Universal Arabic Music to becoming the first major music company to open operations in Casablanca, Morocco. Universal Music MENA and Sony Music Middle East have headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, while Warner Music Middle East is based out of Beirut.

Gamma will have staff in Johannesburg, Lagos and Dubai, with plans for a physical office in Lagos. Dlamini will be based in Lagos and Dubai while frequently traveling to South Africa, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the markets; Campbell will also be frequently present in both regions, says a company spokesperson. On the African continent, Gaaga will help guide teams in Johannesburg and Lagos (where he’ll be based). And in the Middle East, Neville will be stationed in Dubai, where he’s established himself as one of the UAE’s groundbreaking on-air radio personalities/DJs.

The company has already gained a foothold in Africa thanks to its acquisition of music distribution service Vydia in December. Vydia’s founder/gamma chief technology and product officer Roy LaManna says that since Vydia launched on the continent in 2017, it’s become the company’s second-largest territory in the world thanks to partnerships with local record labels like Mr. Eazi’s emPawa Africa and Don Jazzy’s Mavin Records — which gamma is now using to further expand there. In April, gamma exclusively distributed and marketed a re-release of Mavin artist Rema’s Rave & Roses debut album in African territories, marking the company’s first regional move. The album includes Rema’s latest smash “Calm Down” with Selena Gomez, which has amassed 7.52 billion total on-demand streams globally, including user-generated content (UGC does not count toward Billboard’s charts). Vydia says the single has garnered 482 million streams across the African continent, while Rave & Roses has amassed more than 580 million streams across all tracks.

By owning Vydia, gamma will be able to support African artists in building careers in their home countries and beyond by offering technology and data that “can identify where tracks and artists are performing and then support and elevate them into a better space,” says Dlamini, while also offering staff on the ground where they are.

Dlamini has an impressive track record. For 24 years, he has been a music industry leader in Africa, including the seven years he spent at UMG, first as MD and then as CEO, along with a four-year stint at the Southern African Music Rights Organization (SAMRO), where he was eventually promoted to CEO. Prior, Dlamini was vp of operations at CSM Sport & Entertainment in Dubai, where he oversaw the largest concerts and music festivals in the region. In his previous role as MD of Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, he launched Def Jam Africa — where he hired Gaaga as vp of A&R last year — with headquarters in Lagos and Johannesburg.

Jackson says he “had always admired” Dlamini’s hustle as CEO of Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. “[He] built them into the No. 1 market share of any company in music in Africa,” he says. When the two eventually met through a mutual friend, music industry veteran Marc Byers, he continues, “I knew that I wanted to work together.”

While Campbell may not be known for her music industry experience — which has been limited to music video cameos and one studio album — she has long been a champion of developing opportunities in both Africa and the Middle East. She’s founded several charitable organizations benefiting emerging markets, including Fashion for Relief, which helps develop fashion, technology, business, entertainment and arts industries around the world, as well as the Emerge Initiative, which supports the next generation of creatives and entrepreneurs through apprenticeships, after-school programs and more.

“Naomi is truly one of the most powerful and impressive dignitaries in the world,” says Jackson. “She’s really rising to the challenge of being an executive and really has foresight, energy, ambition, ideas, influence – all of it.” Before gamma, Campbell helped him sort out “some work visa issues” when he traveled to South Africa with Drake in 2016 (during his stint as global creative director at Apple Music) by tapping her contacts within the country’s government as well as with Nelson Mandela’s family. Since then, she has introduced him to some of the most notable figures in Africa and the Middle East, from Afrobeats superstars Wizkid and Burna Boy to the Saudi Arabian minister of culture, Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al Saud.

“I’m proud that a brother, a man of color and culture, is taking the reins and starting his own company,” says Campbell. “When he offered me this gig, I said yes because it’s a challenge for me. Yes, it’s not my day job, but at the end of the day, it’s about if you care. And I care, as everyone knows, about the continent and all the emerging markets.” Campbell also signed a podcast deal with gamma, according to Jackson, with the show expected to launch later this year.

For all of their promise, the African and Middle Eastern music markets come with significant hurdles. Chief among them is the issue of low streaming service subscribers in Africa, which Jackson is currently focused on finding solutions for.

“Streaming services in one of the biggest [African] territories, if not the biggest territory, Nigeria, have very low subscriber growth and very low subscribers in general,” says Jackson, adding that he’s already been speaking with his former Apple colleague Oliver Schusser about solving what he calls the biggest issue limiting that growth: payment.

While “the value of music and people’s willingness to pay for music” on the continent “is a lot less than in other territories,” Jackson admits, part of the payment issue stems from the fact that more people in Africa are likely to own a mobile phone than a bank account — which is why streaming services have been relying on telecommunications deals to significantly grow their subscriber bases. Through partnerships with local wireless providers in key markets — Vodacam in Tanzania, Airtel in Nigeria and MTN in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa — Africa-focused streaming service Mdundo can bypass the issue of low penetration of payment cards in Africa and reach 185 million wireless subscribers, according to the company’s June 2023 guidance report. Other streamers have developed alternative payment methods, such as M-Pesa, which transforms a user’s SIM card and phone into a virtual banking system. Spotify allowed users in Kenya to pay using M-Pesa when the company began operating in the country two years ago.

While Jackson certainly sees the value in streamers making telco deals in Africa, he believes more can be done to convert music fans into streaming subscribers by, for example, making exclusive deals with artists — a strategy he successfully implemented during his previous gig. “Nothing has more relevance than Drake’s album being exclusive on Apple,” he says. “You can debate that all day, [but] there’s no carrier deal that’s going to bring you that level of audience. Bringing the artists and the culture and the community together with the streaming services I think is a missing part that hasn’t been done.”

29 Aug 2023

Brittany Renner Gave Charleston White A Lap Dance, X Thinks PJ Washington Is Tight

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Brittany Renner hasn’t made the headlines in quite a while and it appeared that she was looking to change her sultry image in order to find true love. As that might still be the case, folks on X (formerly known as Twitter) are scratching their heads after Brittany Renner slapped her hot pocket in the lap of Charleston White on a recent podcast appearance.

Brittany Renner recently joined the set of The Danza Project podcast with hosts Toney Danza and Kris Novacane. In a clip promoted by the podcast via YouTube and social media, Renner is seen talking to White, and the controversial figure is heard off the mic saying “It’s uncomfortable to be wet” and we’re pretty sure that he’s talking about a certain body part at a certain moment.

Renner, who seemed shocked by White’s assessment, decided to straddle him in a skintight dress and even popped it a bit before flinging water on the hosts and White himself. Renner was in a throwing mood that day after tossing a full body of water at one of the hosts for laughing at her injury in a very personal place.

With the clip trending and going viral, fans on X connected the moment to the recent news of PJ Washington, the father of Renner’s child, signing a new three-year, $48 million contract with the Charlotte Hornets. While we don’t believe the pair are a couple, some X fans think Washington is sitting at home tight that his child’s mother is setting it out for Charleston White and The Danza Project gang.

Check out the clip in question below. Keep scrolling for reaction.

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Photo: Getty