News

17 May 2023

Gabrielle Union Revealing She & Dwyane Wade “Split Everything 50/50” Sparks Ridiculous Twitter Banter

HipHopWired Featured Video

CLOSE

Gabrielle Union Says She & Dwyane Wade

Source: WWD / Getty / Gabrielle Union

Here we go, another unnecessary debate about something a celebrity said concerning their household.

Gabrielle Union isn’t shy about sharing anything regarding her marriage. We all remember when she admitted to being a munch revealing her husband, 41-year-old former NBA player Dwyane Wade enjoys his butt being eaten.

As you can imagine, that caused an uproar at the time, and now Union is once again the center of social media discourse, this time it has nothing to do with what goes down in the couple’s bedroom, but instead, it’s all about how they manage their finances.

During an interview with Bloomberg Originals, the 50-year-old actress opened up about splitting everything “50/50” with her husband.

“It’s weird to say I’m head of household because, in this household, we split everything 50/50,” Union said. “But in the other households that each of us have to support, there’s always this gorilla on your back that is like, ‘You better work! You better work! You want to sleep in? Somebody might not eat.’ And it’s hard. It’s hard to let that go, so I’m working on that.”

Union shares a daughter with Wade, 4-year-old Kaavia, whom the couple welcomed via a surrogate, as well as being a stepmother to his other three children from previous relationships. Zaire, 21, and Zaya, 15, whom he shares with his ex-wife Siovaughn Funches and son Xavier, 9, with Aja Metoyer.

The actress says supporting her family motivates her to keep working hard.

“I have more responsibilities for my money,” she said. “I get nervous. Like, ‘Oh god, that movie didn’t open. Well, what does that mean? Am I going to have enough to hold everybody up?’… I’m trying to find peace in the journey, not using my anxiety and scarcity mindset to be my engine, which is hard.”

Twitter Had Plenty To Say About Gabrielle Union Splitting Everything 50/50

To be expected, Twitter had plenty of thoughts on the matter and couldn’t believe she was going half on things while being married to a former professional basketball player, who is part owner of an NBA franchise and has other lucrative business deals.

“Gabrielle Union said she go 50/50 with a man who is a part owner of an NBA team. the lights are on but ain’t nobody home,” one Twitter user wrote. 

“1. I’m not splitting anything with a man who got 3 kids + a bonus child. 2. I’m not splitting anything with a man who made a bonus child that I gotta look at as a constant reminder. 3. Why does millionaire Gabrielle Union sound like she living paycheck-to-paycheck w/ a husband?” another tweet read. 

MSNBC anchor Symone D Sanders Townsend defended Union, saying, “The responsibilities Gabrielle Union refers to is being THE financially successful person in your family. So many folks of her age & younger are the 1st to achieve “real money” – that can be a burden. If you don’t understand ok but let’s not pretend she was saying something else.”

Add this debate to the long list of things Twitter will waste its time on. You can see more reactions in the gallery below.

—

Photo: WWD / Getty

2. No chill

17 May 2023

15 First-Timers on Billboard’s Charts This Week: Wunderhorse, Jim-E Stack, Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem and More

Billboard has more than 200 different weekly charts in its menu, encompassing numerous genres and formats.

While established artists often compete for a spot on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and Billboard 200 albums ranking, which track the most popular songs and albums of the week, respectively, up-and-coming talents typically start off on genre-specific lists.

Here’s a look at 15 acts who appear on surveys for the first time on the May 20-dated charts.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Wunderhorse

Wunderhorse, the pseudonym of British artist Jacob Slater, debuts “Purple” at No. 36 on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart (up 38% in plays), marking his first-ever chart entry. He released the song in October on his debut LP Cub, on Communion Records/Mick Music. Before performing as Wunderhorse, Slater was the frontman of post-punk trio Dead Pretties. Outside of music, Slater stars in the FX mini-series Pistol, a biographical drama centered around the Sex Pistols, in which he portrays the band’s drummer, Paul Cook. Earlier this year, Slater supported the Pixies on tour, and he’ll next open for Fontaines D.C. In between, he’s slated to perform at multiple festivals, including Austin City Limits, Glastonbury and Ohana.

Jim-E Stack

The indie-pop musician, 31, scores his first chart appearance as a recording artist thanks to his new collaboration with Flume, “Chalk 1.3.3 (2017 Export.WAV).” The song, released May 3 on Flume’s mixtape Arrived Anxious, Left Bored through Future Classic Records, debuts at No. 44 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with 420,000 official streams in the U.S. May 5-11, according to Luminate. Stack has written and produced songs with an array of acts including Gracie Abrams, Bon Iver, Charli XCX, Dominic Fike, Empress Of and Caroline Polachek. Bon Iver’s “PDLIF (Please Don’t Live in Fear),” which Stack co-produced with Justin Vernon and BJ Burton, reached No. 36 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs in 2020. He also co-produced Diplo’s “New Shapes” (featuring Octavian), which hit No. 48 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs in 2019. Stack has self-released two solo LPs: Tell Me I Belong, in 2014, and Ephemera, in 2020.

Lil Mabu

The 18-year-old New York City native (real name Matthew DeLuca) scores his first chart hit with breakthrough track “Mathematical Disrespect.” The song, which he self-released May 4, debuts at No. 90 on the Hot 100, as well as No. 17 on Hot Rap Songs and No. 27 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, with 7.2 million streams. Lil Mabu has released all his music, including his debut 2022 debut mixtape Double M’s, while attending the Collegiate School, a private prep school in Manhattan. He also arrives at No. 19 on the Emerging Artists chart.

Kid Joi

The Detroit-based Nigerian singer-songwriter (real name Julia Igwe), 19, makes her first chart appearance with her new collaboration with Gryffin, “Oceans.” The track, released May 3 through Darkroom/Interscope Records, debuts at No. 29 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with 577,000 streams in its first full week of tracking.

Pretty Porcelain

The Miami-based rapper tallies her first chart hit with “Stop Playing With Me.” The song, released in December via Supa T Records, debuts at No. 39 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (up 45% in plays). Pretty Porcelain (real name Sheterria Heaven Elliott) has released one additional song on streaming services, “Sushi Sushi,” with Osmani Garcia, on May 11.

Enisa

Enisa arrives on Billboard’s charts thanks to her featured appearance on Galantis and JVKE’s “Fool 4 U.” The song, released May 4 on Big Beat/Atlantic Records, begins at No. 31 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with 554,000 streams. The Albanian singer-songwriter and Brooklyn native (full name Enisa Nikaj) signed to Atlantic in 2019 before competing on NBC’s American Song Contest, representing New York, in 2022. Also last year, she released her debut EP, Fake Love, via Atlantic.

Billy Woods & Kenny Segal

The two artists each earn their first chart entry with their new collaborative album, Maps. The set, released May 5 via Backwoodz Studios, debuts at No. 8 on Heatseekers Albums, No. 24 on Top Current Album Sales and No. 31 on Top Album Sales (4,000 copies sold). With 3,000 from vinyl sales, it also starts at No. 14 on the Vinyl Albums chart. Woods and Segal are both veteran musicians. Woods, a New York City-based underground rapper, is a member of the hip-hop groups Armand Hammer, Super Chron Flight Brothers and the Reavers. He has released more than a dozen albums and mixtapes in his career, dating to the early 2000s. Segal, a Los Angeles-based producer and DJ, has also released several albums. He’s half of hip-hop duo the Kleenrz and has also collaborated with Hemlocke Ernst and Serengeti. Woods and Segal previously teamed up in 2019 for the album Hiding Places.

Los Vendavales de Adan Melendez

The Mexican group enters Billboard’s charts with its single “El Colesterol.” The song, released in January on the group’s latest LP, Las Aguitas, on Azteca Records, debuts at No. 28 on Regional Mexican Airplay (up 645% in airplay audience). TikTok has been a big contributor in the song’s growing profile, as a portion of it has been used in over 390,000 clips on the platform.

DRAIN

The Santa Cruz, Calif.-based hardcore punk group charts for the first time with its second LP, Living Proof, released May 5 on Epitaph Records. The set debuts on Heatseekers Albums (No. 18), Top Current Album Sales (No. 28) and Top Album Sales (No. 43) with 3,000 copies sold in its opening week. The group, which also debuts at No. 15 on Emerging Artists, comprises Sammy Ciaramitaro (lead vocals), Cody Chavez (guitar) and Tim Flegal (drums). After releasing its debut LP, California Cursed, in 2020 through Revelation Records, the group signed to Epitaph in 2021.

Zafem

The Haitian duo arrives with its debut studio album, Las. Released May 5 via Dener Ceide Productions, the set opens at No. 25 on Heatseekers Albums, No. 50 on Top Current Album Sales and No. 87 on Top Album Sales (1,500 sold). The sum also helps the duo enter at No. 36 on Emerging Artists. Zafem consists of Dener Ceide (vocals, guitar) and Reginald Cange (vocals).

SQÜRL

SQÜRL, the New York City-based avant-garde rock duo comprising Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan, lands on Billboard’s charts for the first time thanks to its new album, Silver Haze. The set, which the pair released May 5 on Naked Kiss Records/Sacred Bones Records, debuts at No. 100 on Top Current Album Sales chart with 1,000 sold. The album is the act’s first studio LP, following a series of EPs, soundtracks and film scores. Notably, Jarmusch is an influential film director, screenwriter and producer (The Dead Don’t Die, Paterson, Broken Flowers, Dead Man, Only Lovers Left Alive, Stranger Than Paradise), while Logan has produced several of Jarmusch’s films. The act formed in 2009 to create original music for Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control.

Josh Ross

Ross makes his U.S. chart debut, thanks to his single “Trouble.” The song, released in January through The Core Entertainment/Universal Music Canada, debuts at No. 20 on Country Digital Song Sales and No. 39 on Digital Song Sales with 2,000 downloads sold. Ross, from Burlington, Ontario, has already broken through in Canada. His hit “First Taste of Gone” reached No. 5 on the Canada Country airplay chart in July 2022 and “On a Different Night” hit No. 4 this February. After opening for Chase Rice on his Way Down Yonder Tour through May 20, Ross is set to open for Nickelback in June-August.

María Dueñas

The 20-year-old Spanish violinist and composer achieves her first chart appearance with her debut album, Beethoven and Beyond, with the Wiener Symphoniker and Manfred Honeck. The set, released via Deutsche Grammophone/VLG and recorded live at Vienna’s Musikverein, debuts at No. 6 on the Traditional Classical Albums chart.

Blaqbonez

The Nigerian rapper debuts thanks to his featured appearance on CKay’s “Hallelujah.” The song, released May 5 through Warner Music Africa, opens at No. 26 on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart. Blaqbonez (real name Emeka Akumefule) has released two studio albums: Sex Over Love in 2021, and Young Preacher in 2022, both on Chocolate City Music.

Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem

Fresh off the premiere of the new Disney+ comedy musical series The Muppets Mayhem on May 10, Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem are now, officially, Billboard-charting artists – nearly a half-century after their on-screen debut. The group enters the Kid Albums chart at No. 13 with the series’ companion soundtrack, The Muppets Mayhem: Music From the Disney+ Original Series, which also arrived May 10, on Disney+/Walt Disney Records. The 22-track set includes 17 songs credited to Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem, plus five scores by Mick Giacchino. While some songs are original compositions for the series, others are covers of classics by The Beach Boys, Cyndi Lauper, Simon & Garfunkel, The Who and more. Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem, which made their first televised appearance in the pilot of The Muppet Show in 1975 (and recently dished to Billboard about “the frog,” Miss Piggy and more), comprises Dr. Teeth (performed, originally, by Jim Henson and now by Bill Barretta), Animal (Frank Oz, now Eric Jacobson), Floyd Pepper (Jerry Nelson, now Matt Vogel), Janice (Richard Hunt, now David Rudman), Zoot (Dave Goelz) and Lips (Steve Whitmire, now Peter Linz).

17 May 2023

Blxst & His Evgle Label Curate ‘NBA 2K23’ Season 7 Soundtrack

Blxst and his Evgle record label have teamed up with NBA 2K23 to curate the new season 7 soundtrack.

Two of the eight tracks from the soundtrack are from Blxst’s recent Just for Clarity 2 EP: “Passionate,” featuring Roddy Ricch, and “Keep Calling,” featuring Larry June. “Spend It” by Babyface Ray, Blxst and Nija is also featured on the project, as well as Ricch’s “Stop Breathing” from his 2022 album Feed the Streets; “IDC” by Jordan Ward and Joony, from the former’s latest album FORWARD; Benny the Butcher‘s “Trade It All” from his 2020 album Burden of Proof; and “Progress” by Westwide Webb, featuring Polyester the Saint.

Blxst, Victor Burnett and Karl Fowlkes Talk Building Indie Label EVGLE at SXSW 2023: ‘We Wanted To…

Jay Millian, an artist-producer signed to Red Bull Records and Evgle on the label side and Warner Chappell and Evgle on the publishing side, will release his brand-new single “Baby” as part of the NBA 2K23 season 7 soundtrack.

“I’m excited to have Evgle included on the NBA 2K23 soundtrack simply because it’s a childhood dream,” Blxst said in a press release. “I can speak for most of us in saying that we grew up playing this game. So, to be a part of this is mind-blowing and it’s crazy how music bridges the gap. These songs were hand-picked by me and the Evgle team because this is what we like to listen to get inspired. I like to look at myself as a tastemaker and each artist on this playlist is a different ingredient to the soundtrack of my lifestyle right now.”

The soundtrack will live exclusively in-game from Friday to Monday before arriving on DSPs in one week, on Tuesday, May 23. Millian’s “Baby” single will also be released on May 23.

17 May 2023

Liam Payne Celebrates 100 Days of Sobriety: ‘I Feel Amazing’

Liam Payne is celebrating a major sobriety milestone. In an interview with boxing channel IFL TV after Saturday’s Joe Fournier/KSI fight in London the former One Direction singer noted that he’s got more than 100 days of not drinking under his belt.

“Things are really, really good. I’m sober now over 100 days. I feel amazing,” Payne said. “I feel really, really good, and support from the fans and everything has been really, really good. So, I’m super happy.”

“I’ve been making an album for a change, which is quite fun and it’s been good so I’m excited to bring it out and I definitely want to tour this time,” he said of the as-yet-untitled follow-up to his 2019 debut full-length solo album, LP1. “It’s just unusual because I wasn’t sure I was going to tour for a long time.”

Payne, 29, said he was “over” the idea of touring for a bit, but not he’s really excited to get back out on the road and see his fans again. In 2021, Payne discussed his substance use issues on the Diary of a CEO podcast, revealing his struggle with depression and substances during the chaotic 1D years.

“I was worried how far my rock bottom was going to be. Where’s rock bottom for me?” the singer told host Stephen Bartlett. “And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it. No one would ever have seen it.”

Payne said there were definitely things he’s “never, never spoken about. It was really, really, really severe. It was a problem,” he said of his fragile mental state and substance struggle. “And it was only until I saw myself after that I was like, ‘Right, I need to fix myself.’” He described seeing pictures of himself on a boat when he was “all bloated out,” describing what he called his “pills-and-booze face. My face was just, like, 10 times more than it is now. I just didn’t like myself very much, and then I made a change.”

The singer’s most recent music release was the 2021 one-off single “Sunshine” from the movie Ron’s Gone Wrong.

Watch Payne’s interview below.

17 May 2023

Luke Combs’ ‘Love You Anyway’ Explores a Rock-Solid Broken Heart, With an Instrument ‘That Takes the Track Over the Top’

One of the obvious differences between Europe and the United States is the age of their historic sculptures. The Greeks and the Romans, who reigned long before the States were even a consideration, left an array of ancient statues of leaders and mythical gods. Many of those figures, of course, are damaged — with missing arms, severed fingers or rubbed-out noses — but they endure nonetheless.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

In that context, the opening words of Luke Combs’ single “Love You Anyway” — “If your kiss turned me to stone/I’d be a statue standing tall in ancient Rome” — provide a sense of the relationship the song portrays: significant, remembered but broken.

“I just loved the way that that sounded,” Combs says. “It just adds this unique color, to me, that doesn’t necessarily have any particular meaning behind it. But a statue in ancient Rome feels cooler to me than a statue that exists today.”

While a sculpted image documents a historical figure for as long as it stands, “Love You Anyway” documents a moment in Combs’ relationship with his wife, Nicole Hocking. He played Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., on Valentine’s Day 2020. She wasn’t feeling well, so when he dedicated “Beautiful Crazy” to her, he acknowledged onstage that she may or may not be in the audience, then tagged the intro: “Love you anyway.”

Songwriter Dan Isbell (“The Kind of Love We Make,” “Fires Don’t Start Themselves”) was moved by that remark, and he logged it as a potential song title to explore in his next co-writing appointment with Combs. Isbell reached out to fellow writer Ray Fulcher (“When It Rains It Pours,” “Even Though I’m Leaving”), who responded positively, and the two actually texted later about it as they took separate flights to Key West, Fla., where they co-wrote at Combs’ house on Feb. 25.

After writing one or two songs earlier in the day, they launched into “Love You Anyway” late at night on Combs’ back patio, with a distant view of the ocean, while Hocking slept. The artful Roman statue verbiage gave them a starting point, and Combs and Fulcher developed a follow-up concept for the opening verse of a woman’s touch shattering him into pieces.

Through that point, the song worked like an Alan Jackson ballad: simple, lyrically driven, conversationally paced. But in the two lines before the chorus, the chords moved more quickly and the melody embraced a new arc, preparing the listener for the next section.

“My favorite part of the song is that pre-chorus where it does that kind of scaling,” says Fulcher. “I’ve always thought of that melody as more of like a pop kind of melody, but it’s also haunting in a way. Those pre-choruses, in order to be right, they really need to set up what’s coming next.”

That pre-chorus led to a more dramatically pitched chorus, in which the singer hails the woman as a grounding force in his life, a “compass needle” that provided guidance. And as it concludes, he tells her that if he had known she would break his heart, he would “love you anyway.” The compass was Fulcher’s idea, and he and Combs had to defend it.

“I actually fought that line a little bit,” Isbell admits. “I was just like, ‘Compass needle?’ Like I didn’t understand what it was -— they literally had to explain it to my redneck ass what that even meant. As a redneck, we didn’t use compasses. You just turn right by the damn tree. I didn’t really know.”

“The thing about the compass is there’s nothing you can do to change where north and south, east and west are,” says Fulcher. “It just is what it is. And that’s the character of this song. It’s like, he’s got no choice in the matter. That’s what’s powerful about it.”

When they finished the song, Combs sang a guitar/vocal version and posted it to his Instagram account that same night.

“It didn’t really get the response I thought it was going to get,” Combs says. “A couple years later, I think we put it on TikTok or something, people were freaking out over it. It’s interesting. That’s probably the first song of mine that I’ve seen work like that.”

Combs recorded a version of “Love You Anyway” with co-producers Jonathan Singleton and Chip Matthews at Nashville’s Backstage during sessions for the Growin’ Up album, but the results were — like the Instagram response — underwhelming.

“It just didn’t sink in like we hoped, and we had so much other material we were working on,” recalls Matthews. “I remember being at Luke’s house one day to talk vocals, and he’s like, ‘Man, I don’t know, we just didn’t hook it. It’s not feeling right.’”

Though it didn’t make Growin’ Up, Matthews didn’t want to let it go. While it was a heartbreak song, he sensed that it said something personal about Combs’ relationship, and he thought it needed to find its place. Matthews ultimately decided that if they slowed it down and stripped back the instrumentation, it would put more attention on the song’s ethereal images, and Singleton agreed.

Matthews reworked the existing track at a slower pace, muting some of the instruments to simulate a more spacious arrangement, and Combs gave the treatment a thumbs-up. They recut it at Matthews’ studio in the summer of 2022, with fiddler Stuart Duncan taking a prominent place in the production.

“The fiddle is the thing, to me, that takes the track over the top,” Combs says.

He worked painstakingly on the vocal. Once or twice, he showed up at Matthews’ studio, only to decide his voice wasn’t operating with the tone and character he wanted. When they finally found a day when the conditions were right, Matthews and Singleton tried several microphones before they landed on one that most closely captured the personal nature of “Love You Anyway.”

“We definitely were going for where you feel like you’re literally standing 3 feet away from him, so that you can hear all of the harmonic crunch and grit and air, and all the little interesting characteristics to his voice,” says Matthews. “Then by not building up a track that takes up all that space, it leaves all that stuff out there to be heard, and I think all that lends itself to the emotion being being conveyed.”

The new version made it onto Combs’ Gettin’ Old album, and it resonated with the audience, renewing an idea that succeeded once before. Trisha Yearwood hit No. 4 on Hot Country Songs in 2001 with the similarly titled “I Would’ve Loved You Anyway,” which likewise celebrated a relationship’s strength even after it had fizzled out. The musical treatment was different — bigger, and more dramatic — and it didn’t have ethereal references to compass needles and Roman statues either. Neither Combs nor Isbell were familiar with the Yearwood single; Fulcher forgot about it until he heard her recording days after they wrote their take on the concept.

Combs recently held a fan contest and let his followers choose the new single; “Love You Anyway” narrowly beat out “5 Leaf Clover” by about 2%. River House/Columbia Nashville officially released it to country radio on April 15 via PlayMPE, and it climbs to No. 18 on the Country Airplay list dated May 20 in its seventh week on the chart, all because Isbell recognized a title in Combs’ onstage conversation.

“That’s the beauty of when your co-writers are also your friends,” Combs says. “They’re always taking notes.”

17 May 2023

Will Ward’s Fourward Launches Record Label, Signs Brenn! & Sarah and the Sundays

Will Ward‘s global management, production, publishing and business development company Fourward has now launched a record label, Billboard can reveal.

Dubbed Fourward Records, the label has already signed buzzy folk-pop artist Brenn! under a licensing and partnership agreement with Justin Lubliner‘s Dark Room imprint (via Interscope Records), as well as indie-rock band Sarah and the Sundays in a licensing and partnership deal with AWAL.

“I am excited to expand and grow the Fourward brand into the records space,” said Ward in a statement. “Our focus is to continue developing artists early, through the lens of a global management firm. Whether it be records, publishing or management, we provide an environment where developing talent can build a community of trusted collaborators to help properly grow their careers.”

Fourward head of music Joey McCarthy added that the record label “is something we have talked about for a long time, and we have strategically built into this launch. The goal is for our artists to feel like they are getting management-like strategy and treatment across the board.”

McCarthy additionally shouted out Fourward A&R and artist manager Jake Sarno, noting that the executive “has been instrumental in identifying talent early and helping us grow the music division. I’m excited for what Fourward’s future holds and the careers we are going to help impact along the way.”

Brenn! recently scored his first-ever entry on a Billboard chart with “4runner,” which debuted at No. 43 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs with 1.4 million streams earned in its first week of release. Hailing from Tuscaloosa, Ala., the singer-songwriter has released three additional songs on streaming services: “Oh,” “Vintage Tees” and “Closer.” Sarah and the Sundays have released two albums to date: 2019’s So You’re Mad About the Cups and 2021’s The Living End.

Earlier this month, Fourward also launched Fourward Ventures, a $50 million, early-stage growth fund actively investing in sectors including health and wellness, sustainability and consumer packaged goods.

17 May 2023

Macaw Confesses They Were ‘Afraid to Show Myself’ on ‘The Masked Singer’ Finale: Exclusive

The Masked Singer season 9 finale is upon us, and Billboard has an exclusive first look at Macaw reflecting on their emotional journey throughout the competition.

“Tonight, honey, you showed us what you are made of,” judge Nicole Scherzinger raves following one of the masked contestant’s finale performances. “You always pull at our heartstrings, you give us the feels, but tonight you hunkered down and you said, ‘Naw, it ain’t over with yet, baby! I’m comin’ for you!’”

With their speaking voice modulated to hide their identity, the Macaw replied, “I had a lot of anxiety before coming onto the show because I was afraid to show myself,” before their voice broke on the verge of tears.

“Take your time, take your time,” host Nick Cannon said, offering the singer a consoling arm while Macaw continued, “It’s been a difficult last couple of years and I’m truly humbled, so thank you.”

Throughout the season, Macaw has absolutely crushed covers of everything from Elton John’s “Your Song” and “Live Like You Were Dying” by Tim McGraw to Ed Sheeran’s “Photograph” and One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful.” In the finale, the colorful songbird faces off against Medusa for the season 9 crown after beating out the likes of California Roll (Pentatonix), UFO (Olivia Culpo), Fairy (Holly Robinson Peete) and Axolotl (professional wrestler Alexa Bliss).

Other celebs who’ve rounded out the latest season of the hit reality show include Lou Diamond Phillips as Mantis, Melissa Joan Hart as Lamp, Dee Snider as Doll, former Selling Sunset villain Christine Quinn, Lele Pons as Jackalope, Grandmaster Flash as Polar Bear, Debbie Gibson as Night Owl and more.

Watch Macaw’s emotional confession during The Masked Singer finale below.

17 May 2023

BMG Accelerates Transition at CEO

Plans change. Dinner, vacation, date night… leadership transitions at music companies. BMG announced Wednesday it is shortening its long-term succession plan for longtime CEO Hartwig Masuch, with Thomas Coesfeld, the company’s chief financial officer, assuming the role July 1 instead of New Year’s Day.

The Bertelsmann-owned company said Masuch is leaving “at his own request and on the best of mutual terms,” with the longtime CEO explaining the handover between Coesfeld and himself has “gone so smoothly” that he decided to move up his exit date by six months. (In January, Masuch, 69, explained that he wanted to retire before turning 70.)

Masuch will remain in an advisory role after the transition until 2026, the company said.

“Hartwig has written many chapters in BMG’s success story, which Thomas will now continue,” said Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe in making the updated announcement, adding that “as CFO, he got to know BMG well, drove forward its digital orientation, and invested considerable funds in the acquisition of music rights. I am certain that BMG will continue to grow under [his] leadership.”

Coesfeld was named deputy CFO at BMG in October 2021 before taking over as CFO the following spring. He previously served as chief strategy officer on the executive committee of the Bertelsmann Printing Group, a division of BMG’s parent company Bertelsmann. He began his career in 2014 as a management consultant at McKinsey in Munich.

Upon taking the top office at BMG, Coesfeld will also become a member of Bertelsmann’s Group Management Committee (GMC), which advises the Group Executive Board.

Replacing Coesfeld as CFO will be Mathis Wolter, who joins from Bertelsmann-owned RTL Group, where he has been senior vice president of controlling and investment for over three years. Prior to that, Coesfeld was svp of controlling and reporting at BMG. Joining Coesfeld and Wolter on the BMG Executive Board will be Sebastian Hentzschel (promoted from chief technology officer to chief operations officer), Dominique Casimir (chief content officer) and Nikola Holle-Spiegel (chief human resources officer).

Also joining BMG’s top management team is Alberto Chullen Llamas, arriving from Bertelsmann Education Group to be executive vp of investments to focus on future catalog acquisitions at the label. “After 45 acquisitions in 2022 alone, acquisitions remain central to BMG’s growth into 2023 and beyond,” said Coesfeld. “We are delighted to have secured the services of such a heavy-hitter as Alberto from within the Bertelsmann family, and one who knows BMG well.”

Coesfeld added, “We have a strong team at the helm of BMG… Together we will drive the company’s progress, and I very much look forward to working with them all. I would like to thank Hartwig Masuch for handing over a company which is both highly creative and successful. Hartwig’s clear focus on building a company which works for artists and songwriters has resulted in a globally relevant music company which has redefined what a music company can be in the streaming age.”

Hartwig Masuch

Hartwig Masuch

Barbara Dietl

Masuch joined Bertelsmann in 1991, overseeing Germany, Switzerland and Austria as part of BMG Music Publishing’s first incarnation. In 2008, he advised Bertelsmann when the company sold its share of Sony BMG Music Entertainment to Sony in 2008, and soon, helped start BMG Rights Management — which later became BMG.

Under Masuch’s leadership, BMG has grown to be the fourth-biggest recorded music and publishing company in terms of revenue, trailing only the three majors.

In March, the label and publisher reported that it generated 866 million euros ($912.6 million) in 2022 compared to 663 million euros in 2021 ($784 million) — an increase of 30% year-over-year. The company’s publishing division, which makes up 60% of BMG’s revenues, grew by 26% to 518 million euros ($546 million) on new hits by Bebe Rexha and Lewis Capaldi, and catalog works by Blondie and Nirvana.

In recent years, BMG has acquired music rights from The Pointer Sisters, Peter Frampton, Harry Nilsson, Simple Minds, Tina Turner and Mötley Crüe, among others, and through a partnership with KKR the company has acquired catalogs from John Legend and ZZ Top. On the label side, BMG has signed Duran Duran, Santana, Bryan Adams, Maxwell and Louis Tomlinson. BMG has also moved into the live business, first by acquiring a majority stake in German live music promoter Undercover GmbH in 2020 and later with a similar alliance with KARO Konzert-Agentur Rothenburg GmbH, the organizer of the German Taubertal-Festival. The company also oversees Berlin’s historic 1,600-capacity Theater des Westens.

“BMG has set sales records in recent months, signed outstanding artists, acquired iconic music rights catalogs and developed new lines of business,” Hartwig said. “The values of transparency, service, and fairness are now an inseparable part of what has become the company’s DNA, much respected by the entire music industry. So I’m leaving on a high note – and in the firm conviction that with Thomas Coesfeld and his management team, a new generation will successfully lead the music company into a new era.”

17 May 2023

San Antonio Spurs Won The Victor Wembanyama Sweepstakes

HipHopWired Featured Video

CLOSE

Metropolitans 92 v Paris Basketball - Betclic Elite

Victor Wembanyama will have all eyes on him after it is widely understood that the French basketball phenom will be selected first overall in the 2023 NBA Draft this summer. On Tuesday, the NBA Draft Lottery concluded with the San Antonio Spurs landing the top pick and NBA fans have plenty to say.

Victor Wembanyama, 19, currently plays for the French professional basketball team Metropolitans 92 of the LNB Pro A. Wembanyama, who is listed at 7-foot-4 although online reports list him at ranges of 7-foot-5 and 7-foot-2, is thought to be the greatest basketball prospect to emerge in quite some time. Despite his long frame, Wembanyama has the dribbling and passing skills of a guard which had every team in the NBA hoping to land the big man.

The good fortune experienced by the Spurs couldn’t have been more timely considering that the team, coached by Gregg Popovich, isn’t the elite team it once was during the David Robinson and Tim Duncan era. Under Popovich’s tutelage, the Spurs won five NBA championships, the last coming in 2014. It should also be noted that the last time the Spurs had the top pick of the draft, they selected Duncan.

With Wembanyama all but certain to be selected by the team, the fortune of the Spurs is expected to change almost immediately. It will be interesting to see how Wembanyama plays alongside the young core of Keldon Johnson, Tre Jones, and Devonte’ Graham.

On Twitter, both Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs see their names trending with all kinds of reactions. We’ve got the best of them listed below.

—

Photo: Christian Liewig – Corbis / Getty

17 May 2023

Foo Fighters Drop ‘Under You’ Single, Announce Free Global Streaming ‘Preparing Music For Concerts’ Event

The Foo Fighters are gearing up for a summer of major shows by putting on a major show. The group announced on Wednesday morning (May 17) that they will preview songs from their upcoming 11th album, But Here We Are (June 2) during a free global streaming event they are calling “Foo Fighters: Preparing Music For Concerts.”

According to a release, the event will feature the debut performances of songs from their new album — their first since the shocking death of drummer Taylor Hawkins last March — as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and some surprises during the show from their 606 studios.

“Shows like this don’t happen every day. To take this moment to gather fans worldwide, to give people an opportunity to share in the experience no matter where they are, is a gift,” said Good Charlotte’s Joel Madden, CEO and founder of Veeps, the streaming platform hosting the gig. “Having a place to make these moments accessible is why we built Veeps and we’re honored to be trusted with delivering this incredible show for Foo Fighters and all of their fans. The show will premiere on Sunday (May 21) at 3 p.m. ET here.

In addition, the Foos released the second single from the album on Wednesday, the Greg Kurstin-produced mid-tempo rocker “Under You,” on which singer/guitarist Dave Grohl sings the wistful lyrics, “I woke up and walk a million miles today/ I’ve been looking up and down for you/ All this time it still just feels just like yesterday/ That I walked a million miles with you.” He later alludes to the loss of someone dear in the gut-punch verse, “Someone said I’ll never see your face again/ Part of me just can’t believe it’s true/ Pictures of us sharing songs and cigarettes/ This is how I’ll always picture you.”

While the band has not yet officially announced a replacement for longtime drummer Hawkins — who died at 50 while on tour with the Foos in South America — they are slated to make their road return on May 24 at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, N.H. They have a very full summer planned, including more than a dozen festival appearances at Boston Calling, Sonic Temple, Rock Am Ring, Bonnaroo, Ottawa Bluesfest, Harley-Davidson Homecoming, Fuji Rock, Wildlands, Outside Lands, Jazz Aspen Snowmass, Riot Fest, Sea.Hear.Now, Louder Than Life, Ohana and ACL as well as a number of North American and international headlining dates.

Produced by frequent collaborator Kurstin and the band, But Here We Are was described in a press release as “the first chapter of the band’s new life… a brutally honest and emotionally raw response to everything Foo Fighters endured over the last year… a testament to the healing powers of music, friendship and family. Courageous, damaged and unflinchingly authentic.”

“But Here We Are is the sound of brothers finding refuge in the music that brought them together in the first place 28 years ago, a process that was as therapeutic as it was about a continuation of life,” it promised.

Listen to “Under You” below.