26 Jan 2024

On ‘Into the Neon,’ Randall King Relishes Being the Guy With ‘The Honky-Tonk Sound’: ‘The Pendulum for Country Music Is Swinging’

Randall King has been reading the tea leaves, you could say.

“The pendulum for country music is really swinging and the honky-tonk sound is back,” the 33-year-old Texan tells Billboard, as he aims to two-step into the national spotlight with his second Warner Music Nashville album, Into the Neon, out today (Jan. 26).

Indeed, the neo-traditional country sound like that of the 1990s has been seeping back into country radio’s airwaves, whether from fellow Texans Cody Johnson (“’Til You Can’t,” “The Painter”) and Parker McCollum (“Pretty Heart”), bona fide ‘90s country legends such as Garth Brooks and Ronnie Dunn or newcomers such as Zach Top. With his new album, King is ready to join their ranks on the Country Airplay chart.

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King’s smooth vocal styling inevitably evokes comparisons to another “King” — George Strait — as well as Alan Jackson, but Into the Neon deepens his allegiance to the ‘90s country sound, following his 2022 project Shot Glass, while infusing it with stouter portions of rougher-edged production that King calls “a little more raw, and not as commercial in how they were mixed, a little closer to my [2018-released independent] self-titled record.”

King was raised in Hereford, Texas, a town with a population of around 15,000 located less than an hour southwest of Amarillo — stomping ground to artists including Aaron Watson, JD Souther and “Amarillo by Morning” writer Terry Stafford. He enrolled at Lubbock’s Texas Tech University, before transferring to South Plains College in nearby Levelland, Texas, following in the path of other South Plains alums-turned-country singers Lee Ann Womack, Josh Abbott and The Chicks’ Natalie Maines.

Like his labelmate Johnson (they also share the same management company, Durango Artist Management), King refined his sound through years filled with hundreds of shows in dusty dancehalls, tiny clubs and packed fairs and festivals — both in and beyond the 770 miles that elapse between the Lone Star State’s borders. He signed to Warner Music Nashville in 2019, and moved to Music City the following year, with an eye on the global spotlight. He followed with projects including 2020’s Leanna, a tender ode to his late sister, as well as 2022’s Shot Glass and Honky Tonk BS, in addition to a live project.

For the new album, King’s co-manager Scott Gunter suggested working with Jared Conrad, a producer on the Johnson/Ian Munsick collab “Long Live Cowgirls,” who has also worked on music for Reba McEntire and Pentatonix. King and Conrad worked on a three-song demo session — including 2023’s “Green Eyes Blue” — as a trial run.

“I gave him the direction I was looking for and let him take the reins, watched how he worked with the band,” King says. “As soon as I heard it, I was like, ‘This is it. This is what I’m aiming for.’ He smoked it.”

King co-wrote six songs on the album, but also drew heavily on Nashville’s songwriter community, a move he says “helped bring in an element that I didn’t have with my own writing — more open and dynamic.”

“When My Baby’s in Boots” was written by Trannie Anderson, Jordan Walker and Michael Carter, while “Hard to Be Humble” was written by Ben Hayslip, Corey Crowder and Chris LaCorte. A nod to the increasing artist-writer community in Nashville, the album also includes songs written by fellow artists including Jake Worthington, Mitchell Tenpenny, Greylan James, Will Jones and “World on Fire” hitmaker Nate Smith.

On the slow-burn title track, the protagonist isn’t quite riding off into the sunset, but rather makes a midnight rambler’s destination to the next neon sign, the next bar stool or the next honky-tonk town. Elsewhere, he offers premier twangers such as “Coulda Been Love” and clever wordplay of album opener “One Night Dance.”

One of the album’s most stunning — and personal — songs is the ending track “I Don’t Whiskey Anymore,” which King wrote with Gordie Sampson. The song was inspired by an incident from King’s early days of his relationship with his girlfriend.

“When we first started dating, I was a big whiskey drinker — that was my go-to,” he says, recalling how an incident two years ago effected a change. “It was our anniversary, and when Tampa Bay stomped a mud hole in my Kansas City Chiefs, I took her to Kansas City to go to the PBR bar there. We got a table and it was eight of us. Me and five guys finished about three bottles of whiskey and were working on our fourth and we had no control over our emotions. Chiefs lost, everybody’s upset and it was a chaotic bad night. It’s hilarious that it’s our anniversary now, but I learned that night that if I was going to make a relationship work and last, I had to make changes. One of those was learning to let go of things that weren’t good for you, and one of those was drinking whiskey. I cut that out of my life to be a better person.”

The rewards were both personal and professional. “After I quit drinking, I had taken an allergy test and realized I was allergic to several types of trees, including oak,” he explains. “The barrels whiskey is kept inside, all that resides in the whiskey — so I was literally drinking what I was allergic to. When I stopped drinking whiskey, I realized my voice opened up dramatically, and I have my full vocal range for the first time in years. I can hear that difference, even from Shot Glass to now.”

One thing noticeably absent from the project is seemingly a requisite in today’s marketing-minded country music scene: collaborations. King says he held off on recording the current version of the album until the last minute, in order to build up the best arsenal of songs he could muster.

“Once we did start recording, there wasn’t a lot of time to bring other artists in, otherwise it would have delayed the project,” says King, though he notes that it is still too early to tell what the year could bring—like the title track’s protagonist, he’s open to what opportunities come along.

“I don’t know if it will happen, but it’s a goal of mine to put out an alternate version of the album with collabs on it,” noting he has a list of potential partners for every song on the album. “Clay Walker, Miranda Lambert, they would be phenomenal. We did reach out to Megan Moroney, but I think she had the single with Old Dominion that had just dropped. So it didn’t work out on timing, but maybe down the road.”

26 Jan 2024

Pharrell Williams Biopic ‘Piece By Piece’ to Tell Story Via Lego: ‘I’m Honored to Share This With the World’

All those hours building with Lego before he was famous has really paid off for Pharrell Williams. In fact, the two-time Oscar winning singer/songwriter/producer is parlaying his childhood fascination with the colorful bricks into the building blocks of his upcoming biopic, Piece by Piece.

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“Who would’ve thought that playing with Legos as a kid would evolve into a movie about my life,” Williams said in an Instagram post on Friday morning (Jan. 26). “It’s proof that anyone else can do it too,” he added along with a hashtag for the title of the film.

Pharrell further hyped the movie due out on Oct. 11 with an accompanying man’s march of progress illustration, except make it Lego, with blocky Williams evolving from a single flat 1×1 plate to a 1×1 brick, a golden minifigure and, finally, a camo-wearing minifig in the 13-time Grammy winner’s image.

A release from Focus Features announcing the film directed by Oscar-winner Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom) describes the movie as an “unparalleled motion picture experience that captures the magic and brilliance of Pharrell Williams’ creative genius, one LEGO® brick at a time. Uninterested in making a traditional film about his life, Pharrell set out to tell his story in a way that would set audience’s imaginations free. Developed from his singular vision, Piece by Piece defies genres and expectations to transport audiences into a LEGO world where anything is possible.”

Neville is also a co-producer on the movie along with producer Caitrin Rogers, Williams, Mimi Valdés and Shani Saxon of Pharrell’s i am OTHER label/creative collective. Jill Wilfert and Keith Malone are executive producing for the LEGO Group.

“Five years ago, Pharrell Williams approached me with the idea of helping him tell his story through LEGO animation,” director Neville said in a statement. “It was one of those rare moments where I knew in a second that this was a journey I wanted to go on. I’m grateful to our partners at Focus Features and at the LEGO Group for their belief in our crazy mission. We assembled an incredible team of creative collaborators to help make a new type of film. I can’t wait for people to see it.”

Williams added that when he had “this crazy vision” to tell his story via LEGO, he could not have imagined a better partner than Neville. “He is a legend,” said Williams. “Grateful that Focus wanted to collaborate with us and I’m honored to share this with the world and bring people into my universe. Building with LEGO bricks encourages us to follow our imagination.”

See Pharrell’s post below.

26 Jan 2024

Linebacker Drue Tranquill Reveals How Often the Chiefs ‘Poke Fun’ at Travis Kelce for Taylor Swift Romance

When it comes to Travis Kelce‘s relationship with Taylor Swift, the tight end’s teammates are just along for the ride. In a recent interview, Drue Tranquill of the Kansas City Chiefs shared whether the high-profile romance ever comes up among the other players, revealing that the team loves “poking fun” at No. 87. 

“It’s interesting,” Tranquill said on CBS Sports Radio’s Zach Gelb Show in a Wednesday (Jan. 24) clip. “You don’t really feel it and hear too much of it inside the locker room. But it’ll be moments like at practice when … our DJ turns on a Taylor Swift song and everybody kind of jokes about it.”  

“I think the wives and the girlfriends, I hear about it more when I go home than I do actually in the building,” he continued. “But it’s been fun, man. That’s something to celebrate, something fun and we enjoy poking fun at Travis.”  

Since striking up a romance with Kelce over the summer last year, Swift and her frequent attendance at his games have been a hot topic among Chiefs Kingdom. In December, quarterback Patrick Mahomes said that the “Anti-Hero” singer was a “great woman” adding, “she and Travis match so well.” Shortly before that, Kansas City coach Andy Reid called Swift a “good girl” and said that the team is “glad she’s here.”  

“It seems like maybe they’re in love, man,” added Tranquill. “They’ve got really, really something going, and we enjoy having her at our games. It brings a lot of energy and a lot of fun to our fans. And so that’s good for business, good for and good for the NFL.” 

But does Tranquill envision receiving an invite to what would undoubtedly be one of the most star-studded weddings of all time down the line? “We’ll see, man, we’ll see,” he said, laughing. “I think there’s gonna be a lot of people that wanna go to that.” 

Watch Tranquill on the Zach Gelb Show below: 

26 Jan 2024

If the Music Business Keeps Growing, Why the Layoffs?

During an October earnings call, Universal Music Group CFO Boyd Muir told investors the ­company was conducting “a careful review” of its costs. In the world of public ­company statements, that was a hint that UMG ­expected to make cuts to its workforce of roughly 10,000 — specifically hundreds of jobs in the first quarter of the year, as Bloomberg later revealed.

UMG has plenty of company. Until late last year, the music business had ­mostly escaped the job-cutting that ravaged industries that depend more on advertising in 2022 and 2023. That was still the best of times for the industry, which had found double-digit revenue growth in ­streaming. Since 2020, 10 music companies have gone public to take advantage of investors’ enthusiasm for music, including labels and publishers (UMG, Warner Music Group, HYBE, Reservoir Media, Believe, Round Hill Music Royalty Fund), streaming ­services (Deezer, Anghami, Cloud Music) and live-­entertainment firms (a spinoff of MSG Entertainment).

That changed during 2023. In March, WMG’s new CEO, Robert Kyncl, a former YouTube executive, laid off around 270 people — 4% of the company’s workforce — to focus more on technology initiatives and “new skills for artist and songwriter development,” as he wrote in a memo to staff at the time. Downtown Music Holdings — owner of CD Baby, FUGA, Songtrust and more — also thinned its payroll in May. BMG laid off about 30 people in October. Digital music companies fared even worse in 2023: Spotify cut about 23% of its workforce in two rounds of layoffs, TIDAL cut 10%, SoundCloud cut 8%, and Bandcamp chopped half its head count after being acquired by Songtradr.

But UMG? The company’s revenue in the first nine months of 2023 was up 9.4% on a constant currency basis, 6.8% as reported due to foreign currency fluctuations. More than two years after spinning off from former corporate parent Vivendi, UMG is a profitable, hit-making machine that controlled 29.4% of the U.S. recorded-music market in 2023, easily besting Sony Music’s 18.9% and WMG’s 15.6%. It has Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen, Drake and many other big stars. Perhaps understandably, there has been talk that other labels could follow, with cuts of one size or another.

UMG’s decision may be the most dramatic example of just how profoundly the music business is changing — and how quickly. Lean is the new black. Bloat, or anything that evokes it, is out. The old ways of finding, developing and marketing artists no longer work the way they used to. How big a radio promotion department does a label need — how many radio promotion departments does its parent company need — at a time when radio no longer plays as important a part in breaking hits? Social media and data analysis might matter just as much. So could developing markets that once didn’t account for much revenue.

UMG’s next focus, chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge wrote in a memo to staff in early January, will be “creating the blueprint for the labels of the future” by building the technology to do more work in-house, expanding in developing markets and finding ways to better monetize superfans. That requires moving resources away from the “legacy business,” Muir said in the October earnings call, to “benefit from all of the opportunities that we see ahead.” What that will mean for how UMG reshuffles its organizational chart remains to be seen, but it is already building an artist services business with Virgin Music Group and making aggressive moves in developing markets with investments in TM Ventures in India and Chabaka in the United Arab Emirates.

Other music companies are also reassessing their priorities. BMG’s staffing changes were spurred by new CEO Thomas Coesfeld as a response to an international marketing structure that didn’t meet expectations and duplicated the efforts of local teams, he wrote in a memo to staff.

“Businesses are repositioning themselves slightly to become more competitive,” Downtown Music president Peter van Rijn says. “One must always be mindful to not get complacent,” he adds, noting that his company needed to stay nimble enough to respond to the marketplace. “What you do see, in general, is the music industry is maturing. The digital growth is still there, but it’s slowing down.”

The world is changing, too. Along with the major labels, companies like Believe and Reservoir Media are investing in Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and other regions where music revenue is growing. And both new companies and the established majors are expanding their artist services businesses to court creators who can now choose from among an increasing number of alternatives to a traditional major-label deal. Sony acquired the artist services company AWAL in 2022, UMG is building up Virgin, and WMG’s Kyncl wrote in an early-January memo that he wants to augment services to the “middle class of artists” and scale up the company’s publishing administration business.

Public companies in the music industry face pressure from investors to constantly improve their bottom lines, especially as streaming growth levels off. “Two-and-a-half years ago, we started making cuts because we knew the market was no longer about just growth,” says Rob Ellin, CEO of music streaming company LiveOne, which is cutting up to 100 staffers in a restructuring. “You had to be profitable.”

The growth-over-profits era finally ended at Spotify, too. When the streaming giant announced it would cut 17% of its global workforce in December, CEO Daniel Ek explained that costs were too high, efficiency was too low and too few people “contribut[ed] to opportunities with real impact.” Cutting roughly 1,500 jobs and seeking a replacement for CFO Paul Vogel, Ek wrote in an open letter, were necessary to become “relentlessly resourceful.”

Record labels and music publishers have better margins than Spotify, which will rarely turn a profit — but investors also expect more of them. In the first half of 2021, UMG — then a subsidiary of Vivendi — had a margin of 21.5% in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and told investors in August it expected to reach the “mid-20s” soon. Two years later, revenue had increased 34% but its ­EBITDA margin was almost unchanged at 21.5% (or 14.9% after deducting 345 million euros of noncash, share-based compensation for senior management). With layoffs can come better margins. Restructuring saved Warner $19 million in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, and Barclays analysts estimated UMG’s layoffs could save the company $70 million annually.

To those who remember the crisis caused by the death of the CD, this talk of restructuring might have a familiar ring. As piracy ravaged the music business, the majors scaled back their physical distribution businesses, sold their CD pressing plants and retooled for a digital world. That’s why Grainge reminded investors that UMG is no stranger to managing disruption. “We’ve got decades of experience in executing cost-cutting programs in the various cycles of the industry, right back to the piracy days,” he said during the October earnings call. And currently, “we’re seeing a change in the business.”

26 Jan 2024

Behind the Scenes of Miley Cyrus’ ‘Endless Summer Vacation’

When Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” debuted in January 2023, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 — and remained there for eight weeks. The album it introduced, Endless Summer Vacation (her eighth full-length and first on Columbia Records), went on to hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200. And a year later, the single and album both remain forces: At the upcoming Grammys, Cyrus (who has yet to win one) has six nominations, including song and record of the year nods for “Flowers” and an album of the year nod for Endless Summer Vacation.

Many of her closest album collaborators spoke to Billboard about how they came to take this creative trip with her — and why her Grammy recognition is long overdue.

All Aboard!

Mike WiLL Made-It, writer-producer: Since we’ve made so many hits over the years, Miley approached me and said she wanted me involved — she felt like this was going to be her best work yet. She has already explored so many different sounds, and she’s really on her songwriting. It’s always dope to work with her because she’s constantly pushing the envelope.

Michael Pollack, writer-producer: Miley and I had done a few writing sessions in 2021 with no real mention of an album. It wasn’t until we got back in the studio in January of 2022 that the momentum seemed to pick up and I started to notice Miley assembling Endless Summer Vacation.

Tyler Johnson, writer-producer: I think it was just part of being in the system after working on the Harry [Styles album Harry’s House]. And Miley’s team and our team — myself and Kid Harpoon’s teams — wanted to make it happen. We got together for a week at NightBird Studios [in Los Angeles] and wrote the song “Wildcard” and started our relationship with Miley. Six months later, after she heard some music that we had been working on with Kevin Abstract, she came over to do a potential feature on one of the songs.

Kid Harpoon, writer-producer: I’ve always been a fan. I just fanboy when she’s singing. When we [reconnected], she had some songs she liked but she didn’t have a production direction on them. The big thing for her was, “I want to make an album I’m proud of.”

Tobias Jesso Jr., writer: I ran into [Columbia CEO] Ron Perry at Adele [One Night Only] at Griffith [Observatory in L.A.]. He was like, “Hey, I’d really like to get you involved in this Miley thing.” In this particular session, I knew why Ron wanted me there: He wanted me to write a song on the piano with Miley. As soon as all the writers were there — Mike WiLL Made-It, Bibi Bourelly and me and Miley — I was like, “Why don’t we go to the piano and just try some stuff?” I think within 30 minutes, “Thousand Miles” was written.

Tobias Jesso Jr.

Tobias Jesso Jr.

Justin Chung

Tyler Johnson

Tyler Johnson

Cedrick Jones

Greg Kurstin, writer-producer: Ron Perry and [Miley’s co-manager] Jonathan Daniel both reached out to me about Miley. We initially got together to write songs and “Jaded” came out of one of our sessions with [writer] Sarah Aarons. We spent a lot of time at my studio. Miley is great to work with because she has a clear vision of what she wants and she doesn’t stop until she gets it. She’s also a lot of fun.

Caitlyn Smith, writer: Since Miley cut our song “High” on her 2020 Plastic Hearts record, she and my co-writer, Jenn Decilveo, had been texting about the three of us getting together and writing a bit for her next record. It was a last-minute “Want to write this week?” in April of last year that led to a day in the studio.

Jenn Decilveo, writer: [Miley] sent me this idea, and then we got together with my friend BJ [Burton] and Caitlyn, and that was the start of “Island.” I think it was at Larrabee in the Valley [in L.A.] — 1-2-3 done. She’s such an incredible songwriter and had so much input melodically, lyrically, productionwise. She was involved in every aspect.

Maxx Morando, writer-producer: We were just hanging out, and I was working on stuff and she was working on stuff, and she heard the instrumental version of “Handstand” and was like, “Oh, I have an idea for the vocal.” I made [it] during COVID-19 — and I don’t even smoke that much weed, but I think I was really high when I made it.

Gregory “Aldae” Hein, writer: [Columbia Records head of A&R Rani Hancock] was a cheerleader for Miley to work with me. Ron Perry FaceTimed me and was like, “Hey, we’re going to bring you in with Miley. This is what we want from you.” I went in with her and it was just instant chemistry. The first day we ever worked [together], we wrote “Used To Be Young” in less than an hour.

Mike WiLL Made-It

Mike WiLL Made-It

Cam Kirk

Michael Pollack

Michael Pollack

Nesrin Danan

Stopping To Smell The “Flowers”

Pollack: “Flowers” was written in January of 2022 during a week of sessions at Sunset Sound [in L.A.]. The song came together organically, being written in its entirety at the piano. Initially the idea was slower and sadder, but both Greg [Hein] and Miley had the vision to make the song positive and free-spirited. We demo’d the song on Rhodes [piano] and left thinking it was a ballad — or at least I did. Almost immediately after, I remember being told, “ ‘Flowers’ is going to be the first single and it’s going to be produced out as an uptempo.”

Hein: Miley randomly texted us almost a year later, like, “Hey, just so you guys know, you have my first single.” Then she invited me to the music video shoot and I saw the scene where she walks up in the gold dress and I was like, “Oh, this is going to be a thing.”

Johnson: Ron Perry was really leading the charge of making sure “Flowers” and “Used To Be Young” were right. Those songs were definitely the priority, especially “Flowers.” But while we were working on that, we were doing other records, and it was actually

Celebrity Photos

Celebrity Photos

40 Photos

DJ Frosty

DJ Frosty

23 Photos


“Rose Colored Lenses” that helped us gel.

Kid Harpoon: “Rose Colored Lenses” isn’t necessarily anything single-y, but we just loved it. Those songs are the soul of the record. “Rose Colored” was always the one that felt like the touchstone, but making sure that “Flowers” did its job in relation to that was important.

Johnson: It’s important for artists like Miley to have a level of autobiographical texture to their songs. Then you mix that with something people can move to, that feels new and retro at the same time, and it’s a really powerful cocktail.

Hein: It all comes down to, “I can love me better than you can.” That’s the all-encompassing lyric to me. I was in a city just now called Siguatepeque in Honduras and I was driving to meet a priest for my wedding coming up and there was no music playing in this city but “Flowers.” That one’s reach is just crazy.

Maxx Morando

Maxx Morando

Eva Pentel

Kid Harpoon

Kid Harpoon

Josiah Van Dien

Vacation Scrapbook

Smith: Miley arrived at the studio wanting to write this idea called “Island.” She talked to us about how being in the spotlight since she was a kid has put her on a bit of an island from the rest of the world and how it’s beautiful but, at times, can be really lonely. I’m obsessed with the hook: “Am I stranded on an island or have I landed in paradise?”

Decilveo: I love that line, which is one she wrote, which I think sums it up. Being uber successful, uber everything — is it paradise, or are you stranded alone? Not being able to go out because you’re so famous and you can’t go to Trader Joe’s because people won’t let you walk down the aisles like a normal person.

Smith: Also, Miley’s mom came by for a bit that day, and she had told us about this “Smoke ’Em If Ya Got ’Em” hat that she had bought. Later that day, we thought it would be a great line to put in the song.

Jesso: I love [on “Thousand Miles”] how country she gets on “Pick up the phone and I call back home, but all I get is a dial tone. And instead of hangin’ up, I hang my head.” It was really cool to see Mike WiLL Made-It be part of that too, because it’s not something you imagine, but he was so into it.

Mike WiLL Made-It: Miley took the song and switched the direction. I was already married to what we made but she took it to Grammy collaboration level. She got Brandi [Carlile] on the song and that was the piece that was missing. That’s how we ended up with the banger “Thousand Miles” we hear today before every Delta flight.

Morando: For “Violet Chemistry,” [Miley] was like, “Do you think you could add some sauce into this song and spice it up?” [My friend Max Taylor-Sheppard and I] thought, “What if we did some Erykah Badu bridge with a stinky bassline and something crazy?” It happened in maybe 15 minutes. We like the idea of throwing a wrench in something — a tasteful wrench.

Kid Harpoon: They’re very similar, Miley and Harry [Styles]. They’re giant pop icons, but their process is like an indie kid that just wants to have fun and doesn’t really give a sh-t about all the pop stuff. They just want to make something creative, so for those kinds of brains, going in and trying to write a pop hit is going to completely destroy all their fun. Me and Tyler [engineered] an environment in the studio where you can just do whatever the f–k you want.

Jesso: Even if you had a day session with Miley, it wouldn’t feel like a day session because she gets real so quick. She has just been so exposed in her life that she’s like, “What have I got to lose?” That’s a very fertile place for creativity to live. You feel a jolt of this creative energy from her, almost at all times. It’s sporadic and it’s crazy and it’s wild — but it’s the best kind.

Jennifer Decilveo

Jennifer Decilveo

Brantley Gutierrez

Greg Kurstin photographed on November 28, 2022 in Los Angeles.

Greg Kurstin photographed on November 28, 2022 in Los Angeles.

Austin Hargrave

Destination: Grammys

Smith: She seems to have arrived at a place in her life and her career where she doesn’t want to chase but simply create from the heart. I remember her talking about how even though she was successful and had reached this place and level in her career, it still felt like a treadmill, and she still felt like she was always “chasing the carrot.” She seems to have entered a season of life where she has found some peace and clarity. I think it shows in this record.

Pollack: Over the years we’ve seen so many sides to Miley and her music. Endless Summer Vacation is a representation of what all those elements look like when they come together.

Morando: This has been a long time coming for her. Endless Summer Vacation is a fantastic album; on top of that you have her whole career and everything that she has done before. Now [she’s] at this pinnacle.

Hein: It’s her most mature body of work.

Mike WiLL Made-It: This is the year where she wins album of the year after all the growth and hard work. This album, she found and unlocked another sound, that poster-girl Miley sound that no one can replicate.

Caitlyn Smith

Caitlyn Smith

Robert Chavers

Gregory “Aldae” Hein

Gregory “Aldae” Hein

Sylvain Photos

Jesso: [2013’s] Bangerz was robbed. The Grammys need prison for Bangerz not being nominated for album of the year. Aside from that, I think it’s time for her to get what’s due.

Kid Harpoon: I still love Bangerz. It’s a classic. The thing I’ve always felt with Miley is that everyone wants Miley to win. She represents that part of everyone who doesn’t give a f–k and just wants to enjoy their life. I think this is a culmination of years and years of just being an absolute boss. People think, “Oh, someone writes Miley’s songs,” or “someone tells her where to stand, someone does this, and the record label says this,” but it’s not like that, and it’s a narrative that I just don’t think is helpful. And someone like Taylor [Swift], she’s helped change that narrative. That’s why I’m proud of Miley, because the Grammys will mean more, in a way, [now]. [A Grammy win is] recognition by your creative peers that you created this, and she really did.

Johnson: Without the Grammy, people are [still] singing the song. People are living their lives to this music. That’s the point of it. Grammys are a reflection of that already achieved milestone. We’ve already won — this would just be a bonus.

This story will appear in the Jan. 27, 2024, issue of Billboard.

26 Jan 2024

Why Ariana Grande, Tate McRae & More Love Hitmaker ILYA

“Shellback was bored,” ILYA says, reflecting on how he and the Swedish hit-maker ended up working together for the first time — ultimately changing the course of his career. Having grown up in what he calls “the hood of Sweden,” ILYA’s discovery of music production was a bit of a surprise — quite literally, as he found a CD of the music-making program Dance eJay in a cereal box. From there, he says, he “fell in love with creating.”

By his late teens, in 2005, ILYA signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music and remembers “grinding, grinding, grinding… with not a lot happening.” Several years later, he met Shellback (Britney Spears, P!nk, Taylor Swift), who eventually asked ILYA what he was working on, and later suggested to his close collaborator Max Martin that they should all team up. “Coming up to that point, I had a lot of almosts,” recalls ILYA, now 37. “I had songs with One Direction that just fell off and didn’t make the albums. All those years were so important to learn how to act in the room, how to deal with people’s emotions and all these things leading up to when I got the shot from Shellback and Max.”

Almost immediately, ILYA scored a major win as a co-producer and co-writer on Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea’s 2014 smash, “Problem,” which hit No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Every time I make music today, I try to channel the energy I had when we did ‘Problem,’ ” says ILYA, who has continued his relationship with Grande for a decade, leading into her current era. “Making that beat, it was like, ‘I’m just going to do me.’ And when that success finally happened… It was unbelievable.”

Ariana Grande, “Yes, And?”

“This whole song was her idea — she had a vision. I remember we were going through chords and she was like, ‘It needs to be more confident. It has to be more sassy.’ When Ari’s describing an emotion she wants to have, I instantly go, ‘What sounds can make that emotion come to life?’ And to me, the 909 drums are what that vibe is. In the bridge there are all these funny Mellotron sounds that are really ’60s, Beatles-esque, and a flute that Max played that I laugh at every time I hear it. Once we finished it, that’s when I fell in love with it.”

Tate McRae, “Guilty Conscience”

“The first time I worked with [Tate] she seemed very unsure of everything. There was one song we did so many versions of because she couldn’t decide which one was the best. But I think growing up, she feels much more confident in what she likes, which helps me a lot. I’ve never finished a song as fast as this one… it was all her initiative. We wrote it and then had to turn it in that week or the week after. Everything [came] from whatever happened that day.”

Conan Gray, “Never Ending Song”

“Conan started working with Max for a few days and they cracked this sonic direction, but not the details. And then Max came to me and was like, ‘Conan would love to work with you for this next round.’ Once the song was done, [Max and I] spent a lot of time running stuff through analog gear. Sometimes it’s cool if a song sounds like it’s made quickly — but the details and tasteful stuff that you can get from analog gear, you can’t beat that.”

This story will appear in the Jan. 27, 2024, issue of Billboard.

26 Jan 2024

Executive Turntable: Stem Amps Up Label Relations; Maverick Snags Nashville Veteran; ‘All Songs’ Host Considered, Accepted

It’s time for another quick whirl around the Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music.

Stem, the music tech company company known for collaborating with Kanye West on his Donda 2 album release, has brought on Ameer Sudan as global head of music label relations. The move comes ahead of plans to release new audio remix products Stem 2 and Stem 3, which includes a built in projector, as well as the Stem Music subscription service. The devices allow users to interact with a track’s stems to engage with audio in a new, real-time format. Sudan also acts as CEO of Silvaback Productions and Management. “Ameer Sudan is joining the growing group of senior music luminaries in unifying Stem,” said Alex Klein, inventor of the Stem Player and founder of Stem and Kano Computing before that. “His level of expertise and contributions in the realms of music label relations and strategic partnerships are invaluable to Stem.”

Sudan added that it will be a “very busy” year for the company, noting discussions are underway with leading labels, fashion houses and media companies. “Stem will change the culture of entertainment,” he said. “I am glad to be a part of such a major juggernaut in the making.”

Meanwhile…

Maverick Nashville has turned to seasoned pro Beville Dunkerley for the newly created role of vp of marketing at the label. She’ll oversee creative and marketing efforts for artists across Maverick Nashville’s stacked roster, which includes Jason Aldean, Lauren Alaina, Darius Rucker (along with Hootie & the Blowfish), Terri Clark and the rebooted Brooks & Dunn. Dunkerley reports directly to Maverick partner Clarence Spalding. She comes to Maverick after a seven-year stretch leading country music industry relations for SirusXM and Pandora. Prior to that, Dunkerley made her mark in music journalism as co-founder of both Rolling Stone Country and The Boot (back when it was one of AOL’s many music-focused verticals), and she serves on both the ACM and Leadership Music boards. “While I’m certainly a huge fan of our artist roster, it was a look behind the scenes at Maverick that really sold me,” Dunkerley tells Billboard. “Clarence and Chris [Parr] have assembled a team of innovative thinkers with big hearts. I’m thrilled to join this incredible team.” Dunkerley can be reached at Bdunkerley@maverick.com.

Max Kaplan, a Sony Music staple for the last decade-plus, was elevated to senior vp and head of commercial partnerships at Columbia Records. Kaplan was most recently vp of sales at the label, and before that spent several years overseeing digital sales. He joined Sony in 2013 as a member of the Columbia sales team and over the years has worked with DSPs and physical retailers to maximize the releases of Columbia megastars like Adele, Beyonce and Harry Styles, among others. Kaplan is based in NYC and reports up to Darren Stupak, Sony Music evp and GM of commercial partnerships. “Max is an established leader who has continually demonstrated an ability to take on new challenges and deliver success throughout his career,” said Stupak. “We are excited to have him supporting the ongoing growth of our business in this new role with Columbia.”

Radio, Radio: NPR has officially tapped Robin Hilton as host of All Songs Considered, succeeding Bob Boilen, who left in October. Hilton has been a co-host of the show since 2008, the same year he and Boilen launched the wildly cool/popular Tiny Desk Concerts series. He first joined All Songs in 2001 as an assistant producer. Off the air, Hilton has been senior producer for podcasts since 2021, and before that was a part of the NPR Music management team. “It’s amazing having Robin back in the host chair of this iconic show,” said Keith Jenkins, NPR’s Vice president of visuals and music strategy. “So much has changed since All Songs debuted, but Robin has the ability to help our audience connect the dots from then to now to the future. With Robin at the helm, All Songs will continue to bring the essence of NPR Music, a celebration of new music discovery, to audiences everywhere.”

14th Street Music announced the departure of one of its key members, prolific film, TV and video game composer Lorne Balfe. The music production and publishing company, which Balfe co-founded in 2010 alongside Hans Zimmer and Steven Kofsky, said Balfe left the triad at the end of 2023 to pursue new musical endeavors. “Lorne’s many outstanding contributions made 14th Street Music the leading company it is today,” the firm said. Over the years, Balfe has composed outright or contributed to scores of… scores, including several Mission: Impossible films, The Tomorrow War, Gran Turismo and more. His theme song for National Geographic’s Genius earned him an Emmy nomination, and his video game credits include Assassin’s Creed III and several Skylanders games.

Gibson gearheads in Britain will soon have the “ultimate guitar experience” at the ready with the Feb. 24 opening of a new Gibson Garage store in London, off Oxford Street. It’s the instrument (and amp!) maker’s first-ever flagship shop outside of the U.S. and will feature 4,500 square feet (or 418 square meters) of Gibby goodies. Hold that power chord, who will run the joint? Gibson said they hired Etaoin Fagan (general manager), Andy Wratten (assistant manager-operations), and Sam Gammon (assistant manager-sales) to the leadership team, reporting to Cesar Gueikian, the president and CEO of Gibson Brands. All three have extensive retail and/or music-adjacent experience, ranging from Harrods (Fagan), Watches of Switzerland (Wratten) and Yamaha (Gammon). “The Gibson Garage London is fast becoming a reality and with Etaoin, Sam and Andy at the helm it safe to say that it couldn’t be in better hands,” said Lee Bartram, Gibson Brands’ head of commercial, marketing and cultural influence.

Nick Barr is PULSE Records‘ new senior vp, overseeing digital marketing. Barr will be based in Silverlake, Calif. and report to Ashley Calhoun, president and head of creative at PULSE Music Group. He most recently served as vp of A&R and creative strategy at Island Records, where he worked campaigns for Sabrina Carpenter, Shawn Mendes, Demi Lovato, Lauren Spencer Smith and Keshi, and signed Charlieonafriday. He is also credited with helping the career of Columbia rapper Lil Tjay. Calhoun, along with co-CEOs Josh Abraham and Scott Cutler said: “Nick has an instinct for exceptional music and artists. He is highly respected in the community for his proven ability to develop artists, many of whom he helped launch. His passion for A&R coupled with his marketing and digital abilities are going to strengthen our exceptional team and supports our mission of innovative service around our clients’ artistry.”

BOARD SHORTS: Emma Banks, longtime co-head of CAA London, has been appointed chair of Nordoff and Robbins, the UK’s leading music therapy charity. Banks takes over from David Munns, who steps down after 13 years as leader — and 30 years of support overall. Also stepping down from the board of trustees is Howard Jones and Neil Warnock. Supporting Banks will be AEG Presents exec Lucy Noble, as vice chair … The Association of Independents in Radio elected former Pushkin Industries vp Mia Lobel, independent audio producer Will Coley and Vox Audio exec Rob Byers to its board … Thomas St. John Group board member Matt Ellis was hired as CEO of the business management firm’s U.K. office. He is a former deputy CEO of Deloitte, where he spent over 30 years.

Oak View Group gets extra credit for hiring Visa veteran Andrew Cohen as senior vp of OVG brand consulting and solutions. In this new role, which reports up to president of global partnerships Daniel Griffis and is effective immediately, Cohen manages OVG’s teams handling creative, analytics, solutions and activations. Prior to joining OVG, Cohen put in nearly 20 years at Visa, where he rose to leadership roles across sales, sponsorships and brands (he led negotiations of Visa’s deals with the NFL and FIFA, among others). “Andrew is special because he has been a part of just about every type of major global deal during his [Visa] tenure on the brand side,” said Griffis, “and his wealth of knowledge reinforces our organization’s strengths – our unique ability to drive measurable sales, engagement and brand love for our clients.”

The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) hired Emmaline McCourt as membership manager as the indie booster eyes a growth spurt. “In working with Melissa, she will play an integral role in enriching our member experience and will contribute significantly to the growth of A2IM,” said A2IM chief James Burgess in making the announcement. NYC-based McCourt will report to Melissa White, the director of membership, and focus her efforts on label relations and membership engagement strategies. She arrives from hi-res music streaming service Qobuz, where she was a music merchandiser. Prior to that, she worked in Beggars Group’s sales department. McCourt can be reached emmaline@a2im.org.

The Chamber Group promoted Edwin Tetteh to associate director of public relations, and announced the return of former senior director Kerry Smalls as head of brand strategy, at the boutique PR and marketing agency. Tetteh joined TCG in 2021 following stints at Williamson PR and The Lede Company. Smalls returns to the Chamber after building a PR division at iONE Digital/Urban One. He also led PR strategy at BCW Global, where he worked with Hennessy, Hellman’s and more brands. Both report to CEO Chris Chambers. “I’m happy to have witnessed both Kerry and Edwin’s growth over the years, becoming the young executives that we see today,” Chambers said. “They have both earned their rank through dedication, hard work and building effective PR and branding campaigns for our clients.”

Nettwerk Music Group promoted Sameer Sadhu to senior vp of A&R. The NYC-based exec joined Nettwerk in May 2015 in a management role, and he rose to vp of A&R two years ago. Sadhu’s roster includes Vacations, Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness, Superfan, Miami Horror, Miya Folick, renforshort, Wafia and Wild Rivers, among others. He’s also a partner at the Singapore-based label services and publicity firm Secret Signals, where he works with artists on business development and public relations in Asia.

L-Acoustics, the French loudspeaker specialists and makers of other pro sound systems, hired Amber Mundinger for the newly created role of global director of artistic engagement. She’ll zero in on strengthening the brand’s awareness and bond with elite artists, musicians, DJs, producers, creative directors and other stakeholders. Mundinger will remain in NYC but work closely with L-Acoustics colleagues in Paris, London and Los Angeles. She most recently served as the COO and creative producer at Artists Den Entertainment, where she helped produce such shows as Live from the Artists Den on PBS and Monumental: An Artists Den Experience with Amazon Studios. Prior to ADE, Mundinger held various leadership roles at Billboard parent Penske Media Corporation. “Her deep knowledge of the music business and ability to build meaningful relationships with artists will help elevate awareness with major artists and creatives, and together with our partners, explore new concepts to bring elevated audio experiences to life,” said Laurent Vaissié, CEO at L-Acoustics.

Veteran artist manager Michele Harrison launched her own independent management company MPH Collective, with a rollout roster including R&B singers UMI and Healy, and pop duo Beau. Harrison was most recently partner at Range Music, where she oversaw the careers of Healy, UMI, Justin Tranter and producer KaiGoinKrazy (also now with MPHC). She got her start in music at Virgin Records and Hollywood Records, before spending 15 years at Monotone, Inc., where she cut her indie rock teeth with The Shins and Vampire Weekend, as well as not-indie-rock-at-all Jamie Foxx. In 2018, she became co-head of management of Friends At Work, where she managed Alanis Morissette, before joining Range.

Music industry veteran Tierney Stout officially launched SAUS HAUS, a music strategy and branding agency based in Los Angeles. Stout gets the ball rolling with an impressive client list that includes Dr. Martens, Levi’s and Marshall. Prior to going into business for herself, Stout was director of global music marketing at Vans for over five years, and prior to that she developed artist relations at musical instrument maker Gibson Brands. Earlier in her career, she was director of interactive marketing at The Orchard and worked as a publicist for indie rock favorites such as The Walkment and Passion Pit.

Crowdfunding and distribution platform Angel Studios hired Ryan Svendsen as head of music. In this newly created role, Svendsen will join Angel’s global distribution team helmed by chief distribution officer Jared Geesey, and lead music strategy, creative, licensing, production, and partnerships for the firm’s scores, songs and soundtracks. Svendsen was previously head of music at Millennium Media, where music supervised Expend4bles, The Bricklayer and Till Death, among other films. Before Millennium, Svendsen was director of film and TV music at Lionsgate. He also moonlights as a session musician and his trumpet playing is credited on tracks including “Industry Baby” by Lil Nas X and “Lil Boo Thang” by Paul Russell. Find more on Angel Studios at their website, the very succinct angel.com.

Republic Live, known for producing Canada’s Boots and Hearts Music Festival, is launching a new management division, RLive. Casadie Pederson steps into the role of director of artist management and development to lead the company’s expansion beyond festival events and into management and artist development. RLive will be based in Nashville, while Republic Live has offices in both Nashville and Toronto. The first signing to the RLive management division is Tyler Joe Miller. –Jessica Nicholson

Seminole Hard Rock, which operates hotels and casinos in Florida, promoted Keith Sheldon to president of entertainment and brand management for Seminole Gaming and Hard Rock International. In this new and expanded role, Sheldon will be responsible for oversight of brand management, consumer marketing, brand partnerships, and sponsorship revenue generation. He’ll also continue doing the programming and talent buying for the music venues at the Hard Rock locations, which are in Hollywood and Tampa. Seminole Gaming also owns and operates four other casino locations throughout the Sunshine State.

ICYMI:

Gil Beverly

Kakao Entertainment nominated two prominent executives to serve as co-CEOs … Nuria Andreu joined the GTS and is now manager of Spanish singer-songwriter Aitana … Veteran NFL and ESPN exec Gil Beverly (pictured) is now chief business officer of the Academy of Country Music … Jennifer Koester is joining Sphere Entertainment as president of business operations, effective Feb. 5 … BMG promoted Jon Loba to president of frontline recordings in North America and Thomas Scherer as head of global recorded catalog … SONA announced new leadership roles for Erin McAnally, Kellie Brown, Linda Bloss-Baum and Camus Celli … and Warner Chappell Music upped Lázaro Hernández to senior vice president of A&R, U.S. Latin & Latin America.
Last Week’s Turntable: Norwegian’s New Music Cruise Captain

26 Jan 2024

Snoop Dogg Says He’s Been Working on New Album With Dr. Dre For 8 Months

Snoop Dogg always has 10 irons in the fire. But on Friday morning’s (Jan. 26) Good Morning America the Doggfather broke some news about the one iron his fans care about the most. “I can let the rabbit out the hat. I’ve been working on a record with Dr. Dre for the past 8 months. We’re about ready to drop a single in a couple weeks, so that’s what I’ve been cooking up,” Snoop told GMA‘s Michael Strahan while promoting his new Prime Video movie, The Underdoggs.

At press time there was no additional information on the unnamed project or timetable for release and a spokesperson for Snoop could not be reached for comment.

Back in Oct. 2022, Snoop said he was almost done with a Dre-produced sequel to his 1993 Dre-produced solo debut album, Doggystyle, with a release planned to celebrate that collection’s 30th anniversary. At the time, Snoop said he and Dre had been in the studio for two months and that they expected to be finished with the sessions for the LP he said would be called Missionary before the end of the year.

In keeping with his reputation as the world’s most productive stoner, Snoop told Strahan that he loves being busy, especially when it comes to a project like Underdoggs, which was inspired by his work with his Snoop Youth Football League.

“I’m mastering the craft of who I am, and to be the best who I am, is to do the things that make me feel good. And the main two things is fun, right? F-U-N and F-U-N-D-S, if it makes funds and it’s fun, I’m in,” Snoop said. “I started off as a underdog. That’s the best dog to ever be, because you’re the one they don’t pay attention to. So you gotta figure out how to master you, to where you become the greatest you that you can be.” 

As for the film, Snoop said working with the kids in the league — whose most famous alumni include Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud, winner of the 2024 offensive rookie of the year — has made him remember what a huge role the sport played in his youth. “I spent my money on brand new equipment, bought fields that we rented, referees, rule books, everything, we did it all the right way,” Snoop told Strahan. “Football was the best thing that ever happened to me as a kid. It taught me how to have discipline and have respect. So I wanted to give some of that back that was given to me.” 

26 Jan 2024

How Coco Jones Went From Teen Disney Star to Grammy-Nominated R&B Singer-Songwriter

When 9-year-old Coco Jones was first trying to break into the entertainment world — auditioning and sitting in business meetings with strange executives — her mother would sometimes give her a secret signal.

“If my mom grabbed her earring, that meant, ‘You need to sing.’ And I’d sing,” Jones recalls with a laugh. “I spent a lot of time perfecting the a cappella.”

That early confidence-building lesson has served Jones well. At 12, she embarked on the path to tween stardom with roles on Disney Channel shows and films like So Random! and Let It Shine; more recently, she won the role of Hilary Banks on Peacock’s Fresh Prince reboot, Bel-Air. And now, it has helped her become one of R&B’s most promising rising stars, signed to High Standardz/Def Jam Recordings. “She’s one of the hardest-working artists that I’ve ever worked with,” Def Jam chairman/CEO Tunji Balogun says. “Coco is an artist with the confidence of a veteran but the energy of a newcomer.”

As Jones explains with characteristic conviction on the eve of her 26th birthday, she’s not simply an actress trying out a new side career. “I’m actually a singer who pursued acting at the same time,” she says. “But the acting caught on before the music did. Music has always been my comfort, my purpose — the driving force that has kept me in this industry.”

Powered by her compellingly soulful voice and self-assured moxie, the singer-songwriter had a major breakthrough in 2023. Her RIAA platinum-certified single, “ICU,” has now netted her Grammy Award nominations for best R&B song and best R&B performance — just two of five that Jones will vie for at this year’s event, along with best new artist, best R&B album for What I Didn’t Tell You (Deluxe) and best traditional R&B performance for her collaboration with Babyface, “Simple.”

“It feels surreal,” Jones says of her first-ever nominations. “And to see these other amazing women like [fellow nominees] Victoria Monét, SZA and Janelle Monáe who are paving different lanes for a modern R&B that can be so flexible and genreless … I commend us. But in another way, this feels like confirmation of my journey; that there can’t always be a storm. The weather has to change.”

Coco Jones photographed on January 5, 2024 in New York.

Coco Jones photographed on January 5, 2024 in New York.

Jai Lennard

Jones began that journey 17 years ago in Lebanon, Tenn., as a kid auditioning and entering talent competitions, singing songs of raw emotion way beyond her years that her mother, Javonda — who, Jones says, studied music in school and did some background singing as well — introduced her to, like Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools.”

In 2011, Jones landed a recurring role on Disney’s musical sketch-comedy series So Random! and the next year, she co-starred in the Disney film Let It Shine. Five Let It Shine tracks she sang on — “What I Said,” “Whodunit” (with Adam Hicks), “Me and You,” “Let It Shine” and “Guardian Angel” (the latter three collaborations with actor-rapper Tyler James Williams) — launched her onto the Billboard charts for the first time in 2012, as all made the Kids Digital Song Sales list.

But Jones wanted to be a singer-songwriter in her own right. And though Hollywood Records released her 2013 EP, Made Of (which reached No. 10 on the Heatseekers Albums chart), the label dropped her the following year. Two more independent EPs followed (2017’s Let Me Check It and 2019’s H.D.W.Y.); in between, Jones continued acting, including in the 2016 film Grandma’s House, the 2018 TV series Five Points and the 2020 film Vampires vs. The Bronx.

By the time she landed those projects, Jones had forgone college, moving to Los Angeles at 17 to further pursue her dream of becoming a singer-songwriter. “That was a key sacrifice: comfort,” Jones says of making the decision. “I didn’t choose the route that was expected and thought things would happen immediately. But it didn’t work out that way. Without a continuous source of income, I was living off my savings as a Disney kid. So [as a young adult] it was getting real. I could only be a young girl following her dreams for so long. But I got to live, make friends, fall in and out of love … be normal — which helped me find my own voice, my sound.”

In 2020, a major turning point occurred when a fan from her Disney days asked on social media what was up with her career. Jones responded to the query on YouTube, sharing the struggles and second-guessing she had faced as a Black female artist while “opening doors for people to see me as an adult.”

“Instead of internalizing that comment, Coco made a video to give fans and others information and context [about her industry experiences],” Def Jam’s Balogun says. “Then she started doing covers of popular R&B records [Mary J. Blige’s “Real Love,” Brandy’s “Full Moon”] that she posted on TikTok and YouTube that started to reframe conversations about her as an artist. And when she got on Bel-Air, that gave her a new audience who may not have known she does music.”

Jones’ work ethic, focus and determination are what initially impressed Jeremy “J Dot” Jones (no relation) — the founder and CEO of High Standardz, a joint venture with Def Jam — who signed her in summer 2021, before her audition for Bel-Air.

“Before I even got to the music, I saw how professional and on point she was about her vision for what she wanted to do and how she wanted to do it,” J Dot recalls of first meeting Jones. “And then there was the voice, which blew me away. So I felt that with the right plan, the right producers and time to grow in the marketplace, she would have a strong opportunity to stake her claim in the game. Between the loyal Disney fan base, the R&B covers, Bel-Air and seeing how much she has grown artistically from being a child star, I definitely think fans who felt like Coco didn’t get a fair shot early on were ready to see her win.”

With the breakout success of “ICU” from her What I Didn’t Tell You EP, Jones has finally graduated from Disney star to adult singer-songwriter on the rise. “This is who I am offscreen, without a script,” Jones says of the EP’s songs about relationships, love and heartbreak. “These are my own secrets, my own life.”

Coco Jones photographed on January 5, 2024 in New York.

Coco Jones photographed on January 5, 2024 in New York.

Jai Lennard

The pureness and clarity of Jones’ full-bodied vocals call to mind R&B’s traditional soul roots and its 1990s heyday, but she puts a modern spin of her own on the proceedings. “ICU,” her aching examination of the painful withdrawal and residual feelings after a romantic split, spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart; it also reached No. 6 on Hot R&B Songs and has earned 175.6 million official U.S. streams (through Jan. 4), according to Luminate.

Follow-up single “Double Back,” which samples the SWV hit “Rain,” reached No. 21 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. And Jones is on the road to becoming an in-demand collaborator as well: She guested on Brent Faiyaz’s summer 2023 top 10 R&B hit, “Moment of Your Life,” and more recently paired up with ascendant pop singer and fellow actress Reneé Rapp on the remix of Rapp’s “Tummy Hurts.”

“Def Jam and High Standardz wanted to make sure the R&B audience understood, accepted and championed Coco,” says Balogun, whose roster also includes rising R&B stars Muni Long and Fridayy. “We also focused on making sure people saw her perform live [either] on her tour, the Soul Train Awards [or] other shows. The report card in R&B is live performance and what matters to the core base is, ‘Does it sound and feel as good as the album?’ She has been able to live up to that.”

With filming of season three of Bel-Air starting at the end of January, Jones is also working on her debut album, due later this year. But she says fans shouldn’t simply assume it will be part two of the EP.

“That story has been told,” Jones says. “Between this taste of success and being on tour, I’ve learned so much that I can’t be anything that I was. The most raw and authentic version of whatever you’re doing is going to win. You just have to be willing to bare your spirit.”

This story will appear in the Jan. 27, 2024, issue of Billboard.

26 Jan 2024

Friday Music Guide: Justin Timberlake, Megan Thee Stallion, Ice Spice & More

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

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See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

This week, Justin Timberlake returns still looking out for number one, Ice Spice gets lightly scatological and Megan Thee Stallion becomes Megan Thee Rattlesnake for one particularly venomous diss track. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Justin Timberlake, “Selfish”

It hasn’t been the easiest half-decade of Justin Timberlake’s career, following 2018’s poorly received Man of the Woods album and some very public relitigation of his old behavior in his personal relationship with Britney Spears and professional relationship with Janet Jackson. But with a catalog and legacy like he has, a new Timberlake project is still going to command some degree of attention — and we’ll see just how much with the release of “Selfish,” single from his upcoming Everything I Thought It Was album. Despite the title, the song is actually much more unassuming than his usual lead singles: a honeyed, ornately produced mid-tempo ballad built on warmly groaning organs and a bossa nova drum machine. “If I get jealous, I can’t help it/ I want every bit of you, I guess I’m selfish,” JT sings on the chorus — not exactly a brand-new sentiment, but one sweet enough to really get up much hate for.

Megan Thee Stallion, “Hiss”

The song that your entire social media feed is buzzing — fine, hissing — about this morning is almost certainly Megan Thee Stallion’s take-no-prisoners latest. “I just wanna kick this s–t off by saying f–k y’all,” Megan proclaims to begin “Hiss.” “I’m finna get this s–t of my chest and lay it to rest.” Megan then spends the next three minutes spitting venomous bars against her haters and rivals, including rhymes about BBLs and Megan’s Law, which have been largely interpreted by fans online to be about Drake and Nicki Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty, respectively. (Nicki Minaj seemingly responded on IG Live this morning with bars of her own.) Regardless of intended targets, though, the song contains some of the fieriest rapping of Megan’s career, and seems likely to recenter her in the hip-hop conversation for early 2024.

Ice Spice, “Think U the Shit (Fart)”

Ice Spice basically dominated 2023 from January on, so it’s not shocking she’d try to get in early on 2024 as well. “Think” is a bit of a left turn for her — go-to producer RIOTUSA replaces her usual drill beats and pop-leaning hooks with Jersey Club thumps and bleating synths, sounding like a cousin of 41’s underground smash “Bent” from last year. Ice’s vocals put a lot of stock in the questionable chorus rejoinder, “Think you the s–t?/ You not even a fart,” but goes a little harder on the verses, spitting, “I’m a pretty b–ch, I don’t like fightin’/ On the beat, I’m goin’ Super Saiyan.” We’ll see if it’s enough to keep her 2023-long hot streak on the charts cooking into 2024.

Lil Nas X, “Where Do We Go Now?”

Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero, the first full-length documentary about Lil Nas X, debuts on MAX this Saturday (Jan. 27). We wrote about our biggest takeaways from the doc here, but while fans wait to get their first look at the doc, Lil Nas has gifted them with another new song (following “J Christ” from two weeks ago): “Where Do We Go Now?” The pop-rock power ballad is written with and produced by LNX’s star’s go-to collaborators, Blake Slatkin and Omer Fedi, and feels like very natural new sonic and thematic territory for the genre-blending star, as he pleads “I just wanna be somebody new inside” over tender guitars and racing drums.

Morgan Wallen, “Spin You Around (1/24)”

Call it a Morgan’s Version: Country superstar Morgan Wallen announced last night on social media that he would be releasing a new version of his 2015 early-career recording “Spin You Around” this Friday. Why now? Because it’s not the only new release you’ll see posted on his artist page this morning: Stand Alone, parent EP to “Spin You Around,” has also been re-released in a 13-track “10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition” (despite having come out nine years ago), featuring eight previously unreleased songs — all against Wallen’s wishes. “I cringe when I listen to these songs & I’m very concerned my fans may mistakenly believe this is a new release by me,” he explained.

So to hopefully direct fans away from the unapproved new re-release, he’s re-recorded the fan favorite as a stripped-down acoustic ballad, subtitled with today’s date and given the cover-art note “had to leave the duck woods to make this.” It’s a lovely new version of the love song — which despite its rough-draft quality, does sound decently in line with more recent Wallen recordings — and it wouldn’t be shocking to see it become a new-old hit for Wallen, much like some of those Taylor’s Versions have the past couple years.

The Smile, Wall of Eyes

Apart from the huge pop, rap and country releases of this Friday, there’s also the less-top-40-friendly (but equally anticipated in some corners) new sophomore album from rock supergroup The Smile, led by Radiohead duo Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood. The eight-track new set features more blends of knotty art-rock melodies, psychedelic instrumental flourishes, Krautrock grooves and alt-funk jams, and has already attracted some of the early year’s strongest critical notices, including a Best New Music designation in Pitchfork.