Rebirth of a Bad Boy: Diddy Explains Handing Over Publishing

It’s ﬁtting that on the same day that Hilary — South-

ern California’s ﬁrst tropical storm in 84 years — rains

her way out of Los Angeles, Sean “Diddy” Combs

breezes into Billboard’s studio for a sit-down inter-

view. He’s a fascinating whirlwind of activity from

the moment he arrives in his ever-present shades:

stopping ﬁrst to huddle with the photographer about

the lighting for the shoot, orchestrating the back-

ground setup for his video chat; then changing outﬁts

to match his vibe just before the cameras roll. “It’s

just not my vibration,” he declares at one point as the

backdrop is being rearranged. “I’m in a high frequency

right now.”

“High frequency” and “low frequency” are phrases

that often crop up during this interview and a follow-

up conversation a week later as Combs talks about

returning to music with his ﬁrst album in 13 years,

The Love Album: O the Grid, and explains his take on

what fans have been missing from him.

“You’ve always got to bring something new and

fresh,” he says. “I wouldn’t have come back after 13

years if I didn’t have something to say.”

And right now, Combs has got a lot to say. This year

marks the 30th anniversary of Bad Boy Entertainment

and the 10th anniversary of his REVOLT TV network,

with its reimagined REVOLT World summit (featur-

ing keynotes, panels and performances by Don Toliver,

Mr. Eazi and more) slated for Sept. 22-24 in Atlanta.

And with his sixth studio album that his own Love

Records will deliver on Sept. 15 (“Diddy Day,” he calls

it), he’s ocially launching a creative renaissance, too.

The R&B album features Diddy rapping alongside

a guest roster of 29 established and emerging stars,

ranging from Mary J. Blige, H.E.R., Summer Walker,

Jazmine Sullivan and Coco Jones to The-Dream, Jus-

tin Bieber, Ty Dolla $ign, Burna Boy, Kalan.FrFr and

Love Records artist Jozzy. Comprising 22 tracks and

two interludes, The Love Album: O the Grid is dedi-

cated to late producer Chucky Thompson, who was

an original member of Bad Boy’s in-house production

collective called the Hitmen. The Weeknd makes his

ﬁnal guest stint on the album’s next single, “Another

One of Me,” with French Montana and 21 Savage.

Rebirth of a Bad Boy: Diddy Explains

Handing Over Publishing

Rights &RevealsHis ‘Total Truth’

BYGAIL MITCHELL

(continued)

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Another track, “Kim Porter,” with Diddy

and Babyface featuring John Legend, pays

tribute to Combs’ late former girlfriend and

mother of three of his children.

“This isn’t just an R&B album; it’s an

R&B movie [about love],” says Combs, who

executive-produced and curated the project.

“It’s probably one of the biggest collections

of talent ever, all uniﬁed on one album. And

I happen to be blessed to have The Week-

nd’s last feature. The song talks about being

unique, in a sense — telling your ex-girl that

another one of me won’t come around.”

As an artist, Combs’ bona ﬁdes speak for

themselves. Since his ’90s heyday, the triple

Grammy winner has sold 8.1 million albums

in the United States, according to Luminate,

with ﬁve titles charting in the top 10 on the

Billboard 200: No Way Out (No. 1, 1997),

Forever (No. 2, 1999), The Saga Continues

… (No. 2, 2001), Press Play (No. 1, 2006)

and Last Train to Paris (No. 7, 2011). He has

landed 38 career entries on the Billboard

Hot 100, including 15 top 10s and ﬁve No.

1s: “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” featur-

ing Ma$e; “I’ll Be Missing You,” with Faith

Evans and featuring 112; The Notorious

B.I.G.’s “Mo Money Mo Problems,” featuring

Pu Daddy & Ma$e; “Bump Bump Bump,”

with B2K; and “Shake Ya Tailfeather,” with

Nelly and Murphy Lee. Still, when his new

album’s ﬁrst single, “Gotta Move On,” with

Bryson Tiller, peaked at No. 3 in 2022, it

was his ﬁrst top 10 on the R&B/Hip-Hop

Airplay chart since “Last Night” featuring

Keyshia Cole in 2007, which went to No. 7.

(“Gotta” also topped Adult R&B Airplay for

two weeks last November.)

Then in September, Combs rocked the

industry with the surprise announce-

ment that he was returning his publishing

rights to the artists and songwriters who

had helped build his Bad Boy Entertainment

into a success — a move that came after

detractors, most notably Ma$e, alleged that

Combs had treated his artists unfairly over

the years. Ma$e, Evans, The LOX, 112 and

the estate of The Notorious B.I.G. are among

the creatives who have already signed agree-

ments to regain those rights.

During his interview with Billboard,

Combs speaks about his push to close the

wealth gap for Black people and promote

diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. On

behalf of the latter cause, his Sean Combs

Foundation recently donated $1 million to

Jackson State University, a historically Black

university. He also announced a $1 million

investment fund in partnership with Earn

Your Leisure founders Rashad Bilal and

Troy Millings to provide a practical model

for economic empowerment in Black com-

munities. He notes as well that proﬁts from

the fund would support his three Capital

Preparatory charter schools in New York

and Connecticut.

Referencing Tulsa, Okla.’s iconic Black

Wall Street — which was destroyed in a

racially motivated massacre just over 100

years ago — Combs says, “I’m about em-

powering Black minds, Black ideas, Black

businesses. That’s my focus. I used to be

looking for the next Biggie. Now I’m looking

for the next entrepreneur that I can help

support through resources and knowledge.

My purpose has leveled up.”

Dina Sahim, who has been co-managing

Combs at SALXCO alongside company chief

Wassim “Sal” Slaiby since 2021, says there’s

a reason why her client has helped foster

the careers of so many other stars: “He

doesn’t take days o. Every minute of every

single day is spent doing something that

contributes to his growth as a person, as a

businessman and to the people around him.

He didn’t get to where he is by mistake. And

he lives to perpetuate wealth and inspira-

tion. He wants everybody to eat like he’s

eating; wants to teach everyone to take what

they have, build on it and create an empire.”

But make no mistake: Combs is still all

about having fun as he jubilantly navigates

his return to music’s center stage. “I’m a

26-year-old in a 53-year-old body,” the MTV

Video Music Awards’ (VMAs) newly minted

Global Icon Award honoree says with a

laugh. “There are still a lot of things I want

to do on my Diddy list. So yeah, I’m back.

Just in my bag and having fun. Whenever it

feels like work, I’ll leave.”

First things ﬁrst: What prompted you

to return the publishing rights to the Bad

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Boy artists and writers?

I decided to reassign publishing rights to

the whole catalog in May or June 2021. The

news is just now coming out because it took

time to ﬁnalize everything. But this was dur-

ing the time that I was holding the Grammys

to task. I was also getting major oers for

the catalog during the [acquisition] frenzy

back then. When I was looking at the cata-

log and everything, I was put in a position

where I felt like I had to look in the mirror.

I had to make sure that what I was stand-

ing for was my total truth. We live in a time

where things are constantly evolving. And it

was about reform for me. It was me looking

at ways I could reform things as a person

that’s been asking for change. It was just the

right and obvious thing to do; something I’m

proud I did. As a businessman, there comes

a time when you have to pick purpose over

proﬁt. I’m glad that I’ve seen both sides. As

a businessman, I’ve evolved and was blessed

to be in a position to give the publishing

back.

Ma$e was very vocal about reclaiming

his publishing rights. Have the two of you

reconciled?

Everything’s cool and good now. You

know, we’re brothers and brothers ﬁght. I

love him and that’s it.

The other big recent news is the re-

lease of your long-promised ode to R&B,

The Love Album: O the Grid. Why a return

to recording at this point in your career?

It’s been 13 years since Last Train to Paris.

When it came out, it kind of broke my heart

because people didn’t understand it right

away. It was a bit before its time, and I know

I was in my ego.

What didn’t they understand?

I had to compromise the uncut Blackness

and soul of what I was trying to do, like on

the song “Coming Home.” I have the talent

as a producer, you know, to make a No. 1

record. But that’s very dangerous because

sometimes that record may not be authentic

or your intentions aren’t in the right place.

My intentions were to get another No. 1

record instead of keeping the album uncut

and soulful.

As time went on, people were able to con-

nect with the album, and it’s become a cult

classic. But for a couple of years after that,

I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t hearing

the sounds. Then I started just dealing with

life and had to go through a healing journey.

When I came out of that, I was like, “What

do I want to do that makes me happy?” And

it was, “I need to get back to music.” So I

immediately said, “I’m going to start a new

label called Love Records, and I’m going to

focus on R&B and bring back what it’s miss-

ing: that soul, that love, that unapologetic

Blackness, that expression of vulnerability

and on a dierent, higher frequency.”

The album sounds very autobiographi-

cal. Was that also one of your intentions

this time around?

Yes. This time I decided, “I’m going to

just bare my soul and give people my truth.”

So this is my love story through all of my

dierent relationships. It’s about going away

for 48 hours with a young lady, turning the

phones o, locking in and connecting. We

should all go o the grid with our signiﬁ-

cant other, whoever it is you love, and get to

know each other better. And I had the musi-

cal vision for my story. I was like, “First, I’m

going to make some R&B music for dancing

to make her feel comfortable, then some

slow love- and baby-making music for the

strokers, then some baby-don’t-leave-me

music.” And I have some of the best — and

my favorite — voices in R&B telling my love

story. What I’m bringing back to the game is

that Puy sound, not following any trends or

algorithms. I’m not knocking anything that’s

out there, but a lot of things are just so toxic.

Why has R&B become such an impor-

tant crusade for you?

My ﬁrst love is R&B. The ﬁrst record that

I produced was the remix of “Come and

Talk to Me” by Jodeci. And from there going

on to Mary J. Blige and, you know, to being

the king of hip-hop soul.

When I was younger, R&B saved my life.

I thought I was going to be a football player.

Then I got hurt on my last day of camp as a

senior. My heart was broken; I didn’t have a

B plan. And that music really saved my life.

Dancing in the clubs in New York, getting

the chance to be picked up as a background

dancer and seeing the industry that I fell in

love with saved me. Then as life goes on, you

get hit with so many things: losing the moth-

er of my children, losing my girlfriend; just

being hurt, down and lost. R&B helped me

ﬁnd myself and get back on my feet again. So

I can’t wait for people to hear how I’ve come

full circle.

In fact, I’ve come full circle on so many

things. It’s rare, having a career of 30 years

and still having the ability to make relevant

music without selling out or trying to be

on somebody else’s wave. I’m here to unify

us, the whole R&B community. I returned

to my roots of production; those sensibili-

ties like when I was just starting out at 23.

As a student of the game, I’m working with

all the new, younger producers. We have

a nice new crew of Hitmen that has been

assembled to take this to the next level. I’m

learning from them and their fresh energy,

and they’re learning from me. That’s one

of the things that I’m always going to be:

a platform. I went from being on the stage

to becoming the stage. So launching some

new artists on the album was also a deﬁnite

priority.

Why did you say last year that R&B is

dead?

When I said, “R&B is dead,” I wanted to

wake up the R&B universe and shed some

light on it. My intention was to do exactly

what’s happened. We’re now in this R&B

renaissance. After leaving the game for so

long and coming back, I realized there was

a lack of resources, a lack of support from

radio, a lack of belief. When I said [that], it

wasn’t being said in a negative way. It was

also part of unifying us in getting back to

our Blackness, getting o that computer and

getting back into feeling. If you ain’t got no

feeling, you dead. So I’m here to bring back

that feeling.

There are a lot of artists out there, of

course, pushing the envelope with dierent

styles of R&B. And I’m seeing people step

their game up. This renaissance has such

incredible artists from Summer Walker and

SZA to The Weeknd and Brent Faiyaz …

so much richness. But I believe we have to

make some noise to be heard more and get

the same resources to be able to compete.

This genre deserves to be put in a position

to win. R&B and hip-hop are not the same.

I’m glad to hear you say that because

many people in the industry keep putting

R&B under the hip-hop banner.

Page 5 of 29

IN BRIEF

I’ve had conversations with some of the

people in power, and almost all the people

in power are not from the R&B community

or the culture. That’s when you get the lack

of understanding and resources. To them,

it just sounds like the same thing. So I’m

in a season of total independence. I had an

experience with Motown where it was like,

“I’ve come too far to ask somebody that isn’t

where I’m from about cultural and artistic

things. If I’m going to bet on anybody, I’m

going to bet on the people I believe in.” So

I decided to go independent with Love Re-

cords and Bad Boy. I decided to come back

into the game with bolder ideas of owner-

ship, distribution and future manufacturing

because those are the things that we as a

people are cut out of.

Since #TheShowMustBePaused, has

the music industry overall made any

substantial progress in terms of diversity,

equity and inclusion?

We have some representation … Shout

out and all due respect to everybody that’s

in power. But [for most people], there’s still

somebody over them, a white man that they

have to get permission from to do some-

thing. And it’s always been the same, no

matter what the industry. When you’re inde-

pendent, you don’t have to ask that permis-

sion. You can do what you want to do. It’s

time for change. And the only way you get

change is you’ve got to make the change —

and not just change progress. It’s all a bunch

of bulls—t. Diversity isn’t about inclusion;

diversity is about sharing power. And noth-

ing has changed. It’s gotten worse.

What about the changes the Record-

ing Academy has made since you put the

organization on notice in 2020 for the

Grammys never respecting Black music

“to the point that it should be”?

They went right to work immediately.

There’s a lot of work to be done, but radical

steps have been made. And that’s really what

I’m on: radical change. Not making tiny

steps. Me making those statements made

them look at themselves, made me look at

myself and made the whole industry have

to look at itself and our [collective] respon-

sibility toward evolving through diversity,

through economics and through this human

race where everybody just wants to be bet-

ter. But it wasn’t just me; there were a bunch

of us [Black executives] that stepped up be-

hind the scenes as a collective in pushing for

change. And the Academy really responded

in a responsible way. So now it’s also up to

artists to understand how to get in there and

really utilize the academy for their beneﬁt.

Speaking of change, you signed with

SALXCO for management. What was

behind that decision?

Finding the right manager is hard. Some-

one that’s going to be kind of obsessed about

every move you have going on as much as

you would be. That’s what you hope for: to

ﬁnd someone with that kind of talent, who

can actually tell you something worthwhile

and understands a bigger picture. For ex-

ample, one of the big decisions we’ve made

is that my ﬁrst concert will be in Europe, not

in America, as we make this a global release.

There were a lot of things that aected the

whole energy behind how this project is

being rolled out and positioned. So I respect

Sal’s opinion and vision. And he and Dina

make it enjoyable.

In addition to celebrating your 30th

anniversary in music, REVOLT is mark-

ing its 10th birthday. What’s your vision

for the network moving forward?

To make it not just the biggest Black-

owned network but the biggest media

company that I can. I’m not pigeonholing

myself. Again, nobody’s going to give us

power, and they’re not going to share it with

us. That’s why 10 years ago, I named my net-

work REVOLT, because we have to take our

quality of life back. There’s so much value

and information. And when the Black media

doesn’t have an outlet that’s controlled by

somebody of color, then it’s not truly a Black

free press. REVOLT is the only foundation

right now that’s going in that direction. But

it takes time. I own 65% of REVOLT, so we

could change the narrative. I’m investing

in the Black future with REVOLT. It’s not

a hustle, not a money play. Everything I do

is to make sure that I do my best to break

down the barriers. Media is one of the most

important and powerful parts of freedom.

As far as our business strategy, we’re in

acquisition mode to really build a Black-

owned media conglomerate. That’s why we

were looking at BET and at a couple of other

businesses. BET is deﬁnitely the mecca,

the originator of Black media, and still is.

So just the thought of unifying … We’re not

going to be able to reach our highest level

of success in the media world, like a Rupert

Murdoch, if we don’t unify. Like me, Tyler

Perry and Byron Allen. We have a respon-

sibility because it’s like 15 of us getting

money, but 10 billion people in the world.

We need to pool our resources, everybody

from LeBron James and Issa Rae to Tracee

Ellis Ross to Jada Pinkett [Smith] and Queen

Latifah. That’s what I’m pushing for: unity

in a disruptive way that’s never been done

before. Having such a media platform is one

of the most powerful tools in changing our

trajectory.

Given your busy September with the

VMAs, the album rollout and the RE-

VOLT World summit, is the long-awaited

Verzuz battle between you and Jermaine

Dupri still on the table for this month?

The only Verzuz I want to have right now

is Pu Daddy versus Diddy. The only person

I’m in competition with is myself. (Smiles.)

But the battle with Jermaine isn’t o the

table. We’re still trying to work it out, and I

deﬁnitely look forward to that.

You entered Forbes’ billionaire rappers

circle last year. Who’s on their way from

hip-hop’s next generation?

Nipsey Hussle, to me, was that young Pu

version. But one person that I can say right

now is Travis Scott. I can relate to how he’s

diversifying his portfolio and really under-

standing how to take it to the next level. I

also think Yung Miami [aka Caresha Brown-

lee] from the City Girls. She reminds me of

Oprah with the endless possibilities that

she has as far as her clothing line, television

shows, performances, live podcasts. I really

respect both of their hustles and see them

being able to break through.

Despite this being the 50th-anniver-

sary year of hip-hop, music pundits have

written stories about hip-hop’s lack of

top-charting singles and albums in 2023.

What’s your take on the genre’s evolution

into 2024?

Right now, people are looking for some-

thing fresh. Everything’s been so monoto-

nous and low frequency with everybody

sounding so much like each other. However,

Page 7 of 29

IN BRIEF

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Billboard will publish its annual GRAMMY

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This special issue will highlight the artists,

producers and other creative professionals

whose work is in contention this year, including

Record Of The Year; Album Of The Year; Song

Of The Year; Best New Artist; Producer Of The

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2023

I think you’re going to see a balance. You’re

still going to have your ratchet stu, you’re

still going to have the turn-up. But people

are going to come up with new styles. It’s

time. The beauty of it is that you can make

your own type of music and cultivate your

own community. When you have 8 billion

people in the world, you can do all right if

you have 2 million in your fan base. I just see

hip-hop constantly evolving and constantly

melding with dierent types of music.

There’s Afro beats melding with trap meld-

ing with what’s going on in London melding

with what’s going on in dance music. Every-

thing’s just coming together.

The smile on your face as you say all

this … it’s like maybe seeing the younger

Sean during the Uptown days.

Deﬁnitely. I’ve gotten a chance to look at

everything with new, fresh eyes. I learned

that from my baby … You know, I just had a

baby. And the baby looks around at every-

thing. So I started to look around, hearing

things and being more open-minded. The

future of hip-hop, I think, is really looking

up, especially with AI coming in. I think

it’s going to have an impact; that it will be

another category of music. But also looking

at older hip-hop and R&B artists selling out

arenas … it’s a wealthy season right now for

music in general.

As you reﬂect on your career thus far,

how do you view your legacy as an elder

statesman of hip-hop alongside Dr. Dre

and Jay-Z?

We’re all dierent people at dierent

stages in our lives, you know what I’m

saying? But there’s only one Diddy. There’s

only one Jay-Z. There’s only one Dr. Dre.

We’re all good where we’re at, and we’re in

our purpose. I’m living my purpose as far as

coming in and making people feel some-

thing. Breaking down barriers and showing

people how to hustle, make money, make a

career and living — and be successful.

Olivia Rodrigo’s

Massive ‘Guts’

Streaming Start

(And How It’s

Helped an Old

Miley Single)

BYKYLE DENIS, JASON LIPSHUTZ,

ANDREW UNTERBERGER

elcome to Billboard

Pro’sTrending Upcolumn,

where we take a closer look

at the songs, artists, curiosi-

ties and trends that have caught the music

industry’s attention. Some have come out of

nowhere, others have taken months to catch

on, and all of them could become ubiquitous

in the blink of a TikTok clip.

This week: Olivia Rodrigo’s album gets

o to a roaring start on streaming — while

also sending folks back to a Disney-era Miley

single — as TikTok helps to resurrect an ‘00s

Cee Lo hit and make a viral phenomenon out

of FamousSally & YB’s debut.

Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” Sinks Its

Teeth into Guts Gains

When Olivia Rodrigo returned in June

with “Vampire,” the sweeping lead single to

her sophomore album, she also returned to

the top of the Billboard Hot 100, as the song

debuted at No. 1 and became her third ca-

reer chart-topper. “Vampire” has remained

in the top 10 of the chart in the weeks since

its release, coming in at No. 9 this week

— but last week’s release of Guts has sent

streams of “Vampire” ﬂying high as listeners

play the dramatic single in the context of

the full-length, and a return to the top of the

Hot 100 may be in play.

In the ﬁrst four days since Guts was

released last Friday (Sept. 8), “Vampire”

earned 12.95 million ocial on-demand U.S.

streams, nearly a 97% gain over its streams

from the previous Friday-to-Monday track-

ing period, according to Luminate. “Bad

Idea Right?,” the second single from Guts

which has thus far peaked at No. 10 on the

chart, is lower down the current Hot 100

at No. 26 — but has earned an even greater

streaming uptick, to 13.14 million streams

from Sept. 8-11 (up 150%).

Of course, the streaming increases of

Rodrigo’s two pre-release singles from Guts

demonstrate just how many streaming users

have checked out one of the most highly

anticipated albums of 2023. In the ﬁrst four

days of its release, Guts has earned over 126

million on-demand streams, with album

opener “All-American Bitch” and “Get Him

Back!” (which just received a new music

video and MTV VMAs performance) scor-

ing 12.54 million and 12.27 million streams

during that time period, respectively. Guts

is streaming so well that fans have revisited

Rodrigo’s ﬁrst album: Sour has earned 15.28

million total streams from Sept. 8-11, up 21%

from the previous Friday-to-Monday period.

- JASON LIPSHUTZ

An Olivia/Miley Comparison Helps

“Start” a Cyrus Streaming Bump

Speaking of Olivia Rodrigo, the release of

Guts has seemingly helped out the stream-

ing totals of a song from a dierent pop

superstar with teen Disney ties. Upon the

release of Rodrigo’s sophomore album, some

social media users pointed out that the hook

to “All-American Bitch” recalls the sound

of “Start All Over,” the guitar-heavy Miley

Cyrus song from her 2007 post-Hannah

Montana album, Meet Miley Cyrus.

While the sonic similarities are debat-

able, enough listeners have checked out

(or returned to) the early Cyrus pop-rock

track to yield a sizable bump in its weekly

streams. In the ﬁrst four days since Guts was

released, “Start All Over” earned 278,000

ocial on-demand U.S. streams — more

than 10 times its streaming total from the

previous Friday-to-Monday period (23,000),

according to Luminate. As Rodrigo’s Guts

prepares to make its chart bow, Cyrus has

her own hit in the upper reaches of the Hot

100, as “Used to Be Young” comes in at No.

16 on this week’s Hot 100 chart, one week

after a No. 8 debut. - JL

In the Cut With My Twin, Streams Are

Rising: FamousSally & YB Score Big With

“Wassup Gwayy”

Buoyed by a cheeky ﬁnger-pointing shoul-

Page 9 of 29

IN BRIEF

der shimmy — which has its own multilay-

ered meme history — FamousSally & YB’s

“Wassup Gwayy” has seen an eye-popping

surge in streams this month. According to

Luminate, the bubbly hip-hop track col-

lected over 394,000 ocial on-demand U.S.

streams between September 1-7, a massive

404.7% increase from just over 78,000

streams four weeks prior from August 11-17.

On TikTok, the ocial “Wassup Gwayy”

sound boasts over 1.1 million videos. The

sound speciﬁcally highlights the ﬁrst two

lines of the song’s chorus, which ﬁnd the

duo rap-singing “What’s up, Gwayy? In the

cut with my twin, we be vibin’/ Classy b—-h,

but they know I be outside with it.” In virtu-

ally every TikTok using the sound, users do

a little shoulder shimmy with their pointer

ﬁngers and thumbs oriented in the shape of

an “L” while they highlight their closest and

dearest partners-in-crime. The trend has

gotten so popular that a fan even got Drake

to participate in it backstage at his It’s All a

Blur Tour in Las Vegas, NV (Sept. 2).

According to their ocial artist pages

on streaming services, the self-released

“Wassup Gwayy” appears to be the debut

single from Famous Sally & YB. Should the

song’s streams continue to rise, it could also

become their ﬁrst Billboard chart hit.

“I’ll Be Around” for Two Decades:

Dance Trend Spurs Gains for CeeLo

Green ‘00s Hit

Regional dances are as American as apple

pie, and Baltimore is up next for a turn in

the national spotlight. Thanks to the recent

TikTok virality of the Baltimore strut, a

19-year-old CeeLo Green song has seen a

resurgence on streaming. According to Lu-

minate, the track — which served as a single

from 2004’s acclaimed Cee-Lo Green... Is

the Soul Machine – earned over 1.36 million

ocial on-demand U.S. streams from Sept.

1-7. That’s a whopping 497% increase from a

little over 227,000 streams ﬁve weeks prior

(Aug. 4-10).

On TikTok, the Timbaland-assisted track

has become the go-to sound for users to

show o their mastery, or lack thereof, of

the eortlessly smooth Baltimore strut. The

ocial “I’ll Be Around” sound currently has

over 106,000 posts, with everyone from so-

cial media food inﬂuencer Keith Lee to the

Duke men’s basketball team trying their

hand at the dance.

“I’ll Be Around” reached No. 52 on Hot

R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in 2004; it’s in a six-

way tie for his longest-charting song on the

ranking (20 weeks). – KD

Season’s Gainings: 9/11 Remembered

This Monday marked the 22nd anniver-

sary of the horriﬁc attacks on September

11th, 2001, an anniversary that always gets

those old enough to remember to relive the

memories of that terrible day. Those who

wanted a soundtrack for their recollections

turned in large numbers to a handful of the

9/11-themed country anthems that resound-

ed with many at the time: Alan Jackson’s

“Where Were You (When the World

Stopped Turning)” gained 351% to 124,000

ocial on-demand U.S. streams from the

previous Monday, according to Luminate,

while Darryl Worley’s “Have You Forgot-

ten” rose 414% to 48,000. And Lee Green-

wood’s ‘80s ballad “God Bless the U.S.A.,”

which gained new relevance post-9/11, also

rose 42% to 72,000 streams. - AU

Gary Gersh,

AEG’s President

of Global Touring,

Announces

Departure

BYDAVE BROOKS

ary Gersh, president of global

touring at AEG Presents, is leav-

ing the concert promotion giant

after eight years at the company,

chairman Jay Marciano announced in a

sta letter on Wednesday (Sept. 13). Rich

Schaefer, currently the company’s senior vp

of global touring, will step into Gersh’s role

as president.

“Gary played a vital role in the develop-

ment and growth of Global Touring; his

energy, passion and initiative helped nurture

an embryonic idea into a powerhouse team

that has made a substantial impact on both

our business speciﬁcally and the industry

as a whole,” Marciano told sta in the sta

memo. “I know I speak for all of us when I

say thank you, Gary, for your many contribu-

tions to AEG Presents these last eight years.

We wish you nothing but continued success

in your future ventures.”

Gersh is a well-known record execu-

tive who signed Sonic Youth and Nirvana

to Geen Records and was CEO of Capitol

Records, where he worked with the likes of

Radiohead, Soundgarden and Foo Fighters.

Just prior to AEG, he served as CEO of the

Artists Organization. Gersh did not disclose

where he’s headed next.

In a goodbye note to sta, Gersh wrote,

“This was not a decision I came to lightly, as

working alongside everyone at this company

these past eight years has been a career

highlight for me, but I’m excited about the

prospects ahead and look forward to us

crossing paths again in the future. And while

it’s sad to leave this incredible team behind,

I couldn’t be more proud to place the global

touring division in the very capable hands of

my longtime friend and partner in business

Rich Schaefer.”

As for Schaefer, Marciano says the veteran

executive “brings a thorough understand-

ing of our business to the job and is looking

forward to hitting the ground running and

executing at the highest level on behalf of

both Global Touring and AEG Presents.”

Schaefer will continue working out of

AEG’s New York oce.

Page 10 of 29

IN BRIEF

Kevin Herring

and Annie

Ortmeier Named

Co-Presidents

of Triple Tigers

Record Label

BYMELINDA NEWMAN

riple Tigers, the Nashville-based

label home to chart-topping coun-

try artists Scotty McCreery and

Russell Dickerson, has named

Kevin Herring and Annie Ortmeier co-

presidents, while former president Norbert

Nix has left the company.

Herring had served as the label’s senior

vp of radio promotion. Ortmeier joins from

Universal Music Group Nashville where

she was senior vp of streaming marketing.

They will report to George Couri, Triple

Tigers co-founder and Triple 8 Manage-

ment co-founder.The moves align with

Triple Tigers’ focus on terrestrial radio and

digital media, such as streaming and social

platforms.

“Triple Tigers 2.0 is here,” Courisaid in a

statement. “I look forward to stepping into

a more active role, as well as having Kevin

and Annie form a dual attack in the worlds

of both radio and streaming & digital.

Kevin’s radio singles batting average here is

unmatched in the industry, and Annie comes

from leading streaming and digital strategies

at the biggest label in the business. With our

company intentionally focused on maintain-

ing a very small group of artists who beneﬁt

from dedicated attention, there will be

tremendous impact on our roster.”

Launched in 2016 as a joint venture be-

tween Thirty Tigers, Sony Music Entertain-

ment-owned distributor The Orchard and

Couri’s Triple 8 Management (whose clients

include McCreery, Eli Young Band and

Corey Kent), the label has had tremendous

success right from the start with McCreery’s

ﬁrst ﬁve singles and Dickerson’s ﬁrst four

singles going to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country

Airplay chart. Dickerson’s current single,

“God Gave Me a Girl,” is bulleted at No. 11

on the chart, while McCreery’s new single,

“Cab in a Solo,” is bulleted at No. 40. Jordan

Fletcher is also on the boutique roster. Couri

is now Triple Tigers’ remaining managing

partner.

A representative declined to comment

on whether Triple Tigers co-founder David

Macias had sold his stake in the company.

“I am very proud and honored to be en-

trusted with a leadership role at Triple Ti-

gers,” said Herring, in a statement.“This is

an amazing group of people and artists who

are dedicated to making world class country

music and lifting up the artists, songwriters,

format and community.”

Ortmeier added, “I am excited to be join-

ing George, Kevin and the team at Triple

Tigers. I have admired Triple Tigers and

the incredible success they have had thus

far and am looking forward to being able to

build upon that success with Scotty, Russell,

Jordan and the team!”

Nix, who was also a partner in the label,

is set to launch VISCYRL,a new artist

development company in partnership with

the Orchard. He leaves with fond memo-

ries. “It was us against the world. A David

vs. Goliath story,” he says. “The most excit-

ing thing for me was being able to bring in

this team of people who were dedicated to

the music and understood the vision. We

came out of the chute with a string of No. 1

singles. It was an honor to lead that group

of people.”

U.K. Music

Industry Calls

for Government

Protection From

AI, Support To

Fix Brexit Touring

Crisis

BYRICHARD SMIRKE

rgent action is needed to protect

the United Kingdom’s longstand-

ing success as one of the world’s

biggest exporters of music,

warns a new report from umbrella trade

organization UK Music.

In particular, robust copyright laws must

be put in place to ensure that creators and

rights holders are shielded from the po-

tential impact of artiﬁcial intelligence (AI),

says the trade body’s “Manifesto for Music,”

published Tuesday (Sept. 12), which calls for

increased government support to grow the

sector.

In 2021, U.K. music exports totaled £2.5

billion ($3.1 billion) — up 10% on the previ-

ous year, but still lower than 2019’s pre-

pandemic ﬁgures — according to data from

UK Music. Those export totals are made up

of record sales, publishing revenue, overseas

touring by British acts and tourism spend-

ing by international tourists attending live

shows in the United Kingdom.

When it comes to recorded music, hit

albums by Harry Styles, Glass Animals and

Ed Sheeran helped British music exports

climb to a record high of £709 million ($910

million) last year, maintaining the country’s

long-held position as the second largest

exporter of music globally after the United

States, according to labels trade body BPI.

Overall, the United Kingdom is the

world’s third biggest recorded music mar-

ket, as per IFPI rankings, behind the United

States and Japan.

However, the growth of streaming in

Page 11 of 29

IN BRIEF

emerging territories such as Latin America,

the Middle East and South Korea has eaten

into the United Kingdom’s share of the

global music market, which has fallen from

a peak of 17% in 2015 to 12% in 2022. To

arrest that decline, UK Music has published

a ﬁve-point plan to boost exports, protect

venues and studios, and promote diversity.

Among the trade group’s recommenda-

tions is the enforcement of strong copyright

protections against generative AI systems,

including clear labeling and a requirement

for AI developers to keep and disclose

records of any music works used for training

purposes.

UK Music is additionally asking policy-

makers to introduce speciﬁc personality and

image rights into the British legal frame-

work — and ensure that AI-generated music

is clearly distinguishable from human-

created works.

Last month, a U.K. Parliament committee

issued its own report on regulating the use

of AI technology in the music and creative

industries. One of the committee’s key rec-

ommendations was for the British govern-

ment to commit to abandoning plans for a

proposed (and since shelved) new text and

data mining(TDM) exception that would

allow AI companiesto freely use copyright-

protected works for commercial purposes.

“It’s critical that we ensure AI enables

and supports human artistry and creativ-

ity, and does not damage it,” said UK Music

interim chief executive Tom Kiehl, echoing

the committee’s request to rule out any new

TDM exceptions.

“Strong copyright and intellectual prop-

erty protections must be at the center of any

approach when it comes to AI,” said Kiehl.

Other recommendations in UK Music’s

manifesto include the introduction of a

new tax credit — similar to what’s in place

in other European markets and some U.S.

states — encouraging new music production

in the country.

The trade group, which recently saw chief

executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin exit the

London-based organization to work for

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, is also calling

for increased investment in music education

and for the government to secure a post-

Brexit cultural touring agreement with the

European Union that would reduce costs for

U.K. acts touring Europe.

“Without action, the U.K. risks being

overtaken by countries who are more proac-

tive and ambitious in promoting their music

sectors,” said Kiehl.

The United Kingdom’s moves to police

the rapidly evolving AI sector come as other

countries and jurisdictions, including the

United States, China and the European

Union, explore their own paths toward

regulating the nascent technology.

Here’s Who Runs

Diddy’s Empire

Now

BYRANIA ANIFTOS

iddy is gearing up to release his

ﬁrst album in 13 years, The Love

Album: O the Grid, on Sept. 15.

While the music and busi-

ness mogul is in album mode, his multiple

interests continue to be overseen by a

seasoned group of executives, including his

management team at SALXCO. Read on to

learn about the executives working behind-

the-scenes at Combs Global, REVOLT TV &

Media and more.

Nathalie Moar- Longtime Advisor and

Communications Lead

Moar is a global communication strategist

who manages Diddy’s narrative and brand

image across his multi-brand empire, as well

as all of his various activations.

Che Pope- Head of Love Records

Pope’s experience in the music industry

spans 25 years in both the creative and

executive arenas ofthe music business.The

Grammy-winning producer has collabo-

rated with artists such as Aretha Franklin,

Whitney Houston, Carlos Santana, Des-

tiny’s Child, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Dr. Dre, The

Weeknd, Diddy and Kanye West.

Frankie Santella - VP of Music Manage-

ment & Strategic Partnerships

Santella was ﬁrst hired by Diddy as part

of Bad Boy Management in New York City,

where he was involved in cultural events

such as Diddy’s 50th birthday celebration,

2013 attendance at Burning Man and col-

laborations with such companies as Nike,

Ciroc, WWE and Live Nation. In 2020,

Santella moved to Los Angeles to work at

Combs Global.

Kristina Khorram - Chief of Sta to Sean

“Diddy” Combs

Khorram works side by side daily with

Diddy and spearheads many of his projects

and events.

Deon Graham - Chief Brand Ocer

Graham oversees brand presence, strate-

gic marketing, growth and development for

Diddy’s portfolio of companies.

Tarik A. Brooks - President

The seasoned executive, with over 22

years of experience, oversees all business

operations and investments owned by

Diddy.

Detavio Samuels - CEO of REVOLT TV

& Media

Samuels leads all business eorts with a

bicoastal team of young executives and cre-

ators, working to build the world’s largest

Black-owned media company.

Jay Lundy - Senior VP of Investing & New

Ventures

In his role, Lundy leads new ventures,

investment diligence and business develop-

ment strategy.

Dr. Steve Perry - Founder & Head of

Capital Preparatory

Perry is an educator, bestselling author,

and founder and head of schools at Capital

Preparatory Schools. Since 2006, he has sent

100% of their predominantly low-income,

minority and ﬁrst-generation high school

graduates to four-year colleges.

Page 12 of 29

IN BRIEF

Range Media

Launches Music

Publishing

Division Led by

Casey Robison

BYDAVE BROOKS

ange Media Partners has

launched a music publish-

ing division and tapped Casey

Robison to lead it, the company

announced Tuesday (Sept. 12).

Robison arrives at Range Media from

Hipgnosis Songs Group, where he served as

executive vp of A&R and led the company’s

pop division, working with artists and song-

writers including Monsters & Strangerz,

John Ryan, Julian Bunetta, Normani, Teddy

Geiger, Imad Royal, Dan Wilson, Joe Lon-

don and Steph Jones. He joined Hipgnosis

following the company’s 2020 acquisition of

Big Deal Music Group, where he served as

co-president/partner. Robison also previ-

ously worked as senior director at BMI,

where he signed Imagine Dragons.

Other employees of Range’s new publish-

ing division include director of A&R and

publishing Sam Drake, director of A&R

Federico Morris and manager and vp of

A&R Jared Cotter. The division has already

signed songwriter Geo Warburton, known

for his work with artists including Shawn

Mendes, Demi Lovato, Keith Urban and Elle

King.

“Casey and the team believe there is a tre-

mendous opportunity to launch a boutique

publishing company inside of the Range

ecosystem,” said Range Music founding

partner/Range Media Partners co-founder

Matt Graham in a statement. “The connec-

tivity to our management roster, label, ﬁlm/

TV relationships and music supervisors pro-

vide a fertile ground for developing writers

and producers … His experience as a builder

at Big Deal and Hipgnosis is essential to

getting our strategy and culture honed to

ensure maximum opportunity for our talent.

We couldn’t be more excited about what we

can create together.”

Added Robison, “I’m thrilled to be join-

ing the creative team at Range. Since the

company’s creation just a few years ago,

I’ve admired its spirit, culture and dynamic

growth. Range’s curated approach to identi-

fying and fostering talent across genres will

serve as a blueprint for how we build the

publishing company, which will be dedi-

cated to long-term career growth for both

artists and writers.”

Launched in September 2020, Range

Media is led by managing partners Graham,

Jack Minihan, Tyler Henry, Melissa Ruder-

man, Chris Thomas, Evan Winiker, Cory

Litwin and Shawn McSpadden, as well as

partners Michele Harrison, Greg Johnson,

Rachel Douglas, Ace Christian and Joel

Zimmerman.

DistroKid

Acquires

Website Platform

Bandzoogle

BYMARC SCHNEIDER

igital distributor DistroKid has

acquired Bandzoogle, a plat-

form specializing in helping

artists create websites and sell

their wares. Launched in 2003 and based in

Ottawa, Canada, Bandzoogle powers more

than 60,000 artist websites and e-commerce

stores, and provides solutions for crowd-

funding, subscriptions and mailing lists.

“At DistroKid, we’re always working on

innovative ways to help artists,” said Philip

Kaplan, founder and CEO of DistroKid.

Bandzoogle CEO Stacey Bedford added,

“DistroKid has always put artists ﬁrst, just

like we have, so we’re thrilled to join forces

to continue to empower artists.”

Bedford previously told Billboard that

Bandzoogle’s suite of e-commerce tools,

which cost a monthly fee, helped artists

generate $100 million in sales in 2022 by

enabling them to run their own businesses.

“It’s important to us that we oer those

tools,” she said. “We have never taken a

commission on sales — 100% of that $100

million went directly to artists. This amaz-

ing accomplishment is really their own.”

It’s also been a busy stretch for DistroKid,

which earlier this year launched an iPhone

app along with an AI-powered mastering

tool called Mixed that helps artists prep

their songs for radio. Last year, it intro-

ducedDistroVid, which enables artists to

upload an unlimited number of music videos

to leading digital service providers for one

ﬂat price. And in 2021, it rolled out Up-

stream, a service that allows artists to share

data with record labels in hopes of grabbing

attention — and hopefully signed.

Now in its 10thyear, DistroKid helps

artists distribute their music to streaming

services and digital stores, and pays artists

100% of their earnings (minus banking fees

and taxes).

With the Bandzoogle acquisition, artists

will now be able to manage the digital and

physical sales of their music and other

merch all in one DistroKid ecosystem.

Atlantic Records

Celebrates 75th

Anniversary with

Special Vinyl and

Remix Campaigns

BYMELINDA NEWMAN

n September 1947, Ahmet Ertegun

and Herb Abramson founded Atlan-

tic Records with a $10,000 loan from

Ertegun’s dentist. In 1948, Atlantic

began putting out its ﬁrst releases. Seventy-

ﬁve years later, Atlantic remains one of the

most storied labels in American history as

home through the decades to such artists as

Ruth Brown, Ray Charles, Aretha Frank-

lin, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Stevie Nicks,

Matchbox Twenty and Crosby, Stills &

Nash; and, more recently, Twenty One Pi-

lots, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran and Lizzo.

Page 13 of 29

IN BRIEF

This year, Atlantic is paying homage

to its rich heritage with a multi-pronged,

year-long campaign that celebrates some of

its most iconic titles. Already started is the

release of 90 classic titles, many on crystal

clear, colored or recycled vinyl, curated by

Atlantic Records chairman/CEO and noted

audiophile Craig Kallman.

Among the releases in the 75th-anniversa-

ry commemoration are John Coltrane’sOlé

Coltrane, Ye s ’Fragile, Dusty Spring-

ﬁeld’sDusty in Memphis, Phil Collins’No

Jacket Required, Hootie & the Blow-

ﬁsh’sCracked Rear Viewand Crosby, Stills &

Nash’s self-titled album. More recent titles

in the collection include Mars’24K Magic,

Gucci Mane’sMr. Davis, Lizzo’sCuz I Love

You, Sheeran’sDivideand Gayle’sA Study

in the Human Experience.All titles are for

purchase through Atlantic Records’ site

and a number are available through various

brick-and-mortar retailers.

Kallman began working on the project,

which is running in conjunction with Rhino

Entertainment, a number of years ago,

printing out spreadsheets highlighting every

signiﬁcant title of the past 75 years. “It was

stacks of paper making sure we didn’t miss

anybody. It was painstakingly done. There

was a lot of internal debating,” he says.

His mission was to cover the “breadth and

scope of Atlantic’s history by genre,” he says.

“We tried to include records that were cul-

turally signiﬁcant, that were groundbreak-

ing for the company, that were blowout sales

successes. It was about records that deﬁned

the label and the culture of the company.”

Though painstaking and extremely

time-consuming, Kallman says the process

“was a lot of fun and brings back a lot of

memories because I was here for 32 years

of it.” Kallman joined Atlantic in 1991 when

the company purchased his dance label,

Big Beat Records, and, in many ways, he

had unintentionally been preparing for

this moment. When he started at Atlantic,

“I thought part of my responsibility was to

really know and understand the history and

legacy of the company so I can’t think of any

[release] I didn’t already know about, but we

wrestled with making sure that the depths

of the early catalog were there,” he says. “My

DJ’ing background also came in handy in

making the selections.” Kallman’s personal

collection numbers more than 2 million LPs.

While titles started rolling out a few

months ago, forthcoming releases include

Coldplay’sA Head Full of Dreams(includ-

ing The Chainsmokers and Coldplay’s 2017

hit, “Something Just Like This,” as a bonus

track) on Oct. 20 andLed Zeppelin’sLed

Zeppelin IVon Oct. 27. The collection in-

cludes a number of titles that have been out

of print, like Lil Uzi Vert’sLuv is Rage 2, as

well as releases that have never come out on

vinyl. All releases are tagged with a 75th-

anniversary logo.

Kallman tried to keep the releases to 75,

but ultimately, he could only whittle it down

to 90. “We’re like, ‘Oh my God, this is too

tough to narrow down,’ and we ﬁgured we

could err on the side of going beyond 75

titles,” he says.

The anniversary has several other compo-

nents. Atlantic has partnered with high-end

audiophile label Acoustic Sounds to release

75 classic titles in 180-gram, 45RPM black

vinyl and SACD versions. That oering in-

cludes such Genesis albums asSelling Eng-

land by the PoundandThe Lamb Lies Down

on Broadway, Coltrane’sGiant StepsandMy

Favorite Things, Otis Redding’sThe Dock of

the Bay and Bualo Springﬁeld’s self-titled

set.

Another tie-in is with vinyl subscription

service Vinyl Me Please (VMP), through

which Atlantic will oer several titles

through VMP’s record of the month pro-

gram. Five titles will be available to VMP

members as November selections, includ-

ing Charles’Ray Charles in Person, Lupe

Fiasco’sFood & Liquor and Stone Temple

Pilots’No. 4. Kallman says the deal could

extend beyond the initial ﬁve titles depend-

ing upon the response.

Another component is a collection of

remixes, available exclusively for streaming

via DSPs. Among the selections are DJ Nora

En Pure’s fresh take on Donna Lewis’ “I

Love You Always Forever,” DJ Spinna’s re-

make of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly”

and Italian DJ Luca Olivotto’s version of

Yes’ “Owner of a Lonely Heart.”

The anniversary also includes a coee

table book from luxury art book publisher

Taschen, which is expected to come out in

2024. “That’s been a labor of love,” Kall-

man says. “We’re excited to have a ﬁtting

chronicle of the history of the company with

extraordinary photos and great essays.”

Oscar-Winning

Composer

Stephen Schwartz

Signs Publishing

Admin Deal With

UMPG

BYMELINDA NEWMAN

niversal Music Publishing Group

(UMPG) has signed Academy

Award and Grammy-winning

composer Stephen Schwartz to

an exclusive global administration agree-

ment.

Schwartz has also received six Tony

nominations for composing the music for

such shows asGodspell, PippinandWicked,

which is being turned into a two-part Uni-

versal Pictures ﬁlm starring Ariana Grande

and Cynthia Erivo.

Schwartz has won three Oscars: best

score and best song (“Colors of the Wind”)

forPocahontasand best song for “When You

Believe” fromThe Prince of Egypt.The 2009

Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee has also

won four Grammys for his work onGodspell,

PocahontasandWicked.

UMPG president of North America Evan

Lamberg said in a statement, “Stephen

Schwartz is one of the greatest generational

hit songwriters of all time. FromWick-

edtoThe Magic Show,to all his wonderful

songs for animated features and so much

more, it’s a true honor for Jody Gerson and

myself to welcome Stephen to our UMPG

family as his global music publisher.”

Schwartz, who was previously with War-

ner Chappell, added, “I am very much look-

ing forward to working with Evan Lamberg

and his superb team at UMPG.I value the

great expertise and imagination they bring,

Page 14 of 29

IN BRIEF

and I have already experienced their high

level of support and encouragement. I know

we’ll enjoy this adventure together.”

Other credits for Schwartz include com-

posing the operaSéance on a Wet After-

noon, which was performed at Opera Santa

Barbara and NY City Opera.He collaborated

with fellow UMPG composer Leonard

Bernstein on the English texts for Bern-

stein’sMass and has also composed several

frequently performed choral pieces.

Stability AI

Launches Its First

Music Generator

‘Stable Audio’

BYKRISTIN ROBINSON

tability AI, one of the world’s most

prominent generative AI compa-

nies, has joined the likes of Google,

Meta and Open AI in creating a

model that generates clips of music and

sound. Called “Stable Audio,” the new text-

to-music generator was trained on sounds

from the music library Audio Sparx.

Stability touts its new product as the

ﬁrst music generation product that creates

high-quality, 44.1 kHz music for commercial

use though a process called “latent diu-

sion” — a process that was ﬁrst introduced

for images through Stable Diusion, the

company’s marquee product. Stable Audio

uses sound conditioned on text metadata as

well as audio ﬁle duration and start time to

allow for greater control over the content of

the generated audio.

By typing prompts like “post-rock, guitars,

drum kit, bass, strings, euphoric, up-lifting,

moody, ﬂowing, raw, epic, sentimental, 125

BPM,” users can create up-to 20 seconds

of sound through its free tier, or up-to 90

seconds of sound via its pro subscription.

In its announcement, the company touts

Stable Audio as a tool for musicians “seeking

to create samples to use in their own music.”

The music generated could also be used to

soundtrack advertisements and creator con-

tent, among other commercial applications.

“As the only independent, open and

multimodal generative AI company, we are

thrilled to use our expertise to develop a

product in support of music creators,” says

Emad Mostaque, CEO of Stability AI. “Our

hope is that Stable Audio will empower

music enthusiasts and creative professionals

to generate new content with the help of AI,

and we look forward to the endless innova-

tions it will inspire.”

This is not the AI giant’s ﬁrst foray into

audio and music AI. The company already

has an open-source generative audio label,

HarmonAI, which is designed to create

accessible and playful music production

tools “by musicians for musicians.” Parts of

the HarmonAI team, including Ed New-

ton Rex, its vp of product, took part in the

designing of Stable Audio.

Oliver Anthony’s

Knoxville Show

Canceled After

Disagreement

Over Ticket Prices

BYRANIA ANIFTOS

liver Anthony is standing ﬁrm

on aordable ticket prices.

The singer had a disagree-

ment with a Knoxville, Tenn.,

music bar called Cotton Eyed Joe, where he

was scheduled to perform later this month,

leading to the show getting canceled and the

the venue expressing some choice words on

social media.

Ticket prices were listed at $99, and

a meet and greet cost $199, which upset

Anthony, who recorded a video posted to In-

stagram to deter fans from paying that price.

“I had to pull o on the side of the road and

make this video. My adrenaline’s pumping,

man,”he says in the clip. He continued in

the caption, “Don’t buy $90 Cotton Eyed Joe

tickets or $200 for a meet and greet. That’s

not acceptable. Just saw the Facebook post

and lost my s—-. Miscommunication with

my friend booking shows and I. My shows

should never cost more than $40, ideally no

more than $25. Hell, out of the 4 shows we

have currently done, 2 of them have been

completely free. This will get straightened

out tonight. Hold o on buying tickets for

now.”

However, Cotton Eyed Joe took to Face-

book to explain that Anthony had agreed

to play a 60-minute set at the Knoxville bar

for $120,000, which would allow the bar

to “break even and bring our customers a

show we thought would be fun.” The bar

then added a bit of shade by referencing

Anthony’s Hot 100 chart topper, concluding

their message: “To our talent agency and

promotor friends that follow us... be careful

booking the North Man of Richmond.”

See the post here.

“I am not pointing ﬁngers at Cotton Eyed

Joe, I don’t know where the miscommunica-

tion took place. I’m just upset seeing those

prices,” Anthonyresponded on Facebook,

adding that he’ll be more involved in up-

coming bookings.

The 31-year-old’s breakout viral hit

“Rich Men North of Richmond” unexpect-

edly debuted at No. 1 on theBillboard

Hot 100songs chart. Among other chart

achievements for the singer-songwriter,

he’s the ﬁrst artist ever to launch atop the

list with no prior chart history in any form.

His success story began when a now-viral

video of Anthony, posted byradiowv, began

circulating around the Internet, showing

the singer oering an acoustic performance

of “Rich Men North of Richmond,” vocal-

izing the pain and angst of the working class

at the hands of greedy rich men. The song

takes on high taxes, abuse of welfare and

selﬁsh politicians.

Page 15 of 29

IN BRIEF

Page 16 of 29

Ivan Cornejo

Signs Global Deal

With Universal

Music Publishing

Group

BYGRISELDA FLORES

exican music singer-songwrit-

er Ivan Cornejohas signed

an exclusive global publishing

agreement with Universal Mu-

sic Publishing Group (UMPG), the company

announced Wednesday (Sept. 13). The deal

with UMPG comes just weeks after Cornejo

joined Interscope Records’ roster — he had

been signed to indie label Manzana Records

since 2021.

“I’m incredibly grateful about my sign-

ing with Universal Music Publishing,”

the 19-year-old artist said in a statement.

“I’m working alongside some of the most

talented musicians and artists. There’s an

incredibly powerful team of strong women

and men making changes in the entertain-

ment business and I’m glad to be partnered

with this team.”

Born in Riverside, Calif., Cornejo broke

out two years ago with his sad sierreño

hit “Está Dañada,” which led him to top

Billboard’s Latin Songwriters chart dated

Oct. 30, 2021. The track — which also has

a remix featuring Jhayco — became only

the second regional Mexican song to enter

theHot 100tally. Last year, Cornejo scored

his ﬁrst No. 1 on theRegional Mexican Al-

bumswith his sophomore album,Dañado,

and he won new artist of the year the 2022

Billboard Latin Music Awards.

“It’s a joy and privilege to work with

singer-songwriters like Ivan who have the

ability to convey deep and complex emo-

tions through their music that inspires and

connects with so many people. The UMPG

team is happy to welcome Ivan to our fam-

ily,” added Ana Rosa Santiago, UMPG’s

senior vice president of Latin music.

Cornejo — currently on his sold-out U.S.

Terapia Tour — joins UMPG’s roster that in-

cludes other regional Mexican powerhouses

such as Grupo Firme, Jenni Rivera’s

estate, Juan Gabriel, Espinosa Paz, Horacio

Palencia and Yahritza Y Su Esencia.

Alesso Signs With

CAA

BYKATIE BAIN

AA has signed Alesso, the agency

tells Billboard.

Alesso will continue to be

represented by Panos Ayasso-

telisand Leon Bjerkelund at Connected

Artists in Europe, the U.K., Africa and the

Middle East, with CAA now repping him in

all other territories.

The Swedish producer has been a mar-

quee name in the global dance/electronic

scene since breaking out amidst the EDM

boom of the early 2010s. He continues to be

managed by Moe Shalizi and Adam Chaves

at The Shalizi Group. In 2020, the producer

signed a global publishing deal with War-

ner Chapell Music.

The Alesso catalog has produced three

Billboard Hot 100 hits — most recently the

Katy Perry collaboration “When I’m Gone,”

which peaked at No. 90 in March 2022. Ten

of his tracks have hit the top 10 on Bill-

board’s Dance Mix Show/Airplay chart, with

his 2014 Tove Lo collaboration “Heroes”

spending four weeks at No. 1 on the tally.

Other collaborators include OneRepublic’s

Ryan Tedder, Calvin Harris, Liam Payne,

James Bay, Marshmello, Swedish House

Maﬁa, Hailee Steinfeld, Florida Georgia

Line and Anitta.

Aleso’s catalog has generated 772.9

million on-demand streams in the United

States, according to Luminate.

In June, Alesso played the UEFA Cham-

pions League Final Kicko Show along

with Anitta and Burna Boy. His latest release

is the Dillon Francis collab, “Free.”

A longtime Las Vegas regular, this year

Alesso has held down a residency at Hak-

kasan. His 2023 tour schedule has included

dates at Ultra Music Festival as well as

Ultra’s two festivals in Africa, along with

Bonnaroo, Serbia’s EXIT Festival, Tomor-

rowland and Untold. The remainder of his

2023 tour schedule includes EDC China and

EDC Orlando.

Here Are the

2023 MTV VMAs

Winners: Full List

BYKATIE ATKINSON

aylor Swift entered the 2023

MTV Video Music Awards as the

top nominee and she leaves as the

show’s big winner, taking home

nine awards, including the top prize: video

of the year.

Who else took home some new VMAs?

Find all the winners below.

Video of the year

Doja Cat – “Attention” – Kemosabe Re-

cords / RCA Records

Miley Cyrus – “Flowers” – Columbia

Records

Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl” – Re-

public Records

Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire” – Geen

Records

Sam Smith, Kim Petras – “Unholy” –

Capitol Records

SZA – “Kill Bill” – Top Dawg Entertain-

ment / RCA Records

WINNER: Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” –

Republic Records

Artist of the year

Beyoncé – Parkwood Entertainment /

Columbia Records

Doja Cat – Kemosabe Records / RCA

Records

Karol G – Interscope Records

Nicki Minaj – Republic Records

Shakira – Sony Music US Latin

WINNER: Taylor Swift – Republic

Records

Song of the year

Miley Cyrus – “Flowers” – Columbia

Records

Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire” – Geen

Records

IN BRIEF

Page 17 of 29

Rema & Selena Gomez – “Calm Down” –

Mavin Global Holdings Ltd / Jonzing World

Entertainment / SMG Music / Interscope

Records

Sam Smith, Kim Petras – “Unholy” –

Capitol Records

Steve Lacy – “Bad Habit” – L-M Records /

RCA Records

SZA – “Kill Bill” – Top Dawg Entertain-

ment / RCA Records Records

WINNER: Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” –

Republic Records

Best new artist

GloRilla - CMG / Interscope Records

WINNER: Ice Spice - 10K Projects /

Capitol Records

Kaliii - Atlantic Records

Peso Pluma - Double P Records

PinkPantheress - 300 Entertainment

Reneé Rapp - Interscope Records

Best collaboration

David Guetta & Bebe Rexha – “I’m Good

(Blue)” – Warner Records

Post Malone, Doja Cat – “I Like You

(aHappier Song)” – Mercury Records /

Republic Records

Diddy ft. Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, Yung Mi-

ami – “Gotta Move On” – Motown Records

WINNER: Karol G, Shakira – “TQG” –

Universal Music Latino

Metro Boomin with The Weeknd, 21

Savage, and Diddy – “Creepin’ (Remix)” –

Boominati / Republic Records

Rema & Selena Gomez – “Calm Down” –

Mavin Global Holdings Ltd / Jonzing World

Entertainment / SMG Music / Interscope

Records

Best pop

Demi Lovato – “Swine” – Island Records

Dua Lipa – “Dance the Night (From Bar-

bie the Album)” – Atlantic Records

Ed Sheeran – “Eyes Closed” – Atlantic

Records

Miley Cyrus – “Flowers” – Columbia

Records

Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire” – Geen

Records

P!nk – “Trustfall” – RCA Records

WINNER: Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” –

Republic Records

Best hip-hop

Diddy ft. Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, Yung Mi-

ami – “Gotta Move On” – Motown Records

DJ Khaled ft. Drake & Lil Baby – “Staying

Alive” – We the Best / Epic Records

GloRilla & Cardi B – “Tomorrow 2” –

CMG / Interscope Records

Lil Uzi Vert – “Just Wanna Rock” – Atlan-

tic Records / Generation Now

Lil Wayne ft. Swizz Beatz & DMX – “Kant

Nobody” – Young Money Records

Metro Boomin ft Future – “Superhero

(Heroes and Villains)” – Boominati / Repub-

lic Records

WINNER: Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky

Girl” – Republic Records

Best R&B

Alicia Keys ft. Lucky Daye – “Stay” – RCA

Records

Chlöe ft. Chris Brown – “How Does It

Feel” – Parkwood Entertainment / Colum-

bia

Metro Boomin with The Weeknd, 21

Savage, and Diddy – “Creepin’ (Remix)” –

Boominati / Republic Records

WINNER: SZA – “Shirt” – Top Dawg

Entertainment / RCA Records

Toosii – “Favorite Song” – South Coast

Music Group / Capitol Records

Yung Bleu & Nicki Minaj – “Love in the

Way” – Empire Distribution

Best alternative

blink-182 – “Edging” – Columbia Records

boygenius – “the ﬁlm” – Interscope

Records

Fall Out Boy – “Hold Me Like a Grudge” –

Fueled By Ramen

WINNER: Lana Del Rey ft. Jon Batiste

– “Candy Necklace” – Interscope Records

Paramore – “This Is Why” – Atlantic

Records

Thirty Seconds to Mars – “Stuck” – Con-

cord Records

Best rock

Foo Fighters – “The Teacher” – RCA

Records

Linkin Park – “Lost (Original Version)” –

Warner Records

Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Tippa My

Tongue” – Warner Records

WINNER: Måneskin – “The Loneliest”

– Arista Records

Metallica – “Lux Æterna” – Blackened

Recordings

Muse – “You Make Me Feel Like It’s Hal-

loween” – Warner Records

Best Latin

WINNER: Anitta – “Funk Rave” – Re-

public Records

Bad Bunny – “Where She Goes” – Rimas

Entertainment

Eslabon Armado, Peso Pluma – “Ella Baila

Sola” – DEL Records, Inc. / Prajin Par-

lay, Inc. Grupo Frontera Bad Bunny – “un

x100to” – Rimas Entertainment

Karol G, Shakira – “TQG” – Universal

Music Latino

Rosalia – “Despecha,” – Columbia Re-

cords

Shakira – “Acróstico” – Sony Music US

Latin

Best K-pop

aespa – “Girls” – SM ENTERTAINMENT

Co., Ltd.

BLACKPINK – “Pink Venom” – YG En-

tertainment / Interscope Records

Fifty Fifty – “Cupid” – ATTRAKT / War-

ner Records

Seventeen – “Super” – HYBE / Geen

Records

WINNER: Stray Kids – “S-Class” – JYP

/ Republic

TOMORROW X TOGETHER – “Sugar

Rush Ride” – BIGHIT MUSIC / Republic

Records

Best Afrobeats

Ayra Starr – “Rush” – Mavin Global Hold-

ings

Burna Boy – “It’s Plenty” – Atlantic Re-

cords / Spaceship Entertainment Ltd

Davido ft. Musa Keys – “Unavailable” –

Sony Music U.K. / RCA Records

Fireboy DML & Asake – ”Bandana” – Em-

pire Distribution

Libianca – “People” – Sony Music U.K. /

RCA Records

WINNER: Rema & Selena Gomez –

“Calm Down” – Mavin Global Holdings

Ltd / Jonzing World Entertainment /

SMG Music / Interscope Records

Wizkid ft Ayra Starr– “2 Sugar” – Starboy

/ RCA Records

Video for good

Alicia Keys – “If I Ain’t Got You (Orches-

tral)” – Netﬂix

Bad Bunny – “El Apagón - Aquí Vive

Gente” – Rimas Entertainment

Demi Lovato – “Swine” – Island Records

WINNER: Dove Cameron – “Break-

IN BRIEF

Page 18 of 29

fast” – Columbia Records

Imagine Dragons – “Crushed” – KIDina-

KORNER / Interscope Records

Maluma – “La Reina” – Sony Music US

Latin

Push performance of the year

August 2022: Saucy Santana – “Booty” –

Arena Records / RCA Records

September 2022: Stephen Sanchez –

“Until I Found You” – Mercury Records /

Republic Records

October 2022: JVKE – “golden hour” –

AWAL

November 2022: Flo Milli – “Conceited” –

‘94 Sounds / RCA Records

December 2022: Reneé Rapp – “Colo-

rado” – Interscope Records

January 2023: Sam Ryder – “All the Way

Over” – Elektra Entertainment

February 2023: Armani White – “Goated”

– Def Jam

March 2023: Fletcher – “Becky’s So Hot”

– Capitol Records

WINNER: April 2023: TOMORROW X

TOGETHER – “Sugar Rush Ride” – BIG-

HIT MUSIC / Republic Records

May 2023: Ice Spice – “Princess Diana” –

Heavy on It / 10K Projects / Capitol Records

June 2023: FLO – “Losing You” – Up-

town/Republic Records

July 2023: Lauren Spencer Smith – “That

Part” – Island Records

Best direction

Doja Cat - “Attention” - Kemosabe Re-

cords / RCA Records - Directed by Tanu

Muiño

Drake – “Falling Back” – OVO/Republic

Records - Director X (Julien Christian Lutz)

Kendrick Lamar – “Count Me Out”

– pgLang / Top Dawg Entertainment /

Aftermath / Interscope Records - Directed

by Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar

Megan Thee Stallion – “Her” – 300 Enter-

tainment - Directed by Colin Tilley

Sam Smith, Kim Petras – “Unholy” – Cap-

itol Records - Directed by Floria Sigismondi

SZA – “Kill Bill” – Top Dawg Entertain-

ment / RCA Records - Directed by Christian

Breslauer

WINNER: Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”

– Republic Records - Directed by Taylor

Swift

Best cinematography

Adele – “I Drink Wine” – Columbia Re-

cords - Cinematography by Adam Newport-

Berra

Ed Sheeran – “Eyes Closed” – Atlantic

Records - Cinematography by Natasha Baier

Janelle Monae – “Lipstick Lover” – At-

lantic Records - Cinematography by Allison

Anderson

Kendrick Lamar – “Count Me Out”

– pgLang / Top Dawg Entertainment /

Aftermath / Interscope Records 0 Cinema-

tography by Adam Newport-Berra

Miley Cyrus – “Flowers” – Columbia Re-

cords - Cinematography by Marcell Rev

Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire” – Geen Re-

cords - Cinematography by Russ Fraser

WINNER: Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”

– Republic Records - Cinematography by

Rina Yang

Best visual eects

Fall Out Boy – “Love From the Other

Side” – Fueled By Ramen - Visual Eects by

Thomas Bailey and Josh Shaner

Harry Styles – “Music for a Sushi Restau-

rant” – Columbia Records - Visual Eects by

Chelsea Delﬁno and Black Kite Studios

Melanie Martinez – “VOID” – Atlantic

Records - Visual Eects by Carbon

Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl” – Re-

public Records - Visual Eects by Max Colt

and Sergio Mashevskyi

Sam Smith, Kim Petras – “Unholy” –

Capitol Records - Visual Eects by Max Colt

/ FRENDER

WINNER: Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”

– Republic Records - Visual Eects by

Parliament

Best choreography

WINNER: BLACKPINK – “Pink

Venom” – YG Entertainment / Interscope

Records - Choreography by Kiel Tutin,

Sienna Lalau, Lee Jung (YGX), Taryn

Cheng (YGX)

Dua Lipa – “Dance the Night (From Bar-

bie the Album)” – Atlantic Records - Chore-

ography by Charm LaDonna

Jonas Brothers – “Wae House” – Re-

public Records - Choreography by Jerry

Reece

Megan Thee Stallion – “Her” – 300 Enter-

tainment - Choreography by Sean Bankhead

Panic! At The Disco – “Middle of a Break-

up” – Fueled By Ramen - Choreography by

Monika Felice Smith

Sam Smith, Kim Petras – “Unholy” –

Capitol Records - Choreography by (LA)

HORDE - Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrou-

wer, Arthur Harel

Best art direction

boygenius – “the ﬁlm” – Interscope Re-

cords - Art Direction by Jen Dunlap

BLACKPINK – “Pink Venom” – YG

Entertainment / Interscope Records - Art

Direction by Seo Hyun Seung (GIGANT)

WINNER: Doja Cat – “Attention” –

Kemosabe Records / RCA Records - Art

Direction by Spencer Graves

Lana Del Rey ft. Jon Batiste – “Candy

Necklace” – Interscope Records - Art Direc-

tion by Brandon Mendez

Megan Thee Stallion – “Her” – 300 Enter-

tainment - Art Direction by Niko Philipides

SZA – “Shirt” – Top Dawg Entertain-

ment / RCA Records - Art Direction by Kate

Bunch

Best editing

BLACKPINK – “Pink Venom” – YG En-

tertainment / Interscope Records - Editing

by Seo Hyun Seung (GIGANT)

Kendrick Lamar – “Rich Spirit” – pgLang

/ Top Dawg Entertainment / Aftermath

/ Interscope Records - Edited by Grason

Caldwell

Miley Cyrus – “River” – Columbia Re-

cords - Edited by Brandan Walter

WINNER: Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire”

– Geen Records - Edited by Soﬁa Kerpan

and David Checel

SZA – “Kill Bill” – Top Dawg Entertain-

ment / RCA Records - Edited by Luis Caraza

Peimbert

Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” – Republic

Records - Edited by Chancler Haynes

Beyoncé – Parkwood Entertainment /

Columbia Records

BLACKPINK – YG Entertainment / Inter-

scope Records

Show of the Summer

Drake – OVO / Republic Records

Ed Sheeran – Atlantic Records

Karol G – Interscope Records

WINNER: Taylor Swift – Republic

Records

Group of the Year

WINNER: BLACKPINK – YG Enter-

tainment / Interscope Records

IN BRIEF

Page 19 of 29

FIFTY FIFTY – ATTRAKT / Warner

Records

FLO – Uptown Records/Republic Records

Jonas Brothers – Republic Records

Måneskin – Arista Records

NewJeans – ADOR/Geen Records

SEVENTEEN – HYBE / Geen Records

TOMORROW x TOGETHER – BIGHIT

MUSIC / Republic Records

Song of the Summer

Beyoncé – “Cu It” – Parkwood Enter-

tainment / Columbia Records

Billie Eilish – “What Was I Made For?

(From The Motion Picture ‘Barbie’)” –

Darkroom / Interscope Records

Doja Cat – “Paint the Town Red” – Ke-

mosabe Records / RCA Records

Doechii ft. Kodak Black – “What It Is

(Block Boy)” – Top Dawg Entertainment /

Capitol Records

Dua Lipa – “Dance the Night (From the

Barbie Album)” – Atlantic Records / Warner

Records

FIFTY FIFTY – “Cupid” – ATTRAKT /

Warner Records

Gunna – “fukumean” – Young Stoner Life

Records / 300 Entertainment

WINNER: Jung Kook ft. Latto – “Sev-

en” – BIGHIT MUSIC / Geen Records

Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice– “Barbie World

(with Aqua) [From Barbie The Album]” –

10k Projects / Capitol Records / Dolo Enter-

tainment / Atlantic Records

Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire” – Geen

Records

SZA – “Kill Bill” – Top Dawg Entertain-

ment / RCA Records

Taylor Swift ft. Ice Spice – “Karma” –

Republic Records

TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Jonas

Brothers – “Do It Like That” – BIGHIT

MUSIC / IMPERIAL / Republic Records

Luke Combs – “Fast Car” – Columbia

Nashville

Troye Sivan – “Rush” – Capitol Records

Yng Lvcas & Peso Pluma – “La Bebe (Re-

mix)” – Warner Music Latina

Album of the Year

Beyoncé – Renaissance – Parkwood Enter-

tainment / Columbia Records

Drake & 21 Savage – Her Loss – OVO /

Republic Records

Metro Boomin – Heroes & Villains –

Boominati / Republic Records

Miley Cyrus – Endless Summer Vacation –

Columbia Records

SZA – SOS – Top Dawg Entertainment /

RCA Records

WINNER: Taylor Swift – Midnights –

Republic Records

The 2023

MTV VMAs: A

Delightful Two-

Hour Award Show

That Couldn’t

Resist Going

Twice That Long

BY ANDREW UNTERBERGER

round 9:30 ET on Tuesday night

(Sept. 12), you might have been

ready to declare that the Video

Music Awards were back. The

awards thus far had been elevated by show-

stopping performances from Olivia Rodrigo

(cleverly pivoting from a dramatic “Vam-

pire” to a captivatingly choreographed and

thrillingly energetic “Get Him Back!”) and

Doja Cat (executing at the highest level on a

three-song run through her upcoming Scar-

let era). Further star power was provided

by winners Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez,

performers Cardi B and Megan Thee Stal-

lion and nominal “emcee” Nicki Minaj. By

the time Shakira blazed her way through

her typically ass-kicking Video Vanguard

resumé performance, the show was feeling

fuller and more satisfying than any other

VMAs so far this decade.

Unfortunately, there were still two hours

to go. Maybe more like two and a half.

Complaining about award show length

in 2023 is, of course, about as scintillat-

ing as griping about there being too many

previews before a movie, or too many TV

timeouts during a football game — at this

point, you should probably just accept it

as part of the bargain going in or not even

bother in the ﬁrst place. Still, there’s a dier-

ence between an award show going a little

bit over its scheduled 11:00 ET end-time and

damn near crossing the border to midnight.

Three hours would’ve certainly already

been more than enough of these VMAs, but

getting up to the precipice of hour four was

Pearl Harbor Director’s Cut territory.

It also doesn’t help that the VMAs have

clearly begun subscribing to the increasingly

common data-dump approach to award

shows, pacing their action like a streaming

act’s new album: front-loaded with hits and

fairly merciless on the back end. The big-

gest-name performers — at least domestical-

ly — were mostly out of the way in the ﬁrst

couple hours, leaving a hodgepodge of VMA

ﬁrst-timers and unexciting return guests to

ﬁll out the many remaining minutes.

That’s not to fault MTV for schedul-

ing game late-evening performances from

K-pop sensations Stray Kids and Tomor-

row X Together — they were ﬁne, and it

was still late morning in Korea at that time,

anyway. But Fall Out Boy, rocking through a

sweaty and uncomfortable-looking outdoor-

stage performance of their absurd “We

Didn’t Start the Fire” redo? A Måneskin

performance for the second straight year

— without so much as a wardrobe malfunc-

tion this time? This is what we’re pushing

into Seinfeld-rerun hours for? By the time

the show got to veteran country hitmaker

Kelsea Ballerini’s hard-earned VMAs debut,

her legitimately arresting “Penthouse” was

totally undercut by coming over three and a

half hours in, its penultimate performance

slot doing the intimate ballad zero favors.

And it was doubly unfortunate, in this

year of 50th anniversary hip-hop celebra-

tions, to ﬁnd the show ﬂoundering a little

when it came to representing rap from

either a contemporary or legacy standpoint.

Doja’s performance was a home run, and

Cardi and Megan are always reliable, but the

Metro Boomin-led performance of “Super-

hero (Heroes and Villains)” and “Calling”

could not have been much lower-energy,

with guests like Nav and A Boogie wit da

Hoodie seemingly competing for who could

be drowned out by their backing track the

most. Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne are both

IN BRIEF

Page 20 of 29

all-time legends, but we didn’t need them

both on solo performances of relatively un-

convincing new tracks (Minaj’s “Last Time

I Saw You” is actually a bit of a grower, but

this wasn’t the stage for it) and as part of the

obligatory show-closing medley. Meanwhile,

still-rising MCs Ice Spice and GloRilla pre-

sented but didn’t perform; the show really

could’ve used a little of their zip — or more

than 30 seconds at a time of Extended Stage

performer Kaliii.

And speaking of that show-closing med-

ley: It wasn’t quite the disaster of Madon-

na’s Aretha Franklin tribute in 2018, but

it was yet another ﬁne example of how the

next time MTV has internal “we have to do

something for it, right?” discussions about

a timely topic for the VMAs to cover, some

intern really needs to pipe up, “Well.... do

we, really?” Hip-hop’s 50th anniversary has

been exhaustively covered by this point in

2023, and there was no way the VMAs were

going to be able to compete with either the

Questlove-curated history lesson at the

Grammys in February, or the cavalcade of

decades-spanning performers popping up

throughout the BET Awards in June. So

what could the VMAs even do?

If you guessed, “Basically use it as an

excuse to have one of Run-D.M.C. perform

‘Walk This Way’ at the VMAs for the 25th

time,” you would of course be absolutely

correct. The closing hip-hop tribute was

poorly organized, unhelpfully introduced —

here’s hoping all the kids watching at home

are already well-schooled in their Doug

E. Fresh and Slick Rick, because no IDs

were given — and ultimately purposeless,

featuring six disjointed performers (two of

whom had already been heard from) giving

no remotely coherent representation of

hip-hop history. With MTV already locking

themselves into two extended medleys ev-

ery year now via their Video Vanguard and

Global Icon awards (the latter went to Diddy

for 2023), they should maybe start rejecting

any further pitches that involve squeezing

a half-dozen songs and/or artists into the

same ﬂailing performance. We promise, no

one will miss them — or be upset at MTV

for not trying to elbow its way into a cultural

moment nobody really needs its take on.

The reason all of this is even worth moan-

ing about in the ﬁrst place is because for the

ﬁrst half, these awards did seem like they

were going to be MTV’s best in some years.

Getting Olivia Rodrigo and Doja Cat — two

legitimate pop A-listers, within a week of

the former releasing a new album and the

latter hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot

100 — was a huge win for the show, and

both artists met the moment with the kind

of thoughtful, artful and unforgettable per-

formances that illustrated why the VMAs’

stage is still a meaningful one. Peso Pluma

and Karol G are undeniably two of the most

exciting artists in popular music in 2023;

featuring both of them for their ﬁrst big

English-language award show looks further

demonstrated how the VMAs have actually

been a little ahead of the game in recent

years when it comes to going international.

And of course, even without her performing,

nothing makes an event feel like The Place

to Be in 2023 like the attendance of Taylor

Swift — especially when she’s reduced to

a babbling pre-teen in the presence of a

reunited *NSYNC, presenting her the best

pop award, in the kind of indelible cross-

generational moment of pop connection that

was once commonplace at the VMAs.

By the fourth award she picked up for the

evening, though — best video (for “Anti-

Hero”), making her a winner in the VMAs’

premier category for the second year in a

row and fourth time total — it even got to be

a little too much Taylor, as it started feeling

less like an artist in their peak moment of

dominance and more like a channel in its

peak moment of desperation. Indeed, as

Swift ascends to a pop echelon only a hand-

ful of other artists in the VMAs’ now-40-

year history have ever visited, her invest-

ment in the show as an institution worthy

of her time and attention is perhaps the

greatest reason the VMAs still has whatever

cultural credibility it does. But when the

show lasts a half-hour longer than an Eras

Tour date and burns through all its biggest

crowd-pleasers early in the setlist, the Swift-

ies — like all other pop fans watching — are

gonna end up wanting to skip the encore to

beat the trac. 

Snubs & Surprises

at the 2023 MTV

VMAs

BYPAUL GREIN

ome of the awards at the 2023

MTV Video Music Awards, which

were presented on Tuesday (Sept.

12) at Prudential Center in New-

ark. N.J., were entirely predictable.Taylor

Swift’s sweep, including video of the year,

song of the year, album of the year and artist

of the year, was hardly a surprise, given the

year she has had.

“Anti-Hero” logged eight weeks at No.

1 on the Hot 100, setting a new personal

best for Swift;Midnights(a 2022 release)

andSpeak Now (Taylor’s Version)became

her 11th and 12th No. 1 albums on the Bill-

board 200; and herThe Erasstadium tour

was a triumph.

Swift even beat the mightyBeyoncéin

three categories – artist of the year, album of

the year and show of the summer. Beyoncé

remains the artist with the most career

VMAs (30, countingDestiny’s Childand

The Carters). With her nine awards this

year, Swift zoomed into second place on

the all-time winners list, with 23. Beyoncé

added no wins to her tally this year.

Swift wasn’t the only artist whose VMA

wins were predictable. Who could be

surprised thatNicki Minaj, who served as

emcee for the show, won in best hip-hop

for her No. 1 Hot 100 smash “Super Freaky

Girl”? She had won four times previously in

the category – more than anyone else.

SZA’s win for best R&B for “Shirt” was

also expected, given the fact that herSOSal-

bum topped the Billboard 200 for 10 weeks

in late 2022 and early 2023.Rema&Selena

Gomez’s win in the new best Afrobeats

category for “Calm Down” was also a lock.

The song climbed as high as No. 3 on the

Hot 100.

But the show also included a few genuine

snubs and surprises. Take a look.

Snub: Miley Cyrus

Cyrus received six nominations, a total

IN BRIEF

Page 21 of 29

topped only by Swift and SZA, but was shut

out. Nine years ago, Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball”

won video of the year. Two other artists who

went into the ceremony with six nomina-

tions each received just one technical award.

Doja Cat won for best art direction; Olivia

Rodrigo won for best editing. (At the VMAs,

artists win in technical categories even if

they weren’t the craftspeople responsible

for the work.)

Surprise: Måneskin

The Italian band won best rock for “The

Loneliest,” defeating four superstar rock

bands – Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, Red

Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica. The Foos

and the Peppers each won the Global Icon

Award in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Snub: Sam Smith and Kim Petras

The pair’s No. 1 Hot 100 hit “Unholy” was

nominated in ﬁve categories, but lost them

all. It lost in four categories to Swift’s “Anti-

Hero” and in one category to Blackpink’s

“Pink Venom.” The song was such a history-

maker – the ﬁrst song by a non-binary artist

(Smith) and a trans artist (Petras) to top the

Hot 100 – that it seemed likely that it would

win something, but Swift at her pinnacle is

hard to get past.

Surprise: Global pop

A record 10 VMAs went to acts from out-

side the U.S. – ﬁve to acts from South Korea

alone. Blackpink won group of the year

and best choreography for “Pink Venom”;

Jungkook won song of summer for “Seven”

(featuring Latto); Tomorrow x Together

won Push performance of the year for

“Sugar Rush Ride”; and Stray Kids won best

K-pop for “S-Class.”

Two awards went to acts from Colombia

– Shakira took the Video Vanguard Award

and best collaboration for “TQG,” a pair-

ing with fellow Colombian superstar Karol

G. One award each went to acts from Italy

(Måneskin, best rock for “The Loneliest”),

Brazil (Anitta, best Latin for “Funk Rave”)

and Nigeria (Rema, best Afrobeats for “Calm

Down,” with Selena Gomez).

Snub: Bad Bunny

The VMAs have presented best Latin

every year since 2018. So how many times

would you guess Bad Bunny has won?

Would you believe, none? Bunny has

amassed seven nominations in the last ﬁve

years in that category and he has lost every

time. (The fact that he has competed with

himself twice may have hurt his chances

of winning those years.) His nominations

were for: “Mia” (featuring Drake, 2019);

“Yo Perreo Sola” (2020); “Dakiti” (collab

withJhay Cortez, 2021); “Un Día (One

Day)” (collab with J Balvin, Dua Lipa and

Tainy, 2021); “Tití Me Preguntó” (2022);

“Where She Goes” (2023) and “Un x100to”

(collab with Grupo Frontera, 2023).

Surprise: Karol G and Shakira

“TQG” by Karol G and Shakira won in

the all-genre best collaboration category. It

beat such high-powered hits as “I’m Good

(Blue)” by David Guetta & Bebe Rexha and

“Calm Down” by Rema & Selena Gomez.

Oddly, Smith and Petras were not nomi-

nated in this category for their smash collab

“Unholy” – even though “Unholy” was the

only collaboration nominated for video of

the year. That may have helped Karol G and

Shakira land a win here.

Taylor Swift, Nicki

Minaj & More

Record-Setters at

2023 MTV VMAs

BYPAUL GREIN

aylor Swift won nine awards

at the 2023 MTV Video Music

Awards, which were held at Pru-

dential Center in Newark, N.J. on

Tuesday (Sept. 12). That’s just one award o

the single-night record. Peter Gabriel won

10 awards in 1987.

This brings Swift’s career VMAs tally to

23, second only to Beyoncé on the all-time

VMAs leaderboard. Beyoncé has won 30

VMAs, counting two with Destiny’s Child

and two as half of The Carters.

Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” which topped the

Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks, a new

personal-best for the superstar, won video

of the year. This was her fourth win in the

category, extending her record for the most

wins in the category. She previously won for

“Bad Blood” (with Kendrick Lamar, 2015),

“You Need to Calm Down” (2019) and “All

Too Well: The Short Film” (2022).

In addition to extending her record for

most wins – no one else has won more than

two – Swift is the ﬁrst artist in VMA history

to win back-to-back awards in this category.

Swift also extended her record as the

artist with the most video of the year wins

for videos that she directed or co-directed.

She co-directed “You Need to Calm Down”

with Drew Kirsch and was the sole director

of both “All Too Well: The Short Film” and

“Anti-Hero.”

Swift also won in a separate category –

best direction – for “Anti-Hero.” It’s her

third win in that category in the past four

years, following wins for “The Man” (2019)

and “All Too Well: The Short Film” (2022).

Swift is the third director to win three times

in this category, following David Fincher

and Spike Jonze. Swift and Fincher are the

only directors to win back-to-back awards in

this category. Fincher’s back-to-back awards

were for directing Madonna’s “Express

Yourself” (1989) and “Vogue” (1990).

Swift won song of the year for “Anti-He-

ro.” None of the previous ﬁve winners in this

category have gone on to win the Grammy in

that category, but “Anti-Hero” (which Swift

co-wrote with Jack Antono ) has a very

good chance of doing just that. Swift has yet

to win in that Grammy category, and a lot of

people think it’s about time.

And Swift won best pop for the second

time for “Anti-Hero,” having won eight years

ago for “Blank Space.” Only Britney Spears

and Justin Timberlake have won more times

(three) in the category. (Timberlake’s tally

includes two awards with NSYNC.) NSYNC

presented the award to Swift.

Swift’s other wins on the night were

artist of the year, album of the year (for

Midnights), show of the summer, best cin-

ematography and best visual eects. (Swift

didn’t personally work in the latter two

capacities on her “Anti-Hero” video, but the

VMAs give all artists credit for technical

awards their videos win.)

Swift wasn’t the only artist who set re-

cords at the 2023 VMAs. Take a look:

Nicki Minaj won a record ﬁfth award

for best hip-hop for “Super Freaky Girl.”

IN BRIEF

Page 22 of 29

She previously won for “Super Bass” (2011),

“Anaconda” (2015), “Chun-Li” (2018) and

“Do We Have a Problem” (featuring Lil

Baby, 2022). Minaj, who also emceed this

year’s show, is pulling away from Drake,

who is in second place with three wins in

the category.

Ice Spice won best new artist. (She, of

course, also has a Swift connection, having

been featured on a remix of Swift’s “Karma,”

a No. 2 Hot 100 hit.) This is the sixth con-

secutive year that a female artist has won

in this category. Ice Spice follows Cardi B

(2018), Billie Eilish (2019), Doja Cat (2019),

Olivia Rodrigo (2021) and Dove Cameron

(2022). Of those artists, all but Cardi and

Cameron went on to land Grammy nomi-

nations for best new artist. Ice Spice is

expected to follow suit.

Shakira won two awards – the Video

Vanguard Award and best collaboration for

“TQG,” on which she teamed with Karol

G. This is the second year in a row that the

Video Vanguard recipient has also won in

a competitive category that same year. Last

year, Nicki Minaj won best hip-hop for “Do

We Have a Problem” (featuring Lil Baby).

This is the third time in the past four

years that a pairing of two women has won

in the collaboration category. “Rain on Me”

by Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande won in

2020. “Kiss Me More” by Doja Cat featuring

SZA won in 2021. In addition, two previ-

ous category winners were pairings of two

women – “Beautiful Liar” by Beyoncé and

Shakira won in 2007, followed by “Tele-

phone” by Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé in

2010.

Blackpink also won two awards – group

of the year and best choreography for “Pink

Venom.”

“Seven” by Jungkook featuring Latto

won song of summer. Jungkook won in the

same category two years ago as a member

of BTS for their smash “Butter.” Both songs

reached No. 1 on the Hot 100.

“Calm Down” by Rema and Selena

Gomez was the inaugural winner in the

new best Afrobeats category. The versatile

Gomez won best pop 10 years ago for “Come

and Get It.”

Anitta won best Latin for the second year

in a row. She won this year for “Funk Rave”

and won last year for “Envolver.” Anitta

is the second artist to win back-to-back

awards in this category. J Balvin won three

years running (2018-20).

Stray Kids won best K-pop for “S-Class.”

They were nominated last year but lost to

Lisa for “Lalisa.” Lisa was nominated this

year as a member of Blackpink.

Tomorrow X Together won Push per-

formance of the year. It’s the second year in

a row that a South Korean band has won in

that category. Seventeen won last year.

Måneskin won best rock for “The Loneli-

est,” one year after winning best alternative

for “I Wanna Be Your Slave.” Måneskin is

just the second act, following Green Day, to

win in both categories. The award for rock

has been presented in every year but one

since 1989. The award for best alternative

originated in 1991, but went on hiatus from

1999 to 2019.

Dove Cameron, last year’s winner for

best new artist, won video for good for

“Breakfast.”

Lana Del Rey’s “Candy Necklace” (fea-

turing Jon Batiste) won for best alternative,

making her the ﬁrst female solo artist to win

in the category.Note: The category was on

hiatus between 1999 and 2019.

Nicki Minaj Breaks

Record for Most

No. 1s on R&B/

Hip-Hop Digital

Song Sales With

‘Last Time I Saw

You’

BY TREVOR ANDERSON

icki Minaj keeps padding her

2023 feats on Billboard’s Hot

R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart as

“Last Time I Saw You” debuts at

No. 6 on the list dated Sept. 16. The track, re-

leased on Sept. 1 via Young Money/Republic

Records, becomes the superstar’s ﬁfth top 10

debut this year and gives her a historic mark

on the genre’s sales chart.

In the chart’s tracking week of Sept. 1-7,

“Last Time I Saw You” generated 11 million

ocial U.S. streams, according to Luminate,

prompting a No. 5 debut on the R&B/Hip-

Hop Streaming Songs chart. The song also

sold 13,000 downloads in the same period,

sparking the track’s No. 1 entrance on the

R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart.

With the latter arrival, Minaj collects a

record 25th No. 1 on the list, the most among

all artists since the chart began in 2010. She

breaks from a tie with labelmate, frequent

collaborator and fellow rap superstar

Drake, who slides to second place with 24

champs.

For the ﬁnal metric – radio airplay – that

contributes to the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

chart, “Last Time I Saw You” registered 1.9

million audience impressions.

With “Last Time I Saw You,” Minaj

achieves her 43rd career top 10 on Hot

R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Moreover, it’s her

ﬁfth track to debut in the region this year,

following “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” (No. 4 in

March), “Princess Diana,” with Ice Spice

(No. 2, April), “Barbie World,” with Ice Spice

and Aqua (No. 3, July) and her featured spot

on Lil Uzi Vert’s “Endless Fashion” (No. 4,

July).

Elsewhere, “Last Time I Saw You” debuts

at No. 2 on the Hot R&B Songs chart,

where it secures Minaj’s 12th top 10, and at

No. 23 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.

The track previews more Minaj music on

the way; the superstar announced her new

album, Pink Friday 2, will be released on

Nov. 17. The forthcoming project will be the

third “Pink Friday” installment in Minaj’s

catalog: Her debut full-length, Pink Friday,

clocked six weeks at No. 1 on the Top R&B/

Hip-Hop Albums chart in 2011, while its

follow-up, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded,

reigned for seven weeks in 2012.

IN BRIEF

Page 23 of 29

10 First-Timers on

Billboard’s Charts

This Week: Kenya

Grace, Britney

Manson, Tim

Montana & More

BYXANDER ZELLNER

illboard has more than 200 dif-

ferent 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 o on genre-

speciﬁc lists.

Here’s a look at artists who appear on sur-

veys for the ﬁrst time on the Sept. 16-dated

charts.

Kenya Grace

The British singer-songwriter makes

her Billboard chart debut thanks to her

breakthrough song “Strangers.” Released

Sept. 1 via KGJ/Major Recordings/Warner

Records, the track debuts at No. 5 on the

Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart with 3.3

million streams and 1,000 downloads sold

in the U.S. its opening week, according to

Luminate. It also opens at No. 4 on Dance/

Electronic Digital Song Sales, No. 20 on the

Hot 100’s Bubbling Under ranking, No. 56

on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart and

No. 79 on the Billboard Global 200. In her

home country, the song starts at No. 20 on

the Ocial UK Singles chart.

TikTok has been a major factor in the

song’s growing proﬁle, as a portion of the

audio has been used in more than 200,000

clips on the platform. (TikTok does not

presently contribute directly to Billboard’s

charts.) One such video, on Grace’s proﬁle,

has logged more than 12 million views.

Grace has released ﬁve other songs: “Venus”

with Homebodi, “Someone Else” with

3STRANGE, “Oranges,” “Afterparty Lover”

(all in 2022) and “Meteor” (May).

Britney Manson

The Russian-Estonian model and per-

former is now a Billboard-charting artist

thanks to her song “Fashion.” The track,

which she self-released Aug. 11, debuts at

No. 41 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with

677,000 U.S. streams (up 39%). TikTok,

where she boasts over 1 million followers,

has been instrumental in the song’s growth,

as a portion of it has been used in more

than 30,000 clips on the platform, many of

which soundtrack Manson’s videos teaching

followers how to walk a runway like famous

supermodels such as Kendall Jenner and

Shalom Harlow. The song’s latest stream-

ing bump was perhaps boosted by hype

leading up to New York Fashion Week (Sept.

7-13). On Aug. 25, Manson also released

slowed-down and sped-up versions of the

song.

Manson has released two other tracks:

“Everyone (I’m Stuck)” and “MODE-L,”

both in 2022. “I would describe my walk the

same way I’d describe my personality,” she

recently told Vogue, which also reported

that she signed to Elite Models NYC. “The

‘Britney’ part is feminine, reminiscent of the

2000s, and sexy: That’s why I rock my hips

up and down. But I’m also ‘Manson’ – I’m a

rebel to the core. That’s why the top of my

body is always leading, and I’m serving you

a strong face from the 2010s.”

Tim Montana

The singer-songwriter scores his ﬁrst

chart appearance with his breakout single

“Devil You Know.” The song, released Aug.

30 via Music Knox/BMG/Broken Bow

Records, debuts at No. 36 on Mainstream

Rock Airplay and No. 47 on Rock & Alterna-

tive Airplay (664,000 audience impressions,

up 197%). Montana, from Butte, Mont.,

and currently based in Nashville, has been

releasing music for more than a decade,

including three LPs: Tim Montana and the

Shrednecks (2016), American Thread (2020)

and Long Shots (2021). He also released the

EPs Get Em Up and Reno in 2021 and 2022,

respectively.

Outside of his solo work, Montana has ap-

peared on Billboard’s charts as a songwriter.

He co-wrote Kid Rock’s “Tennessee Moun-

tain Top,” and “Greatest Show on Earth,”

which hit Nos. 10 and 39, respectively, on the

Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart in 2017.

He has also collaborated with Colbie Caillat

and Billy F Gibbons, among others.

Moon Fever

The Seattle-based group lands its ﬁrst

Billboard chart entry with “Getting Loud.”

The song, released in April via Astro Re-

cordings, debuts at No. 37 on Mainstream

Rock Airplay (up 28% in plays). The act

released its debut EP Payphone Blues in 2021

and followed with the songs “Live Fast Die

Young” and “I’m Gone” in 2022 and “Noth-

ing Left to Lose” earlier this year. The band

is comprised of vocalist Cody Jasper, guitar-

ists Mitch Micoley and Joe Perez, bassist

Gabe Maska and drummer Greg Garcia.

RSCL, Repiet & Julia Kleijn

All three artists arrive on Billboard’s

charts for the ﬁrst time with their collabo-

ration “Echo.” The track, released Aug. 11,

debuts at No. 40 on Dance/Mix Show Air-

play (up 17% in plays). RSCL (pronounced

“rascal”; real name Franklin van Beek) has

been releasing house music since 2020; Re-

piet began releasing tunes in 2019; and Julia

Kleijn, who provides vocals on “Echo,” has

released four additional songs: “Messed Up

Calls” with Repiet, “Goodbye” with Siik and

Kocmo (both in 2021), “I Don’t Know Why”

with Repiet and Jobsen (2022), and “In the

Dark” with EnzoGasi (2023).

Supermassive & Ben Boas

Both acts debut for the ﬁrst time with

their collaboration “Rockstar,” billed as by

Supermassive featuring Ben Boas. The song,

released in June, debuts at No. 33 on Dance/

Mix Show Airplay (up 9% in plays). Super-

massive is a French duo comprised of Simon

Aubert and Edgar Joly. The pair has been

releasing music since 2017. Supermassive

and Boas also teamed up on the track “Deep

Inside,” released Sept. 1.

E.G. Kight

The Chicago-based artist from Dublin,

Ga., is now a Billboard-charting act thanks

to her new album Sticks & Strings. The set,

released Sept. 1 via Blue South, debuts at

No. 10 on the Blues Albums chart. Kight has

been recording and releasing music since

the 1980s and has collaborated with dozens

IN BRIEF

Page 24 of 29

of well-known acts, including Merle Hag-

gard and B.B. King.

Ellis Hamilton

The musician, composer and recent

Berklee College of Music graduate reaches

Billboard’s charts with his song “My Heart

to Yours.” The track debuts at No. 27 on

Smooth Jazz Airplay (up 6% in plays). In ad-

dition to the alto saxophone, Hamilton plays

the bass clarinet, drums, ﬂute, piano, tenor

and soprano saxophone and vibraphone.

Lefty SM & Neto Peña

The late Mexican rapper Lefty SM (real

name Juan Carlos Sauceda) debuts on Bill-

board’s charts for the ﬁrst time posthumous-

ly with his song “Por Mi México (Remix)”

with Santa Fe Klan and featuring Dharius,

C-Kan, MC Davo and Neto Peña. The song

enters the Hot Latin Songs chart at No. 44

with 1.4 million U.S. streams Sept. 1-7. The

track also earns rapper Peña, from Mexico,

his ﬁrst chart entry. He has also collaborated

with acts including A.B. Quintanilla III

and Gera MX. Lefty SM also debuts on the

Regional Mexican Digital Song Sales chart

with “Ahogandome En Alcohol” with Luis R

Conriquez at No. 12.

Lefty SM was shot and killed Sept. 2 in

Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico. He was 31 years

old.

Yeruza

The late Puerto Rican drill artist reaches

Billboard’s charts with his LP Coda. The

set, posthumously released Aug. 31 on La

Ruta del Dinero/SONAR, debuts at No. 41

on the Top Latin Albums chart with 3,000

equivalent album units earned. Yeruza (real

name Julián Enrique Ramos Carbia) died

in November 2020 during a shootout in

Levittown, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. He was

22. Coda includes collaborations with fellow

Latin rappers Blessd, Eladio Carrión, Dei

V, Bryant Meyers, Mambo Kingz and Omar

Courtz, among others. Yeruza released one

studio LP: La Ruta del Dinero, also posthu-

mously in 2021. 

Your Wildest

Taylor Swift ‘Eras

Tour’ Movie

Dreams Came

True: Cinemark

Oering Private

Swiftie Party

Theater Rentals

BYGIL KAUFMAN

inemark just seriously upped the

game for the upcoming roll-out

of the Taylor Swift| The Eras

Tour concert doc. The chain an-

nounced on Wednesday (Sept. 13) that it is

oering Swifties an exclusive audience with

the superstar in the form of Private Swiftie

Parties.

Swifties can reserve an entire auditorium

for themselves and their friends at Cin-

emark theaters across the U.S. for up to 40

people for $795 (plus taxes and fees, where

applicable, or around $19.89 per person).

“We are excited to oer fans the ultimate

Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour concert ﬁlm VIP

experience in their own private Cinemark

auditorium,” said Cinemark chief market-

ing/content ocer Wanda Gierhart Fearing

in a statement. “We are wonderstruck by

this event’s sensational ticket sales and are

thrilled to add a new era to our fan-favorite

Private Watch Parties with our Private

Swiftie Parties. Our larger-than-life screens

and captivating surround sound deliver a

most enchanting environment to sing and

dance along with friends and family to the

concert of the decade.”

The movie hits screens on Oct. 13 and

Cinemark is oering the opportunity to re-

serve a private auditorium beginning on Oct.

19, with fans encouraged to dress up in their

best Eras attire, with friendship bracelets

strongly encouraged, of course; click here

for details on booking a Private showing. If

you have more than 40 Swifties in your crew

you can get a quote for a Premium Private

screening as well. Cinemark loyalty mem-

bers can also enter into a Private Swiftie

Party Sweepstakes for a chance to win their

own private screening.

Like the record-setting Eras tour, the Eras

ﬁlm ran up a record $26 million in presale

tickets, setting a one-day sales high mark for

AMC Theatres, the ﬁlm’s ocial distributor

and world’s biggest theater chain. CNBC

reported that opening weekend projections

for the nearly three-hour movie are run-

ning at around $100+ million, which could

instantly give the Eras movie one of the

year’s biggest opening weekends to date and

instantly make it the top-grossing music

concert ﬁlm ever.

The ﬁlm will be available in AMC theaters

in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, as well as

certain other movie operators that AMC

is working as distributor for in those three

countries (Cinemark, Cineplex and Cine-

polis). Every U.S. AMC Theatre location will

run the movie at least four times per day on

Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays

while it’s showing; click here for informa-

tion onhow to get tickets here.

Mylon LeFevre,

Mylon and Broken

Heart Singer, Dies

at 78

BYSTARR BOWENBANK

ylon LeFevre, the founding

member of Mylon and Broken

Heart whose 1987 album Crack

the Sky earned him a Grammy

award for best gospel performance by a duo,

group, choir or chorus, died at 78 on Friday,

Sept. 8 from complications with cancer, his

wife Christi LeFevre revealed in a statement

posted to Facebook.

“My precious, strong and courageous

husband laid hold of eternal life last night.

When we discussed heaven through the

years, Mylon was most excited about receiv-

IN BRIEF

Page 25 of 29

ing the soul winner’s crown. With his con-

temporary Christian rock band, Mylon and

Broken Heart, he had the privilege of lead-

ing over 250,000 youth to Jesus,” she wrote.

“He cherished all the years of music minis-

try and the countless lives touched through

his songs but his greatest joy was teaching

the Word of God, especially through our

broadcast, On the Road to Freedom.”

“My love, you are ﬁnally enjoying in this

moment what you aectionately referred to

as ‘the ﬁrst day of forever.’ It has been my

highest honor and privilege for God to trust

me with you these past 25 years.

All my love, Christi,” she concluded her

post.

LeFevre was born into the southern gos-

pel family group The LeFevres, and started

singing and performing with them from an

early age. The late musician’s solo singing

career formally kicked o at age 17, when he

wrote his ﬁrst song “Without Him.” After

singing the track at theNational Quartet

Conventionin Memphis, Tenn. while in the

army, LeFevre was noticed by Elvis Presley,

who was impressed enough by the track

that he later recorded it for his 1967 album,

How Great Thou Art. LeFevre released his

debut solo album,New Found Joy in 1964,

and followed it up with Your Only Tomorrow

in 1968.

In the the 1970’s and ‘80s, LeFevre re-

corded and performed with stars likeThe

Who, Elton John, Geroge Harrison,Duane

Allman,Eric Clapton, Berry Oakley,Little

Richard and Billy Joel. In 1981, LeFevre

formed Mylon and Broken Heart after

stepping back from secular music; the band

recorded 10 of Lefevre’s 22 albums, and in

1988 received the rock album of the year

GMA Dove AwardforCrack the Sky. LeFe-

vre was inducted into the Gospel Hall of

Fame in 2005.

Alicia Keys,

Grandmaster

Flash and More

to Be Honored

by the Black

American Music

Association:

Exclusive

BYPAUL GREIN

licia Keys, Grandmaster Flash

and superstar producer/song-

writers Jimmy Jam & Terry

Lewis are among the artists

and executives slated to be honored at the

inaugural ICE Medal of Honor celebration

at Atlanta’s Morehouse College on Sunday,

Oct. 15. The black-tie event, to be held in

the college’s Ray Charles Performing Arts

Center, is sponsored by The Black American

Music Association.

“We are thrilled to launch the ICE Medal

of Honor and to recognize these outstand-

ing individuals who have made an enduring

mark on the world through their art and

creativity,” Michael Mauldin, the event’s

founder, said in a statement. “This celebra-

tion is a testament to the power of Black

American music in shaping culture and

inspiring generations.”

Here’s a list of the inaugural recipients of

the ICE Medal of Honor:

Alicia Keys – Ella Fitzgerald Gold Stan-

dard Award

Grandmaster Flash – Transformative

Award

Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis – Creative

Impact Award

Robert F. Smith (philanthropist and

founder of the technology software private

equity ﬁrm Vista Equity Partners) – Ray

Charles/Harry Belafonte Patron of Arts

Award

Suzanne de Passe (Motown Productions)

– Suzanne de Passe Trailblazer Award

Je Harleston (general counsel, EVP of

Business & Legal Aairs of Universal Music

Group) – Pace/Harrell Executive Leader-

ship Award

In addition, there will be a salute to the

late Michael Jackson with the presentation

of the Michael Jackson ICON Award.

Keys has amassed 15 GrammyAwards, in-

cluding best new artist and song of the year

for “Fallin’,” both in 2002.

Jam and Lewis have received ﬁve Gram-

mys, including producer of the year, non-

classical, in 1987.

In 2007, Grandmaster Flash and the Furi-

ous Five became the ﬁrst hip-hop group in-

ducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 2021, they received a lifetime achieve-

ment award from the Recording Academy.

de Passe, Motown Productions’ ﬁrst Black

female president, is credited with discov-

ering The Jackson 5 and Commodores.

de Passe has won two Primetime Emmy

Awards – outstanding variety, music or

comedy program forMotown 25: Yesterday,

Today, Forever(1983) andMotown Returns

to the Apollo(1985). The Suzanne de Passe

Trailblazer Award is named in her honor.

Harleston is also co-founder of the UMG

Task Force for Meaningful Change, an orga-

nization formed within UMG in the summer

of 2020 to identify, coordinate and imple-

ment social change initiatives directed at the

Black and Latino communities.

BAM Association co-founders Michael

Mauldin and Demmette Guidry are execu-

tive producers of the event, along with Der-

rick Williams of DNA Media Group and co-

executive producer Jermaine Dupri (who

was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of

Fame in 2018, one year after Jam & Lewis).

The program is being produced by Mauldin

and Williams and directed by Kevin Swain.

Ray Chew will provide music direction.

Wyclef Jean and gospel veteran Donald

Lawrence will curate segments of the show.

Mauldin, formerly president of Columbia

Records Black Music, is CEO of Mauldin

Brand Inc., chairman of the Black American

Music Association and co-founder of the

Black American Music Foundation. He is

also the co-founder of the Black Music &

Entertainment Walk of Fame.

IN BRIEF

Page 26 of 29

Special acknowledgement will be given

to the Otis Redding Foundation, which is

dedicated to improving the quality of life

for the community through the education

and the empowerment of its youth. Dr. Uzi

Brown, who is retiring this year as chair

of the Department of Music at Morehouse

College, will also be honored. Brown is the

past president of the National Association of

Negro Musicians.

The Black American Music Association

is a non-proﬁt 501(c)(6) trade association

founded in 2017 by Mauldin and Guidry to

preserve, protect, and promote the legacy

and future of authentic Black American

music.

CMA Announces

2023 CMA

International

Awards Nominees

(Full List)

BYPAUL GREIN

he Country Music Association has

announced the nominees for the

2023 CMA International Awards.

The awards, which encompass

six categories – two for artists and four for

industry players – honor those who have

impacted the growth of country music in the

international marketplace.

Luke Combs, Kip Moore and Morgan

Wallen are vying for the International Artist

Achievement Award, which recognizes out-

standing achievement by a U.S.-based artist

who has demonstrated the most signiﬁcant

creative growth, development and promo-

tion of the country music industry outside of

the U.S. during the eligibility period.

“As we continue to see country music

grow globally, it is thanks in large part to

those who have supported our mission and

spearheaded events, initiatives and pro-

gramming to reach new territories around

the world,”Sarah Trahern, CMA CEO said

in a statement. “The dedication from each of

these nominees has made them a vital part

of the success of our genre internationally,

and we cannot wait to celebrate them in the

coming months.”

This year’s nominees hail from Australia,

Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Scotland,

South Africa, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S.

Nominees are voted on by international

members of CMA along with a select panel

of U.S.-based professionals who have knowl-

edge in the international country music

industry. Voting is open now through Thurs-

day, Sept. 28. Winners will be announced

later this year.

Here’s a complete list of nominees:

International Artist Achievement

Award

This award recognizes outstanding

achievement by a U.S.-based artist who has

demonstrated the most signiﬁcant creative

growth, development and promotion of the

country music industry outside of the U.S.

during the eligibility period.

Luke Combs

Kip Moore

Morgan Wallen

Je Walker Global Country Artist

Award

This award recognizes outstanding

achievements by a country music artist

signed outside of the U.S. The artist must have

furthered the popularity of country music as

well as brought attention to the country mu-

sic format in their foreign-based territory.

Casey Barnes (Australia)

Kaylee Bell (New Zealand)

Tebey (Canada)

Jo Walker Meador International

Award

This award recognizes outstanding

achievement by an individual in advocating

and supporting country music’s marketing

development in territories outside the U.S.

Jon Cauwood (U.K. – music consultant)

Sina Hall (Germany – Semmel Concerts)

Natalie Waller (Australia – ABC Music)

Rob Potts International Live Music

Advancement Award

This award recognizes outstanding

achievements by an individual who has made

important contributions to the live music

industry by extending performance opportu-

nities and building live audiences for country

music outside of the U.S.

Susan Heymann (Australia – Frontier

Touring)

Anna-Sophie Mertens (U.K. – Live Na-

tion)

Ron Sakamoto (Canada – Gold and Gold

Productions, LTD.)

Neil Warnock, MBE (U.K. – United Talent

Agency)

Wesley Rose International Media

Achievement Award

This award recognizes outstanding

achievements in the media as they relate to

country music outside of the U.S.

Jill Johnson (Sweden – ‘Jills Veranda’

SVT)

Ross Jones (U.K. – Holler)

Richard Murdoch (Scotland – BBC Radio)

Dayna Bourgoin (Canada – Pure Country

Radio, iHeart Radio)

International Country Broadcaster

Award

This award recognizes outstanding

achievement by a radio broadcaster or syndi-

cated radio reporter outside the U.S. who has

made important contributions for the devel-

opment of country music in his/her country.

Stefanie Jüneman (Germany – FM Maxi-

mum Roc)

Joakim Richardson (Sweden – Go Coun-

try)

Ricky Ross (U.K. – BBC Radio Scotland)

Justin Thomson (Australia – KIX Coun-

try)

Wimpie van der Sandt (South Africa –

Bok Radio)

IN BRIEF

Page 27 of 29

Gunna’s

‘Fukumean’ Tops

Mainstream R&B/

Hip-Hop & Rap

Airplay Charts

BYTREVOR ANDERSON

unna scores his ﬁrst non-col-

laborative No. 1 on Billboard’s

Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop

Airplay chart as “Fukumean”

crowns the list dated Sept. 16. The new

champ jumps from No. 3 after a 11% surge

in plays that made it the most-played song

on U.S. monitored mainstream R&B/hip-

hop radio stations in the week ending Sept.

7, according to Luminate. Thanks to the

swell in weekly plays, “Fukumean” grabs the

Greatest Gainer tag, awarded each week to

the title with the largest play increase.

While “Fukumean” is Gunna’s ﬁrst time

atop Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay

without any other acts, it’s the rapper’s sec-

ond No. 1 in total – “Drip Too Hard,” with

Lil Baby, reigned for four weeks in 2019.

Prior to “Fukumean,” Gunna’s best solo

showing was the No. 17 high for “Banking on

Me” in July 2022.

In addition to the Mainstream R&B/Hip-

Hop Airplay victory, “Fukumean” also tops

the Rap Airplay chart. The single climbs

from No. 2 through an 12% boost in weekly

audience and likewise captures the Greatest

Gainer prize. Gunna nabs his second career

champ there, following the two-week rule of

“Drip Too Hard.”

Elsewhere, “Fukumean” steps 6-4 on

Rhythmic Airplay with a 6% gain in plays

and pushes 3-2 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Air-

play chart, which combines audience totals

from adult R&B and mainstream R&B/

hip-hop stations. There, the track rallies to

17.3 million in audience, up 19% from the

previous frame, and again, enough to seize

the chart’s Greatest Gainer prize. Fueled by

those formats, “Fukumean” rises 21-18 on

the all-genre Radio Songs chart with 28.6

million in total audience, a 13% week-over-

week improvement.

“Fukumean” appears on Gunna’s latest

studio album, A Gift & a Curse, which was

released June 16. The track was the album’s

highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100,

and as streams increased in the following

weeks, the single became Gunna’s ﬁrst No. 1

on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and

reached a No. 4 best on the Hot 100.

Gordon Lightfoot,

John Prine

Among Folk

Americana Roots

Hall of Fame’s

Inaugural Class of

Inductees: Full List

BYPAUL GREIN

ordon Lightfoot, who died on

May 1, and John Prine, who died

in 2020, are among the artists in

the Folk Americana Roots Hall

of Fame’s (FARHOF) inaugural class of

inductees. The ﬁrst induction ceremony for

recipients and their families will take place

in April 2024. Living and deceased artists,

songwriters, record executives, managers

and concert promoters tied to elevating folk,

Americana and roots music were all eligible.

The inaugural class of 29 was selected by

a designated nomination committee that

includes industry experts as well as FAR-

HOF’s board of directors. The class consists

of 10 solo living artists, 11 solo legacy artists

(all of whom are deceased, though the rules

don’t stipulate that), four groups or duos,

three non-performers and one recipient of

the Paul Robeson Artist/Activist Award.

“When we created the Folk Americana

Roots Hall of Fame, identifying the inaugu-

ral class and those after was going to be a big

part of our initiative with focus on preserv-

ing these important genres and the history

they created,” Joe Spaulding, president and

CEO of the Boch Center and founder of

FARHOF, said in a statement. “The diverse

inaugural class reﬂects activism and social

justice that shaped our world today, and we

look forward to inducting these national

treasures into the Folk Americana Roots

Hall of Fame.”

The Weavers were inducted, while two

members of that legendary group were

also honored on their own.Pete Seeger,

who left the group in 1957 and died in 2014,

was inducted as a solo legacy artist. Frank

Hamilton, who joined the group after

Seeger’s departure and remained with it

until it disbanded in 1964, received the Paul

Robeson Artist/Activist Award. Hamilton is

still living at 89.

The Folk America Roots Hall of Fame,

which launched in 2019, is a cultural and

education initiative of the Boch Center,

which is located inside the Wang Theatre

in Boston. For updates, information about

tours and upcoming events and exhibits,

visit the website atFARHOF.org.

Here are the 29 inductees in the inaugural

class, by category.

Solo Living Artist

A contemporary performer whose initial

impact on the genre was at least 25 years

prior to the year of induction.

Joni Mitchell

Bob Dylan

Joan Baez

Mavis Staples

Willie Nelson

Emmylou Harris

James Taylor

Taj Mahal

Bonnie Raitt

Ramblin’ Jack Elliot

Solo Legacy Artist

A performer whose initial impact on the

genre was at least 45 years prior to the year of

induction.

Odetta

Pete Seeger

Woody Guthrie

Lead Belly

Richie Havens

Josh White

Oscar Brand

Johnny Cash

IN BRIEF

Page 28 of 29

John Prine

Jean Ritchie

Gordon Lightfoot

Duo or Group of Musicians

Duos or groups whose initial impact on the

genre was at least 25 years prior to the year of

induction.

Peter, Paul & Mary

The Band

The Byrds

The Weavers

Non-Performer

This category includes supporting musi-

cians, songwriters, managers, publishers,

historians and producers.

Albert Grossman (former manager to

many musicians in the folk music scene)

George Wein (jazz promoter, pianist and

producer as well as founder of Newport

Jazz Festival and co-founder of the New-

port Folk Festival. Also instrumental in

the founding of the New Orleans Jazz and

Heritage Festival.)

Betsy Siggins (founding member of the

Club 47 venue now Passin in Boston; as-

sisted in creating the Festival of American

Folklife and founder of the New England

Folk Music Archives/Folk New England.)

Paul Robeson Artist/Activist Award

Non-performing industry professionals

who have had a major inﬂuence on the social

justice that has impacted culture.

Frank Hamilton – (American folk musi-

cian, member of The Weavers and co-found-

er of Old Town School of Folk Music)

MercyMe Extends

No. 1 Records on

Christian Radio

Charts

BYJIM ASKER

ercyMe extends its records for

the most No. 1s on Billboard’s

Christian Airplay and Chris-

tian AC Airplay charts, as “To

Not Worship You” ascends to the top of both

tallies dated Sept. 16.

The group adds its 19th No. 1 on Chris-

tian Airplay and its 20th on Christian AC

Airplay.

The song gained by 8% to 6.6 million

audience impressions on Christian Airplay

reporters in the week ending Sept. 7, accord-

ing to Luminate. On Christian AC Airplay

panelists, it advanced by 5% in plays.

All ﬁve MercyMe members co-wrote the

song – Nathan Cochran, Barry Graul, Bart

Millard, Mike Scheuchzer and Robby Shaf-

fer – with Brown Bannister, Jordan Mo-

hilowski and Tedd Tjornhom.

“To Not Worship You” is from the group’s

album Always Only Jesus, which arrived as

its 12th No. 1 on Top Christian Albums last

November.

The song follows MercyMe’s “Then

Christ Came,” which in February also led

both lists. The act, which formed in 1994,

earned its ﬁrst Christian Airplay and Chris-

tian AC Airplay No. 1 in 2003 when “Word

of God Speak” dominated for 23 and 21

weeks, respectively.

MercyMe has the most No. 1s on both

charts dating to their June 2003 inceptions,

with for King & Country’s 13 Christian

Airplay leaders ranking second, followed by

Jeremy Camp, tobyMac and Matthew West

with 12 apiece. On Christian AC Airplay,

Camp and Casting Crowns are tied for

second with 13 No. 1s each, with for King &

Country next with 11.

Wilson Finds ‘Peace’ at No. 1

Meanwhile, Brian Courtney Wilson nets

his fourth Gospel Airplay No. 1 with “Always

Peace” (up 10% in plays).

Wilson, a Chicago native now based in

Missouri City, Texas, co-wrote the song with

Dana Sorey.

The 51-year-old Wilson earns his third

straight chart-topper, following “Sure As,”

which led for a week in September 2022,

and “Still,” which reigned for one frame in

June 2021.

Wilson made his ﬁrst trip to the Gospel

Airplay penthouse when “A Great Work”

began a three-week rule in October 2018. He

boasts seven top 10s, starting with his initial

entry, “All I Need,” which hit No. 6 in Febru-

ary 2010.

French Watchdog

Says This Recent

iPhone Model Is

Too Radioactive

and Should Be

Pulled

BYASSOCIATED PRESS

government watchdog agency

in France has ordered Apple to

withdraw the iPhone 12 from the

French market, saying it emits

levels of electromagnetic radiation that are

too high.

The National Frequency Agency, which

oversees radio-electric frequencies as well

as public exposure to electromagnetic radia-

tion, called on Apple in a statement Tuesday

to “implement all available means to rapidly

ﬁx this malfunction” for phones already

being used.

Corrective updates to the iPhone 12 will

be monitored by the agency, and if they

don’t work, “Apple will have to recall”

phones that have already been sold, accord-

ing to the French regulator’s statement.

Apple disputed the ﬁndings and said the

device complies with all regulations govern-

ing radiation.

The agency, which is known by the

French acronym ANFR, said it recently

checked 141 cellphones, including the

iPhone 12, for electromagnetic waves ca-

pable of being absorbed by the body.

It said it found a level of electromagnetic

energy absorption of 5.74 watts per kilogram

during tests of a phone in a hand or a pocket,

higher than the European Union standard of

4 watts per kilogram.

The agency said the iPhone 12 met the

threshold when radiation levels were as-

sessed for a phone kept in a jacket or in a

bag.

Apple said the iPhone 12, which was

released in late 2020, has been certiﬁed by

multiple international bodies and complies

IN BRIEF

Page 29 of 29

with all applicable regulations and stan-

dards for radiation around the world.

The U.S. tech company said it has provided

the French agency with multiple lab results

carried out both by the company and third-

party labs proving the phone’s compliance.

Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s minister in

charge of digital issues, told France Info radio

that the National Frequency Agency “is in

charge of controlling our phones which, as

there are software updates, may emit a little

more or a little less electromagnetic waves.”

He said that the iPhone 12 radiation levels

are “slightly higher” than the standards but

“signiﬁcantly lower than levels where scien-

tiﬁc studies consider there may be conse-

quences for users. But the rule is the rule.”

Cellphones have been labeled as “possible”

carcinogens by the World Health Organiza-

tion’s cancer research arm, putting them in

the same category as coee, diesel fumes and

the pesticide DDT. The radiation produced

by cellphones cannot directly damage DNA

and is dierent from stronger types of radia-

tion like X-rays or ultraviolet light.

In 2018, two U.S. government studies that

bombarded mice and rats with cellphone

radiation found a weak link to some heart

tumors, but federal regulators and scientists

said it was still safe to use the devices. Sci-

entists said those ﬁndings didn’t reﬂect how

most people use their cellphones and that the

animal ﬁndings didn’t translate into a similar

concern for humans.

Among the largest studies on potential

dangers of cellphone use, a 2010 analysis in

13 countries found little or no risk of brain

tumors.

People’s mobile phone habits also have

changed substantially since the ﬁrst studies

began and it’s unclear if the results of previ-

ous research would still apply today.

Since many tumors take years to develop,

experts say it’s dicult to conclude that

cellphones have no long-term health risks.

Experts have recommended that people con-

cerned about their cellphone radiation expo-

sure use earphones or switch to texting.

IN BRIEF