Mercury Prize-nominated rapper and songwriter Little Simz (a.k.a. Simbi Ajikawo) has renewed her partnership with AWAL Recordings, which provides a full range of services including global marketing and promotion, digital and physical distribution, campaign coordination, A&R support, synch licensing and brand partnerships. Little Simz garnered acclaim with her most recent album, GREY Area, which was released on her own label, Age 101, via AWAL. In addition to the Mercury Prize, she has been nominated for AIM and BET Awards; additionally, she won the Q Award for best vocal performance and the NME Award for best British album. She has toured with Gorillaz, Lauryn Hill and Anderson .Paak and also starred in the Channel 4 crime drama Top Boy, which currently airs on Netflix. Little Sim...
The Big Apple is where the next Verzuz is going down. Veteran New York rappers Fabolous and Jadakiss will rumble next Monday, June 29 for the latest instalment in the online hip-hop and R&B face-off. Announced on a fetching jersey in traditional New York Knicks colors, the FAB vs. JADA battle squares off at 8 p.m. ET on Instagram Live and Apple Music. Neither has a shortage of tracks to revisit. Fabolous has impacted the Billboard Hot 100 on 21 occasions, with five top 10s, including “Into You” and Can’t Let You Go.” Jadakiss has nine credits on the Billboard Hot 100, including his work on Jennifer Lopez’ No. 3 hit “Jenny From The Block.” Verzuz was launched in March by legendary hip-hop producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. Starting life as a 20-song showdown between evenly matched pro...
Shaq and Gronk are about to throw down with each other for a cause. The men with seven championship rings between them will compete against each other June 27 in Shaq’s Fun House Vs Gronk Beach, a virtual party combining fun and music as a benefit for social justice. “We’re all about bringing people together.,” O’Neal said. “We’re all about making people smile. As I look at Gronk, I see a version of myself. … I’m proud to say he’s a friend. I’m glad to say I probably couldn’t pull this off with anybody else besides Gronk.” The three-time Super Bowl champ had been retired when traded by New England to Tampa Bay in April. He currently has his own “Game On” show on ABC and recently appeared on The Masked Singer. Gronkowski noted he first competed against the Basketball Hall of Famer and...
A flurry of copyright takedown notices hit Twitch users last week, causing a storm on social media. Here’s what’s really going on and what to watch for next. Over the last week, users on gaming-focused livestream platform Twitch received a sudden flurry of takedown notices for clips of old videos using unlicensed background music. The more than 2,500 notices — which the RIAA filed on behalf of rights holders for recordings including Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings” and DNCE’s “Cake By The Ocean” — caused a storm on social media, with users complaining on Twitter they felt blindsided by the requests, some for clips dating as far back as 2017. Contrary to some users’ claims, Twitch’s Music Guidelines — which explicitly prohibit users from incorporating music into their streams wit...
Spotify, Bandcamp, SiriusXM and more are meeting the moment with a range of initiatives. As protests sparked by the death of 46-year-old Minneapolis resident George Floyd heated up this weekend, music companies began making statements in support of the movement to end police brutality against black Americans. On Friday, a number of companies and artists began sharing a statement posted under the hashtag #TheShowMustBePaused, which calls for “a day to disconnect from work and reconnect with our community” and “an urgent step of action to provoke accountability and change.” Started by Atlantic Records marketing executives Brianna Agyemang and Jamila Thomas, who are both black, the call for a day of action — which is now being called “Black Out Tuesday” — sparked other compa...
Source: Presley Ann / Getty Another contender in the streaming wars has arrived. HBO Max officially launched today, and you could be one of the millions who could use the service for free 99. HBO’s new streaming service couldn’t have come at a better time as the country is currently binging and consuming movies at television shows at an alarming pace. Dubbed Netflix’s biggest competitor, the service hit the ground running thanks in large part to it having every show and movie from HBO’s current lineup. You can also throw in exclusive content from DC Comics and WarnerMedia as well as favorite shows like the Living Single ripoff, Friends, Big Bang Theory, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Boondocks, and Rick and Morty. Oh, and we can’t forget the recently announce “Snyder Cut” of that super wack ...