Welcome to this week’s Notables, Boardroom’s overview of the buzziest bits circulating in the music industry.
We’ve made it to the last Notables of the summer. Technically speaking, at least. And while some things have changed like the leaves over the next several weeks, others have remained exactly the same.
Case in point: Bad Bunny’s unprecedented run with his 2022 album Un Verano Sin Ti continues, as it re-peaked at No. 1 and became the biggest non-English-language album in US history, surpassing 2.3 million equivalent units moved since its initial release.
On the other end, Harry Styles is completing his historic 15-day tour run at Madison Square Garden as his chart-topping single “As It Was” continues to break records, now eclipsing most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for any male solo song this century as well as longest running top-two hit in Hot 100 history, tying Justin Bieber’s “Stay.”
Drake hosted the 2022 Nike Maxim Awards Show at their annual “Just Do It” Day at Nike’s World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Returning for the first time in two years — just in time for Nike’s 50th anniversary celebration — guests included everyone from NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and Jayson Tatum to Nike SB skaters Eric Koston and Rayssa Leal.
Elsewhere in hip-hop, Lil Baby and Gunna have gone Diamond for the first time ever in their respective careers thanks to Grammy-nominated 2018 collaboration “Drip Too Hard” reaching 10x Platinum RIAA-certification, while NBA YoungBoy released the new mixtape Realer 2 on Sept. 6 and has now spent 100 weeks on the Billboard 200.
And last but certainly not least, last night Zendaya became the first Black woman to win an Emmy for Lead Actress in a Drama Series twice, as well as the youngest two-time Emmy winner in history.
Congrats on surviving the heat wave — onto hurricane season.
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Travis Scott’s Road to Utopia Residency Begins
Travis Scott is back and that means his highly-anticipated upcoming album, Utopia, is just around the corner.
Officially at least, Scott will launch his “Road to Utopia” residency on Saturday night at Zouk Nightclub at Resorts World during Life Is Beautiful Festival weekend in Las Vegas. It’s the first of seven Scott shows planned for the venue.
Currently, only the Sept. 17 and Oct. 15 dates are currently on sale.
Scott recently hit the stage with Future at Rolling Loud in Miami, marking his first festival appearance since the tragedy at his own Astroworld event in Houston last November. He also appeared for two back-to-back sold-out nights at the O2 Arena in London back in August.
In a press statement, Resorts World described “Road to Utopia” as a “mind-bending, first-of-its-kind nightclub residency experience” and hinted at Scott previewing upcoming tracks.
The Zouk Group venue will make use of its high-tech venue features, including an LED lighting system dubbed the “Mothership” and a shifting ceiling, to elevate Scott’s performance.
Scott was brought out at the 2022 Nike Maxim Awards Show by Drake for a live performance culminating JDI Day last week.
And prior to that, Travis partook in a game of kickball on campus, rocking an unreleased colorway of the Cactus Jack x Air Jordan 1 Low.
Rosalía Delivers Motomami +
After teasing new material during her wildly successful Motomami tour, Spanish songstress Rosalía has delivered Motomami+ — the deluxe edition of her critically acclaimed album.
Rosalía first announced the release of Motomami+ during a tour stop in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Sept. 3.
Among the reworked songs is a live version of “La Fama” recorded during her recent appearance at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, where the singer attended the Catalonia College of Music. (Her sophomore album El Mal Querer served as her baccalaureate project required for graduating from the University.)
Many of the new tracks featured on Motomami+ deal with the 29-year-old singer’s ever-expanding fame. The new tracks include “Despechá,” which she debuted on tour, “Aislamiento,” “La Kiliè,” “Lax” “Chiri,” a remix of “Candy,” and a heartwarming voice note thanking her fans.
The “Motomami World Tour” marks Rosalía’s first-ever global trek. Her continental U.S. leg kicks off Sept. 15 in Boston and wraps Oct. 22 at III Points Festival in Miami.
Skepta’s BIG week on ROAD
Skepta‘s creative collective, Big Smoke Corporation, has officially announced a partnership with Puma. The British MC has reportedly been given complete creative control to work on a project titled “Futro” with the German sportswear giant.
Skepta has worked with Nike extensively in the past, delivering special-edition iterations of the Air Max 97, Shox, and Air Max Tailwind V football boots. Now, he takes his talents to Puma for the very first time.
That’s not all, though — did you know that Skepta also paints? He does. And quite well, at that.
The acclaimed British-Nigerian rapper is set to curate a special collection of artwork at Sotheby’s upcoming “Contemporary Curated” sale in London. The sale will feature around 90 to 120 artworks in total, with Skepta selecting between eight to 12 works that seek to “capture the energy of Nigeria.”
He will also auction one of his own paintings — titled Mama Goes to Market — which depicts three African women, one of which is seen carrying a child on its back, in the same way as the rapper was once carried by his own mother.
The painting carries an estimated price tag of £40,000-£60,000 ($46,000-$69,000). As Skepta told Financial Times in a recent interview, he is hopeful that Jay-Z or Dave Chapelle will purchase the piece.
Sotheby’s “Contemporary Curated” auction is set to go live from Sept. 7 to 13.
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Hit-Boy Joins NFT supergroup KINGSHIP as Executive Producer
Grammy-winning producer-songwriters Hit-Boy and James Fauntleroy have signed on as co-executive producers and the sonic creative team for the “NFT supergroup” KINGSHIP.
KINGSHIP consists not of IRL musicians, but three rare Bored Ape NFT characters and a rare Mutant Ape: Captain (vocals, bass), KING (lead vocals), Arnell (beats, producer, drums), and Hud (guitar, keyboards, vocals).
Together, the pair will work with Arnell to oversee the group’s music direction and sound.
“I’m always looking to push things forward musically,” Hit-Boy said in a press statement, “and this is a great opportunity to do something new in the Web3 space.”
As Fauntleroy added, “It’s so exciting to be a part of something historical and ambitious. As a huge nerd, and music fanatic, I can’t wait to see what comes from the intersection of the web3 collectors/creatives and the entertainment creative community.”
This comes off the news that Hit-Boy exclusively produced the entire Madden 23 soundtrack, a first for the EA Sports franchise, creating 33 new beats from scratch. He was additionally been nominated for two BET Hip-Hop Awards (Producer of the Year and Best Duo or Group).
Trippie Redd’s A Love Letter to You Series Continues w/ Part 5
Trippie Redd’s new project, A Love Letter to You 5, is set to release in October, as noted by the New York Times.
The 23-year-old rapper from Ohio descended from the prime days of SoundCloud with brash beats, soupy melodies, and grimy emo-rap. A Love Letter to You 5 continues a series whose last iteration, 2019’s A Love Letter to You 4, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 after moving 104,000 units in its first week.
The new album reportedly finds the 1400 Entertainment/10K Projects artist crooning over twinkling guitars and skittering drums, with guest appearances from heavyweights Offset and Moneybagg Yo.
Yeat x Lyft
The reclusive sui generis rapper known as Yeat has found himself in yet another rare but well-fitting partnership — this time with rideshare platform Lyft.
Last time, Yeat assisted the soundtrack for the Minions: The Rise of Gru movie, delivering the song “Rich Minion,” created in tandem with Lyrical Lemonade’s Cole Bennett for the movie’s trailer.
This latest collaboration, however, arrives simultaneously with Yeat’s all-new 12-track EP, LYFË, which finds him trading bars with Lil Uzi Vert on intro track “Flawlëss.”
LYFË serves as the follow-up to Yeat’s 2 Alivë, which was released in February of this year. He later re-released the project as 2 Alivë (Geëk Pack) with nine new tracks, two of which featured Uzi.
Yeat can’t stop going Twizz mode. Now, you have no excuse not to, either.
All you have to do is activate “Twizz Mode” on your Lyft app. Then, *boom*, TONKA otw.
Final Notes
- Playboi Carti’s 2020 album, Whole Lotta Red, has now sold over one million copies
- Beyoncé celebrated her latest album, Renaissance, with a disco-inspired birthday party at a private mansion in Bel-Air, California on Saturday
- Vince Staples to star in Netflix’s The Vince Staples Show, loosely based on the real life of the rapper, executive produced by Kenya Barris
- Reigning Golden State Warriors NBA Finals MVP Stephen Curry became the first athlete to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone since Kevin Durant in 2016
- Disney drops first look trailer at Halle Bailey as Ariel in its live action The Little Mermaid film
- Burna Boy, Isaiah Rashad, Tierra Whack, Earl Sweatshirt, Lucky Daye, and Freddie Gibbs all hit the stage at Afropunk Brooklyn 2022
- TikTok stars, Charli and Dixie D’Amelio—who pulled $30m in 2021 alone—launched D’Amelio Brands, where they’ll create their own fashion, beauty and lifestyle products
- Billboard’s Music’s Top Money Makers: The Highest-Paid Executives list unveiled Universal Music Group Chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge sits atop the pack with a staggering $320.94 million salary
- Heaven by Marc Jacobs threw a NYFW extravaganza at Brooklyn venue Elsewhere featuring live performances from Doja Cat, Charlie XCX, and Pinkpantheress.
- Drake (14) and Ye (10) lead the way in nominations ahead of the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards
- Lizzo won her first Emmy Award as executive producer and host of Watch Out for the Big Grrrls
- Synch of the week: GZA’s “Liquid Swords” — HBO’s Industry Season 2, Episode 7 Lone Wolf And Cub
- New Artist spotlight: AJRadico – WASTE NO TIME
- RIP PnB Rock.
