Welcome to this week’s Notables, Boardroom’s overview of the buzziest bits circulating in the music industry.
Autumn is upon us and that means school is back in session… and that Frank Ocean wiped his Instagram clean again. That means we can all begin our ridiculous fan theories and hopes for new music. Go!
British Boy Wonder Harry Styles has the No. 1 movie in the country — the drama-riddled Warner Bros. release Don’t Worry, Darling, which opened at No. 1 at the box office with $19.2 million in ticket sales — and the No. 1 song in the country with “As it Was,” which officially broke the record for most weeks (15) at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in history.
Meanwhile, BLACKPINK opened this week’s Billboard 200 at No. 1 with their latest LP, BORN PINK. The South Korean quartet’s sophomore album moved 102,000 units, marking the first time in 14 years an album from an all-woman group topped the charts in its opening week.
Oh, and Mariah Carey revealed that she has an unreleased alt-rock album entitled Someone’s Ugly Daughter that she made in 1995.
This is a real thing that happened.
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Finally, reports suggest that Beyoncé is preparing to reveal a 2023 world tour to support her Renaissance project, while Kid Cudi’s Netflix show, Entergalactic, premieres Friday alongside its accompanying soundtrack, which will double as Cudi’s 10th studio album. Lead single “Willing To Trust” featuring Ty Dolla $ign dropped last week.
Below, Boardroom’s Notables has got you covered on everything that went down in the music over the last few weeks.
Rihanna, Apple Music Take Over Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show
Just a hand holding a pigskin sent shockwaves through the worlds of sports, music and entertainment like only one human could.
Albeit was one of the most recognizable and iconic henna tattoo-covered hands on the planet: that of Barbados’ own Robyn Fenty.
Yes, as the NFL confirmed Sunday, Rihanna is headlining February’s Super Bowl Halftime Show. Jay-Z’s Roc Nation will act as executive producers and strategic-entertainment advisers for the live performance.
This news arrives just days after the league announced a multi-year partnership with Apple Music to celebrate the world’s greatest songwriters, musicians, producers and artists and so this year’s game in Glendale, Arizona will serve as the first under Apple Music’s banner.
Beyond expected Fenty brand promotion, we can hope that this special appearance will be accompanied by new music from RiRi for the first time since her critically-acclaimed 2016 album, ANTI.
I mean, we did see Jupiter yesterday.
Lil Baby’s BIG Week
Atlanta Rapper Lil Baby hit big with two endorsement deals this week and they each pale in comparison to the next thing I’m about to say:
Lil Baby is now the voice of the Official Budweiser Anthem of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Delivering the song “The World is Yours To Take,” Baby puts his own spin on the classic 1985 Tears For Fears‘ track “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” for the international soccer tournament taking place in the Persian Gulf region from Nov. 20 to Dec. 18.
“Let’s get turnt up, somebody pass me a Budweiser, a cold one,” raps Baby on the song alluding to his alignment with the classic American-style lager.
Additionally, Lil Baby has rejoined in partnership with Axe, appearing for a three-episode series of anime-style digital vignettes that replay some of the most empowering moments from the artist’s life and career using his own VoiceOver.
Finally, to put proverbial icing on an already large cake, Baby was awarded with the highly-coveted Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award for his 2020 song “The Bigger Picture” and his continued work in the community, at the Black Music Action Coalition’s second annual Music in Action Awards Gala in Los Angeles.
GloRilla’s Memphis Grizzlies?
GloRilla has arrived. And we are fully here for it.
Thankfully, it very much appears that the NBA and its fans are, too.
Just days after the Memphis-born artist released highly-anticipated single “Tomorrow 2” featuring Cardi B — which has since accrued over 7.5 million views on YouTube and skyrocketed to No. 1 on Apple Music US charts — GloRilla was tapped to be the musical voice and narrator behind the Memphis Grizzlies’ official 2022-23 Season Preview video.
“This is me and this is our city and you know these guys,” boasts the budding Grind City star.
GloRilla, who recently signed with Yo Gotti’s CMG imprint record label, broke out with “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” earlier this year after going viral on TikTok.
Rolling Louder
Rolling Loud New York was exactly what you expected it to be:
A mess, but a darn great time.
Playboi Carti set the stage on literal fire to kick things off Friday night, surprising fans by bringing Ye out to perform their collaborative song “Off The Grid” off Mr. West’s 2021 album, DONDA.
Ye has been a master of spectacle of late, with guest appearances as recently as this week’s Milan Fashion Week at Burberry’s Spring/Summer 2023, where he was seated next to Stormzy, wearing a full-leather fit and bedazzled flip-flops. Later in the evening, Ye previewed new music with James Blake at an afterparty captured via supermodel Naomi Campbell’s Instagram Live.
Back at Rolling Loud, Lil Uzi Vert hit what felt like every stage, performing his own set and then pulling up to Chief Keef and Nicki Minaj’s headlining sets to give them a hand on stage.
A$AP Rocky headlined on Saturday night, taking to the stage for what he says will be his last final live show prior to the release of his upcoming album — and as a bonus, he and Carti collectively became a hilarious meme as they both (perhaps regrettably) opted to go right into the crowd while performing.
Future closed things out Sunday night performing before a torrential downpour ended the festival early.
In more ways than one, Rolling Loud didn’t get off without a hitch. 21 Savage said afterward that he’ll never perform at a Rolling Loud again, and (of course) the Hip-hop Police are back at it again, with New York Times reporter Joe Coscarelli breaking the news that three NYC drill rappers — Sha Ek, 22Gz and Ron Suno — were cut from the festivities in Queens at the request of the NYPD just a few hours before the festival began.
Final Notes
- Happy 40th Birthday to Lil Wayne (from Skip Bayless, obviously)!
- Questlove to serve as executive producer on J Dilla documentary Dilla Time
- Kodak Black returns with dual releases Walk and Spin
- Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s former Chief Business Officer, to succeed Steve Cooper as Warner Music Group CEO
- Metro Boomin announces his first solo album in four years, Heroes & Villains, set to release in November
- Smino’s lead single, “90 Proof” featuring J. Cole, from upcoming LP drops Friday
- A college course based on the music of Lana Del Rey launches at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute
- Swedish artist (and leader of cult favorite Yung Lean adjacent-crew Drain Gang) Bladee will release his sixth album, Spiderr, on Friday
- SleazyWorld Go goes platinum for hit song “Sleazy Flow”
- Megan Thee Stallion and J Balvin are taking steps to provide mental health resources to those in need through a new platform called Bad Bitches Have Bad Days Too and bilingual wellness app OYE, respectively
- Aphex Twin launches a “Sample Mashing” App called Samplebrain
- Arctic Monkeys sign deal to headline Glastonbury‘s Pyramid Stage in 2023
- Beck covered Neil Young’s “Old Man” for Sunday Night Football Promotion
- 50 Cent officially parts ways with Starz
- Apple Music Live’s next broadcast will be Billie Eilish, and her Happier Than Ever: The World Tour stop at The O2 Arena in London
- Post Malone to resume Twelve Carat Toothache Tour after taking a hard fall while performing last week; Field Trip Recordings founder Zack Bia joins as DJ
- New Artist spotlight: Lancey Foux — Lancey or Lancey
- RIP Pharoah Sanders.
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