Get Prepared for Sunday’s PLAY A FANTASY VERSION OF THE Epic Producer Battle On Sunday, Timbaland and Swizz present were planning to stage the most legendary match up to date for their short-lived but quickly growing VERZUZ IG live-based producer battle: Kenny “Babyface” Edmunds and Teddy Riley. Two of the biggest contributors to the sound
As part of Billboard‘s celebration for all things 2000 last week, I wrote about Neo Soul’s mainstream breakthrough, and why it didn’t last long. If you chart modern R&B’s course on a map, you’ll notice a giant fork in the path around the year 2000. Actually, it was more of a massive roundabout, leading to
You’ve likely peeped that there’s a call-out moment happening with artists and their first contracts. Kelis and Mase are addressing false promises, low earnings, and jacked publishing with Pharrell and Puffy, respectively. But how much of this is just business and how much of it is, indeed, sheisty? I wrote about complicated contracts and the
Let’s ignore my expression in this thumbnail for a second. I was invited back to the Marlie Show to debate the top 5 women in hip hop this year, including who belonged on the list and who didn’t (there was a good bit of debate around Missy – is it minimizing her to say ‘of
Both in #MusicSermon and in my writing, I like to stay in a certain pocket: pre-2000 Black music and culture. Untold or undertold stories. We move into more current music and things get a little sticky for me as someone whose been working in the music industry since 1998, and I never want to cross
On the 10th anniversary of Jackson’s death, I sat down with CBS News to discuss Leaving Neverland and how, if at all, the resumed conversation about allegations against Michael have impacted his legacy. I also wrote for Vibe about Leaving Neverland and why I feel we can’t just ignore the conversation about Michael.
If you haven’t already, I highly encourage and strongly urge you to watch The Black Godfather, Netflix’s doc on one of the most powerful black men in entertainment, Clarence Avant. It’s not just a music and entertainment doc, though. It’s a primer for a fruitful and impactful life.I won’t go into his whole history here, but the
I had a GREAT time with Sylvia Obell and my fellow black ass panelists talking John Singleton, Game of Thrones, and how #BlackTwitter keeps conversations going on this weeks’ Buzzfeed News #HellaOpinions. Watch the entire show here.
I (humbly) wrote for Billboard about the power and significance in Beyoncé’s musical choices for Homecoming, and how she used them to weave Black history and culture throughout the live albums 40 tracks. This is your song by song guide to the intentionally Black Homecoming experience. Last April, Beyoncé staged a headlining set at Coachella unlike
I’m so excited to announce my/#MusicSermon’s work with Spotify for their amazing celebration of history and the influence of Black music for #BlackHistoryIsNow. I worked with the Spotify team to identify, research and craft six key stories in Black music history for the one-of-a-kind capsule collection. Go browse the lookbook at BLACKHISTORYISNOW.COM to see what artists Joy Miessi and Brandan ‘bmike’ Odums created around The Sacred
Naima Cochrane 