Def Jam phenom YK Osiris announces his Worth It tour today with fellow Def Jam artist YFL Kelvin as direct support. Recently off the road with Lil Baby, YK Osiris was recently hand-picked as Vevo’s newest DSCVR artist for 2018 and will be releasing new music soon. Tickets are on sale now at www.YKOsirismusic.com.
GS9’s HIDDEN GEM FETTY LUCIANO RELEASES NEW VIDEO TITLED “THE WAVE”
READ THE PREMIERE ON COMPLEX.COM!
LISTEN TO STORY TO TELL HERE
STORY TO TELL track list:
1. Blue Faces featuring Landstrip Chip
2. The Wave
3. FASHO featuring Gunna
4. No Love
5. Get My Bag
6. On the Wall featuring Bobby Shmurda
7. Don’t Go There
8. Going Down
9. Alive
10. Luciano
The ongoing rollout of new music from Def Jam Recordings’ rookie lineup – including the Bay Area’s Sneakk and Lul G of SOBxRBE, Brooklyn MC Fetty Luciano, Cleveland’s YFL Kelvin, Harlem rappers TJ Porter and Dominic Lord, Georgia’s 17-year old Bernard Jabs, Jacksonville’s 18-year old YK Osiris, Minneapolis’ Nimic Revenue and others – comes to a head with the arrival of UNDISPUTED: a new branded compilation and platform designed to introduce Def Jam’s next generation of stars.
UNDISPUTED is set for release on March 8, 2019.
As Def Jam Recordings rolls into its 35th year as the UNDISPUTED greatest brand in hip-hop history, the legendary label has its sights focused squarely on the future. With a new executive team headed up by CEO Paul Rosenberg and EVP Steven Victor, a new in-house creative content team, and a new-look roster comprised of over a two dozen new signings, Def Jam is once again building a foundation and blazing a trail that wholeheartedly embraces the new: amazing new music, bold new content, strong and creative new leadership.
“During the course of the past year, in collaboration with our talented EVP Steven Victor and our incredible team of executives, we have worked diligently to define the label we strive to become,” said Def Jam Recordings chairman & CEO Paul Rosenberg. “One of the most important aspects of our efforts has centered around building a new roster. Together with these incredible new artists we have developed urgent, cutting-edge, and truly great new music and content. As we proudly enter our 35th anniversary year, I’m excited to launch this project, one that I think defines and encapsulates our new direction.”
“I believe in artistry and the idea that great music will find its audience,” said Steven Victor, Def Jam Recordings EVP & head of A&R. “I’m beyond excited about the roster of new artists we’ve built here at Def Jam. Each one of them is making the kind of music I want to listen to now. We’ve brought them together and asked them to buy into something larger, the Def Jam logo and legacy. It’s remarkable to see how much these artists have embraced it. I couldn’t be more proud of the results.”
An exclusive platform for the next-gen artists who are the lifeblood of Def Jam, UNDISPUTED showcases a spirit of collaboration and unity frequently unseen under the banner of a label. The material was recorded during several week-long collaborative “Rap Camp” sessions produced by Victor, Def Jam VP of A&R Anthony “AE” Edwards, and in-house producer Rico Beats. The comp is led by “Spray” from SOBxRBE affiliate Sneakk featuring fellow Cali MCs and Compton natives Tyga and YG, released early in December, 2018.
The release of UNDISPUTED will be accompanied by the 8- part “Undisputed”documentary film series, created by Def Jam’s new in-house creative content team. The documentary project was spearheaded by Def Jam’s Executive Vice President of Brand Strategy & Content, Noah Callahan-Bever, who served over a decade as Editor-in-Chief and Chief Content Officer of Complex. The documentary series deftly chronicles “Rap Camp,” featuring the cast of UNDISPUTED artists and Def Jam A&R’s as they introduce us to their stories, collaborate creatively, define their sound, and push each other to new levels.
PETA x Coalition LA unites the largest animal rights organization in the world and the premium outerwear brand with 20-years of cruelty-free manufacturing experience! The collaboration is working with retailers to design custom fashion-forward outerwear capsules made from premium vegan materials. The two animal rights advocates launched the collaboration late last year with a limited-edition “Go With The Faux” vegan leather jacket.
Due to the success of this initial collaboration jacket, PETA x Coalition LA will be offering retailers the chance to design and carry a custom fashion-forward outerwear capsule made from premium vegan materials. The collaboration has had the support of WWDMAGIC from the start and will be debuting this custom production service to their buyers first at this coming February show.
“We felt it was important to partner strategically with Coalition LA to bring awareness to all of the WWDMAGIC buyers to know that they too have cruelty-free options when it comes to buying,” said Kelly Helfman, President of WWDMAGIC.
What’s to come:
• Conscious fashion is a focus this show and WWDMAGIC will highlight this important issue to the B2B world at MAGIC
• This year’s show bag will be made from PETA x Coalition LA’s premium vegan leather and will be available to attendees
• PETA x Coalition LA will present a Vegan Fashion Panel on the main floor that will dive into the rise of the conscious consumer and how brands are taking steps toward accommodating the growing cruelty-free fashion market.
• Tuesday, February 5th at 10:30AM – WWD Social House
Conscious Fashion Choices Are Getting Trendy
This panel will dive into the rise of the conscious consumer and how brands are taking steps toward accommodating the growing cruelty-free fashion market.
We’ll be talking with celebrity animal rights activist Daniella Monet, vegan fashion influencer Molly Tuttle, and PETA’s Fashion Campaigns Manager Christina Sewell on the benefits of offering more sustainable options for your shoppers. As a secondary point, all attendees will get the opportunity to look up-close at a vegan materials portfolio swatch books that contain the latest fabric technology such as Pinatex pineapple leather, mushroom leather, and faux fur made with recycled plastic bottles!
“The PETA x Coalition LA collaboration is uniquely positioned to move retailers across the nation towards a more mindful buying behavior, due to the fact that this is PETA’s first campaign with a wholesale manufacturer,” said Darci Wong, Creative Director of Coalition LA.
5 Seconds of Summer (5SOS) premiere the video for their track Lie To Me. Directed by Brandon Vaughn, (Bastille, Migos, Travis Scott) the video was filmed at the Irwindale Speedway in Los Angeles. Watch it HERE.
Lie To Me has amassed over 60 million streams worldwide, and was praised by Rolling Stone as one of the highlights of their chart topping 2018 album Youngblood, which made 5SOS the only band in history to see its first three full-length studio albums enter the Billboard at No. 1.
5SOS recently gave fans a holiday surprise with news of the release of Meet You There Tour Live a memento of the band’s extensive 2018 global headline tour. The 20-track collection includes live versions of numerous songs from Youngblood, including the Platinum-certified title track Want You Back, Valentine, She’s Kinda Hot, She Looks So Perfect, and more.
Coming off of a stellar 2018, Ella Mai (10 Summers/Interscope Records) has continued her reign into the New Year. Having recently embarked on The Debut Tour in support of her self-titled album, the singer has now blessed fans with a brand-new video for “Shot Clock.” Directed by Colin Tilley, the visual showcases the starlet’s style and personality as she serves a lyrical ultimatum to her beau. Check out the video HERE.
“Shot Clock” marks the third official single from her album, Ella Mai. The breakout 4X Platinum single, “Boo’d Up” has earned her nominations for Song of the Year and Best R&B Song at the 61st GRAMMY Awards which airs live on February 10th. She has been nominated under the category of British Breakthrough Act at next month’s The BRIT Awards and will have the chance to take home three iHeartRadio Music Awards this March. Ella Mai will also vie for Best Rnb, Hip-Hop & Grime and Rising Star at the 2019 Global Awards. The impressive vocalist has yielded much warranted success, entering 2019 atop numerous charts with her Platinum hit song, “Trip.” The single remains #1 on: Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs Chart (14 weeks), Adult R&B Songs, R&B/Hop-Hop Airplay and Urban AC Radio. In addition to her tour which runs through March, fans will have the chance to catch Ella Mai performing live at Coachella this April.
Ahead of the release of his eagerly-awaited fourth album Assume Form tomorrow via Republic Records, James Blake debuts brand-new track “Mile High (ft. Travis Scott & Metro Boomin)” on Beats1 as Zane Lowe’s World Record. Combining Blake’s ethereal cals and Scott’s lyrical prowess, the track offers a refreshing take on love, masking its underlying vulnerability with Metro Boomin’s pulsing beats. Zane Lowe played the song three times back-to-back, raving “James Blake, you’ve done it again,” and assuring his listeners that Assume Form is “going to connect to you, it’s going to touch you no matter where you are and what you’re doing.” Listen to “Mile High” here, and pre-order Assume Form here.
Following the announcement of its release last week, Assume Form trended worldwide on Twitter, with Blake experiencing a massive 33% uplift in streaming of his catalogue. Over the past few years, Blake has become one of the most sought-after producers, singers, and songwriters in the music industry, working with top talent including Beyoncé, Frank Ocean, andJay-Z, co-writing and touring with Kendrick Lamar, performing with Travis Scott on the MTV Video Music Awards, and collaborating on the record-shattering Black Panther soundtrack. It is no surprise, then, that Assume Form features an all-star roster that reflects Blake’s continual sonic evolution and blurring of genre boundaries: André 3000, Moses Sumney, Travis Scott, Metro Boomin, and ROSALÍA. Throughout Assume Form, Blake proves himself yet again as one of our generation’s most gifted and influential artists, both as an essential collaborator and as a solo artist at the height of his career.
Blake will tour in support of Assume Form on his recently announced headlining North American tour, kicking off in Atlanta on February 18. The 17-date tour will make stops in major cities across the U.S. and Canada including Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Montreal, and 2 nights in New York City, before wrapping in Los Angeles on March 16 (see full list of dates below). Tickets are available for purchase now via http://www.jamesblakemusic.com/.
In a striking, single-shot video, acclaimed producer/songwriter/performer Maggie Rogers performs her No. 1 single, “Light On,” with 50 fans and guitarist Elle Puckett. Produced by La Blogothèque (Justin Timberlake, Chris Stapleton), the video was filmed last November in Paris and directed by Elie Girad. View the clip HERE.
Rogers has been chosen as the first YouTube Artist On The Rise (AOTR) of 2019. The program features eight artists of varied genres over the course of a year. 2018, the inaugural year of AOTR, featured such artists as Rosalía, Brockhampton, Ella Mai, and many more. Rogers has also been named a Twitter Music #ArtistToFollow. The new program highlights one emerging artist per month by using their Twitter Music profile to showcase their voice and personality.
“Light On” – which is from Rogers’ Capitol Records debut album, Heard It In A Past Life, set for January 18 release – topped Billboard’s first Adult Alternative Songs tally of 2019. Rolling Stone awarded the single four stars, and praises “Light On” as “a cathartic counterpoint to today’s pop-empowerment anthems.”Streams of “Light On” surpassed one million globally in under a week and are approaching 25 million.
Rogers will celebrate the release of Heard It In A Past Life with performances on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (January 16) and “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (January 22). She made her “Saturday Night Live” debut last fall. Rogerswill play a sold-out album release show at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles on January 17. Most of her North American dates, sold out at on sale including a March 29 show at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom which sold out in minutes. She will embark on her global headline tour on February 14th in Dublin, Ireland before hitting the U.S. in March. Rogers will also perform at Coachella in April- visit http://www.maggierogers.com/live/ for itinerary.
Heard It In A Past Life is now available for pre-order in CD, digital and vinyl formats. Fans who pre-order the digital album will instantly receive the five tracks that have been released thus far: “Light On,” “Give A Little,” “Alaska,” “On + Off” and “Fallingwater.” Cumulative streams for these five songs already exceed 230 million globally.
Maggie Rogers grew up in Easton, Maryland. After graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, she released her critically acclaimed debut EP, Now That The Light Is Fading. The BBC, Tidal, Google Play, Vevo, Pandora and numerous publications – including Rolling Stone, NYLON, SPIN, Billboard and more – have tipped her as an artist to watch. NPR named her one of its Favorite Musicians and The New Yorker declares, “Maggie Rogers is an artist of her time.” Rogers’television performances include “Saturday Night Live,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”
Today Yung Miami and JT — together known as City Girls — release the highly-anticipated video for Twerk (feat. Cardi B). In it, City Girls own the dance for themselves, rallying their troupe of women to get cheeks flying and take control of their own sexuality. And hell if it doesn’t look like a good time.
WATCH HERE
The Broadcast Premier will be on BET Jams and will air every hour on the network. City Girls’ Yung Miami — painted as a zebra — and featured artist Cardi B — painted as a tiger — lead a group of agile ladies on yacht, on a beach, on a pole, even on a muscle car without a man in sight. Ladies are twerkin’ it for themselves, showcasing insanely amazing athleticism, and looking bodaciously fly while doing it. And they can slap their own ass thank you.
With over 215 million overall streams and 39.3 million from Twerk (ft. Cardi B), the world sure seemed ready to listen and dance. Twerk was an immediate track stand-out for fans on City Girls new album, Girl Code (Quality Control Music/Motown/Capitol Records), so the Girls decided to send a challenge to the world. The Goal: To find the world’s greatest twerker. The winner would not only get flewed into Miami on “Flewed Out” airlines and $50k in hard cash, but would be — and now is — featured in their video taking back the twerk.
Refreshingly, JT and Yung Miami bluntly set their own terms on what can be a taboo subject for women. Most recently City Girls’ genuineness caught the ear of Drake, who recruited them for his 10-week chart topping song In My Feelings. And when City Girls rap to a lovelorn Drake, “I’ll show you how to network. F*ck that Netflix and chill; what’s your net worth?” they make it clear they are looking for any broke boys.
JT and Young Miami are uncensored, unapologetic, sharing a commitment to their hood roots and a bold insistence that the culture they come from should stop them from getting a piece of the cash pie. One of the most provocative female hip-hop duo in years, the Miami duo of JT and Yung Miami are the next generation of female speak out as raw and confident — and with as much swagger as the boys.
As Refinery29 states: “This emerging group taps into the same enterprising spirit applauded in male rappers when they wax poetic about selling drugs or pimping to escape bleak financial circumstance. This female version is just as inspiring. The male gaze only succeeds in objectifying women when the sole outcome considered is male gratification. City Girls set the terms of engagement for a payday they’ve orchestrated.”
With JT currently serving her sentence for credit card fraud, City Girls worked hard and banked a lot of material before she went in. As Yung Miami states: “It is a minor setback for a major comeback.”
Coach K and Pierre “Pee” Thomas of the renowned Quality Control Music label discovered the girls and took their first song “Fu*k Dat N****” from a regional hit to a national smash when it appeared on the seminal Quality Control Presents: Control The Streets Vol 1 compilation. Recently Quality Control Music released City Girls’ heart-wrenching documentary Point Blank Period. The documentary follows the City Girls as they break into a predominantly male-dominated industry with the release of Period. It features their reactions to hearing Drake shout them out on his record to JT working in the studio until her jail sentence starts.
Exclusive interviews are included with Yung Miami and JT, as well as industry trailblazers Trina, Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Pierre “Pee” Thomas, exposing the complicated road to breaking female artists in the changing music landscape.
LISTEN TO GIRL CODE HERE
