Hip Hop News

Alamo Records will now live under Sony Music Entertainment after it was announced on Tuesday that the company has acquired a majority stake in the label founded by Todd Moscowitz, a music industry veteran and former Warner Bros. Records executive. Alamo is home to some very popular artists in the hip-hop world – the likes of Rod Wave, Lil Durk, Smokepurpp, Lil Gotit and blackbear are all signed to the label.

The label imprint, founded in 2016, was formerly in a joint venture partnership with Universal Music Group, but now leaves them for a new partnership with Sony Music. Variety reports that there was a buy/sell negotiation with Universal in the months leading up to this announcement but they decided to walk away, giving Sony the perfect avenue to step in and acquire their stake. The deal is said to be valued at around $250 million, half of which would go to Universal as a buyout.

Moscowitz will remain in his position as the label’s CEO, and Alamo’s roster and catalog will become a creative center of partnership within Sony Music. Some of the label’s artists have seen tremendous success over the past year, as Rod Wave and Lil Durk have both put out albums that have reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this year alone with SoulFly and The Voice of the Heroes respectively. Alamo will continue to sign, develop and market its artists under Moscowitz.

“I decided to partner with Sony Music because Rob and the team showed their deep understanding of entrepreneurship. Being competitive in this marketplace requires being fluid, fast and innovative and I have tremendous confidence that Alamo and our artists will get the support from Sony Music to take our entire company to the next level” Moscowitz said of the deal with Sony Music.

Check out more information below and comment who your favorite Alamo Records artist is.

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If you’re waiting for Chris Brown to make some lengthy statement about his latest controversy, you may be watching the clock for a while. The singer was recently named in a police report following an alleged altercation that occurred last weekend at his home in Southern California. Brown is known for his shindigs as his palatial estate, but this time a woman claimed that she was assaulted on his property. 

We previously reported on the unnamed woman calling the authorities after she said Brown slapped her in the head so hard that he weave flew off. It was a headline that caused the masses to laugh, but some recalled Brown’s past legal troubles with allegations of domestic violence. As the public awaits news as to whether or not this will develop into more serious charges for the singer, Brown has taken to his Instagram Story to share a thought.

Rich Fury / Staff / Getty Images

Brown initially seemed to acknowledge the accusation when he posted crying laughing emojis to Instagram days ago, but he’s returned with a message for people who have been asking for him to say something about the allegations. 

“If u address bullsh*t… It gives life to something that never existed,” he wrote. While he didn’t directly state that this was about his most recent case, his fans believe he’s sending the world a message. 

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Two years ago, a line was drawn between Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun after he purchased Big Machine. Included in the mega-deal were the rights to Swift’s master recordings of her first six studio albums, and what followed was an unleashing of the singer’s fans who slammed Braun. Swift accused him of not even “[quoting] my team a price” so she could buy them back and stated that Braun attempted to edge her into signing a non-disclosure agreement that would “silence me forever.”

In 2020, Braun alleviated himself of the drama and sold off Swift’s assets to Shamrock for $300 million, and all the while, Swift has been recreating her albums as restrictions to rerecordings expire. In a recent interview with Variety, Braun spoke openly about the ongoing spat with Swift and seemed despondent about how it all played out.

Neilson Barnard / Staff / Getty Images

“I regret and it makes me sad that Taylor had that reaction to the deal,” said Bruan. “All of what happened has been very confusing and not based on anything factual. I don’t know what story she was told. I asked for her to sit down with me several times, but she refused. I offered to sell her the catalog back and went under NDA, but her team refused. It all seems very unfortunate. Open communication is important and can lead to understanding. She and I only met briefly three or four times in the past, and all our interactions were really friendly and kind. I find her to be an incredibly talented artist and wish her nothing but the best.”

“The thing that struck me the worst is the word ‘bully,‘” he added. “I’m firmly against anyone ever being bullied. I always try to lead with appreciation and understanding. The one thing I’m proudest of in that moment was that my artists and team stood by me. They know my character and my truth. That meant a lot to me. In the long run, I’m happy for my life’s work to be the legacy I leave behind.”

This controversy has sparked additional conversations about artists owning their own masters and once they do, using them to their benefit.

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R&B icon Mary J. Blige will be taking part in an upcoming documentary titled Mary J. Blige’s My Life that will explore the making of her 1994 record of the same name. In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Blige laid bare some of the difficult childhood memories that fueled and inspired her creative output for the album.

In the trailer for the documentary, Blige likened her neighborhood environment to a prison-like atmosphere and indicated that her lyrical pen and writing skills was her only chance to get out of that area. She shared with Entertainment Tonight that it was “heavy” and difficult to revisit some of her childhood memories because it meant processing some of the hard times she went through and questioning why so much could happen to a little girl like her.

“To go back and actually show them where the pain came from, it was heavy, but it was nothing because those are my fans,” Blige told ET about the documentary. “In order to do a My Life documentary, you have to go back and show people what happened, you know? Why it happened and where did all this pain come from?”

Blige also displayed empathy beyond herself, highlighting that while things were difficult for her upbringing as a child, it was equally as tough for her mother, who was raising her and her siblings all alone.

“Just speaking about all of that and how my mother was single and she was trying to raise us and she was being hurt. And she was in pain. And we all was in pain, but we were trying to survive without everyone knowing we were in pain,” Blige said.

The singer underscored the fact that her troubled childhood only better prepared her for the amount of success she would receive as a songwriter and artist. Letting fans in on a more intimate time in her life is only a testament to the strong relationship she’s built with them over the years. 

Check out the trailer for the documentary below – it’ll be available to stream on June 25th through Amazon Prime.

She has a new, slightly altered name and has been climbing the charts, but with all her successes, Latto may be ready to settle down. She’s been releasing freestyles and hit collaborations, but one thing Latto hasn’t shared is the identity of her significant other. The rapper has teased that she’s happily in love, and as fans continue to try to figure out who the lucky person may be, Latto recently shared that she ready to tackle motherhood.

On Twitter, Latto wrote, “I wanna have a baby now but I got more plaques to hang, red carpets to walk, awards to win etc [sad crying emoji].” There wasn’t much to it, but a Twitter user reposted the tweet and added, “The White Side Coming Out.”

Paras Griffin / Stringer / Getty Images

Latto reposted the exchange to her Instagram Story and didn’t understand how the two tweets were related. “This joke so overused [crying laughing emojis] what that gotta do w my mama being white??” the rapper asked. “I can say I want some cereal and mfs be like yOuR WHiTe sIdE iS sHOwInG.”

Her initial moniker caused a ruckus because people claimed she was using a racial slur, so Latto switched things up. However, that hasn’t kept people from making “jokes” about her background, and it seems that she’s over it.

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Since 2008, Britney Spears’s life has been under the control of her father, Jamie Spears, and her conservators. A judge ruled that the international superstar singer wasn’t able to manage her own career and personal life after Spears suffered mental health episodes. Way back then, Britney agreed that she needed help, but all these years later, the singer is finally vocalizing that the conservatorship that she’s been living under has kept her from doing just about anything.

The singer’s recent conservatorship hearing has caused Spears to trend across the internet as the “#FreeBritney” movement adds fuel to its fire. “I am traumatized,” she told a judge. “I want to end the conservatorship.”

Jamie McCarthy / Staff / Getty Images

Moments from Spears’s moving, yet scathing, speech has been shared around the world today (June 23), as the singer went after her father who has allegedly kept her under lock and key. “I’ve been in denial; I’ve been in shock; I am traumatized,” she said. “I just want my life back… I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive. I don’t feel like I can live a full life.”

“I haven’t been back to court in a long time because I don’t think I was heard on any level when I came to court last time,” Spears explained as she pleaded for her conservatorship to end. “It’s embarrassing and demoralizing what I’ve been through, and that’s the main reason I didn’t say it openly. I didn’t think anybody would believe me.”

“I want to be able to get married and have a baby. I was told I can’t get married. I have an IUD [birth control] inside me but this so-called team won’t let me go to the doctor to remove it because they don’t want me to have any more children. This conservatorship is doing me way more harm than good.”

“The last time I spoke to you, it made me feel like I was dead, like I didn’t matter, like you thought I was lying,” Spears told the judge. “I’m not lying, so that maybe you understand the depth and degree, I deserve changes.” The judge reportedly told the singer that they appreciated her passionate remarks. It’s unclear when Spears will receive a judgment on her next steps.

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