Mike Dean

The Weeknd & Suzanna Son Team Up On “Family” From “The Idol”

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HBO’s highly controversial series, The Idol returned with its second episode on Sunday night. The series, co-created by The Weeknd and Euphoria’s Sam Levinson, hasn’t necessarily earned critical praise but it’s undoubtedly caught everyone’s attention. Despite the grievances that many share towards the nudity and general creepiness of the show, it’s still highly successful. And if anything, it just meant that we got new music from The Weeknd.

The Canadian pop star unveiled a series of new singles as part of the project. Ahead of its launch, he debuted singles like “Double Fantasy” ft. Future and “Popular” ft. Madonna and Playboi Carti. This week, he came through with the music from The Idol episode two, which includes a collaboration with his castmate, Suzanna Son, who plays Chloe. Together, they join forces on the single “Family,” produced by Mike Dean, Sage Skolfield, and The Weeknd. The moody duet sets the tone for the second episode of the series, titled “Double Fantasy.”

Read More: “The Idol” Praise: Sharon Stone Applauds The Weeknd & Lily-Rose Depp As HBO Series Slammed For Nudity

The Weeknd & Suzanna Son Join Forces

The release of “Family” appears on The Idol Episode 2 (Music From The HBO Original Series), alongside Mike Dean’s “Devil’s Paradise” and the Future-assisted, “Double Fantasy.” It looks like we might be able to anticipate new music from The Weeknd on a weekly basis. Last week, he shared the soundtrack for episode 1, which included his new single, “The Lure” ft. Mike Dean and Lily Rose-Depp’s “World Class Sinner/I’m A Freak.” 

The Idol explores the story of Jocelyn, played by Rose-Depp, a pop star who recently experienced a mental breakdown and attempts to reconstruct her image and career. That’s when she meets Tedros, played by The Weeknd, who is the leader of a modern day cult. They ultimately get intertwined into a toxic relationship. The first two episodes initially debuted at the Cannes Film Festival to negative reviews. Still, The Weeknd and the team earned a standing ovation following the debut. Check out The Weeknd’s new single, “Family” with Suzanna Son above and sound off with your thoughts on The Idol. Have you been tuning in? Let us know in the comment section below. 

Read More: The Weeknd Reveals How These Iconic Albums Influenced “The Idol” Soundtrack

The post The Weeknd & Suzanna Son Team Up On “Family” From “The Idol” appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Travis Scott Dropping “Utopia” Soon? Mike Dean Opens Infamous Album Briefcase

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Could Travis Scott be dropping Utopia this month? Some seem to think that’s the case. The rapper’s producer, Mike Dean, has finally opened the mysterious Utopia briefcase. This has, of course, sparked much speculation among fans. Dean shared a photo on Instagram with the briefcase open, but the contents remained hidden from public view. He captioned the post with the question, “What’s in the case? #musicforthefuture.” Fans went wild with theories of release dates in the comments.

Fans eagerly speculated on the contents and predicted that the long-awaited Utopia would be released soon. Some commenters suggested that the album might drop at the end of the month, given Dean’s act of opening the case. The excitement surrounding Utopia has been building up for quite some time. Epic Records CEO Sylvia Rhone confirmed in an interview with Billboard earlier this year that Travis Scott’s fourth solo LP would be released in June. Whether or not that is set in stone remains to be seen. If it’s accurate, that means we will be getting the album in the next few weeks.

Travis Has Revealed Very Little About The Album

Travis Scott has taken a very interesting route when it comes to promoting the new album. The brown briefcase, emblazoned with the album title, made appearances at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The Weeknd was later seen with it at the premiere of The Idol in France. This led fans to speculate that The Weeknd might be featured on the album. While Travis Scott has been tight-lipped about the album, he discussed the sound and concept of Utopia in an interview with PIN-UP magazine. He revealed that he used an MPC, particularly favoring the 2000XL, to create most of the album’s distinctive and lively sound.

For Scott, Utopia is not just about living a perfect and extravagant life. It’s a state of mind that individuals can create for themselves. He emphasized that utopia can be achieved by anyone. Wealth and material possessions don’t matter, as long as the person finds contentment and fulfillment wherever they are. The album appears to be nearing completion, with mastering stages underway. In this stage, Mike Dean will likely play a significant role. Travis Scott recently even had a listening session of Utopia for the Houston Astros team before a game last month. This suggests that the album is in its final stages before release. Are you excited for Travis Scott’s new album? Sound off in the comments to let us know!

The post Travis Scott Dropping “Utopia” Soon? Mike Dean Opens Infamous Album Briefcase appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Mike Dean Reveals He’s Working on Travis Scott’s ‘Utopia’ Album

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Travis Scott's Utopia album is on the way. Hitting Instagram, Mike Dean revealed that he is the one mastering the forthcoming album.

Travis Scott’s Utopia album is on the way. Hitting Instagram, Mike Dean revealed that he is the one mastering the forthcoming album.

Hitting IG, Dean blacked out a few notes about the song he was working on and simply provided a one-word caption: ‘TOPIA.

Travis Scott is keeping the Utopia album secure to him, packed in a briefcase, and handcuffed to his security guard.

Travis was spotted in Hollywood on Thursday, hitting a vinyl store. TMZ noted the rapper was escorted by his security guard. In addition to ensuring Scott’s safety and opening his door, the guard had another job, making sure the Utopia album was safe.

READ MORE: Travis Scott Closes Rolling Loud Thailand 2023, the Nation’s Largest Festival in History

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Travis Scott

Utopia serves as his newest release since 2018’s critically-acclaimed Astroworld, which features all-star appearances from Frank Ocean, Drake, Swae Lee, James Blake, Sheck Wes, Kid Cudi, Juice WRLD, The Weeknd, Pharrell, Gunna, Nav, Takeoff, 21 Savage, and more.

And if there’s one thing you can count on from Travis, it’s his support for his hometown of Houston. On Monday evening (May 15), the “Sicko Mode” recording artist visited Minute Maid Park to hang out with the Houston Astros baseball team guys, giving them a preview of the highly-anticipated new music. 

In a clip that surfaced online, Travis states, “Man, fresh from Utopia. It’s on the way now. Had to come here and play Utopia for the boys in the locker room. Had to get it right for the game. You know how we do, from the clubhouse to the stu!”

READ MORE: Travis Scott and Cactus Jack Foundation Host Celebrity Softball Game to Support HBCU Scholarship Program

Boasting 49 million followers on Instagram alone, Travis Scott played the unreleased music right before the Astros played the Chicago Cubs in their home stadium. Travis must have been good luck, as the Astros ended up beating the Cubs 6 to 4. Additionally, Scott got in some batting practice and even got to peep the weight room.

While rocking his Air Jordan 1 Low “Black Phantom” sneakers, Travis seemed very excited to preview Utopia. In fact, he’s been teasing these tracks for years, even releasing two songs titled “Mafia” and “Escape Plan” back in November 2021.

Last year, cryptic billboards of Utopia popped up all around Southern California. In August, Travis revealed returning to the studio to perfect the new project.

Shirley Ju contributed to this report.

The post Mike Dean Reveals He’s Working on Travis Scott’s ‘Utopia’ Album appeared first on The Source.

Mike Dean Deletes Post About Mixing “UTOPIA”

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Hype for Travis Scott’s next album Utopia is at an all-time high, and maybe Mike Dean toyed with that excitement that with his latest Instagram post. On Wednesday (May 17), the acclaimed producer posted a picture of a few tracks and regions on a song that he was mixing. “‘TOPIA,” he captioned his post, which obviously got fans incredibly ecstatic. However, he quickly deleted that post and uploaded the same picture. This time around, though, he made no such allusions to La Flame’s next project, and instead gave producers and mixing engineers some game.

“#levels,” Mike Dean began his new Instagram caption on the same picture. “If u got too many tracks and your songs not big. Make bigger sounds. Doesn’t take a hundred tracks. All the best album in history are on 24 tracks.” Given Travis Scott’s recent comments on Utopia, seeing Mike in mixing mode is quite interesting. After he played the album for the Houston Astros, Travis remarked in a viral clip, “Finish the master, Mark.” Mark is not Mike, but this back-and-forth IG posting suggests that the LP is in its final stages.

Read More: Travis Scott’s Biggest Songs

Mike Dean Mixing Utopia… Or Is He?

Of course, Mike Dean and Travis Scott are quite frequent collaborators, especially on the production side of things. As such, maybe this news shouldn’t be much of a surprise, because who didn’t expect Mike Dean to be involved anyway? Regardless, the fact that he deleted the post and remade his caption is quite interesting, as maybe the Houston rapper wants the project shrouded in at least some secrecy. Still, that renders reports on Utopia‘s summer release date quite moot, as it’s hard to keep something so hyped so secret.

Meanwhile, Travis Scott has reportedly told people like Kevin Durant that Utopia will be “f***ing insane.” No matter how the album sounds, when it arrives, or who else is on it, hints of Mike Dean’s involvement certainly bode well for the project. Hopefully the star instrumentalist isn’t just toying with fans with his Instagram posts… but at least producers got some tips as a result. For the latest updates on Utopia and more news on these Houston artists, stick around on HNHH.

Read More: Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival: What Happened?

The Weeknd Concerns Fans With Cryptic Tweet

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The Weeknd left fans shook this morning. Even though he maintains a mysterious presence in the public eye and often carries that persona online, he left a cryptic message on his Instagram page that left fans quite concerned. “Goodbye Earth,” he wrote without a follow-up. Fans flooded the replies with well wishes, concerns, and jokes. However, it doesn’t seem like fans picked up on the fact that “Goodbye Earth” is actually a song on Mike Dean’s album 4:23, which the Weeknd executive produced. 

Dean and The Weeknd’s collaborative track record together expanded further on 4:23. Along with serving as an executive producer with the legendary producer, he also has four credits on the project: “Artificial Intelligence,” “Defame Moi,” “More Coke!!!,” and “Emotionless.” Prior to this record, Mike Dean contributed to the production on The Weeknd’s new single, “Double Fantasy” ft. Future, alongside Metro Boomin. Hopefully, this is an indication that Mike Dean will be far more hands-on with the Canadian singer’s follow-up to Dawn FM. 

The Weeknd Preps The Idol

The Weeknd is currently gearing up for the release of his upcoming HBO series, The Idol, as well as its accompanying soundtrack that Mike Dean will be contributing to. The series is set to debut at the Cannes Film Festival this month before debuting on HBO Max on June 4th. The show, co-created by the Weeknd and Euphoria’s Sam Levinson, follows the story of a budding pop star who gets caught up with a self-help guru/cult leader, played by The Weeknd. Hopefully, it doesn’t disappoint after all the controversy and hype surrounding the series.

The Weeknd is undoubtedly making strides these days, between the influx of music and his budding acting career. In March, the Guinness World Record officials declared the pop star as “the most popular artist,” weeks after reaching the 100M monthly listener mark on Spotify. Combined with the success of “Die For You (Remix)” ft. Ariana Grande shot to the top of the Hot 100, the Guinness World Record explained that his streaming numbers boosted significantly across the globe to earn this title. Check out The Weeknd’s tweet above. 

Mike Dean Drops “4:23,” Executive Produced By The Weeknd

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Earlier this week, Mike Dean announced that his new album 4:23 was dropping soon. The album is the third in his numbered series, following 2020’s 4:20 and 2021’s 4:22. Dean is a famed hip-hop record producer who has worked with the biggest names in the industry. Among his clients are Beyonce, Drake, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Madonna, Lana Del Rey, and more. He has also worked extensively with The Weeknd, including playing a part in the star’s new collab with Future, “Double Fantasy.” The single is from the soundtrack from Abel’s new HBO show, The Idol. As such, it is likely that Mike Dean also played a hand in producing the rest of the soundtrack with The Weeknd. “There’s a whole album. I’m not shying away from making music. It’s just adding another element to my already crowded schedule,” Abel said of the new soundtrack.

In order to announce the new album from Mike Dean, Abel took to social media. “New @therealmikedean 4:23 album co-executive produced by me dropping this week,” The Weeknd tweeted. Very few details about the album were revealed before its release. Being that it was announced just several days beforehand, it’s no surprise.

Mike Dean’s Wonderland of Dreamy Synths

On 4:23, Mike Dean welcomes you into his weird, dreamy world of analog synths. Even as far as electronic music goes, much of this album is not for the faint of heart. The Weeknd has some great guest vocal spots, but much of it is simply synthesizer madness. There are some standouts, however, particularly on some of the songs with Abel. Perhaps the best song on the album is “Artificial Intelligence.” It would fit very well into The Weeknd’s oeuvre, so it makes a lot of sense that he features on it.

“You can have me on my knees / Like I was about to break / Idolizin’ at your feet / Know that you are so far away,” Abel sings on the track. “I will travel overseas / Join hearts in another place / I’ll do all to compete / Emotionless.” He gives a very strong, emotional performance over Mike Dean’s space production. The album does lose its way at certain points, but there will always be plenty of good production to reel listeners back in. “118k” is one of the weaker tracks, but the distorted, weaponized feedback that comes on immediately after in “Earth To Michael” makes it impossible to stop listening.

Tracklist:

  1. Once Upon a Time
  2. Artificial Intelligence
  3. Defame Moi
  4. More Coke!!
  5. Music for the Future
  6. Rewind Life
  7. Goodbye Earth
  8. Hello Space
  9. Mechanical Tarantula
  10. 118k
  11. Earth To Michael
  12. Emotionless
  13. Electric Sheep