Getting To Know Adekunle Gold, Nigeria’s Afropop Treasure
Pop
TikTok Launches A New Tool To Help Artists On The Platform Distribute Their Music To DSPs
In recent years, TikTok has become one of the go-to social media platforms for the discovery and promotion of new music, but while it’s been helpful in generating hits for the likes of Doja Cat, Lil Nas X, Megan Thee Stallion, and more, for newer artists using the app to drive interest in their songs, the experience can be … let’s say a little “chaotic” — to say nothing of the labels who are trying to use the app to market artists and being hopelessly stonewalled by the cryptic algorithm and ever-evolving tastes on the app.
However, that may soon change as TikTok launches SoundOn, a new tool designed to help independent artists find their way on the platform, with a music-specific dashboard offering analytics, marketing advice, and even a team of employees to help A&R collaborations among artists. Most importantly, SoundOn will also help artists get paid — both directly through the app and via DSPs. Artists who upload music directly through SoundOn would get paid similarly to how a record deal works but with a “flexible exit clause” to allow them to withdraw rights should they decide to actually sign to a label.
The beta test of the new service has already generated its first major success in Muni Long’s “Hrs & Hrs,” which hit more than 1 million video creations and 1.6 billion views of the song, driving it to No. 16 peak on the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, plans for the future include a creator marketplace that will help match TikTok-ers with promotional partners, again helping them generate revenue outside of the traditional label system. It’s certainly another interesting innovation that may spark the next, artist-friendly phase for the music industry.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Doja Cat Is Roasting Her Own ‘Contractual’ Taco Bell Jingle On TikTok Before It Even Drops
On Planet Her, everything exists on Doja Cat’s terms — even her own branded content obligations. The pop star/rapper went on TikTok to let fans know that a “contractual” agreement she has with Taco Bell is dropping soon, and in her mind, this jingle is not going to be something she’s proud of doing. In a candid, no makeup clip, that seems to have been shot just after waking up, Doja spoke out about her agreement to help peddle Mexican pizza for the beloved fast food brand, and also noted that the word “jingle” has since been banned within her team.
@dojacat somebody gettin cussed out
“Somebody gettin cussed out,” she wrote in the video’s caption, before continuing on her rant. “I got to do this f*cking — you got to be quiet though, you can’t tell anybody that I told you this — I gotta do this f*cking TikTok where I do… everybody keeps calling it a jingle,” she began. “It’s for Taco Bell, and I gotta do this f*cking jingle. By the way, I banned that word within my team, jingle. We’re not allowed to say that. But I have to do a jingle, they want me to rap about Mexican pizza, so I want to give you a heads up before you see that shit — it’s contractual. I know it’s bad.”
Well, now we all want to hear it more than ever. So keep an ear out for Doja Cat rapping about Taco Bell. Or, based on her roasting of this obligatory segment, maybe just hold out for the tour.
Dolly Parton Wants To Collaborate With Cardi B And Has A Plan To Make It Happen
Prior to last night’s 2022 Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, country legend Dolly Parton sat down with E! News’ Daily Pop to discuss her admiration for her peers in the industry. Parton, who hosted and performed at the 2022 ACM Awards, named a few artists with whom she’d like to collaborate. Among those artists were Cher and Cardi B.
Although Parton and Cardi B are sonic opposites, Parton said she admired Cardi’s outspokenness and creativity.
“She’s a character,” Parton told Daily Pop of Cardi. “I know she’s an original.”
Parton also expressed interest in working on some sort of project with Cher, incorporating the “Up” rapper one way or another.
“I would love to do something with [Cher] sometime, a TV show, or a movie,” Dolly said of Cher. “We’ll have Cardi B on that same show, let Cher host it, and me and Cardi B will be the entertainment.”
At the 2022 ACM Awards, Parton witnessed Kelly Clarkson deliver a tribute to her, by way of a performance of “Jolene.”
“I have known Kelly since she won American Idol,” Parton said. “She’s just so real, as everybody knows. She’s just exactly the way she comes across. Her voice is absolutely bliss and incredible.”
Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Lin-Manuel Miranda Thought A Different ‘Encanto’ Song, Not ‘Bruno,’ Would Be The Biggest Hit
So far, Encanto smash hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” has spent five weeks in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Its streak actually came to an end this week, though, as Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” is now on top of the chart. Now, in a new Los Angeles Times interview, Lin-Manuel Miranda (who penned all the Encanto songs) spoke about the movie and its music, revealing that “Bruno” would not have been his pick to become a big success.
Miranda explained:
“In my wildest dreams of what might happen, I would have swapped ‘Colombia, Mi Encanto’ — the top and bottom of that chart! ‘Colombia, Mi Encanto’ [which spent one week at No. 100 before leaving the chart] is such a party tune: ‘This could maybe have a little life beyond the movie.’ And the fact that the ensemble song that is incredibly plot-heavy and almost requires having seen the film to fully understand is the one at the top of the charts is one of the most delightful and hilarious surprises … of my life [laughs]! The one that requires no context just made it and the one that requires all the context is the banger.”
He went on to note of “Bruno,” “I think the variety of it is a part of it; the fact that everyone can have a favorite part — it’s gonna be a karaoke jam forever because everyone can grab the mic at one moment or another. My son came home from school the other day and said, ‘Dad, we were singing it on the bus and everyone took different parts.’ I went, ‘Oh my God, did you sing along?’ He goes, ‘I was one of several Camilos’ [laughs].”
Check out the full interview here.
Leon Bridges Made A Surprise Appearance At Justin Bieber’s LA Show
During the LA stop at his Justice World Tour last night, Justin Bieber brought out Leon Bridges for a surprise performance. The Fort Worth, Texas-native then proceeded to perform “River” from his 2015 debut album, Coming Home.
Special guest @leonbridges
You never know who you will see with @justinbieber #JusticeWorldTour pic.twitter.com/2zb2VQsjod
— Crypto.com Arena (@cryptocomarena) March 8, 2022
Bridges released his most recent album, Gold-Diggers Sound, last July, which featured prominent production by Ricky Reed. Last month, he teamed up with fellow Texas musical trio Khruangbin for a collaborative EP called Texas Moon.
“Being under ‘the machine,’ you kind of have to adhere to whatever the label’s ideas are or whatever producer you’re working with,“ Bridges said of the EP in our cover story last month. “And whenever I’m doing that it’s more polished, but it’s still a vibe. Although I think my collaboration with Khruangbin is really where my heart is. I love how raw our sound is.”
Last night’s LA show was the first of two shows Bieber has planned at Crypto.com Arena on his Justice World Tour, which will take the Grammy-nominated “Peaches” singer across North America through June. Bridges is set to kick off a tour next month in Tulsa, Oklahoma, before making apperances at Hangout Festival and Glastonbury this summer.
Bieber announced last month that he would partner with Propeller and Live Free to local and national social justice organizations, including the REFORM Alliance, National Resources Defense Council, Fund For Guaranteed Income, and Last Prisoner Project.
Charli XCX Explains Why She Actually Loves The Unfortunate Nickname Cardi B Gave Her
Charli XCX is gearing up for a massive album release, with her fifth record, Crash, just around the corner. The project drops on March 18 and has been preceded by a whole slew of excellent singles, including “Good Ones,” a collaboration with Caroline Polachek and Christine and the Queens called “New Shapes,” her more recent collab with Rina Sawayama, “Beg For You,” and the latest single “Baby.”
She performed those last two on SNL this weekend, and has been on a bit of a press blitz in these last few days leading up to the album’s release. One stop on the endless press tours to promote new music is always The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and on her most recent appearance Charli and Jimmy discussed a funny story involving another of Atlantic Records’ biggest stars — Cardi B herself. Apparently, Charli had already told Jimmy the tale of when she, Bebe Rexha and Rita Ora collaborated with Cardi — all virtually — for the group song “Girls,” and how starstruck Charli was to be involved with Cardi, who she loves.
The only problem? When it came time for Cardi to promote the song and video, she shared the wrong name Charli… she called her “Charli STD” instead. But because it’s Cardi, Charli actually had no issues with the unsavory nickname. Sharing a bit of the interview in a clip on Instagram, Charli tagged Cardi and let her know she thinks the title rather iconic. “Charli std reporting for duty thank you @fallontonight & @jimmyfallon for having me and thank u @iamcardib for creating this iconic piece of Twitter history – i love you,” she wrote.
Check out the interview above and keep an ear out for that new Charli album!
Machine Gun Kelly Made A Beat Out Of Ellen DeGeneres’ Famous ‘Finding Nemo’ Whale Noises On ‘Ellen’
Alongside hosting her own long-running talk show, perhaps the defining job of Ellen DeGeneres’ career is voicing Dory in the Finding Nemo movies. On today’s Ellen episode, Machine Gun Kelly was a guest and he brought those two DeGeneres worlds together by remixing one of DeGeneres’ most iconic Finding Nemo moments.
To wrap up the “Burning Questions” segment, the final prompt was “Do your best Finding Dory impression.” That was a set-up for something MGK had planned, which started with him pulling out a piece of music production hardware. He started by showing DeGeneres an audio sample he pre-loaded onto the machine, a clip of her Dory character making “whale noises.” From there, he reversed the sound and used it as the foundation for an instrumental beat, which left DeGeneres impressed.
Elsewhere during the segment, DeGeneres asked what boyband Kelly would want to perform at his wedding. He responded, “Which boyband am I going to know the most songs of? For sure, NSYNC. Which band do I surprisingly know all these facts about? BTS. […] I remember one time, I met them at the Billboard awards. They were, like, stoked to meet me. I think I have a better chance of getting BTS to come.”
Check out the segment above. Kelly also talked about his and Travis Barker’s tattoos, so check that out below.
The Weeknd Will Cross Off A Bucket List Item By Guest-Starring On ‘The Simpsons’
2020 was major year for The Weeknd’s foray into animation. First he got to appear in an episode of one of his favorite shows, American Dad, and just months later, he voiced some characters on Robot Chicken. Here in 2022, he’s getting back into the saddle, as he is set to make an appearance on the cartoon: The Simpsons.
According to The Futon Critic, The Weeknd is set to voice a couple characters, Orion Hughes and Darius Hughes, on the March 20 episode, titled “Bart The Cool Kid.” An episode synopsis reads, “When Bart befriends a famous kid influencer who owns an ultra-cool skate wear brand, Homer leads a rebellion of loser dads against them.” Michael Rapaport is also set to guest star as as Mike Wegman.
The Weeknd himself confirmed the news by shared a report from a fan account on Twitter and writing, “proud of this one.”
proud of this one
https://t.co/8tdTSdd7Pl
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) March 6, 2022
Shortly before the premiere of his American Dad episode, The Weeknd indicated that getting to appear on The Simpsons would be a dream come true, saying in a Variety interview, “American Dad was everything I wanted. It’s going to be hard to beat this in the TV cartoon world, but an obvious bucket list would be to work on The Simpsons. That would be a dream — and if they’re reading this, I actually have a pretty cool idea if they’re down.”
Megan Thee Stallion And Dua Lipa Are Teasing A Sweet New Song That Drops Soon
Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa both had strong albums back in 2020. For Megan, it was her debut album, Good News, which peaked at No. 2 on the albums chart. Earlier that year, Dua Lipa released her sophomore album, Future Nostalgia, and while that peaked at No. 4, it did spawn a pair of top-two singles: “Don’t Start Now” and “Levitating.” As of today, the two artists have yet to work on a song together (though fans did pair them for an unofficial remix of “Levitating”), but now Megan and Dua have collaborated ona new track that’s coming soon.
In a post to her Instagram page, Lipa shared a brief preview of the song. In it, Megan says, “Hot girl sh*t, me and Dua Lipa finna get the party lit”, while Lipa sings softly in the background. On Megan’s Instagram, she shared what could be the cover art for the song. A title for the upcoming song has yet to be revealed, but they did confirm that it will arrive on March 11. Additionally, singer and Grammy-winning songwriter Nija has a contribution on it, as she revealed on Instagram.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.