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Jay-Z Highlights Babyface Ray, Kodak Black, And More In His New Memorial Day Playlist For Tidal

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Another holiday, another chance for Jay-Z to re-up his rap nerd credibility. This time around, Jay’s new Tidal playlist is called “Montecito” and landed on the streaming app on Memorial Day with the description “(Mostly) ’22 vibes.” The one exception that prompts the qualifier is Kodak Black’s 2021 hit “Super Gremlin,” which extended its run far beyond its October 2021 release date as one of the more popular recent singles in rap.

Kodak also appears multiple times on the playlist, with Jay including “Purple Stamp” and “I Wish” from the Floridian’s 2022 project Back For Everything. Other artists Jay included multiple times are Detroit upstart Babyface Ray, whose Face track “A1 Since Day 1” leads off the playlist, and 42 Dugg & EST Gee, the dynamic duo whose joint mixtape Last Ones Left was the brainchild of their CMG team captain, Yo Gotti. Speaking of Yo Gotti, the Memphis mainstay also gets multiple selections from his own new project CM10: Free Game.

Of course, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers gets a few entries, as do Future and Lil Durk, while Boldy James, Pusha T, and Vince Staples are all represented with a track apiece. And because having one problematic entity in Kodak Black apparently wasn’t enough, Jay gave some “True Love” to his musical younger brother Kanye West’s new track with XXXTentacion. If anything is missing, it’s some female representation; you’d think Jay would love the throwback vibe of Megan Thee Stallion’s new track “Plan B.”

As always, though, the new playlist proves that Hov keeps his ears to the street, even if he’s not actively recording any new music himself. And for the newer or more underground artists receiving some spotlight, it’s a chance to tap in with new fans who recognize Jay’s nearly impeccable taste. You can listen to the playlist on Tidal below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Diddy: Biggie’s “Hypnotize” Video Shoot Was First Time We Tried Ecstasy

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While posthumously celebrating the 50th birthday of the Notorious B.I.G., Diddy participated in TIDAL’s Twitter Spaces convo about the King Of New York, where he shared some of his most memorable experiences with the late Brooklyn legend. One memory that has raised eyebrows, especially during the country’s opiate epidemic, is Diddy telling the story of when he and Biggie first tried Ecstacy on the set of the “Hypnotize” video.

During the TIDAL convo, Diddy said, “Ah man, the video was fun.” He continued: “That was like the first time we both tried ecstasy. I mean, it was an experience, you know what I’m saying? Ayo, Biggie’s 50. Check this out, we have nothing to hide. That was a long time ago… it was the first time. It was just a little nibble, it was all right. It was a little nibble. But we was in extra high, high spirits. Yeah, this breaking news and s**t. F**k it. On his 50th birthday, I wanna let y’all know that.”

Hear the entire convo below.

The post Diddy: Biggie’s “Hypnotize” Video Shoot Was First Time We Tried Ecstasy appeared first on The Source.

Women of TIDAL are Shaping the Innovative Future of the Platform

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Women of TIDAL Tonya Nelson Fisher Alexa Disney Melanie Mercedes

Women of TIDAL are shape shifters.

Every now and then, the age-old debate on whether to have dinner with Jay-Z or take $500,000 trends on social media. Fans provide arguments for both sides of the spectrum. Some argue that a conversation during a dinner with Hov will catapult them to insurmountable heights, while others look to cash-out on-demand.

Well last September, TIDAL’s Twitter account finally put the debate to rest with the now viral response “Take the $500K,” tweeted from the thumbs of social media manager, Melanie Mercedes.

The New York University alumna has held the role of managing all social platforms for TIDAL. Now her role has evolved to community manager of social which she describes is a role that goes far beyond solely publishing on social media.

Melanie Mercedes
Melanie Mercedes

“The magic in social is being able to identify your audience and speak to them directly. When they feel seen and heard, they’re much more likely to engage in a meaningful way.”

Humanizing the brand is pivotal to keeping the audience engaged. While social media controls the direct-to-consumer voice for the platform, Alexa Disney connects the DSP and collaborating artists with external brands that coincide with their musical content and overall message.

The Sony Music alumas, where she held a similar role, stresses the importance of authenticity when pairing TIDAL or other artists with other brands.

Alexa Disney
Alexa Disney

“Fans know if it’s not authentic,” she says.

There was more push back during the beginning of her career, where many artists perceived brand partnerships to be a gimmick, rather than something that can help expand their audience. In this day and age, artists are more receptive because it helps to only add to their overall brand.

For Tonya Nelson-Fisher, the manager of music programming, she connects TIDAL’s “most passionate music fans” to their favorite genre, artists, era of music and more. In addition, Nelson-Fisher helps to curate themed playlists for specific holidays, months and even cultural icons. Back in January, TIDAL uploaded a playlist of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous speeches. The same goes for Maya Angelou and Malcom X.

“I think that differentiates us and helps us to stand out from the pack,” she says.

Tonya Nelson Fisher
Tonya Nelson Fisher

Nelson-Fisher promises that TIDAL will introduce new features to enhance their user experience in the near future. The digital streaming platform has added the HiFi Plus tier user experience, which grants access to lossless High Fidelity sound quality, master quality and immersive audio.

Although Tonya, Alexa and Melanie’s roles differ, they co-exist to expand TIDAL’s reach to potential new audiences, while maintaining the interest of the ones that already exist.

Their musical obsession only adds to the growth and success of the platform.

Continue the Women of TIDAL conversation on social media.

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Migos’ ‘Culture’ Disappears From Streaming On Its Fifth Anniversary

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While progressive Atlanta trap trio Migos had plenty of hits in their early career — the biggest being “Versace” thanks to its remix from Drake — it was their 2017 album Culture that turned them into a national phenomenon. It was the band’s first album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and launched their chart-topping single “Bad And Boujee” with Lil Uzi Vert, making Migos a household name. Today is its fifth anniversary, but fans looking to give it a nostalgic spin the commemorate the occasion are out of luck as the album has mysteriously disappeared from streaming platforms.

Neither the band nor their label, Quality Control Music, have offered any explanations for the takedown. In fact, the social media for both only contain posts celebrating the Culture sequel, Culture II, on its fourth anniversary. Meanwhile, fans on Twitter have been posting screenshots of the greyed-out song titles in their playlists and saved albums folders, wondering where the album went — and whether there will be some sort of update in the near future.

So far, Culture appears to be the only album affected, with longtime favorites like Young Rich N*ggas, YRN 2, and both Culture follow-ups remaining intact. It also appears that whatever is happening here hasn’t affected the album on Tidal, so perhaps it’s just temporary. Meanwhile, Quavo’s promotional post for his own new single releasing tonight has been bombarded with requests from fans to bring back Culture. Whether or not Quavo has the pull to make it happen remains to be seen. Stay tuned.

Jay-Z’s Latest Tidal Playlist Highlights Mach-Hommy, MF DOOM, And Vince Staples

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Jay-Z’s playlists on Tidal have become a tradition of sorts, not just allowing him to stay in touch with fans — something he obviously cares very much about, judging from his recent drop-in on Twitter Spaces — but also to show off his musical knowledge, which he also seems to care about a lot.

His latest list has arrived to commemorate the renaming of financial services tech company Square to Block, as soon-to-be-former Twitter CEO and Square co-founder Jack Dorsey announced on Wednesday this week (after roasting Facebook’s re-brand, no less). Square also recently purchased Tidal, which helped Jay-Z secure a seat on Square’s board of directors. Therefore, the new playlist, “Block Vibes,” is a celebration of the change, of sorts, as well as an interesting marketing ploy, introducing the new name and demonstrating synergy across the new brand, which also encircles Cash App.

The list once again showcases Jay’s expansive tastes, including up-and-coming rappers like Mach-Hommy and Vince Staples, backpack rap stalwarts Madlib and MF DOOM, eclectic bands Haitus Kaiyote and Khruangbin, and rising Afrobeats stars Tems and Wizkid.

In addition to being folded into Block’s overall corporate structure, Tidal also recently revamped its artist payment system and added a free tier to allow for ads and better payouts to the artists that make the business all its money.

Listen to Jay-Z’s new “Block Vibes” playlist below.

Jay-Z Touts His Playlist Curation Prowess: ‘I Challenge Anyone Out There’

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Although Jay-Z isn’t making much new music these days (aside from some obvious exceptions), he still remains heavily involved in the curation of playlists for the Tidal music platform — even as he sells his majority ownership stake to Square and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. In a recent Twitter spaces town hall about the upcoming deal, he boasted about his playlist prowess, challenging listeners to assemble a better compilation than he can.

“I found so many songs, my playlist game is A++,” he bragged. “I challenge anyone out there. I’m definitely in the top tier of playlist creators.”

Over the past several years, he’s made an effort to prove it, most recently putting together a list celebrating his onetime rival Nas — the only rapper with whom he’s worked in the past year — a 2020 year-end list highlighting the bar-heavy favorites that sustained him in a year of COVID, and the protest-themed “Songs For Survival 2,” which tapped into the rebellious energy of the summer 2020 uprisings against police brutality.

Elsewhere during their chat, Jack and Jay discussed the overlaps in music and Square, and how related tools like CashApp can help artists (as well as being name-checked by them in a rapidly increasing number of songs). “The things that Square and Cash App were doing is pretty much aligned with what one does with their own brand,” Jay noted. “You create a business, take out a small loan, get the things you need to help you be successful and build it out from there. So our conversations just naturally aligned.”

TIDAL Is Properly Celebrating JAY-Z’s ‘Reasonable Doubt’

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Music mogul JAY-Z‘s Reasonable Doubt has some serious respect being placed on its name. The hip-hop icon’s unforgettable debut album is getting all its flowers courtesy of people responsible for its creation reflecting on the 25th anniversary. TIDAL Is Properly Celebrating JAY-Z’s Classic According to streaming giant TIDAL, fans will be able to take a […]

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