Kid Cudi Partners with Star Trek Franchise for New “Boldly Be” Campaign

Kid Cudi is releasing an out of this world collaboration…

The 39-year-old half-Mexican American rapper, singer, songwriter and actor is partnering with Star Trek for the sci-fi franchise’s new campaign.

Kid Cudi x Star TrekThe “Day ‘n’ Nite” rapper will be the face of its latest campaign titled “Boldly Be.” 

The collaboration is set to launch at New York Comic Con — held at the Javits Center — on October 12, and features a Fortnite gaming experience, a streetwear capsule collection and a new song from the rapper titled “Heaven’s Galaxy.”

Kid Cudi’s fandom of the franchise inspired “Heaven’s Galaxy,” which was produced by Dot Da Genius. The track will be available on streaming starting on October 12.

The Star Trek x Cudi streetwear collection includes tees, crewnecks, hoodies, a custom button-up T-shirt and a colorful leather varsity jacket.

NYCC attendees can hit up Star Trek x Kid Cudi’s booth 2653 to pre-order items from the collaboration, with the collection dropping on Kid Cudi’s website on October 16.

The Fornite experience, titled Star Trek x Kid Cudi: Mirror Mayhem, will see Kid Cudi stepping into the world of the franchise and the popular video game.

“Heaven’s Galaxy” will be in the game, in addition to previously unheard songs from the rapper’s forthcoming album, INSANO. 

According to the press release, players can “partner with Captain Skyles (Kid Cudi) on a mission to uncover the source of a sonic anomaly that threatens the peaceful planet Vada.”

The collab’s NYCC booth will also offer a first look at the gaming experience.

J Balvin Signs Management Deal with Roc Nation

J Balvin has new management…

The 38-year-old Colombian singer has officially joined Roc Nation as a management client, where he will be overseen directly by Jay Brown and Chris Knight.

J BalvinBalvin was previously managed by Fabio Acosta and Scooter Braun’s SB Projects. He parted ways with the latter on June 30, 2022, after nearly three years together.

He continued working with Acosta and his company, Akela Family Music, through March. Acosta had managed or co-managed Balvin in some capacity for the past decade. Sources say the two parted on amicable terms.

Balvin, one of the biggest Latin stars in the world, has had a series of management shifts over the past five years. In 2019, he parted ways with manager Rebeca León, who had managed him since the onset of his career in the United States, and signed with Braun.

Throughout both deals, Acosta remained part of his management team and worked in partnership with SB Projects, helping bring in groundbreaking deals and partnerships. These included his celebrity menu collaboration with McDonald’s — a first for a Latin act.
7/14 – Tenerife, Spain – Ritmo del Mundo
7/15 – Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal – Meo Mares Vivas Festival
7/21 – Byron Bay, Australia – Splendour in the Grass
7/23 – Melbourne – Margaret Court
7/25 – Sydney – Hordern Pavillion

Bruno Mars’ Silk Sonic Bringing Their Music & Retro Style to Fortnite

It’s a Fortnite to remember for Bruno Mars

The part-Puerto Rican Grammy-winning singer/songwriter and Anderson .Paak’s Silk Sonic have joined the world of Fortnite by announcing that they’ve signed a deal to bring their smooth stylings to the virtual universe.

Bruno Mars, Silk Sonic, FortniteThe partnership between Atlantic Records and Fornite on the latest “Icon Series” will include in-game outfits for players, a new in-game “Icon Radio” station and an upcoming “Silk Sonic Cup” player tournament.

“When Fortnite asked me if I wanted to create an outfit for the game, I asked, ‘Are CGI muscles off the table?’ They said ‘no.’ I said ‘deal.’ I”ll see you on the Island,” Mars said in a statement, with .Paak cheekily adding, “When Fortnite agreed to give Bruno CGI muscles, I said, ‘I’m in. He could use the help, so I support it.’ And it makes me cool. Win, win.”

Bruno Mars, Silk Sonic, FortniteThe first “Icon Radio” station launched this week, allowing players to listen to all the songs on the duo’s debut, An Evening With Silk Sonic, in their cars, along with solo tracks from Mars and .Paak. Legendary funk bassist Bootsy Collins serves as the radio station’s host.

The official “Silk Sonic Set” outfits — players can choose between a digitally jacked Mars or .Paak — are slated to launch on February 10 at 7:00 pm ET. They include signature accessories like Mars’ Sound Scepter Pickaxe, which can be worn as Back Bling, and .Paak’s Sonic Snare Back Bling and Boom Bap Pickaxe; Fortnite users can get early access to the new outfits and the pair’s signature “Silk Sonic Spray” by competing in the Silk Sonic Cup tournament, which kicks off on February 7.

Both performers are familiar to Fortnite users; .Paak performed a “Spotlight Concert Series” in the game in September 2020 and Mars’ “Leave the Door Open Emote” debuted in-game in April 2021.

The Icon Series skin line has previously featured collaborations with Ariana Grande and Marshmello, among others.

Lele Pons Appears in YouTube’s 2018 YouTube Rewind Clip

Lele Pons is rewinding through the past year…

The 22-year-old Venezuelan internet personality, actress, singer, dancer and host of La Voz… México appears in YouTube’s “YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind.

Lele Pons

The clip, jam-packed with references to this year’s music, features many of YouTube’s popular creators and recaps the year’s content, trends and tunes.

The YouTube Rewind series first hit the internet in 2010..

The eight-minute-plus video opens with Will Smith (who made his YouTube channel debut earlier this year) against a mountainous landscape, announcing, “It’s rewind time.” He continues, “If I control rewind, I would want Fortnite and Marques Brownlee.” Snapping his fingers, a dreamlike YouTuber-filled compilation begins.

“Is this what you wanted?” asks Brownlee from a flying Fortnite-esque bus full of YouTubers ready to pick out their own favorite moments as Cardi B’s “I Like It” plays in the background.

The scene eventually swaps to one in which the content creators crowd around a campfire together. “Apparently we control rewind this year. Y’all, we can do whatever we want,” confirms Liza Koshy. “What do we do?”

K-pop!” pipe up the Merrell Twins and Casey Neistat as a dancing montage backed by BTS’ “Idol” plays in the background.

Marshmello soon makes a brief appearance (as does his collaboration with Bastille, “Happier“).

The next music moment comes when the animated TheOdd1sOut suggests they accept Drake’s “In My Feelings” Challenge, the moving-car dance craze inspired by the song earlier this year.

YouTubers including Pons, Anwar Jibawi and Rudy Mancuso later take on a catwalk wearing oversized blocky bodysuits meant to resemble the ones Kanye West and Lil Pump sported in the “I Love It” music video; Panic! at the Disco’s “High Hopes” backs them up.

The social-media-famous “Baby Shark” song by Pinkfong also gets a nod, accompanied by some colorfully costumed kid show characters.

This year’s video has, notably, at time of press, been disliked more than 2.2 million times — over twice as many times as it has been liked — with viewers pointing out that some of YouTube’s biggest stars, including PewDiePie (who boasts over 74 million subscribers), are absent. Despite this, the recap has already received 33 million views.