Enrique Iglesias & Influence Media Partners Agree to Major Partnership Deal

Posted on December 6, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Enrique Iglesias has a new influence…

The 48-year-Spanish superstar and Influence Media Partners have agreed to a major partnership deal.

Influence and Iglesias have partnered on the rights management of his pre-2021 recorded music rights, according to a press release, including his independent masters and his Universal recorded music royalties, along with name, image and likeness (NIL) rights to expand future licensing opportunities for the singer.

This marks the first NIL deal for Influence Media, which last year partnered with Black Rock and Warner Music Group for funding and infrastructure.

“My songs hold immense significance for both my fans and me,” Iglesias said in a statement. “I’m excited to be working with the Influence Media team. I feel confident we will build an enduring partnership for my music and future projects.”

“Enrique is a global icon and having him as a part of our Influence Media family is a game-changing moment for us,” added Lylette Pizarro, Influence Media founder/co-managing partner. “For a quarter of a century, he has captivated fans globally with chart-topping and record-breaking hits. From ‘Experiencia Religiosa’ to ‘Hero’ and ‘Bailando’ to ‘I Like It’ and ‘Be With You,’ there are few artists who come close to accomplishing what Enrique has achieved commercially. He has played a pivotal role in introducing bilingual music to the masses. We couldn’t be more excited to partner with one of the most recognizable figures in modern music.”

“It has been an honor to be part of Enrique’s team for more than two decades,” said John Branca, partner/head of music at Ziffren Brittenham, who represented Iglesias in the deal. “As the most successful Latin artist of all time he is also one of the most accomplished and beloved artists of his generation. Enrique was highly selective in choosing a partner with whom he will enhance his already monumental legacy.”

With a career that spans over three decades, Iglesias is one of the first Spanish-language acts to successfully cross over into the English-language market. He has placed five top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including “I Like It,” “Tonight (I’m Lovin’ You)” and “Hero.” He’s also placed three top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 (Escape, Euphoria and Sex And Love) and 27 No. 1 hits on the Hot Latin Songs chart.

Currently on the U.S. Trilogy Tour with Pitbull and Ricky Martin, Iglesias most recently scored his eighth No. 1 on the Tropical Airplay chart with his bachata collab “Así Es La Vida” with Maria Becerra. He is set to drop his new album, Final Vol. 2, next year.

Influence Media previously acquired the commercially-released master recording catalog of Blake Shelton for his 2001-2019 output, Future’s song publishing catalog and Puerto Rican songwriter-producer Tainy’s song publishing catalog from 2005-2021, among other investments.

Peso Pluma to Make Debut Performance at MTV Video Music Awards

Posted on September 8, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Peso Pluma is preparing to make a grand debut appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards.

The 24-year-old Mexican singer-songwriter has been added to the list of performers for the upcoming MTV VMAs.

Peso Pluma, who is nominated for Best New Artist, Best Latin and Song of the Summer, is part of a roster of new performer additions that includes Fall Out Boy, Metro Boomin with Future, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie and Swae Lee & NAV.

They join previously announced Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Wayne, Anitta, Doja Cat, Kelsea Ballerini, Tomorrow X Together, Demi Lovato, Karol G, Måneskin and Stray Kids.

Minaj will reprise her dual role at the VMAs as show emcee and performer for the 2023 live event from New Jersey’s Prudential Center on Tuesday, September 12.

Taylor Swift leads the pack in nominations with eight. Other multi-nominated artists include SZA with six noms, Doja Cat, Kim Petras, Miley Cyrus, Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo and Sam Smith with five each, and Blackpink, Diddy and Shakira with four each.

Fans can vote for their favorites across 15 gender-neutral categories, including “Video of the Year,” at vote.mtv.com through Friday, September 1st; voting for “Best New Artist” will remain active into the show on Tuesday, September 12th.

Swizz Beatz to Participate in Grammys’ Star-Studded Segment Celebrating Hip-Hop’s 50th Anniversary

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Swizz Beatz is helping celebrating hip-hop history…

The 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 5, will feature a star-studded segment celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop that will include the 44-year-old half-Puerto Rican recording artist, music producer and entrepreneur.

With a career spanning over two decades, his catalog includes “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem“, “Party Up (Up in Here)” (DMX), “Gotta Man” (Eve), “Jigga My Nigga“, “Girl’s Best Friend” (Jay-Z), “Upgrade U“, “Check on It“, “Ring the Alarm” (Beyoncé), “Good Times” (Styles P), “Bring ‘Em Out“, “Swing Ya Rag” (T.I.), “Hotel“, “I’m a Hustla” (Cassidy), “Touch It” (Busta Rhymes), “Ultralight Beam” (Kanye West), and more.

In addition to Beatz, the segment will include performances by Big Boi, Busta Rhymes with Spliff Star, De La Soul, DJ Drama, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Missy Elliott, Future, GloRilla, Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Mele Mel & Scorpio/Ethiopian King, Ice-T, Lil Baby, Lil Wayne, The Lox, Method Man, Nelly, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, Rahiem, Rakim, RUN-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa and Spinderella, Scarface and Too $hort.

LL Cool J will introduce the segment, perform and give a dedication to hip-hop.

Questlove will serve as producer and musical director, The Roots will provide music and Black Thought will narrate.

“For five decades, hip-hop has not only been a defining force in music, but a major influence on our culture,” Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “Its contributions to art, fashion, sport, politics, and society cannot be overstated. I’m so proud that we are honoring it in such a spectacular way on the Grammy stage. It is just the beginning of our yearlong celebration of this essential genre of music.”

The Grammys will also honor hip-hop with one of three breakout performances in this year’s In Memoriam segment.

On Wednesday (Feb. 1), the Academy announced that the In Memoriam segment at the 2023 Grammy Awards will include breakout tributes to three diverse artists who died last fall — Loretta Lynn, Christine McVie and Takeoff.

Kacey Musgraves will perform Lynn’s 1970 classic “Coal Miner’s Daughter” in tribute to the country legend, who died on October 4 at age 90; Sheryl Crow, Mick Fleetwood and Bonnie Raitt will team to perform “Songbird” from Fleetwood Mac’s album of the year-winning Rumours to honor McVie, who died on November 30 at age 79; and Maverick City Music will join Quavo for Quavo’s sentimental ballad “Without You” to honor Takeoff, who died on November 1 at just 28.

Also, Cardi B, who four years ago became the first female solo artist to win a Grammy for best rap album, will serve as a presenter on the show.

And the Grammys aren’t done celebrating hip-hop’s anniversary. In partnership with the Recording Academy, CBS will broadcast a special hip-hop music event later in 2023.

The 65th Annual Grammy Awards will air live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and will be hosted for the third year in a row by Emmy-winning comedian Trevor Noah. The show will be broadcast live on Sunday, February 5, at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT on CBS and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

Rauw Alejandro Releases Genre-Bending New Album “Trap Cake Vol. 2”

Posted on February 26, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Rauw Alejandro is bakin’ up new music…

The 29-year-old Puerto Rican singer and rapper has released his new album Trap Cake Vol. 2 via Sony Music Latin.

A follow up to his 2019 Trap Cake, Vol. 1, which featured collaborations with Cazzu, De La Ghetto, and Jon Z, Rauw Alejandro delivers an equally star-studded Vol. 2 that includes songs with Future, Ty Dolla $ign, and Rvssian.

The genre-blurring EP stays in tune with the Puerto Rican artist’s ever-so experimental essence.

Treading between trap, rock, pop, and R&B, Alejandro kicks off the nine-track set with the sentimental heartbreak song “Museo.”

But not all is heartbreak on Trap Cake Vol. 2, a standout track is “Wuepa” with Ankhal, a bonafide party anthem.

FKA Twigs Readying Sophomore Album “Mary Magdalene”

Posted on September 3, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

FKA Twigs is preparing for the next chapter of her musical career…

Five years since her debut album, the 31-year-old part-Spanish singer is finally mounting her full comeback, sharing album details and some of the horrors she’s faced since we last saw her.

In a cover story for UK magazine i-D, FKA Twigs goes through a selection of songs from her upcoming second album Mary Magdalene including one called “Holy Terrain” featuring rapper Future.

“I wasn’t sure whether he would even know who I am,” the singer says, explaining how the collaboration came to be. “I was like, ‘Hi, it’s Twigs. Let me know if you wanna talk about music or anything.’” When the rapper got back to her immediately she had a small fit of excitement. “He’s such a sweetheart. I sent him the album and I called him up and was like, ‘Listen, Future… this is what my album’s about. It’s a really empowering, sensitive record, with a lot of feminine energy, and this song is probably the most fun track on it, but I still need lyrical content.’ And he said, ‘Okay, I’ve got it’. And his verse is beautiful.”

“He’s just talking about his downfalls as a man; how he’s sorry and asking for healing,” FKA Twigs adds. “I love sad Future. I love when he gets emo, when he expresses himself. It’s just so beautiful when he opens up.”

In expressing some of the hardships she has faced since releasing LP1, including breakups with actors Robert Pattinson and Shia LaBeouf, FKA Twigs reveals a particularly gruesome work experience she put herself through, shooting a Spike Jonze-directed advertisement for Apple only a week into recovering from an operation where tumors were removed from her uterus.

“I looked like death, I looked disgusting. I wasn’t supposed to be moving. And Spike’s like, ‘Okay, so we’re gonna play the song and I need you to dance around your living room to it,’” explains the singer. “I was fully going for it and literally feeling like my uterus was gonna fall out. I didn’t tell them about the surgery or that I had all these stitches in my bellybutton. It was grim. It was grim as f—.”

FKA Twigs wasn’t even meant to be walking for six weeks and here she was dancing. “When I was on set with Spike, the stitches in my bellybutton were splitting open. I told him: ‘Just so you know, if I start bleeding through this white shirt…’. I basically couldn’t lift my arms up, because all your organs stick together and you can’t stretch your stomach. I was involved in the choreography though, so I based all the movements on Audrey Hepburn as she was always moving like that – very forward and with a contracted stomach – because that’s all I could do.”

FKA Twigs still calls the commercial shoot “an amazing experience” though, and the advertisement both won favor both online and at many of the top advertisement awards.

FKA Twigs is set to release her album Mary Magdalene this fall. She will also appears in the upcoming film Honey Boy, written by LaBeouf.

Miguel to Perform at This Year’s Mala Luna Music Festival in San Antonio

Posted on July 14, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

There’s a bad moon rising for Miguel…

The 33-year-old half-Mexican American singer is set to perform at San Antonio’s Mala Luna Music Festival.

The Grammy-winning singer joins a lineup that includes Russ, Diplo, Juice Wrld, YGand Playboi Cartifor its 2019 edition.

TheHalloween weekend festival hitting Texas from October 26-27 at the Nelson Wolff Stadium parking lot will also feature sets from Dababy, Trippie Redd, Summer Walkerand Jessie Reyez.

Ari Lennoxof J.Cole’s Dreamville Records will perform in support of her newly released debut album Shea Butter Baby, while Houston’s own Megan Thee Stallion will also perform following her run on the Legendary Nights Tour with YG and Future.

The downtown San Antonio festival is returning for its fourth year with performances from DaniLeigh, Melii, UMI and Alaina Castillo.

In a continued effort to support and shine a light on Texas’ growing music scene, several local artists will be performing including FRITOGANG, Hoodlum, Jay Wileand Doeman.

In 2018, Mala Luna welcomed more than 30,000 attendees to the music festival that also pays tribute to the local culture and the San Antonio community’s annual Diá de los Muertos celebrations. live art installations, local food vendors and merchants, and highly curated themes and designs, costumes and more are once again expected at the annual event produced by Texas-based promoter ScoreMore Shows.

Tickets for Mala Luna are available now with single-day passes starting at $79.

Camila Cabello Appears on Netflix’s “Bright” Soundtrack

Posted on December 14, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Camila Cabello’s future looks Bright…

Netflix has unveiled the soundtrack for its original film Bright, a 13-track effort chock full of features across all genres as well as a few unlikely genre-crossing collaborations.

Camila Cabello

The 20-year-old Mexican and Cuban singer and former Fifth Harmony appears on the soundtrack, alongside Future, Ty Dolla $ign, Meek Mill,and Snoop Dogg, among others.

Cabello and Grey cast an exotic spell on “Crown.” Grey slays it with Middle Eastern drums and Arabic strumming. The muted production brings the sensual heat of the desert, and drum machines and orchestral undertones bring a cinematic grandeur. Cabello comes in heavy and raw, injecting her performance with her own showmanship and hunger.

It’s described as a cool, moody EDM tune that’s sure to pump you up when you need it most.

The action movie will center on the lives of Will Smith and Joel Edgerton‘s characters, who are police officers — Smith plays as a human and Edgerton plays an Orc — heading on a routine mission that goes awry.

Fabolous Releasing His Collaborative Album with Jadakiss, Friday on Elm Street, on Black Friday

Posted on November 23, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Fabolous is ready for Black Friday…

The 39-year-old half-Dominican American hip-hop singer and Jadakiss will release their highly anticipated new project, Friday on Elm Street, will be released on Black Friday (November 24).

Fabolous and Jadakiss have been teasing fans with their collaborative Freddy vs. Jason project for years.

The duo have even shared the artwork for the project, which features an image of a fire burning in a gloomy, dark woods.

Aside from the Future-assisted “Stand Up,” the New York duo didn’t stray too far from their native hometown for the features on the album and recruited the likes of Teyana Taylor, French Montana, Swizz Beatz and Styles P — all of whom share the duo’s New York roots. The project also features a remix of “Stand Up” with southern rhymers Yo Gotti and Jeezy.

At a recent listening party for Friday on Elm Street, Fabolous and Jadakiss teased that they’re already planning to take their project on the road, but just haven’t figured out tour dates yet.

Here’s the tracklist for Friday on Elm Street:

F Vs. J Intro
Stand Up” ft. Future
Theme Music” Feat. Swizz Beatz
Ground Up
Soul Food
Principles
Talk About It ft. Teyana Taylor
All About It ft. French Montana
I Pray Feat. Swizz Beatz
Ice Pick ft. Styles P
Nightmares Ain’t As Bad
Stand Up (Remix) ft. Future, Yo Gotti and Jeezy

Fabolous Teams Up with Jadakiss & Future for the New Single “Stand Up”

Posted on November 1, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Fabolous is taking a stand…

The 39-year-old half-Dominican American hip-hop singer has joined voices with Jadakiss and Future for the new single “Stand Up.”

Sticking to the haunting theme of the movie their project name derives from, an ominous sound creeps in and connects with a deep thumping bass. As the bass picks up, Future is right at home as he lays down a catchy hook over the trap-laden Reazy Renegade-produced cut.

Fabolous takes the baton from Future and raps about remaining loyal and sticking to the street code. “Yeah, them people ran up on me, asking me do I know something/ Looked them in they eyes and said if I knew something/ I wouldn’t know nothing,” he raps. “Heard a lot about me/ You ain’t never heard that I told nothing.”

Jadakiss later chimes in with his signature laugh and addresses a fake friend. “All them Bentleys, all them Benzes/ Shit you was doing was senseless/ On the road, we was caking/ The code, you was breaking,” ‘Kiss says. “Get exposed when you faking/ Let you tell it, I’m just hating.”

“Stand Up” follows the previously released “Rapture” featuring Tory Lanez.

Kehlani to Appear on Calvin Harris’ New LP, Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1

Posted on May 10, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Kehlani is ready to funk things up with Calvin Harris…

The 22-year-old part-Spanish American singer is set to appear on the Scottish DJ and record producer’s forthcoming album, Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1.

Harris released a video teaser via Twitter for the album with Kehlani’ name appearing as one of the featured artists on his LP.

Others include Frank Ocean, Travis Scott, Future, Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, Big Sean, John Legend, Khalid, Migos, Schoolboy Q, Ariana Grande, Yung Thug, D.R.A.M., Nicki Minaj, Lil Yachty, Jessie Reyez, Partynextdoor, and Snoop Dogg.

Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 gives the sense of a departure from the usual Harris sound, a hint amplified by the much groovier, toned-down disco funk vibe of the soundtrack tune. The sunset visual background fits perfectly with the song’s laidback style. The clip also features vocals from Khalid and Future.

ALBUM COMING JUNE 30 pic.twitter.com/zHJpBRdpqq

— Calvin Harris (@CalvinHarris) May 9, 2017

Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 is scheduled for release Friday, June 30.

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