Jharrel Jerome to Star as Anthony Robles in “Unstoppable”

Jharrel Jerome is unstoppable

The 25-year-old Afro-Dominican American actor, an Emmy winner and EP/star of the upcoming Prime Video series I’m a Virgo that just premiered at SXSW, has signed on to star in Unstoppable, the film starring Jennifer Lopez and directed by Billy Goldenberg.

Jharrel Jerome The film follows the true story of Anthony Robles, a three-time All-American wrestler born with one leg who won a national championship at Arizona State.

Robles will reportedly be heavily involved in the project, which Amazon Studios is in talks to acquire.

The second big project from Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity and Amazon is coming together rather quickly before the April 5 opening of their first movie, Airwhich is getting a theatrical release and debuted at SXSW on Saturday. Artists Equity is co-founded by RedBird Capital.

Robles was born without a right leg. At the age of 14, he tried wrestling for the first time, at a mere 90 pounds. His first year he went 5-8, but remained determined that he could be a champion in the sport one day. Robles is also an inspirational speaker.

In 2019 he broke the Guinness world record for most pull-ups in a minute with 62 reps.

Jerome won an Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a Limited Series for the Ava DuVernay Netflix series When They See Us. His other credits include the film Concrete Cowboy and the Stephen King series Mr. Mercedes. He’ll soon be seen co-starring in HBO Max’s Steven Soderbergh series Full Circle.

Jerome is an EP on the Boots Riley Amazon series I’m a Virgo. The darkly comedic, fantastical coming-of-age joyride center son Cootie (Jerome), a 13-foot-tall young Black man in Oakland, CA. Having grown up hidden away, passing time on a diet of comic books and TV shows, he escapes to experience the beauty and contradictions of the real world. He forms friendships, finds love, navigates awkward situations, and encounters his idol, a real-life superhero named The Hero, played by Walton Goggins. I’m A Virgo is a mythical odyssey that questions the purpose of the mythical odyssey.

Jennifer Lopez Partners with Revolve for Chic New Shoe Collection

Jennifer Lopez is putting her best foot(wear) forward…

The 53-year-old Puerto Rican superstar has teamed up with Revolve for a chic new collaboration to spice up your shoe collection.

Jennifer LopezJ.Lo, the founder of JLo Beauty, took to Instagram to announce the debut of the JLO Jennifer Lopez x Revolve shoe collection, a collaboration between Lopez’s shoe brand and the fashion retailer.

“I love shoes!!!! Can anyone relate??!!” Lopez captioned photos of the new collection, which features stylish heels and boots priced from $145 to $200 and available exclusively at Revolve.com.

Jennifer Lopez x Revolve Shoe Collection

Launching in three installments, the initial 16-piece collection includes “sculptural heels” designed in chic metallics, crystal embellishments and “the perfect animal prints.”

The collection also features sky-high platforms, knee-high boots, strappy sandals and kitten heels designed in a variety materials such as suede, leather, mesh and satin.

“Jennifer Lopez is a pop culture icon and an inspiration to millions of people all over the world, so there was no question of doing an exclusive collaboration with her line, JLO Jennifer Lopez. We’re so excited to introduce the new line of footwear and collaborate with Jennifer Lopez,” said Raissa Gerona, Revolve Chief Brand Officer.

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The shoe collection comes on the heels of Lopez being announced as global ambassador for the Italian lingerie brand Intimissimi.

Julio Reyes Copello Signs Multiyear Worldwide Deal with Sony Music Publishing

Julio Reyes Copello has a new worldwide deal…

The 53-year-old Colombian producer, songwriter and record engineer has inked a multiyear worldwide deal with Sony Music Publishing.

Julio Reyes Copello I am thrilled to be starting this new phase of my creative life as part of the great Sony Music Publishing family,” says Copello, who won producer of the year honors at the 2022 Latin Grammys. “I am very grateful for the belief, respect and enthusiasm that [Sony Music Publishing president/CEO for Latin America & U.S. Latin] Jorge Mejia and his team have shown, which will be essential in order to find new outlets and homes for my music.”

“I have known and admired Julio for many years,” adds Mejia. “He is widely respected as a musician’s musician, with a deft touch at the piano and a sensitivity as a producer and songwriter, that makes all manner of artists and writers feel right at home whenever they work with him. It is a dream come true, therefore, to finally be able to work directly with Julio, as well as the artists and songwriters he’s developing. I can’t wait for what comes next.”

Reyes is currently working on upcoming releases with Spanish pop star Pablo Alborán, Marc AnthonyAlejandro Sanz, among many others.

The four-time Grammy and seven-time Latin Grammy winner is widely considered one of Latin pop’s most important songwriters, producers and musicians.

Since launching his career in 2001, the Cúcuta alchemist has also penned hits for the likes of superstars Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Thalía, Chayanne, Laura Pausini, Kany García and more.

In total, he has earned 48 Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations; he also has more than 10 ASCAP awards under his belt.

Aside from his songwriting career, Reyes founded Art House Records, a talent incubator where he continues to discover and develop emerging artists, which includes Joaquina, Riza, Ela Taubert and more.

Additionally, he partnered with Abbey Road Institute — the first U.S. music production school, and an extension of the music production education program held at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London.

Together, both parties established the Art House Academy & Abbey Road Institute Miami, where they specialize in music performance, music production and sound engineering to develop and educate “the next generation of singer/songwriters, music producers and sound engineers.”

Mariah Carey’s Music to Be Featured as Part of Apple Fitness+’s ‘Artist Spotlight’ Workout Series

Ready to get fit with Mariah Carey?

Apple Fitness+ has added the music of the 52-year-old half-Venezuelan Grammy-winning singer to its newly added workouts.

Mariah CareyIn honor of Women’s History Month, Carey, Miley Cyrus and Shania Twain will be highlighted as part of the program’s Artist Spotlight series, which dedicates an entire set of workouts to a single artist and their discography.

Starting Monday, March 6, Fitness+ users can pedal to the beat of the “Flowers” singer’s music in a cycling workout, return to heart center when it’s a wrap on the Carey-inspired yoga workout and feel like a powerful woman post-strength workout featuring Twain’s tunes.

New workouts will roll out every Monday throughout the month of March.

The Lambily will need to stretch as far and wide as Mimi’s vocal range — which spans across five octaves and goes all the way up to those whistle tones we all try reaching when belting out her 1991 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 smash “Emotions” — ahead of her cycling, dance, HIIT and yoga workouts.

“You’ve got to make working out fun, do what you love, so it feels like burning energy instead of a job! I hear lots of people like listening to my music in the gym and it makes me so happy – it means it’s energetic and inspirational,” Twain said in a press statement. “That’s why I’m so excited for this Artist Spotlight series on Fitness+. So Giddy Up! And do what makes you happy!”

Other musicians who’ve had sets of Apple Fitness+ workouts dedicated to them include Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, BTS, Billie Eilish, Jennifer Lopez, Pharrell Williams, Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd, ABBA, Prince, Shakira, The Beatles, Nicki Minaj and many more.

According to the Apple Fitness+ website, anyone who purchases a new iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad or Apple TV (and hasn’t previously subscribed to Apple Fitness+) will have free access to Apple Fitness+ for three months before paying $9.99 monthly, or $79.99 annually. New subscribers who already have the aforementioned Apple products can get free access to Apple Fitness+ for one month. Apple Fitness+ can be shared with up to five family members.

Jennifer Lopez Partnering with Intimissimi for Intimates Collection

Jennifer Lopez is getting intimate(s)…

The 53-year-old Puerto Rican superstar has shared a series of photos on her Instagram wearing a stunning set of lingerie from what appears to be a collaboration between her and Italian intimates brand Intimissimi.

Jennifer LopezJ.Lo shared a carousel of photos of her wearing a silky, fuchsia set consisting of a bra, underwear and a short satin robe.

In the first of the shots, Lopez poses in a wicker chair; in the other snaps, she smiles for the camera while lounging in bed.

“JLOxINTIMISSIMI is almost here,” the singer captioned the post. “I can’t wait for you to see what I have in store with @intimissimiofficial. #linkinbio to preview the collection. #GlobalAmbassador #THISISMENOW.”

Fans looking to get Lopez’s set are in luck: The link in the 53-year-old’s bio leads to several pieces from Intimissimi’s line that are “picked by Jennifer Lopez,” including the fuschia set she dons in the Instagram photos.

The bra retails for $69, while the matching panty runs for $15 and the silk robe $159.

The pieces Lopez wears also come in black, turquoise and bright orange.

Silk pajamas are also included in the collection of pieces handpicked by the pop star.

As far as what Lopez is cooking up in the lingerie department, fans will have to wait until the full collaboration arrives.

Jennifer Lopez Shines a Spotlight on “Hummingbird,” a Single on New Album “This Is Me … Now”

Jennifer Lopez is humming along…

The 53-year-old Puerto Rican superstar will launch a new era of her career in 2023 with the release of her new album, This Is Me … Now.

Jennifer LopezAnd in her latest newsletter, J.Lo opened up about one of the songs she wrote for the set, and revealed how it inspired her and husband Ben Affleck’s blended-family Christmas celebrations.

“I wrote a song called ‘Hummingbird’ for my new album. To me, hummingbirds are messengers of love,” Lopez explained in her On The JLo newsletter. “They’re very agile — can fly forward, backward, and up and down. They’re also the fastest bird but they always have time to stop, eat something sweet and smell the roses.”

“I identify with them, but more than anything, whenever I see one, I feel like it’s a sign from God that everything is going to be OK,” she added.

The Marry Me star, who said she’d spent recent weeks “hunkering down at home” after wrapping up her newest movie Atlas, went on to say that she likes to create a different theme for each holiday she celebrates.

“I decided this year that the hummingbird would be a perfect theme,” she continued. “I wanted to have a tree in the house that was a hummingbird tree, reminding us that everything done in love and with love will always be OK.”

“We have blended families, doubled the people, doubled the fun, doubled the love, doubled the presents and tripled the chaos!!” added Lopez, whose household includes Affleck (whom she married in July), his three children with ex-wife Jennifer Garner — 17-year-old Violet, 13-year-old Seraphina and 10-year-old Samuel — and Lopez’s two children with ex-husband Marc Anthony, 14-year-old twins Max and Emme.

One of the ways the “Let’s Get Loud” singer and the Oscar winner celebrated the holidays this year was by hosting a star-studded Christmas party in L.A., at which Lopez wore a Gucci dress with green and gold “hummingbird” colors, she pointed out in her newsletter.

This Is Me … Now is expected next year, though its exact release date has not yet been revealed. Lopez first announced the album — a follow-up to her 2002 record This Is Me … Then — in a late November Instagram post. She also at that time unveiled the tracklist, which lists “Hummingbird” at No. 8.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Tops Billboard’s Year-End Hot 100 Songwriters Chart

Lin-Manuel Miranda is this year’s songwriter of the year…

The 42-year-old Puerto Rican songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker leads Billboard’s 2022 year-end Hot 100 Songwriters chart.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Miranda, a Pulitzer Prize, Grammys, Tonys and Emmys, finishes the year at No. 1 due to his work on Disney’s Encanto soundtrack, including its five-week Billboard Hot 100 leader “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” credited to Carolina Gaitan, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz and the Encanto cast.

Miranda is credited as the sole songwriter on the track, helping boost his chart points (as he does not split chart points with multiple writers).

During its 20-week run on the chart, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” earned the distinction as the biggest Disney song of all time, based on Billboard’s Greatest of All Time methodology.

In total, Miranda earned eight songwriting credits on the Hot 100 in the 2022 chart year, all from Encanto, which all contributed to his placement on the year-end ranking.

Here’s a look at where each song peaked on the Hot 100—Miranda is the only credited writer on each song:

Peak Position, Artist Billing, Title
No. 1, Carolina Gaitan, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”
No. 8, Jessica Darrow, “Surface Pressure”
No 20, Stephanie Beatriz, Olga Merediz & Encanto Cast, “The Family Madrigal”
No. 27, Diane Guerrero & Stephanie Beatriz, “What Else Can I Do?”
No. 36, Sebastian Yatra, “Dos Oruguitas”
No. 48, Stephanie Beatriz, “Waiting On A Miracle”
No. 71, Stephanie Beatriz, Olga Merediz, John Leguizamo, Adassa, Maluma & Encanto Cast, “All of You”
No. 100, Carlos Vives, “Colombia, Mi Encanto”

Prior to 2022, Miranda had only landed seven songs on the Hot 100 as a songwriter (he’s billed as an artist on four of them). He first charted in July 2016 with “Love Make The World Go Round” with Jennifer Lopez (No. 72 peak), and then with four songs from Moana soon after: Opetaia Foa’l and Miranda’s “We Know The Way” (No. 93 peak), Alessia Cara’s “How Far I’ll Go” (No. 56), Dwayne Johnson’s “You’re Welcome” (No. 65) and Auli’I Cravalho’s “How Far I’ll Go” (No. 41). After that, he charted with “Almost Like Praying,” featuring Artists for Puerto Rico (No. 20) and “Found / Tonight” with Ben Platt (No. 49)

His work on the Moana songs helped Miranda finish as the No. 28 Hot 100 Songwriter of 2017.

Miranda is also credited as a producer on all eight of his Encanto chart hits.

“Colombia, Mi Encanto” was produced by Miranda and Carlos Vives, while the other seven entries were produced by Miranda and Mike Elizondo.

Miranda’s production work enables his finish as the No. 12 Hot 100 Producer of 2022, while Elizondo finishes just behind him at No. 13.

Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts dated November 20, 2021 through November 12, 2022. The rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the titles appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology details, and the November-November time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.

Jennifer Lopez Reveals Deeply Personal New Album Project “This Is Me… Now”

Jennifer Lopez is revealing a new music project…

The 53-year-old Puerto Rican superstar, who’d completely blacked out her social media accounts, returned to all platforms to announce This Is Me…Now.

Jennifer LopezThe announcement comes on the 20th anniversary of her album, This Is Me…Then, which she co-wrote and co-produced.

Heralding a new era of music for J.LoThis Is Me…Now will chronicle the emotional, spiritual and psychological journey that she has taken over the past two decades. It’s billed as being an emotionally raw and honest project, with a lineup of songs about her life and experiences.

In addition, the autobiographical stories informed by the album will result in other very personal projects she’ll be releasing in 2023.

This Is Me…Now will shine a spotlight on her tough childhood, unsuccessful relationships and the incredible emotional journey she has been on.

“This album is a philosophy, a reflection, a zeitgeist moment. It’s about hope, faith and true love never dying,” reads a press statement.

Lopez’s last album came out eight years ago in 2014, A.K.A.. She has released singles and had her successful, Marry Me, film soundtrack this year.

As of this year, she has released eight studio albums, one remix album, three compilation albums, one soundtrack, one extended play, 65 singles (including 14 as a featured artist), five charity singles and 12 promotional singles. She has sold more than 80 million records with 15 billion streams worldwide.

The 13 singles on the new album include “Dear Ben Pt. II” and “Midnight Trip to Vegas,” a nod to her marriage ceremony with Oscar winner Ben Affleck back in July.

The original 2002 album has the song “Dear Ben” which is a ballad about Affleck, released when she was previously dating him.

Karol G Releases New Single “Cairo”

Karol G is ready to rock like an Egyptian

The 31-year-old Colombian superstar has released her new track “Cairo,” an infectious track produced by her go-to producer Ovy On the Drums.

Karol GPenned by the team behind “Provenza” — Karol, Ovy and Keityn — “Cairo” is a head-bobbing earworm that thrives on a fusion of dance beats and Afrobeat. In the song, Karol sings about allowing herself to love again, even after swearing she wouldn’t.

“I’m not in love yet, but soon I will be,” she confesses.

“Cairo” follows Karol G’s “Gatubela,” which dropped in August. With the track, in collaboration with Maldy, the Colombian artist banked her 16th top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs with a No. 4 debut on the September 10-dated ranking.

Billboard recently revealed that Karol G‘s $Trip Love tour had grossed $69.9 million and sold 410,000 tickets across 33 shows in North America (through the end of October), according to numbers reported to Billboard Boxscore. With those figures, she has now earned the highest U.S.-grossing tour by a female Latin act.

With $Trip Love, the “Provenza” singer surpasses Jennifer Lopez‘s $50 million grossing It’s My Party World Tour in 2019. Meanwhile, Shakira grossed $28.2 million in 2018 with her El Dorado World Tour. This year, Rosalía’s Motomami world tour has grossed $28.1 million through the end of October.

Karol G is currently working on her forthcoming album, which will follow her chart-topping, Grammy-nominated 2021 set, KG0516. She’s also slated to headline the 16th annual Calibash, taking place Jan. 21-22 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. She joins a previously billed group of headliners that includes Ozuna, Myke Towers and Farruko.

The song dropped alongside a music video, shot in Cairo, directed by WEOWNTHECITY.

New Episode of Paramount+’s “Behind the Music” to Feature Jennifer Lopez

Prepare for a behind the scenes look at Jennifer Lopez’s music…

The 53-year-old Puerto Rican superstar will be featured in one of the new episodes of Paramount+’s Behind the Music.

Jennifer LopezIn addition to J.Lo, new installments of the documentary series will also feature Boy GeorgeJason Aldean and Remy Ma.

The new installments of the documentary series will hit the streamer on November 29.

Additionally, remastered episodes spotlighting Boyz II Men, Christina Aguilera, Gloria Estefan, Hootie & the Blowfish, Mötley Crüe, Pink and TLC will drop the same day.

Here are the loglines for the new episodes:

  • After three decades, Jennifer Lopez is at the very top of her game and shows no signs of slowing down. J.Lo reflects on key moments of her iconic career in music, film and fashion while celebrating her present with husband Ben Affleck.
  • Boy George reflects on his meteoric rise from outcast to ‘80s global superstar with Culture Club. A tumultuous love affair, intense fame and addiction almost destroyed his career – but 40 years on, he remains an LGBTQ+ pop icon.
  • Jason Aldean is a small-town kid turned country superstar who never backed down in life, and changed the country music genre forever.
  • Remy Ma shares her journey to becoming the queen of New York hip hop. Her road to fame with the Terror Squad was paved with loss – a prison sentence almost ended it all – but her comeback inspired millions.

For 14 seasons, Behind the Music has provided an intimate look into the personal lives of pop music’s greatest and most influential artists. Since moving to Paramount+, the series has gone behind the scenes into the lives of stars like Bret Michaels, Busta Rhymes, Duran Duran, Fat Joe, Huey Lewis, LL Cool J, New Kids on the Block and Ricky Martin.

The series is executive produced by Bruce Gillmer, Jennifer Demme and Michael Maniaci for MTV Entertainment Studios.