Ronald Acuña Jr. Signs with Bad Bunny’s Rimas Sports for Representation

Ronald Acuña Jr. has new all-star representation…

Rimas Sports — an agency partnership between Bad Bunny and executives Noah Assad and Jonathan Miranda — has signed the Venezuelan professional baseball outfielder who plays for the Atlanta Braves to an exclusive representation agreement.

Ronald Acuña Jr., Rimas Sports, Bad Bunny,“We are thrilled to welcome the Acuña family to Rimas Sports,” Miranda, CEO of Rimas Sports, said in a statement. “Ronald is a once-in-a-generation player, and we are confident that together we will take his extraordinary career to new heights. Acuña is aligned with Rimas Sports’ foundational principle of empowering the next generation of Latin American players by helping them build lasting legacies for themselves, their families, and their communities.”

The renowned athlete kicked off his career with Braves organization in 2014 and made his MLB debut in 2018 when he nabbed the Rookie of the Year title.

In 2023, the four-time MLB All-Star was named the 2023 National League Most Valuable Player in his sixth major-league season, marking the eighth time a Braves player has nabbed the title after Freddie Freeman (2020), Chipper Jones (1999), Terry Pendleton (1991), Dale Murphy (1982, 1983), Hank Aaron (1957), Robert Elliott (1947) and Johnny Evers (1914).

A press statement at the time noted that Acuña “was a unanimous selection, receiving 30 of 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He finished with 420 points, 150 more than runner-up Mookie Betts.”

To celebrate his new MVP title, award-winning Mexican-American producer Samuel Ash dropped “La Bestia,” a catchy dembow song performed by Dominican artist Niko Eme.

“We wanted something that felt global and to do something we could put a chant to,” Ash previously told Billboard. “I know dembow is a Dominican genre but I felt that it could still feel global and resonate with him as a Venezuelan.”

Grupo Frontera Signs Management Deal with Habibi

Grupo Frontera is under new management…

The Regional Mexican group has signed a management deal with HabibiNoah Assad’s management firm.

Grupo FronteraRaymond Acosta, director of talent management at the company — which also includes Karol G on its roster — will lead Grupo Frontera’s management team.

The deal comes seven months after Grupo Frontera and Bad Bunny‘s massive cumbia/norteña track, “Un x100to,” peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also up for song of the year at this year’s Latin Grammys.

Over the past two years, Grupo Frontera — previously managed by Victor Ruiz — went from local McAllen, Texas, band to a música mexicana global force. Composed of Adelaido “Payo” Solis III, Juan Javier Cantú, Julian Peña Jr., Alberto Acosta, Carlos Guerrero and Brian Ortega, the group broke out last year thanks to its Tejano spin on Morat‘s 2019 single, “No Se Va.” The inventive cover scored the norteño group its first entry on any Billboard chart, ultimately peaking at No. 3 on the Hot Latin Songs tally dated November 12, 2022.

According to Raymond Acosta, Habibi was approached by Mexican hitmaker Edgar Barrera — who’s penned and produced for Grupo Frontera — and Alberto (of Frontera) after seeing the impact “Un x100to” had.

“I asked Noah for an opportunity to get to know and study Mexican culture,” Acosta explains. “Because for me, identities are very important. One of my role models is Mr. Angelo Medina, he was the manager of José José and Emmanuel. He was the one who taught me [that] when you’re going to cross the pond, you have to know where you’re going.”

In August, Grupo Frontera released its debut album, El Comienzo, via Barrera’s BorderKid Records label. The set bowed and peaked at No. 3 on the Top Latin Albums chart. In the past year alone, the group has placed eight songs on the Billboard Hot 100 — including “Que Vuelvas” with Carin Leon, “Bebe Dame” with Fuerza Regida and “Frágil” with Yahritza y Su Esencia. They have a distribution deal with Believe and own their masters.

“If you want to be the number one manager, your artists have to be number one,” adds Acosta. “I’m fulfilling my dreams by fulfilling the dreams of others. I think that’s the beauty of the management part. [At Habibi,] we don’t copy-paste marketing plans. That’s why when you see all the projects, none of them look alike. And seeing everything that is behind Frontera, the personality of each one and what they are doing, motivates us a lot.”

Bad Bunny Becomes Co-Owner of Puerto Rico’s Los Cangrejeros de Santurce

Bad Bunny is officially a baller…

Following his impressive WWE activities, which earned him high praise from pro wrestlers, the 27-year-old Puerto Rican Latin trap and reggaeton superstar (real name Benito Antonio Martinez) is continuing his sporting efforts.

Bad Bunny W Magazine Cover

This time, Bad Bunny has become a co-owner of Puerto Rico’s basketball team Los Cangrejeros de Santurce.

The Puerto Rican superstar, alongside RimasJonathan Miranda and Noah Assad, has been named partner of the renewed franchise, which also announced a revamped team and image.

“The main purpose and commitment of this initiative are to help foster positive change on the island,” noted an official statement. “The goal is to promote a better future through sports, music, and the arts. The main objective is to encourage ideas and dreams in Puerto Rican youth, which provoke an authentic and real social transformation.”

Los Cangrejeros de Santurce also unveiled the return of NBA star Jose Juan Barea, who played for the Dallas Mavericks, as the team’s point guard.

Founded in 1918, Los Cangrejeros de Santurce is known as one of the most successful Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) franchises, winning eight championships.

https://twitter.com/CangrejerosB/status/1394291638638424064

Ricky Martin Officially Launches New Venture Martin Music Lab

Ricky Martin is making sound music in the industry…

The 48-year-old Puerto Rican superstar has officially launched his new venture Martin Music Lab, a brand-new company centered around the breakthrough patent-pending audio technique that creates a new type of immersive, headphone listening experience.

Ricky Martin

Martin had originally worked with the audio technique, called “orbital audio,” on his re-released Latin Grammy-nominated album Pausa.

In partnership with multi-Grammy award winner and music mix engineer Jaycen Joshua and music engineer Michael Seaberg, Martin is now focused on offering artists and studios a new breed of immersive audio.

“We were happy with the album, we high-fived each other when it was released,” Joshua tells Billboard. “Then I get a call form Ricky basically saying that he’s heard something that ‘blew his mind’ and he wants to do it to his album. So, here I am thinking I’m going to help my brother out with some audio stuff but little did I know that the rabbit hole was so deep.”

It was then that Martin, Joshua and Seaberg began the creative process behind a technique that could be applied and optimized for any type of audio entertainment –– from music and movies, to gaming and sports –– to create a personal sound experience.

“I received this immersive audio from a friend of mine in Brazil and he said ‘you should do music like this’ and I really enjoyed what I was listening but I thought, we really need to make this perfect and what is perfect to me is to be able to grab track for track, channel for channel and individualize it,” Martin says.

The goal is to “engulf listeners within the complexities of a particular track and all of its nuances,” according to a statement from the newly-established company which has hired 10 master mixers who are working with different clients. “The Lab’s mission is to build a true audio journey that you can feel and one that resonates on an individual level.”

How the patent-pending audio technique works is that it creates an immersive headphone listening experience by using any type of headphone (wired or wireless). No need for an expensive surround system. “Everybody gets to experience this – even with cheapest headphones you have,” says Martin.

But nailing that technique sounds easier said than done, according to Joshua. “I discovered so many things about immersive audio, how advanced it is in virtual reality right now and how it’s going to pretty much take over the gaming industry,” says Joshua. “In music, it’s pretty complicated because it’s a whole different math. You have multiple signals coming in – meaning different instruments and vocals coming in at the same time. But Ricky would not give up and I wasn’t going to give up after seeing his passion and excitement to achieve this.”

After the trial and error period in the studio, “I saw the look in Ricky’s eyes and he said, ‘we need to give this to the world’ and that’s why we formed the company,” says Joshua, who adds that the “orbital audio” technique can be added at any point of the mixing process and it really just depends on an artist’s vision.

“With Pausa it was done after the fact it was released and after I mixed it. So, I took those recordings and put them in our orbital audio program and just started moving stuff to wherever Ricky wanted to place it. That’s how personal this process is.”

With artists A$AP RockyResidenteBad Bunny and Myke Towers already on board to work with Martin Music Lab, the company will also boast an executive advisory board comprised of top music executives like Noah Assad (Bunny’s manager), Rodney Jerkins and Chris Taylor.

“I chose them because these are people that are constantly pushing forward music and are constantly challenging the dignity of music,” says Martin. “These are powerful people that simply put know music.” Joshua adds, “the advisory board will let us know how to be better because we always want to evolve and grow. We wanted tastemakers to be game changers, too, and for them to be part of this process.”

With the hope of expanding this technique beyond the music industry and tap into the movies, sports and, most notably, the wellness and meditation space, both Joshua and Martin see this as an opportunity to heal and improve people’s mental health via music.

“We started with music but the idea is for people to start healing,” says Ricky. “For me personally, music is a release, it helps me focus and helps remove anxiety. I want to harness that power and unlock its potential to help others find the same level of calm and serenity. As much as this is about giving people a more personalized music experience, it’s also about improving their overall mental health.”