Artist News Business News Deals Industry People Labels & Publishers Media One Liners Releases

One Liners: Badshah, Skepta, Nas, more

By | Published on Friday 30 July 2021

Badshah

DEALS

Universal Music has signed Indian rapper Badshah. “I am super excited for this new episode in my life”, he says. “It’s time for Indian music to enter the global soundscape and we are standing at a revolutionary juncture for the entire music scene. Indian culture has music in its blood, from its melodies to its instruments”.

————————————————–

APPOINTMENTS

Universal Music’s Mercury Studios has appointed Steve Condie as SVP of Content. “Steve is a truly exceptional creative leader”, says CEO Alice Webb. “His ambition, vision and limitless energy for ingenious storytelling make him the perfect fit for Mercury Studios”.

Kobalt has promoted Stephanie Cox to General Manager of its Nashville office and Jesse Willoughby to SVP Business Development of the wider company. “I’m incredibly proud”, says Willoughby. “I am THRILLED”, says Cox.

————————————————–

MEDIA

ITV has confirmed rumours that the UK version of ‘The X Factor’ has been cancelled. Actually, the broadcaster said that “there are no current plans for the next series of ‘The X Factor’ at this stage”. The show hasn’t been on in its standard format since 2018 though – and some novelty spin-offs in 2019 didn’t really go anywhere – so I’m not sure this is a massive surprise.

————————————————–

RELEASES

Skepta has released new EP ‘All In’. Here’s the video for the J Balvin-featuring track ‘Nirvana’.

Nas has announced that he will release new album ‘King’s Disease II’ on 6 Aug through his Mass Appeal label.

Aluna and Punctual have released a single together, titled ‘Summer Of Love’. “In the summer of 2020 we wanted to feel like we were gonna change everything”, says Aluna. “We also felt crushed at the same time and the first thing we needed was love from the person closest to us or just from ourselves to keep going. The summer of love. 2021 has this feeling of a darkness lifting and I just wanted to capture that”.

Angel Olsen has released another track from her upcoming 80s covers EP, this time her version of ‘Safety Dance’ by Men With Hats. “I felt this song could be reinterpreted to be about this time of quarantine and the fear of being around anyone or having too much fun”, she says. “It made me wonder, is it safe to laugh or dance or be free of it all for just a moment?”

 has released new single ‘Kindness’. “I wrote it at a time when I was feeling, like a lot of people, disconnected from the physical world”, she says. “I wrote the first demo in Copenhagen on a beat by my friend Yangze. Ariel Rechtshaid then joined the process and, working online and across time zones, we made this song take shape”.

The Hidden Cameras have released their first single for five years, ‘Redemption’. “The summer of 2021 will be known as the summer of hope and promise of redemption”, says frontman Joel Gibb. “This new one-off single provides the translation of this current collective emotion. Play it loud”.

Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.



READ MORE ABOUT: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |