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It’s been 30 years since Marvel Comics premiered one of its more recognizable alternate realities, the Age of Apocalypse. This was a universe where Charles Xavier was killed, leading to the rise of En Sabah Nur (Apocalypse), who ruled the world. Now that Apocalypse has passed the torch to Doug Ramsey (formerly known as Cypher and now going as Revelation), it’s time for a new age of terror, and it started in X-Men: Age of Revelation No. 0.

X-Men: Age of Revelation No. 0 creative team

Writer: Jed MacKayArtist: Humberto RamosColorist: Edgar Delgado View this post on Instagram

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X-Men No. 19, Doug, his wife Bei the Blood Moon, and his best friend Warlock, were attacked by a mutant hate group named Z.E.R.O. After defeating them using his new mind-hacking powers, Revelation decides it’s time to join the X-Men in Alaska and start his...

HarbourView Equity Partners has acquired the rights to the producer royalty income streams of Grammy-winning producer-songwriter Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, the company confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday.

The acquisition marks another notable deal around Jerkins’ catalog, following the producer selling his publishing catalog to Recognition Music Group (formerly Hipgnosis Songs Fund) back in 2020. HarbourView declined to share financial details of the acquisition. Chapter Two, a Swedish music company specializing in music rights transactions, helped facilitate the deal, HarbourView said.

With the purchase, HarbourView is getting Jerkins’ recorded royalties on iconic hits like Brandy and Monica’s “The Boy Is Mine,” Whitney Houston’s “It’s Not Right but It’s Okay,” Destiny Child’s “Say My Name,” Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” featuring Beyoncé, Justin Bieber’s “As Long As You Love Me,” and Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me.” Jerkins is set to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame next month.

Sza is taking on the spicy wings of death.

The 34-year-old musician sat down in the latest episode of Hot Ones ahead of the release of her album Lana.

During the appearance, Sza discussed her songwriting process, relationship with fame, the value of disguise, her love of Sky Zone trampoline parks and more.

Keep reading to find out more…

On her music…

“…I consider myself to be the glue like to my stuff and like the glue to my sound…I don’t know what sh-t means to me until I say it as I do it…and so I’ll usually ask, like ‘was that crazy?’ And he’ll be like *shrugs shoulders* kill your ex…and that’s how it all just comes together and becomes beautiful.”

On suffering to feel accomplished…

“I have a hard time enjoying anything if I don’t suffer for it…I feel...

Raye appeared on The Daily Show to showcase her song “Genesis” alongside a group of musicians, including string and horn sections. The English singer gave an impassioned performance of the emotional song, which touches on issues of body image and spans three distinct acts.

Raye released “Genesis,” which she co-wrote with Marvin Hemmings and produced with Rodney Jerkins, Shankar Ravindran, and Tom Richards, earlier this year. She initially performed the song live during the Brit Awards and later gave the track a bigger platform on Saturday Night Live in April.

New Jack Swing pioneer Teddy Riley — who produced iconic hits including Doug E. Fresh’s “The Show” and Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative” — has announced his new memoir, Remember the Times, published by Simon & Schuster’s 13A / Gallery Books imprint.

Riley tapped music biographer Jake Brown to collaborate on the tome, which will chronicle his five decades of hits and trace the past 40 years of his influential impact on hip-hop and R&b for generations. Beyond helming earlier classics, including Kool Moe Dee’s “Wild Wild West” and Keith Sweat...

Of course Sza’s Sos was the album I played the most in 2023 — but remember, it came out in December 2022 and I ranked it second on last year’s list of top albums, obviously under Beyoncé’s Renaissance.

Though Sza owned the year, several great albums showed up in 2023. Here are the projects that lived rent free in my home and in my headphones.

1. Victoria Monét, Jaguar II

It’s a beautiful thing when someone working to help others achieve their dreams steps into the limelight. With Jaguar II, that’s Victoria Monét. The songwriter behind hits for Ariana Grande and others has been releasing incredible music for years — check out 2018’s Life After Love, Pt. 2 and 2020’s Jaguar if you’re just arriving at her fan club — but she’s finally at the forefront, and her major label debut album is a masterpiece. She’s bold and bombastic on “On My Mama,...

With artificial intelligence currently front and center across the creative community, YouTube has published a set of AI music principles and launched something it’s calling the YouTube Music AI Incubator with a group of artists, songwriters and producers from Universal Music Group.

The principles, which the giant Alphabet/Google-owned platform said “are rooted in its commitment to collaborate with the music industry alongside bold and responsible innovation in the space” are three. They were developed with Umg chairman-ceo, Sir Lucian Grainge, and shared today by YouTube CEO Neal Mohan.

They include: a commitment to embrace AI responsibly in partnership with the music industry; protections “that help balance the interests of copyright holders with those of the creative community on YouTube”; and scaling up safeguards to AI-generated content to address challenges like trademark and copyright abuse, misinformation, spam.

“Our challenge and...

YouTube thinks it can take an ethical, “artist-centric” approach to generative AI.

In partnership with Universal Music Group, it’s introducing a “Music AI Incubator,” which CEO Neal Mohan says will help it “gather insights” to “better understand how these technologies can be most valuable for artists and fans, how they can enhance creativity, and where we can seek to solve critical issues for the future.”

The incubator will bring in Umg and artists/producers on its roster, including Anitta, Björn Ulvaeus, d4vd, Don Was, Juanes, Louis Bell, Max Richter, Rodney Jerkins, Rosanne Cash, Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, Yo Gotti, and the estate of Frank Sinatra.

YouTube gave no specific details about what it’s working on with the incubator, but Mohan says it’s developing “specific technologies, monetization opportunities, and policies”–all related to AI.

Mohan also claims YouTube’s potential use of generative AI is guided by ethical principles.

As conversations around artificial intelligence continue, YouTube has published its first set of principles regarding AI music. Not only that, but the video streaming site owned by Google has also launched its own YouTube Music AI Incubator.

The three principles were shared by YouTube CEO, Neal Mohan. According to the company, these fundamental principles reflect the company’s “commitment to collaborate with the music industry alongside bold and responsible innovation in the space.” Here are the three principles in full:

Principle #1: AI is here, and we will embrace it responsibly together with our music partners. As generative AI unlocks ambitious new forms of creativity, YouTube and our partners across the music industry agree to build on our long collaborative history and responsibly embrace this rapidly advancing field. Our goal is to partner with the music industry to empower creativity in a way that enhances our joint pursuit of responsible innovation.

Not too long ago, the British girl group Flo were a newly signed act trying to persuade their label to drop a song called “Cardboard Box” as their debut single. The label wanted to try other songs first, but Jorja Douglas, 21, Stella Quaresma, 21, and Renée Downer, 20, collectively agreed that the lively R&b breakup track was the one.

“It’s just a thing between us three,” says Douglas. “When we’re all on the same page, we’re a force to be … what’s the word?”

“Reckoned with,” finishes Quaresma.

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It’s the middle of the afternoon at a studio in Santa Clarita, and Brandy has just taken a break from shooting a new Lovesac campaign — and singing a countless amount of effortless “da-da-das” that she made up on the spot into a mic before turning and smiling at the sectional behind her.

Buy Lovesac Furniture

“I had no idea what I was going to do,” Brandy later admits about the impromptu vocals.

Mark Sheehan, who played lead guitar for the alt-pop group The Script, died Friday after a brief illness. The band announced the news on Facebook, writing, “Much loved husband, father, brother, band mate and friend Mark Sheehan passed away today in hospital after a brief illness. The family and group ask fans to respect their privacy at this tragic time.” Sheehan was 46. A cause of death was not given.

Sheehan missed the band’s U.S. tours in 2021 and 2022. “It’s his story to tell, but yeah, I guess if I could paraphrase,...

With Sza’s Sos spending its sixth week in a row at Number One, we talked with three of her key collaborators on the album for an in-depth look at its creation on the new episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast. (Previously, Sza herself gave a revealing interview on the pod.)

Below are some key insights from legendary producer-songwriter Rodney Jerkins, producer-songwriter, and engineer Rob Bisel; and producer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Carter Lang. To hear the whole episode, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or press play above.)

Sza...

Naomi Ackie gives audiences a glimpse into the life of Whitney Houston in director Kasi Lemmons’ new biopic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” and the new film is packed with a number of Houston’s hits.

Working with movement coach Polly Bennett and vocal coaches Tangela Large, Bridgette Jackson and Denise Woods, Ackie also underwent physical transformation with the help of numerous wigs and false teeth to cover the natural gap in her two front teeth.

Ackie doesn’t sing most songs in the film — she lip syncs to Houston’s perfect tracks instead — but she mimics Houston’s style of singing with great detail. She steps in for performances by Houston that were not recorded, such as “Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah” and “Jesus Loves Me” from her choir-singing days. Ackie also portrays a nervous Whitney who is thrust onstage by her mother, who knows Clive Davis is in attendance,...

Prior to the December 23 film release of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” Sony Music has made available the Whitney Houston biopic soundtrack. Featuring 35 cuts, the album clocks in at 2 hours 26 minutes. Scattered amongst some of her greatest hits are various remixes, live performances and never-before-heard gems straight from the vaults.

See Whitney Houston songs ranked: Her 35 best hits we will always love [Photos]

One heartbreaking revelation is “Don’t Cry For Me,” a prophetic song Houston performed at the Commitment to Life AIDS benefit in 1994. Written by BeBe Winans and Brian Keith Thomas, the song was originally recorded by Winans and his sister, CeCe Winans, for their chart-topping 1988 gospel album “Heaven.” Houston was also featured on that release, collaborating with the sibling duo on “Celebrate New Life” and “Hold Up the Light.”

For the soundtrack, Houston’s live vocals were isolated and placed over a new track produced by Rodney Jerkins.

Sza is thinking about a past love in her song “Nobody Gets Me.” On Friday, as she celebrated the release of her album Sos, the R&b superstar dropped a new music video for Track 14.

“How am I supposed to let you go?/Only like myself when I’m with you,” Sza sings in the chorus. “Nobody gets me, you do.”

The black-and-white visual, directed by Bradley J. Calder, captures the singer as she sings the lyrics of the gorgeous ballad from several NYC rooftops and walks through some streets...

Sza might be in the market for a new phone in the next couple of days, preferably one that flips closed and would probably malfunction if she tried to download any social media apps on it. The singer is warming up to escape the public response to her highly-anticipated sophomore album S.O.S., her first in over five years, as soon as possible following its release on Friday.

“Part of me doesn’t even want this to come out,” Sza shared in a recent interview with Hot 97. Still, there...

When producer Scott Storch spent a week in a South Beach studio with Beyoncé in 2002, he had never met her before, despite working on Destiny’s Child tracks. But as soon as she started singing some of the songs they wrote together, with the help of rapper Est, for what would become her 2003 debut Dangerously in Love, her level of artistry became clear. “When I was in the studio,” Storch says, “I was thinking to myself so many times, this is the best singer I’ve ever worked with and probably will ever work with.

H.E.R. looks to be the VIP at BET’s annual Soul Train Awards, racking up a leading eight nominations going into the ceremony, which will be telecast at the close of Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 29, at 8 p.m. Et.

Chris Brown is the runner-up among nominees, with seven, followed by Beyoncé and Young Thug with six, and Chloe x Halle, Summer Walker and Usher with five apiece. Yg landed four nominations, and Brandy and Pj Morton came up with three each in Wednesday’s announcement.

Actor-singers Tisha Campbell and Tichina Arnold return as third-time co-hosts for the show, which will air live on on BET, BET Her, VH1 and MTV2.

DJ Cassidy’s popular Twitch series, “Pass the Mic,” which has R&b and hip-hop stars of the past and present participating in epic medleys, will have its broadcast premiere as part of the evening, immediately following the awards program.

The...

Sony/Atv Music Publishing announced it has centralized its two production music divisions — Extreme Music and Emi Production Music — as one global operation and named Russell Emanuel as its President & CEO. According to the announcement, the appointment gives Emanuel oversight of Sony/Atv’s global production music business, which will combine the strengths and experiences of both companies to better serve its composers and clients around the world.

Emi Production Music is home to top libraries including Kpm, Music House and Juice, and Extreme Music represents a roster of talent including Quincy Jones, Hans Zimmer, Sir George Martin, Labrinth, Rodney Jerkins, Ramin Djawadi, and many more.

Sony/Atv Chairman and CEO Jon Platt stated, “Russell is undeniably one of the best in the business, and I’m pleased to recognize his expertise and influence with this new leadership role. His vision to integrate these two successful production music entities will further support our composers,...

World conditions make this year’s Grammy voter choices in the visual-media categories somewhat harder to predict, in part because so many of us have been staying home watching television. So while some score nominees are likely to come from late-2019 releases, including Hildur Guðnadóttir’s Oscar-winning “Joker,” John Williams’ “StarWars: The Rise of Skywalker,” Thomas Newman’s “1917,” Randy Newman’s “Marriage Story” and Alexandre Desplat’s “Little Women”), final choices could easily include streaming content which, while eligible, has rarely made the nominations list.

Terence Blanchard’s score for Netflix’s “Da 5 Bloods” is a strong candidate, as are recent Emmy winners like Labrinth’s “Euphoria,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ “Watchmen,” both on HBO, and Ludwig Göransson’s “The Mandalorian” on Disney Plus.

A bit harder to predict: the choices for compilation soundtrack, the category that includes song scores. High on the list is the album for Disney’s “Frozen 2,...

Producers and topliners have always had a particular dynamic: The producer usually sits behind the mixing board in the recording studio, acting as the song’s Svengali, while the topliner in the booth — the singer-songwriter who is responsible for layering lyrics and melodies over the beat — follows their lead.

But the age-old deferential relationship has flipped in Covid quarantine: Without the ability to work in recording studios, many topliners have had to become one-person operations, writing, recording and mixing their own songs in isolation and sending their vocals back to producers.

The Focus Features musical dramedy The High Note is looking to hit exactly that as it lands on-demand starting today. Directed by Late Night‘s Nisha Ganatra from a script by Flora Greeson, the film was originally set to hit theaters on May 8 but, like many films, the film adapted and shifted to a digital. However, with theaters slowly opening their doors, the film will be singing its way to approximately 100 theaters — most of the drive-in theaters.

Set in the world of the Los Angeles music scene, The High Note follows singing superstar diva Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross) and her overworked personal assistant Maggie (Dakota Johnson) who has dreams of becoming a music producer. When Grace’s manager (Ice Cube) presents her with a choice that could alter the course of her career, Maggie and Grace come up with a plan that could change their lives forever.

As it...

Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer Rodney Jerkins, whose credits include songs by Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey and Beyoncé, is no stranger to working with nervous artists in the studio. But having actress Tracee Ellis Ross in the vocal booth presented a different kind of challenge.

“Any artist would feel intimidated when you’re Diana Ross’ daughter,” says Jerkins, executive music producer of “The High Note.” “The role of Grace Davis in the movie is this big, iconic, legendary singer, so there’s pros and cons with that. On one hand — you grew up with that so you would know exactly what that needs to look like. The other part of it, is it’s a lot of pressure. My job was to make her as comfortable as possible.“

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the film co-starring Dakota Johnson and Ice Cube is headed to video-on-demand on May 29. Jerkins...

Tracee Ellis Ross follows in her mom Diana Ross’ footsteps with her first song “Love Myself,” the lead single off the soundtrack for her new film The High Note.

Ross debuted “Love Myself” on Instagram Live Thursday evening in a stream attended by her mom, siblings, Michelle Obama, Janelle Monáe, Lena Waithe and more. During the emotional event, she revealed that she has always dreamed of being a singer but didn’t have the courage to pursue it. Written by Sarah Aarons and produced by Rodney Jerkins, the song is...

Skip Marley and H.E.R. joined forces on The Tonight Show to perform their sultry track “Slow Down” with the help of house band the Roots.

The pair released “Slow Down” in January along with a music video directed by Lacey Duke, although Marley and H.E.R. first premiered the song during a show at the Hollywood Bowl with Lauryn Hill in October. “When I made the song, I was looking and wondering who could be a feature and then I thought of H.E.R. because I love her vibe and her energy really.

Billie Eilish swept the top categories at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards as she and brother/recording partner Finneas O’Connell took home six out of the seven awards they were nominated for. Eilish became only the second artist in history to nab new artist, song of the year, record of the year and album of the year. She also won pop vocal album while O’Connell earned producer of the year and engineered album (both non-classical).

Lizzo had a stellar Grammy debut as well. After opening the show with a Kobe Bryant tribute and an energetic rendition of “Truth Hurts,” she picked up trophies for pop solo performance, traditional R&b performance and urban contemporary album. Tyler, the Creator won his first Grammy on Sunday in the rap album category, beating 21 Savage, Ybn Cordae, Meek Mill and Dreamville.

Nipsey Hussle earned two posthumous awards. Along with a tribute performance in his honor,...

A few years ago, the producer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist Dernst Emile II, known as D’Mile, was on the verge of quitting the music business. He was writing and producing at the highest levels, and had been for more than a decade, landing credits on albums from Janet Jackson, Justin Bieber, Usher, and more. He was still frustrated.

“You put in so much work, and it doesn’t seem like anything is paying off — not even money-wise, just period,” D’Mile explains. “There were a lot of letdowns. A lot of stuff that I worked on,...

Lizzo led the way with eight Grammy Award nominations, while Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X each received six nods as fresh blood was infused into many categories heading into a new decade.

Grammy host Alicia Keys and singer-songwriter Bebe Rexha announced the top handful of awards live on CBS This Morning, with the complete list coming online minutes later. (See full list below.)

Lil Nas X, whose Billie Ray Cyrus collaboration, “Old Town Road,” occupied significant pop culture real estate over the past year, got nominated in three of the four major categories and racking up six overall nods. Ariana Grande, whose Thank You, Next album and title track were inspired by her brief engagement to Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson, earned five nominations.

Nipsey Hussle earned three posthumous nominations in Rap categories. He was fatally shot in La earlier this year. The Cranberries got nominated for...

The nominations for the 2020 Grammy Awards are in, with Lizzo (eight nominations), Billie Eilish (six), and Lil Nas X (six) leading the pack.

Bebe Rexha, Alicia Keys, Gayle King, Recording Academy President and CEO Deborah Dugan, and Chair of the Board of Trustees Harvey Mason Jr. all pitched in to read off the names Wednesday morning via a live stream and on “CBS This Morning.”

Keys will return to host next year’s Grammys, her second turn as emcee of “Music’s Biggest Night.”

The nominees are below.

Also Read: Alicia Keys to Return as Grammys Host

Record Of The Year:

“Hey, Ma” — Bon Iver

“Bad Guy” — Billie Eilish

“7 Rings” — Ariana Grande

“Hard Place” — H.E.R.

“Talk” — Khalid

“Old Town Road” — Lil Nas X Featuring Billy Ray Cyrus

“Truth Hurts” — Lizzo

“Sunflower” — Post Malone & Swae Lee

Album Of The Year:

i,i — Bon Iver

Norman F***ing Rockwell! — Lana Del Rey

When We All Fall Asleep,...

YouTube today made a positive move with the creator community by dramatically expanding music credits on the platform. According to an announcement, “Music in this video” credits the artist, songwriter, label and publishers behind than half a billion music videos. The feature will provide credits and music discovery information on both music videos as well as user-generated content that features recorded music. The move follows a similar recent one by Spotify, although theirs does not include publisher information.

More information and visuals can be found in this blog post.

The move has received several high-profile cosigns. Elton John said, “Songwriters are the heart and the soul of songs, so it’s wonderful seeing them get the credit they deserve. There is so much more we can do to establish a better situation for music creators and this is great step forward.”

Björn Ulvaeus of Abba noted, “The songwriter is every...

Is that you, Biebs? Cruz Beckham drew even more Justin Bieber comparisons with a new video of him singing an original song.  Victoria Beckham posted a clip of her son singing to the camera on her Instagram Monday morning.  "And I miss you, girl / Like sunlight misses the moon," the 13-year old sang. "And I pray that I'll be back inside your arms one day soon / And I'm so tired of running 'round and leaving you alone / Baby, I can't wait to be home." The Spice Girls legend captioned the post by writing "kisses" and adding clapping hand emojis. She tagged Cruz and producer Rodney Jerkins, whom he worked with in 2016 on his first single,...

Mary J. Blige is hard at work on her next album, the follow-up to last year's brilliant London Sessions, and she's returned in part to the team of Brits who helped reinvigorate her sound. She's collaborating closely again with her "Doubt" songwriter RØMANS (né Sam Roman), the young English singer/producer whose work appears on Disclosure's "Jaded" and Gorgon City's "Saving My Life," and comes co-signed by R&B great Rodney Jerkins. This summer, Roman even had the chance to write with John Legend. Around that same time, RØMANS stepped out from behind the scenes with the release of his debut Ep, Overthinking Part 1, the first half of an upbeat soul collection meant to preview his forthcoming LP. The title track from the Ep recently caught the ear of the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, who decided to rework "Overthinking" during one of their recent studio sessions together. "I played...

I had the pleasure of meeting Bobbi Kristina at the 2009 American Music Awards. It was only a few months after losing our beloved Michael. My family was still grieving through our own personal pain as the world was grieving the public loss of someone who meant so much to so many. Attending in support of my aunt, who was opening the show, I was sitting with [producer] Rodney Jerkins, a family friend to both the Jackson and Houston families. Right before the show started, I saw a woman approaching us with a young lady clamped to her arm. As

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Rihanna knows we're all freaking out as each day passes with barely any news about #R8 (other than that it'll be "timeless," duh), but she's generously calmed our nerves with three brand-new tracks from her Home soundtrack. We've already heard the Sia-influenced "Towards the Sun," and now two more tracks have made their way online. "Dancing in the Dark" is about as lifeless as movie pop-songs get (and comes nowhere close to the Lady Gaga song of a similar name), but "As Real As You and Me" might just be one of the best ballads Rihanna's ever sung. It's co-produced by Rodney Jerkins and has Rihanna giving full-on falsetto and powerhouse vocals. Sang, Rihanna, sang! "As Real As You and Me": "Dancing in the Dark":...

While Sam Smith and Beck dominated the 57th annual Grammy Awards, they were hardly the only winners Sunday night. From Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament (and Eddie Vedder, using his pseudonym "Jerome Turner") scoring Best Recording Package to Beyoncé taking home Best Surround Sound Album, here is the full rundown of all the Grammy winners.

Record of the Year

Sam Smith – "Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)"

Steve Fitzmaurice, Rodney Jerkins & Jimmy Napes, producers; Steve Fitzmaurice, Jimmy Napes & Steve Price, engineers/mixers; Tom Coyne, mastering engineer Label: Capitol Records; Publishers: Sony...

Lifetime aired its controversial biopic on late R&B icon Aaliyah tonight, and true to the network’s recent trend with celebrity and pop culture tell-alls — need we bring up the cringe-worthy Brittany Murphy and Saved By the Bell films? — it was pretty bad. While there are some positives to Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B (it paints the “Try Again” singer as passionate and determined, and lead actress Alexandra Shipp both looks and feels like Aaliyah), most of it is quite insulting.

There’s a reason why Aaliyah’s family didn’t condone this movie (allegedly, they’re saving their own biopic plans for the big screen). It skates over many aspects of her life that undoubtedly impacted her in a profound way, notably her relationship with R.Kelly, who produced Aaliyah’s first album Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number (1994) and began an inappropriate relationship with the...

Lifetime aired its controversial biopic on late R&B icon Aaliyah tonight, and true to the network’s recent trend with celebrity and pop culture tell-alls — need we bring up the cringe-worthy Brittany Murphy and Saved By the Bell films? — it was pretty bad. While there are some positives to Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B (it paints the “Try Again” singer as passionate and determined, and lead actress Alexandra Shipp both looks and feels like Aaliyah), most of it is quite insulting.

There’s a reason why Aaliyah’s family didn’t condone this movie (allegedly, they’re saving their own biopic plans for the big screen). It skates over many aspects of her life that undoubtedly impacted her in a profound way, notably her relationship with R.Kelly, who produced Aaliyah’s first album Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number (1994) and began an inappropriate relationship with the...

As “Problem,” featuring Iggy Azalea continues to ride high on the chart, Ariana Grande will release her second full-length album, "My Everything," Aug. 25. In addition to first single, “Problem,” the album includes collaborations with produced Zedd on “Break Free,” rapper Big Sean on “Best Mistake,” The Weeknd on “Love Me Harder,” Childish Gambino on “Break Your Heart Right Back” and A$AP Ferg on “Hands On Me.” Though he doesn’t appear on the track, One Direction’s Harry Styles penned “A Little Bit of Your Heart”; OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, Benny Blanco, Max Martin, Rodney Jerkins, Oak & Pop, and Harmony & Tommy Brown handled production duties. Grande will promote the album through a number of TV appearances, including Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular, as well as performing on “Today” on Aug. 29. Grande's last album, "Yours Truly," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and included the hit, "The Way,...

It’s been a long wait filled with fits and starts for Mariah Carey’s new album, first titled “The Art Of Letting Go,” and now, awkwardly called “Me. I Am Mariah…The Elusive Chanteuse.” Yes, I know the background behind the title and she could have gone with “Me,” or “I Am Mariah” or “The Elusive Chanteuse,” but all three is a bit of overkill. And so it is with the album. At 14 tracks on the standard edition, Carey is determined to show us all of her tricks, between her multiple-octave range and her “I’m still really street, R&B” side (not to mention that she can still rock a crocheted bathing suit). The album succeeds in many levels, but on some songs—“Cry,” “Camouflage,” “It’s A Wrap” (a duet with Mary J. Blige on the Deluxe version), the lyrics read like journal entries that don’t...

Michael Jackson lives on!Justin Timberlake stars alongside the King of Pop in the music video for their duet, "Love Never Felt So Good," and Ellen DeGeneres is giving fans an exclusive first look of the clip. In the music video, the "Mirrors" crooner and a group of back-up dancers moonwalk their way across several backdrops plucked from iconic Jackson videos, including "Thriller," "Bad" and "Billie Jean." Written by Jackson and Paul Anka back in 1983, the song is the debut single for "Xscape,"which was released May 13.The track was refreshed and re-worked by Epic Records Chairman L.A. Reid. In addition, the album features production by Rodney Jerkins, Timbaland, Stargate, Jerome "Jroc" Harmon and John McClain on songs recorded by Jackson between 1983 and 1999. We think this is a great homage to the late superstar!What do you of the music video? Sound off below. Read more...

“Xscape,” out today, features eight previously unreleased Michael Jackson tunes, completed by top tier producers. There’s a reason these songs probably didn’t make it onto the albums they were written for at the time and that reason is that some of the songs are downright dreadful lyrically. They are saved by Jackson’s voice, which is treated lovingly here, and some of the best producers in the world — Timbaland, Babyface, L.A. Reid, Rodney Jerkins—dressing them up in current beats and lots of effects. For the most part, the producers push Jackson’s vocals way up in the mix because he sounds that good. Vocalists in training should listen to Jackson’s voice here and study how he uses it going from a whisper to a scream and shifting easily from one register to another. Plus, his vocal trademarks, from the heavy breathing to the little yelps and other hiccups are all here.

There hasn't been a ton of fanfare about the new Michael Jackson album, Xscape, but here it is — streaming on Spotify in full. What's immediately comforting about the entire project (a collection of old recordings cut and spliced and updated by producers like Timbaland, StarGate, John McClain, and Rodney Jerkins) is that it all genuinely sounds like Michael Jackson. Fans of the late singer will have no trouble recognizing what they loved about Mj in the first place. "Love Never Felt So Good," the album's first single, is immediately Song of Summer–worthy. There's even a surprisingly fun "A Horse With No Name" rework called "A Place With No Name." And it wouldn't be kind-of-creepy Michael Jackson without a song called "Do You Know Where Your Children Are."...

Billboard's new cover story focuses on the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson, going behind the scenes with the super-producers who sifted through nearly two-decades of Mj's studio outtakes in an attempt to produce what they hope will be a posthumous hit record, Xscape (out May 13). Antonio "L.A." Reid, Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins and J-Roc -- the Xscape team -- take Billboard into the making of the album, available in an expanded edition that includes a new Justin Timberlake-mj duet "Love Never Felt So Good." Audio: Michael Jackson-Justin Timberlake Duet 'Love Never Felt So Good' Debuts

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The sum of the parts are definitely greater than the whole on “Love Never Felt So Good,” a new Michael Jackson track featuring Justin Timberlake, but that doesn’t mean there’s not plenty of fun to be had listening to the breezy track. The tune debuted during the IHeartRadio Awards May 1 in Los Angeles, with Jackson acolyte Usher dancing to the track. Written in 1983 by Jackson, Paul Anka and Kathy Wakefield, the dance-oriented pop track sounds delightfully retro (even for 1983) with its synth disco beat and easy rhythms. With the right remixes, it could be club smash. Jackson is the star of the Frankenstein track, with Timberlake singing the second verse, adding a more contemporary breakdown that brings it into the new millennium and several “Let me see you move” call outs. It’s a slight track and Jackson’s performance is fine, but certainly not exceptional. However, there...

Unlike the old Michael Jackson song that quite a bit of the internet (including this very site!) mistook for a new Michael Jackson song, "Love Never Felt So Good" is indeed a truly new Mj track. It premiered on last night's iHeartRadio Music Awards and was written with Paul Anka in 1983, and further "contemporized" for its 2014 release. It's also the first single off Jackson's posthumous Xscape album, and features production work from Timbaland Rodney Jerkins, Stargate, Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, and Jackson estate co-executor John McClain. The disco-tinged Pharrell sound we're all so fond of hearing right now? Well, Mj did it best.

We’ll give him this much: Mariah Carey’s co-manager and producer Jermaine Dupri has a good poker face. When we interviewed Dupri on Wednesday at the Ascap Awards, he said Carey’s album was still coming out in May (any maybe it is, given the timing of today's Billboard cover story on Carey) and he got a little feisty with us about the singles released so far not doing particularly well. Apparently, he just wanted to save his cannon fire for the Billboard story, which comes out in full on Monday. He did tell us that she will tour behind the new album, so there's that... Today, billboard.com teased several items from Monday’s story. Here are five things we learned: *The album's release will be a surprise. There’s a reason we haven’t heard anything more about the previously announced May 6 release date or an album...

We’ve long known at Michael Jackson left unreleased material before he died on 2009. Now the world will get to hear eight of the songs on “Xscape,” an 8-song collection featuring “contemporized” versions of the tunes. Epic Records will release the set May 13 in conjunction with Jackson’s estate. “Contemporized,” according to a press release, means that Epic CEO/chairman “L.A” Reid and various producers, including Timbaland, Stargate, and Rodney Jerkins, “retooled the production to add a fresh, contemporary sound that retains Jackon’s essence and integrity. In other words, my guess is they had to create the finished tracks from the various stages in which they found Jackson’s vocals. Although the release stresses that a deluxe version of "Xscape" includes all the "sourced Michael Jackson recordings in their original form," it does not explain how fully realized the recordings were. The title track, which was written by Jackson and Jerkins,...

Epic Records and Michael Jackson's estate have announced they'll release Xscape, an eight-song collection of previously unreleased tracks from the late King of Pop, on May 13. Photos: Inside Cirque’s New Las Vegas Thriller 'Michael Jackson One' Label CEO, and the project's executive producer, L.A. Reid, took the lead in cultivating recordings from Jackson in which his vocals were completed, and Reid went about "contemporizing" each one. The album's head producer was Timbaland, with additional work courtesy of Rodney Jerkins, Stargate, Jerome "Jroc" Harmon and John McClain. "Michael left behind some musical performances that we take great pride in presenting through the vision

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Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Mariah Carey wants you to be hers. On new single, “You’re Mine (Eternal),” Carey slips into a little smooth R&B as she recalls what it was like to have her lover in her arms. “You’re Mine (Eternal),” will be on Carey’s much-delayed new album, out May 6. The mid-tempo tune, co-written and co-produced with Rodney Jerkins, is a breathless, throbbing quiet storm of a song that relies more on its hypnotic charm than Carey’s vocal pyrotechnics. Instead, she’s fairly subdued throughout much of the song relying on a very deliberate delivery to draw in the...