yachty her loss

Drake & 21 Savage's "Her Loss" Production Credits: Lil Yachty, Boi-1da, Metro Boomin & More

Lil Yachty, Metro Boomin, Boi-1da & more have credits on Drake and 21 Savage's "Her Loss."

Following the success of singles like "Jimmy Cooks" and "Knife Talk," among other records, Drake and 21 Savage came through with their new joint project, Her Loss this morning. The two rappers kept the features to a minimum with Travis Scott serving as the sole guest appearance.

However, what the two lack in collaborators is made up with the stacked roster of producers attached to the tracklist . Her Loss 's 16-song tracklist contains appearances from their frequent collaborators, such as Metro Boomin , Boi-1da , 40, and more.

Perhaps, the most surprising contributor to the project is Lil Yachty . The " Poland " rapper boasts four production credits on "BackOutsideBoyz," "Privileged Rappers," "Pussy & Millions" ft. Travis Scott," and "Jumbotron Shit Poppin."

Drake and 21 Savage kept the majority of details surrounding their new collaborative effort under wraps until two weeks ago, when they dropped the "Jimmy Cooks" music video. Unfortunately, the project was delayed by a week after OVO 40 caught COVID-19.

Prior to the release of Her Loss , Drake released his first dance project, Honestly, Nevermind . Though largely panned among his fanbase, the surprise release still had the summer on lock with singles like "Sticky," "Massive," and of course, the 21 Savage-assisted, "Jimmy Cooks."

Peep the official production credits below.

“Rich Flex” Vinylz, Tay Keith, FNZ, BoogzDaBeast
“Major Distribution” SkipOnDaBeat
“On BS” OZ, Elyas
“BackOutsideBoyz” Rio Leyva, Dez Wright, Taz Taylor, Lil Yachty
“Privileged Rappers” Earl on the Beat, GENT, Lil Yachty, Noah “40” Shebib
“Spin Bout U” Banbwoi, Noah “40” Shebib
“Hours in Silence” nyan, Mcevoy, Noah “40” Shebib, Noel Cadastre, Daniel East
“Treacherous Twins” Noël, OZ, Boi-1da
“Circo Loco” Boi-1da, Tay Keith
“Pussy & Millions” Cheeze Beatz, Go Grizzly, Squat Beatz, B100, Lil Yachty
“Broke Boys” Wheezy, Tay Keith, Jack Uriah, Anthem
“Middle of the Ocean” OZ, Noel Cadastre, Nik D, Sucuki, Loof
“Jumbotron Shit Poppin” F1lthy, Cubeatz, Sad Pony, Oogie Mane, Lil Yachty, Noah “40” Shebib, Klimperboy, Danno, Dilara
“More M’s” Metro Boomin, DAVID x ELI
“3am on Glenwood” OZ, Peter Iskander, Noah “40” Shebib
“I Guess It’s Fuck Me” The Loud Pack
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How Lil Yachty Ended Up at His Excellent New Psychedelic Album Let's Start Here

By Brady Brickner-Wood

Lil Yachty attends Wicked Featuring 21 Savage at Forbes Arena at Morehouse College on October 19 2022 in Atlanta Georgia.

The evening before Lil Yachty released his fifth studio album, Let’s Start Here, he gathered an IMAX theater’s worth of his fans and famous friends at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City and made something clear: He wanted to be taken seriously. Not just as a “Soundcloud rapper, not some mumble rapper, not some guy that just made one hit,” he told the crowd before pressing play on his album. “I wanted to be taken serious because music is everything to me.”

There’s a spotty history of rappers making dramatic stylistic pivots, a history Yachty now joins with Let’s Start Here, a funk-flecked psychedelic rock album. But unlike other notable rap-to-rock faceplants—Kid Cudi’s Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven comes to mind, as does Lil Wayne’s Rebirth —the record avoids hackneyed pastiche and gratuitous playacting and cash-grabbing crossover singles; instead, Yachty sounds unbridled and free, a rapper creatively liberated from the strictures of mainstream hip-hop. Long an oddball who’s delighted in defying traditional rap ethos and expectations, Let’s Start Here is a maximalist and multi-genre undertaking that rewrites the narrative of Yachty’s curious career trajectory.

Admittedly, it’d be easy to write off the album as Tame Impala karaoke, a gimmicky record from a guy who heard Yves Tumor once and thought: Let’s do that . But set aside your Yachty skepticism and probe the album’s surface a touch deeper. While the arrangements tend toward the obvious, the record remains an intricate, unraveling swell of sumptuous live instruments and reverb-drenched textures made more impressive by the fact that Yachty co-produced every song. Fielding support from an all-star cast of characters, including production work from former Chairlift member Patrick Wimberly, Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Jacob Portrait, Justin Raisen, Nick Hakim, and Magdalena Bay, and vocals from Daniel Caesar, Diana Gordon, Foushée , Justine Skye, and Teezo Touchdown, Yachty surrounds himself with a group of disparately talented collaborators. You can hear the acute attention to detail and wide-scale ambition in the spaced-out denouement on “We Saw the Sun!” or on the blistering terror of “I’ve Officially Lost Vision!!!!” or during the cool romanticism of “Say Something.” Though occasionally overindulgent, Let’s Start Here is a spectacular statement from hip-hop’s prevailing weirdo. It’s not shocking that Yachty took another hard left—but how exactly did he end up here ?

In 2016, as the forefather of “bubblegum trap” ascended into mainstream consciousness, an achievement like Let’s Start Here would’ve seemed inconceivable. The then 18-year-old Yachty gained national attention when a pair of his songs, “One Night” and “Minnesota,” went viral. Though clearly indebted to hip-hop trailblazers Lil B, Chief Keef, and Young Thug, his work instantly stood apart from the gritted-teeth toughness of his Atlanta trap contemporaries. Yachty flaunted a childlike awe and cartoonish demeanor that communicated a swaggering, unbothered cool. His singsong flows and campy melodies contained a winking humor to them, a subversive playfulness that endeared him to a generation of very online kids who saw themselves in Yachty’s goofy, eccentric persona. He starred in Sprite commercials alongside LeBron James, performed live shows at the Museum of Modern Art , and modeled in Kanye West’s Life of Pablo listening event at Madison Square Garden. Relishing in his cultural influence, he declared to the New York Times that he was not a rapper but an artist. “And I’m more than an artist,” he added. “I’m a brand.”

As Sheldon Pearce pointed out in his Pitchfork review of Yachty’s 2016 mixtape, Lil Boat , “There isn’t a single thing Lil Yachty’s doing that someone else isn’t doing better, and in richer details.” He wasn’t wrong. While Yachty’s songs were charming and catchy (and, sometimes, convincing), his music was often tangential to his brand. What was the point of rapping as sharply as the Migos or singing as intensely as Trippie Redd when you’d inked deals with Nautica and Target, possessed a sixth-sense for going viral, and had incoming collaborations with Katy Perry and Carly Rae Jepsen? What mattered more was his presentation: the candy-red hair and beaded braids, the spectacular smile that showed rows of rainbow-bedazzled grills, the wobbly, weak falsetto that defaulted to a chintzy nursery rhyme cadence. He didn’t need technical ability or historical reverence to become a celebrity; he was a meme brought to life, the personification of hip-hop’s growing generational divide, a sudden star who, like so many other Soundcloud acts, seemed destined to crash and burn after a fleeting moment in the sun.

One problem: the music wasn’t very good. Yachty’s debut album, 2017’s Teenage Emotions, was a glitter-bomb of pop-rap explorations that floundered with shaky hooks and schmaltzy swings at crossover hits. Worse, his novelty began to fade, those sparkly, cheerful, and puerile bubblegum trap songs aging like day-old french fries. Even when he hued closer to hard-nosed rap on 2018’s Lil Boat 2 and Nuthin’ 2 Prove, you could feel Yachty desperate to recapture the magic that once came so easily to him. But rap years are like dog years, and by 2020, Yachty no longer seemed so radically weird. He was an established rapper making mid mainstream rap. The only question now was whether we’d already seen the best of him.

If his next moves were any indication—writing the theme song to the Saved by the Bell sitcom revival and announcing his involvement in an upcoming movie based on the card game Uno—then the answer was yes. But in April 2021, Yachty dropped Michigan Boat Boy, a mixtape that saw him swapping conventional trap for Detroit and Flint’s fast-paced beats and plain-spoken flows. Never fully of a piece with his Atlanta colleagues, Yachty found a cohort of kindred spirits in Michigan, a troop of rappers whose humor, imagination, and debauchery matched his own. From the looks of it, leaders in the scene like Babyface Ray, Rio Da Yung OG, and YN Jay embraced Yachty with open arms, and Michigan Boat Boy thrives off that communion.

Then “ Poland ” happened. When Yachty uploaded the minute-and-a-half long track to Soundcloud a few months back, he received an unlikely and much needed jolt. Building off the rage rap production he played with on the Birthday Mix 6 EP, “Poland” finds Yachty’s warbling about carrying pharmaceutical-grade cough syrup across international borders, a conceit that captured the imagination of TikTok and beyond. Recorded as a joke and released only after a leaked version went viral, the song has since amassed over a hundred-millions streams across all platforms. With his co-production flourishes (and adlibs) splattered across Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss, fans had reason to believe that Yachty’s creative potential had finally clicked into focus.

But Let’s Start Here sounds nothing like “Poland”—in fact, the song doesn’t even appear on the project. Instead, amid a tapestry of scabrous guitars, searing bass, and vibrant drums, Yachty sounds right at home on this psych-rock spectacle of an album. He rarely raps, but his singing often relies on the virtues of his rapping: those greased-vowel deliveries and unrushed cadences, the autotune-sheathed vibrato. “Pretty,” for instance, is decidedly not a rap song—but what is it, then? It’s indebted to trap as much as it is ’90s R&B and MGMT, its drugged-out drums and warm keys able to house an indeterminate amount of ideas.

Yachty didn’t need to abandon hip-hop to find himself as an artist, but his experimental impulses helped him craft his first great album. Perhaps this is his lone dalliance in psych rock—maybe a return to trap is imminent. Or, maybe, he’ll make another 180, or venture deeper into the dystopia of corporate sponsorships. Who’s to say? For now, it’s invigorating to see Yachty shake loose the baggage of his teenage virality and emerge more fully into his adult artistic identity. His guise as a boundary-pushing rockstar isn’t a new archetype, but it’s an archetype he’s infused with his glittery idiosyncrasies. And look what he’s done: he’s once again morphed into a star the world didn’t see coming.

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Drake & 21 Savage Release Their Debut Collab Album 'Her Loss'

Drake and 21 savage have dropped their first collaborative album her loss , with production from lil yachty, noah "40" shebib and more..

Drake and 21 Savage have banded together for Her Loss . On Friday (November 4), Champagne Papi and The Slaughter King officially released their long-awaited debut collaborative LP, which features production from Noah "40" Shebib , Lil Yachty , Tay Keith , Boi-1da , Metro Boomin and others, along with a lone guest feature from Travis Scott . On the Her Loss album cover is a three-year-old image of model and exotic dancer Qui Yasuka, who goes by Suki Baby on social media. On the back cover are Oakland models and influencers Jazmyn Marie and K’yanna Barber, the latter who Drake referenced on his 2018 hit "In My Feelings."

\u201c\u2018Her Loss\u2019 Out Now @Drake @21savage \nhttps://t.co/9BPjMmv472\u201d — OVO Sound (@OVO Sound) 1667534889

The album release follows a troll-worthy rollout, with Drake and 21 Savage dropping a faux issue of Vogue along with "appearances" on NPR Tiny Desk Concerts and The Howard Stern Show . NPR Music responded to the latter spoof, calling out the duo to potentially appear on the real music series.

\u201cIn The Bag with @21Savage \n#HERLOSS\u201d — OVO Sound (@OVO Sound) 1667435439

\u201clet\u2019s do it forreal tho \ud83d\ude0f\ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udffe\u201d — NPR Music (@NPR Music) 1667423381

Both Drake and 21 Savage have been longtime collaborators, last banding together on "Jimmy Crooks" from Drake's latest album Honestly, Nevermind , his eleventh album to go No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The Canadian-bred rapper recently joined 21 Savage at the Morehouse-Spelman homecoming concert last month.

“Along with OVO, I really live this 4L shit,” Drake said at the event. “By the way, I didn’t get invited to this show. Nobody from Morehouse asked me to perform. My brother brought me here, so make some noise for 21 Savage.”

Stream Her Loss below.

Drake Homages Virgil Abloh At 'It’s All A Blur Tour' Opening In Chicago - Okayplayer ›
Drake Trolls Vogue EIC Anna Wintour Months After ‘Her Loss’ Lawsuit - Okayplayer ›

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Who Is the Woman on Drake and 21 Savage's 'Her Loss' Album Cover?

Here's everything you need to know about Suki Baby, the mysterious woman on the cover artwork for Drake and 21 Savage's new album 'Her Loss.'

Drake is no stranger to peculiar album artwork (just look at the Certified Lover Boy cover), but the imagery for his new collab album with 21 Savage, Her Loss , might be his most unique yet. The cover, shot by Houston-based photographer Paris Aden , features a close-up shot of a young woman grilling the camera with jewelry in her mouth and colorful eyelashes. Drake and 21 shared the image without any context, other than describing the image as the “front cover” of Her Loss . The shot immediately confused fans, with many asking who the mystery woman is and why she’s on the cover.

We immediately started investigating online to find answers. Fortunately, we stumbled on some bread crumbs that led us to answers about who the mysterious woman is: Qui Yasuka , aka Suki Baby, a nail stylist and professional adult dancer based in Houston. Suki revealed a lot about herself on Gulniyal’s gtalks! podcast about a year ago when talking about her personal interests, which left some clues about why Drake and 21 wanted her to be on the album cover. We also got in touch with the photographer for some more information about how this all came together.

Here’s everything we know about the woman on Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss album cover.

Drake and 21 Savage 'Her Loss' album cover

View this photo on Instagram

Suki Baby is currently working as an adult dancer in Houston, Texas. During her gtalks! podcast interview, she reveals she also has her own nail business and first started doing nails when she was in high school. Suki also has a deep interest in grills and teeth jewelry, explaining that she even has books on teeth anatomy so she can better understand how the human mouth works and how grills can be shaped. She also sells prints of photos she takes.

Suki, born Quiana Yasuka, is a Japanese, Black, and Cherokee nail artist and professional adult dancer. She was born in North Carolina and spent her younger years in Japan (Japanese is her first language) before moving to Houston. She moved back to America for good when she was in high school because she had to deal with bullying in Japan—she was the only Black and Japanese student at her school—but her mother would defend her.

The cover photo of Suki is about three years old. Photographer Paris Aden tells Complex that the OVO camp reached out to her randomly and asked to use the shot for the album cover. “Drake just saw the photo I guess, and they asked if they could use it for the album,” Aden explains over the phone. “I shot that shit a long time ago. It was her profile pic and he probably fell in love with what he seen.”

But how and why did Drake choose this specific photo? At this point, we can only guess. Drake has a well-documented love for Houston , so it isn’t a huge surprise that he would be drawn to an image of a woman from the area. Or, perhaps more likely, Drake just saw her profile photo on IG, thought it looked cool, and decided to use it for their cover. Everything about the rollout for Her Loss has been a spoof of a normal album rollout so far, so it’s only fitting that they’d choose a head-turning image and catch people off guard.

UPDATE [12:10 a.m., November 4]: According to a new Instagram post from Lil Yachty , he is the one who found the image and chose it for the cover. “I Chose This Cover Because This Photo Is So Raw… So Authentic.. Not Fabricated.. Suki Can And Will Only Be Suki,” he wrote. “MY BROTHRRR @aristatalovich BROUGHT IT TO LIFE…. HER LOSS 🦉🗡️ FUCK WHO AINT WIT US.”

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‘Her Loss’ Is A Misfire That Drake Will Hopefully Learn From

By Mosi Reeves

Mosi Reeves

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But it’s the furious backlash to the “stallion bar” in particular — Megan’s anguished tweets in response , a claim from Lil Yachty that Drake’s words are a standard misogynist joke about cosmetic surgery and not a specific reference to the Megan/Tory Lanez shooting, all while innumerable gossips decode Drake’s intentions — that threatens to overwhelm Her Loss . The controversy is reminiscent of angry reactions to Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers earlier this year, in particularly the violent he-said-she-said argument “We Cry Together” and his transphobic confessions on “Auntie Diaries.” The difference is that Lamar invited listeners to an uncensored therapy session and miscalculated their level of empathy. Drake’s error is that he unintentionally reveals himself as a self-centered jerk who refuses to grow up.

The album begins promisingly with “Rich Flex,” where 21 Savage opens with a threat to “get your ass smushed.” It’s a decent introduction that allows him to skate around impropriety as he asks, “I know you’re on your period, baby/Can you suck it?” In general, 21 Savage sounds great on these opening tracks, especially when he uses “On BS” for hilarious lines like, “She won’t/Wear no panties ‘round me even if she could/Gave out/Plenty spankings ‘til that got it understood.” That song is one of a handful of Her Loss numbers that find the two clicking in tandem. “I jump on your song and make you sound like you the feature,” raps 21 Savage. “I jump on your song and make a label think they need ya, for real,” retorts Drake.

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But there’s a gloominess this time around, and it’s not just the sloppy sequencing and hit-or-miss quality that ranges from clear standouts like “Pussy & Millions,” where the so-called “treacherous twins” team up with Travis Scott, to aimless dross like “Major Distribution.” Drake’s 2015 collaboration with Future, What a Time to Be Alive , was equally uneven, yet the two’s carefree happiness buoyed them past its structural problems. They conjured a joyously lit vibe Drake and 21 Savage can’t match with Her Loss . Yes, 36-year-old Jay-Z caught plenty of jokes for “Beach Chair.” Yet by acknowledging that he wasn’t making out with women in showers and commanding girls on molly to strip anymore, he freed himself to grow as an artist, leading to post-retirement classics like American Gangster and 4:44 . Every hero’s journey is different, and it’s unclear where Drake will evolve next after the singular misfire that is Her Loss . Does he even care?

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Lil Yachty says he chose the cover for Drake and 21 Savage’s ‘Her Loss’

The 'Poland' artist apparently chose the image for its rawness and authenticity.

Lil Yachty apparently picked out the 'Her Loss' album art

It’s been a short, but twist-filled road between the announcement and release of Drake and 21 Savage ’s collaborative album ‘ Her Loss ’, and while the world is busy digesting its contents, Lil Yachty took to Instagram to offer up a bit of trivia about the album’s cover.

The ‘Poland’ artist made the casual revelation that he supposedly picked out the album cover for ‘Her Loss’, along with an explanation for why he picked the photo, citing the rawness and authenticity of the image. Whether the claim is legitimate or not, it’s definitely garnered some attention.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by C.V T (@lilyachty)

The music video for the last single on Drake’s latest solo album ‘Jimmy Cooks’ (which also featured 21 Savage) released last month, in which a sly announcement for the impending ‘Her Loss’ release was made. The album’s initial release date was Oct. 26, but it was delayed by a week after the record’s mixing and mastering engineer contracted COVID-19.

Between now and then, the pair promoted the album with an elaborate gag involving a supposed trailer for their appearance on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk program, which turned out to be fake . Drake has been pretty off the rails on Instagram today, marking the album’s release by posting adult anime content all over his Instagram story .

Some keen-eared fans think that ‘Her Loss’ closes out the narrative of a trilogy of albums from Drake. If you’ve had a chance to listen through the album and were wondering what the song sampled on the ‘Circo Loco’ track is, we’ve got an answer for you here .

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By Paul A. Thompson

OVO Sound / Republic

November 8, 2022

There are tracks on Her Loss , Drake ’s new quasi-collaboration album with 21 Savage , that seem like the natural evolutions of those on 2009’s So Far Gone . “Hours in Silence,” to take one, is built around a much livelier Memphis rap song that sounds as if it’s being replayed underwater; Drake half-croons through his web of gossip and self-mythology, where cryptic comments on exes’ finstas and villains ripped from mob movies weigh equally on his mind. Like he once did with Lil Wayne , he cedes a little time to a considerably more magnetic rapper from the South before singing, over and over, that things are “my fault,” the lines begging for the “of course not” counterweight from a former lover which would absolve him, but never comes.

That song’s brief turn from 21 finds the Atlanta rapper affecting something just short of a Drake impression, the danger posed by armed enemies made to sound nearly romantic (“They looking for myyyy faaaaace”). But much to its detriment, Her Loss relegates 21 to a supporting role, neutering the textural and thematic contrast that sold “Jimmy Cooks,” the beloved “ Bound 2 ”-style hedge tacked onto the end of Honestly, Nevermind , Drake’s otherwise dance-focused album from earlier this year. There are moments of considered writing and bursts of Drake at or near his mischievous best, but in its middle, the record becomes inert, making the bits of self-conscious misanthropy scan as strained rather than gleeful, as if the id could be focus-grouped.

At its beginning, Her Loss hints at a looser, more natural interplay. After a brief intro from Atlanta’s Young Nudy —whose roving inner-monologue style would have been a welcome destabilizing force on this album—Drake opens “Rich Flex” with the kind of rapping-to-one-another hook (“21, can you do somethin’ for me?”) that blows past So Far Gone to recall groups from the 1980s and early ‘90s. And throughout, he and 21 are most effective when they either imitate one another, as 21 does on “Hours in Silence” and Drake does on “Major Distribution,” or when they retreat to their opposite stylistic poles: Drake bounding across “BackOutsideBoyz” like the only man to ever be sad in a nightclub, 21 rapping on “More M’s” that “I been in them rooms/I never did no contemplating,” his trademark economy of language unsettling as ever.

It’s the muddy, Drake-dominated middle ground that mostly doesn’t work. As the album’s title seems to promise, Her Loss is littered with bitter, very online barbs for women who have betrayed Drake and 21, wronged them in other, indeterminate ways, or simply drifted into the digital expanse. Both artists, but especially Drake, have staked songs on this going back years; what drags down Her Loss is not so much a moral failing as a creative one, the sense that Drake is turning a big dial labeled MISOGYNY while looking to an imagined audience for approval. This is occasionally colorful (from “On BS”: “I blow a half a million on you hoes, I'm a feminist”), but more often, it’s tiresome, even sort of depressing. Quips about group chats sound as if they’ve been sourced from Twitter, and punchlines like the already infamous one that trades on rumors Megan Thee Stallion was lying about being shot by Tory Lanez cast Drake as desperate to provoke, rather than in his ideal mode: someone tortured by the competing impulses to withhold and to overshare.

This tension between the acutely memorable and the vaguely forgettable is embodied by the production. The submarine Juicy J and DJ Paul flip from “Hours in Silence” is joined by reworks of Ginuwine (“Treacherous Twins”), B.G.O.T.I. (“Spin Bout U”), and the same Isley Brothers song that previously became JAY-Z and Too $hort’s “ A Week Ago ” (“Privileged Rappers), all of which play on a late-2000s production style—now effective bait for nostalgists— that treated samples as found sounds to be warped into an alien texture. This suits both Drake and 21’s voices: The former’s ecstatic vocals on “Treacherous Twins” alone make Her Loss worth the streaming bandwidth. But the original compositions for the album are less effective, hampered by mixes that make each element of each beat seem oddly isolated; it makes the music sound cheaper than it surely is. (There is a different kind of cheapness at intermittent play: The hammily stupid Daft Punk flip on “Circo Loco” and the O’Jays sample that pops up halfway through “Middle of the Ocean” only to invite unflattering comparisons to AZ and Nas and Dipset .) Still, tucked between the sameness are pockets of strangeness—like the drawn-out instrumental ending to “Jumbotron Shit Poppin,” at once triumphant and melancholy.

Things never quite coalesce. On the intriguingly atonal first half of “Broke Boys”—a beat odder and heavier than anything Drake has rapped over in ages—he sleepwalks through a passage that aims to tout his decades-long commercial dominance but communicates, instead, just how flat his output has become, a project that now privileges year-over-year incrementalism over fits of excitement. “Nothing had changed,” he raps, “I’m just harder to please.” He then notes that Ferrari has begun to produce SUVs, and that he and his friends have already ordered several. “We ain’t got a choice,” he says. You imagine him pointing to a conveyor belt.

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Music Reviews

Drake and 21 savage are sore winners on 'her loss', the atlanta rapper's presence is the ovo megastar's ticket to play supervillain.

Sam Hockley-Smith

Despite the churlishness, or maybe because of it, Drake sounds, for the first time in a long time, like he's actually enjoying rapping. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Despite the churlishness, or maybe because of it, Drake sounds, for the first time in a long time, like he's actually enjoying rapping.

In 1966, writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the creative team at the center of the golden era of Marvel Comics, created Galactus, a massive alien god who travels the universe in a hulking purple helmet, consuming entire planets in order to keep himself alive. Drake has become rap's own Galactus, subsuming bits of his collaborators' traits — a flow here, a vocal intonation there, maybe an accent or an entire worldview — into his persona. Each Drake collaboration is creative sustenance.

This feasting is an artistic method that casts him as a perpetual student of hip-hop in admiration of rap's trendsetters and legends, even as they become his peers. On 2015's What a Time to be Alive , a joint album with the tormented Atlanta rapper Future, the pair plumbed the depths of loneliness from the inside of opulent strip clubs. Every single time Drake and Miami's faux kingpin Rick Ross link up, they create lush, sumptuous music that sounds like diving into a Scrooge McDuck-style pool of gold coins during a sunset so impossibly beautiful that your eyes can't even register it without Cartier shades.

Up until now, it's been clear that Drake enjoys working with the straight-faced Atlanta rapper 21 Savage — who found success through a meat-and-potatoes combination of canny beat selection and a menacing and thin voice that rarely rises above a flat murmur — just as much as those other guys, but their creative give-and-take has been a bit murkier. Most recently, 21 Savage out-rapped Drake on "Jimmy Cooks," the only straightforward rap track closing out Drake's dance music-focused album, Honestly, Nevermind . It would not be unreasonable to assume that that moment is what prompted Drake to enlist 21's support as he transitions back into his usual realm more antagonistic than ever.

The pair's collaborative album, Her Loss , announced toward the end of the "Jimmy Cooks" video, is a recognizable Drake album that gains some emotional heft from 21's inclusion. It is a fascinating example of what happens when two ideologically similar rappers with very different approaches try to meet each other in the middle. 21 made a name for himself threatening his enemies in an extremely calm voice over impeccable production, while Drake is, by nature, not violently menacing. He is far too maudlin to ever believably threaten anyone. His terror is more emotional: Where 21 Savage practices tried-and-true gun talk for the bulk of the album's runtime, Drake discards virtually all the sensitivity and empathy he's ever displayed for a steady stream of insults and glimpses of his naked interiority. It's ugly, but it mostly works because it's a more targeted, focused version of his whole deal.

After more than a decade of cashing in on his supposed vulnerability, Drake knows he can't be the lovelorn underdog confined to the studio anymore; his rise to megawatt stardom is not just a well-worn story, it's one he's exhausted. Instead, he takes a cue from 21 Savage and becomes everyone's arch nemesis, taking too big to fail to its logical conclusion. The pair trade threats and out-of-pocket disses of virtually everyone they've ever encountered — other celebrities, groupies, friends, enemies, industry losers, total randos — over some of the best beats Drake's rapped on since 2015's If You're Reading This It's Too Late . That production, from OVO stalwarts like Noah "40" Shebib and Boi-1da, along with Tay Keith, Metro Boomin, rapper-turned-beatmaker Lil Yachty and many more, is sumptuous and intricate, full of tiny flourishes and details, hinging on recognizable mid-song beat switches and a pervasive sense of melancholy. It's not really a surprise that Drake feels at home in this sonic landscape, but it is nice to hear 21 Savage both encourage and temper Drake's more base emotional tendencies, acting as a counterpoint and a realist weight to his neurosis.

Their chemistry is apparent on "On BS," when the duo bounce lines off each other: 21 Savage is penitent, calm, and menacing, where Drake is angry, high on pills, and paranoid. But Drake, whose personality tends to dominate on every song he's on, sets the tone, and it's on "P**** and Millions" that he drops his most unintentionally telling lyric: "They say, 'mo money, mo problems; bring on the problems." He is, of course, saying that his problems are worth all the money, but hear it another way: Drake's problems are his money. Chronicling his grievances, no matter how toxic, defines his music. Without his obsessive airing of slights and snubs, Drake wouldn't be Drake.

Editors' Picks

Drake is too big to fail. he should risk it all on 'scorpion' anyway.

'Savage Mode II' Is A Rare COVID-19 Era Blockbuster Sequel

21 Savage doesn't need Drake to succeed. His discography is already accomplished enough to stand on its own: he is flourishing, creatively and commercially, despite not releasing a solo album since 2018, and it's a safe bet that the average Drake fan is familiar with his work. (All four of their previous collaborations, "Mr. Right Now," "Sneakin," "Knife Talk" and the aforementioned "Jimmy Cooks," are certified platinum Top 10 rap singles.) For him, this seems to be about finding new contours and angles — to use Drake as a subtle foil to push his style into new territories. He sings a bit more, he plays hype man, he plays security. To put it frankly, 21 Savage can make his own hit songs (and has, for himself and others ), but making the type of emotionally tortured hit songs that Drake makes on a regular basis without betraying the aesthetic qualities that made him popular in the first place requires the man himself.

Drake has clearly taken this idea to heart. 21 Savage's mere presence is his ticket to unabashedly play the supervillain at every turn. (21, for his part, claims he encouraged Drake to be more unfiltered in his lyrics.) "Broke Boyz" is possibly the most menacing moment on the whole record: a hulking beat lurches and screeches like an air raid siren dying out, while Drake is loose and confident. On "Rich Flex," a song that has already become a meme, Drake is egging 21 Savage on, harnessing malice for his benefit: "21, can you do somethin' for me? / Drop some bars to my p**** ex for me? / Then 21, can you do somethin' for me? / Can you talk to the opps' necks for me?" You can picture Drake standing behind 21, whispering in his ear, lightly shoving him toward an imaginary opponent. Drake, meanwhile, is the bad guy everywhere he goes. He's a bad guy on a private jet. He's a bad guy when he doesn't get what he wants. He has trust issues ... still. He hates clout chasers and feels suspicious of groupies ... still. He revels in each heel turn because why wouldn't he? The more toxically he portrays himself, the more popular he gets — taking cues from destructive collaborative friends like Future and the Weeknd — even when he misreads the room and takes his evil pantomime too far.

Cut to "Circo Loco," a track interpolating Daft Punk's "One More Time" as it hiccups into a stuttering wall of filtered synths — all build and no release. It's a fun albeit trivial song that would have gone relatively undiscussed but for the moment when Drake decided to cast doubt on whether Tory Lanez actually shot Megan Thee Stallion during a 2020 altercation. It's one of those "just asking questions'' moves, played under the guise of wordplay, that tips what is normally performed apathy into harmful trolling. Why even go down this road if not for ugly misogyny? What's the point? Would Drake doubt the veracity of the claim if the roles were reversed? His songs suggest otherwise. The bachelorhood of previous records has escalated to unbridled chauvinism. It is, of course, calculated, because everything Drake does is calculated. On "Hours in Silence" he sings, "It's my fault, for once I take accountability." It reads as honest, but not believable ( saying that you take accountability doesn't actually mean you take accountability), which is Drake's entire recipe for success. Self-delusion, even when practiced, is relatable: we've all fooled ourselves about ourselves in order to survive. The fake press run the duo manufactured feels representative of the album's narrative spin.

Despite the churlishness, or maybe because of it, Drake sounds, for the first time in a long time, like he's actually enjoying rapping. You can hear it on standout "Major Distribution," where Drake and 21 trade verses over a tense piano loop and a smattering of ASMR-ready "Hms" from Lil Yachty that punctuate every line. Briefly free from the burden of being Drake, the rapper shuffles through animatedly as he talks about his success in the music industry like he's been dealing a lot of drugs. But for all Drake's enthusiasm and looseness, it's 21 Savage who steals the show: "Ever seen somebody get shot? Lot of shit I've seen before the top / I ain't trying to wrestle like the Rock / F*** the trish, I'd rather sip the Wock / Lot of things I'd do to stay alive / Everything except for call a cop." In detailing his actual struggle, the trauma he's experienced, the lack of trust he has for corrupt authority figures, the fundamental loneliness of having nowhere to turn, he's lending some pathos to his braggadocio. His concerns are often real and serious, not imagined or shallow. As a result, 21 Savage's confidence feels earned. Drake, meanwhile, has flipped back toward the twisted contradiction at his core — this is a guy who will never, ever be happy, no matter his achievements. Here, he's buying Benzes "out of spite," watching people lie to him over the course of exhausting three-hour dinners and feeling the burden his own incredulity.

That sort of emotional dichotomy is why the album ultimately overcomes the resentment emanating from its title — beneath the petty desire to rile up those who've jilted you is an underlying bitterness; an unfillable hole at the center of your being that Drake knows all too well — but it's also why this album feels more like a Drake project that uses 21 Savage as a prop than a true collaborative work. Honesty comes naturally to 21 Savage, but it is something that Drake is still searching for. Even on "Treacherous Twins," a song about friendship and loyalty that sounds like it was recorded driving a convertible across a purple highway made out of cough syrup and nostalgia, 21 is inhabiting Drake's world, and Drake is consuming his, as Galactus always does.

Music Industry Moves: Lil Yachty, Quality Control/HYBE Launch Concrete Rekordz Joint Venture

Lil Yachty has officially launched Concrete Rekordz , a new record label joint venture with Quality Control Music and HYBE . The joint venture is said to expand the growth and success of Quality Control Music, which HYBE America acquired a year ago.

"Yachty has always had a profound vision since the day we met and to see him take his curatorial magic and expand it to discover and enhance other artists is exciting to me,” said Quality Control Music COO and co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee.

Concrete Rekordz’s first release is a new single and music video titled "Family Business,” from Concrete Boys — aka Yachty, Karrahbooo, DC2TRILL, Draft Day, and Camo! The new label will be home to Concrete Boys, who are set to release their first compilation album, “It's Us Volume 1” on April 5.

Originally introduced to Yachty's fanbase during the North American run of his “The Field Trip Tour,” the group released their first official single "Mo Jams" in December of 2023 on the Concrete Family's YouTube channel. The group also caught attention after their appearance for “On The Radar Radio” went viral accumulating over 4 million YouTube views.

Label CEO and co-founder, Pierre "P" Thomas, adds, "I'm excited to see Yachty step into the role of executive alongside being one of the most formidable creatives in the world with such an eye for talent. Karrahbooo is a star and they are all going to be the new wave of cool that can bring something different to the culture that is so badly needed."

Pictured above (L-R): Coach K, Lil Yachty, DC2TRILL, Karrahbooo, Draft Day, Camo! and Pierre "P" Thomas.

Watch the video for “Family Business” below.

+ Natasha Kilibarda has been promoted to VP of marketing and creative strategy of Island Records .

Based in New York, Kilibarda will continue leading campaigns for Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Remi Wolf, Brittany Howard, and other acts on the label. Kilibarda joined Island Records in 2022 after six years at Warner Music Group as director, marketing and artist relations.

"There's no one we trust more to dive in, understand, and execute an artist's creative vision," said Justin Eshak and Imran Majid, co-CEOs of Island Records. "Her well-earned promotion ensures stability for the Island roster and provides reassurance that our artists' passion is met with the dedication required for generational campaigns."

"Nothing drives me quite like understanding the depths of an artist's vision," added Kilibarda. "To roll up my sleeves, dig in, & relentlessly work alongside them turning one dream after another into reality. I'm so grateful to Jay, Justin, and Imran for the opportunity to continue doing what I love most."

+ Concord has hired industry veteran Stephanie Hudacek as president of Nashville-based label Rounder Records .

Founded in 1970 by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin, Rounder Records has consistently bolstered the careers of artists such as Norman Blake, George Thorogood, Allison Kraus, Nanci Griffith, Billy Strings, and Bela Fleck, among others. With 54 Grammys in its 49-year history, Rounder Records was acquired by Concord in 2010.

As the founder/president of Soundly Music, a music distribution and label services company she founded in 2017, Hudacek and her team bolstered the careers of several notable artists including Kaitlin Butts, Joshua Ray Walker, Tyler Ramsey, Aubrie Sellers, Maggie Rose, Pony Bradshaw, River Whyless, Darrell Scott, and many more. Concurrently, from 2022 to 2023, Hudacek was also the president of Late August Records and worked with artists such as Cody Jinks, Erin Viancourt, and Caned By Nod.

Hudacek was also a recording engineer and tour manager. She has worked with Joan Baez and Darrell Scott alongside Ray Kennedy, a 5-time Grammy-winning engineer, and producer (Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Chris Knight, Ray Davies, Reckless Kelly).

+ Avex USA has added Brennen Bryant as its new director of A&R, and publishing, and announced the subsequent signing of hip-hop/Jersey club producer DJ Smallz 732 .

DJ Smallz 732, the hottest Jersey club producer in the world, is fresh off of his hit record with Nicki Minaj and Lil Uzi Vert, "Everybody," the hit single from Minaj's 2023 album “Pink Friday 2.” DJ Smallz also has remixes with Coi Leray and collaborations with Lil Durk, Kaliii and more.

Bryant will oversee the publishing division working closely with Avex USA's publishing A&R team. Bryant previously worked for 2wenty 2wenty Music Group as a producer on Murda Beatz's tour and a day-to-day manager before working at Hallwood Media and Range Music, with clients that include Jack Harlow's engineer Nickie Jon Pabon and Italian producer Finesse.

+ Virgin Music Group has partnered with 3AM Entertainment , the label founded by British-born international superstar and cultural icon Jay Sean, producer/executive Jeremy Skaller and manager/VP of Music at Range Media Partners, Jared Cotter.

3AM Entertainment will focus on artists from the South Asian diaspora, regardless of genre. The first project to debut under the new deal is a new single, "Heartless," from Jay Sean featuring Toronto-based Punjabi hitmaker Ikky, slated for April 5, with an album project to follow.

Skaller will be a co-president of 3AM Entertainment, handling global strategy. Cotter will also be a co-president of 3AM Entertainment, while serving as VP of A&R at Range Media Partners. Additional 3AM team members announced today include Jay Sean's longtime manager, Thara Natalie, who has been named Chief Operations Manager; Madison Bickel, who will serve as general manager; and Mahima Sharma as A&R, based in New Delhi, India. Jay Sean’s co-manager Aayushman Sinha and his “Represent” team, will consult on A&R and strategy out of Mumbai, India.

"When I started my career 20 years ago, there was almost no representation of South Asians outside of their home region," said Sean. "Today's music business is truly global, and 3AM Entertainment will focus on supporting artists from the South Asian diaspora on their journey to becoming global stars. It is my goal and dream to see our culture be appreciated on mainstream platforms and resonate with global audiences in the same way that Latin music, K-pop and Afrobeat have found audiences outside their native culture. Virgin Music Group, with its powerful global footprint and team of experts around the world, is a perfect partner to join us on this mission."

+ Arista Records has announced the promotion of Kathryn Sullivan to VP of marketing. She will continue to report to Head of Marketing, Sharon Timure.

Based in New York, Sullivan has been with the team since the re-launch of the label working across projects for Måneskin and JP Saxe as well as Luke Hemmings, Beach Weather and more. Before her five years at Arista, she got her touring credentials working across event production at CID Entertainment and was a founding member of PRMD Music/At Night Management's US presence where she oversaw releases for Avicii, Cazzette and others.

"Kathryn has been an integral part of the Arista team from the beginning,” said President and CEO David Massey. “Her strong marketing leadership from inception to release and beyond is a valued asset and we are delighted to have her continue to grow her career here at Arista.”

+ Sphere Entertainment Co. has announced Ned McNeilage has joined the company as chief creative officer of Sphere.

In this new role, McNeilage will help shape creative and brand strategy for Sphere, leading in-house creative design studio and brand teams. He will also be responsible for the content that runs on the Exosphere – the venue's fully programmable LED exterior – which features artistic content created by Sphere and renowned artists, as well as branded content from premier brands.

"I am pleased to welcome Ned to Sphere Entertainment," said Jennifer Koester, president of Sphere Business Operations. "Sphere is redefining immersive experiences, including through the Exosphere, which is an unparalleled digital canvas for public art and brand storytelling. Ned has worked with premier brands to spearhead memorable campaigns, and he will bring that expertise to not only support our partners in creating impactful brand moments at Sphere, but also continue to build the Sphere brand."

Before starting his Sphere stint, McNeilage served as chief creative officer at VML. In this role, he worked on campaigns for blue-chip brands including Microsoft, IBM and Google. Prior to VML, McNeilage served as chief creative officer at BBH LA, managing a team of creatives, entertainment specialists and technologists across brands including Samsung, American Express, and Activision.

Tuesday, March 27

Teddy Swims , the singer-songwriter behind “Lose Control,” has signed a new global publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music .

The RIAA platinum-certified single "Lose Control" hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the latest tracking week after spending 32 weeks on the chart. Swims released his debut studio album, “I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1)” via WCM's sister label, Warner Records, last September, which peaked in the top 25 on the Billboard 200.

"Thrilled to be teaming up with Warner Chappell as my publisher,” said Swims. “Songwriting has always been the core of who I am as an artist and it will continue to be. It's my therapy and having a team behind me that gets that means the world to me. So excited to keep it in-house with Warner Music Group and in the family with the best company on the planet! Let's take over the world gang."

Swims is best known for a blend of R&B, soul, country and pop music. He signed a record deal with Warner Records in 2019 and began to release his original music, including a series of EPs from 2021 – 2022. His third EP, “Tough Love,” gave him his first entrance on the Billboard 200 as an artist and included his hit songs "Love for a Minute" and "911."

"Teddy has stayed true to himself every step of the way since we first met in 2020, and now he’s one of the most important new artists in music,” added WCM Katy Wolaver, senior vice president of A&R, and VP of A&R, David Goldsen. “His timeless voice, incredible knack for songs, and unrelenting work ethic make him such an exciting songwriter for us, and we’re so happy he's chosen Warner Chappell as his publishing home."

"We're super proud to be working with Teddy as he takes on this next chapter,” said Ryan Press, WCM’s president of North America. “He's in a league of his own with one of the most unique voices we've heard in a while, and his music both moves and inspires people of all backgrounds. Here's to many more No. 1's!"

+ Universal Music Publishing Group has tapped Adriana Ramos as its new managing director of UMPG Brazil, effective immediately. Based in Rio de Janeiro, she will report to Alexandra Lioutikoff, president of Latin America and U.S. Latin. Ramos replaces longtime Brazil MD Marcelo Falcao who has decided to step down from the role.

Ramos joined UMPG in 2013 and most recently served as head of UMPG Brazil's creative team – A&R and Sync. As senior manager, she was responsible for overseeing creative and licensing music operations for advertising, film and TV, and games. She also worked closely with the company's A&R team in building diverse avenues to promote UMPG's writers.

Lioutikoff said, "With tremendous vision and dedication, Adriana has been instrumental to the success of UMPG Brazil and her promotion is much-deserved. As we look to the future, I am confident that Adriana will bring enormous value and energy to UMPG Brazil, both furthering our creative strategy and continuing to ensure that our songwriters are treated with the best care in the world."

Ramos added, "I am excited to mold the future of Universal Music Publishing Brazil alongside our outstanding team, creating new possibilities for our songwriters and pushing UMP forward as the most innovative, proactive and creative-driven publisher. It is also a historical moment and I'm very proud to extend UMP female leadership to Brazil. I would like to thank Jody Gerson and Alexandra for their trust and support in giving me this opportunity that I take with honor, respect, and commitment to always keep our songwriters first!"

+ Artist Publishing Group has promoted Matt MacFarlane and Olly Sheppard to senior VPs of A&R. Together, MacFarlane and Sheppard will continue to oversee the publishing company.

Over the past few years, MacFarlane has overseen A&R for Taz Taylor and Rio Leyva (Internet Money). MacFarlane, who started as an intern at APG over nine years ago, will continue to drive publishing signings while continuing to develop the A&R team.

In collaborating with the APG Publishing team, Sheppard played a critical role with his team in the signing of Pink Slip, Faangs, JBach and Cate Downey, as well as Inverness and M Phazes, in partnership with Cirkutbreaker.

+ Paulo Londra has signed a new label deal with Argentine label Dale Play Records. Dale Play Records is also home to Duki, Bizarrap , Nicki Nicole , Rels B, Milo J, among others.

With his first album, “Homerun” (2019), Londra amassed enormous international attention and after two years, he released his latest “Back to the Game.” The album featured collaborations with such artists as Ed Sheeran, Travis Barker, Timbaland, Feid and Duki.

In 2022, Londra also performed “The World is Yours To Take,” the official song for the FIFA World Cup alongside rapper Lil Baby.

+ Chingy has signed a new deal with full-service entertainment company Action Entertainment Collaborative (TLC, Billy Ray Cyrus) headed by Nick Meinema.

Chingy charted on the Billboard Hot 100 over eight times after achieving success with his double-platinum RIAA-certified debut album, “Jackpot.” He has also appeared in TV series including “My Wife and Kids,” “One on One,” “George Lopez,” “Yo Momma,” as well as cameos in several films, including “Scary Movie 4” and “Speed Dating.”

Said Meinema, “Chingy is a celebrated globally beloved entertainer – we're thrilled we got the call to represent him exclusively for all areas of live booking.”

+ Downtown Artist & Label Services has signed singer-songwriter Beto Vega and announced it is expanding a current partnership with Mexican record label Kartel Music (Luis R. Conriquez, Tony Aguirre)

Nominated in 2018 for best regional Mexican music album at the Latin Grammy Awards for “Volveré A Ser El Rey,” Vega will benefit from Downtown’s global distribution and marketing offering. He will also be able to utilize the company's catalog management and full-service campaigns for future releases, including the forthcoming track, "Los Brothers" with Edgardo Nuñez.

Carlos Santos, label manager of Kartel Music commented, "The industry vets at Downtown have been a great team for us to distribute and market our artists’ music, and we're always happy to work with them. The work they have done for projects like Luis R. Conriquez makes us feel comfortable and confident in their skills – we always feel prepared, and know that while working with them, we’re always ready for what’s next."

As part of their expansion into música Mexicana, Downtown has added Lorena Cabral to the company as senior manager of A&R for the territory. Cabral reports directly to the Global Vice President of A&R, Bryan Mooney. Cabral also joins Daniella Gutiérrez , who was promoted to senior marketing manager for the region. Also growing the local workforce are Yusim Aladro and Frida Bolio , Latin project manager and regional account manager respectively.

+ Transgressive Records continues its growth in North America with artist manager Moriah Berger joining the company as A&R / marketing manager for the region.

Berger began her career at Paradigm Talent Agency before moving on to Mick Management and later helped launch Other Operation. During her time in management, she worked directly with breakout artists including Muna, Sharon Van Etten, Of Monsters and Men, and Angel Olsen, amongst others.

+ Rimas Publishing has extended its exclusive publishing agreement with multi-platinum singer-songwriter and producer Lyanno .

In a press release, Rimas said the deal “marks a significant milestone in Rimas Publishing's dedication to modernization,” as it prioritizes its “older contracts to better align with the evolving needs of its clients, prioritizing the empowerment and satisfaction of music creators.”

Lyanno, the Puerto Rican-born hitmaker, first signed with Rimas Publishing in 2017. He has co-written songs and collaborated with top artists, including Anuel, Eladio Carrión, Cazzu, Lenny Tavárez, Rauw Alejandro, Wisin, Young Miko, and more.

"We are ecstatic to continue our successful relationship with Lyanno for many more years and are deeply honored by his decision to continue placing his trust in us. In an industry that is constantly evolving, we understand the significance of ensuring that our artists' contracts remain adaptable to the creator's needs," said Emilio Morales, managing director of Rimas Publishing. "This reaffirmation underscores our unwavering dedication to modernization, emphasizing our steadfast support for our artists. We strive to foster genuine partnerships that prioritize their individual needs and aspirations."

+ George Kalivas , A&R head at Warner Music Canada, has left the company to launch Swing , a Toronto-based management company. The first artist signed to Swin is Diamond Cafe, who Kalivas discovered and signed to Warner Music Group.

Kalivas is a Toronto-based music executive, who currently serves as the head of A&R at Warner Music Canada. Kalivas has created creative campaigns for artists including Jack Harlow, Roddy Ricch, A-Boogie wit da Hoodie, Ali Gatie and more. He has also signed unique talents such as Crash Adams, Diamond Cafe, and AR Paisley among others.

+ Hallwood , a full-service record label and management company, has added Roderick "PushaRod" Bullock to the company as VP of A&R/management.

PushaRod was formerly A&R of Urban Music at Interscope, Geffen, A&M Records, where he cultivated a roster of talent including Rich The Kid, Moneybagg Yo, Kamaiyah, Ian Connor, Neechie, Arin Ray, Mitch, and Co Cash. His vast experience led to the spearheading of record labels 4Hunnid and 10Summers and his contributions extend to albums and focus tracks, including YG's “Stay Dangerous” and “My Krazy Life,” Ty Dolla $ign’s “House on the Hill,” and Moneybagg Yo’s “43vaHeartless,” among others.

As VP, PushaRod will continue to build Hallwood's roster of talent and work hand in hand with its robust roster of songwriters and producers.

+ Merlin and Deezer have renewed their partnership in an effort to integrate Deezer's royalty model across Merlin's membership of independent record labels, distributors, and other rights holders.

Deezer's new royalty model, which is currently being rolled out in France, includes an incentive for artists with a consistent and engaged fan base, rewards engaging content, and reasserts a focus on music, as well as enhanced fraud detection measures.

"I'm very happy to see that Merlin and its members are embracing Deezer's artist-centric model and joins us in redefining artist remuneration in the streaming era, to make sure artists are paid more fairly for their music," said Jeronimo Foglueira, CEO, Deezer. "From the start, our ambition has been that the new model should serve all artists with a consistent fan base, including the indie acts represented by the membership of Merlin."

"Merlin’s mission is to ensure that the voices of its independent members are heard and that they have access to the most innovative opportunities in the digital marketplace while ensuring their artists are fairly compensated," said Jeremy Sirota, CEO, Merlin. "We have worked with Deezer to ensure their new model works for the benefit of our members, representing a path forward in ensuring that high-quality music, and the artists who create it, are recognized and rewarded in the manner they deserve."

+ Management company The Familie has signed Warner Records artist Cecilia, artistically known as CIL .

The Denver, Colorado-born 22-year-old opened for Stevie Nicks at iconic venues, including Madison Square Garden. She is currently working on her first complete music project.

Nano Tissera, senior VP of music for The Familie, shares, "We're thrilled to welcome Cil to our Familie. After meeting her, it was a no-brainer; we had to be a part of her journey. Cil's talent has a unique and powerful way of drawing people in, and we're eager to showcase her work to everyone. Ann Perkins, one of our talented young managers, will be leading the way for Cil. The whole Familie is excited to support and bring Cil's work into the spotlight."

+ Cinq Music has signed Lil Mosey and his label Love U Forever in a global distribution partnership, ahead of the release of his untitled forthcoming EP, to be released in Spring 2024.

Cinq Music, an indie distributor, record label and publisher, includes creators across hip hop/R&B as well as culturally significant performers in Latin music. They are set to amplify Lil Mosey to connect with and expand his global fanbase.

"Lil Mosey is a true superstar," said Barry Daffurn, Cinq president and Co-Founder. "From our very first meeting, it was clear that Mosey possesses a unique talent and has a clear vision of where he wants to go. Supporting him on this journey and growing our partnership is paramount for us, and we've only just begun."

"I'm excited to finally be able to release independently," said Lil Mosey. "I'm grateful to have a partner like Cinq and Barry. I know that we will do great things together.”

+ TBA Agency has announced several key promotions and new hires in its branding department across its New York and Los Angeles teams.

Katie Nowak has been promoted from head of marketing to VP of marketing and partnerships. At the same time, Corynne Fernandez has moved from marketing and partnerships coordinator to director of marketing and artist development. In addition, Ashley Torres has been promoted from marketing assistant to marketing and partnerships coordinator.

Additionally, creative services consultancy The Department is partnering with TBA. Founders Jack Pitney and Kosta Elchev will work hand in hand with TBA Agency to foster innovative, creative opportunities for the roster. Pitney and Elchev have built culture-defining collaborations across art, entertainment and technology with artists and organizations such as Grimes, Endel, Solange Knowles, The Getty, Dropbox, WeTransfer and Burberry. Nina Moss is joining as a marketing assistant.

In the last year, TBA has executed some of its most successful tours yet, including Jungle’s “Volcano Tour,” which included shows at Los Angeles' Kia Forum and New York's Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, and headline runs for Faye Webster and Ethel Cain.

+ Nova , a new, curated creative freelance network and marketplace, has launched and is now availble in the App Store.

Nova, which started as a private Instagram page, has been shepherded by a number of noteworthy advisors and creative ambassadors including Troy Carter, La Mar Taylor (the Weeknd, XO), Media Empire Ventures (Grimes, Mac Boucher, Daouda Leonard), Daniel Caesar, Sam Teller (SpaceX, Tesla) and Humberto Leon (Opening Ceremony/Burberry/Kenzo), among others.

Over the course of 2023, Nova soft-launched a private Instagram account where they built a grassroots community of creatives that, according to the company, has allowed them to staff “hundreds of jobs in the creative industry weekly. In less than a year, Nova has filled approximately 7500 jobs, ranging from one-off gigs to full time staff positions.”

+ The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) SONGS Foundation (Supporting Our Next Generation of Songwriters) has unveiled a new board of directors.

Founded in 2015 to help aspiring songwriters, the SONGS Foundation has offered scholarships and provided direct financial assistance in addition to other partnerships.

Songwriters joining the board include: Oscar, Grammy, Tony, and Olivier Award-winning songwriters/producers Justin Paul and Benj Pasek (Kobalt); Grammy song and album of the year winner Dan Wilson (UMPG); Grammy nominee and BMI songwriter of the year Lauren Christy (Reservoir); Grammy-winning artist-songwriter Allison Russell (Concord); Grammy-winning songwriter Jordan Reynolds (Warner Chappell); Latin Grammy and Grammy Award winner Gaby Moreno (peermusic); and Grammy-nominated artist-songwriter Cam (Sony Music Publishing). Grammy-nominated artist-songwriter Jewel will continue her service on the board.

Industry executives joining the board include: Sony Music Publishing Chairman and CEO Jon Platt; Warner Chappell Music Co-Chair and COO Carianne Marshall; Reservoir Founder and CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi; peermusic President and COO Kathy Spanberger; BMG General Counsel and Executive VP Keith Hauprich; Concord Chief Publishing Officer Jim Selby; Kobalt's Head of Creative Alison Donald; and Universal Music Publishing Group Executive VP and Co-Head of A&R Jennifer Knoepfle. NMPA's President and CEO David Israelite, Executive VP & General Counsel Danielle Aguirre, and Senior VP of External Affairs Charlotte Sellmyer will retain their positions on the board.

The board will officially launch during its annual fundraising golf tournament in Los Angeles on April 15.

Beyonce Rewrites Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ Lyrics to Deliver Fiery Cover on ‘Cowboy Carter’

By Steven J. Horowitz

Steven J. Horowitz

Senior Music Writer

Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’: A Deep Dive Into the Featured Artists and Samples — From Shaboozey to ‘These Boots Are Made for Walkin” and More 7 hours ago
Beyoncé Enlists Daughter Rumi Carter for ‘Protector’ Track on ‘Cowboy Carter’ 7 hours ago
Beyonce Rewrites Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ Lyrics to Deliver Fiery Cover on ‘Cowboy Carter’ 8 hours ago

It looks like Dolly Parton hinted correctly . After the country icon said that she believed that Beyoncé would sample or interpolate her 1973 classic “Jolene” for her new album, Bey has done just that, including a cover of the song with altered lyrics and song structure on her highly anticipated new album “ Cowboy Carter .”

Beyoncé puts her own fiery spin on “Jolene,” changing the lyrics and the overall tone of the original song. Where Parton begs and pleads with a woman not to steal her man, Bey sends warning shots to a suitor: “I can easily understand why you’re attracted to my man / But you don’t want this smoke, so shoot your shot for someone else.” She continues by making her vengeance more explicit, singing, “I had to have this talk with you ’cause I hate to have to act the fool / Your peace depends on how you move, Jolene.”

Parton referenced the “Jolene” cover on Wednesday night, posting an image of the album’s tracklist to her Instagram stories and writing, “Play the original while you wait for @beyonce’s ‘Jolene.'” On Thursday, she posted a throwback photo of her to her grid, captioning the pic “Just call me Dolly P” and using Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” as the attached sound.

“Cowboy Carter” arrives less than two months after Beyoncé surprise-released her dual singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” during the Super Bowl in early February. She explained in an Instagram post that she was inspired to create “Cowboy Carter” after an incident where she didn’t feel “welcomed,” likely referring to a controversy-stirring performance alongside the Dixie Chicks (as they were then known) at the 2016 Country Music Association Awards.

Read the full deep dive into Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” album.

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‘Underdressed at the Symphony’ Album Review: Faye Webster Muses on Love, Endings, and the Quirks of Life

"Underdressed at the Symphony" was released on March 1.

For Faye Webster, being “underdressed at the symphony” is a therapeutic experience. As she encountered various challenges — from a rough break-up to the stresses of her increasing fame — Webster found herself gravitating toward the concerts at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. It was these spontaneous trips that inspired her fifth album, “Underdressed at the Symphony,” released on March 1.

A break-up album, a reflection on her growing fame, and an ode to the quirks of life, Webster’s fifth album muses on love and loss, confidence and self-perception, memories and nostalgia. Along with pedal steel guitarist Matt “Pistol” Stoessel, keyboardist Nick Rosen, bassist Bryan Howard, and drummer Charles Garner, “Underdressed at the Symphony” features Webster’s unique blend of subdued indie rock, modern country, and electronic R&B.

With 10 tracks, this short but sweet album brings fans Webster’s typical wispy vocals and simple, poignant lyrics that allow the instrumentation to shine. The casual, laidback tunes don’t demand too much from the listener, providing a cozy background track tinged with jazzy elements and orchestral touches — listeners may feel almost as if they are in the room with Webster and her band as they perform a relaxed jam session.

Although the album is implicitly about moving on from a break-up, Webster often dances around the idea of love rather than openly discussing her relationships. Songs like “Thinking About You,” “But Not Kiss,” and “Lifetime” touch on these wistful feelings of lost love, while featuring Webster’s signature soft vocals, oft-repeated refrains, and lo-fi sound effects. In particular, the opening track, “Thinking About You,” is bound to become a classic, taking on an upbeat, jazzy tone interspersed with tinkling bell chimes in a song that is both playful and yet somehow still colored with her signature melancholy.

Webster continues to wax poetic on lost love in “But Not Kiss,” where she sings about her longing in a piece that is also melancholic but nonetheless infused with bright chimes and strings.“I want to sleep in your arms, but not kiss / I long for your touch, but don’t miss,” she sings, the lyrics punctuated by brief bursts of chords interspersed with “Yeah, yeah.” One strength of the album is the unique orchestral details that reference the title of the album.

Despite these euphoric moments where Webster’s songs take on a grand, orchestral quality, most of the songs do not feature any allusions to the album’s title. While the laid-back, simple nature of their compositions makes for a soothing listening experience, the songs feel underwhelming at times. Perhaps more pieces could capture that classical feel, and, although admittedly the idea of being “underdressed” implies a more casual tone, some of her songs still feel slightly plain with their simplistic lyrics and repetitive rhythms.

Nonetheless, this laidback tone does allow for playful moments of levity throughout, in trite, lively numbers like “eBay Purchase History,” “Wanna Quit all the Time,” and a song entitled “Lego Ring” that features Webster’s childhood friend and rapper, Lil Yachty. Some songs evoke a playful sense of self-consciousness — in “Wanna Quit All the Time,” Webster coyly sings “I used to be self-conscious / Well, really, I still am” amid chill guitar beats and a steady drum rhythm.

“Lego Ring” is an eclectic, hilarious song that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Webster sings “I want a Lego ring / I wanna kiss it when I go to sleep” among moments of crashing drums and more languid moments of harmonization with Lil Yachty. In the heartwarming final verse, Lil Yachty sings: “Me and you the dream team / Always together like string beans,” referencing the artists’ friendship.

While another artist may have sounded banal singing these lyrics, Webster’s quirky humor somehow works for her. Silly lines like “I might open my doors / I got a exterminator / So it doesn’t matter if bugs come in” in “Feeling Good Today” are utterly delightful in their amusing irony.

There is also a clear attempt to infuse her songs with different moods, paces, and rhythms, even if the overall sound can occasionally seem similar to each other. For example, in “Feeling Good Today,” Webster overlays her voice with numerous sound effects, splintering her voice in a whimsical song that reflects on the little moments of joy in life. Unfortunately, Webster’s pure vocals feel a little lost among the extensive effects, though listeners may appreciate the experimentation nonetheless.

Webster approaches the concept of moving on from love from different angles, taking a more positive tone in the rock-infused song, “He Loves Me Yeah!” Crisp instrumentation and jazzy piano chords complement the song’s spunky lyrics. Amusing lines like “And we drink water straight out from the tap / He owes me money but I let it pass” may resonate with listeners familiar with the trials and tribulations of relationships.

The album’s titular and penultimate song, “Underdressed at the Symphony,” also features symphonic explosions of music like the earlier song “But Not Kiss” that may come as a delightful surprise to listeners used to Webster’s more subdued tone. She sings about the process of healing from a break-up through the experience of attending the symphony. At the climax of the song, she sings, “I’m underdressed at the symphony.” This verse is interrupted by a beautiful scale of strings that comes crashing down as Webster sings the next line: “Cryin’ to songs that you put me on.” These generous trills endow these songs with an orchestral quality, immersing listeners in the swell of a symphony just as Webster herself would be captivated by the concert experience.

The final song of the album is one of its best. In “Tttttime,” Webster conjures a world where she has copious time on her hands after the presumed end of a relationship. The song’s tentatively major key and optimistic lyrics end the album on a hopeful note: “Take a walk, call my mom … I got t-t-t-t-t-t-t-time.” This piece’s metronome-like beats as Webster stutters the word “time” and graceful string instrumentation also evoke a sweeping orchestral tone, leaving the listener with a warm feeling inside.

“Underdressed at the Symphony” is a delicate, heartfelt expression of Webster’s inner world that presents her unique combination of jazz, rustic, and indie styles. From Webster’s wistful remembrances of past loves to her light-hearted comments on life’s odds-and-ends, any listener will be bound to find something to relate to or simply let loose and find themselves similarly “underdressed at the symphony.”

—Staff writer Arielle C. Frommer can be reached at [email protected] .

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They’re sowing some wild oats — but it’s not what you think.

Those in pursuit of a drop-fat-fast hack, but just can’t seem to get their hands on the ever-modish, ever-costly Ozempic shots are turning to their pantries to craft a DIY diet drink that’s said to trigger oat-of-this-world weight loss result.

“[Having] the Oatzempic drink to lose 40 pounds in two months ?” exclaimed content creator Rénita while preparing the concoction for TikTok audiences.

“Do I think it’s possible? Yes,” confirmed the brunette — who kicked off her weight loss journey with the cocktail as her tool, weighing in at 176 pounds. She claims she’s since lost four pounds in five days.

“I feel soooo good,” Rénita penned in the caption of her progress post. “Energy level is high, mood is great.”

And digital dieters everywhere are, too, drinking themselves slim — well, sort of.

“Oatzempic,” a cheeky combination of the words “oat” and “Ozempic,” is a hearty mixture of instant oats, water and freshly squeezed lime juice.

Much like weight loss injectables — expensive diabetes drugs that have aided A-listers such as Oprah Winfrey , Elon Musk and nearly every woman of the “Real Housewives” universe — the homemade blend is the pièce de résistance of social media’s new “Oatzempic Challenge.”

The call-to-action encourages folks to consume the drink on a daily basis for about 8 weeks in order to drop several dress sizes.

But Tommy Martin, an internal medicine and pediatrics physician in Massachusetts, tells The Post that oat chuggers shouldn’t get their hopes for weight loss too high.

“Oatzempic as a trend is something I’m excited about because it’s getting people to eat a very healthy, nutritious breakfast food in a fun way,” said Martin, 32, of oatmeal.

He hailed the grain for its many metabolic effects on diabetics, including its ability to lower A1C, cholesterol, inflammation and blood pressure. But he warned that filling up on the spoonfuls won’t trigger a massive drop on the scale in a few short weeks.

“That a lot of weight to lose,” said the doc. “And unless you go from eating an extremely high-calorie breakfast to this Oatzempic drink, you’ll only see some weight loss but probably not 40 pounds.”

TikTok user and Dr. Tommy Martin on OatZempic.

However, Martin says eating — or drinking — a low-calorie breakfast made of oats can place folks in a caloric deficit, prompting their bodies to shed fat quickly. The pro also noted that Oatzempic guzzlers may lose some “non-fat weight” owing to the sips.

“If you’re eating oatmeal and drinking more water, you might move your bowels more frequently,” said Martin. “Pooping more can help you lose some weight.”

The buzzy oat craze is eerily similar to the once-trendy weight loss cookie dough recipe. The Oreo-like formula was virally lauded for “working like Ozempic” by California health coach Aesha Karunakaran in May 2023.

The Beverly Hills belle, who claimed to have lost 15 pounds in 60 days owing to the baked treat, dubbed it “a one-stop weight loss solution” due to its belly-filling benefits.

And nutrition specialists are showering Oatzempic with similar praise.

Anne, a virtual fitness coach of 15 years who’s recently joined in on the drink challenge fun , has been “pleasantly surprised” by her results.

“Does it work? Yes,” said the blonde in a TikTok clip dedicated to her personal results after six days sucking down the stuff.

“[Is my] appetite suppressed? Absolutely,” she added. “I wasn’t hungry all day long…It makes me not hungry and [not] crave things. It’s taking away the blasting, it’s regulating everything in [my digestive system].”

@dr.tommymartin @TheChorroKing💩👑 thanks for sharing your oatzempic journey! #oatzempic #oatmeal #oats #doctoreacts #fyp #foryou #oatzempicdiet #oatzempicweightloss ♬ original sound – Tommy Martin M.D.

But Martin warns that the drink is no magic bullet — nor is it a serious substitute for the weight loss shots.

“OatZempic doesn’t truthfully compare to Ozempic,” he said. “Oatmeal is just a health food that might help put you into a calorie deficit, Ozempic has multiple mechanisms of action that help people lose weight and live healthier lives.”

For optimal results, Martin advises dieters to swap out processed foods for fruits and veggies, get 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night and commit to strength and cardio fitness training several times a week.

“It’s how people can lose weight in a healthy, sustainable way.”

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Rebel Wilson lost her virginity at 35. That's nothing to be ashamed about.

Rebel Wilson lost her virginity at 35 years old.

"People can wait till they're ready or wait till they're a bit more mature," Wilson told People ahead of the release of her new memoir " Rebel Rising ." "And I think that could be a positive message. You obviously don't have to wait until you're in your thirties like me, but you shouldn't feel pressure as a young person."

For years, movies and TV shows have portrayed abstinent characters as strange, brainwashed, uptight or naïve (Look to Steve Carell's character Andy in "The 40 Year Old Virgin," who is mercilessly mocked by his peers) . A 2016 study also found that people who are sexually inexperienced were perceived by potential partners as "flawed" in the dating market.

But many sex experts don't see it this way. In reality, choosing boundaries can be empowering for those who want to exhibit agency over their bodies and relationships. "There's just as much power in saying no as yes," Amanda McCracken , a sexual empowerment advocate and writer, previously told USA TODAY.

Each person's relationship and sexual journey is different, so there is no need to stress if Wilson's story sounds familiar.

Are people having less casual sex? Staying single longer?

Today’s young people are swiping left on the idea of casual sex.

In 2021, research from Rutgers University-New Brunswick showed that casual sex has steadily decreased in recent years. Though many would suspect this was due to the pandemic , the trend actually pre-dates quarantines and shutdowns.

As a sex researcher, Candice Hargons previously told USA TODAY there are many known benefits of a healthy sex life. But saying no can also offer similar perks. Some may opt for abstinence because they're fed up with hookup culture and crave an emotional connection. Others may use the opportunity for mindfulness and reflection.

Wilson recalled, "Normally I would just leave the room when the conversation (about virginity) was happening. And then the people that said, 'Oh, at 24, it's so late.' And then I'm sitting here thinking, 'Oh my God, my number's 35. What the hell? I'm going to look like the biggest loser.'"

Some recent statistics indicate that lifelong romantic relationships may not be forming as quickly for young people as they did in decades past.

"Overall, we’ve seen a shift in our culture that began occurring as millennials reached adulthood," says Moe Ari Brown , a licensed marriage and family therapist. "We are no longer marrying as young as our parents did."

The median age to get married for the first time in 2022 was 30.1 for men and 28.2 for women, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates . In 1990, the median age for a man was 26.1 and a woman 23.9.

"This means that having your first romantic relationship might also happen later than in previous generations," Brown adds. "This is good news for anyone who feels like they are the only one who isn’t partnered."

A return to chastity? Why so many women are saying no to casual sex.

Why people might not enter romantic, sexual relationships

People are staying in school longer, are more keen on exploring their LGBTQ identities and are questioning traditional relationship institutions, Brown says.

Wilson , now engaged to designer Ramona Agruma, noted she "would've explored her sexuality more" had she "been born 20 years later."

Seeking professional help might be beneficial if fear of romantic relationships is the reason why someone finds they are remaining single.

"If someone is worried and finds social interactions awkward or uncomfortable there are coaches and therapists who can help employ exercises," says Courtney Watson , licensed marriage and family therapist. "If the difficulty is related to unresolved traumas then again, therapy is a great tool."

Important: Voluntary celibacy and the sexual empowerment of saying 'no'

What to do if you've never been in a relationship, had sex

Remember it's not just you. "Many people have not had their first long-term romantic relationships , and it’s OK not to partner until you are ready," Brown says.
Take time to get to know yourself. "Self-exploration can assist you in defining what feels best for you so that you can identify when you’ve made a solid match in a partner," Brown adds.
Figure out what you want. Is a relationship something you actually desire, or something you think you should desire?
Prepare to be vulnerable. "You might have to be ready to step out of your comfort zone and engage with others or apps In ways you have previously avoided to see what works for you," Watson adds.
Stick to your boundaries. Don't change to fit into what you think someone else wants.
Avoid comparisons. "You’re never too fast, and you’re never too slow," Brown says. "Think of yourself as right on time for your life's epic adventure. Things will unfold for you, and it’ll be well worth the wait when they do."

Contributing: Jenna Ryu and Laura Berman

Morning Rundown: Dog and son save family from stabbing spree, protests interrupt $25M Biden fundraiser, lawmaker mistakes basketball teams for 'illegal invaders'

Lara Trump says 2020 election is 'in the past' even as Donald Trump keeps bringing it up

Newly minted Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump said Tuesday that she believes the party is "past" litigating the 2020 election, comments that come as her father-in-law, former President Donald Trump, prepares to face two juries on charges alleging that he illegally tried to overturn the 2020 election results.

"I think we’re past that. I think that’s in the past," Lara Trump told NBC News when she was asked whether it will be the RNC's position that the 2020 election was not fairly decided.

"The past is the past, and unfortunately, we had to learn a couple of hard lessons in 2020," she continued. "Believe me, we are applying them all across this country in every single state, and we want to ensure that, indeed, every single legal vote is counted.”

Lara Trump’s comments illustrate a key dynamic in the Republican Party in 2024: As she sought to cast the 2020 election as “in the past” and champion voting by mail, re-litigating the 2020 election, repeating false claims it was stolen and casting aspersions on the security of mail voting remain major fixtures for her father-in-law on the stump.

Last weekend, meanwhile, the former president said the man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley wouldn’t have been in America “if the election weren’t rigged, because we didn’t allow people like that into our country.”

He regularly refers to the 2020 election as “rigged” on his social media channels. And, most critically, he faces charges in Washington, D.C., and Georgia related to his attempts to overturn the election results.

NBC News correspondent Garrett Haake interviews Lara Trump.

Lara Trump has previously and publicly backed unfounded claims about the 2020 election made by her father-in-law and other allies. Days after the 2020 election, she posted on social media casting doubt on Dominion voting machines (Dominion settled with Fox News for more than $700 million after it sued alleging the network allowed defamatory claims about the company to proliferate on the network). A month later, she posted again casting doubt on the election results in Michigan .

Trump pointed to dozens of lawsuits the RNC has filed over election administration (most recently in Nevada, where the party is suing the state over its voter rolls ) as examples of how the committee is wading into questions about election laws ahead of November.

Asked about the former president’s past comments undercutting mail-in voting, Lara Trump said he is singing a different tune.

“Well, I actually think if you talk to him right now, you will see that he is very much embracing early voting,” she said.

“I think that the message that the people of this country have sent to Donald Trump, and you saw it in the primaries, is that they want to get out and they want to vote for him as soon as they possibly can,” she continued. “And if that means Day 1 of early voting for people, he’s very happy for them to go out and do it.”

New leadership at the RNC

Lara Trump officially stepped into the role of co-chair this month at the RNC's spring meeting , after former chair Ronna McDaniel and co-chair Drew McKissick stepped aside for the leadership team blessed by Donald Trump. Former North Carolina GOP chair Michael Whatley is now the group's chairman, the top slot at the national party organization.

Asked what she would say to voters wary of a Trump takeover of the RNC, Lara Trump made an appeal based on her experience on the past Trump campaigns, noting that her father-in-law had tasked her to help him win her home state, North Carolina, twice.

Lara Trump, co-chair of the Republican National Committee

“I have had so much experience," she said. "If you look at the fact that I am one of very few people who can say that I have been part of now three presidential campaigns, the media exposure and experience that we in the Trump family have had over the past eight years rivals most people who make their career in politics.

“I think the reason that I’m here is to assure people who ever had any question as to how their money is being spent, can they trust the RNC? Can they donate to this entity?" Trump added. "Trust me, I am the daughter-in-law of Donald Trump. I will ensure that every penny of every dollar is going to causes that Republican voters care about.”

And asked about her message to Republican voters who backed other GOP presidential candidates, like former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, she framed the election as a binary choice for Republicans who don't want President Joe Biden re-elected.

"They don't want to vote for Joe Biden, that's for sure. The option is Joe Biden or Donald Trump," she said. "Whether you like his personality or not should not have any bearing on anything. They are welcome to come back. We are here to work as a party."

Before she officially joined the RNC, Lara Trump told Newsmax that " every single penny will go to the number one and the only job of the RNC — that is electing Donald J. Trump," and said Republican voters would be interested in paying the former president's mounting legal bills.

She has since broadened that view in more recent interviews, and she told NBC News that down-ballot races are key priorities, too.

"Well, the No. 1 job of the RNC is to, of course, support the Republican candidate for president. That is Donald Trump. But of course, we are paying attention to all about down-ballot races, as well," she said.

"The truth is, it's great if we win the presidency, and I think that's imperative, but we also want to expand our lead in the House. We want to take back the Senate. So we are paying very close attention to all those races. We will be supporting [them] in a very big way."

And she added that the RNC "does not support paying [the former president's] legal bills," while she defended a new joint fundraising agreement between the RNC and the former president that will help fund a committee used to pay his legal bills without the RNC’s having to give money itself.

"If you've never had to hire a lawyer, you're doing great stuff, you're in great shape, I'm very happy for you," she said, adding that any Trump donors who don't want their money going to the former president's legal bills can "opt out" and direct their money to the campaign and the party, instead.

Lara Trump also went on to briefly address two key issues dividing Republicans both on the campaign trail and on Capitol Hill.

On abortion, she called the Supreme Court decision that struck down the federal protection for abortion rights and kicked the issue to the states "the most democratic thing,” and she threw cold water on the idea that her father-in-law might support a federal ban around 15 or 16 weeks.

“I think if you asked him now, I think he would say he agrees with allowing the states to decide,” she said.

Donald Trump said last week on WABC radio of New York City that "people are agreeing on 15 [weeks], and I'm thinking in terms of that," though he added later in the interview that "everyone agrees" abortion "shouldn't be a federal issue — it's a state issue."

And about whether to continue to provide funding for Ukraine in its war against Russia, she said that "we take our notes from Donald Trump" but argued that "a lot of Americans are very upset with sending all of our money overseas. We should put every single American first and make sure that we are taking care of our own country first before we consider funding anything overseas."

Ben Kamisar is a deputy political editor in NBC's Political Unit.

Garrett Haake is NBC News' Senior Capitol Hill Correspondent. He also covers the Trump campaign.

Olympia Sonnier is a field producer for NBC News.

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Lil Yachty chose the cover for Her Loss by Drake and 21 Savage
Lil Yachty Produces 4 Songs on 'Her Loss'
Lil Yachty Says He Chose the Cover for Drake and 21 Savage’s ‘Her Loss'
Lil Yachty Chose The Cover For Her Loss in 2022
Lil Yachty explica como escolheu capa do álbum 'HER LOSS' de Drake e 21
Lil Yachty Talks About His Relationship With Drake And His

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Lil Yachty Wants Her To Say The Word!
Lil Yachty Was Feeling Her 😂
Yachtie has a bad day 😭
What Happened To Lil Yachty?
Maxi yachts crash into big waves when leaving port
(FREE) Lil Yachty X Gunna Type Beat NEW 2024 🔥

COMMENTS

Lil Yachty Produces 4 Songs on 'Her Loss'
Lil Yachty lended his talents to 'Her Loss' in more ways than one...Stay Connected With Me!Website: www.mediamayhem.coTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mediama...
Her Loss
Her Loss is the first collaborative studio album by Canadian rapper and singer Drake and British-American rapper 21 Savage.It was released on November 4, 2022, through OVO Sound and Republic Records.The album features a sole guest appearance from Travis Scott.It is the third part of what Drake described as "a trilogy of albums", following Certified Lover Boy (2021) and Honestly, Nevermind (2022).
Drake and 21 Savage's Album 'Her Loss' Is Full of Slick ...
Not only did he score the highest-charting solo hit of his career with the viral smash "Poland," but he clearly played a significant role in the crafting of Her Loss. Yachty's voice can be ...
Drake & 21 Savage
Her Loss is a collaborative album by Toronto rapper Drake and Atlanta rapper 21 Savage. The album was initially slated for release on October 28, 2022, but was pushed back one week
Every Song Ranked On Drake & 21 Savage's 'Her Loss' Album
7. "Spin Bout U". While Her Loss might be the album title, Drizzy stands up for women while jabbing U.S. politicians fumbling decisions about their reproductive rights. He then flexes on broke ...
Here Are the Full Production Credits for Drake and 21 Savage's 'Her Loss'
In that spirit, see the full list of production credits for Her Loss below. Tay Keith and Lil Yachty both bag multiple credits, with the latter among those assembled for the Travis Scott-featuring ...
Drake & 21 Savage's "Her Loss" Production Credits: Lil Yachty, Boi-1da
Lil Yachty, Metro Boomin, Boi-1da & more have credits on Drake and 21 Savage's "Her Loss." BY Aron A. Nov 04, 2022. Following the success of singles like "Jimmy Cooks" and "Knife Talk," among ...
Lil Yachty Talks Working With Drake on 'Her Loss' in Exclusive Clip
Lil Yachty speaks on 'Rap Radar' about his contributions to Drake and 21 Savage's 'Her Loss,' saying he'd been looking to "just be in the room" for years.
How Lil Yachty Ended Up at His Excellent New Psychedelic Album
With his co-production flourishes (and adlibs) splattered across Drake and 21 Savage's Her Loss, fans had reason to believe that Yachty's creative potential had finally clicked into focus.
Drake & 21 Savage Release Their Debut Collab Album 'Her Loss'
Drake and 21 Savage have dropped their first collaborative album Her Loss, with production from Lil Yachty, Noah "40" Shebib and more. Drake and 21 Savage have banded together for Her Loss. On ...
Who Is the Woman on Drake and 21 Savage's 'Her Loss' Album Cover
Here's everything we know about the woman on Drake and 21 Savage's Her Loss album cover. Suki Baby is currently working as an adult dancer in Houston, Texas. During her gtalks! podcast ...
Drake and 21 Savage's 'Her Loss
Yet early responses to Her Loss, Drake 's collaboration with 21 Savage, have been defined by his purported mockery of Megan Thee Stallion. "This bitch lie 'bout gettin' shots, but she ...
Lil Yachty chose the cover for Her Loss by Drake and 21 Savage
Sat 5 November 2022 4:06, UK. Even before Drake and 21 Savage's collaborative album was released, the cover art for Her Loss had fans intrigued, and it was chosen by none other than Lil Yachty ...
Lil Yachty says he chose the cover for Drake and 21 Savage's 'Her Loss'
Lil Yachty says he chose the cover for Drake and 21 Savage's 'Her Loss' The 'Poland' artist apparently chose the image for its rawness and authenticity. Peter Kohnke Nov 4, 2022 12:53 am ...
'Her Loss' Review: 21 Savage Does Something For Drake
November 11, 2022. Released on Nov. 4, Drake and 21 Savage's new album "Her Loss" is "the most relatable album ever," according to Michael B. Jordan. Serving as the epitome of that post ...
Lil Yachty Talks Let's Start From Here; Drake & 21 Savage 'Her Loss
Lil Yachty isn't afraid to experiment. After taking the wock to Poland and a two-year hiatus, the Atlanta rapper returned this year with his alternative albu...
Drake / 21 Savage: Her Loss Album Review
There are tracks on Her Loss, Drake's new quasi-collaboration album with 21 Savage, that seem like the natural evolutions of those on 2009's So Far Gone.. "Hours in Silence," to take one ...
Drake and 21 Savage are sore winners on 'Her Loss'
The pair's collaborative album, Her Loss, announced toward the end of the "Jimmy Cooks" video, is a recognizable Drake album that gains some emotional heft from 21's inclusion.It is a fascinating ...
Drake Shows Love To Lil Yachty For 'Her Loss' Contributions
Published on: Nov 4, 2022, 4:18 PM PDT. 8. Drake has shown some love to his close friend Lil Yachty, who had a heavy hand in crafting his new album Her Loss with 21 Savage. Her Loss dropped on ...
Drake, 21 Savage release 'Her Loss': What to know, including that Megan
Drake revealed the "Her Loss" cover on Nov. 2 which features a head-on profile photo of a woman with a Nelly-style band-aid on her cheek, long lashes, a partial gold grill and a Chanel earring.
Meet Suki Baby, The Woman on the Cover of Drake and 21 Savage's 'Her Loss'
After the success of their hit collab "Jimmy Cooks" in summer 2022, rappers Drake and 21 Savage linked up for a new collaborative album titled Her Loss.The album cover is a photo of Suki Baby ...
LIL YACHTY Produced 4 Songs On Drake & 21 Savage
Is @lilyachty the next big producer?? 🤯 Tell me what you think in the comments, I was shocked to see his name come up 4 times in the producer credits ‼️ #li...
Music Industry Moves: Lil Yachty, Quality Control/HYBE Launch ...
Lil Yachty has officially launched Concrete Rekordz, a new record label joint venture with Quality Control Music and HYBE. The joint venture is said to expand the growth and success of Quality ...
Beyonce's 'Jolene' Cover Updates Dolly Parton's Song Lyrics
Beyoncé puts her own fiery spin on "Jolene," changing the lyrics and the overall tone of the original song. Where Parton begs and pleads with a woman not to steal her man, Bey sends warning ...
Flo Milli's new album proves the 'Never Lose Me' rising artist's dreams
The Mobile, Alabama, native now has much of the rap world believing it too. Earlier this month, Flo Milli released "Fine Ho, Stay," her third - and arguably best - studio album.
'Underdressed at the Symphony' Album Review ...
A break-up album, a reflection on her growing fame, and an ode to the quirks of life, Webster's fifth album muses on love and loss, confidence and self-perception, memories and nostalgia.
TikTokers try to lose 40 pounds in two months on 'Oatzempic'
The Beverly Hills belle, who claimed to have lost 15 pounds in 60 days owing to the baked treat, dubbed it "a one-stop weight loss solution" due to its belly-filling benefits.
Rebel Wilson lost her virginity at 35, says in memoir. Why that's OK
The median age to get married for the first time in 2022 was 30.1 for men and 28.2 for women, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.In 1990, the median age for a man was 26.1 and a woman 23.9
Lara Trump says 2020 election is 'in the past' even as Donald Trump
RNC co-chair Lara Trump said the party is "past" litigating the 2020 election, as her father-in-law prepares to face charges stemming from his post-election actions.
Flo Milli's new album proves the 'Never Lose Me' rising artist ...
Milli recently dropped a remix with superstars SZA and Cardi B, while previously released remixes with Lil Yachty and a separate one with R&B crooner Bryson Tiller, both landed in December.