Before Justin Bieber's "Journals," there was Ariana Grande's "Yours Truly."
It was Aug. 30, 2013, and Grande - who rose to fame on Nickelodeon's "Victorious" and "Sam & Cat" - suddenly emerged as a musical superstar with her debut album. Thanks to her dreamy voice and impressive range, the budding phenom, who was then 20 years old, proved she was so much more than just a teen star.
The album was a testament of how '90s R&b, hip-hop, pop, and doo-wop can complement one another. Paired with production by Babyface, The Rascals (Leon Thomas III and Khris Riddick-Tynes), Antonio Dixon, Harmony Samuels, Tommy Brown (aka TBHits), as well as cowriting credits from the aforementioned and Victoria Monét, Sevyn Streeter, Jordin Sparks, and Priscilla Renea (now Muni Long), "Yours Truly" was an instant victory. This dream team fused Grande's instinctual talent and musical theater background to formulate an untapped side of her artistry,...
It was Aug. 30, 2013, and Grande - who rose to fame on Nickelodeon's "Victorious" and "Sam & Cat" - suddenly emerged as a musical superstar with her debut album. Thanks to her dreamy voice and impressive range, the budding phenom, who was then 20 years old, proved she was so much more than just a teen star.
The album was a testament of how '90s R&b, hip-hop, pop, and doo-wop can complement one another. Paired with production by Babyface, The Rascals (Leon Thomas III and Khris Riddick-Tynes), Antonio Dixon, Harmony Samuels, Tommy Brown (aka TBHits), as well as cowriting credits from the aforementioned and Victoria Monét, Sevyn Streeter, Jordin Sparks, and Priscilla Renea (now Muni Long), "Yours Truly" was an instant victory. This dream team fused Grande's instinctual talent and musical theater background to formulate an untapped side of her artistry,...
- 8/30/2023
- by Mya Abraham
- Popsugar.com
Exclusive: SAG Award-winning and Grammy-nominated actor and singer Amber Riley has signed with ColorCreative for representation.
Known for her breakout role as Mercedes Jones on Fox’s musical comedy series Glee, Riley most recently starred in the Lifetime movie Single Black Female and won Season 8 of The Masked Singer.
Riley made her West End debut in 2016 as Effie White in Dreamgirls for which she received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical and the Evening Standard Theater Award for Best Musical Performance. In 2020, Riley released her debut EP Riley and is currently recording a second EP with Grammy-winning producer Harmony Samuels.
Born and raised in Compton, Riley most recently became the first celebrity to win both Dancing With the Stars and The Masked Singer.
“Amber Riley brings a powerhouse talent to the table with her incredible voice and just as strong acting skills,” said Raj Raghavan, Head of Talent at ColorCreative.
Known for her breakout role as Mercedes Jones on Fox’s musical comedy series Glee, Riley most recently starred in the Lifetime movie Single Black Female and won Season 8 of The Masked Singer.
Riley made her West End debut in 2016 as Effie White in Dreamgirls for which she received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical and the Evening Standard Theater Award for Best Musical Performance. In 2020, Riley released her debut EP Riley and is currently recording a second EP with Grammy-winning producer Harmony Samuels.
Born and raised in Compton, Riley most recently became the first celebrity to win both Dancing With the Stars and The Masked Singer.
“Amber Riley brings a powerhouse talent to the table with her incredible voice and just as strong acting skills,” said Raj Raghavan, Head of Talent at ColorCreative.
- 3/22/2023
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
R&B artist Major. is on “cloud three million” right now. His track “Honest” scored a 2019 Grammy nomination for best traditional R&B performance, and, as he tells Variety exclusively, he recently landed a recurring role on Fox’s “Star.”
The singer-songwriter, born Major Johnson Finley, is currently shooting the musical drama in Atlanta, and will make his debut on the April 10 episode of the show’s third season. He plays the endearingly-named “Big Head Rashad,” who is related to Queen Latifah’s Carlotta, and teases that he will be singing in the role.
“Rashad is this life force and he just comes in and he’s relatable but he brings inspiration, perspective to the storyline,” he says. “I help shift the way folks are seeing things.”
“Star” is centered on a girl group trio, as well as their careers and complicated personal lives. Lee Daniels and Tom Donaghy created the...
The singer-songwriter, born Major Johnson Finley, is currently shooting the musical drama in Atlanta, and will make his debut on the April 10 episode of the show’s third season. He plays the endearingly-named “Big Head Rashad,” who is related to Queen Latifah’s Carlotta, and teases that he will be singing in the role.
“Rashad is this life force and he just comes in and he’s relatable but he brings inspiration, perspective to the storyline,” he says. “I help shift the way folks are seeing things.”
“Star” is centered on a girl group trio, as well as their careers and complicated personal lives. Lee Daniels and Tom Donaghy created the...
- 1/16/2019
- by Rachel Yang
- Variety Film + TV
Popular musical rhythms are always skipping and skittering back and forth between Africa and its diasporic communities, from Jamaica to Brazil to Colombia and elsewhere. “That’s a process that’s been going on for a long, long time,” says musicologist Wayne Marshall, who teaches at Berklee College of Music. “What was called, for a while, Congolese rumba and then evolves into soukous — the reason it’s called rumba is because it’s [based on] Cuban son records that became popular in the Congo. It’s circular: The son doesn’t exist...
- 10/17/2018
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
Ella Mai’s “Boo’d Up” just might have the zaniest origin story of any recent hit: In December of last year, almost exactly 10 months after the song was first released to little fanfare, a patron requested the track at a club in Oakland. “The whole place went, ‘Woo!'” DJ Big Von recalled. “I saw a fat dude do a cartwheel.” He took the song back to his radio station, called Mai’s label-head, the hip-hop producer Mustard, and the machinery that creates hits started to whir.
“Boo’d...
“Boo’d...
- 10/12/2018
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
Between 2015 and 2017, it seemed as if the the Nigerian genre afrobeats was ready to storm the American mainstream. Drake released a remix of Wizkid’s “Ojuelegba”; Jay-z’s Roc Nation picked up Tiwa Savage; Wizkid signed in turn to RCA; Columbia put its weight behind Tekno’s great single “Pana.” But despite these endorsements, American listeners’ interest in afrobeats largely failed to materialize.
On Friday, however, two established acts both put out tracks bearing the genre’s influence, suggesting that afrobeats may still capture the international imagination. Janet Jackson served up “Made for Now,...
On Friday, however, two established acts both put out tracks bearing the genre’s influence, suggesting that afrobeats may still capture the international imagination. Janet Jackson served up “Made for Now,...
- 8/22/2018
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
Janet Jackson, Daddy Yankee and a host of dancers from around the globe get a neighborhood dance party started in Jackson’s new video for “Made For Now.”
Produced by Harmony Samuels, Jackson’s latest single is her first new music release since she dropped her 11th studio album, 2015’s Unbreakable. In the Dave Meyers-directed visual for “Made For Now,” the artist’s uplifting song inspires a bevy of dancers to take to the streets of Brooklyn for a celebratory gathering. Jackson and her longtime creative director Gil Duldulao selected the international dance crew,...
Produced by Harmony Samuels, Jackson’s latest single is her first new music release since she dropped her 11th studio album, 2015’s Unbreakable. In the Dave Meyers-directed visual for “Made For Now,” the artist’s uplifting song inspires a bevy of dancers to take to the streets of Brooklyn for a celebratory gathering. Jackson and her longtime creative director Gil Duldulao selected the international dance crew,...
- 8/17/2018
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
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