Daddy Yankee on Co-Owning Cangrejeros de Santurce Baseball Team: ‘Now Is the Right Moment’ (Exclusive)

Daddy Yankee has become co-owner of Puerto Rican baseball team Los Cangrejeros de Santurce baseball team, Billboard has learned.

The reggaeton superstar, born Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, is also an investor and will be joining Chairman Thomas Axon and President Justo Moreno as owners of the San Juan-based team, which hosts its home games at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium.

For Yankee, who was raised in Santurce, this new career move hits home. “I know what it means to a kid, I’m a product of the little league and grew up going to the Cangrejeros games at the Hiram Bithorn,” he exclusively tells Billboard. “ I’m part of something that I’m really passionate about and that’s baseball.”

Prior to becoming a global Latin artist and topping the charts, Yankee aspired to become a professional baseball player, even trying out for Major League Baseball team Seattle Mariners. He was unable to pursue his sports career after being hit by a bullet while taking a break from a recording studio session. However, his dream did not stop there.

“Now is the right moment due to the inspiration and impact our Puerto Rican players are having on MLB,” he says, further emphasizing the importance of his role as co-owner. “I want to inspire the kids in Puerto Rico supporting our local team to keep developing talent in The Roberto Clemente League.”

The team is home to various Hall of Fame baseball players, including Roberto Clemente, after whom the entire baseball league is named. Additionally, the Cangrejeros of the Roberto Clemente League won the 2019-20 league championship.

“The team’s history and importance to Puerto Rico’s proud sports heritage convinced Daddy Yankee that the continued renaissance of Puerto Rico baseball was something he just felt like he needed to be involved with,” Axon said in an official statement. “The particular history of this team, and Daddy Yankee having grown up playing baseball essentially in the shadow of our stadium in Santurce, were also important in Daddy Yankee’s decision.”

Ready to “ fight to regain our crown against some fantastic competition,” Daddy Yankee will be present at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium on November 6 for the inaugural event and kick-off of the 2021-2022 baseball season.

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CAA Promotes Nine in Music Touring Division

CAA is bolstering its music touring department with the elevation of nine employees to agent or executive.  

Zack Borson, Alex Douma, Kara Enos, Omar Garcia, Brian Greenwood, Brad Pophal and Jamie Shaughnessy have all been promoted to agent. Kaitlyn Bruce and Ariel Happe have been promoted to executives within the division. 

“The entire team has worked tirelessly on behalf of our clients – their creativity and teamwork continues to serve the passions, needs, interests, and dreams of the incredibly talented artists we work with,” said CAA’s head of music Rob Light. “Each of the nine people joining our Agent and Executive ranks today has earned their place among our talented colleagues and we look forward to their many successes ahead.” 

Bruce began her career at CAA as an assistant to agent Lucy Kozak and was elevated to professional in CAA’s music marketing division before her current promotion to executive. Happe served as a public relations assistant at Rock Paper Scissors before joining CAA, where she was first elevated to coordinator in the agency’s music brand partnerships division before her current promotion to executive.   

Borson started in the CAA mailroom and later served as an assistant to Joe Hadley, co-head of the agency’s global hip-hop/R&B touring group. Douma previously worked at Paradigm Talent Agency, Fat City Artists and RAD Entertainment. Enos will take on the agent role after beginning her career at CAA as an assistant to agent Tim Beeding and later being promoted to coordinator. Garcia was previously a coordinator and an assistant to co-head of international touring Chris Dalston. Before joining CAA, Greenwood worked at Paradigm as an assistant. Pophal, who was most recently coordinator, started as an assistant to CAA agent Alex Becket as well as the agency’s co-head of contemporary music Darryl Eaton. Shaughnessy began his career at CAA and served as an assistant to agents Claudio Lillo, Jake Leighton-Pope and Nigel Hassler before being promoted to coordinator.

“Given what our industry has been through over the past 20 months, we’re incredibly proud of the Touring department’s accomplishments, and are blessed to have an amazing team that stayed focused and diligent throughout,” added Light. “We have also been fortunate to have fantastic agents and executives join us over these past months.” 

Borson, Douma, Garcia and Pophal are based in Los Angeles. Bruce, Enos and Happe are based in Nashville. Greenwood is based in New York and Shaughnessy is based in London. 

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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Snaps Back to Pre-Pandemic Form With Nelly, Carrie Underwood & More

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will return to its pre-pandemic form this year, with its route restored through Manhattan, high-flying helium balloons once again pulled by handlers and crowds welcomed back to cheer them on.

This year’s parade — the 95th annual — will snap back to form after bowing to pandemic restrictions last year. It will feature 15 giant character balloons, 28 floats, 36 novelty and heritage inflatables, more than 800 clowns, 10 marching bands and nine performance groups and, of course, Santa Claus.

New balloon giants joining the lineup on Nov. 25 include Ada Twist, Scientist and the Pokémon characters Pikachu and Eevee. Broadway will be represented by the casts of Six, Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Wicked. The Rockettes will be there, as will the cast of the upcoming NBC live production of Annie.

“For our 95th celebration, Macy’s has created a spectacle to remember featuring a dazzling array of high-flying balloons, animated floats and incredible performers. We can’t wait to help New York City and the nation kick-off the holiday season with the return of this cherished tradition,” Will Coss, executive producer of the parade, said in a statement.

There will be new floats led by the cast of Girls5eva — Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Paula Pell and Busy Philipps — Nelly and Jordan Fisher, while Jon Batiste will be on an alligator-themed float celebrating Louisiana’s music, food and culture.

Other celebrities on hand include Carrie Underwood, Jimmie Allen, Kelly Rowland, Rob Thomas, Kristin Chenoweth, Darren Criss, Foreigner, Andy Grammer, Mickey Guyton, Chris Lane, Miss America Camille Schrier, Muppets from Sesame Street and the three past and current hosts of Blue’s Clues — Steve Burns, Donovan Patton and Josh Dela Cruz.

Some of the returning balloons will be Astronaut Snoopy, The Boss Baby, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Chase from Paw Patrol, the Pillsbury Doughboy, Red Titan from Ryan’s World, Papa Smurf from The Smurfs, Sonic the Hedgehog and SpongeBob SquarePants.

The Macy’s parade has been a traditional holiday season kickoff and spectators often line up a half-dozen deep along the route to cheer about 8,000 marchers, two dozen floats, entertainers and marching bands.

Last year, the usual 2 1/2-mile route through crowded Manhattan was scrapped in favor of concentrating events to a one-block stretch of 34th Street in front of the retailer’s flagship Manhattan store. Many performances were pre-taped and most of the parade’s performers were locally based to cut down on travel. The balloons were tethered to specialized vehicles instead of being controlled by handlers.

Visitors this year will once again be allowed to see the balloons inflated the day before the parade as long as they show proof of vaccination. Children under the age of 12 may be accompanied by a vaccinated adult.

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Karol G, Daddy Yankee & More Reggaeton Artists Singing in English

Latin music has gone global with artists such as Shakira, Bad Bunny, J Balvin and Rauw Alejandro, among others, at the forefront.

Over the years, many mainstream artists have teamed up with Latin music’s hottest names to drop bilingual tracks with artists such as Nicki Minaj, Christina Aguilera and Shawn Mendes, who get in the mood by singing in Spanish.

Meanwhile, we’ve seen a wave of reggaeton stars who also haven’t shied away from singing in English either. Below, check out some names:

Daddy Yankee

Believe it or not, Daddy Yankee has flaunted his English rapping skills multiple times, including on his single “Come With Me” in collaboration with Prince Royce, Adrienne Bailon and Elijah King and also on the Duncan-assisted “This Is Not a Love Song.”

Jay Wheeler

Jay teamed up with Florida-based rapper Tyla Yaweh for his debut English track, which laces trap music with emo-punk and alternative pop sounds. Inspired by artists like K-Ci & JoJo, Boyz II Men and *NSYNC, the Puerto Rican artist is working on his all-English studio album Good Music for Bad Days, which he described to Billboard as a “dope challenge.”

Karol G

Karol G surprised fans by singing an entire song in English on Tiësto’s “Don’t Be Shy.” “I honestly just had fun and didn’t overthink it,” she previously told Billboard. “I always had on my mind to sing in English one day, and maybe not an entire song, but the opportunity came earlier than I expected, so why not take the chance and try something new now?”

Maluma

Although Maluma has collaborated with Madonna and The Weeknd, to name a few, it was in 2018 when he made his English-singing debut. The Colombian artist teamed up with Burns on “Hands on Me,” which also featured artist Rae Sremmurd.

Natti Natasha

Natti sang completely in Spanish on the 2019 track “Instagram,” a flavorful Latin EDM track by Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Daddy Yankee, David Guetta and the Afro Bros. The bilingual song is about a girl who’s not impressed by a man’s money or celebrity status on social media.

Nicky Jam

In 2016, Nicky Jam dropped an English version of his viral hit “Hasta el Amanecer,” dubbing it “With You Tonight.” Singing and rapping completely in English, the Puerto Rican artist reached No. 73 on Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 chart on June 11, 2016.

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Britney Spears Asks for More Freedom in Bloody Halloween Post: ‘Can I Play Now?’

Britney Spears just wants to play — and she’s certainly being playful in an inventive new murder-mystery Instagram caption to go along with some photos of her bloody Halloween costume.

The pop star posted three photos and a selfie video of the graphic getup on Monday (Nov. 1), wearing a hot-pink-and-black negligee with fuzzy leopard-print handcuffs and fake blood covering her face and hands. The caption tells the story of a woman who returned home from a night out by herself and then met a gruesome fate.

“5:45 … she arrived … the doorman said she came home alone !!! She went to dinner with two girlfriends and had 1 drink … took a cab home but was found on the floor by her neighbor … it remains a mystery,” Spears wrote. “Who would do such a thing ??? She had a wonderful family and of course they were nowhere nearby !!!!”

As many of her Instagram posts have over the past few months, the caption contained a reference to the conservatorship that has controlled her personal life and finances for the past 13 years. Some of Spears’ comments on social media have been cryptic, but this caption specifically mentions her “ma and dad” not letting her drive while she’s been under the conservatorship and asks, “can I play now ????”

“On a SPECIAL note Stay classy ‘Murica and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do because that’s like a WHOLE LOT y’all !!!!” she wrote with a string of winky faces. “Let me explain myself … I’m saying in a crazy world like we have today that it’s pretty important to stay safe !!! Like we did for Covid y’all !!!! But still have fun … I mean duh !!! It’s been 13 years for me so I’m a little rusty !!!! Ma and dad can I drive my car now ??? JUST KIDDING … but seriously, can I play now ???? I just really don’t want to offend anyone though.”

Spears’ conservatorship has come into question over the past year-plus thanks to the efforts of the #FreeBritney movement and the FX and Hulu documentary Framing Britney Spears that came out in February. Since a spotlight has been put on the arrangement, Spears’ father, Jamie, has been removed as the conservator of her estate, and her newly appointed lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, has filed a petition to end the conservatorship entirely.

See the photos and video and full caption below:

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Harry Styles, Ariana Grande, Cardi B & More: Who Had the Best 2021 Halloween Costume? Vote!

Your favorite musicians love dressing up for Halloween just as much as you do — and some of them (we’re looking at you, Ariana Grande, Megan Thee Stallion and The Weeknd) enlist the best makeup artists in the business to help them out. But who had the best Halloween costume of 2021?

If you need a reminder of some of the best pop star costumes of 2021, take a look at Billboard’s roundup here.

Some highlights include Harry Styles hitting the Madison Square Garden stage for “Harryween” dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, complete with ruby slippers.

Then there were Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian’s multiple costumes, including ill-fated punk couple Sid and Nancy as well as Alabama and Clarence from True Romance.

Lil Nas X went with a few costumes too: Harry Potter baddie Voldemort and Seth Powers from Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide.

That’s just the tip of the Halloween iceberg. Revisit some Halloween highlights here, and then vote in our poll below.

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