DJ Kaos chatted with Billboard’s Jessica Roiz on the red carpet of the 35th Anniversary of Latin Music Week Concert.
DJ Kaos conversó con Jessica Roiz de Billboard antes del concierto celebrando 35 años de Billboard’s Semana de Música Latina.
George Harris chatted with Billboard’s Ingrid Fajardo on the red carpet of the 35th Anniversary of Latin Music Week Concert.
George Harris conversó con Ingrid Fajardo de Billboard antes del concierto celebrando 35 años de Billboard’s Semana de Música Latina.
Igor Lichnovsky chatted with Billboard’s Isabela Raygoza on the red carpet of the 35th Anniversary of Latin Music Week Concert.
James Leach, vp of creative services and West Coast operations for SESAC, passed away on Thursday (Oct. 17) in Los Angeles. The well-respected music industry executive died following a battle with cancer.
Beginning his tenure at SESAC in 2001 as director of writer/publisher relations, Leach covered pop, R&B and rock. During his 23 years with the performing rights organization, Leach signed funk legend George Clinton, Lalah Hathaway and Ab-Soul as well as songwriter/producers such as Nate “Danja” Hills, Harvey Mason Jr. (The Underdogs) and John “Jaylien” Wesley. He also established the company’s Los Angeles office.
Paying tribute to Leach, SESAC commented in part on its website, “Emanating from his warmth, kindness and enthusiasm for life, James will continue to shine light on those he knew … James was not just a leader for the Los Angeles-based creative services team but a constant wellspring of support and inspiration for SESAC-affiliated songwriters and publishers. In addition to his deep love of music and unwavering dedication to nurturing talent was his advocation of culture and DEI. He continuously promoted awareness and understanding. His ethos of service and making things better was the keystone of his work.”
Hailing from Montclair, N.J., before relocating as a teen with his family to L.A., Leach graduated from Pepperdine University with a degree in broadcast management. His lifelong love affair with music and the arts laid the foundation for a multi-faceted career that included stints in TV and radio sales, as a recording studio owner and as the head of his own music placement firm, Leach Entertainment. Internships at Famous Music and Michael Jackson’s ATV Music (prior to its merger with Sony) led to his being appointed director of creative affairs at ATV. During his seven years there, Leach signed writer/producers like Keith Crouch and Derek Allen and also worked with the catalogs of Jackson, The Beatles and Sly & the Family Stone.
Returning to Famous Music as director of creative affairs/urban music, Leach signed then-unknown songwriter/artist Akon. After leaving Famous, Leach worked as a music supervisor and consultant. His credits in that arena include the popular ‘90s series New York Undercover and Magic Johnson’s The Magic Hour.
A Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players honoree in 2019, Leach was presented with the Entertainment Advocate Award by the Living Legends Foundation in 2015. He also served on the foundation’s advisory board.
Calling Leach “the consummate professional,” Living Legends Foundation chairman David C. Linton tells Billboard, “He brought such value to enhance our mission of ‘service, scholarship and preserving the legacy of Black music executives.’ His presence will be missed both professionally and personally. Our prayers go out to his family and all who know and love him.”
Leach is survived by his mother, Claudia Leach, in addition to his siblings and other family members. The family is asking that donations in his honor be made to The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation.
Jessica Roiz, Billboard Latin’s Assistant Editor moderates as Grupo Frontera showcases how they make a hit live. How does a top band make a hit? The members of Grupo Frontera, Adelaido “Payo” Solis, Alberto “Beto” Acosta, Brian Ortega, Carlos Guerrero, Juan Javier Cantu, Julián Peña, show us live at this Billboard-exclusive panel at Billboard’s Latin Music Week 2024.
Presented By BMI
Jesus Gonzalez, the VP of Creative, Latin at BMI moderates a discussion between Latin music’s most exciting songwriters and producers (Albert Hype, Alexis Fierro, Álvaro Díaz, Caleb Calloway and Armenta) in the urban and regional Mexican realms on how they’ve crafted their biggest hits at Billboard’s Latin Music Week 2024.
Jesus Gonzalez moderada una discusión los más emocionantes productores y compositores del mundo urbano y Mexicano (Albert Hype, Alexis Fierro, Álvaro Díaz, Caleb Calloway and Armenta) nos cuentan cómo crearon sus más grandes éxitos.
“That’s my best friend, that’s my best friend,” Young Thug repeats on his 2015 Slime Season standout “Best Friend.” Even while behind bars, Thugger has kept up with the feuds in hip-hop this year and he’s looking to restore the peace.
Thug took to X from jail on Friday (Oct. 18) hoping to play peacemaker and end the feud between Drake against Future and Metro Boomin. Thugger believes rap music as a whole will suffer without them teaming up again.
“@Drake @1future @MetroBoomin we all bruddas. Music aint the same without us collabin,” he wrote to X.
The reclusive Future didn’t offer up a response, but he did retweet Thug’s message, which fans took as an olive branch that Pluto’s open to ending the beef with the 6 God.
“Future retweet????? Nah they gotta give Thug the Nobel Peace Prize,” A Thugger fan account replied.
“Young Thug just brought back a legendary duo,” one fan said. Another chimed in: “All along Thug was keeping everyone together.” Others pointed out that Kendrick Lamar was noticeably missing from Thug’s initial tweet.
Young Thug remains in prison while fighting for his life on the YSL RICO trial. There still doesn’t appear to be any end in sight as the case has strung out to become the longest in Georgia’s history.
Thugger saw an opportunity to squash the feud between Drake, Future and Metro as a neutral party in the battle. Drizzy, Pluto and Thug have teamed up plenty of times in the past including when they joined forces for Certified Lover Boy‘s “Way 2 Sexy,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2021.
Last week, Drake showed love to Young Thug when he posted to social media rocking Thugger’s Sp5der clothing brand and suggested he’s supporting Thug’s funds while fighting the case.
“I ain’t talking to talk man I really put up [bread emoji] on the [briefcase emoji] 3 Jeff,” Drake posted to his Instagram Story, per Complex.
Metro Boomin actually spoke on the Drake and Kendrick Lamar feud during an appearance at a Forbes Under 30 Summit in September.
“I feel like the competition is great for the game,” he said. “Hip-hop has always been a competitive genre. Even if just keeping it on music it’s not serious how everybody tries to make it,” he said. “Also with hip-hop, there’s a lot of ego involved. You’re supposed to feel like you’re the best.”
Metro continued: “When two of the top dogs in the game and you both feel like you’re the best, it’s like, ‘OK, now we gotta have a showdown.’ We saw it with Jay-Z and Nas before. I feel like more today it’s more stan culture makes it kind of weird. Back in the day, Jay-Z and Nas went at it, I was a fan of both of them. Most people were. It was like, ‘OK, it’s OK.’ It’s not like, ‘I had this side. I hate this side.’ The internet makes it a little too wild now.”
Cam’ron knows Ye (formally known as Kanye West) well.
The two go back to their Roc-A-Fella days in the early 2000s, when West was a producer on the come-up who was trying convince everybody that his raps were just as good as his beats, while Cam was on a maniacal run that put not only himself, but his crew The Diplomats at the top of the game with rap’s hottest record label co-owned by his childhood friend Dame Dash.
While discussing quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets with his co-hosts Mase and Treasure “Stat Baby” Wilson, Cam told an anecdote about meeting up with Ye at his office in Beverly Hills.
“You know what’s crazy? I’ll give you an example,” Cam began. “This was probably three years ago. I went to see the n—a Kanye or whatever. His office in Beverly Hills at one time was a cave, it’s just fire in there and sh–,” he said as he couldn’t contain his laughter. “It’s just like four fires. It’s like a 10-15,000 square foot — it’s not an office, it’s a warehouse and it’s just fire going.”
He then mentions that Marilyn Manson was there with some other people and references a photo that was taken of himself, Manson, Ye, actress Julia Fox and music producer Jack Donoghue before he says he tried to ask Ye about the weird vibes he was getting. “So, you know I know the n—a,” he tells his co-hosts. “I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’”
He added that the Chicago rapper started acting differently when he noticed his old friend. “He see me — you know how you can’t play these games with a n—a you know,” he said before bursting into laughter. “I’m lookin’ at the n—a like, ‘What the f— is going on in here, man?’”
During an appearance on the All the Smoke podcast hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson in December 2023, the Harlem rapper-turned-sports commentator said West plays “crazy when it’s convenient” and that Ye was “perfectly fine” whenever he ran into his former collaborator.
You can watch the full It Is What It Is episode below:
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara, a new documentary chronicling how a hacker stole an indie rocker’s identity and has been impersonating them for more than a decade, debuted Friday (Oct. 18) on Hulu.
In the documentary, Tegan and Sara Quin — identical twins best known as the indie-rock duo Tegan and Sarah — recount the “complex catfish scheme” that has terrorized them and fans for over 15 years.
Related
The twins’ lives were turned upside down after Tegan’s personal information was hacked in 2011, but Fake Tegan (a.k.a. “Fegan”) has been impersonating the Canadian singer since around 2008. The hacker has yet to be identified.
Keep reading for directions on how to stream the documentary for free.
How to Watch
Hulu subscribers can begin streaming Fanatical on Friday. If you’re not subscribed, Hulu offers a free trial for the first month. That means you can stream Fanatical and other Hulu exclusives like Tell Me Lies, Reasonable Doubt, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Murder in a Small Town, Only Murders in the Building and network shows streaming on Hulu such as The Golden Bachelorette, Grotesquerie, Abbott Elementary, High Potential and Doctor Odyssey.
Whether you’re watching from home or on-the-go, you can access Hulu from anywhere. Simply sign onto the app or watch online at Hulu.com. After the 30-free trial ends, your Hulu subscription will renew at $11.99 per month for the basic plan, but there are a few ways to score a discount.
For example, Hulu’s student plan costs just $1.99 per month. Hulu also offers bundles and annual plans to save you money on the back end. Want more savings? Join Hulu + Live TV at a discounted rate for $59.99 a month for three months (reg. $83 per month).
Hulu + Live TV includes over 90 live channels cable channels and local networks, along with access to Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+.
Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara is directed by Erin Lee Carr and produced by Elyssa Hess and Jenny Eliscu. The documentary is executive produced by Tegan and Sara, Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus, Jon Bardin and Kate Berry for Story Syndicate.
Watch a clip from the documentary below.
Superstar Peso Pluma curated a panel with the rising stars of the new Mexican music movement. Billboard’s Chief Content Officer of Latin Music and Billboard Español, Leila Cobo discusses the new Mexican music movement with one of its biggest leaders Peso Pluma and several other Mexican artists like Fidel (Grupo Marco Registrada), Jasiel Núñez, Junior H and Tito Double P at Billboard’s Latin Music Week 2024.
La superestrella Peso Pluma invita a algunos de los nuevos artistas más emocionantes del nuevo movimiento Mexicano.
