Rimas Entertainment is celebrating 10 years in business and its executives — including Noah Assad (CEO), Junior Carabaño (vp) and Raymond Acosta (general manager, Habibi) — reflected on their successes in the past decade.

During a panel that took place on Tuesday (Oct. 15) and was moderated by Billboard‘s Leila Cobo, Assad, Carabaño and Acosta gave the first public interview as a team and talked about the evolution of the company, which launched as a label with Jowell & Randy as their first signed artist, and later became a powerhouse company home to global star Bad Bunny, with new divisions including Habibi (management company home to Karol G and Grupo Frontera) and Rimas Sports.

“I do what I like to do,” a soft-spoken Assad said. “I named the company Rimas obviously because of rhythms, but it has another meaning. My brother’s name is Samir and he loves music. Rimas is Samir spelled backwards.”

Carabaño went on to explain that the company first focused mainly on monetizing music videos on YouTube. “We started to monetize digitally, with YouTube videos, we would monitor and call each other all day. One day we made $100 dollars and another day $1,500, that’s when we said we can make a living from this.”

And the rest is history, with marquee clients Bad Bunny and Karol G going on to become two of the biggest music stars over the past four years.

Below are the best quotes from the Ten Years of Rimas Entertainment panel.

The Role of Facilitators

Noah Assad: “We started as, and still are, facilitators to our clients in all the businesses we do, but we started kind of like a back office, and we were facilitators for complaints from artists who needed help resolving these issues. We do the same thing now but on a larger scale. And back then our only income was doing shows, or from videos on YouTube, it was a new era of people making money. We were learning to go from physical to digital, we were there early on.”

Working With Bad Bunny

Assad: “Benito [Bad Bunny’s real name] was a blessing and opened a lot of doors for us to show the world what we can offer. He helped paved the way and helped us build what we have today.”

Right People, Right Time

Junior Carabaño: “More than sitting down and planning what we wanted to do, we were the right people at the right time. We saw an opportunity where we also got to share our passion with the industry. Today, we see it as 10 years ago, but it doesn’t seem like it for us because every day, we do what we want. We found there was a way to make a living working in what we love.”

The Importance of Accepting to Keep Learning

Raymond Acosta: “Fifteen years ago, I worked as a security guard at the Choliseo. Our individual journeys are important. There will come a time when you will start to criticize the work of others, even when you have not gone through what they have. But once you are willing to learn about every aspect of the business, you can understand a team member, help them and say, ‘Don’t worry because I went through that as well.’ It’s about empowering ourselves.”

Assad: “I’m 34 now but I really started when I was 15 years old. I can say today that I can do any job in the industry. Really, I can. I can help set up lights, DJ, record vocals, I have worked in every area, and that’s important for anyone who wants to work in the industry. Wanting to learn is important and accepting to learn.”

Working With Karol G

Acosta: “We’re proud of what Karol has achieved. She is a woman who works every day, she does not rest, she wants to keep growing in what she does, she opens her heart. She challenged us when she told us she wanted to do a stadium tour. All you can do for an artist like that is clear the way for them to run.”

What They Look for in an Artist

Assad: “In terms of management, Raymond tells me, ‘Here is this opportunity.’ And I respond with, ‘What do you think?’ And if he says I love them, then so do I. Sometimes I don’t see the vision, but someone else on the team will. If that person believes in an artist, we know there’s a reason. We trust that team member who identifies an artist and says, ‘I can do this for this person.”

The 2024 Billboard Latin Music Week coincides with the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards set to air at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 20, on Telemundo. It will simultaneously be available on Universo, Peacock and the Telemundo app, and in Latin America and the Caribbean through Telemundo Internacional.

There was no better way to kick off the second day of the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Week on Tuesday (Oct. 15) than with Grupo Frontera‘s Making the Hit Live!, during which the group from Texas worked its magic to create a brand new song.

As is tradition, during Making the Hit Live!, an artist will take the entire panel time to write and produce a song from scratch. But instead, this year, Grupo Frontera — who shot to stardom in 2022 thanks to ots cover of “No Se Va” — received lyrics from the band’s go-to producer and songwriter Edgar Barrera ahead of time, and added ots signature cumbia sound to the lyrics during the panel. Unofficially titled “Ya No,” the irresistible, hip-swiveling song was indeed created in a span of 40 minutes.

“Before we met Edgar Barrera, I would write songs for the group,” Payo, the band’s frontman, said enthusiastically. “We released, like, two songs that were penned by me, and I wrote four other ones, but those didn’t come out because that’s when we met Edgar and were like, ‘OK, we’re good,’” he added with a laugh.

Now, when they’re in the studio with Barrera, Frontera’s Juan, Payo and Beto will contribute to the songwriting process, but Payo pokes fun at his bandmates. “They just say one word hoping it sticks,” he shared. “One time, they were obsessed with the word ‘gafas’ and they just kept repeating it, like, chill bro.”

When it comes to production, that’s where all six of them contribute with their respective instruments.

Part of the process of creating a song also includes setting time to think about content for social media to complement the song’s essence. The group’s presence online, whether it’s recording a dance or acting out a scene using part of a song’s lyrics, has made Grupo Frontera go viral more than once on TikTok. “We don’t create a song thinking it will be a hit on TikTok,” Juan explained. Payo added, “When we record a song, we always think the chorus will go viral, but we always get it wrong, so we have to record all of our social media content all over again.”

While setting the cumbia rhythm for “Ya No,” Frontera shared the story of when the members recorded “No Se Va.”

“We didn’t have money to rent a studio to record, well we didn’t have money, period,” said Beto. “So when we did record, we’d have to do everything in one take — even if we made a mistake, we’d leave that in there. We recorded ‘No Se Ve’ at a friend’s apartment building and every resident there was fine with us using the space — except for this one lady who complained.”

That song scored Frontera the group’s first ever Billboard chart entry. The song peaked at No. 3 on the Hot Latin Songs chart. While they’re not sure yet if they’ll release “Ya No,” the song they created during the panel, the track has hit potential. Check out a sneak peek below:

The 2024 Billboard Latin Music Week coincides with the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards set to air at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 20, on Telemundo. It will simultaneously be available on Universo, Peacock and the Telemundo app, and in Latin America and the Caribbean through Telemundo Internacional.

The Voice season 26 contestant Camryn Brooks provided living proof on Monday night (Oct. 14) that you should never give up on your dreams. Three years after washing out of season 21 after getting no chair turns, the California native made a triumphant return that elicited four chair turns.

After impressing the judges with her soaring cover of Maggie Rogers’ “Light On,” Brooks, 24, brought down the house and got Gwen Stefani out of her chair, inspiring the solo star and No Doubt singer to brag, “I was first!”

“I’m literally crying right now because this is like, absolutely unreal. I was a contestant on season 21 and I didn’t get any chair turns,” Brooks told coaches Snoop Dogg, Reba McEntire and Micael Bublé after her performance. “I didn’t ever envision I was going to get four so this is literally a dream come true.”

McEntire, who praised Brooks’ “beautiful” voice, was elated by the redemption story, reminding viewers that the show’s judges often tell singers who don’t get a chair turn to “please come back.” Bublé also had high praise, adding that he hit his button because of FOMO, with Snoop giving the Mt. Shasta native props for her tone, composure and stage presence.

She and Bublé also bonded over their early gigs singing the National Anthem, though the Canadian crooner couldn’t get Brooks to join him on a chorus of his native “Oh Canada” as Snoop repeatedly trolled him for singing the “wrong” anthem. He got his own redemption, though, when Brooks noted that when she attended a performing arts school the only song she sang to earn money in competitions was Bublé’s rendition of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good.”

Despite the mutual admiration, Brooks ended up going with Stefani, who said her new team member’s voice reminded was pleasantly reminiscent of her favorite 1970s singers. “There are so many singers that are good, but there’s certain ones that just like touch you because of their tone or just little taste things that they do,” Stefani said. “That’s what I was feeling from you. I would listen to that voice on a record. It’s round, it’s soothing, it would be really fun to work with you ‘cause I feel like we could pick some really cool songs and define who you are.”

Not for nothing, Brooks’ story was even wilder because after her no-turn 2021 audition she noted that her plans to finish school and start performing professionally were derailed when she was diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. “It was really scary because I couldn’t get out more than three words at a time,” she said. “The first thought that came to my mind was, ‘Am I going to be able to sing again?’ In that moment, you just think, ‘Am I gonna die? I’m too young to have this happen.’”

Though frightening, Brooks said the ailment really put into perspective what mattered to her and made her fight harder for her dreams. “I’m just so blessed to even be here,” she said.

New episodes of The Voice air Monday and Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, and then stream on-demand via Peacock the next day.

Watch Brooks perform “Light On” below.

This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.

This week: Limp Bizkit sues Universal Music Group for $200 million over claims that the band has ‘never’ been paid royalties; a lawsuit against Nelly takes a twist as his former bandmates allegedly push back on the case; Barry White’s estate files a lawsuit over Future and Metro Boomin’s chart-topper “Like That”; and much more.

THE BIG STORY: Has Limp Bizkit Really Never Gotten Royalties?

At one point in the bombshell, $200 million lawsuit Limp Bizkit filed against Universal Music Group last week, the band’s attorneys explicitly asked the question that everyone was thinking as they read the case: “The band had still not been paid a single cent by UMG in any royalties until taking action against UMG, leading one to ask how on earth that could possibly be true.”

How on earth, indeed. How had one of the biggest bands of its era, which sold millions of records during the music industry’s MTV-fueled, turn-of-the-century glory days, still never have been paid any royalties nearly three decades later?

According to Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, the answer is an “appalling and unsettling” scheme by UMG centered on “systemic” and “fraudulent” policies that were “deliberately designed” to conceal royalties from artists and “keep those profits for itself.”

Scathing language aside, the lawsuit really appears to be a long-delayed dispute over recoupment.

Durst says that UMG repeatedly told him that Limp remained unrecouped — meaning its royalties still had not surpassed the amount the group had been paid in upfront advances. UMG allegedly told Durst that it had paid out a whopping $43 million in advances over the years, a huge figure that would go a long way to explaining the lack of royalties.

Limp Bizkit’s lawsuit says UMG didn’t provide “any back-up for this alleged amount” – and that the label essentially kept the band in the red with shady bookkeeping, including “intentionally concealing the true amount of sales” and “fraudulent accounting practices.”

“Where did this additional $199,676.00 charged to the account come from?” the band’s lawyers wrote at one point, referring to one such alleged inconsistency. “It seems to have come out of thin air to overdraft Limp Bizkit’s due and payable account in order to defraud Limp Bizkit and show an unrecouped account.”

UMG has not yet publicly commented on the allegations, so we’ll keep you updated when the music giant files its first formal response in court…

Other top stories this week…

ALWAYS MORE DIDDY – Since you last heard from Legal Beat one whole week ago, there have somehow already been four big developments in the story of Sean “Diddy” Combs, who stands accused of decades of sexual abuse. Here goes:

-Attorneys for the rapper filed their opening salvo in an appeal of a ruling denying him pre-trial release on bail, arguing the “sensationalism” of the case led the judge to keep him locked up over “purely speculative” concerns about witness intimidation. In the days since, the appeals court has already declined to issue a quick ruling releasing him; instead, the court will hear the case at normal pace and rule at some point in the next few months on whether he should be set free until trial.

-Less than a day after filing the appeal, Combs’s team accused the government of leaking evidence to the media in order to “taint the jury pool and deprive Mr. Combs of his right to a fair trial.” Among other evidence allegedly shared with the press? The infamous surveillance video of Combs assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie in 2016, which his lawyers say was leaked “to mortally wound the reputation and the prospect of Sean Combs successfully defending himself.”

-The judge set a May 5 date for the start of Combs’ criminal trial, in which he will face charges of racketeering and sex trafficking over what prosecutors say was a sprawling criminal operation aimed at satisfying his need for “sexual gratification.” The schedule could still be pushed back, particularly if prosecutors file new charges or add defendants to the case, or if Combs eventually gets released on bail and chooses to waive his “speedy trial” right.

-Six new civil lawsuits were filed in Manhattan federal court, including one from a man who says he was sexually assaulted by Combs in 1998 when he was 16 years old and attending one of the rapper’s famed “white parties” in the Hamptons. The cases were the first in a wave of dozens of civil cases that are expected to be filed in the weeks ahead by Los Angeles attorney Andrew Van Arsdale and Texas attorney Tony Buzbee, who earlier this month said they are representing at least 120 such alleged victims.

ST. LUNATICS REBEL – Weeks after Nelly’s former St. Lunatics groupmates sued him for allegedly cutting them out of royalties, an attorney for the star claimed that three of them had never approved the lawsuit in the first place. In a letter sent last month, Nelly’s attorney warned the lawyer who filed the case last month that Murphy Lee (Tohri Harper), Kyjuan (Robert Kyjuan) and City Spud (Lavell Webb) had recently retained his services and had “informed me that they did not authorize you to include them as plaintiffs” and were “demanding you remove their names” from the case.

DR. DRE’S DR. DRAMA – Dr. Dre was hit with a lawsuit accusing him a waging a “malicious campaign of harassment” against a psychiatrist served as a marriage counselor and mediator for the rapper and his now-ex-wife Nicole Young. Dr. Charles J. Sophy says the rapper subjected him to a “barrage of threats” via text message, and even sent fake FBI agents to his home to intimidate him. Dre’s attorneys quickly fired back, saying Sophy only sued because Dre is currently seeking to have his medical license revoked over allegations of “dereliction of duties and incredible incompetence” during the divorce.

SAMPLE SPAT – Barry White’s estate filed a copyright lawsuit over allegations that a prominent sample at the heart of Future and Metro Boomin’s chart-topping “Like That” infringes the rights to a 1973 song by the legendary singer — but they didn’t actually file the case against those stars. Instead, they sued duo Rodney-O (Rodney Oliver) & Joe Cooley, the classic hip hop duo behind “Everlasting Bass,” the track that Future and Metro Boomin sampled.

NAME BLAME – Attorneys for Garth Brooks publicly disclosed the name of a woman who sued the country star for sexual assault, naming her as a defendant in a lawsuit that accuses the woman of extortion and defamation. The move drew a sharp rebuke from the woman’s lawyers, who said Brooks had “publicly named a rape victim” in order to “punish” her for speaking out.

THE CASE ISN’T ALRIGHT – A California appeals court sided with The Offspring in a long-running court case filed by former drummer Ron Welty, rejecting his claims that he was owed millions more from the punk band’s $35 million catalog sale to Round Hill Music. A Los Angeles judge rejected those accusations last year, and California’s Court of Appeals ruled that there had been “no reversible error” in that decision.

I WANT MY ROYALTIES BACK, ROYALTIES BACK – What’s going on in the Chili’s legal department? For the second time this year, the huge restaurant chain was sued over accusations that it used copyrighted music on social media without permission — this time by Universal Music Group over dozens songs by Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and other stars. The new case came shortly after the advertising-averse Beastie Boys sued Chili’s over the same thing back in July.

TAKING THE STAND – Amid a lawsuit claiming Martin Shkreli might leak copies of Wu-Tang Clan’s ultra-rare album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, a federal judge ruled that the pharma exec must personally go to court and testify under oath about the fate of the album. Shkreli once owned the album, but was forced to forfeit to federal prosecutors after he was convicted of securities fraud.

YE LAWSUIT UPDATE – Ye (formerly Kanye West) was sued by Lauren Pisciotta, a former assistant who claimed that the rapper drugged and sexually assaulted her during a studio session he co-hosted with Diddy. Pisciotta already sued Ye in July for sexual harassment, breach of contract and wrongful termination, but she filed an updated version of the case that includes the Diddy-linked claims.