The Lijadu Sisters and Numero Group have signed an expansive new partnership that seeks to bring justice to the legendary Nigerian duo’s catalog, it was announced on Wednesday (July 10).

Composed of identical twin sisters Taiwo and Kehinde Lijadu — who are second cousins to Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti — the Lijadu Sisters arose as fearless and groundbreaking leaders in the male-dominated Nigerian pop music scene. The duo fused Afrobeat, pop, psychedelic rock, reggae, disco and jazz music with messages about gender equality, government corruption, love and more in both English and Yoruba. They toured with Nigerian jùjú musician King Sunny Adé, David Byrne, Ginger Baker and Art Blakey and, during a 2014 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, performed in the Atomic Bomb! band tribute to Nigerian musician William Onyeabor.

The sisters, whose alté ethos paved the way for modern female African artists like Amaarae and Tems, released five albums in the 1970s under Decca Records’ Afrodisia imprint. That was followed by Double Trouble, a 1984 compilation featuring hits from those albums released by Shanachie Records. The Nigerian duo later signed a 10-year licensing agreement with Knitting Factory Records around 2011, according to a recent Rolling Stone profile, with four albums being reissued under the deal. They regained control of their catalog in 2021, two years after Kehinde died of metastatic breast cancer at age 71.

While their work has inspired a wide range of artists, according to the Rolling Stone profile, the sisters’ music and likeness has been exploited for decades and they’ve struggled with copyright infringements and unpaid royalties. Nas‘ “Life’s Gone Low” track from his 2006 The Prophecy, Vol 2: The Beginning of the N mixtape contains an uncredited sample of the duo’s “Life’s Gone Down Low” from their 1976 album Danger. And Taiwo’s current manager, Eric Welles-Nyström, told Rolling Stone that Ayra Starr failed to properly clear “Orere-Elejigbo,” a song from the sisters’ 1979 album Horizon Unlimited that Starr sampled on her 2021 track “Sare”. He added that they’ve found more than 50 total infringements of the sisters’ work to date.

The new partnership with Numero Group is meant to honor the duo’s legacy through the launch of a multi-year, multi-record reissue campaign to finally — and rightfully — bring their entire discography to the masses.

Kicking off the campaign will be the release of a remastered and restored version of Horizon Unlimited, which contains the hit “Come On Home.” Five-time Grammy-winning engineer Michael Graves, who remastered Blondie‘s Against The Odds: 1974-1982 and Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos, is remastering the six-track album, which is currently available on DSPs and will be re-released on CD and vinyl on Sept. 20. The album’s physical packaging will include the first-ever transcription of the record’s lyrics in both Yoruba and English along with corrected album credits, original artwork and more.

Numero Group will eventually reissue all of the band’s albums as well as a collection of rediscovered, previously unavailable singles, promo EPs and rare recordings.

“I think one of the most exciting things about the reintroduction of Horizon Unlimited is the fact that young folk love our music and are surprised at the upbeat tempo and the lyrics, which are not only of today, but also very futuristic as well,” said Taiwo in a press release. “Horizon Unlimited was our last album with Decca that came out in 1979. It’s been a long time since then and this really is part of a much longer story, but amongst one of the most significant things I remember was that we, The Lijadu Sisters, paid for all the studio and band session fees. At the time, this was unusual, and not the arrangement we had with that record label. We were originally meant to record at Decca West Africa in Lagos, but when we got to the studio, no one had told us that it was being upgraded — from eight tracks to 24. So we brought everyone to London and made the album there instead.”

The Lijadu Sisters’ partnership with Numero Group “is allowing us to reach out to younger people. What’s going to come is creative collaborations with their music or their story, working with filmmakers and writers, trying to set stuff up creatively for Taiwo and younger artists,” Taiwo’s current manager, Eric Welles-Nyström, told Rolling Stone.

While you all are busy playing checkers on your phones, Eminem is playing multi-dimensional chess on his Apple Vision Pro headset. How do we know? Enterprising Stans went back to check the tape this week on an ad Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg released in February to promote their Gin & Juice cocktails in which the pair paid homage to Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction while seemingly prepping the runway for Em’s upcoming album, The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce).

In the two-minute spot the old friends and collaborators are dressed in black suits like the iconic film’s hitmen, Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), as they sit in a car at night and argue about doing what Snoop calls “this same dumb a– s–t again.” When Dre opens the trunk, an annoyed Snoop asks, “what the f–k am I supposed to do with this s–t?” as he stares at something in the car’s trunk that we never see.

They proceed to put on black leather gloves and grab what appears to be a body bag and shovel out of the trunk, burying the unseen corpse in a woodland grave and then enjoying a celebratory can of their new favorite beverage (and a blunt for Snoop, of course) before things go south. At the time, one commenter on Dre’s X post of the G&J teaser quipped, “I was waiting for Eminem to jump out of the trunk.”

On Wednesday (July 10), Eminem revealed the track list for the mortality-obsessed album due out on Friday (July 12) featuring 19 tracks that appear to touch on themes including death, rebirth, evil and resolution via tracks titled “Lucifer,” “Evil,” “Antichrist,” “Somebody Save Me” and “Temporary.” The cover art is in keeping with the death becomes Em theme, as it features Slim Shady’s head peeking out of a body bag with one eye wide open and a terrified look on his face. The album is also slated to feature “Guilty Conscience 2,” a sequel to the 1999 hit featuring Dre; for now it’s unclear if the good doctor will appear on the new track.

At press time a spokesperson for Eminem had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment about the fan speculation.

Watch the Gin & Juice ad below and see if you buy the theory.

Is the 2024 Song of the Summer race already over or just getting started?

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are talking about who will end this summer atop our Songs of the Summer chart. Post Malone‘s “I Had Some Help,” featuring Morgan Wallen, has ruled Songs of the Summer since the chart returned in late May, but does it have some current competition that could take the lead? Or maybe a song that hasn’t even been released yet?

We consulted our Billboard colleagues Gary Trust (managing director, charts and data operations) and Jason Lipshutz (executive director, music and founding Pop Shop Podcast co-host) for their insight. They offer up what the strongest contenders are and also do some wishful thinking about how the rest of the summer could play out.

To hear what they had to say and Katie & Keith’s full discussion, check out the brand-new episode below:

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

Eminem has finally revealed the tracklist for his forthcoming album, The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce), set to release this Friday, July 12.

The album, which promises to be a deep dive into the psyche of Eminem’s notorious alter ego, Slim Shady, features 19 tracks that explore themes of rebirth, inner turmoil, and resolution.

The tracklist was unveiled by Apple Music on July 10, just two days prior to the album’s release. It comes following Eminem’s reveal of the album’s cover art, which features Slim Shady’s head emerging from a body bag in what seems to be a metaphor for the end of one era and the beginning of another.

The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) tracklist reads as follows:

One standout track that’s bound to get longtime fans excited is “Guilty Conscience 2,” a sequel to the 1999 hit that featured Dr. Dre. With Dre having previously confirmed his involvement in Em’s latest project, expectations are high for this fresh take on a classic collab.

In the lead-up to the album, Eminem has dropped two singles that have sparked conversations and fueled anticipation. “Houdini,” released on May 31, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Global Charts and quickly became a topic of discussion for its intricate lyricism and controversial references.

The track samples the Steve Miller Band’s “Abracadabra” while addressing hot-button issues such as the 2020 Megan Thee Stallion shooting incident and cancel culture.

The second single, “Tobey,” featuring Big Sean and BabyTron, was released on July 8, after initially being slated for July 5. The track marked Em’s first collaboration with Babytron and his fourth with Big Sean, following their team-up in 2017 on I Decided’s “No Favors,” Detroit 2‘s “Friday Night Cypher” and ShadyXV‘s “Detroit Vs. Everybody.”

As the release date rapidly approaches, both fans and industry insiders are filled with anticipation, eager to delve into the journey through the mind of one of rap’s most iconic figures.

The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) is out July 12.