Monthly Archives: March 2021

Music

Jolianne, A-Team joins Careless Music

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Careless Music, an independent music label founded by James Reid, held a private online trade launch with the objective to share their status and upcoming plans.

The presentation was initially opened by James Reid and was later hosted by Jeffrey Oh, Careless CEO. Other than presenting Careless’ history, projects, and services, Careless Music announced the signing of young female artist, Jolianne, and internationally renowned street dance group, A-Team.

Jolianne is a rising 17-year-old R&B-pop singer-songwriter from Cebu City. She was a contestant of The Voice Kids Philippines (Season 2) and has opened for major international acts such as Air Supply, Michael Learns to Rock, and Stephen Bishop. Her first single under Careless Music, “Sublime”, was announced to be released on 12:00AM of March 26, 2021.

A-Team is a hip-hop dance group composed of the Philippines’ best dancers. Headed by award-winning and highly recognized hip-hop dance coach duo, The Ardas (Angelica and MJ Arda), the team has been consistently representing the Philippines and competing all over the world. They joined the 2014 World Hip Hop Dance Championship in Las Vegas, USA, where they were crowned 2014 Megacrew champions and were the first-ever Filipino team to bring home the gold in that division.

Careless Music is thrilled to have signed these new artists as their label is growing with such talented artists and creatives. Revealing their content calendar, they excitingly disclosed the projects they have in store for both Jolianne and A-Team for 2021 and beyond to the exclusive invitees on the Trade Launch.

Careless Music hopes that through all their artists, both old and new, they can develop content that will help shape culture with their collaborators.

New Music

EVANN MCINTOSH releases “Jenn!fer An!ston”, out now via Mom+Pop

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17-year-old rising singer-songwriter Evann McIntosh (they/them) has just released “JENN!FER AN!STON” via Mom+Pop. The spare, slow-burning track stacks heavenly vocal harmonies and the video, premiered via PAPER, sees Evann galavanting around a luxurious penthouse and grooving through New York City.

Watch Jenn!fer An!ston by Evann McIntosh video here:

“I wrote this song about wanting to see someone in a different light, as a different character other than the love interest,” Evann explains. “It’s about the constant continuation of the same pattern. It’s about trying to force a change that won’t come. You want better and you put in the effort but it’s unreciprocated either way. No commitment and no loss.”

“Once I shared the song with director Loris Russier, we knew right away we wanted to do something in New York,”creative director of the “JENN!FER AN!STON” video Khufu Najee says. “Something that felt like you were in Manhattan. Like an episode of ‘Friends’ but inside Evann’s world. When you listen to Evann’s music, you hear the soul in their voice. The music they make has such a timeless feel that shooting on film was important. We had to match the energy and soul of their voice, but visually.”

Evann’s music captures a “turbulent coming of age” and they were recently featured as an “Artist To Watch” in Ones To Watch’s 2021 round-up. Read more here.

“JENN!FER AN!STON” follows Evann’s self-released MOJO, a body of work that embraced and championed the aspects of their identity that had previously brought confusion. Produced remotely by longtime collaborator Jesty Beatz and recorded late at night in Evann’s bedroom after the rest of the family had gone to bed, the collection became a digital juggernaut, racking up 31 million streams in part due to the viral TikTok success of lead single “What Dreams Are Made Of.”

Stay tuned for more music from Evann this year.

New Music

Guapdad 4000, !llmind join forces anew for latest single, ‘She Wanna’ for PARADISE RISING, 88rising’s sub-label with Globe

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Manila, Philippines– Hot on the heels of “How Many,” their warmly received debut single for PARADISE RISING, Guapdad 4000 and !llmind are back with a new song, “She Wanna.” The song, released this Wednesday, March 10, also features fellow Bay Area native P-Lo, who co-produced the track alongside Mansa.

With “She Wanna,” Guapdad 4000 and !llmind are sticking to their musical roots behind a bouncing beat that pays homage to the Ying Yang Twins’ iconic 2005 Atlanta classic, “Wait (The Whisper Song).” Speaking about how the song came together, P-Lo says, “Me and Guap made this song in about 30 mins, everything just came out and we were pretty much laughing the whole time.”

The video for “She Wanna,” directed by Chris Simmons, is an absurd, comedic riff on ’70’s sitcoms, with Guap portraying a scammy patriarch in a suburban home.


Speaking about his collaboration with !llmind on their upcoming album, 1176, Guap says: “If !llmind had a power it would be to shapeshift, he can do anything! Something like this comes in handy when you need to tell the full spectrum of your story like I did in this music. I had no idea we would stumble upon something this magical though but I guess I should have known that linking up with my Filipino brother would enhance my superpowers! Enjoy it scamily.”

!llmind adds: “Guapdad is literally one of the most talented artists I’ve ever come across. I know that sounds generic but there really is no better way to describe him. I had such a blast working with him on this project and even though we’re from opposite coasts, we are similar in so many ways. He brought the best out of me on this project and made my job easy. The music is crazy!”

Executive produced by !llmind, 1176 takes a peek behind the curtain as Guapdad narrates his life up to now, touching on everything from his Filipino upbringing to life with his family in Oakland. Developing the ideas, he sketched out with his last album, the star-studded Dior Deposits, 1176 centers firmly on Guap telling his own story, with the help of some of his close friends Buddy, P-Lo and Tish Hyman.

The result is a more focused body of work that retains Guapdad’s signature humor throughout, but also harnesses it as a storytelling device to convey the pain and struggle that lies underneath his experiences. Speaking on Dior Deposits, The New York Times called it “slickly whispered absurdist posturing that’s just this side of sketch comedy,” and Guap’s mastery of humor is alive and well on 1176, but his quick wit also gives way to poignant reflections on his life, and his community’s story at large.

1176 comes out March 19 via 88rising’s sister label PARADISE RISING in partnership with Globe, making Guap and !llmind the first artists to release a full-length project through the young label which is dedicated to uplifting artists of Filipino descent.

PARADISE RISING is the result of a collaboration between the Philippines’ telecommunications leader Globe, and 88rising, a pioneering music and media collective synonymous with elevating Asian talent from East to West.

The label will serve as a platform to establish a presence for Philippine artists in the West and globally through music distribution, music rights management, and artists development.

Listen to “She Wanna” here http://bit.ly/streamshewanna, watch the music video here http://bit.ly/shewannamv, see album info below and stay tuned for more from Guapdad 4000 coming soon.

New Music

No Rome releases ‘Spinning’ feat. Charli XCX & The 1975, Out now on Dirty Hit

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‘Spinning’ is the new single from No Rome, featuring Charli XCX and The 1975. Produced by No Rome with Matthew Healy and George Daniel, the track is a slice of pure, joyful, escapist pop that is testament to No Rome’s inimitable talent and endless musical ability. The single is accompanied by a 7″ pink vinyl pressing featuring a remix of the track by A.G. Cook. Purchase it here.

The single follows a series of releases that have seen the Filipino pop star collaborate with Beabadoobee, Jay Som, Bearface and Dijon, seamlessly managing to incorporate each artist’s unique style with his own.

To accompany ‘Spinning’, No Rome has collaborated with Japanese artist Hideyuki Tanaka and designer Samuel Burgess – Johnson to create a visual world around the release, complete with animated characters for each artist and a psychedelic universe for them to inhabit.

No Rome, Charli XCX, Matty Healy and George Daniel by Hideyuki Tanaka and designer Samuel Burgess-Johnson

Additionally, No Rome, Charli XCX and The 1975 have teamed up with NFT platform Foundation to auction original artworks designed by Hideyuki Tanaka & Samuel Burgess-Johnson and raise money for 3 different charities of the artists choosing. Rome will donate a portion of profits to Right Start, Charli to Girls Make Beats and Matty to One Tree Planted. The artworks are available to view now and bidding begins at 7PM GMT / 2PM ET / 11AM PT Friday here.

With the release of ‘Spinning’, the flood of support No Rome has seen over the last 12 months from BBC Radio 1, Apple Music 1, Vogue, The Face, High Snobiety, NME, The Guardian, DIY, Complex, Hypebeast, The Fader and Paper Mag to name a few, is only set to continue.

With his highly anticipated debut album due for release later this year, 2021 is set to be No Rome’s best year yet.

Listen to Spinning by No Rome, The 1975 and Charli XCX here!

New Music

BEY: READY FOR TAKE OFF

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It’s 10pm in LA and fresh talent, Bey, is looking as radiant as the California weather. Coupled with warmth you can feel off our computer screens , the up and comer is exuding a wonderful mix of youthful excitement and giddiness. Why shouldn’t she? Her debut single – “Crash Landing” is attracting attention on YouTube with its infectious mix of pop and dreamy electronic influences. Ear candy poised for your summer LSS. A multi-lingual track birthed through the new normal, and this new artist is ready to make more.

Through the magic of technology and the folks from Universal Records Philippines and management team, Soupstar, we had a quick chat with Bey to know more about “Crash Landing” and a peek into her artistry.

MCS: Good Afternoon from Manila! Are you in Manila?

Bey: No, I’m currently in LA.

MCS: Oh wow. So Bey, as a teenager, what keeps you motivated in creating despite this lockdown that’s been going on around the world?

Bey: I mean, I feel like, because of a lockdown all of us have kind of been… well kind of in the beginning it was more of a panic, like nobody really knew what to do, how to adapt that into our current lifestyle. And then it just kind of became like, oh everybody’s just on like this vacation mindset, so it’s very hard to find that kind of like, work and personal life balance especially when everybody has to stay at home. But since I took this as an opportunity to kind of make my hobby my occupation now which is such a great opportunity and a blessing, that’s kind of what motivates me to keep going. I know that I’m still very young and I know that there’s so much things that I can do with my life. And I know that it’s the same for everybody else. I mean everybody else can say that so that’s definitely something that keeps me going.

MCS: Aside from the pandemic, where does this creativity for music come from?

Bey: So my passion for music has been around for a while not just because my family has always been musically involved in some kind of way. Growing up, I would sing karaoke with my mom – so it would be like Dancing Queen or Gwen Stefani. And my brothers also are musically inclined as well. I would jam out with them because one brother knows how to play guitar and the other knows how to play the drums – and it would just kind of how we would bond as a family – we would like listen to music in the car, at home, our while cooking, so..

MCS: Really, good luck! Would love to see more stuff after Crash Landing. So, aside from becoming a UR artist, which musician from the UR roster would you be most excited to work with?

Bey: I would love to have a song with Gracenote! Just because I’ve seen how ate Eunice worked – just her creative process behind producing and songwriting in general. I’ve learned so much from her and she’s been such a huge help and just a mentor for me. So to be able to make a song with her in the future, that would be a dream come true actually.

MCS: So that will be your 2nd song with Eunice.

Bey: Yeah, but we would both be singing on it so that would be really cool to see how everything would blend together.

MCS: Would you be open to singing Filipino songs with Gracenote? Cause they’re kinda known for that.

Bey: Yeah, I definitely would! I’m definitely open-minded to that. In fact, I think we’re even planning on releasing a song in Tagalog soon, or in the future.

MCS: Looking forward to that. Lastly, any songwriters you look up to? Which you apply to your songwriting as well.

Bey: Hmm songwriting – so I actually can’t say that I have someone who I look up to for songwriting other than ate Eunice cause she’s really taught me the process behind it. Cause what I know is getting my notes out whenever I think of something in my head whether it be lyrics, or words that come out from my head just from how I’m feeling. I have a compilation of notes just from years of built-up emotion and whatever things come up and I just have that, so I can’t really say I have someone I look up to, it’s kind of just a natural process for me to express myself by writing it down.

MCS: Bey, being a “New Normal” new artist is a very learning process inspired kind of situation. Can you elaborate more on how being a “New Normal” new artist is?

Bey: Oh, it’s definitely a mixture of excitement but also, I guess anxiety or nervousness? Just because it’s not the same step-by-step process that other artists go through. So I have mentioned before, I have a make-shift studio in the office and it’s pretty hard cause I’m the one who’s like producing my own vocals there and I just have ate Eunice there on Zoom with me, who’s checking up on me. So it’s definitely been something that we’ve all kind of worked through and figure things out but it’s been fun. It’s been a fun, creative journey.

MCS: Hopefully the next set of songs will be in a studio, and the UR and the Soupstar folks will be there with you. I’m excited for you to experience a whole traditional way of recording. So Bey, good luck! Looking forward to new stuff soon, and again congratulations on the new single and the lyric video!

Bey: Thank you so much!

Listen to Bey’s catchy track – “Crash Landing” on YouTube on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kJmt81CbtU. Stream “Crash Landing” now on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, and all digital stores worldwide under Universal Records.

For more exciting news, you’re already on the right place – Manila Concert Scene.

New Music

Worldwide Sensation Pink Sweat$ celebrates his latest album, “PINK PLANET” with a smash collab with Filipina singer Moira Dela Torre

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Pink Sweat$, regarded as Philadelphia, USA’s own rising superstar, is earning his stripes and proving that every bit of praise and acclaim is in its rightful place, with his recent release of both the single and music video for “Heaven,” one of the featured tracks from his latest full-length album Pink Planet, which arrived last February 2021.

Released under Atlantic Records, Pink Planet is a collection of six previously released stellar singles off of his 2020 EP The Prelude and eight brand new tracks, including “Heaven” which drips of sensual melodies from “Mr. Love” himself (a moniker his legion of fans have since called him…) and the music video, as expected, is simply an awesome visual treat. In fact, Pink Planet highlights much-needed light and love after a rough year that was 2020: “with a purpose to heal and gift fans with much-needed good vibes, and to talk about highs, lows, fears and successes.”

Pink Sweat$ rose to international fame and acclaim with his original song “At My Worst,” which is one of his greatest performing singles to date, as the music video has more than 50 million views and counting on YouTube.com, and more than a million home-made videos on online video platform Tik Tok has been created so far using the song… it is also worth mentioning that his music has been exploding onto various global music charts and playlists, often in Asian territories like Malaysia, Indonesia and most notably, the Philippines.

So of course, Pink Sweat$ is celebrating the release of his single and album by making things extra-sweet n’ special for his Filipino fans, as he also recently dropped a live performance video and lyric video of the track “17” (also off of Pink Planet) which features a jaw-dropping collaboration with none-other than the Philippines’ Queen of Pop and Soul Moira Dela Torre. Compared to the track’s original bouncy and infectious version, the collaboration – which is now available for viewing on all digital streaming platforms – is stripped-down to its most potent version, and will surely tug at the heartstrings of listeners, many of whom are absolutely smitten with how disarmingly enchanting Dela Torre’s vocal melodies are.

Dela Torre herself couldn’t contain her excitement, and reveals that it is a timely celebration of one of many milestones in her career: “This collaboration marks the third anniversary of my first-ever solo concert, and this is an extra special way to show my gratitude to everyone for the best three years of my life so far…” the Filipina singing superstar was quoted saying in a prior interview. Dela Torre’s social media accounts exploded soon after she teased the announcement of the collaboration with Pink Sweat$ last February 2021.

Truly, this is a musical-match-made-in-heaven for music fans who have been aching for these worlds to collide.

Fans of both Pink Sweat$ and Moira Dela Torre can catch the music video here:

Lyric video here: