Mariah Carey’s New Holiday Program “Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special” to Premiere on AppleTV+ in Early December

Posted on November 19, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey will be celebrating Christmas in a special way this year.

AppleTV+ has revealed the premiere date, special guests and musical appearances for the 51-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning songstress and unofficial Queen of Christmas’ holiday special.

Hitting the Apple streaming platform on Friday, December 4, Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special will spread holiday cheer with an all-star lineup of guests including Tiffany Haddish, Billy Eichner, Snoop Dogg, Jermaine Dupri, Misty Copeland and Mykal-Michelle Harris.

While the special touts an impressive list of pop culture figures, the holiday show wouldn’t be complete with equally impressive musical guests.

Set to join the singer are also Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson, who will perform alongside Carey for their holiday number “Oh Santa!” The song and music video will be distributed by Sony Music and released on Apple Music and other streaming platforms on the special’s premiere date. Carey had previously teased the special collaboration on social media, sharing a shot of three directors chairs with her, Grande and Hudson’s initials printed on them.

Accompanying the AppleTV+ holiday special will be the Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special soundtrack full of new versions of holiday classics. Snoop Dogg, Jermain Dupri will also appear on the soundtrack available exclusively on Apple Music on December 4, and all other platforms on December 11.

Following the premiere of Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special, AppleTV+ will release an exclusive interview between Zane Lowe and Carey. In the conversation, Carey will share her favorite holiday songs, talk new music and her memoire and more.

Hamish Hamilton and Roman Coppola direct, and also serve as executive producers for the Caroline Fox-written special.

Cardi B Releases Wet & Wild Music Video for “WAP,” Her Collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Cardi B’s back with a Wap-ping good time…

The 27-year-old half-Dominican American rap superstar has released the music video for “WAP,” her twerk-tastic new collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion.

Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion "WAP" Video

The music video for the thumping new track takes place in and around a luxurious mansion that has a fountain out front featuring a bootylicious fountain.

“I just want to let y’all know, I wanna give y’all the heads up, the music video is going to be the censored version of the song, because the song is so nasty that YouTube was like, ‘Hold on, wait a minute, someone might be too Goddamn nasty,” Cardi B revealed on Instagram prior to the release, encouraging fans to listen to the full “nasty” version on streaming services.

The girl power-fueled video for “WAP” features cameos by the likes of Spanish singing sensation Rosalia, in full body red latex and a Spanish matador’s montera hat with the braids to match her hair color, Kylie Jenner and Normani to rising artists like Sukihana, Rubi Rose and Mulatto.

“I wanted a lot of different females, not just female rappers. I wanted different…A lot of different people. And y’all going to see it on the music video as well, from models to influencers and everything,” she told Zane Lowe in an Apple Music interview about the visual. “And I really wanted the video to be very sexy, very clean, very nice, very cut. All right, we need some female artists, rappers. And I’m like, ‘These are the girls that I personally like. That I like they music. That I really feel they are going to go mainstream, to me.’ All the girls right here, there’s different things that I like about them.”

“WAP” is Cardi B’s first music release of the year. It follows “South of the Border,” her collaboration with Ed Sheeran and Camila Cabello, released in July 2019; “Yes,” her collaboration with Fat Joe and Anuel AA, released in September 2019; and “Writing on the Wall,” her collaboration with French Montana, Post Malone and Rvssian, released in September 2019.

David Garcia Diaz Earns Ivor Novello Songwriting Award Nomination for “Arise: A Simple Story”

Posted on July 21, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

David Garcia Diaz has scoredsome major kudos…

Nominations for the 2020 Ivor Novello songwriting awardshave been announced, with the UK-based Latino sound designer and composer earning a nod.

Garcia Diaz, who previously earned a BAFTA Games Awards prize for Audio Achievement, earned a nomination for Best Original Video Game Score for his work on Arise: A Simple Story.

Hailing from Epic Games, Arise: A Simple Story is a narrative gamethat sets out on an emotional journey through the bittersweet lives of two people where memories come alive and time bends to your will.

The prestigious UK honor recognizes the best songwriting of the year.

This year’s event will also feature the new Rising Star Award with Apple Music, with nods for Amahla, Carmel Smickersgill, Griff,lullahush and Mysie.

Here’s the full list of nominees below.

Best Album:
Ghosteen — Written by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis; performed by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Grey Area — Written by Inflo and Little Simz; performed by Little Simz
The Book of Traps and Lessons — Written by Dan Carey and Kate Tempest; performed by Kate Tempest

Best Contemporary Song
“Black” — Written by Dave and Fraser T Smith; performed by Dave
“Firesmoke” — Written by Dan Carey and Kate Tempest; performed by Kate Tempest
“Must Be” — Written by JAE5 and J Hus; performed by J Hus

Best Song Musically and Lyrically
“Age of Anxiety” — Written and performed by Jamie Cullum
“Crown” — Written by MJ Cole, Jimmy Napes and Stormzy; performed by Stormzy
“Dead Boys” — Written and performed by Sam Fender

Best Original Film Score
For Sama — Composed by Nainita Desai
Midsommar — Composed by Bobby Krlic
Monos — Composed by Mica Levi

Best Original Video Game Score
Arise: A Simple Story — Composed by David Garcia Diaz
Draugen — Composed by Simon Poole
Lost Ember — Composed by Dorian Behner, John Broomhall and Will Morton

Best TV Soundtrack
Euphoria — Composed by Labrinth
Rise of the Nazis — Composed by Tom Hodge
The Crown (Series 3) — Composed by Martin Phipps

PRS for Music Most Performed Work
“Dancing with a Stranger” — Written by Mikkel Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith; performed by Sam Smith and Normani
“Giant” — Written by Calvin Harris, Jamie Hartman, Rag‘n’Bone Man and Troy Miller ; performed by Calvin Harris and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man
“Hold Me While You Wait” — Written by Lewis Capaldi, Jamie N Commons and Jamie Hartman; performed by Lewis Capaldi

Rising Star Award with Apple Music
Amahla
Carmel Smickersgill
Griff
lullahush
Mysie

Bad Bunny’s “Los Que No Iban a Salir” Headed for No. 1 Debut on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums Chart

Posted on May 12, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunny could be his own usurpador…

The 26-year-old Puerto Rican Latin trap and reggaeton singer is looking to replace himself at No. 1, again, on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart.

Bad Bunny’s surprise release Las Que No Iban a Salircould register more than 40,000 equivalent album units in the week ending May 14, according to industry forecasters.

If it starts as projected, the new album (LQNIAS) will bump his own YHLQMDLGfrom the top spot on the tally next week, where it’s held the pole position for 10 straight weeks since its debut at No. 1 on the chart dated March 14.

The Top Latin Albums chart ranks the most popular Latin albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which comprises traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

Las Que No Iban a Salirdropped without warning in the mid-afternoon on Sunday, May 10, so it will only have about four-and-a-half days of activity before the tracking week’s end on May 14. (Most new releases tend to drop on Friday each week, the first day of the tracking week. Bad Bunny has bucked this trend repeatedly with his earlier albums, opting to release them at varying times of the week.)

Assuming Las Que No Iban a Salir starts at No. 1 on Top Latin Albums, it will replace Bad Bunny’s own YHLQMDLG at the top.

It would not the first time Bad Bunny has replaced himself at No. 1. WhenYHLQMDLG debuted at No. 1, it bumped X 100PRE from the top. And, whenJ Balvin and Bad Bunny teamed up for the Oasis collaborative album, it opened at No. 1 on July 13, 2019, replacing X 100PRE.

Bad Bunny’s new 10-track album is effectively a compilation of previously unfinished songs.

The set includes, amusingly, simple-named songs like “Canción Con Yandel” with Yandel, and “Bad Con Nicky” with Nicky Jam.

Most of the first-week activity for Bad Bunny’s album will come via streaming services. (There are no merchandise/album bundles in play as of May 12.) The album has proven to be so popular out of the gate with streamers, that, according to Apple Music, it became the first Latin album to reach the top of Apple Music’s Top Albums tally. Apple Music’s Top Albums ranking ranks the most streamed albums within the service at any given point in time.

Bad Bunny Becomes First Latino to Achieve No. 1 Album Debut on Apple Music

Posted on May 11, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunny’s making Apple Musichistory…

The 26-year-old Puerto Rican Latin trap and reggaeton singer’s Los Que No Iban a Salir is currently the No.1 album on Apple Music, making Bad Bunny the first Latino artist to achieve a No.1 debut on Apple’s All-Genre charts.

Bad Bunny posted the news to his Instagram Stories on Monday.

The 10-track collection arrived as a massive surprise on Sunday, even though he’d revealed bits and pieces of the record during his epic IG live performance the night of May 2.

Bad Bunny’s ahead of Kehlani’s It Was Good Until it Wasn’t, a Little Richard hits comp that’s soaring in the wake of the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer’s passing, as well as the solo debut of Paramore’s Hayley Williams.

Only two of the cutting-floor tracks on the album, “Bad Con Nicky” and “Pa’ Romperla” (with Don Omar) have landed in the top 200 songs on Apple Music’s top songs chart, though. That means that Bad Bunny fans are listening to his album of resurrected gems from start to finish—over and over again.

Bad Bunny: Apple Music’s Top Streamed Latin Artist of the Year

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunny is Apple Music’s Latin star…

The 25-year-old Puerto Rican reggaeton and Latin trap star is one of the artists Apple Music users listened to most in 2019, according to the platform’s breakdown of its most-streamed album, songs and artists globally this year.

Apple Music ranked artists by genre, with Bad Bunny dominating the Latin category.

Here’s a look at Apple Music’s official lists:

APPLE MUSIC’S GLOBAL TOP STREAMED ALBUM OF 2019
Billie Eilish – WHEN WE FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

APPLE MUSIC’S GLOBAL TOP 10 STREAMED SONGS OF 2019
1. Lil Nas X – “Old Town Road (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus)”
2. Post Malone & Swae Lee – “Sunflower”
3. Ariana Grande – “thank u, next”
4. Ariana Grande – “7 rings”
5. Billie Eilish – “bad guy”
6. Post Malone – “Wow.”
7. Meek Mill – “Going Bad (featuring Drake)”
8. Halsey – “Without Me”
9. Gunna & Lil Baby – “Drip Too Hard”
10. Travis Scott – “SICKO MODE”

APPLE MUSIC’S 2019 TOP STREAMED ARTISTS BY GENRE
Alternative – Billie Eilish
Classical – Ludovico Einaudi
Country – Luke Combs
Hip-Hop – Drake
J-Pop Artists – aimyon
K-Pop Artists – BTS
Latin – Bad Bunny
Pop – Ariana Grande
R&B – Khalid
Rock – Queen

Jessie Reyez Release Modern Soulful Version of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy”

Posted on November 24, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a Crazytime for Jessie Reyez…

The 28-year-old Colombian singer, who earned her first Grammy nomination this week, has released the music video for her latest track, “Crazy.”

A tribute to Patsy Cline’s 1961 country classic, Reyez dropped her own modern soulful version of the single, as part of Apple Music’s Up Next program.

“Crazy” will form part of Reyez’s debut studio album, slated for an early 2020 release via FMLY/Island.

The gruesome music video shows Reyez covered in blood and fighting for her life after an intense argument with what seems to be her abusive boyfriend.

“Crazy” comes one day after Reyez received the news that her sophomore EP Being Human in Public was nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Albumat the Grammys.

“I was sleeping,” she tells Billboard of how she received the news. “My team showed up with a doughnut and a camera and my parents screaming congrats outside my hotel door. I was like wtf happened!?”

For Reyez, being a Grammy nominee has been a lifelong dream. “The nomination means a lot. I cried,” she admits. “It’s something I’ve thought about since I was a kid. I could say it’s an honor to be nominated, but this kid wants to win!”

Reyez performed “Crazy” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday night.

Becky G & BTS’ J-Hope Release Trilingual Track “Chicken Noodle Soup”

Posted on September 28, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Becky Gis sharing a little chicken soupfor the soul…

The 22-year-old Mexican American bilingual singer/rapper has joined voices with BTSmember J-Hope on a new single, “Chicken Noodle Soup,” released on Friday.

The J-Hope fronted track features the “Secrets” singer, and is inspired by Webstarand Young B’s“Chicken Noodle Soup” featuring The Voice of Harlem, a song that inspired both J-Hope and Becky G.

A sonic sequel of sorts to that 2006 hit, the collaboration is an anthemic, groovy track from the duo, through which they incorporate the original’s lyrics and flow into their own verses as they rap and sing declarations of their self-worth, dreams, and skills, as well as their relationship with dance.

“Gwangju, one gang of you-know-what/ Geum-nam Choong-jang Street, that’s my Harlem/ Joined Neuron, bounce with ma team/ Went head over heels for dancing, workaholic, everyday,” J-Hope begins his verse with his free-flowing rap, mentioning his hometown of Gwangju and his dance team, Neuron. “Grew being up all night as a teen, that’s the case/ My height is measured by dance, I’m OK.”

“Chicken Noodle Soup” is a trilingual track, featuring J-Hope performing primarily in Korean, while Becky G performs in English and Spanish with lyrics that she wrote.

The pair are credited as composers on the track along with Jinbo, Supreme Boi, Pdogg, Adora, and Brasa, per Apple Music.

“Chicken noodle or chicken with spaghetti/ None of these women have a flow like Becky/ Latina-American, I’m from here/ Face of an angel but freaky/ Who’s going to tell me?/ I’ve seen it all/ Where I was born, they never thought a woman would stand out,” singsBecky G in Spanish.

It was released through a music video that focuses on the pairs’ dancing, during which they incorporate the originals’ iconic dance moves and are backed by a diverse crew of 50 dancers from across the globe.

Lunay Named Apple Music’s Latest Up Next Artist

Posted on September 17, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Lunay is Up Next…

The 18-year-old Puerto Rican reggaeton and Latin trap singerhas been anointed Apple Music’s latest Up Next Artist, the streaming platform’s monthly artist initiative aimed at identifying, showcasing and elevating rising talent.

Lunay recently released a new single, “Fin de Semana,” which will be included on his debut album, set for release on September 27.

“Lots of music is on its way,” he enthuses in a statement.

Lunay is best known for his breakout single, “Soltera (Remix)“, on which he appears together with his idol Daddy Yankee and Bad Bunny. Apple Musiccalls him “one of the most exciting new names in the Latin Urban genre” and his music has enjoyed 105 million streams on the streaming platform to-date.

“From the moment I heard Lunay’s first demos I knew that he was an artist that Apple Music should support,” said Apple Music Latin programmer Jerry Pullés. “The melodies were memorable yet fresh and even though he was just starting his career he performed them with the confidence of an A-level artist. Lunay quickly carved out his own lane in reggaetón but once he released ‘Soltera’ it was game over. The song became an anthem almost instantly and secured his position as one of the new stars of Latin Urban music.”

The teenage artist will make his late-night U.S. debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on October 2, as part of Apple Music’s Up Next program.

Lunay is interviewed in a new Up Next Short Shot video.

Bad Bunny to Perform as Part of Apple Music’s Up Next Live Lineup

Posted on July 2, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunnyis up next…

The 25-year-old Puerto Rican Latin trap and reggaeton singer is set to kick off Apple Music’s Up Next Live series.

Bad Bunny will perform on Tuesday, July 9 at the Apple Piazza Libertyin Milan. Other artists scheduled to perform include Jessie Reyez, who will perform at Apple Union Squarein San Francisco, Lewis Capaldi, Daniel Caesarand Khalid. Each artist will perform for fans in one city, for one night only.

Apple Music Up Next is a monthly program that showcases new artists throughout the world with a curated playlist across genres from all over the world. Each artist performing at the Up Next Live has been featured as an Apple Music Up Next artist in the monthly program or through the playlist.

Check out the Up Next Live schedule below:

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

Tag Archives: Apple Music