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When we heard who was going to perform at this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show sponsored by Pepsi, we were already pumped and this trailer says everything we need to know with Snoop Dogg, Mary J Blige, Dr. Dre, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar! You can see the show live on CBS on Feb 13th.
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Read the DEC ISSUE #72 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Ryan Seacrest in mag.
We caught up with 2 co-stars from STARZ’s 2nd season of POWER BOOK II: GHOST which premiered on Nov 21st! We sat down with Method Man and Larenz Tate. In the first half of the podcast, we catch up with the legendary performer of the Wu-Tang Clan, and actor in a number of TV series and films, Method Man. We talk about his diverse career and what we can expect on the latest season. We delve into the writer’s room and the phenomenal cast which includes his co-stars and musical collaborators – Mary J. Blige and Redman. We also talk about his commitment to fitness and how he continues to increase expanding his business into the cannabis industry and NFTs.
ATHLEISURE MAG: As one of the stars of POWER BOOK II: GHOST, what was it about the series that made you want to be involved?
METHOD MAN: Well I mean, that first series was great and the way that they ended it in that season finale, it was unheard of!
AM: You play Davis MacLean. What’s your process like in playing him and how do you get into that mindset?
MM: Well now it’s just throwing on the suit. Of course, in the beginning, you do your due diligence. You do your research, you try to find their voice for this character. You want to know his intentions and all of this stuff that goes into building a character. But once you get into it and you and the writers are on the same page, it’s just all hitting the ground running after that. It’s all pretty easy.
AM: Did you find that you added more into the character than what was in the script?
MM: No, I give all the writers 110% credit! I mean, outside of an ad lib here and there like a motherfucker or something like that, they get all of the credit. They know exactly who this man is. The only time that I would ever say something is when I feel like they're not being true to the character the character which hasn’t happened.
AM: Last year when it launched, many of us were so excited to see that you and Mary J. Blige (she plays Monet Tejada) were in the show. This season, Redman (he plays Theo Rollins, Davis’s older brother) has joined the cast! How exciting is it for you to be on set and to have all of these cultural moments with great people that you have worked with?
MM: I’m glad we made our music quota, we needed it. It’s great. I mean, Mary’s great. The days that I see her on set, it’s always fun and she likes to laugh and I like to joke which is the perfect combination right there. What can I say about Redman? I’ve been working with dude for like most of my career. They knew they had something there – it was instant chemistry when they brought him in. So it was pretty simple and pretty cool.
AM: To catch our readers up on what’s taken place, where did we leave Davis last season and what’s coming up that you can share with us that we can expect?
MM: Last season, Davis kind of ended on riding a high because he won one of the biggest cases of his career. He got his nemesis fired in the process which is icing on the cake. But where other people would be gloating, Davis sees an opportunity and he hires the former US attorney on his team. There’s a bit more layers there that I am not at liberty to say right now, but I think that Davis being as calculated as he is – there is a reason for him in hiring Cooper Saxe (Shane Johnson) at this moment, so just stay tuned!
AM: We are excited to see how it all plays out this season. Here at Athleisure Mag, when we’ve watched your IG, we know that you are always in the gym and staying ready!
MM: I mean with everything that I do, that’s why!
AM: Exactly! In the SEP ISSUE #69, B-Real said that he gives it up to you that you are always working out. So that was his shout out to you.
What are 3 moves that you love doing when you hit the gym?
MM: Deadlifts, bench and squats are my favorites.
AM: As someone who has had such a great body of work, a successful career in TV, film, being a member of the Wu-Tang Clan and you’re going into NFTs and cannabis, how do you take time for yourself because you are a busy man.
MM: I don’t. I never have any time anymore. But, I could be doing a hell of a lot worse!
AM: Exactly!
MM: As a matter of fact, I take that back. When football season starts, they occasionally interrupt my Sundays, but usually Sundays is all football from 1:00 through 11:00, so you know where to find me!
After catching up with Method Man and finding out more about how his character, Davis MacLean ended the last season and what we can expect from this season, we had to talk to Larenz Tate to find out about Councilman Rashad Tate! Larenz joined the original series of POWER in the last 2 seasons of this show. He talks with us about how his character continued in the premiere season and what we can expect in this season! We also talk about what drew him to this show, his character and how he has maintained longevity in this career.
ATHLEISURE MAG: You were in the last 2 seasons of POWER, the flagship and you also joined the regular cast in POWER BOOK II: Ghost as well. What does it mean to you to not only have your character continue on into the series, but also to just be part of this cast?
LARENZ TATE: I love it! I signed up because I wanted to continue and the fact that the incredible Courtney A. Kemp which is the creator of the show, found value in incorporating me into the show – just meant a lot. As you said, I was able to be a part of the original POWER series, which was a fabulous show. To be able to find my character in this show is great. I mean, the writing is fantastic and it’s probably the closest thing to POWER. The demographics are a little different and there are some that are a little younger, there are some new people and there are some similarities. But certainly, the fact that there is some value in seeing that Tate is still surviving from the original show! I mean there are so many people who didn’t make it out of that show and they didn’t make it. So we get to see a show and a storyline where there are a lot of wins, some losses and there are some good people with good intentions, but bad decisions! I think that life is kind of like that, so it’s relatable when people watch our show. They get a chance to either see themselves or how they would interpret or react to the characters that they are watching. As an actor, it’s great to have words, dialogue and stories that are really multi-faceted and multi-dimensional. When they write, they’re not paint in trope or painting by the numbers. It’s truly gratifying and I’m excited!
AM: What drew you to want to be in the amazing show?
LT: Well, I can take it all the way back to the original POWER. I loved the show and when I saw it, I said, “I dig this!” These characters should be materialized and this representation should be there because it’s more that what people may think on the outside. It’s a show about the underworld, drug dealing and so much more. It’s a show about family, brotherhood, sisterhood, deceit, deception, big decisions, people finding a way out of their circumstances, empowerment and all of it! Originally, I was cast to portray a different character who was in season 4 through 6 – the lawyer, Terry Silver (Brandon Victor Dixon) who helped Ghost (Omari Hardwick) when he was going to jail. He also falls in love with Tasha St. Patrick (Naturi Naughton). I was away working and it didn’t happen. Long story short, I called Courtney and I said, “listen, I love this Black excellence. I’m down – whatever you want me to do. Let’s do it. I’ll come and do an episode, whatever.”
AM: Just get me in there!
LT: Yeah. I told her that it was me talking, not reps, agents and managers – all of that stuff – it was just me. She said that there was a really cool character that she was about to start filming on. She let me know that it was a politician and that his last name was Tate and I was like, “ok let’s go this is dope!” She didn’t give me a whole lot to go from, but we talked about it and she wanted to see what I would do with him. She gave me the setup and she trusted me and I was able to come in and to dispel the idea that this politician, as soon as he walks into a room has this stigma that he’s not trustworthy. So to combat that and to finesse it, he comes in with a high five and he’s smiling. He’s got all of the cool things to say and he throws people off.
AM: He diffuses everything!
LT: Yeah, yeah, yeah. He lets you know, “I’m welcome and you can invite me to the barbecue.” That being said, it’s been a joy. Unlike a movie, unless you’re doing sequels – you get in, you get out and you do your job. You live with that character for a period of time. With this, you’re able to really lean into it and you get a chance to be able to find different things that the writers are creating for you. They can take you in any kind of direction and you have to be willing to do it. Especially when the writing is good. So, I have been very fortunate to be part of this and to just see where the value is and in telling the story along with Rashad Tate.
AM: Where did we leave off with him last season and where do we see him this season? What can you tell us about what is going on for some of our readers that need to catch up?
LT: Season 1, you find him going for the Gubernatorial race. He’s trying to be the Governor and he’s trying to win. Where we find him in season 2, literally, he’s in his brother’s basement, on a couch, hiding under a rock from the world because he lost the gubernatorial run. He’s out of it and his brother Kamaal Tate (Lahmard Tate) who is played by my real life brother.
AM: Which is really awesome!
LT: Yeah it is, I love it! He’s telling him that failure is not acceptable and that he is a Tate. Rashad knows that he should not look at this as a failure, but as a lesson learned and how he can find a way to get back into the game and to climb that political ladder. He can also incorporate some of the things that he has learned along the way and he’s going to cross paths with another St. Patrick – more St. Patricks! It’s 3 – 3! This young boy Tariq St. Patrick (Michael Rainey Jr.), once he crosses paths with him, he’s looking at how he can utilize him to be an ally or will he ultimately be an enemy?
That’s what’s nice about the storytelling. There’s always this duplicity and duality that’s going on – you know, it’s the tug of war of power.
AM: That’s amazing! You’ve had such an amazing and dynamic career that has included so many movies and so many films. We’ve enjoyed seeing you in them and yet, you never age! So how do you stay in shape, stay positive and optimize yourself?
LT: You know for me, I just want to be the best version of myself. I’ve been in the game for a long time and I have been in this industry for 3 decades and I have seen how it has taken a toll on a lot of people. For me, I want to run the marathon as opposed to a sprint. So I try to avoid all the pitfalls that would cause self-destruction, that would cause a situation where I am aged before my time. It has an affect on your life all together. I decided to go the other route – I don’t want that other route, I’ve seen it. The demise of so many people that I respect. So now for me, I just want the best version of myself and I have to be mindful of my health, my mental space and my body and mind and conscious. It all plays a part in it. It’s all about responsibility and accountability!
IG @LarenzTate
PHOTOS COURTESY | STARZ POWER BOOK II: GHOST
Hear STARZ POWER BOOK II: GHOST co-stars Method Man and Larenz Tate now on our show, #TRIBEGOALS - which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multimedia companion podcast network! Subscribe to be notified when the episode drops. Listen on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.
Read the latest issue of NOV ISSUE #71 of Athleisure Mag and see Talking Ghost with Method Man + Larenz Tate in mag.
Read the NOV ISSUE #71 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Idris Elba in mag.
PHOTO CREDIT | Recording Academy/GRAMMYs
Today, the Recording Academy announced the nominees for the 64th GRAMMY Awards. Recognition was given to artists and recordings that were released between Sept 1, 2020 - Sep 30, 2021. We can see who won on Mon, Jan 31 on CBS and/or streamed live and on demand on Paramount+ from 8-11:30pm EST. Prior to this show, the GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony will take place at Microsoft Theater 12:30pm EST and will be streamed live on GRAMMY.com and the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel.
We have indicated who will be the winner in bold. On GRAMMY night, those items in bold italic are the ones we got right and those in italics are those that won that we didn’t guess.
I Still Have Faith in You
ABBA
Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus, producers; Benny Andersson & Bernard Löhr, engineers/mixers; Björn Engelmann, mastering engineer
Freedom
Jon Batiste
Jon Batiste, Kizzo & Autumn Rowe, producers; Russ Elevado, Kizzo & Manny Marroquin, engineers/mixers; Michelle Mancini, mastering engineer
I Get A Kick Out Of You
Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
Dae Bennett, producer; Dae Bennett & Josh Coleman, engineers/mixers; Greg Calbi & Steve Fallone, mastering engineers
Peaches
Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon
Josh Gudwin, HARV, Shndo & Andrew Watt, producers; Josh Gudwin & Andrew Watt, engineers/mixers; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer
Right On Time
Brandi Carlile
Dave Cobb & Shooter Jennings, producers; Brandon Bell & Tom Elmhirst, engineers/mixers; Pete Lyman, mastering engineer
Kiss Me More
Doja Cat Featuring SZA
Rogét Chahayed, tizhimself & Yeti Beats, producers; Rob Bisel, Serban Ghenea, Rian Lewis & Joe Visciano, engineers/mixers; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer
Happier Than Ever
Billie Eilish
FINNEAS, producer; Billie Eilish, FINNEAS & Rob Kinelski, engineers/mixers; Dave Kutch, mastering engineer
Montero (Call Me By Your Name)
Lil Nas X
Omer Fedi, Roy Lenzo & Take A Daytrip, producers; Denzel Baptiste, Serban Ghenea & Roy Lenzo, engineers/mixers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer
drivers license
Olivia Rodrigo
Daniel Nigro, producer; Mitch McCarthy & Daniel Nigro, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
Leave The Door Open
Silk Sonic
Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II & Bruno Mars, producers; Serban Ghenea, John Hanes & Charles Moniz, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
We Are
Jon Batiste
Craig Adams, David Gauthier, Braedon Gautier, Brennon Gautier, Gospel Soul Children Choir, Hot 8 Brass Band, PJ Morton, Autumn Rowe, Zadie Smith, St. Augustine High School Marching 100 & Trombone Shorty, featured artists; Jon Batiste, Mickey Freedom Hart, King Garbage, Kizzo, Sunny Levine, Nate Mercereau, David Pimentel, Ricky Reed, Autumn Rowe, Jahaan Sweet & Nick Waterhouse, producers; Jon Batiste, Russ Elevado, Mischa Kachkachishvili, Kizzo, Joseph Lorge, Manny Marroquin, David Pimentel, Ricky Reed, Jaclyn Sanchez, Matt Vertere, Marc Whitmore & Alex Williams, engineers/mixers; Andrae Alexander, Troy Andrews, Jon Batiste, Zach Cooper, Vic Dimotsis, Eric Frederic, Kizzo, Sunny Levine, Steve McEwan, PJ Morton, Autumn Rowe & Mavis Staples, songwriters; Michelle Mancini, mastering engineer
Love For Sale
Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
Dae Bennett, producer; Dae Bennett, Josh Coleman & Billy Cumella, engineers/mixers; Greg Calbi & Steve Fallone, mastering engineers
Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe)
Justin Bieber
BEAM, benny blanco, Burna Boy, Daniel Caesar, Chance The Rapper, DaBaby, Dominic Fike, Giveon, Jaden, Tori Kelly, Khalid, The Kid LAROI, Lil Uzi Vert & Quavo, featured artists; Amy Allen, Louis Bell, Jon Bellion, Justin Bieber, benny blanco, BMW Kenny, Capi, Dreamlab, Dvlp, Jason Evigan, FINNEAS, The Futuristics, German, Josh Gudwin, Jimmie Gutch, HARV, Marvin "Tony" Hemmings, Ilya, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Stefan Johnson, KCdaproducer, Denis Kosiak, The Monsters & Strangerz, Jorgen Odegard, Michael Pollack, Poo Bear, Shndo, Skrillex, Jake Torrey, Trackz, Andrew Watt & Ido Zmishlany, producers; Cory Bice, benny blanco, Kevin "Capi" Carbo, Edwin Diaz, DJ Durel, Dreamlab, FINNEAS, Josh Gudwin, Sam Holland, Daniel James, Antonio Kearney, Denis Kosiak, Paul LaMalfa, Jeremy Lertola, Devin Nakao, Chris "TEK" O'Ryan, Andres Osorio, Micah Pettit & Benjamin Thomas, engineers/mixers; Amy Allen, Delacey (Brittany Amaradio), Louis Bell, Jonathan Bellion, Chancelor Johnathon Bennett, Justin Bieber, David Bowden, Jason Boyd, Scott Braun, Tommy Lee Brown, Valentin Brunn, Kevin Carbo, Kenneth Coby, Kevin Coby, Raul Cubina, Jordan Douglas, Giveon Dezmann Evans, Jason Evigan, Dominic David Fike, Kameron Glasper, Jacob Greenspan, Josh Gudwin, James Gutch, Scott Harris, Bernard Harvey, Leah Haywood, Gregory Aldae Hein, Marvin Hemmings, Jeffrey Howard, Alexander Izquierdo, Daniel James, Jace Logan Jennings, Rodney Jerkins, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Anthony M. Jones, Antonio Kearney, Charlton Kenneth, Joe Khajadourian, Felisha "Fury" King, Jonathan Lyndale Kirk, Matthew Sean Leon, Benjamin Levin, Marcus Lomax, Quavious Keyate Marshall, Luis Manuel Martinez Jr., Sonny Moore, Finneas O’Connell, Jorgen Odegard, Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, Tayla Parx, Oliver Peterhof, Whitney Phillips, Michael Pollack, Khalid Donnel Robinson, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Alex Schwartz, Tia Scola, Aaron Simmonds, Ashton Simmonds, Gian Stone, Ali Tamposi, Ryan Tedder, Tyshane Thompson, Jake Torrey, Billy Walsh, Freddy Wexler, Symere Woods, Andrew Wotman, Rami Yacoub, Keavan Yazdani, Bigram Zayas & Ido Zmishlany, songwriters; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer
Planet Her (Deluxe)
Doja Cat
Eve, Ariana Grande, Gunna, JID, SZA, The Weeknd & Young Thug, featured artists; Aaron Bow, Rogét Chahayed, Crate Classics, Digi, Dr. Luke, f a l l e n, Mayer Hawthorne, Mike Hector, Linden Jay, Aynzli Jones, Kurtis McKenzie, Jason Quenneville, Reef, Khaled Rohaim, Al Shux, Sully, tizhimself, Yeti Beats & Y2K, producers; Rob Bisel, Jesse Ray Ernster, Serban Ghenea, Clint Gibbs, Rian Lewis, NealHPogue, Tyler Sheppard, Kalani Thompson, Joe Visciano & Jeff Ellis Worldwide, engineers/mixers; Ilana Armida, Aaron Bow, Rogét Chahayed, Jamil Chammas, Sheldon Yu-Ting Cheung, Antwoine Collins, Amala Zandile Dlamini, Lukasz Gottwald, Ariana Grande, Mayer Hawthorne, Mike Hector, Aaron Horn, Taneisha Damielle Jackson, Linden Jay, Eve Jihan Jeffers, Aynzli Jones, Sergio Kitchens, Carter Lang, Siddharth Mallick, Maciej Margol-Gromada, Kurtis McKenzie, Jidenna Mobisson, Gerard A. Powell II, Geordan Reid-Campbell, Khaled Rohaim, Destin Route, Solána Rowe, Laura Roy, Al Shuckburgh, David Sprecher, Ari Starace, Lee Stashenko, Abel Tesfaye, Rob Tewlow & Jeffery Lamar Williams, songwriters; Dale Becker & Mike Bozzi, mastering engineers
Happier Than Ever
Billie Eilish
FINNEAS, producer; Billie Eilish, FINNEAS & Rob Kinelski, engineers/mixers; Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell, songwriters; John Greenham & Dave Kutch, mastering engineers
Back Of My Mind
H.E.R.
Chris Brown, Cordae, DJ Khaled, Lil Baby, Thundercat, Bryson Tiller, Ty Dolla $ign, YG & Yung Bleu, featured artists; Tarik Azzouz, Bordeaux, Nelson Bridges, DJ Camper, Cardiak, Cardo, Chi Chi, Steven J. Collins, Flip, Jeff "Gitty" Gitelman, GRADES, H.E.R., Hit-Boy, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Walter Jones, KAYTRANADA, DJ Khaled, Mario Luciano, Mike Will Made-It, NonNative, NOVA WAV, Scribz Riley, Jeff Robinson, STREETRUNNER, Hue Strother, Asa Taccone, Thundercat, Thurdi & Wu10, producers; Rafael Fai Bautista, Luis Bordeaux, Dee Brown, Anthony Cruz, Ayanna Depas, Morning Estrada, Chris Galland, H.E.R., Jaycen Joshua, KAYTRANADA, Derek Keota, Omar Loya, Manny Marroquin, Tim McClain, Juan "AyoJuan" Peña, Micah Petit, Patrizio Pigliapoco, Alex Pyle, Jaclyn Sanchez, Miki Tsutsumi & Tito "Earcandy" Vasquez, engineers/mixers; Denisia “Blu June” Andrews, Nasri Atweh, Tarik Azzouz, Stacy Barthe, Jeremy Biddle, Nelson “Keyz” Bridges, Chris Brown, Stephen Bruner, Darhyl Camper Jr., Luis Campozano, Louis Kevin Celestin, Anthony Clemons Jr., Steven J. Collins, Ronald “Flip” Colson, Brittany “Chi” Coney, Elijah Dias, Cordae Dunston, Jeff Gitelman, Tyrone Griffin Jr., Priscilla “Priscilla Renea” Hamilton, H.E.R., Charles A. Hinshaw, Chauncey Hollis, Latisha Twana Hyman, Keenon Daequan Ray Jackson, Rodney Jerkins, Dominique Jones, Khaled Khaled, Ron Latour, Gamal “Lunchmoney” Lewis, Mario Luciano, Carl McCormick, Leon McQuay III, Julia Michaels, Maxx Moore, Vurdell “V. Script” Muller, Chidi Osondu, Karriem Riggins, Mike “Scribz” Riley, Seandrea Sledge, Hue Strother, Asa Taccone, Tiara Thomas, Bryson Tiller, Daniel James Traynor, Brendan Walsh, Nicholas Warwar, Jabrile Hashim Willliams, Michael L. Williams II, Robert Williams & Kelvin Wooten, songwriters; Dave Kutch & Colin Leonard, mastering engineers
Montero
Lil Nas X
Miley Cyrus, Doja Cat, Jack Harlow, Elton John & Megan Thee Stallion, featured artists; Denzel Baptiste, David Biral, John Cunningham, Omer Fedi, Kuk Harrell, Jasper Harris, KBeaZy, Carter Lang, Nick Lee, Roy Lenzo, Tom Levesque, Jasper Sheff, Blake Slatkin, Drew Sliger, Take A Daytrip, Ryan Tedder & Kanye West, producers; Denzel Baptiste, David Biral, Jon Castelli, John Cunningham, Jelli Dorman, Tom Elmhirst, Serban Ghenea, Kuk Harrell, Roy Lenzo, Manny Marroquin, Nickie Jon Pabon, Patrizio 'Teezio' Pigliapoco, Blake Slatkin, Drew Sliger, Ryan Tedder & Joe Visciano, engineers/mixers; Keegan Bach, Denzel Baptiste, David Biral, John Cunningham, Miley Ray Cyrus, Amala Zandile Dlamini, Omer Fedi, Vincent Goodyer, Jack Harlow, Jasper Harris, Montero Hill, Isley Juber, Carter Lang, Nick Lee, Roy Lenzo, Thomas James Levesque, Andrew Luce, Michael Olmo, Jasper Sheff, Blake Slatkin, Ryan Tedder, William K. Ward & Kanye West, songwriters; Chris Gehringer, Eric Lagg & Randy Merrill, mastering engineers
Sour
Olivia Rodrigo
Alexander 23, Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, producers; Ryan Linvill, Mitch McCarthy & Daniel Nigro, engineers/mixers; Jack Antonoff, Annie Clark, Daniel Nigro, Olivia Rodrigo, Casey Smith & Taylor Swift, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
Evermore
Taylor Swift
Bon Iver, Haim & The National, featured artists; Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner & Taylor Swift, producers; Thomas Bartlett, JT Bates, Robin Baynton, Stuart Bogie, Gabriel Cabezas, CJ Camerieri, Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, Scott Devendorf, Matt DiMona, Jon Gautier, Trevor Hagen, Mikey Freedom Hart, Sean Hutchinson, Josh Kaufman, Benjamin Lanz, Nick Lloyd, Jonathan Low, James McAlister, Dave Nelson, Sean O'Brien, Ryan Olson, Ariel Rechtshaid, Kyle Resnick, Laura Sisk, Evan Smith, Alex Sopp & Justin Vernon, engineers/mixers; Jack Antonoff, William Bowery, Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, Taylor Swift & Justin Vernon, songwriters; Greg Calbi & Steve Fallone, mastering engineers
Donda
Kanye West
Baby Keem, Chris Brown, Conway The Machine, DaBaby, Jay Electronica, Fivio Foreign, Westside Gunn, JAY-Z, Syleena Johnson, Kid Cudi, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Lil Yachty, The LOX, Marilyn Manson, Playboi Carti, Pop Smoke, Roddy Ricch, Rooga, Travis Scott, Shenseea, Swizz Beatz, Young Thug, Don Toliver, Ty Dolla $ign, Vory, The Weeknd, Westside Gunn & Lil Yachty, featured artists; Allday, Audi, AyoAA, Roark Bailey, Louis Bell, Jeff Bhasker, Boi-1Da, BoogzDaBeast, Warryn Campbell, Cubeatz, David & Eli, Mike Dean, Dem Jointz, Digital Nas, DJ Khalil, DRTWRK, 88-Keys, E.Vax, FNZ, Gesaffelstein, Nikki Grier, Cory Henry, Ronny J, DJ Khalil, Wallis Lane, Digital Nas, Nascent, Ojivolta, Shuko, Sloane, Sean Solymar, Sucuki, Arron “Arrow” Sunday, Swizz Beatz, Zen Tachi, 30 Roc, Bastian Völkel, Mia Wallis, Kanye West, Wheezy & Jason White, producers; Josh Berg, Todd Bergman, Rashade Benani Bevel Sr., Will Chason, Dem Jointz, IRKO, Jess Jackson, Nagaris Johnson, Shin Kamiyama, Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton, James Kelso, Scott McDowell, Kalam Ali Muttalib, Jonathan Pfarr, Jonathan Pfzar, Drrique Rendeer, Alejandro Rodriguez-Dawson, Mikalai Skrobat, Devon Wilson & Lorenzo Wolff, engineers/mixers; Dwayne Abernathy Jr., Elpadaro F. Electronica Allah, Aswad Asif, Roark Bailey, Durk Banks, Sam Barsh, Christoph Bauss, Louis Bell, Jeff Bhasker, Isaac De Boni, Christopher Brown, Jahshua Brown, Tahrence Brown, Aaron Butts, Warryn Campbell, Hykeem Carter Jr., Jordan Terrell Carter, Shawn Carter, Denzel Charles, Raul Cubina, Isaac De Boni, Kasseem Dean, Michael Dean, Tim Friedrich, Wesley Glass, Samuel Gloade, Kevin Gomringer, Tim Gomringer, Tyrone Griffin Jr., Jahmal Gwin, Cory Henry, Tavoris Javon Hollins Jr., Larry Hoover Jr., Bashar Jackson, Sean Jacob, Nima Jahanbin, Paimon Jahanbin, Syleena Johnson, Dominique Armani Jones, Eli Klughammer, Chinsea Lee, Mike Lévy, Evan Mast, Mark Mbogo, Miles McCollum, Josh Mease, Scott Medcudi, Brian Miller, Rodrick Wayne Moore Jr., Michael Mulé, Mark Myrie, Charles M. Njapa, Nasir Pemberton, Carlos St. John Phillips, Jason Phillips, Khalil Abdul Rahman, Laraya Ashlee Robinson, Christopher Ruelas, David Ruoff, Maxie Lee Ryles III, Matthew Samuels, Daniel Seeff, Eric Sloan Jr., Sean Solymar, Ronald O’Neill Spence Jr., David Styles, Michael Suski, Aqeel Tate, Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, Caleb Zackery Toliver, Bastian Völkel, Brian Hugh Warner, Jacques Webster II, Kanye West, Orlando Wilder, Jeffery Williams & Mark Williams, songwriters; Irko, mastering engineer
Bad Habits
Fred Gibson, Johnny McDaid & Ed Sheeran, songwriters (Ed Sheeran)
A Beautiful Noise
Ruby Amanfu, Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, Alicia Keys, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Linda Perry & Hailey Whitters, songwriters (Alicia Keys & Brandi Carlile)
drivers license
Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Olivia Rodrigo)
Fight For You
Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas, songwriters (H.E.R.)
Happier Than Ever
Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
Kiss Me More
Rogét Chahayed, Amala Zandile Dlamini, Lukasz Gottwald, Carter Lang, Gerard A. Powell II, Solána Rowe & David Sprecher, songwriters (Doja Cat Featuring SZA)
Leave The Door Open
Brandon Anderson, Christopher Brody Brown, Dernst Emile II & Bruno Mars, songwriters (Silk Sonic)
Montero (Call Me By Your Name)
Denzel Baptiste, David Biral, Omer Fedi, Montero Hill & Roy Lenzo, songwriters (Lil Nas X)
Peaches
Louis Bell, Justin Bieber, Giveon Dezmann Evans, Bernard Harvey, Felisha "Fury" King, Matthew Sean Leon, Luis Manuel Martinez Jr., Aaron Simmonds, Ashton Simmonds, Andrew Wotman & Keavan Yazdani, songwriters (Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon)
Right On Time
Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)
Arooj Aftab
Jimmie Allen
Baby Keem
FINNEAS
Glass Animals
Japanese Breakfast
The Kid LAROI
Arlo Parks
Olivia Rodrigo
Saweetie
Anyone
Justin Bieber
Right On Time
Brandi Carlile
Happier Than Ever
Billie Eilish
Positions
Ariana Grande
drivers license
Olivia Rodrigo
I Get A Kick Out Of You
Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
Lonely
Justin Bieber & benny blanco
Butter
BTS
Higher Power
Coldplay
Kiss Me More
Doja Cat Featuring SZA
Love For Sale
Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
Til We Meet Again (Live)
Norah Jones
A Tori Kelly Christmas
Tori Kelly
Ledisi Sings Nina
Ledisi
That's Life
Willie Nelson
A Holly Dolly Christmas
Dolly Parton
Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe)
Justin Bieber
Planet Her (Deluxe)
Doja Cat
Happier Than Ever
Billie Eilish
Positions
Ariana Grande
Sour
Olivia Rodrigo
Hero
Afrojack & David Guetta
Afrojack, David Guetta, Kuk Harrell & Stargate, producers; Elio Debets, mixer
Loom
Ólafur Arnalds Featuring Bonobo
Ólafur Arnalds & Simon Green, producers; Ólafur Arnalds, mixer
Before
James Blake
James Blake & Dom Maker, producers; James Blake, mixer
Heartbreak
Bonobo & Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
Simon Green & Orlando Higginbottom, producers; Simon Green & Orlando Higginbottom, mixers
You Can Do It
Caribou
Dan Snaith, producer; David Wrench, mixer
Alive
Rüfüs Du Sol
Jason Evigan & Rüfüs Du Sol, producers; Cassian Stewart-Kasimba, mixer
The Business
Tiësto
Hightower, Julia Karlsson & Tiësto, producers; Tiësto, mixer
Subconsciously
Black Coffee
Fallen Embers
ILLENIUM
Music Is The Weapon (Reloaded)
Major Lazer
Shockwave
Marshmello
Free Love
Sylvan Esso
Judgement
Ten City
Double Dealin'
Randy Brecker & Eric Marienthal
The Garden
Rachel Eckroth
Tree Falls
Taylor Eigsti
At Blue Note Tokyo
Steve Gadd Band
Deep: The Baritone Sessions, Vol. 2
Mark Lettieri
Shot In The Dark
AC/DC
Know You Better (Live From Capitol Studio A)
Black Pumas
Nothing Compares 2 U
Chris Cornell
Ohms
Deftones
Making A Fire
Foo Fighters
Genesis
Deftones
The Alien
Dream Theater
Amazonia
Gojira
Pushing The Tides
Mastodon
The Triumph Of King Freak (A Crypt Of Preservation And Superstition)
Rob Zombie
All My Favorite Songs
Rivers Cuomo, Ashley Gorley, Ben Johnson & Ilsey Juber, songwriters (Weezer)
The Bandit
Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill, songwriters (Kings Of Leon)
Distance
Wolfgang Van Halen, songwriter (Mammoth WVH)
Find My Way
Paul McCartney, songwriter (Paul McCartney)
Waiting On A War
Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Rami Jaffee, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett & Pat Smear, songwriters (Foo Fighters)
Power Up
AC/DC
Capitol Cuts - Live From Studio A
Black Pumas
No One Sings Like You Anymore Vol. 1
Chris Cornell
Medicine At Midnight
Foo Fighters
McCartney III
Paul McCartney
Shore
Fleet Foxes
If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power
Halsey
Jubilee
Japanese Breakfast
Collapsed In Sunbeams
Arlo Parks
Daddy's Home
St. Vincent
Lost You
Snoh Aalegra
Peaches
Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon
Damage
H.E.R.
Leave The Door Open
Silk Sonic
Pick Up Your Feelings
Jazmine Sullivan
I Need You
Jon Batiste
Bring It On Home To Me
BJ The Chicago Kid, PJ Morton & Kenyon Dixon Featuring Charlie Bereal
Born Again
Leon Bridges Featuring Robert Glasper
Fight For You
H.E.R.
How Much Can A Heart Take
Lucky Daye Featuring Yebba
Damage
Anthony Clemons Jr., Jeff Gitelman, H.E.R., Carl McCormick & Tiara Thomas, songwriters (H.E.R.)
Good Days
Jacob Collier, Carter Lang, Carlos Munoz, Solána Rowe & Christopher Ruelas, songwriters (SZA)
Heartbreak Anniversary
Giveon Evans, Maneesh, Sevn Thomas & Varren Wade, songwriters (Giveon)
Leave The Door Open
Brandon Anderson, Christopher Brody Brown, Dernst Emile II & Bruno Mars, songwriters (Silk Sonic)
Pick Up Your Feelings
Denisia “Blue June” Andrews, Audra Mae Butts, Kyle Coleman, Brittany “Chi” Coney, Michael Holmes & Jazmine Sullivan, songwriters (Jazmine Sullivan)
New Light
Eric Bellinger
Something To Say
Cory Henry
Mood Valiant
Hiatus Kaiyote
Table For Two
Lucky Daye
Dinner Party: Dessert
Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder & Kamasi Washington
Studying Abroad: Extended Stay
Masego
Temporary Highs In The Violet Skies
Snoh Aalegra
We Are
Jon Batiste
Gold-Diggers Sound
Leon Bridges
Back Of My Mind
H.E.R.
Heaux Tales
Jazmine Sullivan
Family Ties
Baby Keem Featuring Kendrick Lamar
Up
Cardi B
M Y . L I F E
J. Cole Featuring 21 Savage & Morray
Way 2 Sexy
Drake Featuring Future & Young Thug
Thot S***
Megan Thee Stallion
P R I D E . I S . T H E . D E V I L
J. Cole Featuring Lil Baby
Need To Know
Doja Cat
Industry Baby
Lil Nas X Featuring Jack Harlow
Wusyaname
Tyler, The Creator Featuring Youngboy Never Broke Again & Ty Dolla $ign
Hurricane
Kanye West Featuring The Weeknd & Lil Baby
Bath Salts
Shawn Carter, Kasseem Dean, Michael Forno, Nasir Jones & Earl Simmons, songwriters (DMX Featuring Jay-Z & Nas)
Best Friend
Amala Zandelie Dlamini, Lukasz Gottwald, Randall Avery Hammers, Diamonté Harper, Asia Smith, Theron Thomas & Rocco Valdes, songwriters (Saweetie Featuring Doja Cat)
Family Ties
Roshwita Larisha Bacha, Hykeem Carter, Tobias Dekker, Colin Franken, Jasper Harris, Kendrick Lamar, Ronald Latour & Dominik Patrzek, songwriters (Baby Keem Featuring Kendrick Lamar)
Jail
Dwayne Abernathy, Jr., Shawn Carter, Raul Cubina, Michael Dean, Charles M. Njapa, Sean Solymar, Brian Hugh Warner, Kanye West & Mark Williams, songwriters (Kanye West Featuring Jay-Z)
M Y . L I F E
Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph & Jermaine Cole, songwriters (J. Cole Featuring 21 Savage & Morray)
The Off-Season
J. Cole
Certified Lover Boy
Drake
King's Disease II
Nas
Call Me If You Get Lost
Tyler, The Creator
Donda
Kanye West
Forever After All
Luke Combs
Remember Her Name
Mickey Guyton
All I Do Is Drive
Jason Isbell
camera roll
Kacey Musgraves
You Should Probably Leave
Chris Stapleton
If I Didn't Love You
Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood
Younger Me
Brothers Osborne
Glad You Exist
Dan + Shay
Chasing After You
Ryan Hurd & Maren Morris
Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)
Elle King & Miranda Lambert
Better Than We Found It
Jessie Jo Dillon, Maren Morris, Jimmy Robbins & Laura Veltz, songwriters (Maren Morris)
camera roll
Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves & Daniel Tashian, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves)
Cold
Dave Cobb, J.T. Cure, Derek Mixon & Chris Stapleton, songwriters (Chris Stapleton)
Country Again
Zach Crowell, Ashley Gorley & Thomas Rhett, songwriters (Thomas Rhett)
Fancy Like
Cameron Bartolini, Walker Hayes, Josh Jenkins & Shane Stevens, songwriters (Walker Hayes)
Remember Her Name
Mickey Guyton, Blake Hubbard, Jarrod Ingram & Parker Welling, songwriters (Mickey Guyton)
Skeletons
Brothers Osborne
Remember Her Name
Mickey Guyton
The Marfa Tapes
Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall & Jack Ingram
The Ballad Of Dood & Juanita
Sturgill Simpson
Starting Over
Chris Stapleton
Brothers
Will Ackerman, Jeff Oster & Tom Eaton
Divine Tides
Stewart Copeland & Ricky Kej
Pangaea
Wouter Kellerman & David Arkenstone
Night + Day
Opium Moon
Pieces Of Forever
Laura Sullivan
Sackodougou
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, soloist
Track from: The Hands Of Time (Weedie Braimah)
Kick Those Feet
Kenny Barron, soloist
Track from: Songs From My Father (Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trios)
Bigger Than Us
Jon Batiste, soloist
Track from: Soul (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Various Artists)
Absence
Terence Blanchard, soloist
Track from: Absence (Terence Blanchard Featuring The E Collective And The Turtle Island Quartet)
Humpty Dumpty (Set 2)
Chick Corea, soloist
Track from: Akoustic Band Live (Chick Corea, John Patitucci & Dave Weckl)
Generations
The Baylor Project
SuperBlue
Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter
Time Traveler
Nnenna Freelon
Flor
Gretchen Parlato
Songwrights Apothecary Lab
Esperanza Spalding
Jazz Selections: Music From And Inspired By Soul
Jon Batiste
Absence
Terence Blanchard Featuring The E Collective And The Turtle Island Quartet
Skyline
Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette & Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Akoustic Band LIVE
Chick Corea, John Patitucci & Dave Weckl
Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV)
Pat Metheny
Live At Birdland!
The Count Basie Orchestra Directed By Scotty Barnhart
Dear Love
Jazzmeia Horn And Her Noble Force
For Jimmy, Wes And Oliver
Christian McBride Big Band
Swirling
Sun Ra Arkestra
Jackets XL
Yellowjackets + WDR Big Band
Mirror Mirror
Eliane Elias With Chick Corea and Chucho Valdés
The South Bronx Story
Carlos Henriquez
Virtual Birdland
Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
Transparency
Dafnis Prieto Sextet
El Arte Del Bolero
Miguel Zenón & Luis Perdomo
Voice Of God
Dante Bowe Featuring Steffany Gretzinger & Chandler Moore; Dante Bowe, Tywan Mack, Jeff Schneeweis & Mitch Wong, songwriters
Joyful
Dante Bowe; Dante Bowe & Ben Schofield, songwriters
Help
Anthony Brown & Group Therapy; Anthony Brown & Darryl Woodson, songwriters
Never Lost
CeCe Winans
Wait On You
Elevation Worship & Maverick City Music; Dante Bowe, Chris Brown, Steven Furtick, Tiffany Hudson, Brandon Lake & Chandler Moore, songwriters
We Win
Kirk Franklin & Lil Baby; Kirk Franklin, Dominique Jones, Cynthia Nunn & Justin Smith, songwriters
Hold Us Together (Hope Mix)
H.E.R. & Tauren Wells; Josiah Bassey, Dernst Emile & H.E.R., songwriters
Man Of Your Word
Chandler Moore & KJ Scriven; Jonathan Jay, Nathan Jess & Chandler Moore, songwriters
Believe For It
CeCe Winans; Dwan Hill, Kyle Lee, CeCe Winans & Mitch Wong, songwriters
Jireh
Elevation Worship & Maverick City Music Featuring Chandler Moore & Naomi Raine; Chris Brown, Steven Furtick, Chandler Moore & Naomi Raine, songwriters
Changing Your Story
Jekalyn Carr
Royalty: Live At The Ryman
Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Jubilee: Juneteenth Edition
Maverick City Music
Jonny X Mali: Live In LA
Jonathan McReynolds & Mali Music
Believe For It
CeCe Winans
No Stranger
Natalie Grant
Feels Like Home Vol. 2
Israel & New Breed
The Blessing (Live)
Kari Jobe
Citizen Of Heaven (Live)
Tauren Wells
Old Church Basement
Elevation Worship & Maverick City Music
Alone With My Faith
Harry Connick, Jr.
That's Gospel, Brother
Gaither Vocal Band
Keeping On
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
Songs For The Times
The Isaacs
My Savior
Carrie Underwood
Vértigo
Pablo Alborán
Mis Amores
Paula Arenas
Hecho A La Antigua
Ricardo Arjona
Mis Manos
Camilo
Mendó
Alex Cuba
Revelación
Selena Gomez
Afrodisíaco
Rauw Alejandro
El Último Tour Del Mundo
Bad Bunny
Jose
J Balvin
KG0516
KAROL G
Sin Miedo (Del Amor Y Otros Demonios) 8
Kali Uchis
Deja
Bomba Estéreo
Mira Lo Que Me Hiciste Hacer (Deluxe Edition)
Diamante Eléctrico
Origen
Juanes
Calambre
Nathy Peluso
El Madrileño
C. Tangana
Sonidos De Karmática Resonancia
Zoé
Antología De La Musica Ranchera, Vol. 2
Aida Cuevas
A Mis 80's
Vicente Fernández
Seis
Mon Laferte
Un Canto Por México, Vol. II
Natalia Lafourcade
Ayayay! (Súper Deluxe)
Christian Nodal
Salswing!
Rubén Blades y Roberto Delgado & Orquesta
En Cuarentena
El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico
Sin Salsa No Hay Paraíso
Aymée Nuviola
Colegas
Gilberto Santa Rosa
Live In Peru
Tony Succar
Cry
Jon Batiste
Love And Regret
Billy Strings
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free
The Blind Boys Of Alabama & Béla Fleck
Same Devil
Brandy Clark Featuring Brandi Carlile
Nightflyer
Allison Russell
Avalon
Rhiannon Giddens, Justin Robinson & Francesco Turrisi, songwriters (Rhiannon Giddens With Francesco Turrisi)
Call Me A Fool
Valerie June, songwriter (Valerie June Featuring Carla Thomas)
Cry
Jon Batiste & Steve McEwan, songwriters (Jon Batiste)
Diamond Studded Shoes
Dan Auerbach, Natalie Hemby, Aaron Lee Tasjan & Yola, songwriters (Yola)
Nightflyer
Jeremy Lindsay & Allison Russell, songwriters (Allison Russell)
Downhill From Everywhere
Jackson Browne
Leftover Feelings
John Hiatt with The Jerry Douglas Band
Native Sons
Los Lobos
Outside Child
Allison Russell
Stand For Myself
Yola
Renewal
Billy Strings
My Bluegrass Heart
Béla Fleck
A Tribute To Bill Monroe
The Infamous Stringdusters
Cuttin' Grass - Vol. 1 (Butcher Shoppe Sessions)
Sturgill Simpson
Music Is What I See
Rhonda Vincent
100 Years Of Blues
Elvin Bishop & Charlie Musselwhite
Traveler's Blues
Blues Traveler
I Be Trying
Cedric Burnside
Be Ready When I Call You
Guy Davis
Take Me Back
Kim Wilson
Delta Kream
The Black Keys Featuring Eric Deaton & Kenny Brown
Royal Tea
Joe Bonamassa
Uncivil War
Shemekia Copeland
Fire It Up
Steve Cropper
662
Christone "Kingfish" Ingram
One Night Lonely [Live]
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Long Violent History
Tyler Childers
Wednesday (Extended Edition)
Madison Cunningham
They're Calling Me Home
Rhiannon Giddens With Francesco Turrisi
Blue Heron Suite
Sarah Jarosz
Live In New Orleans!
Sean Ardoin And Kreole Rock And Soul
Bloodstains & Teardrops
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux
My People
Cha Wa
Corey Ledet Zydeco
Corey Ledet Zydeco
Kau Ka Pe'a
Kalani Pe'a
Pamoja
Etana
Positive Vibration
Gramps Morgan
Live N Livin
Sean Paul
Royal
Jesse Royal
Beauty In The Silence
Soja
10
Spice
Mohabbat
Arooj Aftab
Do Yourself
Angelique Kidjo & Burna Boy
Pà Pá Pà
Femi Kuti
Blewu
Yo-Yo Ma & Angelique Kidjo
Essence
WizKid Featuring Tems
Voice Of Bunbon, Vol. 1
Rocky Dawuni
East West Players Presents: Daniel Ho & Friends Live In Concert
Daniel Ho & Friends
Mother Nature
Angelique Kidjo
Legacy +
Femi Kuti And Made Kuti
Made In Lagos: Deluxe Edition
WizKid
Actívate
123 Andrés
All One Tribe
1 Tribe Collective
Black To The Future
Pierce Freelon
A Colorful World
Falu
Crayon Kids
Lucky Diaz And The Family Jam Band
Aftermath
LeVar Burton
Carry On: Reflections For A New Generation From John Lewis
Don Cheadle
Catching Dreams: Live At Fort Knox Chicago
J. Ivy
8:46
Dave Chappelle & Amir Sulaiman
A Promised Land
Barack Obama
The Comedy Vaccine
Lavell Crawford
Evolution
Chelsea Handler
Sincerely Louis CK
Louis C.K.
Thanks For Risking Your Life
Lewis Black
The Greatest Average American
Nate Bargatze
Zero F***s Given
Kevin Hart
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Nick Lloyd Webber & Greg Wells, producers; Andrew Lloyd Webber & David Zippel, composers/lyricists (Original Album Cast)
Burt Bacharach and Steven Sater's Some Lovers
Burt Bacharach, Michael Croiter, Ben Hartman & Steven Sater, producers; Burt Bacharach, composer; Steven Sater, lyricist (World Premiere Cast)
Girl From The North Country
Simon Hale, Conor McPherson & Dean Sharenow, producers (Bob Dylan, composer & lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast)
Les Misérables: The Staged Concert (The Sensational 2020 Live Recording)
Cameron Mackintosh, Lee McCutcheon & Stephen Metcalfe, producers (Claude-Michel Schönberg, composer; Alain Boublil, John Caird, Herbert Kretzmer, Jean-Marc Natel & Trevor Nunn, lyricists) (The 2020 Les Misérables Staged Concert Company)
Stephen Schwartz's Snapshots
Daniel C. Levine, Michael J Moritz Jr, Bryan Perri & Stephen Schwartz, producers (Stephen Schwartz, composer & lyricist) (World Premiere Cast)
The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical
Emily Bear, producer; Abigail Barlow & Emily Bear, composers/lyricists (Barlow & Bear)
Cruella
(Various Artists)
Dear Evan Hansen
(Various Artists)
In The Heights
(Various Artists)
One Night In Miami...
(Various Artists)
Respect
Jennifer Hudson
Schmigadoon! Episode 1
(Various Artists)
The United States Vs. Billie Holiday
Andra Day
Bridgerton
Kris Bowers, composer
Dune
Hans Zimmer, composer
The Mandalorian: Season 2 - Vol. 2 (Chapters 13-16)
Ludwig Göransson, composer
The Queen's Gambit
Carlos Rafael Rivera, composer
Soul
Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, composers
Agatha All Along [From WandaVision: Episode 7]
Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, songwriters (Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez Featuring Kathryn Hahn, Eric Bradley, Greg Whipple, Jasper Randall & Gerald White)
All Eyes On Me [From Inside]
Bo Burnham, songwriter (Bo Burnham)
All I Know So Far [From P!NK: All I Know So Far]
Alecia Moore, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, songwriters (P!nk)
Fight For You [From Judas And The Black Messiah]
Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas, songwriters (H.E.R.)
Here I Am (Singing My Way Home) [From Respect]
Jamie Hartman, Jennifer Hudson & Carole King, songwriters (Jennifer Hudson)
Speak Now [From One Night In Miami...]
Sam Ashworth & Leslie Odom, Jr., songwriters (Leslie Odom, Jr.)
Beautiful Is Black
Brandee Younger, composer (Brandee Younger)
Cat And Mouse
Tom Nazziola, composer (Tom Nazziola)
Concerto For Orchestra: Finale
Vince Mendoza, composer (Vince Mendoza & Czech National Symphony Orchestra Featuring Antonio Sánchez & Derrick Hodge)
Dreaming In Lions: Dreaming In Lions
Arturo O’Farrill, composer (Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble)
Eberhard
Lyle Mays, composer (Lyle Mays)
Chopsticks
Bill O'Connell, arranger (Richard Baratta)
For The Love Of A Princess (From "Braveheart")
Robin Smith, arranger (HAUSER, London Symphony Orchestra & Robin Smith)
Infinite Love
Emile Mosseri, arranger (Emile Mosseri)
Meta Knight's Revenge (From "Kirby Superstar")
Charlie Rosen & Jake Silverman, arrangers (The 8-Bit Big Band Featuring Button Masher)
The Struggle Within
Gabriela Quintero & Rodrigo Sanchez, arrangers (Rodrigo y Gabriela)
The Bottom Lin
Ólafur Arnalds, arranger (Ólafur Arnalds & Josin)
A Change Is Gonna Come
Tehillah Alphonso, arranger (Tonality & Alexander Lloyd Blake)
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
Jacob Collier, arranger (Jacob Collier)
Eleanor Rigby
Cody Fry, arranger (Cody Fry)
To The Edge Of Longing (Edit Version)
Vince Mendoza, arranger (Vince Mendoza, Czech National Symphony Orchestra & Julia Bullock)
American Jackpot / American Girls
Sarah Dodds & Shauna Dodds, art directors (Reckless Kelly)
Carnage
Nick Cave & Tom Hingston, art directors (Nick Cave & Warren Ellis)
Pakelang
Li Jheng Han & Yu, Wei, art directors (2nd Generation Falangao Singing Group & The Chairman Crossover Big Band)
Serpentine Prison
Dayle Doyle, art director (Matt Berninger)
Zeta
Xiao Qing Yang, art director (Soul Of Ears)
All Things Must Pass: 50th Anniversary Edition
Darren Evans, Dhani Harrison & Olivia Harrison, art directors (George Harrison)
Color Theory
Lordess Foudre & Christopher Leckie, art directors (Soccer Mommy)
The Future Bites (Limited Edition Box Set)
Simon Moore, art director (Steven Wilson)
77-81
Dan Calderwood & Jon King, art directors (Gang Of Four)
Swimming In Circles
Ramón Coronado & Marshall Rake, art directors (Mac Miller)
Beethoven: The Last Three Sonatas
Ann-Katrin Zimmermann, album notes writer (Sunwook Kim)
The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia And RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-1966
Ricky Riccardi, album notes writer (Louis Armstrong)
Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies: The Willie Dunn Anthology
Kevin Howes, album notes writer (Willie Dunn)
Etching The Voice: Emile Berliner And The First Commercial Gramophone Discs, 1889-1895
David Giovannoni, Richard Martin & Stephan Puille, album notes writers (Various Artists)
The King Of Gospel Music: The Life And Music Of Reverend James Cleveland
Robert Marovich, album notes writer (Various Artists)
Beyond The Music: Her Complete RCA Victor Recordings
Robert Russ, compilation producer; Nancy Conforti, Andreas K. Meyer & Jennifer Nulsen, mastering engineers (Marian Anderson)
Etching The Voice: Emile Berliner And The First Commercial Gramophone Discs, 1889-1895
Meagan Hennessey & Richard Martin, compilation producers; Richard Martin, mastering engineer (Various Artists)
Excavated Shellac: An Alternate History Of The World’s Music
April Ledbetter, Steven Lance Ledbetter & Jonathan Ward, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Various Artists)
Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967)
Patrick Milligan & Joni Mitchell, compilation producers; Bernie Grundman, mastering engineer (Joni Mitchell)
Sign O' The Times (Super Deluxe Edition)
Trevor Guy, Michael Howe & Kirk Johnson, compilation producers; Bernie Grundman, mastering engineer (Prince)
Cinema
Josh Conway, Marvin Figueroa, Josh Gudwin, Neal H Pogue & Ethan Shumaker, engineers; Joe LaPorta, mastering engineer (The Marías)
Dawn
Thomas Brenneck, Zach Brown, Elton "L10MixedIt" Chueng, Riccardo Damian, Tom Elmhirst, Jens Jungkurth, Todd Monfalcone, John Rooney & Smino, engineers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer (Yebba)
Hey What
BJ Burton, engineer; BJ Burton, mastering engineer (Low)
Love For Sale
Dae Bennett, Josh Coleman & Billy Cumella, engineers; Greg Calbi & Steve Fallone, mastering engineers (Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga)
Notes With Attachments
Joseph Lorge & Blake Mills, engineers; Greg Koller, mastering engineer (Pino Palladino & Blake Mills)
Jack Antonoff
Chemtrails Over The Country Club (Lana Del Rey) (A)
Daddy’s Home (St. Vincent) (A)
Gold Rush (Taylor Swift) (T)
Sling (Clairo) (A)
Solar Power (Lorde) (A)
Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night (Bleachers) (A)
Rogét Chahayed
//aguardiente Y Limón %ᵕ‿‿ᵕ% (Kali Uchis) (T)
Ain't S*** (Doja Cat) (T)
Beautiful (Shelley FKA DRAM) (T)
Blueberry Eyes (MAX Featuring SUGA of BTS) (S)
Fire In The Sky (Anderson .Paak) (T)
Kiss Me More (Doja Cat Featuring SZA) (S)
Lazy Susan (21 Savage With Rich Brian Featuring Warren Hue & Masimwei) (S)
NITROUS (Joji) (T)
Vibez (ZAYN) (S)
Mike Elizondo
Glow On (Turnstile) (A)
Good Day (Twenty One Pilots) (T)
Life By Misadventure (Rag'n'Bone Man) (A)
Mercy (Jonas Brothers) (T)
Mulberry Street (Twenty One Pilots) (T)
Obviously (Lake Street Dive) (A)
Repeat (Grace Vanderwaal) (S)
Taking The Heat (Joy Oladokun) (T)
Hit-Boy
Judas And The Black Messiah: The Inspired Album (Various Artists) (A)
King's Disease II (Nas) (A)
Ricky Reed
//aguardiente y limón%ᵕ‿‿ᵕ% (Kali Uchis) (T)Can't Let You Go (Terrace Martin Featuring Nick Grant) (S)
Damn Bean (John-Robert) (T)
Don't Go Yet (Camila Cabello) (S)
Gold-Diggers Sound (Leon Bridges) (A)
Piece Of You (Shawn Mendes) (T)
Pushing Away (Junior Mesa) (T)
Rumors (Lizzo Featuring Cardi B) (S)
Sing (Jon Batiste) (T)
Back To Life (Booker T Kings Of Soul Satta Dub)
Booker T, remixer (Soul II Soul)
Born For Greatness (Cymek Remix)
Spencer Bastin, remixer (Papa Roach)
Constant Craving (Fashionably Late Remix)
Tracy Young, remixer (K.D. Lang)
Inside Out (3SCAPE DRM Remix)
3SCAPE DRM, remixer (Zedd & Griff)
Met Him Last Night (Dave Audé Remix)
Dave Audé, remixer (Demi Lovato & Ariana Grande)
Passenger (Mike Shinoda Remix)
Mike Shinoda, remixer (Deftones)
Talks (Mura Masa Remix)\
Alexander Crossan, remixer (PVA)
Alicia
George Massenburg & Eric Schilling, immersive mix engineers; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Ann Mincieli, immersive producer (Alicia Keys)
Clique
Jim Anderson & Ulrike Schwarz, immersive mix engineers; Bob Ludwig, immersive mastering engineer; Jim Anderson, immersive producer (Patricia Barber)
Fine Line
Greg Penny, immersive mix engineer; Greg Penny, immersive mastering engineer; Greg Penny, immersive producer (Harry Styles)
The Future Bites
Jake Fields & Steven Wilson, immersive mix engineers; Bob Ludwig, immersive mastering engineer; Steven Wilson, immersive producer (Steven Wilson)
Stille Grender
Morten Lindberg, immersive mix engineer; Morten Lindberg, immersive mastering engineer; Morten Lindberg, immersive producer (Anne Karin Sundal-Ask & Det Norske Jentekor)
Archetypes
Jonathan Lackey, Bill Maylone & Dan Nichols, engineers; Bill Maylone, mastering engineer (Sérgio Assad, Clarice Assad & Third Coast Percussion)
Beethoven: Cello Sonatas - Hope Amid Tears
Richard King, engineer (Yo-Yo Ma & Emanuel Ax)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Mark Donahue, engineer; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck, Mendelssohn Choir Of Pittsburgh & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
Chanticleer Sings Christmas
Leslie Ann Jones, engineer (Chanticleer)
Mahler: Symphony No. 8, 'Symphony Of A Thousand'
Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, engineers; Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, mastering engineers (Gustavo Dudamel, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, Luke McEndarfer, Robert Istad, Grant Gershon, Los Angeles Children's Chorus, Los Angeles Master Chorale, National Children's Chorus, Pacific Chorale & Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Blanton Alspaugh
Appear And Inspire (James Franklin & The East Carolina University Chamber Singers) (A)
Howells: Requiem (Brian Schmidt & Baylor University A Cappella Choir) (A)
Hymns Of Kassianí (Alexander Lingas & Cappella Romana) (A)
Kyr: In Praise Of Music (Joshua Copeland & Antioch Chamber Ensemble) (A)
More Honourable Than The Cherubim (Vladimir Gorbik & PaTRAM Institute Male Choir) (A)
O'Regan: The Phoenix (Patrick Summers, Thomas Hampson, Chad Shelton, Rihab Chaieb, Lauren Snouffer, Houston Grand Opera & Houston Grand Opera Orchestra) (A)
Sheehan: Liturgy Of Saint John Chrysostom (Benedict Sheehan & The Saint Tikhon Choir) (A)
Steven Epstein
Bach And Brahms Re-Imagined (Jens Lindemann, James Ehnes & Jon Kimura Parker) (A)
Bartók: Quartet No. 3; Beethoven: Op. 59, No. 2; Dvořák: American Quartet (Juilliard String Quartet) (A)
Beethoven: Cello Sonatas - Hope Amid Tears (Yo-Yo Ma & Emanuel Ax) (A)
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 9 & 17, Arr. For Piano, String Quartet And Double Bass (Alon Goldstein, Alexander Bickard & Fine Arts Quartet) (A)
Songs Of Comfort And Hope (Yo-Yo Ma & Kathryn Stott) (A)
David Frost
Chamber Works By Dmitri Klebanov (ARC Ensemble) (A)
Glass: Akhnaten (Karen Kamensek, J’Nai Bridges, Dísella Lárusdóttir, Zachary James, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra) (A)
Mon Ami, Mon Amour (Matt Haimovitz & Mari Kodama) (A)
One Movement Symphonies - Barber, Sibelius, Scriabin (Michael Stern & Kansas City Symphony) (A)
Poulenc: Dialogues Des Carmélites (Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Isabel Leonard, Erin Morley, Adrianne Pieczonka, Karita Mattila, Karen Cargill, Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra) (A)
Primavera I - The Wind (Matt Haimovitz) (A)
Roots (Randall Goosby & Zhu Wang) (A)
Elaine Martone
Archetypes (Sérgio Assad, Clarice Assad & Third Coast Percussion) (A)
Beneath The Sky (Zoe Allen & Levi Hernandez) (A)
Davis: Family Secrets - Kith & Kin (Timothy Myers, Andrea Edith Moore & Jane Holding) (A)
Quest (Elisabeth Remy Johnson) (A)
Schubert: Symphony In C Major, 'The Great'; Krenek: Static & Ecstatic (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra) (A)
Judith Sherman
Alone Together (Jennifer Koh) (A)
Bach & Beyond Part 3 (Jennifer Koh) (A)
Bruits (Imani Winds) (A)
Eryilmaz: Dances Of The Yogurt Maker (Erberk Eryilmaz & Carpe Diem String Quartet) (A)
Fantasy - Oppens Plays Kaminsky (Ursula Oppens) (A)
Home (Blythe Gaissert) (A)
Mendelssohn, Visconti & Golijov (Jasper String Quartet & Jupiter String Quartet) (A)
A Schubert Journey (Llŷr Williams) (A)
Vers Le Silence - William Bolcom & Frédéric Chopin (Ran Dank) (A)
Adams: My Father Knew Charles Ives; Harmonielehre
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor (Nashville Symphony Orchestra)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Manfred Honeck, conductor (Mendelssohn Choir Of Pittsburgh & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
Muhly: Throughline
Nico Muhly, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
Price: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (Philadelphia Orchestra)
Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra; Scriabin: The Poem Of Ecstasy
Thomas Dausgaard, conductor (Seattle Symphony Orchestra)
Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle
Susanna Mälkki, conductor; Mika Kares & Szilvia Vörös; Robert Suff, producer (Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra)
Glass: Akhnaten
Karen Kamensek, conductor; J’Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Zachary James & Dísella Lárusdóttir; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
Janáček: Cunning Little Vixen
Simon Rattle, conductor; Sophia Burgos, Lucy Crowe, Gerald Finley, Peter Hoare, Anna Lapkovskaja, Paulina Malefane, Jan Martinik & Hanno Müller-Brachmann; Andrew Cornall, producer (London Symphony Orchestra; London Symphony Chorus & LSO Discovery Voices)
Little: Soldier Songs
Corrado Rovaris, conductor; Johnathan McCullough; James Darrah & John Toia, producers (The Opera Philadelphia Orchestra)
Poulenc: Dialogues Des Carmélites
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Karen Cargill, Isabel Leonard, Karita Mattila, Erin Morley & Adrianne Pieczonka; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
It's A Long Way
Matthew Guard, conductor (Jonas Budris, Carrie Cheron, Fiona Gillespie, Nathan Hodgson, Helen Karloski, Enrico Lagasca, Megan Roth, Alissa Ruth Suver & Dana Whiteside; Skylark Vocal Ensemble)
Mahler: Symphony No. 8, 'Symphony Of A Thousand'
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Grant Gershon, Robert Istad, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz & Luke McEndarfer, chorus masters (Leah Crocetto, Mihoko Fujimura, Ryan McKinny, Erin Morley, Tamara Mumford, Simon O'Neill, Morris Robinson & Tamara Wilson; Los Angeles Philharmonic; Los Angeles Children's Chorus, Los Angeles Master Chorale, National Children’s Chorus & Pacific Chorale)
Rising w/The Crossing
Donald Nally, conductor (International Contemporary Ensemble & Quicksilver; The Crossing
Schnittke: Choir Concerto; Three Sacred Hymns; Pärt: Seven Magnificat-Antiphons
Kaspars Putniņš, conductor; Heli Jürgenson, chorus master (Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir)
Sheehan: Liturgy Of Saint John Chrysostom
Benedict Sheehan, conductor (Michael Hawes, Timothy Parsons & Jason Thoms; The Saint Tikhon Choir)
The Singing Guitar
Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (Estelí Gomez; Austin Guitar Quartet, Douglas Harvey, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet & Texas Guitar Quartet; Conspirare)
Adams, John Luther: Lines Made By Walking
JACK Quartet
Akiho: Seven Pillars
Sandbox Percussion
Archetypes
Sérgio Assad, Clarice Assad & Third Coast Percussion
Beethoven: Cello Sonatas - Hope Amid Tears
Yo-Yo Ma & Emanuel Ax
Bruits
Imani Winds
Alone Together
Jennifer Koh
An American Mosaic
Simone Dinnerstein
Bach: Sonatas & Partitas
Augustin Hadelich
Beethoven & Brahms: Violin Concertos
Gil Shaham; Eric Jacobsen, conductor (The Knights)
Mak Bach
Mak Grgić
Of Power
Curtis Stewart
Confessions
Laura Strickling; Joy Schreier, pianist
Dreams Of A New Day - Songs By Black Composers
Will Liverman; Paul Sánchez, pianist
Mythologies
Sangeeta Kaur & Hila Plitmann (Virginie D'Avezac De Castera, Lili Haydn, Wouter Kellerman, Nadeem Majdalany, Eru Matsumoto & Emilio D. Miler)
Schubert: Winterreise
Joyce DiDonato; Yannick Nézet-Séguin, pianist
Unexpected Shadows
Jamie Barton; Jake Heggie, pianist (Matt Haimovitz)
American Originals - A New World, A New Canon
AGAVE & Reginald L. Mobley; Geoffrey Silver, producer
Berg: Violin Concerto; Seven Early Songs & Three Pieces For Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Jack Vad, producer
Cerrone: The Arching Path
Timo Andres & Ian Rosenbaum; Mike Tierney, producer
Plays
Chick Corea; Chick Corea & Birnie Kirsh, producers
Women Warriors - The Voices Of Change
Amy Andersson, conductor; Amy Andersson, Mark Mattson & Lolita Ritmanis, producers
Akiho: Seven Pillars
Andy Akiho, composer (Sandbox Percussion)
Andriessen: The Only One
Louis Andriessen, composer (Esa-Pekka Salonen, Nora Fischer & Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Assad, Clarice & Sérgio, Connors, Dillon, Martin & Skidmore: Archetypes
Clarice Assad, Sérgio Assad, Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin & David Skidmore, composers (Sérgio Assad, Clarice Assad & Third Coast Percussion)
Batiste: Movement 11'
Jon Batiste, composer (Jon Batiste)
Shaw: Narrow Sea
Caroline Shaw, composer (Dawn Upshaw, Gilbert Kalish & Sō Percussion)
Shot In The Dark
AC/DC
David Mallet, video director; Dione Orrom, video producer
Freedom
Jon Batiste
Alan Ferguson, video director; Alex P. Willson, video producer
I Get A Kick Out Of You
Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
Jennifer Lebeau, video director; Danny Bennett, Bobby Campbell & Jennifer Lebeau, video producers
Peaches
Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon
Collin Tilley, video director
Happier Than Ever
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish, video director; Michelle An, Chelsea Dodson & David Moore, video producers
Montero (Call Me By Your Name)
Lil Nas X
Lil Nas X & Tanu Muino, video directors; Frank Borin, Ivanna Borin, Marco De Molina & Saul Levitz, video producers
Good 4 U
Olivia Rodrigo
Petra Collins, video director; Christiana Divona, Marissa Ramirez & Tiffany Suh, video producers
Inside
Bo Burnham
Bo Burnham, video director; Josh Senior, video producer
David Byrne's American Utopia
David Byrne
Spike Lee, video director; David Byrne & Spike Lee, video producers
Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter To Los Angeles
Billie Eilish
Patrick Osborne & Robert Rodriguez, video directors
Music, Money, Madness...Jimi Hendrix In Maui
Jimi Hendrix
John McDermott, video director; Janie Hendrix, John McDermott & George Scott, video producers
Summer Of Soul
(Various Artists)
Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, video director; David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent & Joseph Patel, video producers
Nominations Livestream Announced: BTS, H.E.R., Jon Batiste, Måneskin, Carly Pearce, Tayla Parx, Gayle King, Nate Bargatze & Special Guests Confirmed
Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.
On today’s episode of #TRIBEGOALS, I catch up with 2 co-stars from STARZ’s 2nd season of POWER BOOK II: GHOST which premieres on Nov 21st! We sat down with Method Man and Larenz Tate. In the first half of the podcast, we catch up with the legendary performer of the Wu-Tang Clan and actor in a number of TV series and films, Method Man. We talk about his diverse career and what we can expect on the latest season. We delve into the writer’s room and the phenomenal cast which includes his co-stars and musical collaborators – Mary J. Blige and Redman. We also talk about his commitment to fitness and how he continues to increase expanding his business into the cannabis industry and NFTs.
After catching up with Method Man and finding out more about how his character, Davis MacLean ended the last season and what we can expect from this season, we had to talk to Larenz Tate to find out about Councilman Rashad Tate! Larenz joined the original series of POWER in the last 2 seasons of this show. He talks with us about how his character continued in the premiere season and what we can expect in this season! We also talk about what drew him to this show, his character and how he has maintained longevity in this career.
This episode will also be in the NOV ISSUE #71 of Athleisure Mag which will drop on Nov 30th. #TRIBEGOALS is hosted by Kimmie Smith and is Executive Produced by Paul Farkas and Kimmie Smith. Our theme music Rough and Deep is performed by JGRLNG.
Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.
As we embrace the reopenings that have taken place all over the world, we remember those days when we were in the thick of lockdown and we all found ways to maintain a sense of community and connection with others as we did it apart. For us and millions around the world, we found dance and music through a global couch party that had the biggest celebrities from Madonna, Michelle Obama, Nile Rodgers and more that popped in every night. We were all brought together by DJ D-Nice who created a daily (sometimes marathon sessions) IG Live event known as Club Quarantine!
Even though we're past those dark days of 2020, he continues to lead his virtual parties while also bringing the next phase with his Club Quarantine Live tour that took place to much success and we can't wait to see his Club Quarantine festival that will take place in LA in 2022! Before he brought us Club Quarantine, being a major event DJ for brands such as Hennessey, he is also an artist who has released solo projects and was a founding member of Boogie Down Productions with the legendary KRS-One and the late Scott La Rock.
We're pleased to have D-Nice as this month's cover and with a schedule that is constantly on the go, as we talked with him between soundchecks for his performance at YouTube's Advertising Week Show with Mary J. Blige at The Apollo Theater, he talks music; the creation of Club Quarantine and its continued evolution; the importance of musical accessibility; campaigns and how he continues to push his brand while being mindful of the community.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with music?
D-NICE: I fell in love with music when I was around 6 or 7 years old. I remember where I grew up in the Bronx, my aunts – both of them used to collect a lot of records. It’s so crazy because the artists that they would collect would be Melba Moore and Diana Ross and like Earth, Wind and Fire and obviously, you know, that I'm not lying because that was the thing in like the 70’s.
So when you fast forward to like, Club Quarantine and I’m like hanging out in there in this virtual space with Earth, Wind and Fire and Melba Moore is in there, everyday – it’s kind of full circle to me from my childhood which makes this experience for me so incredible.
AM: For those who may not be familiar with your music career prior to Club Quarantine, can you tell us a bit about your background? You were one of the founding members of the Boogie Down Productions with KRS-One and the late Scott La Rock.
D: I grew up in the Bronx. One of my cousins worked as a security guard at a men’s shelter in the Bronx. He asked me to bring him some food and one night, I walked over to where he was working and he decided to introduce me to his friend that worked there as a social worker, which was DJ Scott La Rock. Scott La Rock introduced me to a homeless guy, which is the legendary KRS-One. From the first meeting, I was 15 and Scott looked at me and he must have felt this energy where he immediately said, “you’re going to be in this group.” That’s how I became part of the Boogie Down Productions crew.
AM: Think back to last year, which in many ways feels like 7 years ago, we were all in this gut-check moment. From a magazine perspective, we shot our last in-person cover 2 days prior to when NY went into lockdown. It was that moment of trying to figure out how we would still do what we do and to still produce everything – in a new way virtually; which we did and it was intensely challenging, but fun and full of artistic growth. So, to do Club Quarantine, how did this come about? It was like the musical and mental health that we so needed to get us through what we didn't even know how much time we'd be going through!
D: The thing about Club Quarantine that’s special is that it was birthed out of the same fear that everyone was experiencing! I was quarantined alone at home in Los Angeles. I was gearing up for a tour with Jill Scott. I was locked in for 10 dates on her tour and when we were forced to quarantine, what was difficult about it, which other people experienced as well, was that none of us were prepared for this – including myself! So, when the quarantine hit, I had to send back deposits because they were cancelling the festivals – they were cancelling Essence Fest, Miami Music Week where I had gigs there, I had SXSW gigs. So all of those gigs, I had to send the money back. I was sitting at home, stressed out, like everyone!
Because I had friends that worked with the former administration, they kept saying, this thing will go on for longer than 2 weeks, man. They said that I should prepare myself. I didn’t even understand how to prepare to not work for a year/year and a half. So that was difficult. CQ was birthed out of the sadness and having a desire to still be connected to people. When I started playing music, I wasn’t even DJing initially. I was just playing music and sharing stories and I started noticing the numbers that were rising on my account from one day being 240 people in there to the next day having 800 people in there. Then, the 3rd day, I did a marathon set with like 2,000 people. Initially, it was a very selfish thing, finding ways to stay connected, but by the 2nd day when I was reading the comments, I knew that it was actually helping people feel connected. I just wanted to continue to do it to keep people inspired.
AM: Speaking back to what we were talking about before with the music, I was born in 1979 and grew up with this music. When I listen to a lot of the songs, it reminds me of cleaning the house with my mom and sister before Soul Train came on. How is it to run the hottest global couch party that has ever existed?
D: Wow yeah, that’s literally it – the hot test global couch party! I mean there were times when I literally didn’t look at it that way. It was one of my buddies, Donnie Wahlberg, every day he would say to me, “dude, I don’t think you understand what’s happening.” I didn’t, because remember, I was home alone! I was playing music, I was at home. I wasn’t dancing with other family members, wasn’t dancing with my mom or kids and I wasn’t having parties on the other end. All I could do was just read comments. I would see hearts and that kept me going. But the other thing that kept me inspired was music! It was the love of music where I felt that I finally had the chance to play music the way that I wanted to hear it anyway from my club days. As a DJ, you kind of lean towards what the promoters wanted, what the fans wanted, but when the world stopped, the fans wanted and needed music that kept them inspired. It just so happened to be the music that I love. To have a chance to play David Bowie and mix David Bowie in with Madonna and all of a sudden, Madonna is in my IG Live. Then I could play a Stevie Wonder record and then throw in a JAY-Z and rock Rihanna and then all of a sudden, Rihanna is in there! There’s no better party then that! Everyone had a chance to feel the music and still be inspired and it was awesome. And it continues to be awesome!
AM: Which I think is awesome and I love the versatility of the music. I mean, I love all kinds of genres, my great uncle was the late tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson so I have my jazz elements that I love and I love EDM. I remember when you had David Bowie to Madonna and then you had Nile Rodgers that popped in which I had styled him a few years ago for a project which was awesome to see him come through.
D: I mean, Nile Rodgers, when he came in it was beautiful!
AM: I’ll never forget when I was in his apartment on the UWS and he was showing me his music sheets of his work with Madonna and he was like, "I did this and I did that." I just remember feeling that I was standing in the room of greatness at that moment.
D: Yes absolutely.
AM: The fact that we have actually been able to see how you have evolved CQ from the at home sessions to performing to major moments that you were part of from encouraging people to register to vote, having people vote, social justice movements and then moving that into bringing it live in person such as launching at the Hollywood Bowl and being on the tour for that too, what’s it like to evolve the brand?
D: I felt that it was my job to protect the brand. Protecting the brand meant not keeping the platform to myself and to include other people. It was about authenticity and making sure that what I did online translated well into the live space. My desire to play the Hollywood Bowl was birthed out of seeing so many people in there. Early on in the pandemic, I was trying to figure out what place that this would feel like and would make sense. I wanted to give everyone something to imagine and look forward to when the world opened up again. I just threw it out there and said, “one day, I’m going to play the Hollywood Bowl and be the first show!”
A year and a half later when I received the offer to play the Hollywood Bowl, I was excited! But it didn’t really hit me until the morning that I announced that the tickets were on sale on IG Live and I said, “I have something to share with everyone. My gosh, we got the Hollywood Bowl, tickets are on sale in one hour.” Within that first hour, we sold 10,000 tickets. It was very emotional. To know that something that I did just out of the love of music that started in my kitchen – literally in the kitchen, went on to become something where we sold out 15,000 people in the Hollywood Bowl in 3 days! It's a very humbling feeling and it's beautiful to know that people want to listen to music the way that I do. You have to want to be there to hear the music, the fans want to be there, the art ists want to be there – there were fans that bought tickets to all of the CQ Live shows and we kept it limited. Obviously, we’re still dealing with this pandemic so we didn’t want to be reckless by doing a full on tour. But for all of the shows, there are people like hundreds of people that attended all 3 of them. It’s something special that’s happening right now. The music is secondary when it comes to Club Quarantine. It wasn’t just about the music, it was about community. To me, that’s number one – about people staying connected. By the way, there’s some cool music being played right now and we’re going to dance together as well!
AM: It’s undeniable that live shows have an amazing vibe to them. What are your plans on the virtual side of things as we continue over the next few months, will this still be part of your portfolio or are you looking to segue completely to back where we were prior to 2020 where we could comfortably be together in person?
D: I want to continue to have the virtual space to be part of it. It’s an important element because not everyone can afford to travel to these cities, not everyone can afford to buy tickets. Let’s be realistic. People lost jobs and people are still trying to recover from that. To me, it would be a little bit unfair to just pull that away from everyone and I want to continue to share my love of music with people and to inspire community, so it’s important for me to do this for at least another 6 months or as long as social media will allow me to play. You know, things change, people are outside now so it may not be as exciting, but for me, it’s always important that whenever I return to Los Angeles, I need to play 1 or 2 sets to at least get it in. By the way, I’m not just doing it for the people, I happen to like playing music!
AM: You can tell!
D: Yes! I love playing music, so if I can share music when I log on and there are 30,000 - 50,000 people at the end of the set, that means there is still a need and desire to hear music that way. I just want to be able to fill that need and to continue to keep people inspired.
AM: I love music festivals and it was great to see that here in NY, Governors Ball and Electric Zoo came back. Do you envision CQ having a physical festival?
D: Oh no – it’s not even about envisioning it, it’s actually happening! It’s happening Aug of 2022. We’re literally in the planning stages right now, planning the artists that I want to perform with. That’s happening. August of 2022, the festival happens in Los Angeles.
AM: Earlier this year, you dropped “No Plans For Love” with Ne-Yo and Kent Jones. How was that working on this single and are you working on an album?
D: Releasing the single was fun. It was a different process because we were doing everything remotely with Kent and Ne-Yo was interesting. I wasn’t in the studio with Ne-Yo when he recorded his vocals. It was almost like, when he finished the demo of the song, by the time I heard it, they said Ne-Yo had cut the song. I listened to it and I was excited about it. That song did well, top 5 for R&B for the single. I’m deep on working on the album right now. It was important to me that when we put the record out, we had something to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of Club Quarantine and that’s why we didn’t have an album to follow it up. It was just about putting that single out for people to have a song that they would remember during the quarantine. I’m really happy that the single did well and I am looking forward to completing this project.
AM: You’ve amassed an amazing platform and I’m sure that you are constantly wading through offers of things that you want to do. What's your process in terms of thinking about brand synergies. I loved the Band-Aid campaign that you were part of. What are you thinking of when you know that the brands are interested in D-Nice?
D: Everything that I have done has been important for the synergy to be there. I have to be mindful of a couple of things right? 1. I’m not just a DJ that’s happening right now. I do have history and I have to be respectful of my history. Everything that I participate in, you want it to resonate with the younger generation, but I am respectful of the legacy that was already built and the people that listened to my music back in the day who are still jamming to my music right now. The first project that I worked on during the quarantine was the Apple commercial and that was great because it had Oprah and all of these celebrities in there.
The 2nd campaign I worked on was for Budweiser which was based on the old commercial of “What’s Up” and people checking in on each other. So it was me, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Candace Parker. That was great!
Then I did the Ford Commercial and what made that so authentically me was that, not only was I DJing in the commercial, did the voiceover for it, I was in it – but my record from back in the day was also a tie in. I thought it was an awesome thing for people to see the evolution of me being a recording artist in 1990 and here we are in 2021 with a commercial that’s updated but still using the essence of who I am which was great.
With Band-Aid, I thought it was awesome to be a person of color and never having Band-Aids that could match our skin tone! It was great to be part of that campaign and to be able to show! But on the other side for me, to see that Corporate America and these big brands actually trust me to be part of what they’re doing and I didn’t take that lightly either.
Throughout my career, what I did was to be able to sustain in terms of how dedicated I have been to do the right thing with people. To work with Michelle Obama and to raise awareness with voter rights and voter registration. Raising money for the Apollo Theater, Breast Cancer Awareness, raising 100s of thousands for HBCUs – it’s important to always use that platform to do some good. Even with those campaigns, I always have to be part of something that wouldn’t just be a good look for me, but to be a good look for people in general.
AM: What is the best piece of business advice that you have received?
D: Honestly, it wasn’t based on any advice that one person gave me, it was based on what I felt in my heart. In the beginning of quarantine, people were offering me millions of dollars and I didn’t accept any of it and it’s because it didn’t feel good to me. It's not that I didn't want to make money, let’s be honest, I am a business man and this is my business, I am an artist. But in that moment, in those very early weeks of the quarantine, to all of a sudden monetize something right before everyone’s eyes when it was something that people needed – it didn’t feel right to me and it didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t want that on my conscious. I wanted to do something that was truly about keeping people inspired and I remember that one of my DJ friends called and he’s a huge DJ, he’s globally known. He called me and said, “hey man, this is the first time that I could actually dance with my family and I appreciate you!” I’ll never forget conversations like that and there were multiple ones like that. I knew that this was something special and all I wanted to do was to play music.
Now, it did become a business months later. We can’t deny that! But even in terms of it being a business, it was important to do things that didn’t push success into anyone’s face. It wasn’t about the money. It wasn’t about diamonds and cars – it wasn't about buying things. It was about keeping people inspired.
AM: You recently became an investor at Maison Marcel. Why did you want to enter this space and will you do anything that is outfaced with the brand?
D: I invested in it because obviously, I’m a wine drinker and I have been looking to get into the space for years. Even before working with Maison Marcel, I was a brand ambassador for Hennessey for nearly a decade of being involved with them. The natural progression would be to own your spirits company or to one day own your wine company. When the opportunity presented itself to be a part of it, I jumped on it. I was first introduced to the brand by my buddy Hassan Smith, who works with John Legend. It wasn’t even about investing, it was, “hey, would you like a glass of wine.” I enjoyed it and he was like, “I invested in this.” Then 2 years later, I became an investor. I’m not sure what we will do in terms of forward facing involvement. I didn’t want to be a spokesperson because I didn’t want the brand to be about me. I enjoy my wine, so I am always going to talk about it. I enjoy the product – so we’ll see.
AM: How do you take time for yourself when you’re not in the midst of playing music, creating music building your brand and all of the things that you do?
D: Honestly, I have to figure that out! The one thing that I am doing is spending more time with my kids. Especially now that school is back. I have 2 daughters. One graduated from law school and I have a younger daughter she’s in the 4th grade so that’s important. Other than that, I enjoy – I mean people think that I’m exhausted. There are times that I am, but I don’t feel burnt out because I truly love what I do!
AM: Your impact on this global pandemic that you gave to people and the impact on the culture throughout your career has been immense! Over the past few months, you have received a number of accolades from Webby Artist of the Year, Shine A Light Award from BET Awards, NAACP Image Awards for Entertainer of the Year and an ASCAP Voice of the Culture Award – what do you want your legacy to be?
D: That’s a tough one. You know, when I think about it, I just want people to know that it’s ok to be a nice guy, no pun attended. It’s ok to be a good guy. What’s happened my entire life over my career was not solely based on talent. It was based on being kind to people and being there for people. So when you think about Club Quarantine, none of this happens overnight. You’re talking about 35 years of relationships in the music industry. Michelle Obama wasn’t on my IG because she heard that I was DJing. That was because I made a phone call and the only reason why I could make that phone call is because I have worked with them and I have been kind to people. In that moment, that was the first time that I recognized that
people came to something because I was doing it. For decades, I was always there doing things for them. To me, it was important that I make sure that I put kindness into everything that I am doing and with one another. Hopefully, that will be part of my legacy.
AM: For #TRIBEGOALS, we talk to trailblazers in the industry and ask them who are 3 people that have influenced you to be where you are today.
D: The 1st person would be Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for obvious reasons. Obviously, he was Black and dealt with the plight of Black people, but it was also important for him to represent human beings period and that has always been an important part of growing up for me.
The 2nd person would be Stevie Wonder. His music, the storytelling in his music and the feeling in his music has always been an important part of my growing up and even including him in my sets now. Even knowing Stevie and having dinner with him, it's been one of the highlights of my career.
The third person would be, Barack Obama. From the moment that I met him, I'll share a story. One day I was DJing an event that he was hosting, he was still President at the time and we were on Martha's Vineyard. We were in a small tent, maybe 50 people people in total were attending. I was a guest and also DJing and there was this one moment, which was in his last year of his presidency, where I saw him sitting in a corner by himself, people were dancing and I looked over at him. I remember thinking that to see someone who probably had the weight of the world on his shoulders in that very moment, but he was still able to be present with his family and friends was inspiring to see that no matter how much work you have going on in your life, it’s still important to maintain that love and respect for your family and friends. I never forgot that moment and I’m truly inspired by Barack Obama!
IG @dnice
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | D-Nice
Read the OCT ISSUE #71 of Athleisure Mag and see Community is the Vibe with D-Nice in mag.
Hear DJ/Producer D-Nice on our show, #TRIBEGOALS - which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multimedia companion podcast network! Subscribe to be notified when the episode drops. Listen on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.
On today’s episode of #TRIBEGOALS, I catch up with D-Nice in between soundchecks for his performance with Mary J Blige at the Apollo Theater. When we think back to the dark days of the pandemic there were a number of constants that we looked forward to, thanking our healthcare workers at 7pm, embracing hobbies that we didn’t know that we had and heading to the biggest global couch party that happened every night for hours on end with Club Quarantine! In those moments we could connect with friends, enjoy amazing music and see some of the biggest celebs in the room from Michelle Obama, Rihanna, Madonna, Nile Rodgers and more!
D-Nice rocked it out and shared his sense and need for a community with us while we navigated those uncertain times. 20 months later, he’s still keeping us connected virtually and in person. As the cover of our OCT ISSUE #70, we talk about his legendary career that started as a founding member of Boogie Down Productions with the late Scott La Rock and KRS-One, we talk about how he came up with Club Quarantine and its evolution from being the party to attend, as an amplifier for initiatives he is passionate about to taking it on the road to the Hollywood Bowl and what he has in store for the Club Quarantine Fest taking place in 2022 in LA. We also talk about the brand, how he picks his projects, the full circle moments that music has created in his life and maintaining the power of connection within this community.
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Before we kick off the 3rd season of #TRIBEGOALS, my name is Paul Farkas, Co-Founder, Publisher and celebrity photographer of Athleisure Media! To kick off the latest episode of #TRIBEGOALS, I’m taking over today’s show where I catch up with Hip-Hop and cannabis legend B-Real in Bringing the Smoke, who is also the 69th cover of Athleisure Mag.
We chat about the iconic Cypress Hill sound; writing Dr. Greenthumb; his new solo album 'Tell You Somethin,' produced by Scott Storch; being an artist, advocate & activist for cannabis legalization; expanding his Dr. Greenthumb's dispensaries in CA and across legal US States; edibles & culinary; working out on the road & more.
It's a great chat, you're in for a treat, now is a good time to grab those earmuffs for the kids due to explicit content.
#TRIBEGOALS is hosted by Kimmie Smith and is Executive Produced by Paul Farkas and Kimmie Smith. Our theme music Rough and Deep is performed by JGRLNG.
Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.
For our cover story this month we caught up with B-Real, from the ground-breaking hip hop group, Cypress Hill. Legendary for his pioneering music and being an ambassador and activist for the use and legalization for cannabis, we delve into the iconic sound of Cypress Hill; his new solo album ‘Tell You Somethin,’ produced with Scott Storch; the magic behind his cult hit ‘Dr. Greenthumb;’ the history of Insane OG and creating and expanding his industry-leading Dr. Greenthumb's Cannabis Dispensaries; creating Phuncky Feel Tips; his G Pen and Stündenglass Gravity Hookah collabs; cannabis and culinary; working out on the road and more!
ATHLEISURE MAG: Looking back on all the times we listened to Cypress Hill, and it’s amazing to think, we’ve had all these different emotions – happy, sad, parties, chilling, raging it’s just crazy – how is it to produce music to hit all those different vibes?
B-REAL: I mean, it’s pretty natural cuz we were pretty much just going by what we were feeling and we were experiencing. So there were times we were joyful, happy, clowning around like young men and stuff like that. Other times we were frustrated, angry - so I think we captured all those type of emotions and being that we’re stoners we also caught that laid back stoner vibe, so I think it was really organic as we were being who we were and we just happened to capture the vibe of regular kids growing up in Los Angeles, and sort of being the bullhorn for these different vibes and situations and scenarios that we were living through that others were living the same thing and could relate to. So I think that’s why its had an impact the way that it did and everybody had some sort of feeling for we were doing and I think that was the connection that we touched on those connections that anyone has been through.
AM: So you’re going on tour with all of these festivals, how is it performing live in these post Covid times?
B: It’s interesting, different because of the protocols and stuff like that. You’ve got to be safe and responsible and also accountable. And at the same time, it’s great, you’re back in front of a crowd and you’re getting a connection, getting a reaction from the music and the energy and all of that stuff and people have so much of that energy built up from the last 2½ years and they try to find any way to letting it go and blowing off some of that steam, so I think that this was helpful toward people trying to get that. At the same being an honest person that gives a shit about people, it’s also kind of scary because we’re going to some of these places where we don’t know what the venue policy is and how protected are the people, that is the one thing that concerns me. But in terms of getting out there and playing in front of people, and seeing that happiness, that crazy unbridled energy – it’s definitely a great feeling.
AM: So you have this new solo album ‘Tell You Somethin,’ produced by Scott Storch, with great featured artists, like Ty Dolla $ign, Rick Ross, Krayzie Bone, Berner and more, what went into the album and what made the sound and vibes about it?
B: Well you know originally I wasn’t planning to do a solo album. I had so much on my plate with my projects with Berner, because him and I are constantly putting out albums together; Cypress Hill obviously ‘cause we’re working on our next album - our last album in fact; and I also had Prophets of Rage going; as well as the group that I have with Xzibit and the other cat named Demrick named the Serial Killers. So I just had so much on my plate, I didn’t think that trying to fit in another project was going to be conducive to my schedule and what not. But we were doing one of my Smokebox interviews, it’s an interview in a CadIllac, in one of my low rider cars, and us smoking out and boxing out the car, just having the car, just having a conversation, not necessarily an interview. But Scott Storch was down at my studio for this - and as many artists do - we were like ‘oh we should do something.’ And we’ve known each other a long time, and our lineage dates back to Philly, way back when he was an intern at Ruffhouse Music which was the label which we were first signed to. So we go way back, and we talked about it. When artists do that sometimes you know they have full intention of working together, and other times they’re full of shit! And Scott was not full of shit, he hit me up and said ‘hey man why don’t you come down and lets vibe out,’ and all of the sessions that we had were vibe outs. He would never have one beat ready, like a folder, that’s how it is these days, producers will give you folders with beats and then you pick’em. With Scott and I, I went to his house, everyday we would have a session and we vibed out, smoked out, and thought OK if we were here what would the vibe be like and he would sort of tinker with stuff, and then we would get ideas from that and then we would just build each song based on the vibe and the idea and what not. So it was really organic the way it came out man - every song was written and produced from scratch. And I haven’t had a chance to work on an album exactly like that in a long time. You know the last Cypress Hill album ‘Elephants On Acid’ was sort of like that. We’ve always worked like that, like never really worked like take these beats and go from that, a couple times we might have done that, but primarily our vibe is let’s go to the studio and create from scratch and see what the vibe is and so it was refreshing to get back to that sort of thing in a world of folder transfers and file transfers, and shit like that. You know it just felt good to be in the studio and being produced by the producer. It's a very different sound for me in terms what people are used to hearing me on as it relates to hard core hip hop with Cypress Hill and Serial Killers and stuff like that. The stuff I do with Berner is close to what I’ve done with Scott, but this is a venture out of my own. So, we felt really good about it. It took a while to put this album out because I have so much shit going on, but I was very, very excited to put it out and glad when it finally came out, I thought it never would and shit it took so long.
AM: Yeah sometimes it feels like life goes so fast, and sometimes it’s like paint drying right?
B: Yeah, because when we were working on this album I had all this other stuff scheduled out, and it pretty much had to wait before I knocked all of that schedule down, before I could actually put it out there. I don’t like to shortchange or shortcut anything I’m working on so I didn’t want to bring something in the middle and cut that project in half. I’ve done that and it's sad when you’ve got a good project going on and you cut it cuz you’ve got to rush something else out because you have a fucking timeline. So I just threw that out the window, and I’m going to finsh all of my obligations, and then put this out so I can give the particular attention I can give it for this particular piece. So I did that and right now I’ve had these Cypress Hill shows, so I haven’t had time to do my own shows, but I know that will come over time, and as the album is building some momentum and the songs are building momentum, when it’s the right time, I’ll go out and do some shows and what not.
AM: So you had some great collabs with it and around 4/20 this year. You gave out a download to Mother Mary, and then did some NFTs around it. How is it to be in the intersection between music, cannabis and technology?
B: Well it’s cool. You know the position that we’re in, in terms of all 3 of those platforms. We're just trying to stay ahead and keep pace with what we want to do, in terms of our growth in the cannabis industry, and maintain our position in the music industry, and forge forward in technology cuz that’s where it’s all going. Technology has a lot to do with both worlds right now. And you know we've got a pretty fucking cool and efficient team so we’ve been managing to stay ahead.
AM: Back in ‘91 you dropped ‘Stoned Is The Way of the Walk,’ on your debut album Cypress Hill – had never heard something like that before – and then Black Sunday with ‘Hits From The Bong, ‘Legalize it,’ ‘I Want to Get High..’ what was the process in putting out those benefits to cannabis in the liner notes and starting to champion use and legalization of cannabis from all the way back then?
B: Well you know on our first album we were putting out our vibe: this is who we are, this is what we believe in, and we believed strongly in cannabis legalization and all that stuff so the first album was sort of the set up with ‘Stoned Is The Way of the Walk’ and ‘Light Another.’ And as we start gaining momentum groups like NORML started getting wind of who we are and offered us spokeswork and being ambassadors to the movement, and that led to meeting up with High Times and doing the High Times cover and creating a long lasting friendship with my man Steve Bloom, and getting information, and eventually we would meet Jack Herer, who opened our eyes to everything, and because of the things we learned from him, and him being our mentor in the cannabis world, we took information from his book ‘Emperor Wears No Clothes,’ and applied some of that information in our liner notes on that album. So he was a big influence on us and his knowledge was basically what carried us trough and took us to the next steps of being advocates and activists. So we were much more educated about what we were talking about and what we were trying to accomplish in terms of turning people on to it. So we owe a whole lot to Jack Herer, yeah, so it was basically his knowledge that inspired us to put that sort of information on the Black Sunday album.
AM: So on the 4th album you dropped ‘Dr. Greenthumb’ and it became a huge underground concert anthem with your community. What was it like to go in that morning to write the lyrics so quickly, and from an entrepreneurship lesson what it means to stay true to your vision when partners or labels might try to steer that off course?
B: Well that song was destiny when I look at it now. You know at the time I thought well this is a great beat and some things just.. so I had written a sketch for a radio show that we were doing previously to making that album. Bobo and myself were working at 92.3 The Beat, and we wrote this sketch, and it was basically an infomercial type sketch which obviously makes the album, we eventually make that the intro for the song. But when I got to the studio and I heard that beat. Boom the theme Dr. Greenthumb just hit me and I started writing right away, I think it was like 10 in the morning I got to the studio. and Muggs knew I that was going to the love that beat, so he left the reels up and gave the engineer instruction to play me that song immediately when I walked in. So I started working on it before anyone got there, I was probably done writing it in 45min and done dropping it in 1 hour 30 min, or something like 1 hour 15min. And I remember specifically Sony hearing that and thinking it was great, but they wanted me to change the lyrics and make it not about weed and make it more like ‘Insane in the Brain.’ And I said, no we already got an Insane In The Brain, this song is what it is and we’re not going to change it. And they were like ‘alright, well I don’t think we’re going to get much radio on it, it’s a great song, but radio still isn’t playing weed songs.’ And I said well, you know I guess that is just a chance we’ll have to take. And the record company didn’t know the song was going to be a cult anthem or one of those underground anthems, they had no clue and thought it would be just a waste of a song. And it became one of our biggest singles in Europe, and then it trickled down here to the States. It never really caught on the radio, but when we played this song live, it would give the same energy off as an Insane In The Brain. Like people would just go nuts for it. It became one of our main anthems. And fast forward to now, California is now a medical state, now I that thought would be a cool brand name for me to come into the cannabis market. Which was my intention all along. And I thought to myself if Cypress isn’t going to come into it right now, then I’ll come into it as Dr. Greenthumb, and because of the music and the familiarlity of our fans as cannabis users, it was sort of a no brainer. It sort of took us a while to get momentum, because we’ve always been in cultivation, and the cannabis stuff, and but now we had brand to put what we were producing behind and that’s where it all started from - that song, bringing it into the cannabis industry, and making it my brand.
AM: You’re dropping Dr. Greenthumb dispensaries all over California, tell us about the team behind it, the mouth watering flavors, and especially the journey behind the potent and tasty Insane OG?
B: I think our team’s been together since ‘94-95. My partner Kenji Fujishima and I, we sort of started off together in the cannabis lane, learning how to grow and stuff like that. Me being on the road all the time, I couldn’t put as much time into the grow out as he did. So he became our master cultivator. Now for a couple years we sort of separated, and I started doing Jet Fuel with another partner, but that eventually went away as we had creative differences of where I thought the brand needed to go and things like that. They went and did their own thing. And Kenji and I fortunately had been partners in BREAL TV forever, since we started the platform, with livestreaming and doing some of the first podcasts before they were called podcasts. Kenji and I have had a long history. So when we both were free from obligations we had had with other people, we decided let’s partner back up, make the Greenthumb brand bigger, and call our strain brand Insane as a tribute to Cypress Hill and what not. So we’ve been together cultivating probably 25 years or so and we were maybe one of the first 6-7 guys in Southern California that had the OG Kush cut, which was to become one of the biggest strains in Southern California, and maybe even the world for a time, because it was so sought out and highly touted as the best cannabis in the world, up until maybe 10 years ago where all the exotic flavor blasts started happening, OG was the premier flower, and we were one of the ones that had it, and Kenji being one of the best at it, he produced some of the best Kush in Southern California for a long time, so our reputations as cultivators and ambassadors were constantly on the rise. So we’ve just been putting it together, piecing our team together little by little, getting the right guys that can represent, our company, our brand, our strains. So far we’ve accomplished Phase 1, and we’re rolling up to Phase 2.
AM: It’s a Big Phase 1! Congrats on everything. How many dispensaries do you have now in Californina?
B: Right now we have 7, we just opened in San Diego and we’re looking at a few other spots now. But the main objective is that after we get the spots that we feel are most important here in California, the next step is getting into the other cannabis friendly states, like Michigan, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Nevada, Oklahoma - everywhere that we can possibly plant a flag, we feel we’re going to do great. So locking down California is Phase 1, Phase 2 is now going into the different states that we can plant that flag and give that California experience.
AM: New York is stubbornly turning around. East Coast definitely needs some West Coast Love. Eventually we’ll be there..
B: Yeah I mean frankly it surprises me, you know, being New York has been in the forefront of so many things, in terms of entertainment, fashion, culinary - mostly everything - and for it to be one of the last on the cannabis train, that’s just crazy, especially when you think about it that High Times was based out of NY, and they do a lot of cannabis events, Central Park even, I remember doing those small clubs at Wetlands and stuff like that, so it’s a trip that NY is so far behind, when you’d think they’re so progressive they’d be in front of it. Even in California, to have Colorado legalize before us, that was crazy. But it all eventually comes around, because I think you know, the powers that be that run the state see the revenue stream that cannabis creates, and they’re waiting to see how the other states do, and how they work it and if it’s successful, and how they can implement it without upsetting their conservative voters or religious voters.
AM: Tell us about the Phuncky Feel Tips, how long did it take from coming up with it to putting it out there.
B: Phuncky Feel Tips, I created maybe 3-4 years before they actually came out. I was doing a deal with Roor.de for a licensing deal to create two lines of glass with Cypress Hill, one being an expensive collection line and the other one being a more affordable line. And as we’re doing that, I happened to be in Amsterdam and we were on tour, and were rolling in front our hotel, or maybe Greenhouse, I can’t exactly remember that part.. but we were rolling up, and I love smoking joints with the tip, but those paper tips were killing me, for me I looked at them in frustration, and I said why the fuck hasn’t anyone ever made any glass tips for joints or blunts. And I thought OK when I get home I’m going to call my glassblower friends that I know and make prototypes and try to put these out. Being that I was already doing a deal with Roor, I presented to them as we’re already doing this bong deal. And at first - they were reluctant as never doing something like that or if people would buy them. I said I didn’t care if people would buy them, I want to do them, and I know that people will buy them, and I knew from my experience once we made my first prototype, because I made a prototype from a different glassblower, and then I presented it. So I had at least a few weeks of R&D with it, and I was like I need to make more prototypes, because I’m not smoking another joint without one of these, and I knew if that happened to me then it was going to happen to others. So I had the prototypes made and I sent them to him in Germany. They made their prototypes, which were better than the ones I had made, and we agreed those were going to be the ones that went to market. And we put them out and it was slow going at first. It was a new product, and people were like what the fuck were these. How do you use them, how do you roll with them, how do you stick your joint in them? And people didn’t get you put them in the joint, not in that you put the joint in the tips. But once they caught! And I mean they went – you know! And now there is a collector community that collects all our custom color coordinated tips like baseball cards - I never thought that would be happening. I thought we’d sell some tips and people would have a different smoking experience, but they went beyond that. And that was great. And now to see people that have knocked off the product, and see them everywhere now, even though it’s kind of shitty, that people knocked our idea off and put it in their products. It goes to show you we’re ahead of the game. And we still make these tips and we’re ahead of everyone at that. It shows you my theory that once people smoke with a smoking tip they weren’t going to go back. Now these days people are spoiled.. your average smoker that isn’t necessary educated about the tips, they’ll smoke those paper tips because that’s all they know - but once they get a hold of a Phuncky Feel Tip it’s over! I remember when it first started catching, there were certain glassblowers like ‘oh man, you didn’t create that, it’s been in the market forever.’ And I was like ‘OK find one, show me one, I issue a challenge to any of you motherfuckers, that is not wood, that’s not plastic that predates my tip..' And not one of them could do it, and they were just mad because someone that didn’t blow glass created something they could’ve easily done. And then after the fact that I’ve brought it out, you’d have all these guys went and made some tips because of me, because some were glassblowers and they could do that, but I've never gone after them, whatever they do, people are going to put it on my back anyway and will say that’s B-Real's idea, that’s the Phuncky Feel tip, and I never took too much offense to it, I just say I’ve had a great idea, here it is!
AM: Speaking of glass we saw the Dr. Greenthumb’s x Stündenglass Gravity Hookah on your IG because we check it out. It looks so elegant and smooth. Tell us about that partnership and what it’s like to use that.
B: Oh man, Seth Rogan was the first guy that they filmed with it and he blew it up and I think that they realized they had something there. And I think their idea was to get it in the hands of real celebrities that smoke weed and have influence. And I think they were working with G Pen, and I was working with G Pen on some of our Dr. Greenthumb's X G Pen collaborative products, like the Dash and the Connect and the Roam and while we were talking about that they were like what about doing a collaboration with Stünden. And I was ‘like yeah sure, send me over a sample of the product and let us fuck with it, and see.’ And if I like ‘I’m definitely down, but if I don’t like it I’m not gonna do it because I’m not going to put my name on shit that I would not use.’ So they send it over, and we immediately start fucking with it, but we’re not fucking it with flower, because you know I stopped hitting glass bongs a long time ago, just because I feel like at some point the hit gets stale, and I don’t want a stale hit ever, so I stick to smoking the joints. So what we did was we took one the connects that we have and we adapted it on to the Stünden because they had an adapter for that. We were using the Stünden for concentrate as opposed to flower, it was so awesome, that actually became part of our Dr. Greenthumb podcast where there’s a portion of the show, it was so awesome, and actually became part of our Dr. Greenthumb podcast where there’s a portion of the show where the last half hour where we take questions and comments and shoutouts from the fans, and a lot times they’ll be like we want 3 flips from B-Real, meaning they want me to hit that Stündenglass and take 3 hits of the glass and that became a thing, and when we started highlighting that type of shit on our podcast people started running to our dispensaries to buy those Stündenglass, we could not keep them in fucking stock. People use it with flower, I’ve seen Wiz Khalifa use it with the flower, but for us we use it for the concentrate, and it fucking works amazing. If anybody was going to do it, I would recommend to do it with the concentrate, do it with the connect, and it’s lovely. Bobo, he hit the first record with them, he hit 10 flips. One of our other guys did 15 flips and one of our other co-hosts did 20 flips and stuff like that. It’s devastating, but it’s a cool experience, people love that shit and they love seeing people testing their metal trying to do like 10-20 flips. I’m good at 3.
AM: Yeah 3 looks like a good start, definitely!
B: 3 is a good start..
AM: We cover a lot in food, from clean eating and meal prep, to fine dining and splurges. We loved the show Bong Appétit on Viceland that you hosted in ‘19, it was groundbreaking. What’s your take of cooking with cannabis, and edibles in general.
B: I think it's awesome. Because it gives people that may be a little intimidated by smoking it, a chance to have the experience through culinary. A lot of the people that aren’t educated in the cannabis world, that maybe are curious, it was the perfect show for them as they can find ways to infuse. You can infuse any meal, you can infuse any dessert, any app, and that show was sort of like a guideline to doing that. Since then there have been like 3 other shows that have knocked that show off that are doing relatively the same thing. But I think shows like that is important, whether it’s us doing it, whether its Kelis doing it, or whoever else - it’s educating people, and showing people a different way. Because not everybody wants to smoke, it's kind of loud when you're smoking joints or blunts or bongs, Its loud, bongs. Its loud, and some people are more lowkey than that and so you have a significant amount of people would rather do edibles and this is one way they can create their own edibles if they have any culinary skills, or at least to know they can find it somewhere, that there are meal prep places that can infuse food whether its CBD full spectrum or just THC. So I think shows like that are important, the lifetime that they last on the air that’s subjective. I think we got caught up with Vice while they were in a transitional period. I think that they needed more room for their news platform and what not. So Bong Appetit didn’t get brought back, but it was great while it lasted. I had fun with Vanessa and Miguel, they’re great people. Vanessa sometimes comes and co-hosts on Dr. Greenthumb podcasts and all that stuff, so we still stay in contact. And we’re constantly talking about maybe creating another show somewhere down the line, but more I think dinner party conversational style rather than competitive cooking and stuff like that. That was fun to see people doing that. but I think there is a bit of conversation to be had and a little bit more education to be spilled out there if you would do a dinner party style, but we’re working on it..
AM: In the age of Covid and smoking, and vaping, it’s more important than ever to elevate your workout and wellness game, what kinds of things are you doing to workout - are you hitting the gym, doing stuff at home, or doing more adventure fitness outside?
B: That’s a part of my culture, it’s a part of me. I’ve made that to be part of my daily ritual. Like I pray everyday, I work out. Like I smoke everyday, I workout. Because realistically doing what we do in terms of performances, it's always a high energy show and we’re always trying to give 110%. And so you got to stay in shape for that. And just trying to stay in shape for ourselves, for our families, trying to be as healthy as possible - maintaining a proper diet and workout schedule and stuff like that to keep healthy and fit, and to put the right fuel in our system - and the fact of smoking cannabis the way we do, is also therapeutic and healing benefit from that. So you know, I think that’s one of the reasons we’re still able to do it on the level we do, performing at a festival, a small club or an arena, of whatever - we're always ready for it. Because we always maintain to keep busy, to keep active. Now in our fucking 50s, we’re watching what we put in our bodies, sure we still have a good time and splurge now and then. But we’ve always been guys in terms of Cypress Hill that were into sports and competing, like we’d play a lot basketball and football back in the day. Sen Dog and Muggs played a lot of baseball; Muggs and I trained in martial arts and boxing, so we’re constantly finding ways to keep busy, training and keep ourself active – besides from performing on the stage because that’s a workout itself – but we workout to do that just like an athlete works out to play their perspective sport. So we feel like that is really important. And what I’m glad to see is a lot of golden era rappers, start to get in the gym, take care of themselves, investing the time and energy and putting it back in their bodies. I see Method Man’s fucking workout grind, crazy. Jim Jones always had a crazy workout grind. Action Bronson, I gotta tip my hat to my bro, because he’s working his ass off these days. It’s great to see guys like that taking care of themselves like that man. And us, at Cypress Hill, we’ve always maintained to do that, it’s part of our culture, it’s who we are. When we are on the road, we’ll all meet up at the gym and get our pre-show workout or day-off workout, and then back on the grind. We don’t stop, it’s important to us. We wanna be fit, we don’t want to be those dudes that are huffing and puffing and can’t complete the show, you know!
AM: It’s been real fun to catch up today! Is there any news or teasers on the upcoming Cypress Hill album?
B: Yeah, we’ll be popping that off in March of next year. We have one of the singles from that album coming out pretty soon. We released ‘Champion Sound’ early for the MLB video game, but there’s another one coming called ‘Open Your Mind,’ and we look forward to people hearing that, and I believe we are going to make the video to that pretty soon cause its going to be the lead single and what not. There's much more music ahead of me, I have so much more coming out in the next year and a half it’s crazy, but you know it’s all paced.
AM: Well that’s great – Congrats again on everything! The entrepreneurship lessons for people that you give - of just being yourself, doing something different, working in a big market, doing what you love - those are huge lessons for everybody!
B: Yeah I mean the one thing that anyone should take away from this is you get what you put into it. If you go halfway, all you’re going to do is go halfway. If you put it all in, and go all in, and dedicate yourself to it, you can get wherever you want to go! Obviously, you’ve got to have talent, and a little bit of luck, and a whole lot of faith, that you will do it - but you have to put the work behind it, and when it’s the time, you meet the right people, the doors open up, you go through that door, and it’s all about what you do from there. You know you can take yourself as far as you want to go. So I would just say to anyone, believe in yourself, believe in what you’re trying to do, and go at it 110%!”
IG @breal
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Front Cover, PG 18, 21, 30/Insane OG BTS | PG 16, 22, 33 + Back Cover Eitan Miskevich | PG 24 G Pen | PG 27 Pedro Garcia | PG 28 Kenji Fujishima | PG 30 Insane Cookies/Justin Mcivor |
Read the SEP ISSUE #69 of Athleisure Mag and see Bringing the Smoke with B-Real in mag.
Governors Ball celebrated its 10th Anniversary this year with a 3-Day Festival at Citi Field in Queens, New York. The show marked that live music was back and many artists were thrilled to be on stage for high energy, intimate connection and to delight their fans. Here are some of our favorite highlights from the festival - indeed everyone rejoiced amidst the exhilarating performances and anthems of this big lineup.
IG @govballnyc
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 156, 158, 168 Getty Selects | PG 160 - 167 + 170 Taylor Hill |
Read the SEP ISSUE #69 of Athleisure Mag and see Governors Ball in mag.
EZOO is one of our favorite NYC Festivals and this Labor Day on Randall’s Island Park, EZOO 2021 delivered another brilliant experience of top loved electronic acts, cool stages and tasty food/drink vendors as the US begins to re-open. With big sounds, cool vibes and sunshine abound, here are some of our favorite artists from this year’s event. Minds blown again – EZOO keeps proving it’s definitely a can’t miss event!
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY Alive Coverage
Read the SEP ISSUE #69 of Athleisure Mag and see Electric Zoo in mag.
Read the AUG ISSUE #68 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Adam Levine in mag.
For many of us, this summer has been one that we have enjoyed adding events to our schedule, being out and about with friends and family! We caught up with country music's singer/songwriter Tyler Rich who stayed connected with his fans during quarantine with his virtual shows and who is in prep to hit the road with his Two Thousand Miles headline tour as well as touring with Chris Lane's Fill Them Boots Tour this fall!
We talk about how he got into the industry, how he navigated quarantine as an artist, we chat about songs that he created we're fans of, being a sports fan, how he stays fit and other projects that he is working on.
ATHLEISURE MAG: What was the moment that you fell in love with music?
TYLER RICH: When I was 8 years old, my cousin took me to see George Strait in concert in Sacramento. I always loved music as a kid, but it was seeing it performed live, that sparked the fire that it was what I needed to do with my life! Also, it doesn’t hurt when your first concert was the King of Country Music himself.
AM: Where do you get inspiration as a songwriter for your songs and what’s your process like?
TR: It comes from all around me really. My wife is my forever muse, and she makes it easy for me. But, a lot of the time I pick up ideas from conversations my friend’s and I are having, digging into their lives for some content. I joke with my wife that I wish we fought more -- strictly for the writing content that would come out of it. I can only write so many happy love songs about her ha ha!
AM: How do you define your sound?
TR: My music is energetic, fun, upbeat, and hopefully uplifting for those that listen. My version of country embodies the sounds of California and Tennessee, all at the same time.
AM: We have talked with a number of artists who prior to COVID-19 were focused on making music and juggling their touring schedules to adjusting to what we all experienced in 2020. How was the last year for you and how did you approach your music?
TR: I spent the year really diving in on what I wanted the next chapter of my music to sound like, how to do some recording from home and figuring out ways to connect with my fans on a deeper level. We had all the down time in the world to spend nights on IG live chatting with fans and creating lasting relationships. It was really amazing to have so much more time than a quick handshake at a meet and greet.
AM: Many artists and creatives found that during 2020, they wanted to maintain their connection with fans virtually. What did you do during that time?
TR: I created a virtual tour called “The Distance,” a play on lyrics in my song “The Difference.” This consisted of Tuesday nights “Tyler & Friends Sing Behind the Scene,” where I invited songwriter friends of mine to come on and tell the stories behind hits they wrote for other artists and then perform them online. I would also cover one of their hits, and play a song the two of us had written together. Friday nights were “Feels Like Home” where I just hung out for an hour playing new songs I’d written that week and getting fan feedback, since we didn’t have a stage to do that like usual. We wrapped up with my wife Sabina and I hosting “Leave Her Wild Sunday Brunch.” Since we couldn’t be drinking mimosas on rooftops, I had to do something to make her happy ha ha. We treated this like a variety show, opening with good news in the world, playing drinking trivia with surprise celebrity guests, and closing each show with an artist performing their current single. It was so much fun! And, as I think about all these now, I'm realizing how much I miss it all.
AM: In terms of how you connected with your fans over the past few months, with all of us re-entering the world again, how important is it to you to still embrace levels of the connections that you were able to have with your fans virtually while going back to in-person interactions?
TR: I would say my inbox for direct messages was at an all-time high during quarantine, and I did my best to respond to all of them. I still try to be as reachable as possible for fans that want to chat, whether it’s about music or just life in general. I have no career without these amazing people, so building relationships with them is special for me as well.
AM: On Two Thousand Miles, we really enjoyed 11:11 what is the inspiration behind this song?
TR: Thank you! “11:11” is one of the few songs on the album I didn’t write, but it’s from some of my favorite writers in Nashville, including the late Andrew Dorff. The first time I heard it when it was pitched to me, I was floored. The emotion behind it, the desperation and heartbreak in the lyric, and melody all drew me in. I knew I needed to cut it right away.
AM: Also on that album is Billie Jean, for the longest time my favorite cover version has been Chris Cornell’s but I truly enjoyed your take on the song. With it being such an iconic song, how do you approach making it your own while still paying homage to Michael Jackson's original?
TR: That’s a massive compliment thank you! His version is incredible. It’s terrifying to do a cover of the “King” of pop, when the brutal Wild West of the internet is ready to rip you apart, but I tried my hardest to make it “me,” yet true to the song as much as possible. I think the most important part of covering something and making it your own, is keeping the vocal melody the same. The music and production can change, but if the melody and lyric change, then you're altering the recognizable part of othe song to fans. I always felt it was such a dark, dirty, blues bar kind of story, that was in a pop song’s body, so I brought a little grit to it.
AM: "Better Than You’re Used To" is such a beautiful song and really makes me think of past relationships as well as my current one. What is the inspiration behind it?
TR: I love that it connects with you that way! My little sister was going through the heartbreak of the century. In a conversation we were having she said “I feel like I’m putting so much in, and getting nothing back.” I told her she needed someone to love her better than she was used to, it rang right when I said it. So, I wrote it down to revisit in the studio one day. The day we wrote the song, I took the inspiration from that, and mixed it with the state I met my wife in. She was sad, feeling defeated, and had given up on love. She just needed someone to love her the way she needed. The song really came out pretty quick, the most honest ones do!
AM: With the vaccines and things opening up again, I see that you have quite the schedule coming up. You’re headlining a tour with Shy Carter and you will also be on Chris Lane’s tour this fall, what are you looking forward to as you get back on the road?
TR: I’m really looking forward to seeing all the fans that we’ve only virtually been able to connect with, but in person! Meet and greets will be so much sweeter, and it’s gonna feel like seeing old friends I bet. I’ve released a lot of new music since the pandemic, and seeing everyone singing new songs, is always the best.
AM: When it comes to performing, do you have pre and post rituals/routines that you do to prepare pre-show or to come down from the energy post-show?
TR: Pre-show is all about connecting with my band. Spending time together, some shots, and building that bond we have all the way up until we are on stage. We always play the best shows when we are having a great time right before running up there to start. After show is all about solo time. Spending 5-10 minutes alone. Cooling down my voice, and taking some mental health time to appreciate what I just got to do, make some notes of what to work on, and then disconnect myself from that so I don’t think about it for the rest of the night.
AM: Looking at your IG, we love seeing you and your wife Sabina. How did you guys meet?
TR: We met at Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio, CA in 2016. Just a traditional “hey what’s your name” meeting, nothing involving any dating apps or social media ha. We were all in from that first hello pretty quickly.
AM: My boyfriend and I have been dating for 11 years and we are also co-founders of Athleisure Media as well as other ventures. What is your advice to power house couples in terms of supporting one another in their separate and/or join endeavors and balancing the hectic schedules that exist?
TR: That’s amazing! Congrats, I love that. I can just say from personal experience, the more you try and compete with someone’s passion, or life outside of you, the more people pull away from each other. Lift your partner up, celebrate their wins, push them hard toward their goals, and be their rock. You have to love all of the person you are with, not just part of them, and their careers and passions make up most of who they are, so love that side of them, and I promise your relationship will be so healthy!
AM: What are you working on currently and will you be collaborating with anyone that you’re able to share?
TR: I’m working on what will be following up "Better Than You’re Used To” so heading into the studio to cut a couple new songs this month and have a couple collaboration ideas coming up that I’m hoping come to fruition this fall!
AM: With a full summer ahead are there any projects whether musically or outside of it that you can talk about?
TR: I’m taking a trip to Sweden in mid-September for a media tour and possibly some shows. I’m ecstatic for this trip, and hoping Covid doesn’t halt the plans! Other exciting stuff in the works that involves TV, but I can’t quite talk about it yet, soon though!
AM: When you’re not performing on stage, how do you take time for yourself?
TR: I’m such an introvert when I’m at home. I’m the definition of an extrovert as soon as we are traveling, but other than that, I’m quiet, at home, doing anything but music. I love going to movies, the zoo or a museum alone to walk around and take everything in at my own pace, just disconnect for a couple hours. Alone time is so important, and really sets me up to not be so anxious when surround by so many people every weekend on the road.
AM: What are your go-to workouts to stay fit?
TR: I love my Peloton at home. It’s become part of my weekly routine for sure. Sometimes getting workouts in, can be not as frequent as we’d like on the road so I try to be as active as possible when there is time -- using my jump rope between reps to keep my heart rate up and making each workout count a little more. I also enjoy going for a few-mile run in the cities we are playing through the downtown, a city park or wherever I can.
AM: We know you’re a sports fan from your love with the 49ers and the Warriors - what are you looking forward to next season now that we can resume going to games?
TR: I’m literally counting down the minutes to go to a 49ers game! Being in the stadium is one of my happiest places in the world, surrounded by all the fans, my friends from back home, and watching the guys play. It’s just right around the corner!
AM: Tell me about Rich Rescues and why this is so important to you.
TR: My biggest passion outside of music is for animals. My rescue pup, Abby, has been with me for almost 16 years, and I wish I could rescue all the dogs and cats in the world, though my schedule just doesn’t allow it. So, on the road I visit a couple rescues a week in the cities we are in and promote the animals needing home to my fan’s in that town. Our success rate is almost 100% of finding homes for the animals we have promoted online through Rich Rescues on Instagram and the in-person visits. I wish I could do even more, but know we’re still just getting started.
IG @TylerRich
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Tyler Rich
Read the AUG ISSUE #68 of Athleisure Mag and see Staying Connected with Tyler Rich in mag.
It's always fun to check in with those that we enjoy listening to their songs when we're working out, getting work done or simply passing the time. As we begin to add more events to our schedules from music festivals, concerts of our favorite artists and those that we can still enjoy virtually, it's exciting to see how we're continuing to transition into a new normal about the past 18 months that we have navigated.
We caught up with EDM DJ/Producer, Will Sparks to talk about the Melbourne Bounce, how he connected with music and made it his career, his upcoming EP and more.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with music?
WILL SPARKS: I became properly obsessed with heavy metal at around 14, then Dance music at 16.
AM: When did you realize that you wanted to produce/DJ?
WS: Back then, many songs were unattainable. I was so fixated on the Melbourne Underground sound, that I figured, if I can't have them, then i'll make my own.
As a DJ, experimenting on my friend's set of decks. After a while I finally beat matched and transitioned a song perfectly. That's when I knew.
AM: You’re known for pioneering the “Melbourne Bounce” sound. Can you tell us more about what this is?
WS: Melbourne had it's own nightlife community. It was a family. There were so many clubs, none which tried to compete. The DJ's made their own music, unique to them. The sound was like nothing else in the world, ahead of it's time. The guys I look up to Kalus, Orkestrated, Stevie Mink, Joel Fletcher, Chardy & Heath Renata just to name a few. They influenced me to how I approached my sound. They were the real creators and pioneers of the original Melbourne underground. You can identify it as a 'kick & low bass, driving leads and large builds' but you have to hear to fall in love with it. I was in love with it - but I also had my own taste and swing on what it then evolved toward. I was placed in the perfect timing when the Melbourne sound became global and tracks i was making were getting played by the biggest DJs in the world.
AM: What’s it like when you are producing? How do you approach creating and ultimately creating a new sound? Where does your inspiration come from?
WS: What’s it like? There isn't a better feeling in the world when you're onto something you're absolutely loving.
I tend to blur out anything else that's going on, i don't listen to any music. I have my original hero's & always reminisce on my favourite records. This allows me to always create something that no one else is doing because it organically comes directly from within. People are so distracted by 'whats working' and therefore make what everyone else is making.
AM: We all have our COVID stories in terms of what we did while we had quite a lot of time to focus on various areas of our lives, what did you do during this time musically as well as staying in contact with your fans?
WS: I made an EP. I changed my sound completely. It was grounding having so much time instead of being away constantly. I always respond to as many fans as i can on Instagram but in terms of live streams, I like to keep them at a low. As I said, I don't really listen to any one else's music, so my sets are very unique and mostly full of ID's. I'd rather save it for the live shows to come.
AM: You released “Nothing More, Nothing Less” via Armada Music – tell us about this EP and what we can expect from it?
WS: As I said, I changed my sound. You would call it very techno inspired. I love the genre, but I also love being different to the genre, but I also love being different to the pack. If you like getting hyped, than expect some energy.
AM: Do you have any projects that you’re working on that you can share with us?
WS: So many, it's an endless roll out of records when you make music every day. It's too bad releases have to be a minimum of 4 weeks apart. If you see my catalogue you'd notice I don't collaborate much. I've decided to change that.
AM: What’s your schedule look like in terms of hitting the road as there’s nothing like being able to play live with an audience?
WS: I'm in Australia. It's never a certainty of what's ahead. I am so over it. shows come up and are then ruined by lockdowns. I just hope the whole world is back to normality as a whole ASAP.
AM: When you’re not making music, clearly you’re in great shape, what are you go-to workouts that you enjoy doing?
WS: Lifting heavy & eating like a freak. To be honest, I've had some injuries lately due to working out too much! I have too much time on my hands these days. My go to work outs are strength training but I tend to enjoy the odd HIIT.
IG: @Will_Sparks
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Will Sparks
Read the AUG ISSUE #68 of Athleisure Mag and see Get Hyped with Will Sparks in mag.
