Super-Producer Mike Dean Talks Touring With the Weeknd, New Compilation and Forthcoming All-Star Album — But Not Beyonce or Kid Cudi

Taking the next step? Harry Styles and Olivia have talked about getting engaged, but there’s one relationship milestone they’d prefer to tick off first.

Serena Williams is on fire! After beating Danka Kovinic 6-3 in her first match at the US Open on Monday, the tennis professional beat Anett Kontaveit after three sets. The first set was close for Williams, who only beat her by one point, 7-6. But Kovinic came back ready for vengeance, winning the set 6-2.Williams put the second set behind her, and came back hard for the third, resetting and taking the final round 6-2.

Khloé Kardashian welcomed a baby boy with her ex Tristan Thompson, and she is loving the journey of being a mom of two. The Kardashians star and mom to 4-year-old daughter True Thompson told Elle she is taking the role seriously. “I know it’s cliché, but I love everything, even the hard parts,” she told the publication.

Kate Moss’ daughter Lila is following in her mom’s heels. The young model shared a photo from the campaign on her Instagram, and she looks like a spitting image of her mother. “So grateful to be a part of the new @calvinklein campaign by @alasdairmclellan #mycalvins #ad,“ she wrote in the caption.It’s the first Calvin Klein campaign for the 19-year-old, whose father is Jefferson Hack.

Gloria Estefan. The honor also celebrates the singer’s 65th anniversary and chart-topping 1989 hit, “Get on Your Feet.”Inspired by the iconic music video and staying true to her multicultural roots, the Gloria Estefan Barbie Doll features a black jacket with intricate gold detailing, jeweled accents, and a dramatic oversized lace sleeve.

Sasha Obama is back in school! The 21 year old was spotted walking to class on the University of Southern California’s campus this Monday, looking stylish and cool with a purple top, boyfriend jeans and a classy Poppy Lissiman tote bag.Malia Obama wore an oversized denim jacket with these celebrity-loved bootsSasha Obama shows off her California Boho style as she stops by the salon

Housing plans that ‘threaten the whole identity’ of a Rochdale village have sparked outrage among green belt campaigners. Proposals for 450 new ‘family homes’ in Norden and Bamford have long been included in Places for Everyone (PfE) - the region’s controversial joint development plan, now awaiting government sign-off.

A senior figure at HS2 has been poached by the billionaire Issa brothers as they pledge a 'laser-focus' on helping their staff and customers through the cost of living crisis.

Manchester United centre-back Will Fish is set to join Scottish club Hibernian on loan.

A decision on whether to build four football pitches and a clubhouse on green belt land in Radcliffe has been delayed as councillors said they needed further information. Wyresdale AFC is hoping to move from its base off Inverbeg Drive in Breightmet, Bolton, to land off Radcliffe Moor Road.

Supermarket giant Sainsbury's has issued a message to everyone who shops in its stores. The retailer is bringing in a huge change that will affect every one of its supermarkets.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorVeteran rapper and activist Meek Mill and talent agency WME have formed a strategic partnership focusing on the next wave of cultural leaders, according to an announcement issued Thursday. The agency will also represent Mill in all areas.The relationship is part of Meek’s new initiative Culture Currency, “designed to expand Meek’s business while identifying and supporting his network of artists, athletes, and entertainers so that they can take better advantage of their influence on culture, and open up more opportunities for them within the entertainment, brand and business space,” the announcement states.WME will represent Mill in all areas while working together to identify talent to potentially represent or partner with, and in turn who can benefit from the resources and global reach of the agency that spans film, television, music, books, digital, endorsements and more.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDespite some “headwinds” including an unusually strong dollar, a lighter-than-usual release schedule and several short-term expenses, Warner Music posted a solid third quarter of 2022, with a strong showing from its publishing division and 12% revenue growth that the company stressed would have been closer to 15% if not for the above factors. The company also announced a new deal with Meta (formerly Facebook) and several upcoming legal settlements that it says will bring in $25 million in OBITDA, both of which will have a strong impact on Q4.“We delivered solid double-digit growth on a constant-currency basis, even against the backdrop of a slowdown in the advertising market and some one-time items affecting year-over-year comparisons,” said Steve Cooper, CEO, Warner Music Group.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLamont Dozier, one-third of the legenday “Holland-Dozier-Holland” songwriting and production trio who wrote many of Motown Records’ biggest hits for the Supremes, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Martha and the Vandellas and others, has died at the age of 81. The news was confirmed by his son Lamont Dozier Jr on social media; no cause of death has been released as yet.Hits written and produced by Dozier with siblings Brian and Eddie Holland read like a greatest-hits of Motown’s early years: “Where Did Our Love Go,” “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “Stop! in the Name of Love,” “How Sweet It Is (to Be Loved by You),” “Baby Love,” “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” “You Keep Me Hanging On” and many others.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorUTA announced today that  Robert Gibbs has joined the agency as a partner and co-head of its Atlanta office.In his new role, Gibbs will join UTA Atlanta co-heads Rich Paul, Arthur Lewis, and Steve Cohen to help grow the agency’s footprint across music, sports, film, fine arts, television, podcasts, and more, according to the announcement.“Robert’s experience in the industry, combined with his enthusiasm to help us build in Atlanta, made him the perfect choice to join UTA and our leadership team there,” said UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer. Last September UTA and its partner company Klutch Sports Group established an office in the city.“Over the past several years the momentum at UTA has been undeniable,” said Gibbs.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTwo weeks after Variety reported that Britney Spears and Elton John were working up a brand-new recording of John’s 1971 song, “Tiny Dancer,” the remake has been confirmed: Reps for both artists sent out an announcement Monday confirmed that the song, “Hold Me Closer,” is due in the coming days. There was little information in the announcement except single artwork, which consists of the title, a rose (Britney) and a rocket (Elton).According to reports last month, Spears met with John in mid-July in a Beverly Hills recording studio for a new version of the song.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorVeteran Russian musical collective and  activists Pussy Riot will be joined by some high-profile guests for their forthcoming concert at Los Angeles’ El Rey Theater on Wednesday: comic Sarah Silverman will be performing a full set, while Big Freedia — fresh from her prominent guest spot on Beyonce’s “Break My Soul” —  Salem Ilese, Josiah, Boyfriend, Slayyyter and Eva Elfie will be making special guest appearances, along with previously announced artist Rei Ami.The appearance is a rare high-profile slot for Silverman, who has been keeping a relatively low profile in recent months. Big Freedia and Salem Ilese both appear on Pussy Riot’s “Matriarchy” mixtape, which dropped on Friday. Ilese also released the viral hit “Crypto Boy,” and for which the group’s Nadya Tolokonnikova created the single artwork.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe ongoing feud between former friends and collaborators Kanye West and Kid Cudi took another turn on Monday, when West took a shot at his erstwhile pal as part of an elaborate online dig at Pete Davidson, who reports say has ended his relationship with West’s estranged wife Kim Kardashian. (Read that sentence again: Such is the life of a virtuoso internet troll.)The dig actually came a subheadline in a mock New York Times cover that is just the latest in West’s arguably abusive public behavior toward Davidson and Kardashian, which has ranged from verbal threats to elaborate jokes, such as West burying a Davidson effigy in the video for his song with the Game, “Eazy.” His latest “prank” came in the form of a fake headline reading “Skete Davidson Dead at 28” (“Skete” being his nickname for Davidson, derived from vulgar Chicago slang), with the bottom reading: “Kid Cudi meant to play funeral but fearful of bottle throwers.” The Cudi mention refers to a July 22 incident during the elaborate drama around the Rolling Loud Festival, where West was originally scheduled to be a headliner but abruptly pulled out just days before the event.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs New York discovered in no uncertain terms last summer when the star-studded “We Love NYC” concert in Central Park was abruptly canceled less than halfway before it was over, the threat of lightning is no joke when it comes to outdoor events. And although thunderclouds and some serious lightning flashes were a backdrop for Khruangbin and Vieux Farka Touré concert at a BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn concert in the New York borough’s Prospect Park, they passed to the south without a drop of rain, and the completely sold-out concert went on without incident from Mother Nature — except for some characteristically brutal NYC summer humidity.Khruangbin, a trio from Houston that plays mostly instrumental music, is a band as unusual as their name, and what was perhaps most remarkable about the concert was the size of the densely packed crowd — there aren’t many bands like them who are popular enough to sell out New York’s 6,000-seat Radio City Music Hall, which they did earlier this year.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMTV has announced the first round of performers for the 2022 VMAs, taking place live from New Jersey’s Prudential Center on Sunday, August 28th at 8PM ET/PT.Anitta, J Balvin, Marshmello x Khalid and Panic! at the Disco are the first round of announced artists, with more to follow in the coming weeks.Brazilian singer Anitta, who played a vivid 45-minute set of her hits at Coachella in April, will make her VMA debut with the TV  performance of her new single, “Envolver.” She is also up for her first VMAs award in the Best Latin category, making her the first Brazilian artist to be nominated for a Moon Person.Veteran Colombia artist Balvin will return to the VMA state with the TV premiere of “Nivel de Perreo” with Ryan Castro, returning for the first time since his epic on-stage collaboration with Bad Bunny for “Que Pretendes” in 2019. The five-time VMA winner is also nominated for Best Latin (for “In Da Getto” with Skrillex), which would make him as the most awarded Latin artist in VMAs history.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJohnny Depp and Jeff Beck have been accused of lifting lyrics for their song “Sad Motherfuckin’ Parade” from an obscure “toast” sung by an incarcerated man and documented and released by a folklorist in 1974, according to a report in Rolling Stone.A large number of lyrics of the Depp/Beck song “18” are strikingly similar to lines from a toast — an often-profane form of Black folk poetry from years past — called “Hobo Ben” and apparently written by a man named Slim Wilson who was serving an armed-robbery sentence at Missouri State Penitentiary and documented by Bruce Jackson in his 1974 book about toasts, “Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me,” and a companion album. Wilson — whose name is a pseudonym — is not listed in the song’s credits.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOne of the wonders of music streaming is its borderlessness. Back in the day, a person might never hear, let alone purchase, music outside their country or comfort zone if they didn’t happen to wander into that area of a record store or radio dial.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWith hits from a wildly diverse array of artists including Halsey, the Weeknd, Camila Cabello, Jon Batiste, Leon Bridges, Twenty One Pilots, SZA, Maren Morris, Maggie Rogers, Maroon 5, Bomba Estereo and many more, Ricky Reed is one of the most successful and ubiquitous songwriters of the past 15-odd years.But it’s his work with Lizzo, both as a musical collaborator and the head of Nice Life, the label to which signed along with Atlantic Records, that has made him Variety’s Hitmaker of the Month for July. The singer’s “Special” album features five songs co-produced by Reed — including the smash single “About That Time” and the closer, “Coldplay.”Reed (real name: Eric Frederic) began working with Lizzo (real name: Melissa Jefferson) in 2016.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSony Music Publishing has signed rising singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Em Beihold to a worldwide publishing agreement. Her gold-certified single “Numb Little Bug” has been on the Billboard Hot 100 for 24 weeks, and she released her debut EP “Egg in the Backseat: last week.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorApproximately 36 hours before its scheduled release at midnight ET on Thursday, Beyonce’s full album has apparently leaked.Social media was filled with comments on the leak and Variety was able to find high-quality flac files that certainly sound like the album within a matter of minutes. Some posts showed CD copies of the album for sale, apparently in Europe.Reps for Beyonce and the album’s distributor, Columbia Records, did not immediately respond to Variety’s requests for comment.The leak came as a shock, as Beyonce’s operation is famously among the most secure in the business, renowned for the surprise drop of her 2013 self-titled album — which required countless non-disclosure agreements —  and an overall air of secrecy. The singer revealed the tracklist for her forthcoming seventh album “Renaissance” last week.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThree weeks after postponing his “Wonder” world tour to focus on his mental health, Shawn Mendes announced on Wednesday that he’s canceling the tour altogether.“As you guys know, I had to postpone the past few weeks of shows since I wasn’t totally prepared for the toll that being back on the road would take on me,” he wrote in social media posts. “I started this tour excited to finally get back to playing live after a long break due to the pandemic, but the reality is I was not at all ready for how difficult touring would be after this time away.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFormer President Barack Obama has unveiled another of his summer playlists, and as in the past, it’s a combination of the expected — NPR-level but edgy rap and R&B, some old soul chestnuts, a smattering of alt-rock and country, a nod to his podcast-mate Bruce Springsteen, and some international gems — along with a couple of “woah!” surprises, particularly British upstarts Wet Leg. (We could give more examples, but just look below.)Like his past lists and his annual summer reading lists, it’s a combination of age-appropriate, adventurous (but not too adventurous) and family-friendly music that uniformly has a positive or socially relevant message — just like the man and the policies of his presidency, which feels so long ago.