Greetings from Chicago where I’m working remotely this week. Like Sinatra said, “it’s my kind of town!”But last weekend I had a night to remember in New York.I finally checked out David Byrne’s American Utopia on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre. At this point, I’ve seen the show in multiple interactions -- from festival plays to headlining dates -- but on Broadway, it’s on another level. It sounds so clear, the nuances are front and center, the musicians are fantastic...and the songs? Classics. David Byrne is still my idol. In the end, when they stripped it all down, I caught that good art chill. You know the one. We’re all chasing that kind of rush from our cultural experiences.From there, our caravan was off to the Brooklyn Museum for the Yasiin Bey exhibit. Yes, Yasiin Bey, the artist formerly known as Mos Def, is showcasing his new album in one of the most innovative ways I’ve seen in a while: AT A MUSEUM. Billed as a “listening installation,” the album, Negus, runs 28 minutes and contains eight tracks that you can only hear in this one, private environment. He wants the music to be experienced without any distraction, so visitors are required to keep their phones in a sealed case that can only be opened by museum staff. Believe me, it worked. We were all focused on the experience as he intended.As a special treat that night, Bey was in the building. He performed some of his hits, improv’d with the crowd, and even did a few of the album tracks live. (Insert signature birdcall here 😎).I remember traveling with him to London to perform at The World BBoy Championships very early in my career. I remember seeing him on Broadway on Top Dog Underdog. There’s nothing he can’t do! And despite his myriad transformations, the flow on Negus feels like the old Mos Def.The exhibit also affords you the opportunity to take in visual art by Ala Ebtekar, Julie Mehretu, and José Parlá, created in collaboration with Bey. A highlight was the powerful Nipsey Hussle image referencing the Bloods and Crips of Christ. I won’t give it all away, but Nipsey plays an interesting part in the album title which references the word “king” or “ruler” in the ancient Ethiopian Semitic language, Ge’ez.While you are at the Brooklyn Museum, I highly recommend popping over to see the JR Storytelling exhibit. Wow!“yasiin Bey: Negus” is on view at the Brooklyn Museum from November 15, 2019–January 26, 2020. Timed tickets are available through Showclix, via the Brooklyn Museum; same day, on-site tickets will be released on a first-come, first-served basis.
BEATS
TikTok Parent Company ByteDance Plans Music Streaming Service to Rival Apple & SpotifyA new report claims the Chinese company behind TikTok plans to launch a music streaming service.ByteDance could launch the new music streaming service before the end of 2019. The Financial Times broke the report, claiming music executives are keen to make a deal to monetize TikTok. (Digital Music News)
PHARRELL - The Man From Another PlanetMaybe the word that best sums up Pharrell Williams is ‘universal’ —in every sense of the term. A deep link to the cosmos is something he felt very early on. No surprise, then, that Pharrell grew up a major fan of Star Trek, as anyone will know who has seen him use a Vulcan salute when conveying the name of his label, Star Trak. He has never made any secret of his fascination for the cosmos, or of the deep sense of spirituality he derives from it, of the wholeness at the centre of things.(Richard Mille)
The Future of Live Music Lives on Your SmartphoneIncubus, who you may remember from their seminal 1999’s single “Drive,” use a new technology from a startup called Mixhalo to enhance its live shows. All concertgoers have to do is install Mixhalo’s app, connect to the concert, and plug in their headphones. (QZ)
Amazon Makes Its Music Streaming Service Free With AdsAmazon is making its music streaming service free. The company previously offered free, ad-supported streaming only to customers who owned an Amazon Echo device. Now it’s rolling out free streaming to anyone using the Amazon Music app on iOS, Android, Fire TV and Amazon Music on the web in the U.S., U.K., and Germany. (TechCrunch)
How The Tina Turner Musical Made It To Broadway, And Why Ike Isn’t The Villain“Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” premiered in April 2018 in London’s West End, earning an Olivier Award for lead actor Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Ike Turner and nominations for best musical and lead actress Adrienne Warren (who is reprising the title role in a Broadway production that opened last week). (LA Times)
The True Story of True Damage: The Virtual Hip-Hop Group That’s Taking Over the Internet IRLMillions of people around the world tuned in to see FunPlus Phoenix defeat G2 Esports in 3-0 at the 2019 League of Legends World Championships last weekend, but the real stars of this year’s premiere Esports tourney may have been a surprise musical group who performed during the event’s larger than life opening ceremony. (Rolling Stone)
Tencent Talking with Potential Co-Investors for Universal Music Group BidTencent is reportedly looking to find co-investors for its bid to purchase a 10% interest of Universal Music Group (UMG) from Vivendi.According to Bloomberg, Tencent is approaching a number of companies to join it. This includes both Hillhouse Capital and a sovereign wealth fund in Singapore called GIC Pte. (Digital Music News)
A$AP Rocky on Psychedelics, Sweden, and Sexuality At Summit Ideas ConferenceIn his first public speaking forum since the rapper was arrested, charged for assault and spent a month in jail in Sweden, A$AP Rocky joined Summit co-founder Jeff Rosenthal on stage for a candid, comedic, [and at times slightly awkward] conversation titled “Culture, Clothes, and Cultivating Creative Legacy” in front of a room of nearly a thousand people including the Founder of Woodstock. (Forbes)
Chance The Rapper Has Nothing To Fear But FOMO ItselfThe entire span of 2019, in fact, has been rather frenzied for the 26-year-old, who made the unthinkable choice several years ago to eschew record deals and give his music away for free. He’s garnered more than 1.5 billion streams on SoundCloud since 2012, and he’s earned millions of dollars in revenue, through live shows, merchandise, and endorsements instead. (Fast Company)
Smart Speaker Growth Up 44% — But Google Home Marketshare CrashesSmart speaker adoption continues to grow at a record pace. Amazon shipped 10.4 million devices last quarter, handily edging out the competition. One surprising statistic from the report is just how badly Google Home is doing. (Digital Music News)
BYTES
Explore fault lines in the recorded music industry from Teddy Boys to TikTok with Mark Mulligan of MIDiA Research. When Mark opened the first annual Music Tectonics Conference in October in Los Angeles, he lobbed visions from the future into the audience.
Hip-hop superstar Cardi B invites Vogue into her grandmother's apartment in New York City and answers 73 rapid-fire questions. As Cardi puts baby Kulture to sleep, she talks about her relationship with Offset, her interest in politics, her newest album, and the current state of women's rights. (Vogue)
The best of Disney, Pixas, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. From new releases, to your favorite classics, and exclusive Originals, there’s always something new to discover.
Working with the directing team Reel Goats, DaBaby makes absurd, raunchy, cartoonish clips that recall the glory days of Busta Rhymes and Ludacris. Often, those videos are pretty low-budget. (Reel Goats travel everywhere with DaBaby, and they just film a video whenever they’ve got an idea and some spare time.) But not this time. This time, DaBaby and Reel Goats have made their masterpiece. (Stereogum)
This week's newsletter was carefully curated by the Nue Agency staff and our editor Rachel Meisner If you think we missed something this week or have any suggestions/comments for next week's newsletter, let us know!