In June, the city is in full bloom and there’s no place I’d rather be.I touch down mid-next-week for a perfect storm of meetings, friends, family, and events.June is NY Music Month, with over 60 events. The crown jewel is the NY Music Month Conference on Tuesday, June 3rd at NYU. Tickets are still available here.I curated a panel on Music and Gaming, an intersection I love where there is a lot of blue sky. Music and gaming go together brilliantly and this conversation will feature many trendsetting minds, including:
Shira Gans, the event’s producer and host, who is Senior Executive Director of Policy + Programs in the NYC Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment. They set the stage for NYC’s initiatives around gaming.
Jennifer Garcia, CEO of Metamoki, who runs a mobile gaming company that published Wiz Khalifa’s Weed Farm and most recently dropped Adventure Chef.
Troy Carter Jr., who went from managing gamers to making a new game, backed by Universal Music, that he’s launching early next year which features many of your favorite stars.
Hip Hop Gamer, who is literally the best hip-hop game storytelling, journalist, and practitioner in the industry.
And Simone Berry, who is launching Playnet, which is focused on helping the gaming industry build new layers of monetization through brand integrations.
This is just one of the many great panels slotted that day. Some other highlights will feature Benny the Butcher, top executives from Carnegie Hall, and Water & Music.Once I get to New York, I’m not leaving because Andreessen Horowitz is hosting NY Tech Week (expect some killer AI music talks) and the Tribeca Film Festival emerges with an awesome lineup of events and premieres. From there we roll into a weekend of Governor's Ball, SailGP, and The Tony Awards.And that’s just the first week of June. Things will get hotter from there, literally and figuratively. Brooklyn’s first son is back in the mix. Start spreading the news.
BEATS
Tyler, the Creator and Converse Are Back With an Archival Sneaker LineTyler, the Creator and Converse are back in the studio cooking up another footwear crossover: the “1908” line, a capsule of curated archival styles inspired by Converse’s history (the brand was founded in 1908!) and imbued with Tyler’s signature whimsy (Hypebeast).
Kesha Wants to ‘Smash’ the Music Industry With a New LinkedIn-Style AppThat plan includes a new social app, or at least the vision for one, which she calls Smash. Kesha announced the service on Instagram today. Kesha’s goal is to make a dedicated space online for people in the music industry to collaborate and connect (Wired).
The Musicians Getting Gen Z Offline & Into the Crowd“People now are just looking for a bit of separation from reality,” says LSDXOXO, the American-born, Berlin-based producer and musician also known as RJ Glasgow (W Magazine).
G Herbo: No Spotify, just 13M direct to fan streams via MySeat Indie rapper G Herbo is bypassing streaming-first releases to bring his music directly to fans with impressive results. G Herbo released his two most recent mixtapes, Welcome to Fazoland 2 and Greatest Rapper Alive, exclusively through his superfan “G Herbo” app powered by MySeat Media (Hypebot).
Nespresso Lightens Up Its Marketing to Win Gen Z’s Cold Coffee DrinkersNespresso’s latest U.S. marketing push revolves around millennial pop star The Weeknd, whose forthcoming coffee collection with Nespresso is shown served over ice in dreamlike commercials (WSJ).
Coke Pushes Gen Z To Ditch Digital Noise And Embrace Summer FunCoke’s summer campaign, “Enjoy the moment with a Coca-Cola,” combines elements typical to the soft drink brand’s marketing, including a focus on music, with a plea for consumers to pocket their phones and get outside as the weather warms (Marketing Dive).
Drake Album’s Sales Spike More Than 8,500%The project was recently released on vinyl, and fans showed up in a meaningful way. The collaborative effort earns a very welcome boost up the rankings thanks to a massive increase in pure purchases, tied directly to the wax drop (Forbes).
Fortnite and Sabrina Carpenter Want You To Come DanceToday, Epic announced the impending arrival of “Dance with Sabrina,” a new rhythm-focused gaming mode within Fortnite Festival that will run from May 30th to June 16th (The Verge).
Mustard Serves Up His Spin on ‘New York Groove’ to Launch 2025 U.S. Open Campaign“Mustard is a perfect match for the U.S. Open,” said Nicole Kankam, who serves as the USTA’s managing director, in a statement. “His undeniable presence at the forefront of pop culture combined with his love for the sport of tennis makes him the quintessential voice of the 2025 US Open that’s set to be bigger and better than ever,” (Billboard).
BYTES
We're not in pop culture's worst era. There's plenty to be excited about. These complaints aren't unwarranted, though; they are the growing pains of our fragmented reality.
Slick Rick is premiering his new project at Tribeca Festival on Friday, June 13th at SVA theatre. This will be a special night. Tickets are available here if you want to be in the building for the premiere.
The app, launched Tuesday (May 20), brings Udio‘s text-to-music generation features to mobile devices, allowing users to create songs through text prompts without traditional music training (Music Business Worldwide).
Red Bull Spiral returns with a powerful new cypher, featuring a rare and raw one-take freestyle from iconic Yonkers trio The LOX. Jadakiss, Styles P, and Sheek Louch bring their signature grit and lyrical precision to the mic, reminding fans why they remain pillars of New York hip-hop (The Source).
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!