Hailey Whitters
Hailey Whitters: From the Cornfields to Country Success
Hailey Whitters is exuberant when she calls during an Uber ride from her Nashville home to Ryman Auditorium. The night before, the rising country singer just performed there for the first time, opening for Midland, and she’ll do it again after we speak. Gracing the Ryman’s illustrious stage is a sure sign that an artist has arrived – something that Whitters clearly understands and appreciates. “The Ryman is so legendary,” Whitters says with awe. “When people ask what my bucket list venue is, it’s been the Ryman. So it’s pretty surreal – last night I got to stand on that stage and sing, and it was this really emotional moment to be able to see that dream actually come to fruition.” Opening for Midland through Christmas, Whitters will fulfill another career goal – going on her first headlini...
The Deals: Little Simz Renews AWAL Recordings Contract, Licensing Service Lickd Strikes UMG Partnership
Mercury Prize-nominated rapper and songwriter Little Simz (a.k.a. Simbi Ajikawo) has renewed her partnership with AWAL Recordings, which provides a full range of services including global marketing and promotion, digital and physical distribution, campaign coordination, A&R support, synch licensing and brand partnerships. Little Simz garnered acclaim with her most recent album, GREY Area, which was released on her own label, Age 101, via AWAL. In addition to the Mercury Prize, she has been nominated for AIM and BET Awards; additionally, she won the Q Award for best vocal performance and the NME Award for best British album. She has toured with Gorillaz, Lauryn Hill and Anderson .Paak and also starred in the Channel 4 crime drama Top Boy, which currently airs on Netflix. Little Sim...
The 50 Best Songs of 2020 (So Far)
Great songs have a freedom that albums don’t because great songs only have to pull off their trick once. It’s like how a great SNL sketch can be a terrible movie or why Vine was an underrated miracle of online comedy. Sometimes an artist can get a lot more done in miniature. When people say that no one listens to albums anymore, they’re obviously mistaken, but they mean that no one listens to certain kinds of albums anymore. They won’t wait to get to the good part, and an industry that’s been padding out their wares for decades has had to adapt to a new reality where the customer is always dope. From Hailey Whitters to Hayley Williams, from King Von to Christine and the Queens, here’s a supercut of just the good parts: The songs that have challenged and delighted and comforted us through a...
