Grammy Predictions: Tainy, Kid Harpoon, Ricky Reed in the Mix for Producer of the Year Noms

EXCLUSIVE: Indian Two Time Grammy Award composer and environmentalist Ricky Kej has signed to compose the original music for American-Bangladeshi writer-director Asif Akbar’s spy action-thriller MR-9 featuring Frank Grillo as a villain.

From Westeros to the nursery! After Kit Harington and Rose Leslie met on the set of Game of Thrones, they sparked a real-life love story before eventually welcoming their first child.

EXCLUSIVE: Freestyle Digital Media has acquired U.S. rights to The New Abolitionists, a documentary about the movement to end sex trafficking in Southeast Asia directed by Christina Zorich and produced by her mother, the late Olympia Dukakis. 

Thania Garcia The newly created Grammy Award for songwriter of the year is shaping up to be a tight race, with 62 potential nominees in contention, including such major hitmakers as The-Dream, Amy Allen, Natalie Hemby (pictured above, L-R), Justin Tranter, James Fauntleroy, Shane McAnally, Ali Tamposi, Kat Dahlia, Edgar Barrera, Omer Fedi, Scott Harris, Tobias Jesso Jr., Desmond Child, and dozens more. The names might not be familiar to everyone, and that’s exactly the point: the award is intended to “honors the people whose job is to write songs for others,” Evan Bogart, a Grammy-winning songwriter and chair of the Academy’s songwriters and composers wing, told Variety earlier this month (and whose name is also on the list). “It’s for the ones who can say, ‘Hey, I’m not performing at the Grammys; I’m not on the cover of Rolling Stone and you’re not going to know my name — but you’re singing my melodies and lyrics.’” The songwriters on the list have written for artists ranging from Beyonce, Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes to Maren Morris and Blake Shelton, and many others.

CEO of The Latin Recording Academy, in an earlier statement. «We are proud to present the nominations with this diverse group of talented artists, who reflect the evolution of our Academy as a modern and relevant institution, and officially kick off the twenty-third season of the Latin GRAMMY Awards.»The 23rd Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards will air live from the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Univision on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 8 p.m.

The first season of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is over, and one of the show’s executive producers is opening up about a “great regret” from the finale.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival, which runs Oct. 25-30, has unveiled Opus Bonum, its international competition section. The 16-strong lineup includes eight world premieres. Andrea Kleine’s “The End Is Not What I Thought It Would Be,” from the U.S., is set during the pandemic. Kleine, the author of novels “Calf” and “Eden,” is seen performing stand-up comedy, monologues and music in a theater without an audience. Emily Allen’s U.S. film “Cisco Kid” features a young woman living in the middle of a vast desert in the American West, in the ruins of a town where the last of the oddball inhabitants struggle to survive.

Charlie Amter The Grammy for remixed recording (non-classical) is a notoriously difficult-to-predict category, with lesser-known names rubbing shoulders with giants of the touring DJ world annually among nominees.  But the space has gained increasing relevance in recent years as remixes such as Imanbek’s take on SAINt JHN’s “Roses” can now generate billions of streams globally. The Kazakh DJ-producer won the remixed recording Grammy two years ago for “Roses,” and he may find himself nominated again in 2023 for his punchy re-work of Dua Lipa’s “Love Again.”  So which DJs may surface as contenders in February? Look for buzzing DJ John Summit’s name to potentially be in the proverbial mix for his hypnotic remix of Kx5’s “Escape,” or maybe he finds himself nominated as an artist via SOFI TUKKER & John Summit’s “Sun Came Up (Claptone Remix).” 

Kid Cudi, the singer behind the hit song "Pursuit Of Happiness" and creator of the Netflix animated series "Entergalactic," wanted to pick up skateboarding, and who better to teach the star the ins and outs than skating legend, Tony Hawk?  Hawk posted a video compilation of his skate sessions with Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi to his Instagram.  "Kid Cudi hit me up recently about wanting to learn how to skate. I have now given him two lessons in as many weeks and it has been gratifying to see his commitment to the process," Hawk wrote on his Instagram post.  Kid Cudi took two skateboarding lessons with Tony Hawk.The pro skateboarder posted a video on social media showing their lessons together.  (Photo by Theo Wargo) "Rarely do beginning skaters take direction so well, or progress as quickly.

Mike Wass We don’t talk about Bruno, but we should discuss “Encanto’s” chances at the Grammys. While the mega-selling soundtrack, which boasts eight original songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda, is likely to be nominated for compilation soundtrack for visual media, it has the bona fides for major category love too. In addition to glowing reviews, “Encanto” spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — the second-longest run of the 2020s (behind Bad Bunny). More significantly, it cut through the cultural clutter, producing a series of resounding hits that are forever ingrained on the psyche of children, their parents and anyone who just happened to be in the general vicinity while the film was playing. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “Surface Pressure” cracked the top 10. The fact that these songs connected so widely while celebrating Colombian music by incorporating bambuco, vallenato and cumbia is extraordinary. 

Coronation Street star Paddy Bever couldn't hide his shock as he picked up his first major award. The actor, who plays Max Turner in the ITV soap, bagged the Rising Star gong at the 2022 National Television Awards on Thursday evening (October 13).

Rolling Stone.“We hope we can celebrate with everyone on a great year of music and partake in the party. Thank you for letting Silk Sonic thrive.”The duo didn’t explain why they would not submit the November 2021 album for the award, but the lead single, “Leave the Door Open,” was already nominated at last year’s Grammys and won in four categories: Best R&B Performance, Best R&B Song, Song of the Year and Record of the Year.“Andy and I, and everyone that worked on this project, won the moment the world responded to ‘Leave The Door Open.’ Everything else was just icing on the cake,” Mars continued.

Kit Harington is checking out a soccer match!

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic When it comes to the 2023 Grammys, it’s easy to jump ahead and look at what we expect will be the final showdown on Feb. 3 between the top two competitors — Adele and Beyoncé. Because, yes, in the top three general categories, it’s likely to be a narrow contest that runs the gamut from A to B, as it were … almost a direct sequel to the 2017 Grammy race, in which “25” was pitted against “Lemonade.” The big question may be, will this movie have the same ending, with Adele apologizing to Bey for besting her, again? But there’s a lot of road to travel before then and considerable suspense over which other eight artists will fill out the 10 available slots in the album, record and song of the year categories. (The Recording Academy upped the slots from eight at the last minute last year, only in those divisions.) The only other virtual certainties in all three of those categories are Harry Styles and Silk Sonic, neither of whom can be completely counted out as ultimate winners, should the voting members decide they don’t even want to have to decide between all that big diva energy again

Democratic lawmakers Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., are pushing for the U.S.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic If Kid Cudi is indeed retiring his rapper persona, as strongly indicated in recent interviews, Monday night might have served as an early farewell party of sorts.  At a special screening at the Netflix Tudum Theater in Hollywood, the star was all smiles as he answered questions and celebrated the release of “Entergalactic,” the new animated Netflix special that serves as a kind of filmic companion piece to Cudi’s new album of the same name.  “I’m just overwhelmed, you know?” Cudi, who created, starred in, and executive-produced the project, said immediately after the screening, sitting next to the film’s director, Fletcher Moules. “The past week has been really exciting to see the reviews, see the response. We’ve been working on this thing for three years, man.” 

2 min read The online fandom world is awash with angst after Kit Connor from the Netflix breakout hit Heartstopper appeared to quit social media platform Twitter overnight. The 18-year-old played Nick Nelson in the coming-of-age comedy about Charlie Spring (played by Joe Locke), who falls in love with his classmate Nick while attending secondary school.

Kid Cudi at just 38 years old can already see the end of his extraordinary musical career. The «Day 'n' Nite» rapper said as much during an appearance on the First We Feast series, where he also revealed what might come next.During a conversation with host Sean Evans about hip hop artists who have shown they can age well with the genre — like Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem and Snoop Dogg — Cudi was asked if there if there are people he sees as paradigms for what it looks like to age as an artist.Cudi, who has previously said he doesn't see himself performing onstage late into his 40s, brought up Jay-Z before revealing he doesn't see himself in the same tiers as the said rappers.«I don't feel like I have what they have,» Cudi said.