James Blake

James Blake

Photo: C Flanigan/WireImage/Getty Images

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New James Blake Album To Feature Rosalia, Travis Scott & More

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The British electro-soul singer/songwriter's fourth LP, 'Assume Form,' is due out Jan. 18 and also features collabs with Metro Boomin, Moses Sumney and André 3000
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jan 10, 2019 - 1:33 pm

Today GRAMMY nominee James Blake revealed details for his fourth studio album: Assume Form will drop next Friday, Jan. 18. His website now details its track list and pre-order details, revealing some exciting features and perhaps a deeper dive into hip-hop influenced beats in his own releases: GRAMMY nominee Travis Scott, Metro Boomin, Moses Sumney, Latin GRAMMY winner Rosalía and GRAMMY winner André 3000 all make appearances.

Assume Form is Blake's follow up to 2016’s The Colour In Anything, and will feature previously released single "Don't Miss It," plus 11 new songs. Hip-hop producer wunderkind Metro Boomin is listed on two tracks, with rap phenomenon Scott joining on "Mile High" and soulful L.A.-based singer/songwriter Sumney featured on "Tell Them."

Spanish singer Rosalía, who blends electro-pop sounds and hip-hop beats with traditional flamenco, sings with Blake on "Barefoot In The Park." Yesterday evening, shortly after teasing his new album in a post with a link to assumeform.com, he retweeted a clip of the two of them working in the studio together, with a snippet of what is likely their song together.

"Where's The Catch?" will feature André 3000, formerly of GRAMMY-winning rap duo Outkast. According to Pitchfork, the two have paired up before, on André's 17-minute song "Look Ma No Hands," released last May.

Blake will embark on a previously announced North American tour, beginning in Miami on Feb. 15. Tickets are on sale now. He has also just added three U.K. show dates in April and will be performing in Barcelona at the Primavera Sound music festival on June 1, along with Rosalía.

Despite only releasing two solo singles last year, he kept busy in 2018 with several headlining festival performances and quite a few big collabs: He worked with Scott in 2018 on "Stop Trying to Be God" on Scott's Astroworld, which is currently nominated for Best Rap Album. Another big 2018 collab for Blake was with GRAMMY winner Kendrick Lamar and GRAMMY nominee Future on "King's Dead" for the Black Panther Soundtrack. The song is up for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance and Album of the Year.

To see who wins at the 61st GRAMMY Awards, tune in on Sun. Feb. 10 on CBS.

Primavera Sound 2019 Features A "New Normal" Equal-Gender Lineup

Rosalía in "Aute Cuture"

Rosalía in "Aute Cuture"

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Rosalía Channels Tarantino In New Video "Aute Cuture": Watch

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"I wrote this song before going out to tour 'El Mal Querer' and I have taken the time necessary so the song would come out with the best video to accompany it," the Latin GRAMMY winner wrote in a press release
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
May 30, 2019 - 1:20 pm

Continuing to carve out her space as the next global pop star, Rosalía is back with a catchy new track, "Aute Cuture." The accompanying cinematic, Tarantino-esque visual follows her trend of stunning music videos.

Directed by British duo Bradley & Pablo, with a story written by Rosalía and Pili, the fun, colorful video highlights the Latin GRAMMY winner's bold fashion sense—including her ever-fabulous bedazzled nails. It is another offering from of her brand of female empowerment, in which she leads the "Aute Cuture—a 'mystic beauty gang,' as the press release explains.

"Aute Cuture is the title: written incorrectly but with a sense of humor and strength. I wrote this song before going out to tour El Mal Querer and I have taken the time necessary so the song would come out with the best video to accompany it. Filled with claps, nail art, and a Tarantino vibe. Enjoy it and hopefully it'll make you dance and laugh like it does me," Rosalía wrote in the release.

In anticipation of the new track, Rosalía recently shared a note on Twitter celebrating the amazing year she's had since releasing her breakout track "Malamente" as the lead single to her critically acclaimed El Mal Querer.

She wrote (translated from Spanish); "A year ago today I released 'Malamente.' A year ago today my live changed with this song that allowed me to connect to many people." The song earned her two Latin GRAMMY wins in 2018, where she shouted out the bold women in music that came before her during her acceptance speech.

The song is the second non-album single she has released since El Mal Querer. It follows the classic reggaeton inspired track, "Con Altura," which she released late March with fellow Latin GRAMMY winner J Balvin. That single and mile-high-set music video, also featured El Guincho, who co-produces the majority of Rosalía's music with her (including on El Mal Querer and the new "Aute Cuture"). She was also featured on James Blake's latest album, on the beautifully weird "Barefoot in the Park."

How Rosalía Is Reinventing What It Means To Be A Global Pop Star

Cardi B

Cardi B

Photo: Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images

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Travis Scott & Cardi B To Headline The 2019 Made In America Festival

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JAY-Z's music festival returns to Philadelphia for its eighth year, on Aug. 31 & Sept. 1
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Apr 2, 2019 - 6:21 pm

Today, the Made In America Festival, started by JAY-Z in 2012, announced the lineup for its 2019 fest, featuring GRAMMY nominee Travis Scott and GRAMMY winner Cardi B as the headliners. The two-day event is set to take place in Philadelphia Aug. 31–Sept. 1, and will also include performances from GRAMMY winners Anderson .Paak, with The Free Nationals, James Blake and Kaskade.

61st GRAMMY Awards first-time nominees Jorja Smith and Tierra Whack are also on the bill, along with rising rappers Juice WRLD and Blueface, among others. The eighth annual festival will take place outdoors at Philly's Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and is a great way to close out a busy festival season.

Cardi is fresh off her first-time GRAMMY win this February, where she took home Best Rap Album for her debut LP, Invasion Of Privacy. The rap queen will be making her rounds at several other festivals around the globe this year, including Hangout Fest in Alabama and Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Spain.

Watch: Cardi B Wins Best Rap Album

Fellow Made In America headliner Scott, who just closed out the second leg of his successful Astroworld Tour, will also be performing a select number of festivals, as well as Boston Calling and Rolling Loud in Miami. He and Cardi will also be part of the opening weekend parties at the new KAOS club in Las Vegas.

Tickets to Made In America go on sale to the general public this Friday, April 5, with a TIDAL pre-sale currently up and running; more ticket info is available on the fest's site.

Kanye West Will Bring His "Sunday Service" To Coachella 2019

Missy Elliott & Pharrell Williams

Missy Elliott & Pharrell Williams

Photo: Todd Williamson/Getty Images

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Pharrell Announces Something In The Water Fest Ft. Missy Elliott, Janelle Monae, SZA, Rosalia, Migos & More

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The new music festival curated by the GRAMMY-winning producer will get you dancing in his hometown of Virginia Beach from April 26–28
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Mar 4, 2019 - 1:19 pm

GRAMMY-winning producer/singer/songwriter/rapper and all-around hit-maker Pharrell Williams announced his latest endeavor today: Something In The Water Festival.

The brand-new music festival curated by the musical powerhouse will take over his hometown of Virginia Beach from April 26–28 with a super-stacked lineup including fellow GRAMMY winners Missy Elliott, Diplo, Dave Mathews Band and Anderson .Paak with his band The Free Nationals. GRAMMY nominees SZA, Migos, Janelle Monáe, Travis Scott, J Balvin, Pusha T and Jhené Aiko are also slated to perform.

The three-day beachfront event will feature only one stage, meaning you can actually catch all of the performances. Rising acts include Canadian funky hip-hop producer Kaytranada, Spanish flamenco/pop innovator Rosalía and American singer/songwriter Maggie Rogers, who went viral after Pharrell gave a rave review of her "Alaska" demo during a class at NYU in 2016.

Related: Primavera Sound 2019 Features A "New Normal" Equal-Gender Lineup

The organizer himself will also perform; he's listed on the lineup as "Pharrell & Friends," for what is likely to be a collab-filled set.

Speaking of friends, fellow Virginians repping at the fest will be GRAMMY-nominated rapper DRAM, Dave Matthews Band, who formed in Charlottesville, Va., Elliott, who has collabed with Pharrell on multiple occasions, including their hit "WTF," and Pusha T. Pusha also grew up in Virginia Beach, where he and his brother formed the hip-hop duo Clipse and met and worked with Pharrell, then part of production duo The Neptunes.

At the 61st GRAMMY Awards last month, Pharrell earned his 12th GRAMMY win for Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical. He also won in the same category at the 56th GRAMMY Awards, the same year he earned a win for his work on Daft Punk's Random Access Memories, which took home Album Of The Year.

Tickets for Something In The Water go on sale Fri. March 8; the full lineup and more info can be found on their website.

2019 Music Festival Preview: Noise Pop, Coachella, Ultra & More

Carlos Vives at the 2018 Latin GRAMMYs

Carlos Vives at 19th Latin GRAMMYs

Photo: Rodrigo Varela/Getty Images for LARAS

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Carlos Vives, Elsa Y Elmar & More Celebrate Their 2019 Latin GRAMMY Nominations

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As the monumental 20th anniversary Latin GRAMMYs approaches, share in the excitement with some of this year's nominees
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Sep 26, 2019 - 2:05 pm

On Sept. 24, the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences shared the nominees for the 20th Latin GRAMMY Awards, set to take place in Las Vegas on Nov. 14.

In the day and a half since the big news went live, many of the nominated artists have taken to social media to share their gratitude and excitement for their nods.

GRAMMY- and Latin GRAMMY-winning Spanish singer/songwriter Alejandro Sanz leads as the artist with the most nominations at eight total. His nominations include Album Of The Year and Best Contemporary Pop Album, for his coyly titled 12th studio album, #ELDISCO ("the album"). Two of its singles, "No Tenga Nada" and "Mi Persona Favorita," featuring GRAMMY nominee Camila Cabello, are both nominated for Song and Record Of The Year, marking the first Latin GRAMMY nods for the 22-year-old Cuban-born pop star.

Cabello shared a heartwarming post (switching between Spanish and English) filled with seven exclamation points, while revealing that "Mi Persona Favorita," which she and Sanz co-wrote, was inspired by her younger sister:

"My dear friend Alejandro Sanz, this is so special because this song is with someone I love and admire so much, and was written with so much love! I love you so much, wow!!!!! When we wrote this song I was inspired by my sister, my little Tofi, who is mi persona favorita!"

Sanz, who was honored as the 2017 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year, wrote on Twitter, "Celebrating every nomination for each and everyone of the people that are behind every award. Thank you, always. Congratulations to all of the nominees."

Los Angeles-based mixing engineer Jaycen Joshua also received eight nominations, including for his role as album mixer on three Album Of The Year-nominated LPs—Luis Fonsi's Vida, Rosalía's El Mal Querer and Sebastián Yatra's Fantasía.

Speaking of flamenco-fusion queen Rosalía, the Barcelona-based Latin GRAMMY winner, who took home her first two wins at the 19th Latin GRAMMY Awards, was also one of the top nominees, earning five nods this year. 2018's El Mal Querer not only earned her the major Album Of The Year nod, it is in the running for Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Album and Best Engineered Album (an award given to the audio engineers). Several of her 2019 singles are nominated for Latin GRAMMYs as well, including "Con Altura," with her co-producer El Guincho and fellow Latin GRAMMY winner J Balvin, for Best Urban Song, and "Aute Couture" for Record Of The Year.

Celebrating her nominations on her 26th birthday, Rosalía tweeted, "A thousand thanks Latin GRAMMYs and everyone else for these nominations!" She also shouted out El Guincho in the post, which included of a video of the creative powerhouse pair each holding big unicorn balloons.

Another multiple nominee is Mexican alt-Latino singer Ximena Sariñana, who, like the two aforementioned Spanish pop stars, also earned Album Of The Year and Record Of The Year nods, for her album ¿Dónde Bailarán Las Niñas? and "Cobarde," respectively. "I feel very honored to be nominated," she posted to Twitter, shortly after the nominations were announced.

Eternal Colombian musical icon Carlos Vives celebrated his nomination for Best Long Form Music Video for "Déjame Quererte" ("Let Me Love You"). The song and video celebrates the rich beauty of his home country along with a diverse group of fellow Colombian artists: Cholo Valderrama, Cynthia Montano, Elkin Robinson, Kombilesa Mi and Velo De Oza. The multiple GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY winner marked the nomination with a thoughtful post. "I never miss the opportunity to continue looking to my country through music and to show the world a more inclusive Colombia. Thank you to the Latin Academy for the nomination and for honoring this."

He also shared his excitement (with three exclamation marks) for another nominee and fellow GRAMMY- and Latin GRAMMY-winning musical vanguard. "Congratulations dear Rubén Blades!!!" Vives wrote along with a retweet of the Panamanian Latin jazz/salsa heavyweight's tweet about his three nominations this year. Blades, whose many Latin GRAMMY wins to date include Album Of The Year in 2017, is up for Album Of The Year again, for his 2019 collaborative project Paraíso Road Gang. For this project, the musician/activist/actor featured artists that share his Panamanian roots, including Horacio Valdés and Kansas City-based alt-rock group Making Movies.

GRAMMY winner Alessia Cara, who is nominated for Record and Song Of The Year for "Querer Mejor," her first release in Spanish, shared a simple yet stoked: "YEAAAHHHHH," complete with three star emojis. She also tagged her duet partner in the song, GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY winner Juanes, who retweeted her post.

The longtime Colombian alt-rock artist is also up for a third award for "La Plata," featuring Colombian rapper Lalo Ebratt, and is also up for Record Of The Year. Additionally, Juanes has been named the Latin Recording Academy's 2019 Person Of The Year, which will be celebrated with the special show held annually during Latin GRAMMY Week.

Brazilian tri-lingual (she sings in Portuguese, Spanish and English) pop star Anitta added her joy to the online celebrations, as her fourth studio album, Kisses, earned a nod for Best Urban Music Album. The reggaeton princess wrote, "I'm so so happy to be nominated…for my album "Kisses"! Thank you to the Latin GRAMMYs, thank you to all of my friends who helped me make this project that I love so much"

Arguably one the most exciting parts of the annual Latin GRAMMY and GRAMMY nominations is meeting the class of first-time nominees, including the recipients of Best New Artist nods. One of these Latin GRAMMY Best New Artist nominees is rising Venezuelan Latin jazz artist Chipi Chacón. Like Rosalía, he celebrated both his Libra birthday (Sept. 23) and his nomination. The 31-year-old shared a long, heartfelt post on Instagram, writing "What an incredible birthday present. I'm thankful for the Latin GRAMMYs for taking my music into consideration. This nomination is completely for Venezuela. Thanks to all of the incredible musicians and engineers who participated in my album Transparente."

Another Best New Artist nominee, Colombian Elsa Carvajal, shared in that special first-time nom feeling. The Berklee College of Music graduate, who makes dreamy alt-pop as Elsa y Elmar, shared a teary-eyed video reflecting on the nomination. In the post she wrote, "I thought these things were not for me… Thank you for being part of this reminder that the hard work is worth it… Thank you to the academy, Latin GRAMMYs, for considering me worthy of a nomination. Like this, punk as I am."

Make sure to tune in to Univision on Nov. 14 to catch all the magic of the Biggest Night in Latin Music live from Las Vegas. Also, stay tuned to GRAMMY.com—and @RecordingAcad on @LatinGRAMMYs on Twitter—for timely updates on all the big winners and lively Latin GRAMMY Week events.

The 20th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards Nominations Are Here