Ayra Starr Joins Roc Nation: The Celestial Star Plots Her U.S. Takeover

John Dody

06/12/25 1:47AM

Ayra Starr has signed with Roc Nation for management. She’ll still be repped by CAA in North America and UTA for Europe and the UK. Which makes sense, because when your sound travels faster than your passport stamps, it takes a village of agents to keep up.

The 21-year-old Nigerian singer has spent the last two years quietly becoming one of the most streamed African artists in the world, though “quietly” might be misleading. Her debut album 19 & Dangerous put her on the map, but The Year I Turned 21, released last May, made it clear she isn’t interested in staying on just one. Her newest single, “Gimme Dat” featuring Wizkid, dropped this April via Republic and Mavin—and it’s already sounding like summer across Lagos, Bogotá, and Santiago.

With over 18 million monthly listeners on Spotify and a fanbase that spans continents (and time zones), Starr is one of the faces leading afrobeats into a new, global chapter. She’s already lit up stages at Roskilde, Afro Nation, and Lost in Riddim. Now, with Roc Nation behind the curtain, it’s safe to assume we’re about to see Ayra go from “rising” to “ubiquitous.”

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Shakira Spins Into the Shampoo Game With New Hair Care Brand, Isima

Shakira, whose hips famously don’t lie, is now making sure her hair tells the truth, too. The global pop icon has officially entered the beauty arms race with Isima, a hair care brand born not from a whiteboard pitch session but out of genuine personal frustration. Tired of mixing her own DIY cocktails in hotel bathrooms and backstages around the world, Shakira decided it was time to formulate something more permanent—and less experimental. “I looked for a group of experts and scientists,” she said, “that knew how to do this.” Which, if you’re Shakira, probably means tasking a lab with decoding what humidity does in Barranquilla and Bel Air.

While this might sound like just another celebrity hair launch, the timing and execution say otherwise. Isima is dropping into a market already simmering from the heat of Beyoncé’s Cécred, which made headlines earlier this year with a first-ever exclusive partnership with Ulta Beauty. It also follows Hailey Bieber’s Rhode, which recently ascended into unicorn status with a $1 billion valuation after being acquired by E.l.f. Beauty—a gentle reminder that moisturizer and market caps are

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Benson Boone Brings the Heartland to Hi-Fi in New JBL Campaign

Benson Boone—TikTok heartthrob turned chart-climbing crooner—is now adding “audio ambassador” to his résumé. The breakout singer has been announced as the new face of JBL’s summer campaign, marking a slick fusion of sound and sentimentality as the brand unveils its latest tech-forward lineup, including the Tour Pro 3 earbuds and the all-new Flip 7.

To kick off the partnership, Boone didn’t just post a selfie or toss up a story. Instead, he arrived at JBL’s SoHo store in a vintage convertible (because of course), blaring “Mystical Magical” from his debut album Fireworks & Rollerblades, while dishing out custom-designed JBL Flip 7 speakers to an eager crowd of fans. It was the kind of flash-mob moment that social strategists dream of—part activation, part love letter to the fandom, all very on-brand for Boone’s dreamy DIY aesthetic.

The collaboration is JBL’s latest swing at Gen Z relevance, and Boone, with his nearly 20 million monthly Spotify listeners and fast-climbing global recognition, is a well-calibrated bet. His debut album—released earlier this year—debuted to strong streaming numbers and fanfare, with hits like “Beautiful Things” and “Slow

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Post Malone Teams with Stanley for Camo-Covered Hydration Line

In a crossover that feels like equal parts hip-hop tour bus and backcountry hike, Post Malone has joined forces with Stanley 1913—the venerable drinkware brand known for fueling fishing trips and your uncle’s coffee addiction—for a rugged capsule collection that brings camo to the cult of hydration.

The drop, which includes Stanley’s classic tumblers, stackable cups, and adventure-ready bottles, is wrapped in camouflage and dusted with Posty’s signature blend of cozy chaos and functional cool. It’s the kind of merch that says “I like my whiskey neat, my water cold, and my headliner slot on time.”

This collaboration drops at a curious cultural moment: Stanley

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Alec Baldwin Switches Agencies, Signs With UTA

In a move that feels half Shakespearean and half SNL cold open, Alec Baldwin has signed with UTA for representation. It’s not a reinvention per se—more like a veteran trading one agency playbook for another. Baldwin continues to be managed by Matt DelPiano, but with UTA now handling the deal flow, it’s clear he’s ready for a new chapter, or at least a tighter script.

Baldwin’s career, after all, doesn’t fit neatly into a single genre or awards category. Over the last four decades, he’s racked up three Emmys, three Golden Globes, and seven straight SAG Awards for transforming NBC’s 30 Rock into the Wall Street Journal of sitcoms. (If you were ever unsure what “vertical integration” meant, Jack Donaghy probably explained it to you, between scotches.)

He also landed an Oscar nomination for The Cooler, proved his stage chops with a Tony-nominated run in A Streetcar Named Desire, and took home an Emmy for impersonating a former president whose name we’ll just gently whisper into the cold void: “Trump.” Add to that a long-running podcast, Here’s the Thing, and a smattering of dramatic turns (The Hunt for Red October, Glengarry Glen

Rock 2 mins read

Yellowcard Enlists New PR Firepower as Nostalgia Tour Rolls On

Yellowcard—the pop-punk veterans responsible for giving your teenage angst a violin section—have signed with Schneider/Rondan Organization (SRO PR) for publicity. Yes, it’s true: the band that made high school heartbreak sound orchestral is back in the press game.

This comes as Yellowcard continues to be repped by Wasserman for live representation, a partnership that’s kept them on the road and in the festival rotation. Their most recent output includes the two-song EP Better Days, released via Better Noise Music, and A Hopeful Sign, a collaboration with ambient outfit Hammock that floated into existence via Equal Vision Records—an unexpected but oddly fitting detour from their Warped Tour roots.

With over 4.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify and fan hotspots spanning Chicago, Los Angeles, Jakarta, Sydney, and Denver, Yellowcard has fully crossed into the “legacy act with streaming juice” zone. They’ve hit stages at So What?! Music Festival and have re-emerged as fixtures in the pop-punk nostalgia circuit, serving both veteran fans and a new generation discovering “Ocean Avenue” via algorithm.

In an era where emo is an aesthetic and PR is a comeback

Electronic 2 mins read

SBTRKT Signs With Primary Talent

SBTRKT, the famously elusive producer known for pioneering the post-dubstep, future-garage, alt-soul moment of the early 2010s—and then vanishing just as the zeitgeist caught up—has signed with Primary Talent for worldwide representation, excluding the United States. Because of course he did. You don’t build a career on mystique and then go full global. The man has brand integrity. He continues to be managed by Adam Golden at Zeya, whose job description presumably includes things like “coordinate tour logistics” and “maintain the enigma.”

Despite releasing music with the frequency of a lunar eclipse, SBTRKT maintains a devoted fanbase: over 600,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, clustered in taste-forward markets like London, Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles, and Brisbane. These are not passive listeners. These are people who still say “post-racial” unironically and believe Thom Yorke should be on every remix.

His latest project, the Turn Your Heart Around EP, dropped independently via SAVE YOURSELF—which sounds like a wellness prompt but is, in fact, the name of his label. The EP is a reminder that SBTRKT hasn’t just been hiding in a mask and a concept. He’s been quietly iterating,

Hip-Hop 2 mins read

Rico Nasty Signs With CAA

Rico Nasty has signed with CAA for global representation. She continues to be managed by Fly South Music Group and repped by a PR duo: Grandstand Media in the U.S. and Imran Malik Publicity in the U.K.—because when your brand of chaos is internationally recognized, you need multiple countries managing the volume.

Her latest project, LETHAL, dropped last month via Atlantic Records and sounds exactly like the name suggests: unfiltered, unrelenting, and impossible to ignore. The project is a return to form—but also a flex. It’s Rico at full blast, blending punk fury with trap maximalism, and reminding everyone that just because the mainstream shifted toward soft-spoken alt-rap doesn’t mean she plans to lower her voice.

With over 2.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and cities like Chicago, LA, and NYC showing up heavy in the data, Rico’s following isn’t niche—it’s just particular. They want volume. They want eyeliner. They want rage and glitter and someone who raps like she’s mid–WWE entrance.

She’s already left her mark on stages at Rolling Loud, Coachella, and Lollapalooza. And now that CAA is in the mix, expect to see her booked at even more venues

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Rockin’1000 Signs With ITB: The World’s Biggest Band Finds a Booking Home

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What began in 2015 as a passionate plea to get the Foo Fighters to play Cesena, Italy—via a viral video of 1,000 musicians playing “Learn to Fly” in unison—has evolved into a global phenomenon. Think Glastonbury meets garage band. Rockin’1000 has since become a musical movement of over 100,000 musicians across more than 100 countries, performing massive rock covers with the full force of stadium-sized humanity. Picture 250 drummers, 500 guitarists, and a wall of vocals belting Queen—all on the same stage.

Their performances have electrified venues like Stade de France, Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park, and Brazil’s Allianz Parque. They’re less a band than a logistical miracle: a reminder that

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Miguel Has Signed With The Chamber Group for PR Representation

Miguel has signed with The Chamber Group for PR representation. He continues to be repped by CAA for live/touring, because of course he does; at this point, Miguel’s concerts are less about ticket sales and more about fabric softener demand from fans throwing silk shirts on stage.

Spotify tells us he’s still floating north of 27.5 million monthly listeners, with his most obsessive fan clusters living in Los Angeles, Sydney, Jakarta, Chicago, and London. You could attribute that geographic spread to global streaming habits or simply assume those are the cities with the most well-lit bedrooms.

Miguel’s live footprint is equally cosmopolitan. Over the years, he’s graced the stages of Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Made in America, typically as the guy you book when you want the crowd to stop scrolling TikTok and feel something in their soul—or, at minimum, in their hips.

In print and pixels, Miguel’s been a fixture of the glossy magazine world. He’s landed in GQ, Billboard, Flaunt, and more, usually photographed somewhere between mid-conversation and mid-seduction, in a silk robe or leather pants, occasionally both. Fashion, like genre, bends around him.

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Rauw Alejandro x Buchanan’s: When the Grill Meets the Groove

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If you’re unfamiliar with the term asado, it’s basically barbecue—but make it Latin American, deeply emotional, and a battleground for generational grilling philosophies. Enter Buchanan’s, the Scotch brand with a Latin soul, whose entire brand identity now seems built around making whisky as comfortable at a backyard cookout as it is on a mahogany bar cart in the Andes.

The campaign’s core thesis is one part sociology seminar and one part travel ad: despite our differences in spice level, smoke preference, and playlist choices (Merengue or Bomba? Discuss), it’s Buchanan’s that brings us together. Rauw, of course, plays the cultural diplomat here—grilling with friends from Puerto Rico, Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico across a four-part video series that’s basically Anthony

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Vintage Culture Has Been Named Global Brand Ambassdor of Von Dutch

Somewhere between the Y2K renaissance and the revival of logo-core lies Von Dutch, a brand once favored by mid-2000s starlets and now freshly dipped in relevance. And who better to helm its return than Brazilian DJ and producer Vintage Culture, a man who knows a thing or two about high-octane nostalgia.

As the new global ambassador, Vintage Culture isn’t just posing in flame-stitched hats—he’s co-creating an exclusive capsule collection under Von Dutch’s new creative platform, Von Dutch Loves. Launching June 15, the line leans all the way in: distressed trucker hats, oversized graphic tees, and all the blurry-after-3am rave energy your feed can handle. The collection is, as the artist puts it, “a celebration of individuality,” though cynics might call it a well-timed play for post-ironic fashion supremacy.

And let’s be clear: this isn’t a vanity license plate gig. Vintage Culture, born Lukas Ruiz, has spent the last few years quietly becoming one of the most bankable names in dance music. With a sound that fuses deep house with melodic grooves and a stage presence that lights up arenas

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3 Arts Buys A&A, and Your Favorite Tight End Is Now a Signpost for the Future of Talent Management

In a move that feels less like a simple acquisition and more like a plot point in the great convergence of sports and Hollywood, 3 Arts Entertainment has acquired A&A Management Group—a boutique sports talent shop best known for repping the NFL’s most eligible bachelor and Taylor Swift’s sometime jewelry model, Travis Kelce.

Founded in 2011 by brothers Aaron and André Eanes, A&A carved out a niche as high-touch career architects for a client list that reads like the red carpet at a GQ Sports issue release party: NBA standouts Jonathan Kuminga and Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland, NFL Pro Bowlers Denzel Ward and Joe Haden, and model/TV personality Camille Kostek, among others. Most famously, they’ve helped elevate Kelce from elite tight end to crossover media darling, securing brand deals, podcast success, and reality show stints along the way. He didn’t just go to the Super Bowl. He brought Pfizer and Experian along for the ride.

Now, with A&A folded into the 3 Arts empire—known for producing The Office, Parks and Recreation, and managing A-listers across entertainment—the Eanes brothers’ athlete-first, brand-savvy philosophy will be scaled up to operate across

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Fuerza Regida and Dos Equis Want You to Stop Asking for Permission (or Forgiveness)

The name of the campaign is Ni Perdón Ni Permiso, which roughly translates to “No Forgiveness, No Permission.” And just in case that didn’t tip you off, the vibe here is: live loudly, unapologetically, and ideally with a Dos Equis in hand while Fuerza Regida blasts from the speakers.

Yes, Fuerza Regida, the chart-torching, genre-bending ambassadors of Música Mexicana’s new wave, have teamed up with Dos Equis for a full-throttle, confidence-as-a-lifestyle campaign aimed at turning everyday rebellion into branded content. And frankly, it’s kind of perfect. If any band can sell audacity, it’s the guys who just made Billboard history with a Spanish-language corrido album cracking the Billboard 200 at No. 2—before climbing to No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart days later. Oh, and did we mention they also topped Apple Music’s All-Genre and Latin Albums charts simultaneously? Casual.

The campaign isn’t just a vibe—it’s also an interactive talent search. Starting June 9, Dos Equis

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Prince Royce Signs With Wasserman, Continues His Reign as the Bachata Globalist-in-Chief

If there’s one thing Wasserman knows how to do, it’s take global icons and make them slightly more global. Prince Royce, the Bronx-born bachatero who made heartache sound like a dancefloor proposition, has officially signed with Wasserman for worldwide representation (minus the part of the world where bachata was arguably born). Because why not expand your empire—selectively?

Royce’s team remains a steady triangle: Walter Kolm Entertainment on management (the Latin music whisperer), Nieman Group on PR (because someone has to craft the headline when your heart gets broken in 4/4 time), and now Wasserman to handle the booking side of his eterna career trajectory.

This isn’t a case of artist-trying-to-make-a-comeback. Royce has never really left. He first broke out in 2010 with a bachata rework of “Stand By Me” that somehow turned a 1960s soul classic into the unofficial slow dance anthem of every quinceañera between Miami and Queens. He followed that up with “Corazón Sin Cara”, which was less a single and more a gentle reminder that beauty is skin-deep but charisma is eternal.

Since then,

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Trey Songz Signs With IAG

Trey Songz—the man who helped a generation of R&B fans confuse love with texting at 2 a.m.—has officially signed with Independent Artist Group (IAG) for representation. Yes, that Trey Songz. The inventor of the “Sex Playlist” energy before streaming platforms made those literal, the crooner who somehow made the phrase “Neighbors Know My Name” sound like both a flex and a zoning violation.

With over 8 million monthly Spotify listeners, and core fanbases across Sydney, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Atlanta, Mr. Steal Your Girl is still very much on the playlist and in the bloodstream. His latest single, “Say the Word”, dropped this month as an independent release—because when you’ve already spent years signed to Atlantic and sold millions, sometimes you just want to whisper sweet nothings directly to your audience with no middlemen.

Trey, whose real name is Tremaine Neverson (which already sounds like a lost member of the royal family who moonlights at Drai’s),

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Dua Lipa Puts Her Gloss Where Her Voice Is — With YSL Beauty

YSL Beauty has tapped Dua Lipa—global pop star, fashion maximalist, and walking serotonin dispenser—to front its campaign for the new LOVESHINE Plumping Lip Oil Gloss, a product that sounds like it was named during a sugar rush and a brainstorm session in equal measure. Naturally, Dua Lipa is the face of it. Because if you’re launching a product that promises shine, heat, and a little bit of chaos, you don’t cast a minimalist.

The campaign leans heavily into Lipa’s entire public thesis: bold color, playful energy, slight vintage callback, unapologetic glamour. This isn’t a subtle gloss. This is a disco ball in oil form. “Lipstick is my go-to beauty product,” Lipa says in the official statement. Which feels like a helpful clarification for anyone who’s ever seen her walk a carpet and thought, “This woman definitely loves math.”

This isn’t Dua’s first ride with YSL. She’s been a beauty ambassador for the house, and this campaign marks a natural extension—like if Studio 54

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Kendrick Lamar’s Stars In New Gatorade Ad About Losing. But You Know, In a Cool Way.

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The spot, released May 25, leans hard into monochrome minimalism—black-and-white cinematography, meditative voiceover, controlled pacing—before erupting into splashes of Gatorade color like a Jackson Pollock

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The Weeknd Joins Forces With Nespresso

The Weeknd has joined forces with Nespresso, because of course he has. If you’re a multi-platinum, genre-shattering global superstar with a taste for icy falsettos and atmospheric dread, what’s the logical next move? Launch a coffee brand named after your mom.

Enter “Samra Origins,” a limited-edition Ethiopian blend created in collaboration with Nespresso that promises to be “best enjoyed over ice,” which, frankly, is also a pretty good tagline for The Weeknd himself. The collection

Film/TV 2 mins read

Beau Mirchoff Has Signed With Principal Entertainment For Management

Beau Mirchoff has signed with Principal Entertainment for management, because when you’ve gone from teenage heartthrob in a high school hoodie to grown-man cowboy navigating family drama on horseback, it’s probably time for a team that can wrangle both ends of your IMDb page.

He still rides with IAG for agency rep, but Principal steps in now to help steer the broader narrative—which is important when your career begins with Matty McKibben on Awkward (yes, the moody, mysterious one) and winds up with you starring in Hallmark’s Ride, roping cattle and emotions in equal measure.

Mirchoff has always been something of a shape-shifter. He played the new kid on Desperate Housewives during its late-stage chaos era. He showed up in The Fosters and its spinoff Good Trouble, playing the kind of emotionally unavailable boyfriend that lives rent-free in Freeform viewers’ heads. And then there was Now Apocalypse, a fever dream of a show that dared to ask: what if sex, aliens, and existential dread were the same thing?

In film, he’s popped up in places you probably

Film/TV 2 mins read

Dan Soder Has Signed With Range Media Partners For Management,

Dan Soder has signed with Range Media Partners for management, which feels like the natural next step when your resume reads like the streaming era’s Swiss army knife—stand-up comic, prestige drama actor, former voice of satellite radio degeneracy, and, crucially, still a guy who loves telling jokes about his mom.

He stays repped by UTA, because sometimes you don’t fix what’s working—you just add horsepower. Range, after all, is where people go when the plan isn’t just to do gigs, but to architect a career. And Soder’s career is weird in a good way: he’s not the kind of comic whose audience forgets him after the next Netflix drop. He’s the kind that builds mythologies. The guy your friend insists you have to see live because “he’s actually really smart.” (He is.)

You might know him as Mafee on Billions—the junior trader with a soul, which in that show is basically science fiction. Or from his HBO special Son of a Gary, where he turns childhood trauma into a tight 58 minutes of catharsis and fart jokes. Or maybe you caught him during the Bonfire era on

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Ayra Starr Joins Roc Nation: The Celestial Star Plots Her U.S. Takeover

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