#99 - holliwood star 🌞

Happy Sunlighter Sunday! 🌞 This marks our 99th edition, an ode to both our artist of the week and the city that continues to be the nexus for artist development. Moreover, it’s Coachella Weekend 1, the official kickoff of a busy upcoming festival season. Good thing music can’t be tariffed.

Rating Rationale: Chris here 👋🏼, it’s been a while since my last album review, but 2hollis’ fourth studio album, star, was enough to get the typewriter hot again. Known for his fictional world-building and enigmatic creative style, “2” has recently reached the precipice of celebrity in star. The album could be the one that breaks 2hollis to mainstream - the arrangement of the album is an efficiently constructed story of Holly’s fame, dreams, and reflections, showcasing not only his mix of his music influences (primarily hip-hop and hyperpop) but also his surprisingly stylistic range. Most impressive, while his classic gritty synths and heavier, glitchy basslines (reminiscent of his tour with Ken Carson) are still consistently integrated across star, his sound continues to adapt to the milieu of his story.

Recap of Coachella weekend 1, artist-hosted festivals reveal lineups with Modest Mouse becoming latest artist to host a music festival

The music festival season officially kicked off this week with the first weekend of Coachella. As always, celebrity appearances and artist special guests dominated the discussion. Here’s a recap of the latter:

• Charli xcx brought out Billie Eilish, close friend and touring mate, Troye Sivan, and Lorde

• The Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor Gustavo Dadamel brought out Maren Morris for “My Church,” Zedd for “Clarity,” Laufey who debuted new song, “Silver Lining,” Becky G for “Shower,” and LL Cool J for “Mama Said Knock You Out”

• Popular children’s educational sing-a-long TV show, Yo Gabba Gabba! brought out Flavor Flav, Weird Al Yankovic, Thundercat, Portugal. The Man, and… the Duolingo Owl?

• Benson Boone brought out Queen’s Brian May to perform “Bohemian Rhapsody”

• Three 6 Mafia brought out Project Pat, Travis Barker, MGK, and Wiz Khalifa

• Tyla brought out Becky G

• Shaboozey brought out Noah Cyrus

• Lady Gaga brought out Gesaffelstein

• Junior H brought out Peso Pluma

• Doja Cat brought out A$AP Rocky, 21 Savage, and Teezo Touchdown

• Reneé Rapp brought out Kesha

• Tems brought out Wizkid and Justin Bieber

• Jhene Aiko brought out Big Sean, Tyga, Saweetie, and Omarion

• Lil Yachty brought out his collective, Concrete Boys, along with Justine Skye and Mac DeMarco

• J Balvin brought out Will Smith

Music artists who host and curate their festivals are becoming an all too familiar phenomenon. This year, Modest Mouse enters the ring with their inaugural cruise festival, Ice Cream Floats, which will take place next February 5-9, taking off from Miami and ending its destination in the Dominican Republic. Passengers on board include Portugal. The Man, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Mannequin Pussy, Fidlar, and more.

Separately, J. Cole’s Dreamville will include Lil Wayne, 21 Savage, Erykah Badu, and Tems as headlining acts while T-Pain’s Nappy Boy Entertainment heads Back to Wiscansin with Pusha T, Wale, Jermaine Dupri, NLE Choppa, and more.

Lil Durk releases Deep Thoughts from jail amid possible life sentence, Ken Carson releases More Chaos, Kali Uchis re-signs with Capitol Records

Lil Durk, along with five members of his Only the Family label, was arrested back in October 2024 for murder-for-hire charges due to his suspected involvement in the murder of Quando Rondo’s cousin, in retaliation to Quando Rondo’s involvement in the 2020 slaying of King Von. At the end of March, Durk released Deep Thoughts, a somber reflection of his current state.

Ken Carson originally planned More Chaos to be a deluxe version of his previous album, A Great Chaos. Now it’s here but as a standalone project released this week.

Last month, Kali Uchis officially re-signed with Capitol Records while simultaneously taking to social media to announce her fifth studio album, Sincerely.

Finally, Will Smith recently released Based on a True Story, his first album in 20 years, while Russ, Erykah Bad, and Kanye West all plan for new albums later this year.

Ed Sheeran announces eighth studio album with lead single, “Azizam,” Lorde teases new music

Earlier this month, Ed Sheeran dropped his first single, “Azizam,” celebrating Persian culture for his upcoming new album, Play. It’s his first single since releasing Autumn Variations in 2023.

Last week, Lorde made it clear that new music is on its way after archiving her Instagram posts, effacing her official website, and taking to TikTok to preview an unreleased song playing over a video of her in Washington Square Park.

Turnstile and The Mars Volta announce new albums, anticipation for Oasis Reunion builds, Guns N’ Roses splits with drummer

Turnstile, who revitalized broad listener interest in hardcore punk through its album Glow On in 2021, revealed that they have a new album, Never Enough, coming June 6, but the sound might be heading in a different direction... The Mars Volta has also committed to evolving their sound, quietly releasing their third album since their 2022 reunion.

Back in August of last year, Oasis shocked the music world that they would be reuniting, leaving the brothers’ long-time feud in the past. That anticipation continues to build as the brothers plan to have a new film released concurrently with their reunion tour.

Finally, long-time drummer, Frank Ferrer, bids adieu to Guns N’ Roses after joining the band back in 2006.

Tennis announces hiatus, Wet Leg reunites, new album announcements from Arcade Fire, The Beaches, and Cautious Clay

Indie duo, Tennis, plans to go on indefinite hiatus after releasing their final studio album, Face Down.

Indie band, Wet Leg, is “so back,” returning to music since its award-winning run in 2022-2023, winning two Grammys and the BRIT Award for Best British Group.

Finally, a flurry of album announcements: Arcade Fire announces its first album in 3 years (this comes after the multiple sexual misconduct accusations against frontman, Win Butler), Cautious Clay will release The Hours: Morning on May 16, and all-female Canadian alt-rock band, The Beaches, will release their album, No Hard Feelings on August 29.

Primer: While 2hollis has become a successful product of being a music experimentalist, since childhood, Hollis has always held an ardent interest in composing fictitious lore through his personal experiences that have ironically begun to transform into a personal legacy.

Hollis grew up in a music-oriented household in Chicago, but it wasn’t until he moved to Los Angeles that he began pursuing music production. The undoubtedly pivotal moment for Hollis was his 11th birthday when Hollis’ father gifted him Ableton software. The discovery of beat production would set Hollis on a predestined path that would eventually engender the artistic project, Drippysoup, the predecessor to 2hollis.

At the center of Hollis’ vivid music-induced depictions and mysterious alias releases on SoundCloud is a collision course of influences that include inspiration from hyperpop collective Drain Gang (Swedish group consisting of Bladee, Ecco2K, Thaiboy Digital, Whitearmor) and the world-building game of Minecraft, which has sampled sounds throughout his third studio album, boy. Although some may feel disdain for Hollis’ inextricable ties to the music industry by way of his mother who helped co-found OWSLA with Skrillex, we believe that’s a dramatic oversimplification of his success and understanding of the complex sounds that have made Hollis into a star.

What’s Next: After a strong reception to his 2024 release of boy and singles leading up to his recently released fourth album, star, 2hollis is now carrying his momentum into the festival circuit, a classic, yet practical marketing playbook for the newly signed (as of October) Interscope artist. We expect this year to be a massive discovery year for Holly and would recommend you catching him if you can.

Napster, TikTok, Apple & Timbaland make music tech headlines, Stationhead integrates with Shopify, and Merlin takes on Triller in streaming lawsuit

👾 Napster Acquired for $207M by Infinite Reality: Everyone’s favorite original music streaming service, Napster, has been acquired by metaverse infrastructure startup Infinite Reality in a $270M deal. With Infinite Reality valued at $12.25 billion, the move hints at future integrations between music libraries and immersive digital experiences.

🤫 A Soft Launch: TikTok for Artists–again?: Over the years, TikTok has teetered back and forth on a cohesive music strategy. Over the last month, the provocative application quietly rolled out a new “TikTok for Artists” platform to help musicians better manage their profiles, release strategies, and engagement tools. 

🎧 DJ Turn It Up: Apple Music now allows users to mix their full libraries within popular DJ apps, finally bridging the gap between streaming and spinning. Cheers to more generations of self-taught DJs.

🔊 Let the Beat Drop: Timbaland has partnered with AI music company Suno to explore new ways of co-creating songs with AI. While he sees huge potential, critics like Ivors Academy have pushed back, accusing Suno of regurgitating copyrighted lyrics. It sounds like Suno may have more competition soon, with China’s $6B valued Kunlun Tech debuting its first “music reasoning model”–designed to outperform Suno in generating full music tracks. Meanwhile, ASCAP is advocating for songwriter protections in U.S. AI copyright policy, emphasizing human creativity over algorithmic content. Lastly, AI music company Aiode has joined Abbey Road Studios’ incubator as it readies its open beta, aiming to drive collaborative, AI-driven music creation.

🛍️ No More Merch Lines: Stationhead has teamed up with Shopify, enabling artists to sell merch directly within the social music streaming app. The integration offers a seamless bridge between fandom and commerce, enhancing artist monetization.

⚖️ Merlin vs. Triller: Merlin, representing thousands of independent labels, is suing TikTok rival Triller for allegedly failing to pay agreed-upon music licensing fees. The lawsuit reflects ongoing tensions between platforms and rightsholders over fair compensation.

U.S. streaming growth lags, StubHub files for IPO, UMG, HYBE, WMG & Primary Wave make strategic investments

📉 U.S. Lagging on Streaming Growth: The global recorded music market surged to $36.2B in 2024, but U.S. growth lagged at just 3.6%, hurt by falling ad-supported revenues.

💰 StubHub Files for IPO: Despite industry-wide scrutiny of ticket resale platforms, StubHub filed to go public in the NYSE after a strong 2024, with 30% revenue growth.

💁 Don’t – with my App: With support from Ed Sheeran, WMG is revamping its underwhelming superfan app, supporting the broader push to deepen direct artist-fan connections.

🎢 Amusement Records Gets a Boost: Producer Dan Nigro’s Amusement Records–home to last year’s breakout star Chappell Roan–is being upgraded to a central venture within UMG, strengthening UMG’s creative development pipeline.

💡 Believe the HYBE: HYBE added LA-based Confirmed360 to its experiential empire and launched in-app streaming and listening parties on Weverse.

💰 Securing the Bag: Primary Wave acquired a stake in the Notorious B.I.G.’s catalog in a deal valuing the estate at $200 million, continuing its aggressive legacy rights strategy. Concord expanded its reach into artist services by acquiring distribution and royalty platform Stem. Meanwhile, PopHouse Entertainment raised over $1B for its first fund, doubling down on music IP investments with long-term ambition. Ampollo raised $3.2M to grow its artist-focused tools for production and fan engagement. Create Music Group acquired respected indie label !K7 to strengthen its catalog and electronic presence. On the startup front, Hook, a Gen Z-focused music mashup platform, raised $3M to scale its creative tech platform, and GenAI firm Bria raised $40M to expand from its roots in generative visual content into the music space.

Skrillex joins the club for longest album title & Bon Iver stuns with first album in six years

Elton John & Brandi Carlile, Who Believes in Angels? | Skrillex, F*CK U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3 | 2hollis, star | Duckwrth, All American F*ckboy, Grace VanderWaal, CHILDSTAR | Knox, Going, Going, Gone | SYML, Nobody Lives Here

Ken Carson, More Chaos | Bon Iver, SABLE, fABLE | Bonobo, Lazarus | Jon Pardi, Honkytonk Hollywood | Trousdale, Growing Pains | Turnpike Troubadours, The Price of Admission

Julien Baker & Torres, Send a Prayer My Way | Keri Hilson, We Need to Talk

Billy Idol, Dream Into It | Willie Nelson, Oh What a Beautiful World | Coco Jones, Why Not More? | d4vd, Withered | Samia, Bloodless | Tennis, Face Down in the Garden

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See ya next time 😎

Donya and Chris