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“Beyoncé's music director on Emmy nod : 'It feels good' - Lincoln Journal Star” plus 3 more

albaparceda Ekim 09, 2021

“Beyoncé's music director on Emmy nod : 'It feels good' - Lincoln Journal Star” plus 3 more

Beyoncé's music director on Emmy nod : 'It feels good' - Lincoln Journal Star

Posted: 27 Aug 2019 09:13 AM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) — In true Beyoncé fashion, when her music director learned he earned his first-ever Emmy nomination for his work on the pioneering project, "HOMECOMING: A Film by Beyoncé," he was too busy to celebrate — because he was focused on producing the superstar's next album.

Derek Dixie has worked with Beyoncé for almost a decade, rising through the ranks from assisting the music director to eventually holding the title himself. His first credit as an MD for Beyoncé was her first concert since giving birth to Blue Ivy in 2012, where former first lady Michelle Obama and her daughters Sasha and Malia were among the attendees.

Now, Dixie is competing for outstanding music direction — shared with Beyoncé — at the Emmy Awards, slated for Sept. 22 (the creative arts Emmys, a precursor to the main ceremony, takes place Sept. 14).

"It feels good obviously. I haven't really digested it completely yet," Dixie said in a phone interview with The Associated Press from Los Angeles. "My family's looking at me like, 'Wow, my son is Emmy-nominated, my brother Emmy-nominated, so that part of it is really good. Like, I've kind of accomplished something for the home team and for the family."

When the Emmy nominations were announced in July, Dixie was adding the finishing touches to "The Lion King: The Gift," released days after the nominations were revealed. The Beyoncé-curated album was inspired by the 2019 film version of "The Lion King," where the singer voices the character Nala.

Though Dixie came on Beyoncé's team in music direction, he's also produced, engineered and arranged songs for the singer.

"Just being on the road all the time, sometimes you might have to record an idea or something and need somebody to hop in there and record something quick. And I had those skills," said Dixie, who also produced songs on Beyoncé's epic "Lemonade" album, earning him his first-ever Grammy nomination at the 2017 awards show. "I think it's segued from the live world into the studio world in my case."

For "HOMECOMING," which captured Beyoncé's brilliant and trailblazing 2018 Coachella performance that highlighted black college culture, Dixie said they planned months ahead of the performance, first by trading ideas over the phone. Then he went into the studio with a small band to churn out more concepts (the final performance included more than 100 performers onstage, including a full marching band, majorette dancers and steppers).

"Once she honed in on the HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) idea ... it was a machine after that. It was just months and months of prep work, making it sound authentic," he said. "She has tons and tons of classic records that when putting the show together, you have to maintain the classic feel of the record but make it feel like you're in a stadium at homecoming."

Beyoncé's Coachella performance marked the first time a black woman headlined the famed festival and made the singer just the third woman to score the gig, behind Bjork and Lady Gaga. And it made history: "HOMECOMING" earned a whopping six Emmy nominations, including four for Beyoncé, giving the 23-time Grammy winner a good chance to snag her first-ever Emmy.

In addition to outstanding music direction, Beyoncé is nominated for outstanding directing for a variety special (shared with Ed Burke), outstanding writing for a variety special and outstanding variety special (pre-recorded), where she is nominated as the film's performer and executive producer (she shares the nomination with fellow EPs Erinn Williams, Steve Pamon and Burke). "HOMECOMING" also earned nominations for outstanding production design for a variety special and outstanding costumes for variety, nonfiction or reality programming.

"I don't think you can survive in her circle without being the hardest working person in the room," Dixie said of working for Beyoncé. "I say, 'Always be the hardest working person in the room and always hire the hardest working person in the room.' Because you have to have that because that's who she is. That's what she's going to do."

"I think it's a blessing and just like any situation you have your stresses and you have your chaos that exists," he continued, "but because of who she is as an entertainer and as a person, you kind of find that fuel to keep going one more day."

And for those who hope to work for Beyoncé one day, he has some advice: "Be ready to work. Yes. That's it. The glamour part comes later but the work part is definitely real."

Tibetan Monks Secretly Inspired Beyoncé’s Coachella Wardrobe - Vanity Fair

Posted: 27 Aug 2019 10:13 AM PDT

In Homecoming, Beyoncé gives fans a glimpse at the work that goes into being Beyoncé. The Netflix documentary-slash-concert film, nominated for six Emmys, shows the making of the Grammy-winning singer's headlining Coachella set, a dazzling tour de force that took months to execute. But even though Homecoming takes viewers behind the curtain, there's a lot that the film didn't capture. Just ask longtime Bey stylist Marni Senofonte and wardrobe supervisor Timothy White, as well as Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing, the team behind the show's costumes. Their duties included outfitting Beyoncé, as well as about 200 dancers and musicians.

"I don't think people realize the process of what she goes through, and why her shows are so good," said White. He and Senofonte, who have worked for Beyoncé for 17 and about 10 years, respectively, don't simply have brainstorming sessions with the singer; they make formal presentations for individual items of clothing, like the bright yellow hoodie emblazoned with shimmering Greek letters the singer wound up sporting for much of the show. "We don't just say, 'Hey, we're thinking of a sweatshirt,'" said Senofonte. "We build it. We build the concept because she has to see it."

If the singer likes their presentation, they'll put the piece on a double, who will wear it onstage so Beyoncé can literally visualize it in a performance. Then she gets into the costume and films herself wearing it onstage. She'll make a final decision only after reviewing the footage.

"It's a lot of steps to get one item on a stage with her," White said.

Wardrobe discussions began about six months before the April 2018 show, with Senofonte bringing Rousteing into the fold. The scale of the show was intimidating to the team's new addition: "It was a huge challenge for me because I never dressed so many people in my life," the French designer said. "But that's what she wanted; that's what we went for." Once the concepts were ready—inspired by the culture of historically black colleges and universities—he had about two months to actually assemble all the top-secret looks. Though Beyoncé wound up wearing 12 different costumes, Rousteing made dozens of looks for her, just to be safe.

During that six-month planning period, Senofonte started building mood boards, putting together binders of ideas (12 full ones by the end of production), and looking everywhere for inspiration, including photo books and Pinterest. Above all else, all three stress that color was extremely important to Beyoncé. The hue of the bright yellow hoodie ultimately selected for Weekend 1 of Coachella was deemed "monk yellow" by Team Bey, because the singer was inspired by the yellow robes often worn by Tibetan monks. "We had so many Pinterest images of inspiration of that color on these huge groups of people, and it looked so beautiful," Senofonte said. Even so, there were initially other color contenders: "She also loved electric blue, and loved purple," Senofonte said. Beyoncé also, at one point, considered mixing yellow and pink together, but nixed the idea once she saw the colors together onstage.

The team also had to grapple with the technical aspects of making costumes that looked structural but were loose-fitting and flexible enough for Beyoncé and the dancers to move in (and for the band to play their instruments in). The outfits also had to be breathable enough for steamy Coachella weather; according to White, they cycled through countless different versions of the costumes that ultimately ended up onstage.

In Homecoming, you get brief glimpses at all three costumers; Senofonte is the one you hear when Beyoncé realizes that she can fit into her old costume, and excitedly calls Jay-Z. In a later, deeply mesmeric scene, Beyoncé recounts the tiny details of this performance she oversaw, giving an explicit shout-out to Rousteing—who's given precious screen time in Homecoming. But the designer had no idea he would end up getting featured in the film; upon seeing his surprise appearance, he said, "I [had] tears and goosebumps."

Beyoncé and Rihanna earn a spot on Forbes' highest-paid women in music list - REVOLT TV

Posted: 27 Aug 2019 10:08 AM PDT

Artist // Instagram

As both of their careers unfold, Beyoncé and Rihanna continue to secure the bag.

According to Forbes, both female artists have snagged top spots on the Highest-Paid Women in Music list. Beyoncé secures the No. 2 slot with a total of $81 million. As for Rihanna, she holds the No. 3 slot with a total of $62 million. The list includes other notable women in music such as Taylor Swift with $185 million, Katy Perry with $57.5 million and Pink with $57 million.

Speaking on Queen Bey, it comes as no surprise that she has racked up millions. Last month, the mother-of-three starred in the Jon Favreau-directed remake of The Lion King. Only a few days after the film's release, it snagged the title of the No. 1 movie in the world making over $544 million.

In addition to her role in the film, Beyoncé also released a soundtrack, The Lion King: The Gift, which featured Blue Ivy Carter, JAY-Z, Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar and more.

"This is sonic cinema," Beyoncé said in the statement announcing the new album. "This is a new experience of storytelling. I wanted to do more than find a collection of songs that were inspired by the film. It is a mixture of genres and collaboration that isn't one sound. It is influenced by everything from R&B, pop, hip hop and Afro Beat."

Switching gears over to Riri, she has seen a ton of success from Fenty Beauty, her clothing line and more. More recently, the Barbados singer registered a new song entitled "Private Loving." According to BMI publisher, the song was written by Rihanna and dancehall artist, Demarco. In the meantime, Rih is expected to drop her upcoming album sooner than later.

"I'm about to call it that probably, 'cause they have haunted me with this 'R9, R9, when is R9 coming out?'" Rihanna said when thinking of a title for her upcoming LP. "How will I accept another name after that's been burned into my skull?"

Congrats to Beyoncé and Rihanna!

More on REVOLT.TV

Beyoncé reportedly in talks with Disney to produce more projects - REVOLT TV

Posted: 01 Aug 2019 12:00 AM PDT

@beyonce // Instagram

Last month, Beyoncé starred in the Jon Favreau-directed film, The Lion King. After measuring the success of the film, Disney wants to keep Queen Bey on board for more projects.

According to the Daily Mail, Disney has reportedly spoken with the 37-year-old singer in hopes of embarking on a potential partnership. The partnership would give Beyoncé "free reign" to make films under Disney. "Beyonce's deal with Disney for The Lion King was one of the biggest it has done to date. Now they want to expand it by giving her free reign to create her own movies under the Disney umbrella," an insider told the news outlet.

Beyoncé's entertainment company, Parkwood Entertainment, is already producing projects. Reportedly, Disney is hoping to strike a deal that benefits both their company and Queen Bey.

The insider added, "She is producing projects with Parkwood Entertainment but Disney bosses would like her to do the same for them in a partnership that would make her millions,' the insider added." Beyoncé's team has yet to comment on whether or not the singer is working on more projects with Disney.

This is a smart move for Disney. Beyoncé has proven in the past that she has the ability to wear multiple hats successfully. In addition to voicing the character Nala, Bey also released a Lion King-inspired album, The Lion King: The Gift. While speaking on the album, the "Formation" hitmaker emphasized the importance of highlighting nature's beauty.

"This is sonic cinema," Beyoncé said in the statement regarding the new album. "This is a new experience of storytelling. I wanted to do more than find a collection of songs that were inspired by the film. It is a mixture of genres and collaboration that isn't one sound. It is influenced by everything from R&B, pop, hip hop and Afro Beat."
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