Tag: John Janick

Billboard Cover: One Wild Night with Rae Sremmurd

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READ IT AT BILLBOARD (in print too)

My journey with Rae Sremmurd began with a monkey meet-and-greet in Los Angeles and ended at a Las Vegas nightclub in a literal hail of cash. In between, I met the Kings of Woodland Hills, watched the sunset over the desert from a private jet, went on a wild goose chase in search of a huge sack of cash, drank Hip and Hen in a multi-level hotel suite, rode around in a Hulk-green stretch Hummer limo, sat awkwardly at a strip club while one of my subjects threw about $2,000 in roughly 20 minutes, and—best of all—got to spend some quality time (10 hours) with two hard-working sibling sweethearts. Despite all the flash, my biggest takeaway was that, as Jhene Aiko put it and Mike WiLL Made-It confirmed, Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi are “a bundle of joy.”

BILLBOARD COVER: ZEDD IS EDM’S ANTI-BRO

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READ IT AT BILLBOARD (in print too)

Want a true testament to the delightfulness of my subject this time around? Here’s the list of folks who went on the record to say nice things about Zedd: Kesha, Jared Leto, Liam Payne of One Direction, Hailee Steinfeld, Dillon Francis, Interscope CEO John Janick, songwriter/artist Julia Michaels, and DJ-producer Porter Robinson. As for the story, this one takes me into the Hollywood Hills home of the dance/pop genius not only for poker night (excerpted: his brother took me for $40), but for a hang sesh in which he plays piano, reveals his plans for Jeff Buckley’s legacy, and shows off a $13,000 side table that fills his living room with rainbows on sunny days. Also, as the headline suggests, there are the myriad ways in which he is not a basic bro.