NEWS
Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne is stepping out to launch her solo career.
The British singer drops “Don’t Say Love,” her first solo number after 11 years with the award-winning, chart-topping pop act.
Produced by Jon Bellion and Pete Nappi, and co-written by Aldae, “Don’t Say Love” is a beats-heavy nugget with lashings of U.K. garage.
The single, through Warner Music, “is about no longer seeking external validation and regaining my confidence and sense of self in a world where I often felt misunderstood and unheard,” she explains.
It’s accompanied with an official music video, helmed by Emil Nava, which creatively captures Leigh-Anne’s transformation — out with the old, in with the new era. The video is a “visual representation of me finding my voice,” she continues. “I’m excited to continue to do so with my first love, music.”
Little Mix capped a massive career with the 2021 Brit Award for best group, becoming the first girl group to win the category. “It’s not easy being a female in the U.K. pop industry,” Leigh-Anne said from the BRITs podium. “We’ve seen white male dominance, misogyny, sexism and lack of diversity. We’re proud of how we’ve stuck together, stood our ground, surrounded ourselves with strong women, and are now using our voices more than ever.”
Formed in 2011 on the U.K.’s X Factor, with an original lineup of Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson, who split from the act in December 2020, Little Mix were major hitmakers in their homeland.
Prior to entering an extended hiatus in 2022, Little Mix racked up five U.K. No. 1 singles, and a best-selling album, 2016’s Glory Days. They’re the first girl group to log 100 weeks in the U.K. singles chart top 10, landing 19 titles in the top tier. Two of their albums 2012’s DNA (No. 4) and 2014’s Salute (No. 6) cracked the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Career record sales top 75 million, and the act have accumulated over 15 billion streams, according to Warner Music.
Stream “Don’t Say Love” below.
NEWS
There is no question that Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out made a serious impact and continues to hold weight. The project showed that hip hop is not limited by age and proved that a long-awaited return can still land in a major way regardless of the time away.
If you need a reminder, the Virginia duo’s fourth studio album debuted comfortably within the top five of the Hot 200. It secured the number four position and moved an impressive 118,000 units in its first week.
On top of that, it picked up a win at this year’s Grammys, earning Best Rap Performance for “Chains & Whips.” The album also received four additional nominations, including Best Music Video, Rap Album, and Album of the Year.
It is hard to believe the project will officially hit its one year mark this summer on July 11. Even so, Pusha T is making it clear that both supporters and critics should not be overlooking it anytime soon.
While performing at Coachella yesterday, King Push told the crowd that LGSEO still sits at the top, regardless of genre.
He said, “‘Let God Sort Em Out’ is still the album of the motherfckin year. Whole new year, still album of the year,” per Kurrco. “Album of the motherfcking year until we drop again. We don't care who dropping. It don't matter.”
That is a strong statement for obvious reasons, especially considering the recent claims surrounding Push himself.
Over the same weekend, hip hop social media lit up after several alleged reference tracks connected to Quentin Miller and Push began circulating. Three tracks surfaced in total, but one that drew the most attention was an alleged record titled “Real Gon’ Come.” It is said to come from the DAYTONA era, around 2017 to 2018.
The situation gained traction because fans remember the past tension between Drake and Pusha T before Drake’s clash with Kendrick Lamar. During that feud, Pusha accused Drake of using ghostwriters on tracks like “Infrared,” which appears on DAYTONA. On that song, he raps, “The bigger question is how the Russians did it /
It was written like Nas, but it came from Quentin.”
Reactions have been mixed. Some people argue it is not a major issue since Miller’s alleged contributions were limited to hooks. Others point out that the songs were never officially released, so they see no real problem. Meanwhile, critics view it as clear hypocrisy on Pusha T’s part, a perspective that DJ Akademiks has also supported.
