Bill Withers Publisher Sues Music Giants Over Olivia Dean’s ‘I’ve Seen It’

Bill Withers, left, is shown in a 1976 Columbia Records publicity photograph. Olivia Dean performs at BST Hyde Park in London on July 6, 2025. Mattie Music Group, doing business as Bleunig Music, alleges Dean’s “I’ve Seen It” copies protectable elements of the melody of “Just the Two of Us,” which Withers co-wrote with Ralph MacDonald and William Salter. Dean is not a defendant in the lawsuit. (Columbia Records/Public domain; Raph_PH/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0; composite image modified from originals)
A music publishing company founded by Bill Withers has gone to federal court over one of his best-known songs, alleging that a track by Grammy-winning singer Olivia Dean repeatedly copies the melody of “Just the Two of Us.”

Mattie Music Group, doing business as Bleunig Music, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit Thursday in Los Angeles against Capitol Records, Universal Music Group, Sony Publishing (US) LLC and Kobalt Music Publishing America.

Dean is not a defendant.

Neither is either of her co-writers, Bastian Langebæk and Max Wolfgang.

Instead, the lawsuit targets companies involved in the recording, publishing and commercial exploitation of “I’ve Seen It,” the closing track on Dean’s 2025 album, “The Art of Loving.”

Mattie alleges the song copies “Just the Two of Us” in large and significant part, including repeated use of what the complaint describes as its protectable melody.

According to the filing, representatives of the publisher listened to Dean’s song several times in early August and reached what they called an “obvious and inescapable” conclusion that it copied the earlier composition.

The company then hired musicologist Alexander Stewart, Ph.D., to compare the songs.

Mattie says Stewart conducted a preliminary musicological analysis, searched for similar earlier material and found substantial similarities in protectable musical expression.

What the seven-page complaint does not include is Stewart’s analysis.

There is no musical notation comparing the songs, no measure-by-measure breakdown, no timestamps identifying the disputed passages and no copy of his report.Mattie says it sent written notice to all four defendants on or about Aug. 17, identifying the copyright registration, Dean’s song and the musical similarities it believed infringed its rights.

LISTEN: Olivia Dean — “I've Seen It”

LISTEN: Grover Washington Jr. featuring Bill Withers — “Just the Two of Us”

The lawsuit alleges the companies continued reproducing, distributing, licensing, performing and commercially exploiting “I’ve Seen It” afterward.

No court has determined that the song infringes “Just the Two of Us.”

Billboard reported that representatives for UMG, Sony and Dean did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A Kobalt representative declined to comment.

The history of the song at the center of the case makes the dispute more complicated than the shorthand description of “Just the Two of Us” as a Bill Withers classic might suggest.

The recording originated with jazz saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. and appeared on his 1980 album, “Winelight,” with Withers singing lead.

Withers shares the songwriting credit with Ralph MacDonald and William Salter.

Released as a single in 1981, “Just the Two of Us” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. MacDonald, Salter and Withers won the 1982 Grammy Award for best rhythm and blues song.

Withers was also unusually candid about how he entered the collaboration.

“I came in after the foundation was already there,” he told American Songwriter.

Withers recalled that MacDonald and Salter already had a demo when they approached him about singing it. He said he wanted to improve the words, memorably describing the existing lyrics as wearing overalls and his revisions as an attempt to put them in a tuxedo.

“I wasn’t the genesis” of the song, Withers said.

That history does not by itself determine Bleunig’s rights in the composition.

It is nevertheless particularly interesting here because Mattie’s lawsuit focuses not on Withers’ lyrics but on alleged copying of the song’s melody.

The complaint says Withers was under contract with Bleunig when he co-wrote “Just the Two of Us” and describes Mattie as a copyright proprietor of the composition.

Bleunig is one of three publishers credited on the song, along with Antisia Music and BMG Ruby Songs. Neither of those companies joined the lawsuit.

Bleunig is not a company that bought its way into the Withers catalog decades later.

Withers founded Golden Withers Music in 1974 after deciding he wanted greater control over his songwriting rights, according to Mattie Music Group’s company history. He established Bleunig in 1978 as he expanded his publishing interests and formed Mattie Music Group in 1997 as an umbrella for those businesses.

He named Mattie Music Group after his mother.

The company identifies Bleunig as a co-publisher of “Just the Two of Us.”

Dean arrives at the dispute from the other end of the song’s 45-year history.

“I’ve Seen It” was written by Dean, Langebæk and Wolfgang. Langebæk, Wolfgang and Zach Nahome are credited as producers.

Dean’s career has surged since “The Art of Loving” arrived in September 2025. She won the Grammy Award for best new artist in February.

Now a song from that album is at the center of a copyright case involving a composition that won its own songwriting Grammy more than four decades earlier.

Mattie is seeking an injunction, its alleged losses, profits attributable to the alleged infringement, interest, costs and attorneys’ fees.

The complaint also asks the court to allow the seizure, impoundment or destruction of copies found to infringe its rights.

It does not demand a specific dollar amount.

For now, Mattie has put its allegation before a federal judge: that a melody heard around the world for 45 years can be heard again in “I’ve Seen It.”

What it has not yet put in the public record is the musical analysis it says shows why.

Rick Ross Pleads Not Guilty After Miami Beach Arrest on Domestic Violence Charges

Rick Ross is shown in a booking photograph following his arrest by Miami Beach police. The rapper faces one felony count of battery by strangulation and one misdemeanor battery count in a domestic violence case. Ross pleaded not guilty Thursday. (Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation)

Rick Ross was arrested in Miami Beach early Thursday on felony and misdemeanor battery charges after a woman told police he repeatedly struck her during an Aug. 28 confrontation that she said began over an Instagram photo.

Ross, 50, whose legal name is William Leonard Roberts, was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center at 6:10 a.m., according to Miami-Dade jail and court records.

He faces one felony count of battery by strangulation and one misdemeanor count of battery. Court records list both charges as involving domestic violence.

Ross pleaded not guilty through an attorney during his first court appearance Thursday.

The hearing also produced an unexpected exchange after Ross' attorney asked whether his release could be expedited because of his celebrity status and said the rapper had been placed in a red jumpsuit for his safety.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy S. Glazer was unmoved.

“I have no idea who you are,” Glazer told Ross before saying he would be treated fairly like everyone else appearing before the court.

The charges stem from an alleged Aug. 28 incident.

According to an arrest report reviewed by WSVN, the woman told police Ross became angry over an Instagram photograph in which she had been tagged.

She alleged Ross slapped her in the face as he questioned her about the photograph and later struck her several times in the chest, leaving her unable to breathe.

The woman also told investigators Ross grabbed her by the ponytail and slammed her head to the ground, according to the report.

Attorney Steve Sadow said Ross is being wrongfully accused by an ex-girlfriend and noted that the alleged incident was not reported to police until about a month later.

Ross has denied the allegations through his attorneys.

Under Florida law, battery by strangulation involves knowingly and intentionally impeding another person's normal breathing or blood circulation by applying pressure to the throat or neck or blocking the nose or mouth in a manner that creates a risk of or causes great bodily harm. The offense is a third-degree felony.

Ross' arrest came days after his former girlfriend, Jazzma Kendrick, separately accused him of physical abuse in posts on Instagram Stories.

Kendrick shared an image of an injured lip that she attributed to Ross and said she had left the relationship after the alleged incident.

Authorities have not publicly identified the woman in the criminal case by name, however, and early court reporting did not establish that Kendrick's public allegations were the basis for Thursday's charges.

Ross emerged as one of Miami's biggest rap stars with his 2006 breakout single “Hustlin'” and later founded Maybach Music Group, whose roster has included prominent hip-hop artist Meek Mill and Wale, among others.

His arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 22.

Stevie Wonder Unearths Four Unheard Songs From ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ Sessions

Stevie Wonder performs at the White House in Washington on Feb. 25, 2009. Wonder marked the 50th anniversary of his landmark 1976 album, “Songs in the Key of Life,” on Monday by releasing four previously unheard recordings from the album’s original sessions. (Pete Souza/Official White House Photo)

Fifty years after Stevie Wonder finished "Songs in the Key of Life," he has gone back into the vault to show there was even more music in the key.

Wonder marked the landmark album's 50th anniversary today by releasing four previously unheard recordings from its original sessions, offering a new glimpse into one of the most celebrated creative periods in popular music.

"It's Easier," "My Life Story of Love," "I Can See the Sun In Late December" and "I'm Into Livin'" make up the new four-song "Songs in the Key of Life" EP.

All four were recorded during the sessions for the sprawling double album, which was released Sept. 28, 1976.

"We've lived with 'Songs in the Key of Life' for fifty years, but there's still more to hear," Wonder said in a statement announcing the release. "We didn't add these songs to the album, but they were part of what I was feeling and discovering as we made it."

Wonder, 76, personally selected the recordings for the anniversary release. John Fischbach and Gary O Adante, two of the engineers who worked on the original album, returned to mix the previously unreleased material. Adante was credited as Gary Olazabal on the 1976 LP.

The new songs also bring back musicians whose careers became intertwined with Wonder's extraordinary run in the 1970s.

Greg Phillinganes, Michael Sembello, Ben Bridges, Jim Horn, Raymond Pounds and longtime Wonder bassist Nathan Watts are among the musicians heard on the recordings.

"I'm Into Livin'" features background vocals from Thelma Houston, Deniece Williams and Shirley Brewer. Houston was months away from taking "Don't Leave Me This Way" to No. 1, while Williams was nearing the beginning of a solo career that would produce hits including "Free" and "Let's Hear It for the Boy."

Former Supremes member Susaye Greene co-wrote "My Life Story of Love" with Wonder. Greene and Wonder later co-wrote "I Can't Help It," recorded by Michael Jackson for his 1979 album "Off the Wall."

There is even a piece of studio lore connecting the new release to the marathon sessions that produced the original album.

According to Wonder's team, the final session ended at 4:54 a.m., prompting Watts to exclaim, "Fo'FiftyFo'!" The phrase became an inside joke used around Wonder's circle to mark the end of a session.

The four recordings arriving 50 years later make that ending a little less final.

"Songs in the Key of Life" was already unusually expansive when Wonder finally released it. The original package contained two LPs and a four-song bonus EP, "A Something's Extra," after roughly two years of recording.

It entered Billboard's album chart at No. 1, making Wonder the first American artist to debut an album in the top spot, and remained No. 1 for 14 weeks.

The album produced two No. 1 singles, "I Wish" and "Sir Duke," while songs including "Isn't She Lovely," "As," "Pastime Paradise" and "Love's in Need of Love Today" became enduring pieces of Wonder's catalog.

It also completed one of the most remarkable Grammy runs in music history.

"Songs in the Key of Life" won album of the year in 1977, giving Wonder his third victory in the category in four years following "Innervisions" and "Fulfillingness' First Finale." The Recording Academy inducted the album into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002, and the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry in 2005.

Wonder isn't limiting the 50th anniversary to the vault.

He will take "Songs in the Key of Life" back on the road beginning Oct. 13 in Birmingham, England, performing the album in its entirety on an 18-date tour through Europe and the United States.

The U.S. leg begins Nov. 19 at Madison Square Garden in New York and includes stops in Chicago and Washington before a two-night homecoming in Detroit on Dec. 8-9. The tour is scheduled to close Dec. 19 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.

Stevie Wonder • 18 Dates

“Songs in the Key of Life Performances — 50th Anniversary Tour”

Europe & United States • Fall 2026

Oct. 13

Birmingham, England
Utilita Arena

Oct. 15

Paris
Accor Arena

Oct. 18

Copenhagen, Denmark
Royal Arena

Oct. 20

Oslo, Norway
Unity Arena

Oct. 22

Stockholm
3Arena

Oct. 24

Hannover, Germany
ZAG Arena

Oct. 26

Cologne, Germany
LANXESS Arena

Oct. 28

Amsterdam
Ziggo Dome

Nov. 1

Dublin
3Arena

Nov. 3

London
The O2

Nov. 8

Manchester, England
Co-op Live

Nov. 11

Glasgow, Scotland
OVO Hydro

U.S. Dates

Nov. 19

New York
Madison Square Garden

Nov. 21

Chicago
United Center

Nov. 23

Washington, D.C.
Capital One Arena

Dec. 8

Detroit
Fox Theatre

Dec. 9

Detroit
Fox Theatre

Dec. 19

Inglewood, Calif.
Intuit Dome

1. Jay-Z Rape Accuser Recants in Federal Court, Says She Never Met Him

Jay-Z speaks during an interview with GQ released March 23, 2026. The rapper, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, discussed the sexual-assault allegation against him during the interview and maintained it was false. The woman who made the allegation said in a federal court declaration filed Thursday that she had never met Carter and that her claims against him were false. (Screengrab/GQ)

The woman who accused Jay-Z of sexually assaulting her when she was 13 now says she never met him and that her allegations were false.

In a 12-page declaration filed Thursday in federal court in Manhattan, the woman, identified as Jane Doe, said Shawn Carter, Jay-Z’s legal name, never raped or sexually assaulted her and never engaged in inappropriate conduct toward her.

“There is no truth to any of my claims against Mr. Carter,” she said in the declaration, filed under penalty of perjury.

Doe also said she received no money or promise of compensation for making the declaration.

Carter has since dismissed her as a defendant in his ongoing federal lawsuit against attorney Tony Buzbee and other lawyers involved in bringing the original case.

Doe’s current attorney, James Blair Newman Jr., said she continues to maintain that she was sexually assaulted but now acknowledges that she was wrong when she identified Carter. Newman said she apologizes to Carter and his family.

The reversal goes considerably further than Doe had before.

Her original lawsuit, filed in October 2024, accused Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexually assaulting her after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. It initially referred to another alleged attacker only as a male celebrity.

An amended complaint filed that December named Carter.

Both men denied the allegations.

Questions about Doe’s account surfaced almost immediately. In a December 2024 interview with NBC News, she acknowledged making mistakes in her recollection while continuing to stand by the allegation.

Among the discrepancies, Doe said she encountered Good Charlotte’s Benji Madden at the party, although a representative said Madden and his brother were touring in the Midwest that night. She also said her father drove several hours to pick her up afterward. He told NBC he did not remember doing so.

Doe voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice in February 2025, preventing the same claims from being refiled.

Carter then took the fight to Doe and the lawyers who represented her.

His federal lawsuit accuses Buzbee and others of pursuing an allegation they knew or should have known was unreliable. A central part of Carter’s case is his contention that the attorneys failed to properly investigate Doe before attaching his name to an accusation of child sexual assault.

Carter’s complaint points to information he says was available before his name was added to the case, including Doe’s recent involvement in Mental Health Court and public testimony from her psychiatrist concerning multiple mental-health conditions, prescription medication and a history of hallucinations.

Those details are allegations cited by Carter as part of his argument that Doe’s lawyers had reason to investigate her account more closely. Mental-health treatment itself does not establish that someone is dishonest or that an allegation is false.

Doe’s mental health later entered the court record from her side as well. In seeking permission to continue using a pseudonym, she submitted a declaration from a psychiatrist who said publicly identifying her could destabilize her recovery and worsen her psychiatric symptoms.

Carter spoke publicly about the toll of the accusation during a GQ interview released March 23.

He said the case left him heartbroken and with “uncontrollable anger,” adding that an allegation that serious was something a person “better be super sure” about. Carter maintained in the interview that the accusation was false.

Buzbee has denied wrongdoing and disputed Doe’s latest account of how her original case was handled. He has said several lawyers interviewed her before he personally met her and that she gave them essentially the same story.

A California appeals court sided with Buzbee on a separate Carter lawsuit earlier this month.

In an unpublished Sept. 9 opinion, the three-judge panel upheld dismissal of Carter’s California case and said the evidence before it did not show that Buzbee accused Carter while knowing the allegation was false or with reckless disregard for whether it was true. The court pointed to declarations describing legal teams that interviewed Doe and said they believed her claims.

That decision came before Thursday’s declaration and involved different claims and legal standards.

The new declaration also differs sharply from an earlier, secretly recorded conversation in which investigators approached Doe at her Alabama home and said she appeared to clear Carter. Doe later said she felt intimidated during that encounter and reaffirmed her original allegation.

Memphis Honors Tay Keith With Music Lab, Key to City and Day of His Own

Grammy-nominated producer Tay Keith is shown in an undated promotional portrait. Memphis Public Libraries dedicated the Tay Keith Music Lab on Monday, creating a music production space for young people in honor of the late Memphis hitmaker, whose credits included Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode,” Drake’s “Nonstop” and Beyoncé’s “Before I Let Go.”

Before Tay Keith was producing No. 1 records with some of hip-hop's biggest stars, his sister remembers the work beginning in a little blue, yellow and white house on Bruton Street in Memphis.

On Monday, his hometown put his name on a room where somebody else's career might begin.

Memphis Public Libraries formally dedicated its music production room inside Cloud901 at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library as the Tay Keith Music Lab, honoring the late Grammy-nominated producer while expanding an initiative aimed at giving young people access to music-production tools and instruction.

Keith's older sister, Lisa Austin, told those gathered for the dedication that the family's Raleigh home was where her brother discovered his love of music, started making beats and built the foundation for what the world would eventually know as Tay Keith.

But Austin made clear that the family did not want the room to function simply as a memorial.

“This lab is more than just putting Tay's name on a room,” Austin said. “It's about access and opportunity.”

Cloud901 is Memphis Public Libraries' free technology and production center for teenagers ages 13 to 18. The Tay Keith Legacy Foundation donated to the project, which is being developed into a broader initiative around Keith's life, career and commitment to young people.

Plans include hands-on beat-making and music-production instruction, a permanent archival collection and oral histories with Keith's relatives, friends and associates.

Library officials said they hope to collect photographs, handwritten notes, studio material, correspondence, memorabilia and other pieces of Keith's history. Family members and others who knew him will also be invited to record their memories through the library's 901Voices oral-history project.

At Monday's ceremony, library officials said the collection is intended to preserve not only Keith's career but the stories behind it for people who may encounter his work generations from now.

The project also extends work Keith had begun before his death.

Memphis Mayor Paul Young said Keith and his team contacted him shortly after Young became mayor because the producer wanted to discuss how he could make deeper investments in Memphis.

One conversation turned into a standing habit.

Keith told Young he planned to call him every Monday.

Tay Keith's family and Memphis officials dedicate the Tay Keith Music Lab at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library on Sept. 21, 2026.

“And he called me literally every Monday,” Young said.

Young said that even after becoming a successful producer, Keith was routinely checking in with the mayor because he wanted to figure out how to make a larger impact on the city that raised him.

Keith also worked with the city's Office of Youth Services on the My Memphis Poetry Challenge, which encouraged young Memphians to use writing to express their creativity and connection to the city. Young cited the project Monday as another example of Keith's interest in creating opportunities for young people. The competition itself was also documented by the Memphis City Council and local reporting.

Memphis added two other honors around what would have been Keith's 30th birthday.

Young proclaimed Sept. 20 Tay Keith Day in Memphis and presented Keith's family with a key to the city during Monday's dedication.

The mayor said young Memphians entering the lab will be able to see Keith's name, use the equipment and recognize that someone from their city reached the highest levels of the music business.

“Somebody from Memphis did it, and they can too,” Young said.

Keith, born Brytavious Lakeith Chambers, developed from a young Memphis producer into one of the most successful hitmakers of his generation. His credits include Travis Scott's “Sicko Mode,” Drake's “Nonstop” and “First Person Shooter,” along with work for artists including Beyoncé, Eminem, Cardi B, 21 Savage and Sexyy Red. BMI honored him three times as its R&B/Hip-Hop Producer of the Year.

He died June 18 at his Nashville apartment at 29.

Days before the Memphis ceremony, the Nashville medical examiner disclosed that Keith's death had been ruled accidental. The cause was toxicity involving ketamine and several mitragynine-related compounds associated with kratom. Police had said no foul play was suspected.

Monday's dedication, however, was centered less on how Keith died than on what his family and hometown want to continue in his name.

Austin said the hope is that a young person walks into the Tay Keith Music Lab, creates a first beat and eventually becomes the next major producer or creative to come out of Memphis.

Then she distilled the purpose of the room into two sentences.

“Tay's legacy lives on,” Austin said. “And now he gets to help build someone else's.”

Sean 'Diddy' Combs Lawsuit: Ariel Mitchell Challenges Jurisdiction as Combs' Lawyers Seek to Quit

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ $100 million defamation lawsuit survived a major attempt to dismiss it less than two weeks ago.

Now one of the defendants is trying a different route — arguing Combs’ own previous representations about his Florida ties could knock the case out of federal court.

Attorney Ariel Mitchell asked a federal judge Thursday for permission to challenge the court’s jurisdiction, arguing that she and Combs were both Florida citizens when he filed the lawsuit in January 2025.

The filing came the same day three of Combs’ attorneys appeared before U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan seeking to leave the case amid a dispute over unpaid legal bills.

Together, the developments create new uncertainty around Combs’ lawsuit against Mitchell, Courtney Burgess and Nexstar Media Inc. over allegations aired on NewsNation in 2024.

Cronan on Sept. 4 rejected Mitchell’s previous attempt to dismiss the lawsuit and allowed part of Combs’ claim against Nexstar to continue.

Mitchell’s new argument is different.

Combs’ amended complaint says he “presently resides in Brooklyn, New York,” while identifying Mitchell as a Miami resident. The lawsuit relies on diversity jurisdiction, which generally requires opposing parties to be citizens of different states.

COURT FILING

The new challenge to Diddy's $100 million lawsuit

Combs v. Burgess, Mitchell & Nexstar Media Inc. • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York • Sept. 17, 2026

Ariel Mitchell argues that Sean “Diddy” Combs remained domiciled in Florida while detained in Brooklyn — and that if both were Florida citizens when the lawsuit was filed, the federal court lacked the required diversity of citizenship.

Page 3 of Ariel Mitchell's Sept. 17, 2026, federal court filing. Tap or click the document to enlarge.

“Plaintiff cannot have it both ways.” — Steven A. Metcalf II, attorney for Ariel Mitchell

WHY IT MATTERS

Mitchell says Combs relied on his Florida domicile while challenging jurisdiction in separate California litigation. She now argues that the same Florida domicile would undermine the diversity jurisdiction supporting this New York federal case.

The argument is Mitchell's. The court has not ruled that jurisdiction is lacking.

DOCUMENT 127 CASE NO. 25-CV-650 (JPC)

But Combs was in Brooklyn while being held in federal detention.

Mitchell’s attorney, Steven A. Metcalf II, argues that incarceration did not make Combs a New York domiciliary and that he remained domiciled in Florida, where he maintained a home before his arrest.

If Combs and Mitchell were both Florida citizens when the lawsuit was filed, Mitchell argues, the required diversity did not exist.

Her filing also points to separate litigation in California in which, according to Mitchell, Combs successfully relied on evidence establishing his Florida domicile while challenging that court’s jurisdiction over him.

“Plaintiff cannot have it both ways,” Metcalf wrote.

Cronan has not ruled on the argument, and Thursday’s filing is not another motion to dismiss. Mitchell is asking for permission to make the jurisdictional challenge.

It arrived as Combs faces a separate problem with his own legal team.

Attorneys Michael Tremonte, Erica Wolff and Katie Renzler of Sher Tremonte LLP have asked to withdraw, saying Combs is in “substantial arrears” on his legal bills and has not made himself available for substantive communication for months.

Combs disputes their account. He says he decided to replace the firm because it overcharged him and billed for work he had not authorized. The firm denies that allegation.

During Thursday’s conference, Wolff told Cronan that the firm still had not spoken with Combs despite another attempt to reach him. Cronan did not immediately grant the attorneys’ request to withdraw and directed them to continue attempting to reach Combs.

The jurisdiction issue also surfaced during the conference. Wolff offered a preliminary response that Combs had come to New York intending to remain there.

Mitchell, meanwhile, is asking the court to suspend her deadline to answer the lawsuit and her discovery obligations while the jurisdiction question is considered.

Her new challenge does not undo Combs’ Sept. 4 victory. Instead, it raises a more fundamental question about the surviving lawsuit: whether Combs had the legal standing to bring it in federal court in New York in the first place.

Chris Brown Tells Texas Lawmaker to ‘Keep That Award’ After Apology

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, left, Chris Brown, center, and Texas state Rep. Venton Jones pose together after the lawmakers presented the singer with official recognitions during a stop on The R&B Tour at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (Photo: Venton Jones / Instagram)

Chris Brown says he never asked Texas lawmakers to honor him.

Now, after one of them apologized for participating, he wants no part of the recognition.

Brown told Texas state Rep. Venton Jones to “keep that award” after Jones apologized for presenting the R&B star with an official State of Texas legislative recognition during Brown and Usher’s concert Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

The response capped several days of fallout from what began as a celebration of two of R&B’s biggest stars.

Jones and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett appeared during the Sept. 12 stop of "The R&B Tour"d alongside producer and songwriter RoccStar.

They brought separate recognitions.

Crockett announced a Congressional Record entry titled “Recognizing the Artistry of Chris Brown and Usher Raymond,” praising the two singers’ contributions to contemporary R&B and popular music.

Usher was not onstage during the presentation.

Jones separately presented Brown with what the Dallas lawmaker later described in his own social media post as an “official State of Texas legislative recognition” of Brown’s impact on music.

Jones credited RoccStar with helping coordinate the effort.

Crockett told the Arlington crowd they were experiencing “Black joy to the highest level” and said she wanted the moment documented in the Congressional Record.

A Congressional Record entry is a ceremonial recognition by an individual member of Congress. It is not legislation or an honor approved through a vote of Congress.

Jones initially celebrated the appearance, writing on social media the next day that it was an example of how to “mobilize voters.”

The presentation quickly drew criticism centered largely on Brown’s history of violence against women.

Brown pleaded guilty to felony assault in 2009 after attacking Rihanna, who was his girlfriend at the time. He was sentenced to five years of probation, community labor and domestic violence counseling.

Jones addressed the criticism Tuesday during an appearance on “The Don Lemon Show.”

“I want to offer an apology,” Jones said, directing his remarks to Black women, women generally and people who have experienced domestic violence.

I have been listening and reflecting. I see you and hear you.

Please accept my remarks in response.

I remain transparent and committed to House District 100, the Dallas community, and Texas, and will allow the work of the Office to continue reflecting that.

Texans, please… pic.twitter.com/0DdW37DWy5

— State Rep. Venton Jones (@VentonJonesTX) September 15, 2026

Jones said he and Crockett had been asked to participate by the venue and that their appearance was also intended to engage voters ahead of the November election.

He later expanded on the apology in a written statement, saying he had listened to people who believed his decision had contributed to circumstances in which Black women’s safety and experiences are pushed aside.

Brown rejected the apology.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Don Lemon (@donlemonofficial)

In posts on Instagram, Brown said the recognition had been brought to him rather than requested by him.

“Y’all came to me with this! Not the other way around,” Brown wrote.

Brown noted that his Arlington shows were already sold out.

While Brown accused the lawmaker of pandering, Jones maintained that his apology followed conversations with constituents and reflection on the criticism.

Brown ultimately told Jones he no longer wanted the recognition and said he wanted to be left alone to concentrate on the fans supporting his tour.

His response to Crockett was markedly different.

Before Jones’ apology, Brown posted a photograph of himself embracing the congresswoman and thanked her for the recognition. He also apologized for any backlash she might receive and said that although he was not political, he was grateful for the gesture.

Crockett’s Congressional Record recognition included Usher as well as Brown, despite Usher’s absence from that portion of the onstage presentation.

Jones’ state recognition was specifically for Brown.

Ye Could Face Up to $23 Million Claim as Donda Academy Case Nears Trial

FILE — Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is shown in a file photograph. The hip-hop artist and entrepreneur could face up to $23 million in potential damages in an ongoing racial discrimination lawsuit filed by a former security employee of Donda Academy and Yeezy LLC, according to newly reported court documents. (Photo: Phil Romans / Flickr via CC BY-SA 2.0)

A former Donda Academy employee is seeking up to roughly $23 million in damages in his discrimination lawsuit against Kanye West as the two-year-old case moves toward trial, according to newly filed court papers.

Benjamin Provo, a Black former security guard who sued the artist, Yeezy LLC and Donda Academy in 2024, has outlined damages he contends could reach approximately $23 million if he prevails, according to court documents obtained by TMZ.

The figure is not a judgment or settlement, and no court has determined that West, who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021, owes Provo that amount.

Provo's lawsuit alleges he faced racial and religious discrimination while working at Donda Academy and Yeezy and was ultimately fired after refusing a demand to cut his dreadlocks, which he has said he wore in part as an expression of his Muslim faith.

Ye and the other defendants have denied wrongdoing.

Provo filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court in April 2024, accusing Ye and members of his management team of treating Black employees less favorably than white workers.

The complaint alleges Ye frequently screamed at and berated Black employees while treating white employees differently. Provo also alleges that Ye began demanding that employees shave their heads.

According to the complaint, Provo was eventually told that Ye wanted "the one with the dreads" to shave his head or be fired. Provo alleges he refused and subsequently lost his job.

The lawsuit extends beyond Provo's hair.

Provo alleges that Ye expressed displeasure with prominent Black leaders and ordered people associated with Donda to dispose of books related to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and other Black figures.

The newly reported court papers also offer a glimpse at testimony gathered as the case moved toward trial.

Provo's latest filing cites deposition testimony from former Yeezy chief of staff Milo Yiannopoulos concerning racially charged remarks and the provocative way Ye discussed religion in the workplace.

That testimony comes as the two sides fight over what evidence may be considered at trial.

Ye's attorneys have asked the court to exclude social media posts attributed to Ye and Yiannopoulos, arguing that much of the material is irrelevant to whether Provo experienced unlawful discrimination during his employment.

The defense filing includes a 919-page report containing social media material that Provo may seek to use at trial. Ye's attorneys contend that some of the posts came from impersonation, parody or other accounts and have argued that Provo should be required to establish the authenticity, relevance and admissibility of disputed material before it is considered.

Another pretrial dispute centers on whether Ye's mental condition during the period covered by the lawsuit has any relevance to the case.

Provo's attorneys have asked the court to prevent Ye's side from arguing that he was of unsound mind, contending that such a defense was not raised in the defendants' answer and that Ye did not produce medical records or designate an expert witness to support such an argument during discovery.

Ye's attorneys have separately asked the court to exclude evidence concerning any alleged mental unfitness, noting that Ye testified during a deposition that he considered himself mentally fit.

Ye has also disputed Provo's characterization of their employment relationship, arguing in court papers that Provo worked for a third-party company that provided workers rather than directly for Ye or his companies.

The $23 million figure represents Provo's calculation of potential damages, not money that has been awarded by the court.

A nonjury trial is currently scheduled for Oct. 12 in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Ye's attorneys have asked Judge Brock T. Hammond to postpone it until May 17, 2027, or another date available to the court and Provo.

Tone Capone, Producer Who Connected Bay Area and Houston Rap, Dies at 59

FILE — Producer Tone Capone, born Anthony Douglas Gilmour, is shown DJing in the 1980s. Capone, the Bay Area beatmaker behind Luniz's 1995 hit "I Got 5 On It" and a frequent Rap-A-Lot Records collaborator, died Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. He was 59. (Photo: Tone Capone / Instagram)

The Bay Area beatmaker behind Luniz’s 1995 crossover hit also produced seven tracks on Scarface’s platinum album and Devin the Dude’s “Sticky Green.”

Tone Capone, the Bay Area producer behind Luniz’s “I Got 5 On It” whose catalog later reached deep into Houston through Scarface, Devin the Dude and Rap-A-Lot Records, died Saturday.

He was 59.

Capone, born Anthony Douglas Gilmour, was born in Berkeley and raised in North Oakland near Bushrod Park. Close family members reported his death online Sunday.

Legendary Bay Area producer Tone Capone has passed away at age 59. Causes are unknown at the time. His body of work includes

Luniz - I Got 5 On It
Celly Cel- It’s Goin Down
3xKrazy - Keep It On The Real
Mac Dre - Fire
Mac Mall - Servin Game

He also produced a lot of the classic… pic.twitter.com/B0jkVK9eER

— Nstant Vntage (@nstantvntage) September 14, 2026

A cause of death had not been announced as of Monday. Capone had lived in the Las Vegas area since 2021.

For many listeners, his signature will always be “I Got 5 On It.”

The 1995 Luniz single reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the duo’s debut album, “Operation Stackola,” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

The record's construction was more complicated than a simple sample flip.

The official music video for Luniz's 1995 crossover hit "I Got 5 On It." The track, produced by Tone Capone, reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of the most recognizable anthems in West Coast hip-hop history. (Video via YouTube)

Luniz brought Capone Club Nouveau’s “Why You Treat Me So Bad” as a musical starting point. Capone told The Guardian in 2019 that the original groove did not hit hard enough for the sound he wanted.

“I wanted everything in your face,” he said.

Capone slowed the groove and added bells, voices and scratches. In a separate interview with TheWrap, he explained that he replayed the central musical idea rather than directly sampling the Club Nouveau recording. He identified Audio Two’s “Top Billin’” and Kool & the Gang’s “Jungle Boogie” as the record’s direct sampled elements.

Capone also pushed for a singer on a hook that Luniz originally rapped. Michael Marshall, his old Berkeley High School friend and a member of Timex Social Club, supplied the melody that became one of the song's defining features.

The record found another life nearly a quarter-century later.

In 2019, a slowed, orchestral “Tethered Mix” of “I Got 5 On It” became a recurring musical device in Jordan Peele’s horror film “Us,” turning a familiar party record into something deliberately unsettling.

Capone's work had begun long before his biggest hit. He learned to DJ while attending Berkeley High and was playing parties and other events while still young. By the mid-1980s, he was building beats with four-track cassette recorders, drum machines, turntables and tape decks.

His résumé eventually expanded well beyond Northern California.

By the mid-1990s, Capone had entered the Rap-A-Lot orbit that connected Bay Area artists with Houston. Mike Dean later told HipHopDX that he brought Capone in to help produce Scarface’s 1997 album “The Untouchable.”

The surviving album credits show how substantial that role became.

Scarface's "Smile," featuring 2Pac and Johnny P, from the 1997 platinum album "The Untouchable." Tone Capone served as a co-producer on the track alongside Mike Dean and Scarface, marking one of his most prominent collaborations with Houston's Rap-A-Lot Records. (Video via YouTube)

Capone shares production credit on seven tracks: “Untouchable,” “Southside,” “Money Makes the World Go Round,” “Mary Jane,” “Smile,” “Smartz” and “Faith.” His collaborators across those tracks included Scarface, Dean, N.O. Joe and Domo.

“The Untouchable” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and went platinum.

Among Capone’s contributions was “Smile,” the Scarface record featuring 2Pac and Johnny P. Official Rap-A-Lot metadata credits the production to Scarface, Dean and Capone.

The Houston connection continued beyond Scarface.

Capone produced “Sticky Green,” featuring Scarface, from Devin the Dude’s 1998 debut album, “The Dude.” Devin later recalled that Scarface, Capone and a musician named Harm brought the music to him as the song was taking shape.

Back home, Capone’s credits stretched across generations of Bay Area rap. He worked with artists including E-40, Celly Cel, 3XKrazy, The Click, Dru Down, Mac Dre, Mac Mall and the Jacka.

He remained involved in music in later years even after taking a hospital job and eventually retiring from that work.

“I Got 5 On It” will inevitably be the first record attached to Tone Capone’s name.

The credits that come after it — Scarface, 2Pac, Devin the Dude, E-40, Celly Cel, 3XKrazy and Mac Dre among them — explain why his legacy was considerably larger than one hit.

Federal Jury Acquits Lil Durk on All Counts in Quando Rondo Murder-for-Hire Case

Lil Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, is shown in an Oct. 24, 2024, booking photo. A federal jury in Los Angeles acquitted the Grammy-winning rapper Friday on all five counts in his murder-for-hire trial. (Broward Sheriff's Office)

Lil Durk was acquitted Friday on all five counts in the federal murder-for-hire trial that threatened to send the Grammy-winning Chicago rapper to prison for life.

A jury in Los Angeles rejected prosecutors' case that Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, helped organize and finance a 2022 plot to kill rapper Quando Rondo in retaliation for the death of King Von.

Rondo survived the attack.

His cousin, Saviay'a Robinson, 24, was killed.

The five not-guilty verdicts cleared Durk of every charge the jury was asked to decide in this trial, including stalking and murder-for-hire allegations stemming from the Aug. 19, 2022, shooting near the Beverly Center.

Durk wiped away tears as the verdicts were read, according to courtroom reporting from the Los Angeles Times.

The decision came after two weeks of testimony and three days of deliberations in a case built largely around whether prosecutors could connect Durk to an attack carried out by other men.

The shooting itself was not the central dispute.

Prosecutors said gunmen tracked Rondo, whose legal name is Tyquian Bowman, through Los Angeles before opening fire near a gas station. Robinson was killed while Rondo, the government's alleged intended target, escaped the gunfire.

The question for jurors was whether prosecutors had proved Durk's criminal responsibility for what happened.

The government argued that the attack grew out of the November 2020 killing of Dayvon Bennett, better known as King Von, after a fight involving Rondo outside an Atlanta nightclub.

Prosecutors alleged Durk sought revenge, put money behind the effort to kill Rondo and used people and resources connected to his Only the Family organization to help make it happen.

Durk was never accused of being one of the gunmen in Los Angeles.

Instead, prosecutors relied on conspiracy and other theories of liability that did not require him to personally pull a trigger. They presented travel records, financial evidence and testimony from three cooperating witnesses who had been inside Durk's circle or involved in the attack.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Yanniello told jurors during closing arguments that Durk had his "shooters on speed dial," arguing that the attack would not have happened without his money and influence.

The defense told a very different story.

Durk's lawyers argued that former personal assistant Kavon Grant organized the attack himself and had access to Durk's money and other resources without needing authorization for everything he did.

They also attacked the credibility of Grant and two other cooperating witnesses, arguing that each had powerful reasons to help prosecutors after becoming implicated in the case themselves.

Attorneys Brian Steel and Drew Findling repeatedly argued that the government had witnesses who could describe the plot but lacked reliable proof tying Durk himself to an agreement to carry it out.

Jurors appeared to focus closely on that distinction during deliberations.

On Thursday, the panel asked U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald questions involving intent and conspiracy. Jurors had previously requested easier digital access to the evidence admitted during the trial.

By Friday, they had reached their answer.

Not guilty on all five counts against Durk.

The result was different for the two men tried alongside him.

Deondre Wilson and David Lindsey were convicted of conspiracy to commit stalking, stalking with a dangerous weapon and stalking resulting in death. They were acquitted on the murder-for-hire charges.

For Durk, however, Friday's verdict does not resolve every federal allegation hanging over him.

Fitzgerald ruled in July that newly added racketeering-related charges would be separated from the murder-for-hire trial and considered in a later proceeding.

Those allegations broadened the government's case beyond the 2022 Los Angeles shooting and included accusations of other violence connected to what prosecutors characterize as a criminal enterprise associated with Durk and OTF.

Durk has denied the allegations. He remained in federal custody Friday pending the separate case. That means the acquittal represents a complete victory for Durk on the five charges decided by Friday's jury, but not the end of his federal legal problems.

Timothy Joseph, the Original Buc Wild of ‘Star & Buc Wild,’ Dies at 47

Timothy “Buc Wild” Joseph, the broadcaster who helped take “Star & Buc Wild” from Manhattan public-access television to MTV and one of the most visible morning shows in New York hip-hop radio, has died. He was 47.

His older half-brother and longtime broadcasting partner, Troi “Star” Torain, announced Joseph’s death during a livestream Wednesday, saying his brother died Sunday, Sept. 6.

A cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.

Torain described Joseph as someone who was “like a son” to him and spoke about a side of his brother that listeners rarely heard on the air. Joseph struggled with dyslexia, Torain said, and the two worked on his reading while they were at Hot 97, with station executives Tracy Cloherty and Judy Ellis among those who supported him.

For listeners who remember New York hip-hop radio at the turn of the millennium, Buc Wild was part of a name that seemed to turn up everywhere for a while — in print, on television and eventually in morning drive.

The idea started with Torain’s “Reality Check” column in The Source, where he developed the Star and Buc Wild characters during the 1990s. In 1998, the concept became a public-access television show on Manhattan Neighborhood Network, with Joseph beside his brother as Buc Wild.

A year later, MTV brought the pair to “Beat Suite,” a weekday music program that gave the act a national platform.

Radio made the name considerably bigger.

 

By March 2000, Hot 97 had moved Star and Buc Wild into morning drive alongside Miss Jones and DJ Enuff. Contemporary radio-trade coverage identified Joseph as Torain’s partner as the station assembled a show designed to compete in one of the most important and closely watched radio markets in the country.

The timing mattered.

This was an era when New York terrestrial radio could still shape the daily conversation around hip-hop. A record could gain momentum because Hot 97 played it. An interview could become news before the morning show was over. On-air personalities were not merely introducing songs; they were part of the culture surrounding them.

Torain supplied much of the confrontation that made “Star & Buc Wild” famous — and frequently infamous. Joseph played a different role.

Torain later described Buc Wild as the younger voice who helped keep him connected to artists, records and changes in the culture. That dynamic gave the show its balance: Star pushed, provoked and argued, while Buc Wild operated closer to the music and the younger audience the program was trying to reach.

The Hot 97 run lasted until 2003. Star & Buc Wild subsequently signed with Clear Channel and worked in Hartford before the brand returned to New York at rival Power 105.1.

That part of the history is more complicated than many retrospectives suggest.

By July 2005, Torain told the radio trade publication Radio & Records that Joseph had been the original Buc Wild, but another staffer, Kaheem, was then filling the role. By that point, “Buc Wild” had effectively become both Joseph’s broadcasting identity and a character within the larger Star & Buc Wild franchise.

It is an important distinction when tracing Joseph’s career.

The Power 105.1 show ended in 2006 after Torain made threatening, racist and sexually explicit remarks involving the family of rival Hot 97 personality DJ Envy. Clear Channel fired Torain after the broadcast.

Contemporary reports attributed those remarks to Torain, not Joseph.

Joseph eventually reunited with his brother on the air. In late 2007, The Associated Press reported that Torain and Joseph were preparing to return together to New York morning radio, and Pulse 87 launched in 2008 with “Star & Buc Wild” in its morning lineup.

By then, the media environment that had made their name was beginning to change.

The kind of personality-driven, free-form hip-hop conversation that once required space in a magazine, a public-access slot or a terrestrial radio signal was moving online. Blogs, streaming video, podcasts and social media would eventually make that style of commentary available to anyone with an audience.

Torain followed it there, building “The Star Report” online and continuing the confrontational broadcasting style that had defined much of his career.

Joseph became far less visible.

That makes Torain’s remembrance of his brother more revealing than another rundown of radio stations and controversies. Behind the deliberately outsized Buc Wild character was a younger brother navigating dyslexia, learning the business and helping turn an idea that began in a magazine column into a recognizable name in hip-hop media.

“Star & Buc Wild” was never built to be restrained. Provocation was part of the product, and the show repeatedly pushed — and sometimes crossed — the limits of what radio stations were prepared to put on the air.

But Joseph’s place in that history is more specific than the controversies surrounding the brand.

He was there before the major stations and before the national exposure. He was beside Torain when “Star & Buc Wild” was a public-access show, when MTV came calling and when Hot 97 put the pair in front of New York every morning.

The Buc Wild role would eventually be filled by someone else.

Timothy Joseph was the original.

Stevie Wonder to Play ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ From Start to Finish on Anniversary Tour

Stevie Wonder performs at the White House in Washington on Feb. 25, 2009. Wonder has announced an 18-date tour celebrating 50 years of his 1976 album “Songs in the Key of Life.” (Pete Souza/Official White House Photo)

There are anniversary tours, and then there is Stevie Wonder going back to "Songs in the Key of Life."

Fifty years after releasing the sprawling album that gave him his third Grammy Award for album of the year, Wonder will perform it in its entirety during an 18-date tour of Europe and the United States this fall.

The "Songs in the Key of Life Performances — 50th Anniversary Tour" opens Oct. 13 in Birmingham, England, and runs through Dec. 19 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. The U.S. portion begins Nov. 19 at Madison Square Garden in New York, followed by Chicago, Washington, D.C., two nights in Detroit and the California finale.

Few albums are better suited to the treatment.

Released in 1976, "Songs in the Key of Life" stretched across two LPs and an additional four-song EP, with Wonder moving through love songs, childhood memories, social criticism, spirituality, jazz, funk and celebrations of Black history and achievement.

"I Wish" looked back at childhood. "Sir Duke" saluted Duke Ellington and the Black musical tradition that preceded Wonder. "Isn't She Lovely" celebrated the birth of his daughter Aisha. Elsewhere, songs including "Village Ghetto Land," "Black Man" and "Pastime Paradise" confronted inequality, history and the world Wonder saw around him.

The scale of the record was matched by its reception.

"Songs in the Key of Life" won album of the year at the 1977 Grammy Awards, giving Wonder his third victory in the category following "Innervisions" and "Fulfillingness' First Finale." He also won producer of the year, non-classical, at the same ceremony.

The Library of Congress added the album to the National Recording Registry in 2005.

Its account of the sessions describes a process that sometimes stretched to 48 hours at a time and notes contributions from musicians including Nathan Watts, Raymond Pounds, Greg Phillinganes, Ben Bridges, Mike Sembello and Herbie Hancock.

The album's reach also extended far beyond the generation that bought it in 1976.

"Pastime Paradise" became part of the foundation for Coolio's 1995 smash "Gangsta's Paradise," while Wonder's melodies, arrangements and production have continued to echo through R&B, hip-hop and pop. That makes the anniversary particularly relevant for listeners who may have first encountered pieces of "Songs in the Key of Life" through records made decades later.

Wonder has revisited the album onstage before. He mounted a North American "Songs in the Key of Life" performance tour beginning in 2014, later extending the run into 2015.

The difference now is the calendar.

The music Wonder took on the road a decade ago was already part of the canon. Fifty years after its release, "Songs in the Key of Life" has had another decade to travel through generations, genres and other artists' records.

This fall, Wonder is going back to the source.

Stevie Wonder • 18 Dates

“Songs in the Key of Life Performances — 50th Anniversary Tour”

Europe & United States • Fall 2026

Oct. 13

Birmingham, England
Utilita Arena

Oct. 15

Paris
Accor Arena

Oct. 18

Copenhagen, Denmark
Royal Arena

Oct. 20

Oslo, Norway
Unity Arena

Oct. 22

Stockholm
3Arena

Oct. 24

Hannover, Germany
ZAG Arena

Oct. 26

Cologne, Germany
LANXESS Arena

Oct. 28

Amsterdam
Ziggo Dome

Nov. 1

Dublin
3Arena

Nov. 3

London
The O2

Nov. 8

Manchester, England
Co-op Live

Nov. 11

Glasgow, Scotland
OVO Hydro

U.S. Dates

Nov. 19

New York
Madison Square Garden

Nov. 21

Chicago
United Center

Nov. 23

Washington, D.C.
Capital One Arena

Dec. 8

Detroit
Fox Theatre

Dec. 9

Detroit
Fox Theatre

Dec. 19

Inglewood, Calif.
Intuit Dome

John Legend Steps Outside His Comfort Zone With Pharrell-Produced ‘Muse’

The cover art for "Muse," the upcoming album by John Legend. Produced entirely by Pharrell Williams, the 16-track project is scheduled for release on Oct. 23. (Photo courtesy of Republic Records)

John Legend and Pharrell Williams have known each other for more than two decades.

Somehow, they had never made an album together.

That changes Oct. 23 with “Muse,” a 16-track John Legend album produced entirely by Pharrell and built around an idea that sounds considerably different from the piano ballads that have defined much of Legend’s career.

Legend announced the album Tuesday alongside “Daylight,” its first single. He previewed the song Monday during CBS’ “America’s Tailgate” special in Nashville.

The collaboration may seem overdue for two artists whose careers have overlapped since the early 2000s. Legend said that was essentially his reaction when Pharrell approached him.

“A lot of people would have imagined we’d done something like this already, but we hadn’t,” Legend said in the album announcement. “It felt past due.”

The path to “Muse” began with another reunion from that era.

Legend appeared on “The Birds Don’t Sing,” from Clipse’s 2025 comeback album, “Let God Sort ’Em Out.” Pharrell, who produced that album, heard something in Legend’s performance that made him want to build an entire project around his voice.

The two convened in Paris in January 2025, working from Pharrell’s studio at Louis Vuitton headquarters, where he serves as men’s creative director.

The idea was not to make another conventional John Legend record.

“I think my repertoire has always been very diverse, but the piano-driven ballads have gotten the most traction throughout my career,” Legend said. “I wanted to shake up the formula and do something fresh and new.”

Pharrell’s concept reached across generations of Black music, drawing from gospel, doo-wop, classic soul, standards, Afrobeat and hip-hop. Legend cited Nina Simone, Nat King Cole and Marvin Gaye among the album’s musical reference points.

The visual and sonic shorthand the pair settled on was even more specific.

Legend described Pharrell’s original vision as a “Black James Bond aesthetic” — classic and cinematic, but driven by a modern beat.

That approach can be heard across a record that puts horns and strings alongside contemporary production and occasionally pulls Legend considerably farther from his usual territory.

It also required him to surrender some control.

Legend said he recorded songs Pharrell wrote entirely himself, something he “almost never” does. Pharrell appears on six of the album’s 16 tracks, while Clipse returns the favor by appearing on “Bodies on the Floor.”

For Legend, the unusual arrangement became an exercise in trust.

“It’s not about winning the argument or ego,” he said. “It’s about the music winning. Every battle should be won by the art.”

The album also reaches backward without being designed as a nostalgia project.

Legend said the title “Muse” partly refers to the Muses of Greek mythology, but he connected the idea directly to the Black artists and traditions that shaped his own music.

“Our ancestors are our muses,” Legend said. “My music has always been me channeling the ancestors, taking what they gave us and making something new.”

Listeners have already heard one piece of the collaboration without necessarily knowing an album was coming.

“Pray For Ya,” another “Muse” track, debuted during Louis Vuitton’s Fall-Winter 2026 men’s show in January. The newly released “Daylight” is the project’s first official single.

Other songs include “Her,” which draws from gospel and doo-wop; the horn-and-string-heavy “Get Back”; “Are You OK?”; “Under the Bridge”; “Doing Me”; “Fireflies”; and “Sail Off.”

The project arrives more than 20 years after Legend introduced himself with “Get Lifted” in 2004 and Pharrell helped define the sound of the same era through his work with Chad Hugo as the Neptunes.

Legend is not treating that longevity as permission to coast.

“There are plenty of artists who get to a point in their career where they don’t make anything new,” he said. “We can just play the hits; we can stay in our comfort zone.”

For “Muse,” he chose the other option.

“I believe it’s important to keep the mindset that I have to continue to prove myself,” Legend said. “I wanted this album to have that sense of urgency — to feel like something that needed to be made and is fully worthy of my audience’s attention.”

“Muse” will be released Oct. 23 through Republic Records.