Latest news with #GreyArea
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mercury Prize winner Little Simz sues longtime producer Inflo over unpaid debts
London-born rapper Little Simz, the recipient of the 2022 Mercury Prize as well as star of hit Netflix show Top Boy, is taking legal action against her former producer Inflo, AKA Dean Cover. She alleges that Inflo has failed to repay a £1.7m (approx. €2m) loan from 2023, including £1m used to fund the first and only live performance by Sault - the enigmatic UK musical collective he founded. The ambitious and highly elaborate show, was held at London's Drumsheds in December 2023, and was met with initial backlash for its expensive tickets prices, which started at £99 (€117). As a result of the unreturned loan, Simz claims she was left unable to fully cover her tax liability in January 2024, racking up interest and charges. Inflo has been a hugely important collaborator with Simz, born Simbiatu Ajikawo, since her third album, 2019's 'Grey Area', followed by 2021's highly-acclaimed 'Sometimes I Might Be Introvert' and 2022's 'NO THANK YOU'. The 36-year-old producer has also worked with the likes of Adele, Michael Kiwanuka, his wife, Cleo Sol and Tyler, the Creator. According to Law360, the rapper filed her claim in January, accusing Inflo of retaining loans for over a year and alleging that his company mishandled accounting for funds provided by Sony to cover recording costs. In November 2022, Simz signed a three-album deal with the independent label Artists Without A Label (AWAL) - a move Inflo himself encouraged so she could self-produce her music. The deal came with a £2m advance and £625,000 earmarked for recording her third album. Before receiving the official recording funds, Simz personally loaned Inflo £350,000 and £275,000 for the album's production under AWAL. In October 2024, Inflo's solicitors stated the total costs were only £524,436. Simz claims she expected any leftover funds to be returned upon the album's completion, but Inflo allegedly never returned the money. She is also suing him for a £1 million loan she sent on 1 December 2023 to finance Sault's Drumsheds show. She specified that the loan should be repaid within three days, but Inflo allegedly failed to do so, responding that he was 'still getting [his] deal over the line' and would 'send [the money] back as soon as it lands.' In that same month, Simz sent him two more loans totalling £700,000. In October 2024, Inflo's lawyers acknowledged the debt but attributed it to his label, Forever Living Originals, rather than him personally. The news comes as Simz has begun teasing her upcoming album 'Lotus', which will be produced by Miles Clinton James, known for his previous work with London jazz group Kokoroko. The album, which will be her 6th full length project, is set for a release on 9 May.
Euronews
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Little Simz sues longtime producer Inflo over unpaid debts of £1.7m
London-born rapper Little Simz, the recipient of the 2022 Mercury Prize as well as star of hit Netflix show Top Boy, is taking legal action against her former producer Inflo, AKA Dean Cover. She alleges that Inflo has failed to repay a £1.7m (approx. €2m) loan from 2023, including £1m used to fund the first and only live performance by Sault - the enigmatic UK musical collective he founded. The ambitious and highly elaborate show, was held at London's Drumsheds in December 2023, and was met with initial backlash for its expensive tickets prices, which started at £99 (€117). As a result of the unreturned loan, Simz claims she was left unable to fully cover her tax liability in January 2024, racking up interest and charges. Inflo has been a hugely important collaborator with Simz, born Simbiatu Ajikawo, since her third album, 2019's 'Grey Area', followed by 2021's highly-acclaimed 'Sometimes I Might Be Introvert' and 2022's 'NO THANK YOU'. The 36-year-old producer has also worked with the likes of Adele, Michael Kiwanuka, his wife, Cleo Sol and Tyler, the Creator. According to Law360, the rapper filed her claim in January, accusing Inflo of retaining loans for over a year and alleging that his company mishandled accounting for funds provided by Sony to cover recording costs. In November 2022, Simz signed a three-album deal with the independent label Artists Without A Label (AWAL) - a move Inflo himself encouraged so she could self-produce her music. The deal came with a £2m advance and £625,000 earmarked for recording her third album. Before receiving the official recording funds, Simz personally loaned Inflo £350,000 and £275,000 for the album's production under AWAL. In October 2024, Inflo's solicitors stated the total costs were only £524,436. Simz claims she expected any leftover funds to be returned upon the album's completion, but Inflo allegedly never returned the money. She is also suing him for a £1 million loan she sent on 1 December 2023 to finance Sault's Drumsheds show. She specified that the loan should be repaid within three days, but Inflo allegedly failed to do so, responding that he was 'still getting [his] deal over the line' and would 'send [the money] back as soon as it lands.' In that same month, Simz sent him two more loans totalling £700,000. In October 2024, Inflo's lawyers acknowledged the debt but attributed it to his label, Forever Living Originals, rather than him personally. The news comes as Simz has begun teasing her upcoming album 'Lotus', which will be produced by Miles Clinton James, known for his previous work with London jazz group Kokoroko. The album, which will be her 6th full length project, is set for a release on 9 May. The artificial intelligence revolution never ceases to amaze us. Nowadays it seems it's possible to do almost anything with this technology, but there are still fields in which, although developers have been busy for years, are yet to be fully implemented in society. One of these is music. Electronic songs have been using digitally created sounds for decades. Although there have been numerous tests and all kinds of experiments, the first singer created by artificial intelligence has not yet been verified. Last month Spotify released songs with two AI-generated voices in a first for the streaming platform. The music was made by Spanish artist Pedro Sandoval, a pioneer in the use of this technique in art, film and now music.** The singers are called ZKY-18 and Dirty Marilyn and, even though the sound of their song is reminiscent of many in the electronic genre, their voices are so real that they could perfectly match those of any singer currently recording. It's perhaps not surprising, because it's something they've been working on over the past three years. "Together with Luis Miguel Martinez and Felipe Sandoval, I have created the first two digital voices using artificial intelligence," says Pedro Sandoval, who was one of the first visual artists to apply this technique to his work. "They are the first to be verified by Spotify as the first voices created with artificial intelligence," he adds. On this platform you can already listen to songs like 'Con mi mate llegó el sabor', 'La chica en la parada', 'El beso de la mujer araña', 'Chulapo de Madrid' or 'Buscando oro en tu corazón'. These are the first songs that the platform has certified and that have been developed in Spain. Pedro Sandoval organised a big event last Saturday in Madrid where he officially presented the albums to international guests and personalities from the world of music and technology. Pedro Sandoval is an internationally renowned artist, renowned for his innovation in contemporary art and his pioneering use of artificial intelligence as a creative tool. He was born in Venezuela and his talent was evident from childhood, when at the age of six he won the Young Master of the World award in Japan. At the age of 13, he won a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship that allowed him to move to New York and study at Parsons School of Design. Throughout his career, he has exhibited his work in prestigious museums and galleries around the world, establishing himself as one of the most influential figures in art today. Sandoval has been a staunch defender of artificial intelligence in the artistic field, considering it a tool that, when used well, allows for the expansion of creative possibilities without substituting the essence of the artist. Speaking to Euronews, he explains that the value of a work created with AI "depends on the instructions and refinement that the artist applies to the process". In addition to his contribution to digital art, Pedro Sandoval emphasises the importance of cultural education for new generations. He considers it fundamental to rescue the artistic and historical legacy to prevent society from focusing solely on ephemeral trends. He learned from figures such as Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, which has allowed him to fuse tradition with innovation, positioning himself as one of the most relevant voices in the debate on the future of art.
The Guardian
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Little Simz sues former producer Inflo over unpaid debts
Little Simz is suing her former producer Inflo – AKA Dean Cover of music collective Sault – for allegedly failing to repay a loan of £1.7m, including £1m to cover Sault's only live show to date, an opulent extravaganza at London venue Drumsheds in December 2023 at which she performed. The London-born rapper and actor said that the debt left her unable to pay her full tax liability in January 2024. Inflo had worked with Simz, born Simbiatu Ajikawo, since her third album, 2019's Grey Area, as well as producing for Adele, Michael Kiwanuka, Tyler, the Creator, and Inflo's wife, soul singer Cleo Sol. The rapper filed her claim in January, alleging that Inflo held on to loans for more than a year and that his company provided improper accounting to her for funds that Sony supplied to cover recording, Law360 reports. Inflo has not yet filed a defence to the claim. Representatives for Simz offered no comment. The Guardian has contacted representatives for Inflo. In April 2022, Simz left her previous manager to work with an employee of Inflo's company, Forever Living Originals. When her publishing contract with Universal Music Publishing ended, Inflo advised her to self-publish her music, the claim states. Simz then worked with Artists Without a Label (AWAL), a label services company for independent artists, owned by Sony. In November 2022, she entered a three-album deal with a total advance of £2m, as well as £625,000 to cover the costs of recording the third album. Prior to receiving the costs payment, Simz made two separate payments of £350,000 and £275,000 to Inflo to cover the costs of that record with AWAL. In October 2024, a letter sent by Inflo's solicitors stated that the total costs only came to £524,436. Her claim states that she was under the impression any remaining funds would be returned to her on completion of the album. Simz lent Inflo the money on 1 December 2023 to cover the Drumsheds show on the condition that he repay her by 4 December. The claim states that he failed to do so, saying he was 'still getting [his] deal over the line' and would send the money 'back as soon as it lands'. Tickets for the event cost £99 each. Simz lent Inflo further sums of £500,000 and £200,000 in December 2023, but she claims he failed to repay them in 2024 despite repeated requests. Her inability to pay her full tax liability left her subject to interest and charges, she claims. Her claim states that Inflo's lawyers acknowledged the debt in October 2024, but incorrectly framed it as a debt owed by Forever Living Originals, not Inflo himself. Simz is set to release her sixth album, Lotus, on 9 May. The album was produced by Miles Clinton James, who has previously produced for London jazz outfit Kokoroko. She shared the lead single, Flood, in February. In June, she will curate the Meltdown festival at London's Southbank Centre. The lineup is yet to be announced.
