State Champ Radio Author: djfrosty
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Trending on Billboard First the good news: You have not seen the last of Rumi, Mira, Zoey and the Saja Boys. Then the not-so-good news: but you’ll have to wait four years. According to a brief mention at the end of a story about how KPop Demon Hunters reportedly fumbled toy merchandising for the smash […]
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Metallica knows that the easiest way to a fan’s heart is through a taste of homegrown rock.
The metal giants are currently pounding their way through a long-overdue tour of Australia and New Zealand, a six-date coast-to-coast swing for the M72 World Tour.
When the “One” rockers visited Adelaide Oval on Wednesday night, Nov. 5, the setlist included many favorites from across their decorated, Rock Hall-inducted career — plus some legendary local music.
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Fan-filmed footage shows Metallica pumped out a cover of INXS’ Billboard Hot 100 leader “Need You Tonight”. Then, a segue into the Angels’ classic from 1976, “Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again,” led by bass player Robert Trujillo at the mic.
It’s a song that courses through the bloodstream of every Australian weaned on guitar music, and has somehow evolved with a call-and-respond that has passed down the generations. When the song is played, tradition requires fans to roar “no way, get f—ed, f— off.”
Of course, that happened in the City of Churches.
At the height of their powers, the Angels were the prototypical Aussie pub-rock band, a group blessed with a captivating singer, the late Bernard “Doc” Neeson, and memorable, grinding songs.
The Angels were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1998. The following year, Neeson suffered a severe spinal injury. He died in 2014 following a years-long battle with brain cancer, aged 67. Bass player Chris Bailey died of throat cancer a year earlier, in 2013. In August of this year, the city of Adelaide’s lord mayor Jane Lomax-Smith unveiled to the public The Angels Lane, close to Hindley Street Music Hall in the CBD.
INXS needs no introduction. The new wave stars climbed the highest mountain of contemporary music with six U.K. top 10 albums (including a No. 1 with Welcome To Wherever You Are from 1992) and five U.S. top 20 albums, a BRIT Award (in 1991 for best international group) and, in 2001, elevation into the ARIA Hall of Fame. Surely Rock And Roll Hall of Fame elevation is in the cards.
It’s not the first time on this tour that Metallica has dished some homestyle cooking. During the opener Nov. 1 at Perth’s Optus Stadium, the Bay Area legends served up a rendition of John Butler’s “Zebra,” which the Western Australian native responded to with his own cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”
Produced by Live Nation Australia, the tour continues Saturday (Nov. 8) at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, then visits Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium (Nov. 12), Sydney’s Accor Stadium (Nov. 15) and wraps up Nov. 19 at Auckland’s Eden Park. It’s Metallica’s first Australian run since 2013.
Evanescence and Suicidal Tendencies are the support on this leg of the M72 World Tour.
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Ninajirachi’s I Love My Computer wins the 21st Australian Music Prize, celebrating the outstanding Australian album of original work for the past year.
The Australian musician’s debut full length album, issued by Nina Las Vegas’ NLV Records, was announced Thursday afternoon as the 2025 AMP champ, as decided by a music industry panel.
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With the victory spoils, Ninajirachi (real name: Nina Wilson) collects A$50,000 ($32,000) in prize money, courtesy of headline sponsor Soundmerch.
“Thank you so much to the Australian music prize for awarding me this year, this truly means a lot to me!! I’m so proud to have produced an Australian album,” she comments in a statement. “I Love My Computer drew from my growing up on the central coast and the Australian dance music I heard in my childhood. To sincerely contribute to the awesome story of Australian music was one of my highest hopes. I hope I can keep making albums and telling stories forever. Thank you so much, I’m so honored to receive this award.”
The AMP could trigger a gold rush for Ninajirachi in the month of November — Ausmusic month, the annual celebration of Australian music and its creators. The 26-year-old songwriter, producer, DJ and artist will compete for a leading eight trophies at the annual ARIA Awards, where she’s nominated for album of the year, best solo artist, the Michael Gudinski breakthrough artist, best independent release, best dance/electronic release and more.
Modeled on the U.K.’s Mercury Prize, the AMP launched in 2005 as a platform to “discover, reward and promote new Australian music of excellence,” and is today recognized as the most prestigious national award for the album format.
Also shortlisted for the AMP were LPs by Tropical F*** Storm, Folk B**** Trio, Mudrat, and others released during the period Oct. 1, 2025 to Sept. 30, 2026.
Earlier in the three-stage judging system, a longlist of 465 eligible albums was boiled down to 50 nominees, focusing on creative merit over mainstream popularity. The final shortlist of nine was announced last month.
Previous winners include efforts byThe Avalanches, Sampa the Great (twice), Gurrumul, A.B. Original, Courtney Barnett and last year’s recipient, Kankawa Nagarra for Wirlmarni.
The 22nd Soundmerch AMP is open for Australian artist albums released from Oct.1, 25 to Sept. 30, 2026.
Soundmerch Australian Music Prize 2025 shortlist:
Bleak Squad — Strange Love
Divide And Dissolve — Insatiable
Floodlights — Underneath
Folk B**** Trio — Now Would Be A Good Time
Mia Wray Hi — It’s Nice To Meet
Mudrat Social — Cohesion
Ninajirachi — I Love My Computer
Ruby Gill — Some Kind Of Control
Tropical F*ck Storm — Fairyland Codex
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All hail Daniel Caesar.
Just hours after he was crowned on Billboard’s Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, Caesar stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for a performance of “Who Knows.”
Wearing a red beanie and a blue hooded jacket, and wielding an acoustic guitar, the late-night musical guest commanded the spotlight for this soul-filled number.
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“Who Knows” is housed by Son of Spergy (via Hollace/Republic Records), which bowed atop the list dated Nov. 8, for his first leader. Son of Spergy, the title for which is a nod to the nickname of Caesar’s father, gospel singer Norwill Simmonds, is the fourth album by the Canadian singer-songwriter.
The collection also enjoys splashes across various Billboard tallies, including a No. 1 start on the Top R&B Albums chart, his first time atop that tally; plus a No. 4 entry on the all-genre Billboard 200, for his first top 10 visit on the main survey; a No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, and No. 11 on the Top Streaming Albums ranking.
Meanwhile, 10 of the album’s tracks crack the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, led “Who Knows,” which debuts at No. 23 — his best result as a lead artist.
Caesar (real name: Ashton Simmonds) has already reaped serious rewards in his career. He won a 2019 Grammy Award for “Best Part,” featuring H.E.R.; was featured alongside Giveon on Justin Bieber’s “Peaches,” which debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 2021; and his fruitful collaboration with Tyler, The Creator played a big role in sending the rapper’s 2024 album, Chromakopia, the leadership on the Billboard 200.
Son of Spergy was two years in the making, shaped during sessions in Oracabessa, Jamaica and at Paris’ Rue Boyer and New York’s Electric Lady studios.
“It’s about religion, but more importantly, it’s about my father,” he told Billboard of the new album. “In your childhood, your father is a lot like God. He’s the person you fear the most on earth and also the person whose love and respect you desire more than anyone else on earth. It’s the source from where all your blessings come.”
Watch Caesar’s late-night performance below.
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Sounds Right, a charitable cross-DSP playlist featuring music that incorporates the sounds of nature, will now allow any artist to submit their music to the project, it was announced Wednesday (Nov. 5).
Sounds Right initially launched in April 2024 with a playlist featuring new and older tracks with sounds like bird calls, waves, wind and other greatest hits of the mother nature soundscape, woven into music by artists like David Bowie, Brian Eno, Hozier and Ellie Goulding. Royalties generated by this music, which includes 36 original songs that were added this past April, are directed to conservation efforts.
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Now, as scientists and activists from around the world gather in Belem, Brazil for the COP30 UN Climate Conference (Trump administration officials recently announced that no high-level representatives from the U.S. government will attend the event), Sounds Right has announced an update that allows artists to help fund conservation work by officially crediting “Nature” in their music and submitting it for inclusion on the playlist.
Accepted submissions will be incorporated into the Sounds Right playlist, with 50% of royalties raised from any given song going to the artist and the other 50% going to environmental causes. Submissions are open now.
This past Saturday (Nov. 1), Sounds Right announced that the project has so far raised a total of $400,000 for Indigenous and community-led conservation in the Amazon and Congo Basin regions, building on $225,000 it directed to projects in the Tropical Andes in 2024. The funds were announced on stage at Saturday’s Global Citizen Amazonia concert in Belem, which was broadcast throughout Brazil.
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Sounds Right has now added 14 new tracks to the playlist, all of which celebrate the natural world of the Amazon and Africa. The Amazonian contributions come from artists Alexia Evellyn, Pedrina, Antonio Sanchez, Chancha Via Circuito, Systema Solar and Monte (aka Simon Mejia), while the music of artists Juls, Phila Dlozi, Olivetheboy, Bien, Blinky Bill, and Lady Donli showcases the sounds of the Congo Basin region.
“This collection of tracks is a powerful expression of how artists can use their creativity to celebrate and protect the natural world at such a critical moment for our planet,” EarthPercent co-executive director Cathy Runciman tells Billboard. “From Alexia Evellyn recording the rhythms of the Amazon’s rivers and birds to Juls blending Congo Basin forest ambience into Afrobeats, and Antonio Sánchez turning birdsong into percussion, it’s inspiring to see such diverse artists uniting to honor these vital ecosystems and leading a movement to bring nature back into music and culture.”
“It’s an honor and a thrill to be part of Sounds Right,” adds the Grammy-winning Sanchez, whose contribution “Drumming with the Birds” explores the percussive rhythms of Amazonian birdlife. “I believe it’s vital to keep opening new avenues for people to connect with the importance of preserving and protecting Mother Nature. This collaboration, inspired by the Amazon and its remarkable avian life, celebrates that connection. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating it.”
Brazilian producer Alok will also soon release a special track for the Sounds Right project, with the artist saying in a statement that “nature has always played an essential role in music, and the time has come for it to be recognized for that.”
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MELBOURNE, Australia — Oasis won’t look back in anger at their first visit to Australia in two decades.
The Britpop era superstars on Tuesday, Nov. 4 wrapped up the Melbourne leg of their swing down under, a three-concert stand at Marvel Stadium which produced three sellouts, playing to 180,000 fans, reps say.
The rock ‘n’ roll stars have made themselves at home, and made their feeling clear on dodgy ticket resales, which didn’t materialize due to the state of Victoria’s tough anti-touting laws.
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Under those rules, tickets can’t be resold for more than 10 per cent above the face value, or face fines from A$908 to A$109,044 for individuals or A$545,220 to A$545,000 for corporations.
The Oasis tour was listed as a “major event,” and with it was protected under the Major Events Act 2009.
As a result, those fans were guarded from paying obscene fees through StubHub or Viagogo, which remains one of live entertainment industry’s mortal enemies.
Oasis has applauded the intervention. “It’s great to see Victoria’s Major Events Declaration doing exactly what it’s meant to — Viagogo can’t list our Melbourne shows — and that’s a huge win for real fans,” reads a statement from the band.
“When government and the live industry work together, we can stop large-scale scalping in its tracks. We’d love to see other states follow Victoria’s lead so fans everywhere get a fair go.”
The Sydney chapter of the Oasis Live ’25 tour begins Friday, Nov. 7 with the first of two back-to-back shows at Accor Stadium, tickets for which are also protected from secondary-market price gouging by New South Wales’ anti-scalping laws. In NSW, it’s an offence to resell a ticket for more than the original retail price, plus transaction costs up to a maximum 10 percent of the original price.
Those laws have “been really successful for the Melbourne show,” a rep for the band’s management tells Billboard.com. “And continues to be a really important thing for the band and team throughout the Live ’25 campaign.”
Scalpers were reportedly forced to try to sell tickets at a loss overseas because they couldn’t sell them in Australia.A limited number of tickets are available for the final Sydney shows, according to Live Nation Australia, which is producing the domestic swing, and fans can still sell tickets at face value on approved platforms, including Tixel, Twickets and Ticketmaster.
Oasis then heads to Argentina, Chile and Brazil, where the global tour wraps up Nov. 23 in São Paulo.
Read Billboard.com’s recap of Oasis’s opening night concert in Melbourne.
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Sexyy Red has officially joined the lineup for Rolling Loud Australia 2026. The breakout rapper was announced as the second artist for the festival’s return, following last week’s confirmation of Gunna as the first headliner.
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Rolling Loud Australia is set to take place across two cities in March: Sydney’s Centennial Park on March 7, and Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse on March 8. The twin one-day events mark Rolling Loud’s first shows in Australia since 2019, and the first time the global hip-hop festival brand has expanded to a two-city format in the country.
According to organizers, pre-sale tickets sold out within hours of going live, and general tickets are now on sale via australia.rollingloud.com. Promoters have confirmed that the full festival lineup will be announced in the coming weeks and will include a mix of major international acts and leading Australian artists.
Since breaking through in 2023, Sexyy Red has achieved several Billboard chart milestones. Her highest Hot 100 placement came in November 2024, when she reached No. 10 as a featured artist on Tyler, The Creator’s “Sticky” alongside Lil Wayne and GloRilla. She first entered the Hot 100 with the “Pound Town” remix featuring Nicki Minaj, and followed that with her viral hit “SkeeYee,” which peaked at No. 62 and topped the inaugural TikTok Billboard Top 50. She also appeared on Drake’s “Rich Baby Daddy” (No. 11) and scored her first top 20 solo hit in 2024 with “Get It Sexyy,” which peaked at No. 20.
On the Billboard 200, her 2024 mixtape In Sexyy We Trust debuted at No. 17, following her 2023 breakout Hood Hottest Princess (No. 62). In recognition of her independent rise, she was named Billboard’s Indie Rapper of the Year in 2025.
Rolling Loud co-founders Matt Zingler and Tariq Cherif, both named multiple times on Billboard’s Hip-Hop Billboard Hip-Hop Power Players list, continue to expand the brand globally. Alongside its flagship Miami festival, Rolling Loud has produced shows in Europe, Asia, Canada, and the Middle East. The franchise also recently announced its debut in India for 2025.
The festival first landed in Australia in 2019, with the debut including performances from Future, Playboi Carti, Rae Sremmurd, Tyga, and a surprise appearance from a then-rising The Kid LAROI.
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Another Kylie Christmas is coming.
Kylie Minogue will ring in the holiday period with the 10th anniversary edition of Kylie Christmas, featuring four newly-recorded tracks.
Due out Dec. 5, Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped) (via Warner Records) includes the new yuletide tunes “Hot In December,” “This Time Of Year,” “Office Party” and “XMAS,” an Amazon Music Original.
Pronounced X – M – A – S, the party number is available now to stream from Amazon Music, and is available as a stocking filler on CD, 7” gold vinyl and 12” zoetrope vinyl from the Australian pop princess’s official store.
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The album proper should make for a handy present for fans, and is available to preorder in several limited-edition vinyls, from candy cane to transparent red and pink and white marble color-ways. The Amazon exclusive album vinyl is a transparent green.
“Revisiting Kylie Christmas ten years on has been so much fun,” Minogue says in a statement. “Fully Wrapped has given me the chance to write and record four new songs and add a little extra sparkle – I can’t wait for everyone to turn up the volume on the new single, ‘XMAS’!”
Kylie is three decades-and-counting into her stellar career, and there’s a sense that she’s not yet hit her peak.
Raised in Melbourne, the pop veteran’s 2023 album Tension led the national charts in the United Kingdom and Australia, peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard 200, and spawned the global hit “Padam Padam,” which scooped a Grammy Award (best pop dance recording). Followup Tension II also led the charts in the U.K., Australia and cracked the top 100 in the U.S.
Kylie’s hot streak has included Las Vegas residencies, ARIA Awards; a deal with United Talent Agency (UTA) for live representation in the U.S. and Canada and acting roles worldwide; the Global Icon Award at the 2024 BRIT Awards, becoming just the second woman to win it following Taylor Swift in 2021; and the Billboard Women in Music Icon Award.
More recently, the Aussie legend was a guest on PinkPantheress’s all-star remix project of her Fancy That mixtape, which dropped last month, and she performed alongside ATEEZ for Apple TV+’s new music competition series KPOPPED.
Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped) – Amazon Music Editions tracklist:1. It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year2. XMAS (Amazon Original)3. Santa Baby4. Hot In December5. At Christmas6. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (Featuring Frank Sinatra)7. This Time Of Year8. 100 Degrees (Featuring Dannii Minogue)9. Office Party10. White December11. Let It Snow12. Christmas Isn’t Christmas Til You Get Here13. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
All other formats1. It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year2. Santa Baby3. Hot In December4. At Christmas5. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (Featuring Frank Sinatra)6. This Time Of Year7. 100 Degrees (Featuring Dannii Minogue)8. Office Party9. White December10. Let It Snow11. Christmas Isn’t Christmas Til You Get Here12. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Trending on Billboard Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’” scored New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s final advertisement before his election night victory — but the campaign spot has now been removed from X amid a licensing rejection from Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG). The ad, posted by Mamdani’s various social media accounts just […]
Trending on Billboard Ten months after unleashing his last of many star-studded music sessions, Bizarrap returns with Daddy Yankee in tow for a new “BZRP Music Session.” Titled “BZRP Music Sessions #0/66”— which can easily be interpreted as the first of 66 brand new sessions — the collaboration between the Argentine hitmaker and Puerto Rican […]
