djfrosty

25 Oct 2024

Jin of BTS Hopes New Single ‘I’ll Be There’ Gives ARMY ‘Strength’ in ‘Tired & Lonely’ Times

When Jin named his new solo track “I’ll Be There,” he didn’t do so lightly. According to the BTS star, he genuinely wants to give his listeners comfort, starting with the lead single from his upcoming album Happy.

In a new video interview with Dolby Atmos shared exclusively with Billboard, the 31-year-old South Korean singer explains that he wrote his new song — which dropped Friday (Oct. 25) — with the hope of “providing happiness” to his fanbase. “When ARMY feel tired and lonely, I hope this song gives them strength,” Jin says in the clip.

“I have a very clear idea of what kind of emotions I want to share with our fans,” the performer continues. “I want our fans, our ARMY, to be happy.”

Trending on Billboard

The interview comes as part of Jin’s new partnership with Dolby Atmos in honor of his new solo music. The “Super Tuna” artist also filmed an alternative music video with the audio technology company — which Billboard exclusively premieres below — featuring Jin driving a convertible through swirling, colorful lights, performing “I’ll Be There” in a futuristic glass room, flirting with a few actresses on set and dancing with a group of people in an airport.

Jin also dropped a standard music video for “I’ll Be Alright” Friday, just a few weeks ahead of the Nov. 15 release of his debut solo album, Happy. In his new interview, the star revealed that — much like “I’ll Be Alright” — the songs on the six-track LP “have choruses that everyone can sing along to.”

“It’s a song that will put a smile on your face,” he added of his new single. “I hope to spread those feelings to my fans because they give me so much energy, laughter and joy.”

Jin’s album will make him the final member of BTS to release a solo LP, following previous projects from Jung Kook, Jimin, V, SUGA, RM and J-Hope. The group’s full-band activities are currently on pause as five of the members finish their mandatory military service, which Jin was the first to complete in June followed by RM earlier this month.

Watch Jin’s interview with Dolby Atmos above, and check out his alternative music video for “I’ll Be There” below.

25 Oct 2024

What Song Matches Your Vibe? Facebook Unveils New Profile Features Including a Special Update for Music Lovers

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

What’s song matches your current vibe? Facebook wants to make it easier to spark conversations about music and more with its new profile features unveiled during the Facebook IRL event during Austin City Limits earlier this month.  

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The social media giant transformed Fair Market in Austin, Texas, into a real-life Facebook account with different stations representing profile features including a hi-fidelity music lounge featuring albums from Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, Miley Cyrus and other recording stars. The event also included live performances.

“Whatever you’re into, there are people on Facebook that can help you find and do more of it,” Facebook head Tom Alison explained during Facebook IRL. “Our vision is to make it easy to discover that content and those people. Ultimately, that is what Facebook is for. We’ve been helping people explore their interests and discover new things for many years.”

Trending on Billboard

“Facebook is building the best technology to help you discover the content and connections that are right for you,” he continued. “We’ve made major investments in building state of the art AI systems that can service the most interesting content to people all across the world.”

Facebook Messenger Hi-Fi Lounge

Facebook Messenger Hi-Fi Lounge

Aarron Anderson

New features include a Local tab, which collects content from Reels, Marketplace, Groups and Events on Facebook and Facebook Explore, which lets you dive even deeper dive into your interests.

 “It’s personalized around your broad set of interests and allows you to learn and do more with them,” Alison said of Facebook Local. “What is unique about Explore is that it gives recommendation algorithms that are less focused on entertaining content and a bit more focused on finding authentic and practical content that’s going to be useful to you.”

Facebook Local is currently testing in Austin, New York City, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Charlotte, Phoenix and San Francisco.

Messenger Communities, another new feature, offers a fresh way for communities to “connect over shared interests and topic-based chats,” according to the company.

Other new features include an upgraded, full-screen Video tab that gives Reels a more prominent position, posts with AI Comment Summaries that you can read instead of scrolling through comments and Matchmaker, a new Facebook Dating feature that you can enact to allow your friends to “swipe for potential matches on your behalf.”

With Facebook’s Weekly and Weekend Digest for Events feature, you can find the best concerts, music festivals and other events in your area and share them with your Facebook friends or groups “to find someone to go with,” noted Alison.  

The company also added music and mentions to Notes in Messenger and a new feature that lets you invite your Instagram followers to events that you created on Facebook — regardless of whether they have a Facebook account.

Facebook’s new profile features were announced ahead of the Meta Quest S3 ($299) release on Oct. 15. The Meta Quest S3 is available at major retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Target and the Meta store.

25 Oct 2024

‘Billboard Unfiltered’: Rod Wave, GloRilla, the State of Hip-Hop Journalism & BET Hip-Hop Awards

The calendar turned to the fourth quarter and hip-hop is working overtime before the buzzer sounds on 2024. With Rod Wave and GloRilla making their presence felt in the Billboard 200’s top five along with projects on the way from Tyler, The Creator and Lil Uzi Vert, it’s a busy time in the rap world.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Billboard Unfiltered is back with a new episode breaking down all of the hip-hop and R&B-related chart drama along with plenty of other topics. It’s a full house with all four of the fellas in the mix on Friday (Oct. 25).

Trending on Billboard

“It’s been an interesting year for female rappers. You didn’t know what she was gonna do,” Deputy Director, Editorial Damien Scott said. “She could’ve done 10,000 or did what she did.”

Glo earned the top debut sales week of any female rapper all 2024 with 69,000 total album units, which put GLORIOUS at No. 5 on the Billboard 200.

“I don’t know if people necessarily saw this coming,” Senior Charts & Data Analyst Trevor Anderson said. “We knew the buzz was really strong, but that doesn’t always turn into the full support… To see what she did showing up with almost 70,000 for the week. A year ago, people were like, ‘Oh it’s a wrap.’”

He continued: “Glo seems to have a huge runway to play with. Especially at a time it’s kinda a surprise we had so many people dropping in the same year… For Glo to come through in [quarter] four and shut that conversation down, I don’t know if a lot of people would’ve had that at the top of the year on the bingo card.”

Deputy Director R&B/Hip-Hop Carl Lamarre took the chance to defend himself after receiving backlash for his viral “big three” picks on social media. On a previous episode Lamarre went with Rod Wave, Travis Scott and Playboi Carti to round out his new “big three.”

“Statistically am I wrong? [Rod Wave’s] had seven top 10s the last five years. The brother’s currently on an arena tour for the third consecutive year,” he said. “How many cats are doing back to back to back arena tours. But they’re not hearing he’s a rapper. What is rap today?”

The 2024 BET Hip Hop Awards went down last week and Staff Writer Kyle Denis wonders about the purpose of the Hip Hop Awards having so much overlap with the BET Awards.

“I think it’s confusing to some viewers what the purpose of the Hip Hop Awards are given how hip-hop-centric the main BET Awards are,” he stated. “Why do we need to circle back four or five months later for another hip-hop show… It kinda feels like the same show twice.”

Last week, Russ and Top Dawg Entertainment president Terrence “Punch” Henderson went viral with their critiques of hip-hop journalism, which led to plenty of heated debates on social media about the state of the industry.

“Is it in a bad place? It’s not in the best place,” Scott stated regarding journalism. “It’s not as good as it was 20 years ago, but it’s not all doom and gloom. I’ll say it’s not that bad.”

Denis vehemently pushed back against Punch labeling “most” of hip-hop journalists as “trash.” “You can not enter the space talking about most of you guys are trash and expect people to engage with you in good faith,” he said. “All of the hip-hop journalists I’ve met and encountered have been some of the smartest people I’ve ever spoken to. I would never call them trash.”

Watch the full episode above.

25 Oct 2024

Megan Thee Stallion Leaves No Crumbs & Tongues On The Floor With Her Latest Video For “Bigger In Texas”

HipHopWired Featured Video

CLOSE

Megan Thee Stallion Shuts Down X With

Source: TheStewartofNY / Getty / Megan Thee Stallion

Megan Thee Stallion continues to leave her foot on our necks and shows no signs of letting up.

If you saw your timelines on X, formerly Twitter, full of Hotties and men thirsting over Megan Thee Stallion, there is an excellent reason for that.

Along with her new album, Megan Act II, Megan Thee Stallion released the visual for her latest single, “Bigger In Texas,” an ode to her home state and city of Houston.

The visual directed by Megan and Julian Klincewicz is H-Town to the max opening with title graphics in the 1990s Pen & Pixel font.

In the second verse of the song, co-produced by Bankroll Got It, Shawn Jarrett, Truckee Street and Han Yang Kingsley Wang, Megan raps, “E’rrythang bigger in Texas, ain’t no injections, we at the pole, no elections/ B–ch, don’t come around me tryna pass out drugs, ho, I ain’t poppin’ no Teslas/ I don’t wanna take no pictures, I don’t get along with these out here b–ches/ I don’t even know this hoe, but the b–ch keep beggin’ me for attention.”

While dropping those bars and flossing her Johnny Dang grillz, Meg reminds us that her knees are still strong by dropping it extremely low and hitting us with that signature twerk while rocking green shorts, a bikini top outfit, and a matching cowboy hat.

Social Media Is Loving “Bigger In Texas”

X has been lusting over the “Hiss” rapper and celebrating her latest drop, and who can blame them? Megan is on fire.

“Megan Thee Stallion let y’all talk all that shit about her, dropped #MeganACTII & WHACKED y’all effortlessly throughout the album. She really got her lick back!” one user on X, formerly Twitter, wrote. 

Others just appreciated the visual greatness.

Clutches pearls.

You can see more reactions in the gallery below.

2. We stan a rapping queen

5. She’s taking it!

25 Oct 2024

Lady Gaga’s ‘Disease’ Takeover | Billboard News

Lady Gaga is taking over with her new single “Disease.” What are your thoughts on the single? Let us know in the comments!

Tetris Kelly:

Lady Gaga is back, and with her new single “Disease,” she’s getting right back to “Just Dance.” We’re previewing the track in Music You Should Know. Lady Gaga never stops. She just released “Disease” as fans have been begging for her next era. This is all after she just released music to pair along with her involvement in the ‘Joker’ film. The new track sees a return to form by the way of the electro-pop we have come to expect of Mother Monster. Is this the vibe of her next album? Let us know your thoughts below.

25 Oct 2024

Maria Becerra, Danna & Zhamira Zambrano Reveal How Their Music Encourages Them to Find Beauty & Joy in Life

Some of the top Latin artists at 2024 Billboard Latin Music Week spoke about how their music helps them find beauty and joy in life.

Danna:

To put it simply, it’s in the act of it. I believe that, for me, music and dedicating myself to this industry is a very spiritual act. So, within spirituality, there is a lot of beauty. It’s the creation of something together with someone. The beauty of friendship, of finding a very unique and magical moment when creating something. I think it’s very special. And I think the beauty and joy after finishing it and listening to it and you hear fans singing my songs … songs that were made with so much love, gives me everything. 

Zhamira Zambrano:

I have always said that if you feel beautiful inside, that is what you will radiate outwards. In my case, I try to work on that a lot with myself and involved it in the studio. When I am creating, I am always thinking about how the person, or in this case the woman, who listens to this will feel, or even the man too, because men can also feel beautiful and powerful. I think that as long as you carry a message of positivity, in my personal case, that’s what I try to radiate in the studio through the music with beautiful and motivational words, healthy and clean messages that reach the heart. You will feel good.  

Keep watching for more!

25 Oct 2024

Kid Cudi Joins Adam Sandler’s ‘Happy Gilmore’ Sequel: ‘This Is So F—in HUGE’

The latest person to join the cast of Adam Sandler’s upcoming Happy Gilmore sequel is Mr. Rager himself: Kid Cudi.

As announced Friday (Oct. 25) by Deadline, the rapper is officially set to appear in the Netflix follow-up to the 1996 cult-classic film, which stars Sandler in the title role as an amateur golfer. Details of Cudi’s character — and the film’s plot — are still unknown.

Sharing the news on Instagram, the musician wrote, “Ive been wanting to talk about this for a minute!!!”

“This is so f—in HUGE,” he continued. “Its been a long time dream of mine to work w Adam, hes my favorite, and his movies and comedy made up my childhood. Another dream come true. BLESSED!! Get ready, this ones gonna be EPIC.”

Trending on Billboard

Born Scott Mescudi, the “Day ‘N’ Nite” artist has previously acted in Silent Night, X, Don’t Look Up and more. In 2024, he appeared in M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap and Paramount+’s Knuckles.

Cudi is already in good company with the Happy Gilmore 2 cast, which will see Sandler reprise his role alongside original stars Julie Bowen and Christopher McDonald. As previously confirmed, Travis Kelce and Bad Bunny will also make cameos in the project.

The news comes about 10 months after the release of Cudi’s most recent album, Insano, which bowed at No. 13 on the Billboard 200. Earlier this week, he dropped “The Moon Man Survives,” the latest installment of his The Soundtrack of Moon Man project, which coincides with his Moon Man comic series.

25 Oct 2024

Caifanes, Raphael, Scorpions & More to Headline the Vive Latino Festival on its 25th Anniversary

Mexican festival Vive Latino will celebrate its 25th anniversary with an eclectic lineup headlined by acts including Caifanes, Raphael, Scorpions, Aterciopelados, Keane, Molotov, Mon Laferte, Eden Muñoz, Los Ángeles Azules, Zoé and Duncan Dhu, who will light up the great Hispanic rock party to be held March 15-16, 2025, at the GNP Seguros Stadium in Mexico City, promoter Ocesa announced Friday (Oct. 25).

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The lineup also includes other Latin and English speaking soloists and bands such as Sepultura, Draco Rosa, Nortec: Bostich + Fussible, Kany García, Meme del Real, Little Jesus, Los Planetas, Rüfüs Du Sol, La Lupita, Vilma Palma e Vampiros, Cuarteto de Nos, Siddhartha, División Minúscula, Arde Bogotá, Él Mató a un Policía Motorizado, and León Benavente.

Trending on Billboard

According to the organizers, the presale for Citibanamex cardholders will take place next Wednesday (Oct. 30), with the regular sale for the general public opening the next day.

The Vive Latino will be returning to its original home at GNP Seguros Stadium (formerly Foro Sol), after the 2024 edition had to be held at Curve 4 of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, the same site where Formula 1 and the Corona Capital and Arre festivals are held annually, due to renovations of the venue.

Since its inception in 1998, the Ibero-American Festival of Musical Culture, better known as Vive Latino, has had a transgressive personality that has challenged stigmas: It was the first to incorporate pop, reggaeton, cumbia, and regional Mexican music artists into its lineup; it had an edition lasting four days; it added English-speaking bands despite being the ultimate celebration of rock es Español, and it is the first in Latin American festival to have its own edition in Spain.

The Vive Latino festival debuted on November 28-29, 1998, at the Foro Sol, on the east side of Mexico City. Since then, it has been held annually, except in 1999, 2002, and 2021, the latter due to the COVID pandemic.

Check out the full official lineup for the 2025 Vive Latino festival below:

25 Oct 2024

DJ Clark Kent Dies at 58 After Battle With Colon Cancer

DJ Clark Kent — born Rodolfo Franklin — has died at 58 years old following a three-year battle with colon cancer. Clark Kent’s family confirmed his death in a statement posted to the superproducer’s Instagram page on Friday afternoon (Oct. 25).

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

“It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of the beloved Rodolfo A. Franklin, known to the world as DJ Clark Kent,” the statement reads. “Clark passed away Thursday evening surrounded by his devoted wife Kesha, daughter Kabriah and son Antonio.”

The post continued to touch on Clark Kent’s private battle with cancer. “Clark quietly and valiantly fought a three year battle with Colon Cancer, while continuing to share his gifts with the world,” they added. “The family is grateful for everyone’s love, support and prayers during this time and ask for privacy as they process this immense loss.”

Trending on Billboard

A touching outpouring of support came from peers, friends and fans of the pioneering producer in his comment section.

“Clark will forever be the culture,” Questlove wrote, while Raekwon added: “Awwww mannnnn. we gon miss this legend. condolences to the loved ones.

There were also tributes from Jim Jones, Dave East, Mickey Factz, Laura Styles, Rob Markman and more.

The Supermen frontman got his start as a DJ in the ’80s before scoring his first major hit in 1995 producing Junior M.A.F.I.A. and The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Player’s Anthem,” which peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and served as Lil’ Kim’s introduction to the world.

Clark Kent connected with Jay-Z and went on to produce a handful of tracks from Hov’s acclaimed Reasonable Doubt debut album in 1996 such as “Brooklyn’s Finest” featuring Biggie Smalls, “Coming of Age,” “Cashmere Thoughts” and more.

Adding to New York rap lore, Foxy Brown is Clark Kent’s cousin. The New York-bred DJ is also credited with discovering Bad Boy rapper-turned-politician Shyne in the late ’90s.

He notched another commercial anthem when teaming up with Mariah Carey for Glitter‘s “Loverboy” in 2001, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Clark Kent was a fixture in sneaker culture and an avid sneakerhead throughout his life. In 2018, he was estimated to have more than 3,500 pairs in his rare collection.

In more recent years, he’s credited as a co-producer on Ye (Kanye West) and Lil Pump’s “I Love It,” which gave him another top 10 hit on the Hot 100 in 2018.

DJ Clark Kent is survived by his wife Kesha, son Antonio and daughter Kabriah. Find the family statement below.