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After delivering successful songs as a songwriter to big stars of the new regional Mexican genre — and after making it onto the Billboard charts with hits like “Si No Quieres No” with Luis R. Conriquez, “La Patrulla” with Peso Pluma, and more recently “Loco” — the corrido singer-songwriter Netón Vega presents his debut album, Mi Vida, Mi Muerte.
Released on Friday (Feb. 14) under Josa Records, the 21-track set includes collaborations with Peso Pluma, Luis R Conriquez, Gabito Ballesteros, Oscar Maydon, Victor Mendivil, Chino Pakas, Juanchito, Xavi, Tito Double P, and Aleman. He arrives with “Morena” with Peso Pluma as the focus track, and brings the first single, “Loco,” which earned Vega his fourth top 10 hit on the Hot Latin Songs chart.
“This album is very personal and represents the mixture of all the influences that have marked my career and my life,” Vega tells Billboard Español about this production — which, in addition to corridos tumbados, adds some rap and reggaetón.
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Netón Vega (real name: Luis Ernesto Carvajal) was born in La Paz, Baja California Sur, and at the age of 12 went to live in Culiacán, Sinaloa, the birthplace of corridos, where he began writing songs. His first musical references were the traditional regional Mexican artists, such as Grupo Intocable, one of his favorites. Along the way, he delved into corridos tumbados, until he became a hit maker for the great stars of the genre.
“My songs gained momentum and first reached Hassan (Peso Pluma), who recorded ‘La Patrulla,’ ‘Rubicón,’ and ‘La People,’” Vega recalls. “Then they were picked up by Luis R. with ‘Si No Quieres No’ and ‘Chino,’ followed by Tito Double P with ‘El Gabacho,’ and then by Código FN and Gabito Ballesteros, among others.”
Now, at 21, he is releasing his debut album with the collaboration of many of these colleagues — a union to which he credits the growth of this movement. “It makes us stronger,” he notes. “Even though this is a business, we help each other.”
Below, Netón Vega breaks down five essential songs from his debut album Mi Vida, Mi Muerte in his own words. To listen to the album in its entirety, click here.
“Morena” (feat. Peso Pluma)
It is a corrido with classic requinto and a lot of ambiance. This song was born at a live event where I intended to record with Tito Double P, but for one reason or another, I couldn’t do it with him. I wrote this song while I was in a car. Later I showed it to Peso, who liked it from the first moment. At first, the song had a different direction, but it turned out very good. Peso asked me to make it the focus track of my debut album — and of course, I agreed.
“CDN” (feat. Luis R. Conriquez)
It’s a corrido that carries the hallmark I’ve always loved, with classic guitar picking, flawlessly executed. Honestly, this song was created because I knew it would be perfect for Luis R. Conriquez, and it turned out just right. It’s exactly the style that he and I share — and from the moment we made it, we knew it was going to be a hit. It’s one of those corridos that feels authentic, with real power.
“Chiquitita” (feat. Tito Double P)
Initially, “Chiquitita” was meant for Tito’s album. I sent it to him to record quickly because it needed to be submitted. However, in the end, I asked for it back and decided to keep it for my own album because I felt it needed a change, to have my own stamp on it. Honestly, I really liked how it turned out. “Chiquita bonita, déjate querer” (Pretty little one, let yourself be loved), that phrase is key in the song. It’s a romantic corrido that brings that touch of emotion with a distinctly marked requinto.
“Me Ha Costado” (feat. Alemán & Víctor Mendivil)
“Me Ha Costado” is a track with Alemán that came together in a crazy way. I remember sending him a video with the idea, and he liked it so much that he stopped eating and went straight to the studio. I mean, he really liked it — one of those times when you say, “This is a hit!” Then I invited Víctor Mendivil, and honestly, he did a great job on it. This song talks about effort, about everything it has taken for me to be here because I’ve been working since I was a kid, and everyone knows that. It’s a trap song with a really good beat.
“Cuando Me Ocupes” (feat. Xavi)
“Cuando Me Ocupes” came out very naturally, and was the last one to be recorded. With Xavi, we made two tracks, one for him and one for me. Everything was put together in two intense days in Guadalajara. Josa, my manager, arranged everything, and we got down to recording. It’s a love corrido, but with that style that makes it feel real. It’s one of those songs that brings a lot of emotion.
Netón Vega
Josa Records
BLACKPINK’s JISOO has released her debut solo mini-album, AMORTAGE. She walks us through her new pop sound, the reasons for releasing it now, her creative process for “Earthquake,” BLACKPINK’s upcoming summer tour reunion and more! JISOO:I’m in Billboard! Tetris Kelly: Yes she is! She made it to Billboard. And I mean, we’re so happy to have […]
Michael Bublé pulls out all the Canadian stops to get 31-year-old Jessica Manalo on his The Voice team.
In an exclusive audition video premiering on Billboard below, the Las Vegas native tries out for season 27 of the reality competition show, putting her own spin on Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Unholy.” The reimagined version of the hit featured Manalo on acoustic guitar, without sacrificing the sultriness of the collab.
Bublé turned his chair first and Kelsea Ballerini followed shortly after, leaving Manalo with the difficult decision of choosing between the two coaches.
“I love that song, and it took me a minute to realize that you had reimagined it, then I turn around and you’re playing a guitar,” Ballerini told the contestant. “I play guitar. You’re a musician, you’re a creative, I love that you’re from Vegas — I’m feeling lucky. Women are killing it in music right now, specifically women who have these really identifiable voices and styles, and that’s what you have.”
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It was then Bublé’s turn to state his case, jokingly pleading, “Sure, you could go to Team Kelsea. You could go to this incredibly young, smart, talented, really fresh-brained woman, or you could be with a much older — what was I saying?”
“A Canadian gentleman,” fellow coach John Legend chimed in to help.
Bublé then turned the Canadian energy up a notch when Ballerini tried to offer Manalo a pair of cowboy boots to convince her to choose the country singer as her coach. Bublé whipped out a hockey jersey, and the floor turned into an ice hockey rink.
That’s not all. He completed the show by belting out the Canadian national anthem. “All of this was so expensive, and I did it because I really hope you choose me,” he told Manalo with a laugh.
Watch the full audition below, and find out who Manalo chooses on The Voice, which airs Monday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, before streaming the next day on Peacock.
Lane Moore + It Was Romance are back! It’s been a full decade since the band – fronted by comedian, actress, writer and musician Lane Moore – released its self-titled debut and now its back with Final Girl, via Mint 400 Records.
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The four-track EP, produced by Moore and Grammy Award-winning Bryan Russell (Coldplay, Paul Simon) is a return to form with pop-rock jams that Moore lovingly calls “happy songs for sad people.” Lead single and opening track “Playing Records” kicks things off with an ode to cautious optimism, and brings the listener into a playful sound that also tackles big themes, like mental health.
Inspired by Moore’s favorite acts — including Paramore, Depeche Mode, Robyn and Lights (the Canadian musician she named her dog after) — Final Girl will take fans back to the It Was Romance of a decade ago, with a touch more synthesizer and a heavier lean into pop.
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“I love playing around with textures and sounds,” Moore tells Billboard. “I call this record happy songs for sad people because that’s my favorite genre of music – really dancey songs that you go, ‘Oh, wait. What is this about?’ That’s just my favorite genre – something dancey with something real behind it. I think a lot of people feel that way, where it’s like, ‘This hits so hard, but it also has so much emotion.’”
While the wait has been long for fans, Moore says that the new music – made alongside her full band, which includes Angel Lozada (drums), Ryan Ross (bass) and Lisa Bianco (lead guitar) – has been ready to go since 2020, but remained unreleased because of the pandemic. When the label recommended the new music be released on Valentine’s Day, Moore felt it was fate.
Valentine’s Day “is perfect for so many reasons. So much of what I do really talks about love and connection,” says Moore. “With the band name It Was Romance, there was a lot screaming that this is when this should happen.”
Prior to the band’s East Coast tour dates (which go on sale today), Moore sat down with Billboard to discuss the band’s return and how she created happy songs for sad people.
The songs on this EP are five years old. Do they feel outdated to release now?
So much of the album is about struggling with connections, struggling to have faith that the world is going to get better, that your life is going to get better. It’s wanting so much to be hopeful, but everything around you is kind of a nightmare. It feels a lot like destiny that this record is coming out now, when that is so pervasive — even more than when I first wrote these songs. It is divine timing, even though it was hard to have to wait.
“Playing Records” feels like the perfect song for a Valentine’s Day release.
I wrote that song when I was so depressed, and it is the happiest song. I met someone, and I was like, “You know what, I’m gonna choose to be excited that this could be good even though maybe it won’t be.” It is celebrating those moments, when for a second, something good is happening. It is so easy to blow past those moments.
It’s a daily practice for me to linger on joy, to linger on hope and the things that are really nice in your life. Our brains are so wired to linger on this person who says something really shitty. Our brains have this negativity bias and I love a song that instantly infuses your brain with happy chemicals. One of the greatest things that music can do is change your mood.
“Final Girl” has a similar theme.
That song specifically was about the fear of when something good happens. When you start dating someone, you meet somebody new and they seem great. We don’t talk enough about how terrifying that is. For a lot of us, myself included, it’s so much easier to meet somebody who’s mediocre and kind of sucks. Your brain knows what to do with it. You meet who seems really great and it’s “I don’t have the neural pathways for that.” That’s its own horror movie in my mind, which is why I gave it that title.
Why did you go with Final Girl for the entire EP title?
I wanted to call it Final Girl, because so much of it is about survival, and surviving all of these things that feel like they’re impossible to survive. And I’m also a really big horror movie fan, and I was thinking about the idea of a final girl, and it can mean so many things, and I relate to final girls more than pretty much any other character archetype. I probably know what that says about me. You feel like you keep getting knocked down but then you get back up again and somehow you don’t die. You get another shot, another shot at joy and survival.
“TBA” is the most energetic song on the EP, and feels like the perfect example of happy songs for sad people.
I wrote that song at a time when I didn’t really have my people around me, like friends or people to call if I need something. So that song was about so many of us realizing I have to be my own best friend. I have to take care of myself, even when I actually need back up. I also wanted to write about how much I hate when people say, “If you need anything, call me.” I hate that freaking phase. People were saying it to me all the time, and I was thinking — even if it is well meaning – what an empty phrase if somebody’s struggling.
I wanted to talk about something that I noticed a lot, which is how we view mental health versus physical health issues. There was somebody that I was playing music with at the time — he got into a minor car accident and everyone was like, “Oh my god. We’ve got to help him.” He was totally fine, but when there is a physical thing, people know what to do. But if you’re struggling with mental health stuff, a lot of people were like, “We don’t know what to do with you. Let me know if you need, I don’t know, a soda. Bye.” It was the loneliest feeling, and I wanted to write about that.
Should fans expect more music soon?
Absolutely. I’ve got to get this out into the world and then hopefully go back into the studio this year. I have so many songs that I have written that it’s been kind of a I Love Lucy conveyor belt of chocolates. This is a completely new chapter of an entirely new book, with a lot more music.
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TikTok is back in the Apple Store and Google Play stores for US users.
The popular social media platform officially returned to Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store for US users on Thursday after the companies removed it on Jan.19.
A federal law banning TikTok as of Jan.19 because TikTok’s Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, failed to divest its ownership of the app forced both companies to pull it from their US stores. Failure to adhere to the law by still hosting or distributing TikTok in the US would result in penalties, $5,000 per user or $850 billion in fines because the platform boasts it has 170 million US users. Hence, it’s not surprising both companies yanked the app from their stores.
TikTok gained an ally in Donald Trump, who initially spearheaded the app’s banning before he lost his reelection bid to Joe Biden. Unfortunately, after returning to the White House, Felon 47 signed an executive order on Jan.20 instructing his Attorney General, Pam Bondi, not to enforce the ban for 75 days.
The executive order also instructed Bondi “to issue a letter to each [TikTok] provider stating that there has been no violation of the statute and that there is no liability for any conduct’ as of Jan.19 throughout the 75-day extension.
According to Bloomberg’s report, Bondi sent Apple and Google letters on Thursday.
In a blog post, TikTok celebrated its return to both stores: “The TikTok app is now available for download from the App Store and Google Play. Our U.S. users can download the latest version of our app and continue to create, discover, and share what they love on TikTok.”
How The TikTok Ban Jig Played Out
What a turn of events following TikTok’s loss in its appeal to the Supreme Court, claiming the ban was in direct violation of the First Amendment.
Following the court’s decision, TikTok shut down on Jan.18, a day before the ban was supposed to start, before restoring service after Donald Trump vowing not to enforce the ban. When US users opened the app, they were greeted by a message telling them the app was back thanks to Orange Mussolini.
Users on X, formerly Twitter, have been reacting to the app’s return to the Apple Store and Google Play store; you can see those reactions in the gallery below.
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It wasn’t all kisses and hugs on Drake and PartyNextDoor’s new collaborative album, $OME $EXY $ONGS 4 U, as on Friday (Feb. 14), the OVO captain had time to denounce not only his 2024 feud with Kendrick Lamar, but also his one-time friendship with Joe Budden.
The blockbuster album includes 21 songs — mostly R&B — with a few exceptions, most notably, “Gimme a Hug.” Here, Drake puts his rap muscles to work, first questioning Lamar’s lyricism and how it doesn’t spark any fanfare from the ladies at the club. “Cause if I die, it’s these n—as that become the sole beneficiary/ And what the f–k are they gon’ do with it?/ Have the girls up at 29 on stage twerking with a dictionary?” he says.
Not only does he claim to be over the smoldering beef with Lamar that included a whopping total of seven disses records last spring, but he’s shifting his energy toward making hits for the fans. “Damn, they be droppin’ s–t, but we be droppin’ harder s–t/ F–k a rap beef, I’m tryna get the party lit,” he spits.
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Drake also commended his Her Loss rap partner, 21 Savage, for his unwavering loyalty during the contentious feud before ultimately blitzing Budden. “Savage, you the only n—a checkin’ on me when we really in some s–t, brother/ Melyssa Ford, you a legend from the 6, hate to see you with a d–k-sucker.”
This isn’t the first time Drake has jabbed the famous podcaster this week. He posted an unflattering picture of Joe Budden on his Finsta account on Instagram, which irked the “Pump It Up” rapper.
“Drake, don’t shoot at me now that you’re ice cold,” he said on his eponymous podcast. “I’m not doing the back and forth with a corpse. Don’t go get shot all year and then pop up like Bernie in Weekend at Bernie’s wanting to shoot at me now. No n—a, go spin. Spin the f–king block.”
Listen to “Gimme a Hug” below.
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Source: Princeton New Jersey PD / Princeton PD
A woman in New Jersey is facing federal charges after allegedly robbing a bank with a toy water gun which she painted to look like a real weapon.
On Tuesday (February 11), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced that they were charging Ciara Brascom with robbing a bank in Princeton of $60,500, which was done with Brascom using a toy water pistol that was spray painted black to make it look like a real weapon. If convicted, the 38-year-old could receive a prison sentence of up to 20 years along with a fine of $250,000.
According to reports, on the afternoon of July 28, 2004, Brascom entered the TD Bank located on Route 206 at 1:58 P.M. She wore a blue hat and red prescription glasses along with a blue medical face mask as she entered the bank. Soon afterward, she handed a note to one of the tellers demanding money, threatening to use her weapon if the teller triggered the alarm. Brascom then took out what appeared to be a gun from her pants pocket and aimed it at the teller, who informed her that their drawer was empty. The teller and another bank employee led Brascom to a safe, where they handed her the $60,500 in cash. Brascom then fled the scene with the cash in hand, having forgotten to take a bag to put it in.
After an extensive investigation, local law enforcement called Brascom in for questioning last September. During the interrogation, she spoke about “certain financial difficulties, which fueled her desire to rob the bank,” and described her search for a replica pistol to use during the robbery, which was unsuccessful. It led Brascom to buy a pack of water guns. She then “painted one of the guns with black paint to make it look more realistic.”
Brascom was charged with robbery, criminal restraint, theft, terroristic threats, money laundering, aggravated assault, and weapons offenses. She appeared in court for the charges later that Tuesday. There was no report of the status of her local charges. She was released after posting a $150,000 bond and is currently on home detention with orders not to return to the bank.
02/14/2025
The OVO teammates partner for their first-ever full collaboration album.
02/14/2025
After Billboard introduced streaming data into the Billboard Hot 100 in the 2000s, and the first streaming-based ranking, On-Demand Streaming Songs, started in 2012, the Jan. 26, 2013, issue announced the arrival of Streaming Songs, which has become Billboard’s all-encompassing streaming ranking of record since.
Incorporating on-demand and programmed streaming totals (as compiled by data tracker Luminate), Streaming Songs began affording a look into the behaviors of millions of music fans, from diehards to casual listeners, on platforms that hadn’t existed prior to the 21st century. Especially key, it showed, for the first time, repeat curated listening in a way that tracking plays of records, tapes, CDs and MP3s hadn’t previously allowed.
Streaming Songs has been ever-changing, with streaming services added to the chart’s data feed. Early on, pop and hip-hop were streaming frontrunners. Since the turn of the 2020s, genres including country and Latin, in particular, have made significant inroads. Reflecting streaming’s growth overall, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop,” featuring Wanz, topped the inaugural Streaming Songs chart with 1.5 million U.S. streams. On the latest list (dated Feb. 15), Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” rules with 29.2 million official clicks.
As Billboard celebrates the top-performing artists, albums and songs of the first 25 years of the century since 2000, browse below, the acts with the most No. 1s on the Streaming Songs chart in that span.
Plus, check out Top Artists of the 21st Century, Top Billboard 200 Albums of the 21st Century and Billboard’s Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century charts, as well as all coverage of Billboard’s 21st Century charts here.
Billboard’s Top Artists, Top Billboard 200 Albums and Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century recaps reflect performance on weekly charts dated Jan. 1, 2000, through Dec. 28, 2024. The Top Artists category ranks the best-performing acts in that span based on activity on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100. (Titles released prior to mid-1999 are excluded, although such entries that appeared on the Billboard 200 or Hot 100 in that span contribute to the calculation of the Top Artists chart.)
20, Drake
The Backstreet Boys‘ 25th-anniversary celebrations for signature album Millennium are about to be larger than life, with the band announcing a revamped version of the LP along with three more Sphere residency dates Friday (Feb. 14). As revealed Valentine’s Day morning by bandmates Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, AJ McLean, Kevin Richardson and Howie Dorough on […]