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03 May 2024

Taylor Swift Fans Have Some Thoughts on Sabrina Carpenter & Jake Gyllenhaal’s ‘SNL’ Pairing

Some people wouldn’t think twice about Sabrina Carpenter being paired with Jake Gyllenhaal on an episode of Saturday Night Live. Many Swifties, however, are not those people.

Immediately after NBC’s sketch-comedy series announcedThursday (May 2) that its upcoming season 49 finale would feature the actor as the host alongside the “Espresso” singer as musical guest, fans couldn’t help but draw a pretty glaring connection between the two: Ms. Taylor Swift. That’s because the “Anti-Hero” singer famously dated Gyllenhaal in 2010 and went on to write a number of songs believed to be about the Brokeback Mountain star — most notably, the searing 10-minute ballad “All Too Well” — while Carpenter is a longtime fan of Swift’s.

The Girl Meets World alum also struck up a friendship with the 14-time Grammy winner following her tenure as an opener on the Eras Tour. At one show, she and Swift duetted on “White Horse” and “Coney Island” during the main show, and after Carpenter wrapped her last performance on the trek, she wrote on Instagram, “i will cherish this taybrina era (and all the eras) till the end of time.”

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With all that in mind, jokes about Gyllenhaal and Carpenter’s crossover have been aplenty since SNL unveiled its season-ending lineup. Some fans have been coming up with ways the Work It star could purposefully work a Swift reference into one of her famous “Nonsense” outros if she performs the Emails I Can’t Send fan-favorite on the show, while other people have daydreamed about ways Carpenter could hilariously confront Gyllenhaal during the episode, which airs May 18.

“would actually pay millions to see the text chain between taylor swift and sabrina carpenter about this one,” one fan tweeted, while another person added, “snl knew what they were doing pairing jake gyllenhaal and sabrina carpenter together.. they messy as hell for that.”

“sipping me espresso like you’re on a late night show,” a third Swiftie quipped, combining lyrics from Carpenter and Swift’s tracks.

Keep reading to see more Swiftie reactions to the SNL pairing below.

03 May 2024

The New Universal Music Group-TikTok Deal Explained

Universal Music Group’s three-month hiatus from TikTok ended this week after the companies reached a new, multi-faceted licensing agreement. On Thursday, UMG executives explained why it was worth the wait. 

The bottom line: UMG believes its new licensing deal with TikTok is an improvement over the deal that expired at the end of January. UMG has “substantially improved the total value we’ll derive from this relationship,” CFO Boyd Muir said. Michael Nash, executive vp/chief digital officer, said the new TikTok deal “definitely deliver[s] a fair level of value relative to other short form social platform partners,” which includes Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and Snap.  

In Thursday’s earnings call and CEO Lucian Grainge’s internal memo obtained by Billboard the same day, Grainge, Muir and Nash mentioned numerous components of the new deal that can be broken into two camps: revenue and non-revenue features and arrangements. 

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As for revenue, there will be more of it under the new deal — although none of the executives shared specific deal points such as advertising revenue sharing rates. Nash said that “revenue under this new deal does markedly improve over our last deal.” The previous deal amounted to about 1% of UMG’s annual revenues, which works out to about $120 million euros based on 2023 revenue. That’s not much for a platform that commands an average of 58 minutes per day in the U.S., according to eMarketer — almost as much as Netflix and more than YouTube.  

But UMG is getting more value out of TikTok in forms other than royalties. Many of those non-revenue components typically cost money to labels: e-commerce tools, marketing and promotion campaigns and ad credits. Other aspects of the deal have value that’s hard to pin down: data, artist insights, intelligence and new programs and new collaboration opportunities.  

One interesting aspect of the new deal is what Nash called “content management and attribution.” When TikTok users post videos with sped-up and slowed-down recordings, attribution for the UMG recording is credited “not [to] some infringing third party, but the artists,” said Nash. “And that content is better connected with their official presence on the platform.”  

As Grainge outlined in an internal memo to staff on Thursday, the deal also met the two non-revenue criteria: protection against the harmful effects of AI and prioritizing online safety for both TikTok users and UMG’s artists. 

TikTok made “a number of commitments” that respect UMG artists’ works and rights of publicity and supports UMG’s principles on training AI models without consent from rights holders. UMG wants to protect its artists against deepfakes such as “Heart on My Sleeve” by Ghostwriter, which used AI-generated soundalikes of Drake and Kendrick Lamar (both UMG artists). The new deal ensures such fake content will be removed, both Grainge and Nash said. 

Nash also described these efforts to combat infringing content as “elevated requirements” that detect and avoid infringing content,” including leaks, unauthorized remixes and unauthorized AI versions. The deal also contains requirements for improved filtering and stream manipulation detection.  

In addition, TikTok agreed to improve online safety and attempt to mitigate the harmful effects of social media, including hate speech, bullying, responsible use of AI, and addressing infringing content and algorithmic manipulation, Grainge wrote in his memo. 

Social media income might not amount to much today, but it “is increasingly important income to artists, songwriters, labels and publishers,” said Grainge during Thursday’s earnings call, “which is why we’ve pushed so hard and we will continue to push to protect and to develop it.” 

03 May 2024

Ed Sheeran Reflects on the 10th Anniversary of ‘X’ Album & Which Hit He ‘Didn’t Really Like at First’

It’s been 10 years since Ed Sheeran unveiled his massively successful sophomore album, x, which gave fans enduring hits including “Thinking Out Loud,” “Don’t” and “Sing.”

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“I think at the time you don’t really realize what’s happening,” he tells Billboard of his Billboard 200-chart topping 2014 album on the red carpet of the 2024 Blue Diamond Gala on Thursday (May 2), where he headlined the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation charity event. “You go from one song to the next song to the next song. At the time, I was just happy that people are liking the songs and now I look back at the album, and it’s an album people really liked, which I guess is good. It took me from arenas to stadiums and I feel like it was such an important album in my career.”

Shockingly, he had to warm up to one of the album’s biggest hits. “I remember ‘Photograph’ taking a really long time to get production right. It look a long while,” he recalls. “That was the song that I didn’t really like at first because we spent so much time doing it and it ruined it. Now, I can look back and enjoy the process.”

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Since x, Sheeran hasn’t slowed down one bit. He completed his mathematical equation of albums with 2017’s ÷, 2021’s = and 2023’s –, as well as his 2019 collabs album No. 6 Collaborations Project and his most recent release, Autumn Variations. “It’s important to never do the same thing twice,” he says of keeping his career exciting after all this time. “Musically, I’m always like, ‘Have I said this before? Has a song sounded like this before?’ It’s less about what other people are doing, and more about what I’ve already done and constantly doing something different.”

The star is set to drop x (10th Anniversary Edition) on June 21, an expanded version of the 12-song original featuring nine bonus tracks, none of which have ever been available on vinyl before.

03 May 2024

Hozier’s Former Hot 100 Leader ‘Too Sweet’ Tops Its First Airplay Chart

Following its ascent to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated April 27, Hozier’s “Too Sweet” rules its first radio chart.

The song crowns Adult Alternative Airplay, where Hozier earns his sixth leader – and his fourth in a row. It leaps 5-1 on the May 11-dated ranking, up 18% in plays at the format April 26-May 2, according to Luminate.

“Too Sweet” follows the Irish singer-songwriter’s reigns with Noah Kahan’s “Northern Attitude,” featuring Hozier (five weeks at No. 1 beginning in January), “Francesca” (one week, September 2023) and “Eat Your Young” (two weeks, May 2023).

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Four No. 1s in a row mark the longest streak for any act on Adult Alternative Airplay in more than a decade and a half, since Counting Crows achieved four consecutively in 2004-08. The all-time record belongs to U2, who strung together six straight in 2001-05.

Hozier has also topped Adult Alternative Airplay with “Nina Cried Power,” featuring Mavis Staples (two weeks, 2018), and his breakthrough hit “Take Me to Church” (one week, 2014).

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Concurrently, “Too Sweet” vaults 22-15 on Alternative Airplay. On the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, it zooms 14-7 with 3.3 million audience impressions, up 36%. It’s Hozier’s third top 10 on the latter list, following “Eat Your Young” (No. 7, 2023) and “Take Me to Church” (No. 3, 2014).

A multiformat hit beyond rock radio, “Too Sweet” also jumps 14-11 on Adult Pop Airplay as the chart’s Greatest Gainer (up 49%) and 17-15 on Pop Airplay. It brings Hozier’s best showing on the former since “Someone New” hit No. 10 in 2015. On the latter, it’s his second entry, after “Take Me to Church” rose to No. 2.

On the most recent multimetric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart (dated May 4, reflecting data April 19-25), “Too Sweet” notched a fifth week at No. 1. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 29.5 million official U.S. streams and sold 6,000.

“Too Sweet” is from Hozier’s four-song set Unheard, a collection of previously unreleased material recorded for his 2023 full-length Unreal Unearth. The EP debuted at No. 3 on the Top Alternative Albums list dated April 6 and has earned 151,000 equivalent album units to date.

All Billboard charts dated May 11 will update on Billboard.com on Tuesday, May 7.

03 May 2024

Kendrick Lamar Tapped Jack Antonoff for New Drake Diss Track ‘6:16 in LA’

One might say Kendrick Lamar’s “6:16 in LA” is “Taylor Made.” A rep for Jack Antonoff confirmed to Billboard that the Bleachers frontman and frequent Taylor Swift collaborator worked on K. Dot’s latest Drake diss track.

Antonoff co-produced the seething “6:16 in LA” alongside Lamar’s in-house beat maestro Sounwave. (Variety was first to report that Antonoff co-produced the track.) The rapper uploaded the Al Green-sampling diss taking aim at the 6 God to his Instagram account on Friday morning (May 3).

In the track, Kendrick continued his psycho-analyzation of Drake while accusing OVO of having leaks in its camp. “Have you ever thought that OVO was working for me?/ Fake bully, I hate bullies/ You must be a terrible person/ Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it/ Can’t Toosie Slide up out of this one, it’s just gon’ resurface,” he raps.

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Lamar continued to hammer home allegations of betrayal behind Drake’s back while spewing: “100 n—as that you got on salary/ and 20 of them want you as a casualty/ and one of them is actually/ is next to you / and two of them is practically tied to your lifestyle.”

Kendrick shared the track on social media with the cover art featuring a black Maybach glove. Fans began to speculate the meaning behind “6:16,” and some brought upon theories of June 16 being 2Pac’s birthday. Drake used AI-assisted Pac vocals in his “Taylor Made” freestyle, which he deleted from social media following a cease-and-desist from the late rapper’s estate.

Others pointed to June 16 being Father’s Day in Canada this year, while producer 9th Wonder reminded fans via X that HBO’s Euphoria debuted on that day in 2019. Drake served as an executive producer on the show, which also doubled as the title of Kendrick’s first diss targeting Drizzy earlier this week.

“6:16 in LA” arrives three days after K. Dot dropped his scathing “Euphoria” diss, and the 6 God is yet to officially respond.

However, Drake appeared to react to “Euphoria” by posting a clip from the 1999 rom-com 10 Things I Hate About You on Instagram, and hinted at his retort while leaving the stage after a surprise appearance at Nicki Minaj’s Toronto stop on the Pink Friday 2 World Tour on April 30. “You know what time it is — you know what I have to do,” he cryptically said at the time.

Antonoff’s work on “6:16” comes as a surprise, and serves as his first collaboration with Kendrick Lamar. Earlier this month, he helmed Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department as the primary producer; the record-breaking album arrived on April 19.

Listen to “6:16 in LA” below.

03 May 2024

5 Things to Watch Out for at Eurovision 2024, According to the Song Contest’s Executive Supervisor

At last year’s Eurovision Song Contest, Graham Norton identified him as “Mr. Eurovision” and said he just calls him “the boss.” While almost everyone on the production team for the Eurovision Song Contest does their work behind the cameras, the European Broadcasting Union’s executive supervisor Martin Österdahl is visible every year on the live broadcast. When it comes time to reveal the votes of the participating countries, the hosts turn to Österdahl to confirm that the votes of the juries and the public are checked and that there is a verified result. He then tells the hosts that they are “good to go.”

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Before he was named executive supervisor in 2020, Österdahl was executive producer of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013 and 2016, both produced by Sveriges Television (SVT) following Sweden’s victories in 2012 and 2015. He has also produced past versions of Melodifestivalen, Sweden’s televised national final to select the country’s entry for the annual Eurovision competition.

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To find out what to watch for in the 2024 contest airing next week, Billboard talked to Österdahl via Zoom to get a preview of this year’s 68th edition of the popular pan-European event.

How are things in Malmö with just a few days to go before the two semi-finals and grand final of the 2024 contest?

The rehearsals are going really well. All the delegations are here now. I wish the world could see what the atmosphere is like. People are hugging, high-fiving. It’s great to be together again and great to be getting the job done.

What are five things we should be looking out for this year?

The first thing is that for the first time ever, we are finally going to see the Big Five and the host country perform full-length performances on stage [in the semi-finals], which is great. We’ve never done that before, as you know. It will give more entertainment to the viewers and more value to the fans, so I think that’s a great change.

In recent history, the Big Five (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom – the five countries that contribute the most to the production budget) don’t have to compete in the semi-finals to qualify for the grand final, so we would only see snippets in the two semi-finals. Why was this change made?

We’re very much about the even playing field and we have felt from time to time that the Big Five perhaps had a disadvantage. We’ve looked at ways to correct that. The Big Five have been doing much better recently, but still we feel the time is right to make this change now. And it has to do with [the second thing to watch out for].

That is to increase the engagement in this show. For an entertainment show in Europe, we have a lot of young viewers. We’re quadrupling the channel average when it comes to reach and the youth segments, which is fantastic, but the voting system is quite old fashioned with SMS [texting] and televoting and also the fact you had to wait for two hours before you can cast your vote. So we’re trying out this new thing this year where you can vote in the grand final from the very top of the show. If you see something that you like, you can cast your vote, which is something that is more in line with the behavior of young people today, who are used to interacting straightaway with the shows.

We introduced the rest-of-the-world vote last year and we’re increasing the window for that to be 24 hours before the show, so that people in Asia and in South America don’t have to sit up and watch this live on Central European Time. We get votes from 180 countries around the world in the show, so we want to embrace that love for Eurovision in other parts of the world.

How did that rest-of-the-world vote work last year?

Very well. We do a show called the Junior Eurovision Song Contest as well and we’ve had an online voting platform for that. We did a show in Warsaw a couple of years ago during the darkest days of the pandemic, so we couldn’t have the delegations on site. There were pre-recorded performances from the different countries. And then we had a studio in Warsaw where I sat with the presenters and the interval acts and Polish TV did a great job with that.

But when we saw the online voting come in, it was a real eye-opener for me, because there were 12 participating countries as opposed to 40 in Eurovision and it’s a kid show. We saw the votes coming in from 180 countries around the world on this European kids’ show. It was amazing, so I thought, “We need to tap into this.” My expectations are high when it comes to the engagement here.

Does the fact that U.S. viewers can watch live on Peacock greatly increase the number of people watching?

Yes, the engagement from the U.S. is great. The United States is the second biggest ticket buyer [for the live shows]. If you forget about [host country] Sweden, the biggest country of ticket buyers is the U.K. followed by the U.S. Amazing, right? We have ticket buyers from 89 countries coming to Malmö.

And what is the third thing we should watch out for?

Celebration. We have so much to celebrate this year. Sweden has taken the number one position now alongside Ireland with seven wins in history. Loreen is only the second ever female artist to win twice and she and Johnny Logan are the only artists to have won twice, so we’re celebrating that. And of course, it’s 50 years since ABBA won with “Waterloo” and we’re going to celebrate all these things in the show, so that’s another one to look out for.

How exactly are we going to celebrate “Waterloo” and ABBA in the show?

There’s an easy reply to that. Tune into the show and you’ll see.

I didn’t think you were going to give that one away. And the fourth thing to watch out for?

Number four, you should look out for the new hit phenomena. When I started working on Eurovision a long time ago, we used to refer to the classics like Celine Dion and ABBA when it came to who had the international global hits from this show, but that’s not the case anymore. We churn out international hits every year and you’ve probably seen the success of Duncan Laurence, Rosa Linn and Måneskin. That’s a really exciting trend with modern day Eurovision and I think it’s going to continue. It’s a really strong field this year.

Alright, you’ve given us four things to watch out for. What is the fifth?

Number five is that we’re going to have a really exciting climax to this show. The Eurovision Song Contest voting sequence is arguably one of the longest, but also one of the most nail-biting sequences of any show on TV and I think this year we don’t really have one standout favorite. We’ve got a couple who are talked about a lot but not that one standout. So I think it’s going to be exciting this year and I think it’s going to lead to a really exciting climax.

Speaking of the voting sequence, do you track the ratings on different parts of the show, and if so, how does this part of the contest do?

Normally the voting sequence is the most viewed part of the show.

In the past, some years were runaways and we knew who the winner was going to be long before the final vote was cast. Other years we didn’t know until the last moments.

When Loreen first won in Baku [in 2012], everyone knew 35 minutes before the show ended that she was going to win, because you could do the math. But we still had to go around all of these countries and listen to their 12 and 10 and eight points. It seemed this show deserved a better climax, so that’s when we made that change [to report the juries votes first and add in the public voting at the very end] and now it’s all down to the very last delivery of points.

One last question. As an EBU official, how would you describe your interaction with the production team, which is from the host broadcaster.

My job covers a lot of different areas, but when it comes to the production, this is a co-production between 37 different national broadcasters in Europe and beyond and as such it needs a central coordinator or supervisor for the whole thing and that’s me. That means I have final say in all questions, including all of the show content. I work very closely with the producers every year. My main mission is to transfer knowledge and best practice. Of course, this year it’s special, because the knowledge is already here and it’s my old team. We work together really well.

Viewers in the U.S. can watch the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest live on Peacock (and on demand). The first semi-final will air on Tuesday, May 7 at 3 p.m. ET. The second semi-final will air at the same time on Thursday, May 9. The grand final will also air at the same time, on Saturday, May 11.

03 May 2024

Ana del Castillo, Elder Dayán Díaz, Diego Daza and More Vallenato Artists to Listen To

Vallenato, a folkloric genre with roots in the department of Cesar, northern Colombia, has seen many artists take its essence beyond their homeland. Taking as a basis its typical instruments, such as the accordion, the snare drum, and the guacharaca — and adding modern musical arrangements that have given it a contemporary sound — artists such as Carlos Vives and Silvestre Dangond have been ambassadors of this genre at a national and international level. Behind them comes a new wave of artists with the task of continuing to preserve the legacy and expand its boundaries.

As the Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata 2024 takes place in Colombia, we highlight six artists from the new wave of the genre that you should know. Some of them will be performing at the concerts that will take place within the framework of the festival from May 2 to 4 (See more here).

On the men’s side, Elder Dayán Díaz, Diego Daza, Rafa Pérez, and Mono Zabaleta are some of the new names that are making noise in their native Colombia, and we hope that their echo also resonates strongly outside the country.

On the women’s side, few venture into the world of vallenato, and even fewer singers stand out in this genre mostly dominated by men. Therefore, it is gratifying to see artists like Ana del Castillo and Karen Lizarazo making a space for themselves at the table and embarking on an upward trajectory in this folkloric genre.

“It has been very difficult to have a position because sometimes they did not see it well for a woman to play accordion, sing vallenato, or play guacharaca. But over time they have respected that and I think that after me come many very talented women, sweeping through vallenato,” Ana del Castillo tells Billboard Español.

Below, we present six new exponents of vallenato that you should listen to and know, in alphabetical order by name:

03 May 2024

Back in the Game: Wu-Tang Clan & Xbox Working On Action RPG: Report

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Wu-Tang Clan Members Will Be Playable In Upcoming Video Game

Source: Bennett Raglin / Getty / Wu-Tang Clan

Word on the video game streets is that the upcoming Wu-Tang Clan video game is coming along and will feature an animation style from Sony’s animated Spider-Man films.

Spotted on Insider Gaming, two separate reports from WindowsCentral’s Jez Corden and VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb (via Game Mess), more details about “Project Shaolin” are emerging.

“Project Shaolin” first appeared on radars thanks to a 2021 NVIDIA leak that revealed a plethora of codenamed project titles in development.

Both Corden and Grubbs reports share details about the game and what gamers can expect from it.

Per Insider Gaming:

According to both reports, the game is a third-person melee-oriented RPG complete with four-player co-op. The game was also said to heavily involve the Wu-Tang Clan members themselves with the game’s soundtrack and would feature the likes of loot, weapons, and gear from defeated enemies. According to the reports, the game is in development at Brass Lion Entertainment, a new studio formed in 2019 by Manveer Heir.

Insider Gaming can corroborate these original reports and understands that the game is currently in its Alpha stage.

The gameplay evolves around fast-paced melee combat in third-person, with a strong focus on having both music and combat intertwined. Players can choose from four different weapons that all have different and unique playstyles (single swords, dual swords, etc.). It’s understood that the game features a massive catalog of the Wu-Tang Clan’s music, most of which has been re-imagined by producer and DJ Just Blaze for the game.

“Project Shaolin” Will Feature Playable Wu-Tang Clan Members

Insider Gaming also reports that all nine Wu-Tang Clan members will be playable characters and that each character will serve as “the player’s limited-time buff that will give you ultimate moves, increased health, and more.”

The website also says it did see gameplay footage of “Project Shaolin” under the condition that they don’t share it and that the animation is similar to Sony’s animated Spider-Verse films.

As for the Wu-Tang Clan, this is not the first time the iconic rap stable’s involvement in the video game space. The group’s love for martial arts and kung-fu flicks led to the development of PlayStation’s game Wu-Tang Shaolin Style in 1999.

The game didn’t feature the actual Staten Island-based rap group members, but they did lend their voices to characters based on their rap monikers.

The members of the Wu-Tang Clan also appear in other games, such as Def Jam: Vendetta and Def Jam: Fight For New York.

We can’t wait to finally see what Project Shaolin looks like when the first trailer arrives. Maybe Xbox might unveil it at its upcoming Xbox Showcase next month.

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03 May 2024

Morgan Wallen Chair-Throwing Criminal Case Moves Forward After Nashville Court Hearing

A criminal case against Morgan Wallen for allegedly throwing a chair off the roof of a six-story Nashville bar is moving forward after an initial court hearing Friday (May 3).

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Wallen’s attorney Worrick Robinson appeared on behalf of the star before a Nashville judge, who set a new court date for Aug. 15. The hearing did not involve entering a plea, and Wallen had waived his right to appear in person, but Robinson said the star himself would be at the next hearing.

“This is obviously very complicated case and it’s not going to resolve itself without subpoenas and witnesses,” Robinson told the media after the hearing. “The state will subpoena witnesses and we’ll work on the case on our end. Morgan will be here on Aug. 15, and several things can happen in the case. We might have a hearing, we might settle the case or the case might continue. Those are the options.”

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Wallen, who is in the midst of three sold-out headlining shows at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium on his One Night at a Time Tour this weekend, was arrested in Nashville on April 7 in connection to the chair-throwing incident. Two Metro Nashville Police Department officers were reportedly standing on the street below Chief’s on Broadway, owned by country singer Eric Church, when the chair landed approximately three feet from the officers. Police then reportedly spoke with staff and witnesses and viewed security footage to confirm Wallen’s alleged actions.

After the arrest, the country star was charged with three felony counts of reckless endangerment and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.

“I’m not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility,” Wallen said in a statement on April 19. “I have the utmost respect for the officers working every day to keep us all safe. Regarding my tour, there will be no change.”

Speaking with the media after Friday’s hearing, Robinson confirmed that there is surveillance footage of the incident, which he has viewed. He also addressed the issue of the police report noting that Wallen was seen “laughing” after the incident. “As each of you know, you can’t always believe everything you read, and I haven’t seen anything to suggest that at all, so I don’t have any proof that that is correct.”

Asked by media if they have a preference to settle the case, Robinson said, “These cases are always complicated and you just never know what’s going to happen. As an attorney, all you can do is be prepared and that’s what the district attorney’s office will do also. Everybody will prepare as if there’s going to be a hearing, but I think everybody generally wins if you can resolve it in a manner that everybody can live with.”

Robinson also responded to media who asked if Wallen was denying throwing the chair, saying, “I think he has said he takes responsibility for what he’s done … We’re not required to enter a plea of any type. But you’ve read his words and I think you understand them clearly.”

Friday night (May 3), Wallen continues with his second of three sold-out shows at Nissan Stadium as part of his One Night at a Time tour.

Assistance provided by Bill Donahue

03 May 2024

Kany García Drops ‘García’ Album & More New Music Latin

New Music Latin is a compilation of the best new Latin songs and albums recommended by Billboard’s Latin and Billboard Español editors. Check out this week’s picks below.

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Kany García, GARCÍA (5020 Records)

“García,” the title track of Puerto Rican singer songwriter Kany García’s new album, is a letter from García to herself, addressing the young, vulnerable Kany, and the present day star, equally vulnerable (“Tengo miedo de meterme en esta ola de ficción/I’m afraid of losing myself in this wave of fiction”). García has always delighted us with her beautifully written songs and the storytelling in her lyrics, and here, with the attention turned to herself, we fully get why her songwriting works: Even when she tells other people’s stories, it’s always in her voice and words. That essence is in every track in this meticulous, but very commercial album, which includes previously released collabs with the likes of Young Miko (a longtime fan of García’s who met her at last year’s Billboard Latin Music Week), Carin León and Christian Nodal, a nod to García’s natural inquisitiveness as an artist willing to explore other genres. García the album is happy reminder that quality and commercial success can coexist. — LEILA COBO

Piso 21 & Wisin, “La Misión” (Warner Music México)

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In a first collaborative effort, Piso 21 and Wisin unleash “La Misión” (The Mission). Produced by iCON Music, the track is the perfect blend of both worlds: Piso’s melodic pop sound and Wisin’s ferocious reggaetón beats. In “La Misión,” the Colombian group and Puerto Rican rapper are on the ultimate mission of breaking up a relationship (or rather yet, stealing the girl of their dreams from their partner). “They told me life goes by fast/you’re too much to be with someone so basic/I’m not like that, but I got romantic/I hope she doesn’t say no/if he doesn’t take care of her, I will,” they sing in the infectious chorus. — JESSICA ROIZ

Silvestre Dangond & Carlos Vives, “Tú o Yo” (Sony Music Latin)

“Either you sing to her, or I sing to her,” says the chorus of the catchy vallenato pop “Tú o Yo,” in which Colombian stars Silvestre Dangond and Carlos Vives join forces for the first time. The song, co-written by Vives and Dangond, and produced by Andrés Castro, tells the story of two friends who compete for the love of a woman.

In a statement about the release, Dangond expressed his excitement about the collaboration. “Carlos Vives was my idol and he still is,” he says. “I always saw him, I had him as a reference and I feel very happy, I feel that I achieved something that I had inside, which at any moment I knew was going to happen, but I didn’t know when.” The cheerful music video was recorded in Miami, and starring Mexican actress Bárbara De Regil, shows all the strategies that both use against each other to sabotage any effort to conquer the protagonist. — LUISA CALLE

Fonseca, Tropicalia (Sony Music Latin)

Fonseca presents TROPICALIA, an extraordinary production that pays tribute to his tropical roots and influences, which have inspired his career and are also an intricate part of his sound. The 11-track album features collaborations of remarkable artists, including Juan Luis Guerra, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Chucho Valdés, Alex Cuba and Grupo Niche, marking the first and only collaboration that the iconic band has released.

This set features a diverse mix of tropical sounds that represent Latin American music, from the lively sound of a patio vallenato in the track “Canto a la Vida,” to the upbeat merengue rhythm of “Pedacito de Playa,” which was produced entirely in the Dominican Republic with the help of local musicians such as Janina Rosado (of 4:40) on the piano and her husband “Chocolate” on the drums and the Dominican güira. The album also includes “La Terquedad,” a ranchera that narrates heartaches with melancholic acoustic guitars, violins and trumpets accompanied by mariachi. — INGRID FAJARDO

Lasso & Mau y Ricky, “Bilingües” (Universal Music Group México)

Love may not be as universal a language as it is believed. At least that’s what Lasso implies in his new song with Mau y Ricky, “Bilingües.” The pop rock track — the first single from the upcoming album by the Latin Grammy-winning Venezuelan singer and songwriter — talks about the complicated relationship between a man who only speaks Spanish and a woman who speaks only English. “When you tell me I love you, I know that you don’t feel nothing, nothing, nothing/ You tell me I miss you, and you don’t miss me nothing, nothing, nothing/ I don’t know if you’re playing with my heart, or it’s just a bad translation,” goes part of the earworm chorus. In recent days, Lasso published a series of videos on Instagram titled “The worst time I’ve been rejected in my life,” in which he passionately recounted a failed attempt at a bilingual relationship. Hey, at least it left him with the inspiration to write a really lovely song. — SIGAL RATNER-ARIAS

Eladio Carrión, Porque Puedo (Rimas Entertainment)

On his latest EP, Porque Puedo, Eladio Carrión doesn’t just double down on his Latin trap bravado — he fully embodies it, living up to the album’s bold title. After the more mainstream release of Sol María, Carrión returns to the forefront with a display of effortless ingenuity and razor-sharp wordplay across five tracks. From the ominous “Don KBRN Freestyle” to the bilingual prowess of “Códico G,” he flexes his lyrical mastery against menacing beats and riveting hi hat patterns.

However, it’s “Heavyweight” that truly steals the spotlight, as the Humacao rapper unleashes verses about dripping in diamonds and confidence while “smoking heavyweight.” Accompanied by visually grim music video, Carrión exudes laid-back luxury, adorned with his signature rose necklace, against a backdrop of night-vision aesthetics that deepen the EP’s moody atmosphere. The new drop arrived a day prior to his return to the stage at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico on May 2. “As I was home spending time with my family I started to work on music,” Eladio Carrión says in a statement. “It all turned into Porque Puedo, and I thought what perfect timing to give this to my true fans as they get ready to see me at El Choli,” — ISABELA RAYGOZA

Danny Ocean, Reflexa (Atlantic Recording Corp.)

The Venezuelan artist’s music doesn’t sound like anything out there right now, and that’s probably why Danny Ocean is labeling his latest album as pop of the future. The 12-track set, the singer-songwriter’s third studio album, is perhaps Danny’s most personal album yet, but it’s also his most sonically experimental — and yet still manages to sound very much like Danny Ocean.

As he navigates through the life’s most relatable topics — heartbreak, lust, love and the desire to live authentically as yourself — he elevates his signature pop sound in a mishmash with edgier and more in-your-face styles like electro and Middle Eastern influences. Reflexa cements Danny Ocean as an artist who can deliver pop hits without having to rely on lyrics that are trite or borderline cheesy. He’s real, raw and overly honest about life, and a fierce protector of the art he puts out in the world. — GRISELDA FLORES

Listen to more editors’ Latin recommendations in the playlist below: