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12 Apr 2024

Jewel Cops to Kevin Costner Being a ‘Great Person,’ Amid ‘Intense’ Interest in Their Relationship

Fans have been wondering for months whether Jewel and former Yellowstone star Kevin Costner are an item. The singer, 49, and actor, 69, set tongues a wagging when they appeared together at a tennis fundraiser on Necker Island in December, but to date neither has commented publicly on their reported situationship.

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In a new interview with Elle magazine, Jewel, kind of, answered those burning questions, calling the two-time Oscar winner “a great person,” as she reportedly blushed and added, “the public fascination is intense for sure.” And that was it.

Neither star has offered any further insight into whether they are dating — Jewel was previously married to rodeo rider Ty Murray, with whom she has a 12-year-old son, and twice-married Costner’s second wife, Christine Baumgartner, filed for divorce last year after 18 years.

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This week the pair were on opposite coasts, with Costner bringing his passion project western Horizon: An American Saga to the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas, while Jewel made a surprise appearance at Olivia Rodrigo‘s final MSG show in New York on Tuesday to help the “Vampire” singer close out the first leg of her North American GUTS tour.

The pair shared the stage for a performance of Jewel’s signature 1995 hit “You Were Meant For Me,” with Rodrigo gushing over the huge influence Jewel has had on her career. “She is such an incredible songwriter,” Rodrigo said. “When I first started writing my songs, I would listen to her album Pieces of You before I went to bed. She’s incredible and it’s such an honor that she’s here with me tonight.”

12 Apr 2024

Maggie Rose Picks Her 5 Favorite Songs on New Album, ‘No One Gets Out Alive’

On No One Gets Out Alive, singer-songwriter Maggie Rose is sending a message.

“The theme of this record is using this finite amount of time well while we have it,” she says of the recently released project. She was in a reflective mood as she wrote and recorded the dynamic work, having gone through the pandemic, seen some friendships come to their natural conclusion and lost her best friend’s dad to cancer. “All these things that made me feel connected to my community were gone,” she says. 

With its folk-pop-soul, acoustic production and Rose’s expressive, smoky vocals, the album recalls works from Bonnie Raitt, Yola and Dusty Springfield. 

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Rose says she doesn’t necessarily think about what listeners will learn about her from hearing to the album, but instead what they will learn about themselves: “I think I have a really strong belief in myself and what I’m doing,” she says. “[It’s] not as much as I want them to learn about me, but hopefully that they will draw from this.”

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Produced by Ben Tanner, the album guitarist Sadler Vaden and drummer Chad Gamble from Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit, keyboardist Peter Levin (Amanda Shires, Gregg Allman), bassist Zac Cockrell (Alabama Shakes) and keyboardist Kaitlyn Connor and guitarist Kyle Lewis from Rose’s own band. “I believed in this Field of Dreams idea of build it and they will come,” she says, of assembling the players.

Rose, who released her first album in 2009, delivered the completed project to Big Loud Records, which didn’t change a thing, including the sequencing. “I am not by any means jaded, but it wasn’t what I was expecting a label on Music Row to deliver for me and fully embrace what I was doing,” she says. “I think that just is a testament to Big Loud and how progressive and artist forward they are. But all the tentativeness that I had just from having operated around Music Row for so long, that all went away just because I felt like I was really understood. This is the partnership I’ve been waiting for.”

Rose has played the Grand Ole Opry 106 times, and if mainstream country music gatekeepers have yet to embrace her, she feels totally accepted on that vaunted stage. “I think it speaks to all the different iterations of what the Nashville music scene is,” she says. “The fact that the Grand Ole Opry has been around for almost 100 years is probably due to the fact that they are malleable and they’re trying to adapt, and also be progressive and cast a little bit of a wider net than maybe our friends at country radio are doing. I don’t know that my music is like a bullseye for what you would typically expect to hear at the Grand Ole Opry, but I feel very much part of a community that I want to see go on for another 100 years.”

Below, Rose picks her five favorite tracks from the new album — though she admits her top selections can change on any given day — with explanations in her own words for each pick.

“No One Gets Out Alive”

The title by itself: If you just hear ‘No one gets out alive,’ it sounds really ominous and dark. When you hear the song in its entirety, it’s anything but. It’s really hopeful. I’d had this title just kind of rolling around in my head. I knew the day that I wrote this song with Sunny Sweeney and Natalie Hemby, that most likely I would end up naming the album that — just because I’d already written some other songs that were about moving on with only what you need and taking advantage of the time that you have. It was me letting go of some emotions that were holding me back creatively and keeping me from living to my full potential and extracting all the joy I can from what we’re doing.

I wanted this really dramatic ending, and I even got kind of scared of it. I said to Ben Tanner, “People are going to think I’m being too dramatic or over the top with this.” And he’s like, “You deserve to step into that theater and drama. That’s what the song is about.” There’s urgency. It’s demanding people live in the present right now. 

“Mad Love” (feat. John Paul White)

“Mad Love” and “No One Gets Out Alive” are a little like twin songs. Every song has its little counterpart that it belongs with. “Mad Love” has that same kind of cinematic, Tarantino soundtrack feel as “Alive.” It was almost like I was trying to manifest this character that was a little braver than I was at the time. I’m like, this is Beatrix Kiddo in Kill Bill and pretending to step into this role. And maybe if I write this story and create this person in this persona, I’ll able to fulfill it and live up to it. I love performing that song. It just gives me like [Lee] Hazelwood/Nancy Sinatra, spaghetti western vibes. And it’s also goes with the theme of relationships running their course, and of owning a little bit of that anger and moving on from it.

I love John Paul White. He’s got the haunting melody/ harmony thing down. I was like, “What better voice than John Paul’s to have on a song like ‘Mad Love’?” And I didn’t even tell him what parts to sing. He’s just doing his own thing. It truly just adds this ghostly beauty to the song that I love. 

“Fake Flowers”

I wrote it with Chuck Harmony and Claude Kelly, who have become really good friends of mine. It was maybe one of the first songs that I had written when I started to realize there’s an album that’s starting to galvanize here. Chuck and Claude are  known for writing these huge, diva pop melodies, and have written for Christina Aguilera, Miley Cyrus, Whitney Houston and Britney Spears. We probably made nine efforts, just the three of us, for songs to be contenders for this record and “Fake Flowers” was one of them.

I felt like I owned my anger, which is not necessarily something women are always encouraged to do. It’s one that I really look forward to during the live show, because it’s so dynamic and it has [these] kind of spooky, intimate verses and then this explosive Motown chorus, where it kind of mimics raging out. I love when music and the sentiment of a song can really marry together so well like that. I have a fondness in thinking about writing that with them and knowing that the three of us really had something special.

“Too Young”

The song I wrote with Natalie Hemby is about ageism. Natalie and I both were drawing from our similar experiences of moving to Nashville when we were teenagers. Knowing that we were talented, knowing that we have good people or established people around us and things going for us, but we were kind of undermined in thinking that we didn’t know what was best for ourselves and our careers. We wrote the song based on that. Knowing that I’ve been in Nashville for 16 years and was feeling like, “OK, I’m 35 and making another record.”  

I wanted to include at the end that you’re never too old to chase your dreams. No one is. I think ageism is a really tough subject to write about, but I feel like Natalie and I did a good job. And it was such an intimate day of us laughing and crying and going down memory lane of different things that we had experienced throughout our careers. There was a lot of beauty to it, too, and anticipation for what’s to come.

We have to push against that stigma within our industry. It’s ridiculous. I love hearing from artists who have lived experiences and who can draw from wisdom. I feel more rooted in what I have to say now than I ever have.

“Under the Sun”

I love the groove of it. It has this fun Fleetwood Mac feel, but the lyrics are this really strong juxtaposition of sadness and the idea that we’ve exhausted every effort to reconcile and it’s not going to happen. There’s a little sarcasm to it as well: I guess there’s nothing out there for us that will bring us back together. I just like when you are grooving along to a song and you think it’s like this happy bop and it reveals itself to you as “Oh, this is actually pretty introspective and kind of sad.” It’s one that I really look forward to playing live. The production’s kind of fun and it adds a cool element to collection of songs that makes it really well rounded.

12 Apr 2024

New ‘Bonfire’ Playlist on Amazon Music Highlights Zach Bryan, Kacey Musgraves, Noah Kahan & More ‘Storytellers’

As introspective, guitar-based songs from artists including Noah Kahan, Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves continue proliferating streaming consumption and music charts, Amazon Music aims to capture this cultural surge with its newly launched playlist Bonfire, which started globally on Friday (April 12).

The playlist will launch with more than 50 songs, focusing more on mood than genre and capturing a cross-section of artists such as Mumford & Sons, Bryan, Dylan Gossett, Boygenius, Kahan, Musgraves, Lizzy McAlpine and more.

“This is a huge movement,” Emily Cohen, country programming lead for Amazon Music, tells Billboard. “We’ve seen storytellers bubble up and connect with our listeners, artists like Zach Bryan and Hozier. For us, we see what customers are into and double down on what they love. We felt it needed to be in one place where people could listen to these artists together. It’s creating a true collection of ‘Bonfire’ songs. Artists don’t want to be put in a box or be defined, so it’s an amalgamation of country, alternative and indie-folk that is bubbling up.”

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Among the songs initially part of the playlist are Bryan’s “Something in the Orange,” Kahan’s “Stick Season,” Musgraves’ “Deeper Well,” Hozier’s “Too Sweet,” The Red Clay Strays’ “Wondering Why,” Lord Huron’s “The Night We Met,” Black Pumas’ “More Than a Love Song,” and the Joy Oladokun/Chris Stapleton collaboration “Sweet Symphony.”

“Listening to this, it is elemental and outdoorsy in its vibe,” Cohen says. “They are all sonically connected. I think a unique thread through all of these artists is they are authentic. You know who they are through their songwriting and fans react to that.”

The playlist is highlighted by Big Loud Records artist Charles Wesley Godwin’s new Amazon Music Original cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. Godwin released his latest album, Family Ties, last year.

Charles Wesley Godwin, bonfire playlist, Amazon Music

Amazon Music

“I believe Gordon to have been one of the greatest songwriters of our time and felt this opportunity with Amazon Music was perfect to shine a light on one of his most popular songs a little over 50 years after its original release date,” Godwin said via a statement. “Hopefully, through this version that me and the guys recorded, a new generation of music listeners can be introduced to Gordon’s music and become fans of his themselves.”

Godwin is set to debut his rendition of the song when he performs at the annual Stagecoach Festival on Sunday, April 28. Music fans can watch the performance as the festival will be livestreamed on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch and Prime Video. The Morgantown, West Virginia, native will open shows for Luke Combs’ stadium tour in 2024. In addition to Stagecoach, Godwin will perform at festivals including Bourbon and Beyond, as well as Bonnaroo.

“He’s an incredible songwriter,” Cohen says. “He’s such a powerhouse. He’s becoming his own version of Bruce Springsteen onstage, rock and country—he’s an embodiment of what we’re trying to achieve with this playlist.”

“It’s such an honor to be included in a playlist like this with so many amazing artists,” Godwin added in a statement. “Keeping company like this is all I ever could have wished for when I set out on this path of music. ‘bonfire’ is so fitting for those special moments in life when we’re enjoying the company of our friends and family.”

12 Apr 2024

Bad Bunny Electrifies NYC: 5 Standout Moments from His Most Wanted Tour

On Thursday night (April 11), the Barclays Center in New York City was electrified by the presence of Bad Bunny. The arena, filled to its 19,000-person capacity, buzzed with anticipation as the Puerto Rican superstar kicked off the first show of his three-night stint in the city.

“New York has been very important in my career, where dreams come true,” Benito told his fans in his native Spanish during the performance. “Being on the tour feels really amazing, going to each place and seeing it, all the cities, but New York, it’s something else. It feels more amazing than usual. Seeing all those PR and DR flags makes it even more special. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being here, it means a lot to me.”

Bad Bunny — who wore Prada sunglasses, a velour suit, and a gold cross necklace — delivered a dynamic performance that was an amalgamation of music and spectacle. It included a grand orchestra, an equestrian entrance, a surprise appearance by Bryant Myers to perform “Seda,” a jigsaw-like stage that transformed into the Brooklyn Bridge, and, of course, a repertoire of his biggest hits. (Here’s the complete setlist of the tour, which slightly changed to add “Amorfoda” and “Tití Me Preguntó.”)

This was part of his Most Wanted Tour — in support of his Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana album — which kicked off on Feb. 21 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Live Nation-promoted tour is halfway through its schedule, with forthcoming performances in cities including Austin, Texas (Apr. 26-27), Atlanta, Ga. (May 14-15), and Miami, Fla. (May 24-26). See the full dates here.

According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour has already been a commercial success, grossing $84.2M and selling 282K tickets over its first 18 shows. It has consistently sold out venues, demonstrating Bad Bunny’s continued widespread appeal.

Here are five standout moments from the first night of Bad Bunny’s Most Wanted Tour at the Barclays Center:

12 Apr 2024

Travis Kelce Dances to Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’ During ‘New Heights’ Podcast Taping in Cincinnati

Jason and Travis Kelce returned to their old college stomping grounds on Thursday (April 11) when the NFL legend brothers packed the University of Cincinnati’s Fifth Third Arena for a taping of their “New Heights” podcast in front of a rabid audience of college kids and football fans.

And while they had some A-list guests and played some fun games, the clip that instantly went viral was, of course, Travis, 34, dancing along to girlfriend Taylor Swift‘s 2014 smash “Shake It Off” on stage. The precious moment was uploaded to TikTok by a fan, who grabbed video of Travis doing the “Shake It” shimmy along to a marching band version of the song, complete with the appropriate hand gestures. A crowd member shouts the song title, with Travis confirming it and saying “that’s one of my favorites.”

The Super Bowl champ siblings — Eagles center Jason retired earlier this year — both played college ball for UC and their return to Cincinnati was huge news in the city for the past week. Their guests for the taping were Queen City royalty, including Bengals QB Joe Burrow, who has an ongoing, fierce rivalry with Travis’ Kansas City Chiefs. Burrow, who appeared along with teammate offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr., needled Kelce a bit, telling him that the Bengals were custom built to beat KC.

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Proud mom Donna Kelce was also on hand, with the pod’s X account teasing beforehand, “Mama Kelce wouldn’t miss her boys’ first arena show,” along with a pic of Donna holding a giant clutch of mylar balloons featuring the KC and Eagles jerseys as well as a heart-shaped one that read “World’s Best Mom.” Due to torrential spring rains on Wednesday and Thursday, the podcast was forced to move indoors from the planned site at nearby Nippert Stadium, where the Ohio native brothers suited up for the Bearcat during college.

During the appearance, both men also finally picked up their diplomas.

Check out some pics from the event below.

12 Apr 2024

Ryan Gosling Initially Said ‘100% No’ to ‘I’m Just Ken’ Oscars Performance: ‘There’s a Lot of Ways That Could Go Wrong’

Ryan Gosling absolutely crushed it as this year’s Academy Awards. The triple-threat superstar’s “I’m Just Ken” performance was a song-and-dance tour de force… which almost didn’t happen. On Thursday night (April 11) Gosling revealed to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that if he’d had his way the Barbie showstopper would have died in the pitch phase.

“The level of pressure on there… when the Oscars asked you to perform, they call you and they go, ‘Would you want to do ‘I’m Just Ken?” Do you immediately go, ‘Yeah, I have to do this!’ Or no?”

“100% no,” Gosling fired back. “There’s a lot of ways that can go wrong.” The always enthusiastic Fallon then proceeded to gush about how amazing the performance was, rattling off the guests — Slash, Mark Ronson — and then reading some of the glowing reviews calling it one of the best Oscar’s spots in years.

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Gosling told Fallon that his two daughters, 7 and 9, with partner Eva Mendes came to the rehearsals for the Oscars and their non-plussed take was: “Dad’s Kenning again.” In fact, he said, it was his kids’ interest in Barbie and complete disinterest in Ken that convinced him to do the movie. “It’s really been a team effort and they were on the film and they came to set when I filmed the number,” Gosling said. “But it’s also been like a lot of this has no context for them. It’s just like a lot of fake tan stains around the house.”

So, he invited them to the Oscars dress rehearsal to give them some context for what had been going on with the movie, since they’d never been to a big concert or one of his events before. “But they know all the choreography better than I do and the songs,” he said, demonstrating how his girls would show him the proper moves backstage between shots.

Gosling, who is hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend for the third time — with musical guest Chris Stapleton — also revealed that Barbie director Greta Gerwig realized he was her Ken thanks to one of his most absurd previous SNL bits on “Weekend Update.”

The 2017 sketch was called “Guy Who Just Joined Soho House,” and the line that proved he had the right Kenergy for the job was “Aye, aye, Capt. Blackout reporting for booty!” “Who would have thought that Greta Gerwig was watching that going like, ‘That’s my Ken,’” Gosling laughed.

Gosling stars in the big screen reboot of 1980s stunt man TV series The Fall Guy, due in theaters on May 3.

Watch Gosling on The Tonight Show below.

12 Apr 2024

Inside the Harry Styles-Backed Venue Set to Be the U.K.’s Biggest and Most Sustainable Arena

LONDON — From New Order to The Smiths, Oasis to The 1975, Buzzcocks to Take That, the list of famous music acts that have come out of Manchester, England, is long and illustrious. This month, another significant chapter in the northern U.K. city’s celebrated music scene begins with the opening of the 23,500-capacity Co-op Live — the United Kingdom’s biggest and most sustainable entertainment arena.  

“We want this venue to be recognized as the next generation in arena facilities that sets the benchmark moving forward. The noise about this building, once it has opened, I think will reverberate a long way,” says GM Gary Roden as he sits in a temporary temporary office trailer next to the venue, shortly after taking Billboard on a behind-the-scenes tour. 

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Due to open its doors April 23 with the first of two consecutive shows by British comedian Peter Kay, Co-op Live is the first major project outside the United States from Oak View Group (OVG), the Denver-headquartered global management and development giant co-founded in 2015 by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff, which operates more than 400 buildings globally.

In the last 16 months, OVG has built and opened seven new arenas, including the Climate Change Arena in Seattle, UBS Arena in New York and Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, Calif. Arenas are also under development in Brazil, Nigeria, Canada and Wales. OVG COO Francesca Bodie (who is Leiweke’s daughter) says that starting the company’s international expansion in the United Kingdom was a “natural and deliberate step” to take due to the country’s status as “one of the greatest cultural destinations in the world.”

Bodie tells Billboard that Manchester was picked because of its “phenomenal musical heritage and community,” as well as OVG finding the “perfect” location to build a new facility in the city’s Eastlands district, next to Etihad Stadium — the 53,400-capacity home ground of Premier League and UEFA Champions League holder Manchester City football club. “We have built a great foundation in the U.S. and are now focused on projects further afield where we can deliver state-of-the-art venues in places that are in desperate need of something new,” she says. 

Manchester City’s parent company, the City Football Group (which is majority-owned by Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), is an equal joint-venture partner and investor with OVG in Co-op Live, which cost £365 million ($462 million) to build and was designed by Populous, the global design firm behind the Madison Square Garden-owned Las Vegas’ Sphere. Construction was handled by local firm BAM Construction, while the naming rights were awarded to Manchester-based Co-op Group in a 15-year sponsorship deal reported to be worth just under £100 million ($127 million). 

Also listed among Co-op Live’s investors is multi-Grammy-winning pop star Harry Styles, who grew up in the small Cheshire village of Holmes Chapel, around 30 miles outside of Manchester, and advised on aspects of the venue’s design. 

“To have an artist of that scale investing in our building and be advising us along the way is a very fortunate position to be in,” says Roden. “Tim Leiweke and his team spoke to him at the start of the process about what does an artist need from a building. ‘What matters to you?’ And quite rightly, what artists care about most is their fans and the fan experience.” 

Co-Op Live Manchester England

Rendering of your view if you have tickets behind stage left.

Courtesy of Oak View Group

To that end, every aspect of Co-op Live has been designed with the audience and performer in mind, says OVG. That means a complete advertising blackout inside its “immersive bowl” interior during shows, comfortable tiered seating that OVG says brings fans 23 meters (75 feet) closer to the stage than arenas of a similar size (complete with beverage holders on every seat), first-class acoustic and audio-visual technology and the largest floor space of any U.K. indoor venue (30,677 square feet in standard-end stage mode and 35,520 square feet when center stage is in the round), capable of holding up to 9,200 people. 

The venue also boasts 32 bars and restaurants, including multiple luxury VIP lounges and premium dining options, as well as its own private nightclub. The first thing that general admission ticket holders will see upon entering Co-op Live is “The Street” — a huge indoor food and drinks market with a bar that is 22 meters long (72 feet) that has been designed as the “heartbeat” of the building. 

“Everything has been built around this idea of: ‘How do we give the fan the best experience they’ve ever had coming to an indoor arena?’ ” says Roden. He confidently states that the legacy issues for many music fans visiting arena-size venues “where you find your seat, have a terrible warm beer, eat a burger that tastes like cardboard and queue for 30 minutes for the toilet” won’t apply at Co-op Live. 

Sustainability is another key consideration in the building’s design, with Co-op Live set to be the United Kingdom’s first and only 100% electric arena, powered by a combination of renewably sourced electricity and a football pitch-size field of on-site solar panels. Meanwhile, the venue’s rectangular flat roof will harvest Manchester’s famous abundance of rainfall, which will then be used to water its plants and flush its toilets.

Air-source heat pumps, reuseable cups, food sourced from nearby vendors and a pledge of zero waste to landfill are among the other environmental initiatives OVG hopes will make Co-op Live the most sustainable arena in Europe. That commitment extends beyond the building’s walls with a neighboring mile-long pedestrian path upgraded with lighting installations and busking spots for musicians to encourage local visitors to walk to the venue rather than drive. Surrounding Co-op Live, a “biodiversity ring” of lush greenery has been planted to provide a natural habitat for wildlife and attract bees. 

Co-Op Live Manchester England

“The Street” — an indoor food and drink market with a long (72 feet) bar.

Courtesy of Oak View Group

OVG says Co-op Live will bring in between 750,000 and 1 million new ticket sales each year, creating more than 1,000 jobs and contributing £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) to the local economy over the next 20 years. But not everyone is happy about its arrival. 

During the planning process, ASM Global, owners of Manchester’s existing AO Arena — a busy venue located in the heart of the city, which opened in 1995 and regularly features in Billboard‘s year-end Top 10 Venues list, grossing $76.1 million in 2023 from 102 shows, according to Billboard Boxscore —  strongly opposed OVG’s plans to build the rival facility. It argued that Greater Manchester, which has a 2.8 million population across the city and its surrounding towns and boroughs, is not big enough to support two separate 20,000-plus-size arenas.

In the past year, AO Arena has undergone a major £50 million ($63 million) upgrade, increasing its overall capacity from 21,000 to 23,000, expanding its standing floor space by 100% and opening new VIP bars and restaurants, ahead of Co-op Live’s opening. (The United Kingdom’s leading venue is London’s 20,000-capacity The O2, which took in $219.5 million last year, making it the world’s second-highest-grossing arena behind Madison Square Garden, according to Billboard Boxscore figures).

“We wouldn’t have put a spade in the ground if we didn’t believe the Manchester market could take two arenas,” says Roden. “The goal is not for us to bring in the same number of shows that were already coming to Manchester. Our goal is to bring in more shows to the city and have international artists stay here longer.”

Bookings indicate the strategy is working with multiple show residencies at Co-op Live scheduled for the Eagles (five nights), Take That (seven nights), Liam Gallagher (four nights), Olivia Rodrigo (two nights) and Nicki Minaj (two nights) in 2024. Other upcoming shows include Kid Cudi, Slipknot, The Black Keys, Eric Clapton, Pet Shop Boys, Jonas Brothers, Pearl Jam, Justin Timberlake, Noah Kahan and Megan Thee Stallion. In November, MTV’s Europe Music Awards (EMAs) will be held at the venue, marking the first time the event has been held in Manchester. 

“The moment when we hear that first chord come out from an amp and we hear the fans reacting to that is going to be something to behold and I can’t wait for people to experience it,” says Roden, looking ahead to opening week. “We feel we’ve created a world class facility that showcases Manchester not only to the U.K. and European market but globally as well.”  

“In many ways, Co-op Live embodies what OVG is all about,” adds Bodie. “Creating venues that set new industry standards and develop amazing experiences for fans and artists alike.”

12 Apr 2024

Future & Metro Boomin’s ‘We Still Don’t Trust You’ Album: All 25 Tracks Ranked

Young Metro and Pluto go for a two-peat with help from J. Cole, A$AP Rocky and more.

Metro Boomin & Future

Metro Boomin & Future

Matt Adam

Metro Boomin and Future are spinning the block for another round as the Atlanta duo has unleashed their We Still Don’t Trust You album three weeks after their first offering.

Young Metro and Pluto look to keep their winning streaks alive with the second serving arriving on Friday (April 12) and the LP includes two discs with 25 new tracks in total. Guest appearances are made by The Weeknd, J. Cole, A$AP Rocky and more.

The rapper-producer combination made plenty of noise with We Don’t Trust You last month, which topped the Billboard 200 with 251,000 total album-equivalent units in the week ending March 28, per Luminate.

“ALL PURELY OFF STREAMS NO PHYSICALS NO BUNDLES JUST GREAT MUSIC AND EMBRACE FROM YOU ALL!! THANK YOU!!!! #WETRUSTYOU #WEDONTTRUSTTHEM,” Metro wrote on X after the project reached No. 1.

Kendrick Lamar dropped an atomic bomb on the rap game with his guest appearance on “Like That” where he took aim at J. Cole and Drake. The fiery track soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned the most streams of any song in a week’s span in over a year.  

“Like That” ended up drawing 59.6 million streams and 5.6 million radio airplay audience impressions and sold 9,000 in the week ending March 28, according to Luminate.

“HIP HOP IS ALIVE AND WELL #WEDONTTRUSTYOU,” Metro wrote on social media after learning “Like That” had notched him his first No. 1 hit as a billed artist. (He reached the summit as a co-producer and co-writer on Migos’ “Bad & Boujee” and The Weeknd’s “Heartless”).

Future has laid low in the time since but the last few weeks have been turbulent for Metro. The super producer had his social media accounts hacked but fortunately, the St. Louis native got control of them once again after scammers briefly stole his identity at the top of April.

Metro and Future take out the Tesla Cyber truck for a victory lap with We Still Don’t Trust You. Dig into the album and our rankings of all 25 tracks filling the LP below.

12 Apr 2024

Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ Rides to Second Week at No. 1 In Australia

Beyoncé ties-up Australia’s chart for a second week with Cowboy Carter (Columbia/Sony), while Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” makes its six weeks atop the national singles survey.

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See latest videos, charts and news

The top debut on the latest ARIA Albums Chart belongs to U.S. rapper J.Cole, as his surprise-release mixtape Might Delete Later (Interscope/Universal) bows at No. 2. It’s the followup to 2021’s The Off-Season, which peaked No. 3, and 2018’s KOD, which went to No. 1 on the ARIA Chart.

The podium is completed by Ariana Grande’s former leader Eternal Sunshine (Universal), down 2-3 in its fifth week on the survey.

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Beloved Australian singer and songwriter Missy Higgins returns to the top 10 with her debut The Sound Of White (Eleven: A Music Company/Universal), boosted by the release of a 20th anniversary edition.

Originally issued in 2004, The Sound Of White reigned over the chart for seven non-consecutive weeks and went on to win album of the year at the 2005 ARIA Awards. Her next two LPs, 2007’s On A Clear Night and 2012’s The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle, also reached the chart zenith.

The Sound Of White returns at No. 6 on the ARIA Albums Chart, published Friday, April 12, ahead of the release this September of a new album, The Second Act, which she has described as a “kind of sequel” to her debut.

Also making an impact on the latest chart is American singer and songwriter Conan Gray’s Found Heaven (Universal) at No. 10; U.S. retro psychedelic-lounge trio Khruangbin’s A La Sala (Dead Oceans/RKT), new at No. 14; and Melbourne metalcore group Alpha Wolf’s Half Living Things (CVA/Sony), which opens its account at No. 19.

Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” (Warner Records) locks up top spot again, while the collection from which it is lifted, Fireworks & Rollerblades, arrives at No. 17 on the albums survey. Also, new release “Slow It Down” speeds 35-24 on the ARIA Singles Chart. Boone will visit Australia and New Zealand this September for a brief tour, produced by Frontier Touring, in support of his debut set.

Meanwhile, Irish singer and songwriter Hozier‘s “Too Sweet” (Columbia/Sony) improves 8-2, matching the peak of his signature song “Take Me To Church,” from 2013.

Finally, British-Cypriot producer Artemas is on the rise, as his U.K. hit “I Like The Way You Kiss Me” (10K/ADA) lifts 7-3 on the ARIA Chart, while his previous single “If U Think I’m Pretty” gains 64-37.

12 Apr 2024

Friday Music Guide: New Music From Future & Metro Boomin, Dua Lipa, Sabrina Carpenter & More

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

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This week, Dua Lipa sees through your deception, Sabrina Carpenter keeps you up all night, and of course, Future and Metro Boomin remain doubtful about your reliability. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Future & Metro Boomin, We Still Don’t Trust You



If you thought Future & Metro might be mostly phoning in their sequel effort to their chart-topping We Don’t Trust You from three weeks ago, that 25-song tracklist — 18 for the proper album and a seven-track extra disc — should make it pretty clear that this isn’t just spare bonus material. Besides, the leadoff title cut finds rapper and producer right away in new pulsing dancefloor territory, led by an uncredited appearance by The Weeknd, which sets the tone for the strobelit sonics for much of the project. But of course, folks will mostly be talking about the appearances on this set from J. Cole (“Red Leather”), who does not really seem to be addressing any of the recent “Big 3” feuding, and A$AP Rocky (“Show of Hands”), who appears to be taking shots — possibly at Drake? — via his current romantic partner: “N—as swear they bitch the baddest, I just bagged the worst one… I smash before you birthed son, Flacko hit it first son.”

Dua Lipa, “Illusion”



Following the top 40 Billboard Hot 100 hits “Houdini” and “Training Season,” pop superstar Dua Lipa is back with the third taste of her upcoming Radical Optimism set, “Illusion.” Co-written with regular collaborator Caroline Ailin, singer-songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr., PC Music soundsmith Danny L Harle and psych-pop fixture Kevin Parker — the latter two of whom also co-produced — Lipa sings of learning to “take my rose-colored glasses of” when dealing with a potential new love with no shortage of red flags. The track finds her back in her disco-pop sweet spot, and with its repeated “dance all night” refrain should find its way to plenty of radio and club airplay in no time.

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Sabrina Carpenter, “Espresso”



Speaking of disco-pop, if you prefer your dancefloor jams a little on the laid-back side — more “Levitating” than “Physical,” perhaps — Sabrina Carpenter has you covered with her new piping hot “Espresso.” The alluring new single, co-written with Grammy nominee Amy Allen and Carpenter’s “Nonsense” collaborators Steph Jones and writer/producer Julian Bunetta, features Carpenter positing herself as the caffeinated beverage keeping boys’ thoughts’ racing and sleepless: “That’s that me espresso.” Who’s to say what coffee puns she’ll end up ad libbing in the outro to this one during future live performances?

Lil Nas X, “Right There”

“Been hoarding music for years smh i hate my relationship with fear of my songs not doing well and perception,” Lil Nas X wrote on Instagram in March. “i wish i could just release music and not give af.” The rapper seems to be walking the walk now by dropping his new “Right There” on SoundCloud earlier this week, thought to be a track from his upcoming Nasarati 2 mixtape. With a bombastic beat built around an angelic backing vocal loop, the song sounds absolutely enormous as LNX mixes themes of sex, drugs and religion in his verses: “Montero just popped that Perc/ This feel like God in church/ This scripture a Bible verse/ Buss it open and make it twerk.”

Maggie Rogers, Don’t Forget Me



Acclaimed singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers might not be likely to end up with the most buzzed-about release of the week since Future & Metro entered the picture, but Don’t Forget Me should nonetheless delight fans of her sparkling, impassioned folky alt-pop. Highlights of the songs not already released from her 10-track third official LP include the Pat Benatar-worthy ’80s pop-rock blast “Drunk” and the gently-but-firmly shuffling acoustic kiss-off “On & On & On.”

PartyNextDoor, “Lose My Mind”



PartyNextDoor fans who want to hear the late-night singer-songwriter at his most carnal and unfiltered were no doubt encouraged by the recently released cover image for his upcoming PartyNextDoor 4 album — a naked model, shot from behind — and will probably only be further intrigued by “Lose My Mind” his hedonistic latest release from the project. “F–kin’ two b—hes at the same time/ Couldn’t make me choose if it depended on my life” he sings in the first verse, and it only gets more libidinous from there — culminating in a sample from DMX’s “Party Up (Up in Here),” which recontextualizes that song’s classic raging hook as a statement of unbridled lust and sexual abandon.