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23 Feb 2024

Friday Music Guide: New Music From SZA, Selena Gomez, Justin Timberlake and 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, SZA makes her return to “Saturn,” Selena Gomez is living her happily ever after, and Justin Timberlake has one ready for longtime fans. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

SZA, “Saturn” 



First previewed in a commercial that aired during a Grammys ceremony where SZA took home three trophies, new single “Saturn” exists in conversation with the blockbuster R&B formula of her 2022 album SOS while also peering ahead into a daring artist’s unwritten future. SZA spends the song searching for answers, creeping in front of the slower tempo and trying to get ahead of karma: “If there’s a point to being good / Then where’s my reward?” she wonders. Considering the fact that SOS arrived five-and-a-half years after SZA’s previous album, “Saturn” should be treated as a sumptuous gift from an artist who isn’t in the habit of tossing out any old single.

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Selena Gomez, “Love On” 



Selena Gomez has released love songs before, but she’s never sounded quite as giddy as she does on new single “Love On”: around its radio-friendly chorus, the pop star plays a clip of French dialogue, shrugs off steak tartare for a makeout session, and explains, “This doesn’t have to be some sort of mathematical equation / Slip off your jeans, slide in the sheets, screaming ‘yes’ in quotations.” Although listeners will undoubtedly connect the release of “Love On” to Gomez’s budding romance with super-producer Benny Blanco, the song harnesses Gomez’s veteran pop instincts and pushes them into a euphoric new direction.

Justin Timberlake, “Drown”



There is no signature Justin Timberlake sound, considering all of the iterations of the pop star’s career — yet fans of the mid-‘00s rhythmic pop classics that kicked off his solo career should heartily embrace “Drown,” the latest offering from his upcoming album Everything I Thought It Was. Over blinking beats and streamlined synthesizer, Timberlake revels in his hurt and morphs his pain into chewable hooks; the switched-up outro, in which the a drums-heavy deconstruction captures JT’s emotional breakdown, acts as a final nod to those multi-part Futuresex/LoveSounds hits.

TWICE, With YOU-th



It’s lucky number 13 for TWICE, as the best-selling K-pop group has now reached a baker’s dozen worth of mini-albums but has not stopped developing its winning approach. The six songs of With YOU-th roll through a handful of energetic synth-pop productions without ever sounding trite or tired; “One Spark” is an easy highlight, full of shuffling beats and vocal wonder, but don’t sleep on project finale “You Get Me,” with production that stacks higher as the TWICE members express fizzy enchantment.

MGK, “Don’t Let Me Go” 



During his rap ascent and exploration of pop-punk, Machine Gun Kelly always kept his personal trials and tribulations easily identifiable, but new single “Don’t Let Me Go” may be one of the most personal compositions of his career: following a somber piano intro, MGK (who has seemingly formalized his nickname as his official artist name) sings and raps about heartbreak, family abandonment and violence, identity crises and, most crushingly, the loss of a child. Regardless of where you stand with his various sounds and styles, “Don’t Let Me Go” makes for a deeply affecting check-in.

Editor’s Pick: Bleachers, “Me Before You” 



The strongest track yet released from Bleachers’ upcoming self-titled studio album, “Me Before You” whittles down the big-band excitement of Jack Antonoff’s outfit and creates a lush, intimate portrayal of an incomplete life before a partner was found. Multiple voices and instruments Antonoff’s open-hearted ode, with the saxophone blasts that have highlighted recent Bleachers singles turned into wandering thoughts and feelings; soon enough, the song collapses into a warm puddle of guitar, capturing a feeling of exhausted contentment.

23 Feb 2024

Made Them Look! This Trio Gets Every Coach to Turn With Meghan Trainor Cover in ‘The Voice’ Sneak Peek

It looks like the third voice is the charm! On Monday’s (Feb. 26) season 25 premiere of The Voice, Oklahoma vocal trio OK3 got all five (yes, five) coaches to turn their chairs with a sassy cover of Meghan Trainor‘s “Made You Look” — and Billboard has an exclusive sneak peek.

OK3 is made up of Kenna, 22, Sierra, 24, and Courtney, 26, three aspiring singers who live in Oklahoma City and met through their vocal coach. The trio brought their crisp three-part harmonies to Trainor’s 2023 No. 11 Billboard Hot 100 hit and made an instant impact with the coaches, getting veteran coach John Legend (in his ninth season on the singing competition), Reba McEntire (in her second season) and brand-new coaching duo Dan + Shay (in a special dual chair) to turn around within their first few notes.

Chance the Rapper — returning for his second season as a Voice coach — was a little bit harder of a nut to crack, waiting until the end of “Made You Look” to make his move.

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“I grew up arranging songs for groups,” Legend said to woo the trio after they wrapped their performance, noting that he won awards for his a cappella arrangements in college. “If there’s nothing else that I do, I do this. I feel like there’s a lot of space for a big pop girl group right now, and I would love to be your coach.”

Dan + Shay didn’t let the veteran coach intimidate them, with Dan Smyers shooting back: “He’s saying he’s an award-winning arranger for groups. We’re an award-winning group!” His bandmate Shay Mooney, meanwhile, didn’t play it cool, telling the women: “My heart is racing right now, because I want you guys [on our team] so bad. That was my favorite performance so far.”

The coaches weren’t above deploying some gimmicks to get OK3’s attention either. Legend pressed a button and inflated a car-dealership windsock man behind his chair that read “Pick Team Legend.” “John doing that inflatable tube man thing has taken all my spirit away,” Chance laughed. “It was so loud and distracting.” McEntire called the girls her “fellow Okies” and pulled out a Grammy that just happened to be behind her back (one of the three she’s won out of 17 nominations over the years). Chance pointed out that his signature “3” hat is a perfect fit for the group’s moniker, while Dan + Shay got the crowd to hold up alternating “Dan” and “Shay” signs from their seats.

McEntire also pulled out a scepter to announce: “I am the Queen of Country Music. I would love to have you in my kingdom.”

So who do OK3 choose as their coach (or coaches) in the end? We’ll have to wait until The Voice returns for season 25 on Monday night at 8 p.m. ET on NBC or streaming on Peacock to find out. But for now, you watch our exclusive preview clip below.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=OEujOmPBm40&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

23 Feb 2024

Jazz in the Gardens Returns To Miami Gardens, Maxwell, Summer Walker, Babyface & More To Perform

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15th Annual Jazz In The Gardens Music Festival

Source: Johnny Louis / Getty

Jazz In The Gardens (JITG), an annual music festival in the city of Miami Gardens, returns to the Florida city for its 17th year. For this year’s festivities, the weekend will play host to performances from the likes of Maxwell, Summer Walker, Babyface, and a host of local legends.

Jazz In The Gardens kicks off officially on Saturday, March 9 at the Hard Rock Stadium with a power-packed lineup of the previously mentioned Summer Walker, Davido, Jazmine Sullivan, Fantasia, Kirk Franklin, Jaheim, Omarion, Tink, Eric Bellinger, and Pheelz along with a DJ set from the legendary Kid Capri.

On that same night, DJ Nasty 305 will rock the “Welcome To The Crib” seat featuring Miami stars Rick Ross, Trick Daddy, Trina, Ball Greezy, Major 9, Michael Sterling, and dancehall legend, Wayne Wonder.

On Sunday, March 10,  Maxwell, Babyface, Jeezy, and Scarface will take to the stage with Rickey Smiley as the host. From there, DJ Cassidy brings his Pass The Mic Live! event to the Hard Rock Stadium audience with Lil’ Kim, T.I., Too $hort, Uncle Luke, Tamia, Marsha Ambrosius, and October London on the help out.

Jazz In The Gardens is working in partnership with the Black Promoters Collective (BPC) to bring this event to the masses. Along with the music performances, on Friday, March 8, JITG will honor a quartet of police chiefs from neighboring districts via a special luncheon honoring Black women leaders. The honorees are Chief Delma Noel-Pratt of Miami Gardens, Chief Stephanie Daniels of Miami-Dade, Chief Cherise Gause of North Miami, and Chief Harvette Smith of North Miami Beach.

Tickets for this year’s Jazz In The Gardens start at 186.30 for a two-day general admission pass, along with a titanium entry pass listed at $1,500. To get your tickets for one of the hottest festivals of 2024, click here.

To learn more about Jazz In The Gardens and the city of Miami Gardens, click here.

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Photo: Getty

23 Feb 2024

Taylor Swift Sings ‘Karma Is the Guy on the Chiefs’ to Travis Kelce During Eras Tour Show in Sydney

Now that the NFL season is finally over, three-time Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce finally had time in his schedule to attend another Eras Tour show to cheer on Taylor Swift.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end was one of more than 80,000 people Friday (Feb. 23) at Accor Stadium in Sydney, Australia, where he watched from a VIP tent as his superstar girlfriend commanded the stage. Fan videos captured him exchanging friendship bracelets, interacting with the crowd and dancing along to Swift’s three-hour show alongside Katy Perry, Rita Ora and Baz Luhrmann, who were also guests of honor that night.

Toward the end of her performance, Kelce got a special shout-out from the 14-time Grammy winner. While singing “Karma,” Swift once again changed a lyric to say, “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs,” something she first did when the athlete attended her Buenos Aires show in November.

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After the concert wrapped, Kelce waited in the wings for Swift to emerge from backstage, after which she wrapped him in a hug and the couple kissed as lingering fans cheered.

The New Heights podcaster has been with the 14-time Grammy winner in Australia since Wednesday, when his plane touched down in the land down under. On Thursday, the couple visited the Sydney Zoo, where they were spotted holding hands and taking selfies.

The visit follows closely behind the 2024 Super Bowl, which saw Kelce and his Chiefs teammates defeating the San Francisco 49ers and winning the Lombardi trophy for the second year in a row. Swift was there to cheer on No. 87 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and afterward, the pair hit up a raucous afterparty to celebrate.

Friday’s show also found Swift announcing a third edition of her upcoming album The Tortured Poets Department titled “The Albatross,” which features a limited bonus song of the same name. She dropped the news during her nightly surprise song section before bringing out opener Sabrina Carpenter to assist in singing a mashup of “White Horse” and “Coney Island.”

Check out clips of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce in Sydney below.

23 Feb 2024

Lil Jon Says This Was the ‘Hardest Part’ of Putting Together Usher’s 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show

Lil Jon is known for his exuberant nature, but the “Turn Down For What” rapper was uncharacteristically quiet when he sat down on the couch at the Jennifer Hudson Show on Thursday (Feb. 22) to talk about his role in Usher‘s halftime show during Super Bowl LVIII earlier this month.

“Yeah, it’s pretty crazy to be a part of something like that,” he said of his spot joining Ush for a run through their hit 2004 hype-up anthem “Yeah!” during the musical break in the most-watched Super Bowl ever, for which he also served as musical director.

The low-key MC said none of it made him nervous because he turns those butterflies into energy he uses to bring in new fans, though he did cop to the preparation being “a lot of hard work… putting the show together was really hard because it’s Usher’s biggest show of his career.” In addition to Jon, the performance featured cameos from Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Ludacris, Jermaine Dupri and Will.i.am.

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And while he was in charge of shaping the 13-minute flight through Usher’s catalog, Lil Jon said he had to listen to the singer’s suggestions about which songs would make the cut, which was the “hardest part” of the process. “We narrowed it down and then he made changes to the very end,” Jon laughed, noting that, unlike Usher, you won’t find him on roller skates anytime soon.

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Confessions hit “Yeah!,” Jon recounted how he leaked the last song recorded for Usher’s multi-platinum LP — “Burn” was already tapped as the lead single — after talking to producer Jermaine Dupri, who told Jon to “do what you do.” Though Usher’s record company sent out a cease-and-desist to stations playing “Yeah!” at the time, a DJ at New York’s Hot 97, knowing it was a smash, resisted, kept playing it and framed the letter on her wall as a memento.

Elsewhere in the interview, Jon talked about his new Total Meditation album and his renewed focus on guided meditation and prioritizing his mental, and physical, health. “You turn up, but then you gotta turn down!” Jon said.

Watch Lil Jon on Hudson’s show below.



23 Feb 2024

Taylor Swift Announces ‘The Albatross’ Edition of ‘Tortured Poets,’ Duets With Sabrina Carpenter at Eras Concert

The surprises just kept coming at Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour show in Australia Friday (Feb. 23). During the pop star’s first night at Sydney’s Accor Stadium, she unveiled yet another version of her upcoming album The Tortured Poets Department titled “The Albatross” — complete with a limited bonus track of the same name — before bringing out Sabrina Carpenter to help sing a mashup of “White Horse” and “Coney Island.”

Swift began her regularly scheduled surprise song section by playing a 1989 fan-favorite titled “How You Get the Girl” on acoustic guitar. Then, taking a seat at her piano, she surprised the crowd by unveiling details about “The Albatross,” debuting its special edition cover on the big screens behind her.

“I’m really, really proud of this record,” she said as fans screamed with excitement. “It’s good to have options — everyone likes options. I wanted to show you something, if you will direct your attention to the main screen.”

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Shortly afterward, the “Anti-Hero” singer shared the new cover — the back of which reads “Am I allowed to cry?” — on Instagram. The “Albatross” edition marks the third version of Tortured Poets Swift has announced so far, following the album’s original “The Manuscript” layout she unveiled at the 2024 Grammys as well as “The Bolter” package, which the musician revealed during her Eras show in Melbourne Feb. 16.

All three editions of Tortured Poets are available for pre-order, and will arrive April 19.

Immediately afterward, Swift welcomed Carpenter to the stage. The “Feather” musician has served as the “Karma” artist’s opener on the Latin America, Asia and Australia legs of the Eras Tour; however, she was unable to perform her setlist Thursday due to rain delays.

“She heroically sacrificed her show, which I think is a crime against Sydney,” Swift said before Carpenter joined her on the piano bench.

The pair then dove into a mashup of Swift’s Evermore deep cut “Coney Island” and her Fearless single “White Horse,” which the 14-time Grammy winner explained was a favorite of Carpenter’s.

See clips from Swift’s Eras show in Sydney below.

23 Feb 2024

Watch Katy Perry Sing & Dance to ‘Bad Blood’ at Taylor Swift’s Sydney Eras Tour Concert

Take a look — it’s definitely mad love! Katy Perry attended Taylor Swift‘s first show of the Eras Tour in Sydney, Australia, on Friday (Feb. 23) and showed everyone that she’s a Swiftie. In fan-captured videos, the “Dark Horse” singer is spotted singing along and dancing at Accor Stadium to the pop superstar’s hit “Bad Blood.”

In videos posted to TikTok, Perry bops her head to the track and belts out the song’s chorus, as Rita Ora grooves next to her.

The 2015 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 song is widely believed to be about the two women’s feud. Swift has never confirmed that the hit was about the two pop stars’ dispute, but hinted at it during a 2014 Rolling Stone interview, when she said an unnamed female artist poached one of her backup dancers. The “Anti-Hero” singer later said in a 2019 interview that she and the “Firework” artist had set their bad blood aside. “She sent me a really nice note and an olive branch to my tour when it started a while ago,” Swift said at the time. “From that point on, we’ve been on good terms.”

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Proving that point, the American Idol judge — who recently announced that this 22nd season and her seventh will be her last on the singing competition — shared a selfie with Swift on Instagram after the concert and captioned the post, “Got to see an old friend shine tonight.” In the carousel post, Perry also included a selfie video of herself with Ora singing along to “You Belong With Me,” a clip of Swift performing “Bad Blood,” a photo with one of her own fans and more.

Other fan-captured videos also showed Perry receiving a friendship bracelet from another Swiftie.n

Perry and Ora aren’t the only stars who have been spotted at one of Swift’s international Eras Tour concerts. BLACKPINK’s Rosé attended the Feb. 7 show at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, and shared a TikTok of herself singing along to the 10-minute version of “All Too Well.”

Watch videos of Katy Perry singing “Bad Blood” and getting a friendship bracelet below:

23 Feb 2024

Twenty One Pilots Hint at Next Era in Cryptic ‘I Am Clancy’ Video Recap: ‘A New Chapter Begins’

Twenty One Pilots fans woke up to some thrilling news on Thursday morning (Feb. 22), when the band dropped a four-minute Easter egg-packed video teasing the next, and perhaps final, chapter in the story that began with their breakthrough 2015 album Blurryface.

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“Next week, a new chapter begins,” read the caption to the “I Am Clancy” visual that served as a recap for the entire Blurry saga.

“I am trapped,” singer Tyler Joseph says in voiceover over footage from videos that have helped tell the twisted, futureshock tale of the allegorical walled city Dema, the Banditos and the nine iron-fisted bishops that won’t allow the residents to escape. “Stuck in a cycle I’ve never been able to break. I want to believe this is the last time, I don’t know for sure. I’ll start with what I do know.”

Joseph then goes on to relate the story of an escapee from the “circular cement city” of Dema, who has seen some of the expansive surrounding wild, green continent Trench, but who keeps getting caught by the red-robed wraith known as Nico, aka Blurryface. The rest of the twisted tale touches on the nine bishops’ “miraculous power and hijacked religion” as the source of their authority, based on theory of self-destruction as the only path to paradise.

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The lore then gets even knottier, touching on the bishops’ use of a power called “seizing,” which allows them to take control of dead bodies for short periods. It is a power only they have… well, except for the narrator, the escapee, who is an exception to the rule and also has the power. After tricking Nico into taking him outside the walls and escaping once again, he was caught and returned, but not before getting a glimpse of the mythical Banditos outlaws, characters introduced in videos for “Jumpsuit” and “Nico and the Niners” from Trench.

The recitation then turns to 2021’s Scaled and Icy album, whose more mainstream, pop-oriented material is described as the Bishops’ attempt to make the hero more palatable and entertaining, as seen in videos for the singles “Shy Away,” “Choker” and “Saturday.” Long story short, Nico was betrayed, the narrator escaped again and wound up in a new place, the island Voldsoy, where he was given the gift of the same powers the Bishops wield. “I am returning to Trench… I am Clancy,” he says at the end.

It’s a lot, as evidence by one comment on the video, which read, “I’ve been trying to understand this lore for 6 years and you guys really just explained it all in 4 minutes.”

In a 2019 interview with NME, Joseph hinted that the follow-up to 2018’s Trench album — the pop-leaning Scaled and Icy, which had not yet been announced at the time — would continue the sci-fi-like rebel saga. “There’s definitely an end-game. There’s a story. I think I was very specific that there’s a reason why the record ends with [the song] ‘Leave The City’ and the song itself is a kind of cliff-hanger,” he said at the time. “I mean, the whole thing was it’s setting up for what’s next and it’d be silly to not at least resolve what we’ve already started.”

It wouldn’t be 21P without some additional, puzzling clues, which reportedly include the unexplained addition of red strips of tape to the covers of the band’s albums on streaming services, as well as letters sent out to fans from the “Sacred Municipality of Dema” featuring maps, urls and pages labeled “EVIDENCE” and puzzling billboards around the world with the band’s logo.

At press time no additional information was available on the band’s next move.

Check out the “I Am Clancy” video below.

23 Feb 2024

New Book Explores How The Lo-Lifes Crew Created A Global Subculture

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Rack Lo

Source: powerHouse Books / Powerhouse

Brooklyn is still taking it. One of the Lo-Lifes’ founding members has written a new book detailing his life story and how the crew changed fashion forever.

As reported by The Gothamist Rack-Lo is set to has penned his life story in Lo-Life: The Story Of Rack Lo. Born George Billups the New York native co-founded the infamous Lo-Lifes. As the story goes there were two boosting crews in Brooklyn, one from Crown Heights in St. John’s and the other from Brownsville in Marcus Garvey Village. Rack, which is slang for stealing, lived in both areas and seemingly united both factions into one. In 1988 the Lo-Lifes were born.

The collective would specialize in high risk shoplifting missions throughout the city that not only provided them an outlet to make money with reselling but kept them fresh from head to toe. While they didn’t discriminate what stores they pillaged, they quickly gained an affinity for Polo Ralph Lauren due to the brand’s signature color block designs, crests, symbols, and more. So much so the Lo-Lifes became synonymous with the apparel line and would be credited for bringing high fashion to the streets. Over 35 years later there are Lo-Lifes throughout the world that honor the original crew’s tradition of staying fresh but also love and loyalty.

But to hear Rack-Lo tell his life was a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs that included ducking warrants, arrests, rival gang confrontations, bullet wounds and even jail time. Lo-Life: The Story Of Rack Lo will be available April 23.

23 Feb 2024

Limited Edition J. Dilla 50th Birthday Commemorative Varsity Jackets Unveiled

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Give Lyrics x Dilla World jackets

Source: Give Lyrics / Give Lyrics

Give Lyrics, a trailblazer in merging fashion with music culture and lyrics, has created three commemorative varsity, coach, and bomber jackets in celebration of what would have been the 50th Birth Anniversary of legendary producer James “J. Dilla” Yancey. 

Give Lyrics x Dilla World jackets

Source: Give Lyrics / Give Lyrics

The exclusive outerwear embodies Dilla’s groundbreaking musical legacy and timeless influence on music and Hip-Hop culture. 

“We are honored to unveil the Dilla World – J Dilla Limited Edition 50th Birthday Commemorative Jackets, a tribute to one of the most influential producers in hip-hop history,” said Give Lyric’s Founder, April Woodard, in a statement. “J Dilla’s impact on music and culture is immeasurable, and this jacket serves as a celebration of his enduring legacy and artistic brilliance.” 

The Give Lyrics x Dilla World – J Dilla Limited Edition 50th Birthday Commemorative Jackets will be available in extremely limited quantities, making it a must-have for collectors, fans, and aficionados of Hip-Hop culture. Design elements include a purple donut associated with lupus awareness, street signs of the neighborhood where J Dilla produced iconic hit records, the lyric “Turn It Up” and James Yancey Foundation crest also the iconic MPC 3000.

A percentage of sales will support The James Yancey Foundation.

Crafted from premium materials and accents, the flagship offering–the bomber jacket exudes luxury and authenticity. Fulfilled and crafted by fellow emcee Arkmallah “Ockz” Hilliard owner and operator of Embroidery Chef. 

Give Lyrics works to harmonize social giving with artistic expression, creating a world where every purchase resonates with purpose. They strive to empower individuals to make a difference by providing a platform where meaningful merchandise meets impactful causes. 

They share royalties with music artist and support social causes near and dear to their hearts, while providing fans with apparel and accessories that spark conversations moving the culture forward. 

To purchase Give Lyrics x Dilla World  – J Dilla Limited Edition Jackets and to reserve your piece of Hip-Hop history, visit http://www.givelyrics.com.

Give Lyrics x Dilla World jackets

Source: Give Lyrics / Give Lyrics