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18 Jul 2023

JC Chasez Talks Partnering With Meow Mix & Joining a Cat Boy Band | Billboard News

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JC Chasez opens up about working with Meow Mix and joining their Cat Boy Band!

Shop Meow Mix here: https://amzn.to/475GZ6a

To learn more about this story: https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/jc-chasez-meow-mix-interview-nsync-musical-theater-1235373359/

JC Chasez:
I’ve never in a million years thought I would be in this situation, but when this whole thing came about, they’re doing this whole new campaign and it’s based around the ’90s. And they’re putting together their own cat boy band. So when they were kind of looking for references, that’s when I got involved. And as you can see, I like cats a bit. The song is iconic, and they do a little remix on it because they’re remixing the food as well. It’s been fun to kind of be a part of something like that.

Tetris Kelly:
Wait, wait, wait, wait… so you’re singing with a cat boy band?

JC Chasez:
Well, I don’t know how they’re gonna cut it together. I will say I’ve definitely sung along. I’ve done my share of singing along to this thing.

Watch the full clip above!

18 Jul 2023

CMA Fest 2023: How to Watch the Star-Studded TV Special Online

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Summer’s hottest country hitmakers will take centerstage as CMA Fest returns to ABC on Wednesday (July 19). Dierks Bentley and Elle King will return as hosts for the primetime special alongside Lainey Wilson. This years star-studded lineup of performers includes Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Miranda Lambert, Avril Lavigne, Little Big Town, Ashley McBryde, Reba McEntire and Tim McGraw.

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In addition to hosting, King, Bentley and Wilson are all expected to take the stage for their own performance.

Additional performers include Alabama, Leon Bridges, Dan + Shay, Jordan Davis, Vince Gill, HARDY, Tyler Hubbard, Cody Johnson, Jo Dee Messina, Old Dominion, Jon Pardi, Carly Pearce, Darius Rucker, Tanya Tucker and Keith Urban.

The TV special, featuring a night of epic collaborations, was filmed during the milestone 50th CMA Fest in Nashville this past June. Keep reading for ways to watch and stream the CMA Fest TV special online.

How to Watch CMA Fest Online

CMA Fest 2023 is set to air on ABC on July 19 at 8 p.m. ET and will stream on Hulu the following day. Country music fans who don’t have cable may be able to watch it through an antenna to access local channels. You can join Hulu for free for the first month to stream CMA Fest and more.

Hulu starts at just $7.99/month for the basic, ad-supported plan and $14.99/month to stream without commercials. Enjoy hours of exclusive programming, live sports and new episodes of select cable and network TV shows the day after they air on Hulu.

Hulu

$From $7.99/month after 30 days

The streaming platform offers a few other options to save you money overall. For example, Hulu’s annual plan (from $69.99 a month) is a quick way to save on your bill, and there’s a bundle option that gets you Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ for $12.99/month. Or, you can subscribe to Hulu + Live TV and enjoy Hulu Originals, FX shows and tons live network TV channels for $69.99/month.

Hulu allows up to six profiles under one account, stream from any compatible device (including a smart TV, laptop or gaming console), and stream on two different screens simultaneously.

Direct TV Stream is another great, budget-friendly way to watch live and on-demand local and cable channels. For a limited time only, streaming packages are $10 off for the first three months (regularly $74.99). The package comes with channels including ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, Nickelodeon, ESPN, Bravo, BET, MTV, ESPN, TNT and HGTV.

Country music fans can also catch the CMA Fest primetime special on Sling TV and Fubo TV, and Express VPN, which gives you access to ABC, Hulu and more from outside of the U.S.

Right now, you can take advantage of Sling TV‘s limited-time promo, which gives you the first month for as low as $15 on both the blue and orange plans (regularly $40). You can also combine both plans for $30 (regularly $55) and enjoy over 60 channels, DVR storage and the ability to stream on multiple devices at once.

18 Jul 2023

Signed: KenTheMan Strikes Label Deal With Roc Nation; TREASURE Links With Columbia

Houston-based rapper KenTheMan (born Kentavia Miller) signed a label deal with Roc Nation, which released her latest single, “I Love a Freak,” on Friday (July 14), with an EP on the way. The rapper, known for tracks including “Not My N*gga” and “He Be Like,” is slated to perform at Rolling Loud Miami on Sunday (July 23).

YG Entertainment K-pop group TREASURE signed a label deal with Columbia Records in the United States. Columbia will release the group’s forthcoming album in partnership with YG.

Paris-based indie distributor IDOL signed a direct artist partnership with U.S. rapper-producer (and Flatbush Zombies founding member) Erick the Architect (“Death by Dishonor,” “Let It Go”). IDOL will handle global digital distribution and marketing for his debut solo album, to be released on his own label, Architect Recording Company; the first single, “Parkour” (produced by James Blake), dropped on July 11. He is managed by Quincy Jones Productions.

Virgin Music signed an agreement with Paul Rosenberg‘s Goliath Records for Rise of the Silverback, the upcoming album from battle rapper and social media personality Nems. The album will be preceded by the single “Drip.” Nems is represented by managers Busy Rivera and Mex Guevara, the latter of whom also serves as his booking agent.

New York-based nonprofit Daniel’s Music Foundation launched Just Call Me By My Name, a new record label focused on musicians with disabilities. Distributed by The Orchard, the label will release compilation albums coinciding with “key disability awareness dates.” The first EP, Just Call Me By My Name: Volume 1, will drop on Friday (July 21). It features five artists: singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist James Ian (who has spinal muscular atrophy type 3); singer-songwriter, piano player and mixer-arranger Devin Gutierrez (on the autism spectrum and with optic nerve hypoplasia, which causes blindness); 12-year-old opera singer Iolanta Mamatkazina (who is blind); rock and blues guitarist Jake Nielsen (who has cerebral palsy); and singer-songwriter/Daniel’s Music Foundation co-founder Daniel Trush and his songwriting partner Gerard Powers. Musicians on the label are sourced through the Danny Awards, an annual awards show produced by Daniel’s Music Foundation that recognizes musicians with disabilities.

Madrid-based artist Ralphie Choo signed to Warner Records, which will release his debut album, SUPERNOVA, in partnership with RUSIA IDK on September 15. The album is preceded by the single “MÁQUINA CULONA” featuring Mura Masa.

Republic Records China signed Mandarin pop star Hannah Rebecca Jin, who has been a recording artist in her native country for over 20 years and broke through in the late ’90s with albums including Wake Up Your Ears and So Proud. The signing marks a reunion between Jin and Tony Wen, the producer Jin worked with at the beginning of her career who now serves as MD of Republic Records China. Jin’s first single for the label is a reimagined version of her hit single, “So Proud.” She will next team up with Wen to co-produce an all-new original album for the label.

Big Noise Music Group signed 16-year-old rapper and pop-punk singer and content creator Gavin Magnus to a multi-album deal. Magnus previously signed with Columbia Records at age 12. His first release on Big Noise will be the single “PSYCHO.”

New Jersey-based band Nicotine Dolls, whose lead singer, Sam Cieri, previously appeared on America’s Got Talent, signed to Nettwerk. The label will release the band’s new single, “How Do You Love Me,” off its forthcoming EP. Nicotine Dolls is represented by manager JR Schumann and booking agents Winston Simone and Sara Schlievert at Paladin Artists.

Golden State Entertainment signed tiny deaths, a project from Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Claire de Lune, who was a founding member of all-women group The Chalice alongside Lizzo and Sophia Eris. Formed in 2022, Golden State Entertainment is an affiliate company of the Golden State Warriors that creates original content. In addition to her artist career, de Lune works as a sportswriter for The Guardian, where she is a regular NBA columnist. She was previously signed to Handwritten Records.

WME signed Seedphrase (born Daniel Maegaard), an artist, DJ, entrepreneur and early-stage crypto investor whose digital art collection includes some of the rarest NFTs in the world. He is slated to drop original music this year, in addition to various Web3 releases. Seedphrase is managed by Three Six Zero.

Vere Music and Brickhouse Entertainment signed pop singer-songwriter Mary-Clair, with Vere serving as her distributor and Brickhouse as her management. The first release under the deal is Mary-Clair’s debut single, “Heaven in the Way,” which was co-written by Tedd T.

18 Jul 2023

Jamie Lee Curtis Congratulates Lindsay Lohan on New Baby, Celebrates Being a ‘Movie Grandmother’

The congratulatory messages continue to roll in for Lindsay Lohan, who recently gave birth to her first child with husband Bader Shammas. Jamie Lee Curtis was among the many to wish the Mean Girls actress well as she embarks on motherhood, and remarked on how Lohan giving birth feels like a full circle experience, given their history.

“MAGIC MONDAY! My movie daughter just made me a movie grandmother. Blessings to Lindsay and Bader for the birth of Luai! @lindsaylohan,” Curtis wrote on Instagram, captioning a picture of the two posing together in the 2000s.

Curtis and Lohan starred opposite each other in Disney’s 2003 remake of Freaky Friday. The Oscar winner and singer-actress played a mother and daughter who one day mysteriously swapped bodies and are forced to spend a day in each other’s shoes. (Disney confirmed in a May sThe New York Times story that a sequel is confirmed, with Curtis and Lohan in talks to return.)

The Everything Everywhere All at Once star has remained in contact with Lohan. In a June 8 interview with Allure, the 37-year-old shared, “I spoke to Jamie Lee Curtis recently and she was like, ‘You just bring the baby with you and everything will be fine.”

Back in April, Curtis also shared a tribute to Lohan on Instagram and sweetly told her followers, “My friend and film daughter @lindsaylohan is growing up! So thrilled for her. What a mama she will be.”

18 Jul 2023

Doja Cat Says She’s Done Making Music That Is ‘Palatable, Marketable and Sellable’

It’s an understatement to say that Doja Cat‘s relationship with the mainstream music industry is fraught at best. Over the past year, the “Kiss Me More” rapper has proclaimed that she’s finished making pop music, then agreed with commenters who said her rapping was “corny” and joked that she was making an album inspired by German rave music before claiming her next album would be spoken word.

It’s fine, she was kidding about last one. But in a new cover story in V Magazine, the unpredictable 27-year-old singer said that one of the reasons she’s taking so much time working on her follow-up to 2021’s smash collection Planet Her is that she wants to be sure it is 100% authentically her.

After jumping from R&B to hip-hop and pop over the course of her career, Doja explained that a lot of her pushback and left turns are tied to making music she wasn’t totally down with. “I have thrown fits my whole career because I have been making music that didn’t allow me to have a mental release,” she told the magazine. “I have been making music that is palatable, marketable and sellable, that has allowed me to be where I am now.”

Now, she added, she’s making music for her fourth album that allows her to express how she feels about the world around her. “These upcoming projects are going to be very different compared to everything I have done and I am excited about that,” she said. “I do not care if people are not.”

Though the provocative black and white shots she took for the magazine have a rock and roll edge, Doja said she doesn’t consider herself a rock star. “I have made pop music. I’m currently making rap, soul and R&B music with jazz elements,” she said of her upcoming album, which she also noted is inspired by “hatred and outrage” culture.

Doja dropped the long-awaited single “Attention” in June, which asked the apropos question for a star who has gotten attention for shaving her head and razoring off her eyebrows live on camera: “Look at me, look at me?/ You lookin’?” To date, the singer has not announced a release date for the album she tweeted in May will be called First of All, the follow-up to Project Her, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart and produced the hits “Need to Know,” “Woman,” “Ain’t S–t” and “Get Into It (Yuh).”

Click here to see pictures from the V Magazine shoot.

18 Jul 2023

Watch Ricky Martin’s Twin Sons Matteo & Valentino Join Him on Stage: ‘What a Beautiful Surprise’

Ricky Martin jumped for joy when he saw his twin sons, Matteo and Valentino, join him on stage during his show in Switzerland on Monday (July 17).

In a video the Puerto Rican superstar posted on social media, his 14-year-old boys take the stage to hype up the crowd and start jumping along with their father, whose facial expression says it all. “What a beautiful surprise! When my twins jumped on stage with me for the first time in Locarno, Switzerland,” he captioned the short clip with a crying emoji.

The “Tiburones” singer has been touring in Europe with shows in Spain, Switzerland and Monaco, where Martin posted another video with Matteo and Valentino writing, “Bonding time w the twins, before the show tonight.”

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Earlier this month, Martin and Jwan Yosef announced in a joint statement that they are divorcing after six years of marriage. “For some time, we have considered transforming our relationship, and it is after careful consideration that we have decided to end our marriage with love, respect, and dignity for our children — preserving and honoring what we have experienced as a couple all of these wonderful years.” Martin and Yosef share two kids: daughter Lucia, born in 2018, and son Renn, born in 2019. Before meeting Yosef, Martin welcomed twin sons Matteo and Valentino in 2008.

Following his show dates in Europe, Martin will co-headline The North America Trilogy Tour with Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull. The 19-date arena trek is set to kick off Oct. 14 in Washington, D.C., and will make stops in major cities such as New York, Miami, Houston and Las Vegas before wrapping up Dec. 16 in Vancouver, B.C.

Watch Martin’s sweet video of his twins joining him on stage.

18 Jul 2023

Amazon Music Promotes Ryan Redington to General Manager

Amazon Music elevated Ryan Redington to general manager on Tuesday (July 18). The announcement was made by Steve Boom, who joined Amazon’s senior leadership team in December, where he now oversees not just Amazon Music but Audible, Wondery, Amp, Twitch and Amazon Games.

Redington has “played a number of critical leadership roles in Amazon Music’s journey to becoming one of the leading global streaming services today,” Boom wrote to staff in an email. “… He’s earned trust with the industry across dozens of artist partnerships, finding new ways to scale their new releases through global concerts and festival livestreams. Amazon Music already pays rightsholders billions annually, and under Ryan’s leadership we will continue to build a foundation to help artists scale and monetize their fanbases in new ways.” 

Redington is a 15-year veteran of Amazon, starting on the video team and then moving over to the physical sales side of the organization, focusing on CDs and vinyl. He subsequently shifted to digital and was part of the team that launched Amazon Music back in 2014. 

In his wide-ranging current role, he oversees artist and genre marketing, label and artist relations, playlisting and programming, livestreams and editorial content, physical merchandise, and artist analytics.

Last year, Amazon Music Unlimited raised its price for Prime subscribers and expanded its ad-free offering for Prime members from 2 million songs to more than 100 million songs. Prime members can only listen to all that music on shuffle, unless they upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited. 

“We need to think about a streaming service as not just being a catalog of recorded music, but being a host of services that connect artists and fans together,” Boom told The Verge in November. “… When you get into areas like merch, there are unlimited amounts that people are willing to spend to connect with their favorite artist and to represent their fandom. Obviously, Amazon has a position as a pretty big global retailer that is good at e-commerce and logistics, and it is a brand that people really trust as a place to spend money. I think that sets us up really well for the future.”

In January, Amazon announced that it was upping prices again for U.S. and U.K. subscribers. Amazon Music Unlimited went from $9.99 to $10.99 for individual subscribers in the U.S. and increased from $4.99 to $5.99 for subscribers to the student plan.

18 Jul 2023

Lizzo Models T-Shirt With Boyfriend Myke Wright’s Face on It: ‘Im a Big Grrrl But He Can Take It’

Lizzo‘s fans know her well. In a recent TikTok, the 35-year-old hitmaker showed off a perfect custom gift from fans: a T-shirt with her boyfriend Myke Wright’s face on it.

Dancing along to Wright’s original song “Nights Like This,” Lizzo filmed herself modeling a black short-sleeve tee with the comedian/actor/musician’s face plastered in the center, framed in a heart. “I’m a big girl but he can take it,” the shirt reads, quoting a lyric from Lizzo’s Special track “Naked.”

The “About Damn Time” singer echoed the lyric in her caption, writing, “Im a big grrrl but he can take it.”

In a block of text at the top of the video, Lizzo revealed that the shirt was a gift from fans in Perth, Australia, where she played a show Friday (July 14) at the RAC Arena. “TO THE BANANA GRRRLS THAT MADE ME THIS SHIRT IN PERTH… THANK YOU,” she wrote.

The Yitty founder has been dating Wright since 2021, though they met back in 2016 while working on their MTV show Wonderland. She’s been open in interviews about their love story, telling Vanity Fair last year that “he’s the love of my life. We are life mates.”

A couple months ago, Lizzo even put an unofficial end to her public celebrity crush on Chris Evans, asking fans to stop bringing posters of the Captain America star’s face to shows, and to bring posters of Wright’s face instead. “Chris Evans is not my man,” she told her crowd at a show in May. “My man is [Myke Wright]. He fine as hell. I wanna see his fine a– face when I’m onstage.”

After the Grammy winner’s stop in Perth comes two back-to-back shows in Melbourne, the first of which was Monday (July 17). Fan videos from the night captured Lizzo tearing up while facing the crowd, an emotional moment the star later reacted to on Twitter, “I had a rough day… and y’all really made me feel loved. Thank you,” she wrote.

See Lizzo’s TikTok below:

18 Jul 2023

Hot 100 First-Timers: FendiDa Rappa Arrives With Cardi B Collab ‘Point Me 2’

Chicago-based drill rapper FendiDa Rappa is officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist as she scores her first appearance on the list with her new collaboration with Cardi B, “Point Me 2.”

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The song, released July 7 through Giant Music (which relaunched in 2022), debuts at No. 82 on the Hot 100 with 7.3 million official U.S. streams and 4,000 downloads sold through July 13, according to Luminate. It also enters at No. 14 on Hot Rap Songs and No. 20 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (which use the same multimetric methodology as the Hot 100). The track becomes Fendi’s first appearance on any Billboard charts.

“Point Me 2” is a remix to Fendi’s 2022 breakout track “Point Me to the Slut’s” (both versions are combined into one listing on Billboard‘s charts).

Prior to that, Fendi released her debut 15-track album, Str8 From Da Raq, in 2021.

As for Cardi B, the song becomes her 44th career charted hit on the Hot 100, and second this year, after her featured turn on Latto’s “Put It on Da Floor Again,” which debuted and peaked No. 13 in June and ranks at No. 54 this week.

18 Jul 2023

NewJeans Hit No. 1 on Emerging Artists Chart Thanks to ‘Super Shy’

NewJeans jump from No. 6 to No. 1 on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart (dated July 22), as the South Korean pop group becomes the top emerging act in the U.S. for the first time, powered by its new single “Super Shy.”

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The song, released July 7 via ADOR/Geffen/Interscope Records, debuts at No. 66 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 9.2 million official U.S. streams and 2,000 downloads sold through July 13, according to Luminate. It also opens at No. 2 on World Digital Song Sales and No. 45 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart.

Internationally, the song debuts at No. 2 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts. It’s the act’s third top 10 and highest-charting entry on each survey.

“Super Shy” is NewJeans’ third and highest charting title on the Hot 100 after “OMG” and “Ditto,” which reached Nos. 74 and 82, respectively, in February.

In the Emerging Artists chart’s six-year history, NewJeans are the 10th K-pop group to hit No. 1, following NCT, BLACKPINK, NCT 127 (all in 2018), TOMORROW X TOGETHER, NCT DREAM (both 2019), ATEEZ (2021), xikers, (G)I-DLE and P1Harmony (all this year).

NewJeans formed in 2022 and is comprised of members Danielle, Haerin, Hanni, Hyein and Minji.

Among other moves on Emerging Artists, FendiDa Rappa debuts at No. 9, thanks to her new collaboration with Cardi B, “Point Me 2.” The song starts at No. 82 on the Hot 100, as well as No. 14 on Hot Rap Songs and No. 20 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, becoming her first-ever Billboard chart appearances.

The Emerging Artists chart ranks the most popular developing artists of the week, using the same formula as the all-encompassing Billboard Artist 100, which measures artist activity across multiple Billboard charts, including the Hot 100 and Billboard 200. (The Artist 100 lists the most popular acts, overall, each week.) However, the Emerging Artists chart excludes acts that have notched a top 25 entry on either the Hot 100 or Billboard 200, as well as artists that have achieved two or more top 10s on Billboard’s “Hot” song genre charts and/or consumption-based “Top” album genre rankings.