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25 Jan 2023

Chloe Bailey Teases New Single ‘Pray It Away’ With Stunning Candlelight Photos: Here’s When It Arrives

Chloe Bailey‘s highly anticipated debut solo album, In Pieces, is finally on the way. The singer, one-half of sister duo Chloe x Halle, revealed her album plans this week, and she followed up the announcement with news about the LP’s lead single on Wednesday (Jan. 25).

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The “Treat Me” singer shared a stunning image of herself draped in white and sheer fabric, holding her hands up in prayer. Bailey is seen at the center of a religious space and kneels in the middle of a floor surrounded by glowing white candles. “1ST PIECE. #PRAYITAWAY. JAN 27TH,” the 24-year-old wrote, indicating that her album’s first single is arriving this Friday.

Fans in the comments section were more than excited for the upcoming release. SZA hopped in the conversation and wrote, “I cannot WAIT !!!” while another user gushed over the visuals and said, “brooo this is sickening!!!”

Though there are currently no other details about In Pieces, Bailey’s Tuesday announcement revealed that the record will be released in March; an exact release date has yet to be shared.

In an interview with Essence, Chloe explained that the album is “everything that I’ve been going through, all the tearing down, people underestimating, telling me I can’t do it — all of those things have gone into the music.” She added, “The album is me picking myself up and talking myself out of any little place or space that the world has tried to put me in, that people and personal relationships have tried to put me in, and even [doing that to] myself. It’s me breaking free.”

See Bailey’s announcement for “Pray It Away” below.

25 Jan 2023

Official HIGE DANdism’s ‘Subtitle’ Breaks Record for Most Weeks at No. 1 on Japan Hot 100

Official HIGE DANdism’s “Subtitle” makes history on the latest Billboard Japan Hot 100, released Jan. 25, extending its record to 12 weeks at No. 1 (8 of those weeks consecutively) to break the all-time record for longest-leading single on the chart.

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The records for both consecutive and non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 were previously held by Gen Hoshino’s “Koi,” which hit No. 1 seven times consecutively and 11 times in all.

“Subtitle” racked up 12,610,115 streams this week, down from 13,481,602 last week, to rule the metric for the 14th consecutive week. The grand total for the track is currently at 259,611,559 streams. The song is at No. 4 for downloads (7,654 units, down from 8,709) after topping the metric 8 times and totaling 273,438 units to date. It racked up 1,839,544 views (down from 2,044,575) to come in at No. 3 for video views, and while it never hit No. 1 for this metric, it stayed at No. 2 for 9 weeks and currently totals 36,927,130 views.

While “Subtitle” continues to gradually slow down (7.2 percent down in total points from the previous week), it’s still around 2,000 points ahead of the song at No. 2 — “KICK BACK” by Kenshi Yonezu — and it’ll be interesting to see if it can extend its record next week and beyond.

KinKi Kids’ “The Story of Us,” the third single marking the 25th anniversary of the Johnny’s duo’s CD debut, bows at No. 3 on the Japan Hot 100 this week. The track written by the two members launched at No. 1 for physical sales with 178,502 copies sold in its first week, but couldn’t supplement that advantage with other metrics of the chart’s methodology.

back number‘s seventh album Humor, the three-man band’s first studio set in four years, blasted in at No. 1 on Billboard Japan’s Hot Albums chart this week. The song “I Love You” off the set rises 15-7 this week on the Japan Hot 100 after collecting points in streaming and radio airplay. Other songs by the popular band, including past hits such as “Takane no Hanako-san,” also surged in points and a total of eight tracks by the band is charting on the Japan Hot 100 this week.

The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, YouTube and GYAO! video views and karaoke data.

See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Jan. 16 to Jan. 22, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account. 

25 Jan 2023

Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Nonsense’ Scores Hot 100 Debut, Soars in Streams

Six months after releasing her Island Records debut Emails I Can’t Send, Sabrina Carpenter has her biggest hit from the pop project. “Nonsense” debuts at No. 75 on this week’s Hot 100 after making a pronounced impact on streaming charts since the beginning of 2023, and its weekly streaming totals are quickly rising.

“Nonsense,” on which Carpenter sings about feeling so flustered around a significant other that she gets tongue-tied, started going viral on TikTok over the past month. Credit goes to a combination of a sped-up version of the rhythmic pop-rock track and a cheeky dance routine set to its second verse (“I’m talkin’ all around the clock / I’m talkin’ hope nobody knocks / I’m talkin’ opposite of soft / I’m talkin’ wild, wild thoughts,” Carpenter sings). The song’s momentum was also helped by a well-choreographed live performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that was widely shared by pop fans around social media.

“Nonsense” earned 5.82 million U.S. on-demand streams during the week ending Jan. 19, according to Luminate — a 66% spike from the previous week’s streaming total. As a result, the track has become the first Hot 100 hit off of Emails I Can’t Send, and Carpenter’s second career entry on the chart, following the 2021 single “Skin” (No. 48 peak).

“The success of ‘Nonsense,’ and the album Emails I Can’t Send as a whole, exemplifies Sabrina’s innate ability to write and perform bold pop songs, capturing large audiences alongside viral growth,” says Jackie Winkler, VP of A&R at Island, in a statement to Billboard. “It’s been hugely rewarding to witness this song come to life from the earliest demo form, to the live show, to the mainstream charts, all while solidifying her mark in pop musical culture.”

Emails I Can’t Send became Carpenter’s highest-charting entry on the Billboard 200 album chart in July, as the former Disney Channel star’s first LP in three years debuted at No. 23 on the tally. A North American headline tour in support of the album kicks off on Mar. 16.

Click here to read why Emails I Can’t Send was one of the Billboard staff’s favorite albums of 2022.

25 Jan 2023

Miley Cyrus Earns First Streaming Songs No. 1 Since 2014 With ‘Flowers’

For the first time since 2014, Miley Cyrus is No. 1 on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart.

“Flowers,” the lead single from Cyrus’ upcoming album Endless Summer Vacation, starts atop the Streaming Songs list dated Jan. 28.

In the Jan. 13-19 tracking week, “Flowers” earned 52.6 million official U.S. streams, according to Luminate.

The song is Cyrus’ fourth No. 1 since the chart began in 2013 and her first ruler since “Adore You” led for a week in 2014.

Previously, she led for 11 and 13 weeks, respectively, in 2013 with “We Can’t Stop” and “Wrecking Ball.”

With four rulers, she moves into a four-way tie for the fourth-most No. 1s in chart history, alongside Cardi B, Lil Baby and Travis Scott. Drake leads all acts with 15 No. 1s.

Most No. 1s, Streaming Songs Chart
15, Drake
6, Justin Bieber
6, Taylor Swift
4, Cardi B
4, Lil Baby
4, Miley Cyrus
4, Travis Scott

Her latest No. 1 comes virtually nine years to her previous week atop the chart, as “Ball” spent its last week at No. 1 on the Jan. 25, 2014, list. Her nine-year wait is the longest break between No. 1s in chart history, exceeding Nicki Minaj’s nearly eight-year respite between “Anaconda” (2014) and “Super Freaky Girl” (2022) achieved last year.

Not only is “Flowers” Cyrus’ first No. 1 since 2014, it’s also her first top 10 since “Adore.”

Between “Adore” and “Flowers,” she rose as high as No. 11 twice with “Malibu” in 2017 and as part of “Don’t Call Me Angel (Charlie’s Angels),” with Ariana Grande and Lana Del Rey, in 2019.

She isn’t the only act to return to the top 10 after a long break on the Jan. 28 survey. Shakira, as part of Bizarrap’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” is back at No. 3 (20.2 million streams), her first appearance in the top 10 since “Can’t Remember to Forget You,” featuring Rihanna, reached No. 2 in 2014.

Concurrently, as previously reported, “Flowers” debuts at No. 1 on the multi-metric Billboard Hot 100, Cyrus’ second ruler. Endless Summer Vacation, her eighth studio album, is due March 10.

25 Jan 2023

T.I.’s Lawsuit Against Toymaker Ends in Mistrial Following Testimony Alleging Racism

A federal judge on Wednesday (Jan. 25) declared a mistrial in the high-profile courtroom battle pitting T.I. and wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris against toymaker MGA over a line of dolls, ending the proceedings after jurors heard inadmissible testimony claiming the company “steals from African Americans.”

A day after attorneys for MGA argued that the “inflammatory” testimony about cultural appropriation had ruined their chances of a fair trial, Judge James V. Selna agreed, granting a mistrial. That means the case will need to be re-tried in front of a new jury at some point in the future.

Following the mistrial, MGA told Billboard that “diversity has always been a key value” at the company: “We are disappointed that the trial was cut short, but look forward to vindicating our rights in the next trial.” An attorney for T.I. and Tiny did not immediately return a request for comment.

The ruling marks an abrupt end for the closely-watched intellectual property trial, in which T.I. and Tiny were trying to persuade a jury that MGA’s line of “OMG” dolls stole their look and name from the OMG Girlz, a defunct teen pop trio created by Tiny and starring her daughter Zonnique Pullins.

In their 2021 complaint, T.I. and Tiny alleged that MGA had committed both “cultural appropriation and outright theft of the intellectual property,” stealing the look of a group of “young multicultural women.” The lawsuit included side-by-side images, aiming to show how each doll was directly based on a particular member of the OMG Girlz, who disbanded in 2015.

On the fifth day of the trial, jurors heard videotaped deposition testimony from a woman named Moneice Campbell, a former MGA customer. According to court documents, Campbell testified that she would no longer purchase the company’s products because MGA “steals from African Americans and their ideas and profit off of it.” She also said that “hundreds” of social media users had agreed with the accusations, citing the fact that “people often steal from the black community and make money off of it.”

Earlier in the case, Judge Selna had already expressly prohibited such testimony from the trial. In one such order, he ruled that statements about “cultural appropriation” were “immaterial and impertinent” to the actual legal issues at play in the case and could not be made in front of jurors.

In a written motion filed after Tuesday’s courtroom proceedings had concluded, MGA’s lawyers demanded an immediate mistrial, arguing that the impact of the inadmissible testimony on the fairness of the case “cannot be understated.”

“There is no way to unring the bell of the jury’s hearing Ms. Campbell’s emotionally charged accusations that MGA has been ‘stealing’ from the African-American community,” the MGA attorneys wrote. “Her improper testimony cannot be challenged, rebutted or cured without drawing further attention to it.”

25 Jan 2023

Musicians at Paris Fashion Week 2023

Merci, Paris! Celebrities and musicians descended on the City of Light in January 2023 to attend the shows of Paris Fashion Week. As the major fashion houses and luxury brands sent their latest haute couture and ready-to-wear collections down the runways, famous faces sat in the front row to experience the highest fashion Paris has to offer.

One of the most attention-grabbing shows of the season was by Schiaparelli, where Doja Cat mingled with Kylie Jenner’s giant (faux) lion’s head and other attendees while wearing a crimson ensemble made up of 30,000 hand-applied Swarovski crystals. The rapper completed her otherworldly look with a bustier of red silk faille, a hand-knit skirt of lacquered wooden beads and “Trompe l’œil” toe boots.

Meanwhile, Dove Cameron and Sabrina Carpenter were both pretty in pink as they sat side by side for the Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2023 presentation. Both rising stars opted for feminine, off-the shoulder looks, with the “Boyfriend” singer accenting her billowy sleeves with gold, and the “Emails I Can’t Send” artist going for a color-blocked outfit in two shades of pink.

The French fashion capital also drew out K-pop stars in full force, from BTS’ Jimin and J-Hope sitting front row for the Dior Homme menswear show (J Balvin was there too!), BLACKPINK’s Jisoo supporting Dior in her role as the brand’s global ambassador, to Hoshi, Jeonghan, Rowoon Kim, Jackson Wang and more attending presentations by the likes of AMI – Alexandre Mattiussi, Yves Saint Laurent, Loewe and Louis Vuitton. Plus, Taeyang took a break from promoting his new Jimin-assisted hit “VIBE” by taking in the Givenchy show.

Scroll through Billboard‘s gallery for a look at all the musicians at Paris Fashion Week 2023.

25 Jan 2023

New York Attorney General Questions Madison Square Garden Entertainment Over Facial Recognition Technology Use

New York Attorney General Letitia James has sent a letter asking Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSGE) to explain its reported use of facial recognition technology to bar individuals involved in litigation against the company from its venues, the Attorney General’s office said Wednesday (Jan. 25).

The letter cites reports that approximately 90 law firms comprising thousands of lawyers are affected by a policy that MSG Entertainment allegedly put in place, in which the facial recognition tech has been used to identify and bar attorneys with legitimate tickets from venues including MSG and Radio City Music Hall. The letter says the office has “concerns that the Policy may violate the New York Civil Rights Law and other city, state, and federal laws prohibiting discrimination and retaliation for engaging in protected activity.” The letter also says that the office is concerned that such practices could run afoul of laws prohibiting retaliation and that the technology “may be plagued with biases and false positives against people of color and women.”

“MSG Entertainment cannot fight their legal battles in their own arenas,” James said in a statement included in a press release from her office on the matter. “Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall are world-renowned venues and should treat all patrons who purchased tickets with fairness and respect. Anyone with a ticket to an event should not be concerned that they may be wrongfully denied entry based on their appearance, and we’re urging MSG Entertainment to reverse this policy.”

In a statement sent to Billboard, an MSG spokesperson responded to the letter, saying, “To be clear, our policy does not unlawfully prohibit anyone from entering our venues and it is not our intent to dissuade attorneys from representing plaintiffs in litigation against us. We are merely excluding a small percentage of lawyers only during active litigation. Most importantly, to even suggest anyone is being excluded based on the protected classes identified in state and federal civil rights laws is ludicrous. Our policy has never applied to attorneys representing plaintiffs who allege sexual harassment or employment discrimination.”

In the past few months, the New York Times has reported that MSG Entertainment, owned by James Dolan, has begun using facial recognition software to identify a list of attorneys representing clients that are involved in litigation against the company, and is barring not just those lawyers, but all lawyers from their respective firms, from attending concerts or other events at its venues, which include MSG, Radio City, the Hulu Theater, the Beacon Theatre and others. Events at which the policy has allegedly been utilized include games involving the NBA’s New York Knicks and NHL’s New York Rangers, both of which Dolan also owns.

The use of facial recognition technology is legal in the state of New York, though some lawyers who have sued the company claim that using it to bar a list of attorneys with open litigation against MSGE is not. The public outcry has caught the attention of the Attorney General, who is requesting a response both justifying the policy and detailing attempts to abide by the laws outlawing discrimination and retaliation by Feb. 13.

25 Jan 2023

Jamal Crawford Says Jay-Z Has Bigger Impact On Hip-Hop Than Eminem, 50 Cent Disagrees

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Jay-Z is, without a doubt, one of Hip-Hop’s greatest living artists and if he’s in a fan’s top 10 list, it would be difficult to argue against it. After retired NBA great Jamal Crawford said that Hov’s impact on Hip-Hop is bigger than Eminem’s, 50 Cent offered some slight pushback by way of an Instagram comment.

Jamal Crawford was a guest on Shaquille O’Neal’s The Big Podcast show and the three-time NBA Sixth Man Of The Year award winner was asked to name his top five NBA players and then used the analogy of impact over album sales. Crawford, now an analyst for NBA on TNT, said that Jay-Z will always own a spot over Eminem because of his influence and dominance.

(Hop to the 43:00 minute mark)


https://youtube.com/watch?v=LNLG–bwFHI&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&start=2613&wmode=transparent

50 Cent, catching wind of Crawford’s comments, replied under a Hip-Hop account (@thehiphopwolf on Instagram) regarding the former player’s assessment of Eminam by writing, “Ha bullsh*t” complete with the sneezing emoji for comedic effect.

The loyalty 50 Cent has continually shown to Eminem most likely stems from the fact that the Detroit veteran signed the Queens rapper to his Shady Records imprint and paved the road toward superstardom for him.

After notching several hits, these days 50 Cent oversees a variety of adult beverage businesses and serves as an executive producer for hit crime dramas such as Power and BMF among other ventures.

On Twitter, a light debate about Jay-Z and Eminem kicked off and we’ve got those reactions below. For what it’s worth, both of the rappers and past collaborators are legendary in their own right.

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Photo: Albert L. Ortega / Getty