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Marking The Boyz‘s official debut onto the K-pop scene, Dec. 6 is always a special day for the K-pop band. Still, their milestone fifth anniversary is particularly worth celebrating this year.
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The 11-member boy group released the new single “All About You” today, Dec. 6, to mark five years since entering the K-pop scene with their debut EP, The First, in 2017. Releasing a single to commemorate their anniversary in December has become a tradition for the group with seasonal releases like “White,” “Christmassy!” and “Candles,” but the newly released acoustic-pop cut has the universal message of full-fledged, no-hold-bars love.
The accompanying music video is celebratory as we see the 11 Boyz studying in school, writing music, practicing basketball and hanging solo or in pairs before coming together to toast to five years.
Notably, “All About You” also marks the return of youngest member Eric, who had been on hiatus from the group since March due to health reasons.
After a period of rest at his home in the United States, where he was unable to participate in the group’s latest Korean and Japanese albums from this year, nor performances like KCON Los Angeles or their special “Last Man Standing” video shoot, Eric’s back. With his return, the 21-year-old co-wrote “All About You” alongside his members Juyeon, Q and Sunwoo. In late August, Sunwoo had also taken a hiatus for rest but was announced, along with Eric, to be soon re-joining the group by mid-September.
Celebrate with The Boyz below:
Kid Harpoon has become one of the most in-demand producers in pop music in the last year and on Tuesday (Dec. 6), he spilled the tea about working with Harry Styles on “As It Was” in a new interview with Apple Music.
“Do you know what is funny about that song is how quickly it came together,” the British musician born Tom Hull told Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe. “That’s my favorite thing about it because it’s not like ‘Watermelon Sugar,’ for example. That song was written in half a day…and then it was this really s—-y sounding demo and we all loved it and no one else quite got it. And then it took us months and months and months of just chipping away and getting it right.
“And then people weren’t quite sure it was going to be a single. Harry was like, ‘This is a single,’ and then it became the single. So it was this whole real labor of love to prove a point,” he continued. “I’ve learned so much from working with him because he understands how to follow his instincts.”
As for the Harry’s House hit’s mind-blowing success — including spending 15 nonconsecutive weeks atop the Hot 100 — Kid Harpoon chalked it up to being “the right artist, the right time, the right song, the right lyric, the right production.”
“There’s so much that has to align and one thing can be off and it’s not ‘As It Was,’” he concluded. “That’s why it’s an anomaly compared to a lot of music.”
The budding superproducer also dished in the interview about working with the likes of Lizzo, Maggie Rogers and Florence Welch, revealing the “About Damn Time” singer is “obsessed with Radiohead” and saying the Florence + the Machine frontwoman “works harder” than any of her contemporaries in the studio.
SZA is just days away from dropping her much-anticipated new album, S.O.S, and the 33-year-old singer-songwriter took to YouTube Shorts on Tuesday (Dec. 6) to tease one of the LP’s tracks titled “Nobody Gets Me.”
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“I don’t want to lose what’s left of you / How am I supposed to tell you / I don’t want to see you with anyone but me / Nobody gets me like you,” SZA muses over an acoustic guitar melody in the clip, which features a behind-the-scenes look at a promotional photoshoot.
Earlier in the week, the star released the official tracklist for the upcoming set, and the 23 songs on the album has a number of guest features including Don Toliver on “Used,” Phoebe Bridgers on “Ghost in the Machine,” Travis Scott on “Open Arms” and Ol’ Dirty Bastard on “Forgiveless.”
S.O.S follows the star’s 2017 debut, Ctrl, which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and featured hits like “Love Galore,” “Broken Clocks” and “The Weekend.”
SZA recently covered Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players issue. In the cover story, she questioned her longevity in music and where she sees her career going forward. “I feel like music, in this capacity, I don’t see longevity,” SZA admitted. “I like to create, I like to write, I like to sing, and I like to share. But I don’t know if chasing after superstardom or whatever I’m supposed to be doing right now is sustainable for me or for anybody. I’mma take a good swing at it, and I’mma give ’em my absolute best.”
S.O.S is out on Friday (Dec. 9).
Ginseng Strip 2002,” a casually hedonistic track by the Swedish rapper Yung Lean, initially went viral on YouTube in 2013. Nearly a decade later, lightning struck again on a different platform when the single became wildly popular on TikTok. This song — a series of druggy snapshots narrated in an uninterested monotone — was used more than any other on the app in 2022, according to the year-end report TikTok shared Tuesday (Dec. 6).
While “Ginseng Strip 2002” was used in nearly 11 million videos, the Mexican singer Kim Loaiza enjoyed the most viewed artist account with 70.5 million followers. She was one of five Spanish-language acts among the top 10 most-viewed artists, including superstars like Bad Bunny (29.7 million followers) and Rosalia (27.5 million).
The growing commercial importance of sped-up and slowed-down remixes of singles was also reflected in TikTok’s year-end report. Sped-up hits included new versions of Michael Buble‘s “Sway” and Cat Burns‘ “Go;” an uptempo rework of Demi Lovato‘s “Cool for the Summer” helped the track crack the top five on the platform. It trailed only Nicky Youre and dazy‘s “Sunroof,” Willow’s “Wait a Minute,” WZ Beat’s “Beat Automotivo Tan Tan Tan Viral,” and of course, “Ginseng Strip 2002.”
“Ginseng Strip 2002” came together almost by accident, according to the track’s producer Yung Gud. “‘Ginseng Strip 2002’ was just a sound check — he was just checking to see if the microphone was working,” the producer told The New Yorker in 2014.
The track’s initial success on YouTube caused Yung Lean some anxiety. “I was kinda scared at one point that it was just gonna be a couple million views and some viral hit, and there wasn’t going to be anything else,” he told Beats 1 Radio in 2017. “I was just trying to figure out my place and everything. I didn’t want to be a one-hit wonder.”
While “Ginseng Strip 2002” was the most-used track globally, it ranked third in the U.S. behind “Sunroof” and Luclover’s “L$d.”
Sony Music has added Christel Kayibi to its Africa & Continental Europe team, which she will join as director of repertoire strategy, Africa.
In her new London-based role, Kayibi will be one of the few executives to focus on both Anglophone and Francophone Africa, where she will develop Sony Music’s roster and network; identify catalog, label and other investment opportunities; and drive Sony Music’s entry into new markets across the continent. Kayibi will also work closely with the label’s regional and local Africa teams to assist with the signing of artists in partnership with Sony Music labels worldwide.
For her first project, Kayibi forged a partnership between Sony Music Africa and Afrochella’s parent company, Culture Management Group, along with the streaming service Audiomack, to give unsigned African talent an opportunity to compete for global distribution deals and record contracts through the Ghana-based music festival’s expanded “Rising Star Stage” competition. She will report directly to Daniel Lieberberg, president of Continental Europe & Africa, for Sony, in coordination with Sean Watson, managing director of Sony Music Africa.
Kayibi’s hiring reinforces Africa’s position as a hotbed for global talent that all three major labels want to develop. In September, Def Jam signed an exclusive worldwide joint venture with Native Records, a Nigeria- and U.K.-based label. In June, Universal Music Group also launched Virgin Music Label & Artist Services Africa, which includes over 15,000 music titles, with more than 50 label partners from 25 countries, and releases from more than 100 of Africa’s leading artists. In the last couple of years, Warner Music Group has partnered with Chocolate City, one of Nigeria’s leading independent labels that includes Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti‘s son Femi Kuti and “Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah)” hitmaker CKay on its roster, and appointed Temi Adeniji as managing director of Warner Music South Africa and senior vp strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa, a post — similar to Kayibi’s — that’s meant to enhance the company’s presence in the region.
Before moving up at Sony Music, which she joined in 2019, Kayibi previously worked as the senior legal and business affairs manager and A&R at Columbia Records in the U.K., where she worked closely with finance, sales and marketing to ensure successful day-to-day operations of labels, including Columbia Records, 5K Records, Robots + Humans and Dream Life Records.
Before joining Sony Music, Kayibi worked as a lawyer at Slaughter and May, White & Case and Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.
In 2017, Kayibi became the global legal counsel for Nigerian artist and entrepreneur Mr. Eazi and worked with him on building up his label Banku Music — which expanded its roster beyond its founder with the addition of Nigerian singer Joeboy, Ghanaian singer J.Derobie and Ghanaian DJ/producer GuiltyBeatz –as well as his African talent incubator, emPawa Africa, which currently distributes audio and video content for 100 artists across the African continent. Earlier this year, Kayibi won the best lawyer award at the 2022 Young Music Boss Awards in London, which recognizes the achievements of rising music executives under the age of 35.
Gwen Stefani is still having a hard time coming to terms with it being her last season with husband Blake Shelton on The Voice.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight ahead of Monday night’s episode of the singing competition show, the No Doubt singer got emotional while talking about their time together on season 22 and it swiftly coming to a close.
“It’s just been a really amazing season, too short,” the 53-year-old said just before the show’s semifinals, getting teary-eyed. “It’s mine and Blake’s last season… I can’t even get the words out of my mouth ’cause it sucks.”
She continued, “I never in my lifetime would’ve pictured me doing something like this, and it’s been one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. I love being a coach, I love watching the contestants grow, I love having an impact, it’s super inspiring for me. And then, on top of it, I meet my best friend here, that’s gonna be forever mine.”
The Voice is an integral part of Stefani and Shelton’s relationship. The pair met in 2014 while filming season 7 of the show and later began dating in 2015. After being in a relationship for five years, the pop star and country singer got engaged in October 2020 and tied the knot in July 2021.
While Stefani’s run on The Voice will conclude after the current season, Shelton will depart the show after season 23 and will be joined by The Voice veteran Kelly Clarkson, alongside newcomers Niall Horan and Chance the Rapper.
Consider Lizzo the undisputed queen of TikTok. On Tuesday (Dec. 6), the social media platform revealed in its year-end report that the singer held the title for most video views of the year.
“Viral sensation,” Lizzo put it simply when retweeting a report of the news. The Grammy winner was followed in Nos. 2 through 5 by Bella Poarch, Bad Bunny, Charlie Puth and Doja Cat, while Selena Gomez, Nessa Barrett, Yung Gravy, Billie Eilish and Meghan Trainor rounded out the top 10.
Additionally, Lizzo’s choreography for “About Damn Time” ultimately landed at No. 7 on the list of TikTok’s most viral moments of the year.
The popular app also helped many a newcomer break through this year and released its countdown of the top 10 rising artists of the year and their hit songs, including Ice Spice (“Munch [Feelin’ U]”), JVKE (“Golden Hour”), GloRilla (“F.N.F.”) and Benson Boone (“Stars”). TikTok also played a major role in Steve Lacy earning his first No. 1 with “Bad Habit,” the initial explosion of Latto’s “Big Energy,” Omar Apollo landing his first-ever Hot 100 hit with “Evergreen,” and Muni Long bounding into the top 20 with “Hrs and Hrs.”
In other Lizzo-related news, the singer released her yuletide cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Someday at Christmas” exclusively on Amazon Music in recent weeks — which so far has cracked the Hot 100 at No. 94 (chart dated Dec. 10) — and opened up in a new interview about the racism she’s experienced within the pop music industry.
Read Lizzo’s reaction to her latest TikTok achievement below.
Coldplay is back in the studio, and frontman Chris Martin took to Twitter on Tuesday (Dec. 6) to give fans an update as well as share some of the songs he’s listening to lately.
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“I hope you’re all doing well. Here are some things I love at the moment,” Martin wrote in a note shared to the social media platform, before listing his current top tracks which include RM‘s “Yun” featuring Erykah Badu, Badu’s live rendition of “Tyrone,” Bayka‘s “She Like It,” The 1975‘s “Looking for Somebody (to Love),” Inhaler‘s “Totally,” Kyoka‘s “Hurt People” and Stormzy‘s “Hide & Seek.”
Martin concluded his message by writing, “We are in the studio. We send you all much love.”
Coldplay unveiled their ninth studio album, Music of the Spheres, in October 2021 via Parlophone and Atlantic Records. The 12-track album featured the BTS collaboration “My Universe,” which blasted onto the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 1, marking the Brits’ first leader since 2008’s “Viva La Vida” and giving both groups appearances on the Rock & Alternative Airplay and Alternative Airplay charts.
Music of the Spheres, meanwhile, peaked at No. 4 on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart dated October 30, 2021, and spent eight total weeks on the chart.
Kenny Chesney was king of the road among country artists in 2022. The touring titan led all country acts reporting to Billboard Boxscore by grossing $135,046,047 from 41 stadium and arena shows on his Here and Now tour.
The total was also enough to land him at No. 9 on the all-genre Billboard Boxscore year-end tally. Additionally, he drew the highest attendance among country acts, attracting 1.3 million people. Chesney last topped the tally in 2018 with $114.3 million from 42 shows on his Trip Around the Sun stadium tour that drew 1.3 million people. (A limited 21-date arena tour in 2019 grossed $19.2 million.)
The Here and Now Tour included dates originally scheduled for 2020 and then 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic caused cancellations and postponements.
“We had missed each other so much,” Chesney tells Billboard of his fans. “I think we’d almost forgotten how good it was, and once we got there and felt that love – both off the stage and from the people – the word was out. We always have crazy great audiences, but this year, No Shoes Nation wanted to be there, to share the moment in a way where we were making up for those years we couldn’t come together and rock.”
Chesney’s manager Clint Higham agrees, telling Billboard, “The people of No Shoes Nation are such intense fans, the being together after four years created its own energy and momentum. We found ourselves adding seats in so many markets to try to meet the demand because whether it was the people who’d held their tickets for over 1,000 days in many cases or the people buying those new tickets who felt the buzz and wanted to be there, it was a whole new level of demand based on what Kenny gives people.”
Coming in at second place — and No. 11 on the all-genre chart — Morgan Wallen grossed $128,718.950 from 66 shows on his first full arena outing. Wallen dominated the album charts as well: In September, his Dangerous: The Double Album broke the record for the most nonconsecutive weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 by a singular artist with 86 weeks, surpassing the 85 weeks tallied by Peter, Paul & Mary’s self-titled album in 1962-1964.
Chris Stapleton, who led the tally last year with $33,884,658 from 32 shows, came in third in 2022 with a gross of $83,080,631 from 69 shows.
Country icon George Strait played only 10 shows to roll into fifth place, grossing $50,048,167 from 263,285 fans.
Fellow legend Reba McEntire was the only woman to make the top 10, grossing $27,506,847 from 27 shows. The outing has been extended into 2023 and will include her first headlining Madison Square Garden show.
