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From ballads like “Die With a Smile” to dance-pop anthems like “Abracadabra,” see where every song on Gaga’s long-awaited seventh studio album wound up on our ranking.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s fourth compilation album More Leaks is out. The embattled rapper out of Baton Rouge is currently serving 23 months in prison after pleading guilty to a federal gun charge late in 2024 and will have to do 60 months of probation after he gets out. His team announced the new project […]
The BLACKPINK solo set quadfecta is now complete, with JENNIE releasing her debut one-woman album, Ruby, Friday (March 7).
The 15-track LP makes JENNIE the final member of her girl group to drop a solo project amid BLACKPINK’s ongoing break, following ROSÉ’s Rosie, JISOO’s AMORTAGE and LISA’s Alter Ego. In addition to previously released singles “Mantra,” “Love Hangover” featuring Dominic Fike and “ExtraL” with Doechii, the album also contains the tracks “Like JENNIE,” “Start a War,” “With the IE (Way Up),” “ZEN,” “F.T.S.,” “Filter,” “Seoul City,” “Starlight” and “Twin.”
Plus, Ruby includes a number of star-studded collaborations, from the FKJ-assisted “Intro” to “Handlebars” featuring Dua Lipa and “Damn Right” with Childish Gambino and Kali Uchis.
The release of Ruby comes about seven years after JENNIE first made her solo debut in 2018 with the aptly titled single “SOLO.” The South Korean star didn’t follow the track up until 2023 with her version of “One of the Girls” from The Weeknd’s HBO show, The Idol, in which she also starred.
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JENNIE has long been working toward a solo album, with the performer opening up about how she “struggled a lot in the beginning” of the creative process in her January Billboard cover story. “A few months, I would say, was just me throwing myself out there, walking into rooms filled with new people,” she continued. “I just had to keep knocking on the door, like, ‘Is this it?’ ‘Is this it?’ and then eventually, we got to a point where I found a good group of people that I linked with, sonically and as friends.”
Now that all four of the BLACKPINK ladies have released their solo projects, the next step is for the band to reunite for a global tour kicking off in July. Dates for the trek were announced in February; around the same time, ROSÉ confirmed that the foursome also has new music in the works.
Of their upcoming reunion, JENNIE told Billboard in her cover interview, “I’ve missed the girls. I’ve missed doing tours with them. I miss our silly moments.”
“I’m excited to see what everyone brings,” she added at the time. “You know, everyone took their own journey [during] this time, and I’m excited to share that with the girls. I want to say it’s going to be the most powerful [versions] of ourselves that anyone has seen.”
Listen to Ruby below.
After five years away from the pop scene, Lady Gaga is back at long last with her long-awaited seventh studio album, Mayhem, out now via Interscope Records. Diving headfirst back into a pop-focused sound, Gaga brings in a new suite of production collaborators — including Andrew Watt, Cirkut and her fiancé Michael Polansky — to […]
Lady Gaga’s new album might bring with it an eagerly-anticipated return to Australia.
The singer appeared on Australian radio network The Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick program to discuss the release of her nascent Mayhem record, while also providing a hint as to whether she might be announcing her first Australian tour dates in over a decade.
“I can’t formally announce anything, but I can tell you that I’m going to be announcing… some things,” she responded with a laugh, before reflecting on her time in the country. “I miss my fans there so much, I really do. I have such fond memories of being in Australia, it’s a beautiful place and I really do want to come back soon.”
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Currently, it’s been close to 11 years since Gaga first performed on Australian shores, last visiting in August 2014 as part of her artRAVE: The ARTPOP Ball tour. While that tour was in support of her fourth album Artpop, the singer skipped over the country while touring for her next two – 2016’s Joanne, and 2020’s Chromatica.
Previously, Gaga had been a frequent presence within the country, appearing almost annually thanks to her album tour cycles, and even returning in between official visits for promotional appearances. In July 2011, Gaga’s visit to the New South Wales capital of Sydney saw her declared an honorary citizen of the city by Lord Mayor Clover Moore for her support of the LGBTQI+ community.
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Gaga’s new album, Mayhem, arrives as her seventh, with every one of her previous solo studio albums charting atop the Billboard 200 (save for 2008’s The Fame, which peaked at No. 2). Speaking to Fifi, Fev & Nick, Gaga again touched on her previous claims that the album had been inspired by the likes of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails.
“This album has so many different genres on it; from ‘90s grunge, industrial music, to funk music, ‘80s synth pop… it’s all my favorite things in a blender,” she explained. “It’s why I called it Mayhem – because it’s chaos.”
Speaking to Billboard ahead of Mayhem’s release, Gaga asserted her decision to make such a genre-shifting, kaleidoscopic body of work, noting she paid no mind to any of the expectations that may have been placed upon her for the record.
“I do think that I felt a lot of pressure, over the years, to prove myself as a musician,” she explained. “And that sometimes stopped me from having fun. So, I tried to have a lot of fun making this record.”
While Coldplay might claim they’ve made peace with being an “easy, safe target” for widespread disdain, James Blake has issued a public plea for music-lovers to stop criticizing the band just for the sake of it.
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Blake made his public appeal in a recent discussion with Nick Grimshaw and Annie Macmanus on the BBC Sounds podcast Sidetracked with Annie and Nick. The focus of the conversation turned to a recent Instagram post from The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, in which she spoke about what she feels is and isn’t cool.
As Blake, Grimshaw, and Macmanus continued, they began to ruminate on the definition of cool, how its “hard to be a successful touring cool band,” and the recent comments from Brit Awards host Jack Whitehall, in which he referred to Coldplay as a “public school Nickelback.”
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“Coldplay bashing has got to stop,” Blake chimed in. “It’s not cool anymore! It’s not cool anymore to just be like ‘Coldplay’s not cool.’ Just f–k off,” he said. “There are so many amazing Coldplay songs. And Chris Martin is clearly a melodic genius.”
“[If] you don’t like the sound of their last few records, OK. When you go and see them at Glastonbury, did you like a lot of the songs? Probably,” he continued. “Maybe the band changed the way they dressed? Are we not allowed to change the way we dress? Are we not allowed to bloody write songs in a different genre? Like, who cares, man? I get really a bit irate about this!”
While bands such as Coldplay and Nickelback have indeed become something of a lightning rod for public scorn over the years (the were themselves the subject of a 2023 documentary Hate to Love: Nickelback), Martin indicated to Rolling Stone in 2024 that he’s at peace with where the band find themselves in terms of public opinion and expectations.
“There’ve been times where we [were like], ‘Well, we should probably try and look a bit like this or talk a bit like that,’” Martin explained. “And now, it’s just like, ‘No.’ Just follow whatever’s being sent. And that’s a very liberating place to be.
“If you want a puppet to sing a bit of a song, well, some people might not like this — my mum being one of them, for example. But my point is, that’s part of my journey to be like, ‘Well, I love you, and this is what we’re doing.’”
Despite any of the criticism that Coldplay attracts, their successes seem to tell a different story about what the public think of them. In January, their Indian debut broke the record for the largest-ever stadium shows of the 21st century. A two-night stint at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat saw them perform for 111,581 fans at the first show and 111,989 fans per night at the second, totaling more than 223,000 fans across the two nights.
As of mid-December, Coldplay had sold more than 100,000 tickets on over half the stops of their Music of the Spheres World Tour and grossed a total of $1.14 billion.
System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan has shared more insights into his fondness for U.S. President Donald Trump, despite the notably progressive views espoused by his band.
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Dolmayan, who joined System of a Down in 1997, shared his recent opinions in a recent discussion with Australian YouTuber Lilian Tahmasian. Throughout the lengthy conversation, the drummer turned his attention to the ever-present topic of politics, addressing his support for the President and confirming that he voted for Trump during his 2024 campaign.
“I’m glad he won, because it brings a little sanity back,” Dolmayan explained. “Irrespective of what you hear out there, it’s much more sane with him than it was without him.”
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As he continued, Dolmayan – who moved from Beirut to California as a two-year-old amidst the Lebanese Civil War – agreed with Trump’s border policy, explaining that while the U.S. thrives on immigration, he believes it must be done “a certain way.”
“We need law and order,” he continued. “Just like you lock your door at night, you don’t want somebody coming to your house when you have secure borders. We need people coming to this country. We all came to this country. And we need more people coming in. And the United States should always be a bastion for people that need it. Maybe they get oppression one way or the other in their countries and they need to leave. Or maybe they just want a fresh start. Or maybe they wanna be part of something that’s unique and interesting like the United States. And they should be allowed to do that, but do it a certain way — pay taxes, whatever you need to do, and live your life.”
Dolmayan’s outspoken support for Trump has been notable in recent years. In 2023, he took to social media to reveal he had lost friends and “hundreds of thousands” of followers due to his support for the President and his “unwillingness to accept the narratives [his followers] are now questioning the validity of.” Speaking to Tahmasian, however, Dolmayan explained that the left or right side of politics “makes no difference” to him, instead claiming he’s against “who’s doing wrong at this time.”
“If the conservatives go way off on the right and become too religious or whatever the case may be, where they’re infringing on people, then I’m gonna be with the Democrats at that point, because I’m not a politician and I don’t give a shit about the political parties. I’m a realist,” he explained. “And whatever’s good for people, that’s what I’m gonna fight for. So I’ll always be the enemy. I can never win.”
System of a Down released five albums between 1998 and 2005, with 2001’s Toxicity, and Hypnotize and Mezmerize (both 2005) all hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The group embarked on a four-year hiatus in 2006, later reforming in 2010 and continuing to perform live sporadically since.
In 2020, System of a Down released the singles “Protect the Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz,” though the band have shown no indication of recording a further studio album, with Dolmayan claiming that he’s felt “frustration” with the group’s lack of musical progress.
A Day to Remember’s Big Ole Album, Vol. 1 jumps 27-5 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated March 8) — and is the only title on the list charting solely from physical album sales. The set was surprise released on Feb. 18 exclusively on CD and vinyl, with its digital download and streaming versions slated for a March 21 release. (The March 8 chart reflects the sales week ending Feb. 27.)
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In the tracking week ending Feb. 20, the album sold about 4,000 copies in the U.S., according to Luminate and yielded debuts on Top Album Sales (No. 27) and Indie Store Album Sales (No. 4). All sales generated in the Feb. 18-20 frame were from brick-and-mortar stores.
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Then, in the week ending Feb. 27, as mail order sales kicked in, it sold nearly 10,000 copies (up 205%), largely from vinyl sales (almost 8,000). The set surges 27-5 on Top Album Sales, 4-2 on Indie Store Album Sales and bows at No. 4 on Vinyl Albums, No. 6 on Top Hard Rock Albums, No. 19 on Top Alternative Albums, No. 24 on Top Rock Albums and No. 30 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums. It also debuts at No. 155 on the all-genre Billboard 200 as the only title on the list charting from solely physical sales.
With the 27-5 jump on Top Album Sales for A Big Ole Album, Vol. 1, A Day to Remember earns its third top 10-charting effort on the list. The rock band also visited the top 10 with 2021’s You’re Welcome (peaking at No. 3) and 2016’s Bad Vibrations (No. 1).
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.
As for the rest of the top 10 on the latest Top Album Sales chart, Tate McRae’s new So Close To What leads the pack, as it debuts atop the list with 71,000 copies sold. Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping GNX is a non-mover at No. 2 with 19,000 (down 37%) and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet falls 1-3 with 17,000 (down 77%). Chappell Roan’s former No. 1 The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess climbs 5-4 with nearly 10,000 (down 15%).
The Weeknd’s chart-topping Hurry Up Tomorrow is stationary at No. 6 with 9,000 sold (down 16%) and Stray Kids’ former No. 1 HOP is steady at No. 7 with 8,000 (down 8%).
Rock act Killswitch Engage debuts at No. 8 with This Consequence, selling nearly 7,000 copies. It’s the eight top 10-charting set for the group.
Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft falls one spot to No. 9 with 6,000 sold (down 23%) and G-DRAGON logs his first top 10 with Übermensch bowing at No. 10 with nearly 6,000 sold.
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Kendrick Lamar is clearly not taking his foot off the gas pedal. His forthcoming comedy film is set to be released this summer.
HotNewHipHop is reporting that the MC is looking to extend his 2025 winning streak. After much speculation, we finally have more information on his first big screen effort. This week, Paramount+ disclosed more information on the project via a formal synopsis and the culture is already invested. Titled Whitney Springs, the movie follows a “Black man interning as a slave re-enactor at a living history museum” who “finds out that his white girlfriend’s ancestors once owned his.”
Originally announced in 2022, fans have speculated if Kendrick Lamar would play a role in the film and that too seems to be confirmed. In the promotional poster for the movie, Kendrick Lamar is listed as a primary talent along with Chloe East and Celeste Octavia. This is not the first time K.Dot has tapped into his acting talents, as he played a homeless man in Power.
While very little else is known about Whitney Springs, we do know that Kendrick Lamar has partnered with South Park co-creator Trey Parker to product the project. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Parker confirmed that the rapper was very involved in the creative process. “[Kendrick Lamar is] very involved. And Dave Free is very involved,” he stated. “Every day they are working on it.”
Whitney Springs will be streaming exclusively on Paramount+ starting July 11.
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Rev. Jamal Bryant made a public declaration to boycott Target due to its shift in DEI policies assumed to be in response to the Trump-Harris administration’s stances. Rev. Jamal Bryant is urging that the Target boycott take place for 40 days in conjunction with the holy lenten season period, which began on March 5 and extends into April.
As spotted on Newsweek, Rev. Jamal Bryant, Senior Pastor of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Dekalb County, Ga., joined forces with the Black Chamber of Commerce and OurMoneyUnited.com to launch the Target Fast. A quick scan of the website for the organized boycott effectively explains the aims of the 40-day ban from shopping at the major retail giant.
From Target Fast: (click to learn more)
This Lent, we will begin a corporate fast, starting with Target, as a spiritual act of resistance. Just as Jesus overturned the tables in the temple, challenging the exploitation and hypocrisy of his day, we too must disrupt business as usual. Fasting is not just about what we abstain from—it is about what we embrace. By redirecting our resources toward businesses that uphold justice, we embody our commitment to God’s vision of equity and love in action.
This is a fast for accountability. A fast for justice. A fast for a future where corporations do not bow to pressure at the expense of marginalized communities. As we journey through these 40 days, let us pray, reflect, and act—knowing that our collective sacrifice can bring about transformation.
The company has already faced backlash for its rollback of DEI policies, reporting lower than normal earnings totals since making the announcement. The effort from Bryant and the other organizing bodies could extend toward other entities and will assess data collected during the fast, which will end on April 17.
Participants are asked to use the Voter Wallet tool to find Black businesses to support in place of any retailers named in the economic fast.
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Photo: Anadolu / Getty
