State Champ Radio Billboard Cover
New K-pop girl group VVS talk about what fans can expect from their debut, how their girl group concept is different from other girl groups, how they describe their R&B and pop sound and more in their Billboard Korea cover interview. VVSHi Billboard, we are VVS! BritneyHello my name is Brittney and I’m the leader […]
Superstar DJ Peggy Gou talks about her debut album ‘I Hear You’ coming out in June, working with artist Olafur Eliasson on the album cover, her collaboration “I Believe In Love Again” with Lenny Kravitz, how much she loves her job and traveling all over the world, how her fans inspire her and more! Peggy […]
Billboard cover star Tyla talks about creating her viral hit “Water,” the journey to creating her recently released debut album ‘Tyla,’ the diverse collaborations from Becky G, Tems, Gunna and Skillibeng, how her sound has evolved from R&B and pop to more Ampiano focused, how she feels to be the first artist to win a […]
When South African singer-songwriter Tyla turned 22 years old in late January, she was on top of the world — literally. Her label, Epic Records, invited a few hundred music executives, artists and fans to Harriet’s Rooftop in West Hollywood, Calif., for her birthday bash. The party was a dual celebration: Tyla had also recently […]
Illenium talks about making the “Anti-Hero” remix, his love for Taylor Swift, making the TRILOGY concert series as big as possible, how Kaskade has inspired him to stay sober in the EDM community, how his fans connect with his music, how he got his start making music, how he wants to continue impacting his fans […]
Regional Mexican megastar Christian Nodal opens up about carving his lane in the genre, challenging the norm, collaborating with artists outside of the genre, fatherhood, new music, stepping into new creative endeavors and more on the cover of Billboard. Christian Nodal: Well, he was a young kid with a guitar, I think of all the […]
In this episode of How It Went Down, singer-songwriter and producer PartyNextDoor explains how he created some of his biggest hits, such as “Work” with Rihanna, “Come and See Me” with Drake and more during his Billboard cover shoot. PartyNextDoor:The guy who signed me to my publishing deal, Ryan Press sent me to, I guess […]
As the five members of NewJeans file gracefully down the stairs at their Billboard photo shoot in Seoul, they greet me with bright smiles and genuine greetings of “Nice to meet you.” Just a few days prior, the exploding K-pop girl group won artist of the year and song of the year at both the […]
Fher Olvera of Maná sat down with Billboard’s Chief Content Officer of Latin/Español, Leila Cobo, to talk about the band’s tour Mexico Lindo y Querido, writing their hit song “En El Muelle de San Blas,” their new album, working with Christian Nodal, his opinion on reggaeton and more. Fher Olvera:There is so much history in […]
Usher teases his highly anticipated Super Bowl Halftime performance, talks about the advice and encouragement he’s received from other Super Bowl Halftime show performers like Katy Perry and Rihanna, his new album Coming Home, why people still resonate with his album Confessions 20 years later, his experience doing his successful Las Vegas residency and whether he’ll return to it, his thoughts on where the future of R&B music is going and more.
UsherPlayin’ the Super Bowl man.
Gail MitchellThis is Gail Mitchell, Executive Director of R&B and Hip-Hop for Billboard magazine, and I couldn’t be more thrilled because to my left is the one and only Usher.
UsherHey Gail, how you doing? How are you doing love? It’s been a while.
Gail MitchellIt hasn’t been a long time actually it’s been three years.
UsherWell three years actually is for everybody else is a long time.
Gail MitchellBut deja vu? Because we were sitting at Caesars Palace, yes, inside the theater. And you were rehearsing the first iteration of your residency. And look at you now on that stage Park MGM and now you’re going to be on a global stage.
UsherVery happy to have been able to have that moment with you very happy to have started that and then 100 shows later on now plays a Super Bowl in Las Vegas. I’m very, very happy.
Gail MitchellYou look very calm, cool and collected outside. It’s a matter of days at this point, right?
UsherI’m trying my hardest not to overthink it but it’s literally 12 to 15 minutes, if I can manage to impress the entire world, over 30 years of a career within 15 minutes. It’s, it’s a lot, you know, I’m definitely happy that I’m coming off a successful residency and kind of in the rhythm of it overall. Because otherwise, you know, you kind of have to restart and relive the moments, but every day going on that stage from Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, it just reminded me of what my music has meant, and how people feel about me, and how I feel about it. You know, after you know, years and years are doing this, you can go tired, and just kind of grow frustrated, especially as music changes the standards of how we count, it changes the standard of what is hot, what’s not the standard of what’s cool, and what is and all of those things can kind of get to your mind. And, you know, make you even question if you really want to continue to do but when I went to Vegas, it just made me excited about all of it all over again.
Watch the full video above!
