Billboard News In Conversation

Gloria Estefan is about to release her first Spanish album in 18 years, ‘Raíces’. She sits down to talk about how the album was created with her husband, Emilio, dedicating a song to her grandson, her opinions on the new Pope, her thoughts on immigration issues in the U.S., and more. Are you excited for […]

The All-American Rejects take Billboard’s Tetris Kelly to Lil Dom’s in Los Angeles’ Los Feliz neighborhood to talk about making new music again after 13 years and what brought them back, going on their first stadium tour with the Jonas Brothers, their craziest tour stories and things thrown on stage. They also get into AI and music, and how they think the rock genre will accept it, the resurgence in popularity of rock music, and music’s ability to distract listeners from the stresses of life. They wrap up the conversation with a little Billboard storytime about their single “Dirty Little Secret.”
Are you excited for The All-American Rejects new music? Let us know in the comments below!
Tetris Kelly:So what brought us here? Why Little Dom’s?
Tyson Ritter:It’s a neighborhood staple for me. I lived in Los Feliz for like, about a decade before I moved away from L.A. The staff here are, like, kind of like, you know, they know, they know my name. I almost got a plaque. I almost got a plaque. They do plaques and boots during COVID — my wife and I would get this sandwich here. That was anyway. I won’t go into details about but they were like, we’re gonna put you a plaque up. And then all of a sudden, like, we went away for like, two years.
You lost your plaque?
I lost the punch card. Like, disappeared.
Well, now you got to start by coming again so you can earn that trust again. Get your plaque.
Let’s get our stripes.
Listen, you brought Billboard here, so you’re doing a good job. And I feel like you said that. You know, Little Dom’s is a place you love for Sunday brunch. So what is your go to menu item on the Sunday brunch menu?
Oh, before I became gluten free, they have this pizza that has, it’s got salmon. Oh, this is, like, it’s kind of blasting this right cheese and cheese and fish, but it’s salmon and capers smoked salmon. Yeah, sorry. So, like, yeah, lox and OK, and capers and onions. And then I, and then I make it even more bizarre, and I have them crack two eggs on top of it. So, yeah, it’s like this sexy brekkie …
Keep watching for more!

Damiano David is releasing his debut solo album ‘FUNNY little FEARS’ this Friday, May 16th, and the Italian singer shares why he transitioned from a band to going solo, songwriting with his girlfriend Dove Cameron, working with Labrinth on “Silverlines,” going on tour and more!
Are you excited for ‘FUNNY little FEARS?’ Let us know in the comments below!
Rania Aniftos:
Hey everybody, it’s Rania Aniftos with Billboard News, and I’m so excited to be here today with Damiano David, welcome!
Damiano David:
Hello.
What an exciting time for you. I mean, you’re gearing up for your next musical era. You’ve released three singles so far: “Next Summer,” “Born With a Broken Heart” and “Silverlines.” So tell me a bit about how you’re choosing to release these singles to kind of introduce this musical era for you.
For me, it’s literally all about, like, instinct and feelings. These were the first three songs I wrote for the record. And so it’s kind of funny that they are actually the singles, but I didn’t know at the beginning, but I always felt like the songs were strong, and since the beginning, I knew they were going to be part of the record. And again, there’s not much strategy around it. It’s literally like a feeling. I like this. I released it.
I mean, I love that. That’s the way to go, because it keeps it fun for you too, and it keeps it authentic. And speaking of authentic, each of these three singles, while they are different in a lot of ways, they still sound like you, but you’re clearly exploring what was that like, getting in the studio and working out different sounds and kind of introducing Damiano to people.
That was very fun. It was a new practice for me because I was used to kind of knowing the sound that we wanted with the band…
Keep watching for more!

Jackson Wang shares what fans can expect with MAGIC MAN 2, the creative process behind “GBAD,” his collaboration with Ciara at Coachella, and working with Pharrell on Joopiter. He also hints at upcoming projects with Pharrell’s Billionaire Boys Club (BBC), teases a tour for MAGIC MAN 2, and more!
Are you excited for MAGIC MAN 2? Let us know in the comments!
Tetris Kelly:
Jackson, Tetris with Billboard News ready to get in conversation with Jackson Wang, what’s up man? Thanks for coming.
Jackson Wang:
Hey, thank you for having me.
Of course, you got a lot going on, my friend. So we’re gonna start with the music. Of course. MAGIC MAN 2 you’ve been teasing. You’ve been telling everybody about it, but MAGIC MAN, the first one, debuted at 15 on our Billboard 200 charts.
Thank you. Thank you. Please make me top five.
There you go. See he’s already said what he wants. What made you decide you want to follow up the 2022 project with a second version of MAGIC MAN?
I’ve been working on stop for over 11 years, and I was just like, hey, I need to recharge. I need to refresh and be inspired again. So I took a year off, and I was like, hey, you know what? I haven’t actually made a song for myself. You know, when I was in my youth, I’ve always, you know, wrote songs or produced songs, trying to show everyone, hey, I can do this, I can dance, I can sing, I can perform. But what about me? What do I want to say as a person? So I took that year off and I just started writing diaries and converted them into music.
What was something during that year that you felt like when you look back like you’re like, I’m so happy I took this year off because I had this moment.
Keep watching for more!

Linkin Park is gearing up to release the deluxe edition of From Zero, and the band members share how they created “Up From the Bottom” while touring, the success of “The Emptiness Machine,” how fans have embraced Emily Armstrong in the band and more!
Are you going to Linkin Park’s From Zero World Tour? Let us know in the comments!
Jason Lipshutz:What’s up, guys? This is Jason from Billboard. I’m here with the one and only Linkin Park. Thank you guys for for coming and hanging out.
Linkin Park: Thanks for having us.
You guys just put out “Up From the Bottom,” new single. It’s been a couple months since the album. What has it been like having the song out in the world, seeing the fan reaction, you know, it’s being picked up by radio, hitting the charts. What has it been like?
Emily Armstrong:Day in the life.
Mike Shinoda:Emily’s super, super jaded now. She’s just so used to it.
Dave Farrell:A couple months later.
Mike Shinoda:She used to be–
Emily Armstrong:Feels like years.
Mike Shinoda:She was so down to earth in the beginning.
Dave Farrell:You poisoned her. I blame me and Mike, I think for us, like in this whole process, even going back to the record coming out, like, I don’t ever want to take it for granted that people are going to be interested in what we’re doing or or automatically on board. “Up From the Bottom” coming out, and people being interested and excited about it. I think it’s like, it’s exciting, it’s special, it’s new, and to be releasing new music at this stage of our career is something I didn’t know 100% for sure that we able to do. So feels great.
How did this one come together?
Mike Shinoda:It’s unusual for us to be like writing and putting out new songs while we’re touring. Yeah, we usually don’t do that. Did you guys never do that in Dead Sara?
Keep watching for more!

Wiz Khalifa just dropped Kush & Orange Juice 2 on April 18, and the rapper shares why he chose to make a follow-up album to the original Kush & Orange Juice. He discusses performing at Coachella, working with J. Cole and Gunna, what fans can expect from his tour, his thoughts on being compared to Snoop Dogg, not realizing Blacc Hollywood went No. 1, his role in the legalization of marijuana in New York and more!
What do you think of Kush & Orange Juice 2? Let us know in the comments below!
Carl Lamarre:Yo, yo. What’s going on y’all? I am Billboard deputy director of R&B/hip-hop, Mr. Carl Lamarre. Today for Billboard In Conversation, we got the man, the myth, the legend — Mr. Kush & OJ, Wiz Khalifa.
Wiz Khalifa:What’s up, brother?
Khalifa, man, you know, we’re gonna talk everything from the new album, Kush & OJ, the world tour, if you still got that gym regimen going, still f–king up them weights.
Mhm.
Say less we might my do a bet, a little weight competition.
Push ups. Do functional push-ups.
I would say you lost me to functional push-ups. I don’t know what the s–t is. What’s a functional push-up?
It’s like a three way, like you do scap, you do scap half, and then you do scap full.
You see you throwing words out there I never heard of before, bro.
Like, we gonna stick to this.
It’s some ROTP s–t you hit me with right there, but no real talk. Man, congratulations. This is the 15th anniversary of Kush & Orange Juice, man. Tell me some of your fondest memories making that classic.
Really just like the mode that I was in, like tapped in with the fans being on the road, buying Jordans, wearing chucks, wearing camo shorts every day, literally, like smoking kush and drinking orange juice and just, you know, putting the world onto a whole lifestyle that we were living.
Keep watching for more!

Miguel is celebrating 15 years of All I Want Is You. The singer shares stories about some of his favorite tracks on the album, his experience working with J. Cole on “Power Trip” and their friendship, the re-emergence of “Sure Thing” among the younger generation, collaborating with j-hope on “Sweet Dreams,” how he plans to incorporate his roots into his new music and more!
Are you excited for Miguel’s new music? Let us know in the comments!
Carl Lamarre:Yo, what’s going on? Y’all I’m deputy director of R&B and hip-hop, Mr. Carl Lamarre, and welcome to Billboard News In Conversation. We got a Grammy Award winner, R&B heavyweight, Mr. Miguel. My brother, how are you feeling?
Miguel:I’m all right, man. How are you doing?
It’s a blessed day. It is a blessed day because we’re gonna do something special here. One of your albums has a special anniversary this year. All I Want Is You 15. What did that number mean to you? Because that’s a whole ninth-grade album I was telling you before.
It’s a journey, you know, you think about, you know how much time it took to get that album out, right? You know, on what it took to get there, just in terms of cycles and growth and challenges and failures and learning experiences, and then to kind of have all of the blessings in between that point and this point in my career. It’s beautiful. This is a trip, man.
Walk us back to when you met, of course, the big homie record, exact extraordinaire, Mark Pitts, because you played them some records, which I saw was originally meant for Usher and that dude was like, “Uh uh, we gonna keep this. We gonna keep Miguel. We gonna build.” Talk about that.
Keep watching for more!

Bow Wow discusses his success with The Millennium Tour and why he loves touring, reflects on his Hot 100 hits including “Let Me Hold You,” “Like You” and others. He also shares what you can expect from his new album with Chris Brown, Future’s cameo in his music video and more!
What’s your favorite Bow Wow song? Let us know in the comments!
Carl Lamarre:Y’all, I am deputy director of R&B and hip-hop, Mr. Carl Lamarre. We are here at the Barclays Center for a special tour — The Millennium Tour — super throwback, super nostalgic, but we are here with Mr. 106, but I told him today he’s gonna be Mr. Hot 100. I’m talking about 21, of them, bad boys. Three top 10.
Bow Wow:That’s crazy.
Mr. Bow Weezy.
What’s up, man?
How you feeling?
I’m good. I feel blessed. I’m great.
Listen, man, we are on tour in Barclays at Brooklyn. Man, how has the tour been for you so far?
Tour has been a blessing. You know, this is our fourth Millennium Tour, third one for me, and just going out on these … on the stage, and going to these arenas and just looking at 13, 14,000 people every night. Words can’t even describe because now staring at myself at 38 years old knowing that I was doing it 25 years ago and I’m still doing it. I’m still going down these tunnels and hallways. Sometimes, young child artists that start off young, they usually don’t make it this far. For me to still be here doing it, man, something must be going right
That’s God working right there. Absolutely, for cats who haven’t seen you perform, what’s your stage game like right now?
Keep watching for more!
-
Pages