Dance
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In February, when Kaytranada’s stage manager, Tamir Schlanger, texted him to ask if he had a vision for his Coachella performance, the artist responded with screenshots of the giant metallic head from The Wiz, the 1978 musical film featuring Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. He wondered: Could Schlanger replicate it, but with his own head? […]
Kylie Minogue achieves her first top 10 on Billboard’s multimetric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, which began in 2013, as “Padam Padam” rises from No. 12 to No. 10 on the tally dated June 10.
The track, which introduces Minogue’s album Tension, due Sept. 22, earned 1.6 million official streams (up 15%) and sold 1,000 downloads in the United States in the May 26-June 1 tracking week, according to Luminate.
Previously, Minogue hit the chart’s top 20 with three hits, among 15 appearances, since Hot Dance/Electronic Songs originated: “Real Groove,” with Dua Lipa (No. 15, 2021), “Magic” (No. 17, 2020) and “Say Something” (No. 18, 2020).
Minogue first entered Billboard’s charts in 1988 and has tallied two top 10s on the Billboard Hot 100: “The Loco-Motion” (No. 3 peak that year) and “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” (No. 7, 2002).
A week ago, “Padam” became Minogue’s first No. 1 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart.
Additionally on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, fellow genre cornerstone Swedish House Mafia debuts with “See the Light,” featuring rapper Fridayy (No. 22). The track, premiered during the Ultra Music Festival in Miami March 26 but not released commercially until May 26, starts with 709,000 streams. It’s the 15th appearance for the trio of Steve Angello, Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso, and Fridayy’s first.
Speaking of Swedes, on the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, production duo NOTD and singer Maia Wright, with all three performers from Sweden, each notch a third top 10 with “AM:PM” (13-10). The track is collecting core-dance airplay on Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel, iHeartRadio’s Pride Radio and iHeartRadio’s Evolution network, among other outlets. (The Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart measures radio airplay on a select group of full-time dance stations, along with plays during mix shows on around 60 top 40-formatted reporters.)
Bebe Rexha has now claimed a pair of records reflecting her success in both the dance/electronic and country genres on Billboard’s charts.
Rexha’s EDM collab with David Guetta, “I’m Good (Blue),” rules Billboard’s multimetric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a 37th week, granting her the longest leading No. 1 by a woman dating to the survey’s 2013 inception, as it passes Elton John and Dua Lipa’s “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)” (36 weeks at No. 1, 2021-22). Overall, it now trails only Marshmello and Bastille’s “Happier” for the most weeks on top (69, 2018-20).
Rexha already achieved the longest leading No. 1 among all acts on the Hot Country Songs chart (since the list became an-encompassing genre ranking in 1958), as her Florida Georgia Line duet “Meant to Be” dominated there for 50 weeks in 2017-18.
Rexha also sports songwriting credit on both songs. Along with original composition “Meant to Be,” “I’m Good” is a reimagination of Eiffel 65’s early 2000s classic “Blue (Da Ba Dee).”
“Songwriting is my passion, no matter the style of music,” Rexha tells Billboard. “I’ve been blessed to have hit songs in different genres throughout my career. Finding this kind of success within both the dance/electronic and country charts is something I’m really proud of! To have my music resonate with so many people and top charts across multiple genres is amazing and means a lot to me, as I’ve never wanted to be put in a box.”
Select other artists have received warm welcomes in both dance/electronic and country, including Maren Morris, whose collab with Zedd and Grey, “The Middle,” logged 33 weeks atop Hot Dance/Electronic Songs in 2018. She also ruled Hot Country Songs for 19 weeks in 2020 with “The Bones.”
Florida Georgia Line, meanwhile, has notched six No. 1s on Hot Country Songs and hit a No. 2 high in 2018 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs as featured, with Watt, on Hailee Steinfeld and Alesso’s “Let Me Go.”
Such core country stars as Dolly Parton, LeAnn Rimes and Wynonna Judd have also scaled both country and dance/electronic charts — with Rexha’s new album, Bebe, released in April, including a duet with Parton, “Seasons.”
“I’m Good” drew 39.2 million radio airplay audience impressions and 7.4 million official streams and sold 2,000 downloads in the United States May 26-June 1, according to Luminate.
The track adds a 33rd week at No. 1 on the Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs chart, also passing John and Lipa’s “Cold Heart” for the most weeks at the summit for a song by a woman. On the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales survey, “I’m Good” rebounds for a 28th week at No. 1.
Afterlife, the house and techno label from longstanding Italian electronic duo Tale Of Us, has entered a partnership with Interscope Records.
Per the terms of the deal, Interscope will distribute all Afterlife releases, including all past and future recordings. This includes the duo’s 2017 album, Endless, and singles dating back to 2011. The Afterlife catalog also includes releases from a fleet of house and techno artists including Argy, ANNA, CamelPhat, Cassian, Colyn, Kevin de Vries, Mathame, and Stephan Bodzin.
The first new release encompassed by the partnership is a collaborative track by Anyma — the solo project from the duo’s Matteo Milleri — and Grimes. This darkly spatial melodic house track, “Welcome To The Opera,” is out today (June 8.) Listen to it below.
As melodic house and techno has risen in popularity in the dance world over the past several years, so too has Tale Of Us’ profile risen into increasingly visible realms. The pair’s Afterlife show has been a huge draw in Ibiza since 2016, with the Afterlife residency launching again at the island’s mega-club Hï this month. Afterlife shows have happened in London, Berlin, Tulum and beyond, with three shows happening at The Brooklyn Mirage this September selling out in 30 minutes. The pair — Milleri and Carmine Conte — have been making music together since 2008 and are now based in Berlin. They signed with CAA last year.
“Interscope Records is a natural partner to help continue our vision and journey,” Milleri says in a statement.
“Over their tremendous careers as artists and label owners, Carmine and Matteo have helped shape dance music culture for an entire generation,” adds John Janick, chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M. “We are excited to collaborate with them to bring their music to an even larger global audience.”
“Carmine and Matteo have made their distinctive mark in music both as artists and as label owners,” says A&R executive Ryan Roy, who helped bring the duo to Interscope. “Working with them on all of their future recordings as well as with the amazing artists on Afterlife is a massive honor for us.”
Interscope is also home to fellow electronic artists including Zedd, DJ Snake, Prospa and Louis The Child. Upcoming Tale Of Us dates include the Hï residency, Italy’s Kappa Future Festival, Tomorrowland in Belgium and ARC Music Festival in Chicago.
U.K. producer Michael Bibi‘s managers at Prime Culture announced earlier this week that the producer and Solid Grooves label head has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called CNS Lymphoma. They said that Bibi is currently undergoing treatment and will not be playing any live shows “for the foreseeable future.”What is CNS Lymphoma?
According to Cancer.gov, primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma is “a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the lymph tissue of the brain and/or spinal cord.” The lymph system is part of the immune system, which is made up of lymph, lymph vessels, lymph nodes, the spleen, thymus, tonsils and bone marrow.
“Lymphocytes (carried in the lymph) travel in and out of the central nervous system (CNS). It is thought that some of these lymphocytes become malignant and cause lymphoma to form in the CNS,” according to the government agency. “Primary CNS lymphoma can start in the brain, spinal cord, the or meninges (the layers that form the outer covering of the brain).”
Signs of CNS Lymphoma can include nausea, vomiting, headaches, confusion, double vision, hearing loss or seizures, with tests of the eyes, brain and spinal cord used to diagnose the disorder. It is a rare disease, with around 1,500 new cases in the U.S. each year, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
After a diagnosis of CNS Lymphoma, tests are typically done to find out if the cancer has spread within the brain and spinal cord or to the eyes. According to Cancer.gov, typical treatments include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, steroid therapy, targeted therapy, high-dose chemo with stem cell transplant and immunotherapy, though surgery is not typically done to treat primary CNS. The historic prognosis of CNS Lymphoma has overall survival rate of 1.5 months when untreated and a five-year survival rate of 30% for people under 70.
“We are deeply sorry to share the bad news that a week ago Michael Bibi has been diagnosed with CNS Lymphoma, a rare cancer of the brain,” the statement from Bibi’s management read. “Michael is currently undergoing cancer treatment in hospital, supported by his close friends and family. While he is in treatment, he will be unavailable for any shows for the foreseeable future as he takes time away to recover.”
Bibi, 33, has been in the midst of the Solid Grooves residency at DC10 in Ibiza, with the popular DJ scratched from the upcoming scheduled show on Thursday (June 8); he was also scheduled to play upcoming festivals, including the U.K.’s Parklife and Glastonbury and EXIT Festival in Serbia.
GRiZ‘s upcoming summer shows will be the last time to see the producer for the foreseeable future.
Tuesday (June 6) on social media, the Michigan-born, Colorado-based artist announced that starting in October, he’s taking “a good amount of time off from touring and the GRiZ project.”
“Life is really good and I often make myself too busy to see where I am or how far this project has come,” he wrote. “I’m following my gut instincts so for now, I’m not going to put a hard time limit length on the break.” Read the complete statement below.
GRiZ is currently scheduled to play upward of 15 shows between now and late September, including festival sets at Bonnaroo, Shambhala, Breakaway, Moonrise, Secret Dreams, Bass Canyon and Vortex.
On Tuesday, he also announced that his annual Christmas charity event in Detroit, GRiZMAS, will not take place this year or next year, with the future of the event to be determined. The same goes for his annual Space Camp and New Year’s Eve shows. The post notes that the last GRiZ headlining show and curated event will be announced this week.
“Feels like yesterday that i was DJing to a room of no one at 9 p.m. for a free PBR or two,” the statement continues. “I dropped out of college at 21 and moved to Colorado where I’ve been living now for 10+ years working nonstop…so I’m going to make more time to nurture relationship with myself and to my fam and friends that far too often I’ve ignored in place of my relationship with work. I’m excited to take time to travel, find fresh inspiration, write music and to be in a new headspace. I also got myself a spot in Michigan which I’m excited to, in time, move back to for parts of the year.”
GRiZ, born Grant Kwiecinski, has become a titan of the electronic bass/funk scene over the last 10 years, rising out of Michigan to become a headliner at marquee events and venues including Electric Forest and Red Rocks. His GRiZMAS event has raised more than $400,000 for Detroit charities focused on music education for children.
A last minute location pivot couldn’t hinder Desert Hearts 2023. The SoCal festival was meant to take place 90 minutes outside of Los Angeles in May, but announced a location change five weeks in advance that brought the festival to the concrete jungle of downtown L.A. on May 5-6. No bother. Taking place at the […]
Nelly Furtado was already kind of an electronic music star.
The Canadian pop legend’s early aughts mega-hits had been remixed into countless DJ sets. But when a mashup of Furtado’s 2006 classic “Say It Right” and U.K. duo Bicep‘s 2017 dance world staple “Glue” made its way into the scene circa 2020, getting rinsed extensively at clubs and festivals and garnering upwards of seven million streams, the unofficial edit put Furtado on the map for a new generation of electronic fans.
Furtado had never heard it. That changed when the singer saw her name near that of Dom Dolla’s on the lineup for Beyond The Valley 2023, an annual festival in Dolla’s hometown of Melbourne, Australia. Intrigued by the moniker and having wanted to work with a DJ on new music ideas, Furtado’s team got in contact with Dolla’s.
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“I woke up one day to a message from a manager, saying, ‘Were you a fan of Nelly Furtado when you were young?’” recounts Dolla. “I was like, ‘Of course. Who wasn’t? Me and my sister were obsessed.’”
Excited, Dolla gathered beats into a Dropbox, also adding a little something special.
“When producers send a Dropbox folder, usually it’s just music,” says Furtado, “but Dom went out of his way to record a video of himself. He went, ‘Hello legend, Dom Dolla here!’ He kind of had me at that.”
The pair began passing music — including the “Say It Right” edit — back and forth over the internet, finding creative chemistry. They met IRL this past January at Beyond the Valley, where Furtado performed her first official show in five years and appeared during Dolla’s set to perform the “Say It Right” mashup live for the first time ever. It was a moment that extended into an artistic friendship that delivered the pair’s first official release, “Eat Your Man,” a club track produced by Dolla and sung by Furtado that dropped this past Friday (June 2). It marks Furtado’s first release since her 2017 LP The Ride, and puts her back into the spotlight via the strobes of clubland.
The idea for the song first came to life when the pair and their respective teams were in a studio outside of Philadelphia working on music ideas for Furtado. “We were in the car on the way to the studio one day,” says Dolla, “and she turns around to me and goes, ‘I’d really like to feature on a Dom Dolla club record.’”
Dolla was slightly dumbstruck by the ask — but collected himself, and during that same drive, played Furtado instrumentals he’d been tinkering on. “I felt like her sound, especially her sort of upbeat, chest voice rap tone from ‘Promiscuous’ and ‘Maneater’ would work really well on a house record on the club,” he says.
He was right, with “Eat Your Man” evoking these classics both tonally and lyrically as Furtado spits, “I’ll eat your man, devour him whole … fly like a bird, I’m taking it home, moving my body like a nympho,” over the propulsive, darkly thumping production.
The track was made during a few extended studio sessions in Philly, where roll call included Jim Beanz, the vocal producer who worked with Furtado on tracks like “Maneater,” “Say It Right” and “Promiscuous.” (Beanz also did backing vocals on these tracks, which were famously produced by Timbaland.)
‘I said, ‘I love the way that you perform the rap part on ‘Promiscuous Girl’ and the vocal parts on ‘Maneater,’” says Dolla, “and Jim goes, ‘Oh, I remember the settings for exactly how I did that.” The crew spent the better part of a day recording and layering Furtado’s voice to get it to sound as close to this old stuff as possible, ultimately piling on six layers of vocals for “Eat Your Man.”
“I think I was 16 when I was first set foot in a vocal booth,” says Furtado. “I remember enjoying the sound of my own voice in there, and I actually forgot that feeling until I worked with Dom. I was like, ‘Holy s–t. It’s so simple. You just have to enjoy the sound of your own f—ing voice and melt into it.’”
For Dolla, the experience also had novelty, with the group collaboration providing starkly different creative process from the lone wolf nature of dance music production. (Dolla typically produces tracks on his headphones while sitting on the couch of whatever given Airbnb he’s staying at on tour.) Dolla has become increasingly visible in the dance world leader over the past few years, playing high profile gigs including a headlining show and Red Rocks and, along with artists like John Summit and Chris Lake, propelling a hard-hitting but also totally fun and palatable strain of house/tech house that’s become the mainstream scene’s prevailing sound in the last half decade. (Dolla has had four tracks hit Hot Dance/Electronic Songs since 2019, with his biggest song, the MK collab “Rhyme Dust,” debuting at No. 9 on the chart this past March and currently sitting at No. 24. This summer he’s performing dates including Lollapalooza, Tomorrlwand and club Space in Miami.)
But unlike the EDM it supplanted, this type of house hasn’t experienced the type of crossover success that hits of the EDM era seemed to score so easily. That era’s A-list crossover collabs — Calvin Harris and Rihanna’s “We Found Love,” Jack Ü and Justin Bieber’s “Where Are U Now” — helped give dance music a Hot 100 and top 40 presence. While those types of hits now happen infrequently, “Eat Your Man” demonstrates both a prevailing sound of modern dance music and a moment where big time pop stars are once again entering the club.
Incredibly, none of this might have happened if not for Drake.
“We had some really cool conversations about music and life and art, and he kind of just blew up my head and was like, ‘You know, you really need to make new music, and these are all the reasons why,’” Furtado recalls of meeting the rapper and fellow Toronto native. “He was like, ‘You need to boss up when it comes to your career.’ I got really inspired and I started hitting it a lot harder. It was like added fuel to the flame, you know?”
Drake even helped Furtado boss up when he invited her to perform at OVO festival in July of 2022. “I was literally at the zoo with my three and four year old [kids], and didn’t even know if I was going to [play] until like, 7:00 p.m.,” Furtado says. “Then I did it, and it was like, ‘Oh s–t, I forgot what I do for a living. This is what I do.”
(“This next person’s music changed my life so much. I love her with all my heart, so when she comes out here you better show her some f–king love too,” Drake said while presenting Furtado during the show — as the opening beats of “Promiscuous” played and the crowd went wild and proceeded to scream along to every word.)
This Furtado fervor is also something Dolla has experienced, with “Eat Your Man” having generated a major response from the dance music community. “It was really fun seeing the comments of people going, ‘DJs have been remixing her for the last 15 years and Dom’s managed to get her in the studio.’ I was like, ‘I don’t know how the hell that’s happened either.’”
The pair — who are both on the lineup for San Francisco’s Portola festival this fall — agree that there’s some sort of cyclical kismet involved, with Dolla attesting that listening to Furtado’s music when he was a kid likely rubbed off on him, subconsciously influenced his music and has now “come full circle where she kind of hears herself in it.”
“I was like, ‘That’s really trippy,’” says Furtado. “It’s very meta. That’s the wave we’re on.”
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This week in dance music: Gorillaz announced The Getaway tour with support from Kaytranada and more, Flume and Confidence Man scored nominations for Australia’s 2023 AIR Awards, the ladies of Icona Pop penned a letter to the LGBTQ community to mark the dawn of Pride month, David Guetta tied Calvin Harris for the most ever No. 1s on Billboard‘s Dance Mix Show/Airplay chart, friends and associates of late disco pioneer Sylvester shared their recollections of the legend and we ran down the top 65 LGBTQ anthems of all time.
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More, you say? Indeed. Let’s get into it.
LSDXOXO, “Double Tap”
The Artist: The Philly-born, Berlin-based DJ/producer LSDXOXO
The Label: F.A.G. / Because Music
The Spiel: After official remixes for Lady Gaga, Pinkpantheress and Shygirl, along with a May residency at BBC Radio 1, LSDXOXO keeps swinging for the fences with the deeply euphemistic “Double Tap.” On it, he minces no words while demanding “think about my face when you touch it” over squelchy electro production and urgently hypnotic synths, which all builds to a state of frenzied seduction. The track is the lead single from LSDXOXO’s forthcoming Delusions Of Grandeur EP, coming September 22.
The Artist Says: “Delusions of Grandeur was created as a bridging of worlds for what people know my sound to be and what it will become over the span of my next few projects. Electroclash and ’90s vocal rave have always been some of my biggest musical inspirations, but I’ve allowed those influences to take a front seat in the crafting of this EP … The title of this project speaks to my personal tug of war with the concept of celebrity. I’m quite the introvert, and up to this point have used my artistic persona as a sort of costume or even armour in order to navigate the heightened visibility.”
The Vibe: Definitely not introverted.
Barry Can’t Swim, “Woman”
The Artist: Scottish upstart Barry Can’t Swim
The Label: Ninja Tune
The Spiel: The lead single form BCS’ forthcoming debut album, When Will We Land, “Woman” is a warm breeze of a house track built from insistent piano, shimmery flourishes, a bit of choral singing and anchoring vocals from English singer Låpsley.
The Artist Says: “I wanted it to have the energy of electronic music but also with a more organic live element,” Barry says of his forthcoming LP. “I feel like I’m more of a musician than anything else. I’m a producer but I like writing music on instruments.”
The Vibe: Simultaneous levity and depth.
Dom Dolla & Nelly Furtado, “Eat Your Man”
The Artists: Mighty Aussie house producer Dom Dolla, still riding high off his recent MK collab “Rhyme Dust,” and pop goddess Nelly Furtado.
The Label: Three Six Zero Recordings/Sony Music Entertainment
The Spiel: Furtado returns with her first new music in six (!) years, with — yes, ladies and gentlemen — a bonafide club heater. “Eat Your Man” finds Furtado lyrically referencing some of her greatest hits (“Maneater” “I’m Like a Bird”), in a rapidfire flow — “Fly like a bird, I’m taking it home… I’ll eat your man, devour him whole” — over Dolla’s darkly pulsing production, built primarily from a sort of snaky synth and bass far enough into the low end to make your speakers wobble slightly.
The Vibe: Like a bird on a peaktime dancefloor.
DJ Holographic, “Desire”
The Artist: DJ Holographic
The Label: Black Artist Database
The Spiel: We all know what desire feels like, but how does it sound? For Detroit native DJ Holographic, the sonic vibe is seven minutes of a pulsing beat paired with some sort of soft sighing and musings on the nature of romance and intimacy. The experimental (but still very listenable) track is out on Synergy Vol 1, a compilation from Black Artist Database that marks the launch of its new label of the same name and also features track by B.A.D. co-founder Niks, Lyric Hood and more.
The Vibe: Steamy.
Mura Masa, “Drugs”
The Artist: U.K. fav Mura Masa.
The Label: Pond Recordings
The Spiel: Here Peruvian singer Daniela Lalita declares “I don’t do drugs, but with you I do,” over Mura Masa’s breezy, sort of bouncy, indie-leaning production, which itself embodies the pleasure of sometimes breaking your own rules for the right person. The track follows Mura Masa’s April Coachella set and his production work on PinkPantheress and Ice Spice’s global breakout hit “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2.”
The Vibe: Playful and indeed sort of stoney.
Purple Disco Machine, “Bad Company”
The Artists: German powerhouse Purple Disco Machine
The Label: Columbia
The Spiel: Blessedly hitting the same disco + ’80s synth sweet spot as much of his previous output, PDM maintains his streak as simply one of the most fun and unpretentious producers out there, with a track that cooks via loads of cowbell, bells, strings, one big serotonin release of a wind-up and a very camp choreographed dance video, shot on the Venice Beach boardwalk.
The Vibe: Not bad at all.
Holly, “Not In The Mood”
The Artist: Portuguese fav Holly
The Label: ilex Records
The Spiel: Holly has reliably been outputting smart, left of center bass music for years. But the vibe on his new EP, sadness, is also, as the title suggests, often softer and more somber, particularly via the pretty, quite melodic and previously released “Swear I Been Ready” and “Cuento de Vida.” Does the EP still slap though? Yeah it does, with the “Not In The Mood” embodying its titular brush-off sentiment with hectic beats and jittery synths that hit sharp and hard. On social media the producer noted that sadness is the first of “many” EPs he’s got coming in 2023.
The Vibe: That sort of pissed at the world phase of sadness.