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Kygo commands a top 20 debut on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart (dated April 15) with “Say Say Say,” featuring the track’s original superstar artists, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. The update arrives at No. 16 with 905,000 official streams and 400 downloads sold in the United States March 31-April 6, according to Luminate.
The song is Kygo’s fourth officially sanctioned reproduction of a famous original (and his third with deceased acts) to impact the chart. It follows “Higher Love” with Whitney Houston (No. 2, July 2019), “What’s Love Got to Do With It” with Tina Turner (No. 7, August 2020), and “Hot Stuff” with Donna Summer (No. 9, October 2020).
“It’s no secret that I love working with iconic vocals from the ’80s, and ‘Say Say Say’ was one that I really wanted to work on,” Kygo recently told Billboard.
The official remake of “Say” makes for Norwegian DJ/producer Kygo’s 62nd career appearance on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, the second-most of all acts since the chart began in January 2013; David Guetta leads with 75. It also marks McCartney’s first appearance and Jackson’s second, after remixes of “Thriller” (by Steve Aoki, among others), titled “Thriller 2017,” ascended to No. 30 in November 2017.
Concurrently, “Say” starts on Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales (No. 12), as well as Norway Songs (No. 17). The original classic spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1983-January 1984.
Additionally on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Bebe Rexha rolls in with the week’s highest debut, “Call on Me,” at No. 13. The track, from Rexha’s album Bebe, due April 28, rang up 1.1 million streams in its first frame.
Meanwhile, Rexha’s monster collab with David Guetta, “I’m Good (Blue),” leads the list for a 29th week. Only four songs have ruled for longer terms: Marshmello and Bastille’s “Happier” (69 weeks; 2018-20), Elton John and Dua Lipa’s “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)” (36; 2021-22) and Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey’s “The Middle” (33; 2018).
Shifting to the Dance/Mix Show Airplay survey, Zara Larsson lands her fifth top 10 with “Can’t Tame Her” (12-8). The poppy original, remixed by VIZE, DJ Smallz, Nightcore and others, is collecting core-dance airplay on Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel, KMVQ-HD2 San Francisco and Channel Q, 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 70 top 40-formatted reporters.)
All aboard, baby. Groove Cruise announced the lineup for its January 2024 voyage from Miami to The Bahamas on Wednesday (April 12).
Billboard can exclusively announce that Diplo, Tiësto and John Summit captain the lineup, with a strong crew of artists including Disco Lines, Gabriel & Dresden, Joel Corry, LP Giobbi, So Tuff So Cute, VNSSA rounding out the bill.
Additionally, the party will feature hosted stages by brands including LP Giobbi’s Femme House, Diplo’s Higher Ground and Summit’s Off The Grid. The boat will also host artist hosted games and activities like blackjack, bingo, volunteer opportunities, mentorship sessions and mental health workshops.
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The festival is largely sold out, although a few premium packages remain. The event will take place on the Norwegian Encore. Able to host 4,000 guests, this is the biggest ship Groove Cruise has employed to date.
The festival at sea departs from Miami on January 24, sailing to The Bahamas for a beach part on Great Stirrup Cay and returning to U.S shores on January 28. The event, produced by Whet Travel, marks the Groove Cruise’s 20th anniversary.
“I can’t believe it’s been 20 years,” Groove Cruise founder Jason Beukema tells Billboard. “When I first had the idea of Groove Cruise as a 25-year-old kid from Michigan with no money, not a single DJ contact, and not knowing anyone in the cruise industry, I never thought that two decades later I would be booking international superstars like Tiësto on a near billion dollar cruise ship.”
“Our first sailing,” he continues, “was a 125 person cruise in 2004, and it’s been incredible to witness lifelong friendships flourish out of that initial cruise and to hear how it changed people’s lives. It’s been humbling to watch the community and experience it evolve into the world class event it is today.”
While Groove Cruise helped innovate the festival cruise model two decades ago, they’ve since become a hugely popular format for live music consumption. In the dance world, HARD has hosted Holy Ship since 2021, while earlier this year Insomniac Events announced the maiden voyage of their EDSea cruise happening in November.
See the full lineup below
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NPR’s eternally delightful Tiny Desk Concert rarely hosts electronic artists, but Fred again.. has become an exception to the rule with his new performance from behind the Desk.
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Translating his hits including “Kyle (I Found You)” and “Delilah (Pull Me Out of This)” to the format, Fred delivered a tight, often very pretty, characteristically emotive performance for which he taught himself to play the marimba, made a few live loops and generally tweaked his typical performance style to make it all work.
“I spent weeks practicing this and learning instruments I hadn’t played for years to try and make this as special as I possibly could,” the artist born Fred Gibson said in a press release. “EVVERRRYYYY thing you hear in this I play totally live. And there are some sounds I really couldn’t believe we were able to make like this.”
Fred does some singing himself, also teleporting collaborators into the room via a smaller version of the iPhone shaped screen used in his live shows.
“When Fred again.. first proposed a Tiny Desk concert, it wasn’t immediately clear how he was going to make it work — not because he lacked creativity, but because translating purely electronic music at the Desk is a daunting task for anyone,” Tiny Desk staffer Teresa Xie writes in the video’s caption. “How would an artist, whose performances take the form of DJ sets in front of massive audiences, curate an intimate and unique experience?
“But what the British songwriter and producer came up with is a reminder of what a Tiny Desk is at its best: an opportunity for artists to challenge themselves in such a way that it almost feels like they’re making new music, all while sticking to what feels true to them,” Xie continues. “For Fred again.. that meant re-learning the marimba, playing the vibraphone, singing at the piano and looping sounds and beats — all at the same time.”
Watch Fred again..’s Tiny Desk concert below:
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Tony Yayo’s signature hand gesture has taken on new heights. He has saluted Angel Reese for her iconic use of the “You Can’t See Me” dance.
As per Complex the Southside Queens, New York native recently spoke to TMZ Sports about the Louisiana State University women’s basketball team’s championship run. Not only did the LSU ladies defeat Iowa but their star player Angel Reese gave America’s NCAA sweetheart Caitlin Clark a taste of her own medicine by doing it in front of her once the victory was secured. Surprisingly the moment soon went viral and while media outlets largely gave credit to wrestler John Cena for the dance, real ones knew it all started with Tony Yayo.
The G-Unit member put respect on the power forward when asked about her doing the dance. “Any kind of sports, talking trash is a part of the game,” Tony explained. “I mean, it was for the championship game. It’s competition. Even when I’m playing 2k — if you playin’ in the game, with video games, we get excited. You know?”
Yayo went on to share why he originated the move. “It’s just a dance. I don’t take nothin’ personal. It was a dance I created because I was trying to hide from the police. But shout out to all them people — John Cena, Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark — and definitely Flavor Flav. But Angel Reese? You know, she took the ‘U Can’t C Me’ dance to a whole another level.”
You can see Tony Yayo discuss the iconic celebration below.
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After a nearly month-long intensive search, authorities announced on Sunday (April 9) that they found the bodies of Lotus percussionist Chuck Morris and his 20-year-old son, Charley, who went missing last month during a kayaking trip in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
According to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, the bodies of the father and son were found 24 days after they went missing on March 16. The Sheriff’s Office announced the news in a FB post, in which they wrote that the effort began last month in the South Lost Bridge Village of Beaver Lake, utilizing resources from across the country, including an underwater drone “in a challenging environment that exceeded depths of 180′.”
“After 24 days of recovery efforts, the bodies of both Charles Morris IV (Chuck-Father) and Charles Morris V (Charley-son) have been recovered thanks to the technology and efforts by all personnel,” the post read.
On March 21, the band announced that the search for the pair had shifted to a recovery effort. “We were all hoping for a miracle, but at this point, the search for Chuck and Charley has moved to a recovery,” they wrote at the time. “With help from the K9 team, there is a probable location on the lake, but logistical challenges including temperature, weather, and depth have prevented a recovery thus far. It is unknown how long these efforts may take. While we are deeply grieving, we plan to celebrate Chuck and Charley’s lives, our memories with them, and what they meant to so many people.”
In a tribute post on Sunday, the group shared a message from the Morris family that read, “Our family was informed by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office that Charley Morris has been found. We have concluded the cause of his death was drowning. The teams are still actively searching for Chuck Morris, but we continue to have faith in their work.”
Formed in the late ’90s, Lotus was a favorite on the North American jam and electronic circuits, playing clubs shows and festivals including Camp Bisco, Gem & Jam and Okeechobee, along with major venues including Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Terminal 5 in New York City.
Lotus had already played a number of shows this year, with more club and festival dates booked through September; at press time it was unclear if Lotus will perform all those gigs in the wake of Morris’ death. The group’s next scheduled shows are a pair of benefit concerts for the Morris family on April 21 and 22 at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, Colorado; another benefit show will take place at XL Live in Harrisburg, PA on May 5, with a fourth slated for May 6 at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY.
The tribute post noted the concerts and a GoFundMe for the family to meet their immediate financial needs. “Thank you all for the outpour of support from around the world – we feel it and love you just as much!” they wrote. “We look forward to meeting many of the Lotus fans at the upcoming benefit concerts.”
Check out the band’s tribute below.
Gordo‘s tour schedule makes him a citizen of the world, but his roots are in Guatemala.
The producer’s mother and grandmother were undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. from the Central American country before he was born. The pair were detained and separated at the Texan border before making their way to Washington, D.C., where Gordo was born Diamanté Blackmon in 1991. The trio soon thereafter returned to Guatemala, where Blackmon spent most of his childhood.
Now the producer is giving kids in the country a jump on life by funding an elementary school near Guatemala City. This school, Edificio Taraka, is the third he’s helped build in Central America, with the first two in Nicaragua. The project was completed in collaboration with Seeds Of Learning, a Nicaragua-based non-profit launched in the late ’80s after the Nicaraguan civil war, and with whom Blackmon has had a decade-long partnership.
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Edificio Taraka
Courtesy of Edificio Taraka
“As someone who considers himself to have lived the American dream,” Blackmon tells Billboard, “I really do not take anything for granted, and want to give back more than take in. My grandmother risked everything to get to this country and I just try to make her proud.” (Blackmon’s grandmother now resides in a house in Hawaii he bought for her, and where he also lives while not on tour.)
His $100,000 donation to Edificio Taraka has covered the cost of construction, staffing and learning materials. But, he says, these efforts are just the beginning of his work with the school, and that together, the Taraka team is working on an athletic program, a stage for school recitals, a meal program and naturally, music classes, “even,” he says, “if it’s a basic piano lesson.” The school will also teach English, a particularly meaningful lesson plan for Blackmon.
Edificio Taraka
Courtesy of Edificio Taraka
“English is my second language and adapting to the United States school system was very difficult for me,” he says. “Personally I love that these kids in Guatemala will have the chance to learn English.”
As the producer has recently transitioned out of the longstanding Carnage project that made him an electronic world star into his house- and techno-focused project Gordo, so, too, is he also intending to expand “my time and money across education, immigration and music.”
“Most people don’t know this side of me,” he says, “but I am looking forward to shedding light on a variety of philanthropic initiatives this year.”
On the music front, Gordo also announced on Friday (April 7) his new Las Vegas residency across the Strip’s Tao Group properties, Hakkasan, Marquee and Tao Beach. This seven-date residency launches on April 30 and extends through October.
Edificio Taraka
Courtesy of Edificio Taraka
Illenium and Nina Nesbitt surge to No. 1 from No. 4 on Billboard’s Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart (dated April 8) with “Luv Me a Little.”
Up 45% in plays March 24-30, as the survey’s Greatest Gainer, the track is drawing core-dance airplay on SiriusXM’s BPM, Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel and iHeartRadio’s Evolution network, among other outlets, according to Luminate.
The track turns somber source material into a hit. Says Illenium, “This song’s about one-sided relationships and overinvesting in people who don’t give you that love back.”
Illenium, originally from Illinois, notches his fourth Dance/Mix Show Airplay No. 1. Nesbitt, from Scotland, leads the list for the first time.
Illenium’s three previous No. 1s, for a week each, on the chart: “Takeaway,” with The Chainsmokers and featuring Lennon Stella (November 2019); “Nightlight” (November 2020); and “Hearts on Fire,” with Dabin and LIGHTS (April 2021).
“Little” previews Illenium’s self-titled album, due April 28.
Other Hits To ‘Go Dancing’ To
As Illenium and Nesbitt’s “Love” crowns Dance/Mix Show Airplay, four other songs reach the top 10.
Frank Walker and Ella Henderson’s “I Go Dancing” bounds 11-4, marking the acts’ third and fourth top 10 each.
Taylor Swift’s “Lavender Haze” leaps 13-7, becoming her 10th top 10. “Anti-Hero,” the prior single from her latest album, Midnights, hit No. 3 in January, making the set her first with multiple top 10s since 1989, from 2014, generated five.
“Nothing in Common” becomes MOTi’s first Dance/Mix Show Airplay top 10, and featured artist’s Raphi second, jumping 19-9.
Plus, Icona Pop and Galantis up their top 10 counts to five and nine, respectively, as “I Want You” soars 25-10.
‘54’ From Bizarrap’s Studio
Meanwhile on Billboard’s streaming-, airplay- and sales-driven Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, Bizarrap and Arcangel’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 54” flies 15-8, marking the former’s third top 10 and the latter’s first. In its first full tracking week, the collaboration drew 3.2 million official U.S. streams.
Bizarrap’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” with Shakira, spends a 10th week at its No. 2 best on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. The series’ “Vol. 52,” with Quevedo, hit No. 4 last August.
“Vol. 54” concurrently starts on Hot Latin Songs at No. 34. “Vol. 53” ruled the chart for five weeks beginning in January, after “Vol. 52” hit No. 9 in November.
This weekend an album made in the forced seclusion of lockdown sees the light of day — and the darkness of the dancefloor — as Amtrac hits the road for the 17-date run behind his Extra Time LP.
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Released in February via the Los Angeles-based producer’s own Openers label, the album is a warm voyage of synth and feeling, with the smart productions spanning moods from melancholy to longing to joy and catharsis with lush sophistication.
Audiences can partake in these many vibes starting tomorrow at Toronto club The Velvet Underground, with the tour then working its way across the U.S. through early June.
Ahead of this affair, one entirely out of reach during the making of the album behind it, the artist born Caleb Cornett offers the backstory on the album, his hobbies and sampling the legends of Motown.
1. Where are you in the world right now, and what’s the setting like?
Currently on a flight back from Miami Music Week; the setting is tranquil.
2. What is the first album or piece of music you bought for yourself, and what was the medium?
Pretty sure it was a cassette single of The Prodigy’s “Firestarter.” Also I remember the first CD I ever bought was the soundtrack for [1997 comic book adaptation] Spawn.
3. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid, and what do or did they think of what you do for a living now?
My mom has always worked at a bookstore, and my dad works for the food distributor Sysco.
4. What’s the first non-gear thing you bought for yourself when you started making money as an artist?
I cant recall; it’s honestly almost always gear.
5. If you had to recommend one album for someone looking to get into dance/electronic music, what would you give them?
Tough question, how about two: Moderat’s [self-titled 2009] first album and Clark’s Body Riddle.
6. What’s the last song you listened to?
XTC, “Making Plans For Nigel.”
7. You wrote on Instagram that you made Extra Time to “cope with times of uncertainty.” How does this body of work help you cope in that way?
I made the majority of the record locked inside during lockdown; it was my outlet for what I was feeling. One of the few things that kept me sane, my way of coping.
8. Everybody’s so damn busy all the time. Are you able to find actual extra time in your life?
Luckily yes, I spend just as much time cooking as I do making music — that’s slowly but surely becoming more of a passion.
9. Tell me about getting the Four Tops sample on the album via “Nobody Else.” What did the inspiration strike to use it, and what was the clearing process like?
I’ve been sampling Motown records for a while now, usually just as place holders for inspiration. “Nobody Else” just felt right — I wanted to see if we could get the sample cleared. Luckily Motown was into the record and we made it all work. My tracks “Those Days” and “Hold On” also included some cleared Motown samples from Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.
10. How did you celebrate finishing the LP?
I went out for some nice szechuan cuisine.
11. This album has the distinction of having a beer made in its honor. Fun. How did that happen?
My lifelong friends opened a brewery in my hometown in Morehead, Kentucky a few years back. I approached them with the idea and magic happened. It was such a blast. I have little to no knowledge when it comes to brewing beer, so it was a great learning experience as well; I loved helping with the whole process.
12. What’s the best city in the world for dance music currently? Why?
I would say Los Angeles is pretty great when it comes to diversity. I’ve seen all walks of electronic over the past few years here.
13. You’re about to embark on a major tour. Have you done anything special to get mentally and physically prepared for this run?
Mainly just trying to be a as healthy as I can prior, eating my greens and working up a sweat in the gym.
14. The most exciting thing happening in dance music currently is _____?
I would have to say the parties, especially the underground — It’s constantly evolving and theres always new crews popping up. Los Angeles has some great things going on with Lights Down Low, Rhonda, Cyclone & IYKYK to name a few.
15. The most annoying thing happening in dance music currently is _____?
Copycats. There are tons of producers out there trying to sound like someone else. You can see right though it; it’s just lazy to me. Don’t be afraid to take risks, venture into the unknown.
16. Do you have guilty pleasure music?
I probably play OMC’s “How Bizarre” too much.
17. The proudest moment of your career thus far?
Being able to put out music myself, setting up my own label.
18. What’s the best business decision you’ve ever made?
Also, starting my own label, 100%.
19. Who was your greatest mentor, and what was the best advice they gave you?
I would have to say my managers, they’ve been with me for over a decade now and started working with me when I hadn’t really released any music. They were the first people who saw a bigger picture with what I was doing, just the mere fact they believed in me changed my outlook, having a team has made the world of difference.
20. One piece of advice you’d give to your younger self?
Don’t let anyone else tell you what’s cool, decide for yourself. Also, you’re cool.
Burning Man’s famous Mayan Warrior art car has been destroyed in a fire that happened earlier this week in Mexico.
The car was en route to an April 8 fundraiser in Punta de Mita — a beach town on the country’s central Pacific coast — when, according to a social media post shared today (April 5) by Mayan Warrior organizers, it caught fire and “burned to ashes.” The cause of this fire has not been given.
“Over the last twenty-four hours, I have felt a roller coaster of emotions, from sadness, shock, and devastation to immense gratitude while reflecting on what the Mayan Warrior family and this community means to me,” Mayan Warrior founder Pablo González Vargas wrote in the post sharing the news.
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Since debuting at Burning Man in 2012, Mayan Warrior grew into the event’s biggest, flashiest and most beloved art cars, becoming a prestige stage for DJs on the playa. Over the years, Mayan Warrior hosted sets from DJ Tennis, Jan Blomqvist, Damian Lazarus, Bedouin, Carlita, Francesca Lombardo and other stars of the underground house and techno world, along with artists from the Mexican electronic community that the Warrior is focused on showcasing. Producers today expressed their shock at the events, with Adam Port commenting “Please no….” and BLOND:ISH writing simply “all love.”
Based in Mexico City, Mayan Warrior more recently become a traveling venue, going on tour throughout Mexico, Europe, the U.S. and points beyond, drawing in the community it had developed at Burning Man while pulling more people into Burner culture. Money raised from these shows funded Mayan Warrior’s return to Burning Man each August, with González Vargas last year telling Billboard that costs of bringing the car to the event hit around $300,000 annually.
Funds raised also went to Planet Buyback, a charitable initiative that works to protect habitats and cultures in Mexico and beyond, with whom Mayan Warrior has a partnership.
Mayan Warrior will host three more fundraisers in Punta de Mita, Mexico this Saturday (April 8), in New York on July 8 and in Los Angeles on Halloween. According to the Mayan Warrior team, these will be the final Mayan Warrior shows.
In the post González Vargas also notes that the team will return to Burning Man in some form, writing that “as a community, we will continue to thrive and return every year to our beloved home in the desert. We strongly believe it is in these unplanned moments the universe finds ways to amaze us and plant seeds for growth. Only time will tell what our next artistic expression to the world will look like.”
Check out Vargas’ full post and see photos of the fire below:
Hulaween will once again unite the heady forces of dance music and jam bands with its annual soiree, happening in Live Oak, FL this October 26-29.
Leading the lineup are jam favorites The String Cheese Incident, Trey Anastasio Band, Goose, Dispatch and Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade. From the dance side, headliners include Channel Tres (who indeed recently told Billboard he’s ready for “that big stage type of energy”), along with John Summit, Elderbrook, BLOND:ISH, Manic Focus, Eprom and a headlining set from Pretty Lights, who on Tuesday (April 4) announced this show as part of his 2023 comeback tour. See the complete lineup, featuring more than 90 acts, below.
2023 marks the 10th anniversary of Hulaween, which is independently operated by Collectiv Events, the same company behind Chicago’s North Coast Music Festival and the Sacred Rose fest, which debuted last year in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview.
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“The festival and concert industry landscape continues to be bought up and homogenized by the majors, so staying the course as true independents and surviving through all of the highs and lows we’ve endured to this milestone 10 year anniversary, is incredible,” says Hulaween co-founder, brand manager and talent buyer Michael Berg.
“We think back fondly of all the people who have been part of the Hula journey with us, and how the team continues to learn and grow to elevate the experience and lineup every year,” Berg continues. “We’ve proudly stayed true to this community and culture we are servicing and hope to keep doing that for at least another 10!”
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