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One year ago, singers, songwriters, producers, guitarists, drummers and bandura players from Ukraine were making the transition from being musicians to soldiers, refugees and volunteers.
In interviews with Billboard, they complained of headaches and stress as they navigated their new daily routines of sheltering from bombing attacks. Today, the entire group of 14, from veteran rock star Oleg Skrypka to emerging rapper alyona alyona, are safe and healthy, though weary from navigating the pressures of balancing recording and touring careers with drawing attention to the Ukrainian cause. They are providing help and resources to the soldiers protecting them from Russian forces while working to ensure their families are out of danger.
As the country prepares to mark the one-year anniversary of the invasion on Feb. 24, Billboard followed up with the Ukrainians featured in last year’s story. War has changed their lives in dramatically different ways. Andriy Khlyvnyuk, the singer-songwriter behind Boombox, is a soldier. The electro-folk duo ONUKA fled the country and relocated to Switzerland to preserve their mental health. Through a translator, Natalia Rybka-Parkhomenko of folk group Kurbasy tells how her brother returned home briefly to Lviv before going back to his military post. “He said the sausage at the petrol station is something unbelievable that he enjoys,” she says. “The shower, the washing machine, the heating system. We take it for granted. The art of small things brings you happiness.” For these musicians, those small things include making new songs, playing gigs and marketing their music on social media.
Andriy Khlyvnyuk
On the February day when Khlyvnyuk, 43, connects with Billboard from Kyiv, he is crashing at his sparsely furnished apartment. At one point, he pulls back his phone camera to show baggage and equipment strewn about the floor. The following day, he is to return to the front line, where he operates drones to identify and kill Russians. “It flies 400 meters high and it can fly 20 miles,” he says. “I’m more or less secure.” In two weeks, Khlyvnyuk will take a break from war to temporarily resume his lifelong occupation as the singer-songwriter for Boombox, which collaborated last year with Pink Floyd on the Ukrainian war song “Stand Up.” The group will soon tour North America for three weeks. Khlyvnyuk is a musician. He writes songs. How does he mentally process the killing of enemy soldiers? “I think all of us will have to go to the doctor when this s— ends,” Khlyvnyuk says.
Andriy Khlyvnyuk, front man of Boombox photographed March 24, 2022 in Kyiv.
Sasha Maslov
alyona alyona
Following delays due to the war and the pandemic, alyona alyona, the 31-year-old schoolteacher-turned-rapper best known for her 2018 viral hit, “Rybky,” was finally able to tour Europe and the United States last year. It was just part of her punishing travel schedule. Between gigs, she lives with her parents 40 minutes from Kyiv for roughly a week out of every month, then resides in Poland for another week for easy access to planes and airports. When she has extra time, she volunteers to visit Ukrainians in cities throughout Europe to give information about supporting the cause and helping refugees. “I live everywhere but nowhere,” she says. “It was gypsy life.” Early this year, her body demanded she take a break from the intensity and anxiety; her constant tooth-grinding had necessitated an operation. For a month, she shut out music and the war and spent time with her boyfriend and visited her grandfather. She returns to Europe for a tour later this month. “You have to think about yourself or you get sick,” she says, from a studio in Gdansk, Poland, where she is working on new tracks. “I know many Ukrainians feel the same.”
Alyona Alyona, Ukrainian rapper photographed March 23, 2022 in Kyiv.
Sasha Maslov
Kurbasy
No longer operating a shelter in Lviv’s Les Kurbas Theatre, Rybka-Parkhomenko and Mariia Oneshchak of folk group Kurbasy have pivoted to staging musical productions for 60 people nightly from Thursday to Sunday. Two young actors in their troupe left for the front line of the war, including one in a “very hot spot,” as Oneshchak calls it, speaking via Telegram with a translator. The student-soldier regularly texts photos and messages from the front. Like all Ukrainians, they’ve recalibrated their lives according to the whims of Russian bombing runs, which wake them up at 3 a.m. Oneshchak mentions a new military cemetery near her home. “She doesn’t look at it very often,” the translator says, “but still she notices how fast it grows. That is something she can’t get used to.” Adds Rybka-Parkhomenko: “When the victory will come, we won’t celebrate very loudly. We probably will just cry and sing about those heroes that we lost.”
From left: Mariia Oneshchak and Natalia Rybka-Parkhomenko of band Kurbasy photographed March 25, 2022 in Lviv.
Sasha Maslov
Yulia Yurina and Yana Polupanova
Kyiv studio-turned-shelter Masterskaya, where singer Yulia Yurina was living with another two dozen musicians after the Russian invasion, has closed. Yurina, who became regionally famous when her band YUKO competed in Ukraine’s national final for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, and Yana Polupanova, Masterskaya’s marketing director, are back to living in apartments. “All the recent Russian attacks, we have seen by our own eyes,” Yurina says during a Telegram call with a translator. “It creates a lot of problems, but life is precious.” Yurina, 28, has spent the past year organizing charity concerts, many of which are located in underground shelters, as well as teaching folk music and folklore as part of a program called Muzykuvannya. “Every day we are scared less and less, but it is not normal to wait for some kind of explosion,” says Polupanova, 27. “It is still putting us in a stress all the time.”
Astronata
Since electronic artists Nata Smirina and Ilya Misyura fled Lviv last April to live in Aarau, Switzerland, Smirina’s debilitating migraines have mostly subsided. “I’m not sure when the joy of living came back to me, specifically,” says Smirina, 31, who runs a clothing brand called hochusobitake and donates some proceeds to the war effort. “You don’t have these air alarms five times a day, really loud. People do not know. They’re 500 kilometers from the border and they do not even have this idea of what war is, and it’s happening not too far from here.” After crossing the border — an immigration officer interviewed Misyura, a Russian citizen who opposes the Ukrainian invasion, for two hours — they soon realized they had to compensate for the higher cost of living in Switzerland. So Misyura partially paused his longtime career as a producer and took a job as a scientific researcher at a university. They’ve since regained the emotional strength to make music again, putting out tracks by their electronic bands Astronata and purpurpeople. “It was like an opening to me,” says Smirina, who still hopes to marry Misyura someday, possibly in Portugal. “It’s crazy important for a person to have this feeling of safety ground under your feet. It gives you so much strength.”
Volodymyr Voyt
Halfway through a brief WhatsApp call, Volodymyr Voyt picks up one of his 15 banduras, a traditional Ukrainian instrument that combines elements of a zither and a lute, and begins strumming. This one was made in 1929, he says, and he has recovered all of them since fleeing from Kyiv to Lviv last year. “We are somewhat used to living in these conditions,” says Voyt, 43, who lives with his wife, Ruslana, also a bandurist, and his 3-year-old daughter, Tereza. Earlier that day, his family had to flee to a shelter in their apartment for seven minutes, although air-raid sirens can last as long as five hours. Tereza attends kindergarten and occasionally retreats to a basement shelter with no light. “This is very hard, I think,” Voyt says. Voyt toured Europe last year with the 100-plus-member Hryhory Verjovka Ukrainian National Folkloric Ensemble, then returned to Kyiv in June. Ruslana has been playing with the local NAONI Orchestra at local concert halls, and Voyt says, “Sometimes we have [an] alarm, and the concert [stops] and people must go in the basement.”
Vera Logdanidi
Splitting time between Kyiv and Budapest, Hungary, the DJ spent much of last year performing at electronic-music festivals and concerts. “Kyiv is my home and I have a lot of friends, I have a flat, I have some tasks to do,” says Logdnanidi, 34, who lives with her husband in Budapest while her mother lives in Kyiv. “It’s not like I finished my story with Ukraine and decided to leave.” She played a club gig last December in her hometown, although the curfews made it more difficult, as events must be completed before the streets close at 10 p.m. “It was super-cool to see people drinking, having fun,” she recalls. “But, you know, you have a shadow.”
Oleg Skrypka
Weary and red-faced in his Kyiv apartment building, with flickering power and a spotty internet connection, Skrypka, the frontman for popular Ukrainian rock band Vopli Vidopliasova, flashes a charismatic smile as he showcases his wartime resilience. “My generator works for hours,” he explains. “There is no petrol. So I went to put petrol in the generator. So now it works.” Skrypka has been touring Europe for much of the past year, obtaining permission from the Ukrainian government on each trip to take a train to Poland and access international airports. “Yeah, I am very tired. But it’s like that,” he says. “I understand it’s much more difficult to be here, on the front. My friends, or friends of my friends, they’re in very, very hard situations.” The band’s guitarist, who is in the army, was “lightly traumatized” and had to go to a military hospital, then back to Kyiv for two weeks. He reunited with Skrypka for a few concerts before returning to the army, Skrypa says.
1914
Now and then, Dmytro Kumar, frontman for the Ukrainian death-metal band 1914, messages Basil Lagenndorf to ask how things are going. “Fine, guys,” responds the band’s guitarist, who is serving in the military: He operates a grenade launcher at the front. “Tell my wife I’m OK. Keep on going.” Minus Lagenndorf, the band spent much of 2022 playing festivals and clubs in Europe, trying to draw attention to and raise support for the Ukrainian cause. But the experience isn’t the same as it used to be — and not just because fans sometimes upbraid Kumar for talking too much about war while on stage. “You’re checking your phones, you’re seeing this bombing and you call and say, ‘We will be home.’ You’re stressed every time,” says Kumar, 40, speaking by phone from his home in Lviv one evening when the electricity is more reliable. “You’re playing music because you must, not because it’s your dream and you [have] a lot of fun.”
ONUKA
After briefly moving to Warsaw to obtain travel documents for a U.S. tour last year, electronic musicians Nata Zhyzhchenko, 37, and Eugene Filatov, 39, of electro-folk band ONUKA, were forced to leave their two-year-old son, Alex, with a nanny at their Kyiv home. “It was the first day rockets were shelling Kyiv, just at night,” Zhyzhchenko recalls on a messaging app from the couple’s apartment on the sixth floor, as the sun sets through a large window. “When you are outside, especially when your child or parents or family is here, it’s very hard to accept.” (Alex’s first words were a Ukrainian phrase meaning “the light was gone.”) Determined to stay in Kyiv despite the “lizard-brain” realities of “run, hide, eat, sleep,” as Filatov describes them, the couple has made a single and video drawing connections between the current war and the 1932 Soviet-induced Holodomor, or Great Famine, in Ukraine. “When you have the work, it’s a great pleasure, because you have to do something and not concentrate just on power, light and alarm-siren issues,” Zhyzhchenko says.
Doechii recently watched Avatar: The Way of Water, and it got her thinking about a key Na’vi tenet: “All energy is borrowed, and someday you have to give it back.” “That’s exactly how I feel,” she says. “From the women before me, I’m borrowing their energy so that one day I can give it back to the girl after me. That’s what I’m here to do.”
In just the past year, the 24-year-old rapper from Tampa, Fla. — who started releasing music in the 2010s before self-funding her debut EP in 2020 — has used that energy to impressive ends. In March, she became the first female rapper to sign with Top Dawg Entertainment, subsequently scoring a record deal with Capitol as well. Late-night TV and awards show performances followed, as did a string of standout singles, most notably “Persuasive,” which has 30 million official U.S. on-demand streams, according to Luminate. She also released her major-label debut EP, the five-track she / her / black b–ch, which peaked at No. 23 on the Heatseekers Albums chart and featured Rico Nasty and labelmate slash “big sister” SZA.
“Everything aligned,” says Doechii. And yet, despite her stellar 2022, this year’s Rising Star is planning an even bigger 2023 — which will include the first male feature on one of her songs, a Coachella performance and the release of her first full-length. “I’m in year three of my five-year plan,” she continues. “I’m constantly rising and I definitely haven’t arrived yet — at all. But I’m coming.”
What kind of pressure have you felt as the first female rapper signed to Top Dawg Entertainment?
A good pressure, because I know with me being the first, the next female rapper on TDE is going to look to me, look at the things I did and didn’t accomplish, and hopefully be better than me. That’s the point. I’m a leader of a new era of TDE, which feels really good. A lot of my fans reach out all the time about the impact that I’m making for them just being an alternative Black girl. Doing it on TDE like this is cool.
You mentioned borrowing energy and passing it on. Who did that for you?
They don’t even know they did it for me. It was artists like Trina, Nicki Minaj, Lauryn Hill, SZA — just powerful women being powerful women. Even watching Beyoncé be Beyoncé, she shows me that I have permission to be a boss. I can be a woman, and I can be a boss. Then Rihanna, she’ll be like, “I can be a savage.” Sometimes I’m sassy, sometimes I’m not. Watching all of them gives me permission to be more of myself.
Doechii photographed on May 17, 2022 at Seret Studios in Brooklyn.
Hao Zeng
Is there a favorite recent memory you shared with your labelmate SZA?
She’s like a big sister to me. When we were on tour [in 2021] she gave me a lot of advice on what to expect from the industry and how to carry myself. She has just always been supportive of who I am.
You mentioned your five-year plan — what will year five look like?
By year five I want to be at my peak. I want to be in my Sasha Fierce era, the top of my game with still a long way to go — but I want to reach my prime and never leave it.
You show so many sides of yourself in your music. What haven’t we seen yet?
Y’all are going to get it this year. It’s my pop era. Usually I’m alone [in the studio], but these days I’ve been inviting people in. Usually I like people to send me beats and I’ll just listen through, but recently I’ve been working with producers like J White in person, which is cool. So my vibe is kind of changing; it’s a lot of energy. It feels like a party.
Doechii photographed on May 17, 2022 at Seret Studios in Brooklyn.
Hao Zeng
Is this the year you’ll release a full project?
I will. I said that last year, though, and I didn’t. Like, for real for real, I have to this year. It’s not even funny, I have to. It’s time for me to debut this year. My fans will kill me if I don’t.
This story will appear in the Feb. 25, 2023, issue of Billboard.
When asked if she remembers her first forays into producing, Rosalía giggles. “Oh, my God. I always felt that I wasn’t good enough, so I would treat it more like a game,” she says, before quickly adding, “Still, I wanted to learn how to make a beat because when the time came that I needed to do it, I would be able to do it.”
What started as a “game” inevitably became a way for the 30-year-old Spanish star to gain creative control — something she doesn’t take for granted considering the lack of women in the field. “There’s [still] skepticism about a woman being able to be an artist, singer, producer and songwriter at the same time. To me, these disciplines are not mutually exclusive.”
Like her previous albums (Los Ángeles and El Mal Querer), Rosalía’s Grammy-winning Motomami, released in 2022, thrives on the intersection of those skills. The sonically groundbreaking set — which finds her boldly fusing jazz and reggaetón (“Saoko”), as well as sampling Soulja Boy in an otherwise traditional bolero (“Delirio de Grandeza”) — is an honest expression of the creative freedom she felt as she drew inspiration from the sounds and artists that have shaped her. During the sessions, she would sit in the studio for 15 hours or more, searching for the right sounds, arrangements and structures for each song. “My homework as a producer is to follow my intuition,” she says firmly. “It’s to make decisions and take risks.”
Following in the footsteps of the artist-producers she read about when she was younger, like Björk and Missy Elliott, Billboard’s first-ever Women in Music Producer of the Year hopes to motivate a new generation of innovators.
What led you to first take on this role in the studio?
My first desire was to be onstage and share something. Then I realized that I wanted to decide what I was going to sing. I also wanted to decide what I was going to say and how it would sound. I didn’t just want to be an interpreter. I wanted to write, and then I wanted to produce. The desire to create became bigger than the desire to just interpret.
Is Motomami the freest you’ve ever felt as a producer?
One hundred percent yes. I was always thinking: “How can I be freer?” Fear, or whatever the opposite of freedom is, is the biggest enemy for a creative. There was an urge to find the reason why I’m doing this. “What is the world all about? What is life about?” All those things matter, and it’s why I make music.
What’s Rosalía the producer like in the studio?
I try to not have a specific idea of how a song must sound. Instead, I go in with concepts, or ilusiones, of how I would like it to sound. But never a rigid idea. That’s not organic, nor is it productive. Producing also requires humility because you’re constantly testing out ideas. I remember Pharrell [Williams] once told me that we’re just testing ideas from the universe because no one really owns an idea. I love that concept.
You’ve been very vocal about the lack of representation of women producers. Why is that important to you?
If you don’t see yourself represented in a role like this, how can you picture yourself working in that position? I became a songwriter and producer because I cared way too much. I did research when I was younger of women who were producing, and it was hard to find them, but they taught me that this was possible. Björk, Delia Derbyshire, Kate Bush — they’ve done this, and we don’t talk about it enough. I know I’m not the only one because there’s a new generation of women producing like Caroline Polachek, PinkPantheress — there are literally so many. It would be great if more people knew about them outside of the industry.
This story will appear in the Feb. 25, 2023, issue of Billboard.
It’s 9:15 a.m. in Seoul, and most of the nine members of TWICE have just woken up. They’re barefaced, dressed casually and cozily in warm knits and sweatshirts; Chaeyoung still wears her parka hood, her blonde hair peeking out of the bottom. Nayeon, seated next to her, cleans her glasses with her shirt sleeve. Tzuyu, however, is alert and attentive. When I ask (through a translator) who’s the early riser of the group, everyone points to her.
This morning, the women of TWICE look more like students who’ve arrived at an early-morning class than the wildly popular K-pop girl group they are. But for their globe-spanning cohort of fans (known as ONCE), this is a familiar sight. The group’s long-running YouTube reality and vlog show, TWICE TV, along with other online vlog content, have gone behind the scenes with the act since its 2015 debut. Over the past seven-plus years, fans have followed along as Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu (who range in age from 23 to 27) have recorded music; toured across South Korea and Asia; attended award ceremonies; debuted their first-ever English-language single, “The Feels”; and, last year, played and sold out U.S. arenas, a still-rare feat for K-pop artists.
“That was our first time having a concert of that scale, so it was really shocking for us to see so many fans in the U.S.,” says Jihyo, recalling TWICE’s two nights in May 2022 at Los Angeles’ Banc of California Stadium.
Nayeon
Sunhye Shin
Jeongyeon
Sunhye Shin
“At that time in Korea, we couldn’t perform in the same way as in the U.S.,” adds Chaeyoung, referring to South Korea’s stringent COVID-19 restrictions. “So it was really refreshing to see the fans face to face in the U.S.”
Only a few of TWICE’s members speak English, but their fans’ raging devotion has long dispelled any questions about the group’s ability to successfully cross over. TWICE crafted a strong foundational identity early on with technicolor, rush-inducing pop exemplified by hits like 2018’s “What Is Love?” and 2019’s “Fancy.” More recently, it has expanded its sonic palette. Last year, “The Feels,” a groovy, disco-inflected song about a budding crush, became the group’s first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 (peaking at No. 83). Its subsequent album, Formula of Love: O+T =
The September day that Becky G learned she had scored her first No. 1 as a solo artist on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart, with “Bailé Con Mi Ex,” she woke up her fiancé, the soccer star Sebastian Lletget, with tears in her eyes. “He was like, ‘Is everything OK? Why are you crying?’ ” she remembers. “A lot of people like to say I’m only successful because of my collaborations. To be able to prove myself as an artist and carry my own weight was important for me. To show the world that whichever way, collaborations or alone, I’m good.”
That solo feat is just one of many points of pride for the 25-year-old Mexican American artist and businesswoman, born Rebbeca Marie Gomez, these days. In 2022, she earned her first No. 1 on the Latin Pop Albums chart with the 14-track Esquemas, and another album — her first regional Mexican set — is due to arrive later this year. Come April, she’ll have “a huge opportunity to reintroduce myself to the world” when she plays Coachella under her own name for the first time.
Jean Paul Gaultier top, AKIRA jacket, Versace shorts, Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, Moschino earrings, Grace Lee and Yvonne Léon rings.
Martha Galvan
All the while, Becky G has used her platform to help elevate the women around her. “This industry has really tried to condition women to see each other as competition. We’ve had to survive these very male-dominated spaces because of that ‘there’s only one seat at the table’ mentality. So we’re looking at each other like, ‘Who’s going to get it?’ [But] at my table, everyone is welcome,” she says firmly. “When I open the door, I’m going to leave it open and make sure everyone gets in.”
That impulse, she says, comes from her experience growing up in a tight-knit community in Inglewood, Calif., where her grandmother would cook for her grandchildren and, “If Doña Lolita from down the street came over, she would have enough [food] for her kids too,” says Becky G. “My entire being has been inspired by the houses I grew up in, the people that raised me. It really does take a village when it comes to our culture. Where one person eats, everyone can eat. I’ve really lived by ‘sharing is caring.’ ”
Monot dress, Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, Eéera earrings, Vera Belleza ring.
Martha Galvan
And this year’s Impact honoree applies that kind of thinking not only within the music industry but beyond it, including as a co-chair of Michelle Obama’s voter registration nonprofit, When We All Vote. “I want to be a bridge-maker. I want to be a peacemaker,” Becky G says. “I want to be a real model, not a role model, because I know perfection is not real.”
How have you used your position to create change around you?
It’s not about what you identify as but who you are and how you treat other people and the change you want to make after you become the change. Someone told me the other day, “This contract looks like industry standard,” and I really challenged them. I said, “To be honest, that’s offensive because industry standard wasn’t made with people like me in mind.” It wasn’t made for young, brown women who are Latinas; who identify as a boss; who have ideas; who speak two languages. It’s about time that the industry starts to reflect that. And not just in how we’re represented but how we’re treated, how we’re paid, how we’re invited into those spaces. Changing those things is hard and I can’t do that alone, so I’m grateful I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with so many women.
Marine Serre top and pants, Al Zain necklaces, Rainbow K, Yvonne Leon and Grace Lee rings.
Martha Galvan
Which artist made you believe you could have an impact outside of music?
Selena. She was more than just a pretty face. She was a kind person, a good person, and that heart she had for people translated not just into her artistry but how she loved her fans. Being Tex-Mex, speaking Spanglish, someone who took over genres that were very male-dominated, she inspired other people.
How have you chosen which issues matter to you most?
It’s hard to think about being one person and saving the world, but when you think about being one person and making just a small impact in your community, it feels a lot more achievable. There are a lot of trailblazers coming into these spaces, and it’s important to create alliances.
Jean Paul Gaultier top, AKIRA jacket, Versace shorts, Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, Moschino earrings, Grace Lee and Yvonne Léon rings.
Martha Galvan
What does receiving the Impact award mean to you?
There’s nothing more rewarding than knowing that you’re helping others and not expecting anything in return other than seeing people live in their truths, being inspired to be the change, live better lives because of whatever awareness I can bring. That, ultimately, is my version of success.
Miu Miu top, Area NY skirt, Wolford stockings, Marc Jacobs shoes, Grace Lee earrings.
Martha Galvan
This story originally appeared in the February 25, 2023, issue of Billboard.
By the time Lainey Wilson showcased for BMG Nashville staff in 2018, she was at a crossroads. She had already been in Nashville for over five years after leaving her small Louisiana hometown of Baskin and was struggling to fit in. Her heavily accented, twangy country vocals and Southern swagger weren’t in fashion as the genre leaned more toward pop, but her attempts to accommodate that style weren’t working either. So she doubled down on her tough-but-vulnerable authenticity. With that attitude, she sang, “She’s a soldier/When I hold her/Up in the air” in her defiant “Middle Finger.” “Take that, Nashville,” she thought.
Wilson, now 30, laughs when she remembers that time. “I just got to a certain point where I’d been in Nashville for so long [and] my give-a-damn was a little busted. I felt like, ‘Why not just say what I want to say how I want to say it?’ That’s one of the thoughts that really set me free.”
Lainey Wilson photographed on December 1, 2022 at Eldorado Canyon in Nelson, Nev.
Sami Drasin
That fearlessness — and her robust, honest voice — captivated BMG Nashville president Jon Loba, who had been turned on to Wilson by another artist on his roster, Jimmie Allen.
“[She had] this absolute confidence. And it was an amazing vocal and, even at that time, amazing songs,” says Loba, who immediately signed her to Broken Bow Records. “But it was her narrative in between the music [where] you really got a sense of who she was: this strong woman from a small town in Louisiana who did not want to compromise who she was.”
Five years later, Wilson’s refusal to compromise has taken her to the top of the charts and awards show podiums. Her first album for the label, 2021’s Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’, included her first No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, “Things a Man Oughta Know.” “Never Say Never,” her duet with Cole Swindell, reached No. 1 seven months later. Her current single, “Heart Like a Truck,” from last year’s Bell Bottom Country, and her feature on HARDY’s “wait in the truck” are racing toward the peak of the chart. With six nods, she led all nominees for November’s Country Music Association Awards, taking home new artist and female vocalist of the year. Between supporting slots for Luke Combs — she’ll appear on his stadium tour this spring and summer after opening his 2022 arena tour — she headlined her first large club tour.
Lainey Wilson photographed on December 1, 2022 at Eldorado Canyon in Nelson, Nev.
Sami Drasin
Along the way, Wilson, who co-wrote all but one of the songs on her two albums, developed a signature look — a wide-brim hat and bell bottoms, which she has worn daily for several years — as recognizable as her clear, strong vocals and striking songs. “When I was little, my mom bought me a blue leopard-print pair of bell bottoms I was absolutely obsessed with,” she says. “At one point, she was like, ‘You’ve got to take them off, we’ve got to wash them.’ I’ve always been in love with things that are throwbacks, whether it’s music or stories.” Wilson came by her love of bell bottoms honestly, but they’ve also served a purpose: “Trying to be an artist here in Nashville, a female artist specifically, you’ve got to figure out what you can do that’s a little different to stand out — so I definitely leaned into that as much as I possibly could.”
Not bad for an artist who got her start imitating someone else. Wilson worked her way through high school as a Hannah Montana impersonator. One of her last gigs, at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis, helped prompt her move to Nashville. While performing, she established an intense connection with a little girl recovering from brain surgery. “Everybody in the building was crying as she sang every word to [Miley Cyrus’] ‘The Climb.’ I handed her the microphone, and my Hannah Montana wig was hanging off sideways. She hands me back the microphone and what she meant to say was, ‘Hannah Montana, you’re my star,’ but she said, ‘Hannah Montana, I’m your star.’ And I was like, ‘Yes, you are,’ and I thought, ‘I’ve got to figure out how to do this the rest of my life.’ ”
Lainey Wilson photographed on December 1, 2022 at Eldorado Canyon in Nelson, Nev.
Sami Drasin
Wilson’s own climb has been simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting as she navigates how to make a lifelong career in music sustainable. The self-described “homebody” slept in her own bed only 15 nights during her “whirlwind” 2022. “Last year definitely threw me for a little bit of a loop,” she says. But as her ascent continues, this year’s Rulebreaker is finding ways to make the road feel more like home, including bringing her French bulldog, Hippie Mae (who, of course, has her own Instagram account, with a bio reading “owner of that b–ch @laineywilson”), on the road with her, as well as her essential oils, meditation apps and grounding mat.
Those comforts have proved especially key as Wilson’s rise has expanded beyond music. Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan designed a recurring role specifically for her this season on TV’s most popular show, which Wilson found the courage to take on after considering what some of her own favorite rule breakers, Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton, would do. (She even has a song on her first Broken Bow album called “WWDD,” short for “What Would Dolly Do.”)
“When it comes to Dolly and Reba, I feel like they really do listen to their heart. I feel like they’re not scared to go outside that box and do things that are a little scary,” she says. “I had never acted a day in my life. But I thought to myself, ‘Dolly and Reba, they’ve always made sure that their music is No. 1, but that has laid the foundation for so many opportunities to come their way.’ And so, if it’s a way for me to share more of my music with the world, even if it is a little scary, you’re dang right I’m going to do it, because that’s what they would do.”
Lainey Wilson photographed on December 1, 2022 at Eldorado Canyon in Nelson, Nev.
Sami Drasin
Wilson’s radio hits and Yellowstone role have brought her fame that she’s still wrapping her head around. Late last year, her team posted a video of her onstage with an angle that unintentionally highlighted her posterior and, she says, “The next thing you know, everybody’s TikToks are about my rear end.” The clip went viral and spawned imitators with women showing off their own bountiful booties, but it also invited legions of opinions about Wilson’s body.
“I definitely went down the rabbit hole reading comments,” she says. “A year-and-a-half ago, people didn’t give a rat’s ass to say something bad about me. Now the more well-known you are, the more negative comments you’re going to get … The reason why I take it so personal is because I do believe that words are powerful.”
Wilson is handling what newfound fame throws at her much as she has her career: with an authenticity that harks back to her roots, and on her own terms. She recently purchased 30 acres in Nashville and is renovating the house on the property, bringing in her own creature comforts to create a personal oasis. It’s a far cry from the camper she lived in for her first three years in Nashville. “I’m going to have some horses,” she says, adding that she decided against moving her childhood horse, Tex, up from Louisiana given his advanced age. “I want to be able to go somewhere and turn it all off and just jump on a four-wheeler.”
Lainey Wilson photographed on December 1, 2022 at Eldorado Canyon in Nelson, Nev.
Sami Drasin
This story will appear in the Feb. 25, 2023, issue of Billboard.
When Kim Petras emerged from beneath Sam Smith’s layered pink tulle gown on Saturday Night Live in January, it was a perfect visual metaphor for her presence on the Hot 100 chart-topper they were performing, “Unholy.” Cooing and belting about her virtues as a no-hassle, dirty-chic sugar baby, Petras was magnetic — the hit’s secret weapon, revealed.
Two weekends later, at the Grammy Awards, Petras had an even more definitive moment in the spotlight. “Unholy” won best pop duo/group performance, and, at Smith’s behest, Petras accepted the award, exuding joy and liberation in a speech that became a high point of the night. “I just want to thank all the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open for me so I could be here tonight,” said the German singer, who in that moment became the first out trans artist to ever win a major-category Grammy.
Nikita Karizma top and bottom, Laurel DeWitt wrist cuffs.
Vijat Mohindra
Changing the game has become habitual for the dance-pop devotee, who signed to Republic in summer 2021. In October, “Unholy” made Petras and Smith the first openly trans and nonbinary artists, respectively, to top the Hot 100 in its 65-year history. When Madonna introduced their performance of “Unholy” at the Grammys, thanking a new generation of “rebels out there, forging a new path and taking the heat for it,” it felt like both a coronation and vindication for Petras, who, since her 2017 arrival, has always carried herself like a main pop girl but has only recently started to be treated like one.
“My whole life revolves around strong, amazing women who do whatever they want and have an artistic point of view,” says this year’s Chartbreaker, casually vaping beneath a hoodie. “[They’re] the reason I found the power in myself to do what I do.”
JimmyPaul top and scarf.
Vijat Mohindra
Is the industry treating you differently since “Unholy” became a smash?
Hell yeah. [Before] it was like, “Oh, the gays love her,” but people didn’t want me on their songs. I didn’t get budgets approved. It was rough. I’ve been an independent artist for so long just hustling and playing clubs, and now different people are hitting me up to collaborate and get in the studio. It’s cool that people are catching on.
TikTok played a role in breaking “Unholy” before radio paid attention. What are your thoughts about the app?
I love the humor — nothing is so serious on there. I like that more weird songs blow up on TikTok than you would expect, like “Running Up That Hill.” The new generation just cares if they like the song. There’s less industry control because of TikTok.
Laurel DeWitt wrist cuffs.
Vijat Mohindra
This is your biggest hit, and first major one without Dr. Luke as a collaborator. People have questioned your working relationship with him. Do you see “Unholy” as a chance to move past it?
I’ve always been a songwriter. Anything I’ve done, I’ve been a big part of writing. I’ve always collaborated with different people and producers. Luke is the one person people like to pick out and be like, “This is obviously who has to write all of this girl’s music because she can’t be talented and that’s a big name.” But I am here because I’m good at writing, and I do my sh-t.
What was it like playing SNL with Sam?
It means the world to me. Even growing up in Germany, SNL was a huge thing. I’m a huge comedy fan, and I love Bowen [Yang] on the show. We’ve kind of become friends — there’s this really sweet story of Bowen listening to [my song] “I Don’t Want It at All” before his SNL audition.
Laurel DeWitt earrings, body chain, bra, and wrist cuffs.
Vijat Mohindra
In the last five years, how much has the industry changed its attitude toward trans artists?
A lot. When I tried to sign to [labels] in the beginning of my career, it was like, “What is the fan base going to be? How do we market this? There isn’t a place for you.” Then I went to gay clubs and built a solid fan base and showed everyone it’s possible. Now they have to accept it. I’m happy there are more trans artists now that are being taken seriously. I just don’t want to be the last.
Who are some of your career idols?
Cher. Nicki Minaj. Madonna. Lana Del Rey. Marina. Kylie [Minogue]. The list goes on. Women in pop music were my only friends in high school — they were everything I wanted to be and [gave me] the strength I [needed] to transition and live my life authentically. They gave me the strength to be myself.
Kim Petras photographed by Vijat Mohindra on Dec. 19, 2022 at Locus One Studio in Los Angeles. Laurel DeWitt wrist cuffs, JimmyPaul boa.
This story will appear in the Feb. 25, 2023, issue of Billboard.
In the five years that followed SZA’s culture-shifting 2017 debut album, Ctrl, the pressure to deliver another ambitious, eclectic project reached a boiling point. Yet somehow, she managed to cut through the noise, surpassing the astronomically high expectations set by Ctrl with her much anticipated follow-up.
When SOS arrived Dec. 9, 2022, on RCA Records and Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), it didn’t just successfully steer clear of the sophomore slump — it elevated her to superstardom. Across its whopping 23 tracks, SZA embarked on a fearless sonic voyage, dipping her toes in gospel, grunge, rap and whatever else she fancied outside of R&B’s boundaries. Similarly, she took her writing up several notches with dynamic, vivid storytelling that tugged deeper at heartache and self-acceptance. And its commercial success has already made history: SOS debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and spent seven consecutive weeks there, making SZA, Taylor Swift and Adele the only three women to rule the all-genre albums chart for that long. The set then returned to No. 1 for an eighth week on Feb. 9 and just claimed a ninth (on the chart dated Feb. 25), boasting more weeks atop the Billboard 200 than any R&B album since Usher’s Confessions ruled for nine nonconsecutive weeks in 2004. SOS‘s nine weeks at No. 1 also gave it the most weeks atop the chart for an album by a woman in nearly seven years, since Adele’s 25.
And yet, despite all that success, she still feels like she has to prove herself.
“Right now, I just have extreme gratitude because I swear to God, I never thought I’d be No. 1 for even a week, let alone seven,” the 33-year-old artist born Solána Imani Rowe tells Billboard in early February as she cruises along the Pacific Coast Highway — a brief moment of reprieve before she really hits the road this spring for her first-ever arena tour.
“SZA is a force,” says Terrence “Punch” Henderson, SZA’s manager and TDE president. “To go seven consecutive weeks at No. 1 is legendary. She’s a true generational artist, a cultural reset, if you will. For her album SOS to blend so many different genres together in a cohesive frame shows her genius and versatility. Then you have the voice, the words, the pain, the growth, the relapsing, the delivery, the stories, etc. … a true masterpiece.”
While the industry and public alike overwhelmingly share Henderson’s sentiment, Billboard’s 2023 Woman of the Year remains prone to self-doubt. Thoughts like “Do I deserve this?” and “I wish I did better” frequently creep into her mind, and she’s working on quieting them. She has already released new music since SOS dropped, by way of her February appearance on the remix of Lizzo’s 2022 song “Special.”
“Manifestation is real,” Lizzo tells Billboard. “I declare 2023 the year of SZA. But SZA has been Woman of the Year for me for at least a decade. I’m always such a fan of her music, a fan of her artistry, but I really love her as a friend. Solána Imani Rowe, you will always be ‘the one.’ ”
And, once she releases the deluxe edition of SOS — which will feature 10 additional tracks and is coming soon — SZA says she’ll be done trying to convince herself that she deserves her flowers.
“I guess I need to stop trying to figure out what it means,” SZA admits, “and start realizing and living in what it is.”
How did you feel after SOS was released? Did you have any hesitations about its reception?
You know when something is really popular, the positive is loud and the negative is loud? I’ve never been quite this popular before, so the negative is also really loud, and it threw me off. I was like, “OK, cool. Noted.” And I tried to figure out what actually resonates with me as a true assessment of my work and what is not true and something I can’t allow myself to internalize. I know people wanted [Ctrl’s] “Broken Clocks,” “Love Galore” and all that other sh-t again, but I departed from that by choice. Not because I couldn’t do that again; it was just because I wanted to grow. I wanted to do something completely different.
It’s hard making music as a Black woman [because] we don’t get the luxury to try something and have it be something that’s genuinely part of us. You have to allow people to get to know different parts of you. Some people may really f–king hate that, and some people might enjoy it. And I’m grateful for those who enjoy it.
Were you surprised that “Kill Bill” — which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 to become your highest-charting song to date — was the SOS song that took off?
I knew it would be something that pissed me off. It’s always a song that I don’t give a f–k about that’s just super easy, not the sh-t that I put so much heart and energy into. “Kill Bill” was super easy — one take, one night.
The chart success of SOS has put you in the same conversation as pop superstars. Is it important for you to be recognized outside of the R&B space?
To even be in the conversation with Taylor [Swift] and Miley [Cyrus], even the fact that our fans are fighting, is ridiculous because it’s like, “How?!” I just really appreciate the opportunity to be in that conversation at all. It’s something I never dreamed of.
What are your thoughts about your upcoming first-ever arena tour and performing this album in front of your fans?
It’s interesting because my other shows were intimate, and I felt like people were really coming to see me. But I know certain people are just coming to see what the hype is about, and that makes me nervous. But I just want to put on the best show that expresses my theatrical side.
I am deeply excited to pop ass and cry and give theater. I want it to feel like a play on Broadway, but more like Suspiria and Cirque du Soleil in the weirdest way. I want it to be smart and exhilarating and exhausting and exciting like a party, but also like a therapy session.
How do you tour an emotionally intense album like SOS? Do you insulate yourself from the material, or does it inevitably dredge up emotions?
I never know. When I was performing “20 Something” before my grandma died, it didn’t hit me the same. And then after my grandma died, I could barely get through it at rehearsal. Who knows what any of these songs will bring up for me in real life? Shooting the video for “Nobody Gets Me” was really f–king sad. I cried a lot. I’m just going to wing it and see.
What does it mean for you to be Billboard’s Woman of the Year?It really scares me. But I really want to do something with my time in the sun right now. There’s so much I want to do for other people. I need to do something to deserve that in a way that has nothing to do with me, something that’s selfless and uplifts other women, people, period. It makes me feel more responsible than I was before. I feel like I owe everyone so much more than just smiling and getting onstage and waving. Part of it I know is just letting God use me and be myself and letting that be part of the work. But I know that there’s something more that I have to do.
SZA photographed on October 11, 2022 at Quixote Studios in Los Angeles.
AB + DM
You were the first woman signed to TDE in 2013. How did you manage to maneuver through the male-dominated label for nearly a decade on your own?
I didn’t mind the lack of female artists. I just felt like I was always the first to do something, and that was frustrating. It was me telling y’all I need hair and makeup because I’m super hands-on, on top of being a woman. I’m making PowerPoints trying to explain why I want to be in this type of publication versus that type of publication.
It was tough, but by the same token, I think all of us grew together at the same time. They never had to do anything like this before, and we were all being so randomly innovative together by trying to figure out what makes sense. And I also liked that they weren’t trying to clean me up and look like anybody else. They were just taking me as I was. That was really priceless, just to express myself visually how I wanted to and without the judgment of “Let’s make her pretty or sparkly and shiny and sterile.”
Who are some women in the music industry whom you look up to?
There’s nobody in the industry that f–ks with me and that I f–k with the way that Lizzo f–ks with me and the way I f–k with her. She never made me feel like because I don’t have a No. 1 song or I [previously] didn’t have a No. 1 album that I wasn’t capable. She’d been telling me that she thought I was the one for years. The way that she thinks of me so highly as a human being and as an artist means so much to me. I just have never met anybody like her in this entire industry.
There’s a lot of women I look up to in general that I don’t know personally, but watching them is incredible. Beyoncé, but who doesn’t look up to Beyoncé? I love Jozzy’s and Starrah’s energy. I love the way Nija is from New Jersey and has been able to transmute her energy from being a writer to an artist. Kehlani’s hella effervescent, and you can just feel the energy when she’s performing. I love Chloe Bailey and her commitment to perfection — I feel like she’s going to be a legend. Even Taylor letting that whole situation go with her masters and then selling all of those f–king records. That’s the biggest “f–k you” to the establishment I’ve ever seen in my life, and I deeply applaud that sh-t.
What does the future look like for SZA?
After I do the deluxe, I’m hoping to be able to accept that this chapter is done. I’m looking forward to actually feeling proud of myself and not just smiling and nodding at accolades but really feeling it internally and knowing that I’m good enough.
A version of this story will appear in the Feb. 25, 2023, issue of Billboard.
The Project
GLOW, out Friday (Feb. 17) via Secretly Canadian/EEVILTWINN
The Origin
Wesley Joseph’s introduction to music occurred through his father, who was in a soul band when his son was born. Growing up just outside of Birmingham, England in Walsall, Joseph (real name Joseph Wesley Ripollés-Williams) remembers hearing music 24/7 around his house. It wasn’t until he saw an early video of Mac Miller rapping into a USB microphone that he realized he could make music from his bedroom, too.
When he was a teenager, Joseph bought his own microphone and used GarageBand to make what he describes now as “really bad rap songs.” After setting higher expectations for himself, Joseph improved on his DIY approach and sharpened his production skills so that he could ultimately make music his way and create a sonic world where he wouldn’t be boxed in.
In 2020, Joseph released his first song, titled “Imaginary Friends.” A year later, he dropped his first EP, Ultramarine, a project that he says shows everything he’s capable of in one, brief moment.
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The Sound
Joseph, now 26, is adamant about not being defined as just a rapper. “Ultimately, [rapping] is third, or fourth even, on the list of things I do when I make music,” he says. “I’m creative-directing everything, I’m producing, I’m singing, there’s so much going on.”
Ultramarine and GLOW are both testaments to his holistic approach to his art. The latter’s first single, “Cold Summer,” starts with an eerie string and piano intro before erupting into a hip-hop-infused beat with Joseph rapping and singing. The project also includes songs like “Sugar Dive,” a dance-influenced record with Joseph flexing his falsetto, and the alt-R&B closer “Light Light.”
While Joseph can’t quite pinpoint his sonic inspirations, he knows that his fondness and use of harmonies, melodies, bridges and chord progressions stem from the American soul music he grew up on. “The weird algorithmic makeup of my musical DNA that makes a bridge happen is probably because I grew up on soul music from America,” he says.
Joseph also has a visual background — he moved to London in 2016 to study filmmaking in university — which explains his cinematic approach to his music videos. In 2020, he released Pandomony, a seven-minute short film which he wrote, directed and scored himself.
The Record
The eight-song GLOW is an evolution of Joseph: he continues his growth by leading with his emotions. “Ultramarine gave me confidence. If that’s me as a baby, then GLOW is me going into school,” he says. For Joseph, GLOW represents the contrast between his euphoric highs and harsh realities. The project is therapeutic for Joseph, as he’s used it to embrace his fears and work through growing pains. “The feeling the record gives is almost like a warm glow in the darkness,” he explains.
The first half of the record — “Glow,” “Monsoon,” “Sugar Dive,” and “I Just Know Highs” — represents light, and the project then shifts to darkness with songs “Cold Summer,” “25,” “Hiatus,” and “Light Light.” Following Ultramarine, Joseph was still in a somber place, which led him to making the dark half first — yet he ultimately decided that having the project transition from light to dark made the most sense. “When you listen to it on loop, it’s a journey,” he says. “When you start it from the top again, it’s like being reborn, and just going through all of the contrasts of life.”
The Breakthrough
Early last year, Joseph signed with indie record label Secretly Canadian. “They understood exactly what I wanted and who I wanted to be, and are completely [facilitating] all of the things that I want to do, in the way that I want to do them,” he says. “I’ve always kind of seen myself as someone who did his own thing, and I felt like they saw the value in my potential.”
The Future
At the end of April, Joseph will embark on his first North American tour, performing in L.A., Brooklyn and Toronto. He is also working on his debut album, which he says is in only in the beginning stages and “definitely not” arriving this year.
Wesley Joseph
Lewis Vorn
The Piece of Advice Every New Indie Artist Needs to Hear
“Belief fuel goes further than anything else. Belief is the type of thing where if you have a lot of it, it just literally multiplies. Everyone around you believes the same way. You just have to believe in yourself way more than you think you need to.”
One Piece of Studio Equipment You Cannot Live Without
“Currently, my Prophet 6. It’s a really beautiful, old, analog synth. You can make the most unique-sounding sounds with it.”
The Most Surprising Thing You’ve Learned About the Music Industry
“Industry plants are real. I thought that was a conspiracy theory.”
The Artist You Believe Deserves More Attention“I’ve been listening to quite a little bit of Cleo Sol lately. I think she’s so talented. She’s got an amazing collective of sounds and [she’s] a really great songwriter. Little Simz as well. She’s definitely getting her flowers which is really good to see. I would say Sampha too, I think he’s one of the best artists ever.”
Let’s start by taking a moment to consider the landscape in 2014. EDM was EDM-ing hard as DJs became the new rock stars, made insane bags, pulled in giant crowds and took over top 40 in a way never before seen or heard in the U.S.
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It was a wild, heady, thrilling and often extremely silly figureheads. With his fantastically aggressive, machinistic dubstep, the SoCal-based producer pushed forward the sound of electronic music at large with a style dismissed by many Serious Cultural Critics as “brostep,” but which nonetheless thrilled thousands of kids in the pits at his shows along with many cultural gatekeepers. Skrillex won three Grammys (and earned a best new artist nomination) in 2012, as he achieved global fame during an apex period punctuated by the release of his 2014 debut album, Recess, his only full-length to date.
Until today! Riding a tsunami of hype with a steady stream of single releases, Skrillex’s sophomore album, Quest For Fire, was unveiled on Friday (Feb. 17) via his own longstanding label OWSLA and Atlantic Records. Certainly much attention gets paid to the EDM veterans dropping albums amidst this new era of electronic music, with mixed reactions to last year’s albums by Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia, who have both changed their sounds significantly since the boom days.
But with Quest For Fire, Skrillex eschews overt reinvention. Instead, he presents music clearly made from the same DNA as his older stuff, but which has grown and evolved in the same way the scene has, and we have, and Skrillex — now 35 — has. (The album overtly references the earlier days, with opener “Leave Me Like This” sampling the iconic “OH MY GOD” from 2011’s “First Of The Year” and the 48-second “Warped Tour 05 With Pete Wentz” composed of a recording of Skrillex, then known as First To Last Singer Sonny Moore, doing a backstage interview with Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz.)
But while Quest For Fire nods to the past, it’s ultimately ultra-fresh, highlighting the impeccable sound design that Skrillex has always been a master of, while embracing and expanding his bass origins. The album incorporates D’n’B, grime, IDM and hip-hop in ways that are inventive, artful, emotional and often just plain hyphy fun. (To wit, five of the album’s previously released singles are currently on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs.)
At 15 tracks, the album is weighty but without filler, incorporating a party’s worth of collaborators including Missy Elliott, Aluna, Fred Again.., Porter Robinson, Starrah, Noisia, Four Tet, Mr. Oizo, PEEKABOO, Kito and more. It seems reasonable to anticipate that many of them will be in attendance on Saturday night (Feb. 18) when Skrillex celebrates the album release with a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden.
In the meantime, here are five essential, previously unreleased tracks from Quest For Fire.
“RATATA” Feat. Missy Elliott & Mr. Oizo
Skrillex and Missy Elliott have crossed paths before (see the Missy remix of Jack Ü’s “Take Ü There“), but here, Skrillex builds a bridge between their two catalogs with a spare update of Elliott’s all-time hit “Work It.” Skrillex goes wild with “this the kind of beat that goes ra-ta-ta” from that 2002 track, isolating that moment and expanding it, with Elliott’s voice spread out all over spare, plucky percussion while she delivers brand-new flows at a rapid-fire pace. The track is a co-production with French legend Mr. Oizo, one of many genre-spanning icons contributing to the star-studded LP.
“Tears” Feat. Joker & Sleepnet
A bass track that favors brooding waves of synth and galactic laser sounds over hitting listeners over the heads with bricks of low end, “Tears” is a richly complex collaboration with British dubstep star Joker and Sleepnet, the new project from Noisia’s Nik Roos. The brooding track ends with a spare skittering that segues immediately into the similarly vibed “Rumble.”
“Inhale Exale” Feat. Aluna & Kito
Skrillex and Australian producer Kito take the iconic voice of Aluna and chop it to bits so that her directive to “inhale, exhale” sounds like a fight for life. An ambulance siren punctuates the production, and she then declares, “too high, gotta come down” while passing thunderclouds of low end add an ominous feel.
“Hydrate” Feat. Flowdan, BEAM & PEEKABOO
UK grime MC Flowdan had a breakout moment on Quest For Fire‘s lead single “Rumble,” and here he gets even more screen time, entering with massive swagger and declaring with a growley flow that “it’s simple, not complicated, so when it’s hot, just stay hydrated.” Flowdan’s entrance on the track marks an ominous turn after the song starts with Jamaican-American singer/rapper Beam brightly singing about “life abundance.” The tough, deliciously womp-ey track is a collaboration with longstanding bass producer PEEKABOO, who gets more of the spotlight he’s always deserved.
“Still Here (with the ones that I came with)” Feat. Porter Robinson and Bibi Bourelly
Arguably the mission statement of the entire project, “Sitll Here” finds Skrillex, Porter Robinson and Bibi Bourelly ending the album with sweetness and buoyancy via an homage to riding with the same crew now that you have for all these years. (And if you remember that iconic photo of Skrillex, Robinson and Zedd from the heyday, you know the track’s sentiment is very much true.) With bright, emotive production that sounds like it’s been touched by fellow Quest For Fire collaborator Fred again.., Bourelly sings the song’s title on a loop — a declaration that feels like a victory that’s perhaps a bit hard-won but ultimately euphoric, like the best moments in life.