Global
Page: 32
Less than nine months after Nikki Semin Han organized what the former SM Entertainment CEO called “the Avengers of the K-pop community joining forces to redefine the industry” in TITAN CONTENT, the newly-launched venture is officially beginning to roll out its first-ever artist.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Billboard can exclusively reveal the first details on TITAN CONTENT’s forthcoming girl group AtHeart, which is set to officially debut in the first half of 2025.
Beginning with the reveal of AtHeart’s first two members Sorin and Michi, the upcoming act will share all its members in the coming months as the future stars develop individual online presences and connect with fans while preparing for their K-pop debut via individual Instagram and TikTok accounts. TITAN CEO Katie Kang says, “The members will be sharing their daily lives and unique personalities through their social accounts, showcasing their journey to becoming AtHeart together. TITAN will reveal all members of AtHeart sequentially with special content this year.”
Trending on Billboard
Both 17 years old, Sorin and Michi hail from South Korea and Hawaii, respectively, and begin the structure of what TITAN describes as a girl group that “will appeal to audiences around the world.”
Simultaneously revealing a new K-pop group’s members and launching their individual social media accounts is unconventional in the Korean-entertainment industry. Most new-artist startups are kept secret — even if pre-debut social media accounts are launched for a group, individual member accounts tend to launch years after establishing themselves on the scene. (For example, BLACKPINK’s four members launched their individual accounts less than two years after debuting, but it took more than eight years for the BTS guys.)
However, as CEO Kang adds, the strategy is a part of the group’s overall vision toward more connected K-pop idols.
“The name ‘AtHeart’ speaks to this group’s genuine nature and the connection and love they will build with their fans by empowering them to be their authentic selves,” Kang tells Billboard. “TITAN has been scouting and holding global auditions since the beginning of 2024 and we were captivated by the incredible talent we discovered. These members are so uniquely charming and they embody the next generation of K-pop. I know fans around the world will resonate with their genuine personalities and I am so excited for all the global fans to listen to their songs and watch their performance.”
“As the first K-pop company established in the U.S., TITAN will take an innovative and disruptive approach to creating, marketing, and promoting the content and artists we produce,” adds Han, Chairman at TITAN. “Working with powerhouse executives, creators, and producers from both East and West, we will break the mold by targeting global markets simultaneously from the start.”
Chief Business Officer Dom Rodriguez describes the Los Angeles–based company as “an artist-first and fan-first company,” touting its prodigious goals can be met with TITAN’s deeper involvement in the musical and personal processes of developing K-pop stars.
“We are relentless in our pursuit of innovation and creativity,” the CBO adds. “We prioritize the needs of our artists, the exceptional songwriters and producers who are integral to our success, and the dedicated fans who drive the K-pop phenomenon. Our hands-on A&R process is meticulously designed to elevate the next generation of K-pop artists, maintaining the highest standards of musical greatness. Collaborating with accomplished writers and top music producers worldwide, we’re committed to upholding excellence and shaping the future of music.”
“AtHeart marks the beginning of an exciting journey built upon the connection between K-pop idols, their dedicated fans, and music, with a commitment to upholding everything that makes K-pop unique and special,” says TITAN Chief Visual Officer Guiom Lee. “Backed by a team of industry experts who share a profound love and understanding of the genre, we will display innovation across all facets of AtHeart, pushing the limits in today’s ever-changing digital landscape. From top-tier visuals and fashion to captivating musical performances, we are excited to unveil AtHeart to a global audience.”
As previously reported, the team making up TITAN has experiences with K-pop artists across generations, including chart-topping names like BoA, Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, EXO, TWICE, Monsta X, ITZY, The Boyz, and more. Beyond artist development and management, TITAN plans to produce music festivals and revealed plans to combine “traditional K-pop training and artist development with Web3 and metaverse innovation.” The company also announced today that it will soon open an upcoming platform where “AtHeart will communicate with global fans with new and diverse content through a K-pop fandom platform that combines various innovative technologies such as Web3 and AI.”
Get to know Sorin and Michi in these first-look images below and by following the future AtHeart members on social media. Look out for more from the group via its official website
Sorin
Courtesy of Titan Content
Michi
Courtesy of Titan Content
A few nights ago, while I was driving home, the shuffle chose “BBE” by Anna and Lazza. The chorus is one of those that immediately get stuck in your mind, the lyrics are a statement of empowerment, a sort of manifesto of a strong and determined girl who never has to ask.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
In the time I spend with her for the interview I discover two things in particular. The first is that behind that tough image there is a very sweet girl in her early twenties who, overwhelmed by a success that has taken away a piece of her adolescence, sometimes dreams of exchanging her famous life for a normal one for one day, like any of her peers. The second is that also “real bad bitches cry,” as she raps in “Una Tipa Come Me,” undoubtedly the best of the 18 tracks on Vera Baddie, her debut album, released on June 28.
It’s strange to think that it is only her first album, given that from 2020 to today – between singles with tens of millions of streams and collaborations with the heavyweights of the Italian rap scene – the rapper has constantly dominated the Italian charts and in 2023 was the most listened to female artist in Italy. But she wanted to do things well and in her own way, taking the time necessary to mature and make a project that wasn’t something ephemeral but that will make her proud when she listens to it again in ten years.
Trending on Billboard
After having met the “Real Baddie,” in this interview we discover the real Anna: from the fragility of her twenties to the desire for sincere human relationships, from the most important goal she has achieved to music as therapy to exorcise anxiety, from the little girl she was to the woman she is now.
Anyone who listens to this album will be amazed at how you opened up about your fragilities, something you hadn’t done yet.
I think so, too. I hadn’t dug into myself yet. It took me time to do it. For me it’s much easier to make a song to entertain and have fun rather than delve into the things that hurt me, into my relationships with people. This album unlocked me from this point of view.
Was there something that made you realize that you were ready to show a different side of yourself?
Certainly the fact that many girls told me that they see themselves in me made me feel the need to explore other sides of being a girl today. I wanted to address more facets of this thing, even the negative ones. I’m proud to have brought out another part of me and I’ve matured a lot as a person to be able to do this, to unite my feelings with music.
The album arrives four years after your first singles. In an interview you said that you didn’t want to become famous as it happened but to work your way up. Did taking time also help you sort out what was happening in your life?
Yes, it took me a few years to stabilize my life, also because success came when I was still very young, in a particular moment like quarantine. These four years also helped me grow as an artist. I feel like I’ve really raised the bar in my songs. I want my name to have a certain value and depth, and that it be understood that I take music seriously, because it is what I live for.
[embedded content]
Can we say that this has nothing to do with being a woman in a male-dominated world?
Absolutely yes! I’m here because I’ve never felt a difference between me and my male colleagues. The more this is emphasized, the more girls feel discouraged from being rappers. When they say that I’m the best in Italy I would respond: “I’m not the best, I’m simply the only one who let herself go and who never gave a damn about being a woman among only men. Even at the cost of receiving insults.” I didn’t bring “female rap,” I brought my music, period.
If female rap existed, male rap should also exist…
Right! Do you know how many times I get told that I am proof that women can rap too? Rap is rap, period. There is no gender, the important thing is to do it well. Many times, girls feel disadvantaged because they don’t feel supported, but when I started, who supported me? Nobody. It was me, alone. Little by little I built my own path and asserted myself.
Anna for Billboard Italia
Andrea Ariano
The concept of “baddie” means more than it seems, right?
Being a baddie doesn’t just mean being a girl who has fun: the baddie is the one who transmits determination to other girls, who helps them in times of need. Girls understood this, and that’s enough for me.
You said you suffered a lot from criticism in the past. Now that you’ve grown up, how do you deal with this?
I have a lot less hating than before because people have gotten to know me. They see me in concert and appreciate the person I am. Over time I learned not to care. Bad things no longer affect me as they used to because I take them as something negative towards those who say them, not towards me who receive them.
You also said that the criticism had tripled the moment you exploded, so much so that the internet had given an image of you that didn’t correspond to the real one. Were you ever afraid that after your debut single “Bando” everything could end?
More than anything, people put the fear in me. I knew very well what I wanted to do in life, but many people can’t wait to destroy you. I remember when they told me: “In a month she will already be gone.” But damn it, I’m still here, and I’m here because I have a lot to give, because I’ve always been convinced about this, because I felt that this was my path.
I often see videos of you with your fans and you still seem like a very humble girl.
I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I haven’t enjoyed a normal life. From the age of 16 onwards, all the things I did were inherent to my job. So outside of that I want to be as normal as possible and enjoy life. My simplicity is not to do others a favor or to make me say, “Oh, look how humble Anna is.” I love being like this, I love having a normal chat with someone, why should I be a snob?
Is the fact of including so many references to your adolescence in the album also a way to recover a moment of your life that you didn’t experience as you wanted?
Maybe. Often at night I dream of my old school, my old classmates, the environment I frequented before. I miss those things because I haven’t enjoyed them at all. I’m not even someone who has made many friends in an organic way in life because I haven’t had the time or the way to do it. I suffered a lot for this. Young girls often tell me that they envy my life, but I envy theirs and they don’t even imagine it.
For this album you also worked in the U.S. and one could tell it. It’s a very international sound.
Yes, for example I wrote “Una Tipa Come Me” there, but most of the songs were born in my bedroom at home. In my head there is no such thing as having someone write something to me. If I make songs, it is to say something, and that must come from me. I could never get other people to put their words in my mouth. Music for me is such an intimate and personal thing that I couldn’t let someone change it. It bothers me when they say: “Oh, Anna has improved, I wonder who writes her lyrics.” Well, nobody!
In your producers, however, you have complete trust.
Absolutely. They are fundamental, without them this album wouldn’t be what it is. I do my thing, I write the lyrics, but if there isn’t a good backing track none of this is possible. I’m happy that such fresh and cool young people are finally making their way in Italy.
[embedded content]
Earlier you mentioned “Una Tipa Come Me,” which for me is one of the songs that will most surprise those who listen to the album.
Yes, it’s definitely the most introspective song on the entire album. I had started working on it in the studio with an American producer while I was in the USA, but I was too tense and couldn’t finish it, so I picked it up again while I was alone in my room. Last summer was a bit of a tough time for me. I lost a lot of kilos due to stress. I had a very fluctuating mood and therefore I needed to throw these feelings out and talk even more about myself, about my character. It freed me a lot.
In the intro you say: “Doing this stuff helps more than a psychologist.”
For me music has always been a cure. I suffer a lot from anxiety which also manifests itself in a psychosomatic way, and when I feel like I’m starting to feel bad I put on my headphones, listen to music and I swear I feel better. It’s really my therapy, my life revolves around music.
We talked about criticism. Can you tell me what is the nicest thing a fan has said to you?
It makes me proud that many girls tell me that I give them the determination to face everyday life and the dark times. Once a girl wrote to me that her dad had had a heart attack, and listening to my music relieved her. For me it was a wonderful thing to know that I was making life a little less burdensome for a person who was going through a difficult time.
What is the most important milestone you have achieved so far?
From a personal point of view, it would be being able to help my mother have financial stability. I have always seen her work hard, so allowing her to no longer work and giving her a serenity that she never had is the greatest joy. For me, the relationship with my parents is everything: when they are well and have no worries, life changes you completely. In terms of career, however, I would say working with Sfera Ebbasta. When I was a young girl it would have seemed impossible, but in a few days I will be singing at the San Siro stadium in Milan with him. If I had told this to my past self, she would probably never have believed it!
And what would younger Anna say to Anna today?
She would say that she’s proud of who she has become because that is exactly who she always wanted to be. If Anna as a child could travel in time and see me now, she would get excited, she would say that I’m really cool, that she got to where she is on her own and because she believed in it so much. Well, perhaps the greatest achievement is simply being me.
LISA debuts at No. 1 on the July 13-dated Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart with “Rockstar,” notably making BLACKPINK the first group with three members that have led the list as soloists.
The song’s flashy debut also breaks a long streak of geographical monotony on the international ranking.
The Global Excl. U.S. chart ranks the 200 biggest songs of each week, based on streaming and data from more than 200 international territories, with U.S. consumption removed, as compiled by data tracker Luminate. So, even more than the Billboard Global 200, and in further contrast to the U.S.-based Billboard Hot 100, the Global Excl. U.S. chart has spotlighted artists from Africa, Asia, South America and elsewhere in its upper reaches since its 2020 launch.
But while 2024 has minted new smash hits and ascendant stars, those breakthroughs have generally been by American acts, and performed entirely in English. LISA stands out not only as the first Thai artist to top the list in 2024, but also as the first artist not from primarily English-speaking countries the U.S., Canada, or the U.K. to reach the summit all year. (“Still, “Rockstar” is sung almost entirely in English, with one line in Japanese repeated.)
At 2024’s midyear point (reflecting charts dated Jan. 6-June 29), 47 songs reached the top 10 of Global Excl. U.S., up noticeably from 26 during the same period of 2023. But just 40% of 2024’s top 10s in that span were by artists from outside the mainland U.S., compared to 92% last year and 85% the year before. In terms of language, 34% of this year’s top 10s included non-English-language lyrics, down from 58% in 2023 and 64% in 2022.
Each of the last two years had major narratives, particularly in Latin music, driving representation in their first six months. In 2022, Bad Bunny released his culture-dominating album Un Verano Sin Ti, which spawned seven top 10s on Global Excl. U.S. Last year, Peso Pluma led a streaming explosion of regional Mexican music, expanding the pan-Latin footprint on the global stage. Plus, a growing wave of Nigerian artists including CKay, Rema and Tems have diversified the top of the chart.
More than that, those years featured Global Excl. U.S. top 10s from Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Sweden and beyond. Many of those territories have cracked the top 10 this year as well, but less frequently, and amid a much larger pool of hits.
Declining international representation on Global Excl. U.S. still stands in stark contrast to the Hot 100, where all 45 top 10s in the first half of 2024 are sung or rapped entirely in English, and all but five are by American acts. The handful of non-U.S. artists include enormous superstars such as Canadians Drake and The Weeknd, and western European acts including Hozier and, via a feature on Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, Florence + The Machine.
Two of those acts – Hozier and The Weeknd – also hit the top 10 of Global Excl. U.S., along with British divas Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Dua Lipa. Otherwise, a bevy of pan-Latin and Asian crossover acts – Creepy Nuts (Japan), Feid (Colombia), Zeynep Bastik (Turkey) and more – have mixed among chart-toppers by Americans Sabrina Carpenter, Ariana Grande and Swift.
It’s encouraging that there has been so much turnover near the top of the Global Excl. U.S. chart in 2024, and that the hits have surged in streaming – by the end of June, 18 songs logged 50 million non-U.S. weekly streams, up from 14 to the same point in 2023 and 10 in 2022. But non-U.S. artists make up just 28% of that pie, down from 85% from just one year ago.
It’s good timing then, for LISA’s No. 1 debut this week. With 94.2 million non-U.S. streams in its first week, “Rockstar” boasts the most weekly streams for a Global Excl. U.S. hit this year by a non-American artist. Plus, Jimin and Loco (both from South Korea) debut at No. 7 with “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” and Karol G (Colombia) rises to the top 10, at No. 8, with “Si Antes Te Huibera Conocido.” Meanwhile, FloyyMenor and Cris Mj (Chile) spend their 15th consecutive week in the top 10 with “Gata Only.”
While K-pop artists tend to utilize a range of teaser photos and video clips to hype fans up for new music, the members of Stray Kids are heading to Apple Music’s radio waves to share more about the group’s upcoming ATE album.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
In the kickoff episode of All About Stray Kids Radio (which premieres today, July 8, on Apple Music 1), members Bang Chan and Felix share new details about the group’s forthcoming mini-album ATE (dropping July 19), reflect on their latest single, and discuss their latest playlist additions, favorite games of the moments and other insights about SKZ’s music.
Felix says ATE’s overall concept is “something we haven’t done.” Bang Chan agrees, adding that not only is the title track single fresh but “a lot of the other songs [are] as well, it’s all very different… what we recorded, it’s just showing a different side of Stray Kids.”
Trending on Billboard
In their charming Australian accents, the musical mates also discussed why the “Stray Kids Version” of their latest Billboard Hot 100 hit, the Charlie Puth–featuring “Lose My Breath,” was “a bit more special.” Plus, the duo shares the other songs on their current playlist, including Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated,” Linkin Park’s “New Divide,” King Gnu’s “Ichizu” and Avicii’s “Wake Me Up!”
STAYs can listen to the first episode of All About Stray Kids Radio coming July 8 at 10:00p.m. ET on Apple Music 1 at apple.co/_StrayKidsRadio. Subsequent episodes will be released every Tuesday, with All About Stray Kids Radio also available on-demand for Apple Music subscribers after airing on Apple Music 1. Each episode will also be available on Apple Podcasts one hour after broadcast. The show’s podcast trailer is here.
Ahead of the full episode tonight — sure to include even more reveals — check out these exclusive moments and show artwork Billboard can share ahead of the broadcast.
Courtesy of Apple Music
On What Fans Can Expect From ATE:
Felix: It’s been like nine months since we’ve done our comeback.
Bang Chan: Yeah, it’s been, like, what? Uh, eight months?
Felix: We did [“Lose My Breath”] so, like, you know, definitely fans can be like, “Oh, bro, like, what concept or what color are they going for this comeback album?” But definitely I reckon this is something we haven’t done in, like… this is our first time doing this kind of concept. And the music style is also very different. But then you can say, “Oh, wow, so this kinda song … it’s definitely Stray Kids’ style.” You know what I mean?
Bang Chan: It’s something that we haven’t done before — but, you know, not only with the title track… a lot of the other songs as well, it’s all very different. But, you know, in the end, it’s what we made. What we recorded. It’s just showing a different side of Stray Kids.
Felix: I think we fit it in the song pretty well.
Bang Chan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everyone did a really good job.
Felix: It matches so well with our color.
[embedded content]
On “Lose My Breath (Stray Kids Version)”:
Bang Chan: With all eight of our voices coming out on the song, it’s, I feel like it’s a bit more special. You know what I mean? Also it’s a very different Stray Kids song.
Felix: Yeah, it’s not like a song we would always do. But, then again, because it’s us doing it, I feel like we did a good job recording and preparing for this song so.
Bang Chan: Most of the time, I’d be, you know, 3RACHA would be directing this song. But everyone did such a great job, so, um, big shout to all the members. And, um, also, you know, I feel like, ’cause, you know, the weather’s getting so hot these days…“Lose My Breath,” it kinda cools you down when you listen to the song in this hot weather.
Felix: Yeah. No matter how hot it is, like 35 degrees [Celsius], it’s still good to listen to, you know?
[embedded content]
Bang Chan and Felix’s Favorite Stray Kids Songs:
Felix: What’s your favorite Stray Kids song?
Bang Chan: Bro, that’s so hard! I can’t choose! [Laughs.] Do you have one?
Felix: I have … actually, [my favorite was] “DOMINO.”
Bang Chan: “DOMINO”? “DOMINO” is pretty good. “DOMINO” is my wake-up alarm.
Felix: Oh, really?!
Bang Chan: ‘Cause it’s so loud from the start. [Singing.] And it just wakes me up straight away. I’m like, “Ah!”
[embedded content]
Bang Chan and Felix Talk Hobbies:
Felix: Is there anything you’re interested in these days?
Bang Chan: Ooh, interests … I don’t know … you know, I’ve been playing Genshin a lot these days.
Felix: Genshin a lot, yeah. Same here.
Bang Chan: Sometimes, when you bring your console out into schedule[s], we play Tekken together. Um, what else? I’ve been interested in soccer.
Felix: You’ve been playing soccer?
Bang Chan: Mm-hmm.
Felix: Oh yeah, you have. Bang Chan: Yeah. Futsal with the members, some other mates.
Felix: Oh yeah.
Bang Chan: Um, what else am I doing? I’ve been trying to work out a bit more frequently these days.
Felix: Oh. Ah, you have more hobbies then … You have, like, three hobbies then. Bang Chan: I guess so.
Felix: Like, working out, soccer, and then Genshin.
Bang Chan: To be honest, yeah. That does make sense. ‘Cause, I mean, you know me. I think a lot. And then I try to get out of mind — I try to, you know, find all these hobbies [Laughs.]
Felix: That’s good, man.
Tia Ray was the top winner at China’s 2nd Wave Music Awards, which were presented in Beijing on June 20. The event was initiated by the Wave Music Committee and organized by Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME), an online music platform in China.
Tia Ray (born Yuan Yawei) won the best female singer award, and also received honors for record of the year and best pop album for Allure.
Tia Ray, 39, a singer-songwriter from Hunan, China, rose to fame in 2012 as a contestant on the televised singing competition The Voice of China. She has since released four albums, all of which she co-wrote and co-produced.
Trending on Billboard
After almost three months of evaluation, the Wave Music Awards selected the most representative Chinese music works from nearly 10,000 new songs and more than 500 albums released in 2023. A total of 35 awards were presented across seven categories, including singer, style, creation and technology.
Album of the year was awarded to Flow by Faith Yang, 50. Song of the year went to “Mother and Daughter” by Huang Qishan, 56, and Curley G, 25.
Other highlights included best male singer won by JJ Lin, and best group, which was awarded to Radio Mars. Leah Dou’s “Monday” won best pop song, while Chinese rock band Young Drug’s “Flower” earned the best rock song award.
The Wave Music Awards also presented honors in the fields of creation and technology. Dao Lang’s “Luocha Haishi” won best lyrics, JJ Lin’s “Dust and Ashes” won best composition, Jude Qiu’s “Please Unfriend Leo” won best arrangement, Xu Jun’s “OPEN IT” won best album production, “The Source of Life” by Lowell Lo and Jonathan Lee won best single production, Faith Yang’s “Flow” got best recording studio engineering album and Eason Chan’s “Something Missing” won best music video.
The ceremony also featured performances by 11 artists with diverse styles. Such award winners as Huang Qishan, Yu Kewei, Leah Dou, Young Drug performed their honored works.
From NCT DREAM and TWICE mini-albums to the latest full-length from BTS’ RM, this year’s Korean pop scene is delivering a range of excellence.
As K-pop acts continue to set new records on charts like the Billboard Hot 100, the Billboard Global 200 and World Digital Song Sales, the artists are doing so with material that showcases them at their best and the unstoppable chart force that is K-pop. ILLIT managed to set a new standard in the first […]
INI’s “LOUD” reaches the top of the Billboard Japan Hot 100 on the chart released July 3.
“LOUD” is the lead track from the 11-member boyband’s sixth single, THE FRAME. Powered by sales and downloads, it becomes the group’s third single to reach the top of the Japan Hot 100. The group marked their highest first-week CD sales and downloads with 812,184 CDs and 28,867 downloads (up approximately 2,800% from last week), while coming in at No.2 for radio airplay, No.9 for streaming (up 200%), and No. 14 for video views.
[embedded content]
Sakurazaka46‘s “Jigoujitoku” comes in at No. 2. Like INI, the group also recorded their highest weekly CD sales with 762,455 copies, hitting No. 2 for sales, while coming in at No. 3 for downloads, No. 5 for streaming, No. 57 for radio airplay, and No. 34 for video views.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
[embedded content]
Creepy Nuts’ “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” slips to No. 3. Despite the drop in the rankings, the track’s total points have gone up, with streaming, radio airplay and video views all increasing slightly.The track is in the top 5 for all metrics of the chart this week, with the exception of radio airplay.
Trending on Billboard
[embedded content]
Debuting at No. 4 is NCT WISH’s “Songbird”, the title track of their second single. 103,340 copies sold puts it at No. 3 for CD sales, surpassing the sales of their debut single “WISH.” Meanwhile, the song peaks at No. 4 for radio airplay, starting with the same overall rank as their previous single.
[embedded content]
Da-iCE’s “I wonder” climbs 11-8, marking the song’s first top 10 since debuting at No. 68 on the Japan Hot 100 dated May 1. Notably, the song not only increased its rankings, but also its points in all indicators except radio airplay, partly due to the buzz around their appearance on “THE FIRST TAKE.”
[embedded content]
Additionally, songs by NewJeans, who held their first solo concert in Japan at the Tokyo Dome on June 26 and 27, are rising across the board. Mainly due to an increase in streaming, “Supernatural” rises 8-7 and “How Sweet” climbs 29-24, while “OMG” and “ETA”, both released last year, have returned to the chart again.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from June 24 to 30, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
The following is an excerpt from the newly published book Rockin’ the Kremlin: My Incredible True Story of Gangsters, Oligarch, and Pop Stars in Putin’s Russia written by David Junk with Fred Bronson, out now on Rowman & Littlefield. David Junk was the first CEO of Universal Music in Moscow, helping promote artists from Elton John to Mariah Carey in Russia and signing t.A.T.u. and Alsou to Universal. Junk also opened the first Universal Music office in Kyiv, Ukraine, and developed music reality shows for TV in Ukraine. Fred Bronson is a journalist, author and regular contributor to Billboard. He has written three books about the Billboard charts and covered American Idol and Eurovision for Billboard extensively.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Adapted from the book Rockin’ the Kremlin: My Incredible True Story of Gangsters, Oligarch, and Pop Stars in Putin’s Russia by David Junk with Fred Bronson. Used by permission of the publisher Rowman & Littlefield. All rights reserved.
Trending on Billboard
The Kiss Heard ‘Round the World
I knew the Moscow-based duo t.A.T.u. was going to be my international breakthrough from the first moment I saw their controversial video.
I loved their music. The dynamic vocals were haunting and the music had an infectious dance beat. The lyrics were provocative. There was no act like them anywhere in the world. But I had to convince my Russian marketing and sales team to support me. An act like t.A.T.u. was going to be a risk for everyone. Russia was still a very intolerant society, despite the Soviet Union being long gone. This band would be pushing boundaries.
I gathered the team in my office, plugged t.A.T.u.’s VHS tape into my TV hanging on the wall, and we watched it together. Everyone’s mouth dropped watching the infamous scene when Julia and Lena kiss. “No! You cannot sign them. Are you crazy, David?” Asya, my very wise marketing director stood up and shouted. “We are going to catch so much hell for this, from everybody!” I argued, “Don’t you love how they’re rebelling against authority? That’s all that kiss is. They’re teenage symbols of a new Russia, leaving the past behind.” That’s when my excellent radio promoter Sasha Rodmanich spoke up. “The song is a hit.” At a record label, that’s all that matters. So with Sasha’s promise the song would be a hit at radio, I was able to rally the team, including Asya, who would have to carry most of the burden. We were going to pursue signing t.A.T.u. But she was right to be cautious, since I was taking Universal into uncharted territory.
Homosexuality was a crime in the old Soviet Union and under Russian law, promotion of LGBTQ issues was considered propaganda, punishable with time in prison. Gay Russians have always been treated as outcasts and subversives by the authorities. So when Julia and Lena openly embraced gay rights and kissed in their first music video, I knew I had to make a quick decision that could change my music career forever: should I sign the most exciting new music act in Russia (and maybe the world) to Universal, even if it meant risking my visa status as an American working in the country or even possible jail time because I angered the two most powerful institutions in the country – the government and the Russian Orthodox Church?
Both frowned on all things LGBTQ. Or should I shy away from the controversy and miss the best opportunity I would ever have to promote a Russian act around the world, perhaps achieving my wildest dream, being the first record executive to promote a Russian band in America? There was no way I was going to pass on this. I kept my fingers crossed that I wouldn’t end up in a Russian prison.
To sign t.A.T.u., I had to deal with Ivan Shapovalov, a high IQ provocateur in the mold of Sex Pistols manager Malcom McLaren. He was a manipulative, edgy person, whose eyes would pierce you while you were in conversation. The band was his idea, and he brought in songwriters to craft the anarchistic message. He auditioned many girls and ultimately chose two Moscow teenagers: Lena Katina, a firey redhead with a head of wild curls, considered the reasonable one; and Julia Volkova, the sassy brunette manga comic-looking foul mouthed and funny one. Both had worked in television and music projects as child actors.
I didn’t know what to expect from Ivan because negotiations in Russian show business were never predictable. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia was chaotic, corrupt, and dangerous, like Chicago was in the 1930s when Al Capone was declared the FBI’s public enemy No. 1. Russia was the wild, wild east, and their music industry had no rules or standards.
Common Western business practices like royalty payments and songwriter copyrights were foreign concepts. Payola was rampant. The government didn’t support the music industry or musicians’ rights.
The biggest obstacle was that 90 percent of all music sold in Russia was printed on counterfeit compact discs, while music legally released by record companies accounted for the other 10 percent. Musicians only made money from sales of the official releases, so this situation made it nearly impossible for artists to survive financially. The pirates who made the bootleg CDs sold them in illegal outdoor markets and kiosks throughout the country while local authorities turned a blind eye to all of it. Worse yet, the pirates were controlled by organized crime groups that used the proceeds from counterfeit sales to fund a host of illegal activities, including selling weapons to terrorists and sex trafficking.
Ivan was a tough negotiator, and he knew how badly I wanted to sign the band. My rival Sony Music had caught wind of my efforts and started courting him while I was trying to close the deal. I knew I had to play to his ego, so when he arrived at our Universal office to discuss a record contract I made sure Asya gave him a tour of our marketing and sales department where large cut-out posters of Elton John, U2, and Bon Jovi’s new album releases were hanging on the wall along with dozens of other posters of Universal’s vast roster of superstars, demonstrating that we were an international label, not a small Russian one. That was my best leverage for negotiations. “Why should I give you the rights to t.A.T.u.?” Ivan asked, staring at me with his wild eyes. “I don’t need a record label; the pirates will steal the music from you anyway.” He was right about that. Piracy would limit our sales. I told Ivan, “If you sign with me I guarantee that t.A.T.u’s album would will be promoted by Universal not just in Russia but also internationally.” That persuaded him. Universal was one of the most prestigious American brands in the world and the largest record company, and he wanted t.A.T.u. to be associated with the best Western artists.
Ivan demanded $100,000 for the rights to t.A.T.u., which would have made it the biggest record deal in Russian show business history. He was adamant that he couldn’t accept anything less. I didn’t believe him until I discovered that he had already sold the rights to the first single to a record label controlled by Russian gangsters and they had already manufactured it.
I got angry with Ivan, and he told me that he had made a mistake, that he was new to show business and didn’t know anything about song rights. The gangsters had initially paid him $5,000, but now that he was in talks with Universal, they wanted significantly more to give the rights back. I didn’t have much choice because this wasn’t just any song. This was the hit single with the notorious music video that would launch t.A.T.u. internationally and top music charts worldwide. If I didn’t get the single rights back from the gangsters at that exorbitant price, there would be no t.A.T.u.
I had to keep my bosses at Universal’s headquarters in the dark about some of the unsavory aspects of the deal. Luckily, they thought I had done a good job selling American rap and hip-hop music in Russia, with Eminem being my biggest success.
Still, $100,000 was outrageous for an artist from that part of the world and would be the biggest payout in Russian and Eastern European history. None of my colleagues who ran Universal subsidiaries in Eastern Europe had ever requested that much. Ultimately, my London bosses agreed to the amount, and I used the money to pay Ivan, who paid off the gangsters.
With Universal Russia behind the duo, t.A.T.u.’s debut album, 200 Po Vstrechnoy, got wider distribution and became a phenomenal success in every Russian city and former Soviet republic, including Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Ukraine. Julia and Lena topped the charts everywhere in the region, and t.A.T.u.’s first song and video hit No. 1 simultaneously on pop radio and MTV in 2000.
Their music first appealed to gay and lesbian youth, then spread to a much larger audience of disaffected teens. They took off like a wildfire throughout the former U.S.S.R. Stadiums were sold out and crowds of fans were worked up into a frenzy with Julia and Lena’s provocative performances. It was Russia’s version of Beatlemania. My Eastern European colleagues took notice of that because they all had sizable teenage Russian-speaking populations in their countries and sensed a hit for their markets. On that score, t.A.T.u.’s album delivered, topping the charts in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland.
We were getting ready to release 200 Po Vstrechnoy in Germany, but I knew that t.A.T.u. would never go beyond Russian-speaking audiences in Eastern Europe unless they recorded in English for Western markets.
We needed a partner to help make a t.A.T.u. album in English. We needed to rewrite and re-record the songs, and we needed a bigger, more powerful partner ally inside of our parent company Universal Music Group to shepherd us through the process. I wanted Universal’s full weight behind the release.
I went on a road tour of all of all the company’s offices in search of help. We told everyone that t.A.T.u. was on the way up, selling out concerts everywhere and climbing the charts in Bulgaria, Poland, and Hungary. If they had an English-language release, I said, they could become a global act. Unfortunately, nobody was interested in partnering with us.
Wherever we went – Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, London, anywhere Universal had an office – the answer was always no. When people from the label saw footage of them kissing on stage, it made them uncomfortable, and when Lena and Julia invited boys onstage to do the same, my colleagues were too nervous to support us.
Another issue for the executives was my goal of breaking t.A.T.u. into the American market. They would have to compete with American pop stars like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, boy bands like the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC and big pop acts from the U.K. My colleagues arrogantly dismissed the potential for a band not from America or the U.K. to have a hit in their markets.
My road tour was a bust, so I went back to Moscow and mailed packages with the Russian album and videos out to all the remaining labels in the Universal Music Group that we hadn’t visited. We kept getting turned down. It felt like we would never find a partner – until suddenly I received a phone call from Interscope Records in Los Angeles, a subsidiary label of Universal and the hottest record company in America.
I was surprised that Interscope was interested. Their roster included No Doubt, Marilyn Manson, the Black Eyed Peas, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Nelly, and Blink-182 – some of the most popular acts in the world. They really didn’t need us. Still, I had done well selling their artists in Russia, so there was already a symbiotic relationship in place.
I had sent our package to the label’s co-founder, Jimmy Iovine. He was the most powerful record executive in the world, and before forming the label, he had produced some of the most prominent artists of all time, including Tom Petty, U2, and Stevie Nicks. He sent t.A.T.u.’s Russian-language CD to British producer Trevor Horn, who had helmed very successful records for artists like Seal and Yes. He had also been in the Buggles, whose “Video Killed The Radio Star” was the first video ever shown on MTV.
He loved the t.A.T.u. CD and was very enthusiastic about working with Julia and Lena. He had been a ground-breaking pioneer in the U.K. music industry, producing the openly gay act Frankie Goes To Hollywood. I suspected that t.A.T.u. breaking through boundaries in Russia and Eastern Europe hit a nerve with him. He just had one question: “Can they sing in English?”
[embedded content]
Imagine Dragons and Dua Lipa are locked in a close race for the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart No. 1 spot this week, each experiencing significant midweek chart momentum.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Imagine Dragons’ sixth studio album, LOOM, is currently on track to debut at No. 1. This would be the band’s second No. 1 album in the U.K., following their 2015 release Smoke & Mirrors. Known for hits like “Radioactive” and “Believer,” Imagine Dragons have a strong chart history with four other top 10 albums: Night Visions (No. 2) in 2013, Evolve (No. 3) in 2017, Origins (No. 9) in 2018, and Mercury – Act 1 (No. 7) in 2021.
Dua Lipa, fresh off a headline performance at Glastonbury 2024, sees her album Radical Optimism surging up the chart. The former No. 1 album is projected to jump 25 places to No. 2, fueled by the buzz from her Pyramid Stage set. Additionally, Dua’s earlier albums are experiencing renewed interest, with Future Nostalgia (No. 9) and her self-titled debut Dua Lipa (No. 13) expected to re-enter the top 40.
Trending on Billboard
Camila Cabello’s latest project, C,XOXO, is also making a splash, currently tracking to secure the No. 7 spot. This would be Cabello’s third U.K. top 10 album, adding to her successful discography which includes Camila (No. 2) in 2018, Romance (No. 14) in 2019, and Familia (No. 9) in 2022.
Johnny Cash’s posthumous album Songwriter, featuring unreleased tracks from 1993, is expected to debut at No. 11. Beyoncé’s COWBOY CARTER is also making a notable return, climbing 85 places to No. 14 following its vinyl release.
Shania Twain’s Greatest Hits is experiencing a revival, aiming for the No. 18 spot after her highly anticipated performance at Glastonbury. This would mark the album’s first time in the top 40 since its initial release in 2005.
Elsewhere on the midweek chart, Madness’ 2023 No. 1 album Theatre of the Absurd presents C’est La Vie could re-enter the top 40 at No. 26 thanks to a new deluxe reissue. Mexican rock band The Warning is poised to earn their first-ever Official Albums Chart placement with their fourth album, Keep Me Fed, debuting at No. 37.
Stay tuned for the final chart results late Friday (July 5) to see which albums come out on top.