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“My family lived in an American Idol household,” says Amanda Ibanez, who goes by Kiddo A.I.; specifically, Adam Lambert was the contestant who inspired her to pursue music. “I would get in front of the TV and sing and my brothers would make fun of me.” But her mother believed in her and encouraged her to get involved with a local church youth group, in which she would write songs and perform. The Miami native, now 28, began self-releasing her music as a teenager, but calls her career a “really slow climb.” A decade in, after meeting hit-maker JKash (Charlie Puth, Morgan Wallen), she started connecting with Los Angeles-based songwriters — and even crossed paths with Max Martin at one point.

Kiddo’s “zero to 100” moment came three years ago, when she worked with Selena Gomez on Rema’s “Calm Down” remix, which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. “I used to watch her as a kid on Wizards of Waverly Place, so it was very full circle,” she says. That moment encouraged Kiddo to home in on songwriting for other artists instead of herself — “It’s less invasive,” she says with a laugh. Since then, she has worked on a number of pop hits, including several songs on Gomez and Benny Blanco’s collaborative album, I Said I Love You First, Le Sserafim’s “Crazy” and Tyla’s “Back to You.”

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Benny Blanco and Selena Gomez, “Sunset Blvd”

“It really came out of nowhere. I think Benny or [songwriter] Michael Pollack was playing the keys, and we all just started singing this hook melody,” Kiddo recalls of one of the standout songs on I Said I Love You First, which debuted at No. 1 on Top Album Sales. “I don’t remember who said ‘Sunset Blvd,’ but it just made so much sense because then Benny and Selena were like, ‘Wait, that’s where we had our first date.’ It was great to be able to help them say what they wanted to say. We wrote it in, I think, an hour. It basically wrote itself.”

Jennie, “Like Jennie”

“That was such a crazy day,” Kiddo says of working on one of the fiercer tracks from Blackpink member Jennie’s solo debut album, Ruby. “I went to Diplo’s house and he lives deep in Malibu, so it was an hour drive. I was working with [him and] Tayla Parx for the first time, so I was very nervous because I was such a fan of both of them. When we got there, we went through a couple of different tracks, but nothing made sense. Then Tayla and I were like, ‘We need something hard and just so in-your-face. This is Jennie’s song, right? So let’s make a song called “Like Jennie.” ’ Jennie freaked out. She loved it.”

Lisa, “Chill”

Kiddo worked on another Blackpink member’s solo debut album as well: Lisa’s Alter Ego. As she recalls, “I wrote [this one] with Ali Tamposi and John Byron. We actually came up with the hook before the session, and it just came so naturally.” She says that while Tamposi devised the title, they worked together on a couple of hook ideas before Kiddo had to go out of town. “Ali worked with Lisa to finish it, and it came out great. It’s one of my favorites on the album.”

This story appears in the April 19, 2025, issue of Billboard.

Jennie has officially arrived at the Met Gala on Monday (May 1), and she didn’t disappoint.

The BLACKPINK superstar stunned in a vintage look originally designed by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel’s fall/winter 1990 line. The white mini-dress cinched with a black, flower-embellished belt is paired with sleek black opera gloves, black tights, a thick choker with the singer’s hair slicked back into a chic headband.

Of course, the look aptly follows this year’s theme, Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, which honors the iconic fashion designer who died in February 2019 and his seven-decade career.

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It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for Jennie, who took the stage at Coachella last month along with her BLACKPINK bandmates to become the first Korean act to headline the festival. “We’re so excited and honored to be able to return to Coachella as headliners,” she told Billboard. “We had the best time in 2019 and can’t wait to experience the energy of the audience again. There are some nerves, but more than anything, we’re just ready to have fun.”

Jennie is also set to star in Sam Levinson’s upcoming HBO drama, The Idol. See Jennie’s full 2023 Met Gala look below.

Jennie Kim attends The 2023 Met Gala Celebrating “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 01, 2023 in New York City.

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images