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03 May 2024

Bad Bunny’s Style Evolution: From 2017 to Now

From laid-back jeans to skirts, suits and designer clothes, Bad Bunny has been rocking it all with confidence and edge since the beginning of his career. 

If his major red carpet or concert looks are any indication, the Puerto Rican superstar is not one to shy away from innovative outfits. 

“My style influences what my music is and everything that surrounds me within it,” he told Billboard in 2019. “The way you dress is, to say the least, a type of art. Everyone must dress, and use their creativity, express themselves in that way, their feelings, their way of thinking. Everyone must be free in that area and let the mind flow.” 

With that mindset, the “Monaco” singer has turned many heads with his fashion-forward style.

Take, for example, his look at the 2018 American Music Awards, where a then-emerging Bunny walked the red carpet with J Balvin and performed “I Like It” with Cardi B. For that appearance, he rocked a casual-yet-strange fit: black-and-white striped pants, mint-colored shirt with skeletons on fire, and an eye on his forehead. 

“The eye represents many things,” he explained at the time. “Power, trusting yourself, seeing things that others don’t see and don’t understand, both in the world and in yourself, and most of all always having the vision to move forward, grow, and improve.” 

For his Met Gala debut in 2022, the Latin star opted for a custom Burberry boilersuit complete with gold floral hair clips, and later shared he hit the studio in that very same outfit after the high-profile event to continue working on Un Verano Sin Ti. “People at the studio were looking at me like, ‘Really? You’re going to record a reggaeton song with that look?,’” he said an interview with The View.

Check out Bad Bunny’s fashion evolution in the images below:

02 May 2024

Dua Lipa’s ‘Radical Optimism’: All 11 Tracks Ranked

Dua Lipa is looking for love. Not some sort of toxic fling or fleeting romance — she wants real, old-school love. “We all got too many options/ Remember when we used to do anything for love?” she asks on “Anything for Love,” her mid-tempo breakdown track that appears toward the end of Radical Optimism, Lipa’s third studio album, which arrived at the stroke of midnight on Friday (May 3).

Love has always been at the core of Lipa’s being, stretching back to the conflicting feelings on heartbreak she expressed on her 2017 self-titled debut album with songs like the apologetic “Be the One,” the instructional “New Rules” and the carefree “IDGAF.” When 2020’s Future Nostalgia arrived, Lipa was 24 years old, and love was all about fun and relationships made her feel like “Levitating,” just like the enduring hit single captured.

However, it’s been four years since Future Nostalgia, and the pop superstar is older now. At 28 years old, she knows what she wants in a relationship and she’s ready to settle down. As she playfully put it on Radical Optimism‘s second single, “training season’s over.” She told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe that, for her, maturity in love means that you learn your “non-negotiables” and how to healthily move on. “You have to be in the act of forgiveness and growing and learning, and being okay with the past in order to move on with what’s to come next,” she explained.

In many ways, Radical Optimism feels like the older sister to Future Nostalgia. She’s smarter and knows better than to let a relationship get the best of her, but she’s still a hopeless romantic that’s holding out for that forever love she’s looking for — all while making fans dance with an infectious disco-pop beat.

While all of Radical Optimism is worth listening to, there are some clear early standouts. Here is a ranking of all 11 tracks on Dua Lipa’s latest album.

02 May 2024

Nicki Minaj’s Surprise Guests, Britney Spears Settles Divorce, Dua Lipa’s Chart Achievements & More | Billboard News

It’s Thursday, May 2nd, and Nicki Minaj brings out Cyndi Lauper & Kai Cenat at her concert, Selena Gomez turns off her Instagram comments and Britney Spears settles divorce. We sat down with Billboard cover star T-Pain and went down memory lane to find out the stories behind some of his biggest hits including: “Buy U a Drank,” “Bartender,” “I’m Sprung” and more! With Dua Lipa’s ‘Radical Optimism’ being released tomorrow, we cover some of her greatest achievements on Billboard Explains. The TikTok Top 50 Chart is in and Taylor Swift lands in Top 4 while Phoebe Bridgers is in Top 10, but who reigns supreme this week? Keep watching to find out. On today’s Chart Rewind, we have The Cure, who took over the Billboard Alternative Airplay Chart in 1989 with “Fascination Street” and more!

Tetris Kelly
Kai Cent joins the ‘Pink Friday’ tours, Selena Gomez explains her social decisions and Britney is in the news for her ex-husband and sister. We have a brand new Billboard cover star, go in depth with Dua Lipa. See what’s hot on the Tok and rewind our charts. This is Billboard News, let’s hop into our top story. From Drake to the Queen mix girls “Gag City” is proving the place to be in the Brooklyn stuff of the Nicki Minaj ‘Pink Friday 2’ World Tour did not disappoint. Kai Cenat took to the stage to show off his dance moves. Being the most in the best possible way, Selena Gomez stopped by NBC today to talk about mental health and what she does to take care of herself.

Watch the full video above!

02 May 2024

Britney Spears Speaks Out After Possibly Emergency Situation at LA Hotel | Billboard News

Britney Spears is speaking out on Instagram after she was photographed exiting the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles barefoot around the same time an ambulance was dispatched to the hotel.

Tetris Kelly
Britney Spears has responded to reports of allegedly being escorted out of a LA hotel with paramedics after a fight with her boyfriend. Britney logged on Instagram to say the news is fake and “I also twisted my ankle last night and paramedic showed up at my door illegally. I felt completely harassed. I’m moving to Boston!” So here’s the backstory. The LA Fire Department confirmed to Billboard that they received a 911 call at around 12:42am, the morning of May 2 requesting aid for an injured adult female at Chateau Marmont. Though they departed the hotel at 1:17am, without transporting anyone to the hospital. And paparazzi photos obtained by multiple outlets show pop star Britney Spears was outside the hotspot barefoot scene with Paul Solis who Spears has previously been seen photographed with and rumor today. Sources also told CNN Brit is home and safe after a major fight with her boyfriend. We have reached out to Britney’s team and we’ll keep you posted.

02 May 2024

Taylor Swift Lands in Top 5, Phoebe Bridgers in Top 10 on TikTok Billboard Top 50 | Billboard News

On this week’s TikTok Billboard Top 50, we have Taylor Swift coming in hot in the top 5, with Phoebe Bridgers and Shaboozey in the top 10, but who’s at No. 1? Watch to find out more!

Tetris Kelly:
Lay Bankz holds strong while three big names debut in the top 10. Lay Bankz’s “Tell Ur Girlfriend” holds on to the top spot on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 for the chart posting May 2. Elsewhere on the chart, T-Swift’s “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” debuts at No. 4 thanks to a trend of showing off cuteness. Her good friend Phoebe Bridgers lands at six with a slowed-down version of “Scott Street.” Fresh off of Stagecoach, Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song” sits at No. 9.

Every Thursday, Billboard will bring you the verified list of the hottest songs on TikTok by monitoring music discovery and engagement on the platform in the United States. To find the TikTok Billboard Top 50. Each week, users can simply go to any sound detail page and tap the top right button to access the charts page.

02 May 2024

Dua Lipa’s Radical Chart Achievements | Billboard Explains

With Dua Lipa’s new album Radical Optimism coming out this Friday, we take a look back at her chart accomplishments, including debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 and breaking records with songs such as “Levitating.”

Dua Lipa:
Throughout the whole record, there’s this idea of chaos happening around, and me trying to push through it in a way that feels authentic and honest.

Narrator:
Dua Lipa is gearing up to release her new album, Radical Optimism, so we’re taking a look back at her chart accomplishments. This is Billboard Explains: Dua Lipa’s Radical Charter Achievements.

Dua Lipa made her Billboard Hot 100 debut with “Blow Your Mind (Mwah).” The song peaked at No. 72 in November 2016. Since then, she’s racked up 23 career entries on the Hot 100, including five top 10s; “New Rules,” that reached No. 6; “Don’t Start Now” peaked at No. 2 and “Levitating,” which also hit No. 2, just to name a few.

“Levitating” was a massive success for Dua on the charts. Not only was it the year-end No. 1 Hot 100 Song of 2021, it holds the record as the longest charting song among women in the Billboard Hot 100 history, with 77 weeks total. It also holds the record for the most weeks spent in the top 10 of the Hot 100 in history among women, with 41 weeks.

Over on the Pop Airplay chart, Dua holds 23 career entries with five No. 1 songs, including “Break My Heart” and “Dance the Night.”

Plus, she has three charting albums on the Billboard 200 including one top 10 with Future Nostalgia, that peaked at No. 3.

We’ll have to wait and see where Radical Optimism takes Dua next on the Billboard charts.

02 May 2024

T-Pain Shares the Stories Behind ‘Low,’ ‘Buy U a Drank,’ ‘Bartender’ & More | Chart History | Billboard Cover

Billboard cover star singer-songwriter T-Pain shares the stories behind some of his biggest hits “Buy U a Drank,” “Bartender,” “I’m Sprung” and “I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper),” to his iconic features with Ye — formerly known as Kanye West — (“Good Life”), Flo Rida (“Low”), DJ Khaled (“All I Do Is Win”), Chris Brown (“Kiss Kiss”) and Lil Wayne (“Got Money”).

T-Pain:
This is the Hot 100, this is everybody. These are the best 100 songs. That was my first time releasing anything at all, you know, on a national level. Oh my god, what a world that opened up to me. You know what I mean? Like, I didn’t know what was going to transpire after that. I didn’t know how to deal with what was coming back or anything like that. I barely knew who I was myself, but I think I was just a kid — just a kid that didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t know where he wanted to go, you know, just wanting one car at that time. I was fine with that. Until they gave me that first check. Holy s–t, that first check was out of control! S–t! Oh, yeah, that one car theory went out the window right away.

But having it break in at 100. I mean, that I was fine. I was good with that. And you know, a lot of people would see that, and they’d say, “Well, it’s nowhere near No. 1.” But at the time, that’s my highest charting record. Like I’m, I’m seen with the best 100 songs in this whole category. This is it. This is the Hot 100. This is everybody all at the same time. This ain’t hip-hop, this ain’t R&B, this ain’t adult contemporary, this ain’t Latin, this ain’t nothing. This is everybody. This ain’t country.

Watch the full video above!

02 May 2024

T-Pain: Photos From the Billboard Cover Shoot

In retrospect, the signs were there. The vintage arcade games on proud display in his 2008 episode of MTV Cribs; the 2011 album inspired by steampunk aesthetics; the impulsive commission of a $400,000 meme in the form of a chain that said “BIG ASS CHAIN” (which is currently on loan to the American Museum of Natural History for a forthcoming exhibit on hip-hop jewelry). But it isn’t until I step into the basement of T-Pain’s suburban Atlanta home — a neon-lit bunker with both a theater-size main gaming station and a separate arcade room with soundproof doors (“for screaming and sh-t”) and distinct areas for Atari, PlayStation, Tekken, Sega and SNES — that it fully sinks in. The man whose voice defined late-2000s party music is an unapologetic, card-carrying nerd.

“I’ve been trying to tell people for a decade!” the 39-year-old singer says with a booming laugh, pacing the game room in sweatpants and slippers. “Nobody wanted to listen.” Ten years ago, few would have known that the artist who seemed to write hits in his sleep was regularly hopping on Twitch to play Skyrim with like-minded gamers, or that he’d tricked out his Hit Factory studio in Miami with a full stage for nightly Guitar Hero sessions. (“Any time an artist would come by the studio, I don’t give a f–k what you’re talking about — grab this guitar and meet me in the booth,” he says, pantomiming Pantera-esque riffs.)

Back then, flying his geek flag in plain sight wasn’t compatible with being the voice behind the buoyant, world-conquering records that have soundtracked nearly two decades of bottle service nightclubs, pro sports broadcasts and White House correspondents’ dinners — at least not according to the powers that be. “I never got to show that side of myself because management deemed it uncool. So instead of playing video games, we’d go to the Dolphins game,” T-Pain remembers, his perennially jolly voice tinged with only a hint of regret. “But I thought that the sh-t I wanted to do was the coolest sh-t in the world.”

Read the full digital cover story here.

01 May 2024

Drake Seemingly Responds to Kendrick Lamar’s ‘euphoria,’ Mariah Carey’s All Access in Vegas, ENHYPEN Throw First Pitch & More | Billboard News

It’s Wednesday, May 1st, and Drake possibly responded to Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “euphoria.” Drake joined Nicki Minaj during the Toronto stop of her tour, and although he didn’t respond to the diss track on the stage, he may have made a reference to it on his Instagram Story with a monologue from Julia Stiles’ ‘10 Things I Hate About You.’ We give you All Access to Mariah Carey’s: The Celebration of Mimi Live in Las Vegas. Shenseea stops by our studio to talk about her new album, ‘Never Gets Late Here,’ her big collabs with Kanye West and more! ENHYPEN gave us details about throwing the first pitch for the Seattle Mariners, Mckenna Grace talks about her new music and more!

Tetris Kelly: 
Did Drake react to Kendrick’s diss track? We’re talking to Shenseea and McKenna Grace. We take you inside Mariah Carey’s Vegas residency and chat within ENHYPEN about throwing out the first pitch. Tetris Kelly back with Billboard News and I hope you’re hungry because beef is what’s for dinner. Drake took a trip to Gag City, but did he respond to Kendrick Lamar’s diss track? Let’s break it down. Drake joined Nicki Minaj onstage during the Toronto stop of the Pink Friday 2 World Tour just hours after Kendrick Lamar dropped “euphoria,” which took aim at Drizzy. While the Toronto native didn’t address the track onstage, fans think he may have been responding to it on his IG Story. He posted the iconic Julia Stiles monologue from ’10 Things I Hate About You’ with a broken heart and a winky face. If those two are related, it looks like he’s not taking the diss track too seriously. Everyone’s waiting to see if Drake responds lyrically. His last track “Push Ups” debuted at No.2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, while Kendrick’s OG diss track with Metro Boomin and Future “Like That” spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, proving this beef is the feud that keeps on giving. I had the pleasure of seeing one of the best vocalists of all time and I’m taking you along for the ride.

Keep watching to learn more!

30 Apr 2024

Will Taylor Swift Be the Last Million-Selling Star as We Move Further Into Streaming Era?

The eye-popping debut of Taylor Swift‘s 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, is just the latest in a string of epic achievements from the music superstar.

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are wondering: With the project earning 2.61 million equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending April 25 — and traditional album sales comprising 1.914 million of that sum — could Swift be the last artist to sell a million-plus albums in one week?

When you look back at every million-selling week since 2010, there are 11 weeks total (including TTPD), and seven of those are Swift’s. (Three others belong to Adele’s 25 and one is the debut week of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way.) Can anyone other than Swift hit that mark again? Or is she in a league of her own?

Trending on Billboard

Listen to our Pop Shop Podcast discussion below:

Also on the show, we’ll be talking more about Swift’s massive debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and how she dominates the Billboard Hot 100, as all 31 songs from the deluxe version of The Tortured Poets Department debut on the chart — including the entire top 14 — led by “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone, at No. 1.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)