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20 Mar 2025

Muni Long, Becky G & More Share Who They’re Excited for at Billboard Women In Music | Billboard News

We caught up with Muni Long, Becky G, JoJo Siwa and so many more on iHeartRadio’s red carpet to see who they’re most excited to see at Billboard Women in Music next Saturday, March 29.

Who are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments below!

Becky G:
I mean, Doechii’s one of my favorite artists. I adore her. 

James Charles:
I’m a really big GloRilla fan right now. 

Muni Long: 
Billboard Women in Music has been a goal of mine. 

Becky G:
I’m so happy for her. We actually funny enough, the year that I won the Impact Award, we were sharing a dressing room. 

Tetris Kelly:
Stop it. 

Becky G:
She was, she was performing, and I was receiving my Impact Award, and also performing and there, if you know, backstage, there’s not a lot of dressing rooms, and so we were like, musical chairs in there. And she’s just adorable.

Dara Reneé:
I love Doechii so much. I’m such a fan of hers, like, I literally get so starstruck. 

Dasha:
Doechii is, like, one of my favorites. I haven’t met her, but I’m just such a fan. Her acceptance speech at the Grammys made me sob. Sob! Women at Billboard. Let’s go! 

James Charles:
Let me tell you. Like, b—h, I’m from Memphis, what you know about me? Big G-L-O in that GLE. I’m excited. I can’t wait. 

Shinedown:
I’m from Memphis, man, so, GloRilla that’s my girl.  

Tetris Kelly: 
He said, “Yeah Glo!”

Shinedown:
I’m 901 forever, man. I love that. I love it. I love that she’s out there doing it. That’s a big thing for Memphis, Tenn., too. 

Tetris Kelly:
Heck yeah.

BigXthaPlug:
I got some stuff planned with GloRilla I’m hoping to get in there with her so. 

Inayah:
Muni Long can sing down, baby. 

Tetris Kelly:
Down. 

Keep watching for more!

19 Mar 2025

Ye Calls Out Playboi Carti & Kendrick Lamar After ‘MUSIC’ Drop | Billboard News

After Playboi Carti dropped his new ‘MUSIC’ album, Ye went on X to call out both Playboi Carti  and Kendrick Lamar. Keep watching for the full story. 

What do you think of Ye’s latest rant? Let us know in the comments below!

Playboi Carti is snapping back at Ye’s latest series of hate-speech and conspiracy-theory-fueled rants, and Kendrick Lamar gets invited into the ring. Oh, and of course, somehow 50 Cent is involved. Let’s get into it. Nobody is safe. After being left off Playboi Carti’s recent 30-song album, Ye spoke and said: “NOBODY GET A PASS I WAS A PART OF SO MANY OF THESE NI**AS SUCCESS AND A LOT OF NI**AS LET THE JEWS CONTROL.” “HEY NORTH YOUR DAD GAVE ME MY BIGGEST SONG AND COSIgn AND I LEFT HIM OFF OF MY ALBUM BECAUSE OF HIS TWEETS OH BUT NORTH YOU MY NIECE I GOTTA USE YOUR VOCALS.” 

Playboi has responded with a simple, “Ye, STFU.”

Even Kendrick Lamar caught a stray, with Ye saying: “I HAAAAAATED, not like us” and “Kendrick, pleeeease come diss meeee.” And while Kendrick got shaded, 50 got praised with Ye saying, “50 Cent is one of my favorite people. He will be one of the people who brings back black economic independence.” 50 reposted and commented: “Damn it, Ye, ya dangerous right now.” We will continue to keep our eyes on the rapper. Keep it locked with Billboard News.

19 Mar 2025

Billboard Reacts to Playboi Carti ‘MUSIC’ Drop, Breaks Down Album & More | Billboard Unfiltered

In today’s episode of ‘Billboard Unfiltered,’ Billboard staffers Carl Lamarre, Trevor Anderson and Kyle Denis are reacting to Playboi Carti’s first album in five years, ‘MUSIC,’ and sharing their thoughts on everything he delivered on the album. They also go into Lizzo’s X crash-out over ‘poptimism,’ the public’s reaction to Leon Thomas putting out the “Mutt” remix with Chris Brown and more!

What do you want to hear more of? Drop your suggestion in the chat!

Carl Lamarre: 

Yo, yo yo, yo what’s going on y’all and welcome to a fresh episode of Billboard Unfiltered. Gentlemen- what it do, what it do, what it do?

Kyle Denis:

Chilling man, how are you?

Carl Lamarre: 

I am good. No complaints, well rested. Not bad at all.

Trevor Anderson:

Okay? What got you so well rested out here?

Kyle Denis: 

I mean sleep, probably.

Trevor Anderson:

Well… that tends to be the number one ingredient.

Carl Lamarre:

It’s nice outside.

Trevor Anderson:

Yeah springtime is starting a little bit out here in New York.

Carl Lamarre: 

Concerts are picking back up outside shortly, we got a couple in NYC this week so…

Kyle Denis:

Had Jordan Adetunji at Mercury Lounge last week, it was a great show.

Carl Lamarre:

Bowizzle, Omarion, yeah you know I might have to bring it back.

Trevor Anderson:

That is some millennial sh– right there. 

Carl Kamarre:

I’m an old head, but you know in the midst of all this old head sh–, I’m trying to have some YN moments with this new Playboi Carti ‘MUSIC’ album. Whoo we are talking about this colossal 30-track project, which has some heavy-hitters with Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, we should say Kendrick Lamar thrice because we got three Kendrick Lamar records on there.

Keep watching for more!

19 Mar 2025

Fans Share Who Their Top Powerful Women Artists of the 21st Century Are | Billboard News

With Billboard Women in Music just around the corner, we took to the streets of Los Angeles to find out from fans who their favorite powerful woman in the music industry is and why. From Rihanna to Mariah Carey, we find out who the public loves!

Who do you think is a powerful woman in the music industry? Let us know in the comments!

Guest 1:
Oh, look what you made me do.

Guest 2:
Rihanna, yes of course I love Riri!

Guest 3:
I think she’s done a really great things for women.

Guest 1:
Big women energy.

Lauren-Ashley Beck:
What’s up, guys? It’s Lauren-Ashley Beck, and as Billboard Women in Music quickly approaches, I had to hit the streets in L.A. and talk about the top women in music of the 21st century. Let’s hit it. All right, so we are here talking about powerful women in music. Who would you say is one of your favorite powerful woman in the music industry?

Guest 4: 
I’m going to go with a legend like Mariah Carey in a sense with not just with the songs on the radio and regular commercial success, but those holiday songs and Christmas songs, the Christmas jingles. 

Lauren-Ashley Beck:
She is Ms. Christmas. What’s your favorite Mariah Carey song?

Guest 4:
“Always Be My Baby”

Lauren-Ashley Beck:
What feeling would you say you get when you listen to Mariah?

Guest 4:
There’s always a feel good, mature, sexy feel. It’s always classical vibes, just timeless music. I feel like her music transcends over many decades and generations. 

Lauren-Ashley Beck:
What do you think the music industry would be like without Mariah Carey? 

Keep watching for more!

18 Mar 2025

It’s Giving Country: Chappell Roan Goes Full ’90s Twang on ‘The Giver’

Just as Chappell Roan has cemented herself as one of pop’s most promising new stars, winning best new artist at last month’s 2025 Grammys amid a crowded field, she’s taken a left turn toward Nashville for her new country single “The Giver.”

On the new Pop Shop Podcast (listen below), Katie & Keith are chatting about the cheeky track — with lyrics like “Ain’t got antlers on my walls/ But I sure know mating calls” and “Girl, I don’t need no lifted truck/ Revvin’ loud to pick you up” — and how quickly Roan made this pop-country pivot, following in the recent bootsteps of Beyoncé, Post Malone and Sabrina Carpenter.

Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on Lady Gaga debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with her latest studio effort Mayhem, notching the superstar her seventh leader; how JENNIE becomes the third member of BLACKPINK to notch a solo top 10 effort on the Billboard 200; and how Doechii’s viral release “Anxiety” becomes her highest-charting hit ever on the Billboard Hot 100, as it debuts straight into the top 20.

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Plus, Katie tells Keith all about her latest Las Vegas adventure, returning to the Sphere for the Eagles’ residency (which just added four new dates in September). And we also discuss Billboard shooting down rumors of a Harry Styles Sphere residency.

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.)

18 Mar 2025

Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, GloRilla & More Backstage at 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards: Best Behind-the-Scenes Photos

The Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles came alive with some of music’s biggest stars Monday night (March 17), with Billie Eilish, Benson Boone and Gracie Abrams all winning big at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards.

Among the prizes given out were album of the year, which went to the “Birds of a Feather” singer’s Hit Me Hard and Soft; song of the year, which the Missouri-born pop-rock prodigy took home for his smash “Beautiful Things”; and breakthrough artist, which the “That’s So True” musician accepted. SZA also won R&B artist of the year for a record third year in a row, while Jelly Roll nabbed country artist of the year and GloRilla snagged hip-hop artist of the year. Plus, Lady Gaga was honored with the 2025 iHeartRadio Innovator Award, and Mariah Carey received the 2025 iHeartRadio Icon Award.

And in between accepting their respective awards, all of the musicians on hand at the L.A. venue also got the chance to brush shoulders, say hi to old friends and introduce themselves to new pals at the ceremony. Many of the best moments were captured in photos behind the scenes, with Bad Bunny and Becky G posing together backstage, Glo, K Carbon and Sexyy Red getting cheeky in matching gold outfits and winners such as Boone and Carey showing off their new hardware for the cameras.

For a full roundup of who won during the broadcast, check out Billboard’s full breakdown. As for what you didn’t see onscreen at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, check out all of the best behind-the-scenes photos below.

18 Mar 2025

Watch the Cast of ‘Moana 2’ Play ‘Finish the Lyrics’ to Disney Songs

The cast of Moana 2 tests how well they know their knowledge of Disney hits by finishing the lyrics to “Let It Go,” “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” and so many more!

What did you think of the cast finishing the lyrics? Let us know in the comments!

Tetris Kelly:
We like to play a game with a lot of our guests called Finish the Lyrics.

Awhimai Fraser: 
Oh no, I’m terrible!

I’m never going back/ The past is in the past.

They said we really hit it. 

Emily Bear:
I’m never going back/ The past is in the past. 

Tetris Kelly: 
See? Come on!

Awhimai Fraser: 
That’s “A Whole New World,” but I can’t remember the rest.

Abigail Barlow:
Soaring … No?

Tetris Kelly:
OK, you’re getting- You’re on the way 

Abigail Barlow:
Soaring sideways and under.

Tetris Kelly: 
You were right with soaring. You started correctly.

Awhimai Fraser & Hualalai Chung: 
Indescribable feelings tumbling/ free wheeling. 

Awhimai Fraser:
We can hum it.

Abigail Barlow:
Tumbling/ Free wheeling. 

Tetris Kelly:
There we go. 

Abigail Barlow:
In an endless diamond sky. That’s a crazy lyric

Tetris Kelly:
It’s a crazy lyric. Even when I read it, I was like, well, that one caught me off guard. 

Abigail Barlow:
Yeah. 

He told me that the man of my dreams. 

Tetris Kelly: 
She’s got it. 

Abigail Barlow:
I don’t know what comes next. 

Tetris Kelly:
And someday be mine. 

Emily Bear:
I don’t know.

Abigail Barlow:
It’s from Encanto.

Awhimai Frase:
Ote, Mariano’s …

Hualalai Chung:
She’s got the Māori version down. 

Awhimai Frase:
I know the Māori version.

Hualalai Chung:
She knows the Māori version. 

Awhimai Frase:
Yeah yeah, OK.

Tetris Kelly:
OK, do we got the song title?

Abigail Barlow:
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” 

Tetris Kelly:
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”  OK, I’ll give you a point for that.

Emily Bear:
I’m sorry, that’s so embarrassing. 

Keep watching for more!

18 Mar 2025

David Gray on Connecting With His Concert Audiences: ‘We’re Not Here to Just Make a Few Dollars’

David Gray made sure no two shows on his recent U.S. tour supporting his 2024 album, Dear Life, were the same. Not only is the choice of songs different one night to the next, there are moments of spontaneity and humanity that give each performance a different character.

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“Even within changing the set, I’m adding things in that I haven’t planned for,” the British singer-songwriter tells Billboard’s Behind the Setlist podcast. “And why? Because the puppet is turning back into a real boy. That is the process that’s going on. I want to be sort of emotionally present on stage, not just playing the set. I don’t want us to go into battle mode — here we are, information, walk on, do the gig, come off, champagne. I want it to be more than that.”

In Detroit, for example, somebody shouted a request for his first single, “Birds Without Wings,” from his 1993 album, A Century Ends. It wasn’t on the setlist, but Gray obliged. At another concert, a fan shouted a request for “The Song of Wandering Aengus,” a track based on a poem by William Butler Yeats that Gray has performed live but never recorded. “Wow, that is obscure,” he recalled thinking. “I’m impressed.” Although Gray had never performed the song on the piano, he played the beginning and eventually made it through the song. The unexpected diversion was a memorable success. “My favorite moment of the whole night,” he says. “It’ll be one of my favorite moments from the tour.”

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Gray is best known for his breakthrough album White Ladder from 1998, one of the most successful albums in the U.K. and Ireland of the 2000s. Songs from White Ladder were spread throughout the concerts, but Gray dipped into his catalog of 13 studio albums and included numerous songs from Dear Life. “These [new] songs are very direct and instant, I feel, and I felt that they could stand next to shoulder to shoulder with the big songs from my catalog without being crushed,” he says.

Incorporating surprises, telling stories about his music and taking chances helps connect Gray to the audience and heighten the concert-going experience. “I want to be emotionally direct,” he continues. “I want to be emotionally present. I don’t want to be pornographic. It’s not like, ‘Dave’s going to show us everything. This is what’s going on inside his head.’ It’s a moment of sharing only in a way that would enrich the experience of listening to the music and explain why we’re there making the music. We’re not here to just make a few dollars. I’m here for a different reason.”

Check out the entire conversation in which Gray walked Behind the Setlist through his entire 23-song set, in order, at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles on Feb. 14. Listen using the embedded Spotify player below, or go to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Amazon Music, Podbean or Everand.

18 Mar 2025

DDG on ‘Pink Dreads’ Viral Success, Says He’s ‘Not Interested In Creating New Fans’ | Billboard News

We caught up with DDG at Rolling Loud. and he shares how he feels about “Pink Dreads” having a viral moment, how he gets inspired to create music and more!

What do you think of DDG’s “Pink Dreads”? Let us know in the comments!

Tetris Kelly:
Hanging out at Rolling Loud with DDG. Man, how does it feel like to have this viral moment that you’re having right now with “Pink Dreads” and seeing everybody doing the trend? It’s so cool. 

DDG: 
It’s amazing, man, you know that’s what all artists aim for. Viral moment, you know just pushing the music further and further.

Did you know that song was going to be the one to kind of get the vibe going right now?

Yeah, I feel like we’re in the day and age where everything moves on quick in music. Every week there’s a new hit song, so doing it live give people what they want right there. Nine times out of 10 it’s going to be a hit. 

How are you with the new music right now? You got “The Method,” you got “Play by the Rules” as you continue to introduce yourself to new crowds. What are you trying to offer?

I just want to put out good music, man. I’m in the game of not really chasing a hit. Just chasing feeding my community and feeding the people that really rock with me. I’m not really interested in creating new fans — I want it to organically happen. 

I know how that is. So when you go in the studio what are you trying to represent like what inspires you?

I just want to be one of the ones that come out here one day and I’m not pulling up at 3 o’clock, I’m pulling up at 10 p.m. at Sofi Stadium headlining my own s–t. 

Keep watching for more!

18 Mar 2025

Natti Natasha on Her Return With ‘Natti Natasha en Amargue,’ Working With Romeo Santos | Billboard In Conversation

Natti Natasha has returned with a bachata-filled album, Natti Natasha en Amargue. The Dominican singer shares why it took her so long to release the album, working with Romeo Santos as her composer and producer on the new project, recounts the story of Romeo Santos nearly dying on set during the music video shoot for “La Mejor Versión De Mí,” reuniting with her husband, Rafael Pina, and more!

Leila Cobo:
Natti, welcome to Billboard. 

Natti Natasha:
Thank you so much!

It has been a while my friend! 

Yes it has, yes it has.

You know what? Good things happen to those who wait because we waited until the release of  Natti Natasha en Amargue.

My goodness. 

Tell us what En Amargue means. Get me out of my doubt. 

En Amargue is like a moment of spite. In the Dominican Republic, when you’re bitter, you’re sad or spiteful because you left someone after so many years or you found out about someone’s infidelity and you go to the grocery store where they sell chips and drinks and they start playing dominoes and listen to bachata and it’s heart-stopping music. And now in Natti Natasha en Amargue— 

Is it always out of spite?

Out of spite and like how it is in Natti Natasha en Amargue, too, it’s about passionate love where you go crazy and I say “I’m crazy because I love you.” You know? Because it’s like I’m protecting you from others. It’s that kind of music, it’s lyrics that are very raw and very real, the things that happen to us on a day to day basis, but they’re passionate things. When you’re heartbroken you’re, like, you want this person, now that you’re unfaithful you want the person and you want her now. You’re saying that you’re going to kill yourself for this person. They’re really raw lyrics but really real. 

Keep watching for more!