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In the midst of the ongoing dispute between ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin and her company’s owners at HYBE, NewJeans member Danielle has written a note of support to Min expressing her support and love for the boss she referred to as a “mother and warrior.”
According to a translation of the note posted on Instagram from Korea’s JoongAng Daily, Danielle wrote: “My beloved CEO, it’s Dani. It’s been two years already. Our CEO who really did the most, thank you so, so much. So much has happened during the short and long two years that it almost feels like we went through everything we should have in seven years. Maybe it was a sacrifice for the future.”
The letter thanked Min for “always being dedicated to the work,” while offering some kind words about the “hardships” Min has endured, travails that were not specified in the note. Back in May, a Seoul court barred HYBE from firing Min from her role as CEO of the ADOR subsidiary after an internal audit by HYBE and subsequent police report against the exec. Min was sued by BELIFT Lab in May for defamation and obstruction of business over her comments that BELIFT’s girl group ILLIT had plagiarized NewJeans.
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On July 9, Min reportedly visited the Yongsan Police Station in Seoul for questioning after HYBE reported her to authorities citing breach of trust. Then, on July 15, the HYBE Labels subsidiary Source Music — home of K-pop girl group LE SSERAFIM — sued Min for $361,000, accusing her of defamation and disruption of business in connection with comments Min made at two emotional press conferences held in April, claiming that her statements at the events damaged Le SSERAFIM. In response, Min has accused five HYBE executives of defamation and leaking private messages to the press.
In her letter to Min, Danielle continued, “You know that we’re always on your side, right? You’re my family. Whatever you choose, I want to be together with you. I want to stay by your side, even if I’m not much help. I always pray for you, support you and love you.”
NewJeans have continued to support their executive producer during the turbulent past few months, with member Minji thanking the ADOR CEO for her contributions to the group during an appearance on South Korean chart show Music Bank. “Once again, we would like to thank our CEO, whom we love and adore a lot. We love you, CEO!” Minji said at the time.
See the note from Danielle posted on Min’s Instagram below.
Vybz Kartel is a free man. After 13 years behind bars, Vybz — born Adidja Azim Palmer — was released from prison on Wednesday.
Per FOX 5, the Jamaica Court of Appeal voted unanimously not to have a retrial in the 2011 murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams, which led to the dancehall star’s release along with his three co-defendants, Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St. John.
Even though Williams’ body was never discovered, Vybz was convicted in the murder in 2014. Kartel and his co-defendants faced accusations of killing Williams over two unlicensed firearms that weren’t returned to them.
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“We conclude that the interest of justice does not require a new trial to be ordered,” Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop stated, per BBC.
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One of the reasons the court cited was also because of Vybz Kartel’s deteriorating health situation, as he’s been diagnosed with Graves’ Disease and a heart condition. FOX 5 also reported that the Jamaican icon was battling a thyroid disease, while his lawyers said his prison conditions were “inhumane.”
Vybz regaining his freedom became a possibility when the U.K.’s Privy Council overturned the conviction against him and the co-defendants in March, citing juror misconduct due to an alleged bribery attempt.
Once King Charles signed off on the matter, Vybz’s fate was back in the Jamaican Court of Appeal’s hands.
In addition to the “Summer Time” singer’s health situation, the appeal court said the amount of time and lack of witnesses and financial resources needed also played a role in the decision against a retrial.
A celebratory scene broke out as fans were sent into a frenzy outside the Jamaican courthouse after learning that Vybz Kartel would be walking away free.
Vybz Kartel has worked with Rihanna, Eminem and Jay-Z in the past. The 48-year-old artist has launched seven different projects into the Reggae Albums chart’s top 10. His most recent LP arrived in 2021 with Born Fi Dis (Prelude).
Fans broke down barriers to mob attorney Isat Buchanan as he emerged from the Court of the Appeal in downtown Kingston on Wednesday, after his client and dancehall star Vybz Kartel was just freed of a murder charge. “Free worl’ boss!” the fans shouted. 📹: Sashana Small pic.twitter.com/HmzIEnZ6Jm— Jamaica Gleaner (@JamaicaGleaner) July 31, 2024
Music star Vybz Kartel is now out of the State’s custody and is back on Jamaican streets. The 48-year-old artiste, who is battling ill health, was met by adoring fans as he left prison in Kingston, hours after the Court of Appeal freed him of a 13-year-old murder charge. pic.twitter.com/QYGtuD6dI3— Jamaica Gleaner (@JamaicaGleaner) July 31, 2024
Cardi B has once again filed for divorce from Offset, her rep reportedly confirmed to Page Six. The news comes after seven years of marriage between the two hip-hop titans. The “WAP” artist reportedly filed on Wednesday, requesting primary custody of their 5-year-old daughter Kulture and 2-year-old son Wave. Billboard has reached out to both […]
Tony Award-winning composer Lin-Manuel Miranda and Pulitzer Prize finalist Eisa Davis are set to release a new concept album titled WARRIORS, inspired by the cult-classic 1979 film The Warriors and its source novel by Sol Yurick.
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The 26-song project, which will be available everywhere on Oct. 18 via Atlantic Records, follows a fictitious New York City gang from Coney Island to the Bronx and back when they are framed for the murder of a respected gang leader, Cyrus.
“We’ve spent the past three years musicalizing the Warriors’ journey home, from the South Bronx to Coney Island,” the co-writers stated in a joint announcement. “Along the way, we’ve gotten to work with a lot of our favorite artists, and we’ll be announcing their roles on the album in the weeks ahead. We can’t wait to share these songs with you on Oct. 18.”
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The project boasts some serious hip-hop credentials behind the scenes. Grammy Award-winning rapper Nas serves as executive producer, bringing his New York City roots to the table. Meanwhile, Grammy-winning musician Mike Elizondo takes the helm as producer.
While the full cast remains under wraps, the creators tease a “star-studded” lineup of voices to be revealed in the coming weeks.
Lin-Manuel Miranda has already achieved notable Billboard success with projects like Hamilton, The Hamilton Mixtape, and the Encanto soundtrack.
Hamilton‘s cast recording won a Grammy in 2016 for best musical theater album. It became the first-ever Broadway cast recording to be certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America.
The Hamilton Mixtape debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and Encanto‘s soundtrack, featuring the hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” dominated the charts, making Miranda Billboard’s Top Hot 100 Songwriter of 2022.
He also contributed to the Moana soundtrack, earning a Grammy and an Oscar nomination for “How Far I’ll Go.”
The project also adds to the diverse body of work of Eisa Davis, who is an award-winning actor, writer, and singer-songwriter known for her work on stage and screen.
Davis was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for her play Bulrusher and wrote and starred in Angela’s Mixtape. She’s also written for television series such as Netflix’s She’s Gotta Have It and FX’s Justified: City Primeval, and she has appeared in numerous theater productions and films.
WARRIORS is out Oct. 18
Ayra Starr always envisioned herself as the “Black Hannah Montana.” But in her new Amazon Music documentary Dare to Dream, which Billboard can exclusively reveal premieres Thursday (Aug. 1), fans will be able to take a closer look at Ayra the global Afrobeats star and Oyinkansola the Beninese-Nigerian girl.
Directed and produced by HOMECOMING, the 23-minute short film explores how Starr made her dreams come true. Dare to Dream captures her international journey, traveling between her birthplace of Cotonou, where she eventually returns to a swarm of eager fans; her homebase of Lagos, where her musical career started after signing to Don Jazzy‘s iconic Mavin label; London, where she’s sold out shows; and Los Angeles, where she attends the 2024 Grammy Awards after scoring her first nomination for best African music performance with her 2022 hit single “Rush.”
“I’ve always wanted to do this to inspire African girls all over [the world], Black girls, girls in general to keep going and do what they believe they were born to do. I’m just a regular African girl, you understand. And I’ve come this far, and I want them to feel like, ‘Oh, I can relate to that,’” she told Billboard following her documentary premiere, adding that she started filming Dare to Dream almost one year ago. While watching the full doc for the first time on Tuesday evening (July 30) at The Culver Theater in California for the official premiere, she kept thinking to herself, “Hmm, I like that angle. I should’ve shot more like that.”
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Starr hopes Dare to Dream isn’t the last time you’ll see her on the silver screen. When asked to choose what her first movie role would be during the doc’s Q&A portion, she responded, “I want to be in a high school movie, like the ones we grew up watching, like a Euphoria type. I feel like I would play that so well — the main mean girl.” The audience erupted in laughter before she continued: “That’s what I want to do. I would eat that role up! It would come so easy for me…. I’m not a mean girl at all, but I grew up watching Sharpay [Evans in High School Musical] and Maddy [Perez in Euphoria], just like the mean girl that’s never that mean. They’re just real. You know when women know what they want… I want to be that woman.”
Dare To Dream is currently streaming on Amazon Music’s YouTube channel and app. It will be available to stream on Prime Video in the coming weeks.
Starr is also the first Afrobeats artist to be named Amazon Music’s Breakthrough Artist, an emerging artist program that champions new talent early on in their careers through enhanced playlist support, social media campaigns, an Amazon Music Original song, marketing opportunities and bespoke editorial content. The Breakthrough Program has previously featured rapidly rising stars like Chappell Roan and Benson Boone.
“Ayra Starr was an obvious choice for our latest Breakthrough artist. A one-of-a-kind talent leading the exhilarating world of Afrobeats, her early successes have already been thrilling,” said Alexis Cueva, artist relations for Amazon Music, in a press statement. “With Ayra joining the Breakthrough family, we’re excited to support her as she continues to garner worldwide acclaim and represent Nigeria’s music scene on the global stage.”
Watch Dare to Dream below.
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Sometimes what you see in a music video is all smoke and mirrors, an illusion of fun carefully crafted to make it seem like the artists are living it up and having a killer time together. Then there’s Post Malone and Blake Shelton‘s “Pour Me a Drink.” The clip for the song from Posty’s upcoming […]
Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour juggernaut has found cities around the world twist themselves into pretzels to welcome the singer’s stadium-packing juggernaut. But when Swifties start filing into PGE Narodowy stadium on Thursday (August 1) for the singer’s show in Warsaw they might mistake the alarming sound of air raid sirens for some kind of bizarre […]
Good things, as we’ve been told since day nought, take time.
Empire of the Sun fans patiently waited for Ask That God, the electronic-pop act’s fourth studio album. Eight long years.
“As necessary as it probably was for the band to go through that period,” Lord Littlemore tells Billboard, “I would really hope that we never do it again. And we just keep coming with lots of music.”
Ask That God arrived fully formed on July 26, led off by a batch of joyful, hooky singles, including “Cherry Blossom,” “Changes,” and “Music On The Radio,” and “The Feeling you Get” — and their respective, interstellar music videos.
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When frontman Emperor Steele (Luke Steele) and Littlemore (Nick Littlemore) reunite for a new album, it’s the musical equivalent of planets aligning. Littlemore keeps busy with Pnau, operating a label and more, while Steele, the ex-Sleepy Jackson lead, helms a solo project and lapped Australia in February 2023 for an Empire of the Sun run.
“It’s so much fun making music with Luke and our kind of wider family of musicians and people that we’re always seeking and experimenting with. We want to make a lot of music for you guys,” says Littlemore. Empire of the Sun, he admits, “is a really cool band to be in.”
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Anyone familiar with Empire of the Sun would agree. Steele and Littlemore are well-traveled Australians, they step out in a style that’s not of this world, and their canon includes some gems, the type that sit in a place where pop, nostalgia and electronic music intersect.
Recording sessions for Ask That God took place around the globe, beginning in Asia, the influence of which can be seen in those Michael Maxxis-directed music videos. Along the way Steele and Littlemore collected inspiration from anywhere, everywhere. And new instruments, drum machines, “different things that could spark your brain,” explains Steele. “It’s all about tricking your process. You do it new and you feel like a kid again.”
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Ask That God (via EMI) isn’t the first time an Empire of the Sun project has taken eight years to complete its journey.
The colorful group first introduced itself to the world in 2008 with the single “Walking on a Dream,” a top 10 hit in Australia, where they would scoop four ARIA Awards. In the U.S., the song had a second life when it was synced to the Honda Civic “The Dreamer” campaign in 2016 — eight years after its release — driving it to No. 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 and powering it to No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs, their second leader on the tally after 2013’s “Alive”. Across all platforms, “Walking on a Dream” has accumulated north of one billion streams.
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There was “tremendous pressure” after that first record, notes Steele. Trying to navigate expectations, he admits, “it’s so tough.” Older, wiser heads prevailed, and the bandmates now “celebrate what an extraordinary ride this is,” enthuses Littlemore. “It took a long time, to be fair. Like, massive amounts of success, it’s not the dream you might think it is. And it is also the dream you think it is.”
Ask That God follows 2008 breakthrough debut Walking on a Dream, 2013’s Ice on the Dune and 2016’s Two Vines, all of which cracked the top 10 in Australia.
Tour dates will follow later in the year, including a homecoming trek, and concerts in the United States and Mexico. Littlemore, who has battled with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, a rare ailment that can lead to permanent facial paralysis and hearing loss, will cheer on from the sidelines.
When the pair reunite, “we’re trying to find that rare jewel every time,” reckons Steele. “That’s what keeps it exciting for us.”
John Farnham‘s classic Australian anthem “You’re The Voice” has become the centerpiece of a viral video supporting Kamala Harris‘s presidential campaign.
The stirring track, which has been a staple of Australian culture since its release in 1986, is now resonating with American voters as Harris steps into the spotlight as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate.
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While Harris’s official campaign released its first video on July 25 featuring Beyoncé’s 2016 song “Freedom,” it’s the unofficial clip set to Farnham’s inspirational anthem that has social media talking.
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The video, created by the social media user @politicsusa46, has garnered over 140,000 views at the time of writing. It begins with a montage of Donald Trump’s most controversial moments before transitioning to uplifting footage of Harris, accompanied by Farnham’s powerful vocals.
Australians quickly took to the comments of the video. “As an Aussie, it’s brilliant to see John Farnham and ‘You’re the Voice’ being used in Kamala’s ads. Fits perfectly,” one person wrote on X, while another added, “Wow! This song is practically our second national anthem Down Under.”
This isn’t the first time “You’re the Voice” has been used in a political context.
The song was notably used to advocate for the “Yes” campaign in the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum, with Farnham’s full support. However, it was also unofficially played at anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne, Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic, a use that Farnham’s manager publicly condemned.
Meanwhile, the singer has kept a low profile following his cancer diagnosis in 2022, during which he underwent an 11-and-a-half-hour surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his mouth. The procedure was followed by eight weeks of radiation therapy.
One year after the marathon surgery, Farnham received the all-clear from his doctors and described himself as “the luckiest man alive.” “I’m home now, and I’m a very grateful and happy man,” he shared. In March 2023, the singer was hospitalized again for treatment of a respiratory infection, from which he recovered two months later.
John Farnham’s “You’re The Voice” was an international hit upon its release in 1986.
It reached No. 1 in Australia and performed well across Europe, including No. 6 in the U.K., No. 3 in Ireland, No. 1 in Sweden, No. 6 in Switzerland, No. 4 in Austria, No. 9 in Denmark, and No. 10 in West Germany.
It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on Feb. 10, 1990, peaking at No. 82 on March 3, 1990, and spending eight weeks on the chart. The song also reached No. 13 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Heart’s 1991 cover version of the track reached No. 20 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
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Jhené Aiko is making her return to Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Wednesday night (July 31), two weeks after ending the first leg of her tour in Atlanta and more than four years since the COVID-prompted cancellation of her breakout arena tour in support of her critically acclaimed album Chilombo.
Released on March 6, 2020, just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Grammy-nominated platinum album is finally being performed for Aiko’s growing female fanbase on her Magic Hour Tour, which kicked off last month at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The “Sativa” singer, 36, is joined on the tour by supporting acts Coi Leray, Tink, Umi and Kiana Ledé.
Magic Hour’s live production showcases the music of Chilombo, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart when it was released in 2020, and tells the story of Aiko’s musical journey and spiritual growth, explains agent Caroline Yim at WME, told through an astral array of visual elements and video production, styled to match Aiko’s own signature psychedelia.
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“Jhene’s process has never been ‘drop an album, do a tour,’” explained Yim, who noted that Aiko maintained a close connection with her fanbase during the pandemic, adding, “People are yearning for the music, and the beauty of not rushing a tour was that the music she did put out got to live and breathe over several years.”
Yim added, “Magic Hour is Jhene’s life story. It’s the things that she has gone through, the things that she has felt and a message to others to feel good about yourself and love yourself. That’s why it’s so pure and authentic; it’s not just dealing with heartbreak and those type of relationships, but also family dynamics and friendships and loss and grief. And that resonates with her fans in a very intimate and emotional way.”
Aiko’s life certainly has changed since the release of Chilombo — in November, Aiko gave birth to her son Noah Hasani with rapper Big Sean. A longtime advocate for restorative healing, Aiko launched her own wellness company The ARK in 2022, following up on her success experimenting with crystal bowls as both a musical source and an energy center. Every track on Chilombo includes the use of quartz crystal sound bowls, which she has performed with for nearly two decades.
Aiko’s ARK and ALLEL brands have grown to now include jewelry, her Jhenetics makeup line and audio companions for meditation and sleep. Aiko’s entrepreneurial efforts have pushed her team to prioritize high-impact performances since the pandemic ended, booking high-profile performances at Coachella for both 2022 and 2024, as well as Las Vegas’ Lovers and Friends festival in 2023 and Day N Vegas in 2022.
“The timing really worked with doing a few shows at the end of last year to set up for everything that was going to go on in 2024,” explained Yim, adding, “It’s become this community of women and girls coming out to grow together and sing their hearts out.”
