Music News

09 Mar 2024

Ariana Grande Says ‘We Can’t Be Friends’ Video Captures Spirit of ‘Eternal Sunshine,’ Shouts Out Co-Star Evan Peters

Ariana Grande is reflecting on her new “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” music video.

On Saturday (March 9), the 30-year-old pop superstar took to social media to share a heartfelt message about her loving homage to the 2004 Jim Carrey sci-fi romance that inspired her new album title, Eternal Sunshine.

“Thank you for creating such a safe space, for holding my hand, and for thoughtfully bringing this entire album to life with this one video. Though we will make many more, this video is the album to me,” Grande wrote on Instagram alongside a teaser of the visual, giving a shout-out to co-star Evan Peters and director Christian Breslauer. “A tremendous thank you to the incredible crew who made this what it is.”

Grande followed her note with a long list of the crew members involved in the creation of the video.

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Breslauer, who also directed the singer and actress’ “Yes, And?” video, shared his gratitude in the comments section. “Thank you for writing from the heart, leading the way and trusting me with something so precious,” the director wrote.

The midtempo track is the second single from Eternal Sunshine, following the January Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping hit “Yes, And?” In celebration of the album’s release, Grande will perform on Saturday Night Live this weekend as the Josh Brolin-hosted episode’s musical guest.

Eternal Sunshine, which arrived Friday (March 8), is already setting is already setting records. Spotify announced through social media on Saturday that the project is the company’s most-streamed album in a single day in 2024 so far.

Check out Grande’s “We Can’t Be Friends” post on Instagram below.

09 Mar 2024

Ariana Grande’s ‘Eternal Sunshine’ Is 2024’s Most-Streamed Album in a Single Day on Spotify

Ariana Grande‘s just-released album, Eternal Sunshine, is already setting records. On Saturday (March 9), Spotify announced through social media that the project is the company’s most-streamed album in a single day in 2024 so far.

The 30-year-old Wicked star unveiled Eternal Sunshine, her seventh album, on Friday (March 8), marking her first full-length since 2020’s Grammy-nominated Positions, which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Grande entered the Eternal Sunshine era back in January with the release of lead single “Yes, And?” That Max Martin-producer dancefloor-ready banger used house music to kiss off her haters and shimmy to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Five weeks later, Grande’s latest Hot 100 chart-topper — her eighth overall and sixth to debut in the pole position — received a remix from none other than Mariah Carey.

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She has earned eight No. 1 singles on the Hot 100, including “Thank U, Next” (seven weeks), “Save Your Tears” (with The Weeknd, two weeks) and the eight-week leader “7 Rings.” On the Billboard 200, the multi-hyphenate has sent five titles to the chart’s summit, including 2013’s Yours Truly, 2014’s My Everything, 2018’s Sweetener and 2020’s Positions.

In celebration of Eternal Sunshine‘s release, Grande will perform on Saturday Night Live this weekend as the Josh Brolin-hosted episode’s musical guest. Along with the album, she dropped the music video for her next single “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” on Friday.

Grande is no stranger to receiving accolades from Spotify. Earlier this year, she reflected on the stories behind all 14 of her hits that earned a billion streams on Spotify — the most of any female artist in history.

“thank you so much @spotify for this incredible honor and celebration !” the Victorious album captioned a video on Instagram, in which she shared stories about such hits as “Bang Bang,” “Rain On Me” and “Save Your Tears.” “filming this little episode was such a sweet little commemoration and gratitude meltdown, if you will !!!!! i wasn’t expecting to get emotional but it really, truly hit me!”

See Spotify’s Eternal Sunshine announcement on Instagram below.

09 Mar 2024

Kanye West Teases ‘Vultures 2’ With Ty Dolla $ign Following Album Delay

Kanye West is sharing some new artwork for his upcoming Vultures 2 album with Ty Dolla $ign.

The rapper and fashion mogul, who now goes by Ye, took to social media early Saturday (March 9) to share a photo of himself wearing all black and holding a portrait of what appears to be Ty’s incarcerated Brother Big TC.

“VULTURES 2,” Ye captioned the Instagram post, which features an image of the superstar rapper wearing a face mask and leather jacket.

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The sequel album was expected to arrive on Friday (March 8), about one month after Vultures 1, which topped the Billboard 200 chart in back-to-back weeks. That marked the first time West held the top spot for more than a week since Watch The Throne.

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The impending arrival of Vultures 2 sets up another busy month for Ye and Ty Dolla $ign. They’re set to host a pair of Vultures listening experience parties at Phoenix’s Footprint Center (March 10) and San Francisco’s Chase Center (March 12) before making their live performance debut on Thursday (March 14) at Rolling Loud California.

The project boasts Vultures leftovers such as “Everybody” and “Time Moving Slow.” Ye and Ty invite a plethora of guests into the mix to execute their vision with appearances from Playboi Carti, Young Thug, Travis Scott, Lil Baby and more.

On Friday night, West and his wife, Bianca Censori, arrived to a Vultures 2 listening party in Los Angeles, according to TMZ. Ye reportedly gave an update on the sequel’s progress through the fan Instagram account Ye Fanatics, writing, “We in the Lab.”

See Ye’s Vultures 2 post on Instagram below.

09 Mar 2024

TWICE & LE SSERAFIM Make History as First Two All-Woman Groups at Nos. 1 & 2 on Top Album Sales Chart

TWICE and LE SSERAFIM make history on Billboard’s 32-year-old Top Album Sales chart (dated March 9), as the South Korean female pop groups debut at Nos. 1 and 2 — marking the first time two all-women groups have been in the top two positions at the same time.

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Top Album Sales’ chart history dates to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate.

TWICE’s With YOU-th launches at No. 1 with 90,000 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 29, according to Luminate. LE SSERAFIM’s Easy starts at No. 2 with 34,000 copies sold. The majority of each album’s sales come from CD purchases in assorted collectible editions, as is usual with major K-pop releases

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Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, the latest albums from French Montana and Ace Frehley arrive, while BTS’ former No. 1 Love Yourself: Tear re-enters the chart in the top 10 following its release on vinyl.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

For TWICE, With YOU-th marks the fourth No. 1 on Top Album Sales and fifth top 10 overall. For LE SSERAFIM, Easy is the act’s third top 10 set.

At No. 3 on Top Album Sales, French Montana’s Mac & Cheese 5 debuts with 22,500 copies sold. Of that sum, physical sales comprise 19,000 (9,000 on vinyl — his best week on the configuration, 10,000 on CD) and digital sales comprise about 3,500. Sales were boosted by the album’s availability across six CD variants (three alternative covers, and three signed editions each with a different cover) and three vinyl variants (all with alternative covers) — and all were sold through the artist’s webstore. The physical albums were deeply discounted to $5 for standard vinyl and CD editions, and $10 for the signed CD editions. The digital album was also issued in three variants: a standard album (clean and explicit), a deluxe edition (with one bonus track, clean and explicit) and a super deluxe edition, dubbed the “Versions” variant (with all of the album’s standard explicit tracks, plus versions of each song in clean, sped-up, slowed-down, instrumental and acapella mixes).

Mac & Cheese 5 is French Montana’s fourth top 10-charting effort on Top Album Sales and his highest-charting set yet, surpassing the No. 4 peak of his three earlier top 10 sets.

Ace Frehley logs his highest-charting album ever on Top Album Sales, as his latest release, 10,000 Volts, charges in at No. 4 with 13,000 copies sold. Of that sum, vinyl sales comprise 5,500, marking the former KISS guitarist’s biggest sales week on vinyl since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. In total, 10,000 Volts is Frehley’s fifth top 10-charting set on Top Album Sales.

BTS’ former No. 1 Love Yourself: Tear re-enters Top Album Sales at No. 5 with about 9,500 sold — nearly all from vinyl sales, as the album was released on the configuration for the first time during the tracking week. With nearly 9,500 copies sold on vinyl, the album also bows at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart, BTS’ second leader on that list, following Love Yourself: Her in 2023.

Four former No. 1s, all from Taylor Swift, are next on Top Album Sales. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) falls 3-6 (9,000; down 19%); Lover dips 4-7 (7,000; down 22%); Midnights slips 7-8 (6,000; down 19%); and Folklore descends 8-9 (nearly 6,000; down 21%). Bob Marley and The Wailers’ Legend: The Best of Bob Marley and The Wailers, rises 11-10 (nearly 6,000; though down 17%), marking the set’s first week in the top 10 since April 17, 2021, when it ranked at No. 9. (The album earlier peaked at No. 5 on the Sept. 20, 2014-dated chart.) The hits album returns to the top 10 on the latest chart following publicity and promotion generated by the release and success of the Marley biopic film Bob Marley: One Love.

In the week ending Feb. 29, there were 1.276 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 9.4% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 976,000 (up 13.8%) and digital albums comprised 300,000 (down 2.9%).

There were 533,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Feb. 29 (up 30.6% week-over-week) and 438,000 vinyl albums sold (down 1.7%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 3.875 million (down 29.9% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 4.197 million (down 47.3%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 10.783 million (down 35.3% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 8.113 million (down 40.2%) and digital album sales total 2.669 million (down 13.7%).

08 Mar 2024

BLACKPINK’s Jennie Teams Up With Brockhampton’s Matt Champion for ‘Slow Motion’

The ultimate team-up arrived on Friday (March 8), when BLACKPINK’s Jennie and Brockhampton’s Matt Champion came together to release a brand new collaboration, titled “Slow Motion.”

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“If I could stop time for real/ Would make it any easier for me to love you?/ ‘Cause you know I’m shy for you still/ So bad that it kills/ And I can’t help but feel/ Like we’re moving in slow motion,” they sing on the atmospheric track’s chorus.

The new song comes a little over a year after Brockhampton released their final album, The Family, and the subsequent “parting gift”, TM. Champion took on the role of EP to finish TM after the group started the album during a two week trip to Ojai, Calif., in 2021, but never fully completed it.

Jennie, meanwhile, announced in December that she is launching a new label and company called OA. “Hi, this is Jennie. This year was filled with many accomplishments, and I’m so thankful for all the love I’ve received,” the K-pop singer wrote on her Instagram Story. “I’m also about what’s to come, as I start my solo journey in 2024 with a company that I have established called OA. Please show lots of love for my new start with OA and of course BLACKPINK. Thank you.”

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In addition to releasing long-awaited solo music in 2023, she also made her acting debut in the HBO drama series The Idol and was named an honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire. 

Listen to “Slow Motion” below.

08 Mar 2024

King Princess Opens Up About Meeting Christina Aguilera: ‘I Love When a Pop Girl Is Mean’

King Princess appreciates the culture of pop divas.

The “1950” singer (real name Mikaela Straus) was a guest on a recent episode of the Queer the Music podcast, where they opened up about accidentally meeting Christina Aguilera in the studio.

“I love when a pop girl is mean,” Straus said, before explaining that they were working on music with their friend Teo in Mark Ronson’s studio when Xtina accidentally walked in. “She saw us and was like, ‘Oh,’ and she walked out and I was like, ‘Oh my God, that was Christina Aguilera,’” they recalled

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Straus and Teo then got up to leave, as it was time for Aguilera’s studio session with Ronson. However, the producer went on to introduce the duo to the “Genie in a Bottle” star. “Mark said, ‘Did you meet Mikaela and Teo?’ And [Aguilera] goes, ‘Yeah, I saw the children.’ That meant a lot to me,” Straus said with a laugh.

On Friday (March 8), Aguilera celebrated International Women’s Day with a powerful message on Instagram. “In 2024, we face challenges we never could have imagined. But in the face of adversity, we must stand stronger and fight harder. I look towards a hopeful future where my daughter’s voice will not just be heard, but truly valued and respected. Let’s continue to uplift and empower the women around us, on International Women’s Day and every day,” she wrote alongside black-and-white photos of herself leaning against a balcony ledge.

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Watch King Princess break down the moment with Christina Aguilera below.

08 Mar 2024

Future & Metro Boomin Reveal ‘We Don’t Trust You’ Double Album Release Dates in Prodigy-Assisted Trailer

The wait is finally over. Thanks to fans’ patience, Metro Boomin and Future are giving away two albums for the price of one as the legendary duo teased their long-awaited joint effort with a trailer on Friday (March 8).

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Young Metro and Pluto revealed the double-albums will be titled We Don’t Trust You — which plays off Metro Boomin’s “If Young Metro don’t trust you, I’m gon’ shoot you” producer tag that Future coined.

Part one of We Don’t Trust You arrives on March 22 and a second offering and entirely separate album will be unleashed on April 12. “Great things come to those who wait,” Metro wrote to Instagram captioning the trailer.

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As far as the cinematic teaser goes, the clip finds Metro and Future cruising in a luxury SUV flanked by the barren desert. They hop out in Black suits as Prodigy provides the braggadocios soundtrack with the late Mobb Deep rapper dissing the rest of his undeserving hip-hop competition.

“A lot of f—ing garbage a– rappers running around,” P declares in disgust. “These n—-s ain’t supposed to be rapping, man. This game is meant for a select few. It’s a select few and that’s what it is today. Always remember that. Ain’t nothing change. F— all these n—-s.”

“We don’t trust you n—s,” Future says. 2Pac’s trust issues close out the trailer: “I don’t trust no motherf—ing body.”

It’s been a long journey getting to lift off for the anticipated joint albums from the Atlanta running mates who haven’t worked together since making magic with “Mask Off,” which reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2017.

We Don’t Trust You will serve as Metro Boomin’s follow-up to the Grammy-nominated Heroes & Villains and Future’s first effort since 2022’s I Never Liked You.

Last September, Metro championed the upcoming joint LPs as the album of the year for 2024. “AOTY

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DJ Frosty

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loading [three battery emojis],” he wrote.

Metro Boomin has teased various records with Future during DJ sets over the last year and one unreleased song gained a ton of traction on social media, which he previewed in December at Travis Scott’s Audemars Piguet launch party in NYC.

We Don’t Trust You isn’t the only plan for a Metro release in ’24, as he’s hinted at delivering three albums this year.

Look for Metro/Future albums on March 22 and April 12. For now, watch the We Don’t Trust You trailer below.

08 Mar 2024

Bryce Dessner Discusses the ‘Marathon’ of Scoring John Wilkes Booth Thriller ‘Manhunt’ & Taylor Swift’s ‘Genius’

Bryce Dessner, composer, guitarist and former Yale history major, confesses that he and his twin, Aaron – with whom he makes up two-fifths of indie rock outlet The National – have a bit of a fixation with a certain chapter of the American experiment.

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“My brother and I have always been passionate Civil War buffs,” he tells Billboard from Melbourne, where the band has just played two shows at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. “For years we used to name National demos after Civil War battles – I think the song ‘Ryland’ was called ‘Fredericksburg.’”

You could call it kismet that the 47-year-old composer’s latest scoring endeavor is for Apple TV+’s Manhunt, a historical crime thriller centered around the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in 1865. The seven-part series, which premieres March 15, follows U.S. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, played by The Crown’s Tobias Menzies, as he tracks down Anthony Boyle’s runaway John Wilkes Booth – a bloody, intense chase that Dessner says was like “running a marathon seven times” to write the music for.

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To capture the scale of the tragedy’s impact — which risked putting Lincoln’s post-war plans for Reconstruction on the brink of collapse — Dessner threaded subtle electronic embellishments into an orchestral tapestry of strings and brass, all while honoring the American folk traditions of the time with the occasional fiddle or banjo. His attention to detail even led him to Nashville, Tenn., where he purchased a classic, early ‘60s J-50 Gibson guitar specially for the project. 

“It’s quite minimal but very specific,” he says of the soundtrack, which follows his previous work on films such as Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant and Zach Braff’s A Good Person. 

The cello, for example, unofficially serves as Booth’s sonic mascot, as demonstrated in the moments leading up to the fatal gunshot at Ford’s Theatre in episode 1. The droning instrument lurks beneath the surface as Boyle meditatively recites dialogue in sync with the play being performed onstage before bursting into the president’s box at what he clearly hopes is the juiciest moment to aim, fire, and declare, “Freedom for the South!” 

More than 150 years after the fact, the National is coming down from two back-to-back albums — First Two Pages of Frankenstein, which debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard 200, and Laugh Track. The projects were released just five months apart in 2023, but Dessner says the band is already back to the drawing board. 

“We don’t fully understand how we released two records last year,” he says with a laugh. “It’s fairly shocking, because it usually takes us forever to make one record, but to make two in a year … We were just so excited about music and this intense, prolific period that we wanted to get them out there.”  

“But yeah,” he adds. “We’ve started writing again.” 

So, too, have Dessner’s friends and past collaborators, including St. Vincent’s Annie Clark. The musician recently unveiled a new single, “Broken Man,” and announced her album All Born Screaming. 

“She’s one of my really old friends,” Dessner says. “She and I met playing in Sufjan Stevens’ band in the early 2000s — I think Annie was like 18 or 19. It’s always exciting to see what she’s doing, and mind-blowing.” 

As for Taylor Swift, whose Folklore and Evermore albums he helped work on with his brother, Dessner says he’s “very excited” for Tortured Poets Department to arrive April 19. “It’s good,” he reveals, smiling. “I can’t say too much but, as usual, she’s a genius.”

08 Mar 2024

NewJeans Receives Group of the Year Award Presented by Coke Studio at Billboard’s Women in Music 2024

NewJeans received the Group of the Year Award presented by Coke Studio at the 2024 Billboard Women in Music celebration for their impressive ascent up the Billboard charts in 2023. 

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In 2023, NewJeans scored entries across ten Billboard charts, including the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard 200, and Billboard Global 200. Most notably, the group scored five entries on the Billboard Hot 100, led by “Super Shy” at No. 48, with other entries including “OMG” (No. 74), “ETA” (No. 81), “Ditto” (No. 82) and “Cool With You” (No. 93). Their dominance in both the U.S. and abroad, and across both albums and singles, made them a clear choice for the Group of the Year award.

The chart-topping K-pop girl group, composed of Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein, received the Group of the Year Award presented by Coke Studio at YouTube Theater during Billboard’s highly anticipated Women In Music event on Wednesday, March 6. Fans in attendance were treated to a live mashup of two of the group’s hits, “Super Shy” and “ETA.” 

Recent GRAMMY winner Lainey Wilson presented the award, celebrating NewJeans’ cultural impact across the globe. “After making their debut in 2022, NewJeans has helped lead a new wave of girl groups in K-pop, a genre long dominated by men. They built both a core fan base at home in Korea and worldwide.”

NewJeans accepted the award in front of a roaring crowd, with fans screaming in support and flashing their lightsticks. “To be part of the music industry today is something we don’t take for granted,” said Hanni, “and it wouldn’t have been possible without a lot of help from people and all the support we received.”

NewJeans’ impact on the Billboard charts, and the music industry overall, shows that they are a global force representing the latest wave of K-pop. Their impact made them a perfect match for Coke Studio, Coca-Cola’s global music platform. Coke Studio delivers new music and exclusive music experiences from breakthrough artists from around the world, uniting unique talent under one global program for audiences and fans across borders. Their recent collaboration with NewJeans is the latest endeavor or continued commitment to championing women music.

As NewJeans continue to grow as a group, they will continue to transcend borders and language with their music. “Reflecting back on these past two years, we have been so incredibly blessed. We got to experience so many new and exciting things,” Danielle shared during the speech. “And it’s been just the best year, the best year. All of these things wouldn’t have been possible without you guys, Bunnies. And also our family, our friends, our CEO, ADOR and of course, each other.”

This feature was created in paid partnership with Coke Studio. Check out more from Women in Music here.

08 Mar 2024

Watch GloRilla, Lauren Jauregui, Remi Wolf & More Sing Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’

This ain’t Texas, but the stars at Billboard Women in Music made it feel like a rodeo when they took turns singing Beyoncé’s Hot 100 chart-topping hit, “Texas Hold ‘Em.”

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In a hilarious video shared to Billboard’s Instagram account from the event on Wednesday (March 6) at YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, Remi Wolf, Fletcher, Bailee Madison, Blu DeTiger, Jess Glynne, GloRilla and more are seen singing lines from the chorus of the track. “This ain’t Texas, ain’t no hold ’em / So lay your cards down, down, down, down / So park your Lexus and throw your keys up / Stick around, ’round, ’round, ’round, ’round / And I’ll be damned if I can’t slow dance with you / Come pour some sugar on me, honey too,” they sing, with GloRilla hitting a particularly ambitious vocal run.

Beyoncé released “Texas Hold ‘Em” as the first single from her upcoming Act II album on Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 18). Between the references to her home state of Texas and the country sound of the new music snippet, it looks like fans were onto something with their theory that Beyoncé’s next LP will find her delving into country music.

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Watch the full video from Billboard Women in Music below.