Music News

09 Feb 2024

Friday Dance Music Guide: The Week’s Best New Tracks From Anyma, Shygirl & More

This week in dance music: Skrillex, Flowdan, Fred again.. and Kylie Minogue all won dance Grammys, demonstrating the efficacy of the awards’ new pop dance category, Elements 2024 released a phase one lineup lead by Illenium, Slander, Liquid Stranger, Sophie Ellis-Bextor enlisted Pnau for a remix of her viral hit “Murder On The Danceflloor,” we shared exclusive Countdown 2024 sets and Tiësto dropped out of his Super Bowl in-game DJ gig this weekend and was swiftly replaced by Kaskade.

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And also, these were the best new dance tracks of the week.

Anyma, “Pictures Of You”

Matteo Milleri, who is one half of Tale of Us and also makes music as Anyma, today drops “Pictures Of You,” a three-minute slice of music that very much falls in the dark, machinistic but also somehow very emotive realm that Tale Of Us has carved out and which Anyma’s work expands upon. The track is out via Tale Of Us’ Afterlife Records and comes ahead of Anyma plays at Ultra Music Festival in Miami next month and at Coachella in April.

Shygirl, Club Shy

Cool, pulsing, sophisticated and often ecstatic, Shygirl’s new Club Shy EP is of course literally music for the club, but the title also has a figurative quality, with the English artist packing this metaphorical venue with collaborators including Boys Noize (who delivers on the previously released “tell me”), along with Empress Of, SG Lewis, Kingdom, Cosha and Lola Zouaï. Each artists brings their own respective flavor, but the six-track project is ultimately lead by Shygirl’s strobe-lit vision. The project is out via Because Music.

Above & Beyond feat. Zoe Johnson, “Crazy Love”

Two years after debuting the song in front of 20,000 fans at a show in Los Angeles, Above & Beyond’s “Crazy Love” gets an official release via Anjunabeats. The song is everything there is to love about Above & Beyond compressed into four minutes, with the trio building the same type of soaring trance production that have made them favorites for nearly 25 years years and infusing it with the same depth of a emotion that’s allowed the the guys to officially title their their radio show and live sets “group therapy.” The not-so-secret weapon on “Crazy Love” is Zoë Johnston, a longtime collaborator who’s voice brings the song to another level of tearjerk impact.

Louis the Child feat. Memba, “I’m Not Giving Up”

The gentlemen of Louis The Child dip their toes into the pop punk revival with emo-evoking vocals that juxtapose against a thick synth build and breakdown that, the pair say, “feels very signature to us, it’s big and hits you like a ton of bricks.” A collab with New York City-based duo Memba — who LTC calls “some of the most talented producers we’ve ever worked with” — “I’m Not Giving Up” is out on Interscope Records.

DJ Minx, “Taking It Back”

Detroit icon DJ Minx returns to Diplo’s Higher Ground label with “Taking It Back,” a sonic and lyrical crash course on the back in the day dance underground. With deadpan delivery, Minx declares that “we’re taking it back to the old school” before going on about “techno and house under one roof, underground raves, ground rules, acid house, bold moves, no cell phones, we were just cool” over a tough, stuttering synth line. Minx will play Detroit’s Movement festival in May and other summer stops in Portugal and the U.K.

09 Feb 2024

Saweetie Downplays Nicki Minaj & Megan Thee Stallion’s Feud: ‘When There’s Beef, It’s a Sport’

This year, rap beef is at an all-time high on the female side, with Nicki Minaj and Megan The Stallion sparring along with the newest feud between Latto and Ice Spice. While appearing on Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ocho Cinco’s Nightcap podcast in Las Vegas on Thursday (Feb. 9), Saweetie spoke on the rise of beefs in hip-hop.

“When the men have their beef, it’s like, ‘Oh OK, it’s a sport.’ But when the women do it, it’s not seen as a sport. I feel like when there’s beef, it’s a sport,” she told Sharpe. “You’re seeing who’s the most witty and clever.” 

Minaj took offense at Megan’s Hot 100 chart-topper “Hiss,” which many assumed were shots directed at her. “These h–s don’t be mad at Megan, these h–s mad at Megan’s Law/ I don’t really know what the problem is, but I guarantee y’all don’t want me to start/ B—h, you a p—y, never finna check me/ Every chance you get, bet your weak ass won’t address me,” Thee Stallion spewed, allegedly targeting Nicki and her husband, Kenneth Petty.

In response, the Queens MC penned a scathing rebuttal titled “Big Foot” and targeted the Houston rapper on social media. She referenced Meg’s late mother, her rapping skills and the 2020 Tory Lanez shooting. 

“What you’re seeing right now is battle rap, just singles,” relayed Saweetie. “If they were battle rapping, then it wouldn’t be beef; they would be going on stage like this, but now that it’s singles, it’s bringing a bigger audience.”

When asked if she would respond to a record directed at her, Saweetie said it depended on “what was said” and “who sent it.”  

Last year, confusion surrounded Saweetie and the sampling of Aqua’s 1997 hit “Barbie World” when she first teased her rendition “Icy Girl, Icy World” on Instagram Live. According to Problem — one of the writers on Saweetie’s version — he claimed they sent the record to Minaj’s camp to consider for the Barbie movie, which she declined. Later, Minaj would work with Ice Spice on “Barbie World,” using a similar sample, and the song became a hit, earning a Grammy nomination this year. 

Saweetie addressed the issue and seemed unfazed during her interview with Power 106. “I love to inspire; that’s my purpose here, and they look bomb as f-ck in the video. So it’s just like, ‘OK, b—h, I see you!’ Mine still coming out, though. Stay tuned. I’m saving it for a very special moment.”

Watch Saweetie’s interview with Shannon and Ocho below. 

09 Feb 2024

Taylor Swift Jokes About Tripping & Nearly Falling at Tokyo Eras Show: ‘My Life Flashed Before My Eyes’

This is her trying … not to wipe out in front of tens of thousands of people in Tokyo. At the Friday (Feb. 9) Eras Tours top in Japan, Taylor Swift tripped and nearly fell while performing “The 1” during her Folklore set before skillfully catching herself.

In a video captured by one Swiftie in attendance, the 34-year-old pop star closes out the song while sitting on the roof of a cabin structure. During the track’s final instrumental bars, she stands up and starts to make her way down to the main stage, but trips and lurches forward.

Swift quickly regained her footing. Before starting the next song, she breathes a sigh of relief as the audience chuckles.

“I almost fell off the Folklore cabin, but I didn’t,” she says into her microphone before joking, “And that’s the lesson. My life flashed before my eyes.”

“I’m good, it’s all good,” she adds. “I’m just so happy that I didn’t fall of the Folklore cabin, you know what I mean? What a great night in Tokyo.”

Friday’s show marked the third of four planned Eras dates at the Tokyo Dome, with Swift’s final night at the venue slated for Saturday (Feb. 10). Immediately afterward, fans expect she’ll fly back to the states in order to make it to Las Vegas in time for the Super Bowl, where her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and the Kansas City Chiefs will face off against the San Francisco 49ers.

At Wednesday’s (Feb. 7) show in Japan, the “Karma” singer opened up about her historic album of the year win at the 2024 Grammys days earlier, and revealed how long she’s been working on her newly announced album, The Tortured Poets Department. “I’ve been working on it for about two years,” she told the crowd. “I kept working on it throughout the U.S. tour, and when it was perfect — in my opinion when it’s good enough for you — I finished it, and I am so, so excited that soon you’ll get to hear it.”

Watch Swift joke about her near fall in Tokyo below.

09 Feb 2024

Daughtry Nabs First Mainstream Rock Airplay No. 1 With ‘Artificial’

Daughtry reaches No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart for the first time as “Artificial” lifts 2-1 on the Feb. 17-dated ranking.

“Artificial” follows 17 years of appearances on Mainstream Rock Airplay for Daughtry, which first made the survey with “It’s Not Over,” a No. 5-peaking track in March 2007. The band boasts eight entries in all.

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That stretch between first appearance and first No. 1 is the longest since Jeff Beck, who set the all-time record when he went 37 years between “People Get Ready” charting in 1985 and Ozzy Osbourne’s “Patient Number 9,” on which he’s featured, reaching No. 1 in 2022.

As Daughtry is the lead artist on “Artificial,” the previous longest as a lead act went to Disturbed frontman David Draiman, who went 19 years between his solo track “Forsaken” in 2002 and “Dead Inside,” a co-lead with Nita Strauss, which hit No. 1 in 2022.

Prior to “Artificial,” Daughtry’s highest ranking song on Mainstream Rock Airplay had been “Heavy Is the Crown,” which peaked at No. 4 in 2021.

While it’s Daughtry’s first Mainstream Rock Airplay ruler, the Chris Daughtry-fronted band boasts multiple No. 1s over the years on other Billboard’s airplay charts. That includes four leaders on Adult Pop Airplay between 2007 and 2009 (“It’s Not Over,” “Home,” “Feels Like Tonight” and “No Surprise”) and one reign apiece on Pop Airplay (“It’s Not Over”) and Adult Contemporary (“Home”).

Daughtry’s output generally performed better on pop airplay formats early in the band’s career, to the point where it experienced a nearly 13-year break from Mainstream Rock Airplay between “Crashed” in 2007 and its return to the ranking, “World on Fire,” in 2020.

Concurrently, “Artificial” rises 14-13 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 2.7 million audience impressions, up 13%, according to Luminate. It reaches its peak so far, No. 12, on the Jan. 13 tally.

The most recent multimetric Hot Hard Rock Songs list (Feb. 10) found “Artificial” at No. 12. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 346,000 official U.S. streams Jan. 26-Feb. 1.

“Artificial” is currently a standalone single for Daughtry. Its last album, Dearly Beloved, debuted at No. 4 on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart dated Oct. 2, 2021, and has earned 88,000 equivalent album units to date.

All Billboard charts dated Feb. 17 will update on Billboard.com on Tuesday, Feb. 13.

09 Feb 2024

Boygenius Opens Up About Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets’ Announcement at Grammys & Band’s Hiatus

From Taylor Swift‘s surprise album announcement to the three golden gramophones Boygenius took home Sunday (Feb. 4), Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus had a lot to debrief about after the 2024 Grammys.

In a post-awards interview with Vanity Fair, the bandmates — who confirmed plans to go on hiatus during a Feb. 1 show — revealed they were just as surprised as everyone else at Crypto.com Arena to hear Swift announce her new LP, The Tortured Poets Department, while accepting best pop vocal during the ceremony. “I was like, ‘No way. Is this happening?’” Dacus recalled.

“She keeps that s–t Fort Knox,” added Baker.

The “Anti-Hero” singer also won album of the year for Midnights, while Boygenius took home best rock performance and best rock song for “Not Strong Enough,” and best alternative music album for The Record. Individually, Bridgers was the night’s most awarded artist, having also snagged best pop duo/group for her “Ghost in the Machine” duet with SZA.

In a sweet clip from right after the show wrapped, Swift burst into the press room to excitedly congratulate Baker, Bridgers and Dacus before snapping photos with the group.

In the new interview, the trio also addressed its recent hiatus announcement, confirming all is well between the members, even after fans noticed that Bridgers and Dacus both wiped their Instagram accounts. “We are meeting up for dinner after this call,” said the “Night Shift” singer. “Everyone can be rest assured that we still love each other.”

“I think we all want a little break,” added the “Motion Sickness” musician. “I can’t function if I do anything in 2024 that is public.”

Bridgers had also touched on the hiatus while doing press backstage at the Grammys, saying, “This is funny because I guess we just didn’t tell anybody, but we told each other at the beginning of this project that it would have a finite date, like a finite amount of time devoted to it.”

“We completed that time, and now we walk into the sunset,” she added.

During that same backstage interview, the “Kyoto” singer also blasted former Recording Academy president Neil Portnow, telling him to “rot in piss” for his past comments about female musicians. To Vanity Fair, Bridgers elaborated on her decision to call out the executive.

“Lana [Del Rey] should have won a long time ago,” she said. “Mitski should be acknowledged in any f–king way. There’s countless people. For [Portnow] to say that women aren’t working hard enough to get these awards is the stupidest s–t ever. I was like, ‘Why not say it here where everybody knows who this guy is?’”

09 Feb 2024

Pnau Drops ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ Remix as Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s 2001 Original Hits 5th Week On Hot 100

As Sophie Ellis-Bextor‘s 2001 disco pop classic “Murder on the Dancefloor” continues its rise up the charts — sitting at No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 4 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs — on the power of its Saltburn synch, the track is getting extra momentum Friday (Feb. 9) via a remix by Australian production trio Pnau.

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Their edit turns up the dial on the track’s soaring string section and adding a synth breakdown that’s extremely reminiscent of Daft Punk’s “Around the World” and which adds a full 30 seconds to the song. Pnau previously spent 36 weeks at No. 1 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with its remix of Elton John and Dua Lipa’s “Cold Heart.”

Ellis-Bextor will make her U.S. late-night television on Feb. 12, when she performs “Murder on the Dancefloor” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The British artist also recently shared a seven-track Murder on the Dancefloor EP, featuring the original song and its original B-side “Never Let Me Down,” along with extended versions and remixes that were all originally released in 2001, but are new to DSPs. She’ll also perform “Murder on the Dancefloor” at the 2024 BAFTA Awards on Feb. 18.

David Guetta is also getting in on the Saltburn action Friday, releasing his edit of Mason vs Princess Superstar’s “Perfect (Exceeder),” a 2006 dance track that’s also used in the film. The original is currently in its fifth week on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, where’s its sitting at No. 18.

Listen to the Pnau remix of “Murder on the Dancefloor” below:

09 Feb 2024

Jennifer Lopez Says She Was ‘Very, Very Inspired’ to Make Music Again After Reuniting With Ben Affleck

It’s been nearly a decade since Jennifer Lopez‘s last studio album, 2014’s A.K.A., and 22 years since 2002’s This Is Me… Then. The latter was partly inspired by her first love affair with actor Ben Affleck, and after breaking up in 2004 and reuniting in 2021, the pair are now married and Lopez is preparing to release her ninth album, This Is Me… Now.

So, go figure, JLo tells ET that Now was also fueled by her relationship with the actor. “When Ben and I got back together, it was just like, ‘I want to make music again, I want to get back in the studio,’” Lopez said. “I was very, very inspired.”

The album and an accompanying narrative-driven short film directed by Dave Meyers (Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift) titled This Is Me… Now: A Love Story — which will air on Amazon Prime — will both drop on Feb. 16. “Half the time, I was thinking, like, ‘This is amazing! I am so excited that I’m doing this!’ And then half time time I was like, ‘Why are you doing this? You are so crazy,” Lopez said of her trepidation about stepping back into music after focusing on acting for the past decade. “But I think that’s what being an artist is about, you know, you have to. That’s the difference between being an artist and not being an artist, how vulnerable you can get.” 

Then she and Affleck reunited and their rekindled love inspired the romance-drenched LP. “Once the music was done, it felt so special to me,” she said. “It felt like something very different than I had ever done, even though I’ve written about love my whole career.” The goal, she added was to capture the joy of their love in music on a collection she described as “a little bit more evolved and healed… [and] kind of magical.”

So far, Lopez has dropped the dance-y single “Can’t Get Enough” from the album that also features a sequel to a track from the first This Is Me album, “Dear Ben Pt. II.”

Watch the “Can’t Get Enough” remix video with Latto below.

09 Feb 2024

Travis Kelce Says He & Taylor Swift Share a ‘Love for Life’: Watch

Travis Kelce is very aware of the public’s fixation on his romance with Taylor Swift, and at a Thursday (Feb. 8) pre-Super Bowl press conference, the tight end explained where he thinks the continued hype comes from. 

When asked why the world is so “fascinated” by his relationship, Kelce was quick to respond. “I think the values that we stand for,” he said. “Who we are as people. We love to shine light on others, shine light around the people that help and support us.” 

The athlete added, “I feel like we both have just a love for life.” 

Kelce and the “Anti-Hero” singer have taken fans on quite a ride since September 2023, when they first went public with their relationship. Swifties and NFL viewers alike are invested in everything from the pop star’s frequent attendance at Kansas City Chiefs games to speculation about whether the couple will get engaged soon — something Kelce shut down at another recent press event. 

“I’m focused on getting this [Super Bowl] ring,” he responded to a question about whether a wedding band was in his future. “That’s all my mind is focused on right now.”  

For now, the main focus of Tayvis shippers is whether Swift will be able to attend the 2024 Super Bowl to cheer Kelce on as the Chiefs take on the San Francsico 49ers. The 14-time Grammy winner has a string of Eras Tour shows scheduled in Tokyo through Saturday (Feb. 10), just one day before the game kicks off in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium. 

The situation has weighed so heavy on the minds of the world’s citizens, in fact, that the Japanese Embassy spoke out about it in an official statement Feb. 2. “The Embassy of Japan in the United States is aware of recent media reports concerning the steps Taylor Swift will need to take to travel from Tokyo after her concert on February 10th to Las Vegas in time to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play in Super Bowl LVIII,” the decree read. 

“Despite the 12-hour flight and 17-hour time difference,” it continued, “The Embassy can confidently Speak Now to say that if she departs Tokyo in the evening after her concert, she should comfortably arrive in Las Vegas before the Super Bowl begins.” 

Watch a clip of Kelce discussing the world’s fascination with his romance below: 

09 Feb 2024

Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson and Valerie June Talk Outrageous Health Care Costs in Regional Power to the Patients Super Bowl LVIII Ad

There will be plenty of jokes, stunts and look-at-me celeb cameos in the commercials that air during Sunday’s (Feb. 11) Super Bowl LVIII. But one star-studded ad will also serve up a spoonful of hard-facts sugar with its A-list medicine courtesy of Grammy nominees Jelly Roll and Valerie June and this year’s best country album Grammy winner Lainey Wilson.

“Hospitals and insurers are robbing all of us,” says Wilson in a 30-second ad slated to run on Sunday during the big game in Washington, D.C. and other select markets. “100 million Americans drowning in medical debt,” adds Jelly Roll in the spot from Power to the Patients, a group founded in 2001 that said the aim of the high-profile commercial is to “force hospitals and insurance companies around the country to publicize actual prices for their services and procedures in advance instead of billing patients after the fact.”

The trio then go on to say that when hospitals and insurers don’t show their prices they are able to charge patients whatever they want. “Their greed is destroying the American dream,” adds Jelly, who last month joined Fat Joe and Wyclef Jean at aPower to the Patients event in Washington, D.C. to advocate for fair billing to a group of 500 government officials and members of Congress.

“We look to our elected officials in Congress to put a stop to the overcharging,” June and Wilson say in the PSA in which the trio appear in front of a white backdrop, the camera zoomed in on their faces. A statement alongside the ad notes that federal rules require hospitals and insurers to post prices, though the organization claims that three years after the rules went into effect only 36% of hospitals are fully complying.

It also notes that a bipartisan group of Senators introduced legislation in December aimed at strengthening and expanding healthcare price transparency requirements and empower patients, employers, unions and workers to shop for the “right care, be protected from overcharges and lower their care and coverage costs.”

The spot will air during Sunday’s match-up between defending champs the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, with Usher headlining the halftime show; the game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Check out the Power to the Patients Super Bowl LVIII ad below.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZZltVb0mlY0&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

09 Feb 2024

These Are the Sports Anthems of the Future

An elite set of songs — like Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” and DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s “Turn Down For What” — have become so known as sports anthems that they’re almost divorced from the original context in which they were released. To take off in a sports setting, plenty of factors must align — not just the fundamentals of what makes a song appealing to the masses, but also hard work behind the scenes and a little luck. But if sports teams, TV networks and of course fanbases get behind them, these tracks get massive boosts.

The songs below are some of the current standouts blasting in stadiums around the country — and likely to do so for a long time.

Key Glock, “Let’s Go”



“The infectious beat and earworm chorus make it a lock — either for pro athletes’ stadium walkouts or intramural athletes getting ready to put up a very solid five points at the YMCA rec league, like myself,” EMPIRE’s Harrison Golding says.

Jelly Roll, “Need a Favor”



CAA’s Dave Aussenberg calls the country-rock hit “the most under-the-radar anthem for all sports fans. As the clock winds down and the team is down to its last play, this is the soundtrack. It was all I could think about during the recent, incredible College Football Playoff semifinal games.”

Creed, “Higher”



Thanks in large part to the Texas Rangers — both fans in the stands who sang along to it karaoke-style and players who belted it in the locker room post-World Series win — the rock band’s grandiose 1999 hit is experiencing a resurgence “equal parts hilarious and awesome,” Def Jam’s Gabe Tesoriero says. “The memes re-creating [Creed’s] iconic, bizarre Thanksgiving halftime performance” from 2001 “ruled my timeline [this year].”

Sheck Wes, “Mo Bamba”



“That is becoming a ‘Seven Nation Army,’ ” Interscope’s David Nieman says. “It’s a third-down stop song; it gets the people going. We took Sheck when that song first came out to St. John’s [University] to do Midnight Madness for the basketball team, and in that moment, I realized how big of a stadium anthem that was going to be when the kids were singing back along with it, the way it sounded and the bravado of it all.”

Saweetie & P-Lo, “Do It For The Bay”



Warner Records worked with the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers on this anthem for the football team’s playoff run by Bay Area natives Saweetie and P-Lo, which lined up with the team’s “Do It For The Bay” marketing campaign — and the song quickly took off, impacting Rhythmic Airplay and Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and becoming a rallying cry for the team’s fans. “When you have an artist that has a personal tie to a sports organization and is genuinely excited to get in the studio and write a song for them, you end up with something unique and authentic that the fans and community will support,” says Warner’s vp of brand partnerships and ad sync Rob Santini. “Saweetie’s grandfather won a Super Bowl for the 49ers and her uncle is currently a coach on the team, so there was a real connection there.”

Fast Life Yungstaz, “Swag Surfin’ ”



The Atlanta hip-hop trio’s 2009 track gained popularity at historically Black college and university parties, became an anthem for teams like the Chicago Bears and the Washington Mystics and is now in the spotlight thanks to the Kansas City Chiefs. “Since I’ve been here, it has been a huge fourth-quarter, big-time moment, big-time drive in the game for our defense” hype song, the team’s Travis Kelce said on the New Heights podcast in January. Its signature wave-like dance can “make the stadium feel like chaos.” As a widely circulated game clip showed, even Taylor Swift and Kelce’s mother got in on it recently.

This story will appear in the Feb. 10, 2024, issue of Billboard.