Music News

10 Nov 2023

Your November Playlist: 11 Songs About The 11th Month

With November comes a lot more than just Scorpio Season, pumpkin pie and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

For many, the eleventh month of the calendar year can feel enormously symbolic. Peaceful, cozy and understated, November represents transition and change, the calm before the storm of winter, Christmas and New Year’s plans. When you come across allusions to November in music, poetry or prose, it’s probably for a reason; the artist likely wants you to sit with the feelings of anticipation and mystery that come before any type of metamorphosis, whether it’s growing up, breaking up or moving on to something new.

The same can be said about many of the songs on this list, which spans rock n’ roll, R&B, hip-hop, country and pop. Axl Rose, for instance, touches on it in Guns N’ Roses‘ “November Rain,” singing that “Nothin’ lasts forever and we both know hearts can change.” On “Sweet November,” SZA laments the brutal ways she’s changed as a person, praying that those who love her will “Remember me for who I was, not who I am.”

As you begin to brace yourself for a contentious turkey dinner with your relatives, draft your Black Friday wishlist or take an early jump on hanging up your Christmas lights, make sure you remember to enjoy November — and the last moments of Autumn, for that matter — while it’s still here to stay. And if you need a little musical inspiration, look no further.

Keep reading to see Billboard‘s picks for songs about November below:

10 Nov 2023

Friday Music Guide: New Music From Dua Lipa, The Kid LAROI, PinkPantheress and More

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

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This week, Dua Lipa practices some magic, The Kid LAROI arrives with a new full-length, and PinkPantheress evolves her aesthetic. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Dua Lipa, “Houdini” 



While “Houdini,” which will kick off Dua Lipa’s third album era, arrives with plenty of anticipation, Lipa’s Barbie soundtrack single “Dance The Night” — which has blossomed into one of the bigger top 40 hits of 2023 — offered a subtle hint at the direction in which the 28-year-old is steering her discography. Future Nostalgia is both behind and in front of Lipa: she is tinkering with the edges of popular dance music, refining her pop stylings, doubling down on a successful sound while heightening its pressure points. “Houdini” is a one-listen blast, but it’s also a high-wire act, each second whirring with production tidbits that coalesce into a three-minute wallop.

Click here to read a full review of Dua Lipa’s new single.

The Kid LAROI, The First Time 



Leading up to new album The First Time, The Kid LAROI has struck a variety of sonic poses and demonstrated an impressive versatility — it’s how his tone can work alongside an artist like Jung Kook on the pop track “Too Much,” sound comfortable spitting next to Future on “What’s The Move?,” or recall the acoustic alt-rock of breakout hit “Without You” on recent single “Bleed.” The constant within that artistry, however, remains his melodic instincts: LAROI is one of the most effortless hook-deployers in modern music, and The First Time is rife with hummable moments.

PinkPantheress, Heaven knows 



In the middle of the track list of PinkPantheress’ new album is a song titled “Internet baby (interlude)” — which, at 2 minutes and 11 seconds, is actually longer than the mesmerizing Kelela collaboration “Bury me” that immediately precedes it. Such is the experimental approach to rhythmic pop that the British artist has adopted, and while Heaven knows plays with time and space, the 34-minute project boasts PinkPantheress’ most complete vision to date, the collaborations carefully curated and the solo tracks (particularly on the final stretch of the album) brimming with full-hearted observations.

Chris Stapleton, Higher 



Chris Stapleton has been nominated for entertainer of the year at the CMA Awards in seven of the past eight years, a stat that showcases his consistency within country music over the last decade — and while Higher adds some new tricks to his bag, Stapleton’s latest is also sensible enough to spotlight the powerhouse voice and grounded storytelling that have been his calling cards for years. The strongest moments oscillate between amped-up energy, like the rollicking lead single “White Horse,” and gently delivered wisdom, like the soft, gorgeous “Trust.”

Rick Ross & Meek Mill, Too Good To Be True 



The final song on Rick Ross and Meek Mill’s joint album Too Good To Be True is a remix of their single “Shaq & Kobe,” featuring Shaquille O’Neal and Damian Lillard rapping against each other; elsewhere, on “Go To Hell,” the pair operates over an audacious sample of Tears For Fears’ “Shout.” The two songs speak to the wily attitude of Ross and Meek on this deeply enjoyable Maybach Music Group production: after more than a decade of grinding out anthems separately and together, the two stars still possess a sense of urgency, but are taking more risks and generally having more fun with their crafts.

Editor’s Pick: Jonas Brothers feat. Bailey Zimmerman, “Strong Enough” 



“Been a hell of a week, but we made it,” Bailey Zimmerman sings to open “Strong Enough,” the rising country star’s new team-up with the Jonas Brothers. That raised-glass declaration then leads into one of the JoBros’ more convincing genre crossovers to date: with a hook that recalls “Waffle House,” the standout track from this year’s The Album, Nick, Joe and Kevin conjure compelling country-pop, with Zimmerman as something of a sonic guide. “Strong Enough” should be your next TGIF anthem, and might point to a fruitful detour for Jonas Brothers’ future output.

10 Nov 2023

5 Highlights From Taylor Swift’s First of Three Sold-Out Shows in Buenos Aires

When Taylor Swift announced in June that she would be performing in Argentina for the first time ever as part of her Eras Tour, tickets to her three shows sold out within hours. Excitement has only grown since then, and finally, on Thursday, Nov. 9, the wait came to an end as 70,000 sang along during her first show, where she performed nearly 45 songs spanning her entire career.

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The show, the first of three at Buenos Aires’ Estadio Monumental (also known as Estadio River) and produced by DF Entertainment (the company owned by promoter Diego Finkelstein), featured Argentine artist Louta and Sabrina Carpenter as opening acts. It began precisely at 8:42 p.m., when Swift appeared on an elevated stage singing “Cruel Summer,” after “Miss Americana” played during the intro. Following the opening performance, she shouted, “Buenos Aires, bienvenidos a The Eras Tour!”

Here are some highlights of the night.

Six Months Camping

Thousands of fans waited impatiently for 3 p.m., the exact time when security was scheduled to open the gates to allow access to the field, the closest location to the main stage. Some Swifties camped outside the stadium for six months to be close to the front of the field, and the minute the gates opened, they sprinted the 100 meters to get the best standing room in the house.

Taylor Gets on Stage

Finally. Swift sets foot on the stage of Estadio Monumental singing “Cruel Summer.” The audience screams, and Taylor speaks to her happiness at being in Argentina for the first time. “Buenos Aires, bienvenidos to The Eras tour!” she shouted. “I am so very lucky because they very first time I decided to visit Argentina, you decided to sell out three shows […] They way you are dancing, the way you are singing, this is on another level.”

The Nerves of the Moment

Swift kicked off the fourth block of the show with “Champagne Problems,” a track she’s performed hundreds of times before. However, when time came to play it at the Monumental, the superstar lost her place at the piano. Far from making it a negative, she found humor in the situation. “This is what Argentines do,” she quipped.

Two-Minute Ovation

Weeks before, Swift’s fandom, via social media, had agreed to do different actions during her show, including lifting posters in certain songs, or reflecting the Argentine flag with their cellphones. Another planned moment was a two-minute ovation to thank Swift for performing in their country. At that point, Swift took out her in-ears and said, “I can’t believe it.”

Emotion Til the Very End

The show is a roller coaster of emotions. For example, Swift gave her hat to a little girl during “22,” and at one point, she stopped the show completely to listen to the crowd roar. But the end of the show will be memorable to all Argentine Swifties. Screams, applause, wristbands high and our country’s message to Taylor: “Argentina loves you. Come back soon.”

10 Nov 2023

Here’s Why Travis Kelce Skipped Taylor Swift’s First Eras Tour Concert in Argentina

Taylor Swift launched the international leg of the Eras Tour Thursday (Nov. 9) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. And while her shows have often had star-studded audiences, one person was missing from the kickoff show: new beau Travis Kelce.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end had a good reason for missing the pop superstar’s show, though. Kelce was instead at teammate Patrick Mahomes’ fourth annual 15 and Mahomies Foundation Gala in Kansas City. The NFL star was spotted in video from the event shared on the foundation’s Instagram Stories. In one clip, Kelce stood up at his table and clapped in thanks to the cheers from attendees after he received recognition for becoming the team’s all-time leading receiver during a recent game against the Miami Dolphins.

During the event, quarterback Mahomes’ foundation awarded $615,000 in grants to its charitable partners. The foundation works to improve kids’ lives, and supports initiatives that focus on health and other charitable causes.

At Swift’s first of three shows at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires Thursday, the 12-time Grammy winner delivered two surprise songs, as she has been doing throughout her Eras Tour. To kick off her shows in Argentina, she performed “The Very First Night” and “Labyrinth.” In fan-captured video, Swift was spotted with a smile on her face as she sang the chorus of the latter song, which goes, “Uh-oh, I’m fallin’ in love/ Oh no, I’m fallin’ in love again/ Oh, I’m fallin’ in love/ I thought the plane was goin’ down/ How’d you turn it right around?”

Fans immediately went into a tizzy on Twitter, speculating that she was singing about Kelce. “MY GIRL IS SMITTEN WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TRAVIS KELCE,” tweeted one fan. Wrote another, “that cringe reporter to travis: are u in love? taylor: well let ME answer that question.”

While Kelce may not be at Swift’s first show in Argentina, there have been multiple reports that he’ll be traveling to South America to cheer her on, just as the singer-songwriter has done for him at his games at Arrowhead Stadium. A source close to the pair confirmed to NBC News on that the NFL star will be heading to Argentina to watch her perform.

10 Nov 2023

T-Pain & Snoop Dogg Link Up For New Anthem ‘That’s How We Ballin’

Snoop Dogg is a man of his word. After promising to return a verse to T-Pain within the next 48 hours upon receiving it, The Doggfather delivered, and as a result, the “Buy U a Drank” crooner released his new single “That’s How We Ballin.”

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Pain and Snoop play a clever game of double-dutch on the booming production. “Her dude be trippin’ and I’m gonna leave him six feet/ I wrap him up in a pack, I serve him as minced meat,” Pain dishes out on his opening verse. Snoop matches Pain’s intensity with wittiness of his own, rapping: I’m just silly over Snoopy, yeah, b–ch, oh, she’s a groupie/ Yeah, b–ch, Doggy still a Mac, just like the movie.”

“That’s How We Ballin’” marks the first time Pain and Snoop have worked together on a record since the rapper’s 2011 song “Boom.” They also collaborated on DJ Khaled’s platinum-selling hit “All I Do Is Win.” Both performers are also video game fanatics. Snoop and his son Cordell recently started Death Row Games, anchored around minority creators developing and publishing using Fortnite’s Unreal Editor.

“Let’s really put resources into building Death Row Games and making a home for diverse creators in the gaming ecosystem and be a part of the narrative, the storytelling of what the next game should be looking like.” Broadus told Afrotech. “And I keep saying ‘show representation of the culture in these sectors,’ versus us just being the talent. We wanted to make sure that we’re part of the decision that’s being made and more importantly tell these stories from diverse creators and focus on creatives in underserved communities.”

Listen to “That’s How We Ballin’” below.



09 Nov 2023

Jung Kook Performs Surprise Times Square Show in NYC

Jung Kook is fresh off the release of his highly anticipated solo album, Golden, and he celebrated by giving fans a special treat.

The 26-year-old BTS superstar took the stage at TSX Entertainment on Thursday (Nov. 9), the first permanent stage located in the heart of New York City’s Times Square, to give a surprise show. Dressed in all Calvin Klein, Jung Kook performed several songs from Golden.

Fans who didn’t get to watch the show in person got to tune in from Xbox’s Twitch channel and had the chance to win custom Jung Kook Xbox Series X consoles and also score themselves Game Pass codes to play their next favorite game

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“We are honored to co-create this historic moment for Jung Kook and the entire BTS group,” said TSX Entertainment co-CEO Nick Holmsten in a press statement. “His solo journey has already made history with multiple chart-topping singles, and we’re fully confident that this album will continue the trend. This marks a pivotal moment in music, particularly for K-Pop fans, and holds great significance for both Times Square and New York City.”

Golden, which dropped Friday (Nov. 3), features Jung Kook’s Billboard Hot 100 chart No. 1 hit single with Latto, “Seven,” as well as his new song with Jack Harlow, “3D.” His favorite song on the album, however, is “Standing Next to You,” and he says he’s looking forward to performing it live. “Of course, the song itself is great, but more than that, it just allowed me to see this grandiose picture when I heard the song and I could see myself right away performing on stage with that song,” he told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe earlier this week. “It has a very special place in my heart because the recording process was really difficult. But one thing that I would like to ask of ARMY is to not listen to it with earphones on or with their smartphone, but to listen to it loud on a loud speaker.”

09 Nov 2023

Boygenius Insist They’re ‘Quite Happy People’ in Real Life in New ‘SNL’ Promo

Boygenius  — the supergroup helmed by Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker — will be taking the Saturday Night Live stage for the first time together as musical guests this weekend (Nov. 11), and the trio cleared up some rumors about their personalities in a new promo released on Thursday (Nov. 9).

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In the clip, host Timothée Chalamet introduces the band, and Bridgers replies that the group is “so excited” to perform. “Wait, isn’t you guys’ thing being all sad?” the Wonka actor asks the band, to which Baker replies, “Only our music. In real life, we’re quite happy people.”

“Live, laugh, love,” Bridgers replies, as the entire group then repeats, “Live, laugh, love, live, laugh, live.”

Chalamet is no stranger to SNL, having hosted the Dec. 12, 2020 episode. Boygenius, meanwhile, is taking the stage just weeks after the release of their new four-track EP The Rest. Bridgers previously served as musical guest for her solo work, in April 2021, and memorably destroyed her guitar on stage in Studio 8H.

Watch Chalamet and Boygenius in the SNL promo below. Saturday Night Live airs on Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here.

09 Nov 2023

Kelly Clarkson Reminisces on Her Debut Album With Acoustic ‘Low’ Performance

Sure, Kelly Clarkson typically chooses to cover other artists’ songs during her talk show’s popular Kellyoke segment, but on Thursday (Nov. 9), she decided to add some nostalgia to the mix by performing one of her older songs.

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Joined by her guitarist Jaco Caraco, Clarkson performed an acoustic rendition of “Low” off her debut album, Thankful, which was released in 2003 via RCA Records, just seven months after she won the first season of American Idol in 2002.

“Have you ever been low? / Have you ever had a friend that let you down so? / When the truth came out / Were you the last to know? / Were you left out in the cold? / ‘Cause what you did was low,” she sang in the chorus of the heartbreaking track, dressed in a black velvet, low-cut maxi dress.

Thankful, which featured hits like “A Moment Like This” and “Miss Independent,” which topped the Billboard 200 albums chart upon its release. “A Moment Like This,” which Clarkson famously performed during the American Idol finale when she was announced as winner, also topped the Hot 100 songs chart in 2002.

Watch Kelly Clarkson perform “Low” below.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=EK3sLbBOg2g&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

09 Nov 2023

Dua Lipa Conjures Up ‘Houdini’ Single: Stream It Now

Dua Lipa is ushering in a new era. After weeks of cryptic teasing, the three-time Grammy winner has finally unleashed her highly anticipated new single, “Houdini.”

On Nov. 1, Lipa announced the song’s title and release date in the caption of a post displaying the cover art. The announcement arrived after weeks of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it teasers sporadically posted to Lipa’s social media pages, a nod to the elusive air of Harry Houdini, the iconic Hungarian-American escape artist and illusionist from whom the song’s title derives.

With its twinkling synths and pounding drums, “Houdini” finds Lipa beginning to move away from the nu-disco love affair she began on 2020’s Future Nostalgia. “Do you think about it night and day?/ Maybe you could be the one to make me stay,” she sings. The new single features production and writing contributions for a slew of notable names including Kevin Parker, Tobias Jesso Jr. and Lipa herself.

“Houdini” marks Lipa’s first solo non-soundtrack single in two years. Since the release of Future Nostalgia — which spawned several Billboard Hot 100 hits including “Don’t Start Now” (No. 2), “Levitating” (No. 2) and “Break My Heart” (No. 13) — Lipa has appeared on just a handful of official releases. The most recent of those releases is “Dance the Night,” her Barbie soundtrack smash that could be a contender for a song of the year and record of the year nomination at the 2024 Grammys. The Mark Ronson-produced banger climbed to a peak of No. 6 on the Hot 100 and topped both the Adult Pop Airplay and Pop Airplay charts.

Listen to “Houdini” and watch the music video above.

09 Nov 2023

Kelly Clarkson Says Taylor Swift Sends Her Flowers After Every Re-Recording Release

Kelly Clarkson knows all too well how sweet Taylor Swift is.

The superstar revealed to E! News that the “Anti-Hero” superstar sends her gifts after album releases. “You know what’s so funny? She just sent me flowers,” The Kelly Clarkson Show host shared. “She’s so nice. She did. She was like, ‘Every time I release something’—’cause she just did 1989. I got that really cute cardigan, too.”

Clarkson also maintained that Swift would have come up with the idea of her re-recordings on her own, despite the American Idol alum taking to Twitter back in 2019 amid Swift’s battle over masters with Scooter Braun to make the suggestion. “@taylorswift13 just a thought, U should go in & re-record all the songs that U don’t own the masters on exactly how U did them but put brand new art & some kind of incentive so fans will no longer buy the old versions,” she wrote at the time.

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“I love how kind she is though,” Kelly told E! News. “She’s a very smart businesswoman. So, she would have thought of that. But it just sucks when you see artists that you admire and you respect really wanting something and it’s special to them. You know if they’re going to find a loophole, you find a loophole. And she did it and literally is, like, the best-selling artist I feel like of all-time now.”

She added of the Swifties, “It’s so cool to see a fanbase really get behind her in that too because it’s important. She’s known for being such an incredible songwriter and the soundtrack to a lot of people’s lives and that’s her life. So, you should have the option of owning that.”

Following the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) last month, Swift earned the biggest sales week of her career, earning 1.653 million equivalent album units in its debut week, scoring her 13th No. 1 on the Billboard 200; that’s the biggest equivalent album units total for an album since Adele’s 25 in 2015, and also marks Swift’s largest sales week (1.359 million) to date.

Meanwhile, “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version),” one of five “From the Vault” tracks from the album, debuts at No. 1 on this week’s Hot 100 chart, giving Swift her 11th career chart-topper.