Music News

14 Sep 2023

Snow Man’s ‘Dangerholic’ Tops Japan Hot 100, Ending YOASOBI’s 21-Week Run at No. 1

Snow Man’s “Dangerholic” leads the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Sept. 13, toppling YOASOBI’s “Idol” from the top spot where it ruled for a record 21 weeks straight.

The nine-member boy band’s ninth single is the theme of TBS’ drama series Trillion Game starring member Ren Meguro. The single broke the half-million threshold with 893,666 copies sold in its first week, and while it didn’t reach the 921,011 copies of the previous single, “Tapestry,” the song launches at No. 1 for sales. The track also rules radio and comes in at No. 2 for video views, gaining momentum as fans gear up for the final episode of the TV series to air Friday (Sept. 15).

King Gnu‘s “SPECIALZ” rises 4-2 after bowing on the chart last week. The opener for the Shibuya Incident story arc of the anime Jujutsu Kaisen dropped digitally Sept. 1 and the CD version was released Sept. 6. The CD launched with 32,330 copies to hit No. 5 for sales, and the track currently rules downloads (17,054 units) and streaming (11,151,908 streams, 1.8 times more than the week before).

At No. 3 is ENHYPEN‘s “Bite Me,” a track from the group’s third Japanese single “YOU” released Sept. 5. The CD sold 460,675 copies in its first week to hit No. 2 for sales behind Snow Man’s “Dangerholic.” The track didn’t fare too well in the digital metrics — No. 28 for downloads (1,834 units), No. 34 for streaming (2,853,202 streams), and No. 37 for video — but hit the top 3 on the Japan Hot 100 powered by sales. 

YOASOBI’s “Idol” falls to No. 4 after a phenomenal run atop the Japan Hot 100. The track is slowing down overall, with downloads falling slightly from No. 2 to No. 4 (7,423 downloads), radio from No. 27 to No. 62, and streaming from No. 1 to No. 2 (10,913,375 streams). “Idol” holds the record for most consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.

The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.

See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Sept. 4 to 10, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account. 

14 Sep 2023

PnB Rock’s Girlfriend Describes ‘Deepest Depression’ on One-Year Anniversary of Rapper’s Death

PnB Rock‘s girlfriend opened up about the difficulty of marking the one-year anniversary of the “Selfish” rapper’s death on Wednesday (Sept. 13), writing in an emotional Instagram post that she’s struggled with how to mark the occasion.

“I’ve been in the deepest depression for a lil min contemplating todays date, which makes a year since your transition,” wrote Stephanie Sibounheuang a year after the MC born Rakim Allen, 30, was robbed and shot to death at a Roscoe’s House of Chicken’N Waffles restaurant in L.A. on Sept. 12 while the two were having a meal together.

“I argued with God about openly reliving this day and i absolutely did not want to, so this is an act of obedience,” she said alongside a picture of the couple in happier days chilling on a boat on a sunny day. “This same day last year, you could look into my eyes and and tell my soul was not in my body.
All I could hear were the gunshots over and over and they were so LOUD I couldn’t hear myself think.
I was so terrified and heartbroken.”

The photo roll also included a snap of the two celebrating an occasion with a giant ice cream cone cake and family pics of the two with their child, Xuri Li, and Rock’s daughter from a previous relationship, Milan.

Freddie Lee Trone, 41, and his then-17-year-old son were arrested a week after the shooting, with each charged with one count of murder, two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery; Shauntel Trone, 39, Trone’s wife and the boy’s step-mom was also arrested and charged with one count of being an accessory after the fact to the killing and pleaded not guilty.

Sibounheuang also opened up about the day Rock was shot, writing, “You came to me and [daughter] Lani wearing all white and said those were not gunshots, they were fireworks. You did it! You changed for the better and you made it to paradise! Celebrate you!”

She added that she planned to honor her love on the anniversary and to “push thru and be joyful and celebrate you, just like you asked me to do. For I know this Earth is temporary and we will spend eternity together. You’re a legend and not only that…but a hero. I’m forever yours and forever loyal to you. I will live my life to the fullest because you gave your life for me. Thank you Lord for carrying us through a whole year and every day after this.”

See Sibounheuang’s post below.

14 Sep 2023

Sexyy Red’s ‘SkeeYee’ Crowns Inaugural TikTok Billboard Top 50 Chart

The initial TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart, dated Sept. 16, features Sexyy Red’s rising hit “SkeeYee” as the tally’s first No. 1.

The TikTok Billboard Top 50, announced Thursday (Sept. 14), is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the U.S., based on creations, video views and user engagement. The maiden chart reflects activity from Sept. 4-10.

“SkeeYee,” which follows Sexyy Red’s breakthrough hit “Pound Town 2” (with Tay Keith and Nicki Minaj), reigns amid its notable prominence on TikTok over the past few weeks. Released in June, the song was initially aided by a trend in which users whipped their hair during the St. Louis rapper’s “skeeyee” ad lib, although many of the uploads to date have utilized the song in general videos, whether for comedy clips or otherwise.

Concurrently, “SkeeYee” bows at No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated Sept. 16. In the Sept. 1-7 tracking week, the song drew 6.5 million radio audience impressions (up 55%) and 6.2 million official streams (up 29%) and sold 1,000 downloads (up 28%) in the U.S., according to Luminate. (The Hot 100 blends streaming, radio airplay and sales data, incorporating streaming platforms including Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and more; for Billboard chart purposes, activity on TikTok is reflected solely on the TikTok Billboard Top 50.)

Sexyy Red boasts four songs on the inaugural TikTok Billboard Top 50, with “SkeeYee” followed by “Looking for the Hoes (Ain’t My Fault)” (No. 19), MCVERTT’s “Face Down,” on which she’s featured with Ferg (No. 27), and “Mad at Me” (No. 50). That’s the second-most appearances of any act on the chart; a leading six Taylor Swift songs infuse the first survey.

“I am so excited that so many of my songs are charting on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart,” Sexyy Red tells Billboard. “I always knew I would be a No. 1 type of artist, so I want to thank all my fans on TikTok for running my music up! I’m just being me on TikTok and people love it.”

Swift charts highest with her 2020 Folklore cut “August” at No. 3. Its high rank is concurrent not only with the end of August, but also general momentum in streaming for the song, which reached No. 23 on the Hot 100, following its first week of release in August 2020. It placed in the top 10 of Billboard’s Alternative Streaming Songs chart last month for the first time since 2020, and has risen as high as No. 3 (Aug. 19), spending the last three frames at No. 5.

Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red,” which ascends to No. 1 on the Hot 100, ranks at No. 2 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50. Released in early August, it debuted at No. 15 on the Hot 100 dated Aug. 19 and has gained since sparked, in part, by TikTok usages, including viral dance choreography set to its chorus.

“Go!” by Greg Cipes, Scott Menville, Khary Payton, Tara Strong and Hyden Welch is No. 4 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50. Superhero and animation fans may recognize the song as the theme to Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, the 2018 film spinoff of Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans Go!, performed by its voice cast. Many of its uploads utilize a “Hoodtrap Remix” from ProdByTTK, with some users adding animations of certain features of the Teen Titans characters set to each of their verses.

Rounding out the first TikTok Billboard Top 50’s top five, Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything” featuring Kacey Musgraves ranks at No. 5. Many TikTok videos spotlighting the song, from Bryan’s new self-titled album, are set to the lyric “I wish I didn’t, but I do/ Remember every moment on the nights with you,” with some users recalling past relationships.

The 50-position list doesn’t include only newly released or mostly modern songs. At No. 10 is Dazz Band’s “Let It Whip,” a No. 5 Hot 100 hit in summer 1982. The electrofunk track sports a resurgence more than 40 years later driven by a dance challenge featuring the song in which users try to emulate majorette-style dancing.

See the inaugural TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart here, and click on each entry to be sent to the TikTok sound page to learn more about what’s fueling each hit.

14 Sep 2023

Calum Scott’s ‘You Are the Reason’ Joins YouTube’s Billion Views Club: ‘I’m Speechless’

Calum Scott has just earned a major milestone in his career. The singer’s music video for his 2017 single “You Are the Reason” recently hit one billion views on YouTube. The video is the star’s first video to join the Billion Views Club.

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Scott reacted to the news via Instagram. “1,000,000,000 views on ‘You Are The Reason’ on @youtube.. I’m speechless. Thank you, a billion times,” he wrote recently, captioning a video of him explaining the visual’s concept back in 2018 while on set.

The video sees Scott walking through the streets of Kyiv, Ukraine. As he makes his way through the town, a series of intimate moments play, from a little girl sharing a loaded glance with her father before driving away, and a couple sharing a dance in the streets, to a family watching their matriarch pass, and a different couple sharing headphones in the backseat of a cab after a date.

“You Are the Reason” was released as the third single from his debut studio album, Only Human. The track, which later received a new version that featured Leona Lewis, peaked at Nos. 7 and 11 on the Digital Song Sales and Adult Contemporary charts, respectively. Only Human peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard 200, and at No. 31 on the Top Current Album Sales chart.

Revisit the music video for “You Are the Reason” above.

14 Sep 2023

Ben Affleck Pitches a Creepy Ice Spice Munchkin Doll in New Dunkin’ Clip: See Her Reaction

It looks like Ben Affleck missed the memo that Ice Spice was rapping about Barbie dolls on “Barbie World,” not Munchkin dolls. In a new clip of Affleck and Ice’s new Dunkin’ commercial, the actor unsuccessfully tries to pitch an Ice Spice doll made out of munchkins doughnut holes as the next step in their collaboration.

“What about this? Boom!” Affleck says as he pulls out an admittedly hideous Ice Spice doll made out of munchkins. The figure sports a pink coat and denim mini shorts combo that slightly recalls the outfit the “Deli” rapper wore at 2023 Rolling Loud in Miami. A hilariously aghast Ice responded to the doll with a barely audible “Oh my God …”

Affleck then plays around with the figure and even makes it “say” Ice’s signature “like” ad-lib — a move that was met with a side eye and a speechless “Uh…” from the rapper herself.

“You feelin’ that? Like on a poster, big in Times Square!” Affleck said in a Boston accent before pivoting with “Oh, we can go another way!”

Ice’s “Princess Diana” — which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 after the unveiling of its Nicki Minaj remix — closes out the clip.

On Tuesday (Sept. 12), the official Affleck-Ice Dunkin’ commercial aired during that night’s MTV Video Music Awards. In the commercial, the Oscar-winning actor and the VMAs’ newly minted best new artist put their minds together to come up with the name and concept for the “Bikini Bottom” rapper’s new Ice Spice Munchkins drink. The ad also served as a sequel to Affleck’s Super Bowl commercial, in which he worked in a Dunkin’ drive-thru, and featured a cameo with Jennifer Lopez, his wife.

The Dunkin’ goods don’t stop there. Mere hours before she graced the 2023 MTV VMAs and accepted her very first Moon Person, Ice took to Instagram to flaunt a jaw-dropping 80-carat Eliantte diamond chain that spelled out “Munchkins,” a nod to both her new Dunkin’ drink and the name of her fanbase.

Ice Spice boasts four top 10 hits on the Hot 100: “Karma” (No. 2, with Taylor Swift), “Princess Diana” (No. 4, with Nicki Minaj), “Barbie World” (No. 7, with Minaj & AQUA), and PinkPantheress duet “Boy’s A Liar, Pt. 2” (No. 3). On the Billboard 200, Like..? — her debut EP — peaked at No. 15.

Watch the new cut of Ice Spice and Ben Affleck’s Dunkin’ ad above.

14 Sep 2023

TikTok & Billboard Partner to Launch TikTok Billboard Top 50 Chart

On Thursday (Sept. 14), TikTok and Billboard announced the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart — a new weekly chart that will track the most popular songs on the platform in the U.S. The chart is available to all TikTok users in the U.S. and on Billboard.com.

The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is the first chart to monitor the popularity of music on the video-sharing platform. The chart is based on a combination of creations, video views and user engagement by the U.S. TikTok community and will be released weekly every Thursday, starting today.

Sexyy Red is the first artist to top the chart, with “SkeeYee” starting at No. 1 on this week’s inaugural TikTok Billboard Top 50. (Three other Sexxy Red songs also land on this week’s tally.) Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” — which climbs to No. 1 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 — is the No. 2 track on the first TikTok Billboard Top 50, while Taylor Swift’s folklore track “august” lands at No. 3.

“TikTok is already the world’s most powerful platform for music discovery and promotion, and each week our passionate community of music fans drives songs onto the Billboard charts,” said Ole Obermann, global head of music business development at TikTok. “It therefore made perfect sense to partner with Billboard to create the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart. The chart gives a clear picture of the music that is being listened to on TikTok, and consequently starting to trend on DSPs and other services.”

In addition to the contemporary top three on the new chart, Dazz Band’s “Let It Whip” — a top five Hot 100 hit from 1982 — lands in the top 10 of the first TikTok Billboard Top 50, along with country tracks from Zach Bryan and Tim McGraw and songs from R&B legend Charlie Wilson and emo band Pinegrove.

“We are thrilled to partner on the first Billboard chart on TikTok,” said Mike Van, president, Billboard. “At Billboard, we are constantly evolving our charts to reflect how fans engage with music and connect them more deeply with the artists they love. We see a clear opportunity to recognize the way music discovery on TikTok is shaping popular culture and are proud to offer this tool to the industry, while offering brands a new way to engage with music fans at scale. You’re not No. 1 until you’re No. 1 on Billboard.”

For her part, Sexyy Red wants to thank her fans on TikTok for “running my music up!”

“I am so excited that so many of my songs are charting on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart,” said Sexyy Red. “I always knew I would be a No. 1 type of artist, so I want to thank all my fans on TikTok for running my music up! I’m just being me on TikTok and people love it.”

Also celebrating Sexyy Red’s new chart-topper is Larry Jackson’s entertainment company gamma, which counts the rookie rapper as one of its early success stories after launching in March. Jackson tells Billboard he’s “so incredibly proud to have a track from one of our artists, Sexyy Red, debut at No. 1 on the inaugural TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart — a chart which I believe will have an industry-wide importance alongside the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 charts. And to have four tracks in the top 50 on this new chart is something to marvel at as well.

“As a company that supports, nurtures and powers independent artists and creators, we believe that this is an incredible precursor for what’s to come in this era of independent business thought leaders such as Stan and Jay of [Sexyy Red’s label] Open Shift, and fiercely independent artists such as Sexyy Red, who are tackling the new modem music business with a sense of bravery and adventurousness that doesn’t subscribe to the norm or the conventionality of how it’s been done.”

TikTok users can find the new chart by pressing the round icon on the bottom corner of the screen in the TikTok app and tapping the “Music Charts” button in the top right. The chart can also be found on Billboard.com, updated weekly each Thursday.

14 Sep 2023

Fat Joe Returns as Host for the 2023 BET Hip Hop Awards

Fat Joe will host the 2023 BET Hip Hop Awards for the second consecutive year, Billboard exclusively reports. Set to take place at the Cobb Energy Center in Atlanta on Oct. 3, the live broadcast will air the following week on Oct. 10 at 9 p.m. ET on BET. 

“We are thrilled to welcome back a true hip-hop legend in Fat Joe as this year’s host! As we round out a banner year of celebrating hip-hop’s landmark half-century of influencing culture, he is the perfect emcee to lead us through what promises to be an iconic night,” Connie Orlando, EVP, Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy at BET, tells Billboard. “Throughout his career, he has continued to be a leader within the culture, bridging the gap between generations. We can’t wait to watch what he comes up with for this year’s show.”

“Hip-hop is my life, and I’m extremely proud to return as host of BET Hip Hop Awards 2023,” Fat Joe adds. “We’re going to make this year’s award show even bigger while also celebrating our hip-hop stars and pioneers in a spectacular way. It’s going to be a legendary night of music and entertainment, and you’re not going to want to miss it.”

This year’s nominations include a diverse crowd of proven veterans, rising rookies, thriving producers and international stars. 21 Savage and Cardi B lead the way with 12 nominations, while Drake is right behind with nine. DJ Khaled and Burna Boy each have seven nods, while J. Cole has six. Jay-Z, Coi Leray, and GloRilla follow with five apiece. 

14 Sep 2023

Sean Penn Says Will Smith Oscars Slap Was His ‘Worst Moment As a Person’

Sean Penn likes to get straight to the meat of the matter. And the actor/director does just that in a new Variety interview in which he calls 100% b.s. on the reaction to Will Smith‘s infamous slap of Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards, which was held just weeks after Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Penn, whose documentary on his friend Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Superpower, is due out on Monday (Sept. 18), gets “f—ing furious,” in fact, when telling reporter Stephen Rodrick, “the Oscars producer thought, ‘Oh, he’s not light-hearted enough?’ Well, guess what you got instead? Will Smith.”

Fully aware that his perennial pugnaciousness has often made it hard to appreciate him, a red-faced Penn laid out his exact feelings about the refusal to give former-sitcom-star-turned-heroic-wartime-president Zelenskyy a moment to speak during the ceremony; Smith — who would win a best actor Oscar later in the night for his starring role in the Williams family tennis biopic King Richard — stormed the stage and assaulted Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair.

“I don’t know Will Smith. I met him once,” Penn said. “He seemed very nice when I met him. He was so f–king good in King Richard… So why the f–k did you just spit on yourself and everybody else with this stupid f–king thing? Why did I go to f–king jail for what you just did? And you’re still sitting there? Why are you guys standing and applauding his worst moment as a person?”

Penn, 63, spent 33 days in county jail in June 1987 for punching an extra on a movie set and for reckless driving and received a 90-day suspended sentence and $50 fine for two charges of assaulting two journalists who were attempting to photograph him and then-wife Madonna, as well as three years of probation and 300 hours of community service in 2010 after another run-in with a photographer.

“This f–king bulls–t wouldn’t have happened with Zelenskyy,” Penn fumed. “Will Smith would never have left that chair to be part of stupid violence. It never would have happened.”

On the night of the incident, Smith jumped up from his seat and slapped Rock hard across the face after the comedian made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, which, Rock later said, he was not aware was a result of the singer/actress’ struggle with alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that can cause hair loss and balding.

During his Oscars acceptance speech, Smith issued a mea culpa of sorts for his actions earlier in the night — without mentioning Rock — with the comedian later declining to press charges. After a more formal apology, Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which banned him from attending any Academy events for 10 years.

Penn, who has won two best actor Oscars for Mystic River (2003) and Milk (2008), also told the magazine that his only option was to destroy his statues. “I thought, well, f–k, you know? I’ll give them to Ukraine,” he said. “They can be melted down to bullets they can shoot at the Russians.”

14 Sep 2023

Kelsea Ballerini Wants to Make Country Music More Inclusive: ‘I Want to Hear All the Voices’

For years, Kelsea Ballerini has been advocating for greater diversity in country music — look no further than her headline-making CMTs performance from earlier this year for proof. Now, in a new interview, Ballerini spelled out exactly what she means by that.

In an interview as a 2023 TIME100 Next honoree, Ballerini said that she wanted to see country music become a platform where all kinds of artists could find massive success. “It’s a process, and we’re undoing a way that, specifically, country music has done things forever,” she said. “It’s making sure that we’re giving a voice to new artists; we’re giving a voice to unsigned artists who represent underrepresented groups in Nashville because they’re not getting a chance to be signed.”

Continuing, Ballerini got more specific, pointing out that the communities finding themselves the least represented in country music deserve to be given a fair shot at stardom. “Nobody says people don’t want to jam out to guys on the radio. I do. I also want to hear from women. Just as much, maybe more,” she said. “I also want to hear from people of color, from the LGBTQ+ community. I want to hear all the voices we hear on pop radio on country radio.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Ballerini said that she was not comfortable speaking as the representative for all country artists. “One person cannot speak for everyone. That is true for country music,” she said. “I am in control of standing in what I believe in — and being a kind, good person who works towards making the world a more heard, safe, and inclusive place in whatever capacity I can do.”

Part of that aim to make the world better and more inclusive came during her aforementioned CMTs performance, when Ballerini brought a group of drag queens on stage with her to perform her song “If You Go Down,” and to protest ongoing legislative attacks against drag artists around the country. Speaking about it now, Ballerini said that if she had the opportunity, she would go back and do it again.

“I was not only hosting the CMT Awards, but I had a performance for a song of mine that is all about friendship and standing up for people that you love, and being ride-or-die for your people,” she said. “I realized that that would be a really good, important, loud, big stage to make that statement on, and CMT was all for it.”

14 Sep 2023

This Harry Styles Hit Soundtracks the New Brie Larson-Led ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ Trailer: Watch

Before he took over the world with “As It Was” and won his first Grammy for “Watermelon Sugar,” Harry Styles made his first solo statement with the brooding pop-rock epic “Sign of the Times.” On Thursday (Sept. 14), Apple TV+ gave the song a second life by having it soundtrack the new trailer for Lessons in Chemistry, the streamer’s Brie Larson-led drama.

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Based on Bonnie Garmus’ New York Times best-selling debut novel of the same name, Lessons in Chemistry explores the story of Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson), a scientist-turned-celebrity chef host who must navigate 1950s patriarchy at every turn. Zott becomes the star of a cooking show titled Supper at Six after losing her laboratory job as a chemist.

“In life, discoveries usually lead to more questions. The only constant variable is the unexpected,” Zott says in the trailer. “We can’t control it. It’s only when you look backwards that you see how it was all connected.”

In the trailer, “Sign of the Times” — which served as Styles’ first official debut solo single following One Direction’s hiatus — appears once Zott is let go from the laboratory and met with the proposition to host Supper at Six. From there, Zott’s burgeoning feminist bent blossoms into direct messaging with quips such as “I stand proudly with the overlooked workhorse of the kitchen, women and baked potatoes” and “Why do you assume that his day was longer than hers? Why don’t you make the drink?” The trailer teases how Zott’s fearlessness gives her a platform that she must reckon with in the face of the virulent sexism and racism of 1950s America.

The Aggregate Films-produced show stars Larsson, How to Get Away With Murder actress Aja Naomi King, Top Gun: Maverick star Lewis Pullman, Stephanie Koenig, Kevin Sussman, Patrick Walker and Thomas Mann. Seven-time Emmy Award-nominee Lee Eisenberg serves as showrunner.

The first two episodes of Lessons in Chemistry will be available to stream on Apple TV+ on Oct. 13. New episodes will become available every Friday through Nov. 24.

In 2017, “Sign of the Times” debuted and peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first of Styles’ seven career top 10 hits on the chart. He has since added a pair of chart-toppers: 2019’s “Watermelon Sugar” (one week) and 2022’s “As It Was” (15 weeks). “Times” also served as the lead single for its parent album, Styles’ eponymous debut solo studio album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — his first of three career No. 1 titles on the ranking.

Watch the trailer for Lessons in Chemistry featuring Styles’ hit song above.