Music News

28 Jul 2023

Post Malone Lounges Poolside in Live Performance of ‘Green Thumb’

Post Malone is stripping things back for the rollout for his fifth studio album, Austin. The rapper’s latest set arrived on Friday (July 28), alongside an official Vevo live performance for album track “Green Thumb.”

The video features the artist sitting by the poolside after night falls. Using nothing but his acoustic guitar for accompaniment, Malone rips into the track and sings, “Drove by your house and noticed it was overgrown/ Your flowers are all dead and I thought you should know/ What happened to your green thumb that you were so proud of?/ Their bodies were scattered and starving for love/ Starving for love,” on the song’s first verse.

“Green Thumb” is the second track that received a Vevo live performance — it comes after Malone’s previous Vevo live performance of “Overdrive,” released earlier this month. “These videos really showcase how special this new album is to me,” Malone said in a press release. “I’m extremely lucky to be able to bring the songs to life with Vevo. Thank you all so very much for watching and listening.”

Austin featured 15 other tracks, including singles “Chemical” and “Mourning, which charted at Nos. 13 and 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. Prior to the album’s release, the rapper took to Instagram on May 16 and shared what the album means to him and his artistry.

“This whole deal has been one of the most challenging, rewarding, and exciting records I’ve worked on. I feel it captures who I am as a man and as an artist in this moment,” he wrote. “Thank y’all so much for your patience, and thank you for being there with me in my hardest times. I love y’all so much, and am ready to f—ing party with y’all. Cheers, and keep spreading love.”

Watch Malone’s performance for “Green Thumb” in the video above.

28 Jul 2023

Beck & Phoenix Complete ‘Odyssey’ to No. 1 on Adult Alternative Airplay Chart

Beck and Phoenix’s collaborative single “Odyssey” hits No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart dated Aug. 5.

The song is Beck’s fifth No. 1 on Adult Alternative Airplay and first since “Uneventful Days,” which ruled for five weeks beginning in December 2019. He has also led with “Blue Moon” (2014), “Dreams” (2015) and “Up All Night” (2017).

In between “Uneventful Days” and “Odyssey,” Beck appeared on Adult Alternative Airplay twice, via a featured credit on Gorillaz’s “The Valley of the Pagans” (No. 17 peak, 2021) and his own “Thinking About You” (No. 5 this March).

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As for Phoenix, “Odyssey” is the band’s fourth Adult Alternative Airplay No. 1. The first three reigned in a three-in-a-row streak spanning “Identical” (2020), “Alpha Zulu” and “Tonight” featuring Ezra Koenig (both 2022).

In between “Tonight” and “Odyssey,” Phoenix placed on the chart with “After Midnight,” featuring Clairo, a No. 26 hit this May.

“Odyssey” is the first Adult Alternative Airplay No. 1 to feature more than one lead act since “Don’t Let Me Down” by Milky Chance and Jack Johnson, which ruled in July 2020.

Belying its title, “Odyssey” tops Adult Alternative Airplay in just its fifth week on the chart, the quickest coronation this year and Phoenix’s fastest flight among its four No. 1s.

Concurrently, “Odyssey” bullets at its No. 30 high on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay survey with 1.4 million audience impressions, up 5%, July 21-27, according to Luminate. In addition to its triple A radio airplay, the song is bubbling under Alternative Airplay.

“Odyssey” is currently a standalone single helping promote the acts’ co-headlining tour, which kicks off Aug. 1 in Seattle. Phoenix released the album Alpha Zulu last year, while Beck last premiered a full-length with Hyperspace in 2019.

All Aug. 5-dated Billboard airplay charts will refresh on Billboard.com on Tuesday, Aug. 1.

28 Jul 2023

Harlem Festival of Culture Canceled Due to Excessive Heat in New York City

As extreme heat continues to bear down on New York City, Harlem Festival of Culture has canceled their event this weekend in the interest of public safety.

“On Thursday, July 27th, President Biden called on Americans to ‘listen to public officials and stay indoors’ due to the excessive heat advisory and poor air quality,” the festival’s official Instagram page shared in a statement posted on Friday (July 28). “After strong consideration to this severe weather impacting New York City, it is with a heavy heart that we have made the tough decision to cancel this weekend’s Harlem Festival of Culture with public safety in mind.”

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The statement continued, “Our primary concern for the Festival was to put on an enjoyable and safe experience for all, and with the current forecast, it does not support a safe festival experience for attendees, workers or partners. While this untimely announcement changes our planned activities, this decision could potentially save lives.”

Those who bought tickets can receive a refund by visiting the festival’s website here. See the full statement here.

The lineup for Harlem Festival of Culture, which was scheduled for July 28 to 30, featured headliners Ferg, Teyana Taylor and Wyclef Jean with additional performances by Cam’ron, Doug E. Fresh, Muni Long, Major, Coco Jones, Adam Blackstone, Fat Joe, Remy Ma and more.

28 Jul 2023

Tim McGraw Announces Standing Room Only Tour for 2024: Here Are the Dates

As Tim McGraw gears up to release his 17th studio album, Standing Room Only, on Aug. 25, he is also setting his sights on a tour for 2024.

The Live Nation-produced Standing Room Only tour will launch March 14, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla., and will hit more than 30 cities, including Chicago, Denver and Seattle. Grammy winner and “We Don’t Fight Anymore” singer Carly Pearce will open all tour dates.

“I always want to deliver the best possible concert I can for the fans,” McGraw said in a statement. “We’ve got some really special plans to make this the biggest and the best tour we’ve ever done.”

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The three-time Grammy winner’s upcoming Standing Room Only album features his top 20 Country Airplay hit “Standing Room Only,” as well as other previously released tracks including “Hey Whiskey” and “Remember Me Well.”

Tickets for the Standing Room Only Tour, including VIP packages, go on sale Aug. 4. See the full list of tour dates below:

  • March 14 – Jacksonville, FL – VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
  • March 15 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
  • March 16 – Orlando, FL – Amway Center
  • March 21 – Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena
  • March 27 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
  • March 29 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
  • March 30 – Eugene, OR – University of Oregon – Matthew Knight Arena
  • April 4 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
  • April 5 – Salt Lake City, UT – Delta Center
  • April 6 – Boise, ID – Boise State University – ExtraMile Arena
  • April 13 -Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
  • April 18 – Indianapolis, IN – Gainbridge Fieldhouse
  • April 19 -Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum
  • April 20 – Saint Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
  • April 25 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
  • April 26 – Knoxville, TN – Thompson-Boling Arena
  • May 9 – Belmont Park, NY – UBS Arena
  • May 11 – Wilkes-Barre, PA – Mohegan Sun Arena
  • May 16- Greenville, SC – Bon Secours Wellness Arena
  • May 17 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
  • May 18 – Charleston, WV – Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center
  • May 30 – Toledo, OH – Huntington Center
  • May 31 – Chicago, IL- United Center
  • June 1 – Grand Rapids, MI- Van Andel Arena
  • June 6 – Sioux Falls, SD – Denny Sanford Premier Center
  • June 7 – Omaha, NE – CHI Health Center
  • June 8 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center
  • June 13 – Biloxi, MS – Mississippi Coast Coliseum
  • June 15 – Lexington, KY – Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
  • June 20 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
  • June 21 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena
  • June 22 – Raleigh, NC – PNC Arena
  • June 27 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center

28 Jul 2023

Travis Scott, Offset x Cardi B & More: What’s Your Favorite Music Release of the Week? Vote!

The final new music Friday of July has arrived, and it’s filled to the brim with rap releases, featuring highly anticipated album drops from Travis Scott and Post Malone, a single from Offset featuring wife Cardi B, and tunes from Gucci Mane and more.

It’s been nearly five years since the release of Scott’s 2018 album, Astroworld, and the rapper has made a solid comeback with the arrival of Utopia. Led by its lead single “K-POP” featuring Bad Bunny and The Weeknd, the album delivered even more star-studded features throughout its spoiler-free tracklist. 21 Savage, Future and Drake all step up to the plate, but the biggest feature of them all comes in the form of Beyoncé, who makes her first ever appearance on a Scott album to help out a fellow Houston native.

Malone goes the self-titled route for fifth studio album Austin (his real name is Austin Post). The rapper — who previously called the album “one of the most challenging, rewarding, and exciting records I’ve worked on” ahead of its arrival — dabbles in pop, power ballads and even disco over the set’s 17 tracks, which sees him leaning into the sound showcase on smash hit “Circles,” as opposed to rap staples such as “Rockstar” or “Congratulations.” The album gets a head start on the Billboard Hot 100, as singles “Chemical,” “Mourning” and “Overdrive” charted at Nos. 13, 36 and 47 on the chart respectively.

Offset and Cardi B were the subject of cheating allegations just a month ago, and now, the pair have addressed it in song. The Migos rapper’s new track “Jealousy” sees him alongside his wife dodging haters in a major kiss-off. Cardi bites back, “You offended when I be on defense/ They’re too worried ’bout me and my n—a/ You should worry ’bout the n—a yours sleep with, hmm.” 

Mane, Mitski and Carly Rae Jepsen also return with new material this week. There’s plenty of new music to choose from, but which is your favorite? Vote in our poll below.

28 Jul 2023

Steve Aoki Spills On First Mixtape, Origin of Dim Mak Records | Growing Up

Music has always been a passion for Steve Aoki, especially as a child. In our latest episode of Growing Up, the dance titan reflected on his early years, explaining why music became an outlet for him and how that passion helped shape the trajectory of his label, Dim Mak Records.

28 Jul 2023

No, Troye Sivan Is Definitely Not a Bottom: ‘This Is Something I Want to Clear Up’

Troye Sivan would like to set the record straight — well, not straight per se — about some rumors that have pervaded the internet for the last few years.

On a recent episode of Emily Ratajkowski’s High Low podcast, Sivan declared once and for all that he is not a bottom. “This is actually something I want to clear up,” he told the model-actress. “I wrote this one song called ‘Bloom,’ right? It’s about bottoming. And the lyric is ‘I bloom just for you.’ And people took that and ran.”

Continuing, the Australian pop star said that the queer community online thinks that he is “some crazy power bottom,” when that is simply not true. When asked by EmRata if it was “annoying to have to clarify that,” Sivan said it was not. “I think sometimes people are just surprised, maybe if they go on a date with me, and I’m like, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m not a bottom,’” he said.

Fans expressed their varying levels of shock in the comments section of a TikTok clip, with one saying “I did NOT have ‘Troye Sivan is a strict top’ on my 2023 bingo card.” Some fans, though, felt that Sivan had been pretty clear through his lyrics. “I’ve always understood that. Like he’s saying ‘I bloom JUST for YOU,’” one commenter wrote.

The new clip comes during a big week for Sivan — his latest single “Rush” recently debuted across 12 different Billboard charts, including a No. 77 debut on the Billboard Hot 100, marking his first entry on the chart since 2021’s “You” with Regard and Tate McRae, and his highest debut on the chart to date.

In an interview with Billboard shortly after the song was released, Sivan said that he was already thrown off by the extremely warm reception it received. “I know that I’m really super happy about it, and I also think I am a little bit intimidated,” he said. “It’s a good intimidation, because it just makes me think, ‘Damn, we’ve got to make a great video for the second single.’”

Check out the clip of Sivan on EmRata’s High Low below:

28 Jul 2023

Pierce the Veil Scores First Airplay Chart No. 1 With ‘Emergency Contact’

Pierce the Veil hits No. 1 on a Billboard radio airplay chart for the first time, as “Emergency Contact” climbs from No. 3 to the top of the Alternative Airplay tally dated Aug. 5.

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The song reaches the summit in its 28th chart week, completing the second-longest trip to No. 1 this year, after Weezer’s “Records” took 29 weeks.

Before “Emergency Contact,” Pierce the Veil had appeared on Alternative Airplay once, with “Circles,” which peaked at No. 31 in 2016.

One other song from the band had made an airplay survey: “Pass the Nirvana” reached No. 39 on Mainstream Rock Airplay in 2022.

Prior to “Emergency Contact,” the band last boasted a Billboard song chart No. 1 with “King for a Day,” featuring Kellin Quinn. The collab led Hard Rock Streaming Songs for a week in August 2022 following its revival on user-generated content platforms such as TikTok. The act’s other No. 1, “The Divine Zero,” ruled Hard Rock Digital Song Sales for a week in 2015.

Concurrently, “Emergency Contact” vaults 17-12 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay survey with 2.4 million audience impressions, up 7%, July 21-27, according to Luminate.

On the most recently published multi-metric Hot Hard Rock Songs chart (dated July 29), “Emergency Contact” ranked at No. 18. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 492,000 official U.S. streams in the July 14-20 tracking period.

“Emergency Contact” is from The Jaws of Life, Pierce the Veil’s fifth studio album. The set debuted at No. 1 on Top Hard Rock Albums in February and has earned 112,000 equivalent album units to date.

28 Jul 2023

Latto Makes Her Acting Debut in ‘Grown-ish’: Watch

Latto is officially bringing some big energy to the small screen. The 24-year-old rapper made her acting debut in a new episode of the final season of Grown-ish, playing a wine sales representative named Sloane alongside a number of other musical guest stars.

Fans can get a taste of Latto’s character in a clip from episode five of the Black-ish spinoff’s sixth season, which airs on Freeform every Wednesday. Smoldering in a red-orange blazer and skirt, the “Big Energy” artist brings a case of wines for Doug (Diggy Simmons) to try and takes her opportunity to flirt with him.

“You can’t rush fine wine…or fine women,” she tells him with a sly smile.

Originally focused on Yara Shahidi’s character Zoey Johnson, Grown-ish now centers around her little brother Junior, played by Marcus Scribner, as he navigates college life at his big sister’s alma mater. Latto is in good company this season, with Kelly Rowland, Lil Yachty, NLE Choppa, Anderson .Paak and Omarion all billed as guests on the show’s cast list.

In other Latto news, the Grammy nominee just scored her first ever Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit this week with “Seven,” a collaboration with BTS’ Jung Kook. The month prior, she found major chart success with her “Put It On Da Floor Again” remix featuring Cardi B.

Latto’s still fresh off her best female hip-hop artist win at this year’s BET Awards. And in March, she was crowned with Billboard‘s Powerhouse award at the 2023 Women in Music ceremony.

Watch Latto in Grown-ish above.

28 Jul 2023

JoJo Siwa Recalls Being ‘Blackballed’ by Corporations After Coming Out

Since publicly coming out back in 2021, internet star JoJo Siwa has made a point of being as outspoken as possible for her community — and apparently, some organizations did not appreciate that.

During her appearance on Thursday’s episode of The Viall Files (July 27), Siwa said that amidst the “overwhelming” attention she received after coming out, there were a few corporations that were upset with her decision to speak about her sexuality publicly. “I had a lot of people of corporations [who] told me that I made the wrong choice and that I shouldn’t have come out,” she said. “[They said] that I shouldn’t tell my young demographic that I’m gay.”

Siwa then went on to say that many of those same people then “blackballed” her from working with them. “They kind of shunned me from their corporations in a way,” she said.

While the prospect of being blacklisted by certain companies would be daunting to many, Siwa says she didn’t let it bother her. “I don’t want to work for a company [or] represent something that doesn’t support who I love,” she said. “If somebody has a problem with me telling little kids that it’s okay to be who you are and love who you want to love and do what you want to do, then we don’t need to be friends.”

It wouldn’t be the first time that Siwa locked horns publicly with a major corportation; back in 2021, the star called out Nickelodeon for not allowing her to perform original songs from her movie The J Team while on tour. “These are MY songs, MY voice, MY writing. Does this seem fair???” she wrote at the time.

Check out Siwa’s full interview on The Viall Files in the video above.