Music News

19 Jul 2023

Ice Spice Opens Up About ‘Karma’ Collaboration & Friendship With Taylor Swift: ‘We Text All the Time’

Ice Spice has shared her side of the story to how she came to be the featured artist on Taylor Swift‘s “Karma” remix, a collaboration which resulted in Ice getting her first ever Billboard Hot 100 No. 2, the chance to perform three times for a sold out crowd at MetLife Stadium and a long-lasting friendship with one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.

“I was home and my manager called me, and was like, ‘Oh, Taylor wants you on a record.’ And I’m like, ‘Taylor?’” the 23-year-old rapper recalled to Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1’s “Up Next” series. “I was having a really bad day also, I would like to say that. I was having a terrible day. I was crying all morning because I was just so mad at something. And then he called me with that news. And then I cried more, because it was good news.”

“My life is a rollercoaster,” she added. “How I started the day crying and I’m ending it crying, but for different reasons.”

Ice also took Lowe through the process of recording her parts on “Karma,” which she called “amazing.” “We went to the studio and [Taylor] is so humble and so nice,” she said. “I kid you not. I pulled up to the studio and she outside waiting for me. So she’s great. She’s so funny. We text all the time. She is f–king hilarious. I’m not going to lie. She’s the funniest person ever.”

At the first of three Eras Tour shows in East Rutherford back in May, Swift herself shared that she had been a major fan of Ice’s even before learning that the young star was interested in collaborating. “What she didn’t know at the time is that when I was training for the tour, I was listening to pretty much exclusively just her music every single day,” the “Anti-Hero” singer revealed before debuting the “Karma” music video at the show. “So we immediately went into the studio and I just not only fell in love with her, but just decided she’s the entire future.”

Later that night, Ice surprised the audience by taking the stage for the show’s finale, rapping her “Karma” verse before exiting the stage with Swift’s arm around her shoulders.

“The roar that you hear in a Taylor Swift show is unmatched,” Ice recalled to Lowe. “But her show was amazing, and I’m just so grateful. Like 200,000 people, I think we performed for.”

The Bronx native also touched on her relationships with mentors like Nicki Minaj, with whom she’s turned in two collaborations (“Princess Diana” and a remix of Aqua’s “Barbie World” for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie), and Drake. “I feel like I am absorbing advice from [Nicki] and learning from her and stuff,” she shared. And she’ll tell me, ‘Learn from my mistake, do this or don’t do that,’ or whatever. And I just really pay attention to what she’s saying. Because if there’s anyone I’m going to listen to it’s the queen.”

“We talk all the time and we’re always just laughing about some things that go on,” she added of Drizzy. “And I’ll ask him, ‘What should I do with this? Or how’d you go about this? Or did you ever experience that?’ It’s like coach vibes.”

Listen to Ice Spice’s Apple Music 1 interview above.

19 Jul 2023

‘Wicked’ Director Jon M. Chu Says Release Date Won’t ‘Be Affected’ by Strike

As the joint WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes continue to send shockwaves throughout Hollywood, many filmmakers are updating fans on the status of the slew of upcoming films set to be impacted by the breakdown in negotiations between writers, actors and AMPTP. Among them is Jon M. Chu, the director of the highly anticipated Wicked movie musicals.

In an Instagram Story and tweet on Wednesday (July 19), Chu confirmed to fans that filming is “paused until the strike is over.” “We were only a few days away from being done, so we were SO close,” he wrote. “It’s been very painful to put a halt to it all but we will be back! And we will finish properly strong when the time is right.”

“More to come, but in the meantime, I’m excited to excavate what we have shot for the past year here in Oz (release date shouldn’t be affected),” Chu continued. “It has been an extraordinary adventure… more to do.”

His clarification comes on the heels of fan speculation that filming was complete, as well as rumors that star Ariana Grande — who is playing Glinda the Good Witch — would be returning to the States soon. The majority of Wicked filming took place right outside London, the same city where the “Positions” singer was recently spotted without her wedding ring a day before reports surfaced that she and husband Dalton Gomez were headed for a divorce.

Wicked features a star-studded cast of some of the industry’s most acclaimed actors and singers including Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Olivier Award winner Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero and Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible. Jeff Goldblum, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang and Keala Settle round out the cast. Split into two films, the first Wicked movie is slated for a Nov. 27, 2024, release, with the second following on Nov. 26, 2025.

Chu concluded the Instagram Story with update with a note of solidarity, writing, “Much love to … our beloved SAG members who are fighting for a fair deal! We stand with you.”

Click here to read Jon M. Chu’s full statement on Instagram Stories, and see his tweet below.

19 Jul 2023

Taylor Swift Breaks Her Own Record on Streaming Songs Chart

Taylor Swift nets 22 songs on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart dated July 22, breaking her own record in the process.

With 22 appearances, Swift sets a new mark for the most songs on the survey at once by a woman since its 2013 inception, surpassing the 20 she achieved on the Nov. 5, 2022, ranking upon the release of her album Midnights.

This time, it’s her LP Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) that makes up the bulk of the songs, with 20 of the 22 from the new release. Leading the way is “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault),” which bows at No. 2 with 24.7 million official U.S. streams in the week ending July 13, according to Luminate.

The other two Swift tunes on Streaming Songs are Lover’s “Cruel Summer” (No. 10, 15.4 million streams) and Midnights’ “Anti-Hero” (No. 44, 10 million streams).

In all, Swift occupies six of the chart’s top 10. The next largest after “I Can See You,” “Mine (Taylor’s Version),” appears at No. 6 with 16.2 million streams. (Swift is one of two acts to hold down the entire top 10, having done so on the aforementioned Nov. 5, 2022, list. Drake has accomplished the feat twice: Nov. 19, 2022, and Sept. 18, 2021.)

Those five new top 10s (as “Cruel Summer” had previously reached the top 10) breaks Swift out of a tie with Lil Baby for the second-most top 10s in the chart’s history, now boasting 39. Drake leads all acts with 85 top 10s.

Most Top 10s, Streaming Songs

  • 85, Drake
  • 39, Taylor Swift
  • 34, Lil Baby
  • 29, The Weeknd
  • 26, 21 Savage
  • 25, Future
  • 24, Kanye West
  • 23, J. Cole
  • 23, Justin Bieber
  • 23, Post Malone

Only three times has an artist netted more than 22 songs on Streaming Songs at once. Morgan Wallen holds the all-time record, set earlier this year, with 30 (March 18), followed by Drake (28; July 14, 2018) and Bad Bunny (23; May 21, 2022).

Concurrently, as previously reported, “I Can See You” leads the crop of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) songs on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100, bowing at No. 5. And on the Billboard 200, the album starts at No. 1 with 716,000 equivalent album units earned.

19 Jul 2023

Two Moms United by a Heart Transplant Wow ‘AGT’ Judges With Touching ‘Wicked’ Track: Watch

Auditions for America’s Got Talent continued on Tuesday (July 18), and saw mothers Kim and Holly touch judges Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara with a unique story of how they were brought together.

“Back in 2007, my son unfortunately passed away and he became an organ donor and his heart went to Kim’s son,” Holly explained to the panel. Kim continued, “My son was 16 days old at the time. He got the heart. We lived thousands of miles apart and had no idea who each other was.”

“The last song I sang to Jake to say goodbye to him was ‘For Good’ from the musical Wicked,” to which Kim added, “And when Beckham was finished with his heart transplant surgery, I wasn’t allowed to hold him, I had to stroke his head. And the first thing I did when I stroked his head, I sang that song for him from Wicked.”

Kim and Holly’s meeting was a long time in the making, the pair revealed. “Several years later, Kim wrote a letter to us and we kept in touch, and then we had the opportunity to meet each other for the first time, and gave me a big hug and it was one of the best moments of my life,” Holly said. Kim summed up the meaning of their audition in a few words: “We would love to spread the word about organ donation — if we could change the heart of one person, it’s worth it.”

Shortly after, the pair launched into Wicked‘s Glinda and Elphaba duet “For Good,” the track that united them across several hundred miles. “Like a comet pulled from orbit/ As it passes a sun/ Like a stream that meets a boulder/ Halfway through the wood/ Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?/ But because I knew you/ I have been changed for good,” the pair harmonized on the chorus.

After they received a standing ovation from all four of the judges and the audience, Mandel asked where Kim’s son was, and Beckham joined the women on stage. “I have never responded well to musical theater. They overdramatize singing,” Mandel then began. “That is the first time in my life that I felt a connection to this kind of music. This was probably the most magical moment I have ever experienced on America’s Got Talent.”

The women received four yeses and advanced to the next round.

Watch Kim and Holly’s touching audition in the video above.

19 Jul 2023

Watch Harry Styles Join the Circus & Dress In Bird Cosplay for ‘Daylight’ Music Video

The sun is shining on Harry Styles fans. At high noon ET Wednesday (July 19), the Grammy winner dropped the music video for his latest Harry’s House single, “Daylight.”

In the Tanu Muino-directed video, Styles walks through circus grounds, interacting with acrobats, stilt-walkers and clowns in between demonstrations of his impressive weight-lifting, horseback-riding and tightrope-walking skills. At one point, he takes the form of a magnificent yellow bird, flying through the sky in a feathered leotard after being shot out of a giant cannon.

If this news is causing a bit of déjà vu, don’t be alarmed: Styles did in fact already make a music video for “Daylight,” although the most recent take is probably a bigger budget project than the first. Last year, the pop star teamed up with James Corden to make a “Daylight” video in three hours with just $300, using a random apartment of unsuspecting fans as the set.

“I can’t stress this enough: This was all James’ idea,” the Dunkirk actor joked behind the scenes of the May 2022 Corden-directed project. “I was in a Christopher Nolan movie. Should we just scrap it? Is it too late to just do a ‘Carpool Karaoke?’”

The new and improved version of “Daylight” follows music videos for “As It Was,” “Late Night Talking,” “Music for a Sushi Restaurant” and, most recently, “Satellite.” All five of the tracks hail from Styles’ third studio album, Harry’s House, which arrived in May 2022 and debuted atop the Billboard 200.

Styles is currently on the cusp of finishing his Love on Tour trek following a near two-year run starting in September 2021. He has just one show left on the schedule: Saturday (July 22) in Reggio Emilia, Italy.

Watch the “Daylight” music video above.

19 Jul 2023

Lizzo Rocks Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ at Karaoke After Special Tour Concert

As Lizzo nears the end of her globe-trotting Special Tour, the “About Damn Time” singer is offering glimpses of how she unwinds after a night of entertaining an arena packed with thousands of screaming fans.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday (July 16), Lizzo posted a lighthearted photoset with the caption, “What does Lizzo do after her shows…” The answer? More singing, of course! In the second slide of the carousel, the “Truth Hurts” singer shared a clip of her singing Radiohead’s “Creep” at a karaoke bar. Packed with her trademark soulful belts and emotive vocal inflections, Lizzo’s rendition of the beloved track drew affirmations and applause from the room of onlookers. “Creep” is Radiohead’s highest charting entry on the Billboard Hot 100 (No. 34).

This isn’t the first time that Lizzo has expressed her love for Radiohead. In a Vanity Fair interview in October, Lizzo revealed that while in school, she kept her love for Radiohead’s OK Computer hidden because all of her friends were “listening to what was on the radio” and she “didn’t want to be made fun of.”

The Special Tour is in support of Special, Lizzo’s 2022 LP that spawned hits including “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)” and the Grammy-winning “About Damn Time,” which peaked at No. 1 on the Hot 100. Special opened at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 69,000 units, becoming Lizzo’s highest charting and fastest selling album to date.

By the end of its run, the Special Tour will have visited North America, Europe, Asia and Australia across 80 shows. Support acts for the tour included “Put It On Da Floor Again” rapper Latto and “Material Girl” rapper Saucy Santana.

19 Jul 2023

Odetari Is One of the Biggest Dance Artists of the Year — So, Who Is He?

This past February, Taha Othman Ahmad was substitute teaching at a high school in his native Houston. But instead of executing lesson plans, he was at his desk uploading the music that would, over the next few months, make him one of the most successful electronic producers of the year thus far.

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“The students were like, hitting their dab pens in class, secretly under their sleeves,” says Ahmad. “The teachers walked in and smelled it and were like, ‘You should have been supervising the class better.’”

Ahmad was fired from the job. That same week, his landlords threatened to sue him to get him out of the condo he’d been renting. “I literally had no idea what I was gonna do,” he says. “I had like, negative hundred dollars in my account.”

Then his songs started blowing up.

The first was March’s “I <3 LATINAS>

Having made a plan for what to do if any of his music hit, he started “rapid-fire dropping” the catalog of music he had at the ready: May’s “YOU’RE TOO SLOW” and “NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER” June’s “LOOK DON’T TOUCH” and last week’s 3×3 EP, a three-track collaboration with the producer 9lives that clocks in at six minutes. (The all caps styling on the songs is meant, he says, as an “attention grabber.”)



The early success wasn’t a fluke: Odetari’s first three releases all hit the top 10 of Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, tying him with Marshmello and David Guetta for the third-most top 10 hits on the chart for 2023 so far. (The trio trail Rihanna at No. 1 and Bizarrap at No. 2) Last week, “YOU’RE TOO SLOW” entered the chart at No. 40, and this week (dated July 22) sits at No. 37.

Together the songs have more than 13 million on-demand streams in the U.S., according to Luminate. He’s also currently the No. 1 position on Dance/Electronic Songwriters, a chart he’s been on for the last nine weeks.

But while Ahmad has become one of the year’s top-charting dance artists over the last five months, he’s been making music for a decade. He started producing beats and rapping ten years ago, when he was 13, taking inspiration from SoundCloud rap. By 2018 he was making “generic trap stuff,” but found he didn’t like the industry people or “toxic competition” of that scene.

After a years-long break from music, he and his manager decided they needed to find “our own thing, our own sound,” with Ahmad starting on music again this past January. He settled on a quick-hit style inspired by his primary passions — anime and video games like Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy and Metroid. Ahmad calls the genre “ODECORE,” the definition of which on Spotify is music for “late night gaming, gym sessions, and anime binging.” Written and produced entirely by Ahmad, it’s hectic and woozy and strange, altogether giving a feeling like being at a rave happening inside the internet.



He played his first-ever show this past June, with management currently lining up more sets for later this year. (For these shows, Ahmad is envisioning “light effects and fog,” “super crazy visuals” and “animatronics.”) His first solo EP is scheduled to drop this August.

While major labels are generally taking a more cautious approach to signing viral artists, Odetari’s string of hits have demonstrated his early successes weren’t just a fluke. He recently entered into a multi-album partnership with Artist Partner Group.

“Upon hearing ‘NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER,’ I was immediately intrigued,” says APG CEO Mike Caren. “Odetari is creating an entirely unique world around his music. Learning that Odetari produces and writes everything in its entirety, I knew he was a truly extraordinary artist with a career-long vision.”

“Odetari’s prolific output of quality music and content have sparked explosive growth on all platforms, building the foundation for a career artist,” says Jesse Wylde, who works in Artist Development at APG. “Early growth started on SoundCloud and Spotify. We’ve fostered a core online community in his Discord server that shares a multitude of interests spanning gaming, anime, music and beyond. He’s a visionary artist, crafting the overall world of ODECORE that aligns with his fans interests. The live strategy is to grow a hard-ticket headline business in his primary streaming markets, bridging online and real-life fandom.”

Five months after losing his job and having less than zero money to his name, Ahmad is now living in the three bedroom Houston townhouse he recently purchased. He spends most of his time hanging with his girlfriend, going out for meals and making as much music as he can without burning out. His substitute teaching days already feel like a long time ago, but he does still have a presence in the classroom where he first uploaded his now famous tracks.

“I used to sit in class and the students would do TikTok dances to songs that were trending,” Ahmad says. “Now occasionally I see kids at that same school dancing to my songs. It’s pretty fire.”

19 Jul 2023

Harry Styles Brings Wet Leg Onstage to Sing ‘Wet Dream’: Watch

Harry Styles just made countless dreams come true — wet ones included. At his Tuesday (July 18) concert in Lisbon, Portugal, the star invited tourmate Wet Leg to join him onstage for a surprise performance of their 2021 single “Wet Dream.”

Wearing a spangly vest and pants combo, the 29-year-old pop star first introduced the indie rock duo, comprised of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, to the crowd. “It has been the most wonderful, wonderful tour watching them play every night — they’re one of my favorite bands,” Styles gushed.

He and Teasdale then took center stage, both of them playing guitar and trading off on lead vocals. During each call and response of the song’s chorus, Styles followed Teasdale’s lead, echoing her lyrics back to her.

Afterward, Wet Leg posted footage from the performance on Instagram, writing that it was a “wet dream come true.” Styles also shared a blurry photo with the pair on his account, marked “Love On Tour. Lisbon. July, 2023.”

It’s not the first time Styles has payed homage to either Wet Leg or “Wet Dream.” Last year, the Grammy winner covered the track for BBC Radio’s Live Lounge, after which Teasdale and Chambers shared their excitement by retweeting a clip of the performance and adding a smiling, melting emoji.

Styles is just one show away from completing his blockbuster Love on Tour, which has been running since September 2021. Wet Leg has served as opener for the trek throughout 2023, and will be at the RCF Arena in Reggio Emilia, Italy, Saturday (July 22) for the “As It Was” singer’s finale show.

Watch Harry Styles perform with Wet Leg below:

19 Jul 2023

Beyoncé Helps Fans Pick Wedding Song During Renaissance World Tour Show in Nashville

From surprise Blue Ivy performances to heartwarming gender reveals, Beyoncé’s blockbuster Renaissance World Tour has been an especially joyous trek for fans of one of music’s most towering icons. And at her Nashville show on July 15, the tour’s second U.S. stop, Beyoncé helped one lucky couple pick their wedding song.

During her set, the “America Has a Problem” singer spotted a sign in the crowd that read “Pick our wedding song” with the options “XO” and “1+1,” two soaring love ballads from her acclaimed discography. In the midst of a pitch-perfect rendition of “Crazy In Love,” her first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single as a soloist, Beyoncé chose “1+1,” drawing frenzied screams from the stunned couple and surrounding fans. “1+1,” a staple in Beyoncé’s live shows, appears on 4, her aptly titled fourth solo studio album. “XO” served as a single from Queen Bey’s eponymous fifth solo studio album.

The Renaissance World Tour arrived in North America on July 8 after a two-month stint in Europe. The show’s European leg was so successful, that the first nine shows were enough to help Beyoncé top the Billboard’s May Boxscore Report, becoming the first woman to top the tally in nearly four years. The European leg of the Renaissance World Tour grossed a whopping $154 million with more than one million tickets sold, the biggest leg of any Beyoncé tour yet.

Beyoncé’s latest bombastic spectacle is in support of Renaissance, her Billboard 200-topping seventh solo studio album. The album opened with 332,000 units sold and spawned two top 10 Hot 100 singles: “Break My Soul” (No. 1) and “Cuff It” (No. 6). The dance record also won four Grammy awards, positioning Beyoncé as the most awarded act in the show’s 65-year history.

Check out the lucky couple’s clips of the once-in-a-lifetime exchange below:

19 Jul 2023

Taylor Swift Passes 100 Career Hits on Hot Country Songs Chart, Nears Dolly Parton’s Record Among Women

Taylor Swift soars past 100 career hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, thanks to 22 new entries – the entirety of her new album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). She’s just the second woman to achieve the milestone and now boasts 108 career entries on the ranking – just two away from Dolly Parton’s 110, the most among women.

As previously reported, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) launches at No. 1 on both the all-genre Billboard 200 and Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart (dated July 22). Released July 7, the set is the third of Swift’s planned six re-recorded albums.

Swift notched the first of her 108 Hot Country Songs entries on the chart dated July 1, 2006, when “Tim McGraw” debuted at the list’s No. 60 anchor spot. It became her first of 36 career top 10s, with eight having hit No. 1, from “Our Song” in 2007 through “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” in 2021. (She adds seven top 10s on the latest tally.)

Parton scored her first of 110 Hot Country Songs hits when “Dumb Blonde” debuted at No. 64 on the Jan. 21, 1967, chart, on its way to a No. 24 peak that March. She has earned 55 top 10s, including 25 No. 1s from “Joshua” in 1971 through her featured turn on Brad Paisley’s “When I Get Where I’m Going” in 2006.

Notably, Swift has swelled her count of Hot Country Songs hits this decade via multiple charted cuts each from her Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Red (Taylor’s Version) and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) releases. As streaming has surged, it has become common for high-profile artists to land numerous songs on charts, in a variety of genres, the week that their respective parent albums debut. In prior decades, artists and labels generally charted one promoted single, for several weeks, at a time.

Among all acts, the late George Jones has totaled the most Hot Country Songs entries – 159 – dating to when the chart became an all-encompassing genre survey in October 1958.

Meanwhile, both Swift and Parton appear in position to add to their sums of Hot Country Songs placements. Swift has yet to re-record her debut LP, the country-focused Taylor Swift, and Parton is prepping her 30-track Rockstar album, due Nov. 17.

If Swift claims top honors for the most Hot Country Songs hits among women, Parton would seemingly pass the torch gracefully to her successor. “Taylor, she’s a great writer,” Parton praised in early 2022. “She’s always had good taste in how she’s presented herself and with her songs. And she’s very creative and very, very, very smart in the marketing of her life. She knows who she is and what she wants. And I’m the same way. I’m going to fight if it goes against what I feel is not right for me.”