Music News

01 Jun 2023

Moneybagg Yo Drops ‘Hard to Love’ Mixtape: Stream It Now

Following the Billboard Hot 100 success of his GloRilla-assisted “On What U On” and a minor delay to avoid the splashy release of Taylor Swift’s Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition), Moneybagg Yo has finally unleashed his Hard to Love: Heartless Edition mixtape.

Originally slated for a May 26 release, Hard to Love boasts pre-release singles such as “Quickie,” “Ocean Spray” and the aforementioned “On What U On,” which peaked at No. 56 on the Hot 100. Hard to Love serves as Moneybagg Yo’s first project since 2021’s A Gangsta’s Pain. The Memphis rapper’s fourth studio album became his first to top the Billboard 200, and boasted several Hot 100 hits, including “Wockesha” (No. 20), the Future-featuring “Hard for the Next” (No. 49) and “Time Today” (No. 31).

In an intimate letter to fans, Moneybagg wrote on Instagram May 10, “I gained and lost more than I ever thought I would and had no other safe outlet for all the emotions and dark thoughts that came with that other than making music.”

The Grammy-nominated rapper has always been a vulnerable lyricist, and fans can expect even more depth on Hard to Love. In an Instagram caption, the “Said Sum” rapper stressed that Hard to Love is “for [his] core fans, the streets! Not the industry.”

Hard to Love: Heartless Edition also features collaborations with some of Moneybagg’s “favorites,” including Future, Lil Durk, GloRilla and Fridayy, among others.

Moneybagg Yo has earned 27 Hot 100 hits, and five of his projects have reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200.

Stream Moneybagg Yo’s Hard to Love: Heartless Edition in full below.

01 Jun 2023

Paris Hilton Taps Kim Petras for ‘Stars Are Blind (Paris’ Version)’: Stream It Now

17 years ago, infamous socialite and marquee 2000s It Girl Paris Hilton made her Billboard Hot 100 debut with “Stars Are Blind.” The song, which simultaneously served as her debut single and the lead single for eponymous debut studio album, debuted and peaked at No. 18 on the chart, laying the foundation for its parent album‘s No. 6 peak on the Billboard 200.

In a surprise move, Paris has released a new version of her debut single titled “Stars Are Blind (Paris’ Version).” The new duet features Kim Petras, one of the voices behind the history-making Hot 100 No. 1 single “Unholy” (with Sam Smith). The new remix is slated to be on the setlist for Hilton’s upcoming Fonda Theater concert — fittingly titled “Paris Hilton: Live in Concert” — which sold out in under three minutes. “Stars Are Blind (Paris’ Version) also marks the launch of the new music division of 11:11 Media, Hilton’s next-gen media company.

While this remix is hitting streaming services for the first time tonight, it is not the first time Petras and Hilton have crossed musical paths. On April 24, 2020, Petras covered “Stars Are Blind” during a livestream for the Stonewall Gives Back initiative. “This is one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite people, Paris Hilton,” she said before performing the song. “I know it always makes me smile, so I thought I’d give it a try.”

Kim Petras’ appearance on “Stars Are Blind” is just the latest in a series of high-profile collaborations for the boundary-obliterating German pop star. In addition to last year’s Grammy-winning “Unholy,” Kim enlisted Nicki Minaj for “Alone,” the lead single from her forthcoming debut studio album. “Alone” debuted and peaked at No. 55 on the Hot 100 chart dated May 6, 2023. Feed the Beast, her debut studio album, will arrive on June 23.

Stream Paris Hilton and Kim Petras’ “Stars Are Blind (Paris’ Version)” in full below.

01 Jun 2023

The Weeknd, Madonna & Playboi Carti Come Together on ‘Popular’ Track: Stream It Now

Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye recruits the original pop idol Madonna and Playboi Carti for their new single “Popular,” which dropped Friday (June 2).

The single arrives ahead of The Idol Vol. 1 soundtrack, which is now available for pre-order here, as well as the Sam Levinson-directed HBO series, which is set to premiere this Sunday, June 4. “Popular” joins the soundtrack’s Future-assisted lead single “Double Fantasy,” which Tesfaye first performed during Metro Boomin‘s Coachella set before officially releasing it on April 21. The song peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In the month leading up to the release of “Popular,” Tesfaye posted a photo of Madonna on his Instagram account with a burning heart emoji. Then he properly teased the song while walking alongside his Idol castmates — including Lily-Rose Depp, BLACKPINK‘s Jennie, Troye Sivan, Moses Sumney and more — on the red carpet at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where the controversy-stirring series received a five-minute standing ovation. Tesfaye then confirmed fan theories that he and Carti had collaborated by posting a screenshot of their FaceTime call on Twitter.

“Popular” marks the first time Tesfaye has worked with Madonna and Carti, and it also marks both Madonna and Carti’s first musical releases of 2023. And while his headline-making TV series will officially premiere this weekend, he is also embarking on the second, European and Latin American leg of his After Hours Til Dawn Tour, which officially starts next Tuesday, June 6 in Lisbon, Portugal.

Listen to “Popular” below.

01 Jun 2023

How Kelly Clarkson Went From Singing About Steve Martin to His Unlikely Banjo Cameo on ‘I Hate Love’: Exclusive

While ruminating on her nearly 10-year marriage and recent divorce for her new album, Kelly Clarkson turned to a pair of 2000s-era films to illustrate the difference between idealistic young love and oft-messy adult relationships.

“I hate love, and The Notebook lied,” she sings on the cheeky “I Hate Love,” the latest release from her 10th studio album Chemistry, out June 23. “It’s Complicated is more like what happens, so you can keep Gosling and I’ll take Steve Martin.”

“I feel like both exist,” Clarkson tells Billboard of the love stories from the 2004 Nicholas Sparks-based epic, starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, and the 2009 Nancy Meyers rom-com, starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin — which she calls one of her “favorite movies.” “One is the beginning, when everything is bright and shiny, and It’s Complicated is more the reality,” says Clarkson, who pointed to the tug-of-war Streep’s character goes through with Baldwin’s philandering ex-husband (“She goes back, and she’s like, ‘Why am I doing this?’ ”) and Martin’s affable architect (“This is what you should be looking for and what you do deserve”).

Clarkson’s cinematic inspiration didn’t just impact the song’s lyrics: It also led to an unexpected instrumental cameo. While writing much of the new project in the early days of the pandemic, Clarkson had been watching Martin play his banjo in livestream videos to keep fans entertained during lockdown. She went to “I Hate Love” producer Jesse Shatkin with an idea: Let’s take this lyrical reference a step further and add Martin’s banjo to the anti-love song. “I was like, ‘I know that sounds crazy,’ ” Clarkson recalls. “Jesse was like, ‘I think it sounds rad.’ ”

Shatkin tells Billboard, “Within one or two connections, Kelly can get in touch with anybody” — and she had Martin locked in with one email. “I generally don’t ask because I get very nervous about bothering people,” Clarkson recalls, “but literally, within hours, I got an answer: ‘Oh my God, he’d love to, when are you recording it?’ ” Shatkin ventured to Martin’s house to record his part and encountered a very professional musician, as opposed to the frequent Saturday Night Live guest and film star he’d grown up with (“He did not do any stand-up for us,” Shatkin laughs). “We ultimately went in to do something that could have taken 15 minutes, and we spent a couple hours just kind of jamming on the song,” Shatkin recalls. “He was really, really amazing at banjo but also really, really cared about getting it right.”

The result, as Clarkson describes it, is “a pop-punk song with this really rock’n’roll banjo part.” Shatkin recalls Clarkson’s team wondering aloud during the making of the song: “Could banjo be on the radio?” That remains to be seen — but perhaps Martin could make his first return to the Billboard Hot 100 since the 1970s, when his “King Tut” (billed to Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons) was a top 20 hit on the chart. “I just love the idea of things happening organically,” Clarkson says of the circuitous route she took to collaborating with Martin. “So many things had to happen in order for that to occur.”

For her part, Clarkson still hasn’t met Martin, but she’s hoping she can lure him to her Emmy-winning The Kelly Clarkson Show now that their song is out in the world. “My ideal moment is him coming on my show and then us performing it — but I’ll take just him coming on my show so we can talk and hang out so I can, like, meet him.”

A version of this article will appear in the June 3, 2023, issue of Billboard.

01 Jun 2023

Lewis Capaldi’s ‘Broken’ Bows In Top 10 Billboard’s Album Sales Chart

Lewis Capaldi claims his first top 10-charting effort on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated June 3) as his second studio album, Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent, debuts at No. 4 with his best sales week ever — 20,000 copies sold in the United States in the week ending May 25, according to Luminate.

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Capaldi’s first studio album, Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent, saw its largest sales week in its opening frame, when it sold about 3,500 copies (bowing and peaking at No. 26 on the June 1, 2019-dated chart).

Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, Dave Matthews Band notches its eighth No. 1 with the chart-topping bow of Walk Around the Moon, Ghost’s five-song covers set Phantomime enters at No. 2, SZA’s SOS re-enters at No. 3 after its physical release on CD and vinyl, Sleep Token’s Take Me Back to Eden bows at No. 6, (G)I-DLE’s I Feel starts at No. 7 and Def Leppard’s Drastic Symphonies, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, rocks in at No. 8.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of Broken By Desire…’s 20,000 sold, physical sales comprise 15,000 (8,000 on CD, 7,000 on vinyl) and digital download sales comprise 5,000. The set’s first-week sales were supported by its availability across multiple vinyl LPs (including exclusive color variants for Target, independent record stores, Spotify and the artist’s official webstore; as well as a signed vinyl sold through the artist’s webstore), four CD editions (including a Target-exclusive with two bonus tracks, a signed edition sold in his webstore and an Amazon-exclusive variant with an alternative cover), and an iTunes Store-exclusive digital album with two bonus tracks.

Dave Matthews Band’s Walk Around the Moon lands at No. 1 on Top Album Sales, marking the eighth chart-topper for the group. It launches with 40,000 copies sold. The album’s sales were bolstered by its availability across multiple vinyl variants, including exclusive color variants for the band’s fan club, Barnes & Noble, independent record stores and Target.

Ghost’s five-song covers project Phantomime bows at No. 3 on Top Album Sales with 34,000 copies sold, supported by its availability across multiple vinyl variants (resulting in 16,500 copies sold on the format – the week’s second-largest selling album on vinyl).

SZA’s SOS, released in December, re-enters Top Album Sales at No. 3 – its first week in the top 10 – following the set’s debut on physical formats (CD and vinyl). It surges back onto the chart with 29,000 copies sold across all of its retail formats. The bulk of that figure comprises vinyl LPs – with 25,000 copies sold on vinyl, marking the largest sales week on vinyl in 2023 for an R&B/hip-hop album. It debuts at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart.

SEVENTEEN’s former No. 1 SEVENTEEN 10th Mini Album: FML rises 6-5 with a little over 16,000 copies sold (up 2%). Sleep Token’s Take Me Back to Eden debuts at No. 6 with 16,000. (G)I-DLE’s I Feel bows at No. 7 with 16,000, while Def Leppard’s Drastic Symphonies, with the Philharmonic Orchestra, starts at No. 8 with 15,000 sold.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: Awesome Mix Vol. 3 soundtrack falls 5-9 with 12,000 (down 37%) and Taylor Swift’s chart-topping Midnights dips 8-10 with 12,000 (down 5%).

In the week ending May 25, there were 1.795 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 1% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.436 million (down 0.8%) and digital albums comprised 359,000 (up 8.6%).

There were 625,000 CD albums sold in the week ending May 25 (up 0.9% week-over-week) and 799,000 vinyl albums sold (down 2.2%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 13.918 million (up 4.3% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 19.588 million (up 25.8%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 41.127 million (up 9.3% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 33.726 million (up 15.8%) and digital album sales total 7.402 million (down 12.8%).

01 Jun 2023

Kanye West Hit With Assault Lawsuit by Photographer Over Alleged Phone-Throwing Incident

A paparazzo is suingKanye West over an alleged incident in which the rapper grabbed her phone and threw it into traffic, according to court documents obtained by Billboard.

Photographer Nichol Lechmanik is suing West (sometimes known as Ye) for assault, battery, negligence and interference with the exercise of her civil rights following the alleged altercation, which occurred on the afternoon of Jan. 27 outside Sports Academy in Newbury Park, Calif., per the complaint filed in California Superior Court in Ventura County on Wednesday (May 31).

Lechmanik alleges that while driving her car and filming Ye’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian as she exited the facility, she noticed that West was “angrily confronting” another photographer on the street outside. “Given Defendant Ye’s reputation for violence against photographers, his history of physically harming them, and based on his threatening body language, Plaintiff became fearful for the photographer’s safety,” the complaint reads. It states that Lechmanik then began filming the incident on her phone from inside her car with the window open.

Lechmanik alleges that Ye then walked up to her car and “aggressively” said, “You all ain’t gonna run up on me like that,” and when she replied that she wasn’t, he became “enraged,” reached into her car and “ripped her phone out of her hands” before throwing it “onto the street towards oncoming traffic.”

According to the lawsuit, Lechmanik said the incident caused her “great mental, and emotional pain and suffering” and that she “anticipates incurring medical and related expenses.”

Lechmanik is requesting general and special damages, punitive and exemplary damages, civil penalties and costs of the suit. Additionally, she’s asking for an order enjoining West and “all persons acting in concert with him or acting on his behalf, from touching, striking, annoying, contacting, molesting, attacking, threatening, or otherwise interfering with…the Plaintiff, and all persons similarly situated, to pursue the occupation of photographer.”

West has a long history of legal scuffles with paparazzi that stem all the way back to 2008 when he was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after breaking the flash of a paparazzo’s camera.

01 Jun 2023

Madison Beer Announces Sophomore Album ‘Silence Between Songs’

After much anticipation from fans over the past few months, Madison Beer took to Instagram on Thursday (June 1) to confirm that her sophomore album, Silence Between Songs, will be arriving on September 15.

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“i can’t believe i’m finally saying this, tears in my eyes trying to articulate how i feel,” she wrote in the caption, alongside a photo of the singer in a white dress, leaning against a teal-colored wall and gazing off camera. “the closer it gets, the more we’ll talk about it, but i am just so excited to release this record. i’m so excited for it to be yours. i’ll find more words soon…,, :’) for now… SEPTEMBER 15TH!!!!!!!”

The album’s next single, “Home to Another One,” and its out-of-this-world music video, will be arriving on Friday (June 2). See her Silence Between Songs announcement here.

Beer dropped her debut studio album, Life Support, back in Feb. 2021, which featured viral hits like “Baby,” “Good in Goodbye” and “Boys—.” The singer also released a memoir titled The Half of It in April. When discussing the book reveal in an interview with People, she opened up about working on her upcoming sophomore project.

“I am so excited for this next album which will be coming soon,” she teased. “Music has always been my first love; it’s what lead me to this memoir and what drives me daily. I am really excited for what is next with my music this year.”

01 Jun 2023

Burna Boy Is ‘Sittin’ on Top of the World’ in New Song & Music Video: Watch

Burna Boy is back with the new summer anthem “Sittin’ on Top of the World,” which he released Thursday (June 1) via Atlantic Records.

The African Giant makes a triumphant return nearly a year after he released his sixth studio album Love, Damini on July 8, 2022, which peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard 200 and received a 2023 Grammy nomination for best global music album. And after his hit single “Last Last” soundtracked all of last summer, “Sittin’ on Top of the World” aims to do the same for the summer of 2023. Much like “Last Last,” which contains a sample of Toni Braxton‘s 2000 track “He Wasn’t Man Enough,” “Sittin’ on Top of the World” has its own hint of nostalgia: The song features a sample of Brandy‘s 1998 song “Top of the World,” featuring Mase. Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Fred Jerkins III and LaShawn Daniels have writing credits on Brandy’s “Top of the World” as well as Braxton’s “He Wasn’t Man Enough” and therefore have earned credits on Burna’s “Last Last” and “Sittin’ on Top of the World” records.

In the accompanying visual, Burna is seen standing on top of a floating platform at one of his shows during his Love, Damini Tour, and from there, fans follow his journey across the globe, including red-carpet pit stops (like one before the 2022 Billboard Music Awards, where he closed out the show), long walks to private jets, greetings with famous friends from J Balvin to Damson Idris, performances, club appearances and much more.

Burna will perform “Sittin’ on Top of the World” live at his sold-out London Stadium stop on Saturday, June 3. The superstar will make history at his July 8 show at NYC’s Citi Field when he will become the first Nigerian artist to headline a U.S. stadium.

Watch the “Sittin’ on Top of the World” music video below.

01 Jun 2023

Linkin Park’s ‘Numb’ Video Surpasses 2 Billion YouTube Views

It’s been 20 years since Linkin Park rocked the music world with their 2003 hit “Numb,” and this week, the emotionally charged music video hit 2 billion views on YouTube. It’s the band’s first clip to achieve the impressive milestone.

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The “Numb” music video hit one billion views back in 2018, a year after fans launched an unofficial campaign following the death of frontman Chester Bennington on July 20, 2017, to help push the video to the one billion view mark.

The song was Linkin Park’s third single off their 2003 sophomore album, Meteora. “Numb” topped Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart, as did other enduring hits from the project, including “Breaking the Habit,” “Faint,” “Somewhere I Belong” and “Lying From You.”

The album got a 20th Anniversary Edition release back in April, featuring multiple previously unreleased songs, in addition to demos, live shows, B-sides and previously unaired footage with the band.

Watch Linkin Park’s “Numb” music video below.

01 Jun 2023

Beyoncé Gives Her Sunglasses Back to a Fan After Security Tried to Take Them Away

Beyoncé‘s got her fans’ backs. TikToker Global Valentino documented an iconic moment during the superstar’s show this week at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in which she threw him the sunglasses she was wearing.

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Valentino, who was in the front row, showed the moment in which Bey hilariously checked the brand before tossing him the Off-White glasses during her “Diva” performance. However, security intervened after the social media user seemed to have gotten in a small altercation with a nearby fan who also caught the glasses at the same time.

“When [the sunglasses] were thrown, initially my friend Khalid caught them, but there was a girl next to him who, I think, might have also caught them,” Valentino told Buzzfeed of the incident. “The girl who tried to snatch the glasses away from my friend called security over. She was really just on the side of, ‘If I’m not gonna have them, no one will.’”

But fear not! Bey came by later in the show during “Heated” and tossed Global Valentino the glasses once more. Valentino was told that the sleek, futuristic looking shades are estimated to be worth around $53,000.

The star’s Renaissance tour will make its long-awaited touchdown in the United States on July 12, starting with Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field and making stops in Chicago, East Rutherford, N.J., Atlanta, Houston and more before concluding Sept. 27 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

Watch the whole sunglasses situation via TikTok below.