Music News

16 Mar 2023

Kali Uchis Earns First Top 10 on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart With ‘Red Moon in Venus’

Kali Uchis scores her first top 10 success on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart as Red Moon in Venus debuts at No. 2 on the list dated March 18. The set, released March 3 via Interscope Records, starts with just over 55,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending March 9, according to Luminate.

Album sales comprise just over half the 55,000-unit starting sum, with 28,000 units from traditional album sales. Within that group, 14,000 of those album sales were sold on the vinyl format. The five-figure sum there prompts a No. 1 debut for Venus on the Vinyl Albums chart.

27,000 of Venus’ first-week total comes from streaming-equivalent album units, which represents 35.5 million official U.S. on-demand streams of the album’s songs. Track-equivalent album units, meanwhile, account for the negligible units left. (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.)

As mentioned, Venus is singer-songwriter Kali Uchis’ first top 10 result on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. She previously charted with 2018’s Isolation, which peaked at No. 17 in 2018.

Elsewhere, Venus likewise begins at No. 2 on the Top R&B Albums chart and at No. 4 on the all-genre Billboard 200. Venus is her second visit to the top 10 on the former list, after Isolation debuted and peaked at No. 4. On the latter, Venus secures her first top 10 and easily resets her highest career peak. Isolation, her prior best showing, topped out at No. 32. Kali Uchis also claims another album on her Billboard 200 history, the Spanish-language Sin Miedo (Del Amor y Otros Matrimonios). The set, released in November 2020, reached No. 52 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 on the Top Latin Albums chart.

Red Moon in Venus contains the previously released track “I Wish You Roses,” which achieved a No. 28 peak on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart last month and re-enters the Hot R&B Songs chart at a new peak of No. 16 this week. Two more Venus cuts show on the latter list thanks to the album debut: “Moonlight” (No. 14) and “Fantasy,” featuring Don Toliver (No. 23).

16 Mar 2023

David Byrne Ready to Start Making Sense in Trailer for A24 ‘Stop Making Sense’ Theatrical Re-Release

David Byrne is getting the enormous suit out of storage. The Talking Heads frontman stars in a new promo video from studio A24 revealing that director Jonathan Demme’s landmark 1994 concert film, Stop Making Sense, is getting a reboot via 4K technology.

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In the trailer, Byrne, 70, visits his neighborhood dry cleaners with a wrinkled ticket — number A24, naturally — to see if they still have his signature gigantic outfit from the film that many consider to be one of the most eye-catching and important concert movies of all time.

“Hi, I’m picking up. It’s been here for a while,” he tells the cleaner’s owner. “Yeah that’s it!” Byrne enthuses when the plastic-wrapped outfit is pulled from the back. After riding his bike through the New York streets to get his prize home, Byrne slips back into the enormous suit originally built by costume designer Gail Blacker and practices some bendy choreography in a mirror to the strains of “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” from the band’s 1983 Speaking in Tongues album.

The scene then splits to the original, in which the singer does some of his patented herky-jerky dance moves on stage before the camera seamlessly pans back to his well-lit apartment and the screen reads, “Stop Making Sense 2023.” The original was shot over three nights during four shows at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles in December 1983 and has since been added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

It features the group — including bassist Tina Weymouth, drummer Chris Frantz and guitarist/keyboardist Jerry Harrison — performing such now-classics as “Psycho Killer,” “Slippery People,” “Burning Down the House,” “Life During Wartime” and “Once in a Lifetime,” as well as Frantz/Weymouth side project Tom Tom Club’s oft-sampled “Genius of Love” on a spare stage.

A24 celebrated the success of its multiverse dramedy Everything Everywhere All At Once at last weekend’s Academy Awards.

Check out the Stop Making Sense 2023 trailer below.

16 Mar 2023

Nicki Minaj Scores Back-to-Back No. 1 Debuts on Hot Rap Songs Chart

Nicki Minaj captures back-to-back No. 1 debuts on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs as her latest single, “Red Ruby Da Sleeze,” starts at the summit of the chart dated March 18. The track follows Minaj’s last appearance on the list, “Super Freaky Girl,” which likewise opened at No. 1 on its way to an 11-week reign.

With “Sleeze,” Minaj collects her ninth No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart. She extends her record as the woman with the most champs in the chart’s history, which dates to 1989, and moves out of a tie with LL Cool J for sole possession of fifth place on the overall leaderboard. Drake, with 27 No. 1s, heads the list, with Lil Wayne (11), Diddy and Kanye West (10 each) next in line.

As “Sleeze” joins the club, here’s a recap of Minaj’s nine chart-toppers on Hot Rap Songs:

Song Title, Artist (if other than Nicki Minaj), Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1
“Your Love,” eight, July 10, 2010
“Moment 4 Life,” featuring Drake, nine, Feb. 19, 2011
“Make Me Proud,” Drake featuring Nicki Minaj, one, Feb. 11, 2012
“Anaconda,” six, Sept. 6, 2014
“Only,” featuring Drake, Lil Wayne & Chris Brown, one, Dec. 27, 2014
“Trollz,” with 6ix9ine, June 27, 2020
“Do We Have a Problem?,” with Lil Baby, Feb. 19, 2022
“Super Freaky Girl,” 11, Aug. 27, 2022
“Red Ruby Da Sleeze,” one (to date), March 18, 2023

Minaj’s latest champ, notably, follows in its predecessor’s footsteps with the sample of a prominent former hit. “Sleeze” samples Lumidee’s “Never Leave You (Uh Oooh),” a No. 3 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2003. “Super Freaky Girl,” meanwhile, sampled the Rick James classic “Super Freak,” which hit No. 3 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in 1981.

Plus, the “Sleeze” arrival secures Minaj’s fourth No. 1 debut on the Hot Rap Songs chart, tying her with Travis Scott for the second-most chart-topping starts in the list’s history. The pair trail only Drake, who has launched eight songs at the summit.

“Red Ruby Da Sleeze” traces its No. 1 start on Hot Rap Songs largely to 14 million official U.S. streams in the tracking week ending March 9, according to Luminate. The figure makes for a No. 1 debut on the Rap Streaming Songs chart, where it becomes Minaj’s fifth champ. On the overall Streaming Songs list, “Sleeze” begins at No. 21, in an entrance affected by 15 Morgan Wallen songs above it from the country superstar’s new One Thing at a Time album.

“Sleeze” also sold 41,000 downloads in the same tracking period, making it the top-selling song of the week across all genres. As such, it starts at No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart and becomes Minaj’s 13th leader there. With the feat, she ties Drake as the rapper with the most No. 1s on the chart, which began in 2004, and matches Drake and Justin Bieber for the third-most chart-toppers in the list’s history. Taylor Swift leads the count with 25 No. 1s, with Rihanna in second place with 14 champs.

In radio airplay, the final metric that contributes to the Hot Rap Songs chart, “Sleeze” registered 2.7 million in audience impressions across all formats. The song also debuts on the Rhythmic Airplay chart at No. 38.

Elsewhere, “Sleeze” launches at No. 4 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No. 13 on the all-genre Hot 100.

16 Mar 2023

Rosalía & Rauw Alejandro Get Up Close and Personal in Steamy Teaser for ‘Beso’: Watch

Two days after officially announcing their joint, three-track EP RR (due out March 24), Rosalía and Rauw Alejandro revealed a snippet of one of their upcoming songs “Beso” on Wednesday (March 15).

In a steamy clip posted on Rosalía’s TikTok account, the power couple are seen closely facing each other in bed, as they sing their romantic verses like they’re on the verge of kissing each other. 

It’s the first time that onlookers get to see and hear the pair sing together — and the new reggaeton-pop song already brims with equal parts conviction and seduction. With Rosalía’s breathy, flamenco-laden rasp, and Alejandro’s sensual R&B-laden vocals, their voices meet in perfect harmony.

“Yo necesito otro beso (I need another kiss),” croons Rosalía, and her partner responds “Uno de esos que tú me das (only the ones you give me).” “Estar lejos de ti es el infierno (being away from you is hell),” she sings, “Estar cerca de ti es mi paz (being close to you is my peace),” he responds. The pair then unite their voices, singing, “Yo me voy contigo a matar / No me dejes solo / ¿Pa’ dónde vas, pá dónde vas?” or “I’m going with you to kill / Don’t leave me alone / Where are you going, where are you going?”

Alejandro kicked off his Saturno World Tour last month in the Dominican Republic, and on Thursday and Friday (March 16-17), the Puerto Rican hitmaker will venture to the Tri-State area with New Jersey and New York stops. The trek will continue to Mexico, Central America, and Europe throughout the summer before hitting up South America in the fall.

Earlier this month, Rosalía was recognized as Producer of the Year at the Billboard Women In Music awards. The Spanish idol, who had one of the most successful tours of 2022 with Motomami, will also be headlining some of the biggest festivals around the world such as Coachella, Lollapalooza (Chile, Argentina, Brasil, Paris), Primavera Sounds, Gurtenfestival and more.

On Monday (March 13), the beloved duet revealed the names of their songs of their EP, which also include “Vampiros” and “Promesa.” While RR is their first official release together, the couple have subtly collaborated on each other’s previous projects; Rosalía sang backing vocals on “Dile a Él” from Rauw’s first album, Afrodisiaco (2020) as well as “Corazón Despeinado” from Saturno (2022). Rauw co-wrote some lyrics in Rosalía’s “Chicken Teriyaki” from her Grammy and Latin Grammy-winning 2022 album, Motomami. She also lent her pen on “Caprichoso” from Rauw’s EP Trap Cake, Vol. 2 (2022). 

Check out the eyebrow-raising new teaser for “Beso” below:

16 Mar 2023

Selena Gomez Says She’s ‘Still Out Here Looking’ For Her Crush: Watch

Selena Gomez has not given up on her quest to find Mr. Right, if her latest TikTok is any indicator. The Rare Beauty founder took to the social media app on Wednesday (March 15) and shared a little insight on her dating life.

“I hate it when girls are like ‘My crush doesn’t even know I exist,’” Gomez mouths along to a popular sound, wearing a bright pink button down top. “I’m like ‘Girl, my crush doesn’t even exist.” The “Lose You To Love Me” singer captioned the post, “Still out here lookin for him lol.”

Gomez’s post comes two months after initially sparking dating rumors with The Chainsmokers’ Drew Taggart. Dating rumors between the pair first sparked in early January, when musicians were seen bowling together in New York City during a night out. A week later, the 30-year-old cleared up her relationship status via her Instagram Stories and wrote “I LIKE BEING ALONE TOO MUCH,” along with the hashtag “#iamsingle.” Gomez, however, caused even further confusion for her fans when she was spotted again with Taggart during a night out, this time holding hands with him.

The Disney Channel alumna has been candid about her romantic endeavors in the past — in her recently released documentary, My Mind & Me, she seemed to open up about her former flame Justin Bieber, though she did not explicitly name him. “I felt haunted by a past relationship that no one wanted to let go of,” she said. “But then I just moved past it. I wasn’t afraid anymore.”

Gomez continued, “I feel like I had to go through the worst possible heartbreak ever. I just think that needed to happen, and ultimately, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Watch Gomez’s new TikTok below.

16 Mar 2023

Lizzo Has Her Beyonce Moment When Fan Does Flawless ‘About Damn Time’ Dance at London Show

Lizzo isn’t so far off from her pre-fame days that she can’t remember what it feels like to be a superfan memorizing her favorite singer’s choreo at home in the mirror and then busting it out at their show.

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Which is why it was extra sweet that she posted a video on Thursday morning (March 16) chronicling the moment when megafan Shyanne Barnes executed the entire “About Damn Time” live routine during a show at London’s O2 Arena on Wednesday.

“Rewind to the summer of 07, I learned the entire Beyoncé ‘get me bodied’ choreography… it literally saved me at a time I was dealing with depression & loss,” Lizzo wrote alongside the video of her shouting “are you ready to dance with us?” The star repeatedly made eye-contact with Barnes, who flawlessly matched the on-stage moves from the pit and then pointed to Barnes at the end of the song and said, “make some noise for this beautiful dancer.”

“Then I remember doing the ‘single ladies’ choreo at the Mrs Carter tour and she looked at me! It was a brief moment but absolutely world changing for me,” Lizzo added in the caption. So, in the great tradition of paying it forward, Lizzo made sure Barnes got her moment to shine. “Fast forward to last night when this young girl danced ‘About Damn Time’ (LIVE VERSION) with me & the big grrrls ? what she doesn’t know is I cried backstage ???? to know I mean to her what my favorite artist meant to me is so deeply touching. I LOVE YALL SO MUCH.”

Barnes definitely appreciated the shine as well, writing in comments, “Lizzo thank you SO MUCH ! I’m going to remember this forever , I love you and your music so so much ! you make me so happy ! I’ll see you again tonight!” In her Instagram Story, Barnes showed off her show-day outfit, a custom t-shirt with five images of the singer and a colorful sign that read, “I learnt the choreo if you need me 2 dance 4 you.”

The Story noted that the sign and shirt got Barnes pulled into the pit, followed by footage of her doing the dance with the caption, “core memory fr thank you so much I had the best time” and a clip of her absolutely losing her mind afterwards.

Check out the heartwarming clip below.

16 Mar 2023

Niall Horan Jokes He ‘Wouldn’t Turn’ for His 2010 ‘X Factor’ Audition as a Coach on ‘The Voice’

Niall Horan stopped by Hot Ones on Wednesday (March 16) to chat about his freshman season on The Voice while taking on the iconic “Wings of Death.”

Three hot sauces in, the former One Direction-er told host Sean Evans that rejecting hopeful singers is the hardest part of his new gig on the NBC reality show. “‘Cause I know what it’s like to be 16 and stood on a stage, and looking at some famous dude that’s got your future in his hands,” he said. “The easy part is pressing the red button, spinning the chair, saying how you like someone. But when the chair turns around and you’re not with them, how do you give them that rejection feedback? And that’s where I’ve struggled with it, but it’s full circle stuff.”

However, Horan was quick to admit there’s one person he wouldn’t have trouble saying no to as a coach: his 16-year old self auditioning for The X Factor. “I wouldn’t have turned,” he deadpanned before breaking out into a laugh. “Not for that guy. I was right place, right time. No, I don’t think I would’ve turned for myself, put it that way.

“I’d turn for me now!” the Irish singer-songwriter continued. “I’ve learned a lot, I’ve been around the block a couple of times, which is, a lot can be said for someone that’s 29. But yeah, I’d turn now. I wouldn’t’ve turned then.”

A longtime fan of the YouTube series, the “Heaven” singer, whose third solo album The Show drops June 9, handled the heat remarkably well — though he eventually broke out in the shakes when the time came to try the infamous sauce Da’ Bomb. “I’ve been nervous about this for about seven years,” he joked before taking a big bite.

Watch Horan make his way through all 10 sauces during his Hot Ones interview above.

16 Mar 2023

Listen to Hales Corner’s Haunting Cover of ‘Can’t Fight the Moonlight’ for Sarah Michelle Gellar Series ‘Wolf Pack’

LeAnn Rimes‘ 2000 hit “Can’t Find the Moonlight” now has a fittingly spooky twist thanks to Hales Corner, who deliver a haunting cover of the track for Paramount+’s supernatural drama Wolf Pack, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.

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The alternative indie group transformed the song into a dark, mystical song of temptation, as musician Wes Cook croons in the chorus, “You can try to resist/ Try to hide from my kiss/ But you know, but you know that you/ Can’t fight the moonlight.”

The cinematic rendition of the track fits well with the theme of Wolf Pack, which follows the story of teenagers Everett (Armani Jackson) and Blake (Bella Shepard) as their lives are changed in the wake of a California wildfire that spurs a terrifying creature. Gellar plays an arson investigator named Kristin Ramsey in the show, in her return to the supernatural genre after her star-making role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

To celebrate the release of the new edition of “Can’t Fight the Moonlight,” Paramount+ is teaming up with The Trevor Project to match up to $10,000 in donations to the organization, which provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention resources for LGBTQ+ youth. Anyone interested can donate here.

Listen to Hales Corner’s “Can’t Fight the Moonlight” cover below, and sign up for Paramount+ to watch Wolf Pack here.

16 Mar 2023

‘The Masked Singer’ Judges & ‘Sesame Street’ Characters Join Forces for a ‘Dynamite’ BTS Cover: Watch

The Masked Singer has made its most fitting collaboration to date. On the Wednesday (March 15) episode, judges Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy and Robin Thicke appeared alongside several fan-favorite characters from Sesame Street to perform BTS‘ 2020 smash hit “Dynamite.”

Elmo kicked off the performance by sitting at a piano and getting warmed up before announcing to the crowd, “The Masked Singer, Sesame Street is here!” Big Bird kicked off the track’s first verse, before swapping between Cookie Monster — who, naturally, popped up from a cookie cart — and Elmo. Jeong then came in enthusiastically, singing,”Ladies and gentleman, I got the medicine so you should keep ya eyes on the ball!”

After verse cameos from Grover, Abby Cadabby and Count von Count, the rest of the judges filed in and joined in for the song’s upbeat chorus: “‘Cause I-I-I’m in the stars tonight/ So watch me bring the fire and set the night alight/ Shining through the city with a little funk and soul/ So I’ma light it up like dynamite, whoa oh oh,” they sang in unison before a grand finish, complete with raining confetti.

“Dynamite” is one of BTS’ No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. The track spent three weeks atop the tally in September 2020, and enjoyed 32 total weeks on the chart. The song also served as the K-pop group’s first No. 1 on the all-genre chart.

Watch The Masked Singer judges perform “Dynamite” alongside Sesame Street characters above.

16 Mar 2023

U2 Say ‘Achtung Baby’ Showed Fans the Band Wasn’t Taking Itself ‘As Seriously As People Thought We Were’

To celebrate the release of their Disney+ documentary Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, With Dave Letterman, U2‘s Bono and The Edge reflected on their illustrious career with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, premiering Thursday (March 16) and previewed exclusively on Billboard below.

The Edge discussed the release of the band’s 1991 album, Achtung Baby, which incorporated more alternative rock and electronic dance music into their sound. “We started to become caricatures on that basis, like the Joshua Tree period had way overexaggerated this sense of earnestness and responsibility,” the guitarist explained. “We just had to own up and say, ‘Actually… we’re very silly, we’re not those characters.’”

While The Edge noted that the group “absolutely” wanted to help society through their music, the public seemed to have the wrong impression about who they were as people. “We were also not taking ourselves nearly as seriously as people thought we were, and we were able to laugh at ourselves,” he shared. “Achtung Baby was that antidote for us as much as for music fans to that overly sanctimonious, pious and earnest sort of image that had grown up around us. We needed to flesh out the truth about who we were and give ourselves the freedom then to be in both. Because that was the thing we loved about Bob Marley. He was able to, without any issues, blend the spiritual into the political and sexual. To him, these weren’t different baskets. These were all part of who he was.”

Directed by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville, the A Sort of Homecoming documentary will debut Friday (March 17) on Disney+ and showcase Bono and The Edge‘s special concert performance in Dublin.

Check out The Edge’s thoughts below — plus another exclusive clip of Bono talking about considering himself a songwriter first and foremost — and catch the full interview at 1 p.m. ET. on Apple Music 1 at apple.co/_Zane.