Music News

29 Dec 2022

Bad Bunny & Tainy’s ‘Callaíta’ Video Surpasses 1 Billion Views on YouTube

In a way, “Callaíta” by Bad Bunny and Tainy helped set the tone for Un Verano Sin Ti, even though the song was released on May 31, 2019, three years prior to the Billboard staff’s favorite album of 2022. With its serene intro and seagull squawking from afar, the banger encapsulates the essence of the record’s eternal summer energy — it is the outro track of Benito’s latest groundbreaking LP, after all. 

With the Bunny’s continued momentum of viral milestones, his number of billion-view music videos on YouTube also keeps growing, and “Callaíta” recently made the cut. 

The visual already feels like a classic, with the Puerto Rican rapper rocking his famous buzzed triangular hairstyle from the late ‘10s. The video follows a woman who loves taking shots at the bar, but she’s low-key otherwise. Then, a group of beach- and partygoers hit the shores where there’s a merry-go-round spinning on the sand, and Benito gets his chance with the quiet gal. 

A few weeks apart from Un Verano Sin Ti dropping, “Callaíta” reached one billion streams on Spotify this year. “Seeing that ‘Callaita’ became what it became is insane. It’s humbling that people still connect with the song after so many years,” Tainy recently told Billboard Español of the song reaching the milestone on Spotify. “You get a sense of those classic songs that you grew up listening to and still hear today, and can’t comprehend how they still connect with people after so many years. I’m happy that we were able to create a song that has stood the test of time.”

The producer continued: “We always had dreams about things we wanted to do, but they had a limit. Because we didn’t think it was possible for people like me — where I come from, who I am, our position in the world — and to see that I’ve been able to exceed that by a billion from what I initially thought could be possible, it just makes you feel like this is all blessings. [I’m] just here to have a responsibility of inspiring more people that could do twice as much as what [I’ve] done. That’s the most special part for me.”

Revisit the song and its video above.

29 Dec 2022

Cardi B Reflects on Early Days of Career With Throwback Promo Photos: ‘I Had a Dream’

Everyone starts somewhere. Now a Grammy-winning global sensation with five No. 1 singles to her name, Cardi B just shared a throwback to what she was doing about seven years ago: posing for some promo photos for her first mixtape, 2016’s Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1.

“My first mixtape promo photos ….I had a dream,” the rapper tweeted Wednesday (Dec. 28), captioning a trio of snaps taken leading up to the mixtape’s release.

In one of the photos, she pours a cup of detergent into a washing machine at a laundromat while wearing a black underwear set that shows off the majority of the signature peacock tattoo on her thigh. In another, she stands at a stove wearing a red bikini top and bandana in her blue hair, stirring a pot with her tongue sticking out.

“’I don’t cook I don’t clean’ back in the day when you cooked and cleaned,” joked one fan in the replies, referencing one of Cardi’s “WAP” lyrics.

Each of the photos is labelled with a reminder to pre-order her debut mixtape. Over a photo of the Bronx native posing on top of a graffitied blue mailbox reads the message, “Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1 2 DAYS LEFT to pre-order. Free copy call 718.215.0159.”

Though Cardi has released two more mixtapes and a debut studio album since Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1, the mixtape was once again at the center of public focus this year. In October, the “Up” artist won a lawsuit filed against her by a man who claimed his rights were violated after his tattoos were Photoshopped onto the back of a male model on the cover of the mixtape.

The Gangsta Bitch promo photos aren’t the first time that Cardi has looked back fondly on past career moments. On Monday (Dec. 26), she retweeted a clip from her 2017 “Lick” music video featuring Offset, the Migos star whom she would marry later that year.

“I couldn’t even breath doing this video,” she wrote. “I was crushing hard on Set.”

See Cardi B’s throwback tweet below:

29 Dec 2022

Watch BTS’ Suga Go Back to the Basics in a Hip-Hop Dance Class

Aside from singing, BTS is also known for its larger-than-life dance moves and crisp choreography. And despite going on 10 years of being in the septet, a good dance practice every now and then helps keeps its members in peak performance shape.

Suga wanted to go back to the basics and shared a 10-minute video on Thursday (Dec. 29) to BTS’ official YouTube page of him taking a Hip-Hop Dance 101 class with the help of a private instructor.

Before the lesson kicked off, Suga sat down at the camera and told viewers, “Hello everyone. At age 30, I’ve come to take dance lessons. Basic hip-hop moves. It’s been about 12 years since I last did this in high school. I’ll give it a try.”

After dancing to tracks by Snoop Dogg, 2Pac and more, Suga exclaimed, “I feel like a trainee!” referencing his days in K-pop training camp prior to joining BTS. He elaborated, “I’m a mess. This is so hard. It’s so hard to do this [basic moves] after a long time. I feel kind of dumb doing this. When I first joined as a trainee I’d never danced before.”

Suga concluded the first day of dance lessons with a message to his fans about what he has been up to lately. “I’ve learned some basic hip-hop moves. I’ve suddenly got an interest in learning at the age of 30,” he shared.” I’m taking all kinds of lessons now. I’ve started playing the keyboard again. I’m also taking guitar and dance and Japanese and English.”

The video featured two more classes with Suga honing his skills, and finished with a note from the instructor to always practice his moves, but in alternating positions in the body.

Watch Suga’s dance-lesson video above.

29 Dec 2022

The Weeknd Teases New Music Video for ‘Dawn FM’ One-Year Anniversary

The Weeknd is closing in on the one-year anniversary of his fifth studio album, Dawn FM, and if you’re a fan, you might want to keep an eye on his YouTube page as the date draws nearer. In a Wednesday (Dec. 28) tweet, the 32-year-old hitmaker teased that a new music video for a song off the record is in the works, just in time for the milestone.

Dawn FM arrived one week into 2022 on Jan. 7, two years after his No. 1 record After Hours was released. On Wednesday, a fan on Twitter asked the Toronto native — born Abel Tesfaye — “dawn fm almost a year old, how do you feel?”

“i feel istheresomeoneelsemusicvideo-ish,” he simply replied.

“Is There Someone Else?” is the 10th track on Dawn FM. So far, lead single “Take My Breath” and subsequent tracks “Out of Time,” “Sacrifice,” “Gasoline” and “How Do I Make You Love Me” all have corresponding music videos.

The video tease comes on the heels of the Idol star’s latest release, “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength),” which he wrote and recorded for the Avatar: The Way of Water soundtrack. Co-written and co-produced by Swedish House Mafia, the ballad plays during the end credits of the Avatar sequel, which premiered in theaters Dec. 16.

Tesfaye is also gearing up for the European and Latin American legs of his After Hours Til Dawn Tour, which picks up again in Manchester in June. The “Blinding Lights” singer completed the trek’s North American leg in November, and is already getting hyped for next year’s excursion.

“xo bout to F–k up 2023,” he also tweeted on Wednesday alongside an artistically edited compilation of footage from his prior After Hours Til Dawn tour shows. See it below:

29 Dec 2022

Taylor Swift Returns to No. 1 on Billboard Artist 100 for Record-Extending 58th Week

Taylor Swift rebounds to No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated Dec. 31), spending a record-extending 58th week as the top musical act in the U.S. thanks to the continued success of her album Midnights.

Plus, RM re-enters the Artist 100 at No. 6, a new best for the BTS member as a soloist.

Swift’s Midnights ranks at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart with 155,000 equivalent album units earned in its ninth week (Dec. 16-22), according to Luminate. Of those nine weeks, five have been spent at No. 1, making it her sixth album to have five or more weeks at the summit. Swift is the only woman with as many as six albums that have reigned for five or more weeks, tying her with Garth Brooks for the second-most among all acts, since the chart became a combined stereo and mono survey in 1963. The Beatles lead with a whopping 14 No. 1s that ruled for five or more weeks each.

In total, Swift places eight albums on the latest Billboard 200, the most among all acts. After Midnights, she charts with Folklore (No. 39), Lover (No. 40), Evermore (No. 42), Red (Taylor’s Version) (No. 46), Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (No. 80), 1989 (No. 105) and Reputation (No. 151).

Swift also charts two songs from Midnights on the Billboard Hot 100: former six-week No. 1 “Anti-Hero” at No. 9, followed by “Lavender Haze” at No. 67. As previously reported, “Anti-Hero” hits No. 1 on the Radio Songs chart, where Swift becomes the first artist with leaders in the 2000s, ’10s and ’20s, and the only act with No. 1s as a lead artist in any three distinct decades.

Plus, Swift has now spent eight total weeks at No. 1 on the Artist 100 chart in 2022. As this is the last chart week dated in 2022, she and Bad Bunny tie for the most weeks logged at No. 1 this year. The Weeknd follows with six weeks on top this year, then Adele (four), Harry Styles (three), Beyoncé and Stray Kids (two apiece).

Elsewhere on the Artist 100, BTS’ RM re-enters at No. 6 — a new high — thanks to the CD release of his solo album Indigo. The set re-enters the Billboard 200 chart at a new No. 3 best (83,000 units) after debuting at No. 15 two weeks ago, when he first reached the Artist 100’s top 10 at No 8.

RM is the sixth BTS member to scale the Artist 100 solo, after Jung Kook (No. 47 peak, earlier in December), Jin (No. 10, November), J-Hope (No. 9, July), V (No. 57, January) and Suga (No. 57, December 2021, after he soared to No. 4, billed as Agust D, in 2020). BTS has spent 21 weeks at No. 1 on the Artist 100, the most among groups and the fourth-most overall after Swift, Drake (37) and The Weeknd (28), dating to the survey’s 2014 inception.

The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multidimensional ranking of artist popularity.

29 Dec 2022

Shaquille O’Neal Wants to ‘Get Sexier’ in 2023, But First, He’s Hosting a Massive Virtual NYE Party

One of the hottest New Year’s Eve parties of 2023 is available to attend from the comfort of your living room. On Dec. 31, at 3:30 p.m. PT, noted music fan and party purveyor Shaquille O’Neal is appearing in virtual reality with a gaggle of high caliber pals — Cardi B, Ludacris, Lil Yachty, Rob Gronkowski and his girlfriend Camille Kostek, Killer Mike, Whipped Cream and, of course, Shaq’s DJ alter-ego DJ DIESEL — for an hourlong rager to ring in 2023.

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And because VR offers no limits on the type of fete one can throw, this bash — The Shaq’tacular Spectacular — will include a rollerskating rink, a marching band, a basketball court and a lot of other bells, whistles and assorted confetti blasts. The show will premiere exclusively in VR in Meta Horizon Worlds, on Meta Quest TV, on O’Neal’s Facebook and Instagram pages, and Messenger’s Watch Together. (Attendance requires a Meta Quest 2 headset, so hopefully, you got one for Christmas.)

Here, Shaq shares the secrets to a blazing hot lineup, who will be playing when the ball drops, and why his New Year’s resolution is to “be sexy.”

This party, like all your parties, has a really stacked lineup. How do you assemble a collection of high-caliber artists like this?

I’ve been in the business for a long time and I meet a lot of people, and if I’ve noticed you are just nice to people, people are nice to you … When I meet superstars and they do something for me, I just tell them thank you. Hopefully I do the same for them, or I continue to do the same for them. It’s about mutual respect. It’s about showing love and receiving love, and I’m just grateful that they’re part of the Shaq’tacular Spectacular.

You’ve said before that you love the energy of live music — and dance music specifically obviously with your DJ Diesel project. How do you make sure an event in VR has that same massive energy that you so love?

You just have to have the right people there. Ludacris, from Atlanta — hot. Lil Yachty has one of hottest songs of the year — hot. Cardi B, beautiful, gorgeous — hot. DJ Diesel — hot. Rob Gronkowski — hot. I’m not going to say his girlfriend’s hot because I don’t want to have problems with him, but she’s hot. And Whipped Cream — hot.

If you put all hot ingredients in front of people, they can’t do nothing but enjoy it. It’s like a hot meal. There’s not really any rocket science. A lot of people would overthink, but when you’ve got 10 hot people, you just let ‘em do their thing and you put it together.

So a hot menu is the secret.

Exactly.

Tell me about making live events more a part of your business and how this has been a progression for you.

It’s just something that I wanted to be involved with, especially on the new year. I wanted to bring my friends and have it be a one-hour special, custom made for VR. And don’t worry if you’re not able to join right away, because the show will be on loop throughout the evening and you join at anytime from the start of the celebration.

The Shaq'tacular Spectacular

The Shaq’tacular Spectacular

Courtesy Photo

Who’s going to be playing when the clock strikes 12?

I’m not going to tell you that! But it’s going to be hot! Oh wait … I think it’s me!

So what song are you going to play at midnight?

I’m not going give you that information. Just be ready to put your hands up.

What’s your best New Year’s Eve memory?

I have a lot of them, but just being able to celebrate with family and friends. I remember all the way back to when I was 19, and I’m going to be 51 after this New Year’s, so time is going by too fast. I kind of want it to slow down.

What’s your New Year’s resolution?

Just continuing to be healthy. I want to get sexier. I’ve already lost 40 pounds and I need to lose about 30 more pounds, then I’m going to start taking my clothes all the way off. I want to be the Black Mark Wahlberg. Show my nine-pack, all that stuff.

28 Dec 2022

Harry Styles’ Mom Shares Festive Peek at Family Christmas Celebrations

No place like home for the holidays. On Wednesday (Dec. 28), Anne Twist, mom to one Harry Styles, took to social media to give fans a behind-the-scenes look at how their family celebrated Christmas.

“Christmas 2022,” she captioned the series of four photos along with a smiley face, Christmas tree and red heart emoji. The slideshow shows off Twist’s holiday decorations and cozy fireplace, Christmas Day feast including veggies, casseroles and Yorkshire puddings, and the family’s sparkling Christmas tree.

However, the third photo of the bunch got fans most excited, with Twist posting a selfie with her pop star son, his sister Gemma Styles and Gemma’s longtime boyfriend Michal Mlynowski grinning ear to ear with their arms around one another. In the snap, Styles wears a blue hoodie beneath a yellow and black puffer jacket and an added balaclava for warmth, all with his hair pulled back off his forehead with a clip.

The laid back holiday caps off quite a major year for Styles, who scored his second career No. 1 (and broke several records) with the smash hit “As It Was” off his third solo album Harry’s House. Throughout the year, the British heartthrob also headlined Coachella, won album of the year at the 2022 MTV VMAs, starred in not one but two major motion pictures and made history with his Love on Tour show — including a record-breaking 15-night residency at Madison Square Garden.

Styles also picked up six nominations at the upcoming 2023 Grammy Awards, including trophies for album of the year, record of the year, song of the year, best pop vocal album, best pop solo performance and best music video.

Check out Styles’ cozy family Christmas below.

28 Dec 2022

Drake & Son Adonis Get a Sweet Surprise From Toronto Raptors Mascot While Sitting Courtside

The year may be ending in just three days, but Drake wanted to make sure that he and his son Adonis caught one last basketball game before the arrival of 2023.

On Tuesday (Dec. 27), Drake and Adonis were spotted sitting court side at the NBA game featuring the Toronto Raptors and the Los Angeles Clippers at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. The rapper — who sported a flashy moto outfit consisting of an of a leather jacket and matching leather pants — was seen with embracing and laughing with his four-year-old, who wore a green fuzzy jacket and white sneakers.

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As for what spurred the excitement? The Toronto team’s official mascots, simply called The Raptor, came over to where Drake and Adonis were sitting court side and surprised the pair with a candy shower, gifting the rapper’s tot several bags of Twizzlers and Sour Patch Kids. NBA Canada shared video footage of the moment via Twitter on Tuesday, writing, “The @Raptors mascot blessed @Drake and Adonis with all the candy!” along with a lollipop emoji and its #WeTheNorth hashtag for good measure.

Adonis’ mother, Sophie Brussaux, also appeared to be in attendance at the game. On Instagram, the French artist and nonprofit founder shared a snap of her alongside a friend that was captioned “we like basketball,” though the pair did not sit with Drake and Adonis at the side of the court.

See Drake and Adonis’ cute courtside moment with each other in the video below.

28 Dec 2022

Theophilus London Reported Missing By Family

Rapper Theophilus London is missing, according to a statement released by his family on Wednesday (Dec. 28). The 25-year-old artist from Trinidad and Tobago was last spoken to in July 2022 in Los Angeles, according to the statement received by Billboard.

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London’s family members also revealed that they traveled to Los Angeles on Tuesday (Dec. 27) after trying to “piece together his whereabouts,” and went on to file a missing persons report with the LAPD. They ask that anyone with information about London to contact the LAPD or London’s cousin, Mikhail Noel, on Instagram at @iamdjkellz.

“Theo, your Dad loves you, son. We miss you. And all your friends and relatives are searching for you. Wherever you are send us some signal. No matter what we will come get you son,” the rapper’s father, Lary Moses London, wrote in the statement.

Throughout his decade-long career, London has released three studio albums and worked with high-profile artists like Kanye West, Travis Scott, Tame Impala, Ellie Goulding, Big Boi and more. His most recent album, Bebey, was released in January 2020.

Read London’s family’s full statement below.

Over the last few weeks, friends and family of Theophilus London have been working together to piece together his whereabouts. The last time someone spoke with him reportedly stretches back to July 2022 in Los Angeles.

On December 27th, family members of Theophilus London traveled to Los Angeles to file a missing persons report with the LAPD. They are now seeking the public’s help with any information as to London’s whereabouts:

“Theo, your Dad loves you, son. We miss you. And all your friends and relatives are searching for you. Wherever you are send us some signal. No matter what we will come get you son.” – Lary Moses London, father of Theophilus London

London is 35 years old, Black, 6’2″, 175 pounds, with dark brown eyes. If you have any information regarding his whereabouts or well-being, please reach out to his cousin Mikhail Noel at his instagram account @iamdjkellz, or the LAPD.

28 Dec 2022

A Figure Skater Just Recreated Wednesday Addams‘ ’Goo Goo Muck’ Dance on Ice

Kamila Valieva took the 2023 Russian Figure Staking Championships by storm last week by performing a routine to The Cramps‘ “Goo Goo Muck” dressed as Wednesday Addams.

Starting outside the edge of the rink, the 16-year-old sensation nailed her recreation of the herky-jerky dance on the Jenna Ortega-led Netflix series — all the way down to the hand motions, gothic party dress and long black pigtails.

“When the sun goes down and the moon comes up/ I turn into a teenage goo goo muck/ Yeah, I cruise through the city and I roam the streets/ Looking for something that is nice to eat,” Lux Interior’s voice sang as Valieva executed the choreography flawlessly and the audience in the stands clapped along to the beat.

Then, halfway through the program, Valieva went full TikTok as the music abruptly changed to the sped-up version of Lady Gaga‘s Born This Way album cut “Bloody Mary” and she ended the routine with a flourish.

Ultimately, Valieva took home the silver in the women’s senior championship division just behind 15-year-old Sofia Akateva. Between her short program and free skate, Valieva earned a total of 247.32 points from the judges, with her free skate even coming in at the top of the pack.

In early December, Gaga even got in on the viral fun by performing the dance challenge on her official TikTok page while Dino, Mingyu and Joshua of SEVENTEEN ran through the moves while attending LA3C with Billboard‘s own Tetris Kelly.

Watch Valieva’s Wednesday Addams-inspired routine below.