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Cazzu leads the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart for a second consecutive week as “Con Otra” holds steady at No. 1 on the chart dated May 3. The song, released on DALE Play March 19, has remained strong in the chart’s top 10 since its debut at No. 2 (April 5 dated list).
In addition to her recent leader, the Argentinian previously reached a No. 5 high through her Maria Becerra collab, “Animal,” in 2021.
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W Sound, better known as Westcol, Béele and Ovy On The Drums nearly miss the top slot as “W Sound 05: La Plena,” rises 4-2, marking the acts’ highest entry to date. Meanwhile, Emilia, TINI, and Nicki Nicole’s “Blackout” dips 2-3, after topping the ranking for two consecutive weeks in April. Emilia also places another top 10 track on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100: “Bunda,” with Luísa Sonza, which slips 7-8.
Back in the top five, La T y La M’s “Amor De Vago,” featuring Malandro de América, falls 4-3. Alleh and Yorghaki’s “Capaz” holds at No. 5 for a second week, for its eighth week in the upper region during its 13th week run so far.
Karol G’s “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” adds a fourth week at No. 6, after the song dominated for 16 consecutive weeks between 2024-25. Plus, Bad Bunny’s “Baile Inolvidable” jumps 8-7, following two consecutive weeks in the runner-up slot in March.
Ecuadorian Jombriel closes the top 10 with two entries. “Parte & Choke,” with Ryan Castro, Jotta and Alex Krack, holds at No. 9 for the third consecutive week, after it ruled for one week in March. Plus, Jombriel’s most recent single, “Vitamina,” with DFZM, breaks into the top 10, climbing 15-10. The move gives Jombriel his second top 10, while Colombian DFZM earns his first.
The week’s Greatest Gainer honors goes to Pablo Chill-E, whose single “Resentía” leaps 28 positions, surging from No. 49 to No. 21.
Elsewhere, Mattei’s “Pa Las Girlas” becomes the Hot Shot Debut of the week, entering at No. 50.
Lastly, Tobal MJ and Lucky Brown’s “Tiene” opens at No. 78, while rock band Estelares add its third entry with “Ella Dijo” at No. 91. It’s the group’s first appearance in over two years, following “Encantan,” featuring Enjambre, in 2022.
T-Pain and Wyclef Jean will perform at this year’s Preakness Stakes as part of the race day’s annual entertainment. On Thursday (May 1), Preakness 150 organizers announced that Jean and T-Pain would perform trackside at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course. The performances will go down on May 17 and will not be part of a wider […]
Before the fame, before the crowds, a young Marwan “Nordo” would sneak into Tunisia’s legendary Carthage Festival, hiding near the venue walls just to hear his idols perform. Nearly two decades later, he returned to that same stage—not as a fan, but as a headliner, selling out his debut show days in advance.This month, as he drops his debut full-length album Cotinga, the Tunisian star lands the cover of Billboard Arabia, bringing with him a story of resilience, ambition, and pure love for music.
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For Nordo, his rise to stardom wasn’t just unexpected, it was nearly impossible. Not because he lacked talent, but because of the hardships he endured growing up. The real struggle wasn’t about breaking into music—it was surviving a childhood where even the basics weren’t guaranteed.
In an exclusive Billboard Arabia interview in Dubai, the Tunisian star opens up about it all. “I struggled just to get by. Just to survive. To eat. To sleep without feeling hungry. That’s what wore me down,” he says. “Making music didn’t wear me down. Music was love. Even when we had nothing to eat, I sang.” Over time, he learned to channel that pain into the studio, turning life’s toughest moments into songs that resonate with millions.
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His musical roots run deep: an aunt who taught him Tarab classics, school days spent reciting Qur’an, and a rap crew that gave him the name “Nordo” and shaped his early sound. Though rap launched his career, Nordo refused to be boxed in, absorbing influences from across genres.
Perhaps the most evident mark his hip-hop origins left on his music is his passion for collaboration, even after his solo career took off. Nordo is a people person, driven by emotion and deep bonds. Over the years, he’s teamed up with big names like Sanfara, Blingos, Stormy, Didine Canon 16 and others from across North Africa. His reach even expanded to Egypt, thanks to “Ya 3arraf”—his collaboration with Ahmed Saad and Zaeem, which introduced him to a whole new audience and climbed the Billboard Arabia charts.
But working with Nordo isn’t just about sharing a mic—it’s about real connection. “We’ve got to be friends first,” he explains. “When I collaborated with Didine or Stormy, it wasn’t business. It was brotherhood. We talked, we bonded. That’s how music becomes real. If it’s not honest, it doesn’t work.” He’s got one firm rule: “The thing I hate most? When people hit me up like: ‘Hey, Marwan, let’s make a hit.’ That’s not how it works. It never has.”
Nordo gets that the music industry has its own playbook, but his approach is different. “I need to see the soul behind the song,” he says. “If I don’t believe in the person, the music won’t speak.”
Nordo
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His approach to music mirrors his approach to life: authenticity first. Nordo writes and composes every track himself, determined not to be just another pop act delivering other people’s words. His voice, a smoky, distinctive blend that immediately stands out among hundreds of voices, echoes Turkish vocal tones mixed with North African raï-style soul. Best exemplifying this musical amalgam that’s unmistakably Nordo is “Ya Denya,” which achieved great commercial success and garnered over 100 million views on YouTube.
Now, with Cotinga, Nordo is leveling up. The six-track EP is a kaleidoscope of sounds—flamenco riffs, R&B grooves, Afro-trap beats, Moroccan gnawa rhythms and acoustic pop—all written and composed by Nordo.
The album’s title nods to the cotinga bird: rare, vibrant and fiercely protective of its flock. “Kind of like me,” he says with a laugh. “I care about my people. I want them close, safe.”
Throughout the interview, Nordo oscillates between raw energy and quiet reflection. He shares stories from the studio grind, and how he created Cotinga on little sleep and pure adrenaline. At one point during our conversation, his eyes shifted, gazing into the distance. He told us about the days when making music wasn’t even an option; it was a luxury. The days when he had nothing… except his drive.
Today, as a father of two, he says every lyric, every show, every late night is for his boys – to give them the life he never had. But there’s a catch: “They have to be kind,” he insists. “They have to care about people. Share. Give back. Be there for their friends.”
There’s no manufactured redemption arc here. Nordo’s story is real, and so is his music. It’s driven by real growth. The kind that shapes not only his lyrics and melodies, but also his friendships, his fatherhood, his vision. Above all, Nordo’s mission is simple: to make music that’s honest, tell stories that matter, and remind people they’re not alone.
Nordo
Chady Kal/Billboard Arabia
More news continues to come out of Ye’s recent stream with Sneako and Drake affiliate Top5. Toward the end of the stream, around the two-hour and 14-minute mark, the Chicago rapper talked about Drake’s unique sound and how he found himself borrowing the Toronto rapper’s style. “Another thing about Drake’s music,” Ye (formerly Kanye West) […]
Rihanna holds a lot of titles. To date, the singer is a a nine-time Grammy award winning artist with eight albums under her belt, a makeup and lingerie mogul thanks to her successful Fenty Beauty and Savage x Fenty lines, once held the title as the youngest self-made female billionaire, and, of course, is also […]
Beyoncé is in proud daughter mode. After Tina Knowles‘ memoir, Matriarch, earned a coveted spot on The New York Times‘ bestseller list, the superstar took to Instagram to celebrate her mom’s accomplishment.
Sharing a poster announcing that “Matriarch is officially a No. 1 New York Times bestseller,” Bey wrote, “The Mama T was that good?? Ha.” The 35-time Grammy winner added, “You deserve it, I’m so proud!”
In the comments, the new author told her daughter, “Thankyou my baby,” with a heart emoji.
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Knowles’ feat comes a little over a week after Matriarch hit shelves on April 22. This week, the memoir tops both the NYT‘s hardcover nonfiction and combined print & E-book nonfiction lists.
The businesswoman covers a lot of ground in the book, opening up about raising Bey and Solange from babies to two of the music industry’s biggest stars. At one point, she writes about navigating a particularly painful time in the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer’s career: when rumors sparked that Bey was faking her pregnancy with Blue Ivy.
“This child was prayed for and prayed over — a wanted, cherished, real baby, and people were making a living off saying she was a lie,” Knowles wrote, noting how Bey had suffered multiple miscarriages before Blue came along. “I wanted to curse some people out and scream at these losers to set the record straight. They had no idea what she and Jay, and our whole family, had been through.”
The Cécred co-founder also opened up about the much more recent experience of receiving a breast cancer diagnosis last July. She underwent surgery in late 2024 to remove the tumor, recalling that Bey “took [the situation] well, staying positive … I could already feel her mind racing, focusing on this as a task to tackle with precision,” while Solange told Knowles, “We are going to take care of this.”
Lorde opened up in a new interview published Thursday (May 1) about the struggles she experienced with body image while making her 2021 album Solar Power. “I had made my body very small, because I thought that that was what you did as a woman and a woman on display,” she told filmmaker and close […]
Blondshell, the stage name of Sabrina Teitelbaum, says she named her second album, If You Asked for a Picture, after a line from Mary Oliver’s poem, Dogfish, because it’s “about the idea of how much of yourself do you share with other people.”
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“Not in the sense of I’m a musician putting out an album and how much do I share with my listeners,” she explains. “It’s, if I’m talking to you person-to-person, and we’re friends, we’re in a relationship or we’re just meeting, how much do I feel like sharing with you? I love the idea that I can just give you a little snapshot, and you’ll get it.”
If You Asked for a Picture, which drops May 2 on Partisan Records, is a series of brave, bold, frank and largely autobiographical snapshots juxtaposed with her trademark crunchy guitar riffs, a handful of ballads and some seriously gorgeous background vocals by hers truly. Take her latest single, “23’s a Baby,” which angrily questions the choices of a young mother — hints in the lyrics suggest its her own, who died in 2018 — but the honeyed aah-aah-aahs that Blondshell, 28, adds throughout the song offset the rancor in a way that creates a fascinating bit of cognitive dissonance: it’s a tragedy that you want to sing at the top of your lungs.
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Another grunge-flavored earworm, “What’s Fair,” appears to take more direct aim at a mother, and there are songs about ambivalent relationships, body image and identity, but If You Asked for a Picture — which, like her self-titled first album was produced by Yves Rothman — is beautiful, not bereft, an alt-rock catharsis with nods to the ’80s and ’90s. And though Blondshell says that the lion’s share of her songs come from personal experience, the back stories are not up for discussion: She wants her fans to develop their own snapshots with her music.
If You Asked for a Picture is the latest high water mark in a fruitful year for Blondshell. Last spring saw her release “Docket,” a standalone banger with Bully (Alicia Bognanno) that has racked up 4.3 million plays on Spotify, and a hypnotic cover of Talking Heads‘ “Thank You for Sending Me An Angel,” which was among the standout cuts on last year’s Stop Making Sense tribute album.
In this sitdown with Billboard, Blondshell discusses her love for the Heads, her collaboration with Bully and a number of ideas, inspirations and concepts behind her new album. (This interview was edited for length and clarity.)
You’ve said this album is about asking questions of yourself. What state of mind were you in when you wrote these songs?
The first songs on the album are the first songs that I wrote for the album, so I wanted it to feel like picking up where I left off. I wasn’t intentionally feeling like, oh, I want to ask questions in the songs. It was after the fact that I thought, I guess I was asking more questions than making declarative statements. On the first album. I felt, if I’m going to record and put out music, I must be a thousand percent sure about what I’m saying. By nature of being a little bit more confident [this time], I was able to be like no, I don’t have to know one hundred percent. I can ask, is this relationship working? Is this how I want to live my life? All these different things that were coming up.
You’ve established a recognizable sound, and yet, on this album, that sound is more expansive.
Yeah, I did not want to have some huge departure. I needed to think of it as another 12 songs. But there were things [on the last album] where I thought, I would have done that differently. For example, I’m a huge background vocals person. That’s my favorite part of Fleetwood Mac and all these records that I really love. I love how it’s a whole landscape. Before we even started, I knew I wanted that to be a massive part of the record. I also wanted there to be more textures. Last time, we had a couple of textures on the record that helped define that album. I wanted those, but I also wanted new ones.
Were you inspired by any artists you were listening to in the lead-up to writing and recording?
It’s always what I happen to be listening to around that time. I was listening to a lot of R.E.M. Obviously, they’re this celebrated rock band, but it’s really about the songwriting. They’re comfortable having these big, fun, rock songs — but also “Everybody Hurts.” So, I felt I had more permission to do the big rock band thing and ballads, too.
The lyrics on both of your albums paint very personal scenarios. How autobiographical are your songs?
Like 99.9% is autobiographical, and it’s often about people that I love.
So, “23’s a Baby,” is about someone you know having a baby at a very young age?
Kind of. There’s also conceptual stuff that comes up.
You’re being metaphorical as well.
Yeah, that happens, but the only way that I can write is to write about stuff that I feel the biggest feelings about. I wouldn’t personally feel that way if I were able to just pull it out of the air. It all has to come from somewhere.
One of the things that I love about your music is that you use unusual words in your lyrics, like “docket” and “assessment,” “sepsis” and “Sertraline.” Are you aiming for that literary quality?
No. I never think, “Oh, is this how I want to say this?” The way that I write is so stream-of-consciousness — it’s just stuff that comes to mind. It’s as if I were talking to you, but I’m saying things that I wouldn’t feel comfortable saying to you or my friends or my family. They’re unspoken things — concerns that I have never voiced, or the things I’m embarrassed by, or the feelings I’ve never felt comfortable saying to somebody. It’s just done in a really conversational way.
So, it’s easier for you to say things in a song that you wouldn’t say person-to-person?
For sure.
Man, that is brave.
Yeah — and then it sucks, because everyone ends up hearing it. It’s the stuff I wouldn’t have said to my family or somebody I’m dating or somebody I used to date, or my friend who I’m not friends with anymore. It’s stuff that I wouldn’t have said, because it’s harsh or it’s embarrassing or whatever, and then they end up hearing it. That’s the hardest part of the whole thing. In a way, I have to pretend that’s not happening.
So, you’re not thinking about what the reaction might be?
Yeah. Also, I’m friends with a lot of musicians., and everybody knows that’s how it goes.
Speaking of literary influences, I was wondering if your line about “steely danification” in “Toy” is a reference to William Burroughs or the band.
It’s a reference to the band. I love Steely Dan.
There’s a recurring theme in your songs, such as “Docket” and on this album, “Two Times,” about being ambivalent about a relationship. In “Two Times,” you sing, “Once you get me, I get bored.” Do you struggle with that?
If you haven’t historically had the healthiest relationships, being in a healthy relationship can feel like, “What’s going on? What’s missing?” I also think that every form of media tells people that the valuable quality of a relationship is the conflict. Every movie I saw growing up, every TV show I watched growing up, songs — everything — relationships [revolve around] a problem. So, if your relationship is pretty absent of problems, you’re like, “What’s wrong here? We’re supposed to be fighting and then making up. What if we’re not fighting that much? Do we just not care? Is this a tepid kind of situation?” I have struggled with that.
Like the line in “Two Times”: “I’ll come back if you put me down two times.”
Yeah. Maybe if you’re a little mean I’ll be more comfortable.
How did “Docket” with Bully, Alicia Bognanno, come to be? That’s such a great song.
I love Alicia. She’s so good. I went on KEXP in the summer [of 2023], and they were asking me what I was listening to. Her record had just come out, and I was obsessed with the song “Change Your Mind.” I talked about it, and I think people [told] her. Around the time that I made this album, I wrote the first part of that song and thought I should have Alicia on this song. She wrote the second verse, and we recorded it. She has such a good voice. It was maybe the first time that I’ve listened to someone’s voice a lot and then gotten to hear it in the studio and been like, oh s–t, that’s actually her voice! So powerful.
Would you ever consider touring together? That would be an amazing double bill.
I think that would be so cool.
I have to ask you about the line in “Event of a Fire”: “Pin me down with Styrofoam. Cut out one single mouth hole for air.” Can you elaborate on that?
The whole song is about feeling suffocated by normal life. In some ways, the whole album is about how just everyday life can feel suffocating — feeling stuck in patterns and like maybe I don’t have the permission to feel as much as I feel about this thing that everybody deals with. Feeling shame about feeling so much about everyday normal life. In some ways, the song is also about bigger things — being a 16-year-old girl and figuring out how I feel about my body and figuring out how I’m supposed to look and feel. The part you’re asking about — I had written the whole song, and then when we were recording the guitars, I felt kind of inspired, wrote that and tacked it on at the end.
Does any of that struggle have to do with being a public figure?
No. I don’t even feel that way. I’ve always felt this way, and I think everybody feels that way to some extent. Things like body image are such universal struggles for people. It’s helpful for me to talk about these things — and as a listener, it’s helpful if I hear other people talk about it. All the stuff on this record is stuff I’ve dealt with my whole life.
Do you still you struggle with body image?
I think it gets better as you get older. I’m 27. I was 25 when I made the last album, I really attribute all that stuff to a younger voice. I remember watching Eighth Grade. It came out [in 2018]. There’s this scene of her going to a pool party where she panics, and I remember that’s how I felt at that age. For me, that’s gotten a lot better as I’ve gotten older. But it’s such a universal side effect of misogyny.
You identify as queer, and lyrics in “Model Rockets” implies that you struggle with your identity as well: “With a man I’m only gay, when I’m with a girl I’m lying.”
Again, it’s like that same age where I saw gay people, and I saw straight people on TV, but I didn’t see people talking about so much nuance. All that stuff is from the same time period.
What do you make of the Trump administration’s announcement that it recognizes just two genders?
It’s devastating. It’s going to have consequences for so many people in the most truly heartbreaking ways. Tragic for trans people and queer people — tragic for everybody. The loss of culture and safety. There will be effects for a really long time and it’s terrible.
That’s just a start.
And f–k them.
What are you reading these days?
I finished All Fours by Miranda July last night. It’s so good. I had heard so much about it, and sometimes it’s hard to read a book that has all this hype around it. By the end, I was like, “She’s a genius.”
What about watching, listening?
Severance. A new episode tonight. Are you watching?
I just can’t get into it.
Really?
Admittedly I’ve not seen the earlier seasons. For me, it’s Groundhog Day in a sterile setting.
I get that. Yeah, it is so sterile. I’ve heard people say that they don’t feel comfortable watching it because it’s so austere and just angles and cold. But I’m really into it. I’m also watching White Lotus. I’m happy to be in that world. I think the writing is good. I saw Mike White’s season of Survivor recently. It’s tough for people who work in entertainment on Survivor. There’s a target on their back.
Wait a minute. Mike White was on Survivor?
Oh, yeah. You’ve got to watch it. He’s really smart and he’s really good.
Does he win?
I can’t tell you. You’ve got to go watch it. I don’t want to ruin it for you.
Your version of Talking Heads’ “Thank You for Sending Me an Angel” is fantastic. How did that come about?
Someone mentioned to me in passing that they were doing that tribute album, and I am the biggest Talking Heads fan. They’re one of the best bands of all time. And Stop Making Sense is just amazing. I went to see the movie that they had restored in 4K at a place called Vidiots in L.A. I watched the Q&A. Kim Gordon was the moderator, which was so cool. I got to meet them, and everyone seemed chill. They were all really nice. And then, like a week later, someone asked us to do it. I was like, “F–k yes, let’s go.”
Are you looking forward to your tour?
I’m really excited for my tour. When I made the last album, I really wanted it to feel like a live record. I was so excited to play it live, but I hadn’t toured that much. Now I’ve played with the band a lot for the last two years. We played like 90 shows in 2023. And we made this album with touring in mind — the arrangements and the cadence of the album. I’m stoked to play it live.
In the historically slow first quarter, Live Nation’s revenue dropped 11% to $3.38 billion (an 8% decline in constant currency), but adjusted operating income (AOI) fared better, declining 6% (or 0.5% in constant currency) to $341.1 million.
As the U.S. economy teeters and businesses brace for a protracted and uncertain trade war, Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter and ticketing company, believes the business will recover from the slow start to the year. CEO Michael Rapino expects 2025 to be “a historic year for live music, with a strong start having us on track to deliver double-digit growth in operating income and AOI this year,” he said in a statement.
The first quarter is relatively slow as concerts are concentrated in clubs and theaters before festivals, stadium and amphitheater shows appear later in the year. In 2024, the first quarter accounted for just 16% of Live Nation’s full-year revenue, and the concerts division received just 15% of its 2024 revenue in the first quarter. The second and third quarters, in contrast, accounted for 59% of 2024 revenue.
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Various financial metrics portend well for a stronger finish to 2025. Through mid-April, event-related deferred revenue — money collected for future concerts — of $5.4 billion was up 24% year-over-year. The 95 million concert tickets sold for Live Nation concerts represented a double-digit increase. On-sale sell-through rates were at or better than the same period last year. Ticketmaster’s primary ticketing volume was up 5% and gross transaction value (GTV) was up 10%.
The various divisions expect to have similar margins to previous years. Concerts’ AOI margin should be consistent with the 3% achieved in 2024. Ticketmaster’s AOI margin should be in the high 30s and sponsorships in the low 60s.
Absent stadium and amphitheater shows that occur later in the year, Live Nation’s concerts business had $2.48 billion in revenue, down 14% (11% in constant currency) from the prior-year quarter, from 22.3 million fans who attended 11,300 events. Concerts’ adjusted AOI improved to $6.6 million from a $1.8 million loss a year earlier.
In the ticketing segment, revenue fell 4% (1% at constant currency) to $695 million, and adjusted AOI of $253.1 million was down 11% (7% in constant currency). Concerts’ primary GTV was up 9%. Of the 78 million fee-bearing tickets, a number that was consistent with the first quarter of 2024, concert tickets were up 4% and accounted for 60% of volume. Non-concert tickets were down 9%.
Sponsorship revenue of $216.1 million was up 2% (9% at constant currency) while the division’s adjusted AOI of $136.0 million was up 5% (11% in constant currency). In the quarter, Live Nation secured new name-in-title sponsorships, including Citizens Live at The Wylie and Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park.
Foreign exchange affected AOI by 5% due to Live Nation’s exposure to the Mexican peso and other Latin American currencies. The company expects foreign exchange headwinds to result in low, single-digit impacts to revenue and AOI in the second quarter.
Alex Warren tops Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart in his first appearance, as “Ordinary” lifts 4-1 on the May 3-dated tally. “Ordinary” reigns with 21 million official U.S. streams earned in the week ending April 24, up 3%, according to Luminate. The song becomes the first No. 1 to rise to the top of the list, […]
