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“No No Girls,” the girls’ group audition project organized by CHANMINA and SKY-HI, leader of BMSG, will begin streaming on YouTube starting in October. In preparation for the launch, on Aug. 9, the audition project’s theme song, “NG,” was released as a digital single. With its dope music and grounded lyrics, it’s like a sister song to CHANMINA’s iconic song “Bijin.”
CHANMINA created quite a stir with her announcement that she had married Korean rapper ASH ISLAND and was an expectant mother, moving on to a new stage in her life. Billboard JAPAN recently had the opportunity to talk with her about what went into the creation of this new song and the audition project.
Congratulations on getting married! Is everything going well, health-wise?
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Thank you. I’m doing great. I appreciate everyone’s blessings. I’m doing just fine!
Around when the music video for “20” came out, a lot of people were suspecting that something was up, and your announcement right after that about getting married and being pregnant with your first child came as quite a surprise.
I thought about not mentioning anything about it, but I’ve never been a fan of hiding my private life, and I’ve always sung about my own life in my songs anyway.
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I’m interested to hear what you feel as you experience marriage, pregnancy, and childbirth. I’m sure there are insights that you can only reach through those experiences. I wouldn’t be surprised if your artistic output also changes.
I think that’ll probably happen. I can already feel it. For example, I’ve gotten back that thorniness I used to have. I lose my temper easily. I think that’s because the “womanly” part of me is taking a bit of a break, in a way. I’m not trying to be well-liked–I’m not hung up on other people’s feelings. I feel like I’m standing up and taking on the challenges I really need to as a person. That’s why this song came out the way it did. It’s been a while since I rapped.
Yes, I wanted to talk about that. So the changes in your personal life are also affecting your music?
I think so. I actually tend to rap a lot lately.
When did you start working on “NG”?
Actually, I started working on it back when I was making “Bijin.” I wrote about ten songs while I was perfecting “Bijin,” and “NG” was one of them. While I didn’t release it back then, I always liked it, so I kept it in my back pocket. It felt like a good match for this audition project, so I rewrote the lyrics, reworked the sound and the melody, and changed up the flow. Really, I finally finished the song by remaking it. It’s not like somebody asked me to make a theme song, but I thought it would be better if the project had one, and that this would be a good fit.
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Now that you mention it, it does feel very close in spirit to “Bijin.” Why didn’t you use this track originally for “Bijin”?
The beat was too hard, and I felt like I couldn’t fully handle it back then. It’s very unique, but also very minimal, and it really felt kind of scary. Plus, there were a lot of other things I wanted to do at the time. For example, I wanted to put in a melodic section. Now, I’m able to take on all those challenges, so I changed up a lot of parts, and this is how it turned out. JIGG, who I worked on the song with, was surprised at how the song evolved.
You said that you’re able to take on those challenges now. Why is that? Does it have to do with the changes in your personal life?
I think so. I don’t worry about the little things anymore. I’m no longer focused on “if I do this, then people will think about me that way.” That’s why the process of making “NG” was a rather fast one. I still can’t really explain the changes that happened in me very well, but what I can say is that I’m in fact changing. It’s like…I’ve become more solid.
Maybe it’s part of getting ready for motherhood.
Maybe. Until recently, I was more a “girl,” but now I’ve become more of a “woman”—more of an adult. I don’t focus so much on the little details. I’ve got bigger things to deal with now. So maybe that’s enabled me to focus on what I really need to do. “Bijin” was a struggle to write, but “NG” wasn’t at all. I knew what I wanted to say, so the whole song-writing process went more smoothly compared to the past.
The lyrics in the first half are about your experience with having your beauty denied.
I left those lyrics as-is from when I originally wrote them. “Bijin” alone wasn’t enough to finish the fight.
One of the things that gives the song such a distinctive CHANMINA feel is that it’s opposed to prejudice based on looks, but it doesn’t deny femininity.
I think you should be able to enjoy femininity. I think that beauty is the state of achieving your aesthetic ideals. So, of course, beauty will be different from person to person. For someone striving for femininity, that will be beauty. For someone who isn’t, then there will be some other kind of beauty.
And then in the second half of the song, you’re singing about human nature and attitude.
I don’t think true beauty is skin deep, but instead is achieved when outer beauty is paired with inner beauty. One of the lyrics is “Your ‘No’s didn’t kill me.” That’s about the responsibility that comes with being a person who lived on, without dying because of beauty. It has a strong sense of doing what you can.
The pronouns in the songs are also interesting. “Bijin” ends with you using “we,” which made quite an impression, but “NG” ends with you using “I.”
That’s another expression of that sense of responsibility. It’s the responsibility shown in saying “I’ll take the lead.”
I see. While the song is sung in the first person, with the lyrics sung from the position of “I,” I feel like it will resonate with anyone who has been told “No.” It will feel like “our song.” So even though you don’t use the word “we,” it expresses that collective “we.” On a wordsmanship level, it may even surpass “Bijin.”
Thank you. I feel like my lyrical skills are improving, little by little. For example, while the content of this song is hard, I don’t use the f-word even once. That’s something I’ve been trying to focus on in general.
So, I hear that this is your first interview since you announced your marriage and pregnancy. Is there anything you’d like to say to our readers?
I never expected for people to celebrate the news so much. There are so many people who have told me that they’re so happy, that it’s like they’re the ones who are getting married and becoming a mother. I’m so grateful for all the wishes, and I feel a profound sense of responsibility.
That just shows how much people are placing their hopes on you. You have to take good care of yourself.
I am. This isn’t just my own body anymore. I didn’t just feel that because of the baby inside me, but because of everyone’s reactions. I’m happy to have sung about my own life.
Right, you’re a part of everyone’s lives, now. You’ve got to live a long, happy life.
Thank you. I’ll do my best!
—This interview by Sotaro Yamada first appeared on Billboard Japan
None of this was promised for Travis Scott — from couch surfing in Los Angeles with rap dreams, to becoming the king of his hip-hop generation, with brand deals from Audemars Piguet to McDonald’s.
While he can look back on his 2014 fondly, there were definitely pockets of creative frustration at the time, when label executives didn’t trust La Flame’s futuristic vision — even after co-signs from the likes of Ye and Jay-Z.
Before the arrival of his debut album, Scott heated up with his second — and likely final — mixtape Days Before Rodeo. With the project celebrating its 10th anniversary earlier this week, and hitting streaming services for the first time, Trav took fans back to 2014 for one night only on Thursday (Aug. 22) inside the tight confines of Atlanta’s The Masquerade.
In collaboration with Cactus Jack and Spotify, the Days Before Rodeo concert served as a victory lap and blast from the past for La Flame, while some Gen-Z Ragers were introduced to the era. At the time, the music world didn’t understand the seismic shift that was about to take place between Scott’s mainstream explosion on the horizon, and Atlanta moving into the spotlight as America’s rap capital.
Fittingly, with Scott signed in part to T.I.’s Grand Hustle Records at the time (the deal has since expired, post-Astroworld), ATL heavily influenced the mixtape — with guest appearances by Migos, Young Thug, Peewee Longway, Rich Homie Quan and Tip (who doesn’t appear on the streaming services version).
The Houston native took The Masquerade stage around 11:30 pm ET following a brief set from Chase B where he was serenaded by the 1,000 lucky fans in attendance who formed plenty of sweaty mosh pits throughout the raucous show while rocking 10th anniversary DBR and Free Thugger merchandise in the intimate setting.
From the reckless “Mamacita” to the lucid “Drugs You Should Try It” and a Quavo appearance, Scott ran through just about the entire mixtape, before introducing tracks from the vault that didn’t make the original’s cut for the first time live.
If only the palpable energy could be bottled up forever — Trav didn’t want the show to stop there, as he continued to play the hits from his relentless discography to keep the rage going. Salute to La Flame for remembering all of his lyrics with ease too. Here are our eight favorite moments from the show.
Travis Gifts Fan Nikes Off His Feet
Jenny From the Block wants to go back to one. In a copy of her divorce filing from Ben Affleck filed on Tuesday (August 20) obtained by Billboard, Jennifer Lopez requested that her former name be restored. So, after two years as Jennifer Lynn Affleck, JLo asked the court to revert her name back to […]
She’s working late, ’cause she’s a singer — and if all goes well, a Broadway actress, too. On a new episode of Chicken Shop Date posted Friday (Aug. 23), Sabrina Carpenter addressed whether she’d ever return to the stage and talked all things espresso, Valentine’s Day and NSFW lyrics.
After conversing with the “Feather” singer about British people’s texting habits and the financial benefits of going on dates, host Amelia Dimoldenberg asked her guest a question that’s been on the minds of many fans since Carpenter’s run as Cady Heron in the Mean Girls stage production was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020: “Would you do Broadway again if the right opportunity came?”
“I would,” Carpenter replied with a shrug, smiling.
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Four years prior, Carpenter starred alongside Reneé Rapp’s Regina George in the Broadway adaptation of the 2004 movie, but she only got to do a couple performances before it closed down due to the global pandemic. She never did get to reprise her role in the production, as it didn’t reopen at the August Wilson Theatre, nor did she appear in the 2024 movie version of the musical, which Rapp led.
Throughout the interview with Dimoldenberg, Carpenter also shared what she did on Valentine’s Day this year — “I was given chocolate, and I ate it … that was my day” — although she didn’t specify whether she spent the holiday with boyfriend Barry Keoghan. She did, however, explain that she doesn’t fall in love as quickly anymore as she did when she was younger. “Now I fall in love a little more — I don’t want this to sound sad, but I just maybe fall in love with some more knowledge,” she said.
At the end of the video, Carpenter helped Dimoldenberg write an NSFW rhyme to the line, “Went to London ’cause I had a hot date,” in the style of her famous “Nonsense” outros. “I would’ve done something really crazy,” she said, “but I don’t think I can say it on camera.”
Covering her mouth, the Work It actress then whispered her idea: “Later I’m going to get my p—y ate.”
The cheeky interview arrives on the same day as Carpenter’s sixth studio album, Short n’ Sweet, which features hit single “Espresso” and Billboard Hot 100-topper “Please Please Please.” The star also unveiled a gory music video costarring Jenna Ortega, in which they channel the 1992 film Death Becomes Her and bond over killing a man they were previously fighting to the death over.
Speaking of “Espresso,” Carpenter addressed on Chicken Shop Date whether she actually enjoys sipping on the concentrated caffeinated beverage in real life. “I do — I just have to brave through them when I drink them,” she told Dimoldenberg. “It’s not like I like them because of how they taste — I like them because of how they make me feel.”
Watch Carpenter on Chicken Shop Date above.
They say you should never meet your heroes. Well, they never told Jelly Roll that, because in a new behind-the-scenes video posted on Thursday (August 22) the “Save Me” country star details the out-of-body experienced he had in June when he flew to Detroit to meet his hip-hop top dog: Eminem.
The five-and-a-half minute clip opens with Jelly on the phone telling someone that he’s on his way to meet Slim Shady as he speeds down the highway with a police escort. In the clip, Jelly explains that his early morning road trip came after he played two shows at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry the night before, a whiplash of back-to-back career pinnacles that are truly hard to comprehend.
“I am fixin’ to meet Eminem. To some degree one could say we’re going from the Grand Ole Opry to meet Eminem,” he says while riding in the backseat of an SUV and stating the obvious, but also possibly talking himself off a ledge of disbelief at his good fortune. He explains that the trip was sparked by Marshall tapping him to sing in a Bob Seger tribute as part of the NBC Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central special that aired in June featuring Diana Ross, Jack White, Big Sean, Eminem and others celebrating the re-opening of the city’s restored train station.
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In the prime-time show, Jelly took the stage with event co-producer Eminem for a duet on Em’s 2002 song “Sing For the Moment.”
“Forty-year-old Jason DeFord is losing his mind,” Jelly says using his birth name. “Because I know for sure that 15-year-old Jason DeFord would faint! This is unreal, it’s really cool” he adds, staring out the window and contemplating this surreal moment. He then breaks down the mechanics of rappers expanding their local or regional fame to larger areas while recalling his attempt to break into the game more than a decade ago.
“Guys like Eminem were proud to be from Detroit, Michigan because superstars don’t come out of Detroit, Michigan,” he says, rehearsing an a cappella run of Aerosmith’s “Dream On,” which is interpolated in the Eminem song the duo performed. “We’re in the middle of some insanely historical s–t.”
Walking into the station and taking the stage for rehearsals, the big moment when the two men finally meet comes about half-way through the video. After a friendly greeting, Jelly admits to Marshall that he’s been “a little nervous” all day about their meet-up, wondering if the rap god even knows who he is. “Nah, I’ve been knowing you for a minute,” says a low-key Slim Shady.
Later, Jelly says that moment — standing next to Eminem and taking some promo shots — was on his Mount Rushmore of personal high points, along with meeting Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton. “Where I literally stood next to somebody and was like ‘this is f–king wild!,’” he says before picking out his wardrobe for the performance and having a chill hang with fellow performer Melissa Etheridge backstage.
The video ends with footage of the epic, orchestra-assisted performance and Jelly on his way out of town marveling at what just happened while re-watching the whole thing on his phone as he speeds to his next gig.
Watch Jelly Roll’s Eminem meet cute video below.
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Tate McRae had two big surprises in store for the fans at her Madison Square Garden concert in New York City Thursday (Aug. 22): duetting with her boyfriend, fellow pop star The Kid Laroi, and premiering a new song.
When Laroi first joined his girlfriend on stage, he wrapped her in a big hug and prompted cheers from the audience by pulling her in for a kiss. The couple then sang an acoustic, stripped-back version of the Australian rapper-singer’s 2021 hit “Without You,” with McRae telling the crowd it was their “first time singing together,” according to People.
“You cut out a piece of me, and now I bleed internally/ Left here without you,” they sang, sitting next to each other on a set of steps. “And it hurts for me to think about what life could possibly be like/ Without you, without you.”
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At another point in the show — which comes midway through McRae’s Think Later World Tour — the Canadian singer-songwriter debuted a brand new track, a clip of which she posted on TikTok. “Premiered a new song at my headline sold out MSG show,” she wrote in text over the video, which finds her dancing along to the song’s outro as white confetti rains down on the stage floor.
She also shared a snippet of an unreleased song on TikTok, dancing along to its fierce lyrics with a group of friends. “It’s okay, I’m okay, I don’t really gotta say, it’s okay,” she sings on the dance tune. “You can have him anyway.”
“so good,” commented McRae’s pal Olivia Rodrigo.
The teaser comes nearly nine months after the “Greedy” artist dropped her album Think Later, which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. She has several months left to go on her global trek in support of the record, with shows scheduled through November.
Watch clips from McRae’s surprise-filled Madison Square Garden concert below.
Whether he’s working with Oscar winners like Natalie Portman on hit streaming series or teaming up with pop icons like Beyoncé for bombastic comeback performances, composer and songwriter Marcus Norris enters every space with his entire self. And his understanding of himself is intrinsically tied to the vast expanse of Blackness.
Hailing from Jackson, MI — just outside Detroit – and having spent some years in both Chicago and Los Angeles, Norris honed his musical ear and compositional style in three key hubs of Black American music history. Hip-hop is his foundation, with FruityLoops providing him his first entry point into music production. The spirit of the genre courses through all of his projects, from the funky grit of his Southside Symphony to the ominous swagger of his work on Apple TV’s latest hit drama, Lady in the Lake.
Starring Portman, Emmy nominee Moses Ingram, Noah Jupe, Y’lan Noel, Wood Harris and David Corenswet, Lady in the Lake follows an investigative journalist (Portman) who leaves her abusive husband to solve the mystery of two separate murders that cause her to cross paths with a young woman working to advance Baltimore’s Black community (Ingram). Set in the 1960s, earthy jazz chords and echoes of the blues reverberate across his score, adding both gravity and levity to the series’ plot whenever necessary.
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Television is a new medium for Norris, but he approaches Lady in the Lake with the same consideration and verve that he brings to live concert orchestrations, like his work with WACO Theater’s annual Wearable Art Gala and Beyoncé’s 2023 Dubai performance. Often his work must balance joy with pain and pride with solemn self-reflection, and it’s a feat that he enjoys pulling off time and time again.
“Complex emotions and music aren’t difficult, because that’s how people work,” Norris says. “You’re never just one emotion. That’s just the way the human experience is. It’s never hard to translate that through music because that’s how our brains work.”
Billboard caught up with Norris to break down his Lady in the Lake score, his favorite rap beats and producers of the year, and how he helped Beyoncé’s stunning Dubai performance come to life.
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You started out producing rap beats on pirated software. What was the software you were using? Were you simply trying to recreate beats that you loved or were you already creating original pieces?
It was called FruityLoops at the time, [but] they rebranded to FL Studio. I was doing both original [beats] and trying to recreate things. It was kind of like a diary for me. I was just making beats and I wasn’t even showing anybody for a year or two. It was my way of processing things.
If I liked something, I would try to recreate it in FruityLoops to try to figure out how they made those sounds. How did how did Dr. Dre get his drums to sound like that? How did Lil Jon get his sounds to sound like that? I tell all the young producers, “We didn’t have YouTube tutorials back then, you had to just mess with things until you figured it out.”
What were you listening to when you were growing up?
My mom is a huge Mary J. Blige fan. I loved Dr. Dre, Tupac, West Coast G-funk. I lived in the South for a year, so UGK too.
Do you return to any of those touchpoints when you’re crafting new compositions?
100%. One of my mentors once told me that you are a synthesis of everything that you listen to. I absorb everything and then it kind of comes out as hopefully one cohesive language.
How did you transition into concert composition?
I grew up low income, so I had to piece together all of my early starts to music that we were talking about. I didn’t plan to go to college, but after high school, they gave us a two-year free scholarship to a community college. I scoured the Internet and found one that had anything related to music recording. While I was there, I went to Schoolcraft College in Livonia, MI, outside of Detroit.
While I was there, they made me take music theory and music history. I was exposed to whole styles of music that I had never really been exposed to before. I was bit by the bug I started, [and] studying every piece of music theory I could find, learning more about history and how to write and listen to music. When I was moving to Chicago, I was originally going to go for audio production, but at the last minute, I decided to go for composition, and I just kept doing it ever since.
Did you have any film or TV compositions that have stuck over the years?
When I was a kid, I would say the old Alice in Wonderland. There’s just constant music. I think it has the most musical numbers in any Disney film. And also The Nightmare Before Christmas with Danny Elfman. I would just watch those back-to-back. I know my mom was sick of it. [Laughs.]
What made you say yes to Lady in the Lake?
[Director] Alma [Ha’rel] and how specific her vision was. I always say I’m interested in the interesting and it’s such an interesting project. Sometimes in modern TV, music has to be very, very background. I joke that music has to be like wallpaper on some things where you don’t quite notice it, but Alma didn’t want that from the jump. She wanted something that was going to be interesting, and she kept using [the word] “iconic.” I’m attracted to these musical puzzles where there are very specific considerations that you have to balance.
The show is set in 1960s Baltimore. What artists and records did you use as reference points for that era?
A lot of Nina Simone. I think Cab Calloway is the best performer of all time. I model what I do with Southside Symphony a lot after Cab Calloway. Alma came to me with Nina Simone and talked about her a lot, so I knew that was a touchpoint for it.
When it comes to creating that eerie ambiance, are there any musical hallmarks you shy away from because they might be too cliché?
I just go on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes you can do a familiar thing in an unfamiliar context and that kind of helps. I think when you’re doing the same thing in the same way, that’s when it [becomes] an issue.
For this score specifically, we did try some weird things. We took a trumpet and put it underwater and that was cool. A lot of the sounds that people hear are actually familiar, like breathing or whistling. Usually, you might whistle a happy tune or something, but here it’s kind of creepy.
Ms. Tina Knowles selected you to music direct the 2022 Wearable Art Gala. What was that experience like, especially working with artists like Chloe x Halle and Andra Day?
It was amazing. Ms. Tina is another visionary. It was inspiring to help her bring that vision to life, and I’ve been working with the WACO theater family for some years. I was honored to have the chance to do this on the biggest thing that they had done at [the] time. Working with Chloe x Halle was amazing, [likewise with] Andra Day and Adrienne Warren.
You also got a chance to work with Beyoncé herself for her 2023 Dubai performance. If there were any challenges, what were the biggest ones with bringing that particular set to life?
Just the timing and how quick the turnaround is, but I’ve noticed that that’s all of the music industry. That’s the film and TV industry too, that’s just what being a professional is. It was a very quick turnaround.
Funnily enough, I didn’t actually get to go to Dubai! I did some work for them before they went over there, but the reason I couldn’t go to Dubai was because we were recording the Southside Symphony live mixtape at the same at Ms. Tina’s theater, and she had set it up for us. If it was any other thing in the world, I would have quit and [gone] to Dubai. But it’s like… her mom’s totally gonna know!
What specific orchestrations did you contribute to?
One that was really inspiring for me and kind of a full-circle moment was the arrangement I did for Schubert’s “Ave Maria.” In the [late] 2000s, she did a remix of “Ave Maria,” but she actually did Schubert’s “Ave Maria” in Dubai. I remember thinking, “What an amazing artist.” She’s doing this just to show you she can do it. She doesn’t have to do this, [she’s] already Beyoncé and could take her victory lap. But she’s still pushing it further.
As somebody who draws from so many influences, being able to orchestrate Schubert’s “Ave Maria” for Beyoncé just felt like I was in the right place at the right time. It was a Slumdog Millionaire moment for me.
When did you start working on the Dubai set?
I think [I started] in January of 2023. I was back in the Midwest for the holidays and at the same time, I’m finishing my PhD. I still had to do my defense, so I’m not even done with school. I was getting ready for the live mixtape recording and another film, and Ms. Tina called me directly and said, “Marcus, what are you up to these days?” Knowing all these things that I have going on, I just flat out lied like, “Nothing!” She’s like, “Beyoncé is working on this project and I told her I just really think she needs you on that.” She asked me if I would be interested, and I was like, “Of course!”
My part was very short. I got to sprinkle some things on top and I was just so honored to be a part of such an exciting and inspiring experience.
When did you first start working with Ms. Tina on the Wearable Art Gala?
I’ve been scoring plays at the WACO theater in North Hollywood since 2018. I remember the first time I talked with Miss Tina, we did the very first Southside Symphony concert there in 2020.
The first time I spoke with her more directly was about a little play [the theater] did. I loved working on it, we worked on the music for weeks and weeks. She came up to me afterward – this was when she didn’t direct, she just did the costumes or something for it – and she was like, “I just want you to know they did this play a few years ago, and it wasn’t as good without you.” I just remember thinking, “Ms. Tina, do you know who your children are?” [Laughs]. You can’t say that to people, it’s going to go to my head! At this point, the whole WACO theater is really like family.
What was the biggest challenge for you in composing a TV series versus a concert? What’s one upside that you weren’t anticipating?
I think the biggest challenge on a brand new TV series is that you’re still figuring out what the thing is. The composer’s job is to balance all of these different viewpoints and find a way to make them singular. There are studios, the director, writers, producers, and my musicians and engineers, and all of these different elements. I have to hear all of those and then put them into one singular idea versus the concert I just say, “Hey, this is going to sound great.” Bam, thumbs up.
Every composer who makes it to this point is really good at making music, that’s the easy part. It’s more about how you navigate all of these different personalities. And that’s also the upside, working in that collaborative way. Hopefully, when it goes well, it’s bigger than the sum of its parts. I definitely feel like I got a good workout on that muscle, and I’m excited to do more.
Who are your favorite rap producers or your favorite beats you’ve heard this year? Who are your favorite composers across mediums from this year?
I think Tay Keith has never made a bad beat. I really like Tricky Stewart, even though he’s R&B. I’m a big fan of him and The-Dream, those are some of my dream collaborators. I think they make timeless music. Bryan-Michael Cox is another R&B one. I love the “Euphoria” beat from Kendrick [Lamar]. It goes on these different journeys. My dream is to play “Euphoria” with Southside Symphony just for L.A.
For composers across the board, John Williams is our God. I really like Bernard Herrmann, I feel like I’m very influenced by him as far as my scores go. [Maurice] Ravel is probably one of my favorite orchestrators, I think he’s just a master. I kind of go through these phases where I’m obsessed with a composer or a genre, and I spend a lot of time with it. Right now I’m in a Rimsky-Korsakov phase. I said that Cab Calloway is my favorite performer of all time, a very close second is James Brown. I’ve been listening to Soul on Top right now, those horns are just magic.
Alex Gaskarth is celebrating 20 years with his band, All Time Low, with the release of The Forever Sessions, Vol. 1, featuring re-recorded versions of some of their biggest hits. The rocker sat down with Billboard‘s Rania Aniftos to discuss the inspiration behind the project. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest […]
Taylor Swift gave shout-outs to two of her friends Friday (Aug. 23), praising both Sabrina Carpenter‘s new album Short n’ Sweet as well as Zoë Kravitz‘s film Blink Twice on Instagram Stories.
Of her former Eras tour mate, the pop superstar wrote: “Short. Sweet. Has made an extraordinary album.”
Sharing a photo of her posing with Carpenter at a Kansas City Chiefs game in October, Swift also gave followers a call to action. “Go support our girl!!” she wrote.
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The “Espresso” singer dropped her sixth studio album Friday, featuring the Billboard Hot 100-topping hit “Please Please Please” and new single “Taste,” for which she also offered a music video costarring Jenna Ortega. The project comes more than five months after Carpenter concluded her run as Swift’s opener on the Eras Tour’s Latin American, Asian and Australian dates.
Reposting Swift’s praise on her own Story, the Girl Meets World alum simply wrote, “:’) ily.”
Also on Instagram, the “Anti-Hero” artist raved about Blink Twice, Kravitz’s directorial debut starring the Batman star’s fiancé, actor Channing Tatum. “This film is incredible,” Swift wrote, sharing the psychological thriller’s poster. “Thrilling, twisted, wickedly funny, and visually stunning. The performances are phenomenal.”
“Zoe Kravitz conceptualized this, wrote it, obsessed over every detail, and directed it with such a clear and bold vision,” Swift continued of her friend. “I’m so blown away by what she’s accomplished here and I can’t wait to watch everyone discover this film and this brilliant filmmaker.”
The 14-time Grammy winner’s post comes a few days after Tatum shared a sweet video of his and Kravitz’s date night at one of Swift’s Wembley Eras Tour shows. “The love is real and @taylorswift13 is an absolute force!” he captioned the clip, which showed him kissing the actress on the cheek as she danced along to “Shake It Off.”
Swift and Kravitz have been close friends for years, and even collaborated on the former’s Midnights track “Lavender Haze.” In 2022, the Divergent alum told GQ that she and the “Karma” artist were in each other’s quarantine pods, with Swift telling the publication: “Zoë’s sense of self is what makes her such an exciting artist, and such an incredible friend. She has this very honest inner compass, and the result is art and life without compromising who she is.”
If there’s one thing Mötley Crüe mastered in their hair metal heyday it was fighting for the right to party. But on the veteran band’s new single, they steal a page from another famously hard-partying crew from the 1980s: the Beastie Boys. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and […]
