Music

27 Oct 2025

Drake Delivers a Surprise Performance at Vybz Kartel’s First-Ever Show in Toronto

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Drake made a surprise appearance at Vybz Kartel’s first Toronto show ever on Sunday night (Oct. 26). According to fan-captured videos, 6 God popped out to give the dancehall icon his flowers and then proceeded to perform an eight-track set for the thousands in attendance at a sold-out Scotiabank Arena.

“Look at all these people right here, how much we’ve spent with this man’s music right here. I used to hand out flyers outside of a club called Escape just to go inside to the club and listen to your tunes,” Drizzy recalled. “So one more time, please as a city, as a family make some motherf—king noise.”

The 6 God kept the vibes going after asking for permission to run through some hits. He performed a plethora of wide-ranging hits from a balcony in the lower bowl that included “Controlla,” “Which One,” “Hold On We’re Going Home,” “One Dance,” “Rich Baby Daddy,” “Signs,” “Hotline Bling” and “Nokia.”

Sunday was the first of three Vybz Kartel concerts presented by OVO, which marks his first time performing north of the border. The Worl’ Boss will return to the stage on Monday (Oct. 27) and Thursday (Oct. 30).

Vybz Kartel and Drake previously linked up over the summer when they hit the stage together overseas at Wireless Festival in London.

Drizzy’s 39th birthday was on Oct. 24, and he celebrated with a trip to the Bahamas, which saw him alongside plenty of friends and family. He also collected six diamond plaques from the RIAA, adding to his loaded trophy case.

For Drake fans, it’s now all eyes on Iceman, which remains without a release date.

Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, visit the event’s website.

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27 Oct 2025

Reuben Vincent & 9th Wonder Drop Heartwarming ‘Just 4 Me’ Video Featuring Ryan Witherspoon, Angie Martinez

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Reuben Vincent and 9th Wonder have dropped off their new music video for “Just 4 Me,” which appears on their new collaborative album Welcome Home, released Oct. 24.

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The North Carolina rapper’s nostalgic visual arrived on Monday (Oct. 27), and features Reuben and R&B singer Ryan Witherspoon pursuing some love interests on a relaxing day in New York. Traversing quaint New York street corners and rooftops, Vincent serenades his girl with playful bars about love, commitment and the important building blocks of a good relationship. Radio personality Angie Martinez also makes a cameo in the video, introducing the track.

“Welcome Home is me coming full circle,” Vincent tells Billboard of his new album. “It’s about returning to the place that raised me — mentally, spiritually and musically — but with everything I’ve learned from chasing my dreams. It’s the most honest I’ve ever been, the first time I stopped running from my own truth. This album is me facing myself, embracing growth and realizing that home was never just a place — it was a feeling I had to find within.”

The new video comes after 9th and Vincent dropped off their 16-track collaborative LP, Welcome Home. The pair’s album includes features from Wale, Ab-Soul, Raphael Saadiq, Kelly Moonstone, Heather Victoria, Raheem DeVaughn and more. Reuben had previously released his albums General Admission and Love Is War in 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Check out the new music video for Reuben Vincent and 9th Wonder’s “Just 4 Me” below.

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27 Oct 2025

Megan Thee Stallion Claims Her Haters Are ‘Getting Paid’ to Criticize Her: ‘These Are Bots’

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Megan Thee Stallion claims a lot of her biggest haters online are “bots” that are getting paid to troll her.

On Sunday (Oct. 26), Megan hopped on Instagram Live to issue a quick PSA to her followers and supporters in the wake of her dropping off her new single, “Lover Girl.”

“When I do peep online and see what y’all doing, I feel like y’all get so easily riled up and easily discouraged when y’all know people get paid to talk crazy about me,” Meg began. “Like, don’t it seem a little weird like how overwhelming a lot of Megan Thee Stallion hate seem? Like, it don’t seem right, do it?”

She continued, “It’s not, because people are getting paid to do this. These are bots, these are paid people. Like, if you scroll through some of these people’s tweets, it be a man that’s been tweeting about sports for eight years. Now all of a sudden, he just hate Megan Thee Stallion. These people are getting paid to do this. Stop listening to them. B—h, they time up … What is there even to hate on? I don’t be doing that. I’ll be in the house with my man [Klay Thompson], with my dogs, watching anime, at the studio.”

Meg’s new song shows how loved up she is when it comes to Thompson, who plays guard for the Dallas Mavericks. She raps on the track: “I had to lock in when I found out he could handle me (Yeah)/ Some n—as call me extra (OK), my n—a call me precious (Yeah)/ This s–t be easy when you find somebody on your level (Come on)/ My n—a say, ‘My lady,’ he never say, ‘My b—h.’”

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27 Oct 2025

R&B/Hip-Hop Fresh Picks of the Week: Halle, Shenseea, A$AP Twelvyy, Samara Cyn & More

Listen to new must-hear songs from emerging R&B/hip-hop artists like The BLK LT$ and María Isabel.

10/27/2025

Shenseea - BOSS UP — Shenseea – BOSS UP

Courtesy

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R&B’s banner year continues!

After scoring two of the genre’s buzziest current hits with “Mutt” and “Folded,” respectively, Leon Thomas and Kehlani both launched new EPs to maintain their momentum. While Thomas enlisted Issa Rae, Lovie Simone and 4Batz to build out PHOLKS, a funk-rock seven-song EP, Kehlani tapped six late ’90s and early ’00s R&B stars for her Folded Homage Pack EP. Brandy, Toni Braxton, Jojo, Ne-Yo, Mario and Tank each delivered their own spin on Kehlani’s smash, helping breathe new life into the Rhythmic Airplay chart-topper.

Elsewhere in the world of R&B, several artists dropped new albums, including Miguel (CAOS), Daniel Caesar (Son of Spergy) and Halle (Love?… Or Something Like It). Last week, the Little Mermaid star stopped by Billboard’s Takes Us Out series for a conversation about her debut solo album over a few vegan bites. On the rap side, we also got new albums from Dave (The Boy Who Played the Harp), Cupcakke (The Bakkery) and The Alchemist & Hit-Boy (Goldfish).

Of course, arguably the biggest hip-hop music moment of the week belonged to Megan Thee Stallion. On Friday (Oct. 24), the Houston rapper finally shared her long-teased, Total-sampling “Lover Girl,” which evolved from a beat produced by TikTok creator @jacobdior.

With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from an unofficial Chloe x Halle reunion to Shenseea’s catchy flip of a Blu Cantrell classic. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.

Freshest Find: Halle feat. Chlöe, “So I Can Feel Again”

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When Halle told Billboard that Beyoncé was “obsessed with hearing [her and Chlöe’s] voices [together] again,” she alluded to a sentiment many longtime fans are familiar with. And once the final note of “So I Can Feel Again” plays, it’s clear Queen Bey’s excitement at the prospect was for good reason. Built around moody 808s and a solemn melody that recalls a more downcast companion to 2018’s “Happy Without Me,” the sister duo unofficially reunite (they’re both credited under their solo monikers) to wax poetic about their shared fear of abandonment. “I know that I just wanna run away/ And I’ll be begging you to stay/ So I can feel again,” they harmonize on the final chorus, delivering the kind of moving, technically astounding vocal performances that they first captivated the world with nearly a decade ago. — KYLE DENIS
The BLK LT$ & RZA, “Thug Cry”

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36 Chambers signee The BLK LT$ (The Black Lotus) delivered her Honey: The BLK LT$ Meets the Killa Beez project last week, and the rap-R&B hybrid teamed up with her mentor, RZA, for the pensive “Thug Cry.” The Toronto-born artist blends silky vocals with blistering rhymes on the track, which sets the backdrop for RZA to invade the stripped-down production, allowing him to reflect and lean into his vivid storytelling. — MICHAEL SAPONARA
A$AP Twelvyy, “The Bark”

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Twelvyy continues to be one of the more consistent members of the A$AP Mob. Last week, he dropped off this smooth track over a soul sample courtesy of producer Zoomo just in time for cozy season. And he’s talking that fly s—t like hanging out with French models in Bordeaux to try to check out the Greenwich meridian. — A.D.
Shenseea, “Boss Up”

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For her third solo single of 2025, Shenseea turns self-love into a movement with “Boss Up,” a fiery flip of Blu Cantrell’s classic “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!).” Co-written by Shenseea, Kaylan Arnold and co-producers Alex Goldblatt and Khristopher Riddick-Tynes, “Boss Up” pairs slick dancehall vocal inflections with Shenseea’s signature affirmations. “Don’t let him come back around/ Stack ya paper, get ya weight up/ Tell that n—a see ya later, boss up,” she proclaims at the end of the third verse. By the final verse, she flips every breakup cliché on its head, turning heartbreak into motivation. “Boss Up” isn’t just a track, it’s a reminder that peace and power look best when you choose yourself first. — C.C.
Tiana Major9 & Yebba, “Always”

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Following the swaggering “Shook One,” Tiana Major9 returns with a new Yebba duet titled “Always.” Tailor-made for the fall time, the new single finds the two vocalists working through the conclusion of a relationship that, at one point, felt like it would last forever. “I wonder if we think the same way, always/ What if we had one more chance for the old days?/ You don’t want ’til you want what you got, then it’s gone/ I replay the ending in all ways, always,” Tiana belts in the final chorus, dialing up the drama in her vocal performance to match the song’s lyrical stakes. Serving as the latest taste from her forthcoming debut album, Novembr Scorpio, “Always” is another home run for Tiana Major9. — K.D.
Samara Cyn, “Vitamins N Minerals”

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The overwhelming reception to an early version of “Vitamins N Minerals” inspired Samara Cyn to polish the track, throw a second verse on top of Ovrkast’s laid-back production, and upload it to streaming services last week. Cyn shows off her lyrical dexterity with ease, weaving in various vitamin-and-supplement references while getting candid about life. A lyrical exercise filled with hard-hitting bars and health tips, Cyn’s winning streak continues to close out 2025. — M.S.
María Isabel, “Bien Bien”

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After a brief hiatus, María Isabel is back, and she’s singing in Spanish. The Queens native recently dropped two singles in “Sunset Tower” and this subtle banger about missing that special someone while also wanting to fill that void with a night of sinful partying. It’s all good if you don’t quite understand Spanish; you can still catch a vibe, and you can also include this in your curriculum as you study up for Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance. María is gearing up to drop a tape next Spring or at least that’s the word in the street. Be sure to check out the rest of the Dominican singer’s catalog until then. I would start with 2021’s Stuck in the Sky and I Hope You’re Very Unhappy Without Me (those are mostly in English). — ANGEL DIAZ
Queen Naija & Mariah the Scientist, “My Man…”

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Queen Naija ushers in a new era with her 30 EP, her first under Motown Records, and the Mariah the Scientist-assisted “My Man” is one of its standout moments. A sleek, self-assured anthem celebrating love and loyalty, the Camper-produced track finds Queen blending velvety vocals and lush production into a celebration of devotion without submission. She opens with her classic ride-or-die energy, while Mariah adds a dreamy counterpoint, admitting she’s unexpectedly caught up. Together, they craft a record that’s equal parts romantic and empowered, the sound of two women claiming love on their own terms. — CHRISTOPHER CLAXTON

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27 Oct 2025

Kevin Jonas Finally Announces Release Date For His Debut Solo Single, ‘Changing’

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Two decades into their career Kevin Jonas is finally ready to break free. The 37-year-old eldest Jonas Brothers member announced the release date for his first-ever solo track on Sunday night (Oct. 26). The news came during the JoBros’ Samsung TV Plus livestream from Orlando as part of their ongoing JONAS20: Greetings From Your Hometown tour, during which the band was joined by special guests Khalid, Sebastian Yatra and Moana star Auli’i Cravalho and Kevin revealed that his solo debut, “Changing,” will officially drop on Nov. 20.

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According to a release, the song Kevin has been previewing on the tour was produced by Mark Schick and Jason Evigan. Fan footage of an August show at Fenway Park found Kevin admitting, “I’m super nervous, so bear with me,” before leaning into the ballad’s Bee Gees-like falsetto chorus, “Maybe I’m jaded/ Maybe I’m chasin’ the highs to escape/ So, I keep changing/ I, I keep changing.”

On Sunday night, Kevin posted a video from the cover shoot for the “Changing” single. “I can’t believe I can actually say that,” Jonas said of his excitement about finally stepping out on his own. In the ensuing shots, Jonas poses for the pics wearing a black tank top and matching jeans with a blue button-down and a five o’clock shadow beard. In another angle on the “super nervous” clip, Kevin’s wife, Danielle, is seen in the audience freaking out and getting teary eyed over her hubby playing his debut solo track in concert, later dialing up their daughters to share the familial screams of delight.

While Kevin started out pop rocking with his younger brothers Nick and Joe in 2005, the group’s members began to venture out by 2011, with Joe releasing his debut solo album, Fastlife, and Nick hitting the road with his side project, Nick Jonas & the Administration, that year. Just two years later they went their separate ways in 2013 after canceling more than two dozen dates citing “creative differences.”

They were back together by 2019 with the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 smash “Sucker,” and have since released three more albums, 2019’s Happiness Begins, 2023’s The Album and this year’s Greetings From Your Hometown. While Kevin has kept things in the family to date, Nick Jonas has appeared in nearly a dozen films and released four solo albums to date, as well as 2010’s Who I Am with the Administration. Joe has released the solo efforts Fastlife and 2025’s Music for People Who Believe in Love, as well as the self-titled 2016 debut from his dance pop side project DNCE, hitting No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 with their 2015 single “Cake By the Ocean.”

The JoBros’ 20th anniversary tour will hit Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on Tuesday night (Oct. 28).

Check out a video preview of “Changing” here.

27 Oct 2025

Sabrina Carpenter Arrests Anne Hathaway at NYC Show ‘for Being the Most Perfect Princess in the World’

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Sabrina Carpenter kicked off her sold-out five-show run at NYC’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday night (Oct. 26), and the singer added to her star-studded list of “Juno” girls by arresting actress Anne Hathaway.

“It’s a crime to be this gorgeous. Hello, what’s your name? You’re Anne, wow! I just don’t know what to do when I see a face like this,” Carpenter said to Hathaway, who was on the MSG jumbotron in a black top and navy jeans.

Hathaway played into her Princess Diaries role as she told the pop star she made the trip from Genovia to MSG.

“Has anyone ever told you you look like a princess? I’m in the presence of a princess, I’m getting so flustered,” Carpenter replied in fan-captured videos. “Anne, can I arrest you for being the most perfect princess in the world?”

Before performing “Juno,” Carpenter handed over the pink handcuffs to Hathaway. “This one’s for Anne, everybody,” the pop star said.

Hathaway is the latest star to be arrested by the singer. Previous Juno girls include Gigi Hadid, Millie Bobby Brown, Margaret Qualley and Emma Bunton.

The Devil Wears Prada actress is a Madison Square Garden mainstay, typically attending New York Knicks games, so it’s no surprise to see her pull up to Carpenter’s Garden show.

Sabrina is going to be in a New York state of mind this week, as she’ll return to the MSG stage four more times for the final leg of the Short n’ Sweet Tour, which will include NYC shows on Halloween and a final concert on Nov. 1.

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27 Oct 2025

Taylor Swift’s ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ Leads Hot 100 for Third Week, Olivia Dean & Leon Thomas Hit Top 10

Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” crowns the Billboard Hot 100 for a third week.

The superstar’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, concurrently adds a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, following its modern-era-record debut with 4.002 million equivalent album units two weeks earlier.

Thanks to the set and the song, Swift makes more history. Two weeks ago, she logged the 17th instance of an artist launching atop the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 simultaneously. It marked the record seventh time that she earned the honor (which she inaugurated in August 2020 with Folklore and “Cardigan”). In only two of the first 16 such double debuts, an album and song tallied a second consecutive week atop the charts — both by Swift, via Midnights and “Anti-Hero” in 2022 and The Tortured Poets Department and “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone, in 2024.

Now, The Life of a Showgirl and “The Fate of Ophelia” make for the first occurrence of an artist debuting atop the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 side-by-side and both titles maintaining their respective commands for their first three weeks.

Meanwhile, two acts earn their first Hot 100 top 10s: Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” bounds 17-8 and Leon Thomas’ “Mutt” charges 18-10.

Check out the full rundown of this week’s Hot 100 top 10 below.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated Nov. 1, 2025) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, Oct. 28. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram. Plus, for all chart rules and explanations, click here.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

‘Ophelia’ Streams, Airplay & Sales

“The Fate of Ophelia,” Swift’s 13th career Hot 100 No. 1, drew 33.6 million official streams (down 31%) and 49.4 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 17%) and sold 6,000 (down 42%) in the United States Oct. 17-23.

The single secures a third week at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart and a second week atop Digital Song Sales and holds at its No. 5 high on Radio Songs.
Swift & ‘Showgirl’: Four in Top 10
Swift scores four songs in the top 10 of the latest Hot 100, all from The Life of a Showgirl, following her eight top 10s a week ago and all 10 songs in the region the week before:
- No. 1 this week, “The Fate of Ophelia” (No. 1 last week)
- No. 4, “Opalite” (No. 2 last week/peak)
- No. 5, “Elizabeth Taylor” (No. 5 last week/No. 3 peak)
- No. 6, “Father Figure” (No. 6 last week/No. 4 peak)
Swift achieves her record-breaking seventh career week with at least four of the Hot 100’s top 10 (all since 2022), one-upping Drake (six, 2018-23). Kendrick Lamar (2022-25) and The Beatles (1964) follow with five such weeks each.
‘Man’ Up: Dean Reaches Top 10

Image Credit: Lola Mansell

Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” surges 17-8 on the Hot 100 (besting its prior No. 12 peak). The song drew 14.3 million streams (up 1%) and 17 million in airplay audience (up 36%) in the tracking week.

The track became the English singer-songwriter’s first Hot 100 hit in September and topped the Official UK Singles chart for a week earlier in October.

“Every day, I’m being told a new stat,” Dean recently said to Billboard with a chuckle. “I’ve been putting out music for quite a long time, so it’s a bit of a new world for me.”
‘Mutt’ Fetches Thomas’ First Top 10

Image Credit: Austin Hargrave

Leon Thomas’ “Mutt” sprints 18-10 on the Hot 100 (after reaching a previous No. 11 high), with 7 million streams (up 2%) and 59.7 million in radio reach (up 1%).

With “Mutt,” Thomas unleashes the third-longest trip to the Hot 100’s top 10 — 38 chart weeks — in the list’s 67-year history (tying three other titles). The only hits to complete longer journeys: Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” (42 weeks, 2021) and Bailey Zimmerman’s “Rock and a Hard Place” (41 weeks, 2022-23).

While Thomas earns his first Hot 100 top 10 as a recording artist, “Mutt” is his fourth as a writer and producer. He earned his first three top 10s in the latter two fields via Drake’s “In the Bible,” featuring Lil Durk and Givēon (No. 7, 2021), and “Love All,” featuring Jay-Z (No. 10, 2021), and SZA’s “Snooze” (No. 2, 2023).

“Mutt” rules the multimetric Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for an 11th week and Hot R&B Songs for a 28th week.
Rest of Top 10: ‘Golden’ & More

Elsewhere in the Hot 100’s top 10, HUNTR/X’s “Golden,” from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, rises 3-2, following eight weeks at No. 1 beginning in August.

Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” which led the Hot 100 for 10 weeks starting in May, pushes 4-3, while topping Radio Songs for a 19th week, up 1% to 79 million in audience — a new weekly best for the track.

Plus, Justin Bieber’s “Daisies” jumps 15-7 on the Hot 100, after hitting No. 2, and Morgan Wallen’s “I Got Better” climbs 16-9, after reaching No. 7. The latter leads the multimetric Hot Country Songs chart for a third week.

27 Oct 2025

BLACKPINK Choreographer Reveals Which ‘Iconic’ Act Almost Made a Cameo at Band’s Coachella Set

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On stage, the four ladies of BLACKPINK make their intricate, dynamic dance moves look effortless. But in reality, it takes a lot of work to bring to life the vision of choreographers such as Kiel Tutin, who recently broke down some of the most iconic numbers he’s crafted for the girl group.

In a video for Page Six published Monday (Oct. 27), Tutin shared insight into how everything from BLACKPINK’s iconic “Pink Venom” routine to the foursome’s headlining Coachella set in 2023 came to be. Of the former — which would earn members ROSÉ, LISA, JISOO and JENNIE the VMA for best choreography — the instructor explained that he thinks the group’s memorable dance for the 2022 single helped propel them to new heights (thanks in part to a particular pop superstar).

“The girls performed [‘Pink Venom’] at the VMAs, Taylor Swift was dancing to it, and it was on her playlists for her shows,” Tutin said of the number. “It was a really big hit, and probably, hopefully led to us being the contender for headliner at Coachella.”

Indeed, “Pink Venom” was a huge success for the quartet, with the track reaching No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100. When it came time for BLACKPINK to make history as the first K-pop act to ever headline Coachella, Tutin came aboard as creative director as well as choreographer.

“I’m a huge, huge girl group fan,” he gushed in the video. “My first love was the Spice Girls, and then my second love — and ultimately my biggest love — is a U.K. girl group called Girls Aloud.”

The latter band’s “iconic” number featuring feather fans at the 2009 BRIT Awards would inspire the creative direction of BLACKPINK’s performance of “Typa Girl” in the desert. Meanwhile, Tutin and his team considered tapping the former to make a cameo during the headlining set, he revealed.

“We did explore the idea of guest acts,” Tutin told the outlet. “I only wanted to explore that if it was someone equally as iconic. Something we definitely explored looking into was the Spice Girls. [It] would have been epic, but ultimately we decided that BLACKPINK didn’t need any guest act, and they could hold down the stage by themselves.”

Throughout the video, Tutin praised the band’s work ethic, revealing that ROSÉ, LISA, JISOO and JENNIE had only three to five days to rehearse for Coachella. Two years later, the group is currently on tour after taking a short break to pursue solo projects. BLACKPINK’s next stop is set for Nov. 1 in Jakarta.

Watch Tutin break down his work with BLACKPINK below.

27 Oct 2025

Sales From the Crypt: Halloween Smashes on Billboard Charts Over the Decades

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Christmas music decks the halls of the Billboard Holiday 100 at the end of every year, but some creepy cuts lurk around the October charts as well. And make no bones about it: If you create a monster hit in the lab, it may come back to haunt the hit parade every fall. For years, Billboard has tracked the graveyard smashes, thriller nights and legal nightmares that have sunk their teeth into the KILLboard Rot 100.

‘Monster’ Hit

After the novelty single “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers began getting radio play in Boston, the Sept. 29, 1962, Billboard reported that “Boris, Igor and the other bloodsuckers” were clawing their way up the charts. A week later, Billboard profiled Pickett, calling the Army veteran and stage comedian a “versatile lad” who “still holds on to his ambition to be an actor.” On the same page ran a feature about another new act: The Beach Boys. Pickett’s song hit No. 1 by the end of the month — a feat that took the surfin’ slackers another two years.

License to Thrill-er

“The video has a ghoulish theme,” warned the Dec. 3, 1983, Billboard of Michael Jackson’s zombie-filled video for “Thriller,” “but it is brightened by clever plot twists.” The article explained why the video opens with a title card disavowing any “belief in the occult”: Jackson’s discomfort with the video’s imagery, “one reason he avoided a Halloween tie-in.” He didn’t need one. The Dec. 24 issue said the video “shipped a reported 100,000 units — the highest initial shipment in history for an original non-theatrical video.”

Giving Up the Ghost

“It’s the ‘bad boy’ at his most playful in a call-and-response dance-rocker from the film of the same name,” the June 9, 1984, Billboard said of Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters.” In the Aug. 11 issue, a headline declared “Bustin’ Makes Ray Feel Good” as the song hit No. 1. And while Parker wasn’t afraid of no ghosts, what about Huey Lewis’ lawyers? They sued him in a plagiarism case for similarities to Lewis’ “I Want a New Drug.” “It’s more like M’s ‘Pop Muzik,’ ” Parker insisted in the Aug. 25 issue.

Lawyers Just Don’t Understand

The Fresh Prince & DJ Jazzy Jeff scared up a lawsuit of their own with the Hot 100 top 15 hit “A Nightmare on My Street.” That title “is turning out to be prophetic,” quipped the Aug. 6, 1988, Billboard. “New Line Cinema, which produces and distributes the A Nightmare on Elm Street series of films, has served papers.” The legal scare buried the song’s video but the soundtrack to the fourth Freddy Krueger flick was still DOA. “Nightmare films have never produced a hit soundtrack,” declared the Sept. 3, 1988, issue. “This one won’t do the trick, either.”

This Is Halloween

“While the holiday doesn’t generate monster-selling albums like Christmas does, the scary celebration has spurred a number of solid-selling titles,” according to the Nov. 2, 2013, issue, citing the “soundtrack to Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas,” as well as a long-out-of-print sound effects collection called Sounds of Halloween, which “had moved 528,000 copies to date.” Now, thanks to screaming — er, streaming — platforms Halloween hits rise from the grave every year.

This story appears in the Oct. 25, 2025, issue of Billboard.

27 Oct 2025

Taylor Swift’s Choreographer Recalls How Star Used to Be ‘in Her Head’ Over Her ‘Bad Rap’ as a Dancer

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Taylor Swift wanted to work on her reputation when it came to her dancing, so she hired choreographer Mandy Moore.

In an interview with The New York Times published Sunday (Oct. 26), the choreographer opened up about working with the pop superstar to hone her movement skills before embarking in 2023 on her global Eras Tour, which saw Swift looking better than ever as she held her own in several different dance numbers. Before that, though, Moore says the 14-time Grammy winner was insecure about her abilities.

“She’d gotten a bad rap for a long time about her dancing, so she was really in her head,” the dance coach recalled to the publication. “We shifted the focus to how movement was already manifesting in her body — the way she naturally wanted to move. And then we fine-tuned that: ‘OK, that looks a little weird with your shoulders,’ or, ‘Let’s straighten your knee here.’”

“I really admire Taylor’s tenacity,” Moore continued. “She works so hard. Whatever I was putting down, she was picking up. And she’s very clear about what she wants, which I love.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the choreographer spoke in general about how she demystifies dancing for her superstar clients. “Dance is so vulnerable, and that feeling is only magnified by how famous the person is,” she explained. “Some of these artists have been sort of traumatized by dance. And so I end up as a kind of dance therapist.”

“A lot of it is really just getting in a room and being like, ‘Look, here’s this thing that I love, and you can love it too!’” Moore added.

Though Swift’s Eras trek is memorable for a boatload of reasons, one of them is how she clearly leveled up dancing-wise for the excursion. Fans went wild every night for her sexy Chicago-esque chair dance during “Vigilante Shit,” as well as her sultry, serpentine moves throughout the Reputation set.

The hitmaker has continued working with Moore throughout her The Life of a Showgirl era, teaming up to create TikTok trend-worthy choreography for Billboard Hot 100-topping lead single “The Fate of Ophelia.” In Swift’s The Release Party of a Showgirl film, she perfects her own dance moves while on set of the track’s music video, telling the crew at one point, “Can I just try to be a little bit better?”

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