Music

Watch Flavor Flav Meet & Hug Dr. Jill Biden While Cheering Women’s Water Polo at the 2024 Olympics

Flavor Flav‘s official Olympic hype-man duties included personally greeting Dr. Jill Biden at the U.S. women’s water polo match Saturday (July 27). 

In a sweet video shared by the rapper on social media, he excitedly cheers as the first lady and her family enter the premises, immediately wrapping her in a hug. Both were there to root on the women’s team — which Flav is sponsoring this year — as the American athletes faced off against Greece in Paris.  

“These girls are my girls, they work hard,” he tells Dr. Biden after hugging each of her grandkids. “They got three back-to-back gold medals. I’m just trying to cheer them on to get that No. 4.” 

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“I love all the support Women’s Water Polo is getting,” Flav captioned the clip on X. “Ya boy is so appreciative that the First Lady came to the First Game . THANK YOU @flotus Dr. Jill Biden for all the support of you and your family ????” 

Retweeting his post, FLOTUS added, “The duo you didn’t know you needed. Love you @FlavorFlav and thank you for all of your support for women’s @USAWP ? Let’s go @TeamUSA!” 

The Public Enemy musician has been with the women’s water polo team since the Olympics kicked off Friday (July 26) following a theatrical four-hour opening ceremony on the Seine, which included an aquatic parade of nations and an inventive cauldron lighting. Flav — who has signed a five-year sponsorship deal for both the men’s and women’s U.S. water polo teams — first started backing the female athletes in May after coach and three-time gold-medal-winning captain Maggie Steffens called for support on social media. He’s since gifted each member of the team $1,000 plus a Virgin Voyage cruise, and he represented Team USA at a recent Olympic press conference. 

Watch Flavor Flav meet Dr. Jill Biden below. 

French Rockers Gojira Felt Pressure to Represent ‘Whole Metal Community’ During 2024 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony

The flames, the double kick drums blast beats, the headless Mario Antoinettes, the opera singer on a giant boat. There was nothing about French heavy metal band Gojira‘s set during Friday’s glittering opening ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympics that you could have predicted from the first hard rock band to ever take the stage for a games opener.

In other words, there was a lot of pressure on the group to deliver, for their country and for their genre. That explains why in the lead-up to Friday night’s fiery performance, singer/guitarist Joe Duplantier, 47, told The New York Times that their bruising version of the song “Ah! Ça Ira” — a tune popular during the French Revolution — had to bring it.

“It was a very bloody era of French history, so it was very metal,” Duplantier said of what he thought was the “smart” idea to ask a heavy metal band play the revolutionary anthem. But more importantly, Duplantier said he and his bandmates were determined to represent “the whole metal community on the world stage.” And in keeping with the signature guttural, bruising sound of the band formed by Duplantier and his brother Mario in 1996, the singer said there was no way they were going to turn their amps down for the Olympics.

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“The song’s going to be in your face,” he promised before the flame-throwing spectacle that opened with a brief performance of Les Miserables‘ “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from Théâtre du Chatelet. That was immediately followed by boat-riding opera singer Marina Viotti and Gojira shocking crowds with the set that featured tons of pyro and the bizarre sight of dozens of Marie Antoinettes holding their own decapitated heads and singing along.

Lady Gaga’s Olympics Opening Ceremony Choreographer Says Performance Was Almost Called Off Due to Rain

Though it definitely made for a soggy journey down the Seine, the steady rain in Paris during Friday night’s lavish opening ceremonies for the 2024 Summer Olympics did not deter Lady Gaga from stealing the show early in the four-hour spectacle. And while Gaga’s eye-popping take on Zizi Jeanmaire’s “Mon Truc en Plumes” (“My Thing With Feathers”) appeared to dodge the raindrops, that’s because it was pre-taped to avoid any potential weather-related issues according to choreographer and head of dance for the Olympics and Paralympics Maud le Pladec.

Le Pladec spoke to Variety about the intense preparations for the song-and-dance routine, explaining that Gaga filmed her performance hours before the athletes’ elaborate boat trip down Paris’ iconic river due to safety reasons. Gaga’s vocals were performed live as she made her way up and down a giant set of stairs along with dancers carrying oversized pom poms.

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Gaga’s was one of a dozen original performances created by Le Pladec and Olympics artistic director Thomas Jolly, with Le Pladec saying that the singer’s four-minute set was easily the “most artistically challenging” of the bunch. “Unfortunately, it was the only [performance] that, for safety reasons, we had to pre-record late in the afternoon, once we knew for sure that it was going to rain — we had minute-by-minute updates, we had never watched the weather forecast so closely in our lives,” Le Pladec said. “We assessed that it was going to be too dangerous for performers, even with a few drops of rain. [Gaga] wanted to do it absolutely so we preferred to pre-record it rather than cancel it.”

Le Pladec said the performance surface, including that giant set of stairs, would have been too slippery for Gaga — who was wearing high heels — to perform on. “We had to be extremely cautious,” Le Pladec said, noting that while she didn’t play live, Gaga was on site during the opening ceremonies and watched her bit on screen from her dressing room before returning to her hotel.

Not long after, Gaga wrote on X, “I am also humbled to be asked by the Olympics organizing committee to sing such a special French song—a song to honor the French people and their tremendous history of art, music, and theatre… Although I am not a French artist, I have always felt a very special connection with French people and singing French music—I wanted nothing more than to create a performance that would warm the heart of France, celebrate French art and music, and on such a momentous occasion remind everyone of one of the most magical cities on earth—Paris.”

Gaga noted that her team rented the pom poms from a “real French cabaret” theater’s archive, collaborated with Dior to create the custom costumes using naturally molted feathers and that she studied French choreography to put her “modern twist” on a French classic. “I rehearsed tirelessly to study a joyful French dance, brushing up on some old skills—I bet you didn’t know I used to dance at a 60’s French party on the lower east side when I was first starting out! I hope you love this performance as much as I do,” she added. “And to everyone in France, thank you so much for welcoming me to your country to sing in honor of you—it’s a gift I’ll never forget! Congratulations to all the athletes who are competing in this year’s Olympic Games! It is my supreme honor to sing for you and cheer you on!! Watching the Olympic Games always makes me cry! Your talent is unimaginable. Let the games begin!”

In keeping with her perfectionist streak, Le Pladec said that the singer was adamant about delivering a spectacle that would feel “authentic” and pay tribute to the French performance tradition. That explains her decision to do a cabaret-style act featuring singing and dancing with a mix of humor and glamour. The choreographer said Gaga — a “workhorse and a perfectionist” — was working until the final moments on her vocals and steps after training for weeks in Los Angeles with a number of dancers who flew in from Paris.

“She wanted to make a show à la Française,” Le Pladec said. “She puts so much effort and thought into everything she does and she has a very developed creative process.”

The party didn’t end after the performance, either. Over the weekend, Gaga also surprised French Little Monsters when she blasted what she said were two new songs from her as yet untitled seventh studio album from a laptop while dancing through the roof of her limo. At press time no additional information was available on those songs.

7 Must-Hear New Country Songs: Post Malone, Luke Combs, Wyatt Flores, The Castellows & More

This week’s crop of new country music finds Post Malone continuing his winning collaborative ways with a new track with Luke Combs, while Wyatt Flores and The Castellows also team up for the new track “Sober Sundays.” Furthermore, Jordan Davis trades in his signature sentimental tunes for a dusting of flirtatious attitude in his new song, “I Ain’t Sayin’.”

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Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of the best country songs of the week below.

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Post Malone feat. Luke Combs, “Guy For That”



So far, the songs Post Malone has released to preview his upcoming country debut F-1 Trillion have been uptempo heaters including the Morgan Wallen hit “I Had Some Help” and the Blake Shelton collab “Pour Me a Drink.” He continues his high-octane, stadium-sized slate of anthems with this Luke Combs collaboration, in which a heartbroken guy muses that over the years, he’s amassed a network to help with almost everything — from resoling boots to designing rifles — but there’s no high-profile connection that can do the life-transformational work of changing to help convince an ex-lover to return. Post’s and Combs’ voices pair mightily and they are both co-writers on the track (with Charlie Handsome, Ernest, Hoskins, James McNair and Louis Bell). This song seems poised to join his previous collabs in surging up the country charts.

Wyatt Flores and The Castellows, “Sober Sundays”



Two of country music’s brightest new upstarts team up for this gorgeous, piano and mandolin-inflected track. “I’ll steady your hands/ Even when they shake,” they sing, as this song centers around offering a supportive, non-judgmental refuge as a friend navigates a journey toward sobriety. Wyatt Flores has steadily been establishing his reputation as a formidable singer-songwriter with a slate of open-hearted, relatable songs such as those on his EP Half Life, while sibling trio The Castellows, with their winsome vocal blending and roots-driven arrangements, are providing a fresh, down-home, Americana-influenced sound for a new generation. Flores wrote the song with The Castellows’ Powell, Eleanor and Lily Balkcom.

Jordan Davis, “I Ain’t Sayin’”



With previous releases such as “Buy Dirt” and “Next Thing You Know,” Jordan Davis has established a reputation for singing earnest love songs, but on his new breezy toe-tapper, he serves up a potent reminder that he knows his way around a song with some attitude, too. This sleek, groovy summer song finds Davis singing a tale of a guy who finds a lonely young woman at a bar, and he has no trouble reminding her that while he may not be a long-term lover, the guy who left her spending her time alone sure isn’t, either. Travis Wood, Steve Moakler, Mark Holman and Emily Reid crafted the song, with production from Paul DiGiovanni.

Greylan James, “Who Broke Up With You”



Knoxville, Tennessee native James has steadily ascended the ranks as one of Music City’s top tunecrafters, penning songs recorded by artists including Kenny Chesney, Cole Swindell, Darius Rucker, Chris Janson and more, as well as his work as a co-writer on the Jordan Davis hit “Next Thing You Know,” which also earned James his first CMA nomination for song of the year. But James also possesses a voice capable of translating his songs in his own relatable, laid-back vocal. He previously released his debut single, “Young Man,” and follows it with this uptempo track that centers around someone who meets a potential lover on the dance floor and is bewildered that anyone would break up with her. “I’d hate to be him when he comes to his senses and he figures it out,” he sings over a latticework of electric guitars and relentless percussion, proving that he can not only craft hits — he can sing them just fine, too.

Tigirlily Gold, Blonde



This sister duo was raised in North Dakota and spent years playing all-nighters, honing their sound in Nashville’s downtown bar scene. Now, they celebrate their first full-fledged album, Blonde. Scattered across the album’s 10 polished, contemporary country tracks are sassy romantic kiss-offs (“Leroy,” “Stupid Prizes”), breakup anthems (“I Tried a Ring On”), rowdy night-on-the-town soundtracks (“Shoot Tequila”) and even an ode to both Marilyn Monroe and Dolly Parton (“Blonde”). Threading all of them together is an energetic confidence and buoyant charm, while the album is underpinned by a stout adherence to heart-on-the-sleeve, slice of life songwriting.

Ryan and Rory, “This Town”



Nashville native Ryan Follese teamed with North Carolina native Rory John Zak to create their debut, six-song EP, on which Follese co-wrote every song, five of those with his parents and fellow hit songcrafters, Keith and Adrienne Follese. Meanwhile, Zak further elevated these song constructions with his instrumental contributions, layered with swirling production and the duo’s warm, effervescent harmonies. Among the standouts on the project is “This Town,” packed with feelings of young love and wanderlust, and a desire to flee their overly-familiar hometown to “Get way on out where the lost get found.” A promising effort from this new duo.

Jeannie Seely, “Suffertime”



Seely had a full-circle moment in recording “Suffertime” in tribute to her late friend and fellow artist, Dottie West, at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio B; she had her first recording session at the same studio, nearly six decades ago. At 84, Seely still retains much of the “country soul” style of singing; on this harmonica-laced track, she turns in a raw, forlorn vocal rendering of someone who returns to the same old places that she frequented with a one-time lover. Backed by a slate of ace musicians, she makes this 1966 West classic sound simultaneously intimate, fresh and timeless.

Rita Ora Cancels Show in Hungary After Hospitalization: ‘I Must Rest Thoroughly’

Rita Ora was forced to cancel her planned appearance at the Campus Fesztivál in Hungary over the weekend due to a doctor’s order to rest. The “Praising You” singer revealed to fans on Saturday (July 27) that she would be unable to perform at the event that night due to an unspecified illness.

In a since expired Instagram Story over the weekend, People reported that Ora told fans, “Please forgive this unexpected turn of events but sadly I will not be able to perform at Campus Fesztivál tonight. Having spent the night in hospital in Budapest, I musts rest thoroughly and follow doctor’s orders. I am so sorry to my fans who are going to be there today and I’m truly thankful for your understanding.”

At press time Ora had not provided an update on her health status.

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Ora performed her full set at the Young As Vilnius festival in Lithuania on July 25, posting a series of colorful pics on her Instagram afterwards and writing, “Lithuania you blew my mind!! 50k people, in the pouring rain, I appreciate every single one of you and you brought the ENERGY ??? SO happy I got to headline the As Young As Vilnius festival, an absolute honour.”

The singer’s next scheduled tour date is an August 16 gig at the Lovestream Festival in Bratislava, Slovakia in the midst of a busy summer that includes her starring role in the just-released film Descendants: The Rise of Red and the release of her new single, “Ask & You Shall Receive.”

Cardi B Worries About Donald Trump ‘Dictatorship’ After Ex-Prez Promises Followers ‘You Won’t Have to Vote Anymore’

In a campaign his new rival has taken to calling “weird,” former President Donald Trump raised eyebrows — and some alarm — over the weekend when he promised a group of conservative Christian followers that if he’s elected to a second term they will never have to go to the polls again.

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That seeming nod to a desire to unwind traditional democratic norms in the U.S. caused some concern among political pundits, as well as Cardi B, who has been very vocal lately about her thoughts on the upcoming election. “Whistle blowing a dictatorship? [concerned face emoji],” Cardi tweeted on Saturday along with the clip of Trump telling the crowd at Turning Point Action’s “Believers Summit” in West Palm Beach, FL to turn out to the polls just this one last time.

Convicted felon Trump — who is still facing a potential sanction in Georgia for alleged election interference from the 2020 election in one of his three major remaining cases tied to his single term in office — encouraged the audience to vote for him in November in what he deemed the “most important” election ever. “Get out and vote just this time,” Trump said. “You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years it will be fixed. It’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.”

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The comment, which appeared to suggest that after Trump is elected he might do away with the popular vote, or even elections entirely, was followed by a double-down. “You’ve got to get out and vote,” twice impeached Trump said. “In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.” Trump has continued to erroneously insist that he won the 2020 presidential election, despite experts finding no evidence to support his claims and election monitors saying the previous vote was among the most secure in the nation’s history.

Frequent Trump critic Bette Midler also weighed in on the former reality TV host’s concerning stance, tweeting, “He’s telegraphing his authoritarian intentions in plain sight. He means it’s over for democracy. You won’t have to vote because he’s taking your vote away from you. If he wins, he’s there for life, and there will be nothing you can do.”

Trump also said in an interview earlier this year that he would be a “dictator” just for one day if he were elected to a s second term.

Cardi has seemingly been energized by the news surrounding Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to take on Trump and run for the democratic nomination. She’s also been ticked off by the rampant misogyny and disrespect some pundits and politicians have heaped on the nation’s potentially first female, as well as Black and South Asian, president. “I always knew how people are when it comes to women, but the disrespect? Listen, if you don’t like her as a politician, that’s you. But if you disrespect her because she’s a woman? It’s very disgusting,” Cardi said on X last week.

“It’s crazy because four, five days ago, I was like, ‘Yo, I feel like I’m not a feminist.’ I’ve been feeling like a lot of these women are your worst enemies,” she added. “The toughest critics are women. […] But then, the natural self of me is like, ‘Damn, maybe I am a feminist. Men are always gonna blame your success on her p—-. People are blaming her success on her p—-. What? She f—ed Joe Biden? She f—ed the whole Democratic Party that the whole Democratic Party decided she should be Vice President? I hate that narrative because I feel like women work harder than men.”

At the end of the day, Cardi said, “The way that y’all disrespect her, makes me like her.”

Since Harris entered the race unexpectedly following President Biden decision to drop out, the veep has raised more than $200 million in one week and signed up more than 170,000 volunteers. Given Trump’s recent conviction on more than 30 felony charges in his New York hush money case, an earlier conviction in a sexual abuse and defamation case by writer E. Jean Carroll in which he was ordered to pay nearly $90 million and the other potential sanctions he faces in his three other pending trials, former prosecutor Harris has landed on a law-and-order approach to her campaign.

“I know Donald Trump’s type,” Harris said in one of her first campaign appearances last week to cheers of “lock him up!” from a crowd. She continued, “As attorney general of California, I took on one of our country’s largest for-profit colleges that was scamming students. Donald Trump ran a for-profit college that scammed students. As a prosecutor, I specialized in cases involving sexual abuse. Well, Trump was found liable for committing sexual abuse. As attorney general in California, I took on the big Wall Street banks and held them accountable for fraud. Donald Trump was just found guilty of fraud on 34 counts.”

See Cardi B and Midler’s tweets below.

Lady Gaga Surprises French Fans By Blasting Snippets of Two New LG7 Songs on Street

Surely you didn’t think Lady Gaga would fly all the way over to Paris for just one Summer Olympics performance? After the singer lit up the Sienne on Friday night when she wowed the rain-drenched crowd along the banks of the river and all those watching from the dry comfort of their homes around the globe, Mother Monster thanked her Parisian fans later in the weekend with a sneak preview of two songs intended for her upcoming seventh studio album.

In an Instagram Story on Sunday, Gaga teased a first listen to her follow-up to 2020’s Chromatica. “I’m so deeply touched by my French fans this week outside the hotel,” she wrote before coming outside to play the new music. “I’m gonna come out and say goodbye tonight with a few seconds of #LG7.”

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Gaga then, as promised, queued up some music as camera flashes lit up the night and she pumped her fist while playing songs on a laptop from the sunroof of a limo. The two songs had thumping beats and bass-heavy keyboards, as well as lyrics that were hard to decipher over the shouting of her amped-up French fans, though it did appear at one point that Gaga mouthed the words “I’ve become what was holding me.”

The as-yet-untitled album will be Gaga’s first new studio album since Chromatica, with no release date yet announced.

The streetside surprise came after Gaga spent time taking in swimming and gymnastics events following her Parisian cabaret-style performance ahead of the official kick-off of this summer’s games. Gaga sang the French-language “Mon Truc en Plume” (“My Thing With Feathers”) in a highly choreographed, playful, routine in which she flitted up and down a grand staircase surrounded by dancers carrying huge pink pom-poms.

Gaga also seemed to break some news over the weekend when she referred to longtime boyfriend Michael Polansky as “my fiancé” when being introduced to French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

Check out fan footage of the #LG7 preview below.

Martin Phillips, Co-Founder of Seminal New Zealand Group The Chills, Dies at 61

Martin Phillips, frontman of the Chills, one of the outstanding acts signed to the Flying Nun Records roster, died on the weekend at the age of 61.

The singer, songwriter and guitarist passed at his home in Dunedin, on New Zealand’s south island, confirms a statement issued by Flying Nun Records.

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Phillips was “an integral part” of the university town’s scene in the 1980s, and of Roger Shepherd‘s Flying Nun Records family, whose roster would include the Clean, the D4, Headless Chickens and Tall Dwarfs, Chris Knox, Straitjacket Fits and the Verlaines.

The late artist was a “single-minded talent who took all components of a musical career seriously,” reads the statement, which lists off his top-shelf songwriting, performance and studio talents.

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A separate message posted on the band’s official page confirms that Phillipps “has died unexpectedly.”

The cause of death was not disclosed.

The musician was “demanding of perfection in others and himself,” the Flying Nun tribute continues, penning such songs as “Rolling Moon,” “Pink Frost,” “I Love My Leather Jacket” and “Heavenly Pop Hit” which enjoyed commercially success and “helped define the best of New Zealand music” during that era. “Heavenly Pop Hit” and its parent album Submarine Bells, almost launched the band to international success.

After a hiatus, Phillips relaunched the Chills in the mid-2010s, and the group would go on to release a string of new albums, supporting the works with domestic and international tours.

Their most recent LP, 2021’s Scatterbrain, cracked the top 10 on the New Zealand Albums Chart.

As news of Phillips’ passing spread online, the music community paid tribute. “Oh my goodness, I’m so terribly sorry, what a wonderful and sweet person and incredible artist. So much love and sympathy to his family and friends,” wrote Nada Surf singer Matthew Caws.

“Martin Phillipps RIP,” wrote Lindy Morrison, drummer with beloved Australian indie group the Go-Betweens.

The Phillipps family requests privacy at this time, and funeral arrangements will be advised in due course.

BTS’ Jimin Grabs Highest New Entry on U.K. Singles Chart With ‘Who’

BTS singer Jimin is flying high on the U.K. singles chart with “Who” (via BigHit Entertainment), which debuts at No. 4.

That’s the top debut on the latest frame and a new solo career best for the K-pop star (born Park Jimin), besting the No. 8 peak for his 2023 release “Like Crazy.”

The focus track from his sophomore studio album MUSE, “Who” becomes Jimin’s third top 40 appearance in the U.K. after 2023’s “Set Me Free Pt.2,” which reached No. 30.

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As a collective, BTS has snagged nine U.K. top 40 singles, including four U.K. top 10s appearances 2020’s “Dynamite” (No. 3) and “Life Goes On” (No. 10), 2021’s “Butter” (No. 3) and Coldplay collaboration “My Universe” (No. 3).

At the top of the Official U.K. Singles Chart, published Friday, July 26, is “Please Please Please” (Island) by Sabrina Carpenter, which enters its fourth non-consecutive weeks at No. 1. The U.S. actor and singer replaces herself at the top of the leaderboard, as “Espresso” slides 1-9. Carpenter has now occupied top spot for a total of 11 weeks in 2024, the Official Charts Company reports.

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The podium is respectively completed by Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” (up 5-2 via Interscope) and Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck Babe” (up 6-3 vis Island), both notching new peak positions. Roan’s hot streak can be seen further down the tally as “Hot To Go!” spikes 27-19, and “Red Wine Supernova” blows up 48-39, for new peaks.

Little Mix artist JADE (real name: Jade Thirlwall) flies into the top 10 with her debut single “Angel Of My Dreams” (RCA), new at No. 7. With that start, JADE has bragging rights over her bandmates Leigh-Anne, whose 2023 solo debut “Don’t Say Love” hit No. 11, and Perrie, whose “Forget About Us” reached No. 10.

Charli XCX’s BRAT summer continues to heat up. BRAT album tracks “360” (Atlantic) powers 29-18 and viral number “Apple” climbs 42-19, for the British artist and producer’s 18th U.K. top 40 track. BRAT was last week shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, celebrating the best British and Irish albums of the year.

Following their headline spot at London’s BST Hyde Park festival, K-pop favorites Stray Kids bag their first U.K. top 40 appearance with “Chk Chk Boom” (Republic Records). It’s new at No. 30.

Eminem Holds at No. 1 In U.K. With ‘The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)’

Eminem reigns again on the U.K. chart with The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) (via Interscope).

The Rap God’s latest LP enters a second week atop the Official U.K. Albums Chart, published Friday, July 26, holding off Olivia Rodrigo’s resurgent Guts.

The Death of Slim Shady is Em’s 12th studio album, and his 11th leader in the U.K.

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Meanwhile, Rodrigo’s sophomore album Guts (Geffen) flies 22-2 following the release of the deluxe “spilled” edition on vinyl. Guts logged a single week at No. 1 following its release last year. Rodrigo’s record-setting debut album Sour, from 2021, also enjoys a lift on the latest frame. It’s up 24-23 in its 166th week on the chart.

The top new entry on the latest tally is Heavy Jelly (BMG), the fourth studio album from Soft Play, the punk act formerly known as Slaves. It’s new at No. 3. As Slaves, the rockers (Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent) landed top 10s with Are You Satisfied? (No. 8), Take Control (No. 6) and Acts of Fear and Love (No. 8).

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Also new to the top 10 is Glass Animals I Love You So F***ing Much (Polydor), new at No. 5. It’s the second top tier effort from the Oxford, England-formed pop-rock act following 2020’s Dreamland, which peaked at No. 2 and housed the global hit “Heat Waves.”

Further down the list, British heavy metal icons Deep Purple dig out a 26th U.K. top 40 with =1 (Ear Music), their 23rd studio album. It’s new at No. 12.

And finally, Cardiff, Wales seven-piece Los Campesinos! makes a long overdue appearance in the U.K. top 40 with All Hell (Heart Swells), its seventh studio release. All Hell is new at No. 14. Until now, the group’s best on the national survey was No. 72 for 2008’s How On Now Youngster.