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Post Malone’s Blake Shelton-featuring “Pour Me a Drink” ascends two places to the top shelf of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Oct. 12). The collaboration advanced by 5% to 27.9 million audience impressions Sept. 27-Oct. 3, according to Luminate.
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The song, which Post Malone co-wrote, is his second Country Airplay No. 1, after “I Had Some Help,” featuring Morgan Wallen, dominated for four frames beginning in June. Both hits are from his introductory LP in the genre, F-1 Trillion, which motored in at No. 1 on the Aug. 31-dated Top Country Albums chart and the all-genre Billboard 200 with 250,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States. The set has earned 1.1 million units over its first six weeks of release.
Post Malone charts an additional song, and a third career top 40 entry, on Country Airplay: Fellow F-1 Trillion track “A Guy for That,” featuring Luke Combs, rebounds a spot to its No. 26 high (6.3 million, up 12%).
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Shelton hoists his 29th Country Airplay No. 1, a run that started with his initial appearance, “Austin,” in 2001. He nets his first leader since “Happy Anywhere,” featuring his then-future wife Gwen Stefani, in December 2020. Shelton ties Tim McGraw for the second-most chart-toppers since the survey began in 1990. Kenny Chesney leads all acts with 33 No. 1s.
Wallen, Parmalee Notch New Top 10s
Morgan Wallen earns his 17th Country Airplay top 10 as “Lies Lies Lies” climbs 11-9 (18 million, up 12%). It follows his “Cowgirls” (featuring ERNEST), which became his 14th No. 1 in July.
Plus, Parmalee’s “Gonna Love You” hops 13-10 on Country Airplay (16.6 million, up 6%). The group adds its seventh top 10, following “Girl in Mine,” which hit No. 3 last October, and “Take My Name,” which became the act’s third No. 1 in June 2022.
It was a historic trip to the Grammy stage for Taylor Swift on Feb. 4, when she accepted her second and final award of the evening: album of the year, for her 2022 blockbuster set, Midnights. The win was her fourth in the category, breaking her out of a four-way tie and leaving her alone in the record books as the performing artist with the most album of the year wins in Grammy history. But by that point in the evening, Swift had already ensured that her fans were thinking more about the future — and perhaps AOTY trophy No. 5.
“I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I’ve been keeping from you for the last two years — which is that my brand-new album comes out April 19,” Swift had revealed two hours earlier while accepting her first award of the night (best pop vocal album). “It’s called The Tortured Poets Department.”
A year after that announcement, Swift may indeed end up making more treks to the Crypto.com Arena stage thanks to the record-breaking Poets. While Midnights bowed with a jaw-dropping 1.6 million first-week units upon its October 2022 release (according to Luminate) and topped the Billboard 200 for six weeks — setting off the historic, globe-trotting Year of Taylor that followed in 2023 — it paled in comparison with Poets, which debuted with over 2.6 million units and spent a whopping 15 weeks atop the Billboard 200. Given that Swift has secured AOTY nominations for each of her three brand-new albums released this decade (including two wins, for Midnights and 2020’s folklore, of her four career total), Poets seems a lock for one of the eight AOTY slots at the 2025 ceremony.
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Whether Swift will win, however, is another question entirely — in part because of a remarkably strong and high-profile slate of likely competitors, including one particularly legendary perennial AOTY bridesmaid. But perhaps the most interesting question of all: After four AOTY wins, already unmatched in Grammy history, how much more does Swift really have to gain by adding another such statue to her collection?
While Swift has already triumphed among some strong fields this decade, it’s likely that the category’s 2025 slate of nominees — with its expected mix of huge critical and commercial successes from veteran A-listers and emergent superstars — will be the most formidable she has faced yet. Alex Tear, vp of music programming at SiriusXM and Pandora, mentions Billie Eilish (Hit Me Hard and Soft), Chappell Roan (The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess) and Sabrina Carpenter (Short n’ Sweet) as strong contenders for the marquee award, calling Carpenter “a force” in particular. “It’s really going to be a highly competitive year,” he says.
Still, the narrative surrounding the AOTY race will likely boil down to two names: Swift and Beyoncé, whose Billboard 200-topping country and Americana pivot, Cowboy Carter, will almost certainly also vie for the prize. Cowboy did only a fraction of Poets’ flabbergasting first-week numbers — though at press time, it still had the year’s second-highest debut total, at 375,000 units — but it received widespread acclaim, as well as immense media attention for its genre explorations and for the music history Beyoncé illuminated on it.
And of course, Carter’s candidacy comes with extra intrigue, given that Beyoncé — one of the most celebrated album artists of her era — has still never won album of the year, despite her four career nods for it (and record 32 total Grammy wins).
One longtime Recording Academy member who considers both Swift’s and Beyoncé’s new albums worthy contenders calls the latter “the prohibitive favorite” due to her careerlong shutout in the category. “I think that there’s a feeling in the industry, which was certainly encouraged via last year’s Grammys” — when her husband, Jay-Z, called attention to her AOTY shutout in a televised speech — “that [Beyoncé] has been overlooked for too long,” the member says.
Swift may well have less at stake in this year’s AOTY race than her storied competitor. In fact, because Swift is at the overall height of her career success and exposure (and therefore at risk of generating a backlash), it’s worth considering whether she stands to lose more than she does to gain by netting a fifth trophy, especially over a competitor with such a strong case — and such a strong sentimental pull for so many.
And public perception about a potential Swift victory could be colored by her own philosophy about the Grammys and awards shows in general. “She looks at record-making as a competitive sport in a way that other artists don’t,” the academy member says. “Other artists are competitive and would like to win Grammys, but she really, like, thinks about that stuff going in [to recording her albums].”
Swift has admitted as much over the years. In 2015, she explained in a Grammy Pro interview that when her Red lost AOTY in 2014 (to Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories), it set in motion her plan to make a more cohesive pop album with 1989, which won the award two years later: “You have a few options when you don’t win an award — you can decide, ‘Oh, they’re wrong…’ [or] you can say, ‘Maybe they’re right,’ ” she said. Similarly, her 2020 documentary, Miss Americana, captured her reaction when her 1989 follow-up, 2017’s Reputation, failed to garner even a nomination in the category: “I just need to make a better record.” (Two albums later, she would win the category again in 2021 for the stylistic left turn folklore.)
Competitiveness, of course, doesn’t equate to outright making Grammy bait, Tear points out — noting that it seems to have inspired Swift to grow artistically, while at the same time, “we’ve grown into her evolving as a person and the choices that she wants to make as an artist… The projects of late are not chasing where the puck is going — it’s already there.”
And though the Recording Academy member gives Beyoncé the edge in this particular race, it simply makes sense to them that the biggest pop star on the planet should be one of the favorites every time she’s in the mix.
“Look, [Swift] is the most popular recording artist on earth, and therefore she’s likely to win more often than not,” the member says, citing the famous Muhammad Ali quote, “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.” And Swift “can do it, God bless her. She should keep doing it. Maybe she’ll win album of the year several more times.”
This story appears in the Oct. 5, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Instead of doing her homework one day after school, the multihyphenate born Atia Boggs used her time for a different assignment. She had just bought Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and recalls coming home, sitting down and writing all the lyrics on flash cards. “That’s when I realized how important a good song was and how substance matters,” says Boggs, now 37 and known as the songwriter–producer INK. “And that really inspired me in a whole new way… I learned how to create my own path.”
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She taught herself guitar and started street performing, walking “miles on miles” from downtown Atlanta to the residential Buckhead neighborhood “playing for pennies.” Without any music industry connections, INK sought a mentor online, searching for her favorite songwriters such as James Fauntleroy, with whom she became Facebook friends in the late 2000s. “He was a mentor for me in the very beginning,” she says. “That gave me the confidence to say, ‘I can do this.’ ” Her first big break came in 2019, after she had co-produced and co-written Chris Brown’s song “Don’t Check on Me,” which featured Justin Bieber — and Brown decided it should feature INK, too. “It gave me so much exposure and another boost of confidence to have a superstar say, ‘Hey, we’re going to introduce you to the world.’ That was one of the moments that led to the unstoppable train I’m on now.”
This year has proved to be INK’s biggest, and busiest, yet — but she teases 2025 will be even crazier, as she’s working on her own music and a documentary while continuing to collaborate with music’s upper echelon.
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Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter
“Beyoncé was definitely a catalyst for the freight train to keep going,” says INK, who started working with Bey before COVID-19 hit on Cowboy Carter tracks including “Ameriican Requiem” and “16 Carriages.” INK recalls how, in 2019, they met at Roc Nation’s Grammys week brunch: “We have an inside joke because I went up to her and said, ‘Hey, I just wanted to let you know, I’m going to be writing your next album.’ And she giggled and said, ‘What’s your name?’ We just hit it off.” Soon after, INK was working with producer Ricky Reed, who introduced her to Beyoncé’s A&R executives. “They said, ‘We would love to have you be on this journey with us from the start.’ And five years later, Cowboy Carter was delivered.”
INK was friends with Lopez’s A&R executive long before he had the gig. So when it was time to assemble a team for Lopez’s personal album This Is Me… Now, he told INK, “You’re the first person I thought of for this.” INK most loved how “there’s not a session that happens without [Lopez]… I remember one time, she was like, ‘Hey, pull up today, but I’m going to send you a different address.’ And it’s the movie set [for Atlas]. We’re recording parts from the album in her trailer, and she comes in covered in blood, wet, cuts, bruises all over her body. And then she’s on the mic recording the song that we just wrote in her trailer. I thought that was the coolest thing ever, and it just showed the work ethic.”
Latto, “Look What You Did”
INK has long worked with Latto’s producer, Go Grizzly, another Atlanta native, but she had yet to work with the “Big Energy” rapper herself until this year. As INK recalls, she and Grizzly were working in Paris when they “cooked up the beat” that became “Look What You Did,” off the rapper’s third full-length album, Sugar Honey Iced Tea. “We did a beat in the studio, and then he was like, ‘Yo, you already know we have to get Latto on this.’ She heard it, she loved it and snapped.” INK had previously worked with Mariah the Scientist, who featured on “Look What You Did,” earlier this year when she guested on 21 Savage’s American Dream album. “So the dots connected,” she says.
This story appears in the Oct. 5, 2024, issue of Billboard.
“Let ’Em In,” the title of a Wings hit from 1976, also seemed to be the Grammy Screening Committee’s guiding principle in deciding who to allow to compete for best new artist this year. Sabrina Carpenter, who is on her sixth album, was ruled eligible, as was Megan Moroney, who had a No. 30 hit on the Hot 100 in May 2023 with “Tennessee Orange.”
Moroney is nominated for new artist of the year the CMA Awards for the second year in a row. HARDY, who was nominated in that category at the CMAs in both 2021 and 2022, is also eligible this year. So is Cody Johnson, who was nominated in that category at the CMAs in both 2019 and 2022.
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How can an artist who has released six albums be eligible for best new artist? Because, while the Grammys set a minimum number of releases an artist must have to qualify in this category (five singles/tracks or one album), there is no maximum. Instead, the Grammys’ rules and guidelines booklet says nominations for the honor hinge on when “the artist had attained a breakthrough or prominence” — and it delegates that determination to a screening committee.
So Carpenter’s eligibility came down to whether the screening committee thought she had achieved prominence as of Sept. 15, 2023, the last day of the previous eligibility year. At that point, the highest she had ever climbed on the Billboard Hot 100 was a decidedly decaf No. 48, for “Skin” in February 2021. The committee decided that so-so showing did not constitute prominence, and that she made her big breakthrough in this eligibility year.
As for the other artists mentioned, the committee likewise decided that this was the year they achieved a breakthrough or prominence. The committee’s oft-stated aim is to be inclusive rather than exclusive, and they demonstrated that this year.
Many of the eligible artists have been nominated for new artist awards at other awards shows in the past year. Chappell Roan, who many see as this year’s Grammy front-runner in this category, won best new artist at the VMAs in September. Benson Boone, Shaboozey and Teddy Swims were on the initial list of nominees at the VMAs but they didn’t make the final three. They’re all eligible here.
Moroney, Shaboozey and Nate Smith are all nominees for new artist of the year at the CMAs on Nov. 20. They are eligible here.
4Batz, Bossman Dlow, October London and Sexxy Red were nominated for best new artist at the BET Awards and are eligible here. Bossman Dlow, Sexyy Red and Tommy Richman are nominated for best new artist at the upcoming BET Hip Hop Awards and are eligible here.
The Red Clay Strays won emerging act of the year at the Americana Music Honors and Awards in September. They’re also eligible here and will likely do well with Grammy voters.
RAYE, who won best new artist and swept many other awards at the Brit Awards in March, is likewise eligible here.
Other buzzy artists on the eligibility list, not already mentioned, include Artemas, Ateez, Barry Can’t Swim, beabadoobee, Central Cee, Ivan Cornejo, Dasha, Djo, Doechii, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Feid, Fireboy DML, Fletcher, Flo Milli, 42 Dugg, Grupo Frontera, Kate Hudson, Knox, David Kushner, The Last Dinner Party, Le Sserafim, Carin Leon, LISA, Mannequin Pussy, Lizzy McAlpine, Michael Marcagi, Reneé Rapp, Rema, Maggie Rose, Royel Otis, Jojo Siwa, Myles Smith, Brittney Spencer, Tigirlily Gold, Myke Towers, Waxahatchee, Koe Wetzel, Remi Wolf and Young Miko.
Artists are allowed to appear on the entry list for best new artist three times, after which they are ruled ineligible for future consideration. That rule came into play this year with Tate McRae, who had been entered three previous times and thus could not compete again.
As it turns out, almost every artist who pundits thought might be eligible made the list. Two who did not are GloRilla and Anne Wilson, both of whom had previous Grammy nominations. That almost always results in disqualification.
The rules in this category have changed over the years as the Recording Academy has struggled to strike just the right balance: not too strict, not too lenient. In the past, the academy has sometimes disqualified artists for reasons that may now seem petty; take Whitney Houston, who had recorded a couple of duets prior to releasing her debut album and was therefore deemed ineligible, or singer-songwriter Richard Marx, who had contributed a song to a soundtrack. Other times, the academy has leaned too far in the other direction. Robert Goulet won in 1963, two years after he became a star in the Broadway musical Camelot. When Alessia Cara claimed the prize in 2018, it was nearly two years after her ballad “Here” hit the top five on the Hot 100.
Three past winners for best new artist — Crosby, Stills & Nash (who won in 1970), Jody Watley (1988) and Lauryn Hill (1999) — wouldn’t be eligible under today’s rules. David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash were all already known for their work in previous groups, as were Watley (in Shalamar) and Hill (Fugees).
A total 323 artists are eligible for best new artist this year, down from 405 last year. This year’s tally is the lowest in this category in five years.
By allowing Carpenter to compete for best new artist this year, the Recording Academy has made the race more competitive and unpredictable. What might have been a shoo-in for Chappell Roan will now be a more spirited contest. Place your bets.
Teasing “exclusive releases, immersive experiences, engaging discussions and insane performances,” Travis Scott is quadrupling down on his role as artistic director of the forthcoming ComplexCon Las Vegas on Nov. 16 and 17. He will create CactusCon at the inaugural Vegas iteration of ComplexCon, the festival and exhibition dedicated to “convergence culture” at the intersection of style, music, art and food.
Scott and Cactus Jack, his creative collective and record label, will produce 10 exclusive collaborations for ComplexCon, design exclusive merch only sold on site and curate an entire area of the show floor called CactusCon, with hand-selected brands. CactusCon will infuse Scott’s vision and Cactus Jack iconography into sensory touch points and “Easter eggs” throughout the two-day event. Scott will also headline the festival and exhibition on Sunday evening with a performance at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Scott performed at ComplexCon’s Long Beach launch in 2016. Since then, the weekender celebrating the convergence of style, sneakers, pop culture, music, art, food, innovation and the creative minds shaping those trends has traversed the globe with conventions in Chicago (2019) and Hong Kong (2024). Relocating to Vegas promises a two-day gathering four times the size of Long Beach’s, spanning more than 1 million square feet of brands, drops, activations and experiences and with 60,000 anticipated attendees.
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“Travis Scott helped inaugurate the first ComplexCon, and we are excited to welcome him back with an expanded role and as the Sunday night headliner. Travis Scott defines this generation of Complex fans, and we are excited to be working with him in our new home in Las Vegas,” says Complex CEO Aaron Levant.
In February, NTWRK, a live-video shopping platform and marketplace, signed an agreement to acquire Complex. Levant, who co-founded NTWRK with Jamie Iovine and Gaston Dominguez-Letelier in 2018, leads the new company. Levant originally co-created ComplexCon alongside Marc Eckō, Complex’s founder, in 2016.
ComplexCon has become known for exclusive releases from Nike and Adidas and appearances by the late Virgil Abloh, as well as Nigo, Kid Cudi, A$AP Rocky and Hiroshi Fujiwara. Previous artistic directors have included Takashi Murakami, Blackpink creative director Verdy, Cactus Plant Flea Market, J Balvin and Pharrell Williams.
This year, attendees will have the opportunity to shop brands including 032C, Ambush, Asics, Awake NY, BYREDO, Cactus Plant Flea Market, Ecko Unltd., EDGLRD, Fear of God Essentials, Fox Racing, Fragment, Futura Laboratories, Glo Gang, HELLSTAR, Hidden NY, Holiday, Infinite Archives, Kids of Immigrants, Malbon Golf, Mastermind, Mitchell & Ness, Mowalola, murd333r.fm, New Era Cap, Nike, Oakley, Online Ceramics, PDF Channel, Psychworld, Rick Owens, Satoshi Nakamoto, Saucony, Sp5der, Stash, Thug Club, Undefeated, Vans, Vetements, WWE, Zippo and more.
Also returning is the ComplexCon panel and live talk lineup, which will feature cultural commentators and creatives exploring pop-culture topics. Past discussions have featured Kendrick Lamar, Kobe Bryant, Michael B. Jordan, Lil’ Kim, Issa Rae and Yoon Ambush.
Complex recently acquired the Family Style Food Festival, which will pop up for the first time at ComplexCon 2024. The festival, founded in 2019 by Ben Shenassafar and Bobby Kim of The Hundreds and Miles Canares, is also a like-minded event at the intersection of food and streetwear. It features a lineup of chefs, restaurants, brands and entertainment, serving one-of-a-kind collaborative food and merchandise.
A celebrity golf tournament at Wynn Las Vegas kicks off ComplexCon on Nov. 14. Playboi Carti and Opium will also perform on the ComplexCon Main Music stage, and Metro Boomin will kick it off on Saturday.
VIP and general admission tickets are now available at ComplexCon.com.
Eric Church is stepping up to help his home state of North Carolina after portions of the state were devastated by Hurricane Helene. Church just released the new song “Darkest Hour,” and is signing over all of his publishing royalties from the new song to the people of North Carolina affected by the disaster.
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Hurricane Helene has impacted communities across North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida, with CNN reporting that the death toll has risen to more than 200 people across six states, with many people still unaccounted for.
“From Western North Carolina, East Tennessee, Upstate South Carolina, parts of Georgia and even Florida which took a direct hit, there are so many places that were impacted. Specifically in the area that I’m from, the mountains of Western North Carolina, were devastated. There are places that are just biblically gone. These are our family members, they’re our friends, they’re our neighbors – and they’re in dire need of help,” Church said in a statement.
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Church has already been working on new music for some time, but he says he didn’t want to hesitate to release a song that could help those impacted by the natural disaster.
“I’ve been in the studio for a while, trying some different things and exploring creativity,” he said. “I had this song that I’d written, and the line that struck me in light of the recent devastation was ‘I’ll come running,’ because there are a lot of people out there right now who are in their darkest hour and they need people to come running. We were going to wait to release music until next year, but it just didn’t feel right to wait with this song. Sometimes you give songs their moment and sometimes they find their own moment. “This song, ‘Darkest Hour,’ was the best way I could think to try to help. We’ve been helping with boots on the ground efforts, but this is something that will live beyond just the immediate recovery. This is not a quick thing to fix, so hopefully ‘Darkest Hour’ will be able to contribute to that for a long time to come. This song goes to my home, North Carolina, now and forever.” He continues, “‘Darkest Hour’ is a song dedicated to the unsung heroes, the people who show up when the world’s falling apart. This is for the folks who show up in the hardest times, offering a hand when it’s most needed, and standing tall when others can’t. Even in your darkest hour, they come running. When the night’s at its blackest, this is for those who are holding the light, guiding the lost and pulling us through. The message of the song specifically in this time is about Hurricane Helene and the people that need help, but in a broader view, it’s about any challenging times that we have in our life, which we’ll all have. And it’s always important to know that in your darkest hour, there are people that will come running, there are people that will help. And I think it’s also important to be one of the people that go running when other people need help.”
In addition to the proceeds from Church’s publishing on the song going toward helping those in his home state, Church’s Chief Cares Fund is also working to provide aid to those impacted by Hurricane Helene.
Other country artists are stepping up to help, as well. East Tennessee native Morgan Wallen, through his Morgan Wallen Foundation, previously donated $500,000 to the Red Cross to aid relief efforts. On Oct. 9, the Morgan Wallen Foundation will host a food drive in Knoxville, Tennessee, and is selling charity T-shirts, with proceeds going to aid those impacted by Hurricane Helene.
Church’s fellow North Carolina native Luke Combs also previously told fans that he is working on a project to aid those affected by the hurricane.
Hear Church’s “Darkest Hour” below.
This week in dance music: Anyma added two more shows to his upcoming run at Sphere in Las Vegas, bringing the total number of shows to eight; Barry Can’t Swim picked up three 2024 AIM Awards nominations; Ultra 2025 released its phase one lineup, which will feature the debut “retro5pective set from dedmau5, a new psytrance stage and much more; we previewed the trailer for a forthcoming documentary about the ’90s rave scene in San Francisco; we recapped the best moments of Portola 2024; an auction of Avicii’s personal items including clothing and instruments raised $750,000 for the Tim Bergling Foundation; Black Coffee, Fisher and Chase & Status were among the winners at the 2024 DJ Awards in Ibiza; Beatport announced that it’s again awarding $150,000 in grants to groups supporting diversity and equality in dance music; and to round out it all out, these are the best new dance projects of the week.
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Caribou, Honey
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For 13 years, Dan Snaith has masterfully juggled two music aliases: the folksy-electronica live band Caribou, and the club-minded Daphni. While Caribou’s albums post-Andorra have inched closer to the dance floor, his latest, Honey, sounds like an equal meeting of the two projects. Singles like the sparkling “Volume” and bass-wobbling “Honey” deliver the heft demanded of festival main stages, while other tracks like “Do Without You” and “Campfire” are heavy in their pensive moods, lower-to-the-ground production and vocals. “Climbing” is the album’s standout, all disco and sunshine in its squiggling synth crescendos and buoyant melody. It’s a light-hearted tune for closing a set, and somehow, a bittersweet cap on our own summer. The party’s not over just yet, however, as Snaith tours Honey across North America starting next month. — KRYSTAL RODRIGUEZ
2hollis, “gold”
The Los Angeles savant further establishes his hot new thing status with the punchy “gold,” an arrangement of crunchy staccato, skittering percussion and eventual climax of gunfire gabber. These elements are balanced with a woozy, almost sweet melody sung by the producer, who also directed the accompanying music video, which features 2hollis and a group of dancers moshing under a strobe light and rain coming down inside a warehouse, continuing the release’s hard/soft aesthetic. 2hollis just got off tour supporting rapper Ken Carson and is launching his own nine-date North American tour later this month. — KATIE BAIN
yunè pinku, “Reckless Sensation”
UK artist yunè pinku describes her new song “Reckless Sensation” as the “ecstasy of embodying love rather than looking for it.” The serpentine trip-hop track lives somewhere in the haze between haunting and euphoric, with a warmth and sensuality that permeate the spectral space beneath pinku’s soft, siren-like voice. Altogether approaching a transcendence evocative of Massive Attack’s 1998 classic “Teardrop,” the track is from pinku’s new Scarlet Lamb EP, on which she decorates her sonic universe with gothic imagery, citing Jane Eyre, Dracula and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as lyrical touchpoints After that, find pinku onstage starting next month when she joins Caribou on his North American tour. — K.R.
Confidence Man, “Real Move Touch”
Confidence Man are coming out of an eventful summer, which entailed performing to a massive crowd at Glastonbury and adding their fabric Presents compilation to the clubbing institution’s mix series. But they’ve got something even bigger waiting on the horizon: their third studio album, 3AM (LA LA LA), which lands on Oct. 18. The Australian band are dropping another preview in the form of a double-single, “Control/Real Move Touch.” Here, they serve up house music two ways: the A-side is a technicolor track bubbling with acid synths and ravey stabs that feel both infectiously joyous and nostalgic, while “Real Move Touch” calls back to the old-school, too, but with glossy ‘90s house that’s both luxurious and lively, as a mash-up of Crystal Waters-esque diva house and sound-system culture with vocals from reggae legend Sweetie Irie.
“I remember him coming into our tiny little studio,” Confidence Man’s Janet Planet says of Irie, “and then he’s like, ‘Do you mind if I blaze up in here?’ And we said, ‘Hell yeah!’ And he was like, ‘Great, I was just checking you guys were real rock stars.’” — K.R.
Ben Hemsley Feat. Rose Gray, “Tidal”
An unstable relationship drifts out into the deep seas on Ben Hemsley’s new single “Tidal,” featuring vocalist Rose Gray. After previewing the track in his sets at Creamfields, A State of Trance, and his Ibiza residency, the British producer has released the track in its entire 10-minute glory. A brisk BPM and sighing vocal loops give “Tidal” a sense of urgency that circles Gray’s distressed vocals, while extended, sweeping builds create a looming wall of sound akin to its namesake and subsequent drop, a euphoric crashing of melodies and textures.
“‘Tidal’ allowed me to really explore what trance means to me on a deeper level,” Hemsley says. “The extended length gave me the space to play with melodies and atmospheres, taking inspiration from ’90s records that I love. Trance was my first love and it’s the direction you’ll see me going in moving forwards. — K.R.
East Forest, Music For Mushrooms
Ahead of the Oct. 10 release of his documentary of the same name, producer, multi-instrumentalist and wellness practitioner East Forest releases his album, Music For Mushrooms. The 10-track project is composed of music played by the artist during guided psychedelic ceremonies, hence its name. (The project firmly sits in the world of music made specifically for psychedelic spaces.) You won’t find ravey beats over the album’s 59 sublime minutes, with the project instead made of gentle piano, violin, flute and a host of other instruments that altogether build a glimmering, soul-stirring world unto itself. To that end, tracks are named for each place the ceremony it was recorded at took place, capturing the sounds of Big Sur, Calif., Vancouver, Canada and the literal and figurative great beyond. — K.B.
New Music Latin is a compilation of the best new Latin songs and albums recommended by Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors. Check out this week’s picks below.
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Francisca Valenzuela ft. Daniela Spalla, “Quiéreme o Ándate” (Frantastic Records)
Chilean singer-songwriter Francisca Valenzuela is closing her Adentro era with the Daniela Spalla-assisted “Quiéreme o Ándate,” an ultra nostalgic song that perfectly captures the emotional toll that comes from not being able to get closure after a goodbye. Powered by ethereal melodies and splashes of Latin rhythms that build the intensity, the song allows Valenzuela and Spalla’s dreamy vocals to take center stage. “Decide, amor, love me or leave. Stay with me or let me forget you once and for all,” they sing with pathos. The intimate track comes on the heels of Valenzuela’s best pop/rock album Latin Grammy nom for her set Adentro. — GRISELDA FLORES
Manuel Turizo & Kapo, “Qué Pecao” (La Industria Inc./Sony Music Latin)
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Two years after topping the Billboard Tropical Airplay charts for 14 weeks with “La Bachata,” Manuel Turizo taps once again into the Dominican genre with Colombian newcomer Kapo. Produced by Sky Rompiendo, “Qué Pecao,” which translates to “what a sin,” starts off with a heartbeat that smoothly transitions into bachata rhythms laced with colorful pop beats. Lyrically, the two artists sing about a beautiful woman who’s playing hard to get and doesn’t want to give love an opportunity. “What a sin/for you to sleep alone in your bed, what a sin/knowing I can be by your side/erasing your past/not all men are bad, he was just the wrong one,” goes the chorus, where Turizo and Kapo interweave their smooth, raspy vocal tones. — JESSICA ROIZ
Ela Taubert, “¿Por Qué Soy Así?” (Universal Music Latino/Art House)
Ela Taubert continues her story of overcoming heartbreak with “¿Por Qué Soy Así?,“ which follows the previous singles “¿Cómo Pasó?” and “¿Para Qué?” This time, the Colombian pop singer-songwriter — who scored a best new artist Latin Grammy nom — addresses topics such as self-love, self-discovery and the courage to get out of a relationship that is not worth holding on to. “I’m tired of waiting for you, I’m not going to beg/ If you didn’t know how to take care of me, I’m going to let you go/ And I loved how you wanted to ignore me/ I hope you like how I’m going to forget you,” she sings in the lively chorus. The song is driven by a nostalgic guitar and omnipresent drums, with Taubert’s ever-honest voice as protagonist. — SIGAL RATNER-ARIAS
Natanael Cano, “Amor Eterno” (WEA Latina)
Natanael Cano reimagines Juan Gabriel’s beloved “Amor Eterno” in his unique corridos tumbados style, complete with the haunting requinto twangs and soft brass undertones. This version merges personal reflections with a tribute to cultural heritage. Released ahead of Día de Muertos, this resonant, nearly 5-minute interpretation serves as an homage to cherished memories and the departed. “This is one of those songs that stays in your memory forever,” the Mexican artist says in a press release, showcasing his deep ties to his musical roots and cultural traditions. “It brings back so many childhood memories for me.” — ISABELA RAYGOZA
Greeicy & Jay Wheeler, “¿Qué Te Pasó?” (UMG Recordings)
It’s a simple question that carries many emotions within its words, and the lyrics of this song express a language of pain and the nostalgia of a breakup. “Tell me what happened to you/ That overnight, I don’t feel you here/ I don’t go out during the day anymore; the night feels cold/ It hurts me to know that I lost you,” Greeicy and Jay Wheeler both sing in the chorus, creating an enchanting synergy. — INGRID FAJARDO
Listen to more editors’ Latin recommendations in the playlist below:
Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
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This week, Coldplay shoots for the moon, LISA nods to the ’90s and Rich Homie Quan is honored the right way. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Coldplay, Moon Music
For a stadium rock act, Coldplay takes more far-out chances than they’re given credit for: new album Moon Music features both an Afrobeats-tinged collaboration with Little Simz, Burna Boy, Elyanna and TINI, as well as a six-minute instrumental with spoken-word Maya Angelou snippets, but the British quartet also tucks in plenty of alt-rock radio fare, like the lovely lead single “feelslikeimfallinginlove.”
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LISA, “Moonlit Floor”
As she forges ahead with her solo career, BLACKPINK star LISA has revived an indelible ‘90s hit, Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me,” for “Moonlit Floor,” which functions more like a modern pop jam than an alternative foray in spite of its interpolation.
Rich Homie Quan, Forever Goin In
At 100 minutes, Forever Goin In, the first posthumous Rich Homie Quan release following the rapper’s tragic passing last month, is knowingly uncut, offering fans an extended toast at his brilliant delivery and linguistic skills; across 35 songs, however, the project rarely feels overstuffed, a nod to his greatness.
Finneas, For Cryin’ Out Loud!
Although Finneas’ younger sister Billie Eilish has enjoyed record-setting success since her first album — he’s opening on her latest arena tour, after all — the songwriter and producer has also carved out a niche of his own, continuing the promise of 2021’s Optimist with more pop dynamism and a greater emphasis on live-band arrangements with this sophomore LP.
Various Artists, Joker: Folie à Deux Soundtrack
Can’t get enough Joker: Folie à Deux? One week after co-star Lady Gaga unveiled Harlequin as a project inspired by the blockbuster film, the official soundtrack boasts plenty of the spark between Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix that will be featured on the big screen.
Toosii, Jaded
Toosii continues morphing into one of hip-hop and R&B’s most promising rapper-crooners on Jaded, a breezy project on which he often shines on his own but is best showcased alongside other stars, like the head-knocking Gunna team-up “Champs Élysées” or the soulful Muni Long collaboration “I Do.”
Tucker Wetmore, Waves on a Sunset
Rising country star Tucker Wetmore has a warm, honest twang that trembles at the end of every line, and new EP Waves on a Sunset does a nice illustrating how he can someday join the genre’s elite, on songs like the hit “Wind Up Missin’ You” and the charming “When I Ain’t Lookin’.”
A$AP Ferg feat. Future & Mike WiLL Made-It, “Allure”
As Future once again tops the Billboard 200 chart, this time with his Mixtape Pluto project, A$AP Ferg has been on something of a hot streak himself, which he continues over a thunderous Mike WiLL Made-It beat on “Allure,” which begs to be blasted out of a car stereo at nighttime.
James Bay, Changes All the Time
It’s been 10 years since James Bay broke through with the still-potent hit “Let it Go,” and on Changes All the Time, the veteran singer-songwriter places his most earnest impulses front and center, scooping on positivity amidst sunny hooks and delicate guitar strums following the rousing opener “Up All Night,” featuring The Lumineers and Noah Kahan.
Editor’s Pick: Allie X, “Bon Voyage”
Setting aside the apt description “dark Fleetwood Mac” offered in the press release for Allie X’s new single “Bon Voyage,” the veteran pop auteur’s latest is a spellbinding collection of melodies and lingering space, leaning into the restlessness of Allie’s voice and captivating by refusing to find resolution.
James Bay’s “Up All Night,” a collaboration with The Lumineers and Noah Kahan, jumps two spots to No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart dated Oct. 12. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The song marks Bay’s first No. 1 on the survey, as well as his […]