Music

29 Mar 2024

Friday Dance Music Guide: The Week’s Best New Tracks From HoneyLuv, Walker & Royce, Jauz & More

This week in dance music: Charli XCX announced dates for the tour behind her forthcoming album, BRAT, we shared exclusive sets from the spring edition of CRSSD and ran down the best moments of Ultra Music Festival 2024. Meanwhile, Ultra headliner Calvin Harris had some sharp words for critics of his festival set, and IMS Ibiza announced the speaker lineup for its conference next month.

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And, here are the best new dance tracks of the week.

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HoneyLuv, “Right Spot”

Cleveland-born, London-based house producer HoneyLuv makes her debut of Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels label with “Right Spot.” Built from pulsing synth and scintillating percussion, the track is HoneyLuv’s first solo release of the year and comes in tandem with remixes from Dennis Ferrer and Byron The Aquarius. “I was inspired to make this track after listening to some old school deep Chicago tracks and wanted to make something of my own,” she says. “I wanted to experiment with this track to create something different and simple. The lyrics flowed to me, and the rest is history.”

Purple Disco Machine feat. Roosevelt, “Higher Ground”

After repeatedly running into each other at festivals around the world, German favs Purple Disco Machine and Roosevelt decided to make something together, with the resulting “Higher Ground” fusing PDM’s signature ’80s synth aesthetic and Roosevelt’s indie electronic style. Out via Sony Music Germany/RCA Records, the song oscillates between dark and light, thumping along on a heavy bassline and building to moments of brightness rendered from Roosevelt’s melodies. “I loved the process of sending Tino a vocal and him tailoring the whole track around it,” Roosevelt says of the process. “I was able to take a step back from production duties and focus on my vocal performance, which was challenging but a lot of fun.”

Walker & Royce, No Big Deal

The New York City duo release the second album of their 13 year history with No Big Deal, out via Dirtybird Records. The 10-track project is sophisticated yet unpretentious house music, pure party starting fare that finds the pair — Sam Walker and Gavin Royce — letting their club-focused heaters prevail over TikToks and marketing plans. “Good music isn’t enough anymore; today it seems like you need to release music with something attached to it in order for it to make any kind of forward motion,” the pair tell Billboard in a joint statement. “No Big Deal is poised to be the opposite of that. With limited announce to release timelines, the goal for this rollout was music first, gimmick last. Make something memorable that sticks, and you won’t have anything to worry about.” 

Gesaffelstein, GAMMA

Clocking in at a tight 27 minutes, Gesaffelstein’s 11-track album GAMMA finds the French producer in a characteristically dark and heavy state of play, with these songs taking that aesthetic and pushing it further into post-punk, distorted experimental electronic, industrial and even, in more than one moment, doo wop. Consider our interest piqued in regard to how the producer will present this music next month at Coachella, which are currently the only shows on his tour schedule.

Jauz, “Teardrops”

Bay Area-born, Los Angeles-based mainstay Jauz returns with “Teardrops,” a slinky, sophisticated house track centered around stuttering synth. (Early cosigns have come from fellow artists including Illenium, who simply commented “Fire” on an Instagram post previewing the song.) Out via the producer’s own Bite This! label, “Teardrops” comes ahead of Jauz’s Wise vs. Wicked 2024 tour behind his 2023 albums Rise of the Wise and Wrath of the Wicked. Launching next month, each tour stop will feature a pair of shows, with fans able to buy tickets for a progressive house-focused “Wise” set, a bass-heavy “Wicked” show, or both.

29 Mar 2024

Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’: 10 Best Covers

Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” with its pleading-to-the-other-woman cries of “please don’t take my man,” has endured over the past half-century. Hundreds of artists have offered up their own renditions of the song— the most recent being musical powerhouse Beyoncé, who included a more steely-eyed, daring reimagination of the song, with revamped lyrics, on her new album Act II: Cowboy Carter.

Parton previously recounted how she came up with the song’s titular name, telling NPR, “One night, I was on stage, and there was this beautiful little girl — she was probably 8 years old at the time,” Parton said. “And she had this beautiful red hair, this beautiful skin, these beautiful green eyes, and she was looking up at me, holding, you know, for an autograph. I said, ‘Well, you’re the prettiest little thing I ever saw. So what is your name?’ And she said, ‘Jolene.’ And I said, ‘Jolene. Jolene. Jolene. Jolene.’ I said, ‘That is pretty. That sounds like a song. I’m going to write a song about that.’”

While the title came from a fan, the song’s lyrics came from Parton’s own heartbreak, spurred by a redheaded bank teller who had shown interest in Parton’s husband.

“She got this terrible crush on my husband,” Parton said. “And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention. It was kinda like a running joke between us — when I was saying, ‘Hell, you’re spending a lot of time at the bank. I don’t believe we’ve got that kind of money.’ So it’s really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one.”

“Jolene,” which the prolific singer-songwriter Parton wrote solo, debuted on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in 1973 and peaked atop the chart in February 1974. The song became one of Parton’s most iconic songs and “Jolene” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014. Last month, the album Jolene, which contains Parton’s iconic song, reached its 50th anniversary.

From faithful country-tinged renderings, full-on rock anthems and complete re-envisionings of the song, we look at 10 of the top covers of Parton’s “Jolene.”

29 Mar 2024

Friday Music Guide: New Music From Beyoncé, Camila Cabello, J-Hope and More

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, Cowboy Carter arrives, Camila Cabello upends expectations and J-Hope continues his winning streak. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter 



There was a time when Beyoncé was known more for her radio fodder and less for her full-length thematic statements; Bey has spent a little over a decade flipping that script, and while she’s still scoring hits (like her most recent No. 1 single, “Texas Hold ’Em”), she has become one of modern music’s boldest album auteurs. Cowboy Carter, which refracts country music’s history through her superstar prism, heralds a sound and then shifts its shape, blending popular voices and classic songs into a singular vision that ranges from acoustic lullabies like “Protector” to show-stopping workouts like “Ya Ya.” It’s a work of staggering ambition and execution, and as with all of her recent projects, the legend of Beyoncé continues to grow.

Camila Cabello feat. Playboi Carti, “I Luv It” 



“I Luv It” is bananas: Camila Cabello repeats the titular phrase breathlessly as synths whirr around her words, then a sample of Gucci Mane’s classic single “Lemonade” drops, and finally Playboi Carti slides in to mumble some game before the single collapses. The whole affair is off-the-wall pop experimentation, but for Cabello, that might be exactly what the doctor ordered as she enters the next phase of her solo career — “I Luv It” is brash and knowingly surprising, which is more than enough.

Trending on Billboard

J-Hope, Hope on the Street Vol. 1 



After 2022’s Jack in the Box demonstrated J-Hope’s solo ambitions and hip-hop panache, Hope on the Street Vol. 1 continues expanding his artistic world while also recruiting some special guests. BTS fans will love hearing Jung Kook stop by “I Wonder…” and its warm production bed, while Benny Blanco and Nile Rodgers help engineer the clap-along dance cut “Lock / Unlock” — all the while, however, J-Hope remains a commanding presence, giving each track the pop of attitude it needs.

mgk x Trippie Redd, genre:sadboy 



Machine Gun Kelly and Trippie Redd are frequent collaborators and kindred spirits, mussing up the lines between rock and hip-hop and using their vulnerabilities to connect with younger listeners. At 27 minutes, the collaborative project genre:sadboy allows MGK and Trippie to play off of each other at a brisk pace, telling their tales of dissatisfaction and yearning on tracks like the understated “Lost Boy” and the Frou Frou-sampling “Beauty,” and proudly leaning in to that “sadboy” label.

Editor’s Pick: Sheryl Crow, Evolution 



Sheryl Crow thought her 2019 album Threads would be her last; thank goodness she was mistaken. Evolution is a rollicking affair that more squarely centers Crow’s personality after her guest-packed previous album: the recent Rock Hall inductee has tapped producer Mike Elizondo to make her pop-rock musings smack a little harder, but her smoky voice and witty lyricism are the stars of the show, and haven’t dulled one bit after a long layoff and a few decades in the game.

29 Mar 2024

Miley Cyrus Thanks Beyoncé Following ‘Cowboy Carter’ Collaboration: ‘You’re Everything & More’

Beyoncé‘s new album Cowboy Carter arrived Friday (March 29), bringing with it a number of surprises — including an unanticipated but gorgeous Miley Cyrus collaboration on the track “II Most Wanted.”

Shortly after the 27-track LP dropped, the “Flowers” singer shared her gratitude for her place on the project, which also features country legends Dolly Parton — who just so happens to be Cyrus’ godmother — Willie Nelson and Linda Martell. “I’ve loved Beyonce since long before I had the opportunity to meet & work with her,” Cyrus wrote on Instagram, posting a photo of the Cowboy Carter album cover.

“My admiration runs so much deeper now that I’ve created along side of her,” she continued. “Thank you Beyonce. You’re everything & more. Love you. To everyone who spent time making this song so special thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

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Cyrus and the 32-time Grammy winner’s voices intertwine on the mid-tracklist duet, on which they sing, “I’ll be your shotgun rider ’til the day I die/ Smoke out the window, flyin’ down the 405/ I’ll be your backseat baby, drivin’ you crazy.”

Also featured on Bey’s new post-Renaissance record is Post Malone, who sings with the Ivy Park founder on the sultry “Levii’s Jeans.” After the song dropped, he wrote on Instagram Stories, “thank you @beyonce congrats this album is beautiful!”

Plus, Cowboy Carter featured a cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” for which Bey was joined by Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts. “I cannot believe it. God is so good. I’m on a @Beyonce record,” Kennedy tweeted Friday morning. “And not on one but TWO songs. You can catch me on those harms on Tyrant too!”

“I am so thankful!” wrote Roberts on Instagram Stories. “You’ve always bene my biggest inspiration. I’m in awe of you forever and always @beyonce.”

See Cyrus’ post below.

29 Mar 2024

Sum 41 Opens Up About Final Album, Farewell Tour & More

After becoming a band nearly 30 years ago, iconic pop-punk act Sum 41 has approached a milestone: its final album. Out Friday (March 29), Heaven :x: Hell arrives as the band’s eighth and last project together.

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“The title doesn’t just represent the light and dark sonically of the record — to us that’s been our whole career,” frontman Deryck Whibley tells Billboard News. “It’s been extreme highs and extreme lows and the only way you stick with it is if you love what you’re doing.”

Across its career, the Grammy-nominated Sum 41 has scored two top albums on the Billboard 200 (2004’s Chuck and 2007’s Underclass Hero), while its biggest hit “Fat Lip” became its only Billboard Hot 100 entry, peaking at No. 66.

Heaven :x: Hell arrives as the band’s first double album, chronicling the fine line it has walked between more uptempo pop-punk with harder-hitting rock and metal music. As the band confirms, having these two sides was never a conscious choice, with Whibley saying they never even set out to make any sort of album at all.

“A lot it was by accident,” he says. “Right as we went into lockdown, I started getting calls from labels and managers and artists asking if I would write some songs for them, and everyone was asking for something leaning pop-punk. And we haven’t really done pop-punk in a long time … it’s been like, 16 years. I wrote about seven or eight songs, and once I listened to them, I realized I actually liked them and I didn’t want to give them away.”

Once he started sending the songs to the band, Dave Baksh jokes about how amazing it felt. “Like, ‘Ah, something to do.’” Adds Frank Zummo, “It was a light at a dark time.”

And now, this album — and the band’s forthcoming farewell tour, which extends through 2025 — will, funny enough, get them through the undeniable fact that the end is near. “Right now, it feels like 2001 for us when we were first coming out, getting pushed and pulled everywhere,” says Jason McCaslin. Adds Whibley: “As it gets closer to the end, it will start to hit us. I think it’s gonna get stranger and stranger as we get closer to the last shows,” which he teases will mix their greatest hits with fan favorites and, of course, some of the new songs.

“The entire band, I feel like we’re at the top of our game,” says Tom Thacker. “It’s almost a shame. I’ve never been in a band that was this tight and this mentally in tune with each other.”

When asked if this is indeed the last record and tour, each member’s eyes widen, though Whibley assures it is. “People are like, ‘You sure you want to call it the last record?’ I’ve seen Elton John six times in my life, only on the farewell tour,” he laughs, adding that will not be the case for Sum 41.

“We all knew no one was going to write our story except for us,” he continues. “I remember in the early days when people would say, ‘This band will be gone next year,’ or ‘One hit wonder’ when we had our first hit single. I always thought, ‘You don’t get to write our story. We’ll tell you when we’re leaving.’”

Watch the full Billboard News interview above.

29 Mar 2024

Fans Think Taylor Swift Is on Beyoncé’s New Album ‘Cowboy Carter’ — But Is She Really?

In the lead-up to Beyoncé‘s new album Cowboy Carter, rumors swirled that a certain country-turned-pop star may be a featured collaborator on the project. When it finally dropped at midnight Friday (March 29), however, Taylor Swift‘s name was nowhere in sight on the credits.

But wait. Who’s that singing in the background on track eight?

After listening, many fans were immediately convinced that Swift actually did have a cameo, albeit a small one, on Bey’s Renaissance sequel, potentially providing a few complementary vocals for the song “Bodyguard.” (The person behind those repeating “Ahh” counter melodies does sound remarkably like the “Anti-Hero” artist.)

“THAT IS 100% TAYLOR SWIFT ON BODYGUARD BY BEYONCÉ NOW GIVE ME A FULL COLLAB,” one Swiftie tweeted shortly after Cowboy Carter dropped.

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“wait i can really hear taylor singing the ahhs in bodyguard…,” wrote another person, while a third fan added, “IS TAYLOR DOING THE BACKGROUND VOCALS FOR BODYGUARD OR NOT SOMEONE TELL ME.”

But no, Swift’s voice is not included in “Bodyguard.”

That may be a disappointing fact for fans of the two women, who have been in each other’s corners since Bey supported Swift at the 2009 VMAs after Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) interrupted the “Karma” musician during her best female video acceptance speech. Last year, the Ivy Park founder attended the premiere of Swift’s Eras Tour concert film premiere, soon after which the Pennsylvania-born pop star showed up to the Houston native’s Renaissance movie debut in London.

“I’m so glad I’ll never know what my life would’ve been like without @beyonce‘s influence,” Swift wrote of Bey on Instagram after the Eras event. “The way she’s taught me and every artist out here to break rules and defy industry norms. Her generosity of spirit. Her resilience and versatility. She’s been a guiding light throughout my career and the fact that she showed up tonight was like an actual fairytale. ???”

See tweets from fans theorizing about Bey, Tay and “Bodyguard” below.

29 Mar 2024

Rumi Carter, Beyoncé’s Youngest Daughter, Makes Musical Debut on ‘Cowboy Carter’

Rumi Carter, first of her name, younger sister of Blue Ivy, niece of Solange and granddaughter of Tina Knowles, has officially made her debut as a recording artist.

Beyoncé‘s youngest daughter, who is 6, scored a featured artist credit on “Protector,” the fourth track on Cowboy Carter — the second act in Queen Bey’s sprawling Renaissance trilogy. A tender, guitar-plucked ballad, “Protector” finds Beyoncé singing of the challenges that come with shifting your approach to parenthood as your children get older. “And I will lead you down that road if you lose your way/ Born to be a protector/ Even though I know someday you’re gonna shine on your own / I will be your projector,” she croons.

Rumi’s appearance occurs at the very beginning of the track when she adorably asks, “Mom, can I hear the lullaby? Please?”

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Her contributions to the track echo the earliest of Blue Ivy’s appearances on her parents’ music. Back in 2012, Jay-Z included Blue’s cries — she was just 10 days old when the song dropped — on “Glory,” which reached No. 23 on Hot Rap Songs, making the eldest Carter child the youngest person in history to have a charted song on any Billboard tally.

Of course, “Glory” kicked off what has become a Grammy-winning career for Blue Ivy, who is now 12. She won her first Grammy for best music video thanks to her contributions to her mom’s The Lion King: The Gift single “Brown Skin Girl” (with Wizkid and SAINt JHN), picking up honors at the BET Awards, Soul Train Music Awards and NAACP Image Awards in the process. That song also became Blue’s very first Billboard Hot 100 hit, peaking at No. 76. Blue has also appeared on several other songs, including Beyoncé’s “Blue” (2013), “Daddy Lessons” (2016), “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing (Blue’s Version)” (2019), Jay-Z’s “Blue’s Freestyle / We Family” (2017) and Coldplay‘s “Up&Up” (2016). On her parents’ 2018 joint album Everything Is Love, Blue appears on “Boss” and “Salud,” on which she shouts out her younger twin siblings, Rumi and Sir Carter.

Time will tell if Rumi continues to appear in the studio, but for now, she can enjoy her official musical debut on one of the most buzzed-about albums of the year.

Listen to “Protector” below.

29 Mar 2024

Tomorrowland Is Considering a Thailand Edition, But ‘There Is No Confirmation Yet’

Despite reports that Tomorrowland will be launching a Thai edition of the festival in 2026, organizers say this event is not yet a reality.

Last week, the English language Thai news site The Nation published a story quoting Thai government spokesperson Chai Wacharonke, who said the festival was coming to Thailand and could be hosted there for 10 consecutive years.

But in a statement provided Friday (March 29) to Billboard, festival representative Debby Wilmsen says that while “Tomorrowland has a real interest in Thailand and is seriously exploring the possibility of a festival in Thailand … at this stage, there is no confirmation yet on an actual festival taking place.”

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But that’s not to say this event won’t happen, with the statement noting that currently, “Tomorrowland is investigating the feasibility of the project, and has signed an exclusive MOU agreement with a Thai private sector partner to conduct this study together.”

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This memorandum of understanding is a legal agreement indicating an intended common action, with the feasibility study intending to make clear whether or not Tomorrowland Thailand can occur. The statement concludes, “Tomorrowland is very honored that the authorities are eager to welcome us.”

If launched, the event would mark the fourth edition of Tomorrowland to happen outside of its home in Belgium, with the company hosting TomorrowWorld in Georgia from 2013 to 2015, Tomorrowland Brazil in 2015-2016 and again in 2023, and Tomorrowland Winter in the French Alps annually since 2019.

Meanwhile, the mothership edition will happen in Boom, Belgium, July 19-21 and 26-28, with a genre-spanning lineup of dance artists including Swedish House Mafia, Tale of Us, Alesso, Amelie Lens, Bonobo, Dom Dolla, The Blessed Madonna, Rezz and Deadmau5 performing as REZZMAU5, David Guetta, Solomun b2b Four Tet, Eliza Rose and hundreds of others.

Tomorrowland co-founder Michiel Beers will also deliver a keynote speech at IMS Ibiza 2024, happening next month on the conference’s namesake island.

29 Mar 2024

Breaking Down Every Featured Artist on Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’: Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus & More

Queen Bey dropped her highly anticipated sequel to Renaissance March 29.

Beyoncé

Beyoncé performs onstage during the “RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR” at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Aug. 11, 2023 in Atlanta.

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Beyoncé‘s pivot to country — starting with the Billboard Hot 100-topping “Texas Hold ‘Em” and fellow lead single “16 Carriages” followed by the announcement of her latest album Cowboy Carter — shocked many listeners. But the the surprises didn’t stop there.

After the record dropped at midnight Friday (March 29), marking the beginning of the second act to Bey’s 2022 album Renaissance, fans were elated to see that the tracklist was packed with featured artists. The guest roster features legendary country pioneers — including a Dolly Parton-introduced new spin on Parton’s classic “Jolene” — as well as a handful of modern stars holding down the genre in 2024, plus a couple fellow pop titans who’ve also dabbled in the world of cowboy boots and fiddles. (Spoiler alert: That description includes, but isn’t limited to, a certain “Hoedown Throwdown” singer.)

The level of involvement each collaborator has on Cowboy Carter ranges from clever voice notes modeled after on-air disc-jockey transitions — in service of Bey’s KNTRY Radio concept — to full-on duets. It’s probably best to get one thing out of the way now, though: Neither Lady Gaga nor Taylor Swift are official contributors to the LP, though both of them were highly rumored to be. Sorry, “‘Telephone’ Pt. 2” truthers, as well as fans who loved seeing Beyoncé and Taylor show up to each other’s concert film premieres last year. Maybe next time.

From Dolly P to Miley C, keep reading to see a breakdown of all the artists Honey B included on her staggering new body of work, listed in alphabetical order below.

29 Mar 2024

Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Feather’ Hits No. 1 on Pop Airplay Chart: ‘I Feel Incredibly Thankful’

Sabrina Carpenter notches her first No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart — and on any radio-based ranking — with “Feather.”

The song tops the April 6-dated survey with a 7% gain in plays March 22-28, according to Luminate.

The single, released on Island/Republic Records, previously became Carpenter’s second Pop Airplay top 10, after “Nonsense” reached No. 10 in May 2023. She scored the first of her seven charted songs at the format with “Thumbs” in 2017.

“Feather,” which Carpenter co-wrote with Amy Allen and the song’s producer, John Ryan, is from the deluxe version, released in March 2023, of Carpenter’s album Emails I Can’t Send. The set debuted at its No. 23 high – Carpenter’s best rank – on the Billboard 200 in July 2022 and has earned 639,000 equivalent album units to date.

“It’s such an honor to have my first [airplay] No. 1 for ‘Feather,’ which is such a special song for me,” Carpenter tells Billboard. “It’s rare to see records on a deluxe album impact fans the way ‘Feather’ has, so I feel incredibly thankful.”

The track has also become Carpenter’s first top 40 hit on the all-genre, multimetric Billboard Hot 100, hitting a new No. 26 best on the most recently published, March 30-dated chart.

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Carpenter supported Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour for 30 dates from August through March 9. “I get to perform a set that I’m super comfortable with, and then I get to watch one of the greatest performers every night,” she recently told Cosmopolitan of opening shows for Swift. “It makes me want to tour the world again, which is a good feeling.”

Next, Carpenter is set to play both Coachella (April 12 and 19) and Governors Ball (June 8).