Music

09 Feb 2024

Usher’s King of R&B Crown Fits Perfectly on ‘Coming Home’ Album: Stream It Now

Usher is firmly in his zone on his long-awaited ninth album, Coming Home. The 45-year-old R&B veteran who is gearing up to take the stage for the halftime show at Sunday’s (Feb. 11) Super Bowl LVIII dropped the 20-track, guest-packed collection on Friday morning (Feb. 9) and it is everything you’d want from the “Yeah!” singer.

On his first studio album since 2016’s Hard II Love, Usher serves up all the low-boil seductive jams you’d expect, from the simmering not-together-but-it’s-fine single “Good Good” with Summer Walker and 21 Savage to the bubbling miss-you-much ballad “Kissing Strangers,” on which he croons, “How we go from strangers kissing to kissing strangers?”

After opening with the finger-snap, Michael Jackson-meets-Afrobeats Burna Boy collab “Coming Home,” Usher shows love to his hometown in the Billy Joel-interpolating, Latto-featuring “A-Town Girl,” which flips the Piano Man’s tony East Coast-repping 1983 hit “Uptown Girl” into a dirty south homage to a woman who knows how to twerk and skate.

There is, of course, plenty of heartbreak (the brooding “Cold Blooded” with The-Dream), disco-fueled confident swagger (“Big”), Eurosynth midtempo exhortations to keep the party going (“Keep on Dancin’”) and straight-up all-night-long sex jams (“Stone Kold Freak”).

The collection is packed with a parade of guest vocalists and rappers, from the meditative H.E.R. collab on “Risk It All” from The Color Purple soundtrack, to the seductive “Ruin” with Nigerian rapper/producer Pheelz, on which serial seducer Usher laments that his ex “ruined me for everybody,” even as he boasts that other women keep blowing up his phone. The album ends with the remix of Usher’s collab with K-pop icon Jung Kook from BTS on the latter’s earworm single, “Standing Next to You.”

And, not to worry, Ush has plenty of slow jams for those couple skates (“I Love U,” “Please U,” “Luckiest Man”) on the collection as well. Super Bowl LVIII will take place on Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and air on CBS and stream on Paramount+, Sling TV, Hulu+Live TV and FuboTV.

Stream Coming Home below.

09 Feb 2024

Post Malone ‘Very Nervous’ About Super Bowl LVIII Performance: ‘I’m Just Gonna Do My Best’

Post Malone has seen a million faces and he’s rocked them all. But 115 million faces? “Nerve-wracking, I’m very nervous,” Posty told Apple Music’s Nadeska Alexis during an interview on Thursday (Feb. 8) when she asked how he felt about singing “America the Beautiful” before Sunday’s (Feb. 11) Super Bowl LVIII.

“But excited. I’m excited. It’s just fun and super-epic to be able to go out and sing a song so many beautiful artists have sang before,” Malone, 28, said as he shared the stage with his fellow pre-gamer performers, Reba McEntire and Andra Day. As always, Posty — who noted that while he’s a well-known presence at the gaming tables in Las Vegas this will be his first Super Bowl — said he’s just going to give it his all and try to please the audience in Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and the many millions watching at home.

“I’m just gonna do my best, just do my best, and give it what I got,” he said. “My dad told me, ‘You’ll never make everybody happy. So just be yourself and do your best at everything you do.’ Do it your way and do it with love,” Malone added in answering a question a youth correspondent in the audience about the best advice he’s ever gotten.

While Malone will tackle “America the Beautiful,” McEntire is on tap to sing the National Anthem and Day will perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

Veteran Anthem singer McEntire said she’s been getting ready by singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” in the shower and just making sure she’s totally prepared and knows all the words. “Just to be prepared and know that everybody’s going to be singing it with me,” she said. Malone said he does the same, singing his part all the time around the house. So much so, he joked, that his family “just tries to get me to shut up.”

Usher will perform the halftime show at the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Super Bowl LVIII will take place on Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and air on CBS and stream on Paramount+, Sling TV, Hulu+Live TV and FuboTV.

Watch Malone’s interview below (begins at 10:00 mark).

09 Feb 2024

Dua Lipa Wrote 97 Songs For Her New Album

For her next album, Dua Lipa pursued perfection. And, as history tells us, perfection takes time and hard graft.

The British and Albanian star opened the 2024 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles with a performance of “Training Season” and “Houdini,” the first singles from her forthcoming third album.

Lipa stayed on in L.A., and stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday night (Feb. 8) for a chat about her writing process.

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“Training Season” and “Houdini,” we learned, made the cut from almost 100 songs penned for the project, each of which lives in precious book which Lipa showed to Kimmel.

“It’s got every single song I wrote for this album,” she says of the book. ”I wrote 97 songs.” Are any of them terrible? “Lots,” she admits. “About 80 of them.”

“Training Season” and “Houdini” aren’t among them.

Since the 2020 release of her hit sophomore album, Future Nostalgia, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, Lipa has grown in confidence.

“The second I write a song, I know its good or not or whether its close,” she tells Kimmel. “Every song on this album unlike any of the other records I’ve made, I’ve gone in and I’ve re-written it over and over again, until I felt like it was perfect, which I didn’t really have the confidence to do on my previous records.”

Earlier in her career, she continues, whatever was written on the day “was pretty much what everyone heard.”

This time, “I’m much more confident in myself as a songwriter and as a performer and how I want things to be and sound and look.” On the new collection, she “went in, digged a little deeper, and I changed things to the point that it felt perfect to me. And I feel proud of it.”

During her appearance as Kimmel’s guest, Lipa talked fangirling Katy Perry, tested some Albanian expressions with the host, and explained how she has meticulously kept notes since she “was tiny,” collecting on paper her “ideas, plans and dreams.”

What she didn’t discuss was the album title, its tracklist or release date. “Because I want to keep it a secret for a little bit longer,” she says. “I can’t reveal my secrets.”

The forthcoming LP is the followup to Future Nostalgia, which logged four weeks at No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, won best pop vocal album at the 2021 Grammy Awards, and featured “Levitating,” the No. 1 hit on Billboard’s 2021 year-end Hot 100 Songs chart.

Watch the late-night interview below.



09 Feb 2024

5 Takeaways From Ye & Ty Dolla $ign’s ‘Vultures Listening Experience’ in Chicago

On Monday night (Feb. 5), Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign shared a vague post on social media that hinted at a listening event in Chicago for Vultures, the artists’ first joint project as hip-hop duo ¥$. “Vultures United Center Chicago 02 08 24,” the post read without any additional details.

It was at first met with skepticism, given that the United Center did not have the event listed on their schedule and the multiple times the album’s release date has shifted. But once it was listed on the venue’s website first thing the following day — with tickets going on sale at 3 p.m. local time — fans were eager to get their hands on a golden ticket. Before 6 p.m., the album release party, dubbed Vultures Listening Experience, had officially sold out.  

Anticipation was high among fans, excited for an early listen of the long-awaited album, which was initially supposed to be released Dec. 15 and was then moved to Dec. 31, then Jan. 12. While it was expected to drop midnight Friday (Feb. 2), as of press time, the album has yet to drop.  

Around 7 p.m., fans — mainly young teens who opted for oversized, dark-hued hoodies or a puffer, cargo pants and their favorite sneakers — crowded around the United Center just as rain and thunderstorms cleared. Before doors opened, Billboard spoke to a trio of friends who drove to Chicago from Virginia. Mauricio, the group’s de facto spokesperson, had a one-word response when asked what his expectations were for this event. “Visuals,” he said categorically. “This guy (Kanye) is really about portraying an image and aesthetic and vibe. The music is just kinda the background.”

Next to Mauricio and his buddies was Sterling from New Hampshire. “As soon as the event went on sale on Tuesday, I was able to buy a $235 ticket but it was a battle with Ticketmaster because the site would go down,” he explained. “My jaw would hit the floor but I eventually got in. Then, I bought a Greyhound ticket, took the bus, booked a hotel and spent almost $1,000. I’ve been waiting to see Kanye for 10 years. I’m just happy to be in the same building as him.”

A little past 8 p.m. gates finally opened and people were allowed inside the venue where official merchandise — black tees and white sweatpants and shorts stamped with a Vultures logo — was sold. Once you made your way inside, you were hit with a foggy view of the barely visible stage erected from an open space surrounded by white flags with the Vultures logo.

Chance the Rapper was in attendance and made a grand entry with an entourage in tow waving at the fans who recognized the hometown hero. Once settled in, he, like everyone else there, patiently waited for the listening session to begin. And it did around 10:10p.m., an hour after it was scheduled to start.

The crowd roared at the sight of Ye and Ty who walked up on the stage. Some of the songs that played throughout the night included “Burn,” “Paperwork,” “Everybody,” “Carnival,” “Vultures,” “Hoodrat,” “Paid” and “Talking/Once Again,” which featured a special performance by North West. Undoubtedly, the 10-year-old’s appearance onstage was one of the best moments of the night with the entire venue cheering her on as she rapped alongside her superstar father.

While the 12 songs that were played throughout the listening session were met with rave and approval by fans who nodded along to every beat, they were in disbelief when the music ended and lights at the venue went on signaling that the show had ended. As if on cue, the confused crowd checked their phones once the event was over. To their surprise (or perhaps not), the album hadn’t been released.

Ye and Ty are expected to host another listening event today in New York’s UBS Arena. Below, a list of the takeaways from Chicago’s Vultures Listening Experience event:  

09 Feb 2024

Trevor Noah & Ben Winston on 2024 Grammys: Jay-Z’s Surprise Remarks, Mariah Carey’s Frantic Golf-Cart Ride, and Why Noah Delivers His Monologue in the Audience

Trevor Noah had a special guest on his Spotify podcast What Now? With Trevor Noah on Thursday (Feb. 8) – Ben Winston, who was one of the executive producers of the Grammy telecast on Sunday, Feb. 4 (along with Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins).

Noah, who has hosted the show the last four years and this year was also credited as a producer, opened by saying “Can I tell you there are few gigs I’ve done in my life that are more stressful than the Grammys? It’s exciting, it’s fun, but … it’s too much stress.”

Winston agreed. “I worked on that show for like four months and then the last three or four weeks it becomes intense and then the last few days it’s even more intense and then the last hour before the show is like the worst of all of it because that’s when everything you’ve been planning for a year falls apart because artists aren’t showing up … I’ve run the Grammys for four years now. For the last two years that half-hour before we’ve gone live I would say without question are the two most stressful half-hours of my entire life. Just the stuff that comes in and how just feel like you’re sinking on a ship that you’ve been building for months.”

One of the major stressors was a number of top stars arriving late for the 5:00 p.m. PT starting time, the result of a combination of factors – always heavy L.A. traffic aggravated by a rainstorm on show day, tight security and demonstrations near Crypto.com Arena where the show was taped, which impeded traffic.

Trevor asked Winston if a story he had heard was true – that Mariah Carey, who was set to present the first award, was picked up in a golf cart to get to the show on time.

“That’s 100% real,” Winston said. He recalled that at 4:48, none of the first three presenters (Carey, Christina Aguilera and Kacey Musgraves) was in the building. “It was an absolute nightmare. So, Patrick Menton, head of talent and co-executive producer of the show, got a guy in a golf cart – this is the God’s honest truth – to drive the wrong way down the [freeway] on the hard-shoulder, drove over a mile, got Mariah out of her SUV, stuck umbrellas to each side of it so she wouldn’t get soaked [and got her there].”

Winston communicated with Noah through an earpiece the host was wearing during the telecast. “I’m trying not to stress you out because I’m in your ears the whole time. I have to give him his props here. Trevor is unbelievable at taking information live in your ear. I was slowing you down because Mariah wasn’t ready yet. [As soon as] they went ‘Mariah is ready,’ you went ‘Time for our first award.’”

Noah and Winston also discussed Jay-Z’s calling out Grammy voters for repeatedly denying his wife Beyoncé the album of the year prize. Jay’s remarks were unexpected, but both men defended his right to say what he said.

The podcast played an excerpt of Jay’s remarks: “Think about that: the most Grammys, never won album of the year. That doesn’t work. Some of you are going to go home tonight and feel like you’ve been robbed. Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don’t belong in the category. When I get nervous, I tell the truth.”

“I’ll tell you this much. I didn’t expect it,” Noah said, likening it to the moment in 2005 when Kanye West went off-script at the Hurricane Katrina telethon and said “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.” Noah said when Jay made his surprise remarks, “I felt a little bit like Mike Myers” [who was West’s shocked co-presenter on that telethon].

Noah set the scene: “I have just presented Jay with the Dr. Dre [Global Impact] Award. I’m on stage. I’m standing to the side. I’m expecting Jay-Z to come up and make a speech and I expect it to be a speech the way everybody makes a speech, “Reach for the stars, dream big, this is inspiration, hope for the best, thank you so much, I love you all, good night.”

And then Jay gets up and starts his speech. There are moments where I’m like, ‘Am I hearing this correctly?’ because I’m behind and you can’t really hear exactly what he did. … People are laughing. It was almost like a roast meets an acceptance speech. I liked it, though, I will say that. I like it when people are honest, I won’t lie.”

Winston agreed. “I don’t think it was as disrespectful to the Grammys as has been taken. He and his wife between them have won 60 [56, actually] Grammys as a couple. So he stood there as a real honored guy. Listen, I have nothing to do with the awards. I’m not even in the Academy. I can’t vote. I make the TV show with you Trevor. I’ve done it for the last four years.

“Of the last four years, they’ve turned up three out of the four. The only one that they didn’t come to was the one in Vegas [in 2022]. So, I think it matters to them. I think the Grammys and the Recording Academy matters to them as an institution. And any institution that matters to you, you want it to be done right, and you care about that. I respect that. And I also say ‘fair play’ to the Grammys for saying ‘speak whatever you feel.’ He also gave it credit saying the Black Music Collective has done a lot of good work. So yeah, he feels like Beyoncé should have won an album of the year…”

Noah interjected, “which I second, by the way.” Noah parodied West’s infamous interruption of Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards and said, “Ben, I’mma let you finish, but I do think Beyoncé should have won for one of the greatest albums of all time” [an apparent reference to Lemonade, which lost to Adele’s 25].

Later in the conversation, Noah returned to the subject of Jay-Z’s blast. “I appreciate the moments where Jay-Z comes on stage and just throws a little spice into the pot. Man, thank you Jay-Z. If Jay-Z can’t do it, who can? Maybe he’ll inspire more people to do it. This is life. It gets people interested. It gets us talking. It’s entertainment.”

Both defended Swift, who has been criticized for not acknowledging Celine Dion, who presented her with album of the year.

“To be fair, she was excited she had just won album of the year,” Winston said. “I don’t think she meant disrespect by it in any way. I think she was just excited.”

Noah concurred. “In those moments, speaking from experience, humbly, you do black out a little bit when it’s like a major moment.”

Noah may have been referring to the moment on Jan. 15 when he won a Primetime Emmy as executive producer and host of The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, which was voted outstanding talk series. For his part, Winston has won at least one Primetime Emmy in each of the last eight years. He won last month as an executive producer of Elton John Farewell From Dodger Stadium, which was voted outstanding variety special (live).  

Winston asked Noah if he was worried when he started his monologue that so few of the people who were mentioned in the monologue were in the room yet.

“Live TV is live,” Noah said. “… In this moment in particular, you’re about to do something in a room where people aren’t even sort of in yet, yet you’re talking about them and to them and they’re not there. I’m literally scanning the room praying that I will see anybody, anybody, anybody in their seats. So, you look around and say, ‘Oh thank God, there’s Ed Sheeran, there’s 21 Savage.’

“Like when Meryl Streep came in … First of all, she’s Meryl Streep. She didn’t need to run in because she was late. She ran in. She apologized for being late in a really nice, respectful, human way .. In that moment I was like, ‘OK, everything is going to be OK and thank you Jesus. I think we’re doing to get through this thing.’”

Winston gave Noah credit for his willingness to do his opening monologue in the audience, among the celebrity guests. “Most of the time with comedians at the beginning of the show, they’re on a stage, they’re safe, they’ve got their prompter. We literally stick you in amongst them, for two reasons. Firstly, I think it’s much more of an interesting watch. You walking around the room shows off who’s in the room. The second reason is … [we’ve] got to clear that stage for the next artist. We don’t have space for you on that stage.”

“I both love and hate it,” Noah said of performing his opening jokes while standing in the audience. “I love it from a producer’s perspective. I see why you wanted to do it and I enjoy that element of it. As a performer, it’s chaos….I won’t lie to you guys. It’s terrifying, but I do enjoy it.”

Winston concluded the podcast by explaining his role as one of the executive producers of the Grammys.

“My job I think is to program that show to do the best I can to make sure I have something for everybody, whether you’re Auntie Margaret in Alabama or you’re Cool Kid in New York, there’s something for you. You only get a viewing figure [good rating] for a Burna Boy if you follow it up with a Billy Joel. So, you’ve got to find that balance so you can actually get audience for those new artists, get people excited by Victoria Monét, Burna Boy, because they’re watching these other ones that they came for.”

09 Feb 2024

Ahead of ‘The Eras Tour’ of Australia, Taylor Swift Sweeps Top 5

Taylor Swift blocks-out the entire top 5 on Australia’s albums chart, as Swifties fire-up her catalog just days out from the start of her tour Down Under.

The U.S. pop superstar leads the ARIA Chart, published Friday, Feb. 9, with 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (via Universal), which clocks its 14th non-consecutive week at No. 1, tying with Midnights as her longest-running leader.

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It’s all TayTay from there, as Midnights (Universal) holds at No. 2, Lover (Universal) lifts 8-3, Reputation (Big Machine/Universal) holds at No. 4, and Folklore (Republic/Universal) fires 8-5.

It’s not the first Swift Sweep of the ARIA Chart. The “Wildest Dreams” singer completed what was then an unprecedented lock-up of the top 5 last July, led by Midnights, followed by Lover, 1989, Reputation, and Folklore, respectively.

On that occasion, Swift-mania was triggered by the general ticket on sale for her The Eras Tour of Australia in 2024, produced by Frontier Touring.

The time has come. Swift will play her hits across seven concerts at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Sydney’s Accord Stadium, starting from next Friday (Feb. 16) at the MCG.

No other artist has come close to commanding the ARIA top 5. The late Michael Jackson was the standard-bearer before Swift, once landing the top three albums on the chart a week following his death in 2009.

The top new release on the latest ARIA Albums Chart is Prelude To Ecstasy (Island/Universal), the debut LP from the critically-lauded British group The Last Dinner Party. It’s new at No. 35.

Prelude To Ecstasy zoomed ahead on the midweek U.K. chart, and should give the London five-piece group a No. 1 there, adding to their growing collection of trophies which includes the BRITS Rising Star Award and the BBC Sound of… 2024 poll.

Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Noah Kahan sticks a second week at No. 1 with “Stick Season” (Universal), ahead of Jack Harlow’s former leader “Lovin On Me” (Atlantic/Warner), holding at No. 2.

U.S. viral star Benson Boone has a new career high with “Beautiful Things” (Warner), which improves 9-3. Until “Beautiful Things,” his ARIA Chart best was No. 34 for 2022’s “Into The Stars.”

Finally, Dom Dolla marches into the top 10 for the first time with “Saving Up” (Sony). A standout on the triple j Hottest 100 poll, where it dropped in at No. 3, “Saving Up” lifts 11-10 on the ARIA Chart.

“Saving Up” is one of 11 homegrown recordings in the top 100, ARIA reports, including cuts by Royel Otis, Troye Sivan, Vance Joy, Ocean Alley, FISHER with Kita Alexander and Flume with Kai.

08 Feb 2024

Gwen Stefani & Blake Shelton Team Up for ‘Purple Irises’ Duet: Stream It Now

The ultimate power couple is back. Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton teamed up on Friday (Feb. 9) to release their newest duet, the retro-tinged “Purple Irises.”

The song comes just two days after the couple announced the track with the 1970s-inspired cover art, in which Stefani is seen lounging on a couch in a denim jumpsuit, chunky-heeled shoes and a bra, while Shelton sits on a chair in jeans and a denim shirt with leather epaulets while strumming a guitar.

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“But if someone comes along and tries to love you like I love you/ Don’t know what I’d do/ Don’t want to lose you/ If someone comes along and tries to take you tries to make you/ Don’t let ’em change your mind/ Wonder why you took a risk/ On a broken heart you cannot fix/ No I never knew a love like this/ Now we’re pickin’ purple irises,” the couple sings on the country pop ballad.

“Purple Irises” is hardly the first musical collaboration from the lovebirds. The announcement of the latest duet comes just days after Shelton dropped his six-track Love Language EP, featuring the previous Stefani collabs “Nobody But You” and “Happy Anywhere,” as well as “God Gave Me You,” “Sangria,” “Honey Bee” and “A Guy With a Girl.” The duo also released their festive hit, “You Make It Feel Like Christmas,” in 2017.

Shelton and Stefani met on the set of The Voice, when they were both coaches on the reality singing competition series. They tied the knot in 2021, and have been going strong ever since. 

Listen to “Purple Irises” below.

08 Feb 2024

Taylor Swift’s ‘Lover’ Surpasses 2 Million in U.S. Album Sales

In the first five weeks of 2024, Taylor Swift won two Grammy Awards (including a record-breaking fourth for album of the year, for Midnights), announced a new studio album (onstage at the Grammys!), got her ninth No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with the revived Lover hit “Cruel Summer,” topped Billboard’s annual Power 100 list for the first time, and saw two of her albums surpass the 2 million U.S. sales mark: 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and Lover.

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1989 (Taylor’s Version), released in 2023, jumped past the 2 million mark – counting only traditional album sales (purchases of CD, vinyl, cassette and digital download copies) – in the week ending Jan. 11, according to Luminate. Meanwhile, Lover, released in 2019, flew past the 2 million threshold in the week ending Jan. 18. They mark her ninth and 10th albums to sell at least 2 million in the U.S.

Swift’s top-selling album in the U.S. is Fearless, with 7.286 million copies sold.

Plus, on the latest Top Album Sales chart, the former No. 1 Lover locks up its 200th nonconsecutive week on the tally, as it rises 8-4 on the list dated Feb. 10. It sold 8,000 copies in the week ending Feb. 1 (the tracking week captured on the Feb. 10-dated chart) – up 21% compared to its sales in the previous week. Only two other Swift albums have spent at least 200 weeks on Top Album Sales: her self-titled album, with 286 weeks (and counting), and Fearless, with 224 weeks.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Elsewhere on the new Top Album Sales chart, Grateful Dead score its first No. 1 as Dave’s Picks, Volume 49: Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford U., Palo Alto, CA (4/27/85 & 4/28/85) debuts atop the list. It sold 21,000 in its first week. Rock supergroup The Smile sees its new album Wall of Eyes starts at No. 2 (14,500) while Swift’s chart-topping 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is steady at No. 3 (10,000; down 9%). Green Day’s Saviors slips 1-5 in its second week with 7,000 (down 82%), while Alkaline Trio’s Blood, Hair and Eyeballs bows at No. 6 with just over 6,000. Stray Kids’ chart-topping ROCK-STAR is stationary at No. 7 with 6,000 (down 2%) and Swift’s former leader Midnights falls 5-9 with nearly 6,000 (down 13%).

Two debuts close out the top 10, as Static-X’s Project Regeneration, Volume 2 launches at No. 9 with nearly 5,000, and Future Islands’ People Who Aren’t There Anymore bows at No. 10 with 4,000.

In the week ending Feb. 1, there were 1.118 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 1.3% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 827,000 (up 0.5%) and digital albums comprised 291,000 (up 3.6%).

There were 404,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Feb. 1 (up 3.9% week-over-week) and 418,000 vinyl albums sold (down 2.4%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 2.108 million (down 31% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 2.413 million (down 46.4%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 5.915 million (down 36.1% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 4.545 million (down 40.2%) and digital album sales total 1.370 million (down 17.7%).

08 Feb 2024

Substitution: Kaskade Will Replace Tiësto as First Super Bowl In-Game DJ

Kaskade will replace Tiësto as the Super Bowl’s first ever in-game DJ, with the latter producer dropping out of the gig earlier Thursday (Feb. 8), citing a “personal family emergency.”

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Hours after Tiësto dropped out, Kaskade — real name: Ryan Raddon — announced that he’d be subbing in, writing on X that “As a kid who grew up in Chicago watching the NFL Super Bowl every year with my family, this chance to actually be part of it is absolutely mind blowing.

“Las Vegas has been my second home for the past decade, as an architect of creating a landscape that includes house and dance music residencies as part of its destination,” he continues. “To be able to be the first electronic musician to be part of the full game experience of the Super Bowl held in Las Vegas seems like coming home, and I’m beyond excited to represent my community.”

Kaskade will spin during Super Bowl 2024 game breaks, with portions of his performance to be featured during the Super Bowl LVIII broadcast on CBS this Sunday.

Upon announcing that he will no longer be playing the gig, Tiësto wrote that “Me and my team have been preparing something truly special for months, but a personal family emergency is forcing me to return home Sunday morning. It was a tough decision to miss the game, but family always comes first. Thank you to the NFL for the collaboration and looking forward to working with them to deliver something incredible together in the future!”

08 Feb 2024

Lady Gaga Shows Off Ultimate Clean Girl Makeup Look While Listening to Ariana Grande

Lady Gaga’s Haus Labs is fresh off the release of their new lip plumping gloss, PhD Hybrid Lip Glaze, and what better way to show off the new product than on Mother Monster herself?

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The “Poker Face” superstar took to TikTok to pose in a sleek “clean girl” makeup look, keeping it fresh and simple with mascara, bros and full lips using the shade “Honey Glaze.” She also pulled back her hair into a ponytail, reminiscent of her “Rain on Me” collaborator Ariana Grande. “When you’re done w/ your makeup and you know it’s good,” Gaga captioned the post, lip syncing along to Grande’s Hot 100 chart topper “Yes, And?”

See the post here.

Besides her Haus Labs launches, Gaga got fans buzzing last month by sharing a photo set of herself to Instagram in a dimly-lit music studio, posing by the microphone in an oversized striped sweater, chunky black heeled boots and sunglasses. She captioned the post with a black heart and music notes emojis, confirming that she’s working on new music.

In June, the superstar teased that she’s working hard on numerous artistic projects, including an edit for a movie based on her 2022 headlining concert tour. “I prepared for months developing my character for Joker, I filmed [Joker: Folie à Deux] for many months (a very introspective time),” Gaga wrote in a lengthy message. “I have been running my start-up Haus Labs, doing philanthropic work, and additionally have been working on The Chromatica Ball film edit.”