Music

05 Dec 2023

Cardi B’s Cryptic Posts Spark Offset Breakup Rumors: ‘I Gotta Put Myself First’

Rap’s biggest couple may be in trouble again. Fans are speculating that Cardi B and Offset are splitting up after the “WAP” artist shared some cryptic posts about outgrowing relationships, with some noticing that the pair seem to have unfollowed one another on Instagram.

On Monday (Dec. 4) via Instagram Stories, Cardi posted two written messages typed over a blank black background. “You know when you just out grow relationships,” read the first, followed by, “I’m tired of protecting peoples feelings…I GOTTA PUT MYSELF FIRST!”

The posts that followed were business as usual, with the Grammy winner showing followers her Chick-fil-A order. But that hasn’t stopped fans from thinking that something is awry in the Cardi-Offset household. “Ooh they over,” tweeted one X user. Added another, “If offset fumbled Cardi B that’s gonna be worse than that world cup miss that woman been nothing but loyal to that man.”

While the “Up” rapper and Migos star — who’ve been married since 2017 and share two kids together — do not appear to be following each other on Instagram at press time, they are still following each other on X.

Billboard has reached out to Cardi B’s and Offset’s reps for comment.

Cardi and Offset have had a tumultuous relationship, announcing their split several times over the years, and even coming close to ending their marriage in 2020. (Cardi filed for divorce that September, but it was later dismissed by a judge.) Offset has also previously opened up about being unfaithful to his wife and how he regained her trust.

The latest breakup rumors come about five months after the couple made headlines for a social media spat in June, which started with Offset seemingly implying that Cardi had cheated on him — an accusation she quickly shut down. The next month, they teamed up for a joint song titled “Jealousy” and appeared alongside their daughter Kulture and son Wave in the track’s music video.

See what fans are saying about the Cardi and Offset breakup rumors below:

05 Dec 2023

The Weeknd to Headline New Fortnite Music Experience ‘The Weeknd x Fortnite Festival’: Watch Trailer

The Weeknd stars in a new trailer for Festival, a game from Rock Band studio Harmonix in which the singer — who now goes by his birth name, Abel Tesfaye — is the headliner in a music-experience slated to launch inside Fortnite on Saturday (Dec. 9).

Like Harmonix’s most beloved games, Festival lets fans tap notes along to the song playing in the game as they watch the Weeknd rock the stage, with users able to either jam with the band or take a solo.

The 44-second trailer opens with the sound of thumping dance club bass swirling around a hooded figure who reaches out his hand into the light, which transports him to an actual club. The mysterious figure — wearing a shiny Dr. Doom-style metal mask — slowly makes his way to the stage as a punk-haired audience member tosses a microphone into the air. The high-energy clip ends with the digital image of Tesfaye, who wears different skins while dancing on stage to his Dawn FM song “Take My Breath,” as he’s backed by a futuristic band.

According to Hypebeast, leaks of the game promise that The Weeknd x Fortnite Festival will feature a new microphone design, two new bass designs, three songs, a keytar design and a Weeknd skin available through a Festival Pass.

The Weeknd is the latest artist to team up with Fortnite for a music event, following on the heels of virtual concerts by the likes of Eminem, Ariana Grande, Travis Scott, Marshmello and Kid Cudi. In April, Coachella also teamed up with Fortnite for a game called Coachella Island, which featured a virtual world inside the Fortnite universe with mini-games, Coachella-themed merch, art installations and virtual versions of some of the beloved festival’s iconic ferris wheel and trippy Spectra building.

Fortnite Festival is the first specifically music-focused mode in the game that has been downloaded more than 129 million times on the App Store and Google Play.

Check out the Weekend x Fortnite Festival trailer below.

05 Dec 2023

Chartbreaker: How Kenya Grace’s ‘Strangers’ Became a Historic Hit Around the World

In 1978, Kate Bush became the first solo woman to reach No. 1 in the U.K. with a song she wrote, produced and performed entirely by herself with “Wuthering Heights.” Forty-five years later, in October, dance–pop artist Kenya Grace joined her as the second to pull off the feat with the quietly devastating “Strangers,” her major-label debut single.

“There wasn’t too much pressure on that song, to be honest,” Grace says. “I didn’t really have some mad goal in mind — I just wrote it one random night.”

For Grace, 25, that kind of writing experience is the result of skills she’s been honing her entire life: she began creating and performing songs for friends and family at age four, inspired by Norah Jones tracks that her mother would play around the house. By 16, the South Africa-born, Southampton-raised singer was frequenting drum’n’bass parties, baptizing herself in the energy of the U.K. dance music scene that would soon characterize the sound of her own music. “When I start writing something at 120 BPM, I’m like, ‘No, it’s way too slow,’” she quips.

She graduated from London’s Academy of Contemporary Music in 2019 — an institution she likens to a massive networking event — and spent the next few years building an audience on TikTok. Even from her initial videos, Grace displayed a deft understanding of how to present her music, including one clip in which she crafted a beat by using her music production controller to source sound waves from oranges.

The post caught the attention of Day One Music’s Nick Huggett and Nick Shymansky, who have signed and developed British music icons including Amy Winehouse and Adele. By November 2022, two months after she self-released the aptly titled “Oranges,” the two were managing Grace. “We’re seeing someone with a craft [who] knows how to sing and command an audience,” Shymansky says. “We’ve got someone that has earned their stripes and is ready to take on the world.”

They prioritized growing her fan base on an international level, and by July, the two helped her sign a deal with Major Recordings, an electronic dance music label launched by Warner Records. “We knew early on that more than half of her audience was in America; it’s not a coincidence the deal was signed there,” Shymansky says. “We had offers for shows in Los Angeles prior to ‘Strangers’ — that’s not typical for a British artist at such an early stage.”

Kenya Grace, Chartbreaker

Kenya Grace photographed on November 20, 2023 at SOUTH56 studio in London.

Bex Day

The partnership quickly paid huge dividends in “Strangers” — though a different song nearly took its spot. “I signed my deal about two weeks before I posted [a snippet of] ‘Strangers’ online,” Grace recalls. “The month before that, we were lining up a different song,” which ultimately became its follow-up single, “Only In My Mind.”

Nonetheless, when a teaser of “Strangers” connected with listeners on a musical and lyrical level, the label pivoted, with Grace still meticulously poring over the song’s final mix. “I was rewriting the lyrics to make it rhyme,” she says. “I’m always really funny and picky about vocal production. I spend the longest on the vocals.”

Sonically, the song is steeped in drum’n’bass and aligns with the current U.K. dance music revival in the U.S. led by artists like Fred Again.. and PinkPantheress. The song’s vulnerable lyrical bent (“And then one random night when everything changes/You won’t reply and we’ll go back to strangers”) plays to Gen Z’s penchant for unflinchingly honest pop songwriting.

Though Grace admits feeling pressure ahead of its release, “Strangers” officially arrived through Warner Records/Major Recordings on Sept. 1. By the end of the month, it became her first entry on the Hot 100 (since reaching a No. 52 high). The track has also climbed to No. 1 in the U.K.; reached the top 5 on the Billboard Global 200; and spent five weeks atop Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, marking the first time in the ranking’s decade-long history that a track solely written, produced and sung by a woman has reached the summit.

Says Huggett: “We had no expectations other than, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if this did better than the last release, which was really nowhere near there?’ That was the benchmark. Every time we put out some music, we want to improve on it incrementally.”

While social media helped buoy “Strangers,” the resources of a traditional label drove the song at radio and helped place it on editorial playlists on digital service providers. The song has earned 773.7 million on-demand streams through Nov. 23, according to Luminate. “The label used this explosive moment to make sure there’s a proper campaign globally,” says Huggett. “We’ve been blown away with how brilliantly the label has worked the record with their understanding of the complexity of radio and traditional media.”

In October, Grace released the trance-driven “Only In My Mind,” and three weeks later, followed it with a “sad acoustic version” of “Strangers” as the song continues to chart. At the top of December, she detailed a biting take on modern love with “Paris” and, come 2024, she expects to release her “dark, moody [and] dance-inspired” debut album.

In the meantime, she’s on her first tour, with stops in London, New York and Los Angeles — though Shymansky has his sights set on even brighter lights: a Las Vegas residency 10 years from now. “There’s a long road to get there, but we think she has the goods to do that,” he says. “That’s gotta be the ambition.”

Kenya Grace, Chartbreaker

From left: Nick Huggett, Kenya Grace and Nicholas Shymansky photographed on November 20, 2023 at SOUTH56 studio in London.

Bex Day

A version of this story will appear in the Dec. 9, 2023, issue of Billboard.

05 Dec 2023

Pretty Lights, John Summit, Ludacris & Nelly Furtado Lead Electric Forest 2024 Lineup

Rejoice, Forest Fam. Electric Forest announced the lineup for its 2024 event on Tuesday (Dec. 5).

Again melding electronic, jam music with rock, hip-hop, indie and more, the four-day festival will be headlined by Pretty Lights, whose sold-out, 27-date comeback tour wrapped this past weekend, along with tech house phenom John Summit, Subtronics, Excision and resident headliners The String Cheese Incident.

Also getting top billing are techno star Charlotte de Witte, Ludacris, Dom Dolla and Summit performing as Everything Always, Nelly Furtado, The Disco Biscuits, Knock2, Black Tiger Sex Machine, Ben Bohmer, Clozee and LSDream performing as Psyren and many more. More artists will be added to the lineup in the coming months.

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“What I care more about is that attendees walk past a stage where they don’t know the act, but they stop because it’s cool music,” Electric Forest founder Jeremy Stein told Billboard in 2019. “[A diverse lineup] also creates a lot of doors for people from different walks of life to come to the festival. You’ll come because you’re a fan of ten artists on the lineup, and you’ll leave a fan of a lot more.”

The festival returns to Rothbury, Mich., June 20-23, 2024. Festival tickets go on sale Friday (Dec. 8).

Produced by AEG Presents and Insomniac Events, the festival takes place in the tiny town of Rothbury, Mich., (population: roughly 440) on a woodsy 400-acre expanse of land located 10 miles east of Lake Michigan. The event has been taking place at this site since 2008.

See the full lineup below:

Electric Forest

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05 Dec 2023

How Edgar Barrera Challenged Urbano-Pop Supremacy With Borderland Authenticity

By keeping it real to his roots, Edgar Barrera played a pivotal role in ushering a rustic, revitalizing sound that, for the first time in a decade, disrupted the dominant rhythms of reggaetón. At the very least, it gave the urbano scene a substantial shake, challenging the established dembow-driven paradigm from its comfortable throne.

In fact, Barrera’s formidable work in the global Latin pop and música mexicana spaces secured him the coveted top spot on Billboard’s year-end chart for Hot Latin Songs Producer. This achievement marks the first time in a decade that a producer from the regional Mexican music scene has claimed this position, with the last instance being Fernando Camacho Tirado from Mazatlán in 2013.

“At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about — being true to the roots of who you are and showing it with the songs you’re doing,” Barrera tells Billboard Español. 

The Mexican-American producer and songwriter is a self proclaimed “border kid” (also the name of his label), born in McAllen, Texas and raised between Tamaulipas, Mexico and the Lone Star State. To date, he has accumulated an impressive roster of artists he’s worked with, from all corners of the pop map: Madonna, Adriana Grande, Becky G, Grupo Firme, Manuel Turizo and more. 

With Grupo Frontera, fellow borderland troupe, they not only solidified their distinctive musical niche but also crafted one of the standout hits of 2023: the Tejano-cumbia of “un x100to,” featuring powerhouse Bad Bunny — his second foray into the genre. The song earned Barrera (and songwriters Andrés Jael Correa Rios and Mag) a Latin Grammy for best regional song. 

As the accolades continue to accumulate, Barrera now finds himself in the running for Songwriter of the Year at the upcoming 2024 Grammy Awards. Our interview below: 

Congratulations on reaching No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs Producers chart. Did you expect this feat given the success of many of the hits you have created this year?

It’s been a good year for me in every way. It was the year where I had the opportunity to make my label [BorderKid Records]. As a songwriter and producer, I feel like I had a lot of versatility as well. I always try to include Latin sounds in my productions, whether it’s a bachata, a merengue, a cumbia or a vallenato — something different, and regional Mexican music all the time; putting a little bit of that into urbano and pop. This year I had the opportunity to do a lot of that, and to appear now as Billboard‘s No. 1 — well imagine, for me, it’s an honor.

Let’s talk about some songs, like “un x100to” with Grupo Frontera and Bad Bunny, which also had tremendous success in the charts. How was the creative process for that?

When we wrote it, it was in another genre. It sat for a year and a half. We showed it to a lot of artists and nobody saw it as R&B. It had the same lyrics, the same melody, the same everything, but the arrangement was R&B. I feel that the industry was very focused on a more urbano vibe, and the song didn’t fit the rhythm it had. I had just sent it to another artist who had told me he didn’t see himself singing the song, and then Grupo Frontera arrived. I said to them, “I’m going to show it to you without the arrangement … with just the guitar and vocals.” I grabbed the guitar and sang it for them. They immediately told me, “We’re going to record it.” [Frontman] Payito learned it and we recorded it that same day in the studio.

From that moment, we knew there was something special. We were trying to experiment with Frontera singing a song that wasn’t the typical cumbia. That’s part of what I get to do as a producer. On Benito’s part, when he came in with those dark pads — which was his idea — he wanted there to be a switch up when he came in, and that the cumbia would be added little by little. At that point, Mag, Bad Bunny’s producer, and I sat down to work, and we came up with what is now “un x100to.”

Let’s talk about other genres, “El Merengue” and “La Bachata.” Tell me about how you approached a totally different style of music.

When we did “La Bachata,” I wanted to do something that sounded different. I was a little tired of everything sounding the same. During that time, there was a pattern in Latin music that began to repeat itself a lot. It was also intended for another artist and in the end it turned out that Manuel Turizo called me to work with him. He asked if I had any songs out there to show him. I told him, “I have a song, but it’s a bachata — I don’t know how much you see yourself singing a bachata.” I played it for him and he said, “Bro, I’d like to record something different too.” And Manuel bet on the song.

“El Merengue” started as a joke with Manuel. We said, “We did ‘La Bachata’, now let’s do ‘La Cumbia’ or ‘El Merengue.’” He answered, “Bro, you know what? Doing a merengue might be interesting!” We were with Marshmello in the studio, and I asked him, “How would you make a merengue in your world? How would you put EDM on merengue?” Marshmello said, “You start the production and I’ll follow you.” So I started playing the chords on the piano, throwing melodies. We put the song together on the spot. Nobody [was] doing merengue at that time.

How would you say your Mexican roots contribute to your approach to songwriting and production?

I think it’s in all the songs I’m a part of. For example, if you listen to “El Jefe” by Shakira, you hear a lot of Mexican stuff, or “Mi Ex Tenía Razón” by Karol G, you hear a more Tejano flow like Selena, which is the music of my hometown and that I listened to growing up. If you hear a song like “Según Quién” by Maluma and Carin León, you hear some pop, but with a very Mexican style. Lately I’ve been getting tweets [that say], “I knew this song was Edgar’s because of this and that.” People are starting to identify me in songs. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about: being true to the roots of who you are and showing it with the songs you’re doing.

Can you explain what inspired you to found your label BorderKid Records?

I grew up on the border — I’m a border kid, as they say. I feel that many see us with disadvantages, because maybe we are too American for Mexicans and too Mexican for Americans. But I try to look for the positive side, that I have both cultures in me. And part of my stamp is that. One of the first releases I had with my label was “Que Vuelvas” by Grupo Frontera [and Carin León of 2022]. When I decided to support a local group from McAllen — which is right where I was born, and close to where I grew up, between Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas and Roma, Texas, an hour from McAllan — I wanted to start a label supporting local talent. Well imagine, I met Grupo Frontera, which also means the same thing as the label — so as they say, it was meant to be.

What advice would you give to aspiring producers and songwriters who want to make a name for themselves in the industry?

To be original, to always be real to what they do; not be ashamed to show who they really are and where they are from. For example, there was a time when Latin music was very focused on other genres, in other countries, very urbano. As a Mexican, I bring other kinds of things to the table. I have always been proud of my roots and I consider myself different from others. I feel that you have to always be proud of yourself and not try to be a person or a producer that you are not, or try to write something that isn’t your language or your way of expressing yourself in order to fit in. 

05 Dec 2023

Taylor Swift Is Forbes’ 5th Most Powerful Woman in the World

Taylor Swift is the world’s fifth most powerful woman, outpacing Beyoncé and Rihanna on Forbes‘ annual ranking.

Making her highest ever position to date on the 2023 list, the “Anti-Hero” singer is the top-ranking musician on the tally. Overall, she’s only bested by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at No. 1, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde at No. 2, United States Vice President Kamala Harris at No. 3 and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni at No. 4.

The publication noted Swift’s recently acquired billionaire status — estimating her current net worth at $1.1 billion, with $500 million from royalties and touring, $500 million from her music catalog and some $125 million in real estate — as well as her Taylor’s Version rerecords and record Eras Tour ticket sales as reasons for her high placement. It also pointed out that the 33-year-old pop star is the first musician to “make the ranks solely based on her songs and performances.”

Beyoncé sits at No. 36 on the Most Powerful Women list, jumping up 44 spots from last year’s ranking of No. 80. The 42-year-old superstar’s historic Grammy wins in February — through which she became the most awarded artist in Recording Academy history — along with the success of her Renaissance Tour and collaborations with Balmain earned her the honors, according to Forbes.

Meanwhile, Ri comes in at No. 74, though her staggering net worth of $1.4 billion still trumps that of Swift and Bey ($540 million). Forbes commended the 35-year-old singer-mogul for her extremely lucrative Fenty Beauty and Savage x Fenty companies as well as her Super Bowl Halftime Show performance earlier this year.

In June, all three women were part of Forbes‘ list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, placing Ri at No. 20, Swift at No. 34 and Bey at No. 48.

“As ever, the 2023 Power List was determined by four main metrics: money, media, impact and spheres of influence,” wrote the publication. “Media mentions and social reach were analyzed for all. The result: 100 women who are shaping the policies, products and political fights that define our world.”

05 Dec 2023

Barbra Streisand Wanted Her Memoir to Be Shorter — But She’s Grateful It Helped Bring Back Her Favorite Ice Cream

It took Barbra Streisand 15 years to get Yentl into the world, but that journey seems almost brisk in comparison to the time her memoir spent in gestation. She wrote the first chapter by hand back in the ‘90s, lost it, and waited nearly another decade before starting up again. But on Nov. 7, her autobiography finally said “hello gorgeous” to shelves — and the New York Times Best Seller list.

My Name Is Barbra (which shares its name with a TV special and album she did in 1965) is more than just another book where a famous person puts their life story to paper. It’s the work of an incisive mind dissecting an EGOT-collecting career that started out in cramped Greenwich Village clubs in the early ’60s and soon exploded across Broadways stages, TV screens, movie palaces and the Billboard charts. (Billboard warrants several mentions in this book, though Streisand writes, “I was happy if a song went to number 1, but that was not my motivation” – not too bad for someone with five Hot 100 No. 1s and a dozen top 10s.)

Like any good celebrity memoir, smack is talked. Former co-stars such as Walter Matthau and Sydney Chaplin do not emerge unscathed, nor does ex-partner Jon Peters come out looking particularly good. And naturally, Streisand doesn’t hold back when it comes to assessing the good ole boys’ clubs that women in Hollywood – especially women who dare to direct – still face today. But the singer-actor-director reserves the lion’s share of dissection for herself, whether she’s bemoaning her early career interviews (“When I look at these articles today, I cringe. Did I really say that?”) or inviting us into her thought process as she agonizes over creative decisions made on decades-old projects.

Over the course of 970 pages (which, believe it or not, breeze by thanks to her clear, direct language and conversational tone), the book reveals a singular icon who is as concerned with creative control as she is self-examination.

Following the tome’s release, Streisand hopped on the phone with Billboard to share a few details that didn’t make the book and reveal one deliciously unexpected benefit of publishing her memoir.

Hello!

So, Joe, what do you wanna know?

In your book you talk about how you rarely relisten to your recordings or rewatch your movies. Once you finished this book, you had to record the audiobook – was that some form of torture?

I thought that was easier, of course, because I already wrote the book and now I could just read it and add what I want to here and there [the audiobook features various songs as well]. Half the time I was eating and I had to stop eating. I’m now eating blueberries while I’m talking, in case you hear it.

No worries. That’s healthy, certainly more than the coffee ice cream you write about in your book. Which, incidentally, is also my favorite flavor.

They stopped making my coffee ice cream, (McConnell’s) Brazilian coffee, and after they read — I guess it was in the New York Times — they said, “What can we do? How many can we send you? We’ll make a batch for you.” So I got 24 pints of my favorite ice cream. I’m gonna give some to my friends, too.

That’s amazing. In one chapter, you float the idea that this book might be seen as a work in progress. Well, some folks update their memoirs every few years – Stephen King has added postscript updates to his On Writing book a few times since it came out more than 20 years ago.

Really? Hmm. That’s an interesting idea. At the moment, I’m so tired of myself. I’m so tired of writing a book I can’t think that way. But I bet you if we’re all around five years from now I might want to do that, update the book. That could be interesting. I have a lot of thoughts as I’m getting up in the morning — I grab a tape recorder or grab my pad, because my mind is fresh in the morning.

In the book, you talk about attempting to record your debut album at the Bon Soir in Greenwich Village but being uphappy with the results and shelving it. That album finally came out last year.

That was my easiest album – it was what it was. All I had to do was work on the album cover.

It sounded jaw-droppingly good to me. I know the audio was cleaned up thanks to modern technology —

My audio performance was not touched. Nothing was cleaned up. I sang a couple of weird notes, but it is what it is and I’m a purist in that sense. My A&R man of 25-30 years, Jay Landers, and my great engineer, he was able to separate the instruments. We could never do that (back then). He’s kind of a genius.

Right, the new technology helped make a better mix. Had that technology existed back then, might you have released this album back in the ‘60s?

No, I didn’t like the sound of it. Jay showed me a picture of what the speakers were like in the Bon Soir — they were like little boxes of tissues basically. It wasn’t to my liking. I was always thinking of my work as a whole at a very young age — at 19.

When writing about A Star Is Born, you share that Kris Kristofferson wrote some lyrics for “Evergreen” around the time of the film but he didn’t show them to you until years later because he wasn’t happy with them. When you finally saw those lyrics, could you have seen incorporating any of his words into the song, had he shared them back in 1976?

No, no. It was not memorable. I loved the idea that he and I would have written that song together. But the lyric was not memorable. I love that he tried, but it wasn’t quite right for me.

Well, you can’t argue with the results – it won an Oscar, a Grammy and topped the Billboard Hot 100.

It’s that amazing about my manager, Marty Erlichman? When I played it for a couple of my musician friends, they thought it was okay. I played it over the phone with my lousy guitar playing, and they thought it was nice. But when I played it for Marty Erlichman, he said, “That’s gonna be a hit.” I said, “How do you know, Marty?” He says, “If I can remember a melody, I know it’s gonna be a hit.” Isn’t that funny? He was a week off from when it became No. 1 (with his guess).

Barbra Streisand

Courtesy Photo

Did you ever have the sense of what songs of yours would go No. 1?

Like “Woman in Love”? Not at all. It wasn’t my philosophy. “I’m a woman in love and I’ll do anything”? I couldn’t relate to that. What would I do, trick him? All those years it was No. 1, I never sang it in concert until the last time I did a concert. (Barry Gibb) was amazing. I just did a little film clip because he’s entering the Kennedy Center Honors, I filmed a little piece for him. That timing was perfect. I was writing Yentl, I didn’t have the time to make that album. It worked out perfectly when he said, “I’ll mix everything, sing the other parts — whatever it is, I’ll do it. You just have to sing the songs 10 times.” So while they were working on the arrangements, I was sitting there writing.

In the book, you mention that certain numbers are lucky for you. Did writing chapters that coincided with a lucky number feel different?

No. I’ve always known the numbers two and four seem to be lucky for me. When they first counted the pages I wrote, it was 1,024.

So they ended up cutting 50-60 pages?

I wanted them to cut more of it because I was aching to have two separate books and one cover, like a package. How are people going to hold a book that’s 970 pages? I wouldn’t want to hold a fat book like that.

Were any of the cuts hard? Did it sting to lose anything?

No, nothing I cared that much about. I thought more should be cut. I was so sick of writing a book already. During the pandemic it was fine, everybody was at home, but then I wanted to travel and could not. Had to stay on track.

A lot of people you write about in the book are still in your life. Did you ever show them what you were writing as you wrote it? Like Marty, for example?

No, I didn’t have time. I didn’t show it to anybody. I had no idea how it would be received. I mean, a couple people that had to do with my music — maybe to get certain things exactly right they would read a little bit of it. But I didn’t want anybody’s opinions, except my editor. It would have been too confusing to me to get opinions too early. It just felt wrong to ask anybody.

So you get the final cut, as always.

They expected me to write it in two years. In two years I was still thinking about it. I told you that I started writing this book by longhand in 1999. I kept many journals, like 35 of them. But I hate going backwards. I hate having to look myself up. Look at my journals again? I gave the journals to my editor in the process over the years who would say, “You said this in that journal in 2006 or whatever.” And I said, “Really? I said that?” I like to be — as I work as an actress — I like to be in the moment and present now. I wish it was something else I was talking about other than myself.

05 Dec 2023

Farruko Drives ‘Pasajero’ to No. 1 on Latin Airplay

Farruko achieves his 13th No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart as his latest single, “Pasajero,” rises 3-1 on the Dec. 9-dated list.

“Pasajero,” which translates to “Passenger,” climbs to No. 1 after a 7% boost in audience impressions, to 9.41 million, earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 30, according to Luminate.

“Thanks to the grace of God and my fans around the world, I can celebrate another great achievement in my career,” Farruko shares with Billboard. “The goal is for the message to reach people that need guidance and healing and still hit our goals and dreams, and to me that is a beautiful thing!”

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“Pasajero’s” new coronation follows the song’s domination on Latin Pop Airplay, where it rules for a fourth consecutive week. Plus, it jumps 2-1 for its first week at No. 1 on Latin Rhythm Airplay.

Thanks to “Pasajero,” Farruko now collects his 13th No. 1 on Latin Airplay since “6 AM” placed him at the lead on the May 24, 2014-dated tally. The new champ follows Farruko’s “El Incomprendido” which ruled the Jan. 29, 2022-dated list. “Pasajero” also becomes Farruko’s fourth No. 1 with no billed collaborators since the four-week ruler, “Pepas” in 2021.

Let’s review those solo No. 1s on Latin Airplay:

Peak, Title, Artist, Weeks at No. 1

  • April 23, 2016, “Obsesionado,” one
  • Nov. 28, 2020, “La Tóxica,” one
  • Oct. 9, 2021, “Pepas,” four
  • Dec. 9, 2023, “Pasajero,” one

Beyond its new Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay coronations, “Pasajero” puts its label Carbon Fiber on the lead on both tallies, for the company’s first ruler in 2023.

05 Dec 2023

Latin Holiday Songs & Albums Released in 2023: Carla Morrison, Charlie Zaa & More (Updating)

‘Tis the season to listen to Christmas songs on repeat. Like many other artists across genres, Latin acts have been releasing bilingual (Spanish and English) holiday songs — whether original or covers — to get in the spirit navideño. There are of course the go-to classics like José Feliciano‘s “Feliz Navidad,” which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020 and remains one of the top 10-performing hits in the decade-plus history of Billboard‘s Holiday 100 chart.

But artists like Don Omar have started their own tradition and for a third consecutive year, the Puerto Rican hitmaker has released a new edition of Tradición Urbana, featuring songs like “Navidad Sin Ti” by Christian Alicea, “Noche Fría” by Luis Vargas and Alcover and “En Esta Navidad” by El Yman.

Another new release is Carla Morrison‘s latest version of “Noche de Paz,” as a part of Kroger’s 2023 holiday campaign film. The Mexican singer-songwriter had previously covered this iconic song in her 2016 Christmas EP, La Niña del Tambor. This year’s reinterpretation is highlighted by Carla’s heartfelt vocals and Mexican instrumentation.

Other holiday-inspired new releases include Charlie Zaa’s “No Me Puede Faltar (Navidad)”; Matisse’s Christmas EP, Una Navidad Con Matisse, featuring collabs with Ha*Ash, El David and Josue Alaniz; and Myriam Hernández’s updated version of “Campanas de Plata,” which she originally recorded in 1989, and is part of her upcoming album, Nuestra Navidad.

Just in time for the holidays, here’s an updating list of new Navidad-themed or -inspired Latin songs released this year, to add to your Christmas music playlist. (Stream Billboard‘s 2023 Latin Christmas Playlist here.)

05 Dec 2023

Taylor Swift & Elton John AIDS Foundation Among Finalists for 2024 Anthem Awards

Taylor Swift doesn’t exactly need another award, but she’s a finalist for one that would probably mean a lot to her. She is a finalist for a 2024 Anthem Award, in tandem with Vote.org, for their work on National Voter Registration Day.

Launched in 2021 by The Webby Awards, The Anthem Awards honor the purpose & mission-driven work of people, companies and organizations worldwide.

Other finalists this year include Let Your Inner Elton Out – Elton John AIDS Foundation; Crooked Media’s F*ck Bans: Leave Queer Kids Alone Pride Campaign; and The Daily Show With Trevor Noah Presents: In the Footsteps of the Freedomsurrection: A Walking Tour of January 6th.

Still more finalists include All Music Is Black Music – SiriusXM Podcast Network; Be There Certificate – Jack.org and Lady Gaga‘s Born This Way Foundation; Wolf Pack – MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks; Selena Gomez‘s Rare Beauty; Lil Durk and Amazon Music;  Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon, and Tom Hiddleston and UNICEF.

The full list of finalists can be seen at celebrate.anthemawards.com.

The Anthem Awards honor work across seven core causes: diversity; equity & inclusion; education; art & culture; health; human & civil rights; humanitarian action & services; responsible technology; and sustainability, environment & climate.

New this year, fans can celebrate this year’s finalists through Anthem Community Voice now through Dec. 21. Those with the greatest amount of support in each category will win the first-ever Anthem Community Voice Awards. Finalists can be supported at celebrate.anthemawards.com.

This year’s finalists were selected from a pool of more than 2,000 submissions from 44 countries by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS).

Winners will be announced on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. This year, winners will be recognized at an in-person event in New York City.