Music

19 Oct 2023

The Story of Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody,’ the Billboard Staff’s No. 1 Pop Song

Armed with just a microphone, a lion-like mane of warm brown curls, and her otherworldly voice, Whitney Houston sauntered onto the Radio City Music Hall stage at the 1990 15th anniversary celebration of Arista Records – ready to bless the packed audience with five minutes of unabashed pop music bliss. She delivered an unforgettable rendition of her ever-enduring pop smash “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Love Me),” the song that became her fourth single to top the Billboard Hot 100. 

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Of the three songs Whitney performed at the concert, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” was her only selection that wasn’t a cover. This was the song chosen to best represent the contributions of Whitney Houston, the vocalist, artist and brand, to Arista’s legacy. In fact, the performance – which focused on the magnetism of Whitney’s stage presence, proving the single was still a stunner even unplugged – was a victory lap for the song’s success, which had been raging for over two years at that point.  

Considering the song stood as the peak of Houston’s oft-derided crossover pop hits — the mid-late ‘80s were a period of Houston’s career where she was accused of “selling out” to the sounds of white pop music — choosing to perform “Somebody” was intentional. Instead of teasing the new jack swing-informed sound of her forthcoming I’m Your Baby Tonight (1990), a performance of “Somebody” cemented the song as bigger and more powerful than any discourse around it. “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” was and remains undeniable.

The performance was “a unique demonstration of why [Whitney] was the greatest contemporary singer we have ever experienced in music,” says music industry icon and Houston’s former Arista label head Clive Davis. “It was the most affecting of any of them, the most exhilarating and awesome performance of that song. She took Radio City by storm, the audience screamed for her, she was just raising the level higher than they could have ever imagined.” 

Whitney Houston recorded several contenders for the greatest pop song of all time throughout her storied career. While each of them has its own merits – including the ones that did not reach the top of the Hot 100 – the rest still pale in comparison to “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” with its singalong chorus, ebullient synths, and towering vocal performance. 

The track served as the lead single from her blockbuster sophomore album — Whitney, which spawned four consecutive Hot 100 No. 1 singles (starting with “Somebody”) and helped Houston become the first female artist to debut atop the Billboard 200. Topping charts in virtually every country that had them, the song was the beginning of a new phase of Houston’s career. The Newark, N.J. native was coming off her massively successful Whitney Houston debut album, and it was time to prove that not only was she here to stay, but that she could also compete with the big dogs — and win. 

“I wanted to be like, ‘OK, Michael Jackson; OK, Prince; OK, Aretha; OK, whoever’s hot — get back!” says “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” producer Narada Michael Walden. “[Whitney’s] gonna take over everything!” 

“I Wanna Dance With Somebody” went on to win Houston a Grammy for best female pop vocal performance, sell millions of copies worldwide and (decades later) become her best-performing song on streaming services. Over 35 years after its original release, Billboard talks to the key players behind “Somebody” about how our pick for the Greatest Pop Song of All Time came to be. 

Boys Meets Girl and the ‘Dance of Life’ 

The story of “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” technically begins with the story of another Whitney Houston Hot 100 chart-topper: a love-paranoid slice of jaunty ‘80s pop by the name of “How Will I Know.” Written by Shannon Rubicam and George Merrill – the artists behind pop-rock duo Boy Meets Girl — along with producer Narada Michael Walden, “How Will I Know” served as the third single from Houston’s debut album, and its success earned the songwriting partners new insight into writing more hits for the country’s hottest new star. 

“We tried our best not to freak ourselves out because we had to follow [“How Will I Know”] up, and that’s a little challenging because of all your self-doubts,” Rubicam says. “We knew that she could deliver something large.” 

First, Shannon and Rubicam had a false start with a song that Davis and Arista rejected – and that the duo ended up keeping for themselves. Shortly after hitting the top of the Hot 100 with “How Will I Know,” Merrill and Rubicam pitched “Waiting for a Star to Fall,” which Davis passed on, as did other label A&Rs. Belinda Carlisle even recorded a demo for it, but after the song stalled in publishing purgatory, the duo decided to record the song themselves as Boy Meets Girl in 1988 – and it ultimately became the outfit’s biggest hit, peaking at No. 5 on the Hot 100. “I can see why Clive thought it wouldn’t be good for Whitney,” Rubicam muses. “It’s more personal of a song, perhaps a little less universal, and I think it didn’t quite have her kind of melodies and verve.”

Undeterred by the bumpy road for “Star to Fall,” the duo continued to write, eventually stumbling into their next Houston-sung smash. As the title suggests, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” spawned from a moment of solitude. “We lived in Venice, CA, and we started making a habit of going out for a walk around dusk… because there’s something about that dusky hour that makes a person restless and uneasy, or a little isolated and estranged from the world in some ways,” Rubicam explains. “There’s this social pressure, like ‘I should be doing something right now.’”  

That feeling of restlessness and isolation led to Rubicam seeing “a visual in my head about going to the club and finding company. Then it morphed into finding someone to love who would love you back and do that dance of life with you.” That general idea carried Rubicam through the first verse, but she found a bit more difficulty with the second verse: “You’ve already got a structure established in the first verse rhythmically and melodically, so you’re sort of doing a crossword puzzle to make the new lyrics fit,” she elaborates. 

Rubicam’s method proved successful – and with finishing touches by way of a PPG Wave synth intro (which was “brand new” to the duo, according to Merrill) the demo for “I Wanna Dance Somebody” was ready to be pitched. “I think when we were writing the chorus, we had a really good feeling. We felt confident and certainly enough so to present it to Clive [Davis],” Merrill recounts. 

What followed was Merrill having to sprint through LAX to hand-deliver a cassette tape of his and Rubicam’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” demo to Davis before his flight took off.  

“We’ve made so many trips to LAX from our house in Venice, so we knew exactly how long it would take,” remembers Rubicam. “So, I headed to an airline that doesn’t exist anymore, it was Transworld Airlines.” Merrill adds, “It’s actually one of my favorite stories of all time, having that moment of running through the airport!” 

Clive Davis recalls the encounter similarly: “Sure enough, George met me at TWA, handed me a cassette of the demo with the lyrics to ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody,’ and I heard it on the airplane on my way back to New York.” Once Davis sat with the demo, he heard hit potential in the song’s chorus but felt there was “a lot that could be brought to the fore,” with the addition of a new vocal and track arrangement. 

For that, Davis handpicked “How Will I Know” writer-producer Narada Michael Walden to helm the new single. “Once Clive said yes to it, and we heard that Whitney was singing it, Narada was producing it, there’s not very much that could have gone wrong with that combination,” says Rubicam. 

Funk-ifying “Dance” 

The brilliance of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” results from a combination of well-plotted studio precision and the divine ways in which Houston innately understood how to color a record with her inimitable voice. While Rubicam’s lyrics remained relatively unchanged from her and Merrill’s demo, Houston and Narada’s synergy culminated in an immediate pop masterpiece. 

Initially drawn to the “happy and infectious” chorus, Walden could “hear what Clive was liking about [the demo],” but he still felt that he needed to “funk it up” to make it the right fit for Houston. “Because I’m a Black cat, I know Whitney’s African-American, and we want our people to be down,” Walden says. “The demo was just too poppy and not grounded in the funk which it needed to be the smash for Whitney. Immediately, I’m listening to it and going, “Whatcha gon’ do, Narada, to Blacken this thing up and funk it up, so that the people in the ghetto and the nightclubs are jamming too?” 

To ground his transformation of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” Walden looked to lessons learned from his mentor Quincy Jones. “My philosophy is the outhouse bottom with the penthouse view,” says Walden. “If it’s got nastiness on the bottom, which is really funky, but it’s very pretty on top, that combination is kind of irresistible.” 

So, Walden recruited Randy Jackson — of later American Idol fame — on synth bass, “lined up all different kinds of keyboards,” and employed a very particular approach to recording Whitney’s vocals. Just as Merrill and Rubicam had a new understanding of Houston’s abilities after working on “How Will I Know,” Walden understood that a post-debut Houston would have limited in-studio time because of her grueling promotional schedule. To work around those limitations, Walden and his crew would record the entire song sans Houston’s vocals, so she could easily envision what the end product would sound like. 

Following Houston’s debut album — which mostly relied on ballads for its singles, “How Will I Know” aside — Walden knew that “Somebody” had to prove that she could dominate with uptempo pop, and also fit alongside the most forward-thinking pop auteurs of the time.  

“Music had made a shift with synthesizers and drum machines,” reflects Walden. “The LinnDrum machines were all the new rage with the hippest cats like Prince, who was smacking us with Purple Rain and sounds we’ve never heard before. Then you have Quincy, who would hire the most death-defying brains to make Michael Jackson’s new sounds. The competition was really high to mastermind a new sound for Whitney.” 

With the help of an illustrious crew that included Walter Afanasieff, Corrado Rustici, Preston Glass, Marc Russo and Greg Gonaway, Walden remodeled the original demo in the image of a funky horn-laden anthem of human connection, which could get play in every corner of the world. Nonetheless, two of the most recognizable elements of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” were far from predetermined. The track bursts open with explosive horns that are quite unlike typical analog brass, or even routine synth horns. Walden says the unique horn sounds were the result of an engineer “playing around” with a synth overdub that he had requested. “It was synth horns, but with a glizz on it that made it like something we’ve never done before,” he says. “We glizz the bass, we never glizz the horns!” 

Of course, it is Houston’s voice that makes “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” such a transcendent song. During the recording process, Walden was very particular about how Houston’s vocals were cut so that only the best possible takes were used to make the final version of the song. He would have her record the end of the song first, to ensure that the most vocally demanding portions of the track had Houston working at full capacity.  

“I would focus her on [the ending] to keep the energy high,” he explains. “Once we got the ending done, now let’s go back and look at that first verse. Now we can get a bit more methodical and technical… I’ve learned this with soul singers: If you get too technical too early, you suck the spirit out of them.” Houston took a few notes from Rubicam’s demo and expanded them into a freewheeling showcase of vocal fortitude. “[Whitney was] a true recording artist, because she just found her way into making a song her own when she liked it,” says Rubicam.  

In letting Houston get her fire out at her own pace, Walden helped foster an environment where she led with her spirit, which eventually resulted in her stumbling into the now-iconic “Say you wanna dance, don’t you wanna dance” vamp following the final chorus – the ultimate nod to her amalgamation of gospel, funk, soul and pop. That energy mainly came from a studio session the previous day, during which Houston had the pleasure of stacking her own harmonies for the very first time, boosting her with a new level of fire to finish recording her “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” vocals.  

“You’re hearing an excited Whitney on [that song],” Walden gushes. 

“When We Saw the Video… That’s When We Knew”

As undeniable as the song is on its own, the success of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” is also highly indebted to its music video, which was helmed by “How Will I Know” music video director Brian Grant. In fact, Walden, Rubicam and Merrill all heard the final cut of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” while watching the song’s Totally ‘80s music video for the first time. “When we saw the video and how dazzling she was, just captivating the camera, that’s when we knew ‘She’s going No. 1 with this’ — it was just so powerful,” remembers Walden. 

To bring “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” from record to video, Grant was tasked with the challenge of outdoing his clip for “How Will I Know” — Houston’s closest-sounding hit to “Somebody” and an MTV Video Music Award winner for best female video. He first had to tackle the hilariously ironic fact that his star could not, in fact, dance. Instead, he opted for “lots of little scenarios as if you’re turning a page in a magazine.” Even though the individual scenarios – which included Houston bopping along in a cloud of confetti and jamming out in front of a graffitied wall while decked out in a black leather biker jacket —  had “nothing to do with the song,” Grant says, he “just wanted to shoot Whitney from lots of different ways, and give her lots of different looks and surround her with dancers who could do most of the dancing.”


https://youtube.com/watch?v=ynkaGd_zGwE&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

Grant pulled from a few classic MGM musicals to inform the video, but his main goal was properly capturing the effervescence of both the track and Whitney’s vocal. He knew the song itself was dynamic enough because of how the dancers reacted to the music. “There’s something about the way they dance when they know they’ve got something really good,” he explains. “There’s an enthusiasm that you see in the dancers. We just knew it was gonna be a hit. I didn’t know how big a hit, but it was gonna be one.” 

Davis specifically tapped Grant to direct the “Somebody” music video, and the Arista boss remained involved in the creative process down to the final cut of the music video. According to Grant, Davis wasn’t too enamored with the initial cut of the music video, urging for a more dream-like version of the clip. To satisfy him, Grant shot a brief clip of Whitney finishing up a performance and then daydreaming of the proper pop video that comprised the original cut. Although he says he “could be wrong” about his hunch, Grant suggests that changes to the music video were spurred by flak Davis was receiving for making Houston’s image “too white.” Of course, “I Wanna Dance Somebody” topped the charts just one year before Houston was infamously booed at the 1988 Soul Train Music Awards.  

Davis, for his part, continues to point to the inimitable power of Whitney’s live performance as proof that her music and voice transcended such debates. “She was simply unique,” he says. 

“I Wanna Dance With Somebody” Forever 

Upon release, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” catapulted Houston to an even higher level of pop stardom. The song became her highest Hot 100 debut in the 1980s (No. 38), reached the top of the chart in six weeks and spent nine cumulative weeks in the top 10 (more than any other single that year), while also topping the Hot 100 Airplay, Adult Contemporary and Dance/Club Play charts, and even hitting No. 2 on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Worldwide, the song went No. 1 in 14 different countries and has proven to be one of Houston’s most enduring hits, re-entering charts around the world following her untimely 2012 passing, including the Hot 100 at No. 35. Grant recalls hearing the song nearly every hour in Britain once news broke of Houston’s passing. 

The song remained a fixture on virtually every setlist Houston performed until her death, a testament to both how much she enjoyed singing the track, and the endless ways in which she and bandleader (and close friend) Rickey Minor were able to transform the song for different live settings. For many of Houston’s performances of the song in the early ‘90s, Minor crafted a “more orchestral and lush overture,” in which “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” is teased for a few minutes before “the curtain drops and [the band] starts playing” a version of the song closer to the studio recording. “She had a particular love for this song because it really catapulted her to stardom,” reflects Minor. “It just opened up a whole new era of music.” 

36 years after such a tornado of a song and video were unleashed upon the world, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” remains one of the most seminal pop songs in history; the song’s title even became the subheading of the 2022 musical biopic based on Houston’s life and career. This year (Jul. 10), “Somebody” became Houston’s first and only song to amass over one billion streams on Spotify, just the second ’80s song by a solo female artist to do so (following Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”). According to Luminate, “Somebody” still rakes in over two million official on-demand U.S. streams per week. Being named the greatest pop song of the Hot 100 era by Billboard also serves as new validation for its creators about the everlasting legacy the song has built — Walden answers a question about when he knew the song had been cemented in pop culture by replying: “Having this interview and answering this question.”

As for Merrill and Rubicam, they believe that the song has remained so magnetic because “everybody wants that feeling of connection,” citing events as disparate as New York City Pride parades and mid-lockdown Italian nights amid the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic as moments where they’ve seen the song give people the solace they’re searching for. The songwriting partners declined to specify how much they generate from “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” annually, but they do say that the song has helped sustain two separate households for two decades and counting.  

From its inception to its enduring reign as one of the most beloved and recognizable pop songs of all time, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” remains synonymous with a uniquely human craving for connection and love. “I think it’s really just the feeling that keeps carrying it through another decade, which is amazing,” Rubicam says. “That’s what it’s about, and it’s more than we ever imagined.” 

19 Oct 2023

Take Our Ultimate Pop Quiz to See How Well You Know the 500 Best Pop Songs

All week here at Billboard, we’ve been counting down our picks for the 500 best pop songs to ever hit the Billboard Hot 100, as part of a 65th-anniversary celebration of the chart that’s been the barometer for popular music since 1958. Today, we finished off the list with our top 100 — be sure and head over to check out the full rankings if you haven’t already, and also read the full story behind our pick for the greatest pop song of the Hot 100 era, with help from the writers, producer and other crucial figures behind the song.

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But once you’re done with all of that: We’ve got a chance for you to show off what you’ve learned about the greatest pop songs in Hot 100 history — or maybe even what you always knew. Take our 50-question, expert-level Ultimate Pop Quiz here, taking you through everything you need to know about the last 65 years of pop music: the lyrics, the writers and producers, the samples and covers, and much more. (There’s also a section dedicated solely to our list’s top 10, so make sure you’re familiar with those first.)

Check it out below, and don’t worry about getting everything right: If you get a 30 out of 50, you really know your pop songs. If you get a 40 out of 50, then you’re certainly welcome at our next staff karaoke night. If you get a 45 or higher, then we look forward to reading your own list when it comes out.

19 Oct 2023

City Girls Link Up With Kim Petras to Tease ‘Flashy’ New Song: Watch

The wait for City Girls’ new album is almost over, and this new snippet is sure to carry us through the home stretch. On Wednesday (Oct. 18), the “Act Up” rappers took to their official Instagram page to upload a video featuring a snippet of a new song.

“Flashy Ft. @KimPetras FRIDAY 10/20 ?✨? #RAW,” they captioned the video of them executing light choreography alongside Grammy-winning “Unholy” singer Kim Petras. “Stylin’, shinin’ / I’m so flawless like my diamonds / I’m flashy / Big bags, price tags / You know all I wear is name brands / I’m flashy,” coos Petras, before JT delivers some ad-libs to introduce her verse. Decked out in a whimsical color palette of pinks and greens — including a pair of Marc Jacobs Kiki boots for JT — City Girls’ aesthetic in the post perfectly complemented the sugary sweet pop melodies of their new track.

“Flashy” is the latest tease of new City Girls music ahead of the release of their third studio album, RAW, on Friday (Oct. 20). In a teaser video posted to their socials on Saturday (Oct. 14), the rappers described their upcoming album as “serious a–, freestylin’ cypher a– rap” and “scammin’, trickin’ p—y rap.”

RAW is the follow-up to 2020’s City On Lock, which spawned Billboard Hot 100 the singles “P—y Talk” (with Doja Cat) and “Jobs,” and became their highest-peaking entry on the Billboard 200 (No. 29). Since their last studio effort, the rap duo has put out several singles, including the Hot 100 hits “Twerkulator” (No. 51) and “Good Love” (No. 70, with Usher), as well as the 2023 releases, “I Need A Thug,” “Piñata,” “Face Down,” and “Act Bad” (with Diddy and Fabolous). In addition, both members put out solo singles. In 2021, Yung Miami made her solo debut with “Rap Freaks” — which peaked at No. 81 on the Hot 100 — and, this year, JT reached No. 25 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 with “No Bars.”

Watch City Girls and Kim Petras tease their new collaboration below.

19 Oct 2023

Tyla’s ‘Water’ Hits No. 1 on U.S. Afrobeats Songs Chart – Stopping the 58-Week Run of Rema & Selena Gomez’s ‘Calm Down’

South African singer Tyla achieves a milestone week in her young career as “Water” climbs to No. 1 on Billboard’s U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart (dated Oct. 21). The track rises from No. 2 and halts the record 58-week monopoly of Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down,” which had led the list each week since Sept. 10, 2022.

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The coronation also marks Tyla’s first No. 1 rank on any Billboard chart.

“Water,” released on FAX Records/Epic Records, takes over following gains in both streaming and sales, the two metrics that contribute to U.S. Afrobeats Songs. In the former category, “Water” surged to 8.3 million official U.S. streams in the Oct. 6-12 tracking week, a 29% swell compared to the previous week, according to Luminate. Sales, too, are up by a double-digit percentage, with 1,500 downloads sold in the U.S. in the same period, a 26% week-over-week improvement. Although the track was already posting gains, the arrival of its official music video on Oct. 6 sparked further momentum.

In addition to its streaming and sales rallies, “Water” is making a splash on U.S. radio. The single races 39-26 on the latest Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, up 64% in plays for the tracking week. Similarly, it rockets 47-29 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart thanks to 2.9 million in audience, up 91% from the prior week. On Rhythmic Airplay, “Water” debuts at No. 38 following a 127% gain in plays in the last week. The song is also nearing the threshold of the 40-position Pop Airplay list.

Thanks to the rising tide across all metrics, “Water” benefits on many multi-metric U.S. Billboard charts, most notably, on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. There, despite the arrival of 22 Drake tracks from the superstar’s new album, For All the Dogs, which forced many songs to tumble on the list, “Water” is one of two exceptions (the other: Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season”) to improve in position, as it ascends 67-63 in its second week on the chart.

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19 Oct 2023

Bowen Yang Had No Clue Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce Were Going to Make ‘SNL’ Cameos

Fans are still reeling from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce‘s surprise cameos on last weekend’s Saturday Night Live season 49 premiere. And apparently, so is the cast of SNL.

Cast member Bowen Yang confirmed that he wasn’t informed the world’s buzziest new pair was dropping by the show, much less planning on making small appearances on camera during the Saturday (Oct. 14) Pete Davidson-hosted program. When asked on the Las Culturistas podcast by his co-host Matt Rogers whether he was given a heads up about that night’s guests of honor, he said with disbelief: “No. They just came.”

“It was dress rehearsal, like great, that was fun,” he continued on the Wednesday (Oct. 18) episode. “I walk outside to go to my makeup chair, I see two people talking to two tall people. Tallest people in the world.”

“By the way, it’s one thing to see them individually,” added the Fire Island star. “I see them together and I go, ‘I’m in the Redwood Forest.’”

As Kelce himself recently confirmed, he and his new love interest had originally planned to attend SNL simply to show support for Swift’s friend and “Karma” collaborator, Ice Spice, who was that weekend’s musical guest. He was then asked if he wanted to participate in a skit already planned for the evening that just so happened to poke fun at the NFL’s coverage of his and Swift’s romance.

“I didn’t know what the skit was, like, which skits were coming up,” Kelce explained on his New Heights podcast. “I’m pretty sure it was just ironic they were doing a skit on Swiftmania. I thought it was hilarious when they asked me to be a part of it. I was like, ‘Man I’d be honored.’”

 “I don’t even remember what I said — I blacked out,” he continued. “As soon as they cued to me, the entire place erupted, which was very overwhelming, and I’m not even sure if I said anything.”

Later, Swift also turned up onscreen to introduce one of Ice Spice’s performances. After the show wrapped, the pop star and Chiefs tight end were spotted arriving at the SNL afterparty together, holding hands.

Listen to the new Las Culturistas episode here.

19 Oct 2023

Philadelphia High Schoolers Take Songwriting to New Heights in John Legend-Produced ‘Stand Up & Shout’: Watch Trailer

John Legend is teaming up with his Get Lifted Co., Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius to executive produce an upcoming HBO Original documentary about a group of students at a Philadelphia public school who take part in a unique songwriting collaboration.

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In the new trailer for Stand Up & Shout: Songs From a Philly High School, shared exclusively with Billboard on Thursday (Oct. 19), we are introduced to the 10th graders at Hill-Freedman World Academy, as they work with local musicians to create an album of powerful original songs that capture both the challenging times they’re living in and the joy that music brings. Joining the Hill-Freedman World Academy High School students in their creative pursuit are award-winning musical talents Kristal Oliver, Andrew Lipke and Bethlehem Roberson, along with program director and music technology teacher Ezechial Thurman.

'Stand Up & Shout' key art

Courtesy HBO

The Amy Schatz-directed documentary “explores the transformative power of music and how arts education can unlock creativity and be a source of hope and healing,” per a press release, and will air on HBO on Nov. 7 at 9 p.m. ET. Stand Up & Shout: Songs From a Philly High School will also be available to stream on Max.

“I am thrilled audiences will soon be able to witness the magic of the students at Hill-Freedman World Academy through Stand Up & Shout,” John Legend said in a press statement. “Amy Schatz has perfectly captured these students’ remarkable journey and the entire Get Lifted Film Co. team and I couldn’t be prouder of this project.”

Stiklorius added, “I’m honored to serve as an executive producer on Stand Up & Shout. Amy Schatz has created a beautiful documentary and tribute to the impressive students at Hill-Freedman World Academy. Their success inspires me, and I can’t wait for audiences to see this powerful film.”

“Stand Up & Shout is a powerful reminder of the importance of music education and its ability to transform lives,” Jackson shared. “Witnessing the students at Hill-Freedman World Academy is a privilege and I am excited for viewers to share in their confide.”

Watch the trailer below:

19 Oct 2023

2023 Billboard Music Awards Teams With Spotify for Reimagined Awards Show

The 2023 Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs), set for Sunday, Nov. 19, will include a first-of-its-kind collaboration with Spotify ‘Fans First’ to bring fans up-close-and-personal with their favorite artists. The BBMAs will roll out performances and awards across BBMAs and Billboard social channels, as well as via BBMAs.watch, on that date. Performances and award celebrations will take place in global locations, in the midst of sold-out tours and in custom venues.

The goal is to deliver a fresh award show concept that will entertain fans with hours of music and exclusive content, including winner celebrations, behind-the-scenes moments and performances created by the world’s biggest artists.

In addition, the BBMAs and Spotify have teamed to identify fans who have consumed the most hours of music over the past year and helped drive their favorite artist to the top spots on the Billboard charts. These fans will receive a “golden ticket” granting them access to attend a performance curated by their favorite artist, expressly for the 2023 Billboard Music Awards. Fans First is Spotify’s program that offers exclusive rewards and privileges like one-of-a-kind concerts, personal artist experiences, merch drops and first-in-line presales to an artist’s most devoted Spotify listeners.

“We’ve heard the fans loud and clear, and we’re excited to meet them where they are, and everywhere they want to consume music and content,” Maddy Mesevage, SVP, marketing, Dick Clark Productions, said in a statement. “This year’s show is an epic celebration of the fans who propelled their favorite artists to the top of the Billboard charts. To thank them, we are thrilled to work with Spotify and the artists themselves to offer their most loyal fans an experience they’ll never forget.”

Unique among music award shows, Billboard Music Awards winners are determined by year-end performance metrics on the Billboard charts, the music industry’s ultimate authority and data-driven measure of success. The eligibility dates for this year’s awards are aligned with Billboard’s Year-End Charts tracking period, which measures music consumption from the charts dated Nov. 19, 2022 through Oct. 21, 2023.

The Billboard Music Awards aired on Fox from 1990-2006, always in December. After a four-year hiatus, the show returned in 2011. It aired on ABC from 2011-17, and on NBC from 2018-22. Throughout this period, it aired in May, except for the pandemic-delayed 2020 show, which aired in October.

This year’s show will be in the thick of awards season. The Nov. 19 show will occur nine days after the Grammy nominations are announced, and just a few weeks before final-round Grammy voting begins on Dec. 14.

Finalists – the show does not use the word “nominees,” because the finalists and recipients are data-driven – and performers will be announced in the coming weeks. The 2023 Billboard Music Awards is produced by Dick Clark Productions. Lexus and Marriott Bonvoy are partners of this year’s show.

Follow the BBMAs on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and YouTube, join the conversation with #BBMAs and get the latest news and updates at BillboardMusicAwards.com and billboard.com/bbma.

19 Oct 2023

Danna Paola, Sebastián Yatra, Paz Vega, Roselyn Sánchez to Host 2023 Latin Grammys

Mexican singer Danna Paola, Colombian superstar Sebastián Yatra, Puerto Rican actress Roselyn Sánchez and Spanish actress Paz Vega are set to host the 24th annual Latin Grammy Awards. The ceremony will be broadcasted from the Conference and Exhibition Centre (FIBES) in Seville, Andalucía in Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m. ET via Univision, UniMás and Galavisión in the U.S., and at 10:30 p.m. CET on Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) in Spain.

Racking up a total of 15 Latin Grammy nods throughout his career, Sebastián Yatra is nominated for best pop song for “Contigo,” featuring Pablo Alborán. A host staple for the award show, Roselyn Sánchez returns for the sixth time after presenting the 16th, 17th, 18th, 20th and 22nd Annual Latin Grammys. Also, previously nominated for a Latin Grammy, Danna Paola joins the lineup of hosts for the first time. Last but not least, award-winning actress Paz Vega returns for a second time after hosting the 20th annual ceremony.

The first round of performers were announced earlier this week, which includes Maria Becerra, Bizarrap, Feid, Kany García, Carin León, Christian Nodal, Rauw Alejandro and Alejandro Sanz.

This year, Mexican-American super producer Edgar Barrera leads the list of nominees with 13 nods, including songwriter of the year, producer of the year and song of the year. Barrera is followed by Colombian stars Camilo, Karol G, Shakira and composer Kevyn Mauricio Cruz (also known as Keityn), each with seven nominations. See the full list of 2023 Latin Grammy nominations here.

Prior to the Latin Grammys, the Latin Recording Academy will bestow the Person of the Year title to Italian icon Laura Pausini. Marco Antonio Solís received this prestigious honor last year.

19 Oct 2023

Taylor Swift Praises Sabrina Carpenter’s Cover of ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’

No nonsense here! Taylor Swift is delighted by Sabrina Carpenter‘s cover of her song “I Knew You Were Trouble.”

“Well she nailed it,” Swift wrote on a screengrab of the Disney actress’ take on the Red hit for Spotify Singles, which arrived on Wednesday (Oct. 18), on her Instagram Stories. The pop superstar also added two clapping and two hand-heart emojis to the post, in which she also tagged the 24-year-old performer.

“I Knew You Were Trouble” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2013, and was on the tally for 36 weeks.

Carpenter transformed Swift’s poppy original by stripping it down to an acoustic ballad that featured her breathy vocals. In addition to “I Knew You Were Trouble,” the singer-actress also offered her own “Feather,” off the deluxe version of her album, Emails I Can’t Send Fwd.

The “Vicious” singer will next be joining Swift on her mega Eras World Tour in November, when the trek kicks off its international leg with three shows at Rio de Janeiro’s Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos. After joining Swift for shows in South America that will also stop in Argentina and Brazil, Carpenter will again join the 12-time Grammy winner to open a series of February and March shows in Australia and Singapore.

“That is one of my main inspirations ever since I was a little girl, and now to just be able to watch that show every night is going to be so special,” Carpenter previously told Billboard of touring with Swift. “Watching her in and of itself is how you learn. I admire her work ethic and her talent and she’s just so amazing.”

19 Oct 2023

Can Japanese Girl Group XG Make ‘X-Pop’ the Next K-Pop?

Earlier this year — on a warm day in May, Asian ­American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month — a septet of young women fought nerves backstage at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens. Just over a year after its official debut, the group XG was in town for Head in the Clouds, a music festival celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander culture, creativity and art organized by record label 88rising. But the gig held broader significance: It was the act’s first international performance outside of Japan, and in New York, no less.

Despite its early-afternoon billing, the stadium was packed — and chanting, “XG! XG! XG!” — when the group took the stage in glitter-emblazoned suits. The warm welcome made it difficult to believe that this was XG’s first time in New York, and after kicking off the set with its debut track, “Tippy Toes,” the crowd’s chants reached a fever pitch as the members segued into their viral hit, “Left Right.” Fans and casual festivalgoers alike danced freely to the beat, some even singing along to the song’s catchy chorus.

Reflecting today on that Head in the Clouds performance and XG’s subsequent appearance at the festival’s Los Angeles iteration, the group — whose members range in age from 17 to 21 — exudes gratitude. “New York was our first international performance, and the ‘XG! XG!’ chants were really touching,” XG’s Cocona says. In Los Angeles, she says, she even saw some fans wearing makeup inspired by the music video for “GRL GVNG,” XG’s prerelease single from its debut mini-album, NEW DNA. “And it was just really, really cool to see all of that!”

XG will headline Billboard the Stage at South by Southwest ­Sydney at the Hordern Pavilion on Oct. 20. Click here for more information.

Just six months prior, in November 2022, a set of cypher clips — or, in XG’s parlance, a “Galz Xypher” — had gone viral on social media. Taking turns, XG’s Cocona, Maya, Harvey and Jurin delivered crisp solo bars — effortlessly weaving among English, Japanese and Korean — over the instrumentals for J.I.D’s “Surround Sound”; Dreamville’s “Down Bad”; Ty Dolla $ign, Jack Harlow and 24kGoldn’s “I WON”; and Rosalía’s “SAOKO,” respectively. These pieces of content marked a turning point for XG, as new listeners outside of its core K-pop-adjacent fan base began to tune in. At press time, the cypher clips had amassed over 26 million YouTube views and over 16 million TikTok views.

Those four rappers, along with vocalists Juria, Chisa and Hinata, make up XG (short for Xtraordinary Girls). Though trained in K-pop’s sensibilities and practices, XG’s members are all Japanese, and their music, amalgamating R&B, hip-hop and dance, is sung entirely in English. The group is the first act on the label XGALX (its name plays on the XX chromosome pairing denoting female), a project of Tokyo-based entertainment conglomerate Avex, which has previously produced K-pop acts like BoA, TVXQ and BIGBANG. As Avex’s CEO, Katsumi Kuroiwa, told Billboard Japan in September, it launched XGALX in 2017 “with the aim of creating global hits” — and it hoped XG would be the “breakthrough artist” leading a long-term effort toward helping Japanese acts “thrive in the mainstream music world.” The septet was selected in 2017 out of 13,000 candidates, and it trained for five years before making its March 2022 debut.

On their first track, “Tippy Toes,” the girls declared, “Understand that we didn’t come to play.” In less than two years, XG has lived up to that claim, amassing over 637 million views on its YouTube channel; launching an official fan club, ALPHAZ; performing at the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix following the aforementioned festivals; and releasing NEW DNA in September.

Chisa of XG photographed August 9, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Chisa

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Cocona of XG photographed August 9, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Cocona

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At first glance, XG has the hallmarks of a K-pop group: It was trained under the tenets of that genre’s system while also learning the language, its music videos are highly stylized and made with K-pop production teams, it has performed on Korean music programs like Mnet’s M Countdown, and its creative team includes artist-producers like Chancellor (who has featured on tracks by veteran Korean artists Epik High, BoA and Younha and has written for K-pop artist Kang Daniel). Yet XG classifies its music in an entirely new category that it says transcends current paradigms: X-pop.

“The letter ‘X’ is often used to show something special or unknown,” Jurin explains. And it’s true that XG challenges standards both lyrically and visually. For instance, on NEW DNA’s lead single, “Puppet Show,” the group takes on outdated gender norms, singing, “Imagine a world where we could play different roles, where girls be taking control.” The song’s video matches its message: In an icy, dystopian landscape, faceless, uniformed figures surround XG until the members take literal leaps of faith to dance and sing the chorus on a stage in the center of this alternate universe. Even the album title, NEW DNA, refers to how the members view themselves as a “new species free from all conventions and limitations,” as the group says on its website.

XG’s executive producer, Park “Simon” Junho (also known by his producer moniker, JAKOPS), has been with XG since its earliest stages — down to its selection process and training, as detailed in the group’s ongoing docuseries, Xtra Xtra, uploaded to its YouTube channel. As the Seattle-born son of a Japanese mother and Korean father, Simon grew up absorbing both of those cultures, and he later moved to Korea to train and debut as a K-pop artist. (He was a member of the group DMTN, which was active from 2009 to 2013.)

For XG’s training — which, he says, “was conducted in an unprecedented manner” — Simon fused his own background and artistic style with “the foundation of the Korean [music] that is proven through global success.” Together with XG’s producers, he worked to ensure no two songs on the six-track NEW DNA have the same genre classification. X-pop is the result.

“XG’s ambition is to show music and performances that are not limited to the musical characteristics of a certain country, but can be enjoyed by people from all over the world,” Simon says. (The group has 625 million on-demand official global streams, according to Luminate.) “Current K-pop celebrities are also making ceaseless efforts to transcend the initial ‘K,’ and as a result, they are gradually breaking down boundaries. This is why I call [XG’s music] ‘X-pop,’ in the sense that XG also wants to break down boundaries together and deliver a message that everyone can relate to through music.”

Harvey of XG photographed August 9, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Harvey

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Hinata of XG photographed August 9, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Hinata

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To build as global an audience as possible, XG’s team approached making music in ways that diverge from K-pop acts’ traditional methods. Many groups based in Asia start out performing music in their native language with the goal of first building a local fan base, only releasing English-language music later as part of an effort to expand globally. But XG has only released music in English, despite it not being the members’ first language. Even as they converse among themselves in our Zoom interview, they naturally speak to one another in Japanese. And as of September, Avex’s Kuroiwa said that roughly 30% of XG’s listeners were Japanese, with 20% in the United States and 50% in other countries — what he called “an ideal distribution.”

It’s a manifestation of an ongoing K-pop debate: Is the genre defined by its language or by its sensibilities and cultural resonance? What constitutes K-pop — singing in Korean or embodying the elements pioneered by the Korean music business while respecting the genre’s cultural origins? Does language choice matter, or is it simply a tool to expand and reach more fans as a greater cultural movement evolves?

Simon says that XG’s team is intentionally fusing multiple influences — while still honoring their origins. He says that XG and its producers “want to add new color and continue to play the role of unfolding a new world” while still “respecting the legacy of various senior musicians.” In an effort to write lyrics that use expressions “actually used in America,” he notes that the group collaborated with American lyricists and composers, even as it also paired with Korean photographer-director Cho Gi-Seok and Rigend Film to “create innovative visuals” — all part of its intent to “present a novel group that had never been seen before in K-pop, with new sounds, new member compositions and even new visuals.”

XG photographed August 9, 2023 in Los Angeles.

From left: Harvey, Juria, Hinata, Jurin, Chisa, Cocona, Maya of XG.

Ssam Kim

Such cross-continental musical collaborations are becoming increasingly common as music globalizes, making previously unthinkable partnerships possible. With X-pop, XG’s team has coined a phrase that reflects this rapidly rising transference of cultures among markets. Yet XG’s collaborations feel unique: not simply partnering for collaboration’s sake, but genuine and organic, drawing on the multicultural experiences of the executive helping to shape the act’s direction.

Simon points out that creating new things in any preexisting environment has its challenges. The notion of “newness” is, to him, not only about working with “talented people with diverse backgrounds, but also with new artists with unique and fresh ideas. ‘Newness’ often raises concerns simply because it is unfamiliar: ‘Will it fit us well? Will our fans like it?’ ” Yet he and XG’s team remain committed to exploring new directions as the group forges ahead. References to evolution are ever present in its visuals, whether in imagery resembling splitting cells or nods to the “X-GENE,” the title of one mini-album track.

When asked about what inspires this kind of creative output, XG shows deep curiosity about the spaces it physically occupies. “Inspiration can come from anything, however small,” Cocona says. “We really try to feel the present. There’s a lot that you can receive if you just have the right antenna pointing in the right direction.

“XG has this motto or slogan, ‘Enjoy the moment,’ and we try to cherish every single moment that we’re alive because there’s a lot of deeper meaning in everything that surrounds you,” she continues. “So I have this photograph folder and anything that gives me inspiration, I’ll save for later. I’ll open up my memo pad and write down words that come to me.” Recently, she recalls being particularly inspired by the Studio Ghibli animated film How Do You Live? (soon to be released in the United States as The Boy and the Heron).

“I watched it once with my family and then again about three days later with the girls and Simon-san. Each time I watched it, different scenes and lines really resonated with me.”

Juria of XG photographed August 9, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Juria

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Jurin of XG photographed August 9, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Jurin

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But ultimately, the members of XG are most inspired by one another and their shared dream. During our conversation, they encourage one another to take the mic, and that’s mirrored in how they approach their work. In fact, before they take the stage or ahead of important events, they shout the word hesonoo, which means “umbilical cord” in Japanese. According to Simon, they see themselves as seven members who share “united hearts and faith, as if they were connected by an umbilical cord.”

“What makes us extraordinary,” Jurin says, “is that I feel we are able to break free from all these norms and borders that tend to bind us. By that same token, there is a bond between us that transcends a lot of types of challenges, and it’s really amazing to have that.”

Cocona agrees. “Everyone is so genuine, it feels like we’re just being our true ‘animal’ selves,” she says. “We live life as it comes and follow our hearts. The moments where we have relaxed conversations with everyone and Simon are when I’m happiest. We always say, ‘Let’s definitely go to [outer] space someday!’ ” (Her groupmates nod agreeably to that ambition.) Harvey adds, “Everyone is just bursting with passion, and our love for each other is so strong! We make sure we communicate well and respect and understand each other, so this forms a really tight bond.”

As Hinata notes, they are motivated by their potential to “give people the courage to move forward,” crediting their ALPHAZ fan base as their main source of energy. “If I had to create a metaphor with this entire ecosystem as a body, [the ALPHAZ would] really be the heart, almost pumping oxygen throughout our whole body,” Jurin says. “The relationship between ALPHAZ and XG is really like family, like we’re coexisting, and whenever we decide that we want to take on some kind of new challenge, [they will be] the first ones to support us and back us up. They really understand us on a different level.”

Maya of XG photographed August 9, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Maya

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XG photographed August 9, 2023 in Los Angeles.

From left: Harvey, Hinata, Juria, Jurin, Chisa, Cocona and Maya of XG photographed August 9, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Ssam Kim

A few days after NEW DNA arrives, the members reconnect to share early thoughts and reactions to its release. Two physical versions — an “X” version and a “G” version — came out with the same six tracks, a 78-page photo book, stickers and photo cards. “Our ALPHAZ got their hands on [the album] before we did. They said it wasn’t a ‘mini-album’ but a ‘mega-album,’ ” Chisa says with a laugh. “And when I actually held the album, I felt its weight and thought, ‘Yeah it’s not mini, it’s mega.’ ” Both Chisa and Juria say they’ve noticed fans engaging creatively with the photo cards, personalizing and decorating them with stickers, sharing them with one another online.

Though NEW DNA only has six tracks, XG captures a different theme in each of their music videos. In “GRL GVNG” (pronounced “girl gang”), the act performs in dark, moto-inspired clothing in a futuristic setting, whereas in “New Dance,” it wears bright, colorful clothing and dances against everyday scenery like a bowling alley, city alleyways and the beach. “It was so exciting to show a powerful version of ourselves, like in ‘GRL GVNG,’ and then switch to a new persona as in ‘New Dance,’ ” Juria says.

And with the album out and performances in New York, Los Angeles and Singapore under its belt, XG is preparing for yet another momentous event: an upcoming headlining performance at South by Southwest in Sydney. There, Jurin promises, fans can expect to find an even further evolved, “brand-new XG.”

“I don’t want to spoil anything,” Maya adds, “but my members and I are all thinking of something new and exciting for all of you. All I can say is that we want you all to look forward to what we’re preparing and hope you all are ready to have fun with us.”

Billboard’s parent company PMC is the largest shareholder of SXSW and its brands are official media partners of SXSW.

XG Billboard Cover Juria Cocona Maya Hinata Chisa Harvey Jurin

This story will appear in the Oct. 21, 2023, issue of Billboard.