Music

V Shares Behind-the-Scenes Moments From ‘Layover’ Visuals in ‘For Us’ Music Video: Watch

The final music video from V‘s Layover has finally arrived. On Friday (Sept. 15), the BTS vocalist released his “For Us” music video, which offers fans a behind-the-scenes look at the memories he created while filming videos for the previous tracks “Love Me Again,” “Slow Dancing,” “Rainy Days” and “Blue.”

The video kicks off with camcorder footage from the filming of “Slow Dancing,” which sees V and the extras featured in the video enjoying their day at a secluded beach. The scene cuts to V sitting in a chair off set wearing the sparkling gold outfit from the “Love Me Again” video, as he soulfully sings along to “For Us.”

The rest of the visual includes the moments that didn’t make the final cut of V’s previous music videos, like the candid moments that he shared with the cast and filming crew. In one shot, filmed with night vision, V throws up a peace sign at the camera, and while behind the scenes of “Blue,” V cuddles with his black Pomeranian, Yeontan. The clip concludes with a roll of the credits of the people who helped on the album and in his videos, set to the video of him plastering V posters over graffitied walls.

With the Sept. 8 release of Layover, V became the final member of BTS to share solo material, following recent chart-topping releases from Jung Kook and Jimin. Layover will impact Billboard‘s charts next week.

Watch the music for “For Us” above.

Friday Dance Music Guide: The Week’s Best New Tracks From RL Grime, TSHA & Ellie Goulding, Camelphat, More

This week in dance music: Kah-Lo wrote about the sometimes rocky path that led to the release of her debut album, Calvin Harris got hitched, we spoke with Peggy Gou about her viral hit “It Goes Like (Nanana),” Alesso signed with CAA, Gou signed with WME, on the 10-year anniversary of Avicii’s True we talked to the label exec who signed the album, and Splash House shared nine hours worth of sets from its August editions.

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The week marks some big releases as well. These are the best new dance tracks of the week.

RL Grime, Play



The Label: Sable Valley

The Spiel: RL Grime returns with a mic drop of a new project, his third LP PLAY. His first album since 2019, PLAY is actually made up of three mini-albums: APEX, GRID and RUSH. Each contains seven tracks highlighting different sound styles, with APEX delivering the same peak-time body-pummeling bass we’ve known and loved the producer (born Henry Steinway) for since the Void days; GRID being comprised largely of slick, smart collabs with artists including 070 Shake and Baauer; and RUSH delving into more experimental “headphones” music that demonstrate the producer’s efficacy with what is for him a newer type of sound. RL Grime will tour the album starting in October, with 17 dates across the U.S. and Canada.

The Artist Says: “Currently sitting in a park reflecting on the last few years and wanted to get some random thoughts down,” the producer wrote this week on Instagram. “From feeling completely stuck and sitting at home with no drive to make music whatsoever, to where we are today, hours away from releasing my third album is something I’m still trying to wrap my head around. It’s hard not to get caught up in the relentless and ever impending content/virality race of the current music industry .. for a long time it weighed down on my creativity and ultimately pushed me away from engaging at all with social media. thankfully this album process set me on a trajectory to regain my confidence not only as a producer but more importantly as a person…want to extended an eternal thank you to everyone involved in this project.”

The Vibe: Three to choose from

TSHA, Ellie Goulding & Gregory Porter, “Somebody”



The Label: Ninja Tune

The Spiel: TSHA checks in with a somber but resolute, and also resonant, collab with Ellie Goulding and Grammy-winning soul singer Gregory Porter. Over the London producer’s shuffling, tinny beat, Goulding references post-pandemic anxieties in singing “Feelin’ older than my years/ But ain’t it so when you’ve been staying home?” with her genuinely contemplative-sounding delivery juxtaposed with Porter’s earnest plea that “I really need somebody.”

The Artist Says: “The idea for this collaboration was sparked by Ellie sliding into my DM’s last year to reach out about a session. I of course jumped at the opportunity in a heartbeat – she’s someone that I’ve admired and respected for a long time, so to have the opportunity to work together was a complete no brainer for me. It’s been an absolute pleasure working together on ‘Somebody’, Ellie’s a real sweetheart and I’m so pleased with how the track has come together. The icing on the cake is the vocals that Gregory Porter has added, which for me really elevate the track and add another dimension to the music. Having a living legend like Gregory featuring on my music is a huge milestone moment for me.“

The Vibe: Lonely and pretty

Camelphat, Spiritual Milk



The Label: When Stars Align

The Spiel: The Liverpool duo, Dave Whelan and Mike Di Scala, have always been adept at making music that’s simultaneously deep, complex and pristinely produced, and that fingerprint is all over their sophomore album, Spiritual Milk. Out via the pair’s own When Stars Align label, the 16-track LP features loads of guests, including Kölsch, Delilah Montague, Shimza, Jake Bugg, London Grammar and Anyma, who all bring different moods to an album that nonetheless feels cohesive and fundamentally Camelphat.

The Artists Say: “We’ve felt a lot less pressure delivering this record possibly due to the fact it’s on our label, but also we’re at a point in our career where we can possibly afford to be more expressive and less fearful about what other people think,” the duo say in a joint statement. “It has definitely come from the heart and feels honest both as writers and musicians. We’ve had fun with it, we’ve made music less with the dance floor in mind and more with our emotions. The whole thing came together surprisingly very easily.”

The Vibe: Raw, whole and yes, in moments kind of creamy

Diplo & Walker & Royce Feat. Channel Tres, “Diamond Therapy”



The Label: Higher Ground

The Spiel: “See me as a ticket to foreign lands, I’m the pathway,” Channel Tres beckons on “Diamond Therapy,” three minutes of pure uncut tech house from Diplo and Walker & Royce. Together, the production trio lay a thumping, sometimes spare foundation for Tres to deliver lyrics about “diamond therapy, carat clarity” in his signature purr, with the hypnotic build leading to a crescendo of thick synth.

The Vibe: An actual gem

Chris Lake & Aluna, “More Baby”



The Label: Astralwerks/Black Book Records

The Spiel: We know Chris Lake and Aluna work well together, with their recently released “Beggin’” currently sitting at No. 11 on Dance Mix Show/Airplay. Today, the duo double down with “More Baby,” which Lake previewed during his massive b2b set with FISHER at Coachella this past April, and on which Aluna repeats the titular demand over a bouncy, elastic track co-produced by her, Lake and the duo Parisi, known for their work with Swedish House Mafia, Fred Again… and Black Eyed Peas.

The Vibe: Yes please, more please

SZA’s Manager Pulled Her 2023 VMAs Performance Over ‘Disrespectful’ Artist of the Year Snub

When Ashanti and French Montana presented best R&B at Tuesday night’s MTV Video Music Awards, the category’s winner, SZA, was not present to pick up her Moon Person for “Shirt” — but she didn’t just skip the show for no reason, her manager revealed.

SZA entered the Sept. 12 ceremony as one of the night’s most-nominated artists, with eight nods total, including video of the year (“Kill Bill”), best art direction (“Shirt”) and album of the year (SOS). Despite being one of the most omnipresent artists of the past year, however, SZA’s name was left off the list of nominees for artist of the year.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Friday (Sept. 15), Terrence “Punch” Henderson, SZA’s longtime manager, said, “Obviously, she had one of the best years, if not the best year, of any artist at this point. I don’t see why she wouldn’t be nominated for artist of the year. It just really didn’t make any sense to me. It’s disrespectful.”

SZA released SOS in December, and her critically lauded sophomore studio album has dominated 2023. The record has been present in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 nearly every week this year, spending 10 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 and ranking at No. 2 on Luminate’s 2023 Midyear Music Report. “Kill Bill,” the record’s breakout hit, topped the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 and spent months in the chart’s top 10. On Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, “Kill Bill” broke the record for most weeks spent at No. 1 (21 weeks).

SOS also yielded the Hot 100 top 10 singles “Nobody Gets Me” (No. 10) and “Snooze” (No. 7), which reached the top 10 in its 35th week on the chart. Prior to the album’s release, two other singles hit the top 10: “Good Days” (No. 9) and “I Hate U” (No. 7). The VMA-winning “Shirt” peaked at No. 11 and topped both the Rhythmic and R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay charts.

During a call about a potential SZA performance at the show, Punch says MTV “couldn’t give a clear answer as to why she wasn’t [nominated for artist of the year]. It was just, ‘Well, she’s nominated for all these other [awards].’” The nominees for artist of the year at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards were Beyoncé, Karol G, Shakira, Doja Cat, Nicki Minaj and eventual winner Taylor Swift.

The nearly four-hour-long 2023 VMAs ceremony featured an overwhelming amount of performances, none of which included SZA — despite the initial efforts to have her grace the show’s stage. During one of those negotiations, “because there were people on [the call] about logistics for the show who didn’t have anything to do with [the nominations],” Punch said, “they ended up saying, ‘OK, well we could do another call.’” Nonetheless, MTV “didn’t want to discuss artist of the year, which to me was really a slap in the face,” he remarked.

“Why wouldn’t she be nominated for artist of the year? Even with the other artists that were nominated for artist of the year, some of them were even off-cycle. They didn’t have an album out. I mean, no disrespect to them or anybody else; everybody’s great and all of that, but still, you can’t discredit what SOS has done and is currently doing,” Punch added.

Three of the nominees — Doja Cat, Minaj and Shakira — had not released albums since the 2022 VMAs ceremony.

Ultimately, MTV’s failure to provide an explanation for the snub and reach a resolution spurred Punch to pull SZA’s performance. “I figured, why go perform and do this if she’s not going to be respected to the highest level? So it was my call to actually pull out of the performance,” he explained. However, the Top Dawg Entertainment president noted that SZA is “a very sweet person and she’s not for all of the nonsense and the politics and the back-and-forth and all of that. So, our feelings might be a little different.

“Ultimately, I felt it was disrespectful and I was very stern on that and influencing that,” Punch concluded. “If there’s any issues or backlash and all of that, I’m taking all of that.”

Despite the VMAs kerfuffle, SZA is currently powering through the final leg of her SOS headlining arena tour. According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour has grossed $34.5 million and sold 238,000 tickets. On Friday (Sept. 15), the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter released two singles: a Justin Bieber-assisted acoustic reboot of “Snooze” and a highly anticipated Drake collaboration titled “Slime You Out.”

Last week (Sept. 8), SZA announced a deluxe edition of SOS titled LANA at a surprise event at New York’s Brooklyn Navy Yard. The expanded version of her triple-platinum album will arrive “this fall.”

SZA, an Academy Award-nominated songwriter, has earned eight top 10 hits on the Hot 100 from 40 career entries. On the Billboard 200, she has earned two top five albums: 2017’s Ctrl (No. 3) — which has spent a whopping 326 weeks on the ranking — and 2022’s SOS (No. 1).

The revelation of SZA’s situation comes after another R&B artist — Grammy-nominated “On My Mama” singer Victoria Monétrevealed to fans that MTV told her team that it was “too early in [her] story” to perform at the VMAs. Monét is a three-time Grammy nominee with writing credits for a range of artists including Ariana Grande and BLACKPINK. She has also charted a pair of albums on the Billboard 200 and two songs on the Hot 100; Monét made her recording debut in 2014.

Justin Tranter, Allee Willis & More to be Honored at 2023 SONA Warrior Awards

Songwriters Justin Tranter and the late Allee Willis, country artist and podcast host Rissi Palmer and ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews will be honored at the 2023 SONA Warrior Awards, which will be held on Oct. 29 at 1 Hotel in West Hollywood, California. Songwriters Bonnie McKee and Shane Stevens are set to host the show.

McKee is known for her 2013 Billboard Hot 100 hit “American Girl,” as well as for co-writing hits by Katy Perry, Taio Cruz, Britney Spears, Kesha and others. Stevens has written for numerous country and pop acts, including Lady Antebellum, Selena Gomez, Carrie Underwood and Sara Evans.

Performers on the show are Brenda Russell (in honor of Willis), Miko Marks (in honor of Palmer) and Kitchen Swanky Band (representing Songwriters of North America’s – SONA’s –  work in the Caribbean).

The SONA Warrior Awards celebrate the talent and hard work of individuals known for their accomplishments within the music industry, while also honoring their efforts advocating for songwriters’ rights.

SONA brings together music creatives and industry professionals to reimagine the music industry in the 21st century. The organization’s main issues are: a right to fair pay in the age of digital media, the ability to advocate for themselves, the right to safety and equity within their workplaces.

SONA has long tried to unionize and stand for the rights of music artists/songwriters in the same way that the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild fight for the rights of writers and actors, respectively. SONA’s contention is that, just like the talent in those fields, songwriters are often paid unfairly and left uncredited for their work. For more information on SONA, go here.

Here’s some background on this year’s honorees:

Justin Bieber Shares Behind-the-Scenes Look at Recording Surprise SZA Collaboration

SZA surprised fans on Friday (Sept. 15) with a gentle, stripped-back version of her S.O.S. hit “Snooze” featuring a slick new verse from Justin Bieber, who made an appearance on the original song’s music video last month.

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Following the new release, Bieber took to his Instagram Stories to give a behind-the-scenes look at recording his part of the track, posting himself running through different vocal takes and moving the microphone in what looks like a stunning home studio. See the clips before they disappear here.

“In a droptop ride with you, I feel like Scarface/ Like that white b–ch with the bob, you’ll be my main one/ Let’s take this argumеnt back up to my place/ Sex rеminds you I’m nonviolent, I’m your day one,” the 29-year-old “Sorry” singer muses on his breezy new verse, supplemented by SZA’s honeyed vocals providing harmonies.

“Snooze” snagged SZA her second No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, topping the list dated July 1. The song was also SZA’s second career No. 1 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay tally.

Hear Exclusive Splash House August 2023 Sets From Aluna, Anna Lunoe, QRTR & More

Most 10-year-olds don’t get poolside bacchanals for their birthday, but Splash House celebrated a decade of music, revelry and pool floaties with a pair of back-to-back bashes last month in Palm Springs, California, for their decade celebration.

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The poolside dance/electronic festival hosted two weekends — Aug. 11-13 and Aug. 18-20 — at hotel properties around Palm Springs, along with evening parties at the Palm Springs Air Museum. These August events followed the June iteration of Splash House, which has been happening annually and biannually in Palm Springs since 2013.

“I’ve been putting on parties probably through grade school,” Splash House Founder Tyler McLean told Billboard in 2017. “Before it was any specific music or genre that people were feeling, it was just about throwing a party and the experience of bringing people in the doors and showing them a great time. As music tastes and all that grow, it all hit for me and I was like, ‘How about I just throw a party in my hometown with great music’ — this is during, like, peak Vegas, that whole big-room club scene — and I thought, ‘Why not throw the opposite experience?’”

Five years later, that “opposite experience” has become the prevailing sounds of global dance music, with Splash House again delivering a pair of cutting-edge and on-trend lineups for the thousands of fans arriving in the Southern California desert oasis.

Here, we’ve got nine hours of Splash House to relive, with exclusive sets from Aluna, on tour behind her sophomore album released in July; Australian house mainstay Anna Lunoe; Brazilian phenom Vintage Culture; QRTR, who’s been opening for ODESZA this summer and who’s playing the stacked Making Time festival in Philadelphia at the end of this month; U.K. powerhouse Sam Divine; and rising London duo JADED.

Dip your toes in below.

Aluna

Anna Lunoe

Vintage Culture

QRTR

Sam Divine

JADED

Nathy Peluso, Christian Nodal & More: Which Is Your Favorite New Latin Music Release? Vote!

This week, our New Music Latin roundup — a compilation of the best new Latin songs, albums and videos recommended by Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors — is powered by new music from Becky G, Nathy Peluso and Sebastian Yatra, to name a few.

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Becky G honors her late grandfather in the heartfelt “Querido Abuelo,” in which she opens up about the influence he had on her since she was little. “Your memory in my soul is always present/ I would give anything to hug you once more,” she sings emotionally. The Edgar Barrera-produced song is part of Becky’s upcoming música mexicana album.

In other Mexican music news, Christian Nodal dropped a five-track EP paying tribute to the King of Ranchera Musica, Vicente Fernández. Dubbed México en Mi Voz, Nodal gives a mariacheño twist (fusion of mariachi and norteño) to several timeless Chente songs: “Acá Entre Nos,” “Mujeres Divinas,” “La Ley Del Monte,” “La Media Vuelta” and “Ya Lo Sé Que Tú Te Vas.”

Also this week, Nathy Peluso and Tiago PZK dropped their first-ever collaboration called “Ella Tiene.” Instead of doing an R&B or hip-hop track, the two Argentine stars unleashed a passionate bachata song “dedicated to romance … that tells a turbulent love story,” as Peluso stated in a press release.

Other new releases include Sebastián Yatra’s “Energía Bacana” and Laura Pausini’s “Durar,” to name few.

Last week, Natalia Jiménez’s “El Pobre” won the poll with more than 60 percent of the votes, followed by Sofía Reyes’ “Hoy Me Porto Mal” as a second fan favorite. Which new release should win this week? Vote below!

Purchase tickets to the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week here.

Drake x SZA, Doja Cat, Demi Lovato & More: What’s Your Favorite Music Release of the Week? Vote!

With one final week left of summer, the heavy hitters in rap, R&B and pop have come out to play, as seen by Drake feat. SZA, Doja Cat, Demi Lovato and more releasing new material this Friday.

After years of floating within the same circles — and even being in a relationship with each other back in 2009 — Drake and SZA have finally joined forces on their first ever collaborative track, “Slime You Out.” The song, which hails from the rapper’s forthcoming studio album For All the Dogs, sees Drake passing SZA the mic (“I’ma fall back and let SZA talk her s–t for a minute”). The singer continues the lyrical themes shown on her No. 1 album, SOS; she doesn’t allow herself to be burned by the men she’s involved herself with, that later reveal themselves to be not worth her time.

Doja Cat’s rollout for Scarlet picks up with new single “Balut.” The rapper gets more contemplative on the song than we’ve seen on previous singles “Attention,” “Paint the Town Red” or “Demons,” but as always, proves that she can still flip the switch and be funny as the drop of a dime. “Is it coke, is it crack, is it meth / What the f–k do she put in them hits?” she raps — something that fans of hers have asked themselves at least once.

Lovato’s new album, Revamped, features several of the former Disney Channel star’s career hits, reimagined through a rock lens — one propelled by the release of the star’s 2022 album, Holy Fvck. “Heart Attack,” “Cool for the Summer” and “Neon Lights” and other early catalogue tracks become even more electric with the addition of heavier guitar, and Lovato’s soaring vocals.

Rod Wave, Diddy and Thirty Seconds to Mars also release new material this week, but which release is your favorite? Vote in our poll below.

Maren Morris Says She’s Leaving Country Music: ‘It’s Burning Itself Down Without My Help’

Grammy winner Maren Morris released two new songs — “The Tree” and “Get the Hell Out of Here” — on Friday (Sept. 15). With them, she also shared the nuanced emotions behind her decision to leave country music and her feelings about the socio-political divide that has deepened over the past several years.

“These two songs are incredibly key to my next step because they express a very righteously angry and liberating phase of my life these last couple of years, but also how my navigation is finally pointing towards the future, whatever that may be or sound like,” she said in a statement. “Honoring where I’ve been and what I’ve achieved in country music, but also freely moving forward.”

On “The Tree,” she sings, “The rot at the roots is the root of the problem/ But you want to blame it on me.” She adds on “Get the Hell Out of Here”: “I hung around longer than anyone should/ You’ve broken my heart more than anyone could.”

She went into detail about her decision in an interview with The Los Angeles Times, sharing that the growing sociopolitical divide within country music — and the right-leaning views of some of the genre’s artists and fans — has been an ongoing challenge and barrier.

“After the Trump years, people’s biases were on full display,” Morris told the paper. “It just revealed who people really were and that they were proud to be misogynistic and racist and homophobic and transphobic. All these things were being celebrated, and it was weirdly dovetailing with this hyper-masculine branch of country music. I call it butt rock.”

“I thought I’d like to burn it to the ground and start over,” she added. “But it’s burning itself down without my help.”

Morris — who graced the cover of Billboard’s Pride issue alongside drag stars — has also been one of the fiercest advocates for diversity, inclusion and progress within the country music genre, championing greater inclusion of voices and music from women, members of the LGBTQ+ community and artists of color. When she won a CMA Award for female vocalist of the year in 2020, Morris used her acceptance speech to honor women of color within country music. She performed at the Love Rising concert in Nashville earlier this year, an event that celebrated the LGBTQ+ community and challenged anti-trans legislation in Tennessee. Last year, Morris also had a war of words with Jason Aldean and his wife, Brittany, over gender-affirming care.

Morris’ move away from the genre comes as four country songs, including Aldean’s controversial “Try That in a Small Town,” have topped the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.

“I think it’s a last bastion,” Morris said of the consumption of “Try That in a Small Town.” “People are streaming these songs out of spite. It’s not out of true joy or love of the music. It’s to own the libs. And that’s so not what music is intended for. Music is supposed to be the voice of the oppressed — the actual oppressed. And now it’s being used as this really toxic weapon in culture wars.”



Morris noted that she did not initially consider herself a political artist — merely an artist writing songs about the happenings in the world around her. “But the further you get into the country music business, that’s when you start to see the cracks,” she pointed out. “And once you see it, you can’t unsee it. So you start doing everything you can with the little power you have to make things better. That doesn’t make you popular.”

She went on to say why she thinks it’s necessary to speak up. “If you truly love this type of music and you start to see problems arise, it needs to be criticized,” Morris told the paper. “Anything this popular should be scrutinized if we want to see progress. But I’ve kind of said everything I can say. I always thought I’d have to do middle fingers in the air jumping out of an airplane, but I’m trying to mature here and realize I can just walk away from the parts of this that no longer make me happy.”



Morris noted that she is “still unraveling” a lot of her feelings of connection with country music.

“I don’t want to have an adversarial relationship to country music,” she added. “I still find myself weirdly wanting to protect it. But it’s not a family member. That’s the f–ked-up part, is that I’m talking about it as if it’s a person, but it’s not. So it’s a lot of deep deconstructing that I’m still unraveling.

“These songs are obviously the result of that — the aftermath of walking away from something that was really important to you and the betrayal that you felt very righteously. But also knowing there’s a thread of hope as you get to the other side,” Morris continued. “I hope it comes across that way because I truly was in a space of hope when I wrote the two songs, even though ‘Get the Hell Out of Here’ is really heavy. It’s about disarming that trauma and saying, ‘I can’t bail water out of this sinking ship anymore. It’s so futile. I choose happiness.’”

Anitta Opens Up About Terrifying Cancer Scare: ‘Nobody Could Figure Out What I Had’

Anitta is shedding light on a scary experience she had at the end of 2022.

The Brazilian superstar revealed to InStyle this week that she had been visiting the hospital for “months” with a cancer scare, with fear being fueled by doctors struggling to figure out what was wrong. “I had problems in my lungs, I had a cancer [scare]. I spent months in the hospital. Nobody could figure out what I had,” she explained, noting that she took multiple tests with no result.

Eventually, she sought spiritual treatment from a shaman recommended to her, and the healing she received there worked. “I came back completely changed,” she explained, adding that when the doctors ran more tests, she was healed.

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Her new song “Used to Be” was born as a result of the emotional experience, as she leans into her “bitch” persona who “destroys hearts” along the way. “I used to be a hoe, but now I ain’t no more / Been swimmin’ through the water, now I’m back to shore / I look at who I did and I’m like, ‘Oh, my lord,’” she sings in the opening lines of the track.



Anitta performed the track at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday (Sept. 12), along with “Funk Rave,” both of which are featured on her latest release, Funk Generation: A Favela Love Story. “Being an international artist is not only about being famous wherever you go, because the world is so big,” Anitta told Billboard last year. “It’s about being able to impact culturally different areas at the same time.”