Music

14 Sep 2023

Matty Healy Is Definitely *Not* On Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ Re-Record

Despite rumors, innuendo and a barrel full of tabloid headlines, one of the reported guests on Taylor Swift‘s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) re-record is never, ever appearing on it. A spokesperson for the singer tells Billboard, “neither Matty Healy nor [The] 1975 are on this album,” putting to rest fevered UK broadsheet reports that the British band’s controversial front man would be featured on the re-worked version of Swift’s 2014 album.

The pair, who reportedly briefly dated earlier this year — though, that too was never officially confirmed by either side — were spotted leaving New York’s Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village in May after Healy attended three of Swift’s Nashville Eras Tour shows earlier in the month. A spokesperson for The 1975/Healy had not responded to a request for comment at press time.

Swift announced the 1989 news last month, telling fans in a post that the album (due out on Oct. 27), which featuring such pop hits as “Bad Blood,” “Shake It Off” and “Blank Space,” was the one that “changed my life in countless ways.”

She added of the collection that spent 11 weeks at the top of the Billboard 200, “to be perfectly honest this is my most FAVORITE re-record I’ve ever done because the 5 From The Vault tracks are so insane. I can’t believe they were ever left behind. But not for long!”

1989 (Taylor’s Version) will be Swift’s fourth Version, since announcing her re-recording project in 2019. The previous three all spent time at No. 1 on the Billboard 200: with Fearless (Taylor’s Version) logging two weeks at the top in 2021, Red (Taylor’s Version) getting one week at the summit in 2021 and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) snagging two weeks at the summit earlier this year.

Two tracks from the 1989 re-do have already made it out into the world, including “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)” — which hit TikTok in Nov. 2021 — and “This Love (Taylor’s Version)” appearing in the trailer for the Amazon Prime series The Summer I Turned Pretty. Swift announced on Wednesday that an exclusive bonus track will be featured on the tangerine edition of the 1989 vinyl; the vinyl and three Deluxe Poster Edition CDs with unique photos inside will be available for purchase only at Target and is available to pre-order here. The re-release will also be available in other non-Target exclusive vinyl versions, including aquamarine green and yellow “Sunrise Boulevard.”

14 Sep 2023

‎‎HARAMI chan Talks Questioning Traditions in Classical Competitions, Returning to Music After Setbacks: Women in Music Interview

Japanese pianist ‎‎ HARAMI chan spoke with Billboard Japan for its Women in Music interview series featuring female players in the country’s entertainment industry. The WIM initiative in Japan launched last year to celebrate artists, producers and executives who have made significant contributions to the music industry and empowered women through their work.

‎HARAMI chan has more than 2.18 million subscribers to her YouTube channel and over 600 million total views. Last year, she became the first female pianist to headline the historic Nippon Budokan in 15 years. Before she settled into her current career aiming to make piano music more familiar to a wider audience, her life took a series of twists and turns as she was forced to give up her childhood dream of becoming a classical pianist at one point to work as a company employee. 

‎HARAMI chan looked back at her beginnings and shared her experiences with the rigid rules and sometimes baffling traditions in Japanese classical piano competitions and more in this new interview.

Did you look up to any particular woman growing up?

‎HARAMI chan: Michiko Shimizu (impersonator/radio personality/actress). I’m not sure why, but I went through a phase when I was a kid where I’d do a kind of gag before practicing the piano. My parents still have videos of me doing this. I wanted to entertain them, and I think I was taking advantage of the fact that they weren’t getting mad at me and having some fun. Michiko Shimizu makes people smile by using the piano as entertainment.

Is there a difference between how you play now to entertain people and how you played for classical piano competitions growing up?

Competitions are a very unique, craftsman-like environment where you practice the same piece hundreds of times every day for about six months before the big day and then put all your energy into that single performance. On the other hand, something like “the melancholy ‘Anpanman March’” that made my friends laugh in school is like a gag I improvised on the spot. So I regarded the two as completely different things.

When I play the piano, I enjoy it so much that my face moves, but when I used to practice for competitions, my teacher would scold me and say, “Don’t play with your face.” But during breaks (at school), I’d play and my face would do whatever it wanted. They’re completely different genres.

How did you first get into playing the piano?

Piano was one of the things I took lessons in when I was little and I liked it. What’s more, my parents handed me a textbook to prepare for music college entrance exams when I was only in first grade and I thought, “Hey, my future is set, lucky me.” [Laughs] My thinking at the time was, it made things easier because I wouldn’t have to worry about my my career path and all I have to do is keep playing the piano.

I participated in piano competitions since then, but when I changed teachers in high school to prepare for music college entrance exams, that teacher flat out told me, “You can’t be a pianist.” Playing the piano had been my identity since I was in the first grade and it felt like all the building blocks I’d piled up were knocked over in one blow. It came as a shock, but I think I also sort of already knew. When you take part in competitions, you have many opportunities to become acutely aware of your own level. So I was shocked, but also began thinking I needed to find another strength.

You experienced a number of setbacks since and took a break from playing the piano to make a living as an office worker. Then a former coworker, now your current manager, uploaded a video of you playing the piano at the Tokyo Metropolitan City Hall on YouTube, which kicked off your career as ‎Haramichan. Did you ever consider piano as a career before that?

I never considered it. I thought it was a world where you could only make a living after winning competitions. I’m actually the type who carefully thinks things through. I want to leave as many options open as possible in life, so I got a teaching license when I went to music college. I even obtained a color coordinator certification after graduating.

When my former coworker asked to upload that first video, I just thought, “Nobody is gonna see it anyway, so why not?” I was more terrified than happy at first because I hadn’t expected so many people to see it. Besides, that performance is terrible in my opinion, so I couldn’t think about betting my life on that one video that happened to go viral.

If you didn’t immediately decide to play the piano as a career then, what encouraged you to do so?

The comments from people who watched my videos. People left notes like, “It’s nice how you look like you enjoy playing,” and “Watching your videos puts a smile on my face.” I do look really happy when I’m playing the piano the way I want, and finding out that there were people out there who accepted the way I play was a revelation. It felt like a new world had opened up to me. And that coworker who uploaded the first video said to me, “Life is a win the more you laugh,” and those words gave me courage as well.

But I set a deadline for ‎HARAMI chan’s performances back then, that I’d do it only until I ran out of savings. If I couldn’t kick off a career in music by then, I’d go back to being an office worker.

That viral video ended up being the first of your many accomplishments since then, and you now have a solid fanbase collectively called Okome-san. You say your goal is to make piano music more familiar. When did this thought begin to materialize?

There was a time, especially around junior high school, when I really disliked wearing dresses when I played in classical music competitions. I was at that rebellious age when I wanted to be defiant and performed wearing a jacket ensemble. I wouldn’t say I was dressed like a man but I got points deducted for my outfit. I understand the importance of traditional classical manners and don’t necessarily object to the point deduction. But I also felt that there are other ways to enjoy the piano besides observing tradition and competing in technical skill, so why shouldn’t I bring those things into the competition? I’ve always felt this way, so when the public accepted ‎‎HARAMI chan, I started feeling that I wanted to spread this joy even more. 

We’ve been focusing on women in this interview series. Does being a woman affect your activities in any way?

Fortunately, I’ve made it this far without having to think too much about it. Like, I’ve always split the bill with the guys around me and have never felt that I’m being treated any differently because I’m a woman. The male-to-female ratio at my music college was 90 percent women. Many continued to play the piano since taking lessons at a young age, so I guess it’s true a majority of our parents’ generation thought that “boys should learn sports and girls should learn the piano.” I mentioned my outfit earlier, but when I was little, I was happy to wear dresses, too.

The majority of acts and artists on Billboard Japan’s charts have been male for many years. Could you share your thoughts on this phenomenon?

I heard about this when I was asked to do this interview, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a negative thing. It doesn’t mean female artists are inferior, but that maybe it’s the result of fandom culture where a lot of women supported their favorite artists of the opposite sex. It might be that some women are more dedicated than others and they feel the urge to recommend their favorite artist, which leads to more streams and so on. So I don’t think female artists should feel inferior in any way.

You’re right, that could be one reason. I get the impression from speaking to you that you have the ability to see things in a multifaceted way. If you were to give advice to yourself when you were first starting out, what would you say?

I’m a cautious person, but that isn’t always a bad thing. Someone once said to me that being a worrier is also a strength, because negative thinkers can endure the negative things they imagine. If you have the flexibility to rotate the opposing sides of your thoughts, it’s harder for your mind to snap. Ever since I realized that, I’ve been practicing to think things from both sides. And I also try to be aware of proportions. If someone says something negative to me, I think about what percentage of the total that opinion might be. If 95 percent of the people say, “You shouldn’t do this,” I might want to listen to them, but what if it were only 5 percent and the rest agree with me? If I were to listen to that 5 percent, I’d be ignoring the expectations of the remaining 95 percent. If we make an effort to look at the whole picture and calmly think about proportions like that, it might make things easier.

—This interview by Rio Hirai (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan

14 Sep 2023

Snow Man’s ‘Dangerholic’ Tops Japan Hot 100, Ending YOASOBI’s 21-Week Run at No. 1

Snow Man’s “Dangerholic” leads the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Sept. 13, toppling YOASOBI’s “Idol” from the top spot where it ruled for a record 21 weeks straight.

The nine-member boy band’s ninth single is the theme of TBS’ drama series Trillion Game starring member Ren Meguro. The single broke the half-million threshold with 893,666 copies sold in its first week, and while it didn’t reach the 921,011 copies of the previous single, “Tapestry,” the song launches at No. 1 for sales. The track also rules radio and comes in at No. 2 for video views, gaining momentum as fans gear up for the final episode of the TV series to air Friday (Sept. 15).

King Gnu‘s “SPECIALZ” rises 4-2 after bowing on the chart last week. The opener for the Shibuya Incident story arc of the anime Jujutsu Kaisen dropped digitally Sept. 1 and the CD version was released Sept. 6. The CD launched with 32,330 copies to hit No. 5 for sales, and the track currently rules downloads (17,054 units) and streaming (11,151,908 streams, 1.8 times more than the week before).

At No. 3 is ENHYPEN‘s “Bite Me,” a track from the group’s third Japanese single “YOU” released Sept. 5. The CD sold 460,675 copies in its first week to hit No. 2 for sales behind Snow Man’s “Dangerholic.” The track didn’t fare too well in the digital metrics — No. 28 for downloads (1,834 units), No. 34 for streaming (2,853,202 streams), and No. 37 for video — but hit the top 3 on the Japan Hot 100 powered by sales. 

YOASOBI’s “Idol” falls to No. 4 after a phenomenal run atop the Japan Hot 100. The track is slowing down overall, with downloads falling slightly from No. 2 to No. 4 (7,423 downloads), radio from No. 27 to No. 62, and streaming from No. 1 to No. 2 (10,913,375 streams). “Idol” holds the record for most consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.

The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.

See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Sept. 4 to 10, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account. 

14 Sep 2023

PnB Rock’s Girlfriend Describes ‘Deepest Depression’ on One-Year Anniversary of Rapper’s Death

PnB Rock‘s girlfriend opened up about the difficulty of marking the one-year anniversary of the “Selfish” rapper’s death on Wednesday (Sept. 13), writing in an emotional Instagram post that she’s struggled with how to mark the occasion.

“I’ve been in the deepest depression for a lil min contemplating todays date, which makes a year since your transition,” wrote Stephanie Sibounheuang a year after the MC born Rakim Allen, 30, was robbed and shot to death at a Roscoe’s House of Chicken’N Waffles restaurant in L.A. on Sept. 12 while the two were having a meal together.

“I argued with God about openly reliving this day and i absolutely did not want to, so this is an act of obedience,” she said alongside a picture of the couple in happier days chilling on a boat on a sunny day. “This same day last year, you could look into my eyes and and tell my soul was not in my body.
All I could hear were the gunshots over and over and they were so LOUD I couldn’t hear myself think.
I was so terrified and heartbroken.”

The photo roll also included a snap of the two celebrating an occasion with a giant ice cream cone cake and family pics of the two with their child, Xuri Li, and Rock’s daughter from a previous relationship, Milan.

Freddie Lee Trone, 41, and his then-17-year-old son were arrested a week after the shooting, with each charged with one count of murder, two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery; Shauntel Trone, 39, Trone’s wife and the boy’s step-mom was also arrested and charged with one count of being an accessory after the fact to the killing and pleaded not guilty.

Sibounheuang also opened up about the day Rock was shot, writing, “You came to me and [daughter] Lani wearing all white and said those were not gunshots, they were fireworks. You did it! You changed for the better and you made it to paradise! Celebrate you!”

She added that she planned to honor her love on the anniversary and to “push thru and be joyful and celebrate you, just like you asked me to do. For I know this Earth is temporary and we will spend eternity together. You’re a legend and not only that…but a hero. I’m forever yours and forever loyal to you. I will live my life to the fullest because you gave your life for me. Thank you Lord for carrying us through a whole year and every day after this.”

See Sibounheuang’s post below.

14 Sep 2023

Sexyy Red’s ‘SkeeYee’ Crowns Inaugural TikTok Billboard Top 50 Chart

The initial TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart, dated Sept. 16, features Sexyy Red’s rising hit “SkeeYee” as the tally’s first No. 1.

The TikTok Billboard Top 50, announced Thursday (Sept. 14), is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the U.S., based on creations, video views and user engagement. The maiden chart reflects activity from Sept. 4-10.

“SkeeYee,” which follows Sexyy Red’s breakthrough hit “Pound Town 2” (with Tay Keith and Nicki Minaj), reigns amid its notable prominence on TikTok over the past few weeks. Released in June, the song was initially aided by a trend in which users whipped their hair during the St. Louis rapper’s “skeeyee” ad lib, although many of the uploads to date have utilized the song in general videos, whether for comedy clips or otherwise.

Concurrently, “SkeeYee” bows at No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated Sept. 16. In the Sept. 1-7 tracking week, the song drew 6.5 million radio audience impressions (up 55%) and 6.2 million official streams (up 29%) and sold 1,000 downloads (up 28%) in the U.S., according to Luminate. (The Hot 100 blends streaming, radio airplay and sales data, incorporating streaming platforms including Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and more; for Billboard chart purposes, activity on TikTok is reflected solely on the TikTok Billboard Top 50.)

Sexyy Red boasts four songs on the inaugural TikTok Billboard Top 50, with “SkeeYee” followed by “Looking for the Hoes (Ain’t My Fault)” (No. 19), MCVERTT’s “Face Down,” on which she’s featured with Ferg (No. 27), and “Mad at Me” (No. 50). That’s the second-most appearances of any act on the chart; a leading six Taylor Swift songs infuse the first survey.

“I am so excited that so many of my songs are charting on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart,” Sexyy Red tells Billboard. “I always knew I would be a No. 1 type of artist, so I want to thank all my fans on TikTok for running my music up! I’m just being me on TikTok and people love it.”

Swift charts highest with her 2020 Folklore cut “August” at No. 3. Its high rank is concurrent not only with the end of August, but also general momentum in streaming for the song, which reached No. 23 on the Hot 100, following its first week of release in August 2020. It placed in the top 10 of Billboard’s Alternative Streaming Songs chart last month for the first time since 2020, and has risen as high as No. 3 (Aug. 19), spending the last three frames at No. 5.

Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red,” which ascends to No. 1 on the Hot 100, ranks at No. 2 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50. Released in early August, it debuted at No. 15 on the Hot 100 dated Aug. 19 and has gained since sparked, in part, by TikTok usages, including viral dance choreography set to its chorus.

“Go!” by Greg Cipes, Scott Menville, Khary Payton, Tara Strong and Hyden Welch is No. 4 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50. Superhero and animation fans may recognize the song as the theme to Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, the 2018 film spinoff of Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans Go!, performed by its voice cast. Many of its uploads utilize a “Hoodtrap Remix” from ProdByTTK, with some users adding animations of certain features of the Teen Titans characters set to each of their verses.

Rounding out the first TikTok Billboard Top 50’s top five, Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything” featuring Kacey Musgraves ranks at No. 5. Many TikTok videos spotlighting the song, from Bryan’s new self-titled album, are set to the lyric “I wish I didn’t, but I do/ Remember every moment on the nights with you,” with some users recalling past relationships.

The 50-position list doesn’t include only newly released or mostly modern songs. At No. 10 is Dazz Band’s “Let It Whip,” a No. 5 Hot 100 hit in summer 1982. The electrofunk track sports a resurgence more than 40 years later driven by a dance challenge featuring the song in which users try to emulate majorette-style dancing.

See the inaugural TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart here, and click on each entry to be sent to the TikTok sound page to learn more about what’s fueling each hit.

14 Sep 2023

Calum Scott’s ‘You Are the Reason’ Joins YouTube’s Billion Views Club: ‘I’m Speechless’

Calum Scott has just earned a major milestone in his career. The singer’s music video for his 2017 single “You Are the Reason” recently hit one billion views on YouTube. The video is the star’s first video to join the Billion Views Club.

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Scott reacted to the news via Instagram. “1,000,000,000 views on ‘You Are The Reason’ on @youtube.. I’m speechless. Thank you, a billion times,” he wrote recently, captioning a video of him explaining the visual’s concept back in 2018 while on set.

The video sees Scott walking through the streets of Kyiv, Ukraine. As he makes his way through the town, a series of intimate moments play, from a little girl sharing a loaded glance with her father before driving away, and a couple sharing a dance in the streets, to a family watching their matriarch pass, and a different couple sharing headphones in the backseat of a cab after a date.

“You Are the Reason” was released as the third single from his debut studio album, Only Human. The track, which later received a new version that featured Leona Lewis, peaked at Nos. 7 and 11 on the Digital Song Sales and Adult Contemporary charts, respectively. Only Human peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard 200, and at No. 31 on the Top Current Album Sales chart.

Revisit the music video for “You Are the Reason” above.

14 Sep 2023

Los Auténticos Decadentes on Bringing Part of Their ‘DNA’ to the States With New Covers Project & Tour Dates

Throughout almost four decades, Los Auténticos Decadentes have been able to get the party going with joyful and irreverent classics such as “Entregá el Marrón,” “La Guitarra” and “El Murguero.”

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Starting today (Sept. 14), fans of the Argentine ska and alternative rock band will be able to see them play in five U.S. cities, kicking off at the Palladium Times Square in New York and ending at the iconic Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, where they will close, along with Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, the KCRW Festival on Sept. 24. They will also perform in Washington, D.C., as well as Napa and San Diego in California (more details here).

“We invite everyone,” Jorge Serrano, who has been part of Los Decadentes since its inception, tells Billboard Español. “Those who know us know they’re going to have a good time. Those who don’t know us will be surprised,” he adds with a smile.

The show they will be performing was presented last month at a sold-out concert in Buenos Aires in front of more than 15,000 people, according to a statement, which was also streamed in North and South America on the Star+ platform.

In the last three years, Los Auténticos Decadentes released A D N (2021, 2022, 2023, respectively), a trilogy of albums with covers of well-known Spanish-language songs, mostly recorded with guests such as Natalia Lafourcade, Panteón Rococó, Andrés Calamaro, Beto Cuevas and Diego Verdaguer. The most recent installment, N, was released last July, with eight songs — including versions of “Golpes En El Corazón” by Los Tigres del Norte, “Oro” by Bronco, “Costumbres Argentinas” by Calamaro and “La Ladrona” by Verdaguer.

“We’ve known those songs for a long time,” Serrano tells Billboard, explaining how they are part of the band’s DNA. “Many of them we play at our family parties, like Los Tigres’, or Bronco’s.”

Comprised of 12 musicians, of which 10 are still founding members, Los Auténticos Decadentes was formed in 1986 and became known with the hit “Vení Raquel,” which set the tone for the irreverence and ironic humor of their future songs. While they have not entered the Billboard charts in the States, they have placed six songs from their A D N trilogy on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100, including “Golpes En El Corazón” featuring Natalia Lafourcade (November 2021), “La Ladrona” (August 2022) and, most recently, “Costumbres Argentinas” (May 2023).

Below, Serrano talks with Billboard Español about the group’s recent covers project, and how they’ve managed to stay relevant across the decades.

When you hear Auténticos Decadentes, you think of ska, rock, irreverence, joy. But then you see that in your DNA there are songs like “Costumbres Argentinas” by Andrés Calamaro or “La Ladrona” by Diego Verdaguer. How did this project come about and why do you consider that these songs are part of your DNA?

The album began as a whim when we said, “How nice it would be to make an album with songs by people we admire, that we like … not our songs, but songs by other people.” And we had started to do it in Mexico in a Sony studio where we had some few hours left, so we took advantage of it, so we took advantage of it and said, “Well, this is the moment.”

Then the pandemic caught us — so we continued it, each one of us in our own home studios, sending vocals and different things; the [plans] were more or less already laid. It was something that kept us active and connected and songs and songs and songs and songs followed one after the other until it ended up being a triple

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. Because when you make your own album you somehow have the limit of the songs you have done so far — but when you do a tribute album, a covers album, you can never finish, because there are millions of songs.

And well, our DNA… you say “La Ladrona,” for example — or songs that are somehow more popular than rock or ska, which is where we really came from — were always part of our style, because somehow one of the things that Los Decadentes did and contributed was to make a kind of crossover with what is popular music that at that time was not well received. As if rock was one thing and popular music was the music of adults or other people, but not of rockers. With affection, with love and because we liked it and enjoyed it, we incorporated it into our music. We have known those songs for a long time: Many of them we played in our family parties, like Los Tigres, or Bronco. And well, that’s how it was done.

And did all 12 of you have a say in the selection of songs for the three albums?

Always. The 12 of us always have a say in everything we do. We are a cooperative, we are a horizontal group. When we make albums, we vote on the songs we choose. In this case, we didn’t vote on them, because we mostly suggested a song and in general we knew it and liked it and it was more like a “yes.” We didn’t have to vote a lot to decide whether to do it or not. We would say, “Yeah come on, let’s go!”

With Diego Verdaguer, who died last year — did you record together?

Yes, although not the vocal part, because we did the version of the song ourselves. But we did go to the house, he invited us to a barbecue, and there we did a little bit of the images that you see in the video.

After so many years, you have managed to stay relevant as a band. To what do you attribute your longevity and multi-generational success?

It’s usually a mystery, isn’t it, why people choose you and not the one next to you? But I think that continuity has a lot to do with it. We have been playing for 37 years, we are already very much part of people’s memories, of many people’s lives. We have transcended generations and we have never separated, we have always been present.

We were fortunate that we always had a song that was being listened to at the time, that people accepted us, even though we were getting older. We kept renewing our audience. We keep going to places where we are surprised that people from 15 to 25 years old know us and listen to us. We are grateful. It is beautiful and we do our best to respond to that. When we go to play, we do our best to make sure they have a good time at the show. I think all those things add up to that [longevity].

It’s interesting, because the music industry and people’s taste have changed so much, especially in the last decade. What would you say has been the key to navigating these changes?

We somehow continue to do the same thing. What survives is a style of music, what survives are the memories, the affection that people have for this type of songs. And what we contribute in some way – I don’t know if we’ve been getting better and better or rather we are a testimony to our analog era of songs and this type of music, that if we are unplugged we can continue playing. We don’t depend on computers or things like that, although we use them.

It is also striking that after so many years, 10 out of 12 are still founding members. What is the dynamic among you? I imagine you are a family.

Yes, our children are also friends with each other, we have always had that multigenerational family spirit. On the other hand, we are a horizontal group, because we vote on the decisions, the songs we choose. We are a cooperative. All these things help us to live together. And also, being a group of friends before being musicians, we stayed true to ourselves — knowing how to value that somehow for all of us, who were like a herd of losers, the group got us out of where we were and the group is so much more than the sum of us. We value it and we know it. We take care of it.

A D N has had you doing covers for the last three years. Are you planning to release original music soon?

That’s what we’re focused on. We’re going to do it very quietly, without the pressures that albums usually [generate]. This one we want to do at our own pace, but I guess it will be for the next year or so.

In another three years the group will be 40. Do you already know how you want to celebrate?

We haven’t thought about it. At one point we celebrated our 10 years, then we celebrated 15, 20, 25. I don’t know if we celebrated 30, but we said, “Let’s stop a little bit to celebrate more [like] every now and then.” [Laughs.] But 40 is going to be unmissable!

14 Sep 2023

TikTok & Billboard Partner to Launch TikTok Billboard Top 50 Chart

On Thursday (Sept. 14), TikTok and Billboard announced the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart — a new weekly chart that will track the most popular songs on the platform in the U.S. The chart is available to all TikTok users in the U.S. and on Billboard.com.

The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is the first chart to monitor the popularity of music on the video-sharing platform. The chart is based on a combination of creations, video views and user engagement by the U.S. TikTok community and will be released weekly every Thursday, starting today.

Sexyy Red is the first artist to top the chart, with “SkeeYee” starting at No. 1 on this week’s inaugural TikTok Billboard Top 50. (Three other Sexxy Red songs also land on this week’s tally.) Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” — which climbs to No. 1 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 — is the No. 2 track on the first TikTok Billboard Top 50, while Taylor Swift’s folklore track “august” lands at No. 3.

“TikTok is already the world’s most powerful platform for music discovery and promotion, and each week our passionate community of music fans drives songs onto the Billboard charts,” said Ole Obermann, global head of music business development at TikTok. “It therefore made perfect sense to partner with Billboard to create the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart. The chart gives a clear picture of the music that is being listened to on TikTok, and consequently starting to trend on DSPs and other services.”

In addition to the contemporary top three on the new chart, Dazz Band’s “Let It Whip” — a top five Hot 100 hit from 1982 — lands in the top 10 of the first TikTok Billboard Top 50, along with country tracks from Zach Bryan and Tim McGraw and songs from R&B legend Charlie Wilson and emo band Pinegrove.

“We are thrilled to partner on the first Billboard chart on TikTok,” said Mike Van, president, Billboard. “At Billboard, we are constantly evolving our charts to reflect how fans engage with music and connect them more deeply with the artists they love. We see a clear opportunity to recognize the way music discovery on TikTok is shaping popular culture and are proud to offer this tool to the industry, while offering brands a new way to engage with music fans at scale. You’re not No. 1 until you’re No. 1 on Billboard.”

For her part, Sexyy Red wants to thank her fans on TikTok for “running my music up!”

“I am so excited that so many of my songs are charting on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart,” said Sexyy Red. “I always knew I would be a No. 1 type of artist, so I want to thank all my fans on TikTok for running my music up! I’m just being me on TikTok and people love it.”

Also celebrating Sexyy Red’s new chart-topper is Larry Jackson’s entertainment company gamma, which counts the rookie rapper as one of its early success stories after launching in March. Jackson tells Billboard he’s “so incredibly proud to have a track from one of our artists, Sexyy Red, debut at No. 1 on the inaugural TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart — a chart which I believe will have an industry-wide importance alongside the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 charts. And to have four tracks in the top 50 on this new chart is something to marvel at as well.

“As a company that supports, nurtures and powers independent artists and creators, we believe that this is an incredible precursor for what’s to come in this era of independent business thought leaders such as Stan and Jay of [Sexyy Red’s label] Open Shift, and fiercely independent artists such as Sexyy Red, who are tackling the new modem music business with a sense of bravery and adventurousness that doesn’t subscribe to the norm or the conventionality of how it’s been done.”

TikTok users can find the new chart by pressing the round icon on the bottom corner of the screen in the TikTok app and tapping the “Music Charts” button in the top right. The chart can also be found on Billboard.com, updated weekly each Thursday.

14 Sep 2023

Fat Joe Returns as Host for the 2023 BET Hip Hop Awards

Fat Joe will host the 2023 BET Hip Hop Awards for the second consecutive year, Billboard exclusively reports. Set to take place at the Cobb Energy Center in Atlanta on Oct. 3, the live broadcast will air the following week on Oct. 10 at 9 p.m. ET on BET. 

“We are thrilled to welcome back a true hip-hop legend in Fat Joe as this year’s host! As we round out a banner year of celebrating hip-hop’s landmark half-century of influencing culture, he is the perfect emcee to lead us through what promises to be an iconic night,” Connie Orlando, EVP, Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy at BET, tells Billboard. “Throughout his career, he has continued to be a leader within the culture, bridging the gap between generations. We can’t wait to watch what he comes up with for this year’s show.”

“Hip-hop is my life, and I’m extremely proud to return as host of BET Hip Hop Awards 2023,” Fat Joe adds. “We’re going to make this year’s award show even bigger while also celebrating our hip-hop stars and pioneers in a spectacular way. It’s going to be a legendary night of music and entertainment, and you’re not going to want to miss it.”

This year’s nominations include a diverse crowd of proven veterans, rising rookies, thriving producers and international stars. 21 Savage and Cardi B lead the way with 12 nominations, while Drake is right behind with nine. DJ Khaled and Burna Boy each have seven nods, while J. Cole has six. Jay-Z, Coi Leray, and GloRilla follow with five apiece. 

14 Sep 2023

Kelsea Ballerini Wants to Make Country Music More Inclusive: ‘I Want to Hear All the Voices’

For years, Kelsea Ballerini has been advocating for greater diversity in country music — look no further than her headline-making CMTs performance from earlier this year for proof. Now, in a new interview, Ballerini spelled out exactly what she means by that.

In an interview as a 2023 TIME100 Next honoree, Ballerini said that she wanted to see country music become a platform where all kinds of artists could find massive success. “It’s a process, and we’re undoing a way that, specifically, country music has done things forever,” she said. “It’s making sure that we’re giving a voice to new artists; we’re giving a voice to unsigned artists who represent underrepresented groups in Nashville because they’re not getting a chance to be signed.”

Continuing, Ballerini got more specific, pointing out that the communities finding themselves the least represented in country music deserve to be given a fair shot at stardom. “Nobody says people don’t want to jam out to guys on the radio. I do. I also want to hear from women. Just as much, maybe more,” she said. “I also want to hear from people of color, from the LGBTQ+ community. I want to hear all the voices we hear on pop radio on country radio.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Ballerini said that she was not comfortable speaking as the representative for all country artists. “One person cannot speak for everyone. That is true for country music,” she said. “I am in control of standing in what I believe in — and being a kind, good person who works towards making the world a more heard, safe, and inclusive place in whatever capacity I can do.”

Part of that aim to make the world better and more inclusive came during her aforementioned CMTs performance, when Ballerini brought a group of drag queens on stage with her to perform her song “If You Go Down,” and to protest ongoing legislative attacks against drag artists around the country. Speaking about it now, Ballerini said that if she had the opportunity, she would go back and do it again.

“I was not only hosting the CMT Awards, but I had a performance for a song of mine that is all about friendship and standing up for people that you love, and being ride-or-die for your people,” she said. “I realized that that would be a really good, important, loud, big stage to make that statement on, and CMT was all for it.”