Music

18 Jul 2023

CMT Pulls Jason Aldean’s Controversial ‘Try That In a Small Town’ Video: Exclusive

CMT has pulled Jason Aldean’s incendiary video for his new single, “Try That In a Small Town.”

The visual, which his label Broken Bow Records/BMG, released on Friday (July 14), was in rotation on CMT through Sunday (July 16), playing in the morning music video hours. It is unclear how many times CMT played the video before pulling it on Monday. Other than confirming the outlet had yanked the video, CMT declined to comment on the decision to cease playing the clip.

The video, which has received more than 346,000 views on YouTube since its release, features Aldean performing in front of courthouse with an American flag hanging from the entrance. The performance is interspersed with footage of a flag burning, protesters screaming and attacking police in various scenarios, and robbing a convenience store. It’s unclear where the footage was taken from, but at one point, a Fox News chyron appears with the words “state of emergency declared in Georgia.” Aldean is from Macon, Ga.

Toward the end, the violent scenes are juxtaposed against images of Americana such as a small girl playing hopscotch and a flag rising, as a news anchor’s voice comes on talking about farmers dropping their crops for the day to help a neighbor. A wizened male face comes on screen and earnestly says, “It’s what this community and a lot of farm communities stand for: Somebody needs some help, they’ll get it.”  

Aldean’s representative did not immediately respond for comment.

Upon the release of the video on Friday, Aldean posted on Instragram: “When u grow up in a small town, it’s that unspoken rule of ‘we all have each other’s backs and we look out for each other.’ It feels like somewhere along the way, that sense of community and respect has gotten lost. Deep down we are all ready to get back to that. I hope my new music video helps y’all know that u are not alone in feeling that way. Go check it out!”

Written by Kelly Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Tully Kennedy and Kurt Michael Allison, the song is an often confrontational take, with lyrics challenging those who “carjack an old lady at a red light” or “pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store” or “cuss out a cop” to try that in a small town and “see how far ya make it down the road/ around here, we take care of our own.”

In a later verse, Aldean, who was on stage when the worst gun massacre in U.S. history took place at the Route 91 Festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017, sings, “Got a gun that my granddad gave me/ They say one day they’re gonna round up/ Well, that sh-t might fly in the city/ Good luck.”

The single, which will be featured on Aldean’s forthcoming album, debuted on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart eight weeks ago and rises 26-25 for the chart dated July 22. 

Aldean kicked off a new amphitheater tour this weekend. He succumbed to heat stroke at his July 15 show, but will return to the road on July 20.

18 Jul 2023

The Mayan Warrior Art Car May Have Burned Down, But Its Creators Are Hosting One Last Party

Burning Man’s famous Mayan Warrior art car was destroyed in a fire this past April, but that’s not stopping its creators from throwing one final party.

On Tuesday (July 18), the Mayan Warrior announced its last ever show: a Halloween party in Los Angeles. The Oct. 28 event is being produced in partnership with Los Angeles-based production company Stranger Than, Mayan Warrior’s longtime partner on its off-playa tour stops.

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The event will happen at downtown Los Angeles’ Grand Park, where Mayan Warrior hosted its first West Coast event in 2017. While the actual Mayan Warrior art car will obviously not be on-site for the event, the party will be thrown in the tradition of its longstanding festivities. The event is a fundraiser for the Mexico City-based Mayan Warrior community, with money going toward this community’s next Burning Man camp and art project.

No artists have yet been announced for the show, with Mayan Warrior parties typically not revealing lineups until immediately before the event. Tickets go on sale Aug. 1.

The Mayan Warrior show will be just one of several events Stranger Than will host in Los Angeles over Halloween weekend. Since expanding to Los Angeles from New York in 2018, the company has made a name for itself by hosting dance shows in locations not often used for music events, including the beach and local museums.

Since debuting at Burning Man in 2012, Mayan Warrior had become one of the event’s prestige art cars, with a high-level soundsystem and a rotation of DJs representing Mexico and the global electronic scene.

The car caught fire and burned to the ground on April 5 while en route to a fundraiser in Punta de Mita — a beach town on the country’s central Pacific coast. The cause of this fire has not been given.

18 Jul 2023

Snoop Dogg & E-40 Are Teaming Up for a Cookbook: Here’s When It Arrives

Looking for something new to try in the kitchen? Snoop Dogg and E-40 got you covered.

The rap duo are teaming up for a new cookbook, titled Snoop Dogg Presents Goon With the Spoon, which is set to arrive on November 14 via Chronicle Books, according to People.

The book, which serves as a follow-up to Snoop’s popular cookbook, From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipes from Tha Boss Dogg’s Kitchen, will feature more than 65 recipes inspired by both Snoop and E-40’s music, as well as some tasty dishes the hip-hop superstars enjoy cooking and eating together.

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“E-40 is my big homie, my brother, my mentor,” Snoop wrote in the book’s foreword, per People. “Watching him expand his love for food and cooking over the years to his many successful businesses is some boss-level shit. Which is why Snoop Dogg Presents Goon with the Spoon had to be the next cookbook, ya dig?”

Snoop is no stranger to the culinary arts. Beyond his cookbooks, the “Drop It Like It’s Hot” rapper’s 2017 Emmy-nominated cooking show with his pal Martha Stewart, Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party, featured a series of special guests such as Wiz Khalifa, 50 Cent and Bella Thorne.

If you’re looking for more tasty musician-approved recipes, we at Billboard have compiled a whole list of musician cookbooks you need to try for your next dinner party. Check out our list here.

18 Jul 2023

Jason Aldean’s New Track & Video Criticized as a Pro-Gun, ‘Modern Lynching Song’ by Some Listeners

Over the weekend, Jason Aldean made an early exit from his concert in Hartford, Conn., due to intense heat, but now the singer-songwriter is again catching heat — this time for his new song and music video, “Try That in a Small Town,” which is garnering a flurry of responses and criticism on social media.

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Aldean posted the video on social media along with the message, “When u grow up in a small town, it’s that unspoken rule of ‘we all have each other’s backs and we look out for each other.’ It feels like somewhere along the way, that sense of community and respect has gotten lost. Deep down we are all ready to get back to that. I hope my new music video helps y’all know that u are not alone in feeling that way. Go check it out!”

“Try That in a Small Town” was written by Kelley Lovelace, Kurt Allison, Neil Thrasher and Tully Kennedy, and produced by Aldean’s longtime producer Michael Knox.

The song and video have riled some listeners, who are taking issue with lyrics that some fans are considering pro-gun and racist. The lyrics begin by describing how those in a small town might react to various incidents — including carjackings and robberies. But the song also lists other infractions in lyrics such as “Cuss out a cop, spit in his face/ Stomp on the flag and light it up/ Yeah ya think you’re tough.”

From there, the chorus seemingly issues a warning to social justice warriors, advising them not to try their mischief in the rural South, most notably on lyrics including “Try that in a small town, see how far ya make it down the road … you cross that line it won’t take long for you to find out/recommend you don’t.”

The video features Aldean performing in front of a small-town courthouse draped with an American flag, interspersed with footage of protests, cars and flags burning, and smash and grab robberies, followed at the end with images of people raising American flags and talking about showing up to help neighbors.

Many on social media criticized the song’s messaging, with one commenter noting the choice of filming location for the music video, while another commenter called the track a “modern lynching song.”

Others criticized Aldean for releasing a song with a pro-gun message, when it was Aldean who was onstage at Las Vegas’ Route 91 Harvest Festival in 2017, when a gunman killed more than 60 people. Additionally, many called out Aldean for recording a song that seemingly supports “small town values,” and pointing out the many mass shootings that have occurred in smaller towns.

“Uvalde? Small town. VA Tech? Small college town. Newtown? Small New England town. Parkland? Small town that had just been voted Florida’s safest town. Most mass shootings occur in small towns,” another user wrote, tagging Aldean. “Your listeners are dying,” she criticized.

Others praised the song as opposing left-leaning politics.

Billboard has reached out to Aldean’s reps for comment.

The official music video for the song has been viewed more 300,000 times so far on YouTube. See the full video below:

18 Jul 2023

Olivia Rodrigo Almost Cut This Lyric From ‘Vampire’ Because ‘It’s Not Relatable’

Olivia Rodrigo just revealed that while writing “Vampire,” she almost put a stake through one of the lyrics at the heart of her new single’s message.

Speaking with Audacy’s The Julia Show, the 20-year-old pop star confessed that she and co-writer Dan Nigro went back and forth over including the phrase “fame f—er” in the chorus of “Vampire,” which scorches an ex-boyfriend for leeching off her stardom and exploiting their relationship. “Some people said, ‘It kind of isolates you from people, you can’t really say things like that in song, it’s not relatable,’ yada, yada, yada,” she shared.

“I totally get and saw where they were coming from,” Rodrigo continued. “I think the song isn’t about fame f—ing, I think it’s more about someone being manipulative and sucking you dry, using you for all you’re worth. I think that’s a universal theme, and I also think fame is more easily accessible now than it has ever been. It’s not just people in LA and Hollywood that have to deal with that.”

Widely believed to be written about Rodrigo’s rumored ex-boyfriend Zack Bia, “Vampire” made an angsty splash on the charts following its June 30 release. Temporarily dethroning Morgan Wallen’s 13-week reign at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, the bitter-tasting track became Rodrigo’s third single to debut at No. 1 following Sour‘s “Drivers License” and “Good 4 U.”

The former Disney starlet also touched on why she chose “Vampire” to mark both the lead single off her upcoming album Guts as well as her first release since her 2021 debut record. “It was a song that felt really special to me, it was always really important when I looked through all the songs we had,” Rodrigo explained. “It’s a step forward and hints at everything that’s to come in the next album.”

“I feel a lot more sure of myself now,” she added. “I feel sure of who I am and what I want to do and what I want to say and the people I want to surround myself with… I’m still figuring lots of stuff out and thoroughly confused about lots of other aspects of life, but I’m definitely getting clear on more things.”

Check out Rodrigo’s Julia Show interview below:

18 Jul 2023

Bad Bunny, Shakira & More: What’s Your Favorite Latin Song of 2023 So Far? Vote!

Billboard unveiled its “23 Best Latin Songs of 2023 So Far” list, as recommended by the Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors. The mid-year list includes a wide range of songs from different genres and that, mostly, have created a buzz on our charts and across social media.

Named in alphabetical order from artist name, the list kicks off with Bad Bunny’s “Where She Goes,” a certified club banger produced by MAG that’s inspired by the Jersey Club beat (a hybrid of house and hip-hop). The sensual track, about chasing someone you like, peaked at No. 2 on Hot Latin Songs, No. 8 on the Hot 100, and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart, making Bunny the first soloist with as many as three No. 1s since the survey began in 2020.

Following is Shakira’s much-needed musical therapy session, where she teamed up with hitmaker Bizarrap for the scorching club banger “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” The nearly four-minute dance-pop track, where the Colombian artist disses her former partner Gerard Piqué and his new girlfriend Clara Chia Marti, crashed the top 10 of the Hot 100, and also hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, Shakira’s 12th No. 1 on the listing and first since 2016.

Furthermore, a large number of Música Mexicana selects form part including Christian Nodal’s “Cumbion Dolido,” Peso Pluma’s “Bye,” Grupo Frontera and Bad Bunny’s “Un x100to,” and Eslabon Armado’s “Ella Baila Sola” with Peso Pluma, which became the first No. 1 regional Mexican hit ever in the history of Hot Latin Songs to spend more than 13 weeks on top and counting.

Latin pop and tropical music is also well-represented in the list with viral songs such as Marshmello and Manuel Turizo’s “El Merengue;” Maluma and Marc Anthony’s “La Formula;” and Juanes’ “Gris,” to name a few.

Which is your favorite Latin song of the year so far? See full list and vote below!

18 Jul 2023

Kenshi Yonezu Drops ‘Chikyuugi,’ Theme of Hayao Miyazaki-Directed ‘The Boy and the Heron’

Kenshi Yonezu released his new single “Chikyuugi” (Globe) on digital services July 17. The song serves as the theme of Studio Ghibli’s highly anticipated latest animated movie The Boy and the Heron, which opened in Japanese theaters on Friday.

The artwork features an original layout illustration of a scene from the Hayao Miyazaki-directed movie. The J-pop hitmaker personally asked the famed Ghibli co-founder for this particular scene after reading through the film’s storyboard.

Yonezu also shared a photo of the “Chikyuugi” CD single adorned with the same illustration on the cover. The CD version will be available in first and standard editions, both including a CD containing the track and a 160-page A5-size photo book. The first edition comes in a moss green hardcover case embossed with a leaf pattern and a golden heron, with an outer cover made of craft paper. The standard edition comes in a softcover case.

The photo book captures the five years Yonezu, Miyazaki, and producer Toshio Suzuki spent developing the theme song, photographed by Tomohiko Ishii of Studio Ghibli. Documenting the process of creating the theme for The Boy and the Heron, the photos capture the tension Yonezu felt when submitting the song to Miyazaki and shows the director in tears when he first heard it, giving fans a realistic behind-the-scene look into the creative process. A conversation between Yonezu and Suzuki is also included at the end of the booklet.

18 Jul 2023

Jamie Lee Curtis Congratulates Lindsay Lohan on New Baby, Celebrates Being a ‘Movie Grandmother’

The congratulatory messages continue to roll in for Lindsay Lohan, who recently gave birth to her first child with husband Bader Shammas. Jamie Lee Curtis was among the many to wish the Mean Girls actress well as she embarks on motherhood, and remarked on how Lohan giving birth feels like a full circle experience, given their history.

“MAGIC MONDAY! My movie daughter just made me a movie grandmother. Blessings to Lindsay and Bader for the birth of Luai! @lindsaylohan,” Curtis wrote on Instagram, captioning a picture of the two posing together in the 2000s.

Curtis and Lohan starred opposite each other in Disney’s 2003 remake of Freaky Friday. The Oscar winner and singer-actress played a mother and daughter who one day mysteriously swapped bodies and are forced to spend a day in each other’s shoes. (Disney confirmed in a May sThe New York Times story that a sequel is confirmed, with Curtis and Lohan in talks to return.)

The Everything Everywhere All at Once star has remained in contact with Lohan. In a June 8 interview with Allure, the 37-year-old shared, “I spoke to Jamie Lee Curtis recently and she was like, ‘You just bring the baby with you and everything will be fine.”

Back in April, Curtis also shared a tribute to Lohan on Instagram and sweetly told her followers, “My friend and film daughter @lindsaylohan is growing up! So thrilled for her. What a mama she will be.”

18 Jul 2023

Doja Cat Says She’s Done Making Music That Is ‘Palatable, Marketable and Sellable’

It’s an understatement to say that Doja Cat‘s relationship with the mainstream music industry is fraught at best. Over the past year, the “Kiss Me More” rapper has proclaimed that she’s finished making pop music, then agreed with commenters who said her rapping was “corny” and joked that she was making an album inspired by German rave music before claiming her next album would be spoken word.

It’s fine, she was kidding about last one. But in a new cover story in V Magazine, the unpredictable 27-year-old singer said that one of the reasons she’s taking so much time working on her follow-up to 2021’s smash collection Planet Her is that she wants to be sure it is 100% authentically her.

After jumping from R&B to hip-hop and pop over the course of her career, Doja explained that a lot of her pushback and left turns are tied to making music she wasn’t totally down with. “I have thrown fits my whole career because I have been making music that didn’t allow me to have a mental release,” she told the magazine. “I have been making music that is palatable, marketable and sellable, that has allowed me to be where I am now.”

Now, she added, she’s making music for her fourth album that allows her to express how she feels about the world around her. “These upcoming projects are going to be very different compared to everything I have done and I am excited about that,” she said. “I do not care if people are not.”

Though the provocative black and white shots she took for the magazine have a rock and roll edge, Doja said she doesn’t consider herself a rock star. “I have made pop music. I’m currently making rap, soul and R&B music with jazz elements,” she said of her upcoming album, which she also noted is inspired by “hatred and outrage” culture.

Doja dropped the long-awaited single “Attention” in June, which asked the apropos question for a star who has gotten attention for shaving her head and razoring off her eyebrows live on camera: “Look at me, look at me?/ You lookin’?” To date, the singer has not announced a release date for the album she tweeted in May will be called First of All, the follow-up to Project Her, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart and produced the hits “Need to Know,” “Woman,” “Ain’t S–t” and “Get Into It (Yuh).”

Click here to see pictures from the V Magazine shoot.

18 Jul 2023

Watch Ricky Martin’s Twin Sons Matteo & Valentino Join Him on Stage: ‘What a Beautiful Surprise’

Ricky Martin jumped for joy when he saw his twin sons, Matteo and Valentino, join him on stage during his show in Switzerland on Monday (July 17).

In a video the Puerto Rican superstar posted on social media, his 14-year-old boys take the stage to hype up the crowd and start jumping along with their father, whose facial expression says it all. “What a beautiful surprise! When my twins jumped on stage with me for the first time in Locarno, Switzerland,” he captioned the short clip with a crying emoji.

The “Tiburones” singer has been touring in Europe with shows in Spain, Switzerland and Monaco, where Martin posted another video with Matteo and Valentino writing, “Bonding time w the twins, before the show tonight.”

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Earlier this month, Martin and Jwan Yosef announced in a joint statement that they are divorcing after six years of marriage. “For some time, we have considered transforming our relationship, and it is after careful consideration that we have decided to end our marriage with love, respect, and dignity for our children — preserving and honoring what we have experienced as a couple all of these wonderful years.” Martin and Yosef share two kids: daughter Lucia, born in 2018, and son Renn, born in 2019. Before meeting Yosef, Martin welcomed twin sons Matteo and Valentino in 2008.

Following his show dates in Europe, Martin will co-headline The North America Trilogy Tour with Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull. The 19-date arena trek is set to kick off Oct. 14 in Washington, D.C., and will make stops in major cities such as New York, Miami, Houston and Las Vegas before wrapping up Dec. 16 in Vancouver, B.C.

Watch Martin’s sweet video of his twins joining him on stage.