Music

16 May 2023

Here Are the Lyrics to Shakira’s ‘Acróstico’ Translated in English

Shakira gifted moms a new anthem for Mother’s Day. “Acróstico,” released May 12, is a powerful open letter to her children, Milan and Sasha.

The song is a poetic composition constructed so that the initial letter of each line of lyrics, taken consecutively, spells out the names of her two sons. Co-written by Shakira, Keityn, Lexuz and other contributions at La Creme, “Acróstico” is about a mother who can turn her pain into strength through the love of her kids.

On Monday (May 15), the Colombian star — who was crowned Woman of the Year the first-ever Billboard Latin Women in Music on May 6 — released the ballad’s official music video, which features Milan and Sasha singing and playing the piano alongside their mother.

Read the full “Acróstico” lyrics translated into English below:

You taught me that love is not a scam, and that when it’s real it doesn’t end
I tried to stop you from seeing me cry, that you didn’t see my fragility
But things are not always as we dream
Sometimes we run, but we never reach our destination
Never doubt that I will be here
Talk to me and I’ll listen to you

And even though life treated me like this
I will be strong just for you

All I want is your happiness
And to be with you
Your smile is my weakness
Loving you serves as anesthesia for the pain
It makes me feel better
I’m here for whatever you need
You came to complete what I am

Only one plate broke, not the entire set
Although I don’t know how to turn the other cheek
Learning to forgive is wise, only love should come out of those lips
If things are damaged, don’t throw them away, repair them
Face your problems head on
You have to laugh at life
Even though the wounds hurt

You have to give people your whole heart
Even if they hurt it for no reason

All I want is your happiness
And to be with you
Your smile is my weakness
Loving you serves as anesthesia for the pain
It makes me feel better
I’m here for whatever you need
You came to complete what I am

It serves as anesthesia for the pain
It makes me feel better
I’m here for whatever you need
You came to complete what I am

16 May 2023

ENHYPEN Unveils the Tracklist for 4th Mini Album ‘Dark Blood’

ENHYPEN‘s Dark Blood album rollout continues! On Tuesday (May 16), the K-pop group treated devoted ENGENEs to the full track list for its fourth mini album, which is scheduled to arrive later this month.

The group — which consists of Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, Jungwon and Ni-ki — shared the track list in a stylish typography poster to Twitter. Dark Blood will contain a total of six tracks: “Fate,” “Bite Me,” “Sacrifice (Eat Me Up),” “Chaconne,” “Bills” and “Karma.” The tracklist reveal follows an album announcement and respective teaser released in late April, and concept trailers, films, photos and mood boards for the mini album earlier in the month.

Fans in the comments section were naturally excited for the album’s release. “Looking so dark and mystical. I feel like I can already hear the songs,” one user wrote. Another remarked, “Excited for all the songs, esp the track no. 5 ‘Bills’ since the members recommended and loved it.”

The tracklist is just one of many treats fans have to look forward to ahead of Dark Blood‘s arrival. An album preview is set to follow on May 18, while the video teasers for the yet-to-be revealed lead single precede the album’s release on May 19 and May 21; the album and full music video will arrive one day later. ENHYPEN will also perform a special showcase for DARK BLOOD on May 22.

See the tracklist reveal for Dark Blood below.

16 May 2023

Hot 100 First-Timers: Doechii Debuts With Kodak Black Collab ‘What It Is (Block Boy)’

Doechii makes her Billboard Hot 100 debut as her new collaboration with Kodak Black, “What It Is (Block Boy),” enters at No. 98 on the latest, May 20-dated chart.

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The song, released March 17 via Top Dawg Entertainment/Capitol Records, debuts with 12.3 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 11%), 3.5 million official streams (up 14%) and 1,000 downloads sold in the United States in the May 5-11 tracking week, according to Luminate. It also holds at its No. 11 high on Hot R&B Songs and rises 31-29 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

Radio-wise, the track rises 12-10 on Rhythmic Airplay — becoming Doechii’s first top 10 on a Billboard airplay chart — as well as 25-22 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and 26-25 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay.

The song is available via six versions: original, sped-up and slowed-down versions with Kodak Black, and original-speed, sped-up and slowed-down ones without the rapper.

Notably, the track samples TLC’s classic “No Scrubs,” which crowned the Hot 100 for four weeks in 1999.

TikTok has been instrumental in the song’s growing profile, as a portion of Doechii’s solo version has been used in over 138,000 clips on the platform to-date. (TikTok itself does not contribute directly to Billboard’s charts.)

Doechii (real name Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon), 24, scored her first chart entry in March 2022, when “Trampoline” with David Guetta, AfroJack, Missy Elliott and BIA reached No. 26 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. Her team-up with SZA, “Persuasive,” reached No. 33 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay in October. The latter is from her EP She / Her / Black Bitch, which hit No. 23 on the Heatseekers Albums chart last August.

The Tampa, Fla., native has released four EPs: Coven Music Session, Vol. 1, in 2019, Oh the Places You’ll Go (2020), Bra-Less (2021) and She / Her / Black Bitch. Along with Kodak Black and SZA, she has collaborated with Babyface, Ravyn Lenae, Isaiah Rashad and Smino, among others.

On March 1, Doechii was honored as Billboard’s 2023 Women in Music Rising Star, at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles. Her mother, Celesia Moore, presented the award, and Doechii performed “Persuasive” as well as her track “Crazy” at the ceremony.

Doechii signed to Top Dawg in March 2022, becoming the label’s first female rapper. This February, she told Billboard that 2023 is going to be her biggest year yet. “I’m in year three of my five-year plan,” she mused. “By year five I want to be at my peak. I want to be in my Sasha Fierce era, the top of my game with still a long way to go — but I want to reach my prime and never leave it.”

16 May 2023

Taylor Swift Reflects on ‘Magical’ & ‘Emotional’ Eras Tour Hometown Shows

Taylor Swift‘s trio of Eras Tour shows in Philadelphia couldn’t have been more nostalgic if she tried. In a Tuesday (May 16) post about her weekend spent at the city’s Lincoln Financial Field, the singer reflected on the full-circle feeling of performing at her hometown venue, celebrating Mother’s Day, family memories and more.

“Philly was a dream, honestly,” the pop star began, tweeting out four mesmerizing photos taken at her most recent shows. “Playing three nights in the stadium I used to see on tv when my dad watched Eagles games every Sunday. The most magical 3 hometown shows a girl could hope for.”

Speaking of the Eagles, Swift played Evermore deep cut “Gold Rush” as one of her surprise songs at the Friday (May 12) show and clarified that one of the lyrics — “Eagles T-shirt hanging from the door” — definitely refers to the Philly football team, not the band. “I love the band the Eagles, but guys, like, come on, I’m from Philly,” she quipped.

Then, two nights later, the “Anti-Hero” singer got to celebrate her mom, Andrea, with a sentimental surprise song performance of her 2008 Fearless track “The Best Day,” which she wrote as a teenager about their close bond. “Plus I got to emotionally hobble my way through singing The Best Day for my mom on Mother’s Day,” she added in her tweet. “I love you all so much.”

The 12-time Grammy winner had also confessed to feeling emotional about the performance while onstage Sunday night. She told the crowd about how she once surprised a tearful Andrea by secretly recording “The Best Day” all those years ago, and warned that, even a decade and a half later, she’d likely get choked up while performing it live.

Swift’s next stop on the Eras Tour will be Foxborough, Mass., about which she wrote she’s “counting down the hours” ’til she gets to play three consecutive shows at Gillette Stadium starting Friday (May 19). The week after, she’ll hit MetLife Stadium just outside New York City before heading over to Soldier Field in Chicago.

16 May 2023

Liz Phair Is Celebrating ‘Exile in Guyville’s 30th Anniversary With a Tour

Liz Phair is coming to a city near you this fall to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her critically acclaimed album Exile in Guyville.

The 18-date trek — appropriately dubbed the Guyville Tour — will see Phair heading across the country starting on Nov. 7, beginning with a stop at The Magnolia in El Cajon, Calif. The Guyville Tour features support from Blondshell and will make stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, New York City and more before concluding on Dec. 3 at Majestic Theatre in Dallas.

“Liz embarks on the GUYVILLE TOUR this fall, celebrating 30 years of the acclaimed EXILE IN GUYVILLE, performing the record in its entirety, along with fan favorites,” the musician’s official Instagram account shared, alongside the tour’s poster. Tickets go on sale Friday, May 19, at 10 a.m. local time. Presale kicks off May 17 at 10 a.m. local time with code GUYVILLE. There will also be limited VIP packages.

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Released in 1993, Exile in Guyville was Phair’s debut studio album. The set, which spawned singles “Never Said” and “Stratford-on-Guy,” peaked at No. 196 on the Billboard 200 chart, and at No. 12 on the Heatseekers Albums.

See Phair’s tour announcement — and the full list of dates — in the Instagram post below.

16 May 2023

The Weeknd Was Pretty Sure ‘Blinding Lights’ Was ‘Gonna Be a Flop’

Despite what appears to be the kind of supreme self-confidence that has taken him to the top of the charts, as well as the 2021 Super Bowl halftime show and, soon, his acting debut in the HBO series The Idol, The Weeknd (who now goes by his birth name, Abel Tesfaye), still assumes his next project could be a total failure.

“I thought ‘Blinding Lights’ was gonna be a flop,” he told Vanity Fair in a new profile that chronicles both the stratospheric highs — such as his the $69 million L.A. mansion he barely lived in — and his ever-present lows, like when he was sure the propulsive Max Martin/Oscar Holter single from his diamond-selling 2020 After Hours album would tank.

Instead, a combination of the song’s grabby hook and a silly TikTok dance challenge pushed the song into Billboard chart history after it spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and then logged the most weeks in the top five and top 10 on its way to being the charts No. 1 song of all-time.

At best, Abel figured the song would be a good way for younger fans to dive deeper into his turbulent earlier catalog. “It’s a new generation of angsty teens discovering all the dark music like when I was 14. Kurt Cobain, Wu-Tang, and all these songs that as a kid I probably shouldn’t be listening to, and 50 Cent,” he said. “This f–king dark and amazing escape.”

Even as The Weeknd’s songs have trafficked in endless tales of an easily bruised heart and what sounds like a sure-footedness on stage and in the studio, the singer told the magazine that when it comes to believing in his talents he learned a crucial lesson early on.

“I’ve always had to bet on myself. Even before I was The Weeknd, just in life,” he said. “As soon as I got out of my mother’s womb, it’s been, ‘Bet on yourself. It’s not gonna be easy, you know?’ And I’m fine with that.” That said, this new phase of his career, which he just announced will be conducted under his birth name, is definitely “nerve-racking.”

And, despite his many successes, his firm spot in the pop universe as an instantly recognizable one-named superstar and the Dawn FM album’s narrative arc that bloodily sent up the very notion of global superstardom, Tesfaye seems still not totally ready to fully embrace his spot in the pop firmament. “I don’t blame people,” he said when talk turned to comparisons to other icons. “Because if I was them, I’d be betting on Beyoncé too. I’m not gonna bet on me.”

Check out the VF cover below.

16 May 2023

Hot 100 First-Timers: ‘Mathematical Disrespect’ Equals Chart Debut for Lil Mabu

New York City-based drill rapper Lil Mabu is officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist, as the newcomer scores his first career entry with “Mathematical Disrespect.”

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The song, released May 4, debuts at No. 90 with 7.2 million official streams in the United States in the May 5-11 tracking week, according to Luminate.

In addition to its Hot 100 entrance, it starts at No. 17 on Hot Rap Songs and No. 27 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (both of which use the same multimetric methodology as the Hot 100).

Lil Mabu self-released the single, in which he raps, “Shoutout my label, that’s me/ I own 100% of my cuts, nobody takin’ a fee.” Similarly, the track closes with him singing, “I invested money in myself and it paid/ I can’t take a break ’til Mabu is a household name.”

TikTok has been instrumental in the song’s growing profile, as a portion of it has been used in nearly 80,000 clips on the platform so far. Lil Mabu himself boasts more than 3 million followers on the app. (TikTok itself does not contribute directly to Billboard’s charts.)

Lil Mabu (real name Matthew DeLuca), 18, is brand new to Billboard’s charts, as “Mathematical Disrespect” marks his first appearance on any Billboard survey. He has released all his music while attending the Collegiate School, an elite private prep school in Manhattan.

Last summer, Mabu self-released his debut mixtape Double M’s. The set includes features from fellow New York rappers Dougie B and Dusty Locane, among others.

16 May 2023

(G)I-DLE Shouts Out Ariana Grande & Kim Kardashian in New Song ‘Queencard’

(G)I-DLE has unveiled yet another single from its recently released mini album, I Feel, and single “Queencard” gives a sweet nod to two very famous women in American pop-culture.

The EP’s lead single sees members Miyeon, Minnie, Soyeon, Yuqi and Shuhua praising their own beauty, which leaves their lovers head over heels, and girls jealous of their style.

When the second verse of the track rolls around, Yuqi sassily delivers the lines “Look so cool, look so sexy like Kim Kardashian (Uh)/ Look so cute, look so pretty like Ariana,” while Shuhua chimes in on the latter half of the verse telling the object of her affections, “I wanna smooch with you (Mwah)/ I wanna with you, hug/ You keep getting prettier, you, in the mirror.”

While neither Kardashian nor Grande has yet responded to (G)I-DLE’s praises, the K-pop groups uses both icons’ energy as inspiration for the the rest of the lyrics. “Queencard, I’m hot/ My boob and booty is hot/ Spotlight, look at me/ I’m a star, star, star/ Queencard, I’m the top/ I’m twerkin’ on the runway/ I am a queen/ You wanna be the queen?” the girls sing during the empowering chorus.

“Queencard” was released as the lead single from I Feel, which arrived on May 15. The track comes after the release of “Allergy,” which serves as an antithesis to the new song as it delves into the quintet’s many insecurities. I Feel is (G)I-DLE’s sixth mini album.

Listen and watch the official visual for “Queencard” in the video above.

16 May 2023

Hot 100 First-Timers: Kali Rings in With ‘Area Codes’

Kali scores her first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated May 20) thanks to her single “Area Codes.” The song launches at No. 54, as the chart’s Hot Shot Debut — the week’s highest new entry.

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The song, released March 17 via Trump Card/Atlantic Records, arrives on the list with 9.2 million official streams (up 146%) and 1,000 downloads sold (up 426%) in the United States in the May 5-11 tracking week, according to Luminate. It also debuts at No. 8 on Hot Rap Songs and soars 48-16 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The song interpolates Ludacris’ 2001 hit “Area Codes” (featuring Nate Dogg), which reached No. 24 on the Hot 100.

Recent gains for Kali’s track are owed in part to two new remixes: one featuring Lil Kayla, titled the “415 Remix” (released May 4), and another featuring Kenzo B, the “718 Remix” (released April 27). She previously dropped a sped-up version March 31.

TikTok has been a significant factor in the song’s growing profile, as a portion of it has soundtracked over 475,000 clips on the platform to date. (TikTok itself does not contribute directly to Billboard’s charts.)

Kali — from Roswell, Ga. — is relatively new to Billboard’s rankings. She charted one song prior to “Area Codes,” as her breakthrough single “Mmm Mmm” featuring ATL Jacob, became a hit on multiple radio charts. It reached No. 18 on Rap Airplay, No. 21 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and No. 30 on both R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Rhythmic Airplay in late 2021.

She has also self-released two mixtapes: This Why They Mad Now, in 2021, and Toxic Chocolate, in 2022. The latter includes collaborations with BIA, Latto, Moneybagg Yo, Muni Long and Yung Bleu.

16 May 2023

Taylor Swift & Matty Healy Exit a Recording Studio Together Amid Dating Rumors

Taylor Swift and Matty Healy aren’t going out of style anytime soon. With dating rumors reaching a fever pitch, the two singer-songwriters were spotted leaving Electric Lady Studios in New York City early Tuesday morning (May 16), marking the latest in a series of rendezvous that has left fans reeling in recent weeks.

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Hours after Healy was reportedly spotted near Swift’s Greenwich Village apartment, the two were seen exiting the famed recording studio close at each other’s sides.

The “Anti-Hero” singer was smiling in a purple NYU sweatshirt and a black miniskirt as she stepped out of the studio to face a sea of screaming fans. Healy followed close behind, gently touching her lower back to guide her into a car waiting for them outside.

Taylor Swift and Matty Healy

Taylor Swift and Matty Healy seen leaving ‘The Electric Lady’ studio in Manhattan on May 16, 2023 in New York City.

Robert Kamau/GC Images

The sighting comes days after Swift and the 1975 frontman were seen dining in NYC with mutual friend and collaborator Jack Antonoff. In photos, they looked to be holding hands. (Reps for Swift and Healy have not responded to Billboard‘s previous requests for comment.)

Healy has also been in attendance at several of Swift’s recent Eras Tour shows, sometimes joining Phoebe Bridgers as a guitarist during the “Motion Sickness” singer’s opening sets.

Many fans have been following Swift and Healy’s rumored love story since the very beginning, and Tuesday morning’s photos from Electric Lady are no exception. “Matty was going to electric lady studio after leaving Taylor’s apartment don’t text,” joked one Swiftie.

Others wonder if the musicians’ time at the studio means a collaboration is in the works. “Taylor Swift and Matty Healy leaving a studio together?? Their music together is gonna be unreal,” wrote another fan.

See more fan reactions to Taylor Swift and Matty Healy’s night out at Electric Lady below: