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Jelly Roll and mgk are helping Spotify launch its new vodcast series Countdown To, which offers viewers a behind-the-scenes introduction to artists’ upcoming projects as they count down to album launch day.
In July, Spotify expanded its Countdown Pages tool, which helps artists and their fan bases gear up for album launches by allowing listeners to preview tracklists, watch clips, acquire artist/album merch and see a timer count down the seconds until album launch.
With Countdown To, artists sit down with their fellow artists, album collaborators, family members and friends to dive into a new album’s music, themes and inspirations. The interview-spearheaded series is located on the artist’s Countdown Page, while the full video will be available as a vodcast episode on Spotify, and on Spotify’s YouTube page.
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The inaugural episode features Jelly Roll in conversation with mgk, as the countdown ticks to the release of Jelly Roll’s upcoming album Beautifully Broken on Oct. 11. Jelly Roll and mgk previously teamed up for the song “Lonely Road.”
“I felt early in this writing process, it was becoming my journal of mental health,” Jelly Roll said, adding, “It’s the longest time I’ve took writing a single project… I really wrote this record hoping that people would feel that they were spoken for. What I hear the most from people is, ‘Man, this song says what I can’t.’ And that sticks with me, dude… That’s what I want them to get from this album.”
They also discussed how they went from enemies to friends, with mgk saying, “So, our beginnings were interesting,” and sending Jelly Roll into a deep laugh. “It is so funny how much I love you now,” said mgk, “because like, God, I hated you so much back then.”
Jelly replied with a laugh, “I was just a spiteful, bitter f–kin’ dude, you know what I’m saying?” adding, “I explain this to people and they don’t understand the concept because of our age now. Whenever I talk to my daughter, I’m like, ‘You gotta understand there was only like seven white rappers on Earth at this time, so it was so competitive when you was in that pool, that we were kind of automatically forced against each other anyways.”
“For sure,” mgk said. “You’re bred to hate each other.”
“And you were just like, just skinny and handsome,” Jelly Roll said. “So I was like, I was just a hater. I was just a hater, dude! It’s hard to grow up in front of the whole world.”
“This might be one of my favorite mgk disses, was, ‘F–k Machine Gun Kelly and his mohawk,’” mgk said, eliciting more laughs from Jelly Roll. “Because you just had this Southern drawl on your voice, where you didn’t say ‘mohawk,’ you said ‘mo-hawck.’ And that mohawk, dude, my mohawk was f–kin’ just a nice, eight inches of just egg whites and cheap hairspray…”
Jelly Roll’s song “I Am Not Okay,” featured on Beautifully Broken, is currently at No. 9 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart. Meanwhile, the album shares its name with Jelly Roll’s just-launched arena tour, which also features openers Warren Zeiders and Alexandra Kay.
Jelly Roll also talked about the struggle of balancing life on the road with being there for his family, and the two also discussed the ever-broadening reaches of country music, and compared the widening borders of rock and country.
“Countdown To is the latest effort in our ongoing commitment to spotlight artists and their new music on Spotify,” Sarah Patellos, head of Spotify Music Studios, said in a statement. “Working with director Karam Gill and mgx creative, these intimate conversations are shot documentary-style to really get to the root of each artist’s creative journey.”
See Jelly Roll and mgk’s discussion below:
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The 23rd Annual Americana Honors & Awards, which are set for Sept. 18 at Nashville’s fabled Ryman Auditorium, will be bookended by memorable performances.
Duane Betts will open the show by performing the Allman Brothers Band’s “Blue Sky,” which his father Dickie Betts wrote. The song appeared on the 1972 classic Eat a Peach, the band’s first album to make the top 10 on the Billboard 200. Dickie Betts died on April 18 at age 80.
Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell will close the show with “Return of the Grievous Angel,” the opening track on Gram Parsons‘ Grievous Angel, on which Harris was prominently featured. The album was released in January 1974, four months after Parsons’ death from an overdose. He was just 26.
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The Americana All-Star Band, led by Buddy Miller, will return to back the artists who are performing on Americana music’s biggest night. Other band members include Don Was (who is set to receive a lifetime achievement award), The McCrary Sisters, Bryan Owings, Jerry Pentecost, Jen Gunderman, Jim Hoke and Larry Campbell.
In addition to being top nominees this year, Sierra Ferrell, Noah Kahan and Brandy Clark are set to perform on the show.
Blind Boys of Alabama, Dave Alvin, Dwight Yoakam and Shelby Lynne, all of whom are set to receive lifetime achievement awards, will also perform.
Other performers set for the show include SistaStrings (who will perform with Clark) and Fantastic Negrito (who will perform in a tribute to the late Rev. Gary Davis, who will receive the Legacy Award in partnership with the National Museum of African American Music).
The program will be filmed for broadcast on PBS in the Austin City Limits time slot in November. The awards show is the centerpiece of the annual Americanafest, which returns for its 24th year Sept. 17-21.
The show is set to begin at 6:30 pm CT. Doors open at 5:30 pm CT.
Here are all the performers and presenters for the 2024 Americana Honors & Awards.
Performers
Blind Boys of Alabama
Brandy Clark (with SistaStrings)
Charles Wesley Godwin
Dave Alvin
Dwight Yoakam
Fantastic Negrito
Hurray for the Riff Raff
Jobi Riccio
Kaitlin Butts
Larkin Poe
The Milk Carton Kids
Noah Kahan
Sarah Jarosz
Shelby Lynne
Sierra Ferrell
Turnpike Troubadours
The War and Treaty
Waxahatchee with MJ Lenderman
Wyatt Flores
Presenters
Allison Moorer
Amy Helm
Amythyst Kiah
Gaby Moreno
Hiss Golden Messenger
Iron & Wine
Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Joe Henry
Lukas Nelson
The Lone Bellow
Margo Price
The Milk Carton Kids
Nathaniel Rateliff
Shane Smith & Bennett Brown
Silvana Estrada
Susan Tedeschi
T Bone Burnett
Warren Zanes
On Billboard JAPAN’s “Niconico VOCALOID SONGS” 2024 mid-year ranking, announced on June 7, Yoshida Yasei’s “Override” took the top spot. This chart tracks the popularity of Vocaloid songs on Niconico, ranking the top 20 based on data such as the total number of plays, the total number of videos, the number of comments, the number of likes, and other figures, multiplied by coefficients developed by Billboard JAPAN. Chart results have been published on a weekly basis since December 7, 2022.
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Sasuke Haraguchi’s “HITO Mania” took the No. 1 spot on the “Niconico VOCALOID SONGS TOP20” for the first time on September 20, 2023, keeping its position for 18 consecutive weeks, a new record for the chart. This had a huge impact on the Vocaloid scene. However, on the January 24, 2024 chart, “HITO Mania” was dethroned by Yoshida Yasei’s “Override,” failing to reach the 19 week mark. What’s important to note is that while jon-YAKITORY’s “Konton Boogie,” Sasuke Haraguchi’s “Medicine,” and nbaji’s “Sukina Souzai Happyou Dragon” then took the number one positions, “Override” made a comeback, claiming the number one position once more. This is a testament to the song’s tremendous momentum. It combines a catchy, distinctively Vocaloid, unforgettable melody with lyrics that can be taken as lampooning society itself, taking the position that there’s no way to know what lies beneath the things people say. The music video, featuring Kasane Teto, makes quite the impression, packed with net memes. The popularity of “Override” also got a boost from derivative works.
◎Yoshida Yasei’s “Override”
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Not only have there been changes in the sound of Vocaloid songs, but also in the voice synthesis software used to make them. For example, KAFU, which was released as CeVIO AI voice synthesis software in July 2021, was based on the voice of KAMITSUBAKI STUDIO’s virtual singer KAF, and its use became a major trend starting in 2021. The Niconico VOCALOID SONGS chart has included Tsumiki’s “Phony” (2021), Hiiragi Magnetite’s “Marshall Maximizer” (2021), and Iyowa’s “Kyu-kurarin” (2021), all of which feature KAFU. In addition to Yamaha’s VOCALOID, there is now a growing range of voice synthesis software, including VOICEROID, CeVIO AI, and Synthesizer V. This wide selection has led to more diverse music.
The mid-year chart for 2024 has been taken by storm by songs featuring Kasane Teto in particular. There’s Yoshida Yasei’s “Override” (No. 1), Sasuke Haraguchi’s “HITO Mania” (No. 2), Sasuke Haraguchi’s “Medicine” (No. 3), 32ki’s “Mesmerizer” (No. 6), nbaji’s “Sukina Souzai Happyou Dragon” (No. 7)… The chart is top-heavy with songs that use Kasane Teto. A major reason for this boom is the commercial release of Synthesizer V AI Kasane Teto on April 27, 2023. This voice synthesizer, which can produce more human, realistic vocals, began as an April Fool’s hoax: in March 2008, users on the 2channel message board announced the creation of new Vocaloid software named “Kasane Teto.” Coincidentally, the free UTAU voice synthesis software had been released in March of the same year. With UTAU, it was possible to use the voice of Mayo Oyamano, who provided the fake vocals for the prank, as a voicebank. With this, Kasane Teto was launched as an “official” voice synthesizer. As if to celebrate the 15th anniversary of this serendipitous beginning, the chart for the first half of 2024 is packed with Kasane Teto songs, whether made using the Synthesizer V version or the UTAU version.
Listening again to the songs in the chart, a few other interesting commonalities spring up. The first that stands out is the way that net memes and common phrases are sprinkled throughout. For example, these include “Override,” whose video appears to be a homage to Surii’s “Telecaster B-Boy,” “HITO Mania,” which takes a poke at modern society using familiar, cut-and-pasted expressions, and “Konton Boogie,” which includes the nostalgic 2000’s meme “What is that? Does it taste good?” From the early days of the Vocaloid scene until around 2015, lyrics were often direct, telling a story, as can be heard in ryo’s “Melt” or Scop’s “Irony.” However, in recent years, Vocaloid songs have had a growing tendency to use metaphors, symbolism, and difficult lyrics. We live in an age in which the things that people say are often taken in isolation, divorced from their context, shared and spread, and interpreted in unintended ways. Perhaps this is what is behind the new trend of Vocaloid lyrics becoming strings of abstract expressions. In the comments, people provide various interpretations, attempting to unravel the messages lurking within these abstractions. The massive hit “HITO Mania” typifies this, with deep lyrics that can be seen as skewering society, carried by a clipped audio backing. Its lyrics bear wide room for interpretation.
◎Sasuke Haraguchi’s “HITO Mania”
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The Vocaloid scene, which sprang from Niconico, is very welcoming to all kinds of derivative works, such as dance and vocal covers. “Sukina Souzai Happyou Dragon” took the No. 4 spot in the Neta Kyoku Tokosai (“Joke Song Festival”) category in VocaColle 2023 Summer. Parody comics and art by artists like the manga creator Sakamegane caused it to trend on X (Twitter), and its popularity exploded. User-generated content now holds the key to becoming a hit, and in some cases creators themselves actively encourage the creation of derivative works. For example, in the comments of his video “Override,” Yoshida Yasei provided tips for creating derivative works. nbaji wrote in the description box of his own videos that derivative works and parody songs were welcome. Moves such as these have accelerated the sharing of the songs. The killer tunes of the Vocaloid scene aren’t just the product of high musical quality, but involve various interwoven factors, including derivative works.
The chart for the first half of 2024 features many unique songs with the unique passion and individuality so typical of Niconico. It will be one to remember and it’ll be interesting to see what kinds of new killer tunes will one day dethrone them.
—This article by Mio Komachi was planned for publication in June 2024, but Niconico service was suspended due to a cyberattack, and is instead being published in September 2024
In our Latin Remix of the Week series, we spotlight remixes that the Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors deem to be exceptional and distinct from the rest. We might not publish a review every week. This is our selection today.
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Following her latest album, Grasa, Nathy Peluso debuts Club Grasa, an eight-track EP that turbocharges half of the album’s original 16 tracks with a dance floor-ready twist. In her first remix project, she harnesses the talents of international electronic producers to reinvent these tracks. Elements of rap, salsa, soul and acoustic melodies are reinterpreted through the lenses of these diverse artists, reflecting a global EDM aesthetic.
“This whole process has been an experiment and a super fun journey for me,” Nathy Peluso shared in a press release. “I’ve handed over my music to producers from the international clubbing scene, giving them total freedom to reinterpret it from its core.”
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She also describes Club Grasa as a project that pushes her creative boundaries through collaboration, embodying the album’s intent for listeners to experience the “music in their own unique ways.”
The lineup includes Spain’s nusar3000, TRISTÁN!, Ideas Radicales, and Phoac; Argentina’s Garoto 3000 and Tayhana — who is also Mexican; Colombia’s CRRDR, and the U.K.’s Mura Masa.
The Grammy-winning British producer Mura Masa brings a glitchy electro touch to “Menina,” featuring Spanish-Brazilian artist Lua de Santana. Mura Masa, born Alex Crossen, shared his enthusiasm. “Nathy is really wonderful and Grasa is such a great album with a real sonic identity,” he said in a press release. “I wanted to take what she and Lua de Santana had done with the original and recontextualize those conceptual elements into a more club-friendly setting without compromising that identity.”
The remixes showcase a range of styles and influences. Nusar3000 infuses “Real” with a more adrenaline-pumping approach, while TRISTÁN!’s synth-futurist sound transforms “Corleone.” Tayhana’s remix of “Aprender a Amar” contrasts with Garoto 3000’s bouncy approach to “Manhattan.” PHOAC and Merca Bae explore Caribbean-industrial sounds in their respective remixes, with CRRDR blending tribal and Latin club rhythms in “Todo Roto.”
Listen to Nathy Peluso’s Club Grasa EP below:
Dustin Lynch’s “Chevrolet,” featuring Jelly Roll, rides two spots to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Sept. 21).
The single – Lynch’s ninth Country Airplay leader and Jelly Roll’s fifth – increased 10% to 30.1 million audience impressions Sept. 6-12, according to Luminate.
“Chevrolet” was written by Chase McGill, Jessi Alexander and Hunter Phelps, with Mentor Williams also receiving writer billing, as it interpolates his classic “Drift Away.” Recorded by Dobie Gray, the original hit No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 hit in 1973. Plus, Uncle Kracker’s update, featuring Gray, reached No. 9 in 2003.
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“The response to this song has been absolutely wild to see in our live shows from way early on,” Lynch tells Billboard. “This iconic melody from ‘Drift Away’ is deep within all of us, and connects us instantly for such an epic sing-along. There’s a nostalgia to it that just feels good, and it becoming my ninth No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart means so much, especially since I get to celebrate this with my buddy Jelly. To the fans that have been on this crazy journey with me, this one is for you! Let’s keep riding y’all – I’m just getting started!”
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Notably, “Chevrolet” is the latest Country Airplay No. 1 to either interpolate or remake a past hit. It’s the second in a row, as it supplants Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which updates J-Kwon’s 2004 hip-hop hit “Tipsy.”
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Before that, Kane Brown’s “I Can Feel It,” which reworks Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” led Country Airplay for a week in March; Luke Combs’ faithful cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” reigned for five weeks beginning last July; and Cole Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina,” which reimagines Jo Dee Messina’s “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” banked four weeks at No. 1 beginning in September 2022.
Plus, Jelly Roll joined MGK for “Lonely Road.” The reinterpretation of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” has spent the last weeks in the top 40 of the multimetric Hot Country Songs chart.
“Chevrolet,” which Zach Crowell and Ben Phillips produced, is from Lynch’s album Killed the Cowboy. He last topped Country Airplay with “Thinking ‘Bout You,” featuring MacKenzie Porter, for six weeks beginning in December 2021. His other No. 1s: “Ridin’ Roads,” for one week in January 2020; “Good Girl” (one, January 2019); “Small Town Boy” (four weeks, starting in September 2017); “Seein’ Red” (one, February 2017); “Mind Reader” (one, June 2016); “Hell of a Night” (one, September 2015); and “Where It’s At (Yep, Yep)” (two, September-October 2014).
Jelly Roll boasts the longest active streak of Country Airplay No. 1s from the start of a career at the format. (Kane Brown boasts the longest run overall: six, dating to July 2021.) Jelly Roll previously led with “Halfway to Hell,” for one week in June; “Save Me,” featuring Lainey Wilson (two weeks, December 2023); “Need a Favor” (four, beginning in August 2023); and “Son of a Sinner” (one, January 2023).
Jelly Roll concurrently climbs 14-11 (17 million, up 15%) on Country Airplay with his own “I Am Not Okay” (Bailee & Buddy/BMG/Republic/Stoney Creek).
Traveling ‘Miles’
Marshmello and the aforementioned Kane Brown’s “Miles on It” hits the Country Airplay top 10 (11-7; 20.8 million, up 19%). Marshmello reaches the tier in the DJ’s first visit to the chart. Brown banks his 13th top 10 and first since “I Can Feel It,” which became his 11th No. 1 in March.
All charts dated Sept. 21 will update Tuesday, Sept. 17 on Billboard.com.
Additional reporting by Gary Trust.
In terms of 21st-century music, there are few gospel artists who can traverse genres and retain the same levels of respect and integrity wherever their music takes them. One of those artists is Yolanda Adams.
Across her sprawling, nearly four-decade career, Adams has lifted contemporary gospel to staggering mainstream heights, including five No. 1s on Top Gospel Albums from 16 career top ten entries. 1999’s blockbuster Mountain High…Valley Low is Adams’ most impressive showing on the Billboard charts, spending a whopping 32 weeks atop Gospel Albums, reaching No. 24 on the all-genre Billboard 200, and spawning the massive crossover hit “Open My Heart,” which leveraged success across R&B, dance, and gospel audiences to No. 57 peak on the Billboard Hot 100. An accomplished singer, songwriter, and radio host, Adams has also doubled down on her acting bona fides with two hit seasons of Kingdom Business, a BET+ musical drama executive produced by fellow gospel icon Kirk Franklin.
It’s been 13 years since Adams’ last LP – 2011’s Dove Award-winning Becoming – and each of those years provides ample inspiration for 2024’s Sunny Days (out Sept. 13), created over the course of the past six years. Crafted in collaboration with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Donald Lawrence, John Jackson, Warryn Campbell, and Sir the Baptist, Sunny Days is a genre-fusing 16-track set that invites listeners to reevaluate their relationship with God and find ways to source inspiration from their own hearts and minds. “Church Doors,” the album’s lead single, arrived two weeks ago (Aug. 29) alongside a Fatima Robinson-helmed music video and two dance mixes featuring contributions from Terry Hunter and J. Ivy.
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To help promote the album, Adams will embark on the Reunion Tour, a 33-date North American arena trek that also features Franklin, Marvin Sapp, Fred Hammond, The Clark Sisters, and special guest Kierra Sheard-Kelly.
“I’ve been in rehearsals for two weeks. You may get a 30-minute or an hour break and then you’re back at it,” Adams explains to Billboard. “The closer you get to tomorrow, the more you’re trying to iron out the kinks, but I’m excited! I’m performing [two new songs from Sunny Days], ‘Church Doors’ and the remix.”
In an enlightening conversation with Billboard, Yolanda Adams details the making of Sunny Days, what she wants next in her acting career, taking the stage after a Trump-tainted NABJ Convention, and a possible RuPaul collaboration.
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1. Why was now the time to come back with a new album?
Yolanda Adams: Well, I’m like LL Cool J, don’t call it a comeback! [Laughs.] I’ve been busy, but it was finally time to make sure that the project we started in 2018 actually got done. I’ve told my daughter forever: If you start something, you got to finish it.
2. When was the moment you knew you had a full record on your soul?
Maybe about two years ago. Jimmy [Jam] and Terry [Lewis] and I have been working since 2018. As soon as [that year’s] Grammys was over, the next day I was in the studio writing and putting some stuff down. Getting together with those guys is magic all the time because we’re always on the same trajectory of where we want the music to go for the world.
We worked on like three songs and then went back home. I started touring and then [my daughter] Taylor graduated, we [moved] her into Howard [University], and then the pandemic started. We couldn’t get back into the studio because the world was locked. Then in the beginning of 2021 was the first season of Kingdom Business. Jimmy and Terry were [also] working with Babyface for a Vegas residency, and then all of a sudden they started talking about the second season of Kingdom Business, so in between all of that we were doing a song here and a song there.
This journey is just like the journey of life. You have your stops, you have your starts, you have your up days, you have your down days, you have your days of “Okay, what are we really doing?” And finally, we finished everything.
3. What was the song that finally made the album feel complete?
Once we finished the last two songs with Don Lawrence and Sir the Baptist. They were the two we were missing. We thought we had hit everybody who’s been a fan, and everybody who wonders “What can we get from Yolanda this time?”
4. Why did “Sunny Days” feel like the appropriate title track?
The world has been in such a weird place between 2018 and 2024. Sometimes we take for granted that the way we’re living today is going to be the same tomorrow or a couple of years from now. We have gone through [these] roller [coasters] of political and cultural craziness, and I wanted to write a song that expresses staying at an even type of keel, no matter what happens. No matter what you see, your perspective still has to be one of faith and optimism, so that’s why the entire album is called Sunny Days.
5. “On God” is a fantastic opener. How did that track come together?
That track came together because of a young man named Jamel [Smith], whose uncle John [Jackson] if I can say this, is our new “Big Jim.” He has this way of creating melodies, and Jamel has that young, fresh way of approaching gospel music without tearing down its integrity but giving it this fresh sound to where you want to keep listening to it.
6. On “When We Pray,” there’s a really poignant lyric that goes: “Pain ain’t exclusive to you.” What was on your mind as you were writing these songs and sequencing the album?
“When We Pray” is one of those songs that we wanted to hone in on because to get through life, you’re going to have to have an anchor. As believers, our anchor is prayer. That keeps us in communication with God. It keeps us grounded [and] balanced. Sometimes people feel that they’re on an island with their own pain, and that’s where the lyric comes from. There are eight billion people on this Earth, somebody at this present moment is feeling the same pain that you are. Don’t feel like you’re all alone by yourself, because He is the answer. When you pray, He hears exactly what you say.
7. There are a lot of different styles on the album – a bit of contemporary R&B, some funk, a little nod to Afropop – what were you listening to while crafting this album?
I don’t listen to anyone else in my genre when I’m preparing an album. I don’t listen to anyone in genres that I love — like jazz, R&B, techno, or funk — because I want to hear my sound for that particular project. I listen to seascapes and a lot of Beethoven. I don’t like listening to what someone else is doing in my genre, because I never want to compare myself to what they’re doing. Chances are, if they’re younger than me, I’ve been there and I’ve done that because what I was doing when I was their age is now standard.
I want to authentically be myself musically and spiritually, so I pull concepts and inspiration out of asking myself questions and journaling. I have notebooks all over my house. I call either Jimmy or Terry and I say, “Hey, this is what I’m listening to in my head, and think this is what I hear.” Then they [and Jackson] come up with these chord structures, and so does my [musical director] Rodney East. Music, just like life, is a collaboration. I don’t know anyone on this earth who doesn’t need anybody. That’s just the way great music happens and I believe that this album is going to change the way people view God.
A lot of people have fallen into the trap of this Christian nationalist way of looking at God, and God has never placed himself in a box. So, we should never place God in a box. When your God can hate anyone that He created, we have a problem. He created each one of us knowing us and loving us. If he can know us, create us, love us, and be proud of us, why can’t we do the same thing?
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8. What were the first and last songs recorded for this album?
The very first song we recorded after the 2018 Grammys was “I Give You Peace” That is our adult version of a lullaby for grown people. I had just gone through some business challenges, I was trying to put something in the market and the market didn’t grasp it. I was at a happy place in my music and life, but this product could not get off the ground. My daughter was about to go to college and she was in a happy place and all of that. And I’m like, why isn’t this working?
It was just as though I heard God speaking to me. I’m in my office right by the stairwell and I look and the piano is there, and I hear God say, “Embrace the change you go through because in time it will reveal. Now face the day with expectancy, for your wounded heart will heal. There is a moment that you will notice a joy washes over you and takes the pain away. Now, step by step, your strengths [are] renewed.” God is about movement. God is about energy. God is about a step-by-step learning situation. I may not have even written that song, without going through what I did.
“Church Doors” was the last song that we did and we were in Chicago.
9. Last song recorded but the lead single — how did that happen?
Isn’t that something?! Sylvia Rhone fell in love with both of those songs that Donald Lawrence and Sir the Baptist wrote. Now, of course, she loves Jimmy and Terry and she loves Warryn Campbell, who’s on there as well, but she fell in love with “Church Doors.” The first version of that song that she heard was the demo which was real gospel-y, and she loves gospel music. [Ezekiel “Zeke” Lewis] was also like “Oh, this one right here,” so we were all in agreement.
10. You came out the gate with two very different mixes of “Church Doors,” why was that important for you to do?
Oh my gosh, I don’t know if a lot of people know this, but I love to dance! Growing up in a household full of music and siblings that had fun [together], there was this musical joy that we had with no restrictions. We were Baptists, and Baptists could smoke and drink and go to the bowling alley and wear pants and all that. I didn’t have all of the restrictions that everybody else did, God was cool enough to go to the bowling alley with us. [Laughs.] He was also cool enough to go to the movies and be at church studies.
[My team] sent a suggestion of the dance mix and I said, “Listen, if we’re going to do a dance mix, it better be fire.” Because if I have a dance mix, I’m going to dance! Me and Donald just cracked up, and he was like, “Sis, I got you.” So, they called J. Ivy and he hopped on it too. I’m just really excited that people get a chance to see all the versions of who I am and what I enjoy.
11. Talk to me about the music video. Did you know you were going a bit viral on X (formerly Twitter)?
Come on. I mean, we couldn’t ask for a better video! We couldn’t ask for a better choreographer or a better cinematographer. You get all of these views of different aspects of this song, which is really a testimony song. I think everybody can relate to it because there are times in our lives when we feel like we don’t know what’s going to happen and then you hear the Spirit of the Lord say, “Hey, you’re not done. You ain’t seen nothing yet, because your best is yet to come.” And you’re like, “When you let me get to those church doors, I’m going to tell them all what you’ve done for me.”
And then Fatima came in with some great choreography. She has a great eye. Everything worked together, I loved the clothes, the youthful look, the fact that some of the young people were from Kanye’s Sunday Service [choir], and that these were actual union dancers who did not feel any inhibition because “Church Doors” is a gospel/inspirational song. I just wanted them to have fun because I believe that God intends for us to enjoy our life, and you enjoy it the way you enjoy it.
Of course, Woody [McClain] is the icing on the cake. The connection that we had during the video was just like… thank you so much for being in the video, nephew! I owe you.
12. Do you have any cities that you particularly love to perform in or that you’re most excited to go to on the Reunion Tour?
I love all the cities that we’re going to, but if I had to pick a specific city it would be Houston. There’s nothing like performing in your hometown where people who grew up with you are happy to see you doing something great. It feels so good because I live in a city where I am applauded, and not just tolerated. I’m accepted in all areas of my city, politically and socially. I just love it.
13. You performed at the NABJ conference earlier this year. What was it like taking the stage after all of the Trump drama that had plagued the conference in the previous days?
I think the NABJ got a bad rap for being who they are. They’re journalists, and the journalist’s job is to get the story. I don’t agree with [Trump] on a lot of things, but I do [believe] that as a journalist, you should speak to those you agree and disagree with.
The problem with that specific incident is that [Trump] did not come with a heart to be open and honest. He had a whole bunch of stipulations, which you’re never supposed to give a journalist. They’re not asking him questions about Epstein Island or anything like that. They’re asking him legitimate questions as to why we should or should not vote for [him]. Because his M.O. is to attack, I think those ladies that were on stage were used.
I’m a part of NABJ in Houston because my first degree is in radio/TV journalism. To hear from Roland Martin and Joy Reid… they were heartbroken. When you’re on the board and you get sideswiped with some things, of course, you’re going to ask your people, “Hey, what’s up with that?”
Once we actually got to the performance on that Monday night, [the conference attendees] were ready for God to relieve them of that drama. By the time we got there, some folks weren’t sure if they wanted to be a part of this organization any longer. Sometimes, our job is to change the atmosphere and texture of people’s hearts so that they can get rid of the anger and stress and be softened again to do their jobs with the skill that they had been doing their jobs with before. And that’s one thing I’m very proud of when it comes to Team Adams — we understand our responsibility to make sure that wherever we go that atmosphere turns into [one] of love, acceptance, encouragement, and inspiration.
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14. Where do you hope Kingdom Business goes next?
I hope that Kingdom Business gets its rightful place in the annals of great Black television. Although it’s drama and fantasy to a certain extent, I want people to glean from this show that [regardless of who we are] we all have things in our lives that we wish weren’t there. And some of those things come from our upbringing.
[When I think of my character Denita, I think about] how many parents have nitpicked in their children’s lives to the point that the happiness that could have been theirs is not. Then that child turns into a grown-up who’s mad at the world. Not that we need to be the psychiatry of Black television, but I really think that we can speak to those dynamics that these two seasons of Kingdom Business kind of opened up. What I hope happens in [future[ seasons is that we start talking about those things that people are afraid to talk about. I ain’t scared of nobody, I’m Denita Jordan! [Laughs]. I’m not afraid to confront the past in a way that teaches us how not to bring certain things in the future. We have the opportunity of making this one of the premier African-American Emmy-winning programs, I think.
15. Do you have a dream role?
Of course, Denita stretches me, but anything that can stretch me past people’s imaginations of who I am [would be my dream world]. I want to play a multifaceted character that you haven’t seen a gospel artist or a person of inspiration play. That may be a Leontyne Price or a Lola Falana – I know Lori Harvey is playing Lola Falana in [Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist] — but them, or Josephine Baker, those kinds of people. They were multifaceted and they were politically astute.
Even Mahalia Jackson, she did a lot for the cause of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the NAACP and the Urban League. She would give portions of her concert revenue to make sure that those things were good. She would cook for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and those folks. Those are things that I think people need to know about, African-American women who have really done some great things
16. In April, you scored your first number one on Gospel Airplay since 2005’s “Be Blessed.” What does it mean to you to have that kind of career longevity?
I’m still humbled by it. I am still astonished that after all these years, I’m still loving what I do and it’s not a chore to do it. Just give me some Chai tea with a couple of shots in it –- espresso! [laughs] — and some green grapes and I’m ready.
I deem it an honor and a privilege to be able to go all over the world and do what we do the way we do it. I am surrounded by brilliant people at this table, and in Chicago, New York, LA, and Houston. I’m a different kind of boss; I give everyone room to blossom because I think that’s leadership. I just believe that God continues to pour out not just his spirit, but his favor on all of us because we really want to make the world a better place.
17. Do you think there’s merit to the argument that today’s mainstream R&B singers are vocally lacking because they haven’t been trained in the church, or is that dynamic overblown?
I think there are some incredible singers out there in the R&B realm right now. I don’t think that anyone has to have church choir training or any kind of choir training. But as a person who grew up in the church and understands what that choir training means, the church – good, bad, and different – is your first stage. And that stage can build you, or it can break you down. And thank God, I was a part of a church that built me. From my very first church in the peewee choir to the present day, I get a sense of community. I get a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood. I get the sense of a prayer commune, so to speak, that will not let me fall or fail.
Sometimes people just need a little guidance. I remember singing the solo one time, and the church was like [mimes deadpan expression]. I was like, “Well, I gotta go practice.” So, I do believe that there is some merit to having that foundation, and that means different things for different people. The one thing I can say is that I have never heard an R&B singer who came out of the church and could not sing. Tank is one of those, like, “Ms. Yolanda, my daddy was a pastor and blah blah blah.” I said, “I know, baby — because you do them kinda runs you only find in the tenor section of the Second Baptist Church!”
18. At the Grammys this year, you said you would collaborate with RuPaul. Give me three words to describe what that would sound like.
Fun, dancing, electrifying!
19. What voices most excite you in gospel music right now?
Oh man, so many! Almost 100% of the artists that are out. I love Jekalyn [Carr], I love Le’Andria [Johnson], I love all of the Tashas. There’s so much talent in gospel music. Koryn Hawthorne, Jonathan McReynolds, I just love gospel music and the expression of joy that comes in gospel music. We can sing a song for 15 minutes and not sing the same thing twice. I think people who are not fans of the [current] gospel [scene] are not giving it enough grace.
I said this years ago: I love Mahalia Jackson, but I can’t sing “Elijah Rock” like Mahalia Jackson did in the 50s and the 40s and be relevant to the times right now because there are people who have no idea who Mahalia Jackson is. But they do know who Yolanda Adams is — “Already Alright,” The Battle is the Lord’s,” etc. — and now they’re going to get a chance to enjoy even more with Sunny Days. You have to evolve with what’s going on in the world. We don’t have to change who we are, but move with the times so much so that people will say, “Oh! That’s a fresh take on that.”
20. What song from Sunny Days are you most excited for fans to hear?
It would have to be “Sunny Days.” It’s one of those songs that makes you smile when you hear it, and I want them to feel that sentiment in their lives.
Milan confirms itself as the Italian capital of music by hosting Billboard Italia Women in Music next week. Billboard’s iconic awards ceremony will be held Monday (Sept. 16) at Teatro Manzoni, one of the cultural symbols of the city. The event is the first local edition of the Billboard format in Europe. The Woman of […]
The long wait appears to be over: The Cure may have confirmed the release date of their first LP in 16 years in postcards sent to fans. Earlier this week, speculation mounted that an announcement was incoming when the group updated social media profile pictures. Now fans of the band have received cryptic postcards in […]
This week in dance music: The 2024 Paralympics Closing Ceremony in Paris was a French electronic music extravaganza, we looked at why La Roux’s 2009 electro-pop classic “Bulletproof” is back on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, Meow Wolf Houston announced its opening date and radio-influenced theme, Richie Hawtin lamented how “the famous, most followed DJ’s of our scene failed us” when commenting on the closure of DJ profit sharing platform Aslice and the Association For Electronic Music announced a new campaign to help DJs get more visibility and profit when their music is posted to social media by other artists.
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Meanwhile, Michael Bibi gave a figuratively and literally big check to the hospital where he received cancer treatment via money raised by his comeback show, The World DanceSport Federation explained why Australian breakdancer Raygun is ranked No. 1 in the world, the annual dance music conference IMS announced that it’s expanding to Dubai in November, Nocturnal Wonderland 2024 was cancelled due to wildfires in Southern California and Charli XCX and Troye Sivan released a remix of “Talk Talk.”
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That’s a lot — and there’s more! These are the best new dance tracks of the week.
Rüfüs du Sol, “Break My Love”
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Since rising out of their native Australia in the mid-2010s, Rüfüs du Sol has been a chief architect and arbiter of that late-nights-and-sunrises strain of dark, deep house-oriented electro house that’s come to soundtrack the Tulum-to-Ibiza-to-Burning Man circuit. (In fact, their track “On My Knees” won the best dance/electronic Grammy for it in 2022.) The group’s latest, “Break My Love,” is Rüfüs at their very best, with the song delivering that signature steamy, hypnotic, big rise and lush release vibe and coming with a video in which the guys flex their playful side by playing a trio of ’70s era secret agents plotting a heist. (Wait for the twist at the end.)
Following two recent singles, “Break My Love” also comes with news that the group will release their fifth studio album, Inhale/Exhale, on October 11, through their own Rose Avenue Records and Reprise. Ahead of that, they’ll headline San Francisco’s Portola Festival on September 28. — KATIE BAIN
Four Tet & Ellie Goulding, “In My Dreams”
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Ellie Goulding has been swimming in the deep end of the electronic world lately, with her 2023 Calvin Harris trance collab “Miracle” and its recent followup, “Free.” Ever-agile, she now jumps over to the IDM side of the genre with “In My Dreams,” a collab with Four Tet. (Which itself follows their own 2020 single “Baby.”) The producer uses Goulding’s voice to thread the production together, weaving it like silk through his own propulsive and dichotomous distorted beats and glowing chimes.
The project, he writes, came about in late 2023, when “Ellie text[ed] me with a couple of voice notes for a song idea. Words and melodies she was singing into her phone and she asked me if I could use them to make something. She’s told me in the past she likes to send me vocals that I can just use as sound and turn into whatever I want (which is how the track ‘Bab’y happened a few years ago). I found other sounds to go with it and made ‘In My Dreams.’ She added some new vocal parts but we ended up keeping the voice note recordings as the main vocal. I guess the first take is often the most magical.” “In My Dreams” is out through Four Tet’s Text Records.
Anna Lunoe, “Pearl”
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An international DJ, radio host, podcaster, and producer with a discography dating back 12 years, Anna Lunoe’s résumé is so long that it’s hard to believe she’s never released an album. Somehow it’s true, but not for much longer: The Sydney-based artist has just announced her debut LP, Pearl, out October 25 on NLV Records, the label from her longtime friend Nina Las Vegas. Lunoe has also shared its title track, made with frequent partner Jack Glass of Bag Raiders. “Pearl” is dreamy and buoyant, rippling with luminescent synth arpeggios and a captivating vocal melody. Beneath that bubbly exterior, stomping drums and rave chords add a layer of toughness and urgency.
“To me,” Lunoe says, “the sentiment in this song is about fighting for your spirit and creative force in a world that isn’t really designed for us to hold on to it. Sonically, this was an exercise in emotion and clarifying a feeling as opposed to straight up club tune-making – it’s more sincere than I’ve allowed myself to be publicly before, but those few who get to hear my scruffy demos know this Anna well.” — KRYSTAL RODRIGUEZ
Hayden James, We Could Be Love
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On his third album, We Could Be Love, Hayden James shows his continued prowess in blending emotive pop songwriting with club sounds. The deeply groovy “Patience,” which explores the cautious nature of relationships, delivers catharsis in its rolling apex; “Imagine” brims with hope atop swirling melodic techno and “All In” is a love rush wrapped in warm piano house. The producer even goes straight club on “The Pleasure,” a strutting tech-house track ready to be cued up on an Ibiza dance floor, but the featured vocalists (Shells, Karen Harding, AR/CO and many more) help give We Could Be Love its soul. James heads out on a North American tour later this month. — K.R.
Floating Points, Cascade
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Since his 2019 album Crush, Floating Points has followed inspiration across various genres and mediums, from collaboration with the late sax legend Pharoah Sanders on an album to scoring a ballet and forthcoming anime series. His new album, Cascade, marks a triumphant return to the dance floor. A collection of unconventional club bangers, it pulses with twitchy textures, glistening melodies, synth freak-outs and gravelly drums. Standout track “Afflecks Palace” is a descent into chaos, weaving through radar-like synths, ghostly croons, acid accents and vibrant string plucks. As everything converges into a dense, tangled mass, a stutter-step leads to a dizzying space rave. — K.R.
Kaleena Zanders & Tchami, “Daddy Keeps Calling”
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Ring, ring. Who’s on the line? It’s new-gen dance diva Kaleena Zanders (with Tchami joining on three-way) sharing a new single, “Daddy Keeps Calling.” The piano-house track surges with soulful energy, its gospel-choir harmonies, hand claps and enveloping organ chords a fitting soundtrack to Zanders’ celebration of club communion: “Ooh Lord, burning up, don’t save me ‘til I’ve had enough/ Red light pull me in, losing control on the floor again.” “Daddy Keeps Calling” is the pair’s second collaboration following this year’s “Giving Me Life,” and it will feature on Zanders’ newly announced Glorified EP, out October 18 via Helix Records.
“When I wrote the lyrics to ‘Daddy Keeps Calling’ with prolific singer songwriter/producer/DJ Bright Lights, we knew it was a unique perspective on songs made for the dancefloor,” Zanders writes. “In our heads we imagined the dance floor being the dominant force in our lives that drives us to create dance music and the force that so many people gather around. With that said, in this case playing off of sensual role play Daddy is the dancefloor and the nucleus that binds us all.” — K.R.
FKA twigs, “Eusexua”
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Have you experienced eusexua? That’s the question FKA twigs asked ahead of her new single “Eusexua.” twigs, who coined the term, describes eusexua as “momentary transcendence” and “the pinnacle of human experience” – and transcendent “Eusexua” is. It’s a rave lifted into the highest realms, with a sprawling soundscape of whirring trance synths and resonant piano keys that build to an ecstatic crescendo. Twigs’ vocals are as hauntingly angelic as ever, evoking a siren’s call in her pursuit of connection beyond this earthly plane. Co-produced with Koreless and Eartheater, “Eusexua” is the title track of her forthcoming album. “I moved to Prague a couple summers ago, fell in love with techno,” she told fans via Discord. “The album isn’t techno but the spirit is there fr.” — K.R.
WhoMadeWho, Kiss & Forget
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Today Danish trio WhoMadeWho release their eight (!) studio album, the promisingly titled Kiss & Forget. The projects opens with “Saturday Pt. 1” and “Saturday Pt. 2,” but it’s not the fist pumps and bangers mood those titles may conjure. Instead, single piano notes are paired with strings and a faraway synth altogether conjuring a feeling of distance and longing, mystery and depth. The two-plus minute “Pt. 1” then opens up to “Pt. 2,” on which a beat finally drops, with the guys — Tomas Høffding, Tomas Barfod, and Jeppe Kjellberg — layering in chimes and drum crashes and more strings then eventually kickdrum for a sound that, the older you get, the more you actually want your Saturdays to feel like. The rest of the 13-track album features collaborations with Ry X, Dutch titan Kölsch, Adriatique and Blue Hawaii. WhoMadeWho plays a pair of U.S. dates, in Boston and Los Angeles, later this month. — K.B.
Dan Ghenacia, “Rouge ou Noir”
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Does anybody remember laughter? Shake off all the ails you, if only for three minutes and 16 seconds, with this absolute party of a disco track by Parisian producer Dan Ghenacia. A spacey, synthy, sexy and simply funky swirl, “Rouge ou Noir” was recorded at Los Angeles’ Stratasonic, a private and state-of-the-art studios run by in-house producers and home to a mouthwatering assemblage of vintage gear and new tech, now open to service both emerging and veteran artists. “Rouge ou Noir” is also the name of the EP this track hails from, with the bubbly “Chilly” working as a slinky B-side. — K.B.
Justin Timberlake pleaded guilty to impaired driving in New York’s Sag Harbor Village Court Friday (Sept. 13).
According to the Associated Press, Timberlake was sentenced to a $500 fine with a $260 surcharge as well as 25 hours of community service at a nonprofit of his choosing. He’s also required to make a public safety announcement, the appropriateness of which concerned Judge Carl Irace, who, according to the AP, expressed disappointment with the prosecutors’ proposed plea deal. In Irace’s opinion, Timberlake’s intention to make the statement shortly after court proceedings would not give the *NSYNC alum enough time to reflect on his actions, which is why the judge added on community service requirements to the sentence.
“I did not live up to the standards that I try to hold for myself,” he told the court, according to AP. He then said to the judge, “I should’ve had better judgment. I understand the seriousness of this.”
Billboard has reached out to Timberlake’s rep and lawyer, Ed Burke, for comment.
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Shortly after the hearing, Timberlake addressed media outside the courthouse with his statement about the dangers of impaired driving. “Even if you’ve had one drink, don’t get behind the wheel of a car,” he said as cameras flashed. “There’s so many alternatives — call a friend, take an Uber. There’s many travel apps. Take a taxi.”
“This is a mistake that I made, but I’m hoping that whoever’s watching and listening right now can learn from this mistake,” he added. “I know that I certainly have.”
The hearing comes three months after the “SexyBack” singer was arrested on suspicion of driving a vehicle while intoxicated in the Hamptons.
Timberlake and his legal team had originally pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge during an August virtual court appearance, where his driving privileges were suspended by Irace. CNN also reported at the time that the judge had admonished his attorney for making comments about the case to the media ahead of the arraignment.
It was first reported that Timberlake had reached a plea deal two days prior to Friday’s hearing. The deal wraps up a months-long legal saga that began when Sag Harbor police pulled him over for “failing to stop at a duly posted stop sign and failing to maintain his lane of travel” while operating a 2025 BMW in New York, according to a statement by law enforcement at the time.
The police report obtained by Billboard also cites an officer quoting Timberlake as saying “I had one martini and I followed my friends home.”
The “Mirrors” artist was midway through his Forget Tomorrow World Tour when he was arrested. The case hasn’t seemed to negatively affect the trek, which is currently on track to gross more than $250 million over 87 dates, according to Billboard Boxscore data.
Watch Timberlake speak after his hearing below: