Music

11 Jan 2023

Shakira Slams Pique in New Bizarrap Session: Here Are the Lyrics Translated to English

Shakira did not hold back on her first single of the year, “BZRP Music Session #53,” helmed by Argentine hitmaker Bizarrap.

In the nearly four-minute dance-pop track, the Colombian artist is more unapologetic and empowered than ever, spitting diss verses to her ex-boyfriend and soccer star Gerard Piqué and even throwing a jab at his new girlfriend, Clara Chia Marti.

“I’m not getting back with you, don’t cry for me, nor beg me/ I understood that it’s not my fault that they criticize you/I only make music, sorry that it bothers you,” she chants, also saying in the lyrics, “You left me the in-laws as my neighbors, media outlets at my door and in debt/ You thought you hurt me, but you made me stronger/ Women don’t cry anymore, they cash in.”

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A much-needed therapy session, “#53” marks the first collaborative effort between Shak and Biza. Read the full lyrics translated into English below:

Sorry, I got another plane
I’m not coming back here
I don’t want another disappointment 
So much that you say you’re the champion
And when I needed you
You gave your worst version

Sorry baby I should have thrown you out a while ago
A wolf like me is not for beginners
A wolf like me is not for guys like you
For guys like you
I’m too good for you and that’s why you’re with someone just like you

This is for you to mortify yourself
Chew and swallow, swallow and chew
I’m not getting back with you, don’t cry for me, nor beg me
I understood that it’s not my fault that they criticize you
I only make music, sorry that it bothers you

You left me the in-laws as my neighbors
Media outlets at my door and in debt
You thought you hurt me, but you made me stronger
Women don’t cry anymore, they cash in.

She has the name of a good person.
It’s clearly not what it sounds like
She has the name of a good person
She’s clearly the same as you
For guys like you
I’m too good for you and that’s why you’re with someone just like you

From love to hate there’s a step
Don’t come back here, pay attention to me
Zero grudge baby,
I wish you good luck with my supposed replacement
I don’t even know what happened to you
You are so strange that I can’t even distinguish you
I’m worth two of 22 [year old]
You traded a Ferrari for a Twingo
You traded a Rolex for a Casio
You’re going fast, slow down
A lot of exercises but work the brain a little too

Photos where they see me
I feel like a hostage
For me everything is fine
I’ll vacate you tomorrow and if you want, she can come too

She has the name of a good person
It’s clearly not what it sounds like
She has the name of a good person
She’s clearly the same as you
For guys like you
I’m too good for you and that’s why you’re with someone just like you

11 Jan 2023

U.S. Cassette Tape Album Sales Grew 28% in 2022

In 2022, sales of albums on cassette tape in the U.S. increased by 28% to 440,000 (up from 343,000 in 2021), according to the U.S. 2022 Luminate Year-End Music Report.

While 440,000 a mere fraction of the total album sales market (0.44% to be more precise), it’s a robust figure for a format that was mostly non-existent a few years ago. In 2015, for example, cassettes sold just 74,000.

In 2022, total album sales across all formats — digital and physical — numbered 100.09 million. Physical album sales totaled 79.89 million — thus giving cassettes a 0.55% share of the physical album market last year. (Physical albums include CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes and other niche physical formats.)

While cassettes are now a niche offering marketed to superfans, they were once the leading format for album purchases in the U.S., from the early 1980s until the early 1990s. Today, cassette tapes are frequently sold exclusively on an artist’s web store and in collectible editions. Tapes are often manufactured in specific colors, such as Billie Eilish’s pink-colored Happier Than Ever tape or Ghost’s metallic gold-colored Impera tape.

The top-selling album on cassette in 2022 was the soundtrack to Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, with 17,000 copies sold. Two more Guardians-related titles dot the top 10 (at Nos. 3 and 6). As actual cassette mixtapes feature prominently in the Guardians’ storyline, it makes sense that a real-world cassette album offering, mirroring those seen in the films and series, could be a solid seller. (The three Guardians tapes that rank in the year-end top 10 have sold, combined, more than 238,000 since their release a number of years ago.)

TOP 10 SELLING CASSETTE ALBUMS OF 2022 IN U.S.
1. Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 (17,000)
2. Taylor Swift, Midnights (14,000)
3. Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 (13,000)
4. Harry Styles, Harry’s House (11,000)
5. Billie Eilish, Happier Than Ever (8,000)
6. Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Mix, Vol. 1 (8,000)
7. Nirvana, Bleach (7,000)
8. Bo Burnham, Inside (The Songs) (5,000)
9. Bad Bunny, YHLQMDLG (5,000)
10. Ghost, Impera (5,000)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 31, 2021, through Dec. 29, 2022.

Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991 when the company was known as SoundScan. Luminate’s sales, streaming and airplay data is used to compile Billboard’s weekly charts. Luminate’s 2022 tracking year ran from Dec. 31, 2021, through Dec. 29, 2022. Luminate is an independently operated company owned by PME TopCo, a PMC subsidiary and joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge.  Billboard is an independently operated company owned by PME Holdings, a subsidiary of PME TopCo.

11 Jan 2023

1 of Every 25 Vinyl Albums Sold in U.S. in 2022 Was by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift was the queen of vinyl albums in 2022, as the superstar sold more vinyl LPs in the U.S. than any other act by far last year: 1.695 million across her entire catalog of releases, according to the U.S. 2022 Luminate Year-End Music Report.

In fact, she sold more vinyl LPs last year than the next two biggest-sellers on vinyl combined: Styles with 719,000 and The Beatles with 553,000.

Swift loomed so large on vinyl in 2022, nearly one of every 25 vinyl LPs sold last year in the U.S. was a Swift album (1.695 million of 43.46 million total vinyl albums sold by all artists).

Swift’s latest release, Midnights, was the top-selling vinyl album of 2022 in the U.S., with 945,000 copies sold across all of its vinyl variants and editions. The album has the largest yearly sales total for a vinyl album since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. Midnights also posted the single-largest sales week for a vinyl LP in Luminate history, when it launched with 575,000 copies in its first week.

Swift has six of the year’s top 40-selling vinyl albums – Midnights (No. 1; 945,000), Folklore (No. 7; 174,000), Red (Taylor’s Version) (No. 11; 153,000), Evermore (No. 14; 134,000), Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (No. 30; 97,000) and Lover (No. 36; 91,000). Harry Styles and Kendrick Lamar have the second-most titles among the year’s top 40-selling vinyl LPs, with three each.

Midnights, and Swift’s popular catalog, helped U.S. vinyl album sales grow for a 17th consecutive year in 2022. It was also the second year in a row, and only the second year since Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991, where vinyl albums outsold CD albums. Vinyl continues to be the leading format for album purchases for the second straight year.

Swift’s vinyl album sales, like many acts, benefit from the availability of a range of alternative versions and color-vinyl variants for her vinyl releases.

Midnights, for example, was available in four standard vinyl LP editions, each with a different cover and colored vinyl (dubbed Moonstone Blue Edition, Jade Green Edition, Mahogany Edition and Blood Moon Edition). Target stores also carried an exclusive colored-vinyl Lavender Edition. To further enhance sales, Swift’s official web store sold signed copies of the four standard vinyl LPs during a pre-order window before the album launched. As previously reported when the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, some superfans may have been motivated to purchase all four vinyl variants, as the back covers of the albums fit together like a puzzle to display a clock face (a literal reference to Midnights). Swift shared the news through her social media in mid-September, saying: “If you put all the back covers together, she’s a clock. It’s a clock… It makes a clock.” (Swift’s official web store previously sold hardware to hold the four CDs or the four vinyl LPs together as a wall clock.)

Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991 when the company was known as SoundScan. Luminate’s sales, streaming and airplay data is used to compile Billboard’s weekly charts. Luminate’s 2022 tracking year ran from Dec. 31, 2021, through Dec. 29, 2022. Luminate is an independently operated company owned by PME TopCo, a PMC subsidiary and joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge.  Billboard is an independently operated company owned by PME Holdings, a subsidiary of PME TopCo.

11 Jan 2023

Pitbull Scores Fourth Video to Rack Up 1 Billion Views on YouTube With This Club Banger

Mr. Worldwide has made it to the Billion Views Club once again.

This time, it’s the video for his inescapable 2011 club anthem “Give Me Everything,” featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer. The hit song was No. 1 on the year-end Rhythmic Songs chart in 2011 and also marked Pitbull’s first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1, seven years after his 2004 debut “Culo” alongside Lil Jon.

Pit has reached 1 billion views on YouTube three times before: with “Timber” (featuring Ke$ha), “Rain Over Me” (featuring Marc Anthony) and Jennifer Lopez’s “On the Floor.” “Give Me Everything” marks Ne-Yo and Afrojack’s second entry into the Billion Views Club and Nayer’s first.

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The track, produced by Afrojack, boasts a number of sonic elements defining the 2011 era, including bright piano chords, dominant synths and danceable builds. Since the release of “Give Me Everything,” the Cuban-American pop star has kept busy, scoring his second Hot 100 chart-topper with “Timber” and a Hot Latin Songs No. 1 with “Dame Tu Cosita” alongside El Chombo, Karol G and Cutty Ranks, among other Billboard chart achievements.

The track’s party-centric music video features appearances from Adrienne Bailon, Miss Haiti 2010 Sarodj Bertin and Russian model Eva Skaya. While “Give Me Everything” was all good vibes, there was one person who wasn’t too happy about the song: Lindsay Lohan. The now-36-year-old actress — who was mentioned in the line “I got it locked up like Lindsay Lohan” — was so offended by the name-drop that she sued Pitbull, to no avail.

“Give Me Everything” was released via Polo Grounds Music, Mr. 305 Entertainment and J Records, serving as a single from Pitbull’s Planet Pit. The track reverberated through clubs and high school dances alike throughout the 2010s and continues to ring out into the new decade.

11 Jan 2023

Jeff Beck’s 10 Best Songs: With Yardbirds, Solo & Beyond

You’re likely to find Jeff Beck‘s face on any Mount Rushmore of guitarists — and maybe of musicians, period.

His musical praises are being sung worldwide since his shocking death Wednesday (Jan. 11) from bacterial meningitis at age 78. And rest assured that everything being said about the seven-time Grammy winner and two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is true. And maybe even understated.

While his skills are unquestionably worth celebrating, those discussions sometimes obscure the fact that Beck’s greatest gift was in service to the songs he played. Whether with the Yardbirds or the various incarnations of his own band, or with a wide variety of collaborators, Beck elevated his songs with purposeful and deliberate choices — of notes, riffs, phrasings — that raised them to the proverbial next level. He demonstrated plenty of flash and drama during his 60 years of recording, but always in a manner that made the songs soar.

The best are, not surprisingly, hard to choose, and there’s plenty of genuine greatness to be found deep in all of Beck’s albums. But these 10 — in alphabetical order — are at the top of the heap, all performances that transcend the individual songs to establish some new standards for music itself.

11 Jan 2023

Ally Brooke Is Loving Britney Spears Dancing to ‘Higher’ on Instagram

Britney Spears is an Ally Brooke fan!

In a now deleted reel posted to Instagram this week, the “Piece of Me” pop superstar posted one of her characteristic dancing videos, this time spinning and busting a move to the former Fifth Harmony member’s Matoma collaboration, “Higher.”

Upon seeing the clip on Twitter, Ally was thrilled. “OMGGG [crown emoji, dancing emoji, purple heart emoji] I LOVE YOU @BRITNEYSPEARS,” she wrote, sharing a repost of the original video by a fan account.

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Ally laid the groundwork for her solo career in 2019 with the release of these four singles — “Higher,” “Lips Don’t Lie,” “Low Key” and “No Good.” She has since unveiled a number of songs, most recently embracing her Mexican-American heritage by dropping the Spanish language tracks, “Por Ti” and “Tequila,” in 2022.

“My album’s going to be very diverse,” the star previously told Hola of a forthcoming debut album. “So there are songs that are: get ready to dance, get ready to have a good time, and kind of just have fun. Really fun, uplifting songs, very female empowered anthems, and also there are some vibey songs. And I feel like maybe my audience won’t expect that, but being able to be in this new chapter in my life where I have a new team now, I’m working with the new system, it’s just given me such vibrant energy in life and inspiration. And it’s unlocked a part of me that I’ve never been able to unlock before.”

11 Jan 2023

Shakira Takes Aim at Her Ex Gerard Piqué in ‘BZRP Music Sessions #53’: ‘You Thought You Hurt Me But You Made Me Stronger’

Shakira and Bizarrap have blessed fans with their highly anticipated “BZRP Music Sessions #53,” which dropped Wednesday.

Truth be told, fans weren’t sure what to expect from the latest edition of the music sessions, which are popular collaborations between Bizarrap and artists such as Nicky Jam, Paulo Londra, Residente and Snow Tha Product where they rap over a unique beat created by the hitmaker.

Shakira doesn’t rap; instead, it’s very much a therapy session between Biza and his guest.

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The singer-songwriter doesn’t hold back and is as blunt as ever about her ex, Spanish soccer star Gerard Piqué. “A wolf like me doesn’t have time for novices like you/ I was too much for you, that’s why you’re now with someone more like yourself,” she sings over a futuristic pop-electronica beat. “You left me the in-laws as my neighbors, media outlets at my door and in debt with the Treasury./ You thought you hurt me, but you made me stronger/ Women don’t cry anymore, they cash in.”

Shakira joins a number of artists who’ve jumped on one of Bizarrap’s zealously streamed music sessions. His session with Spanish act Quevedo, “BZRP Music Sessions #52,” scored both their first entry on the Billboard Hot 100. Currently, it has more than 400 million views on YouTube. Bizarrap’s Music Session with Shak follows his latest sessions, including ones with Duki and Villano Antillano.

This new song will follow Shakira’s Ozuna-assisted “Monotonía,” which peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart (dated Nov. 5). It currently sits at No. 1 on the Latin Airplay chart, where it’s ruled for four weeks.  

Recently, Shakira shared a heartfelt message of hope to start off the new year. “Even if our wounds are still open in this new year, time has a surgeon’s hands. Even if someone’s betrayed us, we must continue to trust others,” wrote the Colombian singer. “When faced with contempt, continue to know your worth. Because there are more good people than indecent ones. More people with empathy than indifference.”

The message came after a difficult year due to her separation from Piqué, the father of her children. The singer has spoken openly about the breakup since it was confirmed in June, and has posted material — including releasing the heartbreak song “Monotonía” — alluding to her pain. This music session is no exception.

11 Jan 2023

Jeff Beck’s Death Mourned by Gene Simmons, Jimmy Page, Paul Stanley & More: ‘The Guitarists’ Guitarist!’

Jeff Beck died Tuesday (Jan. 10) at age 78, and his peers and fellow musicians have flocked to social media to remember him.

“No one played guitar like Jeff,” Gene Simmons tweeted before urging his followers to “Please get ahold of the first two Jeff Beck Group albums and behold greatness.”

Former teen idol Paul Young — known in the U.K. for ’80s hits like “Every Time You Go Away” and “Everything Must Change” — added his own tribute to Beck’s memory, tweeting, “Devastated to hear of the sudden and tragic death of legendary guitarist Jeff Beck. He was loved by everyone in the know; the guitarists guitarist! My condolences to his family & friends. RIP.”

Simmons’ KISS bandmate Paul Stanley also memorialized his friend, writing, “WOW. What awful news. Jeff Beck, one of the all time guitar masters has died. From the Yard Birds to The Jeff Beck Group on, he blazed a trail impossible to follow. Play on now and forever. @jeffbeckmusic.”

Other reactions poured into Twitter from the likes of Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath and Dave Davies of The Kinks to Genesis’ Steve Hackett and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, the latter of whom described Beck as “the six-stringed Warrior” who had the ability to “channel music from the ethereal.”

Over the course of his life, the British musician won eight Grammys out of 17 total nominations and was inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He also released 11 solo albums as well as studio sets with the Jeff Beck Group, the Yardbirds and the short-lived Beck, Bogert & Appice. His last and most recent LP was 18, a collaborative full-length with Johnny Depp in July.

Read social media tributes to Beck’s memory below.

11 Jan 2023

Which Coachella Performance Are You Most Excited For? Vote!

Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival revealed its jam-packed 2023 lineup on Tuesday (Jan. 10), with Bad Bunny, Frank Ocean and BLACKPINK set to headline.

Also set to perform are Gorillaz, Rosalia, Bjork, Kaytranada, Blondie, Burna Boy, The Kid LAROI, MUNA and many more. The 2023 iteration of the popular music festival is slated to run on two consecutive weekends, from April 14 to 16 and then again from April 21 to 23.

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Leading up to Coachella, we want to know who on the lineup you are most excited to see. Check out the full list here, and let us know by voting below.

11 Jan 2023

Official HIGE DANdism’s ‘Subtitle’ Scores 10th Week at No. 1 on Japan Hot 100

Official HIGE DANdism’s “Subtitle” continues to steadily extend its record at No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Jan. 11, now at 10 weeks with only one more to go to tie the record for longest-leading hit.

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The all-time record for most weeks at No. 1 on the Japan Hot 100 is 11 weeks, held by Gen Hoshino’s “Koi.” HIGE DAN’s current hit dominated three metrics of the chart’s methodology when it ruled the song chart last week — streaming, downloads, and radio airplay — and is down to one this week (streaming). While “Subtitle” continues to hold for the sixth consecutive week at No. 1 on the Japan song chart, total points for the song is down by about 2,000 on the latest list, so it remains to be seen whether it can catch up with Hoshino’s smash hit from 2016 on the next.

Solo music producer Vaundy made a splash nationwide on the year-end live music extravaganza, the 73rd NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen, and the effects are showing on the charts. The 22-year-old singer-songwriter currently charts eight songs on the Japan Hot 100: “Kaiju no Hanauta” (No. 3), “Odoriko” (No. 30), “CHAINSAW BLOOD” (No. 42), “Fukakouryoku” (No. 46), “napori” (No. 72), “Tokyo Flash” (No. 80), “Hanauranai” (No. 95), and “Koikaze ni Nosete” (No. 97). These tracks increased points in streaming, downloads, video views, and karaoke, indicating that his performance of “Kaiju no Hanauta” on the historic music program left a strong impression and spilled over to other songs in his catalog. The young artist also performed “Omokage (produced by Vaundy)” with star singers milet, Aimer, and Lilas Ikuta on the program, which also boosted this track from No. 84 to No. 20 this week.

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

See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Jan. 2 to Jan. 8, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.