Music
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Billie Eilish is wrapping up 2024 with a major honor, as the nine-time Grammy winner was named Apple Music’s 2024 Artist of the Year on Thursday (Nov. 21). “Since day one, Apple Music has supported my music and artistry, and I am both honored and humbled to receive this recognition as Artist of the Year […]
AJ Tracey and Pozer, two of U.K. rap’s most in-demand names, have joined forces on new single “Heaterz.” Released via west London rapper AJ’s own label, Revenge Records, the track samples “Gunshot Riddim” by pioneering grime producer Ironsoul. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Heaterz” forms part […]
Snoop Dogg’s Missionary album is on the horizon, and the Doggfather alongside Dr. Dre dropped off the second single from the LP on Thursday (Nov. 21) with “Outta Da Blue.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Snoop and Dre turn back the clock to trade bars over the […]
Numerous music documentaries are among 169 features that are vying for Oscar nominations for documentary feature film.
Music docs on the entry list include Elton John: Never Too Late; Eno (about Brian Eno); I Am: Celine Dion; Indigo Girls: It’s Only Life After All; Luther: Never Too Much (about Luther Vandross); Mad About the Boy – The Noel Coward Story; Music by John Williams; Piece by Piece (about Pharrell Williams); and The World According to Allee Willis.
John Williams is a five-time Oscar winner for his scores. Pharrell Williams has been nominated twice – best original song for “Happy from Despicable Me 2 and as a producer of best picture nominee Hidden Figures. Elton John is a two-time Oscar-winner for best original song.
The Greatest Night in Pop, the Netflix film about the 1985 recording session that produced “We Are the World,” is also on the eligible list. The much-decorated film was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for outstanding documentary or nonfiction special and is a current Grammy nominee for best music film.
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Also eligible: Following Harry, about Harry Belafonte’s social justice work; Studio One Forever (about the L.A. nightclub that is described as “America’s first gay disco”) and Flipside (about a comical attempt to save a New Jersey record store).
Non-music, but music-adjacent, docs that are eligible in the category include Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion, Jim Henson Idea Man and Remembering Gene Wilder.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences notes that “Some of the films have not yet had their required qualifying release and must fulfill that requirement and comply with all the category’s other qualifying rules to advance in the voting process.”
Members of the documentary branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees. The shortlist of 15 films will be announced on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
The Academy also announced feature films eligible for consideration in the animated feature film and international feature film categories.
Thirty-one features are eligible for consideration in the animated feature film category. To determine the five nominees, members of the Animation Branch are automatically eligible to vote in the category. Academy members outside of the Animation Branch are invited to opt in to participate and must meet a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category.
Eighty-five countries or regions have submitted films that are eligible for consideration in the international feature film category. An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (more than 40 minutes) produced outside the U.S. with a predominantly non-English dialogue track. Academy members from all branches are invited to opt in to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must meet a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category.
Preliminary voting for the 97th Academy Awards will begin on Monday, Dec. 9, and end on Friday, Dec. 13. Shortlists in select categories will be announced on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Nominations will be announced on Friday, Jan. 17.The 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.
You might recall that Future and Metro Boomin‘s hit two-fer We Don’t Trust You and it’s sequel album, We Still Don’t Trust You, were larded with shots at Drake. Not only from the two stars whose names were on the cover, but also from The Weeknd, A$AP Rocky and Kendrick Lamar. At the time, the barrage of disses were a head-scratcher to some, since Drizzy had worked with all parties in the past, even if some of those relationships had sometimes run hot and cold.
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Now, according to a series of tweets from hip-hop journalist Elliott Wilson of pages from the new Men of the Year issue of GQ in which Hitmakers of the Year Future and Metro Boomin dig into the origins of their beef with Drake, the heart of the matter was personal, not professional.
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“Me and [Drake], we had a personal issue, and for the record, not over no girl or nothing silly like that,” Metro told GQ senior editor Frazier Tharpe about the war of words sparked by the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 Kendrick Lamar-featuring song he produced for the first Trust You volume, “Like That”; that track was a response to the 2023 Drake/J. Cole song “First Person Shooter.”
“It was a personal issue that really hurt me and disappointed me,” Boomin’ said, without specifying what he was referring to. “But if you take all the rap entertainment out of it, it’s like, have you ever been real cool with somebody, and y’all fell out over something? It happens every day. It’s just regular s–t. This just happens to have an audience.”
As for chatter that Boomin’ cooked up his two-album set with Future with the explicit aim of dumping on Drake, the producer/songwriter said that was “for sure” nonsense. “People really think we sat for two years, making two albums [to be] like, Yo, f–k this dude. What kind of s-t is that?,” Boomin, 31, said. “You really think we are going to spend that much time, effort, resources on just trying to get at somebody on an album? Blowing budgets on two albums—going over budget? That’s some serious hate. Neither one of us rock like that.”
Though the albums kicked up a lot of dust and attention, Boomin told the magazine that he did have some regrets about how he handled the issue online in a series of tweets attacking Drake in response to Drizzy firing back with his own Metro/Lamar diss tracks, “Push Ups” and “Family Matters.”
“Now I did have my moment online, which I do regret. I should have been stronger than that. That was out of character for me,” Boomin said. “But at a certain point, it’s like, I don’t rap, bro, so you’re going to just s–t on me on all of these songs […] I’m not going to get in the booth, so I’m finna tweet at you.”
While Boomin was willing to open up about his feelings about the feud, Future was more circumspect, saying, “There was a beef?… I didn’t even know there was a beef. I didn’t even know they had nothing going on. I ain’t never participated in rap battles, man.”
Despite his seemingly joking response, Future did wonder why no one asked him if he was upset at being left out of the “Big Three” list on “First Person Shooter,” on which Cole claimed he, Drake and Lamar are the undisputed top tier of modern hip-hip.
“I’m supposed to be the one who gets mad; I’m still confused about that,” Future told GQ, according to Wilson’s posts. “Nobody cares what I think. That’s what was so f–ked up about the s–t. To the point where I’m so player that I ain’t even said anything to the public about how I feel about it. Like, why is everybody mad when he was talking about me on my song? So y’all just forgot about me, I ain’t part of this Big Three, I’m nobody on my song, man.”
At press time a spokesperson for GQ had not responded to Billboard‘s request for confirmation of the quotes posted by Wilson.
Last month, in a tweet from jail, Young Thug called for peace between Drake, Future and Metro. “@Drake @1future @MetroBoomin we all bruddas. Music aint the same without us collabin,” wrote the MC who was released from jail after cutting a plea deal in his long running YSL RICO case in Georgia.
The winter edition of Belgian dance mega-festival Tomorrowland has announced a sprawling lineup for its event this March in the French Alps. The bill includes Tomorrowland regulars Afrojack, Amelie Lens, Steve Aoki, Axwell, Nervo, Armin van Buuren and Kolsch, along with a flurry of acts including Agents of Time, Joris Voorn, LP Giobbi, Hugel, Nina […]
Many of country music’s biggest names were all under one roof Wednesday night (Nov. 20) for the 2024 Country Music Association Awards, where stars such as Jelly Roll, Shaboozey and more took the stage for a number of memorable performances. In addition to sentimental tributes to George Strait — which was led by one of […]
Shaboozey is taking things in stride after Wednesday night’s (Nov. 20) CMA Awards — and following a curious comment from Cody Johnson’s producer Trent Willmon.
At the CMAs — which were held at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena — Shaboozey was nominated for new artist of the year and single of the year for “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” The smash hit has led the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 for 18 nonconsecutive weeks, and is one week away from setting a new record. Shaboozey also performed during the ceremony.
Meanwhile, Johnson was a big winner during the evening, picking up album of the year for his project Leather, which featured his recent hits “The Painter” and “Dirt Cheap.” It was a crowning moment for the Texas native known affectionately by fans as CoJo, who has been steadily building his reputation for recording stellar songs and putting on high-energy concerts.
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When Johnson and his producer Willmon took the stage to accept the honor, Willmon told the audience, “It takes an army of people to make a great record, but I gotta tell ya, this is for this cowboy who’s been kicking shaboozey for a lot of years, y’all.”
Many country music fans took to social media with anger and confusion over the comment, which seemingly threw shade at Shaboozey, though some were not certain if the comment was a deliberate dig at the “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” hitmaker, or an unfortunate attempt at a joke that simply came off wrong.
Either way, Shaboozey doesn’t seem bothered by the comment. Shaboozey tweeted a photo of himself after the show, with the caption, “Ain’t nobody kicking me!”
Shaboozey may not have taken home a CMA trophy, but he has more shots at awards accolades ahead of him, as he’s up for five Grammy Awards in 2025, including multiple nominations for “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” in the categories of best country song, best country solo performance and song of the year. Shaboozey is also up for the Grammy for best new artist, while the song “Spaghettii,” his collaboration with Beyoncé and Linda Martell on the pop superstar’s Cowboy Carter, is up for best melodic rap performance.
Wednesday night’s (Nov. 20) 58th annual Country Music Association Awards showcased the best and brightest that country has to offer, from its rising stars to a moving tribute to the man they call the King of Country, George Strait.
It also featured multiple appearances from fresh-to-the-genre rapper-turned-crooner Post Malone, as well as a couple spotlight moments for Jelly Roll, who cemented his status as one of the brightest, most inspiring singers in Nashville when he held his own with Brooks & Dunn during a performance of their inspiring gospel-tinged track “Believe.”
Malone and Chris Stapleton kicked things off with their duet “California Sober,” followed by new artist of the year winner Megan Moroney’s glitzy “Am I Okay?” and Shaboozey’s ramble through his ballad “Highway,” which gave way to his 18-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 smash “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
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Other notable duets came from Kelsea Ballerini and Noah Kahan on “Cowboys Cry Too,” Thomas Rhett and Teddy Swims mashing up “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Woman” and “Lose Control,” and Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood’s “I’m Gonna Love You.”
Though he went into the night with seven nominations, entertainer of the year winner Morgan Wallen was a no-show, while Stapleton had a great night, winning three of the top five prizes, including single of the year and song of the year for “White Horse.”
If you missed some, or all, of the action, check out all of the 2024 CMA Awards performances below.
Post Malone and Chris Stapleton
The dynamic duo opened the show in style with a run through their weed-is-acceptable anthem from Posty’s hit debut country album, F-1 Trillion.
Megan Moroney
The new artist of the year honoree brought the glam with a bedazzled performance of the title track from her latest album, Am I Okay?
Shaboozey
For a minute there it seemed like this year’s breakthrough country superstar might eschew his ubiquitous hit in favor of the more contemplative new single, “Highway.” No worries, though, he also came through with a high-spirited take on “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” that had the all-star crowd at Bridgestone Arena dancing and singing along.
Ella Langley and Riley Green
After winning musical event of the year before the broadcast, the duo performed their honored old-school duet, “You Look Like You Love Me,” with Langley moseying to the stage after starting out on the arena floor as she sang-talked her way to the barroom set on the main stage. Green followed suit, making the same slow walk with his trusty acoustic slung across his chest.
Thomas Rhett and Teddy Swims
Dressed in their finest black leathers, Rhett and Swims started in the venue’s backstage area and slow walked into the spotlight for a rumble through the former’s soulful “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Woman” from Rhett’s seventh studio album, About a Woman. Keeping the love vibes going, they pivoted to Swims’ equally impassioned Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Lose Control.”
Luke Combs
Combs lit up the stage with his Twisters soundtrack hit “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” barreling through the rock-tinged track on a set featuring giant rusty oil derricks, towering pyro effects and digital lightning flashing behind him.
Kelsea Ballerini and Noah Kahan
Ballerini and Kahan performed their duet “Cowboys Cry Too” — the lead single from Ballerini’s recently released fifth album, Patterns — live for the first time together on TV.
Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood
With images of snow-capped mountains behind them, Johnson and Underwood gave us all the feels with their moving duet from the deluxe edition of his 2023 Leather album.
Chris Stapleton
The night’s big winner proved why he’s a humble Nashville favorite son with an unadorned, mesmerizing performance of his Higher ballad “What Am I Gonna Do,” accompanied by his “secret weapon,” wife singer/songwriter Morgane Stapleton.
Kacey Musgraves
Musgraves didn’t need anything besides her trusty acoustic and her bell-clear voice to strum her way through the wonder-of-the-universe single “The Architect” from this year’s Deeper Well album.
Brooks & Dunn and Jelly Roll
The triple-threat trio brought the CMAs to church with their emotional, soaring performance of the beloved duo’s gospel-tinged “Believe,” backed by a full orchestra and swaying choir.
Lainey Wilson
The evening’s co-host took the crowd to a nighttime tailgate party with her impassioned run through her latest single, “4x4xU,” surrounded by roaring campfires and glittering stars.
Bailey Zimmerman
Injecting some rock energy into the proceedings, Zimmerman cut loose with his twangy “New to Country” on a set accented by a four-wheeler, his initials in towering red letters and a bunch of Solo cup-swigging bros playing beer pong with a wrestler.
George Strait tribute featuring Lainey Wilson, Jamey Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Parker McCollum and Chris Stapleton
The beloved King of Country got his proper respect during a nine-minute, all-star tribute that kicked off with Wilson performing “Amarillo By Morning,” followed by Johnson’s take on “Give It Away,” Lambert and McCollum joining in on “Troubadour” and the Country Music Hall of Famer himself popping out with Stapleton for their collab, “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame.”
Ashley McBryde
McBryde’s reverential tribute to late country outlaw Kris Kristofferson via his classic “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” brought a hush over the arena as her crystalline voice was accompanied by a series of pictures of the beloved singer who died at 88 in September.
Luke Bryan
The American Idol judge and night’s co-host kept it simple with a bare bones, earnest run through his top 5 Country Airplay hit, “Love You, Miss You, Mean It.”
Eric Church
In his ongoing quest to keep a light on those Americans in his home state of North Carolina impacted by Hurricane Helene, Church played “Darkest Hour,” a song he released last month to help with recovery efforts. The impassioned Van Morrison-like ballad, which found Church backed by a horn and string section and choir, featured projected images from the aftermath of the devastating storm.
Editor’s note: At press time Post Malone’s solo performance of his ballad “Yours,” Jelly Roll and Keith Urban’s team-up on “Liar” and the “American Girl” finale with Dierks Bentley, Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes were not available on the CMAs YouTube feed.
After a trajectory that spans over 20 years, Zion y Lennox are parting ways. Zion (real name: Felix Gerardo Ortiz Torres) announced the news on his Instagram account, where he revealed that after a “careful evaluation” since the beginning of 2024, he made the decision to separate from his long-time duo member, Lennox (real name: […]