Music

30 Nov 2022

Billboard Launches Fan-Centric Music Community with Bebops

Following the success of Billboard ChartStars, Billboard and Web3 technology partner Unblocked are launching a new venture that’s out of this world. Bebops are Billboard’s latest NFT community, bridging the gap between music fans and Web3 enthusiasts. 

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The Bebops are an alien species who are drawn to earth’s popular music. Like music stans, they always know what’s trending, who’s on the Billboard charts, and they are determined to make sure that fans are at the center of the next revolution in music: Web3. Each Bebop is a one-of-a-kind avatars that lives on the Flow Blockchain. Each Bebop is designed to have a unique combination of colors, facial features, and accessories.

Music fans who purchase a Bebop will get verified ownership of their Bebop avatar and access to an exclusive, fan-centric community on Discord. The Bebops community will be an online space for fans to share their passion for all things music, whether it be the latest Billboard Hot 100 chart or discussing a new album drop. Billboard and Unblocked also plan to celebrate the community with fan-centric experiences as Bebops continue to grow.

“I am thrilled to support Billboard Bebops and explore the limitless potential Web3 has to create new music experiences driven by community, playfulness, and personal taste,” says Dana Droppo, Chief Brand Officer of Billboard.

Billboard Bebops will be available on Billboard ChartStars on Tuesday, December 6, starting at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT. For more information on pricing, availability and becoming a member of the Bebops community, click here.

30 Nov 2022

Disturbed’s ‘Divisive’ Debuts at No. 1 on Hard Rock, Alternative Album Charts

Disturbed crowns Billboard’s Top Alternative Albums and Top Hard Rock Albums charts, as Divisive bows at No. 1 on the Dec. 3-dated rankings.

Divisive starts with 26,000 equivalent album units earned in the Nov. 18-24 tracking week, according to Luminate, with 22,000 units via album sales.

Disturbed now boasts six No. 1s on Top Hard Rock Albums and five on Top Alternative Albums, which each began in 2007. The David Draiman-fronted band first ruled with 2008’s Indestructible and had most recently led with 2018’s Evolution. Disturbed’s only album in that span to hit No. 1 on Top Hard Rock Albums but not Top Alternative Albums was its 2011 B-sides round-up The Lost Children, which peaked at No. 4 on the latter list.

Only two acts have more No. 1s on Top Hard Rock Albums than Disturbed: Five Finger Death Punch and Pearl Jam, with seven apiece.

Most No. 1s, Top Hard Rock Albums
7, Five Finger Death Punch
7, Pearl Jam
6, Disturbed
6, Foo Fighters
6, Korn
6, Linkin Park
5, Breaking Benjamin
5, Lamb of God
5, Marilyn Manson
5, Nickelback

Divisive also begins at No. 3 on both Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums.

On the all-format Billboard 200, the album debuts at No. 13. The band counts five total No. 1s on the all-genre chart, beginning with Believe in 2002. The set also starts as the highest arrival on Top Album Sales, at No. 3, behind only Taylor Swift’s Midnights (57,000) and Michael Jackson’s reissued Thriller (27,000).

Concurrently, four songs from Divisive appear on Hot Hard Rock Songs, paced by lead single “Hey You” at No. 5. The song earned 2.7 million audience impressions on radio and 903,000 official U.S. streams from Nov. 18-24. It’s followed by “Bad Man,” new at No. 6 (1.6 million airplay impressions, 1.2 million streams and 1,000 sold).

“Hey You” ruled Mainstream Rock Airplay for three weeks in September, while “Bad Man” lifts 19-18 in its second week on the ranking.

30 Nov 2022

RM Offers a Taste of Debut Album ‘Indigo’ With ‘Wild Flower’ Single Teaser: Watch

ARMY, there’s just a few more days to go until RM’s debut solo album, Indigo, arrives. To further drum up anticipation for the LP, the BTS rapper dropped the official teaser for the album’s lead track, “Wild Flower,” on Wednesday (Nov. 30).

While the teaser gives little instrumentally, “Wild Flower” — which features South Korean rock singer youjeen — has atmospheric drum and synth beats. The video itself is based in nature, with the camera going through a serene field of wheat before panning to RM walking on a plain and admiring the sunrise. The scene then cuts to a perspective from above the clouds, which rumbles with pockets of lighting, then pivots back to a wide angle of RM atop a mountain with one tree.

The video concludes with the release date and time for “Wild Flower”: Dec. 2 at 12 a.m. ET and 2 p.m. KT. Indigo will also be released on Dec. 2.

As for the rest of the the album, RM teased its themes in a preview video shared on Nov. 22. “Record of RM: Indigo. From the colors of nature, human, etc. Documentation of my youth in the moment of independent phase. Sun-bleached record faded like old jeans. The last archive of my twenties,” the video read.

Though Indigo will be RM’s first full-length solo album, the rapper previously released two mixtapes. He was the first of the BTS members to share solo material, dropping his self-titled mixtape in 2015, which contained singles “Do You,” “Awakening” and “Joke.” RM then released a second mixtape in 2018 titled Mono. “Forever Rain” was released as the only single from the latter body of work; the set debuted at No. 26 on the Billboard 200.

Watch the teaser for “Wild Flower” in the video above.

30 Nov 2022

Which Artist Topped Your Spotify Wrapped ’22?

Spotify Wrapped 2022 is finally upon us, and we here at Billboard are curious to know which artist reigned supreme over the course of the year on your account!

Plenty of superstars released new music in 2022 that fans streamed on repeat, but did you get down to Beyoncé‘s Renaissance or Drake‘s Honestly, Nevermind? Were you more enamored by Rosalía‘s MOTOMAMI or Anitta‘s Versions of Me?

Of course, Taylor Swift swept in at the eleventh hour of Spotify’s data collection period and gave Swifties the world over the gift of Midnights. Are you in the top .01 percent of Tay’s listeners? Or maybe “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” held over from the end of 2021 and retained a top spot on your playlist for 2022.

Perhaps you spent most of your year hunkered down in Harry’s House, with Harry Styles‘ providing the soundtrack with “As It Was,” “Late Night Talking,” “Music For a Sushi Restaurant” and more off his beloved third solo album.

And of course, we can’t forget the power of Bad Bunny, whose fifth studio set Un Verano Sin Ti has dominated the Billboard 200 by landing at No. 1 for 13 non-consecutive weeks since its release back in May.

BLACKPINK also made history this year by becoming the first girl group to earn a No. 1 album on the Billboard chart in the 14 years since Danity Kane‘s 2008 record Welcome to the Dollhouse thanks to their sophomore album Born Pink. Did you taste that “Pink Venom” or get revved up to “Shut Down”?

Vote in Billboard‘s Spotify Wrapped ’22 poll below and let us know which artist defined your year!

30 Nov 2022

Eladio Carrión’s ‘Sen2 Kbrn Vol. 2’ Debuts in Top 5 on Top Latin Albums Chart

Eladio Carrión secures his third top 10 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart as Sen2 Kbrn, Vol. 2 debuts at No. 4 on the Dec. 3-dated list. The album is the follow-up to Sen2 Kbrn, Vol. 1 which debuted and peaked at No. 20 in July 2021.

Sen2 Kbrn, Vol. 2 was released Nov. 18 via Rimas Entertainment. The set debuts in the top five on Top Latin Albums and Latin Rhythm Albums with 10,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. after its first tracking week ending Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, according to Luminate. Vol. 2 also launches at No. 121 on the overall Billboard 200, the only one of the Sen2 Kbrn volumes to score an entry there.

On the multi-metric Top Latin Albums chart, each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.

The majority of Vol. 2’s opening sum derives from streaming equivalent album units which equates to 15 million on-demand official streams for the album’s songs.

As mentioned, with the new entry, Carrión earns his third straight top 10, after another volume 2 album. Sauce Boyz 2 gave the Puerto Rican rapper his highest mark on the tally to date: a No. 2 debut and peak in December 2021. Previously, Carrión achieved his first entry and top 10 through the No. 8 high Sauce Boyz in 2020.

Meanwhile, Sen2 Kbrn, Vol. 2 gives Carrión his fourth straight top 10 on Latin Rhythm Albums, including the No. 8-peaking Monarca in January 2021.

As Vol. 2 arrives, two songs from the album debut on the Hot Latin Songs chart. “Mbappe,” the track dedicated to French soccer player Kylian Mbappé, leads the new recruits, debuting at No. 21, largely from its streaming activity, with 17.7 million official streams logged in the week ending Nov. 24. It also grants Carrión his highest charting title on the multi-metric tally.

Meanwhile, “Gladiador” follows at No. 39, likely from its streaming activity (1.5 million official streams). Hot Latin Songs blends airplay, streaming activity, and digital sales.

30 Nov 2022

Jennifer Lopez Reveals She Wants to Make a ‘Gigli’ Sequel in ‘73 Questions’: Watch

Get ready to learn exactly 73 new facts about Jenny from the block. For Vogue‘s latest “73 Questions” video, Jennifer Lopez opened up about the sequel to one of her movies she’d most like to make (hint: it would also star her husband, Ben Affleck!) and talked about new music, motherhood and more.

Wearing khaki trousers and a cropped white button-up, J. Lo started the video by opening her front door to greet Vogue and let viewers in to her Los Angeles home. On a wooden table in her entryway rests a framed photo of her and Affleck, her husband since July of this year, who was the subject of a couple of the “On the Floor” singer’s answers.

When asked about who makes her laugh the most between takes on film sets, a small smile spread across Lopez’s face. “My husband,” she said, grinning. “Ben.”

The Marry Me actress also revealed that of all the films she’s made, she’d most want to star in a sequel to Gigli — aka, the movie set on which she first met Affleck.

Lopez announced just days prior to the Wednesday (Nov. 30) “73 Questions” interview that she’ll be releasing her first proper album in eight years in 2023. In celebration of the 20th anniversary of her 2002 hit record This Is Me … Then, the new album will be titled This Is Me … Now, and will feature 13 tracks.

“People think they know things about what happened to me along the way, the men I was with — but they really have no idea, and a lot of times they get it so wrong,” she said in her Nov. 8 Vogue cover story. “There’s a part of me that was hiding a side of myself from everyone. And I feel like I’m at a place in my life, finally, where I have something to say about it.”

The Bronx native spoke in more detail about her new music, life and her decades-long career for “73 Questions,” opening up about her sprawling film credits — Hustlers challenged her the most, her title character in Selena is the most like her in real life — as well as parenting her two children, Max and Emme.

“The most rewarding thing is that they wind up teaching you,” she said of her kids, adding that the “teenage years” are the most intimidating.

Watch Jennifer Lopez answer 73 questions for Vogue below:

30 Nov 2022

J-Hope Lights Up 2022 MAMA Awards With ‘Jack in the Box’ Performance Medley: Watch

It’s Hobi’s world, and we’re all just living in. BTS rapper J-Hope shined at the 2022 MAMA Awards on Wednesday (Nov. 30), first with a show-stopping walk on the red carpet, and later on stage with his performance of songs “MORE,” “Arson” and “Future” from his debut solo album Jack in the Box.

Before going on stage, J-Hope turned out an all-black look on the red carpet, looking sleek in a suit jacket with satin lapels, a casually unbuttoned black dress shirt, trousers and shoes. Though his look was more than enough to send ARMY into a panic, even the red-carpet commentators couldn’t contain themselves, saying “wow” several times before chatting with him.

For the rapper’s performance, he stuck with the Jack in the Box theme, first with several ornate boxes piled high on stage. J-Hope appeared atop of the towering display holding a box of his own, which the camera zoomed in to and then featured him — alongside a small army of backup of dancers — rapping “MORE” from the inside of a checkered box.

At the four-minute mark of his performance, Hope went solo, giving an enthusiastic delivery of “Arson” with fiery stage props and red screens to accompany him.

The rapper then stripped things back. The fiery stage was cooled off when his more peaceful performance of “Future” rolled around, which was preceded by screens that read “Music has the power to connect us. Music is what moves the soul, so let’s come together and step into the future.” Hope passionately delivered the song’s refrain — “Always, I need it too/ When I said I do/ Courage and faith/ Rhythm of positivity/ Always, I need it too” — to the audience, who swayed their light sticks in tune with the track.

After the rapper’s appearance at the MAMAs, the official BTS Twitter shared their congrats with the idol and thanked ARMY for making his appearance possible. “J-Hope who set 2022 MAMA AWARDS’ stage on fire! Including a valuable award that J-Hope and BTS received because of ARMY’s cheers/support! Thank you ARMY!” the account wrote.

J-Hope won the award for most popular male artist at the 2022 MAMAs. See the full list of winners here, and watch J-Hope’s performances and red carpet appearance below.

30 Nov 2022

Watch Tanya Tucker in the Trailer for ‘A Nashville Country Christmas’

Country music fans are getting an early holiday gift! Tanya Tucker is set to star in the movie A Nashville Country Christmas, which will premiere Monday, Dec. 12, at 8 p.m. ET via Paramount Network, with a simulcast on CMT.

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Tucker portrays a country music singer who is overwhelmed with her work on an over-the-top Hollywood production and seeks respite by retreating to her grandmother’s Tennessee farm. However, she also finds much-needed reconnection on several levels, from rekindling a romance with an ex-lover, returning to her own musical roots, and discovering a unique familial bond when she realizes three children who have outsmarted the local foster care system are instead residing at the family’s property.

In addition to Tucker, the cast includes Keith Carradine, Ana Oritz and Olivia Sanabia. Tucker also serves as an executive producer on the project, alongside Stephanie Slack, Margret Huddleston, Ali Spuck and Kristofer McNeeley.

“It’s amazing that after 50 years in this business, I get to see my dreams become reality! And being part of A Nashville Country Christmas is definitely one of them,” Tucker said in a statement. “I’ve always wanted to do more acting, and it was a gift from the good Lord when this role came along. I can’t wait for everyone to enjoy the movie this season.”

The film was produced by Andrew Gernhard and Dustin Rikert, and directed by Ashley Williams. For MTV Entertainment Studios, executive producers include Trevor Rose, Leslie Fram, Amal Baggar, Andrew Lutin and Donny Hugo Herran.

An encore presentation of A Nashville Country Christmas will air Sunday, Dec. 25, at 11 a.m. ET on CMT.

The romantic holiday movie is the latest film project for two-time CMA Award winner Tucker, who recently teamed with Brandi Carlile for the documentary The Return of Tanya Tucker, which chronicles Tucker’s five decades in the music industry, as well as the making of her Grammy-winning album While I’m Livin’ (produced by Carlile and Shooter Jennings). Over the years, Tucker has also appeared in several TV movies and series, including 1979’s The Rebels and 1981’s The Love Boat. In 2005, she starred in and served as executive producer for the reality series Tuckerville.

Watch the official trailer for A Nashville Country Christmas below:

30 Nov 2022

Kygo to Debut Winter Edition of Palm Tree Music Festival In Aspen With Co-Headliner Jack White

Kygo may be mostly closed associated with swaying palm trees and gentle ocean waves, but the producer’s Palm Tree Music Festival is expanding to a location with a lot more snow.

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Today (Nov. 30), the producer announces his Palm Music Tree festival will set-up shop in the ski haven of Aspen, Colorado this Feb. 24-25.

Kygo will headline one night of the event, with Jack White headlining the second. The rest of the lineup includes Gryffin, King Princess, Cannons and Forester, with additional acts to be announced in the coming months.

“Aspen holds a special place in our hearts, and we love spending time there,” Kygo tells Billboard. “We thought it would be fun to bring to the festival to a beautiful location that has provided so many incredible memories over the years and with partners who are like family to us.”

The Aspen edition of Palm Tree Music Festival is produced by Kygo’s own Palm Tree Crew, along with Belly Up Aspen and C3 Presents. This is the event’s first ever winter edition, with the other U.S. show happening in The Hamptons this past June and additional recent editions in Croatia and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

While winter temperatures are perhaps counterintuitive to the sea breeze and boats of Kygo persona, the Aspen edition of Palm Tree Music festival does much to expand the leisure-centric lifestyle brand that the Norwegian producer born Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll and his manger Myles Shear have built over the years. In Kygo’s Billboard cover story this past March, the pair noted how their goal with Palm Tree is to emulate Jimmy Buffett’s massively successful Margaritaville lifestyle brand.

This makes the upcoming Aspen event something of a full circle moment, with Kygo and Shear first meeting the AM radio icon years ago at the Belly Up venue in — you guessed it — Aspen.

“To be able to produce an event like this here in our community is something we have been diligently working on for a long time,” say David and Danny Goldberg of Belly Up Aspen.

“We are super proud to launch our first winter edition of Palm Tree Music Festival in Aspen and build something that has never been done during the peak winter season in the middle of downtown Aspen,” adds Shear. “Palm Tree Crew is making history here in Aspen and we are stoked to finally see this event come to life.

Tickets for Palm Tree Music Festival Aspen go on sale tomorrow (Dec. 1.)

30 Nov 2022

Kesha’s ‘Warrior’ at 10: Every Song Ranked From Worst to Best

After bursting onto the pop scene in 2009 as the featured vocalist on Flo Rida’s “Right Round” and with her own Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Tik Tok,” Kesha (going by Ke$ha at the time) quickly established herself as one of the top party-girl singers of her generation. After the success of her debut album Animal and its follow-up EP Cannibal (both 2010), Kesha took her second studio album, Warrior, as an opportunity to show the world there was more to her than just tipsy club anthems.

Released 10 years ago (Nov. 30, 2012 in Australia; Dec. 4, 2012 in America), Warrior saw Kesha building upon the pop aesthetic she had already established—one of joy, fun and freedom—while realizing more of her potential as an artist, successfully incorporating rock, punk and country into her existing palette of pop, hip-hop and dance. On top of that, Warrior saw her becoming more lyrically raw and personal on a handful of tracks — this newfound vulnerability helped manifest the album’s central theme of embracing your inner warrior.

While Warrior didn’t achieve as much success as the Billboard 200-topping Animal, peaking at No. 6 on that chart, its lead single “Die Young” was a commercial success, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Subsequent singles “C’Mon” and “Crazy Kids” peaked at Nos. 27 and 40, respectively.

Ultimately, the album continued to demonstrate Kesha’s star power and ability to make a mark on the pop music industry — and in some ways, it gave hints of what was to come on her triumphant return in 2017 with Rainbow.

Here, we rank all the standard tracks of Warrior in celebration of it turning 10.