Music

04 Nov 2022

‘George & Tammy’ Starring Jessica Chastain & Michael Shannon Sets Showtime Premiere

Showtime has picked up George & Tammy, the six-part limited series about country icons and married couple George Jones and Tammy Wynette, starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain.

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The premiere episode will debut simultaneously on Showtime and the Paramount Network on Dec. 4 following Yellowstone. The series had originally been slated to run entirely on Paramount before it shifted to Showtime. 

“Jessica and Michael are truly extraordinary as Tammy and George and their searing performances and undeniable chemistry bring to life the legendary relationship of the King and Queen of country music,” said Chris McCarthy, president/CEO, Showtime and Paramount Media Networks, via a statement. “The creators and the entire cast have delivered a series with the subtlety, nuance and complexity that are the hallmarks of the Showtime brand and what our viewers deserve and demand.”

In addition to Shannon and Chastain, the series also stars Steve Zahn, Kelly McCormack, Walton Goggins, Pat Healy, David Wilson Barnes and Katy Mixon. Created by Abe Sylvia and directed by John Hillcoat, it is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios, 101 Studios, Freckle Films, Mad Chance, Brolin Productions, Aunt Sylvia’s Moving Picture Co. and Blank Films Inc.

“I am thrilled Showtime is bringing George & Tammy to audiences all over the world,” said David Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios and Executive Producer. “This has been Jessica, Abe & [executive producer] Andrew [Lazar’s] labor of love for 11 years and to see it all come together is pure joy.  Jessica and Michael bring all of the heart, love, tragedy and drama to this epic love story of George & Tammy.”

Shannon and Chastain are presenters on Nov. 9’s CMA Awards. 

03 Nov 2022

Kanye West Says He’s Taking a ‘30-Day Cleanse’ From Speaking, Sex & Alcohol

Kanye West shared a string of tweets on Thursday (Nov. 3), during which he revealed that he will be taking a “fast” from speaking, alcohol, sex and porn.

“I’m not talking to nooobody for a month,” he captioned a post that reads, “I’m taking a 30 day cleanse, a verbal fast. No alcohol, no adult films, no intercourse.” He concluded by noting that his “Twitter still lit,” implying that he will still be active on social media during his cleanse.

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Ye continued his Twitter spree by praising basketball star Kyrie Irving, who has also been controversial about in the news in the past few years.

West’s Instagram account was restricted again on Monday (Oct. 31) following his latest reported violation of the platform’s policies. “We deleted content from @kanyewest for violating our policies and placed a restriction on the account,” a Meta spokesperson told Complex. “We may place restrictions on accounts that repeatedly break our rules, for example, we may temporarily restrict them from posting, commenting, or sending DMs.”

The latest locking of Ye’s account comes after Instagram and Twitter both placed temporary restrictions on his social media accounts after he posted antisemitic comments earlier in October.

03 Nov 2022

‘Miss You’ x 2: Oliver Tree & Robin Schulz, southstar Soar on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart

“Miss You” continues to double up on Billboard‘s multimetric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart (dated Nov. 5), with one version surging by Oliver Tree and Robin Schulz and one by southstar.

Oliver Tree and Schulz storm three spots again this week (7-4), after debuting three weeks ago at No. 10, earning top Streaming Gainer honors with their version of the song. “Miss” motors with 5.9 million official streams, up 16%, and sales of 500 downloads, up 193%, in the U.S. in the Oct. 21-27 tracking week, according to Luminate.

Concurrently, the track improves on Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs (4-2) and bows on Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales (No. 13).

The twosome is not alone with “Miss You,” as Berlin-based southstar (aka Leon Kirschnek) starts on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with his version of the song at No. 11, fueled by 1.6 million domestic streams.

“Miss You” has the distinction of having two separate but very similar versions, with the first released by southstar in late July; a second, by Robin Schulz and Oliver Tree (whose track “Jerk” is sampled on the southstar version), dropped less than a week later. 

Fred again.. Again

London-based producer/singer/DJ Fred again.. (real name Fred Gibson) debuts at No. 25 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with “Delilah (Pull Me Out of This).” The track, which begins with 803,000 stateside streams, is the fourth and highest charting hit from his album Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022), released Oct. 28.

Fred Again.. has tallied 10 titles on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, starting with “Don’t Judge Me,” with FKA Twigs and Headie One (No. 23, February 2021). His haul includes “Delilah” and three other songs from Actual Life 3: “Bleu (Better With Time)” (No. 30, Oct. 1), “Danielle (Smile on My Face)” (No. 45, Oct. 8) and “Kammy (Like I Do)” (No. 48, Oct. 22). His collab with Swedish House Mafia, “Turn on the Lights Again..,” featuring Future, is his top-charting entry (No. 16, this August).

TELYKast Has Good Reception

Shifting to the Dance/Mix Show Airplay tally, TELYKast bounces into the top 10 with “Body to Body” (11-6). It’s the act’s third top 10, after “Nobody to Love,” with Loren Gray (No. 8, June 2021), and “Unbreakable,” with Sam Gray (No. 2, December 2021).

“Body” is scoring core-dance airplay on SiriusXM’s BPM, Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel and iHeartRadio’s Evolution Network, among other outlets. (The Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart measures radio airplay on a select group of full-time dance stations, along with plays during mix shows on around 70 top 40-formatted reporters.)

03 Nov 2022

Rihanna, Lady Gaga & More Nominated for 2022 Hollywood Music in Media Awards: Full List

Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Drake are among the songwriters battling for song – feature film at the 2022 Hollywood Music in Media Awards. The HMMAs honor composers, songwriters and music supervisors for their work in film, television and video games.

Unlike the Oscars, which have just five nominees for best original song and five for best original score, the HMMAs this year have 32 nomination slots for songs across five categories and 49 slots for scores across eight categories. As a result, nominations here are much easier to come by. Even so, the HHMAs are seen as early indicators of the Oscars. Nominations-round voting for the Oscars extends from Jan. 12-17, 2023. Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan. 24.

Composers receiving multiple nominations include Finneas, Danny Elfman, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross and Simon Franglen. Songwriter nominees include Selena Gomez, Drake, Tanya Tucker, Mel Brooks and Jazmine Sullivan.

Michael Giacchino has an impressive three of the six HHMA nominations for score – sci-fi film. He is nominated for Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Batman and Thor: Love and Thunder, which he composed with Nami Melumad.

Two of the most intriguing categories are ones where the Oscars don’t have an equivalent. The HMMAs have a separate category for song – onscreen performance. (Nominations go to the performers, not the songwriters.) The nominees are Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava’s “Naatu Naatu” from RRR, Austin Butler’s “Baby Let’s Play House” from Elvis, Knights of Swing’s “Cucamonga” from Knights of Swing, Billy Eichner’s “Love Is Not Love” from Bros and Jennifer Lopez’s “On My Way (Marry Me)” from Marry Me.

The Oscars also don’t have an equivalent category for music-themed film, biopic or musical. At the Oscars, these films compete with all other films for best picture. The nominees are Elvis, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, Spirited, Tár and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Nominations go the film producer(s) and director(s).

Nor do the Oscars have a category for music documentary/special program. At the Oscars, these films compete with all other docs for best documentary feature. The nominees are Halftime, Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song, Killing Me Softly With His Songs, Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues, Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, Still Working 9 to 5 and The Voice of Dust and Ash. Here too, nominations go the film producer(s) and director(s).

The awards will be presented Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m. PT at The Avalon in Hollywood.

Here’s the complete list of nominees:

Song – feature film

“Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Written by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, and Ludwig Göransson. Performed by Rihanna.

“(You Made it Feel Like) Home” from Bones and All. Written by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross. Performed by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Mariqueen Maandig Reznor.

“Love Is Not Love” from Bros. Written by Billy Eichner & Marc Shaiman. Performed by Billy Eichner.

“Do a Little Good” from Spirited. Written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Performed by Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell, Sunita Mani, Patrick Page and Tracy Morgan.

“Stand Up” from Till. Written by Jazmine Sullivan and D’Mile. Performed by Jazmine Sullivan.

“Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick. Written by Lady Gaga & BloodPop. Performed by Lady Gaga.

“Carolina” from Where the Crawdads Sing. Written and performed by Taylor Swift.

“new body rhumba” from White Noise. Written by James Murphy, Nancy Whang, Patrick Mahoney. Performed by LCD Soundsystem.

“The Songcord” from Avatar: The Way of Water. Written by Simon Franglen. Performed by Zoe Saldana

“Time” from Amsterdam. Written by Jahaan Sweet, Aubrey Drake Graham, Daniel Pemberton, Giveon Evans. Performed by Giveon.

Song – animated film

“Sunny Side Up Summer” from The Bob’s Burgers Movie. Written by Loren Bouchard, and Nora Smith. Performed by Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, H. Jon Benjamin, John Roberts, and Kristen Schaal.

“Nobody Like U” from Turning Red. Written by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell. Performed by 4*TOWN (Finneas O’Connell, Grayson Villanueva, Jordan Fisher, Josh Levi, and Topher Ngo)

“Lift Your Wings” from My Father’s Dragon. Written by Mychael Danna, Jeff Danna, Frank Danna, Nora Twomey, Meg LeFauve. Performed by Anohni.

“Turn Up the Sunshine” from Minions: The Rise of Gru. Written by Jack Antonoff, Kevin Parker, Sam Dew, Patrik Berger. Performed by Diana Ross and Tame Impala

“Ciao Papa” from Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio. Written by Alexandre Desplat, Lyrics by Roeben Katz and Guillermo del Toro. Performed by Gregory Mann

Song – documentary film

“My Mind and Me” from Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me. Written by Selena Gomez, Amy Allen, Jonathan Bellion, Michael Pollack, Stefan Johnson, Jordan K Johnson. Performed by Selena Gomez.

“At the Automat” from The Automat. Written and performed by Mel Brooks

“Ready As I’ll Never Be” from The Return of Tanya Tucker – Featuring Brandi Carlile. Written by Brandi Carlile and Tanya Tucker. Performed by Tanya Tucker.

“Sing a Brand New Song” from Killing Me Softly With His Songs. Written by Charles Fox and Lonnie “Common” Rashid Lynn. Performed by Donald Webber, Jr.

“Dust and Ash” from The Voice of Dust and Ash. Written by J. Ralph. Performed by Norah Jones

“We Are Art” from We Are Art Through the Eyes of Annalaura. Written by Annalaura di Luggo and Paky Di Maio. Performed by Annalaura di Luggo.

“A Sky Like I’ve Never Seen” from Wildcat. Written by Robin Pecknold. Performed by Fleet Foxes.

Song – independent film

“Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman. Written by Diane Warren. Performed by Sofia Carson.

“Til You’re Home” from A Man Called Otto. Written by David Hodges and Rita Wilson. Performed by Rita Wilson and Sebastián Yatra

“This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once. Written By Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski. Performed By Son Lux with Mitski and David Byrne.

“We Two Made One” from The Silent Twins. Written by Marcin Macuk, Zuzanna Wrońska, June Gibbons, Jennifer Gibbons. Performed by Tamara Lawrance.

“Stand the Test of Time” from Tomorrow’s Game. Written and performed by Lionel Cohen and Stefni Valencia.

Song – onscreen performance

“Naatu Naatu” from RRR – Rahul Sipligunj, Kaala Bhairava

“Baby Let’s Play House” from Elvis – Austin Butler

“Cucamonga” from Knights of Swing – Knights of Swing

“Love Is Not Love” from Bros – Billy Eichner

“On My Way (Marry Me)” from Marry Me – Jennifer Lopez

Score – feature film

Marcelo Zarvos – Emancipation

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Empire of Light

Nicholas Britell – She Said

Carter Burwell – The Banshees of Inisherin

Terence Blanchard – The Woman King

Abel Korzeniowski – Till

Mychael Danna – Where the Crawdads Sing

Danny Elfman – White Noise

Hildur Guðnadóttir – Women Talking

Score – animated film

Steve Jablonsky – DC League of Super-Pets

Alexandre Desplat – Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio

John Debney – Luck

Heitor Pereira – Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Daniel Pemberton – The Bad Guys

Finneas, Ludwig Göransson – Turning Red

Score – sci-fi film

Lorne Balfe – Black Adam

Ludwig Göransson – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Danny Elfman – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Michael Giacchino – Spider-Man: No Way Home

Michael Giacchino – The Batman

Michael Giacchino and Nami Melumad – Thor: Love and Thunder

Score – fantasy film

Tom Holkenborg –Three Thousand Years of Longing

Simon Franglen – Avatar: The Way of Water

James Newton Howard – Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Bruno Coulais – Wendell & Wild

Joseph Metcalfe, John Coda, Grant Kirkhope – The King’s Daughter

Score – horror film

Anna Drubich – Barbarian

John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter & Daniel Davies – Halloween Ends

Michael Abels – Nope

Lance Treviño – Scream Legacy

Mark Korven – The Black Phone

Colin Stetson – The Menu

Score – documentary

Simon Poole – Black Ice

Ray Angry, Rhiannon Giddens, Dirk Powell – Descendant

Lisbeth Scott – Gratitude Revealed

Emilie and Peter Bernstein – Landis: Just Watch Me

Jessica Jones – The Tinder Swindler

Clare Manchon, Olivier Manchon – Turn Every Page – The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb

Score – independent film

Xander Rodzinski – Dead for a Dollar

Jessica Weiss – Don’t Make Me Go

Son Lux – Everything Everywhere All at Once

Emilie Levienaise – Farrouch – Living

Alexandre Desplat – The Outfit

Rob Simonsen – The Whale

Score – independent film (foreign language)

Carlo Siliotto – Cuando Sea Joven (Spanish)

Paweł Mykietyn – EO (Polish)

Min He – Railway Heroes (Mandarin)

M. M. Keeravaani – RRR (Telugu)

Volker Bertelmann – War Sailor (Norwegian)

Music themed film, biopic or musical

Elvis – Produced by Gail Berman, Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Patrick McCormick, Schuyler Weiss. Directed by Baz Luhrmann

Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio – Produced by Alexander Bulkley, Corey Campodonico, Guillermo del Toro, Lisa Henson, Gary Ungar. Directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson

Spirited – Produced by Diana Pokorny, Daniel Silverberg, David Koplan, Sean Anders, John Morris, George Dewey, Jessica Elbaum, Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell. Directed by Sean Anders and John Morris.

Tár – Produced by Todd Field, Scott Lambert, Alexandra Milchan. Directed by Todd Field.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story – Produced by Eric Appel, Lia Buman, Mike Farah, Joe Farrell, Zachary Halley, Tim Headington, Whitney Hodack, Henry R. Munoz III, Neil Shah, Max Silva, ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic. Directed by Eric Appel.

Music documentary/special program

Halftime – Produced by Courtney Baxter, Jason B. Bergh, Bernardo Loyola, Christopher Rouse, Yong Yam. Directed by Amanda Micheli and Sam Wrench

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song – Produced and Directed by Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine

Killing Me Softly With His Songs – Directed by Danny Gold.

Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues – Produced by Oprah Winfrey, Derik Murray. Directed by Reginald Hudlin

Selena Gomez My Mind & Me – Produced by Alek Keshishian p.g.a., Michelle An p.g.a., Katherine LeBlond. Directed by Alek Keshishian

Still Working 9 to 5 – Produced and Directed by Camille Hardman and Gary Lane

The Voice of Dust and Ash – Produced by Frank Coraci and Fuschia Sumner. Directed by Mandana Biscotti

03 Nov 2022

What’s Your Favorite Whitney Houston Song of All Time? Vote!

A decade after her death, Whitney Houston‘s legacy is the focus of Billboard‘s latest cover story, with Primary Wave using the singer’s legendary catalog to supercharge the fortunes of her estate.

And speaking of that catalog, Houston notched a whopping 23 top 10 hits — including 11 No. 1s — on the Billboard Hot 100 across three decades. And now we want to know: Which of her songs is your all-time favorite?

“You Give Good Love,” the debut single from Houston’s eponymous debut album, peaked at No. 3 in July 1985, and its trio of follow-up singles — “Saving All My Love for You,” “How Will I Know” and “Greatest Love of All” — all shot to No. 1 on the chart for a combined total of six weeks.

By the release of 1987’s Whitney, Houston was a bona fide superstar, and she scored four more No. 1 hits with “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” and hit the top 10 with “Love Will Save the Day.”

In the early 1990s, the icon churned out more smashes with “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” “You’re All the Man That I Need” and “Miracle,” but it was the release of 1992’s The Bodyguard that she found her career-defining hit with a cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.” The power ballad ultimately spent 14 weeks reigning atop the Hot 100 and easily became the love song of a generation due to Houston’s sky-high vocals and emotional aplomb.

Throughout the rest of that decade and into the 2000s, her status as a hitmaker remained intact, with her 2001 reissue of “The Star Spangled Banner” serving as her final top 10 single in her lifetime.

From “Saving All My Love for You” to “My Love Is Your Love” and beyond, vote for the Whitney song you love best and let your voice be heard in Billboard‘s latest poll!

03 Nov 2022

Manuel Turizo’s ‘La Bachata’ No. 1 on Billboard Argentina Hot 100 Chart for Eighth Week

Manuel Turizo’s “La Bachata” spends an eighth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart (dated Oct. 29). The song enters a tie with Bizarrap and Quevedo’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52” for the second-most weeks at No. 1 in 2022, trailing only Tiago PZK’s “Entre Nosotros,” with LIT Killah, Nicki Nicole and Maria Becerra, which ruled for nine weeks this year (16 weeks overall).

Shakira and Ozuna earn the highest debut of the week as their first partnership, “Monotonía,” debuts at No. 7. While the former earns her second top 10, the latter collects his ninth. Meanwhile, Wisin & Yandel clock their first top 10 as a duo with their latest single “Besos Moja2” with Rosalía, which lifts 11-8. The Spaniard adds a sixth top 10 to her career board.

Argentinians DJ Tao and Callejero Fino earn their highest debut since both scored their first entry in 2021 as “DJ Tao Sessions #723” bows at No. 21.

Taylor Swift scores six debuts on the current chart, all stemming from her latest No. 1 album, Midnights. It’s the most simultaneous entries for a non-Spanish-speaking artist since the chart launched in 2018 (among all acts Bad Bunny continues to lead with a mammoth 17 entries on the same week). Swift’s “Anti-Hero” leads the pack at No. 40. Meanwhile, “Lavender Haze” starts at No. 70, “Snow on The Beach,” with Lana Del Rey, follows at No. 84, “Midnight Rain” at No. 94, “You’re on Your Own, Kid” at No. 98, while “Maroon” arrives at No. 100.

Back up the tally, Negro Dub claims his first entry as “El Último Romántico,” with L-Gante and Dt.Bilardo, opens ta No. 43.

Further, Maluma takes the Greatest Gainer honor of the week as “Junio” rallies 67-49.

Elsewhere, two South Korean groups score their first entry: (G)i-Dle’s “Nxde” bows at No. 52, while girl group Le Sserafim arrives at No. 74 with “Antifragile.” Plus, Estelares notch its second chart entry as “Encantan, featuring Enjambre,” opens at No. 79.

Meanwhile, Coldplay benefits from its Buenos Aires tour dates with a debut and a re-entry: “Yellow” arrives at No. 81, while “My Universe”, with BTS, rebounds at No. 86, after its No. 36 high in Oct. 2021.

The week’s other debuts include Coral’s “Mejor Que Tu Amor,” featuring Jorge Serrano, at No. 91, and Ozuna’s “Hey Mor,” featuring Feid, at No. 96.

03 Nov 2022

Prosecutor in Puerto Rico Says She Was Told in 2019 to Stop Investigating Kevin Fret Murder

For nearly four years, the deadly shooting of trap artist Kevin Fret has remained an unsolved and salacious mystery that cast a pall over the Latin music scene in Puerto Rico.

After Fret, 24, was shot twice on Jan. 10, 2019, while riding a scooter in the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan, his mother Hilda Rodriguez publicly accused reggaeton star Ozuna and his manager of ordering the death of her son, charges they have denied and that have not been proven.

Now the prosecutor who was assigned to the investigation, Betzaida Quiñones, says that unbeknownst to Fret’s family and the public, only three months after she began her probe, she was told by superiors to shut it down. In April of 2019, she was interviewing a witness, whom she did not name, when she received a phone call from a superior with a message: “From that point on I was not going to continue interviewing that person,” she said Tuesday on WAPA-TV’s Cuarto Poder. The investigation was at its “peak,” she said, “and I was never given an explanation.”

Quiñones’ public statements over the past week, made in a series of television interviews in Puerto Rico, have called the murder investigation into question, raised concerns about undue influence from the rich and powerful and added to questions about Wanda Vázquez, the former attorney general and ex-governor, who was Quiñones’ ultimate boss. 

In statements to the media, Quiñones has said that Vázquez and Olga Castellón, the head of the criminal unit in 2019, were involved in the alleged freezing of the investigation. 

Public officials, including the island territory’s governor and its current attorney general, Domingo Emanuelli, have promised to investigate the claims. On Thursday (Nov. 3), Emanuelli said that after reviewing “reports and documents related to the case” that he was referring the matter to the division of Public Integrity and Comptroller Affairs for further review.

“These are serious allegations that should be examined in greater detail in accordance with laws and regulations,” the attorney general said in a statement on Thursday. 

On Tuesday, Emanuelli said “there should be no doubt that if evidence of any improper intervention arises it will be investigated, no matter who the person is. We are not going to put the integrity of the Department of Justice and its officials at risk for anything or anyone.”

Ignacio Fernández, an attorney for Vázquez, defended the former governor. “It’s an absolute lie,” Fernández tells Billboard. “Why did [Quiñones] wait three years? She had an obligation to come forward at that time. If she doesn’t have the moral rectitude to not bend to powerful people, then that is on her.”

Fernández also defended Castellón, saying “there is no way that Olga would agree to anything like that. She would investigate her own mom if she had to.” (A spokesperson for the U.S. Justice Department in San Juan, where Castellón is an assistant U.S. Attorney, had no comment.)

Quiñones’ claims that higher-ups influenced the investigation have also renewed concerns about the San Juan police department’s handling of the murder probe. A police spokesperson tells Billboard that the case was transferred this September from the homicide division to its Major Crimes division that deals with cases of “high complexity.”

One of the homicide officers originally involved in questioning witnesses, Tito Rivera Hernández, took a selfie with Ozuna at the police station in February of 2019 following a police interview with the Latin star, which Rivera Hernández later posted on his social media accounts. 

Col. Roberto Rivera, the head of the investigative branch of the Police Bureau, said this week that his office had filed an administrative complaint against the officer related to his handling of the probe and had put him on leave pending results of the review. Rivera Hernández, who is currently working with a team of federal agents, would be reassigned to another police division if the federal team does not keep him on, according to El Nuevo Día, a Puerto Rican news outlet. 

The colonel said that until this October no other agent had investigated the Fret case and that the time Rivera Hernández dedicated to the murder probe “was not extensive” and “not what one expects from such an investigation.” (Rivera Hernández could not be reached for comment.)

Quiñones’ allegations also add to the scrutiny on Vázquez, who was Puerto Rico’s attorney general from 2017 to 2019 and then governor of the island in 2019 to 2021. In August, the Department of Justice arrested her and charged her with bribery and conspiracy in an alleged scheme to finance her 2020 campaign. (She has plead not guilty and expects to go to trial.)

Persons of Interest

In April of 2019, police officials told Billboard that investigators were searching for “two male persons of interest” and were “using every resource at [their] disposal to find these persons,” as well as following up on anonymous tips.

That April, Quiñones interviewed Vicente Saavedra, who is president of promotion and marketing agency Dímelo Vi, as well as Ozuna’s manager, for more than three hours. She also had planned to interview reggaeton and trap singer Arcángel.

But just days later, she said this week, she received a phone call from a superior telling her to shut down the probe. “I had a list of possible suspects, which was communicated at one point to the chief prosecutor [Castellón],” Quiñones said on Cuarto Poder. “It was a list of the possible people who could have participated in Kevin’s murder.” She added that, “obviously, [Fret] was active at that time in the musical world, which was what he wanted to pursue.”

After his meeting with the prosecutor, Saavedra said the prosecutor’s questions focused only on allegations that Fret had extorted money from Ozuna over a pornographic video that Ozuna had appeared in when he was a minor. Saavedra said he was not asked about Fret’s murder and that Quiñones told him he was not a person of interest in the case. (Quiñones said publicly in January of 2019 that she was not investigating Ozuna for the slaying. A police spokesperson this week would not tell Billboard if Ozuna was a person of interest in the case because the probe is ongoing.)

Nevertheless, Rodriguez, Fret’s mother, who lives in Massachusetts, has been insistent that Ozuna and Saavedra were somehow involved. “I know that it was [Ozuna] who ordered my son to be killed, together with Vicente Saavedra,” Rodriguez said in a TV interview in April of 2019. She alleged that Ozuna and Fret, who billed himself as the first gay trap Latin singer, had engaged in an “intimate relationship.” She said she had turned over text messages of conversations between the two artists to law-enforcement officials.

Ozuna’s attorney, Antonio Sagardía, told Billboard this week that Ozuna was only questioned about an alleged extortion scheme by Fret — not about the murder itself. He was not asked back for a second interview, the lawyer said. The controversy involving the alleged freezing of the investigation “has nothing to do with Ozuna,” Sagardía said. “That’s an internal matter with the Department of Justice.” (Sagardía has said his client had “nothing to do” with Fret’s murder.)

Rodriguez has denied that her son had engaged in extortion. After Fret found a link to Ozuna’s pornographic video, “the only thing Kevin asked of him was to help him sing as a featured artist on a song,” she said. According to Rodriguez, “Ozuna said, ‘No, I’m going to give you money and I want you to send me the link so that I can erase the video.” But she added that her son wasn’t the only person that had the video. Rodriguez claimed that her son did not want Ozuna’s money and that he would never have mad the video public.

Fret’s mother said that Ozuna gave her son almost $400,000. Both Ozuna and Sagardía have said that at least one payment was made to Fret, but the lawyer put the amount at “close to $50,000.”

Almost two weeks after Fret’s death, a portion of the video in question, which depicted a teenaged Ozuna masturbating, was leaked to the internet and quickly went viral. That same day, Jan. 23, 2019, the artist apologized to his family and fans via a prepared statement, which also said he had been the victim of an alleged extortion plot hatched by Fret.

After she was told to stop questioning witnesses in early April of 2019, Quiñones says she asked for both verbal and written explanations, writing a memo to the Department of Justice asking why it was being held up. “None of my memos that I sent to the Department of Justice were ever answered,” she said on Cuarto Poder.

The recent move by the police to move the case to the Major Crimes unit, the prosecutor says, “opens another window for a full investigation.” And while significant time has passed since the slaying occurred and the evidence was fresh, she says she hasn’t “lost faith” that “eventually we will know the truth of what happened.”

03 Nov 2022

Tank Takes ‘Slow’ to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay

Tank banks his second No. 1 of 2022 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart as “Slow,” featuring J. Valentine, tops the list dated Nov. 5. The single advances from the runner-up spot after a strong 17% surge in plays that made it the most-played song on U.S. monitored radio stations in the week ending Oct. 30, according to Luminate.

“Slow” gives Tank his seventh career No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay, and his rate of chart-toppers has accelerated in recent years. After capturing two No. 1s in the 16 years from his 2001 chart debut until 2017, he has logged five leaders in the past five years. Consistency, too, has become a standard, with only two of his seven chart entries since 2017 – “I Don’t Think You’re Ready” (No. 3) and a featured turn on J. Brown’s “Don’t Rush” (No. 7) missing the top spot.

As “Slow” reigns, here’s a look at Tank’s seven No. 1s on Adult R&B Airplay:

“Please Don’t Go,” No. 1 for 10 weeks, beginning May 19, 2007
“Next Breath,” one, June 16, 2012
“When We,” 11, Nov. 18, 2017
“Dirty,” three, April 20, 2019
“Can’t Let It Show,” two, July 3, 2021
“I Deserve,” one, March 19, 2022
“Slow,” one (to date), Nov. 5, 2022

Featured artist J. Valentine, meanwhile, achieves his first Adult R&B Airplay with his debut chart appearance.

“Slow” likewise unlocks more achievements for Tank in the latter stages of his recording career. Thanks to “I Deserve” and “Slow,” the singer-songwriter claims multiple No. 1s on Adult R&B Airplay for the first time in the same year. Plus, as “Can’t Let It Show,” “Deserve” and the current champ all spring from his final studio album, R&B Money, released in September, the album is Tank’s first to produce multiple leaders on the radio list.

Elsewhere, “Slow” improves 18-17 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks songs by audience listenership across both adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations. There, the song registered a 15% increase in weekly audience to 7.5 million in the week ending Oct. 30. “Slow” marks Tank’s seventh top 20 effort on this chart, with the previous six comprising all of his Adult R&B Airplay No. 1s, sans “Next Breath,” which peaked at No. 27.

03 Nov 2022

Taylor Swift’s ‘Anti-Hero’ Gets Mashed Up With ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ in New Girl Talk Remix

Taylor Swift‘s latest single “Anti-Hero” received a new remix on Thursday (Nov. 3) courtesy of mash-up master Girl Talk.

In his inventive reimagining of the track, the DJ (real name: Gregg Gillis) injects the No. 1 hit with a ’70s flair as Taylor sings, “I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser/ Midnights become my afternoons/ When my depression works the graveyard shift/ All of the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room” over the instrumental of Diana Ross‘ 1970 recording of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”

By the time Swift reaches the chorus, the familiar chords of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” — the Ashford & Simpson-written song first recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1967 — are as unmistakable as the ghosts she’s running from in the music video, punctuated with horn blasts while the superstar comes face to face with her “Anti-Hero” doppelgänger.

In an Instagram video Swift shared leading up to the release of Midnights, the singer/songwriter says, “Track 3, ‘Anti-Hero,’ is one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written. I really don’t think I’ve delved this far into my insecurities in this detail before. You know, I struggle a lot with the idea that my life has become unmanageably sized…This song really is a real guided tour throughout all the things I tend to hate about myself.”

“Anti-Hero” debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, as Swift historically held all 10 positions in the Hot 100 top 10. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” was a top 20 Hot 100 hit for Gaye and Terrell, while Ross took the song to the top of the chart.

Stream Girl Talk’s remix of “Anti-Hero” below.

03 Nov 2022

Maneskin Say Censorship at 2022 VMAs Shows ‘Prejudices Towards Rock Bands & Towards Women’

Måneskin is all for keeping the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll alive — which is why the Italian rockers took issue with the MTV Video Music Awards censoring their performance back in August.

When Maneskin’s Victoria De Angelis suffered a wardrobe malfunction that left her chest exposed during their performance of the Alternative Airplay No. 1 hit “Supermodel,” the live broadcast cut away from the bassist to wide shots of the stage instead. In a new NME interview with De Angelis and frontman Damiano David published earlier this week, the duo shared that the censorship was a major disappointment to them as a band.

“It shows that there are still many, many prejudices towards rock bands and towards women,” David told NME. “There is a lot to work on and we try to do our part.”

The televised moment saw cameras at the awards show hastily panning away from the stage following De Angelis’ exposure and to an area containing empty seats; shortly after the moment, De Angelis went down into a pit of fans at the show to continue the performance.

“It’s sad, but it’s good that people then talk about it and think about it,” De Angelis added. “It’s stupid that there has to be this control and censorship over people’s bodies.”

On Sept. 6 — a week after the 2022 VMAs took place — MTV shared a “restored,” slightly less censored version of Måneskin’s performance. De Angelis’ wardrobe malfunction remains, though her bare chest is blurred in the final cut.

Revisit Måneskin’s performance of “Supermodel” at the 2022 MTV VMAs below.