Music
Page: 321
J. Cole has announced a new podcast series edited from conversations he had with his right hand Ibrahim Hamad and flimmaker Scott Lazer that will tell his story while also including unreleased music.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The North Carolina rapper and businessman took to Instagram to make the announcement with a trailer and a lengthy caption attached. “It’s hard to write a caption to describe what this is,” he began. “I really don’t even know what to call it. We settled on calling it an ‘audio series’ but to me it plays like a movie in the form of a conversation. First, me and Ib spent mad days talking to Scott, recapping the whole journey up to present day. Front to back. It was new, it was fun, it was emotional and more than anything, it was therapeutic.”
Adding, “After that Scott took the conversation and did his thing with it… then it was time to listen back. When I heard it with fresh ears, I was glued to the story as if it was somebody else’s. At times I could feel my adrenaline rush when hearing about the ups and the many downs and how it all played out in the end.”
Trending on Billboard
He then continued on about how the process gave him a renewed perspective, writing, “I got so much clarity from it, and I understood more than ever the power of having a dream, the power of fueling that dream with strong vision, the magic that happens when we stay in alignment with God, and the darkness that can come in the times that we don’t.”
Cole then talked about his reclusiveness over the years when it came to interviews and social media. “As the years of my career grew I found myself much more hesitant to share details of my life with the world,” he admitted. “Even as I type this, I feel the last little bit of resistance. ‘You sure you want to do this?’ But if I was a younger version of myself, I know that I would get so much fuel from hearing this from somebody that went for theirs and ‘made it.’ For that reason, I think it’s worth sharing.”
Finally, he said he hopes this new audio series will inspire people to continue chasing the things that they’re passionate about. “So, if you rocked with me at any point so far on my journey, I hope this will give you even more perspective and fill in a lot of blanks,” Cole wrote. “If you have your own dream in life that you hope to achieve, in any field, I hope that this will feed your spirit, giving you confidence to believe in that dream and the encouragement to push through the tough times. To go for it even when you may be afraid to.”
Season 1 of Inevitable will be available starting today (Nov. 18) at 6 p.m. ET. You can find the series here.
Rapper-turned-politician Shyne is on a media blitz promoting his Hulu documentary The Honorable Shyne. He sat down with The Breakfast Club and spoke on the time his former boss Diddy attempted to make things right by giving Shyne money back in 2012. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news […]
On Monday (Nov. 18), Skrillex shared his thoughts about the music industry, teased a forthcoming project and reflected on once meeting Quincy Jones in a series of posts on X.
“I’ve never felt more inspired and in lockstep with my intentions as an artist,” the producer wrote in the first post. “As I’m nearing completion of my next work and my final project for Atlantic Records I can’t help but feel very existential about it all.”
The majority of Skrillex’s releases have been through Atlantic subsidiaries, including Big Beat Records and Skrillex’s own OWSLA imprint, with the partnership going back to his 2010 debut EP Weekends!!! and including his 2014 debut album Recess, his 2023 LPs Quest for Fire and Don’t Get Too Close, along with his 2024 singles “Push” and “Pepper.”
Trending on Billboard
Skrillex then referred to what seems to be a yet-unannounced project, saying, “I’m thrilled to get this out and focus on more release[s] in 25 as an ‘independent’ artist. But ‘independent’ is such a strange term because I still depend on my team as well as all the other creatives and executives to do what I do.
“But now I’m able to rethink/relook at how the structures are designed,” his posts continued, “I want to find ways to simplify [disseminating] music and art. I see lots of artists in a constant panic.”
He writes that “the industry is like politics, it’s designed to be almost impossible [to] understand. I’ve seen so man[y] artist get caught up in the illusion and delusion of the business. It’s a dangerous job to be a young artist. I’m blessed and lucky to have lived through what I’ve lived through and will continue to do my best as an artist and just makes things that provoke beauty and emotion.”
The producer continued his thread reflect on recently deceased music icon Quincy Jones, saying that “I got to meet Quincy jones once. He came to one of my shows and spent the time to chat after… I’ll never forget that. He’s my absolute hero and his passing has definitely put some things into perspective.”
This past February, Skrillex won the best dance/electronic recording Grammy for his Fred again.. and Flowdan collaboration “Rumble.” It was his ninth Grammy win. He’s nominated in the same category this year for his work co-producing Fred again.. and Baby Keem’s “leavemealone.”
He concluded his posts on X by writing that “it really is in the journey ..and the best things come when they aren’t expected…Make things for smile.”
Brazilian superstar Alok is gearing up to launch the official one-year countdown to COP30 on Saturday (Nov. 23). Located in the fringes of the Amazon jungle in Belém, Pará, Brazil, at the 55,000-capacity Mangueirão Olympic Stadium, the free event is a celebration of the forthcoming international climate summit and also part of Alok’s Áurea Tour.
During the event, the Brazilian bass DJ will host six indigenous ethnic groups that are part of his United Nations-supported Future Is Ancestral project. The stage itself will be a technological marvel, featuring a pyramid-like structure with over 100 tons of equipment, a 360-degree rotating platform rising as high as a ten-story building, and more than 2,000 LED panels.
Alok was recently nominated twice at the Latin Grammys in the new category of best Latin electronic music performance for two tracks: “Drum Machine” with Pickle and “Pedju Kunumigwe” with Guarani Nhandewa. On Friday (Nov. 15), he released his latest track, “Looking For Love” with Anitta.
As Alok continues to foster cultural celebration through his music and influence, his commitment to ensuring justice has also been noteworthy.
In a legal dispute in June, São Paulo’s civil court system ruled in favor of Alok against Kevin Daniel Brauer de Oliveira, affirming the DJ as the creator and holder of adaptive rights to the song “nananana Un Ratito,” which subsequently extends to “Un Ratito” with Luis Fonsi, Lunay, Lenny Tavárez, and Juliette, according to court documents. The judgment obliges Brauer de Oliveira to pay Alok $20,000 Brazilian reals ($3,475.78) in compensation for “moral damages.”
The legal outcome is the culmination of several conflicts between Alok and the Brauer brothers — Kevin and Sean — who formerly collaborated with Alok as part of the duo Sevenn. Over the years, their partnership helped escalate Brazilian bass music onto the world stage, but that partnership eventually soured. As articulated in a 2022 Billboard article, the Brauer brothers had accused Alok of exploiting their work — including their contributions to at least 14 tracks — without appropriate credit or compensation.
“I have always had full confidence in the justice system. My work is transparent and everything is clarified and proven,” Alok said in a statement regarding the court ruling. “I will take this opportunity to donate the compensation from this case to the victims in Rio Grande do Sul. This is the best way to respond to the wrong they tried to do, by doing good for those who need it most at this moment. I hope the compensation also serves as a lesson to deter malicious people from defaming others’ honor with the simple sense of impunity.”
Another green, not-so-wicked musical icon is coming to steal Christmas back from the Grinch — but she prefers a broomstick over a sleigh.
As reported by Variety on Monday (Nov. 18), fans will have the ability to belt out “Defying Gravity,” “The Wizard & I” and more tunes from Wicked‘s soundtrack alongside the Witch of the West herself starting Dec. 25, when sing-along versions of the Jon M. Chu-directed flick are slated to hit roughly 1,000 theaters across North America. Exact locations and showtimes have yet to be finalized.
The interactive screenings — which model similar sing-alongs hosted for movie musicals such as The Greatest Showman — will arrive just over a month after Wicked initially premieres in theaters Nov. 22 after more than three years in the making. That’s just Part 1, though; a second Wicked film is also in the works for a November 2025 release.
Both projects star Cynthia Erivo as the greenified Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, with Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Peter Dinklage and Marissa Bode rounding out the cast. The films — which are inspired by the Broadway musical and Gregory Maguire novel of the same name — started production in 2021 and feature live onscreen vocal takes of Stephen Schwartz’s famous score, including “Popular,” “What Is This Feeling?” and “Dancing Through Life.”
Trending on Billboard
Leading up to Wicked‘s premiere, the cast has been busy attending various premieres all over the world: Sydney, Los Angeles, New York City, Mexico City and, most recently, London. The project has also had one of the most active press cycles in recent history, with behind-the-scenes footage, lyric videos, numerous interviews, a new Xfinity commercial and more all rolling out in the past week alone. Wicked has also partnered this year with everything from the 2024 Olympics to the “Yes, And?” singer’s R.E.M. Beauty line, Mattel and Crocs.
Premiere week also featured a Tonight Show appearance from Grande, who recalled to host Jimmy Fallon, “When they called me to tell me I had the part, I had one heart attack. That was the first one. And then they told me I was going to be playing opposite Cynthia Erivo, that was the second heart attack. And then I died and I’m dead. And I’m dead here. And I’m still dead.”
Gracie Abrams tops Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart for the first time, as “That’s So True” rules the Nov. 23-dated list. “That’s So True” lifts 4-1 in its fourth week on the chart (following its Oct. 18 release) with 23.5 million official U.S. streams earned in the week ending Nov. 14, a gain of 25%, according […]
It’s not Ryu or Chun-Li, but Slim Shady. Eminem returned Monday (Nov. 19) to deliver the Street Fighter-themed “Fuel” lyric video featuring J.I.D. The animated clip follows both artists on their journey through the game, as J.I.D takes the baton and heads to an arcade to hop on the sticks. Em joins the party for […]
Carrie Underwood is celebrating her Las Vegas residency in a big way. The Grammy-winning superstar’s Carrie Underwood: Reflection concert film will be arriving to Hulu in January, giving fans the best seat in the house as they experience the singer’s popular show at Resorts World Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas. The residency concert showcases […]
André 3000‘s revealed an interesting tidbit about his instrumental album New Blue Sun. During a recent appearance the Toure Show podcast, the Atlanta rapper said his debut solo album doesn’t count towards his current deal with Epic because it’s not a rap project. “They congratulated on the process, they congratulated on what the work was, […]
Christian Nodal has officially wrapped his 2024 U.S. Pa’l Cora Tour, during which he visited fans in Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and Atlanta. In the midst of his 25-date arena trek, Billboard caught up with the mariacheño superstar at the Barclays Center in New York for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look of his tour.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Nodal — a forward-thinking Música Mexican artist in his music and style — showed off his wardrobe that included shirts, jackets, vest and sunglasses. He wears the latter of the four only when he’s undergoing laser removal of his face tattoos.
Trending on Billboard
“I’d love to have a clothing brand one day, and what better than to try it on yourself?” he said of his tour outfits. “I’m checking fabrics, textures, and leathers. I love playing a bit with cowboy, mariachi and ranchero looks.”
One of Nodal’s favorite spots to perform at is in New York City because “it’s very special” for the musician. “In general, all the places are special, but New York has magic,” he noted. “It’s very nice because people come from different Latin American countries, not just Mexicans […] People come to the show from all over the world, and that makes the energy much bigger.”
Part of the trek also included a meet-and-greet with his fans, which he says are “euphoric!” “It’s always nice because sometimes they tell anecdotes,” he explained. “There’s not much time [to greet fans] because there are a lot of people.”
A production manager, a monitor engineer, 25 musicians between mariachi and an orchestra, and even a special appearance by his wife and artist, Angela Aguilar, are some of the team players that backed up Nodal’s tour. Watch the Tour Stop with Billboard above.