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As the impact of Hurricane Helene continues to affect communities in parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, it is not only people who are impacted; animals and pets have been impacted too.
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Miranda Lambert has always been a fierce advocate for helping animals, most notably through launching her MuttNation Foundation. The MuttNation Tractor Supply Relief for Rescues Fund has already donated nearly $100,000 to help relief efforts to aid pet shelters, pets and animals that have been impacted by Hurricane Helene.
On Oct. 2, Lambert posted a video on Instagram, sharing more about the MuttNation Foundation’s work to help animals affected by the natural disaster, and showing photos and videos highlighting the devastating impact Hurricane Helene has had on animal shelters.
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“As y’all know, Hurricane Helene hit the Southeast hard. It’s hard to wrap my mind around the devastation that our neighbors in Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia are experiencing,” Lambert said in the Instagram video. “Our MuttNation Tractor Supply Relief For Rescues Fund has already provided nearly $100,000 to help animal shelters, pets and their families impacted by the hurricane, as well as support emergency response organizations.”
She added, “It’s a very dire situation because many of the shelters that got hit were already struggling with overcrowding. As we’ve been in contact with the shelters, we’re also hearing really heroic stories. People are risking their lives to help. It’s that type of courage that gives me hope that we’ll all get through this.”
Lambert also noted that they have set up fundraisers to go to the MuttNation Tractor Supply Relief For Rescues Fund, with 100% of donations going to disaster relief.
Lambert is not the only country artist aiding those impacted by the hurricane. East Tennessee native Morgan Wallen, through his Morgan Wallen Foundation, donated over $500,000 to the Red Cross to help in disaster recovery efforts, while North Carolina native Luke Combs told his fans on social media that he is working on a plan to aid recovery efforts.
The category four Hurricane Helene has left massive destruction across several states since making landfall on Sept. 27, washing out roads and rendering some communities nearly inaccessible to aid. According to CNN, more than 180 people have died across six states, as communities were affected by flash floods, landslides, high winds, heavy rain and wide-range power outages.
Five weeks after Incómodo debuted at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart — and Regional Mexican Albums — Tito Double P celebrates his first No. 1 on any album ranking as his first studio album rises 2-1 to lead the Oct. 5-dated list.
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Tito Double P’s 21-track effort dethrones label mate and cousin, Peso Pluma’s Éxodo from its 12-week domination, encompassing the majority of its chart run. Of the 15 weeks Peso’s fourth album album has been on the chart, it’s only missed No. 1 three times – and two of those weeks were at No. 2.
Incómodo, released on Double P Records, which Peso Pluma and George Prajin co-founded in 2023, lands at the summit on Top Latin Albums with 26,000 equivalent album units earned during the Sept. 20-26 tracking week in the U.S., according to Luminate: that’s a 2% gain from the prior week. That weekly unit sum equals to 38.8 million official U.S. streams for the songs on the album.
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“Wow, I’m so honored,” the Mexican singer-songwriter told Billboard of the album’s debut. “I didn’t expect this but I’m so grateful that the fans are embracing my project like this.”
Top Latin Albums ranks the week’s most popular Latin albums by multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Each unit equals one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.
Incómodo also advances 2-1 on Regional Mexican Albums, for Tito’s first ruler there. Plus, one song from the album debuts on Latin Streaming Songs: “Escápate,” with Chino Pacas, arrives at No. 15 with 3.7 million on-demand official U.S. clicks, up 14%.
Omar Courtz Makes Billboard Album Charts Debut: Elsewhere, Puerto Rican Omar Courtz visits Top Latin Albums for the first time with Primera Musa, his maiden studio album which opens at No. 8 with 11,000 equivalent album units. Streaming contributes most of the 17-track effort’s first week sum in the U.S., equating to 15.4 million official streams.
It’s the first top 10 on an album chart for Courtz, who scored his first top 10 on a Billboard chart through the No. 7-peaking “Beachy,” with Daddy Yankee, on Latin Rhythm Airplay in July 2023.
Beyond its top 10 start on Top Latin Albums, Primera Musa also opens at No. 2 on Latin Rhythm Albums, Courtz’s highest-charting entry across all charts.
Tito Double P, Peso Pluma & Omar Courtz will speak at Latin Music Week Oct. 14-18 at the Fillmore Miami Beach. To register, please visit Billboardlatinmusicweek.com.
Westside Gunn said he was done making traditional studio albums, but he didn’t say he was going to stop making music. Actually, his exact words were, “It’s back to dumping.”
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With his third and final installment of the Flygod trilogy still on the way, the Griselda boss announced a Nov. 1 release date for the “perfectly curated” Still Praying that he mentioned in the summer with a lengthy Instagram caption. “Westside Gunn ‘Still Praying,’ perfectly curated by WSGUNN, Nov 1st,” he wrote. “This is for Big Dump, Michelle, GDad, Virgil, Chinegun, Sly Green, Kutter, Shots, Bacon, behind the wall and Buffalo!!!!!! I promise y’all about to witness a new chapter in this sh—t starting now!!!!”
Adding, “Still praying is the beginning of a new era of Griselda Records I promise y’all I’m a make sure y’all never forget this sh—t, just support the art and watch how life change for the better. Flygod Is an Awesome God, when everybody thought i was just chillin I was actually curating the illest art (wrestling/fashion/music) I ever made, but now it’s time to show y’all everything I been working on, I’m a show y’all why it’ll never be another Westside Gunn.”
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He revealed the album art last month in September, which features a picture of wrestler Sid Vicious, who recently passed away a few months ago in August, lending to Gunn’s infatuation with pro wrestling.
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Gunn has teased a couple tracks back in January. First, his song “Chocolate Face” featuring DJ Khaled was used as TNA’s Slammiversary official theme song, and a few days later he tweeted out a snippet of “Big Dump” featuring Stove God Cooks. Although, neither song has been officially release yet.
Madonna is loving Emilia Pérez. The Jacques Audiard-directed film, in which Selena Gomez appears as Jessi Del Monte, held a New York Film Festival screening at Alice Tully Hall of the Lincoln Center on Monday night (Sept. 30), and after the event, the Queen of Pop spent time with the cast and choreographer, Damien Jalet. […]
Billboard‘s International Power Players list recognizes the leaders that are driving the success of the music business in countries outside the United States. Avex’s CEO, Katsumi Kuroiwa, was chosen from the music industry leaders of the world for inclusion in the list for the second consecutive year. Billboard Japan interviewed Kuroiwa upon his selection for the list and talked with him about the response to ONE OR EIGHT and the issues Avex faces when creating global hits.
You were selected for inclusion in the Billboard International Power Players in recognition of AEGX’s success in bringing artists like Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift to perform in Japan. It seems like this collaboration with AEG has truly gained steam in the post-pandemic era.
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Katsumi Kuroiwa: In February, Taylor Swift played four days of shows in Tokyo Dome. There was huge demand for tickets, both from Japanese and overseas fans. There was particularly high demand from overseas fans, primarily in China and Southeast Asia, so I think the shows also had a major economic impact.
The newspapers were talking about it, too.
Kuroiwa: Taylor Swift’s only stops in Asia were Tokyo and Singapore, so the shows really drew a lot of attention. We need to make sure that when major artists like that come to Asia on tour, they never skip Japan, no matter what. For artists, performing in Japan is somewhat of a status marker, so we communicated closely with AEG members to provide a high level of hospitality.
In last year’s interview (https://www.billboard-japan.com/special/detail/411), you said “we can shift from these being isolated successes to a tide that creates a new market.” Just recently, boy band ONE OR EIGHT made their debut and took the top spot on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart dated August 28. How do you see the response to the band?
Kuroiwa: Last May, we strategically invested in S10 Entertainment, a U.S.-based management company, through Avex USA, and we reinforced our overseas expansion efforts. As part of that, ONE OR EIGHT has also been coordinating closely with Avex USA. Their debut song, “Don’t Tell Nobody,” was produced by David Stewart and OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, and the band is being managed by an international team with members from the U.S., Japan, and Korea.
Creating a global hit song is extremely difficult, but we’re not one of the big three record companies, so without going after foreign revenue, I don’t think we could survive.
Do you think anime tie-ups are essential to producing global hits?
Kuroiwa: I want a hit anime tie-up so badly I can taste it (laughs). I’ve been really impressed with Creepy Nuts and YOASOBI. Of course, simply releasing a tie-up isn’t all there is to it. It’s also important that the tie-up matches the artist’s vibe. The scale of exports from the anime industry is totally different from the music industry, so I think anime plays an important role in expanding the global reach of Japanese music.
In September 2023, we launched the Global Japan Songs Excl. Japan chart, which ranks Japanese music that’s become a hit overseas. I feel like Japan’s music industry has kicked it into higher gear. Physical media sales still account for a lot in Japan. Do you think there’s any potential for physical media sales in the global market?
Kuroiwa: I think it depends on the country and the artist. I recently went to Korea, for the first time in a while. They’ve seen a lot of growth in CD sales over the past few years, but not because people have gone back to listening to music on CD. Instead, CDs are seen as merchandise, and there has been some discussion about whether or not those sales should be reflected in music rankings. I was surprised to hear that one artist recently sold their CD with an artist-branded CD player. I heard that it sold extremely well, and 30 or 40 percent of the people who went to shops to buy it were Japanese. But the values people have, and the way they listen to music, varies by country, so it would be hard to successfully apply that same approach in the U.S., for example.
What potential do you see for Japanese artists?
Kuroiwa: Looking at the Billboard JAPAN charts, I see a lot of different things going on. There are times when an artist will take a top position in the first week after their debut but then fall immediately out of the rankings, but on the other hand you have artists like Mrs. GREEN APPLE that stay on the charts week after week. For Avex, Da-iCE has been releasing steady hits recently.
Going forward, we’ll be putting even more energy into our overseas efforts, but we need to keep creating hits inside Japan, too. I think the biggest pitfall to avoid now is immediately setting out to take on the overseas market as soon as an artist has had a little success in Japan. The approach used in creating a hit in Japan is totally different than that used to create a hit in the U.S., and (the industry) needs to change the way they think about that.
Japanese anime and games have achieved some degree of market share worldwide, but for music, there’s still a long way to go. What challenges do you think the Japanese music industry still faces?
Kuroiwa: Compared to games and anime, Japan’s music industry has only recently really tried to take on the global market. Japan’s video game consoles saw the world as their market from the very start, and the Anime Expo has been going on for over 30 years now. These industries have been engaging with the world and establishing their own cultures.
If I could digress for a moment, we operate Anime Times, an unlimited anime streaming channel, together with companies like Kodansha, Shueisha, and Shogakukan. In expanding it overseas, the biggest challenges we’ve faced have been subtitling and casting voice actors. There have been discussions about the potential for AI to help resolve these problems. If viewers could watch anime in their local languages, but with the voices of the original voice actors, that could further boost exports. So I think the anime industry still has a lot of potential for future overseas growth.
When it comes to music, though, I feel like the number of artists who create music with overseas audiences in mind is still incredibly small. The industry is based around production in Japan—achieve success in Japan and then set your sights on the international market, that sort of thing. I think that’s what’s keeping Japanese music from spreading organically worldwide.
The way you make music differs completely based on what markets the artists and staff are looking to. Over the past few years, a lot of artists have been trying to tackle overseas markets, and those efforts have created a foundation of taking on these challenges. We’re also seeing a gradual increase in the number of successes. As more and more artists achieve overseas success, they’ll form a critical mass that will play an important part in the content industry.
In Korea, this was achieved through the public and private sectors working together. I want us to look to their example as we strive to take on overseas markets ourselves.
Avex has continued to grow by actively partnering with foreign companies like AEG or S10 Entertainment. Are there any philosophies you share with your employees regarding the future growth of your business?
Kuroiwa: Yes, “always generate buzz” and “keep taking on new challenges.” I believe that if our employees do the kinds of things that make friends and family members say “Your company is amazing,” this will, ultimately, contribute to improved business performance. Another is our tag line, “Really! Mad+Pure.” People aren’t receptive to “mad” alone, and “pure” alone doesn’t generate buzz, but I think our company has a good balance of both.
We’re a newcomer to the Japanese recording industry, founded in 1988. We found openings during the height of the CD sales boom, working passionately to do things that nobody else was doing. I tell our employees that it’s vital that we never lose that mentality of looking for new openings and taking on new challenges.
—This interview by Seiji Isozaki and Naoko Takashima first appeared on Billboard Japan
Hoshimachi Suisei surprised passersby in Shibuya, Tokyo on Monday (Sept. 30) by appearing unannounced at Udagawa Crank Street in Center Gai for a compact set promoting her upcoming new single. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news With over 2.4 million subscribers on her channel, Hoshimachi Suisei is […]
Hey! Say! JUMP‘s “UMP” shoots to No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Oct. 2, selling 221,762 CDs in its first week.
The lyrics for the eight-member group’s 34th single was written by sumika’s Kenta Kataoka. The track was powered by physical sales (No. 1) and radio airplay (No. 6) and hits No. 1, becoming the group’s 31st chart-topper. The last time Hey! Say! JUMP ruled the Japan Hot 100 was in May 2022, with its single “a r e a.”
Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Lilac” holds at No. 2. About six months have passed since the Oblivion Battery opener was released, and while the track is slowing down in most metrics of the chart’s methodology, radio is up by about 1.4 times this week, rising from outside the top 100 to No. 68. The former No. 1 hit continues to dominate streaming (15 consecutive weeks) and video views (three consecutive weeks). The three-man pop band also has another song in the top 10 this week, with “Dance Hall” jumping 20-9.
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back number’s “to new lovers” also holds at No. 3 this week. The final episode of the drama series the song serves as the theme — Umi no Hajimari — aired during the chart week and streaming increased slightly, while other metrics decreased slightly. The former No. 1 song has been charting for eleven weeks and has spent four straight weeks in the top 10.
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Kocchinokento’s “Hai Yorokonde” rises 7-4. Most likely due to the music producer’s appearance on CDTV Live! Live! on Sept. 23, downloads are up 112%, streaming up 101%, and radio up 154% from the week before. The viral hit has remained in the top 10 for 11 straight weeks, coming in at No. 3 for downloads, No. 8 for streaming, No. 3 for videos, and No. 19 for karaoke this week. The track also made headlines recently when the accompanying music video reached 100 million views on Monday (Sept. 30). The singer-songwriter is set to make his second appearance on CDTV Live! Live! on the show airing Oct. 7.
Creepy Nuts’ “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” rises a notch to No. 5. Radio for the MASHLE Season 2 opener is up 128% and the former No. 1 mega-hit has now been in the top 10 for 37 consecutive weeks.
Kenshi Yonezu’s “Sayonara, Mata Itsuka!” is back in the top 10, after the full version of the animated opening sequence of the highly acclaimed biographical legal drama series it serves as the theme dropped ahead of the final episode last week. All metrics increased from the week before: downloads is at 142%, streaming 105%, radio 480%, video 162%, and karaoke 106% week-over-week.
For Ezra Collective, things rarely go according to plan. At the start of “Ajala,” the vibrant highlight of new album Dance, No One’s Watching, drummer Femi Koleoso jokingly calls out a crowd who didn’t quite get the memo to clap along. When the London jazz group collected the U.K.’s Mercury Prize in 2023 for their album Where I’m Meant To Be, they collapsed in a heap on the ground, shocked at the news.
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Therein lies the appeal of their group’s emotionally charged hits: it’s OK to be caught off-guard. “The dancefloor can be a reflection of life,” Koleoso tells Billboard just hours ahead of its release on Partisan Records last week (Sept. 27). “Life’s not meant to be perfect, it’s meant to be honest. You can’t have a perfect life because so much of life is not in your control, but you can be honest about every situation you go through and try and weather the storm in a genuine way… that’s what all of the record is about.”
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Long a leader in the U.K.’s storied jazz scene, their new album looks set to take them to new heights. Dance, No One’s Watching could see the band’s first top 10 entry on the U.K.’s Official Album Chart. Later this year, they head to Wembley Arena for their biggest ever show and one of the jazz scene’s largest headline shows in the capital.
Made up of Koleoso, brother TJ (bass), Joe Armon-Jones (synths), Ife Ogunjobi (trumpet) and James Mollison (saxophone), Ezra Collective fuse elements of jazz, highlife, Afrobeats, hip-hop and more in their varied songs. Since meeting at a youth club focused on musicianship and jazz in their native London, the band have released three albums and collaborated with Loyle Carner, Jorja Smith, Kojey Radical and rising U.K. pop star Olivia Dean (the latter guests on new song “No One’s Watching Me”).
They’re one of many venerable independent jazz acts in the U.K. releasing consistently and meeting growing audiences. Last month saxophonist Nubya Garcia released her second studio album Odyssey, as did Nala Sinephro with the gorgeous Endlessness. It’s a scene with Ezra Collective at its core, and one that continues to flourish.
Koleoso discusses his contemporaries, why he wants to retain the giddiness of releasing music and how The Beatles and Fela Kuti inspired their new record.
How are you feeling about the release of the album?
Just so happy. It’s the best part of the journey. My technique is that once the masters approved I won’t listen to the album again until it’s released. Honestly, I’ve forgotten most of it! So when midnight strikes I will open Spotify and listen to it like everyone else. And that helps my excitement levels match everyone else’s.
We’ve been doing it a little while now – 12 years as Ezra Collective – and I’ve been playing music for most of my life, but I’ve still got quite a juvenile innocence and get bare excited when I see my name on Spotify. Once you lose that excitement you’re done, you know?
How does this record compare to what you’ve done previously?
The most recent record [2022’s] Where I’m Meant To Be was very much a documentation of our lockdown and Dance, No One’s Watching is the documentation of being let out again. It was looking at the dancefloor on the Ezra Collective world tour and then writing a narrative for them. So the feeling was a lot of freedom and excitement to be outside again.
What were those gigs like for you?
It was wonderful. You could feel the anticipation of people turning up to Ezra Collective gigs like “I am here to have a good night.” I could feel it. People would come with a smile on their face and a pair of leggings and beat-up trainers, and I could look at them like “you’re here to dance.” People in baggy t-shirts and a pair of jeans and I’m thinking, “Yeah, you didn’t even bring a jacket and it’s November, you are here to dance.” I’m so grateful for that and we ended up mirroring that energy up on stage.
How did you end up recording the album at Abbey Road Studios?
We felt if we were going to make a record documenting the dancefloor the only way for it to sound authentic was for it to have people dancing while we made it, and we needed a studio that had the space. It was never meant to be a live album but it was meant to feel live but sound like a studio record. So we needed people in the room dancing and vibing, but at the same time we needed the equipment to record every instrument’s detail at the highest level and that was the place where it was made the most possible.
That must have provided a unique challenge…
Yeah, but if you look back, other people have also done that. The Beatles did something similar with when they recorded Let It Be; they played the gig on the rooftop, and the recording of some songs from the roof concert made the album. It was the same with J.J.D. by Fela Kuti – it just sounds both deep in quality, but occasionally you hear someone scream. We were taking big inspirations from those types of albums in how we approached it. I’m really proud of how it’s come and you can feel the live elements in the album, but it seems on the sound system like a studio record.
It’s such a beautiful space, but what’s important about Abbey Road is that it’s not reserved to those who can afford it. It has to be for the music of today. You need Nia Archives, Loyle Carner and Dave and the band that are still in sixth form that you’ve never heard of. It needs to be a space that musicians aren’t intimidated by as that’s where you’ll get the best art.
Our first ever EP Chapter 7 was actually recorded at Abbey Road, but we only got in because an engineer snuck us in in the middle of the night and told us “you’ve got one hour before they kick you out” and we just played the songs once and that was it. This time it was nice to have permission to be there.
You won the Mercury Prize in 2023, a shock evident to yourself and the band. What was that moment like?
It was a crazy moment. It couldn’t have gone better. Because we were just excited about the nomination! But we’d honestly not even thought about winning. I told everyone to compose themselves and when they say someone else’s name, don’t be all upset about it. So when they said our name it was pure shock. That’s why we ended up on the floor. It was an unexpectedly beautiful moment. But it was a moment and then it’s back to normal the next day, you know? Which I’m grateful for.
The name Ezra Collective was a bit more recognizable after that moment. I think most of the U.K. music industry was aware of the band if they weren’t beforehand, but in terms of the band, I feel exactly the same as I did when we were in school and just started out. It was just me and my friends making songs and I was just grateful for every ounce of attention they got.
Olivia Dean provides vocals on the wonderful “No One’s Watching Me.” What was that session like?
She is so beautifully talented. It’s the perfect kind of session. She came into the studio and we just spoke about life, about how she was, and I asked her to tell me a bit about what dancing meant to her, and she was attracted to the idea that no one’s watching so just move and get on with it. So we discussed that and she was in the booth on her own with a pen and paper and after a couple of hours she said she was ready to record.
I pressed the red button and this wonderful sound and most beautiful voice came out of her. And I remember instantly after she finished I was like “yeah, you can go home.” Like she didn’t need to add anything, it was so perfect. I think she was shocked at how quickly and easily she wanted to move on but I knew that perfection had been captured immediately.
We recently spoke to Gilles Peterson who featured you on the compilation We Out Here in 2018 alongside your contemporaries like Nubya Garcia, Moses Boyd and more. He discussed the fact that your scene knows the value of the community you’re creating that an outsider cannot replicate. Does that ring true to you?
Yeah that rings true. The word community and collective is more important than the name. It’s about how you’re investing into the community and people around you. That’s what the Ezra is all about, and that’s why I’m so proud to be considered a part of the U.K. jazz scene because it’s such a beautiful community.
Later this year you’re headlining Wembley Arena. How are you feeling about it?
I feel great! What a crazy thing to be doing, but I couldn’t be more excited. The game plan is the same it’s always been. There’s not an ounce of nerves. I’m sure on the day there might be a wobble but right now I’m feeling really great.
Was there any hesitation in leveling up to a venue like that?
Nah… we knew we’d be fine [laughs]. The moment we played outside of a pub full of my friends and my family and there were people we didn’t know, that was when we knew we could do anything. It’s the same feeling when we did Ronnie Scott’s, Islington Assembly Hall, the Roundhouse, Hammersmith Apollo, Royal Albert Hall, it’s all the same feeling: it’s like, “Wow, if we can do that then we can do this.” So that’s the energy we’re walking into it with.
50 Cent had some interesting things to say about why he doesn’t rap anymore. During an interview earlier this year with Earn Your Leisure at Invest Fest that’s just now making the rounds on social media, 50 alluded to rap music today being dumbed down. “If you listen to the music that’s out right now, […]
The Queen of Christmas has spoken — it’s not the holiday season just yet. Mariah Carey took to Instagram on Wednesday (Oct. 2) to share a video of herself on a private jet, as her song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” begins to play in the background. “This is your pilot speaking. Welcome […]