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17 Oct 2023

INXS Reunite For Special Releases, Remember ‘Talented, Dynamic’ Michael Hutchence

INXS got the band back together this week, for a few hours at least, to celebrate the release of several, special new projects.

The surviving band members — Garry Gary Beers, Kirk Pengilly and brothers Andrew, Jon and Tim Farriss — gathered Tuesday (Oct. 17) at Sydney’s Intercontinental Hotel, towering over Sydney Harbour and all its famous landmarks, for a rare reunion — their first since 2017.

The chaps were relaxed and chatty as they flicked through old photos, wound back the years.

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Some of those memories are preserved in Calling All Nations, a new 400-plus “love letter” created by a global fanbase and the band. UMG’s Andrew Kronfeld and Live Nation’s Arthur Fogel contributed essays.

Until the project came together, the artists had “no idea how much it meant to so many individual fans. It wasn’t always about the show,” recounts Pengilly. Those tales include deeper, shared experiences of road trips “driving six hours to meet their friends to get ready to go to the gig. And then, you know, they might just somehow meet us backstage or have an interaction and a look from one of us on stage,” and “they feel a connection. Yeah, I found it really emotional.”

Bass player Beers, now based in California, relished the chance to meet his old bandmates on home soil. He offers a different glimpse at the life of a group on the rise, and their connection with fans. “Being broke and young back in the day, we used to take up offers to go to people’s houses and eat their food. So, you got to meet a lot of people. When you look back at the book, you remember that we did matter to people, not just musically, or for successes. People helped us along in many ways.”

A partnership of Petrol Records, UMe, uDiscover Music and This Day In Music Books, Calling All Nations is available via INXS.com in three configuration — the standard “First Edition” hardback book, a limited-edition “Deluxe” boxset, and an extremely limited-edition “Super Deluxe” box, hand-signed by the members of INXS.

Also on the release slate, All Juiced Up – Part 2, a collection of nine limited edition colored vinyl 12” records featuring remixes of classic INXS songs, including “Need You Tonight,” “Listen Like Thieves” and “New Sensation,” plus the 30th anniversary edition of Full Moon Dirty Hearts, for which Giles Martin has created an exclusive, immersive audio edition; it’s due out Nov. 2.

The last time the surviving band members were in a room together, prior to this week, was for the celebration of their 40th anniversary, in 2017, when they were honored for 50 million global record sales at the State Theatre masquerade party.

Formed in Western Australia in 1977, INXS scaled the highest mountain of popular music with six U.K. top 10 albums (including a No. 1 with Welcome To Wherever You Are from 1992) and five U.S. top 20 albums, a BRIT Award (in 1991 for best international group) and, in 2001, elevation into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

The band’s journey was tragically derailed by the 1997 death of lead singer Michael Hutchence, at the age of just 37, though INXS continued with replacement singers.

In Sydney, talk turned to Hutchence, and “seventh member” Chris Murphy, who died in 2021, aged 66. “Chris was hungry,” recounts Pengilly. “He just took no prisoners”.

The question every fan, or reporter, would ask INXS is on a return to live performances. A tour, perhaps, or a one-off show at an iconic venue. The answer isn’t a flat no.

Beers put his hand up (“I really miss playing with these guys”). Tim Farriss’ fretting hand, however, isn’t what it was following a grim injury to his left ring finger back in 2015. “We loved every bit of it,” notes Pengilly of the band’s journey. “But you know, we did it all.”

INXS called time on touring in 2012, with a gig where it all started – in Perth.

“To be fair to us is that,” comments Andrew Farriss, “as people losing someone as talented, dynamic a frontman as Michael, it became really in the forefront of our minds that, okay, we’ve created this legacy and we own it. And so we’ll decide when we want to play or not. That’s the important point, to not have it dictated to what we can and can’t do when we feel like it.”

The other side of the coin, “which is appealing to me,” he adds, “is who that singer could possibly be. There must be someone that we haven’t even thought of or discovered or found it. That could be an amazing thing to happen.”

In a surprise for the band members, Universal Music Australia president Sean Warner presented INXS with global awards for four billion streams, featuring a powerful Indigenous “full moon” design. A sixth award was forged for the late Hutchence.

17 Oct 2023

Mopreme Says Diddy Told Him He Didn’t Kill 2Pac, 50 Cent’s Jokes Continues

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Tupac Shakur Honored with Star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame

Source: Gilbert Flores / Getty

The 2Pac murder investigation rabbit hole continues to get deeper and deeper. The late, great rapper’s brother Mopreme says that Diddy told him he didn’t have anything to do with the infamous murder.

TMZ is reporting that the 2Pac’s stepbrother recently spoke to The Art of Dialogue. During the interview he discussed a variety of topics related to his legendary sibling. As expected the host Art asked the former Thug Life group member about that fateful night of September 7, 1996. He went on to make a reveal that quickly went viral. The “Feels Good” rapper says that Diddy once called him to personally tell him he had nothing to do with 2Pac’s death. “The boy Puffy called me, though,” Mopreme said. “Puffy called me back in the day. He was like, ‘I just want you to know I ain’t have nothing to do with your brother’s [murder]. I know who you are, but we never met. I just want to call you man to man and let you know that I ain’t have nothing to do with your brother’s death.’”

He went on to explain that while he thought it was a noble gesture he still was seeking answers. “I told him I appreciate the call, but the truth has yet to come out, so we gon’ see,” he added. “Back then, I wanted all the information I could get. I heard what he said, but this s**t been so chaotic. Ain’t know which way to go until you found out more information. He could have been trying to cover his a**, or he could have been sincere.”

As spotted at Vibe Magazine 50 Cent has continued his attacks on Diddy. Once again he has pointed the finger of guilt at the Bad Boy Entertainment mogul as per Keffe D’s story that Puffy offered a Crip set money to kill 2Pac. In an Instagram post he shared a clip of a Keffe D interview from The Art Of Dialogue where the Compton native claims that Diddy could have showed him and crew more love. “LMAO ?Brother Love, show some love. Damn should have just sent this fool a few dollars.” the caption read.

You can view Mopreme’s interview below.



17 Oct 2023

Muzzled MAGA: Trump Given Limited Gag Order By Judge Tanya Chutkan

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Donald Trump mug shot

Source: Fulton County Jail / Fulton County Sheriff’s Office

Former President Donald Trump was hit with a limited gag order by Judge Tanya Chutkan after making incendiary false remarks about Special Counsel Jack Smith and his family.

On Monday (October 16), U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a limited gag order on the former president after a lengthy hearing. The decree prevents Trump from publicly attacking Special Counsel Jack Smith and his family, court staff, and potential witnesses in the upcoming trial concerning his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Trump has argued that a gag order would impact his rights to free speech, and that was echoed in arguments by his lawyer, John F. Lauro. Judge Chutkan slapped down those claims, saying that Trump’s right to free speech does not allow him “to launch a pretrial smear campaign” against people. “No other defendant would be allowed to do so,” she added, “and I’m not going to allow it in this case.”

The limited gag order is the second that was handed to Trump in the last two weeks, with the first being ordered by Judge Arthur F. Engoron in his civil trial in Manhattan. Judge Engoron made the order after Trump posted a photo to his Truth Social account falsely claiming that Engoron’s law clerk was dating Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer. “Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and I won’t tolerate it,” he stated to Trump’s attorneys.

It is notable that the gag order has limitations that exclude President Joe Biden as well as Judge Chutkan from being targeted by Trump in his comments. She had been threatened in the past, resulting in the arrest of a Texas woman. “It’s possible to craft a narrowly tailored order to serve those interests,” Judge Chutkan stated during the hearing. The limitations also seem to allow Trump to make comments about former Vice President Mike Pence as long as the remarks didn’t focus on Pence’s role in the criminal case.

Trump’s response came while he was at a campaign stop in Iowa. “They put a gag order on me, and I’m not supposed to be talking about things that bad people do, and so we’ll be appealing very quickly,” Trump said before adding, “I’ll be the only politician in history where I won’t be allowed to criticize people.”

17 Oct 2023

Troye Sivan Talks ‘Something to Give Each Other’ Album & How Janet Jackson ‘Changed the Trajectory of My Life’

The way pop singer/songwriter Troye Sivan describes his new album Something to Give Each Other, it’s really about “every sort of connection being beautiful in its own way, and of togetherness and community and joy.”

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen to Sivan’s interview, below), the musician and actor says that he wrote the just-released project “over a long period of time” and realized at one point that “the overarching themes of the last two-and-a-half-three years of my life are mostly really joyous themes.”

Sonically, Sivan says the only intent with the new album was that he knew he was very “drawn to warmth.” He says in the past, it’s “sort of been like this melancholy warmth, and this time I didn’t feel that way.”

“I talk a lot about Janet Jackson,” Sivan tells Pop Shop hosts Katie and Keith, “because she’s so important to me, but I saw her show at the Hollywood Bowl really early on in the process. And, to me, it took me right back to when was I was like, however old I was, I was probably like 7… hearing ‘Together Again’ for the first time. And that melody and those chords and the warmth that’s in that song literally changed the trajectory of my life. The trajectory of my life as a musician and as a songwriter, specifically. And that’s something that I was really really striving for [on the new album]. I wanted something warm.”

The album’s lead single “Rush” brought the warmth – and the heat! – when it was released in July. It reached the top 40 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and hit the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The “scorching” track was accompanied by an equally hot, dance-heavy music video, directed by Gordon von Steiner (who also “creative directed” the album) and lensed by cinematographer Stuart Winecoff (who also photographed Something’s album cover).

But the video didn’t necessarily come easy, Sivan says. “First things first, considering all of my references for a good pop star growing up, were those who made these mega mega mega videos where the budgets were very very different from what they are now. I had so many times, in so many meetings (where people said), like ‘music videos don’t matter, the music is dead,’ and I pushed and pushed and pushed and I’m so grateful that we go to make the music video of my dreams for ‘Rush’ … It went wider than I think anything ever has of mine before, and that’s really cool. I’m very grateful and thankful.”

“Rush” was followed by two more buzzy singles and videos, both from the von Steiner and Winecoff teaming: “Got Me Started” (which features Sivan and his co-stars dancing through Bangkok) and “One of Your Girls” (in which Sivan is seen through a whole new light, alongside his main co-star, musician and actor Ross Lynch).

With Something to Give Each Other now out for fans to listen to, will Sivan bring that special Something on tour soon? Though he doesn’t have a plan yet, he’s thinking about it – and he’s feeling the pressure. “I’m intimidated because … when this tour happens, I want it to be the tour of my life. I really do. And I want to give the big pop show that I think this album is asking for, and these visuals [his music videos] are asking for. And so it’s a big job. … So, I’m gonna take a second and regroup and then figure it out. For some reason, I really really really feel the pressure, I really do.”

Also on the new edition of the Pop Shop Podcast, we’ve got chart news how Drake pulls double-debut duty at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart on Billboard Hot 100 songs chart thanks to For All the Dogs and “First Person Shooter,” featuring J. Cole, respectively. Plus, Keith details his experience being at opening night of Madonna’s The Celebration Tour in London on Oct. 14, while Katie recounts what it was like attending the red carpet premiere of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour concert film on Oct. 12 in Los Angeles.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)  

17 Oct 2023

Offset “Hop Out The Van,” Gucci Mane “Must Be Me” & More | Daily Visuals 10.17.23

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Gucci Mane El Gato Release Party 2

Source: Prince WIlliams / Prince Williams/ATLPics.net

Offset may be from The A but he’s married to a woman from The Bronx and though he’s got drama with some heads from Queens, that isn’t keeping the man from rolling through the streets of New York without a care in the world.

That’s exactly what the man does for his latest visuals to “Hop Out The Van” in which Offset and his team take to the streets of the Big Apple including running through the subway system before hitting the clubs and linking up with the likes of YG and A$AP Ferg. You gotta wonder if a certain Queen’s hubby was stalking him throughout his adventure. Just sayin.’

Gucci Mane meanwhile keeps it calm and cool and for his clip to “Must Be Me,” Guwop kicks it in the comfort of a cozy lounge where he’s kept warm by his chinchilla fur, but also cooled off with the blocks of ice all over his person. That man really does love his furs. Surprised PeTA hasn’t tried to ambush him with paint. They must know they’d end up with a red shirt too.

Check out the rest of today’s drops including work from Tyga, Danny Brown, and more.

OFFSET – “HOP OUT THE VAN”



GUCCI MANE – “MUST BE ME”



TYGA – “BOPS GOIN BRAZY”



DANNY BROWN – “TANTOR”



LIL ROB – “MOMENT IN TIME”



THAT MEXICAN OT – “GROOVIN REMIX”



NHALE – “LEAVE”


https://youtube.com/watch?v=cey8BGR5TVk&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

ARIN RAY – “WAIT SO LONG”



TONE STITH – “LONELY”



17 Oct 2023

Carla Bley, Prolific Jazz Pianist & Composer, Dead at 87

Carla Bley, leader of the free jazz movement, pianist and composer, has died following complications from brain cancer, according to The New York Times. She was 87 years old.

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The Oakland, Calif., native and five-time Grammy nominee was born Karen Borg, and changed her name to Carla in 1957. She married jazz pianist Paul Bley that same year, and kept his last name even after the couple divorced in 1967. Throughout their marriage, the couple toured together and Paul Bley’s 1964 album Barrage featured Carla’s compositions entirely. 

Throughout her career, Bley released albums as a bandleader and collaborator. She’s had three albums hit the top 20 on Billboard’s Jazz Albums chart, with Carla’s Christmas Carols (in collaboration with Andy Sheppard and The Partyka Brass Quintet) peaking at No. 16 in 2009, Andando El Tiempo (in collaboration with Sheppard and Steve Swallow) peaking at No. 14 in 2019 and Trios (with Sheppard and Swallow) peaking at No. 19 in 2013. Two of her solo albums, Heavy Heart and The Very Big Carla Bley Band, peaked at No. 27 and 25 on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Albums chart, respectively.

She was also prominent in the jazz music business, as she was involved in organizing the Jazz Composers Guild in 1964. She also founded record labels JCOA Records and the ECM-distributed Watt. She worked with Michael Mantler — whom she was married to until 1991 — to open the nonprofit New Music Distribution Service, which expanded JCOA, ECM and other labels to larger audiences.

Bley released her final album, a collaborative project with Sheppard and Swallow titled Life Goes On, in 2020.

She was also decorated with awards throughout her life, receiving the 1972 Guggenheim Fellowship for music composition. In 2015, she received the NEA Jazz Masters Award.

17 Oct 2023

Sportscaster Al Michaels Is All About Taylor Swift’s ‘Thursday Night Football’ Cameo: ‘We Love It, Man’

NFL fans seem to have mixed feelings about all the coverage Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce‘s relationship is getting across various sports broadcasts, but Thursday Night Football announcer Al Michaels is all for it.

“We love it, man,” Michaels told Jimmy Kimmel on Monday night, during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Swift attended last week’s Thursday night game between Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos, once again making headlines for sharing a suite with Travis’ mother, Donna Kelce, and hugging Brittany Mahomes, wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

“We had to be judicious,” Michaels told Kimmel about figuring out how best to address Swift’s presence on the Prime Video broadcast. “We had the game last Thursday night in Kansas City. We knew she’d be there. So how much do you show her? She’d been on twice, and football fans were going, ‘Enough.’ But we were praying she’d come into the booth and sing for us,” he said with a laugh.

Kimmel played a clip of Michaels fumbling his words while trying to describe Swift on the broadcast, as he settled on calling her Kelce’s “good buddy and girlfriend.”

“So is she his good buddy or his girlfriend, Al?” Kimmel said, ribbing the announcer. “You can’t be both!”

“You know, you’re doing a game like that, I know the Internet’s gonna blow up,” Michaels said. “Page Six is waiting for whatever I say. You know what I really wanted to say? ‘Fiancee.’ I didn’t because I figured Travis would beat me up at the end of the game. … Or [Swift] would have beat me up.”

In the end, Michaels and company wanted to make sure football came first in the broadcast. “It’s hard because people tune in to watch a football game,” he said. “I’m not doing Access Hollywood.”

Following Thursday’s game, Swift and Kelce confirmed their long-rumored relationship by attending the Saturday Night Live afterparty over the weekend hand-in-hand. (Find a full timeline of their relationship so far here.)

Watch Michaels’ Kimmel appearance below:

17 Oct 2023

Venesti Secures First No. 1 on a Billboard Chart With ‘Umaye’: ‘This Brings Me Great Happiness!’

After a top 10 finish for his prior release, Colombian artist Venesti captures his first No. 1 on any Billboard chart as his latest single “Umaye” climbs 9-1 to lead the Latin Airplay ranking (dated Oct. 21). The new champ follows the No. 10-peaking “Pura Maldad” on Latin Rhythm Airplay, his highest rank on any chart until now.

“This recognition brings me great happiness!” Venesti tells Billboard. “I feel like I still haven’t assimilated it, perhaps because it’s not common to see these achievements in new artists, but I also know that it’s a great beginning for what’s coming.”

“Umaye” was released May 25 via SDS/AP Global. It lands at No. 1 on Latin Airplay in its 11th week with 9.5 million audience impressions, up 36% from the week prior, earned in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 12, according to Luminate. The song unseats Maluma’s “Coco Loco” from the summit after one week in charge. The latter drops 4-1 with 8.6 million audience impressions, down 15%.

As mentioned, with “Umaye,” Venesti scores his first ruler on any Billboard list after a top 10 high through “Pura Maldad,” his last appearance on Latin Rhythm Airplay in June. There, the former also rises to No. 1, from No. 5, for a first leader.

Back on Latin Airplay, “Umaye” follows two top 30 entries, both less than a year old: “Necesidad” peaked at No. 22 in Dec. 2022, while “Pura Maldad” reached No. 28 on the June 3-dated survey.

“When I recorded [‘Umaye’], we knew it could generate something in people because of its lyric content and everything behind the word ‘Umaye’,” Venesti adds. “What no one knows is that the song was recorded in a living room of a house with a microphone in hand, and what a mic!”

17 Oct 2023

Cardi B Says WNBA Mascot ‘Put Me to Shame’ With ‘Bongos’ Challenge

Who would’ve thought that a WNBA mascot has some serious moves?

The New York Liberty’s beloved elephant mascot Ellie took TikTok by storm this week by performing the “Bongos” challenge set to the tune of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s latest collaboration. In the clip, the mascot is backed by two dancers as all three flawlessly execute the high-energy choreography from the song’s music video.

Eventually, Cardi herself caught wind of the viral clip and retweeted it, giving her stamp of approval by writing, “Put me to shame …I love it.”

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“Bongos” is Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s second collaboration following their record-breaking “WAP,” but Cardi previously revealed that the new collaboration is not meant to be a part two. “I wonder how people are gonna react to this vibe because they’re really, like, expecting ‘WAP,’ like, ‘oh, here they go again talking this and that,’” she told DJ Whoo Kid during his Whoo’s House podcast. “We are talking a little, you know, about some p—y, but not like ‘WAP’ type of stuff.”

The track peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In the tracking week of Sept. 8 – 14, “Bongos” launched with 16.8 million official U.S. streams, according to Luminate, leading to a No. 3 entrance on the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs chart and yields Cardi B’s 14th top five effort and Megan Thee Stallion’s seventh such hit on the list. The song also sold 20,000 downloads in the same period and debuts at No. 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales list. 

17 Oct 2023

Junior H’s ‘$ad Boyz 4 Life II’ Makes Major Debut on Top Latin Albums

Junior H celebrates his highest debut on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart with the No. 2 launch of $ad Boyz 4 Life II on the list dated Oct. 21. His eighth studio album starts with 32,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 12, according to Luminate.

Among regional Mexican albums that debuted with a full seven days of tracking in its first charting week, 4 Life II logs one of the top three biggest weeks, by units, of 2023. It also posts the second-highest debut position among regional Mexican titles this year.

The only regional Mexican album to debut on the chart with a bigger unit total, and at a higher rank, in 2023 was Eslabon Armado’s Desvelado, which launched at No. 1 in May with 44,000 units (May 13-dated chart). Peso Pluma’s Génesis is in the mix as well, as it debuted on the chart dated July 1 at No. 35 from only one day of activity, and then soared to No. 1 the following week, after its first week of chart activity, earning 73,000 units (the biggest week ever, by units, for a regional Mexican album).

Of 4 Life II’s 17-track set’s first-week sum, 31,000 units derive from streaming, equaling 43.12 million official on-demand streams of the album’s songs, while the remainder balance is a negligible sum from album sales and track-equivalent album units.

Fifth Top 10: 4 Life II gives Junior H his fifth top 10 on Top Latin Albums, with Atrapado En Un Sueño leading the pack. The corridos tumbados singer-songwriter’s first entry on the Latin albums ranking debuted at No. 5 in April 2020, and became his longest-charting effort, encompassing a 123-week run. Cruisin’ With Junior H followed (No. 10 high, Sept. 2020), $ad Boyz 4 Life (No. 5, Feb. 2021), and Mi Vida En Un Cigarro 2 (No. 4, Feb. 2022).

$ad Boyz 4 Life II, released Oct. 5, is Junior H’s sixth studio album via Rancho Humilde/Warner Latina (two earlier projects were released independently and via the Humilde family only). The set bests its predecessor $ad Boyz 4 Life, which debuted and peaked at No. 5 in 2021.

Second-Most Simultaneous Entries on Hot Latin Songs: As 4 Life II arrives, it sparks nine debuts on Hot Latin Songs. With those new recruits plus two other collabs, Junior H places 12 concurrent songs on the multi-metric tally -which blends airplay, streaming and digital data- the second-most after Peso Pluma, who has placed 12 or more throughout multiple charts in 2023.

Here’s a recap of all 12 of Junior H’s song on this week’s Hot Latin Songs chart:

Position, Title, Artists
No. 3, “Lady Gaga,” with Peso Pluma & Gabito Ballesteros
No. 12, “Lloro” (debut)
No. 14, “Bipolar,” with Peso Pluma & Jasiel Nuñez
No. 19, “$ad Boyz II” (debut)
No. 26, “Rockstar” (debut)
No. 31, “La Cherry” (debut)
No. 36, “La Serpiente” (debut)
No. 40, “Las Noches” (debut)
No. 43, “Tres Botellas” (debut)
No. 45, “Miéntele” (debut)
No. 47, “Miles de Rosas” (debut)

Beyond its No. 2 debut on Top Latin Albums 4 Life II gives the Sad Boyz movement creator his highest charting title on the overall Billboard 200 among three entries, at No. 14. Plus, it likewise launches at No. 2 on Regional Mexican Albums.