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Fans who have always wanted to compete against their sports heroes will have their chance. Fanatics has launched Fanatics Games — a first-of-its-kind competition series — debuting at Fanatics Fest NYC 2025 in June.
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Fanatics is picking 50 fans to compete against a star-studded group comprised of 50 athletes, music artists, streamers, celebrities, WWE superstars, influencers, entertainers and more. The competition will include eight different sporting events showcasing various athletic skill sets.
The stars slated to compete in Fanatics Games include Tom Brady, Kevin Durant, Kevin Hart, IShowSpeed, Druski, Logan Paul, Micah Parsons, CJ Stroud, James Harden, Alex Rodriguez, Odell Beckham Jr., Tyreek Hill, Jayden Daniels, Liv Morgan, Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins and Rhea Ripley.
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Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin is on a mission to find the best athlete in the world. Fans and the superstars will compete in a quarterback challenge, an NBA 3-point contest, baseball pitching accuracy, hockey puck shooting, UFC striking, a WWE superstar entrance, soccer goal scoring and a closest to the pin golf contest.
Contestants — both the stars and fans — will have the opportunity to win a grand prize of $1 million. Second place will receive a new Ferrari 812 GTS, while third place takes home a 2003 LeBron James rookie Topps Chrome card, which is estimated to be worth $250,000.
Quavo and Gillie Da Kid hopped into Rubin’s comments section on Instagram looking to throw their names into the ring, and Huncho is feeling good about his chances. “Come on now u kno u gonna win,” the Migos rapper wrote.
It’s all going down at Fanatics Fest NYC 2025, which is taking place at the Javits Center June 20 through June 22. Tickets are still available for purchase.
Watch Michael Rubin’s explainer of the competition below.
A new era of rap beef is upon us. One where diss tracks get dropped left and right, forcing curious fans to scramble around trying to catch up.
Enter Joey Bada$$.
Since the Brooklyn rapper kicked things off on New Year’s Day with “The Ruler’s Back,” there have been 22 tracks released (and counting), with a flurry of them coming after Joey’s recent “Red Bull Spiral Freestyle” verse, where he addressed the drama that he started. “Since ‘Ruler’s Back,’ they been tryna measure up,” he rapped. “Look, my name ain’t Rick, but I talk slick, don’t press ya luck/ And I ain’t taking no words back, I’m with all that (All that) But this ain’t gotta turn to nothin’ else, let’s keep it all rap.”
He then referenced Kendrick’s infamous “Control” verse from 2013 when he named names and invited his peers to a friendly competition. “First off, I could never hate the West Coast,” Joey rapped. “But since n—as comin’ for Joe, f—k it then, let’s go/ N—as must’ve forgot what Dot said on ‘Control’/ There’s still a buncha sensitive rappers in they pajama clothes, I guess/ This ain’t no East versus West, I just think that I’m the best, as a matter fact, I know.”
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And you know what? He’s right.
So far, Ray Vaughn, Daylyt, Reason, and AZ Chike have stepped up for the West Coast with a couple decent tracks here and there, but nothing really to write home about. I was into AZ Chike’s decision to step into the ring with his song “What Would You Do?,” but that effort was squashed when Joey called him “Ass Cheek” and brought along battle rap vet Loaded Lux to add insult to injury on their reply entitled “My Town.”
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Speaking of Lux, a handful of New York rappers have stepped up to the plate in Pro Era member CJ Fly, Brooklyn rapper Kai Ca$h and Jadakiss’ son Really Jaewon. And while I dug Kai’s “Knicks in 6” record, the offerings from the East Coast heir have been mainly forgettable already — but they’ve managed to show the type of solidarity the West showed during the Kendrick and Drake battle, which I have to commend them for. Somebody else from NYC needs to drop a crazy diss record over a Cash Cobain beat or something, though. Let’s get everybody involved.
Anyway, there have been fans clamoring for the Griselda guys to get involved, but they haven’t taken the bait yet. Rome Streetz tweeted out a popular meme clip of Stephen A. Smith to express how he feels about people trying to drag him into this thing — and Benny the Butcher seems perfectly fine being a spectator like the rest of us, tweeting out earlier that he felt like Joey was “handling himself exceptionally well.”
And you know what? He’s right.
The Brooklyn rapper hasn’t dropped a full-length project since 2022 and has been focusing on a bubbling acting career in recent years. So, when he randomly dropped his Conductor Williams-produced track with a shot at the West Coast’s recent dominance, fans were taken aback. He then followed that up with a three-song EP in Pardon Me in February, which included the already released “Sorry Not Sorry” and the aforementioned “The Ruler’s Back,” and he told Red Bull that he’s planning on releasing a lot of new music this year in an interview.
If that’s the case, then he’s doing a good job with his album rollout — even if the stakes of this battle are pretty low compared to others in rap’s history. His songs “The Finals,” “My Town” and “Crash Test Dummy” are the strongest out of the bunch to me as of press time. Filing a TDEast trademark and buying the domain so that his new battle releases can live there was also a nice touch.
Call it East Coast bias, or maybe blame it on the Knicks being in the Eastern Conference Finals — but Joey is winning this thing so far, and I’m not sure it’s been close.
Despite U.S. consumer sentiment falling to its second lowest rating on record in May, new studies show that concertgoers have grown comfortable spending $300 a month on tickets — and that this summer they plan on paying even more.
A Bank of America survey examining the spending data of its 69 million consumer and small business customers in the United States found customers spent an average of $150 a month on entertainment — such as tickets to live events or amusement parks — between May 2024 and April 2025. When researchers looked at credit card holders specifically who spent money on live event tickets, those individuals spent an average of $300 a month last year. Asked if they plan to attend more live events this year than last year, a third of people surveyed said yes.
That’s good news for live event promoters. The world’s largest concert promoter and ticket company Live Nation reported sluggish revenues for the start of the year, and online ticket marketplace and resale company Vivid Seats reported lower consumer interest in live events. The first quarter before spring and summer festivals kick off is usually slow, but Vivid Seats executives warned that negative consumer sentiment and “uncertainty can impact how and when artists and rights-holders come to market.” For its part, Live Nation is still predicting double-digit profit growtht this year.
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Prices for concert ticket have risen by more than 32% over the past five years, with the average concert ticket costing $130.36 in 2024. Those numbers have been driven by post-pandemic demand and major acts adopting dynamic, or surge, pricing — in which demand can increase a ticket’s price in real time — according to Billboard Boxscore data.
While $300 would have been enough to score tickets to see Bad Bunny or The Rolling Stones last year — average ticket prices were $280.67 and $266.16, respectively — it likely would not have been enough for one of U2’s 38 shows at The Sphere in Las Vegas. Those tickets cost on average $367.13.
And prices continue to rise. This year, for example, Bad Bunny fans will have to dig deeper into their pockets to see one of his shows. A study by GIGAcalculator, an online platform that creates converters and calculators for different uses, found it cost an average of $354 to attend his residency at Coliseo de Puerto Rico, but it could be argued that the reggaeton superstar gives a lot of bang for the buck. His 135-minute, 33-song shows average out to a cost of $2.62 per minute, almost a dollar cheaper than Charli XCX, whose shows are the most expensive at $3.55 per minute.
The soaring price of tickets is one reason more young concert goers report going into debt to see shows, according to a study from Cash App, the digital wallet company owned by Block.
More than half of Gen Z concertgoers, who were born after 1995, reported using buy now, pay later services to cover the cost of tickets or related expenses, such as travel to a show, overnight accommodations, or clothes to wear to the concert, according to the study. (Can’t imagine putting concert outfits on layaway? Coachella fashion inspiration boards, including those by artists like Ludmilla and Victoria Monet, were a big hit last year on Pinterest, a popular shopping tool among Gen Z.)
According to Cash App, one in five Gen Z concertgoers reported spending beyond their means to attend concerts in the past two years, and yet 65% of the roughly 2,000 adults in the survey overall said they would spend more in 2025.
Gen Z respondents paid an average of $2,100 on concert tickets over the past two years, according to Cash App.
While the top 100 tours grossed more than $10 billion in 2024, including Taylor Swift’s record-setting Eras Tour, only a handful of acts can charge more than $200 a ticket and sell out, Billboard Boxscore data shows.
Nonetheless, more than 75% of Gen Z respondents in Cash App’s study said they were willing to pay a premium on resale platforms if that’s what it takes to see a show.
Bad Bunny is set to break records across Latin America, Europe and Australia with his Debí Tirar Más Fotos tour after generating hundreds of millions of dollars from 2.6 million tickets sold, according to data provided to Billboard by promoter Live Nation.
“Bad Bunny is having incredible success without crossing over [musically]. In fact, it’s the audience — millions of people across the world, who are crossing over [to] him,” says Hans Schafer, senior vp of global touring for Live Nation, which is co-promoting the 54-date tour with Rimas Nation. Schafer notes that the superstar will be the first Spanish-language artist to perform a stadium concert in seven of the countries he’s visiting on the tour, which kicks off Nov. 21 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and ends July 22 in Brussels, Belgium.
The new tour is set to break the records Bad Bunny first broke in 2022 when he became the first Latin act to earn the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Year-End Boxscore Top Tours chart, grossing $373.5 million from 1.8 million tickets across 65 shows.
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Thanks to a massive demand for tickets, what began as a 24-date tour early last week has blossomed into a 54-show run across 18 countries. Bad Bunny expanded his Mexico City visit from two shows at Estadio GNP to eight shows. In South America, he grew his stops in Medellin, Colombia; Santiago, Chile; and Buenos Aires from one show to three shows in each market. And in Madrid, he expanded his plans for two shows to a staggering 10 concerts at the 70,000-person Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium.
Bad Bunny is playing two-night engagements at almost every stop on his tour and is breaking new records in nearly every market. He is the first and only Latin act to sell out a stadium concert in Australia and became the only artist in Colombia’s history to sell out three stadium concerts in 24 hours. He broke the record for the fastest-selling concert in the history of Costa Rica, and in Mexico, he broke the record for the most tickets sold in a single day by any artist.
The superstar now holds the record for the most tickets ever sold by a Latin artist in France, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Sweden. And with 12 stadium shows booked for Spain — including two in Barcelona — he now holds the record for the biggest concert run ever for an artist in the country with 600,000 tickets sold.
He’s also become the top-selling Latin artist in the U.K., breaking the record previously set by Karol G.
“Bad Bunny is a true global artist and this tour is testament to his power as an international superstar,” Schafer says. “We’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida’s 13th district is calling for Tory Lanez’s freedom. The Republican urged California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom to review the Toronto singer’s 2020 shooting case and issue Lanez (born Daystar Peterson) a pardon in a message posted to X on Monday (May 19).
“I am calling on Gov. Newsom @CAgovernor to review Tory Lanez’s case and issue a pardon,” she wrote. “His 10-year sentence was based on flawed evidence, political pressure, and prosecutorial bias. Justice must be blind— not driven by headlines. Free Tory Lanez.”
Lanez is currently serving a 10-year sentence after being convicted on three felony counts tied to shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the feet following a July 2020 party in Hidden Hills, Calif.
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Rep. Luna has also claimed via X on Tuesday (May 20) that new “compelling evidence” will be presented in the next 36 hours, which she believes will exonerate Lanez. “We have compelling evidence proving Tory Lanez’s innocence, and it will be released within the next 36 hours,” she wrote. “Those who rushed to call for his incarceration, and worse yet pushed false evidence, should prepare to be held accountable.”
Billboard has reached out to Megan Thee Stallion’s rep for comment on Luna’s messages on X.
Reps for Lanez from the Los Angeles nonprofit social justice organization Unite the People presented alleged new findings in Tory’s case during a press conference last week. Attorney Walter Roberts claimed that Kelsey Harris’ bodyguard, Bradley James, filed an affidavit claiming he overheard Harris admit to firing the weapon and not Lanez.
Megan Thee Stallion’s attorney, Alex Spiro, released a statement refuting Roberts’ claims. “Tory Lanez was tried and convicted by a jury of his peers and his case was properly adjudicated through the court system,” he said. “This is not a political matter — this is a case of a violent assault that was resolved in the court of law.”
The “Savage” rapper herself also slammed the claims of new evidence on Monday. “FACTS ARE FACTS, he did it , it was PROVEN IN COURT f–k the hate campaign on the internet TORY YOU SHOT ME !!” she wrote in a social media post. “Ain’t no new f–king evidence yall been saying the same s–t for years.”
Lanez was stabbed in prison on May 12 inside California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi. He was hospitalized for his injuries, and a statement posted hours later to his social media said he was stabbed 14 times, but was in “good spirits” while recovering. It also noted that his lungs had collapsed, but was breathing on his own at the time of the posting.
Hailey Bieber is Vogue‘s summer cover star, despite what Justin Bieber once told her during a heated moment that he now regrets.
Following the publication of the model’s big feature in the fashion magazine Tuesday (May 20), the pop star congratulated his wife by posting photos of the shoot on Instagram and proudly revealing that her achievement had caused him to eat his words from a long time ago. “Yo this reminds me when Hailey and I got into a huge fight,” he wrote in his caption. “I told hails that she would never be on the cover of vogue.”
“Yikes I know, so mean,” he continued. “For some reason because I felt so disrespected I thought I gotta get even.. I think as we mature we realize that we’re not helping anything by getting even … So baby u already know but forgive me for saying u wouldn’t get a vogue cover cuz clearly i was sadly mistaken.”
The Biebers have certainly come a long way since the fight in question, with the couple getting married in 2018. Last August, they became parents when they welcomed son Jack Blues, about which Hailey told Vogue: “Giving birth was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. … That s–t was so crazy. That was not fun. They broke my water. I went into labor and I labored for a few hours. No epidural, nothing.”
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The pop star also gushed about his marriage to the Rhode founder in the piece. “I’ve done a lot of dumb things in my life,” he told the publication, “but the smartest thing I’ve ever done was marry Hailey.”
“She’s in the spotlight, and has the attention because of her effortless knack for style, business, art and fashion,” he added when sharing his thoughts on why his partner attracts so much hate online. “And the way she makes being a mom and wife look easy.”
Hailey’s Vogue cover comes just two days after she and Justin attended the Stanley Cup playoffs together to cheer on the Toronto Maple Leafs, cuddling up in their seats as the “Peaches” artist fawned over the players. A week prior, Justin celebrated his spouse by throwing a lavish Mother’s Day celebration for her, complete with a candlelit dinner and Mariachi band.
With four years passing since Justin last released an album — 2021’s Justice, which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — fans are eager to hear new music from the star. Luckily for them, Hailey confirmed that her husband is working on something new. While welcoming Vogue into her home, she said as the sounds of him singing bled through the walls: “I forgot Justin is recording, otherwise I’d say let’s get cozy.”
See Hailey Bieber’s Vogue cover below:
Rihanna fans have been waiting not so patiently the last three years for new music, and it finally arrived Friday in the form of the Smurfs soundtrack song “Friend of Mine.” The vibey new song is the perfect backdrop for a Smurf dance-off, as evidenced by the mostly animated music video, but the three-minute-plus track […]
Sometimes, a serendipitous moment happens while writing a song that in hindsight seems like it was just meant to be.
Such is the case was with Scotty McCreery’s new single “Bottle Rockets,” which features Hootie & the Blowfish revisiting their breakthrough hit, 1994’s “Hold My Hand.”
McCreery was with songwriting buddies and producer Frank Rogers at his cabin in the North Carolina mountains for a writing retreat. There were six inches of snow on the ground when thoughts turned to warmer times and the soundtracks to their memories of summers past.
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“I had mentioned how much I loved Hootie & the Blowfish, and Frank being from South Carolina and a frequent collaborator with Darius [Rucker] knew exactly what to do with that,” McCreery says. “We started strumming the tune that would eventually become ‘Bottle Rockets,’ and at the end of the makeshift chorus we had at that point, Frank went into ‘Hold My Hand.’ It fit like a glove. Everyone was laughing and high-fiving because we knew we were on to something. The song really just spilled out from there.”
“Bottle Rockets,” which came out last Friday (May 16) and was added to more than 100 country radio stations’ playlists, is a mid-tempo, nostalgic slice of summers past — with McCreery fondly recalling a time with a young love at the beach, feet in the sand, beer in hand and playing “Hold My Hand” on the guitar. And, as if by magic in the song, Rucker and his bandmates’ voices appear, rising up like a swelling wave. It feels like the perfect summer jam.
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McCreery reached out to Rucker — and then Rogers also reached out to Rucker and the rest of the band about being on the record. “To be honest, I was nervous to ask them about this song, because ‘Hold My Hand’ has to be one of their babies,” McCreery says. “I knew I loved how the song came out, but I obviously couldn’t be sure what they would think until they heard it. I was very glad to hear each one of the guys loved ‘Bottle Rockets’ and were very open to the idea of getting back in the studio and being on this song with me. You should have seen the smile on my face when I got that text back.”
Hootie drummer Jim “Soni” Sonefeld tells Billboard he was surprised at how well the songs fit together. “I was certainly intrigued to see how ‘Hold My Hand’ would be woven into a contemporary song,” he says. “It’s not an easy task to do it tastefully. But geez! It truly sounds like all the parts were meant to be together when you hear the single.”
Any idea of sampling the original song was never really considered. “Frank Rogers knows Hootie & the Blowfish come from the old school, and we were gonna want to get in there and sing our own parts the old-fashioned way,” Sonefeld says.
“I’m not sure much thought was ever even given to just sampling the song,” McCreery says. “The thought in my head was always how cool it would be if the whole gang got back in the studio and sang ‘Hold My Hand’ for the song.”
Once the band agreed, it came together quickly. Almost too quickly, McCreery says. “Mark [Bryan], Dean [Felber] and Soni actually called us while we were in the studio tracking for the new EP and said, ‘We’re all together right now at the studio. Can we just record right now?’ We hadn’t even recorded the song yet,” McCreery says. “So, we got our band together real quick to find a tempo and a key, gave that to them, and they recorded their parts for ‘Bottle Rockets’ before ‘Bottle Rockets’ was ever even recorded.”
Sonefeld, Bryan and Felber recorded their parts at Bryan’s studio on the South Carolina coast. “Luckily, we were still nice and warmed up from our 2024 Hootie tour,” Sonefeld says. “Heck, we’ve all sang those parts so many times I think we could do it in our sleep.”
Rucker was in Nashville from London, where he now lives, and recorded his part in Rogers’ home studio, where McCreery does his vocal recordings as well. “Frank sent me a clip of D singing in the booth and I could tell it was just going to be killer,” McCreery says.
Sonefeld brought “Hold My Hand” to Hootie & the Blowfish when he joined the band in the early ‘90s, and it’s been the delight of his life to see it travel the world. “If you would have told me in 1989 when I wrote ‘Hold My Hand’ that the song would later be sung by our fans at concerts from South Carolina to South Africa to Australia to Ireland, and all around the globe, I’d have told you that you’re a big liar,” he says. “Heck, if you told me I’d be in a band named Hootie & the Blowfish I would have told you the same thing!”
McCreery was less than a year old when “Hold My Hand” was a hit — but growing up in North Carolina, Hootie & the Blowfish (who are from neighboring South Carolina) were practically in McCreery’s DNA.
“Being born and raised in the Carolinas, Hootie & the Blowfish is really just a part of the culture here,” he says. “Their music was always around when I was growing up. It was on the radio, in the background at restaurants, you would hear their songs at sporting events or the DJ would play their songs when everyone was on the dance floor at weddings. You couldn’t and still can’t really go anywhere without hearing them somewhere. In college was probably when I started jamming to them the most. I never performed their songs live, but I’m sure I’ve held a beer can up like a microphone and gave my friends a rousing performance of “Only Wanna Be With You” a time or two.”
Though McCreery is friendly with the band, his main connection is Rucker, with whom he shares a warm friendship. “Darius and I have golfed a bunch together — he normally wins, but I’ve gotten him a time or two — and football also is something we bond over,” McCreery says. “We’re in the same fantasy football league, and then we love to talk smack about college sports as well. He is a big [University of South Carolina] Gamecock fan, and I’m a [North Carolina State University] Wolfpack guy. D is full of stories and has shared lots of knowledge and wisdom with me over the years. Whether it be in a golf cart or on a ferry ride through the night from Dublin to London, I’m all ears anytime I’m around him trying to soak up some of that knowledge.”
McCreery’s biggest challenge has been trying to figure out how to replicate the song live, which he did for the first time this past weekend. “At the moment, I’m having my band singing the ‘Hold My Hand” hook lines and I’m singing most of Darius’ lines myself,” he says. “It’s working, and the crowds have given us a great response to it live. We may change how we do it as the summer goes on, potentially utilizing the video wall we have on the road, but for the moment, that’s what we are doing.”
Or maybe he can just reach out to his friends. “Give us a call if you need some background vocalists,” Sonefeld jokes, but seriously adds he is thrilled with the result and that a new generation may hear “Hold My Hand.” “It’s a timeless message about lifting each other up during difficult times,” he says. “And I think a younger audience will really vibe on that.”
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Memorial Day sales are finally blossoming, as the national holiday is right around the corner. For those looking to stay hydrated […]
The members of King Gnu chatted with Billboard Japan for its Monthly Feature series spotlighting currently notable artists and works. The popular four-man band’s latest single “TWILIGHT!!!” was written as the theme song for the blockbuster anime movie Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback and dropped digitally on April 18.
Last year, the “SPECIALZ” band’s first-ever domestic five-dome tour entitled King Gnu Dome Tour “THE GREATEST UNKNOWN” drew crowds totaling 380,000 people. Soon after, the quartet embarked on its first Asia tour visiting Taipei, Singapore, Shanghai, and Seoul, expanding its overwhelming presence outside of its home country.
The band’s new single is being featured in the latest movie version of the hugely popular Detective Conan anime, also known for having a history of famous theme songs. “TWILIGHT!!!” fuses ’80s synths and Afro-inspired grooves to create a danceable track that transforms incredibly live. The four members — Daiki Tsuneta, Yu Seki, Kazuki Arai and Satoru Iguchi — talked about this new single, which they say is an extension of a new way of working they settled upon during the making of their most recent album THE GREATEST UNKNOWN.
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First, tell us about your KING GNU LIVEHOUSE TOUR 2025 CLUB GNU EDITION that ran from February to March. Most of your performances of tracks off your albums CEREMONY and THE GREATEST UNKNOWN probably took place in arena-sized venues or larger, so were there any new takeaways or insights when you performed them in a club setting?
Kazuki Arai (Bass): The audience was really close to us, so I think there was more tension because of that. We could feel the passion from the audience directly without loss, which was unconsciously reflected in our staging and performance. But our dome tour was followed by our Asia tour, so it wasn’t like we suddenly downscaled to club-sized venues, because we also did halls during our Asian trek in between and there was also a bit of time after that as well, so it was a bit more of a gradual process.
Satoru Iguchi (Vocals/Keyboards): During the Asia tour, the show in Seoul had this really great vibe, so we thought it’d be nice to see that in Japan at a venue around the same scale. The Seoul crowd sang a lot and cheered really loud. It’s not like our fans in Japan aren’t energetic, but they are shy, it’s just how Japanese people tend to be. So regarding our domestic fan club tour, we did hope that we’d be able to perform with that kind of energy again.
You also seemed to actively hype up the audience on many occasions, Mr. Tsuneta.
Daiki Tsuneta (Guitar/Vocals): It’s no fun when people are just listening to you. There’s no point in performing live like that, is how I basically feel. Our energy level of the day changes depends on whether or not we get something like a response, to the point where we might seem like a different band.
Your new song “TWILIGHT!!!” is the theme song for the movie Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback. It’s tied into a work that’s been on the air since you were kids and has been loved for a long time.
Iguchi: Yes. I used to watch the anime at the time.
Tsuneta: I used to read the manga.
Yu Seki (Drums): Of the movie versions, I liked Detective Conan: Crossroad in the Ancient Capital.
What was the reaction like when you announced the tie-in?
Arai: I have friends who are fans and when I told them directly, they went crazy. They were like, “That’s so awesome!” A lot of people contacted me about it, so personally, there was a lot of response.
The movie is set in Nagano Prefecture, where Mr. Tsuneta and Mr. Iguchi are from.
Arai: Did you get a feel of home when you saw it?
Iguchi: Yeah, I did. Yatsugatake (mountains) and Zenkoji (temple) appear in the movie.
When you were tapped to write the movie theme song, what kind of song did you envision when you first started working on it?
Tsuneta: Personally, when I’ve been asked to write a song for an anime show, singing about that work itself doesn’t sit well with me. Because when we perform that song live, I’ll be like, “Who is this song about, anyway?” and won’t feel comfortable with it. I believe strongly that the song has to be ours that it has to be a King Gnu song. In that sense, I’m not writing about any of the characters in particular, but the inspiration from the world of Detective Conan that I felt after seeing the movie is there, so I suppose what’s most important is maintaining a good sense of distance. I’ve been conscious of that since “SPECIALZ” (opener for the Shibuya Incident story arc of the anime series Jujutsu Kaisen). Though of course I do want it to overlap with the anime as well.
Arai: I was thinking about something like that too. Like SLAM DUNK, anime songs from back then weren’t about the content of the work itself, you know?
Tsuneta: I’m aware of things like words that resonate with the audience, but try not to narrow it down too much. I really try to keep in mind that the music has to be believable when we play it as a band.
I think the sound is a new departure for King Gnu, with synths that have an ’80s feel, for example. Did you have a clear idea of what you wanted to do from the demo stage?
Tsuneta: Yes, I’ve really been into that ’80s feel recently. I used lean more into alternative music before and that kind of sparkly, disco vibe wasn’t something I liked. But now that I’m at this age, I’m starting to like that type of music because I think it’s refreshing in a different way.
Did you come across any particular works that sparked that interest?
Tsuneta: The Weeknd, Daft Punk, I’ve been wanting to try stuff like that recently.
What were your first impressions of the demo?
Seki: It had an Afro feel to it, but I sensed that he wanted to take it in a city (sophisticated) direction. I personally found it kind of difficult because it wasn’t in my deck of cards.
Tsuneta: The beats are definitely Afro-oriented. I imagine it’s super hard for our audience. They’ll probably have a hard time grooving to it.
Seki: But when I listened to the finished song, I think we settled on a really good place.
Tsuneta: It has a mixture feel to it, doesn’t it?
The chorus also references Jersey club.
Seki: Yes, it does. We did sneak in a little bit of that context of club music. But we hadn’t decided on anything until the four of us got together to play it. We just inserted the samples and were like, “Let’s figure it out during rehearsals.” That’s how King Gnu’s new songs are finished up these days. We have no idea where we’ll end up, so we just get the samples ready and sit down and figure it out. And it all seems to work out somehow.
Arai: It works out, doesn’t it? It was the same with “Asura”
Seki: Both “Asura and “IKAROS” worked out.
Speaking of which, “Asura is one of those songs that transformed during your live performances.
Arai: It feels like that this time, too.
Seki: I think I’m getting more comfortable with the instruments. I use electronic drums on this one.
I see. What about the bass?
Arai: The bass ended up copying the groove and nuances that Daiki had included in his demo. We tried various takes, but agreed that it’d be better if the bass could be heard together with the beat. We usually just put in what each of us wants to do, but this time, I think we were more conscious of putting (the bass and drums) together as a set than in other songs. The nuances (Tsuneta) wanted were already apparent in the demo stage, so in the end we went full circle and settled on that. Our approach was to make it work with a minimum of bass sounds.
Seki: Since we’re a band, doing things like that can be awkward or difficult, but I did want to try it out. I’ve noticed that some of the songs that are popular overseas feature the bass guitar and bass drum doing the same thing.
Tsuneta: I’ve been thinking that it’d be better if (the bass and drums) aren’t divided. They’re often separated when a band is producing the song, but in today’s mainstream music, they’re very much one and the same, so that was something I wanted to try. “Nekko” was the complete opposite, with each member playing their own part, very much like a band, and I was getting a bit tired of that. Both have their merits, of course, and we’ll separate them in our live performances, but I thought we could try something like that in the production.
It’s also a continuation of your production style after THE GREATEST UNKNOWN, isn’t it?
Tsuneta: Yes. I felt pretty confident about “SPECIALZ” and “Asura and realized there aren’t any bands that can create these kinds of sounds. My current mood is to pursue that further.
How was the vocal recording process?
Iguchi: My voice has a lot of overtones, so it doesn’t work too well with Auto-Tune, and it took me a while to find a good place to land. It also took me a while to get used to the rhythm patterns. So it was pretty fun in terms of it being a challenge, but we started rehearsing recently and I’m finally getting used to it and want to record it again. I feel like I could sing it better now.
Tsuneta: You mean you’re evolving?
Iguchi: Yeah, basically.
Arai: Daiki also said, “I should have recorded the guitar.”
Tsuneta: I added some guitar for the live performance, and thought it sounded great.
Seki: That happens a lot with this band. The songs change again after playing them live.
Iguchi: Yeah.
Tsuneta: Very few of the songs are done the same way as the original recordings.
You constantly update them.
Tsuneta: So next time, it’d be cool if we have the luxury of rehearsing, then recording. We could probably make them even better if we try to input them first, then record them based on that.
Seki: That would make them really King Gnu.
Arai: Yeah, make them purer.
We look forward to your upcoming music.
Tsuneta: I think the next one is another completely different type of song, so I can’t wait to release it. It’ll probably help people understand this one better.
I see. Is “TWILIGHT!!!” symbolic in some way in terms of where the band is at musically?
Tsuneta: It’s quite symbolic in one aspect, but only in one aspect. We’ll be releasing some more new songs, and only then will certain things become apparent.
Iguchi: I think all four of us are more grounded now.
So your personal development is showing in your music as well.
Tsuneta: I mean, Kazuki is raising a kid and we’re all at an age where such things are relevant.
You’re more deeply rooted in your daily lives in that sense.
Tsuneta: Yes. I want to face that kind of reality in the things we create and also in the way we work.
—This interview by Takuto Ueda and text by Maiko Murata first appeared on Billboard Japan
