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28 Apr 2023

Billboard Explains: Women in Reggaeton

Reggaetón is becoming one of the most popular genres of music globally, but how did it get there and, more importantly, who are the women making their mark in the male-dominated genre?

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The latest episode of Billboard Explains dives into the women who are carving their own paths within the genre, breaking barriers and setting new records within the space.

Reggaetón started in Panama and later continued evolving in Puerto Rico, combining elements of reggae music, Latin dancehall and hip-hop influences through the 1990s. Tego Calderón and more led the first wave of the genre, while Daddy Yankee brought the genre to the masses in 2004 with his hit “Gasolina.”

Ivy Queen, also known as the first lady of reggaetón, was the first female artist to break barriers within the genre. She got her start at a club called The Noise in Puerto Rico, where she was the first woman to ever step onto the stage and won in her very first battle. Her rebut single “Muchos Quieren Tubarme” stemmed from her performance at the club and cemented her status as a reggaetón star. In the time since, artists like Becky G, Natti Natasha and more have popped up, with Karol G and her album Mañana Será Bonito marking the first time an all-Spanish language album by a female artist reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

After the video, catch up on more Billboard Explains videos and learn about how Beyoncé arrived at Renaissance, the evolution of girl groups, BBMAs, NFTs, SXSW, the magic of boy bands, American Music Awards, the Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Hot 100 chart, how R&B/hip-hop became the biggest genre in the U.S., how festivals book their lineups, Billie Eilish’s formula for success, the history of rap battles, nonbinary awareness in music, the Billboard Music Awards, the Free Britney movement, rise of K-pop in the U.S., why Taylor Swift is re-recording her first six albums, the boom of hit all-female collaborations, how Grammy nominees and winners are chosen, why songwriters are selling their publishing catalogs, how the Super Bowl halftime show is booked and why Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” was able to shoot to No. 1 on the Hot 100.

28 Apr 2023

Neverland Awaits: How to Watch ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ on Disney+

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Peter Pan & Wendy, a new installment of the classic fairytale, premieres Friday (April 28) on Disney+.

Jude Law, Yara Shahidi, Ever Anderson, Alexander Molony, Jacobi Jupe and Joshua Pickering star in the live-action movie directed by David Lowery.

Peter Pan & Wendy introduces audiences to a young Wendy Darling, who meets Peter Pan and travels to Neverland (with Tinker Bell in tow). In Neverland, Wendy and the gang encounter Captain Hook and set out on a “thrilling and dangerous adventure that will change her life forever.”

Peter Pan & Wendy was written by Lowery and Toby Halbrooks and based on the novel by J. M. Barrie and the 1953 animated film. Jim Whitaker produced Peter Pan & Wendy with Adam Borba, Thomas M. Hammel and Toby Halbrooks serving as executive producers.

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Peter Pan & Wendy: How to Stream Free on Disney+

Disney+ subscribers can begin streaming Peter Pan & Wendy on Friday. The movie, which streams at no additional cost to subscribers, is located in the carousel of new releases at the top of the page when you sign into the Disney+ app.

Not subscribed to Disney+? Plans start at $7.99/month (or $79.99/year) for ad-supported streaming and $10.99/month (or $99.99/year) to stream without ads.

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What’s streaming on Disney+? As the go-to destination for Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic, subscribers will find a variety of bingeable movies and TV series including Disney+ exclusives like The Mandalorian, Prom Pact, Secrets of the Elephants, Marvel Studio Legends, Loki, The Book of Boba Fett, SUGA: Road to D-Day, Miley Cyrus: Endless Sumer Vacation, and Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming.

Marvel fans can stream Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and other MCU movies such as Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, which will begin streaming on the platform on May 17.

Subscribe to the Disney+ bundle to get even more bang for your buck. The Duo Basic with Disney+ and Hulu is $9.99/month; the Trio Basic (Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+) is $12.99/month and the Trio Premium plan is $19.99/month to stream without ads.

Although Disney+ no longer offers free trial, you might be able to score one through Verizon. For a limited time only, Verizon customers can subscribe to the Disney+ or the Disney+ Bundle for free for six months with select Verizon Unlimited plans. This special offer ends May 17.

Watch the trailer for Peter Pan & Wendy below.

28 Apr 2023

Nick Cannon Is Glad ‘Red Table Talk’ Is Ending: ‘That Toxic Table’

Nick Cannon spoke out on his new radio show Friday (April 28) about the end of Jada Pinkett Smith‘s Red Table Talk.

According to The Daily Cannon host, the Facebook Watch show — which also stars Willow and Jada Pinkett Smith’s mom Adrienne Banfield-Norris — being axed was a “good” thing, particularly in light of Will Smith‘s viral slap at the 2022 Oscars.

“If there was no Red Table Talk, then he wouldn’t have slapped the sh– out of Chris Rock,” he said, according to Entertainment Tonight, referring to the Facebook series as “that toxic table.”

“That was royalty, Will and Jada. Then they brought it to the table,” Cannon went on. “I don’t want to know all this sh– about y’all. I just want to mind my Black-owned business. I don’t want to be up in everybody else’s kitchen. Keep that sh– to y’all selves.”

Over the course of Red Table Talk‘s 129 episodes, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star joined his family multiple times to talk about their personal lives. In one memorable 2020 segment, he and his wife opened up in a one-on-one conversation about their private separation and the latter’s ensuing “entanglement” with singer August Alsina.

Cannon’s aversion to hearing about the Smith family’s private business is a bit ironic considering how public he’s been over the years about his own life — particularly his belief in “consensual non-monogamy” and the dozen kids he’s birthed with six different women, five of whom have been born since last summer.

28 Apr 2023

Maggie Baird Talks Working With Daughter Billie Eilish & Paramore to Fight Food Insecurity

Maggie Baird has brought her Support + Feed mission to those in her community, to fans at her daughter Billie Eilish‘s concerts and, as of Friday (April 28), to Global Citizen Now.

The food and climate activist was one of four speakers on a panel about food insecurity and ethical, sustainable sourcing at the 2023 New York City summit for activists, joining Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness, restauranteur Pinky Cole and Eleven Madison Park owner Daniel Humm onstage in front of fellow industry leaders and members of the press. Baird founded Support + Feed in 2020 to combat hunger in Los Angeles during the pandemic, through which she developed a bigger mission of eliminating food insecurity via equitable plant-based food systems because, as she explains, “climate change is inextricably linked to what we eat.”

But environmentalism has been her life’s passion since long before then. Behind the scenes of the summit, Baird spoke with Billboard about spending most of her life as an “apologetic” vegan and climate warrior, until one Thanksgiving about 15 years ago, she just stopped apologizing. “I was like, no more going to people’s houses with the turkey on the table, everyone worshipping the destruction of an animal, nobody caring about the environment,” she recalls of putting her foot down.

“We’re going to do Thanksgiving at home alone, [because I’ve been] bringing all the food anyway cause I’m bringing the vegan version of everything,” she continues. “Why have I been apologizing for decades for doing something that is right?”

Both Eilish and her older brother/songwriting partner Finneas have grown up to become vocal climate activists. The “Bad Guy” singer features informative videos on Support + Feed at her concerts along with stations where fans can challenge themselves to eat daily plant-based meals, and she made her mom’s organization one of a few green organizations to benefit from her proceeds.

“Billie’s fans jumped on the bandwagon,” Baird says of Support + Feed’s beginnings. “It was amazing. One of the things I did with Billie from the beginning was push the music industry to be more sustainably minded. I think the music industry is special in a lot of ways. They have direct artist to fan connection — other forms of entertainment, not so much. A musician has a real heart-to-heart connection with their fans.”

And while Baird did raise Finneas and Billie with firm, sustainable values — every year, for example, their Christmas presents are wrapped in the same reusable cloths — she says both musicians independently found their own distinct passions for the cause. “I was not apologetic to my family, I was always very outspoken,” she says with a laugh. “We put things in their paths for them to learn it themselves. I remember very distinctly [Billie] watching a David Attenborough documentary with me and how it influenced her way more than I ever could. She’s quite adamant. Anything that might have come from me, she’s taken it on and then some.” 

In addition to Baird’s food-focused discussion, the two-day Global Citizen Now summit included conversations on abortion access, supporting women in workplaces, protecting protesters in Iraq and Kenya and more climate-focused seminars. John Legend stopped by to advocate for greater voter turnout as the 2024 election approaches, actress Busy Philipps called for more representation of reproductive health issues in entertainment, and French President Emmanuel Macron joined in via video chat for a conversation on implementing global sustainability policies.

Going forward, Baird has plans to team up with more big-name musicians to spread Support + Feed’s message. Paramore endorses the organization at shows — “[Hayley Williams] basically said to me, ‘We don’t want to tour unless we’re doing something good for the world,’” Baird recalls — and Pharrell Williams has also come aboard.

“We can offer musicians the chance to reach their fans and do something really active,” Baird says. “They can give them the chance to learn about what’s happening, take our plant-based pledge and hopefully deliver meals. Musicians and music events are perfect because you’ve got so many people in the same place, and people who really care.”

28 Apr 2023

Rema & Selena Gomez Each Score Their First Rhythmic No. 1 With ‘Calm Down’

Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” ascends to No. 1 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Airplay chart, jumping to the top of the May 6-dated survey.

It’s Rema’s first Rhythmic Airplay No. 1, earned with his first charting title. The format now has two straight No. 1s by first-time leaders, following Coi Leray’s six-week reign with “Players.”

“Calm Down” is the first No. 1 by an artist in a first Rhythmic Airplay appearance since Steve Lacy, whose “Bad Habit” led for a week last November.

As for Gomez, “Calm Down” is also her first No. 1 on Rhythmic Airplay, logged with her 14th charting title. She boasts a pair of previous top 10s: “Good for You,” featuring A$AP Rocky (No. 4, 2015), and “Same Old Love” (No. 6, 2016).

Concurrently, “Calm Down” lifts 3-2 for a new high on Pop Airplay. It also bullets at No. 24 on Adult Pop Airplay and No. 35 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay.

On the all-format Radio Songs chart, “Calm Down” held at its No. 4 best on the April 29-dated list with 72.4 million audience impressions in the April 21-27 tracking week, according to Luminate.

The April 29-dated Billboard Hot 100 found “Calm Down” at No. 7, after rising as high as No. 6 so far. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 15.7 million official U.S. streams and sold 5,000 downloads April 14-20.

The collaboration has also topped the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart for 34 weeks running, the longest rule since the ranking began a year ago in partnership with music festival and global brand Afro Nation.

“Calm Down” is the second single from Rave & Roses, Rema’s debut studio album, released in March 2022. Since its release, the set has earned 291,000 equivalent album units.

28 Apr 2023

Executive Turntable: BMG Names Frontline Catalog SVP; The Orchard Picks EVP of Artist/Label Services

Sean Heydorn was promoted to the joint role of senior vp of Rise Records and frontline catalogue at BMG. The announcement follows last week’s news that BMG has fully integrated its catalog and new release recordings businesses. In his new dual role, Heydorn will continue leading Rise Records while overseeing a newly-established frontline catalog team that will be responsible for marketing recent releases (i.e. projects designated as having been released 18 months ago or more) while ensuring the ongoing success of frontline music. The Los Angeles-based executive will continue reporting to executive vp of recorded music Dan Gill. Heydorn can be reached at sean.heydorn@bmg.com.

Tricia Arnold was promoted to executive vp of global artist/label services and sales at The Orchard, up from her prior role of senior vp of global label management and sales. Arnold will continue overseeing the company’s global distribution strategy and international sales and label services teams. The New York-based executive, who was named to Billboard‘s Women in Music List in 2023, will continue reporting to president/COO Colleen Theis. She can be reached at tarnold@theorchard.com.

Tim Plumley was promoted to vp of media and artist relations at UMe, the global catalog company of Universal Music Group. In the role, Plumley will strategize and execute 360-degree catalog media campaigns for both frontline album releases and catalog initiatives. Based in Los Angeles, he reports to executive vp of media and artist relations Sujata Murthy. Plumley can be reached at Tim.Plumley@umusic.com.

Sony Music Entertainment UK relaunched Epic Records UK and appointed Sarah Lockhart as president of the revamped label, effective May 1. Epic Records UK will relaunch as a frontline label alongside other Sony Music labels including RCA and Columbia. Lockhart takes on the role following a stint at Sony Music Publishing, where she was head of A&R for three years.

Jeff Geasey joined Page 1 Management as GM, West Coast out of Los Angeles. In the role, Geasey will sign new creators, service existing clients and work closely with Page 1 founder/CEO Ashley Page. He joins from Fast Casual Management, which he co-founded. Geasey can be reached at Jeff@page1management.com.

Sound Royalties announced several hires and promotions. On the promotions front, Shaun Kilmartin was named vp of technology and special projects; Allison Portlock was named vp of marketing; Marysol Aldaba was named royalty support manager; Emma Blake was named administration manager; Bryan Fried was named royalty analyst manager; Erin Regan was named marketing manager; and Kimberly Guisao was named digital marketing coordinator. New hires include Michael Aufiero as royalty specialist; Leandro Castro as junior systems administrator; Nicole Hanrahan as data management specialist; Natasha Mikazens as royalty specialist; Yvonne Swaby as accounting manager; Zachary Vega as royalty analyst; Kateleen Vera as royalty support specialist; and Christian Vernis as junior royalty specialist. Portlock can be reached at allison@soundroyalties.com.

Abby Sprague was promoted to vp of marketing at Mom+Pop Music. In her new role, she will run global campaigns for Mom+Pop artists and expand her roster to include SEB, Frances Forever and the newly-signed act Goth Babe.

Veteran music PR executive Cara Wodnicki departed her role as executive vp of publicity at BMF to launch her own firm, CSW Publicity. She will bring her personal roster of clients to the new company, including AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys, J-pop act Perfume, Emergency Tiara, RADWIMPS and Canadian pop singer Olivia Lunny. She can now be reached at Cara@CSWPublicity.com.

J.R. Johnson was named director of communications at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He joins from Refinery29, where he served as senior director of talent relations/special projects; he has also served in comms roles at Warner Bros. Records and Sunshine Sachs & Associates, among others.

Justin Levenson was named professional services product lead at OpenPlay, a leading asset management platform for the music industry. In his new role, Levenson will work with OpenPlay’s engineering team, clients and other stakeholders to ensure the platform is operating properly and meeting client needs, among other duties. He joins the company from Utopia Music, where he served as commercial director of financial services/senior product manager. Levenson can be reached at justin.levenson@openplay.co.

Emilia Huneke-Bergquist joined Stand Together Music to direct project management and events for the organization, which “unites the music industry, musicians, and their teams with proven change-makers to co-create solutions, starting with criminal justice, addiction recovery, education, free speech and peace, and ending the war on drugs,” according to a press release. Huneke-Bergquist will lead a cross-functional team of project managers and event professionals in facilitating marketing and communications efforts along with in-person and virtual experiences across the Stand Together community. Before officially joining the organization, she had previously worked with Stand Together on various partnerships. She can be reached at ehuneke-bergquist@standtogether.org.

Kylie Dembek was named country music project manager at ONErpm. She joins the company from Big Machine Label Group, where she worked as a strategic planning manager helping artists develop their radio and marketing strategies. In her new role, she will focus on creating and implementing release and marketing strategy for emerging and established artists. Dembek can be reached at kylie@onerpm.com.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum named two new additions to its staff: Dave Paulson, who joins as writer-editor in the museum services department, and Austin Taylor, who was named director of event sales. Paulson will contribute to exhibitions, museum publications, public programs, online offerings and other educational initiatives; he was previously a reporter at The Tennessean. Taylor will lead the events and culinary department’s sales team while also being responsible for the event sales annual revenue goal. He was most recently senior sales manager with both the Hilton and HEI hotel brands and previously worked at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum between 2011 and 2017.

Away co-founder/CEO Jen Rubio has joined the board of directors at tvg hospitality, the venue group founded by Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons.

28 Apr 2023

Jamie Lee Curtis Showers Pregnant ‘Film Daughter’ Lindsay Lohan With Love

Fans have been waiting 20 years for a sequel to 2003’s Freaky Friday, and Jamie Lee Curtis added fuel to the flame on Friday (April 28), when she took to Instagram to celebrate her co-star Lindsay Lohan’s pregnancy.

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“My friend and film daughter @lindsaylohan is growing up! So thrilled for her. What a mama she will be,” the Everything Everywhere All at Once star captioned a repost of photos Lohan shared a day prior, in which she’s seen holding her growing stomach, as well as smiling with friends and family at a variety of recent events. 

Lohan revealed last month that she and husband Bader Shammas are expecting their first child via Instagram.

Back in February, Curtis told Variety that a Freaky Friday sequel is “going to happen” at the Producers Guild Awards. “It’s going to happen,” she said. “Without saying there’s anything officially happening, I’m looking at you in this moment and saying, ‘Of course it’s going to happen.’ It’s going to happen.”

She continued, “I’m 64 in a week and Lindsay is 36…[A sequel] lends itself so beautifully, We’re both committed to it, and it’s not ours to make. It’s Disney’s to make and I think they’re interested and we’re talking.”

28 Apr 2023

Antonio Brown Says He’s Signing With The Ravens, Twitter Calls Cap

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Former star NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown claims he will be signing with the Baltimore Ravens. However, Twitter is calling cap on the future Hall of Famer.

“Excited to return to the NFL this year,” tweeted Brown on Friday afternoon (April 28) along with a caption of himself in a Ravens uniform. Soon after Brown made his claim, the jokes started flying. Mostly about the Raven’s organization probably likely not being aware that he was joining the squad.

To say Brown’s life has been a rollercoaster since he left the NFL would be an understatement. In the last couple of years he’s showed his junk online, been involved in a standoff with police and was employed by Kanye West’s Donda Sports Agency.

He was also spotted an AFL game, too.

Peep some of the Twitter reactions to Brown’s for now far-fetched claim in the gallery.

What a time.

28 Apr 2023

Zendaya & Tom Holland Hit Up Usher’s Vegas Residency for Date Night: Watch Her Sing Along

They’ve got it bad! Zendaya and Tom Holland recently had a date night at Usher‘s Las Vegas residency.

“When I tell you we barely had a voice by the end of this… Childhood dream came true,” Zendaya wrote on an Instagram Story Thursday (April 27). The clip shows her singing gleefully along to Usher’s “Confessions Part II” with Holland next to her sporting a green hoodie.

In another moment captured by an attendee, Usher took a moment during the show to acknowledge the Spider-Man: No Way Home stars. “Zendaya is in the house, ladies and gentlemen. Tom Holland is in the house, ladies and gentlemen,” the R&B crooner told the crowd, which broke into rabid applause, and the attendee panned to the couple standing just a few seats away in the same section.

At CinemaCon Thursday, Zendaya opened up about her connection to Holland and her role as MJ Watson while accepting the star of the year award. “Literally my first date was when I was 15 years old and it was to go see [The Amazing] Spider-Man in 3D,” the Emmy winner said during her speech, according to People. “Now I consider myself honored to be able to buy a ticket and sneak into the back of one of your theaters, which I’ve done many times before, and watch my own.”

Usher’s My Way the Las Vegas Residency is currently running at the Dolby Live Theater inside the Park MGM, with 15 shows added through the end of October.

Meanwhile, Zendaya just made her own heralded return to the stage by surprising the crowd at Labrinth’s Coachella set on Weekend 2 to perform “All for Us” and “I’m Tired,” her two collaborations with the British producer featured on the soundtrack to HBO’s Euphoria.

Check out Zendaya and Holland living it up at Usher’s show in Sin City below.

28 Apr 2023

Durand Jones on His New Album, Transparency and a Time America Got It Right

The songs on Durand Jones’ debut solo album Wait Til I Get Over have been incubating for close to a decade, as the frontman (along with his band The Indications) rose to prominence while embracing jazz, soul and disco sounds from decades past. Jones even pitched tracks to the group from the solo debut – out May 5 on Dead Oceans – like the swinging “See It Through,” which he envisioned as a Christmas track.

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“The Christmas song wasn’t vibing at all. That was a straight-up chop,” Jones laughs. “I wanted to keep it in my back pocket. I didn’t consider that song to be a failure.” 

Instead of forcing the track to be a holiday tune, Jones harvested it as one of 10 tracks on his highly personal new album. Tied together by Jones’ stirring vocals, the genre-eclectic album sprouted from penultimate track “Letter to My 17 Year Old Self” — a jazz trip that contemplates “this thing called life.” At 17, Jones was playing in a punk rock band, singing gospel in church on Sundays and performing classic and jazz pieces in the school marching band, all while growing up in a rural Southern town founded with reparations paid out to eight former slaves. “I wanted it to envelop all of those things and show that everything I learned musically and everything that I experienced after leaving [hometown] Hillaryville lead me to this record,” he tells Billboard.

Hillaryville, La., was something out of a historical fiction novel — a town built by and for the Black community, where folks like Jones’ grandmother didn’t have to enter back doors or sit in separate sections of restaurants. As his grandmother tells the history, the first thing the founders did was build a school — since reading had been illegal for Black people — followed by churches, restaurants, a general store and hotels, to create a self-sustaining community that didn’t discriminate based on a person’s skin color.

“Here’s an example of America getting it right for eight men, and here’s what they did with that,” says Jones. “I realized when I moved away just how special my upbringing was and how unique it was.”

He captures the generational struggle of his grandmother’s generation attempting to instill those original values in their children, and the need for those children to leave home, in the foot-stomping “Have Mercy on Me.” The song is launched by a poetic interlude quoting Jones’ grandmother, who called Hillaryville “the place you’d most want to live,” before it ascends into a swampy groove that helps capture the tale of an idyllic town lost to time and gentrification.

Wait Til I Get Over is rich in burdens Jones has had to overcome in life, from underappreciating his hometown to the guilt of infidelity on the gospel-inspired “Sadie,” and the “taboo” love he felt for another man on “That Feeling.” “That Feeling” is a contemplative track (practically a whisper compared to Jones’ muscular vocals on other songs) that brings tenderness to the frustration, sadness and nostalgia felt after the end of an inmate relationship, and marks the first time Jones has openly expressed his sexuality. “I was worried about fans receiving it in a very negative way, but it’s been absolutely opposite,” says Jones of coming out. “I told myself this year would be a year of transparency for me. I don’t want to hide myself.”

For the album’s titular track, Jones set up a microphone in his bedroom and did his best to emulate the voices he heard in church to deliver the thesis of his first solo collection: “Wait Til I Get Over.” It’s a phrase he uses to illustrate crossing a river — like the Mississippi, which he grew up near and considers a huge influence in his art. For him, each song tackles a burden or an issue he feels the need to address.

“I wanted to think of this record as a trial of sorts… and as each song is done, the burden’s washed down; it is leaving my body,” he says. “Hopefully, by the end of the record, I can make it to the other side and I reach this state of elevation or mystic transformation.”