News

05 Apr 2023

Jimin Powers Through ‘Set Me Free Pt. 2’ Dance Practice: ‘This Is Not Easy’

Jimin unveiled a behind-the-scenes look at the making of his music video for “Set Me Free Pt. 2” on Wednesday (April 5).

The clip posted to the official BTS YouTube channel gives ARMY a peek at the K-pop idol’s creative process as he leads the troupe of dancers through rehearsals ahead of the shoot. “I think we could come a bit slower than the beat,” he suggests to the choreographer, explaining, “I have to keep moving slowly but at this speed, there might be a pause in the middle.”

Jimin and the dancers then run through the movements sans any music in order to nail each element of the hard-hitting choreography as expertly as possible. “This is not easy,” he says during a break. “It’s not as easy as it seems, right? Let’s do this!”

From there, the entire team starts practicing to a slowed-down version of the bombastic single before eventually ratcheting up the tempo to full speed, with Jimin joking, “I don’t think I got the moves wrong.”

“Set Me Free Pt. 2” served as the lead single for the BTS member’s debut solo record FACE. Its follow-up, “Like Crazy,” rocketed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon its release last week (chart dated April 8), setting a new benchmark for the solo efforts among the seven-piece boy band. Meanwhile, the album as a whole debuted at No. 2 beneath Morgan Wallen’s behemoth One Thing At a Time, which has now spent a full month at the top of the Billboard 200.

Watch Jimin’s dance practice for “Set Me Free Pt. 2” below.

05 Apr 2023

Myke Towers’ ‘La Vida Es Una’ Debuts in Top 10 of Top Latin Albums Chart

Myke Towers captures his third straight top 10 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart as his fourth studio album, La Vida Es Una, debuts at No. 9 on the ranking dated April 8. The set arrives with just over 8,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending March 30, according to Luminate.

Streaming powers almost all of the album’s debut, with 11.42 million official on-demand streams of La Vida Es Una in the tracking week.

On the multimetric Top Latin Albums chart as measured in equivalent album units, each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.

As La Vida bows at No. 9, Towers picks up his third straight top 10. It follows Lyke Myke (No. 3 debut and peak), which held in the top 10 for four consecutive weeks in 2021. Previously, he scored a first No. 1 in his first chart visit with the one-week champ Easy Money Baby in 2020.

The new 23-track set includes collaborations with reggaetón giants, including Arcangel, Ozuna, J Balvin and Daddy Yankee. The latter teamed up on the set’s “Ulala,” which preceded the album, peaking at No. 30 on the Feb. 11-dated ranking.

Elsewhere, “Ulala” hits No. 1 on the all-genre Latin Airplay chart. It sends Wisin y Yandel and Rosalía’s “Besos Moja2” to No. 7 after its one week in charge.

“Ulala” rises 4-1 with a 12% increase in audience impressions, to 10.1 million, earned in the U.S. during the March 24-30 tracking week. The move gifts Towers his ninth No. 1. Yankee, meanwhile, expands his career account to 28 No. 1s.

Further, La Vida concurrently opens at No. 7 on Latin Rhythm Albums and at No. 173 on the overall Billboard 200 chart.

05 Apr 2023

TREASURE’s ‘Here I Stand’ Hits No. 1 on Japan Hot 100

TREASURE’s “Here I Stand” takes the No. 1 spot on the latest Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated April 5, tallying the week from March 27 to April 2.

The theme of the movie Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King came in at No. 2 for sales with 313,370 copies sold in its first week, while also hitting No. 17 for streaming with 4,484,777 weekly streams, No. 2 for radio, and No. 73 for downloads. Points from the first three metrics fueled the first single by the 10-member K-pop boy band to the top of the Japan Hot 100 this week, holding Nogizaka46’s new single at bay.

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Nogizaka46’s “Hito wa yume wo nido miru” (“People Dream Twice”) sold 663,277 copies to rule sales this week, but couldn’t support this lead with other metrics: No. 12 for downloads, No. 26 for radio, and No. 78 for video views. The girl group’s 32rd single rises 56-2 on the Japan Hot 100.

Figure-wise, Nogizaka46’s previous single “Koko niwa nai mono” launched with 830,384 copies and the one before that sold 720,302 copies in its first week, showing a slight downward trend.

Yuuri’s new album Ni (“Two”) tops the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart this week after coming in at No. 2 for sales and No. 1 for downloads. This has boosted some of his songs up the chart, namely “Billimillion,” which rises 15-8 to break into the top 10. The track broke out in streaming in particular, rising 12-4 for the metric with 5,958,767 streams, increasing by 22.8 percent from the previous week.

The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.

See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Mar. 27 to Apr. 2, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.

05 Apr 2023

Chlöe Bailey Claps Back at Backlash Over Chris Brown Collab: ‘Let the Music Speak for Itself’

Chlöe Bailey dished on the negative reaction to her Chris Brown collaboration “How Does It Feel” in a new interview on Wednesday (April 5).

“I always just wanna let the music speak for itself,” the R&B star told Audacy’s V-103 podcast. “And to be honest, no matter what I do, people always find things to say about it, so I’m used to it. I just choose to ignore it. People have every right to their opinions, freedom of speech, and it’s up to me to choose what I give my attention and energy to.”

Most critics of the track took issue with the Chloe x Halle singer working with Brown given his well-documented history of violence against women, dating back to his 2009 assault of then-girlfriend Rihanna.

“Nah it’s just weird seeing Chris Brown collaborate with a black woman artist,” one fan commented on the music video for the song, which was the second single from Chlöe’s just-released debut solo album In Pieces. Since then, she’s also dropped videos for the emotive, piano-driven title track and “Cheatback,” featuring Future.

Later in the same interview, Chlöe also addressed uproar over her sex scene in the new Prime Video series Swarm. “To be honest with you, you just saw a– in a mirror,” she said about some viewers clutching their pearls over the graphic scene. “And all you really heard were noises, and I’m a vocalist. People claim I moan on songs anyways. So it wasn’t anything new. It’s just because it’s me, and I’m a Black woman, and nobody really said anything about the male counterpart in the scene.”

She then dropped the mic about how she views her journey in the spotlight, saying, “Everything I’m doing is ordained by God, and I’m walking in my purpose, and anybody who has a problem with that can kiss my booty.”

Listen to Chlöe’s entire interview on the Audacy podcast here.

05 Apr 2023

Why Lil Dicky Finds It ‘Therapeutic & Liberating’ to Broadcast His Insecurities on ‘Dave’ Season 3

As soon as Billboard‘s Zoom call with Dave star Lil Dicky was over, you better believe the first Google search that followed was for “ScroGuard.”

Just as advertised in the call and in the premiere episode of the FXX sitcom’s third season — which debuts Wednesday night (April 5) with two new chapters — there used to be a male sexual safety device by that name, and he has a real-life story about it. He’s turned that personal embarrassment into another hilariously cringe-inducing scene for his series about a painfully honest, endearing rapper trying to make it in a game that values grittiness, bravado and ruthless climbing over being a good guy.

“That came from reality,” Lil Dicky (real name: Dave Burd) tells Billboard about the gag gift a friend bought for him years ago on the eve of an anticipated date with a woman the “Earth” rapper met on tour. After an intimate shaving incident, Burd says he realized his nick couldn’t be covered by a standard-issue condom, so he had to break the news that there would be no backstage bump-and-grind that night unless he wore the cumbersome device that looks like a pair of latex grandpa undies.

That look-away moment is replayed in the first episode after a show-opening sex rap that manages to incorporate lyrics about delicious soup, General Custer and “leakage,” that Burd — chilling on a couch in a pink sweatsuit — says was part of making this season more musical, and even more relatable.

“I wanted to start the season off with something interesting,” he says of the desire to set the table for his search for true love and romance while on tour. “For a long time, I found having sexual opportunities were more stressful than gratifying. My life as a single guy was less like the great sex I had in Albuquerque than some awkward incident.”

And man does Burd love, and lean all the way into, awkward. The first episode opens with Dave meeting a potential love interest in Texas for a possible hookup that involves the aforementioned ScroGuard. It winds up at a house party where the rapper explains to a room full of drunk fans that life on the road is weird and confusing and mostly includes people looking at him like he’s a C-list alien.

“It is therapeutic and liberating to have things you’re super insecure about and that you kept to yourself for 27 years… and not only am I going to release it, but I’m going to release it in such a public way,” he says about his self-identified inability to understand the parameters of modern celebrity cool.

“Everyone has their own things they struggle with in life, and what I want this show to do is if someone sees me dealing with insecurities about my penis in a proactive way, then maybe it will inspire them to look at their insecurities and not be so affected by them,” Burd says about the I-see-you-and-sometimes-I-am-you message bubbling under the surface at all times. “I want the show to inspire people to live their best lives.”

Dave certainly tries to do that this season, whether it’s taking a few moments to drop trou on the side of the road for some fresh vitamin D rays on his nether regions, or re-creating his first love. The latter comes via the hectic, drum-thumping, Birdman-style series of action shots in the second episode, which is set on a video shoot that reunites the rapper with his 8th-grade crush. In true Dicky style, though, the maniacal shoot takes place at his parents’ house, where his mom complains about the gaffer tape tearing up her freshly painted walls just before she walks in on what is the most embarrassing sex scene involving a geyser-like stunt device ever committed to film.

“I think that’s always been my biggest strength, how unabashedly honest I am,” Burd says about always leaning into his awkward small-D energy.

Dave airs Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. ET on FXX and streams on Hulu the next day.

05 Apr 2023

Hayley Williams Celebrates 10 Years of Paramore’s Self-Titled Album With Sentimental Message to Fans

Paramore‘s self-titled album has taken its 10th trip around the sun, and to celebrate the LP’s milestone anniversary, lead singer Hayley Williams shared a few words with fans on social media Wednesday (April 5) thanking them for their support during a tumultuous time for the band.

“10 years ago, we put out a record that took a lot of guts and self-determination to make. Mainly because after losing 2 members of the band [Josh and Zac Farro] there was so much discourse around whether or not the band could make anything worthwhile – let alone stay together,” Williams began the message.

She continued, “The story of Paramore has been rife with reality show-style drama. Well, until the last 6 or 7 years. It’s really great to be able to look back from where we are now, knowing the story didn’t end when some said it would. If all that led to our Self-Titled album hadn’t happened, we’d be the most boring band of all time. If we hadn’t been forced out of our trauma-bonded comfort zones, we would’ve never known what we might be capable of.”

After taking a moment to thank some of the contributing musicians on the project — Justin Meldal-Johnsen (production, songwriting, keys and percussion), Carlos de la Garza (percussion, engineering) and Ken Andrew of Failure (mixing, keys and back up vocals) — the singer then turned her message outward to the fans, who she says were responsible for giving the band creative freedom through their continued support.

“Taylor [York] and I wrote these songs having no idea if people would accept a reformed, more liberated version of Paramore. Our fans not only accepted but championed our rebirth,” Williams concluded her message. “Thank you for allowing us the room for creative risk and for keeping this story going. We love you. Paramore forever.”

Released April 5, 2013, Paramore became the band’s first and only album to hit No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. The LP spawned four singles: “Now,” “Daydreaming,” “Ain’t It Fun” and “Still Into You,” with the latter two charting at Nos. 10 and 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, respectively. “Ain’t It Fun,” in addition to its Billboard chart success, earned Paramore their first Grammy Award in the best rock song category at the 57th annual ceremony, making Williams the first woman to win the award since Alanis Morissette in 1999.

Other fan favorites on Paramore’s self-titled album include the sentimental track “Last Hope” and “Part II,” which references lyrics from “Let the Flames Begin” from the band’s 2007 breakthrough release, RIOT!

See Williams’ message in full below.

05 Apr 2023

Lana Del Rey and Fall Out Boy Both Score No. 1 Debuts on Rock & Alternative Album Charts

Lana Del Rey lands her seventh No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Alternative Albums chart, and sixth in a row, while Fall Out Boy claims its fifth Top Rock Albums ruler, both on the April 8-dated tallies.

Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd crowns both the Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Alternative Albums surveys with 115,000 equivalent album units earned in its first week (March 24-30), according to Luminate. Of that sum, 87,000 units are via album sales and 28,000 from streaming units.

Tunnel is Del Rey’s second No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums and first since it shifted to a model inclusionary of alternative-leaning albums not necessarily within the rock genre, following Born to Die in 2012.

As for Top Alternative Albums, her domination dates back to Die, followed by six straight leaders beginning with 2015’s Honeymoon. Del Rey extends her lead for the most Top Alternative Albums No. 1s in the chart’s 16-year history, with the next-closest acts all boasting five rulers apiece.

Most No. 1s, Top Alternative Albums:
7, Lana Del Rey
5, Coldplay
5, Disturbed
5, Foo Fighters
5, Imagine Dragons
5, Jack White
5, Pearl Jam

Concurrently, Tunnel tops Vinyl Albums (58,000 vinyl copies sold). On the all-genre Billboard 200, it opens at No. 3, marking Del Rey’s ninth top 10.

The latest Hot Rock & Alternative Songs tally features 14 Del Rey songs from the album. Leading the way is “A&W,” which jumps 43-18 in its seventh week on the survey with 3.3 million official U.S. streams. The Jon Batiste-featuring “Candy Necklace” follows at No. 22 (3.1 million streams).

Meanwhile, Fall Out Boy’s So Much (for) Stardust bows at No. 1 on Top Rock Albums on the strength of 64,000 units, 49,000 of which are from album sales.

Each of Fall Out Boy’s last four studio albums has led Top Rock Albums, dating to 2007’s Infinity on High. The band last reigned with 2018’s M A N I A prior to Stardust.

Stardust also starts at No. 2 on both Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Alternative Albums. On the Billboard 200, it begins at No. 6, becoming the band’s seventh top 10.

Three songs from Stardust place on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, paced by lead single “Love From the Other Side,” which jumps 29-15. It earned 7.1 million radio audience impressions, 2.4 million streams and 1,000 downloads March 24-30.

“Side” became Fall Out Boy’s first-ever Alternative Airplay No. 1 in March and also boasts new highs of No. 24 on Mainstream Rock Airplay and No. 40 on Pop Airplay.

05 Apr 2023

Burning Man’s Celebrated Mayan Warrior Art Car Destroyed In Fire

Burning Man’s famous Mayan Warrior art car has been destroyed in a fire that happened earlier this week in Mexico.

The car was en route to an April 8 fundraiser in Punta de Mita — a beach town on the country’s central Pacific coast — when, according to a social media post shared today (April 5) by Mayan Warrior organizers, it caught fire and “burned to ashes.” The cause of this fire has not been given.

“Over the last twenty-four hours, I have felt a roller coaster of emotions, from sadness, shock, and devastation to immense gratitude while reflecting on what the Mayan Warrior family and this community means to me,” Mayan Warrior founder Pablo González Vargas wrote in the post sharing the news.

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Since debuting at Burning Man in 2012, Mayan Warrior grew into the event’s biggest, flashiest and most beloved art cars, becoming a prestige stage for DJs on the playa. Over the years, Mayan Warrior hosted sets from DJ Tennis, Jan Blomqvist, Damian Lazarus, Bedouin, Carlita, Francesca Lombardo and other stars of the underground house and techno world, along with artists from the Mexican electronic community that the Warrior is focused on showcasing. Producers today expressed their shock at the events, with Adam Port commenting “Please no….” and BLOND:ISH writing simply “all love.”

Based in Mexico City, Mayan Warrior more recently become a traveling venue, going on tour throughout Mexico, Europe, the U.S. and points beyond, drawing in the community it had developed at Burning Man while pulling more people into Burner culture. Money raised from these shows funded Mayan Warrior’s return to Burning Man each August, with González Vargas last year telling Billboard that costs of bringing the car to the event hit around $300,000 annually.

Funds raised also went to Planet Buyback, a charitable initiative that works to protect habitats and cultures in Mexico and beyond, with whom Mayan Warrior has a partnership.

Mayan Warrior will host three more fundraisers in Punta de Mita, Mexico this Saturday (April 8), in New York on July 8 and in Los Angeles on Halloween. According to the Mayan Warrior team, these will be the final Mayan Warrior shows.

In the post González Vargas also notes that the team will return to Burning Man in some form, writing that “as a community, we will continue to thrive and return every year to our beloved home in the desert. We strongly believe it is in these unplanned moments the universe finds ways to amaze us and plant seeds for growth. Only time will tell what our next artistic expression to the world will look like.”

Check out Vargas’ full post and see photos of the fire below:

05 Apr 2023

Dr. Jill Biden Reportedly Apologized For Iowa White House Invite, Angel Reese Waves It Off

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Jill Biden recently caused a stir earlier this week after suggesting a White House invite to NCAA women’s basketball championship runner-up in Iowa alongside LSU, something that has never happened before. The First Lady of the United States has since apologized for the quip yet LSU star Angel Reese is still bothered by the retracted suggestion.

Dr. Jill Biden was speaking at an event this past Monday when she floated the idea of bringing both the winning Louisiana State University Tigers and the Iowa State University Hawkeyes to celebrate the effort of both teams.

As it stands, many in the sports world saw the invitation as an insult, including Reese, who became part of the national conversation after gesturing toward Iowa standout Caitlin Clark in the closing minutes of the championship game.

During an episode of Paper Route, by way of the I AM ATHLETE network, Reese explained that she’s received calls from Dr. Biden and the White House attempting to make it right, but the Baltimore native is having none of it.

That’s why she wants to come out and apologize,” Reese explained to Brandon Marshall and Ashley Nicole Moss. “But at the same time, I don’t accept it, I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t accept the apology. You said what you said.”

Adding to that comment above, Reese said that instead of the White House, she and the team would rather “go to the Obamas.”

Heard that.

Check out some of the reactions to Angel Reese speaking about Dr. Jill Biden and much more below along with the Paper Route interview.

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Photo: Getty

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