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Bizarrap & Shakira Crown Billboard Argentina Hot 100 Chart for a Fourth Week
Bizarrap and Shakira add a fourth week atop the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart as “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” rules the Feb. 11-dated ranking. It’s the third “Music Session” by BIzarrap to crown the chart for at least four weeks, after “Vol. 38,” with L-Gante (seven weeks, 2021), and “Vol. 52,” with Quevedo (eight weeks in charge, July-Sept. 2022).
Titles No. 2 through No. 5 hold steady at their same rankings, starting with Luck Ra’s “Ya No Vuelvas,” featuring La K’Onga and Ke Personajes, at No. 2, “Muñecas” by TINI, La Joaqui and Steve Aoki, at No. 3, Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” at No. 4, and Cris Mj, Duki and Nicki Nicole’s “Marisola,” featuring Standly, at No. 5.
Further, Big One, Emilia and Callejero Fino each add a new career top 10 to their Billboard Argentina accounts with “En La Intimidad,” their first collaboration and the Hot Shot Debut of the week, at No. 9.
Argentinian Lil Cake secures her first top 10 as “Mercho,” with Migrantes, which also features Nico Valdi, climbs 14-10. It’s the second top 10 for cumbia-based band Migrantes who scored its first champ with first chart entry “Si Me Tomo Una Cerveza,” with Alicos, in 2021. Valdi concurrently claims his first top 10 with first chart visit.
Further, Callejero Fino’s “Que Te Vaya Bien” notches the Greatest Gainer honors as it rallies 95-57 (a 38-position climb).
Lastly, the chart boats three other debuts starting with “Quiero Creer” by Luck Ra, La T Y La Ma and Rusherking at No. 38, “Christian Nodal and TINI’s “Por El Resto De Tu Vida” at No. 63, and Feid’s “Normal” at No. 92.
Madison Beer Announces Debut Memoir ‘The Half of It’: ‘Can’t Wait to Reintroduce Myself’
Madison Beer shared the news on Wednesday (Feb. 15) that she’s coming out with her first-ever memoir, The Half of It.
“It feels truly surreal to be announcing this book and i am so excited to share my story with you in a way i never have before,” she posted on Instagram of the memoir, which hits bookshelves April 25 via HarperCollins. “From the reality of being signed at twelve, to everything that followed, where i am now, and my journey of reconciling with everything that came before. it has taken me a lot of extremely dark times to get here but i feel incredibly ready to tell you these chapters of my story. i hope you love it. i can’t wait to reintroduce myself to you.”
Showing a glimpse of The Half of It‘s title page, Beer shared the book’s dedications, which read: “For my mother, my brother, and my father—thank you. I know it hasn’t been easy. For the younger Madison I’m writing this about—thank you for getting me here. I hope I’ve made you proud.”
The pop singer’s mom, Tracie Beer, gave a sweetly emotional show of support for her daughter’s venture into autobiography in the comments section of the post, writing, “Me bawling like a baby… So incredibly proud of you & to be part of this journey alongside of you through it all!!!” and adding the hashtag, “#proudmom.”
Beer dropped her debut studio album, Life Support, back in Feb. 2021. When discussing the book reveal in an interview with People, she opened up about working on her soon-to-be-released sophomore follow-up.
“I am so excited for this next album which will be coming soon,” she teased. “Music has always been my first love; it’s what lead me to this memoir and what drives me daily. I am really excited for what is next with my music this year.”
Check out Beer’s memoir announcement — and get a first look at its vulnerable cover — below.
Tony Yayo “Banksy Painting,” Mario ft. Ty Dolla $ign “Used To Me” & More | Daily Visuals 2.15.23
Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
While 50 Cent continues to make his mark in Hollywood and get that cinematic bag, his G-Unit brethren, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo keep on dropping heat for the streets even if they’re doing it on the solo tip.
Today the Talk Of New York, Tony Yayo comes through with a new clip for “Banksy Painting” in which Yayo ditches the exotic cars in his garage to push a hearse on the way to a murder scene where a thick young woman done caught a few bodies.
On a much softer side, Mario was in his Valentine’s Day bag and for his visuals to the Ty Dolla $ign assisted “Used To Me,” the R&B crooner showers his boo with affection when he’s not turning up with Ty in the club.
Check out the rest of today’s drops including work from Plies, Jaden (Smith), and more.
TONY YAYO – “BANKSY PAINTING”
MARIO FT TY DOLLA $IGN – “USED TO ME”
PLIES – “DID IT OUTTA LUV”
JADEN – “STILL IN LOVE”
SHY GLIZZY FT. NBA YOUNGBOY – “FOOLS FALL N LOVE”
RAZ SIMONE FT. JAY PARK – “MAKE LOVE”
IAMDDB – “WHERE DID THE LOVE GO?”
DUKE DEUCE – “NOBODY NEEDS NOBODY”
Utopia Music Hit With $37M Lawsuit Claiming It Bailed on Deal To Buy U.S. Tech Firm
Utopia Music is facing a lawsuit that claims the Swiss company has bailed on a $26.5 million deal to buy a U.S. music technology company called SourceAudio — and now owes more than $37 million.
In a complaint filed Monday (Feb. 13) in Delaware court, lawyers for California-based SourceAudio — a tech platform for digital asset management and monetization — claimed that the company had struck a deal in March 2022 to sell itself to Utopia, a buzzy music fintech firm that has reached a number of such deals over the past two years.
But SourceAudio’s lawsuit says that since striking the deal on March 14 — which could have closed as soon as May 9 — the bigger company has continually balked at actually completing the deal, informing them it was “not prepared to close the transaction.”
“Despite repeated assurances that Utopia would be able to close…, Utopia engaged in a pattern of discontinuing discussions for an extended period of time, only to resurface immediately before the next intended closing date to indicate that it was unable to close by such date,” the complaint reads.
To account for the delays, SourceAudio claims that Utopia agreed to increase the sale price by $334,000 for every calendar week after Nov. 1 that the deal didn’t close. More than three months later, the lawsuit claims those escalators mean that Utopia now owes $37.265 million.
SourceAudio says it’s “ready, willing, and able” to finalize the deal, and that Utopia is legally bound to do so. “SourceAudio requests that Utopia be ordered to specifically perform its obligations,” the smaller company wrote. “In the alternative, SourceAudio has been damaged by Utopia’s breach in an amount to be determined at trial, but no less than $37.265 million.”
In a statement to Billboard, a spokesperson for Utopia refuted the lawsuit’s allegations but provided little additional detail: “Utopia Music rejects the claims made by the plaintiff. As the legal proceedings are ongoing, we will not comment further.”
Utopia, a Swiss-based tech company that delivers financial services for labels, publishers and distributors, has been on a buying spree over the past two years. The company has acquired at least 15 companies, including music tech company Musimap, U.K. physical distributor Cinram Novum and Lyric Financial, a provider of royalty-backed cash advances.
But in November, news broke that Utopia would restructure operations and lay off 20% of its workforce. As first reported by Music Week, CEO Markku Mäkeläinen told staffers in an internal email that the company had “grown via acquisitions tremendously quickly” and would now need to “realise synergies” and “remove overlaps.”
Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Spurs 140% Streaming Gain for Her Catalog
Rihanna’s catalog of songs surged 140% in official U.S. on-demand streams after her Super Bowl LVII halftime performance (Feb. 12), according to initial reports to data tracking firm Luminate (which provides data for Billboard’s charts). On Sunday and Monday (Feb. 12-13), her collected songs (on which she is the primary artist, according to Luminate) tallied 62.2 million on-demand official streams – up 140% from 25.8 million on the two days prior (Feb. 10-11).
Plus, Rihanna’s on-demand official streams have increased weekly since the top of the year, as anticipation built towards the big game.
In the week ending Dec. 29, 2022, her songs generated 42.3 million on-demand official streams, and in the six subsequent weeks they grew each frame, to: 48.9 million (week ending Jan. 5), 51.5 million (week ending Jan. 12), 53.4 million (week ending Jan. 19), 55.1 million (week ending Jan. 26), 57.1 million (week ending Feb. 2) and 65 million (week ending Feb. 9).
In the first four days of the current tracking week (ending Feb. 16), Rihanna’s songs have generated 88 million clicks, so the full seven days is bound to be robust once the final numbers are available on Feb. 20.
Sales Story: Rihanna’s catalog of songs (again, those where she’s the primary artist, per Luminate) also gained. They sold 42,000 downloads in the U.S. on Sunday and Monday (Feb. 12-13) – up 473% compared to what they sold on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 10-11): 7,500.
Halftime Tunes: The dozen songs (see below) that Rihanna performed during the halftime show (excluding snippets heard briefly) collectively garnered 27.7 million on-demand official streams in the U.S. on Sunday and Monday – up 219.6% compared to the two days prior, when they collected 8.7 million.
The most-streamed halftime-performed song following the Super Bowl was “Umbrella,” with 3.8 million official on-demand streams on Sunday and Monday (up 177% compared to the 1.4 million it snared on Friday and Saturday). “Diamonds” was the second-most streamed halftime tune after the show, with 3.2 million on Sunday and Monday (up 231% compared to 954,000 on Friday and Saturday). “Umbrella” (from 2007) and “Diamonds” (2012) were the final two songs, respectively, that Rihanna performed during the halftime show.
The 12 halftime-performed songs sold 27,000 downloads on Sunday and Monday – up 976% compared to the 2,500 they sold on Friday and Saturday.
Rihanna’s catalog of songs and albums could post sizable gains on Billboard’s weekly charts dated Feb. 25, reflecting the sales and streaming tracking week ending Feb. 16. News of such impact will be reported on Billboard.com in the coming days.
Here are the songs that Rihanna performed (excluding snippets) during the Super Bowl halftime show (with original artist chart credits noted if other than Rihanna): “Bitch Better Have My Money;” “Where Have You Been;” “Only Girl in the World;” “We Found Love,” featuring Calvin Harris; “Rude Boy;” “Work,” featuring Drake; DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts,” featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller; “Pour It Up;” Kanye West’s “All of the Lights,” featuring Rihanna and Kid Cudi; Jay-Z, Rihanna and West’s “Run This Town;” “Umbrella,” featuring Jay-Z; and “Diamonds.”
Even Rihanna’s Super Bowl Dancers Didn’t Know She Was Pregnant
Rihanna shocked the world when she appeared onstage for the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday (Feb. 12), appearing in a stunning red outfit that highlighted her stomach curving with maternity. But as it turns out, none of the “Work” singer’s dancers for the Halftime Show were knowledgeable about her pregnancy either.
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Back-up dancers Laila Hayes and Luhnyae Campbell revealed to Entertainment Tonight on Wednesday (Feb. 15) that Rihanna’s pregnancy was kept under wraps during rehearsals, due to her bundling up because of cold weather. The pair noted that all of the dancers did not find out about the pop star’s pregnancy until watching footage from the televised event.
“We were all confused watching it during the real thing when she went up there and was showing her stomach,” Hayes said. “She wore the same outfit for one of the dress rehearsals but it was zippered up.”
“I never saw a bump,” Campbell added. “Not even the day of. I had to rewatch the performance on YouTube to realize.” In a Feb. 13 TikTok video, Campbell further elaborated on the matter, and said Eih “came into rehearsals with big fur coats, or Fenty sets all the time — like the big sweatshirt ones … I was surprised too.”
Shortly after Rihanna’s Super Bowl spectacle, a representative of the pop star confirmed she and boyfriend A$AP Rocky were expecting their second child together. The Fenty Beauty founder welcomed her first child — a boy — with A$AP Rocky in May.
Watch Campbell discuss Rihanna and the pop star’s Super Bowl pregnancy reveal below.
BSS (SEVENTEEN) Debuts at No. 1 on Japan Hot 100
BSS’ “Fighting,” feat. Lee Young Ji, blasts in at No. 1 on this week’s Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Feb. 15. BSS consists of three members — SEUNGKWAN, DK, and HOSHI — from the 13-member South Korean boy band SEVENTEEN.
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The lead single off the trio’s project SECOND WIND performed well in a balanced way on this week’s charts, coming in at No. 3 for sales, No. 7 for video views, No. 9 for downloads and No. 13 for streaming. The track is the group’s first new song in five years.
NCT DREAM’s “Best Friend Ever” launched at No. 1 for sales this week with 348,133 copies sold, and HKT48’s “Kimi wa motto dekiru” followed at No. 2 for the metric with 178,889 copies. But these two tracks couldn’t support that lead with other metrics — for example, “Best Friend Ever” came in at No. 54 for downloads and No. 90 for video — and were unable to overtake “Fighting” at No. 1 and the long-running hit “Subtitle” by Official HIGE DANdism at No. 2 on the Japan Hot 100. “Best Friend Ever” bows at No. 3 while “Kimi wa motto dekiru” debuts at No. 4 this week.
Rising singer-songwriter YU-KA’s “Hoshizukiyo,” the theme of the ongoing TV drama series Hoshifuruyoruni starring Yuriko Yoshitaka and Takumi Kitamura, debuts at No. 9 on the Japan Hot 100. The track is off to a good start, ruling downloads this week with 14,816 units, and also coming in at No. 4 for radio, No. 45 for streaming and No. 72 for video.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, YouTube and GYAO! video views and karaoke data.
For the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Feb. 6 to Feb. 12, head here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Rosalía Is Producer of The Year, BTS’ SUGA Tour Updates, Jimin Album Update & More | Billboard News
Rosalía will be with the inaugural producer of the year award at our Billboard Women In Music in March. We update you on BTS’ Sugar solo tour dates, Jimin’s solo album and more! We also get a first look at Lady Gaga in the ‘Joker’ sequel ‘Joker: Folie á Deux’. We interviewed Dillon Francis aka DJ Hanzel’s thoughts on the current state of EDM music. We see how well people know the lyrics to some of the biggest hits on our charts right now and more!
Rihanna Reveals First Photo of ‘Perfect’ Son With A$AP Rocky
He’s finally here! Rihanna unveiled the long-awaited first look at her baby son with partner A$AP Rocky in a new cover story for British Vogue published Wednesday (Feb. 15).
“My perfect baby!!!” the superstar captioned the photo on her Instagram, which features the tot — whose name she and the rapper still have yet to share publicly — smiling the camera as he lays on his back with his teeny tiny feet in his hands.
In the associated profile, Rih dished on how motherhood has changed her entire perspective, telling the magazine, “It’s everything. You really don’t remember life before, that’s the craziest thing ever. You literally try to remember it – and there are photos of my life before – but the feeling, the desires, the things that you enjoy, everything, you just don’t identify with it because you don’t even allow yourself mentally to get that far, because…Because it doesn’t matter.”
Of course, the “Diamonds” songstress is currently readying her world for baby number two following that epic baby bump reveal during her Super Bowl LVII halftime show performance. The 13-minute set featured the Savage x Fenty mogul running through her massive back catalog of hits including the likes of “Where Have You Been,” “We Found Love,” “Rude Boy,” “Work,” “Umbrella” and more.
Rihanna also teased the likelihood of finally releasing her long-awaited ninth album in the British Vogue interview, saying, “I want it to be this year. Like, honestly, it’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year. But I just want to have fun. I just want to make music and make videos.”
See the first look at Rihanna and A$AP Rocky’s baby boy below.
