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26 Jan 2023

Movement Festival 2023 Announces Phase 1 Lineup: See Who’s Playing

Amid this most hallowed season of festival lineup releases, Detroit’s equally venerable Movement on Thursday (Jan. 26) announced the phase one lineup for its 2023 show.

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Belgian techno phenom Charlotte De Witte will headline the three-day fest along with U.K. legends Underworld. The show will also feature Caribou, Detroit’s own Moodymann and DJ Minx, Louie Vega, Green Velvet, Derrick Carter b2b Mark Farina, Masters At Work, a live performance from Robert Hood, Berlin duo Fjaak, Movement debuts from DJ Seinfeld and TSHA, an extremely fun-sounding b2b by from Dom Dolla and John Summit and much more.

With Detroit of course the hometown of techno itself, Movement 2023 will return to its longstanding base in the city’s Hart Plaza from May 27 to 29. Tickets are currently on sale.

Movement is produced by Detroit-based Paxahau, which launched in 1998 as an underground party promoter. The dance-focused company has produced Movement for the past 17 years, helping it gain global renown as one of the world’s premiere techno festivals.

“It was truly joyful to be back in the city for the many of us who fell in love with Detroit through Movement and its music,” Billboard contributor Ana Monroy Yglesias said of the festival last year. “The event also marked a triumphant family reunion for the techno all-stars and superfans who call Detroit home. Altogether, it was a stellar three days of techno, house, hip-hop, love, connection, positive vibes and dancing, and a much-needed respite from the pain of current events.”

See the phase one lineup below:

26 Jan 2023

Niall Horan Is Ready to Send Fans to ‘Heaven’ With His New Single: Here’s When It Arrives

Niall Horan announced his brand new single “Heaven” in a social media post on Thursday (Jan. 25).

“I could not be happier to let you know that my new single Heaven is being released February 17. Pre-save and pre-order heavenwontbethesame.com,” the former One Direction-er captioned a photo of the single’s artwork, which features him dressed a denim button-down, light pants and two-tone loafers while seated in front of a drum kit.

The special landing page where fans can presave the single depicts a blue candle melted down to its wick in front of an airy window flanked by golden curtains. The tab, meanwhile, promises users “NH3 Loading…”

“Heaven” will serve as Horan’s first new release since “Our Song” and “Everywhere,” his pair of 2021 collaborations with Anne-Marie. The singer’s last full-length album, Heartbreak Weather, contained singles “Nice to Meet Ya,” “Put a Little Love on Me,” “No Judgement” and “Black and White,” and originally peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 upon its March 2020 release.

Horan previously teased the existence of “Heaven” by sprinkling snippets of the song on TikTok and sending mysterious gifts to a few lucky fans in the form of candles and QR codes.

At the start of the year, the pop singer’s erstwhile romance with Ellie Goulding surfaced again after a TikTok follower accused the latter of cheating on Ed Sheeran with Horan. “False!!!! But also slay,” Goulding replied in the comments, reminding fans that she and Horan dated briefly almost a decade ago, while maintaining that she and Sheeran were never more than friends.

Get a look at Horan’s “Heaven”-ly single announcement below.

26 Jan 2023

Spain’s PROMUSICAE Releases 2022 Year-End Numbers: Bad Bunny & Rosalia Reign

Spain’s PROMUSICAE (Productores de Música de España), which represents 90% of the national and international activity of the Spanish recorded music industry, released its 2022 year-end report Thursday (Jan. 26), unveiling Bad Bunny as the “absolute leader” last year thanks to his record-breaking album Un Verano Sin Ti.

According to the report by PROMUSICAE, which represents more than 100 member companies, the Puerto Rican star was the No. 1-selling artist in the albums category for 23 consecutive weeks in the country.

Meanwhile, Spanish artist Rosalía crowned the list of top 100 vinyl releases of 2022 with her genre-bending Motomami, which won album of the year at the Latin Grammys. The “Despechá” singer came in second place after Bad Bunny on the overall album sales list.

Furthermore, the top 100 songs list was led by Bizarrap and Quevedo‘s global smash hit “QUEVEDO || BZRP Music Sessions #52,” also known as “Quédate,” which scored both artists their first entry on the Billboard Hot 100. Currently, the song has more than 400 million views on YouTube.

The report also notes that vinyl sales increased by 6% in 2022, CD sales decreased by 13% and streaming represented 85% of music consumption in the country. Sebastián Yatra‘s “Tacones Rojos” had the most radio airplay, while the most popular international artists in the country last year were Harry Styles, Rauw Alejandro, Taylor Swift, Camilo and Feid, among others.

“Throughout very difficult years, our music continues to show its ability to accompany us in more moments of our lives than ever,” said Antonio Guisasola, PROMUSICAE’s president. “This allows our market to return to the spotlight, while incorporating new styles and new ways of creating music that penetrates inside and outside our borders.”

See all of PROMUSICAE’s 2022 year-end reports here.

26 Jan 2023

Julia Fox Shows Her Disdain For Wealth By Living In A Tiny Mice-Infested NYC Apartment

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Julia Fox Lives In A

Source: Taylor Hill / Getty / Julia Fox

Kanye West’s former living mannequin Julia Fox wants the world to know she hates the idea of wealth by giving us a tour of her living conditions.

Julia Fox swears she is Prince Akeem and is living in meager accommodations on purpose. The “actress”/”model” took her TikTok followers on a tour of her “tiny” Manhattan apartment she shares with mice thinking it was a flex on the rich, but newsflash, it’s not.

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Fox, best known for galavanting around NYC and across the globe with “billionaire rapper genius” Kanye West, claims she is against “excessive displays of wealth.”

She also claims the mice running around her “tiny” apartment she shares with her child makes her “feel icky” and adds that “people that have really big houses. It’s just really wasteful when there is just so many homeless people in this country. I just, I’m not really like that.”

“I never thought in a million years that I would do this, but I do believe in maximum transparency, and so I am going to give you guys an apartment tour,” Fox says.

She continues “I know I am going to get roasted. And whatever, but hopefully maybe somebody can watch this and be like ‘maybe I’m not doing so bad.”

If she is paying rent in Manhattan, she is not “doing so bad,” We’re sure the 3 million people watching her bootleg episode of MTV Cribs feel the same way.

While Julia Fox “Struggles” With Mice, Kanye West Got A New Wife

Fox is currently giving the rich the middle finger by flexing on them with her tiny apartment, and her ex is reportedly a married man again.

West is rumored to have tied the knot with Yeezy architectural designer Bianca Censori, and yes, she is a Kim Kardashian knockoff.

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Photo: Taylor Hill / Getty

26 Jan 2023

Zara Larsson Talks New Single ‘Can’t Tame Her’ & Staying True to Herself

Zara Larsson is fresh off the release of her empowering new single “Can’t Tame Her,” released on Thursday (Jan. 26), and the 24-year-old pop star sat down with Billboard‘s Rania Aniftos to discuss the track.

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“If you are in the public eye of any sort, I think a lot of people have a perception of who you are and who you should be,” the singer says of her new song. “People want to put girls in a box of what you should do or not. In the public eye, you have a lot of people telling you what’s wrong or how you should do something differently. I’m out there, I’m very loud and I try to stay true to myself and surround myself with people who care about me, so we can all help each other and protect each other. Really good friends.”

While Larsson says that “Can’t Tame Her” is a pop song that “fits well in my catalog,” there is something “a little different” about the sound. “It’s a banger and hits you right in the face. When I played it to people, it gets people excited. I want every album to be a better version of what I’ve done previously.”

While the star is only 24 years old, she’s been in the music industry for years. She appeared on Sweden’s Got Talent when she was just 10 years old and released her first single when she was 15. “I feel like i’m just starting out,” she explains of her decade-long career. “I’m so far from where I want to go and what I want to do. I think it’s a blessing and a curse, where I’ll never really be satisfied.”

She adds with a laugh, “I still want that number one on Billboard.”

Watch Billboard‘s full interview with above.

26 Jan 2023

Kobalt Creative Chief Sas Metcalfe Sets Departure After 20-Plus Years

It’s the end of an era for a Kobalt Music original. Sas Metcalfe, the company’s first employee and longtime chief creative officer, will be stepping down effective Feb. 28, it was announced on Thursday (Jan. 26). The North Wales native possesses a creative taste that is “second to none,” commented founder and chairman Willard Ahdritz, who hired her in 2001, and has “built a great spirit in her team because she is happy to share success.”

The Metcalfe-led global creative team is almost 70% female, according to the company, and is responsible for signing a roster that currently includes such hitmakers as Max Martin, Lorde, Ozuna, The Weeknd, The Chicks, Finneas, Diplo, Gunna, Karol G and many more.

“When I look back, I’m in awe of how much great music the Kobalt creative team has ushered into the world,” said Metcalfe. “But what makes me most proud is working alongside so many talented music lovers and helping them develop into great creative and A&R minds – I’d argue they are some of the best in the music industry today.”

Metcalfe’s music business journey began in the early 1980s with a marketing assistant job at CBS Records in London. She later got the A&R bug thanks in part to working as a scout at Rocking Horse Records before a three-year stint as an A&R manager at Arista Records. Nine years at Warner Chappell followed, where she signed Radiohead and Dido as head of A&R, before taking a similar post at EMI Records in 1998. She joined Kobalt, again, as Ahdritz’s first hire, three years later. “It’s amazing how far we’ve come in over 20 years together,” he said.

Added Kobalt CEO Laurent Hubert, “Simply put, Sas is one of a kind. Her impact in the music industry and at Kobalt is undeniable, as she nurtured and managed not just amazing songwriters but also built one of the best global creative teams in the industry. The work that Sas has done at Kobalt will be felt for many years to come. We thank Sas for her extraordinary contribution to making Kobalt what it is today.”

26 Jan 2023

The Contenders: HARDY, Trippie Redd & Måneskin Bring New Blood to Billboard 200 

Welcome to The Contenders, a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week (for the upcoming charts dated Feb. 4), SZA’s SOS remains in the driver’s seat on the Billboard 200 albums chart, but runs into new albums by country hitmaker HARDY, prolific rapper Trippie Redd and rock revivalists Måneskin.  

HARDY, The Mockingbird & The Crow (Big Loud). Few country radio fixtures know as much about how to succeed in an era dominated by hip-hop- and streaming as Michael Wilson Hardy. The genre-blending singer-songwriter has collaborated with countless artists, released several mixtapes, and generally been as prolific as any popular rapper over the past half-decade – while remaining a steady chart presence, with Hot 100 top 40 hits in the past year alongside Breland and Dierks Bentley (“Beers on Me”) and Lainey Wilson (“Wait in the Truck.”)

The latter single can be found on HARDY’s 17-track The Mockingbird & The Crow set, released last Friday (Jan. 27), as part of the album’s country-oriented A-side – with its second half taking on a hard rock bent. The album appears to be selling well digitally, leading the iTunes albums chart for most of the week. If it does claim the Billboard 200’s No. 1 position, it would be the first country album to do so since Dangerous: The Double Album, the blockbuster 2021 chart-topper from Morgan Wallen – who, incidentally, is also featured on Mockingbird’s “Red.” 

Trippie Redd, Mansion Musik (1400 Entertainment/10K Projects). One of the great volume shooters of hip-hop’s past five years, Trippie Redd returned from an unusually lengthy two-year album break last week with the 25-track Mansion Musik. The set consists entirely of previously unreleased material, and is predictably loaded with A-list guests, including Future, Lil Baby, Travis Scott, Lil Durk, and even the late Juice WRLD — who appears on “Knight Crawler,” which led Spotify’s most recent New Music Friday playlist. Each of Trippie’s past six full-length projects have reached the Billboard 200’s top five, and Mansion Musik should have a good chance to extend its streak to seven.  

Måneskin, Rush (Epic/Sony). Italian fourpiece Måneskin parlayed a Eurovision win into global rock stardom in 2021 – boosted by TikTok-accelerated crossover success for a cover of The Four Seasons’ “Beggin’” and a series of incendiary live performances on U.S. television. About a year and a half later, the band has finally released its English-language debut album Rush, featuring their rock radio hit “Supermodel” and contributions from pop-rock super-writer-producers like Rami Yacoub, Mattman & Robin and Max Martin.  

Måneskin are still relatively modest performers among big hitmakers when it comes to U.S. streaming, so their Billboard 200 performance will likely largely be dictated by sales. To that end, the quartet has released a variety of physical variants of Rush, with vinyl, CD and cassette versions, and a box set edition that collects all three formats, along with a poster and 64-page photobook. The group has also made old-fashioned record store promotional appearances during the album’s release week, including New York-area shops Rough Trade NYC and Looney Tunes.  

IN THE MIX 

Ice Spice, Like…? (10K Projects/Capitol): One of the most buzzed-about new rappers of 2022 arrives with her first EP, named after her “Like..?” mini-catchphrase. The six-track set includes Ice Spice‘s internet-conquering breakout tracks “Munch (Feelin’ U)” and “Bikini Bottom,” as well as the new, Lil Tjay-featuring “Gangsta Boo,” and the currently ascending TikTok favorite “In Ha Mood.” 

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Déjà Vu (Atlantic): Following the death of ‘60s rock legend David Crosby, the enduring material he was involved with as part of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young have naturally surged in sales and streams. The biggest beneficiary so far appears to be CSNY’s 1970 classic Déjà Vu, featuring signature songs like “Teach Your Children,” “Our House” and “Helpless” — though the latter is one of several Déjà Vu tracks not currently available on Spotify, due to songwriter Neil Young’s continued protests of the streaming service.  

26 Jan 2023

Drake & 21 Savage’s ‘Flex’ Reaches Apex of R&B/Hip-Hop and Rhythmic Airplay Charts

Drake and 21 Savage stunt on the competition on both Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Rhythmic Airplay charts, as their single “Rich Flex” ascends to a dual domination on the charts dated Jan. 28. The new coronations extend Drake’s records as the artist with the most No. 1s on both charts, while 21 Savage earns his second champ on the former and fourth leader on the latter.

On R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, “Rich Flex” advances from the runner-up rank to lead the chart in its 11th frame. It tops the list with 19.7 million in audience listenership registered in the week ending Jan. 19, a 7% improvement from the week prior, according to Luminate. With the rise, “Rich Flex” became the most-heard song on U.S. monitored R&B and hip-hop radio stations.

The new champ gives Drake his 29th No. 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, the most among all artists since the chart began in 1992. 21 Savage, as mentioned, collects his second champ and returns to the summit after a break of just over five years, since his featured turn on Post Malone’s “Rockstar,” a two-week champ in December 2017.

As Drake tacks another title to his record tally, here’s a look at the acts with the most No. 1s on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay:

29, Drake
15, Usher
12, Lil Wayne
10, Beyoncé
9, Chris Brown

On Rhythmic Airplay, “Rich Flex” jumps from No. 3. It enters the top slot after a 26% surge in weekly plays that made it the most-played song on U.S. monitored rhythmic radio stations in the week ending Jan. 19. Here, Drake picks up a record-extending 37th chart-topper. 21 Savage banks a fourth champ, as “Rich Flex” joins the aforementioned “Rockstar” (six weeks in 2017-18), “A Lot” (two weeks, 2019) and “Jimmy Cooks,” another collaboration with Drake (one week, 2022).

Elsewhere, on Rap Airplay, “Rich Flex” repeats at the No. 1 spot to secure a second week in charge. There, it increases its grip on the rank with an 11% gain in weekly audience. The single looks to next capture the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay list, which ranks the most-played tracks on U.S. monitored R&B and hip-hop stations. On that chart, “Rich Flex” ranks at No. 2 for a second straight week and finishes second in a tight race with the current champ, GloRilla and Cardi B’s “Tomorrow 2” collaboration. A repeat showdown, however, would likely favor “Flex” thanks to its positive momentum: It logged a 12% bump in plays in the latest tracking week, while “Tomorrow 2” declined 5%.

26 Jan 2023

Luke Combs’ Upcoming Album Cover & Title Serves as Sequel to ‘Growin‘ Up’

Luke Combs fans finally have a name and album cover for his upcoming project, out March 24. The country singer revealed the album’s title, Gettin’ Old, on social media on Thursday (Jan. 26) and the new project essentially serves as as sequel to his previous album, the June 2022-released Growin’ Up.

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The two album titles, taken together, create the name of a song Combs will release on Friday (Jan. 27), titled “Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old.” Last year, Combs shared an acoustic snippet of the song on his social media.

While the cover for Growin’ Up featured a packed bar scene and one half of the six-time Grammy nominee’s face, Gettin’ Old features the other half of his face alongside a scene of a home in a nighttime, calm rural setting. The two album covers create a full photo of Combs’ face when placed side by side.

“This album is about the stage of life I’m in right now,” Combs said via Instagram. “One that I’m sure a lot of us are in, have been through, or will go through. It’s about coming of age, loving where life is now but at the same time missing how it used to be, continuing to fall for the one you love and loving them no matter what, living in the moment but still wondering how much time you have left, family, friends, being thankful, and leaving a legacy. Me and so many others have poured their hearts and souls into this record and I hope you love it as much as we do.”

The upcoming set will mark the reigning Country Music Association entertainer of the year’s fourth full-length studio album.

Meanwhile, Growin’ Up is nominated for best country album at the upcoming Grammy Awards on Feb. 5, which are slated to be held at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. He’s also nominated for best country duo/group performance, for “Outrunnin’ Your Memory” with Miranda Lambert, as well as best country song (“Doin’ This,” which he wrote with Drew Parker and Robert Williford). Growin’ Up also landed on Billboard‘s list of the best albums of 2022, as well as Billboard‘s list of the best country albums of 2022.

See Combs’ tweet — and listen to the unreleased version of “Growing Up and Gettin’ Old” — below.