News

17 Oct 2022

Rihanna To Reportedly Return With New Music For ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’

It’s been years since Rihanna has released new music, but that streak could be ending soon.

Per HitsDailyDouble, RiRi is slated to land a pair of songs on the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack.

The Ryan Coogler-directed sequel is set to hit theaters across the country on November 11 with an accompanying soundtrack also arriving. The Marvel blockbuster’s soundtrack will hit streaming services via Marvel/Disney and Westbury Road/Roc Nation/Def Jam.

After giving birth and welcoming a baby boy with A$AP Rocky in May, Rihanna is ready to reassert her dominance on the music scene. She’s already been tapped to headline the Super Bowl LVII halftime show in Glendale, Arizona next year.

Earlier in October, HitsDailyDouble teased the possibility of the beauty mogul heading out on a stadium tour following her Super Bowl performance in 2023.

The singer has not released any new music as a solo artist since her multi-platinum 2016 album Anti, sparking an ongoing outcry for new material by her Navy on social media. Even as a featured artist, RiRi’s last appearance was on PartyNextDoor’s “Believe It” in 2020.

With the long break in between touring, Rihanna admitted she’s “nervous” to hit the grand Super Bowl stage.

“I’m nervous!” she told paparazzi while wearing a long-sleeve tee honoring the late DMX. “But I’m excited.”

JAY-Z’s Roc Nation is credited with partnering with the NFL as strategic entertainment advisors to put the Super Bowl halftime show together and Hov sang Rih’s praises after news broke of her selection.

related news

Rihanna Co-Signs Plies’ Rant About Bottle Service

September 7, 2022

“Rihanna is a generational talent, a woman of humble beginnings who has surpassed expectations at every turn,” said JAY-Z

He continued: “A person born on the small island of Barbados who became one of the most prominent artists ever. Self-made in business and entertainment.”

Jay played an integral role in signing Rihanna to Def Jam in the mid-2000s. She reportedly declined to previously perform at the Super Bowl in support of blackballed quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

17 Oct 2022

Here’s Why Swifties Think Taylor Swift’s Second ‘Midnights’ Single & Music Video Is ‘Vigilante S–t’

There are just four days left to go until Taylor Swift‘s Midnights arrives, and Swifties are burning the midnight oil trying to decipher every last possible clue dropped by the famously cryptic pop star. And now that Tay has revealed “Anti-Hero” to be the lead single off her fast-approaching tenth studio album, they’re certain they’ve uncovered a pattern proving which track will be next in line.

The news about “Anti-Hero” came Monday morning (Oct. 17 at the stroke of 12 a.m., of course), when Swift posted an animated video to her socials revealing what her Midnights release week schedule will entail. At 8 a.m. on Friday (Oct. 21), four hours after the album is set to drop, the singer-songwriter has plans marked on her calendar to unveil a music video for “Anti-Hero” — which she previously said is one of her favorite songs she’s ever written — pretty much confirming that the track is Midnights‘ lead single.

The new video didn’t include details about the second single beyond revealing that a second music video will go live Oct. 25, but in the eyes of Swifties, it didn’t have to. Remembering that Swift had done something a little odd when she first shared the title of “Anti-Hero” in an Oct. 2 TikTok, fans realized that she’d repeated the anomaly in just one of her other TikToks: the title announcement for Midnights track eight, “Vigilante Shit.”

What exactly was so peculiar about those two specific videos? In all of her Midnights Mayhem With Me posts — a series on her TikTok in which she randomly revealed the names of the 13 songs on Midnights — Swift whispered the titles into a red, corded telephone. But in the videos for “Anti-Hero” and “Vigilante Shit,” she held the phone upside down.

This has led many fans to believe that the upside-down phone wasn’t a repeated accident, but a hint planted by Swift to indicate which Midnights songs will get the single treatment, which often includes a corresponding music video. “SO THE UPSIDE DOWN PHONE THINGS ARE SINGLES SO VIGILANTE SHIT IS THE SECOND SINGLE,” tweeted one excited Swiftie detective in all caps.

“If anti hero is getting a music video it probably means vigilante shit is getting one too WHAT,” theorized another.

See what else Swifties are saying about the possibility of “Vigilante Shit” being the second single/music video off Taylor Swift’s Midnights below:

17 Oct 2022

Steve Lacy’s ‘Bad Habit’ Tops Hot 100 for Third Week, Doja Cat’s ‘Vegas’ Hits Top 10

Steve Lacy‘s “Bad Habit” notches a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, two weeks after it ascended to the summit.

Meanwhile, Morgan Wallen achieves his first top five Hot 100 hit as “You Proof” rises from No. 7 to No. 5 and Doja Cat reaches the top 10 with “Vegas” (11-10). The latter samples Big Mama Thornton’s 1953 classic “Hound Dog,” which Elvis Presley famously covered in 1956, marking the latest chart success for the iconic song.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Oct. 22, 2022) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Oct. 18). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

“Bad Habit,” released on L-M/RCA Records, tallied 42.3 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 4%), 20.1 million streams (down 2%) and 2,000 downloads sold (down 27%) in the Oct. 7-13 tracking week, according to Luminate.

The single, which Lacy solely produced and co-wrote, holds at No. 2 after five nonconsecutive weeks atop the Streaming Songs chart; keeps at its No. 7 high on Radio Songs; and falls to No. 43 from its No. 32 best on Digital Song Sales.

Lacy’s first Hot 100 No. 1, from his album Gemini Rights, which debuted as his first Billboard 200 top 10, at its No. 7 high, in July, concurrently tops the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, Hot Rock Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts for an eighth week each and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs charts for a seventh frame each. It became the first song to rule all five rankings (dating to October 2012, when Billboard‘s main genre-based song charts adopted the Hot 100’s methodology).

Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” repeats at its No. 2 Hot 100 high, with 23.2 million streams (down 2%), 15.2 million in airplay audience (up 55%) and 12,000 sold (up 10%). It leads both Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales for a third week and is the first hit to top both charts in its first three weeks on each list since Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” doubled up in its first three weeks on each survey (Jan. 23, 30 and Feb. 6, 2021; it went on to spend its first four frames atop Streaming Songs).

Harry Styles “As It Was” is steady at No. 3 on the Hot 100, after 15 weeks at No. 1 – the fourth-longest reign in the chart’s history. Still, the song, which debuted at No. 1 on the April 16-dated list, extends its record for the most weeks, 28, tallied in the top three, encompassing its entire run on the chart so far.

The track also rebounds for a ninth week at No. 1 on Radio Songs (60 million in audience, up 2%). It has led the list over a span of 23 weeks (since its first week atop the chart, dated May 21), the second-longest stretch of a song reigning, after The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights,” which led for 26 weeks over 28 weeks in 2020.

Post Malone’s “I Like You (A Happier Song),” featuring Doja Cat, holds at No. 4 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 3.

Morgan Wallen’s “You Proof” rises 7-5 for a new Hot 100 high, becoming the country star’s first top five hit, among four top 10s. Notably, it’s the second top five hit this decade that has reached the region by appearing on, among individual-format airplay charts, only Country Airplay (as opposed to crossing over to pop and/or adult surveys); Luke Combs’ “Forever After All” launched at its No. 2 Hot 100 peak in November 2020. Both tracks gained prominence thanks to strong streaming and country radio airplay, as “You Proof” drew 13.7 million streams in the latest tracking week, as it ranks at No. 8 on Streaming Songs, and tops the Country Airplay chart for a second frame. (“Forever” hit No. 2 on Streaming Songs and No. 1 for six weeks on Country Airplay.)

On Radio Songs, “You Proof” lifts 11-10 (34.6 million, up 2%), similarly becoming just the third title to reach the top 10 by appearing on Country Airplay but on no other individual genre chart (since Radio Songs became an all-format summary in December 1998). It joins Combs’ “Forever After All,” which reached No. 10 on Radio Songs in June 2021, and Cole Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina,” which hit No. 9 on Radio Songs earlier in October (and topped Country Airplay for four frames starting in September).

“You Proof” concurrently commands the multi-metric Hot Country Songs chart for a ninth week.

OneRepublic’s “I Ain’t Worried” keeps at its No. 6 Hot 100 best; Nicky Youre and dazy’s “Sunroof” drops 5-7, after hitting No. 4; Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” holds at No. 8, after it premiered atop the Aug. 27 chart, as it tops the multi-metric Hot Rap Songs chart for a ninth week; and Combs’ “The Kind of Love We Make” is stationary at No. 9 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 8.

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Doja Cat climbs 11-10 with “Vegas.” The song, from the hit Elvis movie soundtrack, reaches the Radio Songs top five (6-5; 48.5 million, up 4%) and also drew 8 million streams and sold 2,000 in the tracking week.

Doja Cat adds her sixth Hot 100 top 10. Prior to “Vegas” and “I Like You,” she tallied “Say So,” featuring Nicki Minaj (No. 1, one week, May 2020); “Kiss Me More,” featuring SZA (No. 3, July 2021); “Need to Know” (No. 8, November 2021); and “Woman” (No. 7, this May). She boasts the most top 10s among women this decade, surpassing Taylor Swift’s five since the start of 2020 (although with Swift appearing primed to reignite that race thanks to her LP Midnights, due this Friday).

“Vegas” samples Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog,” a Billboard R&B chart No. 1 for the blues legend (who passed away in 1984) nearly 70 years ago. Written by Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Elvis Presley’s version crowned multiple Billboard charts in 1956. (The Hot 100 began Aug. 4, 1958.)

Presley’s imprint is, thus, extended in the Hot 100’s top 10. Notably, “Hound Dog” was originally released with B-side and fellow classic “Don’t Be Cruel,” also a No. 1 on multiple Billboard surveys in 1956, and Cheap Trick’s faithful cover of the latter hit No. 4 on the Hot 100 in October 1988. Earlier in 1988, Pet Shop Boys likewise sent their interpretation of “Always on My Mind” to No. 4 (that May), after Presley’s ballad version hit No. 16 on Hot Country Songs in 1973. In July 1993, UB40’s take on “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” which Presley took to No. 2 on the Hot 100 in 1962, began a seven-week reign.

The late Presley himself appeared on the Hot 100 as recently as January 2021, when his holiday perennial “Blue Christmas,” originally from 1957, hit a No. 33 high, after becoming his highest-charting entry since 1981.

“Vegas” (a noteworthy hit in Tupelo, Miss.) additionally becomes Doja Cat’s sixth No. 1 on the Pop Airplay chart. It replaces “I Like You” atop the tally, making her the first artist to dethrone themselves at the summit since Ariana Grande’s “34+35” directly followed her “Positions” to the top in February 2021.

Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Oct. 22), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Oct. 18).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

17 Oct 2022

The First Post-Pandemic Edition of ADE, The World’s Largest Electronic Industry Conference, Launches This Week in Amsterdam: ‘Everybody’s Coming Back’

Much of the electronic music industry is currently in or en route to Amsterdam, with the city’s longstanding ADE conference launching tomorrow (October 18.)

Happening in the Dutch capital since 1996, the five-day Amsterdam Dance Event is the world’s largest dance music industry conference, and the one that many in the scene call not only the most fun, but the one where the most business gets done.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

2022 marks ADE’s first full-fledged iteration since 2019, with the pandemic forcing ADE fully online in 2020 and only partially live in 2021. This year, say ADE organizers Meindert Kennis and Jan-Willem, the event is not just back, but also bigger than ever, with 10,000 industry professionals expected for the expansive conference and 600,000 fans in town to take in the hundreds of consumer facing shows and arts and culture programming happening through this Saturday, October 22.

In an effort to make the conference more useful for more people, for the first time this year it’s divided into Pro and Lab conferences, with Pro programming catered towards established industry members and Lab focused on those just getting their foot in the (club) door.

“Lab is a conference for people making the first steps in the industry, to help them educate themselves and to help them with the first steps to become a pro within a few years,” says Kennis. “Having this healthy ecosystem is one of the main ideas we wanted to implement before the pandemic that survived during our off years.”

Meanwhile, the dizzying number of music events happening in venues throughout the city are hosted by global brands including AMF, Secret Project, DGTL, Spinnin, We Still Believe, Defected and many (many) more, all working under the ADE umbrella. (Local officials do not permit any event to happen during the week unless it has ADE approval.) Altogether, the new music, business initiatives, party brands and other campaigns launching this week will help set the sound for the year to come in electronic music.

“There’s going to be something people talk about afterwards like, ‘I know the first moment I heard that and that broke through was at at ADE,’” says Kennis.

Here, Kennis and Willem discuss getting the massive event back in action this week.

Beyond the changes to how you’ve structured the conference, what are the biggest things happening at ADE this year?

Kennis: I think the biggest thing is that we’re back, and we’re back in full effect. The good thing is not just that we’re hearing everyone is coming back, but we see it in the ticket sales. That’s very exciting, especially after a few years of relative silence — that the industry is back and that they’re coming [to Amsterdam] in full effect. We’re thrilled about that.

Willem: All the small and big industry partners are coming back too. That’s a really comfortable feeling, knowing the momentum is still there.

As you’ve been organizing this thing, have you found that some issues are more crucial this year?

Willem: We decided to focus on three main themes, and all the topics we are discussing are under these themes. It’s the business side of electronic music, meaning the whole value chain of electronic music. That’s still the most important part of the Pro conference. The other one is the future, all innovations and AI and metaverse related topics. The third is the world surrounding music, meaning all topics around sustainability, mental health and social impact. So basically, every panel and program within our conference is related to one of these three themes.

There are so few electronic industry conferences right now, and yours is such a big event. Does anything compare to ADE in terms of size and influence?

Willem: We are a foundation to improve electronic music in the Netherlands. We started ADE as a part of BUMA/STEMRA, the copyright organization in Holland. The reason why I’m stating this is: You don’t make a lot of money organizing these kinds of events with so many stakeholders and so many things to take care of. We don’t have this huge gate around our festival — everybody can be part of it. Which also means there’s a lot of a lot of work to align with everybody, to make sure everything is being organized correctly. Revenue goes directly to the producers of every event. So we don’t make any money out of that. I think that’s a reason why there’s not a lot of competition.

Kennis: Also, it has grown to be this way over 26 years. And as a nonprofit, we allow everyone to let ADE be what they want it to be, within quite a broad bandwidth. I think that makes it really special.

Are you finding that, industry wise, people from parts of the world are coming that didn’t before? I’m thinking of places like the MENA region. Are you seeing different areas show up that didn’t as much in years prior?

Kennis: That’s a good question. I believe that, for instance, countries like China aren’t able to come this year. They are technically, but apparently it’s a hassle. So it’s more that we’re expecting different parts of the world to not be able to come this year, given COVID scares or just a lot of paperwork being required. But we have to look into that afterwards to see the differences, because it’s really interesting.

Are there any COVID protocols still in place in the city or country?

Willem: No… I’ve been asking for quite a few months at local and national government levels, and they’re all like, “We don’t have anything, so don’t worry.” I was like, “I am worried, because we’ve got about 600,000 people coming in, and I don’t want to cancel.” But we’re now just before [the event] and there’s still no measures in place, so I think we’re going to be okay.

I remember that last year, you had to make some changes when new protocols were put in place at the last minute. 350 club shows went from being at night to happening during the daytime.

Willem: Last year, a month before ADE started, all events were shut down. The only way to really make them work is that they had to close at midnight.

Kennis: It was actually amazing.

Willem: We came out of a lockdown, then we had ADE, and then there was another lockdown. So everybody was just going mental [during ADE.] All the artists and venues swapped the entire schedule so everything happened during the day. That gave a feeling of togetherness, where everybody just worked together to make it happen, and that gave it a really special energy.

These five days were literally the only moment in Holland where people could go out and be together, touch each other in a club and express themselves, and we had so many good moments. We started on Saturday morning, we drove to a party. We came in at 11:00 in the morning, and had a croissant and some juice. All these fans and all these kids were pumped up and dancing, hugging each other. We were like, “F–k yeah, this is cool for 11:00 in the morning.”

Amsterdam Dance Event

Amsterdam Dance Event

Courtesy of ADE

I know you work closely with the city of Amsterdam to make this thing happen. Besides the absence oof protocols, have any shifts occurred at the government level following the pandemic?

Kennis: It’s good to notice that before COVID happened, part of the struggle was that nightlife and night culture wasn’t seen as culture by government stakeholders.

But now, since COVID, they realize, “Okay, this is more than just partying at night. It’s part of your expression, it’s part of your individual development, and it’s a really important part of your life, especially when you’re young and finding your identity.” Hopefully that will help us get more funding in the future to invest more in the development and educational programs.

That’s not a small thing, to actually affect the mindset around this often misunderstood culture on a government level.

Kennis: Unfortunately it took it took a pandemic to to make people realize it, but we do see change for the better.

17 Oct 2022

Soulja Boy Pays Stranger $1K To Be His ‘Sandwich Holder’

Soulja Boy recently coughed up some bread to hire a complete stranger as his official “sandwich holder,” making him the first rapper to have one.

In a video that surfaced online over the weekend, Big Draco announced the news while stood next to the latest member of his team. In true Soulja Boy fashion, the rapper made it clear he’s a pioneer when it comes to this particular hiring.

“I’m the first rapper with a sandwich holder,” he said as he turned his phone to the man holding the sandwich. “Hold my sandwich, n-gga.”

The man obliged while replying: “That n-gga gave me $1,000 to hold a sandwich. I’ma a sandwich-holding son of a bitch!”

Hiring an official sandwich holder is just one of many things Soulja Boy has claimed to be the first rapper to do. Over the years, Big Draco has claimed to be ahead of the game when it comes to having his own video game console, going viral on YouTube and owning an iced-out G-Shock watch, among other random accomplishments.

In August, Soulja Boy even attempted to take credit for starting the trend of “Big” nicknames in Hip Hop.

“Wasn’t nobody hollering this ‘Big’ shit before 2017. 2017, n-gga. I said ‘Big Soulja,’ n-gga. We know who started this shit, n-gga,” he said on Instagram Live. “Big Soulja. Big Draco, I got everybody saying ‘Big.’ I got everybody putting ‘Big’ in front of they name.”

related news

Soulja Boy Brags About Making ‘$100K A Day’ While Mocking ‘Broke-Ass N-ggas’

October 26, 2021

Soulja Boy has also seen himself trend on social media for things he wouldn’t want to be the first rapper to do. Earlier this year, the “Crank That” rapper posted a cryptic tweet that simply read: “Monkeypox,” leading fans to believe he contracted the viral disease.

However, Soulja later clarified he was monkeypox-free and was simply trying to raise awareness about the virus.

“If anybody took my post wrong, no I do not have the Monkeypox,” he said on Instagram Live while laughing. “I’m just seeing that they’re making state of emergencies and posting about it so I was just posting about it. I’m all good.”

17 Oct 2022

Coheed and Cambria Sign With Round Hill for Publishing Admin

Round Hill Music has signed a worldwide publishing administration agreement with Coheed and Cambria, the progressive rock band that has recorded 10 studio albums and generated 3.4 million album consumption units in the U.S., according to Luminate. The band, fronted by Claudio Sanchez, is signed to Round Hill Music via its Fund 3 Plus vehicle.

“We are pleased to welcome Claudio and the band to the Round Hill family,” the company’s head of creative services John Baldi said in a statement. “Our team is excited to explore creative outlets and opportunities for their music and provide support wherever we can on their current release, “Vaxis Act II.”

The latter album has generated 55,000 album consumption units worth of activity since its release in February this year.

“Our music is dramatic and cinematic,” Sanchez said in a statement. “We’ve been looking for a home that will facilitate getting Coheed and Cambria front and center in the sync world. The folks and Round Hill have a firm grasp of our vision and an added creativity that will help achieve or goals, and we couldn’t be more excited about taking this journey together.”

17 Oct 2022

Rina Sawayama Is Finally Ready to Celebrate Three Years of Breakout Success: ‘We’re Maximizing the Slay’

Catching her breath as she opens up a Zoom call, Rina Sawayama is quick to offer an explanation.

“Sorry if there’s some slight background noise,” she says, as a low rumble of hushed conversations echo behind her. “I’m in rehearsals right now and trying to step out. Everywhere else is too cold, so I have to sit in the corner of the rehearsal room for this.”

It’s indicative of the British pop star’s life as of late — when she speaks with Billboard, she’s putting the final touches on her Hold the Girl Tour, an international set of live dates that began Wednesday, Oct. 12 in Glasgow, Scotland that will see her perform in Great Britain, North America, New Zealand and Australia through January 2023.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The show simply continues on the momentum Sawayama has been building throughout the year — along with completing her long-delayed U.S. tour of her debut album Sawayama, the star has been hard at work promoting and releasing Hold the Girl, her critically-acclaimed sophomore set dealing starkly with mental health and childhood trauma through the lens of alternative pop songs.

For Sawayama though, the release of Hold the Girl has felt more like putting out two albums at once — since COVID-19 effectively shut down much of the promotional work surrounding her debut in 2020 (as well as her original European tour), the star has been working double duty when it comes to unveiling the new project.

“It’s the fans who couldn’t come and get their records signed the first time are coming round with two vinyls now,” she explains. “They’re talking about their experience about how both albums have helped them through difficult times, so it really feels like I’m promoting two albums in a way.”

A lot has changed for the singer since debuting Sawayama — back then, for example, the star says that because she didn’t have a live opportunity to commune with her fans, she found herself diving deep online to figure out what the response to her work looked like.

“It was all online, it was all tweets, and back then I used to read every tweet and YouTube comment and all of the stuff like that,” she says. “I was reading every review and comment, and I did that for the first record — I read so many and I really cared about what everyone thought. I’ve very happily moved on from that.”

The subject matter has also evolved — throughout the new LP, Sawayama explores the idea of parenting her inner child and coming to terms with traumatic events from her childhood. Songs like the title track and “Forgiveness” seek to create reconciliation, while others like “Your Age” and “Frankenstein” seethe with rage at having gone through pain in the first place.

It’s an album dappled with personal truths and revelations that Sawayama was ready to share after a few years of therapy. The therapy process itself was “really hard,” she says, as she was encouraged to “come to a realization that your whole world is turned upside down.” But once she had moved past that, the writing and producing process of her album “was very good for me.”

Then, it came time to promote the project, which came with its own complications for the singer. “I talked about the very deep, emotional parts of the record to too many people, and it felt like I was sort of re-traumatizing myself every time,” Sawayama offers. “I think I did 120 interviews for this record, and I really thought I could handle it emotionally — but it was quite a lot. I never got specific, but even just alluding to the trauma, your body sets up this little reaction inside of you where it’s getting ready for fight or flight.”

But instead of succumbing to the emotional exhaustion of reliving some of her darkest moments over and over, Sawayama is choosing to find the silver lining in the promotional push. “I think it was a lesson that you can be boundaried about what you talk about; you can share it with the people who understand, but you don’t have to share it with everyone,” she says, relief hanging off each word.

As a cadre of excited voices begin to rally behind her once again, Sawayama is more than happy to refocus onto the task at hand — creating a show that fans are going to love. “It’s my favorite bit of what I do,” she says, excitedly.

The Hold the Girl Tour promises to be a spectacle in and of itself, with Sawayama describing the everything as “bigger.” She’s teamed up with production company WFB Live — who helped craft Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia Tour as well as Post Malone’s 12 Carat Tour — to take the same number of people on stage (two band members, two backup dancers, and Sawayama) and make it feel more extravagant.

Sawayama quickly rattles off just a few examples of the amped-up production — new lighting rigs, stunning choreography, interesting stage pieces — before coming to her own conclusion of what they’re accomplishing. “We’re now maximizing the sound, maximizing the slay,” she says, before laughing at her own joke.

It’s a strange experience for the star, especially with her U.S. tour set to kick off on November 1 in Brooklyn, NY — despite having spent the earlier part of this year touring the States, Sawayama is returning a mere six months later and playing venues doubled in size. Plus, she adds, they’re traveling to states they didn’t get to hit the first time around.

“There’s cities like Nashville, and places in Texas, and North Carolina, where we’ve never been to, and we’re having to scale down the show quite a bit,” she says. “Even thinking about, if we’re walking five steps in the New York show to get from one end to the other, let’s say, you have to cut it down to two steps in these other places. It’s a weird puzzle, and it keeps things exciting.”

That excitement remains in the singer’s voice throughout the interview, as she remains in awe of the task at hand. “For a U.K. artist, being able to tour the U.S. and have success doing it is a dream,” she says. “I feel so lucky that I can do multiple tours and festivals in the same year.”

“Success” is an important word to associate with Sawayama at the moment — after unveiling Hold the Girl in September and earning a No. 3 debut on the U.K. Albums Chart, the singer officially became the highest-charting Japanese artist in the history of the U.K charts.

It’s especially important for an artist who fought publicly for recognition as a British artist back in 2020, prompting the BRITs to change the rules for their eligibility regarding British citizenship. “When I heard that, it was like, ‘Oh my god, maybe I’m helping make that happen for someone else right now,’” she explained, adding that BLACKPINK earning their No. 1 position on the chart that same week felt appropriate. “Just to see all of this East and Southeast Asian representation like that is something I never would have thought could happen five or six years ago.”

With the whiplash of her tour-to-album-back-to-tour schedule weighing on her, Sawayama takes a moment to breathe as she lays out her plans for the future. “I’m allowed to take time with my third record,” she says, audibly relaxing as she does. “It’s been a very crazy, very fast journey; with the first and second albums, I felt like I was working with a lot of limitations in terms of writing and promoting it. I feel like I’ve made a lot of different mistakes with the first and second record — I’m immensely proud of them, but on the third record, I want to consolidate and take time to really focus on what I enjoy and love.”

17 Oct 2022

Mariah Carey Teases Fellow Christmas Fans That ‘It’s Almost Time’ From Her Tub

The Queen of Christmas has spoken! Over the weekend, Mariah Carey shared with the Lambs that although we’re getting closer to the holiday, she’s not quite ready to break out the Christmas song everyone’s waiting to hear.

“It’s almost time…,” the superstar teased in a Sunday (Oct. 16) tweet showing off her festive red robe strewn on the steps leading to her luxurious jacuzzi-style bathtub. (In true Mariah fashion, a giant display of red and white roses spelling out her initials was also part of her bathroom decor.)

However, before fans could get to excited about hearing the twinkling opening notes of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Carey hit the brakes in a pair of follow-up tweets. “But…,” she cautioned before definitively declaring, “Not yet.”

In the video shared with her final tweet, Mimi playfully kept her boundaries about the start of the holiday season iron-clad as Dem Babies pressed her to start celebrating early. “We want to listen to ‘All I Want…’” 11-year-old Moroccan insisted from off-screen before his twin sister Monroe added, “Well, can we at least decorate the tree?” Of course, Carey’s answer to each inquiry from her kids was a playful and bubbly “Not yet!” from inside her tub.

Part of the reason the icon may not be ready to kick off all things Christmas — including a potential fourth consecutive year of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” hitting No. 1 on the Hot 100 — is because she’s been busy celebrating landmarks for two of her other favorite albums. In September, she marked the 25th anniversary of 1997’s Butterfly with a series of special surprises for the Lambily, and weeks later penned a tribute to 1995’s Daydream as her “most bittersweet album” on the 27th anniversary of its release.

Check out Mariah’s latest holiday tease below.

17 Oct 2022

Harry Styles Shakes Off ‘Unfortunate’ Concert Moment When an Object Hits Him Where It Hurts: Watch

Watermelon sugar, ow. At his Friday night (Oct. 14) concert in Chicago, Harry Styles had to take a brief pause after getting hit square in the crotch by something thrown at him by a fan in the audience.

The moments leading up to the incident were innocent enough: The 28-year-old pop star was simply chatting onstage at the United Center about the “unseasonably cold” temperatures in the Windy City when, suddenly, a small but mighty item sailed out from the crowd and smacked straight into Styles’ nether region. It’s difficult to discern from a fan video what the unidentified flying object was — but whatever it may have been, it clearly packed a mean punch.

Upon impact, the “As It Was” singer stopped in the middle of his sentence, let out a small groan and doubled over. “Oh … that’s unfortunate,” he said into the microphone, tenderly holding his groin.

After a pause, the Grammy winner shakes out his right leg, then his left, before getting back to work. “OK, shake it off,” he says before diving back into his show.

Styles is currently touring in support of his May-released third studio album Harry’s House, which debuted atop the Billboard 200 and spawned the singer’s second No. 1 single with “As It Was.” On Saturday (Oct. 15), he completed the final show of his six-night mini-residency in Chicago, preceded by a historic 15-night residency at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in late August/early September and a six-night stay at Austin’s Moody Center.

See the moment Harry Styles recovered from being hit in the crotch by a fan-thrown object below: