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When Alicia Keys set out to make her first holiday album, Santa Baby, she wanted to make sure it sounded like a project she would put out at any time of year.
“It has a soulfulness, a rawness, it has that New York energy in it too, but it just feels like something you could play from top to bottom,” Keys tells the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen below) about the Apple Music-exclusive album. “And I recorded it like that; we recorded it very consistently over about seven days, and it all really feels cohesive and great. And so I love it. I think now is the time.
“And it’s my first release off of my own independent record label, Alicia Keys Records, so it makes it even better.”
“Soulfulness” was the vibe Keys kept returning to for the album, which was released last month, saying, “It really does harness a sound, and that sound is always going to have that soulfulness. Everything that I touch is going to have a soulfulness, it’s gonna have something that feels warm, I want it to feel meaningful, I want the lyrics to be things that you never forget. I want to create memories.”
The album’s lead single, “December Back 2 June,” is the perfect example of an original on the album, which Keys co-wrote with Tayla Parx, that could really fit in on any year-round Keys project. But there is one Yuletide touch from producer Tommy Parker that gives the song some festive flair.
“I was like, ‘Where did he find this Christmas Jackson 5 song that I’ve never heard in all my life?’” Keys recalls thinking when she heard the high-pitched “It’s just Christmastime” line in the production. “And so I talked to him, and I’m like, ‘Is this a sample? What is this?’ And he had actually created that voice and that kind of sample-sounding pitch. And I fell in love with it, because to me it felt like a ‘You Don’t Know My Name’ or one of these songs that are my style, like that kind of ’70s sample, we’ll put a modern approach on it. And so it totally was 100% me, and he said that he created it with that in mind.”
As for the album’s namesake song, Keys has always appreciated the 1953 original for its ahead-of-its-time boldness. “‘Santa Baby’ by Eartha Kitt is like, by far to me, one of the best-written songs of all time,” she says. “I just love that cheekiness, the flirtiness. I love the way that she approached it, especially … as a woman in that time, that she was totally bold, brave, she wasn’t trying to meet anybody else’s standards. She set her own direction and journey and lane, and so … I was very excited to bring that out, in my style.”
But Keys is most thrilled to become part of people’s holiday traditions with her addition to the Christmas catalog. “There’s timeless music that, every year, you’re gonna hear it and you need it and you love it,” she says. “And I really want to be a part of that group of timeless compositions that you can just forever love, forever depend on, and forever create memories with your family and your loved ones.”
Listen to the full interview with Keys above, in which she also names some of her all-time favorite Christmas music, including Boyz II Men’s 1993 album Christmas Interpretations; Vince Guaraldi Trio’s 1965 soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas (she covers “Christmas Time Is Here” on her new album); So So Def’s 12 Soulful Nights of Christmas from 1996 (on which Keys performs “Little Drummer Girl” — the then-teenager’s first album appearance); George Winston’s 1982 project December; 1973’s A Motown Christmas; and, last but not least, James Brown’s holiday albums, including her personal favorite song “Santa, Go Straight to the Ghetto.”
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” returning to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and producer Metro Boomin scoring his third No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with the chart-topping debut of Heroes & Villains.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
The Billboard charts are getting ever more festive in the march to Christmas.
On the Billboard Hot 100 songs and Billboard 200 albums charts (both dated Dec. 10), the lists are looking very merry and bright. On the Hot 100, Mariah Carey’s evergreen chart-topper “All I Want for Christmas Is You” vaults to No. 2 and Michael Bublé’s former No. 1 album Christmas jingles up the Billboard 200 into the top five. Christmas was released in 2011 and spent five weeks atop the list late that year and in early 2012 and has returned to the top 10 in every subsequent holiday season.
Speaking of Bublé, earlier this year on the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, he joined hosts Katie and Keith to discuss his then-new album Higher (a recent Grammy Award nominee for best traditional pop vocal album). Well, the latest Pop Shop Podcast (listen below) has a special unheard moment from that interview, where Bublé was asked about his Christmas album and what it means to know that the ever-popular set has become a favorite in homes around the world each year, soundtracking family gatherings.
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“Well, can you imagine how lucky I feel to be invited into all of that?” Bublé tells the Pop Shop Podcast. “I mean, I knew what I was doing when I made the record. I had high hopes. I was quite ambitious. Because I really genuinely love the songs. I never had any idea that it would be like this ever, ever.”
“And it’s funny, years ago, I would complain about it [the album’s success], and I would say [exasperated] ‘Well, you know, they keep talking about the Christmas album,’” he recalled. “But it was when my son got sick, I remember sitting in the hospital, and I just remember thinking how lucky I was. I just remember thinking so clearly, you know, how wonderful this is, that this is a part of your legacy. …
“What’s interesting, too, is it’s become less about what religion you are and it’s become about just a time when us human beings might need a bit of a break. And there’s a little more empathy and kindness. And I thought, man, to be connected to something so beautiful, there are much worse things in life.”
Also on the latest Pop Shop Podcast, Katie and Keith discuss the death of singer-songwriter Christine McVie and the pop sensibility she brought to her work with Fleetwood Mac. Plus, the Pop Shop team chats about Amber Riley (spoiler alert!) winning The Masked Singer and what it could mean for her career in the future. They also talk about her Dec. 5 guest appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, where Riley and Hudson duetted on “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from Dreamgirls.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
Mariah Carey has declared that “it’s time” to enjoy Christmas music, and on the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, we’re discussing 10 new pop holiday hits from 2022 to add to your party playlists.
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We’ve got new songs from previous Pop Shop guests Backstreet Boys, Harry Connick Jr., Pentatonix and Meghan Trainor on the lineup, as well as Santa-approved smashes from Lizzo, Sam Smith, Alicia Keys and Sia. Phoebe Bridgers is back with her annual holiday cover for charity, Blake Shelton covers a Christmas confection by his wife Gwen Stefani, and Lindsay Lohan is channeling her Mean Girls past with a new rendition of “Jingle Bell Rock.”
But which new holiday hit is your favorite? Below, listen to the latest podcast, and also vote for your personal festive fave.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard‘s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
Kanye West continued his bizarre alt-right media tour on Monday (Nov. 28) when he was joined by Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and professional troll Milo Yiannopoulos on Tim Pool’s Timcast IRL podcast. At first, West (who now goes by Ye), energetically defending himself against the media backlash spurred by his recent rash of antisemitic comments — while simultaneously doubling down by repeating hate language about Jewish control of the media and banking — but when Pool gingerly probed that line of questioning Ye quickly bailed.
“I just got to go to the heart of this antisemite claim,” West said as he dove into a monologue in which he accused former retail partners Gap and Adidas, as well as Vogue magazine, former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump and his personal trainer of being part of a Jewish-led conspiracy to destroy his career. “It’s the truth,” Ye said of his antisemitic claims, pointing to his rapid fall from grace as proof that he’s been targeted and brought low by a shadowy, citing former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner for no clear reason other than that they are Jewish.
When right-wing host Pool probed that area and noted that where West sees Jewish people and “associates” them with power, Pool doesn’t think that is not relevant to the discussion. Yiannopoulos then praised West for breaking the “biggest dam,” seemingly referring to the discussion of hateful tropes about alleged Jewish control of media and banking. “We were all wondering how this dam was going to break… what is the root of this hypocrisy? Why can people talk about white people a certain way, why can’t we talk about that group a certain way?,” he asked. “The wretched and wicked and prevailing orthodoxy of cancel culture… well, it turned out that the one thing that was going to break the dam was the biggest star in the world… and now the dam is broken.”
West complained that “they tried to put me in prison,” without going into specifics, discussing his “de-banking” and claiming he’s trying to start his own bank to avoid the traditional systems. When the conversation turned more directly to allegations of Ye’s antisemitism, the rapper tightened and threatened to bail before doubling-down on his anti-Jewish statements. “I feel like it’s a setup … I’m going to walk the f–k off the show if I’m having to talk about,” Ye said. “‘You can’t say Jewish people did it,’ when every sensible person knows — that Jon Stewart knows — what happened to me, and they took it too far.” Then, less than 23 minutes into the conversation, Ye walked out.
Trump has been widely condemned, by both sides of the political aisle, for hosting Ye and white nationalist Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago estate last week, where, according to the disgraced rapper, he pitched the former commander-in-chief on being his vice president as West seemingly ramps up for a second long-shot White House bid.
Visibly angered by Pool’s antisemitism questions, West compared himself to Martin Luther King Jr., evoking the horrific images of the 1960s civil rights struggle as a metaphor for his feelings about the meltdown of his once-formidable fashion and music empire in the wake of his repeated slurs against the Jewish people.
“I thought I was more Malcolm X, but I found out I’m more MLK. As I’m getting hosed down every day by the press and financially, I’m just standing there,” West said. “When I found out they were trying to put me in jail, it was like a dog was biting my arm and I almost shed a tear. Almost. But I still walked in stride through it.” When Pool tried to commiserate with West by saying that “they” (which he identified as the “corporate press”) had been “extremely unfair” to Ye, Fuentes attempted to speak on the rapper’s behest before Kanye got fed up, pulled off his headphones and angrily left the set.
“Corporate press. I don’t use the word as the way, I guess, you guys use [it],” Pool said. “It is them, though, isn’t it,” Fuentes asked. “No, it’s not,” Pool replied. “What do you mean it’s not?” Ye said annoyed before leaving.
Speaking on a follow-up Timcast, Pool said he thought the walk-off was “staged” by Ye, even as he referred to Yiannopoulos as a “genius” for what he suspected was a secret plot by Milo to get revenge on Trump and ruin the twice-impeached real estate mogul’s chances for a third White House bid; Pool also noted that he finds Yiannopoulos and Fuentes’ statements on Jewish people to be “ridiculous” as he speculated that West’s aim all along was to walk off in protest to create a spectacle.
Fuentes has been called a “white supremacist” by the Anti-Defamation League and in February at the the America First conference, he was widely denounced for praising Adolf Hitler in his introduction to alt-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, saying, “And now they’re going on about Russia, and ‘Vladimir Putin is Hitler’ — and they say that’s not a good thing … Can we get a round of applause for Russia? Yes!”
Yiannopoulos, who has also been accompanying West lately and is reportedly his 2024 presidential campaign manager, is a well-known right-wing troll who interned for Greene earlier this year and has been blocked from most major social media platforms for his repeated comments about Islam and feminism and his embrace of antisemitic figures.
Ye (formerly Kanye West) walks out of an interview with Tim Pool when pushed on his claim that Jews control the media. Nick Fuentes and Milo Yiannopoulos followed him off set too. pic.twitter.com/eKAUeDS9kd— Jewish News Syndicate (@JNS_org) November 29, 2022
Never underestimate the power of a singalong song. Rock quartet Alter Bridge’s concerts are full of the heavy riffs, power chords and intricate musicianship you would expect from one of America’s premiere hard rock quartets. But the band has come to appreciate the power of a song it can sing with the audience.
Alter Bridge’s Nov. 9 show in Luxembourg started with a pummeling, four-song introduction: “Silver Tongue” from the band’s new album, Pawns & Kings, “Addicted to Pain” from 2013’s Fortress, “Before Tomorrow Comes” from 2007’s Blackbird and another new track, “This is War.”
“You hit them hard for four songs,” guitarist Mark Tremonti tells Billboard’s Behind the Setlist podcast. “And then, if they need to take a breath, you’ve got to have some dynamics.” In Luxembourg, and at other stops on the band’s European tour, that moment was the song “Broken Wings,” from the band’s 2004 debut One Day Remains.
“Fans always sing along to ‘Broken Wings’,” says Tremonti, who co-founded Alter Bridge in 2004 after the breakup of band that first took him to stardom, Creed. “I think [a sing-along is] the most powerful thing in a set. You could play heavy, complex songs, but if a fan doesn’t sing along to it or get into it, it’s not going to have as much impact. ‘Broken Wings’ is an easy song to play but as a huge impact because people are so familiar with it [that] they sing along to.”
Bandmate and Alter Bridge co-founder Myles Kennedy agrees. “There’s something to be said about hearing those choruses sang back to you,” says Kennedy, also known for his work with Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash. “And it’s powerful. It really feels like there’s a connection.”
The end of a concert is a good time for a singalong, too. Says Tremonto Recently, the band’s encores have featured “Slip to the Void,” the lead-off track from 2010 and “Open Your Eyes” from One Day Remains. “Sometimes when you play heavier songs, there’s kind of a border between you and your fans,” says Tremonti. “There’s you doing the songs and there’s the fans listening. But when you play these singalong songs, you’re all kind of one in the room. I think that’s the way you want to leave the concert: you want to get that that personal touch back. And when we play ‘Open Your Eyes,’ there’s the bridge section that really breaks down. Myles would pause as long as he wants to get the crowd to anticipate what’s coming, and then they all sing along and it’s a ‘we’re all one now’ kind of a thing before the concert is over. I think that’s important.”
Alter Bridge’s European tour wraps up at London’s O2 Arena on Dec. 12. A U.S. tour begins on Jan. 25 in Orlando, Fla., and continues to Upland, Calif., on April 1.
Listen to the entire interview with Tremonti and Kennedy at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, iHeart, Amazon Music, Audible, Google Podcasts or the embedded player below.
Adele made her long-awaited Las Vegas residency debut over the weekend, and Katie & Keith — the co-hosts of the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast — were lucky enough to be in the Colosseum at Caesars Palace for Friday’s night 1 of Weekends With Adele.
On the latest episode of the podcast (listen below), Katie & Keith talk all about our experience inside the intimate concert and discuss the purposeful production choices and sweeping vocal performances that made the residency more than worth the wait.
But wait, there’s more! The Pop Shop duo then flew back to Los Angeles to attend Elton John’s second-to-last U.S. tour stop at Dodger Stadium, and the new podcast takes listeners inside that monumental concert as well.
Listen below:
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Taylor Swift reigns supreme on both the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 yet again with Midnights and “Anti-Hero,” respectively, how David Guetta and Bebe Rexha hit the top 10 on the Hot 100 with “I’m Good (Blue),” how Louis Tomlinson scores his highest-charting album yet on the Billboard 200 with the top five debut of Faith in the Future, and how Bruce Springsteen and Nas rack up new top 10 albums on the chart.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard‘s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
When the 2023 Grammy nominations were unveiled on Tuesday (Nov. 15), there were a lot of names we were expecting in the Big Four categories, including leading nominees Beyoncé (9), Kendrick Lamar (8), and Grammy faves Adele and Brandi Carlile (7 each).
But there were also some names we weren’t expecting – or hadn’t even seen before, especially in the best new artist field. On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen below), Katie & Keith are joined by Pop Shop founder Jason Lipshutz to share our fast first impressions of the top categories: record of the year, album of the year, song of the year and best new artist.
Listen below to get our hot takes:
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Drake and 21 Savage team up for the year’s biggest hip-hop debut as Her Loss starts atop the Billboard 200 and gives Drake his 12th No. 1 album. Plus, Taylor Swift stays put atop the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with “Anti Hero,” while eight songs from Her Loss start in the top 10.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard‘s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
Dua Lipa is the latest pop star to spend time with burlesque performer Dita Von Teese.
The “Levitating” singer sat down with the performer for Friday’s (Nov. 11) episode of her At Your Service podcast, in which the pair spent some time talking about femininity and sexuality and how the two coexist in light of the #MeToo movement.
A thoughtful portion of the interview saw Lipa asking Von Teese about how perception often plays a large part in the way women are viewed, to which the performer clarified that true feminism is about choosing a path that feels most authentic to oneself.
“As a woman in the public eye myself, have you ever felt the need to reassess this persona and the presentation, if at all? Perceptions of sexuality and perceptions of femininity. Perceptions have become so much less binary these days, less black and white,” Lipa mused. “How would you reply to people who would question if femininity and feminism can peacefully coexist, especially in the #MeToo era?”
Von Teese went into a story about promoting one of her books and shared how shocked she was to see is was primarily women coming out to support her.
“By telling my story about why I love [burlesque], it resonated with other women, about harnessing your erotic power, your sensual power,” she told the singer. “Living life on your own terms, a new kind of feminism, because ultimately to me being a feminist means choosing to live your life however you want.”
Last week, Taylor Swift unveiled her “Bejeweled” music video, co-starring Von Teese. In the fairytale-inspired clip, the burlesque performer plays the Fairy Goddess to Swift’s Cinderella, and even performs alongside the superstar in giant matching martini glasses covered in Swarovski crystals. “What a delight to perform alongside her for the video!” Von Teese said in a statement after the video’s release.
Von Teese is the latest celebrity to join Lipa on the second season of the pop star’s At Your Service podcast. Earlier this year, Lipa was joined by Monica Lewinsky, Min Jin Lee, Charli XCX, Bryan Stevenson, Trevor Noah, Brandon Wolf and Dan Levy.
Listen to the episode in full below.
This week, Sia‘s “Unstoppable” tops yet another new Billboard chart — six years after it was released.
The anthemic hit, which was on Sia’s 2016 album This Is Acting alongside the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Cheap Thrills,” has found new life over the past year, and this week, it rises 2-1 on the Adult Contemporary airplay chart. Last month, the song topped the Adult Pop Airplay chart too, and it’s so far peaked at No. 28 on the Hot 100.
Just how high can this revived song climb? On the latest Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen below), Katie & Keith discuss its unlikely trajectory and what has driven its “Unstoppable” recent run on our charts.
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how both Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” and SZA’s “Shirt” make high debuts on the Hot 100, how Taylor Swift’s Midnights logs a second — big! — week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and how the latest expanded reissue of a classic Beatles album returns to the Billboard 200 top 10. We also discuss the Billboard chart legacy of Aaron Carter, the pop star, TV personality and brother of Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter, who died over the weekend at age 34.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard‘s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
Rihanna made her long-awaited return to solo music last week when “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrived, ending a drought that goes back to the 2016 release of her last album ANTI.
On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are talking all about the emotional ballad, which serves as a tribute to late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman. What has the response been to the song? Do we think she’ll have any more contributions to the Wakanda Forever soundtrack? And will these songs — or any other new songs — make an appear during her Super Bowl halftime headlining gig in February?
To hear about all this and more, listen to the podcast below.
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Taylor Swift absolutely dominates both the Billboard 200 albums chart and the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart this week. Her Midnights album scores the biggest week for any album in nearly seven years, while she holds down the entire top 10 songs on the Hot 100 chart — the first time any act has done that — led by “Anti-Hero” at No. 1.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard‘s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)