Pop
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Just one day after declaring that Brat summer was dead (long live Brat summer), Charli XCX is already teasing something new. In a post on X on Instagram Tuesday (Sept. 3), Charli shared a cropped photo of two figures — one of which appears to be herself — wearing white tank tops that read “about […]
Sabrina Carpenter achieves her first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Sept. 7), as her new studio album, Short n’ Sweet, debuts atop the tally. The set earned 362,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 29, according to Luminate — marking her best week ever, and the year’s third-largest debut. The set, which is also her first top 10-charting effort, was announced on June 3, and its Aug. 23 release was preceded by a pair of top three-charting Billboard Hot 100 hit songs: “Espresso” (No. 3) and “Please Please Please” (No. 1).
Meanwhile, the first official release of Travis Scott’s 2014 mixtape Days Before Rodeo opens at No. 2, marking his fifth top five-charting effort. The set earned a little over 361,000 equivalent album units — the year’s fourth-largest debut and biggest week for any rap album. Of that sum, album sales comprise 331,000 – yielding 2024’s second-biggest sales week, and best sales week for any rap album. Days Before Rodeo’s Aug. 23 release was announced on Aug. 18 — the 10th anniversary of the set’s initial free release in 2014. Until Aug. 23, the set had never been commercially released nor officially made widely available through all streaming services.
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Carpenter’s and Scott’s debuts were both aided by social media chatter about them potentially vying for No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The two artists also had promotional help on social media from some very famous friends. Among the endorsements: Taylor Swift shouted out her former Eras Tour mate Carpenter in her Instagram story on Aug. 23, writing, “Short. Sweet. Has made an extraordinary album… Go support our girl!” Carpenter’s rumored boyfriend and “Please Please Please” video co-star, Academy Award-nominated actor Barry Keoghan, shared a link to buy the album in his own Instagram story on Aug. 29. That same day, Ye (formerly Kanye West) shared a link to buy Scott’s album in his Instagram story.
While Carpenter’s and Scott’s albums lead the top 10 action, they aren’t the only debuts in the region. Country singer-songwriter Lainey Wilson notches her first top 10-charting set on the Billboard 200, as Whirlwind blows in at No. 8 in its opening week.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multimetric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Sept. 7, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Wednesday, Sept. 4 (a day later than usual due to the Labor Day holiday in the U.S. on Sept. 2). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet starts with 362,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 184,000 (her biggest sales week ever and the fifth-largest sales debut of 2024), SEA units comprise 176,000 (equaling 233 million on-demand official streams of the 12 songs on the streaming edition of the album; her largest streaming week ever and the fourth-largest streaming debut of 2024) and TEA units comprise 2,000.
Short n’ Sweet also opens at No. 1 on the Streaming Albums chart.
Short n’ Sweet is Carpenter’s seventh charting album but first to reach the top 20. Her first visit to the chart came in 2015 with Eyes Wide Open, peaking at No. 43. Until this week, Carpenter’s best chart rank came with the 2022 release Emails I Can’t Send, which debuted and peaked at No. 23. The album includes “Nonsense,” which marked her first top 10-charting hit on the Pop Airplay chart. She followed it up with “Feather,” a bonus track added to a deluxe edition of Emails. “Feather” floated to No. 1 on Pop Airplay and marked her first top 40-charting song on the Hot 100.
The Short n’ Sweet campaign began brewing on the charts with its lead single, “Espresso,” which reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 in June and No. 1 on Pop Airplay in July. A second single, “Please Please Please,” followed, and it hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in its second week on the list in June, and tops the Sept. 7-dated Pop Airplay chart. The set’s third promoted song, “Taste,” debuts at No. 34 on the Sept. 7-dated Pop Airplay ranking.
The official music videos for “Please” and “Taste” are also starry affairs, with the former co-starring Keoghan and the latter featuring actress Jenna Ortega.
Short n’ Sweet’s sales were bolstered by its availability across nine vinyl variants, five CD editions, two cassettes and four digital album download variants. Vinyl sales combined totaled 105,000 – Carpenter’s best week on vinyl and the second-largest sales week of the year for a vinyl album. Short n’ Sweet also debuts at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart.
As for the rest of the album’s first-week sales, it sold 33,000 on CD; 45,000 digital download albums; and 2,000 cassettes.
Among Short n’ Sweet’s vinyl variants were some exclusively sold through Carpenter’s official webstore, including one variant with a bonus track, a picture disc and a signed edition. Her webstore also exclusively carried a signed CD.
There were also exclusive editions of her physical album sold through the likes of Amazon (a color vinyl and a CD with alternative packaging), Target (a color vinyl, and a CD containing a poster) and Urban Outfitters (a color vinyl).
As for its digital download variants, Short n’ Sweet was initially issued widely through digital retailers (including her webstore) as a standard 12-song album. The set did not garner additional variants until Aug. 28-29, the final days of the tracking week. Carpenter issued one variant in the evening of Aug. 28, followed by a second variant in the afternoon of Aug. 29, with a third arriving around 10 p.m. ET on Aug. 29. All were exclusively sold via her webstore for $4.99 each (the minimum price required for chart eligibility), and all contained the standard album’s 12 songs, plus one bonus track each. (The standard digital album was also discounted to $4.99 on Aug. 29 in both her webstore and in the iTunes Store.)
Of the additional variants, first came the Bonus Track Digital Album edition, with the extra song “Needless to Say.” Then the Short n’ Sweet(er) edition was second, and it came with the bonus track “Busy Woman.” The final variant was the Short n’ Sweet(est) edition with a demo recording of “Taste” as its bonus track.
The three alternative variants became unavailable to purchase on Aug. 30.
At No. 2 on the Billboard 200, Scott’s Days Before Rodeo enters with 361,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 331,000 (the second-biggest sales week of 2024, trailing only the 1.91 million sales start of Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department), SEA units comprise 30,000 (equaling 40.63 million on-demand official streams of the 12 songs on the album’s streaming edition) and TEA units comprise less than 500 units.
Days Before Rodeo also debuts at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart.
Days Before Rodeo was initially released as a free mixtape on Aug. 18, 2014. It garnered its first commercial and official streaming release for its 10th anniversary, on Aug. 23, as the 12-track set was issued through all major digital retail and streamers. Scott ushered in the album’s official release with an anniversary concert on Aug. 22 at The Masquerade in Atlanta, where he performed 10 of the standard album’s 12 songs, in addition to other material.
Of Days Before Rodeo’s first-week sales, digital download comprise 300,000 – the largest download sales week for an album this year. (The rest of the album’s sales came from CD purchases.) The set’s download sales were bolstered by its availability across eight different editions of the digital album, six of which were exclusively sold through Scott’s official webstore. Aside from the standard 12-song download album, the other seven variants contained assorted bonus tracks (ranging from unreleased studio cuts, to live tracks from The Masquerade concert, and chopped and screwed remixes of the album’s songs).
All variants sold via Scott’s webstore were priced at $4.99, while versions available in the iTunes Store were also available for $4.99 at the end of the tracking week.
Here’s a recap of the assorted digital album variants and when they were released:
Aug. 23 – Standard Digital Download – 12-song standard album, widely available, though not in Scott’s webstore.
Aug. 23 – Digital Deluxe Album – 12-song standard album with five bonus previously unreleased songs (“Mo City Flexologist”; “Too Many Chances”; “Yeah Yeah,” featuring Young Thug; “Serenade”; and “Whole Lots Changed”), available for pre-order beginning Aug. 18 (the day of the 10th anniversary of the mixtape’s initial free release). Exclusive to Scott’s webstore.
Aug. 29 – Digital Deluxe Album Vault 1 – 12-song standard album with the five bonus songs included on the Digital Deluxe Album (above), plus a PDF booklet. Widely available, including Scott’s webstore.
Aug. 29 – Digital Deluxe Album Vault 2 – 12 song standard album with two bonus previously unreleased songs (“Hold On,” featuring Young Thug and Quavo; and “Respected”). Exclusive to Scott’s webstore.
Aug. 29 – DBR Standard Edition + Live From Atlanta – 12-song standard album with 12 bonus live songs from Scott’s concert at The Masquerade. Exclusive to Scott’s webstore.
Aug. 29 – DBR Deluxe Edition + Chopped and Screwed Edition – 12-song standard album, plus the seven bonus songs included on the Digital Deluxe Album and Vault 1 editions (above), and “slowed and chopped” remixes of 18 of the album’s songs. Exclusive to Scott’s webstore.
Aug. 29 – Digital Deluxe Album Vault 3 – 12-song standard album with two bonus previously unreleased songs (“Naughty” and “Too Many Options,” featuring an uncredited Young Thug). Exclusive to Scott’s webstore.
Aug. 29 – Digital Deluxe Album Vault 4 – 12-song standard album with two bonus previously unreleased songs (“Whoudini,” featuring an uncredited Playboi Carti; and a remix of “Quintana, Pt. 2”). Exclusive to Scott’s webstore.
Vault 1 was released in the morning of Thursday, Aug. 29, while the rest of the editions issued on Aug. 29 had a staggered release through the rest of the day, until Vault 4 dropped shortly before 11:30 p.m. ET. All download variants, except for the standard widely available 12-song edition, became unavailable for purchase on Aug. 30.
In terms of physical formats, the set was available as a CD during its debut week, only via Scott’s webstore. It was sold both as a stand-alone CD and as part of a deluxe boxed set containing a branded hat and a CD. Two vinyl variants (a standard edition, and one in expanded packaging), as well as two further boxed sets (one containing a hoodie and the standard vinyl, one with a T-shirt and the deluxe vinyl) were available to pre-order during the tracking week, but have yet to ship to customers, so they do not impact its debut numbers.
A wide retail release beyond Scott’s webstore for any physical formats of the album has not been announced.
With both Short n’ Sweet and Days Before Rodeo each launching with over 360,000 equivalent album units earned, it’s the first time that two albums have earned at least 360,000 units in the same week in over eight years. It last happened on the May 14, 2016-dated chart, when Beyoncé’s Lemonade bowed at No. 1 with 653,000 and Prince’s The Very Best of Prince earned 391,000 units at No. 2 (shortly after his death). The latter title, first released in 2001, had re-entered at No. 1 the previous week.
As both Days Before Rodeo and Short n’ Sweet are debuts – the last time the chart housed two debuting titles earning at least 360,000 units came on the Dec. 5, 2015-dated chart, when Justin Bieber’s Purpose premiered with 649,000 and One Direction’s Made in the A.M. launched at No. 2 with 459,000.
Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion falls to No. 3 with 111,000 equivalent album units (down 55%), after debuting atop the chart a week ago. Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess dips 2-4 with 72,000 (up less than 1%), Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time slips 4-5 with 58,000 (down 3%), Swift’s former No. 1 The Tortured Poets Department descends 3-6 with 57,000 (down 8%) and Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft falls 5-7 with nearly 53,000 (down 2%).
Lainey Wilson ropes her first top 10-charting effort on the Billboard 200 with the No. 8 debut of her fifth studio album, Whirlwind. The set swirls in with 48,000 equivalent album units earned — her best week ever by units. Of that sum, album sales comprise 34,000; SEA units comprise 14,000 (equaling 17.83 million on-demand official streams of the 14 songs on the streaming edition of the album) and TEA units comprise less than 1,000.
The set’s first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across eight vinyl variants, three CD editions (including a signed edition sold in Wilson’s webstore, and a Walmart-exclusive CD containing a branded patch and a bonus track), a standard digital download album, and a deluxe digital album variant with four bonus “worktape” recordings (sold via Wilson’s webstore).
The new album was led by the single “Hang Tight Honey,” which reached the top 20 of the Hot Country Songs chart in August and is percolating in the top 15 of the Country Airplay chart (after reaching a No. 13 high in August).
Whirlwind is the follow-up to Bell Bottom Country, which marked Wilson’s first album to reach the all-genre Billboard 200 (peaking at No. 51) and climbed to No. 9 on Top Country Albums. The set won the Grammy Award for best country album, the Country Music Association (CMA) award for album of the year, and the Academy of Country Music (ACM) award for album of the year. (It became only the ninth album ever to win all three trophies.) Bell Bottom Country spun off three top 10-charting hits on Hot Country Songs — “Heart Like a Truck,” “Watermelon Moonshine” and “Wildflowers and Wild Honey.” All three also reached the top five on the Country Airplay chart, with “Watermelon” topping the tally.
Closing out the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 are Zach Bryan’s The Great American Bar Scene, which falls 6-9 with 41,000 equivalent album units earned (down 7%), and Noah Kahan’s Stick Season, slipping 8-10 with 37,000 units (down 2%).
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.
Imagine Dragons has a special treat in store for their Los Angeles fans. The group’s Loom World Tour is set to wrap its North American leg at the Hollywood Bowl on Oct. 27 with a one-night-only performance featuring the LA Film Orchestra and special arrangements from legendary game composer Inon Zur. Imagine Dragons will also team up […]
BTS‘ RM will be the subject of the upcoming solo documentary, RM: Right People, Wrong Place. According to a release, the film directed by Lee Seokjun — who also produced BTS bandmate J-Hope’s videos for “Arson” and “MORE” — will take viewers “through Seoul, Tokyo, and London — cities where RM captured the essence of […]
Danielle Moore, the ebullient lead singer of British dance band Crazy P has died at 52. The band announced her passing in an Instagram post on Sunday (Sept. 2). “We are devastated to announce the unbelievable and shocking news that our beautiful Danielle Moore has died in sudden and tragic circumstances,” they wrote, writing that Moore passed on Friday afternoon (August 30) without revealing the specific cause of death.
“We cannot believe the news ourselves and we know it will be the same for all of you. She gave us so much and we love her so much,” they continued. “Our hearts are broken. We need time to process that this has happened. Danielle lived a life driven by love compassion community and music. She lived the biggest of lives. We will miss her with all our hearts X.”
A week before Moore’s death, Crazy P posted footage of the singer rocking the stage during a festival set at the Lost Village Festival in Bristol, England while wearing one of her signature fedoras (read a loving tribute written by the festival over the weekend here). Crazy P were slated to perform at the Forwards Festival in Bristol on Sunday (Sept 1), with the slot called off following Moore’s death.
“We want to thank you all for coming this weekend, there is so much to celebrate, however, it is with heavy hearts that we share the incredibly sad news that our dear friend Danielle Moore, beloved singer of @crazypmusic has passed away,” read a statement from Forwards. “We can’t really find the words today but the world has lost a very special human and we are absolutely devastated. The band were due to join us this weekend as they have so many, many times over our history across all our events, they are family we hold dear, so we would like to spend today reflecting on our love and memories of Danielle.”
Disco house group Crazy P (whose full name was Crazy P–is) was formed in the mid-1990s by musicians Chris Todd and Jim Baron while they were attending the University of Nottingham, with the duo releasing their debut album, A Nice Hot Bath With… in 1999 on Paper Recordings. In 2002, Moore and keyboardist Mav Kendricks joined the band — which also included bassist Tim Davies — and they released their sophomore effort, The Wicked Is Music.
They released five more albums over the years, including their most recent, 2019’s Age of the Ego, with Moore also taking solo gigs as a DJ. Their first new single in more than three years, the bouncy “Any Signs of Love,” dropped in June.
Irish singer Róisín Murphy posted a loving tribute to Moore on X, writing, “One of the most beautiful souls has left us. The brillant Danielle Moore of Crazy P has died suddenly and she has taken so much light with her. One of the best in music, an amazing person and an amazing singer, performer and songwriter. I know there will be a great sense of loss and mourning across our community. She touched everybody she met with light and love. Sending sincerest condolences to those friends and family closest to her. I, like so many, loved and admired her.”
In a bio on her agency’s site, Moore said, “performing is everything… When I’m performing, I feel like I’ve stepped into my alter ego and am able to take on any mood. It’s very empowering to become detached from my own slightly vulnerable self.” The singer fell in love with the power of dance music on packed floors of clubs in her native Manchester, and translated that energy into her always upbeat, joyful performances.
Though undated, the bio notes that following the release of Age of the Ego — an album she said she’s “most proud of… lyrically speaking” — Crazy P was planning to put “more projects in the world, as well as some planned solo works that will see Danielle showcase her own musical chops.”
See Crazy P’s tribute to Moore and listen to some of her most beloved vocals below.
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Adele had three hyped-up words of wonder as the completed her 10-night run at a custom-built stadium in Munich, Germany: “Wow! Wow! Wow!” That’s how the singer began a loving note to the city for embracing her during a two-week run of gigs at the 80,000-capacity open air outdoor arena, Messe München, after completing her […]
Britney Spears is hinting at her involvement in an upcoming film project — but it’s not her biopic.
On Friday (Aug. 30), the 42-year-old pop superstar shared a cryptic message on social media amid hype that actress Emma Roberts is interested in portraying Spears in the biopic adaptation of the singer’s best-selling memoir, The Woman in Me.
“The project I might be doing isn’t a biopic story … it’s a fictional musical where I play an extremely intelligent character !!!,” Spears wrote on Instagram alongside an illustration of a girl hovering over a pair of cats.
She added, “It’s flattering to be in such good company like Jon Chu !!!”
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Following a bidding war, Universal Pictures reportedly won the rights to adapt the pop princess’ best-selling book into a film. The Woman in Me chronicles Spears’ rise to fame, her relationship with fellow child star Justin Timberlake — which included her getting pregnant and having an abortion during their time together — as well as her life under a highly restrictive 13-year conservancy.
Wicked director Jon M. Chu and Marc Platt are leading the film’s development, according to Variety. Spears also took to X (formerly Twitter) in early August to reveal that she’s been working on a “secret project” with Platt.
“Excited to share with my fans that I’ve been working on a secret project with #MarcPlatt. He’s always made my favorite movies … stay tuned,” Spears wrote.
No casting or timeframe has been announced for the biopic at press time.
In a recent interview with Cosmopolitan, Roberts was asked about headlines in which Spears’ longtime assistant, Felicia Culotta, pitched the Space Cadet actress, 33, as the perfect actress to portray the “…Baby One More Time” hitmaker in the biopic.
“I was like, I love her assistant. I mean, it’s my true dream to play Britney Spears,” Roberts said of Culotta’s TMZ interview, in which she suggested that Emma’s child star roles on Nickelodeon shows such as Unfabulous were a good parallel to Brit’s younger years on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club.
“It’s a rumor, but I hope maybe it’ll come true. I mean, I remember I locked myself in my room and listened to [2003’s] In the Zone and said, ‘I cannot leave this room until I memorize every word,’” Roberts said.
See Spears’ “fictional musical” teaser post on Instagram here.
A high school girls’ volleyball team invited Selena Gomez to one of their games over the weekend, and the “Love On” singer accepted the invite. She stopped by Telluride High School in Telluride, Colorado, on Saturday (Aug. 31) to shine a little light on the young athletes’ day.
Gomez was in town, promoting her film Emilia Pérez at the Telluride Film Festival. A handwritten sign on bright orange poster board, which was posted to a pole on Main Street, apparently caught her eye.
The sign was addressed to her: “Selena Gomez,” it said, “Please sing the National Anthem at one of [our] home games: Fri 6:00pm, Sat 1:00 ~ THS Volleyball Team.”
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It’s unclear whether or not Gomez actually performed the national anthem, but she did show up to the high school gymnasium to mingle with students. Video clips of her surprise appearance made it online — Gomez even shared a look at her visit via her own Instagram account — but no clips of the pop star/actress singing at Telluride could be found at press time.
“They asked!!” Gomez captioned her weekend Instagram post about attending the volleyball game. “Couldn’t help it, it’s my first time in Telluride!”
The post shows her smiling wide and, in a video filmed at the school, explaining what got her to show up: “I saw the sign!”
Gomez’s recap of the sports event shows her meeting students, signing autographs and posing for a group photo with the team.
Emilia Pérez, the Jacques Audiard-directed, Spanish-language musical crime film with a cast including Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Adriana Paz and Gomez (an ensemble that shared the best actress prize at Cannes, where it had its world premiere), saw its U.S. debut at the Telluride Film Festival. It was acquired by Netflix and will be available on the streaming service on Nov. 13.
See Gomez’s Instagram post from Telluride below.
Adele is ready for a break from the spotlight.
During the final show of her Munich residency on Saturday (Aug. 31), the 36-year-old British songstress reiterated her plan to take a lengthy break from music after her Las Vegas residency wraps up this fall.
“I just need a rest. I have spent the last seven years building a new life for myself and I want to live it now,” Adele told the crowd at Munich’s custom-built Adele Arena. “I want to live my life that I’ve been building and I will miss you terribly.”
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The “Easy on Me” hitmaker’s 10-night stand in the German city concluded Saturday. Her Weekends With Adele residency at Sin City’s Colosseum at Caesars Palace picks back up in October for another 10 performances.
“But after that, I will not see you for an incredibly long time,” the singer said. “And I will hold you dear in my heart for that whole length of my break.”
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Adele revealed earlier this summer that she plans to step away from music for a while after her Vegas residency.
“I don’t have any plans for new music at all,” she told Germany’s ZDF. In fact, the star, who said she “doesn’t like being famous,” added, “I want a big break after this and I think I want to do other creative things, just for a little while.”
Adele launched Weekends With Adele run in November 2022. She said that the residency of 100 live shows over the past two years have left her feeling as if her “tank is quite empty.”
The singer, who has not gone on a world tour since her 2016-2017 run in support of her 25 album, has made a habit of taking time for herself between albums and tours. Those stretches out of the public eye have increased over time, from three years between her 2008 debut, 19, and 2011’s 21, to four years until her 2015 LP 25 and six between that album and 2021’s 30.
During one of her Weekends shows in January, Adele told the audience, “I just don’t think I’m gonna write an album for quite some time,” teasing that when she does she may be ready to hit the road properly again.
With millions of viewers around the world tuning in and casting votes for contestants in the K-pop survival show Boys Planet, contestants who didn’t make a place in the final band left the program with fans eager to see their next steps. No group perhaps better embraces such potential than EVNNE, the seven-member boy band quickly ascending the K-pop ranks and proving themselves as far more than just a simple spin-off act.
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Noted for an intense collective charisma, the boy band’s debut with hard-hitting singles “Trouble” and “Ugly” spoke to a viewpoint as the convention-defying underdogs ready to prove themselves to the world. The group scored number-one hit songs and awards on Korea’s competitive music programs, and this summer embarked on their first U.S. tour to expand their international fanbase and showcase their dynamic performances across multiple cities.
“We didn’t expect it, but we really wanted it,” EVNNE’s leader Keita says of the group’s ability to break out beyond Korea and tour the States. “We felt that there were a lot of fans all over the world cheering for us while we were doing such a program like Boys Planet…it’s really a dream come true.”
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But it’s not just the awards and accolades that define EVNNE’s success. In less than a year, the group has shown remarkable evolution in their musical style, transitioning from the rebellious anthems of their debut to a softer, more romantic sound with their third EP, RIDE or DIE from June. The lead single, “Badder Love,” a soothing rock-pop track recorded in both Korean and English, marks a new chapter for the group.
“The reason we came out with the concept of bad guys when we made our debut was because we wanted to show the public what we can do best,” Yunseo says. “But we released a refreshing album like this because we wanted to show a new side of us.”
With accomplishments both in awards and aristry, Keita, Hanbin, Lee Jeonghyeon, Yunseo, Seungeon, Mun Junghyun and Jihoo have managed to carved their place in the industry and show lasting potential even if the group’s time together may be short. Read on for why else EVNNE is a group to watch as Billboard‘s K-Pop Rookie of the Month for August 2024.
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Congratulations on the success so far and being named Billboard‘s Rookie of the Month! I wonder how you feel about your achievements over the past few months?
YUNSEO: We’ve been through a lot with our members and together we’ve achieved a lot of things, but time is really flying by so fast — faster than I thought. It feels surreal that we’ve been spending so much time together and able experience a lot of things in such a short time, but it also has been very short. Even so, we have realized that there are more fans and more people really supporting us, giving us so much love, so we are just very happy and grateful for everything.
SEUNGEON: I want to add that I’m so happy to be able to come to the U. S. tour following the Asia tour and so excited to meet people from different places. We truly believe that winning on the music shows and being able to go on tours in different countries is all thanks to our fans’ love and support for us. So, we are very thankful for that. We are also very happy and excited to be named as the Rookie of the Month on Billboard. We have been really wanting this so thank you so much.
While you didn’t earn a place in the final group for Boys Planet, you are here now winning awards and going on tour. Did you guys expect all these things to happen?
KEITA: We didn’t expect it, but we really wanted it. We felt that there were a lot of fans all over the world cheering for us while we were doing such a program so we always dreamed that we wanted to go to many cities, perform for many fans, share our energy and communicate with them. It’s really a dream come true.
How has touring the U.S. been for you?
JIHOO: So we were really happy that the crowd cheers were so much bigger than we expected. From what I understand, there’s about 500 people per venue for this tour, but from what we felt on stage, it really felt like the cheer was coming from 5,000 or even 50, 000 people — it was really loud. I feel like we’ve been really eager to share our energy with the audience, but in return, I think we got even more energy and motivation from them.
MUN JUNGHYUN: We were able to sing the English version of “Badder Love” for the first time, and I think the response was good because the fans sang along to the whole song which made us really happy. Also, we were able to show “XO” with its choreography in full for the first time on this U.S. tour and it felt like were cheering so much for that song.
SEUNGEON: You know, the global fans who don’t necessarily speak Korean tend to hum to our songs, instead of like singing along to the actual lyrics, which is still really cute but we always had a little bit of regret that and wish everyone could really sing along together from start to finish. But with the English version [of “Badder Love”] they were really able to do it and were singing along to the song while we were performing so it was really a great experience. It really motivated us and, one day, we would love to release more songs in different various languages in the future.
Any languages you might want to record in next?
HANBIN: We go to Japan a lot and there are a lot of our fans and people who support us in Japan so I think it would be nice to make a version that can be done in Japanese.
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Going back to “Badder Love,” it feels like this album is centered around a softer image and less intense than the concepts for your singles like “Trouble” or Ugly.” What does EVNNE want to prove this time around?
JIHOO: Our main focus was to really show a different side of ourselves compared to our first two albums. For our first and second mini albums, we really wanted to show that “cheeky rascal” side, which is more powerful and very straightforward. But with the third album, we wanted to show more of a romantic, a softer side of us.
YUNSEO: Actually, the reason we came out with the concept of bad guys when we made our debut was because we wanted to show the public what we can do best while talking to the company. That’s how we made our debut. We released a refreshing album like this because we wanted to show a new side of us. We’ve always been able to do this, but we’ve shown you a little bit of a bad boy and a strong image, but this time, we’re going to show you a bit of a different image.
LEE JEONGHYOEN: We have some all-white outfits in the music video that are very fitting for summer. There’s also no really bright hair colors. Actually, this is my first time dying my hair in brown so we really focused on showing the right styling for the concept through this album. A lot of the backgrounds in the music video are set in the ocean so in my opinion that really emphasizes on that refreshing cool side with the song and the music video.
I saw you guys compete in the Idol Star Athletic Championship and reunite even with some of the Boys Planet contestants. How was that after all you went through?
HANBIN: We participated in two of the events during the program and we really prepared ourselves to do our best in it while preparing for this tour. We had to find little moments here and there to really prepare for ISAC, but I think it was a great opportunity for us to promote who we are and what we can do to even more people. So, it was a really great experience in overall and like you mentioned, we were able to talk and chat with many other artists as well including ZEROBASEONE. It’s actually been awhile since we got to chat and reunite with them so it was really fun to be reconnecting.
YUNSEO: Our schedules don’t really leave us a lot of time to meet in person or privately, but I was so happy to meet my friends that were at Idol Star Athletics Championships, talk, and play sports and games together.
KEITA: I met Matthew and I told him, “Hey Matt, I’m studying English!” and he said, “Hey, your pronunciation is not as bad as I thought!” but in Korean. So, I got a compliment from him.
SEUNGEON: I think fans who watched the show were really waiting to see us all again and a Boys Planet reunion one day. This was actually our first opportunity for all the Boys Planet groups and artists to come together, really reunite, talk to each other and just have a good time in general. I felt like it was a school event in some ways because there are a lot of idol seniors, juniors and colleagues but we all have the same dream and passion for music and artistry so it really felt like we were at a school event all together. So, overall it was a very, very fun event.
HANBIN: I actually ran into some friends who I trained with so while it felt really very new, and it also really reminded me like we were back in school all together and we were at a school event together rather a TV show program.
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Do you have a message you’d like to share with international fans who are waiting to see you?
YUNSEO: First of all, we were selected as the Rookie of the Month so I’d like to say thank you so much. It’s a great honor and beginning with this, we’d like to show you all more and promote our name to an even more bigger audience around the world so we can really share our artistry and who we are to everyone around the world. And in the future, we really hope we can someday have our song chart on the Billboard charts. We will work hard for that so it would be great if the American fans and international fans know about us and send us your continued love, support and attention.
SEUNGEON: We’ve been really eager to share incredible performances through this tour and please please look forward to all our activities and performances in the future as well. It’s a great honor, again, to be selected as the Rookie of the Month with Billboard.