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Beyonce is helping kick off the 2024 Paris Olympics. On Friday (July 26), the superstar singer surprised viewers by introducing Team USA in an epic pre-recorded video that aired during NBCUniversal’s primetime coverage of the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony. “We’ve got superstars and we’ve got legends. We’ve got big dreamers who fought their whole lives […]
If you’ve ever attended a K-pop concert, holding an artist’s official “light stick” is a crucial aspect of the viewing experience. At the Paris 2024 Olympics Games, Team Korea will embrace this special aspect of K-pop super fandom with its own light sticks, an official cheer song, and more in partnership with industry leader HYBE.
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Usually a handheld device with a plastic tubing and a glowing top, light sticks aren’t one-time-use glowsticks but are personalized for each act with specific colors, markers, and designs that become a way for fans and artists to enjoy the live experience together. BTS has an “ARMY BOMB” light stick with a black stand and clear globe atop that can represent said “bomb” and glow a spectrum of colors in rhythm to the group’s music thanks to Bluetooth technology. An artist revealing an official light stick is considered an important career step and signals upcoming concerts.
While HYBE just unveiled the light stick for one of its newest boy bands, BOYNEXTDOOR, less than six months ago, the company’s business unit, HYBE IPX, has been simultaneously in conversation with the Olympic Games to bring its technology to inspire similar fandom to Paris. The company will provide specially designed “Team Korea Light Sticks” to support South Korea’s national team competing in the games. Designed with inspiration from the Olympic torch and stadium, the light sticks utilize the same tech and expertise at HYBE artists’ concerts to change colors and glow in sync with chants.
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“Centralized control is the most outstanding technology that differentiates us from others,” explains Seung Suk Rhee, President of HYBE IPX, in an exclusive interview with Billboard. “Simply put, we can easily control light sticks dispersed in a large space from a centralized console box. We can make variations according to the occasion, starting from K-pop concerts to theme park rides.”
The newly unveiled light stick for Team Korea coordinates with this year’s official cheer anthem, “Fighting,” by SEVENTEEN’s BSS and Lee Young-Ji, which comes with its own accompanying challenge.
“It’s going to be incredibly moving to see the large crowd coming together with one spirit, singing our song in unison to cheer for the athletes,” BSS tells Billboard in a statement. “We’re very proud and honored that ‘Fighting,” featuring Lee Young-Ji, could contribute to the excitement for Team Korea athletes at such a historic sports festival.This is all thanks to [our fans] CARATs, who have shown so much love for the song since last year, and we’re once again filled with gratitude for our fans. Through the song’s energetic beat and fun lyrics boosting the passion and enthusiasm for cheering, we hope to pass on BSS’ positivity and energy to Team Korea athletes. We’re rooting for them all the way to enjoy their moment and achieve their goals with all our hearts.”
Speaking more about how the K-pop light stick made its way to the Olympics and where it can go next, read on for more with HYBE IPX President Seung Suk Rhee.
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When did the opportunity to create light sticks for Team Korea come about?
Starting early summer last year, with the Olympic Games Paris 2024 generating significant global momentum, we explored ways to integrate this event into HYBE. We decided that introducing light sticks would be ideal, as they represent the concept of “cheer” and “support” which is equally crucial for both music fans and sports enthusiasts. We approached the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee with this idea and found a mutual understanding to lead the cheering culture, setting sail on the light stick project.
The most crucial factor was the design. We couldn’t just create any light stick but had to come up with a design that symbolizes our country as the national flag, Taegeukgi, does. To maintain the unique shape of a light stick while making it instantly recognizable as a national flag, we incorporated motifs of a torch and a stadium into the final design.
The design is centered on a simple white aesthetic with a shape that echoes a torch or a flame. The light rays, which change colors or flash with each button press, are inspired by the Olympic symbols — including the five circles of blue, red, yellow, green, and black. Since black cannot be produced with light, we replaced it with white, the background color of the Olympic flag, and added a touch of gold, inspired by the logo of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Considering a design that reflects the identity of the Olympics, we also ensured that it blends in with Team Korea’s official uniforms.
What should fans and viewers look out for when the light sticks are televised Opening Ceremony?
Personally, what makes it even more exciting, is that it will be the first time that HYBE’s light stick will be showcased in front of a worldwide audience of each and every nationality. Since Team Korea athletes will make an entrance to the Opening Ceremony holding Team Korea Official Digital Flag, we hope to contribute to spreading out the Olympic spirit, even if it is in the slightest way possible.
The light stick carried by Team Korea athletes features the Korean flag attached to the Team Korea Official Light Stick, standard version provided to the Korean audience. Firstly, we wanted to strengthen the connection between the athletes and their fans. Secondly, we aimed for it to represent the Taegeukgi in a new form rather than just being a light stick. That’s why we also named it the Team Korea Official Digital Flag.
What was the most challenging part of creating this opportunity?
All members part of my team have been working on this project with great gravity. Of course we’ve experienced pressure coming from the magnitude of the event, even with concerts hosted by HYBE artists in arenas. However, this is the first time that we will be putting out our light sticks in front of the world to see. Even more so, this will be the first time that Team Korea athletes will be holding a light stick instead of an ordinary national flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. We hope that our light sticks can contribute to igniting the Olympic spirit amongst Team Korea.
How did discussions to bring SEVENTEEN’s BSS and their song “Fighting” as the official cheer song for Team Korea come together?
BSS’ “Fighting,” featuring Lee Young-Ji, emits the most fitting message and the mood for a festive event, especially when the athletes need all the support that they can get. We wanted to keep the excitement going throughout the Olympic Games Paris 2024 for Team Korea, and make it a song that the fans will remember for years to come. We will be playing “Fighting” as one of the cheering anthems at Korea House in Paris, where the cheering event for Team Korea will take place.
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What does an opportunity like this say about K-pop and K-pop fandom?
At HYBE, we don’t see K-pop fans and sports fans as different. We believe that fandoms, whether they’re for sports, games, movies, anime, or theme parks, share a common core “passion.” While they may look different on the outside, they are all driven by the same heartfelt desire to cheer for and support something or someone they love. Whether sports fans wear jerseys and chant slogans, or K-pop fans wave light sticks, they are sending the same message: “I support you.” From this perspective, we realized that we could create a new form of cheering culture by introducing HYBE’s light stick to the sports world. We believe that fans are constantly evolving by actively participating and sending their energy to artists and athletes in various ways.
HYBE IPX first extended this tech beyond music with the Korean esports team T1 for the League of Legends Champions tournament this summer. How did this idea come to be?
It’s been long since we have been preparing for an outbound project that could showcase our light stick technology to a wider audience, even beyond the music industry. With this in mind, we’ve been discussing new opportunities with partners in various fields. We’re currently discussing various collaborations for a long-term partnership, the first of which is the T1 OFFICIAL LIGHT BAND that was first showcased at T1’s “Home Ground” event in late June. HYBE’s production team helped direct the light bands throughout the event.
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Can you share more about HYBE IPX and your role in the company?
HYBE IPX is a business unit that focuses on creating boundless opportunities based on artist IP and delivering fresh experiences to fans. We develop official merchandise for events like tours and birthdays, offer licensed products that bring artist characters and IP into everyday use, and host global pop-up stores that provide fans with unique and immersive experiences. HYBE’s light sticks, now expanding into sports and esports beyond music, are designed, produced, and supplied by HYBE IPX, the mastermind behind the light stick technology.
In addition, HYBE IPX spearheads the planning and execution of collaborative IP projects with multiple labels and other business units within HYBE, including BTS 10th Anniversary FESTA in 2023 and “THE CITY” projects…SEVENTEEN ‘FOLLOW’ THE CITY BANGKOK in 2023, with another exciting edition coming soon in August at ENHYPEN World Tour “FATE PLUS” THE CITY JAKARTA. Brand ambassadorships, commercials, and various partnerships involving HYBE artists are also part of our business.
As the leader of the organization responsible for these various initiatives and projects, I’m fully committed to ensuring that fans have an exceptional experience with the artists they love, as well as creating opportunities for them to connect and enjoy memorable experiences together.
HYBE said, “With this original light stick system, HYBE aims to extend the K-pop-originated innovations to festivals and arenas worldwide.” Can you explain this more?
I’m sure you’ve been to concerts hosted by K-pop artists or labels. The moment you step foot in the arena, you’ll see fans waving light sticks to support their favorite artists. It is a special culture and technology nurtured within the K-pop industry. “Superfans,” which may be the most trending keyword in the music industry these days, are not limited to the music industry, but they also exist in other industries such as sports, esports, and animation. We’ve witnessed K-pop fans crying, laughing, cheering in happiness [while] raising their light sticks up high. We wish to extend this stirring moment to worldwide fans, no matter who their favorites are.
From the executives interested in this technology to the fans who buy and use light sticks, what else do you want readers to know at this time?
At HYBE, we believe that light sticks are more than just a tool for cheering. It is a way that fans use to show their support for their favorite artists, and athletes, and a medium to create a sense of fellowship with other fans and a “fan culture” that has ripened over time. It’s also a way for fans to take part in stage performances or events and interact with other fans as well as the artists who are on stage. Cherishing the value, we will continue to make efforts to further expand the K-pop originated light stick culture to various areas.
Britney Spears took to social media on Friday (July 26) to share her disappointment over Halsey’s music video for her new single “Lucky,” which interpolates Spears’ 2000 song of the same name, as well as Monica’s “Angel of Mine.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news ”For obvious reasons, […]
After years of waiting, training and preparing, the world’s most skilled athletes are off to the races with the 2024 Olympic Games after a spectacular Opening Ceremony on the Seine in Paris Friday (July 26). The festivities began with each participating country’s athletes sailing in on boats in a parade down France’s famous river, and […]
After rumors that Celine Dion would be returning to the stage at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the iconic chanteuse delivered a jaw-dropping performance at the games’ opening ceremony on Friday (July 26). Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The superstar performed an emotional rendition of Édith Piaf’s […]
Lady Gaga was the first performer to take the stage at the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday (July 26), which took place along the River Seine in the City of Lights. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news For her performance, Gaga belted the French-language “Mon […]
Just like Britney Spears did in 2000, Halsey is pulling back the curtain on the dark side of fame with her new single “Lucky.”
The track — which samples the iconic pop star’s turn-of-the-millennium hit of the same name — dropped at midnight Friday (July 26), while theY2K-inspired music video directed by Gia Coppola arrived hours later. In the visual, the 29-year-old singer channels a Spears-like teen idol who, on one side of the coin, is revered by a little girl with posters of Halsey covering her bedroom walls.
On the other side, the “Without Me” singer’s character faces troubles in her relationship while receiving treatment for an illness, much like the real-life Halsey. In June, the musician revealed she’d been diagnosed with Lupus and a rare T-cell disorder two years prior. Last year, she split from partner Alev Aydin, with whom she shares 3-year-old son Ender.
“I shaved my head four times because I wanted to/ And then I did it one more time ’cause I got sick,” she sings on the track, which also interpolates Monica’s 1998 Billboard Hot 100-topper “Angel of Mine.” “I left the doctor’s office full of tears/ Became a single mom at my premiere/ And I told everybody I was fine for a whole damn year/ And that’s the biggest lie of my career.”
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The video also finds Halsey modeling a crystal bodysuit to parallel Spears’ “Toxic” visual and smiling for paparazzi on a red carpet. She later removes the bright pink wig she’d been wearing throughout the visual to reveal a shaved head before sitting down to receive treatment through an IV. At the end, she symbolically sits next to the little girl who worships her, unaware of the full story, on a swing set.
“it was really challenging to incorporate so many conflicting emotions in just a few minutes,” Halsey wrote of the video on Instagram after it went live. “this campaign has been fun because I WANT to have fun, but I made lot of this art when I was suffering.”
Of her decision to pay tribute to Spears — who personally approved the “Lucky” sample, Halsey previously revealed — the “Closer” artist tweeted, “I remember the first time I heard her sing lucky and it hitting me at such a young age that I had no idea what her life was really like.”
“that feeling resonates with me so much still,” she added. “I found myself singing it when I started treatment and then I knew I had to do it 💕”
Watch Halsey’s raw “Lucky” music video above.
Linda Perry is well aware of the qualities that have made her a world-class songwriter, producer and go-to studio magic-maker. But asked to define what she thinks her strong suits are, Perry tells Billboard that she is, “pretty tough, I’m aggressive, I’m a pretty powerful person,” but also, “very talented, I’m smart, I’m a great mom, I’m a great friend… I’m all these things, I’m a great songwriter, but sometimes you lose your way.”
That why, even with all those sparkling qualities, Perry said, sometimes you lose your way. That dichotomy is at the heart of Linda Perry: Let It Die Here, the documentary about Perry’s work and life that debuted at the Tribeca Festival in June. “In real time I kind of figured things out, I’m still putting the pieces together,” she says. “I don’t think, honestly, anybody truly knows who they are until they can be at one with everything. I guess I’m trying to get to that point where I don’t have a reaction. Because reactions are emotional.”
Perry opens up in the film about her journey from fronting early 1990’s band 4 Non Blondes — famous for their 1993 Billboard Hot 100 No. 14 hit “What’s Up” — to becoming an in-demand songwriter and producer for everyone from Adele and Christina Aguilera to Dolly Parton, P!nk, Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, Ariana Grande and Alicia Keys. Director Don Hardy speaks to the singer, as well as her family, friends and colleagues in the 90-minute doc that also features new performance and recording footage.
“I didn’t even know we were making a documentary,” Perry says of the process of filming that took place as she was beginning to unpack some hard truths about her childhood and past trauma — which included mental, physical and emotional abuse — as well processing her mother’s dementia diagnosis and her own health issues. She’d met Hardy years ago when she scored his doc Citizen Penn, about actor Sean Penn’s efforts to help Haitians in the wake of 2010’s devastating 7.0 earthquake.
“One day he was like, ‘you’re so interesting. Do you mind if I’m like a fly on the wall in your studio?,” she recalls. As Hardy hung around, Perry says she began “unraveling,” and it wasn’t until the director came told her he’d shown a 30-minute edit of the footage to some people and they agreed there was a movie in there somewhere. She said go for it and gave them the green light to start the film, just as her and her mother were both hit with health crises.
“All of that was happening in real time,” she says. “It all makes sense now, like how I had to unravel in real time. If I would have thought about it, if I knew it would was gonna happen, never would have approved anything like this.”
The film has allowed Perry to let all of that go, which is why she wanted it to be called Let It Die Here; she wrote a song for her mother with that title. “I’m not a liar. I am about as honest as you will find on this planet,” Perry adds of her no-b.s. songwriting process and how everything she writes is true, even if it’s about another person.
At some point, though, she was having trouble writing songs for others because she couldn’t figure out how to tell her words through someone else’s experience. “It started to feel like a lie to me,” she says of her decision to focus on scoring film and TV. Watch the full interview with Perry above.
Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
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This week, Ice Spice makes their full-length bow, Post Malone brings in another country superstar, and Halsey nods to Britney and Monica. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Ice Spice, Y2K!
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Ice Spice’s boisterous personality and no-holds-barred approach to New York drill made her a star in 2023, and this year brings Y2K!, the summation of months of single releases that still congeals into a singular full-length. Travis Scott and Gunna swing by new tracks, but Ice’s solo power on songs like “Papa,” “Plenty Sun” and “TTYL” make Y2K! worth turning up in the back half of the summer.
Post Malone feat. Luke Combs, “Guy For That”
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Post Malone’s chart-topping country music exploration continues with “Guy For That,” a hearty team-up with Luke Combs that leans on both artists’ vocal strength to achieve anthem status; both Posty and Combs are currently promoting bigger hits, and seem to use “Guy For That” to tinker with their respective images and have a down-home blast.
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Halsey, “Lucky”
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Interpolating both Britney Spears’ “Lucky” and Monica’s “Angel of Mine,” Halsey utilizes past hits to tell her own tale of complicated fame and effectively tugging on heartstrings with bare emotion: “And I told everybody I was fine for a whole damn year / And that’s the biggest lie of my career,” she laments.
MGK with Jelly Roll, “Lonely Road”
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The artist formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly has reinvented himself a time or three since launching his career, and a track like “Lonely Road,” which corrals Jelly Roll and puts a modern spin on a John Denver classic with plenty of soaring harmonies and acoustic strums, demonstrates his range while forging yet another new path.
Fuerza Regida, Pero No Te Enamores
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Although “Harley Quinn,” Fuerza Regida’s hit team-up with Marshmello, is not included on the track list to Pero No Te Enamores, the full-length fusion of regional Mexican music and thumping EDM is indebted to that earlier single, with artists like Major Lazer, Afrojack and Gordo swinging by to contribute to the party.
Calvin Harris with Ellie Goulding, “Free”
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Fans of “I Need Your Love,” “Outside” and “Miracle” are going to wrap their arms around “Free,” the latest collaboration between Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding that builds upon their long-standing chemistry and pushes the tempo with a straightforward but powerful catchphrase: “When I’m with you, I’m free,” Goulding declares.
Mustard, Faith of a Mustard Seed
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Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” was momentous enough to both land a knockout blow in a rap feud and revitalize producer Mustard’s mainstream career, and the star-studded Faith of a Mustard Seed, featuring everyone from Travis Scott to Kirk Franklin to Ella Mai (who teams with Roddy Ricch on the “911” rework “One Bad Decision”), functions as an extended, well-earned victory lap.
XG, “Something Ain’t Right”
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The retro bounce of XG’s “Something Ain’t Right” goes beyond feel-good and achieves downright giddiness, as the Japanese girl group preview their forthcoming second mini-album (due out Nov. 8) with a killer hook and ‘90s-indebted production that could feasibly reach a whole new listenership in the U.S.
Central Cee, “gen z luv”
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On the same day that his “Did It First” collaborator Ice Spice unveils her new album, Central Cee has a New Music Friday banger himself: “gen z luv” is a sparse, surprisingly vulnerable tale of social-media-age romance, but the pummeling percussion also makes the song work in a club setting.
Editor’s Pick: Wand, Vertigo
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Over the course of Los Angeles rock group Wand’s decade of activity, frontman Cory Hanson’s vocal affectation has drawn endless comparisons to that of Thom Yorke; with its ambitious, psych-adjacent sprawl, new album Vertigo is great enough to evoke peak Radiohead, and enough of a sonic leap forward to serve as a breakthrough.
Japanese singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Fujii Kaze has released his new single, “Feelin’ Go(o)d.”
“Feelin’ Go(o)d” bursts with Kaze’s trademark blend of vibrant piano riffs and hypnotic synth loops, creating an uplifting summer anthem. The song’s feel-good vibe is perfect for those sunny days and carefree moments.
Reflecting on the timing of the release, Kaze shared, “This feelin’ good song could’ve been out last summer or so but the universe says now is the time, so here we are. As a result, this single ended up being like a little dessert after releasing 4 meals (singles). Hope it tastes good for ya.”
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The latest release follows the massive success of “Michi Teyu Ku (Overflowing),” which has racked up over 36 million streams on Spotify and 25 million views on YouTube since March.
Fujii Kaze’s musical journey started when he was young and influenced by his father’s classical piano skills. By 12, he was serenading audiences with his piano covers on YouTube, quickly gaining industry attention.
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His debut album, HELP EVER HURT NEVER, released in 2020, topped Billboard Japan’s Hot Albums chart.
In 2021, Kaze made headlines with a groundbreaking solo concert at an empty NISSAN Stadium, streamed globally during the pandemic. The event, Free Live 2021, was a viral sensation, becoming the top trending topic on Twitter.
Kaze’s second album, LOVE ALL SERVE ALL, released in 2022, continued his streak of success, featuring the viral hit “Shinunoga E-Wa.”
The album topped both the Japanese Billboard charts and the Oricon Albums Chart.
October 2022 saw Kaze perform at a sold-out Panasonic Stadium Suita in Osaka, a concert now available on Netflix. His 2023 Asia tour sold out across all seven cities, proving his international appeal.
Fans can look forward to Kaze’s first U.S. tour in May 2024, followed by a two-night event at Nissan Stadium in August.
Check out “Feelin’ Go(o)d” by Fujii Kraze below.
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