Pop
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In the lead-up to Beyoncé‘s new album Cowboy Carter, rumors swirled that a certain country-turned-pop star may be a featured collaborator on the project. When it finally dropped at midnight Friday (March 29), however, Taylor Swift‘s name was nowhere in sight on the credits. But wait. Who’s that singing in the background on track eight? […]
Rumi Carter, first of her name, younger sister of Blue Ivy, niece of Solange and granddaughter of Tina Knowles, has officially made her debut as a recording artist.
Beyoncé‘s youngest daughter, who is 6, scored a featured artist credit on “Protector,” the fourth track on Cowboy Carter — the second act in Queen Bey’s sprawling Renaissance trilogy. A tender, guitar-plucked ballad, “Protector” finds Beyoncé singing of the challenges that come with shifting your approach to parenthood as your children get older. “And I will lead you down that road if you lose your way/ Born to be a protector/ Even though I know someday you’re gonna shine on your own / I will be your projector,” she croons.
Rumi’s appearance occurs at the very beginning of the track when she adorably asks, “Mom, can I hear the lullaby? Please?”
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Her contributions to the track echo the earliest of Blue Ivy’s appearances on her parents’ music. Back in 2012, Jay-Z included Blue’s cries — she was just 10 days old when the song dropped — on “Glory,” which reached No. 23 on Hot Rap Songs, making the eldest Carter child the youngest person in history to have a charted song on any Billboard tally.
Of course, “Glory” kicked off what has become a Grammy-winning career for Blue Ivy, who is now 12. She won her first Grammy for best music video thanks to her contributions to her mom’s The Lion King: The Gift single “Brown Skin Girl” (with Wizkid and SAINt JHN), picking up honors at the BET Awards, Soul Train Music Awards and NAACP Image Awards in the process. That song also became Blue’s very first Billboard Hot 100 hit, peaking at No. 76. Blue has also appeared on several other songs, including Beyoncé’s “Blue” (2013), “Daddy Lessons” (2016), “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing (Blue’s Version)” (2019), Jay-Z’s “Blue’s Freestyle / We Family” (2017) and Coldplay‘s “Up&Up” (2016). On her parents’ 2018 joint album Everything Is Love, Blue appears on “Boss” and “Salud,” on which she shouts out her younger twin siblings, Rumi and Sir Carter.
Time will tell if Rumi continues to appear in the studio, but for now, she can enjoy her official musical debut on one of the most buzzed-about albums of the year.
Listen to “Protector” below.
03/29/2024
Queen Bey dropped her highly anticipated sequel to Renaissance March 29.
03/29/2024
Sabrina Carpenter notches her first No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart — and on any radio-based ranking — with “Feather.” The song tops the April 6-dated survey with a 7% gain in plays March 22-28, according to Luminate. The single, released on Island/Republic Records, previously became Carpenter’s second Pop Airplay top 10, after “Nonsense” […]
Beyoncé may be Queen B, but when a higher power speaks, she listens — and that’s exactly what she did when it came to her Renaissance. The superstar revealed that though the first act in her trilogy made its debut in 2022, it was Cowboy Carter — which dropped Friday (March 29) — that she had originally planned to arrive first.
“This album took over five years,” she said of Act II in a Parkwood Entertainment press release Friday. “It’s been really great to have the time and the grace to be able to take my time with it. I was initially going to put Cowboy Carter out first, but with the pandemic, there was too much heaviness in the world. We wanted to dance. We deserved to dance. But I had to trust God’s timing.”
The 32-time Grammy winner announced the follow-up to Renaissance during the 2024 Super Bowl in a Verizon ad that featured Tony Hale, and immediately dropped two songs: “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” offering the Beyhive a taste of her country-tinged album that features icons Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.
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But as Bey previously teased, “This ain’t a country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.” Indeed, the set features collaborators from various musical genres — including Post Malone and Miley Cyrus — as well as instruments such as the accordion, washboards, harmonicas and even her own nails.
“The joy of creating music is that there are no rules,” Beyoncé noted in the press release. “The more I see the world evolving the more I felt a deeper connection to purity. With artificial intelligence and digital filters and programming, I wanted to go back to real instruments, and I used very old ones. I didn’t want some layers of instruments like strings, especially guitars, and organs perfectly in tune. I kept some songs raw and leaned into folk. All the sounds were so organic and human, everyday things like the wind, snaps and even the sound of birds and chickens, the sounds of nature.”
Bey also opened up about her process, and revealed that she recorded many, many songs for the album.
“My process is that I typically have to experiment,” she shared. “I enjoy being open to have the freedom to get all aspects of things I love out and so I worked on many songs. I recorded probably 100 songs. Once that is done, I am able to put the puzzle together and realize the consistencies and the common themes, and then create a solid body of work.”
She concluded in the release: “I think people are going to be surprised because I don’t think this music is what everyone expects, but it’s the best music I’ve ever made.”
Blusher puts the pedal to the metal with “Accelerator,” the Australian pop-trio’s latest single.
Produced by Donny Bravo (Disclosure), the club-ready electro-pop track is the product of an inspired and highly-caffeinated morning, the singers still buzzing from a late, late night watching a Tove Lo and Associanu DJ set.
Bravo captures the “chaotic vibes” and energy that spilled out during the sessions, recounts the Melbourne trio. “’Accelerator’ feels like a late night highway chase – when you embrace the chaos of not knowing where you’re going and jump head first into a feeling,” the Aussie artists tell Billboard via email. “We have never been more excited about a song.”
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Blusher (Miranda Ward, Lauren Coutts and Jade Ingvarson-Favretto) formed in 2021, and got tongues wagging the following year with the independently-released “Softly Spoken,” which enjoyed support from national youth network triple j and its Unearthed sister station (triple j premiered “Accelerator” this week).
They produce and write together, share vocals on many of their songs and swap instruments during their choreographed live performances, which have included showcases at the Bigsound conference in Brisbane and the inaugural SXSW Sydney. In 2023, Atlantic Records signed the pop group to its roster.
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Currently, Blusher is on the road with Dadi Freyr playing their first U.S. shows. “It’s been the perfect opportunity to test out ‘Accelerator’ on a live audience, and we have been blown away by the crowds’ reaction,” Blusher tells Billboard. “When we pull out sci-fi sunglasses and synchronized dance moves they are always down to match our chaotic energy on stage.”
They’re getting around in a small band van, which has the cute nickname Vangelina Jolie. “Now we have met so many lovely new fans at the shows who really feel like they will be fans for life. It means the world to us that America has embraced us with open arms on our first tour here,” Blusher gush. “It’s just the beginning and we can’t wait to play a lot more U.S. shows in the future.”
Blusher was nominated for best new artist at the 2024 Rolling Stone Australia Awards, presented this week at Sydney’s The Ivy.
Stream “Accelerator” below.
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J-Hope keeps on spreading the hope. The BTS superstar unveiled his long awaited album, Hope on the Street Vol. 1, on Friday (March 29). The six-track mini-album was described in a press release as spanning a “diverse array of sounds and moods that showcase j-hope’s musical prowess and depth.” It also features a number of […]
It’s Lady Gaga’s birthday, and she’s giving out the presents — in the form of a glowing update on her new music.
The 38-year-old pop star shared a warm post on her big day, March 28, one that’s been full of joy and messages of kindness.
“Today has been so special,” she writes on Instagram. “I can’t remember a time I was so happy on my bday. I am in love with my best friend, my family and friends are loving and kind and healthy. I feel like my heart is bursting with gratitude for my own health and MUSIC.”
Gaga reflects on her busy work schedule, which includes the sequel to Todd Phillips’ Joker, for which she suits up as Harley Quinn alongside lead Joaquin Phoenix, and new music.
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“I am writing some of my best music in as long as I can remember,” she enthuses.
Seeing messages from her Little Monsters from “all over the world,” plus artists and “publications that love my work it means so much to me,” she continues. “Thank you for loving me the way you do and for having such a real love for my songs.”It’s been almost four years since Lady Gaga dropped Chromatica, her sixth studio album, and a return to her dance-inspired roots on singles such as “Stupid Love,” the hit Ariana Grande collaboration “Rain on Me” and “Free Woman.” Chromatica debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in June 2020, for her sixth leader.
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Though little is known of the direction and style of her next musical era, Gaga has confirmed via social media that she’s “not making a rock album.”
In her latest post, Gaga, wearing a black leather jacket behind the wheel of a car, and sporting bleached-blonde long hair and eyebrows, hints at pop matters to come.
“I’ve been writing pop songs since I was a little girl I can’t believe I still get to do what I love,” she writes. “This year will be an important and meaningful year for us I know. Music changes people lives I’m so honored I get to be a part of that in this.”
Last year, Gaga appeared as a guest vocalist on the gospel-tinged Rolling Stones song “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” from the legendary British rockers’ LP Hackney Diamonds.
Joker: Folie à Deux is due out in cinemas on Oct. 4. The first Joker, based on the D.C. Comics villain, became the first R-rated movie in history to accumulate $1 billion at the box office.
See Gaga’s post below.
Kelly Clarkson is showering her fellow powerhouse vocalist, Ariana Grande, with love. The “Since U Been Gone” singer took to X (previously Twitter) to gush over her fellow former The Voice coach’s recently released album, Eternal Sunshine. “Y’all don’t sleep on this album. It’s so good,” she wrote, before spotlighting three songs in particular in […]
Just a couple weeks before Tyla‘s hard work culminated in the release of her self-titled debut studio album, the 22-year-old artist announced that she’d hit a roadblock: an undisclosed, worsening injury that would force her to pull out of all of her upcoming live shows, including a career milestone set at this year’s Coachella.
In her Billboard cover story published Thursday (March 28), the “Water” singer opened up to Billboard about making the final call to cancel her performance at the April music festival. “It’s difficult because I want to go,” she said. “It’s the moment that I’ve been waiting for.”
“It’s not an easy decision, but it’s the right decision,” added the South African star.
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Tyla first announced that she was not only departing from the Coachella lineup, but also canceling her North American tour dates and rescheduling her shows in Europe, in an Instagram post earlier this month. The 30-plus-date trek had been slated to kick off March 21 in Oslo.
“As much as this is something I would rather have dealt with privately, it’s important that I share what I have to share with you today,” she wrote at the time. “For the past year I’ve been silently suffering with an injury that has tragically worsened. I’ve seen doctors and specialists with high hopes but the pain has only become more agonizing as has the severity of the situation.”
“I am absolutely heartbroken to have to say this but as of right now I won’t be able to proceed with the tour,” she continued. “In consulting with medical professionals it’s become increasingly clear that continuing any festival or tour dates would jeopardize my long-term health and safety.”
Just two weeks later, she dropped Tyla, featuring collaborations with Tems, Gunna, Becky G, Travis Scott and more. The set includes her viral hit “Water” — which reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on Billboard’s U.S. Afrobeats Songs, Rhythmic Airplay and Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay charts — as well as 12 other tracks.
“I’m really confident in what I’ve created,” she told Billboard of her debut. “Now’s a time where I can showcase a performance style where I’m not really dancing as much. Maybe I strip back a little bit more and I’m just serving vocals. But there’s no way to stop me. I’m always going to find a way.”
Read Tyla’s Billboard cover story here.