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MAX is totally stupid in love, and Le Sserafim’s Huh Yunjin is helping him spread the word.
The pop singer, songwriter and actor (real name: Max Schneider) teams up with the K-pop icon on “Stupid in Love,” the opening track on his new album Love In Stereo.
The fresh cut is bursting with pop vitality, and, since the stroke of midnight, is accompanied with an official music video that follows Max on his travels from Los Angeles, CA to Seoul, South Korea where the pair get down to moving and grooving for the cameras.
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“Stupid in Love” came about in a moment of serendipity. Max made his own luck; he was visiting South Korea to work with a producer on music for BTS, when one of the lads suggested the idea of a collaboration with Le Sserafim.
He showed up to a meeting, “and they gave me this gift, which is a really beautiful thing in Korea — a lot of times you give your gift as an album and write a letter,” he tells People. “Yunjin wrote me a letter, and it was like, ‘I hope we get to meet and work together,’” he recounts. “It was really endearing, so I extended my trip to see her live.” The connections run deeper than a love of pop music; both artists were raised in New York.
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Le Sserafim is hot right now. The South Korean pop group became a Billboard Hot 100-charting act for the first time this year, thanks to the single, “Easy,” debuting at No. 99.
The group’s five-track EP of the same name bowed at No. 8 on the Billboard 200. Also, Easy started at No. 2 on both the World Albums and Top Album Sales charts, while the title track roared to No. 6 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart, marking the group’s second, and top charting, top 10 effort.
Max enjoyed a breakthrough with his tender pop hit “Lights Down Low” featuring gnash, which peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart back in 2016. The New Yorker has also collaborated with the likes of BTS and bandmate Suga, Hayley Kiyoko, Noah Cyrus and Chromeo, many of whom assisted on his 2020 project, Colour Vision.
Stream “Stupid in Love” below.
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While visiting Los Angeles in 2022, 26-year-old pop artist Knox was telling a friend that he had recently scored a major-label deal with Atlantic Records. “That’s cool, but you’ll never be Matty Healy,” the friend quipped.
Instead of dwelling on the snide comparison to the frontman of The 1975, Knox remembers thinking, “This could be fun,” and went into the studio with songwriter Spencer Jordan. After recording several versions of what would become his breakout track, the indie rock-tinged “Not The 1975” was released in July 2023 — and has since become Knox’s introduction to the Billboard charts.
Growing up in Dayton, Ohio, Knox (born Knox Morris) showed off his alternative-influenced vocal range at local open mics during his teenage years. Following high school, he attended Ohio University with plans to become a teacher, but his passion for music won out — and by early 2019, he dropped out and moved to Nashville.
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Soon after, Redline Entertainment’s Larry Blackford discovered Knox on Instagram and reached out to the singer for a meeting, along with the company’s Wes Mayers. The three of them instantly hit it off, and Knox signed a co-management deal in 2020. “When he sings, his voice is reverberating. I’ve never heard anything like it,” Blackford says. Adds Mayers, “Knox has one of the best work ethics of any artist I’ve met. He has high energy, high drive and that real competitive streak.”
Aaron Sinclair
Aaron Sinclair
That drive was quickly put to the test when the pandemic forced Knox to get creative with his promotional strategy while building a fan base on social media. He first experienced some significant traction with his 2022 single “Sneakers” before trying the same strategy of consistently posting teasers for “Not The 1975” — particularly leaning into videos about the cheeky chorus.
The rallying track draws in listeners thanks to Knox’s witty songwriting: He references The 1975 hits “Chocolate” and “Oh Caroline” in his verses, then spins that pivotal L.A. conversation into the chorus. (“I said, ‘Girl, I might not be famous yet, but I’m gonna put you in a song that I write’/Then she said, ‘I like your confidence but you’re not The 1975.’ ”) The music video, which arrived the day of the song’s release, plays even further into the bit: Knox dresses in a Healy-inspired black-tie get-up and smokes a cigarette throughout. “I don’t think people understand how many cigarettes I had to smoke,” Knox recalls, laughing. “At first, they were herbal cigarettes, but I could already [imagine] the comments calling me out.”
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Despite the catchy hook, Knox admits that “Not The 1975” was more of a “slow burn” in comparison to “Sneakers,” despite the acclaim he was getting from those around him in the weeks following the former’s release. “Everyone was saying that it’s an amazing song, but the streaming numbers weren’t translating yet,” he says. But after a late 2023 tour, where Knox says the song was “clearly a fan favorite,” it began to take a hold at radio and on digital service providers. “Not The 1975” debuted on Pop Airplay and Adult Pop Airplay in late January, and it reaches new highs of No. 26 and No. 15, respectively, on the March 16-dated charts. Additionally, the hit has 8.5 million total on-demand official U.S. streams through March 7, according to Luminate.
Neither of Knox’s managers are surprised to see the singer-songwriter now experiencing multi-format success. “With lyrics like ‘Vodka soda and baggy jeans/Using none of that art degree,’ how could [radio] not love it?” Blackford asks, with Mayers adding that he often sees a “waterfall effect” for an artist following a tour. “People will be like, ‘I like this guy, let’s check out the rest of his catalog.’ We’re mindful of that.”
Aaron Sinclair
From left: Larry Blackford, Knox and Wes Mayers at The Foundry in Philadelphia on Feb. 3, 2024.
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Knox will go back on the road for a headlining tour across the West Coast beginning in April, hopeful that other songs from his discography will get similar love. “I’m most confident in my live shows,” he says. “Whenever I make a song, I ask, ‘Would this sound sick live?’”
Already this year he has released two new singles, first with the unifying “Here’s to Us” in January, followed by the atmospheric, swoon-worthy track “Me, Myself & Your Eyes” in February. And despite his higher profile, he’s trusting the same approach that has brought him to this point while attempting to follow up his breakout hit.
“There is pressure, of course. At the same time, if I put out music that I love, if it gets a million streams, great; and if it doesn’t, that’s OK,” he says. “I have the coolest job in the world. No matter what happens, I’m going to be fine.”
A version of this story originally appeared in the March 9, 2024, issue of Billboard.
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Saturday Night Live‘s Bowen Yang dropped by Late Night With Seth Meyers on Monday night (March 11) to deconstruct his hilarious Moulin Rogue spoof with Ariana Grande on this weekend’s SNL. “That was very fun,” Yang said of the bit with his Wicked co-star in which they imagined what the movie musical would have been like if director Baz Luhrmann had been able to grab the rights to some other popular songs.
“No play, she’s a real friend,” Yang said, adding that someone had asked him backstage if he was intimidated to sing with the pop diva. “I was like, ‘it never occurred to me’… that I was singing with her and that I should be intimidated. She’s so disarmingly wonderful and great and it was just so fun to do it,” he said.
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Yang also told a hilarious performing skills origin story about how as a kid he used to haunt the Dance, Dance Revolution game on display at his local Best Buy, which was, naturally, situated next to the Costco at Park Meadows Mall in suburban Colorado. The game was set up in the middle of the store and Yang said he’d compete with the staff to see who had the slickest, fastest feet.
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“And all these, like, 25-year-old goths were shaking in their boots when this 14-year-old Asian kid would walk into the store and everyone would scurry,” Yang said. “Because I was about to hand their asses to them dancing to Kylie Minogue!” The SNL breakout star said he would go every week and by the third month he had developed his well-deserved DDR ass-kicking reputation.
It was such a formative experience that Yang said he thinks he could play the Super Bowl halftime show, because, like his DDR clinics, he’s used to having an audience behind him. “Because it’s a 360 stage and I’m performing to the people behind me,” Yang boasted.
Yang also talked about his instant classic “Bowen Straight” sketch from two weeks ago in which the out comedian made out with host Sydney Sweeney and actress Gina Gershon. “I gotta tell you guys something. You know when you have a head injury and you can’t see colors quite right?” Yang said. “I feel like I got hit in the head by these two women and I’m still a little straight… I understand why Austin Butler talked like Elvis for a while after the movie. I think for a couple more weeks I’m still straight… ladies get in there!”
The first part of the Wicked musical will open in theaters on Nov. 27.
Check out Yang talking about Grande and DDR on the Late Night below.
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