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Tate McRae has big plans for 2024, so she’s taking cues from one of the world’s biggest pop stars. Shortly after announcing that her new album Think Later will arrive Dec. 8 followed by a world tour next year, the 20-year-old pop prodigy — who’s also Billboard‘s latest cover star — doubled down on her […]
A decade after songwriting legend Diane Warren teamed up to co-write the power ballad “Say Don’t Go” with Taylor Swift for the latter’s iconic 1989 album, Warren is giving thanks for the revival of the track as one of the “From the Vault” extras on the recently released 1989 (Taylor’s Version).
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“I was surprised that that became a news story. I mean, what? That was really nice of her. But that shows, she’s smart, she’s smarter than everybody,” Warren, 67, said of the reboot of the track; Swift also sent Warren flowers in October after the release of her fourth catalog re-record. “That was really beautiful,” Warren told People magazine.
“Look, it was great that the song came out and everybody loves that song, everybody. It’s like her fan’s favorite song,” Warren added. “And the fact that she used it now when she’s bigger than anybody on the planet, it’s like, thanks for taking me along for the ride, Taylor. It’s awesome.”
Swift included a note along with the flowers she sent to Warren, writing, “Diane, It was a dream come true to write with you. I hope you love ‘Say Don’t Go’ as much as I do!! Sending the biggest hug to you! Love, Taylor.”
The song was originally written toward the end of 2013, with a demo of Swift playing it on acoustic guitar tracked on New Year’s Day in 2014. The ballad didn’t end up making the cut on 2014’s 1989, but a new version co-produced by Swift and frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff made Warren remember what it was like go line-for-line with Taylor.
“Just the way we wrote together was very interesting,” Warren told People. “I loved the song at the time and then I was kind of surprised that she didn’t use it. And then really surprised in a way better way when I found [out] she was.”
The power of Swift compels you. After countless fans mobilized online to have Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer welcome Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour with a temporary makeover, the famous statue now sports a T-shirt inspired by the pop star’s iconic “You Belong With Me” music video outfit — and it’s all thanks to the holy spirit of Swifties.
His arms spread wide in welcome, the giant stone replica of Jesus Christ is currently adorned with the light projection of a white shirt made to look like the homemade “Junior Jewels” tee Swift wears in her 2009 video, which has been viewed more than 1.5 billion times on YouTube. In place of the names of Swift’s friends, the statue’s shirt is covered with the names of different cities and states in Brazil in different colors.
The shirt is also dotted with Swift-themed doodles, including a hand heart, an archer bow and “All Too Well” scarf. “Welcome to Brasil” is emblazoned across the chest, a customized nod to the pop star’s “Welcome to New York.”
Sharing an aerial video of the 98-foot statue’s new look, Christ the Redeemer’s Instagram page captioned the visual, “We did it, Swifties!”
“You were able to show all the love to Taylor!” continued the statement in Portuguese, as translated to English by Google. “Many thanks to all who donated! Make it a wonderful day!”
The “Anti-Hero” singer is set to play six Eras shows in Brazil, the first three of which will take place in Rio at Estádio Nilton Santos starting Friday (Nov. 17). The next weekend, she’ll set up shop in São Paulo for three nights at Allianz Parque.
Chris the Redeemer’s wardrobe change wouldn’t have been possible without a lot of hard work from Swift’s disciples. According to an Instagram video on the landmark’s Instagram, the Sanctuary’s rector Father Omar had challenged Swifties to donate money for the collection of 20,000 units of panetone and mineral water for people in “vulnerable situations and social exclusion.”
“If the goal is met, the Christ the Redeemer Sanctuary will do the mapped projection at the Christ the Redeemer monument in response to the request of fans with a welcome message to Taylor,” continued the Thursday (Nov. 16) call to action, which clearly paid off. “The Sanctuary will bear all the costs of the projection and will continue with the mission of welcoming everyone with open arms.”
Swift is the leading finalist at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards, with nods in 20 categories. The BBMAs are Nov. 19 and can be viewed on BBMAs.watch, or via the Billboard and BBMAs social media channels.
See Christ the Redeemer in the welcoming T-shirt below:
An image projected onto Christ the Redeemer welcomes Taylor Swift to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Nov. 16, 2023. Swift will offer three shows of ‘The Eras Tour” in Rio de Janeiro.
FLORIAN PLAUCHER/AFP via Getty Images
Billie Eilish was admittedly very much in her feelings on Thursday night (Nov. 16) at Variety‘s Power of Women event. The singer, 21 — who opened with a caveat that she was very emotional and weepy due to the heavy dose of the steroid Prednisone she’d taken to treat vocal issues (“I’m zooted right now”) […]
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, Drake wakes up in the Scary Hours, André 3000 upends every expectation, and Tate McRae’s stock continues to rise. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Drake, For All The Dogs Scary Hours Edition
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After releasing his 23-track album For All The Dogs last month, Drake suggested a forthcoming pause in studio output — and apparently, that break is already over. The six new songs on For All The Dogs Scary Hours Edition were recorded over the past week, and feature some of Drake’s most vital, vociferous rhyming this side of Her Loss: “Red Button” name-checks Taylor Swift and Ye, “You Broke My Heart” goes ballistic on an ex over opulent soul production, and on “Stories About My Brother,” he begins with, “We’ll get to the vacation later.” Pure hip-hop fans will be glad that Drake delayed his break for these Scary Hours.
André 3000, New Blue Sun
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The song title “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time” says it all: the long-awaited studio return of André 3000 is not anything close to his OutKast past, but instead an instrumental project defined by his rapturous flute-playing and mercurial nature. New Blue Sun is daunting — the majority of its songs stretch past the 10-minute mark — but in the way that great art should be; André is not bound to any preconceived notions of his musical identity, and because of that, New Blue Sun can leave the ground.
Tate McRae, “Exes”
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One of the primary reasons why “Greedy” has become a breakthrough hit for Tate McRae is the confidence exuded across the track: at a time when tons of pop hits are either confessional or self-deprecating, McRae wields her persona against her doubters like a sharpened sword, and “Greedy” crackles as a result. That self-belief translates to new single “Exes,” another instantly likable piece of rhythmic pop (Ryan Tedder once again lends a production hand) defined by McRae literally laughing after dropping, “Oh, I’m sorry — sorry that you love me.”
Ozuna, Cosmo
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“Vocation,” Ozuna’s new single with David Guetta, will naturally receive a ton of attention as new album Cosmo is unveiled — the club track comes across as massive in both sound and commercial prospects. Yet “Vocation” only scratches the surface of what sounds like a multi-hit crossover effort from the Puerto Rican star, with songs like “Baccarat,” “100 Squats” and the Jhayco team-up “Fenti” showcasing Ozuna’s melodic instincts and unending charisma over slick, fast-paced production.
Sabrina Carpenter, Fruitcake EP
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“A Nonsense Christmas,” a festive spin on Sabrina Carpenter’s viral hit “Nonsense,” sets the tone for this giddy holiday collection from the ascendant pop star, who spends six tracks showcasing her vibrant sense of humor and having a blast with the format. Not many other Christmas collections will have lyrics like “F–k the jet, send the sleigh,” but winking pop full of hummable hooks and quotable lines is Carpenter’s specialty, and the Fruitcake EP makes for a sumptuous treat as the holiday season comes into view.
Editor’s Pick: 2 Chainz & Lil Wayne, Welcome 2 ColleGrove
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One week after Rick Ross and Meek Mill released a joint project, two more hip-hop elder statesmen have linked up to share the ball, toss off some braggadocio and generally have some fun before 2023 wraps up. 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne’s 2016 project ColleGrove came at a time when Weezy was embroiled in label disputes, so he was only credited on a handful of tracks; its sequel, Welcome 2 ColleGrove, is both relieved of that behind-the-scenes drama and notably looser, with two masters of the sex-metaphor punchline in their element as guests like Usher, 21 Savage and Fabolous drop by to hang.
In the ultimate example of game recognizing game, Drake makes a humble acknowledgement on the lyrics to “Red Button,” the opening track from the 6 God’s surprise Scary Hours 3 EP. The six-song collection that dropped on Friday (Nov. 17) as part of an expanded editino of his recent For All the Dogs album, kicks off with the headlong lyrical tumble track that finds Drizzy paying homage to the chart prowess of none other than Taylor Swift.
“Taylor Swift the only ni–a that I ever rated/ Only one could make me drop the album just a little later/ Rest of y’all I treat you like you never made it/ Leave your label devastated/ Even when your pad the stats, period, I never hated,” he raps on the song co-produced by Lil Yachty that surrounds his bars with an angelic chorus and a scorched-earth series of scenarios in which the Toronto native promises winter is coming for his detractors.
Drake — who is in a perpetual Billboard chart horse race with Swift over the most Hot 100 hits crown — released his most recent album, For All the Dogs, on Oct. 6, three weeks before Swift released her 1989 (Taylor’s Version), the latest in her series of catalog re-records. Last year, Swift released her Midnights album on Oct. 21, with the Drake/21 Savage joint album, Her Loss, originally scheduled for Oct. 28, then pushed to Nov. 4, seemingly giving Swift a few weeks to run the boards.
Her Loss then bumped Midnights out of the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 album charts upon its release.
Drake also finds time to take a mild swipe at Kanye West in a couplet suggesting that the long-running feud between them is not quite settled. “Every time that Yeezy call the truce/ He had my head inflated/ Thinking we finally peace it up and get to levitating/ Realized that everything premeditated,” Drake raps about the disgraced MC whose career melted down last year after West (who now goes by Ye) went on a series of hateful antisemitic rants.
The Drake/Ye feud dates back years and though it seemed to tamp down when the two got together for the “Free Larry Hoover” benefit concert in Los Angeles in 2021, it was reignited last year with Drizzy taking shots at West on the Her Loss track “Circo Loco” and this year’s “Search & Rescue,” which featured a sample of Ye’s ex, Kim Kardashian, talking about the couple’s split.
Drake announced the third in his Scary Hours series on Wednesday in an elaborate video featuring the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in which he revealed that he’d cooked the lyrics up just days before the collection’s release.
Followers of Syracuse University bleed orange. ENGENEs, too.
ENHYPEN today (Nov. 17) drops Orange Blood, the K-pop stars’ fifth mini album and the followup to the May release, Dark Blood.
Orange Blood spills across seven, genre-spanning tracks, including “Mortal” (R&B/Soft Pop), “Still Monster” (pop ballad), “Blind” (alternative R&B) “Orange Flower (You Complete Me)” (soft pop), and “Sweet Venom” (funk/pop). The latter track is presented in three distinct versions — the original Korean version (on which bandmate JAY worked with producer Slow Rabbit to shape its lyrics), an English cut and a collaborative take with pop artist Bella Poarch.
After two sold sold-out shows in Seoul and a Japanese dome tour, ENHYPEN completed the U.S. leg of their Fate World Tour Oct. 22, during which the singers played to over 85,000 fans, reps say, across seven shows in six cities: Los Angeles, Glendale, Houston, Dallas, Newark, and Chicago.
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Then, on Nov. 3, the lads shared “Keep Swimmin’ Through,” a cute cut they’ll perform Nov. 23 on Nickelodeon and Pinkfong’s Baby Shark float during the 97th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The broadcaster has described the display as a “25-foot-long Baby Shark balloon and an 18-foot-long float that showcases an underwater seascape featuring the lovable Shark family,” according to a press release.
ENGENEs will get another chance to study the seven-strong pop group (Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, Jungwon and Ni-ki) when they participate in a special showcase, EN-CONNECT Night, on Saturday, Nov. 18.
The first boyband created by Belift Lab, ENHYPEN has landed five titles on the Billboard 200 chart, including two top 10s. That previous mini album, Dark Blood, earned the act its highest charting release to date, peaking at No. 4 and spending a total of 10 cumulative weeks on the Billboard 200 in June.
Next up, they’ll hit the road once again for the FATE tour to Asia for seven shows in four cities, starting in January 2024.
Stream Orange Blood in full below.
Dua Lipa is back in the driver’s seat when it comes to control of her music, and that’s just how she likes it. The pop star discussed for the first time buying back the publishing rights to her music catalog in a new interview with Audacy Check In Thursday (Nov. 16). “I think it’s just […]
SEVENTEEN came together at the UNESCO Youth Forum in Paris this week to share the importance of supporting young people in pursuing their dreams. The event, which marked the first-ever session at the forum dedicated to a musical artist, was attended by more than 1,300 people from around the world, including representatives from the 194 […]
Lizzo took a rare moment to be vulnerable with her followers amid her ongoing legal battle. In a recent Instagram post, the 35-year-old hitmaker opened up about her mental state and gave an update on new music, adding that she’s struggling with “trust issues” in light of the sexual harassment suit filed against her earlier […]