Pop
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Jihyo is in the zone. On Friday (Aug. 18), the TWICE vocalist released ZONE, her debut solo EP featuring collaborations with 24kGoldn and Heize. Jihyo had been steadily teasing and promoting the release of her debut solo project. The EP’s lead single, “Killin’ Me Good,” saw two snippets of its production process released in late […]
Lizzo appears to be going about her business as usual in the aftermath of the harassment lawsuit filed against her by former dancers, allegations she denied in a statement earlier this month. In her first Instagram post since then, the 35-year-old hitmaker sings, dances and poses her way through the streets of Japan, showing off her glam outfit and unbothered attitude.
“Shabooya, sha, sha, shabooya roll call,” she sings at the beginning of the clip posted Friday (Aug. 18), a play on the area she appears to be exploring in Japan: Shibuya, located in Tokyo. Wearing a spiky blue-green-yellow dress with her hair done in space buns, Lizzo flashes peace signs and poses with a pair of shades in a series of photos that cycle through following the first clip, set to “Shabooya” by Hitkidd, Gloss Up & K Carbon, Slimeroni and Aleza.
“From Shibuya, with Love 💖” she captioned the post.
The update marks the “About Damn Time” singer’s first post on social media since she addressed the allegations of sexual harassment and hostile work conditions levied against her in a lawsuit by former dancers, taking to social media two days after it was filed to issue a response. In her Aug. 3 statement, she said the dancers’ complaints were as “unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous to not be addressed.”
“These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional,” she added.
Lizzo didn’t detail or address any specifics of the accusations in her statement, which plaintiffs Crystal Williams, Arianna Davis and Noelle Rodriguez called “disheartening” and “incredibly frustrating” in an interview with CNN This Morning later that day. On the show, the three women rehashed and doubled down on their allegations that Lizzo had pressured them to inappropriately touch nude dancers at a sex show in Amsterdam, overworked them in an “excruciating” hours-long re-audition process, “called attention” to a dancer’s weight gain and more.
In the weeks since, the dancers’ legal team has said that six more people have come forward with similarly disparaging stories about Lizzo. The Grammy winner’s Big Grrrls dance team also shared a group statement on Thursday (Aug. 17) in support of their boss.
“We had the time of our lives on The Special Tour,” read the statement on the Big Grrrls’ Instagram account. “The commitment to character and culture taking precedence over every movement and moment has been one of the Greatest lessons and Blessings that we could possibly could ask for.”
Taylor Swift passes P!nk for the most No. 1s among soloists in the history of Billboard’s Adult Pop Airplay chart as “Cruel Summer” climbs to the top of the tally dated Aug. 26. The song becomes Swift’s 11th leader. Among all acts, she trails only Maroon 5, with an overall record 15 No. 1s.
The Adult Pop Airplay chart, which began in Billboard’s pages in March 1996, measures songs’ weekly plays, as tabulated by Mediabase and provided to Billboard by Luminate, on around 80 U.S. adult top 40 radio stations.
Here’s a recap of Swift’s 11 No. 1s on Adult Pop Airplay.
Title, Weeks at No. 1, Year(s):
“Cruel Summer,” one (to date), 2023
“Karma,” two, 2023
“Anti-Hero,” nine, 2022-23
“Willow,” three, 2021
“Delicate,” four, 2018
“Wildest Dreams,” four, 2015
“Bad Blood,” three, 2015
“Style,” two, 2015
“Blank Space,” six, 2015
“Shake It Off,” eight, 2014
“I Knew You Were Trouble,” one, 2013
Originally released on Swift’s 2019 album Lover and now being promoted by Republic Records as a single, the song has been gaining momentum in recent months, as Swift has been performing it on her The Eras Tour. It’s the first tour in which she’s been able to spotlight songs from Lover, which was released shortly before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The song becomes the first Adult Pop Airplay No. 1 from Lover, following four top 10s: “Me!,” featuring Brendon Urie (No. 5 peak, June 2019); “You Need to Calm Down” (No. 3, November 2019); the title track (No. 6, February 2020); and “The Man” (No. 9, April 2020).
“Cruel Summer” concurrently spends a fourth week atop the Pop Airplay chart, where it became Swift’s 12th No. 1, the most among all artists. Swift scores her longest reign on the survey since 2015, when “Bad Blood” dominated for five frames.
On the most recently published, Aug. 19-dated all-genre, multimetric Billboard Hot 100, “Cruel Summer” rose to a new No. 3 best.
All charts dated Aug. 26 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, Aug. 22.
Sure, Lil Nas X may be known for his love of trolling fans and haters alike. But with his latest announcement, the pop sensation is ready to show everyone a more sincere side of himself. On Friday (Aug. 18), Lil Nas X announced the official world premiere of his new documentary Lil Nas X: Long […]
Representatives for Britney Spears’ estranged husband, Sam Asghari, are denying reports that the fitness instructor/actor has threatening to challenge the couple’s pre-nuptial agreement and release damaging information about the singer in the midst of their divorce proceedings. Asghari, 29, filed for divorce from the pop icon on Wednesday (Aug. 16) in Los Angeles Superior Court, per documents obtained by Billboard. […]
It looks like Pink is showing support for Britney Spears amid the latter pop star’s divorce from Sam Asghari. At her Wednesday night (Aug. 16) concert at Detroit’s Comerica Park, the “So What” singer subtly changed a lyric in her 2001 song “Don’t Let Me Get Me,” sneaking in a compliment to Spears. “Tired of […]
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, Quavo pays homage while moving forward, Hozier takes us to church (and the Inferno), and Doechii wants you to dance at all costs. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Quavo, Rocket Power
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Quavo’s nephew and Migos co-leader, Takeoff, was nicknamed “The Rocket” — and less than a year after the rapper was killed at the age of 28, his family member and group mate is drawing upon his thoughts and instincts as inspiration for his new solo album. Parts of Rocket Power are racked with grief, including the soulful highlight “Hold Me” and the memory-flooded title track, although Quavo also makes ample room in the sprawling full-length to celebrate life, as on the Future-assisted hit “Turn Yo Clic Up” and the crackling “Stain” with BabyDrill; ultimately, the album depicts a long-running rap star in a more complex light, and immediately makes the case as Quavo’s best solo project.
Hozier, Unreal Unearth
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When Hozier revealed that his third studio album — which follows 2019’s Wasteland, Baby!, the first No. 1 album of his career — would be inspired by Dante’s Inferno and include passages sung in Irish Gaelic, fears that the “Take Me To Church” singer-songwriter was turning inscrutable were only natural. Yet Unreal Unearth not only showcases the strength of Hozier’s voice and songwriting, but also remains accessible to hardcore fans and casual alt-rock listeners, from the snappy single “Eat Your Young” to the gargantuan Brandi Carlile duet “Damage Gets Done” to the restrained grace of closer “First Light.”
Doechii, “Booty Drop”
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“Shawty, what it is? / Bring that ass to the club,” Doechii commands on “Booty Drop,” a late bid for the summer’s most kinetic dance song. The Tampa native has shown promise as a recording artist and performer over the past year — signing with TDE, scoring an opening spot on Doja Cat and Ice Spice’s upcoming tour, and mesmerizing audiences whenever she hits the stage — but her latest single, a gleefully explicit take on the Jersey club style that never stops moving, might be the moment where her appeal spills over into the mainstream once and for all.
Addison Rae, AR EP
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Although Addison Rae’s newly released EP rescues a handful of tracks intended for the influencer’s never-released debut album, AR does not sound like a collection of odds and ends: instead, the five songs engross the listener with fresh melodies and bursts of personality, showcasing the 22-year-old as a quick study within this brand of pop. “2 Die 4” with Charli XCX is the highlight — marvel at the mini-hooks jam-packed into that chorus! — but the whole project is worth bookmarking as the potential start of something big.
Anitta, Funk Generation: A Favela Love Story
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When Anitta released her single “Funk Rave” in June, the Latin music star hinted that a deeper dive into Brazilian funk music would be both a way to honor her roots and a rewarding sonic exploration; with Funk Generation: A Favela Love Story, a three-song project that follows up “Funk Rave” with two new heaters, Anitta has more or less confirmed her suggestions. “Casi Casi” and “Used to Be” adopt different approaches — the former a chattering sashay, the latter a slow-building reflection — but Anitta excels at both tempos, and has us hoping for even more to come.
Editor’s Pick: FIFTY FIFTY feat. Sabrina Carpenter, “Cupid Twin Ver.”
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Think of FIFTY FIFTY’s new version “Cupid,” featuring Sabrina Carpenter on the remix, as a well-earned victory lap for both artists: the K-pop group crashed the upper reaches of the Hot 100 chart with the undeniable sing-along, while Carpenter is a little over a year removed from Emails I Can’t Send, one of the strongest pop albums of 2022, and its viral hit “Nonsense.” Together, FIFTY FIFTY and Carpenter reinvent a rock-solid hit ever so slightly, as Carpenter slides into the second verse and handles that sugary “I gave a second chance to Cupiiiiiid!” hook with aplomb.
Dolly Parton brings out the big guns on the latest single from her upcoming first foray into rock n’ roll. After dropping a pair of originals and two covers, the country icon unleashed a powerful version of the Beatles’ “Let It Be” on Friday morning (Aug. 18) featuring support from the two living Fab Four members, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
The majestic take on one of the most covered songs in the modern era opens with Parton singing over the familiar piano intro, with McCartney joining her on the second line, “Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.” The second verse expands with a distant, echoing drum pattern and soulful organ before the strings and full orchestration turn it into the familiar lush pop classic McCartney wrote near the end of the Beatles run and which gave name to the group’s final studio album release.
The song from Parton’s eagerly anticipated Rockstar (Nov. 17) album also features Peter Frampton and Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood providing musical support. It marks one of the rare collaborations between Starr and McCartney outside of their own projects — they got together in 2020 for Ringo’s tune “Here’s to the Nights” from his Zoom In EP as well as a year earlier when Starr popped in as a surprise guest on the final show of McCartney’s Freshen Up tour.
Parton’s 49th studio album is her first rock effort and it is slated to feature 30 tracks — 21 covers and 9 originals — packed with a galaxy of rock stars teaming up with the 77-year-old national treasure who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year on their signature songs.
Among the rockers joining Parton are: Sting (“Every Breath You Take”), former Journey singer Steve Perry (“Open Arms”), Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart (“Magic Man”), John Fogerty (“Long as I Can See the Light”), Joan Jett (“I Hate Myself For Loving You”), goddaughter Miley Cyrus (“Wrecking Ball”), Debbie Harry (“Heart of Glass”) and Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo (“Heartbreaker”), among many others.
So far, Parton has teased the album with the originals “World on Fire” and “Bygones” (featuring Judas Priest’s Rob Halford), as well as covers of Queen’s “We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions”) and the Heart “Magic Man” cover. Other singers joining Parton on the album include Lizzo, P!nk and Brandi Carlile, Bon Jovi’s Richie Sambora, Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler, Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow and Emmylou Harris, Duran Duran’s Simon LeBon, Chris Stapleton and Elton John and others.
Listen to “Let it Be” below.
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Charlie Puth turns up the steam for “Lipstick,” the first cut from his forthcoming studio album.
A collaboration with producers Happy Perez and Pop Wansel, “Lipstick” slipped out at the stroke of midnight, and will serve as the lead single from Puth’s fourth studio album, according to Atlantic Records.
The tune has an old-school groove, over which Puth sings, “Come and put your lipstick on my neck and my body/Just to show these bitches that you’re mine/ Lipstick on my collar show ‘em you ain’t no hobby/ You’re the one who gets it all the time.”
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Puth’s next album is listed as “coming soon.” It’s the followup to 2022’s Charlie, which carried the singles “Light Switch”, “That’s Hilarious”, “Left and Right” with Jungkook of BTS, and peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200, his third consecutive top 10 LP on the all-genres tally. The U.S. artist’s debut Nine Track Mind from 2016 peaked at No. 6, and his sophomore effort, 2018’s Voicenotes, reached No. 4.
Puth’s career revved up with an assist on Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again,” which appeared on the Furious 7 soundtrack. The track gave Puth his first and only No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was released in 2015, and charted on the all-genre tally for a total of 52 weeks. Recently, the singer and songwriter marked his official return to the Fast & Furious franchise with a feature on the Fast X single “Angel Pt. 2.”
Back in March, he released a short film co-starring Sabrina Carpenter, “That’s Not How This Works,” and a single with the same name, featuring Dan + Shay and Carpenter.
Puth returns to the road next month with The Charlie Live Experience, for an international run that will see him head to Australia for the first time in October and November.
Stream “Lipstick” below.
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FIFTY FIFTY is no longer feeling lonely, because they’ve got Sabrina Carpenter on their side! The rising K-pop superstars teamed up with the “Nonsense” singer for a new version of their viral hit, “Cupid.” In the track, Carpenter offers her own verse, singing, “I wish that I wasn’t so naive/ And he didn’t turn me […]