State Champ Radio Pop
Page: 617
The Kid LAROi may only be 19, but the singer has already had plenty of experience with being chased by the paparazzi and seeing fake news about himself in the tabloid press. That dark side of stardom appears to have inspired the satirical video for the singer’s new single, “I Guess It’s Love.”
In the Helmi-directed clip that dropped on Monday (Feb. 27), the Kid stars alongside his influencer/model girlfriend Katarina Deme as a photogenic, young-and-in-love celebrity couple whose every kiss and fight is caught on camera by prying eyes.
Things start off pretty cute, with LAROi pulling pranks on his beloved, jumping on a trampoline with her, sharing salty snacks, exotic vacations, poolside makeouts and plenty of intimate moments rolling around in bed. Some, in fact, seems NSFW, including a barely clothed sauna session, plenty of shots of the pair in their underwear and footage of Deme just barely covered in bubbles in a bath.
Is it real, or is it a set-up?
Things get weird a minute in, when the visuals go wonky and suddenly LAROi seems out of sorts, bloated and rocking a bad goatee and mustache and floppy, unkempt blonde hair. What follows is an avalanche of kissing for the camera shots, a parade of exiting the limo footage and what looks like long-lens snaps of the happy couple in mid blow-out argument.
They keep performing for the camera as their visages get more and more Hollywood, with Deme suddenly developing wildly exaggerated features and lips as she and LAROi rapidly age. Even as they transform into middle-age social media junkies, the pair continue to chronicle every private moment, including their octogenarian wedding.
The dreamy FnZ-produced song is slated to appear on the Kid’s upcoming debut full-length album, The First Time; so far fans have already heard the single “Kids Are Growing Up” and “Love Again.”
Check out the “I Guess It’s Love?” video below.
Editor’s note: This story features descriptions of gun violence.
The early American Idol audition rounds are where America has met some of their favorite singers over the past two decades. Sometimes they’re not the best vocalists, but they have a certain spark, a twinkle in their eye or a story so intriguing that the judges have to lean in and learn more.
That was definitely the case on Sunday night (Feb. 26) when 21-year-old mattress salesman Trey Louis of Santa Fe, Texas charmed the judges with his calm, playful demeanor and an impressive, twangy run through Whiskey Myers’ 2018 hit “Stone.” Sure, his stories about the NSFW questions mattress shoppers ask him were funny and his vocals had gritty soul, but Louis had much more to say following his impressive performance.
After getting a standing ovation from judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan — with the latter calling Louis’ “perfect” — Bryan asked the singer why he was there. The first reason, Louis said, was because some of his favorite singers have stood on the very same star before the nation learned who they were.
The second, however, was more emotional and it brought Perry to angry tears. Louis noted again that he’s from Santa Fe, Texas, where in May 2018 he survived a mass shooting at Santa Fe High School during which a gunman killed eight students and two teachers. “[I] lost a lot of friends,” Louis said, noting he was in an art classroom when the shooter opened fire next door before making his way into the room Louis was in.
Getting choked up as the judges flashed looks of concern, Louis looked at the ground and said, “It’s just really been negative and Santa Fe’s had a bad rap since 2018.” Bryan’s voice cracked as he praised Louis’ vocals and big heart while Perry slumped forward, sobbing into her hands as Louis asked her what was going on.
“Our country has f–king failed us,” Perry shouted while poking her finger into the judge’s desk as Louis softly added “facts.”
“This is not okay,” Katy continued through tears. “You should be singing here because you love music, not because you had to go through that f–king bulls–t. You don’t have to lose eight friends. I hope that you remind people that we have to change. Cuz, you know, I’m scared too.”
As Bryan and Richie sympathetically reached out to rub Perry on the shoulders, Louis consoled her as well, saying, “it’s terrible, Katy, it’s horrible.”
Richie weighed in as well on the daily toll of mass shootings in the country, saying, “We have tolerated this for so long, for too long. It’s become the norm”; according to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been more than 80 mass shootings so far this year. Perry told Louis that she hoped he could be a leader to combat gun violence in the nation. It was, of course, a yes for Louis, who advanced to the next round after getting loving hugs from all three judges.
Watch Louis’ audition below.
The Weeknd and Ariana Grande‘s remix of “Die for You” has topped this week’s new music poll.
Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (Feb. 24) on Billboard, choosing the collaboration as their favorite new music release of the past week.
The remix of “Die for You” brought in more than 71% of the vote, beating out new music from Karol G, the Jonas Brothers and more.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The Weeknd and Grande’s remix of the 2016 Starboy track “Die for You” features a swooping verse from Grande. She posted a TikTok video earlier this week teasing her new part on the song, which dropped on Friday: “Wrote and recorded a verse for my friend after a 14 hour day on set. This certain exception had to be made….” she captioned the clip.
Trailing behind the “Die for You” remix on the fan-voted poll is Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito, with 13% of the vote.
See the final results of this week’s poll below.
J-Hope is ready to enter the South Korean military for his mandatory service stint, BigHit Music announced on Sunday (Feb. 26). On the same day, it was also announced that the BTS member will soon release a new single, “On the Street.”
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“We would like to inform our fans that j-hope has initiated the military enlistment process by applying for the termination of his enlistment postponement,” BigHit said in a statement released to the BTS ARMY on Weverse. “We will inform you of further updates in due course. We ask you for your continued love and support for j-hope until he completes his military service and safely returns. Our company will spare no effort in providing support for our artist.”
J-Hope will be the second BTS member, following Jin, to enlist for the nation’s mandatory 18-month military service.
In another post on the same day, BigHit shared an update about J-Hope’s new music release: “We are happy to inform you that BTS member j-hope will be releasing a solo single ‘on the street,’” they wrote.
“On the Street” will be released on March 3 at 2PM KST.
“j-hope wrote the track to share his candid feelings toward his fans,” the message said. “The title ‘on the street’ refers to j-hope’s roots — street dance — from which his dream to become an artist began, and the path the artist and fans will continue to walk together. We hope that j-hope’s ‘on the street’ serves as a meaningful gift to everyone who supports the artist. Please look forward to j-hope’s new song!”
J-Hope’s Disney+ documentary, J-Hope in the Box, is now streaming, and it was just announced that he is the luxury brand Louis Vuitton’s newest ambassador.
See the updates from BigHit Music below.
P!nk wants people to focus on her new album, Trustfall — rather than dig up a “silly feud” she had with Christina Aguilera more than 20 years ago.
The pop star released Trustfall on Feb. 17. Her latest effort debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, becoming her ninth top 10-charting album.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“With me, when you’re a certain age and a woman, they tell you that what you do doesn’t matter, really, anymore, so just do what you do,” she said in a recent interview about Trustfall with Billboard. “And I’ve kind of always felt like that — at 16, I felt like that. But I don’t write songs for other people. I’m very narcissistic when it comes to songwriting, in a very pure way. I write what needs to be written for me, and if somebody else can relate to it, then that’s awesome. We’re all having this human experience, and we’re not all that different.”
While making the rounds with press for the release, P!nk was asked to rank her music videos during a visit with Buzzfeed UK. She put “Lady Marmalade,” her 2001 single with Aguilera, Mya and Lil’ Kim, at the bottom of the list, recalling that “there were some personalities. Kim and Mya were nice.” Some assumed she was “shading” Aguilera, decades after the shoot, to which she responded on Twitter: “I’m not ‘shading’ someone by telling it over and over and over what actually happened. I’m zero percent interested in your f—ing drama.”
On Sunday (Feb. 26), she opened up about how it feels to be talking about that right now, instead of all the hard work she put into Trustfall.
“I’m so saddened and disappointed by the narrative surrounding some of the press I’ve been doing around my album Trustfall,” she wrote on Instagram, where she shared a sweet selfie with her child. “While some of the responsibility lays with me and my inability to lie, and my uncanny ability to overshare- my real disappointment lies in the fact that the art can never be the focus when you’re a woman.”
P!nk wrote, “The fact that I created one of the most beautiful albums with the most beautiful people -sang my ass off, made myself wholly vulnerable – eleven albums in, selling out stadiums, raising good kids, steadily employing hundreds of good, hardworking people, the only thing they ask you about over and over is a silly feud from your twenties.”
“I take responsibility also- I’m out of practice dodging the bulls— that gets thrown at us hardworking women,” she said. “I’m notorious for saying too much. But I’ve never lied. And for every one or two women I’ve had issue with – there are hundreds that I’ve complimented and supported and loved on. But we don’t talk about that.”
“I wonder when the last time Bradley Cooper or Robert Deniro were asked in interview after interview about any argument they’d ever had. How about Christian Bale? We stick to the art with them, don’t we? I’d like to have the same opportunity. I also believe in authentic apology- and owning your mistakes. I should say less. Every time. Say less. Something I’m working on. This was a good reminder. My wish is to share the pains and the celebrations of this messy life through music and on stage. And I’ve accomplished that. Incredibly and consistently,” said P!nk.
“To Christina- you know where we stand,” she said, directing the end of her message to Aguilera. “Resolved. Onwards and upwards.”
See P!nk’s post below.
P!nk, plenty busy promoting her own new album this month, took a moment to give props to a number of fellow pop stars in a recent interview — naming Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish and SZA as artists who are “changing the game.”
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
In a clip shared by Z100 New York earlier this week, P!nk spoke of how she’s honed her own lane in music and spoke highly of younger female music stars who are doing the same.
“I put my head down, I perfect my craft, I stay out of everybody else’s lane and I stay in my line. And now I own that lane, that’s my lane,” P!nk said. “For other people: It’s like, don’t worry about if your song is going to fit into radio format — I guess for other singers.”
She continued, “It’s like, just find the thing about that is you. It’s like Dr. Seuss: No one else can be you-er than you. Do you. Do you ‘cause no one else can do that. And craft real songs that people aren’t gonna forget.”
“I think that’s what Olivia Rodrigo is doing,” P!nk pointed out, revealing that her 11-year-old is a big fan: “That’s why I love that Willow loves her so much … She’s writing her own songs, she’s so good at it, she’s fronting an almost all-female band, she’s singing her a– off. She was like what, 17, 18, writing those songs? I’m so proud of the girls out. There’s so many bada– girls out that are changing the game. Billie Eilish, SZA — changing the game and I love it. I’m here for it.”
P!nk released her ninth studio album, Trustfall, via RCA Records on Feb. 17.
Watch the clip from Z100 and check out the full interview below.
It may be a well-known fact that Harry Styles hails from the United Kingdom, but he’ll be taking the New Zealand census come March 7.
As it turns out, the superstar has a concert scheduled at Auckland’s MT Smart Stadium on the very same day the New Zealand government will be conducting its 2023 census. And unlike in the U.S., foreign visitors are required to take part in the bureaucratic process if they just so happen to be in the country on Census Day.
The news was hysterically confirmed by the official Aotearoa New Zealand Census account after a curious fan posed the question via Twitter.
“Thank you for this important query,” the government account tweeted in response. “Everyone who is in Aotearoa New Zealand on census night (Tuesday 7 March), needs to be counted in the census. This includes tourists, visitors, and former members of One Direction.”
The census bureau then attached a hilariously simple artist’s rendering of Styles filling out his census form by using an old photo from his boy-band days. (Ostensibly, the same goes for openers Wet Leg and Styles’ entire touring staff and crew.)
According to a report by CNN, the census requires citizens and visitors to report personal information like number of household members, smoking habits, both gender and sexual identity and personal income, though all answers are kept strictly confidential.
Styles’ Love On Tour is currently in the midst of its latest Oceanic leg with stops planned in the coming days in Melbourne, Gold Coast and Sydney, Australia. After leaving Auckland, the singer will head to Thailand for a run of dates across Asia through the end of March.
Read the New Zealand Census organization’s amusing confirmation that Styles will be filling out a questionnaire next month below.
Kia ora @coupdemain CC: the country. Thank you for this important query.Everyone who is in Aotearoa New Zealand on census night (Tuesday 7 March), needs to be counted in the census. This includes tourists, visitors, and former members of One Direction.Artist’s impression: pic.twitter.com/e5yvh2B551— 2023 Census | Aotearoa New Zealand | 7 March 2023 (@2023Census) February 23, 2023
Miley Cyrus quietly dropped a new countdown onto her website Friday (Feb. 24) and promptly sent fans buzzing with anticipation.
The clock will end on Monday (Feb. 27), leading Smilers to speculate that something new is coming down the pipeline from their queen, even if they’re not quite sure what it could be. “What is the new Miley Cyrus countdown for? Let’s bet,” one fan tweeted alongside a poll with several different options, including a new single or tour announcement.
“A countdown for ENDLESS SUMMER VACATION tracklist would be a good idea…,” another user suggested, while a third speculated that the surprise could be a remix of her hit single “Flowers” featuring Bruno Mars.
Speaking of “Flowers,” the Endless Summer Vacation lead single is currently spending its fifth consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Additionally, the empowering anthem recently notched Cyrus her third leader on the Pop Airplay chart (dated Feb. 25), becoming the fastest song to reach No. 1 on the chart since 2016 when Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” made the same leap to the top.
Once it arrives on March 10, Endless Summer Vacation will serve as Cyrus’ eighth studio album and follow-up to 2020’s Plastic Hearts, which bowed at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and featured singles “Midnight Sky,” “Prisoner” with Dua Lipa and “Angel Like You.” In the interim, she also released her 2022 live album Attention: Miley Live.
Check out the countdown on Cyrus’ website here and scroll through some of the fan theories as to what it could mean below.
A countdown for ENDLESS SUMMER VACATION tracklist would be a good idea…— Miley Cyrus México (@MileyCyrusMX_) February 21, 2023
what is the new Miley Cyrus countdown for? Let’s bet!— Miley Cyrus Updates (@MileyCyrusBz) February 24, 2023
🚨According to a reliable source Miley Cyrus is releasing a remix of her smash hit “Flowers” with Bruno Mars. Flowers is a response to Bruno’s “When I was your man”. pic.twitter.com/GfU92k01VL— 𝐁𝐄𝐘𝐒𝐔𝐒🇲🇦🦄 (@mileycyrusvibez) February 24, 2023
Miley Cyrus has a countdown on her website that ends at the same time Brighton Pride are doing their first artist announcement…. Please let this link up 😍— Ricky 🌑 (@RickyJCrypto) February 24, 2023
Paris Hilton said in a new interview that she had an abortion long before welcoming her first child last month.
“This was also something that I didn’t want to talk about because there was so much shame around that,” the “Stars Are Blind” singer told Glamour UK of her decision to have an abortion when she became pregnant in her early 20s. “I was a kid and I was not ready for that.”
In her cover story with the British magazine, the heiress also talked about the ramifications of the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision by the Supreme Court that turned over Roe v. Wade after nearly 50 years. “There’s just so much politics around it and all that, but it’s a woman’s body… Why should there be a law based on that?” she said. “It’s your body, your choice and I really believe in that. It’s mind-boggling to me that they’re making laws about what you do with your reproductive health, because if it were the other way around with the guys, it would not be this way at all.”
Hilton also mentioned during the interview that she was “traumatized” by witnessing a birth while filming The Simple Life. As such, she decided she would have a child by using a surrogate, saying, “But I want a family so bad, it’s just the physical part of doing it. I’m just so scared… childbirth and death are the two things that scare me more than anything in the world.”
Earlier this week, Hilton revealed her newborn son’s name, Phoenix Barron Hilton Reum, for the first time in an episode of her podcast, This Is Paris. Her Glamour UK profile, meanwhile, included the first photos of the adorable baby boy, whose birth was announced in January. “Our whole entire world,” she captioned the sweet pictures, reposting them on her personal Instagram account.
Niall Horan‘s music video for “Heaven” has arrived. On Friday (Feb. 24), the One Direction alum dropped a visual to accompany his new track, following the song’s Feb. 17 release.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The video kicks off with Horan in a room with red drapes as he strums the notes of the track and sings the song, with a female drummer backing him up. But things are not entirely what they seem, as the room opens up to reveal a completely open ceiling. Horan then leaves and ends up in a crowded room filled with partygoers, who dance to the track.
The next room Horan finds himself in looks just like heaven. “Doesn’t get, doesn’t get better than, better than this/ God only knows where this could go/ And even if our love starts to go out of control/ And you let me go up in flames/ Heaven won’t be the same,” Horan sings on the track’s chorus, as the beautiful paradise filled with green hills and flowers turns out to be completely fake.
“Heaven” is the lead single from Horan’s forthcoming album, The Show. The LP will be released June 9.
“This album is a piece of work I’m so proud of and now it’s time to pass it over to you to go and make it your own,” Horan said of the album wrote on Instagram, captioning a post that featured the album’s official cover, a photo of him leaning on a window sill and staring up at the album’s title. “Thank you so much for being there for me all this time and I can’t wait to share the next couple of years of this new era with you. I’ve missed you all so much. It’s good to be back.”
Watch the video “Heaven” above.
