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RAYE landed her very first No. 1 hit in the U.K. on Friday (Jan. 6) with her latest single “Escapism,” featuring 070 Shake.
“This is proof [you should] back yourself, no matter what,” the indie artist said through tears in a video posted to her socials of her accepting the award from the U.K.’s Official Charts Company. “Thank you, this is mad. These are happy tears!”
The pop-rap collab with 070 Shake is just one of several singles the British singer-songwriter has dropped in recent months ahead of her upcoming debut album My 21st Century Blues, alongside “Hard Out Here,” “Black Mascara” and “The Thrill Is Gone.” In tandem with its chart-topping success in her native U.K., “Escapism” also became RAYE’s first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, so far peaking at No. 72 (chart dated Dec. 31).
Earlier in December, the track turned into a bona fide global hit thanks to going viral on TikTok and soared into the top 40 on both the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. and Billboard Global 200 charts. The song benefited from a release strategy that included both sped-up and slowed-down versions, as well as a live recording.
RAYE’s initial success on the Billboard charts came in the Dance/Electronic genre. Since 2016, she’s notched 14 entries on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart with two landing in the top 10: 2020’s “Secrets” with Regard and 2021’s “Bed” with Joel Corry and David Guetta. (Her collab with Regard also became a minor crossover hit on the Pop Airplay chart by peaking just inside the top 40 at No. 39.)
Watch Raye tearfully accept her U.K. No. 1 for “Escapism” below.
Lizzo has no time for the comments on people’s bodies — especially her own.
The “About Damn Time” superstar took to TikTok on Friday (Jan. 6) to share a video, in which she’s seen glowing in a bikini and a high ponytail. “The discourse around bodies is officially tired,” she shouts at the camera. “I’ve seen comments go from, ‘Oh my gosh, I liked you when you were thick. Why did you lose weight?’ ‘Oh my gosh, why did you get a BBL? I liked your body before.’ ‘Oh my gosh, you’re so big. You need to lose weight but for your health’ to ‘Oh my gosh, you’re so little. You need to get a– or titties or something.’ ‘Oh my gosh, why did she get all that work done? It’s too much work.’”
She continued, “Are we OK? Do you see the delusion? Do you realize that artists are not here to fit into your beauty standards? Artists are here to make art. And this body is art. I’mma do whatever I want with this body. I wish that comments costed y’all money so we could see how much time we are f—ing wasting on the wrong thing. Can we leave that s— back there please?”
Lizzo has been a longtime advocate for body positivity and self love. However, in a Vanity Fair cover story back in October, the Grammy winner revealed just how hurtful some of the racist and fatphobic comments she receives on a daily basis can be.
“I lead a very healthy lifestyle — mentally, spiritually, I try to keep everything I put in my body super clean,” she continued. “Health is something I prioritize, wherever that leads me physically. Like veganism, people were like, ‘You’re a vegan? What, are you deep frying the lettuce?’ I’m not a vegan to lose weight, I just feel better when I eat plants.”
“It sucks that we associate weight gain with the negative thing that causes it,” she added. “It’s mixing this beautiful thing that’s food — and nourishing ourselves with it, but it’s the stress that’s the bad thing, not the 20 pounds.
“I feel very lucky because I don’t feel that weight gain is bad anymore. Nor is weight loss — it’s neutral.”
Ouch! Charli XCX shared a snap from a hospital bed on Thursday (Jan. 5) after having her wisdom teeth removed.
In the selfie, the “Hot In It” singer lays in the post-op bed with with giant packs of gauze on her jaw, a monitor jokingly stuck to her forehead and one shoulder falling out of her hospital gown. But never fear, she made it clear in the cheeky caption that she’s already on the chaotic mend, writing, “all my wisdom has gone. dumb and inexplicable decisions only from now on.”
If Charli is committed to only dumb decisions post-surgery, one of her smartest decisions of 2022 was releasing her fifth studio album Crash last March. Not only did the studio set — which contained pop-driven singles like “Good Ones,” “Beg For You” with Rina Sawayama and “Baby” — notch the star her very first top 10 album of her career, it also landed at No. 17 on Billboard‘s best albums of 2022 list.
Throughout the rest of the year, Charli hit the stage at the “Live From the Upside Down” concert to celebrate the Season 4 premiere of Netflix’s Stranger Things, celebrated the 10th anniversary of “I Love It” with Icona Pop by dropping a brand new remix and took over day one of Life Is Beautiful 2022 in Las Vegas along with female powerhouses like Alison Wonderland and Blu DeTiger. There was also the moment where she and Lorde almost dressed up as one another for Halloween, too.
See Charli’s post-surgery selfie below.
SZA is gunning for a fourth week atop the Billboard 200 with her triumphant new album, SOS, which would mean beating out Taylor Swift‘s blockbuster Midnights — currently at No. 2 — once again for the top spot. Some fans have taken the chart race as an indication that there might be a rivalry between the two artists behind the scenes, but the R&B star quickly put the rumor to rest.
“Uhh I feel silly that I even have to say this but i see supporters arguing and I hate that,” she tweeted early Friday (Jan. 6). “I don’t have beef w ANYONE especially not Taylor lmao I genuinely loved her album and the writing!”
“Everyone’s jus tryna do their BEST as we all should,” added the “Kill Bill” musician. “LOVE TO EVERYONE.”
SZA’s message was written in response to one of her own tweets, in which she’d thanked her fans for streaming and buying SOS during the tracking period for next week’s charts. “Thank you CAMP for always DOING YOUR BIG ONE,” she’d written.
SOS was released Dec. 9, 2022, more than five years after SZA’s debut record, Ctrl, making it one of the most anticipated releases of the year. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and has spent three weeks since reigning the chart, a winning streak that’s predicted to continue once the chart updates on Tuesday (Jan. 10).
Midnights also topped the Billboard 200 after it dropped in October, and has spent five weeks so far at No. 1. It’s been dethroned a few times during its run, first by Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss on the Nov. 17, 2022, chart, and then again by Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains on the Dec. 17 chart. One week later, SOS made its chart debut at No. 1, keeping Midnights in the same No. 2 slot from the week before.
See SZA’s tweet clearing up rumors about beef with Taylor Swift:
Uhh I feel silly that I even have to say this but i see supporters arguing and I hate that . I don’t have beef w ANYONE especially not Taylor lmao I genuinely loved her album and the writing!Everyone’s jus tryna do their BEST as we all should . LOVE TO EVERYONE. Gn 🤍— SZA (@sza) January 6, 2023
The lineup for the 2023 BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, CA dropped on Friday (Jan. 6) and it features headlining slots from The Black Keys, Gwen Stefani and The Black Crowes. The event that launched in 2019 will take place from May 5-7 on the city’s waterfront and feature sets from a wide variety of rock, pop, reggae, hip-hop and classic rock acts.
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Also slated to perform over the course of the three-day fest celebrating all things Southern California are: Pixies, Modest Mouse, Tegan & Sara, Kurt Vile and the Violators, LP, The Airborne Toxic Event, Travie McCoy (Gym Class Heroes) and Shaed on day one, Sublime with Rome (performing the group’s beloved 40 Oz. to Freedom album), Band of Horses, Iration, Dispatch, Sugar Ray and Aly & Aj on day two and John Fogerty (performing the music of Creedence Clearwater Revival), Caamp, The Head and the Heart, Noah Cyrus, Mavis Staples and Trampled by Turtles on the final day.
“It’s surreal to our family that BeachLife continues to grow in the music and surf community, and we are so excited to release this lineup — what we believe is a perfect curation to a weekend at the beach,” co-founder Allen Sanford said in a statement about the event that features four beachside performance stages and the Daou SideStage Experience, in which foodies can set onstage as they enjoy a four-course meal from celebrity chefs. “These artists, along with our beautiful Pacific Ocean as the backdrop, and the sand and salt in our face, will make for another unforgettable weekend at BeachLife. Throw your boardshorts or sundresses on and join us!”
One of the stages, the SpeakEasy, is curated by Pennywise singer Jim Lindberg and will feature intimate, stripped-down acoustic performances from a variety of acts. Other acts slated to perform include: The Beaches, Poncho Sanchez, BabyJake, XYZPDQ, Jonny Two Bags (Social Distortion), Zander Schloss (Circle Jerks), Tomorrows Bad Seeds, Tropidelic, Eli Smart, Rainbow Girls, Special C, The Wailers, Lindberg, Donavon Frankenreiter, Winnetka Bowling League and many more.
Three-day and single day GA, GA-plus, VIP and Captain/Admiral tickets are on sale now here.
It’s happening, Swifties. It’s really happening. Taylor Swift recently confirmed that rehearsals for her highly anticipated Eras Tour, which kicks off this March, have officially begun.
“It’s me! Hi!” the 33-year-old pop star wrote on her Instagram Story Thursday (Jan. 5), referencing her No. 1 single “Anti-Hero.” “I’m taking a break from tour rehearsal to tell you…”
Swift went on to promote her 12-hour flash sale of exclusive digital copies of Midnights, which included bonus “behind the song” material for four of the album’s tracks. The sale has since ended, but that’s not the part that caught Swifties’ eyes.
“I knew taylor was in tour rehearsals but her TELLING US just makes it feel even more real,” tweeted one of the many Swifties who caught on to that part of the “All Too Well” singer’s message.
“taylor saying the words tour rehearsal alone it’s all starting to feel real we literally see taylor in 2 and a half months,” wrote another.
The Eras Tour will mark Swift’s first tour in about five years, her last trek being 2018’s Reputation Tour. Since then, she’s released four new albums (Lover, Folklore, Evermore and Midnights) and two re-recorded albums (Fearless and Red), making the 11-time Grammy winner’s return to live performance one of the biggest tickets in show business this decade.
So big, in fact, that the fan presale for Eras Tour crashed Ticketmaster’s website after millions signed on to purchase tickets. The level of demand led to the cancelation of the general sale, a public statement made by Swift against Ticketmaster, and lawsuits leveraged by disgruntled Swifties against the ticketing company.
Meanwhile, Dylan O’Brien — Swift’s friend and the star of her All Too Well short film — could serve as a choreography consultant for the Eras Tour backup dancers, if a new TikTok is any indication. The 31-year-old actor appeared expertly dancing alongside the Knicks City Dancers in a video on their account, which captioned the clip, “We’ll remember this all too well.”
Check out some of the fan reaction to Taylor Swift saying she’s rehearsing for tour:
i knew taylor was in tour rehearsals but her TELLING US just makes it feel even more real— julia ★ (@juliaknowsit) January 6, 2023
No major spoilers, but if you tuned in to the second season of HBO’s hit vacation nightmare series White Lotus you may have missed a super low-key guest appearance from Oscar-winning actress Laura Dern. On Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday night (Jan. 5), the host asked Dern to describe how she ended up making a hush-hush cameo on the series.
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And, of course, what it’s like to be spotted by Taylor Swift fans in the wild thanks to her role in the singer’s “Bejweled” video.
“Recorded from the closet of my room,” Dern said of the secret bit she laid down as a favor to her old friend, Lotus writer and creator Mike White, who previously teamed up with Dern on his previous HBO series, Enlightened. As explained by Kimmel, Dern had an uncredited voice role as star Michael Imperioli’s estranged wife, who is heard, but never seen, in the show.
“It was amazing,” Dern said of the drop-in. “I loved literally recording into my phone and him saying, ‘just go to town, be as angry as you want.’” Dern said she didn’t tell anyone about phoning it in, but noted that her son figure it out when they watched the show together.
Kimmel also asked Dern about her on-screen cameo as the evil stepmother to the Haim sisters in Taylor Swift’s Cinderella-inspired “Bejeweled” video. “Taylor asked me and it sounded like such an incredible time and I was amazed by what a great filmmaker she is, how prepared she was, how improvisational and fun it was. I had the time of my life,” Dern said of Swift’s turn as a director on the shoot for the song from her Midnights album.
Sure, it was fun and tens of millions of people saw the video, but Dern noted that on a recent trip to Hawaii with family she happened to be standing near a sign for a tour of scenes from the Jurassic Park series — Dern has appeared in three films in the series — when a Swiftie spotted her in the wold. Not wanting to do the “whole Jurassic Park thing” while trying to enjoy a vacay with her family, Dern was expecting the girl to ask for a selfie with legendary paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler.
Instead, the fan squealed, “‘Oh my God! Oh my God! Aren’t you the girl in the Taylor Swift video?’” A good sport, Dern said she agreed to a photo marking her pivotal role as a Swift-adjacent actress, which, of course, was framed with the “Welcome to Jurassic Park” sign in the background.
Watch Dern on Kimmel below.
Billboard’s First Stream 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, YoungBoy keeps his prolific streak alive, Popcaan and Drake re-team with a new mission, and Shania Twain keeps us dancing into the new year. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:
YoungBoy Never Broke Again, I Rest My Case
YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s output is not only mind-boggling — four mixtapes, one album and a compilation album in 2022, the majority of which reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart — but also serves as a simple way to track the Baton Rouge native’s gradual rise as a musician and lyricist: YoungBoy generally gets more discerning and ferocious with every new project, and I Rest My Case is one of his strongest full-lengths to date. The album’s momentum snowballs from the opening bodyslam of “Black,” “Louie V” and “Swag On Point,” and ends with an affecting open letter, “Hey Pops”; in between, YoungBoy suggests that, if last year had nonstop highs, 2023 could be even bigger.
Popcaan feat. Drake, “We Caa Done”
From “Controlla” on Drake’s Views to “All I Need” on Popcaan’s Fixtape project, the hip-hop superstar and dancehall king have proven reliable collaborators for more than a half-decade — and now, ahead of Popcaan’s album Great Is He, they’ve re-teamed for a triumphant start to the new year. “We Caa Done” functions as a raised glass after overcoming tribulations, with Drake crooning in patois, Popcaan demonstrating a flow that’s long been hypnotic, and the percolating beat helping both along the way, setting up what’s sure to be a club staple across borders in 2023.
Shania Twain, “Giddy Up!”
The story of modern country-pop could not be told without Shania Twain, and as she embarks on a big year that will include a new album and sprawling tour, the legendary singer-songwriter is still serving up crossover singles designed to get hands clapping and butts out of seats. “Giddy Up!” will lead forthcoming album Queen of Me and is indeed a party-starter, all call-and-response problem-shedding and frothy lines written for Friday night gatherings; by the time the acoustic strumming has segued to electric riffing, you’ll find that you, too, would like to shout “Giddy up.”
Yahritza Y Su Esencia, “Cambiaste”
Anyone paying close-enough attention to the rapid rise of Yahritza Y Su Esencia last year understood that the Regional Mexican trio’s TikTok success would probably not be ephemeral — the talents of Yahritza Martinez, and her older brothers Armando and Jairo, were too distinct to ignite and then dissipate. New single “Cambiaste” relies heavily upon Yahritza’s pleading voice and Mando’s 12-string guitar, but that formula remains effective — if not even more emotionally harrowing, especially as the song circles around and then hammers down during the finale.
Skrillex feat. PinkPantheress & Trippie Redd, “Way Back”
After returning earlier this week with “Rumble,” a teeth-smashing dance-rap track featuring Fred again.. and Flowdan, Skrillex has kicked off 2023 with another intriguing three-artist summit: “Way Back,” with PinkPantheress and Trippie Redd, sizzles in the places that “Rumble” shimmers, with Trippie handed hook duties and PinkPantheress weaving a compelling story within a single verse. Both songs are relatively short — “Way Back” clocks in at under two minutes — but are satisfying enough to raise hopes that the year will bring more tunes from a rejuvenated Skrillex.
Ice Spice, “In Ha Mood”
“I’m proud that I’m still gettin’ bigger / Goin’ viral is gettin’ ’em sicker,” Ice Spice raps on the victory-lap single “In Ha Mood.” The Bronx rapper, fresh off of gaining well-deserved fame for her Internet sensation “Munch (Feelin’ U),” serves up another drill track with a refrain that’s primed for TikTok users to feast upon — but “In Ha Mood” is also snappier and more lyrically dense than Ice Spice’s past offerings, allowing her to swoop down upon her naysayers with a sharpened sword.
Elton John took to social media to celebrate “Hold Me Closer,” his duet with Britney Spears, being named Billboard readers’ favorite song of 2022.
“An enormous thank you to @billboard, its readers and all the fans of ‘Hold Me Closer’ who voted it their favourite song of 2022!!” he wrote in a heartfelt Instagram post. “And thank you @britneyspears for your talent and collaboration in making this happen and the incredible @thisiswatt [producer Watt] who shares this success! What an incredible way to kick off the year.”
In the official results of the poll, Sir Elton’s disco-flecked collab with Spears dominated by earning nearly 45% of the vote, followed by Wizkid’s “Bad to Me” at 25% and both Anitta’s “Envolver” and BLACKPINK’s “Shut Down” with 8% each.
“Hold Me Closer” earned the superstar his second top 10 hit of 2022 when it debuted at No. 6 on the Hot 100 back in September, and also became the highest-charting single of his career since “Candle in the Wind 1997” after Princess Diana’s death. Earlier last year, John’s “Cold Heart” duet with Dua Lipa also broke through to the top 10.
Sir Elton finished out the calendar year by raking in a whopping $60 million gross on the eight final dates of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour and releasing his hotly anticipated concert film Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium on Disney+. For his very last U.S. concert, the icon was joined onstage by Lipa, as well as Brandi Carlile and Kiki Dee. His final U.K. bow is slated to blast off this June on the last night of Glastonbury 2023.
See Elton’s reaction to coming out on top in Billboard’s songs of 2022 poll below.
Ariana Grande is set to make her return to the Werk Room on the season 15 premiere of RuPaul’s Drag Race this Friday (Jan. 6), which provides ample opportunity for one of her songs to be used in a lip sync smackdown to eliminate the first queen of the season.
The pop star’s music has already provided epic moments throughout the show’s 15 seasons, spin-offs and international iterations (“I’d like to keep it on, please,” anyone?), and she even served as a guest judge back in season 7. Now Billboard wants to know: Which of Grande’s song do you want to hear in a Lip Sync for Your Life next?
So far, Grande’s discography has been mined a total of eight times on the main stage, including iconic lip syncs set to “Break Free,” “Into You,” “No Tears Left to Cry” and, yes, “Greedy.” But there are still more than a few gems and powerhouse cuts left yet untapped by RuPaul.
One of the most obvious choices is “7 Rings” — its swaggering beat, braggadocious lyrics and delectable connection to The Sound of Music (a.k.a. canon for theater gays!) would provide the perfect backdrop for two desperate queens to outflex each other.
Both “Positions” and “Thank U, Next” are equally strong contenders for the lip sync treatment, with the former’s teasing, sexually charged lyrics sure to inspire some rather NSFW moves on the stage and the latter giving queens a chance to live out their First Wives Club fantasies for the judges. (I mean, just imagine it after a runway filled with white power suits, am I right?)
Other fan favorites perfect for a Lip Sync for Your Life include her Lady Gaga duet “Rain on Me,” “Dangerous Woman,” “God Is a Woman” and “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored.” Also, how has “Side to Side” (featuring Nicki Minaj) not been used already?
Vote for the Ariana song you want to see used as a Lip Sync for Your Life in Billboard‘s poll below.
