State Champ Radio Pop
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After more than 20 years in the spotlight, queer indie pop duo Tegan and Sara Quin are taking a moment to reflect on their humble origins.
High School, the new Amazon Freevee television adaptation of the sisters’ 2019 memoir of the same name (out Friday), follows the lives of teenage Tegan and Sara (played by TikTok stars Railey and Seazynn Gilliland) as they come to grips with their sexualities, learn to live with one another, start their careers and survive the “universally sh–ty” experience of being teenagers, as Tegan told Billboard.
Not only is the show a fascinating look into life as a misunderstood teen in the ’90s; it’s a testament to the pair’s staying power as a musical duo. Their decade-spanning career has seen the Quin sisters take on whatever mantle best suited them in the moment, constantly adapting to the kind of art they were interested in making.
Look no further than the pair’s upcoming tenth studio album Crybaby, due out on Friday, Oct. 21 via Mom + Pop Records. The project blends elements of punk, pop and folk music to create yet another new sonic landscape that feels uniquely suited for Tegan and Sara
With their new show, a new record and years of experience under their belt, it would be only natural that the twins start thinking about their legacy as pioneering performers. Billboard is here to help in that exercise — below, Billboard staff members take a look back at the 15 songs (in no particular order) that best exemplify the breadth of work Tegan and Sara have given their fans since 1999.
BLACKPINK is getting ready for the tour life ahead of their upcoming global trek. On Thursday (Oct. 13), the four-piece girl group — which consists of Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé — shared a video of themselves heading to the studio to lay down some practice for the Born Pink world tour.
While fans will have to wait until the tour to see what BLACKPINK’s new dances are, the video tides BLINKs over with a vocal practice. The girls head to a studio, and are accompanied by a guitarist, bassist, drummer and keyboard player to provide the instrumentation for their vocal practice. The quartet, dressed in casual clothing, sit in chairs — microphones in hand — as they power through a setlist. (Naturally, the audio of the vocal practice was kept silent to prevent tour spoilers.) Instead, BLACKPINK’s Born Pink track “Yeah Yeah Yeah” was placed as the video’s background music.
The tour practice video marks the second taste fans have received for the Born Pink world tour. On Oct. 5, the K-pop stars teased visuals from the trek, which consisted of two images — one of thick white smoke billowing on a concrete floor, another of a lush, gardenlike setting.
BLACKPINK’s Born Pink world tour is scheduled to kick off on Oct. 15, with its first two dates taking place in Seoul, South Korea. The tour will continue through June 2023 and will make stops in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Watch BLACKPINK’s tour practice video below.
The Spice Girls continued the 25th anniversary celebration of their Spiceworld album on Thursday (Oct. 13) with a revamped version of their iconic “Spice Up Your Life” video. The clip, built entirely from unseen footage from the original shoot, opens with an alternate view of the singers inside a futuristic dirigible with the song’s title splashed in neon on the side.
We then spot the quintet — Mel “Scary Spice” Brown, Melanie “Sporty Spice” Chisholm, Emma “Baby Spice” Bunton, Geri “Ginger Spice” Halliwell and retired member Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham — dancing inside the blimp, with their moves projected on the outside as they float over the city while singing over the song’s samba-inspired beat. In place of the dark, Blade Runner-style city of the future vibe of the original, the revamp is brighter and lighter, focusing more on the band’s members goofing around behind the ship’s controls and grooving in a disco-like void.
Along with the video is a new is a range of “Spice Up Your Life” merch, including a tracksuit hoodie + jogger set, as well as t-shirts, sweatshirts, calendars, key rings, slip mats, trucker hats and a number of merch bundles packaged with the upcoming Spiceworld 25 anniversary edition. The collection, due out on Nov. 4, was curated by the band and will features the original album, remixes, as well as four previously unreleased live tracks, an unheard “Step to Me” original demo recording and the new 15-minute hits-spiked “Spice Girls Party Mix.”
“The Spiceworld era was such a fun time for us; we’d just had a number one album with Spice, we were travelling all over the world and meeting our amazing fans, we released our second album AND we had our very own movie!,” the band said in a statement. “Who would’ve thought it? It’s crazy to think that 25 years have passed.”
Watch the new “Spice Up Your Life” video below.
Baby Shark and friends have teamed up with one of the most promising and freshest faces in the K-pop world.
Girl group NewJeans, Baby Shark and Pinkfong shared a new video singing and dancing to a catchy new song “Ninimo.”
The collaboration came from The Pinkfong Company, the Korean educational entertainment company behind the massively popular “Baby Shark Dance” which is the most-watched video on YouTube with more than 11 billion views.
This new video sees NewJeans members Minji, Haerin, Danielle, Hanni, and Hyein rocking their signature baggy jeans and trendy T-shirts alongside the yellow Baby Shark, magenta fox Pinkfong, and other characters.
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The first tease of the collab came via a clip that referenced NewJeans’ trending “Attention-Wardrobe” clip that earned 4.3 million views on TikTok while using the group’s Billboard Global 200 hit “Attention.”
The NewJeans collaboration is a part of its ongoing Dance Alive program that brings together Korean stars and Pinkfong’s beloved characters. A previous Dance Alive video with choreographer-dancer AIKI performing Bruno Mars’ “Lazy Song” has more than 425,000 views to date.
“We’re thrilled to announce the collaboration with NewJeans, one of the most notable K-pop rookies, bringing a unique and exclusive opportunity to enjoy the songs and dances for fans around the world,” The Pinkfong Company said in a statement through a press release. “Through the Dance Alive project, we plan to continuously engage with fans of all ages including Millennials and Generation Z by teaming up with the beloved K-pop artists.”
In their first-ever international interview with Billboard, NewJeans shared their ambition to reach fans worldwide. “Because we just debuted recently, we’ve been focusing on promoting and performing in Korea, but I promise you that whenever the opportunity comes, we are going to catch a plane and head over to you all,” Hanni said. “Words can’t explain the amount of joy and gratitude we have for our fans all around the world.”
Months after release, NewJeans still boast two tracks on the Billboard Global 200 with “Hype Boy” at No. 74 and “Attention” at No. 121, both in their ninth week on the chart.
Watch NewJeans’ latest move with Pinkfong below:
Niall Horan‘s already got Louis Tomlinson‘s stamp of approval when it comes to joining The Voice for season 23.
Tomlinson addressed the news on Twitter during an impromptu Q&A with fans Wednesday (Oct. 12). “Louis did u know about niall in the voice? AS A COACH[?]” one fan wrote, to which the One Direction alum replied, “I saw yesterday when he posted. He’ll be great at that!”
Another fan was quick to suggest that the “Bigger Than Me” singer should serve as a “guest judge” during his pal’s freshman stint in the show’s red spinning chairs, leading him to ask, “Do they have guest judges on the voice?” (Technically, what the fan was probably thinking of was the show’s battle advisors.)
Later in the thread, Tomlinson admitted he’s never watched the popular singing competition in the past over its 22 seasons and counting, but promised, “I’ll watch it if Niall’s on.”
News of Horan joining the show next season coincided with Blake Shelton announcing that he’ll be leaving his longstanding role as The Voice‘s last original coach after season 23. Kelly Clarkson will also make her return as a coach next season after taking the current season off while The Kelly Clarkson Show took off on a cross-country road trip to launch its fourth year, and Chance the Rapper will join the panel for the first time alongside fellow rookie Horan.
When it comes to the One Direction guys supporting one another’s solo careers, Horan has been particularly vocal in his fandom of Harry Styles’ latest era, dancing the night away at the fellow boy bander’s June show at London’s Wembley Stadium and naming Styles’ record-breaking No. 1 hit “As It Was” as his current favorite song.
Check out Tomlinson root on Horan below.
I saw yesterday when he posted. He’ll be great at that!— Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) October 12, 2022
Do they have guest judges on the voice?— Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) October 12, 2022
I haven’t either but I’ll watch it if Niall’s on— Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) October 12, 2022
Nessa Barrett is gearing up to release her debut album, Young Forever, on Friday (Oct. 14), and the 20-year-old singer sat down with Billboard‘s Rania Aniftos to discuss the upcoming album, as well as her new single, “Tired of California.”
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The singer, who got her start on TikTok, revealed that she got “tired of California” right after she moved to the sunny state. “Living in LA and California itself was a dream of mine since I was little. When I was 17, I ran away and moved across the country to be in LA, and it has given me so many opportunities and I love it so much,” she explained. “But, I feel like a lot of people in the industry can relate, we just feel trapped here.”
On her healing while writing such an emotionally charged album, she shared that she’s big on hypnotherapy and inner child work. “I feel like working with yourself and getting very deep and learning how to have compassion for the person that’s inside of you — because we forget that and neglect ourselves in a way — I feel like it’s very important.”
Barrett also shared her thoughts on those who have large social media platforms that are sometimes not taken seriously when trying to take the jump into full-blown musical artist, and then feel confined. “Everyone online isn’t fully the person that they are on social media. So when people start to branch out and do new things or follow a dream of theirs, it’s kind of confusing for people and it’s hard for them to accept,” she said. “Just because you have an audience and a big platform, it doesn’t mean you don’t grow and change like anyone else. That’s part of life.”
Watch Billboard‘s full interview with Nessa Barrett above.
Taylor Swift will always be a singer-songwriter first and foremost, but when she isn’t penning No. 1 hits or selling out stadiums on tour, the pop star sometimes trade in her guitar for a script. Since rising to fame as a country darling in the 2000s, she’s made cameos in both big screen and small screen projects, be it as a one-time guest on a random episode of CSI or a lead performer in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats film adaptation.
But while it may seem as though Swift’s acting career stemmed from her success in music, here’s a little known fact: The Grammy winner actually started out with a love for musical theater. As she told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in October 2019, “I started out doing musical theater as a kid. It’s what made me fall in love with performing as a medium.”
That said, the musician probably won’t be taking on a second full-time profession any time soon. Three years before appearing in David O. Russell’s Amsterdam — which debuted in theaters Oct. 7, 2022 — she was asked by Webber in an interview for British Vogue whether she’d ever considered fully committing to being an actress.
“I have no idea,” she told the composer, with whom she also composed a song for the movie adaptation of Cats.
“When I was younger, I used to get questions like, ‘Where do you see yourself in 10 years?’ I’d try to answer. As I get older, I’m learning that wisdom is learning how dumb you are compared to how much you are going to know. I really had an amazing time with Cats. I think I loved the weirdness of it. I loved how I felt I’d never get another opportunity to be like this in my life.”
Keep reading to learn about all of Taylor Swift’s acting roles to date.
It’s finally here, BTS ARMY — the Bangtan Boys first teased their special yoga-themed Run BTS episode on Oct. 4, which featured members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jung Kook giving the aerial silks a try.
Though the K-pop stars were totally game in the teaser to experience a brand new challenge, the septet later ended up quickly struggling with nailing down the moves. Now, ARMY has the chance to see the episode in full — and all the hilarious shenanigans that ensued — in a video uploaded to BTS’ official YouTube on Tuesday (Oct. 11).
After being introduced to their instructor, who greeting the K-pop group by instantly launching to a pose above ground on the aerial silks, BTS gave him a round of applause — but not without gushing over their instructor’s physique and talents. Jimin, impressed with the elegant display, said, “He made a fantastic appearance!” Suga then enquired, “Did you make that body with flying yoga?”
Jin and RM then had their own questions, with the singer asking, “He probably worked out, right?” and the rapper adding, “What if he pumps a lot of metal at home?” The instructor assured the guys that aerial yoga acts as a full body workout, which RM concluded, “Those are muscles that are made in action!”
The rest of the episode sees the BTS members doing a lengthy stretching session, some members more successful at hitting the exercises than others, before giving actual aerial silk moves a try. All of the members struggled with at least one of the moves, but closer to the end of their class, the members had more stability and confidence. Sadly, fans will have to wait for the next episode to see how BTS makes it through the rest of the class.
The next part of “Fly BTS Fly” will first air through Weverse and VLive, and will later be available on YouTube. Watch the newest installment of Run BTS below.
Lizzo sat down for Vanity Fair‘s Lie Detector Test on Tuesday, and the results were as amusing as you’d expect.
In contrast to the famous lyric in her breakout single “Truth Hurts,” the singer admitted she’s actually never taken a DNA test to determine if she’s really “100 percent that bi—,” as the song goes. (Though if she did, she’d be crossing her fingers to be related to Beyoncé despite her Detroit roots and Queen Bey hailing from Texas.)
However, when it comes to what it takes to actually be “100 percent that bi—,” Lizzo said, “I think it’s owning your identity and having autonomy of your body, and owning that. And of who you are and owning that. Having no shame in your motherf—ing game.”
Later in the interview, Lizzo hesitated to answer a question about whether she’s aiming for EGOT status now that she’s taken home her first Emmy for Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls (not to mention her three Grammys), saying, “See, you can’t spell EGOT without ‘ego,’ and I try to keep my ego out of my career and my purpose.”
Knowing she was hooked up to a polygraph machine, the “About Damn Time” singer was blatantly honest about how much time she spends on TikTok (“It’s a lot, it’s embarrassing”) and copped to having a secret Instagram account where she posts pictures with boyfriend Myke Wright, however she got caught in a lie about whether fans would be surprised with what’s on her TikTok “For You Page.”
In the section about her life, Lizzo revealed that she has, in fact, gotten apologies from former classmates who bullied her in high school for being a band geek. However, the apologies didn’t stop her from refusing to give the unnamed bullies free tickets to her show when they asked (“I feel like I should’ve said ‘yeah,’ but that would’ve been a lie”).
Watch Lizzo’s full Lie Detector Test segment below.
In the teaser clip, a group of young girls are seen at desks, applying heavy makeup in front of a phone attached to a ring light.
