Pop
Page: 96
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.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
This week, Latto keeps hip-hop fans on their toes, Shawn Mendes returns on his own terms and J Balvin brings a ton of friends to the party. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Latto, Sugar Honey Iced Tea
[embedded content]
Time and again over the course of her career, Latto has zagged away from expectations, lobbing out pop tracks as an underground star then turning in ferocious verses instead of catering to radio; similarly, new album Sugar Honey Iced Tea abides by Southern rap touchstones but refuses to be pigeonholed, as Latto offers up old-school bars while tinkering with her own image and that of popular hip-hop.
Shawn Mendes, “Why Why Why”
[embedded content]
“I stepped off the stage with nothing left / All the lights were f–king with my head,” Shawn Mendes admits on “Why Why Why,” a highly compelling piece of folk-pop that finds the singer-songwriter vulnerable to the point of sounding haunted, two years removed from cancelling a tour due to mental health purposes — lucky for us, the next line goes, “But here I am, singing songs again.”
Trending on Billboard
J Balvin, Rayo
[embedded content]
Only four of the 15 tracks on J Balvin’s new album Rayo are solo cuts, with the guest-heavy project boasting visits from Feid, Carin Leon, Zion and Bad Gyal, among many others — yet Balvin never gets overshadowed as he hopscotches across genre exercises, keeping the tempo up and sounding at ease within trap, reggaeton, Mexican and electro-pop compositions.
Katy Perry, “Lifetimes”
[embedded content]
Katy Perry teased “Lifetimes” as a new single aimed at listeners who “want to rave,” and indeed, the follow-up to “Woman’s World” contains a more club-ready thump and outsized hook — but “Lifetimes” also marks the return of Perry’s emotional intensity, with her passion and undying devotion now directed at her daughter, Daisy.
Asake, Lungu Boy
[embedded content]
Nigerian superstar Asake has put in quick work to become one of the biggest Afrobeats artists in the world, and Lungu Boy, his third album in three years, is designed to keep his momentum intact: the Travis Scott team-up “Active” is a deserving mainstream shot that will get plenty of party spins, but the quieter moments on songs like “My Heart” and the Wizkid collaboration “MMS” make for a more well-rounded project.
Ravyn Lenae, Bird’s Eye
[embedded content]
After grabbing hold of R&B diehards on 2022 debut HYPNOS, Ravyn Lenae has honed her approach on Bird’s Eye, which features Childish Gambino and Ty Dolla $ign but is defined by the airiness of Lenae’s melodies — from the excellent opener “Genius” onward, she sounds like a sorceress, conjuring hooks out of the atmosphere around her.
NIKI, Buzz
[embedded content]
88rising breakout NIKI has earned a large following with subtly drawn pop songs that swell up in front of sprawling festival crowds; Buzz, her latest full-length, tweaks her atmospheric approach and drills down on its personal touches, revealing more from the rising star even on instances in which her voice is distorted or evaporating.
Beabadoobee, This is How Tomorrow Moves
[embedded content]
Light years removed from her breakthrough thanks to Powfu’s “Death Bed (Coffee For Your Head),” Beabadoobee continues carving out a singular alt-rock path on third album This is How Tomorrow Moves, with Rick Rubin helming the new full-length and helping streamline the guitar chug and wistful hooks on songs like “California” and “Beaches.”
Oso Oso, Life Till Bones
[embedded content]
Whether he’s working in the emo, indie-rock or pop worlds, Jade Lilitri remains a towering songwriting force — and Life Till Bones, his latest Oso Oso project, may be his finest moment to date, an accessible update to the aesthetic that made 2019’s Basking in the Glow so essential while also reflecting on personal tragedy and the strength that can unexpectedly result from such sorrow.
Editor’s Pick: Amos Lee, Transmissions
[embedded content]
After settling into his skin on 2022’s Dreamland, Amos Lee continues operating in a winning mode — with even more introspection — on Transmissions, a collection of gentle, jazzy Americana-pop amalgamations that include some of Lee’s strongest songwriting to date, particularly the poignant self-examination of “Beautiful Day” and “Carry You On,” a lump-in-throat tribute to a fallen friend.
Kelly Clarkson has turned the art of the bespoke cover into a staple of her syndicated daytime talk show. Whether she’s tackling Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees,” Tony Bennett’s “(I Left My Heart) In San Francisco, fellow American Idol alum Carrie Underwood’s “Blown Away” or the Last Dinner Party’s “Nothing Matters,” Clarkson’s fans know to tune […]
A third person has been detained by Austrian authorities in connection with the foiled terror plot to attack fans at Taylor Swift‘s now-cancelled Eras Tour shows in Vienna this weekend. The Associated Press reported that an unnamed 18-year-old man was arrested Thursday evening (August 8) following the earlier arrests of the 19-year-old main suspect in the incident and a 17-year-old, both of whom were taken into custody on Tuesday.
At press time no additional information was available on the third suspect or on what charges the three men might be facing in connection with what officials describe as plans to unleash a potentially devastating mass casualty event by the trio. The main suspect has told police that he planned to attack Swifties gathered outside Ernst Happel Stadium for what were supposed to be three shows (August 8, 9, 10) at the 65,000-capacity venue.
Officials had expected up to 30,000 fans without tickets to post up outside the stadium each night, with the 19-year-old telling officials that he planned to drive a vehicle into the throng and attack those gathered for the concerts with knives or homemade explosives at Thursday or Friday night’s shows in order to “kill as many people as possible.”
The attack was reportedly inspired by the terror groups al-Qaida and the Islamic State, with the main suspect and the 18-year-old arrested on Friday allegedly pledging an “oath of allegiance” to ISIS; CNN described the 18-year-old as an Iraqi national who was detained as part of the “broad scope” of the ongoing investigation as the interior ministry is “taking decisive action against anyone who might be involved in terrorist activities or exhibits radical tendencies.”
CNN also reported that during their investigation at the main suspect’s home, police investigators said they found bomb-making materials, detonators, 21,000 euros in counterfeit money, machetes, knives and anabolic steroids. Authorities also said the main suspect quit his job on July 25, saying he had “something big planned.” Islamic State and al-Qaida-related materials were also found at the 17-year-old’s home. According to the AP, the latter has so far refused to talk to authorities, who also revealed that he’d been hired earlier this week by a company that was providing unspecified services at the venue for the anticipated shows.
The 18-year-old arrested on Friday also reportedly swore the oath to the terror groups and “comes from the social environment” of the main suspect, but is not believed to be directly linked to the foiled plot.
At press time Swift had not made any public statement about the cancellation of the shows or the reports about the thwarted attack and a spokesperson had not returned a request for additional comment.
While breathing a sigh of relief that Austrian authorities broke up the plot before it could be carried out, crestfallen Swifties who’d traveled from all over the world and Europe consoled each other in the Vienna streets on Thursday by gathering to sing Swift’s songs and trade friendship bracelets. The superfans flooded Corneliusgasse street — a boulevard in Vienna that shares a name with Swift’s song “Cornelia Street” — where they traded the tour’s signature bracelets, hung them from trees and sang “But Daddy I Love Him” from Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department album. In another silver lining scene, a pair of Swifties got engaged on the streets of Vienna in a “Love Story” brought to life.
The Vienna shows were supposed to be the penultimate run on the European leg of Swift’s Eras Tour. On Thursday, officials in the UK said that there is no indication that the Vienna cancellation will have any impact on next week’s kick-off of a five-night (August 15-20) night run at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Taylor Swift‘s The Eras Tour shows in Vienna, scheduled for Aug. 8, 9, and 10 may be cancelled, but it hasn’t dampened the spirit of Swifties in Vienna, who have transformed the city into a celebration of Taylor’s music and community.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The cancellation came after Austrian authorities arrested two suspects on Aug. 7, who were reportedly planning an attack on the concerts. According to police reports, the suspects had radicalized online and intended to carry out an attack at the Ernst Happel Stadium, where the shows were set to take place.
The decision to cancel the concerts was made in coordination with Swift’s management and local authorities, with the safety of the expected 65,000 concertgoers each night being the top priority.
Trending on Billboard
In the wake of the cancellations, fans in Vienna took to the streets on Aug. 8 to make the most of their time in the city and meet fellow fans.
One of the most heartwarming scenes unfolded on Corneliusgasse, a street in Vienna that shares a name with Swift’s song “Cornelia Street.” Here, fans traded handmade friendship bracelets and hung them from trees, strengthening the connections they’ve formed through Swift’s music.
24 hours after we found out our @taylorswift13 concert was cancelled because of an ISIS terrorist plot Swifties have gathered at “Cornelia street” to sing, trade friendship bracelets and just feel joy. Radicalization is a real threat, but the cowards can’t beat Swifties pic.twitter.com/a51pRVgS4s— Ariella (tortured poet version) (@ariellakimmel) August 8, 2024
In one particularly sweet moment caught on video and shared on social media, two Taylor Swift fans got engaged in Vienna in their very own “Love Story.”
The touching proposal was met with cheers and tears from the gathered fans, adding a special note of joy to an otherwise challenging day.
According to fans on social media, local businesses and cultural institutions also extended their support to the disappointed fans.
Several museums offered free entry to those holding concert tickets, while cafes and restaurants provided complimentary food and drinks.
In the face of fear and uncertainty, Swifties have turned a cancelled concert into a city-wide celebration of resilience, music, and friendship—a true reflection of the spirit of Swift’s Eras Tour.
Shawn Mendes is giving fans their first taste of his upcoming album. The star unveiled two tracks, “Why Why Why” and “Isn’t That Enough,” on Friday (Aug. 9). “I stepped off the stage with nothing left/ All the lights were fucking with my head/ But here I am singing songs again/ Why, oh, why/ Ease […]
Katy Perry enjoyed the vacation of a lifetime in the video for her new single, “Lifetimes.”
The Stillz-directed clip for the Dr. Luke-produced track, released on Thursday (Aug. 8) finds the superstar making memories in Ibiza, Spain, as she spends the day on the beach before partying all night at the club. “I know you feel it/ Can you believe it?/ I’m gonna love you ’til the end and then repeat it/ For life/ For life,” Perry sings in the high-energy, dance floor-ready chorus.
“‘Lifetimes’ is a song about eternal love,” Perry said in a press statement. “It’s about finding that one deep and satisfying love of your life. A soulmate doesn’t always have to come in the form of a partner – it can come in all different ways, a child, a best friend, a pet. For me it is my daughter – I ask her every night, ‘Will you find me in every lifetime?’ She says yes, and I feel found. You’ll find each other, over and over again, for lifetimes.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Perry welcomed her daughter, Daisy Dove, with fiancé Orlando Bloom in August 2020.
Elsewhere in the music video, Perry reveals the 11-song track list for her upcoming album, 143, which features “Lifetimes” as well as the project’s lead single, “Woman’s World.” Other song titles include “I’m His He’s Mine,” “Crush,” “Nirvana,” “All the Love,” “Truth” and “Wonder.” There also appears to be some undisclosed collaborations on the album on songs including “Gorgeous,” “Gimme Gimme” and “Artificial.”
Trending on Billboard
143, which is code for “I love you,” is scheduled for release on Sept. 20 through Capitol Records. The forthcoming set marks Perry’s first album since 2020’s Smile, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200.
Watch the “Lifetimes” music video below.
[embedded content]
UK officials have announced that there is no indication that the terror threats before Taylor Swift’s now-cancelled shows in Vienna, Austria, will have any impact on her upcoming shows in London.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“There is nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London,” a spokesperson for London’s Metropolitan Police said on Thursday (Aug. 8), per Reuters, adding, “The Met works closely with venue security teams and other partners to ensure there are appropriate security and policing plans in place. As always, we will continue to keep any new information under careful review.”
Swift is currently set to perform at London’s Wembley Stadium over five sold-out nights from August 15 to 20.
Earlier in the day, Associated Press reported that the main suspect in the case, a 19-year-old male, confessed that he planned to “kill as many people as possible” outside Ernst Happel Stadium, where Swift was scheduled to perform from August 8 to 10.
In a statement on Wednesday (Aug. 7), Barracuda Music, the concert promoters for the Austrian shows said, “With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety. All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days.”
The person identified as the main plotter reportedly quit his job and “conspicuously changed his appearance and adapted to IS [Islamic State] propaganda,” despite his North Macedonian roots. Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, Austria’s head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, said the suspect wanted to use knives or homemade explosives to attack Swifties outside the stadium at the event, which was expected to draw more than 195,000 fans.
Authorities also said that I.S. and al-Qaida materials were found at the home of a second, 17-year-old Austrian suspect, who was reportedly recently hired by a company that provides services at the venue. Both suspects are currently in custody.
At press time, Swift had not commented on the incident. Billboard has reached out to the star’s reps for comment.
If you can tell an actor is acting when you watch them on the screen then they’re probably not doing a great job. But if you couldn’t discern that Stranger Things star Sadie Sink had never really been in love despite certainly acting like it in Taylor Swift‘s All Too Well: The Short Film, then that’s because Sink did some deep-dive research to get into character as her half of the dysfunctional, age-gap relationship with actor Dylan O’Brien.
“At that point, I had never been in love,” Sink told Variety magazine about getting cast in the video as, basically, a stand-in for a 20-year-old Swift when she was dating actor Jake Gyllenhaal, then 29. “I had never been through a breakup that intense. It was all foreign territory for me. I had to rely on just my years of research as a Swiftie.”
Trending on Billboard
Sink said she connected to herself in a profound way — like many Swifties — through the singer’s confessional lyrics, especially the song’s biting kiss-off line, “And you call me up again just to break me like a promise.” In the break-up scene, as that lyric unfolds, Sink is shown curled in a ball on her bed weeping as her phone lights up in the nearly 15-minute mini-movie written and directed by Swift.
“As I was going, things from my personal life kind of came forward, which fueled it even more,” she said of the tricky actor’s task of trying to focus on what’s going on with their character rather than tapping into their own life experiences to find the right emotional tone for a scene. “Then I was like, ‘Whoa. Maybe I should do some work on Sadie in these areas.’”
While the now-22-year-old star didn’t go into detail on what that work entailed, she did note that she’s since cut “All Too Well” from her “wind-down song” playlist while working on the anticipated upcoming fifth and final season of Stranger Things. “It holds this incredibly nostalgic feeling for me now that I feel physically in my body,” she said as she wrapped her arms around herself. “It’s too intense.”
Sink talked about getting cast in the short film in Jan. 2023 with Seth Meyers, calling the process “bizarre.” The actress said she was already a fan when Swift’s team reached out to say the singer had her in mind for the role. “You would never think that our paths would really cross, someone being in the music industry and then in the film industry,” Sink said of the “trippiest” offer she’s had to date. “It was like two different worlds. It was kind of a bizarre mashup, but everyone was very excited.”
Watch All Too Well: The Short Film below.
[embedded content]
Ariana Grande has complicated relationships with hot sauce and some of her old songs, but she powered through both on the latest episode of Hot Ones.
Appearing on the series’ season finale Thursday (Aug. 8), the pop star began by asking host Sean Evans for his expert opinion. “Where do you think I’ll sit on the scale from DJ Khaled to Lorde?” she asked. “I do my homework.”
Grande went on to barely break a sweat while eating the spicy vegan wings, save for an inaudible burp here and there. She kept her composure even as the Scoville levels increased, but at one point she admitted, “I think I’m learning that I don’t like hot sauce.”
The Grammy winner also answered questions about her Billboard 200-topping new album, Eternal Sunshine, working with Max Martin and doing stunts on the set of the Wicked films, the first of which arrives this November. “There was lots of bubble singing, which was very high up, and I wasn’t harnessed — I was just kind of there,” she revealed. “I had a lot of stunty singing, but nothing compares to Cynthia Erivo.”
Trending on Billboard
“Watching Cynthia in her harness with a broom, a hat, wig, corset, dress — the whole thing — flipping upside down, flying around the set, singing ‘Defying Gravity’ every take like it’s nothing … just the most phenomenal thing I’ve ever seen,” Grande, who plays Glinda opposite Erivo’s Elphaba, continued. “We had to do some really insane and beautiful things for this film.”
The “We Can’t Be Friends” vocalist went on to open up about the “disheartening and disappointing” experience of having her unreleased music leak online. “It sucks,” she put it plainly. “And I am constantly trying to get to the bottom of like how people get stuff … that is very frustrating and feels very dehumanizing, and then the other side is like but I’m so grateful to be an artist that people care about and my fans want more of me so they’re going to these extremes to steal and break in.”
Toward the end of the episode, Evans asked Grande whether she’s tired of performing any of her old songs. The Victorious alum has been releasing music for more than a decade at this point, with nine of her songs reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 since her debut record, Yours Truly, dropped in 2013.
“That’s a natural thing that all artists can relate to,” she replied. “There was a time when it was hard for me to feel that same gratitude that I do now for certain songs and for the music … becoming a pop star is insane at 19 or 20, and I think that experience was sort of married to some of the songs a little bit. Or some of the songs that are more emotional, the experience that inspired them can be married to the music. But with time and therapy, we sort of are able to re-embrace, so I feel just really proud and grateful and happy when i hear them, where as I used to maybe hear it and cry.”
Watch Grande on Hot Ones above.
If you’ve ever seen video of Charlie Puth breaking down his songwriting process you know that the 32-year-old singer is a mad scientist when it comes to meticulously crafting his songs in the studio. As he works on the follow-up to his 2022 Charlie album — which topped-out at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 chart –Puth is once again turning to Taylor Swift for inspiration.
In a chat with People magazine, Puth said that as he works on his upcoming fourth studio full-length he’s thinking of changing things up thanks to some helpful tips from his fellow pop star. “You can expect what you always expect from me, which is chords and key changes and what I think are interesting kind of rhythms in production sense,” he told the magazine. “I always think about what I’ve lacked every time I start a new project and one thing that I’d like to enhance even more is the storytelling of things. And maybe that lies in the lyrics and making the lyrics a little bit more less A, B, C, D.”
In his effort to refashion his lyrics in a more personal way, Puth is leaning into Swift’s intricate, intimate lyrical style. “Taylor Swift kind of nudged me to do that as well,” he said. “And i think that’s how she approaches her songwriting and that’s how I’ll approach this next album.” For now, Puth said he’s planning to working on “the whole thing” by himself, a tactic that has made things more challenging as he sometimes spends his days “wait[ing] for the melody to appear… but it’s really, really worth it when it all comes together.”
Trending on Billboard
Back in May, Puth dropped the single “Hero,” which he described at the time as being “about when you see someone you love hurting themselves, ruining the things in their life that are good, but you just can’t save them… I’m very excited to share my next album with you, especially this song because it’s a great representation of what’s to come.”
Puth added that he decided to put the song out after Swift famously shouted him out on the title track to her The Tortured Poets Department album when she sang: “We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.” A few weeks after that unexpected pop star plaudit, Puth teased “Hero” on TikTok.
“I’ve never put out a song like this before,” he wrote about the Swift influence on “Hero.” “It’s very different for me, but I want to thank @taylorswift for letting me know musically that I just couldn’t keep this on my hard drive any longer.” He added, “Sometimes I get a little nervous being overly honest in my music which is why this was sitting on my hard drive for awhile,. But I think someone out there was giving me a sign that I needed to release it.”
“Hero” came on the heels of Puth’s other recent singles, “Lose My Breath” with Stray Kids, “Lipstick” and “That’s Not How This Works” with Dan + Shay and Sabrina Carpenter. Puth also told People that while “Hero” won’t be on the upcoming untitled album, the LP “will make a lot of sense” once you hear the whole thing. “I want them to hear [the album] and be like, ‘Ah, I know what she was talking about,’” he says of Swift’s praise-filled lyric.
“I’m perfectly happy with the level where I’m at, but if being a bigger artist means I get to inspire more people who want to do what I do, then that’s great.”