Tems announced her new single “Love Me Jeje” on Monday (April 22), and it’s arriving sooner than you think. “Love Me Jeje” will be available Friday, April 26. She performed it for the first time during weekend one of Coachella, […]
There’s been an alarming trend rising in music concerts: Fans feeling bold enough to throw items on stage while artists are performing. Nicki Minaj was one of the latest victims while she was on stage during the Pink Friday 2 World Tour stop in Detroit on Saturday (April 20).
In the midst of performing her “Starships” anthem, Minaj tracked a bracelet hurling in her direction from the audience. She showcased some athletic ability like an NFL cornerback, and put her hand-eye coordination to use to swat the accessory aside.
Trending on Billboard
The object thrown at the Queens icon clearly annoyed her. She picked it up and wound up like a baseball pitcher before fiercely launching it back where it came from into the audience.
However, she didn’t let the incident take away from her fun throughout the concert. “#GagCityDetroit what was your fave part of the show last night? Your energy was so beautiful,” she wrote on X following the show. “Loud, Happy, Fly, Pretty, SEXY, etc. just GREAT energy that I’ll never forget.”
Drake is one of the many rappers that has had to deal with fans throwing things on stage. Last year, during a Detroit show while out on his It’s All A Blur Tour, women were throwing bras among other items on stage.
“This not what we wanna see, a big-a– shoe. This what I need you to do, Detroit, this what I need to you do, please, for me. I’m so grateful to be back in this building with you after all this time that we had to sit in the crib, right,” he said. “Please stop throwing bras up here, I can’t — I feel like I’m on clean-up duty tonight … T–ty clean-up duty. This is crazy.”
Minaj continues with her Pink Friday 2 World Tour this week with a pair of Chicago shows and a Minneapolis date. On the music side, she delivered the star-studded “FTCU (Sleeze Mix)” featuring Travis Scott, Chris Brown and Sexyy Red on Friday (April 19).
Watch clips of Minaj reacting to the bracelet throw below.
The members of the band Regallily chatted with writer Rio Hirai for the latest installment of Billboard Japan’s Women in Music interview series featuring female players in the Japanese entertainment industry. The WIM initiative in Japan launched in 2022 to celebrate artists, producers and executives who have made significant contributions to music and inspired other women through their work.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Regallily recently released “Kirakira no Hai” (“Twinkling Ash”), the ending theme of Delicious in Dungeon Season 2. Currently a two-woman unit, the band was originally formed by frontwoman and guitarist Honoka Takahashi while in high school. Bassist Umi later joined and the band is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. Regallily has just wrapped its tour of small clubs in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka as a means of returning to their roots. In this interview, the two members looked back on their career as a “girl band,” and spoke about what they’re looking forward to now after going through a period of identity moratorium as described in the lyrics of their song “17.”
Congratulations on your 10th anniversary. Honoka, you formed the band when you were in high school. Did you plan on continuing the band for a long time from the outset?
Trending on Billboard
Honoka Takahashi: When I formed the band, I wasn’t thinking that far to be honest. I didn’t even have a goal in mind. Before Regallily, I was in a band with male members, but didn’t fit in well with them. I ended up leaving because they told me they were going to play with only guys. We were only in tenth grade or thereabouts and I suppose it was normal to treat people of opposite sex like outsiders… But it pissed me off and I thought, “I’ll form a band with just girls then!” [Laughs]
Umi: I’ve also played in bands since high school, in a pop music club at the time. There weren’t too many guys so I’ve always been in bands with girls. I never gave much thought about being in bands with only women before joining Regallily, but it was probably easier for me to imagine myself as a member of this band than joining one with male members.
Some of the artists we’ve spoken to in this series say they feel uncomfortable being categorized by titles such as “girls” or “female” (as English loanwords, e.g. “girl band,” “female rapper”). How do you feel about being called a “girl band”?
Takahashi: I didn’t think anything of it at first. But later, a band came along that publicly stated it didn’t want to be referred to as a girl band, which helped me see that there are people who don’t like being called that.
Umi: I mean, it’s a fact that these are bands run by women, but compared to rock or punk, the (genre) classification is a bit sloppy, don’t you think? [Laughs] There are genres within all-female bands, so when a playlist is made by categorizing them as “girl bands,” for example, I wonder if it’s possible to reach the core of those acts. I don’t have a negative impression of the term itself, and I’m sure there were events we were able to play in because of that categorization.
Takahashi: I’m accustomed to the term “girl band,” but when you think about it, “girls” means children. Since men and women have different voices, I get wanting to divide them into different groups, but I’m not sure “girls” is appropriate when all of our life stages change in the future.
SCANDAL was certified last year as the “longest running rock band with the same musicians (female)” by the Guinness World Records after 17 years together, which links to the topic of the difficulty of female bands staying in the business for a long time. Is there anything you take care to do to keep doing what you do for a long time and in a healthy way?
Takahashi: I’ve basically never really understood what common sense is ever since I was a kid. My life has been detached from what’s considered the norm, things like, “husbands go to work and wives stay at home to do housework.” If I ever get pregnant, I’d like to sing (on stage) until the very last minute. I’ve seen (singer-songwriter) Seiko Omori standing on stage during late-stage pregnancy and wondered if I could do it too.
Umi: Pregnancy is something you can’t understand until it happens. I’m looking forward to it. I wonder how much I can take on while pregnant. I’m 25 years old now, and I’ve been thinking about how my life stage will change and that I’ll have to face various things in the future. When I discover new sides of myself, for example as a wife after I get married, or as a mother after I have a baby… I think about how I’ll be able to balance those things when my identity isn’t just as an artist anymore.
I guess our late twenties is when we begin to feel the reality of changing life stages. You released a single called “17″ in January, and that age is also a period when we sense various changes in our lives. Why did you focus on 17?
Takahashi: I turn 27 this year, so 17 was about 10 years ago. I used to listen to a lot of songs that had seventeen as a keyword in them when I was that age, and have a number of favorites. I was thinking of writing a song called “17” when I was 17, but just couldn’t do it when I was in the midst of it all. At around 26 years old, it felt like I gradually came to understand what I was like at that time and what kind of person I am. So now, ten years on, I looked back on those days and put it into words and the music was born.
Umi: I used to go to music clubs quite a bit back then. It was also a period when I was so full of myself and so self-conscious that I was embarrassed about a lot of things and couldn’t enjoy myself. The time I spent going to music clubs alone and being the person only I knew about was my anchor.
This question is one of the themes of this interview series, but how do you think being a woman affects your music career and life in general?
Takahashi: I recently realized that I’m really at the whim of hormone imbalances in life. There are times I need to take care of myself, and the more I take care of myself, the more I can take care of my work. But on the other hand, there are times when my nature makes me want to do something dangerous. Like going somewhere that’s super cold. [Laughs] Taking such risks puts a strain on my body and my hormones go out of whack as a result, so sometimes I wish I had a body that could be more reckless.
Umi: Even just to live normally and safely, you have to be tough when you’re a woman. Like choosing an apartment to live in, if you want safety and require a place on the second floor or higher that has a self-locking system, it costs more money.
Takahashi: In terms of bands, I look at the careers of the generation above us, like (Japanese rock band) Chatmonchy, and think about what we can and can’t do.
But there aren’t many precedents for all-female bands compared to male bands, so if we can set more examples, it might become easier (for the next generation). Even now, I’m sure many female bands are being born.
Umi: To be honest, there are parts (about male bands and artists) that I kind of envy, but we’ve been doing this for a long time too, and if there are people out there who think we’re cool the way we are, that’s how (our music) resonates and spreads.
—This interview by Rio Hirai (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan
Two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Luke Bryan turned a fall into a viral moment over the weekend when he played a show in Vancouver, Canada.
The incident happened during Bryan’s Mind of a Country Boy Tour, when he slipped and fell onstage, landing on his back, on top of a fan’s cell phone that had been thrown onstage.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Bryan made a swift recovery, and with his signature quick wit, turned it into a humorous moment, asking the crowd, “Did anybody get that?” before handing the phone back to its owner and joking, “My lawyer will be calling.”
He then gave the crowd an instant replay of the fall by holding a phone from another concert attendee who had recorded video of the fall, and having the concert’s cameraperson zoom in on the video, casting it on the big screens for all to see.
Trending on Billboard
Bryan also joked to the audience, “Hey, I need some viral. This is viral, all right? This is viral!’ As the video played, he said, “All right, here we go again. There I am, there we go … there it is!”
Bryan appeared unfazed by the brief tumble, and continued on with his headlining set. Additionally, the American Idol judge the singing competition the following evening, offering his rendition of John Mellencamp’s “Small Town.”
Bryan has additional shows in Saskatoon and Winnipeg as part of the Canadian leg of his tour, while the next leg will launch in June in Jacksonville, Fla., at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
Watch the country star’s onstage tumble and reaction below:
Taylor Swift called on all the tortured poets with the release of her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department on Friday (April 19). What was originally slated to be a standard 16-track album turned into a 31-song anthology when […]
Dystinct arrives at the shoot location, enveloped in the soft glow of the early morning light. Seated quietly and somewhat aloof, he patiently awaits the completion of preparations. Attempting to engage in light conversation to ease the anticipation, we found his responses curt and elusive, often deflecting queries by answering questions with more questions. It was as though his intrigue lay more in unraveling the stories of those around him rather than unveiling his own.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Transitioning seamlessly to our next location for the filmed interview, Dystinct’s demeanor shifts as soon as the camera rolls, unveiling layers of his persona we had yet to glimpse. Beneath his initial reticence lay a wealth of stories yearning to be shared. With each question, Dystinct confidently embarks on a storytelling journey, tracing his roots, starting with his upbringing in Belgium, where his parents steeped him in the rich tapestry of Arabic music. From the haunting melodies of Umm Kulthum to the resonant voices of artists from Egypt and the Gulf, his childhood was a symphony of cultural immersion. He recounts his collaborations spanning the breadth of his career, from music producers to fellow artists, each partnership shaping his artistic trajectory.
Yet it was his profound connection to his Moroccan heritage that underscored his musical ethos. As he delved into his vision for his craft, Dystinct articulated a deep-seated commitment to speak to Arab audiences. His insights into the intricacies of the regional music industry, particularly the nuanced landscape of North African artists, revealed a keen understanding of the diverse influences and audience dynamics spanning Morocco, Europe and the Arab world.
Trending on Billboard
Dystinct has carved his name among the foremost Afropop artists in North Africa over the past few years, with a series of consecutive hits and collaborations, each turning into a social media trend and amassing tens of millions of streams. With the launch of the Billboard Arabia charts, the depth of Dystinct’s influence on the North African music scene becomes even more apparent. Over successive weeks, more than five of Dystinct’s hits, released at different intervals, secured prominent positions on the Hot 100 list; at the time of writing this, he held rank in the No. 5, 7, and 10 slots.
His song “La” (No) featured on his album Layali (Nights), reclaimed the top spot after the release of its music video, making it one of the few songs capable of clinching the No. 1 position on the Hot 100 list. Other releases from previous periods continue to enjoy significant popularity, such as “Tek Tek” (Tik Tok) ft. MHD, “Y Dor” with Soolking, “Ghazali” (Gazelle) ft. Bryan Mg, whose spread is linked to a unique event.
[embedded content]
Dystinct was taken aback after attending the match between his country’s national team and Belgium in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where players played his song backstage to celebrate, contributing to its exponential spread and forever associating it with the unprecedented historical achievements of the Moroccan national team in the world’s largest tournament.
Dystinct acknowledges that a significant portion of his audience became acquainted with him through “Ghazali,” but it was never his starting point. “Many new people who listen to my songs know me from the song ‘Ghazali,’” says Dystinct. “But before that, I was making Dutch music. In my mind, I always wanted to make Arabic music, but I waited for the right time. I had a song titled ‘Ya La Laa’ (Hey Ma’am) a long time ago, and it was a hit for me, but the thing is, the song was successful, but no one realized it. So, I was working on improving myself. How can I introduce myself to the world? I want to show people who Dystinct is. I said to myself that I want people to see my culture. Even if I make Arabic music, it’s not exclusive to Moroccans or Arabic speakers.”
Dystinct
@designlesss/Billboard Arabia
Born and raised in Belgium to Moroccan immigrant parents, Dystinct’s connection to his Moroccan roots remains steadfast, with his identity as a Moroccan artist paramount above all else. His mastery of Darija, the dialect of Arabic spoken in Morocco, has allowed him to channel his heritage into his music, beginning with the release of “Ya La Laa” (Hey Ma’am) in 2019, marking the inception of his artistic journey. He has collaborated with proven producers who have enveloped his musical style with refined and consistent themes, notably Unleaded, YAM, Ryder and Seno, fondly referred to by Dystinct as his brothers. While maintaining a musical style predominantly centered around Afropop, Dystinct has recently begun experimenting with blending dialects, incorporating elements of Moroccan Darija with Egyptian or Gulf dialects.
“I believe we are in a new era in the Arab world, and Arabic music will no longer be exclusively for Arabs. I have said this in another interview as well, that African music is very popular now, but it has also been witnessing a growth stage. Now we see everyone listening to African music or everyone listening to Latin music even if not everyone speaks Spanish or the like. This is what I am trying to do for Arabic music.”
Dystinct realizes this fact confidently, speaking from experience gained through his personal journey. In his early days, as he attempted to present his music to event organizers and platforms during his time in Europe, he encountered the same response: that Arabic music there was confined to Arab weddings and communities with no place in public events and among Western audiences. Today, after years of hard work, Dystinct stands with a substantial roster of hits and a sold-out music tour announced in America and Europe, confirming that the era of music being confined to a specific audience has come to an end, and that in the present age, Arabic music has emerged as a dominant force, playing a pivotal role in captivating a worldwide audience.
Dystinct
@designlesss/Billboard Arabia
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced several rule changes on Monday (April 22), including a very welcome one in the best original category, whereby “three composers will be allowed to receive individual statuettes if, in rare circumstances, they all contributed fully to the score.” Previously, three composers were required to submit as a group and only one Oscar statuette was awarded.
Now, wait a minute, you may be saying. Just three years ago, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste won best original score for Soul. And, yes, all three composers won Oscars – but, incredibly, they had to share one statuette. (Reznor and Ross graciously let Batiste have it, since he hadn’t won an Oscar before. Reznor and Ross had won a decade earlier in the same category for The Social Network.)
As we pointed out a few years ago, “The addition of a third collaborator (Batiste) on Soul meant that they couldn’t each take home an Oscar. That’s unfortunate, because that cross-genre collaboration is what many found most attractive about the score.”
Trending on Billboard
The Academy, clinging to tradition, prefers to see individual winners in this category, but with today’s rule change, there is a mechanism in place for a three-member team to be awarded.
Here’s the rule from the Oscar rulebook: “No more than one statuette will normally be given in the original score category. A second statuette may be awarded when two credited composers function as equal collaborators, each contributing fully to the original dramatic underscore for the film. The music branch executive committee has the right, in what it alone determines to be a very rare and extraordinary circumstance, to award a third statuette to three individuals who functioned as equal collaborators in the creation of the original score and do not work together as a recognized band or group.
“In cases where three or more credited composers function as equal collaborators in a recognized band, a single statuette may be awarded to the group. Each credited composer in the band must agree to the single ‘group statuette’ option by signing and returning a ‘group award form’ prior to the submission deadline.”
There have been five other times when three-person teams won scoring awards, most recently at the 1987 Oscars when Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne and Cong Su won best original score for The Last Emperor.
Four-person teams have won scoring Oscars on three occasions. The Beatles won best original song score for Let It Be (1970); Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Irwin Kostal and Sid Ramin won best scoring of a musical picture for West Side Story (1961); and Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold and Leo Shuken won best scoring for Stagecoach (1939). Those four-person teams would not benefit from today’s rule change.
The Academy also announced that the shortlist for best original score will increase from 15 to 20 titles, though the shortlist for best original song will remain at 15 titles.The Academy also announced that Friday, Nov. 1, 2024 will be the submission deadline for both music (original score) and music (original song) categories – which are the categories’ official names.
Other awards rules changes include:
Animated feature films submitted in the international feature film category are now eligible for consideration in the animated feature film category if eligibility requirements outlined for both categories are met.
The new eligibility period for the international feature film category is Nov. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024.
In the writing categories, a final shooting script will now be required for submission.
Changes were also made to the testimonial awards presented at the Governors Awards. The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, given to a creative producer whose body of work reflects a consistently high quality of motion picture production, will now be presented as an Oscar statuette.
The definition of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award was revised to clarify the broad term humanitarian efforts; the award will be “given to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry by promoting human welfare and contributing to rectifying inequities.”
Two special awards presented at the Scientific and Technical Awards have been renamed, shedding the names of the people for whom the awards were originally named. The Gordon E. Sawyer Award is now “Scientific and Technical Lifetime Achievement Award.” The John A. Bonner Award is now “Scientific and Technical Service Award.”
Taylor Swift’s newest album, The Tortured Poets Department, has caused quite a stir on social media, with one song on the project ruffling feathers.
As Today.com reports, in “I Hate It Here,” Swift sings about her discontentment and desire to travel back to the 19th century for solace, and many listeners have found her lyricism alarming and deaf to the plight of the Black community at the time.
“My friends used to play a game where/ We would pick a decade/ We wished we could live in instead of this/ I’d say the 1830s but without all the racists/ And getting married off for the highest bid,” she sings on the song.
Swift continues, “Nostalgia is a mind’s trick/ If I’d been there, I’d hate it/ It was freezing in the palace.”
Several listeners were perplexed by the lyrics, pointing out that slavery was very much legal during the 1830s.
“I was liking some of the songs until I learned about that 1830 line. It’s such a cringe and insensitive line that I just can’t. I think about all of the abuses Black people faced back then (and today). There’s so many red flags with this woman.#TaylorSwift,” a listener wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, with many echoing their sentiments.
I was liking some of the songs until I learned about that 1830 line. It’s such a cringe and insensitive line that I just can’t. I think about all of the abuses Black people faced back then (and today). There’s so many red flags with this woman.#TaylorSwift— Q (or KIKI) (@American_Kiki) April 22, 2024
But not everyone is perturbed by the line. One X user shared they believe the lyrics have a unique intention.
“Taylor’s Swifts 1830 line is actually kinda genius in that simply uncovers the want of suburban yt women. Yt American women, as a group, have only been working for roughly a generation. And they now want out – & a return to when they had it good: hence antebellum USA,” they wrote.
Taylor’s Swifts 1830 line is actually kinda genius in that simply uncovers the want of suburban yt women. Yt American women, as a group, have only been working for roughly a generation. And they now want out – & a return to when they had it good: hence antebellum USA.— Uhlume 🇺🇸 A.D.O.S.👊🏽 (@Behembaba) April 19, 2024
Luke Bryan, “Small Town” (written and performed by John Cougar Mellencamp)
Triston Harper, “Heartbreak Hotel” (performed by Elvis Presley; written by Mae Boren Axton, Thomas Durden & Elvis Presley)
Julia Gagnon, “Run to You” (performed by Whitney Houston; written by Jud Friedman & Allan Rich)
Roman Collins, “You’re All I Need to Get By” (performed by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell; written by Nick Ashford & Valerie Simpson)
Kaibrienne, “I Hate Myself for Loving You” (performed by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts; written by Desmond Child & Joan Jett)
Jayna Elise, “I Have Nothing” (performed by Whitney Houston; written by David Foster & Linda Thompson)
Mia Matthews, “Those Memories of You” (performed by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris; written by Alan O’Bryant)
KAYKO, “High and Dry” (written and performed by Radiohead)
Emmy Russell, “I Can’t Make You Love Me” (performed by Bonnie Raitt; written by Mike Reid & Allen Shamblin)
Jordan Anthony, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” (performed by Whitney Houston; written by George Merrill & Shannon Rubicam)
McKenna Faith Breinholt, “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” (performed by Chicago; written by Peter Cetera & David Foster)
Jack Blocker, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” (written and performed by Bob Dylan)
Nya, “I Say a Little Prayer” (performed by Aretha Franklin; written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David)
Will Moseley, “Night Moves” (written and performed by Bob Seger)
Abi Carter, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” (performed by Elton John; written by Elton John & Bernie Taupin)
Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar’s “Like That” drops to No. 2 after spending its first three weeks on the Hot 100 at No. 1. It concurrently tops the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, which use the same multimetric methodology as the Hot 100, for a fourth week each.
Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” holds at No. 3 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 2, and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” keeps at No. 4, four weeks after becoming his first No. 1. The latter logs a second week atop Radio Songs (69.9 million, essentially even week-over-week).
Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” rises 6-5 on the Hot 100, after it reigned for two weeks in early March. It leads the multimetric Hot Country Songs chart for a 10th week.
Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me” lifts 7-6, following six nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 beginning in December; Ariana Grande’s “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” is steady at No. 8, after it debuted at No. 1 in March; Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” climbs to a new No. 9 high, from No. 10; and SZA’s No. 6-peaking “Saturn” returns to the region (15-10), as it leads Hot R&B Songs for a fourth week.
Also notably, and expectedly – with limited availability for it to be streamed in the April 12-18 tracking week – J. Cole’s “7 Minute Drill” falls off the Hot 100, a week after it debuted at No. 6. On the song, he appears to respond to Lamar’s apparent disses directed at himself and Drake in “Like That.” Days after releasing “7 Minute Drill” April 5 on his album Might Delete Later, J. Cole apologized for the its arrival, explaining that it doesn’t “sit right with my spirit,” and the track was removed from the streaming edition of the LP April 12; as of April 22, it is still available on the set’s digital download edition, although not for individual purchase apart from the album.
The song rewrites the record for the steepest drop off the Hot 100 a week after debuting, surpassing Soko’s viral hit “We Might Be Dead by Tomorrow,” which spent a week on the survey at No. 9 in April 2014.
Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on Billboard’s social accounts, and all charts (dated April 27), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (April 23).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
Stay up to date on exciting projects and upcoming events from the Black Promoters Collective.
©2022 Black Promoters Collective (BPC) All Rights Reserved.
