Pop
Lady Gaga’s ‘Chromatica’ is the Summer Dance-Pop Escape We Needed
“I’d rather be dry, but at least I’m alive,” Lady Gaga sings on her new Ariana Grande duet, “Rain On Me.” It’s a timely sentiment: this year has forced many of us to recognize that, while we’d rather our circumstances be different, at least we’re breathing, and able to reflect upon that newfound sense of gratitude. “Rain On Me” and the rest of Gaga’s new album Chromatica were likely finished before the coronavirus pandemic brought the world to an unexpected standstill — after all, its lead single, “Stupid Love,” was released in late February, back before the words “social” and “distancing” had been smushed together and made to define modern society. Yet the timing of Chromatica still feels uncanny, as if Gaga’s long-awaited return to the dance-pop aesthetic that made her a household ...
Dua Lipa, Jason Derulo, Becky G, Maluma & More Stars Join OneHuManity’s ‘Dream With Us’ 24-Hour Livestream
Dua Lipa, Jason Derulo, Becky G, Maluma and 150 more stars will join OneHuManity‘s (OHM) Dream With Us 24-hour livestream show Friday (May 29) at 12 p.m. ET. Dream With Us hopes to combine live musical performances, real-time challenges, one-on-one interviews and empowering stories for a full day of festivities presented by OHM Live and Constellation, an inspirational human impact organization co-founded by Dubai-based entrepreneurs Jean-Karl Saliba and Zaid Frederiks. “Dreams can’t be quarantined. Dreams know no boundaries, no race, no color and no religion. Dreams have the power to change the world. Our vision is to amplify human connection within an ecosystem that enables dreamers to build a community and connect globally,” Saliba an...
The 1975’s Matty Healy Leaves Twitter After Taking Heat for George Floyd Tweet
In an era where hardline opinions and virtue signaling bash against each other constantly on social media, there really is no winning. Take, for example, the discourse surrounding George Floyd, the Minneapolis man killed by a police officer pressing a knee into his neck while he was handcuffed. Just yesterday, John Boyega took heat for saying, “I really fucking hate racists” in the wake of the tragedy. Today, The 1975’s Matty Healy has left Twitter after receiving backlash for including his own music in an expression of support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Healy sent out a message that read, “If you truly believe that ‘ALL LIVES MATTER’ you need to stop facilitating the end of black ones.” Seems enough like an ally, right? The issue was that he tagged on The 1975’s video for one of...
Grimes Is Selling a Piece of Her Soul as an Art Project
When you become a famous pop star, you essentially give a part of yourself to your fans. It’s the nature of the game, especially in 2020, when selling your brand/identity is as profitable as selling your actual art. Grimes has taken this to its most literal extreme with her newest art project, which sees her literally selling a piece of her soul to the highest bidder. Entitled Selling Out, the work is the title piece of Grimes’ first online fine art exhibition. Presented jointly by Gallery Platform Los Angeles (May 28th through June 3rd) and Maccarone Los Angeles (May 28th through August 31st), the show collects numerous drawings, digital prints, photographs, and more that Grimes has created over the last decade. “I see myself as a visual artist first and foremost,” Grimes told Bloomb...
A Timeline of Lady Gaga & Elton John’s Decade-Long Friendship
Before Lady Gaga and Elton John drop their “Sine From Above” duet off the former’s sixth studio album Chromatica this Friday (May 29), their friendship has felt destined from above since the two hit the stage at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards together. Whether the iconic pop stars are performing across from each other on separate pianos or John is recruiting her to be the “Gaga-mother” of his children, Billboard compiled a timeline of how these two pop peas in a pod came to be. January 2010: Lady Gaga performs at the Grammys for the first time with Elton John. Before she became Mother Monster, the Fame Monster singer made her Grammy debut by opening the awards show with her Fame Factory performance, a well-oiled machine p...
Lana Del Rey Reveals New Album Title, Name-Checks Marianne Williamson in Latest Attempt to Clarify Controversial IG Post
Lana Del Rey took to Instagram on Friday to announce a new album and poetry collection — but the message was largely lost in the context of the rest of the post. The singer drew the Internet’s ire for framing a rebuff against critics by comparing herself to other female singers, mostly naming women of color like Doja Cat and Beyoncé, “who have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, fucking, cheating, etc.” Meanwhile, Del Rey argued, she is met with allegations of glamorizing abuse “when in reality I’m just a glamorous person singing about the realities of what we are all now seeing are very prevalent abusive relationships all over the world,” The pop star insisted that modern feminism should allow for her point of view, too: “There has to be a place...
Carly Rae Jepsen’s Dedicated Side B Delivers More of the Same: Review
The Lowdown: To maintain her almost decade-long reign as the ultimate trustworthy, sword-toting synth pop songwriter, Carly Rae Jepsen has had to write a lot of songs. Like, a lot of songs. For her latest record, Dedicated, which was longlisted for last year’s Polaris Music Prize, Jepsen told Rolling Stone that she wrote around 200 tracks. “You have to promise you won’t think I’m a maniac,” she warned her interviewer before displaying a series of post-it-covered poster boards of song titles. Since the full-length version of the album was narrowed down to a mere 15 songs, it’s safe to assume that Jepsen was keeping a couple of bangers in her back pocket. And considering the success of Emotion: Side B, which turned out to be even more critically acclaimed than the 2015 album it referenced, f...
After Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande’s ‘Rain On Me,’ Which Other Superstars Still Need to Team Up?
Plus: In an era of wall-to-wall collaborations, why “Rain On Me” is an event record that breaks through the pop culture noise. Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s new single “Rain On Me,” and its dance-filled video, not only operates as the latest offering from Gaga’s upcoming Chromatica album, but also as a pop event record. As Billboard previously wrote, the clip is a “superstar video summit,” while the song is a “full-on diva showcase” and a “huge dance record” that “captures the enormity of these two voices.” In a time of wall-to-wall collaborations, where artists frequently team-up, what makes certain pairings break through the pop culture noise and elevate to an event record? On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen below), the team discusses why a song like “Rain On Me” has event-rec...
Elon Musk and Grimes Change Baby’s Name to Comply with California Law
Earlier this month, Grimes and Elon Musk welcomed a healthy baby boy, and they promptly set him up for years of therapy by naming him X Æ A-12. Now, without much explanation, the child has undergone a rebranding: X Æ A-Xii. There, that clears things up, doesn’t it? Via The Guardian, there’s been speculation that the child’s original name violated California law, which stipulates that only the 26 letters of the alphabet can be used. The new appellation would seem to fit the rule of law, swapping as it does a 12 for an Xii. Neither Musk nor Grimes has confirmed this as the reason, though in responding to an Instagram comment about the CA mandate, Grimes wrote, “Roman numerals. Looks better tbh.” Using the roman numerals for 12 instead of the modern English symbols won’t change...
Whitney Houston’s Self-Titled Debut Introduced a Voice for All Times: Classic Review
The Opus: Whitney Houston premieres on Thursday, May 28th and you can subscribe now. You can also prep for the experience by listening to Whitney Houston via all major streaming services or enter to win a copy of Vinyl Me, Please’s 35th anniversary Whitney Houston box set. Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Follow on Facebook | Podchaser Music allows us to feel an array of emotions and is one of the universal aspects of the human experience. It can be the cause of laughter or the reason for momentary sadness. It sparks fond memories and serves as a time stamp of the most pivotal points in our lives. The music industry is forever changing, and even the most skilled of artists can fade into obscurity if they fail to adapt. Musicians come ...
How to Cook Pasta, Wash a Dog & More: 8 Things We Learned About Justin & Hailey Bieber From Their Facebook Show
It’s been an eye-opening month for Beliebers who have been watching Justin Bieber and wife Hailey Bieber dive into their love story during their fly-on-the-wall Facebook series The Biebers on Watch. Hunkered down during the COVID-19 lockdown at their Toronto mansion, the couple has gone fishing, applied each other’s skin and makeup regimens, and practiced for a future child by bathing their dog. What did we learn from the series? Here are eight important takeaways: He Didn’t Know How to Cook Pasta The superstar needed a lesson in boiling pasta water in order to make his favorite carb-heavy dish featuring sausage, tomato sauce and a healthy dose of heavy cream. “So the water is getting to a boil. Once that’s, like, fully going — partying — then...
Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff Share Cryptic “Look What You Made Me Do” Cover for Killing Eve: Stream
The latest episode of Killing Eve contained a cryptic cover of Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” by previously unknown band Jack Leopards and the Dolphin Club. Via Pitchfork, a trail of clues suggest that the song actually comes from Swift and Jack Antonoff, while Swift’s brother Austin may be the vocalist. T-Swift left the first breadcrumb herself, when she tweeted about being “VERY STOKED” for the cover by Jack Leopards and the Dolphin Club. Jack Antonoff, a co-writer of the original version of “Look What You Made Me Do”, is listed in the credits as a producer, along with a certain Nils Sjöberg. Swifties will recall Sjöberg as the pseudonym Taylor used for her co-writing role on Calvin Harris and Rihanna’s “This Is What You Came For.” But what about Austin? There are tw...
