Pop
Predicting the Legacies of the Quarantine Livestream Boom
How will the flurry of at-home and in-game performances leave their mark on pop music? “We just wanted to fuck around and have a good time,” Post Malone said, sipping from a beer can in a koozie before holding it aloft. “Cheers, fuckers!” In a thunderous 80-minute set of Nirvana covers, livestreamed from his Utah home on April 24, he was funny and loose, wearing a floral day-dress (not unlike the one Kurt Cobain once wore) and checking if his accompanying band was “hot and ready, Lil Caesar’s style.” “Let’s kick this shit in the ass,” he said, referring to COVID-19, before launching into the whiplashing riff of “Drain You.” Post Malone styles himself as a slouchier version of a golden age axe-wielder. He’s covered rock classics and literally has a Nirvana face tattoo, but on the livestream...
Blackpink’s Playlist With Lady Gaga, Troye Sivan & More Will Brighten Up Your Quarantine: Exclusive
It’s been a while since the world has heard new music from BLACKPINK, but even amid the global coronavirus pandemic, the K-pop quartet are keeping busy. Not only are they going to be in Lady Gaga’s area later this month with a feature on her Chromatica album, but the members have also been seen back in the studio working on their own new music. The group also released the live album from the Tokyo Dome performance of their 2019-2020 In Your Area world tour on Thursday (May 14), for those looking to relive that experience ahead of the upcoming releases. Though South Korea isn’t shut down with stay-at-home orders, life is still in all sorts of tumultuous states for the music industry in Seoul, with stars unable to interact directly with audiences. Like many around the world, BLACKPINK’s...
No Mystery Here: The ‘Scoob!’ Movie Album With Charlie Puth & More Has Arrived
Plus, watch the video for ‘On Me’ by Thomas Rhett and Kane Brown featuring Ava Max. Jinkies! Atlantic Records unleashed Scoob! The Album on Friday (May 15), and it features some high-profile collaborations. The album for the highly-anticipated film features 12 brand new tracks from stars of all genres. Charlie Puth and Lennon Stella collaborated on “Summer Feelings,” while Thomas Rhett, Kane Brown and Ava Max teamed up for “On Me.” Scoob! reveals how lifelong friends Scooby and Shaggy first met and how they joined with young detectives Fred, Velma and Daphne to form Mystery Inc. Later on, Scooby Doo and the gang race to stop a global “dogpocalypse,” and learn that Scooby has a secret legacy and an epic destiny. The movie is available for b...
Charli XCX Releases Her Quarantine Album How I’m Feeling Now: Stream
Back in April when it became clear that the coronavirus lockdown wasn’t ending anytime soon, Charli XCX made her fans a promise. She told them she would be writing and recording an album entirely from quarantine, and she’d not only be documenting the whole thing on social media, but asking for followers’ input. The British pop star has made good on her goal, and today has released How I’m Feeling Now for all to enoy. Charli produced the follow-up to last year’s Charli with remote assistance from PC Music leader A. G. Cook and BJ Burton (Bon Iver), as well as contributions from 100 gecs member Dylan Brady, Dijon, Danny L Harle, and Palmistry. She also relied on her Angels (her name for her fans), asking them to vote on artwork, submit footage for tracks’ videos, and other creativ...
Jonas Brothers & Karol G Team Up for Fiery ‘X’ Collaboration: Stream It Now
After teasing fans that a collaboration with Karol G was on the way, the Jonas Brothers officially dropped their new single “X” at midnight on Friday (May 15). In true Jonas Brothers fashion, the tune is catchy dance-pop meshed with flairs of Latin-alt rumba. “She said oh oh oh, kiss me like your ex is in the room,” they sing. The Jonas Brothers and Karol G will perform the new song on The Voice’s two-hour finale airing at 9 p.m. EST on Tuesday (May 19) on NBC. The collaborative effort marks the second time the Jonas Brothers have teamed-up with a Latin act, following the 2019 summer bop “Runaway” with Sebastian Yatra, Daddy Yankee, and Natti Natasha. “X” is accompanied with the b-side “Five More Minutes.” Check out the new Jonas Brothers songs below: [embedded cont...
Charli XCX Drops Self-Isolation Album ‘How I’m Feeling’: Stream It Now
Charli XCX has used her lockdown time wisely. During the past six weeks in isolation, the British producer and pop renegade got to work and cut a new album, how i’m feeling. The DIY LP, executive produced by Charli, A. G. Cook and BJ Burton, spans 11 tracks and dropped at midnight. How i’m feeling is the product of a special two-way connection with fans, as Charli encouraged her followers to give real-time feedback and contribute to the songs and videos. The new tunes are coursing with the need for action and a human touch, and are detailed with all the emotions of the lockdown experience. It’s the followup to 2019’s Charli. Stream the album below.
The Jonas Brothers Have Enough New Songs for Another Album, But Do They Plan on Dropping It Soon?
The Jonas Brothers have two major songs dropping tomorrow (May 15), “X” featuring Karol G and “5 More Minutes,” which they debuted during their 2020 Grammys performance. But their announcement on Twitter from earlier this week illustrated how putting those titles side-by-side spell out “XV,” or 15 in Roman numerals. The JoBros have been in the music business for the last 15 years, so does that mean the trio plan on celebrating this monumental anniversary with another studio project? The three artists hopped on SiriusXM Hits 1 Celebrity Session today (May 14) to chat with frontline healthcare workers who are combating the coronavirus and to talk about their upcoming music releases, the two fans already have marked on their calendars and then som...
See What Tiana Major9 Is Cooking Up During Quarantine: Exclusive
Motown signee Tiana Major9 is doing the other thing she loves best during quarantine: cooking. The East London singer/songwriter, who jumped on American radars last fall with her Earthgang collab “Collide” from the Queen & Slim soundtrack — followed by at spot at Billboard’s 2019 Women In Music celebration — took over Billboard‘s Instagram on Thursday (May 14) to talk about what she’s been dishing up during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. If you follow Tiana on Insta, you know she’s always in the kitchen cooking something up, so, she says, “I’m grateful that I have enough time to work on recipes and nourish my body and really take care.” Her busy day included a deep conditioning of her hair, whipping up a killer pancake b...
Liner ‘Notes’: The 1975’s Matty Healy Talks Releasing an Opus Under Quarantine
The 1975 frontman talks about the band’s sprawling fourth LP ‘Notes on a Conditional Form,’ as well as his own quarantine living, and his band’s new status as critics’ darlings entering their second decade as The 1975. When you’re a four-piece rock band in the year 2020, it’s a hard thing to keep scaling up. But that’s what The 1975 and frontman Matty Healy have done over the course of seven years and three albums — soon to be four, with the release next Friday (May 22) of their much-anticipated new album, Notes on a Conditional Form. While the band’s 2013 self-titled debut brought them fame (and infamy) in their home country of the U.K., and earned them a pop cult following in the U.S., 2016 sophomore set I Like It When...
Oh God, Post Malone Is Selling Rosé
Post Malone is the uncool suburban mom’s idea of hip-hop, and so it makes sense that he would release a name-brand rosé, which is — let’s be honest — the uncool suburban mom’s idea of wine. Fine, granted, that’s unfair to rosé, which doesn’t have to taste like a pile of sugar dumped into a bucket of food coloring. Perhaps Post Malone’s Maison No. 9 will be a dryer vintage — although, given his musical predilections for sugary-sweet hooks packaged with clever branding, perhaps not. Speaking of branding, the artist born Austin Post has created this wine with Global Brand Equities, the brainchild of nightclub-owner James Morrissey. Combined the two men have a lot more experience drinking wine than making it, and so they’ve brought on oenologist Alexis Cornu. The name Maison No. 9 means “...
Songwriter Diane Warren Signs With BMG Ahead of ‘Historic’ New Album
BMG has signed Diane Warren. The music company will represent Warren for publishing and recording, and will release a collection of the legendary songwriter’s new works, performed and recorded by a starry lineup of guests, Billboard can confirm. Under the new arrangements, announced this morning, BMG will administer Warren’s entire songwriting publishing catalog (excluding the U.S. and Canada) under her Realsongs umbrella and release the album of new material, at a date yet to be announced. Several other projects are in the planning phase, a rep tells Billboard. “I’m thrilled with my new deal at BMG. I love the BMG team. They have hit the ground running,” Warren says in a statement. “There is so much already happening that I know this year is going to be ...
Center Stage Gave Us Zoe Saldana, Mandy Moore, and the Dance Film of a Generation
On May 12, 2000 many lives were changed forever. But most of us didn’t know it, because we were too young to get ourselves to a movie theater without a ride from our parents. On May 12, 2000, the motion picture Center Stage came to theaters. The teen movie focuses on Jody Sawyer and her fellow students at the American Ballet Academy (ABA). Only the best of the best get in, and every student is fighting for a spot in the company. Unfortunately Jody has bad feet, but is reluctantly accepted into the school because of her stage presence. Along the way, Jody discovers jazz, and has a romantic relationship with Cooper Nielsen, the male star of the company and teacher. In that a man helps a woman discover jazz, it’s sort of like La La Land, but more deserving of accidentally being announced as t...