Pop
Nicki Minaj Goes After Little Mix Amid Blackfishing Backlash Against Jesy Nelson
Nicki Minaj made it loud and clear that she stands by Jesy Nelson after she’s faced accusations of Blackfishing. The accusations of Blackfishing — levied against non-Black influencers and celebrities when they alter their appearances to look Black when they’re not — against Nelson arose following her hip-hop-leaning debut solo single “Boyz,” featuring Minaj, and its accompanying music video, which features her spray tan, multiple wigs, fuller lips and what some have called a “Blaccent” when she sings, “So ‘hood, so good, so damn taboo.” Nelson — a white British woman who left Little Mix, one of the best-selling U.K. girl groups, in December 2020 after nearly a decade, citing mental health reasons — rece...
Deon Estus, Wham! & George Michael Bassist Behind the Hit ‘Heaven Help Me,’ Dies at 65
Estus — born Jeffery Dean Estus in Detroit in 1956 — had a top five hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Heaven Help Me,” billed to Deon Estus with George Michael. The song, which was co-written and featured background vocals from Michael, peaked at No. 3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Adult Contemporary charts. “Heaven Help Me” was from Estus’ only album, Spell, released in 1989, which also produced the Dance Club Songs hit “Me or the Rumours” and the Adult Contemporary top 20 title track. In addition to his work with Wham! and Michael, according to Estus’ bio, he played bass with Tina Turner, Elton John, Marvin Gaye, Frank Zappa and Annie Lennox. In an interview with Billboard following the Christmas Day death of Michael in ...
JoJo Siwa’s Impresses With Viennese Waltz on ‘Dancing with the Stars’: Watch
Afterwards, Len Goodman praised her footwork and beautiful teamwork out on the floor. “You were so clean, so elegant, it was a breath of fresh air,” Derek Hough added. It was so clean, so elegant, that the pair collected the first nines of the season, for 35 out of a total 40 points on the night. Next up: “Villains Night”. Watch the Viennese Waltz below. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Ariana Grande Cries as She Eliminates Contestant on ‘The Voice’: Watch
John Legend described the effort as a “powerhouse,” and Kelly Clarkson enthused, “That was so rad.” Both sided with Rae, while Blake Shelton leaned towards Denapoli. Holding back tears, Ariana Grande had to make a difficult decision. “There’s nothing that either of you two can’t sing, and I feel privileged to work with you and to have spent this time with you.” And then, despite the song’s title, there were more tears. Grande found her poise and named Katie Rae as the winner of this particular battle. Watch below. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give...
James Blake Reunites with slowthai for “Funeral” Remix: Stream
James Blake has recruited slowthai for a remix of “Funeral,” a track from Blake’s newly released fifth studio album, Friends That Break Your Heart. In this new version, Blake’s second verse is substituted with a restrained feature from the UK rapper. “I never been one for horror movies,” slowthai spits. “I fall asleep under your tongue, I hope you choose me/ The shadow silhouetting the sun, I’m glued to your feet/ I live in the shadows of, mmm, under the loose leaves.” Otherwise, the remix remains largely unchanged from the original. To accompany the reworked track, Blake shared a black-and-white music video capturing the somber tone of “Funeral.” Watch the full clip below ahead of the duo’s debut performance of the song on the episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon airing on Mo...
Austin City Limits 2021 Weekend 2 Photo Gallery: Duran Duran, Jon Batiste, Megan Thee Stallion and More
Austin City Limits was back at Zilker Park this past weekend for Weekend 2 — and so were we. After providing daily live galleries from Weekend 1, Consequence photographer Amy Price returned to capture all the going-ons of the three-day event. The glory of a two-weekend festival is that on the second go-around, you can capture the sets you missed the first time, like the legends Duran Duran. Weekend 2 also saw performances from Jon Batiste, Marc Rebillet, Leann Rimes, Trixie Mattel, The Hu, and yes, Machine Gun Kelly again. Revisit it all in the extensive gallery below, which includes some backstage portraits with the likes of Claud, Dayglow, Tate McRae, jxdn, Heartless Bastards, and more. Then, make sure you read our complete recap of Austin City Limits Weekend 1. Advertisement Relate...
Halsey Talks Body Image After Giving Birth: ‘I Will Never Have My Pre-Baby Body Back’
She continued, “The first picture on this slide is days after my baby was already born. A lot of people don’t know that you still look pregnant for a while after. It is still changing and I am letting it. I have no interest in working out right now. I’m too tired and too busy playing with my darling son. With that being said, the body behind all those compliments the other night was wearing a custom tailored outfit and lighted perfectly after much testing, so I could feel good and do my job. I do not want to feed the Illusion that you’re meant to feel and look ‘great’ immediately postpartum. That is not my narrative currently.” The singer then addressed followers who might be parents in their message, saying that she plans to support them along their parenthood jour...
Kim Kardashian’s Pop Trio Auditions for Costco in This ‘SNL’ Sketch That Was Cut for Time: Watch
SNL host Kim Kardashian West sang again for this weekend’s show, in a sketch that was cut for time on Oct. 9. Her “Costco Meeting” sketch, which had her co-starring with Aidy Bryant and Bowen Yang, was uploaded to YouTube on Sunday. The scenario has Kim, Aidy and Bowen in a pop trio that’s introduced to a Costco exec by an intern who has a big idea for the big-box retail store. The trio is introduced as Glitter Revolution, “a three-person bop factory” in coordinating bubble gum pink outfits, and they try to win over the VP of marketing at Costco with three original tunes aimed at bringing teens into the store: one about “bulk b—-es,” plus a slow jam about the chain’s hot dogs and “Flop Shop,” a takedown of their compet...
Fans Choose Jesy Nelson’s ‘Boyz’ Featuring Nicki Minaj as This Week’s Favorite New Music
“Boyz” marks Nelson’s first release since she announced her departure from Little Mix last year. “I find the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard,” she wrote in a statement at the time, adding that the experience took a “toll on my mental health.” Since leaving, Nelson feels “in control of my life,” she told Glamour U.K. for the October edition’s cover story. In addition to an assist from Minaj, “Boyz” features a heavy interpolation of Diddy’s undying 2001 anthem “Bad Boy For Life.” He even makes an appearance in the “Boyz” video, re-creating Ben Stiller’s interlude from the “Bad Boy For Life” as Nelson stares ahead, ready to get the party re-started. Placing second on the past week’s tally ...
Taylor Swift’s ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ Returns to No. 1 on Billboard 200
Of Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’s 152,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 7, album sales comprise 146,000 (up 15,807%), SEA units comprise 6,000 (down 1%, equaling 8.72 million streams of the album’s tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible number. Of the 146,000 copies sold for the week, CD sales comprise 77,000, while vinyl LP sales total 67,000. The album sold about 1,000 in cassettes and 1,000 in digital downloads, too. (The album was discounted at digital retail, which spurred a 268% increase in digital album sales, but only 1,000 copies sold for the week.) Strikingly, 29% of the album’s to-date CD sales were generated in the week ending Oct. 7, concurrent with the availability of its signed CD. The signed CD was only sold via Swift’s webstore, for ...
Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga’s ‘Love for Sale’ Launches Atop Jazz Charts & In Billboard 200 Top 10
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. All of the Oct. 16, 2021-dated charts will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Oct. 12. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram. Love for Sale starts with 41,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 7, according to MRC Data. Of that sum, album sal...
Halsey & Lindsey Buckingham Deliver Stunning Performance of ‘Darling’ on ‘SNL’: Watch
Halsey returned to Saturday Night Live on Oct. 9, delivering a pair of stellar performances from her latest album, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. For their first song, the 27-year-old pop star — who had her first child over the summer — gave a futuristic performance of the powerful single “I Am Not a Woman, I’m a God.” Dressed in a black leather bodysuit and surrounded by fog, the singer confidently delivered the track against an otherworldly backdrop. Halsey slowed things down for their second performance, bringing out legendary singer-songwriter Lindsey Buckingham for the beautiful acoustic ballad “Darling.” This time around, she donned a puffy black dress with a black top hat and veil. Buckingham stood by her side providing stellar guitar wo...
