Pop
Pink and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man Break Hearts With ‘Anywhere Away From Here’: Stream It Now
On it, Pink and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man take turns singing, “Pull me underground/ Don’t know if you notice/ Sometimes I close my eyes/ And dream of somewhere else.” “Anywhere Away From Here” will appear on Rag ‘n’ Bone Man’s sophomore album Life by Misadventure, set for release April 23. It’s the follow-up to his debut 2017 set Human, a statement release that ruled the Official U.K. Albums Chart and landed the singer a string of BRIT Awards, including breakthrough artist. Pink’s last album was 2019’s Hurts 2B Human, which led the Billboard 200 chart. Earlier this year, she recorded the song “Cover Me in Sunshine” with her daughter Willow Sage Hart. Stream the new single below. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should b...
Hey Stephen: Taylor Swift Is Coming to ‘Colbert’ Next Week
Her late-night TV appearance will be her first since December, when she went on Jimmy Kimmel Live! shortly after the surprise release of her ninth studio album Evermore, which also happened to be the day after her 31st birthday. (She really dug into the numerology on Kimmel). In a similar pattern, the pop superstar’s Colbert appearance will also follow the release of her re-recorded breakthrough sophomore album, Fearless, which is out Friday. Television appearances have been instrumental in her promotion of Fearless (Taylor’s Version), which she first announced — as well as the release of “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” as the first single — on Good Morning America in February. GMA also premiered an...
Previously-Unreleased Prince Album ‘Welcome 2 America’ Is on the Way: Hear Title Track
A takedown of corporate greed, digital distraction, the vapidness of contemporary music (compared to classic jazz, that is), celebrity culture and sex tapes, the spoken word piece is a call-back of sorts to the late rock/pop icon’s infamous 1990s battle with his label over ownership of his music, during which he painted the word “slave” on his cheek. “Land of the free/ Home of the slave,” the back-up singers croon. According to a release announcing the project, Prince went on a tour of the same name shortly after completing the album, playing residencies in several U.S. cities, topped by a 21-night stand at the Forum in Inglewood, California. A deluxe edition of the album will come on CD and black vinyl (and as a hi-res download), packaged with a never-before-...
Bomba Estéreo on the Latin Music Wave in Pop
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-07T20:00:33+00:00“>April 7, 2021 | 4:00pm ET Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Bomba Estéreo‘s Simón Mejía catches up with Kyle Meredith to dish on the details about the Colombian duo’s new LP, Deja. Mejía, along with musical partner Li Saumet, had began writing and planning the record in 2017 around the concept of the end of the world due to the environmental crisis. Mejía discusses his thoughts on musicians being more in tune with nature, writing about loneliness and depression, and the current Latin wave of music on the US pop charts as he remembers when early on, they were e...
How Britney Spears’ ‘I’m A Slave 4 U’ Shifted Her Career and Pop’s Direction
Spears continued to raise her own bar sonically and stylistically, and her first three albums, released in back-to-back-to-back years, couldn’t have been a better character arc. If 1999’s…Baby One More Time showcased her girl next door likability with a schoolgirl uniform and pigtails, and Oops!… I Did It Again (2000) found her slowly chipping away at her perceived purity with videos featuring chair-straddling dance solos, then Britney (2001) was the culmination of those bubblegum-wrapped eras bursting once and for all, as she proved she really was “not that innocent.” Britney’s lead single “I’m A Slave 4 U” (originally intended for Janet herself) carries a thematic double-entendre. During MTV’s 2001 “Making The Video” episode for the song, Spears said it’s about being “enraptu...
Five Burning Questions: Lil Nas X’s ‘Montero’ Debuts Atop the Hot 100
1. “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” is now Lil Nas X’s second career No. 1 single after debuting atop the Hot 100. On a scale of 1-10, how surprised are you that “Montero” was the song to return Nas to the chart penthouse? Andrew Unterberger: If you had asked me two Fridays ago when I heard the song for the first time, I would’ve said a 9 at least — it didn’t sound like an obvious hit to me, and obviously Lil Nas X’s chart track record since “Old Town Road” has been respectable, but not automatic-number-one respectable. But after a couple days of Internet-wide back-and-forth over the song and its video, that number would’ve dropped to a 4 or 5, and then by mid-last week, I would’ve been surprised if it didn’t go to No. 1. Lil Nas X...
Mariah Carey Posts Throwback Video of High-Heeled Treadmill Workout
Snoop Dogg plays the voice of her dog in the MTV promo clip. Whatever your pandemic workout regime has been, old school Mariah Carey has you beat. The singer posted a throwback clip early Tuesday morning (April 6) from the Music Box era in 1993 in which she teaches us all a lesson or two about proper exercise technique. In the MTV promo video, Carey is walking on a treadmill in a black tank top and shorts, accented by matching high heels, of course, next to her adorable dog, who is strolling on a matching machine while rocking a red sweater. As she works her arms back and forth, Carey snaps a heel and exclaims, “S–t! I can’t even believe this. Nine hundred dollars [and] you can’t even frickin’ go on the treadmill in them!” Exasperated, Carey tosses the s...
Lil Nas X’s ‘Montero (Call Me by Your Name)’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100
“Montero,” released March 26 on Columbia Records, is the 1,120th No. 1 in the Hot 100’s 62-year history. It’s the 51st single to debut at No. 1, and Lil Nas X’s first. “Montero” drew 46.9 million U.S. streams and sold 21,000 downloads in the week ending April 1, according to MRC Data. It also attracted 1.1 million radio airplay audience impressions in the week ending April 4. The track opens at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart, where it’s Lil Nas X’s second leader, after “Old Town Road” ruled for a record 20 weeks, and No. 2 on Digital Song Sales. It was available in three versions in its first week: its original version; its “Satan’s Extended Version”; and its “But Lil Nas X Is Silent the Entire Ti...
The Isley Brothers vs. Earth, Wind & Fire in Funk Legends ‘Verzuz’ Battle: See Billboard’s Scorecard For the Event
Hosted (with a somewhat heavy touch) by star comedian Steve Harvey, and with music courtesy of veteran DJ and quarantine-era sensation D-Nice, the event was clearly going to be a special one even before the two groups began spinning. D Nice span ’80s classics from Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan, before Harvey introduced himself, offered a prayer for “down bad” Verzuz veteran DMX, and raved about the formative importance of the two groups in his own life: “These groups made me. This music shaped me.” See Billboard‘s round-by-round scorecard for the epic showdown below — a supersized 25-round match, in accordance with the bands’ stunningly expansive catalogues — with our final winner tallied up and declared at the bottom. Round 1: The ...
Justin Bieber Surprise Releases ‘Freedom’ EP
Freedom‘s track list includes six songs: title track “Freedom” with Beam, “All She Wrote” (feat. Brandon Love and Chandler Moore), “We’re in This Together,” “Where You Go I Follow” (feat. Pink Sweats, Chandler Moore and Judah Smith), “Where Do I Fit In” (feat. Tori Kelly, Chandler Moore and Judah Smith) and “Afraid to Say” (feat. Lauren Walters). The Freedom EP follows the release of Bieber’s sixth album, Justice, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The 16-track set, released through Raymond Braun/Def Jam on March 18, follows his 2020 album, Changes. Justice was previewed by a quartet of top 40-charting hits on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart: “Holy” featuring Chance the Rapper...
Mariah Carey’s COVID-19 Vaccine Has Her Hitting a High Note
Mariah Carey brought her fans with her to get the COVID-19 vaccine — virtually, of course. The singer filmed herself getting her first dose of the vaccine, and her reaction to the shot turned out to be quite the musical moment. “Vaccine side effect: G6,” she quipped in a caption for Saturday night’s (April 3) social media clip, which shows her talking to the camera as she waits, “excited and nervous a little,” for the COVID-19 vaccine to be administered. As the needle goes in, a Mariah high note comes out. 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 ph...
Taylor Swift Reveals ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ Collabs With Keith Urban: See the Full Track List
She added, “I’m counting down the minutes til we can all jump into this brave world together, filled with equal parts nostalgia and brand newness. Head first, Fearless.” Urban might be one of the biggest Swifties out there, calling the “Lover” title track from her 2019 album “so exquisitely written” and “so gorgeously crafted.” He later told Billboard at the 2020 Grammy Awards that he considers Swift to be “one of the greatest songwriters period.” Swift’s forthcoming album includes re-recordings of the original Fearless songs, along with six never-before-released “From the Vault” songs, including “Mr. Perfectly Fine,” “Don’t You” and “Bye Bye Baby.” In late Marc...
