Month: June 2022

BLACKPINK is the revolution! The K-pop girl group reached yet another historic milestone on Tuesday (June 28) by becoming the first act in the history of YouTube to reach 75 million followers.

The latest high-water mark achieved by Rosé, Jennie, Jisoo and Lisa comes less than a year after they dethroned Justin Bieber as the most-followed musical artist on the streaming platform, and the girls have gained nearly 10 million more followers since then.

BLACKPINK’s latest YouTube record has us here at Billboard all up in our feels over the quartet’s impressive videography. So while we take a trip through their always-fierce visuals, we want to know which BLACKPINK music video you love the absolute most.

Back in the summer of 2016, the girl group debuted with their very first single album Square One, which contained “Whistle” and “Boombayah.” The hit singles also gave the band their very first chances to shine in music videos, displaying their personalities, style, vocals and expert choreography. Since then, BLACKPINK has rolled out eight more music videos for their loyal Blinks, from “Playing with Fire and “Stay” to “As If It’s Your Last,” and even sparked a viral dance with the success of 2018’s “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du.”

In 2019, the foursome landed on the cover of Billboard and took their ambitions to the next level with their second Korean-language EP Kill This Love. The music video for the title track set the internet ablaze, making the biggest debut in the history of YouTube and becoming the fastest music video to reach 100 million views in just a little over two days.

Of course, that success was soon eclipsed by the release of “How You Like That” — the lead single from The Album — which arrived in June 2020 and accumulated more than 86 million views in its first 24 hours. BLACKPINK soon followed that up with massive visuals for Selena Gomez collab “Ice Cream” and “Lovesick Girls,” the latter of which earned 10 million views in a mere 52 minutes.

Now that BLACKPINK has 75 million YouTube subscribers, which of their iconic music videos is your favorite? Vote in Billboard‘s official poll below!

Lauv is gearing up to release his sophomore studio album, All 4 Nothing, on August 5, and he sat down with Billboard‘s Tetris Kelly to discuss this next musical chapter.

“Lots of ups and downs, some light and dark,” Lauv said of the upcoming album. “It’s all kind of just me in the process of getting back in touch with my inner light and my childlike wonder, and the fun and true self.”

As for who he’d want to collaborate with in the future, the 27-year-old singer said he’d hope to work with Coldplay, Drake or Rex Orange Country. “Those are, like, three of my faves,” he said.

Lauv then answered a series of rapid-fire questions, the first being what fans would be shocked to learn he’s a big fan of. “Steak!” the star responded instantly, adding a goofy accent on the word to make it sound like “schteak.”

“I say ‘schteak’ a lot and I just said ‘schteak’ on camera,” Lauv said, bursting into laughter.

Lauv also clarified the debate on how to properly pronounce his name. “La-ouv,” he explained.

Watch Billboard‘s full interview with Lauv above,

BTS‘ “Yet to Come” scores a third week at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Trending Songs chart (dated July 2), powered by Twitter.

Avril Lavigne sat down for a new radio interview to talk about touring with Machine Gun Kelly and more, and she ended up revealing the one song she wishes she had in her own catalog.

“If there’s a song I wish I wrote, it’s ‘Bitch’ by Meredith Brooks,” the Canadian superstar told Mix 104.1’s Gregg, Freddy, & Danielle on a stop in Boston after playing Boston Calling. The “Love It When You Hate Me” singer also noted that while she’s never covered the 1997 hit, she’s definitely eager to.

Brooks’ irreverent song spent four weeks atop the Pop Airplay chart — despite some DJs not even being able to say the title on air, as Gary Trust noted — and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, stuck behind Puff Daddy and Faith Evans’ Notorious B.I.G. tribute song “I’ll Be Missing You,” featuring 112.

During the chat, Lavigne also opened up about joining Kelly on his current Mainstream Sellout Tour, which stops at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night (June 28). “This tour that I’m doing now with my new album Love Sux,” she said, “I just feel, like, really grateful. I think that’s the main feeling. And just to be able to sing my old songs and to still get the response that they get, and along with the new songs…It feels so good to still be making new music and having people just excited about it today.”

Indeed, the pop-punk pioneer is currently celebrating the 20th anniversary of her history-making 2002 debut album Let Go, which contained the smash singles “Complicated,” “Sk8er Boi” and “I’m With You.”

To properly commemorate the anniversary, Lavigne released a new deluxe edition of the LP including a cover of Kelly Clarkson‘s “Breakaway,” which she famously co-wrote and gave to the OG American Idol winner for her 2004 sophomore album of the same name.

Listen to Lavigne’s full interview with Mix 104.1 below.

Basketball player Kevin Love married model and entrepreneur Kate Bock at the New York Public Library on Saturday (June 25), featuring a star-studded celebration with some high-profile attendees.

In a photo shared by Vogue from the nuptials, Adele is seen posing for a photo and smiling alongside NBA superstar LeBron James, his wife Savannah James and the “Easy On Me” singer’s new boyfriend Rich Paul.

The sports agent and Adele took their relationship public in the summer of 2021, when they were seen watching a basketball game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns. In September, Adele shared a series of photos from another wedding — NBA star Anthony Davis and Marlen P’s — including a sweet photo booth snap of the couple.

“Rich just incredibly arrived,” she said about her boyfriend during an interview with Vogue. “I don’t feel anxious or nervous or frazzled. It’s quite the opposite. It’s wild.” In the interview, she also revealed that the two originally met at a party a couple of years before, when she joked to him, while “a bit drunk,” “Do you want to sign me? I’m an athlete now.”

See the photo of Adele, Rich Paul, and the James family via a Twitter fan account below.

Adele and Rich Paul last Saturday at the wedding of basketball player Kevin Love. pic.twitter.com/9OC8yre2EF

— Adele Daily (@adeledailynet) June 28, 2022

Drake returns to No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated July 2), reigning as the top musical act in the U.S. for a 37th total week on the strength of his new LP Honestly, Nevermind.

The set debuts atop the Billboard 200 with 204,000 equivalent album units, according to Luminate, marking his 11th No. 1 album. He ties Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand for the third-most leaders, after The Beatles (19) and Jay-Z (14).

Drake concurrently debuts 13 songs from Honestly, Nevermind on the Billboard Hot 100, led by “Jimmy Cooks,” featuring 21 Savage, at No. 1. The track likewise earns Drake his 11th No. 1 hit, tying him with Whitney Houston for the seventh most.

This is the 16th week that Drake has simultaneously ruled the Hot 100, Billboard 200 and Artist 100 charts, extending his record for the most such triples (since the Artist 100 launched in 2014). Here’s a look at every act to achieve the trifecta:

Most Weeks Ruling the Hot 100, Billboard 200 & Artist 100 Charts Simultaneously:

• 16, Drake
• 10, Taylor Swift
• 9, Adele
• 5, The Weeknd
• 2, Ariana Grande
• 2, Ed Sheeran
• 2, Harry Styles
• 1, Justin Bieber
• 1, BTS
• 1, Camila Cabello
• 1, Future
• 1, Kendrick Lamar

As Drake jumps 13-1 on the Artist 100, he also extends his records for the most weeks spent in the chart’s top five (163 weeks) and top 10 (240). He also holds the record for the most total weeks spent on the ranking: 417.

Meanwhile, Drake’s 37 weeks atop the Artist 100 are the most among males, and second overall only to Taylor Swift’s 50.

The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.

Deploying a “found footage” aesthetic that’s more Harmony Korine than Cloverfield, the video for moody singer-songwriter Joji’s massive new single “Glimpse of Us” is a kaleidoscope of destruction, uncivil behavior, and heartbreak.

The director, 28-year-old California-native Dan Streit, chopped approximately 15 hours of footage — shot on a Sony DCR-HC32 miniDV, across multiple states — into four hypnotic minutes. The juxtaposition between the unadorned piano ballad and images of wild urination, police harassment, derelict living, reckless Citi biking, and high-speed drifting makes for one of the most unusual music videos of the year. 

The video’s success – it currently has more than 16 million views on YouTube – has contributed to the overall “Glimpse of Us” viral moment, which began on TikTok and led to the single debuting in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 on the chart dated June 25. It’s the long-awaited crossover moment for Joji, who has a devoted following but hadn’t yet reached this level of mainstream exposure.

Streit began directing low-budget music videos with musician friends from his social network during college. After sharpening his skills as an editor and animator, he began working with Diplo and Major Lazer, and has gone on to direct videos for Justin Bieber, BROCKHAMPTON, and Charli XCX, to name a few. Citing David Lynch; Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!; and Malcolm in the Middle as formative influences, he’s attuned to the suburban uncanny and the latent absurdity of TV advertising. “My work has the sensibilities of a cartoon, but played in real life” he says. 

But “Glimpse of Us” is different. The video is designed to blur the line between reality and fiction. You watch it wondering what’s staged and what isn’t; you don’t know where to comfortably laugh. Streit has all the answers – but there’s only so much he’ll explain. 

What was the genesis for this video?

Joji had an idea for making a video that would be hand-held, shaky, where you’re following a group of kids and there’s lots of fast cutting and destruction. He listed off some ideas, like maybe there’d be drifting and things on fire, [but] it was pretty loose. We could do whatever we wanted as long as it fit that framework. 

Stylistically, the No. 1 thing I wanted was for it to feel totally real. I also didn’t want it to feel simply like a compilation of crazy things happening. The emotion of the song and its lyrics deserved more of a narrative than just chaos and destruction set to the song. So I found a good, cheap camera that we could get a bunch of to send around to cool subjects. And so certain ones worked and others didn’t, but the ideas evolved as we went along. 

So you did send cameras to some “nonprofessionals”?

Yeah. I wanted to make sure the video didn’t feel distinctly like one city or one place. So [my crew and I] went to Atlanta and then shot in Tennessee and Alabama, and then we shot in Los Angeles as well. But the only time that sending the camera out and getting good stuff back worked out was with a crew in New York. 

Was that Citi Bike Boyz? 

Yeah. We gave them instructions and they knew what to do.

As someone who lives in New York, I immediately recognized the bulky blue bikes.

Right. That became an issue because we were shooting in L.A. [in that style] and the bikes were not blue; I could only use specific moments because of that.

How many hours of footage did you edit from?

I think it was about 15 hours. It was a lot. But also, after getting all our footage, I would hit up friends and be like, Hey, do you have any footage from something crazy? My friend Sean Lopez sent me over some good stuff that’s used very quickly.

You don’t know what you’re watching, in terms of how constructed it is. How did you start to build a narrative? 

There wasn’t much of a plan. There was no shot list or storyboard or even breakdown of what happens when. We had a specific outfit, this wardrobe that we wore, but would also pass around to different people, to do different things. And we wanted to let the emotion of the song guide what we used. This feeling of experiencing something crazy and awesome but you’re distracted by something from the past. But while we were working I would never have described the video as a narrative video. 

I like the moment where it transitions to the hiking sequence, and the guys are arranged in a circle on a rock. 

When we were getting close to the [final cut] that moment wasn’t even there. It was so hard to find certain moments that I initially liked because there was so much footage. But in terms of blocking the video out by section, when we were editing, that felt like the best ending to that section.  

The external world starts to creep in at that moment too – you see the family hiking. And you’re wondering: Are they in danger?

Yeah. The idea that something bad is about to happen was my subconscious approach to everything. It wasn’t like I was consciously thinking, let’s bring in this family now. That was just a clip that we got. 

So that’s a case of nonprofessional actors appearing in the shoot?

Yeah. That’s a kind of documentary reaction. They weren’t planned for.

Is there a particular sequence that you’re most proud of, or that was most difficult to pull off?

The car on fire was the biggest in scale. We knew it was under control but it was unpredictable. Everything else was spontaneously approached, but this was planned for. 

How long were you shooting? 

Probably a week total. Which isn’t unusual for a music video. 

What was your philosophy when editing? It has a similar style to your video for Charli XCX’s “Forever,” which uses seemingly user-submitted lockdown footage.

[That connection] dawned on me when we were shooting it. I was wondering how these things were going to flow together, and how so much cutting would make sense with such a slow song. One thing that I brought up early on was wanting to have the audio from the clips in the video, to make it feel really real. And I’m glad that [Joji and his team] were down to do that. Some artists don’t want to obstruct the song so much, but they let us include the audio.

And editing, it was a give and take between the song and letting the audio from the scenes play out. On the Charli video I realized that I could edit via motion or subject matter, like teeth cutting to teeth, or cutting from a bright lens flare to another bright lens flare. So the first thing I did going into editing “Glimpse of Us” was organizing everything according to where we were physically or what was in the footage.

A lot of your work is humorous and ironic, but reading the YouTube comments on “Glimpse of Us,” there are lots of earnest, emotional reactions to the video. Did that surprise you?

A little bit. I mean, the song is sad. What he’s singing is sad. But I didn’t expect to see people saying that they related to the characters in the video, or saying that they knew people who lived like this. 

There’s a symbol that recurs in the video, an unfinished square with a dot — you see it tattooed on someone; you see it spray painted. What is it?

I actually don’t want to answer that. When we showed Joji’s team the footage they asked, “What is that?” They wanted to know if it was some kind of hate symbol. It’s not, nothing like that at all. It is a symbol that exists, but I don’t want to give it away.

Happening for the first time since 2019, Day Zero Masada on Tuesday (June 28) announced the lineup for its September event in Israel.

This bill features Italian techno star Anfisah Letyago, New York house legend Danny Tenaglia, and other assorted icons including Sasha, DJ Tennis, Art Department, Chloe Caillet, Day Zero founder Damian Lazarus and Israeli artists including Adam Ten, leader of Tel Aviv-based techno collective Dov Gummy.

Day Zero Masada 2022 will return to its namesake site, an ancient fortification located on top of an isolated rock plateau overlooking the Dead Sea on the edge of the Judean desert. A UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Israel’s most popular tourist destination, the fortification on the Masada plateau was the site of two palaces built by Herod The Great that were completed between 37 and 31 BCE.

Day Zero takes place at the base of this rock plateau, and during its inaugural event, drew 15,000 people to the sunset-to-sunrise party. “It’s the most magnificent place, and obviously in a very historically important part of the world,” Lazarus told Billboard of the show in 2019. “My idea was to kind of veer it away from the Judaism and get in connection with the Bedouin tribes and the wandering nomads of that area – people who have kind of traveled across the Dead Sea for thousands of years. That’s essentially how I thought Masada was the best possible follow-up to working with the Mayans in Tulum.”

Day Zero Masada is an offshoot of the original Day Zero party that’s happened in Tulum since 2012, and which returned to Mexico this past January after two years off due to the global pandemic. A 2021 edition of Day Zero Masada with a lineup including Charlotte De Witte and Diplo was also canceled due to the public health concerns.

With the world once again in motion, tickets for Day Zero Masada 2022 are on sale now. See the full lineup below.