Month: July 2022

Zico has been one of modern K-pop and Korean hip-hop’s most prolific artist-producers, and his long-awaited return looks poised to continue his reign of thought-provoking, addictive hits.

Zico’s first collection of new music since 2020, Grown Ass Kid, comes after the star completed his required military service for South Korean men during the bulk of the global pandemic. Understandably inspired by the events of the world, Zico’s new tracks lean on lyrical and musical themes of modern-day chaos.

Buzz single “Seoul Drift,” released ahead of the EP with a music video, has Zico reflecting on disappointments brought on by the pandemic (“Two Christmas Eves/ Flight to Europe canceled/ Solo concert and Fashion Week/ Just a red X on the problematic calendar”). Now in 2022, he’s making up for lost time, celebrating survival and moving from “offline, meaning that I should cross that line.” Despite the easy summer hip-hop production, “Seoul Drift” is cautiously celebratory as Zico embraces the day “until there is a crack in the earth.”

The new single “Freak” takes a similar approach but ups the catastrophe. Declaring everyone “freaks,” Zico discusses how today’s chaotic world has made us all equals over a beat drop that sounds ready to take over TikTok. He raps, “There is no main character in this situation/ Citizen 1, citizen 2, everyone is an extra…/ Don’t expect any special treatment/ From hipsters to pop stars, everyone is an extra.” The accompanying music video has Zico and friends starring in a doomsday-situation story where the world is burning while everyone is simultaneously documenting it on their phones.

Elsewhere on the EP, new song “Trash Talk” is a classic hip-hop track featuring rapper Changmo; “Nocturnal Animals” is a slow-grooving, experimental R&B track with rising rapper Zior Park; and “OMZ Freestyle” spotlights Zico’s spitting skills.

Grown Ass Kid is Zico’s first release under his new label family, HYBE Labels, the same system housing K-pop powerhouses like BTS, SEVENTEEN and ENHYPEN in their respective agencies. After leaving his longtime label home of Seven Seasons (that still houses his boy band Block B), Zico founded the label KOZ Entertainment in 2019. He signed singer Dvwn, and HYBE acquired the agency in late 2020. Having a creative-in-control like Zico in the family continues to give HYBE an edge over its competition, with Grown Ass Kid proving that the star remains introspective while pushing new boundaries.

JoJo Siwa‘s viral TikTok that called out Full House star Candace Cameron Bure for being the “rudest celebrity” she’s ever met made waves across the Internet over the past week — even prompting the 46-year-old actress to give her side of the story.

Since then, the Dance Moms alum has explained her reasoning for crowning Bure as rude. “You know, I had a rough experience when I was little,” the 19-year-old YouTube star said in a video obtained by Page Six. “I was 11, and I was a big, big fan, and I wanted to take a picture with her, and it wasn’t a good time for her.”

“I will say because I had a bad experience, that doesn’t mean that she is an awful human,” she added. “I think it just was an inconvenient time for her, and little 11-year-old me was just so pumped up and so excited, but that doesn’t mean she’s the worst human ever. It just, you know, it was a rough experience for me.”

Bure previously revealed in her own video that she personally reached out to Siwa to chat after seeing the TikTok. “[Siwa] said ‘I met you at the Fuller House premiere and I was 11 years old, and we were all on the red carpet. I had come up to you and said “Can I have a picture with you?” and you said to me “Not right now.” And then proceeded to do what you were doing and taking pictures with other people on the red carpet,’” Bure recalled.

“The lesson that we can learn is to be mindful that no matter how many followers you have, even a 10 second trending TikTok video can do damage, because our words matter and our actions matter… There’s no drama. That’s the tea,” she concluded.

Machine Gun Kelly unveiled his live performance video of “Twin Flame” for Vevo on Wednesday (July 27).

In the clip, the pink-haired rocker begins the number lying on a bed of chains inside a glass coffin as he sings, “It’s been six days since the last time/ I saw your face and you asked my sign/ I told you mine, I questioned why/ And you said, ‘Everything’s aligned’/ On the first day, you told me/ I was your twin flame from a past life/ And tonight, the moon is full/ So take me anywhere outside.”

Eventually, the recent Billboard cover star escapes the confines of the glass box, picking up his matte black electric guitar to finish out the closer to his latest No. 1 album Mainstream Sellout  while bathed in flashing teal and pink light.

“Our team had a great time working on such an exciting creative with Machine Gun Kelly,” said Vevo svp of content, programming and marketing JP Evangelista in a statement. “His enthusiasm at every stage of production was truly infectious – it was a true pleasure to work with such an involved artist. MGK’s energy was next level and we are all really pleased with the finished videos.”

MGK performed “Twin Flame” at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards in May, dedicating the powerful song to his “wife” and their “unborn child.”

The artist otherwise known as Colson Baker is currently in the middle of his star-studded Mainstream Sellout Tour with Avril Lavigne, Iann Dior, Blackbear, Trippie Redd, WILLOW, Travis Barker and more. Following the tour’s sold-out show at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, MGK made headlines for spontaneously smashing a champagne glass on his face while performing “My Ex’s Best Friend” at the raucous afterparty.

Watch Kelly’s live VEVO performance of “Twin Flame” below.

Bailey Zimmerman’s debuted at No. 2 on Hot Country Songs upon its release in June.

He cut “Rock and a Hard Place” after first hearing one of the song’s co-writers, Heath Warren, perform it on his Instagram page. “When I listen to outside cuts, I’m listening for the very first line,” he told Billboard. “If it doesn’t grab me, I’m like, ‘No.’ But as soon as I heard that on Heath’s Instagram, and I heard the line, ‘Like swinging and missing,’ I knew that I wanted to cut it. It was [in the] perfect key and everything.”

If you need a guide to follow along with Bailey Zimmerman’s “Rock and a Hard Place,” find the lyrics below:

Bailey Zimmerman’s churning hit reached No. 9 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, making him one of country’s biggest rising stars.

“After you lose that special person you never thought you’d lose, it’s hard to want to give love a second chance,” he told Billboard of the song. “We felt like we could relate to a lot of people by shining a light on that feeling.”

If you need a guide to follow along with Bailey Zimmerman’s “Fall in Love,” find the lyrics below:

Morgan Wallen notched his sixth overall chart-topper on  Billboard‘s airplay-, streaming- and sales-based Hot Country Songs chart, as “You Proof” blasted in atop the May 28-dated list.

“You Proof,” released (on Mercury/Republic/Big Loud Records) May 13 – Wallen’s birthday – also launched atop Country Streaming Songs and Country Digital Song Sales.

If you need a guide to follow along with Morgan Wallen’s “You Proof,” find the lyrics below:

Beyoncé is just days away from unveiling her much-anticipated seventh studio album — her first since 2016’s Lemonade. The aptly titled Renaissance is led by a whimsical cover art of Queen Bey with long blonde hair, saddled on a glowing silver horse.

While the album is set to arrive on Friday (July 29), the “Formation” singer surprised fans two days before by revealing three more shots from her cover art photoshoot. In the snaps, Bey is seen on the same silver horse, moving her hands in different directions.

See the poses on the homepage of Beyoncé’s website here.

In the post revealing the Renaissance art, Bey gave some insight on her intention while creating her upcoming album. “Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world,” she wrote. “It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving.”

“My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment,” she continued. “A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration.”

“I hope you find joy in this music,” she concluded. “I hope it inspires you to release the wiggle. Ha! And to feel as unique, strong, and sexy as you are.”

The 2022 incarnation of California’s Northern Nights festival had the distinction of being the first-ever U.S. festival with multiple onsite dispensaries, meaning that the boutique show’s 7,000 attendees had myriad ways to get lifted during the woodsy three-day affair.

Taking place this past July 15-17 in Piercy, Calif. — at the center of Northern California’s Emerald Triangle, the United States’ largest cannabis-producing region made up of Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity Counties — Northern Nights 2022 featured cannabis-related activities and legal cannabis consumption within the festival grounds, in areas compliant with local and state regulations. (Attendees have been able to legally purchase and consume cannabis products since 2019, following the 2018 passing of AB202, a California state bill that allowed for legal onsite cannabis sales and consumption at private events. Northern Nights Music Group, the company behind the festival, was a key co-developer and lobbyist for this bill.) 2022 marked the first time Northern Nights hosted multiple on-site dispensaries.

But whether a participant in cannabis culture or not, there was plenty of laidback activities to keep busy with during the fest, with afternoon floats on the Eel River, camping in the redwoods and, of course, the natural high of the music, which this year included sets from headliners Claude VonStroke, CloZee and TroyBoi.

The stellar 2022 lineup also featured white-hot San Francisco-based DJ/producer Qrion (a 2019 Billboard emerging artist), beloved New York-based singer/songwriter Two Feet, West Coast festival legend David Starfire, and the excellent Bay Area-based producer and trumpet player Balkan Bump, all of whom delivered high-energy sets under the stars and redwoods of the region. Whether you missed these shows or are aspiring to relive them, we’ve got complete Northern Nights 2022 sets from these four artists below.

Qrion

Two Feet

David Starfire

Balkan Bump