Month: September 2022

If there’s any lesson to take away from Rina Sawayama‘s debut appearance on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge Tuesday (Sept. 27), it’s that breaking her heart comes with consequences.

Performing a short set on the radio program, Sawayama delivered a cover of Billie Eilish’s fan-beloved song “Happier Than Ever.” In true Sawayama fashion, the singer gave the song her own personal twist: Swapping out the song’s light acoustic opening for a set of swimmy, dream-like guitar strains, Sawayama nailed the song’s iconic transition from frustration to rage, slowly building up her voice until it finally breaks.

Diving into that almost-metal sound that defined so much of her debut album Sawayama, the singer began belting into a distorted mic, emulating Eilish’s own scorned voice as she sang “I could talk about every time/ That you showed up on time/ But I’d have an empty line, ’cause you never did.”

Sawayama also gave fans a new live version of her single “Hold the Girl,” off of her critically acclaimed album of the same name. Delivering raw live vocals next to the song’s quirky, glitching production, Sawayama nailed her performance.

The British pop singer has a busy few months ahead of her. After unveiling her sophomore album Hold the Girl earlier this month, Sawayama is heading out on her new headlining tour. Starting out with nine dates in the U.K., Sawayama will then kick off her 15-date North American leg in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Nov. 1 at the Avant Gardener, before closing it all out in Los Angeles on Nov. 23.

Check out Sawayama’s performances in the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge below:

It was just 11 minutes — roughly the length of three country singles. But that window of time ended 58 lives, and changed countless others.

Nearly five years have passed, but the effects of the mass shooting at Las Vegas’ Route 91 Harvest festival on Oct. 1, 2017, continues to reverberate. SiriusXM host Storme Warren, who was the MC at the concert, maintains a “text message relationship” with a trauma therapist who works with the Navy SEALS. Jason Aldean and Dee Jay Silver, who were among the artists who performed that day, admit to bouts of survivor’s guilt. And hundreds of people move through their lives with scars from the attack, such as concertgoer Natalie Grumet, whose visibly resewn left jaw is a daily reminder that the paramedics doubted she would make it after her teeth were blown out.

“They said that it looked like a grenade had gone off from the inside of my mouth,” she recalls in 11 Minutes, a new four-part documentary. “You could see the gums and teeth and bones and chin sticking out, and I’m trying to not pass out, keep it together.”

11 Minutes, premiering on Paramount+ on Tuesday (Sept. 27), recounts the horror of that surprisingly short torrent of bullets, the bravery of Las Vegas police who thought they might die — but attempted to bring down the killer anyway — and the long-tail aftermath, including both unimaginable loss and survivors’ unexpected new friendships.

“People were genuinely involved in taking care of other people, and to a degree that I couldn’t fathom,” Warren says. “The friendships that were made that night are undeniable. And they were made for a reason.”

The documentary is not easy to watch. A surprising amount of live footage from the night — gathered from the Las Vegas police, local CBS affiliate KLAS-TV and ticket-holders’ cellphones — captures the popping sounds and the confusion, the blood and the bodies strewn across the bowl, in great detail. And it reveals that Aldean’s bassist, Tully Kennedy, likely owes his life to the instrument that provides his paycheck.

“Had he not been wearing that bass, the bullet would have hit him in the gut, for sure,” Aldean says on camera.

Executive producer Susan Zirinsky has seen terror before. She worked on a 9/11 documentary and covered the 1982 war in the Falkland Islands and the 1991 Gulf War. Despite the destruction levied in those kinds of events, the worst behavior by a minority of people can bring out the best in the majority, and she felt it was important for 11 Minutes to highlight that resilience, along with the gut-wrenching parts of the story.

“We’re at a point in our society where people talk about division and divisiveness,” she says. “There were 20,000 people at that concert, and it was all about saving people to the right and to the left. It didn’t matter who you were, what religion you were, what political party you were, what color you were. It was stripping men and women down to their basic humanity.”

Concerts tend to unite people, but it doesn’t work that way for everyone. In one of the most difficult storylines of 11 Minutes, concertgoer Jonathan Smith — a Black man who was raised in Los Angeles’ South Central neighborhood — reveals that a fellow attendee confronted him at the start of the festival, saying: “I didn’t know your kind liked this music.” So it stung when Big & Rich led the crowd in a round of “God Bless America.”

“There was a little irony in it, considering it’s this uplifting, patriotic song,” Smith says onscreen, “and I just had somebody tell me I didn’t belong here.”

Smith successfully escaped the venue when the shooting began, but went back in the bowl to help lift others over a wall to safety. He was shot in the neck but survived, and is recognized at a reunion by some of his fellow attendees as a hero. But his tale ties in two major issues in country music: Decision-makers in the genre are attempting to make country more inclusive, and the business is facing significantly greater security costs, along with fears of a repeat disaster.

The movie doesn’t offer any solutions — “This is not an advocacy film,” Zirinsky notes — but it’s hard not to recognize that the financial, emotional and human costs are borne mostly by the majority. Bump stocks were banned, and a recent Congressional act placed some incremental limits on gun access. 

“I thought that things were going to change. I honestly did,” says Jennifer Simms, a Sunrise Hospital nurse who helped treat Smith’s wounds, during the film’s final minutes. “You wonder how many victims there have to be in order for laws to be changed.”

In addition to the 58 who died in Las Vegas, 869 were wounded, and 11 Minutes painstakingly devotes six minutes of the end credits to a list of the American cities that have suffered mass shootings in the last five years — including El Paso and Uvalde, Texas; Highland Park, Ill.; and Nashville — and naming every victim.

“That was the hardest part for me,” Warren says. “I wasn’t expecting it. And when I saw that scroll, I’m just like, ‘Oh, God, it’s still going?’”

While elected officials haven’t found a solution, 11 Minutes is a reminder that many ordinary Americans rise to the occasion when called. Heroism, in fact, is often revealed under the most dire circumstances. 

“Tragedy does bring out extraordinary things in people,” says Zirinsky. “You never know how you’re going to react.” 

Beyoncé is well-known for the meticulous, multi-layered roll-outs of her albums. But according to Black Eyed Peas leader will.i.am, he was the one who came up with the idea to release a series of dance remixes of Bey’s “Break My Soul” single.

Speaking to Metro about the return of The Voice UK — where he sits on the judging panel alongside Sir Tom Jones, Olly Murs and Anne-Marie — Will explained that he was in France when the song was released earlier this year and his first thought was, “I wish the beat did this!” And because he is who he is, Will called one of his collaborators and they worked remotely on a freelance remix of the song, which, according to the “I Gotta Feeling” rapper, helped inspire the subsequent remix EP.

“They weren’t thinking about remixes until I sent it,” he said. “They put out a remix EP and my song’s the first one on it – and I inspired it! I can’t find the word for it – it’s like Santa Claus is real, man!”

Beyoncé surprised fans in early August when she dropped the 4-song “Break My Soul” remix EP featuring refreshed versions of her Renaissance single by will.i.am, Chicago house legend Terry Hunter, global scene queen Honey Dijon and New York producer/DJ Nita Aviance.

The EP was followed by the even-buzzier “Queens” remix of the song, which interpolated Madonna’s 1990 Hot 100 No. 1 “Vogue” while paying tribute to such iconic Black female artists as Aretha Franklin, Robert Flack, Grace Jones, Erykah Badu, Janet Jackson and Diana Ross, as well as a number of ballroom legends.

Listen to will’s remix below.

Jackson Dean becomes the first artist to score a top 10 with a first entry on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart this year unaccompanied by another act. On the list dated Oct. 1, his debut single “Don’t Come Lookin’” rises from No. 11 to No. 10 with a 3% gain to 15.4 million in airplay audience in the week ending Sept. 25, according to Luminate.

Dean co-wrote “Lookin’” with Luke Dick. It’s the freshman single from Dean’s debut studio album, released in March, Greenbroke, which Dick also produced.

The 21-year-old Dean, from Odenton, Md., gained early traction when “Lookin’” was featured in the seventh episode (which premiered Dec. 12, 2021) of the fourth season of Paramount+‘s Yellowstone.

“Lookin’” is the second launch Country Airplay entry to reach the upper tier in 2022. It follows BRELAND’s first, “Beers on Me,” with Dierks Bentley and HARDY; it led the list dated April 23.

The last artist not teamed with another act to achieve a top 10 with a rookie entry was Elvie Shane, whose “My Boy” topped the tally last October.

On the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs chart, “Lookin’ ” lifts 16-14 for a new high. It drew 4 million official streams and sold 1,000 downloads in the U.S. in the Sept. 16-22 tracking week.

‘Hell’ Yes

Koe Wetzel’s Hell Paso bounds onto Top Country Albums at No. 3 with 25,000 equivalent album units earned – a new career best for the singer-songwriter in both rank and weekly units.

Wetzel, from Pittsburg, Texas, adds his third Top Country Albums top 10 in as many visits. Sellout opened at its No. 10 high in December 2020 (11,000 units) and Harold Saul High started at its No. 10 peak in July 2019 (10,000).

The new LP also begins at No. 2 on Americana/Folk Albums and Top Rock & Alternative Albums. It’s Wetzel’s first top 10 among two charted titles on the former and his first entry on the latter.

Here Comes ‘Sun’

Little Big Town logs its seventh Top Country Albums top 10 as Mr. Sun enters at No. 10 (14,000 units). The set follows Nightfall, which opened in February 2020 as the quartet’s fourth No. 1. The group scored its first top 10 with A Place to Land, which began at its No. 10 best in November 2007.

Are you starting to publish your music and not sure how to monetize it? Or are you an emerging artist who’s already beginning to be heard in Europe and has been touring for some time? Whether you’re just starting out or you think you know everything about the music industry, don’t miss these tips from five Latin music leaders on how to make money from your work right away. 

They are Cris Falcão, managing editor at Ingrooves Music Group, Brazil; Edgar Martinez, senior VP of Entertainment at Loud And Live; Omar Paredes, associate director of industry relations at SoundExchange; Horacio Rodriguez, CEO of WK Records and head of music for WK Entertainment; and Emilio Morales, publishing director at Rimas Publishing. Together they participated on Monday (Sept. 26) in a panel of Billboard’s Latin Music Week moderated by Leila Cobo in which, for the most part, they agreed all that you should educate yourself well about the business although music comes first. 

Here are the five most relevant points: 

Publishing: Unless you are a very local artist and your genre and scope are limited to your environment, once your music starts playing beyond your borders you should ideally hire the services of a publisher, says Morales. A publisher will help you maximize the collection of money and get international royalties faster, something that would otherwise be very difficult, he says. “It’s a very technical and complicated administrative job and a largely unknown area in this industry.” 

SoundExchange: A publisher will help you get the royalties from your music if you are the composer, but if you’re only the performer, SoundExchange will be your best ally. The nonprofit collective rights management organization collects money for the singer from non-interactive radio services like SiriusXM, and not just in the United States, Paredes said. SoundExchange helps record labels and publishers run their businesses better. It collects digital royalties on behalf of labels large and small and allows them to claim and track their music catalog. 

An advance: A record label will give emerging artists a cash advance so that they can support themselves while they develop their craft, adds Rodriguez. The label will be your partner for a long time and you need the business to always look good and be healthy for the company to keep investing in you.

Touring: Touring usually comes later and artists should know the appropriate size of their tour and their venues at any given moment in their career. Not everyone can fill the American Airlines Arena, says Martinez, but by studying the artist and scope, the right tour can be defined in order to get the most out of it. 

Hidden money: There are many opportunities in the industry to make additional money. Beyond sponsors or the typical merchandise, Martinez sees a source of income yet to be exploited in unique experiences like sound-checks, backstage tours or going on stage with the artist. “It is money that is not necessarily being exploited right now and there’s a real interest in this type of experience.” 

An additional tip per panelist: 

Cris Falcão: Don’t follow the numbers. Follow your heart, and the numbers will follow. 

Edgar Martinez: In my case, follow the numbers (laughs.) Actually, I think that the most important thing to be a touring artist is to focus on creating music, on really being different, unique. That’s what really makes an audience follow you for 20, 30 years. 

Omar Paredes: I am a huge advocate of the art… but also research, learn, constantly evolve, stay up to date. Work on your craft, but keep your eyes in the business as well. 

Emilio Morales: Work as a team from the beginning. No one wins a championship alone, you have to fight as a team. 

Horacio Rodriguez: Artist, producer and manager have to learn every line of income in the business, know where the money comes from, delegate, trust and work as a team. At the same time, above all, music comes first, always. 

Life has been good for David Guetta and Bebe Rexha in recent weeks, though they’re no sure bet to retain the U.K. singles chart crown.

Guetta and Rexha’s hit “I’m Good (Blue)” (via Parlophone) faces a stiff challenge from Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” (EMI), which powers to No. 2 on the midweek chart.

Following the first 48 hours in the chart week, just a “handful of units” separated the two singles, the OCC reports, with “I’m Good (Blue)” still at the top of the leaderboard.

Also noteworthy on the Official Chart Update is Luude and Mattafix’s “Big City Life” (Warner Records), which is on track for a 10-7 lift, for what would be a new peak, while homegrown grime star Stormzy should grab his 25th top 40 appearance with “Mel Made Me Do It” (0207/Merky). The seven-minute tune is storming to a No. 13 debut.

Over on the albums chart blast, D-Block Europe leads tight race with Lap 5, which could give the London hip-hop act its first chart leader.

At this early stage, nothing is certain.

Take That founding member Mark Owen is just 1,000 chart units adrift in second place with Land of Dreams (BMG), his first solo record in nearly a decade, while Australian pop-rock act 5 Seconds Of Summer’s fifth album 5SOS5 (BMG) is close behind at No. 3 on the midweek survey.

Less than 1,600 units separate D-Block Europe’s latest from Sports Team’s Gulp! (Island), which debuts at No. 4 on the Official Chart Update.

Also, look out for top ten finishes for Editors (EBM, currently at No. 6 via PIAS Recordings) and Beth Orton (Weather Alive, at No. 8 via Partisan) when the chart is published this Friday.

Cardi B is having the final say in her Twitter feud with fellow rapper Akbar V.

Following online jabs back and forth between the duo, including some comments by Akbar bringing up the rumor that Cardi’s husband Offset had cheated on her with rapper Saweetie, the “I Like It” star took to Instagram on Monday (Sept. 26) to share a sultry photo with her man.

“I fight for my b—-es and I’m fighting over d— too,” she captioned a photo set, in which she’s seen with her hand on Offset’s chest, as the Migos rapper leans against a door frame. Cardi is wearing a a satin black maxi dress that exposes a size-able portion of her bottom.

The tension between Cardi and Akbar V seemed to have bubbled over when Cardi began celebrating that the music video for her GloRilla collab “Tomorrow 2” garnered 6 million views on YouTube. In response to what seemed to be some subtweeting about the accomplishment on Akbar V’s part, Cardi tweeted, “I don’t really like the internet games …My dms is open and also the streets!” and “I don’t gotta @ I can change a bi— life just by a mention….AND YES I HIT THEM DIRECTLY ,I don’t do the internet!!”

While screenshots showed that Cardi reached out to Akbar privately and cleared things up, the duo began trading insults on Twitter about having kids, chart success and the Offset cheating allegations. “I hate a h-e that throw rocks and hide their hands ..been subtweeting me for months and now you wanna make it about another woman as a shield. Stand on your sh–!!!” Cardi tweeted.

Even Offset himself got involved after Akbar claimed he called her, and shared what she thought was his phone number. Her original tweet was then taken down for violating the platform’s rules. “Bi— that’s not my number, why would I call you when bi— already handling you lame a– h-e,” Offset wrote.

Kelly Clarkson dipped into yet another genre for Monday’s (Sept. 26) “Kellyoke” installment, this time opting for a cover of Faith Hill’s 1999 country hit, “Breathe.”

Dressed in a sleek, knee-length black dress with tights and black leather boots, the 40-year-old superstar performed a piano rendition of the track’s first verse, before her full band and backup singer joined her for the euphoric chorus.

Hill’s “Breathe” logged five weeks at No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 beginning April 22, 2000, and spent 53 total weeks on the chart. Meanwhile, the song topped the Hot Country Songs chart for six weeks.

The song was nominated for three Grammy Awards in 2000, including best country song and song of the year. “Breathe” ended up winning the Grammy that year for best female country vocal performance. The song also won two Billboard Music Awards in 2000: Hot 100 single of the year and Hot 100 airplay track of the year.

Earlier this month, the OG American Idol winner kicked off season four of her Emmy-winning Kelly Clarkson Show. In the three seasons that the daytime talk show had been on the air before that, Clarkson has won five Daytime Emmys. Clarkson has won outstanding entertainment talk show host all three seasons her show has been on the air. 

Other recent Kellyoke picks by Clarkson for her daytime show have included Solomon Burke’s “Cry to Me,” Joni Mitchell’s Christmastime classic “River,” John Legend’s “In My Mind,” “Heartbreak Anthem” by David Guetta, Galantis and Little Mix and more.

Check out Kelly Clarkson’s cover of Faith Hill’s “Breathe” below.