Korea is gearing up to celebrate its major harvest festival, Chuseok, on September 10, and BTS is joining in on the holiday fun with the return of their popular Dalmajung merch collection.
The group has been taking part in stunning concept photos and videos over the past week, in which each member is seen wearing hanbok, traditional Korean clothing for holidays and special occasions, as they spend a serene evening by the water under the moonlight. The moonlit gleam is the perfect visual representation to accompany Dalmajung, which represents “the moment you look at the full moon,” according to Koreaboo.“Dal” means moon in Korean, and “majung” means to meet.
So far, RM, Jin, J-Hope and Suga have had their concept videos unveiled on BangtanTV’s YouTube channel, beautifully capturing their Korean ancestry and tradition. Chuseok is sometimes referred to as “Korean Thanksgiving,” because it typically involves time spent enjoying food with family, friends and loved ones, according to the holiday’s information website. On the holiday, a full harvest moon appears in the sky and families give thanks to their ancestors for the harvest they get to enjoy.
BTS will be unveiling their new merch line on Tuesday (Sept. 6) at 11 a.m. KST/10 p.m. EST on Monday (Sept. 5), according to HYBE Merch’s Twitter account. The collection comes one year after BTS’ 2021 iteration of their Dalmajung merch line, which featured traditional styled clothing, pouches, jewelry and photocards.
Watch all the concept videos (so far) for this year’s Dalmajung line in celebration of Chuseok below.
September is officially upon us, music lovers. And with a new batch of music released on Friday (Sept. 2), there’s more than plenty to soundtrack the changing of the seasons. And as always, rather than waking us up when September ends, we want to know which new release you’ve got on repeat heading into Labor Day Weekend.
Plus, Ari Lennox unveiled her new EP Away Message, a quick precursor to her upcoming sophomore studio album age/sex/location (out Sept. 9), which includes lead single “Queen Space” featuring Summer Walker.
Perhaps you’re loving Lil Baby‘s new single “Detox” or “New Gold,” the funky team-up between Gorillaz, Tame Impala and Bootie Brown of The Pharcyde ahead of the animated band’s upcoming Cracker Island LP.
Charlie Puth also released his new post-breakup track “Smells Like Me,” the latest in his string of Charlie-era singles following “Light Switch,” “That’s Hilarious,” and the Jung-Kook assisted “Left or Right.” And speaking of eponymous albums, Yungblud unveiled his new set Yungblud featuring lead single “The Funeral,” The Cure-sampling “Tissues,” “Don’t Feel Like Feeling Sad Today,” and WILLOW collab “Memories.”
Or maybe you’ve got something else cued up entirely in the realms of country (Jon Pardi‘s Mr. Saturday Night), pop (Ava Max‘s “Million Dollar Baby”), metal (Megadeath‘s The Sick, The Dying… And the Dead!) and more.
Vote for your favorite release in Billboard‘s weekly new music poll below, and let your voice be heard!
Elizabeth McKeown, the woman on trial for the death of Barbara Foster, has been sentenced to life without parole.
McKeown rear ended Foster in Springfield in 2018, and when Foster got out of her car to look at the damage, McKeown intentionally ran her over, killing her.
McKeown was found guilty of first-degree murder in June.
Brittany Aldean made an appearance on FOX News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight on Thursday (Sept. 1) to discuss the controversy surrounding her recent social media comments about transgender youth.
Aldean, who is the wife of country star Jason Aldean, is facing backlash for saying on social media Aug. 23 that she was glad that her parents did not “change her gender” during her “tomboy phase.” In a lengthier Aug. 26 Instagram Stories post, she went into more detail on her thoughts regarding transgender youth and gender-affirming care, writing in part: “Advocating for the genital mutilation of children under the disguise of love and calling it ‘gender affirming care’ is one of the worst evils.” She also criticized parents who support their kids’ desire to transition.
“I’m advocating for children,” Aldean told Carlson. “I think that children should not be allowed to make these life-changing decisions at such a young age. They are not mature enough; they should have parents who love them and advocate for them regardless. We have ages on everything. We have it for cigarettes, driving, military, voting … yet for some reason people think that we can let a child choose their gender so young? It’s very baffling to me.”
She told Carlson that she was “extremely surprised” by the backlash to her words. “I never thought that there was anything wrong with [my statement],” she said. “I think I’m advocating for children. … I think when you’re older, if you choose to make those decisions, by all means. But children are too young, not mature enough to make those decisions.”
Current medical guidelines generally do not recommend gender-affirming surgeries until the person is at least 18 years of age. (To learn more, visit GLAAD’s website for transgender resources and information.)
Aldean’s comments on social media were considered transphobic by many, and also drew ire from some in the country music community, including Maren Morris and Cassadee Pope.
Pope tweeted that celebrities should “see the positives in including LGBTQ+ people in their messaging,” while Morris commented, “It’s so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie.” Carlson, in his segment, referred to Morris as a “lunatic” and “fake country music singer” in response to her comments about Aldean.
After criticism over Aldean’s comment surfaced, she announced that she was promoting a new line of “Barbie-inspired” shirts emblazoned with the words “Don’t tread on our kids.”
Since the controversy, top Nashville publicity firm The GreenRoom told Billboard that it has parted ways with Jason Aldean after representing the musician for nearly two decades. “Music has always been and remains The GreenRoom’s core focus, so we had to make the difficult decision after 17 years to step away from representing Jason,” co-owner Tyne Parrish said. “We aren’t the best people for the gig anymore, but will always be big fans of his music — he is one of the greatest live entertainers in country music.”
Watch Brittany Aldean’s interview on Tucker Carlson Tonight below:
After wiping her Instagram account last week, Britney Spears returned on Thursday (Sept. 1) with a pointed response to comments made by her youngest son regarding her parenting.
“I’ve tried my best at being the best person I can be,” Spears wrote in the note. “To be basically held hostage in homes under nurses and bulls–t I hope my kids one day understand my reasoning of my play in water revealing myself as any woman would being held under blankets and supervision under the conservatorship!!!”
The message from the “Hold Me Closer” singer appears to be in response to a Daily Mail piece featuring a preview of a new ITV News documentary slated to air on Friday (Sept. 2) in which her sons Preston, 16, and Jayden, 15, react to Spears’ recent wedding to longtime beau Sam Asghari, and what is reportedly a fracture in their relationship with their mom. According to the Daily Mail, Jayden says in the program there is “no hate” in their family, but that it will take “a lot of time and effort” to repair it.
“I 100% think this can be fixed. It’s just going to take a lot of time and effort. I just want her to get better mentally. When she gets better I really want to see her again,” Jayden says, adding a personal message to Brit: “I love you a lot, I hope for the best for you. Maybe one day we can sit down like this and talk again.”
The singer has reportedly not seen her sons since before the wedding, and Jayden said that while he’s happy for the couple, a reunion at the wedding “would have been inappropriate. At the time it just wasn’t a good time to go. I’m not saying I’m not happy for her. I’m really happy for them, but she didn’t invite the whole family, and then if it was just going to be me and Preston. I just don’t see how that situation would have ended on good terms.”
In her note, Britney added, “Finally at 40 without the restraints of what my family did to me.” It is in an apparent reference to the 13-year conservatorship that ended last year, in which her estranged father, Jamie Spears, had near-total control over the star’s personal and professional dealings. The pop star also recently called out her mother in a 22-minute voice note for allegedly not supporting her during the difficult conservatorship period.
Spears directly addressed Jayden at one point in the post, writing, “I send all the love in the world to you every day for the rest of my life!!!! My love for my children has no boundaries and it deeply saddens me to know his outcry of saying I wasn’t up to his expectations of a mother… and maybe one day we can meet face to face and talk about this openly!!!! Maybe dear child YOU can explain to me why our family would do that to anyone!!!!”
The singer also said that she has supported the children’s father, ex-husband dancer Kevin Federline, writing, “I assume it is easier for you guys not to have someone check on you to make sure you’re doing your homework!!!!” Spears also made other claims about Federline’s parenting style while chronicling the sacrifices she said she made to keep her sons happy and comfortable.
“I completely understand your need to live with your father as I had to play the perfect role for 15 years for absolutely nothing,” she said in the lengthy note.
“I’m so happy I was able to carry 4 tours, judge X-Factor and WAAAY more… I did that for you. And Preston,” she continued. Britney reminded Jayden that “you are my child and always will be!!!!,” telling both teens that she would love to see them “face to face,” while encouraging her second-born to keep honing his piano skills.
The singer — who was tightly restricted under the conservatorship put in place after her public struggles with mental health issues in 2008 — has been more open about the difficulty of not being able to speak her mind during the 13-year arrangement, and directly addressed comments about her state of mind in the post.
“As for my mental health… my dear child understand you must learn to pick up a book and read one before you resort to even thinking about my intellect sweetheart!!!,” she wrote, before disparaging Federline again and asking her son if he can “honestly” say that what “memaw and paw paw” — a seeming reference to her parents — “did to me was fine and call them not bad people… then yes I have failed as a mother and hopefully that’s a chat for you and your father to sit face to face and try to learn WHAT’S GOOD.”
Asghari supported his wife’s latest message. He quipped in the comments, “Mowing the lawn> professional baby daddy.”
Beyoncé and Jay-Z are giving Nicki Minaj her flowers — literally. To congratulate the “Super Freaky Girl” rapper on her recent VMA Video Vanguard Award win, the power couple sent over a gorgeous bouquet and a sweet note.
Minaj shared a video of her gift from the Carters on her Instagram story Thursday (Sept. 1), revealing they’d sent her a big vase of cream-colored roses and white lilies. “Congrats on your beautiful award,” the couple had written in a note tucked into the flowers. “Sending you all of our love.”
The message was signed “Hov and B Holla.”
“Thank you so much,” Minaj captioned the video. “The both of you. For everything.”
Minaj thanked both Beyoncé and Jay-Z during her Vanguard acceptance speech at this year’s VMAs, which took place on Sunday (Aug. 28). “Thank you to all the people who inspired me, and who I think inspired my flow,” she said, her gold Moon Person tucked in her left arm. “Lil Wayne, Foxy Brown, Lauryn Hill, Jay-Z.”
“The people who gave me huge opportunities that I’ll never forget,” she continued in her speech, which came right after the 39-year-old rapper performed a medley of her greatest hits. “Kanye West, Beyoncé, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Eminem, Britney Spears, Rihanna.”
Queen Bey, who teamed up with Minaj for their 2014 tracks “Feeling Myself” and “Flawless Remix,” isn’t a stranger to the Video Vanguard Award. She took home the honor eight years before Minaj did, and was presented with her gold Moon Person by none other than Jay-Z and their daughter Blue Ivy.
Watch Nicki Minaj accept the Video Vanguard Award — and thank Beyoncé and Jay-Z in her speech — at the 2022 VMAs below:
Billboard’s First Stream serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
This week, Romeo Santos adds to his legacy, Lil Baby gives us another confessional hit, and Nicki Minaj drops an eye-popping visual. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:
Romeo Santos, Fórmula Vol. 3
Bachata will always be a large part of Romeo Santos’ legacy: the Aventura star has pushed the genre to new sonic boundaries and commercial heights over the course of his solo career, and Fórmula Vol. 3, Santo’s sprawling new album, acknowledges that significance by grounding the majority of its 21 songs in the style he has made a home. Yet Santos is also not content to keep reinventing his respective wheel, so Fórmula Vol. 3 nods toward tropical music (“Sexo Con Ropa”), meringue (“15,500 Noches,” with several luminaries of the style) and flamenco (“El Pañuelo,” with current torch-bearer Rosalía), and even finds room for a Justin Timberlake-assisted pop crossover, “Sin Fin,” that could bring a towering veteran like Santos to a whole new audience.
Lil Baby has stayed busy this year as the world awaits the official follow-up to his breakthrough project My Turn: solo tracks “Right On,” “In a Minute” and “Frozen” have all become Hot 100 hits in recent months, while collaborative tracks like “U-Digg” (with 42 Dugg and Veeze) and “Never Sleep” (with Nav and Travis Scott) have also reached the chart. New track “Detox” may very well do the same as one of Baby’s stronger recent bids: his restless, relentless flow on the single recalls some of My Turn’s most affecting moments, as Baby’s voice cracks over memories of poisoned romances and unsatisfying material goods.
Nicki Minaj, “Super Freaky Girl” video
The Barbz are already loving Nicki Minaj’s new music video for No. 1 hit “Super Freaky Girl” — and why wouldn’t they? The rap superstar turns herself into a Barbie girl in a Barbie world in the clip, combining the song’s sexual innuendos with a brightly colored fantasia brimming with sight gags. With a knack for physical humor and one of the most expressive faces in popular music, Minaj always makes a big music video launch a major event, and doesn’t disappoint with this anticipated visual.
Ari Lennox, Away Message EP
As if our anticipation for Ari Lennox’s sophomore LP age/sex/location wasn’t high enough, this surprise EP previewing the project showcases an artist reaching new heights as an R&B futurist, her voice just as commanding as it was on 2019 debut Shea Butter Baby but her songwriting and production choices thinking much further ahead. Away Message naturally peaks with the opulent Summer Walker collaboration “Queen Space,” but don’t sleep on “Gummy,” an ultra-smooth clap-along with one of Lennox’s funkiest vocal deliveries to date.
Gorillaz feat. Tame Impala & Bootie Brown, “New Gold”
Although they’ve transitioned from Blur side project to long-running, festival-headlining alternative music mainstay, Gorillaz have been able to endure in part because they’ve unlocked the science of high-profile collaboration, welcoming different personalities and sounds into their virtual home while still maintaining their own identity. “New Gold,” which previews forthcoming album Cracker Island, seamlessly weaves The Pharcyde’s Bootie Brown’s boisterous voice into Tame Impala’s psych shimmer as Damon Albarn and co. glisten in the new compound — no easy feat, but unsurprisingly, Gorillaz pull it off.
Earlier this week, California native and neo-traditionalist Jon Pardi notched his fifth No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart with “Last Night Lonely” — just days before the release of his fourth studio album, Mr. Saturday Night (out Friday, Sept. 2).
“It’s a fun pick-up song,” Pardi tells Billboard of the chart-topper, referencing country music’s rich history of romantic come-ons, instead of the endless cavalcade of truck songs dotting country music’s sonic landscape.
“It’s reminiscent of [Pardi’s 2019 top five Country Airplay hit] ‘Night Shift’ just a little bit — and we loved that kind of sound, the fiddle solo. We felt like it would be a big radio single, but we didn’t know it was going to fly up the charts like that.”
The relatively fast 28-week chart ascension of “Last Night Lonely” is a boon for Pardi when some songs are taking year-long journeys to the summit of the country radio charts. “Last Night Lonely” follows Pardi’s previous top 5 Country Airplay hits “Ain’t Always the Cowboy” and “Tequila Little Time.”
“It’s nice to see this song shooting up, so hopefully we get more singles from this album,” says Pardi, who is managed by Red Light and C3 Management, and booked by CAA.
Over the past year or so, a throng of modern country artists have weaved threads of ‘80s and ‘90s country sounds into their music, with chart-topping results. But Pardi is by no means a bandwagon-jumper: His music has been anchored in classic country sounds, glossed with a modern patina, since his 2012 debut single “Missing You Crazy.”
“I think it’s more glorified now than ever,” Pardi says of the ‘90s country craze. “For me, it was always just kind of what I thought country music sounded like. That’s why I always had a little bit of it, but still modern. I’ve toured with people like Alan Jackson and Brooks & Dunn and you want them to like what you do. The coolest thing is just hearing them say, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing.’ I’m happy that people are more accepting of the more traditional, ‘90s kind of sound.”
Pardi grew up in Dixon, California, just over 20 miles southwest of California’s capital in Sacramento, and less than 50 miles away from the site of the famed Folsom State Prison, where music legend Johnny Cash performed a pair of concerts in 1968 that resulted in his famed live album At Folsom Prison.
Informed by both California’s rock-and-roll influenced Bakersfield sound of the ‘60s and the devil-may-care defiance of artists such as Cash and Bakersfield icon Merle Haggard, Pardi has blazed his own trail over the past decade. As with his previous three albums, Pardi’s Mr. Saturday Night is an homage to beer-soaked, neon-lit barrooms, ice-cold longnecks, wide open spaces, and the complexities of life, love and loss, spread out over 14 songs. Strait-esque tributes to lasting love (“The Day I Stop Dancin’”) sit comfortably alongside more light-hearted, barroom fare (“Fill ‘Er Up”). Working again with producers Bart Butler and Ryan Gore, Pardi co-wrote five songs on the project, including “New Place to Drink” and “Santa Cruz.”
For Pardi, Mr. Saturday Night is a long-awaited project, coming two pandemic-ravaged years after his 2019 album Heartache Medication, which earned album of the year nominations from the Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association. If the songs here sound fresh, yet also comfortably lived-in, it’s because they are.
“These are songs that I’ve had on hold for two years, that have been part of this project for a long time,” Pardi says. “They stuck around and carved their names into this album and it wouldn’t sound the same without them. Everything fits, from the ones I’ve written, the ones I’ve recorded, they’re all based around me and in the long run, a lot of these songwriters know the sounds that I gravitate toward.”
Pardi’s honky-tonk energy melds seamlessly with Texas trio Midland’s smooth ‘70s country vibe on the raucous “Longneck Way to Go,” which also previously appeared on Midland’s The Last Resort project. Pardi’s vocal contribution to the song, penned by Midland with Ashley Gorley and Rhett Akins, proved a full-circle moment, as Akins had played the song for Pardi long before Midland extended the invitation. Pardi says making the video was just as enlivening as being in the studio.
“It was completely chaos. You can tell how much fun we were having,” Pardi recollects of teaming with Midland’s Mark Wystrach, Jess Carson and Cameron Duddy to film the song’s video in a Nashville-area bowling alley. “It was a full open bar from 9:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m.”
Pardi crafted “Smokin’ a Doobie” with Laird and Rhett Akins while Pardi was out in New Braunfels, Texas, playing three shows at the Whitewater Amphitheater, near the Guadalupe River. “We thought it could be such a ‘Margaritaville’- type thing, just doing whatever you can do to relax,” Pardi says. The song also offers a passing nod to the deep roots of Hispanic culture that canvas not only Texas, but country music and cowboy culture, with Pardi singing “Adios, trabajo” (“Bye, work”) and “Uno mas cerveza” (“One more beer”).
“There’s a lot of Spanish culture in the area, a lot of Spanish speakers, and they love country music,” Pardi says. “It was just fun to throw that in there, just keeping that easygoing mood.”
Pardi initially balked at the risqué title of another track on the album, “Reverse Cowgirl,” until producer Butler persuaded him to give it a chance — especially since the title is a clever play on words. “I was like, ‘I don’t know if this is gonna work.’ But he said it was written great. It’s fun, but sad at the same time. Girls seems to love it. [My wife] Summer and her friends laugh and just think it’s all around good fun — and you know, I think in the end, he gets his girlfriend back. That’s all I’m saying.”
Pardi is currently headlining his Ain’t Always the Cowboy Tour — and taking a cue from the trek’s title, he welcomed “Heart Like a Truck” hitmaker Lainey Wilson and “Everything She Ain’t” singer-songwriter Hailey Whitters to open the shows for him.
“Lainey and Hailey are great friends and when we asked them to be on the tour, they were all in. I didn’t even ask anybody else, because we are all friends and have that history,” he says. “I really had my fingers crossed that I could get both of them for the tour, and it worked out.”
When Pardi is not cranking out music, Pardi is living what he writes about: riding horses, working on his 40+ acre Nashville property and tending to his cows and goats. He would also like to try his hand at acting. With Pardi’s natural riding and roping abilities, he would seem a natural fit to join his tourmate Wilson, who recently snagged a recurring role on the hit series Yellowstone.
“I’d be up for that, just something that is challenging and fun. It’s really demanding though,” Pardi says. “Lainey, when she’s on tour, she’ll fly out to Montana to work on that. She’s a tough girl, and I’m proud for her. I think it’s gonna be awesome and think she’s gonna do great in it.”
Alicia Keys gets up-close-and-personal with her fans on her current Alicia + Keys world tour. During one of the most popular segments of the show, the singer leaves the main stage to take up residence on a smaller satellite stage in the audience for a DJ-style mini-set in which she alternates versions of songs from her Keys double album, along with playing some fan favorites.
The solo set ends with Keys walking back to the stage through the audience while cueing up her beloved 2009 Jay-Z collab “Empire State of Mind.” It’s a crowd-pleasing moment that always gets the audience revved up. But during her gig at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Monday (August 29) one fan took it a bit too far. In video captured by Hollywood Unlocked, a female admirer can be seen grabbing Keys’ face and planting a giant kiss on her right cheek as the singer doles out high-fives to adoring admirers.
A consummate pro, Keys, 41, kept it rolling after the bum-rush, but after the site posted the video the singer couldn’t help offering up a comment. “Trust me, I was like what the F–K!!!!!!!! Don’t she know what time it is???” Keys wrote.
After the tour wraps up with a Sept. 24 gig in Nashville, Keys will hit the stage again on Nov. 12 when she presents music industry legend Clive Davis with the 2022 Portrait of a Nation award. Davis signed Keys to his J Records in 2000. Her debut album, Songs in A Minor, topped the Billboard 200 for three nonconsecutive weeks in 2001 and won five Grammys. Keys has gone on to win 10 additional Grammys. Davis was the presenter when Earth, Wind & Fire, which he signed to Columbia Records in 1972, received this same award in 2019.
Established in 2015, the Portrait of a Nation awards honor “extraordinary individuals who have made a transformative impact on the U.S. and its people,” according to its mission statement. Each of the honorees has a portrait, either newly commissioned or acquired by the National Portrait Gallery, that goes into the museum’s collection.
