Month: March 2023

Kelsea Ballerini made her Saturday Night Live debut on March 4, delivering a pair of heartbreaking songs from her new EP, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat.

For her first musical performance of the evening, the 29-year-old country singer confidently stepped onto the Studio 8H stage for an emotional delivery of “Blindsided,” a new track inspired by her recent divorce from singer-songwriter Morgan Evans.

Backed by a full band and donning a zebra patterned black jumpsuit, the three-time Grammy nominee stood amid a large white screen that featured a silhouetted dancer who appeared trapped. At the end of the song, Ballerini added a new verse that some speculate is a response her ex-husband’s post-divorce cut “Over For You.”

“Now you’re singin’ it loud on the radio like you’re the only heart that breaks/ You would’ve searched the whole world over? Yeah, sure, OK,” she sings.

Later in the show, Ballerini returned for a stunning performance of “Penthouse.” This time around, she wore a beautiful silky white gown and delivered the slow ballad in front of a large white piano.

“We played the part five nights, but we were never there on the weekends, baby,” she belted out.

Saturday’s SNL episode was hosted by Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who also made his debut on the iconic NBC sketch comedy show.

Ballerini, who announced her divorce from Evans in August 2022, addressed her marriage’s dissolution on her recent six-song EP, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, which was released on Valentine’s Day. The project’s handful of songs are littered with details of the couple’s crumbling marriage and the emotional wreckage left in its wake. The EP was accompanied by a 20-minute short film.

Rolling Up the Welcome Mat also follows Ballerini’s 2022 album, Subject to Change, which reflects on her personal growth over the past few years.

Watch Ballerini’s SNL performances below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes as well.

It was the moment many had been waiting nearly a year for — a chance to hear just how Chris Rock would finally address Will Smith’s Oscar night smackdown of the comedian on the Academy stage with a slap that will live in infamy.

Perhaps because Rock knew much of the audience who tuned in were waiting for just that moment, he saved it toward near the end of his set Saturday night (March 4) during Netflix’s much hyped first live special Chris Rock: Selective Outrage!

But when the moment finally came, Rock didn’t hold back — taking down Smith, dragging his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and targeting the couple’s marital issues (in which Pinkett Smith acknowledged a relationship with singer August Alsina as the couple addressed their marriage on an episode of Red Table Talk).

“Will Smith practices selective outrage,” Rock told the audience. “Outrage because everybody knows what the f— happened. Everybody that really knows, knows that I have nothing to do with that s—. I didn’t have any entanglements.”

He continued, “His wife was f—ing her son’s friend. OK, now, I normally would not talk about this s—, but for some reason, these n—-s put that s— on the internet. I have no idea why two talented people would do something that lowdown. What the f—? And we’ve all been cheated on. Everybody in here has been cheated on. None of us have ever been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television.”

“She hurt him way more than he hurt me. Everybody in the world called him a b—-. I tried to call the motherf—er, I tried to call that man and give him my condolences, he didn’t pick up for me.” He continued by listing all the people who called Smith a “b—-” after that interview on Red Table Talk, including Charlamagne Tha God and The View. “Everybody called him a b—-, and who did he hit? Me — a n—a he knows he could beat. That is some b—- ass shit.”

While this is not the first time Rock addressed Smith’s slap — much of Saturday’s material was present in his shows as he toured the country over the past year — they were the first comments before a wide audience as Rock headlined Netflix’s first foray into live programming, a global event that featured a pre-show and post show with guests that included Arsenio Hall, Amy Schumer, J.B. Smoove, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dana Carvey and others.

“I’m gonna try to do a show tonight without offending nobody,” Rock said, kicking off his stand-up special from Baltimore. “I’m gonna try my best because you never know who’s going to get triggered.”

He added he didn’t mind “wokeness” but isn’t a fan of the “selective outrage,” the kind of people who will listen to Michael Jackson but not R. Kelly: “same crime — one of them just got better songs.”

Among the topics Rock covered included the Capitol Riots: “White men trying to overthrow the government that they run?” Rock said. “They’re like, ‘Damn, we gotta get them out of office.’ Who? Us?”

Later, he touched on the idea that white men felt they were being edged out of power, and joked whether commercials featuring interracial couples were part of their ire.

“There’s no Black couples either,” he said. “Every commercial has a mixed-race couple,” adding that he saw a commercial the other day where a Japanese woman was married to a caterpillar.

“By the way, speaking of commercials, when did Snoop Dogg become Morgan Freeman?” Rock joked. “I saw a commercial the other day where Snoop was selling reverse mortgages.” But he made it a purpose to note that he loves Snoop Dogg. “I’m not dissing Snoop. The last thing I need is another mad rapper,” he added, to cheers from the crowd.

But of course, the rapper who was the main target of the night was Smith, though a good deal of his ire was directed toward Pinkett Smith. Rock recalled when Pinkett Smith had called for Blacks to boycott the Oscars amid the #OscarsSoWhite controversy in 2016; Rock went on to host that year’s show.

“She started this s—. She said that me, a f—ing grown ass man, should quit his job because ‘My husband didn’t get nominated for Concussion,‘ and then this n—a gives me a f—ing concussion.”

Toward the end of the special, Rock changed his tone a bit, saying, “I loved Will Smith. My whole life, I loved Will Smith. I saw him open up for Run-D.M.C. … He makes great movies. I have rooted for Will Smith my whole life,” Rock said. “And now I watch Emancipation just to see him get whooped.”

Rock used the last minute of Selective Outrage to answer the question he’s gotten a lot since the Slap: Why didn’t you do anything back? “‘Cause I got parents,” Rock said. “‘Cause I was raised. And you know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people.”

The pre-show featured appearances from fellow comics and Rock’s friends, including Schumer and Jerry Seinfeld. The Daily Show‘s Ronny Chieng hosted the special, with Hall, Deon Cole and Leslie Jones also appearing.

Chieng kicked off the night live at Los Angeles’ Comedy Store.

“I cannot emphasize how live things are today,” The Daily Show correspondent said. “We are live from two different locations simultaneously, Los Angeles and Baltimore. Why? For absolutely no reason. This is extremely expensive and difficult and irritating.”

The comedian also poked fun at how they’re doing a live comedy show on a Saturday night, a concept that has existed for decades, aka Saturday Night Live.

Chieng then introduced Hall, who shared how Rock got him back into stand-up. Toward the end of his brief set at the Comedy Store, Hall said that he hopes everyone enjoys the night “because I know somewhere Will Smith will not.”

“Trust me. We won’t know this, but I bet you Will Smith slaps the f— out of a TV tonight,” he joked. “He gon’ knock that motherf—er off the wall.”

Matthew McConaughey, Ali Wong, Woody Harrelson, Paul McCartney, Rosie Perez, Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Hart, Sarah Silverman, Ice-T, Adam Sandler and many others wished Rock luck ahead of his live event.

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

Nicki Minaj is officially launching her own record label.

The superstar rapper announced the big news during her Queen Radio show on Friday (March 3), revealing that the new label’s artist roster includes Nana Fofie, Tate Kobang, Rico Danna and London Hill.

“I have a record label now,” Minaj said, teasing that the company’s name will be revealed at a later date. “When I get behind an artist, y’all know how I do s— for people that’s not even signed to me. Imagine what I’ma do for the ones that’s signed.”

Minaj said that her longtime affiliate Patty Lauren (aka Patty Duke) will serve in an A&R role at the new label.

The Queen of Rap’s first single of 2023, “Red Ruby Da Sleeze,” dropped Friday through Young Money/Republic. It marks her first solo song since last year’s Billboard Hot 100-topping smash “Super Freaky Girl.”

On Friday’s Queen Radio show, Minaj told listeners that she was texting with Republic Records co-president Wendy Goldstein, who was encouraging her to make the label announcement during the program.

“I said, ‘Wendy, we got to do this big. I’m a female; you a female, mamma. You got to do this right. We gotta do it right. I don’t want no little itty-bitty ting ting. I want to do it right,’” the rapper said.

Minaj added that her new record label will feature a variety of musical acts. “Don’t think my label is just rap, or Black, or anything,” she said. “We got some other genres of music.”

Minaj also touched on the influential role Lil Wayne played early in her career, and how she hopes to do the same for up-and-coming artists on her label.

“When I came in this game I didn’t have no paperwork with Lil Wayne. But he had us on tour, he had us in a studio, he was getting on my mixtapes,” she said. “So I understand the importance of having somebody else doing the heavy lifting for you. I understand why people are coming out and they’re so, you know, microwaveable and they’re here today and gone tomorrow, because there’s no structure. There’s no real person that believes in them. That’s like, ‘Nah, I’m gonna make it my business to see you shine.’”

Listen to a replay of Queen Radio through Amp, and check out in-studio photos from Friday’s show on Minaj’s Instagram below.

Hoosier rocker John Mellencamp is donating an archived collection of his life and work to Indiana University, IU President Pamela Whitten announced Friday (March 3).

The collection will include original creative works, photographs, instruments and other significant memorabilia related to his music, artwork, social activism and philanthropy, Whitten said.

“His collection will be an incredible resource for arts scholars and a clear source of inspiration to our students,” Whitten said.

A sculpture honoring Mellencamp’s artistic legacy will be commissioned for the Bloomington campus, Whitten said. The sculpture will sit near the Fine Arts Plaza on the campus and symbolize the strong connection Mellencamp has to his southern Indiana roots.

On Friday evening (March 3), when Morgan Wallen ascended to center stage before a full house of rowdy, screaming fans at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena for his free pop-up concert — with the aim of previewing his hyper-prolific, 36-song album One Thing at a Time which had released earlier that day — it was a pinnacle moment in a week already filled with celebratory instances.

Earlier in the week, Wallen was one of 16 songwriters honored with the Country Music Association’s Triple Play Awards (alongside several contributors to One Thing at a Time, including HARDY, ERNEST, Ashley Gorley, Chase McGill, and more).

By Friday evening, not even 24 hours after One Thing at a Time released, the project had already broken a record, becoming Spotify’s most-streamed country album in a single day by a male artist. With the new project, Wallen seems poised to dethrone himself on the Billboard charts: his previous effort, the 30-track Dangerous: The Double Album, which still resides in the Billboard 200’s top five, and currently at No. 1 on the Billboard top country charts, two years after its release.

Wallen had announced the free pop-up concert on Thursday morning (March 2), along with the fact that the ticketing plan was decidedly old-school: fans had to line up outside of Bridgestone Arena to obtain tickets, and they did, forming huge lines that wrapped around the building. Within hours, all the tickets were gone. In March 2022, Bridgestone Arena previously served as home base for three sold-out shows on Wallen’s The Dangerous Tour.

“This is so badass and makes me so proud,” Wallen told the crowd Friday night, eliciting cheers. “You guys are truly remarkable. Thank you for making this happen on such short notice. We gonna sing some new ones, some old ones — and that’s about it, I guess.”

Beyond the Bridgestone Arena walls, thousands more watched the event via livestream from Wallen’s official social media channels.

The new album largely picks up where Dangerous left off, with three dozen songs forming an arc that predominantly focuses on alcohol, heartbreak, dejection, and declarations of remorse over bad romantic decisions and bad habits, viewed through the hazy lens of more alcohol. Sonically, the project meshes elements from the lexicons of country, alternative and hip-hop.

But while the recorded album is filled with frothy, arena-aimed productions, Wallen and his band offered stripped-back versions of many of the album’s songs on Friday night, as well as selections from the catalog of hits he’s built since his debut, “The Way I Talk,” in 2016.

Proper for an evening delving into this new project, Wallen launched the show with the introductory song from the album, “Born With a Beer in My Hand.”

“Y’all make some noise if you can relate to that,” the singer said, stalking the perimeter of the compact stage, acknowledging the crowd and shaking hands as waves of cheers followed from the audience that crowded the arena floor and stands. Bolstered by thousands of fans fervent enough in their Wallen fandom to have stood in line for tickets, Wallen’s performance carried an air of relaxed, assured confidence.

Though Eric Church, HARDY and ERNEST are all featured on the album, there were no special guests at Bridgestone: this night was solely about Wallen and his fans. Also absent were any references to the other reason Wallen has been in the spotlight over the past two years, a video published by TMZ that depicted a drunken Wallen using a racial slur in reference to a friend.

“We’ve been working really hard on this record for the last three or four months,” he said of One Thing at a Time. “I ain’t been doing a lot of sleeping. I’ve been doing a lot of singing… probably won’t be doing a lot of sleeping tonight, either.”

From there, his two-hour set rolled on, with the album’s title track, as well as fellow album cuts “Me and All Your Reasons,” “I Wrote the Book” and “Keith Whitley,” the latter written by Wallen’s cousin Jared Mullins along with Thomas Archer and Brad Clawson.

“One of my favorite artists of all time is a man that died far too young, someone I think had a whole lot more magic left in him,” Wallen said, referring to the late Whitley, who died in 1989 and was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame last year. “I listen to him at least every week. I wanted to have a song that talked about him.”

Before launching into “Whiskey Friends,” Wallen quipped, “When we put this together I looked at my discography and decided I didn’t have enough whiskey songs. Here’s another one.”

Wallen dedicated the album’s closing song “Dyin’ Man” to his son Indigo Wilder.

“I’m singing to a woman [in the song], but in real life, it’s dedicated to my son. He’s in here somewhere tonight,” Wallen told the crowd. “I went back to east Tennessee yesterday to play a show at my old high school for the album release, which was special in its own right. My son was there and I saw him and he was like, ‘Damn, these people think dad’s cool.’ He’s just getting to that age. If you understand me out there, Indie I love you. This one’s for you.”

The Sneedville, Tennessee, native also paid homage to another love he holds dear, for the Knoxville-based Tennessee Volunteers, by performing “Tennessee Fan.”

“I’m sure most of y’all know how much I love my Tennessee Volunteers,” Wallen said. “I got some really good buddies who went to Alabama and they always are giving me s—. There ain’t really much I can say, at least not for the past while. Before the Tennessee-Alabama game I wrote a song about us losing. Of course, the year I write about us losing, we win the damn game. But I’m okay with that,” he said.

After rolling through several album cuts, Wallen performed “Thought You Should Know,” a tender ode to his mother that is spending its third week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. Seated at a keyboard, highlighted by a lone spotlight, he followed with a tender rendering of the lost-love hit “Sand in My Boots,” then, accompanied by his acoustic guitar and bandmates, ran through additional Country Airplay chart-toppers: “More Than My Hometown,” “Chasing You,” “The Way I Talk,” “Whiskey Glasses,” and “Wasted on You,” and his latest release “Last Night,” which currently leads Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart.

He introduced the crowd to his band members and closed with yet another chart-topper, “You Proof.”

“This is something way more than we thought we could grasp. We don’t take this for granted,” Wallen said. When the concert concluded, Wallen stepped down from the stage and slowly made his exit from the room — along the way, shifting the spotlight to some of the thousands of attendees, joining them for selfies and signing autographs, one fan at a time.

From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.

Bad Bunny Makes WWE 2K23 Debut

This week, video game company 2K released a first look at Bad Bunny in WWE 2K23, the newest installment of the WWE video game franchise. From hitting the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania rings in 2021 to becoming a virtual playable character, the Puerto Rican artist is seen flaunting his wrestling skills in a new 40-second trailer. This is the first time the artist has appeared in the game. For more information, visit the official website here.

A New Lele Pons & Guaynaa Collab

Two years after their first collaborative effort in “Se Te Nota,” power couple Lele Pons and Guaynaa release a new track together called “Abajito.” The playful dembow finds the pair promising to always love and take care of each other, but also has witty lyrics about “down there.” The single forms part of the Pons and Guaynaa’s upcoming joint album, which they talked about in-depth in the February Billboard Español cover here. “Abajito” follows 2020’s “Se Te Nota,” which spent 18 weeks on the all-genre Billboard Global 200 (where it peaked at No. 44), 25 weeks on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart (No. 19 peak) and 11 weeks on Hot Latin Songs (No. 25).

Grupo Frontera Day

With a rather young career (a one-year trajectory to be exact), Grupo Frontera already counts with their own official day declared on Feb. 16 as “Grupo Frontera Day” in Edingburg, a city south of Texas. Group members Adelaido Solís, Julian Peña Jr., Alberto Acosta, Carlos Zamora, Carlos Guerrero, and Juan Javier Cantu were present at the event, where they also performed for their fans on site. “This momentous event commemorates the impact the group has had on the south Texas community and the world at large by way of their music,” expressed a press release. The norteño group recently became the only Regional Mexican act to have three titles in the coveted Billboard Hot 100 chart with “No Se Va,” “Que Vuelvas,” and “Bebe Dame.”

A Selena Quintanilla Anniversary

February 28 marked three decades since the late Selena Quintanilla made her debut at the Houston Astrodome in Texas. “Today 30 years ago, Selena y Los Dinos performed for the first time at the Houston Astrodome breaking attendance records. Selena Y Los Dinos would continue to consecutively break that record 3 years in a row!” said a post on the Queen of Tejano’s official Instagram account. A short celebratory video shows Quintanilla performing a bit of “Como La Flor” on that night in 1993.

Billboard Women in Music

The 2023 Billboard Women in Music awards took place this week, where three of the honorees were Spanish-singing acts: Becky G received the Impact Award, Rosalía received the inaugural Producer of the Year Award presented by Bose, and Ivy Queen received the Icon Award. One of the most notable moments of the night was when Bad Bunny made a surprise appearance onstage to give Queen her award. “I don’t have to say much because the career and legacy of Ivy talk for itself,” the Puerto Rican singer said in his Spanish speech. “When they ask me what artists have inspired me, I never know what to say because truthfully, I’ve been a fan of reggaetón since I was a kid, and a lot of artists have inspired me. I’ve always said that my musical DNA has a bit of all the artists, and without a doubt, the strength I’ve had to be myself and be successful, to work double, is part of Ivy that I have in my musical DNA.” WIM was held at the YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park in Los Angeles and honored the most influential powerhouses – including artists, creators, producers and executives — in music today who are contributing to the industry and community.