Month: March 2023

MAMAMOO introduced their first official sub-unit, MAMAMOO+, consisting of members Solar and Moonbyul, last August with a bouncy, modern R&B track “With You.” Seven months later, the duo unleashed their first EP with the release of Act 1, Scene 1 featuring exciting twists on what we typically expect from the popular K-pop girl group.

With a name seemingly drawing inspiration from OTT streaming services like Disney+, Discovery+, and Paramount+, MAMAMOO+ tap into genres their mother group has worked with but brings exciting, experimental updates. New single “GGBB” (standing for “Good Girl Bad Boy”) showcases the doo-wop and pop inspirations that the group initially embraced at the start of their career via 2014 singles like “Piano Man” and “Mr. Ambiguous” but switches up production in the bridge for a glitchy, fierce and rhythmic breakdown section. Released last week ahead of the full EP, “Chico Malo” mixes traditional Korean instruments like the gayageum and daegeum with trap beats for an anthem displaying the confidence that has become a hallmark of MAMAMOO’s latest releases.

Both of MAMAMOO+’s music videos are fresh visual treats as well. For “GGBB,” Solar and Moonbyul lead a troupe of dancers through different scenes, costumes, and scenarios in a Broadway-like performance. The video ends with the cast taking a bow and the curtain closing, leaving viewers wanting more before the two pop back to wave and say bye to viewers. Meanwhile, in “Chico Malo,” Solar and Moonbyul are seen alongside singer Kim Junsu, a singer famous for Korea’s musical storytelling style of pansori, for an “Aniri” version of their video to spotlight the form of Korean traditional singing. The visual features intricate fan choreography, gayageum and daegeum instrumentalists, plus modernized versions of classic Korean outfits. As made clear from the videos, not only is MAMAMOO+ experimenting and expanding with their music but with their visual storytelling too.

Act 1, Scene 1 is the latest release from the MAMAMOO members ahead of their MY CON U.S. Tour. The group recently unveiled the massive arena venues for the nine dates through May and June.

Juliette Lewis stopped by The Kelly Clarkson Show on Wednesday (March 29) and regaled Kelly Clarkson with a story about the time she met Bob Dylan.

During a game of Musical Memories: First and Worst, the frontwoman of Juliette Lewis and the Licks named the folk legend as the first musician she was ever starstruck around.

“The story is even better,” Lewis told the host. “I’m in New York City, I’m working. I walk into an elevator that’s the size of a shoebox, only three people can fit in there. And I look up: It’s Bob Dylan.

“And your heart goes [makes exploding noise], and all these things happen,” the Yellowjackets star continued. “And then he says, ‘You know Bob, huh?’ Bob De Niro. ‘You were in that movie,’ he says to me,” referencing Lewis’ teenage role alongside Robert De Niro in the 1991 Martin Scorsese thriller Cape Fear. “And I’m like, ‘And you’re Bob Dylan.’ And then my little brain was like, ‘Say hi, how are you?’ ’cause I was gonna faint.”

Lewis then revealed she kept one of Dylan’s songs, 1965’s “She Belongs to Me,” on repeat “for months on end” during a particularly challenging time in her life and characterized the icon’s lyrics as “biblical.”

Meanwhile, Clarkson said her own starstruck moment was a tie between meeting Aretha Franklin — whom she called “literally my favorite singer on planet Earth” — and Trisha Yearwood. Turns out she met the Queen of Soul at an event through American Idol judge Randy Jackson, even though she insisted at first that she’d rather “look from afar.”

Watch Lewis’ heartwarming story about meeting Dylan below.

Eladio Carrión nets his fourth top 10 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart as 3MEN2 KBRN debuts at No. 3 on the list dated April 1. The set earned 25,000 equivalent units in the U.S. during the March 17-23 tracking week, according to Luminate.

As is characteristic in the Latin rhythmic format, streaming comprises the majority of the set’s starting sum. That figure equals 31.2 million on-demand official streams of the album’s songs in its first week, while 500 units stem from album sales and track-equivalent album units.

On the multimetric Top Latin Albums chart as measured in equivalent album units, each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.

3MEN2 KBRN bests the opening rank of his last album SEN2 KBRN, Vol. 2, which launched at No. 4 in November. Previously, Carrión, a Missouri native with Puerto Rican heritage, nearly missed the top slot with the No. 2 debut and peak of Sauce Boyz 2 in December 2021. Plus, he debuted and peaked at No. 8 on the all-Latin albums tally with Sauce Boyz in 2020.

The 23-track 3MEN2 KBRN was released March 17, the first day of its tracking week, through Rimas. It earns the second-largest opening week in terms of overall units in 2023, after Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito, which debuted at No. 1 with 94 million units.

Notably, in the last 12 months, 3MEN2 ranks sixth in terms of first-week units. Here is the albums rundown:

Overall Units, Title, Artist, Debut Date, Debut Rank
274,000, Un Verano Sin Ti, Bad Bunny, May 21, 2022, No. 1
94,000, Mañana Será Bonito, Karol G, March 11, 2023, No. 1
29,000, Nostalgia, Eslabon Armado, May 21, 2022, No. 2
29,000, LEGENDADDY, Daddy Yankee, April 9,2022, No. 1
26,000, Fórmula, Vol. 3, Romeo Santos, Sept. 17, 2022, No. 2
25,000, 3MEN2 KBRN, Eladio Carrion, April 1, 2023, No. 3

Further, 3MEN2 blasts in at No. 16 on the all-genre Billboard 200, a career high for Carrión on the overall albums ranking, by far surpassing the No. 92 debut and peaking Sauce Boyz 2 in December 2021.

3MEN2 boasts a collective of superstars, with Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Future, Bad Bunny and Quavo among its 23-track set collaborators. As the set arrives, two tracks debut on Hot Latin Songs: “Coco Chanel,” with Bad Bunny, at No. 14 and “Si La Calle Llama,” featuring Myke Towers, at No. 40. The former gifts Carrión his highest-charting title on the multimetric list.

Elsewhere, 3MEN2 concurrently arrives at No. 3 on Latin Rhythm Albums, also Carrion’s second-best performance there.

Charlie Puth unveiled his new short film “That’s Not How This Works” on Wednesday (March 29) co-starring Sabrina Carpenter.

The six-minute mini-movie charts a fictitious relationship between the two pop sensations — from her gifting him with a gorgeous upright piano for his birthday and watching him blow out the candles on his cake to flirtatiously painting their apartment together and playfully debating whether he can boil a live crab to make a romantic dinner.

Yet the swooning highs, like telling each other “I love you” for the first time or playing a candlelit game of Operation, eventually give way to lows full of fighting (“I don’t care that you were flirting, I just want you to admit that you were”) and screaming, and as the relationship arc plays back in his mind, a heartbroken Puth tries to capture the memories in sound.

A link in the video’s description on YouTube directs fans to pre-save Puth’s new single, also titled “That’s Not How This Works,” which will be released Friday (March 31) and will feature not only Carpenter but also Dan + Shay in some capacity.

The song marks the first new release from the “That’s Hilarious” singer in the wake of his self-titled 2022 album Charlie. Next, he’ll be hitting the road this summer for The Charlie Live Experience with openers Blue DeTiger and Alexander Stewart.

Meanwhile, Carpenter just unveiled the deluxe edition of her own breakthrough 2022 full-length, Emails I Can’t Send, which featured new bonus tracks “Feather,” “Lonesome” and “Things I Wish You Said” as well as a remix of her hit single “Nonsense” with Coi Leray.

Watch Puth and Carpenter’s short film for “That’s Not How This Works” below.