Right now, Cardi B‘s main focus is on her Whipshots venture — but not for long. At least, the rapper certainly made it sound like new music is on its way, teasing that some major money moves were in the works in a new interview.
Related
Cardi B Asks ‘Drag Race’ Stars Violet Chachki & Gottmik to Direct Her Next…
“You guys can expect a lot from me this summer,” she told Rolling Stone, which noted that Cardi was referring to music and other projects, at a Monday (May 22) event premiering a new flavor of her vodka-infused whipped cream products.
“I promise,” she added.
A new song from Cardi would mark the Grammy winner’s first proper release since July, when she dropped “Hot Shit” with Kanye West and Lil Durk. In 2022, she also guested on songs by Rosalia, GloRilla and Summer Walker.
As far as LPs go, though, fans have been waiting for a new album from Cardi for much longer. Last month marked five years since her debut record, Invasion of Privacy ,dropped in 2018, and there’s still no sign that a sophomore follow-up in on its way. That’s not to say that she’s been completely off the rap radar between then and now, though. Since Invasion, she’s scored two No. 1 songs with 2020’s “WAP” with Megan Thee Stallion and “Up.”
This isn’t the first time Cardi has given clues about her new music. In recent months, she’s noted to fans that she’s been hard at work in and out of the studio. And in December, she said she had high hopes of putting out an album this year.
“I have no choice — I have to put it out,” she said on The Breakfast Club. “I have, like, a couple of songs that are, like, definite, I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on with me. I need to just make up my mind and put it out.”
“I gotta put it out next year,” she added at the time, admitting that something was still “missing” from the work in progress.
Time has yet to heal Offset after he lost TakeOff following the 28-year-old’s death six months ago in Houston. Covering the newest issue of Variety, the Migos star says he’s still having a tough time grasping the passing of his fallen comrade.
“It’s hard for me to talk about s–t right now,” he said. “I’ve never talked about this stuff. Seriously. Talking about Take is hard, man. Talking about all this s–t is hard. That’s why I don’t, to be honest. That s–t hurts.” Offset attempted to continue the conversation before ultimately cutting things off because of how painful the chat was getting. “Like, it’s gonna put me in a mood, and I don’t want to get in that mood. Some things I don’t never tell nobody. He’s not here. That s–t feels fake, bro. I get through my day thinking it’s fake. And I don’t say nothing to nobody about it.”
Though Offset has struggled with grieving the loss of TakeOff since the fatal shooting in November, he’s found ways to express his adoration for late friend. He previously previewed unreleased music with the Migos bandmate on social media, and even shared a huge portrait tattoo he got in honor of Take, which rests right on his back.
Offset also chatted with Variety about his forthcoming album, the follow-up to his 2019 debut Father of Four. According to the interview, the effort will feature Travis Scott, Future, Chloe Bailey, Latto and TakeOff, with the latter being recorded last summer. Offset’s wife, Cardi B, will also be on the album, continuing their streak of collaborations dating back to 2019’s “Clout” and past Migos’ records “Motorsport” and “Type S–t.” The album is expected this summer.
Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem made their first televised appearance on the pilot of The Muppet Show in 1975, and now, nearly a half-century after their on-screen debut, the musical Muppet band tops a Billboard chart for the first time.
Related
The Electric Mayhem Talk Going Solo for ‘The Muppets Mayhem’ & Long-Awaited Debut Album: ‘We Knew…
The new LP The Muppets Mayhem: Music From the Disney+ Original Series, released May 10 via Disney+/Walt Disney Records, jumps from No. 13 to No. 1 on the Kid Albums chart, leading for the first time. The set is the companion soundtrack to the group’s new Disney+ comedy musical series The Muppets Mayhem, which also premiered May 10.
The album concurrently debuts at No. 10 on the Soundtracks chart, No. 23 on Top Current Album Sales and No. 29 on Top Album Sales. It earned 5,000 equivalent album units, nearly all from album sales, in the United States its first full tracking week (May 12-18), according to Luminate. Of its sales, 4,000 were on vinyl, and the set also starts at No. 10 on the Vinyl Albums chart.
The 22-track album includes 17 songs credited to Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem, plus five scores by Mick Giacchino. While some songs are original compositions for the series, others are covers of classics by The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Cyndi Lauper, Simon & Garfunkel, The Who and more.
Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem comprises Dr. Teeth (performed originally by Jim Henson, and now by Bill Barretta), Animal (Frank Oz, now Eric Jacobson), Floyd Pepper (Jerry Nelson, now Matt Vogel), Janice (Richard Hunt, now David Rudman), Lips (Steve Whitmire, now Peter Linz) and Zoot (Dave Goelz).
While this marks the group’s first foray onto Billboard’s charts under the Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem artist billing, the act has appeared on multiple Muppet-related albums that have charted. Here’s a recap of every Muppet-themed title that has hit the Billboard 200.
Title (peak position, year):
The Muppet Show (No. 153, 1978)
The Muppet Movie: Original Soundtrack Recording (No. 32, 1979)
A Christmas Together (billed as John Denver & The Muppets) (No. 26, 1980)
The Great Muppet Caper (No. 66, 1981)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (No. 189, 1992)
The Muppets (No. 38, 2011)
Muppets: The Green Album (No. 8, 2011)
Muppets Most Wanted (No. 68, 2014)
“We had the support of the frog, the pig, the bear and everybody else,” Pepper recently mused to Billboard of the band’s first stand-alone venture. “We knew we could deliver the goods.”
Rolf Harris, the disgraced entertainer who, prior to his downfall, enjoyed hits in the U.K. and his homeland, Australia, and who was once commissioned to paint Queen Elizabeth II, has died at the age of 93.
Born March 30, 1930 in Perth, Australia, Harris’ life and career will be remembered in two halves.
At the peak of his celebrity, following a relocation to the U.K., Harris enjoyed a-list status on both sides of the globe, a star of TV and popular music, an enthusiast for the wobble board and didgeridoo who had a string of hit singles, and collaborations with The Wiggles and others.
Harris was, for decades, the face of British Paints in Australia, and was lampooned in the popular ‘70s and early ‘80s British comedy series The Goodies. For millions of Australians and Britons, he was a broadcast star from their youth.
He enjoyed a string of U.K. chart hits including “Two Little Boys” (Columbia), which has the distinction of being the very last No. 1 in Britain in the 1960s. “Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport” reached No. 9 in Britain back in 1960, and he had a No. 3 hit with “Sun Arise” in 1962. He enjoyed another U.K. top 10 in 1993, when his cover of “Stairway to Heaven,” a spin-off from the Australian TV show Money or the Gun, reached No. 7.
The Guinness World Records book of British Hit Singles had summed-up Harris as a “lovable Australian musician, artist and presenter.”
Along the way, he was elevated into the highest circles, by being named as Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
In 2005, another honor, when he was tapped by the BBC to create an oil painting of the Queen for the occasion of her 80th birthday, the sittings for which were captured for a documentary. The following year, in 2006, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
In 2013, Harris was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), in recognition for his distinguished service to the performing and visual arts, to charitable organizations and to international relations through the promotion of Australian culture, following his induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2008.
His spectacular fall from grace began in 2013, when Harris was questioned and arrested police under Operation Yewtree, the investigation into sexual abuse among members of the English media elite, including the late Jimmy Savile.
Following a trial in 2014, Harris was found guilty of various indecent assaults between 1968 and 1986, and was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison. He was released in 2017, but denied any wrongdoing and never issued an apology to his victims.
According to the BBC, Harris passed May 10, and has already been buried, though details have been kept under lock and key until now. His death certificate, the Corporation reports, notes that he died from neck cancer and “frailty of old age” at his home in Bray, Berkshire.
A statement from his family reads: “This is to confirm that Rolf Harris recently died peacefully surrounded by family and friends and has now been laid to rest. They ask that you respect their privacy. No further comment will be made.”
Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, Africa’s premier diva Angélique Kidjo and one of the world’s most performed classical composers, Arvo Pärt, were honored as Laureates at the royal Polar Music Prize ceremony and banquet in Stockholm tonight. Blackwell, Kidjo and Pärt’s son Michael accepted their prestigious awards from the hands of King Carl XVI Gustaf at the Scandinavian city’s Grand Hotel.
The Polar Music Prize was first presented to Paul McCartney and the Baltic States in 1992 after it was founded and funded by Stig “Stikkan” Anderson, manager of ABBA and a songwriter in his own right, as well as a music publisher and label owner.
At the early evening royal ceremony, Blackwell, Kidjo and Arvo Pärt’s son Michael all gave heartfelt acceptance speeches. Blackwell told the audience of over 300 people, “There is nothing easy about the act of creating music…There is only one question – what is more important? To be heard or to hear? When you listen to others, you find the space to understand their many possibilities. It allows you to bring forth what is already there….My hope is that we all continue to make music, to use music as a shared human endeavor that evokes joy and delight and connects communities and generations together in a language of harmony. That I hope, is my legacy. With all those I have worked with, over the last 50 years.”
After Kidjo received her prize, she said, “I started my career at the age of six when my dear mother shoved me on stage in front of a live audience. I was so scared that I could feel my whole skeleton shaking. But the audience started to laugh and clap. It made me feel good, it made me feel at home. Since that day I haven’t left the stage!” Kidjo then credited fellow Laureate Blackwell for changing her life when he signed her to Island Records in the 1980s. “I had sent my music to every record company in Paris. No one was interested, no one cared.”
Then the African activist Mamadou Konté sent it to “someone in Jamaica who showed true passion for my work, signed me right away and started me down the path to success. This person was Chris Blackwell. He has allowed me to build these bridges between all the beautiful music and peoples of the world, so that we can celebrate our common humanity.”
Speaking on behalf of his father, who sent a video statement from his home in Estonia, Michael Pärt said, “My father would like to express his heartfelt gratitude to the Polar Music Prize committee, as well as to all the musicians and listeners who have supported his music throughout the years. Arvo sends his love to all of you here tonight. My father’s music is a reminder of…the things that unite us rather than divide us. It is a call to love, to empathy, and to understanding.”
The ceremony and the royal banquet that followed was filled with performances from artists celebrating the Laureates. Swedish singer/songwriter Lisa Ekdahl and Lebanese trumpet player Ibrahim Maalouf performed Kidjo’s “Choose Love” from her 2021 album Mother Nature while Kidjo sang along and got up to dance from her seat in the front rows. Later, Kidjo spontaneously jumped up on stage to dance along to the Marseille-born Beninese singer Ysee’s performance of Kidjo’s composition “Agolo.”
One of Sweden’s most popular male singers, Benjamin Ingrosso, impressed the audience with his powerful rendition of “Wild World,” from the songbook of one of Blackwell’s most successful signings, Cat Stevens. As he sang the last notes, Yusuf/Cat Stevens rose up from the audience and embraced Ingrosso on stage.
Swedish singer/songwriter Anna Ternheim, performed “Love Is The Drug” by another of Blackwell’s most celebrated signings, Roxy Music. The band’s guitarist, Phil Manzanera, applauded her performance from his vantage point in the company of the royal family.
Near the end of the hours-long affair, Polar Music Prize managing director Marie Ledin, the daughter of Stig Anderson, paid tribute to her visionary father for creating the prize, as well as her late mother, Gudrun. She also thanked Kidjo for providing the recipe for the incredibly delicious dark chocolate cake with whipped Tonka ganache, blackened apricots and fresh raspberries that was served for dessert. Ledin also thanked the royal family for their decades-long support of the Prize, as well as her brothers Lasse and Anders for their continuing work with the Prize.
Blackwell, Kidjo and Pärt join a long list of Laureates who have been awarded the Prize over the last 31 years, including Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, B. B. King, Ennio Morricone, Sting, Renée Fleming, Elton John, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, Quincy Jones, Joni Mitchell, Yo-Yo Ma, Max Martin, Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Stevie Wonder, Patti Smith, Wayne Shorter, Björk, Metallica, Diane Warren, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Ray Charles, Grandmaster Flash and Isaac Stern.
Rosalía is seemingly standing up for herself after artist JC Reyes attempted to benefit from her fame by posting photoshopped nude photos of her on social media.
“Ir a buscar clout faltando el respeto y sexualizando a alguien es un tipo d violencia y da asco pero hacerlo por 4 plays de + lo q da es pena,” the Spanish superstar tweeted on Tuesday (May 23). In English, the tweet translates to: “Going to look for clout by disrespecting and sexualizing someone is a type of violence and it’s disgusting, but doing it for four more plays is embarrassing.”
Ir a buscar clout faltando el respeto y sexualizando a alguien es un tipo d violencia y da asco pero hacerlo por 4 plays de + lo q da es pena
According to Rolling Stone, altered versions of this photo set — making the singer look naked — were shared to Reyes’ Instagram Stories, but have since been removed. The publication noted that in a subsequent live stream, Reyes implied that the “Chicken Teriyaki” singer sent the photos to him. “I can’t be posting photos of a woman who sends that to me. That would be shameless. I was just thinking about how bad she felt. It wasn’t for her to get so upset about it,” he said in Spanish during the video.
Rosalía, meanwhile, is happily engaged to fellow Latin star Rauw Alejandro, which she revealed back in March. For a recent Billboard interview, Rauw admitted it was “100 percent, without a doubt, love at first sight.”
“Not at first sight, [but] from the photo I was already in love with you,” he shared, to which the “Despechá” singer replied, “Me too, since I heard your name.”
Jonas Brothers took to social media on Tuesday (May 23) to reveal the alternate title the band almost chose for their new studio set The Album.
The pop trio shared the nugget after one fan asked on Twitter, “If The Album wasn’t called the album what would you name it,” prompting them to reply, “We actually almost named it ‘Blue Jeans and Marijuana.’”
Related
Jonas Brothers Let Their Sibling Rivalry Fly During Hilarious ‘Song Association’
The line is borrowed from the opening lyrics of album cut “Americana,” on which they sing, “Americana, blue jeans and marijuana/ Type of friends that show their love by picking on ya/ On the phone or on the lawn or on the corner/ Springsteen to Billie Jean,” over plucky acoustic guitar.
Plenty of Jonatics replied to the tweet with their own ideas for The Album’s other titles, including “The 7th Album” in hilarious reference to the bridge of the JoBros’ early hit “Year 3000.” (“I took a trip to the year 3000/ This song had gone multi-platinum/ Everybody bought our seventh album/ It had outsold Kelly Clarkson.”)
Containing singles “Wings” and “Waffle House,” The Album bowed at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 (chart dated May 27) behind Morgan Wallen’s seemingly unstoppable One Thing at a Time and Taylor Swift’s Midnights and also earned the trio their fourth consecutive No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart, following 2008’s A Little Bit Longer, 2009’s Lines, Vines & Trying Times and their 2019 comeback effort Happiness Begins.
On Tuesday night, the JoBros are set to return to their New Jersey roots for a special concert at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City ahead of kicking off their North American tour in support of The Album later this summer with two back-to-back shows at Yankee Stadium.
Check out the Jonas Brothers’ original idea for the name of The Album below.
The lyrics of “Fugitivos,” Mexican trio Camila’s first single in a decade, describe the feeling of its reunited members. “It’s never too late for a new beginning,” says the powerful ballad, serving as a reintroduction of Mario Domm (vocals and piano), Samo Parra (vocals) and Pablo Hurtado (guitar) in the trio’s second wind since they reunited back in January.
The reunion of these voices — which in the past filled the Foro Sol in Mexico City and won several Latin Grammys and Billboard Latin Music Awards with songs like “Mientes” and “Aléjate De Mí” — arrives two decades after their foundation, and ten years after they went on a hiatus.
“I sent a message to Samo and he answered the way he is. As soon as I saw his reply, I knew that this was going to happen, that we would be together again,” Domm recalls tearfully in an exclusive interview with Billboard Español.
Camila became a duo in 2013 after Samo departed to pursue a solo career after strenuous tours, four studio albums, and the recognition by the music industry as one of the most successful projects of the ’00s. Under the new format, Domm and Hurtado released the album Elypse in 2014, while Samo debuted as a soloist and put out two albums, Inevitable (2013) and Eterno (2017), as well as the live set Me Quito El Sombrero (2015).
But the real magic happens when the three of them are together, regardless of the potential they each have as musicians: Domm is one of the most celebrated Latin songwriters of his generation, with songs recorded by stars like Alejandra Guzmán, Thalia and Paulina Rubio; Samo’s voice stands out for its elegance, and Hurtado’s guitar adds a touch of rock to Camila’s musical offerings.
And fans seem happy and eager to have them back. Released on March 31 through Sony Music Latin, “Fugitivos” put the Mexican trio back in the top 10 on Billboard’s Latin Pop Airplay, jumping 23-9 on the April 22 chart. It is currently on its second week at No. 5 — Camila’s first top 10 since 2014 and also its first since Samo’s return.
Related
Camila Returns to Latin Pop Airplay Top 10 With ‘Fugitivos’: ‘Going Into the Studio Is a Roll of…
“There have been moments by ourselves, separately, that have made us grow as artists and as human beings,” Samo says, adding that “now that it’s happening … it was a process of recognizing each other all over again.”
In total, Camila has amassed 14 top 10s (three of those hitting No. 1) among its 19 Latin Pop Airplay career entries, dating back to its first, the No. 8 high “Abrázame” in 2006. The Mexicans charted their first No. 1 hit with “Mientes,” which topped the ranking for 10 consecutive weeks in February-May 2010.
Their return comes as regional Mexican music and reggaetón have taken the world by storm with millions of views on YouTube, record numbers on Spotify and No. 1s on the Billboard charts, thanks to superstars like Bad Bunny, Rosalía, Peso Pluma and Karol G. But the trio doesn’t feel pressure and opts to flow with its own style.
“It’s very encouraging for us that the music now ruling is the regional Mexican, the urbano music, not necessarily the pop-rock ballads to which we belong. But there’s a fact I wish to underscore: Watching a Mexican band at the world’s top was unthinkable years ago. Music no longer has borders, it has become globalized,” says Hurtado.
Mario Domm says that “Fugitivos” is the first of other singles Camila plans to release, all part of a new album that would drop later this year.
While that happens, the band has announced three concerts in Mexico to celebrate their return to the stage, starting Oct. 14 at the Telmex Auditorium in Guadalajara, and following Oct. 15 at the National Auditorium in Mexico City and Dec. 1 at the Arena Monterrey, in the northern Mexican city.
“With the people’s energy, I feel that this is where we’re going to break,” Domm adds. “That’s where the best part of this all will begin.”
Talent runs in the family! Lana Del Rey‘s 69-year-old father Rob Grant is gearing up to unveil his debut album, Lost at Sea, on June 9.
The boat-loving dad chatted with GQ about working with his superstar daughter while making music. “She’ll start singing and the songs will come together magically, but in a very beautiful, organic, intuitive way,” he shares. “There’s no planning.”
“It’s so cool to create music with my daughter,” he added. “Because we really are very simpatico.”
As for being potentially the world’s first nepo daddy in a world of nepo babies, Rob has no problem with accepting the honor. “The nepo daddy thing I love,” he said, noting that he first saw the phrase in his Instagram comment section. “I thought, ‘My God, this would make really cool merch.’”
He added, “I’m happy to be the first nepo daddy.”
Lana, meanwhile, dropped her ninth studio album, Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under OceanBlvd, in March and the set went to No. 3 on the Billboard 200, marking her ninth appearance in the top 10. Tunnel was co-produced by Del Rey alongside Mike Hermosa, Jack Antonoff, Drew Erickson, Zach Dawes and Benji, and includes assists from Jon Batiste, Bleachers, Father John Misty, Judah Smith, Tommy Genesis and SYML.
The singer-songwriter also unveiled “Say Yes to Heaven” last week, which was written a decade ago and circulated online for almost two years.
Are you still listening?
3628718104
Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
