Month: May 2023

In Bang Si-hyuk’s Billboard cover story, the HYBE founder and chairman shared his personal feelings and the first steps the company was taking in preparing for the rise of generative AI in music.

“I don’t know how long human artists can be the only ones to satisfy human needs and human tastes,” Bang told Billboard editorial director Hannah Karp, before new details were revealed about “Project L,” HYBE’s first public undertaking with Supertone, the artificial-intelligence audio company that the K-pop corporation acquired through a $36 million investment this past January.

After two weeks of online teasers for MIDNATT, described only by official communications as “the mysterious artist” in collaboration with its legendary BIGHIT MUSIC label and recently created interactive-media unit HYBE IM, the secretive “Project L” was finally unveiled on Monday. In a never-before-seen debut single released in six languages, “Masquerade” was revealed with MIDNATT singing in English, Korean, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese, utilizing Supertone’s technology to assist in multilingual pronunciation, tone and delivery, as well as shift MIDNATT’s voice from male to female.

As high-tech as the AI-enabled artist sounds, the inspiration and goals behind MIDNATT are far more human.

Despite fan theories of a virtual pop group, music-focused game or fully AI artist, MIDNATT is the very-much human singer-songwriter Lee Hyun. Configured as an alter ego for the veteran musician who debuted in 2007 under Big Hit Entertainment (before the label’s corporate rebrand into HYBE), MIDNATT’s sleek electro-pop sound on “Masquerade” is far from Lee’s career beginnings in vocal acts 8eight and Homme, or his signature, chart-topping ballads like “You Are the Best of My Life.”

“It started with the thinking that I want to try a different style of music,” Lee Hyun tells Billboard during an evening Zoom call from Seoul. “You can think of MIDNATT as myself trying a new genre. I didn’t come up with the name by myself, but I think the name started from my wish to express the boundary between wanting to try new music and take on challenges, and not doing that as an artist doing music for more than a decade.”

While Lee’s labelmates at BIGHIT MUSIC, like BTS and TOMORROW X TOGETHER, have transformed the global music industry, a project like MIDNATT (which translates to “mid night” in Swedish and “bare face” in Korean) allows a more senior soloist the rare chance in K-pop to take on a new musical identity and concept.

“[The song’s] producer Hitchhiker said, ‘You have something different in you, something alternative in you, so let’s bring that out,’” Lee Hyun says of a chat with the experimental producer, who has delivered his brand of mind-bending EDM for artists like BoA, Super Junior, f(x), EXO and NCT for over a decade. “He listened to the demo that I recorded for producer Bang [Si-hyuk] before I even debuted — I couldn’t even remember I did that — but he remembered that I recorded in an R&B style in falsetto. He said, ‘You have that voice in you; why don’t we develop your voice from there?’ And that’s how the whole project came to begin. I’m kind of feeling pressure right now because I didn’t expect this to be this big of a project.”

In fact, MIDNATT’s focus on accessibility and deeper connection with people worldwide looks to somewhat tackle a hurdle in the Korean-pop industry of getting listeners past any language barriers.

“When I would listen to music in other languages, I couldn’t immerse into the music as well as in my native language, and we were talking about how we could overcome those language barriers,” Lee Hyun adds. “The project came to be by talking about these language barriers.”

Even with global appeal among the HYBE artists (albums from BTS, TXT, SEVENTEEN and ENHYPEN made up half of the IFPI’s global top 10 album sales chart last year), the corporation saw their tech advancements as an opportunity to align with Lee Hyun’s larger conversations.

“Rather than a technology test, we initiated this project based on the desire to bring music and the artist’s message together, which are the essence of HYBE, to a wider audience through the convergence of music and technology,” explains Wooyong Chung, president of HYBE IM. “We decided to take on this project because of the stories [Lee Hyun] wanted to share, the musical challenges he wanted to take, and the desire to reach out to his fans in creative ways seemed possible with a little push from technology. With MIDNATT, we believed we could introduce a new dynamic to the industry by combining music and technology to create something fresh and authentic.”

For “Masquerade,” Lee Hyun initially recorded in Korean, with the song later translated into five other languages.

“I thought at first Vietnamese and Spanish would be really hard,” Lee Hyun recalls of the recording process. “But it turned out that English was the most difficult language to record in…of course, the technology improved the pronunciation and intonation overall. But since it’s my song and I have to record it, I did my best to be very fluent in the language that I’m recording in, because you never know, I might have a chance to do it live someday.”

For picking the languages, Chung adds that Supertone had already successfully worked in the chosen six (“We needed to create high-quality music,” he says). At the same time, metrics like engagement on different fan platforms also influenced their decision (“We also took into account the artist’s desire to communicate with fans who left precious comments on YouTube even if the artist may not be familiar with their language”). There’s also hope to develop more music in even more languages.

“Masquerade” also brings an unexpected but fascinating new perspective to the hot topic of artificial intelligence in music. While Drake, The Weeknd and Universal Music Group made headlines for taking down a fake song by the two superstars after it earned millions of streams and impressions on streaming services and social platforms, MIDNATT has the artist’s full permission for all AI editing.

“After I experienced it myself, I think it really depends on how you utilize it,” Lee says of artists and creatives who are wary of AI in music. “The sense of responsibility is what matters the most. So as far as it is used in the music, I think it is a great opportunity for me to make [my song] more accessible and more immersive to the fans worldwide.”

“We have been coping with new technology by exchanging ideas to ensure it to become a tool that helps people,” adds Chung. “Our principle for applying technology to music in this project is clear. The rights of artists to their creations must be protected with utmost importance. With that in mind, we strive to push the boundaries of what musicians can imagine and what music can express.”

Similar to UMG’s take that generative AI creations “demonstrate why platforms have a fundamental legal and ethical responsibility to prevent the use of their services in ways that harm artists,” Chung agrees that “creating social consensus as well as proper legislation to keep up with the new changes are essential” to face this new era of music.

While Lee Hyun thinks “artists have to be discreet and cautious” with rapidly advancing tech, the hot-topic of AI itself seems to have added an unexpected, and ultimately unnecessary, intensity to his hopes to dream bigger with his new music.

“With the word AI aside, I just want everyone to know that this started out genuinely and kindly in my heart to bring immersive experiences with my music of MIDNATT,” Lee Hyun says. “I simply want everyone to enjoy my new challenge.”

And suppose more people hear “Masquerade” and MIDNATT’s music thanks to an artificially intelligent smoothing of language barriers? In that case, the challenge is on its way to realization.

San Francisco’s Portola festival is coming back hot in its second year, with a lineup headed by Eric Prydz and Skrillex.

Announced today (May 17), the lineup puts Prydz in the Friday night headlining slot with his lauded visual spectacle HOLO and Skrillex topping the bill for Saturday. The festival returns to the city’s Pier 80 on September 30-October 1.

The festival will also features shows from Jai Paul (who performed live for the first time ever at Coachella this past April), pop queen Nelly Furtado, U.K. legends Underworld, Rina Sawayama, FKJ, Major Lazer b2b Major League DJz, Dom Dolla, Hot Chip, Labrinth, Thundercat, Polo & Pan, Roisin Murphy, Purple Disco Machine, Charlotte de Witte, Basement Jaxx, Overmono and a flurry of other DJs, producers and artists spanning house, techno, indie electronic, R&B and well beyond. See the complete lineup below.

Produced by Goldenvoice, Portola is again happening at Pier 80, a million square foot maritime shipping pier owned by the Port of San Francisco. Tickets for Portola 2023 go on sale Monday, May 22.

The festival was conceived and is produced by Goldenvoice’s Senior vp/talent buyer Danny Bell, who was recently featured in Billboard‘s 40 Under 40 list and who last year told Billboard that “one of the things I learned from from [Goldenvoice CEO and Coachella Co-Founder] Paul [Tollett], just how personal you can make these lineups and see how people are more interested in a festival with a personality and a concept behind it instead of just a collection of artists that on paper seem as if they could sell a certain amount of tickets at a certain ticket price.”

Halsey took to social media on Wednesday (May 17) to celebrate performing with Suga at the BTS idol’s show at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

“Guested at the forum the other night with @agustd and we performed ‘suga’s interlude’ for the first time ever live!” she wrote alongside a slideshow of the pair posing together and performing onstage. “I’ve shared a stage with my friend many times, but never alone and never like this. When the song ended all we could do was laugh because it was just a feeling of ‘woah that just happened?!’ after knowing each other for 7 years.

“I call Suga ‘twin’ for a lot of reasons,” the nonbinary pop star continued. “We have the same smile, we have a lot of shared interests, sometimes we even have the same haircut. But I mostly say it because we seem strangely (and sometimes wordlessly) connected on a creative wavelength. Watching him perform his solo concert was an incredible experience. He is a true artist, which I’ve always known. But seeing the energy, versatility, creativity, and courageous darkness of the show blew me away. Moments like these remind me why we are so fortunate to have this way of expressing ourselves. I am so grateful!”

Halsey finished off her post by thanking her “twin” for inviting her to the show and sending a thank-you message to ARMY for “as always, singing your hearts out and making me feel right at home.”

The “I Am Not a Woman, I’m a God” singer also hyped up the release of D-DAY, Suga’s debut album under his Agust D moniker, when it dropped in April, writing, “Lessss goooooo @agustd ALBUM IS OUT!!!”

Read Halsey’s shout-out to Suga below.

The clock is ticking down the days until ENHYPEN‘s fourth mini-album, DARK BLOOD, is released. To further drum up anticipation — and quench fans’ thirst — the K-pop group shared a teaser for the LP on Wednesday (May 17).

The album preview, less than two minutes in length, features carefully plucked snippets from the six tracks that are featured on the record: “Fate,” “Bite Me,” “Sacrifice (Eat Me Up),” “Chaconne,” “Bills” and “Karma.” Many of the tracks feature enigmatic and moody synth instrumentals, complemented by trap beats, while standouts “Bills” and “Karma” incorporate heavier guitar work throughout.

The album preview comes amid a series of content releases leading up to DARK BLOOD‘s release. On Tuesday, the group — which consists of Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, Jungwon and Ni-ki — shared the album’s track list in a stylish typography poster to Twitter. Following the group’s formal album announcement and respective teaser in late April, they have released concept trailers, films, photos and mood boards for the mini-album this month to get fans excited for its arrival.

Up next in ENHYPEN’s Dark Blood schedule is video teasers that will arrive for the album’s lead single (yet to be revealed) on May 19 and May 21; the album and full music video will be released on May 22, the same day ENHYPEN will perform a special showcase for DARK BLOOD.

Listen to the DARK BLOOD album preview in the video above.

Grupo Frontera achieves a feat unseen on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart in more than a decade, becoming the first act to place two regional Mexican songs at No. 1 in a single year. The group claims the first such double win since Banda El Recodo de Cruz Lizárraga in 2009.

Grupo Frontera’s “Un x100to,” with Bad Bunny, hits No. 1 on the Latin Airplay chart (dated May 20) thanks to a 20% boost in audience impressions, to 10.7 million, in the United States in the week ending May 11, according to Luminate.

The quintet secured its first champ on Latin Airplay as “Bebe Dame,” with Fuerza Regida, capped the March 25-dated ranking.

The last regional Mexican act to post two No. 1s on the tally in the same year was Banda El Recodo de Cruz Lizárraga, whose “Te Presumo” and “Me Gusta Todo de Ti” ruled for six and five weeks beginning the Feb. 28 and Dec. 26, 2009-dated lists, respectively.

Since Latin Airplay launched in November 1994, Grupo Frontera logs just the fifth instance of an act notching two regional Mexican No. 1s in a single year. Marco Antonio Solis first achieved the feat in 1996 and is the only artist to have earned the honor twice.

Find the full list below:

Acts With 2 Regional Mexican No. 1s on Latin Airplay in a Single Year:
Grupo Frontera, 2023: “Un x100to,” with Bad Bunny, “Bebe Dame,” with Fuerza Regida
Banda El Recodo de Cruz Lizárraga, 2009: “Me Gusta Todo De Ti,” “Te Presumo”
Conjunto Primavera, 2007: “Basta Ya,” “Ese”
Marco Antonio Solis, 1997: “La Venia Bendita,” “Así Como Te Conocí”
Marco Antonio Solis, 1996: “Recuerdos, Tristeza Y Soledad,” “Que Pena Me Das”

Bad Bunny, meanwhile, captures his 21st Latin Airplay champ, the seventh-most among all acts since the chart’s inception in 1994. J Balvin leads with 35 No. 1s, followed by Enrique Iglesias and Ozuna (32 each), Daddy Yankee (28), Maluma and Wisin (22 each).

Regional Mexican Throughout the Decades: Expanding on the regional Mexican genre’s momentum, as Grupo Frontera reached the No. 1 slot with “Bebe Dame” in March, the quintet brought back the format to Latin Airplay’s top spot following a three-year gap, after La Adictiva Banda San José de Mesillas’ “Escondidos” crowned for one week on Jan. 18, 2020.

This decade, so far, four regional Mexican songs have secured a spot at No. 1. “Escondidos” succeeded Alejandro Fernández’s “Caballero,” which began its two-week reign on the Jan. 4, 2020, chart, prior to Grupo Frontera’s two leaders this year.

Looking back to the Latin Airplay chart’s 1994 inception, the ’90s dispensed the most regional Mexican chart-toppers in a single decade: 18 (despite the chart debuting nearly halfway through the decade), led by the likes of Solis, Rocio Durcal, Alejandro Fernández, Juan Gabriel, Los Tigres del Norte and Selena. Almost as many – 17 – ruled during the 2000s, while nine led in the ‘10s, continuing a rich legacy for the genre.

The 2020s are on pace for around 12 regional Mexican No. 1s by the end of the decade, although the genre’s unprecedented heights on the Billboard Hot 100, led by “Un x100to” and Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola” – the first regional Mexican top 10s ever on the chart, where they currently rank at Nos. 7 and 4, respectively – suggest an even greater ceiling. A new wave of acts is fusing mariachi, norteño, banda, sierreño and corridos, as well as collaborating with artists, such as Bad Bunny, generally outside the genre.

Lewis Capaldi took over NPR for his very own Tiny Desk Concert on Wednesday (May 17) ahead of his upcoming album release.

After opening with a special version of “Before You Go” with a full band (“That was OK! It went well!” he opined), the Scottish singer-songwriter joked that he “thought the desk was gonna be bigger” and introduced “Wish You the Best,” the latest single from his forthcoming album Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent.

“Well, I can’t help but notice/ You seem happier than ever now/ And I guess that I should tell you I’m sorry/ It seems I was the problem somehow/ Maybe I only brought you down,” he sang on the heartrending ballad over stark piano.

Bringing his band back to the desk, Capaldi kept the tiny audience in stitches by quipping, “Did Alicia Keys start with a penis joke, or was that just me? What does NPR stand for?” before debuting an the yet-unreleased track “Heavenly Kind of State of Mind.”

The new song found the troubadour dealing in the divine with a new flame as he wailed, “Whether you were heaven sent to save me from above/ Or the only one who doesn’t hate me, that’s enough/ When I need someone to save me from original sin/ You call me like a chorus only angels can sing/ Now I think about you all of the time/ You’re a heavenly kind of state of mind.”

For his closing number, Capaldi chose not something from his pending sophomore album, which drops May 19 via Capitol Records, but the biggest hit of his debut: “Someone You Loved,” which climbed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 2019.

Watch Capaldi’s emotive Tiny Desk Concert below: