A suspect is awaiting charges, and an officer is recovering from injuries following a police chase and standoff in Springfield.
Investigators say authorities were conducting a stakeout on a drug-related case on Nichols Street near Nichols park when a man crashed into a detectives vehicle.
Following the crash, police pursued the suspect, who crashed again near the intersection of Park and Central.
The man fled the scene on foot, where witnesses told police he went into a house on the corner of Central and Marion.
Following a short standoff, the suspect was apprehended without incident.
The officer inside the vehicle during the initial crash suffered minor injuries, and is expected to make a full recovery.
The identity of the suspect has not been released, and formal charges have not been made public.
Gunna bursts in at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with fourth studio album A Gift & a Curse on the list dated July 1. The set, released June 16 on Gunna/Young Stoner Life/300/3EE, enters with 85,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending June 22, according to Luminate.
Of A Gift & a Curse’s first-week sum, just under 84,000 units derive from streaming, equaling 112.6 million official on-demand streams of the album’s songs. Album sales contribute 1,000 units, while the remaining balance is a negligible sum from track-equivalent album units. (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.)
Gunna grabs his fourth Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums No. 1 with his latest champ. His previous three efforts – Drip or Drown 2 (2019), Wunna (2020) and DS4Ever (2022) – all debuted at No. 1; the foremost pair led for one week, while the lattermost title ruled for five frames.
Elsewhere, A Gift & a Curse likewise becomes Gunna’s fourth leader on the Top Rap Albums chart and starts at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
Gunna’s Gift keeps giving, as it sparks 13 debuts on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. “Fukumean” leads the new arrivals at No. 8, while “Back to the Moon” follows at No. 10. With the two tracks, Gunna picks up his 14th and 15th top 10s. In addition to the new songs, previous release “Bread and Butter” recovers 27-18 thanks to the album’s strong streaming performance.
Here’s a recap of all 14 of Gunna’s songs on this week’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart:
Gunna bursts in at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with fourth studio album A Gift & a Curse on the list dated July 1. The set, released June 16 on Gunna/Young Stoner Life/300/3EE, enters with 85,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending June 22, according to Luminate.
Of A Gift & a Curse’s first-week sum, just under 84,000 units derive from streaming, equaling 112.6 million official on-demand streams of the album’s songs. Album sales contribute 1,000 units, while the remaining balance is a negligible sum from track-equivalent album units. (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.)
Gunna grabs his fourth Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums No. 1 with his latest champ. His previous three efforts – Drip or Drown 2 (2019), Wunna (2020) and DS4Ever (2022) – all debuted at No. 1; the foremost pair led for one week, while the lattermost title ruled for five frames.
Elsewhere, A Gift & a Curse likewise becomes Gunna’s fourth leader on the Top Rap Albums chart and starts at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
Gunna’s Gift keeps giving, as it sparks 13 debuts on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. “Fukumean” leads the new arrivals at No. 8, while “Back to the Moon” follows at No. 10. With the two tracks, Gunna picks up his 14th and 15th top 10s. In addition to the new songs, previous release “Bread and Butter” recovers 27-18 thanks to the album’s strong streaming performance.
Here’s a recap of all 14 of Gunna’s songs on this week’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart:
It’s safe to say that the Smiths have a groovy time together. While speaking last week at the Psychedelic Science conference in Denver, Jaden Smith revealed that he and his family use psychedelic drugs, an activity that he says his mom, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, was the first to introduce to her household.
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Nick Cannon Is Glad ‘Red Table Talk’ Is Ending: ‘That Toxic Table’
“I think it was my mom, actually, that was really the first one to make that step for the family,” Jaden said at the conference, according to USA Today. “It was just her for a really, really long time and then eventually it just trickled and evolved and everybody found it in their own ways.”
The 24-year-old actor also noted the positive effects the drugs have had on their family dynamic. “Siblings can argue so much and fight so much, and lord knows me and my siblings have done so much of that in the past,” he explained, referencing his 22-year-old sister Willow and his 30-year-old half brother Trey. “But the level of love and empathy that I can feel for them inside of the [psychedelic] experiences and outside of the experiences has been something that’s profound and beautiful.”
“It will actually help us to open up our minds to get out of the old ways of thinking that got us into lots of these arguments, and open it up so that it just releases and makes room for you to work it out and massage it out until it’s completely gone,” Jaden added.
The Smith unit is headed by Jada and Will Smith, who married in 1997. They welcomed Jaden the following year, then Willow in 2000.
In other Smith family news, Jada and Willow’s Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk with Jada’s mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris recently ended after Facebook axed all of its original programming. The show had a number of memorable moments throughout its five-year run, from Jada and Will breaking down a rough patch in their marriage during which the actress had a romantic “entanglement” with musician August Alsina, to Jada speaking out following Will’s infamous Chris Rock Oscar’s slap.
“We are so grateful to have had such a beautiful partnership with Facebook Watch and we are sorry to see the entire team disband,” Jada said following the show’s cancelation. “We wish everyone well in their new journeys to come. We at Red Table are in talks of finding a new home and we’ll see you soon.”
It’s safe to say that the Smiths have a groovy time together. While speaking last week at the Psychedelic Science conference in Denver, Jaden Smith revealed that he and his family use psychedelic drugs, an activity that he says his mom, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, was the first to introduce to her household.
Related
Nick Cannon Is Glad ‘Red Table Talk’ Is Ending: ‘That Toxic Table’
“I think it was my mom, actually, that was really the first one to make that step for the family,” Jaden said at the conference, according to USA Today. “It was just her for a really, really long time and then eventually it just trickled and evolved and everybody found it in their own ways.”
The 24-year-old actor also noted the positive effects the drugs have had on their family dynamic. “Siblings can argue so much and fight so much, and lord knows me and my siblings have done so much of that in the past,” he explained, referencing his 22-year-old sister Willow and his 30-year-old half brother Trey. “But the level of love and empathy that I can feel for them inside of the [psychedelic] experiences and outside of the experiences has been something that’s profound and beautiful.”
“It will actually help us to open up our minds to get out of the old ways of thinking that got us into lots of these arguments, and open it up so that it just releases and makes room for you to work it out and massage it out until it’s completely gone,” Jaden added.
The Smith unit is headed by Jada and Will Smith, who married in 1997. They welcomed Jaden the following year, then Willow in 2000.
In other Smith family news, Jada and Willow’s Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk with Jada’s mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris recently ended after Facebook axed all of its original programming. The show had a number of memorable moments throughout its five-year run, from Jada and Will breaking down a rough patch in their marriage during which the actress had a romantic “entanglement” with musician August Alsina, to Jada speaking out following Will’s infamous Chris Rock Oscar’s slap.
“We are so grateful to have had such a beautiful partnership with Facebook Watch and we are sorry to see the entire team disband,” Jada said following the show’s cancelation. “We wish everyone well in their new journeys to come. We at Red Table are in talks of finding a new home and we’ll see you soon.”
Well that was quick. Just two weeks ago, Billboard was lamenting the lack of women at the top of the midyear Boxscore report but looking forward to the slew of female acts slated to storm the rankings throughout the rest of the year. And now, Beyoncé becomes the first woman at No. 1 on Top Tours in almost four years.
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Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour Earns $154 Million on European Leg
According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the first nine shows of the Renaissance World Tour — between May 10-30 — earned $67.5 million and sold 461,000 tickets. That makes Beyoncé the highest grossing act of the month.
The last time a woman-identifying act crowned the list, P!nk ever so narrowly edged out The Rolling Stones in July 2019 with a similar run of European stadiums. P!nk had previously topped the list in March of that year, with the Spice Girls sneaking in between in June. The four-year break between them includes the blackout period of COVID-19, but still marks a breathless stretch of 28 monthly reports dominated by male acts.
Further, Beyoncé is the first Black artist, regardless of gender, to hit the monthly summit since the charts launched in February 2019. Extending beyond the launch of these rankings, the last to do so was Queen Bey herself, co-headlining with Jay-Z on 2018’s On the Run II Tour. They earned $53.1 million and sold 404,000 tickets in September of that year.
The Renaissance World Tour’s $60 million-plus haul makes it the 10th tour to break that barrier. It’s the sixth biggest monthly gross since the charts premiered, only behind Bad Bunny (twice), The Rolling Stones, Def Leppard and Motley Crue, and The Weeknd.
Beyoncé’s nine shows in May were spread across seven markets in Europe. All seven reports appear on Top Boxscores, led by two dates at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Those shows earned $16.9 million and sold 96,000 tickets, enough to rank No. 3.
But the engagement’s bronze medal is more a quirk of timing than a failure to lead the list. She played five shows there, but three of them fell in June, and those will qualify for next month’s recap. In total, the quintet of concerts earned $42.2 million and sold 240,000 tickets. That makes it the seventh highest grossing reported Boxscore of all time, and the highest among women artists, passing the Spice Girls’ 17-show haul at London’s own O2 Arena ($33.8 million; 257,000 tickets) in 2007-08.
Elsewhere, Beyoncé posted eight-digit earnings in Solna, Sweden, grossing $10.7 million on the tour’s first two shows (May 10-11) and at Paris’ Stade de France with $10.1 million. Those follow at Nos. 11-12 on Top Boxscores, ahead of one-night-only concerts in Edinburgh, Scotland (No. 14); Cardiff, Wales (No. 21); Brussels, Belgium (No. 22); and Sunderland, England (No. 24).
Beyoncé’s omnipresence on the May report extends to Top Promoters, pushing Live Nation above $400 million and four million tickets. And three venues from her routing appear on the 10-position Top Stadiums chart, including Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at No. 7, powered solely by its two Renaissance shows.
Only halfway through her voyage through Europe, Renaissance’s $67.5 million from May fast approaches the continental totals from On the Run II and Beyoncé’s solo The Formation World Tour, each of which grossed $87 million across the pond. With more figures reported for June, she's already blown past both of those tours with more than $150 million in the bank.
Coldplay follows at No. 2 on Top Tours, earning $54.8 million. That gross features its own monthly split, with one show at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium on May 31, leaving three others to chart on next month’s recap. Elsewhere, the band played four-show runs at Barcelona’s Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys and in Coimbra, Portugal, at Estadio Cidade de Coimbra. Those line up at Nos. 1-2 on Top Boxscores, with Barcelona topping out at $27.3 million.
Coldplay edged out Beyoncé in terms of monthly attendance, but just barely. Chris Martin & Co. sold 482,000 tickets, 4% ahead of Bey’s 461,000.
Harry Styles and Elton John mix in the top five, at Nos. 3 and 5, respectively. Both Brits are scheduled to wrap their respective yearslong tours in July, clearing space for some of the summer’s biggest acts. Some of those make their Top Tours debuts, including Blink-182 at No. 4. The first batch of the pop-punk’s reunion tour grossed $37.1 million in North American arenas.
After popping in at No. 25 in December 2019, Shania Twain makes her post-pandemic return at No. 6, barely under $30 million with $29.7 million and 249,000 tickets. The Queen of Me Tour continues in North America through the end of July before shipping off to Europe in September.
Also hitting the top 10 for the first time are SUGA at No. 7 (previously listed as Agust D on the April report) and Janet Jackson at No. 10. Both acts blow past the $20 million mark with shows in arenas and amphitheaters.
Deeper on Top Tours, 24 acts grossed $10 million or more, eclipsing the 23 of last September. At the onset of the summer season, with stadiums and amphitheaters opening, expect grosses to continue to surge.
A man is in custody after a short chase and standoff near York Elementary School Wednesday night.
Detectives were on surveillance near Nichols Park on a drug case when a man crashed into a detectives car.
After a short chase, the suspect crashed again near Park and Central, then fled on foot. Officers tracked him to a house near Central and Marion and arrested him.
The detective in the car that was hit had minor injuries.
Springfield Public School Employees will be getting a raise under the budget approved by the board of education this week.
The salary for starting teachers will be $43,200 dollars.
Cara stassel, Executive Director of Business Services for SPS, says the new budget also provides raises for other positions that were at a lower starting wage, including cafeteria workers. Cafeteria Supervisor, Lynette Wright says wthout those raises, the district would have lost quite a few workers.
Taylor Swift’s forthcoming tour Down Under is already a record-setter.
On Thursday (June 29), following a “record-breaking pre-sale,” Swift added two more shows to the 2024 Australia leg of her The Eras Tour.
Swift announces a third concert at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Feb. 18, 2024, following the previously-announced shows on Feb. 16 and 17. With a third date, she goes one better than her bestie Ed Sheeran, who recently broke the national record on consecutive nights with his two shows at the imposing 100,000-plus capacity MCG.
She’ll be the first artist since Madonna (in 1993) to perform three concerts at the MCG, according to promoter Frontier Touring.
Also, Swift adds a fourth show for Sydney’s Accor Stadium, for Feb. 26. As it stands, she’ll play four consecutive nights at the venue, on Feb. 23, 24, 25 and now 26. No other artist has played four shows at the 83,000-capacity stadium, also known as Stadium Australia, the host venue for the 2000 Olympic Games.
Pre-sales are at record-breaking levels, notes Ticketek, as the ticketing giant shares news of the expanded itinerary.
The Australia swing for Swift’s The Eras Tour is presented by Crown and Frontier Touring, with special guest artist Sabrina Carpenter.
Swift seems to break records in Australia with monotonous regularity. She became the first artist to simultaneously hold the No. 1 ARIA album, single and national airplay; and she has landed the most debuts in the top 10 of an ARIA Singles Chart with nine of the top 10. Her most recent album, Midnights, was Swift’s 10th No. 1 album in Australia. Following its release last October, Midnight became the most streamed album in a week in ARIA history, while notching the biggest vinyl sales debut ever, selling over 10,000 vinyl units in week one.
The general on-sale for The Eras Tour of Australia starts Friday morning.
Unlike their western counterparts, K-pop artists intentionally steer clear of any news or discussions regarding relationships. Dating within the realm of Korean idols remains a controversial subject and in 2018, DAWN found himself embroiled in a dating “controversy” with a senior artist from his record label—an incident that could have spelled the end of his career.
Today, however, that very experience is shaping his most impactful music to date.
Following the infamous expulsion of DAWN and his then-girlfriend HyunA from Cube Entertainment after going public with their dating news (despite a wave of international media attention and fan support for the relationship that put the contract break on temporary hold), the then-24-year-old boy band member embarked on a solo journey. He became the first male artist to join PSY at his newly established P NATION label.
By the end of 2022, both DAWN and HyunA decided to end their contracts with P NATION as well as their six-year relationship.
Now, DAWN’s personal and professional transformations have paved the way for his Act III, which commences with his latest single “Dear My Light.”
Now signed with the burgeoning hip-hop label AT AREA founded by production duo GroovyRoom (who have produced everyone from Korean hip-hop legends like Dynamic Duo to trending idol groups like (G)I-DLE and OnlyOneOf), DAWN has found a new home to build a dedicated creative team so “more people to understand me as a person better.”
With more music in the works, DAWN’s inaugural step with AREA through “Dear My Light” discards K-pop’s signature glossy veneer and unveils an acoustic-led and emotionally charged letter to his ex. This production is not the only thing stripped down as DAWN exhibits candidness through the lyrics that speak directly to his experiences with the K-pop industry and HyunA. Ironically enough, despite cultural norms prohibiting K-pop stars from dating freely, “Dear My Light” has emerged as DAWN’s most successful chart hit in Korea thus far.
Reflecting with Billboard from the comfort of his Seoul bedroom, DAWN opens up about this new chapter, the raw experiences charged into his new single and what lies ahead.
Billboard: You had a busy end to 2022 and start to 2023 with new professional and personal changes. First and foremost, how are you feeling these days?
DAWN: When I left P NATION, I had about four to five months where it was a time to recharge and also kind of rethink and plan out what I wanted to be and how I wanted to define myself as an artist. There were two things that came up as goals: One was trying to have my own artistic team and create a creative crew that I can work with. Another thing was finding a label that can really understand how and who I envision myself as as an artist. And, now, I feel confident that I’ve accomplished both so I’m very happy and continuing to work with that.
The music industry can be challenging and this was another significant shift for you. People can get disheartened or broken down by the industry. Did you ever consider leaving musicor does it remain your core focus?
Sometimes I do think about not pursuing music anymore because in the back of my mind, I’m always [thinking], “Until when can I really do this? Is there an endpoint to this? Will I be able to continue?” I think that when listeners feel what I’m doing in terms of music is not trendy or I’m not putting out good quality of music, I feel like maybe that’s the time when I stop but, obviously, I don’t want to. That’s why I’m always putting in the effort to look for something new, trying to learn and be inspired because being inspired by something is also a big part. So, that’s also why I created our team because I felt like I could be inspired from other boundaries of art too—not just other musicians, but from paintings, a tattoo, graphic design. I obviously don’t want to stop, but I think about it and I’m doing everything I can to continue to deliver good-quality music.
What was the process in creating and finding this team with your new label, AT AREA? I don’t know if I’ve heard of a K-pop artist making an art team in this way.
I started in K-pop and there’s a lot of visual effects to the music. So, when the music comes out it’s very important to think about how we’re going to maximize the content creatively and visually. When a song comes out, you have to think about the artwork, the video and photos—I think K-pop is an interactive content and art form. With AT AREA, I obviously wasn’t only talking about the music with them, but I started sharing my ideas with them and creating an art team was one way for more people to understand me as a person better since the team would understand my stories the best. I feel very comfortable and safe brainstorming on how my music will be seen; I’ll talk about different styles like, “I want to be seen this way for this kind of music.” The synergy is really, really great now and I have the right partners for each aspect of my music.
I’m glad to hear that because “Dear My Light” is very different from the music we’ve heard in the past. Starting with the sound, what made you want to take this almost musical shift?
The change and transition happened very naturally from leaving P NATION. Although I left under good terms, one of the reasons why I did was because I knew I wanted to show a new side of myself as an artist. So, I don’t want to describe this as a “new” path for me really because I don’t see it as a transition but simply a change in my mindset.
Even the artwork for “Dear My Light” feels like a change from your past work, almost like a new artist, so it’s really exciting but you say it’s a transition?
Apart from the piercing, I guess my new mindset is that before it was very focused on talent. I would say, “I can dance like this, I can sing like this and I can perform like this” so I was very focused on that. But now I’ve changed to wanting to showcase more of who I am as a person. As in, “This is a type of story that I want to tell you and inspire you.” I want to talk more about myself and send a message, “This is my voice and I want to tell my stories more.”
You’ve shared how “Dear My Light” isabout your relationship with HyunA, which was very brave to not shy away from and put into a song. What more can you share about the song in terms of your history together?
I can confirm that it is about my past relationship, but I want to add that it would be odd for me to deny that because, as an artist, I want to talk about what I’m going through now. So, I’d be lying because that is what I went through, that’s what I’m going through and that’s how I’m feeling. So, I’m confirming it is about that and the song is my story.
Do you have a favorite lyric?
It’s a part of the first verse, the [English translated] lyrics of, “Met you when you were most beautiful/ I could go through anything no matter what anyone said.”
Is that line referencing when things were unclear after you left Cube Entertainment?
It is referencing back to that time when I left the company and there were a lot of different comments, media, stories, a lot of talking happening. There was a lot of backlash from that, but also a lot of people worried about us and, of course, a lot of people supporting us too. I was also very young at the time. But if I think back to it now, I feel like that was such a hard time but I remember that even though it felt like the whole world was against us and we could really go through it because we had each other and because we loved each other so much—that was what kind of helped us get through it.
Thank you for sharing that. I loved the chorus’s last lines, “It’s okay if I lose everything/ As long as I can see you dazzling.” There’s a sense of being selfless even if you’re hurting. What inspired that?
It’s a pretty direct reflection of how I was feeling when I was in love and I still believe that that’s the right way to love because I heard someone say once that if I really love someone, then your brain oddly makes you think that your lover is actually you. So, you start cherishing them like you’re cherishing yourself. And so I believe that what I do for my partner is essentially what I’m doing for the two of us so that’s kind of my selfless attitude when I think about relationships.
Something that I thought was interesting was that HA:TFELT, or Yeeun from Wonder Girls, co-wrote “Dear My Light” with you. She also came from an idol group background and could show herself and her stories more as an artist. Was there any connection or common ground that you guys found together?
So, I’m not very good with words. [Laughs] Expressing myself and my emotions into words is very challenging sometimes. One of the challenges was, “How can I write my emotions in a beautiful way?” And HA:TFELT has been a friend ever since me and HyunA were in a relationship so she’s kind of seen the whole process of our history. And she’s an amazing writer too. So, I really wanted to work with her; there was a really good synergy between us writing this.
The artwork and concept photos are very powerful too I loved all the styles in “Dawndididawn” and “Stupid Cool,” but this feels like one, straightforward concept. What are the artwork aspects representing here too?
I think fashion is not just the wardrobe or what I’m wearing, but I use it as a tool to express myself. That’s why I think there’s consistency because me, as a person, doesn’t change. So, I feel very confident that it looks coherent together. In terms of the artwork and the photos itself in “Dear My Light,” it’s a song about the progression of a version of myself that was in a dark space finding a person, finding the light, and progressing into a more positive person that feels brighter. That’s why you see thorns around the neck and a hole in my heart on his chest; all of that expresses the void that I felt during my dark times, but the music video shows that void fills up and the same progression that the song portrays.
Is there anything that you want people to know who listen and connect to the song personally?
For people who either parted ways from their partners or are going through a dark time in their lives, I want those people to know that if you look around, there are people that can really shed light on them.. There are people who really love them and I really believe that. Through this song, I also want to be that for them and reassure listeners that maybe this song could be the light, or if you really look around there’s someone who could be that for you. I want to be a cure for those who need it sort of.
Anything else to share as you continue on this new chapter?
For my fans and listeners, I always aspired to make music that inspires others. Now with AT AREA, I have already written a lot of my stories and will continue to write more. I’m looking forward to people listening to that music and I’ll keep working very, very hard.
Are you still listening?
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