Month: June 2023

Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian shared a new pregnancy photo shoot on Wednesday (June 28), posting six new pics of Kardashian’s baby bump in solo and couple shots.

Kardashian wears a baby-blue lycra turtleneck dress-and-pants combo in the photos, with the skintight silhouette showing off her growing belly. The photos were taken in front of a swimming pool, with half the pics featuring the Blink-182 drummer in a beanie and white tank top holding on to his pregnant wife.

The couple announced their baby news earlier this month when Kardashian held up a “Travis I’m Pregnant” poster in the crowd at Blink-182’s concert at Los Angeles’ BMO Stadium. The sign was a reference to Blink’s “All the Small Things” music video, in which a random fan holds up the same poster in the crowd. On Saturday, they revealed the baby’s sex in an Instagram video, with Barker offering up a drumroll before a stream of blue confetti and streamers shoots into the air, confirming that the pair is having a baby boy.

It sounds like that’s not all the couple knows about their future baby either. Along with a winking emoji, Barker commented on the new baby bump photos: “I already know his name.” Kardashian is wearing the same baby-blue outfit in the gender-reveal video as she is in the new photo shoot.

This will be the first baby for Kardashian and Barker, who confirmed they were married on May 16, 2022, before hosting a lavish wedding in Italy on May 22, 2022. Their wedding was documented for the Hulu series Til Death Do Us Part: Kourtney & Travis.

Both have children from previous relationships: Kardashian has son Mason, 13, daughter Penelope, 10, and son Reign, 8, with ex-boyfriend Scott Disick, while Barker has son Landon, 19, daughter Alabama, 17, and stepdaughter Atiana, 24, with ex-wife Shanna Moakler.

See the new photos here.

Since the group’s 2022 debut, XG has been making waves in Korea, Japan and the United States. The septet — which consists of members Jurin, Cocona, Chisa, Hinata, Maya, Juria and Harvey — is gearing up to keep the global domination going with the release of its forthcoming album GRL GVNG on June 30, but before then, the girls caught up with Billboard News to discuss the past year as a group, meeting fans for the first time, and their ongoing docuseries.

XG performed at the Head in the Clouds Festival in New York last month, and had the chance to meet members of their dedicated fan base for the first time. “It was such an incredible moment getting to meet our U.S. Alphaz for the very first time as well as performing in the U.S. for the very first time. The energy was amazing, we had so much fun. We felt so alive after the whole performance and we were really grateful that we had the opportunity and it was an amazing experience,” Maya explained.

Hinata also shed light on the group’s first fan meeting experience in Japan, adding, “We were really welcomed by a lot of Alphaz and even showed us cards saying ‘Welcome back, XG!’ It was really heartwarming, and we were grateful for that. We had an amazing and exciting performance, so it was really great.”

XG takes fans on the journey of its formation in the docuseries XTRA XTRA, shedding light on how all of the members got so close. According to Jurin, the girls in the group have a name for that bond. “We express the relationship between the seven of us as ‘Hesono O’ in Japanese. It represents a connection that continues and symbolizes a family tied by an umbilical cord,” she said. “I think the backstory to that phrase is revealed in the documentary, so we hope the Alphaz can pick up on that.”

While XG is just getting started, they have a clear goal in mind for the future and their plan to reach new fans. “We are Japanese, based in Korea, singing in English. We understand that it makes us a unique group. Our goal is to reach as many people as possible, so we learned English and Korean,” Jurin added. “We have a strong desire to reach out to a lot of people and we hope that we can accomplish our goals.”

Watch XG’s full interview with Billboard News in the above video.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Rapper Quando Rondo has bonded out of jail after he was indicted on drug and gang charges in his hometown of Savannah.

Court records show a judge granted a $100,000 bond for the 24-year-old rapper, whose given name is Tyquian Terrel Bowman. He was released Monday, according to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office.

A grand jury indicted him along with 18 others on June 14. The indictment charged Bowman with four counts, including being a manager of an illegal street gang known as “Rollin’ 60s.” Other charges allege Bowman conspired with others to distribute marijuana and to buy pills of the opioid hydrocodone.

His lawyer Jonah Pine said he is “extraordinarily grateful” that the rapper has been released on bond and declined to comment further.

The rapper’s singles “I Remember” and “ABG” led to a deal with Atlantic Records, which released his debut album, QPac, in 2020. His follow-up album, Recovery, came out in March.

For the last 16 weeks, one label has topped the Billboard 200 – Republic Records. That marks the longest streak for any label at No. 1 since 1998, when the Titanic soundtrack kept the Sony Classical label afloat at No. 1, also for 16 weeks.

Republic has led the chart since the March 18-dated tally, when Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time (released via Big Loud/Mercury/Republic) debuted at No. 1. That album spent 12 weeks in a row at No. 1, and then stepped aside on the June 10 and 17 charts when Taylor Swift’s Midnights (on Republic) returned to the top and Stray Kids’ 5-STAR (JYP/Imperial/Republic) debuted at No. 1, respectively. One Thing at a Time then returned to No. 1 for the last two weeks (June 24 and July 1 charts). 

Sony Classical was the last label to rule the Billboard 200 for 16 straight weeks – and it did so with just one album: the Titanic soundtrack. From the Jan. 24 through May 9, 1998-dated charts, the Titanic album sailed at No. 1 (the entirety of its run in the top spot). 

Republic could capture a 17th straight week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (on the July 8 chart, the top 10 of which is slated to be announced Sunday, July 2). The last label to hold the No. 1 spot for 17 weeks was Mercury, in 1992, when Billy Ray Cyrus’ Some Gave All logged 17 consecutive frames at No. 1 (June 13-Oct. 3, 1992, the entirety of its weeks at No. 1).

Mercury Records was founded in 1945 and continued to operate as a label until the late 1990s. It was reactivated in 2007 but went dormant again in the mid-2010s. Most recently, in 2022, it was relaunched as an imprint of Republic Records. As for Republic, the company debuted as a label in 1995, co-founded by brothers Avery and Monte Lipman. Today, they are Republic’s chief operating officer and chief executive officer, respectively.

If Republic can manage a 17th and then an 18th week in a row at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (on the July 15 chart), it would mark the longest reign for a label since Capitol claimed the top slot for 18 straight frames with M.C. Hammer’s Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em in 1990 (on the July 7-Nov. 3, 1990-dated lists). Please Hammer spent a total of 21 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1.

One Thing at a Time recently made news as the album with the most total weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (14) since Adele’s 21 (released via XL/Columbia Records) collected 24 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2011-12. That 24 weeks in the lead for 21 were pieced together through 10 different stays atop the list, none of which were long enough to give XL or Columbia 16 weeks in a row atop the list.

YOASOBI‘s “Idol” extends its stay atop the Billboard Japan Hot 100 to 11 weeks on the chart dated June 28, tallying the week from June 19 to 25.

The CD version of the Oshi no Ko opener went on sale during this chart week, selling 53,589 copies to come in at No. 2 for the metric. And while figures are slowing down in all but karaoke, the track continues to dominate streaming, downloads, video views and karaoke for the fifth straight week. Eleven weeks at No. 1 is tied with Gen Hoshino’s ubiquitous J-pop hit “Koi” that topped Billboard Japan’s year-end list for 2017.

King & Prince‘s “Nanimono” debuts at No. 2. The theme of the NTV drama Daga, Jonetsu wa aru starring member Kaito Takahashi launched at No. 1 for sales with 546,829 copies sold. While this figure is considerably less than the group’s previous single, “Life goes on,” that sold over a million CDs in its first week (1,051,909 copies), “Nanimono” did bow with over 500,000 copies while also coming in at No. 4 for video and No. 34 for radio.

Sakurazaka46‘s “Start over!” debuts at No. 10 on the Japan Hot 100 ahead of the CD single set to drop next week. The J-pop girl group released the accompanying music video and also made the digital version available for download and streaming during this chart week. The track hit No. 16 for downloads, No. 8 for streaming, and No. 67 for video, performing better than its predecessor “Sakurazuki” in all three metrics and is set to jump up the song chart next week.

The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.

See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from June 12 to 18, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.

Gerardo Coronel picks-up his first No. 1 on a Billboard chart as “Que Onda Perdida,” with Grupo Firme, rises from No. 2 to lead the Regional Mexican Airplay chart (dated July 1).

“Que Onda Perdida” lands at the summit with 9 million in audience impressions — a 14% gain from the week prior — earned in the U.S. in the tracking week ending June 22, according to Luminate.

It’s a first win for Coronel on his fourth chart visit. The Michoacán, Mexico-born singer/songwriter has placed a total of four entries on the Regional Mexican Airplay list, dating back to the No. 20-peaking “Te Quiero a Morir” in 2015. In between, “Te Deseo Lo Mejor,” with Pancho Barraza, reached No. 17 in 2021. He broke the top 10 barrier, however, in 2023, when “Te Felicito,” his first entry unaccompanied by any other act, rose to No. 7 on the June 17-dated ranking. The song rebounds to No. 7 on the current chart after peaking at No. 5 last week.

Grupo Firme, meanwhile, captures its eighth Regional Mexican Airplay champ among 20 chart entries — 11 of which went top 10. The new No. 1 follows “Alaska,” with Camilo, which crowned the tally for one week last November.

“Que Onda” tops Regional Mexican Airplay after over two months. The banda song entered the chart on the April 22-dated tally and arrived in the top 10 in its third week. It has remained in the upper region during a nine-week journey, and ousts Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola” from the lead, which drops 1-2 after a four-week domination (down 14% in audience, to 7 million).

Beyond its No. 1 success on Regional Mexican Airplay, “Que Onda” continues to advance on the Latin Airplay chart, which ranks all songs regardless of genre. There, the tune lifts from No. 6 to its No. 3 high, the highest ranking for both acts, and a first top 10 for Coronel who previously reached the top 20 with “Te Felicito” last week (chart dated June 24).