Researchers at the University of Missouri College Veterinary Medicine have discovered invasive longhorned ticks in Missouri.
This tick has caused damage to agriculture worldwide and can transmit disease to humans as well.
M-U is asking Missouri farmers to watch for symptoms of infection in cattle, such as weight loss, weakness, jaundice, and pregnancy loss.
Farmers are asked to contact their local veterinarian immediately.
BTS’ Jimin is now the proud owner of a six-stringed slice of pop-culture history — Ken’s guitar from the Barbie movie.
Ryan Gosling, who stars as Ken in the Margot Robbie-led hit, had reached out to the K-pop star with the “humble offering” of the instrument, an admission that Jimin had captured the Western Ken look first, and did it “best.”
The Hollywood star has delivered on his promise.
Jimin is now in receipt of the customized guitar, which is emblazoned with Ken’s name and a horse image, and got a workout in the film as Gosling performed a cover of Matchbox Twenty’s “Push”.
In “Hi Ryan and hi Ken, it’s Jimin. Congrats on your big release,” Jimin comments in a new message, from one Ken to another. “My fans are excited to see your video, so thank you so much. I could see that you look great in my outfit. Thank you for this guitar. I really love it and I look forward to watching Barbie. Go, Barbie!”
The video is accompanied with the caption, “Thanks for having my outfit in #BarbieTheMovie! You rocked it, Ken.”
Earlier, in a video message shared prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Gosling explained, “I notice that your ‘Permission to Dance’ outfit is the same as my Ken outfit in the upcoming movie Barbie. I have to give it to you — you wore it first. You definitely wore it best and there’s an unspoken Ken code that if you bite another Ken’s style, you have to give them your most prized possession.” He added, “I hope you’ll accept Ken’s guitar as my humble offering. Besides, Ken doesn’t really play anyway, so…it’ll be much better in your hands.”
Barbie has been a global hit, clocking one of the biggest openings since the pandemic and scoring the top opening of the year to date. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film took $162 million at the North American box office over July 21-23, smashing the opening-weekend record for a female director.
Speaking with the The New York Times, the director admitted she was “at a loss for words” after seeing the film’s success. “It’s been amazing to walk around and see people in pink,” she added. “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine something like this.”
Jimin has more than enough star power of his own. In April, he led the Billboard Artist 100 chart, thanks to the release of his new solo album, FACE (via BigHit Music/Geffen/Interscope Records), and its breakout track, “Like Crazy.”
That single blasted to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jimin’s first solo No. 1 outside BTS, which has scored six chart leaders.
Jason Aldean’s controversial “Try That in a Small Town” music video was seemingly edited to remove imagery of a Black Lives Matter protest after the clip received backlash, with critics claiming that the video contained racist, pro-gun and pro-lynching messaging.
According to The Washington Post, the video is now six seconds shorter than when it was originally shared on July 14. There is no longer a clip from Fox 5 Atlanta depicting violent interactions during Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020.
Billboard has reached out to Aldean’s team for more information.
Last week, the country singer responded to recent claims that “Try That in a Small Town” is a “modern lynching song.” The song challenges those who “pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store” or “cuss out a cop” to, as the title suggests, try those actions in a small town and “see how far ya make it down the road.” The song’s video features footage of an American flag burning, protesters having confrontations with police, looters breaking a display case and thieves robbing a convenience store.
“In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to a comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests,” Jason wrote in his statement. “These references are not only meritless, but dangerous. There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage- and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far.”
He later addressed the controversy during his Ohio concert on Friday (July 21). “It’s been a long week and I’ve seen a lot of stuff suggesting I’m this, suggesting I’m that,” Aldean told the crowd in a fan-captured video. “I feel like everybody’s entitled to their opinion. You can think something all you want to, it doesn’t mean it’s true.”
He added, “What I am is a proud American. I’m proud to be from here. I love our country. I want to see it restored to what it once was before all this bulls— started happening to us. I love my country, I love my family, and I will do anything to protect that, I can tell you that right now.”
CMT has since pulled the video from its rotation after running it for three days, while Aldean’s wife, Brittany Aldean, came to his defense. On the other hand, stars like Sheryl Crow and Margo Price have spoken out against Jason Aldean’s choice to perform and release the song.
When the nominations for the 66th Annual Grammy Awards are announced on Nov. 10, two country hits could be in the running for record of the year for the first time since Jimmy Carter was President.
Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” and Luke Combs’ remake of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” both have a very good chance of making the finals. Wallen’s song has logged 23 weeks atop Hot Country Singles. “Fast Car” has logged 12 weeks at No. 2. (Both songs dropped one rung this week, to Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, with the re-entry in the top spot of Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town.”)
Combs’ hit probably has a better chance of being nominated than Wallen’s does. Combs has received six Grammy nominations over the years (though he has yet to win). And Chapman’s original version was nominated for record and song of the year. Wallen has yet to be nominated for a Grammy, so there’s no evidence yet that Grammy voters are ready to forgive and forget the 2021 incident where he was videotaped using a racial pejorative.
If both hits are nominated, this would be the first time in 46 years that two or more country hits have competed in this marquee category. (We define a country hit as a song that made the top 20 on Hot Country Songs.) In 1977, three top five country hits vied for record of the year – Crystal Gayle’s elegant torch ballad “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” (which topped the country chart for four weeks), Linda Ronstadt’s exquisite pop/country version of Roy Orbison’s 1963 pop hit “Blue Bayou” (which reached No. 2) and Debby Boone’s megahit rendition of the Oscar-winning ballad “You Light Up My Life” (which reached No. 4).
In three earlier years, two or more country hits competed for record of the year. In 1967, Glen Campbell’s sublime reading of Jimmy Webb’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” (a No. 2 country hit) vied with Bobbie Gentry’s enigmatic pop/country crossover smash “Ode to Billie Joe” (a No. 17 country hit).
The following year, for the first and so far only time in Grammy history, three No. 1 country hits competed for record of the year. They were Jeannie C. Riley’s reading of Tom T. Hall’s “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” Bobby Goldsboro’s tearjerker ballad “Honey” and Campbell’s version of another Webb classic, “Wichita Lineman.” The Riley and Goldsboro hits each topped the country chart for three weeks; Campbell’s smash headed it for two.
In 1975, Campbell’s sleek version of Larry Weiss’ “Rhinestone Cowboy” and Eagles’ “Lyin’ Eyes” competed for the prize. “Rhinestone Cowboy” topped the country chart for three weeks. “Lyin’ Eyes” reached No. 8 on the country chart.
In 1979, two record of the year nominees had charted on Hot Country Songs, but only one of them was a home-run country hit. That’s Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler,” which topped the country chart for three weeks on its way to becoming his signature song. The other is a pop smash – Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond’s “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” – that was covered by Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelius, one of the top country duos of the era. Both versions entered Hot Country Singles – as the chart was then called – on Nov. 25, 1978. But whereas the version by Brown and Cornelius made the top 10, the version by Barbra & Neil stalled at No. 70. (It had star-power to burn, but you can practically hear country programmers saying “It just isn’t country.”)
In recent years, it has been hard for even one country hit to wind up with a Grammy nod for record of the year. The last five country hits to be nominated in that marquee category (again defining a country hit as a song that reached the top 20 on Hot Country Songs) were Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Old Town Road” (No. 19 in 2019), Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together) (No. 1 for 10 weeks in 2012), Lady A’s “Need You Now” (No. 1 for five weeks in 2010), Swift’s “You Belong With Me” (No. 1 for two weeks in 2009) and Shania Twain’s “You’re Still the One” (No. 1 for one week in 1998).
The Recording Academy expanded the number of nominees in each of the Big Four categories (including record of the year) from five to eight in 2018. They expanded it again to 10 in 2021, but have announced that they are dropping it back down to eight for the nominations that will be announced on Nov. 10.
Monsta X‘s Shownu & Hyungwon are the latest members of the group to branch out. The duo released its first joint mini album The Unseen on Tuesday (July 25), as well as a music video for the project’s lead single “Love Me a Little.”
The “Love Me a Little” video sees the duo preoccupied with the way the object of their affections makes them feel, from captivated to borderline insane. Even simple things like driving and lying in bed prove to be a task, as their thoughts overtake them.
“Charmed by that unfamiliar scent/ You just won’t come to me/ Locked in your room, I get more excited today/ Love me a little, love me a little bit/ Your scent blows into my love you/ Love me a little, love me a little bit/ La la la love me,” the pair takes turns singing on a midtempo chorus backed by percussion, as they dance on water.
Shownu and Hyungwon’s The Unseen features a total of five tracks: lead single “Love Me a Little,” “Love Therapy,” “Roll With Me,” “Play Me” and “Slow Dance.” The set comes less than two years after Monsta X — which also includes members Minhyuk, Kihyun, Joohoney and I.M — released its second English album, The Dreaming, in 2021. The album peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard 200.
Watch the video for “Love Me a Little” above and stream The Unseen in full below.
Lady Gaga has fond memories of her beloved friend and musical collaborator Tony Bennett, who died on Friday (July 21) at the age of 96.
In a new People cover story remembering the late legend, the publication revisited a 2014 interview with Gaga, in which she shared that Bennett sketched a tattoo of a trumpet for her.
“I asked Tony to draw me a trumpet, and he sketched me Miles Davis’ trumpet,” she recalled. “Then I had it tattooed with his last name, Benedetto, underneath. Just so I would always remember this time together.”
Their 2014 jazz album, Cheek to Cheek, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. After Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, he went on to release a second jazz album with Gaga, titled Love for Sale, in 2021.
“Tony heard me sing [‘Orange Colored Sky’] and he asked to meet me,” Gaga said in 2014. “He said, ‘Do you want to do a jazz album together?’ I said, ‘Of course I do!’ We were fast friends.”
In 2021, Bennett announced that he was retiring from touring and performing after one last show in August of that year with Gaga at Radio City Music Hall entitled “One Last Time.”
Camila Cabello has been enjoying a relaxing vacation in Puerto Rico, and the 26-year-old singer took to Instagram on Monday (July 24) to share a glimpse into her tropical getaway.
In the photo dump, Cabello is seen swimming naked in a pool, which butterfly emojis covering her private areas. She also showed off the books she’s reading, including The Idiot by Elif Batuman and Quarter-Life: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood by Satya Doyle Byock.
See the “Havana” singer’s post here.
It’s been an exciting month for Cabello, as it was announced last week that the 26-year-old singer will receive the special Agent of Change award at this year’s Premios Juventud on July 20, celebrating commitment to the betterment of youth around the world.
“I am honored and incredibly excited to receive this esteemed recognition. I can’t wait to see you all on July 20th for an unforgettable show,” she expressed in a press statement. Cabello will join past Agent of Change honorees including Jesse & Joy, Maluma, Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Kany Garcia, Jenni Rivera Foundation, Ricky Martin, Becky G, Pitbull, Juanpa Zurita, and Wisin y Yandel.
Following the release of will.i.am‘s latest collaboration with Britney Spears, the club-ready track “Mind Your Business,” fans have been raising questions online about the song — including when it was recorded and if Spears’ vocals are truly hers.
Neil Jacobson — CEO of Hallwood Media, will.i.am’s management company — tells Billboard that “Mind Your Business” was first recorded “several years ago” but the duo revisited the track and refreshed it recently, including “making changes to the music up until 2 weeks ago.” While the Grammy-winning producer was on his summer European tour with the Black Eyed Peas — which most recently stopped at a festival in Switzerland this past weekend — the pop superstar recorded her vocals separately in Los Angeles with music producer Anthony Preston, Jacobson says.
After some fans noticed that the picture of Spears used in the promotional single cover was from a photo shoot 20 years ago, speculation began to rise that the star’s vocals were also not new. Additionally, the “Piece of Me” singer hasn’t posted about the song on her social media pages, except for a pre-save link on her Instagram Stories. She has since deactivated her Instagram page after the song was released.
Another theory began to circulate from a TikTok user named AllyNaston, alleging that Myah Marie, a backup singer who has done demo vocals for Spears in the past, could be behind the lead vocals on “Mind Your Business.” AllyNaston referenced a Reddit AMA that Myah Marie did in 2019, in which she answered the question, “What demo did you sing on that you wish Britney had recorded?”
“There was one that Will.I.Am wrote, it was really cool, it was kind of rappy, it was for Britney Jean,” she explained. “[It was called] something like ‘Business,’ like ‘be up in my business,’ something cool.”
However, Myah Marie has not confirmed that “Mind Your Business” is the song she’s referring to, or if her vocals are on the track.
In a recent interview with Variety, will.i.am also put the rumors to rest about Spears’ vocals, though he did not specify when the song was written and recorded.
“Here it is, 2023, people want to hear this. But they ask, when did I record this with Britney? And is that really Britney on it? Yes, it is,” he explained. “When did I record it? That’s not important. For example, I have a track from several records ago, ‘Girl Like Me.’ I wrote and produced it for Shakira in 2008, but it came out in 2021. That’s a lot of fermenting. Not everything should be instant. If you want to make great wine, there’s no such thing as instant wine. Intoxication on anything that you consume takes a while. Sh–’s gotta sit around for a minute … fine-tune it, perfect it. Certain things come out when they’re supposed to come out.”
He added: “‘Mind Your Business’ needed time. Now, at this time, it is perfect.”
The producer also noted that he and Spears wrote the song together. “We’d meet up for lunch sessions in the Valley, talk about life, I’d take notes about what we discussed,” he recalled. “She’d ask to change this, change that. She’s the first person I wrote like that with – let’s just sit and chat about life, love, news, pop culture products. Just talk… I’d show her song structures, rhymes, metaphors. She’d shape and edit the lyrics.”
Myke Towers is back in the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart as his latest single “Lala” climbs 14-6 on the July 29-dated list, becoming the Puerto Rican’s first top 10 in over two years.
“Lala” dropped March 23 as one of the 23 tracks on Towers’ third studio album La Vida Es Una. The One World International/Warner Latina-released set debuted and peaked at No. 9 high on Top Latin Albums (April 8).
The song’s popularity swelled in late June due to a TikTok challenge consisting of a dance with hand gestures and a tongue movement. As millions of users are riding the “Lala” wave, the song has generated more than 2.5 million videos on the platform since. (Activity on TikTok does not directly contribute to Billboard’s charts.)
After that, “Lala” earned Towers his first No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart last chart week (dated July 22).
On Hot Latin Songs, which blends airplay, streams, and digital sales, “Lala” lands in the top 10 in its third week and becomes Towers’ ninth top 10 and first since “Pareja del Año,” with Sebastián Yatra, peaked at No. 10 in May 2021.
“Lala” takes the week’s Greatest Gainer honors on the multimetric tally with 9.7 million official on-demand streams earned during the July 14-20 tracking week, according to Luminate; that’s a 39% gain from the week prior. The streaming surge yields a No. 36 position on the overall Streaming Songs chart, Towers’ first entry there. Plus, it rises 16-8 on Latin Streaming Songs, his ninth top 10 there.
Sales also contributes to “Lala’s” high chart performance on Hot Latin Songs. It sold a bit over 500 units in the U.S. during the same period and rises 11-6 on Latin Digital Song Sales.
Further, “Lala” holds at its No. 3 high on Billboard Global 200 with 85 million streams, a 10% increase, and backtracks 1-2 on Global Excl. U.S. with an 8% dip in streams, to 76 million.
Beyond his new top 10 on Hot Latin Songs, Towers bests his ranking on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, as “Lala” rallies 90-48 in its second week. Prior to “Lala” hitting the top 50, Towers reached a No. 76 high through “Caramelo,” with Ozuna and Karol G, in 2020.
Karol G’s “S91” Arrives: Towers’ “Lala” is not the only new top 10 on Hot Latin Songs this week as Karol G’s “S91” bows at No. 10. The song logged 8.3 million official on-demand streams after its first full tracking week ending July 20, enough to debut at No. 49 on Streaming Songs and an equal No. 10 start on Latin Streaming Songs.
“S91” also sold a bit over 1,000 downloads in its first week, plenty for a No. 1 start on Latin Digital Song Sales.
With the new top 10 on her Hot Latin Songs career, Karol G adds a 22nd top 10, extending her third-most top 10s sum among women, behind Shakira (34) and Gloria Estefan (23).
Jung Kook’s “Seven,” featuring Latto, and Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” debut at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on the July 29-dated Billboard Global 200. It’s only the third time in the 150-week history of Billboard’s global charts that the top two songs are debuts by different artists. But while Jung Kook also opens atop the other global chart – the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. survey – Aldean is nowhere to be found on it.
The Global 200 ranks songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world. The Global Excl. U.S. chart does the same but excludes domestic consumption, measuring the biggest hits outside the United States.
Since these two global charts launched in September 2020, there has been plenty of crossover, with No. 1 songs aligning 100 times, or two out of every three weeks on average. This week’s top 10 on the Global 200 shares eight songs with the top 10 of the Global Excl. U.S. chart. The two that miss are Gunna’s “Fukumean,” inching 7-6 on the former and surging 44-22 on the latter, and “Try That in a Small Town.”
But Aldean isn’t just outside the top 10 of Global Excl. U.S. – his hit misses the 200-position chart altogether. That makes it the highest-ranking song on the Global 200 to simultaneously be absent from its sister survey since they started three years ago. Previously, Future held that distinction, when “Puffin on Zootiez” and “712PM” hit Nos. 7 and 11, respectively, on the May 14, 2022-dated worldwide ranking.
“Try That in a Small Town” makes a notable sales-powered bow, with 233,000 downloads sold worldwide in the week ending July 20, according to Luminate. The song was released May 19 but makes its global chart debut after CMT pulled the song’s music video three days after premiering (July 14), resulting in a surge of attention.
That six-digit figure is the third-best sales week since the charts launched, behind only the 269,000 for Jung Kook’s “Seven” this week, and BTS’ “Butter,” which debuted on the June 5, 2021-dated list with 249,000.
While Aldean manages the best non-BTS/BTS-related sales week in the global charts’ archives, his track’s streaming count of 11.1 million ranks 196th among this week’s 200 charting titles.
Those figures skew dramatically toward Stateside consumption, with 98% of the song’s worldwide sales and 96% of its streams stemming from the U.S. That towers over the averages among this week’s charting titles (beyond Aldean’s): 52% and 22%, respectively. Aldean’s domestic totals contrast with just 5,000 downloads and 403,000 streams from outside the U.S. during the tracking week, not enough to crack the Global Excl. U.S. chart – even if it were expanded to 600 positions.
“Try That in a Small Town” is a country song, and country has long struggled to export outside the confines of the U.S. Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night,” with its 14 weeks at No. 1 on the U.S.-based Billboard Hot 100, has managed to climb as high as No. 82 on Global Excl. U.S., far removed from its top 10 peak on the Global 200. Otherwise, besides Taylor Swift and holiday titles, Luke Combs is the only other core country act (in a lead role) to have appeared on the chart, as “Forever After All” spent a week at No. 105 in 2020. But not even his current crossover, a cover of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 classic “Fast Car,” is charting, despite being No. 21 on the Global 200 and No. 4 on the Hot 100.
Still, when Combs hit the global charts in 2020, 16% of the song’s streams and 10% of its sales were from outside the U.S in its debut week, indicating some interest outside his home country. Wallen, on both of this week’s editions, is up to 25% and 15% from international territories.
So while, yes, Aldean’s mere association with country music means he’s likely to spur far more U.S. activity than pop, rock or Latin acts, his international draw of 4% in streams and 2% in sales are unprecedented for such a huge hit on the Global 200.
The song’s messaging (or its controversy – however you choose to look at it) is deeply American. Even the title touches on the iconography of U.S. small towns, and its lyrics point to social hot topics. Its official video, and subsequent removal from CMT, pushed the song into the national spotlight, the clip interspersing news footage with small-town scenes to amplify the song’s references to violence and crime.
The specificity and the inevitable political fallout of “Try That in a Small Town” seemingly limits the song’s international prospects, cutting its non-U.S. sales and streams to a fraction of even those by fellow country singles. Meanwhile, although Aldean doesn’t chart on any of Billboard’s Hits of the World charts outside of North America, it debuts at No. 36 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, where Wallen and Combs sit at Nos. 1-2.