Month: July 2023

Another tour, another fan baffling everyone by throwing something directly at the performer on stage. Thursday night (July 20), Drake had to address a concertgoer who made the very questionable decision to toss a vape at him from the crowd at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

The venue posted a video clip of the unfortunate moment on its social media channels the day after the show, along with a warning in the caption: “Reminder: You cannot vape at Barclays Center.”

“Did you throw a vape up here? Come on,” Drake said at the show, upon seeing the item on the ground by his feet.

He gave a disapproving look at the audience and asked, “Hey … Who threw this? Who threw the vape?”

“There’s no way you’re taking life seriously if you think I’m gonna pick this vape up and vape with you at the f—ing Barclays Center,” Drake scolded.

“You got some real life evaluating to do,” said Drake, taking a closer look at it and continuing, “throwing this f—ing lemon mint vape up here, thinking I’m about to vape with you at the Barclays.”

Sadly, this isn’t the first time Drake has had something thrown at him at a concert this month. He was hit in the arm by a cell phone on the opening night of his All a Blur Tour with 21 Savage in Chicago, though he didn’t comment on the incident from the stage that night.

Out of line audience members throwing things at the artists they’ve come to see live has become a stupid, dangerous trend in recent months. In just June and July: Bebe Rexha was injured when a cell phone was hurled at her face, a fan tossed her dead mother’s ashes up onto P!nk’s stage, Kelsea Ballerini was struck by an object mid-song, someone sent a sex toy flying at Lil Nas X, a mysterious object pelted Harry Styles near the eye and left him wincing in pain, and Latto threatened “Throw it again, I’mma beat your ass” when a fan flung something at her.

When Taylor Swift walked offstage to wave at screaming fans in the obstructed view stands at the end of a recent show, she had to cover her face and dodge friendship bracelets being thrown at her.

See Drake’s reaction to an electronic cigarette being thrown his way in the video below.

From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.

Billboard Latin Music Week 2023

This week, Billboard unveiled the first lineup confirmed for the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week, set to take place from Oct. 2-6 at the Faena Forum in Miami Beach. The star-studded list includes Latin urban veterans and breakthrough newcomers such as Arcángel, Edgar Barrera, Maria Becerra, Eladio Carrión, Fonseca, GALE, Grupo Frontera, Natanael Cano, Nathy Peluso, Nicki Nicole, Peso Pluma, Santa Fe Klan, Sebastian Yatra, Vico C, Yng Lvcas and Young Miko. Registration for the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week is now open at BillboardLatinMusicWeek.com.

More information is available here.

Chencho Teams Up With Sprite

“The collab we needed,” expressed Sprite Puerto Rico after announcing that they have teamed up with Chencho Corleone for a limited-edition can. Available now only in La Isla del Encanto, the green can features art of the reggaeton veteran with a line that says: “Chencho Corleone solo hay uno” (there’s only one Chencho Corleone). “Every time I reach a goal, I set myself a new one and the achievement of each one is the reward of someone who never settled for dreaming it,” the Puerto Rican artist posted on Instagram. “This collaboration with Sprite is a collector’s edition for my fans and everyone who enjoys what I do. Always grateful.” The partnership celebrates some of the most respected artists from the Latin urban genre.

Ricky Martin’s Heartfelt Concert Moment

In a career highlight, Ricky Martin shared the stage with his twin sons, Matteo and Valentino, for the first time during his show in Switzerland on Monday (July 17). But it wasn’t planned. In fact, in a video the Puerto Rican superstar posted on social media, his 14-year-old boys take the stage to hype up the crowd and start jumping along with their father, whose facial expression says it all. “What a beautiful surprise! When my twins jumped on stage with me for the first time in Locarno, Switzerland,” he captioned the short clip with a crying emoji.

Fuerza Regida’s Historic Show

The ups have canceled the downs for Fuerza Regida in the past week. Last Saturday, the group became the first Mexican American act to play BMO Stadium as the official kickoff of their first major U.S. tour (the week prior, on July 7, Fuerza played Dos Equis Pavillion in Dallas). More importantly, over 22,000 people were in attendance at the stadium, a massive amount for a new group, according to an official release. The group also performed at Premios Juventud in Puerto Rico July 20, playing their new single, “Sabor Fresa.” And on July 28, the band resumes its Otra Peda Tour with a stop in Miami before continuing on more than 20 U.S. dates through the end of November.

Best Latin Albums of 2023 So Far

This week, the Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors published the coveted “23 Best Latin Albums of 2023 So Far” list. While Bad Bunny dominated pretty much all of 2022 with his blockbuster release Un Verano Sin Ti, this year the landscape looks a little different, with more than just one Latin album taking its turn in the spotlight. Most notably, there is Karol G‘s history-making new album, Mañana Será Bonito, which became the first all Spanish-language LP by a female artist to top the Billboard 200 albums chart. Another album that made history was Peso Pluma‘s Génesis, which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 — the highest rank ever for a música mexicana album on the chart. 

Tainy’s DATA, Carin Leon’s Colmillo de Leche and Don Omar’s comeback set, Forever King, all made the cut as well. See the complete list here.

Happy birthday, Selena Gomez!

On Saturday (July 22), the pop star took to Instagram to celebrate her 31st birthday and reveal the gift she wants most on her special day.

“I am thankful for so much in my life and one of the things I am most thankful for is the work we’ve been able to do with the Rare Impact Fund through @Rarebeauty,” Gomez captioned a photo of herself blowing out candles on a gorgeous cake. “Because of YOU we’ve been able to raise awareness and increase access to mental health services for young people. This is my true passion in life.”

The Only Murders in the Building actress continued, “People keep asking me what I want for my birthday, and I tell everyone the same thing please do not get me anything but if you want to do something for my birthday, please donate to the Rare Impact Fund. If you have the means, consider donating to help us make a difference.”

“I LOVE YOU ALL!” she concluded her post, providing a donation link.

Gomez’s makeup company Rare Beauty launched the Rare Impact Fund on her 28th birthday in July 2020. At the time, the fund hoped to raise $100 million over the next 10 years in an effort to provide mental health services to underserved communities.

The “Lose You to Love Me” singer founded Rare Beauty in February 2020 with the self-affirming mission that “being rare is about being comfortable with yourself.” The title of the line is a nod to her third album, Rare, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Earlier this summer, Gomez teased that the follow-up to Rare is finally underway. “Don’t worry guys, it’s coming,” she captioned photos on Instagram from the recording studio. “Even from Paris.”

See Gomez’s birthday post on Instagram here.

The remainder of Malaysia’s three-day Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur has been canceled after The 1975’s headlining performance on Friday (July 21), event organizer Future Sounds Asia said in an announcement shared with Billboard on Saturday. The decision comes after frontman Matty Healy slammed the country’s LGBTQ laws as “f–king ridiculous” before sharing a prolonged kiss with bassist Ross MacDonald.

Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia, and those convicted face up to 20 years behind bars.

The British band’s set was cut short after Healy, who has long been outspoken about LGBTQ rights, ranted about the country’s restrictive laws banning homosexuality. “Because you are young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive and cool,” he told the crowd in video circulating on social media, noting that he had pulled the show Thursday in protest before deciding not to let fans down. “But, I’ve done this before. I’ve gone to a country where it’s — I don’t know what it f–king is. Ridiculous. F–king ridiculous to tell people what they can do with that and that. If you want to invite me here to do a show, you can f–k off. I’ll take your money, you can ban me, but I’ve done this before and it doesn’t feel good, and I’m f–ked off.”

The set ended early shortly after Healy kissed MacDonald, with the frontman telling festivalgoers, “All right, we just got banned from Kuala Lumpur. See you later.”

“Matty has a long-time record of advocating for the LGBTQ+ community and the band wanted to stand up for their LGBTQ+ fans and community,” a source told Billboard after the set ended abruptly. In 2019, Healy defied anti-LGBTQ laws in the United Arab Emirates when he kissed a male concertgoer in Dubai. “I don’t think we’ll be allowed back due to my ‘behaviour’ but know that I love you and I wouldn’t have done anything differently given the chance again,” he tweeted after that show.

FSA’s announcement about Good Vibes noted that the festival’s cancellation was issued at 1:20 p.m. local time on Saturday by the Ministry of Communications and Digital, which does not stand for any violation or challenging of local laws.

The organizer also claimed that ahead of the show, the band’s management team “assured us that Healy and the band would adhere to local performance guidelines,” but “did not honor these assurances, despite our trust in their commitment.” FSA also said that his disrespect of Malaysian law took them by surprise, leading them to immediately pause the show. “Healy chose to utilize his performance as a platform to express his personal views, rather than delivering the quality show that his Malaysian fans were eagerly anticipating,” the group continued. “This act is deeply unfair to his fans who were looking forward to enjoying a memorable music experience.”

Billboard has reached out to The 1975 for comment.

FSA went on to say that the festival’s cancellation delivers a “catastrophic” financial blow to the organizer, but worries that the repercussions of nixing the event will cause even bigger negative impacts. Said the FSA: “We fear it will erode the confidence of music promoters and various stakeholders in the live entertainment industry across the nation and threaten the stability of our burgeoning live arts scene.”

It’s that time of year again — former president Barack Obama took to his Twitter account on Friday (July 21) to share all the songs that ended up on his summer playlist this year. And one artist in particular could not hold her excitement at being recognized by president No. 44.

“Like I do every year, here are some songs I’ve been listening to this summer — a mix of old and new. Look forward to hearing what I’ve missed,” Obama tweeted, along with a list of all the tracks in his rotation. Of the many included, SZA‘s “Snooze” made the list.

Upon seeing her inclusion, SZA took to her Instagram Stories and wrote, “My forever president said hurry up w the video and I heard him,” she wrote over his post, potentially hinting at corresponding visuals for the track.

Also included on the former president’s playlist were: J Hus and Drake’s “Who Told You,” Rosalía and Rauw Alejandro’s “Vampiros,” Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj’s “Princess Diana” and Janelle Monáe’s “Only Have Eyes 42.” Obama also had country represented in the rotation with Luke Combs’ chart-topping take on Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” along with indie rock with Boygenius single “Not Strong Enough.”

SZA wasn’t the only who reacted to being included. Lucy Dacus — who is one third of boygenius alongside Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker — took to Twitter to retweet the playlist, and wrote that Obama is a “war criminal :(” in response. (She did not specify what Obama’s war crimes were in her tweet.)

See SZA’s response to being included in Obama’s playlist below.

Drake and Central Cee dropped some heat together on their highly anticipated On The Radar freestyle Friday (July 21).

“‘Cause we know some demon guys with jealous and evil eyes/ You know that’s how Jesus died, you know that’s how Julius Caesar died,” Drizzy rapped during the first verse before Cench came in the second half and rapped, “Why you swearing to God? You don’t even believe in Christ.”

The two have been linked since 2021, when Central was the face of Drake’s Nike x Nocta collection in 2021. The Canadian rapper brought out the West London MC to perform his hit “Doja” during his private concert in St. Barts last December. The following month, Central made a cameo in Drake’s “Jumbotron Sh– Poppin” music video. Earlier this week, Drake gave a shoutout to his “twin” Central during an NYC stop of his It’s All A Blur tour.

“A little exercise on a off day…me and Cench @ontheradarradio loading,” Drake wrote Thursday on Instagram underneath their promo photo.

Power 105.1 radio personality Gabe P hosts On the Radar, a New York-based platform that has interviews and freestyles featuring the hottest up-and-coming rappers and especially spotlighted artists coming out of New York’s drill scene.

Ice Spice included her On The Radar freestyle — which she recorded in May 2022 — on the deluxe version of her Like..? EP, which was also released today.

Watch their On The Radar freestyle below.