Categoría: Billboard

Known for his rustic, acoustic-folk sound, Contemporary Christian singer-songwriter Josiah Queen has a troubadour’s knack for translating keen observations into evocative songs, such as his breakthroughs “Fishes and Loaves” and “The Prodigal,” and his most recent radio single release, “Dusty Bibles.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news With his new album Mt. Zion, the 22-year-old Florida native’s reach expands beyond Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart, where it debuted at No. 1; the album also marks his debut on the all-genre Billboard 200 (No. 57), while also debuting at No. 4 on the Americana/Folk albums chart and No. 12 on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart. “It’s crazy, especially the rock chart. I’m like, ‘Man, I didn’t know I made rock music, but let’s go,’” Queen told Billboard shortly after the album’s debut. Queen has six songs proliferating the Hot Christian Songs chart, including “Dusty Bibles” at No. 3, as well as his Brandon Lake collaboration, “Can’t Steal My Joy” and other songs from the new album, “Cloud and Fire” and “Watch Your Mouth.” Mt. Zion also marks Queen’s first album after signing with Capitol CMG (in conjunction with F&L Music Group) earlier this year. “Josiah has had an exceptional year,” Capitol CMG president Brad O’Donnell told Billboard in a statement. “He’s had his biggest shows ever and now has released an incredible new album. Its success across multiple genres is a testament to the quality and depth of his music. Not only did he top the Christian charts, he also had strong showings at rock and folk, proving that his music is reaching a universal audience.” Queen is also gearing up for a potential torrent of awards wins next month at the GMA Dove Awards, thanks to his debut The Prodigal, which also reached No. 1 on Top Christian Albums. Queen is in the running for artist of the year at the Oct. 7 GMA Dove Awards, while “The Prodigal” is up for song of the year, and the deluxe version of The Prodigal is up for pop/contemporary album of the year. “I’m truly blessed. Just the fact that I can even say I have two albums, it’s amazing,” Queen says. Billboard spoke to Queen about Mt. Zion, his new label home, and the success of songs including “Dusty Bibles” and “Can’t Steal My Joy.” “Dusty Bibles” is at No. 3 on the Hot Christian Songs chart and climbing on the Christian Airplay chart. You wrote it with Zac Lawson, Dylan Thomas and John Michael Howell.  What inspired the song? I was listening to Chris Martin of Coldplay talk about how all his biggest songs, he wrote in like 10 minutes. I feel like sometimes the ideas just come out of nowhere. With this album, I wanted to write about things that are practical in our lives, that keep us away from God, whether it’s a song like “Slow Down, Please,” where I was going through a season of life where I felt like it was a million miles an hour. With “Dusty Bibles,” I just had this thought about we’ve got dust on our Bibles but brand-new iPhones. We all kind of laughed and [my co-writers] were like, “You can’t put that in a song,” and “How about Android users?” But it just stuck. I wrote that last October or November — we almost didn’t release it. We thought we’d just throw it on the album, but listening back to it, it just felt very relatable. I was spending too much time on my phone, and I felt like it was really timely. But it’s also funny because, in my generation, if I didn’t have TikTok or Instagram, I probably wouldn’t be here [in music]. It’s a cool opportunity for artists to come up and be independent, but if you find all your validation from your phone, it just never fulfills that. How did you decide on Mt. Zion as the title of the album? I wanted to write an album about the things in our lives that we try to keep away from God, and the song ‘Mount Zion’ talks about realizing we don’t deserve God’s love, yet we’re still invited into it. It’s about breaking down the walls. The Prodigal was released independently, while Mt. Zion was released with Capitol CMG. What has it been like working with a label versus independently? The last album, I didn’t even have, funny enough, CDs or vinyls for people to buy. That’s a really big thing. Also, I like to give singles a moment and not do too many. It felt like they didn’t want me to change how I wanted to do things. But they came beside me and helped me on a lot of the other fronts. On [radio chain Educational Media Foundation’s] Air1, the worship channel, they played a new song from the album every day [leading up to the release of Mt. Zion], which was cool that they were able to do that. You also have a top 10 Christian Airplay hit with your Brandon Lake collaboration, “Can’t Steal My Joy.” How did the two of you end up writing that with Hank Bentley and Jacob Sooter? We met at a radio conference, and he kept saying, “You’re a joy, man.” He kept calling me joy and joyful, and said, “Let’s write a song about joy.” He gave me his number and later I was at my parents’ house, and I wrote that chorus and sent it to him. We wrote it over text message, he was on a tractor cutting his lawn. Honestly, it was a big compliment that he said he saw that joy in me. The line that really hit me when we were writing it was, “What the world couldn’t give me, it can’t take away.” It’s a fun one to play live, and having Brandon on it, that’s just the cherry on top. What other songs from the new project have you seen really connect with fans? “Meaning of Life.” That

Justin Bieber’s musical return yields his first No. 1 on a Billboard radio chart in three years, as “Yukon” crowns the Rhythmic Airplay list dated Sept. 13. The song, from the superstar’s Swag album, was the most-played song on panel-contributing rhythm radio stations in the tracking week of Aug. 29-Sept. 4, according to Luminate. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Bieber last claimed a new radio No. 1 in 2022, when “Ghost” entered the summit of the Pop Airplay chart that February and Adult Pop Airplay the following month. “Yukon,” released and promoted through JRC/ILH/Def Jam/REPUBLIC, surges from No. 5 despite remaining essentially even in plays for the tracking window. The song’s position jump traces to declines for all four songs that ranked above it last week. Drake’s “What Did I Miss?,” last week’s champ, slides to No. 3 (down 11% in plays), as Chris Brown’s “Holy Blindfold” retreats 2-5 (down 13%) and Leon Thomas’ “Mutt” backtracks 3-4 (down 9%). BigXthaPlug’s “All the Way,” featuring Bailey Zimmerman, improves 4-2 in ranking, but is likewise down in plays, by 4%. Thus, as “Yukon” emerges from the pack in first place, Bieber collects his sixth Rhythmic Airplay No. 1. Here’s a review of the chart toppers: Song Title, Artist (if other than Justin Bieber), Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1“As Long as You Love Me,” feat. Big Sean; three, Oct. 20, 2012“Sorry,” two, Jan. 23, 2016“I’m the One,” DJ Khaled feat. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper & Lil Wayne; four, Jan. 1, 2017“No Brainer,” DJ Khaled feat. Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper & Quavo; one, Oct. 6, 2018“Peaches,” feat. Daniel Caesar & GIVĒON; six, May 8, 2021“Yukon,” one (to date), Sept. 13, 2015 Elsewhere, “Yukon” breaks into the top 20 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart with a 23-19 jump, sparked by a 2% increase in plays at the format during the tracking week. It similarly improves 22-21 on the audience-based R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, where it reached 3.7 million audience impressions, a 3% gain from its prior week’s count. Growth in the rhythmic and R&B/hip-hop sectors push “Yukon” 47-41 on the all-genre Radio Songs chart. There, it added 4% in audience, to 13.5 million across all formats for the week. It’s free Billboard charts month! Through Sept. 30, subscribers to Billboard’s Chart Beat newsletter, emailed each Friday, can unlock access to Billboard’s weekly and historical charts, artist chart histories and all Chart Beat stories simply by visiting the newly redesigned Billboard.com through any story link in the newsletter. Not a Chart Beat subscriber? Sign up for free here. Source link

For a second consecutive year, GloRilla banks multiple No. 1s on Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart as “Typa” tops the survey dated Sept. 13. The single climbs from No. 3 to become the most-played song on panel-contributing R&B/hip-hop radio stations in the United States for the tracking week of Aug. 29-Sept. 4, according to Luminate. “Typa” crowns the chart despite a 3% decrease in plays for the week compared to the previous frame. The reduction allows for the triumph as last week’s champ, Mariah the Scientist’s “Burning Blue” slides 9% in plays, while Leon Thomas’ “Mutt,” which ranked No. 2 last week, falls 11%. With “Typa,” GloRilla earns a sixth No. 1 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, which launched in September 1993. She’s the third female rapper to reach the half-dozen mark; Cardi B owns 11 leaders and Nicki Minaj claims 10. Here’s an updated review of GloRilla’s collection: “F.N.F. (Let’s Go),” with Hitkidd; one week at No. 1, Aug. 20, 2022 “Tomorrow 2,” with Cardi B; 10 weeks, beginning Dec. 3, 2022 “Yeah Glo!,” two weeks, May 11, 2024 “TGIF,” 11 weeks, Sept. 21, 2024 “Whatchu Kno About Me,” with Sexyy Red; seven weeks, Jan. 18, 2025 “Typa,” one week (to date), Sept. 13, 2025 The triumph also adds a new chapter for a former Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay champ. “Typa” samples Keyshia Cole’s “Love,” which topped the radio ranking for one week in April 2006. The R&B classic was the second of Cole’s five No. 1s, which she earned from 2005-2008. Elsewhere, “Typa” rises 5-4 to a new peak on the Rap Airplay chart, overcoming a 6% dip in audience impressions for the week. The track holds at its No. 6 best on the audience-based R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, where it slips to 9.7 million impressions for the week, down 8%. Lastly, “Typa” posts a 9-7 gain on the plays-based Rhythmic Airplay chart, where its two-spot climb traces to a 7% increase in plays for the week. It’s free Billboard charts month! Through Sept. 30, subscribers to Billboard’s Chart Beat newsletter, emailed each Friday, can unlock access to Billboard’s weekly and historical charts, artist chart histories and all Chart Beat stories simply by visiting the newly redesigned Billboard.com through any story link in the newsletter. Not a Chart Beat subscriber? Sign up for free here. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up Source link

Megan Thee Stallion’s attorneys allegedly used a mariachi band to play outside Adin Ross’ home to help serve the Kick streamer with legal papers. Adin Ross hopped on a live stream with DJ Akademiks over the weekend, when he claimed that Megan’s legal team had a mariachi band outside his driveway to bait him in coming outside to serve him court papers. “They called a mariachi to my house. They called a mariachi, like a Mexican band, to perform outside my house to make me want to come outside so they can serve me the paper,” he said. Explore See latest videos, charts and news The 24-year-old continued: “My lawyer is like, ‘Adin, just tell them to contact me.’ So me and my lawyer are hopping on a call tomorrow to figure out when I’m going to do the deposition, and I’m going to ask if I can stream it.” Billboard has reached out to Megan Thee Stallion’s reps for comment. It’s unclear what lawsuit the alleged papers out be for — Akademiks claimed he had a sit-down with Roc Nation’s attorneys for a separate deposition on behalf of the Houston rapper, which allegedly involved seven hours of questioning and another follow-up incident. Ross has been outspoken in his support for Tory Lanez amid the 2020 felony shooting case, which saw the singer sentenced to a decade behind bars for shooting Megan Thee Stallion multiple times in the feet during an altercation outside a Hidden Hills house party in July 2020. “Free motherf—ing Tory Lanez. And I will always stay with this statement — I don’t give a f—k where I’m at in life. Free Tory Lanez,” Ross said in a stream in January. “[Megan] got caught lying. She got caught lying in 4K. She said they weren’t having sex, then said they f—d a few times. She’s never even shown her foot.” Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up Source link

Fat Joe claims he was set to be the first rapper with an Air Jordan retro sneaker, but his feud with 50 Cent, which spilled over to the MTV airwaves, allegedly lost him the deal. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Joey Crack and his podcast partner Jadakiss joined Complex‘s Sneaker Shopping for a tag-team episode on Monday (Sept. 8), which found the Bronx native reflecting on how his feuds with fellow NYC titans 50 Cent and Jay-Z cost him deals with Air Jordan and Reebok in the mid-2000s. “I was the first rapper with a Jordan sneaker, not only that, designed by Michael Jordan. Seven meetings, they had the whole sneaker,” he said of the potential Latino-flavored sneaker. “Then that s—t happened at the MTV Awards.” Joe took a shot at 50 and G-Unit during the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. “I’d like to tell the people home I feel so safe tonight with all this police protection courtesty of G-Unit,” he said on stage. 50 retaliated during the G-Unit performance later that night, calling Joe a “p—y.” Joe said on Sneaker Shopping that he had a show in Jamaica the next day and received the disappointing phone call from a Jordan executive, who allegedly canned the collaboration. “‘Yo, Big Joe, you know, I’m not with controversy. Maybe we look at this in the future,’” the rapper said the exec told him. Complex confirmed that there was a Fat Joe x Air Jordan shoe in the works, which was a retro Air Jordan 4. Fat Joe also remembered having a seven-figure deal with Reebok in the works, where 50 and Jay-Z were signed, but that deal also allegedly fell through after Reebok executives were made aware of the Terror Squad rapper’s beef with Hov. “Reebok had approached me and was like, ‘Yo, we want to do a sneaker with you for millions.’ I caught the squeeze play because Hov was over there and 50 Cent,” he said. “They shut it down. They was just like, ‘Yo, we won’t do business with you if you give this guy a sneaker.’ That’s part of the karma. It’s part of the ins and outs. I’ve done it to other guys. It came back to me.” Billboard has reached out to Jay-Z and 50 Cent for comment. Joe previously took a shot at Jay on his “Lean Back” anthem, and then, more than a decade later, the duo officially squashed their beef when posing together for a photo at Beyoncé’s Formation Tour, which led to Jay hopping on the “All the Way Up” remix. Watch the full episode below. Source link

After a sexually explicit video appearing to show Beéle and his ex-partner Isabella Ladera appeared online, the Venezuelan influencer accused the Colombian singer of leaking it. Now, the singer’s legal team denies that he is the one who disseminated it. Explore See latest videos, charts and news A joint statement issued by law firms Víctor Mosquera Marín Abogados (Colombia) and DMR Law LLC (United States) on Tuesday (Sept. 9), said that their client Beéle — whose real name is Brandon de Jesús López Orozco — “did not leak said material nor participate in its dissemination” and noted that “his artistic career and international reputation rule out any motive or interest in engaging in such actions.” “Beéle is also a victim of the non-consensual exposure of his private life,” reads the statement, which was shared on the verified Instagram account of Víctor Mosquera Marín Abogados and to Beele’s Stories. “We reject all forms of violence and will continue to pursue legal channels to ensure the comprehensive defense of his rights.” Billboard Español has reached out to Ladera, as well as Beéle’s representatives for comment. The statement from the musician’s legal team comes in response to the allegations made by Venezuelan influencer Ladera on Monday (Sept. 8), who, in a lengthy Instagram post, accused the singer of leaking the video without her consent. She described the situation as “one of the cruelest betrayals” she has ever experienced, stating that only two people had access to the material. “This leak constitutes a form of violence against women,” she said. Beéle’s legal team outlined the immediate steps it is taking, including Digital Millennium Copyright Act notifications and “takedown orders … being sent to providers, platforms and search engines, as well as requests to preserve evidence in order to identify those responsible, even if they acted anonymously,” according to the statement. The team also emphasized that legal actions are being carried out in a coordinated manner in both Colombia and the United States, and that complaints have already been filed with the relevant authorities. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up Source link

Selena Gomez has long been an open book about her struggles with mental and physical health. In a new Allure cover story, the singer admitted that she finds it hard to watch her warts-and-all 2022 documentary My Mind & Me, especially scenes in which she shares her painful, daily struggle with the autoimmune disease Lupus, as well as her mental health challenges. “I’m very glad it came out, but that’s not necessarily who I am now,” said the multi-hyphenate singer-actress-beauty mogul who is seen in the film being diagnosed as bipolar after a period of psychosis that landed her in a mental health treatment facility. “To be honest, I can’t watch it. But it’s only because I’m not there anymore.” She calls the doc a “time capsule” that can hopefully help others struggling with their mental health figure out what’s going on with them. “Oh, that really dark thought? I thought that. Those really high highs? I’ve had those,” she said. “I try to make people feel seen so they don’t feel what people say ‘crazy’ is.” One of the ways Gomez supports her mental health these days is through DBT (dialectical behavior therapy), a kind of talk therapy that helps a patient focus on mindfulness, emotional regulation and distress tolerance. As an example, Gomez said she was “stung” by a person calling her “fat,” which she responded to by asking, “Why is that [emotion] coming up?,” in an example of the internal dialogue she has with herself when a difficult emotion bubbles up. She said DBT is what has helped her unpack her reactions to such situations. “Oh, now I understand, that’s stemming from that one time when I was going through some medical stuff and I had gained weight…,” she said. Gomez, 33, of course also touched on her love story with fiancé music producer Benny Blanco, with whom she released the joint 2025 album I Said I Love You First, 17 years after they first met when the singer was 16. Asked if she’s glad their relationship began recently, and not a decade ago, Gomez said, “Definitely. I don’t think I would have been remotely mature enough. It’s weird to think that only five years ago I wouldn’t have been in the right place, but I’ve learned so many lessons [since then] that led me to being the best partner I could be for Benny. And I believe the same with him.” And while she said Blanco sometimes wonders why they wasted so much time getting together, Gomez said she often tells him, “‘You wouldn’t have liked me back then.’ I was all over the place.’” For now, Gomez is super-focused on her Rare beauty brand, saying, “I am going to be in this moment. And who knows, in a couple years I could be done, and that’s fine. I just need to make sure that while I’m here, I do the best I can.” She still plans to give all her film, TV and music projects her “undivided” attention, but noted, “it’ll always go back to Rare and the fund because that’s something I deeply care about,” in reference to the philanthropic Rare Impact Fund focused on providing underserved communities with access to mental health services. According to a 2024 Business of Fashion report, Rare Beauty raked in more than $400 million in net sales in the previous year, helping the fund get closer to its goal of sending $100 million to its partner organizations. “We’re like the little engine that could,” she said of Rare. “And we’re still going.”    Source link

There are over 1,300 voice memos on Julia Kugel’s phone. The prolific musician, who is best known as part of the punk trio The Coathangers, explains that every fragmented voice memo is “waiting to be somewhere” whether that’s with The Coathangers, the duo Soft Palms with her husband Scott Montoya, her Suicide Squeeze label supergroup Julia & The Squeezettes, or for her solo work.   Explore See latest videos, charts and news The random snippets come to her in the middle of conversations with friends or, far too often, while riffing during sound check and they get sorted into files. “I’ll file folder them into which project like Soft Palms or is this Julia, Julia or I just started a new band called Animal Self, so maybe it is Animal Self,” she tells Billboard.   The collection of memos started during her Coathangers days when each member would bring the recordings to the studio and collaborate. Eventually, some of those recordings felt as though they were Kugel’s alone to express and so she launched Julia, Julia.   Today, Kugel releases her second solo album Sugaring a Strawberry (via Suicide Squeeze and her and Montoya’s label Happy Sundays) under her moniker Julia, Julia and the 10-track record is an intimate collection that speaks only for Kugel. Created at their home studio in Southern California, Kugel co-produced the album alongside Montoya, resulting in haunting and austere vocals with gentle guitar and an unvarnished sound.   For “the first [solo] record, I was like, ‘Oh. I just want to do it by myself, I am so sick of people’ and then by the end of it, I was like, ‘I need people. I’m so sick of myself,’” she jokes. “So, on this one, Scott played a lot on it – percussion and stuff that he’s good at – but I still get to have final word. This is my exploration of my point of view and what I want to do.”  The album opens lead single “Bound” that, with the subtle guitar and the near-whispered lyrics, sounds like the listener is entering a coven with Kugel as she sings “I will be your home.” From there, Kugel continues to draw the listener in with her delicate vocals as she reluctantly reminisces about “A Love That Hurts” or about self-doubt on the smoldering “I Know.” “Feeling Lucky” is a warm respite on a shadowy album that delivers a slick beat tinged with sadness.   Billboard sat down with Kugel to discuss her latest solo effort and how she juggles all so many creative projects.   How do you decide what goes on a solo album versus one of your collaborative outlets?  The group has to be able to meet and do all that real important band communal stuff. So that’s part of it. With The Coathangers, we live on different coasts, so there has been so attempt to do it virtually, but it is not the same especially after 15 years of doing it the more natural way.   It is whatever I am able to accomplish. With Animal Self, we recorded seven songs and those are being mixed and that will come out as an EP. With Soft Palms, we need to finish up because it is due in September. I just wanted to sneak in some Julia, Julia stuff before all that because it did not depend on as many people.  The way I decide on a project is, if it pops up, I have a rule that I say yes to everything. Everything is a challenge. I produced a record for a band last year and that was super cool. Someone says, ‘do you want to do this?’ and I’ll be like, “Ok, let’s figure it out.’”  Have you always been a producer or working on the production side?  When this band reached out and said, “We want you to produce our record,” I was like, “Do I know how to do that?” With production, you have to have an opinion and some knowledge of studio and a vision for the band that maybe they can’t see. I’m good at that. I have a diverse background in music, everything from classical to punk, so I see the nuances. So, it was fun for me, but it involves so many people and the production took a really long time. We’re still waiting for that record to come out.   Do you feel you are able to achieve that same outsider’s perspective when you produce your own music?  Oh, dude. It’s brutal. I am always critiquing the playing or the singing. I’m not seeing the bigger picture. Which is why it is great to have Scott there. He’s been mixing for so long that he’s able to see the bigger picture. So, yeah. It takes some mediation. I have to leave for a while and touch a flower or something then come back in and pretend I am listening to someone else’s song. Then once the album is mixed and mastered, I don’t listen to it until it comes out.   Julia Julia, “Sugaring A Strawberry” What are you hoping listeners get out of Sugaring a Strawberry?  I want it to be experienced more intimately. I remember getting records and putting them on and being like, “Oh, this is this person’s thoughts” and really connecting with it that way. Out of all my projects, this is the most truthful to my own experience. It is the rawness of me. On this record, I did a better job of adding some uplifting songs, but also the gentle parts of you where you have self-doubt. It’s scarier to release that.  How did you decide to release music that scared you so much?  A lot of songs I wrote a while back. I have been storing them. A lot of it was about connection within a band or friendships – like I wrote “Bound” about The Coathangers – when we were recording Nosebleed Weekend [released in

It’s fair to say that when Pat Benatar and her then-future husband Neil Giraldo were in the studio during the summer of 1979 to record her debut album, In the Heat of the Night, the idea of a children’s book wasn’t on their radar. But 46 years, 11 studio albums, four Grammy Awards and a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction later, the couple are grandparents to three (Stevie, 7, Lola, 6 and Cash, 2 ) — and now, co-authors of My Grandma and Grandpa Rock!, a children’s book publishing Tuesday (Sept. 9). “About a year ago the oldest one, Stevie — she’s very precocious and very smart — was talking to us and saying, ‘Well, everybody’s grandma and grandpa have a tour bus.’ And I said, ‘Actually, no, everyone’s grandma and grandpa do not have a tour bus,’” Benatar, who published a memoir, Between a Heart and a Rock Place, in 2010, tells Billboard via Zoom from the couple’s home in California. “Y’know, they come out and see us and come onstage — not when we’re performing, but when it’s empty — and they were under the impression that everyone’s grandparents did this. So we started to tell them about how there were so many different kinds of grandparents — the way they look, the jobs they have and all that kind of stuff. And that’s how the book was born; we said, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to make a little book for the kids about how all grandparents rock?’ That’s literally how we started.” Giraldo — who’s been working on two books of his own — also credits Rob Light, their agent at Creative Artists Agency, with encouraging the project. “He goes, ‘You guys should do a grandparents’ book. I don’t have a book I can read to my grandchild about grandparents,’” Giraldo recalls. “I said, ‘Yeah, that’s probably a pretty good idea. We love our grandbabies. We’re avid readers, Patricia and I. Why don’t we write a grandparents’ book?’ I was never thinking about that, but it worked out great.” Published by Source Books, My Grandma and Grandpa Rock!’s 37 pages feature Benatar and Giraldo’s musings about the wild world of grandparents, with illustrations by Tiffany Everett. “I think we basically wanted to include everyone,” explains Giraldo. Benatar adds, “We wanted to make it inclusive and universal so that [readers] could see all the different ways people look — glasses, no hair, different grandparent names. When you’re reading books to children you want them to find relevance in the book for themselves, which is why we made it so diverse — and then also for the adults that are reading the book, we’re hoping they see themselves when they’re reading it so it has that kind of relevance to their family.” The process of writing the book, meanwhile, was not dissimilar to the way the couple has approached songwriting over the years. “We did it the same way we write songs,” Benatar explains. “We don’t write in the same room; we start our ideas separately and then bring them together and start to collaborate together. The same thing happened with this book; we just tossed out a few ideas. Then he went his way, I went my way and we came back together, and that’s pretty much the same way we write songs.” Giraldo notes that “it was actually a pretty quick process, quicker than writing a song, believe it or not. We just ping-ponged back and forth with it.” During the writing they also had a built-in test market at home with the three grandchildren. “We read it to them every step of the way,” Benatar says. The older two were not sparing in their suggestions about how to improve the work, especially as it pertained to their appearances on the pages. “We got a lot of critique,” Benatar says with a laugh. “The middle child, Lola, she’s so darling; she’s like, ‘I don’t wanna wear pants! Why is my hair brown?’ Or we’d get, ‘Why is she on every page and I’m not on every page?!’ – and we put them all together on every page, so they were part of every aspect. “Tiffany, the illustrator, was amazing because she really was so generous and patient. I’d say, ‘We have tears. We gotta put some ruffles on that shirt. She’s having a heart attack!’ And she took everything we gave her and just did it beautifully.” Benatar and Giraldo — who’s portrayed as a percussionist in the book rather than a guitarist — have also recorded an audio version of My Grandma and Grandpa Rock!, and they acknowledge they’ve “talked a little bit” about other applications for the project, such as a cartoon. Giraldo even hints at “another project that I have to keep kinda quiet about that may have something to do with” the book, while Benatar says she has three more children’s book ideas in the works now. “It’s really fun, and just a whole other world,” she explains. “It’s relatively quick, so it’s not like making an album that you’re taking a year or so to write 15 songs and then you’re spending 16 hours a day in a studio trying to get it right. This is a whole other thing, a nice change.” The pair is hitting the road again starting Tuesday (Sept. 9) for a few headlining shows, then will go out supporting Bryan Adams starting in late October through Nov. 26. “He’s a great guy,” Benatar notes, “sweet as could be, and it’s fun and it’s easy and it’s quick, and then we get to go home.” As for the prospect of new music — it’s been 22 years since their last album, five years since their last fresh song — Benatar and Giraldo caution fans not to hold their breath, but don’t rule it out, either. “We have about 135 songs written — a lot, because we write all the time. That’s what we do,” Benatar

50 Cent revealed he’s purchased the rights to the film Paid in Full, and he’s turning the 2002 crime drama into an extended television series. The rapper detailed his plans for flipping Paid in Full into a series in an Instagram post on Monday (Sept. 8), and he says he’s got Cam’ron, who played Rico in the movie, on board with him. “I now have the rights to PAID IN FULL, im developing it into a premium Tv show,” he wrote alongside the carousel of photos, which featured a shot of the movie poster, as well as stills. “if you like God Father of Harlem your gonna love this. Cam set to Executive produce along side me, if you want in get at him I’m out of the country.” Maxo Kream and Conway the Machine hopped into the comment section looking for a role in the series. “U know they been callin me chine Hackman aka CONathan Majors lately my n—a,” the Buffalo native wrote. Directed by Charles Stone III with Dame Dash and Jay-Z in the role of producer, Paid in Full gained acclaim as a Big Apple cult classic while starring Wood Harris and Mekhi Phifer alongside Cam’ron. The film is loosely based on the lives of infamous NYC drug dealers Azie Faison, Rich Porter and Alpo Martinez. 50’s keeping busy on the G-Unit Films & Television division side of things. He’s slated to star as Balrog in the Street Fighter movie, and has a role in Deon Taylor’s upcoming sports-themed Free Agents film. As for Cam, he told Billboard in August that he’s also currently “in the process of finishing up a couple TV shows and a couple movies.” Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up Source link