The nominations for the 2025 Golden Globes were announced today (check out the list here), and as is often the case, music stars are well-represented.
Unsurprisingly, Ariana Grande and Wicked are among the headliners. Grande is up for Best Supporting Actress, Any Motion Picture; while the movie itself is up for Best Picture, Musical Or Comedy and Best Cinematic And Box Office Achievement; while Cynthia Erivo is nominated for Best Performance By An Actress In A Motion Picture, Musical Or Comedy.
Selena Gomez also finds herself nominated thanks to her work in both Emilia Pérez and Only Murders In The Building: She’s nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Any Motion Picture for the former and Best Actress In A TV Series, Musical Or Comedy for the latter.
Meanwhile, the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown is nominated for Best Motion Picture, Drama and Timothée Chalamet’s portrayal of Dylan earned him a nomination for Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture, Drama.
Elsewhere, Donald Glover is up for Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series, Drama for Mr. And Mrs. Smith, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross picked up a couple nominations for their work on the music of Challengers.
The end of the year is usually relatively slow when it comes to new music drops, but Kendrick Lamar spiced up the final weeks of 2024 with one of the year’s biggest releases: GNX. Aside from being a cap on Lamar’s culture-dominating year, it’s yet another chart success for the rapper: On the new Billboard 200 chart dated December 7, GNX debuts at No. 1.
The album is now Lamar’s fifth total and consecutive chart-topping album. GNX earned 319,000 equivalent album units in the US during the week ending November 28, which is the sixth-biggest debut week of 2024. It also had the third-biggest streaming week for any album this year, with 379.72 million on-demand official streams for the project’s songs.
GNX follows Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (in 2022), Damn (2017), Untitled Unmastered (2016), and To Pimp A Butterfly (2015) as No. 1 albums for Lamar.
Debuting right behind GNX at No. 2 is the Ariana Grande– and Cynthia Erivo-led Wicked soundtrack. This is the biggest-ever debut for the soundtrack of a film adaptation of a stage musical. The last time such a soundtrack debuted in the top five was back in 2003, when Chicago debuted at No. 4 (before peaking at No. 2 the next week). The most recent stage-to-screen musical soundtrack to be in the top two, debut week or not, was Les Miserables, which was No. 1 for a week in 2013.
In collaboration with HeadCount, Ariana Grande has launched an exclusive sweepstakes to encourage young voter registration through the organization’s Good to Vote initiative. The sweepstakes offer a grand prize of flying two fans to the U.S. premiere of Wicked and a full glam experience with r.e.m. beauty products. Announced today on Grande’s Instagram, fans are prompted to check their voter registration status to enter.
A recent Harvard University study highlights the effectiveness of celebrity voices in promoting civic engagement, noting that such endorsements lead to higher voter registration rates and poll worker sign-ups. In 2020, 78% of young voters registered through HeadCount went on to vote.
Grande previously partnered with HeadCount in 2019, registering over 30,000 fans to vote. The organization has since adapted to include digital engagement, allowing celebrities to continue mobilizing their fanbase.
Fans can enter the sweepstakes starting today through HeadCount’s website.
Now, fans are hoping that Normani will hit the road for her first ever solo headlining tour. But is Normani down for it? Continue below for more information.
Will Normani Go On Tour In 2024?
Although a recent injury held Normani back from performing at the 2024 BET Awards, that hasn’t stopped her from wanting to tour. On July 20, Normani sat down with Access Hollywood to discuss her future plans, which included a tour. But it is unclear if that trip around the world will happen in 2024.
When asked by co-host Mario Lopez if she wants to tour, Normani quickly answered: “Yes.”
She then went on to talk about “I’m really excited for that,” she said. “That’s what I’m most excited for. I’m like, ‘I’ve been in the studio for a minute.’ But I have so much bottled up in me. I feel it most when I’m at home–on stage. So I’m excited for that and to see my fans. To see them. It’s been a minute.”
During her time with Fifth Harmony, Normani has rocked many stages. Even as a solo act, she supported Ariana Grande’s Sweetener World Tour. But she’s never headlined her own performance run. So, there is a demand there.
Watch Normani’s full interview with Access Hollywood above.
Ariana Grande had a lot of people talking and not in a good way about her new album eternal sunshine. The record centers around the complicated nature of relationships and the feeling of love overall. A lot of listeners were turned off by some of the lyrics and storytelling on her seventh project. Subsequently, it followed shortly after the divorce of Dalton Gomez. Many have labeled her as a homewrecker, as she is now in a new relationship with actor Ethan Slater. One of the tracks that makes reference to her “bad girl” side is “the boy is mine”, which now has a remix.
One of many hit songs on the record, Grande drew inspiration from Brandy and Monica’s 90’s track of the same name. So, in a bit of a full-circle moment, the Boca Raton, Florida native is now giving the R&B balladeers their flowers with this remix. Overall, there is not much of a difference from the original version of “the boy is mine” to this one. Brandy and Monica harmonize with Grande throughout, and the bridge and final repeating of the chorus are longer. There are high points, especially when their voices meld. It creates a rich sonic experience, and it is cool to see Grande work with these legends. The remix to “the boy is mine” is out now and is released as a two-pack with the inaugural version.
According to HipHopDX, Nicki Minaj is two songs away from breaking a new record. As of Thursday, May 23, the multi-cultural multi-hyphenate has not one but two diamond certifications to her name. Before receiving her newest and elusive plaque, she had gone 13 years without this level of recognition on a song. Her 2011 hip-hop/pop fusion “Super Bass” was the first in her catalog to go diamond, doing so on November 9, 2021. It made her just the second female rapper to rake in the required 10 million units. Perhaps her biggest nemesis, Cardi B, was the first to do so in March 2021 with her 2017 breakthrough hit “Bodak Yellow.” Now, Nicki Minaj can add “Bang Bang” to the list.
This 2014 song belongs to singer Jessie J, but obviously, Nicki still receives the same credit. The relentlessly played pop/rap blend also featured Ariana Grande. You could not avoid this record no matter how hard you tried. Sporting events, clubs, restaurants, stores, the radio, it was everywhere. Well, all that marketing helped Nicki and everyone else involved achieve an incredible feat.
As we mentioned, Cardi B still is in the lead for most diamond songs by a female MC. Her other two include “Girls Like You,” her collab with Maroon 5, and “I Like It,” featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin. So, Nicki still has some work to do. But still, a huge congratulations to her, Jessie, and Ariana for this rare feat!
What are your thoughts on “Bang Bang” by Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, and Jessie J going diamond? Does this further cement her as the greatest female rapper of all time? Is this the better diamond track over “Super Bass”, why or why not? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding the Nicki Minaj. Finally, stay with us for everything else going on in the music world.
Ariana Grande is holding the top spot for a second week on the Billboard 200. Her latest LP, eternal sunshine, Grande’s run at No. 1 landed with the equivalent of 100,500 album units in the United States, followed closely by Kacey Musgrave, who debuted at No. 2 with 97,000 album units.
Justin Timberlake’s sixth album, Everything I Thought It Was, is a new entry on the Billboard 200. It enters at No. 4 with 67,000 units. The album had a strong 31.13 million official streams of the project’s songs, measured by Luminate and reported by Billboard.
GRAMMY® Award-winning artist Ariana Grande has achieved yet another milestone in her illustrious career, debuting at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her latest single, “we can’t be friends (wait for your love).” This marks Grande’s ninth #1 hit on the chart, making her the first artist in 2024 with multiple #1 hits, following her earlier success with “yes, and?”.
Moreover, “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” has not only topped the Billboard Hot 100 but also debuted at #1 on the Billboard Global 200 Chart, solidifying Grande’s status as one of the most influential female artists of all time. With record-breaking global streams and chart-topping positions on Spotify, Apple Music, and iTunes, Grande’s latest release has made an indelible mark on the music industry, cementing her position as a global superstar.
GRAMMY® Award-winning artist Ariana Grande has achieved yet another milestone in her illustrious career, debuting at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her latest single, “we can’t be friends (wait for your love).” This marks Grande’s ninth #1 hit on the chart, making her the first artist in 2024 with multiple #1 hits, following her earlier success with “yes, and?”.
Yesterday, Grande’s highly anticipated album eternal sunshine also made waves, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200, marking her sixth #1 album. This simultaneous #1 debut on Billboard 200 and Hot 100 charts is a first for Grande, setting a new precedent among all artists in 2024.
Moreover, “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” has not only topped the Billboard Hot 100 but also debuted at #1 on the Billboard Global 200 Chart, solidifying Grande’s status as one of the most influential female artists of all time. With record-breaking global streams and chart-topping positions on Spotify, Apple Music, and iTunes, Grande’s latest release has made an indelible mark on the music industry, cementing her position as a global superstar.
If you or your kids use TikTok, don’t feel bad because pretty much every social media user does; then you may have noticed a lack of certain music from your favorite artists on the platform. There’s a standoff regarding royalty payments and AI policies. Variety reports that it has “resulted in a near-complete blackout of all music owned, distributed, and published by the company on the platform.” Now get this: the videos are still on and popping on the platform, but the actual music is being muted – yikes.
Now it gets murky because new songs from UMG artists, like stars Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello, and Niall Horan, can still be discovered on TikTok as of yesterday, but what is the reason is the real question? Variety didn’t have any comment from reps at UMG and TikTok, who both declined.
So, if you don’t know how the whole music on TikTok thing works, it goes like this, as Variety reports: Rights-holders, such as record labels, are not the only way music can be uploaded onto TikTok. Pretty much anyone uploads music and displays it as “original sound” on a user’s post. Then, said sound can be used by virtually anyone on TikTok, including artists. Once that music is on the platform, the rights-holders lose control over the content, and all they can do is send off takedown notices and other notifications via legal means. So it falls on TikTok to follow through by detecting, policing and muting the unauthorized music floating around on its platform. Are you exhausted from that rundown? We are.
Even though reps from the label declined to comment to Variety, UMG spoke on the situation broadly. They’re, in essence, directing fault to TikTok’s detection software. They dropped a letter to artists breaking down the ban. “TikTok makes little effort to deal with the vast amounts of content on its platform that infringe our artists’ music and it has offered no meaningful solutions to the rising tide of content adjacency issues, let alone the tidal wave of hate speech, bigotry, bullying and harassment on the platform,” from an excerpt of the letter. “The only means available to seek the removal of infringing or problematic content (such as pornographic deepfakes of artists) is through the monumentally cumbersome and inefficient process which equates to the digital equivalent of ‘Whack-a-Mole.’ … We will always fight for our artists and songwriters and stand up for the creative and commercial value of music.” It seems like this is not going to end soon.
Ariana Grande’s eternal sunshine shows that she knows heartbreak quite well. In the same vein, she learned to allow her aching pain to metamorphose into sugary pop and R&B pieces of confectionery. On the chart-topping 2018 single “thank u, next,” Grande held out hope for a forever love but still entertained feelings of doubt. “God forbid something happens… Least this song is a smash,” she sang, tiptoeing between consternation and temerity. Five years later, the worst had happened.
But on eternal sunshine, her seventh album, Ariana Grande deals with her latest heartbreak and everything surrounding it rather ruefully. It’s evident that the pop sensation’s emotions are heightened, but in an almost vampiric sense, she’s venturing back into the night. Her latest album is a diary entry projected to the world on the template of her overwhelming success. The verdict? She sees and hears what you’re all saying, but she stopped giving a damn a long time ago. If anything, eternal sunshine is Ariana Grande’s reminder to the world that she won’t stop putting herself first.
Since 2018, Ariana Grande has repeatedly made herself clear about rising above negativity. The pipeline from “no tears left to cry” to “yes, and?” is laced with several IDGAF prompts. As with most child stars, growing up under the intense scrutiny of the public eye can have detrimental effects. However, Grande has chosen herself, resulting in some of the most vulnerable music in her catalog. On eternal sunshine, she continues the trend of returning the middle finger to her naysayers. However, this time, it’s with more sleek cheekiness, because now the joke’s on everyone else.
Eternal Sunshine Is Woeful Pop At Its Sexiest
A master of cheerful cheerlessness, Grande is a definitive lyricist. Post-divorce, her words prove a lack of malice, choosing the amicable exit from her ex-husband. The culmination of her feelings has left her shaky, but not unsure of her decision. Indeed, the obvious subjects of eternal sunshine are her past and present loves. While the latter offers a glimmer of hope, there’s a melancholy attached to the references to the former.
Tracks like “bye,” “i wish i hated you,” and “we can’t be friends” are lyrically on the nose. However, it’s on the latter that her bleeding heart is loudest. Moreover, it’s the delivery that drives home Grande’s point. Regardless of her breakup, which she saw coming, there’s no hate involved. “we can’t be friends” also has the privilege of being the artist’s second single.
The music video borrows from the movie Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. In it, Grande attempts to let go of the memories of her lost love. It’s one of the most vulnerable moments in her musical career. But the summary remains: It’s over.
Indeed, the soft ballads are a worthwhile addition to the album’s overall cohesion. But Grande’s no-nonsense lyricism is her greatest contribution to eternal sunshine. “the boy is mine,” which interpolates the classic song of the same name, is the perfect example. Everyone can remember how the news of her new beau rocked the media. As a result, Grande was labeled everything, from “homewrecker,” to “not a girl’s girl.”
While she has since shared that the allegations are, in fact, false, her music takes a rougher approach. In “the boy is mine,” she’s conflicted in her emotions. But that won’t stop her from giving the man in her sights a try. Overall, Grande’s excited; almost addicted to what’s right in front of her, and she’s going all in. The track may not spend 11 weeks atop the Hot 100 as Brandy and Monica did. But “the boy is mine” is the sharpest, wittiest song on eternal sunshine, and where Grande shines brightest.
Chasing Imperfect Perfection
Altogether, eternal sunshine is a serious improvement over 2020’s positions. This is why it’s rather bittersweet that heartbreak and controversy bring out the deepest parts of the pop star. Ariana Grande is moving on from the weight of her past and in a cheeky, powerful fashion. Despite her newfound romance, she’s still madly in love with herself.
That’s what makes eternal sunshine some of her boldest, rawest, most authentic work. R&B and pop sit side by side with experimental Scandi-inspired music. Through the use of synthesizers and electronic influences, Grande sounds even more otherworldly, letting the music guide her crisp vocals, and not the other way around. Surely, the star is still evolving.
