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Basically Every Popular Musician Performed On ‘The Voice’ Season Finale, Like Kid Cudi, Ed Sheeran, And Coldplay

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Kid Cudi Ariana Grande The Voice Finale 2021
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Usually, your best bet to see a bunch of well-known artists performing on TV in rapid succession is to catch an awards show like the Grammys. Well, the next Grammy ceremony is set for late January, but ahead of then, last night offered a different kind of opportunity to watch a ton of musical firepower taking the stage on the same broadcast: The Voice aired the live finale episode of its 21st season last night and pretty much every musician you’ve ever heard of took the stage.

Aside from the show’s contestants, artists who performed included Coldplay and BTS; Walker Hayes; Tori Kelly, Keke Palmer, and some contestants; Ed Sheeran; Jennifer Lopez and Lukas Nelson; Carrie Underwood and John Legend; Alicia Keys; Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi; Kelly Clarkson; Blake Shelton; and John Legend.

Of particular note was Kid Cudi and Ariana Grande giving their Don’t Look Up single “Just Look Up” its live debut. Meanwhile, Coldplay opened the show with “My Universe,” and while BTS couldn’t be there in person, they did show up on stage as holograms. Later, Ed Sheeran, who was a Mega Mentor on the show this season, stopped by to play “Shivers.”

By the way, Ohio sibling trio Girl Named Tom ended up winning the season, making them the first group to do so.

Check out the other performances from The Voice finale below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Juice WRLD Connects With Suga From BTS On The Posthumous Collab, ‘Girl Of My Dreams’

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The tragic passing of 21-year-old Chicago rapper Juice WRLD in late 2019 left the hip-hop community devastated. Like with many artists who are taken from us in their prime, Juice WRLD’s family and team have decided to release his music posthumously. Starting with Legends Never Die in 2020, which was a commercial and critical success, the next project came out today, and it’s called Fighting Demons. And as fans discovered when the tracklist for the album was shared earlier this week, the album was stacked with high-profile collabs, including the surprising addition of Suga, from the massive K-pop boy band, BTS.

Though BTS was just beginning to break into the mainstream in America when Juice died, they’ve already collaborated with plenty of other pop stars, so it’s not the most unexpected thing in the world. Still, it’s a little bit more left-field than some of the straight-ahead rap features on the album, even if Suga is known for often launching into a rap verse in the middle of a BTS song, like he does on “Butter.” For their joint song on Fighting Demons, “Girl Of My Dreams,” Suga raps his verse in Korean, adding to the wistful mood Juice has already established. Check it out above.

Juice WRLD’s Posthumous Album ‘Fighting Demons’ Includes A Surprising Collaboration

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The tracklist and cover for Juice WRLD’s second posthumous album Fighting Demons have arrived, revealing a surprising feature for the prolific Chicago rapper. In addition to expected features from Juice’s peers, Polo G and Trippie Redd, a member of the K-Pop world makes an appearance: BTS member Suga, who will appear on the track “Girl Of My Dreams.” Rounding out the guestlist are Justin Bieber, on the previously released “Wandered To LA,” and Eminem, with whom Juice previously collaborated on “Godzilla” from Eminem’s 2020 album Music To Be Murdered By.

The news of Suga’s appearance is already drawing significant buzz among K-pop fan circles as the genre edges closer to the American mainstream — mainly by high-profile collaborations with other US rappers like Megan Thee Stallion and Juice, and other pop acts which are already popular here, such as Coldplay. “Butter,” BTS’ collaboration with Megan, hit no. 1 on the Hot 100 and has become a staple of this year’s live televised performances. Likewise, “My Universe” with Coldplay has also become a huge hit, contributing to the overall visibility of the international group.

Meanwhile, the collab could help Juice to another posthumous No. 1 debut after his prior 2020 release, Legends Never Die, became one of the most commercially successful posthumous releases ever, hanging onto the top spot for two weeks.

Fighting Demons is out 12/10 via Interscope.

Megan Thee Stallion Unexpectedly Joined BTS To Premiere Their ‘Butter’ Remix Live

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This summer, Megan Thee Stallion got herself a spot in the K-pop world by linking up with BTS for a remix of their No. 1 hit “Butter.” Now, months later, Meg and BTS were finally able to link up to give the song its live debut.

Yesterday, BTS performed at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and about mid-way through their main set, they launched into “Butter.” Much to the surprise of those in attendance, though, Megan eventually emerged to join the group on stage and deliver her contributions to the song.

Naturally, the ever-excitable BTS Army was thrilled by the performance, as they took to Twitter to share their reactions (and make Meg a trending topic):

This comes after Meg had to back out of performing the song with BTS at the American Music Awards last week. She wrote at the time, “Hotties I was so excited to go to the @AMAs and perform with @BTS_official, but due to an unexpected personal matter, I can no longer attend [crying emojis] I’m so sad! I really can’t wait to hit the stage with my guys and perform #BTS_Butter real soon!”

Check out a fan-shot video of Megan joining BTS for “Butter” above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Anderson Paak Was Pretty Thrilled To Meet BTS, And Even Offered To Become A Member

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Anderson Paak has been on fire lately. His success with Bruno Mars on the duo Silk Sonic notwithstanding, Paak also released not one but two albums in the last three years, putting up Oxnard and Ventura within a year of each other. Like most people, he cooled things down last year during the pandemic, but apparently spent that time constructing a throwback duo with Bruno that kicked off with the hit single “Leave The Door Open” and exploded from there. And given his great taste in collaborators, it’s not surprising that Paak made his way to SoFi Stadium last night to make sure he got some facetime with one of the biggest pop groups in the world, BTS.

Taking a group pic with the beloved boy band and immediately posting that content to Instagram, Paak had the best caption for the moment, too. “@bts.bighitofficial lmk if you need another member! I work well in groups!!!” he wrote. Well, I don’t think anyone would be mad about a collaboration between these two — Paak himself said he’d be down earlier this year — so we can at least start there. Or BTS jumps on a Silk Sonic song? When the supergroups are just every pop star in the ecosystem, we’ll have reached peak internet.

Cardi B Says She Loves BTS And Reveals She Almost Collaborated With Them

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While we haven’t received a new album from Cardi B since her 2018 debut Invasion Of Privacy, she has been kind to us in the feature department. Her recent collaborations include “Rumors” with Lizzo, “WAP” with Megan Thee Stallion, “Type Sh*t” with Migos, and “Me Gusta” with Anitta. These are just some of the records that have fans excited for what Cardi has in store for the future, but according to the rapper herself, she was supposed to work with BTS. However, her busy schedule made it difficult to bring to fruition.

“Maybe,” Cardi replied when she was asked if a BTS collaboration would arrive in the future during a recent Variety. “I was supposed to be on a record with them, but I had just released a record and then it was going to smash with the time. But I love them.” It came after she revealed another member of her family who’s a fan of BTS. “I like BTS a lot, but let me tell you something,” she said. “My daughter [Kulture] likes BTS a lot a lot. Like, ‘Mommy, mommy, put [on] the song.’ And it’s like, I already know what she’s talking about.”

Cardi is also gearing up to host the 2021 American Music Awards, and in the interview with Variety, she revealed what viewers can expect from her on Sunday night. “I’m just going to be myself. That’s it,” she said. “There are going to be certain things that I read on the teleprompter, but I’m just going to freestyle it because I don’t like feeling like I’m talking like a robot.”

You can read her full sit-down with Variety here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Megan Thee Stallion, BTS, Olivia Rodrigo, And More Will Perform At The 2021 American Music Awards

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The list of nominees for this year’s American Music Awards was unveiled last month. It’s a star-studded list, and so far, the list of artists set to perform at the Cardi B-hosted ceremony (which airs on November 21 on ABC) packs a punch, too. Organizers announced its first batch of performers this morning and the list includes Megan Thee Stallion, BTS, Olivia Rodrigo, and Bad Bunny.

Megan and BTS will be performing together to give their “Butter” remix its television debut. It’s not clear what song(s) Rodrigo will deliver for her AMAs debut, but Bad Bunny is set to perform “Lo Siento BB:/.”

More performers are expected to be announced soon, but one who won’t make the cut is Morgan Wallen. He’s up for two awards due to his performance on the charts, but AMAs organizers noted last month, “Morgan Wallen is a nominee this year based on charting. As his conduct does not align with our core values, we will not be including him on the show in any capacity (performing, presenting, accepting). We plan to evaluate his progress in doing meaningful work as an ally to the Black community and will consider his participation in future shows.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lizzo Leans Into The Funk Of BTS’ ‘Butter’ For Her ‘Live Lounge’ Cover

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Lizzo recently showed love for BTS with an impromptu freestyle the other day, but now she has expressed her admiration in a more professional environment. BBC Radio 1 is in the midst of its “Live Lounge” Month, and as the latest guest, Lizzo performed a cover of BTS’ No. 1 hit “Butter.”

For her performance, Lizzo emphasized the funky elements of the song and put a delightfully engaging spin on the song.

Before the performance, she also offered praise for BTS and spoke about why she chose to cover “Butter,” saying, “I’m really a sucker for people who make positive music. I have dedicated my artistry to making positive music and BTS does just that. The word has fallen in love with them because they are so sweet and pure, and they’re good-hearted. I wanted to bring some more positivity into the world via their song. It’s a great song, too. It’s so funky. I hope we do it justice.”

Meanwhile, fans were also treated to an appearance from Sasha Flute, as Lizzo calls her instrument, as she busted it out while performing “Rumors.”

Watch clips from Lizzo’s performance above and listen to her full “Live Lounge” visit here.

Lizzo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lizzo Showed Love For BTS With A Short But Sweet Freestyle About V And Jimin’s Friendship

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With the release of her brand new “Rumors” single featuring none other than Cardi B, Lizzo is back in a big way. Which means the always-vocal artist is back to advocating for herself even when bullies try to fat-shame her, and making silly internet videos and freestyles for fans and other artists to enjoy. Luckily, today she’s focusing on the latter, taking a carefree approach to her still overlooked rap skills by employing them to praise BTS.

First, the pop star let fans know she’s in the studio and working, and asked what they’d like to hear her write about:

Then a fan suggested something about a true friendship, like the one between V and Jimin from BTS:

And that was all it took to get Lizzo cooking. Flipping an old snippet from Barney’s classic “I Love You” song, in under twenty seconds she had an homage to the relationship between V and Jimin, which has long been a beloved focus of their fans.

Hey, this might not quite be good enough to make the new album, but it’s still impressive that she can turn a freestyle around so quickly. Now let’s hope she keeps doing what Remy Ma suggested and ignoring the trolls with all her might.

Two Songs From Kanye West’s ‘Donda’ Debut In The Top 10 Of The Hot 100 Chart

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So far, Kanye West’s new album Donda is an undeniable success. The project debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and its songs are also faring well on an individual basis. Billboard shared the top 10 spots of the Hot 100 chart dated September 11 today, and two of the songs come from Donda: “Hurricane,” which debuts at No. 6, and “Jail,” which comes in at No. 10. West now has 20 top-10 songs on the chart.

While “Hurricane” and “Jail” have guests on them, they aren’t credited as featured artists, so they do not appear on the chart; “Hurricane” includes contributions from The Weeknd and Lil Baby, while “Jail” has a verse from Jay-Z.

Elsewhere on the chart, BTS’ “Butter” returns to the No. 1 spot for a tenth week, making it just one of 40 songs to ever spend at least that long in the top spot. The song’s rise comes after the group released a new remix of it featuring Megan Thee Stallion, although that version of the song didn’t drive enough listening activity to give Megan a credit on the chart.

Meanwhile, Walker Hayes’ “Fancy Like” rises to No. 9 this week, making it just the second country song of the year to make the top 10, following Morgan Wallen’s “Wasted On You.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.