Last month, Labrinth released his third studio album, Ends & Begins, which features the Euphoria fan-favorite, “Never Felt So Alone,” along with a collaboration with Zendaya, called “The Feels.” In the weeks prior, he performed electrifying Coachella sets, in which, Zendaya and Billie Eilish made surprise appearances. All of these moments have fans waiting on pins and needles for an update on the third season of Euphoria.
However, in a recent interview with Variety, Labrinth, who composes music for the show, says even he is in the dark about what’s to come of the show’s upcoming season.
“I don’t even know if they’re writing it yet,” said Labrinth. “There’s a whole writers strike, so. But hopefully, they get it together and it’s a vibe. I think me and Sam [Levinson] are supposed to talk at some point, but I’m excited. I think all of the guys that are working on the show are excited to get back into it when it’s coming around. It’s intense when it comes around, though. Once it comes around, you’re like, whew.”
There are rumors that the season is set to premiere in early 2024, and will contain a five-year time jump, however, given the ongoing WGA writers strike, who knows when we’ll actually find out?
The Writers Guild of America’s ongoing strike against labor conditions could be changing Americans’ viewing habits for the foreseeable future, but that isn’t the only thing it’s affecting. Many peripheral industries will feel the effects in the coming weeks and (potentially) months as the WGA fights for fair wages and job protections from networks and studios amid a changing media landscape and record profits.
For instance, musical guests Foo Fighters, Labrinth, and Lil Uzi Vert have had their upcoming guest appearances on Saturday Night Live canceled along with immediate show episodes. According to Variety, the show, which normally runs through May before the summer hiatus, won’t produce any new episodes until the strike ends. This week would have seen former cast member Pete Davidson return as host with Lil Uzi Vert as the musical guest — a dynamic duo if ever there was one — while Entertainment Weekly reports Foo Fighters’ first appearance since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins was canceled along with Jennifer Coolidge’s hosting debut. Labrinth would have appeared in an episode hosted by Kieran Culkin.
Artists that would have appeared on other late-night variety shows will also need to find alternative promotion, as the only show running through the strike is (of course) Fox News’ Gutfield!, a show I just learned exists five minutes ago. Even so, recording artists are still showing solidarity with their fellow writers, with Snoop Dogg comparing screenwriters’ pay to streaming royalties.
Lord knows when we’re getting the third season of HBO’s teen drama series, Euphoria, but two familiar faces from the show have teamed up for a special collaboration. Labrinth, who scores and produces the soundtrack for the show, has recruited Zendaya, who plays the show’s protagonist, Rue, for “The Feels,” a new duet featured on Labrinth’s album, Ends & Begins.
On the track, the two vividly describe the whirlwind of emotions that comes with falling in love. Over a hypnotic, trippy track, Labrinth offers a detailed testimony, singing, “I got touched by God and it f*cked me up / Like an electrical current crossing through my veins / Lightning came and hit me again.”
Zendaya comes in with the song’s second verse, delivering silky vocals as she sings, “Now you got me lost in emotion / Now you got me intoxicated with your drug / Bloodstream racin’, heartbeat pulsin’ / The truth of it is I’m in love with you.”
It’s been a while since Zendaya has released any music not related to Euphoria. Fans have been eager to hear new music from the Emmy Award-winning actress since hearing her duet with Labrinth on “I’m Tired,” which appeared in the show’s finale of season two. About 10 years ago, she released a self-titled album, which featured the hit single, “Replay.”
She revealed last year that she chose to step away from music “for a number of reasons,” but still really finds joy in the art.
I stepped away from music quite a while ago, for a number of reasons, but I still really love it, so the kindness and support I’ve received the past few days just for a little tiny toe dip back into some music means the absolute world to me..thanks<3
Zendaya got her start as a Disney Channel star and released an album, Zendaya, in 2013. However, she is now better known for her non-Disney Channel acting. From MJ in the MCU to Lola Bunny to Euphoria, Zendaya’s got range. But she returned to her musical roots as she surprised fans by appearing on stage at Coachella. While she had released “I’m Tired” with Labrinth and “Elliot’s Song” with Dominic Fike in 2022, it was Zendaya’s first live performance in years. Safe to say that the Mojave stage was closed out in style on Saturday night.
Labrinth has a wealth of bangers, but his link to Zendaya includes the 2022 collab and providing the theme song for Euphoria. Labrinth even won an Emmy for his Euphoria work. As Labrinth started up “All Of Us”, Zendaya appeared on stage to screams of surprise and delight. Zendaya then proceed to perform the song alongside Labrinth as the crowd went wild. It’s the second guest Labrinth has had at Coachella, with Billie Eilish joining him during Weekend 1. While Euphoria isn’t set to return until 2024, Zendaya has a handful of projects in the works. She will appear in the sports rom-com Challengers in September and the sci-fi sequel Dune: Part Two in November. What did you think of Zendaya’s performance? Be sure to check out all of the best from Coachella 2023 on HotNewHipHop.
The bar was set high for Coachella’s second weekend, even though Frank Ocean announced he would be dropping out. Weekend one was filled with notable guest appearances, song debuts, and more. In his closing set, singer and songwriter Labrinth was sure to fire off on all cylinders. After bringing out Billie Eilish for an exceptional performance of their song, “Never Felt So Alone,” last Saturday, April 15, fans were curious how he would one-up himself.
On Saturday, April 22, Labrinth was joined onstage by Zendaya for a surprise Euphoria-centered musical performance. After singing songs “I’m Tired” and “All for Us,” fans of the show were giddy to see the two coming together for this monumental moment to close out his Coachella 2023 appearance.
While Zendaya has become one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood, at one point in her career she was avidly pursuing music, leading to the actress and Labrinth’s initial pairing. Labrinth composed the series’ score and, along with the series creator Sam Levinson, co-wrote both “I’m Tired” and “Elliott’s Song.” Eventually, Zendaya walked away from music due to the “difficulties” she faced behind the scenes.
Zendaya took a moment during her set to thank Labrinth for providing her with the opportunity to perform at the festival, saying, “I cannot express my gratitude enough for this magical night. Thank you to my brother [Labrinth] for inviting me and giving me the most beautiful safe space to be on a stage again…wow…my heart is so full; I can’t thank you enough for the love I received tonight, made all my nerves melt away.”
Zendaya on Instagram Stories, “I just wanna say thank you again — I have never heard screaming like that in my entire life, as soon as I turned the corner, I couldn’t hear anything but you guys. — Thank you all for welcoming me back on stage with open arms.” pic.twitter.com/rbQIx8MIqX
“Did you notice the wind stop?” Blackpink’s Rosé asked a crowd of thousands of screaming fans during their main stage headlining set. “I think it was all the Blinks,” she said. It was an example of how everyone, including the weather, seemed to stop in anticipation of Blackpink’s historic set during day two of Coachella 2023. With artists like the K-pop megagroup, Rosalía, Labrinth, and Jai Paul‘s first-ever concert, day two was certainly one to remember. Let’s recap what we saw.
Friday night, Bad Bunny became the first-ever Latin solo artist to headline the main Coachella stage. This time, Blackpink were the ones making history. The girl group became the first-ever Korean act to headline the festival, and they certainly delivered on expectation. The four pop stars opened with their hit number “Pink Venom” and it didn’t take long for fireworks to light up the stage, mirroring the group’s explosive energy. Everything from their engaging choreography to their black-and-pink outfits were expertly planned. A long stage bisecting the crowd allowed them ample space to move around and highlight their collective force, while the big-screen cameras were more focused on giving each of the individual performers their spotlight moment. After launching into tracks like “Kill This Love” and “How You Like That,” Blackpink gave each member the opportunity to shine with their solo efforts. Jennie was first, singing her solo number “You & Me” complete with a dance break. Jisoo, the last Blackpink member to release a solo track, delivered her song “Flower,” which dropped only a few weeks ago. Rosé was next with a version of “On The Ground” and “Gone” and Lisa came last in the solo act lineup with her track “Money,” which had the crowd screaming along.
Blackpink’s set wasn’t the only historic Coachella performance of the night. All eyes were on Jai Paul, who had his first-ever performance. That’s right — not just his first-ever Coachella performance, but his first time performing live ever. The UK artist gained popularity over a decade ago but took an extended hiatus after his music was leaked online. In 2019, the artist returned to drop his music in an official capacity. Because Jai Paul isn’t used to performing in front of a crowd, much less to a crowd of thousands at one of the biggest festivals in the world, it was clear he had some understandable nerves. Unlike seasoned performers like Blackpink or Charli XCX, Jai Paul didn’t address the crowd during his set or try to hype up the audience. Instead, he walked out on stage and launched straight into the music. Even still, his dance-y beats and impressive falsetto vocals were enough to win over the crowd as he played fan-favorite tracks like “Jasmine,” “BTSTU,” and “Str8 Outta Mumbai.”
Philip Cosores
Speaking of stage presence, Charli XCX was in full pop star mode. Backed by an electric stage design and small group of immensely talented back-up dancers, Charli showed off her full potential with fun choreography and hyped-up crowd engagement. She continually addressed the crowd during her set, keeping the energy high and eliciting consistent screams of approval from fans. She even shouted out the other artists who would take the main stage after her, saying: “This song is for all my bad girls out there. All the bad girls who came to see me, Rosalía and BLACKPINK in your f*cking area.” It seemed like the entire festival was collectively jumping to songs like “I Love It” and “Vroom Vroom.” She also brought out a surprise guest; fellow singer Troye Sivan joined her for an engaging rendition of “1999” that had the crowd partying like it was 1999.
Rosalía was another seasoned performer who took the Coachella stage. As those watching the livestream at home saw, Rosalía really put her all into her emotional set. At one point, the singer dimmed the lights and poured her heart out to “Diablo.” The singer’s choreography and camera work were un-matched but as a viewer at the festival, it felt like Rosalía was much more focused on giving a performance to the livestream camera rather than to the crowd. Still, she had some touching fan interactions, like when she grabbed one of the cameras and walked out to the crowd barrier to let some fans scream her lyrics into the microphone. Later on in her set, Rosalía brought out a special guest: her recent fiancé, Rauw Alejandro. Together, the two delivered a few tracks off their collaborative EP and shared some adorable moments on stage.
Philip Cosores
Rosalía and Charli XCX weren’t the only artists to bring out big stars during their set. Labrinth closed out the Mojave tent on Saturday night, inviting none other than Billie Eilish to perform their joint track “Never Felt So Alone” to the delight of the screaming crowd. He displayed his powerful vocals while delivering a number of intimate tracks like “Mount Everest” and “Still Don’t Know My Name.” Similarly, Boygenius’ set had many intimate moments, though the crowd was much more sparsely attended since fans had already started packing in to see Blackpink at the next stage over. The group consisting of Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus kicked off their set with the a cappella number “With You Without Them” and a hard-rocking rendition of “$20” before moving into quieter numbers like “Emily I’m Sorry.”
Labrinth typically creates unsettling, brooding atmospheres, which Eilish’s voice sounds perfect within. It makes sense that he, real name Timothy Lee McKenzie, talked about being a fan of Eilish in an interview with Eddie Francis on Apple Music 1’s New Music Daily show, according to Billboard.
“I’ve been a fan of Billie for a long time,” McKenzie revealed. “I think she’s an amazing artist. I remember Noah [Cyrus] was doing some of the same shows Billie was in that time, and everybody kept on coming back talking about this Billie Eilish girl.”
“Then I think the first time I heard her on a record was ‘Bury a Friend,” he continued, adding that he’d met Finneas years prior. “And I was just like, ‘This is a sick record.’”
So naturally, he thought Eilish would fit on “Never Felt So Alone.”
“Once I started piecing the song together, I was just like, “Do you know what? I think this is the moment where I think Billie would be a sick addition,’” he said. “When we spoke, she was like, ‘Lab, I’ve been listening to your music for years.” I was like, ‘What?’ It was like, ‘Billie? What? You?’ She was like, ‘Yeah, been a fan.’ She was like, ‘I love this song as well, so I would love to do it with you.’”
We may have to wait until 2024 until the third season of HBO’s teen drama, Euphoria. In the meantime, Labrinth, the man behind the show’s musical score, has shared a new single. On “Lift Off,” his first solo single since 2019, and his first musical offering outside of the Euphoria universe, Labrinth soars outside of the confines of the world, shooting for the stars.
“Lift off / Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, gone / You see my rocket ship / Head up in the clouds / When the spaceship lit, ignite / Hit me from the ground / I’m about to lift off,” he sings on the song’s chorus.
The song is a departure from the darker lyrical themes of his Euphoria music, however, utilizes much of the same organ and synth sounds. In an interview with Okayplayer earlier this year, Labrinth revealed that his upcoming album will be gospel-inspired.
“Gospel will be in everything that I do,” he said. “It’s one of the most consistent anchors in my career, it’s in some way on everything I’ve made.”
Yesterday, Zendaya and Labrinth unveiled the sprawling song, “I’m Tired,” that played at the end of the overwhelming Euphoria finale. A version was released in early February after the fourth episode without Zendaya, but her vocals caught the attention of the watchers who lingered during the credits of the show on Sunday night, especially since the lyrics seemed very relevant to Rue’s character.
After tweeting the track, famous rapper Kid Cudi quote-tweeted it and noted that he wants in: “Please dear GOD put me on a remix of this @Zendaya @Labrinth,” he wrote. Zendaya responded by saying, “Yoooo! What a dream that would be… @Labrinth ???” Labrinth agreed: “Let’s open a new dimension,” he wrote.
Even though the Euphoria season is over, hopefully we’ll at least get some new music to hold us over while the cast prepares for the next season. Fans, meanwhile, are still wondering about the ballad that Dominic Fike’s character Elliot launched into for five whole minutes which sparked a lot of talk online. It sparked so much talk that Fike reacted to it, saying he’d been humbled. The full soundtrack for the episode included Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” Francis Lai’s “Concerto Pour La Fin D’un Amour,” and more.
