Some songs are what you might call “infuriatingly catchy.” You know the ones. You don’t want to like them. You resist them for as long as possible. Then, one day, out of the blue, you find yourself humming the chorus or quoting the intro and the song has evolved into a full-blown guilty pleasure. (Here’s some old head advice: Skip the process. Like the thing. No one can judge you, and if they do, who cares? They’re miserable, you’re having fun. You win.)
Aqua’s 1997 Europop hit “Barbie Girl” was one of those songs. It dominated MTV and radio, it drove music snobs crazy. But it was fun and a little dumb but irresistible in the way so many things were in the late ’90s. I still like it a lot. Saweetie — whose music has been subject to the above-mentioned phenomenon in its own way — knows a thing or two about repurposing the inescapable hits of yesteryear in her own music. In fact, that’s when she’s at her best, according to many fans, and it’s the thing that’s been missing from recent attempts to recapture the public’s imagination.
Well, Sample Saweetie just might be back with her next big swing for the top of the Hot 100. During an Instagram Live “cyber party” stream with fans, she debuted a striking new look and previewed a potential hit called, fittingly, “Icy Girl, Icy World” which samples “Barbie Girl” and might just be her next infuriatingly catchy smash. Fans are already expressing approval and — provided we can all follow the old head advice from above — “Icy Girl, Icy World” might just bypass all the negativity that has been swirling around Saweetie’s long-delayed debut album and return her to rap fans’ good graces — or at least skip their nonsense and find a pop audience ready and willing to give something new a try.
Whether or not you’re an active user on the platform, you can not deny the impact of the social media platform TikTok. From legacy acts like Dolly Parton joining the site to funny one-off collaborations, the platform has proven to be a dominant force in today’s music scene.
Many rising acts, including Bronx rapper Ice Spice, have TikTok to thank for their boom in popularity. Like Spotify’s Wrapped list, TikTok has released its data for the year to provide the music power rankings.
In a statement, TikTok’s Chief Operating Officer, Vanessa Pappas, shared her excitement about this year’s list, “We’re honored to celebrate our global community who shaped this year’s trends, shared new ideas, learned from one another, and turned their passions into careers and livelihoods throughout 2022.”
At the top of their emerging artists’ list is the “Munch” rapper, and in the second position is “Bad Habits” singer Steve Lacy.
Budding music star Bailey Zimmerman came in at number three with the help of his single, “Rock and A Hard Place.” Pop singer JVKE’s “Golden Hour” secured him the fourth slot. Finally, former American Idol contestant Benson Boone arrived at the number five position due to his song “Ghost Town.”
Thanks to “F.N.F.,” Memphis rapper GloRilla secured the number six slot, whereas “Big Energy” landed Atlanta’s Latto at seven.
Grammy Award winners Omar Apollo and Muni Long, then Anees close out the last three spots. Apollo’s viral hit was “Evergreen (You Didn’t Deserve Me At All).” Long’s viral hit was “Hrs and Hrs.” Anees’ viral hit was “Sun and Moon.”
It’s about damn time for TikTok‘s top trending songs of 2022 to be revealed. Today, the video-sharing platform has shared its top songs of the year, many of them launching their lives through TikTok, and others gaining a second life despite being released years ago.
At the top of the list was the breezy “Sunroof” by Nicky Youre and dazy.
Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” came in at No. 4. Her comeback anthem was used in several video clips this year, in many of which, the user dances to a portion of the song’s second verse to specific step-by-step choreography.
At No. 5 was “Just A Cloud Away” by Pharrell Williams, from the 2013 film Despicable Me 2.
While Willow‘s collaboration with Tyler Cole, “Meet Me At Our Spot” proved to be a sleeper hit this year, another song of Willow’s, “Wait A Minute,” came in at No. 7. The song was first released in 2015, as part of her debut album, Ardipithecus.
Another song that received new life was “Nothing” by N.O.R.E., which was sampled in breakthrough artist Armani White‘s hit single, “Billie Eilish.” “Billie Eilish” placed at No. 9 and also resulted in White landing a deal with Def Jam.
Closing out the top 10 list is Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)“, which received a major resurgence in streams and radio airplay after it was played during season 4 of Netflix’s Stranger Things.
You can check out TikTok’s top 10 trending songs of 2022 below.
1. “Sunroof” by Nicky Youre & dazy
2. “L$d” by Luclover
3. “Ginseng Strip 2002” by Yung Lean
4. “About Damn Time” by Lizzo
5. “Just a Cloud Away” by Pharrell Williams
6. “Forever” by Labrinth
7. “Wait a Minute!” by WILLOW
8. “Jiggle Jiggle” by Duke & Jones & Louis Theroux
9. “Billie Eilish” by Armani White
10. “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”
Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
TikTok, which has grown exponentially over the past few years, released its year-end stats for 2022 via Variety — and the results might surprise some casual social media users. Out of millions of videos on the platform, TikTok narrowed down the Top 10 Trending Videos in the US.
At the top with 23 million likes was a video of a man constructing a chocolate giraffe, followed at No. 2 by a viral video of a chipmunk. It turns out TikTok users LOVE animals.
They also love Rosalía, as the star sits at spot No. 3, for the viral video of her chewing gum — set to her song, “Bizcochito.” Given it was a huge trend this year for fans and music lovers… and literally, everyone, to recreate her signature pose, this comes as no surprise. The Motamami singer’s video also gave us a TON of memes, for which we are eternally grateful.
Lizzo also made the list at No. 6, making her the only other musician to do so this year. She taught fans the choreography for her song “About Damn Time” and they thoroughly enjoyed it, enough to make it a major trend. Dancing gave TikTok its start, so it’s only fitting. Plus, Lizzo is so much fun.
As for the rest of the videos on the list, there’s everything from the Corn Kid remix to a showdown between lava and ice. (Or, what Jesse Pinkman says in Breaking Bad, science, b*tch.)
Continue scrolling to view Rosalia and Lizzo’s trending TikToks from 2022.
Year-end list season is here, so data of what happened on various platforms in 2022 is making its way out into the world. Today (December 6), it’s TikTok’s turn, as the popular video-sharing platform has unveiled a number of lists. Among those is the most-viewed musicians on the platform in the US and the list is as follows:
Lizzo has long maintained an entertaining and uplifting presence on the platform, while Puth has used it to offer insight about his creative process. Meanwhile, Doja made her followers laugh, while Trainor had a TikTok hit with “Made You Look.”
Elsewhere on TikTok’s year-end ranks, Lizzo had one of the year’s top videos, music or otherwise, in a clip where she teaches choreography to “About Damn Time.” Rosalía also made an appearance on that list with her viral gun-chewing video, set to her TikTok favorite “Bizcochito.”
See what other people, topics, and videos made TikTok’s 2022 lists here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
In a move that can only now be described as “Swift-ian,” Taylor Swift has been re-recording her first six albums. Her shrewd attempt to maneuver around the fact that Justin Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun, bought all of her masters (without Swift’s knowledge) and then sold them to the highest bidders, has yielded two (Taylor’s Version) editions of albums in Red and Fearless. Now as Swift is getting to work on the Reputation (Taylor’s Version) recording, she has allegedly released a collaboration track with Drake and it’s especially juicy.
Do Taylor Swift And Drake Have A Song On The Way?
But Drake and Taylor Swift recording a song together? Could this be true? According toThe Sun, Swift has dug into her vault of recordings as she prepares to release Reputation (Taylor’s Version) next year, following the release of Midnight this October 21st. One of the track’s from the vault, is reportedly a collaboration with Drake that was left off of Reputation, as Swift didn’t want to fuel the fire of her beef at the time with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian — following Kanye’s “I made that b*tch fmous” lyric. Drake and Kanye had a notoriously tepid relationship as well and this factored into the decision to hold off back then. But this new song could be on the way as The Sun quotes a “music insider” with direct knowledge of the situation:
“Taylor has pivoted her focus to re-recording Reputation and she has come across this song she made with Drake, which never saw the light of day. She knows that everyone is going to think it is about Kimye because it was her row with them which inspired a lot of Reputation. But this one is far more direct than the other songs, which was why they didn’t decide to release it in the first place. It’s no secret that both Taylor and Drake have had tumultuous relationships with Kanye, so they didn’t hold back when it came to recording. Obviously she is totally over the whole thing now but this is one which fans will want to hear.”
Time will tell if a collaboration song from Drake and Taylor Swift ever comes to fruition, but this seems like a pretty juicy one if it does drop.
On September 23, Post Malone took to Boston’s TD Garden, where the NBA’s Celtics play their home games, for a concert. He also paid tribute to the city by wearing a jersey of Celtics guard Marcus Smart, the reigning NBA Defensive Player Of The Year. It turns out the two Dallas natives got to enjoy some time together backstage and Smart spoke about a fun moment they shared.
During an interview with NBC Sports Boston at the Celtics’ media day on September 26, Smart was asked if he got to play Malone at beer pong and he said, “Yeah, I played him. I won one game, but I went five in a row the last game! […] He’s really good. He kept telling me to call [Celtics President Of Basketball Operations] Brad [Stevens] for him, though. Every shot he made, he was like, ‘Call Brad, sign me up, give me the 10-day [contract]!’”
After the concert, Smart shared photos of himself and Malone backstage and wrote on Instagram, “That was a [fire] show @postmalone thanks for the love Friday night. Fans were crazy live. Felt their love as well. Place was crazy. Boston fans never fail.”
Malone’s second Boston concert of the tour, set for September 24, was postponed as Malone noted, “I’m having a very difficult time breathing, and there’s like a stabbing pain whenever I breathe or move.” This came not long after he fell in an on-stage hole and injured his ribs.
Of all the shows available to binge-watch, Modern Family is one of the best. The show has won and been nominated for dozens of awards, it enjoyed a 250-episode run, and it’s streaming on Hulu. It turns out the ABC comedy is Post Malone’s binge show of choice for chilling out on tour.
In a new GQ interview, Malone was asked how he relaxes on the road and he said:
“I watch literally every episode of Modern Family every single day. Every day, I start on season one, episode one, and then by the time I go to bed… Because I just leave it on as background noise, as well, whenever I’m not even deliberately watching. But by the time I fall asleep, I’m done with season eight already. I’m like, ‘Where does the time go?’ I don’t understand.”
Posty’s passion for the Dunphy’s et al. is endearing, but his claim is hard to believe.
As aforementioned, Modern Family ran for 250 episodes, and at an average length of 22 minutes per episode, that’s 5,500 total minutes, or over 91 hours, across the whole series. One day here on Earth, as you may have heard, is 24 hours (pretty much, anyway). As for Malone’s claim that he’s “done with season eight” by the time he falls asleep, that too is not likely. There are 188 episodes in the show’s first eight seasons, which run for about 4,136 minutes, or about 69 hours. So, while that’s nice, it sure doesn’t seem possible (assuming that Malone lacks the ability to control the flow of time).
However, there are actually ways Malone could actually watch the whole show in a waking day; let’s call it 14 hours, assuming 8 hours of sleep. If he watched the show at 7-times speed, he could knock it out in around 13 hours. Alternately, he could just watch 7 episodes at once and breeze through the series that way. There’s also the possibility that Malone has a different idea of what he considers a “day” to be. On Venus, for example, a day lasts for 5,832 hours.
So, to answer Malone’s question (“Where does the time go?”), it’s really hard to say.
Bad Bunny was the big winner last night (September 29) at the Billboard Latin Music Awards. The Puerto Rican superstar won the most awards of the night followed by Farruko and Karol G.
Bad Bunny was the most-nominated artist at this year’s Billboard Latin Music Awards. He received 23 nominations across 13 categories for his chart-topping album Un Verano Sin Ti. Though he wasn’t in attendance last night, he ended up winning nine awards, including Artist Of The Year, Tour Of The Year, and Top Latin Album Of The Year.
Puerto Rican singer Farruko followed Bad Bunny with four wins. He scored a big hit last year with the guaracha-infused “Pepas.” Farruko’s wins included Hot Latin Song Of The Year and Sales Song Of The Year. Colombian superstar Karol G won three awards, including Hot Latin Songs Artist Of The Year — Female and Top Latin Albums Artist Of the Year — Female.
Among the memorable performances, Colombian singer Manuel Turizo sang his global top 10 hit “La Bachata.” Earlier this month, Coldplayinvited him to sing the song at their concert in Bogotá, Colombia. Turizo serenaded the audience with a sweet performance of his heartbreak anthem.
After being honored with the Spirit Of Hope Award for her philanthropic work, Christina Aguilera sang her ranchera ballad “La Reina” for the first time. She sounded incredible as she tapped into the song’s empowering message that a king isn’t a king without his queen. The performance comes on the heels of her new EP La Luz dropping today with the song “No Es Que Te Extrañe” that might be about her estranged father.
The most unique performance of the night belonged to Puerto Rican singer Elvis Crespo. Bad Bunny pulled inspiration from Crespo’s music video for “Suavemente” for his own retro video for “Neverita.” Crespo paid homage to Bad Bunny by performing “Neverita” in a special medley with “Suavemente.”
Coldplay is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Anybody who thought the vinyl resurgence was just a fad was mistaken: The industry has experienced a legitimate revival. As a result, music fans are interested in physical media in ways they may not have if the decades-old medium hasn’t made a comeback. That doesn’t mean everybody is listening to just their parents’ old music, though. That’s part of it, sure, thanks to rereleases that present classic albums in new ways. A vital part of the renewed vinyl wave, though, is new projects being released as records, of which there are plenty.
Whatever you might be into, each month brings a new slew of vinyl releases that has something for everybody. Some stand out above the rest, naturally, so check out some of our favorite vinyl releases of September below.
Alex G — God Save The Animals
Domino
Uproxx’s Ian Cohen recently declared that God Save The Animals, the just-released new Alex G album, is the artist’s best. He wrote in part, “Folky Alex G, abstract Alex G, slowcore Alex G, rawk Alex G, it’s all here, but God Save The Animals manages to circle back to his origins placing the vocals higher than they’d ever been since Race or Rules.”
John Denver — Rocky Mountain High (50th Anniversary Reissue)
Windstar Records/Secretly Distribution
Rocky Mountain High is without a doubt one of John Denver’s defining albums and now that it turns 50 years old here in 2022, it’s getting a fresh rerelease. This limited edition is pressed on blue vinyl and in case you’re unfamiliar with the album, it of course features the famous title track as well as the underrated album-closing “Season Suite.”
Summer just ended, but that doesn’t mean it’s too early to start thinking about Christmas, Hanukkah, and the other end-of-year holidays. If you want to get your vinyl library ready, the new Holidays Rule collection is for you, as it features holidays tunes from Paul McCartney, The Shins, Sharon Van Etten, and a number of others.
With all the talk about the upcoming Barbie movie, now is a perfect time to revisit the classic Aqua hit “Barbie Girl.” There’s a terrific new opportunity to do that for vinyl lovers: Aquarium, the song’s parent album, turns 25 this year and has therefore gotten a new vinyl reissue, including a striking pink pressing.
The War On Drugs — I Don’t Live Here Anymore (Limited-Edition Deluxe Box Set)
It’s been nearly a year since The War On Drugs dropped their latest album, 2021’s I Don’t Live Here Anymore. To mark the occasion, they have a limited-edition deluxe box set available now, which includes unreleased tunes “Oceans of Darkness” and “Slow Ghost” on a 7-inch. They’ve even gone through the trouble of making an unboxing video for the release, so check that out above for more details about what’s included in the expansive set.
At 30 million copies sold, there are only a handful of albums that have ever outsold the ABBA Gold compilation. Well, more sales are incoming, as the best-of album just got a new 30th-anniversary reissue, pressed on lovely gold 180g vinyl and of course including all the hits that millions have come to love over the decades.
Sun Ra — The Futuristic Sounds Of Sun Ra (60th Anniversary Edition)
Craft Recordings
For folks who have heard of jazz icon Sun Ra but haven’t yet taken the dive, this reissue of the 1963 album The Futuristic Sounds Of Sun Ra is a good place to start. The project is considered one of Ra’s more accessible and this particular edition of it includes remastered audio and artwork.
Dead Kennedys — Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables (2022 Mix)
Manifesto Records
Dead Kennedys started their run as one of the defining ’80s punk bands with their 1980 debut, Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables. Now, the 42-year-old album has gotten a facelift via a new “2022 Mix,” which was made using the original multi-track tapes. Additionally, it comes with a 28-page booklet featuring rare archival photos and interviews.
Roxy Music put out a lot of worthwhile tunes during their run and they brought the best of them together under one roof on the 2011 compilation album The Best Of Roxy Music. Now they’ve reissued that collection on vinyl and it’s a great summation of the band, as it includes at least one song from each of their eight albums.
Bruce Springsteen — Nebraska (Vinyl Me, Please Reissue)
Vinyl Me, Please
Nebraska, one of The Boss’ most esteemed albums, turns 40 this year. So, the folks at Vinyl Me, Please have come through with a striking reissue, mastered at half-speed and pressed on a lovely black smoke vinyl. As VMP releases do, this one also comes with a listening notes booklet.
https://t.co/XCAEZAnTiJ
