Pop

Khalid Says Finishing His Next Album Is ‘Overwhelming’: ‘My Passion Goes Away A Little More Every Day’

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Khalid’s career is off to a hot start: After establishing himself as one of the most promising up-and-comers with his 2017 debut album American Teen, he had his first No. 1 album with 2019’s Free Spirit. Now he’s working on his third album, Everything Is Changing. That album was given an approximate release window of this fall, but now it appears that may be in jeopardy.

On Twitter today, Khalid revealed that he’s feeling “overwhelmed” trying to finish the album, saying, “I only wanna be the artist I want to be, because creating is what keeps me from losing my my mind but my passion goes away a little more every day. I just want to finish this album and it’s really driving me crazy at this point.”

He went on to suggest that the album may be released later than initially anticipated (without explicitly announcing a delay), writing, “I’m gonna refocus, finish this album without stress, and put out something that I truthfully believe in. I’ma be me at the end of the day, that’s all I can be.”

Find Khalid’s tweets below.

“I only wanna be the artist I want to be, because creating is what keeps me from losing my my mind but my passion goes away a little more every day. I just want to finish this album and it’s really driving me crazy at this point. I ain’t even wanna come on here ranting but I gotta get this out of me lol.

I’m really sorry to keep you guys waiting for this album because I want it to be out more than anyone, so much that finishing it has became overwhelming and I need to find that joy again. I started this album and I felt free, like creativity was pouring out of me. I have some songs on here I know will change my life. I need to get back to making music how I want to make. the people who have gotten to know me over the years, I have faith that you’ll feel this music because it’s been authentic to me.

from American Teen until now I’ve made it my initiative to remain authentic to myself and who I am as an artist/person even when I had no idea what I was doing, I always trust my intuition. I write all this music from my soul, and will continue to do so. The only album I’m putting out is an album that I’m 100 percent in love with. I just can’t change myself to please anybody, I gotta live with myself at the end of the day so ima do what I want to do. when it gets to the point that the music I want out comes out… I got so much faith that it will resonate with you guys.

I’m gonna refocus, finish this album without stress, and put out something that I truthfully believe in. I’ma be me at the end of the day, that’s all I can be. I LOVE YOU GUYS. coming on here and speaking to you guys reminds me how much love we mutually have for each other. Thank you for supporting me because none of the success was possible without you guys holding me down. and that’s why ima keep doing this sh*t!”

Stunning Promo Photos For Chloe Bailey’s New Solo Single ‘Have Mercy’ Stoked Even More Excitement

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As part of the sisterly duo Chloe x Halle, both Chloe and Halle Bailey have become R&B superstars. And, each have been branching off on their own as well, with Halle starring in the new live action adaptation of The Little Mermaid, and Chloe prepping to release her first solo single. Of course, there were the dance moves and Instagram videos from Chloe that caught quite a few people’s attention long before the new music was officially announced.

Needless to say, Chloe is coming into her own after the success of Ungodly Hour with her sister, and some behind-the-scenes photos for her upcoming single have only made fans more excited than before for the new single. Chloe has been readying her debut solo track, “Have Mercy,” for a while now, and these photos let fans know that the release will include a video with a strong visual aesthetic of its own.

The photographer and makeup artist behind these new stills, Edwig Henson, shared them on Instagram with the following heartfelt message of support for the singer. “Did makeup and took a few stills of the beautiful @chloebailey. She’s got one the most anticipated songs of the year coming soon! So make sure you support sis when it does. I hope you guys are just as excited as I am! “Have Mercy” on us Chloe.”

Well Edwig, we are. Oh, we are.

CL’s Fiery New Track ‘Spicy’ Is A Return To Form That Introduces Her Upcoming Album ‘Alpha’

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After returning earlier this year with a heartbreaking tribute to her late mother, “Wish You Were Here,” Korean legend CL is back with a fiery new rap song. Literally dubbed “Spicy,” the new track ushers in a return to form for the early K-Pop icon, who is gearing up to release her new album, Alpha. Collaborating with producers Baauer and Sokodomo for the song, CL compared the new song to some of her earlier work like “Hello B*tches.”

“I’m very excited to start my project, ALPHA, with ‘SPICY,’” she said in a press release. “‘SPICY’ is classically CL, following ‘The Baddest Female,’ ‘Hello B*tches,’ even ‘Menboong/ MTBD.’ It’s a song that celebrates just being yourself. For me, being Korean, being Asian… I’m celebrating all that, and that attitude. Just being myself. And I’m so honored to have John Malkovich on the song talking about energy, power and chemistry!”

CL (born Lee Chae-rin) mixes rap, pop, and K-pop for a seriously inventive new sound that expresses the chaotic nature of 2021 perfectly. First breaking out at 17 as the frontwoman of K-Pop girl group 2NE1, CL has been releasing solo music since 2016, and Alpha will be her next bilingual project. Out in October, the album will be preceded by at least one more single dropping next month. For now, enjoy “Spicy” above, and if you need even more CL in the meantime, look for her appearance on Season 2 of Dave.

The VMAs Add Doja Cat, Chloe Bailey, And Shawn Mendes To Their 2021 Performance Lineup

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Last week, MTV unveiled a handful of the artists who will be performing at their 2021 ceremony, and the list included Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde, Machine Gun Kelly, and Camila Cabello. Those roster would certainly be enough, but the VMAs tend to go bigger than that, so there were surely more artists to be added. Indeed, more have been: MTV unveiled a handful of new performers, and they are Doja Cat, Chloe Bailey, Shawn Mendes, and Twenty One Pilots.

This is a big one for Bailey (of Chloe x Halle), since it going to be her solo debut. She’ll be performing her single “Have Mercy” from her upcoming solo album. Meanwhile, Mendes is set to perform his recent single “Summer Of Love,” and Twenty One Pilots will perform “Saturday,” It’s not clear what song(s) Doja will perform yet, but what we do know is that she’s up for five awards this year.

The nominees for this year’s show (which is set for September 12, by the way) are led by Justin Bieber and Megan Thee Stallion, who have seven and six nominations this year, respectively.

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

Missy Elliott Gives Doja Cat Advice On Staying ‘Far-Left’ In The Music Industry

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Doja Cat is a few months into the release of her anticipated album Planet Her, which landed at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Throughout the album rollout, Doja Cat has remained true to her left-of-center brand, asking her fans to roast her for falling on stage and joking that she’s been canceled “maybe 350 times.” Now, Doja Cat gets the chance to speak to another musician who is known for staying true to herself: Missy Elliott.

Elliott and Doja Cat sat down for a conversation with Interview Magazine. Throughout their chat, Doja Cat gushed about how much Elliott has influenced her as an artist. Elliott also gave Doja Cat advice on how to stay weird and authentic with her music, saying that she should stay away from second-guessing herself:

“For my first album, I didn’t listen to the radio. I didn’t watch videos. I didn’t do any of those things, and I didn’t realize how much that helped me at the time. But it helped, because me and Timb, we didn’t mimic. So if we did something far-left, we weren’t afraid, because we didn’t know what was hot anyway. But now, when I got my phone and I’m seeing things, I can think of something really far-left and then I’ll be like, ‘They’re going to think I’m crazy. Let me reel it back.’ […] It gets tricky sometimes, so here’s some advice. Whatever you’re doing, if you feel like you’re in this place, and it seems to be working, stay there. Don’t allow other things to make you second-guess yourself, as long as it feels good to you.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Doja Cat opened up to Elliott about what she hopes to hone in her music. Along with wanting to fine-tuning her flow, Doja Cat says she hopes to open up about her personal life a little bit more in the future. “When it comes to rap I could be better,” Doja Cat said. “I think everybody feels that way with their own art, in all kinds of ways. But I see all these incredibly talented rappers around me, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m doing pop, but I should focus on my pen now more than ever.’ I’m good, and I can be funny and charming, and I can do little punchlines here and there, but I need to talk about my life more, and about what’s going on.”

Read Elliott and Doja Cat’s full conversation with Interview Magazine here.

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

The Kid Laroi And Justin Bieber’s ‘Stay’ Is No. 1 On The Hot 100 Chart For The Third Week Straight

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Rising star The Kid Laroi recently made history as the first Australian artist to go No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 40 years for his Justin Bieber collaboration “Stay.” Now continuing the streak, “Stay” remains at No. 1 for a third week in a row.

The Billboard Hot 100 chart dated August 28 was released Monday, showing a lot of familiar names. According to Billboard, “Stay” gained 51.3 million radio airplay impressions, 32.7 million US streams, and 14,400 downloads this week, up an impressive 14 percent from the week prior. While “Stay” continued to hover at No. 1, Ed Sheeran’s “Bad Habits” jumped from No. 3 to No. 2, switching places with Olivia Rodrigo’s “Good For U.”

This week also saw Lizzo’s “Rumors” make its chart debut this week. The Cardi B-featuring track landed at No. 4 on the Hot 100, earning the singer her third-ever top ten track, following “Truth Hurts” and “Good As Hell.” For Cardi, “Rumors” is her tenth top ten single, which includes five No. 1 tracks. “Rumors” debuted with 30.1 million radio impressions, 20.9 million streams, and 25,200 physical and digital sales.

Lizzo shared the news of her “Rumors” success on Twitter, writing, “I calmed down & I’m locked in.. AND MY RECORDS LIVE IN THE TOP TEN.” Continuing her celebration, Lizzo graced her Twitter followers with a photo of her butt as a thank-you to her fans.

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

T.I. Gives Lizzo An Encouraging Message On Ignoring Haters: ‘You Are Beautiful, You Are Talented’

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Lizzo recently kicked off a new era of music with “Rumors,” her single with Cardi B. The single dropped alongside a regal video, which included several callbacks to Disney’s 1997 film Hercules. While the new track topped the iTunes chart, it also subjected Lizzo to a number of bodyshaming trolls. The comments led Lizzo to go on an emotional Instagram Live session, and now many celebrities are jumping to her defense.

Along with Cardi B and Offset sharing their support, T.I. is the latest celebrity to tell the haters to leave Lizzo alone. The rapper shared an encouraging message to the singer in a video shared to social media, reminding Lizzo that negative comments are just a projection of haters’ own insecurities:

“My message to Lizzo. I don’t know Lizzo personally. Listen, sweetheart, you are beautiful, you are talented, you are good enough for all the great things the world has to offer, don’t wait on nobody out there in the public to validate that. Don’t do that because their perception of you has more to do with them than it does with you. All these people who out here who have negative sh*t to say it’s because they feel negatively about themselves. Them speaking negatively about you or me or anybody else has more to do with them than it does with you. Please don’t wait on them to give you the okay to be happy. Please don’t wait on them to give you the okay for you to be satisfied with yourself, your accomplishments, your achievements.”

T.I. then ended his message by repeating some choice words. “F*ck them people,” he said. “F*ck what people say. You hear me? F*ck ’em.”

Watch T.I.’s full message above.

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

Lorde Praises Lil Nas X’s ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’ And Calls It Her Soundtrack For A Night Out

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Lorde is currently celebrating the release of her third album Solar Power, and while she’s absolutely deserving of her own spotlight moment, the singer is also using some of the press she’s getting to shine a light on some of her peers in music. This includes Lil Nas X who she spoke about during a recent interview with YouTube Originals’ series, Released.

Lorde was asked to name songs that were ideal for certain moments and situations in her life and when it came time to mention a record ideal for a “night on the town,” the singer named Lil Nas’ “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).”

“Just before I left New Zealand, I was in a real zone of wanting to go out and dance and party a lot,” Lorde said in the interview. “And the song that we would all just lose our minds to was “Montero” by Lil Nas X. It’s just so good.” She added, “Every time that would come on, we would just lose it. It would get embarrassing, you know?”

Lil Nas caught wind of the singer’s comments after a fan brought it to his attention on Twitter and he was left in shock at her selection. “No f*ckin way omg,” the rapper wrote in response.

You can watch Lorde’s interview with YouTube Originals and view Lil Nas X’s comment above.

Solar Power is out now via Republic Records. Get it here.

Beyonce’s Dad Insists Destiny’s Child Has No Plans To Reunite Despite Recent Rumors

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Recently, the Destiny’s Child social media pages made some aesthetic changes, which had fans excitedly theorizing that the trio was planning some sort of reunion, whether that meant new music, some tour dates, or something else. However, now, Mathew Knowles, Beyonce’s father and the group’s manager, has put those rumors to rest.

TMZ reports that Knowles told them that there are currently no plans for Destiny’s Child to reunite, make new music, go on tour or do anything like that. As for the social media updates, those were apparently just some routine changes made be the group’s record label, which Knowles did not requested. Knowles notes, though, that the response to the Destiny’s Child rumors is “great” and shows that there’s demand for a comeback, which is something they will take into account going forward.

This all comes shortly after Beyonce offered an update on her music, saying in an interview, “I’ve been in the studio for a year and a half. Sometimes it takes a year for me to personally search through thousands of sounds to find just the right kick or snare. One chorus can have up to 200 stacked harmonies. Still, there’s nothing like the amount of love, passion, and healing that I feel in the recording studio. After 31 years, it feels just as exciting as it did when I was nine years old. Yes, the music is coming!”

Skrillex, Justin Bieber, And Don Toliver Turn Into Solid Gold In Their Video For ‘Don’t Go’

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Skrillex hasn’t dropped an album since 2015 but nowadays, things are picking up for the producer. His latest release pits him beside Justin Bieber and Don Toliver for their confessional track, “Don’t Go.” On the new song, the singer and rapper go back and forth with verses that plead for their lover’s continued presence over feel-good production from Skrillex. “Don’t Go” also arrives with a new video that captures the trio on display at different various exhibits before they each turn into solid gold right before the eyes of viewers.

The new single comes after Skrillex teamed up with J Balvin for “In Da Getto” last month. With that song, the duo shared a video that captured a massive house party filled with games and all types of other fun. The visual also sees appearances from TikTok favorites Khaby Lame and dancer Mustafa. Prior to that Skrillex connected with Starrah and Four Tet for “Butterflies.”

Elsewhere, Bieber recently unveiled the lineup for his Las Vegas weekender. The getaway experiences will feature performances from The Kid Laroi, Kehlani, Jaden, David Guetta, and more. As for Don Toliver, he’s weeks removed from teaming up with Latto for “Fast Lane” and Kali Uchis for “Drugs N Hella Melodies.”

You can watch the video for “Don’t Go” above.

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