Dan + Shay Show Off Their Dance Moves in ‘Steal My Love’ Video

Dan + Shay are stealing more than affection in their new video for “Steal My Love.”

The opening scenes of the music video give off a Mission: Impossible vibe, filled with police cars, an explosion and a heist, as the duo’s Dan Smyers descends from a cable (with help from his cohort Shay Mooney) into a guarded room to steal a briefcase. Mooney and Smyers manage to escape the building, leading to a car chase as they are pursued by a group of men clad in black ski masks. But when the group catches up and surrounds the duo’s car, what looks to be a high-stakes action video instantly pivots into a scene more akin to La La Land as they break into dance.

Mooney, Smyers and company show off some fancy footwork throughout the remainder of the “Steal My Love” video, weaving theatrics and dance choreography in and out of the ongoing heist storyline. The song itself features a smooth groove reminiscent of ’90s teen pop, spearheaded by stacked harmonies and Mooney’s glossy, endlessly versatile vocals.

Dan + Shay first premiered the “Steal My Love” video exclusively on Facebook. The song was penned by Smyers with Andy Albert, Ashley Gorley and Jordan Reynolds. (Reynolds was also a co-writer on Dan + Shay’s 2018 hit “Tequila.”)

“Steal My Love” is from the duo’s fourth studio album Good Things, which came out Friday and became the first country album of the streaming era to earn RIAA gold status on the day of its release.

Meanwhile, the album’s third single, “Glad You Exist,” sits atop Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, while “Steal My Love” enters the chart at No. 35, making it the week’s highest debut.

Earlier this year, the duo also announced rescheduled dates for their Dan + Shay The (Arena) Tour, featuring Ingrid Andress and The Band Camino. The tour is slated to launch Sept. 9 in Greenville, S.C.

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Here’s What Grammy Voters Thought of the 28 Longest-Running Hot 100 Hits

As previously reported, The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” logs its 88th week on the Billboard Hot 100. This enables the sleek, propulsive smash to surpass Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” as the single with the most weeks on the Hot 100 since the chart was introduced a little more than 63 years ago.

You doubtless remember that “Blinding Lights” was skunked by Grammy voters — it didn’t receive a single nomination. “Radioactive” fared much better, winning for best rock performance and receiving a record of the year nod.

Twenty-eight singles have logged 57 or more weeks on the Hot 100, from the chart’s Aug. 4, 1958, inception right up to the latest survey, dated Aug. 21, 2021. Let’s take a closer look at those 28 singles and see how they fared with Grammy voters.

Six of these monster hits won Grammys for record and/or song of the year: Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” Lady A’s “Need You Now,” Gotye featuring Kimbra’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud,” Santana featuring Rob Thomas’ “Smooth” and Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody.”

But 10 others — including, in addition to “Blinding Lights,” Ellie Goulding’s “Lights” (maybe they have an aversion to lights?), OneRepublic’s “Counting Stars,” AWOLNATION’s “Sail” and Gabby Barrett’s “I Hope” — weren’t nominated in any categories.

Here are the 28 singles with the most weeks on the Hot 100, together with the Grammy nominations and awards that the single (and/or the album that contained it) were granted by Grammy voters. We’re not showing nominations or awards that other tracks by the artists may have received.

1. “Blinding Lights,” The Weeknd: 88 weeks; no nominations

2. “Radioactive,” Imagine Dragons: 87 weeks; Grammy for best rock performance; nomination for record of the year (2013)

3. “Sail,” AWOLNATION: 79 weeks; no nominations

4. “I’m Yours,” Jason Mraz: 76 weeks; nominations for song of the year and best male pop vocal performance (2008)

5. “How Do I Live,” LeAnn Rimes: 69 weeks; nominations for best female country vocal performance, song of the year and best song written specifically for a motion picture or for television (1997). Diane Warren received the two songwriting nods.

6. “Counting Stars,” OneRepublic: 68 weeks; no nominations

6. “Party Rock Anthem,” LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock: 68 weeks; no nominations

8. “Rolling in the Deep,” Adele: 65 weeks; Grammys for record of the year, song of the year and best short form music video (2011). Adele shared the song of the year award with Paul Epworth. 21, the album that spawned the smash, won for album of the year and best pop vocal album.

8. “You Were Meant for Me”/”Foolish Games,” Jewel: 65 weeks; nomination for best female pop vocal performance (1997, for “Foolish Games”)

10. “Before He Cheats,” Carrie Underwood: 64 weeks; Grammys for best female country vocal performance and best country song; nomination for song of the year (2007). Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins received the two songwriting nods.

11. “I Hope,” Gabby Barrett: 62 weeks; no nominations

11. “Ho Hey,” The Lumineers: 62 weeks; no nominations for the song, but the group was nominated for best new artist and its eponymous debut album was nominated for best Americana album (2012)

11. “You and Me,” Lifehouse: 62 weeks; no nominations

14. “Circles,” Post Malone: 61 weeks; nominations for record, song and album of the year (for Hollywood’s Bleeding, which contained the smash). Posty shared the song of the year nod with Louis Bell, Adam Feeney, Kaan Gunesberk and Billy Walsh.

14. “Demons,” Imagine Dragons: 61 weeks; no nominations

16. “Need You Now,” Lady A: 60 weeks; Grammys for record and song of the year, best country song, best country performance by a duo or group with vocals and best country album for the album of the same name. Need You Now was also nominated for album of the year. The trio, then called Lady Antebellum, shared the two songwriting awards with Josh Kear, who also co-wrote the aforementioned “Before He Cheats.”

16. “Macarena” (Bayside Boys Mix),” Los Del Rio: 60 weeks; no nominations

18. “Shape of You,” Ed Sheeran: 59 weeks; Grammys for best pop solo performance and best pop vocal album for the album that spawned it, ÷ (Divide) (2017).

18. “All of Me,” John Legend: 59 weeks; the romantic ballad was released too late in the previous eligibility year to make much of an impact, but a live version was eligible in 2014 and was nominated for best pop solo performance. The album that spawned the smash, Love in the Future, was nominated the previous year for best R&B album.

18. “Somebody That I Used to Know,” Gotye featuring Kimbra: 59 weeks; Grammys for record of the year, best pop duo/group performance and best alternative music album for the album that spawned the smash — Gotye’s Making Mirrors.

21. “Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran: 58 weeks; Grammys for song of the year and best pop solo performance (2015). Nomination for record of the year. × (multiply), which spawned the smash, was nominated for album of the year and best pop vocal album the previous year.

21. “How to Save a Life,” The Fray: 58 weeks; nomination for best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal (2006).

21. “Smooth,” Santana featuring Rob Thomas: 58 weeks. Grammys for record of the year, song of the year and best pop collaboration with vocals. Thomas shared the songwriting award with Itaal Shur. Supernatural, the album that contained the smash, won album of the year and best rock album.

24. “Perfect,” Ed Sheeran: 57 weeks; ÷ (Divide), the album that contained the smash ballad, won for best pop vocal album (2017).

24. “Dark Horse,” Katy Perry featuring Juicy J: 57 weeks; nominations for best pop duo/group performance and best pop vocal album for Prism, which spawned it (2014).

24. “Lights,” Ellie Goulding: 57 weeks; no nominations

24. “Use Somebody,” Kings of Leon: 57 weeks; Grammys for record of the year, best rock performance by a duo or group with vocals and best rock song (2009).  Nomination for song of the year. Only By the Night, the album that contained the smash, was nominated for best rock album the previous year.

24. “Higher,” Creed: 57 weeks; no nominations

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South Florida healthcare giant mandating COVID vaccines for workers and volunteers

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50 Cent’s Branson Cognac Sued by Remy Martin Over Bottle Design

50 Cent is in hot water after famous French distiller Remy Martin sued the G-Unit rapper last week. Filed in a Manhattan federal court on Friday (Aug. 13), the lawsuit alleges that 50’s Branson cognac brand infringes on Remy’s trademark and patented “jewel-shaped glass cognac bottle design.”

According to Reuters, the complaint made against Branson goes far enough to call their design a “blatant attempt” on Remy’s branding. The lawsuit also describes the bottle as having a “circular array of raised flat and angled quadrilateral facets,” which helped the company reach worldwide notoriety after 35 years. On the other hand, the complaint states that Branson’s branding of their bottle is “nearly indistinguishable” and is a “near-exact reproduction.”

In 2018, Sire Spirits launched Branson. The bottle has been available for purchase since 2020. Upon hearing about the lawsuit, 50 went on Instagram to share his thoughts.

“They are afraid of me already,” he said. “Branson Cognac is the new wave. REMY is #2 Behind Henny and worried about Branson Smh. I’m just getting started.”

Check out 50’s IG post below.

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Ludacris Returns With ‘Butter.ATL’ & Urges Artists to ‘Express Yourself in Whatever Way You Want’

Ludacris is a busy man. On Friday, he released his brand-new single “Butter.ATL,” with more new music slated for 2022. Plus, he just wrapped filming the movie End of the Road with Queen Latifah in New Mexico. He’s also executive producing a new children’s animated series due out this fall called Karma’s World (named after his first daughter), and in his personal life, the doting dad welcomed new daughter Chance Oyali Bridges with his wife, Eudoxie Bridges, on July 28.

Oh, and he has a hilarious new Jif Peanut Butter commercial with Gunna, which Billboard caught up with him about, as well as reflecting on his legacy and all his upcoming projects.

“This all came together organically because I’ve been eating Jif Peanut Butter my entire life. Everybody has that one thing that they eat every day and never get tired of it, and for me, that’s peanut butter. At this stage in my career, whenever I have any type of partnerships, I only like to do stuff that’s a part of my lifestyle.” The partnership also inspired his new song “Butter.ATL” as well as “such great creativity with the commercial in working with [director] Dave Meyers, who did my ‘Stand Up’ video.”

The new song shows off Luda’s trademark lyricism, as well as his elastic flow. “One thing in my career that I’ve always loved to do is try and experiment with different flows,” he said. “A lot of people, humbly speaking, know I can rap slow, fast and do the melodic thing. [I’ve been] loving coming up with new things and that’s how you reinvent oneself. As someone who’s been in the industry for two decades and come out with more than 10 albums, there’s always something to inspire you.”

Of working with Queen Latifah amid the pandemic on their upcoming Netflix movie End of the Road, Luda says, “Filming with Queen was one of the best experiences ever, and I’m not just saying that. Her energy is unmatched. She’s so zen’d the hell out. We were laughing and joking on set every day.” He went on to “send her all her praises” and says he always wanted to collab with Latifah.

Throughout his career, Ludacris has continued to break barriers beyond his hip-hop foundation, as both an actor and executive producer. His collaboration with Carrie Underwood on “Champion” in 2018, for instance, won a CMT Music Award. Speaking on the importance of breaking into the country music genre, Ludacris tells Billboard, “I think it’s great because I feel like no one particular artist or genre should be limited to feel like they have to stay in that one lane. Music makes you feel good and sometimes you cross genres. I think over time, we’ve seen a lot more of that. You should be able to express yourself in whatever way you want.

“That’s even part of this campaign with Jif and creating different flows,” he said. “When you spark creativity, it should birth things in forms that have never been done before. I love the fact of taking something when people are trying to stereotype you to do one thing.”

In his new “The Return” commercial for Jif, Ludacris appears to be inspired to try the new generation’s style of “mumble rap,” after having an invigorating spoonful of Jif Peanut Butter. Moments later, the three-time Grammy winner seemingly gets Gunna’s stamp of approval after Luda makes several attempts to rap his verse. Of course, the ad becomes quite the parody about the evolution of rap — and a snippet of Luda’s new track “Butter.ATL” can be heard in the background.

On “Butter.ATL,” the hitmaker ultimately returns to his true hip-hop roots and raps in his classic style — with a hint of mumble rap in the chorus. Ludacris kicks off his song rapping, “It’s the return/ Ain’t nobody messing with a rapper named Luda, no matter how hard they try/ Top five, dead or alive/ Look into my eyes/ Realize I ain’t tellin’ no lies.”

“Butter.ATL” comes 21 years after the release of Luda’s debut studio album, Incognegro, which Ludacris dropped independently via his label Disturbing Tha Peace in 1999. As a onetime indie artist, Luda has advice for new musicians who may be aiming to release their own tunes. “There’s a difference between when I did it and how people do it now. There’s so much social media to market and organically promote yourself, so I would just give this advice: Come up with clever ways to have things go viral, as opposed to trying to spark something negative. Try to do something positive, funny or that hasn’t been done before that puts people on to your music or campaign.”

Adds the hip-hop great: “Try to be as creative as possible and expand behind the limited, negative thinking.”

He’s following his own advice too. “I also have a [streaming] platform [created for children] called Kid Nation. When we talk about legacy and trying to make the world a better place and put some positivity in there, those are the things I’m focused on right now besides the movies that are coming out in 2022.”

See the all-new Jif Peanut Butter “The Return” commercial below:

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Bob Dylan Sued for Alleged Sexual Abuse of 12-Year-Old Girl in 1965

An unnamed woman has accused Bob Dylan of sexually abusing her in 1965 when she was just 12 years old, according to a lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court on Friday (Aug. 13).

Identified only by the initials “J.C.,” the woman alleges that over a six-week period in April and May 1965, Dylan abused her, provided her with drugs and alcohol and threatened physical violence, “leaving her emotionally scarred and psychologically damaged to this day.” She says Dylan facilitated the abuse by establishing an “emotional connection” and grooming her using his status as a hugely-famous musician. The complaint includes few specifics of the alleged abuse.

The woman further claims that Dylan’s alleged abuse resulted in economic losses, including medical costs related to his conduct — some of which she alleges occurred in his apartment at the Hotel Chelsea, where Dylan famously wrote lyrics for his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. She is suing Dylan for assault and battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress and seeking compensatory, punitive and exemplary damages.

A spokesperson for Dylan sent the following statement to Billboard: “The 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended.”

Filed by attorneys Daniel Isaacs and Peter Gleason, the suit was made possible by New York’s Child Victims Act, a law established in 2019 which suspended the ordinary statute of limitations for child sexual abuse claims for a two-year period that ended on Saturday (Aug. 14) — just a day after the Dylan complaint was filed. The child sexual abuse lawsuit lodged last week against Nicki Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, was also a result of the law.

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Tencent Music Reports Strong Quarter Before Regulator Crackdown

While Chinese regulators were placing strict control upon the country’s tech sector this spring, its local music streaming giant Tencent Music Entertainment improved revenue and subscriber numbers substantially. In the period from April 1 to June 30, the parent company to steaming services QQ, Kuguo and Kuwo saw music revenues climb 32.8% to 1.79 billion RMB ($277 million) and subscribers jump 40.6% to 66.2 million, compared to the prior quarter, according to the company’s second-quarter earnings report released Monday (Aug. 16). For a company with a 77% market share in the country, it’s a testament to the rapid pace of growth in China’s hot music market. (That’s far greater gains on both accounts, in percentage terms, than Spotify achieved in same time span — 17% and 19.6%, respectively — for example.) TME’s total revenue, which includes social entertainment, grew 15.5% to 8.01 billion RMB ($1.24 billion).

Those encouraging numbers are from a different era, however. They’re from before TME’s ensnarement in the Chinese government’s scrutiny of some foreign-listed companies — Tencent Music trades on the U.S. New York Stock Exchange — and key areas such as technology, healthcare and education. In April, regulators made international headlines by handing out harsh penalties to major tech companies, such as an 18.2 billion RMB ($2.8 billion) antitrust fine levied against Chinese e-commerce giant Ali Baba. Then in July, the Cyberspace Administration of China opened an investigation into ride-hailing app Didi, just days after its initial public offering raised $4.4 billion, and ordered app stores in China to remove Didi’s app. So far, the Chinese government has unleashed at least 50 regulatory actions — mostly affecting tech companies — in recent months, according to The Economist.

In July, Chinese regulators demanded that Tencent Music end its exclusive licensing agreements with record labels. It could have been worse: The company was spared any massive fine, app store ban or forced sales of any of individual streaming service. Still, TME’s statement on Monday was quick to address regulators’ concerts about its market dominance by saying it “sincerely accepts the decision issued in July by the regulator pertaining to exclusive music licensing arrangements. We are committed to fully complying with all requirements in a timely manner … [and] promoting the long-term, healthy development of the digital music industry.”

Ironically, the government’s claim about Tencent Music’s market power had the unintended consequence of hurting the company’s main competitor. Amid the regulatory uncertainty and the resulting weakening of the Hong Kong IPO market, Netease, the maker of China’s second-most popular streaming service, Netease Cloud Music, dropped its plans to spin off the music service and raise up to $1 billion, according to reports.

It is unclear how the regulations will impact Tencent Music’s fast-growing business and the country’s streaming marketplace. The company would only state the regulations will have “some impact” to business operations. The earnings call on Wednesday (Aug. 16) at 8 a.m. EST will give Tencent Music an opportunity to expand on Monday’s statement and provide details into the regulator’s requests.

In the meantime, however, investors appear wary. Shares of Tencent Music fell 9% on Monday after dropping 6.3% the previous week. Tencent Music’s stock price has fallen 43.5% since July 26 when Chinese regulators ordered an end to the company’s exclusive licensing agreements.

Financial metrics (Q2 2021 vs. Q2 2020)

  • Revenue: 8.01 billion RMG ($1.24 billion), up 15.5%
  • Online services revenue: 2.2 billion RMB ($343 million), up 32.8%
  • Music subscription revenues: 1.79 billion RMG ($277 million), up 36.3%
  • Gross margin: 32%
  • Net profit: $135 million

User metrics (Q2 2021 vs. Q2 2020)

  • Subscribers: 66.2 million, up 40.6% (up 5.3 million from Q1)
  • Music mobile monthly average users: 623 million, down 4.3%
  • Average revenue per music user: 9.0 RMG, down 3.2%
  • Social mobile monthly average users: 209 million, down 13.3%

Stock market

  • Share price change in August: -15.6%
  • Change since all-time high on March 23: -83.8%

Key events in Q3 2021

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J Balvin, Sech, Becky G & Rauw Alejandro Close Weekend 1 of Mexico’s Baja Beach Fest: Recap

The third day of Baja Beach Fest in Rosarito, Mexico, capped a weekend of hitmakers, including Anuel, Ozuna and Karol G. On Sunday, J Balvin closed out weekend one, following stellar performances from Sech, Becky G, Rauw Alejandro, Paloma Mami, Jhay Cortez, Justin Quiles and Sky Rompiendo among others.

Here are the highlights:

J Balvin: Balvin returned to the Rosarito festival for a second time, this time as the main headliner, and fans welcomed him with a huge, echoing roar the instant he set foot onstage and opened with — wait for it — “Mi Gente.” The Colombian icon, gleaming in bleached hair and tan-colored cargo attire, played a riveting hour of hits, including “X,” “Con Altura” and “Que Calor.” Maverick male backup dancers in quirky outfits backed him up, a standout moment, considering that backup dancers at the fest were mostly sexily clad, voluptuous women. Bonus: Puerto Rican star Nio García popped up to join Balvin for their recent top 10 “AM” remix.

Sech: In 2019, Sech was just another breakout star with an inescapable hit, “Otro Trago.” Now, the Panamanian vocalist is unquestionably one of the most sought-after performers in Latin music. At Baja Beach fest, he brought pal Jhay Cortez onstage for an unexpected duet and displayed his acrobatic-like percussion skills in a drum battle alongside Toni Drums. Bonus: “Relación” was stunning in a live setting.

“¡Se vale soñar!,” Sech shouted, alluding to the title of his debut album, Sueños, but more importantly, reminding his fans that even the wildest dreams are possible. A few years ago, after all, the singer was working construction in Rio Abajo, Panama.

Becky G: The California-born star — looking as beautiful as ever in glistening silver eyeshadow and a white jean shorts and jacket combo — continued to rep her biculturalism, stating how thrilled she is to be a part of both worlds as an American and Mexicana. Her bilingual set was invigorating to say the least. “No Drama” and closing numbers “Mayores” and “Sin Pijama” elevated the vibe to boisterous proportions.

Rauw Alejandro and Jhay Cortez: The two rising stars brought fresh hits. Rauw Alejandro boasted some of the slickest dance moves of the weekend and set the stage ablaze with dance banger “Todo De Ti.” And Cortez delivered more crowd pleasers with “Dákiti” and “No Me Conoce.”

“After being away from a festival stage for so long, I feel blessed to be able to get back out there and reconnect with the people, my fans, and be able to share all this new music,” Cortez told Billboard.

Baja Beach Fest returns next weekend.

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