Ado, ATARASHII GAKKO! and YOASOBI graced the stage at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles for matsuri ’25: Japanese Music Experience LOS ANGELES on Sunday, March 16, the music event by Japan’s Culture and Entertainment Industry Promotion Association (CEIPA).

YOASOBI opened the show, and when the duo’s name on a banner flashed on the screen behind the stage, the 7,000 fans in the audience cheered loudly. As the banner was torn down by the hand of a monster, low-pitched sounds and mysterious music played over the speakers. ikura and Ayase appeared on stage to the announcement, “Welcome to the world of Surrealism,” and the crowd shouted and waved their glow sticks to express their excitement. The intro to “Seventeen” began to play after a brief silence, and ikura said in English, “Welcome to matsuri ’25. We are YOASOBI from Japan. Get ready to have a blast tonight. L.A., are you guys ready?” Fans responded with shouts of “Oi! Oi!” and the band kicked off the event with a bang.

ikura took a moment to explain the purpose of the event, saying, “Three acts from Japan — Ado, ATARASHII GAKKO!, and YOASOBI — have come this time, hoping to enjoy great music, J-pop music, with everyone here.” She then asked the audience to light up their phones and sway to create a sense of unity, and the duo performed the poignant mid-tempo ballad “Tabun.”

Following “The Brave,” the band performed “Monster,” a fast-paced track with thumping low beats that satisfy performed live. “As a J-Pop artist, we’ve been trying to spread our music from Japan to the world,” said ikura in English. “We are so so so happy to be able to share with all of you. Thank you very much. I love you guys. We dive into the second half. Let me see your passion, OK? You ready to go loud? Can you give us some more? Ok, let’s sing together.” The pair then went on to perform some of its biggest hits back-to-back, with the exhilaration of “Into the Night,” the unity of the chorus in “Blue,” and the energy and enthusiasm of the audience in “Idol” filling the venue. The overwhelming delivery of the last three songs proved that YOASOBI has indeed become one of Japan’s top acts whose concerts sell out instantly whenever they perform overseas today.

Following a 15-minute changeover, the four members of ATARASHII GAKKO! appeared from the audience aisle to the sound of ringing school bells, holding big white flags over their heads. When the members — SUZUKA, RIN, MIZYU, and KANON — gathered on stage, SUZUKA greeted the crowd with the sound of a trumpet in the background: “Hello everyone. We are ATARASHII GAKKO! Everybody, are you ready?” The words “Seishun Nihon Daihyo” (Youth Team Japan) appeared on the screen and the women began their set with “Change,” the members swinging their arms around and performing immaculate choreography off the bat. During “Fly High,” RIN called out, “L.A., are you ready? Jump!” and fans were more than happy to comply. For “Arigato,” each member sang while holding a broomstick like a microphone stand, or fake-played it like a guitar, playfully reminding us of our school days. The audience reacted enthusiastically to the intro of the group’s breakout hit “Otona Blue,” and the members captivated the crowd with their signature head-shaking dance and distinctive choreography.

Following a group chant with SUZUKA, who hyped up the audience calling out, “Everybody, ganbatte (hang in there)! Woo!” the women performed “Toryanse.” Fans waved their glow sticks towards the stage during the intro and danced to the lively rhythm accompanied by electronic sounds of Japanese instruments. Each of the four members called out, “Everybody jump!” “Say yeah!” and “Say change!” in time with the lyrics during the set, confidently charging the crowd with their energy.

An image of the Tokyo metropolis appeared on the screen and ATARASHII GAKKO! launched into “Tokyo Calling.” SUZUKA came down from the stage and sang enthusiastically while making her way through the crowd, regally marching back to the lyrics of “We are marching.” The women closed their set with “One Heart,” the word “SAIKO” (“the best”) appearing behind them on the screen, and the audience joined in and sang along. The lyrics “AG want to take you higher” is like the Japanese modern version of Ike & Tina Turner’s “I Want To Take You Higher,” and the song uplifts and inspires like the best kind of music.

Watching ATARASHII GAKKO!’s performance, this writer couldn’t help but agree with what Creativeman Productions’ Rob Kelso said during the press conference before the event: “The best way to integrate these [artists] is to realize we lost the last excuse. Their last excuse was it must be in English…anything in the U.S. must be in English. And that doesn’t exist anymore. Now it is ok not to be in English…let’s take advantage of that. Doors are opening again to other languages.” The members of ATARASHII GAKKO! know how to entertain the crowds at their shows overseas, encouraging call-and-response with fans using short Japanese words like “ganbatte” and “saiko,” and getting them excited in English, saying, “Everybody jump!’ and ”Say yeah!” Plus, the group’s shows never look cheap or over-the-top, thanks to the four members’ well-coordinated dance moves, SUZUKA’s vocal prowess, and the individuality of each member. Whether you’re Japanese or American, anyone who sees ATARASHII GAKKO! will be able to enjoy its performances to the fullest, and the group’s set at matsuri ’25 was a testimony to that.

Then the “Ado Box” was set up in the center of the stage for the event’s final artist, the enigmatic singer Ado, who never shows her face. The 22-year-old songstress immediately launched into her hit banger “Show,” then performed “New Genesis,” “Usseewa” (which sounded faster and more powerful than when this writer saw her on her North American tour a year ago), and “Lucky Bruto” in succession. The stage production was designed to be visually enjoyable as well, with Ado performing “RuLe” by dancing and singing while seated on a chair in her box.

After calls of “Let’s go, Ado” from the audience, the singer addressed the crowd for the first time, talking about how living in Los Angeles for a month last year was one of the best experiences of her life. She shared some episodes that showed her personality, like how she enjoyed In-N-Out burgers and going to Macy’s. “I’m proud to be able to share the stage with ATARASHII GAKKO! and YOASOBI,” she said, expressing appreciation for the opportunity to perform at the event. “I’m so happy that you’ve come to experience Japanese music and culture today. It will really make me happy if you’ll continue to love Japanese music and culture. This has been a really great evening. Thank you.” She then invited the audience to sing and dance with her before performing the last song of her set, “Odo.”

It was unthinkable in the past that an artist who maintains her anonymity by never revealing her face would perform on stage in a box. But it’s true that many people listen to Ado’s music and when she announces shows outside of her home country, many fans rush to buy tickets. This is in line with what Goldenvoice vice president Ellen Lu said at the conference that “festivals are booking with a global sense now. Because that is what people are listening to, so if we are to stay in touch with what people are wanting to see that is not just exclusive to the U.S. or Europe which historically has been the case. It just puts these [international] artists in front of audiences that want to see them or have never had a chance to see them.” This is why Ado was able to successfully tour the world last year, and is set to embark on her second global trek this summer at even bigger venues including arenas.

The three acts that performed at the matsuri ’25 event all had previous experience performing live in North America, and it was a luxurious and precious experience to be able to see them at once. It was an evening that surely made fans want to support other Japanese artists that will follow these groups and go on to perform on the world stage.

—This article by Tomoya Ogawa first appeared on Billboard Japan

Eslabon Armado doubles down on its Vibras era with the release of Vibras de Noche II, the sequel to its chart-topping album Vibras de Noche, which debuts at Nos. 4 and 3 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums and Regional Mexican Albums charts, respectively (dated March 29).

Vibras de Noche II bows on both lists with 19,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the tracking week ending March 20, according to Luminate. The bulk of the album’s first week sum stems from the streaming sector, representing 27 million official on-demand streams of the set’s tracks, with a negligible amount of album sales and track-equivalent activity.

It’s the group’s first album chart debut since Desvelado opened atop both Top Latin Albums and Regional Mexican Albums charts in 2023. The latter holds at No. 47 in its 93rd week on Top Latin Albums.

Vibras de Noche II was released March 15 on Armado Records/ICLG. Its top 10 start marks another significant milestone for the group, following its recent signing with Interscope Capitol Labels Group, a fruitful partnership as the label secures its first top 10 debut on Top Latin Albums in 2025.

Vibras de Noche II was written by Eslabon’s lead vocalist, Pedro Tovar, in its entirety. It comprises 17 tracks and two intros including a cameo appearance by Mexican actress Loreto Peralta. “Esa Noche,” featuring emerging Mexican folk singer Macario Martinez, is the only collab on the album.

The 23-year-old Mexican street sweeper has captured the internet’s attention, going viral on TikTok after sharing a heartfelt video in response for the support of his song “Sueña Lindo, Corazón.” He’s also seen wearing his work uniform while riding in the back of a truck alongside his coworkers in Mexico City –the clip has garnered over 12 million views since Feb. 8. While his song propelled him into the spotlight, Martínez makes his Billboard debut through his first Eslabon Armado team-up, as “Esa Noche” debuts at No. 50 on the multi-metric Hot Latin Songs chart, largely from 2 million official U.S. streams in the latest tracking week.

Vibras de Noche II is a follow-up to Eslabon’s second studio album Vibras de Noche, which debuted at No. 1 on Top Latin Albums and Regional Mexican Albums in 2020. While it ruled for one week on the former, it dominated Regional Mexican Albums for 11 weeks between Aug.-Nov. 2020.

Thanks to Vibras de Noche II, Eslabon earns its seventh top 10 on Top Latin Albums chart, which launched in 1993. Here’s a recap of the group’s collection of entries on the overall Latin albums tally, a count that included two No. 1s:

Peak Position, Title, Peak Date
No. 7, Tu Veneno Mortal, July 25, 2020
No. 1, Vibras De Noche, Aug. 1, 2020
No. 2, Corta Venas, Jan. 2, 2021
No. 5, Tu Veneno Mortal, Vol. 2, July 10, 2021
No. 2, Nostalgia, May 21, 2022
No. 1, Desvelado, May 13, 2023
No. 4, Vibras De Noche II, March 29, 2025

Elsewhere, Vibras de Noche II, opens at No. 30 on the all-genre Billboard 200, Eslabon’s sixth visit and first since 2023.

On a song level, thanks to the new album, Eslabon adds five new songs on the Hot Latin Songs chart, which fuses weekly streaming data, radio airplay and digital sales. “Dime” leads the pack at No. 35 with 2.4 million official U.S. streams. It joins “Te Odio!” at No. 36, “Otras 24 Horas” at No. 37, and the previously reported Martinez-featured track, “Esa Noche” at No. 50.

Ye (formerly Kanye West) is facing a lawsuit claiming he sampled a song by German singer-songwriter Alice Merton despite her refusal to license it — a move she says “shocked and humiliated” her because she’s the descendant of Holocaust survivors.

In a copyright case filed Monday (March 26) in federal court, attorneys for Merton say Ye prominently used clips from her 2022 track “Blindside” in his 2024 song “Gun to My Head” with Ty Dolla $ign and Kid Cudi, even after she had expressly refused to clear the sample.

When contacted by Ye’s reps last year, Merton says she and her publisher told them that they were denying him a license because “the artist’s values are contrary to our values” — a reference to the star’s antisemitic statements over the years.

“Although defendants’ use of plaintiffs’ song could potentially bring in significant revenue, [she] was unwilling to compromise her personal beliefs and wanted not to be associated with Ye in any Manner,” her lawyers write. “Merton is a German resident who has close ties to the Holocaust through Jewish family members who survived its horrors, and as such feels closely connected to it.”

Merton’s new lawsuit is one of more than a dozen such cases filed against Ye during his career over claims of unlicensed sampling or interpolating. The controversial rapper has faced nine such infringement cases since 2019 alone, including a high-profile battle with the estate of Donna Summer that settled last year.

In Monday’s complaint, Merton says she is the “direct descendant of Holocaust survivors” — and that she was thus “understandably shocked and humiliated” when the song was released featuring his music: “Merton’s name was suddenly appearing everywhere, with claims that the song was a collaboration between YE, Cudi, and Merton.”

Making matters worse, Merton says that when the song was not included on Ye’s Vultures 2 album, fans blamed her and began harassing her to approve the sample.

“Plaintiff Merton began receiving death threats and abuse from Defendants’ fan base,” he lawyers write. “Defendant did nothing to stop the abuse, allowing his fans to intimidate and harass Plaintiff Merton.”

A spokesperson for Ye could not immediately be located for comment on Wednesday (March 26).

Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.

This week: The biggest TV drama on streaming dusts off some old renditions of vocal pop favorites, an ’00s smash goes newly viral and lifts the ’70s classic it samples, and 27 years after Will Smith’s Hot 100-topper, it’s time to get jiggy with it again.

A Streaming Waffle Party for Severance Finale-Bumped Pop Standards

Did you manage to see the Cold Harbour project through to its completion in the Severance Season Two finale last Thursday (Mar. 20)? If so, you probably heard a number of pop standards in the episode, soundtracking all the innie-and-outtie drama in the action-packed season-ender. While Apple TV’s hit sci-fi workplace drama has resulted in minor gains for some of the more high-profile synchs of its second season, the finale saw a couple songs who were previously racking up weekly streams in the triple or low-quadruple digits exploding to five and even six figures. 

The biggest bump was, unsurprisingly, for “The Windmills of Your Mind,” the late-’60s pop standard originally recorded by Noel Harrison for the soundtrack to late-’60s heist flick The Thomas Crown Affair. In last Friday’s Severance, “Windmills” was featured (as performed by legendary crooner Mel Tormé) during the episode’s emotionally heightened-but-ambiguous closing sequence – with viewers rushing to Shazam the mysterious pop ballad. The song has racked up 215,000 U.S. on-demand audio streams in the four days since the finale aired (Mar. 20-24), up over 30,000% from the negligible number of streams it amassed in the equivalent period the prior week, according to early data provided by Luminate. 

Similarly gargantuan were the percentage gains for late-’50s and early-’60s hitmaker Bobby Darin’s version of “Work Song,” a jazz-pop standard originally penned by Nat Adderley (with lyrics added by Oscar Brown Jr.), and recorded by Darin for his 1963 album Earthy! After playing over the end credits to the Severance season finale, the relative pop obscurity jumped over 35,000% in streams to over 20,000 for that same four-day period. 

Much more modest were the gains for a song featured in the finale that’s never that far removed from American popular culture: The Alan Parsons Project’s spectral prog-rock instrumental “Sirius,” which became an all-time jock jam after being used by the ‘90s Chicago Bulls for their pre-game player intros. After seeing similar usage from Mr. Milchick on Severance, the song jumped 16% to just under 125,000 streams for the same four-day period. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER 

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Nearly 25 Years After Release, TikTok Revives Janet Jackson’s “Someone to Call My Lover” 

Janet Jackson is an indisputable music icon, but her 2004 Super Bowl halftime show controversy effectively railroaded her crossover to younger listeners. Luckily, in the TikTok era, anyone can have a comeback at any time. 

Bolstered by a natural love for breezy, springtime pop songs by Black women – the same general trend that’s boosting Ravyn Lenae’s “Love Me Not” — Janet Jackson’s “Someone to Call My Lover” has started to explode on streaming. According to Luminate, streaming activity for “Someone” has risen over 606% over the past four weeks. During the week of March 14-20, the song earned 1.14 million official on-demand U.S. streams, marking a 75% increase from the 651,200 streams it pulled the week prior (March 7-13). 

The song originally earned a series of viral X posts and TikToks last fall, and as the weather started warming up, users started gravitating towards “Someone” to capture the mood of the season. The official “Someone to Call My Lover” TikTok sound has earned over 64,200 posts, with that number growing each day.

“Someone” lifts its signature guitar riff from America’s ’70s pop-rock smash “Ventura Highway,” which has also seen a boost in streaming. Activity for “Ventura” has risen over 56% over the past four weeks; during the week of March 14-20, the song earned 2.45 million official on-demand U.S. streams, marking an 8% increase from the 2.26 million streams it pulled the week prior (March 7-13). 

A quarter century after it reached No. 3 on the Hot 100, “Someone to Call My Lover” has enraptured a whole new set of listeners. — KYLE DENIS

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Zeddy Will Racks Up Another TikTok-Fueled Hit With “Get Jiggy” 

Zeddy Will is as much of a regular as an artist can be in this column, and he’s back this week with another one. 

Zeddy first teased “Get Jiggy,” a collaboration with B Jack$, back in January, and, the following month (Feb. 6), he shared another snippet with the now endlessly recreated neck-jerking choreography. The first snippet earned 113,000 views, while the second has since topped out at around 575,000 views. The song finally hit streaming on Feb. 27, clocking over one million official on-demand U.S. streams in its first full week, according to Luminate. 

That figure leapt 95% to over 2.2 million streams during the week of March 7-13. The next week (March 14-20), “Jiggy” rose a further 26% to over 2.81 million streams. Over the past two weeks, streams for “Jiggy” have soared nearly 148%. The official “Get Jiggy” TikTok sound has garnered nearly 400,000 posts, showing that Zeddy Will is more than validating his status as one of Billboard staff’s 15 Hip-Hop, African and R&B artists to watch in 2025. – KD