Kylie Cantrall is entering a new era with the release of her upcoming EP, Valley Girl Problems.

The Disney star’s latest project is set for release on July 24. Valley Girl Problems is an eight-track EP that marks a new chapter for the Venezuelan-American artist, as she continues to transition from her acting career and her role as Red in the Descendants franchise to becoming a household name in pop music. 

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The EP’s lead single “Carrie Bradshaw” was released in April, while other tracks include “Grwm,” the title track, “Closet,” “Girls Like U,” “Yuck!” and two interludes titled “The Problem” and “The Answer.”

“I’ve always heard people say, ‘Write what you know,’ and that’s exactly what I did with this EP,” Cantrall said of the project. “Valley Girl Problems truly captures everything I’ve experienced over the last year and how I’ve embraced this new chapter of my life.”

Valley Girl Problems was produced by Tricky Stewart — known for working with artists such as Rihanna and Tyla — and written alongside Tayla Parx, who co-wrote the song inspired by the iconic Sex and the City character and is a hitmaking co-writer for Ariana Grande, Panic! at the Disco and more.

The release of Valley Girl Problems will follow Cantrall’s return to Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, a sequel to The Rise of Red, debuting July 16 on Disney Channel. The Disney production marks the fifth installment in the Descendants franchise, in which she portrays the daughter of the Queen of Hearts, played by singer Rita Ora.

Earlier this year, the actress and singer signed to Republic Records, in partnership with APG and Heroine Music. Last year, Cantrall released her debut EP, B.O.Y., which included the singles “Boy for a Day,” “Goodie Bag,” “Denim” and “See U Tonight.”

The Valley Girl Problems track list:

  1. Grwm
  2. Valley Girl Problems
  3. Closet
  4. The Problem (interlude)
  5. Carrie Bradshaw
  6. The Answer (interlude) 
  7. Girls Like U
  8. “Yuck!”
  9. Space Between

On Tuesday (July 7), Primary Wave officially passed all relevant regulatory scrutiny and closed its acquisition of Kobalt, Billboard has confirmed. The deal is estimated to be worth more than $1.5 billion.

The possibility of the deal was first reported by Billboard in February. At the time, it was estimated that if Primary Wave and Kobalt were to go through with it, the combined companies would be worth $7 billion in assets. By March 23, a press release announced that Primary Wave’s acquisition was officially happening and would include Kobalt’s worldwide operations, its catalog of copyrights and digital collection society AMRA.

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Under the new ownership of Primary Wave, the two companies will continue to operate as standalone firms. Kobalt will retain CEO Laurent Hubert as its leader.

Primary Wave and Kobalt are both indie music giants in their own right, but the two have different focuses. Primary Wave is focused on big-name catalog acquisitions, with a portfolio containing stakes in catalogs from Prince, Whitney Houston, James Brown, Stevie Nicks, Luther Vandross, Bob Marley, Britney Spears and Jackson Brown. Kobalt has a different approach, focusing on offering a large roster of current songwriting talent with publishing administration aid and help collecting royalties, among other services, for signees like Phoebe Bridgers, Panic! At the Disco, Childish Gambino, Bon Iver, Kali Uchis, Paul McCartney and more.

Kobalt often ranks on Billboard’s Publishers’ Quarterly list as the largest independent music publisher by market share. In 2022, it was acquired by a group of investors led by Francisco Partners (which held a controlling 90% interest) in a deal that valued the company at around $750 million. Since then, the company has continued to grow its roster and improve profits. In recent years, Kobalt launched KOSIGN, its solution for young songwriters looking for flexible deal terms, and launched a joint venture with Morgan Stanley’s Tactical Value group with $700 million to invest in music copyrights.

While Primary Wave has ownership in an enviable catalog of hit songs, it’s historically been dependent on other publishers — including but not limited to Kobalt — to handle publishing administration. Sometimes, when Primary Wave acquires a catalog, the songs will be tied up in other incomplete publishing deals. For those catalogs that are free to move publishers, Primary Wave often assigns their administration, with songwriter consent, to Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), sources say.

Now, Primary Wave has administration services at the ready in-house. It now also owns Kobalt’s AMRA, the global music collection organization that collects mechanical and performance royalties directly from digital services providers, which could help Primary Wave cut down on fees paid to local societies and subpublishers.


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Ben Folds is giving fans a look at what might have been.

Folds, bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessee are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Ben Folds Five’s self-titled debut album with the release of Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary), a newly remastered edition set to be released on Sept. 4.

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The project pairs the original 1995 record with an unreleased version of the album titled Shelved First Attempt. The recently unearthed project is being previewed with the fan-favorite track “Underground (Shelved First Attempt),” available to fans on Tuesday (June 7).

“Here’s my 59-year-old self’s take on the album we made when I was 28: Overall, it’s good!” Folds writes in the anniversary edition’s liner notes. “It’s NOT the kind of record you’d hear produced these days. It’s pretty rough and tumble, mostly in a good way. And it’s emphatically unique. It’s from an era when you could still identify a band by the instrumentalists, before you’d even hear the vocalist.”

The “Shelved First Attempt” comprises tracks that remained tucked away for more than 30 years before Folds decided to resurface them from his personal archives. The recordings feature earlier versions of tracks such as “Underground,” “Julianne” and “Philosophy,” as well as “Boxing” and “Evaporated,” which appeared on the band’s 1997 album Whatever and Ever Amen. Other tracks within the collection include “Emaline,” “Dick Holster” and “Eddie Walker.”

Released in 1997, Whatever and Ever Amen’s release was the commercial breakthrough for Ben Folds Five, peaking at No. 42 on the Billboard 200 chart. “Brick,” one of the songs from the album, peaked at No. 6 on the Alternative Airplay chart, No. 11 on the Mainstream Top 40 and reached No. 19 on the mainstream Hot 100 Airplay chart.

Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary) will be released via Capitol/UMe on CD and vinyl, while the remaster of the original album as well as the Shelved First Attempt will both be available to stream and download.

As the project’s reissue becomes available, the group is set to reunite for their first live performances together in more than 13 years next year.

Preview the Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary) CD tracklist:

DISC 1 – BEN FOLDS FIVE (REMASTERED)

1. Jackson Cannery
2. Philosophy
3. Julianne
4. Where’s Summer B.?
5. Alice Childress
6. Underground
7. Sports & Wine
8. Uncle Walter
9. Best Imitation of Myself
10. Video
11. The Last Polka
12. Boxing

DISC 2 – BEN FOLDS FIVE (SHELVED FIRST ATTEMPT)

1. Underground
2. Julianne
3. Uncle Walter
4. Alice Childress
5. Evaporated
6. Dick Holster
7. Philosophy
8. Boxing
9. Emaline
10. The Last Polka
11. Eddie Walker

One thing about Jim Jones? He’s good for a quote.

The Harlem rapper popped by the No Funny Sh– podcast recently and was asked about the Verzuz challenge he made toward his fellow Diplomat Cam’ron back in May. And while he acknowledged that the challenge was just him trolling a little bit, Jimmy also said that he feels like he has one of the better discographies in New York rap history.

“I got a better catalog than over 90 percent of the rappers out of New York City in history,” he said confidently. “Not to be like…there’s been a lot of rappers in New York, but I got real gold records, more than one of them, like albums and sh– like that. You dig? I got real platinum singles and sh– like that.”

He added: “Some of your favorite rappers don’t have nothing platinum. That doesn’t make me better than anybody and sh– like that, but statistically I got a hell of a catalog. I mean, from every album that I put out, I got a dope a– single, especially in New York. In New York, hands down, I know I got 20 records.”

Jim made headlines this time last year when he defended himself after a podcast clip of a college student saying the Dipset member was more relevant than Nas went viral. However, during an interview with the legendary Angie Martinez, Jones admitted that he didn’t realize how many fans the Queens rapper still has after his comments received massive pushback from the hip-hop community.

You can watch Jim’s full conversation with No Funny Sh– below.

Zara Larsson has signed with RCA Records, a source confirmed with Billboard. The singer-songwriter was previously with Epic Records, her label home for more than a decade.

The signing was first reported by Hits Daily Double.

Larsson, a native of Sweden, has released a total of five studio albums, including her debut, 1, in 2014 when she was just 16. But she scored a major breakout beginning last fall, when her verse on the remix of PinkPantheress’ “Stateside” caught fire and eventually landed at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200.

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Meanwhile, her 2016 single “Lush Life” went viral on TikTok, pushing the song back onto the Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 35. The renewed interest around the singer’s catalog pushed “Midnight Sun,” the title track from her 2025 album, into the upper reaches of the Hot 100, where it hit a new peak of No. 19 on the chart dated July 4. Last month, the song also landed at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Pop Airplay chart, where it has remained for 23 weeks.

In the wake of this burst of success, Larsson was named Billboard‘s Women in Music Breakthrough for 2026.

“I think this year cemented me as not only a girl with popular songs,” Larsson said in an April interview with Billboard, “but a girl worth talking about in pop culture.”

Larsson released the remix album Midnight Sun: Girls Trip in May.

RCA did not immediately respond to a request for comment/confirmation on the signing.


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Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic have announced a special benefit concert to raise funds to help the affected communities by the recent earthquakes in Venezuela

Dubbed “A Concert for Venezuela,” the event will take place Aug. 23 at the Hollywood Bowl and feature full programing with special guests to be revealed soon. 

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“Venezuela will always be my home, and every moment, my thoughts are with the families whose lives have been forever changed by this tragedy,” the renowned Venezuelan-born conductor said in a statement. “The suffering is immense, but so is the strength and resilience of our people. This concert at the Hollywood Bowl is an invitation to stand together and transform our compassion into action.” 

The forthcoming concert is in response to the devastating twin earthquakes—magnitude 7.2 and 7.5—that struck the South American country on June 24, causing the collapse of multiple buildings in La Guaira and Caracas, leaving more than 3,000 dead and over 17,000 homeless, at time of publishing, according to Reuters

Donations raised by “A Concert for Venezuela” — which will also mark Dudamel’s last performance as Music & Artistic Director of the LA Phil — will go to his Earthquake Recovery to Support Venezuelan Communities fund, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) fund.

“Through our partnerships, we can help ensure that urgent humanitarian aid reaches those who need it most, while at the same time working towards long-term recovery efforts,” Dudamel noted. “Every person who joins us and every contribution made is a reminder to the people of Venezuela that they are not alone. Together, through music, generosity, and hope, we will help our country heal and rebuild.”

“In moments of profound need, our responsibility as an institution extends beyond the stage,” Kim Noltemy, President and CEO of the LA Phi added. “We are grateful for the opportunity to provide direct financial support to relief efforts for communities in Venezuela with a $50,000 charitable donation and to stand alongside Gustavo in bringing this concert to life at the Bowl.”

Lauren Bennett has died at age 37, but her musical legacy will forever be cemented on the Billboard charts.

The singer scored hits across numerous chapters in her career, starting with her time in the Paradiso Girls. The group assembled by Pussycat Dolls founder Robin Antin debuted in 2009 with thesingle “Patron Tequila” featuring Eve and Lil’ Jon, which peaked at No. 3 on the Dance Club Songs chart and No. 27 on Rhythmic Airplay. The following year, “Who’s My Bitch?” would reach No. 28 on Dance Club Songs.

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After Interscope dropped the Paradiso Girls in 2010, Bennett continued finding success as a soloist. Most notably, she guested on LMFAO’s inescapable earworm “Party Rock Anthem,” which spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2011 — at that point becoming the third-longest-running hit on the chart’s summit ever — and closed out the year as No. 2 overall on the Hot 100. The track also topped Pop Airplay and reached No. 6 on Latin Airplay.

To date, “Party Rock Anthem” has 1 billion official on-demand streams and has sold 8.3 million copies in the U.S., according to Luminate. As of 2021, it was No. 7 on the Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs ranking.

Also as a soloist, Bennett scored a No. 21 entry on the now-defunct Dance Club chart in 2016 with her guest feature on Nick Martin’s “Reality.” But before that, she’d joined the group G.R.L. and appeared with her bandmates on Pitbull’s “Wild Wild Love,” which peaked at No. 15 on Pop Airplay and No. 30 on the Hot 100 in 2014. The quintet also reached No. 32 on Adult Pop Songs with “Ugly Heart.”

The musician’s death was announced by the surviving members of G.R.L. on Monday (July 6). In a post on Instagram, they wrote, “It is with great sadness that we share the passing of our beloved Lauren.”

“Our hearts are broken, and we cannot begin to express how much she meant to us,” they continued, refraining from sharing Bennett’s cause of death. “We will forever cherish the love, laughter, and countless memories she gave us. Her beautiful spirit touched so many lives, and she will be deeply missed and forever loved.”

G.R.L. previously lost a member when Simone Battle died by suicide in 2014, shortly after which the group disbanded. Bennett is survived by her 6-year-old daughter, whom she shared with Kenny Wormald.


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Madonna wants everyone to get up and dance, and that includes some of Hollywood’s biggest celebs.

In a new clip posted Monday (July 6), the pop icon took fans behind the scenes of her Confessions II short film, showing off how she got stars like Gwendoline Christie, Odessa A’zion and more to bust a groove on set to her new song “Danceteria.”

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“This is a trip down memory lane,” Madge says at the beginning of the video before it cuts to a series of historic photos of Danceteria, the long-closed New York City nightclub after which she named one of the songs on her new album, Confessions II. The venue hosted countless wild nights in the early and mid-80s, which the hitmaker paid homage to in the “Danceteria” sequence of her film that dropped in June.

In the new clip, Madonna and her crew re-create the club’s vibes with a busy bathroom scene, in which she bumps into the Marty Supreme actress, who spills her drink, and gets caught hooking up with a guy in a stall by the Game of Thrones alum. “I’ve waited my whole life to do this,” Christie tells the BTS camera excitedly.

“I enjoyed your dancing, you were fabulous,” Christie tells Benedict Cumberbatch, who also appears in the Confessions II extended visual.

Before filming his flirtatious dance-floor rendezvous with the Queen of Pop, she hypes him up. “Are you ready to dance?” she asks, to which the British actor says, “Oh, yeah.”

Other big names in the sequence include Kate Moss, Honey Dijon and Shygirl, while Sabrina Carpenter, Julia Garner and more appear in other scenes of the Confessions II film. The long-awaited follow-up to 2005’s Confessions on a Dance Floor dropped Friday, marking Madonna’s first LP since 2019’s Billboard 200 topper Madame X.

Watch Madonna shoot the “Danceteria” portion as well as the full album film below.


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Taylor Swift’s wedding look included a few major designer names — and one familiar link to her record-breaking The Eras Tour wardrobe.

The pop superstar wore Christian Dior Haute Couture to marry Travis Kelce at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Friday (July 3), according to a statement Swift’s rep shared with Billboard. The ceremony looks for both Swift and Kelce were designed by Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Dior Women’s, Men’s and Haute Couture Collections, in close collaboration with the bride and groom.

The dress marks Anderson’s first couture wedding dress for a world-renowned celebrity, according to the statement. Swift completed her bridal look with Cartier jewelry, while both she and Kelce wore custom Christian Louboutin shoes.

The Louboutin detail is a notable one for Swift fans. On its official website, Christian Louboutin notes that Swift wore custom bejeweled styles from the designer throughout the European leg of The Eras Tour, with the Maison creating custom and existing silhouettes in different shapes, heel heights and colorways.

Those designs included crystal-covered Eleonora Botta boots for the “Lover” portion of the show, Cate boots for “Fearless,” a custom lace-up ankle boot for Folklore and Evermore, and the CL Moc Lug loafer for “Red,” according to the designer.

The official wedding-style details follow Swift and Kelce’s Friday night ceremony at Madison Square Garden, where they married in front of family and friends. The couple did not have traditional bridesmaids or groomsmen; instead, Swift’s brother Austin served as her man of honor, while Jason Kelce was Travis’ best man. Actor-comedian Adam Sandler, whose movie Happy Gilmore 2 featured a cameo from Kelce, officiated the ceremony.

Swift and Kelce announced their engagement in August 2025 after two years of dating, sharing photos from the Kansas City Chiefs tight end’s flower-garden proposal on Instagram. “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” they captioned the post at the time.

Official photos of Swift’s bridal look had not yet been released as of Friday evening.

Scooter Braun and Sydney Sweeney’s relationship has become one of Hollywood’s most talked-about romances since they made it public.

The music executive and the actress have been spotted together around New York City and Los Angeles. During the past year, they have also appeared side by side at a series of high-profile events, including the Euphoria season 3 premiere in Los Angeles, the Stagecoach Festival, and more recently, multiple New York Knicks playoff games and NBA Finals match-ups.

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Sweeney and Braun first sparked romance rumors shortly after the actress ended her engagement to longtime partner Jonathan Davino in 2025. She and Braun were later seen hanging out in Italy shortly after her split with Davino, and they were also spotted at Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s wedding festivities in Venice, prompting early rumors of a romance.

Even though they both kept the relationship relatively under the radar for several months, more than half a year later, the couple made things Instagram official. They hard-launched their romance with a post made by Sweeney on her Instagram Stories of the couple at the Euphoria premiere, which Braun reposted. During Stagecoach, Sweeney posted a carousel of photos that included moments with Braun.
While the couple has kept most details of their relationship private, their growing list of public appearances suggests things have become increasingly serious.

Braun divorced Yael Cohen in 2022 after eight years of marriage and three children. Sweeney was with Davino for seven years before ending their relationship and engagement in March 2025.
Here is a timeline of Sweeney and Braun’s relationship: