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Labrinth talks about his new album ‘Ends & Begins’, his experience performing with Billie Eilish and Zendaya at Coachella, how the performances came about, and more!
Jason Lipshutz 0:29
What’s up guys? It’s Jason Lipshutz. I’m here at Electric Lady with the one and only Labrinth. Lab, what’s going on, man?
Labrinth 0:34
I’m good, man. How are you?
Jason Lipshutz 0:36
I’m good. I am so excited about your new album ‘Ends & Begins’ congrats on it, how’s it been?
Labrinth 0:41
I think it’s always exciting to just put a piece of work out. And then I don’t even look at. I don’t check it. I’m just like, I kind of have a moment to listen back to it and just enjoy it. So I did that the other day. I was like, this album is actually good.
Jason Lipshutz 1:00
How long was the process for this one?
Labrinth 1:05
I actually wrote the record in like a year. And then there was just so many things behind the scenes that kind of prevented it from seeing the light of day. I think it was good that it happened though. At the time I was you know, like losing my sh–. And then once we kind of got up to Coachella, it felt like the best time for me to release this record, because it was like a celebration, you know, and that was the gift that came at the end of it
Jason Lipshutz 1:38
So I got to ask about Coachella.
Labrinth 1:40
Yeah.
Jason Lipshutz 1:41
Weekend one to bring out Billie with your set.
Labrinth 1:43
Yeah.
Jason Lipshutz 1:45
Weekend two you bring out Zendaya with your set. That’s like the biggest Coachella flex. Just like knowing this plan where you’re just like, I’m going to own Coachella. It’s gonna be mine, like how did that all come together?
Labrinth 1:57
I started putting the show together. And I was like, if I’m going to do a show, I just wanted to be the sickest thing that I think I’ve ever seen or haven’t seen. And so I just started kind of composing what my set would be me and Billie ended up doing the record, ‘Never Felt So Alone.’ And I was like, Do you want to maybe come to Coachella and perform it with me? And she was like, Yeah, and I was like, really? Okay. That’s why. And you know, me and Billie really loved the record that we did together. And it kind of felt like a natural progression into us performing it. And like actually ground testing this record and seeing how the fans really enjoyed it. And it was, wild,
Jason Lipshutz 2:36
their reaction, obviously, like, people went crazy at Coachella.
Labrinth 2:39
When I was putting that moment together. I was planning it in my head. I told my lighting guy, I was like, just keep the lights down. And nobody would see that. It’s Billie for like a long minute. And they’ll just see me and think, okay, he’s just gonna perform on his own. And then we just had Billie like, appear from nowhere, and the place erupted into chaos
Jason Lipshutz 3:05
next weekend, yeah, you bring out Zendaya.
Labrinth 3:09
Yeah. Yeah.
Jason Lipshutz 3:10
How did that one come together?
Labrinth 3:10
That is the same thing. Really. Like when I was like, Z, I’m gonna perform at Coachella, I would love to do our songs together. And she was like, I would love to I don’t have the time. I didn’t think she could make it. And then I think last minute something happened that made her have to pass through. And she was like, Lab, I want to do the show. And I was like, really, as soon as she said she wanted to do it. I was like, this is a moment. Like I just knew it straight away. But then when we actually performed it, it was oh, right. It was more thought it was gonna be like it was insane, we couldn’t hear ourselves. That’s how loud it was
Jason Lipshutz 3:53
What I loved about seeing both of you guys up there was like you guys are so multitalented where it’s like, you guys are working on the song. You’re sharing the stage. You’ve worked for years together on ‘Euphoria.’ She’s the star of ‘Euphoria’, when you talk to her about craft and creativity. Like what is what is that? Like? Because you guys are now working together on multiple different levels.
Labrinth 4:15
Yeah, I think we’re all fans of like kind of thinking forward, or trying to challenge ourselves. And I think that’s what I get from most of the artists I work with, like a lot of the people we always just pass stories and all of those stories evolve the way I’m thinking about writing myself or how I view my career, you know, so that’s kind of really like most of the stuff we end up talking about. It’s just like, ideas I’ll play her songs she’ll play me stuff and we kind of just keep being cheerleaders for each other you know,
Jason Lipshutz 4:45
You mentioned challenging yourselves and that’s exactly the the vibe I get from ‘Ends & Begins’ like I hear on every song. You pushing yourself you challenging yourself, did that feel like part of the foundation for this album was just like really pushing yourself to the limits of of your creativity,
Labrinth 5:03
I didn’t think on on ‘Ends & Begins,’ the most important thing when you’re creating or when you’re living life is that you do the most honest version of that. And that is a picture of where I was at the time, and how honest I wanted to be at the time. But I feel like there’s more like, I feel like this is like the tip of the iceberg in terms of what I want to create from for an album. But at the same time, I really appreciate this moment that I’ve created because I’ve really enjoyed it. And I wanted to share the joy.
Jason Lipshutz 5:32
What are things like now like in terms of when you’re thinking about new ideas? Are you thinking about like, oh, this could fit for TV? Or oh, this could fit for my album? Like, how does that delineation happen?
Labrinth 5:42
Yeah, I’ve learned a lot. And I share this quite often. Because I know there’s a lot of people that have this experience, or have had this experience where, like, I have ADHD, and I didn’t know I had it, even for season one. I didn’t know I had ADHD. And before discovering that it made it very difficult for me to finish anything. Even though I did a lot for the show. It was very intense and very, like grueling. I think I’ve learned the process of taking care of my brain and my mind and mental health so that I can make sure I can deliver the things I want to deliver. And also knowing my capacity as well, you know, so I think that’s been the process is kind of going, Okay, how do you achieve the thing you want to achieve? But also how do you make sure you don’t become a vegetable by the end of it, you know?
Jason Lipshutz 6:26
So what’s what’s next?
Labrinth 6:27
I’m working on more films, doing more TV shows, and writing more albums. But I do want to act as well, at some point. So you might see me doing a little something at some point. Okay.
Jason Lipshutz 6:39
All right. When did when did you start really considering that?
Labrinth 6:41
I’ve always wanted to act always. I really love it. And I think it’s an amazing craft. I’m so sorry. So all the actors out there that went to school for years on end, and then they see me in the film and they’re like, that’s trash. You know that’s the worst thing when a guy has done no work and just because he sang a few songs is like, I’ll show you an accent. So no, I’m excited about I have huge respect for it. So I’ll only do a little small thing but I really do want to like mess around in that area.
Jason Lipshutz 7:13
Lab always a pleasure, man.
Labrinth 7:16
Thank you so much.
Labrinth went out with a bang during weekends one and two of Coachella last month, performing Ends & Begins single “Never Felt So Alone” with Billie Eilish and Euphoria soundtrack tracks “I’m Tired” and “All of Us” with Zendaya respectively. Labrinth tells Billboard News that while Eilish’s performance was carefully planned, Zendaya’s came together in a short amount of time.
“I actually wrote the record in a year and there was so many things behind the scenes that prevented it from seeing the light of day. I think it was good that it happened,” he explained of his LP, which arrived on April 28. “At the time I was losing my s–t and then once we got up to Coachella, it felt like the best time for me to release this record cause it was a celebration and that was the gift that came at the end of it.”
While coming up with the direction for Eilish’s portion of his set, Labrinth wanted to keep her appearance a surprise for the audience. “When I was putting that moment together, I told my lighting guy to keep the lights down and nobody would see that it’s Billie for a long minute, and they’ll see me and think ‘Okay he’s just going to performing it on his own,’” he recalled of his weekend one twist. “And then we just had Billie appear from nowhere and the place erupted into chaos.”
Planning for weekend two was more difficult, Labrinth shared, revealing that he wanted Zendaya to step in but her schedule did not have space for a performance. “I didn’t think she could make it, and then last minute I think something made her have to pass through. When we actually performed, it was more than I thought it would be. We couldn’t hear ourselves, that’s how loud it was,” he reflected on the special moment with his Euphoria collaborator.
Following its release, Ends & Begins peaked at No. 144 on the Billboard 200 chart. “Never Felt So Alone” peaked at No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Watch Labrinth’s full interview with Billboard in the video above.
Rihanna’s got that pregnancy glow.
The “Love on the Brain” superstar took to Instagram on Thursday (May 18) to share a series of maternity shoot photos from her first pregnancy. “Here’s a little series I call ‘Rub on ya titties,’” she hilariously captioned the snaps, in which she looks stunning on a balcony of a tropical destination, wearing nothing but a bikini bottom and some gold body jewelry, covering her breasts with her hands and her baby bump on full display.
“In honor of my first pregnancy, embracing motherhood like a g, and the magic that this body made,” she continued in the caption. “Baby RZA… he in there not having a clue how nuts his mama is, or how obsessed he bout to make me.”
See the pictures here.
While RiRi’s photoshoot was taken during her first pregnancy, she’s currently expecting her second child with A$AP Rocky. She revealed the exciting news during her 2023 Super Bowl halftime show performance in February, surprising fans in a curve-hugging red outfit that showed off her bump. Rihanna has yet to reveal the due date for her upcoming bundle of joy, but she is currently in her third trimester.
Less than five hours before Garth Brooks kicks off his new Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Thursday night (May 18), he swears he doesn’t know what his first song will be.
But the superstar loves flying without a net. “It’s exciting, right?” he says, talking to Billboard in the afternoon before Garth Brooks/Plus ONE opens. “But still, you’re not in this business as long as I‘ve been without having some kind of sense about you. So the net is the people that come see us. They’ve got me. They want to see me fly without a net because they’ve got me if I fall, but I think they like it as much as I do.”
And, he adds, making it up as he goes along is a chance to learn something new about himself as a performer more than 30 years in. “I don’t want to go to a gig, check the boxes and say good night. I want to come off the stage knowing something about me that I didn’t know when I came out there,” he says.
The run comes nine years after his five-year residency at Wynn’s Encore Theater concluded in 2014. Like that show, Garth Brooks/Plus ONE is largely a one-man show, but the Plus ONE gives him latitude to bring different guests up every night. His band will be seated in the audience, so when the mood strikes, he can bring them up to do a full-throated, muscular version of a song like “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” rather than a stripped-down acoustic set. Or his wife Trisha Yearwood could join, as could other entertainers. But as he also explained, the music is the ultimate Plus ONE that has been with him his whole life.
As much as he plans to hit the stage without a plan, Brooks does know that there are songs that people are coming to hear, and “99% of those are going to be Garth Brooks songs,” he says. So, unlike the Wynn show, which relied heavily on songs by artists like James Taylor, Cat Stevens and Bob Seger, who influenced him, it sounds like this show will still include vital covers since Brooks is a veritable human jukebox, but that more of the songs will come from his own voluminous catalog.
Attendees must lock up their phones and no videoing or taping is allowed during the show. Brooks says that gives him the freedom to perform previously unreleased material or songs that he is still in the process of writing. In fact, he vowed to play something brand-new the first evening. “It’s a laboratory,” he says.
He landed at Caesars after having serious discussions with a number of Las Vegas venues and a long courtship. “[Caesars executives] traveled to Nashville. We talked over dinners. We didn’t talk about business, we talked about children, talked about stuff like that. They made it sound very much that they were very interested in phone calls, texts,” he says. “They were going through some other stuff with some of their other entertainers, and when you would talk about that, their immediate response was, ‘We’re focused on you. This is a goal for us.’ It made you feel very wanted. And to be honest with you, it wasn’t an inexpensive deal for them. So they have gone above and beyond, which is very sweet, but it’s like Steve Wynn said: ‘Now all the pressure is on you.’ Now it’s up to you to get out there and hopefully make them feel it was worth it.”
Brooks has always been sensitive to ticket pricing, with his tickets to his non-Vegas shows rarely exceeding $100. But the tickets for this run go as high as $2,500 face value for the front row and are $10,000 for a pair on the secondary market. With no seat more than 145 feet from stage, the lowest ticket price in the 4,100-seat venue is $99 and tickets average out around $350. Brooks says he will continue his long tradition of “stubbing,” where crew members move fans from the farthest seats to a closer location for free.
“What I love about these guys, too, was we said, ‘Hey, look, it shouldn’t just be for the rich to enjoy. Let us still do our stub thing that we do.’ And they have allowed us to do that,” he says. “You understand that for them to make their money back, things have to happen in certain ways. But at the same time, we get to keep our same traditions as well. And my promise to everybody else, too, is if this is too expensive, I get it. We’ll do a dive bar somewhere for free. Or we’ll go play somewhere and hopefully get the ticket prices more around your thing.”
With the 2023 run of 27 shows already sold out, Brooks announced 18 new Colosseum dates for 2024 earlier Thursday. Fans who signed up through Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program for 2023 and were locked out will get first dibs on 2024 tickets. The new Verified Fan on sale date is May 31.
Following his cumbia-norteña hit duet “un x100to” with Grupo Frontera, Bad Bunny continues to prove his genre-hopping prowess with his just-released Jersey club cut “Where She Goes.” The English-titled, Spanish-language song sees the Puerto Rican hitmaker playing with dynamism with a subtle dembow rhythm, courtesy of super producer MAG.
Looking like a swaggering frontiersman armed with a cowboy buckle to boot, Bad Bunny rides around in a vintage Rolls-Royce in the Stillz-directed music video. He then appears on top of a tree amid the desert, and there’s also a scene that projects a Burning Man vibe with a tribe of people surrounding a massing bonfire. Special guests include Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldinho, Frank Ocean, Lil Uzi Vert, Dominic Fike, Sabrina Lada and more.
Lil Uzi Vert, who is also featured doing his famous TikTok dance, is an appropriate guest, as the “Just Wanna Rock” hitmaker helped spark Jersey club’s rise in 2022, a genre that is permeating the New York drill scene. Bad Bunny is the first artist in Latin music to embrace the East Coast sound. Jersey club first originated in Newark, New Jersey, in the early new millennium.
“Baby, tell me the truth if you forgot about me/ I know it was only one night, that we’re not going to repeat,” Bunny croons in the opening verse against a dramatic, ominous electronic sound. “In you I wanted to find what I lost in someone else/ Your pride doesn’t want to speak to me, so we’re going to compete.”
Two days before the song’s arrival, the Puerto Rican hitmaker teased the new track on social media, introducing its first 42 seconds.
Although he mentioned a possible break in last December’s cover story, Benito proceeds to be at the forefront of pop culture. This year, he became the first Spanish-speaking artist to headline Coachella and made waves at the Met Gala. He also continues to churn out a bevy of No. 1 hits on Billboard‘s charts.
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