Bia talks about how it was to work with legends like Busta Rhymes and Timbaland on songs like “Beach Ball” and “I’m That B*tch”, her latest album ‘Really Her’, her makeup brand Beauty. For. Certain, the Latin artists she’s working with & more!

Bia
Why does everybody’s mom always ask them who’s feeding me? Girl, me maybe that’s the problem.BIA and this is Billboard News

Neena Rouhani
Hey everybody, this is Neena Rouhani with Billboard News and we are here with Bia.

Neena Rouhani 0:34
So Bia tell me a little bit about, what kind of 2023 you’re having, what have you been up to?

BIA
Oh, it’s been so busy, literally so many shows, trying to record in the midst of the shows and keep the creative going. And also, like, I’ve started a lot of business ventures

Neena Rouhani
talk to me about your makeup line a little bit.

BIA
Well, I’m a girl’s girl. Of course. I love makeup. I just love glam. I love beauty. I just wanted to implement all the things that I use for beauty and put them into my everyday routine. Make them easy for like everyday people to get glam every single day. What’s your favorite products, I would say the cabo rojo lip gloss. That lip gloss just looks like just wet lips.

Neena Rouhani
I love that obviously like you’re very into fashion. We always see with what you’re wearing. In this amazing picture, I love what you’re wearing. I love what you’re wearing now, you recently worked with Savage x Fenty. So tell me about that experience?

Bia
Oh, that was amazing. You know, I’m a big fan of Rihanna. I love her. And just everything she stands for. So when she asked me to open the show, it was for my song, “Covergirl” And I just felt like that song represents just women as a whole. So it was just a beautiful moment. And I love lingerie. I love getting sexy. I love having my girly moments. So it was perfect.

Watch the full interview above!

Bia‘s career is just getting started. Despite having two albums under her belt — 2020’s For Certain and this year’s Really Her — she’s already had some major veterans in rap taking notice, something that she says is “surreal” to experience.

The rapper worked with Timbaland on recent single “I’m That Bitch” and Busta Rhymes on last month’s “Beach Ball,” and spoke about both collaboration on the lastest installment of Billboard News.

“Timbaland is so legendary, like he dropped so many gems and to just be in the same room with someone like that who has that type of catalog, you can just learn from them,” she said. “Aaliyah is actually one of my favorite artists of all time, so to even be in the room with him, just to see what he thinks of my music. I got to play him my album and he loved it. It’s literally so surreal, all of the people I look up to the most always embrace me, show me so much love and helped me become the artist I am today. I feel blessed to be here.”

As for the collaboration with Busta, Bia revealed that she was approached with the opportunity because he specifically had her in mind for the guest spot. “Me and Busta did this song months ago, he called me up, he’s like ‘Listen Bia, I’ve got this song. You gotta do this part. It’s only your voice that’s gotta this part,’ so I went to studio right away, I did it. And to perform with Busta during Hip-Hop 50…this is crazy. It’s unreal.”

Following the release of “I’m That Bitch,” the track hit the top 40 on Billboard‘s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, peaking at No. 27. The song spent a total of 90 weeks on the chart.

Watch Bia’s full interview with Billboard News in the video above.

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Ready to live out your Barbie dreams? “World of Barbie” is making that possible by way of an immersive experience that opened its doors at Santa Monica Place in Santa Monica, Calif. in April.

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Margot Robbie Barbie.

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Produced by Mattel and Kilburn Live, the dreamy experience lets Barbie lovers of all ages explore a 20,000 square-foot, interactive space featuring a life-size Barbie Dreamhouse and camper van, movie theater and more.

Visitors will be able to step inside the rooms of Barbie’s legendary Dreamhouse, complete with a patio, pool and walk-in closets filled with garments showcasing Barbie’s iconic style over the years.

Additionally, guests can visit the Barbie exhibit featuring dolls and accessories throughout the decades; relax in a Barbie-inspired hammock or take the driver’s seat inside a full-size camper van courtesy of West Coast Customs.

World of Barbie™
World of Barbie™

As of Friday (July 28), tickets are currently priced at around $40 for adults and $31.50 for children (special discounts are available for military, students, first responders and seniors). The experience is open on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 12:00 – 6:00 p.m. PST; Fridays from 12:00 – 8:00 p.m. PTS; and Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 a.m.– 8:00 p.m. PST.  World of Barbie will extends its hours for Labor Day Weekend to include Monday, Sept. 4.

Due to high demand, additional dates were first added in April, but tickets are selling out extremely fast. In fact, some dates are already sold out, so you’ll have to act quickly to score passes.

World of Barbie
$from $31.50 -Infinity% off% OFF

The interactive experience has a music studio and fashion studio, with a red carpet that guests can strut down; a neighborhood movie theater playing “classic Barbie content” and a Barbie space shuttle that transports visitors on an interactive mission through the stars.

There’s also an interactive hair salon where Barbie fans can try out new looks and Paul Mitchell products and enjoy styling from Paul Mitchell professionals on select dates.

In May, the Barbie experience launched a “Sips After Sunset” recurring event for guests (21+) to enjoy a live DJ and cocktails.

World of Barbie Presents Sips After Sunset
$45

June saw the launch of “Pink Carpet Night,” which is described as a “night of glamour, dancing, and high fashion fun” that encourages guests to wear their best Barbiecore outfits.

The Barbie Experience includes Movie Day for visitors to enjoy their favorite Barbie animated movies.

Live Nation executives say it’s highly unlikely that the Department of Justice would file an antitrust lawsuit against the company by the end of the year, contrary to a Politico report Friday (July 28) claiming a lawsuit would come as soon as this fall. The Politico article said the allegedly forthcoming DOJ lawsuit “claims the entertainment giant is abusing its power over the live music industry.”

Live Nation and Ticketmaster are currently the subject of a broad antitrust probe, based in part on complaints from some of the company’s competitors in ticketing and concert promotion. Executives cleared to speak on background at Live Nation tell Billboard that lawyers for the concert promotion giant are in the middle of complying with discovery demands from the Department of Justice as it probes antitrust allegations related to Live Nation’s 2010 merger with Ticketmaster.

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A lawsuit filed by the end of the year sounds unlikely, the executives say, because the DOJ has not conducted any executive interviews at the company, have not taken any depositions and have not held any substantive meetings with Live Nation’s attorneys to discuss evidence.

“We’re in regular contact with the DOJ and they haven’t told us they think we’re doing anything illegal or asked us to address any concerns,” said Dan Wall, Live Nation’s executive vp for corporate and regulatory affairs, in a statement. “It would be highly irregular for the DOJ to file without that notice and a lot of dialogue afterwards. However, if they do file we are prepared to defend ourselves.”

Live Nation and Ticketmaster have been the target of lawmakers since the companies merged in 2010 and came under a consent decree negotiated by officials with the Department of Justice. In 2019, the DOJ’s assistant attorney general for antitrust, Makan Delrahim, charged the company with six violations of the consent decree over a 10-year period. The company agreed to pay a fine and extend the consent decree through 2024.

Ticketmaster has come under fire in recent months for the 2022 crash of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour presale. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn) blamed the crash on Ticketmaster’s “monopolistic” history, claiming that the company’s market share led to a lack of innovation. Ticketmaster blamed the outage on a cyber-attack initiated by billions of bots.

Pastor Mike, Jr. is the top winner at the 2023 Stellar Gospel Music Awards, which premieres on Sunday (July 30) on the newly-launched Stellar Network before airing on BET and Bounce TV. Pastor Mike, Jr. won eight awards for his album Winning, and also opened the show in tandem with Kierra Sheard Kelly. They performed “Miracles” and “Impossible.” 

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DOE, who entered the industry with her family as a member of the group Forever Jones, received three awards for her album Clarity. Zacardi Cortez also won three statues for his album Imprint.

Maverick City Music x Kirk Franklin’s collaborative album Kingdom Book One won in two categories. Tye Tribbett also brought home two awards for his project All Things New.

The show, hosted by Jonathan McReynolds and Tasha Cobbs Leonard, was taped at the Las Vegas Orleans Arena. Both co-hosts performed on the show. Cobbs Leonard also won praise and worship album of the year for Hymns.

The 2023 Stellar Awards telecast features performances by two legends of the genre, CeCe Winans (Aretha Franklin Icon Award honoree) and Dottie Peoples (Ambassador Dr. Bobby Jones Legends Award honoree). Winans performed “Goodness of God” from her album Believe for It.

Other special honorees were Reverend Dr. Milton Biggham (the James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award) and Ambassador Dr. Bobby Jones (the Thomas A. Dorsey Most Notable Achievement Award).

Five categories were not presented this year: traditional duo/chorus group of the year, traditional female artist of the year, traditional choir of the year, contemporary choir of the year, instrumental album of the year

The show will air on the newly-launched Stellar Network (available on Charter Spectrum, Verizon Fios, and Xumo Play) on Sunday, July 30 at 6 p.m. ET; on BET on Sunday, August 6 at 8 p.m. ET; and on Bounce TV on Sunday, September 3 at 1 p.m. ET.  In addition, the show will air in nationwide syndication from Aug. 7 to Sept. 10.

The Stellar Awards Blue Carpet Special, hosted by Jekalyn Carr, Angel Taylor and Akintunde, will be televised on the Stellar Network on July 30 at 5 p.m. ET.

The 38th Stellar Gospel Music Awards show is executive produced by Don Jackson, with Jennifer J. Jackson serving as executive in charge of production and producer. Michael A. Johnson serves as producer and director.

Here’s a complete list of winners from the 2023 Stellar Gospel Music Awards:

Artist of the year: Pastor Mike Jr.; Winning; Blacksmoke Music Worldwide

Song of the year: “Impossible”; Pastor Mike Jr., James Fortune & JeVon Hill; Blacksmoke Music Worldwide

Male artist of the year: Pastor Mike Jr.; Winning; Blacksmoke Music Worldwide

Albertina Walker female artist of the year: DOE; Clarity; Life Room Label/RCA Inspiration

Duo/chorus group of the year: Maverick City Music x Kirk Franklin; Kingdom Book One; Tribl Records / Fo Yo Soul Recordings / RCA Inspiration

New artist of the year: Lena Byrd Miles; Brand New; My Block Inc.

Album of the year: Winning; Pastor Mike Jr.; Blacksmoke Music Worldwide

Choir of the year: Brent Jones; Nothing Else Matters (INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING, PRAISE HIM); JDI Entertainment

Producer of the year: Tye Tribbett & Joseph Bethea; All Things New; Motown Gospel

Contemporary duo/chorus group of the year: Maverick City Music x Kirk Franklin; Kingdom Book One; Tribl Records / Fo Yo Soul Recordings / RCA Inspiration

Contemporary male artist of the year: Pastor Mike Jr.; Winning; Blacksmoke Music Worldwide

Traditional male artist of the year: Zacardi Cortez; Imprint; Blacksmoke Music Worldwide

Contemporary female artist of the year: DOE; Clarity; Life Room Label/RCA Inspiration

Contemporary album of the year: Winning; Pastor Mike Jr.; Blacksmoke Music Worldwide

Traditional album of the year: Imprint; Zacardi Cortez; Blacksmoke Music Worldwide

Urban/inspirational single or performance of the year: “When I Pray”; Doe; Life Room Label/RCA Inspiration

Music video of the year: “Mr. McClure”; Michael McClure, Andre Rudolph & Antonio Minifield; Blacksmoke Music Worldwide

Special event album of the year: T.D. Jakes Presents “Finally Loosed”; Various Artists; Dexterity Sounds

Rap hip hop gospel album of the year: Church Clothes 4; Lecrae; Reach Records

Youth project of the year: Detroit Youth Choir; Rockspell; Confidential Records

Quartet of the year: Keith “Wonderboy” Johnson; Restructure, Renew Reunion; Blacksmoke Music Worldwide

Recorded music packaging of the year: All Things New; Mike McKesey & Trent Nicholson; Motown Gospel

Praise and worship album of the year: Hymns; Tasha Cobbs Leonard; TeeLee Records/Motown Gospel

Praise and worship song of the year: “You’ve Been Good to Me”; Zacardi Cortez; Blacksmoke Music Worldwide

Rap/hip hop song of the year: “Blak Sheep”; Pastor Mike Jr.; Blacksmoke Music Worldwide

James Cleveland lifetime achievement award: Rev. Milton Biggham

Aretha Franklin icon award: CeCe Winans

Thomas A. Dorsey most notable achievement award: Dr. Bobby Jones

Ambassador Dr. Bobby Jones legends award: Dottie Peoples

Gospel radio of the year winners

Major market of the year: WPZE Praise 102.5, Atlanta

Large market of the year: WHAL-FM 95.7, Memphis

Medium market of the year: WXHL 89.1 FM Reach Gospel Radio, Wilmington

Small market of the year: WWLD-HD2 98.3FM, Tallahassee

Internet station of the year: WVTC Gospel Radio Network, http://www.wvtcradio.com

Gospel announcer of the year: Melanie Pratt, WPZS Praise – “Melanie in the Midday”

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How will the Grammys categorize Joni Mitchell’s At Newport, a live recording of the singer/songwriter’s heartening return to the stage at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival? The album is set for release by Rhino Records on Friday (July 28).

Mitchell is Grammy royalty, with nine competitive awards, plus a lifetime achievement award in 2002. She was also the MusiCares person of the year in 2022.

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The performance capped a remarkable recovery from a life-threatening aneurysm Mitchell suffered in 2015. Mitchell was backed at the live event by other major Grammy winners such as Brandi Carlile, Marcus Mumford and Wynonna Judd, as well as Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig from Lucius.

The big question is whether the Grammys will classify the album as folk, pop or traditional pop. Mitchell has won in all three fields over the years.

Mitchell landed her first Grammy nomination (and win) in a folk category — best folk performance for her sophomore album, Clouds (1969) — but she hasn’t been nominated in a folk category since. Turbulent Indigo (1995) won for best pop album. Both Sides Now (2000) won for best traditional pop vocal album. This new album is likely to be slotted in one of those two categories. (If it does well, it may also have a shot at an album of the year nomination.)

In terms of genre-specific performance categories, Mitchell has usually been slotted as pop. Mitchell was nominated for best pop vocal, performance, female four times – for Court and Spark (1974), The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1976), Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm (1988) and the title track from Both Sides Now. She won pop instrumental performance for “One Week Last Summer,” a track from her 2007 album Shine.

The traditional pop category was generally reserved for collections of songs from the Great American Songbook, from its inception in 1991 until fairly recently. But it has taken a broader view in recent years. The current rules state: “This category is for performances of a type and style of song that cannot properly be intermingled with present forms of pop music. This includes older forms of traditional pop such as the Great American Songbook, as well as cabaret/musical theater-style songs and previous forms of contemporary pop. This would also include contemporary pop songs performed in traditional pop style – the term ‘traditional’ being a reference, equally, to the style of the composition, vocal styling and the instrumental arrangement, without regard to the age of the material.”

Final placements are determined by a large screening committee that listens to the record and is charged with making the determination based on the sound of the music, not the artist’s image or where the album landed on various charts or (in this case) the fact that it was recorded at a festival associated with a specific genre.

Mitchell will turn 80 on Nov. 7, three days before the 66th annual Grammy Award nominations are announced on Nov. 10. The awards will be presented at Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 4, 2024.

This was Mitchell’s third time performing at the Newport Folk Festival, following appearances in 1967 (where she met Leonard Cohen) and 1969 (where she met another lifelong friend and collaborator, James Taylor).

The album features live performances of such classics as “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Carey,” “Help Me,” “A Case of You” and “Both Sides Now.” Mitchell closed her set with “The Circle Game,” which she performed at the Newport Folk Festival in 1967.

Mitchell wrote all of the songs on the album except “Summertime,” the Porgy & Bess classic that was written by George & Ira Gershwin and DeBose Heyward.

Music journalist-turned-filmmaker Cameron Crowe wrote the album’s liner notes, which could bring him his second nod for best album notes. He was nominated in 1986 for writing the notes for Bob Dylan’s Biograph.