SEVENTEEN sub-group CxM dropped a remix of their single “5, 4, 3 (Pretty Woman)” on Friday (Nov. 7) featuring rapper Flo Milli. The song, which first appeared on HYPE VIBES, the debut mini album from SEVENTEEN members S.COUPS and MINGYU, gets an injection of even more energy from the “Never Lose Me” MC, who weighs in on being pretty and powerful.

“You gotta be tall, dark and handsome I’ll be your sexy little dancer/ Make this your pretty woman anthem he said I’m so hard to handle/ I step up in the room all eyes on me/ Don’t wanna look away ’cause the body so tea/ I told you pretty girls rock, pretty girls on top,” Milli raps over the song’s effervescent, bouncy arrangement, which features an interpolation of the chorus and hook of late rock icon Roy Orbison’s 1964 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Oh, Pretty Woman.”

The original version of the song featured Philly rapper/singer Lay Bankz and appeared on CxM’s six-track debut, which dropped in late September. In addition to “5, 4,3 (Pretty Woman),” it featured the moody mid-tempo pop dance tunes “Worth It” and “For You,” as well flute-forward hip-hop banger “Fiesta” and the ballads “Young Again” and “Earth.”

HYPE VIBES debuted at No. 71 on the Billboard 200 album chart, marking the highest-ever ranking by a K-pop unit album on the U.S. tally; the EP also topped the Billboard Emerging Artists chart for three weeks. Both members of the 13-man South Korean boy band also had a hand in songwriting and composition all six tracks on the EP.

The whole group — which also features members JEONGHAN, JOSHUA, JUN, HOSHI, WONWOO, WOOZI, THE 8, DK, SEUNGKWAN, VERNON and DINO — will continue playing shows on their New World tour later this month when they kick off a three-night stand in Nagoya, Japan on Nov. 27, followed by three nights in Osaka (Dec. 4, 6, 7) before winding down the year with a pair of shows (Dec. 11-12) in Tokyo and two more in Fukuoka, Japan (Dec. 20-21).

Listen to “5, 4, 3 (Pretty Woman)” with Flo Milli below.

While Naomi Scott has conquered Hollywood, starring in Aladdin and Power Rangers and delivering an Oscar-worthy performance last year as haunted pop star Skye Riley in Smile 2, her first love was music.

That’s apparent in her October visit to the Billboard NYC offices, as the bubbly London native gushes about the array of artists currently filling her playlist — from Erika de Casier to Ariana Grande — and how proud she is of the journey to her long-awaited debut album, which is slated to arrive next year.

“It feels both emotionally honest, right, but also not completely a diary entry, autobiographical,” Scott, whose hair is freshly dyed a red pink, says of the album. “And one way that I wanted to also achieve that was a soundscape that I knew in my mind that I wanted to kind of build out that was cohesive, characterful and nostalgic, but also fresh.”

The 32-year-old singer-actress broke through in 2011 as part of Disney’s Lemonade Mouth, which produced a pair of Billboard Hot 100 soundtrack hits she contributed to: “Determinate” and “Breakthrough,” along with pop-rock fan-favorite “She’s So Gone.”

Over two decades in the making, Scott’s debut began to take shape in 2021. She struck gold during a trip to Norway when she DM’d producer Lido — who ended up being just five minutes away — on a whim. A FaceTime chat led to Lido (who’s also worked with Ariana Grande, Halsey and Jaden Smith) eventually becoming the album’s primary producer.

Homecooked meals with Lido’s parents and dips into the nearby fjord filled the gaps during recording breaks. The serenity of the small Norwegian town’s countryside brought a clarity to Scott and her team of collaborators throughout the creative process.

One of the songs that came about from the Norwegian sessions was “Sweet Nausea” — and the self-reflective track, which she describes as a “carousel of regret,” arrived on Friday (Nov. 7). “It could be a really big thing or a really tiny thing, but when that thing gets lodged in my mind that I said or I did, it’s like a scab that you have to keep picking, and you replay it over and over in your mind,” Scott explains of the single that was crafted in about 15 minutes. “Because you think that if you replay it enough times, it will change.”

Scott’s already set the table for the album with a trio of singles this year: “Rhythm,” “Cut Me Loose” and the alt-pop bop “Cherry.” She also made her festival debut with a performance at Lollapalooza in Chicago over the summer.

The multi-hyphenate entertainer will return to the stage on Friday for a show at London’s Moth Club, and then she’ll serve as an opener for Blood Orange, who’s a close friend and collaborator, on Sunday (Nov. 9) for his Alexandra Palace tour stop.

Dive into the rest of our interview with Naomi Scott below, as she talks about her upcoming album, her favorite artists and what playing Skye in Smile 2 meant to her career.

So how did we get here?

I’ve been making music for 15 years and kind of exploring and figuring things out. But that was at 27 — which, again, I think so many people go through a bit of an identity crisis [at that age]. Which sounds very dramatic, but it’s some sort of shift. It was kind of going back to basics. So before that point, I had been, you know, I was in L.A., I was working, I was in the studio. I was in kind of different pop rooms in that ecosystem. And I think it was very clear to me that I had to go back to basics. And to me, that is getting on a piano and writing like you’re 15 years old.

I started to build out what I felt like was subconsciously a bit of a theme in terms of the things that I was writing into. And so I basically wrote a bunch of demos, and I was like, “Oh, this feels cohesive in terms of what I’m tapping into.” Which is like an exploration into different versions of myself — not what we were talking about — which allowed me to kind of dip into something that felt intimate and have proximity to me, but also have a bit of world building aspect to it, and a little bit surreal. It’s a sweet spot.

The backdrop of this album sonically is things that I was listening to on my dad’s Windows Media Player growing up. It’s the music that brings me joy. I grew up in church. I grew up in gospel music, like pop gospel music. So you know, Mary Mary, Kirk Franklin, Kim Burrell, those voices. [Michael Jackson] and Janet [Jackson] are probably the biggest sonic influences. A little Phil Collins — Kate Bush, to me, represents an artist who remains in such a childlike [state of] play, even in terms of what she writes about. 

When did the album start to take shape?

I started writing into this concept, subconsciously, probably in 2021. I can’t say it was like, “I’m gonna do this, and it’s gonna be this.” It was very much like, “Oh, I’m beginning to find that this process for me in writing is feeling more successful to me.” I like this seed, or the idea of it always being from me first — whether it’s a demo, whether it’s a fully written song on the piano, whether it’s just a chorus. So for example, when I’d done a couple of these demos, I’d got, like seeds of ideas, and then I was I had a session with two people who would be become.

So basically my so my main collaborators on the project, Daphne Gale and Goldwash… I came in with the chorus for “Losing You.” I came in with like, the first two lines of the verse and the sounds about a long-distance relationship — but also just the idea of the inevitability of feeling like something is slipping through your fingers and there’s nothing you can do about it. And we wrote that song, and I was just a bit like, “Oh, this feels like a cornerstone sound of something that doesn’t feel derivative, that doesn’t feel like I’m just kind of painting by numbers.” I think that’s what really excites me.

Was there anything you took from playing Skye Riley in Smile 2 for your own album?

So I’ve been working on the album for so long that it was probably the opposite way around. I mean, Smile happened. It came about so quickly, and I think I kind of purposefully ran in the other direction in terms of creating that character, and going, “Let me put on a voice and sing in an American accent.” I also think it’s because the things that I poured into Skye Riley that I would take with me were things that I already had before — because it was just me — and the things that I left behind are things that I wouldn’t.

Let’s talk about the new single “Sweet Nausea.”

So we were in Norway, so I’ll just add a little bit of a gap about finding that producer. I just DM’d this guy with a Dropbox. Literally, he hit me back and was like, “These are sick. You wanna have a chat?” We got on FaceTime, chatted about all sorts of nonsense. Turns out he was five minutes down the road from me. So that’s Lido. So he’s Norwegian. A lot of this album I made in Norway — which, by the way, you need to get to Norway. He lives in a tiny town, and his mom is still the head teacher of the local primary school. I love his parents. They are like my favorite people. I recorded a lot of the vocals there, because he has a setup in a studio. I’ve recut this album like three times, because I wanted to get it right. 

So this was me, Lido, and Daphne on this trip. I had this idea, and I’ve written a little nursery rhyme, and I write log lines of songs a lot. That’s such a, of course, she’s in the movies [thing] — but I do find it really helpful. So this was, like, the carousel of regret — you know, round and round we go. I don’t even know what it was, something sweet nausea. There’s something about, like, picking at that scab, and that feeling where it’s kind of this weird sensation. And I hate to be that person, but you know, when you’re like, “This song just came together in 15 minutes.” Yeah, this was one of those ones. And it did just come very quickly.

What are you listening to right now?

Night Tapes. On the plane, I was in my old-school bag. Obviously, Blood Orange’s new album, Essex Honey, which I’m on. Erika de Casier, Lifetime. That album, there’s one melody from that first song and I’m like, it just scratches an itch. It’s like Sade meets a little bit of electronic. My most played song this year is called “Promise” by DameDame*. ML Buch, which I love. I loved FKA Twigs’ album Eusexua. I’m an Ariana Grande fan. I’m an Arianator. That song “Supernatural,” I run to that s—t.  

Have you ever met Ariana?

I’ve not met her, but we’ve communicated. I’m a big Wicked fan. I think she enjoyed Smile. One day we’ll have a conversation about it. I’m a big fan — I would probably fan girl really hard… Naomi Sharon. You can just put her on, I call it futuristic Sade. Any early 2000s, if you think of Madonna or those pop girls, Spice Girls, it all comes from Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis and Janet Jackson. Amaarae, her pitched-up s—t scratches an itch in my brain. She’s always in the pocket. 

Are there plans for a tour?

Absolutely, I’m about it. I love performing.

We saw you perform at Lollapalooza. That was lit, you had a good crowd. 

It was surprising, I was not expecting that. The most important thing to me is hitting the goals that I want to hit for myself as a performer. I have a very high standard for myself. So for me, it’s more about making sure vocally, this energy is how I want to perform. Whether there is one person there, whether there’s 10,000 people there, so regardless, I just want to be the best I can be. Obviously, that was just crazy.

I played the album. And then there was the nostalgia factor with “She’s So Gone.” And it’s great because I love that song… I wanted it to feel within the set, and wanted to sing it the way that I kind of do in my tone of voice, not like a 16-year-old. It was an amazing moment and very cool. But I am absolutely going to be out there on stage. I honestly love it, because there’s nothing more real than that exchange; it’s like theater. It’s just nothing better for an artist than to be connecting with people who are f—king with what you’re doing.

I performed in a room where there’s more people in my team than there is out in the crowd. I’ve performed once for these two lovely girls. But again, I was like, “If it’s two of you, we’re doing this together, babes. It’s me, you and her.” The authenticity of that is more important, and I don’t want to skip any steps, and build and get better and put on a show I feel really confident about. 

What would you say the goal is for your album?

I am an artist in progress, and I want to remain curious, have fun. My aim is always I want to make things that I would want to interact with myself, that excite me. And then connect with people who are also connecting with it. And it’s like, the rest is not up to me. That’s not the exchange of art. I’ve been so meticulous with this album, and it’s been, just so much care and so much of oneself.

I think that’s also why I’ve not been releasing for a long time. I put out things decade ago, just kind of experimenting, exploring, but I knew the next time I do, I wanted to be really intentional about it. I just want to keep going and keep making, like, being creative. It’s not like, “This is my debut, and then that’s it forever.” I just want to go and continue growing and learning as an artist and trying to keep that exchange as pure as possible.

Did you want to be an actress or a music artist first?

Musician, because that’s where I kind of started. I was 15 or 16 and I started doing these singing audition. So I would randomly be taping myself singing and it landed me in a pop writing kind of place in Kent. And I kind of cut my teeth writing there, and they write pop in a really interesting way. [When I was younger,] I was just so excited about all these different ways of of me exploring my creativity that — you don’t really overthink it. I think I was sure, but I didn’t know how the hell I was going to get there. It wasn’t like, “I’m sure this is how I’m going to do it.” I’ve been making music this whole time, but when do I feel like it’s the right thing to put out into the world?

What are the similarities or differences in your approach to recording music or taking on an acting role?

If you’re on a set as an actor, the goal is always to get to a point of honesty and allow yourself to be vulnerable. And that’s kind of the same with music as well, because you’re trying to get to emotional honesty. You’re trying to get to something that feels potent.

However, they’re completely the opposite, in the sense that in a movie, you are a color in someone’s painting; they are using you how they want. In music, you are the painter — although you might have people coming in and you saying, “Do you mind just that thing you do really well. Could you just do that?” Because I’m not good at that bit. I feel very blessed to be able to make music with people I love, people that I think are amazing. It’s mine, and it also is me. And I think people have seen me in a lot of different contexts, but I’m always a color in someone’s painting, and this is mine.

What does Smile 2 represent for your career?

It’s my proudest [role], I think it’s so sick. I think it’s amazing. I love that movie. So proud of it, and it’s so lovely that people are still connecting and loving it. That’s vibes. Me, Parker Finn and that whole crew really did that. 

Do they let you keep anything you wear in the movie, like the 1986 VMAs shirt or the hoodie?

Why didn’t I get that hoodie? I really like that hoodie. That big jacket that I hide in, I’ve got that and I wear that all the time. One time on the tube, oh my gosh, it was so funny. I had it on and some guy — this is the coolest s—t — he just had out his Notes app, and he just went like this, and it said, “Great disguise.” And just left me alone. It’s so good.

What does the red hair mean for this era?

I have red hair now; it just feels like this era for me. Yeah, I love it. This feels like me in this moment. So because it feels both weird — you know how I’ve been talking about the album, it’s both kind of intimate, but then it has this characterful kind of production, and it’s like a world-building. So it’s kind of between those two things. It’s almost like this thing that I call grounded fantasy, which is me, but it’s also like having fun and playing and exploring, as opposed to, like me and my naturalistic state, or me putting on a costume. It’s like all of these other playful things in the middle are me.

And this is, as I said, like — I am very much a girl in process. Sometimes I’ll just do this, and I’m like, “Yeah, I like this today.”

From Leon Thomas’ “Mutt” breakthrough to Kehlani scoring a long-overdue Hot 100 top 10 hit with “Folded,” R&B is in the midst of an upswing — and the world is taking notice. When she first started making music over 13 years ago, Brazilian superstar Ludmilla chose a moniker inspired by Billboard’s No. 4 Greatest R&B Artist of All Time. Though she’s long retired her “MC Beyoncé” stage name, Ludmilla looked to Queen Bey’s signature genre for her latest evolution. 

Out Friday (Nov. 6), Fragmentos is Ludmilla’s formal pivot into R&B. Anchored by SZA-esque, guitar-backed ballads and steamy, imaginative amalgamations of R&B, dance, baile funk, pagode and hip-hop, the Latin Grammy winner’s sixth studio album is sleek, sexy and stacked with some of the year’s catchiest melodies. Featuring collaborations with Victoria Monét, Muni Long and Latto, the album also finds Ludmilla using the vast expanse of R&B to wax poetic about both her queerness and her maturation since becoming a mother in May. With heart-wrenching songs like “Paraiso” communicating the “blues” elements of R&B, Ludmilla tackled the genre’s “rhythm” side with tracks like the sultry Monét-assisted “Cam Girl.” 

After her successful transition from pop and funk carioca to pagode (an offshoot of samba), Ludmilla became the first Afro-Latina artist to cross one billion streams on Spotify and the first Afro-Latina act to play Coachella’s mainstage, which means she’s no stranger to big risks and bigger rewards. Even though initial apprehension steered her back to funk after early Fragmentos writing sessions resulted in unmistakably R&B songs, Ludmilla heeded her wife Brunna Gonçalves’ advice to always “trust her feelings.” 

“I was the first Black woman to sell out a stadium in Brazil,” she tells Billboard via her translator, with a humility that belies the magnitude of her achievement. “A lot of things contributed to me [feeling comfortable] taking this risk.” 

With hopes of an intimate Fragmentos tour next year and Brazil’s annual Carnival celebrations just a few months away, Ludmilla is entering her latest chapter more self-assured than ever before. Below, she speaks with Billboard about finding her lane in R&B, challenging herself to pull something new out of familiar melodies and processing her queer journey through her songwriting.

What inspired the shift into a deeper R&B sound? 

I had a project called Numanice, which was mostly pagode, a local rhythm in Brazil similar to R&B but still very different. After doing that project, I felt free to start singing about love. I always wanted to sing about love, but I was holding on to pop music and dance. 

How big was R&B in Brazil when you were growing up, and how big would you say it is now? 

R&B in Brazil has no playlisting, no radio support, no festivals — it’s very small. I’m very inspired and motivated to do R&B because I was doing it 10 years ago, but Brazilians didn’t know R&B as they do now. In Brazil, we mostly listen to international R&B artists. We don’t have big local R&B artists. 

In that case, did this album feel like a risk? 

100%. It [was the same risk] I felt when I shifted into pagode, because there were no women singing that genre at the time. Now, many artists are doing pagode projects and switching their genres because of me. It was a really big risk because I [made my name] singing pop and funk. It’s a big investment, but I believe in what I’m doing. 

When and where did you record most of the album? What was the first song that you knew for sure was going to be on the project? 

The first song I realized would be a part of the album is actually the first track, “Whiskey Com Água de Choro.” I wrote it two years ago in São Paulo, and once I finished it, I was like, “I’m going to sing a whole R&B project.” I wrote a bunch of funk songs after that, but I wanted to follow what I believed and what I was feeling in the moment. My wife told me to always trust my feelings because I end up being right. [Smiles]. I was very successful in changing my career from pop to pagode… did I want to do it again? I realized that I should. 

When did you know that the album was finished? 

After working on 50 songs. [Laughs.] 

Why did you select “Cam Girl” as a pre-single? 

“Cam Girl” was a strategy to let my audience, and Brazilians in general, understand that R&B is not only slow songs. I wanted people to understand that you can dance to R&B, too. I’ve always wanted to collaborate with Victoria [Monét], because we’re friends and we’ve been talking about collaborating for a while. Because the first single was “Paraiso” and it was slower, “Cam Girl” showed that you can dance and party with R&B.

Talk to me about collaborating with Muni Long. 

It was so nice collaborating with Muni Long; I love her song “Hrs & Hrs.” When she followed me on Instagram, I was like, “Oh my God, she knows me?” Then we started texting and became instant friends. We knew we needed to do a song together — but she finished her album first, so I was like, “You’re going to be on my album.” I didn’t even ask her to sing in Portuguese; she just sent her verse in, and it was her singing in Portuguese. She wanted to do that. She was like, “Your language is so beautiful, I want to sing in your language.” 

I cried a lot the first time I listened to the song — because I didn’t even ask Muni to do that, and she really respected my language. Portuguese is global, but it’s a very small language. I am still very emotional. 

You also linked up with Latto on “Bota.” How did that one come together? 

I wrote a lot of funk songs [at the beginning of the album process], and this was one of those. It’s very dirty and sexy, and when I finished writing it, I was like, “I want Latto on this song.” I’m known in Brazil as being very versatile, and she didn’t want to stick to one genre. After some time, I was like, “This is my album, f—k it, I’m gonna do whatever I want.” It’s R&B, but I’ll have fun music and pagode and whatever I want on it. This song with Latto is for Carnival! 

On “Textos Longos,” you flip Ghost Town DJs’ 1996 classic “My Boo.” How do you strive to create something fresh out of songs that have been reimagined so many times? 

It’s very challenging using samples, because people already have feelings about [the original song]. But those are the times when I can experiment and just have fun. Nowadays, it’s also very difficult, because there’s a lot of people doing different things with the same song, and it’s hard for you to do something new. 

What’s the most emotional song on the album? 

“Paraioso” is the most emotional song I’ve ever made, because it tells the beginning of my relationship with my wife. When I started dating my wife, I was not out of the closet, because I thought that my career would be [negatively impacted]. I was very scared. This part of her life was very sad, because I needed to hide who I truly was. I couldn’t kiss my wife or have any type of public affection. That left a mark on me.  

A lot of fans were speculating about a Beyoncé collaboration based on your “Cam Girl” visualizer… 

After Beyoncé introducing me at Coachella… nothing is impossible. 

Do you have any plans to tour this record? 

I want to tour next year. The last tour was outdoors, and now I want to do something indoors and more intimate.

For Americans looking to get into baile funk, what are three funk songs everyone should know?

“Verdinha” by [myself], Topo La Maskara, Walshy Fire; “Noite das Safadas” by Mc Byana, MC Fabinho da Osk, MC Foca do Salgueiro, and “Baile n Morro” by Dj Win, MC Tairon, and Mc Vitin Da Igrejinha.

Led by concerts and music releases from aespa and NCT WISH, SM Entertainment revenue rose to 321.6 billion KRW ($237.3 million), up 32.8% from the prior year period, in the third quarter of 2025, the company announced Thursday. Operating profit jumped 262% to 48.2 billion KRW ($35.6 million) and net income soared 1,100% to 44.7 billion KRW ($33 million). 

“In this quarter…our leading artists have continued to prove their solid capabilities while new IPs are growing rapidly and adding fresh energy to the company,” CEO Cheol-hyuk Jang said during Thursday’s earnings call. “This generational synergy further reinforces the foundation of our IP portfolio, exemplifying the virtuous cycle of a sustainable IP ecosystem that SM Entertainment aims to build.”

Recorded music rose 32.7% to 96.7 billion KRW ($71.4 million). New album sales grew to 5.42 million from 3.61 million in the third quarter of 2024. NCT WISH’S COLOR – The 3rd Mini Album, sold 1.48 million units while aespa’s 6th mini album, Rich Man, sold 1.13 million units. SM Entertainment does not break out streaming performance. 

Concert revenue rose 37.5% to 52.5 billion KRW ($38.7 million) despite SM Entertainment having fewer concerts compared to the prior-year period. RIIZE’s RIIZING LOUD tour had 20 shows during the quarter in Seoul, Japan, and Hong Kong. NCT DREAM performed 8 concerts in Seoul and Thailand. Super Junior had 6 shows in Seoul, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

Merchandise and licensing revenue rose 32.8% to 50.3 billion KRW ($37.1 million) on the strength of concert merchandise and pop-up retail stores. The company cited aespa’s concert merchandise and light stick sales and pop-up stores from aespa, NCT WISH and Super Junior.

Looking ahead, Jang provided details of SMTR25, an “artist incubation project” intended to help SM Entertainment expand globally. SMTR25 has 15 trainees who are taking part in a new reality TV series, Reply High School, that will be released in the first half of 2026. SMTR25 also released an original content series, W.O.W! (Way Outta Walls) a travel series produced with support from the Korean Tourism Organization. 

Jang also highlighted the early success of a young SM Entertainment group, Hearts2Hearts. “Within a short period of time, Hearts2Hearts has proven its capabilities across all fronts — musical success, fandom growth, and brand influence — solidifying its position as SM Entertainment’s next-generation global IP,” he said.