Leading up to his halftime performance at next year’s Super Bowl, Bad Bunny spent some time studying the original American pastime by attending Tuesday night’s (Oct. 7) game three of the American League Division Series between the New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays — where he just so happened to snag a foul ball.
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In a clip posted by the MLB on X, Benito sits with friends just behind home plate at Yankee Stadium. As the Blue Jays’ Anthony Santander hits a foul ball straight up into the air, the Puerto Rican singer-rapper follows its trajectory with his eyes and attempts to catch it as it falls into his section.
Though the ball ends up bouncing off of Bad Bunny’s shoulder and dropping to the floor, the clip cuts to him holding up his new keepsake with a big smile on his face.
The game would later end with the Yankees defeating the Blue Jays 9-6, though you could argue that Benito was the real winner of the night. The small victory comes four months before he’s slated to set up shop in an even bigger stadium to perform at the 2026 Super Bowl, which will go down on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, Calif.
But while countless fans couldn’t be more excited for Bad Bunny’s showcase, other people — including the president of the United States — aren’t as keen that a primarily Spanish-speaking artist got the gig. “I never heard of him,” Donald Trump recently said. “I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s, like, crazy. And then they blame it on some promoter [Jay-Z’s Roc Nation] that they hired to pick up entertainment. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson also called Bad Bunny’s appointment a “terrible decision” and suggested that 82-year-old Lee Greenwood should have been chosen instead. But in the replies to the MLB’s video of Benito catching the foul, one person quipped at Johnson’s expense, “I can’t believe they didn’t let a country artist or Lee Greenwood get it.”
See the moment Bad Bunny got a foul ball at a Yankees game below.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-10-08 18:31:372025-10-08 18:31:37Watch Bad Bunny Keep His Winning Streak Going by Snagging Epic Foul Ball at Yankees-Blue Jays Game
Across individual metrics, the song dominates downloads, streaming, and video, while coming in at No. 3 for physical sales and No. 4 for both karaoke and radio airplay. Streaming remains particularly strong, with 26.3 million streams this week, pushing the cumulative total to 78.98 million. If it surpasses 22 million streams next week, “IRIS OUT” would become the fastest song in history to reach 100 million streams in Japan.
Kenshi Yonezu and Hikaru Utada’s “JANE DOE” also holds at No. 2 this week. So far, only two acts have maintained No. 1 and No. 2 for two consecutive weeks: Official Hige Dandism with “I LOVE…” and “Pretender,” and LiSA with “Homura” and “Gurenge,” both in 2020.
Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “GOOD DAY” jumps to No. 3 from No. 41. Written as the theme song for Kirin Beer’s new brand “KIRIN GOOD ALE,” the track was released digitally on Sept. 28. Because the release fell on a Sunday, the previous week’s tracking period included just a single day of data, contributing to a 465% surge in streaming this week. The music video, which premiered on Oct. 2, also helped the song reach No. 3 for video.
OWV’s “BLACK CROWN” debuts at No. 4. The four-man group’s 11th single tops sales with 74,029 copies sold. Meanwhile, Neguse. scores its first top 10 entry with “Orihime & BABY feat. Reira Ushio.” The track by the four-member band bowed at No. 84 in August and gradually climbed over ten weeks to reach No. 9. Also debuting on the chart is Humbert Humbert’s “Warattari Korondari,” the theme song for NHK’s morning drama Bakebake, The song hits No. 72 on the Japan Hot 100, coming in at No. 7 for video and No. 8 for radio.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Sept. 29 to Oct. 5, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English X account.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-10-08 18:31:372025-10-08 18:31:37Kenshi Yonezu’s ‘IRIS OUT’ Logs Third Week at No. 1 on Japan Hot 100
As TikTokers argue over whether Taylor Swift’s new songs sound like old classics, Charlie Puth is taking to social media to explain how songwriting actually works — telling fans that “there’s only 12 notes in a scale” and people need to “stop demonizing” similar songs.
The singer’s explainer video, posted to TikTok, came amid a week-long internet debate over several songs from Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl, including claims that her “Wood” borrowed too much of its sound from “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5.
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Puth never mentions Swift or her new album by name, but says he made the video because “lately there’s been a lot of discussion about when two songs have similar melodies.”
“There’s only 12 notes in a scale,” Puth reminded fans, counting them out on a keyboard. “So when you’re writing a new song, there are bound to be similarities to an old song.”
Puth’s video centers on the issue of interpolation — the intentional use of existing musical elements from an earlier song when writing a new one. It’s sometimes confused with sampling, which involves adding an actual snippet of a sound recording into a new one.
According to Puth, similarities between two melodies only become full-scale interpolation when they reach five consecutive identical notes. Below that mark, he says a string of the same notes is just that — a common musical tool from a shared cultural tool set that doesn’t need to be credited or licensed.
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To make the point, he compared a Fifth Harmony song to a Hailee Steinfeld song, pointing out that they start with four identical notes but then split in different sonic directions: “So in this case, no interpolation!” Puth said. He then contrasted that with the Portugal. The Man hit “Feel It Still,” which borrowed amply from a 1960s R&B song — and credits it as such. “In that case, interpolation,” he said.
While Puth’s video offers valuable insight into industry practice from the perspective of a prolific songwriter, it doesn’t exactly track actual copyright law, which governs when one artist must pay for and credit the use of existing material. There is no hard-and-fast rule for the number of notes that constitutes infringement, and courts typically weigh a broader analysis, including similarities in other musical elements and whether the original song is even unique enough to warrant copyright protection.
Finding that actual legal dividing line is much harder than Puth makes it out to be. In 2015, a federal jury found that Robin Thicke and Pharrell’s “Blurred Lines” had infringed Marvin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up” — a verdict widely seen as making it easier to sue over similar-sounding songs. But in a 2022 decision, an appeals court cleared Katy Perry of lifting a portion of her “Dark Horse” from an earlier track, ruling that artists must be free to reuse common musical phrases.
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Faced with that uncertainty, many artists, songwriters and record labels simply err on the side of caution, offering interpolation licenses and credits in any situation that is even legally debatable. That’s why Olivia Rodrigo credited Paramore on her “Good 4 U”, and why Sam Smith decided to add a credit to his “Stay With Me” over similarities with Tom Petty‘s 1989 song “I Won’t Back Down.”
In Swift’s case, comparisons of “Wood” and “I Want You Back” have drawn the most debate. But internet sleuths have also scrutinized the overlap between “The Life of a Showgirl” and “Cool” by the Jonas Brothers, and “Actually Romantic” and “Where Is My Mind” by the Pixies. (The album’s “Father Figure” is an outright interpolation of George Michael’s 1988 hit of the same name approved by the late singer’s estate.)
Contrary to the clear-cut analysis explained in Puth’s video, whether any of those songs actually required an interpolation license or a credit from Swift is a question that only a federal court could decide after years of litigation. None of the artists behind the debated songs have publicly threatened such a lawsuit against her, or even mentioned the similarities.
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For years, veteran songwriters like Ed Sheeran have chafed at how similar-sounding songs are reflexively treated as theft. Copyright lawsuits over such situations have proliferated over the past decade, targeting Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus and Sheeran several times. And the rush to litigation is no doubt fueled by how the issue is debated on social media and sites like YouTube, where mashup videos posted by non-experts often imply legal wrongdoing.
“There’s only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music,” Sheeran said back in 2022 after beating one such case. “Coincidence is bound to happen if 60,000 songs are being released every day on Spotify. That’s 22 million songs a year and there’s only 12 notes that are available.”
In his video this week, Puth echoes those same sentiments. Though he doesn’t dive into the legal specifics of when licenses are needed, he argues more broadly that good-faith overlap is inevitable in modern music and should not be viewed as intentional copying or theft.
“If I could just take a moment and say this: Sometimes artists will accidentally interpolate each other, and it’s almost never done maliciously,” Puth says in the TikTok video. “We have to really stop demonizing this when it happens. Interpolations and sampling, this stuff has been going on for a really long time, and some great music has come about because of it.”
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-10-08 18:31:362025-10-08 18:31:36Amid Taylor Swift Debate, Charlie Puth Explains Why Some Songs Sound Alike: ‘Stop Demonizing This’
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard 200 dated Oct. 18, we look at the jaw-dropping numbers already being put up by the highly anticipated new album from the biggest pop star in the universe, and what worlds it still has left to conquer.
Taylor Swift, The Life of a Showgirl (Republic): For most of the last decade, it seemed not only unbeatable, it seemed un-nearable. From the time Adele set the modern-era single-week sales record in late 2015 with a jaw-plummeting 3.378 million, up until this very week, no other artist had even gotten in her general neighborhood — with only one artist even clearing the one-million mark in sales over that time period, doing so with four separate albums. (The “modern era” begins in 1991, when Luminate — then SoundScan — began electronically tracking data.)
That one artist, of course, was Taylor Swift. After Reputation debuted with 1.22 million in sales in 2017, her next few releases debuted in the six digits, as she started making her albums immediately available for streaming on DSPs. But then, even with the albums on streaming, she cleared the million mark in sales again in 2022 with Midnights (1.14 million), then in 2023 with 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (1.36 million) and in 2024 with The Tortured Poets Department (1.91 million). She was getting closer, but she still wasn’t particularly close — that TTPD mark may have several times bigger than any sales week posted by any other artist this decade, but it only got her about 57% of the way to 25. Adele’s mark still looked safe for the foreseeable future.
As it turns out, it might have only been safe for one more year. On Saturday, Billboard reported that Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, had debuted with 2.7 million in sales in just its first day— already blowing well past Tortured Poets, and getting 80% of the way to 25. Those numbers have steadily increased over the course of the week, and as of Billboard’s latest update, have swelled to 3.2 million — fewer than 200,000 copies away from passing an Adele mark no other artist could even see with a telescope, with two days still to go in the tracking week.
One related all-time mark of Adele’s has already fallen to Swift this week: Showgirl has posted 3.5 million in equivalent album units (EAUs), a mark which also factors in streaming equivalent albums (SEAs) and track equivalent albums (TEAs) — though because none of the album’s songs were available for digital purchase individually, Showgirl has not amassed any of the latter. Because 25 was not initially available in full on streaming — only its lead single, “Hello,” was on DSPs at that point — its debut EAU number (3.482 million) was only 104,000 higher than its sales number, with that difference largely coming from TEAs. With Swift’s album also breaking records on DSPs, it has already amassed 300,000 in SEAs, allowing Showgirl to pass 25 in overall units with two days to spare in the tracking week.
Will the sales record ultimately fall too? It could be close: While in the 25 era, a greater number of debut-week purchases were still made in-store, in 2025, a much higher percentage comes from pre-orders, with fans purchasing multiple different variants of the album. (A full 23 of those were available pre-release, across vinyl, CD, CD boxed set and cassette, some including additional collectibles, with two of the boxed sets even coming with a cardigan and a crewneck, respectively.) Hence, while Adele’s 3.378 million number was picked up a little more gradually throughout its week — she was only up to 2.433 million by day four — Swift’s Showgirl number is much top-heavier, “only” growing by 500,000 over the four days of reporting following that first-day number.
Still, it seems likely that Showgirl will ultimately get past the 3.378 million mark. It’s already gotten a mid-week boost from four new CD variant releases, only available for a limited time, which each included unique cover art and two unique alternate versions of tracks from the original album. (One of the CD boxed sets, featuring the cardigan, was also restocked on her webstore.) As Swift continues on the promotional trail, appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Apple Music’s The Zane Lowe Show in the past couple days, it would not be surprising to see more appearances to come, and possibly more new variants to be released, over the next last couple days of the week, as Adele’s record appears more vulnerable than we’d ever imagined it would be again.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-10-08 18:21:292025-10-08 18:21:29Will Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ Break Adele’s Single-Week Sales Record?
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“I don’t think God is through with me and I ain’t done workin’,” Country Music Hall of Famer Dolly Parton said in a video on Oct. 8, as she reassured fans who have been worried about the singer.
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The video comes after online rumors had been spreading regarding the 79-year-old singer’s health.
“I want to say something,” Parton said in the video. “Well, today’s Oct. 8 and obviously I’m here doing some commercials for the Grand Ole Opry, which is why I’m dressed kinda like a country-western girl, but before I got started, I wanted to say, I know lately, everybody thinks that I am sicker than I am … do I look sick to you?! I’m workin’ hard here.”
“Anyway, I wanted to put everybody’s mind at ease, those of you that seem to be real concerned, which I appreciate,” she said, noting that she appreciated fans’ prayers.
She went on to emphasize that that she’s doing fine for now, though she does have some health issues to address. “I want you to know that I’m OK,” Parton continued. “I’ve got some problems as I mentioned. Back when my husband Carl was very sick, that was for a long time, and then when he passed, I didn’t take care of myself. I let a lot of things go that I I should’ve been takin’ care of, so anyway when I got around to it, the doctor said, ‘We need to take care of this, we need to take care of that.’ Nothin’ major, but I did have to cancel some things so I could be closer to home, closer to Vanderbilt, where I’m kinda havin’ a few treatments here and there.”
“But I wanted you to know that I’m not dying,” she added. “There’s just a lot of rumors flyin’ around and I figured if you heard it from me, you’d know that I was OK.”
Parton’s beloved husband Carl Dean died earlier this year at age 82. In September, Parton revealed that she is postponing her Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace due to some health challenges. The residency had been set to start in December, but is now slated to begin in 2026.
“In all seriousness, given this, I am not going to be able to rehearse and put together the show that I want you to see, and the show that you deserve to see,” Parton had said in a social media message on Sept. 28. “You pay good money to see me perform, and I want to be at my best for you. While I’ll still be able to work on all of my projects from here in Nashville, I just need a little time to get show ready, as they say.”
The rumors about her health kicked into high gear on Oct. 7 after Parton’s sister Freida posted on social media, asking for people to pray for the singer. Freida soon followed up with a post apologizing for worrying fans and saying that Parton had simply been feeling “under the weather.”
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-10-08 18:17:222025-10-08 18:17:22Dolly Parton Assures Fans She’s ‘OK’ Amid Health Rumors: ‘Do I Look Sick to You?!’
Björk made an urgent plea on behalf of fellow Icelandic musician Magga Stína on Wednesday morning (Oct. 8), after claiming that her childhood friend had been “kidnapped” by the Israeli army after attempting to deliver aid to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip that morning as part of an international aid flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces.
“my childhood-friend , musician magga stína has just been kidnapped by the israeli army . she sailed on a boat following greta thunberg in trying to open the path for international aid to gaza,” Björk wrote in an impassioned Instagram post about the nine-boat flotilla attempting to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza to deliver much-needed aid to the enclave that has been under near-constant bombardment from Israeli forces for two years.
“i believe activism is as diverse as humans are . i support magga stína and greta doing everything possible to try to stop the genocide in palestine . it is illegal to starve people and hinder that food arrives to children,” Björk added, the latter a reference to claims that Israel has been purposely and systematically starving the people of Gaza in an effort that has led to global organizations such as Amnesty International proclaiming in July that Israel is using starvation as part of its “ongoing genocide” in Gaza against the Palestinian people.
According to the Associated Press, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that its actions in the Mediterranean Sea resulted in the detention of 145 activists taking part in the Freedom Flotilla Coalition & Thousand Madleens to Gaza, who were brought ashore and processed in Israel before being deported. At press time a spokesperson for Israel’s defense forces and foreign ministry had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on the interception of the flotilla or confirmation that Stína was among those detained.
The action came after more than 400 activists from a previous 40-boat flotilla — which included European lawmakers and climate activist Greta Thunberg — were intercepted last week while trying to reach Gaza with what was described as a “token” amount of aid. The AP reported that the organizers of Wednesday’s flotilla, which included one member of the European parliament and national lawmakers from Turkey, Denmark, France and Belgium, called the detentions “arbitrary and unlawful.”
The Icelandic Monitor reported that Stína’s family has also urged the Icelandic government to do everything it can to secure her immediate release. “Our family and Magga Stína’s friends are deeply concerned about the situation — especially considering the treatment she is likely to face at the hands of the Israeli military,” the family said in seeking the release of the nearly 100 health workers, journalists and peace activists aboard the Conscience, which reportedly had medicine, medical equipment and food aid on board. “We urge the Icelandic government and the public to condemn Israel’s illegal detention of civilians and to demand that all volunteers be released immediately,” continued the appeal signed by Stína’s daughter, sister and mother.
The family claimed that those detained have been “mistreated, denied food, water and sleep and deprived of necessary medication.”
Stína, born Margrét Kristín Blöndal, is a classically trained violinist who previously led the Icelandic punk band Reptile and has released solo albums and contributed to albums by Icelandic rap-rock group Quarashi, as well as the groups Lone Ranger and Beam Me Up. According to Last.fm, she released the experimental album, An Album, on Björk’s Ear label in 1998 and opened for Björk on her 1998 Homogenic tour.
Björk’s note added that Iceland has often been a leader in recognizing “many small nation’s independence,” including supporting Palestinian statehood in 2014. “we know after being a colony for 600 years what it feels like to be suppressed . even though we are few , our voice matters and we can continue to set an example of having the courage to rise up against oppression and represent peace,” she wrote.
“i ask icelandic authorities to follow their own support for palestine 11 years ago , to stop all business interactions with israel until the genocide in gaza stops and fight for magga stína’s safe return,” Björk said, adding that she also calls for “all the world to bring home every single nations hostage home.” The latter statement did not specify if she was referring to all hostages around the world, or to the 48 Israeli hostages still believed to be in captivity in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on the nation in which militants killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 others.
Israel has come under increasing international scrutiny for its now two-year offensive in Gaza, in which Gaza health authorities have said more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed and many more are on the brink of starvation as famine spreads throughout the enclave due to Israeli restrictions on the delivery of food aid to Gaza. The world’s leading association of genocide experts, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, passed a resolution last month stating that Israel’s actions in the war fit the legal definition of genocide as laid out by the U.N. convention on genocide due to the “near-total demolition” of housing in the territory, as well as attacks on personnel and facilities needed for survival, including in the sectors of healthcare, aid and education.
Israel has repeatedly denied it is engaged in genocidal actions, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slamming a recent report by the U.N.’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) panel that the two-year war has created a “man-made famine,” saying in a statement, “Israel does not have a policy of starvation.”
President Trump had insisted that Palestinian authorities agree to his 20-point peace plan by Sunday (Sept. 5), threatening on Truth Social that, “if his LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas. THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.” That deadline has come and gone, and on Wednesday U.S. special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and the president’s son-in-law, private citizen Jared Kushner, arrived in Egypt to join the negotiations to free the remaining hostages and end the war in Gaza.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-10-08 17:30:142025-10-08 17:30:14Björk Makes Urgent Plea For Release of Childhood Friend Detained by Israeli Army After Seizure of ‘Freedom Flotilla’: ‘Our Voice Matters’
“Sometimes your enemies/Come in the form of a friend.”
Much of the new Kashus Culpepper single — “Believe,” which Big Loud released to radio on Sept. 3 via PlayMPE — is menacing. What the bad stuff is, isn’t necessarily clear. A drug deal, a robbery, gang activity, a lie, a murder? Cases could be made for all of those scenarios — or none of them — it doesn’t particularly matter. But “Believe” most certainly hints at betrayal, like Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho and Lefty,” though instead of Mexico, it’s cast in the Southern United States, judging from its swampy musical tone and Culpepper’s Alabama roots. It’s steeped in mystery and probably best left that way.
“I wouldn’t say it was a full, cohesive story,” Culpepper explains. “It’s a collection of thoughts, especially the verses. You know, just these random thoughts that I’ve got in my head.”
He had plenty of time to pull those thoughts together. Culpepper was booked for a co-write with writer-artist Foy Vance at Anderson East’s place in East Nashville in January 2024. It snowed, and snowed some more, eventually dumping more than seven inches. Nashville isn’t equipped to handle even a dusting, so as the streets got slicker, they had incentive to hang out awhile, especially when they clicked as writing partners.
“I like working with kids like him,” Vance says. “He’s still a young kid, but he’s seen war, he’s been away from home, he’s had hardship, he’s slept rough, he’s traveled. Not everyone at his age is that switched-on in a heart level. So I met with him and liked him immediately.”
As they shared their stories, some of Culpepper’s hard-knock experiences began to coalesce into a foreboding first verse about nightmares and phony people, closing with the reference to enemies presented “in the form of a friend.”
“Growing up, a lot of times my pastor would say stuff like that,” Culpepper recalls. “Sometimes the closest people around you will hurt you, or sometimes the enemies do come in the form of a friend. And it does sound like I’m kind of preaching.”
Vance, as Culpepper remembers it, took a seat at the piano and began working through different sonic paths, though he may have begun on guitar. He eventually settled on a progression for that opening verse that started on a minor chord. It added to the sense of danger in the lyrics.
“That’s the fun bit where you’re kind of Jackson Pollock-ing the whole thing,” Vance notes. “You just throw shit around the place and see what happens.”
At the chorus, Vance threw a major wrench in the proceedings. Or, to be specific, a major chord. It’s the same base chord as the opening triad that launches “Believe,” but the center note is a half-step higher. That one subtle alteration flips the rainy minor sound into a bright ray of positivity.
“That little change just uplifts it,” Culpepper notes. “It’s almost like, ‘Oh, we’re going to be better.’ ”
Sure enough, angels “all come around” during that chorus, and the singer hangs on to the knowledge that with their help, he can face the darkness —maybe even become a better soul. “That’s what I believe,” he announces in the chorus’ payoff line.
Verse two brings more danger, in the form of bloodshed, fear and hints of a chase. He needs those angels to come around again for the second chorus as he runs “out of rope” and “out of strength.” Once those two verses were completed, they played through the four stanzas they had, front to back, looking for clues about the song’s finale.
“It sort of tells you, you know, does it want to go somewhere else?” Vance notes. “It clearly felt like it did.”
So they wrote a bridge that takes on a desperate tone, mourning the loss of “my best friend” who’s “still holding me from the edge.” It seems to tie in with the “form of a friend” in the opening stanza and the sense of angels in the chorus, though even Vance isn’t sure what to make of the song’s story. Its mystery is actually one of its strengths.
“Sometimes you can kind of say something that, if written down, it would look obscure,” he says. “But there’s a transcendent quality when you get all the composite parts. In the right order, it says something beyond itself. That’s one of the wonders of song.”
Vance played drums on the demo, attempting to inject some Bill Withers energy, and they got East to help out.
Culpepper cut the master version of “Believe” with producer Brian Elmquist of The Lone Bellowin Sheffield, Ala., at the Ivy Manor, a 1927 multistory brick-and-stone mansion that has been renovated as a studio with a relaxed, homey vibe.
“You can go stay there and hunker down for as long as you want, which is my favorite thing to do,” Elmquist says. “The good music is made when you get these people really tired and really vulnerable. They start playing, knowing you can get the best out of them.”
Elmquist heard “Believe” as a “soul Lone Ranger” work and was intent on capturing that with Southern elements and gospel thrown in. “It’s like a voice of one crying in the wilderness,” Elmquist says, “like John the Baptist or something like that.”
Electric guitarist Diego Urias applied Western tones and stabs of drama, and bassist Brian Dawley overdubbed staccato eighth notes on piano in the vein of Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)” or Starship’s “Jane,” instilling extra tension. Elmquist and the crew also developed an instrumental break built around baritone guitar after the second chorus to set up the bridge.
“The bridge is my favorite thing I’ve ever done,” Elmquist says. “It’s just so insanely cool how it lifts [and] gives Kash a big plateau to sing off of.”
Elmquist became a bit of a preacher when they cut the final lead part, encouraging Culpepper to think of the divine guidance that had led him to this juncture. They timed the “Believe” vocal so that the mansion physically simulated the shadowy nature of the lyrics.
“We had to do the song at nighttime because I had to really get into it,” Culpepper says. “We had to dim the lights, and I had to really just put my mind in these places that I talk about in the verses and just really get into it.”
Elmquist and Lone Bellow bandmate Kanene Pipkin built an elaborate gospel choir by singing into the same microphone two voices at a time, layering 18-20 total voices in three different frequencies.
Big Loud issued “Believe” to digital streaming partners on Aug. 12 and waited just three weeks to send it to radio, focused on Americana, adult alternative and country, where it bears some resemblance to a Jelly Roll single. “My team just really believes in it and really wants it to be on the radio,” Culpepper says.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-10-08 17:30:142025-10-08 17:30:14Kashus Culpepper Works With Foy Vance, Hints at Faith in Mysterious ‘Believe’: ‘It’s a Collection of Thoughts’
Since the NFL announced Bad Bunny as headliner of the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, seemingly every pundit on earth has had some profound opinion.
In The New York Times, Molly Jong-Fast labeled Bad Bunny an “anti-ICE pop star” in a column titled “The N.F.L. Gets it: Why Don’t Democrats?” insinuating that Bad Bunny is the face that can somehow save Democrats from freefall. On the flip side, MAGA mavens piled on the criticism fast and furious, with podcaster Benny Johnson labeling Bad Bunny an “anti-ICE activist” and “massive Trump hater.”
And, when a major network interviewed me live immediately after the Bad Bunny announcement, I was asked: “Isn’t he controversial?” I was genuinely baffled at the question. “No, he’s not,” I said in complete truthfulness.
Bad Bunny hasn’t had major scandals of any sort; he has no arrest record; he’s never made news for being intoxicated or under the influence; he hasn’t had public fights with other celebrities or newsmakers, nor is he known for provocative social media posts or proclamations. He’s not given to making polarizing statements or offering political opinions, save for those directly related to his homeland of Puerto Rico, where he lives full-time.
And while several Latin artists have been openly critical of the United States’ current immigration policy, even there, Bad Bunny has tread lightly. His widely quoted comment regarding ICE came at the tail-end of an interview published online by i-D magazine in September, where he was pointedly asked if his decision to not give concerts in the U.S. was out of concern about the mass deportations of Latinos here.
“There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the US, and none of them were out of hate — I’ve performed there many times. All of [the shows] have been successful,” he said, noting that Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the US, and “People from the U.S. could come here to see the show.” But, he added, “there was the issue of—like, f–king ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
Is that really a controversial statement? The man isn’t saying anything against the U.S. or the U.S. government — and hasn’t even mentioned President Trump, as many other artists have directly and pointedly done, including rapper Doechii in her recent BET Awards acceptance speech.
The fact that an artist has different political views from the president shouldn’t disqualify them from performing at the Super Bowl. Taylor Swift, after all, was widely speculated to be the Super Bowl performer in 2026 and she has aligned herself with Democratic politics — but it’s hard to imagine the same people would be as angry about her Super Bowl set just because of her politics.
Furthermore, as a Puerto Rican, Bad Bunny is considered a U.S. citizen, can vote in presidential primaries and pays state, local and income taxes (Puerto Ricans can also have representatives at congress meetings, but they cannot vote in general elections). Despite his citizenship, however, Bad Bunny sings only in Spanish and speaks English with a Spanish accent. And that is what has everybody’s panties –from the left and from the right — tied up in a knot.
Spanish is the second-most-spoken language in the world among native speakers, second only to Mandarin. In the U.S., Spanish is the second most spoken language behind English. Approximately 14% of the population — some 45 million people — speak it at home, according to Census data. According to Luminate, Spanish is the second most-listened to language in music, by far, with 24% of American music listeners consuming music in Spanish (French trails in third place at 8%). English is of course the top language in music consumption, by percentage of the total (88.8%), followed by Spanish (8.1%) and Korean in a distant third (0.7%) — and Bad Bunny has been the most-listened-to artist in the world for three of the past five years.
But, as those of us who speak Spanish daily can attest, many still look down on Spanish as a language, and definitely on the people who speak it. This isn’t conjecture nor paranoia; being a Latin immigrant makes for a barrier of entry, and certainly the biggest hurdle I’ve had to overcome at a personal level. I’ve been berated for speaking Spanish in the most genteel of environments: the park, the club, the theater. Early in my career, I lost a job as a DJ for a classical music station in Los Angeles, of all places, because a listener called in to say she “couldn’t understand” me.
My U.S.-born children have been sanctioned for speaking Spanish, to themselves, in sports tournaments, in states both to the left and to the right — and I became used to parents talking to me very slowly, as if my slight Spanish accent somehow made me hard of hearing or slow to understand. Speak with a British, French or Italian accent and you are chic, educated, sharp. Speak with a Spanish accent, and your IQ suddenly dips.
So, let’s acknowledge that having Bad Bunny headline the Super Bowl is a bold choice — but let’s also be real about the reasons.
While he is not the first Latin artist to perform on that stage – Gloria Estefan, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira have all headlined— those three are known as bilingual, “crossover” acts whose biggest hits came in both English and Spanish. In fact, all three performed bilingual sets.
But Bad Bunny has never performed in a bilingual format. As an artist who writes his own lyrics, he feels at ease in his native tongue, and belongs to a streaming generation that readily accepts music in other languages — unlike two decades ago, when recording in English was required to reach broader listenership. Singing and performing in Spanish are core to his music and his artistic persona, not because he’s making a political or social statement, but simply because that’s his language.
Now, he’s been asked to headline the Super Bowl halftime show, and he’s accepted — not because he’s attempting to make a political statement, but because he’s proud to showcase his culture and heritage.
“I’m very happy,” he said in his opening monologue when hosting Saturday Night Live over the weekend. “Especially for all the Latinos and Latinas in the whole world and here in the United States. The people who have worked to open doors. More than my accomplishment, it’s an accomplishment of all of us, demonstrating that our mark and our input in this country cannot be thrown out or erased.”
Take the man at his word. Playing the Super Bowl is an honor. The fact that an artist will do so in a language that has become a global musical unifier is truly the highest form of flattery. Rather than criticize, second-guess or raise hell in either direction, let’s just celebrate, kick back and enjoy a show that should be massively entertaining for all viewers — regardless of their native language.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-10-08 17:15:472025-10-08 17:15:47Let’s Stop Pretending Politics Is the Reason People Are Angry About Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Set
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If you want to rep your favorite animated K-Pop girl group in style, Amazon is currently running a major sale on HUNTR/X merch during Prime Day that you won’t want to miss out on.
The success that is Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters isn’t dying down anytime soon. While you might be torn between HUNTR/X and their boy-band counterpart Saja Boys, the animated girl group’s success is undeniable. HUNTR/X’s uplifting track “Golden,” sung by EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, is still number one on Billboard Hot 100 for the eight week. With all this in mind, you’ve got plenty of reasons to shop the girl group’s merch before it’s gone for good, especially with the drop in price. From t-shirts to tumblers and so much more, you can shop sale HUNTR/X merch below.
The retailer has a slew of options for everyone, from unisex cotton tees to insulated tumblers, all up to 15% off. This is official licensed merchandise. Some of our favorite pieces include the HUNTR/X sweatshirt with a large graphic on the front depicting members Rumi, Mira and Zoey in purple, blue and pink hues. The sweatshirt, like a majority of the clothing items featured in this article, ranges in size from small to XX-large.
You’ve also got a HUNTR/X iPhone case affixed with a graphic of the members posed in an action shot, ready to battle some demons. The case is a two-parter made from a premium scratch-resistant polycarbonate shell layered over a shock-absorbent TPU liner that protects against drops from high heights. The case fits the iPhone XR. The HUNTR/X hoodie is another winner in our book. It comes in three different colorways and is made of a cozy mix of cotton and polyester. Sizing options range from medium to XX-large.
KPop Demon Hunters Band Logo Officially Licensed Pullover Hoodie
This film aptly capitalizes on the success that the K-pop genre has seen not only in South Korea, but all over the world. You’ve got crisp and colorful animation brought to you by the same crew that did Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, along with punchy action sequences and foot-tapping original music tracks that take inspo from the best of K-Pop, and you’ve got a clear recipe for success.
So we know the inspiration for this film was K-Pop, but how did it all come about? Demons and K-Pop aren’t really the first two things we think of when playing word association. Well, the film draws heavily from director Maggie Kang’s South Korean roots along with South Korean folklore surrounding demons and mythology. Of course, Kang’s love of K-pop was also a huge inspiration. The film is currently available to stream exclusively on Netflix.
If you’ve missed the viral phenomenon, we’ll catch you up to speed: The movie centers around world-renowned K-pop girl group HUNTR/X, as the members balance their lives in the spotlight with their secret identities as demon hunters. Each group and musical number was based loosely on some of your favorite K-pop acts, including MONSTA X and BLACKPINK to Itzy and EXO. K-Pop is interwoven throughout this endeavor. In fact, tracks featured in the film are even sung by former and current K-pop idols such as Kevin Woo from UKISS to Twice’s track “Takedown,” sung by members Jeongyeon Jihyo and Chaeyoung.
Kpop Demon Golden Merch Rumi Zoey Mira Inspired Bracelets
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2025-10-08 17:11:152025-10-08 17:11:15The Search is Over: We Found the Best Merch for ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Girl Group HUNTR/X on Sale for Amazon Prime Day
