Innholdsfortegnelse for May-10-14 i Billboard Magazine

Chris Brown’s legal fate will remain unknown until June, when the incarcerated star stands trial on misdemeanor assault charges stemming from an altercation outside a Washington, D.C., hotel. But that doesn’t seem to bother his fans too much. Brown has just notched his 13th top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 with an unusual singles strategy — releasing three distinct versions of the same hit song, “Loyal.” Artists often jump onboard to boost a song’s popularity after its release. But with “Loyal,” Brown brought the stars in before putting the tracks out. He launched an East Coast version featuring Lil Wayne and French Montana; the West Coast version features Lil Wayne and Too Short. In the video version, released March 24, Tyga joins Lil Wayne. The three combined have racked…

I In 2011, after a lifetime on major labels, Guatemalan singer-songwriter Ricardo Arjona went indie, recording, marketing, promoting and releasing his finely crafted brand of romantic and provocative pop under his own new label, Metamorfosis. It was a big move for one of Latin music’s top-selling and top-touring acts. Arjona has had five No. 1s on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart and four No. 1s on Top Latin Albums. He has played 110 dates in 2012 and 2013, selling more than 2 million tickets worldwide — including 160,000 in the United States alone, with a $9.5 million gross, according to Billboard Boxscore. But going indie is complicated and costly, and industry executives figured it was only a matter of time before Arjona returned to a major label. He’s defying expectations.…

TECHNOLOGY Ranj Bath was named vp corporate strategy and business development for Beats Music. With more than 15 years of global experience at the forefront of entertainment and technology, Bath joined the company from Intel, where he led strategic partnerships and marketing for seven years. He also was co-founder/COO of Desi Hits, a multiplatform media company that included the backing of several highprofile Silicon Valley venture capitalists, as well as Jimmy Iovine as one of its strategic investors. Bath will continue to advise a number of companies across the social broadcasting, music gaming and crowdsourcing spaces as “an evangelist with a passion to integrate the latest trends in technology across entertainment and celebritydriven initiatives,” according to Beats Music. PUBLISHING Marty Silverstone was promoted to senior vp creative/head of synch at…

Family and business don’t always mix. Just ask Janet Jackson, Beyonce or Britney Spears, each of whom separated professionally from a parent as their respective careers took off. Of course, emancipation is nothing new in the entertainment industry (Macauley Culkin, anyone?), but it’s perhaps most pervasive when it comes to teen acts transitioning to adulthood. The latest to join the ranks of former kid stars looking to leave the nest: Selena Gomez, who hired Direct Management Group, Katy Perry’s longtime representative, this spring, relieving her parents of the responsibility they’d held since 2002 when she was first booked on Barney and Friends. Billboard looks at chart-toppers who have felt the growing pains of graduation. Austin Mahone’s mom Michele might want to take note. —Jocelyn Vena Usher Jonnetta Patton’s 10-year management…

B Y CHRIS PAYNE A AT Z100’S 2013 JINGLE BALL IN NEW YORK’ Madison Square Garden, Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams predicted her band’s biggest hit in its 10-year life span. “You’re going to hear this a lot on the radio next year — get used to it!” she said, before jumping into the happy-go-lucky “Ain’t It Fun.” The single, the third from the alt-rockers’ 2013 self-titled set, has become Paramore’s highest- charting yet. “Ain’t It Fun” rose 26-21 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated May 3, catapulting past the band’s previous biggest hits: 2010’s “The Only Exception” and last year’s “Still Into You,” both of which peaked at No. 24 . On the May 10 Hot 100, the song soars 21-14. It also becomes the act’s first top 10 on…

Singer Francesca Battistelli’s third album, If We’re Honest (Fervent Records), bows at No. 2 on Billboard’s Christian Albums chart, with sales of 13,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. 4 MONTHS AGO Battistelli’s fans got their first taste of If We’re Honest in January when lead single “Write Your Story” went to Christian radio, where it was added by 73 stations the first week, says Rod Riley, head of Fervent parent company Word Entertainment, and eventually hit No. 4 on the Hot Christian Songs chart. “It was something I really wanted to say,” notes Battistelli of the song, which contends that God has a plan for everyone. “It set the tone for the whole record.” The single was further boosted by Battistelli’s Feb. 13 performance on Good Morning America. “GMA was…

Photographed byJONATHON KAMBOURIS 1 Marc by Marc Jacobs washed satin bomber, $548, Marc by Marc Jacobs stores 2 Saint Laurent by Hedi Slimane “Blood Luster” Teddy jacket, $3,500, ysl.com 3 Marni silk flower bomber jacket, $4,310, marni.com 4 Maison Kitsune jacket, $1,405, mrporter.com Miley Cyrus The wild child wore a satin varsity jacket for her performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Rihanna The trendsetter donned a letterman jacket from Jeremy Scott’s first Moschino collection. Keith Richards The indefatigable rocker sported a blue version of Saint Laurent’s jacket (No. 2 above) on tour.…

A A LITTLE LESS THAN A YEAR AGO, ANTONIO “L.A.” Reid met John Branca for dinner at Cecconi’s in West Hollywood. Reid had been the chairman/ CEO of Epic Records (“the house that Thriller built,” as Reid calls it) since July 2011, and he had inherited a cold label that so far hadn’t gotten much hotter. Branca had resumed his role as Michael Jackson’s adviser/lawyer shortly before Jackson’s death in 2009, and during his time as co-executor of the Jackson estate had erased the estate’s $500 million debt, thanks to the This Is It concert film (which grossed $261 million worldwide) and lucrative Jackson performance properties with Cirque du Soleil. One of the items on the table that night was Reid’s idea for a Jackson biopic covering his life between…

Ray LaMontagne By Andrew Hampp Photographed by Wesley Mann “I feel better than I have in 15 years. I feel liberated by the making of this album,” says LaMontagne, photographed April 29 at Q Division Studios in Somerville, Mass. It’s just after noon on April 29, and Ray LaMontagne’s new album, Supernova, is sitting at No. 2 on iTunes after just 12 hours of release. It has been more than 10 years since the cult favorite of folk, roots and classicrock fans released the emotive “Trouble,” which turned decades-old blues and soul usages into an unlikely hit. Another radio fave followed, 2008’s “You Are the Best Thing,” but success on the level of, say, John Mayer (with whom LaMontagne shared a manager until December, when Mayer split), eluded the reclusive…

“I’ve been welcomed to the family,” says Hayes, photographed April 7 at Crush at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. S STROLLING INTO A TRENDY EATERY IN LAS VEGAS, Hunter Hayes, casually clad in jeans and a gray T-shirt, is teeming with the youthful exuberance of a 22-year-old on the brink of something big: specifically, his second major-label album, Storyline, due May 6 on Atlantic. His flaxen hair and princely features are reminiscent of Game of Thrones’ young King Joffrey, but with none of the aristocratic airs: When a photographer asks him to jump higher, or play air guitar harder, he doesn’t flinch. “Don’t kill my artist,” says manager Betsy McHugh, only half joking, when Hayes teeters on a box as the photographer angles for a shot. “Yeah, I have…

ALBUM W WHEN PHILLIP PHILLIPS WONAmerican Idol in season 11, it wasn’t due to his outgoing personality. In fact, on-air interviews with the Georgia native during the Fox show’s 2012 run often felt more like an exercise in single-syllable vocabulary — as in, how many Scrabble no-brainers can you fit into one sentence? Luckily, the then-21-year-old’s good looks more than made up for any challenges that come with being on national TV for the first time. But Phillips’ victory helped him find his voice, even if the debut album that came as the prize, 2012’s The World From the Side of the Moon, was more of a major-label construct boosted by the success of his coronation single, “Home.” Even so, the sound that Jimmy Iovine and crew came up with…

Backstage Pass S SUGAR SAMMY SOUNDS EXCEPTIONALLY RELAXED for a guy set to hit the stage in an hour, especially since he’s still at the furnished apartment he has rented in Old Montreal. After crashing at his parents’ house the previous night, he spent most of the day with his accountant and then saw his doctor to discuss an MRI for his back. “I am relaxed,” he says. “I’ve done this show a million times. I’m not worried about it.” The stand-up comedian, who was born in Montreal but is on the road so much he doesn’t have a place to call his own, is the top-grossing domestic touring artist in Canada for the last 12 months, according to Billboard Boxscore. “I just found that out. As long as [Nickelback]…

The end might be in sight for the long run at No. 1 of the Frozen soundtrack. While the Disney juggernaut remains locked in the top spot on the Billboard 200 for the 12th nonconsecutive week — and will likely hold for a 13th next issue (so say industry forecasters) — a 14th frame isn’t a sure thing. Frozen will possibly be denied a 14th week at No. 1 thanks to Hunter Hayes’Storyline or the Now 50 compilation — both due May 6. Sources project the former to sell 100,000 in its first week, while the latter could do 80,000 to 100,000. Will Frozen’s weekly sales have thawed to less than 100,000 by that point? Time will tell. But, in the most recent tracking week — ending April 27 —Frozen…

While Avril Lavigne’s “Hello Kitty” video has raised the hackles of plenty of Western pundits, thanks to imagery that many perceive as culturally insensitive — robotic, creepy girls in a cupcake-themed stereotype-mart that Billboard.com called “Japan fetishization” — the view from Tokyo is far more sanguine. In fact, one could argue that the country — whose music market is worth close to $3 billion, 16 to 18 percent of which is international repertoire (mostly Anglo-American) — is so used to being misunderstood by the West that this latest pop barrage is hardly worth a flinch. Other Japanese citizens, meanwhile, view the candy cane fluff as a tribute, however shallow, to their homeland. The video logged 12 million views in a week. Hiro Ugaya, a Tokyo-based journalist and media commentator, is…

The silent listening party is over for Vulfpeck. For about seven weeks, the Los Angelesbased groove band reaped payouts from streams of its album Sleepify on Spotify, even though the album’s 10 tracks — with names like “Zzz” and “Zzzzz” — didn’t contain any music. The group encouraged fans to stream the album repeatedly, piling up play counts — and the micropayments that go with them — in order to fund an upcoming tour of free shows. But Spotify only tolerated Sleepify’s existence for so long. The company’s first email was friendly, offering assistance if the band needed anything, according to keyboardist Jack Stratton. But in late April, the act received a respectful request to take down Sleepify for an unspecified termsof-service violation, before Spotify pulled the plug itself. “I’m…

Fall Out Boy guitarist Joe Trohman, 29, and his wife Marie Wortman Goble celebrated the birth of their first child, Ruby Sioux Trohman, on April 24. DJ Rashad (real name Rashad Hanif Harden), who popularized the Chicago house music style known as footwork, died from apparent complications of a blood clot on April 26. He was 34. Vernon L. Slaughter, former vp black music marketing at CBS Records and later an entertainment lawyer at Greenberg Traurig and Patterson & Associates, died of kidney failure on April 22 in Phoenix. He was 63. DJ E-Z Rock (real name Rodney “Skip” Bryce), the hip-hop pioneer who enjoyed a breakout hit in 1988 with “It Takes Two” alongside fellow Harlem artist Rob Base, died of unknown causes on April 27. He was 46.…

As the second quarter got underway, Disney Music Group (DMG) found itself in an unexpected position — surging ahead of Interscope Geffen A&M (IGA) in current-album market share, thanks to the 2013 Frozen soundtrack. The startling news comes as the music division attempts to move successfully beyond the animated phenomenon with a 2014 slate of releases — including Dconstructed, an EDM album of Disney songs remixed by such DJs and producers as Avicii and Armin van Buuren — and an artist-development strategy that president Ken Bunt says puts “creating careers” over market share. According to Nielsen SoundScan data, through April 27, Disney’s year-to-date 2014 market share for current albums is 6.7 percent, which puts the music group in fourth place behind Columbia Records (8.5 percent), Republic Records (7.9 percent) and…

POP RADIO GOES ‘CRAZY’ My Crazy Girlfriend (left) approaches the Mainstream Top 40 chart with “Crazy Stupid Love.” The rhythmic/pop song follows the act’s breakout, “Go F—k Yourself,” which topped Dance Club Songs in February. Signed to Capitol Records, the group once lived in an apartment across the street from the label’s famed Hollywood tower, with their sights set (literally) on landing a record deal. PROPAIN IGNITES Houston rapper Propain turns up the heat on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay with his ode to the booty call, “2 Rounds” (eOne), which debuts on the chart at No. 50. The steamy, bass-heavy cut features Atlanta rapper Rich Homie Quan. Propain first garnered national attention in 2011 with his Dangerous Minds mixtape, which features such H-Town rap A-listers as Bun B, Slim Thug and Chamillionaire.…

IT’S CALLED THE TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL, but the annual celebration of movies has a lot of music coursing through its veins. Guests, some barefoot, flocked to The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir, a Mike Fleiss-directed documentary about the founding member of The Grateful Dead. Weir followed up the screening with a 70- minute acoustic set, which featured the Jerry Garcia-penned “Loose Lucy.” Those who attended a School of Visual Arts Q&A with Bjork following a screening of Bjork: Biophilia Live, shot in September at London’s Alexandra Place and directed by Nick Fenton and Peter Strickland, probed her about her outfits, future concert dates and her influence on Lady Gaga (she opted not to answer that one). At the Farfetch-sponsored after-party of the Gia Coppola-helmed Palo Alto,…

photographed byBLOSSOM BERKOFSKY “I LOVE WORKING WITH MUSICIANS — they’ll take risks,” says stylist Jason Rembert, elbows-deep in racks of the latest Emilio Pucci, Simone Rocha and Marni collections. “With an actress, you’re just doing pretty dresses.” It is a gusty spring afternoon, and Rembert, 26, is at the Karla Otto showroom in New York’s West Chelsea nabe to select pieces for client Rita Ora, the British pop star whose songs are hits in England, but is betterknown stateside for her bold fashion choices. The assignment: She had Rimmel press appointments — having recently launched a capsule collection with the cosmetics brand — and MTV upfronts the next day. Rembert triumphantly pulls out a gold, heavily sequined Pucci blazer and matching skinny trousers that might be part Prince, part Oscar…

ORIGINAL TRACKS The tracks on Xscape were cut between 1983 and 1999. Jackson would work on 70 or more songs for a record, and finish as many as 40. THE VAULTS Karen Langford pulled recordings from the archives. “We call her ‘the archivist,’ ” says John Branca, co-executor of the Jackson estate. “With help from John Doelp at Sony, we reviewed the music and then reviewed it with [Reid].” THE EDIT Reid and Doelp edited 24 tracks down to 14, looking for songs Jackson had sung multiple times, which indicated a level of connection worth pursuing. THE REMAKES The producers mostly worked from vocal tracks only. “When you heard his vocals, there was a map to follow,” says J-Roc, who worked with Timbaland. Deviation didn’t fly. “One time we was…

The Black Keys Eighth album Turn Blue (out May 13) sees the Auerbachfronted duo experimenting with 1970s psych rock. Lana Del Rey As producer on Ultraviolence (due in July), Auerbach imbibes a dreamy, SoCal sound as previewed on “West Coast.” Dr. John Auerbach helmed the New Orleans legend’s 2012 comeback, Locked Down, which netted a Grammy nom. Michael Kiwanuka Auerbach lent vocals and piano to a B-side, “Lasan,” for cult favorite Kiwanuka’s 2012 single “I’m Getting Better.” Bombino The little-known Tuareg guitarist got a big boost when Auerbach produced his 2013 album, Nomad. Grace Potter Auerbach co-wrote three cuts on her 2012 commercial and critical breakthrough, The Lion The Beast The Beat. —A.H.…

Atlanta rapper Kap G had big visions in his head when he named his debut mixtape, released in March, Like a Mexican. “I wanted to come in the game with a bold statement,” says the 19-year-old first-generation Mexican-American, born George Ramirez. “We’re the forgotten, and it’s time for us to have a voice.” Kap’s peers are hearing him loud and clear. Street singles “Tatted Like Amigos” and “Jose Got Them Tacos” boast appearances from Wiz Khalifa and Jeezy, respectively, and “Cocaina Shawty” features Fabolous and production from Pharrell Williams. “Keep in mind, this project was free,” says Atlantic Records head of urban A&R Kawan Prather, who signed Kap in late 2012. “People weren’t coming at him about any big checks. For somebody like Pharrell to give him a free record…

About a year-and-a-half after Merrill Garbus, who records under the moniker Tune-Yards, released her breakthrough 2011 sophomore record, whokill, a groove-inducing tour de force of looped vocals and African-inspired polyrhythms that made critics and crowds take notice, she couldn’t stand herself. “After hearing so much about yourself and your own music,” said the singer/multi-instrumentalist in a recent interview, “you say, ‘I know it’s not all about me, so what is it all about?’ ” To find out, she took voice lessons, traveled to Haiti to study drumming and dance, recruited renowned producers Malay (Frank Ocean, Angel Haze) and John Hill (Shakira, M.I.A.) and even read Molly Leikin’s 1987 guide How to Write a Hit Song. The resulting album, Nikki Nack, due May 6 on 4AD, can be summed up in…

Backstage Pass F FROM HIS OFFICE WINDOW AT MAPLE LEAF SPORTS and Entertainment (MLSE) in Toronto, president/CEO Tim Leiweke can see the top of the company’s flagship venue, Air Canada Centre. The roof could use a good scrubbing, he notes. No problem. That will likely happen during the planned $50 million upgrade for the 15-yearold arena, Canada’s busiest for concerts. What he can’t see is the box office, and “that’s what I always like watching,” he says. Billboard’s Boxscore ranking of Canada’s top venues — compiled ahead of Canadian Music Week, which takes place in Toronto May 6-10 — puts Air Canada Centre at No. 1. Boxscore data for the 12 months ending April 12, 2014 show that the arena grossed $56.8 million. Leiweke admits he doesn’t look out the…

Hot100 LEGEND Bullets indicate titles with greatest weekly gains. Album Charts Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA) certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 500,000 albums (Gold). RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 1 million units (Platinum). Numeral noted with Platinum symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 10 million units (Diamond). Numeral noted with Diamond symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 50,000 units (Oro). Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 100,000 units (Platino). Numeral noted with Platinum symbol indicates album’s multi-platinum level. Digital Songs Charts RIAA certification for 500,000 paid downloads (Gold). RIAA certification for 1 million paid downloads (Platinum). Numeral noted with platinum symbol…

The Vapors, “Turning Japanese” (1980) The one-hit wonder by the English new wave band opens with a Far Eastern guitar riff and the video only gets worse from there as every Japanese cliche imaginable makes a cameo, from Geisha girls to tea houses to samurai swords. Styx, “Mr. Roboto” (1983) The classic rock band’s cheeky hit — with that famous Japanese chorus — invoked troubling stereotypes of “Yellow Peril,” depicting threatening-looking robots with the exaggerated facial features of Japanese caricatures. Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Girls (2004) During her solo run, the No Doubt frontwoman was rarely seen without backup dancers hailing from the trendy Harajuku ’hood. Critics accused Stefani of cultural appropriation and of using humans as props. Day Above Ground, “Asian Girlz” (2013) The boy band’s “tribute” to women of…

N NOW THAT ONE OF THE WORLD’ LARGest independent music publishers, Imagem, is seeking a buyer, financial and publishing sources say they’re skeptical the Netherlands-based firm — which owns and administers publishing rights for some of the biggest names in pop, classical and musical theater — will find a buyer to go for its $650 million asking price. Billboard broke the news April 28 that New York-based investment bank Jeffries is shopping the publishing giant, which counts works by Daft Punk, Justin Timberlake and Vampire Weekend; classical composers Igor Stravinsky and Aaron Copland; and theater greats Rodgers & Hammerstein among its catalogs. Imagem was founded in 2007 by Dutch pension fund ABP and music publishing firm CP Masters. In an email, Imagem CEO Andre de Raaff explained that ABP has…

Rise Records is a tiny operation — just six employees at a modest office in Beaverton, Ore. But in the metal music world, the independent label is making a surprisingly loud noise. Three of its albums have cracked the top 10 of the Billboard 200 so far this year, including Unconditional by Dallas metalcore outfit Memphis May Fire, released in March (No. 4). Rise is responsible for nearly 5 percent of all hard-rock records sold in 2014 — more than twice the market share of older and more established competitors like Hopeless Records and Epitaph. In each of the last two years, the company’s revenue was estimated at $10 million. And the label has done it by building a young, fiercely loyal audience while keeping a low profile. “Everything that…

COMPILED BY JESSICA LETKEMANN “ Commissioner Silver [is] a Boss.” —RICK ROSS The Mastermind rapper, reacting to NBA commissioner Adam Silver giving Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling a lifetime ban from “any association with the Clippers organization or the NBA,” after racist comments attributed to Sterling came to light. “ Sometimes I wish I were jessica lange ..... and by sometimes I mean every day of my life.” —ARIANA GRANDE The pop star, on Twitter. “ You are like a god that I prayed to as a child.” —PINK The pop star, praising Billy Joel during his SiriusXM town hall event, which was held shortly before his 65th birthday. “ I’m pretty sure I just caught Tourette’s from watching Wolf of Wall Street.” —MOBY The veteran EDM musician, on…

BY BRAD WETÉ R&B’s newest starlet is aiming high. “2 On,” featuring Schoolboy Q, the lead single from Tinashe’s forthcoming debut album, Aquarius, is growing steadily on radio, moving 24-21 in just its fourth week on Billboard’s Rhythmic chart dated May 10 and 31-29 in its fifth week on R&B/Hip-Hop, both new peaks. The on-air support is translating to rising sales as well, with the song moving 17-14 on R&B Digital Songs thanks to a 22 percent weekly gain to 11,000 downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It has sold 65,000 total. But that’s not enough for Tinashe. “I have unrealistic goals for myself — I set the bar so high,” says the singer, born Tinashe Kachingwe, of her budding single. “So I have to step back and give myself a…

THE BUZZ The Frieze New York Art Fair on Randall’s Island May 9-12 is adding music to its third annual event. Seventeen local and international acts, from indie rock duo Christy & Emily to soul singer Suzi Analogue, will greet — or confront — art lovers as they enter the fairgrounds as part of the female-centric mini-music festival Without, created by Israeli-born, Brooklyn-based artist Naama Tsabar. The bands of Without include Noveller, the stage name of Sarah Lipstate, a filmmaker-musician who has scored Radiolab’s live-staged show and collaborated with Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo, and pop-rock group The Suzan, which has toured with Peter, Bjorn & John and had its song “Come Come” featured in a Verizon Wireless ad. “Saturday and Sunday are going to have a tight lineup, with a…

RITA ORA 1. Bergdorf Goodman 111th Anniversary, November 2012, in Emilio Pucci: “This is the look that’s received the most accolades,” says Rembert of the white halter gown. “An ode to old-school glamour.” 2. BRIT Awards, February, in Prada: “Rita loves white, black and red — we don’t do a lot of color [otherwise].” Rather than trifle with a tepid pastel, Rembert suggested this eggyolk yellow number. 3. MOBO Awards, November 2012, in Mugler: Ora wasn’t initially convinced, he recalls. “It was when she saw the full look — with hair, makeup and this Dsquared2 gold sandal — that she was blown away.” IGGY AZALEA 4. Grammy VIP Dinner, January, in Roberto Cavalli: “I’m obsessed with this look,” says Rembert, from the color to the cut to the hardware at…

How classic tracks — going back 30 years — and modern production made the King of Pop come back to life 1 “LOVE NEVER FELT SO GOOD” Demoed in 1983 with co-writer Paul Anka at the piano, the track was finished by John McClain, co-executor of the Jackson estate. Because the vocal and piano were on the same track, the piano remains prominent on the Xscape version. 2 “CHICAGO” Reid says Timbaland’s version of this 1999 track makes clear that Xscape is a headphone album. “The beauty [of it] is the sounds that you don’t hear out front. It’s those ambient sounds.” 3 “LOVING YOU” The original was produced by Jackson in his Encino home studio during the Bad sessions. “It showed me [that] Michael [was] fishing around to find…

Top artists and execs hit the 25th annual Billboard Latin Music Conference (and this photo booth) for a three–day confab that culminated in Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin and more big names shaking it at the Latin Music Awards 1 Leslie Grace Wednesday, April 23 10:10 a.m. 2 Juanes Tuesday, April 22 3:42 p.m. 3 Carlos Vives Tuesday, April 22 3:31 p.m. David Correy Tuesday, April 22 5:02 p.m. Kat Dahlia Wednesday, April 22 11:15 p.m. Rio Caraeff Tuesday, April 22 10:16 a.m. 4 Jencarlos Canela Wednesday, April 23 11:36 a.m. 5 Laura Pausini Wednesday, April 23 5:39 p.m. 6 Marc Anthony Wednesday, April 23 4:33 p.m. 7 Afo Verde Wednesday, April 23 12:01 p.m. Luis Fonsi Tuesday, April 22 12:15 a.m. Enrique Iglesias Wednesday, April 23 2:59 p.m. Alexis…

“I “T’S DARK, COLD AND GRAY.” That’s how Yukimi Nagano, the electric, eclectic frontwoman of electro quartet Little Dragon describes the band’s hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden — but she may as well be outlining the prevailing mood of the group’s beautifully challenging fourth full-length, Nabuma Rubberband. At least compared with the band’s last two albums, Ritual Union and Machine Dreams, which featured bouncy, buoyant standouts like “Shuffle a Dream” and “Feathers.” The difference isn’t a total coincidence. Those two sets were written during the band’s nonstop touring through the United States and Europe. Nabuma Rubberband, on the other hand, was recorded at home, during one of Gothenburg’s dour winters, in a new studio the group built after touring behind Ritual Union. “I’m not depressed or anything — we were just…

JACK WHITE, “ LAZARETTO” Claiming to be the world’s fastest recorded and released song, Jack White’s “Lazaretto” (Third Man/Columbia) received much attention in the wake of its Record Store Day unveiling. But the title-track lead single from his second solo album is far from a gimmick. The halting guitar riff makes you think White is about to break into The O’Jays’ “For the Love of Money.” Instead, he launches into an electro-funk workout that feels like he’s racing against time. “I’m so Detroit, I make it rise from the ashes,” he yelps. But the instruments do most of the talking: There’s a searing guitar solo, tempo jumps and a fiddle break that would make Mahavishnu Orchestra proud. “Lazaretto” is in-and-out, leaving the listener panting and ready to hear more from…

EVENTS & HAPPENINGS 25TH ANNIVERSARY From April 21-24, the most powerful Latin music industry influencers and artists joined together in Miami at the sold-out 25th annual Billboard Latin Music Conference & Awards, presented by State Farm and in association with Pepsi. 1. Adassa performs at the fifth anniversary of the “Mas Y Mas Musica” showcase, hosted by Musical Rhythms Promotions. 2. Leslie Grace tests out the Samsung Gear Fit in the Galaxy Green Room. 3. Carlos Vives plays virtual bowling in the Galaxy Green Room. 4. The TNT hair and makeup team pose with Enrique Iglesias. 5. Herbierto Canela (left), manager of son Jencarlos Canela and Horacio Palencia (center), along with manager Eddie Orjuela (right), check out their new Samsung Galaxy S 5 mobile devices at the Billboard/Samsung Galaxy Thought-Leadership…

“The casually beautiful, quietly intense, multileveled vocal harmonies and brilliant original songs that meld solid, emotional words with lovely melody lines are all back in full force, keeping the Eagles at the acme of acoustic-electric soft rock … The group isn’t trying out any new departures here, with the exception of the lengthy Procol Harum-type title cut.” Billboard raved about the Eagles’ fifth studio album, Hotel California, in the Dec. 18, 1976 issue, and astutely gave special mention to the title track: It took over the Billboard Hot 100 six months later, in the May 7 issue. “Hotel California” sold platinum, the only Eagles single to do so, although it was the fourth of the band’s five Hot 100 No. 1s and its sixth straight top five. The Don Henley-sung…