Xposition - October, 2018

Attention!!!

This October, Taylor Swift broke the record for most AMAs won by a woman at the 2018 American Music Awards. After a brilliant performance of her unreleased I Did Something Bad from her album Reputation she took home Artist of the Year, Tour of the Year, Favorite Female Artist – Pop/Rock and Favorite Album – Pop/Rock for Reputation. Camila Cabello matched Swift’s count taking New Artist of the Year and Video of the Year, Collaboration of the Year and Favorite Song – Pop/Rock for Havana featuring Young Thug. Other great performances of the night included Cardi B, J Balvin & Bad Bunny with I Like It, Camila Cabello with Consequences and Gladys Knight, Ledisi, Mary Mary, Donnie McClurkin and CeCe Winans with a tribute to Aretha Franklin. Some of the other significant wins were:

·         Favorite Male Artist – Pop/Rock: Post Malone

·         Favorite Duo or Group – Pop/Rock: Migos

·         Favorite Artist – Latin: Daddy Yankee

·         Favorite Artist – EDM: Marshmello

·         Favorite Social Artist: BTS

·         Favorite Soundtrack: Black Panther  

CNCO and Ozuna were the big winners at the 2018 Latin American Music Awards. CNCO took home Favorite Duo or Group, Favorite Pop Artist and Favorite Pop Album for CNCO while Ozuna was awarded the Album of the Year and Favorite Urban Album for Odisea and Favorite Urban Artist. Other major wins were:

·         Artist of the Year: Bad Bunny

·         New Artist of the Year: Sebastian Yatra

·         Song of the Year: Luis Fonsi & Demi Lovato - Échame La Culpa

·         Favorite Male Artist: Daddy Yankee

·         Favorite Female Artist: Becky G

·         Favorite Video: Anitta: Medicina

·         Icon Award: Daddy Yankee

·         Extraordinary Evolution Award: Maluma

Martin Garrix took the No.1 spot at the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs for 2018. In the annual poll Garrix is followed by Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Hardwell, Armin Van Buuren and David Guetta who complete the top 5. Avicii gets a posthumous ranking of No.15 as his fans made sure the beloved DJ was not forgotten.

In more EDM news, Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso have confirmed that Swedish House Mafia have reunited and will tour and release new music in 2019.  The trio split during the peak of their success in 2012 after their smash hit Don’t You Worry Child, and have been releasing music as solo artists.  

The year continues to witness the success of soundtrack albums, the latest is A Star is Born from the film of the same name starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. The album has already topped numerous charts with critics praising the musical styles, lyrics and Gaga’s vocals. Country music icon Willie Nelson’s son Lukas Nelson and artists such as Mark Ronson and Julia Michaels also contributed to the album. The album’s lead single Shallow performed by Gaga and Cooper is also climbing the charts worldwide.

Michael Bublé fans were in for a shock as the artist in an apparent “final interview” told the Daily Mail that he will be retiring from music. Since his tenth studio album Love is due in November, it appeared that the record would be his last. The news was not a surprise, as the industry knew that Bublé’s son, Noah was in recovery from liver cancer which caused him severe emotional trauma. However, since then his representatives have dismissed the claims and clarified that Bublé is “absolutely not retiring”.

Following the release of their newest single Woman Like Me featuring Nicki Minaj, Little Mix have announced that they have written a new song about the #MeToo anti-sexual harassment campaign. Moreover, they have announced that their fifth studio album titled LM5 will be out this November.

The Prince Estate has requested US President Donald Trump from playing the late rock star’s Purple Rain in his campaign rallies. Prince’s half-brother Omarr Baker has requested Trump and the White House to cease the use of the artist’s music immediately as no prior approval had been obtained.

Music lost two more legends from the industry in October. First Marty Balin, the lead vocalist and guitarist of Jefferson Airplane died at the age of 76 through unknown causes. Next, classic country singer Freddie Hart passed away at the age of 91 as result of pneumonia.

In chart news in the US, Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B’s Girls Like You which ended the reign of Drake continued at its helm for the entirety of the month. During the month Lil Wayne’s Mona Lisa, Bad Bunny ft. Drake’s Mia, Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s Shallow and Lil Baby & Gunna’s Drip Too Hard all entered the top 10.  

In the UK, Calvin Harris & Sam Smith’s Promises sustained its reign for the first two weeks of the month before being overthrown by Dave ft. Fredo’s Funky Friday. However, this was short lived as Promises regained its crown in the final week of the month. During the month Freya Ridings’ Lost Without You, Little Mix ft. Nicki Minaj’s Woman Like Me, Rita Ora’s Let You Love Me and Jess Glynne’s All I Am all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       Eminem – Venom

2.       DJ Snake ft. Cardi B, Ozuna & Selena Gomez – Taki taki

3.       Sigala ft. Ella Eyre, Meghan Trainor & French Montana – Just got paid

4.       Jonas Blue, Liam Payne & Lennon Stella – Polaroid

5.       Jason Derulo & David Guetta ft. Willy William & Nicki Minaj – Goodbye

6.       Dean Lewis – Be alright

7.       Avril Lavigne – Head above water

8.       Charli XCX & Troye Sivan – 1999 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - September, 2018

Attention!!!

First up in September we have the prestigious Mercury Prize 2018. Wolf Alice won the prestigious award bestowed on the best of UK and Irish music for their album Visions of a Life. The group saw stiff competition from fan favorites Lily Allen, Florence + The Machine and Arctic Monkeys.

Next up we have two award ceremonies which announced their nominations. Drake and Cardi B led the nominations at the 2018 American Music Awards with 8 nods each. Drake will face off against Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Imagine Dragons and Post Malone for Artist of the Year while Cardi B was up against Camila Cabello, Khalid, Dua Lipa and posthumously XXXTentacion for New Artist of the Year.

The Latin American Music Awards 2018 also announced their list of nominees with Ozuna and J Balvin leading the tally with 9 nominations each. Both are up for Artist of the Year as well as Favorite Male Artist and Album of the Year for Odisea (Ozuna) and Vibras (J Balvin). In addition, J Balvin is up for two nods in the Song of the Year for X with Nicky Jam and Mi Gente with Willy William ft. Beyonce and Ozuna for being featured on Wisin’s Escapate Commigo. Close behind is Nicky Jam with 8 nods who is also up for Artist of the Year, Favorite Male Artist and Album of the Year for Fenix.

The devastating deaths in the music industry continue as rapper Mac Miller died of an apparent overdose at the age of 26. Miller was found dead in his San Fernando Valley home. Prior to this Miller admitted he had been struggling with drugs and addiction issues.

In more morbid news, a coroner’s report has confirmed the cause of death of the lead vocalist of The Cranberries, Dolores O’Riordan. The singer who passed away in January evidently died by drowning due to alcohol intoxication.

The latest rap beef is Eminem vs. Machine Gun Kelly. The bad blood between the two was due to MGK derogatory remarks about Eminem’s daughter Hailie on Twitter. Thereafter, MGK accused Eminem of blackballed him from major record labels. The beef escalated to a war when Eminem released his Not Alike from his surprise new album Kamikaze. This led to MGK’s retort with Rap Devil a direct reference to Eminem’s Rap God. Eminem fired his final torpedo with a brilliant track – Killshot – which demolished MGK and literally put to rest the warfare with Eminem as the victor.

As a part of Global Sound’s initiative to bring the best of EDM to Sri Lanka, Alan Walker performed live as the headline artist of a set which included Lost Stories and Ella Rose. At the venue he performed his latest unreleased single Diamond Hearts ft. Sophia Somajo.

In chart news in the US, Drake continued at the top with In My Feelings throughout the month which was however overthrown by Maroon 5 & Cardi B’s Girls Like You in the last week. During the month Ariana Grande’s God is a Woman, Khalid & Normani’s Love Lies and Eminem’s Killshot all entered the top 10.  

In the UK, Benny Blanco, Halsey & Khalid’s Eastside began the month at the top, which was however short lived as Calvin Harris & Sam Smith’s Promises stormed to No.1 in the second week and remained at the top for the rest of the month. During the month Marshmello & Bastille’s Happier, Kanye West & Lil Pump’s I Love It and Juice Wrld’s Lucid Dreams all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       Dean Lewis – Be alright

2.       Silk City & Dua Lipa – Electricity   

3.       BLACKPINK – Ddu-du ddu-du

4.       Jason Derulo & David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj & Willy William – Goodbye

5.       LSD – Thunderclouds

6.       Dynoro & Gigi D'Agostino – In my mind 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - November, 2017

Attention!!!

The awards season was in full swing this November. First up was the 2017 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards. Chris Stapleton was the big winner of the night winning Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year for From a Room: Volume 1. The other winners were:

·         Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert

·         New Artist of the Year: Jon Pardi

·         Entertainer of the Year: Garth Brooks

·         Single of the Year: Keith Urban – Blue ain’t your color

·         Song of the Year: Little Big Town – Better man

·         Vocal Group of the Year: Little Big Town

·         Music Video of the Year: Brothers Osborne – It ain’t my fault

·         Musical Event of the Year: Glen Campbell with Willie Nelson – Funny how time slips away

Next up we have the MTV European Music Awards which was hosted by Rita Ora at the Wembley Arena, London. She gave a brilliant performance of her songs Your Song and new hit Anywhere and was also bestowed with the Power of Music Award. Other good performances of the night were Camila Cabello’s Havana, Eminem and Skylar Grey’s Walk on Water, Shawn Mendes’ There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back and Clean Bandit’s medley of Symphony, Rockabye and I Miss You with Zara Larsson, Anne-Marie and Julia Michaels. Shawn Mendes was the big winner of the night taking home four awards including Best Artist and Best Song for There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back. Other significant wins include:

·         Best Video: Kendrick Lamar – Humble

·         Best New Artist: Dua Lipa

·         Best Pop: Camila Cabello

·         Best Electronic: David Guetta

·         Best Rock: Coldplay

·         Best Hip-Hop: Eminem

·         Global Icon: U2

The 2017 Latin Grammys were also held in November with Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee both leading with 4 awards for their mega hit Despacito winning Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Urban/Fusion Performance and Best Short Form Music Video. Some of the best performances of the night included CNCO with Reggaeton Lento (Bailemos), Luis Fonsi, Bomba Estéreo, Victor Manuelle and Diplo with Despacito and Maluma with Felices Los 4. Some of the other significant winners were:

·        Album of the Year: Rubén Blades with Roberto Delgado & Orquesta – Salsa Big Band

·         Best New Artist: Vincente Garcia

·         Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Album: Shakira – El Dorado

·         Producer of the Year: Eduardo Cabra

·         Best Urban Song: Residente – Somos Anormales

The 2017 American Music Awards is the final major award ceremony for the year. Bruno Mars had an almost clean sweep grabbing 7 out of his 8 nominations of the night including Artist of the Year, Favorite Male Artist Pop/Rock, Favorite Male Artist R&B/Soul and Video of the Year for That’s What I Like. There were amazing performances by Marshmello and Selena Gomez with Wolves, Imagine Dragons and Khalid with a mashup of Thunder and Young, Dumb and Broke, BTS with DNA and Diana Ross who was bestowed with the Lifetime Achievement Award sang a medley of her hits I’m Coming Out, Take Me Higher, Ease on Down the Road, The Best Years of My Life and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. The other major wins include:

·         New Artist of the Year: Niall Horan

·    Collaboration of the Year: Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – Despacito

·         Tour of the Year: Coldplay – A Head Full of Dreams

·         Favorite Female Artist - Pop/Rock: Lady Gaga

·    Favorite Song - Pop/Rock: Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – Despacito

·         Favorite Artist - Rap/Hip-Hop: Drake

·         Favorite Artist - Latin: Shakira

·         Favorite Artist - Electronic Dance Music: The Chainsmokers

·         Favorite Soundtrack: Moana

Lastly in awards news, we have the most anticipated nominations in music - Grammys. The 2018 Grammy Nominations were announced at the end of the month with Jay-Z leading with 8 nominations followed by Kendrick Lamar with 7 and Bruno Mars with 6. The following are the nominees under the 4 main categories:

1.       Record of the Year

·         Childish Gambino – Redbone

·         Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – Despacito

·         Jay-Z – The story of O.J.

·         Kendrick Lamar – Humble.

·         Bruno Mars – 24K Magic

2.       Album of the Year

·         Childish Gambino – Awaken My Love

·         Jay-Z – 4:44

·         Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.

·         Lorde – Melodrama

·         Bruno Mars – 24K Magic

3.       Song of the Year

·         Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber – Despacito

·         Jay-Z – 4:44

·         Julia Michaels – Issues

·         Logic ft. Alessia Cara & Khalid – 1-800-273-8255

·         Bruno Mars – That’s What I Like

4.       Best New Artist

·         Alessia Cara

·         Khalid

·         Lil Uzi Vert

·         Julia Michaels

·         SZA

In other news, Selena Gomez was named the Billboard’s 2017 Woman of the Year. The singer was honored at the annual Women in Music gala at the end of the month. This year the Rising Star was awarded to 2016 America’s Got Talent winner Grace VanderWaal.  The other honorees were:

·         Rulebreaker Award – Kehlani

·         Icon of the Year – Mary J. Blige

·         Breakthrough – Camila Cabello

·         Powerhouse – Kelly Clarkson

Meanwhile in chart news, in the US, Post Malone ft. 21 Savage’s Rockstar reigned supreme throughout the month although Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug’s Havana peaked at No.2 and came extremely close to dethroning Rockstar. During the month Ed Sheeran & Beyoncé’s Perfect, Lil Pump’s Gucci Gang and Maroon 5 ft. SZA’s What Lovers Do all entered the top 10.  

In the UK, Rockstar opened the month at the top although here Camila Cabello managed to overthrow Post Malone and stayed at the top for the remainder of the month. During the month Rita Ora’s Anywhere, Charlie Puth’s How Long and Eminem ft. Beyoncé’s Walk on Water all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were: 

1.       Selena Gomez & Marshmello – Wolves

2.       Big Shaq – Man’s not hot

3.       Taylor Swift – Call it what you want

4.       Clean Bandit ft. Julia Michaels – I miss you

5.       NF – Let you down

6.       Sam Smith – One last song

7.       Post Malone – I fall apart 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - November, 2016

Attention!!!

The awards season is once again in full swing as the 2016 MTV Europe Music Awards was held in November, hosted by Bebe Rexha. Some good performances of the night were DNCE’s medley of Body Moves and Cake By The Ocean, Zara Larsson’s medley of Lush Life and Ain’t My Fault, The Weeknd’s Starboy and Bebe Rexha’s I Got You. Justin Bieber was the big winner of the night winning the Best Song for Sorry and for Biggest Fans. Martin Garrix, Shawn Mendes and Twenty One Pilots also received two awards each with Garrix receiving for Best Electronic Artist and Best World Stage Performance and Mendes receiving Best Male and Best Canadian Act, and Twenty One Pilots receiving Best Alternative and Best Live Act. Green Day was bestowed with the Global Icon Award. Some of the other significant wins included:

·         Best Video: The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk – Starboy

·         Best Female: Lady Gaga

·         Best New Act: Zara Larsson

·         Best Pop: Selena Gomez

·         Best Rock: Coldplay

·         Best Hip-Hop: Drake

·         Best Push Act: DNCE

·         Best UK Act: Little Mix

·         Best Norwegian Act: Alan Walker

·         Best Australian Act: Troye Sivan

·         Best US Act: Ariana Grande

Next up we have the 2016 American Music Awards hosted by Gigi Hadid and Jay Pharoah. Justin Bieber was the winner of the night grabbing four awards including Video of the Year for Sorry. Drake managed to garner 3 awards from his record-breaking 12 nominations and Rihanna too managed to take away 3 awards. However, Ariana Grande fended off heavyweights such as Adele and Bieber to seize the Artist of the Year award. The show opened with a fantastic performance by Bruno Mars of his newest hit single 24K Magic. There were also awesome performances by Fifth Harmony with That’s My Girl, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj with Side to Side, Twenty One Pilots with a medley of Stressed Out and Heathens, John Legend with Love Me Now and Lady Gaga with Million Reasons. The other significant wins include:

·         New Artist of the Year: Zayn

·         Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist: Justin Bieber

·         Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist: Selena Gomez

·         Favorite Pop/Rock Song: Justin Bieber – Love yourself

·         Favorite Pop/Rock Album: Justin Bieber – Purpose

·         Favorite Country Song: Tim McGraw – Humble and kind

·         Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Song: Drake – Hotline bling

·         Favorite R&B/Soul Song: Rihanna ft. Drake – Work

·         Favorite EDM Artist: The Chainsmokers

·         Top Soundtrack: Purple Rain

·         Collaboration of the Year: Fifth Harmony ft. Ty Dolla $ign – Work from home

·         Tour of the Year: Beyonce - The Formation World Tour 

The curtains closed on the Country Music Association Awards 2016 co-hosted by Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley for the ninth consecutive year as the show celebrated its 50th edition. Beyonce made a special appearance at the CMAs where she performed her song Daddy Lessons taken from her newest album Lemonade alongside the Dixie Chicks. Moreover, Garth Brooks who won the coveted Entertainer of the Year performed a medley of hits including Jackson, Rose Garden and Golden Ring. Dolly Parton was bestowed with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award before which Jennifer Nettles and the Pentatonix performed her hit Jolene followed by Reba McEntire singing 9 to 5. Some of the other significant wins included:

·         Song of the Year: Tim McGraw – Humble and kind (written by Lori McKenna)

·         Single of the Year: Thomas Rhett – Die a happy man

·         Album of the Year: Eric Church – Mr. Misunderstood

·         Male Vocalist of the Year: Chris Stapleton

·         Female Vocalist of the Year: Carrie Underwood

·         Vocal Group of the Year: Little Big Town

·         Musical Event of the Year: Dierks Bentley with Elle King – Different for girls

·         Pinnacle Award: Kenny Chesney

Forbes has released the list of highest paid women in music and it is none other than Taylor Swift who tops the list with a whopping US$ 170 million. Far behind Swift at second place is Adele with US$ 80 million. The rest are as follows:

3. Madonna – US$ 76.5 million

4. Rihanna – US$ 75 million

5. Beyonce – US$ 54 million

6. Katy Perry – US$ 41 million    

7. Jennifer Lopez – US$39.5 million

8. Britney Spears – US$ 30.5 million

9. Shania Twain – US$ 27.5 million

10. Celine Dion – US$ 27 million

It was a disappointing outcome for many artists as their endorsements of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton fell short, when Donald Trump triumphed at the 2016 Presidential Election. The likes of Beyonce, Jay-Z, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga supported Clinton and now will have to wait what happens when Trump takes oaths, if there will be repercussions for those who took sides in the bitter race.

BBC Music has revealed its long list of the Sound of 2017. The following 15 acts have been tipped for success next year. This annual list was compiled by 170 influential music industry experts where former winners include Years & Years, Sam Smith, Ellie Goulding, Keane and 50 Cent:

1. AJ Tracey
2. Anderson .Paak
3. Cabbage
4. Dave
5. Declan McKenna
6. Jorja Smith
7. Maggie Rogers
8. Nadia Rose
9. Rag 'n' Bone Man
10. Ray BLK
11. RAYE
12. Stefflon Don
13. The Amazons
14. The Japanese House
15. Tom Grennan

Meanwhile, legendary singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen passed away at the age of 82. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau led tributes to Cohen who was buried in a simple pine casket at a cemetery at Mount Royal in Montreal. 

Moving onto chart news, in the US the Chainsmokers’ featuring Halsey’s Closer reigned supreme for three weeks becoming the longest reigning number one of 2016 with 12 weeks at the top. However, Rae Sremmurd featuring Gucci Mane’s Black Beatles toppled the EDM duo in the final week of November to grab the crown. Black Beatles received a big boost from its usage in the viral Mannequin Challenge videos which sparked off from an October 26 tweet showing students at Jacksonville, Florida’s Edward H. White High School in mannequin poses (though that clip did not feature this song). Another viral rap song Juju On That Beat (TZ Anthem) by Zay Hilfigerr and Zayion McCall propelled through to the Top 10 after fan made videos flooded YouTube with its unique dance steps.

In the UK, Little Mix’s Shout Out To My Ex ruled for the first two weeks in November before being overthrown by Clean Bandit’s new single Rockabye which is a mammoth collaboration between Sean Paul and Anne Marie which continued to be at top for the remainder of the month. As Christmas week gets closer we get ready for the biggest battle on the UK Charts which is for the coveted Christmas Number One. The contenders were revealed at the end of November and of course on top we have the X Factor winner’s single which has grabbed the crown in the past but have also failed in the recent years. It would all depend on the winner as well as the song. It could also be a charity single which are always released during this time such as last year’s A Bridge Over You by Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir which claimed the number one with help from Justin Bieber who promoted the single despite his Love Yourself being removed from the top position.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1. Lady Gaga – Million reasons
2. Drake – Fake love
3. Maroon 5 ft. Kendrick Lamar – Don’t wanna know
4. Zara Larsson – I would like
5. NEIKED ft. Dyo – Sexual
6. Sigma ft, Birdy - Find me 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!! 

Xposition - October, 2016

Attention!!!

Summer has come and gone and Drake’s One Dance clearly ruled the roost. What will be interesting to see is if the gargantuan hit will close 2016 as the year-end No.1. It does seem to have stiff competition from Sia’s Cheap Thrills, Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself, Rihanna’s Work and The Chainsmokers’ Closer.

The Voice UK has announced its judges for the 2017 edition. Fan favorite Sir Tom Jones is back along with new comers lead singer from the rock band Bush Gavin Rossdale and Academy Award winner and American Idol alumni Jennifer Hudson.

The award season is once again upon us as BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards 2016 was held in October. Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes, The Vamps and Adele were among the big winners:

·         Most Entertaining Celeb – Taylor Swift

·         Best International Group – 5 Seconds of Summer

·         Best British Group – The Vamps

·         Best British Solo Artist – Adele

·         Best International Solo Artist: Shawn Mendes

·         Best Single: Shawn Mendes – Stitches

The 2016 MTV Europe Music Awards nominations have been released with Beyonce and Justin Bieber leading the pack with five nods each. Rihanna, Adele and Coldplay have four nods each. For best song we have heavyweights Adele’s Hello, Bieber’s Sorry, and Rihanna’s Work against underdogs Lukas Graham’s 7 Years and Mike Posner’s I Took A Pill in Ibiza.

Next up the 2016 American Music Awards nominations were released with Drake breaking a 32-year record for the most number of nominations with 13 nods, beating Michael Jackson’s previous high mark of 11 from 1984. If he wins any of the categories it will make his first win. Rihanna was just behind Drake with 7 nominations followed by Adele and Justin Bieber with 5 nods each.

Lily Allen was at the receiving end of a rampage of social media and mainstream media backlash as she apologized on behalf of UK to a youth refugee from Afghanistan while visiting Calais Jungle camp. Allen who took a break from recording her next album, visited the refugee camp in France and during an interview with a 13-year old broke down and said “We’ve bombed your country, put you in the hands of the Taliban and now put you in danger of risking your life to get into our country. I apologize on behalf of my country. I’m sorry for what we have put you through.” The backlash centered on how she is privileged wealthy and that these are crocodile tears coupled by that she cannot apologize on behalf of UK as she can only represent herself.

At the 11^th Annual Billboard Women in Music Madonna will be felicitated as Billboard’s 2016 Woman of the Year. She achieves this accolade after she extended her record as the highest grossing female touring artist of all time with her recently concluded Rebel Heart tour. She also continues her reign as the best-selling female recording artist of all time.

The 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature, the last of the esteemed Nobel Prize to be awarded in the calendar was bestowed on Bob Dylan. This marks the first time the prize has been awarded to someone primarily seen as a musician.

Meanwhile, Selena Gomez cancelled the remaining dates on her Revival tour as she checked into a rehab facility outside Nashville, Tennessee to deal with her anxiety, panic attacks and depression. The singer also suffers from lupus and went into rehab in 2014 to treat her auto immune disease.

Probably the best news of the month came at the end as ABBA, one of the best-selling musical acts of all time have announced a reunion. The quartet is to return in 2018 and according to sources will be a groundbreaking venture using the latest digital and virtual technology.  

Moving onto chart news, in the US the Chainsmokers’ featuring Halsey’s Closer reigned supreme throughout the month accumulating altogether 9 weeks at the top and tying for the highest number of weeks at the top alongside Drake’s One Dance. The duo’s collaboration seems unstoppable as the song topped all three formats of the Billboard Hot 100 – Radio, Sales and Streaming. The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk’s Starboy, DJ Snake featuring Justin Bieber’s Let Me Love You, Gnash featuring Olivia O’ Brien’s I Hate U I Love U, Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj’s Side to Side and D.R.A.M. featuring Lil Yachty’s Broccoli all entered the top 10 during the month.

Throughout October people were dancing to the PPAP Song by Pikotaro. This song also known as the Pen Pineapple Apple Pen Song reached monumental viral status as it was trending throughout the month. As a result of the popularity it reached No.77 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the shortest song on the chart’s history with a length of only 45 seconds.

In the UK, James Arthur ended The Chainsmokers’ rule with his comeback hit Say You Won’t Let Go which ruled for three weeks before being overthrown by Little Mix’s Shout Out To My Ex, the lead single taken from their newest album Glory Days. Throughout the month, Bruno Mars’ 24K, The Weeknd’s Starboy and Hailee Steinfeld’s Starving and Niall Horan’s This town all entered the top 10.  

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1. Zay Hilfiger & Zayion McCall – Juju on that beat (TZ anthem)
2. Fifth Harmony – That’s my girl 
3. Alessia Cara – Scars to your beautiful 
4. Rihanna – Love on the brain 
5. The Chainsmokers ft. Phoebe Ryan – All we know
6. Shawn Mendes – Mercy 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - November, 2015

Attention!!!

Yes, one more month till the year ends and what a year it has been. While we eagerly await the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 of 2015 and the Biggest Songs of 2015 in the UK let's look at what happened in November.

First, we have the coronation of Like Mike & Dmitri Vegas as the world's No.1 DJ. Ending the reign of Hardwell after two years at the helm, the not-so-mainstream duo take over as the EDM world has elected its leader. The winner is chosen after a year long poll on the DJ Mag Top 100. The Top 10 are as follows:

1. Like Mike & Dmitri Vegas
2. Hardwell
3. Martin Garrix
4. Armin Van Buuren
5. Tiesto
6. Davig Guetta
7. Avicci
8. Afrojack
9. Skrillex
10. Steve Aoki

Next up, we have the 2015 Country Music Association Awards (CMA Awards) which was held on November, 04 2015 at the Bridgestone Arena, Nashville. It was Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town's big night as he won three awards including New Artist of the Year, Album of the Year for Traveller and Male Vocalist of the Year and Little Big Town won Single of the Year and Song of the Year for Girl Crush and Vocal Group of the Year. Luke Bryan took away the coveted Entertainer of the Year for the second consecutive time. Other significant wins include:

• Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert 
• Best Music Video of the Year: Madde & Tae - Girl in s country song
• Musical Event of the Year: Keith Urban & Eric Church - Raise 'em up
• Vocal Duo of the Year: Florida Georgia Line 

More recently, we had the 2015 American Music Awards hosted by Jennifer Lopez. To start the night with a big bang there was a less than mediocre attempt by Jennifer Lopez with a messy medley of the best songs of the year. However, there were awesome performances by The Weekend with The Hills, Selena Gomez with Same Old Love, Meghan Trainor and Charlie Puth with a medley of Like I'm Gonna Lose You and Marvin Gaye and Justin Bieber with a medley of What Do You Mean?, Where Are U Now and Sorry. Taylor Swift was unsurprisingly the big winner of the night with three wins including Song of the Year for Blank Space, Favorite Pop/Rock Album for 1989 and Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist. One Direction took away the Artist of the Year while Sam Hunt won the New Artist of the Year. Other winners include:

• Collaboration of the Year: Diplo & Skrillex ft. Justin Bieber - Where are u now
• Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist - Ed Sheeran
• Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist - Ariana Grande
• Favorite Pop/Rock Duo or Group - One Direction 
• Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist - Nicki Minaj
• Favorite Alternative Rock Artist - Fall Out Boy
• Favorite Electronic Dance Music Artist - Calvin Harris
• Top Soundtrack - Pitch Perfect 2  

The BRIT Critics have spoken. Jack Garratt was chosen after he along with Izzy Bisu and Frances were shortlisted from 100 artists for the prestigious award.This award is now one of the surest predictors of commercial success as it has proven time and again with past winners such as Adele, Ellie Goulding, Sam Smith, Jessie J and James Bay. 

Welcome back Adele is all that we can say for the charts around the world as the British singer's comeback hit which is also the lead single off her new studio album 25 reached the top in 28 countries. Hello's video also achieved several milestones as it broke the Vevo record for most views within 24-hours by accumulating 27.7 million views surpassing the 20.1 million views held by Taylor Swift's Bad Blood.

Whilst The Weeknd's The Hills managed to stay at the helm for the first week of November, Adele ruled the roost for the remainder of the month with Hello. Along with Hello, Justin Bieber's new single Sorry also entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No.2. The following week we see Ariana Grande's new single Focus debuting at No.7. With her newest hit, Grande becomes the first artist to have her debut single from her first three albums to chart within the Top 10. Meanwhile, Meghan Trainor ft. John Legend's Like I'm Gonna Lose You and Elle King's Ex's and Oh's also entered the Top 10.

In the UK, Adele's Hello debuted at the top in the first week and remained there for the first three weeks with record breaking sales. Her comeback became the biggest UK chart-topper in three years, as well as setting a new one-week streaming record, racking up over 7.32 million listens in its first week available. It is also the fastest selling song of the year. Meanwhile, Bieber's Sorry struggled at No.2 for three weeks after which it overthrew Hello in the final week to claim the top spot. Meanwhile, MNEK & Zara Larsson's Never Forget You peaked at No.5 and Fleur East's Sax peaked at No.3 during the month.

Other songs which became popular during the month are:

• Jess Glynne - Take me home
• Justin Bieber - I'll show you
• WSTRN - In2
• Demi Lovato - Confident
• Alessia Cara - Here
• Rudimental ft. Ed Sheeran - Lay it all on me
• Thomas Rhett - Die a happy man  

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!