Author: Rap Hooks

Sony Music Latin has signed an agreement with K Music, the record label founded by Freddy Becerra, Leonardo Soto and Mexican singer-songwriter Luis R. Conríquez, Billboard can exclusively announce on Thursday (Sept. 24). The new alliance is part of the multinational label’s strategy to continue driving the growth of Música Mexicana and its evolving expressions.

The collaboration includes a focus on artistic development, distribution and strengthening the projects supported by K Music, as well as the continued global growth of regional Mexican music and Latin music.

“Luis R. Conriquez has established himself as a leader of the movement and a true innovator within Mexican music. Together with K Music, he has brought together the genre’s top talent, building a solid, forward-looking project,” Alex Gallardo, Sony Music Latin president, said in a statement. “For Sony Music Latin, it is a true honor to partner with them in this new chapter, which will undoubtedly mark a milestone in Mexican music.”

Considered one of the most influential voices in contemporary Mexican music and the new wave of modern corridos, Conríquez has positioned himself as one of the most-streamed artists in the genre on digital platforms, with No. 1 hits on Billboard‘s Regional Mexican Airplay chart including “JGL” with La Adictiva, “Si Ya Hiciste El Mal” with Jessie Uribe and “Con Todo Respetillo.”

Founded in 2019 in Riverside, Calif., K Music — initially launched as Kartel Music — has played a key role in promoting regional Mexican music, driving its recent global expansion. The label represents some of the genre’s most promising stars, starting with Conríquez and including Joel De La P and Tony Aguirre.

“K Music was founded with the goal of elevating Mexican music and discovering the next generations of artists, providing them with the infrastructure to build careers that transcend borders,” Becerra said. “K Music grew exponentially thanks to our audience, our team of executives, and the talent of the artists who place their trust in us. In 2026, we partnered with Sony Music Latin, taking our platform to a new level so that we can continue to be a standard-bearer for Mexican culture and continue providing the best development tools to the talent we represent.”

Added Soto: “Our label will always proudly maintain a Mexican identity, which is at the core of who we are. At the same time, K Music has plans to expand beyond the Mexican and Latin markets. Our vision includes positioning K Music as a global music leader, with musical projects emerging from different parts of the world and telling diverse stories.”

In the alley outside Broadway’s Ambassador Theatre — home for 23 years now to the musical Chicago — there’s an unofficial “wall of fame.” Adorning the white bricks are the names of all the actors who’ve played the lead roles in the show, a group that includes a slew of Broadway legends, but also quite a few unexpected show people.  

There are pop artists like Brandy, Usher and Ashlee Simpson, and actors known better for the screen than the stage, like Pamela Anderson, Melanie Griffith and Sofia Vergara. And then there’s a different sort of celebrity altogether: seven Chicago alumni best known from the world of reality television. Soon, a new name will join them under the list of actresses who’ve played Roxie Hart: Reece Weaver, the breakout star of Netflix’s America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

Weaver is the latest example of an approach to casting that Chicago’s producer team has excelled at perhaps better than any other on the Great White Way, one which has surely contributed significantly to Chicago’s standing as the longest-running current show on Broadway, and the longest-running American musical, period: “put-in” a star from outside the musical theater world; prove said star can hold their own alongside actual Broadway people; and hopefully, watch ticket sales soar. 

In recent years, Chicago has taken that mandate one step further with reality stars, mainly “Bravo-lebrities,” along with RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Jinkx Monsoon (as Matron “Mama” Morton), The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ Whitney Leavitt (whose casting as Roxie yielded the highest grosses the show has seen), and, now, Weaver representing Netflix.
 
The practice has its roots in the mid-90s, when Barry Weissler (Chicago’s lead producer with his wife Fran) was working on the revival of Grease and started to realize the potential benefit of casting new faces with established brands (like Brooke Shields, John Stamos and Rosie O’Donnell) in the show. “I think Barry started to realize you can bring in someone that’s at the top of pop culture, or in the cultural zeitgeist, and that can bring people to purchase a ticket — and then they discover all this other Broadway talent surrounding them,” says Brett England, now Weissler’s associate producer on Chicago.
 
Chicago — John Kander and Fred Ebb’s now-iconic musical about two “merry murderesses” who get their 15 minutes of fame in Jazz Age Chicago — was an even more natural fit for celebrity casting, particularly for reality stars. “The show is structured as a vaudeville, and it’s about the cult of celebrity,” says England. “We’re satirizing what celebrity is. So when these celebrities are willing to play with that, it can work.”  

As England points out, most reality stars did not plan to become only that; Vanderpump Rules’ Ariana Madix, for instance, studied musical theater in college, and went on to become a Roxie (she’s now playing Connie Francis in another Broadway hit, the Bobby Darin bio-musical Just in Time). 

Weaver, likewise, attended a prestigious performing arts high school, where she was classically trained in various genres of dance, including musical theater, and earned her bachelor’s degree in dance from the University of Alabama. And while cheer may seem a world away from the Bob Fosse-style choreography that defines the current production of Chicago, Weaver says she was lucky to have various teachers throughout her training years schooled in the style. 

“I love me some Fosse,” she tells Billboard (the current choreography is by Ann Reinking in the style of Fosse). “Performing in front of 80,000-plus fans compared to, you know, 700-plus people in the audience is different. It’s more of a contained energy. But still, the precision, the intensity and the integrity behind every movement is the same.” 

While a huge built-in fan base certainly helps, it isn’t enough to get a reality star cast in Chicago. “You’re looking for some sort of star quality, right?” England says. “And then there has to be some grit and dedication that’s underneath it.” Weaver, he notes, “was on a football field in the middle of a stadium, and she knew how to perform to that big crowd. Cheering is all about steps and basics and getting choreography down. So there are fundamentals that you’re looking for, and then you’re just trying to pull them out and make them fit within a Broadway sort of blueprint.”  

While Weaver’s dance skills were certainly up to par, it turned out that she had already decided to take voice lessons at the top of 2026, she says, before Broadway was even on her radar. But it’s also not unusual for a celebrity to have an initial session with the Chicago team, then put in significant behind-the-scenes work before being officially cast; as Weissler notes fondly, Anderson did so for “at least seven years before we hired her.” Once someone is hired, they’re given at least four dedicated weeks to rehearse.  

That said, there’s a reason reality stars have mostly played the role of Roxie in particular. “When the show was created, [the role] was created for Gwen Verdon, an aging Broadway star who didn’t have the [vocal] range she had before,” England notes. “So Roxie is written in a way that can support a performer who might be a little bit new, still finding their footing. And dramaturgically, Roxie isn’t a star, right? She wants to be the star. So the role is built to sort of protect that — and I think that’s why it resonates with so many people who come from [the reality] world.”  

Weissler calls Weaver “one of the hardest workers we’ve ever had” — which was certainly evident at a recent Chicago performance, where she executed the Fosse-influenced choreography with precision, clarity and style, but also gamely embraced the physical comedy and still formidable amount of singing required of her role. (In the meta turn England alludes to, lines referring to Roxie as “America’s sweetheart” reliably got knowing laughs from the audience.)

As England and Weissler see it, Weaver (whose limited run in the show is through Oct. 18) is the latest success in a casting approach that’s still expanding. Dancing With the Stars contestants, England notes, are more and more commonly coming to the competition with actual dance backgrounds and could thus be of interest; people from the Bollywood or K-pop worlds are also intriguing.  

At a time when it’s harder than ever for even classic Broadway shows to stay open — and even harder to become profitable — Chicago’s approach is not one-size-fits-all, but certainly one worth some study.  

“We’re a commercial business, right? We can’t pretend otherwise,” England says. “Playing in [this] space doesn’t have to mean degrading the art form in any way. You have a whole company of performers showcasing the highest form of this art to [audiences] as well. I just think it’s about finding that balance.”  

Billboard and Telemundo have unveiled the first wave of performers set for the 2026 Billboard Latin Music Awards on Oct. 22.  Carlos Rivera, Chuyin, Kapo, Manuel Turizo, Melymel, Ozuna, Pablo Alborán, RIZA, Tito Double P, Víctor Manuelle, Xavi and Yahritza y Su Esencia are among the first set of artists to perform at the coveted Latin music gala. Additionally, Carmen Villalobos and Javier Poza return as co-hosts.

This year, Peso Pluma leads the list of finalists with 17 entries including Artist of the Year; Top Latin Album of the Year for DINASTÍA with Tito Double P; and Regional Mexican Artist of the Year, Solo. The Música Mexicana star is followed by Tito Double P with 15 mentions, Fuerza Regida with 12, Karol G with nine, Prince Royce with eight, and Bad Bunny with seven. 

In addition to its 47 awards categories that span Latin pop, tropical, Latin rhythm and regional Mexican, the awards show will present its honorary awards, including Billboard Vanguard Award, Billboard Lifetime Achievement Award, and Billboard Spirit of Hope Award.  

The 2026 Billboard Latin Music Awards will broadcast live on Oct. 22 via Telemundo and Peacock from James L. Knight Center in Downtown Miami. It will also be available on Universo and the Telemundo app, as well as throughout Latin America and the Caribbean via Telemundo Internacional.

The ceremony also coincides with Billboard Latin Music Week taking place Oct. 19 to Oct. 21 at the Faena Forum in Miami Beach with confirmed speakers Fuerza Regida, Greeicy, Grupo Frontera, Jay Wheeler, Kany García, Maluma, Pitbull, Rawayana, Ryan Castro, Quevedo, Trueno, and many more. For full programming and to to register for Billboard Latin Music Week, click here. Tickets to attend the awards show, can be purchased here.

If you missed out on seeing KATSEYE on movie screens in their special theatrical release KATSEYE: WILD HEARTS earlier this summer, take heart, you will soon be able to watch all the action again on Disney+.

On Wednesday (Sept. 23), Disney+ and Hulu announced that the film will stream on both platforms in the U.S. and on Disney+ internationally beginning on Oct. 16 after hitting the big screen in August. The film dropped two days before the Grammy-nominated girl group released their Billboard 200 No. 1 WILD EP.

A synopsis describes the “love letter” to their beloved fan group EYEKONS as a, “captivating journey into the group’s bold new era while celebrating the fans who helped make it possible. Featuring never-before-seen footage, EYEKONS fan videos, and intimate interviews from the group members, the film explores the powerful bond between KATSEYE and their global fandom.”

The film takes EYEKONS on the intense ride singers Daniela Avanzini, Yoonchae, Lara Raj, Megan Skinediel and currently on-hiatus members Manon Bannerman and Sophia Laforteza have been on since their formation on the 2023 reality TV competition series Dream Academy — later the subject of the Netflix series Pop Star Academy: Katseye — through to their chart-topping global success.

It was directed by Nadia Hallgren (Becoming) and produced by Interscope Films and Boardwalk Pictures, in partnership with HYBE x Geffen. KATSEYE kicked off a European run of shows on their Wildworld tour on Sept. 1 in Dublin, Ireland and dates are slated to pick up again in North America on Oct. 13 at Kaseya Center in Miami, Fla.

Ella Langley and Miranda Lambert are two of the powerhouses behind Langley’s history-making song “Choosin’ Texas,” which has dominated the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 for 23 weeks, rewriting the record for the longest run ever earned atop the chart.

Now, in support of Lambert’s upcoming Oct. 2 album Crisco, the two musical dynamos are joining forces again. They are collaborators on the album’s opening song, “Snakeskin Boots.” The vintage-Western style track will premiere at country radio the same day the album arrives.

“Snakeskin Boots,” produced by Lambert and Jesse Frasure, draws from similar wells of perspective as Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang,” as well as the legendary vibes of Studio 54, and etches a scene of a woman who is set to make her escape.

“We wrote ‘Snakeskin Boots’ with Ella in mind. She and I are kindred spirits, and when we were working on her album, I realized how many retro influences we share,” Lambert said in statement. “To me, this song is kind of Thelma and Louise if they didn’t drive off the cliff. It’s two badass women getting away with something, and she’s the perfect partner for that.”

“Snakeskin Boots” is the latest song Lambert has revealed ahead of her upcoming album, Crisco. The album also houses the Chris Stapleton collaboration “A Song to Sing” as well as the title track “Crisco” and “Til the Going’s Gone.”

Lambert and Langley also previously teamed up on “Butterfly Season” from Langley’s Dandelion album, while Lambert also cowrote and coproduced “Choosin’ Texas.” Meanwhile, “Choosin’ Texas” has earned multiple nominations at the upcoming CMA Awards, including single of the year and song of the year. Langley has nine nominations heading into the November awards show, while Lambert is up for seven accolades.

In New England, movement changes with the season—but it never stops. It’s the early alarm before the city wakes, the final push up a steep incline and the song that makes a cold commute feel like a victory lap. The right track doesn’t simply fill the silence; it changes your pace. 

Curated by Billboard’s editorial team and informed by Luminate’s streaming and consumption data, Planet Fitness Movement Mixes reflect what people are actually playing, replaying and moving to. Each playlist brings together the songs dominating right now with enduring records that carry the unmistakable energy of the region. 

Built from Billboard’s editorial expertise and the top 200 tracks streamed across New England since January 2026, the New England Energy Movement Mix (listen HERE) moves as dynamically as the region itself. Current favorites like “APT.,” “CUFF IT” and “Not Like Us” meet the hometown spirit of Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season,” Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” and high-energy regional anthems from Aerosmith, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, and the Dropkick Murphys.

There’s no single New England sound—and no single way to move. Pop, hip-hop, rock and regional staples share the same pulse, creating a mix built to carry you from the first step through the final stretch. 

APT. – ROSÉ & Bruno Mars –“APT.” turns a Korean drinking-game chant into a tightly wound pop-rock rush. ROSÉ and Bruno Mars trade vocals over punchy drums, bright guitars, and a hook engineered for instant participation. Its playful repetition and relentless pace give the track the feeling of a spontaneous night out—fast, communal, and impossible to experience sitting still. 

Espresso – Sabrina Carpenter – “Espresso” moves with a light, self-assured bounce, pairing glossy pop production with Sabrina Carpenter’s conversational delivery. The track never pushes too hard; its momentum comes from a nimble bassline, quick phrasing, and a chorus that lands with effortless precision. It’s polished, playful, and built around the kind of confidence that changes your stride.  

CUFF IT – Beyoncé — “CUFF IT” channels disco, funk, and R&B into a release that feels both sophisticated and uninhibited. Beyoncé glides across bright horns, elastic bass, and a rhythm designed to open up the room. The result is celebratory without losing control—a reminder that movement can be its own form of freedom. 

NUEVAYoL – Bad Bunny – “NUEVAYoL” connects Puerto Rican identity with the unmistakable electricity of New York, moving between nostalgia, pride, and celebration. Bad Bunny draws on salsa history before shifting into a harder contemporary rhythm, allowing generations and genres to occupy the same space. It feels like a city block in motion—layered, loud, and alive.

 
Just Wanna Rock – Lil Uzi Vert – “Just Wanna Rock” strips movement down to its most immediate elements: percussion, repetition, and instinct. Built around a Jersey club rhythm, the track moves quickly and leaves little room for hesitation. Lil Uzi Vert treats the beat like choreography, creating a compact burst of energy that became inseparable from dance and viral movement.  

Not Like Us – Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us” pairs Kendrick Lamar’s sharp delivery with production that is spare, rhythmic, and immediately commanding. The track’s bounce gives every line room to land while keeping the record in constant motion. What began as a pointed statement quickly expanded into a communal anthem, driven by a hook built to be shouted back. 

No Hands – Waka Flocka Flame featuring Roscoe Dash & Wale – “No Hands” captures the carefree pulse of early-2010s Southern hip-hop, driven by booming production and an unmistakable hook that refuses to sit still. Waka Flocka Flame, Roscoe Dash, and Wale each bring distinct energy, turning the record into a defining party anthem of its era. Its continued resurgence only reinforces its lasting cultural imprint and nostalgic pull. 

Don’t Stop the Music – Rihanna – From its opening pulse, “Don’t Stop the Music” locks into forward motion through house-influenced production and layered vocal energy. Its interpolation of Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” creates a thread of familiar nostalgia, while Rihanna anchors the track with steady command. It remains a fixture of dance floors and movement playlists around the world. 

Treasure – Bruno Mars – “Treasure” revisits the sheen of late-’70s and early-’80s funk-pop with crisp bass, bright synths, and rhythmic guitar. Bruno Mars keeps the performance light on its feet, letting the groove do most of the work. The record’s precision never gets in the way of its joy—it feels polished, immediate, and made to move. 

A Bar Song (Tipsy) – Shaboozey – “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” reworks a familiar hook into a modern crossover moment, blending country storytelling with hip-hop cadence. Built for communal singalong energy, it thrives on repetition and momentum. Its success reflects both the pull of recognition and the freshness of hearing nostalgia translated into a new musical language. 

Pink Pony Club – Chappell Roan – “Pink Pony Club” begins as a personal leap toward freedom before opening into something much larger. Chappell Roan’s theatrical delivery rises alongside pounding drums and bright synths, transforming self-discovery into a full-room celebration. Its momentum is emotional as much as physical: the sound of choosing the place where you feel most alive. 

I Had Some Help – Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen – “I Had Some Help” pairs the ease of a country singalong with the immediate structure of a pop hit. Post Malone and Morgan Wallen trade blame over bright guitars and driving percussion, giving the song a playful tension that keeps it moving. The chorus arrives quickly and lands collectively, built for open roads, crowded rooms, and voices joining in. 

Stick Season – Noah Kahan – “Stick Season” turns a uniquely New England phrase into a restless reflection on memory, distance, and the difficulty of letting go. Noah Kahan’s rapid phrasing moves over acoustic guitar with a pace that feels almost conversational, gradually building emotional weight. Rooted in Vermont, the song captures the stark transitional period between autumn and winter while finding momentum inside uncertainty. 

More Than a Feeling – Boston –“More Than a Feeling” opens with restraint before expanding into soaring guitars, layered vocals, and one of classic rock’s most recognizable choruses. Created by the Boston-formed band, the record carries both technical precision and emotional scale. Its gradual lift makes it a natural movement track: nostalgic at its core, but still capable of creating an immediate surge.

 
Good Vibrations – Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch – “Good Vibrations” is pure early-’90s kinetic energy, driven by house production, emphatic vocals, and a chorus built around physical release. Mark Wahlberg brings Boston attitude to a record that treats confidence as an active state rather than a mood. Decades later, its beat still feels engineered for aerobics rooms, dance floors, and any moment that needs an extra push. 

Walk This Way – Aerosmith – “Walk This Way” runs on rhythm as much as rock, pairing Joe Perry’s instantly recognizable guitar riff with Steven Tyler’s tightly packed vocal delivery. Aerosmith’s Boston roots give the track a direct regional connection, while its later crossover with Run-D.M.C. expanded its cultural reach. In either version, the record remains sharp, physical, and built around forward motion. 

I’m Shipping Up to Boston – Dropkick Murphys – “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” turns a pounding rhythm, distorted guitars, and Celtic instrumentation into an unmistakable regional rallying cry. The Dropkick Murphys build intensity through repetition, allowing the track to accelerate without losing its rawness. Its deep connection to Boston sports culture has made it synonymous with entrances, victories, and collective adrenaline.