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But if you’re like me, you’ve also fallen asleep to the film, with the moody scenes and haunting soundtrack (occasionally) serving as an ideal backdrop to doze off too. I’ve seen the movie so many times, the songs are almost like meditation for me.
Now, there’s another way to fall asleep with the film, as Walmart is selling a weighted “pillow buddy” inspired by the supernatural tiger, Derpy.
Similar to a weighted blanket or weighted heating pad, this plush toy is stuffed with beans to help it sit upright and also provide gentle pressure against your chest or body.
Walmart doesn’t give the exact specs for this new release, but in my experience, similar weighted stuffed animals typically weigh less than two pounds, so you’re not in danger of being smushed or crushed. Instead, it’s like a gentle hug that can often help with anxiety, restlessness or insomnia. The feeling of having the cuddly 18-inch Derpy toy against the body “provides a comforting, cozy feel,” per a product description.
This stuffed toy is made from a soft “velboa” material, which mimics the look and feel of velvet. The colorful plushie features Derpy’s expressive eyes, toothy grin and leopard-style spots and stripes. While he follows owner Jinu around in the film, this version of the blue tiger can now be your companion at home.
Looking for another Derpy pillow option? More than 1,000 shoppers have picked up this “Sleeping Derpy” pillow in the last month alone, per Amazon.
This plush toy features the tiger in his sleeping pose, which may inspire you to fall asleep as well. This plushie isn’t weighted, but at 18 inches, it’s perfectly sized for a snuggle. Both of the Derpy pillows are part of Netflix’s official KPop Demon Hunters merch line.
You can also pick up this fan-made pillow cover set, which features two versions of the HUNTR/X trio posing in their performance outfits.
Sized for your couch, chair or bed, the Amazon deal gets you two 18 x 18-inch pillow covers inspired by KPop Demon Hunters. Keep in mind: you’ll need to buy the actual pillows separately (we like this top-rated throw pillow here).
Walmart, meantime, sells other weighted toys, like this Buzz Lightyear plushie, which measures 23 inches in size (just under two feet).
A bestseller online, shoppers give the weighted plush an average 4.9-star review out of five, with reviewers praising everything from the toy’s “sensory soothing” abilities, to the fact that you can toss it in the washing machine and dryer.
Universal Music Korea signs award-winning producer, composer, and hip-hop artist Hukky Shibaseki to a management deal.
Recognized for his distinctive approach to experimental hip-hop, electronic textures, and alternative homegrown rap, the South Korean creative has established himself as one of the market’s leaders in contemporary hip-hop.
Across his career, Shibaseki has collaborated with such local talents as E SENS, B-Free, J-Tong, JJANGYOU and numerous independent musicians, all the time bridging “traditional hip-hop sensibilities with forward-thinking production,” reads a statement from the major music company, creating works that are both rooted in Seoul’s underground culture and the international alternative music scene.
“Hukky Shibaseki is a visionary and one of the Korean music industry’s most influential creative leaders, recognized for elevating the artistry and careers of exceptional talent,” comments Calvin Wong, CEO of Universal Music Group Southeast Asia and Korea, and senior VP of Asia.
At UMK, the hip-hop standout joins a roster that includes DEAN, Okasian, Bryan Chase, LIM KIM, 1300, and HEYOON.
With this new management partnership, announced Friday, Aug. 7, UMK will work closely with its new signing to expand his creative endeavors, strategic collaborations, and international opportunities.
Thanks to a combination of the K-pop phenomenon, its burgeoning hip-hop culture, and a mature, domestic streaming music space, South Korea’s recorded market is a powerhouse, a global top 10 market, coming in at No. 7 in the IFPI’s Global Music Report 2026.
To tap into that vibrant scene, Billboard Korea, together with Billboard, launches two new songs charts in Korea to more precisely capture the momentum and influence of K-Music — the Billboard KoreaGlobal K-Songs and Billboard Korea Hot 100.
Shibaseki has his own lane, UMK reckons. “His production seamlessly balances raw underground aesthetics with melodic, cinematic sound design,” reads a statement, “resulting in a style that is both sonically adventurous and emotionally resonant.”
SYDNEY, Australia — Yes Boone joins the Warner Music Australasia roster, through a partnership with Warner Records in the United States.
The photogenic DJ and producer has been making all the right noises in dance music circles. He was shortlisted for breakthrough independent artist of the year at the 2026 AIR Awards, presented last week in Adelaide, and won by Folk Bitch Trio.
Last year, Yes Boone snagged a top 10 on AIR’s Independent Singles Chart with “All I Really Want,” peaking at No. 9, and crashed ARIA’s Top 20 Australian Singles Chart.
“Been writing music and playing shows all around the world, met so many new friends, made some bloody bangers, very keen to show you,” he writes in a social post this week.
The rising electronic music ace played some of those bangers — including cuts with his own vocals — when he was presented to industry and media guests Thursday night (Aug. 6), for the music giant’s Listen Up showcase event in central Sydney.
“Our latest signing, we’re going to take him to the world,” Dan Rosen, president, Warner Music Australasia and Southeast Asia, told the packed house at The Press, as Yes Boone stepped up to the decks for a set of original works.
Previously known as Boone, the Sydney artist is a regular on the festivals circuit, playing slots at Wildlands and Ability Fest, and sold-out back-to-back sets at Liberty Hall in his hometown and Freo Social with Scott Tweedie.
Yes Boone closed out a night at Listen Up that included performances from Warner Music’s international signings Emei (U.S.), Erin LeCount (U.K.) and ARIA Award-winning homegrown soul artist BOY SODA.
Dance music is sizzling in Australia, and it’s a hotbed of world-class talent, with Dom Dolla, Confidence Man, RÜFÜS DU SOL, VASSY, Ninajirachi, Alison Wonderland and FISHER among the artists leading the way. EDM festivals are the most popular in these parts. On Friday, organizers of the Australian New Year’s Eve rituals that are Beyond The Valley and Lost Paradise announced this year’s respective events are sellouts.
Petal becomes Grande’s sixth leader on Australia’s all-genres national survey, following My Everything (in 2014), Dangerous Woman (2016), Sweetener (2018), Thank U, Next (2019) and Eternal Sunshine (2024). She and Cynthia Erivo also topped the tally last year with the soundtrack to Wicked: For Good.
The best-seller on vinyl during the latest cycle, Petal deposits 12 tracks in top 50 of the national singles chart, including top in the top 10.
Grande leads an all-female podium, ahead of Olivia Rodrigo’s you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love (up 3-2 via Geffen/Universal) and Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving (up 5-3 via Universal).
Also new on the chart, published late Friday, Aug. 7, is Dice’s I Thought The Altitude Would Make it Worth The View (Virgin Music Group/Inertia). It starts at No. 13, for the Perth, Australia band’s career best chart position, besting the No. 27 peak for their 2024 debut Midnight Zoo. Altitude is the top ranked of three homegrown albums on the latest chart.
One of those titles is PNAU’s AHHCade (etcetc), which opens at No. 33. Led by Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes, PNAU has collected three ARIA Awards and crashed the ARIA Chart with 2007’s PNAU (No. 31), 2011’s Soft Universe (No. 13), 2012’s Good Morning To The Night with Elton John (No. 40) and 2017’s Changa (No. 11).
English singer Erin LeCount, who is currently on tour in Australia, sees her third EP, Pareidolia (Atlantic/Warner), begin its chart odyssey at No. 29, while Bozeman, Montana duo Buffalo Traffic Jam (Pictures of You at No. 31 via Arista/Sony) and Las Vegas, NV heavy rockers Five Finger Death Punch (Legacy at No. 46 via Better Noise/MGM) impact the ARIA top 50.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Ella Langley completes a ninth non-consecutive week at No. 1 with “Choosin’ Texas” (via Sony Music). It’s another all-female top 3, as Ariana Grande’s “hate that i made you love me” lifts 6-2, a new peak with the release of Petal, and Olivia Dean’s blockbuster “Man I Need” dips 2-3.
It’s official: Role Model has updated his enemies list.
Things are moving along nicely for the singer and songwriter. He opened for rising star Gracie Abrams in 2024 and 2025. The 29-year-old is set to star alongside Natalie Portman and Mark Ruffalo in the theatrical version of Good Sex (after the Netflix romcom of the same name), due out in cinemas next year. His new album, Chuck Timely & The Hourglass, dropped at midnight. And, to promote it, he stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Kimmel for a live performance from Chuck Timely, and his first interview with the late-night show’s host.
With fame, comes haters and foes. For some years, Role Model has kept a list of enemies close to his heart – or at least, in his pocket, on his Notes app.
It started with People magazine, he told Fallon. MTV has graced its updating pages. So has Charli XCX (for a curious reason. She’s now in his good books). Fallon was on the list. He was the last person added to it, punishment for laughing at Role Model’s real name — Tucker Pillsbury.
With his visit to NBC’s studios, which aired late Thursday, Aug. 6, Role Model has cleared Fallon’s name. Phew.
The introspective Chuck Timely & The Hourglass includes the previously released single “High Hopes 3000,” which hit No. 94 on the Billboard Hot 100, and serves as the followup to 2024’s Kansas Anymore (Role Model is from Maine, by the way). An extended, “Longest Goodbye” version of Kansas Anymore carried “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out,” which entered Billboard‘s Alternative Adult Airplay chart back in 2025 and remains one of Role Model’s biggest songs to date.
Chuck Timely is, essentially, a concept album. “I wanted to have this character to represent the themes on the album,” he tells Fallon. “A lot of it is about time and time passing. And I was in this two-year period of being single and my friends were getting married…” And, well, here we are.
During his debut stint on the couch, Role Model recounted how he got the call to support Gracie Abrams on her The Secret of Us North America tour during the fall of 2024 and with select dates the following year. It was an instant “yes,” and the experience “went on to, like, change the trajectory of my career,” he recounts. “We love Gracie.”
Role Model also stuck around for the TV debut of “Harmony,” the closing track on his new LP, with support from a chorus of backing vocalist, all dressed in chambray shirts and blue jeans.
Watch the performance of “Harmony” below. And stream Chuck Timely & The Hourglass in full.
Billboard’sFriday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to New Music Friday’s most essential releases each week — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
Last week, we featured Ariana Grande, Cardi B, Shaboozey, Slayyyter and more.
This week: Latin superstar Karol G releases her sixth studio album amid her current stadium tour; rising pop artist Role Model drops his anticipated third album; and British R&B trio FLO shares its second album… plus much more. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Karol G, No Me Arrepiento de Sentir Tanto
Karol G’s highly-anticipated new album is a complete mood shift from her uplifting and vibrant Tropicoqueta set released in 2025. On the 14-track project, which translates to “I don’t regret feeling so much,” the Colombian singer unlocks a new intimate and stripped-down era where she’s vulnerable, in her feels and embracing all of her emotions. For her sixth studio album, she reeled in notable collaborators including with Drake on “Ahí,” Bruno Mars on “Still,” Judeline and Rusowsky on “Bby Wow” and Greg Gonzalez of Cigarettes After Sex on album closer “Después de Ti.” The set is also home to the provocative perreo “Matadora,” which debuted at No. 3 on the Hot Latin Songs chart dated Aug. 8. — JESSICA ROIZ
Role Model, Chuck Timely & The Hourglass
Inspired by the concept of time — particularly, it passing you by as you enter your 30s — Role Model’s latest project is full of musings on marriage (“The Wedding”), the power of a positive attitude (“High Hopes,” “Joy”) and continuing to trust in the process through it all (“Harmony”). The album builds on the harmonies and introspective songwriting that that Role Model honed on his second album, 2024’s Kansas Anymore — and while that album’s deluxe included his breakout smash, “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out,” he’s not aiming for a follow-up hit here (or, if he is, he’s rather subtle about it). Rather, the album feels like a fully-realized snapshot of where he’s at in life right now, and for anyone about to enter or already in the throes of their third decade here, you’ll be nodding along to more than just the beat of these 12 songs. — LYNDSEY HAVENS
FLO, Therapy at the Club
How do you follow up a Grammy-nominated debut album that solidified your trio as the buzziest R&B girl group in years on both sides of the pond? With an album like Therapy at the Club. FLO’s swanky sophomore effort finds the British three-piece of Renée, Stella and Jorja expanding their late ‘90s-early ‘00s R&B foundation with notes of ‘80s synth pop and features from Juicy J and kwn. There are a few more weeks to live out the ideal messy party night this summer, and FLO just dropped the perfect soundtrack. — KYLE DENIS
Stray Kids, “This & That”
THIS & THAT is Stray Kids tenth mini album and, as its title suggests, the famed South Korean boy band delivers a little bit of everything across its eight tracks. The title song in particular is a standout for its hard-hitting, booming beat that carries the earned yet boastful lyrics about how “Everything I do, multiply it by two.” That applies to the group’s work ethic as well, with Hyunjin and Bang Chan stating on the chorus: “I’ma rip a show and then hit the studio/ I do this and that, this and that.” Elsewhere, Stray Kids explores dance-pop on “After You,” showcases its softer-side on “Way Out” and delivers a riff-driven alt-pop gem with “Back Then.” Here, a little bit of everything sure sounds good. — L.H.
Sam Smith, “When He’s Gone”
As soaring singer-songwriter Sam Smith continues to tease his upcoming fifth album, Hazel Eyes (out Aug. 21), his latest single offers a glimpse into the direction he’s headed — and it’s perfectly haunting. “When He’s Gone” spotlights Smith’s lower register in a gorgeous and enticing manner, as he sings of the downfall of a relationship — and how it feels to be the one holding on. “When he’s walking out on me/ He takes everything I need/ My whole world’s broken when he’s gone,” he sings over a Western-inspired plucked guitar and the harmony of a cautionary choir willing him to let go. Yet, by the song’s end, it seems he isn’t ready just yet, singing: “If he stays with me tonight, I promise I’ll be better.” — L.H.
Stella Lefty, “Lean In, Kiss Me”
Fresh off a packed performance at Chicago’s Lollapalooza and as her breakout smash “Boston” continues to hold strong on the charts, rising country-pop artist Stella Lefty’s latest is an ode to first kiss butterflies — specifically, the kind that come with taking a friendship to new territory. Or, in Stella’s case here, simply suggesting to. “It’s just another Friday night/ Was bound to happen one of these times,” she sings before asking, “Tell me if I spoke too soon/ But I kinda want you in my room/ Do I make you wanna make a move?” And while the song ends before she gets her answer, for those plugged into her real life relationship with Vincent Mason, it seems like things worked out just fine. — L.H.
Alex Warren, “Rescuer”
As Alex Warren continues to tease his upcoming second album, Wildchild (out Aug. 28), his singles seem to fall into two camps: there’s the high-energy “Fever Dream” and uptempo “Passenger” and then the more contemplative, downtempo “Fine Place To Die” and latest release “Rescuer.” The lattermost sounds and feels like a close cousin to his breakout mega-hit “Ordinary,” with a familiar riff and similar subject matter. Only here, instead of remarking on how his love takes him out of the ordinary, he reckons with wanting to stay in that bliss: “Out of exile, into your hands/ Your arms are my promised land.” – L.H.
