Selena Gomez Seemingly Clarifies New Album With Benny Blanco Is Not About Justin Bieber
Selena Gomez seemingly clarified that the songs from her and fiancé Benny Blanco's new album, I Said I Love You First, were not about her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber, despite what fans might think.
'Anytime I release anything the interpretation is going to be up to the audience. However, I would like to say that most of this album has nothing to do with what everyone may go to,' Selena, 32, said during an interview alongside Benny, 37, for Spotify's Countdown To I Said I Love You First on Wednesday, March 19. 'I've evolved so much and I have experienced life with new people. I've had to go through transitions with friends and lose people in my life and gain new people and I've had a whole new life forever. So, it's up for whatever people want, but to me it was about both of our pasts and our history and also just inspired by friends and relationships.'
Selena said that while the interpretation of her songs was 'for whatever people want,' but for her it was about both hers and Benny's 'past' and their 'history.'
The 'Love You Like a Love Song' singer continued, 'Some songs were actually meant about friendships in my life, and I think that's what, to me, the album was about. I just wanted to get that out there because that was very important to me.'
Upon the album's release, fans rushed to dissect the lyrics of her new tracks and they believed a few songs were traced back to her relationship with Justin, 31.
In 'You Said You Were Sorry,' Selena sings about an unnamed ex, "Don't think about you/Happy without you/More now than I ever was.'
She continues in the chorus, "But I had a dream/You said you were sorry, said you were sorry/Sorry for everything/That you put on me, that you put on me/Our eyes were bawling rain/We finally both forgave ya/I had a dream, that's all it was/Yeah, that was enough for me."
Other songs from I Said I Love You First that perked fans' ears up were 'How Does It Feel To Be Forgotten' and 'Don't Wanna Cry.'
'Selena Gomez dropping an entire album shading Justin Bieber is exactly what i'd do if i was a singer,' wrote one fan on X.
Another person added, 'Selena Gomez writing about Justin Bieber with her current fiancé is kinda crazy but the songs are great so.'
Justin and Selena dated on and off over the course of eight years before finally calling it quits for good in 2018. That same year, the 'Love Yourself' artist began dating Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) and thus sparked an ongoing feud that consistently gets reignited by fans whenever they perceive a slight from one party or the other. Even after Justin married Hailey, 28, in 2018, the fans still weren't convinced that he had truly moved on from Selena.
Selena confirmed that she and Benny were an item in December 2023, and one year later, he proposed. The Wizards of Waverly Place alum shared the good news via Instagram by showing off a photo of her ring and writing, 'Forever begins now…'
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UPI
18 hours ago
- UPI
'Eternal Queen of Asian Pop' sings last encore from beyond the grave
To the delight of millions of fans of the late Teresa Teng, the track titled 'Love Songs Are Best in the Foggy Night' will appear on an album to be released June 25. Photo by Van3ssa_/ Pixabay Several years ago, an employee at Universal Music came across a cassette tape in a Tokyo warehouse while sorting through archival materials. On it was a recording by the late Taiwanese pop star Teresa Teng that had never been released. The pop ballad, likely recorded in the mid-1980s while Teng was living and performing in Japan, was a collaboration between composer Takashi Miki and lyricist Toyohisa Araki. Now, to the delight of her millions of fans, the track titled "Love Songs Are Best in the Foggy Night" will appear on an album to be released June 25. Teng died 30 years ago. Most Americans know little about her life and her body of work. Yet, the ballads of Teng, who could sing in Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese and Indonesian, continue to echo through karaoke rooms, on Spotify playlists, at tribute concerts and at family gatherings across Asia and beyond. I study how pop music has served as a tool of soft power, and I've spent the past several years researching Teng's music and its legacy. I've found that Teng's influence endures not just because of her voice, but also because her music transcends Asia's political fault lines. From local star to Asian icon Born in 1953 in Yunlin, Taiwan, Teresa Teng grew up in one of the many villages that were built to house soldiers and their families who had fled mainland China in 1949 after the communists claimed victory in the Chinese civil war. Her early exposure to traditional Chinese music and opera laid the foundation for her singing career. By age 6, she was taking voice lessons. She soon began winning local singing competitions. "It wasn't adults who wanted me to sing," Teng wrote in her memoir. "I wanted to sing. As long as I could sing, I was happy." At 14, Teng dropped out of high school to focus entirely on music, signing with the local label Yeu Jow Records. Soon thereafter, she released her first album, Fengyang Flower Drum. In the 1970s, she toured and recorded across Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Southeast Asia, becoming one of Asia's first truly transnational pop stars. Teng's career flourished in the late 1970s and 1980s. She released some of her most iconic tracks, such as her covers of Chinese singer Zhou Xuan's 1937 hit, "When Will You Return?" and Taiwanese singer Chen Fen-lan's "The Moon Represents My Heart," and toured widely across Asia, sparking what came to be known as "Teresa Teng Fever." In the early 1990s, Teng was forced to stop performing for health reasons. She died suddenly of an asthma attack on May 8, 1995, while on vacation in Chiang Mai, Thailand, at age 42. China catches Teng Fever Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Teng's story is that Teng Fever peaked in China. Teng was ethnically Chinese, with ancestral roots in China's Shandong province. But the political divide between China and Taiwan following the Chinese civil war had led to decades of hostility, with each side refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the other. During the late 1970s and 1980s, however, China began to relax its political control under Deng Xiaoping's Reform and Opening Up policy. This sweeping initiative shifted China toward a market-oriented economy, encouraged foreign trade and investment, and cautiously reintroduced global cultural influences after decades of isolation. Pop music from other parts of the world began trickling in, including Teng's tender ballads. Her songs could be heard in coastal provinces such as Guangdong and Shanghai, inland cities such as Beijing and Tianjin, and even remote regions such as Tibet. Shanghai's propaganda department wrote an internal memo in 1980 noting that her music had spread to the city's public parks, restaurants, nursing homes and wedding halls. Teng's immense popularity in China was no accident. It reflected a time in the country's history when its people were particularly eager for emotionally resonant art after decades of cultural propaganda and censorship. For a society that had been awash in rote, revolutionary songs like "The East is Red" and "Union is Strength," Teng's music offered something entirely different. It was personal, tender and deeply human. Her gentle, approachable style -- often described as "angelic" or like that of "a girl next door" -- provided solace and a sense of intimacy that had long been absent from public life. Teng's music was also admired for her ability to bridge eras. Her 1983 album, Light Exquisite Feeling, fused classical Chinese poetry with contemporary Western pop melodies, showcasing her gift for blending the traditional and the modern. It cemented her reputation not just as a pop star but as a cultural innovator. It's no secret why audiences across China and Asia were so deeply drawn to her and her music. She was fluent in multiple languages; she was elegant but humble, polite and relatable, she was involved in various charities, and she spoke out in support of democratic values. A sound of home in distant lands Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the Chinese immigrant population in the United States grew to over 1.1 million. Teng's music has also deeply embedded itself within Chinese diasporic communities across the country. In cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, Chinese immigrants played her music at family gatherings, during holidays and at community events. Walk through any Chinatown during Lunar New Year and you're bound to hear her voice wafting through the streets. For younger Chinese Americans and even non-Chinese audiences, Teng's music has become a window into Chinese culture. When I was studying in the United States, I often met Asian American students who belted out her songs at karaoke nights or during cultural festivals. Many had grown up hearing her music through their parents' playlists or local community celebrations. The release of her recently discovered song is a reminder that some voices do not fade -- they evolve, migrate and live on in the hearts of people scattered across the world. In an age when global politics drive different cultures apart, Teng's enduring appeal reminds us of something quieter yet more lasting: the power of voice to transmit emotion across time and space, the way a melody can build a bridge between continents and generations. I recently rewatched the YouTube video for Teng's iconic 1977 ballad, "The Moon Represents My Heart." As I read the comments section, one perfectly encapsulated what I had discovered about Teresa Teng in my own research: "Teng's music opened a window to a culture I never knew I needed." Xianda Huang is a doctoral student in Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California-Los Angeles. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The views and opinions in this commentary are solely those of the author.
Hypebeast
18 hours ago
- Hypebeast
Best New Tracks: Lil Wayne, Turnstile, Little Simz, and More
As the week in music comes to a close, Hypebeast has rounded up the best projects for the latest installment of Best New Tracks. Albums come fromLil Wayne,Little Simz,Turnstile,Addison Rae,and MARINA, withJPEGMAFIAexpanding hisVeteranLP. Singles, on the other hand, stem fromLil Yachty,Ty Dolla $ign,Pi'erre Bourne,Kevin AbstractxDominic FikeandGlorilla. Lil Wayne has shared the sixth installment of hisTha Carteralbum series:Tha Carter album arrives almost seven years after its predecessor and featuresBig Sean,2 Chainzand many others. Spotify|Apple Music The sixth studio album by English rapper Little Simz has surfaced. EntitledLotus, the initially delayed LP featuresObongjayar,Moses Sumney,Sampha, Yusef Dayes and more. Spotify|Apple Music Turnstile has shared the audiovisual albumNever Enough. Also set to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, the album is produced by the band's Brendan Yates and tracks 'SEEIN STARS,' 'BIRDS,' 'NEVER ENOUGH' and 'LOOK OUT FOR ME' all land on the tracklist. Spotify|Apple Music Addison Rae has made her formal debut as a solo musical artist with her first studio album:Addison. Spanning 12 tracks, the album features 'Headphones On,' 'Aquamarine,' 'High Fashion' and 'Diet Pepsi.' Spotify|Apple Music Marina Diamondis – now just MARINA – has presented her sixth studio album:PRINCESS OF POWER. Spotify|Apple Music Leave it to Lil Yachty to sample everyone's favoriteMaggie Rogerssong. On Boat's first solo release of 2025, he samples Rogers' 'Alaska.' Spotify|Apple Music After announcing the news earlier in the week, JPEGMAFIA has lifted the curtain on theDirector's Cut(deluxe edition) of his iconic second studio albumVeteran Spotify| Apple Music In February, Ty Dolla $ign tapped ye for 'Wheels Fall Off.' Today, the multi-hyphenate is back with his second solo single of the year 'ALL IN.' Spotify|Apple Music Pi'erre Bourne has shared new single 'Blocs' – his first solo studio release in a few years lifted from his imminent LP, dropping at the end of the month. Spotify|Apple Music The first single from Kevin Abstract's newBLUSHventure has transpired at last. The high-octane 'Geezer' offering features 'Peach' collaborator Dominic Fike. The track isn't on streaming services yet.
Cosmopolitan
21 hours ago
- Cosmopolitan
Addison Rae Makes Intimate Live Debut at NYC's Iconic Club The Box — Review
Addison Rae lost herself and found herself again. With the release of her highly anticipated debut album, we saw a rebirth right before our eyes. Rebirth, rebrand, reintroduction—whatever you call it—the Louisiana-born TikTok dancer transformed into one of the most promising pop acts of the current age with the release of 'Diet Pepsi' last summer. Since then, skeptics and day 1 superfans have tuned in to watch her every move, whether it's because of the push-and-pull of her sexy girl next door persona or her slinky hooks and booming production from her collaborators, Luka Kloser and Elvira Anderfjärd. So, when I got word that Addison and Spotify were hosting a rare live show on the eve of her album release, I knew I had to be there. Especially because it would technically be her first official live performance of tracks from her self-titled debut album. She took center stage at New York's famously sleazy and glamorous nightclub, The Box, which acted as her playground for the night. The room was filled to the brim with magazine editors, late-night producers, and devoted fans who waited hours for a glimpse of the star. Bushwick's elite even crossed the bridge to Manhattan to capture the newly minted pop princess in all her glory. As aerial artists and dancers donned lingerie underneath burning disco balls, I brushed shoulders with Addison's star-studded stan list, from Julia Fox, Richie Shazam, and Amelia Gray to Conan Gray, Lola Tung, and Clairo. The intimate inauguration marked a new beginning for Addison. As she opened her set with 'Fame Is a Gun' in a kitschy satin bed, bated breaths escaped the lips of attendees who couldn't take their eyes off her. The mic was on, and soon enough, she treated fans with her original cabaret-inspired 'musical theater' rendition of 'High Fashion.' Her it girl-in-crime, Lexee Smith, served a campy, melodramatic poetry reading in Louboutins in between one of her outfit changes as a makeshift interlude until Addison returned for a particularly transcendental moment. When the opening notes of 'Aquamarine' trickled through The Box's theater, not one word was missed by fans. I even overheard a friend over my shoulder say, 'This song is so gay.' (Complimentary. Not in the way that would prompt Hilary Duff to pull her allyship card.) As Addison hit her marks in a flowy bright blue mini dress, we not only found catharsis on the dance floor—she did, too. In 2021, I covered the early days of Addison's crossover from TikTok to real-world fame at Seventeen, and I'll admit it: I was always intrigued by her essence, but I wasn't totally sold on 'Obsessed' once it dropped. It wasn't until one of my best friends dragged me to our living room to catch her performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that I locked in and saw her for what she truly was: a small-town girl aching for the life of a big-city star. Let it be known that this was the moment she unlocked her potential as a Main Pop Girl in my eyes. From then on, I fully understood her vision. When most of her catalogue leaked in 2022, I clicked play for research purposes and fully became hooked by the following summer. Before her 7-track performance last night, she teased what could come from the Addison Rae live experience, making cameos with her close friends and collaborators on multiple occasions. There was the 'Von Dutch' remix at Charli XCX's pre-brat Boiler Room set in Brooklyn and their post-brat performance on Coachella's main stage, her 'Arcamarine' stint during Arca's more intimate set in the desert, and, of course, 'Diet Pepsi' with Charli and Troye Sivan's Sweat tour stop at Madison Square Garden. These moments inched us closer to the glittery dance pop world of Addison, yet we didn't see the star fully in her element. Until now. She's no stranger to a Britney Spears comparison—in fact, she seems to fully welcome it, knowing they're both hometown heroes in Louisiana—but she pays homage to her heroes. In interviews, she's openly named Britney, Madonna, Prince, and Michael Jackson as influences. On her tongue-in-cheek satirical number, 'Money Is Everything,' she wistfully sings about her dream blunt rotation with Lana Del Rey and Lady Gaga after name-dropping Norma Jean. It's abundantly clear she's at the top of her class as a pop culture student, and she's well on her way to becoming a teacher. She no longer has to dream of being seen, because all eyes are on they'll stay there. Stream 'Addison' on Spotify
