Lil Nas X Responds to Backlash, Amy Winehouse Biopic Trailer Debut & More | Billboard News

Laufey is Billboard’s newest cover star! Lil Nas X is responding to backlash for the use of religious imagery, celebrity lookalikes and more in his new video teaser for his track “J CHRIST.” Anderson .Paak’s Apple Music series ‘.Paak House Radio’ is back for season 2 and features guests like aespa, Saweetie and Victoria Monet. And more!

Tetris Kelly:
Lil Nas X is pissing all kinds of people off, we get a first look at the Amy Winehouse biopic, Anderson .Paak has a ton of fun with aespa and Victoria Monet, we run down the top songs on TikTok, and Laufey is our Future of Jazz cover star. This is Billboard News. I’m Tetris Kelly, back on Thursday, January 11th and we continue our Future of Genre cover stars with Laufey.

Laufey:
I knew I wanted the album to be called ‘Bewitched’ before I started writing any of the songs. I knew I wanted it to be a little bit more mature and I wanted it to be more confident. I think my first album was a little bit aloof, it’s very, you know, hopeless romantic. This second one, although it has elements of that, you know, I’ve experienced more with love. I’ve matured more. I think my writing has gotten better. Some of the references I put into my music, the classical references, especially, are so obvious that sometimes I get DMs or messages from my fans saying like, “Wait a minute, I was listening to Bach today and I found the beginning of ‘Everything I Know About Love.'” And I’m like, “Yep, you got it.” And I love that. I love spreading it in. I mean, I need to do a deep dive into the classical references in ‘Bewitched’ but there are so many. It feels very, very validating, especially in the category that I am in, you know, it’s all my heroes. It’s all legends, so getting to be a voice in that category is just incredible and especially with this album that I wrote at home, it’s just, it’s crazy. Taylor Swift was one of the first songwriters that I really, like songwriter artists, that I really resonated with. Every song while you’re listening, you can visually see what’s happening, and it turns into a little movie. And I think that’s something, though she has changed genres so many times, she’s always kept true to that. It’s always that Taylor Swift storytelling, that songwriting, that is the common denominator. That’s one thing I really want to do in my lifetime as a musician, and it’s inspired me greatly.

Tetris Kelly:
For the full profile head to Billboard.com. We’ll have another cover story for you tomorrow.

Watch the full video above!