NEWS
GAYLE
Acacia Evans*GAYLE has become a teen pop sensation overnight due to the success of her viral hit “abcdefu,” and is now getting praise from her peers. In an interview with E! News published on Thursday (Jan. 20), the 17-year-old explained how surreal the success has been and revealed that 2021’s breakthrough pop star Olivia Rodrigo has not only been in touch with her, but has also been incredibly supportive of her journey.
“Olivia Rodrigo DMed me. That was insane,” GAYLE shared. “She was just congratulating me on the success of the song. She told me that I was killing it and that was very just nice to hear from her, especially because she’s just such an amazing artist and talented human being.”
Though Rodrigo has reached out to GAYLE, this doesn’t mean they’re planning to collaborate on a track — at least not yet. “I would love to collaborate with Olivia. I had an opportunity to ask that but I didn’t because, you know, everybody wants to collaborate with Olivia Rodrigo,” the “Ur Just Horny” singer explained. She added that it would be “amazing, but I’m also not going to be like stalking her for it because she knows what she wants to do.”
With the popularity of both GAYLE’s debut single and Rodrigo’s “Drivers License,” fans of both of the artists sometimes comment on their similarities. For GAYLE, she sees the comparisons as a compliment.
“I’m so grateful and so happy that people could look at my music and even just think it’s maybe possibly the high quality of Olivia’s is. The only problem that I have with comparisons is when they start competing us against each other,” she said. “I truly believe that we both can be great in our own ways, and she’s already great. And I’m just trying to do my thing and not suck, you know?”
“Abcdefu” is currently in its second week at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated Jan. 22). The track debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 51, but has since climbed to the No. 9 spot on the chart also dated Jan. 22.
NEWS
A$AP Rocky has revealed that it took years of persistence before Tim Burton agreed to create the cover artwork for his upcoming album, Don’t Be Dumb. The rapper reflected on how the unlikely collaboration finally came together during a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday.
Going into detail about the process, Rocky confessed that he “basically had to stalk and harass him for a few years” before things clicked. He explained, “I reached out and told him I would love to hang out, play him some vibes and just connect. I ended up going to Malibu while he was on a break, and he was feeling it. I played him an early version of the album and he really liked it. That’s when I asked, ‘Do you think you might want to do the illustration for this?’ He was open to it, but then suddenly he had Wednesday and Beetlejuice 2 going on. I realized this was going to take a lot longer than I thought.”
A$AP Rocky went on to describe a moment that really stuck with him during that visit. “While I was there, I noticed a sketch sitting on the table and asked if he drew it,” he said. “He told me that every morning he and his daughter work on drawings together. He starts one, then she comes in and finishes it or changes it. It’s something they practice daily. I saw it as their bond, and to me, that felt priceless.”
On Tuesday, A$AP Rocky also released a double music video for his tracks “WHISKEY” and “BLACK DEMARCO.” Tim Burton appears in the visual and contributed multiple illustrations that tie into the project.
Alongside the release of the “WHISKEY” and “BLACK DEMARCO” video, Rocky officially unveiled the Don’t Be Dumb World Tour. The run will include 42 dates across North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom, with shows scheduled throughout 2026.
