Star Sparkle Blog

This week's video is INTENTIONS by Nigerian singer Juno  (also written as JUNO). It's her latest single and was released on 7th August. The Afropop/R'n'B song is described as a "mirror to desire, doubt and the silent tension between two hearts". This is the lyric video.     For more Juno check out these links: Music video for Love Life (released last December):  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/07/weekly-music-video.html   Lyric video for Love Life (uploaded on 7th August):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnQPlDesX0s  

This week's video is Back Outside by American singer Nija . It's her latest single and was released on 15th August. Back Outside follows Nija's previous 2025 singles- 32nd Floor (released in March) and Heaven (which came out in June). It's a smooth R'n'B song, with laid back vibes. This is the visualiser.    Want more Nija? Check out these posts: Visualiser for 32nd Floor:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/04/weekly-music-video_23.html Official audio for Heaven:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/06/weekly-music-video_18.html    

Today's video is DIED A LITTLE by  LEWY . Her full name is Mariah Lewy and she is an Australian singer-songwriter. Born in Sydney,  LEWY was into music from a young age, after being introduced to American girl group  Destiny's Child by her parents. She started singing lessons aged 5 and also learnt to play the piano and guitar. She likes a wide range of genres from pop to R'n'B and her musical influences include  Lady Gaga , Billie Eilish , Christina Aguilera and Whitney Houston .  In the past few years, LEWY has done live performances, recorded at studios in several countries and posted song covers on YouTube. In addition to singing, she is an actress, having studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney and been selected for the callback stage of Moana (I presume the 2026 live action remake ). Now aged 19, LEWY has been recording an album (scheduled for release this year) and just released the single DIED A LITTLE. Her next ...

 Today's video is 12 to 12 by American singer sombr . His real name is Shane Michael Boose and his stage name (which is written in lowercase) is based on his initials. He also  chose it because of how he was feeling at the time. ("Somber"- or "sombre  as we spell it in the UK- means to feel down/sad and serious.) sombr released his debut single nothing left to say (also written in lowercase) in October 2021 and 4 other singles followed, including through it all and caroline. Then in 2023, aged 17, he signed to Warner Records and released the single weak. He also has his own independent record label SMB.  In September that year, he brought out his debut EP in another life. Two more singles from the EP were released, silhouette and my house is warm, plus several more non-album singles.  However, it was this year that sombr's career really took off, when his singles back to friends and undressed (released in December 2024 and March 2025 respectively) went vi...

This week's music video is CHUCO by Peruvian American singer A.CHAL and featuring Peruvian band Los Mirlos and Peruvian producer KAYFEX .  Los Mirlos (whose name translates to "The Blackbirds" in English) plays  Peruvian cumbia music . It's a sub-genre of cumbia, which is thought to have originated in Colombia (specifically from Afro-Colombian funeral traditions. CHUCO is A.CHAL's latest single. It's a Spanish language song and was released on 25th July.      For more music by A.CHAL, check out this post: Music video for LMKK (released last October, plus links to more music:   https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/03/weekly-music-video_12.html   And for more on Los Mirlos and KAYFEX, visit the links below:   Los Mirlos: Boa Viagem Music profile:  https://www.boaviagemmusic.com/artist/los-mirlos/   Official site (Spanish language):  https://losmirlos.com/     KAYFEX: Official site (Spanish/English):  https://w...

This week's music video is HOT GIRL SUMMER by Australian rapper and singer The Kid LAROI . It's his latest single and was released on 25th July. HOT GIRL SUMMER follows LAROI's recent singles ALL I WANT IS YOU and HOW DOES IT FEEL?, which were released in June. It's a hip hop style song about  hot girls who have it easy in the dating world and has been seen as a break-up anthem, especially since LAROI and his girlfriend Canadian singer Tate McRae are rumoured to have split up .  LAROI and Tate started dating over a year ago and also worked together professionally on the song  I know love (from Tate's album So Close To What, back in February. The video also has summery vibes!     Want more The Kid LAROI? Check out this post: Audio for ALL I WANT IS YOU (also has a link for HOW DOES IT FEEL?): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/06/weekly-music-video_25.html

This week's video is KISSIK from the 2024 Tollywood (Telugu language) film Pushpa 2: The Rule .  The movie is the sequel to action drama  Pushpa: The Rise (released in 2021) and sees the title character (played by  Allu Arjun ) now head of the red sandalwood smuggling business and facing off against his enemy, police officer Bhanwar Singh Shekawat ( Fahadh Faasil ), who has a grudge against him.  There is also a dubbed Hindi version.  I featured the video for Oo Antava Mawa..Oo Antava Mawa from the first Pushpa in my Tollywood Videos Round-up 2 post back in 2023. You can see it here:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/09/tollywood-videos-round-up-2.html KISSIK was released as the third single from Pushpa 2 last November, prior to the film's release in December. It was preceded by Pushpa Pushpa and Sooseki (The Couples Song) in May 2024. Two more singles followed in December- Peelings and Gango Renuka Thali. The video is an item number , I think and st...

Today's video is All I Got by Maro . His real name is Marwan Daou and he is a Lebanese singer-songwriter and YouTuber. He was born in Beirut and has a Lebanese dad and Ukrainian mum. Maro's grandma taught him to play the piano and he also taught himself to play the guitar. He started his career by posting cover videos on his YouTube channel (inspired by Justin Bieber ). In 2018 his cover of Falling Down by the late American rappers  Lil Peep and XXXTenation  reached  over one million views and led to him going to Northern Europe , where he got a music manager and signed to tech music record label  SNAFU Records  the following year. In August 2020, Maru released his debut single carsick, which is about an on-off relationship . His 2nd single Take It Back followed in January 2021. He has released several other singles to date, including Addicted to Her Sadness, start again, Never Let You Go and All I Got. In November 2022, he brought out his debut album Words Fro...

This week's video is Woman To Woman by Nigerian singer Simi . It's her most recent single and came out in March. Woman To Woman is the 4th single from Simi's 5th studio album Lost and Found, which was released in July last year, through her independent record label Studio Brat . It's an Afrobeats, R'n'B and soul album.  Woman To Woman follows previous singles All I Want, Men are Crazy and Borrow Me Your Baby. It's all about celebrating women and I think the lyrics are a mixture of English, a Nigerian language and Pidgin . This is the original music video and there's also a viral video (see below).      And here is the viral video (also released in March):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APUjYM7PiTI   Want more Simi? Check out this post: Music video for her 2020 single THERE FOR YOU feat. Ms Banks (plus links to more music): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2021/01/weekly-music-video_20.html

This week's video is Do It Right by Em Simmaly . She's an American singer who also models and acts.  Do It Right is from Em's EP Bloom in Violet, which was released in May. Her previous singles include On One, Roll With Me and Replaceable with Jango Flex.  Do It Right is a sensual R'n'B song and the first track from the EP. The music video was uploaded in May.   Listen to Bloom in Violet on Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/album/6jpDdXrlAPohcrqvf0r2m9 And you can find more videos/audios from the EP on Em's YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@emsimmaly/videos   For more on Em visit these links:  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@emsimmaly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emsimmaly YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@emsimmaly/  

Today's video is Love Life by JUNO. She is a Nigerian singer/artist, signed to The Gamma (a media and technology enterprise). JUNO  (real name Joy Dzeremo) made her debut with the single Intentions in August last year. To date she has released two other singles- Love Life and her latest, PIPE ME UP with Nigerian singer-songwriter Ruger . Her music is a blend of Afro soul and Afropop . Love Life is Juno's 2nd single and was released last December. I like the chilled vibes of the song. :)       Also check out the video for PIPE ME UP (released last month):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRh5J0J2F0g   And for more on JUNO visit these links:  Official FB page:  https://www.facebook.com/hearjunoo/   Official Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/hearjuno   Official YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@hearjuno     Want more African music? Check out these posts: Afropop Round-up 2022-2023:  https://sta...

Today's video is ALL I WANT IS YOU by Australian rapper and singer THE Kid LAROI . It's a recent single and was released on 6th June. It precedes his latest single HOW DOES IT FEEL? which came out later this month. ALL I WANT IS YOU is a laidback pop/R'n'B song with romantic lyrics. It marked LAROI's  first solo release of 2025 , following his single I know love with his girlfriend Canadian singer Tate McRae (released in February). This is the official audio.   The Kid LAROI fan? Check out these posts: Music video for I know love with Tate:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/04/weekly-music-video_9.html Video for his newest single HOW DOES IT FEEL? (released on 20th June):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIDRLLVaLlQ

This week's video is Heaven, the latest single by American singer Nija . It follows her previous single 32nd Floor, which came out in March. Heaven is a chilled R'n'B song. Someone in the comments on YouTube describes it as "outer space R'n'B"! It's one of my current favourite songs and I bought it on iTunes.  The single came out on 30th May. This is the official audio. I'll update this post if there's a music video in future. :)   Visit my Weekly Music Video post from April to see the visualiser for 32nd Floor:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/04/weekly-music-video_23.html  

Today's video is LaSalle Ave by American singer  Jay Chang . His real name is Jay Steven Kapossy and he has a Filipino Chinese mum and Irish/Hungarian dad.  Jay was born in the US but moved to South Korea for his music career. He followed in the footsteps of his dad, who was a musician in the 80s .  He started out by competing on the Korean survival programme Under Nineteen in 2018 and while he didn't make the final group, he went on to make his solo debut with the digital single Is you in November 2020. He released two other digital singles- LIAR and I'd do anything. Jay later signed with FM Entertainment . In 2023 he competed on another audition programme,  BOYS PLANET and although he didn't make it in to the final line-up for the project boyband ZEROBASEONE , he became well known and it kickstarted his career.  He made his official solo debut in October 2023 with the EP LATE NIGHT , which is a mixture of Korean and English tracks. The lead singles were I'll...

This week's video is Mine by American singer Amerie . It's her latest single and was released in March. It's been a long time since Amerie has released music, so it's good to see her back! :) Her last studio album was almost 16 years ago (!!), In Love & War which was released in November 2016.  She has brought out 2 EPs in the years since though- (Drive (2016) and the double album 4AM Mulholland/After 4AM (2018). The latter was called an album at the time of release , but it was actually more of an EP. In recent years, Amerie has also become an author, having written children's book  You Will Do Great Things (2023) and contributed to/edited several anthologies, Her first adult book This Is Not a Ghost Story: a Novel is due out in July. In addition, she hosts a book club . She is set to release a new album  (her 5th studio one) this year. Mine will likely be on it, along with another song called Undeniable. Mine is a romantic ballad co-written by Amerie and re...

Today's video is Princess GaL (Harajuku Y2K ver.) by Japanese singer Hamano Haruki (or Haruki Hamano in Western terms). She is a Japanese singer-songwriter from Fukuoka. Haruki's music is a mixture of J-pop, hip hop and rap and her lyrics are described as  "sensual and realistic, with a touch of venom" . Born in 2000 herself, she is popular with Generation Z women and has stated that her goal is to "be a friend to all women". Haruki released her debut EP 2000 in 2021 and has since released 4 more- nichijounonakaniaruhinichijou (2022), To the past me, so that I can laugh. (2022), Hamano Haruki "Re:Arranged (2023), LovE ToXic (2023). She just brought out her 1st album NET BaBy on 7th May. Her singles include WATASHI NO MONOSASHI, Tokyo, sexless, Princess GaL, CuL and her most recent, Chu <3 (a collaboration song with the lip brand CHOOSY ) which came out last month.  Princess GaL (Harajuku Y2K ver.) is a new version of Haruki's digital single Prin...

Today's video is On Sight, the latest single by American singer Coco Jones . It's the 5th single from her debut album Why Not More?, which was released on 25th April. On Sight is a smooth, R'n'B song. It follows previous singles from the album, Here We Go (Uh Oh), which has a solo version and a remix featuring American singer Leon Thomas III , Most Beautiful Design with record producer and rapper London on da Track and rapper Future , You and Taste.  As well as On Sight, I like Taste (I featured it as a Weekly Music Video last month; see below) and AEOMG (my favourite song from the album). The music video for On Sight (which sees Coco becoming fixated on potential love interests!) was uploaded on the same day that the album came out. Please note that the song contains mild swearing. :)     Visit this link to stream/buy Why Not More? here: https://cocojones.lnk.to/WhyNotMore   And watch the music video for Taste (released in February) here, plus find links to more so...

This week's video is MONA LISA by Korean rapper and singer (and member of K-pop boyband BTS ) j-hope (real name Jung Ho-seok, or Ho-seok Jung in Western terms). It's his latest solo single and the third one to be released since he completed his military service (mandatory for men in South Korea) last October. It's a stand-alone single, not appearing on j-hope's EP/soundtrack HOPE ON THE STREET VOL.1 (VER.1 PRELUDE), which was released in March 2024. It follows LV Bag with American rapper and singer Don Toliver , Speedy ( Don's Louis Vuitton bag !) and American musician and singer Pharrell Williams , which came out in February, and Sweet Dreams featuring American singer Miguel , which was released in early March. MONA LISA is a laidback R'n'B and hip hop track, with all-English lyrics about how j-hope likes his girls! It's described as a "love song that pays tribute to celebrating one's unique beauty" . It was released on 21st March.    Fo...

Today's video is Az Sum Ti by Bulgarian Russian singer Kristian Kostov (who represented Bulgaria in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest , 8 years ago now!). Az Sum Ti is Kristian's latest single and his first time singing in Bulgarian for almost 10 years. It's part of an audio-visual project.  The song title translates as "I Am You" in English. The video premiered on 15th March.   Want more Kristian? Check out these posts: Music video for Iris, his 2023 single with VOSTOK (plus links to more music): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/06/weekly-music-video_14.html Audio for Espresso (released last year): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2024/05/weekly-music-video_15.html   P.S. Speaking of Eurovision , this year's contest is coming up! The Grand Final is on Saturday 17th May (with the semi-finals on the Tuesday and Thursday before). Keep up with Eurovision  news here:  https://eurovision.tv/event/basel-2025

Today's video is Weeds, the latest single by British girl group Sugababes . It's their 5th single under the name Sugababes, as the reformed original trio of Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Siobhan Donaghy.  After several line-up changes since their debut in 2000, the group got back together as MKS (Mutya, Keisha and Siobhan) and released music under that name, before reclaiming the Sugababes name. For a background on that (and to see the music video for their 2023 single When the Rain Comes), visit this post: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/10/weekly-music-video_11.html Weeds follows the more recent singles Situation with British musician and DJ A LITTle SOUNd (which was inspired by Sugababes' debut single Overload), released last August and Jungle which came out in March.  As with Jungle, Weeds was self-released, since Sugababes are no longer signed to BMG . The group have also just started a new UK and European tour. Weeds came out on 8th April. It's a slow...