Star Sparkle Blog

 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...

It's been ages since I've shared some Turkish music (apart from Weekly Music Videos, my last Turkish music post was back in 2019!), so today I'm featuring some. :) You can see my last Turkish music post here:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2019/03/turkish-music_30.html     First of all, here are a few posts featured on the blog since 2019: Otilia- Deli Gibi (Otlilia is Romanian but it's a Turkish language song): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2021/04/weekly-music-video.html Eurovision Countdown- Past Contestant Hadise (update on Turkey's 2009 Eurovision contestant): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/04/eurovision-countdown-past-contestant.html Murda feat. Hadise- Imdat: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/09/weekly-music-video_21.html   Now here is some music I haven't previously shared! :)     Hadise-  Fırtınam This is  Fırtınam, the most recent single by Turkish Belgian singer Hadise (my favourite Turkish singer!), who was Tu...

Today's video is THOUGHT IT WAS A DROUGHT by BABY LEAN. She is an American recording artist from Philadelphia. BABY LEAN describes her music style as an experimental one that pushes the boundaries of hip hop, and says she "delivers a musical experience that connects you to an interstellar dimension" .  Her music is a mix of genres- rap, electronic and metal. Her singles include GHOST IN DA SHELL, THOUGHT IT WAS A DROUGHT, and PURPLE HEART. I think THOUGHT IT WAS A DROUGHT was originally released on New Year's eve (31st December) 2022. But the music video was uploaded last September.  Please note that the song contains explicit lyrics. :)   Also check out the music video for PURPLE HEART, her most recent single (released in October; also contains explicit lyrics): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLJ-Rkap0iw   For more on BABY LEAN check out these links: Official Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/babyleans   Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/babyleans ...

Time for the first C-pop Saturday post of the year! If you're new to the blog, it's my semi-regular series sharing Chinese music that I started back in 2018 . My last post was in September , so it's been a while!    WayV- FREQUENCY In December I shared the music videos for both the Korean and Chinese versions of FREQUENCY, the latest single by WayV , in my New Music Releases post. They are the Chinese sub-unit of Korean boyband NCT and sing in Chinese (Mandarin) and Korean. FREQUENCY is the title track from the group's 6th mini album, which was released last November. Watch the videos here (scroll down): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2024/12/new-music-releases.html   Ozone- Looking at the Crescent Moon/New Moon Dance Performance Video In my latest Asian Groups post, I featured the Taiwanese boyband Ozone (as well as Thai girl group 4EVE). One of the songs I shared is New Moon (or the Chinese title which is something like Looking at the Crescent Moon Together, whi...

There's some good music coming out lately, so I thought it was time for another New Music Releases post! I've written two other ones this year, in May and August . I'm featuring a mix of genres, Western and Asian pop style. :)   Katy Perry feat. Doechii- I'M HIS, HE'S MINE First up is a new song by American singer Katy Perry . It's called I'M HIS, HE'S MINE and features rapper and singer Doechii . It actually came out on 13th September, so isn't really new but I just came across it on MTV recently! I'M HIS, HE'S MINE is the 3rd single from Katy's 7th studio album 143, which was released on 20th September. It follows previous singles WOMAN'S WORLD (released in July) and LIFETIMES (released in August). It's a dance ( house ) and pop song where Katy and Doechii warn other women off their men! The track samples Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless) , the 1991 single by American singer Crystal Waters .  Gypsy Woman was also sampled by bo...

The Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest is tonight, so here's the second of my annual posts. You can see the first here: Countdown to Eurovision 2024!: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2024/05/countdown-to-eurovision-2024.html   I ended up watching both semi-finals this year. (Some years I've only watched one, so I didn't hear all the songs beforehand.) The UK could vote in the first one. Here are my favourites from this year. :)    Silia Kapsis- Liar (Cyprus) Cyprus' song Liar by Silia Kapsis was my favourite entry in the 1st semi-final and I voted for it. It got through to the final.  Silia (full name Vasiliki Silia Kapsis) is an Australian singer with Greek and Cypriot heritage. Her dad Giorgis Kapsis is also a singer.  She is one of this year's youngest competitors at 17.  Silia has been lead singer for the Australian Youth Performing Arts Company (AYPAC) and also performed at other events worldwide. She released her debut single Who Am I? in 2...

This week's video is AL SHAM by Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna . It's her latest single and is a tribute to her Levantine heritage. Elyanna describes it as an ode to the late singers Sabah Fakhri (Syrian) and Cheika Rimitti (Algerian rai singer). Al Sham is an Arabic language song (with a couple of English lines) which is influenced by Dabke (an Arabic folk dance) and rai (Algerian music). It also has modern electronic elements. The video was directed by Elyanna's brother Fairdose and came out in January. See the description box on YouTube for an English translation of the lyrics. :)   Want more Arabic music?   Check out these posts : Turkish and Arabic Songs:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/09/turkish-and-arabic-songs.html Elyanna's 2020 single Ana Lahale feat. Massari: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2020/12/weekly-music-video.html NEJ'- Inta Habibi (Arabic/French):  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/05/weekly-music-video_17.html   P....

Sorry the 2nd post is later this week, I didn't manage to get it finished in time. :) I've actually had this post in mind for a while now but just getting round to it! Fifth Harmony (also known as 5H) is an American girl group, consisting of 5 contestants from the 2nd season (or series) of the of The X Factor USA . The members- Camila Cabello, Normani Kordei, Lauren Jaregui, Ally Brooke and Dinah Jane- all auditioned solo for the reality show. Not all the girls got through to the next stage but they were brought back as a group to enter the Groups category. They came 3rd place in the contest in December 2012 (behind runner up Carly Rose Sonenclar and winner Tate Stevens ). The group signed a record deal with Syco (the record label of The X Factor creator Simon Cowell ; now defunct) and Epic Records , and released their debut single Miss Movin On in July 2013. Their debut EP Better Together followed in October that year. In January 2015 they brought out their first studio albu...

Today's video is Crush by Bella Poarch and Lauv . Bella (real name Denarie Bautista Taylor) is a Filipino American social media influencer and singer. She was born in the Philippines, adopted by an American and Filipina couple aged 3 and later moved to America. Bella sadly had a difficult childhood, growing up in an abusive home. She has said that working on her first EP Dolls helped her to confront the trauma from her past. Bella joined the US military in 2015 , aged 17. After leaving, she entered the public eye in 2020 when she started posting gaming, cosplay and lip syncing on the social media platform TikTok. She went on to join YouTube and Twitter. In May 2021, Bella launched her music career with the release of the single Build a B*tch, having signed a record deal with Warner Records . She released her debut EP Dolls in August 2022. Her other singles are Inferno with American singer Sub Urban , Dolls, Living Hell and Crush.  Lauv (real name Ari Staprans Leff) is an America...

This is the next instalment in my Asian Groups series, which shares music by East and South East Asian groups. Today's post is about ATLAS  from Thailand and GLAS from Indonesia. I've previously featured an Indonesian girl group on the blog ( V1RST ) but it's my first time featuring a Thai boy band! :) I came across both groups in this music video which features South East Asian pop groups:  https://youtu.be/y8trBoLYP8g ATLAS ATLAS is a 7-member T-pop   (Thai pop) boy group formed by XOXO Entertainment . Their name comes from the Greek God Atlas and the maps (world atlas). The members are leader Junior (real name Napat Osathai), Jet (Patpaiboon Opassuwan), Poom (Dechathorn Wanwanichkul), Nice (Vitchapol Somkid), Erwin (Supaklit Pennors), Muon (Nanon Nampeeti) and Tad (Thapana Chongkoirattnaporn. Erwin is Thai and French, and was born in Paris. The other members were born in Thailand.  ATLAS debuted on 7th December 2021 with the digital single MA...

Back in 2019 I wrote a post called 6LACK Link-up featuring collaborations that American rapper and singer 6LACK had done with other artists. You can see that here:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2019/09/6lack-link-up.html For quite a while I've had the idea to do a similar post about American record producer and rapper Timbaland , so here it is! I've decided to make this a two-parter because it's turning into a long post, lol.  :)  Timbaland (real name Timothy Mosley) has had a long career, starting out as a producer in the early 90s. He had previously got into music as a teenager, working with rapper Magoo  and the production ensemble S.B.I., alongside his cousin Pharrell Williams * Timbaland's stage name comes from Timberland boots. Some of his earliest work was on the albums of R'n'B group Jodeci , and rapper (and his friend) Missy Elliott . He worked with Missy's girl group Sista, although the group never got off the ground and Missy went solo. He a...