Audacy Check-In

Celebrating the release of the album, 'I Forgive You,' the one and only Cynthia Erivo joins us inside the Hard Rock Hotel New York for an Audacy Check In. The GRAMMY, Emmy, and Tony award-winning artist's sophomore effort shows her more vulnerable than ever, from the bare cover to the passionate and open music within. Carefully curated by Cynthia herself, 'I Forgive You,' features co-writing from Erivo on every track and is filled with captivating vocals and relentless talent. Split into 4 unique sections, Erivo explores "a breakup, something new, the deepening of a connection, and acceptance," on the new album. "I'm feeling excited about being able to share a little bit more about myself," Cynthia tells Shelley Wade. "Obviously, there's trepidation because you never know what people will take from it, but there's nothing that I can necessarily control. I just know that I have been as honest as I possibly can, and I'm going to continue doing that and hopefully people will be encouraged to do the same." Erivo admits she was scared when releasing her debut 4 years ago, but the release of 'I Forgive You' leaves her more nervous this time around. "I think I'm really proud of what I've written, proud of what I've managed to create this time, and I think I'm way less scared than I was the last time because now it feels like it's really mine." "I think I want people to understand that I'm as human and as fallible as everybody else," she shares with Shelley on what she hopes listeners take away. "I think sometimes we project onto people what we want of them, so I think often the imperfections aren't necessarily what people want to see of me, but they're there. They are what makes me human, so I'm hoping people are welcoming of those things too," Just a vowel away from an EGOT, Cynthia often projects pure confidence in her performance, but she cautions that there's moments before that help create that command. "When I'm singing, I'm very comfortable because that's a place that I sort of know very well and I use it to connect, and love doing it, but I don't think people realize that right before the moment that feels really confident, I'm nervous and I spend the day trying to make sure I'm prepared and ready to be able to deliver something that I can be proud of. But again, as a human being, I have vulnerabilities. I have moments of quiet and I think this is a moment for me to be able to share that with people." In discussing the album with Shelley, Erivo shares the message of 'I Forgive You,' an album dedicated to those trying to figure it out, and to those struggling to say 3 other "hard words" to ourselves or to someone else, ensuring that you no longer have to do it alone. "When we go through things in our lives we are either really hard on ourselves about them, we don't give ourselves the choice of letting them go, and we're not very good at giving that grace to other people when things have been done to us," admits Cynthia. "So when I had written it, I kept trying to figure out what I wanted to call it. And yes, there are love songs in it, there are songs about heartbreak, there are songs about loss, there are songs about finding love, there's songs about passion, but all of those things are human experiences that we sometimes sort of color with shame or guilt or those sort of harder feelings to deal with, and we don't necessarily look at them through eyes that are forgiving." "So when I finished writing the album and had sequenced it and put it in the right order and saw the story, I realized that actually the bigger overarching theme of all of it was in the end, forgiveness for yourself, if anything has happened and for the things that you might have done that you haven't really let go of, or for the things that have happened to you that you haven't necessarily let go of." To hear much more from Cynthia Erivo, check out the full Audacy Check In interv ...

Ahead of their new album, 'I Beat Loneliness,' out everywhere July 18, Bush has offered another preview and join us for an Audacy Check In as Gavin Rossdale talks with Audacy's Abe Kanan about "The Land Of Milk And Honey," the group's upcoming tour with Shinedown, and his surprising cooking show. Step into "The Land of Milk and Honey," the latest soaring, anthemic single from Bush, who have a busy 2025 on the books already. The band returns with the electrifying new album, I Beat Loneliness, on July 18, and then immediately hits the road with Shinedown on their 'Dance, Kid, Dance' tour. "I intentionally kept the record short so that there's 12 songs," says Gavin. "People are tailing off by the 14th song, you know what I mean? I don't get really long records of people do 22 song albums. I don't wanna hear anyone, 22 songs. It's really concise and so I hope that feeling spreads across the whole record." With two singles to sink into already, Abe ventures to ask, "What can we expect on the album? Are the other 10 songs as good as these 2, or you just put out the 2 and you're like, 'the rest is garbage,'" he laughs. "Oh hell no. The rest of the album's better," exclaims Rossdale. "Every song can't be kind of a piledriving 'Land Of Milk And Honey,' but it's just got a range. What's weird about it is it just sits organically together." "It's meant to represent everybody, who sort of finds a way to get through these crazy times that we're in," reveals Gavin. "That people have the courage to get through when times are really hard and you feel like every day is a struggle, and worse, you feel like everyone else has it way easier. There's a real common misconception, I feel that people look at social media, people read the sort of pages where they wanna be, and they have a lot of fear of their own lives of passing them by and they haven't got themselves together. When most of the time they're really carefully orchestrated images, not really what reality is. So it's really cool to have a record that definitely speaks to people and not expecting you to meet me on your yacht." The album is also a moment to look back on the totality of Bush, as I Beat Loneliness marks their 10th studio LP. "There's a certain sense of just like continuing on and keeping it very, very connected to reality, and connected to the ground," shares Rossdale. "That's how we've been able to make all those records I think, and tour and not fall apart." Along the way to their 10th album, Gavin has also become somewhat of a cooking celebrity with his show, 'Dinner with Gavin Rossdale,' inspiring fans like Abe with simple dishes and preparation like his take on cauliflower. "The best cooking's really simple," he says, going on to detail a basic but delicious cauliflower recipe. "People think you're a genius, and that's it!" To hear more about Gavin's cooking, prepping for tour, and the new album, check out the full Audacy Check In interview above.

With a voice like GIVĒON, you would assume he was always destine for success, but it took a while for the R&B star to "make it make sense" as he was growing up. The "RATHER BE" singer joined DJ Buck for an Audacy Check In at the Hard Rock Hotel New York recently, to preview his album, 'BELOVED,' and share some insight into his journey. Growing up in California, GIVĒON says he would "visualize" the spot he's in now, "but it was hard to make it make sense because I had no idea the steps that it would take," he shares. "I would imagine it all the time, but did I believe it? I don't know." "This is also a space where If, if you're a doctor, you're the best doctor in the world, you're gonna end up being a great doctor somewhere. If you're an amazing basketball player, you're gonna end up in like at least a professional organization. But music, I feel like you can be so talented and still there's a chance that you just won't get into a certain position because of circumstance." Now that he's a leader in this new school of R&B, it seems like it was always meant to be for GIVĒON, even if his mom is still in shock. "I want her to stop saying she can't believe it," he jokes. "I'm like, 'all right, it's been 5 years.' I'm getting offended now." Maybe it will finally sink in on July 11, when GIVĒON releases him latest project, 'BELOVED,' which has been years in the making. "I'm super excited and like, relieved," he reveals. "It's hard working on something for 3 years because year 3 don't feel the same as year 1. Year 1 is a little more relaxed. Year 3 is like, 'OK, you're on the clock.' It's up to you be like, 'yeah, but I'm gonna be an artist that takes its time.' I'm that, but I also really care about my fans and the people who take the time to listen and people who spend their money to go see me for for 80 minutes to however long, so I just want to give them something too." Hear more from GIVĒON as he shares stories behind "Heartbreak Anniversary," linking up with Drake, and more during our Audacy Check In.

BET nominated, Billboard congratulated, and all-around rising R&B star kwn joins us at the Hard Rock Hotel New York for an Audacy Check In, telling Poet Taylor about her new single, "do what i say," working with Kehlani, and the importance of being "unapologetically yourself." "I like to just get straight to the point, which is crazy cause I'm actually a shy person," kwn admits about her music. "I'm a bit introverted until you break me down and get to know me, so I put it all out in my music." "I'm the person in the back of the room being very observant of everyone around me, but I think the confidence just comes from me just being myself and not letting anybody steer me away from who I am and who I'm trying to be." The latest offering, the commanding, "not asking twice" track, "do what i say" is the latest to capture the attention of fans, after kwn's collab with Kehlani on "worst behaviour" and opening for her on tour, served as an introduction to many. "As soon as we came up with the idea for the video, we were like, it's obviously gonna do something to the world," kwn reveals about the steamy visual with Kehlani. "The response was insane. I'm super grateful for it. Obviously there's been some bad stuff, but there's all of the good stuff is like overwritten all of that." That response ranged from "bad stuff" to love, to someone even offering up a family member to kwn in the DMs. "Somebody DM'ed me and said, 'I'd like to volunteer my mum for a night with you,'" kwn shares. "That threw me all the way off. That was insane." For more on kwn's relationship with Kehlani, her upcoming EP, and staying authentic, check out the full Audacy Check In above.

Rise Against have offered up a few glimpses of what's next with scorching singles, "Nod," and "Prizefighter." This week we get yet another, with the commanding "I Want It All," and details on a new album, 'RICOCHET,' due out August 15. Now, frontman Tim McIlrath dives in during an Audacy Check In to talk about the new track, shared experiences, 25 years of Rise Against, and more. "I think raw is a perfect word," Tim tells Abe Kanan about the new song, "I Want It All." "I think we captured a lot of it live. We were like kind of just going with the energy of it, just not overthinking it. It's a burst of energy of a song, we wanted it to have that kind of vibe," he adds. "I'm looking forward to really sinking my teeth into it on stage." "I Want It All" is the latest preview of the band's upcoming album, 'RICOCHET,' and the band will get plenty of chances to bring that raw energy to the stage, with a co-headlining tour with Papa Roach this fall. "I think that's just something that's just in our DNA since we first started playing in this band, like being respectful of the music," Tim says of Rise Against's live show. "And then playing music that doesn't allow you to phone it in, you know what I mean? Like the music, it just, it kind of gets a hold of you and it makes you really live through it." For much more from Tim and Rise Against, listen to the full Audacy Check In above.

Justice recently joined us in the studio for an Audacy Check In, talking with Bru about their hit with Tame Impala, "Neverender," and what's next for the French dance duo. Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay say 2025 is flying by, thanks in part to the whirlwind success of their song, "Neverender." "When we wrote the song, like the three of us, we felt good about it," admits Xavier de Rosnay. "It's only when we played it at Coachella last year before the album release, so the song was not known, that we saw that people had an immediate reaction on something they don't know, which we took as a good omen." "We always say that it is a collective hallucination. You don't know why your song makes it somewhere. It's just that at some point there's a bunch of people who think, 'oh, this is what I want to hear,' and this is something that we don't really have any control over, so it's cool." Part of the secret to Justice's success lies in their work ethic, and willingness to let it breathe. "Our secret is that we take vacations every other week," shares Xavier. "We would work one week on the record, then take one week off, then come back just in order to always be a bit fresh and also wanting to go there because when you spend too much time not stopping, then you start like saturating and focusing on maybe the wrong details." That fresh mind helped the duo dig deep into the details, some that come blaring through your speakers, and others that are more hidden along the way. "There is a beer bottle hidden somewhere on the record," smiles Gaspard Augé. "The percussion that you hear in your left ear on 'Neverender' is made with a beer bottle," follows Xavier. "At the end when we recorded some of the parts to produce the song. We had a drummer make some tracks, and we told him, because we demoed it as a triangle, we told him, 'OK, can you play that with a triangle?' And he listened to the track and he said, 'No, I'm gonna do it with a beer bottle. Give me a beer.'" "So he drank the beer and then he played it just with a beer bottle and we have a video of this actually. He's an amazing drummer, every time you hear live drums on the record, that's him. And he's a classical musician, then he was playing in jazz band, so he's a jazz drummer. And, we love people who are not afraid of doing things a bit differently." Don't miss our full Audacy Check In with Justice above.

One of the most iconic forces in all of Hip-Hop history joins us at the Hard Rock Hotel New York, as Chuck D sits down for an Audacy Check In to talk about the making of his new album, 'Chuck D Presents Enemy Radio: Radio Armageddon,' his journey through Hip-Hop, and much more. The Public Enemy frontman remains one of the most important voices in music, and he has returned with more wisdom on wax for his latest offering. According to Def Jam, 'Chuck D Presents Enemy Radio: Radio Armageddon,' is "the return of the voice that never left. Chuck D delivers a seismic broadcast of truth, rhythm, and resistance—uniting Hip-Hop’s pioneers and new generations alike in a fearless soundtrack for the times." During his talk with DJ Scratch, Chuck confirmed, "when you hear me actually on the record as an MC, it's not like a Public Enemy record. It's more like I'm MCing rappers coming in." "'Radio Armageddon' has no beginning and end to it," reveals Chuck D. "It's not really like an MC record as opposed [to] like, it's damn near like a radio station with acid poured on it." The legendary rapper did take it back to the beginning during his talk with DJ Scratch, looking back on his first moments on the mic at Adelphi. "I was rhyming at my college, Adelphi, just to shut people up from grabbing the mic cause I wanna get my dance on." "They had an open mic and everybody from Brooklyn, the Bronx, cause that's where Adelphi was. Everybody from all over, they thought automatically that, what they heard in the summer, people getting on the mic and rocking it, they thought that cause they was from the place that they get on the mic too, and most people on an open mic was terrible." "So I was like, you know what, 'that mic is gonna be open. I'm gonna get on that mic, and I'm gonna sit everybody down.' So there'd be a long line trying to get the mic. They'd be playing 'Love Is The Message,' 'Good Times,' or whatever. I get the mic sure enough, there's nobody behind me. Nobody wanna touch the mic after I'm on it." From college parties to the biggest stages around the world, the link between was Public Enemy, as D also reflected on his first meetings with Flava Flav and Terminator X. "We were all participants on WBAU and Adelphi Radio, and we was the first to actually integrate ourselves in radio playing Rap records, playing Rap records and talking about them. We were very scientific about it. And we became the radio station that Run-D.M.C. listened to because it was right over in Hollis, and then Curtis Blow and all, we were doing our thing in Long Island and in the city they wasn't playing Rap as much as us and breaking it down." "We didn't wanna make records, but when we made records... I wanted to emulate World's Famous Supreme Team, cause I thought what World's Famous Supreme Team was doing at WHBI... I thought that that chaotic, everything was something, that's something that turned me on." Hear much more from our deep dive with Chuck D and DJ Scratch in the full Audacy Check In above.

Five Finger Death Punch are on the verge of a major milestone, and joined us for an Audacy Check In to talk about it, along with the release of their updated version of "I Refuse," featuring Maria Brink of In This Moment. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Las Vegas band, and they are celebrating by releasing, 'Best Of – Volume 1,' a collection of re-recorded versions of their biggest songs, with "I Refuse" being the first taste for fans. The project is also a direct response to the recent sale of the band’s original master recordings by their former label. "You live in those songs. There was no problem with the song to begin with. So that's a challenge to like, 'whoa, it was already great' in my opinion. All these songs, we are proud of them," explains guitarist Zoltan Bathory to Audacy's Abe Kanan. "So that's a challenge. How do we reimagine it for 2025? How do we do this? And you'll hear it. We put the work in." FFDP had their masters sold by their label, so Zoltan and company went to route of Taylor Swift and re-recorded their own versions of their biggest songs. "From business perspective, from the record label side, it's a move on the chessboard, right? And now this is our move now, you know." "It's gonna be the anniversary version. It's a 2025 anniversary version, so that's what we want to call them, 'the anniversary version,'" Bathory shares. "Taylor Swift has a rabid fan base, right? A very hardcore fan base. So when she put [out] the new songs, the fan base just simply switched to the new streams. It just happens so that we have probably the craziest fans on the planet. I mean, these guys are with us since day one, literally, and they're hardcore. It's the most loyal fanbase, so probably the same thing gonna happen." 'Best Of – Volume 1' will be available across all streaming platforms on July 18, and will also be released worldwide in physical CD and vinyl formats. To hear so much more from Zoltan including a look into his Jiu-Jitsu Castle, and his philosophy on life, check out the full Audacy Check In conversation above.

Life has been anything but "Ordinary" for Alex Warren these last few weeks, as our Audacy 'LAUNCH' artist continues to rise with his hit topping the Global Billboard chart, as well as on the verge of potentially being the number one song in the country. During an Audacy Check In from the Hard Rock Hotel New York, Warren weighed in on his success, and the high praise he has received from artists like Ed Sheeran. 'It's definitely terrifying a little bit, but it's just exciting," Alex admits of the ubiquitous nature of his song. "I think I wrote these songs in my bedroom with my friends and to be able to hear them everywhere and see people apply them to their real life is, it's feels special." After a string of ups and downs, success has landed squarely on Warren, who credits the tough times to be able to meet this moment, both as a person and a songwriter. "I do think that everything I've gone through has allowed me to be able to handle this, but also write about it," he tells Audacy's Emily West. "I think I've just been able to turn a really bad situation and turn it into something beautiful that can help people." Along with the accolades from fans, there's been a few famous faces to vocally show support for Alex Warren, including Joe Jonas and Ed Sheeran. "A lot of people ask me about like 'I made it moments' and I think with Ed, for people who don't know Ed is the reason, a lot of the reason, why I started writing songs. I've been so inspired by all his music and when I go in to write songs, I'm always like, 'I wish I wrote a song like that,' and it's so flattering for him to say that, he wished he wrote a song like mine." "I'm blown away by it and it does not feel real and I'm waiting for someone to slap me in the face." Since their moment singing together, Ed has continued to keep in touch with Alex. "He's like the most supportive person, we email every day," Warren says of the notoriously phone-free Sheeran. "I feel bad. I'm bothering him every day and he just responds. I'm like that kid who won't stop pestering him." Don't miss our full Audacy Check In with Alex Warren above.

98 Degrees are back and taking control, re-recording their biggest hits and offering fans new music with their new album, 'Full Circle.' As part of the celebration, they stopped by the Hard Rock Hotel New York to talk all about it with Mike Adam. With over 15 million albums sold worldwide, 98 Degrees are one of the most successful vocal groups of all time, and now they are entering a new era where they own their own work, and work to build a new chapter for fans across every generation. 'Full Circle' features 5 new tracks alongside re- recordings of their biggest hits. "We wanted to kind of give back to the fans what they fell in love with in the beginning, and that was how those songs sounded," Jeff Timmons says of the re-recording process. "They sounded like that for a reason. Now, obviously, throughout the years, our voices have changed and, we've performed them so many times with new inflections on them and we try to change them up, but I also remember being a fan and going and seeing concerts and I would hate when the artists would do that. So we tried to keep the integrity of the originals. And it wasn't easy because times have changed, our voices have changed, production has changed, but we feel like we accomplished it on these." "And that's the challenge, right? Vocally it's a challenge because we don't sound, as Jeff said, we don't sound like we did back in 1997," says Nick Lachey, "but recreating that track and trying to match that track and find those sounds, and it's trickier than I think we thought it was gonna be going into it. It was definitely a challenge to make it happen, but Jeff said, we're really proud of how it came out and proud of how close we got to those originals." Hear more about the album and what the four members have been up to during our Audacy Check In with 98 Degrees above.

Hot off the release of his new album, 'blame the chat,' DDG is with us at the Hard Rock Hotel New York to talk about it all, sitting down with DJ Buck and Big Regg for an Audacy Check In. Featuring guest spots from Ty Dolla $ign, Rich the Kid, Offset, Rob49, BIA, Wiz Khalifa, DaBaby, Queen Naija, and Shenseea, 'blame the chat' is star-studded and blasts the artist to new heights. "I just rock with who rock with me," DDG reveals. "I don't like to force collabs, I don't like to force features, none of that. I just like to keep everything organic. Whoever rocking with me that's who i wanted to walk through the door." That door was to DDG's 7 day live stream "Hit-A-Thon," which saw the rising rapper putting together his latest effort in real time. "It's more fun, I would say, to create live. You're getting live feedback. They know what they're getting right then and there," he shares. "Even with my album, most of the people that watch the 'Hit-A-Thon,' they heard me make the song, but even when I drop the album it still sounds refreshing, it still feels new, because when you make the song it ain't mixed, it ain't mastered, it ain't got that them extra drums. It's something new still, so it's cool." "I feel like I'm just all around more of a polished artist," DDG says of his evolution since first landing on people's radar. "I just think more technical these days about how my music come out." "The chat" is a big part of DDG's come up into a new level, and it's not something he takes lightly, saying he "cracked the code" by involving those fans in the way he makes music. "I used to make music for people that didn't listen to me, that was my problem. Now I make music for people that listen to me and then I will let them be the ones to advocate for me." "I feel like a lot of my music career I was chasing the streams and the support from people that don't want to like me no matter what, but now I'm set, like if I only got a thousand streams on a song, I'm gonna make music for those people that stream, that thousand, and then eventually it's gonna grow." Don't miss more from DDG, check out the full Audacy Check In above.

Royel Otis has a big 2025 lined up, and starts now with their new song, "moody." The duo joined us in Los Angeles for an Audacy Check In to talk about the new track, what to expect on their upcoming tour, and more. Earlier this week, Royel Otis announced the meet me in the car tour, that will see the two playing venues and select music festivals across North America including Governors Ball, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Outside Lands. But first, it's "moody" to set things in motion for our Audacy LAUNCH artists. "We were in the studio with Blake Slatkin and Amy Allen, two very, very talented people," shares Royel Maddell about the making of "moody" during the band's conversation with KROQ's Miles The DJ. "We were just like throwing chords together and stuff, and that's what ended up coming out of it. All in a day's work. It was amazing." "moody" is part of the next chapter for a band that took Alternative music by storm last year, and according to Roy it's part of a bigger jump for the next LP. "I think it's, I don't know, sonically a bit larger," he says of the upcoming album. "I think there was more thought after playing all the shows live last year. I think there was more thought into like how this song would go if we played it live as opposed to just like how it just sounds on the record. I think there was a bit more thought into that, but other than that, I, I just think it was just whatever came out." Next month the band starts a run of festival dates, before launching their own headlining tour. After seeing them a few times in Los Angeles, Miles couldn't help but notice the connection that Royel Otis has with fans, already so solid and intense, still early on in their career. "I think we've always taken that so seriously as well," Maddell admits, "like connecting with fans and always trying to make sure they know they're a part of it and a big reason why we're doing what we're doing sort of thing."

That feeling's coming around, and it can only mean one thing. ROLE MODEL is with us for an Audacy Check In at the Hard Rock Hotel New York to talk about his hit, "Sally, When The Wine Runs Out," his upcoming return to the road with Gracie Abrams, and much more. "It's funny on Wikipedia you are listed as Bedroom Pop," Mike Adam explains. "Do you know what that means?" "I feel like that was the whole first half of my career, was that word Bedroom Pop," laughs ROLE MODEL. "That was the scene that I feel like I like made my way into when I first started making music under the name ROLE MODEL, and it was like Clairo, Gus Dapperton, Cuco. There was this very cool community of artists that were all kind of in this Bedroom Pop thing and it was just like DIY. Kind of low-fi Pop music." "Very misleading," he adds, after Mike notes it's not sexy time music. "Also probably like the least sexual music ever." Turning heartbreak into hits, ROLE MODEL has used his album 'Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye)' to both grief a formative relationship and catapult himself into another artistry atmosphere. His run opening for Gracie Abrams is about to restart as she heads out on the deluxe dates of her sold out tour, which ROLE MODEL will join between festival shows throughout the summer. "I just like her relationship with her fandom at these shows, and also outside of shows, and how inclusive she makes it," ROLE MODEL says on what he's learned from watching Gracie on tour. "I took mental notes of just how she makes everyone feel seen at her shows, no matter how big the venue is, or how many people there are, she makes everyone feel seen and heard at her shows, and I think that's a very cool thing to take note of for me and my own shows." After lots of talk about ROLE MODEL's home state of Maine, Adam asks about the folks back home and the moment Mom is most proud of. "She just came on stage in Boston, for my biggest, it was the last show of tour, but it was also happened to be like my biggest headline, and it was like technically a hometown show, and she came on stage for that and we made her Sally at the end of the show," he shares. "I think that was like a very cool moment, not just for her to see of me, it was like a cool thing to have together now." To hear more from ROLE MODEL check out the full Audacy Check In above.

New music from Mammoth is here, after the band and Wolfgang Van Halen spent the week teasing fans with a countdown across socials. Now we have "The End," another scorching eruption of Rock, featuring furious fretwork and another sky-high solo. Here to talk about it is the man himself for an Audacy Check In with Abe Kanan. "I had this idea a while back and I felt like maybe it was a little too over the top, but then I came back to it and I thought it would be fun to try and make it into a song," WVH shares about the blistering new song. "It was a fun little process. It's a tough thing to balance where it's like the centerpiece of the song is this sort of soloy thing, but I think the aggressiveness and the over-the-topness of it is sort of what makes it so exciting." The guitar is all the way in Rock and beyond, with Wolfgang leading the charge in a lot of ways, even if he's reluctant to embrace that role himself. "I think, even in Pop, you see, they have full bands with guitar and everything. It's definitely on its way back for sure, you know, comparatively to where it was say 10 years ago." Not able to divulge much about Mammoth's upcoming 3rd album, the excitement is obvious when hearing WVH talk about new music. "I'm very excited with the direction that everything's headed in for sure." For more on his upcoming tour, his time playing with Van Halen, and WVH's message to fans, enjoy the full Audacy Check In with Wolfgang Van Halen above.

R&B breakout star Coco Jones is back for an Audacy Check In, to talk about her new album, 'Why Not More?' and so much more. The GRAMMY-winning singer joins us at the Hard Rock Hotel New York to dive into the making of the album, which is the official debut LP for the "Taste" singer, arriving as a fully-formed force in music with passionate pleas and next-level vocals. Since we last connected with Coco in the Audacy Sound Space, the singer has been hard at work on her debut album, which is now officially out in the world. "I think for me I just wanted to be more decisive this time," Jones reveals to DJ Buck about her process. "I was still figuring myself out with my EP, and you know, EPs are lower stakes. You don't really have any expectations and I was kind of just learning how it goes being signed again. Like that's my first time being signed as an adult, so I was really learning how it goes, and now I feel like I kind of know a little bit more. I know a little bit more about myself, and so I wanted to speak up more on things that were really important to me." Jones has found the material for her debut simply by living, finding inspiration in the conversations and situations she finds herself in. "I think I pull from real life. I mean, my friends and what we talk about, the things that we're all going through, relationships and life, and learning ourselves," she shares. "It's such a relatable place in life that I try to take real life conversations and turn them into songs." Coco also shared with us a few of her favorites from the new album, including "Keep It Quiet," and the Britney Spears-sampling "Taste," which has already taken off and become a favorite for fans as well. "I love it because it was scary to do, and I feel like the best things are the things that you're scared to do," she says of the song. "You know they teach you a lot." "I'm excited for people to listen to this album because I kind of treated my EP like first date vibes," Coco continues. "Like you're not going too hard, you're not showing all of yourself, but you're trying to make a good impression, and then when you start to get to know somebody more, your real self slip out. I think my album is like when you're starting to get somebody to know them more, like the real self is slipping out and I'm still going to show more and more as I get comfortable and as I learn more, but definitely dive deeper into some of my emotions with this album." At the risk of stirring controversy, DJ Buck also asked Coco Jones for her Mount Rushmore of female R&B singers. "You know you always gonna say people and then people gonna be mad at who you didn't say," smiles Jones. "I'm thinking I'm gonna think Mount Rushmore of women who inspired my art and my album." "I would say of course Beyoncé. I would say Jazmine Sullivan. I would say SZA. I would say Rihanna." To hear more from Coco Jones on the making of her debut album, how she handles life in the public eye, and navigating social media, check out the full Audacy Check In above.

We've seen Zara Larsson do a lot, but we've never seen the Pop star get "ugly like this," as she lets it rip on her new single, "Pretty Ugly." Zara is back in the building with us at the Hard Rock Hotel New York to talk about the new song, and her upcoming spot on Tate McRae's Miss Possessive Tour later this year during an all new Audacy Check In with host Mike Adam. Larsson blasted back on to the scene last week with "Pretty Ugly," and she's having fun with the muddy video and mischievous marketing. "It was just me wanting to be a little, I don't know if silly is the right word, but I'm not a very serious person," Zara shares. "I think this song has an element of fun to it. And, I spend a lot of time online. I am just a part of the internet culture. I love what happened to 'Symphony.' I just I have a lot of screen time. So, we did a Coachella billboard, which was like a bit cheeky and fun. Just the imagery of fun and not taking myself too serious. I feel like it's the vibe." The fun of "Pretty Ugly" is a preview of Larsson's upcoming project, but according to the singer it only tells part of the story. "I feel like I have so much to say and I have a lot of personality that has been hard to repackage into a song, but with this making of this album, I just was hanging out with a small group of people, And they really get me." "So it's like hanging out with friends. It's fun, it's upbeat, it's exciting... but then there's also the side of me that's vulnerable, sometimes scared of things, has a lot of ambition, feeling like I'm working hard but I'm being let down, or feel like, stuff that I really don't really talk about openly." It all adds up to a new chapter for Zara, one that she can't wait to take on the road with Tate McRae. "It will be a lot of energy and a lot more dancing, hopefully." "She worked so hard," she says of her upcoming tourmate, Tate McRae. "And I'm really excited to get to know her, get to see her show every night because she's so young... [but] like she's giving me mature." "I'm also really loving that she seemed to really find her own thing, and I love that she has incorporated more dancing because I feel like she didn't really do that before, at least not like live, and no one can do it like her." To hear much more from Zara Larsson, check out the full Audacy Check In above.

Sammy Hagar is getting by with some help from his friends, both on stage and in his dreams. The Red Rocker joins us for an Audacy Check In to talk about his new song, "Encore, Thank You, Goodnight." which he says was inspired by a dream about Eddie Van Halen. "When I woke up from this dream with Eddie, we were in the middle of writing a song and I was singing this melody, so it was so fresh," Sammy shares with Audacy's Remy Maxwell. "And I'm going, 'man!' I woke up, I sang that into my iPhone. My wife's sitting there pulling covers over her head. I got my guitar out, I got my notepad. [It's] one of them things where nobody wants to hear about dreams. You wake up and say, 'honey, I had this weird dream.' You dream and you start trying to tell her, she goes, 'I don't wanna hear about your dream right now. It's too f***ing crazy. It doesn't make any sense.' I'm going, 'yeah, I know.' So nobody wants to hear about your dreams. So I was reluctant." Hagar finally found the nerve and said, "f*** it, I'm gonna play this for Joe." Guitarist Joe Satriani and Hagar had just toured together, playing Van Halen classics across 34 cities. "He studied Eddie inside and out, he said, 'hey, I got this, man.'" Performing with VH alum Michael Anthony, Satriani, and legendary drummer Kenny Aronoff, Hagar is newly signed to Big Machine Rock and ready to reveal the track to fans. "It's just such a heartfelt thing from me to him," admits Sammy. "I just wrote exactly what I dreamt and exactly what I felt and, that's so personal. It's one of the most personal songs I've ever written in my life.” "I'm humbled by this band and being in Van Halen, I wasn't humbled at that time, you know, I was a platinum solo artist selling out arenas all over the world. So I wasn't as humbled joining Van Halen as I, looking back, as I could have been. But now I'm humbled by it because Eddie Van Halen's one of the greatest rock musicians that ever lived," says Sammy. "I'm more impressed with this guy every day in my life, and I will always be inspired by his musical abilities and his musical uniqueness." "I tell you, the better I get and the more knowledge I get at my craft, I always go back to Eddie and go, 'wow.' He was already there. Every time I come to a new conclusion, a new height, I go, 'oh wow, Eddie knew this,' and it's amazing how great that guy. and unique that guy really was." To hear much more from Sammy Hagar on his upcoming Stagecoach performance and Vegas residency, check out the full Audacy Check In above.

Halestorm has shared the first preview of their upcoming, sixth studio album with the big and bold single, "Darkness Always Wins," and frontwoman Lzzy Hale is here to talk about the making of the band's next chapter, and more. During an Audacy Check In with Abe Kanan, the "Back From The Dead" singer details the recording process of the new LP, which serves as a return to the roots of the Pennsylvania band. "This whole album, it's kind of like this long road back to the beginning almost," Hale reveals. "When we were recording it with Dave Cobb in Savannah, Georgia, it felt like we were back in my parents basement. We were in this house, unsupervised, just the four of us with all the equipment we could ever want, everything ready to go, no distractions, no girlfriends, no wives, no friends." "We'd wake up in this house like around 11AM every day, and just start on whatever got us excited, and then Dave Cobb would kind of come in around 1PM and like throw a wrench in the works somewhere. Like, 'oh I love that, let's go there,' you know? His ADHD works very well with our ADHD, so that worked out." The lead look at the album, "Darkness Always Wins," was the first song the band wrote in Cobb's studio, and kicked off the process of recording from scratch with the producer. "We were setting up the computer so we can show him some songs, and he's like, 'oh no we're not doing any of that.'" Rather than sifting through previously recorded riffs and stems, Halestorm wrote the song from the ground up. "So we're getting all of these takes of the inception of the song," Lzzy shares. "Usually when we do a Halestorm record, we write the songs and everybody decides on what their favorite songs are, and then we go in the studio for a month and bang it out. This was the complete opposite. We're like, 'we don't have a plan, we don't know what we want to write about,' so we were just kind of letting the music tell us what to do, versus the other way around." You can hear much more from Lzzy Hale of Halestorm on the band's upcoming tour plans, excitement to play at Black Sabbath's final show, her Instagram rebirth, and more above.

Everything is coming up Ne-Yo. Between stops on the 'For My Fans Tour' with Mary J. Blige, the GRAMMY winner joined Shelley Wade in the Audacy Sound Space at the Hard Rock Hotel New York to discuss touring with a fellow R&B icon, all that relationships talk, a few key career moments, and so much more. "I am fantastic. I'm better than fantastic. I'm in a great, great space," he shares. "Things are going great in my career. Things are going great in my love life. My kids are healthy and smart, and bad as hell, but healthy and smart. Two out of three ain't bad. Yeah man things are good." Of course in addition to being a constant force across the music landscape for the past 20 years, Ne-Yo has also become a hot topic thanks to his love life and his “pyramid” of girlfriends. Which is fine for Ne-Yo, as long as they stay for the music. "I don't even so much mind anymore what gets you in the room. It's what keeps you in the room,” he explains. “You know if my personal life is what made you Google my name, and then you Google my name and then you get the music, that's fine. I don't even care. As long as you get to the important part." Currently a part of the 'For My Fans Tour' with Mary J. Blige and Mario, Ne-Yo says it's like being with family. "Mary has always been just one of those real, like grassroots true-to-life people, you know. Mind you she has all of the makings of a diva, you know what I mean," he jokes. "Like you know if she walked in here and she had women throwing roses at her feet as she walked it'd be completely valid. It's like, 'all right well I mean it's Mary that's fine, it's Mary of course,' but she's also the kind of person that's gonna ask if you ate today, will get up and get you a glass of water if you need one, like she's just real people and she genuinely cares about people." "Mario, same situation," adds Ne-Yo. "Dare I say, we damn started our careers together, because writing that song for him is kind of what got me the attention that got me my Def Jam deal, and then of course that song being one of his biggest kind of catapulted him to where he wound up." "Just being able to share the stage with people that you genuinely respect, it's a beautiful thing." To hear much more from Ne-Yo, listen to his full Audacy Check In above.

Who wanna rock like JENNIE? Everyone! But have you ever met? Actually, yes. She's got 'em obsessed with her new album, 'Ruby,' and she joins Bru at our studios in Los Angeles to talk about it all. On her way to Coachella for a solo debut, JENNIE is riding high on the success of "Like JENNIE," something she did not see coming. "I was just saying, even today, I was like, 'wow, I'm just so amazed at how the song is doing and how everyone's reacting to the song,'" she shares. "It's definitely not what I expected." With 'Ruby' being an eclectic introduction to the solo status of the BLACKPINK star, JENNIE admits she even surprised herself along the way. "I didn't realize how many genres and different type of sounds that I wanted to tap into before I worked on this album," the "Love Hangover" singer reveals. "I'm finding myself really as I'm going and learning how to rap for the first time almost, how to sing for the first time." "In a good way, I've never been able to really focus only on myself. I've always had the girls with me, you know? I've always had other things happening around me, but for this album, I got to really sit down and explore different voices and sounds and it was great! I'm going to look into it and find out more about who and what kind of sound that I want to like, hold on to." JENNIE also touched on her collaborations during the making of 'Ruby,' especially with Dua Lipa. "She's a caring person in general, and we we used to like do dinners, and we would meet at parties, and every time she's always making sure if I'm good and happy and healthy," smiles JENNIE. "So she's someone that's always made sure that I feel, you know, I'm feeling good. So to have her work on a song on this album. It's like having a great friend at work with you, like what more can I ask for?" "She's supportive and she's obviously giving, sharing her beautiful voice with me on this album, like I'm just so happy, and it was a great day when we had the shoot. It felt like we were just out in New York in the cold wearing crazy outfits just jamming to a song." Just days away from her Coachella set, JENNIE talked about the "pure joy and excitement" for the event, gave some advice on festival attire, and also shared a motto she tries to live by. Hear it all above during JENNIE's Audacy Check In.