Working For The Weekday highlights some of the top music stories from the previous weekend. Today, we’re covering the Wiggles disavowing ecstasy, Teddy Swims’ shitty AI practices, an upcoming Palestine-Sudan benefit show, and more.
Aerosmith scores Top 10 album sixth decade in a row
I’m no Aerosmith fan. In fact, they’re one of my least favorite rock bands ever! But, I give credit where credit is due: They just scored a Top 10 album on the Billboard 200 for their YUNGBLUD collab EP One More Time, making them one of just a few artists to have a Top 10 record in six consecutive decades. They join the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, and James Taylor in that company. Their previous Top 10 chart entries include: Rocks, Pump, Get a Grip, Big Ones, Nine Lives, Just Push Play, O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits, Honkin’ On Bobo, and Music From Another Dimension!
One of the One More Time tracks, “My Only Angel,” debuted at #1 on the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart and is currently #6 on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. Aerosmith and YUNGBLUD’s version of “Back in the Saddle” was also recently named the official theme song of WWE’s WrestleMania 42 event next April. One More Time is YUNGBLUD’s first Top 10 project. Good for him! He seems like a nice guy, even if his wannabe rock-star act just isn’t for me. If he’s interested in keeping this kind of music alive, then I wish him the best. Can we get him and AC/DC to drop an EP next?
The Wiggles disavow drug use
Beloved children’s band the Wiggles want you to know that they do not condense drug use. They’ve been getting hit with some backlash due to their appearance in a video posted by Australian musician Keli Holiday. Promoting his song “Ecstasy,” the Wiggles’ Anthony Field and The Tree of Wisdom can be seen dancing behind Holiday while the chorus hits: “Hey girl, come on dance with me. You and your pocket full of ecstasy.” Naturally some parents were not thrilled about this. MDMA is a big no-no amongst the Wiggles’ core demographic.
The Wiggles appeared on stage with Holiday at the TikTok Awards on November 26, but the video posted was done so without their prior approval. The band has since released a full statement (via a spokesperson) on the matter, sharing: “The Wiggles do not support or condone the use of drugs in any form. The content being shared was not created or approved by us, and we have asked for it to be removed.”
The statement continued: “We deeply value the confidence families place in us, and we remain committed to creating safe, positive, and educational experiences for children and families in Australia and around the world.” The Wiggles plan to trudge on as planned, hitting a 13-day North American tour called the Tree of Wisdom Spectacular Tour.
Teddy Swims admits he uses AI to make his shitty music
Teddy Swims makes a type of music that’s easy to punch down on. He’s got a good voice, the kind that could win a singing competition show, but there’s not much substance to the material he produces. He got nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy award last year and thankfully lost to Chappell Roan. Now, it turns out, the “Lose Control” singer even calls upon artificial intelligence to make his shitty music. At a SXSW event in Sydney, he called AI a “truly amazing” and “super helpful” technology that he utilizes while writing music, noting that one of his LA producers recently used it on one of his songs. “Rather than me going [to] the studio and doing the line 15 times and spending time and money and effort, he’s actually been able to go in and just change the word.”
Swims couldn’t stop talking about AI, either. He brought up generated song prompts, beaming: “What we’ll do is maybe just take an acoustic and write the melody and the lyrics and just get the song done and upload it into it and say, ‘Okay, I want to hear this song as a country song’ or ‘I want to hear this song as a rock and roll song.’ Instead of taking time to reproduce something over and over and over again in so many different ways that would take months sometimes to do, you can get the idea of what something would be fully fleshed out in this lane. If you use it the correct way, I think it’s a beautiful tool.”
All of this makes sense to me. I mean, “Lose Control,” despite its recent Diamond certification by the RIAA, is a soulless, cash-grabbing R&B song made by a guy whose heart couldn’t be less in the game. Art rules because somebody put the time, effort, and care into making it. Devoting a part of yourself to your craft is what makes it your craft. Teddy Swims has taught himself how to use gross tools of convenience. If only he’d spent that time teaching himself how to make a song that’s actually good.
De La Soul brings their new album to Kimmel
A week before Thanksgiving, De La Soul put out their first album after Trugoy the Dove’s 2023 death, Cabin in the Sky, and we liked it quite a bit. And then I was on the same flight as Posdnuos 48 hours later. Very cool stuff. Anyways, De La Soul held a performance of “Run It Back” and “The Package” on the November 26 edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Posdnuos and Maseo held it down in LA, even bringing a marching band onstage with them and putting an animated lyric sheet on-screen for Trugoy the Dove’s posthumous verse on “The Package.” Man, I love De La Soul so much. Seeing them on Kimmel reminded me of A Tribe Called Quest doing SNL without Phife Dawg. You can feel the love in the building, in that performance, even with the absence. Check it out below.
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Artists For Aid concert coming to Los Angeles
Mustafa has been organizing Artists For Aid concerts, the first two happening in Newark and London. The events were created to raise funds, awareness, and benefits for the people of Sudan and Palestine. The upcoming LA concert, which will take place on January 10, 2026, will feature a lineup of Clairo, Blood Orange, Geese, Noname, Tamino, and more. And what an incredible surprise seeing Northeast Ohio legend Noor Hindi’s name on the poster! She’s one of our greatest living poets, and “Fuck Your Lecture on Craft, My People Are Dying” is among the most important poems published anywhere this decade. Bella Hadid and Pedro Pascal are slated to host. Mustafa wrote on his Instagram: “A gratitude unfeigned for all these artists who have agreed to donate their time & voices to this, the journey here has not been a simple one. All proceeds from this live show will support the Sudanese Americans Physicians Association and the Palestinian children’s relief fund equally.” Follow this link for more info on the forthcoming ticket pre-sale.
