As the year comes to a close, Audacy is counting down our Top 10 Audacy Check Ins of 2023.
From MONSTA X and Selena Gomez to Mike Shinoda, P!nk, Olivia Rodrigo, Jung Kook, Kelly Clarkson and more, this year's list is full of incredible artists that called in or stopped by to share new singles, albums, and fill us in on plans for tours, new music, and more. Basically, they had something to say, and you wanted to listen. Did your favorite make the list? Check them all out below as we present our Top 10 Most Watched Audacy Check Ins of 2023.
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10. MONSTA X
After kicking off the new year with their 12th mini album, REASON, MONSTA X checked in with Audacy’s Julia in January 2023. Answering fan questions like “what’s one word to describe REASON?” and “when was the first time you thought ‘yeah I made it’?” The K-pop band also took a moment to serenade us with their favorite lyrics from their favorite song off their latest release. “It’s from ‘Deny’,” they expressed, “it’s beautiful.”
9. TWICE
In celebration of their own mini-album, Ready To Be, K-Pop girl group, TWICE, stopped by our studios in March 2023 for an Audacy Check In with Bru. The 9 member group consisting of Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu answered questions about their creative process, success, and expressed just how grateful they all are. “It’s amazing to be love by so many people," she said, also thanking “everyone for giving us support,” looking at the camera with a cute little hand wave.
8. Selena Gomez
Shortly after the release of her end of summer bop “Single Soon,” Selena Gomez joined Bru in studio for an Audacy Check In to talk all about the brand new track, what keeps brining her back to music, and more. “I think it’s just a fun way of communicating, and I was itching to have some new music out,” Selena shared. Also noting that, “technically this isn’t my first single,” from her yet to be announced next album, she did share that it does completely encompass the vibes. “I’m in a really healthy space and I’m so happy. So the whole album is just a true Pop record, it’s so much fun, and it’s consistently gonna get people moving and feeling things.”
7. SUGA
You know him as SUGA from BTS, but when it comes to his solo career you can call him Agust D. This past June he sat down with Bru for an Audacy Check In during one of his two days off “in the middle of tour,” to chat all about tour life, his passion for music, and evolving as an artist. Plus his new projects, music outside of the world's most famous group, and so much more.
6. Mike Shinoda
In March 2023, Mike Shinoda joined Audacy host Brad Steiner for a special Check In to discuss his two Scream VI singles and the 20th anniversary of Linkin Park’s Meteora. "It's a lot, I admit that it's a lot," Shinoda explains. "On the Linkin Park stuff... it started with wanting to look back. So we went into our hard drives, went into storage, and looked through material to see if there was something to make a 20th anniversary for 'Meteora,' and there was a ton." The track "Lost" that the band dropped as the lead single for their Meteora 20th, Shinoda said, got bumped to make the album tracklist an even 12. “We wanted 12 songs on the album and 'Lost' was effectively the 13th song…we just kind of put it to the side and said, 'yeah we're gonna do something with this at some point,' and then we didn't... and then we forgot about it.”
5. P!nk
After three years in the making, P!nk released her most vulnerable music to date with her ninth studio album, Trustfall. Digging deep around some of the toughest years of her life, the mother-of-two used her life experiences to take fans on the best kind of emotional journey, while striving to better herself as an artist, songwriter, and performer. “I like to push myself, I want to be the best,” she shared with Audacy's Mike Adam during her February 2023 Check In. “I want to be the best that I can be, not the best that ever did it. I want to be the best that I can be in this one precious life.” P!nk also expressed her excitement for her then newly announced Trustfall Tour. “I look at performing as group therapy,” she said. “Music is medicine and I’m being very, very vulnerable and very honest in my songwriting and it resonates with people. We’re all having this terribly awesome human experience. We get to cry together and heal together — it’s f***ing beautiful.”
4. aespa
Following the release of their English-language single, “Better Things,” K-Pop girl group, aespa stopped by our studios for an Audacy Check In with Bru in August 2023. The single, which released August 18, is the group’s second fully-English song and showcases a different sound from the group consisting of Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning. “To be able to showcase our second, full-English single — we’re super excited,” said Giselle. “And because it has a different color, a different style than what we usually do, we’re very curious what the fans will think.” The girls also talked about their 2023 SYNK : Hyper Line World Tour, which Karina described as, “amazing, great, hot, spicy,” and hinted at the possibility of a new album which they delivered in November with their release of Drama.
3. Olivia Rodrigo
Amidst the release of her highly anticipated sophomore album, GUTS, Olivia Rodrigo stopped by the Hard Rock Hotel New York for an Audacy Check In with Mike Adam to talk to us all about it. For the follow up to her GRAMMY-winning debut, SOUR, the Pop artist and newly part-time New Yorker leaned more into some Rock vibes for her second offering — an intentional move on her part. “I think we kinda discovered the more rockier part of my sound in like the later days of writing SOUR,” she explained. “I really loved that aspect of my sound, and so I think we felt kinda a little more freedom to explore it in this album, and I’m really happy it turned out that way.”
2. Jung Kook
As he was gearing up for his solo album release, dropping hit singles like “Seven” and “3D,” Jung Kook checked in with Audacy’s Julia to talk all about doing his solo thing, those hit singles, new music and more. “I think the song achieved a lot more than what I expect, so I’m very thankful. I’m grateful to my ARMY and to everyone who listened and enjoyed the song,” Jung Kook said of his Latto-assisted track “Seven.” As for “3D” featuring Jack Harlow, Jung Kook admitted the song was made even more "brilliant" by the Kentucky rapper’s addition.
1. Kelly Clarkson
On the day of the arrival of her 10th studio album, Chemistry, Kelly Clarkson stopped by the Hard Rock Hotel in New York for an Audacy Check In with Mike Adam to spill all the tea on the vulnerable body of work, discussing the creative process of how the album was weaved together as she navigated a highly-public divorce from ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, after nearly seven years of marriage. "I don’t limit myself with songwriting,” Clarkson shared, admitting she let her emotions roar and take over writing sessions as a form of therapy. With an album so personal, Clarkson refused to make any sacrifices when it came to the music, something that hasn’t always been a reality in the past. “There were definitely points in my career where I compromised,” Clarkson admitted. “There are definitely songs that… they’re not horrible, they just wouldn’t have been my pick… but not so much to where I’m like, I hated something.”
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Listen to all of 2023's Audacy Check In interviews anytime on the free Audacy app, and watch more at audacy.com/live.