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27 Jan 2025

Shaboozey’s ‘A Bar Song’ Ties The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ for Most Weeks at No. 1 on Radio Songs Chart

Belying its title, Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” remains a steadily dominant hit, topping Billboard’s Radio Songs chart for a 26th week – tying The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” for the most time spent at No. 1 in the survey’s history.

“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” previously logged a record-tying 19 weeks at No. 1 on the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Billboard Hot 100, beginning last July.

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The track holds atop Radio Songs with 63.2 million in audience Jan. 17-23, essentially even week-over-week, according to data tracker Luminate. The chart reflects all-format airplay on more than 1,000 monitored radio stations; Pop Airplay chart reporter KDHT (Hits 95.7) Denver has played the song the most to date: more than 4,000 times.

Here’s a rundown of the longest-leading Radio Songs No. 1s, dating to the chart’s December 1990 start:

  • 26 weeks, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey, beginning Aug. 10, 2024
  • 26, “Blinding Lights,” The Weeknd, April 18, 2020
  • 18, “Flowers,” Miley Cyrus, Feb. 25, 2023
  • 18, “Iris,” Goo Goo Dolls, Aug. 1, 1998
  • 16, “Girls Like You,” Maroon 5 feat. Cardi B, Aug. 4, 2018
  • 16, “We Belong Together,” Mariah Carey, May 28, 2005
  • 16, “Don’t Speak,” No Doubt, Dec. 7, 1996
  • 15, “Easy On Me,” Adele, Dec. 4, 2021
  • 14, “High Hopes,” Panic! at the Disco, Dec. 1, 2018
  • 14, “No One,” Alicia Keys, Nov. 3, 2007
  • 14, “Because You Loved Me,” Celine Dion, April 13, 1996

“A Bar Song (Tipsy),” on American Dogwood/EMPIRE, with country radio promotion by Magnolia Music, dominated the Country Airplay chart for seven weeks beginning last August, the longest No. 1 run for a first entry, and ranks in the top 10 for a record-extending 30th week.

The song also made history as the first to hit the top five (or even top 10) on Country Airplay, Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay (two weeks at No. 1 on each chart) and Rhythmic Airplay (No. 3 peak).

“There were many, many doubters of our ability to work this record at radio,” EMPIRE COO Nima Etminan told Billboard after “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” hit No. 1 on the Hot 100. “The industry loves telling independents that there’s a ceiling to what they can do on their own, and this was no different. We were told it can’t be done, and, as we like to do, we proved them wrong. We’ve assembled a fantastic team that we had full faith in – and they delivered.”

All charts (dated Feb. 1, 2025) will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, Jan. 28. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X and Instagram.

27 Jan 2025

Selena Gomez Weeps Over Trump Administration Immigration Raids: ‘All My People Are Getting Attacked’

Selena Gomez broke down in tears on Monday morning (Jan. 27) in an Instagram post in which she promised to do anything she can to help undocumented Mexican nationals in the midst of the new Trump administration’s nationwide crackdown on undocumented non-citizens.

According the People magazine, the Texas-born singer whose grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico without proper documentation posted a since-deleted Instagram Story in which she weeped alongside the caption, “I’m sorry” and a Mexican flag emoji. “All my people are getting attacked, the children,” Gomez added in the video that can be seen here. “I don’t understand. I’m so sorry, I wish I could do something but I can’t. I don’t know what to do. I’ll try everything, I promise.”

President Trump began his second administration last week by vowing to unleash a nationwide immigration crackdown. CNN reported that over the weekend nearly 1,000 people the administration deemed national security threats were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers along with agents from a variety of federal agencies including the FBI, DEA and U.S. Marshals Service in Chicago, Atlanta, Puerto Rico, Colorado, Los Angeles, Austin, TX and elsewhere.

People said that in another since-deleted Instagram Story, Gomez wrote, “Apparently it’s not ok to show empathy for people.” According to reports, TV doctor Phil McGraw joined U.S. border czar Tom Homan in a highly choreographed raid in Chicago in which the daytime talk show host asked some detainees where they were from and whether they were legal citizens.

At press time a spokesperson for Gomez had not returned Billboard‘s request for further comment on the singer’s posts.

Gomez, 32, has been a strong advocate for the immigrant community before, including producing the 2019 Netflix series Living Undocumented, a doc that told the story of eight families who agreed to let film crews follow them as they faced potential deportation under the first Trump administration. At the time, Gomez slammed what she dubbed the Trump team’s cruel treatment of immigrant families, including its widely criticized separation of children from their families.

“I can’t even imagine what these kids being separated from their families are going through,” she said in February 2020. “It’s something that is going to traumatize them for the rest of their lives. And it just seems animalistic.” In October 2019, Gomez also penned a poignant essay for TIME magazine, in which she wrote about her aunt and grandparents crossing the border into the U.S. from Mexico.

“In 1992, I was born a U.S. citizen thanks to their bravery and sacrifice,” she wrote. “Over the past four decades, members of my family have worked hard to gain United States citizenship. Undocumented immigration is an issue I think about every day, and I never forget how blessed I am to have been born in this country thanks to my family and the grace of circumstance.”

The flurry of raids have mostly drawn praise from Trump’s MAGA followers and Republican lawmakers, while officials in some states have decried the actions. NBC reported that Newark, NJ leaders and immigrant rights activists complained that ICE agents entered the back of a business in the city and arrested three workers without proper documents, while also detaining and questioning employees who are U.S. citizens.

Among other tactics employed so far by the Trump camp as part of its immigration crackdown are the shutting down of the CBP One asylum app, the clearing of the way for immigration authorities to make arrests in schools, churches and hospitals and a rush of active duty troops to help build border barriers and escort people onto removal flights.

27 Jan 2025

Peep The 1st Teaser Trailer For ‘Alien: Earth’

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Alien: Earth

Source: Hulu / FX Networks

For decades we’ve seen what kind of damage a Xenomorph alien can do in outer space in the films of the classic sci-fi franchise, Alien, but now, we’re about to find out how bad things can get if one ever reached Earth thanks to a new series set to premier on FX.

During the AFC championship game on Sunday (Jan. 26) between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs, FX released their first teaser trailer for their upcoming show, Alien: Earth, and while we didn’t get much action from the minute-long trailer, we’re already excited about the possibilities. According to Deadline, the series will center around a group of people who investigate the crash landing of a spaceship on Earth only to learn about the deadly alien monster that it carried in it when it entered our atmosphere.

Sure to be filled with blood, guts, and gore, fans of the Alien franchise can’t wait to see how this pans out now that the Xenomorph has found it’s way to our home.

Per Deadline:

The cast includes Sydney Chandler, who leads the project, Alex Lawther, Timothy Olyphant, Essie Davis, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, David Rysdahl, Adrian Edmondson, Adarsh Gourav, Jonathan Ajayi, Erana James, Lily Newmark, Diem Camille and Moe Bar-El.

“There’s something about seeing a Xenomorph in the wilds of Earth with your own eyes,” Hawley told Deadline at the Emmy Awards in September. “That is truly chilling to think of it moving here among us, and so I can’t tell you under what circumstances you’ll see that, but you’ll see it — and you’re going to lock your door that night.”

Regarding his approach to designing the sharp-tooth creatures, he said, “What was really fun for me was to really engage with the creature, bring some of my own thoughts to the design while not touching the silhouette, because that’s sacrosanct. But some of the elements as we know, whatever the host is inform what the final creature is. I just wanted to play around a little bit to make it as scary as it should be.”

They need to find a way to get a Sigourney Weaver cameo at some point. Just sayin’.

Alien: Earth is set to premier sometime this coming Summer. Check out the teaser trailer and let us know if you’ll be checking it out in the comments section below.

27 Jan 2025

Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 Countdown for Feb. 1, 2025 | Billboard News

Will Bad Bunny’s “DTMF” land No. 1 this week?

Tetris Kelly: 
This is the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 for the week dated Feb. 1. Morgan Wallen is back up to 10. Bad Bunny slides to nine. Gracie is up to No. 8. Teddy Swims rises to seven, as does Billie to six. And Kendrick and SZA to No. 5. Shaboozey stays put at four, as “APT.” rises to a new No. 3 high.”DTMF” is still at No. 2, and not giving up the No. 1 spot are Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars for a fourth week.

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27 Jan 2025

Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars’ ‘Die With a Smile’ Adds Fourth Week at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” notches a fourth total and consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.

The ballad became Gaga’s sixth Hot 100 leader and Mars’ ninth. Gaga runs up her sole second-longest No. 1 stay, as “Die With a Smile” breaks out of a tie with her debut smash “Just Dance” (featuring Colby O’Donis), which ruled for three weeks in January 2009. She dominated for six weeks in February-April 2011 with “Born This Way.”

Mars logs his fifth Hot 100 reign of four or more weeks, following his featured turn on Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!” (14 weeks at No. 1, in 2015) and his own “Locked Out of Heaven” (six, 2012-13), “Grenade” (four, 2011) and “Just the Way You Are” (four, 2010).

Plus, Mars adds his 38th career week at No. 1 on the Hot 100, surpassing Michael Jackson (as a soloist, apart from the Jackson 5) for the sole eighth-most time spent in the top spot. Mariah Carey leads with 97 career weeks at No. 1.

Also notably, Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” at No. 4 on the Hot 100 after a record-tying 19 weeks at No. 1, matches the longest rule ever on the Radio Songs chart – 26 weeks – equaling the command of The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” in 2020.

Additionally, Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control,” at No. 7, becomes just the seventh single to spend at least 75 weeks on the Hot 100.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated Feb. 1, 2025) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, Jan. 28. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

27 Jan 2025

Kai Cenat Is ‘Cool’ With Drake, But Still Thinks Kendrick Lamar ‘Won’ the Rap Beef

Kai Cenat didn’t become the most popular Twitch streamer in hip-hop by holding back his real opinions. So while speaking to Billboard for his January cover story, he didn’t hold back when it came to his takes on the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar rap war of 2024.

In conversation with Billboard‘s deputy editorial director Damien Scott, Cenat — who once FaceTimed Drizzy on his Twich livestream — began by saying, “I’m cool with Drake.”

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“So people would expect me to be on Drake’s side,” he continued. “But I’m not going to lie. Kendrick won that battle.”

Cenat was one of countless hip-hop fans who was locked in during the Toronto native and Dot’s musical conflict last spring, during which the two rappers lobbed searing diss tracks at each other throughout April and May. The streamer reacted to the drops in real time on his channel, with Drake notably instructing him to “stay on stream” before releasing “Family Matters” in May.

“I loved every second of it,” Cenat told Billboard of the musical back-and-forth. “I was just appreciating the moment. Like, bro, we got bangers right now that’s dropping back to back and everybody’s talking about them. It was definitely fire.”

Things took a turn in November, however, when Drake filed two legal actions against Universal Music Group over Lamar’s “Not Like Us” — the two-week Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper in which the Compton musician famously calls his opponent a “certified pedophile.” The “God’s Plan” artist accused the label of inflating the track’s streams through nefarious methods and cited defamation, alleging that UMG “could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed.”

Earlier this month, Drake escalated things further by launching a full-blown lawsuit against UMG; the label has denied the allegations in his suit and called it “illogical.” Cenat also just so happened to be mentioned in the filing. The Degrassi alum’s lawyers named him and a few other streamers who reacted to “Not Like Us” when it dropped as examples of UMG “whitelisting” the song, something Cenat also reacted to on a stream.

“Wait, why am I in this s–t?” he asked his viewers at the time, baffled. “Wait, hold on! Wait, what the f—? I’m getting sued?!”

See Cenat on the cover of Billboard below.

27 Jan 2025

Toad’s Place Hits 50: The New Haven Club Where Dylan, Springsteen & The Stones Came to Play Celebrates a Golden Milestone

In January 1975, on a side street in New Haven, Conn., surrounded by the campus of Yale University, a small French restaurant featuring live music opened its doors, with an unlikely name — Toad’s Place. 

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This month, Toad’s Place marks its 50th anniversary, now with a national reputation earned by showcasing hundreds of artists, helping to launch the likes of R.E.M and U2 and hosting rare small-room performances by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel and The Rolling Stones.

In the volatile venue business, Toad’s Place is a survivor. The club is older than many of the nation’s other iconic rooms of its size and has outlasted peers, like New York’s Bottom Line, which were once part of the same showcase circuit.

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Brian Phelps, owner of the club, recently reached out to many of the performers and industry figures who have passed through the club’s doors with the news that “we will be celebrating this golden anniversary” in the coming months. A documentary on Toad’s Place is in the works. Other details of the celebration have not yet been announced.

In 2021, Phelps and veteran New Haven journalist Randall Beach co-authored The Legendary Toad’s Place: Stories from New Haven’s Famed Music Venue (Globe Pequot) and hosted a book party at the club. (Editor’s note: This writer contributed a short essay to the book.) “It has been my job to present the music as best as I could,” said Phelps at that gathering.

It’s fair to say that almost any national or regional club-level artist touring the Northeast from the late 1970s onward has been welcomed at Toad’s Place. While the walls of Toad’s Place may not talk, they are emblazoned with the names of acts that played the club early in their careers. Among many others: U2, R.E.M., Meat Loaf, Michael Bolton (a native of New Haven), Ramones, Talking Heads, Pat Benatar, Joe Jackson and Huey Lewis & the News, whose lead singer told the book’s authors: “We love that joint.”

Phelps says Toad’s Place had survived through the decades thanks to the club’s willingness to evolve with tastes in music and the desires of fans. Paintings on the walls commemorate appearances by Kanye West in 2004, Drake in 2009, Iggy Azalea in 2013 and three bookings of Cardi B in 2016 and 2017. In the past year, the club has presented artists as varied as revered rocker Jack White, former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach and country singer Lauren Watkins.

Originally opened by the late Mike Spoerndle and two partners, Toad’s Place began booking national club acts in 1976 with the help of well-connected musician and agent Peter Menta — and, from 1977 onward, with help from promoter Jim Koplik, who is now Live Nation’s regional president of Connecticut and upstate New York.

On Aug. 25, 1978, Koplik had booked Springsteen to play the since-demolished New Haven Coliseum area. After the show, Springsteen stopped by Toad’s Place to jam with John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. The club’s reputation was growing, thanks to the savvy of in-house bookers Lucy Sabini and her successor, Katherine Blossom.

By the summer of 1980, in the wake of the multi-platinum success of The Stranger, Billy Joel had become an arena-packing superstar, when he chose to play two nights at Toad’s Place to record tracks for his Songs in the Attic live album.

But the most remarkable night at Toad’s Place took place at the end of that decade, in August 1989. Beach recalled hearing a message on his home answering machine tipping him off to a hot booking at the club. Others had been told the event was a birthday party for Koplik. A local band, Sons of Bob, were on the bill that night.

On Aug. 12, 1989, The Rolling Stones took the stage at Toad’s Place in front of just 600-something dazed fans at Toad’s Place. The band, which had been rehearsing for their Steel Wheels tour in Washington, Conn., played an 11-song set that opened with “Start Me Up,” closed with “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” and featured the first live performance of “Mixed Emotions.”

Less than a year later, Dylan, also warming up for a concert tour, gave a marathon performance at Toad’s Place on Jan. 12, 1990, playing for four hours and 20 minutes in multiple sets, granting the request of an audience member to cover Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark,” and concluding with “Like a Rolling Stone” at 2:20 a.m.

In the book, Beach quotes Billboard touring editor Dave Brooks, who cites a handful of clubs nationwide that have survived as long as Toad’s Place, like the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J.; First Avenue in Minneapolis; the Troubadour in West Hollywood; and the Iron Horse in Northampton, Mass.

“I think the main thing that has kept them open all these years is staff or current ownership who feel a sense of guardianship, and strive to protect these venues because of their cultural and historical impact on popular music,” said Brooks.

Phelps managed Toad’s Place from 1976 to 1985, then became a partner with Spoerndle and subsequently took over ownership of the club. But at the 2021 book party, Phelps praised the role of his former mentor and partner in launching Toad’s Place. “Big Mike” Spoerndle earned his nickname with his size, his appetites, his lifestyle, his charisma and his generosity; he became “the soul of Toad’s,” Koplik told the book’s authors.

But Spoerndle also struggled for years with substance abuse. For those familiar with the onstage history of Toad’s Place, the book’s deeply reported chapter on Spoerndle, his upbringing and the roots of his addictions is the emotional heart of the Toad’s Place story. On May 6, 2011, Spoerndle, then 59, was found dead at his home — and the cause of death was later given as poly-substance abuse and kidney failure.

When the pandemic struck, Toad’s Place was forced to close for months, “shut up like a damn morgue,” a Yale student said at the time. Phelps turned to savings, the federal Paycheck Protection Program — and, at the time of the book’s completion, was awaiting additional help from the Shuttered Venues Operators Grant, which Congress passed in December 2020.

Reflecting in the book on the pandemic and its aftermath, Phelps writes: “We will survive. We have a destiny in front of us!”

27 Jan 2025

Snoop Dogg Seemingly Responds to Backlash From His Inauguration Ball Performance: ‘Still a Black Man’

Snoop Dogg has been feeling the backlash after his performance at the Crypto Ball at Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier this month, and he appeared to clap back at the haters during a recent Instagram Live.

Snoop seemingly addressed the comments on Sunday (Jan. 26) while sitting in a car and sparking up. “It’s Sunday I got gospel in my heart,” he said in a video posted to his Instagram. “For all the hate I’m going to answer with love, I love too much.”

He continued to fire: “Get your life right, stop worrying about mine. I’m cool. I’m together. Still a Black man. Still 100 percent Black. All out ’til you ball out or ’til you fall out.”

Snoop wasn’t the only rapper in attendance, as Rick Ross and Soulja Boy also pulled up to the Crypto Ball in Washington, D.C., while Nelly performed at the Liberty Ball on Jan. 20.

He’s seen plenty of vitriol in his comments section on social media, as many have called him a “sellout.”

Over the weekend, Snoop addressed how he deals with the negativity while joining the R&B Money Podcast.

“You ‘gon deal with hate when you get to the top, no matter who you are. How do you deal with that hate? Do you answer it with hate, or do you answer with love and success?” he said. “Me, personally, I answer it with success and love. That’s my answer to any hate and negativity that comes my way, ‘cause it’s the strongest force that can beat it.”

Actor Marlon Wayans also came to the Death Row legend’s defense during a recent interview with 101.1’s The Wiz. “I know Snoop, and I know Snoop has always been a real one … I’m not gonna allow for public skewering,” Wayans said.

Snoop Dogg was previously very critical of Donald Trump, and he appeared to change his tune following Trump’s pardoning of Death Row co-founder Michael ‘Harry O’ Harris, who was behind bars on attempted murder and cocaine trafficking charges, before the twice-impeached president left the White House at the end of his first term.

“That’s great work for the president and his team on the way out,” Snoop Dogg reportedly said in 2021. “They did some great work while they was in there and they did some great work on their way out. Let them know that I love what they did.”

More recently, Snoop stated he had “nothing but love and respect for Donald Trump” during an interview with the U.K.’s Sunday Times.

27 Jan 2025

Bay Swag on Sexy Drill Movement, Working With Cash Cobain & Ice Spice Being the Queen of New York

As “sexy drill” continues to solidify its place in the New York drill scene, frontrunners like Bay Swag are becoming synonymous with the subgenre’s success. With the forthcoming project Damaged Thoughts in the works, he isn’t letting the sexy drill wave fade out anytime soon. 

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Last year, the Queens native teamed up with mini-genre architect Cash Cobain on his biggest hit, “Fisherrr.” Pronounced “fur-shur,” the sensual, R&B-meets-drill track achieves liftoff with a celestial melody and a pared-down flow. Fueled by a viral live performance and the Reemskii dance challenge (created by dancer and artist Kareem “Reem” Gadson), “Fisherrr” became an instant TikTok hit.

“We made the song at the end of 2023,” Bay tells Billboard. “We teased it, then it started going viral on TikTok. Then, me and Cash were like, ‘Yo, we gotta do [From the Block],’ he said, referring to the popular live music platform where up-and-coming artists perform viral songs in front of a suspended mic. 

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Their live rendition for that series racked up 2.7 million views on Youtube — then in April, the pair followed up with a remix featuring Ice Spice to solidify the track’s slot in summer rotations. Operation: Slizzy Summer was in full effect.

Before Bay Swag helped spur a new wave in New York, he created local buzz at 16 years old with his debut “Rumors.” He followed up with “Saucin,” a track dedicated to his father, Bay Lloyd, who was sentenced to 85 years in prison for a second-degree murder charge from 2012. Lloyd built a reputation in Queens as a party promoter, and toured with the likes of A Tribe Called Quest and Swizz Beatz, eventually motivating his son’s musical aspirations. 

In 2015, a chance meeting with Christian “King” Combs and Justin Combs during NBA All Star Weekend paved the way for him to join Christian’s rap collective, CYN. They collaborated on a handful of tracks, including Christian’s 2017 breakout single “Type Different,” featuring South Florida rapper Lajan Slim. 

The track dropped during the same time Swag was introduced to an up-and-coming Bronx rapper and producer, Cash Cobain. The pair didn’t collaborate until 2021 when sexy drill infiltrated New York’s regional sound and TikTok. Swag’s playful, nonchalant style blends seamlessly into Cobain’s stripped-down R&B and drill samples. They proved an undisputed match on “Fisherrr,” and fanned Bay Swag’s momentum with their follow-up “Worldwide Sniper.” Cobain’s moody soundscape bolsters Bay Swag’s lothario tales. He curtailed the one-hit TikTok sensation curse with spontaneous one-offs, including “Nothing Last Forever,” “Patti Labelle,” and “Skims” featuring D Lou. 

On his upcoming project, he navigates the emotional aftermath of a breakup on the Lil’ Mo-sampled “Make it,” while on “5 Star,” he reunites with Cobain and Chow Lee to put a “slizzy” spin on Selli Paper’s “5 Star Mami.” On the intoxicating club track “Drank,” featuring Detroit heavyweight 42 Dugg, he briefly departs from the project’s Y2K-inspired production into the menacing territory of Detroit drill. He stacks his carefree staccato bars with Dugg’s gravelly vocals and thumping 808s, boasting about the fast lifestyle, laced with sex and substances. 

On the verge of dropping his first project in three years, Bay Swag spoke to Billboard on how sexy drill is uniting a new generation of drill artists, how “Fisherrr” came together and more.  

Growing up with a father who was in the industry, which genres or artists initially influenced your interest in music?

My dad had me around [music] so much that I felt like it was the only thing for me to do. Being in the studio, in the car surrounded by music, that’s how I got the love for it. I grew up in a house full of women so my mom used to always play a lot of Keyshia Cole, Chris Brown, Trey Songz – a lot of R&B. My dad had me listening to rap [like] Future, Jadakiss, Juelz [Santana], Jim Jones, Biggie, stuff like that. 

You made a splash with “Rumors” and “Saucin” when you were just a teenager, which also led to you joining King Comb’s collective, CYN. What were those earlier days in your career like and how did you link up with Christian Combs?

Around those times, I started taking music seriously. It was during the time my father got incarcerated, so I became the man of the household. That’s when I dropped “Saucin,” which was a song about my dad and him being wrongfully convicted.

After that, it was All Star Weekend. Me and my cousins were in the car and I had actually met Justin [Combs] a couple years before that at a club in Queens. Fast forward to All Star Weekend, we seen they were out here, and my cousin was like, “Yo. I bet you I hit him and he’ll answer before you.” So I hit him and he hit him and Justin ended up answering me. We had a connection because one of my homies from Queens was running with them. He hit me and asked what I was doing. He was like, “Yo. We about to go to the club, but I’ll link you with my little brother.”

So he sent me a driver to go to his little brother, which is Christian — and my cousin stayed with him, since they’re the same age. Literally, I just walked in. I don’t know these people from a hole in the wall. I walked into the restaurant and was like “Wassup.” We clicked just like that. From there on, history. [Laughs.] Isn’t that crazy though?

How did you transition from making music in Miami with the Combs brothers to linking up with Cash Cobain, Chow Lee, and the Sexy Drill cohort?

Queens is small. Everyone knows everyone. I had a buzz and [Cash] had a buzz in our younger days. One of my homies would always tell me he got this producer, so one day he came into the studio with me and brought some beats. That’s how we met. 

Was this around his 2 Slizzy 2 Sexy era?

This was a while ago. Way before that. Like around 2017. Fast forward, I opened up a studio in New Jersey and he used to come to the studio. That’s how we really clicked. Him and Chow. That was around 2020-2021. We started making music and hanging with each other.

What was it like to see “Fisherrr” all over social media and blow up on TikTok?

We knew it was a fire song, but we didn’t know it was going to be the way it is. I feel like you never know. The songs you think is a hit don’t do nothing, but the songs you least expect [end up being] the one. It’s a blessing seeing all the kids, dancers and influencers dancing to it and having a good time. It really started a whole new dance. Shoutout Reemo. He started that s–t. It’s a whole new wave of music. It’s a whole new energy. 

How did the feature with Ice Spice happen? Was it intentional to have a female rapper on the remix?

It just made sense. She’s the Queen of New York. I was super excited. I wanted to hear how she would come on it because that’s not the typical music she be dropping. She did her thing. Shout out Ice Spice. 

Over the last year, you’ve been consistently releasing singles and helping spur this sexy drill wave. How are you putting your signature spin on this sound?

I call it being myself — and that’s a problem, too. A lot of people will try to do sexy drill and try to sound like someone, when you can just be yourself and that’ll make a difference. That’s why people will say it all sounds alike. 

You’ve also mentioned in past interviews that New York artists are more united. How is it making music in this era of New York?

It’s good vibes. Especially right now, sexy drill is good energy. Even when we’re recording the music, it’s good energy. We’re dancing and we’re just having fun together. 

In the past, drill has been criticized for its violent lyrics. How are you, Cash and Chow helping to rewrite that narrative?

We’re talking to the women. We’re telling them how pretty they are and how sexy they are. It’s a big difference. It’s fun. It makes you want to dance. We got the kids, elders, and the women, of course. We are trying to separate ourselves from that. We don’t want violence. We just want good vibes, good energy and good parties. 

From your new project, it’s interesting you chose to release “Not Like Me,” because it’s the opposite of sexy drill and more vulnerable. What inspired that track?

On that song I was talking about the relationship I just got out of. I was rapping about how I felt when the relationship was ending. It lasted for like seven years, so I was describing how I was feeling during, after, and how I feel now.

How are you feeling now?

Amazing!

You also linked up with Sheff G for one of your features on the new project? How did you two meet?

I think it was on Instagram. One of us hit each other up. He told me to come to the studio and that’s how it happened. It was bound to happen because we were on a lot of the same shows together and would see each other a lot. 

Are there any artists out right now that you want to collaborate with in the future?

I want to do music with a female artist. I like Latto. I like the music she drops. I like Sexyy [Red], SZA, Summer Walker. I really really like Dej Loaf. The female artists are doing their thing right now. I have to salute them. 

You’re coming off a really big year. What do you have in store for fans this year?

I have merch coming with Barriers [Worldwide] and a lot of new music coming. I’ve worked with a lot of dope artists and I can’t wait for the world to hear it. I have a label called Nothing About Us Regular. And in 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029, I want all my artists to be huge. I want my producers to have a great year. I’m building my label. I’m a young CEO. I want my artists to be bigger than me. I have so much in store for 2025.  

27 Jan 2025

8 Things We Learned From the Chilling ‘Fall of Diddy’ Docuseries

While Diddy remains behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn awaiting his day in court, many of his alleged victims and those who knew him best throughout the rise and fall of Combs’ Bad Boy empire are speaking out.

Investigation Discovery’s The Fall of Diddy docuseries premieres on Discovery+ at 9 p.m. on Monday night (Jan. 27) with parts three and four of the chilling series airing at the same time on Tuesday (Jan. 28). The doc will also be available on Max.

The four-part series features testimony from former VIBE editor-in-chief Danyel Smith, Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones (who has filed a lawsuit against Diddy), Kat Pasion, Danity Kane’s D. Woods, 1999 shooting victim Natania Reuben and Thalia Graves (who says Diddy raped her), as well as those who worked with the disgraced mogul like his personal chef, security, childhood friends and more.

A ton of ground is covered throughout the four-hour series, starting with Diddy’s relationship with his mother, the City College stampede, Bad Boy’s rise and glory years, the 1999 NYC nightclub shooting, his turbulent relationship with Cassie and repeated patterns of abuse with alleged victims speaking out.

“We did not realize the extent of the darkness,” says one of the interview subjects.

Combs was denied bail three times following his September 2024 arrest on counts of sex trafficking and racketeering. His trial is slated to start on May 5. Diddy pleaded not guilty to the charges and has continuously denied all of the allegations levied against him. He faces life in prison if convicted on all charges.

Billboard got an early look at the disturbing docuseries. Here are eight things we learned from The Fall of Diddy.