Author: djfrosty
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Go behind the scenes with Leila Cobo at Latin Music Week 2024 as she finds out if Peso Pluma cooks, rides with Grupo Frontera to see how they warm up before a show, offers advice to Thalía, takes a shot with Tito Double P’s team, and more!
Peso Pluma:
Anyway, I live here. If he tells me, “I’ll go home tomorrow,” I’ll invite you to eat soup the day that you want.
Leila Cobo:
Seriously? Are you going to prepare the soup?
Peso Pluma:
No, we have the Mexican chef.
Thalia:
This girl told us to come to the panel, and then she said, “What are you going to do?” What!
Leila Cobo:
Did they tell you the dress code?
Alejandro Sanz:
Yes, of course.
Leila Cobo:
Didn’t they tell you it was a tuxedo and…
Alejandro Sanz:
I had to come like this. You know what I wear.
Leila Cobo:
You wanted to bring me a purse? You didn’t have to.
J Balvin:
I always do that with women.
Leila Cobo:
Thank you.
Ronald Day:
Where should it say Latin Week?
Leila Cobo:
Here, Latin Power Players. Hey!
Leila Cobo:
I am looking for air.
Leila Cobo:
Isa, can you interview Ronald? Because Ronald is the President of Telemundo.
Isabela Raygoza:
Really?
Leila Cobo:
So he’s going to do our show.
Leila Cobo:
He’s the man. Telemundo in the house.
Emilio Estefan:
Oh, yea.
Leila Cobo:
A kiss in the air so we don’t lose our makeup.
Emilio Estefan:
I went off air where I was working and now…
Leila Cobo:
I love it! Really?
Emilio Estefan:
For you? Anything for you.
Keep watching for more!
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Keanu Reeves found new legs as an action hero in Hollywood by way of his role as the brooding hitman in the John Wick franchise. While it all but appeared that Keanu Reeves was done with the character, reports are emerging that a previously rumored fifth installment is on the way.
As spotted on IndieWire, Keanu Reeves will return to the titular role in an upcoming film despite many thinking the chapter on John Wick was closed after its fourth film. Spoiler alert, but Wick appeared to succumb to his wounds at the end of that chapter, and it felt like a fitting end considering the rampage waged in defense of the killer’s dog that was gifted to him by his late wife and murdered by vindictive criminals. Lionsgate is developing the film alongside production company Thunder Road’s Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee, franchise director and producer Chad Stahelski, with Reeves named as a producer. It isn’t clear if the new film will be a prequel or a sequel to John Wick 4, where we saw a tombstone for Wick at the end. There has already been a spin-off show, The Continental, focused on the lavish hotel that served as a hub and place of refuge for the assassins. Another spin-off film, Ballerina, is coming this summer and is set in the universe of John Wick, which also reveals Wick’s true origins. Because the franchise has generated over $1 billion in worldwide revenue, there are other plans to expand the universe in the coming years. There is no timeline for when the fifth John Wick film will be released.
—Photo: Getty
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Could it really be happening? A new generation may soon be back in class at Hillman College.
In a rare move reported by Deadline, streaming giant Netflix has ordered a pilot of a sequel to the classic television show to be filmed this spring.
As reported last year, the sequel will center on the life of Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) and Whitley’s (Jasmine Guy) daughter’s time at a fictional HBCU–however, Deadline has not confirmed that the show will return to Hillman. The pilot is reportedly being headed up by writer Felicia Pride.
Pride, who has worked on Bel-Air and Grey’s Anatomy, will join fellow executive producers Debbie Allen, Mandy Summers, Tom Werner, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Bythewood. The iconic series helped launch the careers of Hardison and Guy as well as fellow cast members Dawnn Lewis, Darryl M. Bell, Sinbad, Charnele Brown, and Cree Summer.
Also, the author of The Message: 100 Life Lessons from Hip-Hop’s Greatest Songs, Pride’s production company Honey Chile Entertainment is executive producing and writing the Lifetime original movie Black Magick and developing the series Livelihood, based on her spec, for Netflix, and Seven Days in June for Amazon.
According to Deadline, casting is now underway for Deborah Wayne, Dwayne and Whitley’s daughter, and several other cast members ages 18-20. Shooting is expected to take place in June in Atlanta.
A Different World ran for six seasons from 1987 to 1993. The “Will They or Won’t They” plot line between Dwayne and Whiltey became a focal point in the latter years of the series.
Social media users seem enthusiastic about the possibility of the upcoming sequel. One post on X (formerly Twitter) is gaining traction as a fan posts her dream cast.
One blog poster known simply as “Jas” shared that the sequel could provide a much needed counterbalance to the current political landscape, writing on Medium, “In a country that continues to repress Black media, eliminate DEI initiatives, ban books that inform us about Black history, and deny us a seat at the table, we need a show like this to give us a warm and cozy safe space more than ever.”
A federal judge says Drake can move forward with discovery in his defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) over Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us,” allowing his attorneys to begin demanding documents like Lamar’s record deal.
UMG had asked Judge Jeannette A. Vargas to halt the discovery process last month, arguing that Drake’s case was so flawed that it would likely be quickly dismissed — and that the star was unfairly demanding “highly commercially sensitive documents” in the meantime.
But at a hearing Wednesday (April 2) in Manhattan federal court, the judge denied that motion in a ruling from the bench. The judge had hinted in earlier rulings that she does not typically delay discovery before deciding if a case will be dismissed, barring extraordinary circumstances.
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In response to the ruling, Drake’s lead attorney Michael Gottlieb said: “Now it’s time to see what UMG was so desperately trying to hide.” An attorney for UMG declined to comment, and a spokesman for the company did not immediately return a request for comment.
Lamar released “Not Like Us” last May amid a high-profile beef with Drake that saw the two stars release a series of bruising diss tracks. The song, a knockout punch that blasted Drake as a “certified pedophile” over an infectious beat, eventually became a chart-topping hit in its own right and was the centerpiece of Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show.
In January, Drake took the unusual step of suing UMG over the song, claiming his label had defamed him by boosting the track’s popularity. The lawsuit, which doesn’t name Lamar himself as a defendant, alleges that UMG “waged a campaign” against its own artist to spread a “malicious narrative” about pedophilia that it knew to be false.
UMG filed a scathing motion seeking to dismiss the case last month, arguing not only that it was “meritless” but also ridiculing Drake for suing in the first place. Days later, the company asked Judge Vargas to pause discovery until she ruled on that motion, warning that exchanging evidence would be a waste of time if the case was then immediately tossed out of court.
But in a quick response, Drake’s lawyers argued discovery must go on because the lawsuit was not going anywhere: “UMG completely ignores the complaint’s allegations that millions of people, all over the world, did understand the defamatory material as a factual assertion that plaintiff is a pedophile.”
Following Wednesday’s decision, Drake’s attorneys will now continue to push ahead with seeking key documents and demanding to depose witnesses. That process will continue unless the judge grants UMG’s motion in the months ahead and dismisses the lawsuit.
In the earlier filings in the case, UMG attached the actual discovery requests filed by Drake’s team, detailing the materials his attorneys are seeking.
Among many others, they want documents relating to decisions on “whether to omit or censor any lyrics” from “Not Like Us” during the Super Bowl halftime show; anything related to the promotion of the song on Spotify and Apple Music; and any communications with the Recording Academy ahead of Lamar’s string of award wins at the Grammy Awards in February; and “all contracts and agreements between you and Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, his agents, or anyone working on his behalf.”
Billboard Women in Music 2025
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard 200 dated April 12, we look at a number of albums looking to knock Playboi Carti’s two-week No. 1 from the top spot – led by a reissue from one of the 2024’s top pop stars.
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Ariana Grande, Eternal Sunshine (Republic): Ariana Grande’s sixth studio album is an already-certified hit: Eternal Sunshine debuted atop the Billboard 200 upon its release in March 2024, with over 200,000 first-week equivalent album units, according to Luminate, and spawned a pair of Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits with advance single “Yes, And?” and Sunshine focus track “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).” The album has stuck on the 200 for the last 55 weeks, still rating in the chart’s top half as of this frame.
Next week, however, it should make a large jump – possibly to the very top spot. On Friday (March 28), Grande released the album’s Brighter Days Ahead deluxe edition, which added six bonus songs to the streaming version of the 13-track release: one extended version of the album-opening “Intro (End of the World)” and five totally new songs. Those previously unreleased songs have been performing well on streaming, with “Twilight Zone” even topping Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA chart for the Friday of its release, and all six cuts still rating in the top half of the 200-position chart.
In addition, Grande has released a multitude of versions of the album for sale. Her webstore offers exclusive digital downloads of the 19-track Brighter Days Ahead reissue of the album, one with just that tracklist, one with the instrumentals of each track and one also with the a cappellas of each track (and all with alternate covers). Physical vinyl and CD variants are also available of the new edition, which include the three bonus tracks originally collected on the set’s (Slightly Deluxe) 2024 reissue. Grande has released a short film to promote the set, an emotional 26-minute mini-sci-fi flick also called Brighter Days Ahead.
Will it be enough to top Playboi Carti’s reigning No. 1, the streaming behemoth Music? It could come down to the wire, with Carti’s dominance on DSPs competing with Grande’s robust sales – and the race might not be over yet on either side.
Nav, OMW2 Rexdale (XO/Republic): Canadian rapper-singer Nav might not still be the regularly charting hitmaker he was at the turn of the 2020s, but his albums are still pretty well guaranteed to make an impact on the Billboard 200 – where he has two No. 1 sets to his name, and has charted in the top 10 with each of his last five sets. He’ll look to keep that streak alive with this week’s OMW2 Rexdale (or On My Way 2 Rexdale), which includes a number of big-name guests – including Metro Boomin, Don Toliver and the Billboard 200’s reigning champ Playboi Carti.
To do that, he’ll have the help of a number of physical variants, including standard and signed CDs, vinyl and four deluxe boxed sets containing the standard CD and branded clothing. In addition, Nav is offering a sextet of digital albums as exclusives through his webstore, each of with comes with the core 11-song set and a consistent trio of bonus tracks — and then three additional bonus tracks, which are different on each edition. (He’s also done in-store signings at brick-and-mortar retailers to help promote the new set.)
Without a major streaming hit to its credit, it all might not be enough for Rexdale to compete for No. 1 with Grande and Carti – but it should be enough for yet another Nav top 10, at the least.
Lil Durk, Deep Thoughts (Only the Family/Alamo/Sony): Deep Thoughts marks star rapper Lil Durk’s first full release since being arrested on murder-for-hire charges in late 2024. (He has pled not guilty and is currently awaiting trial.) While Durk is obviously not the dominant chart force he was earlier in the decade, Thoughts has unsurprisingly gotten off to a strong start on streaming, with its 17 tracks (including guest appearances from Future, Lil Baby and Jhené Aiko) all still ranking in the top 100 of Apple Music’s real-time chart. Streaming will have to make the great majority of Durk’s chart performance, however, since Deep Thoughts is currently only available to purchase as a digital download.
Mumford and Sons, Rushmere (Glassnote): Each of the three albums alt-folkers Mumford and Sons released in the 2010s went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 – most recently 2018’s Delta, the group’s most recent LP until last Friday. That was when the stomp-clappers released Rushmere, a 10-track set co-produced with country and Americana stalwart Dave Cobb, along with six vinyl variants, four CD editions and a cassette. The set’s title track has proven a top-five hit at rock radio, but the streaming response has thus far been muted – and though the band sells respectably, their blockbuster commercial peak is largely in the rearview at this point.
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Saturday Night Live has left some folks scratching their heads and it wasn’t due to a skit. Keenan Thompson also feels Morgan Wallen’s exit was abrupt.
In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, Keenan Thompson was asked about the country singer’s recent appearance on the sketch comedy show. As the episode was wrapping up with the cast and crew saying goodbye from the main stage, Morgan Wallen only said goodbye to host Mikey Madison. He then walked off the stage and proceeded to leave for his flight. Later on that evening, Wallen shared a message on his Instagram Story that read, “Get me to God’s country.”
At first, Thompson thought the musician just needed to relieve himself. “You see somebody before you get a chance to say hi or say good job or anything like that, they just dipping,” he recalls. “I thought maybe he had to go to the potty or something,” he said. “We’re so used to everybody just turning around and high-fiving us, everybody’s saying, ‘Good job, good job, good job.’ So when there’s a departure from that, it’s like, hmm, I wonder what that’s about?”
This is not the first time the cast has been left hanging during the closing of the show. The Fat Albert star went on to point that Prince once did the same thing when he was the show’s musical guest. “Prince did the same thing,” he explained. “I’m not saying Morgan Wallen is Prince, but we weren’t surprised because Prince was notoriously kind of standoffish. It’s just how he was. So we just thought like, ‘Okay, now he’s gone back into fantasyland.’” Nevertheless Thompson felt Wallen’s exit was peculiar. “But Saturday I guess it was just different because it just felt so abrupt.”
While Morgan Wallen has yet to clarify why he left without saying goodbye, many are speculating that the “Last Night” performer did that on purpose because either the series or New York City is a bit too “woke” for his liking. In the past, Wallen has made some questionable comments that were widely considered MAGA friendly. Back in 2021, a video of him surfaced online using a racial slur; he later formally apologized during an interview with Billboard. You can see him walking off from Saturday Night Live below.
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Billboard Women in Music 2025 Dr. Martens released a new limited-edition boot in honor of the 65th anniversary of their classic […]
Billboard Women in Music 2025
A feature film by artist, graphic designer, music video director and Ed Banger Records’ longtime art director So Me is out today (April 1) on Netflix.
Banger tells the story of an aging French DJ named Scorpex, played by French actor Vincent Cassel. Scorpex gets mixed up in a mission with an intelligence agency that provides him with what he believes is the chance to return to the top with the movie’s titular banger. The film also stars Laura Felpin and features an appearance by French dance royalty Kavinsky. Watch the trailer for Banger below.
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The French language film expands an episode that So Me, born Bertrand Lagros de Langeron, directed for the 2021 French television series 6 X Confiné.e.s. This episode also starred Cassel as Scorpex, with So Me later writing the film based around the character.
“I was already contemplating a movie in this world, and the opportunity of shooting the [episode] came a little bit after actually,” So Me tells Billboard. “So in a way, the [episode] is a spinoff that came out before the movie itself.”
He adds that the bumbling but endearing Scorpex “generates empathy because we’re all sooner or later confronted with a cooler, younger version of ourselves. And it’s particularly true in a job where most of the audience is, well, young. Some DJs deal with it perfectly, some struggle a bit more, and I look at it with a certain tenderness.”
Having worked with many DJs over the years, So Me says these artists have “all inspired me, that’s for sure. However, I would say [Scorpex] is more of a composite. This scene is just so ripe for satire. It’s a lot of egos. And it’s pretty competitive.”
After spending years directing videos for artists including Justice (“D.A.N.C.E.”, “Audio, Video Disco”) Major Lazer (“Get Free”), Kid Cudi (“Day ‘N’ Nite”) and Kanye West (“Good Life”), So Me says making a movie was “always been a dream” of his.
“There’s a lot of common things: Framing, lightning, turning ideas into moving images,” he says of the commonalities between making videos and making this movie. “However, there are also some major differences, such as directing actors, basically telling a more complex story. Music videos are more of a place to experiment, but having shot a lot of things already probably put me at ease to attack the climbing of such a high peek.”
But while making a feature length film was new, So Me certainly had a lot of life experience to draw from in terms of telling a story that takes place within the DJ world of clubs, parties and studios.
“I hope [the film] shows an educated version of how things actually happen in the studio, backstage, et cetera,” he says. “My goal was that people who are in the know would find it credible, however showing how it really is would be extremely boring for people who don’t know. So it’s a fantasized version of this world that aims at feeling real.”
Save this storySaveSave this storySaveSparks have announced a 2025 North American leg of their upcoming tour, which has its first run in Japan, the UK, and Europe in June and July. They’ll return to the States on September 5, with a string of shows in Atlanta, Boston, St. Paul, Seattle, San Francisco, and more, wrapping things up in Los Angeles on September 30. The brothers Mael have also shared a new single from their next LP, Mad! Watch the Ambar Navarro-directed video for “Drowned in a Sea of Tears” below, and scroll down for their complete itinerary.Ron and Russell Mael announced Mad! earlier this year, releasing the song “JanSport Backpack.” The album also includes previously-shared single “Do Things My Own Way.” Mad! is the follow-up to 2023’s The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte. The new LP arrives May 23 via Transgressive.Revisit Pitchfork’s “Trend Upsetters: 10 Essential Sparks Songs.”All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.Sparks: MAD! TourBuy Now at TicketmasterSparks:06-08 Kyoto, Japan – ROHM Theatre06-10 Osaka, Japan – Zepp Namba06-12 Tokyo, Japan – EX Theater06-18 London, England – Eventim Apollo06-21 Manchester, England – O2 Apollo06-24 Glasgow, Scotland – Royal Concert Hall06-26 Haarlem, Netherlands – PHIL Haarlem06-28 Brussels, Belgium – Cirque Royal06-30 Paris, France – La Salle Pleyel07-01 Cologne, Germany – Live Music Hall07-03 Copenhagen, Denmark – The Koncerthuset07-04 Stockholm, Sweden – Grona Lund Tivoli07-06 Berlin, Germany – Uber Eats07-08 Milan, Italy – Teatro degli Arcimboldi07-12 Bilbao, Spain – Bilbao BBK07-15 Dublin, Ireland – National Stadium07-16 Dublin, Ireland – National Stadium07-18 Edinburgh, Scotland – Edinburgh Playhouse07-19 Wolverhampton, England – The Halls09-05 Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle09-08 Philadelphia, PA – Keswick Theatre09-09 Washington, D.C. – Lincoln Theatre09-11 Boston, MA – Berklee Performance Center09-12 Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre09-14 Columbus, OH – The Athenaeum Theatre09-15 Cleveland, OH – TempleLive at Cleveland Masonic09-17 Toronto, Ontario – Queen Elizabeth Theatre09-20 St. Paul, MN – Fitzgerald Theater09-23 Vancouver, British Columbia – Vogue Theatre09-24 Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre09-26 Portland, OR – Revolution Hall09-27 San Francisco, CA – Golden Gate Theatre09-29 El Cajon, CA – The Magnolia09-30 Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre
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Val Kilmer, a prolific actor who got his start in the 1980s, starred in a series of films, both dramatic and comedic, throughout his long career. On April 1, Val Kilmer passed away from an illness, and fans on X are honoring the star.
Val Kilmer was born on December 31, 1959, in Los Angeles, California, according to a Wikipedia entry. Kilmer was accepted into the Juilliard School in its Drama Division and was reportedly the youngest person at the time to do so.
Kilmer began his stage career in 1981, and in 1983, he appeared in The Slab Boys with Kevin Bacon, Sean Penn, and Jackie Earle Haley. The following year, Kilmer appeared in Top Secret!, an action comedy directed by the filmmaking trio, Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker. Perhaps Kilmer’s biggest roles were star turns in Top Gun, Tombstone, The Doors, Heat, and voicing Moses/God in the animated film, The Prince of Egypt, among other roles.
In 2015, Kilmer suffered a health complication that sparked rumors in Hollywood that the actor was suffering from cancer, a fact he confirmed two years later in 2017 by revealing he was suffering from throat cancer. Initially, Kilmer didn’t seek medical treatment as it went against his Christian Science faith, but eventually did so.
Kilmer would continue to act after getting treatment, which rendered his voice a whisper, last appearing in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick opposite Tom Cruise in the role of Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky.
On X and across social media, many are honoring the life of Kilmer, including many of his peers in Hollywood. We’ve got those reactions in the gallery below.
Kilmer is survived by his daughter, Mercedes, and Jack, also an actor like his father. Val Kilmer was 65.
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