djfrosty

05 Apr 2024

Ryan Trey Talks ‘Streets Say You Still Me,’ Touring with Mariah the Scientist & New Music: ‘I Really Don’t Like Deluxes’

Ryan Trey – who burst onto the scene with 2018’s LeBron James-cosigned “Mutual Butterflies” — is a new man. Sort of. The ascendant R&B crooner is in a transitional period as he begins to wrap up his current era and start working on a new LP.

Last winter (Nov. 3, 2023), Trey dropped his latest project, Streets Say You Miss Me, an evocative collection of decidedly post-Bryson Tiller rap-inflected R&B through which he processes the demise of a relationship. “I was upset with a lot of things, a lot of toxic energy that I’m not really a fan of,” he says. “Even though I love the songs, some of them are hard for me to listen to. I’m gonna move on from that place.”

Featuring guest appearances from next-generation R&B and rap artists such as NoCap and Vory, Streets Say You Miss Me cultivates a world of contemporary R&B where raw emotional vulnerability and moody drum-heavy beats are the name of the game. In support of the record, Trey joined Billboard-charting R&B singer Mariah the Scientist – who provides guest vocals on the single “Ain’t Even Friends” — on her To Be Eaten Alive tour as her support act. With performances at Lollapalooza and Broccoli City Festival on the horizon, Trey is honing his live show and, in turn, using that new knowledge to inform the direction of his new music.

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“Those are the dope things I’m learning about music,” he notes. “This may have sounded great in the studio and it’s still a great song, but it’s really tough to perform. So, what my next project is really catered [to] is what works live.”

Last week (March 27), Trey dropped the deluxe version of his album, titled Streets Say You Still Miss Me. Although he’s “not a fan” of deluxe editions, he views these three new songs as fan service than genuinely retreading the darkness of the standard album. “I’m just removed from it all, I feel like I’ve grown,” he muses. “But I still [think] about what my fans like.”

In an illuminating conversation with Billboard, Ryan Trey sounds off on the utility of deluxe editions, the rise of fans leaking artists’ unfinished music, exploring his faith and how Justin Bieber’s Journals album is influencing his new music. In addition, at the end of our discussion, the “2 Live” singer-songwriter shares the stories behind the new bonus tracks on Streets Say You Still Miss Me.

You mentioned that you weren’t a fan of deluxe albums. How do you look at the purpose and the function of a deluxe album now? Has your opinion on them changed since putting out your own? 

I just feel like you finished the album for a reason. [I] said everything I have to say right now. I’m not opposed to it, because I trust my team — I got great management, and it’s all about keeping momentum, especially as a new artist. But it’s tough because [Streets Say You Miss Me] was about a specific person. I was going through a specific feeling, [and] this album is really dark for me. So, when it comes to the deluxe, I was like, “Damn, I gotta go back in and put myself back in this mind space that I’m not in anymore.” That’s when I started going through my old songs, like, “What can I clean up and what do my fans like?” I never go in and try to make new songs to fit the rest of the album. 

I really don’t like deluxes. I like my deluxe, I just don’t like the concept of it. Once you’re doing something, you’re done. That’s like Pablo Picasso painting something and you ask him to go back and add to it because “Man, people love this a lot!” It’s a catch-22 — it’s beneficial too, I’m happy the songs are out. 

When it came to trying to record new songs for the deluxe, was the issue an emotional one or a musical one? Or some combination of the two? 

That was a heartbreak album. I wasn’t in the best place maturity-wise [given] the way I went about a certain relationship. The whole Streets Say You Miss Me

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was like, “I hurt you, but you also did this.” I always say this album was like a bunch of excuses. There’s a lot of toxicity in that album. I’m in a place now where I’m not a fan of the toxic stuff, I’m just angry at myself and her. To heal from that and learn from it, you gotta go back into this place of excuses. It’s tough because I don’t feel like that anymore. I feel like I’m more God-fearing now, I’m getting my faith right. The whole toxic thing is a dark place to be. 

What sparked this reconnection with your faith?

Just reaping what you sow. I feel like I’d be a great girl dad. I always say I want a daughter and I want to be married and I want certain things. I just know it only gets worse from here. The way our generation is… all this toxicity going on and everybody just f—king everybody. I feel [that] especially in rap, the industry will do that to you. I turned 25 a week ago, I started making music when I was 19. I feel like a lot of my innocence got taken away being in this industry, being in these clubs, being around all these different environments.

So, when I met somebody I actually liked, I didn’t know how to take care of her. Now I’m in a place of killing off that version of myself. God doesn’t bless you if you in mess and moving around talking to all these different girls and that nonsense. It’s kind of like, what are you chasing? That stuff gets old, I don’t want to be like that. I feel like a lot of my peers — like, no disrespect to them — they’re just not happy. It’s a lot of my favorite artists have everything and they’re not happy. I don’t want to be like that.

You’ve been on tour for most of this year. How’s that been?

That’s been great. Shoutout Mariah [the Scientist], man. She’s a really dope artist because she took a chance on another artist. It be a lot of egos in this s—t. Atlanta being Atlanta, we met through people I knew who went to school with her sister. The “Ain’t Even Friends” record I did, I didn’t hear anybody else but her on it. She sent [her verse] back and then we stayed in touch, started seeing each other in certain places, and then they asked me to do the tour. It’s dope because she’s putting new artists on. She didn’t have to. She could have went and got anybody.

How do you think your live show has developed over the past few years?

More interaction and working the stage. I’ve had stage training and all that stuff since then.  Talking in between songs, too. That’s the most scary thing that’s associated with stage fright. Like, what do you say in between songs?  With the Mariah tour, I’m in a place where 80% of people don’t know me, so I make sure the 20% that do feel loved.

You noted that one of the deluxe tracks was “a long-awaited leak.” From Ariana Grande to SZA, there have been a lot of artists speaking out against leak culture and fans who participate in it. What’s your take?

I think it’s selfish. But I don’t ever expect a fan to think like that. I always say, artists gotta do what they gotta do. You’ll never hear Beyoncé‘s—t leak. Drake s—t leak all the time. Artists gotta do what they gotta do, from NDAs all the way down to who has the hard drive. You got to know where your records are. You can’t leave stuff in the studio. You can’t leave it on iCloud – I just don’t like things like that. I know producers and artists that don’t use iCloud if you know fans are going to do that. It’s not new, but we have to deal with it.

You’re slated for a few festivals this summer; how do you think this most recent tour has prepared you for that? Do you approach tours and festivals differently?

Take Rolling Loud, for example. They’re just now introducing R&B on an actual platform, so shout out Rolling Loud because that’s dope. Before, for the past 6-7 years, that is a rap festival. The first time I did Rolling Loud, it was tough because nobody [was] there to hear my type of sound. This time, there were way more people than last time, but they also did a better job of pushing R&B.

With festivals, you’re always gaining new fans. That’s the difference between me doing my own show and doing festivals. Maybe it feels different for headliners, but for where I’m at,  getting the performance part is important. I can’t just hold the mic out when I’m doing shows that aren’t mine. I saw people complaining about Drake’s tour, debating that he’s not actually singing the songs. But then you got artists like SZA, for example — a lot of her fans love the new live versions she does. I feel like when you’re headlining, you can play around with stuff how you want. When you are new, people got to know what the record sounds like so they can go find it.

You collaborated with artists like Jordan Ward and Chase Shakur on the standard edition. You three are a kind of representative of a rising wave of male R&B stars. What’s your take on the state of male R&B right now?

I feel like it’s the most collaborative era. R&B n—as trying to beef… that’s something I’ve never understood. Everybody’s cool, everybody’s trying to help each other get a bag, especially with St. Louis right now, where me and Jordan are from. Everybody has their own style, so it’s cool. I feel like with ‘90s R&B, it was a lot of different versions of the same sound. They were all really good. It’s kind of the same now, but it’s more collaborative. I know I’ll do another record Chase and Jordan. I think because of that hybrid rap R&B, now it’s easier to get other fans from other genres.

When you straddle the lines of R&B and rap, as you do, do you feel a responsibility to beef up your how “R&B” your music sounds to appease industry classifications?

Wherever y’all wanna slot me is where y’all slot me. But I’m not gonna change for your definition of it.  That’s a universal feeling that doesn’t change with Black artists no matter how big you are. We’re watching right now with Beyoncé, they don’t want to put her in country. It’s the same with new artists. On the business side, it’s important because of playlisting. [Songs] need to be placed based on what it sounds like, not who you are. I think it’s based too much off of the person’s character and not the sound. It don’t bother me, a good record is a good record and nothing can stop the good record from moving how it’s supposed to move.

Where’s your head at it in terms of new music?

I got my main album I’m working on. I think I’ll probably put out an EP in the summertime and get some songs off that I have that I really like. I haven’t been listening to any new music because I’m not a fan of anything right now. I really like Brent Faiyaz, obviously SZA, a couple of other artists. I listen to a lot of old stuff, pulling samples that I want to flip. I’ve been listening to a lot of Tame Impala, just seeing what I can pull from. Everybody’s on this whole toxic wave, I got to find artists that aren’t trying to talk about all that.  

Or you could try and push them out of that comfort zone.

Yeah, I’m in my Justin Bieber bag, right now. I was never a Belieber, but I’ve been listening to his whole catalog. Journals is so consistent. It was R&B, everything worked on radio, everything was still technically a pop record, he went and got rappers, you know what I’m saying? It’s just such a complete body of work and he was 100% apologetic on there. I don’t know if it’s towards Selena [Gomez] or whatever, but it was like he was just full-fledged sorry. Girls really, really love that; you’re not trying to keep your ego and also apologize. I’ve just been studying. [My next record is about] obsession. Whether it’s an unhealthy obsession or whether it was a good obsession.

“RIDIN 4 U”

I did that song in 2021, I just recut it. It was one of those songs that was at the end of a studio session where I went in trying to make a whole bunch of other songs and I didn’t like any of them. I was just playing around, and that one came out the best. I think that’s why I was comfortable enough [to go on] IG live and play it. Then my fans would always be like, “When you putting this out?” So, when I went on tour with Mariah [the Scientist], I just started teasing them. I knew I had to do the deluxe, but I didn’t think I was going to put [“Ridin’”] on there. But I got really good reception from fans — especially in Paris — and from there we made the switch. 

In terms of the flow, I’ve been listening to a lot of Frank Ocean for the past year. I always have the intention of trying to make the biggest record that I possibly can. But, it’s just like anything creative — if you force it, it comes out whack or corny. I think that day was more of a management-scheduled session. I usually don’t do well in those, [but] when I was ready to go, I heard something that I liked and that felt most like myself. I think what the standard edition needed was one or two more of those really hardbody R&B records, the most singing records. I’m proud of the records on that album, but I’m still my biggest critic — and I like all my records from 2019-2020, when I was still trying to figure out my sound and this one reminds me of that. 

“RESET” 

I think that’s my favorite one out of the three. I think it’s the most personal. It was like the last song I made in the last relationship I was in. That was a real tough one. TT Audi did the beat, he’s a dope producer. Every artist got a couple go-to producers, and for me, it’s Boi-1da, Vinylz and Audi. They’re just always sending me stuff. They do a good job at getting more R&B-catered artists on hard beats. I think that was the last day I was with the girl I was with, that was the last song I wrote toward her. I think [“Reset”] is more for me than my fans, but it ended up being one they really like. 

I think I started out trying to find a balance between making music for myself and pleasing my fans. But the more you know yourself and figure out your sound, you can cater more towards the fans. I feel like that’s tough to do when you’re a newer artist trying to figure out what you even sound like. It’s a business at the end of the day, and that’s something I’m trying to get better at [with] this next album I’m working on. I feel like every artist says that after they tour, their sound changes because they know what records work. There’s a lot of records from Streets Say You Miss Me that I love, that I can sit and listen to in a room like this, but I can’t perform.

“POURIN OUT MY HEART” 

I recorded this in a hotel room. Somebody sold me some fake Lakers tickets. I was in the W across from the Staples Center, I went over there and they were like, “These tickets are invalid.”  

Most of this album was recorded in Atlanta. My A&R, Sicakmore, sent me down there to really trap out the R&B sound I was working on. That was the first time I started working with different writers and producers. Atlanta is like a melting pot. Every song I did in Atlanta, I was in the studio 20 deep. You’ll have like 5-10 producers in there working, they’ll swap out and new producers come in, then some of your homeboys that rap, they’ll come lay a verse and leave, then the strippers get off their shift, they come in and they sit. 

The girls were a big, important part of this album — like the HBCU girls that would come through. Every night was a vibe. I came down for Sonny Digital, Mike Will – those are the guys I started with – but when I got more comfortable I met my brother PopLord, he’s a really good writer and artist. It’s tough because some n—as just have girls in there to have them in there. The way the studio was set up, I could see the sitting area from the booth. Every song I was making, if the girls in there were moving, I would keep working on the record. If it was a song where nobody was really vibing, then I just scratch it and go on to the next. 

05 Apr 2024

G-Dep Released From Prison After Serving 13 Years

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After spending more than a decade behind bars, former Bad Boy recording artist, G-Dep has finally been released from prison, and the timing couldn’t be more ironic.

According to TMZ, G-Dep is officially a free man after doing a 13-year bid after he confessed to the unsolved murder of John Henkel that he says he committed in 1993. That man must’ve had a guilty conscious or really needed a good reason to get away from Diddy at the height of his Bad Boy career. Just sayin’.

G-Dep, born Trevell Coleman, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years in prison in May 2012.

Now that Dep has done his time and is prepared to join society, his former boss, Diddy is staring at the possibility of doing his own prison bid as authorities continue to investigate claims of sex trafficking that have been lobbied at the Bad Boy Records founder.

Per TMZ:

Per court docs, the “Special Delivery” rapper — who’s now 49 — will have to check in with his parole officer, refrain from possessing weapons and drugs without medical authorization, and will have to get permission to leave the State of New York … pretty standard stuff for a newly released ex-con.

G. Dep documented his release on IG Thursday where he was flocked by friends and family who were all overjoyed to see him.

He earned an associate’s degree during his lockup and it’s clear he studied hard. Just get a load of his massive book collection … the prison library may need to restock ASAP!!!

Good for Dep!

G-Dep was granted clemency by Gov. Kathy Hochul in December 2023, which was approved by the original prosecutor of the case and the judge who oversaw it.

Only questions are, when will G-Dep get back in the studio and how long before he’s bombarded with questions about Diddy’s ways and actions?

We shall see.

What do y’all think of G-Dep being a free man? Let us know in the comments section below.

05 Apr 2024

Taylor Swift Shares 5 ‘Stages of Heartbreak’ Playlists Ahead of ‘Tortured Poets Department’ Album Release

Fans may have been on to something when they theorized that Taylor Swift‘s new album, The Tortured Poets Department, was inspired by the five stages of grief. Ahead of the LP’s April 19 release, the pop star shared a quintet of playlists she personally curated for Apple Music on Friday (April 5), each of them featuring songs from her first 10 albums representing a distinct phase of heartbreak.

Four of the playlists are named after the taglines of previously announced deluxe editions, with the fifth one dubbed “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” after one of the song titles on Tortured Poets. Firstly, the “I Love You, It’s Ruining My Life” roundup features tracks such as “Style” and “Treacherous,” designed by the 14-time Grammy winner to embody the “denail” stage.

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“This is a list of songs about getting so caught up in the idea of something that you have a hard time seeing the red flags, possibly resulting in moments of denial and maybe a little bit of delusion,” she said in a statement. “Results may vary.”

Secondly, anger is soundtracked by a playlist called “You Don’t Get to Tell Me About Sad,” including “Vigilante Shit,” “Bad Blood,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and more. “These songs all have one thing in common: I wrote them while feeling anger,” Swift continued. “Over the years, I’ve learned that anger can manifest itself in a lot of different ways, but the healthiest way that it manifests itself in my life is when I can write a song about it, and then oftentimes, that helps me get past it.”

Next up in the “Five Stages of Heartbreak” — modeled after Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ famous five stages of grief theory — is bargaining. For this phase, Swift gathered tracks like “Soon You’ll Get Better,” “Say Don’t Go” and “This Is Me Trying” in a playlist titled “Am I Allowed to Cry?”

“This playlist takes you through the songs that I’ve written when I was in the bargaining stage, times when you’re trying to make deals with yourself or someone that you care about,” the “Anti-Hero” singer explained. “You’re trying to make things better, you’re oftentimes feeling really desperate, because oftentimes we have a gut intuition that tells us things are not going to go the way that we hope, which makes us more desperate, which makes us bargain more.”

The fourth stage is depression, encapsulated by Swift on songs such as “Champagne Problems,” “We Were Happy” and “Forever Winter” on her “Old Habits Die Screaming” playlist. “We’re going to be exploring the feelings of depression that often lace their way through my songs,” she added. “While these things are really, really hard to go through, I often feel like when I’m either listening to songs or writing songs that deal with this intensity of loss and hopelessness, usually that’s in the phase where I’m close to getting past that feeling.”

Finally, Swift’s “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” playlist — which matches the name of track 13 on Tortured Poets — marks the last stage of grief/heartbreak, aka acceptance. “Here we finally find acceptance and can start moving forward from loss or heartbreak,” Tay said of the mix, which ropes in songs including “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” “Closure,” “Now That We Don’t Talk” and “Long Story Short.”

“These songs represent making room for more good in your life, making that choice because a lot of time when we lose things, we gain things too,” Swift added.

Swift is currently taking a two-month break from her global Eras Tour trek to prepare for the release of her 11th studio album, which she first announced while accepting best pop vocal at the 2024 Grammys for her previous LP, Midnights. Since then, she’s shared the new project’s main cover plus details on the four deluxe editions, as well as confirming that Post Malone and Florence + The Machine are both featured on the album.

Listen to all five of Swift’s Apple Music playlists ahead of The Tortured Poets Department here.

05 Apr 2024

Diddy’s Son King Combs Hit With Lawsuit Alleging He Sexually Assaulted Staffer On Luxury Yacht

Sean “Diddy” Combs and his son Christian “King” Combs are facing a new lawsuit claiming the younger Combs sexually assaulted a staffer on a luxury yacht in the Caribbean.

In a complaint filed Thursday in Los Angeles court, Grace O’Marcaigh says that she was working as a stewardess on a superyacht charted by the Combs family in December 2022 when an intoxicated Christian served her “spiked tequila shots” and then assaulted her.

“Prior to being sexually assaulted by defendant Christian Combs, plaintiff planned to work the entirety of her career in hospitality and the yachting industry,” O’Marcaigh’s attorneys write. “Unfortunately, those plans have been derailed due to the trauma plaintiff continues to have as a result of the assault.”

The new lawsuit was filed by the same attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, who filed a similar case against Combs in February on behalf of producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones. The new complaint claims that Jones was present for the alleged attack, and that he recorded some of the incident.

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In addition to those two cases, Combs has been hit with a slew of other allegations of sexual assault and other wrongdoing over the past six months, including a quickly-settled case filed by his ex-girlfriend Cassie and a still-pending lawsuit filed a woman who claims Combs raped her when she was 17. The rapper is also facing an apparent federal criminal investigation, which led to raids of his homes last month. Combs has strongly denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

In the new lawsuit, O’Marcaigh claims that Christian Combs arrived to the chartered yacht via smaller boat at 5 am on Dec. 28, 2022. She says he then “insisted” that she take shots of tequila, which she quickly came to suspect had been spiked with drugs. After she attempted to exit the situation, O’Marcaigh says he “violently” grabbed her and began to grope and assault her.

Because Jones was present and recording, O’Marcaigh says she has a recording in which she tells the younger Combs “excuse me, you don’t touch my legs like that” and “you can take your hand off my ass.”

Later in the same evening, O’Marcaigh says Combs demanded that she find him a place to sleep. When she took him to the yacht’s cinema, she says he “blocked her from exiting,” then “became physical and aggressive” even as she “pushed him back constantly.”

“Defendant C. Combs then took off all of his clothes,”  O’Marcaigh’s attorney says. “His penis was erect, and he grabbed her arms and was trying to force plaintiff to perform oral copulation on him.”

The lawsuit does not claim that the elder Combs participated in the assault. But she says he orchestrated a “coverup” that resulted in her eventual firing from her job. And she says he bears ultimate responsibility for his son’s actions because he chartered the yacht.

“Defendant S. Combs fostered and encouraged an environment of debauchery,” O’Marcaigh’s attorneys write. “He intentionally created an unsafe environment that gave license to [Christian] to believe that he was free to sexually assault plaintiff.”

A representative for Sean Combs did not immediately return a request for comment.

05 Apr 2024

Vampire Weekend’s ‘Only God Was Above Us’: All 10 Tracks Ranked

Read our preliminary ranking of Vampire Weekend’s first album in five years.

Ezra Koenig Vampire Weekend

Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend performs at Enmore Theatre on Jan. 9, 2020 in Sydney, Australia.

Hanna Lassen/WireImage

Five years removed from their earthy, Album of the Year-nominated fourth full-length Father of the Bride, Vampire Weekend has returned with another modern rock moonshot. For all of Father’s tie-dyed inclinations – and despite drummer Chris Tomson’s dalliances with the world of noodling, by way of his psychedelic side project Taper’s Choice – Vampire Weekend’s fifth full-length, Only God Was Above Us, returns the band to more familiar, erudite territory.  

Already one of his rock generation’s best lyricists, Ezra Koenig further refines his craft here, rendering philosophical musings with succinct style and flair. And while Only God’s average track length is a minute longer than on any other Vampire Weekend album, the songs are no worse for it – rather, Vampire Weekend earns these run times by stuffing them with a wealth of ideas. Credit longtime producer Ariel Rechtshaid, who, since Rostam Batmanglij left the band nearly a decade ago, has become the de facto fourth Vampire – and helps to give Only God’s frequent chaos remarkable clarity. (Rechtshaid’s is just one of the liner notes’ impressive names; session musicians who have collaborated with artists from Travis Scott to Kamasi Washington worked on Only God, and studio whiz Dave Fridmann worked with Vampire Weekend for the first time as mixer.) 

The new album internalizes the decade that’s elapsed since the band’s stately 2013 masterpiece, Modern Vampires of the City: Only God often feels like a funhouse of Vampire Weekends past, synthesizing the concise grooves of their self-titled 2008 debut and its 2010 follow-up Contra with Modern Vampires’ ornateness and Father’s feral side. With knowing musical and lyrical allusions to the group’s catalog, Only God is Vampire Weekend at its meta best. 

Check out a preliminary ranking of the 10 tracks on Only God Was Above Us. 

05 Apr 2024

Shook Ones: 4.8 Magnitude Earthquake Rattles The East Coast, New Yorkers Are Understandably Shaken

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4.8 Earthquake Shakes East Coast, New Yorkers React

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No, you were not bugging; that was an earthquake you felt this morning.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the East Coast was seriously shaking this morning after a 4.8-magnitude earthquake centered near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, 40 miles west of New York City.

It was the largest in the area since 1973, local news affiliate ABC7NY reports.

Per CBS News, the earthquake hit around approximately 10:20 a.m.

The website reports there are no signs of damage.

The quake could be felt throughout the entire tri-state area, from Philadelphia and as far as Baltimore. The immediate reactions of buildings shaking began pouring in from New Jersey, New York, and Long Island.

This quake is not the first to rattle the East Coast and New York. However, the last earthquake of that magnitude felt in New York City was in 1887, when a 5.0-magnitude quake rocked the city.

“A 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit west of Manhattan and has been felt throughout New York. My team is assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and we will update the public throughout the day,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“Our preliminary reports do not indicate major life safety or infrastructure issues from the earthquake. We are performing thorough inspections of critical areas,” NYC Mayor Eric Adams said on X, while also giving guidance in case of aftershocks.

New Yorkers Are Shook

As expected, New Yorkers are still reacting to the 4.8 earthquake on social media, which is extremely rare on the East Coast.

As expected, there is plenty of shock from New Yorkers, who are not about the earthquake life like those on the West Coast, but with folks on X, no one takes anything seriously cause there is humor involved.

Lol, we can’t front, that’s very arrucate.

We hope everyone is good. You can see more reactions in the gallery below.

1. This is extremely accurate

2. We are foreign to these types of things B!

3. Listen, we do come together during events like this.

4. Wait a minute…

6. There was nothing “small” about that to us.

7. Here comes the folks on the west coast.

8. We gotta during a natural disaster, just saying.

10. Hey, we get it, they ain’t used to this sh*t either

12. Good question?

05 Apr 2024

Willie Jones and Shaboozey on What It’s Like to Collab With Beyoncé on ‘Cowboy Carter’

The buzz surrounding the March 29 release of Beyoncé’s country-inspired Act II: Cowboy Carter project, the second in a trilogy of albums following 2022’s Renaissance, has led to streaming lifts and a wave of recognition for several of the rising Black country artists featured on the project, including Shaboozey, Willie Jones, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts and Tiera Kennedy. According to Luminate, Roberts’s catalog streams jumped 59%, followed by Adell (58%), Kennedy (56%), Spencer (41%), Jones (31%) and Shaboozey (16%).

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The wide-ranging Cowboy Carter folds in music including country, Americana, an Italian aria, songs made popular by Chuck Berry, The Beatles and The Beach Boys, as well as moments of Brazilian funk, and welcomes a spectrum of artists including pop hitmakers Miley Cyrus and Post Malone, spoken cameos from Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson and an interpolation of Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces.” Meanwhile, the album also pays tribute to pioneers such as Black female country trailblazer Linda Martell, while shining a light on country music’s Black roots and the legacy of Black country artists who have paved (and are paving) their own paths.

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While Adell, Kennedy, Roberts and Spencer offer up vocals mostly collectively on “Blackbiird,” and provide harmonies on other tracks, Shaboozey and Jones are each featured on separate tracks. Shaboozey, the Virginia-born artist known for his own genre-melding songs (including “Vegas,” “Beverly Hills” and his viral hit from 2023, “Let It Burn”), appears on two songs on Cowboy Carter: “Sweet Honey Buckiin’” and “Spaghettii.”

Shaboozey noted that like some other creators on the album, he spent time at a studio in Los Angeles. “It’s all collaborative,” he says of contributing his portion of songs to the project earlier this year. “Everyone’s working at the same time and different rooms and I came in a couple of days and recorded some parts. [Beyoncé] heard them later and liked them. It’s cool how you don’t know until the last moment if your part made it or not. We were waiting up until 9 p.m. PT [on album release day] to know if we made the cut.”

Martell, who was the first Black female country artist to perform on the Grand Ole Opry, does a spoken-word intro to “Spaghettii.” According to Luminate, she has since seen her catalog streams rise from a little under 5,000 streams during the weekend of March 22-24 to 61,000 streams from March 29-31, making a 1,100% surge. Shaboozey says when he began contributing to “Spaghettii,” he did not know about Martell’s segment.

“That’s how Beyoncé, she likes to put things together, taking different parts of different things and different bridges, always experimenting with the sound, so very free-form over there,” he says, adding “I’m also a huge Linda Martell supporter and I admire her story. It’s cool how everything came together and I’m really honored to be on a song with these two incredible individuals.”

Shaboozey is also gearing up for the release of his own country album next month, with Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, out May 31 via Empire. The project follows his previous projects, 2022’s Cowboys Live Forever, Outlaws Never Die and his 2018 debut Lady Wrangler.

He describes his upcoming album as “a little bit of this genre that even Cowboy Carter created, just a bit of everything. A lot of country, but some hip-hop moments on there, too. But a lot of my personal story and journey into those records as well.”

Louisiana native Jones offers up vocals on “Just for Fun,” which was written by Beyonce, Dave Hamelin, Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman and Ryan Beatty. Jones competed on The X Factor’s second season, where he auditioned with a version of Josh Turner’s “Your Man.” He issued his first album Down for It in 2021 and was part of the 2022 documentary For Love and Country, which focused on the careers, journeys and struggles of Black artists in country music. This week, he released his rendition of Usher’s “OMG” as part of a new Apple Music Sessions EP.

He notes that his favorite line in “Just For Fun” is “Time heals everything/ I don’t need anything, Hallelujah.” “I got in the studio and I heard the song and I related to it more than d–n near any song I’ve ever heard in my life. To be on the same track as Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is definitely a check off my bucket list.”

“She’s bringing people back to themselves and doing a lot of introspective work,” Jones says. “She’s talking about growth, family and legacy and when life gives you lemons make Lemonade. Then after that, she gave us Homecoming and it’s like she’s saying, ‘Go back to your roots and get educated.’ Then she gives us Renaissance, like, ‘Let’s dance, let’s be free.’ So it comes to this album, too, with songs like ‘American Requiem,’ ‘Blackbiird,’ ‘Spaghettii.’ It’s cool to see everybody’s streams go up, just because Beyoncé believed in her legacy and her roots and her ancestors. She trusted the universe enough to walk by faith and not by sight and be humble and open. She’s transforming country music for the lost and found so we can find our way back.”

Jones also notes the impact he says Beyoncé has had so many genres of music. “I say Beyoncé is my favorite rapper. She jumped on [Megan Thee Stallion’s] ‘Savage,’ and you saw the rap girls get a moment. Then with ‘Black Is King,’ and dropped the album with Disney and you saw Afrobeats go. So she did the same thing with country. I hope she does that with R&B, I hope she brings that back, because I need a ‘Dream Girls Part 2.’”

Shaboozey sums, “It feels awesome. It feels great for someone like her to enter the space that me and a few others have just been building on and creating from for a long time. It’s just amazing. We’re so happy to have such a powerhouse of an artist that chose to take this journey to country, so it’s amazing to be a part of that.”

05 Apr 2024

Jojo Siwa Opens Up About New Song ‘Karma,’ Drastic Rebrand, Miley Cyrus Inspiration & More | Billboard News

Child star turned pop star and former Dance Moms star Jojo Siwa opens up to Billboard about her new song “Karma,” the music video, dancing in the music video, why she decided now is the time to drastically rebrand herself, her transition from child star to grown pop star, how Miley Cyrus inspired her child star transition, the new genre gay pop that she’s creating, wanting to marry Billie Eilish and more!

Jojo Siwa
Like it or not, you’re gonna look it’s scary though putting you’re putting yourself out there but like people are not going to like it. People aren’t going to be mad at me, for sure. Hey everyone, I’m JoJo Siwa and this is Billboard News.

Tetris Kelly
“Karma’s a b-tch” and I guess I should have known better because look who is sitting with me. Hey what’s up Jojo, how’s it going?

Jojo Siwa
Best f–king day of my life!

Tetris Kelly
The song is out, it’s out! It’s in the universe, how are you feeling?

Jojo Siwa
I have s–t a brick every single day for the last three weeks, since we started teasing it. It’s been a brutal, brutal tease process. The internet has gotten very mad at me the Internet has taken me a frickin wringer, the ups and the downs. But at the end of the day, I made the art that I wanted to and I am so happy so proud. So, so excited to bring this version of pop music back this music, this music video, this style of production. This is everything I’ve ever wanted, you know, I’ve been waiting 10 years to get into this world. I don’t care that music videos aren’t trending anymore like this. They weren’t trending either before Lady Gaga did them. And then all of a sudden boo ya, Lady Gaga becomes Lady Gaga.

Watch the full video above!

05 Apr 2024

Five Finger Death Punch Hit Hard With Surprise DMX Collab Single ‘This Is the Way’

Five Finger Death Punch released the digital deluxe version of their 2022 album AfterLife on Friday (April), which features four new bonus tracks. Among those freshies is an unexpected collab with late Ruff Ryders rapper DMX.

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See latest videos, charts and news

The song, “This Is the Way,” comes complete with a video directed by X’s longtime collaborator Hype Williams, which mixes black and white performance footage of FFDP with photos, cartoon images and memorial murals of DMX. “Ya’ll heard it through the grapevine (what’s that?)/ Expect I’m gonna take mine/ Name of the game is get in where you fit in (what?)/ Dog, I fit in at the beginning,” DMX growls in the first verse in his signature rough-edged style.

“Music is meant to be universal and without boundaries, and it starts at the top with us, the artists,” said FFDP guitarist Zoltan Bathory in a statement. “We have always embraced the mixing of genres, whether it be the remake of LL Cool J’s ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’ featuring Tech N9ne as a guest, or our collaboration with blues warrior Kenny Wayne Shepherd, country star Brantley Gilbert, and Brian May, the legendary guitarist of Queen, on the song ‘Blue on Black.’”

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The release did not mention when the DMX vocals were recorded, but Bathory added that the idea of a collab with the “X Gon Give It To Ya” MC had been “in discussion for years, and it was a long and winding road to turn this particular item on our wish list into reality. He was a lyrical warrior, a true original who spoke his mind incorruptibly.” The guitarist said the group had always considered DMX the “metalhead of hip-hop” because of the rapper’s “aggressive, raw, and untamed” style.

“He growled and snarled, aiming to rattle some cages–an attitude we share, as Five Finger Death Punch has always been drawn to the fearless and the real,” he said. “It made all the sense in the world, but today this is more than just a song; it’s a salute to a legend, a way to honor DMX’s memory.” DMX died in April 2021 at age 50 after experiencing a heart attack triggerd by a drug overdose.

The digital deluxe edition also features three acoustic versions of the album tracks “The End,” “Judgement Day” and “Thanks For Asking.” FFDP will tour Europe this summer on a headlining tour featuring Ice Nine Kills before joining Metallica as the opening act on a run of the rock icons’ European stadium shows.

Watch the “This Is the Way” video below.

05 Apr 2024

Big Daddy Kane & Ghostface Killah Drop Gems On ‘I Got Questions’

Big Daddy Kane & Ghostface - I Got Questions

Source: Hip-Hop WIred / iOne Digital

The newest episode of the acclaimed I Got Questions series features the Juice Crew’s Big Daddy Kane and Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah reflecting on Hip-Hop culture and their careers.

The streets have been asking for it, so it’s only right that as Hip-Hop is enjoying 50 years of life as a culture, the pivotal interview series I Got Questions makes its return with two of the greatest MCs in Hip-Hop—Big Daddy Kane and Ghostface Killah.



The two artists sit across from each other in a plush lounge setting, with Ghostface reminiscing on the first time he ever heard Big Daddy Kane rhyme while hustling in the projects in his Stapleton neighborhood of Staten Island. “That’s what really got me into Hip-Hop, and ink and putting the pen down,” he said. For Big Daddy Kane, he recounted his first time meeting Ghostface at their show in Newark, New Jersey, and how they immediately got into a cipher. “It was me, you, Scoob Lover, RZA, and Raekwon and Shyheim,” he said. He even revealed how the iconic “Where Brooklyn At?” moment from The Notorious B.I.G. took place at one of his shows.

As the two sip wine, Big Daddy Kane reveals that he started as a DJ but a robbery at his grandmother’s home forced him to pivot to rhyming. “Dude that stole those turntables did me a big favor ‘cause I sucked at DJ’ing,” the legend said with a laugh. The conversation went deeper, as Ghostface revealed that performing his classic track with Mary J. Blige from Ironman, “All That I Got Is You” is one that he’s reluctant to perform. “It just gets me sad. I don’t really perform that because it brings me back to a place where we was going through it. That record brings pain,” he remarked.

The two artists also spoke about the relationships with other older and newer artists in rap, and how they want to be perceived by the public. “Now there’s a disconnect,” Big Daddy Kane said, “That’s what we need to bring back so we can talk to the young rappers of today and give them the game. The same way it was given to me. The same way it was given to you.”

Ghostface also spoke about how some rappers need to be more embracing of their fans by signing autographs and greeting them on the street. “I’m an MC first, but I’m grateful though, ‘cause Kane we could’ve been somewhere else,” said Tony Starks.

Check out the entire I Got Questions episode with Big Daddy Kane and Ghostface Killah above.