State Champ Radio Author: djfrosty
Page: 371
In a perfect world, major career honors would be nicely spaced out. But sometimes, they bunch up. Case in point: On June 10, just two days before he receives the Johnny Mercer Award at the annual Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) gala, legendary Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz will receive the ASCAP Foundation Champion Award, recognizing his humanitarian efforts and contributions.
There will also be a second honoree at the ASCAP Foundation event: artist and music education advocate Chandrika Tandon, who won her first Grammy in February for best new age, ambient, or chant album for Triveni.
Trending on Billboard
While the close proximity of the two events may be less than ideal, the ASCAP Foundation event appears to be a very different kind of evening — namely, smaller and more intimate. Where the SHOF dinner and gala will be held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, the ASCAP Foundation “cocktail celebration” will take place at the New York home of Tony-winning composer Adam Guettel (Floyd Collins, The Light in the Piazza, To Kill a Mockingbird, Days of Wine and Roses).
Composers and lyricists (and EGOT recipients) Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land) will perform a tribute to Schwartz. Composer, pianist and singer-songwriter Emily Bear (Moana 2, The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical) will perform and talk about her creative journey and The ASCAP Foundation.
The ASCAP Foundation Champion Award recognizes ASCAP members who have made a significant impact through social action and humanitarian efforts. Previous recipients include Billy Joel, Natalie Merchant, Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie and Ne-Yo.
Founded in 1975, The ASCAP Foundation has supported American music creators through music education, talent development and humanitarian programs for five decades.
ASCAP Foundation president Paul Williams said in a statement, “As we celebrate 50 years of The ASCAP Foundation’s work empowering music creators and uplifting communities, it is an honor to recognize Stephen and Chandrika — two extraordinary individuals whose artistry and humanitarianism have inspired countless creatives. Their passion reflects the very spirit of our mission, and we are proud to honor them as Champions.”
Williams is on the board of directors of the SHOF and is a past recipient of the Johnny Mercer Award. (The ASCAP Foundation news announcement doesn’t mention Schwartz’s SHOF honor.)
These aren’t Schwartz’s only awards this year. In February, he received the Icon Award at the 15th Guild of Music Supervisors Awards in Los Angeles, where he was honored alongside veteran music supervisor Bonnie Greenberg.
Tickets to the ASCAP Foundation’s 50th Anniversary Gala run $2,000 and can be purchased here.
05/29/2025
The Colombian star has made notable fashion statements throughout her career.
05/29/2025
It’s no secret that artists are at the mercy of the algorithm when it comes to reaching fans online and through social media — but many acts report that new music and posts on platforms like Instagram and YouTube only reach a tiny fraction of their fan bases.
This issue is one experienced by Norwegian producer Alan Walker, whose manager, Gunnar Greve, tells Billboard that “when we release a new song, it reaches only 0.4 to 2% of our most active listeners. The same goes for YouTube — even fans who want to stay connected don’t always see the content. Editorial playlists and algorithmic feeds have started to replace organic discovery.”
This is despite the fact that Walker has roughly 10.4 million followers on Instagram alone and has clocked songs with millions, even billions, of streams.
Trending on Billboard
“When I released ‘Faded’ in 2015,” Walker says of his biggest hit, “streaming was still in its early days. There was a sense of excitement, a new world opening up. But in the years since, the pace of the industry has exploded. Today, the landscape is crowded, noisy, and often overwhelming even for those of us with big followings and strong communities.”
Like many other artists, Walker has observed that “the connection between artists and fans is starting to slip. Not because people care less, but because the systems we rely on don’t prioritize or find space for meaningful content. The pressure to chase trends or fit into playlist algorithms often takes the spotlight away from creativity, experimentation and emotional connection. The reasons most of us got into music in the first place.”
To cut through this noise, Walker and Greve are preparing to launch World of Walker, a custom app and online community tailored for Walker’s millions of global fans.
Launching on Aug. 8, World of Walker will offer exclusive immersive fan experiences, access to premium content (including Walker’s entire music and video catalogs), behind-the-scenes material, exclusive weekly livestreams, direct chats and more. Users can also participate in community-driven projects, events and discussions. The app is free to join, and pre-registration is available now.
The way Walker and Greve see it, World of Walker will provide greater opportunity than most social platforms for everyone involved. “For one, we can speak freely, without worrying about algorithms or chasing virality,” says Walker. “I have a global, diverse fanbase with different interests, and this app gives each person the chance to build their own World of Walker. They can find their people, join conversations that matter and stay connected to what truly resonates with them. We also get better insight into what fans actually want, which means we can shape the platform based on real feedback, not guesswork.”
Greve says the goal is reaching 500,000 users within the first year, “but the most important thing is for people to be active and engaged within the app.” In terms of monetization, he adds that the business model has two layers.
“First, just having a direct line of communication with fans without relying on third-party platforms. This is a success in itself. But in the app, we’ll have a mix of activity-based experiences and monetization through a small premium model and an in-app store with both physical and digital items. If we create enough engagement and value, profitability will follow.”
While Walker and Greve acknowledge that not every artist has the resources to build such a platform, they hope their project will help the industry evolve “in a way that puts fans and artists at the center. Not just as tools for big corporations,” says Greve.
Ahead of the app’s August launch, fans will get the opportunity to join the world of Walker in real life when he plays the final show of his two-year Walkerworld Tour at SummerStage in New York’s Central Park on Saturday (May 31.) Walker reports playing for more than 500,000 people during the tour and says he’ll also be releasing new music this summer.
World of Walker
Courtesy of World of Walker
World of Walker
Courtesy of World of Walker
Source: Facebook / facebook
Michael Sumler, the longtime hype man for the Kool & The Gang band, died over Memorial Day Weekend after his vehicle was involved in a crash. Michael Sumler, also known as Chicago Mike, was a member of the band for several years.
Local outlet Fox 5 Atlanta reports that last Saturday (May 24), Michael Sumler was driving from the town of Mableton, Ga., after a performance at the Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre that evening. The outlet reports that Sumler collided with a vehicle while driving along the Veterans Memorial Highway in Cobb County.
According to the report, the crash occurred just before midnight, with Sumler dying at the scene of the crash. The other person involved in the crash survived.
Taking to Facebook, Kool & The Gang shared a statement regarding Sumler’s passing:
We’re deeply saddened to hear about the passing of our longtime wardrobe valet, Mike Sumler. Mike worked alongside Kool & the Gang from 2000-2015, making sure the guys looked their best on stage every night. He also hyped the crowd with his energy and dance moves at the top of the show. Most recently, Mike helped Kool with LeKool champagne events.Everyone here at Kool & the Gang has fond memories of Mike and will miss him. May he rest in peace.
Michael Sumler was 71.
—
Photo: Facebook
HipHopWired Featured Video
Ten years ago today, on May 29, 2015, Jamie xx released his debut solo album, In Colour.
The 11-song project reached No. 21 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, generating hits including “Gosh,” “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)” and “Loud Places” and becoming a beloved LP of the era.
Billboard also celebrated the album upon its release, publishing a glowing review that identified the British producer’s ability to create a collage of ’90s U.K. rave culture that simultaneously acknowledged the rich history of this era while also sounding entirely fresh.
“Jamie xx is 26 years old, which means he was barely out of diapers during the heyday of ’90s U.K. rave culture, which provides the heart, soul and inspiration for his jaw-dropping solo debut, In Colour,” wrote Billboard contributor Garrett Kamps.
Trending on Billboard
The review continues to say that “The xx member (real name: Jamie Smith) reportedly combed through videos from the era on YouTube, experiencing it in a way that generations before him could not: all at once, chopped up, voyeuristically and set to the best music. This, conveniently, describes the rush of hearing In Colour, an ambitious collage of dance music’s most artistically exciting decade, assembled with maximum TLC by a visionary who inherited its legacy.
“Pockmarked by bits of dialogue from the era’s radio shows and documentaries,” Kamps continues, “the record leaves no doubt as to its source material, and Jamie xx is among other U.K. electronic-dance acts, such as Disclosure and Four Tet, that are tapping the genre’s past to forge its future. But no one has nailed it quite like this.”
Read the complete 2015 review here.
Speaking with Billboard last year upon the release of In Colour‘s long-awaited follow-up, In Waves, the artist said his country’s esteemed history with electronic music, combined with some good old fashioned homesickness, inspired the album’s tone.
“When I was making Colour, I was on tour [with The xx], and had been for seven or eight years nonstop,” he said. “I was really homesick, and I was dreaming up ideas about the U.K. and music in the U.K. and the dance scene there and everything that has happened since the ’80s in dance music in the U.K., which is a lot. It was sort of my fantasy version of U.K. dance music history. Because I was missing home, it made me feel more like I was at home, I guess.”
He also reflected on the differences within himself as he made two connected projects nine years apart, saying that while listening to In Colour while making In Waves, “I remember being really surprised by a lot of decisions I had made as a younger person, and remembering who the hell I was when I made those decisions.
“I guess I was drunk quite a lot of the time, having a lot of fun in my mid-20s,” he continued with a laugh while reflecting on the production process for In Colour. “It’s very painstaking, all these decisions you feel are so important. Then listening to them 10 years later or five years later, you can’t believe you made any of the decisions. And you think they’re wrong, or I would have made completely different decisions now, but I guess that’s a part of it.”
Source: Andrew Harnik / Getty
President Donald Trump’s angry response to a description of his erratic trade policies evoked a bevy of laughs from social media.
On Wednesday (May 28), President Donald Trump had sworn in former Fox News host Jeannine Pirro as the interim U.S. Attorney for Washington D.C. in the White House, and began to field questions from reporters. CNBC reporter Megan Casella asked, “Mr. President, Wall Street analysts have coined a new term called the TACO trade. They’re saying Trump always chickens out on your tariff threats and that’s why markets are higher this week. What’s your response to that?”
“I’ve never heard that,” Trump acknowledged, but swiftly got defensive. “You mean because I reduced China from 145%, that I set down to 100% and then down to another number, and I said, ‘You have to open up your whole country.’ And because, I gave the European Union a 50% tax tariff, and they called up, and they said, ‘Please, let’s meet right now. Please, let’s meet right now.’” He continued angrily, “after I did what I did, they said, ‘We’ll meet anytime you want.’” And we have an end date of July 9th. You call that chickening out?”
After attacking former President Joe Biden for not imposing high tariffs, he pointedly attacked Cassella. “We had a country people didn’t think it was gonna survive, and you ask a nasty question like that?” he retorted, saying “But don’t ever say what you said. That’s a nasty question. For me, that’s the nastiest question.”
The “TACO trade” term was coined by Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong last month to describe how Trump scares global markets with tariff threats, forcing the market to plummet before backing off, which allows them to rebound again. “[T]he recent rally has a lot to do with markets realising that the US administration does not have a very high tolerance for market and economic pressure, and will be quick to back off when tariffs cause pain,” Armstrong wrote.
The meltdown didn’t go unnoticed on social media, as critics highlighted how badly the president took the news. “What’s hilarious about this whole thing is there has to be people in the admin who know about this stuff and everyone is afraid to tell him bad news,” wrote Democratic Party strategist Adam Parkhomenko in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “So we get to see him lose his s—t for the first time live on tv.”
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
The dull, distant thud of munitions falling in Gaza is the only sound you hear in the parking lot in Re’im in southern Israel. It’s a world away from the thumping, joyous EDM beats that filled this same site more than two years ago as 3,000 ravers gathered under the stars for an all-night Nova Music Festival.The site is now a memorial to the 364 people killed by Hamas militants on Oct 7, 2023, eerily silent on a recent mid-May morning as friends, family and visitors quietly wandered among the hundreds of tributes to the slain attendees of the music festival. In addition to the scores killed and assaulted that day, 44 others were taken hostage in what became the deadliest attack in modern Israeli history.
The joyous rave kicked off the night before the shocking early morning raid by the al-Qassam Brigades that resulted in the killing of nearly 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and kidnapping of more than 250. What was meant to be a celebration of the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret — a time to stop and reflect, pray for rain and gather with friends and family — is now a heart-wrenching shrine to vibrant lives cut short.
“Daniel Goffman, 24 years old when he passed away. A child with a huge heart, endless generosity, and optimism, always willing to help and sacrifice himself for a friend,” reads one tribute featuring the image of a smiling young man giving a thumbs up. “He went to the Nova music festival with his partner, Daniela Petrenko, may she rest in peace, to celebrate the start of a new life, but they never returned.”
Among those attending the festival was Israel’s 2025 Eurovision Song Contest runner-up Yuval Raphael, who still bears shrapnel in her body from the attack. She has recalled hiding in a bomb shelter packed with 50 other people as Hamas gunmen repeatedly shot into the shelter and lobbed grenades. She survived after making a panicked call to her father, who counseled her to play dead and be quiet, a tactic that allowed her to be among the 11 people in the shelter who survived the onslaught.
In the middle of the sea of stories of lives cut short featuring tokens of memorial ranging from a charred DJ deck to a ghostly white statue mirrored on the ground by a hollow dirt reflection, is a massive star made up vibrant reproductions of the nation’s official flower, the red anemone (Kalanit). The flowers bloom at the festival site every February and the deeply symbolic gesture is a nod to the spilled blood of the victims, as well as a sign of resilience and hope. The official memorial funded by the non-profit Jewish National Fund has quickly become the JNF’s most-visited site, attracting nearly 7,000 visitors a day.
Visiting family for a wedding in Tel Aviv, I admittedly was not able to get a perspective on the dire situation in the Gaza Strip as Israel’s government continues to hammer the area with daily assaults in a conflict that has killed more than 53,000 people in the territory to date, according to Palestinian health authorities.
But what I did observe that day was a sea of moving tributes to dance music fans who gathered in the desert for an all-night celebration of renewal that turned into an early morning nightmare of automatic weapons fire and brutal assaults by Hamas militants who crashed through the border during the shocking surprise attack.
Just down the road was a kind of car graveyard, framed by five-story piles of charred, rusted vehicles attendees attempted to flee in that were destroyed in the attack. Scattered among the trashed cars with memorials to the victims were shot-up trucks driven by the marauders, some with large gun mounts in the bed.
Like the Nova memorial, the eerie site full of crushed and burnt cars and piles of mangled motorcycles features placards with QR codes that lead to the fuller stories of the victims. At the center is a destroyed car spilling over with a long trail of the red anemone sculptures. Atop the vehicle is a metal sculpture with the Hebrew word “V Ahavat,” which translates into “and love,” a common expression of affection.
The entire nation is laser-focused on returning the remaining hostages in Gaza — believed to number 58 men and women, half of whom are believed to be alive — with the two Nova memorials similarly plastered with stickers and banners honoring the captured and demanding their return. From the Ben Gurion airport arrival area to restaurant walls and roadside memorials, the stickers and posters bearing the faces of the captives are inescapable in the country now, along with massive banners reading “Bring Them Home.”
Just like the Nova site, the stickers and banners are daily testimonies to a grievous wound that feels impossible to ever heal from. But they are also a reminder of the vibrant stories of the lives that were lost and, hopefully, of those hostages who may yet return.
Check out a gallery of photos from the Nova site below.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
More than 5,000 people visit the Nova Memorial site every day, where they can wander among personalized tributes to the 364 killed by Hamas raiders on Oct. 7.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
Each tribute features lovingly written profiles of the Nova attendees’ lives, along with tokens memorializing them and clay recreations of the red anemone flowers that bloom in the area each February.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
In an adjacent grove, the families of the victims planted saplings in memory of their loved ones on the Jewish holiday of Tu BiShvat last year, an annual arbor day-like celebration of trees.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
The outside walls of a bomb shelter on the Nova site graffittied with the names of some of the dead and the acronymn “Hashem Ylkom Damo,” which translates to “May God avenge his/her blood” and a phrase reading “to win my brother.”
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
One of the bomb shelters on site at Nova where attendees fled during the attack. A guide said Hamas raiders repeatedly attempted to throw grenades into the packed concrete bunker during their assault.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
A close-up of one of the cars destroyed during the raid, one of hundreds on display in a grim shrine just down the road from the Nova Festival site.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
The memorial for attendee Shani Gabay, entitled “Shani Gabay’s Black Saturday,” feauturing a time-coded countdown of her attempt to escape, with links to photos and videos. It relates how the 25-year-old tried to run away from the assult and was declared missing for 17 days, until her body was discovered accidentally buried with another victim.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
A memorial to an Israeli soccer player featuring scarves from the victim’s favorite football teams, including Maccabi Petah Tikva, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Beitar Jerusalem and Israel’s beloved Maccabi Tel Aviv FC. The collection of white stones are in keeping with a Jewish tradition of mourning, in which visitors leave a rock to mark a visit to a grave site.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
A ghostly memorial to attendee Ziv Pepe Shapira, in which a tree has been planted in the middle of the “reflection” of a human torso on the ground.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
The burnt remnants of a metal sign reading “Nova Tribe of Light” lies amid a pile of wreckage near the memorial for beloved trance DJ Matan “Kido” Elmalem (aka “DJ Kido”), 42, who played festivals all over the world. He was spinning an early-morning set on Oct. 7 as Hamas raiders descended on the festival.
Image Credit: Gil Kaufman
An enormous garden of clay anemone flower sculptures — including charred black versions at the center — spreads on the Nova memorial site. Anemones are the official flower of Israel and they bloom near the festival site every Feburary. A tribute to the blood of the victims as well as a sign of resilence and hope.
Bunnie XO and Jessie Murph just had a far-out conversation about their first times taking shrooms, with the former revealing she once tripped so hard, she thought she was Michael Jackson.
In a clip from a recent episode Dumb Blonde, the podcaster asked the 20-year-old singer-songwriter to recount giving the psychedelics a try just a few weeks prior at Coachella. “I took them right before y’all’s party, actually,” Murph said, referring to Bunnie and her famous husband, Jelly Roll.
“It was so great,” the “High Road” singer recalled. “I was always apprehensive to try them … because they say it can mentally get you in a weird place.”
“But I had the time of my life,” Murph added. “I just was smiling, it made me really happy. But I’m gonna try not to do them a lot.”
One of Bunnie’s experiences with the drug, however, was a lot less serene. “I thought I was Michael Jackson one time,” she told Murph as both of them laughed. “I was in the snow making snow angels and then I cooked, like, a five-course meal … I did a big dose and it was phenomenal — that’s when I thought I was Michael Jackson.”
“And then I did a microdose and s–t got weird,” Bunnie added. “I started thinking about my childhood.”
According to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, shrooms — aka magic mushrooms — are consumed for their hallucinogenic effects caused by key ingredient psilocybin. The psychedelics can alter “a person’s thinking, sense of time and emotions,” an ideally pleasant experience that can sometimes lead to anxiety or paranoia instead.
Bunnie and Murph — who recently earned her highest peak to date on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Blue Strips” reaching No. 15 earlier in May — have been friends for a while. In 2023, the Alabama native teamed up with Jelly for a duet titled “Wild Ones,” reaching No. 7 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and all three of the stars recently walked the red carpet together at the Academy of Country Music Awards — where Murph’s piglet, Wilbur, stole the show.
In June 2024, Bunnie defended Murph against social media trolls who took issue with the latter being featured on Koe Wetzel’s “High Road,” which would reach No. 22 on the Hot 100. “All you grown ADULTS being mean to a beautiful 19-year-old girl who’s pursuing her dreams & has already accomplished so much in her career, more than some of y’all,” the social media star wrote at the time, sharing a video of herself hugging Murph on Instagram. “Don’t play w me or baby girl.”
Watch Bunnie and Murph discuss shrooms below.
This is partner content. Billboard has put together a prediction list for the Song of the Summer, and we’re breaking it down for you. Could KATSEYE, Drake or Alex Warren have the Song of the Summer? Keep watching to see who else may be in the top 10! Who do you think will have the […]
I recently had the opportunity to testify before Congress about the NO FAKES Act of 2025 — a landmark effort to protect human voices and likenesses from being cloned by artificial intelligence without consent.
I started singing when I was four years old and have used my voice throughout my career to amplify lyrics that I believe in. Each recording reflects pieces of my individuality and artistry that have evolved throughout my life.
My recordings reflect my human experience, and I am honored that they are a part of people’s lives — from wedding vows to breakups, to celebrating milestones and even the special relationship between a mother and daughter.
Trending on Billboard
But today, my voice and likeness, along with so many others, are at risk. AI technology is amazing and can be used for so many wonderful purposes. But like all great technologies, it can also be abused when it is harnessed to steal people’s voices and likenesses to defraud families, manipulate the images of young girls, impersonate government officials or pose as artists like me.
It’s mind-blowing that we must even question that our voices and likenesses should be our own to control. It’s scary and unquestionably wrong.
I was so gratified with the commitment of the bipartisan group of Senators I testified before last week in DC to deal with deepfake images by supporting the NO FAKES Act, which would prevent the theft of someone’s voice or likeness to harm, harass, bully or defraud them or others, and damage our careers, reputations and values.
The NO FAKES Act gives every person the power to say “yes” or “no” about how their most personal human attributes are used.
In Congress, I was asked about the impact of unauthorized deepfakes on the careers and livelihoods of young artists — and that impact can be immense. Every performer in our business must establish early in their career who they are and what they stand for, creatively, artistically and personally. That is how we build connections with our fans. But if bad actors can invade that artist-fan bond and distort the story a young artist tells the world about who they are, many careers could be lost before they truly get started. And that’s a problem that goes beyond the arts — unconsented deepfakes and voice clones rob every person of the ability to speak their own truth and tell their own story.
The NO FAKES Act also supports innovation by providing a roadmap for how these powerful tools can be developed responsibly. And it doesn’t stand in the way of protected uses like news, parodies, or criticism. Thanks to technology companies like OpenAI and Google who support this bill, as well as the legions of creators who have worked so hard to advocate for it (nearly 400 of us last week endorsed it here), and the child protection and anti-sex-trafficking and exploitation groups who support it and continue to fight for those who are most vulnerable, we have a real chance of it becoming law this year.
It has been a special honor to record songs that shine a light on the battles many women fight, especially domestic violence. Fans have shared with me that “Independence Day” has given them strength, and in some cases, the song has been the catalyst that has made them realize they need to leave an abusive situation.
Imagine the harm an AI deepfake could do breaching that trust, using my voice in songs that belittle or justify abuse. Or the devastation of a fan, scammed by a deepfake voice clone impersonating me or any artist they trust, into handing over their hard-earned money to a fraudster. Or my voice and/or likeness being used to promote a product that may be subpar at best, and harmful at worst. And while this isn’t the part that I am an expert on, knowing AI is being used to deepfake and manipulate young girls in ways that can devastate and ruin their lives is especially troubling. As a mother, an artist and a human being who cares about others — I ask you to join in the fight to stop that kind of betrayal.
Passing the NO FAKES Act will set us on the right path to develop the world’s best AI while preserving the sacred qualities that make our country so special — authenticity, integrity, humanity and our endlessly inspiring spirit.
Martina McBride is an award-winning country music singer who has charted seven top 10s on the Billboard 200 and landed 21 songs on the Hot 100 in her career, and been nominated for 14 Grammys. She’s also a four-time CMA Female Vocalist of the Year and three-time ACM Top Female Vocalist winner, and in 2019 was honored with the ACM’s Icon Award.
