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10 Songs To Celebrate (Black) Independence This July 4th

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Black people’s relationship with America has never been without struggle. But as with most things in life, the Black community has found a way to turn tragedy into triumph.

Hip-Hop has often been a vehicle for folks to celebrate their joys and acknowledge their losses. In light of Independence Day, check out these Hip-Hop hits that honor and encourage the peace and liberation that Black folks deserve.

“This Is America”- Childish Gambino



Gambino’s 2018 track highlights many of the complexities that come with being Black in America, while reminding folks to do what grandma said: “Get your money, black man.”

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Rufus Wainwright Opens Up on Being One of the First Openly Gay Major-Label Artists, His New Album & More | Billboard News

Rufus Wainwright opens up about being one of the first openly gay major-label artists to succeed, the thinking behind his new album ‘Folkocracy’ and more!

Tetris Kelly:
What do you want to be remembered as?

Rufus Wainwright:
A great beauty? Hi. This is Rufus Wainwright and you’re watching Billboard News.

Tetris Kelly:
It’s Tetris with Billboard news. How you doing Rufus? Thanks for hanging out with us.

Rufus Wainwright:
Thank you for having me.

Tetris Kelly:
You got big things to celebrate. It’s been 25 years since you released your self titled debut, man. How’s it feel? 25 years later?

Rufus Wainwright:
It feels awful! No, no, I’m very proud and excited to be alive. And still making music and, and happy. And that first record I made has proven to have lasted and I worked very hard on it. It took me three years to make that first record. It costs a lot of money. It was with DreamWorks Records at the time who had a lot of money to pay for that kind of thing. It’s built to last perhaps.

Tetris Kelly:
You made changes to it. You’re re-releasing it? What’s gonna be different about the rerelease?

Rufus Wainwright:
We remastered it and then we also released some bonus material, other songs I did at the time. I think what’s interesting about the record is that it was made in the mid to late 90s. And it really was part of the last breath of sort of the grand record company/artist relationship where they would sort of just write all the checks and kind of let you do whatever you wanted to do. And they really didn’t expect you to be popular until your third or fourth album.

Watch the full interview above!

Rufus Wainwright Reflects on 25 Years Since Debut Album, Being an Openly Gay Artist in the 1990s

It’s been 25 years since the world was introduced to Rufus Wainwright with his debut self-titled album, which featured songs like “April Fools,” “In My Arms” and many more. To celebrate, the singer-songwriter sat down with Billboard‘s Tetris Kelly to reflect on his career.

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“I feel awful,” he jokes about how it feels to celebrate 25 years since his debut. “No, I’m very proud and excited to be alive and still making music and happy. That first record I made has proven to have lasted, and I worked very hard on it. It took me three years to make that first record. It cost a lot of money.”

As for the 25th anniversary re-issue that came out early this year, Wainwright said that the album was remastered and has some bonus material as well. “What’s interesting about the record is that it was made in the mid to late 90s, and it really was part of the last breath of the grand record company-artist relationship, where they’d sort of write all the checks and then let you do whatever you wanted to do. They really didn’t expect you to be popular until your third or fourth album,” he recalls.

“I wasn’t trying to be a trailblazer or anything,” he continues. “AIDS was still very much — it’s still part of our world today — but at that time, it was killing a lot of people, a lot of gay men, and I just didn’t want to end up in the situation if I did get AIDS at that point, that I would be dying and also have to come out of the closet. I just wanted to avert that tragedy. Thankfully it didn’t happen.”

If his debut album was released in 2023, Wainwright believes “it would be considered very unique and very unusual and very romantic, especially, because we live in such a tough world.”

Watch Billboard‘s full interview with Rufus Wainwright above.

Peso Pluma Earns First No. 1 on a Billboard Album Chart With ‘Génesis’

Peso Pluma continues to make indelible marks across Billboard’s charts. The 24-year-old singer celebrates his first No. 1 on any album ranking as Génesis rises to No. 1 (from No. 35) on the Top Latin Albums chart (dated July 8) after its first full tracking week. It also advances 10-1 on Regional Mexican Albums.

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Génesis’ coronation arrives a week after the album debuted on both lists (dated July 1) with only one day of activity. The original version of the album, comprising 14 tracks, was released on an off-cycle Thursday (June 22), the final day of the June 16-22 tracking week. The new Génesis, containing three bonus tracks, dropped June 30. Both versions of the album have been combined for tracking and charting purposes, while the original version has been removed from platforms.

According to Luminate, Génesis earned 73,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. during its first official tracking week ending June 29. It becomes the biggest week by units earned for a regional Mexican album ever, dating back to when the all-genre Billboard 200 chart began ranking by units in December 2014. The previous largest week by total units arrived just less than two months ago, when Eslabon Armado’s Desvelado launched with 44,000 units (May 13-dated list).

An equivalent album unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album (track equivalent album units, TEA), or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album (streaming equivalent album units, SEA).

Largest Streaming Week for a Regional Mexican Album: As is standard among new artists, streaming powers nearly all of Génesis’ first-week totals. Out of its 73,000 units, 72,000 stem from SEA units. That figure equals to 101.18 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs. Traditional album sales contribute just under 1,000 of the remaining balance, with a slice of negligible units deriving from TEA.

With 101.8 million streams, Génesis boasts the largest streaming week ever for a regional Mexican album. Previously, Eslabon Armado’s Desvelado drew the largest, with 63.51 million official U.S. streams (May 13).

Génesis becomes only the fifth Latin album to garner at least 100 million on-demand streams for its songs in a single week, following multiple weeks by Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, two for Bunny’s YHLQMDLG, one for Bunny’s El Último Tour del Mundo, and one for Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito.

Further, Génesis becomes the fourth regional Mexican effort to lead Top Latin Albums this decade, after Alejandro Fernández’s Hecho en México (one week, Feb. 29, 2020) and two Eslabon Armado albums, Vibras de Noche (one week, Aug. 2020) and Desvelado (one week, May13).

Elsewhere, Génesis launches at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200, his first entry and top 10 there. The set concurrently outpaces the two other regional Mexican albums which have seized a spot in the top 10, both by Eslabon Armado: Nostalgia (No. 9 debut and peak, May 2022) and Desvelado (No. 6 debut and peak, May 13).

The new July 8, 2023-dated charts will be posted in full on Billboard’s website on July 5, one day later than usual due to the Independence Day holiday in the U.S. on Tuesday, July 4. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Score Pieces From Shawn Mendes’ Tommy Hilfiger Collection for 65% Off as Part of New Sale Online

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Shawn Mendes had fans buzzing when he dropped his sultry Tommy Hilfiger campaign earlier this year, and now, Mendes fans and fashion fans alike can score a steep discount on pieces from the collection as part of Tommy Hilfiger’s Fourth of July sale.

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Hilfiger’s “Red, White and Tommy” event gets you 40% off everything on Tommy.com, including men’s and women’s T-shirts, jeans, polos, shoes and accessories. But we spotted pieces from Mendes’ Tommy collection with even bigger discounts, like the varsity jacket the singer sported in the campaign now on sale for 50% off.

Tommy Hilfiger x Shawn Mendes T-shirts, meantime, get a massive 65% discount, taking the price of Mendes’ favorite tees down to just $27 (regularly $80).

shawn mendes varsity jacket tommy

Tommy Hilfiger

Shawn x Tommy Varsity Jacket

$249.50 $499 50% off% OFF

Tommy Hilfiger is synonymous with All-American style and the collaboration with Mendes offers up some fresh takes on classic pieces. The varsity jacket is a unisex style that was seen on Mendes and also modeled by his sister, Aaliyah, in the campaign. Regularly $499, it’s on sale for 50% off, taking the price down to just $249.50 on Tommy.com (for reference, the varsity jacket is selling for $476 on Asos.com).

The Shawn x Tommy T-shirts, meantime, are available in three colors — navy, green and white — and on sale for just $27 (regularly $79.50). The shirts are available in sizes XS to XXXL and all sizes are still in stock online as of this writing.

shawn mendes logo t-shirt

Tommy Hilfiger

Shawn x Tommy Logo T-shirt

$27.82 $79.50 65% off% OFF

The classic crewneck tee features the words “Hilfiger” and “Shawn Mendes” embroidered on the front in bold, block lettering. Mendes has been an outspoken advocate for environmental issues and sustainability, and worked with the Tommy Hilfiger team to create these T-shirts from an organic cotton jersey blend. The tees are made with 48% Circulose, a material made from discarded textiles, like worn-out jeans and scrap fabric from the production floor.

The $27 price on Tommy.com is the best deal on these T-shirts — they’re $54.99 on Macys.com. Macy’s does have other Shawn x Tommy pieces on sale though, including the jeans and denim trucker jacket from the collection.

shawn mendes tommy tee

Tommy Hilfiger

Shawn x Tommy Logo T-Shirt

$27.82 $79.50 65% off% OFF

As for Tommy: while Tommy Hilfiger always has a sale section that you can shop here, the brand’s “Red, White and Tommy” sale only runs through the end of July 12. This is also the first time we’re seeing a discount on the Shawn Mendes collection so we recommend adding your favorite pieces to cart while they’re still in stock. Shop online at Tommy.com and see more Fourth of July sales here.

Ariana Grande, Drake, Halsey & More: 25 of BLACKPINK’s Most Famous Fans

Ariana Grande, Drake, Halsey, Harry Styles, Diplo, Kendall Jenner and many more celebs are joining BLACKPINK’s Blink fandom.

BLACKPINK‘s fierce hip-hop/pop combination and powerful group identity have inspired a huge fandom around the world and, now, in Hollywood.

With a major festival moment at Coachella 2019 and 2023, plus a slew of celebrity supporters showing up at their current In Your Area tour, its become common to see a few famous faces supporting the girl group.

Most recently, actor Hugh Grant revealed what a big fan he is after attending BLACKPINK’s BST Hyde Park concert in London Sunday night (July 2). “Very grateful to three eleven year olds for taking me to see @BLACKPINK yesterday,” the Notting Hill actor tweeted after the event. “Am rabid Blink now. Slept with my heart hammer.”

See below for the slew of stars who are outspoken fans of Rosé, Jisoo, Lisa and Jennie.

Sauce Walka & Conway The Machine “Dangerous Daringer,” Dave East ft. G-Eazy “WDGAF” & More | Daily Visuals 7.3.23

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Dave East

Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz

Ever since the trio known as Griselda went their separate ways, Conway The Machine, Westside Gunn and Benny The Butcher’s been blessing their rap peers with some dope guest verses and today Conway continues that trend by lending his talents to his thugged out Southern brethren.

Linking up with Sauce Walka for the visuals to “Dangerous Daringer,” Conway the Machine and Walka roll through the streets of New York City in style as they push some exotice autombiles through Times Sqaure before hitting some rooftops to blaze some of that earth essence and drop some bars. We need a new Griselda album.

Dave East meanwhile gets his fancy on and in his G-Eazy assisted clip to “WDGAF,” the Harlem representative throws on a spiffy suit to seduce some attractive young women on some grown man ish. For a second anyway.

Check out the rest of today’s drops and some joints you might’ve missed over the weekend including work from Rod Wave featuring Morgan Wallen, S.dot, and more.

SAUCE WALKA & CONWAY THE MACHINE – “DANGEROUS DARINGER”



DAVE EAST FT. G-EAZY – “WDGAF”



ROD WAVE FT. MORGAN WALLEN – “LIGHTS IN YOUR EYES”


https://youtube.com/watch?v=cgUgqF_xmsM&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

S.DOT – “MURDER”



LUH TYLER – “BRAND NEW BLUES”



PI’ERRE BOURNE – “NY IN JUNE”



PHILTHY RICH – “59 BARS”


https://youtube.com/watch?v=R55rrzgzZT0&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

REBEL SOULJAHZ – “HIGHER”



SKILLA BABY FT. LUH TYLER – “MILLIONAIRE”



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Cardi B Sings ‘I Will Always Love You’ With Busker in Paris

Cardi B was all smiles as she left Thom Browne’s debut couture fashion show in Paris on Monday (July 3), and even stopped to entertain fans outside.

In a video shared by TMZ, the “I Like It” rapper is seen leaving the Palais Garnier opera house, telling a photographer that the show was “great,” before a nearby street performer asked her if she wanted to sing with him. While Cardi originally admitted that she was “scared,” she briefly stepped up onto the microphone to perform a few lines from Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” before signing autographs and hopping in the car.

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Cardi has been enjoying her time at Paris Fashion Week, taking to Instagram earlier in the day to share her stunning feathered, custom Schiaparelli couture look designed by Daniel Roseberry, the current creative director of the French haute couture house.

The rapper is a longtime fashion favorite, as she fronted her first campaign for a luxury fashion house in 2020 when she became the face of Balenciaga’s winter 2020 season. That same year, Cardi became the first female rapper to be awarded by the FN Achievement Awards when she won the Style Influencer of the Year award — an honor presented to her by Christian Louboutin.

‘CMA Fest: 50 Years of Fan Fair’: How to Watch the Documentary on Hulu for Free

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CMA Fest made history as the longest-running country music festival when it marked its 50-year anniversary June 8–11. To commemorate this historic event, CMA and Hulu teamed up for a documentary titled CMA Fest: 50 Years of Fan Fair, which is airing Wednesday (July 5) on Hulu.

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The 75-minute documentary includes exclusive one-on-one interviews with iconic artists, including Bill Anderson, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Breland, Brooks & Dunn, Brothers Osborne, Luke Bryan, Shy Carter, Luke Combs, Valierie Ellis Hawkins, Vince Gill, Wynonna Judd, Miranda Lambert, Patty Loveless, Reba McEntire, Mark Miller, Craig Morgan, Lorrie Morgan, Dolly Parton, Carly Pearce, Jeannie Seely, Blake Shelton, Frankie Staton, Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson, Trisha Yearwood and Chris Young.

You’ll also go back in time to the festival’s historic start as Fan Fair in 1972, then its move to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in 1982 and then, finally, to downtown Nashville in 2001.

Keep reading to learn how to watch the documentary.

How to Watch CMA Fest: 50 Years of Fan Fair

CMA Fest: 50 Years Oof Fan Fair will air exclusively via Hulu on Wednesday (July 5) at no additional charge for subscribers.

If you’re not already subscribed, Hulu offers a free 30-day trial, so you can stream the entire first and second seasons for free. Hulu’s most popular plan is $7.99 a month (or $79.99/year), allowing you to stream thousands of episodes of TV shows and movies like Flamin’ Hot, Love Island UK, ‘Til Death Do Us Part, Jagged Mind, Tiny Beautiful Things, Unprisoned, Only Murders in the Building, The Handmaid’s Tale, Life & Beth, The Dropout, How I Met Your Father and other Hulu exclusives, in addition to network TV and cable shows like Abbott Elementary and The Masked Singer.

Not a fan of ads? Hulu Premium provides commercial-free streaming for just $14.99/month and student plans for $2 a month.

Hulu

$7.99/month after 30 days free

Looking for more streaming deals? Get Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ for $12.99/month.

Hulu subscribers can create up to six profiles under one account and stream from up to two different screens at once and from compatible devices including a smart TV, phone or computer.

If you’re looking for a streaming plan with live television, join Hulu + Live TV for access to 75+ live channels, plus everything on Hulu and Disney+, starting at less than $75/month.

Check the trailer for the documentary below.

Bailey Zimmerman Reveals His Favorite Small-Town Slang | Billboard Country Live

Bailey Zimmerman is revealing his favorite small-town slang!

Bailey Zimmerman
What’s up, y’all? I’m Bailey Zimmerman. And here’s my favorite small-town slang. I kind of started this thing … it didn’t stick around for too long, but we had this thing and we said “Coolin.” Like, “Hey, do you want to go to B-Dubs later and get chicken?” And they will say, “Coolin.” Like, yeah, I’m in or I’m game or whatever. So “coolin” was a word for a while. I feel like bet is a normal thing now, but I’ve been saying bet for years since junior high. We’ve been saying bet and it’s more like, same thing as coolin — “Let’s go to lunch.” “I’m in, bet,” whatever. So in my hometown, we would say hand we’d call people hand, you’re either an operating hand or you’re a string in hand or you’re a laboring in hand, whatever it is. And so when we go to Casey’s in the morning at 6am 5am, you walk up and see your buddy. “What’s up, hand” or “What’s going on, hand,” and it’s just like, “What’s up bro?” Or “what’s going on, man?” But you call them hands like, what’s up, hand? Yeah, it’s like country sh*t.