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07 Apr 2023

Offspring’s Noodles Says Band Will Stock Anheuser-Busch, Jack Daniel’s Backstage to Counter ‘Dimwitted Bigots’

Days after country singer Travis Tritt said he would be banning Anheuser-Busch beverages from his backstage hospitality riders, The Offspring guitarist Noodles responded by announcing that the veteran punk act is doubling down on the Bud products.

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“We are going to be adding Anheiser-Busch products & Jack Daniels to our hospitality rider just to piss off a bunch of dimwitted bigots who fear what they don’t understand,” wrote the 60-year-old guitarist born Kevin John Wasserman. “I know a s–t-ton of artists who feel exactly the same. (And we all drink A LOT).”

Noodles retweeted Tritt’s original post, in which he announced that he’d be “deleting” all Anheuser-Busch products going forward, adding, “I know many other artists who are doing the same.” Tritt’s action came after backlash against the brand — whose products include Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob, Rolling Rock, Busch, Shock Top and many more — for teaming up with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney in a March Madness campaign. Trans singer Laura Jane Grace responded to Tritt’s tweet by turning around a frequent right-wing insult against liberals on the 60-year-old country act, “Snowflake,” they wrote.

Tritt’s announcement came after MAGA-hat wearing rapper-turned-country singer Kid Rock opened fire on cases of Bud Light with a military-style assault rifle while announcing, “f– Bud Light and f–k Anheuser-Busch.”

While neither Tritt nor Rock specifically referred to Mulvaney or AB’s partnership with the TikTok star, the “Foolish Pride” country singer’s run of tweets about breaking up with AB also included his posting of a Jack Daniel’s ad featuring a trio of drag performers (BeBe Zahara Benet, Trinity Taylor and Manila Luzon) as part of the brand’s pact with RuPaul’s Drag Race alums on the “Drag Queen Summer Glamp” campaign.

“All the @JackDaniels_US drinkers should take note,” Tritt wrote while noting that he was on a a Bud-sponsored tour in the 1990s while lamenting the brand’s merger with Belgian beverage giant InBev in 2004.

In a statement to Billboard, Jack Daniel’s stood by its Glamp campaign and its support for the queer and trans communities. “Jack Daniel’s is made with everyone in mind, including the LGBTQ+ community,” a spokesperson said. “As a longtime champion of the LGBTQ+ community, Jack Daniel’s celebrates individuality and living life boldly on your own terms.”

As previously reported, AB did not respond to a request for comment regarding Tritt’s tweets, but in a previous statement shared with Billboard the brand also stood by its inclusive stance. “Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics,” a spokesperson said. Tritt has declined Billboard‘s request for further comment.

See Noodles’ tweet below.

07 Apr 2023

Labrinth Shares How Mutual Fandom With Billie Eilish Led to Their New Song ‘Never Felt So Alone’

It took more than a year for Labrinth to finally release “Never Felt So Alone,” one of his Euphoria season two standouts originally left off the show’s soundtrack — but it was well worth the wait. That’s because none other than Billie Eilish joined him for the song’s official release, a collaboration the 34-year-old producer revealed has been a long time in the making.

“I’ve been a fan of Billie for a long time,” Lab told Eddie Francis on Apple Music 1’s New Music Daily show in an interview that aired Friday (April 7). “I think she’s an amazing artist. I remember Noah [Cyrus] was doing some of the same shows Billie was in that time, and everybody kept on coming back talking about this Billie Eilish girl.”

“Then I think the first time I heard her on a record was ‘Bury a Friend,” he continued, noting he’d also met Finneas, Eilish’s brother and producer, years beforehand. “And I was just like, ‘This is a sick record.’”

It wasn’t until Lab sent “Never Felt So Alone” to Eilish that he discovered that she’d been a fan of his for just as long as he’d been following her. “Once I started piecing the song together, I was just like, “Do you know what? I think this is the moment where I think Billie would be a sick addition,’” the “Mount Everest” musician said.

“When we spoke, she was like, ‘Lab, I’ve been listening to your music for years.” I was like, ‘What?’ It was like, ‘Billie? What? You?’ She was like, ‘Yeah, been a fan.’ She was like, ‘I love this song as well, so I would love to do it with you.’”

The two artists first started teasing their team-up in the weeks leading up to its Friday release, with Eilish leaving comments on Labrinth’s promotional Instagram posts about the track. A figure that resembled her then appeared in a trippy teaser video for the project.

The clues extend even farther back, though, as the two performed the song together during Labrinth’s guest appearance at Eilish’s December hometown shows at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

“That was big for me because I felt like we both get each other musically,” he added of the new collaboration. “It didn’t feel foreign to me, and I love what she’s done on the record.”

Lab also explained why it took so long for “Never Felt So Alone” to be released alongside its fellow soundtrack songs: It had actually been intended for his upcoming album, which he’d sent to Euphoria creator Sam Levinson. “I sent him my album alongside composing music for the show, and they ended up using it on the show,” he recalled. “But I always planned in the future to make it into a song, and I just always loved that hook.”

“Then when it showed up in Euphoria, it just seemed like everybody felt the same way I did, but I always planned to make that into a song,” he added. “I just loved it so much. And I was like, ‘I’m going to turn this thing into something.’ And this was the moment I was just like, ‘I feel like I’m ready to do it.’”

Listen to “Never Felt So Alone” featuring Billie Eilish below:

07 Apr 2023

3 Men Who Murdered XXXTentacion Get Life In Prison

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Rolling Loud Los Angeles 2018

XXXTentacion appeared to be turning a corner in his musical and personal life when he was senselessly murdered by a trio of men in South Florida after a 2018 robbery attempt. The men were convicted of the murder in court on Thursday (April 6) with the three receiving sentences of life in prison.

NBC Miami was among several outlets reporting on the XXXTentacion murder trial where Dedrick Williams, Michael Boatwright, and Trayvon Newsome stood trial in a Broward County courthouse. According to the outlet, prosecutors did not seek the death penalty and Judge Michael Usan delivered a message to the men for carrying out the heinous crime.

“You’ll spend every hour and week and year in your cell. And one day you have passed on, and on that day you would’ve served your sentence,” Usan said.

The outlet also mentioned that the manager for XXXTentacion, Solomon Sobande, delivered a statement on behalf of the rapper’s family.

“This is a loss we will never truly recover from,” Sobande said. “We will never get to see Jahseh [Onfroy] live to his full potential, we will never get to watch him grow old, we will never get to watch him be a father.”

XXXTentacion’s grand aunt, Melody Jones, said she hoped that the men would receive the death penalty.

XXXTentacion was 20 at the time of his death.

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Photo: Source: Scott Dudelson / Getty

07 Apr 2023

Illenium & Nina Nesbitt’s Big ‘Little’ Hit Goes to No. 1 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay Chart

Illenium and Nina Nesbitt surge to No. 1 from No. 4 on Billboard’s Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart (dated April 8) with “Luv Me a Little.”

Up 45% in plays March 24-30, as the survey’s Greatest Gainer, the track is drawing core-dance airplay on SiriusXM’s BPM, Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel and iHeartRadio’s Evolution network, among other outlets, according to Luminate.

The track turns somber source material into a hit. Says Illenium, “This song’s about one-sided relationships and overinvesting in people who don’t give you that love back.”

Illenium, originally from Illinois, notches his fourth Dance/Mix Show Airplay No. 1. Nesbitt, from Scotland, leads the list for the first time.

Illenium’s three previous No. 1s, for a week each, on the chart: “Takeaway,” with The Chainsmokers and featuring Lennon Stella (November 2019); “Nightlight” (November 2020); and “Hearts on Fire,” with Dabin and LIGHTS (April 2021).

“Little” previews Illenium’s self-titled album, due April 28.

Other Hits To ‘Go Dancing’ To

As Illenium and Nesbitt’s “Love” crowns Dance/Mix Show Airplay, four other songs reach the top 10.

Frank Walker and Ella Henderson’s “I Go Dancing” bounds 11-4, marking the acts’ third and fourth top 10 each.

Taylor Swift’s “Lavender Haze” leaps 13-7, becoming her 10th top 10. “Anti-Hero,” the prior single from her latest album, Midnights, hit No. 3 in January, making the set her first with multiple top 10s since 1989, from 2014, generated five.

“Nothing in Common” becomes MOTi’s first Dance/Mix Show Airplay top 10, and featured artist’s Raphi second, jumping 19-9.

Plus, Icona Pop and Galantis up their top 10 counts to five and nine, respectively, as “I Want You” soars 25-10.

‘54’ From Bizarrap’s Studio

Meanwhile on Billboard’s streaming-, airplay- and sales-driven Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, Bizarrap and Arcangel’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 54” flies 15-8, marking the former’s third top 10 and the latter’s first. In its first full tracking week, the collaboration drew 3.2 million official U.S. streams.

Bizarrap’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” with Shakira, spends a 10th week at its No. 2 best on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. The series’ “Vol. 52,” with Quevedo, hit No. 4 last August.

“Vol. 54” concurrently starts on Hot Latin Songs at No. 34. “Vol. 53” ruled the chart for five weeks beginning in January, after “Vol. 52” hit No. 9 in November.

07 Apr 2023

Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Wants The Smoke With The Evil Empire In Disney+’s ‘Ahsoka’ Trailer

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Rosario Dawson

Source: Jesse Grant / Getty

Rejoice Star Wars fans for another spinoff series is upon us and this time it features a fan favorite character that’s been a hit with their fanbase for the past 15 years.

After making her live-action debut on The Mandalorian back in 2020, Ahsoka Tano is finally getting her own series on Disney+ and earlier today we received our first trailer starring the lightsaber wielding Jedi rebel. Starring Rosario Dawson as the titular character, the trailer to the upcoming series features all the futuristic action we’ve come to love from the Star Wars universe while introducing a few new, yet familiar faces such as Mary Elizabeth Winstead who’ll be taking on the role of beloved Star Wars character, Hera Syndulla.

According to Variety, Dawson has a special affinity for her Ahsoka Tano character and couldn’t be more honored to be portraying her to a fanbase that adores and respects everything that the female Jedi stands for.

“Embodying a character, literally, physically, every single day, has brought on a whole other level of experience to working on a project, and bringing a character to life,” Dawson said. “It’s changing me.”

She continued: “So often, I take pieces from a character, and then I inject so much of myself in to things of my own experience and what I have to draw from. But this is absolutely going in the other direction and she is so influencing me. It’s just been so powerful to be on that journey, to be taken along with it; it’s not something I could have hoped for, or dreamed of, so it’s really out of this world.”

Check out the trailer to Ahsoka below and let us know if you’ll be checking it out when it debuts on Disney+ this coming August in the comments section.



07 Apr 2023

Karol G Blasts ‘GQ Mexico’ for ‘Disrespectful’ Magazine Cover: ‘It Does Not Represent Me’

Karol G made it clear that she’s not happy with her latest magazine cover for GQ Mexico.

The Colombian star expressed her disappointment over the image that she says “does not represent me.” The two-photo Instagram post shared on April 6 features a selfie without makeup and the actual magazine cover. “I don’t even know to start this message,” she began her caption.

The artist went on to say that she was thankful to the magazine for giving her this opportunity — she was part of the brand’s inaugural Global Creativity Awards — but that after telling them that she was not comfortable with the “many” edits that they made to her cover, the magazine did nothing about it, she alleged.

“Today my GQ magazine cover was made public, a cover with an image that does not represent me. My face doesn’t look like that, my body doesn’t look like that and I feel very happy and comfortable with how I look naturally,” she stated. “I understand the repercussions this can have, but beyond feeling it’s disrespectful to me, it’s disrespectful to women who wake up looking to feel comfortable with themselves despite society’s stereotypes.”

The “Provenza” singer quickly received messages from fellow women artists congratulating her for taking a stand and calling out the magazine. “I love you. You are beautiful. Thank you for doing this for all of us,” Chiquis commented on the post.

Billboard has reached out to GQ for comment.

Karol G recently released her history-making Mañana Será Bonito, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 when it arrived in March. It became the first No. 1 for her on that tally, and the chart’s first No. 1 all-Spanish-language album by a woman artist. Karol G is set to headline Chicago’s Lollapalooza in August, where she will become the first woman Latin artist to top the bill for the festival.

See Karol G’s message about her GQ cover below:

07 Apr 2023

Drake Drops “Search & Rescue” Track Featuring Kim Kardashian Sample, Twitter Reacts

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2023 Dreamville Music Festival

Drake earned the reputation of being a calculated thinker in his music rollouts, and his latest single is causing a stir because of a famous voice that was sampled. In the new song “Search & Rescue,” Kim Kardashian’s voice is heard during the bridge of the track which has some on Twitter believing there is still some beef between Drake and Ye aka Kanye West.

Drake, fresh from rocking the Dreamville Festival stages in a standout performance packed with surprise guests, previously teased “Search & Rescue” on OVO Sound Radio which sparked a flurry of speculation among observers because of the Kardashian voice sample.

Now that the song is released in full, “Search & Rescue” is produced by Sad Pony and BYNX and sees Drizzy in a lovelorn state trying to make amends with a woman crooning sweet nothing such as “Take me off the map” and “I need someone to be patient with me” along with similar missives spread throughout.

Causing further discussion is the single’s cover art, which features Drake and a woman who curiously looks like Kardashian in motorcycle helmets largely obscuring their faces.

As most things are with the Canadian superstar, this could be either an amazing coincidence or another sly attempt of him showcasing his petty powers to the maximum. It was thought that whatever beef existed between Ye and Drake was settled after the pair rocked the “Free Larry Hoover” concert together and that still could be true. Still, Twitter has other ideas and we’ve got reactions from all sides below.

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Photo: Getty

07 Apr 2023

Friday Music Guide: New Music From Drake, Suga, Youngboy Never Broke Again & Nicki Minaj and More

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

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This week, Drake makes noise while awaiting rescue, Suga’s Agust D persona returns, and Youngboy Never Broke Again gets a high-wattage assist from Nicki Minaj. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Drake, “Search & Rescue” 

While Drake’s decision to sample a Kim Kardashian speech and crash it into the middle of “Search & Rescue” — along with using a superimposed image of the two of them together in matching motorcycle helmets — will likely dominate social chatter around the new single, “Search & Rescue” also marks an interesting sonic choice from the superstar, who pivots away from the cutthroat rapping heard on the 21 Savage collaborative project Her Loss to croon about yearning for uncomplicated love. Both the sampled audio and Drake’s audio suggest emotional incompletion after many years of mind-boggling commercial success, and paired with subtly detailed production from Sad Pony and BNYX, the vulnerability proves effective.

Suga (Agust D) feat. IU, “People Pt. 2” 

As the members of BTS continue rolling out solo projects, sometimes as their first officially released statements on their own, Suga’s upcoming D-Day has been a long time coming, as the end of his trilogy under the moniker Agust D (following 2016’s Agust D and 2020’s D-2). “People Pt. 2,” the sequel to one of D-2’s most fully realized pop-rap tracks, spins Suga’s narrative forward with a more complex blend of hip-hop, R&B and top 40 hooks: in between the swelling beauty of IU’s chorus, Suga reflects on connection and loss with a nimble vocal approach and an effortless sense of gravity.

Youngboy Never Broke Again feat. Nicki Minaj, “WTF” 

“Cross YoungBoy, then you cross the Queen,” Nicki Minaj declares to open her verse on “WTF,” a new team-up with Youngboy Never Broke Again that juxtaposes their rap methods but still places them squarely on the same side. After Youngboy’s voice warbles, squeals and unfurls in the same intoxicating manner as heard on his album I Rest My Case from earlier this year, Minaj plays the more traditional role until making a vocal run at the end of her verse; as one of hip-hop’s greats who has expanded the ways in which singing can be deployed in rap music, Minaj sounds right at home alongside Youngboy on “WTF.”

Jonas Brothers, “Waffle House”

When Jonas Brothers made their grand comeback in 2019 with the Hot 100-topping smash “Sucker” and reunion full-length Happiness Begins, they timed the rollout to the spring of that year, so that the single and album could be enjoyed all summer long. “Waffle House,” the trio’s new single which precedes next month’s The Album, could be destined for a similar warm-weather flare-up: the JoBros are locked in with a huge, giddy anthem here, singing about how they’ll always arrive at the right path as bright harmonies explode around them. It’s only April, but don’t be surprised to hear “Waffle House” on this year’s beach playlists.

NF, Hope 

Last week, NF announced an international tour that kicks off in July, runs for three months and will hit plenty of arenas along the way; in case anyone doubted the Michigan rapper and producer’s commercial appeal after becoming an underground titan over the years, that itinerary should put those worries to rest. New album Hope is less of a victory lap than another shot at telling his singular story: fusing elements of alternative rock, modern pop, classic soul and different eras of hip-hop, NF plays upon childhood nostalgia while pondering the state of the world and his own future.

Labrinth, “Never Felt So Alone” 

Did you recognize that voice harmonizing with Labrinth on his woozy new single “Never Felt So Alone”? That’s Billie Eilish, who reached out to the singer-songwriter expressing how much she loved the in-the-works track being produced by her brother Finneas before providing some lilting vocals and leads the second verse. “Never Felt So Alone” certainly speaks to Eilish’s experimental side: Labrinth has long been capable of classically crafted balladry, but here, his words are warped and processed, the production shuddering around his falsetto as he contemplates his solitude.

07 Apr 2023

Hulu Announces ‘Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told’ Documentary

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21 Savage's Freaknik22: The Sequel

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If you were outside in the 90’s, you no doubt attended or heard about Freaknik, the proudly Black spring break event that would go down in Atlanta. On Thursday, April 6, Hulu announced it’s releasing Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told, a documentary about the famed, or infamous, annual gathering of Black college students and partiers.

Variety reports that Hulu describes the doc as recounting “the rise and fall of a small Atlanta HBCU picnic that exploded into an influential street party and spotlighted ATL as a major cultural stage.

The legend goes that Freaknik, originally Freaknic, started as a gathering in an Atlanta park in the ’80’s. The Georgia city is the home to the HBCU’s of the Atlanta University Center (AUC) that include Morehouse, Spelman, Clark-Atlanta and Morris Brown. Soon enough, word got out of the annual event which quickly grew bigger and bigger, eventually becoming a whole weekend of festivities in April.

Add the burgeoning Atlanta Hip-Hop scene that included the Dungeon Family (OutKast, Goodie Mob) and So So Def Records and the legend only grew and perhaps got too big. The city of Atlanta essentially put the kibosh on Freaknic in 1999, citing safety concerns with politicians going so far as saying they would sue anyone organizing Freaknic events.

Speaking of So So Def, the label’s founder Jermaine Dupri is serving as one of the doc’s executive producers. The documentary seems to be in good hands with director P. Frank Williams and Luther Campbell also serving as executive producers, amongst others.

07 Apr 2023

John Lydon’s Wife Nora Forster Dies at 80 Following Alzheimer’s Battle

Former Sex Pistols singer John Lydon is mourning the death of his wife Nora Forster at age 80 following her long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. The news of Forster’s passing was shared on the Instagram feed of Lydon’s band Public Image Limited in a post that read, “Rest in Peace Nora Forster. It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that Nora Forster – John Lydon’s wife of nearly 5 decades – has passed away. Nora had been living with Alzheimer’s for several years. In which time John had become her full time carer.”

The punk icon and Forster were married for 44 years and Lydon had spent the past few years dedicating his public efforts to honoring his longtime love. Lydon, 66 — who was known as Johnny Rotten during his Pistols days — entered the Eurovision Song Contest earlier this year with a touching ballad, “Hawaii,” dedicated to his beloved.

“All journeys end/ Some begin again/ We’re here, you and me/ Hawaii/ Remember me,” Lydon sang over gently thrumming drums and a swaying arrangement in the song that failed to advance in the contest.

The notoriously irascible singer also dedicated his emotional run on The Masked Singer last year to the love of his life and told Billboard at the time that he agreed to slip into the Jester costume to make Nora smile.

“I thought it would be really good because it meant my lovely wife, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, might get a great sense of fun out of it if she managed to guess who it was,” he said. “We’ve lived together for 47 years, Nora and I, so she must have some clues as to who I am and what I can get up to.”

As for why he agreed to do the show after a lifetime of kicking against the mainstream, Lydon said it was love, after all. “This is a giggle, which I don’t mind sharing with the general public, but mostly because I want to see my wife happy,” he said. “Alzheimer’s is a very, very challenging illness. Any connection I can have to bring joy into her life I’m more than happy to do that. Those are my motives.”

According to the BBC Lydon met Forster — who came from a wealthy publishing family — at Vivienne Westwood and Pistol manager Malcolm McLaren’s punk shop Sex in London in 1975, just before the Pistols blew up. Their family ties to punk went deep, as Forster’s daughter from her first marriage to singer Frank Forster, Ariana, became better known as The Slits singer Ari Up; Ariana died from breast cancer in 2010 at age 48.

Earlier this year, Lydon told the Sunday Times that caring for his wife had elicited profound changes in him. “It’s hideous. So pernicious and vile to watch someone you love just slowly disappear,” he said, adding that their life together had been “worth every moment… No joy comes without pain, and boy do I know that now.”