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07 Feb 2023

New York Students Served Racist Lunch of Chicken & Watermelon

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Cafeteria, Middle School, Public

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A food company publicly apologized after students at a school in upstate New York were served a racially insensitive lunch at the beginning of Black History Month.

According to reports, students at Nyack Middle School were served chicken and waffles with a side of watermelon last Wednesday (Feb. 1), the first day of Black History Month. The original menu offerings were supposed to be Philly cheesesteaks, broccoli and fresh fruit. Students including Honore Santiago spoke out about the meal. “I was questioning because they don’t usually give watermelon,” she said.

Principal David Johnson sent out a letter to parents apologizing for the situation. “I am disappointed that Aramark would serve items that differed from the published monthly menu, especially items that reinforce negative stereotypes concerning the African-American community,” the letter read.

Johnson called the menu items “insensitive.” He contacted the school’s food provider Aramark to voice his concern and to see if this situation can be avoided in the future. “If they had served chicken and waffles by itself, I don’t know that we would be having this conversation. But the moment you add in the watermelon, that changed the whole complexion, literally,” Wilbur Aldridge of the Nyack chapter of the NAACP said.

A spokesperson from Aramark released a statement, saying: “The situation at that middle school was our mistake and never should have happened. It stands in direct contrast to who we are as a company and our longstanding commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We have apologized for our mistake, and are working to determine how it happened and make sure it never happens again.”

The interim school superintendent, James Montesano, said that the company has committed to working with the school to have “workshops that are focused around the concept of equity and institutional racism,” involving their employees.

This wasn’t the first time that Aramark has wound up in a scandal along these lines. In 2018, students at New York University were served barbecued ribs, collard greens, cornbread, Kool-Aid and watermelon-flavored water during Black History Month. After a vocal backlash, the workers involved were fired and the company apologized. For Honore Santiago, she just has one thought about it all: “I just hope that they won’t do it again, at a different school or my school ever again.”

07 Feb 2023

Grammy Salute to Hip-Hop to Tape in August: What We Know About 50th-Anniversary Special

If the all-star salute to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop on the 65th annual Grammy Awards left you wanting more, the Grammys have more on the way. A two-hour, Grammy-branded special will tape on Aug. 11, which is the 50th anniversary (to the day!) of a back-to-school party in The Bronx that many point to as the beginning of hip-hop culture. CBS will broadcast the special later this year.

Questlove, who curated the 15-minute spot on Sunday’s Grammy telecast, will have a role in the special, though his exact title is to be determined. Jesse Collins, an executive producer of the Grammy telecast, will produce the special.

While many will assume that the success of the spot on the Grammy telecast led CBS to hurry a special into production, the special was in the works before anyone knew there would be a segment on the telecast, according to a source.

Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, hinted at the upcoming special in a statement announcing the telecast segment. “For five decades, Hip Hop has not only been a defining force in music, but a major influence on our culture,” he said. “Its contributions to art, fashion, sport, politics, and society cannot be overstated. I’m so proud that we are honoring it in such a spectacular way on the Grammy stage. It is just the beginning of our year-long celebration of this essential genre of music.”
 
Questlove has mentioned the upcoming special in his post-Grammy tweets. Talking about why certain artists were booked for the hip-hop tribute and others weren’t, he tweeted:

The hip-hop segment on the Grammy telecast, which featured three dozen rap acts, drew universal praise. Billboard’s Joe Lynch pegged it as the best performance on the telecast. “While it’s an impossible task to sum up 50 years of any genre (much less one that fought for decades to get a modicum of mainstream respect and eventually became the dominant genre in American music), this electrifying medley brought to vivid life the charged personalities, thumping grooves, deft deliveries and unpredictable flourishes that make hip-hop a global force.”

The segment was produced by Questlove, Collins, Patrick Menton of Fulwell 73, creative producer Fatima Robinson and Shawn Gee, Questlove’s manager and president of LNU. The segment is part of Paramount Global’s companywide initiative to honor the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. 

The Grammys have not always been hip-hop supporters. The Grammys didn’t have a dedicated category for rap or hip-hop until the 1988 awards, which were presented on Feb. 22, 1989. D.J. Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s genial pop hit “Parents Just Don’t Understand” was the first hip-hop recording to win a Grammy (best rap performance). But they weren’t invited to perform on the show that year.

A year later, on Feb. 21, 1990, the duo became the first hip-hop act to perform on the Grammys. “We’d like to dedicate this performance to all the rappers last year that stood with us and helped us to earn the right to be on this stage tonight,” Will Smith said before he and D.J. Jazzy Jeff launched into “I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson.”

Both Questlove and Collins are coming off major honors for their work. Questlove won both an Oscar (his first) and a Grammy (his sixth) in 2022 for directing the documentary Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). Collins won his first Primetime Emmy in 2022 as an executive producer of The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, which was voted outstanding variety special (live).

CBS, which has broadcast the Grammy telecast since 1973, will air a second Grammy-branded special this year – A Grammy Salute to The Beach Boys. The special, the latest in a series of “Grammy Salute” specials, will be taped on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

The Beach Boys and hip-hop are in very different musical worlds, of course, but it’s worth noting that the Beach Boys had a sizable hit in 1987 (No. 12 hit on the Hot 100) with a collab with the Brooklyn rap trio Fat Boys. The two groups teamed for a remake of The Surfaris’ 1963 classic “Wipeout.”

The fact that a quintessential American vocal group teamed with a rap group 36 years ago is more evidence, as if any more were needed, of hip-hop’s reach and endurance.

07 Feb 2023

John Legend Talks Stripping His ‘LEGEND’ Songs ‘Down to Their Essence’ for New Piano Album

When we first met John Legend as a solo artist, it was through the quiet 2005 piano ballad “Ordinary People” — so it only makes sense that, nearly two decades later, Legend is going back to basics for his next project, LEGEND (Solo Piano Version).

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The singer/songwriter took 10 songs from his most recent album, September’s LEGEND, and stripped them down to new piano versions, adding a pair of fresh covers to the Friday (Feb. 10) release. After years of performing with just a piano, Legend thought the idea made perfect sense.

“Half of my gigs are solo gigs. Even though we’ve done a huge production in Vegas, we’ve done big tours with like a nine-piece band all around the world, often a lot of my favorite shows are the ones where it’s just me and a piano,” he tells Katie & Keith on the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen below). “And I think my fans like it, because it strips the songs down to their essence and they hear my voice, the lyrics, the melodies really purely.”

One revelation in making the album was LEGEND‘s second single “Honey,” originally featuring brand-new Grammy winner Muni Long, which Legend decided to bump up to the piano project’s opening track.

“The one I changed from the original the most was ‘Honey,’” he says. “I made it more kind of slow, I did it without a tempo, and it’s just kind of free and a little more jazzy. And I loved doing that spin on the song. It’s much different than the original, and it feels really fresh and new.”

The two covers Legend recorded for the album are Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and Sade’s “By My Side,” which he’s planning to include on the setlist for his upcoming Feb. 13 and 14 pair of Valentine’s Day concerts at Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall.

“One of my managers loves Sade, and she suggested that I try a Sade song,” Legend tells the Pop Shop. “And she even suggested ‘By Your Side,’ among a few other ideas that she had. And that was the one that just stuck out to me and I just kept humming it in my head and just felt like, ‘I would feel really good singing that melody and those lyrics.’ And I sat at the piano and started working it out. And I just loved the feeling that it gave me. I love Sade anyway, but this song, particularly, I think is really special and beautiful. I love the sentiment of it, and I really loved performing it.”

Is Legend — who performed as a supporting act on Sade’s last tour in 2011 — impatiently waiting for Sade’s first album since 2010 Soldier of Love like most music fans? “You know she’s gonna take her time,” he laughs. “I literally was on the last tour. That was 12 years ago!”

While Legend would love to take his piano show to other venues besides the Walt Disney Concert Hall, he’s trying to stay close to home at the moment, with the Jan. 13 birth of his new baby Esti. “We’ll do more,” he promised. “It’s gonna be sporadic since we had a baby and I’m trying to work a little bit less. I’ll probably do occasional weekends where we’ll go off to different cities and do shows. But it won’t be kind of a steady tour.”

Legend is staying plenty busy around L.A. this week, performing at Friday night’s MusiCares Persons of the Year gala honoring Motown founder Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson, taping the Grammy Salute to the Beach Boys on Wednesday night (Feb. 8), and joining DJ Khaled, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross and Fridayy for a pre-taped Grammys-closing performance of their song of the year nominee “God Did.” The Pop Shop spoke to Legend ahead of Sunday’s Grammy Awards, when he marveled at the unifying powers of Khaled.

“Everyone is so gifted and so powerful as an artist in their own right,” he said. “And for us all to be together — that’s the genius of DJ Khaled. He’s really great at putting all of us together. He’s like the world’s greatest A&R for hip-hop. He’s such a great convener. He brings us all together and makes magic happen.”

Listen to the latest Pop Shop Podcast episode above for the rest of the conversation, including his thoughts on the final Voice season for Blake Shelton, who’s “been the heart and soul of the show for so long.”

Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how new songs from The Kid LAROI, Zach Bryan and Maggie Rogers, and P!nk all debut on the Billboard Hot 100, while TOMORROW X TOGETHER notches its first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and both Sam Smith and Lil Yachty bow in the top 10 with their latest releases.

Plus, we talk all about last Sunday’s Grammy Awards and this Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime spectacular, where Rihanna will headline the show.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

07 Feb 2023

Lil Yachty, JID, & CARDOGOTWINGS “Van Gogh,” Tony Yayo “Clown When You’re Down” & More | Daily Visuals 2.7.23

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BET Experience concert, Los Angeles, USA - 24 Jun 2017

Source: Variety / Getty

Lil Yachty’s has social media buzzing and singing his praises with his latest album, Let’s Start Here, and now that people are putting a little “respeck” on his name after years of clowning him, Yachty’s striking while the iron’s hot.

Linking up with JID and CARDOGOTWINGS for his visuals to “Van Gogh,” Yachty and company integrate some abstract art works into the video while they drop their bars to show and prove they’re artists to be reckoned with in 2023.

From the new generation to an OG, Tony Yayo’s dusted off his mic and come back with some new work in “Clown When You’re Down” in which the former G-Unit soldier takes to the slopes and has a helluva time on a snowmobile with his peoples in tow.

Check out the rest of today’s drops including work from Cosanotra Kidd, PROF featuring Redman, and more.

LIL YACHTY, JID & CARDOGOTWINGS – “VAN GOGH”



TONY YAYO – “CLOWN WHEN YOU’RE DOWN”



COSTANOSTRA KIDD – “SLEEP ON ME”



PROF FT. REDMAN – “PACK A LUNCH”



LIL ZAY OSAMA – “HUMBLE”



OXLADE FT. MAYORKUN – “BAD BOY”



EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL – “NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE”



LUH TYLER FT. TRAPLAND PAT – “CAN’T MOVE WRONG”



07 Feb 2023

Diplo Says Beyoncé ‘Deserves Her Flowers’ After Dance/Electronic Grammys Wins

Beyoncé made history at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night (Feb. 5), becoming the artist with the most awards in Grammy history. This year, the star won four awards, including two in the dance/electronic category.

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Diplo, who was also up for best dance/electronic recording and best dance/electronic music album at the ceremony, took to Instagram on Tuesday (Feb. 7) to reflect on dance music and Bey’s wins.

The DJ thanked the dance music community for “being my purpose in this life and shaping my career,” adding that the genre “has and will be the most Inclusive music of our generation,” with fans of different races, sexualities, socioeconomic backgrounds and ages all over the world. “You don’t need to be a savant or a great musician to be part of dance music u just have to love to move and have confidence,” he added.

As for the Grammys, Diplo celebrated the dance/electronic music categories being televised for the first time. “Beyoncé album was legendary (i’m a beyonce a stan remember I produced some classic dance songs for her like ’til the end of time’ and ‘girls run the world,’” he wrote. “What’s important to understand was that her intention was 100%. she did the work found the real producers and she made classics .. so she deserves her flowers . and when she won i was just proud to see my nomination on the screen in the huge arena..”

The post comes amid speculation that Diplo said “they bought that” when the camera panned to him at the Grammys after Beyoncé won the award. On Instagram, however, the producer revealed that he actually said, “I’m glad to be part of that.”

See his post below.

07 Feb 2023

Zach Bryan’s Twitter Account Seemingly Deactivated

Zach Bryan, fresh off a collaboration with Maggie Rogers and a nomination for best country solo performance at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, seemingly deactivated his Twitter account on Tuesday (Feb. 7).

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When fans attempt to visit his @zachlanebryan Twitter handle, a message pops up, saying, “This account doesn’t exist,” though his Instagram account is still active.

A rep for Bryan declined to comment on Bryan’s now nonexistent Twitter handle. The deleted Twitter page is interesting, as Bryan is known for having a constant, direct connection with his fans, primarily via social media platforms.

The release of “Dawns,” featuring Rogers, was a promise fulfilled to Bryan’s fans, after he had previously vowed to release the track if the Philadelphia Eagles won against the New York Giants; on Jan. 21, the Eagles triumphed over the Giants, 38-7, writing their ticket to Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Currently, Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” sits atop Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart for a sixth week, while his American Heartbreak album ranks at No. 2 on the Top Country Albums chart, just behind Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album.

He followed American Heartbreak with the EP Summertime Blues and the live album All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster (Live From Red Rocks). True to his album title, Bryan’s upcoming Burn, Burn, Burn Tour will be handled primarily via AXS. The tour launches May 10 at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va., and concludes at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Aug. 30 and includes stops in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and more.

07 Feb 2023

Madonna Blames ‘Ageism & Misogyny’ for Backlash About Her Appearance at 2023 Grammys

Madonna took the stage at the 2023 Grammy Awards on Sunday night (Feb. 5) to introduce Sam Smith and Kim Petras‘ performance of their Grammy-winning song, “Unholy,” applauding the duo for being daring, provocative, controversial and dangerous in music.

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However, her powerful speech was thrown to the side following the telecast, as the Internet began to criticize how different the pop icon looked, accusing the “Vogue” singer of botched plastic surgery and generally attacking her appearance.

In a new post shared to Instagram on Tuesday (Feb. 7), Madge fired back at the haters with a series of clips in which she’s seen smiling and partying at the awards show. “It was an honor for me to introduce Kim Petras and Sam Smith at the Grammys. I had wanted to give the last award which was Album of the year, but I thought it was more important that I present the first trans- woman performing at the Grammys— a History making moment!! And on top of that she won a Grammy,” Madonna wrote, before addressing the backlash.

“Many people chose to only talk about Close-up photos of me Taken with a long lens camera By a press photographer that Would distort anyone’s face!!” she wrote. “Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny That permeates the world we live in. A world that refuses to celebrate women pass the age of 45 And feels the need to punish her If she continues to be strong willed, hard-working and adventurous.”

Madonna went on to note that she has “never apologized” for her appearance, and she’s “not going to start,” before referencing Beyoncé’s Renaissance hit, “Break My Soul.” “I have been degraded by the media since the beginning of my career but I understand that this is all a test and I am happy to do the trailblazing so that all the women behind me can have an easier time in the years to come,” she wrote.

The icon concluded by fittingly writing, “Bow down b—-es!”

See her full post below.

07 Feb 2023

Diddy Enlists Montell Jordan, Kelis & More to Remake Their Biggest Hits for Uber One Super Bowl Commercial

Diddy doesn’t do jingles, but he sure knows how to make a hit song.

That’s why Uber One tapped the hip-hop/R&B chart-topper for its 2023 Super Bowl commercial, in which Diddy tries to help the food delivery membership service come up with a song sure to convert customers, with a little assistance from his musician friends.

A trio of executives with Uber One assures the producer that jingles are out of the question. “We’re talking about a hit song,” one of them says. “You want a hit?” Diddy replies, before “This Is How We Do It” singer Montell Jordan appears in the booth, singing a new Uber-fied version of his 1995 seven-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit.

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“Uber One can save you/ On rides and eats/ Yeah it’s kinda sweet,” he sings, before the next artist, Donna Lewis, takes her turn in the studio. “Uber One saves you forever/ Rides and eats, save on whatever,” she peacefully sings into the mic to the tune of her 1996 Hot 100 No. 2 track, “I Love You Always Forever.” Diddy approves, happily exclaiming, “OK, Donna!”

Kelis is the next artist to step into the studio, though she seems unimpressed that Diddy is getting a shape-up to his beard as she provides new lyrics to her 2003 Hot 100 top five hit “Milkshake.” “Your milkshakes cost way less than before/ This membership is better than yours,” she sings, before Diddy asks his barber if he’s a fan of milkshakes.

It isn’t until “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” singers Ylvis cause chaos in the booth that Diddy brings in the big guns to the studio: “What Is Love” singer Haddaway, who breathes new life into his signature song for Uber One. “Uber One/ Uber One saves me, saves me/ Way more,” he croons, much to Diddy’s delight — but sadly, not the Uber One executives.

Watch Diddy’s Super Bowl commercial for Uber One in the video above.

07 Feb 2023

Raedio Partners With Honda on New ‘Hot 16’ Music Competition Series

Raedio, Issa Rae‘s “audio everywhere company,” and Honda are partnering to create a new music competition series to discover and develop new artists and take their emerging careers to new levels.

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Breaking Out: An Artist & Discovery Platform contains multiple endeavors, and its first one launched Monday, while others will be announced in the coming months. Honda Hot 16 is a unique freestyle competition where Raedio and Honda are in search for the next breakout star.

“Partnering with Honda to discover new talent will redefine how audiences engage with artists and music experiences,” said Clarissa Reformina, Raedio senior vp of strategy, in an emailed statement. “This collaboration is aligned with Raedio’s mission to serve creators first with new platforms and produce culturally relevant music, digital content and podcasts.”

Artists can text “HONDA HOT 16” to 310-356-9895 to learn how to upload their freestyle in order to be considered in the competition, or they can visit theraedio.com/raedioxhonda. Artists can then download the #HondaHot16 beat provided by Raedio, record their best 16 bars over it and submit it. The top three winners of the 16-bar competition will be announced on March 1, 2023.

The first-place winner will receive an all-expenses paid trip to Los Angeles in the spring and the opportunity to be the opening performer for a very special headlining act at the Roxy Theater. The second and third place winners will have the chance to win a one-on-one meeting with a Raedio executive, studio time with an engineer, Bluetooth audio devices and cash gift cards.

The competition series was also launched to help expand Honda’s music programming, which includes the Civic Tour that has provided more than five million fans with exclusive, interactive concert experiences and Honda Stage partnership with Billboard that brings music’s up-and-coming stars to the stage and their stories to life.

“Honda’s collaboration with Raedio advances our commitment to helping artists on the rise by providing them with a platform to pursue their dreams,” added Phil Hruska, senior marketing manager at Honda. “This latest Honda music initiative also enables us to build new relationships with young, multicultural customers and introduce them to fun-to-drive Honda vehicles.”