Author: djfrosty
Page: 62
The 2025 edition of Iceland Airwaves has unveiled its first wave of artists set to perform in Reykjavík, Iceland, in November.
The list sees a wealth of emerging names, such as Domino signees Fat Dog, Manchester’s Antony Szmierek, singer-songwriter Jasmine.4.t and experimental pop act Ratbag.
Other artists set to appear at the festival include Babymorocco, Deadletter, Jelena Ciric and The Orchestra (For Now), who appeared in Billboard U.K.’s Ones to Watch list for 2025. (You can view the full lineup on the festival’s website.)
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
There will also be a strong presence of local talent, from Sunna Margrét to Milkywhale and Magnús Jóhann. A new pledge to support the future of Icelandic music will also see a handful of selected 2025 performing artists travel to Austin, Texas, in March to play at an exclusive SXSW showcase presented by Iceland Airwaves, Iceland Music, Business Iceland and Record in Iceland.
Weekend, single-day and conference passes are currently available through the festival’s official website, starting at 10.900 ISK ($78.55). There are also travel bundles available for those who would like to purchase flights and accommodation along with a festival ticket.
Trending on Billboard
Launched in 1999, Iceland Airwaves is a world-renowned music showcase. Over the years, the festival has welcomed the likes of Mac DeMarco, James Blake, Sufjan Stevens, Young Fathers, Sigrid and Florence + The Machine to Reykjavík.
Each November, global artists and industry converge in the Icelandic capital for three days of live performances, panels and workshops. The 2024 edition saw Shygirl, Bar Italia, Anish Kumar and Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul take to the stage, among others.
The festival is promoted and produced by the concert company Sena Live, with support by Iceland’s national airline and founding sponsor, Icelandair, and in cooperation with the City of Reykjavík.
See Iceland Airwaves’ lineup announcement of the first wave of artists below:
While the group waits to find out whether or not it will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Maná announced on Thursday (Feb. 27) a summer tour of festivals in Spain. The iconic Mexican band will visit six cities between June and July, where fans will be able to enjoy their […]
LISA was determined to fare better than BLACKPINK bandmate ROSÉ on Hot Ones, with the former appearing on the web series Thursday (Feb. 27) to take on the wings of death.
Her sit-down comes about three months after the “APT.” singer joined host Sean Evans for the hot-wing challenge, and LISA said that her bandmate had prepped her beforehand. “I did some homework,” the Thai rapper-singer told Evans. “I asked my friend, my teammate, Rosie. She was like, ‘It’s really spicy.’ She told me to take ice cream.”
As she answered questions about being multilingual, working with Rosalía on single “New Woman” and making her acting debut on the latest season of White Lotus while eating progressively tongue-numbing wings, LISA — though still having to dab her face and air out her tongue — fared better overall than ROSÉ. (The latter struggled quite a bit with the Scoville levels, which brought her to tears and led her to deliver a few meaningful last words to her dog, Hank, just in case she didn’t “survive.”)
Trending on Billboard
In fact, the “Lalisa” musician at one point jokingly boasted, “I’ll show Rosie that I’m not going to cry. I won’t cry. I’ll prove her wrong.”
The K-pop star’s appearance on the show comes one day ahead of her debut solo album, Alter Ego. Led by singles “Rockstar,” “Moonlit Floor (Kiss Me)” and “Born Again” with Doja Cat and RAYE, the Feb. 28-slated project finds LISA exploring five different sides of her personality expressed through characters named Roxi, Kiki, Vixi, Sunni and Speedi.
“It represents five characters of me as well, like I feel related with them,” she told Evans of the concept. “It feels like I can express myself in a different version of me, and it’s fun. I can’t wait for my fans to listen to this album, to really enjoy this album and see a different side of LISA.”
LISA also shared her unorthodox trick for handling spicy foods — not that she fell back on it during her Hot Ones appearance. “It’s a little too crazy, but it really helps when I have something too spicy,” she told Evans as one particularly hot wing sent her into a slight panic. “I have to take my saliva out, and I can be like, ‘Nothing happened!’ I want to do it now, but I know it’s going to be so bad on the camera. I should keep my image nice.”
Watch LISA’s Hot Ones episode above.
Forever No. 1 is a Billboard series that pays special tribute to the recently deceased artists who achieved the highest honor our charts have to offer — a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single — by taking an extended look back at the chart-topping songs that made them part of this exclusive club. Here, we honor Roberta Flack, who died on Feb. 24 at age 88, by looking at the singer’s last of three No. 1 hits as a recording artist: the lilting paean to romance, “Feel Like Makin’ Love.” (In case you missed it, here’s a look at her first No. 1, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and at her second No. 1, “Killing Me Softly With His Song.”
The year was 1974. President Richard Nixon had resigned and Gerald Ford stepped up to fill the vacancy. Muhammad Ali and George Foreman punched their way through the Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire. Stephen King published his debut novel Carrie, while the year also witnessed the birth of future Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio. And alongside various musical moments such as David Bowie launching his Diamond Dogs tour and Dolly Parton releasing the Jolene album, Roberta Flack set a record as the first female solo artist to reign at No. 1 on the Hot 100 within three consecutive years, 1972-1974, with “Feel Like Makin’ Love.”
Trending on Billboard
Flack first donned the Hot 100 crown with breakthrough hit “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” featured on her now platinum-certified 1969 debut album for Atlantic, First Take, and in the 1971 Clint Eastwood film Play Misty for Me. Coming off the top five pop and R&B chart success of the iconic duets album Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, Flack captured the singles throne once again in 1973 with her career-cementing ballad “Killing Me Softly With His Song” from her multiplatinum, similarly titled fourth solo album, Killing Me Softly. Then in 1974 Flack completed the No. 1 trifecta with “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” the first single from the same-titled fifth solo album released a year later.
As has been the case with various songs-turned-classics over the years, “Feel Like Makin’ Love” stemmed from a casual comment that immediately sparked the writer’s imagination. In this instance, veteran singer-songwriter Eugene McDaniels (best known for his 1961 top five Hot 100 hit “A Hundred Pounds of Clay,” as well as the jazz standard “Compared to What”) had invited his assistant Morgan Ames to join him and his family for a mini-vacation at his in-laws’ cabin in Lake Arrowhead, Calif. But after only one day, Ames decided to leave. As relayed in 1993’s The Billboard Book of Number One Rhythm & Blues Hits, when McDaniels asked why she was departing, Ames told him, “Gotta get back to town. I feel like makin’ love.” To which McDaniels replied, “’See ya!’ And [I] wrote the song. It took me 25 minutes.”
McDaniels and Flack had already collaborated before he brought “Feel” to her attention. She’d covered her mentor Les McCann’s aforementioned McDaniels-penned protest classic “Compared to What” on First Take as well as other McDaniels compositions such as “Reverend Lee” from second album Chapter Two. After McDaniels called her about “Feel,” Flack flew to Los Angeles and rode with him to Lake Arrowhead, where they worked on the song for a few days. Then Flack met up with McDaniels a couple of weeks later at Bell Sound Studios in New York. Hired for the three-hour recording session were noted musicians Bob James (piano), Idris Muhammad (drums), Gary King (bass) and Richie Resnicoff and Hugh McCracken (guitars).
Atlantic’s Joel Dorn, who had produced Flack’s earlier albums, did a remix of “Feel” before the single’s actual release. However, according to The Billboard Book, Flack rejected it. Instead, under the pseudonym Rubina Flake, she created another mix. It’s this version — also marking Flack’s debut as a producer — that was ultimately released.
Right from its opening strains, “Feel Like Makin’ Love” immediately captures the euphoria of being romanced and loved. The track’s mellow, cha-cha vibe subtly underscores the give-and-take inherent in that interplay, while Flack’s ethereal yet measured vocals indelibly outline the simple little moments that can relight Cupid’s flame. As with the song’s second verse, which begins: “When you talk to me/ When you’re moanin’ sweet and low …” then followed by the infectious, sing-along chorus: “That’s the time/ I feel like makin’ love to you/ That’s the time/ I feel like makin’ dreams come true.” Looking back, it’s also interesting to note that “Feel Like Makin’ Love” was released a year after Marvin Gaye’s similarly seductive (and also Hot 100-topping) “Let’s Get It On” signaled a societal shift, as it upended long-held taboos about blatant references to sex in music.
“Feel Like Makin’ Love” replaced John Denver’s “Annie’s Song” atop the Hot 100 on the chart dated August 10, 1974, before being pushed out the next week by Paper Lace’s “The Night Chicago Died.” addition to topping the Hot 100, “Feel Like Makin’ Love” spent five weeks and two weeks at No. 1, respectively, on Billboard’s R&B and Adult Contemporary charts. Nominated for three Grammy Awards — record of the year, song of the year and best female pop vocal performance — the song has since would go on to be covered by a who’s who of R&B and jazz artists over the decades, including D’Angelo, George Benson, Johnny Mathis and Gladys Knight & the Pips. (It also preceded Bad Company’s identically titled power ballad “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” which would become a Hot 100 top 10 hit and signature song for the classic rockers the following year.)
Hot 100
Billboard
“Feel” doubled as the title track of Flack’s fifth studio album. Released in 1975, the self-produced nine-track project also featured the Stevie Wonder-penned “I Can See the Sun in Late December.” And while the album reached No. 6 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 11 on Top Jazz Albums, it peaked at only No. 24 on the Billboard 200. Also of note: by the year of the album’s release, the only other women who had achieved three No. 1s on the Hot 100 were Cher, Connie Francis and Helen Reddy. But their No. 1s were not in consecutive years.
Flack went on to release another seminal album, 1977’s Blue Lights in the Basement. The set included the Grammy-nominated crossover hit “The Closer I Get to You” with Hathaway. That was followed three years later by her ninth studio album, Roberta Flack featuring Donny Hathaway. Originally intended as a second duets album by the pair, the project only features the posthumous vocals of Hathaway, who had died a year earlier.
By the mid-‘80s, however, Flack’s chart prominence was waning. Her last studio release was a Beatles cover album, 2012’s Let It Be Roberta. And while she had begun touring again in 2008, a stroke in early 2016 ended her performing career. Six years later, a spokesperson confirmed the singer had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). She died peacefully at 88 on Feb. 24, with no official cause of death disclosed.
Over the course of her innovative, multi-genre career, Flack scored a total of 18 Hot 100 hits and landed four albums in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 album charts, as well as more than two dozen charting hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. A four-time Grammy winner, she received the lifetime achievement awards from the Recording Academy in 2020 and the Jazz Foundation of America in 2018. Her additional accolades include a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Flack also never forgot her early beginnings as a teacher: She established the Roberta Flack Foundation in 2010 to help young people fulfill their dreams through education/mentorship and wrote the 2023 children’s book, The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music.
Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” rules the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart for a second week in a row, following his top-four sweep on the Feb. 22 tally with four of the top 10 on the March 1-dated survey.
The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the United States based on creations, video views and user engagement. The latest chart reflects activity accumulated Feb. 17-23. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50.
“Not Like Us,” which concurrently ranks at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 (39.2 million official U.S. streams, 20.7 million radio audience impressions, 16,000 downloads in the week ending Feb. 20, according to Luminate), maintains its reign as users continue to post footage of the song post-Super Bowl Halftime Show performance (Feb. 9). Uploads range from reactions to the song’s portion of the set to recreations of Lamar’s walk that kicks off the performance.
Trending on Billboard
In addition to usages of the original sound, many of the videos even utilize audio from the halftime show performance itself, with nearly 190,000 uploads using the NFL’s sound as of Feb. 27.
Though the other three songs featuring Lamar from Feb. 22’s top-four dominance on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 drop anywhere between one and four spots, they all remain in the chart’s top 10. Lamar’s “Luther,” with SZA, falls 2-3, while the AzChike-featuring “Peekaboo” drops 3-7 and SZA’s “30 for 30,” with Lamar, moves 8-4.
But a new challenger approaches Lamar on the March 1 survey in Imogen Heap’s “Headlock,” which leaps 24-2. Originally released as part of Heap’s 2005 album Speak for Yourself, the song has seen a major resurgence since the end of 2024 thanks initially to edits of clips from the video game Mouthwashing soundtracked by the song. A recent bass-shaking remix from ZAPIE has further boosted the tune, often with an accompanying dance trend.
“Headlock” concurrently ranks at No. 8 on the Hot Alternative Songs chart, its eighth-straight week at that position. It earned 6.87 million official U.S. streams in the tracking week ending Feb. 20.
BossMan Dlow’s “Shake Dat Ass (Twerk Song)” also reaches a new peak on the TikTok Billboard Top 50, jumping 8-5 in its 21st week on the tally. The song originally debuted last June and has reached new heights thanks to a remix featuring GloRilla that was released in December. Its trend highlights GloRilla’s “I see you lookin’, you must like me or somethin’/ I see you starin’ at that ass, must wanna bite it or somethin’” verse, generally done as a lip synch.
One other song besides “Headlock” hits the top 10 for the first time: Kimya Dawson’s “You Love Me,” which reaches No. 10 in its 26th week on the survey. That marks the longest trip to the top 10 in the chart’s history, surpassing the 19 weeks it took for Aphex Twin’s QKThr.”
@grandpakimyadawson If you make a Valentine’s Day video and use this song tag me so I can see it!!! ❤️🥰 PS Being on the chart is just really funny to me, and comments like “you are finally famous!” are weird. I don’t care about popularity. It’s just fun to feel like an auntie sitting at the kids table. ♬ You Love Me – Kimya Dawson
Originally debuting on the chart in August (and having been released on Dawson’s 2004 album Hidden Vagenda), the whistle-addled tune is often used in uploads that represent relationships, friendship or pet content.
The chart’s top debut of the week belongs to Drake, whose “Nokia” bows at No. 15, the lone premiere from $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, the rapper’s collaborative album with PARTYNEXTDOOR that concurrently starts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, as previously reported.
“Nokia” (a No. 10 debut on the Hot 100 dated March 1) is largely boosted on TikTok by uploads referencing the “Who’s callin’ my phone (Who’s callin’ that s–t?)” intro, with many users opting to make the song their phone’s ringtone, while others opt for a dance trend.
The March 1-dated TikTok Billboard Top 50 will mark the final chart to be presented on Billboard.com, as TikTok and Billboard’s partnership is coming to a close.
The day has arrived for Punjabi artist Karan’s brand new collaboration with OneRepublic, and Billboard has the exclusive first look at the music video for “Tell Me.” Karan spoke with Billboard‘s Lyndsey Havens about how amazing it was being on set with OneRepublic, saying to Ryan Tedder this was his favorite part: “I feel like […]
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: NurPhoto / Getty / PSVR 2
If you have been putting off getting a PSVR 2, this might be your moment to pull the trigger and hit the purchase button finally.
It’s no secret that the PSVR 2 didn’t sell like hotcakes, so we have reached the point in the device’s lifecycle where price drops are the next best option.
Beginning March 1, you can buy a base PSVR 2 version or Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle for $399. No, that’s not a typo; both versions cost the same.
The base version has a PSVR 2 headset, Sense controller, and stereo headphones. The Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle features all the previous listed plus a PlayStation Store voucher code to download the game.
PlayStation Says It’s Never Been A More Exciting Time To Get A PSVR 2
“With recently released hits like Alien: Rogue Incursion, Skydance’s Behemoth, and Metro Awakening VR, and exciting new game launches on the way including Aces of Thunder, Dreams of Another, Hitman World of Assassination, and The Midnight Walk, it’s never been a better time to jump into the action with PSVR 2,” Sony wrote in a blog post. “Using the PSVR 2 PC Adapter, players will also have access to browse, buy and play thousands of virtual reality games on Steam.”
The post continues “In addition, with a recent update to PS VR2, it now supports low-latency hand tracking, which allows developers to create games that tracks a player’s hand position and movement through the cameras embedded on the PS VR2 headset. Through this new feature, players will be able to experience intuitive controls in supported games such as Waltz of the Wizard.”
It remains to be seen whether this is the beginning of the end of the PSVR 2 and Sony’s last attempt to make VR a thing on PlayStation, but we are definitely not mad at this price drop.
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Source: Prince Williams / Getty
Ne-Yo and one of his many girlfriends are going viral again, this time about tattoos.
The R&B legend’s boo recently shared a pic on Instagram where she got Ne-Yo’s eyes inked on her forearm, captioning it “Daddy…”—talk about love on display! It’s a bold, intimate gesture, showing just how deep their connection runs. Getting your partner’s eyes tattooed on you is no small thing, and it’s clear she’s all in.
This isn’t the first time Ne-Yo has had one of his lovers get their love permanent with ink. Last December, another young lady posted a photo holding hands, both showing off matching emoji tattoos. They got a face with hearts, a lock and key, the 100 emoji, folded hands, and the infinity symbol. They called it their “half sleeve,” which really brings their bond to life in a creative way.
For Ne-Yo and his girl (or girls) tattoos are more than just body art—they’re a statement. It’s like another love language for some people and that language is etched into their skin. Whether it’s his eyes or the emoji sleeve, these tattoos are a permanent reminder of the love and loyalty they share. It’s all about making their connection last forever, one inked symbol at a time.
Ne-Yo has been making headlines lately due to his open polyamorous relationship, currently juggling four lovers and expressing his openness to adding more. This unconventional love life has sparked a lot of conversation, with fans and critics alike debating his approach to love and relationships.
LANCO’s 2017 No. 1 single, “Greatest Love Story,” ends with the protagonist on one knee, pleading, “Baby, say yes to me.”
The band saw it as an indication of an obvious future for the couple in question, but the group’s fans didn’t always reach the same conclusion.
“It blows my mind how many people are like, ‘Did she say yes? What happened?’ ” lead singer and songwriter Brandon Lancaster says today. “I didn’t know that needed to be answered. She did say yes. And if you’re interested, if the last thing you ever heard was the story of this guy trying to navigate love, he’s back. She did say yes, and this is the next journey that they’re on.”
“This” is “We Grew Up Together,” a father’s celebration of the child he produced and of the changes that parenting inspired in him. Those changes range from cutting back on alcohol — “7:00 a.m. with a little whiskey hangover and two babies crying is rough,” multi-instrumentalist Jared Hampton says — to improving a spiritual life.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“You definitely realize a new depth of need and a new depth of faith in God to help get you through those really tough times,” bassist Chandler Baldwin says. “It just unlocks a whole new level of our relationship with God.”
Appropriately, “We Grew Up Together” is the result of a songwriting collaboration between four of the five LANCO members and Cory Asbury, a Christian artist whose music has encompassed worship songs and country. The band had worked diligently on its second album — We’re Gonna Make It, released Jan. 17 by Riser House — but wanted to see what else might be possible for the project.
Trending on Billboard
“We were kind of done with the record, and I think we had a week before we were going to the studio to finish recording,” drummer Tripp Howell recalls. “We called him, like, ‘Hey, man, we got the songs for this record, but you want to try to get one more? Maybe there’s something magical out there.’ ”
Asbury, it turned out, unwittingly concocted the title for the song they’d hoped to find. Working at Hampton’s studio, they spent hours chasing another idea that never quite jelled. Lancaster and Asbury got involved in a conversation about their kids, and when Asbury mentioned that the oldest of his four children was around the legal driving age, Lancaster expressed surprise that Asbury had started having kids at an earlier age than the LANCO guys.
“We grew up together,” Asbury responded.
“All right,” Lancaster said. “That’s the song we’re writing.”
From there, the work went quickly as they attacked different parts of the song. “At any given time, people would be outside working on the chorus and the other people inside would be working on the verse,” Howell recalls. “I felt like this entire song was kind of piecing it together separately. I can remember Brandon walking out and coming back with half the chorus and being like, ‘What do y’all think about this?’ And it was like, ‘Oh, yeah. Let’s go.’ ”
The first two lines of that chorus — “You learned to walk/ I learned to walk in my faith” — set up the song’s central device, addressing the parallel ways in which father and child grew together. The core message — “God made you, you made me better” — appeared midway through that chorus, propelling the story toward the “grew up” hook.
“It’s this revelation that as someone is being born, there’s a new version of yourself that’s also being born,” Lancaster says. “There’s this process that’s happening with this new person coming in the world. You’re kind of becoming a new person as well.” They inserted a second parallel, based around “You learned to talk,” in the chorus, and employed a third — “You’ll learn to drive, I’ll drive you crazy” — for the bridge.
LANCO was set to fly out of Nashville that night, and the group was mentally exhausted after pushing through two songs, so there was some talk of waiting a day or two to develop a demo. But a couple of the guys feared they might forget it, so Hampton played acoustic guitar while Baldwin put down a vocal. The band turned in that recording to the Riser House A&R team, which forwarded it to producer Jared Conrad (Ian Munsick, Randall King) the night before the first of two days of recording sessions.
Conrad thought it was the best new song they had available, and he gave the group — including guitarist Tim Aven — his opinion during the first session on Aug. 30. As it happened, Asbury posted a piano/vocal video performance that same day and the public responded positively, reinforcing Conrad’s position. Conrad called steel guitarist Justin Schipper in to augment the band the next day at The Smoakstack, a studio loaded with guitars — and ceramic figures — in Nashville’s Berry Hill neighborhood.
“The [saying] ‘Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil’ — everywhere you look, there’s some kind of trinket or statue that’s doing that,” Baldwin says. “Whether it’s monkeys doing it, or frogs, [owner Paul Moak] obviously collects them, because they’re everywhere. Like, the second day, I realized, ‘Oh, there’s a lot of these.’ ”
Since they hadn’t had enough time to create an arrangement, they built it on the studio floor. Baldwin played acoustic guitar, Lancaster developed a melody for the opening instrumental riff, and Howell played a light train beat with brushes to propel the track forward. They loaded up the front end of the chorus with a bundle of instruments — most playing solid, long notes — to make the “We Grew Up Together” message bigger than the verses’ narrative.
“There’s a crazy amount of layers in the chorus,” Conrad says. “There’s maybe three different acoustic guitars, a mandolin, a banjo, two or three electrics and then three keyboards. But some of them are kind of keeping the rhythm. The banjo and mandolin are kind of moving stuff along.”
Roughly a week later, Lancaster cut his final vocal part at Conrad’s home studio, The Dining Room, though he struggled with it initially. They decided to move on to a different song, then came back at the end of the session to work again on “We Grew Up Together,” with Lancaster focused more on communicating the song’s emotion.
“He did two, maybe three passes,” Conrad remembers. “I don’t know what he tapped into, but it was just like this immediate energy shift of, ‘Oh, he’s just telling the story now. He’s not trying to sing it to us.’ ”
Riser House released “We Grew Up Together,” featuring Asbury on harmonies, to country radio on Jan. 27 through PlayMPE. It captures LANCO in a more adult phase than when “Greatest Love Story” won over listeners, but likely reflects changes in the audience just as much as in the band.
“It’s about where we’re at in life,” Hampton says. “Maybe that’s also where some of our fans are. Maybe they’ve kind of grown up with us and they’re also experiencing the same things that we’re experiencing. It’s those moments in between the chaos that these songs poke out and make an impact in people’s lives.”
Larry June and The Alchemist have been frequent collaborators over the years, but they brought an unlikely running mate into the mix, when joining forces with 2 Chainz earlier this month for Life Is Beautiful.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The Atlanta native carved out his legacy throttling trap beats, but he felt right at home dicing Alc’s placid production with edifying raps. The 11-track LP provided a serene expedition, matching the project’s nautical sun-kissed cover art, and gave the trio an early rap album of the year contender in what serves as Chainz’ first endeavor since leaving Def Jam after two decades.
“I’m actually more comfortable rapping than doing trap music. I think it was just time for me to show n—as how ill I was. I be doing other stuff based on data,” he tells Billboard after hitting the gym for a workout. “It don’t even feel like a stretch, but I think the body of work surprised a lot of people.”
Trending on Billboard
The Drench God continues to flex: “But this what I do, cuz. I rap with the best of em. Every n—a in the industry, your favorite rapper in the industry, whoever you can name, I got on a track and done held my own.”
2 Chainz, Larry and Alc hit the stage for the first time together during All-Star Weekend in June’s hometown of San Francisco, which led to Chainz proclaiming to the crowd, “This what a Grammy sound like.” When the dust settles, he expects the “Colossal” trio to be in the mix at next year’s Grammys for LIB.
“For me, I think it feels special,” Chainz adds. “It feels like something different than I put out into the world. That’s what gives me the confidence and the hope to think we’ll be suited and booted at the Grammys next year.”
Alchemist chimes in: “Every joint just kept getting better. I wanted to do a five-pack, and then it was clear once we did a few of them, it was like, ‘We would be cheating them if we only gave them five.’”
Check out the rest of our interview with the Life Is Beautiful threesome, as they go deep on “intelligent trapping,” today’s rap landscape, playing the album early for NBA star Kevin Durant and more.
When I pulled up to the San Francisco show for All-Star Weekend, Chainz, you said, “This [is] what a Grammy sound like.” Was that a goal for this project?
2 Chainz: I don’t think it’s ever like a goal.
Larry June: It ain’t no expectations. It’s just great music. This what a Grammy sound like. This what great music sound like — real organic.
The Alchemist: We play to win every time. I don’t think the winner wins a Grammy, but we’re competitive at the end of the day. This album checks a lot of boxes. We’re on the court, regardless with everybody else at the end of the day.
Alc, how was it for you meshing these styles right here?
The Alchemist: They had already mixed the drinks on a couple of other records. They had done some joints. To me, they sounded great together. Once we agreed to do it from the first joint we did, it was like, “Yup, this is gonna work.” It wasn’t even a question. Maybe on paper the styles is kinda different, but the content is not far off. For me, as a producer, it was fun because both of ’em were real loose with it. Like, “Yo, send the joints.” And they were smacking s–t out the park.
Larry, I feel like we’re in a genre that lusts over materialism and abundance — how do you think your approach cut through, to be more relatable?
Larry June: It’s like tapping into our real lifestyles with what we do. We don’t really think too much about it. We might talk our s–t about watches, cars and s–t here and there. We also give them the real. The things that could happen if this don’t work. You gotta put in work. You gotta give ’em a little bit of both, where it’s not so much money this, girl this — you gotta show ’em both sides and who you really are. I think that separates me and Chainz.
Chainz, did you feel creatively reinvigorated in a way getting out of your comfort zone or finding a different type of zone?
2 Chainz: I’m actually more comfortable rapping than doing trap music. For the most part, I think my peers in the industry knew what I could do, but I don’t think the fans knew what I could do. I feel like it gets overlooked because a n—a do be living a solitude life with his family, with his wife. I didn’t have to spin no opps block and I think n—as be having it f–ked up. And they have me f–ked up too. It was a good time to give the n—-a and have his campaign together. Been through the lifestyle and all that, but look where we are. It was refreshing for me, because a n—a can talk stupid and act stupid, but ain’t nothing like giving them that intelligent trapper.
The Alchemist: Sometimes you gotta come out of nowhere and just drop 60 or 70 on ’em, just to remind ’em. He been doing that. I knew. To me, it’s funny to see people catch up, but that’s what we did.
Larry June: That’s the rap game for you, though. They don’t pay attention to the real s–t until it’s right in their face.
2 Chainz: N—as get in denial and s–t.
Larry June: They get in denial. Come on, this n—a came on Kanye’s s–t and did stupid digits. What is you talking about?
2 Chainz: Every Ye verse I get on, I smack it. Don’t matter who. Let’s talk about it. Any Drake verse, I done smacked it. Eminem, smacked it. Kendrick, smacked it, Drizzy Drake, smacked it. Big Sean, smacked it. Tunechi, smacked it. All the good rappers with the good stuff, I like to dance with those guys as well.
Chainz, it felt like you were going by Toni now on the project. It felt intentionally done. Is this a new space in your career?
2 Chainz: Well, you know I’m a businessman as I speak about often and a lot of businesses rebrand themselves. For me, I look at some of the top guys in the industry like a Jay-Z/Hov or however names he got. You could look at Ye/Yeezy/Kanye. A lot of artists find ways to rebrand themselves without changing who they are. Toni comes from, we call cocaine Toni in the city of Atlanta. So my old [spot] at 5540, we were all Toni’s. Everybody was Toni. We would call each other Black Toni, Big Toni. That s–t just kinda stuck with me, from the n—as that used to hustle and hang out with me. When they see me, they be like, “What’s up, Toni?”
Larry, how was it performing in your own city during All-Star Weekend?
Larry June: It was great. Me and Chainz’ energy on stage is like we’ve been doing it for years. It was dope being able to be up there with him and show my city it’s possible. Everything’s natural. Me, Chainz and Alc, we laugh the whole time we’re kicking it. It felt like I been doing this s–t with this n—a for a long time. I don’t feel that way about a lot of people. Al will tell you, I don’t be in the studio doing s–t. I be on the bike, taking walks and s–t, f–king with my son. I do not pop up nowhere.
From everyone that meet him from my mom, to my dad and my close friends, they say the same thing: He just a real down-to-earth, solid dude. It just feel good. People are gonna talk about this album forever. I can tell you that for sure.
A record I wanted to get into was “Generation,” if you can talk about how that came together. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a record as far as taking responsibility for some of the vices that have plagued younger rappers.
2 Chainz: Yeah, it was a different track than the rest of the tracks or even tracks I normally hear from Al. He’ll tell you when I go to ’em I be wanting what they do real good. Al like, “I can do this s–t too.” I was like, “Okay.” Al would take a day or two to send the beat over. I already had some beats on him and I told my engineer, Nolan, “What we got on him?” I had already did a demo too it, but I knew I could do it harder if I locked in and wanted to make it one for the project.
The “Generation” idea came from, we’ve all been young before, and some of the youth thinking they started [all of it], and we the generation that put it in them. It was kinda one of them OGs callings. It was taking responsibility, but also some OG calling. You in the videos with double-cups, you know how many times [we done that]? I don’t ever wanna show my guns, but do you know how many guns I have? Bruh, you ain’t the only one. We just smarter now. That was my approach for the record.
The Alchemist: I think it was left open to interpretation the way I took it. That’s why it was so dope to me. It could go either way. It could be like, “My bad.” Or could’ve been like, “Yeah, motherf–ker, we the ones that did this.” It’s left for you to interpret, and that’s the dopest art to me. That’s why I thought it was fresh. That’s why we used the line before where the lady was talking to set it up.
Larry June: I think it shows a lot of growth too. Seeing someone that comes from that generation and overcame all that and doing way better. Owning multiple businesses and teaching the youth something else. When you young, you go through s–t and I feel like when you make it out the streets that’s a real gangsta. When you survive all that s–t and tell your kids all those stories, “We the generation. We was the one out there. Y’all new n—as on the internet. We was really moving.” When you living proof you still out here, and I’m being a father, opening up these businesses. It was still fun too.
Was there anything that you surprised each other with that you didn’t know about each other before while finishing the album or records were coming in?
Larry June: For me, it’s seeing how humble Chainz is. He’s really outside and showing up, no matter how big he is. He’s pulling up anywhere. It just felt like me. I’m the same way… when you see me, I’m the same person that you met 20 years ago type s–t. It was dope meeting him, how he’s so down-to-earth. Everybody say the same s–t.
The Alchemist: For me, I got a lot of people I work with all the time. This was really me and Chainz’ first time getting to put records together. For me, it’s so dope [to see] his pockets he rhymes in, where he rhymes his words, his punchlines are completely unique to any artist I’ve ever worked with. It was fun to me, because it was a whole different sauce. Even how he came in on “Epiphany.” He was rapping in different ways [than anyone who’s] ever approached my production. Chainz kind of led the pack, inspiring both of us to step it up. Larry was going crazy, doing s–t I never seen him do. Steel sharpens steel. The respect was there. It’s fun to work with someone who’s a perfectionist on that level.
2 Chainz: With Larry, I was already a fan, and try to put people on Larry. I remember being in Chicago or some s–t, and I ran into Cedric the Entertainer, and I ran into other comedians outside and they were smoking, [asking me] “Ay, what you listening to, 2 Chainz?” I told them, “Y’all need to get on Larry.” I made Cedric the Entertainer go [check that out]. My DJ put me on [Larry] and Preemo.
I’ll be in Miami in the club, and a n—a get tired of hearing the same s–t. Most DJs — anybody can DJ these days. They just playing a playlist. Dealing with Larry, and knowing how he move with the infrastructure — he got a great f–king team. A n—a like us just need people on the team that play their role real good and we could be the biggest and the best. We got the ambition. I saw that he got some great guys around him.
Al is so legendary. Al’s learning as I go. There be songs I been knew, but didn’t know Al had something to do with it. I meet all type of people. I just had a meeting in L.A. last week, and they mentioned the first rap group you been in. N—as like, “I went to school with Alc.” You know about his first rap group? So f–king legendary, man. I just love that s–t, man.
I gave [Kevin Durant] the album first. He came to Atlanta and I took him to my club. I told him, “I’m doing an album with Larry and Alchemist.” This boy go straight on, “That boy Alc hard, boy. You heard ’em rap. White boy!” This is KD. He gives me a whole run down — Beverly Hills, California. A whole rundown. But I ask Al, if you think you a East Coast or West Coast producer. This n—a KD ran that down. “He really like L.A. — he going crazy on me.” That was really cool to be a part of. A walking legend who’s still on his humble s–t and trying to grow and all that. This project was for maturity. It sounds like some mature s–t, but even the process and the people involved. Motivational s–t.
Alc, for you coming off “Meet the Grahams” and this project, do you feel like the spotlight’s been a little different on you?
2 Chainz: I told that n—a he gonna be pop, f–king with me. He gonna be on Taylor Swift’s new s–t with Travis Kelce in the video. Al’s gonna be doing the beat on Taylor’s new s–t. He out of here.
The Alchemist: My new manager is Bantonio, if you need to call me. I’m super blessed, and thankful for even having people’s attention. There’s a million people out there getting busy. I’m tied in with the greats. I keep my head down and stay cooking. I’m on the floor. Everyone who knows me, 7:30 in the morning, I’m right here making the beat. I’m still in it and I could have this reach. If I didn’t have access to people like Chainz, Larry and all my other friends, I would just be a guy with beats.
I feel blessed to have my friends and still have juice. I rush to the studio after the kids get up and go to school. I wanna keep the ball rolling. That’s how this album came about. I’m lucky to have good friends, and the results are projects like Life Is Beautiful.
What would you say your message to the rap game is with this project?
Larry June: Be yourself, man. Stay healthy. Stand on business, man. We talking real s–t that wasn’t necessarily cool to rap about. We talking about dropping our kids off at school and drinking a smoothie. And still hit the trap and bust dow if we need to. I hope this can help the next generation not feel like they have to be stuck in a box and one particular way. Do them. I think me and Chainz finna keep going. Life Is Beautiful. Just waking up every day, and being able to do it. No matter what you’re going through in life.
2 Chainz: Stay true, stay organic. We definitely gonna keep going. It feels good to have the people. I don’t even follow a lot of blogs, but this s–t is so [Kendrick Lamar] and Drake-driven. These n—as ain’t even said nothing. Every day it’s bloggers talking and yelling like we ain’t put out some real smoke and fire. “He should do that” — man you n—as sound like d–k smoking a– n—-s. We just put a project that the people [are championing]. Not no n—a getting paid to sit and talk to the chat or whatever them f–k them lame a– n—-s got going on. We got real people. This s–t affecting somebody’s life different. Hoe s–t with these bots, and I’m learning every day that they paying n—as to stream all these n—as. D–k smoking a— n—-s. We gonna see ’em.
Not so much the bloggers — y’all keep blogging, that’s how you get paid to feed your family. But as far as the artists, who I’m not calling d–k smokers, we gonna see them n—-s at the Grammys, because we put our heart into something that we really love.