State Champ Radio Author: djfrosty
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Trending on Billboard Billboard has unveiled its ultimate list of the best rock bands of all time, but while the staff carefully considered each group’s merits as musical pioneers and cultural changemakers, not everyone is bound to be rocking with our choices. Part of that discordance might be the fact that as a genre, rock […]
Trending on Billboard Warner Music Group and Stability AI have formed a strategic partnership to advance what they’re calling “responsible AI in music creation.” The companies say the alliance, announced Wednesday (Nov. 19), is designed to help build an ethical music ecosystem that supports artists and songwriters. The initiative will focus on building professional-grade tools […]
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Jill Scott, John Legend and Earth, Wind & Fire are among the stars who will be performing at the inaugural HBCU AWAREFEST. Billed as “the largest HBCU fundraiser ever,” the festival — a new joint partnership between Live Nation Urban and Student Freedom Initiative — will be staged at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on March 26.
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In addition to the aforementioned acts, the lineup includes Common, GloRilla, Tems, Metro Boomin, Kirk Franklin and others. Chris Paul, Angel Reese, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and entrepreneur-philanthropist Robert F. Smith are among the guest speakers who will be participating.
“At Student Freedom Initiative, we are incredibly excited about the coalition and movement that we are building to end the student loan debt crisis for our nation’s HBCU students,” said Keith Shoates, president and CEO of SFI, in a statement. “In addition to these amazing performers, we have enlisted AWAREFEST Ambassadors, showing the breadth of our ecosystem of mission-aligned partners. These individuals will help to spread the word and share the urgency of our mission to tackle the racial wealth gap through the lens of education.”
Shawn Gee, president of Live Nation Urban, commented, “Live Nation Urban is committed to Black excellence in music and culture, and today we are proud to stand with our partners at Student Freedom Initiative to build a national movement of allies, artists, activists and students to support the institutions that are the foundation of our culture.”
Serving as a nationwide call to action, HBCU AWAREFEST will also present workshops and panel discussions about the serious issue of student loan debt. Funds raised by Live Nation Urban and Student Freedom Initiative will benefit SFI’s Student Freedom Loan Agreement, described as “an affordable, income-contingent funding alternative to Parent PLUS Loans.”
Tickets for HBCU AWAREFEST are available for presale now, and then go on sale Nov. 21 (10 a.m. ET). For tickets and additional information, visit the event’s website.
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The BMI Country Awards celebrated the top songwriters and music publishers driving the past year’s 50 most-performed songs in the country music genre during a star-studded celebration held Nov. 18 at BMI’s Nashville office. The evening was led by BMI president/CEO Mike O’Neill and hosted by BMI’s chief revenue and creative officer Mike Steinberg, as well as BMI Nashville vice president of creative Clay Bradley, who called the evening “the greatest parking lot party in the world.”
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Clint Black was celebrated for more than three decades of crafting songs that have considerably impacted country music, when he was presented with the BMI Icon Award.
Black has been affiliated with BMI since 1993 and has earned 20 BMI Country Awards during his career. He’s also earned 13 No. 1 Billboard Hot Country Songs chart hits, among them “Summer’s Comin’,” “Walkin’ Away,” “A Good Run of Back Luck,” and “When My Ship Comes In.” Black has been a writer on the majority of his biggest hits, while also etching a multi-faceted career that has included roles as a musician, actor and producer. He’s earned five ACM Awards, four CMA Awards and a Grammy.
An illustrious lineup of artists took part to honor Black throughout the night with their renditions of his songs. Midland performed “A Better Man,” while Jamey Johnson performed “Untanglin’ My Mind.”
“Thank you for such an indelible mark that you’ve left on music,” Johnson told Black.
Jamey Johnson performs onstage at the 2025 BMI Country Awards at BMI on Nov. 18, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Erika Goldring/Getty Images for BMI
Riley Green performed a rendition of “Killin’ Time,” while Randy Houser and Wynonna earned a standing ovation for their performance of “A Bad Goodbye,” which Wynonna and Black originally released in 1993.
Beyond the performances, other artists and music executives feted Black through video segments, including acclaimed journalist/author Robert K. Oermann, Sony Music Publishing Nashville CEO Rusty Gaston, artists Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, Bill Anderson, Luke Combs, late night television host Conan O’Brien and actors Billy Bob Thornton and Matthew McConaughey.
In a video tribute, Bryan said of Black’s 1989 Killin’ Time album, “It never left my stereo, my speakers… that album changed my life.”
Black attended the awards with his wife of 34 years, Lisa Hartman-Black, and their daughter Lily Pearl Black, who is following in her father’s footsteps as a singer-songwriter.
In accepting his BMI Icon Award, Black recalled how songwriting was a formative part of his childhood, and how his father showed him the liner notes on a Merle Haggard record. “He taught me how to read the liner notes. He’d say, ‘There’s the artist, there’s the songwriter, there’s the producer…’ He said, ‘It’s usually Billy Sherrill, if it’s good.’ From that point on, I wanted to be a songwriter. Being up here, standing up here, I can tell you, it’s the best job. I’m so grateful. To all of you who sang my songs to me tonight, it was a real treat and a real honor… I’m in such great company here tonight.”
Black also added, “You don’t do what we do without a long train of people behind you, pushing you up the hill. There have been a lot of people in my life who are as much responsible for this moment as I am…Seeing how many of my friends and fellow artists pitched in to make this special is truly humbling. It’s unexpected and that makes it twice as good.”
Charlie Handsome speaks onstage during the 2025 BMI Country Awards at BMI on Nov. 18, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Erika Goldring/Getty Images for BMI
The evening also celebrated 38 first-time award winners, among them Seth Ennis (for the Dylan Marlowe/Dylan Scott collab “Boys Back Home”), MacKenzie Carpenter (for Megan Moroney’s “I’m Not Pretty”), Thomas Eriksen (for Kane Brown’s “Miles On It”), Zach Top for his own hit “I Never Lie,” Tucker Wetmore for his hit “Wind Up Missin’ You,” Chase Matthew for his hit “Love You Again,” and Nevin Sastry for Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
Charlie Handsome took home BMI country songwriter of the year honors, for his work in crafting hit songs including “I Had Some Help,” “Love Somebody,” “Guy for That,” “This Town’s Been Too Good to Us,” and “Pour Me a Drink.”
“This is probably the first time a rap/hip-hop producer won songwriter of the year in country,” Handsome said, drawing cheers from the crowd. He later added, “I started keeping this circle around me. If you stick with the best writers you know, and work with people who are better than you, you can win.” He also praised many of his musical and industry cohorts, including Post Malone, Morgan Wallen, ERNEST and HARDY.
The Wallen/Post Malone collaboration “I Had Some Help,” which spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, was named song of the year. Co-writers on the song Ernest Keith Smith, Handsome, Hoskins, Wallen and Chandler Paul Walters were honored, as were the song’s publishers, Big Loud Mountain, Sony/ATV Songs LLC and Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
For a third consecutive year, Warner-Tamerlane was named BMI country publisher of the year. The company published 32 of the 50 most-performed songs of the year, among them Luke Bryan’s “Love You, Miss You, Mean It,” Zach Bryan’s “28,” “Tourniquet” and “Pink Skies,” the Ella Langley/Riley Green collaboration “You Look Like You Love Me,” Cody Johnson’s “Dirt Cheap,” Jelly Roll’s “Halfway to Hell,” “I Am Not Okay” and “Liar,” and Bailey Zimmerman’s “Holy Smokes.”
Randy Houser and Wynonna Judd perform onstage at the 2025 BMI Country Awards at BMI on Nov. 18, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Erika Goldring/Getty Images for BMI
Girlalala, a popular social media star, was shot and killed in a tragic incident over the weekend in Florida. Police arrested Girlalala’s boyfriend, and rapper JT gave funds to help with the funeral costs.
NBC Miami reports that Girlalala, a popular trans social media influencer, and her boyfriend, Shanoyd Whyte Jr., were reportedly arguing last Friday (November 14). Whyte reportedly flagged down authorities for help, and a firearm was found on the scene.
Girlalala’s legal name was Maurice Harrison. Whyte told detectives that his relationship with the influencer and hairstylist was contentious, leading to frequent arguments. According to the report, Harrison allegedly pulled Whyte’s hair, but it isn’t known why he decided to discharge his weapon.
As reported by TMZ, JT donated $5,000 to a GoFundMe created by the family of Harrison, who was a fan of the rapper.
Girlalala was 21.
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Photo: @_girlalalala / Instagram
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Usher is suing music producer Bryan-Michael Cox and other organizers of a failed Atlanta restaurant project, claiming in a new lawsuit that they still owe him $700,000 and misused money he lent to buy the property.
In a case filed last week in Georgia court and obtained by Billboard, the Atlanta superstar says he lent more than $1.7 to Cox and others to help purchase a building for “Homage ATL,” a high-end restaurant and lounge in the city’s tony Buckhead neighborhood.
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When the deal didn’t go through, Usher’s lawyers say he demanded his money back, but the Homage organizers only returned $1 million – because the rest had allegedly been used elsewhere without permission.
“Plaintiff loaned [the money] for the sole purpose of purchasing the Buckhead property,” Usher’s attorneys write. “The defendant investor group failed to purchase the Buckhead property and, instead, diverted the Raymond loan balance for [other] purposes.”
Cox is a well-known R&B producer who’s produced hits for Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey and Usher himself. The other defendants are alleged project partners Keith Thomas and Charles Hughes, as well as attorney Alcide Honoré and several companies allegedly tied to the project.
In a statement on Instagram, Cox seemed to pin the blame for the dispute on others: “My legal team has … advised me of a lawsuit involving a company where I am only a passive minority shareholder. I was not a participant in that business transaction and have no involvement in the ongoing legal process. While I’m unable to share more details right now, I want to make one thing absolutely clear: my 27-year friendship with @usher remains fully intact.”
But Usher’s lawyers don’t seem to be in a friendly mood. They claim Cox and the rest of the Homage organizers were “unjustly enriched” by using the remaining loan funds for other reasons, “which was to plaintiff’s detriment, damage, and expense.”
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Usher’s case claims that Cox, Hughes and Thomas approached him last year about the project, which was “intended to offer the public a unique dining lounge experience.” Though he says they wanted the locally-raised superstar to sign onto the project as a full-fledged partner, Usher says he “declined to become an investor” and instead opted merely to loan the group money to buy the restaurant’s location for more than $6 million.
As the “days and months passed” in early 2025, the two sides continued to negotiate a potential investment by Usher, but no deal was ever reached and the Buckhead property was never purchased. Eventually, the star says he demanded his money back – but that Honoré effectively told him that some of the funds had been used elsewhere.
“Honoré all but admitted that the Raymond loan balance was disbursed when he stated that returning that balance was ‘not that easy’ because plaintiff’s funds had been deployed for ‘other purposes’,” Usher’s attorneys write. “Honoré stated [that Usher] would be repaid once the Buckhead property was purchased and the property was refinanced, indicating that he apparently no longer had possession, custody, or control over the funds.”
Several of the lawsuit’s claims are aimed solely at Honoré, including breach of bailment – meaning he failed to return Usher’s property – as well as various other forms of wrongdoing, including negligence and breach of fiduciary duty. He did not return a request for comment. The case accuses the rest of the investors of breach of contract, unjust enrichment and keeping money that wasn’t theirs. Thomas and Hughes could not immediately be reached for comment.
Chip Somodevilla / Donald Trump / Greg Abbott
The Ls keep on coming for Donald Trump and his MAGA movement.
Knowing that momentum is not on the side of the GOP as we barrel towards the midterm elections, Donald Trump decided to do the one thing he falsely claims Democrats have been doing to him and rig the game to keep the House of Representatives and Senate Republican controlled throughout his disastrous second stint as President.
Trump hopped on the phone and proposed that Republican-led states should draw racially gerrymandered maps to pick up additional GOP seats, but now it seems that plan is epically blowing up in his face.
A three-judge panel, which features a judge he appointed, said nah to those maps, calling them an illegal racial gerrymander, delivering a massive blow to the GOP’s cheating plans.
Trump bootlicker, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, was the first to hop aboard Trump’s cheating train and quickly approved new maps that added more Republican voters to five Democratic-held congressional districts around Austin, Dallas, Houston, and South Texas.
How Democrats Responded To Republicans’ Cheating Efforts
Texas Democrats put up a good fight and opted to leave the state for about 2 weeks rather than participate in silencing their constituents.
Governor Gavin Newsom, who has been lighting Trump’s orange a** up by showing how ridiculous his behavior is on social media, responded to the GOP’s cheating by allowing California residents to vote on a measure calling for similar redistricting that would allow the Democrats to fight fire with fire; the measure soundly passed.
Of course, you know Trump and his administration will push for further litigation, and the DOJ, led by partisan hack Pam Bondi, has challenged the Texas district court’s decision, vowing to fight all the way to the Supreme Court.
Hilariously, the same Bondi called California’s legal vote on the matter nothing more than a “power grab” by Gavin Newsom.
Social media is using the moment to clown Trump and the GOP.
“Old Don bout to be BIG MAD! I couldn’t be happier for him and his flunky, Abbott,” wrote Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) on X, formerly Twitter.
Another user wrote, “The Democrats being the overwhelming winner of a redistricting war started by Trump is legitimately the funniest possible outcome.”
You can see more reactions below.
Northern Ireland rap trio Kneecap dropped a surprise drum & bass single, “No Comment,” on Tuesday (Nov. 18), a track the Belfast group said in an Instagram post is “all about the police witch-hunt against Mo Chara.”
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The latter reference is to the terrorism charge against MC Chara (born Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh), with the song taking on the legal action launched by British authorities against Chara that was thrown out of court in September on a technicality.
The provocative group added the messages, “Free Palestine. Free the 6 counties. F–k the peelers,” references, respectively, to the group’s support of the Palestinian people and advocacy for a Palestinian homeland, the slogan used by Irish nationalists in reference to six counties in Northern Ireland as part of a push to end British rule in the territory and a slang phrase denigrating the police.
The two-minute-long collaboration with DJ/producer Sub Focus was accompanied by cover art by enigmatic British street artist Banksy in the form of one of his signature murals in which a protestor is seen in shadow lying on the ground trying to protect himself from a judge threatening to hit him with a gavel.
The song’s mostly Irish-language lyrics hit on Chara’s legal entanglements with bars including, “It’s certain that we’re in the way/ In the West Bank and in Gaza/ We’ve made an example of you now, so silence Mo Chara/ That won’t ever happen,” as well as, “I’m misbehaving in badness/ Mo Chara’s wanted/ The air bubble bandit.” The song later takes on the paranoia that comes with sudden, controversial fame. “Have you ever been plastered on the news when you’ve got the heebie-jeebies?,” it continues, “Far from ideal/ Got death threats on my screen.”
In a statement to Pitchfork, the group said: “‘No Comment’ is all about getting harassed by the British state. Simple as. Us Irish are well used to it, been happening for centuries. Was a pleasure to work with Sub Focus on this, the man is a legend.”
Chara was charged in May with a terror offense for reportedly displaying the flag of the Lebanese Islamist political party and paramilitary group Hezbollah during a Nov. 2024 concert in London’s Kentish Town Forum, a group designated with terrorist status by the U.K. government. The charge was tossed out by a British judge in September, due to a technical error in the timing of when the charges were brought by London’s Metropolitan Police; Chara had steadfastly denied any wrongdoing in the case, though video footage from the show appeared to show him displaying a flag associated with Hezbollah.
The band continued to court controversy over the past year, including during their Coachella sets in April, which ended with a message that read: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F–k Israel; free Palestine.” The statement led to a number of prominent music industry figures, including Ozzy Osbourne manager Sharon Osborne, calling for them to be removed from the bill and for their work visas to be revoked.
The group has since been banned from several countries, including Hungary and Canada, over claims, respectively, that they pose a “national security threat” and that they made statements “that are contrary to Canadian values and laws.” They were also forced to cancel a run of shows in the U.S. and U.K. in the midst of the court case.Listen to “No Comment” below.
Source: Samuel Corum / Getty
A federal judge overseeing the Justice Department’s case against former FBI Director James Comey called out the largest DOJ for a “disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” in the process of securing an indictment.
According to the Associated Press, Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick noted that the DOJ didn’t even provide defense lawyers with all the grand jury materials from the case.
“Those problems, wrote Judge Fitzpatrick, include ‘fundamental misstatements of the law’ by a prosecutor to the grand jury that indicted Comey in September, the use of potentially privileged communications during the investigation and unexplained irregularities in the transcript of the grand jury proceedings,” AP reports.
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“The Court recognizes that the relief sought by the defense is rarely granted,” Fitzpatrick wrote. “However, the record points to a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps, missteps that led an FBI agent and a prosecutor to potentially undermine the integrity of the grand jury proceeding.”
Judge Fitzpatrick’s 24-page opinion is a literal smackdown to the Justice Department’s actions leading up to the Comey indictment. The opinion points to how the DOJ’s rush to indict lead to procedural missteps, which gives the appearance that the independent arm of the law is working lockstep with President Donald Trump for “reasons separate and apart from the substance of the disputed allegations against Comey,” AP notes.
The Comey case and a separate prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James shows that the Justice Department is being weaponized to attack Trump’s political opponents. Both Comey and James filed several motions to dismiss these cases before the trials even began, claiming that the vindictive nature of the cases and the prosecutor who filed them, Lindsey Halligan, wasn’t even appointed properly.
Halligan apparently had no prior prosecutorial experience before being appointed as the interim U.S. attorney. Critics argue that making her the sole prosecutor for such high-stakes cases raises serious questions about competence and legitimacy and who may be pulling the strings behind the scene.
A different judge is expected to decide whether Halligan’s appointment can be challenged.
Drake is prepping his ninth studio album, Iceman, and its release is highly anticipated considering the aftermath of his feud with Kendrick Lamar and the UMG record label. In a new interview, Drake explained his embrace of livestreams to roll out Iceman to the masses, using unconventional methods to drum up interest in the project.
Drake spoke exclusively with Complex to share details about his strategy for the upcoming Iceman drop and why he decided to take the marketing path he employed for the release. Taking to his YouTube page, the OVO honcho’s livestreams revealed some of the potential directions for the album, and he shared with the outlet when he was ready for a shift in promotion tactics.
“I was asked by a creative partner what I love and hate about rolling out an album,” Drake shared in an email statement. “I expressed that I love the opportunity for a clean slate of thoughts and excitement, and messaging when it comes to the music. What I hate is the redundancy of this formulaic approach that’s [ingrained] in our brains from early label days. Single, video, single, video, album cover post, etc.”
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The streams have been well-attended as far as numbers go, although some fans have expressed confusion over the practice considering Drake’s superstar status. But for someone who has been on top for years, the artist born Aubrey Graham is looking for a spark.
“I have been dying to act and have been dying for a challenge,” Drake added. “The game is extremely calm seas right now. Nobody is rocking any boat on the water and so once we discussed a live stream rollout, it just sounded like the perfect mix of risk and reward for me.”
Livestreaming is big business, as evidenced by the meteoric rise of stars like Kai Cenat, IShowSpeed, and PlaqueBoyMax, and Adin Ross, along with grizzled veterans of the space such as DJ Akademiks. Because many millions of views are for the taking in livestreaming, it makes sense Drake made his way to the arena to reach old and new fans.
“I think I am always capable of recognizing when things are shifting and not being weirdly affected by it, not being jealous, not being thirsty, just finding how I can shine light or co-exist or make it a part of our ecosystem,” Drake clarified regarding his entry point into streaming.
Iceman‘s release date has yet to be announced. Check out the full Complex piece here.
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Photo: Getty
