Author: djfrosty
Page: 7
Canadian music producer Bob Ezrin is coming home.
Ezrin plans to renounce his U.S. citizenship. He’s made a full return to Canada from his most recent U.S. base, Nashville.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail‘s Brad Wheeler, Ezrin explains that the current polarized state of American politics and society is the driving force behind this move.
“In the last few years, it seems as if America is split in half,” Ezrin says. “The voices of a radical right have become so much louder. Conspiracy theories abound, people are armed to the teeth, and it’s just a different place than the place I went to.”
Already a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Ezrin was recently named as a recipient of the lifetime artistic achievement award by The Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation, honoured for a legendary discography that includes milestone albums by such international stars as Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, U2, Deep Purple, Rod Stewart, Andrea Bocelli, Taylor Swift, Alice Cooper, Nine Inch Nails, Kiss, Lou Reed and many more.
Ezrin and his family moved to Los Angeles from Toronto in 1985, and he became heavily involved in the community of that area. The following decade, he became a U.S. citizen in order to vote.
“I was very engaged, very committed,” he tells Wheeler. “I believed in the country and I believed in the American people, in spite of things like the Iraq War and the income inequality I saw growing, and in spite of the racism that was knitted into the fabric of American life. I still believed the goodness of the majority of Americans would prevail.”
His decision to move back to Canada predated Donald Trump’s inflammatory remarks about annexing this country and his decision to impose excessive trade tariffs, but Ezrin states, “All that underscored the rightness of what I’d decided to do,” he says. “If I’m going to spend time fighting the good fight anywhere, I should do it here.”
Even while spending much of his time in the U.S., Ezrin retained close ties to the Canadian music community. In addition to producing records by Canadian artists, he has contributed immensely to the cause of music education in Canada.
After his induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2004, he became involved with the MusiCounts charity, and he helped initiate the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award at the Junos. He and his wife Jan are also founding donors of the MusiCounts Leadership Circle.
In the U.S., Bob Ezrin teamed up with The Edge from U2 to co-found Music Rising, an initiative to replace musical instruments lost in natural disasters. He is also a board member of the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a national initiative that supports music in U.S. schools by donating musical instruments to under-funded music programs.
It is symbolically fitting that one of the blockbuster albums produced by Ezrin was Pink Floyd’s The Wall. With this decision to give up his American citizenship, he has now made it crystal clear which side of the symbolic Canada/U.S. wall he has chosen.
Even while spending much of his time in the U.S., Ezrin retained close ties to the Canadian music community. In addition to producing records by Canadian artists, he has contributed immensely to the cause of music education in Canada.
After his induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2004, he became involved with the MusiCounts charity, and he helped initiate the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award at the Junos. He and his wife Jan are also founding donors of the MusiCounts Leadership Circle.
In the U.S., Bob Ezrin teamed up with the Edge from U2 to co-found Music Rising, an initiative to replace musical instruments lost in natural disasters. He is also a board member of the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a national initiative that supports music in U.S. schools by donating musical instruments to under-funded music programs.
It is symbolically fitting that one of the blockbuster albums produced by Ezrin was Pink Floyd’s The Wall. With this decision to give up his American citizenship, he has now made it crystal clear which side of the symbolic Canada/U.S. wall he has chosen.
This article was originally published by Billboard Canada.
BINI released their new EP ‘BINIverse,’ and the girl group shares the inspiration behind it, what they’re looking forward to on tour, their love for LISA and more! What’s your favorite track off ‘BINIverse?’ Let us know in the comments! Tetris Kelly: So tell me about ‘BINIverse’ and how excited you guys were to release […]
The Billboard Live Stage is coming to Canada, and it will happen at the site of NXNE’s most beloved performances.
On June 12, 2025, Billboard Canada will present a performance of major chart-topping artists, culminating in a highly anticipated headlining performance by a global music icon. The show will take place at Sankofa Square (formerly Yonge-Dundas Square), the bustling public square at the heart of downtown Toronto.
It’s a fitting return to the place where NXNE presented some of its biggest shows on the festival’s 30th anniversary, and it marks the festival’s first show in partnership with Billboard Canada and its parent company, ArtsHouse Media Group.
“For 30 years, NXNE has been a defining force in Canada’s music landscape, championing talent and shaping the future of live performance,” said Amanda Dorenberg, CEO of ArtsHouse Media Group and Billboard Canada, in a statement. “As Billboard Canada and ArtsHouse Media Group continue to support music’s evolution, we’re proud to celebrate NXNE’s 30th anniversary with the Billboard Live Stage at Sankofa Square, further extending its legacy by giving artists a platform to reach new audiences and make a global impact.”
NXNE is no stranger to the square. It’s been the site of performances by massive acts including The National, The Flaming Lips, Sloan, multiple members of Wu-Tang Clan, Devo, Ludacris and many more, including a legendary blowout free public performance by Iggy Pop & The Stooges in 2010. The festival’s history goes way back to the opening of the public square, remembers co-founding NXNE president/CEO Michael Hollett.
“We were honoured to present the first ever concert in the Square when Gord Downie [of the Tragically Hip] played NXNE in 2003 and we had the biggest crowd ever for Iggy and the Stooges in 2010,” he says. “With Flaming Lips, St. Vincent, Raekwon and so many great shows, we have a great history at Yonge and Dundas, and we are thrilled to return on our 30th anniversary to the freshly named Sankofa Square to again bring incredible, free live music to the city and the world.”
The show will take place on Thursday (June 12). As previously announced, NXNE will also be home to this year’s Billboard Canada Power Players event.
NXNE has already unveiled its first wave of showcasing artists, which includes more than 100 emerging acts from Canada and across the globe. The festival will take over 23 venues throughout Toronto. – Richard Trapunski
≈
Drake & PARTYNEXTDOOR Debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Albums Chart with ‘$ome $exy $ongs 4 U’
Drake is back on top of the world — or, at least, the CN Tower.
The Toronto superstar and his collaborator PARTYNEXTDOOR have the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart dated March 1 with their new R&B album, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U.
It’s Drake’s first full-length release since his reputation took a beating during his beef with Kendrick Lamar in 2024. The latter went on to win record and song of the year at the 2025 Grammys for his Drake diss track “Not Like Us,” which went to No. 1 in Canada when he performed it at the Super Bowl halftime show.
The joint album has flooded the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 this week, with every single one of the album’s 21 songs charting on the tally, as they did on the U.S. Hot 100.
The upbeat flip phone nostalgia track “Nokia” is charting highest at No. 5, followed by the high energy (and disconcertingly titled) “Gimme A Hug” at No. 10.
While Drake is leading the albums chart, Kendrick has fallen off the top of the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, where his song “Not Like Us” rose to No. 1 for the first time last week. On the Hot 100 in the U.S., Kendrick Lamar’s SZA collab “Luther” has the top spot, but on the Canadian Hot 100 for the week dated March 1, No. 1 belongs to Bruno Mars and ROSÉ’s “APT” — a new peak for the song in its 18th week on the chart.
Read more on the Canadian charts here. – Rosie Long Decter
≈
Allison Russell Affirms the Power of Community at Montreal’s Folk Alliance International
For Allison Russell, the 37th Folk Alliance International conference was a homecoming.
The annual gathering, which takes place in a different city each year, took over Montreal’s downtown Sheraton Centre from Feb. 19 to 23.
The Nashville-based singer-songwriter gave the conference’s keynote presentation in conversation with NPR’s Ann Powers — which, for the Grammy-winning singer, meant returning to her hometown of Montreal. At a conference themed around the idea of illumination, Russell was a beacon of light.
Russell opened the keynote by sharing that as a teen, she would sleep in the pews of a cathedral less than a kilometre away from the conference centre where the gathering was held. Her high school was just down the road, too.
“We bring with us every version of ourselves,” Russell said. “All the ages of myself are so present in this town.”
But Montreal wasn’t the only home Russell returned to, as the conference has also been a constant for the singer-songwriter across more than two decades of her professional music career.
Speaking with Billboard Canada after the keynote, Russell recalls that her first Folk International Alliance conference was the 2001 edition in Vancouver. At the time, she was a roadie for Canadian folk group The Be Good Tanyas, who were having a breakout year.
“I was still in the closet as a songwriter,” she remembers.
That conference was where Russell would meet JT Nero — her partner in life, child-rearing and music-making. And now, 24 years later, she’s one of Canada’s most celebrated contemporary songwriters.
Russell was still coming down from Hadestown, the musical she’s been starring in on Broadway — 15 weeks, 8 shows a week, without missing a day — when she landed in Montreal. At the conference, she spoke about the danger that comes from living in denial of trauma and hardship on a micro and macro level.
“We are going through a phase of unfortunately a fascist resurfacing, rooted in fear, rooted in denialism, rooted in trying to hide the past or re-write it instead of simply facing it,” she said in her keynote. “Nothing can be changed unless it’s faced.”
She linked the current American administration to her performance in Hadestown, a musical about an authoritarian leader who builds a wall to keep newcomers out.
“These fearful demagogues who root their hoarding of power in fear, in othering, in scapegoating,” she said, “they are not originals. They are following a very, very boring and terrible playbook.”
Russell currently has a third solo album in the works, with singles coming soon. Titled In The Hour of Chaos, Russell says it’s an album for her community, inspired by mutual aid during tough times. In the studio with Nero and her Returner collaborators, she says she’s having a blast working on new material.
“It’s my community that has been uplifting and upholding me,” she says. “I hopefully do the same for them.”
Read more from Russell’s Folk Alliance International keynote and interview with Billboard Canada here. – RLD
HYBE shares closed the week up 4.9% to 245,500 won ($167.94) after the company teased the return of BTS in 2025 during its fourth-quarter earnings release on Tuesday (Feb. 25), effectively leading a strong week for K-pop stocks amid an overall down period for both music stocks and markets in general. Among other K-pop companies, YG Entertainment gained 8.8%, JYP Entertainment improved 2.4% and SM Entertainment rose 0.9%.
HYBE partially attributed its 38% decline in 2024 operating income to the BTS hiatus that began in 2023 when several of the group’s members were forced to step away to complete South Korea’s required military service. But the company said it believes operating profit will improve in 2025 “through the comeback of 21st-century icons BTS” and payoffs from investments in the company’s social media-superfan platform, Weverse.
The K-pop giant’s revenue increased 4% to $1.58 billion last year, with recorded music revenue, the company’s largest source of income, dipping 11.3% but concerts revenue jumping 25.6% as the number of performances rose from 125 in 2023 to 172 in 2024. HYBE’s South Korean labels generated 15% more streaming revenue internationally even as streaming fell 17% at home. Revenue from U.S. labels (Big Machine and Quality Control) fell 16%.
The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) had more losers than winners this week as it fell 2.3% to 2,613.79. Just seven of the index’s stocks finished in positive territory, and outside of K-pop stocks, none gained more than 2%.
Markets had a rough week owing to inflation and recession fears. Amidst talks of U.S. tariffs on foreign imports, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is now predicting U.S. gross domestic product, a measure of the country’s economic activity, will decline 1.5% in the first quarter. The S&P 500 finished the week down 1.0% to 5,954.44 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite, weighed down by Nvidia’s weaker-than-expected first-quarter guidance, fell 3.5% to 18,847.28. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was an outlier, gaining 1.7% to 8,809.74. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index sank 4.6% to 2,532.78. China’s SSE composite index dropped 1.7% to 3,320.90.
Live Nation shares fell 4.1% to $149.48 — the concert promoter’s second consecutive weekly decline. Wolfe Research lowered its Live Nation price target to $165 from $175 and Citigroup raised Live Nation to $175 from $163. Despite those declines, the company’s shares are up 10.6% year-to-date and 47.5% over the last 52 weeks.
Universal Music Group (UMG) and Warner Music Group (WMG) fell 4.2% and 4.2%, respectively, with UMG slated to report fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday (March 6). Sphere Entertainment Co., which reports quarterly earnings on Monday (March 3), dropped 7.0% to $46.90, lowering its year-to-date gain to 2.8%.
Chinese music streamer Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) fell 15.3% to $14.40. On Friday (Feb. 28), the company announced a change on its board of directors, as Matthew Yun Ming Cheng retired from the board and was replaced by Wai Yip Tsang, the current financial controller of Tencent Holdings. In announcing Tsang’s appointment, Cussion Pang, executive chairman of Tencent Music Entertainment, said Tsang’s “deep financial background, extensive experience and business insights will be a tremendous asset to TME.”
iHeartMedia shares fell 15.3% on Friday and ended the week down 16.1% following the company’s fourth-quarter earnings release on Thursday (Feb. 27). The radio company said it expects first-quarter revenue to fall in the low single digits and forecasts full-year revenue will be flat compared to 2024.
The largest decline of the week came from Cumulus Media, which fell 20.0% on Friday and finished the week down 19.1% after the radio company released fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday. Cumulus’ revenue fell 1.2% in the fourth quarter and was down 2.1% for the full year.
50 Cent fired back at Jim Jones claiming that he has better songs than most New York rappers. In a deleted post on Instagram, the Queens rapper and filmmaker called Jones “delusional” and brought up his infamous beef with rapper Tru Life. “Delusional,” wrote 50. “JoMo only got one song, Ballin written by Max B. […]
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: John Nacion / Getty
After touring Europe with 50 Cent and Tony Yayo, Uncle Murda is back on his Brooklyn bullsh*t and continuing to speak his truth regardless of who’s feelings he may hurt in the process.
Dropping off some new visuals to “If I Die,” Uncle Murda puts shows what happens when foo’s try to creep on him and much to the surprise and shock of a mourning family, he attends the funeral of said op on some wild disrespectful ish. Seems like an Uncle Murda thing to do.
Keeping with that G’d up vibe, 38 Spesh, Benny The Butcher and Che ‘Nior get their back-in-the-day on and in their clip to “Underestimated,” the trio use some kids as stand-ins for their verses as they reminisce about their lives growing up in the struggle and the ways they went about their childhoods.
It was pretty dope.
Check out the rest of today’s drops including work from G Herbo, Lithe, and more.
UNCLE MURDA – “IF I DIE”
38 SPESH FT. BENNY THE BUTCHER & CHE ‘NIOR – “UNDERESTIMATED”
G HERBO – “TRAFFIC”
LITHE – “IF I COULD”
VENGEANCE FT. BABY6IXO – “PAIN=RESPECT”
THE 9INE & TJTORRY – “RUDE BWOY”
DERAY – “HOPES N DREAMS”
ROY WOODS – “BRING IT TO THE ROOM”
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Dia Dipasupil / Getty
Diddy’s mother Janice Combs has been accused of fraud by a former Bad Boy Entertainment executive who says she inherited his share of the company.
As per HipHopDX, Kirk Burrowes, a founding partner in the label, has filed a legal complaint against Diddy’s mother. The talent manager says that he was forced to give up his 25% stake in the company under threats of violence when Diddy, who was accompanied by the label’s lawyer, allegedly walked into his office wielding a baseball bat. “By words and actions, Sean Combs and Kenneth Meiselas frightened and intimidated and assaulted plaintiff (Burrowes) and forced him to turn over his share certificate for 25 shares of Bad Boy Entertainment to Sean Combs,” the filing reads. According to exclusive statements made to The Daily Mail, he says Diddy then transferred that stake to his mother.
Janice Combs was not present during the alleged incident but when asked for advice on the matter she told Burrowes she had no idea the confrontation occurred. Kirk says otherwise and believes Diddy’s mother was in on it and even helped orchestrate it. Since being ousted from Bad Boy Entertainment Kirk Burrowes says he was eventually blackballed thus falling on hard times. “They blacklisted him from the music industry, blocked business opportunities, and destroyed his professional reputation, ensuring he would remain financially destitute and unable to reclaim what was rightfully his,” the lawsuit states. He also claims Janice organized “decades-long scheme of intimidation, violence, fraudulent misrepresentation and financial concealment.”
Not only did Burrowes serve as the Bad Boy Entertainment’s chief office but he is the godfather to Diddy’s first son Justin. He also claims he witnessed Diddy physically abuse his mother as well. Kirk Burrowes is seeking his original $100,000 investment into the company, his original 25% stake and additional damages.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Google / Pixel Watch 3
We truly appreciate it when a wearable has a function that could improve or save our lives. Case in point, Google’s Pixel Watch 3 has finally gotten FDA clearance for a first-of-its-kind loss-of-pulse feature.
Earlier this week, the FDA gave Google the green light to roll out the new loss-of-pulse feature on the Pixel Watch 3. As of Fall 2024, the feature is already available in the EU.
According to Google, the opt-in feature can “detect loss of pulse and prompt a call to emergency services to provide care if you are unresponsive,” turning your or your loved one’s Pixel Watch 3 into a potential lifesaving device.
Google says the feature will begin rolling out in the coming weeks.
Per the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation website, out-of-hospital-cardiac arrests account for nearly 356,000 deaths each year in the U.S., the rollout of the loss-of-pulse feature onto wearables could significantly reduce that number.
Loss of Pulse Detection is the latest addition to potentially lifesaving tools from Google. Here is how it all came together:
Powered by a multi-check, AI-based algorithm and the multipath heart rate sensor in Pixel Watch 3, the feature can identify a potential loss of pulse and prompt a call to emergency services if the user is unresponsive.
Google rigorously tested the algorithm over hundreds of thousands of hours of data to strike the right balance between sensitivity to an event and reducing the number of potential false notifications to emergency services.
They also collaborated with a diverse range of experts, from cardiologists and global resuscitation authorities to frontline EMS professionals, including dispatchers and paramedics, to ensure effectiveness and real-world applicability.
The Pixel Watch 3 is now available for $349.99 and comes in four color options. You can purchase one here.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Wilson Family / Courtesy of Wilson Family
A Southern University student and member of its “Human Jukebox” marching band is dead, allegedly after a fraternity ritual off-campus.
According to reports, a student at Southern University died after taking part in a fraternity-related ritual off-campus early Thursday morning (Feb. 27). The student was identified as Caleb Wilson of Kenner, Louisiana. The group had been gathered at the North Sherwood Forest Community Park, not far from the HBCU’s Baton Rouge campus, when Wilson collapsed during a ritual where participants were standing in line. He was pronounced dead at 3:15 a.m. after being brought to Baton Rouge General Hospital on Bluebonnet Boulevard, leading hospital authorities to call the police, as the death was “suspicious in nature.” Baton Rouge police are continuing to investigate the death, pending results from the autopsy.
Southern University’s Division of Student Affairs sent out a notice declaring that all new membership activities on campus including fraternities, sororities, and student clubs would be paused indefinitely until further notice. The directive specifically points to prohibiting any rushes or interest meetings, initiation processes, and any induction of new members. It has been alleged, but unconfirmed, that Wilson was pledging to the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. The fraternity, along with all the other D9 organizations, have long banned pledging or hazing as a requirement for entry.
“It is with profound sorrow that we extend our condolences on the passing of Caleb Wilson. His loss is deeply felt, and our hearts go out to his family, friends, and all who were touched by him,” said Ricky L. Lewis, Grand Basileus of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. in a statement shared on Friday, February 28. He added, “We have been informed that the local authorities have launched an investigation into this tragic incident, and we fully support their efforts to seek the truth. Currently, our foremost priority is standing in unwavering support of Caleb’s family. We have extended ourselves to them and are ready to assist in any way possible during this difficult time.”
The 20-year-old was a mechanical engineering student and trumpet player, affectionately nicknamed “Cheese” by fellow members of the Human Jukebox, the university’s famed marching band. “He was always smiling,” senior and bandmate Lonnie Robinson said of Wilson, who he first befriended at a summer band camp. “He just had the best sense of humor.”
Wilson’s father, Corey Wilson, is a high-ranking member of law enforcement who works part-time with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, having recently retired last year at the rank of sergeant. He also served as part of the security detail for New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans owner Gayle Benson.
Benson offered her condolences to the family in a statement: “This tragic loss has hit very close to my heart as his father (Sgt.) Corey Wilson has worked with our team for many years,” Benson said, adding: “I have a deep and personal connection to his family. We mourn with him today on this senseless passing, our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this heartbreaking loss.”
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: @jamesgunn / x
While the world awaits the premier of James Gunn’s highly anticipated Superman: Legacy, the man has a few other DC projects in the works to help round out his rebooted DC Universe. Yesterday (Feb. 27), he gave fans their first look at this upcoming HBO series, Lanterns.
Starring Aaron Pierre as John Stewart aka The Green Lantern, and Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan aka The Green Lantern (they’re both Green Lanterns), the series will center around the superheroes coming down to Earth to investigate a murder that took place in rural Nebraska where Jordan shows the rookie, Stewart, the Lantern ropes. While we can only imagine the murders have some kind of ties to their world (Lanterns ain’t coming to Earth to investigate a simple homicide charge), the eight-episode series promises “darker mysteries” and “reckonings” being discovered as the show goes along.
While we don’t know if this will have any ties to Superman: Legacy (which is set to premier this Summer), the show is definitely sparking interest in comic book fans who’ve long awaited to see a proper iteration of The Green Lantern on film (Ryan Reynold’s 2011 Green Lantern flick was utter trash).
HBO’s Lanterns is set to debut sometime in 2026 and with a little luck, maybe the DCU will be in a better place than it is today for fans to really enjoy what James Gunn and his team got cooking by then.
Check out the first image for the series below and let us know if you’ll be checking for it in the comments section.
https://x.com/JamesGunn/status/1895144056612687974