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ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard will be absent from the group’s upcoming tour plans, citing a “health issue” as the reason for his newly-announced leave of absence.
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The Texas trio announced the news on Saturday (March 15), explaining that Beard would be absent from the group’s current Elevation tour due to the need to undergo an unspecified health procedure.
“Shelter Music Group, ZZ Top’s management, has announced the band’s drummer, Mr. Frank Beard, has temporarily stepped away from the current tour to attend a health issue requiring his focus in the near term,” a social media post from the band read.
“Beard, along with fellow ZZ Top members Billy F Gibbons and Elwood Francis, presently on the Elevation tour since March 5, have engaged fellow Texan and longtime tech member, percussionist and drummer, John Douglas, for the interim.”
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The post noted that Douglas has “maintained a close relationship with Beard and the bandmates,” and had even sat in for Beard during a Paris performance in October 2002 when he underwent an emergency appendectomy.
“He is looking forward to a speedy recovery,” the post concluded.
ZZ Top launched their Elevation tour in October 2024, and toured throughout the U.S. until November. The trek resumed on March 5, and will see the group performing across the country until April, when they visit Australia and New Zealand. Further North American dates will be held upon their return, though it’s currently unknown when Beard will resume his place behind the kit.
Beard has been the drummer of ZZ Top since 1969, when he took over from co-founder Dan Mitchell. Alongside vocalist and guitarist Billy Gibbons, Mitchell and bassist Lanier Greig had founded the band that same year.
Following Grieg’s replacement by Billy Ethridge, Dusty Hill assumed the role of bassist in 1970, with their lineup remaining unchanged for 51 years until Hill’s death at 72 in 2021. Elwood Francis has since served as the group’s bassist.
The group have not released a studio album since 2012’s La Futura, though Gibbons has claimed a new record featuring contributions from the late Hill is in the works.
Taking inspiration from The Cure’s Robert Smith, Neil Young has informed fans that he will no longer be offering ‘Platinum’ tickets to his upcoming shows.
Young’s change in ticketing attitudes follows on from an interview Smith conducted with The Times in October 2024. The interview occurred just weeks after Oasis had put the controversial topic of dynamic ticket pricing into the headlines, and Smith had attempted to keep tickets as low as possible – often as low as $20 – for their U.S. tour dates.
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“I was shocked by how much profit is made [by ticketing],” Smith said. “I thought, ‘We don’t need to make all this money.’ My fights with the label have all been about how we can price things lower. The only reason you’d charge more for a gig is if you were worried that it was the last time you would be able to sell a T-shirt.”
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“It was easy to set ticket prices, but you need to be pig-headed,” he added. “We didn’t allow dynamic pricing because it’s a scam that would disappear if every artist said, ‘I don’t want that!’ But most artists hide behind management. ‘Oh, we didn’t know,’ they say. They all know. If they say they do not, they’re either f–king stupid or lying. It’s just driven by greed.”
Now, Young has taken to his own Neil Young Archives website to point to Smith’s 2024 comments, explaining how the conversation inspired him to make his own changes in terms of ticketing to his shows.
“It’s the story of the bad thing that has happened to concerts world-wide. It’s this story that really helped me to realize that I have a choice to make and can make a difference for my music loving friends,” Young explained. “My management and agent have always tried to cover my back on the road, getting me the best deals they could.
“They have tried to protect me and my fans from the scalpers who buy the best tickets and resell them at huge increases for their own profits. Ticketmaster’s High priced Platinum tickets were introduced to the areas where scalpers were buying the most tickets for resale. The money went to me. That did not feel right.”
As Young concluded, he alerted his fans to the fact that ‘Platinum’ tickets will no longer be available for his upcoming performances in the near future.
“I have decided to let the people work this out,” Young added. “Buy aggressively when the tickets come out or tickets will cost a lot more in a secondary market.”
Young’s upcoming tour will see him accompanied on all shows by the Chrome Hearts band, featuring his longtime collaborator keyboardist/organist Spooner Oldham, as well as Promise of the Real members Micah Nelson (guitar/vocals), Corey McCormick (bass) and Anthony LoGerfo (drums). The group released the grungy anthem “Big Change” in January. Young debuted the Chrome Hearts band last year and has said an album from the group is tentatively slated for release in April.
Rolling Loud California, day one was packed with big performances and vibrant energy. From interviewing some of the stars slated to perform to bringing you highlights from the day’s shows, keep watching as we recap everything you may have missed on day one!
What did you think of Rolling Loud day one? Let us know in the comments below!
Tetris Kelly:
Billboard is at Rolling Loud Los Angeles, and from the vibes to the interviews with the artists and seeing them on stage, we take you there in “Billboard All Access.”
Cash Cobain:
Rolling Loud is from California. I see the palm trees. It’s beautiful. It’s amazing. I’m about to go perform right now, so, you know what I’m saying, it’s feeling good right now.
Tetris Kelly:
Before making it to the headliners, we had to check out the vibes at Hollywood Park, and fans were taking advantage of actual carnival rides, in addition to getting their hair and looks on point at multiple activations with tattoos and more. And don’t forget karaoke. There were also real artists backstage before their big sets.
DDG:
I just want to be one of the ones that come out here one day. And you know, I’m not pulling up at three o’clock, I’m pulling up at the SoFi Stadium doing — hell out of my own s—. You know what I mean?
Tetris Kelly:
Also you’re on the track with headliner Playboi Carti, man. Billboard ranked it the eighth best song out of the 30 songs. So how was it to work with my boy?
Cash Cobain:
Shout out to “FINE S—” man. For sure.
Tetris Kelly:
How is it to see, like, your peers out in the crowd and stuff at performances?
Derrick Milano:
It’s like you see them in the elements, and you see all the work and the hard work that’s put in, and you just appreciate who they are as artists and what you do.
Tetris Kelly:
And do you actually care about any of the other headliners that’s played, like anybody’s set you are trying to see before you bounce out tonight?
Keep watching for more!
LE SSERAFIM‘s HOT tops this week’s new music poll.
Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (March 14) on Billboard, choosing the South Korean pop group’s fresh EP as their favorite new music release of the past week.
This week’s poll was brimming with competition, but the latest from LE SSERAFIM had supporters swooping in with 86% of the vote. Voters this week chose HOT over new music releases from an impressive pool of music talent — with artists in the mix including Chappell Roan, Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco, Playboi Carti, Haim, Sleep Token, Lil Nas X, Lizzo, Peso Pluma and Charley Crockett.
HOT is LE SSERAFIM’s fifth mini album, the follow-up to last year’s CRAZY, which reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200, their highest spot on the all-genre albums chart to date.
The girl group’s HOT set — featuring five songs: title track “Hot,” plus “Born Fire,” “Come Over,” “Ash” and “So Cynical (Badum)” — dropped on March 14, along with an official music video for “Hot” (seen above). Fans first got a teaser about the project from singers Kim Chaewon, Sakura, Huh Yunjin, Kazuha and Hong Eunchae in February.
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In April, they’ll head out on the Easy Crazy Hot Tour in support of their recent EPs, with concert dates currently scheduled in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, the Phillippines, Thailand and Singapore.
Among the new music trailing behind HOT on the poll this week are Chappell Roan’s new single, “The Giver,” with 4% of the vote; Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco’s latest track, “Sunset Blvd,” with 2% of the vote, and Playboi Carti’s Music album, also with 2% of the vote.
See the final results of this week’s poll below.
Take Our Poll
The celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Vive Latino festival turned into a big party on Saturday (March 15), with rhythms like rock and cumbia taking center stage through the voices of some of their greatest exponents, including Mexican bands Caifanes, Los Ángeles Azules, and El Gran Silencio.
On its first day of activities, the musical gathering, which returned after a year to its original venue at Estadio GNP Seguros (formerly Foro Sol), brought together 80,000 people, according to promoter Ocesa.
One of the most anticipated and applauded performances was by the legendary group Los Ángeles Azules, who made a triumphant return to the popular music festival 12 years after their memorable debut. Meanwhile, Caifanes added a social touch by addressing themes such as the crisis of femicides in Mexico and migration during their main stage performance.
There were big surprises, like the highly-awaited debut of emerging artist Macario Martínez at Vive Latino. In addition to his solo act at the Carpa Intolerante stage, he was invited to perform alongside the band Little Jesus. Emotional highlights of the marathon of a day included the appearance of Molotov‘s guitarist and vocalist, Tito Fuentes, who joined his bandmates near the end of their set to celebrate the band’s 30th anniversary, after previously announcing he was taking a health-related hiatus.
Emmanuel “Meme” del Real, keyboardist of the popular band Café Tacvba, also delivered one of the most special performances, showcasing new songs from his solo repertoire. Another standout moment came from the German band Scorpions, who fulfilled a promise to their Mexican fans after canceling their performance at the festival last year.
Day one of the festival also saw appearances from Spanish and English-speaking acts, including Nortec: Bostich + Fussible, Él Mató a Un Policía Motorizado, Foster the People, The Guapos, Caloncho and Jesse Baez.
On Sunday (March 16), the festival continues with performances by Zoé, Mon Laferte, Aterciopelados, Sepultura, Keane, Draco Rosa, Los K’comxtles, Eden Muñoz, Kany García, Porter, Rüfüs Du Sol and Cuarteto De Nos, among others. For the second year in a row, and thanks to a partnership with Amazon Music, concerts can be streamed for free through the digital platform.
Below are some of our favorite moments from the first day of the 2025 Vive Latino festival, as it celebrates its first quarter-century.
Caifanes for Women & Immigrants
A$AP Rocky made a spectacular entrance at Rolling Loud California 2025.
Taking a page from Travis Scott’s playbook, the 36-year-old Harlem rapper made a dramatic entrance for his headlining set at the music festival on Saturday (March 15), descending onto the stage from a helicopter that hovered over the massive crowd at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif.
Seated in the black chopper, which was emblazoned with the title of his long-awaited upcoming album, Don’t Be Dumb, Rocky performed an unreleased track, rumored to be called “All Black (Stole Ya Flow).” He first debuted the song at Rolling Loud Miami 2023.
Once lowered onto the stage, the hip-hop star launched into a high-energy set that included hits like “A$AP Forever,” “RIOT (Rowdy Pipe’n)” and “Tailor Swif,” as well as the debut of another unreleased song, the Metro Boomin-produced “Your Honor.” Rocky also invited Skepta on stage for a live duet of 2018’s “Praise the Lord (Da Shine)” before closing out his performance with “Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2.”
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With his partner Rihanna cheering him on from the crowd, this marked A$AP’s first live performance since being acquitted of two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm in Los Angeles. A fan-captured video from the set featured a brief video montage documenting his trial.
Saturday’s Rolling Loud California also saw appearances from YG, Sexyy Red, Peso Pluma and BossMan Dlow. The fest continues on Sunday (March 16) with performances by Playboi Carti, Ken Carson, Destroy Lonely, Quavo and more.
In February, A$AP shared an update on his upcoming fourth album, Don’t Be Dumb, during a conversation with GQ. An official release date for the album has not yet been announced.
“I’m in the mixing and mastering realm of it,” he told the magazine. “But I think quite frankly, people are tired of hearing about updates about the album. They’re just ready to get this s—, you know what I’m saying? I don’t think anybody wants to hear where I’m at with it, how far is it along and all that. They just want to hear some s— just to see where I’m at, and I promise I got some new s— in store. I’m challenging myself. It’s like anything, I approach it with a different tactic, degree, or finesse.”
Watch A$AP Rocky’s unforgettable set from Rolling Loud California 2025 here.
Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM moves in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as the set debuts atop the tally dated March 22. It’s the seventh leader for the superstar. The set — her seventh studio album — launches with 219,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending March 13, according to Luminate — the biggest week of the year for an album by a woman. It also scores Gaga her largest streaming week ever.
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Gaga previously led the Billboard 200 with Chromatica (2020), the soundtrack to A Star Is Born (with Bradley Cooper, 2018), Joanne (2016), Cheek to Cheek (with Tony Bennett), ARTPOP (2013) and Born This Way (2011). In total, MAYHEM is Gaga’s 11th top 10-charting effort, stretching back to her debut project, The Fame, which reached No. 2 in 2010, after bowing on the list in 2008.
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Also in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200, JENNIE’s debut solo album, Ruby, bows at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. She’s the third member of the chart-topping quartet BLACKPINK to notch a solo top 10 – and all three have come in the last three months.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new March 22, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on March 18. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of MAYHEM’s 219,000 first-week equivalent album units, album sales comprise 136,000 (it’s the top-selling album of the week and debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 80,500 (equaling 108.05 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; Gaga’s biggest streaming week ever, and it debuts at No. 1 on the Top Streaming Albums chart) and TEA units comprise 2,500.
With MAYHEM’s bow of 219,000 equivalent album units, the set earns the biggest week for a woman in 2025, and the largest debut by a woman in over six months. The last larger bow by a woman was Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet, which started with 362,000 atop the Sept. 7, 2024-dated list.
MAYHEM was officially announced on Jan. 27 and went up for pre-order that same day. The set was released on March 7 and was preceded by a trio of top 40-charting titles on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart: “Disease” (reaching No. 27 in November 2024), “Die With a Smile” (No. 1 for five weeks beginning in January; a duet with Bruno Mars), and “Abracadabra” (No. 13 in February).
Gaga ushered in the album’s release with an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe (March 5), participated in a livestreamed Little Monsters Press Conference presented by Spotify (March 6), and did double duty as the host and musical guest on NBC’s Saturday Night Live (March 8, performing “Abracadabra” and the new album’s “Killah”). Gaga also popped up and/or performed on numerous other programs in the lead up to the album’s release, including the livestreamed FireAid benefit concert (Jan. 30), CBS’ broadcast of the Grammy Awards (Feb. 2), First We Feast’s Hot Ones (Feb. 13), NBC and Peacock’s Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Homecoming Concert (Feb. 16), and Vanity Fair’s lie detector test series (Feb. 19).
MAYHEM’s first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across a gaggle of editions: 14 vinyl variants (some signed, and some include the bonus track “Can’t Stop the High,” while Target’s exclusive vinyl has the extra track “Kill for Love”), four CD editions (one signed, Target’s exclusive CD adds “Kill” while Gaga’s webstore carried a CD with the bonus track “Can’t Stop the High”), a cassette tape, a deluxe CD box set with a branded T-shirt and poster, and two widely available download albums (the standard 14-song album, and then a deluxe version exclusive to iTunes with the three music videos for “Disease,” “Die With a Smile” and “Abracadabra”).
Of MAYHEM’s opening-week sales, vinyl purchases comprise 74,000 — Gaga’s biggest week on vinyl ever.
Gaga will soon hit the road for a series of major concerts, beginning with her headlining turn at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (April 11 and 18), two shows in Mexico City (April 26-27), a free show on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro (May 3) and four shows in Singapore (May 18, 19, 21 and 24).
Kendrick Lamar’s GNX falls to No. 2 on the latest Billboard 200 with a little more than 81,000 equivalent album units earned (down 10%), while five more former leaders round out the top six. PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake’s $ome $exy $ongs 4 U dips 2-3 (79,000; down 13%), SZA’s SOS is steady at No. 4 (69,000; down 7%), Tate McRae’s So Close To What descends 3-5 (63,000; down 27%), and Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet falls 5-6 (61,000; down 5%).
JENNIE’s first solo studio album, Ruby, arrives at No. 7 on the new Billboard 200, marking the BLACKPINK member’s first chart entry. The set launches with 56,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 29,000 (equaling 39.93 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it debuts at No. 13 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 26,500 (it debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 500.
Ruby was preceded by three charting titles on the Hot 100 songs chart: “Mantra,” “Love Hangover” (with Dominic Fike) and “ExtraL” (with Doechii).
Ruby was available in its first week as a nine-track widely available digital download album, and then an expanded 15-song physical set and a 15-track download and streaming edition. While the standard and physical albums have only one guest star (FKJ, on “JANE”), the 15-track download and streaming edition adds further special guests on a few tracks, including Doechii, Dua Lipa, Dominic Fike, Childish Gambino and Kali Uchis.
Ruby’s first-week sales were aided by its availability across four CD variants (all containing collectible paper ephemera, some randomized), five deluxe CD boxed set editions (each containing a piece of branded clothing, a signed insert and a copy of the album) and two download editions (a widely available standard version with nine tracks and an expanded 15-song edition).
JENNIE is a member of the Billboard 200-topping quartet BLACKPINK, who saw its last album, BORN PINK, debut atop the chart dated Oct. 1, 2022, after the act’s The Album became its first top 10 (No. 2, 2020). JENNIE is the third member of the group to notch a top 10-charting solo effort on the Billboard 200, following LISA, whose Alter Ego debuted at No. 7 a week ago (March 15 chart), and ROSÉ, whose rosie debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the Dec. 21, 2024, chart.
Rounding out the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200, Bad Bunny’s chart-topping Debí Tirar Más Fotos falls 6-8 (52,000 equivalent album units; down 8%), Morgan Wallen’s former leader One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 9 (43,000; up 3%), and Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess dips 8-10 (42,000; down 1%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
A massive fire tore through an overcrowded nightclub in North Macedonia Sunday (March 16), killing 59 people and injuring 155 in a chaotic escape during a live concert. The tragedy drew messages of support from around the world but focused national attention on corruption in the small Balkan country as authorities detained 15 people.
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The pre-dawn blaze in the eastern town of Kocani left mostly young people dead and injured due to burns, smoke inhalation and a stampede in the desperate effort to reach the building’s single exit, officials said. People as young as 16 were among the injured, they said.
Videos showed sparkling pyrotechnics on the stage hitting the ceiling followed by scenes of chaos inside the club, with young people running through the smoke as the musicians urged them to escape as quickly as possible.
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“We even tried to get out through the toilet, to find bars (on the windows),” Marija Taseva, 19, told The Associated Press, describing the fire that erupted after watching a local pop group at Club Pulse. “I somehow managed to get out. I fell down the stairs and they ran over me, trampled me. … I barely stayed alive and could hardly breathe.” She suffered an injury to her face.
Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski said 15 people had been detained for questioning after a preliminary inspection revealed the club was operating without a proper license. He said that the number of people inside the club was at least double its official capacity of 250.
“We have grounds for suspicion that there is bribery and corruption in this case,” he told reporters without elaborating.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also sent messages of support. “I wish those who were injured a speedy recovery. Ukraine mourns alongside our (North) Macedonian friends on this sad day,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X.
Health Ministry officials said the government had accepted offers of assistance from several neighboring countries, including Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Turkey, where preparations were being made to receive patients with life-threatening injuries. Paramedics from Serbia and Bulgaria also traveled to North Macedonia to help with the local effort.
Throughout Sunday, relatives gathered in front of hospitals and city offices in Kocani, some 115 kilometers (72 miles) east of the capital, Skopje, begging authorities for more information. Resident Dragi Stojanov was informed that his 21-year-old son Tomce had died in the fire.
“He was my only child. I don’t need my life anymore. … 150 families have been devastated,” he said. “Children burnt beyond recognition. There are corpses, just corpses inside (the club). … And the bosses (of organized crime), just putting money into their pockets.”
In Skopje, officials said the injured were to hospitals around the country, many being treated for severe burns and smoke inhalation. The effort was being assisted by multiple volunteer organizations.
The fire is the worst tragedy in recent memory to befall the landlocked nation, whose population is less than 2 million, and the latest in a slew of deadly nightclub fires around the world.
President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova visited burn victims at a hospital in Skopje and spoke to parents waiting outside the building. “It’s terrible … hard to believe how this happened,” she said, her voice halting with emotion. “We must give these young people courage to continue.”
The fire caused the roof of the single-story building to partially collapse, revealing the charred remains of wooden beams and debris. Police cordoned off the site and sent in evidence gathering teams in an operation also involving state prosecutors.
Pyrotechnics have often been the cause of deadly fires in nightclubs, including the one at the Colectiv club in Bucharest, Romania, in 2015 in which 64 people died.
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Source: Getty Images / YesJulz / DJ Akademiks
Two of the biggest culture vultures, DJ Akademiks and YesJulz clashed over the weekend and social media was here for the drama.
Let’s make this abundantly clear while y’all are here, no likes either of these individuals, BUT, we must admit, we ain’t mad at YesJulz for stating the obvious about DJ Akademiks.
HotNewHipHop reported that everyone’s favorite dark room streamer claimed from his gaming chair that Kendrick Lamar was a creative director on Playboi Carti’s latest album, I Am Music.
“Kendrick is creative directing the whole shit,” Akademiks claimed.
Akademiks is no stranger to saying wild stuff for clicks, and that claim was quickly debunked by Carti’s longtime producer, F1LTHY, who most notably created the beat for Carti’s song “All Red.”
“Kendrick fam but he is NOT the creative director of this album,” F1LTHY said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “This Carti album.”
You would think that would have ended the discussion, but no. Akademiks doubled-down on his claim, stating that Carti himself gave him the information, even taking a jab at the producer.
“No disrespect to F1LTHY, I don’t know who the f**k F1LTHY is,” the Drake stan said. “Kendrick is on the album. Whether it’s creative director, executive producer, I don’t give a f**k. I’m only going off what Carti told me.”
YesJulz Clowned Akademiks On X
YesJulz saw Akademik’s disrespect of F1LTHY and injected herself into the situation writing on X, “Not knowing F1LTHY is one of Carti’s main collaborators in 2025 as a journalist covering hip-hop is surely one way to admit you suck at your job.”
Akademiks caught wind of YesJulz’s response and went on a wild rant, dipping into misogynistic bag calling the influencer a “wh*re” for stating the obvious about him.
YesJulz had plenty to say in response, adding “Bro bout to pop a blood vessel” and that she doesn’t “don’t go back and forth with incels. I got somethin for that lil cootie patootie tho.”
DJ Akademiks is not having a good weekend on the socials. He is also getting clowned for sharing a video of bikini-clad women dancing on a boat to Drake’s music while talking about, you guessed it, Kendrick Lamar.
Social media has also been enjoying the back-and-forth between the two culture vultures. The gallery below shows those reactions, plus more replies from YesJulz.
Playboi Carti‘s new album is off to a strong start on streaming platforms.
Following its release on Friday (March 14), the Atlanta rapper’s long-awaited third studio album, MUSIC, became Spotify‘s most-streamed album in a single day in 2025 so far.
“Carti’s MUSIC is already making history,” the streaming giant captioned its announcement on X on Saturday.
In the lead-up to the album’s release, Spotify supported the rollout by putting up billboards in major cities such as Los Angeles, New York City, and Miami, displaying messages like “STREETS READY,” “SORRY4 DA WAIT” and “I AM MUSIC MF.”
MUSIC was preceded by the official single “All Red,” which reached No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 3 on Billboard‘s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Carti also released several tracks on his YouTube and Instagram, including “2024,” “BACKR00MS” featuring Travis Scott, and “H00DBYAIR.”
Trending on Billboard
Additionally, Carti performed unreleased songs during his headlining set at Rolling Loud Miami in December 2024, including “Lose You” featuring The Weeknd. Carti and The Weeknd’s collaboration “Timeless,” from The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow album, reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 last year, following the success of their platinum-certified hit “Popular” with Madonna.
MUSIC features star-studded collaborations from Young Thug, Travis Scott, Future, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Lil Uzi Vert, Skepta and Ty Dolla $ign. It also boasts an impressive list of producers, including Cardo, Metro Boomin, Southside, F1lthy, Ye, Cash Cobain and the production duo Ojivolta, among others.
The 30-track project arrives five years after Carti’s last album, Whole Lotta Red, which topped the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The 2020 set featured collaborations with Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) on “Go2DaMoon,” Kid Cudi on “M3tamorphosis,” and Future on “Teen X.”
Carti is set to headline Rolling Loud California on Sunday (March 16). The festival posted on X earlier this week, noting that his 2018 debut album, Die Lit, dropped the day before Rolling Loud Miami, and he’s continuing that tradition by releasing MUSIC the day before Rolling Loud California opens.
