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Dream Theater returns to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart for the first time in almost a decade, debuting atop the Feb. 22-dated survey with Parasomnia. The set bows with 18,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Feb. 13, according to Luminate. The majority of the sum – 16,000 units […]
South Korean boy band PLAVE debut four songs on the Feb. 22-dated Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart. And while K-pop acts regularly flood the global rankings with material from new EPs and albums, PLAVE sticks out by being a virtual group in its presentation.
PLAVE has five members — Bamby, Eunho, Hamin, Noah and Yejun — who sing, rap, write and choreograph. But for music videos, livestreams and performances, the collective uses motion capture technology to broadcast animated visuals.
Variations on this practice have been more common among Japanese artists, such as Ado, who reached No. 8 on Global Excl. U.S. in 2022 with “New Genesis,” among 12 entries on the chart to date. Plus, Korea’s K/DA hit No. 93 in 2020 with “More,” co-billed with a mix of American, Chinese and fellow Korean artists, both “real” (Madison Beer, [G]I-DLE, Lexie Liu and Jaira Burns) and virtual (Seraphine).
With this week’s debuts, PLAVE breaks new ground for Korean Vtubers (virtual YouTubers). “Dash” starts on Global Excl. U.S. at No. 89, while also hitting the Billboard Global 200 at No. 195. Plus, “Rizz,” “Chroma Drift” and “Island” debut on the former list at Nos. 111, 115 and 128, respectively.
All four tracks come from PLAVE’s third EP, Caligo Pt. 1, released Feb. 3. The group previously charted on Global Excl. U.S. with “Pump Up the Volume!” and “Way 4 Luv” last September.
“Dash” drew 11 million streams outside the U.S. in its first full tracking week (Feb. 7-13), according to Luminate, while PLAVE’s four chart entries combined for nearly 40 million in that span. Of those, 39.7 million, or 99.4%, were from outside the U.S. PLAVE’s home-country appeal is reflected on Billboard’s South Korea Songs chart. There, the group infuses the entire top five, led by “Dash” at No. 1 and rounded out by “12:32 (A T to T)” at No. 5.
Kacey Musgraves has forged a reputation as a fearless musical communicator, an an entertainer who focuses on making her shows engaging, visually impactful, and as creative as her songs. As an artist and songwriter has been lauded by the Grammys (she’s won eight trophies, most recently best country solo performance for “The Architect”), the CMAs, […]
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Courtesy of Damon Dash / Damon Dash
It seems Dame Dash has another legal issue to deal with. A judge says he “repeatedly violated” court orders with regards to his defamation case.
As per HipHopDX a magistrate has ruled against Dame Dash on a defamation suit against him. Back in 2016 the Harlem native was slotted by film producer Josh Webber to direct an independent film titled Dear Frank. Production commenced but Dash was ultimately removed due to unprofessional behavior including allegations of being under the influence while shooting. Webber says that Dame Dash continued to promote the film as his but under under a new name The List.
Dame would say they shot the film with his equipment on his Sherman Oaks, CA property and stole it from him. Webber and his Muddy Waters company sued Dame Dash for copyright and defamation in 2019. Fast forward to 2022 they were awarded a judgement totaling $805K. On Tuesday, Feb. 18 Judge John F. Walter slammed Dame Dash for not following procedures and “repeatedly violating the court’s orders.”
As a result Walter has issued a default judgement in favor of Webber over an interview Dame Dash did with The Art Of Dialogue. During the interview the former Cakeaholic discussed the legal battle over Dear Frank. “I had a judgment. And I knew this d***head Chris Brown (pause) and Josh Webber (pause) and Muddy Waters…Chris Brown the lawyer. I went through four trials with the same lawyer…What I lost was defamation because these guys trigger me and steal my sh*t…you think there is freedom of speech, it’s really not…”
Webber has been given until March 3 to provide proof of the damages he has suffered.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGPLB1XJk98/
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Courtesy of Damon Dash / Damon Dash
It seems Dame Dash has another legal issue to deal with. A judge says he “repeatedly violated” court orders with regards to his defamation case.
As per HipHopDX a magistrate has ruled against Dame Dash on a defamation suit against him. Back in 2016 the Harlem native was slotted by film producer Josh Webber to direct an independent film titled Dear Frank. Production commenced but Dash was ultimately removed due to unprofessional behavior including allegations of being under the influence while shooting. Webber says that Dame Dash continued to promote the film as his but under under a new name The List.
Dame would say they shot the film with his equipment on his Sherman Oaks, CA property and stole it from him. Webber and his Muddy Waters company sued Dame Dash for copyright and defamation in 2019. Fast forward to 2022 they were awarded a judgement totaling $805K. On Tuesday, Feb. 18 Judge John F. Walter slammed Dame Dash for not following procedures and “repeatedly violating the court’s orders.”
As a result Walter has issued a default judgement in favor of Webber over an interview Dame Dash did with The Art Of Dialogue. During the interview the former Cakeaholic discussed the legal battle over Dear Frank. “I had a judgment. And I knew this d***head Chris Brown (pause) and Josh Webber (pause) and Muddy Waters…Chris Brown the lawyer. I went through four trials with the same lawyer…What I lost was defamation because these guys trigger me and steal my sh*t…you think there is freedom of speech, it’s really not…”
Webber has been given until March 3 to provide proof of the damages he has suffered.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGPLB1XJk98/
02/20/2025
This year’s list is dominated by artists who encompass versatility from the worlds of hip-hop, R&B, and African music.
02/20/2025
Ariana Grande‘s dress definitely didn’t defy gravity at the Tokyo premiere of Wicked Thursday (Feb. 20), with the singer getting tripped up as she made her way to stage — and sending Cynthia Erivo and Jon M. Chu into immediate crisis-management mode in the process.
In a clip from the screening shared by the “Yes, And?” singer on Instagram Stories, her fellow Wicked leading lady and the director go ahead of her onto the stage while she hangs back, appearing to have caught her white ballgown on part of the steps. Erivo and Chu make it several yards away from her before they turn back to see that Grande is stuck, at which point both jog straight back to her to help, arms outstretched.
“the unison panic !!!” the Victorious alum wrote, tagging both the Pinocchio actress and filmmaker. “i love you both so much.”
Trending on Billboard
Grande also shared a fan-made meme with a blurry zoomed-in photo of Erivo and Chu running to her rescue, captioned, “NO WITCH LEFT BEHIND.” “this is tickling me soooo,” the R.E.M. Beauty founder wrote.
Luckily, Grande was eventually able to free her dress from the staircase’s grasp, taking both Erivo and Chu’s hands and letting them guide her to the center of the stage.
Tokyo is just the latest city the actresses and director have taken the Wicked experience to since its worldwide premiere in November, a months-long promotional cycle during which all three members of the film’s core team have picked up multiple prestigious award nominations. That includes Oscar nods for Erivo and Grande — best actress and best supporting actress, respectively — ahead of the March 2 ceremony.
The film’s rollout — which precedes the November-slated Wicked Part 2 — has also given fans a front-row seat to Erivo and Grande’s close bond, though some people have taken it and run with their own theories about the duo’s relationship. “People think we’re secretly married,” the “We Can’t Be Friends” singer said a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“I wish I could unsee some things,” she said of the sometimes explicit fan fiction and art she’s seen. “I mean, wow, I had a feeling, but I didn’t know it would be on this scale or this graphic.”
Exactly three years after the death of Jane “Nightbirde” Marczewski, her music and legacy live on, with her family issuing the posthumous album Still Got Dreams on Thursday (Feb. 20).
Marczewski, who died of cancer at age 31 in 2022, rose to widespread fame in June of the previous year when she performed her original song “It’s OK” as part of the 16th season auditions for America’s Got Talent. The singer revealed during the audition that she had a 2% chance of survival from cancer that had spread to her lungs, spine and liver. The video garnered millions of views on YouTube and her performance warranted a standing ovation from all four judges.
She would exit the show just weeks later to focus on her ongoing cancer battle, with a virtual update in August seeing Judge Howie Mandel labeling her the “poster human for courage in the face of adversity.”
Trending on Billboard
Following her death in 2022, Marczewski’s family have continued to share her work, with a handful of singles arriving in recent months ahead of the release of her posthumous album, Still Got Dreams. The Geoff Duncan-produced release comprises tracks written by Marczewski, and interwoven with “nuggets of wisdom” from the late singer.
Singles such as “Gold,” the Konata Small-featuring “Empire,” and the record’s title track (which features uplifting vocals from the Mzansi Youth Choir) showcase the songwriting talent of Marczewski, while the lyrics offer a powerful insight into the singer’s enduring wisdom.
Notably, the songs featured on the album were unable to be recorded before Marczewski’s untimely death. Determined to bring her musical vision to life, the Nightbirde Estate, Nashville Unsigned and Duncan turned to the use of “ethical AI” vocal production to complete the project.
Per a press release, the team trained an AI voice model on her tone, style and emotional delivery to craft a 360-degree mapping of her voice, resulting in the late artist being given a chance to realize the music she was unable to record herself. The release also notes that only “specific pieces of AI vocal production” were utilized for the record, with the remainder of the project being “built entirely from the ground up” by Duncan.
The album also sees Marczewski’s estate positioned as the only artist estate to have used AI vocal production in a way that is legal, ethical and undertaken with full authorization.
All proceeds from the record (alongside Nightbirde’s art, books, merchandise and licensing) benefit the Nightbirde Foundation, which aims to uplift and support women battling breast cancer.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Jason Koerner / Getty
If we’ve learned anything about Knicks owner James Dolan over the past few years it’s that he has no problem banning people from his playground known as Madison Square Garden for the pettiest of reasons, and now, rapper Lil Tjay has found himself embargoed from the Mecca of basketball.
According to TMZ, the “Pop Out” rapper is no longer welcome at “The World’s Most Famous Arena” after he was caught spitting in the face of a security guard during the WBO lightweight champion bout between Keyshawn Davis and Denys Berinchyk last Friday night (Feb. 14). In a video making the social media rounds following the incident, we see a security guard going back-and-forth with Tjay at the event before someone intervenes and separates the two men only for Lil Tjay to approach the guard one more time letting one fly right out of his mouth and into the guard’s face.
That’ll do it every time.
Needless to say, once upper management caught wind of the incident and saw the video, it wasn’t a hard choice for them to ban the rapper from ever setting foot back in Madison Square Garden.
Per TMZ:
Madison Square Garden tells TMZ … “Our policy is that patrons that engage in confrontational and disruptive behavior will be escorted out and banned from all MSG properties.”
Our sources inside the building tell us Tjay and his crew were pushing to get ringside without having the proper clearance to be in the VIP area.
We’re told when Tjay was informed they weren’t allowed, the “Trench Baby” rapper got physical and spit in the guard’s face — with multiple angles of the slimy skirmish caught on camera.
While Lil Tjay might be a well-known artist in the Hip-Hop culture, he found out he doesn’t hold enough weight to just walk into the VIP section of a huge event without getting pushback from hired security. That’s only reserved for the likes of Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Hip-Hop moguls of that caliber… maybe.
What do y’all think about Lil Tjay getting banned from Madison Square Garden? Too harsh for his actions or a proper punishment? Peep another angle of the incident and let us know in the comments section below.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Jason Koerner / Getty
If we’ve learned anything about Knicks owner James Dolan over the past few years it’s that he has no problem banning people from his playground known as Madison Square Garden for the pettiest of reasons, and now, rapper Lil Tjay has found himself embargoed from the Mecca of basketball.
According to TMZ, the “Pop Out” rapper is no longer welcome at “The World’s Most Famous Arena” after he was caught spitting in the face of a security guard during the WBO lightweight champion bout between Keyshawn Davis and Denys Berinchyk last Friday night (Feb. 14). In a video making the social media rounds following the incident, we see a security guard going back-and-forth with Tjay at the event before someone intervenes and separates the two men only for Lil Tjay to approach the guard one more time letting one fly right out of his mouth and into the guard’s face.
That’ll do it every time.
Needless to say, once upper management caught wind of the incident and saw the video, it wasn’t a hard choice for them to ban the rapper from ever setting foot back in Madison Square Garden.
Per TMZ:
Madison Square Garden tells TMZ … “Our policy is that patrons that engage in confrontational and disruptive behavior will be escorted out and banned from all MSG properties.”
Our sources inside the building tell us Tjay and his crew were pushing to get ringside without having the proper clearance to be in the VIP area.
We’re told when Tjay was informed they weren’t allowed, the “Trench Baby” rapper got physical and spit in the guard’s face — with multiple angles of the slimy skirmish caught on camera.
While Lil Tjay might be a well-known artist in the Hip-Hop culture, he found out he doesn’t hold enough weight to just walk into the VIP section of a huge event without getting pushback from hired security. That’s only reserved for the likes of Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Hip-Hop moguls of that caliber… maybe.
What do y’all think about Lil Tjay getting banned from Madison Square Garden? Too harsh for his actions or a proper punishment? Peep another angle of the incident and let us know in the comments section below.