State Champ Radio Blog
Page: 35
Trending on Billboard After horrendous weather delayed Tyler, The Creator‘s 11th annual Camp Flog Gnaw music festival, the two-day fest finally returned in all its glory this past weekend. Taking over Dodger Stadium Grounds for a fifth year, the weekend included performances from Childish Gambino, Doechii and of course Tyler himself. Kicking things off was […]
Source: Bettmann / Getty
On Sunday (Nov. 23), Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a key figure in defining the more militant elements of Black activism as H. Rap Brown in the 1960s before converting to Islam and living as a cleric, died in a federal prison hospital in Butner, North Carolina. He was 82 years old.
Al-Amin’s death was confirmed by his attorneys, who said his passing occurred after a “prolonged period of severe medical decline.” According to reporting by the Washington Informer in February, he was suffering from multiple myeloma, spurring his transfer from a facility in Tucson, Arizona, to the facility at Butner. He was serving a life sentence without parole after being convicted of the 2000 shooting of two Fulton County deputies, with one dying as a result.
The activist was born Hubert Brown (Rap was a childhood nickname) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Oct. 4, 1943. He became involved with the Civil Rights Movement through his brother, Ed Brown, who was part of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He’d become acquainted with Stokely Carmichael, later known as Dr. Kwame Ture, and they would lead a more aggressive shift in SNCC toward embracing Black Power, coinciding with Al-Amin taking over as chairman in 1967 from Ture.
It was this period that saw Al-Amin, at 6-foot-7, become a more striking figure on the scene, bolstered by rhetoric that called for Black people to arm themselves per the Second Amendment as uprisings occurred across America. This was marked by a speech in Washington, D.C, he made on July 24, 1967, where he declared, “Violence is a part of America’s culture. It is as American as cherry pie.” Al-Amin’s spirit would become prominent in conscious Hip-Hop, stemming initially from his recorded and 1969 autobiography Die N—— Die!, which would be cited and sampled, notably by Public Enemy, dead prez, Common, and Jasiri X.Al-Amin would be targeted by J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, and Congress would enact a law to make it illegal to encourage or organize an uprising in 1968. After being convicted of engaging in a 1971 shootout with New York Police Department officers, Al-Amin would be jailed for five years. He converted to the Dar-ul Islam Sunni sect of Islam and moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and opened a mosque and community store. His attorneys were still fighting to get his 2002 conviction overturned, citing anti-Islamic sentiment and federal agencies trying to tie him to criminal activities post 9/11.
Source: NurPhoto / Getty
After remaining out of the limelight for quite some time now, Jay-Z and Beyoncé seem ready to rejoin society, as the Hip-Hop power couple made a rare public appearance this past weekend and turned some heads while they were at it.
According to Complex, Jay and Bey had social media buzzing when they randomly appeared at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas on Saturday (Nov. 22). Who knew they were fans? While Beyoncé stunned in a leather racing suit as, only she can, Jay-Z was on his New York swag with an all-black fit along with some crispy yellow construction Timbs. You can take the man out of Brooklyn, but you can’t take Brooklyn out of the man.
While we’re not sure exactly why the Carter’s decided to take in the high-speed festivities in Sin City this weekend, we’re starting to think they may have some new music on the way and want to build some buzz before dropping off any new work. Just an educated guess.
Complex reports:
Love Hip-Hop Wired? Get more! Join the Hip-Hop Wired Newsletter
We care about your data. See our privacy policy.
The Carters were photographed spending time with world champion Lewis Hamilton, Travis Scott, and Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, even sharing a moment with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali during their visit. Beyoncé, who has been on a streak of headline-making public moments, stunned fans with her racing-themed look as she walked through the paddock beside Jay-Z.
Their trip to Las Vegas came less than a day after Beyoncé was spotted in New Jersey showing support for Kelly Rowland at The Boy Is Mine Tour, alongside her sister Solange and legendary singer Patti LaBelle.
From being noticeably absent from the public eye for years to suddenly making themselves social butterflies for no reason? The Carters are up to something; the question is what?
What do y’all think about Jay-Z and Beyoncé showing up to the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas this past weekend? Let us know in the comments section below.
Trending on Billboard
A$AP Rocky’s Don’t Be Dumb album has suffered through plenty of delays, but fans once again have hope for a 2026 release date after noticing a possible message through Rocky’s wardrobe during the Harlem native’s Camp Flog Gnaw performance Sunday (Nov. 23).
The Mob frontman kicked off his set at Tyler, the Creator’s festival hanging from the side of a helicopter while using a megaphone as a mic. Once Rocky removed a flannel jacket, he donned a hoodie with a set of numbers emblazoned across the right sleeve.
“01162026” the sleeve reads in black, which many took as a hint at a Jan. 16, 2026, release date for the album.
The theory gained some legitimacy since it’s a Friday, but other fans had a more pessimistic outlook, bringing up that Jan. 16 is actually National Nothing Day, and Rocky’s possibly messing around.
“You really can’t make this up,” one person wrote on X.
Another added: “it’s not happening he just trolled all of us!”
But one fan had a bit more confidence in Rocky delivering. “if nothing happens that day (no competition) wouldn’t it be the perfect day to drop an album,” they wrote.
There have been numerous missed possible release dates and delays for Don’t Be Dumb over the years, so it remains unclear if fans should mark their calendars for Jan. 16.
However, during a conversation as part of Variety‘s Hollywood Issue, Rocky told LaKeith Stanfield, Callum Turner and Glen Powell that his album is still slated to drop in 2025.
“Danny Elfman, he just did my album with me that I’m putting out this year,” Rocky said. “He scored a bunch of the songs on my album.”
A$AP Rocky’s last album arrived in 2018 with TESTING and it’s been a long road to Don’t Be Dumb.
Trending on Billboard
In 2025, Universal Music Japan‘s president and CEO, Naoshi Fujikura, was chosen for inclusion in Billboard‘s Global Power Players list for a fifth consecutive time, making this his sixth appearance. In this year’s interview, he talked about the potential that Universal Music companies in other countries see in the Japanese market, the challenges Japan faces, and hits from artists such as Mrs. GREEN APPLE and Fujii Kaze.
According to IFPI, master recording revenue rose worldwide in 2024 for the 10th consecutive year, but in Japan it fell from last year’s level. This was due to declines in CD album and music video sales that weren’t made up for by digital sales. How do you feel about this?
To start off with, the fact that the global music market has grown for ten consecutive years is not something to be taken for granted. It’s a wonderful achievement. In 2025, the amount of growth in some of the more developed markets was slower, but the number of subscribers in China grew materially. I think it’s wonderful that we’re seeing continuous worldwide growth, even if the rate of growth varies by country.
People have pointed out that Japan has been slow to adopt streaming, but attending global conferences, what I’ve seen is that people aren’t looking at the Japanese market as some sort of anomalous far-Eastern market, but instead they’ve started talking about it as a business model that offers valuable insights for the rest of the world. In many countries, streaming is the main revenue source, and companies are competing for market share, but in Japan, physical accounts for 60% of revenue. Streaming co-exists alongside this. So the situation isn’t gloomy, we have also been cultivating a superfan culture for many years. Looking at our artist roster, Mrs. GREEN APPLE is the first artist in Japan whose songs have broken a total of 10 billion streams, but their best hits album, 10, sold over 770,000 copies in its first week. timelesz, who gained a massive buzz from their auditions program ‘timlesz AUDITION PROJECT’ on Netflix and sold roughly 650,000 copies of their album FAM in its first week. I don’t think you can make the sweeping generalization that Japan has been slow in shifting to digital media.
Another of the pressing issues facing Japan is strengthening its exports. According to the “Export Power” ranking announced by Luminate, in 2024 the No. 1 country was the U.S., followed by the U.K. at No. 2, Canada at No. 3, and South Korea at No. 4. Japan was ranked in 14th place. What difficulties do you think Japan faces with respect to exports?
I think there has traditionally been a lack of resources and experience in marketing to overseas audiences. There aren’t enough people who can share great artists or pieces of music in an appealing way, using language that resonates with the local markets. We have few experiences of success in creating overseas hits, and I think we need to be more ambitious. But what’s really important is to present songs and artists with universal appeal that transcends language barriers. I think if we do that, it will fling open the door for us. We believe it is only a matter of time though for more Japanese artists to break through globally, and at UMJ we are already turning this into reality with artists like Fujii Kaze, Ado and others.
Ado appeared in a Billboard US’ podcast, and has also been covered in several articles, right?
In 2025, Ado went on a tour of 33 countries, bringing a total of over 500,000 people to her shows. Her merchandise is also extremely popular, so her influence on the industry is incalculable. Thanks to the movie ONE PIECE FILM RED, she crossed the language barrier to be an artist that people around the world wanted to hear in person at least once. At her overseas shows, almost all of the audiences were made up of local fans. That impressed on me the fact that global success could be seen not only in winning awards or taking top positions in the charts, but also through this kind of success.
Right, it can be another kind of record for artists to aim for. On the topic of awards, they’ve announced that the MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN will be held again in 2026.
We’ve worked with Japanese artists, like Joe Hisaishi, Tomoyasu Hotei, Perfume, and MIYAVI, on their overseas activities. I’m glad to see how the Japanese music industry is coming together now, across company and organization lines, to hold these awards, even receiving government support. The other day, in New York, I met with the representatives of Universal Music Group in different countries, and one of our colleagues from Germany was surprised that this idea became a reality.
When the winner of the Artist of the Year award was announced, you could be seen cheering behind Mrs. GREEN APPLE.
I’d actually been watching from the balcony at first. But as the announcement of different winners went on, Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s name wasn’t coming up, so I started to get worried. So when there was a break, I knew I just couldn’t stay up there in the balcony, and I moved near the band. When they announced that Mrs. GREEN APPLE won, I was so surprised and overjoyed that I sprang out of my seat. It was apparently caught on camera. The results are determined by voting, so I couldn’t even guess who might win until right before the results were announced. All that worry just made my happiness all the greater.
The smile on your face, and the look of relief on the faces of everyone in the band, was really striking. This year Mrs. GREEN APPLE and Fujii Kaze are making big stirs in the charts. In addition to putting out new releases for five straight months, Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s been getting a lot of mass media exposure through an NHK TV series and through movies. Fujii Kaze released a hit album that’s entirely in English. These two artists are using totally different approaches, but they’ve both created hits. What are your feelings on that?
Fujikura: There’s something that Motoki Ohmori and Fujii Kaze both have in common, which is that they both want to sing where they’re needed. That’s what motivates them. I’m always telling employees to maximize the value of artists.
As a result of that, for Fujii Kaze, instead of us in Japan approaching overseas labels, we had multiple labels approaching Fujii Kaze and asking to work with him, which led to an agreement being signed.
In September, Fujii Kaze’s Prema, which is all in English, became a hit with sales of around 200,000 copies. His songs are also all getting heavy streaming plays. It’s been a wonderful success. One of the issues in Japan is a decline in the number of people who listen to international music. I think it’s really significant how he’s opened up a new market, and I’m looking forward to seeing where he goes in the future.
Fujii Kaze has a lot of fans outside Japan, in Southeast Asia. Was a lot of attention paid to these overseas markets when promoting the new album?
When “Hachikō” was released on streaming, we held an event, but we held it in Thailand, not Japan. That led to it being shared not only in Thailand but around the world. In the past, not being in Japan on the day of a song’s release would have been unthinkable. But with this many fans now accessible around the world, where you need to be and what you need to do to generate excitement has changed.
We’re already in the second half of the year. What do you think it will be like?
I may be repeating myself from previous years, but without good artists, you can’t generate excitement, and you can’t create hit songs. So it’s important not to just get caught up in techniques and monetization. At the heart of it all, you have to have great artists and great music. I want to keep maintaining that philosophy moving forward, as well.
—This interview by Seiji Isozaki and Naoko Takashima first appeared on Billboard Japan
Trending on Billboard Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” has officially made its way back into the top 10 of the Hot 100, while “Folded,” “Mutt” and more slip a spot. Can the queen of the holiday season take No. 1 this week? Tetris Kelly: It’s time! This is the Billboard Hot […]
Trending on Billboard
Japanese heavy metal band Babymetal made history at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on Nov. 1, performing its largest North American show to date in the group’s only arena concert of 2025. Such large-scale shows are common in the band’s home country, but American audiences were treated to a special in-the-round stage and pyrotechnics-filled production in support of the band’s fourth album, Metal Forth (released in the U.S. through Virgin Music Group).
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
The setup was as impressive as the milestone itself. The fire-spewing square stage was rotated 45 degrees, creating a diamond with edges that nearly touched the arena’s four sides. That put the band — Su-metal, Moametal and Momometal, plus two guitarist, a bass player and drummer — in close proximity to its adoring fans. “We set up the stage right in the center of the venue so that the audience could see the performance from 360 degrees,” Su-metal tells Billboard’s Behind the Setlist podcast. “It turned out exactly the kind of show we’ve always wanted people outside Japan to see.”
The 15-song set spanned Babymetal’s catalog, opening with “BABYMETAL DEATH” and touching on “from me to u” and “Distortion” before “PA PA YA!!” sent the crowd into pandemonium. Intuit Dome’s halo-shaped video screen that hovers over the floor added to the sensory overload by showing images and video of studio collaborators such as Indian rapper Bloodywood, who came to life during a memorable performance of “Kon! Kon!” from Metal Forth.
A surprise came about two-thirds into the set when Babymetal was joined on stage by Spiritbox’s Courtney LaPlante, who recreated the ferocious singing on “My Queen” that makes the collaboration a highlight from Metal Forth. The song is typical of the Babymetal’s intention to go “beyond metal,” as the band has said in previous interviews, by mixing genres and filling Metal Forth with collaborations with Bloodywood, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Electric Callboy, Spiritbox, Poppy and Slaughter to Prevail. “Our foundation is metal, of course, but we want to combine even more diverse musical styles to forge a new path only we can create,” explains Momometal.
The three-song encore featured “The One,” “Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!” and “Road of Resistance.” The uplifting “The One,” from the 2016 album Metal Resistance, prompted fans in a mosh pit to lock arms, create a huge circle and sway from side to side. The song stands out in Moametal’s memory of the concert. “During ‘The One,’ cheers from the audience were so loud it felt like the ground was shaking,” she says. “My heart just exploded with joy.”
Listen to Behind the Setlist’s entire interview with Su-metal, Moametal and Momometal using the embedded Spotify player below, or go to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeart, Podbean or Everand.
Trending on Billboard
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than supporting the work of the ACLU,” Maggie Rogers told the crowd ahead of her set at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)’s Creatives for Freedom benefit concert on Saturday night (Nov. 22).
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
Held at Pioneer Works in New York’s Red Hook neighborhood in Brooklyn, the event brought together a stacked lineup featuring headliner Sheryl Crow alongside St. Vincent, Mark Ronson, Joy Oladokun, Taylor Meier of CAAMP, Mon Rovîa and more. It marked the ACLU’s first benefit concert of its kind, supporting the organization’s work to protect civil rights and civil liberties. The show, presented by Ben & Jerry’s, Gabriela Hearst and YOLA Mezcal, is part of a broader ACLU initiative to unite leaders across music, fashion, film, comedy and other creative industries to spotlight the critical civil liberties issues defining today’s landscape.
“We’re living through an era of unprecedented attacks on our rights, from attacks on immigrants’ rights, speech, racial justice and LGBTQ communities,” said Nahal Zamani, ACLU’s director of state campaigns, in a statement to Billboard. “All of our voices are crucial right now. What’s more, creative voices have a unique ability to inform new audiences about these urgent issues, inspire people to get involved, and drive social change — which we need now more than ever.”
Arranged and directed by Rob Moose and Cody Fitzgerald, performers took the stage for one or two songs each, often pausing to voice their support for the ACLU and urge young people to get involved.
One standout moment came courtesy of artist Dread Scott, who, before introducing Mon Rovîa, spoke about his seminal 1989 work What is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag. The piece sparked political controversy at the time for inviting viewers to step on the American flag. When Scott later burned the flag on the steps of the U.S. Capital in protest of laws restricting flag desecration, he was arrested — but the Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of him and the other protestors, striking down federal flag-desecration laws as unconstitutional. Scott credited the ACLU for helping protect his work and artistic freedom.
“I tell people I make revolutionary art to propel history forward,” he said on stage. “I’m happy to be here supporting the ACLU. They do amazing work, and they have advised and represented me and my art on numerous occasions. They’ve saved my a– and enabled my art to continue to reach its audience.”
In another statement to Billboard, Esha Bhandari, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, emphasized the longstanding relationship between artists and the civil liberties movement.
“While the ACLU is working in the courts, in legislatures and on the streets, artists are helping shift narratives, broaden understanding, and move people from awareness to sustained action,” she said. “This concert is the latest event in our Creatives for Freedom campaign and we hope to continue building momentum towards change and inspiring more people to join in working for a more equitable and free future.”
Sheryl Crow opened her headlining set performing “Redemption Day,” an anti-war song she wrote in 1996 after a USO trip to Bosnia with Hillary Clinton. She shared onstage that Johnny Cash approached her after he heard the tune in 2003 and later recorded a version of it himself.
“[He] called me and said, ‘I want to know what every single line means,’ so that he could stand behind what he was singing,” Crow told the audience. “He stood against the Vietnam War, he stood up for Native American rights — which was very unpopular at the time. These are the kind of leaders and artists that we want to emulate: people who speak up and want to leave the campground nicer than they found it.”
For the finale, Crow invited the entire lineup back to the stage for a joyous singalong of her 1996 hit “If It Makes You Happy.” With Crow leading the verses, the other artists wrapped their arms around each other, swaying and singing.
“I just want you guys to know that we artists don’t take it lightly that our First Amendment is under attack,” Crow said as the night wrapped. “But these artists right here I have great hope and faith in. They lift me up, they make me want to be a better songwriter and they make me want to be a better person.”
Here’s a look at the full setlist, which was followed by a DJ set from Mark Ronson:
Joy Oladokun“I’d Miss the Birds”“If You Got a Problem”
Taylor Meier“We Will Dance Again”
Mon Rovîa“Crooked the Road”“Heavy Foot”
Andrew Wyatt“Live Free and Be Gone”
Maggie Rogers“Alaska”“Don’t Forget Me”
St. Vincent“…At the Holiday Party”“New York”
Sheryl Crow“Redemption Day”“Strong Enough”“If It Makes You Happy”
Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” rules the Billboard Hot 100 for a seventh week, having led in each of its weeks on the chart so far.
Of Swift’s 13 career Hot 100 No. 1s, “The Fate of Ophelia” is her third to have ruled for at least seven weeks. It trails only “Anti-Hero” (eight, beginning Nov. 5, 2022) and ties “Blank Space” (seven, Nov. 29, 2014).
Meanwhile, “The Fate of Ophelia” is the first song to spend its first seven weeks on the Hot 100 at No. 1 since BTS’ “Butter” in June-July 2021. No song has led the chart longer consecutively from its debut since Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” was No. 1 in its first eight weeks in January-March 2021.
Elsewhere in the Hot 100’s top 10, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” returns to the region, making a three-place festive flight to No. 8. The modern classic, from 1994, has led for 18 total weeks dating to its first in 2019.
Check out the full rundown of this week’s Hot 100 top 10 below.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated Nov. 29, 2025) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, Nov. 25. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram. Plus, for all chart rules and explanations, click here.
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.
‘Ophelia’ Streams, Airplay & Sales
Trending on Billboard
SEVENTEEN just brought the thunder to public radio, appearing on NPR’s beloved Tiny Desk concert series and becoming the first-ever K-pop act to perform in the iconic office space.
The boy band’s JOSHUA, MINGYU, SEUNGKWAN, VERNON and DINO looked like they were having the times of their lives tucked in together behind the famous desk, littered with mementos from past A-list guests in a video of their mini show posted Monday (Nov. 24). The group performed a handful of hits from its discography for the audience crowded inside the NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., including “Darl+ing,” “_WORLD,” “SOS,” “Rock With You,” “CLAP” and “HOT.”
After opening number “Super,” VERNON vocalized what all of his bandmates appeared to be thinking. “We did not expect this kind of response,” he shared, looking blown away by the loud cheers they were met with. “You guys are awesome, thank you so much.”
When one fan yelled, “VERNON, you’re my bias!” he reciprocated with a sweet hand heart.
At another point in the video, the guys asked for people to call out with their favorite SEVENTEEN songs. When one person shouted out “HBD,” the five performers sang an off-the-cuff, a cappella rendition of the 2025 track.
“We’re having so much fun because of you guys,” VERNON added. “We were honestly super nervous to perform in such a setting. So thank you for making us feel so comfortable. You really boosted our confidence.”
When it came time to close out with “VERY NICE,” they encouraged everyone watching to dance, jump, and repeat “Aju nice” whenever the song called for it.
SEVENTEEN’s time behind the desk comes as the band — which is also comprised of members S.COUPS, JEONGHAN, JUN, HOSHI, WONWOO, WOOZI, THE 8 and DK — is touring in support of 2025 album Happy Burstday, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. On Saturday (Nov. 29), the group’s performance at the Ventelin Dome Nagoya in Japan will be livestreamed in theaters worldwide to celebrate the band’s 10-year anniversary.
Watch SEVENTEEN’s full Tiny Desk performance above.
