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Source: Michael Owens / Getty / Usher / Alicia Keys
The “Usher Bowl” went down, and it was full of many memorable moments, new memes, and plenty of reactions. One moment in particular between Usher and Alicia Keys has the internet still talking.
Since his Vegas residency took off, the Usher experience now involves the iconic R&B superstar crooning and swooning guests who happen to be in his line of sight during his show.
He continued that trend during his highly anticipated Apple Music Halftime performance at Super Bowl LVIII. Just like when he sang to Keke Palmer, leading to the downfall of her relationship with her son’s father, Usher got very close to Alicia Keys.
Keys was one of the many guests during his electrifying performance. Alicia Keys kicked her guest spot off, singing “If I Ain’t Got You” while playing a red piano that matched her form-fitting body suit.
Usher eventually helped her close out the song, and the two stars began singing their hit record, “My Boo,” during the performance, Usher hugged Keys from behind, and she looked thrilled during the moment.
Swizz Beatz Was Over The Social Media CAP
As expected, the moment sparked plenty of chatter. Alicia Key’s husband, Swizz Beatz, was very much aware of what was happening on social media and plugged him and his wife’s art exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum.
Taking to Instagram, the producer wrote in the caption of a gallery post of photos of his wife:
Y’all talking about the wrong damn thing !!! y’all don’t see that amazing dress covering the entire stadium. Tonight’s performance was nothing but amazing with 2 amazing Giants ! Congrats @usher and my love @aliciakeys that song is a classic. We don’t do negative vibes on this side we make history. Go see GIANTS at @brooklynmuseum it’s open until July blessings.
Regardless, people were more upset about Usher hugging Alicia Keys from behind than her own husband. Professional homophobe Boosie Badazz had something to say. On Instagram, he wrote “@USHER ENOUGH IS ENOUGH BRO‼️U NEED TO APOLOGIZE TO SWISS. SHE MARRIED MY N-GGA I KNOW THAT WASNT PLANNED.”
Professional boxer Gervonta Davis said on X, formerly Twitter, “Usher would have been on his way to the hospital as I write this if I was Swizz,” HipHopDX reports.
Some folks, like Gillie, believe people are doing too much.
Regardless, it was a moment, and Usher understood the assignment, plus we got an excellent damn football game.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
1. This Druski moment will always be relevant
3. Howling
5. Y’all are dead wrong
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Source: WWD / Getty
One of Hip-Hop’s power couples is sharing their art with the world. Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys will be showcasing some of their valued pieces from The Dean Collection at The Brooklyn Museum.
Hypebeast is reporting that the producer and singer will debut their inaugural exhibition titled Giants. The installation will feature some of their most prized works from Gordon Parks, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lorna Simpson, Kehinde Wiley, Nina Chanel Abney and more. According to ARTnews the Giants show will be presented in groupings to align with each section’s theme. “Giant Conversations” will delve into the social issues the Black community while “On the Shoulders of Giants” will be a tribute to the artists who “have left an indelible mark on the world”.
The iconic institution expressed their appreciation to duo in a press release. “Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys have been among the most vocal advocates for Black creatives to support Black artists through their collecting, advocacy, and partnerships. In the process, they have created one of the most important collections of contemporary art,” Brooklyn Museum director Anne Pasternak said. Alicia Keys explained why the initiative is important. “There are far too many artists of all kinds—musicians, painters, sculptors, dancers—who have unfortunately contributed so much to the culture and have died with nothing,” Keys previously told ARTnews. “As artists [ourselves], we care about living artists and the just due that we receive.”
Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys’ Dean Collection opens at Brooklyn Museum starting February 10. You explore the exhibit further here.
Alicia Keys increases her mark for the most No. 1s on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart as “Come for Me (Unlocked),” featuring Khalid and Lucky Daye, ascends to the top of the list dated June 10. The song advances from No. 2 thanks to a 1% gain in plays that made it the most-played song on reporting U.S. monitored adult R&B radio stations in the week ending June 1, according to Luminate.
The new champ gives Keys her 14th Adult R&B Airplay No. 1, furthering her record for the most among all artists. As she distances herself yet again from the competition, here’s a look at the artists with the most leaders since the list began in 1993:
14, Alicia Keys11, Toni Braxton9, Charlie Wilson8, Bruno Mars8, Kem8, Maxwell8, Tank7, Mary J. Blige7, H.E.R.7, R. Kelly
For Khalid, “Come for Me” secures the R&B hitmaker’s fourth champ on Adult R&B Airplay, and second visit with Keys. He previously led with his own three-week No. 1 “Location” in 2017 and 12-week smash “Talk” in 2019, before reaching the top in a featured role on Keys’ “So Done” for one week in 2021.
Lucky Daye, meanwhile, lands his first Adult R&B Airplay chart-topper. His prior best was a No. 2 result though a featured turn on Earth, Wind & Fire’s “You Want My Love” in 2021. As a lead artist, the Grammy winner has achieved a No. 8 high with “Roll Some Mo” in 2019.
Elsewhere, “Come for Me” climbs 19-17 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks songs based on combined audience listenership from both adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop stations. There, the single rises despite a 3% decline, to 6.3 million. On the Hot R&B Songs chart, which blends radio airplay metrics with streaming and sales figures, “Come for Me” debuts at No. 25.
“Come for Me” appears on the deluxe edition of Keys’ 2021 album Keys, dubbed Keys II, that dropped in August 2022. (All versions of the album are combined for tracking and charting purposes.) The singer-songwriter will soon embark on a tour in support of the set, Keys to the Summer, a 23-date trek that begins June 28 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and wraps Aug. 2 in Inglewood, Calif.
When Bridgerton first hit Netflix back in 2020, it captivated audiences not only with its stunning Regency-era visuals and romantic storylines, but also with its gorgeous orchestral covers of pop songs that seamlessly connected the characters to its modern viewers.
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Now, the show’s recently released prequel series, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, is following in the same musical footsteps by transforming songs from Beyoncé, SZA, Whitney Houston and, most notably, Alicia Keys. The 15-time Grammy-winning superstar’s 2003 hit, “If I Ain’t Got You,” got an orchestral rearrangement from the Vitamin String Quartet for the series’ soundtrack, but Netflix teamed up with Keys for another incredibly special musical moment.
To celebrate Queen Charlotte and the power of women worldwide, Keys brought together more than 70 female musicians from all over the world — from South Africa, Barbados and Germany to Sweden and Egypt — to create a first-of-its-kind global orchestra made up entirely of women of color. Together, the Queen Charlotte’s Global Orchestra delivered a captivating rendition of “If I Ain’t Got You” to celebrate the song’s 20th anniversary.
Tyler Twins
“The entire idea was quite ambitious,” Keys tells Billboard with a laugh, adding that Netflix was excited to take on the challenge and shift the perspective of what an orchestra looks like. “I feel like it’s going to open the minds of many people to realize that women of color belong everywhere and we’ve always been everywhere. It’s magical.”
The final result, shared exclusively with Billboard on Monday (May 8) is equally magical. The instrumentalists are donned in eloquent 1700s-inspired gowns as they deliver sweeping strings, ethereal percussion and grounding horns — all working together to uplift Keys’ honeyed vocals and piano melody. “I know they’re gonna be very emotional when they see it because the women we who were there were extremely emotional,” Keys recalled. “Our conductor [Ofentse Pitse] said, ‘It feels like when we have an orchestra of all women of color from all over the world, that we’re finally doing something right.’ This is what our ancestors never experienced.”
Pitse, a Tshwane, South Africa, native who is the youngest and first Black African woman to conduct and own an orchestra, shares with Billboard that the experience felt “historic” from the very first moment. “I think I knew the importance of it when I was on the airplane, but when I actually got there, it just really changed my perspective of the reason why we are all there. We should not just be the first and only ones to do something like this.”
Pulling together such an inspiring group of women is nothing out of the ordinary for Keys, who has always been a fierce advocate for gender equality, something that she says she learned from her mother. “My mother is definitely a feminist for sure. She raised me, and that desire for equanimity and fairness was really instilled in me, and then I would see how it will come out in my songs,” she says. “I would see it on ‘A Woman’s Worth,’ or ‘Superwoman’ or ‘Girl on Fire,’ and I know that the majority of those songs and feelings have come from needing a boost, needing that extra energy. Those songs, in a lot of ways, were what I wished and hoped to feel. Then, I was thinking of how beautiful this moment was with Queen Charlotte and how it really felt like what’s possible came to life, and it’s possible to create special moment when you pay attention to what’s needed.”
The “No One” singer is bringing that extra energy and even more special moments to her upcoming Keys to the Summer Tour, which is set to stretch across North America this summer. Keys is certainly no stranger to touring, but is entering this upcoming run with a sense of celebration, self-liberation and a whole lot of love. “We’re all after the ability to be liberated, to just feel comfortable in our skin, to be allowed to be who we are. To demand that from ourselves and to practice that is so important,” she says of the upcoming trek, during which she promises to revisit some deep cuts from her extensive discography and “tune back into them.”
Watch the Queen Charlotte’s Global Orchestra rendition of “If I Ain’t Got You” exclusively via Billboard here, and catch Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story over on Netflix.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! Swizz Beatz joined The Jennifer Hudson Show on Tuesday (April 25), where he gushed over his 12-year-old son Egypt, whom he shares with wife Alicia Keys.
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At one point in the conversation, Jennifer Hudson mentioned that thanks to his musical talents, Egypt ended up producing a Kendrick Lamar song when he was just five years old. “I’m jealous as hell of that one,” Swizz, a Grammy-winning producer himself, joked. “I thought me and Kendrick was cool.”
The star went on to explain that Egypt and Lamar’s bond began at a past Super Bowl game. “He and Kendrick were talking for, like, 40 minutes,” Swizz recalled. “I went over and said to Kendrick, ‘Is he bothering you? Should I move him? Are you enjoying yourself?’ He said, ‘No, Swizz, I had writer’s block and what Egypt is telling me is helping me deal with something. I was like, ‘Man, he’s five years old.’ To this day, I still don’t know what he was helping him deal with. I let it happen.”
As a result, Egypt ended up getting a producer credit on “untitled 07,” off Lamar’s 2016 Untitled Unmastered project.
However, don’t expect Egypt to follow in his famous parents’ footsteps. The pre-teen joined his father later on in the interview, noting that he has other plans in mind for his future. “I love music but I don’t really want to be a musician. I want to be a basketball player,” he told Hudson.
Watch the full interview below.
Apple Music announced Friday (Dec. 16) that Alicia Keys is bringing her first-ever Holiday Masquerade Ball to the streaming service later this month.
A trailer for the virtual event — which will stream Wednesday (Dec. 21) — shows the superstar performing a soulful cover of “Please Come Home for Christmas” on the Apple Music Live stage. “Bells will be ringing sad sad news/ Oh, what a Christmas to have the blues/ My baby is gone and I have no friends/ To wish me greetings once again/ Choirs be singing ‘Silent Night’/ Christmas carols by the candlelight,” she sings while pairing a bejeweled mask quite literally dripping in crystals with a sleek, tuxedo-inspired pantsuit.
With an assist from TikTok, the Masquerade Ball will feature music from Keys’ new holiday album, Santa Baby, and include appearances by JVKE and Jon Batiste.
“This is THEE Holiday party of the season,” Keys said in a statement. “I’m grateful to Apple Music and TikTok for helping me create a magic moment to showcase my first holiday album, in such a special way, for everyone around the world.”
Upon its November release exclusively on Apple Music and the iTunes Store, Santa Baby debuted in the top 20 on Billboard‘s Top Holiday Albums chart and has so far spent five weeks and counting on the tally. The studio set — a follow-up to 2021’s KEYS — was preceded by original holiday offering and lead single “December Back 2 June.”
Keys also stopped by Billboard‘s Pop Shop Podcast earlier this month to chat about the album, telling hosts Katie Atkinson and Keith Caufield, “It has a soulfulness, a rawness, it has that New York energy in it too, but it just feels like something you could play from top to bottom. And I recorded it like that; we recorded it very consistently over about seven days, and it all really feels cohesive and great. And so I love it. I think now is the time.”
Watch the trailer for Keys’ Holiday Masquerade Ball here.
Alicia Keys’ first seasonal effort, Santa Baby, jingles onto Billboard’s Top Holiday Albums chart (dated Nov. 19) as the list’s highest debut of the week, arriving at No. 19. The 11-track effort is Keys’ first independently released album after a career in the major-label system, first with J Records and then RCA. The download and streaming editions of the album are exclusive to the iTunes Store and Apple Music, respectively, while the physical album is widely available to all retailers.
The set bows with 3,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 10, according to Luminate, with traditional album sales powering 74% of that sum.
Meanwhile, Keys’ cover of “Please Come Home for Christmas,” from the Santa Baby project, enters at No. 27 on the Adult Contemporary airplay chart – her seventh visit to the list.
A second debut joins Santa Baby on Top Holiday Albums as Switchfoot’s first Christmas release, This Is Our Christmas Album, enters at No. 400 (1,000 units). Coincidentally, both include covers of a pair of classics: “Christmas Time Is Here” and “The Christmas Song.”
Elsewhere on Top Holiday Albums, Michael Bublé’s Christmas crowns the chart for a 37th nonconsecutive week (rising 2-1 with 13,000 units; up 107%), while the various artists compilation A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector jumps 10-2 (a new peak) as holiday streaming programming kicked into gear post-Halloween in the chart’s tracking week of Nov. 4-10.
The Top Holiday Albums chart ranks the 50 most popular seasonal albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each units 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. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram. The seasonal Top Holiday Albums returned for another festive season with the Oct. 22-dated list and will continue as part of Billboard’s weekly chart menu until it dashes away in January 2023.
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