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Country singer Travis Tritt is removing the King of Beers from his own royal retinue. On Wednesday night (April 5), Tritt released a series of tweets announcing that he would no longer be working with Anheuser-Busch, the company that produces Budweiser and Bud Light, among other beers.
“I will be deleting all Anheuser-Busch products from my tour hospitality rider,” the singer wrote, referring to the list of requests — including food and drink — an artist will submit to a live venue they’re scheduled to perform at. “I know many other artists who are doing the same.”
The announcement came after significant online backlash against the brand for partnering with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney in a March Madness campaign. One of the most vocal protestors of the announcement was Kid Rock, who posted a video of himself opening fire on three cases of Bud Light with an assault rifle, declaring, “f–k Bud Light and f–k Anheuser-Busch.”
When some commenters began asking which other stars Tritt knew would be removing Anheuser-Busch products from their tour riders, the “T-R-O-U-B-L-E” singer chose not to name names. “Other artists who are deleting Anheuser-Busch products from their hospitality rider might not say so in public for fear of being ridiculed and cancelled,” he wrote. “I have no such fear.”
The singer also added that he had worked directly with the beer manufacturer in the past, but had no plans to do so again. “In full disclosure, I was on a tour sponsored by Budweiser in the 90’s. That was when Anheuser-Busch was American owned,” he wrote. “A great American company that later sold out to the Europeans and became unrecognizable to the American consumer. Such a shame.”
While Tritt never directly referred to Mulvaney or Anheuser-Busch’s partnership with the TikTok star, the “Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)” singer did post an advertisement from Jack Daniel’s featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race stars BeBe Zahara Benet, Trinity Taylor and Manila Luzon, telling his followers that they “should take note.”
In a statement to Billboard, Jack Daniel’s stood by its Drag Queen Summer Glamp campaign, as well as its ongoing support for the queer and trans communities. “Jack Daniel’s is made with everyone in mind, including the LGBTQ+ community,” a spokesperson said. “As a longtime champion of the LGBTQ+ community, Jack Daniel’s celebrates individuality and living life boldly on your own terms.”
Anheuser-Busch has not yet responded to a request for comment regarding Tritt’s tweets, but in a previous statement shared with Billboard, the brand stood firm in its stance. “Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics,” a spokesperson said.
The whiskey brand is not the only one to fire back at the online outrage. Country star Jason Isbell openly mocked Kid Rock for his violent response to the Bud Light advertisement, encouraging other beer brands to follow suit. “This is finally how we get him,” Isbell said. “Leave no bigoted beers to drink.”
Billboard has reached out to Tritt comment. See his tweets below:
I will be deleting all Anheuser-Busch products from my tour hospitality rider. I know many other artists who are doing the same.— Travis Tritt (@Travistritt) April 5, 2023
Other artists who are deleting Anheuser-Busch products from their hospitality rider might not say so in public for fear of being ridiculed and cancelled. I have no such fear. https://t.co/YgjO9P03tR— Travis Tritt (@Travistritt) April 6, 2023
In full disclosure, I was on a tour sponsored by Budweiser in the 90’s. That was when Anheuser-Busch was American owned. A great American company that later sold out to the Europeans and became unrecognizable to the American consumer. Such a shame.— Travis Tritt (@Travistritt) April 6, 2023
Much of country music’s story is embedded in the road.
The genre is obsessed with pickup trucks, artists are necessarily reliant on tour buses, and a passel of key recordings — from Hank Williams’ “Lost Highway” to Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again” — are tied up in travel.
So is Jordan Harvey’s “Along for the Ride,” a sunshiny piece of ear candy that distills a commute from Alabama to Nashville into a three-minute musical journey with inspirational debts to Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Lionel Richie and Beyoncé.
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“I’m a very melody-driven human,” says Harvey, a Scottish-born former member of King Calaway. “Melody makes you feel, and then it’s the lyric that takes you over the line.”
“Along for the Ride” is built around an ultra-hooky chorus melody that Harvey developed while driving north with his fiancée, Madison Fendley, from her parents’ home in lower Alabama for a songwriting session on Feb. 10, 2022. The upbeat musical phrases worked in tandem with a series of “pushes” — three instrumental notes that propel the energy from one phrase to the next. Those pushes borrowed from the syncopation of Richie’s “All Night Long (All Night).” And the images for Harvey’s song likewise came straight out of Fendley’s joy while riding in the passenger seat.
“This Beyoncé song came on, and she’s singing along and her hands are out the window, and I’m like, ‘You’re the most beautiful person,’ ” he remembers. “I was back out to the write that night, and I knew there was something there.”
Songwriter-producer Jason Massey (Kelsea Ballerini, Mickey Guyton) hosted the appointment, which included James McNair (“Going, Going, Gone,” “Lovin’ On You”), in a studio on his property. “There’s a chicken pen with like 10 chickens — you couldn’t get much more country than that, could you?” deadpans Harvey. “As you’re writing a song, you hear the chickens — ‘B-caw, b-caw’ — which was pretty awesome, and pretty random.”
Harvey introduced his musical foundation, which was quickly moved to the most prominent part of the song. “Jordan was humming that melody maybe an octave below where it is [now], thinking it was like a verse,” Massey recalls. “We’re like, ‘That sounds like a chorus.’ ”
Harvey relayed how positive and inspired the trip had been and noted that he wanted to write a song with an automotive vibe along the lines of Urban’s “Days Go By” or Rascal Flatts’ “Fast Cars and Freedom.” McNair offered the title, and when they fished for a setup line, McNair also served the full twist: “I may have my hands on the wheel/ But I’m just along for the ride.” Key in making it work was to present it in a way that fans could relate to either of the song’s two characters in present tense.
“I remember trying to describe her enough to make it feel good, where it puts the listener [in the role of] the guy driving, or the girl that’s along for the ride,” says McNair. “And we wanted to keep it very fiercely in the moment.”
Harvey was conscientious about populating the song with images that fit his relationship — it recognizes her Alabama roots, for example — and he hinted at her background as a dancer with an entertainment-related phrase in the chorus. “I’ve never heard anyone say, ‘Paparazzi Hollywood smile’ in a country song,” he says. “It phonetically matches the first line, and it felt right to put it in there when we sang it. It just pops off the tongue.”
They pitched the opening lines much lower than the chorus, creating a natural arc in the song’s construction, and McNair fashioned a key pre-chorus line, “Hearts burnin’ hotter than the gasoline,” that was so strong they reused it for a bridge.
“What really separates a great song from just an undeniable song is if you can have different parts that you can pull out of the song and they’re equally as hooky — like, hooky verse, hooky pre-chorus and hooky chorus,” says McNair. “That phrasing, how it goes into the pre-chorus, once we landed on that, that’s when we knew we had it locked in.”
Massey started lightly producing the demo during the co-write, then worked in more depth later, with keyboards, bass, guitar and programmed drums. He also included a banjo, treating it with an echo effect that transforms its clunky nature into a sound that emulates the glitter of a paparazzi-inhabited red carpet or the stars “fallin’ like diamonds” in verse two.
“The verse definitely has some more reverb, and I think it’s filtered out some high frequencies,” he says. “So the banjo in the verse is a different treatment than the banjo on the chorus.”
Massey called on several other musicians to make individual changes for the final version. Evan Hutchings replaced the programmed drums with a real kit, while Justin Ostrander fitted in a short solo that ends with twin Southern-rock inspired guitars. Alex Wright added extra keyboard textures, too. Harvey cut his rangy vocals on his own back in Alabama, though after Massey got the file, he persuaded Harvey to do a second remote vocal session, where they Americanized some of his enunciations a little more.
“When he initially sent me the vocals, I don’t even remember how he pronounced ‘paparazzi,’ but it was really weird,” recalls Massey with a laugh. “It was just not how we pronounce it here. I sat on the phone trying to coach him on that for a minute.”
Harvey did a separate version of the end of verse two, changing the melody and dovetailing with his own chorus performance, and he piled up more than seven different tracks with ad-libs. Massey contributed extra harmony vocals. Harvey heard final mixes of “Along for the Ride” during his radio promotion tour — he listened to one key version in the middle of a busy airport — and he got important feedback in those station visits.
“I had this song in my arsenal. Everyone loved the song — I really loved the song — there was no denying that this was going to be a single,” Harvey says. “But when I started doing my radio tour, people at radio said, ‘Oh my God, man, we’re dying for tempo.’ My second station, I played it and the guy was like, ‘Give it to me right now, I’ll play it.’ ”
Broken Bow released it to country radio via PlayMPE on Valentine’s Day. After developing “Along for the Ride” through the pandemic, performing it for actual crowds on the road underscores his belief in the song’s melodic power.
“Just seeing people like, ‘Well, I love this,’” he says. “It’s so rewarding when it’s a pen and pencil on a desk, or in a studio with a guitar and a couple of boys. But to take it out and have a finished product that people want, that’s the best feeling in the world.”
Two former Universal Music Group Nashville senior executives, Rachel Fontenot and Katie Dean, are launching the Nashville-based independent label Leo33, Billboard can reveal.
Dean spent the last 18 years at UMG Nashville, most recently serving as senior vp of promotion for MCA Records Nashville. Fontenot most recently served as vp of marketing and artist development at UMG Nashville, a role she held since 2020.
Leo33’s team also includes Daniel Lee, former president of artist development company Altadena (which Lee co-founded with the late songwriter/producer busbee), as well as former Downtown Music Nashville senior creative director Natalie Osborne.
“I worked at a major for half of my adult life and I loved every minute of it,” Dean tells Billboard. “But in the digital age you have the ability for artists to go directly to the consumer. With the majors having to do the volume [of music] that they have to do, you lose a bit of the development process and at some point, it becomes more air traffic control than actual individual focus. This is an artist development-focused label.”
Leo33 will reveal artist signings in the coming months. The label’s signings will include commercial country artists, Dean says, but will also allow for a broader palette of sounds.
“Some of the artists we sign will be very radio-driven; others will not,” Dean says. “I love radio. You can’t beat the recognition that radio delivers, but that’s not necessarily every artist’s goal. I love that challenge of, in addition to radio responsibilities, finding new ways to reach artists’ goals. Our strategies will be agile.”
“The genre lines are blurred, especially when you are playing in these other musical spaces outside of commercial country radio,” Fontenot says. “It’s wonderful because it expands the format…I feel like we are in a sort of renaissance time in terms of making music that moves you without having to assign a specific genre. It’s exciting and challenging.”
Pictured: Daniel Lee, Natalie Osborne, Katie Dean and Rachel Fontenot
Robby Klein
Leo33 will house A&R, marketing, streaming and promotion services.
“We have many of the same resources of a major label, but the focus on agility of an independent label,” Dean adds. “We are all marketing and artist development people at our core.”
Backing for the new label comes from Firebird Music and Red Light Ventures.
“We are happy to be associated with both companies,” Fontenot says. “They have successful track records and provide the resources we need, while allowing us to be autonomous and independent.”
Leo33 takes its name from the constellation Leo.
“When you talk about being courageous, agile, and the lions forming a pride to protect, that’s what we want to do for our artists,” Fontenot tells Billboard, adding that “33” is a nod to the long-playing vinyl format, as well as company’s vision of looking at an entire body of work in terms of how the label treats artists.
“We are treating this very much as a holistic experience for the artist,” Dean says. “There’s also this nod to the nostalgic, but also to the future.”
Leo33’s offices will open later this year in Nashville’s Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood. The label plans to slowly add staff as they scale up their roster.
“We both have an entrepreneurial spirit, and I feel like that will be the face of the future, just based on how the business has evolved,” Fontenot says. “We are all going to wear a lot of hats and all work to promote our artists in various ways, with the idea that the collective work is going to be unstoppable.”
Courtesy of Leo33
On Monday (April 3), Tanya Tucker was announced as one of the Country Music Hall of Fame’s newest inductee-elects, alongside Patty Loveless and songwriter Bob McDill. The two-time Grammy winner Tucker wasted no time adding to the heralded moment, revealing her upcoming album, Sweet Western Sound, will release June 2 via Fantasy Records.
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The 10-song set will reunite Tucker with producers Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings, who helmed her 2019 album While I’m Livin’, the project that garnered Tucker her first Grammy wins for best country album, as well as best country song, for its single “Bring My Flowers Now.”
“Sweet Western Sound is another revelation and I’m excited to see what folks think of our new endeavor,” said Tucker said via a statement. “It’s ALWAYS a trip working with Brandi and Shooter. I didn’t know if we’d be working together again on a new album after While I’m Livin’!! But we did it! Lots of new things we did this time and I even co-wrote some of the songs, which means a lot to me. Brandi says we’re MAGIC together, and I’m starting to believe her!!!!”
The Phil and Tim Hanseroth-written track “Kindness” leads the project, which also features contributions from Elton John’s longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin, Allison Russell’s Birds of Chicago bandmate JT Nero, Billy Don Burns and Craig Dillingham. A voicemail-generated rhyme from Tucker’s hero and friend, the late Billy Joe Shaver, opens and closes the album.
In addition to contributing production and co-writing four songs on the project, Carlile lends her voice to the track “Breakfast in Birmingham,” which Carlile co-wrote with Taupin. Sweet Western Sound also includes the previously released song “Ready As I’ll Never Be,” which also served as the closing song to Tucker’s 2022 documentary, The Return of Tanya Tucker, Featuring Brandi Carlile.
Tucker is also slated to headline two concerts at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, set for June 3-4.
See her announcement and the tracklist for Sweet Western Sound below:
“Tanya” (written by Billy Joe Shaver, Tanya Tucker)
“Kindness” (written by Tim Hanseroth, Phil Hanseroth)
“Breakfast In Birmingham,” featuring Brandi Carlile (written by Brandi Carlile, Bernie Taupin)
“Waltz Across a Moment” (written by Shooter Jennings)
“Ready As I’ll Never Be” (written by Brandi Carlile, Tanya Tucker)
“The List” (written by Brandi Carlile, Tanya Tucker)
“Letter to Linda” (written by Tanya Tucker, Shooter Jennings)
“City of Gold” (written by JT Nero)
“That Wasn’t Me” (written by Brandi Carlile, Tim Hanseroth, Phil Hanseroth)
“When the Rodeo Is Over (Where Do the Cowboys Go?)” (written by Billy Don Burns, Craig Dillingham)
Jelly Roll took home three accolades during Sunday’s CMT Music Awards, becoming the winningest artist of the evening. The rapper-turned-singer won male video of the year, breakthrough male video of the year (both for his “Son of a Sinner” music video) and CMT digital-first performance of the year for his performance of “Son of a Sinner” on CMT All Access.
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After the show, Jelly Roll’s wife, model and podcast host Bunnie XO, posted a sweet tribute to her husband on Instagram. She included a photo showing Jelly Roll with his head resting against his head as he held onto the railing in front of him.
“An anomaly: Something that deviates from what is standard, normal or expected,” she wrote in an Instagram post in tribute to Jelly Roll. “You my sweet other half, are just that. A man that was told no every corner he turned only to hit ‘em with that Nashville shuck & come out on top every time. I always tell you you have a horseshoe stuck up your ass, but that isn’t it baby. This is sheer will to spread light, to move mountains, to touch broken souls with your voice, to break generational traumas & set examples for the future. In short, you are the game changer papas. You were sent here to destroy stereotypes & blaze the trail for all the have nots.
“Saying I’m proud of you has to be so redundant after all these years, so tonite, per usual- I stand in awe of you. The pied piper of lost souls, the melancholy maestro.. tonite was your night. Hell if we’re being honest, 2023 has been your YEAR. You filled their hearts with love & brought ‘em to church handsome. Can’t wait to see what’s next.”
Jelly Roll performed his new single “Need a Favor” on Sunday’s CMT Music Awards, backed by a gospel choir. “Need a Favor” is currently at No. 32 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart. Jelly Roll was also among those featured in the New Faces of Country Music Show during this year’s Country Radio Seminar. On June 2, he will release his new album Whitsitt Chapel.
Many in Nashville’s music community are coming together for a night of music and to stand with The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville where six people, including three children and three staffers, were killed just over a week ago in a school shooting on March 27.
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On April 12, Belmont University’s The Fisher Center will host “A Night of Joy Celebrating the Covenant School” to honor the victims and their families as well as the church, staff and first responders, and bring an evening of music, hope and healing. The concert will begin at 7 p.m. CT.
Author/speaker Annie F. Downs will lead the evening, which will also feature performances from Chris Tomlin, Colony House, Dave Barnes, Drew Holcomb, Ellie Holcomb, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor, Lady A, Matt Kearney, Matt Maher, Natalie Hemby, Sixpence None the Richer, Stephanie and Nathan Chapman, The Warren Brothers, Thomas Rhett, Trent Dabbs and Tyler Hubbard. Also on the bill are Brett Taylor, Luke Laird, Sandra McCracken, Dwan Hill, Jasmine Mullen and Sarah Kroger, with more special guests expected.
The six victims fatally shot by the shooter at Covenant School were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all age 9; Cynthia Peak, age 61; Katherine Koonce, age 60; and Mike Hill, age 61. A 28-year-old suspect was killed during an altercation with police.
Tickets for the event go on sale Wednesday, April 10, at 10 a.m. CT at thefishercenter.com, with all ticket proceeds benefiting The Covenant School.
Previously, artists including Sheryl Crow and Margo Price performed at a vigil for the victims that was held March 29 in downtown Nashville, while Lauren Daigle postponed an album preview party that had been set for March 27 and instead hosted a prayer vigil for the victims of the mass shooting. In addition to the vigils, protests have been held at the Tennessee Capitol building in downtown Nashville, as students and adults pleaded with legislators to enact gun reform in the wake of the shooting.
Diplo‘s country era continues! On Tuesday (April 4), the musician revealed the release date of his forthcoming album, Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley: Chapter 2 – Swamp Savant, along with a story of how the record came to be via Instagram.
“To prepare for this new Thomas Wesley project I went back to my father’s house in Florida. It all started in the swamps I was raised in and I spent six months learnin guitar, gettin in touch with nature, working his boat when the shrimp were running on full moons at the trailer park,” he said.
After calling in favors to rappers, attending Stagecoach for research, and befrending several Nashville-based A&R’s, the DJ confidently added that the new LP is “the greatest single piece of work I’ve ever done, I can promise you that. Thomas Wesley: Chapter 2 – Swamp Savant… out April 28.”
While fans will have to wait until then to hear the project in full, the LP’s first single “Wasted,” featuring Kodak Black and Koe Wetzel, arrived in late January. And according to an official press release, there is “more music imminent.”
Swamp Savant serves as the official follow-up to 2020’s Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley Chapter 1: Snake Oil. The set featured the singles “Heartless” with Morgan Wallen, “Dance With Me” with Thomas Rhett and Young Thug, and “Lonely” with Jonas Brothers. The album peaked at No. 50 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.
See Diplo’s album release date announcement below:
Kid Rock is taking out his frustration on a few dozen cans of Bud Light.
Late Monday night (April 3), the “Bad Reputation” singer posted a video of himself across his social media accounts, speaking directly to the camera. Wearing a white MAGA hat, the rock-rapper said that “Grandpa’s feeling a bit frisky today,” and promised to be as “clear and concise as possible” with his statement.
The “Devil Without a Cause” singer then lifted up a semi-automatic rifle and opened fire on three cases of Bud Light propped up on a wooden table. Ceasing his fire on the beer cans, Rock looked back into the camera to make his point clear: “F–k Bud Light, and f–k Anheuser-Busch.”
The video came shortly after trans activist Dylan Mulvaney teamed up with Anheuser-Busch to promote the brand’s Easy Carry Contest, posting a video of herself talking about the campaign and even receiving “possibly the best gift ever” — a commemorative can of Bud Light with her face on it.
Mulvaney’s video immediately sparked outrage from right-wing commentators, who lambasted the brand for working with a transgender influencer. Anheuser-Busch responded to the backlash in a statement to Fox News, saying the company works with “hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics and passion points,” and adding that Mulvaney’s commemorative can “was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.”
The ongoing backlash comes at a time when transgender people are being targeted at a steady cadence by state legislatures around the U.S. Kentucky became the latest state to pass anti-trans legislation into law last week when lawmakers overrode Gov. Andy Beshear‘s veto of a bill banning gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 18, while also compelling physicians to cease any ongoing gender-transition care for minors.
Billboard has reached out to Kid Rock, Dylan Mulvaney and Anheuser-Busch for comment.
Watch the Instagram videos below:
Three top Universal Music Group Nashville executives have exited their roles: executive vp of promotion Royce Risser, evp of A&R Brian Wright and senior vp of A&R Stephanie Wright, according to Country Aircheck. Representatives at UMG Nashville did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Risser was promoted to evp in 2018. He began his career as an intern at MCA Records in 1991 and climbed the ranks as director, NE regional promotion, then director of national promotion and vp of promotion before assuming the role of svp of promotion for UMG Nashville in 2007.
Stephanie Wright joined UMGN more than two decades ago and previously served as vp of A&R. During her tenure with the label, Wright worked with artists including Kacey Musgraves, Luke Bryan and Sam Hunt, and was instrumental in albums including Musgraves’ Same Trailer Different Park and Hunt’s Montevallo.
Brian Wright also joined UMGN over two decades ago and was promoted to his evp role in 2018 and worked closely on albums including Jamey Johnson’s Lonesome Song, George Strait’s Troubadour and Chris Stapleton’s Traveller and From A Room Vols. 1 and 2.
The exits of the Wrights — who are married — and Risser come as Cindy Mabe officially began her role as UMG Nashville chairman/CEO on April 1, following former UMGN chairman/CEO Mike Dungan‘s retirement. Mabe was named president of UMGN in 2014 and with her rise to chairman/CEO, she becomes the first woman to serve as chairman/CEO of a Nashville-based major label group.
Earlier this year, Katie Dean left UMG after a two-decade tenure with the company; Dean had led MCA Nashville’s promotion team since 2015. In 2022, UMG Nashville’s Rachel Fontenot exited her role as vp of marketing and artist development, while vp of marketing Brad Turcotte left UMG Nashville to become partner at 615 Leverage + Strategy.
Meanwhile, former Arista Nashville artist Brad Paisley recently signed a deal with UMG’s EMI Nashville imprint.
After getting to know each other this weekend at the 2023 CMT Music Awards, country music legend Shania Twain said she’s totally down for a possible collaboration with rapper Megan Thee Stallion. The two got acquainted when Meg presented the Equal Play Honor to Twain at the show and Twain told ET Online that it got her thinking about how they might sound together.
“I love her… what a sweetheart!,” Twain said of the “Body” MC, who was seated near the country queen in the audience during the broadcast. She added that they got along “very well… I love her as a person.”
There is one question, however, Twain is very glad Megan didn’t ask her. “She is a great talent, I was just glad she didn’t ask me to twerk out there. I would had to have said no,” Twain said. “She was amazing and said so many sweet things and I was really flattered she was there for me.”
The bond was so immediate, Twain added, that she revealed she “was thinking” they might vibe in the studio as well. “I think that that would really work… I love her whole mind,” the singer said.
If it happens, it would mark a hip-hop crossover first for Twain, who has typically leaned into the country/pop vein in the past when it comes to sharing the mic, including songs with Orville Peck (“Legends Never Die”), Alison Krauss & Union Station (“I’m Gonna Get You Good”), Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath (“Party For Two), her musical hero Anne Murray (“You Needed Me”), and, at this year’s Coachella, Harry Styles for a live run through her “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”
It would also be a first for San Antonio-bred Megan, who has also mostly stayed in her lane, teaming up with Beyoncé for the “Savage” remix, Key Glock on “Ungrateful,” Juicy J for “Simon Says,” Dua Lipa for “Sweetest Pie” and, of course, Cardi B on their Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 smash “WAP.”