State Champ Radio Features
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Samantha Poulter had her first child, a daughter named Genie, in October of 2022. In a way, the Australia-born, Berlin-based electronic music producer is about to again give birth. Due March 22 through Because Music, her debut album, Mother, is 11-tracks of cerebral, underground-leaning house music that contains elements of the many facets of femininity. The music is no doubt a product of Poulter’s transition into the album’s titular role.
“Since becoming a mother, I feel this overwhelming sense of womanhood and sisterhood,” she says. It makes sense then that her album is populated by female collaborators including Rochelle Jordan, whose velvet vocals are featured on the lush “Promises” and Miami-based singer MJ Nebreda, who brings an alluring heat to “Every lil.”
“If hearing the story about my transformation during motherhood inspires someone to look deep within themselves and think about how they want to grow and transform,” Poulter says of her vision for the project, “that will make this album successful to me.”
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Foundation
Samantha Poulter took piano lessons as a child but “didn’t like that formal type of training,” she says. Yet she dreamed of being a performer, taking inspiration from Michael Jackson and 1990s-era British pop star Peter Andre. She had a keen ear from a young age, too: “I’d be like, ‘I would do this differently,’ and have ideas about how music should sound without the training to communicate that or create it myself.” That changed when she started producing electronic music in her early 20s, weaving high school-era influences like Destiny’s Child and Aaliyah into her cerebral productions.
Discovery
Poulter and her husband, DJ-producer Tom McAlister, started producing electronic music together in 2016 when she “felt there was a lull” in what she was listening to. She asked him if they could “have a go at making something together that reflects what I want to hear,” and in 2019, she released her self-titled debut EP as Logic1000. It included “DJ Logic Please Forgive Me,” which Four Tet played in his 2019 Coachella set, instantly raising her profile. “That was a huge moment for me,” she recalls, “and it snowballed from there.” She was soon enlisted to officially remix Flume, Christine and the Queens, Major Lazer and Caribou, leading to her own Coachella set in 2022. Come March 22, Logic1000 will release her debut album, Mother, which was supported by a recent Boiler Room set filmed in Melbourne, Australia.
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Future
Now based in Berlin, Poulter gave birth to her daughter, Genie, in 2022. The experience of pregnancy and parenting deeply influenced the lush, intimate Mother. Poulter, who has always been candid about her mental health, found the early postpartum period challenging: “I was up and down and so hormonal, but also had this insane energy to achieve things and create this album,” she says. She ended up in a period of burnout, taking 10 months off touring, but feels prepared to dive back in. “Once I realized that this is actually my dream job, it gave me the drive, energy and courage to just do it,” she says, “but with that practical advice of it being on my own terms.”
A version of this story originally appeared in the March 9, 2024, issue of Billboard.
In the 15 years since K-pop’s early international pioneers BoA and the Wonder Girls made their respective marks on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100 charts back in 2009, the Korean pop industry has made significant strides on the Billboard charts — and never has its crossover success been more apparent than now.
In 2023 alone, 35 different K-pop albums entered the Billboard 200, and five took the No. 1 spot. TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION hit the top spot in February, Stray Kids’ 5-STAR reigned for a week in June, NewJeans’ Get Up took over in August, Stray Kids scored a second No. 1 this year with ROCK-STAR in November, before ATEEZ snagged their first chart-topper with The World EP.Fin: Will in December.
Over on the Hot 100, Jimin of BTS opened a new chapter of K-pop history when he became the first South Korean solo artist to hit No. 1 on the chart with his solo single “Like Crazy.” His bandmate Jung Kook followed soon after when “Seven” (featuring Latto) debuted atop the Hot 100 and set the stage for the star to set a new record with three top five solo hits so far. Elsewhere, artists like BIGBANG’s Taeyang, NewJeans, FIFTY FIFTY, Stray Kids and Jennie of BLACKPINK all earned their first Hot 100 entries, while TWICE and BTS members J-Hope, Agust D and V all added additional entries to their Hot 100 collections.
Of course, many artists also spent time connecting with their global fans, thanks to massive tours across the globe. Acts like SEVENTEEN, ENHYPEN, NCT, TWICE, aespa, LE SSERAFIM, (G)I-DLE, ITZY, Agust D and more played the largest venues of their career, further displaying K-pop’s impact on the live market.
Ahead of the launch of Billboard Korea — with a kick-off event in Seoul set for May, where the artists on this list will be invited as the guests of honor, and the first issue, Billboard K Vol.1, scheduled for release in June — we’ve compiled the inaugural Billboard K-Pop Artist 100 list, with rankings based on activity on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and Billboard Boxscore (touring) data for the charts dated Jan. 7, 2023, through Dec. 30, 2023. (In most cases, group members are listed together, except for where notable solo activity separates the artists.)
Find our full 2024 list below:
Yuna (ITZY)
Image Credit: JYP Entertainment
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Source: Paramount+ / Paramount+
HipHopWired sat down and talked with the director and star of the Paramount Plus documentary As We Speak: Rap Music On Trial.
One of the more pressing situations affecting Hip-Hop culture and the communities who love it is the persistent weaponization of rap lyrics in criminal cases throughout the United States and abroad. The most vivid example is the current RICO trial being brought against Young Thug by Fulton County prosecutors in Georgia. Sadly, the general public is still unaware of the scale of these actions by the criminal justice system and its effects – to date, 700 trials have used rap lyrics as evidence since 1990.
Source: Paramount+ / Paramount+
A new documentary, As We Speak: Rap Music on Trial is shining an intense light on how much law enforcement has used rap lyrics to gain convictions in criminal cases. The documentary, which will air on Paramount Plus, is directed and produced by J.M. Harper ((jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy, Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma). As We Speak is filmed through the perspective of Kemba, a talented MC from the Bronx who is our narrator as he talks with various artists such as Killer Mike, Mac Phipps, Glasses Malone, and attorneys like MSNBC’s Ari Melber across the U.S. and in the United Kingdom about their perspectives in unique ways – even kicking off the film by acquiring a two-way pager to keep his communication private. HipHopWired got the chance to speak exclusively with Harper and Kemba about the film and its message.
HipHopWired: J.M., what was the artistic spark for doing this project? Was it always your intent to get the point of view from somebody who rhymes like Kemba as the main narrator for the project?
J.M. Harper: Really, what we’ve seen with the Young Thug trial especially is, that most of the time this issue is talked about in the national news, and the artist in question is always silent. You don’t hear that they’re told to be silent, they’re made to be silent. And so that was the most obvious entry point for me, was that you could tell the story from the artist’s perspective, and there was just probably something new and interesting to learn there. And something true to learn that that wasn’t being told to us through the D.A. or the prosecutors, or even the news media that was covering it. I knew that Kemba could tell that story with nuance and perspective and do it the way that I had seen some of the great black minds of our time – the great minds of our time, period – but certainly the great black minds of our time who could take something, an issue that seemed one way at first blush, and really articulate it in a way that reached everybody, no matter where you come from. That’s why I thought of Kimba. And I think that’s what he does in the film.
HHW: So Kemba, with doing this film and connecting with some of the other artists that have been under duress, unfortunately, like Mac Phipps – how was it for you to gain more insight into their experiences in talking with them for the film?
Kemba: It was a lot of emotions. Mac Phipps, I have so much respect for, just because he wasn’t upset. He wasn’t bitter. I would definitely be. He just had such an excitement for the rest of his life. You know, in hearing the story…it made me upset. I see why people don’t have faith in the justice system. How somebody could lose 30 years of their life, even when somebody confesses to the crime they get convicted for. How somebody could have their lives twisted against them, a line from this song, a line from that song. It was really unbelievable to hear. And we heard the experiences of a few different people like that, that their art forms are being taken away from them or being used against them. Yeah, it was eye-opening.
HHW: We get a chance in the film to connect with different artists from cities across the globe. What were the most memorable experiences in filming those segments for you both?
Harper: For me, it was Chicago. Just being able to talk to some of the first drill rappers, period. The way that they, 10 or 15 years on, talked about their experience with the labels. Getting 100 grand from a label to talk about what was happening around you. I didn’t know that Chi-raq, Drillinois was a term – I didn’t know about the Driilinois terminology, that it came from the first drill producer. And that term was used on CNN every night around that time. The origin stories of the music, and the complexities there that just hadn’t been spoken about and hadn’t been amplified. I’m sure they were being spoken about, but not until we were able to capture it within this whole context of black history. Could it be sort of put into a context that applies to what’s happening right now in courtrooms? That was one of the most compelling moments of it, every city presented something new. But for me, Chicago was special for that reason.
Kemba: Yeah, I agree about Chicago. I will say Atlanta, just speaking to Killer Mike. And he has a wealth of knowledge. But also, just learning about this. So the history, just to look how far back all this goes, like art being sort of not seen or not considered. Not respected as art. Back from rock and roll to Blues to jazz, back to Negro spirituals, and how this is just the sort of newest iteration of that. That was super surprising to me.
HHW: This is going to be my last question, kind of a little bit on the fun side. Whose idea was it to kick everything off with getting the two-way pager?
Harper: (laughs) So when I was cutting the Kanye jeen-yuhs documentary, which is mostly set in the late 90s, early 2000s, Kanye would always be like writing in the two-way. Two-way this, two-way that. Then I saw that it was all over the place in the music videos around that time and the Hip-Hop community had really embraced a two-way for its short life in between the invention of the pager and the cell phone texting. That became a really interesting starting-off point and then bringing it into the pawn shop was great. Those guys speaking in patois, I didn’t even ask them to talk like that. They asked, “can we say something?” I was like, “yeah” and they just started going off. It was just really organic. This little piece of Hip-Hop history was a perfect vessel for Kemba to be writing and communicating with, thinking that he was off the grid. So, that’s where it came from.
As We Speak: Rap Music On Trial airs on Paramount Plus on February 27.
02/22/2024
Female artists are making strides in beauty, fashion, food and more.
02/22/2024
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Source: Fadi Kheir / Courtesy of Carnegie Hall
It’s the eve of Valentine’s Day on a snow-melting New York City evening. Black couples draped in their finest $5,000-a-plate fur-cloaked gala attire wandered around a half-filled Carnegie Hall auditorium, seeking and finding a place to purchase cocktails in the the Sanford I. Weill Cafe.
Source: Fadi Kheir / Courtesy of Carnegie Hall
Among the aforementioned are business casual and informally dressed attendees, some even in snow boots and leisurewear. They all learned about the Power Network’s “A Black History Month Conversation and Celebration.” Its purpose was to unite a niche audience commemorating Black excellence with decorated professionals, followed by an exhilarating mini-concert by Rick Ross hosted by legendary radio personality, Ed Lover.
Event organizers Lew Tucker and Terry Ross invited an impressive selection of renowned guest speakers and panelists tasked to discuss tangible ways technology, artificial intelligence and politics can leapfrog an encumbered community out of multi-generational poverty. Each subject matter expert offered their brand of solutions – voting, equity ownership and advanced education were at the top of the list for the most part. However, some conversations had such galvanizing perspectives, making the call to action a revolution worth exploring.
In the first panel of the night, moderator and Vibranium Central Foundation executive Derek Ferguson kicked off the discussion with a malfunctioned video clip of the late Nipsey Hussle discussing the distrust in cryptocurrencies in Black communities and his desire to remediate it with technology. Megan Holston-Alexander, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz heading the Cultural Leadership Fund in Silicon Valley, discussed how the power of equity ownership in tech is a fast track to bridging the wage gap if investors are strategic enough to secure it.
An easy way to bypass an often impenetrable venture capital fund is through “employment-ship,” as she describes. Candidates would seek employment at a budding tech start-up and secure company stock through a compensation package, which can instantly become worth millions if a larger company acquires the business or goes public on the stock market. It’s extended gameplay but has given professionals an expedited pathway toward real wealth.
Ron Busby Sr., a business executive at U.S. Black Chambers Inc., reminded the audience how the government glosses over Black issues by enveloping other ethnicities into federal funding under the umbrella term “minority,” which he claims has served white women the most at an astounding 78% of the budget. If Black enterprises certify their businesses on byblack.us as Black-owned businesses, they actively create a demand for federal dollars explicitly earmarked for Black business owners. Additionally, using acquisitions by becoming a 51% owner of small companies would help expand their businesses and aid them in gaining larger contracts that are otherwise inaccessible to small businesses.
Source: Fadi Kheir / Courtesy of Carnegie Hall
The second act of the event was a pleasant pivot into political activism with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, moderated by Earn Your Leisure founders Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings.
Moore’s decorated life story is one for the books. The former Robin Hood CEO, who once managed to distribute $600 million towards impoverished families before taking his talents into politics in 2023, won his first elected seat into office on the first try.
His new career starts without deep political ties, which historically has muddled the landscape along with backroom deals and false promises to its constituents. Instead, Moore’s business-minded approach focuses on demolishing generational poverty in the Black community through policy.
From his perspective, gaining access to the state budget has given him a unique understanding of how deliberate policy-driven racism has strategically pigeonholed Black Americans into disenfranchisement.
Source: Fadi Kheir / Courtesy of Carnegie Hall
Billionaire Robert F. Smith, who also serves as Carnegie Hall’s chairman, joined the governor’s conversation with HarbourView CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares. The refreshed panel closed out the final segment of the evening. Both executives spoke in depth about the impact technology and AI will have on the future of Black families in America.
Smith highlighted the underrepresentation of Black professionals in tech and the dangers it threatens as AI amalgamates itself into corporate America. Eventually, executives will rely on automation software to eliminate an already fragile workforce paranoid about employment stability. Those positions are mainly held by Black Americans at a disturbing rate, fueling the conversation about the widening wealth gap. Smith believes the digital revolution can quantum leap the community into generational wealth and advancement, a theory solely based on the historic inventions created from thwarted access to essential resources through systemic racism.
Soares introduced the creator economy throughout entertainment and media verticals, declaring that audience and consumerism dictate new lanes of opportunity. Content is king here; there’s an opportunity to gain wealth through premier intellectual property investment. As AI continues to disrupt the bottlenecking strategies traditionally used to generate revenue streams at the expense of undervalued creators, global investment firms like HarborView will invest millions into an artist’s publishing catalog, for example. Jeremih recently partnered with Soares’s firm to sell published and recorded assets from the “Birthday Sex” singer for an undisclosed amount—monumental deals like these open avenues for wealth development in film, TV and sports for creators. As Black communities have dictated the pulse of popular culture throughout documented history, it’s remarkable to imagine the untapped market this will uncover as creators define the value of their artistic collections.
Pleasantly, each panelist left a tangible blueprint with accessible methods for average citizens to advance themselves toward generational wealth. If Black Americans play their hand right, technology and AI can dismount the longstanding systemic gatekeeping that has stagnated disenfranchised families for centuries and finally catapult folks out of poverty.
Source: Fadi Kheir / Courtesy of Carnegie Hall
The auditorium erupted in electric applause after statements closed, interlocking the audience with a contagious wave of empowerment. Anyone can be a big boss if they conquer their impostor syndrome. And cleverly, Rick Ross’ mini-concert with a live orchestra cemented the moment most perfectly.
The mini-concert began with “I’m A Boss,” harmoniously synchronized with the talented Revive Big Band, blowing their horns simultaneously with the recorded track as a projector displayed a montage of visuals of the famous rapper. While the intro played out, a white fur coat-wearing Rozay strolled onto the stage to take in the crowd before picking up his microphone to belt out his verse. The “All I Do Is Win” chorus then transitioned to “I’m On One.” The fur coat didn’t last five minutes on the chubby Wing Stop franchisee before being removed for the rest of the song’s performance.
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While the “Hustlin’” intro played, the Biggest Boss poured a glass of Luc Belaire Rare Rose into a champagne flute from a table placed behind him and raised it towards the crowd in the form of cheers before powering through half of the first verse. This formula went on throughout the show, using Maybach Music crowd favorites as transition markers into selected orchestra-assisted songs from Rick Ross’ vast catalog, including “Hustle Hard,” “Diced Pineapples,” “Aston Martin Music” and “Pop That.”
“B.M.F.“ is when the energy shifted on stage, causing him to belt, “I think I’m Big Meech, free Larry Hoover!” into the microphone with unfathomable conviction. He was finally loosening up.
In between song transitions, Renzel daps up band members as they catch their breath in time for the next song. They didn’t mind, as they were equally excited to interact with him, presumably forged by their mutual respect for the love of music.
“I’m Not A Star” and “Stay Schemin’” were played unassisted by the band through their discrete break, allowing fans to pick up the slack, screaming the lyrics word for word against the track.
The song that evangelized the crowd was DJ Khalid’s “God Did,” cueing the band to pick up their instruments to play along to the Grammy nominated song in a beautiful culmination of live notes. It was the perfect backdrop; Rick Ross used the time to crowd work. With his Luc Belaire-filled flute, he emphatically mouthed the song’s title intimately towards the fans sitting in the balconies overlooking the stage. It was strange but on par with the rapper’s animated personality. The moment was the perfect show closer to a fantastic setlist. Unencumbered by the exhausting 25-minute-long performance, Rozay took time to sign autographs and take pictures before disappearing backstage.
The night was long for a mid-week event, but it was worth the trip for what it offered. If using a Keith Lee rating system; 8 out of 10, which would jump to a 9.2 if there were some lemon pepper wings from Wing Stop on site.
Source: Hip-Hop Wired / iOne Digital
Project Pat is a Memphis Hip-Hop legend. As part of the seminal group Three 6 Mafia, the man born Patrick Earl Houston, who also happens to be the older brother of Juicy J, helped make sure that besides the East and West coasts, there was plenty to say and hear coming out of the middle of the map.
So Witness To History linking up with Pat was practically a requirement. The homie from WKYS, Aladdin Da Prince, held down the hosting duties and chopped it up with Pat for an insightful episode.
The odds of anyone making it into the NBA are slim to none. You have to be one of the world’s most skilled individuals to even dream about being drafted into the league — so when pro basketball players turn out to have additional talents on top of their sport, it’s almost not fair.
And yet, such is the case for Memphis Grizzlies teammates Brandon Clarke and Jaren Jackson Jr., who both release music under rap alter-egos, as well as the Denver Nuggets’ Zeke Nnaji, who just so happens to be a gifted pianist. These athletes are just three of several b-ballers with a penchant for the artform, carrying on an unofficial tradition of music in the NBA that’s lasted decades.
A 27-year-old Vancouver native, Clarke records music under the alias BCVS and dropped a pair of albums over the summer, the latter of which is a 14-track set titled Ride the Lightning. Jackson, 24, features on one of the LP’s songs, “How U Know?” under his stage name, Trip J. His newest album arrives Friday (Feb. 16), and he proudly tells Billboard that it’s his “best project to date.”
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Then there’s Nnaji, who’s been playing piano since he was first-grader. While his colleagues see music as a separate entity from their basketball careers, the 23-year-old power forward finds a surprising harmony between the two.
Ahead of 2024’s All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, Billboard caught up with Clarke, Jackson and Nnaji about their musical pursuits off the court. See what they had to say below.
How long have you been a musician?
Brandon Clarke: I’ve been making music for about 2.5 years now. I got involved with it from just messing around in the studio with my teammate, Jaren [Jackson Jr.], a while back.
Jaren Jackson Jr.: I have been making music for over five years, but it all started in high school and college when I would rap with some of my friends and teammates. Early in my career in Memphis, I met one of my now producers who showed me the ins and outs of music engineering and how you can find your sound.
Zeke Nnaji: I’ve been playing piano since I was six years old. Growing up, I had a little toy piano I’d play a lot. My parents saw how much I enjoyed playing on that, so around the age of six, they enrolled me in piano lessons. From then on, I’ve been playing on my own and teaching myself new things.
How would you describe the music you make?
Brandon Clarke: The music is just me having fun and storytelling. I try not to take it too seriously, but it’s just fun to do.
Jaren Jackson Jr.: I would describe my music as effortless and authentic. It’s very versatile. You can listen to it while riding in the whip, walking around with your headphones in or at the house.
Zeke Nnaji: I like playing different genres of music, from ragtime to classical, jazz to modern music. I just like being able to hear a song, and if I enjoy that song, sit down and learn how to play it on piano. I do also compose some of my own music as well, I’ve been doing that since I was in fourth grade — it started off as little one-note songs here and there, and as I’ve gotten older, the songs become more complex and intricate.
How do you make time for music in your busy schedule as an athlete?
Brandon Clarke: It’s become something I love doing. It’s my No. 1 hobby outside of hoops. I have a studio inside of my house now, and I’m good friends with my engineer. I love to be able to find pockets of time to sit down and make a couple of songs. I listen to beats and write lyrics all the time on flights to and from cities we play in.
Jaren Jackson Jr.: When I first started making music, it used to take a lot longer. As I’ve developed in my career, I have gotten to a point where music feels effortless. Typically, it takes me around 15-30 minutes to make one song. I also find that I don’t have a ton of time on my hands during the NBA season. A lot of my work is done in the off-season.
Which artists are you most inspired by?
Brandon Clarke: Favorite musicians are Playboi Carti and Lil Uzi Vert, and they are definitely who I take inspiration from. I love the careless vibe of their music.
Jaren Jackson Jr.: Some of my favorite artists and influences in my career are Ken Carson, Baby Smoove, ICYTWAT and Midwxst. Living in Memphis defines a lot of my style and how I view making music. I’ve been fortunate to work with incredible artists that I have helped identify and put on, including Daicia, RAGEHARAJUKU and Fububanks.
What music goals do you have currently?
Brandon Clarke: I dropped a couple of albums in the summer, both just for fun! I don’t really care to advertise it much, the drop is just for me and the real locked-in fans, really. I’m currently not really working on any project, I’m just having fun discovering new sounds and seeing what I can create. Music-wise, I hope to just keep adding to my range of music I can make. I almost wanna start making some rock songs. I love rock, so that would be dope.
Jaren Jackson Jr.: Personally, I want to continue to find my sound and continue to get better in the space. I have learned so much in five years and know I will keep learning as time goes on. Aside from my personal goals, I also want all of my artists that I support to get record deals and awards and truly be the best they can be. The music industry is all about getting better and I want to continue growing with those who have been around me since day one.
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How, if at all, does your music overlap with your basketball career?
Brandon Clarke: For me, it’s just a great hobby. I try not to take it seriously like I take basketball, or else I start to lose the fun in it a little bit. I am my favorite artist really, so whenever I make new songs, it’s new music for me to bump.
Jaren Jackson Jr.: Making music is a huge stress reliever for me but also something I keep separate from my basketball career. I try not to let the two blend into one another.
Zeke Nnaji: Early on, I noticed a lot of correlations between practicing piano and playing basketball — the same dedication, the same practice that you have to put into your craft. The same hours of repetition you put on the keys to master a song can be applied to basketball when you’re trying to craft your shot. I noticed that the same kind of discipline I had on the piano, I could apply to basketball. It made both of them that much easier, being able to see how each helps the other.
The National Basketball Association is home to a few hundred athletes who are the best in the world at what they do. But many of those players have talents beyond shooting hoops, too — and several of these pro ballers nurture a passion for music off the court. For some, the artform is simply a […]
Source: Hip-Hop Wired / iOne Digital
Vince Staples is multitalented and multifaceted, but you probably won’t ever hear him calling himself a genius or whatever ego-stroking adjective of the moment creatives choose. Instead, the guy who you probably first came to know as the critically acclaimed rapper repping North Long Beach, California,—or maybe as an actor, like the scene-stealing Maurice in Abbott Elementary—is simply, and humbly knocking his creative endeavors out of the park, as is the case with The Vince Staples Show.
The series, whose five-episode season premiered Thursday (Feb. 15), was commissioned back in 2019, before COVID-19 changed history’s trajectory. But while many shows ended up abandoned, Netflix stood steadfast with the series—loosely based on Staples’ everyday life—which includes Kenya Barris (Black-ish) as an executive producer.
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“Covid kind of stopped everything so for us to still be around after Covid when a lot of things got canceled, [that] said a lot about how they felt about the project,” Staples told Hip-Hop Wired. “So we wanted to make sure that we executed, and we executed in a timely manner and did something that was specific and special for the platform. And so many things are on Netflix so we just wanted to make sure that there was no other show like the one we were creating.”
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The Vince Staples Show, which itself can be considered the evolution of his YouTube series, will garner plenty of comparisons. Chappelle’s Show is an easy one, along with Curb Your Enthusiasm or Atlanta. That’s not bad company to keep but it’s Staples’ dry wit and deadpan delivery often seen and heard in his interviews that filter onto his onscreen persona and gives the series a sharper edge and tone that makes it anything but derivative.
In one moment, Staples could be getting the “otherwise qualified Black guy seeking a loan” treatment at the bank, then conversing matter-of-factly with the leader of the bank robbers who happened to be starting the heist when the protagonist was trying to walk out the same building. The crashing of everyday struggle with “is this really f*cking happening right now?” instances, and plenty of hilarious moments, is a staple, no pun, of the series.
“We definitely wanted to do that,” explains Staples, who co-wrote all the episodes with a team of writers that include Maurice Williams and Ian Edelman. “It was intentional because that’s life, you never know what it’s going to throw your way and within these environments, sometimes it can get extremely crazy. But also, we’ve been taught to keep our composure. And if something is normal you don’t understand when it’s abnormal to the rest of the world.
He adds, “That’s something I wanted to make sure the characters felt; when things get crazy to their standards that doesn’t mean it has to be crazy to our standards. And we wanted to make sure we played that fine line of being able to know the environment is outrageous, but not thinking it’s too much for the characters because it is their environment.”
The aforementioned bank episode (Episode 2 titled “Black Business”) features one of Staples’ favorite scenes, and for good reason. “I think it was shot really well. I think the dialogue was very unique and specific, and it was something I think people aren’t going to be expecting to come from me, or to come from the show. So I’m actually very happy we were able to pull that one off.”
The episode is when The Vince Staples Show really finds its rhythm and is destined to become a fan favorite. One particular line from Staples that resonates is when he waxes philosophic on dealing with redlining, gaslighting and gatekeeping—just several realities even the most upwardly mobile people of color deal with inevitably.
“The line is just typical to what we deal with within these communities,” says Staples. “It never goes away and I think that was an important part of this show. To showcase that a lot of the issues that we have as people, as Black people, as Black people from these environments; they’re not gonna go away just because you get a little bit more money because the systems are so deeply rooted in the structure, in the fabric of this world, of this culture, everything. It was definitely something that you still feel and something that I try to string throughout the episodes.”
Vince Staples keeping it cool as everyday life in North Long Beach, whether blatantly or subtly, goes off the rails? Definitely on brand.
The Vince Staples Show is streaming right now on Netflix.
It was May 1977, and Queen had just finished its encore at Bingley Hall in the English town of Stafford when the crowd, rather than dispersing and heading home, began to sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Originally featured in the 1945 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Carousel, Gerry & The Pacemakers had popularized the tune with their 1963 version, and shortly after, it became an anthem of the British soccer club Liverpool FC. The spontaneous incident at Bingley Hall would forever change the cultural landscape: It inspired singer Freddie Mercury and guitarist Brian May to write two of Queen’s most iconic songs.
“The story we’ve been told is that Brian and Freddie said, ‘Why don’t we write our own anthems?’ ” says Dominic Griffin, vp of licensing at Disney Music Group, which owns the North American rights to Queen’s music. “So Brian wrote ‘We Will Rock You,’ Freddie wrote ‘We Are the Champions,’ and they started finishing their shows with those. I’m not sure if there was one particular moment, but the band began to realize that there was not much difference between the crowd at a rock show and the crowd at a football game. It was having the same reaction.”
Whether due to its stomp-clap beat, call-to-action lyrics or simple melody — or more likely a combination of all three — “We Will Rock You” in particular became one of the most widely recognized songs in history, especially at sporting events, where it blares nightly in arenas and stadiums around the world. According to BMI, “We Will Rock You” is the song in the performing rights organization’s 22 million-plus-track repertoire most played at NHL, NFL and MLB games. It accumulated over 9.5 million U.S. radio and TV feature performances from its 1977 release through the third quarter of 2023.
That’s no accident. Since acquiring Queen’s catalog in 1990, both Disney and the band have encouraged radio stations to use “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions” in promos, allowed sports stadiums and teams to use them to soundtrack highlights and hype videos (which require additional approval, separate from the blanket public performance license that all venues need to simply play a song in a public space) and licensed them to now-classic sports films like The Mighty Ducks, Any Given Sunday and The Replacements. The label’s research data, including figures from Radio Disney, showed that all generations reacted to the songs.
“I think it was a way for sports teams to play something that appeals to everyone in the venue,” Griffin says. “Those Queen songs tick all the boxes because the lyric is great for sporting events and they’re just natural anthems, and the band went out to write an anthem for an arena that turned into a sports anthem.”
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In the decades since, an elite set of songs like these has become a genre unto itself, so known as sports anthems that they’re almost divorced from the original context in which they were released — call it “the Jock Jams effect,” after the compilation albums from the mid-’90s that featured hype-up tracks like House of Pain’s “Jump Around” and Tag Team’s “Whoomp! (There It Is).” But more modern songs have also joined the pantheon in recent years, like The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” and DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s “Turn Down for What,” which are near-omnipresent at current sports games.
“It becomes folk music when things like that happen,” Jack White said of “Seven Nation Army” on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast in 2022. “It just becomes ubiquitous. I’m sure many people who are chanting the melody have no idea what the song is or where it came from or why, or whatever — it doesn’t matter anymore, and that’s just amazing.”
“We’ve been fortunate that several of Lil Jon’s songs have become incredible stadium anthems over the years,” says the artist’s manager, Rob Mac. “With ‘Turn Down for What,’ we knew that record felt massive, but the video really helped to boost the song as well. His music has always hyped up fans and crowds — his voice and energy [lend themselves] to that, and people really embrace and connect with it. His music became part of the experience inside a stadium.”
Still, plenty of factors must align — not just the fundamentals of what makes a song appealing to the masses, but also hard work behind the scenes and a little luck — for a song to take off in a sports setting. Labels are constantly pitching not just legacy artists, but new acts and songs to local teams and TV networks hoping for a placement. If a song makes the cut, it can be a massive boost for an artist.
“We spend a lot of time trying to get our new artists played inside sporting arenas because you’re reaching anywhere from 20,000 to 100,000 people at a time and you’ve got a captive audience who can’t turn the radio off,” says Griffin, noting the success Disney has had with acts like Demi Lovato, almost monday and Grace Potter, whose “The Lion, the Beast, the Beat” soundtracked multiple promos for the Detroit Lions during this year’s NFL playoffs. “Any time you can get your music in front of that many thousands of people, it certainly helps with recognition.”
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Take “Swag Surfin’ ” by Fast Life Yungstaz, for one extreme example: The song has been a staple at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium for a few years now, played when the defense needs a big stop or the crowd needs an energy boost. In the weeks leading up to the NFL playoffs, the song averaged between 350,000 and 400,000 on-demand streams per week; that number jumped to over 1 million the week the Chiefs beat the Miami Dolphins in the playoffs, when Taylor Swift was seen doing the song’s signature dance alongside Chiefs fans.
“In the arena business, when you’ve got 20,000 or 40,000 people and you’re trying to get them to do something, sometimes it’s the big, dumb gesture that really wins the day. Whether it’s some goofy guy dancing on the scoreboard or something that’s telling you to get up and yell, or a song that’s got a simple melody where everybody can participate, that really seems to be the most effective,” says Ray Castoldi, who has been Madison Square Garden’s music director/organist since 1989; in his role, he also frequently selects the music for New York Knicks and New York Rangers games and occasionally plays the organ for the New York Mets at Citi Field.
Castoldi says he’s constantly looking for new songs to add to his game playlist and that he regularly tests out new material in the Garden — but that the rotation remains pretty steady, with around 300 songs on tap for any given game. “Arena standards are songs that appeal on such a wide basis that you almost can’t help yourself — it’s something in human nature where it motivates a large group of people,” he says. “I always see the equation as: You play the music for this huge assemblage of people and you want to get them all riled up and get their energy going, and then they give that energy to the players.”
And once a song reaches that threshold, it achieves a new, almost mythic status that can long outshine the rest of an artist’s oeuvre. House of Pain racked up 87 million on-demand U.S. streams in 2023, according to Luminate; 75 million of those were for “Jump Around.” Even for an act as beloved and popular as Queen, which tallied 1.3 billion streams in 2023, 8% of its streams were “We Will Rock You.” As Brian May said in 2017 — in an interview after Billboard named that song the No. 1 jock jam of all time — “They’re beyond hits. We don’t have to sell them in any way.”
This story will appear in the Feb. 10, 2024, issue of Billboard.
