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Following the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show (Feb. 9), headliner Kendrick Lamar sees his GNX album return to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a second nonconsecutive week (rising 4-1 on the Feb. 22-dated chart), while his special guest SZA climbs 3-2 with her former leader SOS. With Lamar and SZA at Nos. 1 […]
Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show (Feb. 9) sparked big gains for the rapper’s catalog of albums, as three of his releases dot the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart dated Feb. 22. GNX returns to No. 1 (rising 4-1) for a second nonconsecutive week (it debuted atop the list in December), 2017’s chart-topping DAMN. jumps 29-9 and 2012’s good kid, m.A.A.d city vaults 27-10.
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It’s the first time in the nearly 69-year history of the chart that a rap act has placed at least three albums concurrently in the top 10. The Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956.
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The latest Billboard 200 chart reflects activity generated in the U.S. in the tracking week Feb. 7-13. The Feb. 22-dated Billboard 200 will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Feb. 19, one day later than usual, owed to the Presidents’ Day holiday in the U.S. on Feb. 17.
Before Lamar, the last act, overall, with at least three albums in the top 10 was Taylor Swift on the Dec. 9, 2023, chart, when she had five in the region.
Before Lamar, the last male artist — or anyone aside from Swift — to have at least three albums in the top 10 at the same time was Prince, following his death, in 2016. That year, on the May 14 chart, he logged five titles in the region; and on the May 7 chart, he had three in the top 10. Prince died on April 21, 2016.
Lamar is the first living male artist to have at least three albums concurrently in the top 10 since Herb Alpert on the Dec. 24, 1966-dated chart, when he, leading the Tijuana Brass, had three titles in the top 10.
Lamar’s GNX returns to No. 1, rising 4-1, for its second week on top. The album was also released on physical formats for the first time (on Feb. 7), helping spark Lamar’s best sales week since 2017. It was previously only available to stream, and to purchase as a digital download album. GNX debuted at No. 1 on the Dec. 7, 2024-dated chart.
Before Lamar, the last time a Super Bowl halftime performer was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in the wake of their halftime performance was Justin Timberlake in 2018, when his Man of the Woods album debuted atop the chart dated Feb. 17. The set was released on Feb. 2, 2018 — two days before he headlined Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4 in Minneapolis.
There’s more Lamar action on the latest Billboard 200 outside the top 10, as his former leader To Pimp a Butterfly, released in 2015, jumps 167-54 and the chart-topping Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, from 2022, vaults 185-75. Plus, the Lamar-curated Black Panther soundtrack, released in 2018, reenters at No. 42. The former No. 1 album includes a Lamar collaboration with SZA, “All the Stars,” which the pair performed during the halftime show.
Speaking of SZA, her own former No. 1 SOS rises 3-2 on the Billboard 200. This week marks the first time two performers from the year’s Super Bowl halftime show have been Nos. 1 and 2 in the wake of the big game.
Lil Wayne has joined the eclectic roster of musical guests to share a career-spanning singles medley on Sunday night’s (Feb. 16) SNL50: The Anniversary Special. Wayne was joined by The Roots and DJ T. Lewis for his performance, which opened with 2018 single Uproar, and saw Weezy run through other tunes from his Tha Carter […]
It was a Bay Area showcase at the NBA All-Star Game. DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live! delivered a tribute to the Bay with a West Coast-themed 2025 NBA All-Star Game Halftime Show on Sunday night (Feb. 16) inside San Francisco’s Chase Center. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and […]
Lizzo might have teased her new era during a recent Twitch stream, but she also gave fans a preview of a SZA-featuring supergroup that could have been.
The “About Damn Time” singer revealed this bit of her musical past during her Valentine’s Day Twitch stream. Alongside technical difficulties, fan interaction, and the promise of new music at the end of the month, Lizzo also focused on the song “F2F’, which she co-wrote with SZA before it appeared on the latter’s chart-topping 2022 album SOS. While “F2F” was never issued as a single, it became one of the 20 songs from the album to hit the Billboard Hot 100, ultimately peaking at No. 55.
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During her stream, Lizzo turned her attention to the song, noting how it had come about after almost a decade of friendship with SZA, and how it almost aligned with an unrealized rock trio the pair were a part of.
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“We’ve just always been friends, and it’s a sacred space for me in this industry,” Lizzo recalled. “We got this little period of time where we were just linking up in the studio, and eating pasta and drinking.
“This one particular night, mind you, we were gonna start a rock band, called Pussy Lasers. Oh my gosh, she’s not gonna get mad if I say this,” she added. “We were going to start a rock band called Pussy Lasers with an incredible other artist who I don’t know if she even wants to be mentioned, so I’m not going to mention her.”
As Lizzo continued, she explained that while “F2F” wasn’t necessarily set to be a part of the Pussy Lasers project, it was “jokingly” considered so due to the track’s “‘90s grunge kind of rock feel”.
“I was like, ‘This shit is hard, though’, so I was in the studio and I was like, ‘Man, pull that Pussy Lasers shit up,’” she continued. “And let me tell you something: I sat and watched this girl freestyle the whole fucking song, everything except for the chorus.”
Finalizing the song together in a later session, Lizzo also noted that she recorded a “mumble verse” which never made it into the track, though some of her harmonized vocals did make it into the finished product. “After that, I thought about that song all the time,” she added. “I was just like, ‘I hope, I hope she puts it on the album. And then one day out of the blue she just texted me the finished version and I was just like, ‘And this is why you’re the GOAT’.”
“She writes the craziest, most insane shit that you’re thinking and feeling, but she just finds a way to say it, and she sings it so beautifully out the gate, out of her mouth the first time.”
Currently, it’s been almost three years since the release of Lizzo’s last studio album, with fourth album Special becoming her second released via a major label, and second to hit the top ten of the Billboard 200 – peaking at No. 2. Earlier in her Twitch stream, Lizzo confirmed that Feb. 28 will see her waving farewell to her Special era at long last.
“I’ve been working on music for the last two years, and took my time and I did it right. The new era begins today,” she told fans. “I truly am coming to gag throats.”
Kendrick Lamar’s GNX jumps back to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, for a second week atop the list (rising 4-1 on the survey dated Feb. 22), following his Super Bowl halftime show (Feb. 9) and the set’s release on physical formats. (It was previously only available to stream, and to purchase as a digital download album.)
Plus, two more Lamar albums return to the top 10 in the wake of the halftime show: 2017’s chart-topping DAMN. drives 29-9 and 2012’s good kid, m.A.A.d city vaults 27-10. The latest Billboard 200 reflects activity generated in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 13.
With GNX, DAMN. and good kid, m.A.A.d city all in the top 10, Lamar is the first rap act with three albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 at the same time. The chart began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956.
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The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit 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. The new Feb. 22, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Feb. 19, one day later than usual, owed to the Presidents’ Day holiday in the U.S. on Feb. 17. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
According to Luminate, of the 236,000 equivalent album units earned by GNX in the week ending Feb. 13 in the U.S., SEA units comprise 117,000 (up 86%; equaling 161.01 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it jumps 4-1 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 116,000 (up 10,100%; it reenters at No. 1 on Top Album Sales for its first week at No. 1 on that chart) and TEA units comprise 3,000. The set’s 236,000 units earned mark its largest week since it debuted at No. 1 on the Dec. 7, 2024-dated chart with 319,000.
With GNX selling 116,000, that marks Lamar’s largest sales week for an album since DAMN. debuted with 353,000 sold in its first week (chart dated May 6, 2017). Of GNX’s 116,000 sold, vinyl sales comprise 87,000 — Lamar’s best week ever on vinyl. GNX was released on physical formats for the first time on Feb. 7, on CD, cassette and five vinyl variants.
As Lamar has three albums concurrently in the top 10 on the Billboard 200, he’s the first living male artist to achieve that feat since Herb Alpert on the Dec. 24, 1966-dated chart (when he, along with the Tijuana Brass, had three titles in the top 10). The most recent act, overall, with at least three albums in the top 10 was Taylor Swift on the Dec. 9, 2023, chart, when she had five in the region.
Before Lamar, the last male artist — or anyone aside from Swift — to have at least three albums in the top 10 at the same time was Prince, following his death, in 2016. That year, on the May 14 chart, he logged five titles in the region; and on the May 7 chart, he had three in the top 10. Prince died on April 21, 2016.
GNX is currently in its 12th consecutive week on the chart and has yet to depart the top five on the weekly tally.
Former No. 1 DAMN. drives 29-9 on the Billboard 200 with 39,000 equivalent album units earned (up 93%) and good kid, m.A.A.d city jumps 27-10 with 37,000 units (up 71%). DAMN. spent four weeks atop the list in 2017, and it was last in the top 10 on the March 17, 2018-dated chart, when it ranked at No. 9. The good kid album peaked at No. 2 in 2012 and was last in the top 10 on the Nov. 24, 2012-dated chart, when it placed at No. 9.
SZA, who was a special guest performer during Lamar’s halftime show, sees her former No. 1 SOS climb 3-2 on the latest Billboard 200 with 109,000 equivalent album units earned (up 33%). The album was reissued on Feb. 9 with four additional tracks.
The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow falls 1-3 on the Billboard 200 in its second week (101,000 equivalent album units; down 79%), Bad Bunny’s chart-topping Debí Tirar Más Fotos descends 2-4 (78,000; down 17%) and Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess climbs 6-5 (59,000; up 19%).
Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft falls 5-6 (56,000 equivalent album units earned; up 6%), Sabrina Carpenter’s former leader Short n’ Sweet is steady at No. 7 (51,000; up 5%) and Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 8 (41,000; down 8%).
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.
Drake has been announced as the headliner for this year’s Wireless Festival.
On Sunday (Feb. 16), the annual U.K. music event revealed that the 38-year-old superstar rapper will close out all three nights of the festival’s 20th anniversary.
“For our 20th anniversary… Drake will headline all THREE nights with three different setlists,” Wireless Festival shared on Instagram, alongside a poster.
The festival returns to London’s Finsbury Park from July 11-13, with Drake performing alongside a variety of guest artists each night and offering a unique setlist for every appearance.
The Toronto MC’s opening night on Friday (July 11) will feature Drizzy alongside PartyNextDoor and special guest Summer Walker. On Saturday (July 12), the 6 God returns with mystery guest “The Mandem,” while Sunday (July 13) will see Drake perform with Burna Boy and Vybz Kartel.
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This will mark Drake’s first U.K. performances in six years.
The full lineup for the 2025 edition of Wireless Festival will be revealed at a later date. General ticket sales begin on Feb. 19 at 12 p.m. GMT at wirelessfestival.co.uk.
Drake is currently celebrating the release of his new collaborative album with PartyNextDoor, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, which dropped on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) and is already breaking records on Apple Music.
$ome $exy $ongs 4 U is Drizzy’s first full album since 2023’s For All the Dogs, which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It’s also his first major project since his highly publicized rap feud with Kendrick Lamar, which saw K. Dot take aim at the Toronto superstar during the Super Bowl Halftime Show on Feb. 9, performing his Billboard Hot 100-topping diss track “Not Like Us” in front of more than 100 million viewers.
About 24 hours after its release, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U broke the record for the biggest R&B/soul album in Apple Music’s history by first-day streams worldwide.
The 21-track album, with a 74-minute runtime, follows PartyNextDoor’s P4, released in 2024.
Drake and PartyNextDoor have long demonstrated their strong chemistry on tracks like “Come and See Me,” “Recognize,” “Members Only,” “Loyal,” “Preach,” “Since Way Back,” and others.
Attorneys for the man suspected of killing rap icon Tupac Shakur want to delay next month’s trial, saying more time is needed for investigative work to ensure that Duane “Keffe D” Davis gets a fair trial.
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The motion filed Friday (Feb. 14) in a Nevada court provides insight into Davis’ defense, noting that a private investigator has identified witnesses who can testify that he was not at the scene of the 1996 shooting, nor was he in Las Vegas at the time.
The motion also suggests that someone else may have orchestrated the shooting and that witnesses who could testify on the matter are being interviewed.
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The defense team said in a statement that the new developments and the need to interview key witnesses necessitate a delay. A hearing was scheduled Tuesday to discuss the timing of the trial, currently set to begin in March.
“This case involves decades-old allegations, and with every new piece of evidence, it becomes increasingly clear that critical facts have yet to be fully examined,” said attorney Carl Arnold, who is leading Davis’ defense.
On the night of Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was in a BMW being driven by Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight. They were waiting at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up next to them and gunfire erupted.
Davis, an ex-gang leader who is accused of orchestrating Shakur’s killing near the Las Vegas Strip, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and has been jailed since his September 2023 arrest.
Long known to investigators as one of four suspects identified early in the investigation, he is the only one to be charged.
Arnold has argued that Davis never should have been charged because of immunity agreements that Davis says he reached years ago with federal and local prosecutors while living in California.
Prosecutors have said any immunity agreement was limited and they have strong evidence against Davis, including his own accounts of the shooting in the tell-all memoir Compton Street Legend.
Davis has acknowledged in interviews and in the memoir that he provided the gun used in the drive-by shooting and that he was in the car. But his court filings say his descriptions in recent years of orchestrating the shooting were “done for entertainment purposes and to make money.”
Defense attorneys also say they have witness information indicating that Shakur was in stable condition after the shooting and that he died suddenly after being hospitalized for a week. They were consulting medical and forensic experts to evaluate potential alternative causes of death.
Drake and PartyNextDoor’s new album has already setting records on Apple Music following its Valentine’s Day release.
After dropping on Friday (Feb. 14), the duo’s years-in-the-making project, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, has broken the record for the biggest R&B/soul album in Apple Music’s history by first-day streams worldwide.
Billboard has reached out to Apple Music for more details.
$ome $exy $ongs 4 U marks Drake’s first full album since 2023’s For All the Dogs, which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It’s also his first major project since his explosive rap feud with Kendrick Lamar, which recently saw K. Dot take aim at the Toronto superstar during the Super Bowl Halftime Show on Feb. 9, performing his Billboard Hot 100-topping diss track “Not Like Us” in front of more than 100 million viewers.’
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The 21-track album, with a 74-minute runtime, follows PartyNextDoor’s P4, released in 2024.
Earlier in the week, Drake brought out PND during a concert in Melbourne, where the OVO signee surprised the Australian crowd on Drake’s Anita Max Wynn Tour.
“I got an album coming out on Feb. 14 with my brother PartyNextDoor,” Drake told the crowd. “It’s called $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, but it’s some turned-up songs for you on there, too, and there’s some personal feelings on there for you. Hopefully, whoever you’re with on Valentine’s Day, hopefully y’all can share that experience together.”
Drake also revealed the cover art for $$$4U, which features both artists rocking fur coats in front of the Marilyn Monroe Towers in Canada.
The duo has long demonstrated their strong chemistry on tracks like “Come and See Me,” “Recognize,” “Members Only,” “Loyal,” “Preach, “Since Way Back,” and others.
Adele was clearly enjoying herself during NBC’s SNL50: The Homecoming Concert.
On Saturday (Feb. 15), the 36-year-old British superstar shared a video of herself joyfully singing and dancing along to Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean performing the Fugees classic “Killing Me Softly.”
“Wow @nbcsnl just wow. Incredible! I can’t believe what I’m watching,” Adele captioned an Instagram Stories clip, clearly blown away by the duo’s performance.
In the short video, the “Easy on Me” hitmaker, dressed in cozy clothes, stands in front of a fireplace with her arms raised, swaying to the music as she sings along to the performance on her TV screen.
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The SNL50 concert, which streamed live to viewers through Peacock on Friday from New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, featured Hill and Jean performing a medley of hits, including “Lost Ones” and “911.” The three-hour event, hosted by former SNL cast member Jimmy Fallon, also featured performances by Cher, Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny, Miley Cyrus and many others. Check out the best moments from the SNL50 concert here.
In September 2018, Adele penned an emotional tribute to Hill after attending the Fugees member’s concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The show was part of a tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of Hill’s debut solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
“I saw Lauryn Hill in 1999 at Brixton Academy when I was 10 years old. Tonight I saw her play at the Hollywood Bowl. I’ve just turned 30! What a woman what a record, by far Miseducation is my favorite record of all time,” Adele wrote on Instagram at the time.
She continued, “Such an honest representation of love and life, I feel I can relate too but also I know there’s elements and levels I never will be able to. Ms. Lauryn Hill was on form in every way possible. Thank you for the record of a lifetime, thank you for your wisdom! Thank you for existing. Happy 20th.”
Adele wrapped up her two-year Las Vegas residency in November 2024. After her 100-show Weekends With Adele extravaganza at Caesars Palace’s Colosseum, she hinted at taking a “big break” from music.
The singer, who has not gone on a world tour since her 2016-2017 run in support of her 25 album, is known for taking extended breaks between albums and tours. These gaps have grown longer over time, from three years between her debut album 19 (2008) and 21 (2011), to four years until 25 (2015), and six years between 25 and 30 (2021).
