State Champ Radio genre hiphop
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For the back-to-back Billboard Hot 100 charts this year dated Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, no rap songs appeared in the top 40 — marking the first times since the Feb. 3, 1990 chart that the genre was totally absent from that region. That two-week drought comes to an end this week, thanks to Megan Thee Stallion.
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Megan’s new love song “Lover Girl” debuts at No. 38 on the Nov. 8 Hot 100, marking the first rap song (defined by Billboard as a song deemed eligible for ranking on our Hot Rap Songs listing) to reach the chart’s top 40 since Kendrick and SZA’s “Luther” spent its 44th (and to date, final) week on the listing dated Oct. 18. Following that chart, the song fell into recurrent status in the chart, as a result of recently introduced rules updating and speeding up the Hot 100’s recurrent policy.
“Lover Girl” bows with 8.5 million official U.S. streams, 1.5 million in radio airplay audience and 5,000 sold in the week ending Oct. 30, according to Luminate.
Billboard’s reporting last week about the top 40 being rap song-less for the first time in over 35 years set off major waves of discussion within the hip-hop and pop communities about rap’s current place in the popular music ecosystem. Such public figures as rapper-podcaster Joe Budden and producer The Alchemist weighed in with their feelings about the circumstances and meaning behind the temporary absence.
“Lover Girl” marks Megan Thee Stallion’s 21st song to reach the Hot 100’s top 40. Most recently, she visited the region on the chart dated Sept. 21, 2024 with two tracks: her RM team up “Neva Play,” which debuted at No. 36, and “Wanna Be,” with GloRilla, at No. 40 after reaching No. 11. Three of Megan’s songs have topped the chart: the Beyoncé-featuring “Savage” and the Cardi B-led “WAP” in 2020, and her unaccompanied “Hiss” in 2024.
While “Lover Girl” ends the top 40’s rap songs relative dry spell for the week, it might not yet be the start of another years-long streak for rap in the region. As is typical of much-anticipated songs following their second week of release, “Lover Girl” is likely to fall on the next Hot 100 — and there are no rap songs currently behind it on the chart that are zooming in to take its place.
Indeed, the next two highest-charting rap songs on the Hot 100 both fall from their previous week’s position: YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s “Shot Callin” (43-48) and BigXthaPlug’s Ella Langley-featuring “Hell at Night” (50-52). However, below that, Gunna’s Burna Boy-featuring “wgft” does have some forward momentum, rising 59-55, as does Cardi B’s “Safe,” featuring Kehlani, up 57-56 and gaining in airplay after debuting at its No. 26 peak last month.
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Offset has been hit with new lawsuit claiming he attacked a security guard at a cannabis dispensary in Los Angeles after being asked to show his I.D.
The rapper (Kiari Cephus) faces civil assault and battery claims in a complaint filed last Wednesday (Oct. 29) by Jim Leobardo Sanchez, a security guard at the MedMen licensed recreational dispensary near Los Angeles International Airport.
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Offset and a group of associates visited the dispensary on March 14 of this year, according to the lawsuit. Sanchez alleges that the rapper grew violent when he was asked to provide I.D. before entering the store.
“Without legal justification or provocation, defendant Cephus became hostile, verbally confrontational and physically attacked plaintiff by striking him in the face,” writes Sanchez’s attorney Michael Karikomi. “Several unidentified individuals who were accompanying defendant Cephus then proceeded to grab, push and further assault and batter plaintiff.”
Sanchez says he was in “immediate and severe pain” after the alleged attack, and was treated by paramedics at the scene before being transported by ambulance to the emergency room.
According to the lawsuit, Sanchez has continued to suffer due to Offset’s behavior — and he now wants financial compensation from the rapper.
“Plaintiff suffered physical injuries, emotional distress, incurred medical expenses, suffered lost income and continues to experience pain and discomfort,” reads the lawsuit, which asks for unspecified monetary damages.
Offset’s reps did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday (Nov. 3).
This isn’t the first time Offset has been accused of attacking a security guard. In 2023, he was sued for allegedly assaulting a guard at a convention put on by Complex Networks two years earlier. That lawsuit claimed Offset and fellow rapper YRN Murk got physical after being told the event was restricted.
The security guard in that case, Daveon Clark, has not yet managed to serve Offset with legal papers. The claim remains pending.
Trending on Billboard We’re currently focused on next year’s Super Bowl halftime show headliner, but the 2024 master of ceremonies is still at the center of the culture. After the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays at the 2025 World Series on Saturday (Nov. 1), the City of Angeles reached for the only […]
Trending on Billboard Thought you’d seen it all? Not quite. Jeezy just proved that he’s always climbing to new heights after accomplishing something that’s never been done before, earning himself a place in the Guinness World Records. On Saturday (Nov. 1), the trap-music tastemaker made history by performing with 101 orchestra musicians on stage at […]
Zohran Mamdani is a known Kendrick Lamar fan, and showed his support for the rapper over Halloween weekend. With New York City’s mayoral election set for Tuesday (Nov. 4), Mamdani — who is running to lead the city — made campaign stops at various night clubs around the city over the weekend. One video making […]
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Drake is almost definitely in his feelings following the conclusion of the 2025 World Series, which resulted in his home team losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who gladly took the opportunity to troll the rapper after their victory by using some Kendrick Lamar lyrics.
After triumphing over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 on Sunday (Nov. 2), the Cali team shared a group photo of the players and staff wearing “World Series Champions” shirts. “THEY STILL NOT LIKE US,” the Dodgers wrote in the caption, quoting Dot’s famous Billboard Hot 100-topping diss track against Drizzy.
The ribbing comes after Drake spent much of the World Series trolling the L.A. team’s star player, Shohei Ohtani, on social media. Following Game 5, the Toronto native had shared a picture on his Instagram Story of the pitcher wearing a sweater vest and wrote, “ONE MORE!!!!!!!,” after which he posted a photo the Jays’ Trey Yesavage striking out Ohtani and gloating: “Savage already [on the way] to the dugout boss lol.”
Drake was then in attendance at Game 6 on Friday (Oct. 31), which ended with a Dodgers win. After the team won again two days later, securing the World Series trophy, Champagne Papi shared a diplomatic post on Instagram, writing, “Congrats to the Jays for a dream season and a legendary World Series fight!!!”
The Dodgers, however, weren’t the only ones eager to tease Drake after their big victory. Nike also trolled the rapper post-game by sharing a cinematic montage of the L.A. team set to “Not Like Us,” while Fox Sports posted an edited photo of Lamar driving off with the World Series trophy, leaving a disappointed-looking Drake in the dust.
The repeated use of “Not Like Us” to drag Drake definitely adds insult to injury, as the musician’s headline-grabbing defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group over the song’s lyrics was recently dismissed by a judge. At the end of October, however, Drizzy filed an appeal to revive the case.
The track has been haunting Drake since a certain Compton icon dropped it in May 2024, quickly becoming a cultural phenomenon. This past February, Lamar won both song and record of the year at the Grammys for “Not Like Us,” which he performed on the world’s biggest stage just one week later at the 2025 Super Bowl.
Nicki Minaj is standing with Donald Trump on the issue of alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
In response to the president’s recent threat to deploy military action in the West African country in the name of religious freedom, the rapper wrote in a Saturday (Nov. 1) post on X that she felt a “deep sense of gratitude” to be able to “freely worship God” in the United States and thanked Trump for “taking this seriously.”
“No group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion,” Minaj continued, sharing a screenshot of one of the twice-impeached politician’s Truth Social posts about intervening in Nigeria. “We don’t have to share the same beliefs in order for us to respect each other.”
“Numerous countries all around the world are being affected by this horror & it’s dangerous to pretend we don’t notice,” she added. “God bless every persecuted Christian. Let’s remember to lift them up in prayer.”
Minaj’s post comes as the Trump administration has re-added Nigeria to its “Countries of Particular Concern” list, which also includes China, North Korea, Russia, Pakistan and several other nations that the White House has classified as having violated religious freedom. In another post on Truth Social, the president called Nigeria a “disgraced country” and promised that America’s military intervention would “be fast, vicious and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!”
But despite Trump’s claim that “radical Islamists” were murdering “thousands of Christians” in the region, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has rebuked the claims. “The characterization of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians,” he said in a recent statement, according to Reuters.
Regardless of whether or not there’s truth to Trump’s remarks about Nigeria, some of Minaj’s fans have expressed disappointment in the hip-hop star for aligning herself with the polarizing politician in any capacity. One person, for instance, told Minaj on X that MAGA Republicans have been attempting to “weaponize religion so YOUR GAY FANS can be pushed into a corner and silenced,” to which the hitmaker reportedly had a biting reply.
“Imagine hearing that Christians are being MURDERED & making it about you being gay,” Minaj wrote in a since-deleted post, per The Independent.
Billboard has reached out to Minaj’s reps for comment.
Trending on Billboard Cardi B made an appearance at Gillette Stadium on Sunday (Nov. 2), a month-and-a-half after revealing she’s expecting a baby with football player Stefon Diggs, wide receiver for the New England Patriots. The rapper was spotted seated next to Robert Kraft as the Patriots played the Atlanta Falcons in Foxborough, Mass. In […]
Trending on Billboard The Alchemist has added his two cents on the topic that had Rap Twitter in a frenzy this week. On Wednesday, Billboard reported that, for the first time since 1990 — when Biz Markie‘s signature song “Just a Friend” was at No. 41 on Feb. 2 — there were no rap songs […]
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Former Hot Boys member Turk is being sued by a concert promoter over online threats that supposedly threatened to derail a Cash Money Records reunion tour this summer.
The $12 million breach of contract and defamation lawsuit, filed in New York federal court on Wednesday (Oct. 29), is the latest in a bitter legal salvo between Turk (Tab Virgil Jr.) and promoter Dope Shows over the Cash Money Millionaires 30th Anniversary Tour. Named in honor of a Cash Money Records supergroup from the ’90s, the ongoing reunion tour features Cash Money figures like Birdman, Juvenile and former Hot Boy B.G.
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Turk originally signed onto the tour as well, but was kicked off the roster before his first performance this summer. The rapper subsequently sued Dope Shows for $340,000 in Florida last month, alleging he was removed from the tour because the promoter wasn’t selling enough tickets and ran out of money to pay him.
Now, Dope Shows is countering in its own lawsuit that money had nothing to do with Turk’s removal. Rather, the promoter says it had to boot Turk because he had been physically threatening B.G. on social media — leading venues to voice concerns about potential violence and risking disruptive intervention from B.G.’s probation officer.
Dope Shows alleges that in response, Turk began posting defamatory content on Instagram, spreading his false narrative that the promoter was struggling financially. Dope Shows claims Turk’s Florida case is a “sham lawsuit” that merely serves to amplify those falsehoods.
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“Desperate to revive his flagging rap career, Turk is attempting to sabotage the tour through childish and petulant antics that he hopes will regain the public’s attention,” writes Dope Shows’ lawyer, Jeffrey Movit. “Turk’s publicity stunts are an abject failure, as they have done nothing to advance his career. Rather, through his malicious and misguided actions, Turk has created nothing more than massive legal liability for himself in this lawsuit”.
Dope Shows alleges that Turk owes $5 million for breach of contract and $7 million for defamation. According to the lawsuit, Turk’s conduct has deterred fans from attending the reunion tour and led other artists to doubt the promoter’s abilities.
Turk’s attorney, Paul Aloise, denied all of Dope Shows’ claims in a statement to Billboard on Friday (Oct. 31). Aloise says the new lawsuit is a “desperate attempt” by the promoter to “try and shift the blame away from their own unethical business practices and promotional failures.”
“While the complaint defames my client and says that he was attempting to sabotage the tour to try and revive his flagging rap career, the complaint conveniently leaves out the fact that on August 3, 2025, Turk, released his own album, JOSEPH, on iTunes, which peaked at #5 on the iTunes Hip-Hop Chart,” added Aloise. “Thus, my client has no intentions of trying to sabotage a tour he wants to be on, let alone to help his rap career.”
