State Champ Radio genre hiphop
Page: 19
Trending on Billboard NLE Choppa, who’s now going by NLE the Great, came out guns blazing on Halloween with his bristling “KO” diss track, and it appears he’s looking to make things spooky for NBA YoungBoy. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Choppa released an accompanying video that’s equally inspired by 2Pac and Michael […]
Trending on Billboard
A judge has rejected Tory Lanez’s latest attempt to avoid sitting for a deposition in litigation stemming from his alleged shooting of Megan Thee Stallion in 2020.
Lanez (Daystar Peterson), who’s serving a 10-year prison sentence for allegedly shooting Megan in the foot during a drunken argument, is a begrudging witness in her civil defamation lawsuit against gossip blogger Milagro Gramz. The Houston rapper (Megan Pete) claims Lanez is paying Gramz (Milagro Cooper) to spread falsehoods about the incident and the 2022 trial.
Related
Lanez’s lawyers claim deposition testimony could hurt the Canadian rapper’s ongoing appeal of his criminal shooting conviction. But Judge Lisette M. Reid says in a Thursday (Oct. 30) order that it’s “unclear” how that’s possible.
“The focus of Mr. Peterson’s deposition is his relationship with defendant Cooper, not with plaintiff,” writes the judge. “Thus, the court does not see how testimony regarding Mr. Peterson’s communications and relationship with defendant would serve to prejudice his criminal appeal.”
Judge Reid says Lanez must be deposed, and he can assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination “on a question-by-question basis, the propriety of which will be decided by the undersigned who will be supervising the deposition.”
Reps for Megan and Lanez did not return requests for comment on Friday (Oct. 31).
Related
Megan’s attorneys have been attempting to depose Lanez for months. Lanez’s first deposition was held at the jail in April, but he was so uncooperative that the questioning had to be stopped after just 44 minutes.
Lanez was held in contempt for this behavior and ordered to sit for a second deposition, this time under a judge’s supervision. He showed up to the courthouse on Sept. 15 with a new lawyer, Crystal Morgan, who this time asserted that Lanez wouldn’t answer any questions at all due to concerns about the appeal.
A third attempt at Lanez’s deposition will be held “at a date agreed upon by all parties,” wrote Judge Reid, who says she may order Lanez to repay Megan’s lawyers for the time they’ve expended on the back and forth.
The deposition battle comes as a Nov. 17 trial date is fast approaching in Megan’s lawsuit against Gramz. The rapper says Gramz has been posting lies about Lanez’s shooting trial, including false information that the gun in question went “missing,” to undermine the guilty verdict and ruin her reputation. Gramz denies any wrongdoing and says all of her social media activity is First Amendment-protected free speech.
Lanez hasn’t been the only difficult witness in the case. Two of his close allies — legal advocate Ceasar McDowell and blogger DJ Akademiks — have also been accused of derailing their depositions with disruptive behavior.
Trending on Billboard
Coco Jones and Paris Hilton may have drawn inspiration from iconic music videos and Broadway musicals for their costumes this year, but Halloween weekend 2025 is also about new music.
Florence + The Machine returned with its first new album in three years, the aptly titled Everybody Scream, which features production from Aaron Dessner and Mark Bowen. Offset also shared his surprise new spooky season-themed Haunted by Fame project, while Mass Appeal unveiled its highly anticipated posthumous Big L album.
Hailing from Harlem, the late rapper, who was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in 1999, released only one album during his lifetime, but his impact and influence still live on in hip-hop today. A part of Mass Appeal’s Legend Has It… album series, Big L’s Harlem’s Finest: Return of the King features unreleased remastered tracks and rare freestyles, including collaborations with Jay-Z, Nas and Joe Budden.
This year, Halloweekend also brought a new OutKast re-release. The ATL rap duo shared a 25th anniversary edition of their classic Stankonia album, complete with previously unreleased tracks and new remixes. The world of hip-hop also spun out new projects from Westside Gunn (Heels Have Eyes 3), Armani White (There’s A Ghost In My House), Kodak Black (Just Getting Started), Saba (Coffee!) and Icewear Vezzo (Purple Passion).
New singles also arrived from Brent Faiyaz (“Have To”), Tyler, The Creator (“Mother”), Omarion (“For War”), Rosalía (“Berghain”), Russell Dickerson and Jonas Brothers (“Happen to Me”), and Lee Brice (“Killed the Man”). In addition to Taylor Swift‘s new “Alone In My Tower” version of “The Fate of Ophelia,” we also got new Halloweekend singles from Jai’Len Josey, Lola Brooke, Lil Baby, The Chainsmokers, and Jessie J.
London indie pop singer Cat Burns also released her How to Be Human LP, and Pentatonix shared their latest holiday album, Christmas in the City, which features collaborations with Jojo and Frank Sinatra.
There’s a lot of new music to squeeze into your Halloween playlists, but Billboard still wants to know which new release you can’t take off repeat. Tell us by casting your vote in the poll below.
Trending on Billboard
Megan Thee Stallion and Jennifer Hudson said they often get mistaken for each other, and that once Hudson’s security even tried to protect the Texas rapper instead of her.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
Meg stopped by The Jennifer Hudson Show for the episode airing Friday (Oct. 31) to talk about her new single, “Lover Girl,” and at one point revealed she’s often mistaken for the talk-show host. It turns out, Hudson could also relate, and admitted Meg’s fans sometimes mistake her for the rapper too.
“Remember that time we was in Italy for the Dolce thing?” Meg asked. “Jennifer’s security kept snatchin’ me up! They was like, ‘C’mon, we gotta move, we gotta move.’ I’m like, ‘I’m not with you! It’s not me, I’m not her, I promise! But I’ll go with you if you really want me to.’ Your security kept snatchin’ me up, and I was like, ‘Where is my security?’ … Jennifer’s security wanted me to be her real bad that day.”
Hudson replied, “It’s really bizarre cause we were at the Super Bowl. I was leaving the event, guys, and they was like, ‘Megan!’ I was like, ‘Are you serious?’”
Hudson clarified that she’s flattered to be mistaken for the Houston rapper.
Meg’s appearance comes after Queen Latifah stopped by the talk show to praise the rapper earlier this week, calling her the future of hip-hop.
“She’s so cool, she’s so fun, she’s so very talented and strong in her spot,” she told her The Secret Life of Bees co-star about Meg. “I love that energy carrying hip-hop into the future, of course.”
Check out a clip of Meg’s interview with Jennifer Hudson below.
Trending on Billboard
Cardi B hopped on Spaces early Friday morning (Oct. 31) to address the “hate coming from different angles” in her life.
The Bronx native rehashed the “dark energy” she was feeling being sent her way throughout the pregnancy, and while she’s been laying relatively low and says she’s “at peace,” Cardi had some words for the haters on Halloween.
“Remember when I said at the meet-and-greet that I felt like a lot of dark energy and weird things coming on my pregnancy,” she recalled. “I felt a lot of hate coming. I felt like there was a lot of hate coming from different angles, and today, I see that I’m still proving that.”
Cardi continued: “And there’s hate that was coming from bloggers. There’s hate that was coming from women that my baby dad dealt [with] in the past. There was hate that’s coming from f–king enemies that I have, rappers wishing all type of f–king STDs on me while I’m pregnant, and clearly partners that I dealt with.”
The “partners” she’s referencing could possibly be tied to her ex Offset, who appeared to blast Cardi and her boyfriend, Stefon Diggs, on his Haunted by Fame project, which arrived on Halloween.
“How the f—k you leave Jordan for Rodman/ You a fool if you think that I’m hurt/ You ain’t happy, I know how it work/ How you married and still giving birth/ Get some help, b—h, you going berserk,” he raps on the Coupe-produced “No Sweat.”
While Cardi kept Friday’s response more general and didn’t address Offset by name, she had a message for those praying on her downfall. Cardi believes she’ll be the one having the last laugh, as she’s convinced God typically punishes those who hate on her.
“However, one thing I notice, I swear to God, and it’s so real … anybody that messes with me while I’m at my most vulnerable — and my most vulnerable is always when I’m pregnant — God always punishes them,” she shared. “Two three years might pass … and God goes and punish them the worst way.”
Cardi B’s heading into the final months of pregnancy before giving birth to baby No. 4, which will be her first child with her NFL player boyfriend. She’ll then hit the road for the Little Miss Drama Tour in February.
Trending on Billboard
About three decades later, Common is thanking Fat Joe for saving his life. The Chicago rapper joined Joe & Jada earlier this week, where he recalled shooting a commercial in the mid-’90s on the West Coast when an altercation nearly broke out amid his feud with Ice Cube and Mack 10.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
“That man really saved my life. I was out on the West Coast with one of my guys I knew and he just wasn’t happy with the whole Mack 10 [and] Ice Cube beef that we had,” he said.
Essentially, one of Common’s friends escalated a situation, and before it crossed the line, Fat Joe stepped in to smooth things over — at least for Common.
“It’s not cuz Fat Joe is tougher than anyone. I literally begged for your life. I literally got in the middle, ‘He’s my friend, he’s my brother,’” Joe recalled. “They finally saw him on their soil and they was talking crazy and I was like, ‘This is literally my brother and I was begging them.’ It was the serious ones … Basically, I stood in the middle. It was over after that day.”
Common confirmed the beef was squashed from his side from that point forward and compared Joe’s intervention to a scene straight out of a movie.
“You settled that. I’m like, ‘Man, we in California, don’t start nothing.’ They already wanted a piece on me no matter what,” he explained. “My guy out there going off. I knew it was [Joe] that said, ‘This can’t happen.’ … That’s when Fat Joe the gangsta, this n—a here because he was straight up like, ‘You can’t do that to my man.’ It was like one of them movies, Goodfellas.”
Common etched his name in rap history with his acclaimed and scathing diss track “The Bitch in Yoo,” which was released in 1996 and took aim at Ice Cube, raising tensions with the West Coast.
During a 2020 interview with DJ VLAD, Mack 10 rehashed the near-altercation with Common and reiterated that Fat Joe stepped in to smooth things over. “Common is all right. Ain’t nobody got no issues,” Mack said. “Everybody grown. We done seen each other a million times since then.”
Watch the Joe & Jada episode with Common below. Talk about saving Common’s life begins just short of four minutes.
Trending on Billboard
Taylor Swift has been toppled from the summit of the U.K. Albums Chart by British rapper Dave on Friday (Oct. 31) following a massive opening week for his third LP The Boy Who Played the Harp.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl broke numerous records in its opening week on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart and held the spot for three consecutive weeks following its release on Oct. 3.
Now London-born Dave has secured the top spot for the third time in his career by notching 73,800 U.K. chart units over the past seven days, making it the second biggest opening week for a British album this year, behind Sam Fender’s People Watching (110,000) and ahead of Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving (53,000). It’s the fourth biggest opening week overall of 2025 so far, placing behind Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl, Fender and Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend.
Dave first hit the No. 1 spot in 2019 with Psychodrama and again in 2021 with We’re All Alone in This Together. His new LP, The Boy Who Played the Harp, was announced just weeks before its release and featured no singles in the rollout. The record features guest appearances from James Blake, Jim Legxacy, Tems and Kano, and will be supported by a U.K. arena tour in 2026.
The Life of a Showgirl falls two places to No. 3, and Swift has also lost the top spot on the U.K. Official Singles Chart with lead single “The Fate of Ophelia” to KPop Demon Hunters’ “Golden.”
As he celebrates his return to touring, Bon Jovi celebrates finishing at No. 2 with a new edition of 2024 LP, Forever. The Legendary Edition features duets with Bruce Springsteen, Robbie Williams, Avril Lavigne and Lainey Wilson. The band will perform a number of stadium shows, including two at London’s Wembley Stadium, next June.
Lily Allen’s searing West End Girl LP has been the talk of the town as she examines the breakup of a marriage, widely assumed to be informed by her separation from Stranger Things star David Harbour. Her first LP in eight years, West End Girl closes the week at No. 4 – her highest placing in more than a decade – and she’ll tour the album in full at a run of U.K. theaters in 2026.
Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving finishes the week at No. 5 on the U.K. charts, although it remains in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 this week at No. 7.
Trending on Billboard
Offset unleashed his surprise Haunted by Fame project on Friday (Oct. 31), which appears to find him addressing Cardi B and Stefon Diggs’ relationship, along with his estranged wife’s pregnancy.
The not-so-subliminal shots at Cardi and the New England Patriots wide receiver come to close the first verse of the Coupe-produced “No Sweat.” Set essentially implies Cardi downgraded by trading Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan for Dennis Rodman, who was more of a caffeinated role player.
“How the f—k you leave Jordan for Rodman/ You a fool if you think that I’m hurt/ You ain’t happy, I know how it work,” he raps.
He seemingly continues to blast Cardi for getting pregnant by the NFL player while their divorce still isn’t finalized. “How you married and still giving birth/ Get some help, b—h, you going berserk,” Set spews.
Billboard has reached out to reps for Cardi B and Offset.
Cardi B filed for divorce from Offset for a second time in July 2024. The Grammy-winning rapper and Migos member share three children. Cardi began dating the NFL star earlier this year, and went public with her relationship while sitting courtside at a Knicks game with Diggs in May.
“I fell in love. I got two rings [on] my finger. I lasted seven years,” she said of the relationship with Offset in September during an X Spaces. “Seven years that I didn’t have to last with somebody. I lasted seven years in a marriage. Stop saying, ‘Oh, but you’re still married.’ No, I’m legally separated.”
She also alleged at the time that it was her estranged husband’s demands holding up the divorce. “Y’all wanna know the tea?” Cardi said. “The only way I can get out of my marriage is if I pay for somebody else’s taxes — even though I pay for my own — and give them one of my properties.”
The Bronx native is expected to give birth to baby No. 4 in the coming months, and then she’ll be hitting the road for the Little Miss Drama Tour in February.
As for Offset, Haunted by Fame is his second album of 2025, after dropping Kiari in August. Releasing music on Halloween isn’t new for Set, who released Without Warning alongside Metro Boomin and 21 Savage in 2017.
Listen to Offset’s “No Sweat” below.
Trending on Billboard A$AP Rocky once again has people wondering if he’s put a ring on it. In a new cover story interview with Perfect magazine, the rapper made a provocative claim about his longtime love Rihanna, with whom he shares three young children. When asked to describe the times when he’s felt the greatest […]
Trending on Billboard
Disgraced hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was transferred to the federal correctional institution at Fort Dix, N.J. to serve out his 50-month sentence. The New York Times reported that a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Prisons confirmed on Thursday (Oct. 30) that 55-year-old Combs will be housed at FCI Fort Dix following his sentencing earlier this month to four years and two months in prison for two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
Following his Oct. 3 sentencing, Combs’ lawyers asked judge Arun Subramanian to recommend that the Bureau of Prisons send their client to Fort Dix, “in order to address drug abuse issues and to maximize family visitation and rehabilitative efforts.”
Combs, who will get credit for time served in detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center (M.D.C.) in Brooklyn since his arrest in Sept. 2024, should be eligible for release in May 2028. During the eight-week trial, prosecutors called two of Combs’ former girlfriends to the stand to describe their participation in marathon, drug-fueled “freak-off” sex parties with hired male prostitutes. In July, the jury in the case acquitted Combs of the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
As he begins his time at Fort Dix, Combs’ lawyers are attempting to expedite his criminal appeal, arguing that he could be close to the end of his sentence by the time his case is heard if forced to follow the typical, drawn-out argument timeline. Combs’ team is challenging both his July conviction and the resulting four-year prison sentence in the case.
In the Second Circuit Court of Appeals where Combs’ case will be heard, it can take nearly a year and a half on average to get a criminal appeal decided and his lawyers don’t want to wait that long. In a court filing on Tuesday (Oct. 29) they said Combs could complete most of his sentence during the appeal timeline. Combs has already gotten credit for time spent in jail since his arrest and could have his sentence further reduced for good behavior or participation in a drug abuse rehab program.
ABC News reported that Combs’ legal team requested the Fort Dix facility because it offers a special drug treatment program that, if he completes it successfully, could take time off his sentence. ABC quoted sources saying that Combs is not being housed in the prison’s general population, but in the special drug program unit.
In filings from Combs’ team before his sentencing, they said that during his time at M.D.C. their client was sober for the first time in 25 years and that he had been leading an informal six-week business and entrepreneurship education program for other inmates he called “Free Game with Diddy.”
While rumors of a potential pardon from Donald Trump have been floated in the press, on Oct. 21 the White House Communications Office threw cold water on a TMZ report that had quoted a “high-ranking White House official” saying that the president was considering commuting Combs’ sentence soon. “There is zero truth to the TMZ report, which we would’ve gladly explained had they reached out before running their fake news,” the White House spokesperson said.
Just days after Diddy’s sentencing, Trump confirmed that the producer’s legal team had officially requested a presidential pardon. “A lot of people have asked me for pardons,” the president said at the time. “I call him Puff Daddy. He has asked me for a pardon.”
