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Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura took the witness stand Tuesday (May 13) at the rap mogul’s sex trafficking trial, telling jurors that Combs “controlled a lot of my life” and subjected her to repeated “physical abuse.”
Ventura, an R&B singer who dated Combs for 11 years, is at the very center of the case against him — in which prosecutors say the superstar used his music empire “feed his every desire,” including by forcing Ventura and other women to have sex with male escorts — events allegedly known as “freak offs.”
Just a day after the trial began, Ventura took the witness stand to tell jurors she felt she had no choice but to participate in those sexual encounters — at times because she was in love with Combs and wanted to please him, but also because she feared blackmail, physical violence and other blowback.
“Sean controlled a lot of my life, whether it was career, the way I dressed — everything,” Ventura, visibly pregnant with her third child, testified. “I just didn’t have much say in it at the time.”
Sometimes emotional, Ventura testified that “violent arguments” with Combs “too often” led to “physical abuse” that included him punching, kicking and dragging her. She also offered more details about the freak offs, including that some lasted days: “The freak offs became a job,” she said, “where there wasn’t any space to do anything else but to recover and just try to feel like normal again.”
Combs was indicted in September, charged with running a sprawling criminal operation aimed at facilitating the elaborate freak offs, in which Combs and others would allegedly ply Ventura and other victims with drugs and then coerce them into having sex with escorts while he masturbated. Prosecutors also claim the star and his associates used violence, money and blackmail to keep victims silent and under his control.
It was Ventura’s civil lawsuit, filed in November 2023, that first raised those allegations against Diddy. Her case, which accused the star of rape and years of physical abuse, was quickly settled with a large payment from Combs, but it sparked a flood of additional suits from other alleged victims and set into motion the criminal probe that led to his indictment.
Once one of the music industry’s most powerful men, Combs is formally accused in the case of racketeering conspiracy (a so-called RICO charge), sex trafficking and violating a federal prostitution statute. If convicted on all of the charges, he faces a potential life prison sentence.
The trial, expected to last two months, kicked off Monday (May 12) with opening statements, during which prosecutors told jurors that Combs and his associates used “coercive and criminal” conduct to make the freak offs happen: “For twenty years, the defendant, with the help of his trusted inner circle, committed crime after crime,” prosecutor Emily A. Johnson told the jury. Prosecutors also quickly played a 2016 surveillance video of Combs beating Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel.
When it was their turn, defense attorneys told jurors that Ventura and other victims had consensually taken part in the sex parties. They admitted that Diddy committed domestic violence during “toxic” relationships with the women and that he certainly had unusual sexual preferences, but said those did not amount to racketeering or sex trafficking: “Sean Combs is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case,” said defense attorney Teny Geragos.
Following Tuesday morning’s testimony, Ventura is expected to testify more in the afternoon and for several days after that. When prosecutors are finished questioning her, Combs’ attorneys will have a chance to cross-examine her. They will likely seek to cast doubt on her credibility and portray her as a willing participant in the freak offs.
After Ventura’s testimony is complete, prosecutors will continue to call other witnesses, including a second alleged freak off victim identified by the pseudonym “Jane” and an alleged employee victim identified by the pseudonym “Mia.”
Janet Jackson will receive the ICON Award at the 2025 American Music Awards, which will air live from Fontainebleau Las Vegas on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26. The 11-time American Music Awards winner will also perform on the show, marking her first television performance since 2018.
There have been two previous recipients of the ICON Award: Rihanna in 2013 and Lionel Richie in 2022. The honor is bestowed upon an artist whose music has had undeniable cultural and global influence over the music industry. Jackson received a similar award, the Ultimate Icon Award, at the 2015 BET Awards.
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This year’s American Music Awards will kick off summer with host Jennifer Lopez, who is also set to perform on the show. The 51st AMAs will air live coast-to-coast at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on the CBS, and stream on Paramount+ in the U.S. Tickets are available now on Ticketmaster.
Jackson, 58, has been a recording star since 1982, when her debut album was released on A&M. She has amassed 10 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and seven No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200.
She’s also set to kick off yet another leg of her popular Las Vegas residency, JANET JACKSON: LAS VEGAS, returning to the Resorts World Theatre stage on May 21 for a six-show run through May 31.
Jackson has won five Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination for best original song, along with multiple MTV Video Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards.
Jackson has set many Billboard chart records over the years. Her 1986 album Control was the first by a woman to yield five top 10 hits on the Hot 100. Her 1989 album Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 is, to this day, the only album to generate seven top five hits on the Hot 100. Her 1993 album janet tallied six top 10 hits on the Hot 100, making her the first artist to notch five or more top 10s on the Hot 100 from three different albums.
Jackson stands as one of only four artists to have a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 in the 1980s, ’90s, ’00s and ’10s — alongside Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand and U2.
In 2019, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (with Janelle Monáe doing the honors), joining her brothers, The Jackson 5, who were inducted in 1997. Michael Jackson received a solo induction in 2001.
Kendrick Lamar leads this year’s American Music Awards nominations with 10 nods, followed by Post Malone with eight; and Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan and Shaboozey with seven each.
Fan voting for the 2025 American Music Awards is now open via VoteAMAs.com and the @AMAs Instagram profile in all award categories. Voting closes Thursday, May 15, at 11:59:59 p.m. PT, with the exception of collaboration of the year and social song of the year, which will remain open for web voting through the first 30 minutes of the AMAs broadcast.
The American Music Awards is the world’s largest fan-voted awards show. The show is produced by Dick Clark Productions and will broadcast globally across linear and digital platforms.
This Memorial Day, the AMAs will pay special tribute to U.S. troops and veterans.
The AMAs and Easy Day Foundation, a Las Vegas-based nonprofit organization committed to helping Veterans transition to civilian life, will partner to present several special in-show moments that celebrate veterans while raising funds for a variety of national and local organizations. The American Music Awards x Easy Day moments will include two performances and the presentation of a special award honoring a marquee talent who uses their platform to make meaningful contributions to the veteran community, as well as inspirational stories from active-duty service members and veterans.
The American Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
After a recent press trip to New York, London upstart Nippa is already toying with the idea of relocating. He trekked through Queensbridge — once the stomping ground of Nas and Mobb Deep — before soaking up the city’s energy, meeting fans at random, and enjoying backroom bites at Sei Less, New York’s famed hip-hop haunt.
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“Since I’ve been here, mans been in Queensbridge,” he says, his thick U.K. accent cutting through the air. “Some of the mans came up to me like, ‘Yo Nippa.’ That’s love. Now that I’m here, I understand where the love is in New York for me — or stateside — because you’re unable to compare the love without being there.”
He adds: “It’s different because you’ll always get more love from somewhere that’s not your home, and that’s how the game goes. That’s not to say I don’t get love in London, because I do feel the love in London. I just know New York is quite big for me because I’m not always out here.”
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Nippa, the twenty-something singer/songwriter, is experiencing a volcanic rise in the R&B scene, powered by his slick swagger and radio-ready voice. From the Larry June-assisted “Sugar,” to the breezy Odeal collab “Take Me,” and the vulnerable slow-burner “Pride,” Nippa has quietly built a formidable discography that rivals many of his peers. Still, it’s his debut project, Hope She Hears This, that stands out as his crown jewel. The nine-track offering strips Nippa down to his core, showcasing raw truths. From the emotional wreckage of “Unfair” to the searching tenderness of “Kiki’s Brown Eyes,” Nippa’s searing lyrics pierce through harder than before.
“I had to understand the love of making music again, rather than just catching a hit or something viral or trendy,” he says of the project. “I wanted to say things coming from me and my heart, and put a piece of Jordan into the music. That’s what I’ve been doing. That’s why this tape is personal. Whoever feels it, feels it. I’m just talking about real-life situations I’ve gone through. Do things on my terms. It’s who I am. Treat it like therapy and let the emotions out.”
Nippa sat down with Billboard to chat about his debut project, Hope She Hears This, working with Craig David and Larry June, and how he found closure from a failed relationship.
You’re from North London. How did the music scene inspire you? I feel like Tottenham didn’t really inspire me to go into R&B ’cause the scene out there, there’s a lot of rap, drill, [and] grime. You got the Skeptas, the Headie Ones, so it never kinda positioned me to go into R&B. That came from my family. My mom is an old school R&B head. My grandma was a Motown head, blues and reggae. That’s where the singing came from, but even still, I didn’t wanna be a singer — I wanted to be a rapper. In “The Endz”, you’re not really respected for singing. I wanted to be a rapper, but I’m not a good rapper.Was it a thing where you wrote a rap verse and you realized you weren’t good enough?Not really, I was just freestyling with my friends, freestyling on the strip and it was only really when my manager took me to a studio. That’s because sometimes in the freestyles, I’d be singing in-between, but it’s not like the singing was the main focus — that was just the bonus. My manager took me to the studio and we made our first song. The mandem liked them and everyone was like, “This is hard,” and we just kinda started pushing forward. We started making a little bit of noise and from then, I was kind of like, “F–k it. Let’s see where it goes.” And the situation took off. What was your mom and grandmother’s take on your decision to pursue music full-time?I don’t think they really wanted that at first — but that was out of fear, man. When your parents don’t want you to do something, it’s the fear of the unknown. My mom and grandma know the straight and narrow road: education into a well-respected job. That’s what they know. I feel like when you’re doing something daring like music, you’re taking a gamble on yourself. If you f–k up, that’s on you. There’s no kind of safety net and I think that’s what my mom and grandma kind of feared with me going into that. It was only really this year too when they saw my headlining show that people will come out for Nip. From there, that’s when they were like, “OK. What can we do to help you be able to facilitate yourself into the next part of your journey in music?”You tapped in with a U.K. great and legend in the R&B world Craig David when you did “G Love.” What it was like teaming up with him in the studio?I still feel like to this day that I haven’t really accepted that. Craig David is a legend, man, especially in the U.K. If he’s a legend here, you can only imagine in the U.K. With Craig, there was no industry s–t with that. No label set that up. I just saw him at Blxst’s concert. He rocked with my music, and he said, “Link me. Let’s get in the studio.” From there, that’s how it went. Craig has just been a good mentor. He put me on when I was in Uni. He put me on his support tour, paid me for that, as well. As a young n—a coming up who’s independent, that goes a long away. That exposure goes a long way. So Craig, I have nothing but good things to say about that guy. He’s a legend from the music aspect, but as a person, he’s a legend, as well.
You mentioned Blxst and how he brought you out doing his U.K. show. What did you gain from that experience?Boy, that was my first performance. I had to battled stage freight, but what it gave me? It gave me awareness, man. It gave me a good co-sign from early. When people heard I came out for Blxst’s show out here in my hometown in London, it was like, ‘Oh, they f–k with him.’ It’s not like a U.K. rapper brought me out to show some local love, it was someone coming from overseas showing me love. So shout-out to Blxst for that. We’ve been tapped in ever since. That was two years ago. Big up Blxst for that. Speaking of co-signs, you earned another stateside when you linked with Larry June on “Sugar.” I’m sure the energy from back home went crazy after that. You know what it was, man? The Larry June s–t was just on some real n—a s–t, man. Mandem listen to Larry June. A lot of them f–k with him. Knowing that Larry June jumped on a song with man and it’s not even like man is the biggest R&B artist, but he just respected the art and it was all straight organic, that had the mandem happy. That’s why I had to do a video with the mandem on the block as well to just show where we’re from. Larry June is a real one. We’re working on some s–t. Then you take it back home working with a rising star in the space like Odeal on “Take Me.” Talk about the intentionality behind working with someone back home with a more expansive sound. Yeah, Odeal is from London. That’s the family. Our group and his group are all tapped in. I wouldn’t say it was moreso intentional. That was more like, “I respect your art. You’re my brother. I really think you would sound good on this song. There’s a community there.” I think what Odeal is doing is amazing. He was able to grow his audience internationally, but that was the intention when I was doing the song.
I thought it was interesting because that’s not even his normal bag. That sound was brighter than usual for him.I just like making music. Me and my brother Benji Flow made that song and I thought Odeal would sound amazing on it. Let’s make the greatest art possible and I felt like his work I respect. Him adding his touch on “Take Me” made it an amazing song.Let’s talk about the project. I love “Unfair” and the realism that came from you being hurt. How were you able to channel that pain and flip it sonically? I was just going through a bad place in my relationship. As men, you tend to mask the insecurities with toxic masculinity and bravado. Being the Mandem from The Endz, we have so much of that. So much pride, so much bravado. I just had to drop that when I was doing the song. I had to really drop that and say what’s really irking my spirit. I needed to get it off.
Sometimes, n—as do feel like they’re getting take a piss out of. Sometimes, I do feel like I’m giving everything I can to a woman and she’s just giving me nothing but stress and she’s not seeing stuff that I’ve done for her. She’d rather just look at the bad things. I don’t know, man. It just gets like that and I just wanted to put that out in the music because I know someone out there is probably in their car on their way to their girl’s thinking ‘F–k sake, man.’ Mans just has to be real. That’s what I was going through.
Did she hear the record?I don’t know, man. I’m blocked. [Laughs.]When you go back and listen to songs like “Unfair” and “Pride,” do they hit differently for you now?Nah. If anything, I don’t like to listen to them because they take me back and I’m trying to move forward. I’m always onto what’s next. I think “Unfair” was one of the songs where I was like, ‘Oh. This is hard.’ So I streamed “Unfair,” but most of the songs, I don’t like to go back because they take me back to that time. Once I release a song, that’s not even me anymore. You have to understand, as an artist, when you’re singing these things, you’re kind of letting go of something. Whether it was closure with your ex, you’re letting go of that. Whether I hate my ex on “Unfair,” I’m letting go of that hate. I don’t really listen all the time unless I’m going through it again. I think if I get another heartbreak, “Unfair” might get ran [again]. For now, I’ll go back to the happy songs ’cause that’s where I am.
For Hope She Hears This, was it a more therapeutic for you and was there room to have some happy songs on the project? Every song is therapeutic, but the vibe def changes for certain songs. For example, “Regular Girl” and “Kiki’s Brown Eyes,” are two songs that I think have the same topic, but are explained in different ways and give a different vibe. “Regular Girl” is showing this girl is beautiful, she’s the sexiest girl in the world and she got a fat bum. “Kiki’s Brown Eyes” is the same thing. This girl is not regular but it’s ’cause of her soul and her brown eyes. It’s ’cause of the way that she thinks, she speaks, and her process.
All of the things that aren’t lustful that you’re noticing about someone that you genuinely love. I feel like those two songs were very therapeutic for me because when you initially find someone attractive, you go through “Regular Girl.” When you’re a fool for her, you go through “Kiki’s Brown Eyes.” I think the song that probably gives off the most joyous [energy] is “One More.” That’s the bonus track. Even that song, it’s not even the happiest, but I feel like the feeling and the sonics matters when it comes to determining the vibe. When someone reads the pen of the song, that’s when you get to know the artist and think, “Damn. What was the artist going through?”
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Can Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” take over No. 1 from Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s “Luther”? Tetris Kelly: This is the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 for the week dated May 17th. Hanging in the top 10 is Morgan Wallen. “ANXIETY” is up a spot to nine, as is “Beautiful Things” to No. 8. “Lose Control” is […]
John Legend is opening up the “descent” of his former friend Ye.
In a new interview with The Times, published on Saturday (May 10), the 46-year-old R&B singer expressed shock over the dramatic changes in Ye (formerly Kanye West) after their close personal and professional bond in the early 2000s.
“Back then Kanye was very passionate, very gifted, and he had big dreams not only for himself but also for all the people around him,” Legend said, reflecting on how West helped launch his career after collaborating on the rapper’s 2004 album, The College Dropout. “He had so much optimism, so much creativity. It does feel sad, sometimes shocking, to see where he is now.”
The EGOT winner signed with West’s G.O.O.D. Music after releasing a pair of self-produced albums early in his career. The two artists collaborated on numerous projects over the years, but their friendship began to fray after West, 47, voiced support for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Their relationship ultimately ended in the aftermath of West’s unsuccessful 2020 presidential bid.
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“I didn’t see a hint of what we’re seeing now, his obsessions with antisemitism, anti-blackness, and it is sad to see his devolution,” Legend told The Times.
Ye has faced backlash in recent months for his hate-filled, antisemitic rants on social media. The rapper has also expressed support for Diddy, who is currently on trial for sex trafficking charges.
Legend admits he’s not qualified to “psychoanalyze” West, but offers a guess as to why the embattled rapper has changed so much in recent years.
“After his mother passed in 2007 there was definitely a difference,” the singer said. “His descent started then and seems to have accelerated recently.”
West’s mother, Donda, died of a heart attack at age 58 in 2007 following complications from multiple cosmetic procedures. After her death, the rapper released two albums bearing her name: Donda (2021), which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and Donda 2 (2022), which was initially available exclusively on the Stem Player before being released on streaming services in late April.
Elsewhere in The Times interview, Legend reflected on West’s undeniable impact in launching his career.
“Kanye blew up after producing Jay-Z’s album The Blueprint in 2001,” he said. “Then he experienced a buzz as a solo artist and the whole time I was traveling with him, doing shows with him, getting exposure not only as his singer and keyboard player but also as an artist myself. I had been turned down by labels everywhere. Then The College Dropout sold 400,000 copies in its first week, everyone wanted to know what was happening in our camp.”
The singer added, “All those people who turned me down suddenly decided that my music sounded a lot better than it did the first time round.”
It’s been more than a year since Kendrick Lamar upended the rap game and significantly altered the course of popular culture with “Not Like Us,” the five-time Grammy-winning, Billboard Hot 100-topping knockout punch in his monthslong battle against Drake. If the feverish crowd at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Friday night (May 10) was anything to go by, K.Dot’s ongoing domination isn’t likely to subside anytime soon.
Lamar and SZA, former TDE labelmates and both global superstars in their own rights, graced the NYC-area venue for their second of two shows in East Rutherford, N.J., on their blockbuster Grand National Tour. One of the most ambitious treks in hip-hop history, the Grand National Tour is a towering achievement.
From mainstream-conquering smashes (“Luther,” “Humble,” “DNA”) to headier deep cuts from his latest Billboard 200 chart-topper (“Man at the Garden,” “Reincarnated”), Lamar meticulously presented hip-hop as stadium-sized theater. He didn’t do so by relying on flashy production or set design; instead, he stripped hip-hop down to its five founding pillars, laying bare the incomparable art form that is emceeing on a hot mic.
Kicking things off with GNX opener “Wacced Out Murals,” Lamar launched the nearly three-hour extravaganza all on his lonesome. Lamar and SZA traded sets bridged by beloved duets like “Doves in the Wind,” “All the Stars” and the more recent “30 for 30 Freestyle.” Though both artists sourced the bulk of their sets from their most recent releases (GNX for Lamar and SOS Deluxe: LANA for SZA), they also held space for their respective catalogs. Lamar rapped the opening verse of “Swimming Pools” completely a cappella for his “day ones”; SZA frequently shouted out her “Ctrl babies” before performing cuts like “Garden (Say It Like Dat)” and “Broken Clocks,” and she pulled Zacari‘s weight for a sweet rendition of Lamar’s “Love.”
SZA performs on the opening night of the Grand National Tour with Kendrick Lamar on April 19, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Across a stage reminiscent of the video game controller setup of Lamar’s landmark Super Bowl LIX halftime show, the Grand National Tour’s set design is largely minimalistic, save for a stair platform placed at the center of the stage. Despite a few levitating mini-platforms and a flying fairy moment for SZA, the true centerpiece of the Grand National stage was the literal GNX that helped the set transition between each set. When Kendrick first hit the stage, the black GNX stood as it does on the album cover, but by the time SZA hit her set, the vehicle transformed into a grassy, fauna-laden ride that nodded to the insect aesthetic of the LANA era. At the show’s close (“Gloria”), Lamar opened the passenger door for SZA like a consummate gentleman and joined her in the car as they wished the packed stadium safe travels home.
Both a wildly impressive victory lap and the progeny of over a decade of grueling work from both Lamar and SZA, the Grand National Tour saw two of the most defining artists of the 2010s operating at the height of their powers while ensuring hip-hop always remains at the center.
Here are the 10 best moments from their Grand National Tour stop at MetLife Stadium.
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Leon Thomas’ breakthrough hit “Mutt” hits a new peak of No. 15 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 – over nine months since Grammy-winning multihyphenate first unleashed the hazy, bass-driven tune. As he approaches the second summer of the Mutt album cycle at a new career peak, Thomas has meticulously readied a 10-song deluxe edition of his acclaimed record.
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Out on May 30 via EZMNY/Motown Records and subtitled Heel, the deluxe edition of Mutt will include collaborations with several hip-hop and R&B heavyweights, including Marsha Ambrosius, Big Sean, Kehlani and Chris Brown – the latter of whom appeared on March’s “Mutt” remix. Last month (April 18), Halle Bailey lent Thomas an assist on “Rather Be Alone,” a psychedelic rock-tinged soul ballad that served as the first taste of Heel. Featuring reimagined versions of select Mutt deep cuts (“Yes It Is” and “Vibes Don’t Lie” both get updates), Heel also revives songs from studio sessions dating back to Electric Dusk, Thomas’ 2023 debut studio album (“Party Favors,” which now includes a Big Sean guest verse).
Inspired by the juxtaposition of his current career momentum and the space needed to truly experience life — as well as by Michael McDonald’s insights from 2024’s Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary — Heel finds Thomas stepping into his healing era, to better understand his emotional state in the original world of Mutt.
“I think music should reflect life,” he explains to Billboard. “Personally, I’m in a place of being really single right now. I was emotionally in that place while making [“Rather Be Alone”], I wasn’t really in a party mood, yet. Summer’s on the way, but I had a little bit of emotional spring cleaning to do first.”
The announcement of Mutt Deluxe: Heal comes the same week that Thomas earned his first two career BET Awards nominations, as he will vie in the best new artist and best male R&B/pop artist categories at the June 9 ceremony. With viral NPR Tiny Desk and Late Show performances and a headlining tour already under his belt, Leon Thomas’ Mutt era is only picking up steam as its one-year anniversary draws nearer.
In a revelatory conversation with Billboard, Leon Thomas breaks down several new Heel tracks, details funk icon George Clinton essentially knighting him during Coachella and explains why Halle clearly “graduated from the Beyoncé school of vocal production.”
When did you know that you wanted to turn Mutt into a deluxe album?
While I was on my headlining tour for Mutt, I started talking to my manager about everything that’s going on with the Grammys [eligibility cycle], not being able to be nominated [last year] because of the timeline. We were trying to figure out healthy ways to breathe life back into [the record]. We ended up discussing different features, and by the end of that conversation, we were like, “Well, it sounds like it’s deluxe season.”
I was really inspired by [SZA’s] Lana and how she gave us a whole new energy. I even saw a resurgence of “Snooze” right after that drop, on the production and songwriting side, which was really good. It all made sense.
I started digging back in at the top of the year. I went out to the same Atlanta studio that OutKast used to do a lot of records in and linked with [“Mutt” co-writers] Robert Gueringer and David Phelps. We set up hella instruments, wrote a bunch of songs, and none of them made it to the deluxe. But it was a good bonding experience. We were all really excited about the success of “Mutt” and where things were headed.
Did any songs from the original Mutt sessions make it to the deluxe?
Yeah, there was actually a song I wrote the same day I wrote the first track for Electric Dusk, actually. It was a song I always loved called “Party Favors.” I played it for my boy, Big Sean, and he loved it, so I had him hop on that. There were a couple of old gems like that.
Big Sean is on two deluxe tracks. What is it about your relationship with him that makes y’all such fruitful collaborators?
I always do that with artists, if I’m trying to collaborate with them — because sometimes, artists send me just one joint, and I may or may not be into it, even if I’m down to work with the artist. I try to give every artist an opportunity to shoot different things. You never know what they’ll end up getting attached to.
[Sean] ended up writing [verses] to both [“Party Favors” and “Vibes Don’t Lie”], and then he was like, “Well, if you don’t put [“Party Favors”] on the deluxe, I’m gonna drop it tomorrow.” I was like, “Well, no, sir!” [Laughs.] That’s how it is dealing with rappers, man. They’re just like, “Let’s drop tomorrow!” And I’m like, “Let me get a marketing budget first, my boy!”
Marsha Ambrosius is also on the deluxe — which is fitting, since you’ve interpolated Floetry’s “Say Yes” into a few live performances of “Yes It Is.” How did that one come together?
She doesn’t remember, but we wrote a whole song together like seven years ago — but I wasn’t tripping on that when I met her officially at the BET Awards. She was showing so much love to Electric Dusk, and her husband gave me her information, and we stayed in touch. A good friend of mine named Ali [Prawl] — who played keys on “Yes It Is” and produced it with me – used to play in her band, and is a Philly legend, so he reached out to her. Next thing I knew, I had a Dropbox full of vocals from Marsha Ambrosius.
It was really fun to mess around within the mix and try to protect the integrity of “Say Yes.” A lot of it was me playing off the success of the Tiny Desk and how much people loved that mashup. I wanted to give people something on wax that was a bit more polished.
How do you go about maintaining the integrity of the original record while giving audiences something new and fresh?
I think it’s a matter of not adding any extra overproduction to anything, and really staying true to my creative process. I’m known to overthink — in class, I would get a 92% on a test and could have had a 100%, but you could see me erase the right answer because I was overthinking. In music, I put myself in a position to literally just go with my first mind. “Safe Place” was a first take, “I Used To” was a first take with few edits, “Mutt” was a first take, and I just punched in certain things.
I wasn’t overthinking on this record. Even with the way we added features… I didn’t want to have them do a bunch of takes or versions. Just give me your first mind.
What was the “Rather Be Alone” studio session like?
D. Phelps was in the studio with us, and I actually stole him from Halle’s session – I’m real selfish with my guy! [Laughs.] We had no plans of doing a record that day. So, Halle pulls up to the studio, telling everybody to put the blunts out, and we started listening to records. We weren’t frustrated around that time, but we were definitely at a creative wall. I was like, “Okay, we got a label that wants us to do features, but I’m kinda anti-social, so who do I lock in with without it being awkward?”
Then, I had a little light bulb moment, and asked Halle to hop on the song. She really liked the song, but I had to kinda pressure her to get in the booth. She got in there, felt comfortable, wrote her verse very quickly, and really did her thing. You can hear that she came from the Beyoncé school of vocal production in the way she attacks things and enunciates and emotes. That put me in a great headspace as a producer as well.
When it comes to bringing in new voices, like Halle and Kehlani, how do you ensure that the chemistry feels natural and not forced?
Me and Kehlani have been writing together for years. For Ariana [Grande’s] Yours Truly album, we had Kehlani do the demos for some of the songs Ariana ended up cutting. Because we were so tight, we would write all the time. She’s my real friend. Writing with her isn’t even a session, it’s just talking.
She told me she was really feeling [Mutt] and wanted to make something for her own record. I wasn’t even sure if “Dirt on My Shoes” would be for my deluxe; I was just writing from the standpoint of either of us singing it. It was a very open-ended session. My boy, Khris Riddick-Tynes, also added some things to make it fit the sonic space of the Mutt album. Me and Kehlani are always gonna be super tight and supportive of one another.
Did you pull from your whirlwind past six months while writing these deluxe tracks? Or did you have to put yourself back in the mental space of the original Mutt sessions?
It’s funny, life is moving really fast, but I haven’t been living a lot of life. It’s been very: wake up, get to work, go to sleep, repeat. I’m not really pulling from too much emotionally. If anything, the absence of real emotional growth has been something that I can pull from. Also, the longing for something real – not that I haven’t had it, but I’m trying to figure out how to take care of it in the midst of a very busy schedule. I’m looking forward to looking back at these records because it’s a time stamp of my mental space.
Would you say this deluxe is a general expansion of the world of Mutt, a specific extension of the story the original tracklist tells, or something else entirely?
I almost feel like Heel is a bit of a meditation. I’m looking back at a lot of things and seeing where I was in my life during the Mutt era. It was pretty chaotic. The title of the deluxe has multiple meanings. From the “heel” command of learning to follow to healing in real life – that’s why a lot of the records aren’t bop-y, straight Power 106 vibes. Right now, I’m in a space of healing and learning… how to be a good boy. [Laughs.]
“Mutt” is right outside the Hot 100’s top 10 (No. 15). Did you expect to be here in April 2025 when you dropped this song in August 2024?
I don’t want to sound cocky or anything, but like when I made the record, it was the first time I’ve ever been like, “I’m making a single today.” I didn’t let anyone talk me out of rolling with it as the first single. And there was a moment where everybody thought I should lead with “Far Fetched,” and I was like, “I love Ty, I love the song, but I really feel like we should lead with ‘Mutt.’” There was this feeling I had about it.
Did I think we would still be seeing it on the charts right now? N—a, to be real, no, I didn’t know that! We were pretty hyped when it got to 15 million streams; we were like “Oh s–t, we’re not failures.”
I was at Coachella, and when I finished performing, my homie told me that Tyla was singing my song word for word. I know what we have is definitely contagious and good for the culture. I’m glad that people are supporting that because it doesn’t always happen.
Tell me more about your Coachella experience this year.
It was awesome. My big bro, Ty Dolla $ign, brought me out there to perform on his stage. He’s a gracious artist who’s always chosen to support me and put me on a pedestal. Shoutout to Muni Long, who also gave me an opportunity to share her stage. She had no incentive to do that, outside of just really enjoying the music and being an awesome human.
On Sunday, I performed with George Clinton, and it was this whole moment… It’s 4/20, and I get a knock on my trailer and it’s Ty. He’s like, “George wants to talk with you.” We get into the trailer, and it’s literally a cloud of weed smoke, fam. Mind you, I don’t really smoke weed like that no more! So, I’m just in there, hotboxed to hell as George Clinton does this whole speech.
He’s like, “I’ve got a present for you, man. You the kid with the dog song, right? Yeah, I like that joint. I made you this hat.” And it’s an all-white hat with rhinestones, a dog face on it and a fox tail at the end of it. I’m like, “Wow, this is really elaborate and amazing.” He said, “Before I come out and perform ‘Atomic Dog,’ I’m going to give you the crown.” My parents were in a wedding band playing “Atomic Dog,” so I know it. I’m really tapped in!
That was an amazing moment for me, because I feel that funk can find its way back into popular culture right now. “Mutt” isn’t a super-Ohio-Players, funk-driven record, but it’s got those notes with the Bootsy Collins bass and real live drums. I really respect George Clinton, and I’m thankful that he even thought of me in this way.
It’s (still) like that, y’all! Mariah Carey took to social media on Friday (May 8) to continue the festivities surrounding the 20th anniversary of her landmark 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi.
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“Reliving the splendor of The Emancipation of Mimi with a few more of my favorite moments!” the icon captioned a carousel of memories from the era, adding the hashtag “Mimi20” along with a butterfly and red heart emoji.
Among the photos in Carey’s post were snaps of the R&B legend performing on stage in a glittering silver gown with mic in hand and walking her beloved Jack Russell terrier, Jack, in a yellow bandage dress, as well as a behind-the-scenes shot with Snoop Dogg from the set of the “Say Something” music video.
Mimi also included throwback clips of her performance of lead single “It’s Like That” alongside Jermaine Dupri and Fatman Scoop to open VH1 Save the Music’s 2005 benefit concert and an interview where she broke down the album’s many vibes on the press tour.
“I think each song on the album, Emancipation of Mimi, not necessarily has a different message, but has a different mood and has a different feeling — you know, evokes something different depending on who’s listening to it and at what time,” the superstar lays out in the latter video. “‘Don’t Forget About Us’ could kind of give you a good, happy memory or you could be miserable crying, listening to it over and over.
“But I think all in all, it’s always good to have music that you can sort of live vicariously through, and that’s what a lot of people have told me this record is for them,” she concluded.
Speaking of “Don’t Forget About Us,” Carey marked Mimi‘s major milestone in April by releasing a new remix of the No. 1 hit by Kaytranada. The re-envisioned version of the smash will be featured on the massive 40-track 20th anniversary reissue of the album, which is scheduled for release May 30.
Check out Mariah’s latest Emancipation of Mimi-era memories here.
Drew Afualo gives Summer Walker her flowers and she shares that she went to the same high school as Playboi Carti and Usher at Billboard Women in Music 2025. Drew Afualo: Team, here we are with the iconic, the legendary, the unbelievably beautiful, Summer Walker. We’re so happy to have you here. How are you […]