State Champ Radio Hip-Hop
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Hip-hop history month begins in November and to commemorate the genre’s 50th anniversary, designer sportswear brand Mitchell & Ness created an NBA capsule collection with graffiti artists Tats Cru just in time for NBA season.
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Unlike traditional NBA merch, the apparel comes designed with graffiti designed by the artists with a basketball twist.
Pieces in the limited-edition line include sweatshirts, jerseys and T-shirts that infuse the style of Hip-Hop with basketball athletic wear. You can expect eight of the major metropolitan cities that helped play a role in the development of Hip-Hop music and culture to be on display such as New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, Detroit, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
Every team has their own T-shirt, sweatshirt and jersey, which we highlight below.
Keep reading to shop the different styles or view the entire collection here.
Mitchell & Ness
M&N x Tats Cru City Tee Los Angeles Lakers
Whether it’s game-day or you’re headed to the grocery store, this T-shirt can act as a casual yet comfortable piece of apparel. It’ll show off your love for the team with a streetwear twist and comes in sizes S-3XL.
Mitchell & Ness
M&N x NBA x Tats Cru Jersey New York Knicks
Go for a bold look in a redesigned jersey that comes with the team’s logo and graffiti art representative of the state they represent. Each jersey is exclusive to the brand and features a lightweight yet breathable material to keep you comfy.
Mitchell & Ness
M&N x Tats Cru Brick Hoodie Chicago Bulls
Stay cozy while still repping your favorite team in this hoodie that comes with an exclusive design and soft cotton material.
For the sportswear brand this was a especially a monumental moment.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with Tats Cru on this historic project,” said Eli Kumekpor the CEO of Mitchell & Ness in a press statement. “The 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop is a momentous occasion, and we wanted to celebrate it in a way that honors its influence on sports, art, and society. TATS Cru’s distinct artistic vision perfectly complements our dedication to craftsmanship and authenticity.”
For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best men’s shorts, shackets for women and shoes for travel.
Why are hip-hop and R&B still popular streaming-wise but less so on the live music front? How can superfans and generative AI help further music industry growth? Those are just two of the hot topics addressed in Trapital’s second annual report on major trends in music, media and hip-hop. Presented by the ticketing company DICE, 2023’s The Trapital Report is being released today (Oct. 31) in tandem with Billboard‘s exclusive first-look preview.
“This report is for the key decision makers in music, media and entertainment, the executives, founders and investors in the space,” Trapital founder Dan Runcie tells Billboard. “These are the people who are working actively to serve the artists that they work with. They’re working actively to provide an experience to the end consumers as well as fans. And to do that they need to be as close as possible to the current trends that are happening within the actual revenue. But looking fast forward, what are the things that they need to invest their time and money in? How do they better understand this audience? Our report is able to offer those insights.”
The report begins with a look at the slowing growth of streaming. While music streaming revenue was $17.5B in 2022 versus $15.7B in 2021, that only represents 11% growth. That percentage figure is down from 24%, 19% and 29% in prior years, per Trapital’s analysis of data from Luminate, MRC, Nielsen and the IFPI Global Music Report 2022.
Explains Runcie, “Streaming growth has started to slow down from a revenue perspective year over year, especially from the heights that we had seen in the pandemic. That has sparked a lot of industry discussions about how to split the pie like pushes to raise prices and increase the payouts to certain types of artists; reducing the noise and fraud. But I do think that the two big opportunities that the industry has to grow the overall pie is to look at the superfan and lean into generative AI.”
“I do think even alone on the streaming services, they have a lot of valuable data and understanding as to who the superfans are,” says Runcie. “And as well to all of the combinations of things that can be offered, whether it’s exclusive access to fans, community input … I think there are different ways to have different tiers to enable that.”
Acknowledging the intense discussions emanating over the use of generative AI, Runcie says the emerging technology represents another growth opportunity by increasing derivative work.
“Anytime in the history of recorded music, derivative work grows and that overall demand grows the pie,” he explains. “And it can do that because the underlying asset that a lot of popular derivative work comes from is work that the record labels already own. It’s what the rights holders already have. So being able to find the right attribution, being able to do it in a way that acknowledges both the safety and rights that the artists and the rights holders have, I think all of this is possible if you accept the fact that this isn’t necessarily a genie that’s going to go back in the bottle. It’s still very early, but no different than YouTube being able to figure out Content ID. The same can be possible for generative AI and allowing superfans to create making music, anything that enables that as that continues to grow, it only adds more value adds to the artists and the rights holders who have the valuable intellectual property.”
On the hip-hop front, the report notes the genre’s total global revenue rose slightly between 2021 ($2.72B) and 2022 ($2.78B). But its share of total revenue has dipped from 27.7% in 2021 to 26.8% in 2022. And while only three rap albums have hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2023 — Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape, Travis Scott’s Utopia and Drake’s For All the Dogs — hip-hop still reigns as the top genre. It accounts for 33% of all albums on the Billboard 200, more than twice pop and rock combined at 16% each.
However, in the report section titled “From URL to IRL” it points out the glaring fact that despite hip-hop and R&B’s popularity in terms of streaming and social media, pop and rock still command the live music front: 27% of concert revenue/33% of streaming revenue in the U.S. versus 11% of concert revenue/27% of streaming revenue for R&B/hip-hop according to Trapital’s analysis of stats from Pollstar and Luminate.
The report explains the disconnect is related to several factors. Among them: that hip-hop artists didn’t consistently begin touring on a global arena level until the 2000s; the hesitancy on the part of concert promoters to book rap acts owing to violence and safety concerns even though “rock acts often had worse violence issues”; younger fan bases; and the fact that many hip-hop and R&B acts “have clustered around larger festivals like Rolling Loud, the club circuit and other festival appearances” which are more economical than paying for expensive concert tickets.
“This is something I’ve been eager to dig into,” says Runcie. “And I’m glad we were able to do it with this report. When you transition from stream URL to in real life, hip-hop and R&B don’t necessarily dominate in the same way. Even though we’ve seen hip-hop and R&B artists that have done arena tours like Drake, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar and SZA, other hip-hop/R&B artists who’ve had very popular music haven’t quite gotten to that same point on the live music side.”
To that point, the report includes a breakdown of which artists can sell out a tour at each venue level. The list encompasses 30+ stadiums (Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd, Lady Gaga), 10K+ arenas (SZA, Lizzo, Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, Miley Cyrus), 5K+ amphitheatres (Lil Uzi Vert, Janelle Monae, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Baby, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie) and 2K+ ballrooms (Latto, Chloe Baily, Yeat, Denzel Curry, Glorilla).
Also of interest in The Trapital Report is a look at Latin music’s popularity, the largest DSPs and most valuable private companies, indie artist case stories, audience profiles, the most valuable songs streamed on Spotify and YouTube and the top 1% of artists in streaming. According to Runcie, the full reports features detailed analyses on streaming revenue, music genre trends, live entertainment, short-form video, chart analysis among other topics.
For more information, visit trapital.co/report
Ms. Lauryn Hill is pressing pause again on the 25th anniversary tour celebrating her Grammy-winning 1998 solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill due to ongoing vocal issues. After postponing the third U.S. date of the tour in Philly last week, Hill announced on Monday (Oct. 30) that she’s been ordered by doctors to rest […]
Music can take you to so many places, from the highest highs to the lowest lows and every stop in between. For Chance the Rapper, Ms. Lauryn Hill’s landmark The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill solo album is a reminder of his fondest memories of growing up listening to her with his mother, a time he recalled in a touching Instagram tribute on Monday (Oct. 30) after they took in a Hill show together at Chicago’s United Center on Saturday night.
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“In the 90s my mom owned Touches, an incredibly successful hair salon and barbershop on the South Side of Chicago,” Chance wrote alongside a snap of him and his mom at the gig. “She employed a lot black folks and got a lot of people started in the industry. Her business fostered relationships, built marriages and friendships and was a cornerstone of the community. There she met my father and eventually they got pregnant with me.”
Chance (born Chancelor Johnathan Bennett), 30, then described the difficult decision his mom faced about beginning a “new path of motherhood and family for herself” or continuing to pursue her art and business. “My mama chose me. She was at the top of her field, a black woman in her 20s with ownership and investment in her community, but she chose the difficult yet beautiful path to family,” he wrote. “My mom sold the salon and spent all her time raising me and teaching me so many of the things i love about myself. She taught me so much about love and faith and kindness and most importantly music.”
During that time, Chance said, the soundtrack of those lessons was provided by Hill, specifically the Miseducation tribute to the Fugees singer/rapper’s first-born son, Zion David Marley, “To Zion.” Chance remembers his mom singing him the lyrics:
“Unsure of what the balance heldI touched my belly overwhelmedBy what I had been chosen to performBut then an angel came one dayTold me to kneel down and prayFor unto me a man child would be bornWoe this crazy circumstanceI knew his life deserved a chanceBut everybody told me to be smart‘Look at your career,’ they said‘Lauryn, baby, use your head’But instead I chose to use my heart
Now the joy of my world is in Zion”
Chance concluded by thanking Hill and her Fugees bandmates, Wyclef Jean and Pras, and most importantly, his mother. The next date on the Hill/Fugees reunion tour, on Thursday (Nov. 2), IN Fort Worth, TX has been postponed due to Hill’s vocal issues.
Check out Chance’s tribute below.
Between a rare in-depth Jay-Z interview, a new Brent Faiyaz LP, and an announcement confirming new music from Megan Thee Stallion, the major players across R&B and hip-hop kept the scene busy the past week — but some left-of-center artists also had their own worthy contributions to the conversation. New Music Friday (Oct. 27) treated DSPs to a new tidal wave of bangers across hip-hop R&B to populate playlists ahead of Q4’s major holiday parties and celebrations.
With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from Destin Conrad and Masego’s blistering duet to Azealia Banks’ long-teased drill anthem. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.
Freshest Find: serpentwithfeet, Ty Dolla $ign & Yanga Yaya, “Damn Gloves”
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For the lead single for his forthcoming Grip LP, experimental R&B auteur serpentwithfeet dips his toe into house music influences with “Dam Gloves.” Assisted by frequent collaborator Ty Dolla $ign and South African artist Yanga YaYa, serpentwithfeet utilizes production reminiscent of Travis Scott and Beyoncé’s “Delresto (Echoes)” for a dark, sensual paean to slow-grinding and wining. “I don’t need no weed, I don’t need no liquor/ I just wanna keep grind-grindin’ on my n—a / Whatever’s on his leg, good God, it’s gettin’ thicker,” he teases.
Shordie Shordie feat. Baby B, “First Kiss”
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Taken from the back half of his melodic Murda Beatz-helmed Memory Lane 2 project, “First Kiss” finds Baltimore rapper Shordie Shordie linking up with rising R&B singer Baby B for a tender guitar-inflected ode to the dream of your first kiss also being your last. It’s a surprisingly warm and heartfelt duet that incorporated elements of A Boogie Wit da Hoodie and Juice WRLD’s sing-songy flow with Shordie’s intimate grasp of emotive hooks. “Do you remember your first kiss?/ Not the fake one, but the one with some purpose,” he questions.
Destin Conrad & Masego, “Super Paradise”
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Last week (Oct. 27), R&B crooner Destin Conrad dropped off Submissive, his third full-length project. The sensual set finds its closer in the Masego-assisted “Super Paradise,” a breezy, string-laden number that makes subtle nods to dembow as the pair trade verses about submitting to their lover out of desire, not desperation. It’s a very carnal affair.
Skylar Blatt feat. Lola Brooke, “F–k Fame, Pt. 2”
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In the lead-up to her forthcoming Dennis Daughter project, Brooklyn rapper Lola Brooke has put out her fair share of pop-leaning radio-ready singles to keep her name on the mind of both consumers and radio programmers post-“Don’t Play With It.” On this new collaboration with Cincinnati rapper Skylar Blatt, Lola doubles down on the menacing snarl that garnered her name recognition. The two female rappers trade punchline-packed bars about the frivolity of fame — a smart choice of topic given hip-hop’s currently tenuous relationship with the apex of the mainstream music scene. Lola effortlessly embodies the gruffness of Skylar’s chorus, resulting in the (unfortunately) rare collaboration in which both artists are genuinely informing the other’s approach to the song.
Masego feat. Wale & ENNY, “You Never Visit Me (Remix)”
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The original solo version of “You Never Visit Me” has been out for nearly a year, but that didn’t stop Masego from calling in some reinforcements for the song’s new remix. Featuring Wale and English rapper ENNY, the song’s remix opens up the breadth of perspectives regarding abandoned relationships. Wale joins Masego in wallowing over a lover walking out on him, but ENNY flips the song’s hazy, jazz-informed arrangement to soundtrack the snarky apathy she feels towards her former partner. “But, now I got you on a need to know bases/ If I keep it real/ I seen the truth and now I can’t face it,” she coos.
42 Dugg, “Go Again”
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For his first single post-prison release, Atlanta rapper 42 Dugg opts for a biting stream-of-consciousness flow that combines his natural knack for catchy hooks with a single gargantuan verse that finds him doubling down on his braggadocio in all areas of his life. “Catch you slippin’, I’m slidin’, tell me I’m good at rappin’/ Y’all good at hidin’, n—a, come out and get active/ My chopper shoot backwards (B–ch), my b–ches gets pampered / You probably didn’t have her, doggie, she callin’ me daddy,” he spits.
Azealia Banks, “Dilemma”
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In typical Azealia fashion, the controversial New York rapper has finally unveiled an official version of “Dilemma” after first teasing the song over four years ago. On the new track, the “212” rapper retreats from her trademark house and ballroom influences, and, instead, opts to dip her toe into another segment of New York’s music scene: drill. While a large number of drill rappers tend to favor animatedly gruff growls, Banks plays with the dynamics of her timbre to retain a sense of individuality. This is most clear in the song’s final chorus — which arrives after one breathless and impressive rap verse — where she whispers the lyrics with a priceless sense of brooding humor.
After releasing his new album, The Love Album: Off The Grid, last month, Diddy is upping the ante with his forthcoming film, Off The Grid. The first trailer for the film — powered by the sonics off The Love Album — dropped on Monday morning (Oct. 30) and features Diddy and budding actress Eva Apio in a romantic […]
Drake, Jennifer Lopez and Adam Lambert have joined the increasingly lengthy list of performers who’ve signed an open letter asking President Joe Biden and the U.S. Congress to push for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and the militant terror group Hamas. Last week the Artists4Ceasefire letter was sent to Biden and Congress urging […]
Flavor Flav is known for a lot of things: wearing that giant clock for the past 38 years, serving as Public Enemy rapper Chuck D’s colorful on-stage foil and an unencumbered enthusiasm that helped propel the group into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But on Sunday (Oct. 29), the Milwaukee Bucks gave Flav […]
Lizzo is honoring Tina Turner this Halloween. The pop-rap star took to social media over the weekend to share a pair of photos of herself dressed as the late rock n’ roll icon, who died earlier this year at the age of 83. “Honoring Tina Turner,” Lizzo captioned the images on Instagram, adding a red […]
Taylor Swift has collaborated with plenty of A-list acts over the years. But in a post on Friday morning (Oct. 27), the singer said that her it meant something extra-special to her that Kendrick Lamar hopped back in the booth to re-record his bars from the remix of Swift’s 1989 single “Bad Blood” for the deluxe edition of her latest Taylor’s Version series.
On the heels of Friday’s release of her fourth catalog revamp, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Taylor also dropped an expanded deluxe edition featuring the refreshed “Blood” remix. “Watching @kendricklamar create and record his verses on the ‘Bad Blood’ remix was one of the most inspiring experiences of my life,” Swift said in an Instagram caption featuring a snap of the dynamic duo in the studio, as well as live footage of Swifties shouting the chorus back to her from a stop on this summer’s Eras Tour and a photo of the deluxe edition cover.
“I still look back on this collaboration with so much pride and gratitude, for the ways Kendrick elevated the song and the way he treats everyone around him,” she added. “Every time the crowds on The Eras Tour would chant his line ‘you forgive, you forget, but you never let it… go!’, I smiled. The reality that Kendrick would go back in and re-record ‘Bad Blood’ so that I could reclaim and own this work I’m so proud of is surreal and bewildering to me.”
The spruced Lamar verse isn’t the only added value on the latest Taylor’s Version, which also features five bonus Vault tracks: “Slut!,” “Say Don’t Go,” “Now That We Don’t Talk,” “Suburban Legends” and “Is It Over Now?” A sixth previously unreleased song, “Sweeter Than Fiction,” is available on a Target-only version.
The 1989 re-record follows on the heels of previous Taylor’s Versions of Fearless, Red and Speak Now. Swift celebrated the latest Version with a poetic hand-written message to Swifties in which she wrote, “I was born in 1989, reinvented for the first time in 2014, and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the re-release of this album I love so dearly,” in a note in her the singer’s handwriting.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the magic you would sprinkle on my life for so long. This moment is a reflection of the woods we’ve wandered through and all this love between us still glowing in the darkest hour. I present to you, with gratitude and wild wonder, my version of 1989. It’s been waiting for you.”
Listen to the re-recorded “Bad Blood” remix and see Swift’s post about Lamar below.
