State Champ Radio Hip-Hop
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The wait for City Girls’ new album is almost over, and this new snippet is sure to carry us through the home stretch. On Wednesday (Oct. 18), the “Act Up” rappers took to their official Instagram page to upload a video featuring a snippet of a new song. “Flashy Ft. @KimPetras FRIDAY 10/20 ?✨? #RAW,” […]
Dr. Luke and the estate of the late Juice WRLD are facing a copyright lawsuit that claims they unfairly cut out one of the co-writers of the rapper’s 2021 track “Not Enough.”
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The case, filed in California federal court Tuesday, claims that an artist named PD Beats (Pierre Orpheus DeJournette) is a credited co-writer of the song, but that Dr. Luke (Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald) and the estate of Juice WRLD (Jarad Anthony Higgins) have refused to treat him as co-owner of the copyright.
“Defendants have released, marketed, distributed, and monetized the subject song without accrediting or providing PD Beats his proportional share of the revenue,” his lawyers wrote in their complaint. “Defendants have failed to meaningfully respond, necessitating this action.”
DeJournette claims that he contributed “original guitar, performance, and production” to “Not Enough,” in addition to “writing the beats and programming the 808s” – a reference to the Roland TR-808 drum machine. Without the material he added, DeJournette says the song would be “missing key elements that form the basis of the subject song’s audience appeal.”
The lawsuit claims that DeJournette was listed as a co-writer in certain credits – although he doesn’t specify where – and that he and the other writers should “equally own the copyrights.” His lawsuit asks for a judicial declaration that he is indeed a co-owner, and a court-ordered accounting of the song’s revenue.
Reps for Dr. Luke and Juice WRLD’s estate did not immediately return requests for comment on Wednesday.
Juice WRLD, a pioneering voice in emo rap and SoundCloud rap, died of a drug overdose in December 2019 while onboard a private jet flying from Los Angeles to Chicago. Citing law enforcement sources, TMZ reported days later that the rapper swallowed a large number of pills to hide them from federal agents who were waiting for the plane to land.
Released on his posthumous 2021 album Fighting Demons, “Not Enough” spent a week at No. 80 on the Hot 100. The album itself was a bigger hit, spending 72 weeks on the Billboard 200 and peaking at No. 2.
Tuesday’s lawsuit named Juice WRLD’s mother, Carmella Wallace, as a defendant because she serves as the executor of his estate, as well as a company called Juice WRLD Music LLC. Other defendants included co-writers CB Mix (Chris Barnett) and KBeaZy (Keegan Christopher Bach); Universal Music Group, which released the song under its Interscope Records imprint; and Opus Music Group, which acquired a majority stake in Juice WRLD’s catalog in 2022.
Surely you weren’t expecting Eminem to get all soft and sentimental on his 51st birthday? Marshall Mathers, born on Oct. 17, 1972, celebrated his half century plus one with a classic Slim Shady-ish post on Tuesday in which he posed in a black t-shirt and matching pants in front of a black background with a […]
Between a rumors of joint album from Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign, several revelations from Jada Pinkett Smith’s memoir, and a surprise freestyle from Drake’s son, Adonis, the hip-hop world has been in a tizzy for the past week. In the midst of all of these cultural conversational touchstones, a bevy of hot new music also made its way to streaming platforms on Friday (Oct. 13).
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With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from Naomi Sharon’s smooth ode to unconditional love to Young Thug’s heartfelt response to Mariah the Scientist. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.
Freshest Find: Ken Carson feat. Destroy Lonely, “Paranoid”
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The umpteenth reunion of Playboi Cart’s two biggest signees was bound to produce a banger — and Ken Carson & Destroy Lonely do not disappoint. In a nod to the everlasting cultural impact of Barbie, Ken raps, “I f–k Barbie b–ches, yeah, yeah, all my hoes plastic/ All my hoes know how to act, all my hoes classy,” over a skittering trap beat crafted by F1LTHY, Lukrative & Lucian. Both rappers employ madcap flows that cover hip-hop’s most stories tropes (wealth, women, guns, etc.) with an air of wariness that plays into the concept of paranoia that guides the track.
Westside Gunn & Stove God Cooks, “House of Glory”
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And Then You Pray For Me may stand as Westside Gunn’s final studio effort, but the Griselda God left us with an incredibly consistent project. One of the record’s standouts is a RZA-produced collaboration with Stove God Cooks titled “House of Glory,” which finds the pair trading verses laden with biblical imagery over a soulful, almost drumless beat that pulls from a Tchaikovsky sample. “Seen Chanel five hundred dollar plates, she in the county/ She pulled up on Tiffany, shot out the Audi/ Another palm angel gained new wings/ Valentino down to my shoestrings,” he spits.
Jay Worthy, Kamaiyah & Harry Fraud feat. Ty Dolla $ign, “Pull Up”
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On this cut from Jay Worthy, Kamaiyah & Harry Fraud’s terrific The Am3rican Dream collaborative album, the trio calls upon Ty Dolla $ign to help inject some extra West Coast bounce and flair into the track’s soulful production. It’s a tribute to Black wealth as it relates to the concept of the American Dream through the lens of the contemporary entertainment industry. When Ty and Jay trade the “It go money, hoes, fancy s–t/ Let the ho choose up, don’t ask the b–ch” lines in the hook and pre-chorus, there’s a glint of irony in their delivery that takes the whole thing up several notches.
Naomi Sharon, “Regardless”
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As OVO’s First Lady continues to tease her forthcoming debut album, she delves even deeper into her Sade influences on this new acoustic track. “Regardless,” a straightforward track that finds Naomi yearning for truly unconditional love, balances her smooth, seductive timbre with sparkling, subdued keys for a track that understands the beauty of letting the music breathe.
Veeze, “Amusing”
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Over a subtly menacing K Money-helmed beat, Veeze delivers a verse-long stream-of-consciousness tirade in this new track from the deluxe version of his acclaimed Ganger album. He does a lot of typical street posturing on the track — “Doin’ deals neat, this the corner suite trap spot/ I done grew a lot, servin’ n—as I could slime out/ Do the drill on feet, take that boy ID, face shot/ All my n—as stand over shit, we don’t do drive-bys,” he raps — but it’s his laidback cadence that every so often bubbles over into a new level of assertiveness that makes “Amusing” such a dynamic and intriguing listen.
Hunxho feat. Dej Loaf, “Make Time”
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In this delectable slice of trap&B yearning, rising Atlanta rapper Hunxho and Dej Loaf trade verses about straightening up their ways and doing the work to prove to a potential significant other that they are both ready for a proper relationship. Murky trap drums and slurred flows add to the muddy kaleidoscope of emotions that both artists cycle through in the song. “I wish I could love myself/ Like I love you and nobody else,” Dej croons.
Young Thug, “From a Man”
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Over a surprisingly smooth beat courtesy of Turbo and London On Da Track, among other contributors, Thugger delivers a freestyle-evoking track that details his personal and romantic commitments to R&B singer-songwriter Mariah the Scientist, who released her own “From a Woman” track on Friday (Oct. 13) as well. It’s Young Thug’s first new song (as a lead artist) since he dropped off his Business Is Business album earlier this year. The rap great is still behind bars as he awaits the resolution of his RICO case, but “From a Man” proves that he’s still capable of being as prolific as ever.
Travis Scott was just three dates into his just-launched Utopia — Circus Maximum Tour when he postponed a date on the outing at the last minute. According to the News-Observer, Scott played a sold-out show at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C. on Friday night, but when fans arrived at the arena for what was […]
Drake‘s kid is making music. Adonis, the rapper’s 6-year-old son with artist Sophie Brussaux, has a song out now, titled “My Man Freestyle.”
“Happy birthday my son…MY MAN FREESTYLE OUT NOW,” Drake wrote on Instagram Sunday night (Oct. 15), a few days after Adonis’ Oct. 11 birthday. He shared a clip of the track and its cute music video.
“My Man Freestyle,” with Adonis credited as a writer with producer Lil Esso, starts with a chorus. “Don’t talk to my man like that/ I like it when you like it/ My, my, my, my man/ My, my, my, my man,” Adonis says.
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On the track, Adonis describes a day leading up to a game: “I was waiting for this moment to arrive/ I was driving in the car and I smash my car/ I was playing in on my iPad and I broke my iPad/ I’m going to my house, seeing my dad/ I am saying hi to my dad and I have to go change/ I’m playing basketball.”
The accompanying music video, below, shows Adonis on the court and giving a pep talk to friends.
“We just have to work harder. We have to shoot better. We have to play better. Get your energy up,” he says to applause.
Dad Drake — who currently has the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 — also makes an appearance toward the end of the clip.
Adonis recently co-starred in Drake’s “8AM in Charlotte” music video, which begins with a cute father-son conversation about Adonis’ artwork. When Drake asks his child how much he earned for his beautiful drawing, he laughs and says, “Oh please.” The visual for the For All the Dogs track was released in early October.
In September, Drake revealed that his son’s line-drawing of a red-eyed pooch would be the For All the Dogs cover art.
Check out Adonis’ “My Man Freestyle” below.
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Drake earns his 13th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Oct. 21), as his new studio effort For All the Dogs debuts atop the list. The set earned 402,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 12, according to Luminate. That marks the fourth-largest week of the year for an album, by units earned.
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For All the Dogs’ opening frame was almost entirely driven by the streaming activity of its 23 songs. In total, 97% of Dogs’ debut was owed to song streams — adding up to 514.01 million on-demand official streams of those songs in its first week. That results in the largest streaming week of 2023 for any album, and the fourth-largest ever. Strikingly, of the top five biggest streaming weeks four of them were generated by a Drake album.
For All the Dogs was released at 6 a.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 6 — slightly off-cycle, as most new albums are released at 12 a.m. ET every Friday. The album was first teased in June, and then on Sept. 6, he announced the album was due to be released on Sept. 22. By Sept. 15, he had pushed that release date back to Oct. 6.
Dogs is Drake’s fourth album in less than two years, and third since June of 2022. He released the collaborative Her Loss with 21 Savage in November of 2022, and the solo sets Honestly, Nevermind in June of 2022 and Certified Lover Boy in Sept. 2021.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Oct. 21, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Oct. 17). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of For All the Dogs’ 402,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Oct. 12, SEA units comprise 391,000 (equaling 514.01 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 23 songs), album sales comprise 10,000 (it was only available to purchase as a digital download album) and TEA units comprise a little over 1,000.
In terms of total on-demand official streams earned by the album’s songs in its first week, the 514.01 million figure marks the fourth-largest streaming week ever, and biggest of 2023. Here are the top five biggest streaming weeks for an album, by total on-demand streams earned by a set’s collected songs: Drake’s Scorpion (745.92 million in its debut, in 2018), Drake’s Certified Lover Boy (743.67 million in its debut, 2021), Taylor Swift’s Midnights (549.26 million in its debut, 2022), For All the Dogs (514.01 million) and Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss (513.56 million in its debut, 2022).
With a 13th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, Drake breaks out of a tie with Swift to solely have the third-most No. 1s on the chart. The Beatles continue to have a record 19 No. 1s, followed by Jay-Z with 14, Drake with 13, and Swift with 12. (Swift’s next album, the re-recorded 1989 [Taylor’s Version], is due to be released on Oct. 27. All 12 of Swift’s full-length studio albums and re-recorded projects from 2008’s Fearless through 2023’s Speak Now [Taylor’s Version] have debuted at No. 1.)
The Nos. 2 through 7 albums on the new Billboard 200 are all former No. 1s. Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time dips 1-2 with 72,000 equivalent album units earned (down 3%), Rod Wave’s Nostalgia falls 2-3 (59,000; down 16%), Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts descends 3-4 (nearly 59,000; down 12%), Zach Bryan’s self-titled album is a non-mover at No. 5 (53,000; down 9%), SZA’s SOS is stationary at No. 6 (50,000; down 4%), Swift’s Midnights climbs 8-7 (42,000; down 2%) an Travis Scott’s Utopia dips 7-8 (40,000; down 12%).
Noah Kahan’s Stick Season is back in the top 10 for the first time since June, as it climbs 13-9 with 39,000 equivalent album units (up 26%). The set benefits from activity generated by a recently released remix of the album’s “She Calls Me Back” with Kacey Musgraves. Kahan also additionally gained exposure thanks to Rodrigo’s recent cover of the album’s title track on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge.
Rounding out the new top 10 of the Billboard 200 is Swift’s former No. 1 Lover, which rises 11-10 with nearly 39,000 equivalent album units earned (down 4%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
Kanye West and his team are working to produce a concert in Italy to promote the rapper’s upcoming collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign, Billboard has learned. West, who now goes by Ye, is scheduled to perform the new album alongside Ty Dolla $ign at an undisclosed location in Italy on Oct. 27, with tickets […]
Taylor Swift made a surprise visit to Studio 8H for the season 49 premiere of Saturday Night Live. The pop superstar popped in on Oct. 14 to help introduce musical guest Ice Spice shortly before another surprise cameo by the singer’s rumored boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. “Once again, Ice Spice,” Swift announced before […]
This year will end as it began, with an all-star Grammy salute to hip-hop. On Sunday, Dec. 10, CBS will air the live, two-hour concert special A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip Hop. An extended “50 Years of 50-Hop” segment was one of the highlights of the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 5. That kicked off a year of hip-hop celebrations that has underscored the importance and dominance of the genre.
The lineup includes Black Thought, LL Cool J and Queen Latifah, all of whom were also part of the Grammy telecast salute, as well as Bun B, Common, De La Soul, Jermaine Dupri, J.J. Fad, Talib Kweli, The Lady of Rage, MC Sha-Rock, Monie Love, The Pharcyde, Questlove, Rakim, Remy Ma, Uncle Luke and Yo-Yo. More performers will be announced in the coming weeks.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson of Two One Five Entertainment and LL Cool J will also serve as executive producers of the special, which tapes Nov. 8 at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles. The show was originally set to tape on Aug. 11, which was the 50th anniversary (to the day!) of a back-to-school party in The Bronx that many point to as the beginning of hip-hop culture.
A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip Hop is produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment. Collins, Shawn Gee, Dionne Harmon, Claudine Joseph, Fatima Robinson and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay also serve as executive producers. Marcello Gamma serves as director.
Questlove curated the 15-minute spot on the Grammy telecast, which featured three dozen rap acts. Collins, Robinson and Gee (Questlove’s manager and president of LNU) were also among the producers of that segment.
The segment drew universal praise. Billboard’s Joe Lynch pegged it as the best performance on the 2023 Grammys telecast. “While it’s an impossible task to sum up 50 years of any genre (much less one that fought for decades to get a modicum of mainstream respect and eventually became the dominant genre in American music), this electrifying medley brought to vivid life the charged personalities, thumping grooves, deft deliveries and unpredictable flourishes that make hip-hop a global force.”
While many will assume that the success of the spot on the Grammy telecast led CBS to hurry a special into production, the special was in the works before anyone knew there would be a segment on the telecast, according to a source.
Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, hinted at the upcoming special in a statement announcing the telecast segment. “For five decades, Hip Hop has not only been a defining force in music, but a major influence on our culture,” he said. “Its contributions to art, fashion, sport, politics, and society cannot be overstated. I’m so proud that we are honoring it in such a spectacular way on the Grammy stage. It is just the beginning of our year-long celebration of this essential genre of music.”
The Grammys have not always been hip-hop supporters. The awards show didn’t have a dedicated category for rap or hip-hop until the 1988 awards, which were presented Feb. 22, 1989. D.J. Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s genial pop hit “Parents Just Don’t Understand” was the first hip-hop recording to win a Grammy (best rap performance). But they weren’t invited to perform on the show that year.
A year later, on Feb. 21, 1990, the duo became the first hip-hop act to perform on the Grammys. “We’d like to dedicate this performance to all the rappers last year that stood with us and helped us to earn the right to be on this stage tonight,” Will Smith said before he and D.J. Jazzy Jeff launched into “I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson.”
CBS, which has broadcast the Grammy telecast since 1973, aired another Grammy-branded special – A Grammy Salute to The Beach Boys – on April 9. That special was taped on Feb. 8 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip Hop airs Dec. 10 from 8:30-10:30 p.m. ET/8-10 p.m. PT on CBS. It streams on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the special airs).
