Music News

05 Aug 2024

Donald Trump Says Ye Is ‘Very Complicated’ But Has a ‘Good Heart’

From a 2018 visit at the Oval Office to a 2022 Mar-A-Lago dinner, Ye — formerly Kanye West — and Donald Trump have been linked quite a bit over the years.

With 92 days and counting until Election Day, Trump’s campaigning made a stop by Adin Ross’ Kick stream on Monday afternoon (Aug. 5) with a select group of Trump fans on hand and donning red MAGA hats.

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Ross and Trump engaged in a quick hits segment where 45 gave his unbridled opinion on a litany of political figures, pop-culture stars and more.

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One of the photos that popped up happened to be Kanye West, and DT didn’t know where to start with Yeezy, but decided to channel Avril Lavigne’s 2002 Grammy-nominated hit with his description of Ye.

“He’s a very complicated,” Trump said of West. “Let’s say complicated because he is. He’s a really nice guy, but he can get some people into trouble. And he can get some other people. He’s got a good heart — he does, he does, but he’s complicated.”

Fans were shocked to hear Trump speak about Ye, but some didn’t think he was far off in his surface level description.

“Trump is honestly dead on target with this,” one person wrote while another chimed in on X: “Every time Trump speaks about Kanye he gives nothing but love to him.”

Trump and West have been intertwined at times throughout the last decade. The former president sent his well-wishes to Kanye and Kim Kardashian after they tied the knot in 2014.

Ye had a fake Trump cast in the “Famous” video and later professed he would’ve voted for him in the 2016 election if he had voted.

Their relationship went to another level in 2018 when West pulled up to the White House in a red Make America Great Again hat, which he rocked a few weeks prior while performing on Saturday Night Live.

“It was something about when I put this hat on that made me feel like Superman. You made a Superman — that’s my favorite superhero — you made a Superman cape,” Ye told reporters at the Oval Office in 2018. “I think it’s the bravery that helps you beat this game called life. They tried to scare me into not wearing this hat — my own friends. This hat, it gives me power in a certain way.”

Ye went head-to-head with Donald Trump and Joe Biden in a failed bid to win the 2020 Presidential Election. The tenor of their friendship changed in 2022 when West pulled up to a Mar-A-Lago dinner at Trump’s club with his controversial political affiliate Nick Fuentes.

Per NBC, West criticized Trump for not covering the legal bills of those arrested during the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol and asked the former president to be his running mate in ’24.

Elsewhere in Trump’s interview with Adin Ross, he was gifted a free Cyber Truck and Rolex watch from the streamer, which Rolling Stone speculates could be a violation of FEC rules.

05 Aug 2024

Tove Lo Shares Brat Summer Selfie With Charli XCX, Lorde & Nelly Furtado

Charli XCX leaned fully into Brat summer over the weekend, when she celebrated her 32nd birthday on Saturday night (Aug. 3) with a star-studded bash in Los Angeles.

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Among the A-list attendees was Tove Lo, who took to Instagram to share a selfie on the dance floor with the birthday girl herself along with Nelly Furtado and Lorde, who recently worked it out on the remix with Charli for “The Girl, So Confusing Version With Lorde.”

“Yum,” Tove Lo captioned the photo along with an apple emoji, in reference to Charli’s hit off her recent album Brat, “Apple.”

According to reports, other attendees at the birthday party included Twisters star Glen Powell, as well as Anya Taylor-Joy, Rosalía, Addison Rae, the Haim sisters, Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams, Rachel Sennott, Finneas, Lukas Gage, Scout and Tallulah Willis, among many others.

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Billie Eilish also dropped by the party in Silverlake to dance and sing along to the pair’s just-released “Guess” remix, with Billie rocking an oversized baseball jersey, lime green bandana and red-tinged shades for the party, where one of the gifts included a beautifully Brat-propriate bouquet of Calla Lilies mixed with cigarettes from Rosalía.

Charli’s U.S. Brat tour is slated to kick off on Sept. 14 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

05 Aug 2024

Billy Ray Cyrus and Firerose Settle Their Divorce

Billy Ray Cyrus and Firerose (born Johanna Hodges) have settled their divorce, according to a statement from the country star’s lawyers posted on his Instagram Monday (Aug. 5).

The message from attorneys Rose Palermo and Jason Talley states that the settlement was reached on Friday (Aug. 2) and that the ex-couple was declared legally separated three days later. “Mr. Cyrus is relieved to put this nightmare behind him,” it reads. “Further, a couple of weeks ago, prior to mediation, Ms. Hodges legally changed her last name from ‘Hodges’ to ‘Cyrus.’ Mr Cyrus feels that this validates his assertion that his ex-wife’s sole impetus for marrying him was to obtain his last name.”

The post also included a statement directly from the “Achy Breaky Heart” singer. “I’m just very relieved,” he wrote. “This has been absolutely the most crazy insane scam I have ever heard of … Not only was it a web of lies that put me in physical danger … it was a matter of the heart. Love is blind … that’s for sure.”

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A source close to Firerose countered in a statement shared with Billboard: “If this went to trial, Firerose and her team would have provided a significant amount of evidence to prove he fabricated a narrative that would benefit his public image. There is no doubt she would have been awarded the divorce, but it was much more important to her that this continuous smear campaign end, and the emotional turmoil stop so she can close the door on this chapter and recover from her surgery peacefully.”

The source also said that the Australian singer chose to settle for $0, wanting to end her association with Cyrus once and for all. They added that Firerose filed for Cyrus’ last name shortly after they wed — not a couple of weeks ago, as the Hannah Montana star claimed.

Cyrus filed for divorce on May 22, citing “irreconcilable differences” and “inappropriate marital conduct” seven months after the couple married. In a follow-up filing on June 13, Cyrus requested an emergency motion accusing Firerose of making nearly $100,000 in unauthorized “fraudulent” credit card charges while seeking a temporary restraining order to stop her, accusations her attorneys labeled “untrue.”

After Cyrus’ divorce filing, Firerose accused him of domestic abuse, saying he was psychologically abusive during their marriage and calling the country star “unpredictable and volatile” due to alleged substance abuse. She also claimed that he filed for divorce one day before she was scheduled to have a preventative double mastectomy. In a statement shared with Billboard, Cyrus’ lawyers “vehemently” denied the allegations and said that while he was “certainly vocal, frustrated and angry … it is the plaintiff who, in fact, has been abused. Not only verbally and emotionally by the defendant, but PHYSICALLY.”

The source close to Firerose, however, claims that in a former marital dissolution agreement, Cyrus had included a clause asking her to say she was lying about having BRCA, a.k.a. the “breast cancer” gene. The source claims it was thrown out after Firerose provided her test results and medical records proving otherwise, adding that her surgery is set for later this month.

In July, a 90-second audio clip of Cyrus berating Firerose for apparently making him late to a function leaked online. “Of course, she was intentionally on her best behavior since she knew the recording was being made,” Cyrus’ attorneys responded to the leak in a statement shared with Billboard. “If Mr. Cyrus was truly the person that Ms. Hodges desires the court of public opinion to believe with the release of her one-sided recording, then it is mindboggling to try and explain why Ms. Hodges begged to return to live with him and for Mr. Cyrus to give her a chance to ‘explain everything’ after he filed to annul or dissolve their marriage.”

If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.

05 Aug 2024

Lil Wayne’s Hot Boys Handwritten Lyric Notebook Up for $5 Million Auction

Lil Wayne fans have the chance to add the ultimate artifact to their collection with Weezy’s 1999 notebook filled with handwritten lyrics heading to the auction desk.

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Moments in Time posted the auction earlier in August and is seeking $5 million for the notepad featuring lyrics from Wayne verses on Hot Boys tracks like “We On Fire” and “I Feel.”

Both tracks landed on Hot Boys’ sophomore album Guerrilla Warfare, which was released in July 1999. The project debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. “We On Fire” served as the album’s lead single and reached No. 5 on the Hot Rap Songs chart.

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The iconic notebook returns tot he auction block after a years-long legal battle when Wayne tried to claim ownership of the property in 2019. A Louisiana court ultimately sided with Moments in Time once Wayne reportedly didn’t respond to the lawsuit.

The artifact was initially listed for $250,000 in 2019 and defended upping the price tag to TMZ claiming “Lil Wayne is one of the greatest rappers ever, making his handwritten song notes incredibly valuable.”

A man reportedly discovered the notebook in a car that was once owned by Cash Money Records at a dealership where he worked, which led to the legal dispute over who the proper owner of the lyric pad was.

Some of the pages were reportedly destroyed by water damage. The person who found the notepad stored it in their garage, which was flooded by the storms of 2005’s devastating Hurricane Katrina.

Per legal docs on Moments in Time’s website, Judge Kern Reese declared the anonymous person in possession of the notebook to be the rightful owner of the property during a civil court ruling in February.

Visit Moment in Time to bid on Wayne’s notebook.

05 Aug 2024

Hailey Bieber Shows Off Her Baby Bump in Red Mini Dress While on a Date With Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber are ready to be parents!

The singer took to Instagram over the weekend (Aug. 3) to share a series of photos from a date night the couple had recently. In the snaps, in which they’re seen posing outside and in front of a big circular light, Hailey cradles her baby bump while rocking a bright red, draping mini-dress, which she paired with pointed, cream-colored kitten heels.

The “Love Yourself” singer and Rhode founder announced that they are expecting their first child together back in May, when they took to Instagram to share a series of photos and videos from a film shoot they did among a vast meadow, in which Hailey is seen wearing a skin-tight lace gown, cradling her growing baby bump as Justin snaps photos of her. In one of the clips, the couple also renewed their vows.

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The couple officially wed in September 2018 at a New York City courthouse. A year later, they flew down to the Montage Palmetto Bluff hotel in South Carolina with their friends and family for a more traditional wedding ceremony and star-studded party.

Last month, Hailey opened up about her pregnancy journey for a W Magazine cover story. “I probably could have hid it until the end, but I didn’t enjoy the stress of not being able to enjoy my pregnancy outwardly,” she explained of announcing her pregnancy at the six-month mark. “I felt like I was hiding this big secret, and it didn’t feel good. I wanted the freedom to go out and live my life.”

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She’s also been savoring time with Justin before the baby arrives. “In the beginning [of pregnancy], it was super emotional for me,” she recalled. “Like, ‘I love this human so much. How can I possibly bring someone else into this?’ I’m trying to soak in these days of it being Justin and me, just the two of us.”

05 Aug 2024

SZA Gushes Over Chappell Roan’s Lollapalooza Performance: ‘She Makes Me Wanna Keep Making New Music’

After SZA took the stage as the day two headliner of Lollapalooza over the weekend, the star took a moment on her Instagram Stories to spotlight another major performance of the Chicago festival — Chappell Roan’s.

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“She makes me wanna keep making new music n art forever,” SZA wrote over Chappell’s post, in which she’s seen taking the stage in a wrestler-inspired outfit, before belting the lyrics to “Femininomenon.” Throughout her set, the 26-year-old pop star performed more of her fan-favorite tracks, including “Naked in Manhattan” and “Red Wine Supernova,” as well as “Good Luck, Babe!” and “Hot To Go!.”

See SZA’s Instagram Stories here.

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Roan has skyrocketed to fame in the months since she dropped her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess last year. After a series of headline-making performances — including at Coachella and Gov Ball 2024 — the 14-track project earned a new peak of No. 5 on the Billboard 200 last month.

“It feels like I was right all along,” Roan recently told Jimmy Fallon of her musical rise during an appearance on his late-night talk show. “I feel kind of like, I made it already when people showed up to my concert a few years ago … everything else has been a cherry on top.”

05 Aug 2024

Stray Kids Try Not to Get Lost in the Sauce While Eating Intensely Spicy Korean BBQ: Watch

Stray Kids can bring the heat on stage — but can the band members handle it in their barbecue? In a new video posted by First We Feast Monday (Aug. 5), Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin and I.N find out.

To put their taste buds to the test, the eight K-pop idols met up with chef Esther Choi at a restaurant in New York City’s Koreatown to indulge in some BBQ. The boys started by declaring what levels of spice they can usually handle — Lee Know, they determined, has the highest tolerance while Bang Chan has the least — before diving into the spread, complete with a spicy sauce made by Choi. When they each tried her creation, most of the “Chk Chk Boom” musicians agreed it wasn’t too bad — until they realized that they’d spoken too soon, that is.

“Wait, the spice is hitting now,” said Han, coughing, while Bang Chan froze in shock.

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Felix then showed off his skills with “aegyo” — which colloquially means “acting cute,” as the video explains — by speaking in a cartoonish, high-pitched voice through a mouthful of food. “Oh my, it’s so spicy!” he said sweetly before succumbing to a brief coughing fit from the spice. “It went down the wrong pipe.”

The boys went on to share some of their pre-concert rituals and pick out food terms to describe their group — “spicy-sweet,” according to Seungmin — before I.N mischievously loaded a lettuce wrap with a lot of spicy sauce for the cameraman to eat as Felix filmed.

The video comes just a couple days after Stray Kids headlined Lollapalooza in Chicago, marking the band’s biggest festival performance to date. In July, the octet dropped ATE, earning its fifth consecutive No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Watch Stray Kids tackle spicy Korean BBQ above.

05 Aug 2024

Morgan Wallen Rocks Chiefs Jersey While Stepping Out With Travis Kelce & Patrick Mahomes at His Show

Morgan Wallen took over Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., on Friday (Aug. 2) as part of his One Night at a Time tour — and he had a special surprise guests at his side.

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In videos posted to social media, the “Last Night” singer was seen stepping out into the stadium with Kansas City Chiefs superstars Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones. In the video portrayed on the stadium’s big screen, the group dap each other up and walk together through the backstage corridor to the tune of “WHISKEY WHISKEY” by Moneybagg Yo, featuring Wallen. 

Wallen is seen rocking a Chiefs jersey of his own in the video, with his last name written on the back alongside the number seven, which also happened to be the country superstar’s own high school football jersey number.

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Later in the evening, a man was charged after threatening on social media to shoot “two individuals, who were members of the Kansas City Chiefs organization” and who were present at the event, according to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office in Missouri. The statement, which referred to the felony as a “terroristic threat,” was released Saturday by Michael Mansur, director of communication, on behalf of Jackson County’s prosecutor, Jean Peters Bak.

As a result, the show was delayed 40 minutes. In court documents, the defendant was quoted as saying, “It was a stupid, stupid, stupid mistake.” He claimed he had never made threats in the past on social media and stated again that “it was stupid.” His girlfriend told investigators that the alleged threat was posted, and then deleted, on a “burner” account where he’d “tweet stupid stuff.”

“The defendant was charged earlier today and a $15,000 bond was set. Prosecutors requested a $250,000 cash bond,” according to the prosecutor’s office.

05 Aug 2024

Fred Again.. Announces Fall North American Tour: Here Are the Dates

Fred Again.. is taking his show on the road across the U.S. and Canada this fall for the Places We’ve Never Been Tour.

As the name indicates, the run bring the London-based producer to markets he’s not yet played across North America, with stops in Denver, Salt Lake City, Seattle and locations throughout the Midwest, northeast and southern United States, as well as Toronto, Canada.

The tour launches Sept. 11 at the Ball Arena in Denver. Four stops on this tour — Denver, Seattle, Toronto and East Troy, Wisc. — will feature two nights of shows. General tickets go on sale Friday, Aug. 9, with a pre-sale happening on Aug. 8.

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On Instagram, the artist born Fred Gibson indicated that additional shows will be added to the tour, writing that “obviously this poster isn’t evvvvvery show! It’s jus every one that we’ve confirmed.”

The tour announcement comes after Fred Again..’s announcement last week that he’s got a new album, Ten Days, coming on Sept. 6. The project, Fred Again..’s fourth studio LP, will feature collaborations with Sampha, Skrillex and Four Tet, Jozzy, Joy Anonymous and Emmylou Harris and more, including his previously released Anderson .Paak collab “Places to Be.”

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“It’s ten songs about 10 days,” Gibson wrote on Instagram of the album. “There’s been a lot of biggg mad crazy moments in the last year but basically all of these are about really very small quiet intimate moments.”

The tour announcements follows a recent string of splashy Fred Again.. performances, including a headlining set at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in June, a headlining slot at Bonnaroo and a sold-out b2b performance with Skrillex at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza in early June.

See the Places We’ve Never Been Tour dates below:

Fred Again.. places we've never been tour

Fred Again.. places we’ve never been tour

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05 Aug 2024

Kehlani’s Ex Files for Full Custody of Their Daughter, Alleges Singer Is in a ‘Cult’

Kehlani’s ex-partner Javaughn Young-White has filed a petition to gain legal and physical custody of their 5-year-old daughter, Adeya, claiming the singer is in what he describes as a cult. He is also requesting child support.

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In the court documents, filed in Los Angeles on July 24 and obtained by Billboard, Young-White claims “everyone else has bigger say-so when it comes to upbringing of our daughter than I do.” He says that because Adeya, who arrived in March 2019, was “born in a home and not in a conventional setting like a hospital,” Young-White’s name is not on the birth certificate as her father. Additionally, he claims he requested a copy of both the child’s birth certificate and social security number, both to “no avail.” (In announcing the birth of Adeya, Kehlani shared via a since-deleted Instagram post that they welcomed their healthy baby girl via “unmedicated homebirth.”)

According to Young-White’s filing, Kehlani — whose full name is Kehlani Parrish — allegedly “has been involved in this cult for the past few years and it appears that this cult controls her actions and her behavior, including when it comes to the upbringing of our daughter.”

Per the documents, Young-White claims he has attempted to retrieve his daughter in the past, but was allegedly “physically restrained and threatened” by members of what he referred to as the cult. “While Respondent is on tour, and our daughter is in the care of her fellow cult members, Adeya sleeps in the bed with, and is given baths by random adult members of the cult and she is often in the bedroom alone with some of these people,” he alleges.

Young-White concluded by requesting that Kehlani takes a psychological exam, that his name be added to Adeya’s birth certificate and that Adeya’s name be changed officially from Adeya Parrish to Adeya Parrish Young-White. “I am also requesting that I have full custody of Adeya due to [Kehlani]’s busy schedule, her relationship with the cult that she is involved in,” the filing reads.

“I am not here to disparage [Kehlani]. However, the environment that she has created for her self is not the type of environment that a child should be living and therefore, I bring myself to the mercy and wisdom of the Court to save my daughter before it is too late,” he concluded in his filing.

Kehlani has not yet publicly responded to the allegations in Young-White’s petition for custody. Billboard has reached out to reps for both the singer and her former partner for comment.