State Champ Radio Music News
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From a local surprise guest to the performance of her new viral hit, these were Hot Girl Meg’s unforgettable moments.
Beloved former President Jimmy Carter will be feted at a 100th birthday party next month in Atlanta by an all-star group of musicians and celebrities at a music gala entitled “Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song.” The Sept. 17 event at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta will come ahead of the ailing former command-in-chief’s […]
Genesis Owusu, Cub Sport and Jem Cassar-Daley were in the winner’s circle at the 2024 AIR Awards, the annual celebration of Australia’s independent music sector.
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As he has done so often in recent years, Owusu collected silverware, this time nabbing best independent hip-hop album or EP for STRUGGLER, his sophomore LP which cracked the ARIA top 10 in 2023.
On this occasion, his support network shared in the glory. Ourness, The Annex and AWAL snagged the AIR Award for independent marketing team of the year, and Andrew Klippel’s Ourness won the coveted independent label of the year.
Last year, STRUGGLER scooped a hattrick at the 2023 ARIA Awards, continuing a brilliant run of form for the Canberra-raised artist whose expanding collection includes the J Award for Australian album of the year, the Australian Music Prize, an APRA Award, and first prize in the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition.
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Also at the 2024 AIR Awards, held Thursday, Aug. 1 at the Queens Theatre Adelaide, Brisbane electronic pop outfit Cub Sport were double winners, scooping best independent dance or electronica album or EP for their ARIA No. 1 album Jesus At The Gay Bar, and independent music video of the year for “Keep Me Safe” (Adam Munnings).
Other key winners on the night included Royel Otis (breakthrough independent artist of the year), RVG (independent album of the year for Brain Worms) and Jem Cassar-Daley (independent song of the year for “King of Disappointment”).
Now in its 18th year, the AIR Awards are a celebration of the best and brightest from Australia’s independent music community, and are organized by the Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR).
This year’s edition ushered in two new categories, recognizing best independent music video and best independent producer, and welcomed an international development. AIR used the platform of the ceremony to confirm a further two years’ funding to hold its Awards and Indie-Con Australia conference in Adelaide, and announced that the trade body will exclusively host A2IM’s Australian Edition of Indie-Week conference in conjunction with its events from 2025.
The South Australian Music Development Office is major sponsor for the annual AIR awards.
Kelly Clarkson recently performed fellow American Idol champion (and newly announced judge) Carrie Underwood’s hit “Blown Away” during the Kellyoke segment of The Kelly Clarkson Show.
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The July 25 performance was praised by fans of both Clarkson and Underwood across social media, with one viewer commenting, “Kelly Clarkson nailed it! Her voice is incredible, and she did Carrie proud!”
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Another added, “We need a full-length album collab with Kelly and Carrie.”
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The performance was timely, as it came just ahead of the Aug. 1 announcement that Carrie Underwood will join American Idol as a judge, replacing Katy Perry and making her the first American Idol alum to take on the major role.
“Carrie Underwood is the first American Idol alum ever to join the judging panel. Her global superstar status as the most successful Idol winner to date makes her a perfect fit for the show,” said Megan Wolflick, Idol showrunner and executive producer in a statement.
“She embodies the true spirit of Idol as she herself is the definition of the Cinderella story. Our future hopefuls will have the chance to receive advice from someone who has walked in their exact footsteps every step of the way Carrie has always been a strong supporter of Idol, and I’m thrilled for her to be reunited with our Idol Family.”
Underwood, who won the fourth season of American Idol in 2005, has since released nine studio albums and collected a slew of accolades, including eight Grammy Awards. She boasts an impressive 16 No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, which includes the Clarkson-covered “Blown Away” that marked Underwood’s 13th No. 1 single on the chart.
Her involvement with the show has also remained strong over the years; she has returned as a mentor in past seasons, offering guidance to contestants as they navigate the competition.
Underwood is set to join fellow judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan for American Idol’s 23rd overall season, which will air on ABC and Hulu in spring 2025. Auditions for the upcoming season are set to kick off on Aug. 12 with the return of Idol Across America, the talent search that will take place in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Katy Perry, who announced her departure from the show earlier this year, served as a judge alongside Richie and Bryan for seven seasons since the show moved to ABC in 2018.
In addition to her new role on American Idol, Underwood is extending her Las Vegas residency through 2025 and recently revealed a collaboration with Papa Roach on their song “Leave a Light On (Talk Away the Dark).”
She also performed in Nashville earlier this week at a tribute concert honoring the late country singer-songwriter Toby Keith.
Billboard recently ranked Underwood as the No. 2 best American Idol alum of all time, just behind Kelly Clarkson, who holds the top spot.
Before the show continues, it’s time for an Intermission. Maren Morris unveiled her new five-track EP on Friday (August 2). The project features the previously released “I Hope I Never Fall in Love” and her Julia Michaels collaboration, “Cut!,” as well as new tracks “Push Me Over,” “Because, Of Course,” and “This is How a […]
From her style to her crowd size, here are the most unforgettable details of the Lolla main stage debut.
Beefs, new albums and comebacks, it was another busy week in the hip-hop and R&B world of music. Billboard Unfiltered rises to the occasion to return with a brand new episode recapping all of the happenings on Thursday (Aug. 1).
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Billboard co-hosts Carl Lamarre, Trevor Anderson and Damien Scott debated a myriad of topics including Ice Spice’s Y2K! debut LP, hip-hop media beefs and Will Smith’s return to the music scene nearly two decades after his Lost And Found album in 2005.
Senior Charts & Data Analyst Trevor Anderson expects Ice’s Y2K! to debut outside the Billboard 200’s top 10, but could crack the top 20 with a late surge.
“Ultimately goes down to one of those albums where the EP, the tapes, the singles beforehand are gonna be the thing we remember more than the actual debut album,” Anderson adds. “For whatever reason, when that word album comes on it — I don’t know if it’s the pressure that ramps up or whatever — but it feels ehhh.”
He continues: “If you think Ice Spice is gonna jump out and switch onto lyricism in a way that’s gonna be a lot more introspective or more than what it is, it’s not gonna be for you.”
For Deputy Director of Hip-Hop/R&B Carl Lamarre, he sees Ice Spice as more of a singles artist going forward rather than putting together cohesive bodies of work.
“When I think of Ice Spice, I just think of her as a singles artist. An artist that thrives off making singles, an artist that could thrive off her features. I don’t think it’s somebody that could put together a cohesive body of work. Something that’s gonna be mind-blowing from a body project standpoint.”
It’s not only the rappers that are beefing, as media personalities Elliott Wilson and Charlamagne Tha God are entrenched in a feud that boiled over this week. The spat seemed to be sparked by Charlamagne taking issue with Elliott’s position at No. 5 on the Complex Hip-Hop Media Power Rankings.
Deputy Director, Editorial Damien Scott found the beef to be “corny” and thinks they should set the right example for the next generation and settle it off the internet.
“I find this whole thing very corny,” Scott says. “This feels very clearly one person had a problem with another person and used this as an opportunity to get some grievances off their chest and it derailed from there. I think it’s a bad look for the industry.
Scott adds: “I think we need to be better at how we represent the industry and the forum and ourselves. That that s–t offline. Go grab a drink or a coffee and talk it out. Why are we acting like rappers?”
Will Smith is gearing up for possibly his first album since 2005. He returned last week with another single alongside his son Jaden and rapper Russ for the introspective “Work of Art.” The Unfiltered trio have forgiven Smith for his infamous Oscars slap of Chris Rock and seem to be in favor of a return to rapping for the superstar.
Damien Scott hypothesizes that Smith turned back to the hip-hop community for acceptance after his recent Hollywood projects stalled or were put on hold following the 2022 Oscars slap heard ’round the world.
“My guess is because we’ve seen this happen to Black celebrities before is that he realized certain people weren’t f—ing with him anymore, and he was like, ‘You know who’s gonna f–k with me? My people,’” Scott speculates. “And he went and did this press run for Bad Boys 4 that was like podcasts and shows you would never think Will Smith would do.”
Watch the full episode below and look for another episode of Billboard Unfiltered next week.
LL Cool J is causing a stir on Rap Twitter once again.
He was recently in the news for saying he wants to hear Andre 3000 rap instead of playing the flute. Now, during a recent appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay, he was asked to name his Mount Rushmore of Def Jam artists.
Shannon Sharpe rattled off a list of names that included Jay-Z, Kanye, LL, Rihanna, DMX, Ludacris, and Nas before teasing the legendary rapper about trying to avoid the question. However, LL pushed back and asked why Shannon didn’t mention Public Enemy. “It’s LL, it’s Public Enemy, it’s the Beastie Boys and it would have to be Slick Rick,” he retorted. “Because it’s Def Jam.” Shannon then asked, “Was Hov not at Def Jam?” to which LL answered, “Yeah, a thousand years later.” (It’s worth pointing out that the Queens rapper has had a long standing on again, off again cold war with Jay-Z.)
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LL defended his choices by saying those were the acts that helped shape the influential rap label into the brand it is today. He also rightfully acknowledged that his answer would be dissected and debated on social media.
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In the same clip, they talk about why he got offended by Canibus asking him to borrow the microphone that’s tatted on his right arm on his original verse from LL’s 1997 single “4,3,2,1.” When asked why he didn’t take it as a compliment, LL answered, “Not at that time. I was an egomaniac.”
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LL famously made Canibus use another verse on the album version, but still sent shots at the young rapper on the same song. They then traded diss tracks. Canibus answered LL’s “4,3,2,1” verse with “Second Round K.O.” and LL returned serve with “The Ripper Strikes Back” effectively ending the battle.
While Rick Rubin had already released an EP of his punk band Hose, LL’s song “I Need a Beat” was the first official release on Def Jam that had a catalog number and the label’s now famous logo. His debut album Radio was released a year later in 1985 with the unique distinction of being the iconic label’s first full-length release.
PinkPantheress has canceled all of her tour dates for the rest of 2024. The British pop star announced her plans to pull out of upcoming festivals and opening tour slots for Olivia Rodrigo and Coldplay on Thursday (Aug. 1).
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PinkPantheress made the news official in a personal statement posted to her Instagram Story, where she revealed that it was time to “focus” on her “physical health” as she’s “hit a wall.”
“It is with the heaviest heart that sadly have to announce that i will not be able to continue with the rest of my live shows this year in order to focus on my physical health and overall wellbeing,” she wrote. “It appears i have reached a wall which i am struggling to penetrate through. this will include my GUTS tour, Field Day, Summer Sonic, FORM, III Points, and Australia/NZ appearances.”
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The “Turn It Up” singer thanked her team and Olivia Rodrigo for giving her a chance to do what she loved on a nightly basis. “I would like to thank all of you, as well as my touring team and Olivia for giving me the platform to perform some super fun shows. I’m sad to disappoint anyone and can only hope we will be in each other’s company once i return to health,” she concluded.
Due to Personal Reasons:Pinkpantheress will no longer be able to finish the upcoming dates she has with Olivia Rodrigo for the “Guts World Tour” + Any of her upcoming tours/shows of the year.We’re sending hugs and kisses her way and hope everything is okay! pic.twitter.com/aMDBLrKVVj— Capable of Love Tour Updates 🕊️ (@COLTourUpdates) August 1, 2024
PinkPantheress had been opening for Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour since the second North American leg kicked off on July 19. Fans hoping to see her in San Francisco this weekend on the trek are out of luck.
The 23-year-old was slated to perform at III Points festival in Miami and on Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour running through Australia/New Zealand into November.
It’s been a very hectic year for PinkPantheress from a touring standpoint as she headlined her own Capable of Love Tour, which started in Europe before returning stateside to wrap up in April.
More recently, PinkPantheress performed at the MLS All-Star Concert in Columbus, Ohio, earlier in July, where she went viral for gifting a fan her Coach bag.
“I was lucky enough to perform in a location I’ve never done a show at, in Columbus, Ohio, so meeting some longtime fans was the best feeling ever,” PinkPantheress told Billboard of the heartwarming exchange. “One of them handed me a custom made Funko Pop so of course I had to give them my Coach bag in exchange for their hard work!”
The “Boys a Liar, Pt. 2” singer’s Heaven Knows debut album arrived in 2023 and went on to reach No. 61 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200.
Jack Harlow figured he’d have a smooth transition from rapper to actor, but his Hollywood career got off to a rockier start than he anticipated. Harlow reflected on his role in the 2023 White Men Can’t Jump reboot in a candid interview with Variety on Thursday (Aug. 1) and the “First Class” rhymer didn’t hold […]
