Music News

13 Feb 2024

Here’s Why Fans Think Beyoncé & Lady Gaga Have a ‘Telephone’ Sequel on the Way

Are Beyoncé and Lady Gaga reuniting? Fans seem to think so.

During the Super Bowl festivities on Sunday (Feb. 11), Beyoncé formally ended long-rumored speculation about the second act of her Renaissance trilogy by posting a teaser labeled “act ii” on Instagram, adding the project’s release date: March 29. She also released two songs, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.”

In the teaser, Bey is seen driving a taxi through a barren landscape. Fans seems to have connected the taxi and the landscape to the music video for Beyoncé and Gaga’s 2010 collaboration, “Telephone,” in which Bey bails Gaga out of prison and the duo drive around in a red-and-yellow truck called the “p—- wagon.” The music video ends with the words “To Be Continued,” even though that never ended up happening.

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Fans think that the story is continuing now, 15 years later, connecting the taxi in Bey’s teaser to the music video. Bey and Gaga have yet to confirm any future collaboration, so the theories are just speculation at this point.

The still-untitled Act II is the follow-up to Renaissance. That album, Beyoncé’s seventh solo studio effort, debut atop the Billboard 200, spawned a pair of Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits — “Break My Soul” (No. 1) and “Cuff It” (No. 6) — and soundtracked the historic Renaissance World Tour, which grossed over $579 million.

Between the references to her home state of Texas and the country sound of the new music snippet, it looks like fans were onto something with their theory that Beyoncé’s next LP will find her delving into country music.

13 Feb 2024

Rhymefest’s Soulful Comeback: The Chicago MC Unpacks His Bold New Project & Why Veterans ‘Gotta Keep Rapping’

Instead of making a straightforward comeback for his first project in over a decade, Rhymefest challenged himself — and aimed to transcend the boundaries of conventional hip-hop. The Chicago native turned an iconic conversation between James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni, two of America’s greatest writers and activists, into a full-length musical composition that offers a poignant commentary on the state of the world today.

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James & Nikki: A Conversation became a reality through social media: the Grammy-winning rapper was scrolling one day and found himself intrigued by clips of the 1971 conversation between Baldwin and Giovanni for the program Soul!. In their discussion, the creatives explored what it meant to be Black in America, from the lens of both a man and woman, during a time of political, social and racial upheaval.

They addressed issues such as morality, freedom and justice, while giving listeners an honest look at how the United States operated back then. As the way that people discuss these issues and process information has evolved over the past 53 years, Rhymefest felt compelled to find a way to make the conversation accessible to a modern-day audience.

“How many people actually went to look at that interview to see what they were really talking about,” Rhymefest tells Billboard. “Baldwin was channeling the heterosexual masculinity, and Nikki Giovanni was channeling the femininity of one in a relationship with a man like that. When I saw that clip, bro, I had to dig deeper and see what was happening.”

He continues, “I saw teacher and student, man and woman, poets freestyling. I saw somebody who lived in Paris and may not have understood what was happening in the 1970s from where he came from. I saw the future that was coming through in the Black Panther movement. It was just so layered.”

Before long, Rhymefest figured out that turning Baldwin and Giovanni’s conversation into a musical project was the way to go, and re-imagined the dialogue as a lyrical exchange, infusing their words with new life and relevance in today’s sociopolitical climate. Rhymefest took various audio clips from the conversation and blended them with his rhymes and an eclectic array of production.

Perhaps most importantly, though, Rhymefest enlisted several under-the-radar female rappers — including Helixx C. Armageddon, Teefa, Frayne Vibez, Brittney Carter, Rell Suma and Abstract Mindstate — to channel Giovanni’s spirit, while also pushing him to level up his raps. The result is a sonic landscape that serves as a platform for timeless wisdom to resonate with a new generation.

Rhymefest spoke with Billboard about this special project, including its creation, getting Giovanni’s blessing, understanding today’s racial and social climate, and linking up with the Golden State Warriors entertainment division to release it.

After listening to James & Nikki: A Conversation, it feels like you’re speaking directly to the Black community. What do you think is going on with our community that made you feel this was the right moment to release this project?

I think what we call Black identity has been hyperbolically made extreme through technology, myths, and disinformation. I think that when people ask me if Dr. Umar is Martin Luther King or Malcolm X, I’m like, “You don’t understand the organizing power of Dr. King and Malcolm X. You looking at the Internet.” Come on, bro. Like when people are not talking about Tamika Mallory in a way that understands that she is the today’s version of Martin Luther King. She is today’s version of Fannie Lou Hamer. I think that the identity of Black was given to us because we weren’t Black, bro.

Baldwin speaks a lot about this, how white is an identity that Europeans gave themselves. After they did that, they gave us Black identity, and we’re trying to fight from under a system of injustice from a label that was given to us in injustice. I’m not caught up in Black, I’m caught up in values, bro.

This project is so important to you that you refer to it as more than an album — as a composition. Why is that?

The reason I do that is when you go to the orchestra, the conductor isn’t saying, “Yo, check out my new joint. I’m dropping my new album.” They call their work compositions, and guess what, those compositions last for 100 years. I think what we’ve done with our culture of hip-hop is we made it so cheap, so accessible. These ain’t songs or an album, bro. These are pieces and a composition. This project is speaking to the Black community of understanding and the black community that is ready to pivot into a majority instead of embracing the title of minority. This is more than an album.

I’m sure you met with Nikki Giovanni and let her know what you were trying to achieve with this composition. What was that conversation like?

Dr. Giovanni heard the original demo, which had different songs but the same audio clips from their conversation, and she was amazed. She said, “I only wish Jimmy was here. Jimmy would love this.” I couldn’t believe she was calling James Baldwin [who died in 1987] Jimmy, and I was hearing it from her. For me, that was like Kanye West talking to Stevie Wonder, or Mark Ronson talking to Quincy Jones. Here I am today doing my art, but I’m speaking to the person who cleared the brush and laid the road. I was able to make this project and be able to thank her, but not only thank her. This project is an example of giving flowers.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=y4OPYp4s0tc&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

Many consider James Baldwin a forefather of hip-hop because of the way he used his words over different musical sounds, as he did with his 1987 album A Lover’s Question. What does it mean for you to be a rapper, hearing that he would’ve loved this composition?
 
That boy was cold, bro. There are things here in this project, because we intertwined Jimmy and Nikki, where I gotta go back and listen to what Jimmy is saying because he was so prophetic. He says, “No tyrant in history could read, but they all burn the books.” You see what’s happening in Florida, you see what’s happening around the country. James says things like, “Baby, it takes a long time to learn a little bit,” and that makes me think about my life and how long it’s taken me to learn a little bit, how long it’s taken me into my forties to not be selfish.
 
You worked with several female rappers on the album, who were dishing out some heavy bars. Who gave you a run for your money?
 
All of them [laughs]. There were times where I was stuck like on the song “Triggered.” Like I got to a point in a project where I couldn’t think of nothing, I was just at a block and I was stuck, man. It had to be finished. Helixx C. Armageddon came with the first verse and it was such a muse, and inspired me so much, and rebooted the whole project. A lot of the songs I would come with the vision and the way these women just rhymed, bro, it frightened me at times, and I’m talking for real. I ain’t had nothing out in decades, and I was like, yo, I can’t just be sitting up on my project getting burned. In a way, a lot of these women really rebooted my rap career and made me have to go hard like they did. We’re in a time right now in hip-hop where women are in the lead.
 
How does the ongoing dialogue that rappers in their 40s and 50s have nothing to rap about make you feel?
 
It disappoints me when I hear artists say, “Man, when you get a certain age, you don’t be rapping no more.” Then you have the young kids that stop all of that. It takes the wisdom of the elders and young people’s energy, and we don’t keep giving them these lived experiences through language. So we, as the modern-day prophets and ministers, this is a ministry, James & Nikki ain’t no album. It’s part of a ministry. We gotta keep rapping and keep giving them our lived experiences through an educational language that they understand.
 
You worked with the Golden State Warriors’ entertainment division to release James & Nikki: A Conversation. How did that come together?
 
You look at these record labels, and they destroyed others. There’s no way you could put out some of the negative energy a lot of these major record labels put out and the energy not return in a way that breaks your whole s–t up. Because of that I was never going to sign to another company again. I was never gonna get with a record label, because I was making music for therapy. I wasn’t putting anything out, and people were mad at me. I had producers stop talking to me because they felt I was wasting their time. I have a whole project with Black Thought that didn’t come out.
 
When my man David Kelly, head attorney for the Golden State Warriors, said, “Look, we’re going to start an entertainment company, Rhymefest. We want you. What’s up? What you got?” I said, “No, bro, I ain’t signing on no labels, man. You crazy.” He said, “Let me ask you a question. What would success look like for you if you put out a project?”
 
I’ve never been asked that question. Success has already been determined by many companies from how many streams you got, how much product and merch did you sell, how many numbers you got. David Kelly asked me what success looks like to me for a project. I said it looks like an impact was made. Can we make an impact in the community? Can we get the NAACP Image Award? Can our community receive this and love us, and can we do something from our community that’s for all communities?” And he said, “Oh, I like that vision of success.” That ultimately sealed the deal.

What do you ultimately want your listeners to take away from James & Nikki: A Conversation?
 
One of the biggest compliments I got on this project was from a young man who said, “Hey, man, this project is the conversation I wish my father would have had with me before he died.” So what I would like people to take away is that this project is the duality of humanity.  The moral of the story is that life is brief, and enjoy it with James and Nikki in the background talking about our relationships.
 
This is an experience, and I encourage everybody to take the journey with us. The people who James & Nikki is meant for know who they are, go get it and check it out. Jesus had a word when he said, “I ain’t looking for the perfect. I’m just looking for the willing.” For all those who are willing to grow with this experience, this won’t be the last. This is the first in a series and I’m only doing conceptual projects right now.
 
You also completed a fellowship at the University of Chicago for the fall 2023 semester. What was that like?
 
Hip-hop is entering another state right now. The one thing that we didn’t have in academia that we’re starting to see now when you see people like [Bun] B teach humanities courses at Rice, or hip-hop courses being taught at MIT. We’re not battling with rhymes no more. We all come at it with intellect and say, “You at MIT? I’m gonna go and get this political fellowship at the University in Chicago.” One of the things I’m proud of is that it wasn’t just like I’m teaching hip hop, like, you know what I mean? I’m teaching the intersectionality of politics and culture, because I ran for office. I’ll also be running for the school board in Chicago this year, so we’re doing it.

13 Feb 2024

Toby Keith Makes History as First Artist With 9 of the Top 10 on Country Digital Song Sales Chart

Singer-songwriter and country icon Toby Keith, who passed away Feb. 5 at age 62 after a battle with stomach cancer, makes Billboard chart history as the first artist to claim nine spots in the top 10 of the Country Digital Song Sales survey (dated Feb. 17).

Keith passes the seven top 10s on the chart logged by Kenny Rogers (April 4, 2020, following his death) and Taylor Swift (Nov. 13, 2010, thanks to the arrival of her album Speak Now).

Keith’s 2018 track “Don’t Let the Old Man In,” which he performed Sept. 28, 2023, at the People’s Choice Country Awards, returns at No. 1 on Country Digital Song Sales with 27,000 sold (up 3,744%) Feb. 2-8, according to Luminate. The song first topped the chart (which began in 2010) last October, becoming his second No. 1. “Red Solo Cup,” one of Keith’s signature feel-good anthems, dominated for 14 frames beginning in November 2011.

Here’s a rundown of all nine of Keith’s top 10s on the latest Country Digital Song Sales chart.

  • No. 1, “Don’t Let the Old Man In” (27,000 sold, up 3,744%)
  • No. 3, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” (11,000, up 6,298%)
  • No. 4, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” (11,000, up 8,240%)
  • No. 5, “How Do You Like Me Now?!” (7,000, up 6,791%)
  • No. 6, “As Good as I Once Was” (7,000, up 6,241%)
  • No. 7, “Beer for My Horses,” with Willie Nelson (6,000, up 6,080%)
  • No. 8, “I Love This Bar” (6,000, up 5,176%)
  • No. 9, “American Soldier” (5,000, up 8,208%)
  • No. 10, “Red Solo Cup” (5,000, up 9,917%)

The only song not by Keith in the top 10: Luke Combs’ “Fast Car,” at No. 2, up 1,185% to 17,000 sold after he performed it – with its writer, Tracy Chapman, whose original version hit the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10 in 1988 – at the Grammy Awards Feb. 4.

Concurrently, Keith’s 35 Biggest Hits flies 38-1 on Top Country Albums. Released in 2008, the set earned 66,000 equivalent album units, up 953% from 6,000 the week before. The album initially entered atop the chart in May 2008, becoming Keith’s sixth of 10 leaders. On the all-genre Billboard 200, it re-enters at No. 1, after originally peaking at No. 2, awarding Keith his fifth chart-topper.

35 Biggest Hits contains 31 of Keith’s 42 top 10s on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, including 15 of his 20 No. 1s. Among them: his debut hit “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” which led for two weeks in June 1993. It re-enters the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based list at No. 13 with 8.3 million official U.S. streams (up 326%) and 3.5 million airplay audience impressions (up 299%), in addition to its sales.

Four other Keith classics, all in the Country Digital Song Sales top 10, as noted above, return to Hot Country Songs: “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” (No. 15), “As Good as I Once Was” (No. 19), “Don’t Let the Old Man In” (No. 22, a new peak, and his 62nd top 40 hit) and “How Do You Like Me Now?!” (No. 23).

13 Feb 2024

John Rich Asks Brad Paisley For Head’s Up Next Time He Hosts Biden Fundraiser in Nashville: ‘Traffic Was Brutal’

Neighbor-to-neighbor, John Rich had a simple request for fellow country star Brad Paisley: “Hey Brad, give us a heads up next time bro.” That was the message Rich tweeted at Paisley on Monday after the “I’m Still a Guy” singer hosted a fundraiser for President Joe Biden at his Nashville home over the weekend featuring First Lady Jill Biden.

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“This visit shut down the interstate in Nashville, but I heard Jill raised a ton of money @BradPaisley’s house,” Rich wrote on X. “That traffic was brutal.” Travel by any President and First Lady often snarls local traffic due to the corona of Secret Service security that accompanies visits by the Bidens or Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Tennessean reported that the White House sent out an media advisory in advance noting that the First Lady was slated to land in Nashville on Friday afternoon for a “political event” in Franklin, Tennessee; at the time the White House did not confirm that the event would be held at Brad and Kim Paisley’s home, but local reports said the country couple hosted Dr. Biden, as well as some other A-list country stars.

It was no surprise that the Paisleys invited Biden to fund raise at their house, since the singer joined the First Lady at a vaccine site in Nashville in 2001 to promote getting the COVID-19 shot with a brief performance. Paisley played a set at the White House for the Bidens last year at a black-tie gathering of the National Governors Association that included a performance of the new song “Same Here,” which featured audio of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

At press time it did not appear that Paisley had responded to Rich, whose social media feeds are filled with tweets mocking the Biden/Harris administration. Last August, Rich released the single “I’m Offended,” which poked fun at woke culture and vaccine mandates with such lines as, “My country truck, I gas it up/ You got your fancy Tesla hooked up to a plug/ I know you’re mad, you think I’m bad/ ‘Cause I’m breathin’ free at last/ And you’re still stuck behind your mask.”

Rich — one of the only A-list artists who performed at one-term former president Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration — suggested he might pull Bud Light products from his Nashville restaurant/bar, Redneck Riviera, last year in protest after the beer brand sent a promotional, personalized six pack of cans to transgender TikTok star and influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

See Rich’s tweet below.

13 Feb 2024

Jennifer Lopez Reveals Ayo Edebiri Was ‘Mortified’ When Past Insults Resurfaced Ahead of ‘SNL’

Ayo Edebiri found herself in hot water earlier this month after her past comments insulting Jennifer Lopez resurfaced, just days before she was set to host Saturday Night Live with the “On the Floor” singer serving as musical guest. But according to Lopez, it was no big deal.

“It’s funny,” J. Lo said in her Tuesday (Feb. 13) Variety cover story. “I’ve heard similar things said about me throughout my career, so it really didn’t affect me.”

The 28-year-old The Bear actress had called Lopez’s musical career “one long scam” in a 2020 podcast episode, agreeing at the time that the 54-year-old multi-hyphenate “can’t sing.” When the comments started circulating on social media shortly before their joint SNL episode, Lopez says Edibiri earnestly apologized — and they were able to squeeze in a sketch poking fun at the drama into the show. (“It’s wrong to leave mean comments or post comments just for clout — or run your mouth on a podcast and you don’t consider the impact because you’re 24 and stupid,” the Emmy winner joked in a skit titled “Why’d You Say It.”)

“She was mortified and very sweet,” Lopez recalled. ”She came to my dressing room and apologized with tears in her eyes, saying how terrible it was that she had said those things.”

“She felt really badly and loved my performance because we had just done my soundcheck and she actually got to hear me perform,” the Marry Me star continued. “She was just like, ‘I’m so f–king sorry; it was so awful of me.’”

Lopez is now just days away from the Feb. 16 release of her long-awaited album This Is Me … Now, which will serve as a two-decade follow-up to her 2002 LP This Is Me … Then. A musical film in support of the new album, This Is Me … Now: A Love Story, will also drop on the 16th via Amazon Prime, followed by a documentary about the making of the record Feb. 27.

“I do think this is a beautiful project,” Lopez told Variety of the album and film. “The message is strong and the message is true. I think it’s a true piece of art, and I’m very proud of it.”

13 Feb 2024

Kanye West Says He Was ‘2 Months From Going Bankrupt’ Before Latest Comeback


Kanye West is riding high with his and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures 1 album finally arriving around the globe. But he shares that not long ago, things weren’t that great. TMZ caught up with Ye upon his return from Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII inside LAX on Monday (Feb. 12), when he told the outlet that he was just a couple of months from bankruptcy last year before his latest comeback.

“I’ma just be honest with y’all: I was two months from going bankrupt and I put everything I had into it and we moved to Italy,” he revealed. “We moved to the factories and we survived. We survived through the cancellation. We back No. 1.”

Vultures 1 is Kanye’s first project to arrive independently since Def Jam/Universal were among the myriad brands such as Adidas to split from the Chicago native following his string of controversies and antisemitic remarks in late 2022. After Ye was dropped by Adidas, Forbes shared that the rapper had dropped off its list of billionaires.

“It wasn’t about the controversy, it was about the ability to say how you felt out loud,” West explained. “If I didn’t have the various skill sets of music, clothing and the fan base, they would’ve been able to destroy me. But because we had all those skill sets, somehow, I’m here inside this universe able to fight. I love all the people that supported.”

He continued: “So many people would lose their jobs, lose their careers for the steps we took. We went down for like a year and a half.”

“Carnival” appears to be the Vultures track receiving the most fan support, as the tune — whichBillboard ranked No. 1 in the album’s songs ranking list — featuring Rich The Kid and Playboi Carti is atop the Spotify Global chart. It remains to be seen if West will earn his 10th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 next week.

Watch the full interview with West below.

13 Feb 2024

Watch Brittany Mahomes Convince Post Malone to Put on a Chiefs Jacket at a Super Bowl Afterparty

Brittany Mahomes is spreading the Kansas City Chiefs love. Shortly after the team won Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas Sunday (Feb. 11), the retired women’s soccer player – who is married to quarterback Patrick Mahomes – attended a post-game afterparty, where she convinced Post Malone to trade in his Dallas Cowboys jacket for a red and gold one as he performed for the guests. 

In a newly shared clip from the party, Posty’s jaw drops as Brittany boldly grabs onto his blue jacket and pulls it off his body. Realizing what the Kansas City Current founder is doing, the artist – who grew up in Texas — visibly mouths, “One song!” before allowing her to dress him in a Chiefs bomber she had on hand. 

Meanwhile, a crowd of people surrounding them chants, “Brittany! Brittany! Brittany!” 

The celebration was also attended by tight end Travis Kelce and his superstar girlfriend Taylor Swift, who at one point sang along to Post as he performed his 2018 smash “Better Now” for the partygoers. The pop star and rapper are set to release a collaboration later this year titled “Fortnight,” one of 17 tracks on Swift’s April-slated album The Tortured Poets Department.  

Earlier that day, the “Sunflower” musician helped kick off the game-day festivities by singing “America the Beautiful” on the field, minutes before Reba McEntire took the stage to belt out the national anthem. The Chiefs won 25-22 against the San Francisco 49ers, securing their second Super Bowl victory in a row.  

See the moment Brittany Mahomes convinced Post Malone to trade jackets below. 

13 Feb 2024

Pearl Jam Is Going on a World Tour to Support Newly Announced Album ‘Dark Matter’

Pearl Jam is proving the band’s still alive — and not with an evenflow of news, but a gigaton of it. The grunge pioneers announced on Tuesday (Feb. 13), that they will soon drop a twelfth studio album titled Dark Matter, and to celebrate the news, released its title track. Hours later, the Seattle band revealed that it’s also going on a world tour to support the release.

Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament, Mike McCreedy and Matt Cameron are set to kick off the Dark Matter global trek May 4 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C., and will play the West Coast the rest of the month before heading over to Europe for June and July, then returns to the States in late August. The tour wraps in November with shows in New Zealand and Australia. By the end of the tour, the band will have played nine countries and 25 cities.

Pearl Jam will be bringing different acts on the road for various legs of the tour. The Pixies, Deep Sea Diver, The Murder Capital and Richard Ashcroft are the announced openers.

Ticketmaster will hold a Ten Club members-only presale through Ticketmaster Request; only fans who were already active members by Feb. 12 will be able to participate in the presale. Fans can also register by end of day Sunday, Feb. 18, for an opportunity to participate in the registration sale to be held at shops.ticketmasterpartners.com/pearl-jam. Registering will not guarantee access to the ticket sales.

Dark Matter drops April 19, and will feature 11 songs:

  1. “Scared of Fear”
  2. “React, Respond”
  3. “Wreckage”
  4. “Dark Matter”
  5. “Won’t Tell”
  6. “Upper Hand”
  7. “Waiting for Stevie”
  8. “Running”
  9. “Something Special”
  10. “Got to Give”
  11. “Setting Sun”

See Pearl Jam’s global tour dates in support of its new album below:

  • May 4 Vancouver, BC, Rogers Arena
  • May 6 Vancouver, BC, Rogers Arena
  • May 10 Portland, OR, Moda Center
  • May 13 Sacramento, CA, Golden 1 Center
  • May 16 Las Vegas, MGM Grand Garden Arena
  • May 18 Las Vegas, MGM Grand Garden Arena
  • May 21 Los Angeles Kia Forum
  • May 22 Los Angeles Kia Forum
  • May 25** Napa Valley, CA BottleRock Festival 
  • May 28 Seattle, Climate Pledge Arena
  • May 30 Seattle, Climate Pledge Arena
  • June 22 Dublin, IE, Marlay Park
  • June 25 Manchester, UK, Co-op Live
  • June 29 London, UK, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
  • July 2 Berlin, DE, Waldbühne
  • July 3 Berlin, DE, Waldbühne
  • July 6  Barcelona, ES, Palau Sant Jordi
  • July 8 Barcelona, ES, Palau Sant Jordi
  • July 11** Madrid, SE, Mad Cool Festival 
  • July 13** Lisbon, PT, NOS Alive Festival 
  • Aug 22 Missoula, MT, Washington-Grizzly Stadium
  • Aug 26* Indianapolis, IN, Ruoff Music Center
  • Aug 29 Chicago, Wrigley Field
  • Aug 31 Chicago, Wrigley Field
  • Sep 3 New York, Madison Square Garden
  • Sep 4 New York, Madison Square Garden
  • Sep 7 Philadelphia, Wells Fargo Center
  • Sep 9 Philadelphia, Wells Fargo Center
  • Sep 12 Baltimore, CFG Bank Arena
  • Sep 15 Boston, Fenway Park
  • Sep 17 Boston, Fenway Park
  • Nov 8 Auckland, NZ, Go Media Stadium Mt Smart
  • Nov 13 Gold Coast, AU, Heritage Bank Stadium
  • Nov 16 Melbourne, AU, Marvel Stadium
  • Nov 21 Sydney, AU, Giants Stadium

* Rescheduled date from 2022

** Festival dates are already on sale

13 Feb 2024

Shaquille O’Neal Hangs Out With Taylor Swift at 2024 Super Bowl, Calls Ice Spice ‘Fine’

It looks like Shaquille O’Neal had a good time at the 2024 Super Bowl on Sunday (Feb. 11). The next day, the 51-year-old former basketball star shared a photo on Instagram from his weekend at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, where he met up with Taylor Swift and his new crush, Ice Spice. 

In the picture, the seven-foot sports analyst and DJ looms tall over Swift and the 24-year-old “Munch” rapper, posing with his hands around both women’s shoulders. Ice flashes a peace sign, while producer RiotUSA looks away from the camera on the 34-year-old “Anti-Hero” singer’s other side. 

“and @icespice is so dam fine,” Shaq captioned the post. “thanks @taylorswift.” 

The “Karma” collaborators attended Super Bowl LVIII to root on Swift’s boyfriend, tight end Travis Kelce, who helped lead the Kansas City Chiefs to victory against the San Francisco 49ers. The two musicians were also joined by Blake Lively, Lana Del Rey, Miles Teller and Keleigh Sperry at the game, as well as Kelce’s family. 

Afterward, Ice shared her own photos on Instagram with Swift and Shaq, along with a snap of her and the “Shake it Off” singer’s posse cheering for the Chiefs in the stands. She simply captioned the post, “W.” 

Fans tuning into the Super Bowl got to see Ice during the live broadcast as well as during the commercial break. The Bronx native starred in an ad for PepsiCo, in which she rejects her fictious ex-boyfriend’s attempt at getting back together in favor of a new beau: Starry soda. 

“I just need something refreshing, more crisp! I’m with Starry now,” she said in the 30-second clip. 

A week prior, Ice and Swift both attended the Grammys, where the former was nominated for best new artist (which went to Victoria Monet), and the latter took home album of the year and pop vocal album for Midnights. On March 6, the “Deli” artist will be honored with the Hitmaker Award at the 2024 Billboard Women in Music Awards. 

13 Feb 2024

Hot 100 First-Timers: Michael Marcagi Arrives With Breakthrough Solo Single ‘Scared to Start’

Michael Marcagi is officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting hitmaker. The singer-songwriter and Cincinnati native scores his first career entry on the Feb. 17-dated survey, as “Scared to Start” opens at No. 98.

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Released Jan. 12 on Warner Records, the song debuts with 5.3 million official streams (up 5%), 454,000 radio airplay audience impressions (up 388%) and 1,000 downloads sold in the U.S. Feb. 2-8, according to Luminate. Among its other chart placements, it holds at its highs on Hot Alternative Songs (No. 8), Hot Rock Songs (No. 10) and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (No. 13). It also debuts at No. 37 on Adult Alternative Airplay.

The track became Marcagi’s first solo chart entry after its first week of release, boosted by hype generated on TikTok. Marcagi first released a snippet of the song on the platform in November and it has since soundtracked over 90,000 TikTok videos to date. Some independent artists have even begun posting their own covers of the song, some of which Marcagi has shared on his profile.

Marcagi released his debut five-track solo EP American Romance Feb. 9. It includes “Scared to Start” along with his one prior solo release, “The Other Side.”

This isn’t Marcargi’s first foray onto Billboard’s charts. He previously fronted the band The Heavy Hours, which tallied a pair of Adult Alternative Airplay entries: “Don’t Walk Away” (No. 21 peak, November 2020) and “Wildfire” (No. 33, September 2021).

Marcagi has seven U.S. tour dates scheduled in March supporting The Moss. He’ll follow with a string of headlining U.S. tour stops, set to begin May 13 in Denver and run through June 15 in Cambridge, Mass.