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UPDATE: Sexyy Red has deleted the AI-generated photo of her and Martin Luther King Jr. holding hands following his daughter Bernice King’s request to do so. Bernice King, lawyer, global thought leader, activist and daughter of late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., spoke out against Sexyy Red after the rapper posted a fake […]
Metro Boomin has revealed that he’s currently working on Young Thug‘s album — which will be the rapper’s first since being released from jail in November after spending more than 900 days in custody. The St. Louis producer made the revelation on his Instagram Story while also seemingly addressing the alleged news that his rental […]
During the 2024 season, tracks by 4,680 unique artists were played at the Ibiza clubbing institution Hï. Of that dizzying number, 50 artists were played more than all the others, and now we know who. Leading the list of the top 50 artists whose music was played most during last year’s Hï season is David […]
Imogen Heap has been releasing music for nearly three decades, winning two Grammy Awards and influencing a generation of music stars. As of this week, she’s officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist, thanks to a streaming revival for her 2005 song “Headlock.”
The song, which appears on Heap’s 2005 sophomore LP, Speak for Yourself, debuts at No. 100 on the Hot 100 (dated Jan. 25) almost entirely from its streaming sum: 5.9 million official U.S. streams (up 11%) in the Jan. 10-16 tracking week, according to Luminate. It also holds at its No. 10 high on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart.
The song has been generating renewed interest in recent weeks thanks to a viral social media trend involving the psychological horror thriller video game Mouthwashing. Fans use the song to soundtrack various edited compilations of gameplay footage. The track has been particularly active on TikTok, where it has soundtracked over 135,000 clips on the platform to date.
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Speak for Yourself became Heap’s breakthrough album. The set also includes “Hide and Seek,” which gained traction at the time via its sync in the climactic scene in the second-season finale of The O.C., in which Marissa Cooper shoots Trey Atwood. The scene and the song were later parodied in a 2007 Saturday Night Live digital short by the Lonely Island, helping broaden its reach and turning the song into a meme. The cut was later used in other dramatic scenes in Degrassi: The Next Generation and Normal People. The song’s familiar bridge (“mmm, whatcha say”) culminated in a prominent sample – as the main hook – in Jason Derulo’s 2009 hit “Whatcha Say,” which spent a week at No. 1 on the Hot 100; Heap is credited as a co-writer on Derulo’s song.
Though “Headlock” is now Heap’s first charting Hot 100 hit as a recording artist, the U.K. native has earned one additional entry on the survey as both a co-writer and co-producer: Taylor Swift’s “Clean (Taylor’s Version),” from her 1989 (Taylor’s Version), reached No. 30 in November 2023. Heap also co-wrote and co-produced the original “Clean,” from Swift’s 1989 in 2014, but that version didn’t hit the Hot 100.
Speak for Yourself debuted at No. 182 on the Billboard 200 in November 2005. It climbed to No. 145 the following February, fueled in part by the popularity of “Hide and Seek.” The album’s influence expanded to its track “Just for Now.” The song was sampled on A$AP Rocky’s “I Smoked Away My Brain (I’m Gods x Demons Mashup),” featuring Heap and Clams Casino, in 2018. The collab hit No. 35 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Heap has charted two additional albums on the Billboard 200 in her career: Ellipse – which soared to No. 5 in 2009 – and Sparks (No. 21; 2014). Her instrumental cast recording The Music of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child: Parts One and Two reached No. 2 on the Classical Albums chart in 2018.
“Headlock” isn’t Heap’s only song currently charting on Billboard’s lists: She also appears as half of electronic duo Frou Frou (with Guy Sigsworth) on the pair’s “A New Kind of Love,” which ranks at No. 35 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, a week after reaching No. 30.
Eden Muñoz adds a seventh No. 1 on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart, as “Mi Lugar Favorito” jumps from No. 4 to lead the list dated Jan. 25. It’s the second No. 1 on the chart from Eden, Muñoz’s third studio album as a soloist.
“I’m thrilled and grateful to see that ‘Mi Lugar Favorito’ has hit No. 1 on Billboard,” Muñoz tells Billboard. “This song has a special value to me, both personally and socially. It’s a song I wrote for my children, but it’s also a tribute to my inner child.”
“Mi Lugar Favorito” is the No. 1 song on this week’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart with 7 million audience impressions, accrued in the U.S. during the Jan. 10-16 tracking week, according to Luminate. That’s a solid 27% gain from the week prior, when the song held at its No. 4 high then for a second week.
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The single becomes Muñoz’s seventh champ on the chart and first of 2025. Previously, “Traigo Saldo y Ganas de Rogar” ruled Regional Mexican Airplay for two weeks last November. The latter also from parent album Eden, released Aug. 15, 2024, via Sony Music Latin.
Muñoz’s No. 1 collection dates back to less than three years ago, when he made his Regional Mexican Airplay debut as a solo singer with “Chale!,” for three weeks in charge in 2022. Since then, the Mexican singer/songwriter and producer has landed 10 top 10s and seven career No. 1s, four through non-collaborations and three through pair-ups.
Over on the overall Latin Airplay chart, “Favorito” pushes 9-4 with 7.1 million impressions.
“Qué Pasaría” If Rauw Alejandro & Bad Bunny Paired Up a No. 1 Hit? Elsewhere, Rauw Alejandro and Bad Bunny team up for their second No. 1 song on the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart, as “Qué Pasaría” (meaning “what would happen”) lifts 2-1 for its first week command. The song arrives almost two years after “Party,” the pair’s previous champ, spent two weeks at the summit in February 2023.
For its coronation, “Qué Pasaría” registered 6 million audience impressions earned in the U.S. in Jan. 10-16 tracking week. The new win adds Rauw his 12th No. 1 on Latin Rhythm Airplay, and Benito his 26th.
“Qué Pasaría” is the fourth singe from Rauw Alejandro’s No. 1 album, Cosa Nuestra, a six-week dominator on Top Latin Albums between November 2024-January 2025.
The new Jan. 25, 2025-dated charts will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Jan. 22 (one day later than usual, owed to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday in the U.S. on Jan. 20). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
A$AP Rocky declined a final plea deal offer from prosecutors as jury selection kicked off in Los Angeles on Tuesday (Jan. 21) in his 2021 shooting case. Per The Associated Press, prosecutors offered the Harlem native — born Rakim Mayers — 180 days in jail as part of a deal that would see him plead […]
Andra Day, Nick Cannon and Mario were among the lineup of stars who helped raise funds on behalf of Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts at the 1500 Day Benefit Concert. This year, 1500 or Nothin’ — the Grammy-winning creative collective behind projects by Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, Usher and others — partnered with the City of […]
Stephen A. Smith doesn’t understand the backlash rappers like Snoop Dogg, Nelly and Soulja Boy are receiving for performing at events around Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration.
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During a recent episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show on YouTube, the media personality started his rant about the vitriol they’ve been receiving online by asking some questions. “What if this person voted for him because they’re broke and they think he can put some more money in their pocket?” he asked. “What if this person voted for him because they’re in a crime-ridden neighborhood and they feel leftists aren’t having the streets patrolled well enough? What if they wanna call 911, but they live in an environment that people were supporting defunding the police? … What if the job market mattered to them?”
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He then continued by asking whether Soulja Boy had a right to make a living. “Soulja Boy ain’t got no right to make some money?” he asked. “Everybody’s quick to say, ‘If it was me, there’s a different way to make money.’ You sure about that? I saw Soulja Boy pull out some cash. I couldn’t count, but it looked like at least six figures. What it takes most people to make in a year, the brother made in one night.”
Smith then set his sights on Snoop and pointed out that the Long Beach rapper actually performed at the Crypto Ball — one of the events surrounding the inauguration — and that he was there for Trump’s Crypto and A.I. czar David Sacks and not the new president, who reportedly didn’t attend the event but was the guest of honor. “David Sacks is someone who Snoop has had a relationship with for decades,” Smith revealed. “David Sacks is that cat when nobody else put their hand out offering dollars to Snoop’s football league and beyond, that brother does it.”
Smith added: “Snoop Dogg’s worth over $100 million. He’s got a youth football league — this brother’s sending cats to college, this brother’s sending cats to the NFL. We just gonna ignore that cause he performed at the inauguration?”
When it came to Nelly, Stephen A. claimed the St. Louis rapper isn’t into politics and will perform for the right price.
“Nelly is not a political person, he doesn’t get involved in the campaigns,” he said. “Nelly does perform for people who will pay the right fee and believes in respecting the office because of the power that comes with it. That’s his position. Like it or not, you gotta respect it.”
However, Nelly recently said he didn’t agree to perform for money; he agreed because he saw it as an honor and likened it to the military who have to serve the country no matter who’s in office. “I’m not doing this for money,” he said on Willie D Live. “I’m doing this ’cause it’s an honor. I respect the office. It don’t matter who’s in office. The same way that our men and women, our brother and sisters who protect this country have to go to war and have to put their life on the line for whoever in office. If they can put their life on the line for whoever’s in office, I can perform for whoever’s in office.”
Stephen A. Smith goes off on the people criticizing Snoop Dogg, Nelly, and Soulja Boy for performing at President Donald Trump’s inauguration celebration and calls out those in our community who turned against Ice Cube.(🎥 Stephen A. Smith/YouTube) pic.twitter.com/AutqkxBTjq— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) January 21, 2025
You can watch the full episode below.
Clairo is summoning witches and casting spells on Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day. On Monday (Jan. 20) — the same day Trump was sworn in for his second White House term — the 26-year-old singer/songwriter tweeted a call to action. “Witchcraft on Trump ASAP !” she wrote. It’s not the first time Clairo has expressed opposition […]
ROSÉ has now added dance teacher to her resumé. In a new YouTube Short posted to The Kelly Clarkson Show‘s account, Kelly Clarkson tells ROSÉ that she “heard” about a viral dance to the tune of the K-pop star’s Bruno Mars collaboration, “APT.,” asking, “I love dancing, so can you teach me and maybe some […]