State Champ Radio Music News
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The Abbey Road Institute is set to launch its newest campus in Los Angeles this summer, it was announced Tuesday (March 11). The state-of-the-art facility will be led by Grammy-winning engineer, mixer, producer and musician Rafa Sardina.
Designed to provide students with a unique professional experience, the West Coast campus will feature the institute’s renowned curriculum along with a faculty of Los Angeles-based producers, engineers and musicians, including Alan Meyerson, Barry Rudolph, John Boylan and Vanessa Garde.
“Abbey Road Institute Los Angeles is the culmination of a long-held dream,” said Sardina — who has worked with Stevie Wonder, Rosalia, Alejandro Sanz, Dr. Dre, Camila Cabello, Lady Gaga and more — in a statement. “I want to share the invaluable professional experiences of my closest musical colleagues and myself with outstanding new generations of mixers, producers, and other music and music business professionals. I can’t wait to welcome our first students and witness the beginning of their exciting career journeys.”
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Luca Barassi, CEO of Abbey Road Institute London, added: “We are thrilled to be working with Rafa and his team as we continue expanding our educational footprint in the U.S. Rafa has a strong affinity with how we teach, and an ambition to pass on his expertise to the next generation. Establishing our second U.S. campus in Los Angeles — a creative, dynamic, and globally influential city — will provide students with an immersive experience at the heart of a thriving international music scene.”
The program offers intensive and immersive education in a small, focused-learning environment, emphasizing hands-on, apprenticeship-style training to equip graduates with the skills necessary to thrive in the music industry. Graduates will earn a diploma in music production and sound engineering. Additional diplomas in audio post-production for film and TV & music business will be offered in the future.
“We are incredibly proud of the success of Abbey Road Institute graduates,” Universal Music Group COO and Abbey Road board member David Sharpe added. “Some of them have earned multiple Grammy and Billboard awards, along with numerous Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations. Bringing Abbey Road Institute’s world-class education to Los Angeles will provide aspiring producers and engineers with the training they need to make a strong entrance into the music industry.”
The campus’ exact inauguration date and location will be announced soon.
In celebration of his 31st birthday on Monday (March 10), Bad Bunny released new music video “La Mudanza,” which further emphasizes his everlasting affection for his homeland and family heritage.
The song, which is the outro track of his latest album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, tells the story of Benito, a man who grew up in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, as the eldest of six siblings and worked hard from a young age, driving trucks like his father and grandfather, despite his dream of becoming an engineer.
The video begins by showing a nostalgic collection of old photos of his ancestors. Soon after, the visual depicts the birth of baby Benito. Halfway through, a the infant appears in a car seat, singing along to the song against a robust salsa rhythm. “Calle Sol, Calle Luna, estoy en la noche oscura/ Yo no canto reggae, pero soy cultura,” the baby spits, referencing Puerto Rican reggae band Cultura Profética.
The video transitions to a scene where the present-day Bad Bunny is seen running through a field, proudly waving the Puerto Rican flag, before arriving at a local community gathering. “A mí me quieren como a Tito y soy serio como Cotto/ Lugia, Ho-Oh, cabrón, hoy soy legendario,” he raps, drawing parallels between himself and revered Puerto Rican boxers Tito Trinidad and Miguel Cotto, while also invoking Lugia and Ho-Oh from the Pokémon series.
Debí Tirar Más Fotos reached No. 1 on multiple all-genre charts, including the Billboard 200 and Top Streaming Albums. Benito told Billboard a few weeks after releasing the album, “This project isn’t mine. It belongs to many people: everyone who worked with me, it belongs to Puerto Rico, my friends, my family. This project belongs to all of us who feel proud of being from Puerto Rico and being Latin.”
The Puerto Rican superstar is set to embark on a historic residency in Puerto Rico, which is expected to boost the island’s economy.
Check out the video for “La Mudanza” below:
Andrew Schulz isn’t backing off from Kendrick Lamar after feeling targeted by the rapper on “Wacced Out Murals” last year.
Four months after Dot rapped “Don’t let no white comedian talk about no Black woman, that’s law” on the GNX opener — a line Schulz and many fans assumed was aimed at the comedian due to his controversial quips about white men who “get slapped” by their Black girlfriends on an August episode of his Flagrant podcast — Schulz once again addressed the situation while guesting on The Breakfast Club Monday (March 10).
First, the comedian doubled down on his past remarks about wanting to “make love” to Lamar, saying in reference to the rapper’s 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show outfit, “When I saw those jeans, I was like, ‘Bing-bop-boom-boom-boom-bop-bam,’” quoting the musician’s “peekaboo.”
Schulz had previously responded to Lamar’s apparent diss on a December episode of Flagrant by joking that he would like to have sex with the hip-hop titan, adding at the time that “the only thing [Lamar] could do is decide if it’s consensual or not.” Three months later on The Breakfast Club, he explained his intention behind the offensive comment: “People made that s–t racism so fast. I’m just saying he’s little … He’s itty bitty, so why is he telling people he’s gonna kill my friends?”
The stand-up went on to say that such jokes are fair game because, he claims, the Compton native was the one who “took it there” in the first place with his incendiary “Wacced Out Murals” lyrics. Also on the song, Lamar raps, “The n—as that c–n, the n—as that being groomed, slide on both of them,” which Schulz took to mean as Lamar inciting violence against his friends, specifically Breakfast Club host Charlamagne Tha God and Schulz’s Flagrant co-host Alexx Media.
“What does slide mean to y’all?” Schulz said on The Breakfast Club. “If you say kill my friends, everything after that is fine. You took it there … I don’t like this idea that like, I’m this big bully. You told your people to kill my friends. That’s the potential interpretation.”
For the record, Charlamagne isn’t as convinced as Schulz is that Dot was coming for them at all. “I appreciate my friend trying to stick up for me, but I don’t think he was talking about us,” the radio host responded after Schulz said his piece, laughing.
Billboard has reached out to Kendrick Lamar for comment.
The 22-time Grammy winner has never confirmed which “white comedian” he was talking about on “Wacced Out Murals.” The rapper surprise-dropped GNX in late November, and the album has spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 so far.
But while Schulz didn’t take kindly to the perceived diss — and is still talking about it months later — the comedian did put some respect on Lamar’s name on The Breakfast Club. “This whole thing got blown out of proportion,” he said. “To say [Lamar] is not fantastic at what he does is ridiculous, and I have a lot of respect for anyone who puts things out for judgement. That takes balls and I admire people that have balls.”
Watch Schulz share his thoughts on Lamar and “Wacced Out Murals” on The Breakfast Club above.
2 Chainz doesn’t plan on leaving the underground indie scene anytime soon. After shooting over to the West Coast to team up with Larry June and The Alchemist for the stellar Life Is Beautiful project, he’s planning on releasing a joint album with East Coast producer Statik Selektah. Explore See latest videos, charts and news […]
Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco are continuing the rollout of their I Said I Love You First album with another single, “Sunset Blvd.”
Gomez announced the single on Instagram on Tuesday (March 11) alongside a sweet black-and-white selfie of the couple snuggling up together. “Our first date was on Sunset Blvd, and it’s also the title of our next song together 🖤 Sunset Blvd out March 14 with @itsbennyblanco,” she captioned the post. “P.S. this is our first official photo together.”
Gomez and Blanco recently documented returning to the restaurant where they had their first date on Instagram. The duo happily cooked up fried shrimp with curry — the meal they had — at Jitlada Restaurant, an authentic Thai food joint on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, with the restaurant’s owner, Sarin “Jazz” Sing.
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The couple’s joint album, I Said I Love You First, is set to arrive on March 21. The project featurespreviously released singles “Scared of Loving You” and “Call Me When You Break Up” featuring Gracie Abrams.
As revealed by the Rare Beauty founder via the tracklist she shared on social media, the rest of the songs are called “I Said I Love You First,” “Younger and Hotter Than Me,” “Ojos Tristes,” “Don’t Wanna Cry,” “Sunset Blvd,” “Cowboy,” “Bluest Flame,” “How Does It Feel to Be Forgotten,” “Do You Wanna Be Perfect,” “You Said You Were Sorry”,” “I Can’t Get Enough” and “Don’t Take It Personally.”
The couple began dating in June 2023, and got engaged late last year. Gomez shared the happy news with a Dec. 11 Instagram carousel featuring her marquise-cut engagement ring, along with the caption, “forever begins now..”
Suge Knight has continued to fire at Snoop Dogg for what he thinks is damaging the Death Row legacy with the “Gin and Juice” rapper at the helm.
Suge was interviewed by The Art of Dialogue from behind bars over the weekend, when he went off on The Doggfather after Snoop claimed Knight was just “mad” he was in control of Death Row.
“You trying to create something that Suge Knight created, but instead of making something big, you disappointed the world by making everything flops,” Knight said. “When I put out Tha Dogg Pound, they sold records. You put out Tha Dogg Pound, they sold nothing — it flopped.”
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Suge believes the essence of hip-hop culture is being destroyed, and claimed Snoop is also killing the credibility of the once-feared West Coast record label.
“You don’t got to talk tough,” he added. “We don’t got to talk about each other that gets [us] nowhere. One person or three or four people is not bigger than hip-hop. We should be trying to figure out how to make hip-hop better. Everybody destroying hip-hop — you guys are making it worse. If you have Death Row, you destroyed it. You messed up the name.”
Snoop acquired the Death Row Records brand from the Blackstone-controlled MNRK Music Group (formerly eOne Music) in a February 2022 deal. “It feels good to have ownership of the label I was part of at the beginning of my career and as one of the founding members. This is an extremely meaningful moment for me,” Snoop said in a statement at the time of the transaction. “I’m looking forward to building the next chapter of Death Row Records.”
However, Suge Knight still isn’t buying that Snoop owns Death Row Records, and demanded he show some paperwork before Suge gives him his respect on that endeavor. “Snoop, you said I’m mad because you bought Death Row,” Knight said. “What you buy? Shut me up. Show me where y’all paid the money to buy it. Show me the paperwork — show me what you own.”
Billboard has reached out to Snoop Dogg’s reps for comment.
Suge Knight remains imprisoned on a 28-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter charges that resulted in the death of businessman Terry Carter and injuries to longtime rival Cle “Bone” Sloan. The 59-year-old former rap mogul is eligible for parole in October 2034.Watch the full phone interview with Suge Knight below.
Bre Tiesi is opening up about her unorthodox relationship with Nick Cannon, whose time she has to share with four other women who’ve also welcomed kids with The Masked Singer host.
On the latest episode of Paul C. Brunson’s We Need to Talk podcast posted Tuesday (March 11), the Selling Sunset star explained why non-monogamy works for herself and Cannon, with whom she shares 2-year-old son Legendary Love. “It’s just so healthy and normal, and people think that it’s not because of the surrounding factors, but I don’t involve myself in surrounding factors,” Tiesi said matter of factly. “The kids are welcome into my life and our life, and that’s where I draw the line.”
“Nick’s always been a playboy,” she continued. “Everyone knows that.”
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The Wild n’ Out star has a total of 12 children with five different women including Tiesi. He shares twins Moroccan and Monroe with superstar ex-wife Mariah Carey; Golden Sagon, Powerful Queen and Rise Messiah with Brittany Bell; Zion Mixolydian, Zillion Heir and Beautiful Zeppelin with Abby De La Rosa; Onyx Ice with LaNisha Cole; and Halo Marie with Alyssa Scott. He and Scott also had a son named Zen in 2021, but the little boy died from brain cancer just five months after he was born.
Of Cannon’s respective relationships with the other women, Tiesi explained why she doesn’t feel “threatened.” “I know what my relationship is, and I know that no matter what, you’ll never have with anyone else what you have with me,” she told Brunson. “I’m cool with a majority of the women. Obviously, there’s emotions involved, and I can’t help how other people feel.”
The model went on to share the closest she’s ever come to feeling envious of Cannon’s other relationships. “I think I’ve gotten jealous about maybe holidays,” she said. “Holidays are hard. I’ll be like, ‘If you’re gonna do this, can you take Legy?’ It’s not for me — I’m not jealous. Say they go on a trip, and I’m like, ‘Well that would’ve been nice. Couldn’t you have just brought Legy with you guys?’ I’m looking more out for him. I want him to have the relationship with his siblings.”
Tiesi also explained why she currently isn’t dating anyone besides Cannon, despite the Drumline star maintaining relationships with other women in addition to her. “It’s not that I won’t or I can’t, it’s that I choose not to,” she said. “I just really don’t want to deal with another man for a very long time. I’m happy in my relationship. I’m happy with my family unit.”
Watch Tiesi break down her relationships with Cannon and his kids’ other moms on We Need to Talk below.
Tito Fuentes, vocalist and guitarist of the Mexican rock band Molotov, is taking some time off to deal with health issues. The musician announced that he is undergoing physical and mental rehabilitation, without going into details.
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“I am in a process of both physical and mental rehabilitation that has led me to be absent from the stage during the last Molotov concerts,” he said in a statement on social media Monday (March 10). “Putting my health as a priority, I have decided not to return to play until I am 100%.”
Fuentes will be replaced by Jay de la Cueva, leader of the defunct band Moderatto and former member of Molotov, for the group’s upcoming scheduled performances.
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De la Cueva “is not only a great musician and dear friend, but Jay is also one of the founding members of the band, and I am sure it will be a great show to see him with them at Vive Latino,” said Fuentes, adding, “I hope to return soon.”
The announcement comes just days after the iconic Mexican band began an extensive tour with dates in Latin America and Europe to celebrate its 30th anniversary, a series of shows that includes the group’s participation in the 25th edition of the Vive Latino festival Saturday (March 15) at the GNP Seguros Stadium in Mexico City.
Billboard Español reached out to Molotov’s team for additional comment.
Jay de la Cueva, considered one of the most versatile musicians in the Mexican rock scene for his participation with various groups and projects, was a founding member of Molotov in 1995, along with Fuentes and Micky Huidobro (bass).
For three decades, Molotov — which also includes Paco Ayala (guitar) and Randy Ebright (drums) — has been a reference in Latin rock music. Songs such as “Gimme the Power,” “Frijolero” and “Voto Latino” have become the soundtrack for their followers through political and social changes, while denouncing issues such as racism, corruption, bureaucracy and abuse of power.
On the Billboard charts, the band has placed four titles both in Top Latin Albums and Latin Pop Albums, including two top 10s of the latter: Dance and Dense Denso in 2003, and Agua Maldita in 2014.
A seven time Latin Grammy-winner, Molotov has also sparked controversy on several occasions. One of the most memorable occurred in 1997, when the band released the Gustavo Santaolalla-produced album ¿Dónde Jugarán Las Niñas?, whose cover caused it to be removed from record stores for being considered offensive to morals in Mexico. The cover featured a photograph of a girl in a high-school uniform with her panty at mid-thigh.
The band’s song “Puto” has been labeled as homophobic by LGBTQ advocacy groups, something the band has denied on several occasions, arguing that the title is just a popular Mexican expression.
Ask any parent and they will tell you that their kid is absolutely the best, the tops, no matter what anyone else thinks. Britney Spears is exactly one of those proud mamas, as evidenced by a pair of Instagram clips she posted on Tuesday (March 11) of her youngest, 18-year-old son Jayden James, showing off his piano-playing and mumble rapping skills.
In the first video, Jayden can be heard playing an unidentified song on the piano as Britney, 43, walks through her living room and zooms in on a picture of her with her second born before walking over to watch him tickle the ivories. Wearing baggy black jeans, a Muhammad Ali t-shirt and a black wool hat, Jayden fools around on the baby grand as his mom exclaims, “that’s sick!”
As he continues to play, Britney can be heard saying, “Jesus! That’s sick!” She captioned the clip “WOW WOW WOW !!!”
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In the second video, Jayden, now wearing dark shades indoors, walks around mumbling as Britney screams, “Well that was really good! My son just played! Oh my God! I felt it in my bones, and my heart, and my lungs, and my a–, and my throat and my…,” as Jayden appears to complete the thought with “my d–k.”
“Yes sir, yes sir,” Jayden says nonchalantly while Britney enthuses, “Hello, hello, hello, whoa!,” swinging her phone camera back to the piano. Her excitement at their get-back was clear from the caption of the second video: “He’s a genius and I’m in awe of him !!! I can’t believe he’s mine !!! I was honestly scared that’s not normal !!!”
The singer who also shares older son Sean Preston, 19, with her ex Kevin Federline, posted pics in December of what she called a reunion with Jayden after what she said was a two-year period in which she didn’t see her sons. “Best Christmas of my life !!! I haven’t seen my boys in 2 years !!!” she wrote on Christmas Day. “Tears of joy and literally in shock everyday koo koo crazy so in love and blessed !!! I’m speechless thank you Jesus !!!”
Check out the musical mother and child reunion below.
A few weeks after revealing his plans to sell a custom 2022 Lamborghini Urus won from its previous owner, superstar Shakira, in a giveaway, Colombian-American artist Michael Mejía was involved in a car accident while driving the luxury vehicle on Thursday (March 6).
“I was simply hit. It wasn’t me who crashed,” Mejía told Billboard on Tuesday (March 11). “I was about to cross a street when a car came speeding, and the driver was probably distracted. It was quite a scary moment. Fortunately, I wasn’t injured, but it was a very [tough] moment. The car is being restored. Thankfully, I had good insurance, so the car will be as good as new.”
An Instagram video posted on Sunday (March 9) by Spanish-language reality series ¡Siéntese Quien Pueda! showed the purple Lamborghini damaged in Miami.
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In February, during an interview with El Gordo y la Flaca, the contest winner talked about receiving the car from Shakira and his intention to sell the car — worth $280,000 — for potentially $1 million because of the steep maintenance costs. Shakira had provided him with an extra $90,000 to cover various expenses such as taxes, the car’s title transfer, legal fees and six months of insurance payments.
He previously explained the financial challenges involved, facing about $95,000 in federal taxes at the end of the year, monthly insurance costs exceeding $2,000 and more expenses related to the luxury vehicle. And now, he tells Billboard, he’s also facing backlash from the pop superstar’s fans for needing to sell the Lamborghini.
“The reality of all this is that I am an artist — I earned this car with my art,” he tells Billboard. “I’ve had a super lovely experience receiving that recognition from Shakira. What’s happening now is that all of Shakira’s fans — who initially supported me — are hating me because I decided to sell the car, since it is very costly. So, to them, it’s like, ‘This man is an opportunist. How can he take advantage and sell the prize?’ They see it as potentially disrespectful towards Shakira. I mean, the reality is that the car is very expensive. All the monthly costs are too much, and I just can’t keep up with them.”
The artist — known for his work in fine art, murals and body painting — won the prize based on the merit of his artistic contributions. He adds to Billboard: “A car doesn’t define an artist; let [fans] not forget why I won that car.”
