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Rihanna showed support for her boo A$AP Rocky as she pulled up to the rapper’s trial in Los Angeles on Wednesday (Jan. 29).
Per legal reporter Meghan Cuniff, Rih was seated between Rocky’s mother and sister as the trial in his 2021 felony shooting case continued. She has not been shown on the court’s livestream, but there are security guards on both sides of the row. According to Variety, Rih isn’t expected to testify in the case.
The Harlem rapper previously turned down a final plea deal last week, which would have seen him serve 180 days behind bars. LA County prosecutors recommended three years of probation and a seven-year suspended sentence. Rocky is facing a pair of felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. He can face a maximum of 24 years behind bars if convicted on all charges.
The charges stem from an alleged November 2021 altercation that accuses Rocky of firing a weapon at former A$AP affiliate A$AP Relli — born Terrell Ephron — following an argument near a Hollywood hotel.
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Rocky’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, has maintained that the weapon was a prop gun and not a real firearm, as the rapper shot off blanks to defuse the situation. There is video footage that allegedly shows Rocky holding some sort of a handgun from the night of the shooting.
Months after the heated confrontation, the “Fashion Killa” rapper was arrested in April 2022 at Los Angeles International Airport. Rocky posted a $550,000 bond shortly after the arrest and later pleaded not guilty to all of the charges in August 2022.
According to The Associated Press, Ephron took the stand to testify against Rocky on Tuesday (Jan. 28) where he recalled the shooting. “He turned around and then it was like boom,” Ephron explained to the jury. “The whole thing was like a movie, he kind of like pointed down and he shot the first shot.”
He emphatically declared that it was “a real gun” in Rocky’s hand. “I was hit. Or I was grazed,” Ephron said. “I didn’t have a hole or nothing.” Relli says his life’s “been a living hell” since the shooting.
Wednesday’s court session has concluded and the trial will continue on Thursday (Jan. 30), where the defense will have its chance to cross-examine Relli.
U.K. rapper Central Cee recently dropped his impressive debut album Can’t Rush Greatness, but fans noticed one thing missing: a track featuring Drake. While chatting with Dutch radio host Fernando Halman of FunX, Cench was asked if he had any songs with the Toronto rapper stashed away. “I’m sure there’s a Drake record in the […]
As fans and artists alike gear up for this Sunday’s Grammys, Chappell Roan is taking a beat to share some gratitude for her fans. In a post to her Instagram on Wednesday (Jan. 29), Roan shared a series of selfies while writing a lengthy note of appreciation to her fans. “Good morning booboos. It’s Grammy […]
Madonna tested out some new material at the Comedy Cellar in New York City this week, surprising the crowd with a stand-up set while in attendance with friend Amy Schumer. One blurry photo from the evening shows the superstar standing up on the famed venue’s tiny stage while reading jokes from a notebook on a […]
Don’t ever play yourself, DJ Khaled stays winning. According to the RIAA, the We the Best mogul racked up another 17 new certifications on Wednesday (Jan. 29) to go along with his new diamond plaque for “I’m the One.” Outside of “I’m the One,” other standout certifications include Rihanna and Bryson Tiller’s “Wild Thoughts” at […]
Kenshi Yonezu blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 with his latest hit song “Plazma,” on the chart dated Jan. 29.
The track was written as the theme song for the latest installment of the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise called GQuuuuuuX -Beginning-, released in domestic theaters Jan. 17. After being released digitally on Jan. 20, the track racked up 9,235,562 streams to hit No. 3 for the metric, while coming in at No. 1 for downloads with 40,408 units and No. 4 for radio airplay. This is the eighth chart-topper — and 16th week at No. 1 — for the 33-year-old hitmaker, whose singles “Lemon,” “Flamingo,” “Spirits of the Sea,” “Uma to Shika,” “Pale Blue,” “M87,” and “KICK BACK” have previously hit No. 1.
Coming in a close second on the Japan Hot 100 is Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Darling.” The theme song for NHK’s television special featuring the group collaborating with teenagers called Mrs. GREEN APPLE 18 Matsuri hit No. 2 for streaming (12,054,584 streams) and downloads (19,835 units), ruled video views, and came in at No. 18 for radio.
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The three-man band’s former No. 1 track “Lilac” slips two notches to No. 3 this week. While toppling from the top spot on the Japan Hot 100, the song continues to dominate the streaming metric for the 22nd week. Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Soranji” is also charting in the top 10, climbing a rung to No. 7. With 6,431,698 weekly views, this track continues to hold in the top 10 for streams and is on the verge of reaching 500 million cumulative streams. Mrs. GREEN APPLE has 5 songs in the top 10 and 20 songs in the top 100 this week, with “Darling ~18 Matsuri Ver.~” bowing at No. 44.
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ONE OK ROCK’s “Puppets Can’t Control You” debuts at No. 10. The theme song for the TV drama Mikami Sensei ruled radio, while hitting No. 3 for downloads and No. 64 for streaming. Meanwhile, Chanmina’s songs continue to rise, with “Harenchi” climbing 51-47, “Never Grow Up” 79-75, “NG” debuting at No. 80, “^_^” at No. 92, and ‘B-kyu’ rising to No. 95.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Jan. 20 to 26, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English X account.
hololive VTuber and virtual idol Hoshimachi Suisei has announced her first new album in two years, SHINSEI MOKUROKU.
Ever since her debut, her slogan has been “A shooting star that appeared from diamonds in the rough,” and that slogan was embodied by her first album, a refreshing work with a true idol feel. She followed this up with a very different album that took her music to the next level, expressing the struggles and tumult she faced in her musical career. Now, she is releasing an ambitious third album with the theme of “revolution.” In an interview with Billboard JAPAN, Hoshimachi said, “Virtual artists have been seen as oddities. People don’t look at me as a person, but I sing my own songs and I dance my own dances. Gaining recognition for that is, to me, a revolution.”
Her appearance on a massive billboard in New York’s Times Square is a sign of the steady progress she is making in that revolution. The Spotify advertisement is unusual, as the company has done few collaborations with Japanese artists, and it is their first time collaborating with a Japanese indie artist. When Hoshimachi first heard about the project, she thought they were talking about an advertisement on Shibuya Scramble Square.
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Hoshimachi says she ultimately decided on the concept for the new album around the time she released the lead single “BIBBIDIBA” in March 2024. The theme of the song, written by Vocaloid producer Tsumiki, is a strong-willed woman—a Cinderella who isn’t content to sit back and wait for her prince to come but who goes out to seize her destiny herself. It became the first-ever VTuber song on the Billboard JAPAN charts to reach 100 million streaming plays. That same concept was also part of “AWAKE,” a Hoshimachi song written by the team of Giga and TeddyLoid, whose other credits include Ado’s “Odo.” “Modern women are drawn to and want to become strong women. I’m particularly fond of the lyrics ‘Clichéd storyteller, don’t pass the mic.’ I don’t like falling into clichés, either. I want to explore my own way of doing things. I’m singing about how people can’t leave the direction of their own lives to others who just live cookie-cutter lives.”
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The music on the album was written by a wide range of artists at the vanguard of J-pop and rock, such as Soichiro Yamauchi (Fujifabric), Enon Kawatani (indigo la End, Gesu no Kiwami Otome, etc.), Deu (PEOPLE 1), Natori, and Haruno. Hoshimachi discussed how she chose these artists. “A lot of the artists on my second album were creators active in the online scene. That’s because I’ve also always been heavily online, and those were the artists I was listening to. With this third album, I decided to take a step outside the bounds of the online scene.”
The music videos for the album’s songs are also unique. The videos for “BIBBIDIBA” and “AWAKE” combine anime and live action. Hoshimachi explains, “I really want to break into the real world. I thought about how I, as a virtual figure, could get closer to 3D people, so I went with this approach of fusing our worlds.” The entire video for “Venus Bug” is live action, a rarity for a VTuber.
“Kireigoto,” for which Hoshimachi wrote both the lyrics and music herself, is of particular note. This marks her first time writing her own lyrics and music. “I wanted to do that on my second album, but I ran out of time. Or, I guess I should say, I had a hard time getting myself going. When I was talking to someone on the staff, I mentioned that for sure I wanted to do it on my third album, and they started making concrete deadlines and plans, like ‘okay, have this done by that time’ or ‘let’s have these folks work on the music video.’ That’s when I knew I simply had to make the song, and I set my mind to it. I ended up going way over the deadline, though.”
The lyrics to “Kireigoto” include the line “I sing because I hate spewing platitudes.” It expresses a dilemma that Hoshimachi herself often confronts. “I’ve been online for a long, long time, and a lot of the people in the online communities I’m in live in big cities. That meant it was easy for them to meet up, but since I lived far from anywhere, I could never attend. Then, years later, after I finally made it to the city, I’d reach out to my friends from back then and they’d say ‘I can’t, I’m not young anymore, it’s just too tiring.’ These were people who were already adults back when I was a kid. It made me really sad to see that people changed like this as they got older.” Looking back on this experience, she spoke about how she always wanted to remain lively and young at heart, giving up as little as possible. “But I know that’s just painting a rosy picture. I hate platitudes, and I hate when I’m the one saying platitudes, so I just sing. That’s what the song is about.”
On February 1, she will put on a solo show at the Nippon Budokan. Back before she joined hololive, when she was on her own as an artist, she talked in her very first self-introduction video about her dream: playing at the Nippon Budokan. Reflecting frankly about her feelings at the time, she shared, “I was a little worried that if my dreams came true I’d lose my drive. I also worried that perhaps my listeners would be left with the feeling that they’d watched my story through to its very end and they’d drift away. But now, I’ve actually got my sights set on a lot of things after I play at the Budokan. I’m going to be really busy (laughs). My schedule is packed, so I don’t think there’s ever going to be an end. And I now trust my listeners to stick with me.”
The Nippon Budokan is known as one of Japan’s most prestigious concert venues, but the way Hoshimachi talks about it, it is just one point in her journey. She shared her vision for what lies beyond. “I’ve talked about this for a long time, but I want to create a world in which virtual beings are part of everyday life. I like science fiction set in the near future, like Coil – A Circle of Children. I hope we can see that kind of future in our own lives. That’s why I want to help bring in a new era.”
“There are a lot of people who speak negatively about virtual beings. Whenever I see that, I think ‘they’ve got low resolutions.’ People will say things like ‘all they do is push a button to dance or sing,’ and I just think ‘that’s not true.’ But if people are going to be that way, then, fine, I don’t care, I’ll just become even more active. I’ll force my presence down their throats, like ‘Here, eat up, this is the virtual world.’ If I do that, their resolution might just improve. That’s why I hope to create even more opportunities for people to be exposed to me.”
—This article by Takuto Ueda first appeared on Billboard Japan
Dave Matthews has pulled out of two major events coming up fast this week — FireAid and the MusiCares Grateful Dead — to tend to a family emergency. In a statement posted to the Dave Matthews Band Instagram account Wednesday (Jan. 29), Matthews’ team wrote, “Due to a critical illness in the family, Dave Matthews […]
Billie Eilish, Finneas, Johnny Marr, Pharrell Williams, Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya are among those who will pay tribute to composer Hans Zimmer in Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert. The film will feature a live performance of some of Zimmer’s most famous scores, including Dune, Gladiator, Interstellar and The Lion King.
Directed by Emmy winner Paul Dugdale, with Jerry Bruckheimer serving as an executive producer, the film offers viewers a glimpse into Zimmer’s creative process. The German composer’s works are brought to life by his band and an orchestra at Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena, the Al Wasl Plaza dome at Expo City Dubai and other venues.
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The film will feature conversations with, in addition to those named above, Bruckheimer, Sir Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve and Tanya Lapointe.
“The Hans Zimmer Live tour has been one of the most exciting experiences of my career,” Zimmer said in a statement. “Seeing these compositions transform from their big-screen origins to the live show then back to the big screen is a delightful full-circle moment. I hope audiences enjoy this peek behind the curtain as much as we enjoyed making it.”
Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert will be released in select theaters across the Americas, Europe, Asia and United Arab Emirates, with limited screenings beginning Wednesday, March 19. Theaters in Australasia and other countries in the Middle East will screen the film at a later date. Tickets are on sale from Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 9 a.m. ET on the film’s website.
Zimmer, 67, has won four Grammys and two Oscars. He has received 12 Oscar nominations in scoring categories, across five decades, from the 1980s to the 2020s, winning for The Lion King and Dune.
Eilish paid tribute to Zimmer when she and Finneas won an Oscar for best original song for “No Time to Die” from the film of the same name, which Zimmer scored, calling him “so amazing.” Elton John and Tim Rice also paid tribute to Zimmer when they won Oscars for best original song for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King. “To Hans Zimmer, who did a wonderful job with the songs,” John said.
Dugdale has won two Primetime Emmys — outstanding directing for a variety special for Adele: One Night Only (CBS) and outstanding variety special (live) as a co-executive producer of Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium (Disney+). He was also nominated for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) as executive producer of Billy Joel: The 100th – Live at Madison Square Garden (CBS).
Dugdale has also received three Grammy nods for best music film for Coldplay’s Live 2012 and Ghost Stories and Adele: One Night Only.
The film, which runs more than 2-1/2 hours, was produced by Simon Fisher, Steven Kofsky, Michael Marto, Omar Saab and John Featherstone. Executive producers are Bruckheimer, Dugdale, Steven Kofsky, Michael Marto, and Omar Saab. Distribution is by Trafalgar Releasing (in all markets excluding the Middle East, where it will be distributed by VOX).
A crew of marquee artists will play in support of Anyma during the artist’s final dates at Sphere in Las Vegas in February and March. On Wednesday (Jan. 29), the venue announced that Bosnian German favorite Solomun and American producer Layla Benitez will open on Feb. 27, South Korean phenom Peggy Gou and German mainstay […]
