Music News

17 Dec 2024

Mariah Carey Set to Challenge Wham! for U.K. Christmas No. 1

Mariah Carey has overtaken Tom Grennan in the race for the U.K.’s Christmas No. 1 Single, as per a new report from the Official Charts Company published Tuesday (Dec. 17).

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Moving to No. 2 in the midweek charts, Carey’s festive classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is now in pole position to challenge last week’s chart-topper, Wham!’s “Last Christmas.” This year’s Christmas No. 1 will be announced via BBC Radio 1 on Friday (Dec. 20), with sales and streams counting up until 11.59 p.m. GMT the evening prior.

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The hit single played the long game to reach the summit on the U.K. chart, eventually hitting the top spot for the first time in 2020 after a 26-year journey. In the process, the song set a new chart record, according to the Official Charts Company: No other song had spent more weeks in the top 40 before eventually reaching No. 1 in U.K. chart history.

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Grennan, meanwhile, has been steadfast in his campaign for No. 1 this week. Despite Carey overtaking him Tuesday morning – with little over 200 chart units currently separating the pair – the Bedford singer’s “It Can’t Be Christmas” remains at No. 3. One of Amazon Music’s new festive releases for 2024, the track first entered the top 40 two weeks ago at No. 25, before climbing 19 places on last Friday’s chart (Dec. 13).

Posting to Instagram earlier this week, Grennan shared that he had got a tattoo in honour of this year’s chart battle. “I thought I’d make it interesting,” he said in a clip of him getting “Christmas No. 1 2024 is…” inked on his right thigh. “Stream it, buy the vinyl,” he instructed his audience. “We’ll see what happens. You lot, do not let this flop.”

The 29-year-old is the latest in a string of British acts who have recorded Yuletide-inspired tracks for Amazon Music U.K. In 2023, Eurovision runner-up Sam Ryder rode all the way to No. 2 with “You’re Christmas to Me,” while Jorja Smith peaked at No. 16 that year with her cover of East 17’s “Stay Another Day.”

17 Dec 2024

Here’s Why Jelly Roll Threw His Cell Phone Into the Cumberland River

Jelly Roll is off the grid — and his phone is somewhere at the bottom of the Cumberland River. In an effort to reduce stress, the country star recently chucked his cell into the water and has no plans to replace it, he revealed on the latest episode of Bunnie XO’s Dumb Blonde podcast.

On the episode posted Monday (Dec. 16), Jelly began by saying, “I can confidently tell people I’m not gonna have a phone all of ’25.”

The “Son of a Sinner” singer then recounted to Bunnie — whom he married in 2016 — a recent drunk night out that ended with him asking his driver to pull over so that he could get out of the car and lob his phone into the Cumberland, which runs through Kentucky and Tennessee — not that it was an on-the-fly decision. “I was determined,” Jelly recalled, laughing. “I talked about this in interviews all year. I was like, if this tour goes the way I want it to, I’m gonna throw my phone off the Shelby Street Bridge.”

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Jelly went on to explain why it’s more “healthy” for him to be phoneless, noting that he’ll probably downgrade to a simple flip phone in 2025. “I was getting to a point that I was getting hundreds and hundreds of text messages a day,” he shared. “And I just was overwhelmed. I would just feel like such a bad human for missing them. I was carrying a lot of guilt. This phone was causing me a lot of guilt.”

“I would use my phone as a way to avoid,” the Nashville native added. “I would be missing text messages and know there were so many over there that it was too stressful to go check. So I would avoid that by mindless scrolling or, you know, I had these news alerts on my phone, and then we become big news stories all the time. I started getting caught up in that. It doesn’t make me a better person.”

Jelly is currently on break from his Beautifully Broken Tour, which picks back up in Canada in March following a festival performance at Coors Light Birds Nest in Scottsdale, Ariz. In April, he’ll join Post Malone on a two-month joint North American stadium trek.

While on tour, the musician — who recently performed two tracks at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards — has been open about his weight-loss journey. On Dumb Blonde, Jelly explained why he’s stayed so public about the process, telling Bunnie, “I want to be honest about my struggles with it for people.”

“I think that people that become as big as I became, when they lose the weight, they’re so ashamed that they go and hide and lose the weight,” continued Jelly, who revealed he’s now lost 140 pounds. “I wanted to lose [weight] in front of everybody, I wanted to talk about it. I want to bring people along with me.”

Listen to his episode on Dumb Blonde below.

17 Dec 2024

50 Cent, Davido & Mary J. Blige to Join Forces for Massive Stadium Show in London

50 Cent, Davido and Mary J. Blige have announced a special gig scheduled to take place July 3 at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The date will see the three global superstars perform together as co-headliners for the first time. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. GMT this Friday (Dec. 20) via Ticketmaster.

For Blige, the show will follow her spring North American headlining tour in support of new LP Gratitude. On Nov. 29, the R&B legend also celebrated the 30th anniversary of her sophomore album, My Life, which spawned the singles “Be Happy,” “I’m Goin Down” and “Mary Jane.”

Speaking to Billboard earlier this year, Blige described the record as being “pivotal” to her success, adding that its creation allowed her to find herself as an artist. “My fans have given me so much, and when I say, ‘We did it,’ I mean my fans and I,” she said.

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50 Cent, meanwhile, has another huge U.K. show scheduled for July. The following week will see him headline Glasgow’s TRNSMT Festival (July 11), alongside Irish pop act The Script. The rapper recently landed his second video in the YouTube Billion Views Club with 2005 hit “Candy Shop,” joining “In Da Club.” His last studio album arrived in the form of 2014’s Animal Ambition.

In March 2023, Davido released his Timeless LP, which peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for best global music album at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Its Musa Keys-assisted track “Unavailable” went on to hit No. 3 on the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart.

The Nigerian-American artist is slated to drop his next album, 5ive, early next year. He unveiled lead single “Funds” with Odumodublvck and Chike earlier on Dec. 5; it featured a sample of the 1997 track “Vuli Ndlela” by South African singer-songwriter Brenda Fassie.

“This one is straight from the heart – my story, my truth, my growth,” Davido wrote on Instagram uponn the song’s release. “This one’s for the dreamers, the go getters and everyone chasing what’s theirs! Thank you for riding with me.”

17 Dec 2024

Beyoncé Now Has More RIAA Certified Titles Than Any Other Female Artist

Beyoncé now has more Recording Industry Association of America certified titles than any other female artist, the organization announced Tuesday (Dec. 17).

With the superstar earning dozens of new badges Tuesday — including a 2x-Platinum certification for Billboard Hot 100-topper “Texas Hold ‘Em” and Platinum honors for Billboard 200 No. 1 album Cowboy Carter — Bey now has a record total of 103 titles. Other new certifications include 2024’s “16 Carriages” going Gold, 2022’s Renaissance going 2x Platinum, and 2013’s Jay-Z duet “Drunk in Love” and 2003’s smash hit “Crazy in Love” both going 8x Platinum.

“We are so excited to recognize the incredible talent, hard work and creative spirit reflected across diverse genres,” said RIAA President and COO Michele Ballantyne in a statement. “Congratulations on this crowning milestone, Beyoncé, Parkwood Entertainment, Columbia Records — and we see you, BeyHive, streaming on repeat!”

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The news comes just one day after the RIAA unveiled its year-end list for 2024, crowning Taylor Swift with highest certification level and top album for her 6x-Platinum LP The Tortured Poets Department. Shaboozey had the highest Class of 2024 certification thanks to 5x-Platinum 19-week Hot 100 No. 1 “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” while Billie Eilish had the most certified titles of the year with 10 thanks to her album Hit Me Hard and Soft.

Bey is currently gearing up to headline the NFL Halftime Show during the Houston Texans vs. Baltimore Ravens game on Christmas Day, which will stream live on Netflix. With Mariah Carey opening the day’s doubleheader — which starts at 1 p.m. ET with the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers match — the day will mark the “Break My Soul” artist’s first time performing since releasing Cowboy Carter in March.

Her RIAA triumph is just the latest year-end feat Bey has secured as 2024 comes to a close. The vocalist also recently scooped 11 new Grammy nominations ahead of next year’s ceremony — more than any other artist — as well as ended up on Forbes most powerful women list and finished as Billboard‘s No. 1 greatest pop star of the 21st century.

17 Dec 2024

Lily Allen Says She’s Currently Not ‘At a Great Place Mentally,’ Sharing That ‘Eating Has Become an Issue’

Lily Allen has long been an open book about her mental and physical health, but in a new chat on her and Miquita Oliver’s Miss Me? podcast, the “LDN” singer said that she’s currently going through a rough patch that she was initially reluctant to discuss with her therapist.

“I don’t think that I lie in therapy, but I do often not talk about things I should be talking about,” the singer said in this week’s episode. “It’s not intentional. I’ve been going through a tough time over the last few months and my eating has become a real issue.” Allen said her eating issues have been going on for almost three years, but she only recently opened up about them to her therapist.

“She was like, ‘Why haven’t you mentioned it before?’” said Allen, who tagged her creative pursuits as a form of “performative therapy,” because she finds it easier to sing about those things than to have “honest, vulnerable” conversations with people she cares about. “It’s not because I have been lying about it. It’s just because it hasn’t seemed at the top of the list of important things that I needed to talk about. But obviously it is.”

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Acknowledging that she sometimes struggles to paint the “big picture” when looking at her mental health — which, she noted, might have to do with her ADHD diagnosis — Allen said, “My body and my brain are two very separate things to me. I know a lot of people feel those two things are very connected to each other, but for me, it’s very different. I spend a lot of time in my head, and not a lot of time thinking about my body.”

Allen then got very candid about her current state of mind and the ways that has manifested physically. “I’m really not in a great place mentally at the moment, and I’m not eating. But I’m not hungry,” she said. ” I obviously am hungry, but my body and brain are so disconnected from each other that my body… the messages of hunger are not going from my body to my brain. I’m not avoiding food, I’m just not thinking about it because I’m so in my head. My body’s like, a few steps behind me.”

Allen, 39, married Stranger Things actor David Harbour in 2020 and has two daughters, ages 13 and 10, with her ex-husband Sam Cooper.

Oliver reminded her pod partner and lifelong friend Allen — who said that she did family therapy when she was young when her mom went tor rehab and then returned to therapy as an adult to deal with the initial rush of fame –that her awareness of what’s going on in her body is one step toward healing, a message the singer appreciated. In 2021, Allen opened up about her long battle with addiction, which she said started in school whens she turned to drugs and alcohol to deal with the resentment she felt from her classmates when she dropped out to pursue music.

Allen revealed her ADHD diagnosis in 2023, saying it “sort of runs in my family,” after sharing that she was suffering from PTSD after a stillbirth in 2010.

In July, Allen revealed that she had begun selling pictures and videos of her feet on OnlyFans, later saying that just a few months in she was earning more with her toes than her music streams. “imagine being and artist and having nearly 8 million monthly listeners on spotify but earning more money from having 1000 people subscribe to pictures of your feet,” she wrote in October.

Listen to the episode below (food discussion begins at 9:55 mark).

If you or someone you know are struggling with disordered eating or an eating disorder you can contact the ANAD helpline at 1 (888) 375-7767 or the National Alliance for Eating Disorders at 1 (866) 662-1235.

17 Dec 2024

FloyyMenor, Rauw Alejandro & More Included in RIAA’s Class of 2024

The RIAA revealed its yearly certification announcements on Monday (Dec. 16), identifying 65 artists receiving honors for the first time, including Latin artists such as Rauw Alejandro, FloyyMenor, Quevedo, The Marías and Carla Morrison.

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Puerto Rican sensation Rauw Alejandro is recognized for his album Cosa Nuestra, which achieved Gold status. Additionally, his collaboration with Bad Bunny on the single “Qué Pasará” was notably popular. However, it was his 2023 single “Aloha” — with Maluma and Beele, featuring Darell, Mambo Kingz and DJ Luian — that achieved six-times Platinum status, and a few more others such a early 2024 singles “Déjame Entrar” and “Touching the Sky” were also certified Platinum. Spanish rapper Quevedo received a nine-times Platinum accolade for his single “Pero Tú” with Karol G, along with Platinum recognitions for other tracks including “OA” in collaboration with Anuel AA and Maluma (with contributions from Mambo Kingz, DJ Luian).

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Breakout Chilean star FloyyMenor proudly acknowledged his inclusion in the RIAA Class of 2024, celebrating the double Platinum success of his song “Gata Only” with Cris MJ. “I am so proud to be a part of the RIAA Class of 2024 and for my double platinum song making me the only Chilean artist to achieve platinum or higher certification for a Latin title in the RIAA’s Gold and Platinum program’s 66 years,” said FloyyMenor in a statement shared with Billboard Español. “This is not just mine, it is Chile’s and everyone who has supported me since day one. I am very grateful for UnitedMasters, RIAA and my fans for helping me bring my music to the whole world. This last year has been a dream come true.”

Meanwhile, The Marías landed three singles — “No One Noticed,” “Un Millón” and “Lejos de Ti” — in the prestigious program; and Carla Morrison enters this year’s class for her participation in Karol G’s hit song “Mañana Será Bonito,” which went nine times Platinum.

“There’s nothing like the first time! The RIAA Gold and Platinum Class of 2024 is our largest to date — with 65 artists whose talents broke through in amazing ways — proving how new music discovery and creative partnerships are driving the next generation of icons,” added RIAA chairman/CEO Mitch Glazier in a press release. “We are so proud of this group of artists and their label teams for their inspiring work that fans love. We look forward to celebrating their next milestones soon.”  

Moreover, the Class of 2024 also features Shaboozey, Chappell Roan, Sexxy Red, Cassö and others.

As for standout Latin releases this year, Peso Pluma’s album Éxodo reached 11 times Platinum, and Fuerza Regida’s single with Marshmello “Harley Quinn” went 27 times Platinum.

Initiated 66 years ago, the Gold and Platinum Awards by the RIAA were designed to acknowledge artists and track sales of sound recordings. These awards have since become a benchmark of success for artists at all stages, from debut tracks to career-spanning compilations.

See the complete list of recipients of the Class of 2024 below on the second slide:

17 Dec 2024

Stray Kids, Fuerza Regida & More See Big Gains Following 2024 Billboard Music Awards

The 2024 Billboard Music Awards surpassed 330 million cross-platform views, up 14% year over year, generating record viewership in a groundbreaking, multi-distribution model across broadcast, streaming and social channels.

The Dec. 12 special, presented by Marriott Bonvoy, amassed 6.7 million views. It aired live on Fox, Amazon’s Fire TV Channels, Billboard.com and Harmony and on-demand on Paramount+, Hulu, Amazon’s Fire TV Channels and Billboard.com. Content was also distributed via BBMAs and Billboard social channels, including YouTube, X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.

The 2024 Billboard Music Awards was the No. 1 social program across all of TV and streaming on Dec. 12. It ranked No. 1 in total interactions (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube); No. 1 in earned interactions (Cross-platform Key Opinion Leader [KOL] + Organic Twitter); and No. 1 in total video view counts (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube).

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The BBMAs saw increased social engagements throughout the duration of the campaign (+54% year over year).

The top-performing video on demand clips on BBMAs Instagram included Stray Kids’ “Chk Chk Boom” and “JJAM” (30 million), Fuerza Regida’s “Pero No Te Enamores” and “NEL” (10.6 million) and Linkin Park’s “The Emptiness Machine” (5 million). 

The fact that two of the top-performing VOD clips were by a K-pop group and a regional Mexican band underscores the how pop music has become a global enterprise, and confirms the wisdom of the global approach the show took. Artists took the stage from locations around the world, including Brazil, London, Australia, South Korea and the U.S., delivering original, curated performances exclusive to the BBMAs.

According to data from Luminate, the songs performed on the 2024 BBMAs saw an increase in total on-demand streams (Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, Pandora, YouTube, etc.) on the day following the BBMAs (when compared to the day of the show). Examples include Coldplay’s “All My Love” (up 45%), Jelly Roll’s “I Am Not Okay” (up 28%), and two songs by Tyla: “Shake Ah” (with Optimist and Ez, up 19%) and “Push 2 Start” (up 11%).

Taylor Swift was the top winner at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards, taking home 10 prizes, including a record fifth win for Top Artist. These 10 trophies make her the most decorated BBMAs winner of all time with 49 wins.

Zach Bryan won five awards, including two wins in country and two in rock, reflecting his genre-bridging appeal. Morgan Wallen won four awards, bringing his career total to 19, just one shy of Garth Brooks’ record as the country artist with the most wins.

Shaboozey, Bad Bunny, Drake and the Christian music group Elevation Worship each won three awards. Benson Boone, CeCe Winans, Chandler Moore, Charli XCX, Fuerza Regida, Jung Kook, Kacey Musgraves, Linkin Park, SZA, Teddy Swims, Tommy Richman and Tyla each won two awards.

The tracking period for the 2024 Billboard Music Awards was Oct. 13, 2023, through Oct. 10, 2024, which corresponds to Billboard chart dates from Oct. 28, 2023, through Oct. 19, 2024.

The Billboard Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Corporation. PMC is also the parent company of Billboard.

17 Dec 2024

Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ Ties ‘Old Town Road’ for Streaming Songs Record

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” notches its 20th week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart dated Dec. 21, tying the record for the most weeks atop the tally since its 2013 inception.

Carey’s holiday classic reigns with 42.7 million official U.S. streams earned in the week ending Dec. 12, up 12%, according to Luminate.

With its 20th frame atop Streaming Songs, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” ties Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, for the most weeks at No. 1.

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Most Weeks at No. 1, Streaming Songs

  • 20 weeks, “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus (2019)
  • 20, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Mariah Carey (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024)
  • 19, “Last Night,” Morgan Wallen (2023)
  • 16, “Despacito,” Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber (2017)
  • 16, “Panda,” Desiigner (2016)
  • 14, “Rockstar,” Post Malone feat. 21 Savage (2017)
  • 13, “Wrecking Ball,” Miley Cyrus (2013-14)
  • 13, “Fancy,” Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX (2014)
  • 13, “The Box,” Roddy Ricch (2020)
  • 13, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” Carolina Gaitan, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast (2022)

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” first reigned in 2019 and has led at some point every year since except for 2023, when Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” popped ahead of it for the full season. (Lee’s classic rises 3-2 on the latest ranking via 41.3 million streams, up 16%.)

Concurrently, as previously reported, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” holds at No. 1 on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100.

17 Dec 2024

Olivia Rodrigo Donates More Than $2 Million From Guts World Tour Proceeds to Global Charities

Olivia Rodrigo is leaving the countries she visited on the Guts World Tour better than she found them. As announced Tuesday (Dec. 17), the 21-year-old pop star is donating a hefty chunk of her net proceeds from ticket sales to charities all over the globe, marking just the latest initiative she’s taken through her Fund 4 Good’s to support women and girls in need.

According to a release, Rodrigo’s donation amounts to more than $2 million and will go toward a total of 10 organizations championing girls’ education, reproductive rights and the prevention of gender-based violence. The charities include the National Network of Abortion Funds in the United States, Women’s Shelters Canada, Women Against Violence Europe, The Pratthanadee Foundation in Thailand, Korea Foundation for Women, Harmony House Limited in Hong Kong, NPO Women’s Saya-Saya in Japan, Aidha in Singapore, Jhpiego in the Philippines and Wesnet in Australia. 

The “Vampire” singer traveled through all 10 of the organization’s respective regions while on her eight-month Guts trek, which kicked off in February and supported her Billboard 200-topping sophomore album, Guts. One of the final stops was in the Philippines in October, a particularly special outing for Rodrigo as a Filipino-American star.  

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“This is such a special milestone for me to not only be visiting the Philippines for the first time but performing here for my fans,” she told Billboard after the performance at Philippine Arena. “I’m so proud of my Filipino heritage, so being able to bring this experience to the Philippines means the world to me.”

While there, Rodrigo partnered with Jhpiego — one of the 10 charities benefiting from her latest donation — to contribute all the net ticket sales from her concert to healthcare efforts for women and girls in the Philippines. The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series alum has been supporting women’s causes since the beginning of the Guts World Tour, launching her Fund 4 Good in February to funnel a portion of her proceeds from the trek to abortion funds and community-based nonprofits along her route.

Rodrigo — Billboard‘s Touring Artist of 2024 — reflected on the initiative in her November cover story about the Guts trek. “Being on tour [so soon] after Roe v. Wade got overturned made activism very important — especially considering I performed in many states that currently have abortion bans in place,” she said. “I wanted to do everything I could to support organizations in each territory that are doing essential work in providing access to health care and other human rights.”

17 Dec 2024

André 3000 Says He’s Continued to Make Beats and Rhymes, But Flute Is Where It’s At Right Now: ‘I Enjoy This’

André 3000 stopped by The Tonight Show on Monday night (Dec. 16) to chat with host Jimmy Fallon about his right-turn into the world of jazz and perform a rendition of one of the songs from his Grammy-nominated solo album New Blue Sun.

Three Stacks stressed to Jimmy that despite his name being on the cover and the LP being tagged as a “solo” project, it was truly a “collective effort.” Asked to describe the vibe of the all-instrumental, no rapping album that came out in November 2023, André said it’s definitely a “very open, trusting free-form exploration.”

Though some fans were bummed that the man widely consider to be one of the greatest MCs of all time put down the mic and picked up woodwinds, André revealed that the title of the first song on the album — “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time” — wasn’t a joke.

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He said that though for years he’s been “producing, making beats and still trying to do a vocal, rap kind of situation. Because I’m still a fan of rap. But that wasn’t on tap right now and that just happened to be what I was doing at the time. So I was like, ‘I enjoy this. Let me share it.’”

During a 17-year hiatus from releasing music as a lead artist, André dabbled in acting and became a kind of traveling minstrel meme among fans who delighted in posting videos of the MC strolling around coffee shops and airports playing one of his many flutes. “You know how when you have your phone you’re usually just scrolling and looking, I’ll play my flute,” he said. In fact, while in Philadelphia shooting a movie years ago, he would be spotted around town playing and people would come up to him and say, “‘you know it’s a game now. People are trying to find you and we’ll tweet and we’ll say, ‘Well, he’s at this park.’”

He also said that before each performance with his band they huddle and pump each other up with the phrase “fly free… that’s what we’re trying to do, we’re trying to really fly free with it. The reward is different, because you have to listen to every second to know what’s happening. It’s just a different muscle, a different exercise than going and performing verses and choruses that you’ve written. Both are rewarding in their own ways.”

Dré then came back later in the show to perform an edited version of the originally 13-minute song “BuyPoloDisorder’s Daughter Wears a 3000® Shirt Embroidered.”

Watch André 3000 on The Tonight Show below.