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Trending on Billboard

Harlem has itself another rap star.

Liim seemingly came out of nowhere and dropped a critically acclaimed project in Liim Lasalle Loves You, a coming-of-age, genre-bending debut that has caught the attention of the likes of Tyler, The Creator. Signed to veteran record exec Sickamore’s three times LOUDER (IIIXL) label, Liim’s rise has been fast.

The Harlem rapper grew up in a strict Muslim household where secular music wasn’t allowed to be played. This made him curious which then led to him discovering his natural calling. He’s been putting out music since about 2022, with the release of his single “Pupils,” while also doubling as a model for Supreme — and was noticed in 2023 by an IIIXL A&R in one of the skate brand’s ads. “I don’t know,” he answers, after being asked what made the upstart label sign him. “But I know one of the A&R’s, Ezana [Atakli], said he seen me in a Supreme thing, and then he clicked on my s—t and heard my music. I had a song called ‘Mary J’ at the time.”

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And while he’s been actively putting out records for the better part of three years, it wasn’t until he began making this particular project that he found his sound. Producer Shamshawan DM’d Liim wanting to work and the two hit it off immediately. “From there, I started recording everyday,” he said. “It was crazy, because I never been in that type of mentality with music. I wasn’t struggling at all. I didn’t have to write nothing. I was just spitting. It was just working out for me.” He’s now found himself among the new rising talent here in the city that started this rap thing, alongside the likes of his labelmate Laila! and sexy drill aficionado Cash Cobain.

Liim stopped by the Billboard office in New York City with his management to talk about his influences, the crafting of his debut album, and growing up in a city full of opportunity for a kid like him.

Check out our convo below.

I peeped that Tyler co-signed you — and let me know if I’m buggin’, but I hear his influence in this album. Is that true?

How do you feel like you hear the influence?

Just some of the melodies, like “Why Why” reminds me of some of his R&B stuff.

I feel like what it is — [from what] I’ve seen from Tyler’s interviews or whatever — when he talks about his influences in music, we got pretty similar ones. And if not me and him having similar ones, him and my producer, Shamshawan, they both love the Neptunes and s—t. So the production is kind of in that world. I f—k with a lot of bossa nova music and s—t like that, so the first track is kind of bossa nova, then it goes into a kind of Pharrell-y vibe. I don’t think I take direct inspiration from him.

Well, I mean some of the tracks just reminded me of some of his. You’re also into Max B, so it’s a mix of all these influences that you have. And what’s interesting is that you say you grew up not being able to play certain music in your house because your mother is Muslim. Can you talk about that?

No music. All you heard was the Quran playing in the crib.

Did that make you more curious about music?

Facts.

So, how does she feel about you career choice?

She’s proud of me. As I got older, I was like, “That don’t make no sense.” And my mom is on her Dīn and whatnot, but she’ll listen to my music just to support.

You had told Kid Mero that Max B reminded you of your late father because he was a Harlem dude. How did you get put on to Max?

It’s funny, even though growing up in Harlem and s—t, I never really heard kids my age listen to Max B ever. But when I started skateboarding, it was them n—as — the older skaters were fans, and always had Max B playing.

Skaters are an underrated subculture within rap music. A lot of them have good taste when it comes to music and style. I also noticed that you use a camcorder aesthetic in some of your videos. You used to run around with a camcorder?

I used to film skateboarders sometimes before I was making music. I just know how to use that camera. A lot of my earlier videos I shot by myself type s—t, or I would tell my homie to hold the camera like this. My goal is to do high-budget videos, but the camera’s mad cheap.

You must be a fan of that era because you’re hella young and dress like you could be in Dipset, and even though you’re not making “traditional” New York music, I can still tell that you’re from the city.

I don’t know. I feel like the music that was coming out as I was getting older, like the drill and all that s—t… I’ve made a few drill songs and s—t like that, but I was like, this s—t is kind of ass, bro. Everybody’s saying the exact same thing. And then I was thinking about it, and all my music really changed. I don’t know how n—s want to call it? Woke? I don’t know, just conscious of my people, Black people and s—t like murder music, and where that came from. We didn’t make murder music. That’s lowkey some s—t white people say, and that’s not really us. We had Marvin Gaye. We had Stevie [Wonder], all these n—as that sing about love. I feel like I’m trying to bring love back into music.

Oh, okay, so you’re a lover boy?

Most definitely. I’m going on a date tonight.

How would you describe your sound? How did you land on this for this specific album? How did it come together?

If I’m being real, I kind of just let the beats dictate what I was saying. I freestyled most of the song and whatever came out came out. I wasn’t thinking too hard about it. I wasn’t listening to any music similar. The whole time this album was being made, I was listening to Saaheem, SahBabii’s album. I was listening to that just now before I came in here. I feel like I wouldn’t know how to really describe my song. I just feel like, I don’t know, It’s kind of like introspective, coming of age music.

How involved was Sicamore, in terms of helping you put this together?

The way Sic works…I feel like he’s not the most hands on, like, “Yo, you should do this, you should do that.” He’ll drop in suggestions, but he’s mostly a supportive n—a. He’ll be like, “Yo, you about to be a star.”

He lets you do your thing.

Yeah, because he’s trying to help you build the trust in yourself, that you don’t need too much help. He helps when I gotta figure out how I’m gonna shoot this video or get my music to people.

How old were you when you decided that you wanted to be a rapper?

Honestly, bro, like young. I always had a desire for music because I didn’t have it around type s—t. I could show you a video right now of when I was a little n—a freestyling. There was this challenge on YouTube called #The10ToesDownChallenge.

I wanted to ask you about that. You mentioned the video in the Mero interview. How old are you there? Like f—kin’ 14?

Younger than that. Probably like 11. You already had that bug in you. Exactly. You can’t really hear what I’m saying because I’m recording off the ‘droid and for YouTube at the same time. [Laughs.]

So, how long did it take you to make this project?

It’s funny because when I signed in 2023, I made an album with concepts and all this s—t, and I scrapped the entire thing. There were like 20 songs and I was like, “D–n, what am I gonna do now?”

Why did you scrap it?

I just didn’t like it. It was ass, bro. It just sounded basic. I don’t even know if I even have any of the songs.

I’m assuming it sounded way different from your most recent project. Were there any remnants of this project in there?

None. It was completely different. I just didn’t know what I wanted it to sound like. It wasn’t too far from my sound but it was kinda boring, you know? I felt like it wouldn’t change anybody’s life or anybody’s perspective. I was working on music for a long ass time, maybe about a year just working on random s—t. I was out of the studio for a while, I had gotten a job managing a warehouse, bro, like a real job [Laughs.]

When was this?

I quit in August of last summer and and after I quit, I started going back to stu again, then I met up this n—a Sham who produced most of the album. He DM’d me about getting in the studio and for some reason all the beats he sent me just hit. I had an idea for everything. I was roughly done with the songs in maybe six months? The mixing process took mad long. So, in terms of recording, it took like six months to make the album and in terms of it being ready to be released, it took a full year.

I peeped that you mentioned that your studio is aesthetically pleasing. Walk us through that. What does that mean? What’s in the studio?

Got the nice warm light. I’m into my spaces. I don’t f—k with the studios that have the f—king LED lights and all that bulls—t. Some suave s—t.

What do you want to get out of your career?

I just want to make an impact, bro. That’s really it. I just want to make an impact in the youth to where they make music that’s not bulls—t. I want to make passionate music. Another artist I feel like I see doing that is Nourished by Time. He makes like ’80s-influenced R&B. You should check him out.

The name of the album was inspired by Stevie Wonder?

Yeah, facts. “Steve Wonder Loves You.” I saw a shirt he had that said, “Stevie Wonder Loves You.” I was like, “I want to do that for my merch.” And then it went from a merch idea to being the name of the album.

Are you already plotting out your next project?

Yeah, facts. I got the name already, bro. I got concepts down. Has the response to this tape inspire you to to keep working? I mean, definitely, but I was already working on this s—t before this. I’m grateful. I’m just glad n—s like it, but I really made it for myself at the end of the day. I’m just happy with the music. I can actually listen to it and be like, “Oh, this hard.”

Liim is heading out across the pond for a “European Excursion.” You can find tickets here and can check out the dates below.

Friday, Nov. 7 – Jumbi – Terrace, LondonTuesday, Nov. 11 – Paradiso – Basement, AmsterdamThursday, Nov. 13 – Fifty Lab Festival, BrusselsFriday, Nov. 14 – Jah Jah, Paris & Soho House, Paris

Trending on Billboard

Spotify is facing a class action lawsuit claiming its Discovery Mode and editorial playlists are a “modern form of payola” that allow record labels and artists to secretly pay to promote their music.

The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday (Nov. 5) in New York, alleges that Spotify’s recommendation tools are a “deceptive pay-for-play” program, but that the streamer misleads consumers into trusting that they are neutral and based on personal musical tastes.

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“Spotify exploits that trust by marketing itself as a platform that offers organic music recommendations — whether through its algorithmic or curated playlists — only to secretly sell those recommendations to the highest bidder,” reads the lawsuit, obtained by Billboard.

The case was filed by a Spotify subscriber named Genevieve Capolongo, who seeks to represent “millions” of other users who were allegedly misled by Spotify’s offerings. Her lawyers say she used the platform’s personalization features for years, but “kept hearing the same major-label tracks” that “bore little resemblance to her listening habits.”

In a statement to Billboard, a spokesperson for Spotify called the accusations “nonsense” and pointed to its detailed explanation of the program.

“Not only do they misrepresent what Discovery Mode is and how it works, but they are riddled with misunderstandings and inaccuracies,” the company said. “Discovery Mode is a feature artists can use to flag priority tracks for algorithmic consideration in limited contexts: Radio, Autoplay, and certain Mixes. It doesn’t buy plays, it doesn’t affect editorial playlists, and it’s clearly disclosed in the app and on our website.”

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The new case is the latest to claim that major labels are buying placement on Spotify to boost their artists. The high-profile lawsuit filed by Drake over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” included accusations that Universal Music Group used bots and payments to juice the song’s popularity on many platforms, including Spotify. Another case, filed earlier this week, claims that Spotify “turned a blind eye” to bots and other forms of fraudulent streams designed to inflate certain artists.

First unveiled in 2020, Discovery Mode allows artists and labels to get boosted on Spotify in return for accepting reduced royalties. It was initially met with scrutiny, including a Congressional investigation, over its similarities to payola, or the practice of secretly paying radio stations for airplay. But it has become a popular industry marketing tool around the release of new music.

Much of Wednesday’s lawsuit is focused on the extent to which Spotify discloses the exact parameters of Discovery Mode to its users. Though listeners are offered a link to an “About Recommendations” explainer when using it, Capolongo’s attorneys say that isn’t enough.

“Telling users that ‘commercial considerations may influence’ recommendations does not reveal which songs are being promoted commercially and which are being recommended organically,” her lawyers write. “Without that specificity, users cannot distinguish between genuine personalization and covert advertising.”

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The lawsuit also claims that Spotify’s editorial playlists, like the hugely influential Today’s Top Hits and RapCaviar, are also subject to pay-for-play. But it fails to offer any concrete examples of such payments, citing only unnamed “industry insiders” confirming that it happens and circumstantial evidence about the “disproportionate” rates of major-label music on such playlists.

In technical terms, the lawsuit claims Spotify’s conduct violated New York state law with deceptive practices and false advertising. It also claims Capolongo was fraudulently induced to subscribe and that Spotify was unjustly enriched by its behavior.

In more straightforward language, Capolongo says she simply wouldn’t have paid for Spotify if she had “known the truth” about the service: “That Spotify’s playlists and recommendations are shaped by undisclosed pay-for-play arrangements and hidden commercial incentives, not by her listening history alone.”

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Kenshi Yonezu’s “IRIS OUT” continues to dominate the Billboard Japan Hot 100 for the seventh consecutive week, on the chart released Nov. 5.

While overall chart points for the Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc theme dipped slightly compared to last week, karaoke performance increased to 116%. The track sits at No. 1 for streaming, video views, and karaoke, while hitting No. 3 for downloads, No. 9 for CD sales, and No. 13 for radio airplay, extending the hitmaker’s longest-running stay atop the Japan Hot 100.

At No. 2 is Sakurazaka46’s “Unhappy birthday Koubun,” which jumps from No. 15. The girl group’s 13th single sold 614,231 copies to take No. 1 for sales, and comes in at No. 10 for downloads, No. 9 for streaming, No. 70 for radio, and No. 61 for video.

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Three songs debut in the top 10 this week. LE SSERAFIM’s “SPAGHETTI (feat. j-hope of BTS)” sold 92,621 copies to arrive at No. 3, BE:FIRST’s “I Want You Back” rules radio to bow at No. 4, and Travis Japan’s “Disco Baby” lands at No. 7 after topping downloads.

In other chart moves, several songs by veteran band back number see renewed momentum. “Blue Amber” rises 35-32, “Takaneno Hanakosan” 72-56, “Suiheisen” 79-77, while “Koi” returns at No. 87.

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 Oct. 27 to Nov. 2, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English X account.

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Alix Earle’s performance on the latest episode of Dancing With the Stars may have been a nine on Flavor Flav‘s scorecard, but in his heart, it was a 10.

In a couple of Wednesday (Nov. 5) posts on X, the Public Enemy rapper — who served as a guest judge on the program’s broadcast the night prior — explained that he had intended to give the influencer and pro dance partner Val Chmerkovskiy a perfect score for their routine set to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.” Instead, Flav says he plugged in the number nine by mistake.

“As a judge on #DWTS,,, you hit your score on a computer first,,, then hold up the sign,” he wrote. “I accidentally hit 9 for someone and told the crew I meant to hit 10,,, and they said they can’t change it and there’s nothing I can do. That girl deserved perfect 10s.”

In a second post, Flav went on to point out that the snafu was why he’d been captured on camera “looking down at the computer confused” after punching in his score.

“Couldn’t get the words out because I was watching the computer and then couldn’t find the other paddle cuz I was ready to go with my 10,” he added. “I found [Earle] afterwards and apologized and let her know what happen , she was cool.”

If the rapper had given Earle the score he’d intended, she and Chmerkovskiy would have received perfect numbers across the board for the first time this season. They’d also come close to the feat on last week’s episode, earning 39/40 for a performance set to Billie Eilish’s “Bury a Friend.”

Flav also spoke about the situation while still on the DWTS set, telling People, “I gave them a nine which was an accident. I really wanted to give them a 10, but they wouldn’t let me change it.”

Billboard has reached out to the TV show for comment.

Despite not getting the best possible score, Earle can still celebrate knowing that she’s advancing to the next round. This week’s episode — which had a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame theme — resulted in Danielle Fishel getting sent home, while Jen Affleck and former Taylor Swift backup dancer Jan Ravnik were eliminated the week before that.

Also still in the game are Dylan Efron, Andy Richter, Whitney Leavitt, Elaine Hendrix, Jordan Chiles and Robert Irwin. The next episode will air on Nov. 11 and celebrates the 20th anniversary of DWTS.

Trending on Billboard

Katy Perry has long made being a charming klutz part of her brand. The singer leans all the way into that part of her personality in the brand new preview of her upcoming single, “Bandaids.” After teasing what fans assume is her next single on Tuesday (Nov. 4) with a picture of her somber face all cut up and bruised, Perry offered up a brief video preview of the song that is due out at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday (Nov. 6).

Spoiler: things get way, way worse.

Though it does not contain any actual music, the eight-second sneak peek at what appears to be the visual for the track finds Perry perishing in all the worst ways. It opens with the 41-year-old pop star sticking her hand into a garbage disposal, which she seems shocked to learn will set off a blood geyser as her unseen fingers are chewed up, blasting the white sink with gore.

For her next trick, Perry sits on the wrong end of a giant tree branch and saws away at it until the bit she’s resting on comes crashing down, followed by KP suffering a major face plant as she trips at the top of an escalator at a mall, leading to her getting seriously electrocuted while walking through a puddle at a gas station.

And sorry Katy Kats, but it does not get better. While enjoying a coffee at the Crumb Café, Perry is blasted with shards of glass from an unseen explosion, then forced to dodge gigantic tree trunks falling off an 18-wheeler on the highway and, finally, covered in dirt, bruises, scratch and bandages, Katy is blown to bits after lighting a cigarette, resulting in a massive, fiery blast.

What does it all mean? You’ll have to wait one more day to find out.

At press time, a spokesperson for Perry had not returned Billboard‘s request for additional information on whether the song is a one-off single or attached to a new album. Perry released her uptempo seventh studio album, 143, last September, which debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The LP, written and produced by controversial producer Dr. Luke, as well as pop savants Max Martin and Stargate, was fronted by the single “Woman’s World — which peaked at No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart — followed by the songs “Lifetimes” and “I’m His, He’s Mine” featuring Doechii.

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Ariana Grande has been open about the fact that portraying Glinda in the Wicked films has been healing for her as an artist. But in a recent interview, the pop star — who was previously managed by Scooter Braun — shared that signing with a new team of representatives has also played a big part in her falling back in love with making music.

In a New York Times profile published Wednesday (Nov. 5), Grande was candid about feeling unhappy with her music career before she was cast in Wicked a few years ago, noting that she once thought she’d never go on tour again after her exhaustive 2019 Sweetener trek. “There was something broken about my relationship to pop music that was healed recently through the time away,” she told the publication.

“I think it got away from me in a way I didn’t expect,” she continued. “There’s a thing that comes along with your dreams coming true that feels dangerous at times … Nothing prepares you for what comes with it. Until quite recently, it was really hard for me to navigate and I think it stripped a lot of joy out of this for me.”

Despite her prior reservations, the Grammy winner is now gearing up to hit the road again in 2026 for a small tour supporting 2024 Billboard 200-topper Eternal Sunshine, which she dropped after previously thinking that she’d never make an album again. She’s said before that recentering acting after primarily focusing on her pop-star duties was essential to her, but while speaking to NYT, she also hinted that the people she used to work with discouraged her from pursuing a balance between her two passions.

“By the way, I have a different team now,” she said on the subject. “Said with love, but that was a piece.”

Billboard has reached out to Braun’s rep for comment.

The interview comes more than two years after Grande parted ways with SB Projects, where she had been managed by Braun on and off since 2013. The departure came at a time when several major clients were also announcing their splits from the music mogul, including Demi Lovato and J Balvin.

In June 2024,Braun revealedthat he was retiring from music management altogether. At the time, he said that he would “continue to root” for all of the big names that had once been on his roster, which also included Justin Bieber and Tori Kelly.

This past June, Braun echoed those sentiments while guesting on The Diary of a CEO podcast. “To see Justin move forward and succeed, to see Ariana with what’s happened with Wicked in this past year … Everybody that I’ve ever had a chance to work with, to see them go on and do great things on their own, it’s awesome,” he said at the time.

Shortly after leaving SB Projects, Grande signed with Brandon Creed’s company, Good World Management. A source told Billboard at the time, “She wants the focus to be her art and [Creed] puts her artistry and vision before anything else.”

Two years later, it seems as though Grande has been able to do just that with her new team behind her.

“I’ve never felt this connected to my art or inspired, and that’s just been such a tremendous gift,” she told NYT. “It’s like, oh, I don’t actually have to take on those things that were projected onto me. I can focus on my art, and that can be a separate entity. But I had to give myself the permission to think that.”

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A$AP Rocky knows how long fans have been waiting for his new album, and joked that the project will probably never see the light of day.

In a brief chat with Maurice Kamara’s The People Gallery uploaded on Tuesday (Nov. 4), Rocky was asked, while navigating New York City’s subway system, to give a status update on his long-awaited fourth studio album.

“Don’t Be Dumb?” Rocky says. “Never dropping.”

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Kamara and Rocky then both burst out into laughter. “They gon’ kill us for that one,” the rapper added.

Rocky accepted the Fashion Icon Award that he had won at the CFDA Fashion Awards on Monday (Nov. 3). While on the red carpet for the event, the musician spoke about welcoming daughter Rocki with partner Rihanna, with whom he also shares sons RZA and Riot Rose.

“Yo, being a girl dad is amazing,” Rocky told Extra. “I mean, check me out — I’m glowing.”

It’s been seven years since Rocky dropped off his last album, Testing. Regardless of the delay in new music, 2025 has been a crazy time for the Harlem rapper. He was found not guilty in his felony shooting case involving former associate A$AP Relli in February, welcomed his new daughter in September, and starred alongside Denzel Washington in Spike Lee’s latest film, Highest 2 Lowest.

In a new interview Rocky did with Perfect Magazine to talk about that film, Rocky also took a moment to talk about why he rarely drops music.

“It’s about who did it the best,” Rocky said. “Everything I do is based off building legacy. That’s why I’m not so eager to just drop, drop, drop. I don’t do things to just try and stay relevant, or keep my name in the conversation. I try to do natural things, creative, ambitious things that really satisfy me.”

Check out the vlog below:

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Rosalía‘s ambitious fourth album, Lux, doesn’t officially drop until Friday (Nov. 7), but the Barcelona-born singer has already gotten the co-sign of a lifetime from an artist who knows a thing or two about musical transformations.

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On Wednesday morning (Nov. 5) Madonna posted an image of the album’s provocative cover — on which Rosalía wears a nun’s habit and hugs herself from under her white shirt — on her Instagram Story with the message, “Thank you @Rosalia. I can’t stop listening! You are a true visionary!!!

The high praise comes as Rosalía gears up to release the follow-up to 2022’s Motomami, which found her dipping into pop, reggaetón, hip-hop, electronic and other genres, landing the singer her first album to chart on the Billboard 200, where it peaked at No. 33. Lux is yet another hard turn into an experimental zone, an orchestral, operatic epic recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra that mashes together history and spirituality across 18 tracks on which the singer Rosalía sings in 13 different languages including her native Spanish, as well as Catalan, English, Latin, Sicilian, Ukrainian, Arabic and German, among others.

She spent three years on writing the LP’s lyrics and instrumentation, which reference notable women from Saint Rosalia of Palermo to Chinese Taoist master/poet Sun Bu’er, the biblical figure of Miriam, sister of Moses, and punk godmother Patti Smith. “In general, just to be in this world is a lot; sometimes it’s overwhelming,” she says in her new Billboard cover story. “In the best-case scenario, the idea would be that whoever hears it feels light and feels hope. Because that was how it was made and where it was made from.”

Fans got their first taste of the results last month when Rosalía dropped the single “Berghain,” which features Björk and Yves Tumor and a string orchestra introduction, followed by a Carmina Burana-esque chorus and Rosalía singing in an operatic soprano in three languages. “This album has a completely different sound than any of the projects that I’ve done before. It was a challenge for me to do a more orchestral project and learn how to use an orchestra, understand all the instruments, all the possibilities, and learn and study from amazing composers in history and say, ‘OK, that’s what’s been done. What can I do that feels personal and honest for me?,’” she says about the intensive recording and writing process.

The genre-hopping project has also earned high praise from “Berghain”collaborator Björk, who tweeted out her enthusiasm last week on X, writing, “so extremely honoured to be on this song with rosalía ! it is so thrilling to watch this woman grow : congratulations to her with this incredible album switching genre kung-fu style this concept is fierce !”

Randy Madden, a singer who competed on season eight of American Idol, was arrested in Ventura County, Calif., and is facing multiple felony charges.
According to court documents viewed by Billboard, the 45-year-old musician faces six felony charges, including unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 18, as well as sending harmful matter, luring and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Public online records show that the date of violation was July 21, and he was taken into custody on Oct. 30 before being released on bail early Tuesday (Nov. 4) morning after paying a $100,000 bond. A criminal protective order has been filed for the victim, according to court records.

Madden’s next hearing for the case will take place on Nov. 13, with a second hearing set for Nov. 17.

Billboard has reached out to the Ventura County Police Department, the district attorney’s office and Madden.

The aspiring rock star tried out for Idol in 2008, back when the program still had its original lineup of judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson. He never made it past his first audition, earning unanimous “No” votes from the trio after performing Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.” Cowell was especially tough on him, calling Madden — who had started to cry — “cliche” and a “drama queen.”

Kris Allen would go on to win the season.

Before his brief time on Idol, Madden played in a band called Sexual Harassment. In August 2024, he started a GoFundMe to help cover his living expenses and medical costs after suffering severe complications from a ligament replacement surgery he’d had on his left leg in May of that year. He was still seeking donations this past June, at which time he shared that he still couldn’t walk without crutches or a cane and anticipated needing at least two more procedures to treat the issue.

American Idol is now on its 24th season, which will premiere in January next year with judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan.

If you or anyone you know has been sexually assaulted or abused, contact RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline for 24/7 support and resources at 800-656-HOPE or via the website.

Trending on Billboard Rosalía speaks with Billboard about the confidence that divine inspiration brought her for her new album ‘LUX’ and explains how JUSTICE taught her the correct pronunciation of Sauvignon Blanc. How will fans be surprised by this album? Rosalía: I think they will be surprised. I hope they will be, but you never […]