Music

12 Feb 2024

Beyoncé Lays Down Her Country Cards With New Singles ’16 Carriages’ & ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’: Review

Beyoncé formally ended long-rumored speculation about the second act of her Renaissance trilogy during the Super Bowl festivities Sunday (Feb. 11) with the release of not one but two country songs: “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em.”

The former is a vulnerable yet empowering autobiographical ballad that finds the singer-songwriter’s melodious vocals riding along to a spare track. It’s punctuated by a hard-charging guitar during what will no doubt become another sing-along chorus for Queen Bey fans: “Sixteen carriages drivin’ away/ While I watch them ride with my dreams away/ To the summer sunset on a holy night/ On a long back road, all the tears I fight.” 

That number 16 is significant: It’s how old Beyoncé was when girl group Destiny’s Child signed with Columbia Records and released its breakthrough single “No, No, No.” The song’s lyrics also carry other biographical references, such as “I saw Mama prayin’, I saw Daddy grind” and “Goin’ so hard, gotta choose myself …/ Still workin’ on my life, you know/ Only God knows.” All in all, the song paints a very visual picture of Beyoncé’s dreams and ever-evolving career and life pursuits. 

On “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the Houston native turns playful alongside an uptempo, banjo-driven and folk-vibed track — accompanied by whistling at one point — for “a real-life boogie and a real-life hoedown” as she and her crew head “to the dive bar we always thought was nice.” It’s about running out for a fun night on the town in lieu of sitting back and worrying about all of life’s problems. “This ain’t Texas/ Ain’t no hold ‘em/ So lay your cards down,” Beyoncé proclaims. “I’ll be d–ned if I cannot dance with you/ Come pour some sugar on me, honey, too.”

This isn’t the 32-time Grammy Award winner’s first rodeo. She presented a peek inside her country alter ego in 2016 with “Daddy Lessons.” Appearing on Lemonade, her sixth studio album, the song also featured country icons The Chicks on its promotional remix, which both acts performed live on the CMA Awards in 2016. Submitted for inclusion in the country category that year for the next Grammy Awards, “Daddy Lessons” was rejected by The Recording Academy’s country music committee.

Given that song plus Beyoncé’s Texas roots (for some, another tip-off was the cowboy hat she wore at the recent Grammys), this move across the genre aisle shouldn’t be a surprise. On Renaissance: Act 1, she reclaimed house music, a genre that Black musicians and artists had a major hand in building. And now the same for country, whose longstanding foundation was laid by Black musicians and artists as well. And before Beyoncé, R&B stars Lionel Richie and Ray Charles (another multi-genre aisle-crosser who’s also a Country Music Hall of Fame member) made their own popular, top-charting forays into country. So why not Beyoncé?

Listen to her two latest singles below:

12 Feb 2024

Killer Mike Reflects on His Grammy Night Arrest: ‘All of My Heroes Have Been in Handcuffs’

Killer Mike’s Grammy night on Feb. 4 was bittersweet after being placed in handcuffs by LAPD following an alleged altercation with a security guard earlier in the day. Mike spoke to the cast of The View on Monday (Feb. 12), following his Grammy trifecta, where he won best rap album and song, and best rap performance. 

“All of my heroes have been in handcuffs – Malcolm, Martin, Mandela, Medgar,” he said reflectively. “I walked out with the same dignity and respect that I walked in with, and I would implore people to just take that from it.”

He also noted that the backstage area was jam-packed, and caused security to behave more rashly than usual. “Backstage was overcrowded, the winners were exuberant, and I think security got a little overzealous,” he relayed to the panel. 

Detained for several hours following his arrest, Mike received a misdemeanor charge and was released. Then, he met his wife, Shana, and quipped about their encounter, saying: “I walked out to my wife in the rain,” he said. “It was like a romance movie. It was dope.”

After his arrest, the rapper released a statement about the incident. “As you can imagine, there was a lot going and there was some confusion around which door my team and I should enter,” he said in part. “We experienced an overzealous security guard, but my team and I have the utmost confidence that I will ultimately be cleared of all wrongdoing.”

Mike’s whirlwind of a night didn’t end there. He later discovered that his 21-year-old son had finally found a kidney donor after waiting for three years. In an interview with GQ, he spoke about his initial reaction to hearing the news. 

“The very next morning, I got a call that my child, after being on the list for three years, finally got his kidney. And I can just truly tell you that God is real. And the same way Christ gave us an example of being by himself, of being tempted by Satan, I understand that a lot better now because I could have succumbed to anger or evil and talked s–t. But I’m just grateful.”

Watch Killer Mike’s interview with The View below. 

12 Feb 2024

Lady Gaga Recreates Her Halftime Show Glitter Makeup Look at 2024 Super Bowl

Lady Gaga rolled up to Super Bowl LVIII perfectly in theme.

As seen in the photo above, the “Rain on Me” superstar was spotted in the crowd at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on Sunday night (Feb. 11), rocking a San Fransisco 49ers jersey and a glittery eye look matching the one she wore back in 2017, when she performed her jaw-dropping Halftime Show at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

Opening with Lady Gaga singing a medley of “God Bless America” and “This Land Is Your Land” from the roof of the Super Bowl stadium, the New York City pop star performed a medley of hits during her 13-minute set, including “Poker Face,” “Born This Way,” “Bad Romance” and more. She wrapped up the visually and musically impressive set with a fitting mic drop, before she caught a football toss and hopped off a staircase to end the show.

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While Gaga’s team didn’t end up winning the Super Bowl — the 49ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 25-22 in overtime — she did get to enjoy this year’s Halftime Show performance from Usher. He performed some of his biggest hits, including “Caught Up,” “Burn,” “U Got It Bad,” “Confessions Part II,” “Love In This Club” and more, all while delivering his characteristically sultry dance moves for the roaring crowd.

Usher also had a few surprises up his sleeves, as he was joined by a few of his celebrity friends on stage, including Alicia Keys for a mashup of “If I Ain’t Got You” and “My Boo,” before H.E.R. delivered a jaw-dropping guitar solo, and Ludacris and Lil Jon teamed up to hype up the crowd with a medley of “Turn Down for What” and “Yeah!”

12 Feb 2024

Dolly Parton Advises Fans to ‘Forgive and Forget’ After Elle King’s Opry Performance

Dolly Parton broke her silence about Elle King’s controversial performance on the Grand Ole Opry stage on Jan. 19.

During a recent interview with Extra, the Country Music Hall of Fame inductee offered her thoughts on King’s performance. “Elle is a really great artist. She’s a great girl. She’s been going through a lot of hard things lately, and she just had a little too much to drink,” Parton said of the performance.

During the Grand Ole Opry’s tribute concert for the “9 to 5” singer’s 78th back in January, King appeared on stage, where she declared that she was “f–king hammered” and forgot the lyrics to Parton’s song “Marry Me.”

In her interview, Parton offered forgiveness and support to the “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)
singer, telling fans, “So let’s just forgive that and forget it and move on, ’cause she felt worse than anybody ever could.”

Following King’s performance, the Grand Ole Opry issued an apology via X, responding to one disgruntled attendee’s comment, and saying, “We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance.” King has yet to comment publicly on the incident.

Shortly after the Grand Ole Opry performance, King postponed a series of shows, including a concert at famous dancehall Billy Bob’s Texas.

In 2023, King released her debut country album, Come Get Your Wife, which featured the Dierks Bentley collaboration “Worth a Shot.” In addition to her 2015 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Ex’s & Oh’s,” King has two No. 1 Country Airplay hit collaborations: “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” with Miranda Lambert, as well as “Different for Girls” with Bentley.

Parton, meanwhile, is promoting her Duncan Hines baking line, and celebrating the golden anniversary of one of her signature songs, her 1973 hit “Jolene.” She also recently issued a deluxe version of her Rockstar album, featuring nine bonus tracks.

Watch Dolly Parton’s full interview with Extra below:

12 Feb 2024

Billy Joel Hits Hot 100 for First Time Since 1997 With New Single ‘Turn the Lights Back On’

Billy Joel’s “Turn the Lights Back On” returns the legendary singer-songwriter to the Billboard Hot 100, as it debuts on the chart dated Feb. 17 at No. 62. The song — Joel’s first single release in 17 years — marks his first entry on the chart since the survey dated Oct. 11, 1997, when he wrapped the run of his version of Bob Dylan’s “To Make You Feel My Love.”

Joel returns to the Hot 100 just one week shy of the 50th anniversary of his first appearance on the chart: on the list dated Feb. 23, 1974, he debuted at No. 94 with his breakthrough hit “Piano Man,” which went on to peak at No. 25. Among his 43 career Hot 100 entries including “Turn the Lights Back On,” he has banked 13 top 10s, including three No. 1s: “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” (for two weeks in 1980), “Tell Her About It” (one week, 1983) and “We Didn’t Start the Fire” (two weeks, 1989).

“Turn the Lights Back On” enters the Hot 100 following its first full week of tracking (Feb. 2-8), after it was released at 7 a.m. ET Thursday, Feb. 1, on Columbia Records. Further boosted by Joel’s performance of the piano ballad at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 4, it debuts with 5.1 million in radio audience, 4.5 million official streams and 22,000 combined physical (via 7” vinyl) and digital singles sold in the U.S., according to Luminate. It concurrently jumps 11-5 on the Digital Song Sales chart.

Notably, Joel, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, appeared as a writer on the Hot 100 amid his quarter-century-plus break from the chart as a recording artist: the Glee Cast’s covers of his classics “Only the Good Die Young” and “Uptown Girl” hit Nos. 50 and 68 in 2010 and 2011, respectively, while Fall Out Boy’s update of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” reached No. 94 last July. (Plus, Olivia Rodrigo’s “Deja Vu” shouts-out “Uptown Girl” and Joel himself; both his original “Uptown Girl,” in 1983, and “Deja Vu,” in 2021, hit No. 3. The pair performed both songs together at Madison Square Garden in New York in August 2022.)

“Turn the Lights Back On” was written by Joel, Arthur Bacon, Wayne Hector and Freddy Wexler. (Hector has co-written five top five Hot 100 hits, beginning with O-Town’s “All or Nothing” in 2001, while Wexler co-wrote Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber’s 2020 No. 1 “Stuck With U.”)

“The melody, the chords, the chord progression, even the time signature was something that struck me immediately, and that’s how I relate to music,” Joel said of how he reacted to what Wexler was working on. “This particular lyric in this song, I’ve had these thoughts, I could have written these lyrics verbatim. I’ve chewed on these words and I’ve thought of these words, and I’ve said these words before. It was all kind of falling into place – and who am I to fight that?”

Joel has solo-written 40 of his 43 Hot 100 hits as a recording artist, with “Turn the Lights Back On” serving as his first charted co-write. In addition to the Dylan-penned “To Make You Feel My Love,” Joel reached the ranking in 1992 with his cover of Elvis Presley’s “All Shook Up,” which Presley wrote with Otis Blackwell.

12 Feb 2024

Swizz Beatz Appears to Brush Off Comments About Usher Hugging Up Wife Alicia Keys During Super Bowl Halftime Show

Swizz Beatz has seen all your concerned comments about Sunday’s (Feb. 11) explosive Super Bowl LVIII halftime show and the hip-hop producer/rapper thinks you might need to calm down. “Y’all talking about the wrong damn thing !!! y’all don’t see that amazing dress covering the entire stadium ⚡️????‍??‍??‍??‍?,” he wrote of wife Alicia Keys‘ eye-popping, glittering red Dolce & Gabanna bejeweled catsuit and billowy organza cape.

In addition to a snap of Keys’ flowing train, Beatz also included a shot of headliner Usher hugging a smiling Keys from behind during their joint performance of their 2004 joint hit “My Boo.”

“Tonight’s performance was nothing but amazing with 2 amazing Giants!,” Beatz added. “Congrats @usher and my love @aliciakeys that song is a classic ? We don’t do negative vibes on this side we make history.”

Swizz’s post appeared to be in response to a number of tweets suggesting that the singers got a bit too cozy on stage during the performance in which Usher hugged Keys from behind and put his hand on her hip. “Usher knows he outta pocket for violating Alicia Keys at the superbowl last night,” wrote one X user, with another saying, “It’s wrong to hold someone’s wife like this. I don’t care if Swiss Beatz is okay with it.”

Beatz (born Kasseem Dean), 45 and Keys, 43, first met as teenagers in the 1990s and then reconnected in 2008 and married in 2010; they share two sons, Egypt and Genesis.

The special on-stage moment between the old friends came amidst a glitzy career-spanning halftime extravaganza from Usher — whose recently concluded My Way Las Vegas residency had the singer getting up-close-and-personal with fans and famous friends on a nightly basis — which also featured cameos from H.E.R., Jermaine Dupri, Will.i.am and Lil Jon and Ludacris, the latter on the show-closing, crowd-pleasing run through their 2004 hit “Yeah!”

Check out Beatz’ post below.

12 Feb 2024

Jack Harlow’s ‘Lovin on Me’ Rebounds for Fifth Week Atop Billboard Hot 100

Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me” returns to No. 1, from No. 2, for a fifth nonconsecutive week atop the Billboard Hot 100. The song first led for a week in December, followed by two frames at the summit in January.

Elsewhere, Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” reaches the Hot 100’s top five (8-3) and hits No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart, while three songs soar in the Hot 100’s top 10 following spotlights at the Grammy Awards Feb. 4: SZA’s “Snooze” (10-5), Luke Combs’ “Fast Car” (20-8) and Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” (32-10).

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated Feb. 17, 2024) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, Feb. 13. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Harlow’s “Lovin on Me,” released on Generation Now/Atlantic Records, drew 76.7 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 1%) and 23.2 million streams (down 10%) and sold 6,000 downloads (down 39%) in the Feb. 2-8 tracking week, according to Luminate.

The single adds a fourth week at No. 1 on the Radio Songs chart and dips 2-3 after five weeks atop Streaming Songs and 6-20 after two frames atop Digital Song Sales. It concurrently leads the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, which use the same methodology as the Hot 100, for a 12th week each.

Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” hits a new No. 2 Hot 100 high, rising from No. 4.

Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” bounds 8-3 on the Hot 100, a week after it became his first top 10. It becomes his first Streaming Songs No. 1, with 22.8 million streams (up 23%). (The song’s sum of raw streams is the week’s second-highest, after Harlow’s “Lovin on Me,” but “Beautiful Things” tops Streaming Songs due to the application of weighting to all titles’ paid/subscription and ad-supported on-demand streams and programmed/radio streams.)

Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” retreats 3-4 on the Hot 100, following four nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 beginning in October. It also becomes the sixth of her 232 charted titles (the most among women) to log at least 40 weeks on the tally, joining “Anti-Hero” (53 weeks; 2022-23), “Shake It Off” (50; 2014-15), “You Belong With Me” (50; 2008-10), “Love Story” (49; 2008-09) and “Teardrops on My Guitar” (48; 2007-08).

SZA’s “Snooze” reawakens with a 10-5 jump on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 2, up 29% to 16.5 million streams and 284% to 3,000 sold, as well as 1% to 45 million in airplay audience. SZA performed the song, in a medley with her 2023 No. 1 “Kill Bill,” at the Grammys, broadcast on CBS from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, while “Snooze” additionally won for best R&B song.

Notably, “Snooze” scores its 60th week on the Hot 100. It’s just the 26th title to reach the milestone (among the over 30,000 that have hit the chart dating to its Aug. 4, 1958, inception).

“Snooze” concurrently leads the multimetric Hot R&B Songs chart for a 28th week.

Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything,” featuring Kacey Musgraves, keeps at No. 6 on the Hot 100, after it led for a week upon its debut last September. The collab, which won the Grammy Award for best country duo/group performance, tops the multimetric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Rock Songs charts for a 24th week each and Hot Country Songs for a 20th frame.

Tate McRae’s “Greedy” descends 5-7 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 3. It sports a 6% gain to 1,000 sold after she performed it at the NHL All-Star Game Feb. 3 in Toronto (broadcast in the U.S. on ABC).

Luke Combs’ “Fast Car” revs 20-8 on the Hot 100, after peaking at No. 2, up 26% to 13.6 million streams and 1,185% to 17,000 sold, as well as 1% to 39.4 million in radio reach. Combs performed the song, which was nominated for best country solo performance, at the Grammys with Tracy Chapman, whose original version hit No. 6 on the Hot 100 in 1988.

Chapman’s “Fast Car” meanwhile, re-enters Digital Song Sales at No. 1 with 35,000 sold (up 8,215%). It marks the singer-songwriter’s first leader on a Billboard chart since 2000, when “Telling Stories (There Is Fiction in the Space Between)” topped Adult Alternative Airplay for eight weeks. Plus, with 6 million streams (up 153%) and 1.3 million airplay audience impressions (up 67%), Chapman’s “Fast Car” re-enters the Hot 100 at No. 42. She appears on the chart for the first time since the survey dated Dec. 28, 1996, while her recording of “Fast Car” reaches the ranking for the first time since it wrapped its original 21-week run on the list dated Oct. 22, 1988.

(Chapman has won four Grammy Awards, including best female pop vocal performance for “Fast Car,” which she wrote solo, in 1989; she also won for best new artist, while “Fast Car” parent LP Tracy Chapman won for best contemporary folk album that year.)

Doja Cat’s “Agora Hills” backtracks to No. 9 from its No. 7 Hot 100 high.

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” (32-10) likewise benefits from buzz at the Grammys, where it won for record of the year and best pop solo performance – marking her first career Grammy wins – and she performed the song. After dominating the chart for eight weeks starting upon its debut in January 2023, it surges with gains in streams (11.3 million, up 51%) and sales (26,000, up 2,160%), along with 33 million in radio audience.

Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on Billboard’s social accounts, and all charts (dated Feb. 17), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Feb. 13).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

12 Feb 2024

Here’s What Taylor Swift Told Travis Kelce Right After the Chiefs Won the 2024 Super Bowl

The image of Taylor Swift kissing Travis Kelce after the Kansas City Chiefs won the 2024 Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 11) is one that will go down in pop-culture history. And now, newly shared videos from the already iconic moment have revealed what exactly the pop star told the tight end soon after he helped lead his team to victory.

“Come here, girl,” Kelce says when he first saw the 14-time Grammy winner on the field, quickly wrapping her up in a kiss.

“Oh my god,” she responds, hugging him tightly. “I cannot believe that. I can’t believe you. How did you do that?”

One clip from the exchange shows Kelce asking, “Was it electric?”

“It was unbelievable,” the “Anti-Hero” singer enthuses. “That was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Moments before, Swift watched the offensive lineman deliver a raucous victory speech while accepting the Lombardi Trophy. “You gotta fight for your right to party!” he cheered, tears streaming down his face, as the musician looked on proudly from below the stage.

This year marked the Chiefs’ second Super Bowl win in a row, a feat they earned 25-22 against the San Francisco 49ers after going into overtime. Swift attended the game with her parents as well as Blake Lively, Ice Spice, Lana Del Rey and more famous friends before going to an afterparty with Kelce.

Videos from the post-game festivities captured the couple dancing and singing along to remixes of two of Swift’s Fearless era hits, “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me.” “It’s a love story, baby just say yes,” the “Karma” musician mouthed to the Ohio native before kissing him on the dance floor.

See Swift congratulate Kelce after the 2024 Super Bowl below.

12 Feb 2024

Oasis’ Liam Gallagher Had a Predictably NSFW Response to Band’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nomination

Count former Oasis singer, solo star and proprietor of one of rock‘s most legendary bored-to-death stares Liam Gallagher as someone unimpressed by his band’s inclusion on the 2024 short list for nomination into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The notoriously tetchy singer who went solo after older brother and chief Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher split the band in 2009 summed up his dyspeptic feelings about the nod in a short, sharp tweet in which he wrote, “F–ck the Rock n Roll hall of fame its full of BUMBACLARTS.” The latter is a Jamaican slang term frequently employed by Gallagher on his socials when peeved to express his disdain in no uncertain terms.

At press time a spokesperson for the RRHOF had not returned Billboard‘s request for additional comment on Gallagher’s tweet.

When someone commented with a reminder to Oasis fans to choose the group in the RRHOF fan vote since, at the moment, Oasis was “losing stratospherically” to this year’s other nominees, Gallagher responded, “Don’t waste your time Rkid as much as it’s appreciated it’s all a load of bollox.” He later wrote a comment on another post suggesting the Britpop superstars really do deserve the award. “I appreciate that you do but I honestly feel there’s something very fishy about those awards,” Gallagher wrote in one of dozens of snarky, humorous replies.

To be fair, someone else resurfaced a 2021 response Gallagher posted to someone asking his thoughts on Oasis’ possible induction into the Rock Hall, to which the singer said, “Not interested in any of that.”

At press time Oasis had just over 23,500 votes from fans, with Ozzy Osbourne leading all vote-getters (39,848), followed by Peter Frampton, Foreigner, Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey and Kool & the Gang. The only acts below Oasis currently are Sinéad O’Connor, Sade and Jane’s Addiction. This year’s roster of nominees also includes Mary J. Blige, Eric B. & Rakim and A Tribe Called Quest.

Gallagher’s pointed response was quite different from one of his fellow irascible British rock peers, metal god Ozzy Osbourne, who said he was “deeply honored” to be considered as a solo act after already being enshrined with Black Sabbath. Foreigner singer Mick Jones also said it was an honor, calling the nomination an “incredible endorsement” of the band’s achievements over the past 45+ years and guitar great Frampton said he “screamed” when he found out. In the past, the Sex Pistols’ John Lydon and Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose have thrown cold water on their bands’ induction and a number of key band members have been conspicuously absent at inductions of Black Sabbath, Jefferson Airplane and Van Halen.

Gallagher would certainly not be the first potential inductee to say they’d prefer not being enshrined in Cleveland. Back in 2022, country superstar Dolly Parton initially “respectfully” declined the Hall’s nomination, later reversing course and accepting the honor, as well as releasing her first rock album, Rockstar.

The 2024 nominees will be decided by a voting body of 1,000+ “artists, historians and members of the music industry,” per a press release. The Rock Hall’s Class of 2024 will be announced in late April.

Check out Gallagher’s tweet below.

12 Feb 2024

Who Should Perform at the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show? Vote!

After Usher electrified Allegiant Stadium on Sunday (Feb. 11) at the 2024 Super Bowl with his dazzling footwork and guest surprises such as Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Ludacris and more, fans are speculating as to who will be next up to grace the halftime show in New Orleans in 2025. Of course, the first name that comes to mind is rap icon Jay-Z. 

Earlier this year, fans’ ears perked when Jay entertained the idea of stepping on the prestigious stage when asked why he hadn’t done so already. “I thought it would be selfish to pick myself too early,” he said during a red carpet appearance for the premiere of The Book of Clarence. “Maybe one year. Maybe.” Since 2019, Jay-Z and his company Roc Nation have signed on to help the NFL pick out talent to perform during the prestigious game.

Another MC who’s crossing his fingers and hoping to touchdown in New Orleans, happens to have close ties to the city. In a recent interview on the 4HUNNID podcast, Lil Wayne tossed his hat into the race and assured listeners that he’s doing everything it takes to secure the coveted spot. 

“I will not lie to you, I have not got a call or nothing,” he said. “But we are praying. We praying. We keeping our fingers crossed. I’m working hard. I’mma make sure this next album and everything I do is killer. I wanna just make it hard for them not to holler at the boy.”

Other notable names to consider outside of hip-hop include Ariana Grande, who is prepping her studio album after clinching her eighth Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper with “Yes And?” in January. Taylor Swift is also looking to wreak havoc this April with her upcoming project, The Tortured Poets Department. After seeing her beau, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, perform on the biggest stage, Swift might finally want a taste of the Super Bowl for herself. And can K-pop make a splashy entrance next year with BLACKPINK, who in 2023 became the first Asian act to headline Coachella? 

Who should do the honors and headline the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show? Vote below to let us know who you’d like to see.