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In the 1970s, “The Future Is Female” became a rallying cry built to encourage and challenge women, to portend that they were poised to surpass their male counterparts. Nearly five decades later, that prophecy rings truer than ever — especially inside the squared circle and in front of the mic.
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The world of wrestling is birthing perennial WrestleMania main-eventers with names like Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, Becky Lynch, Tiffany Stratton, Iyo Sky and Charlotte Flair headlining a stout women’s division in the WWE. The same could be said in the hip-hop world, where Billboard’s newly crowned Best Female Rapper of All Time, Nicki Minaj, still reigns supreme. While the Queen continues to lap adversaries with her decades-long dominance, her competition is fiercer than ever, as Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Latto, Doechii, GloRilla, Sexxy Redd continue to push towards pole position.
What makes this era of female wrestlers and rappers so compelling is the depth on both sides. In the 1990s and 2000s, WWE relied on sex appeal and titillating theatrics to captivate the audience. Lita and Trish Stratus dazzled with their skill and in-ring acrobatics, but the WWE leaned more into their desirability to satiate their audience’s cravings. During the McMahon era, Bra and Panties matches were considered the premium for the female division, due to the company’s dearth of talent. Even during The Divas era, when talent increased substantially with the arrival of The Bella Twins, Natalya, AJ Lee, Beth Phoenix, and others, the desire to see these women headline noteworthy premium live events like WrestleMania felt like a pipe dream.
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The trajectory was a bit different for female rap. In the late 1980s and 1990s, pioneers such as Roxanne Shante, MC Lyte, Salt-N-Pepa, and Queen Latifah made a significant impact on the rap scene with their sharp lyrics and unflinching demeanor. Although the men dominated the conversation, those marquee names went toe-to-toe with the males, twice as vigorous and swaggering. In the mid-to-late ’90s, Lil Kim and Foxy Brown grew in fame and supplanted those stars with sex-laden bars. Other artists attempted to replicate the blueprint, but their tawdry attempts didn’t pay any dividends; when Minaj detonated in the early 2010s, she had the female rap landscape in a bearhug, dominating radio and the Billboard Hot 100.
Fast forward to the 2020s, and the times have changed. WrestleMania 37 included not only a main event headlined by two female superstars but also two Black women: Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks. Liv Morgan became the first woman to win the inaugural WWE Crown Jewel Championship last year. At the same time, Tiffany Stratton was arguably the company’s top rookie, winning Money in the Bank in 2024 and, inevitably, her first Women’s Championship earlier this year. With WWE’s developmental system, NXT, serving as the training ground for budding talent, new stars are making their presence felt there before stepping onto the main roster. New stars are surging up the ranks, ranging from Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer to Jordynne Grace to newly-promoted acts Roxanne Perez and Guilia.
Though Minaj remains the top woman on the throne, the battle for supremacy is more brutal, as proven by Billboard’s Top 10 Hottest Female Rappers list last year, which saw GloRilla oust the Queens rapper from the top slot. Megan Thee Stallion rocketed to superstardom overnight when she nailed three Grammys at the 2021 ceremonies. Doechii’s genre-bending defiance has the music landscape salivating at her every move. And though Cardi has yet to drop her sophomore album, her 2018 debut, Invasion of Privacy, remains a landmark moment in the rap landscape.
In 2011, when Beyonce shouted out: “Who runs the world?,” the singer wasn’t merely predicting what was to come. She issued a spoiler, and a decade later, we’re watching it unfold as predicted right before our eyes.
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Morat’s Ya Es Mañana (YEM) album has topped Billboard’s latest new Latin music poll published on Friday, May 23. In support of the weekly New Music Latin roundup and playlist, curated by Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors, music fans voted for the Colombian band’s new studio album as their favorite music release of the week.
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The 14-track set, released via Universal Music Spain, generated more than 59% of the vote, beating out other new album releases last week including Alejandro Sanz’s ¿Y Ahora Qué?; Jesse & Joy’s Lo Que Nos Faltó Decir; and Los Tigres del Norte’s La Lotería, to name a few.
In YEM, the Bogotá-based group celebrates brotherhood, evolution, and above all, dreams coming true. The tracks are mostly inspired by riveting rock music from the ’90s, and include two collaborations: “Sin Ti” with Jay Wheeler and “Me Toca a Mi” with Camilo.
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https://open.spotify.com/album/3ImR4LsUQPbMKCa8FCuFYO?si=HA5XxSbcR9-6e8HMfRmrWA
“This is the moment to make the most of life, to be aware of what we must do now to create an incredible future,” said group member Juan Pablo Villamil during the band’s album release party in Miami. “For us, this album embodies the idea of the band we have always wanted to be, and we hope you enjoy it.”
Sanz’s new EP — whcih includes collabs with Shakira, Manuel Turizo and Grupo Frontera — and Karol G’s steamy perreo “Latina Foreva” came in at second and third place, respectively, on the fan-related poll. See the results of the latest poll below, which also included new songs by Greeicy, Carín León, Myke Towers, and Christian Nodal.
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Editor’s Note: The weekly New Music Latin poll results are posted if the poll generates over 500 votes.
Bunnie XO is kissing off haters who are criticizing how she shows affection for Jelly Roll on red carpets.
In a recent clip from her Dumb Blonde podcast, the social media star clapped back after trolls accused her of faking her feelings for her husband, citing the fact that they shared only a very brief peck in front of photographers at the Academy of Country Music Awards earlier in May, rather than exchanging a full-blown kiss. “They’re like, ‘She’s not really with him, that was a fake kiss, this is fake love,’” Bunnie began, quoting some of the recent comments she’s seen.
The content creator went on to explain, “When you are on a red carpet, you literally have 300 cameras pointing at you at one moment.”
“If I lingered on his lips longer than 10 seconds, you guys would be like, ‘She’s still a wh–e. Get a room, this is disgusting,’” Bunnie continued. “I have lipgloss on, I have an entire face [of makeup]. My husband has to continue taking pictures after that kiss. Does he want freaking lip liner and gloss all over his face? No.”
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The podcaster also said that photographers on red carpets will often specifically ask her and the “Need a Favor” singer to smooch, something she says isn’t asked of “any other couple.” “I don’t mind kissing my husband, but I’m not going to f–king lock lips with him,” Bunnie said. “Same thing on stage, people had a problem with how I was kissing him on stage.”
“First it was I was kissing him too much. Then it was, ‘Oh, she doesn’t like him, she doesn’t even want to kiss him,’” she added. “As the brand has grown, we’re in front of children. We’re in front of families.”
In addition to walking the carpet with Bunnie, Jelly also performed with Shaboozey at the ACM Awards on May 8. The “Son of a Sinner” musician was nominated for three awards that night — entertainer of the year and album of the year, which both went to Lainey Wilson, as well as male artist of the year, which went to Chris Stapleton.
Bunnie has been Jelly’s go-to plus-one at award shows throughout his music career, but their romance dates back to long before he was ever famous. The two stars first met in 2015 before tying the knot the next year, and in recent months, they’ve both been open about wanting to expand their family through IVF. The pair also shares full custody of Jelly’s 17-year-old daughter from a past relationship, Bailee; the country star is also Dad to 8-year-old Noah from a different past relationship.
“We’re right in the middle of the journey,” Jelly told Access Hollywood at the ACMs of his and Bunnie’s IVF experience. “For all of our friends out there who have been supporting and praying for us that know the journey we are on, y’all know how hard it is. Thanks for praying for us. We’re still trying.”
Watch Bunnie clap back at the kiss haters below.
As Dierks Bentley gears up to release his upcoming 11th studio album, Broken Branches (out June 13), and his 30-city Broken Branches Tour launching this week, he is also giving back to the creative and touring communities — including songwriters, musicians and touring crews — that keep artists and their music in front of fans.
Bentley has established the Broken Branches Fund, with a multiyear financial commitment to offer mental health resources to the creative and touring communities. The fund will be administered in partnership with Music Health Alliance and will give mental health grants to qualified candidates and their families. The funds will cover outpatient counseling and plans for follow-up care. Music fans can also donate to the fund throughout Bentley’s summer tour stops and through MHA’s online donation site.
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“Making this album and prepping for the tour, I’ve never been more aware of the sacrifice that the people in this town make every day to keep country music playing,” Bentley said in a statement. “Whether you’re sitting in a room all day trying to write the perfect hook or leaving home on a bus for weeks at a time, it can be isolating and exhausting. This just felt like the right opportunity to make a bigger commitment on my part to supporting those folks and their families in a more direct and intentional way.” “Dierks was one of the first artists to believe in and support Music Health Alliance, and from day one, he’s led with both heart and action,” Tatum Allsep, founder and CEO of Music Health Alliance, said in a statement. “Creating the Broken Branches Fund at MHA to support music’s mental health shows his deep commitment to the people who power our industry both on stage and off, and to their well-being for many years to come.”
Music Health Alliance launched in 2013 and offers advocacy and access to healthcare and mental health resources for music professionals and their families, with MHA’s services bing free to those who have earned a living in the music industry for more than three years. According to the MHA, more than 32,000 music community members across the United States have been aided through mental health resources, lifesaving transplants, health insurance and emergent dental care, saving more than $145 million in healthcare costs.
The new Bentley-launched fund continues the partnership work Music Health Alliance has been engaged in through various areas of the industry. Earlier this year, Music Health Alliance expanded its partnership with Universal Music Group to launch the Music Industry Mental Health Fund, to offer “comprehensive, high-quality outpatient mental health resources for music industry professionals across the United States.”
Bentley’s Broken Branches album will continue his dedication to collaborating with and spotlighting many of Nashville’s top tunesmiths, musicians and artists. He teams with Stephen Wilson Jr. on the song “Cold Beer Can,” while Riley Green and Country Music Hall of Famer John Anderson join him on the album’s title track, and Miranda Lambert appears on “Never You.” Luke Dick, Kyle Sturrock, Jeremy Bussey, Jordan Reynolds, Jim Beavers, Connie Harrington and Lauren McLamb are a few of the writers whose work is highlighted on the album.
Morgan Wallen’s 37-song collection I’m the Problem blasts in atop Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart (dated May 31), as well as the all-genre Billboard 200. The set (which contains one more track than on his previous LP, 2023’s One Thing at a Time) grants the singer-songwriter from Sneedville, Tenn., his fourth and third leader, respectively.
In its first week (May 16-22), I’m the Problem earned 493,000 equivalent album units in the United States, according to Luminate — the biggest week by that metric of 2025.
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I’m the Problem (on Big Loud/Mercury/Republic) sold 133,000, marking Wallen’s best career sales week, inclusive of a personal-best vinyl sales frame of 48,000. The set’s sales were helped by its availability on vinyl across five variants. (One Thing at a Time wasn’t released on vinyl until its fourth week on sale.)
On the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs chart, Wallen boasts 37 tracks — the entirety of I’m the Problem — as he breaks his own record for the largest one-week share of the survey, surpassing the 35 that he logged on the March 18, 2023, chart when One Thing at a Time debuted at No. 1 on Top Country Albums and the Billboard 200.
“What I Want,” featuring pop star Tate McRae, Wallen’s first collaboration with a female artist, rockets in atop Hot Country Songs, marking his 11th chart-topper and record-extending eighth No. 1 arrival.
As for the 21-year-old McRae from Calgary, Alberta, she scores her first Hot Country Songs No. 1 with her rookie entry in the genre. “What I Want” launches with 31.2 million official U.S. streams, 3.9 million airplay audience impressions and 2,000 sold. As previously reported, the collaboration roars in at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.
With five debuts in the Hot County Songs top 10, I’m the Problem has generated 13 top 10s (including three leaders), the most top 10s ever from a single album. Wallen infuses the entire top 10 on the May 31 chart, also a first, besting the nine that he logged on March 18, 2023.
Below “What I Want” (which is being promoted to pop and adult radio), “Just in Case,” Wallen’s current single at country radio, hops 3-2 on Hot Country Songs, rebounding to its best rank. The rest of his top 10 monopoly: “I’m the Problem” (2-3, following a week at No. 1 in February); “I Got Better” (No. 4, debut); “Superman” (No. 5, where it flew in a week earlier); “Love Somebody” (6-6, after a week at No. 1 last November); “I Ain’t Coming Back,” featuring Post Malone (8-7, after hitting No. 3); “20 Cigarettes” (No. 8, debut); “Kick Myself” (No. 9, debut); and “Eyes Are Closed” (No. 10, debut).
Wallen ups his career top 10 total on Hot Country Songs to 40. Dating to his first week in the tier, on the chart dated May 12, 2018, with “Up Down” (featuring Florida Georgia Line), his 40 top 10s are almost twice the amount of runner-up Luke Combs (21 in that span).
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It’s no secret that Drake needs a win (bad), as the past year has been tough on the Canadian rap crooner’s career thanks to a certified Boogeyman who resides out in Los Angeles.
Though the embattled artist has been keeping a somewhat low profile as of late as he regroups and plans his next moves, Drake did make some noise this past weekend when he announced that OVO Fest would be returning after a hiatus for the last few years and that Central Cee will indeed be taking part in the upcoming festivities. Popping up at Central Cee’s concert in Toronto this past weekend, Drizzy informed the crowd that OVO Fest will be making a comeback this summer, telling his adoring home crowd “OVO Fest back this year,” and letting Central Cee know “So we’ll need you there for that, but you already know what it is.”
Though Drizzy has yet to make an official announcement, it seems like he’s ready to get back in the spotlight this summer and is planning on recruiting some of his Hip-Hop peers to get it popping at his next OVO Fest.
With the last OVO Fest having taken place in 2022 (when Drake was on top of the world) and including the likes of Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and Nelly Furtado, it will be interesting to see who Drake can get to pull up to his upcoming festivities as some artists are still wary of being associated with the “0 To 100” rapper due to the hate that he’s still getting from many in the culture thanks to his beef with Kendrick Lamar.
Still, we’re sure he’ll have enough pull with certain artists (such as Central Cee apparently) that should OVO Fest 2025 actually happen, it will be quite the spectacle for music fans to enjoy and bring some much needed positive vibes to the King of the North, who’s been scowling on his throne for quite some time now.
What do y’all think about Drake bringing back OVO Fest this summer? Who would you like to see pop up at the event? Let us know in the comments section below.
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At the turn of the century, it was Allen Iverson who served as the bridge between hip-hop and basketball while also boasting a massive amount of pop culture influence. Part of the influence came after he retired, when the Philadelphia 76ers icon inspired Post Malone’s breakout hit “White Iverson” in 2015. A decade later, Posty […]
Nicki Minaj‘s last album arrived with her Pink Friday 2 to close out 2023, and she’s laid low for much of 2025 so far on the music side. Gracing the cover of Vogue Italia on Tuesday (May 27), Minaj opened up about the creative process heading into her next LP.
While the Queens legend has a collection of songs she’s proud of, Minaj is in no rush to release her next body of work until the time is right and aligns with her life.
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“I’ve got a bunch of really strong tracks, but I don’t want to rush,” she explained. “I want the record to mean something, both for the fans and for me. I’ll never be one of those people who puts out songs just to put them out. I love music. I respect it.”
When that time does come, she plans on hitting the road once again. “To experience it all again, as soon as possible. For me, and for the Barbz,” she added. The Pink Friday 2 World Tour earned Minaj the honor of having the highest grossing rap tour for a woman.
Elsewhere in the interview, Minaj revealed that she actually initially hated how she looked in the viral “Did I Lie” video, which was born from a CRWN interview in 2018 surrounding the rollout of Queen with Elliott Wilson.
“I hate how I look in that video,” she said. “When people started using it I thought, ‘I’m blocking you all!’ Then I gave in — it’s actually pretty funny.”
Minaj hasn’t made many public appearances this year, but she did pop out at the 2025 Met Gala earlier in May, as the Young Money rapper stunned in a Thom Browne navy pinstripe mermaid dress. “It reminded me of putting on your Sunday’s best and being iconic in your own world,” she told Entertainment Tonight of her attire.
Pink Friday 2 arrived with much fanfare in December 2023. The project debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 228,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 14, according to Luminate. That figure is the largest week for a rap album by a woman in the 2020s.
See Nicki’s Vogue Italia cover below:
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