Music
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If you’re a certified Swiftie, don’t lose hope on finding tickets to the remaining dates of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour. In June, TikTok launched the #TSTheErasTour, an interactive in-app artist experience, during which fans were encouraged to complete album-themed tasks. Fans who completed all 11 tasks received a celebratory profile frame. However, now it appears that […]
Streams and sales of Beyoncé’s 2016 Kendrick Lamar-featuring song “Freedom” have continued to rise throughout the last month following its pick as Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign theme song for her 2024 U.S. presidential campaign, capturing its biggest streaming day in a month on the day after Harris accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination at the party’s national convention on Aug. 22.
On Aug. 23, streams of “Freedom” ballooned to 159,000 official on-demand U.S. listens, up 43% from 111,000 on Aug. 22, the final day of the Democratic National Convention, according to Luminate. (Incidentally, Aug. 22 was also the day Beyoncé was rumored to be performing at the Chicago convention, the whispers of which did not ultimately ring true.)
A week before on Aug. 16, “Freedom” pulled 49,000 such streams, making that gain far more pronounced: a 224% jump.
Kamala Harris’ Presidential Campaign Effect on Beyoncé’s ‘Freedom’
Billboard
Streams of the song accelerated once the convention began on Aug. 19. It earned 51,000 streams on day one, followed by sums of 87,000, 101,000 and 111,000 prior to the accumulation of 159,000 on Aug. 23.
That being said, the Aug. 23 count for “Freedom” isn’t its largest over the last month or so. On July 23, one day after Harris walked out to “Freedom” while visiting her newly minted campaign headquarters, the song scored 205,000 official on-demand streams, then a 646% boost over July 22’s sum of 27,000. It rebounded again on July 25 and 26 following the premiere of a campaign ad featuring the song on July 25, racking up 179,000 and 184,000 streams those two days, respectively.
32% of “Freedom’s” on-demand official streams in the U.S., year-to-date, have occurred in the span of time between when Harris used the song at her first campaign event (July 22) and the day after she accepted the Democratic party’s nomination (Aug. 23). In those 33 days, the song garnered 2.8 million on-demand official streams – of the song’s total 8.8 million earned since the start of the year.
As for sales, “Freedom” jumped 216% in the week ending Aug. 22 to 2,000 downloads sold, spurring its coronation at No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B Digital Song Sales chart dated Aug. 31. The song had never been No. 1 before; it debuted at No. 15 on the May 14, 2016, survey and had not charted since 2019 until it blasted onto the ranking at No. 2 Aug. 3 due to its initial affiliation with Harris’ campaign.
That 2,000-download count also puts “Freedom” at No. 25 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales list, its first time there since the chart dated May 21, 2016.
“Freedom” was released as part of Lemonade, Beyonce’s sixth studio album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated May 14, 2016. It peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year.
—Additional reporting by Keith Caulfield
The nearly impossible, the previously unthinkable, is happening: Oasis has announced a reunion, with Liam and Noel Gallagher re-forming the British rock group that made them famous after 15 years and countless verbal jabs at each other. And over the past few days, U.S. music listeners have toasted the unlikely comeback by revisiting (or discovering) […]
A seven nation army couldn’t hold Jack White back from calling out Donald Trump over the alleged unauthorized use of his music. In a heated Instagram post Thursday (Aug. 29), the White Stripes rocker reshared a tweet seemingly posted by the former president’s deputy director of communications, Margo Martin, featuring a video of Trump ascending […]
Two months after rapper Enchanting’s devastating passing at age 26, her official cause of death has been revealed. The hip-hop artist died of toxic effects of oxycodone and benzodiazepines, a spokesperson for the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office told People. Her death was deemed accidental. She was previously reported to have died in the hospital […]
Jobs can feel like a prison for some people, and Cardi B felt the backlash from a recent joke she made when posting a photo from the studio, which she compared to being in jail.
The Grammy-winning rapper posted an Instagram Story on Wednesday (Aug. 28) working hard in the studio, but captioned the photo letting her fans know she was jokingly back at the “Atlantic Records correctional facilities.”
Apparently, the quip didn’t go over well with some and Cardi B spoke out defending her jest on X on Thursday (Aug. 29). “The fact that I made a little joke about the studio because I been mixing and mastering about 40-50 songs and y’all turned that into I hate creating is crazy,” she wrote. “This why artists don’t interact anymore cuz y’all will take one little joke and stretch it wider than y’all a–holes.”
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She continued: “God forbid I make a little sarcastic jokey jokey about motherhood y’all gonna claim I hate my kids and call cps…dweebs.”
A fan attempted to troll her with his response: “What do u create? lol.” Cardi wasn’t having any of it and clapped back with the swiftness: “HITS AND BEAUTIFUL A– KIDS.”
It’s been a six-year journey for Cardi B heading into her sophomore LP. She provided an update earlier in August, letting fans know that the cover art had been shot, but she was struggling on picking the right one.
Even outside of music, 2024 has been another busy year for The Bronx native. Cardi B is currently pregnant with her third child, which she revealed on Aug. 1 and happened to be the same day Billboard confirmed that she has filed for divorce from Offset.
Per Cardi’s rep, the divorce filing “is not based on any one particular incident, it has been a long time coming and is amicable.”
“With every ending comes a new beginning! I am so grateful to have shared this season with you, you have brought me more love, more life and most of all renewed my power! Reminded me that I can have it all!” she wrote at the time. “You’ve reminded me that I never have to choose between life, love, and my passion! I love you so much and can not wait for you to witness what you helped me accomplish, what you pushed me to do! It’s so much easier taking life’s twists, turns and test laying down, but you, your brother and your sister have shown me why it’s worth it to push through!”
Invasion of Privacy arrived in April 2018. The LP debuted atop the Billboard 200 and every song on the project is at least certified platinum. Cardi B also took home best rap album honors at the 2019 Grammy Awards.
Check out Cardi’s latest tweets below:
The fact that I made a little joke about the studio because I been mixing and mastering about 40-50 songs and y’all turned that into I hate creating is crazy… this why artists don’t interact anymore cuz y’all will take one little joke and stretch it wider than y’all assholes— Cardi B (@iamcardib) August 29, 2024
God forbid I make a little sarcastic jokey jokey about motherhood y’all gonna claim I hate my kids and call cps…dweebs 😩— Cardi B (@iamcardib) August 29, 2024
Billboard Unfiltered is back with another brand new episode. Staffers Kyle Denis, Carl Lamarre and Damien Scott embraced debate on Thursday (Aug. 29) while touching on a plethora of topics such as A$AP Rocky’s new Billboard cover story, Complex‘s GOAT Atlanta rapper list, Nelly missing the cut on Billboard‘s top 25 pop stars of the 21st century list.
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Deputy Director, Editorial Damien Scott provided some context to his cover story on Rocky, who delayed his Don’t Be Dumb album into the fall. For part of their travels, Scott accompanied the Mob frontman through his hometown as Rocky’s love affair with Harlem was on full display.
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“He’s like, ‘I come back all the time.’ At first I was like, ‘No you don’t.’ People wouldn’t go this crazy if you came back all the time,” Scott said. “But because he was so comfortable there, I was like, ‘You do come back here all the time.’ He was just waltzing around like it was nothing.”
Scott continued: “He was like, ‘This is my block, this is where I came up, this is where my friend lived, this is where we used to go, this is where I used to bring my dates, my school was right here, I used to go shopping right here.’ He felt at ease as if one of you were to go back home.”
Complex recently unveiled its top 50 Atlanta rappers list with André 3000 coming in at No. 1, which Deputy Director R&B/Hip-Hop Carl Lamarre took issue with since Three Stacks is without a solo album in his discography.
“What befuddles me so crazy is you don’t have a singular body of work to put against somebody like a T.I., who has 11 albums himself — I’ma say three classics solo. Someone like Jeezy, ATL staple TM:101,” Lamarre said. “When you’re talking about individuals, it would help to have a singular body of work to represent that output.”
CL listed out his personal Mount Rushmore of Atlanta MCs in no specific order: “Future, Jeezy, Tip and Thug.” Scott went with Outkast as a duo, Ceelo Green, T.I. and Gucci Mane over Jeezy.
Staff Writer Kyle Denis was among the team responsible for crafting Billboard‘s top 25 pop stars of the 21st century list, and among the honorable mentions that didn’t make the cut like 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar and Jennifer Lopez, it was Nelly who he had the toughest time with keeping out of the 25.
“I think there’s just so much happening in 2024 specifically that you don’t get without Nelly,” he said. “We don’t get a Shaboozey ‘Tipsy,’ we don’t get half of what Beyoncé’s doing on Cowboy Carter on the back half, we don’t get a lot of Morgan Wallen’s s–t in the way that he attacks records certain songs with the cadence he uses without what Nelly does. Talking about Midwest rappers, you don’t get Sexyy Red.”
Watch the entire episode below. Keep it locked for another episode of Billboard Unfiltered next week.
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Olivia Rodrigo has good reason to be “Obsessed” with the Grammy eligibility rules, specifically the one that states: “Tracks from an album released during last year’s eligibility period are eligible in the current eligibility period, provided the same tracks were not entered the previous year and the album did not win a Grammy.”
That means that Rodrigo’s “Obsessed,” a single from the deluxe Guts (Spilled) edition of her 2023 album Guts, is eligible for the 67th annual Grammy Awards. The single was released on March 22, 2024, well within the eligibility period for the 2025 Grammys (Sept. 16, 2023 to Aug. 30, 2024). It was not entered in last year’s awards process (the focus was on “Vampire,” which was nominated for record and song of the year and best pop vocal performance, and “Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl,” nominated for best rock song). And crucially, Guts didn’t win a Grammy, though it was nominated for both album of the year and best pop vocal album at the ceremony.
On the other hand, if Noah Kahan were to look over the Grammy rulebook, he might find less to cheer about. Stick Season (Forever), which was released on Feb. 9, 2024, will not be eligible to compete for album of the year. Here’s the rule from the Grammy rulebook: “Updated, revised or expanded versions of previously submitted albums will not be eligible.”
Stick Season (Forever) is an expanded version of Kahan’s Stick Season album, which was released on Oct. 14, 2022. An earlier expanded version, Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever), was entered for album of the year and best Americana album at the ceremony that was held earlier this year. It wasn’t nominated in either category, but it was “submitted.” (Kahan’s only Grammy nomination to date is best new artist at the ceremony held earlier this year.)
Current voting and professional members of the Recording Academy are hunkering down today and tomorrow – or, at least, the Academy fervently hopes they are – to enter recordings for the 67th annual Grammy Awards. The submission window closes on Friday Aug. 30 at 6 p.m. PT.
The rules and guidelines handbook for the 67th annual Grammy Awards runs 75 pages – and it’s not exactly a “beach read.” Fortunately, the Academy prepared a one-page summary of “Basic Guidelines.” We combed through that document to cull these eight highlights.
Recordings must meet these three basic eligibility guidelines.
Sabrina Carpenter went head-to-head with Jenna Ortega in the gory music video for “Taste,” and now the pop star is giving a behind-the-scenes look at the visual in a video released on Thursday (Aug. 29). Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “In the Sabrina cinematic universe, women […]
Ahead of the release of his upcoming album Better Me Than You, Big Sean dropped off a loosie on SoundCloud, and he sounds confident as he sets things off on the Kanye-produced track with lines such as “We in this b—h, back focused, right?/F—k that overnight success, I want it over life? I’m overseein’ what I’m seein’, f—k a oversight/ From the other side of the screen like a poltergeist/ I’m in this b—h, droppin’ gems like I’m off the heist/ They had to name they son Sean ’cause the boy that bright.”
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“Fighting Fires” is essentially a different version of Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign‘s Vultures 2 song “My Soul.” The Detroit rapper teased the song in July on Instagram Live and even stated it could end up on his former label boss’ album.
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During the same IG Live session, the Detroit rapper shared he has dealt with mental health issues and second guessing decisions when it comes to this project. “I’ve been having a hard f—king time, dawg, I’m not gon’ lie,” he said. “Been in this b—h trying to finish a album, and I’m kinda tired of overthinking it. … And, by the way, n—a, like me, I’ve been trying to be on some sober s–t so a n—a out here raw-dogging his emotions, bro.”
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As his release date gets closer, Sean revealed that he’s been doing too much overthinking as he held back tears. “I am a chronic overthinker,” he said during an emotional Instagram Live earlier this week. “I’m a chronic, constant worker. And I’ve been having a hard time lately, straight up. It’s not been easy … But it’s worth it. The whole concept of the album, though, is like Better Me Than You. So, it’s like when you go through your s—t, it’s like you the one that can handle it… ’cause it gets hard. Your faith gets tested, for sure.”
He credited his mom for helping restore his confidence. “When me and Jhené [Aiko] were giving our son a bath last night, my mom called me and she was just giving me them words,” he said. “And I was just like, ‘Look, I can keep working and make it exactly how I want it and I’ll be pushing it back forever. Or I can believe in the fire-a– work that I got right now and that’s what I’ma do. I appreciate my mom for being that guardian angel and always giving me that advice. She really talked me through it, for real.”
Initially slated to drop on Aug. 9, Better Me Than You hits DSPs Aug. 30 at midnight.