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Rick Ross and Drake have remained at odds since exchanging jabs on a series of diss tracks last year, but Rozay is open to ending the beef with his “Stay Schemin” collaborator.
The Biggest Boss joined Bootleg Kev for an interview Wednesday (May 7), during which they discussed the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, something Ross saw as “necessary” for the rap game.
The conversation then switched to spotlight the root of Rozay’s issues with Drake, which Bootleg Kev theorized came from Drake’s treatment of French Montana on a track.
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“I spoke on that on the record I released. Like I said, ‘F–k that s–t,’” Ross said. “Was it something really deep? Nah, f–k that, though. But if you p—y, you p—y. If it’s real, it’s real.”
Now, it’s unclear if Ross is being 100 percent serious, but the Florida rapper says he’d be open to squashing his feud with Drizzy.
“You never know,” he began. “If a n—a send me a bottle of Luc Belaire, especially the white one. That go for any of these young n—-s out here … Send me a white Belaire and I’ll take a picture with you.”
Drake sent shots at Ross on his April 2024 “Push Ups” diss track, and Rozay returned the favor with “Champagne Moments.” Ross accused Drizzy of getting a nose job and referred to the OVO rapper as the “white boy” while continuing to troll the 6 God on social media.
Rick Ross and Drake have teamed up for a handful of anthems over the years, including Rozay’s three top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: “Lemon Pepper Freestyle,” “Money in the Grave” and DJ Khaled’s “I’m On One.”
Last year, Ross joined Yung Miami for an episode of Caresha Please, which saw him reflect on being at odds with Drake.
“He mentioned my name, and that’s a no-no,” he said. “Don’t do that, especially when it ain’t about no real s–t. But when you do that, OK then: this is how we gonna play. I can wake up every day and say ‘BBL Drizzy’ or some old s–t, while I’m smoking a joint, listening to the waterfalls and all that s–t, looking at the birds fly off. That s–t easy for me. I don’t know. It depend on how I feel. I ain’t losing no sleep over none of that.”
Watch Rick Ross talk to Bootleg Kev about his Drake feud below:
Read it and weep, conspiracy theorists: Lea Michele has proven once and for all that she is not illiterate.
After years of enduring absurd but persistent rumors that she never learned to read, the Glee actress finally demonstrated on camera that she is totally capable of interpreting the written English language. But first, while serving as a guest on Jake Shane’s Therapuss podcast episode posted Wednesday (May 7), Michele began by saying that her feelings about the wild speculation “depends on the day.”
“Sometimes I think it’s crazy that people care enough about me that they would make up something … that someone has so little to do in their life in their day that they would waste it on me, is hilarious to me,” she told Shane. “And then there are moments where I f–king get so frustrated by it, because I’m one of the only women in my whole family to get accepted to college. My mother and my mother’s whole family was extremely poor from the Bronx, not very well educated, and my parents moved me from the Bronx to New Jersey to get a good education and to thrive, and I did.”
“My parents and my family are so proud of that … for someone to minimize that, it’s so sad and so frustrating,” she continued, noting that she was on the debate team in school, for which she had to write speeches.
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After talking about the illiteracy rumors for a few minutes, an exasperated Michele abruptly decided to show, not tell, Shane’s viewers that she can read. “Give me the [notecards], I’m reading them!” she said, reaching for the podcaster’s notes.
“Jonathan [Groff] is not here to read me this s–t!” she added, referencing her good friend and former Spring Awakening costar.
The Broadway star then proceeded to successfully read the contents of the card aloud — at one point joking, “What does this word say?” — putting the debate over her literacy to bed as Shane howled with laughter. The hilarious moment ends years of people speculating online that, having started doing theater as a young child, Michele never learned to read and instead depended on people to feed her her lines. The actress has poked fun at the theory a few times over the years, and in a 2022 interview with The New York Times, she stated, “I went to Glee every single day. I knew my lines every single day. And then there’s a rumor online that I can’t read or write? It’s sad. It really is. I think often if I were a man, a lot of this wouldn’t be the case.”
Beyond dispelling the silliest rumor of her career, Michele also spoke at length about her days on Glee. “We were all so young, and everybody was growing up and falling in love, and for me, that was a huge part of the whole experience for me,” she said of her castmates. “When I watch it, I can tell you exactly, ‘Oh, that day I was sobbing in my dressing room.’ Or, ‘That day was the best day in the world.’”
Watch Michele’s full interview on Therapuss above.
In July 2020, on the brink of a major life change, English Teacher’s Lily Fontaine laid down a statement of purpose for the journey that lay ahead. “It is less than three weeks until I move back to Leeds to try and become a rock musician,” she wrote in an edition of indie magazine Come Play With Me. “I hope that if I succeed, a young Black girl might see me and think she can be [successful] too one day.”
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Having recently graduated from Leeds Conservatoire, where the Colne-raised songwriter met her future bandmates, these were the words of a young woman ready to transform the way she envisioned her life. Within four years, she and the rest of English Teacher would go on to experience a watershed moment at the iconic Abbey Road Studios, where the group scooped the prestigious Mercury Prize last September for its richly charismatic debut album This Could Be Texas.
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“We just thought we’d make a band,” said Fontaine during the band’s acceptance speech, lost for words at the magnitude of the accolade. The four-piece thanked the venues and charities that had supported during their early days in Leeds, struggling to find the words to express their gratitude. It was a deeply affecting moment, one that speaks to the tenacity, talent and passion that has fueled them to these heights.
“I can barely think about the [Mercury Prize] night without getting emotional,” says guitarist Lewis Whiting, speaking to Billboard UK via Zoom. “We could barely speak when we won. Maybe we should just keep up our own trend of never having a winners’ speech at the ready!”
Winning the Mercury Prize may have helped English Teacher sail to the forefront of the next wave of British guitar music, but its the uniform strength of their impassioned live show that has made them breakout stars. The band will kick off a summer of touring – including appearances at Glastonbury and Green Man – by topping the bill of Billboard U.K.’s Live experience on May 16. Headlining The Deep End venue, Brighton, as part of The Great Escape 2025, it will be joined by a series of rising artists, including Westside Cowboy, the latter for whom Whiting has recently worked with as a producer.
Following an appearance in the 2021 virtual edition of The Great Escape due to COVID restrictions, English Teacher performed at the weekender the following year in support of its Polyawkward EP. Around this time, the outfit’s quirky, lightly rumbustious songs began to resonate across British press and radio; accessible while containing a marked dose of strangeness, Fontaine’s songwriting – at once emotionally raw and witty – boasted a strong multi-generational appeal.
That EP invited a bigger audience into English Teacher’s world, preceding an inexorable rise. Now, having earned first BRIT Award nomination and bagged Fontaines D.C. support slots this year, Whiting discusses how it feels for the band to be playing to increasingly frenzied crowds while working on “tighter and more focused” new music in the background.
You have a storied history with The Great Escape. Looking back at those earlier gigs, how does it feel to think about the band that you were then?
There wasn’t a single part of me that thought we’d be anywhere near where we are now as a band. Those early gigs feel like a different lifetime, for sure – a lot has changed since those early appearances at The Great Escape. I remember the 2022 edition of the festival felt like quite a significant kind of turning point for us. At the time, it felt like things had started falling together for us, and we were like, “D–n, people are actually coming to our shows, something is happening here!”
What memories do you have of the festival over the years?
When we first went to The Great Escape, I think there was a collective kind of giddiness among the band. At that point, we’d never properly experienced a festival like that, so we were pretty over the moon with the response we got from the crowds there. We made some friends along the way, including [the band] Sprints, who we are still close with now. A lot of my memories from The Great Escape revolve around bumping into people around Brighton; it often feels like you’re walking past you know every two minutes!
Since you won the Mercury Prize, have you been surprised by anything that’s changed in your life?
Last year was absolutely huge for us, which is something I am still adjusting to. So many elements of our lives have changed: there’s been an extra layer of public attention on us, which we obviously have never experienced before. It all still feels quite alien, but 2024 was one of the best years of my life. Looking back, it feels like something new happened for us each week.
Given that it’s been a pretty mental 12 months, I think as a band, we’ve been making more of a conscious effort to check in and see where everyone’s at [mentally]. All our lives are now so different, more chaotic and busy, so it’s been really important to keep tabs on each others’ well-being – especially as we are on the road far more often.
How has touring extensively impacted your sources of inspiration for writing the next album?
This has definitely been a big thing for us. A lot of the first album was about the idea of home and all of the emotions that come entangled with that. There’s still a lot of the second album to still be written but we’ve all been through so many changes – and so many new experiences gained through travelling and touring – that I feel will definitely feed into the music too. We’re in a very different place to where we were at for the debut.
Has the meaning of some of your older material changed for you over time?
100%, which is actually a really nice feeling. It’s interesting — because I’m not the lyricist for the band, but as we’ve been on tour, I’ve found that my personal meanings of some of the songs have changed quite a bit. “Mastermind Specialism” is one that really stands out, as it’s a song about indecision; when we play it, I find that I start thinking about all the little decisions that have led us up to this point as a band. “Nearly Daffodils” is another one, as it’s about a relationship that could have been, and all the changes you can go through in life in quite quick succession.
Which song have you written that still gives you goosebumps?
“Albert Road” has really taken on a new significance, however – it’s become sadder! Sometimes, in a live setting, it gets me good. It makes me think of home and I end up feeling reflective about our journey so far. There’s definitely been a couple of pivotal moments over the last year, where we have all looked at each other on stage and started welling up.
How did it feel to walk your first major red carpet at The BRIT Awards this year?
The whole experience was so ridiculous and surreal that I found it really entertaining. It was an honour to be f-king nominated for a BRIT in the first place, that was crazy and something I never, ever expected. It was mad, too, seeing all these celebrities walking around. We got chatting to JADE, she’s so sound. We very briefly said hi to Louis Theroux, too; I felt really shy in his presence — as he is so cool, I almost felt like I had no business talking to him!
You recently worked with Westside Cowboy, who will be joining us at Billboard U.K.’s Live experience at The Great Escape. What attracted you to working with them?
I love everything about that band. Sonically, they’re very much on my street and I really like the confidence with which they approach their songwriter. I admire how they don’t overcomplicate things. They’re fans of Big Thief, but I also feel as though there are elements of Lou Reed, Pavement and The Velvet Underground in their music; they write really concise, strong songs, which is super refreshing.
I first met them when they were playing a gig at Soup Kitchen in Manchester. I became a fan immediately and just knew I had to find a way to work with them. They have some brilliant material in the pipeline which really shows off the range of what they can do together as a band.
How does production allow you to use your skills differently?
It’s still an ongoing journey but one that I have really enjoyed. I’ve always been in bands, and I’ve engineered plenty of demos, but I have never really dived into being a producer in my own right until now. It’s something I would love to do more of in the future, and it’s also nice to take a step outside [of being in English Teacher] and build the confidence to forge a different creative outlet for myself. It feels like opening a different part of your brain, it’s very rewarding.
With dozens of live dates in the pipeline, what mindset are you approaching the rest of the year with?
The main aim is to start road-testing some new songs at festivals. We’re deep in writing mode at the moment, it has been non-stop for us. The [creative] process has been great, if a little fragmented; we all don’t really live in the same city anymore, and we are still figuring out what we want some of this album to sound like. Overall, however, I am feeling really positive.
Personally, I think I’m going to be more happy with the second album than the first one. They’re still in the early stages, but we’ve had a couple of ideas that we perhaps intended to make work in the past, though they feel a little more refined. For me, that’s what I want to get out of the second album: for the first record, we threw a lot of things at the wall, but I like the idea of these songs being a little tighter and more focused. It’s like a puzzle: when you figure out the way the pieces should fit together, it’s so satisfying. That feeling is what keeps you going.
Ed Sheeran has long known that the line between pleasure and pain is a thin one, best traversed with care and a healthy regard for the surprises life throws at you. That sentiment is essentially the thesis for the singer’s new video for his nostalgic ballad “Old Phone.”
The Emil Nava-directed clip that dropped on Thursday morning (May 8) for the second single from Sheeran’s upcoming Play album (Sept. 12) opens with Sheeran in a wistful mood. Sitting on his hotel bed, Ed flips through old conversations on his dusty, recently recovered Blackberry, saying in voiceover, “I was finding text messages from people that aren’t even here anymore and reading conversations with people I wish I could have conversations with now.”
So, he explains, he did what anyone would do in that situation: he build a bespoke, pop-up pub in Ipswich, MA in March, which fans could gain entry into by sending a video or message from an old phone that had some meaning to them. “I found my old phone today/ In a box that I had hidden away/ Nostalgia trying to lead me astray/ Maybe I’ll unwrite some wrongs,” he sings over gentle acoustic guitar and footage of fans lining up for the once-in-a-lifetime chance to join Sheeran in the pub.
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We watch the construction of Old Phone Pub and the delighted look on the singer’s face as he sees it taking shape, as well as Sheeran reaching out to the many fans lined up outside and visiting some local neighborhood spots to spread the word. In addition to playing an impromptu Ipswich street jam, the video finds Sheeran sitting in solitude inside a bowling alley, as well as testimonials from those who submitted clips to be projected onto the walls of the bar.
One was from a mom who sent in a video of her two deceased daughters, 12 and 4 in the clip, saying, “they were just goofin’ off just being sisters,” over footage of the home movie being screened on the outside of the temporary venue. Other testimonials are from a woman who shared footage of her with her old boyfriend and a man who offered a movie of him dancing with his beloved late grandma at a wedding; at one point Sheeran can be seen chatting with the man outside the bar.
“It was really cool to watch that and to be able to share with him some of our stories. That was nice,” the mom says. The video winds down pivoting from Sheeran smiling at his old home movies, to fans sitting mesmerized as he performs the song in the pop-up with a back-up band of Irish musicians. “I wanted to make it feel like the song does… raw, stripped-back, emotional, nostalgic and special,” Sheeran says at the end.
Over the past month Sheeran has made headlines by playing surprise mini-concerts at other bars in Boston and Nashville, as well as hitting Nashville’s Santa’s Pub a few weeks ago with Noah Kahan for a short dual set and reconstructing the pop-up pub at Coachella.
Watch Sheeran’s “Old Phone” video below.
Lorde is gearing up to do a scan of arenas across North America and Europe this fall, with the pop star announcing her Ultrasound Tour in support of upcoming album Virgin Thursday (May 8).
Breaking the news on Instagram, Lorde shared a tour poster featuring a blue X-ray photo — similar to her June-slated fourth album’s cover art — and wrote, “I am going on tour in support of my new album, Virgin.”
“Very proud and excited to be bringing my most talented friends in support,” she added. “Come see what’s under the skin.”
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Per the tour poster, Virgin co-producers Jim-E Stack and Dev Hynes of Blood Orange will be joining the “Royals” singer on the road for select dates, as will The Japanese House, Nilüfer Yanya, Chanel Beads, Empress Of and Oklou. The trek will kick off Sept. 17 in Austin, Texas, followed by U.S. and Canada shows in Chicago, Nashville, Toronto, Boston, New York City, Las Vegas, Seattle and more cities through late October.
In November, Lorde will head overseas for the European leg, starting in Luxembourg and followed by Paris, London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Berlin and more before wrapping Dec. 9 in Stockholm.
The Ultrasound Tour will mark Lorde’s first trek since 2021’s Solar Power Tour, which supported the Grammy winner’s album of the same name. It’s also her first arena tour since the 2017-2018 Melodrama World Tour, with Lorde favoring more intimate, theater-sized venues for the Solar Power run.
Fans can buy tickets as soon as May 14, with a pre-sale going live at 10 a.m. local time. Registration is already open on Lorde’s website.
After that, more tickets will become available in a general on sale on May 16.
The announcement comes shortly after Lorde dropped her comeback single, “What Was That,” in April, shortly before revealing that Virgin would be arriving June 27.
See Lorde’s Ultrasound World Tour announcement below.
Sam Fender has teamed up with Adolescence director Phillip Barantini on a video for new single “Little Bit Closer.”
The clip, which was shot in the Lake District in the north west of England, follows Owen Cooper — who played Jamie Miller in the Netflix drama — and a group of friends on a trip to the Lakes, where Cooper’s character contemplates questions of faith.
Lifted from February’s People Watching LP, the track itself sees Fender dive deep into his relationship with religion, depicting the emotional complexities of growing up in the Christian faith.
Fender previously collaborated with Barantini back in 2021, working alongside him and fellow Adolescence star and co-writer Stephen Graham for the video to stirring single “Spit of You.” In a press release, he said, “It’s so great to be working with Phil [Barantini] again, I had no doubt he was the right director for this piece, his video for ‘Spit of You’ was my favorite.
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“Phil called to say he’d asked Owen if he’d like to be in the video, and that Owen was keen,” he continued. “I was elated that he could do it after seeing his incredible performance in Adolescence. Alongside Semera Khan [Creative Director] and the rest of the cast and team, they have created something beautiful.”
Barantini added: “To have the opportunity to direct another video for Sam was an immediate yes — an absolute no-brainer for me! Not only is Sam an incredible artist but he’s a beautiful human and a great friend! Also, the opportunity to direct Owen again so soon after Adolescence was an absolute joy!”
Adolescence took the U.K. by storm when it hit screens earlier this year; upon release in March, episode one pulled the largest ever audience for any streaming TV show in the country in a single week. The four-part series, which explores complex issues such as toxic masculinity and the dangers of online radicalization, is set to be made freely accessible to secondary school pupils through a partnership between Netflix and the Into Film+ streaming service.
Speaking to Billboard U.K. in April, Barantini discussed the show’s ongoing impact and the vital discussions it has encouraged in recent months. “I always wanted [Adolescence] to be a conversation starter, or certainly for people to take different things away from it and have their own experience with it,” he said.
“There was definitely that feeling when we were on set,” he continued. “When we screened it to people, the audience were having the same reaction, but I did not think for one second it would be doing what it’s doing and still continues to do.”
Fender, meanwhile, has had a banner year so far. People Watching took the No. 1 spot on the Official Albums Chart upon release with 107,000 units sold across physicals and streaming. He becomes the first British solo artist to surpass 100,000 sales in an opening week since Harry Styles’ Harry’s House in 2022. He then scooped the alternative/rock act going at the BRIT Awards in March, and is now gearing up for a run of U.K. headline stadium shows this summer with dates in London and Newcastle.
The race to ROSÉ‘s new song is over, with the BLACKPINK star unveiling “Messy” for the F1 soundtrack, along with an accompanying music video, on Thursday (May 8).
In the sleek visual, the New Zealand-born performer walks through various nighttime cityscapes, strutting down a glistening street past a crowd of people and leaning over the terrace of a high-rise building in between shots of footage from the F1 movie. “Baby, let’s get messy, let’s get all the way undone/ Come over and chase me like I’ve never been touched,” she belts over piano and anthemic percussion, sitting on the floor of a blue-lit room as confetti rains down on her. “Baby, I’m obsessed with you, and there’s no replica/ If it’s messy, then you know it’s really love.”
“Messy” is just one of several songs that will appear on the F1 soundtrack, which Atlantic Records announced May 1. Similarly, ROSÉ is only one of many A-list stars who contributed to the project, with Ed Sheeran, Tate McRae, RAYE, Burna Boy, Roddy Rich, Dom Dolla, Chris Stapleton, Tiësto, Sexyy Red, Myke Towers, Madison Beer, Peggy Gou and more musicians also lending their talents to the album.
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Don Toliver and Doja Cat also released a single for F1, “Lose My Mind,” in late April.
Starring Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem and Damson Idris, the Joseph Kosinski-directed film will hit theaters June 27, the same day its full soundtrack drops.
For ROSÉ, “Messy” marks her first release since her debut solo album, Rosie, arrived in December and reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The LP featured smash hit “APT.” featuring Bruno Mars, which spent 12 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200.
The K-pop star is now gearing up to reunite with her BLACKPINK bandmates for the first time since their Born Pink trek concluded in 2023, with ROSÉ teasing back in February that they had new music in the works around the same time the girl group announced that a world tour was slated for this summer. Three of the members — ROSÉ, JENNIE and LISA — were in attendance at the 2025 Met Gala in New York City Monday (May 5).
Watch ROSÉ’s “Messy” music video below.
After nearly 50 years as a band, Pulp has finally made an appearance on an airplay-based Billboard chart. The English band’s “Spike Island,” the lead single from its upcoming album More, bows at No. 38 on the Adult Alternative Airplay survey dated May 10. The Jarvis Cocker-led act first appeared on any Billboard tally in […]
Usher has jokingly apologized to Sabrina Carpenter’s dad following a viral photo from the 2025 Met Gala that showed the R&B star feeding the “Espresso” singer a cherry during his performance. “Apologies Mr Carpenter,” Usher commented Wednesday (May 7) on Carpenter’s Instagram post in apparent tongue-in-cheek fashion alongside sweating and cherry emojis. The apology was […]
Sleep Token nabs its third No. 1 in a row on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, bowing atop the May 10-dated survey with “Damocles.”
In the week ending May 1, “Damocles” earned 8.9 million official U.S. streams and sold 2,000 downloads, according to Luminate.
Its No. 1 coronation follows three-week reigns each for the band’s “Caramel” (April 19-May 3) and “Emergence” (March 29-April 12).
In fact, Sleep Token has now replaced itself twice on Hot Hard Rock Songs, having led for the past seven weeks. That’s the first time any act has done so with three different songs since the ranking began in June 2020. Previously, Linkin Park accomplished the feat with two songs; “The Emptiness Machine” reigned between Sept. 21, 2024, and Feb. 8, followed by a one-week lead for “Heavy Is the Crown” (Feb. 15) before “The Emptiness Machine” returned to No. 1.
Sleep Token becomes the sixth act with at least three No. 1s on Hot Hard Rock Songs, following Foo Fighters and HARDY (also three), Linkin Park (four) and Bring Me the Horizon and Falling in Reverse (six apiece).
It also becomes the first act to hold the entire top three of the chart (as “Caramel” and “Emergence” rank at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, on the latest tally) since Linkin Park did so on the Nov. 30, 2024, list.
Concurrently, “Damocles” also bows at No. 1 on Hard Rock Streaming Songs and Hard Rock Digital Song Sales, Sleep Token’s third leader on both.
“Damocles” starts at No. 11 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs ranking, and on the all-format Billboard Hot 100, it begins at No. 47.
“Damocles” is the latest taste of Even in Arcadia, Sleep Token’s fourth studio album, out May 9 via RCA.