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Ariana Grande is shedding light on how her Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead short film came together, with the pop star sharing behind-the-scenes footage on her YouTube channel Thursday (April 17).
Posted about three weeks after the project dropped — alongside the deluxe edition of Grande’s Billboard 200-topping Eternal Sunshine album — the video opens with the “Yes, And?” singer explaining the premise of her sci-fi-tinged visual. “This whole short film concept is basically about how when we’re young, sometimes we want to erase certain things, or rewrite certain things that feel painful in the moment,” she tells the camera, her neck and face made up to look like her skin was crudely stitched back together for one of the film’s Frankenstein-inspired scenes.
“But when we grow older, we would do anything to relive those moments, and we’re so grateful for them and for how they made us who we are and helped us become who we are today,” she continues.
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In the short film, Grande reprises her role as Peaches from the “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” music video, this time several decades older and visiting the Brighter Days clinic to relive her old memories. Donning special makeup to make her look elderly, the Grammy winner watches herself as a child hanging out with her family, performing for thousands of fans, walking through the wreckage of a house she used to share with a romantic partner, and eventually getting abducted by a UFO.
The behind-the-scenes clip also features Grande giving fans a tour of the house set, pointing out her favorite details alongside co-director Christian Breslauer. It also gives fans a look at how they pulled off the UFO stunt, hooking the Wicked star up to special wires that hoist her up into the air.
Elsewhere in the new video, Grande explains the meaning behind a scene in which a crazed doctor — played by her real life father, Ed Butera — brings her back to life by injecting her with musical soundwaves. “My dad played the part of this mad doctor-scientist so beautifully,” she says over footage of the father-daughter pair filming the sequence. “The same thing that has made my life complicated in certain ways is also the same thing that heals me time and time again, and that is music.”
“It’s also been the most beautiful gift of my life and has always been the thing that has helped me heal — along with therapy and learning to take care of myself and boundaries,” she continues. “But time and time again, that’s always been the thing that puts me back together, as well as my family and healing those wounds as well. This is called when you have too many ideas and too many resources, it can go any which way.”
While sitting on the bed in one of the sets with Breslauer, Grande also gushes about how meaningful Eternal Sunshine has been to her. Originally released in March 2024, the project spent two weeks in the Billboard 200 top spot — to which it returned a year later with the deluxe release — and spawned two Billboard Hot 100-topping singles with “Yes, And?” and “We Can’t Be Friends.”
“I’m so grateful,” she tells the camera. “It’s my favorite album, and you’re my favorite director. These are my favorite videos, so yeah, we’re going to overdo it.”
Watch the behind-the-scenes video above.
Justin Bieber is continuing to tease his new clothing brand Skylrk, and got two of his biggest co-signs yet from Gunna and Kai Cenat. A video shared to Bieber’s Instagram on Thursday (April 17), shows Gunna and Kai standing amongst a stack of unreleased Skyrlrk sandals an sneakers. Gunna emits a brief, “yeah,” before the […]
The second edition of Maluma’s “Medallo En El Mapa” concert in his native Medellín, Colombia is approaching, with the show taking place on Saturday, April 26. To celebrate, Maluma announced that he’ll be hosting a weekend-long festival at the venue for fans.
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On the heels of his sold-out hometown show, the Colombian artist announced a series of free activities so that all those fans who were unable to get tickets can still enjoy the ultimate “Medallo En El Mapa” experience.
The three-day festival, in conjunction with the Saturday show, will take place at the Atanasio Girardot Stadium from Friday, April 25th to Sunday, April 27th. It will include various interactive spaces including horses, carriages, food courts, and brand activations, among others—all free of charge.
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Those who already have their ticket purchased for Saturday’s concert have a guaranteed access to the festival on the three days.
Meanwhile, those without a concert ticket can enjoy the festival on Friday and Sunday by registering for free at this link. You’ll receive a ticket valid for two people, giving you access to the festival. The free ticket does not grant access to the Saturday concert, only to the activities the day before and after.
In 2022, Maluma drew an estimated 54,000 people to the Medallo En El Mapa show in his native hometown. The show, which was streamed live on Amazon in more than 240 countries, featured guests such as Feid, Grupo Firme, and superstar Madonna, and marked a milestone in the Colombian singer’s career.
This story was originally published by Billboard Colombia.
Composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz will host two events at the 2025 ASCAP Foundation Musical Theatre Fest, which is returning for a third year at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, Calif., May 5-6. The fest offers a glimpse into the process and craft of musical theater with some of Broadway’s biggest composers.
On Monday, May 5, the fest will present “Songs From the Cutting Room Floor,” a look at unheard gems that didn’t make it into some of Broadway’s biggest shows. Schwartz, together with composers, lyricists and librettists Irene Sankoff & David Hein (Come From Away) and Karey Kirkpatrick (Something Rotten!, Mrs. Doubtfire), will perform and tell stories about songs that had to be sacrificed to better serve the musical. Additional performers will be announced.
The evening is presented with support from the Gary Geld Musical Theatre Foundation.
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On Tuesday, May 6, Schwartz hosts The ASCAP Foundation Musical Theatre & Librettist Workshop, featuring a double bill of new musicals. Composers will present excerpts from their new musicals. Following each presentation, Schwartz will host a feedback session with the writers and other masters of the craft.
The workshop will kick off with the creative team of Roslyn Catracchia and Peter Seibert, who will present an excerpt of their new musical Piney Needlesmith and the Road Less Traveled. For the second show, Julian Hornik, Khiyon Hursey and Mark Sonnenblick will present selections from their new musical, WEEKEND.
The concert and workshop double bill are free and open to the public. Reservations are required for both nights and are available at The Wallis’ website. The event is supported by the Kenward Elmslie Fund.
Schwartz, who wrote both music and lyrics to all the songs in Wicked, is set to receive the 2025 Johnny Mercer Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala on Thursday, June 12, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.
The award presentation will come near the midpoint between the November 2024 release of Wicked, which quickly became the highest grossing film ever based on a Broadway musical, and the November 2025 release of a sequel, Wicked: For Good. Both films are based on the 2003 stage musical Wicked.
On Saturday (April 19), Kendrick Lamar and SZA will kick off their co-headlining Grand National Tour at Minneapolis’ U.S. Bank Stadium, playing the first of 39 scheduled shows in North America and Europe. It’s not just the only all-stadium hip-hop world tour to launch in 2025 – it’s the first such trek this decade.
In the post-pandemic era, the definition of “stadium artist” has expanded to include younger and more diverse artists, across genre. Not only have contemporary pop and rock acts graduated beyond arenas, but artists from country (Zach Bryan, Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen), Latin (Bad Bunny, Karol G, Shakira) and K-pop (BLACKPINK, SEVENTEEN, TWICE) have staged sold-out stadium runs in several continents.
But while R&B/hip-Hop’s reign as America’s most popular genre continued into the 2020s, rappers have yet to scale their tours in the same way. Lamar’s upcoming run will mark the first all-stadium tour for a rap act since JAY-Z joined Beyoncé on 2018’s On the Run II Tour.
Notably, rap acts have historically leveled up to stadiums alongside a pop or R&B co-headliner: Lamar with SZA, JAY-Z with Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake (separately), and Eminem with Rihanna.
Rappers have played stadiums on their own (or together, as in the case of Eminem & JAY-Z’s four-show The Home & Home Tour in 2010), but only in brief runs or isolated dates. Eminem reported 16 such shows across three separate outings during the 2010s and 50 Cent played one in 2004. Drake and Kanye West co-headlined the Free Larry Hoover benefit show in 2021, but it was a free gig.
The pairing of Lamar and SZA echoes the makeup of past successful stadium runs, but it’s also uncommon for R&B acts to tackle the biggest venues. Beyoncé has mastered the art, having broken records with 2023’s Renaissance World Tour, and is weeks away from kicking off Cowboy Carter Tour. But it’s worth noting that both treks are in support of albums that detour into other genres, having won Grammys for best dance/electronic album and best country album, respectively.
Similarly, Bruno Mars continues to sprinkle stadium shows amid his theater residency in Vegas, but his two latest top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits – “Die With A Smile,” with Lady Gaga, and “APT,” with Rosé – eschew contemporary R&B for different strains of pop.
Still, the Grand National Tour’s double-billing is simply a no-brainer, not a hedged bet. SZA’s SOS was released in December 2022, landed nine Grammy nominations in 2023, won three of them in 2024, and added a 12th week atop the Billboard 200 to kick off 2025 following its SOS Deluxe: LANA expanded reissue. Lamar himself has had a whirlwind last 12 months, amassing four No. 1s on the Hot 100 – two inspired by his infamous beef with Drake and two from GNX. He won five Grammys in February for “Not Like Us” and headlined the Super Bowl halftime show a week later. As a cherry on top, the pair’s “Luther” will be enjoying its eighth consecutive week atop the Hot 100 when the tour kicks off this weekend.
Hip-hop has not taken up much space on stadium calendars, but Lamar and SZA are part of a rising tide of momentum for rap and R&B. An established arena headliner, Chris Brown will mount his first stadium tour this summer. Breezy Bowl XX kicks off on June 8 with a packed lineup, featuring Jhene Aiko, Bryson Tiller, and Summer Walker as special guests. And after touring arenas on 2018’s Astroworld: Wish You Were Here Tour and for the first leg of the Utopia Circus Maximus Tour, Travis Scott began to mix stadium dates in 2024. This fall, he will continue the multi-year trek with a handful-plus of grand scale shows in Asia and South Africa.
Scroll below for a recap of the rap acts who have played — or are scheduled to play — stadium shows, according to reports to Billboard Boxscore.
Kendrick Lamar
Image Credit: Cindy Ord/Getty Images
Liza Minnelli is a legend, an icon and a superstar, but the one superlative she can’t quite claim is being an EGOT. She has won an Emmy, an Oscar and three Tonys in competition, but has yet to win a Grammy in competition. She may have another chance when the 68th Annual Grammy Awards are presented early next year.
Minnelli co-produced the cast album to the Off-Broadway hit DRAG: The Musical. The album will be released on April 25 via PEG Records/Warner. If it wins a Grammy for best musical theater album, Minnelli will become the 22nd EGOT (unless someone else gets there first).
Minnelli produced the album with co-creator Tomas Costanza, with Nicholas Kaiser as executive producer. (Minnelli is also a co-producer of the live show.)
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“From the moment I got involved with DRAG: The Musical, I knew it was something special — bold … brave … bursting with heart and music that is all about love,” Minnelli said in a statement. “The songs here will make you laugh and cry. This entire experience and adventure helps you find yourself. Producing this exquisite live album with Tomas is a joy, because he’s a genius surrounded by a brilliant cast and company, and because it captures that electric energy you only get in a theater full of love, laughter and lashes. This is a fabulous family show. It celebrates childhood innocence, adult tsuris and gorgeous glitter! Darling, this cast sings their faces off — and I couldn’t be prouder to help bring this art into the world.”
Minnelli has been nominated for Grammys for best traditional pop vocal album twice, for Gently (1997) and Liza’s at the Palace…! (2010). She received a Grammy Legend Award in 1990 (alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber, Smokey Robinson and Willie Nelson, when those awards were presented on a separate broadcast), and a Grammy Hall of Fame induction for the Cabaret soundtrack, but most awards historians don’t count honorary or special awards toward EGOT status. (Barbra Streisand, film and TV producer Frank Marshall and three late greats — James Earl Jones, Harry Belafonte and Quincy Jones — are also EGOTs only if you count honorary or special awards.)
If Minnelli wins a Grammy early next year, she’ll set a new record for the longest span of EGOT-qualifying wins of any EGOT winner (61 years). She won her first EGOT award, a Tony, in 1965 for her leading role in Flora the Red Menace. The current record holder for the longest span of EGOT-qualifying wins is held by Helen Hayes, with a 45-year span. Hayes won her first Oscar in 1932 and her first and only Grammy in 1977.
Minnelli is 79 and will still be 79 when the Grammys are dispensed early next year. Only one person has been that old or older upon clinching EGOT status. That’s John Gielgud (Minnelli’s co-star in the hit 1981 film Arthur), who was 87 when he achieved the feat.
Other people who were 70-plus when they finally became EGOTs (proving there’s always hope!), were Elton John (76), Helen Hayes (76), Mel Brooks (74), Tim Rice (73), Alan Menken (70) and Andrew Lloyd Webber (70).
Minnelli reached a career peak that few performers have ever reached in 1973 when she won both an Oscar for best actress for Cabaret and a Primetime Emmy for outstanding single program − variety and popular music for Liza With a ‘Z’. A Concert for Television. She won her second and third Tony Awards in 1978 for The Act and 2009 for Liza’s at The Palace…!, which won in the competitive category of best special theatrical event. (She also won a special, non-competitive Tony in 1974 for “adding luster to the Broadway season.”)
DRAG: The Musical, written by drag star Alaska Thunderfuck alongside Tomas Costanza and frequent collaborator Ashley Gordon, tells the tale of two rival drag bars coming to blows amid financial struggles. But underneath the glamorous costumes (courtesy of designer Marco Marco) is a story of acceptance, self-identity and the power of community.
The show debuted off-Broadway last October following two runs at Los Angeles’ The Bourbon Room. The show is playing at New World Stages in New York City until April 27.
Including two songs new to the production, “One of the Boys” and “The Showdown”, DRAG: The Musical LIVE (The Cast Recording) features a mix of drag and theater stars including Minnelli, Thunderfuck, Nick Adams, Adam Pascal, Beau Coddou, Dylan Patterson, Eddie Korbich, J. Elaine Marcos, Jan Sport, Jujubee, Lagoona Bloo, Kodiak Thompson, Luxx Noir London, Nicholas Kraft, Nick Laughlin, Peli Naomi Woods, Tamika Lawrence and Teddy Wilson Jr.
The album was engineered by Drew Levy, a two-time Tony-nominee for best sound design of a musical, and mixed by Davey Badiuk.
The show recently won a special recognition award from the GLAAD Media Awards and scored six Lucille Lortel Awards nominations, which tied Our Class and Three Houses for the most nods this year.
Such stars as Chappell Roan, Adam Lambert, Alex Newell, Bob the Drag Queen and Orville Peck have visited the show.
Minnelli is featured on two of the 18 tracks on the album – the opener, “Prologue / Welcome to the Fish Tank,” and the penultimate track, “Two Bitches Are Better Than One / Epilogue.” But that’s not enough for her to qualify for a Grammy as a performer. Her ticket to a Grammy nomination is as an album producer.
Here’s the Recording Academy’s rule for who is nominated in the category of best musical theater album. “For albums containing greater than 51% playing time of new recordings. Award to the principal vocalist(s), and the album producer(s) of 50% or more playing time of the album. The lyricist(s) and composer(s) of 50% or more of a score of a new recording are eligible for an Award if any previous recording of said score has not been nominated in this category.”
Here’s the complete track listing for DRAG: The Musical LIVE (The Cast Recording)
“Prologue / Welcome to the Fish Tank,” Liza Minnelli, Tamika Lawrence, Lagoona Bloo, Luxx Noir London, Nick Adams, Peli Naomi Woods, Nicholas Kraft, Teddy Wilson Jr.
“She’s All That,” Nick Adams, Tamika Lawrence, Lagoona Bloo, Luxx Noir London, Peli Naomi Woods, Nicholas Kraft, Teddy Wilson Jr.
“Cathouse Fever,” Jan Sport, Jujubee, Nick Laughlin, Peli Naomi Woods, Nicholas Kraft, Teddy Wilson Jr.
“Queen Kitty,” Jan Sport, Jujubee, Nick Laughlin, Alaska Thunderfuck, Peli Naomi Woods, Nicholas Kraft, Teddy Wilson Jr.
“Drag Is Expensive,” Nick Adams, Luxx Noir London, Lagoona Bloo, Tamika Lawrence, Adam Pascal
“Wigs,” Jan Sport, Jujubee, Nick Laughlin, Lagoona Bloo, Tamika Lawrence, Luxx Noir London, Alaska Thunderfuck, Nick Adams
“One of the Boys,” Tamika Lawrence
“Gay as Hell,” Eddie Korbich, Nicholas Kraft, Teddy Wilson Jr.
“Gloria Schmidt,” Lagoona Bloo, J. Elaine Marcos, Adam Pascal, Tamika Lawrence
“Rita LaRitz,” J. Elaine Marcos, Alaska Thunderfuck
“It’s a Drag,” Alaska Thunderfuck, Nick Adams, Eddie Korbich
“It’s So Pretty,” Nick Adams, Beau Coddou, Nicholas Kraft, Teddy Wilson Jr., Kodiak Thompson
“I’m Just Brendan,” Beau Coddou
“Straight Man,” Adam Pascal
“The Showdown,” Alaska Thunderfuck, Nick Adams
“Once Upon a Toilet,” Tamika Lawrence, Lagoona Bloo, Luxx Noir London, Nick Adams, Adam Pascal, Beau Coddou, Peli Naomi Woods, Nicholas Kraft, Teddy Wilson Jr.
“Two Bitches Are Better Than One / Epilogue,” Liza Minnelli, Alaska Thunderfuck, Nick Adams
“Real Queens / Brendan is His Name / Welcome to the Catfish,” Luxx Noir London, Jan Sport, Jujubee, Lagoona Bloo, Tamika Lawrence, Nick Laughlin, Dylan Patterson, Adam Pascal, Alaska Thunderfuck, Nick Adams, Peli Naomi Woods, Nicholas Kraft, Teddy Wilson Jr., Kodiak Thompson
On April 11, Luis R Conriquez performed at the Feria del Caballo in Texcoco, in the State of Mexico — a city where the corrido singer has performed four or five times before, always drawing a big crowd. But this time, concert organizers gave him a warning: “They said that if I sang a corrido, they would cut off the sound,” Conriquez recalls.
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The warning came as a result of new government ordinances in Mexico banning live performances of narcocorridos in several states. Conriquez, who’s known for his narcocorridos, has ignored similar orders in the past and paid fines as a result. But this time, he wasn’t just facing a fine—his entire concert was at risk of being canceled. That wasn’t a chance he was willing to take.
A few hours before the show, he posted on social media letting fans know that his set wouldn’t include narcocorridos. Apparently, not everyone in the crowd saw the post. An hour and forty minutes into his performance, fans started demanding he sing his most popular corridos. When Conriquez explained that he couldn’t, some fans booed and threw objects at the stage. Eventually, Conriquez said, “No corridos. What do we do? Should I just go home instead?” He walked off the stage.
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The next day, Conriquez addressed the situation again on his Instagram stories, saying, “Some people don’t get it. They think I make the rules, but the truth is, there won’t be corridos at shows anymore—not from any artist, folks.”
Since then, Conriquez has received support from fans and fellow artists. He’s now preparing to bring his Trakas tour to the U.S., kicking off at UBS Arena in New York on April 25, where he’ll be able to perform his full repertoire. But at his next concert in Mexico, it’s likely there won’t be corridos. Here’s what he told Billboard about the whole situation.
Why did you decide not to sing corridos at this particular show?
They said that if I sang a corrido, they’d cut off the sound. They said, “We’ll cut off the sound. It’s prohibited.” So, I said, “Okay.” That’s where my frustration came from. I wasn’t mad, honestly. I just wanted to give the crowd what they came to hear, but I had to stick to the rules.
Did you think about canceling the show?
No. I always planned to go ahead with it. I said, “I’ll post that I won’t sing corridos.” But even before showing up, I’d already told people I wouldn’t be singing corridos.
What happened during the show?
I’d been performing for an hour and forty minutes when people started asking for the songs I wasn’t allowed to sing. At that point, people are usually a bit more rowdy or have had a few drinks, so they think anything goes. It got to the point where I thought, “I better leave, or they’re gonna throw a chair at me or something.” So, I decided to leave, and that’s when things got crazy. Last year, something similar happened to me in Chihuahua. I had to pay a $45,000 fine — around 850,000 pesos — for singing one corrido. I didn’t sing corridos for the whole show, but at the very end, I sang one and paid the fine. Just for one song. But that was part of a state decree. They showed up with official paperwork for us to sign, saying we couldn’t sing corridos or anything like that.
You seem like a very chill person, and you didn’t react aggressively on stage while all of this was happening — even when people were throwing things. Did you ever think about fighting back or responding?
Exactly. I said, “If it’s no, it’s no. If it’s yes, it’s yes.” Honestly, I’m a pretty chill person. I try not to be someone who explodes. So, it wasn’t like, “Oh, I’m gonna lose it and go crazy.” I stuck to the rules, and I think I did the right thing. I feel like I did the right thing. I did what they told me to do.
Were you surprised by how aggressive the crowd was?
Of course. But I think it’s just because I didn’t sing what they came to hear. Before performing there, I’d done another show and posted [on social media] that I wouldn’t be able to sing corridos. Why? Because they’ve started cracking down on this stuff. It wasn’t my decision, obviously. Everyone who listens to me and artists like me—what do they want to hear? Corridos. But if it’s not allowed, we won’t cause problems by singing them. If they told me, “It’s a one-million-peso fine for singing corridos,” I probably would’ve paid it just to make my fans happy. But it wasn’t up to me this time, and I ended up on the losing side of things.
What’s happened since then?
Honestly, I’ve gotten a lot of support from the fans. People who’ve followed me for a long time understand the situation. It’s not even about me anymore. Artists like Alejandro Fernández, Edén Muñoz — even artists who aren’t in this genre — have reached out, saying, “Keep your head up, man. Hang in there.” Peso Pluma also sent me a message. Unfortunately, I might’ve been the first to go through this, but after this, maybe people will start understanding.
I’ve been performing in Texcoco for four or five years, and every time, people are excited to see Luis R Conriquez. But this time, this happened. Imagine what could happen in other places. At the end of the day, I’m not going to sacrifice my career or my fans—I’d rather perform than not perform. That’s the bottom line. If it comes down to damaging my career just to sing corridos, then obviously, I won’t sing corridos.
What do you think about corridos being banned? Do you think it’ll make a difference?
I don’t think so. Corridos have existed since before I was born. They’ve always been around. I grew up listening to corridos. I listened to artists and always thought, “I want to be another voice in regional Mexican music.” The artists who sing corridos are at the top globally. In a way, we represent Mexico. But before you were born, corridos were about Pancho Villa — not drug lords. I know, but they’re still corridos at the end of the day. There were corridos about crime even back then. If I have to, I can adapt and write songs that aren’t as explicit, but I’ll keep the same vibe and storytelling. People are free to listen to what they want. Like I said, if I have to adjust, I’ll adjust.
You mentioned you’d change the lyrics to your songs. What did you mean by that?
I meant I won’t release songs that are super explicit anymore. I might tweak the lyrics a bit on certain songs, but I’ll keep singing them.
Where does the tour go next?
Jalisco, Hermosillo, Sonora, Monterrey — and then the U.S. tour. Corridos aren’t banned everywhere. But who knows what’ll happen? I need to put together a setlist and share it so people know what I’ll sing. Then they can decide whether to buy tickets or not. We always try to please our fans, and we’ve been doing it for four or five years. But now, if we have to follow the rules, that’s what we’ll do. I hope people understand.
There’s no ban in the U.S. Will you sing corridos at your shows here?
Of course. We’ll keep singing what people want to hear. If I have to tweak lyrics or make other changes, I’ll do it. The goal is to keep singing and working—this is how we make a living, and it’s how the people around us make a living too.
Long before he got “1900” tattooed across his neck and teamed up with Kodak Black, 1900Rugrat’s life was filled with uncertainty. Hailing from Limestone Creek, Florida, a small town in Palm Beach County with a population just over 1,000 people, Rugrat was kicked out of his adoptive parents’ house as a teen and moved in with his friend Rickfrmdacreek’s family down the block.
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Rugrat, born Miles Spiel, describes himself as a “bad a– kid” doing “stupid s–t,” which led to school suspensions and even legal trouble. He started rapping as an eighth grader after seeing a classmate rhyme while thinking he “could do better,” but Rugrat kept his raps lighthearted as the class clown using his Turtlebeach video game headset and a computer to record.
Then real life began to creep in. Rugrat couldn’t hold a job for more than four months while having stints at Walmart and Tijuana Flats. He became a massive Chief Keef fan, and the drill pioneer’s trap bangers are clearly an influence in Rugrat’s music today.
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Seeing rappers like YNW Melly, Kodak Black and Tay-K blow up when he was in high school provided inspiration that his music dreams could perhaps be within the realm of realistic — even if that seemed far-fetched at the time.
“It made me like, ‘I can do that s–t too.’ It ain’t impossible for somebody to blow up,” Rugrat tells Billboard while getting over a cold that sidelined him temporarily from touring with Bossman Dlow. “You don’t gotta be this completely iced-out motherf—–ing tatted up and rich as hell to blow up.”
He continues: “You could be a regular-a– dude and make some hard s–t and blow up. You could look regular and make some hard s–t. You don’t gotta have a million dollars invested in you.”
His luck changed last year when labels started to call after his TikTok freestyles were going viral. Rugrat’s raspy flow over Rocko’s hypnotic “U.O.E.N.O.” beat exploded on TikTok and “One Take Freestyle” hit streaming services days later in September with a DIY cover art featuring a photo of himself on a highrise apartment balcony. He maniacally confronts being a white rapper with the track’s memorable opening bar: “Cracker got an AR like he shootin’ schools up.”
The 22-year-old continued his ascension in October during a trip to NYC when he asked anyone tied to the music industry he ran into if they could get him in contact with Gape P of On The Radar Radio. Rugrat and five friends pulled up to OTR to perform his “One Take Freestyle,” which further expanded his breakout track’s exposure.
Rugrat ended up inking a joint venture with 300 Entertainment and Remain Solid, which is an imprint founded by his manager, Track. Co-signs have poured in from Kodak Black, who hopped on the “One Take Freestyle (Remix),” Justin Bieber and Lil Uzi Vert. Los Angeles Dodgers MVP Mookie Betts even uses “One Take” as his walk-up song when walking to home plate at Dodger Stadium.
These days, you’ll find Rugrat with plenty of ice on and his bushy eyebrows peering out from under his Chrome Hearts beanie. 1900 continued his momentum into 2025 with the arrival of his Porch 2 the Pent debut project in February and he’s got much more in store for later this year.
Check out the rest of our conversation with Rugrat touching on his Florida roots, why Chief Keef’s music inspires him, being locked up with one of the Island Boys and more.
Billboard: Who were some of your early rap inspirations that helped you get to this point?
When I was really young, I listened to a lot of Lil Wayne, Eminem. Just s–t my folks would play in the crib, like Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka [Flame], obviously Kodak [Black], but that was when I got to more of a teenager. It was Kodak, Chief Keef, when I was 12, 13. I really listen to a lot of Chief Keef. I listen to a lot of different rappers, but one rapper I keep listening to on a daily basis is Sosa (Chief Keef).
What stands out about Chief Keef? Take me back to when you first hit play on that Finally Rich.
I don’t know when it was. That’s when I wasn’t super on Sosa. I f–ked with the Finally Rich album, and I still do to this day. I wasn’t listening to him day-after-day until I was probably 14 or 15. I just really dove into his discography when I heard that Back From the Dead album, and I started listening to all his s–t. I’d go on YouTube and look up “Chief Keef unreleased” and listen to a bunch of his s–t.
I don’t know what it is. I couldn’t put a finger on it, but he’s versatile as hell. His s–t catchy as f–k and he’s funny, too. His punchlines [are] funny as hell if you dive into his music. He got a whole song called “You Already Cute.” He talking a girl, “You don’t need no fake hair, you already cute.” He said some s–t like, “I don’t need no girl making me food with no weave in because you might get hair all in my food. You don’t need that girl.”
How would you talk about growing up in Limestone Creek and Palm Beach?
I was just with my brothers most of the time outside. My folks ain’t want me in the crib when they was at work. I got kicked out of school a lot. So I gotta leave the crib early in the morning and I got in legal trouble with stupid s–t. When it came to when I got caught up with possession. It was robbery with snatching and burglary of an occupied vehicle just cause I ran off on somebody. That was no robbery or burglary and I pleaded guilty to it. I got petty theft and trespassing. Just little stupid s–t and I was back-to-back getting in trouble. My folks would kick me out the crib. They was tired of that s–t. It’s not like I’ma call DCL’s like, “My folks kicked me out.” I’m not tryna go to no damn group home.
I just moved in with my brother, [Rickfrmdacreek]. I know cuz since I was like six. That was my second family for real. When I got kicked out for real and ain’t let me back, they really became my family. My life was different than everybody else. Even my brother, my right hand man, we lived two different lives. If he ever need something, I’m right there. If I go broke today, he’s still gonna be right there. Same with his momma. I was always moving around. Not with one family moving around, I was house-to-house type s–t. That s–t was lame as hell. That s–t just made me disassociate with everything.
I like being by myself. S–t was normal, bruh, we just bada– kids doing stupid s–t. We got ourselves into bulls–t. I got into a bunch of legal trouble and problems with people and then nobody wanna do business with you. You kinda dirty your face. I was f—-d up. I ain’t have no money. I could’ve moved but I had to rap. That’s all I knew how to do. I got to rapping. I was working too, though. I had a one-bedroom apartment. I was 21 — this was like seven months ago. I’m on my feet, but I’m scraping by. I probably would’ve been scraping by right now.
I think I saw a picture of you working at Walmart.
Yeah, but that wasn’t the one I had when I blew up. I never kept a job for more than four months. I was always getting into it with somebody. They be trying to dog your a– around. Then I’m in here for no money and you tryna talk to me. I was at Tijuana Flats.
When did rapping become your thing? I saw some s–t back in the day you were recording using a Turtle Beach Xbox headset.
Yeah, so when I was in 8th grade, I had dropped a bunch of songs. I was a lil’ kid. It was a kid at my school rapping. I was like, “That s–t decent, but I know I could do better than that.” I started rapping. It was on some funny s–t. I was like the class clown. This was when I was more carefree and didn’t have much going on. This is before I got kicked out the crib. I was way happier. I’m making music and the funny s–t. I’m getting decent views too.
Then I started getting into legal trouble. I’m not even really tryna make [music] on my computer no more because technology changes. This s–t sound a–. If I really wanna do this s–t, I gotta figure it out. I got no money to go to the studio. I made a little bit of cheese, but when I went one time I wasn’t tryna make music on my computer.
I started taking the s–t more serious because I had a lot more going on in my life. A lot more to talk about. I started growing up. S–t wasn’t all just fun and games no more. I was going through s–t. I never found my flow like that. I was jumping style-to-style and now I can stay consistent and do another one. S–t been a long journey with music.
What did you think about the Florida rap scene when it started to take off around 2017 with a Kodak Black, YNW Melly, XXXTentacion?
That s–t was crazy. I was a freshman in high school and I remember I heard “Murder on My Mind” when it was just a SoundCloud song. That s–t had this one jit in my class going crazy. I’m listening to it like, “This s–t hard as f–k.” Then a month later, everybody singing that s–t in the school, and everybody know that b—h.
Did that inspire you?
Hell yeah, when you growing up and you seeing a jit that’s doing it. Somebody that’s young, that s–t make you feel like you can too. Even though he was older than I was, I see that the same way I see Tay-K and Duwap Kaine. When they had first blew up that was around the same time. That s–t really inspired me.
What was your experience as a white rapper trying to do it?
I used that s–t to my advantage. I peeped people talking about my skin color so I started talking about it. F–k it. That’s just what it is. At the end of the day, if a jit joke on you, you supposed to use that joke and make it 10 times better. If everybody in the room laugh about some s–t, use it and then you make everybody in the room laugh. Everybody called me “Cracka” growing up. I’m from Florida. I just started referring to myself a such on some funny s–t. Everybody thought that was funny so I put that s–t in my music.
How was signing to 300 Entertainment? [Rugrat’s signed to Remain Solid (founded by his manager, Track) and 300 Entertainment]
I had signed with 300 [Entertainment] and 100K. After talking with everybody from both teams, I knew that I’d be able to do business with them on a personal level. That was my most important thing. I knew I could get a check anywhere. You can get a good contract anywhere. It’s all about is the person you getting that contract with is they gon’ do right by you? People don’t be thinking about it. They just want that check. They not thinking about the long-term. Read contracts first, get a lawyer. I got a really good lawyer. I love my lawyer to death.
What’s the biggest purchase you made since signing?
Probably my car. A Jag.
Mookie Betts on the Dodgers got “One Take Freestyle” as his walk-up song.
Bruh, what the f–k?! I be mad because I don’t be knowing until somebody tell me. I be upset. Somebody just commented that they heard my s–t at Dodger Stadium. I gotta see a video or something, dog. That s–t still be making me cheese.
“One Take Freestyle,” talk about what that record meant to your career and getting Kodak [Black] on there.
I still bump that song and every time I listen to it, I be like, “That’s why I blew up. This b—h hard as f–k.” I barred that b—h up from start to finish. That b—h had so many bars and punch lines. If a b—h say that s–t a–, they lying. I don’t even listen to people when they say my s–t is a–. I don’t give no f–k. It’s like a Skrilla beat. I was rapping on Philly beats on the freestyles I was doing on TikTok. Then I was like, “Okay, now I gotta take one of these b–hes to the booth.” I gotta go to the booth tonight. I’m 100 behind on rent and I’ll make that back. I got a two-hour session and that b—h went on all platforms four days later. Labels was already hitting me before “One Take” blew up.
Then I’m in the meeting with a label under Sony. I get the “One Take” video emailed to me. The first edit of it was a– so it got re-edited. I told them to pull it up on the big screen in the studio and we dropped that b—h right then and there. I logged into YouTube and dropped that motherf—-r. That s–t started going and going. I’m out in NYC and meeting with every label. I’m asking everybody in here, “Who know, Gabe [P from On The Radar]?” One white girl and 300 [Entertainment] got me in touch with Gabe. He said they were all booked up and I’m like, “Please, bro! I’m not finna be able to come back to New York. Just let me do it.” He squeezed me in and I did “One Take [Freestyle].”
I went to On The Radar and first I did “Clean & Dirty.” I was like, “That s–t finna blow up.” I did that “One Take” and that s–t boosted that s–t even more. That s–t went so viral all over Twitter and Facebook. I don’t even have Twitter and Facebook. People like, “Who here from Facebook?” I’m like, “What the f–k?”
Then you got Kodak on the remix.
At first, I seen him vibing to it in the store. A lil video went viral of him vibing to that b—h. I really paid homage to him on the song when I said, “I’m already white hoe, I don’t need no white b—h.” Cus he had said on “Snap Shit:” “I’m already Black/ Don’t need no Black b—h.” All these years I’m like, “I’m finna rip it. I gotta rip it.” I finally did it on the one that went viral. He went and said, “I admit I said a lot of dumba– s–t when I was a youngin’/ I didn’t used to get down with brown b–hes but now I love her.” He went and referenced that s–t.
That’s why I be saying Kodak’s really hard. People just don’t be tuned in like that. It was surreal. I was in the studio with him and he was playing a bunch of unreleased [songs]. We talked about him hopping on the remix. He was with it. That b—h just went and the video was fun as hell. We were out there for 12 hours.
I saw Lil Uzi Vert showing you love, too.
That s–t has me turnt because all my brothers love [Lil] Uzi. Justin Bieber, bruh! That s–t’s wild. He way too fried. That’s what it is. They hating, bruh. His new little snippet he posted when he went live. He slid in that b—h. That s–t be crazy. Lil Baby’s son — that s–t was wild. I was at Lil Baby’s birthday party. I ain’t never seen no club that big. Had to walk a mile to get in there. Florida is small, congested and 1,000 people in that b—h.
What else do you have coming up for the rest of the year? Is there an album coming?
I don’t know if I’ma drop an album this year. I think I might, but I’m in single mode right now. I’m tryna crank singles out right now. I might do a tape with a producer. I wanna focus on singles and do a L.A. Leakers freestyle that’ll go viral. I blew up off freestyling on TikTok so I know it’s gon’ work. A lot of people don’t be remembering. People think it’s the “One Take” s–t, but I had the labels on me. I had 700,000 followers even before “One Take” was a thought. I had “No Makeup” and that “Demure.”
“One Take” was the big one. I’m tryna get one like 10 times bigger than “One Take.” I don’t even want another “One Take.” I want one 20 times bigger than “One Take.” My goal is to get a hard-a– single. Then somewhere down the line get an [Lil Uzi Vert] on like an Auto-Tune. My Auto-Tune flow is so gas, but my fans are not fans of that. Uzi’s fans are, so I know that s–t will go and bring a whole new audience. I want to be able to cater to both audiences. That’s more listeners.
That’s why my album had 13 rap songs, and six had Auto-Tune. I just wanted to show versatility. With my album, I’m doing straight rap. Then I’m finna shift off of that. I don’t think I’ma ever stop rapping ever. I wanna make a full tape of certain styles. On some underground wavy s–t. If you listened to “Molly Girl” or Sosa’s “Let Me Know,” I’ll make a whole album off of that. That’s down the line when I can tell them what’s in and what’s hard. I’m just tryna crank some s–t I know already works.
I saw a viral tweet saying they want Timothée Chalamet to play you in a movie.
That s–t funny as hell. He look like me for real.
When you were locked up, were you in there with one of the Island Boys?
Yeah, they weren’t in my program, but they were in the detention center in Palm Beach. No matter where you get locked up in Palm Beach, you going to the Palm Beach Detention Center. The one off 45th by the train tracks. It was one of the brothers. I never said a word to him. I got kicked off B1 a day or two later for getting into a fight. They put me in confinement and switched me to B2. Jit had little blonde curls and no tattoos or none of that.
What’s 1900Rugrat doing in five or 10 years from now?
Somewhere on an island. I just want to be isolated. Not from the world on some crazy s–t, but I like being in nature and s–t with my phone off. Counting money for real, like overly rich. Like, I got all my businesses running themselves for a week. I got everyone handling some s–t so I can kick back this week and smoke some good dope in Bora Bora and take a deep breath.
Track (Manager): Let me know when you doing that vacation, bro, because I need that one.
Over his 45-year career, Thurston Moore has always comfortably had his feet in two worlds: the song-centric music of Sonic Youth, the pioneering noise rock band he co-founded in 1980, and the experimental world born from his upbringing in New York’s No Wave scene in the late ’70s and early ‘80s.
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“I really give equal value to composition … that I would give to improvisation,” Moore tells Billboard’s Behind the Setlist podcast from his home in London. “I mean, they really inform each other.”
Moore’s latest album, Flow Critical Lucidity, released in 2024, often splits the difference between keeping to traditional song structure and tossing the rulebook out the window. Moore was joined in the studio by musicians who have performed on his song-based solo efforts: Deb Googe, the bass player for My Bloody Valentine; drummer Jem Doulton and guitarist James Sedwards. Googe and Sedwards also appear on Moore’s 2020 album, By the Fire, 2017’s Rock N Roll Consciousness and 2014’s The Best Day — albums that harken back to Sonic Youth’s more accessible work and Moore’s 1995 solo debut, Psychic Hearts.
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But much of his work captures his love of experimental music that took root in the New York music scene in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Spirit Counsel, released in 2019, has three expansive tracks that run a total of 2.5 hours. The free-flowing Screen Time, released in 2021, was fittingly released on Southern Lord Records, the home of drone metal band Sunn O))).
This month, Moore premiered Guitar Explorations of Cloud Formations at the New Music Dublin festival in Dublin. He was joined by Googe, Doulton and guitarist Jennifer Chochinov, one half of the London-based duo Schande. A suite in nine pieces, Cloud Formations is “very lengthy, repetitive, immersive guitar, sort of drone pieces,” says Moore, “because I wanted to have that kind of elemental nature to them as opposed to being more song-centric.”
Recording and performing a variety of music creates some uncertainty, though, among promoters, retailers and fans. So, Moore is careful to draw bright lines between his different styles to eliminate confusion. Before his recent shows in New York City and Philadelphia, he asked the promoters to make clear that fans would see an experimental trio featuring percussionists Willie Winant and Tom Surgal, not the band that recorded Critical Flow Lucidity. When he performs songs from Critical Flow Lucidity, he wants fans to know they’re not going to see free-form guitar improvisation. And although he could release a torrent of music, Moore is careful to flood the market.
“I realize that there’s a bit of a responsibility,” he says. “I mean, I know people who I associate with who are musicians who release music every week on Bandcamp, and they’re just constantly recording, releasing. And in some ways, I hold myself back from doing that. I mean, I have gotten into this situation through the years where I want to do a tour and the promoters are like, ‘Well, you were just here playing noise improv in some basement in Paris. So we don’t feel like we can actually book you right now, because the audience is confused.’ Like, what are you going to do? And so that has been a bit of an issue. It’s like, are you going to do your band? Are you going to be playing proper quote-unquote songs, which there’s much a bigger audience for? Or are you going to come here and play with some electronic noise guy? And so I understand that. It’s difficult for the other people involved who are presenting your gig, particularly promoters, because they don’t know how to promote it, and so I’m a bit careful.”
His desire to push boundaries — and his seemingly never-ending supply of friendships with influential musicians — finds Moore collaborating with some prominent names. Last year, for example, Moore performed a free improvisation set with former Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tenn., and later in London (joined by drummer Steve Noble at one gig). The Big Ears performance was “extremely polarizing” for anybody who expected to hear a cross between Led Zeppelin and Sonic Youth.
“It was just pretty jarring. It was like creating this kind of sound world of improvised noise music. And the place was just jammed. Everybody wanted to see this. And then I think within 30 minutes, it was half full, and I think maybe people got the idea that we weren’t going to be playing any tunes. We were just into this other thing, which we really wanted to do. And we did it, and I really loved it. I have actually mixed down the session. I’d love to put it out some day.”
Three musicians Moore is unlikely to perform with are his Sonic Youth bandmates: Kim Gordon, Lee Renaldo and Steve Shelley. From Oasis to Pavement, many rock bands from the ‘90s have capitalized on nostalgia and the longevity of their brands by returning to the stage. While Moore doesn’t exactly rule out a Sonic Youth reunion, he says isn’t motivated by the payday and believes the band’s legacy stands firm without one. “We covered so much territory that I don’t feel like it was a story left on untold. I think it really had a nice trajectory, and it certainly doesn’t feel unfinished to me.”
Listen to the entire interview with Thurston Moore in the embedded Spotify player below, or go to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Amazon Music, Podbean or Everand.
The inaugural MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN ceremony, the largest music awards in the country, is set to take place in May in Kyoto. Embodying the theme of “Connecting the world, illuminating the future of music,” the new international music awards is hosted by the Japan Culture and Entertainment Industry Promotion Association (CEIPA), an association jointly established by five major organizations in the Japanese music industry.
This year’s MAJ will recognize works and artists in more than 60 categories, including the six major awards for Song of the Year, Artist of the Year and more, which have gained significant attention and recognition from Jan. 29, 2024 to Jan. 26, 2025. The entries for each category were announced last month and the nominees for each category was revealed Thursday (Apr. 17).
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The third installment of Billboard Japan’s series exploring the trends and characteristics of MAJ will focus on the entries in the Best Cross-Border Collaboration Song category that honors songs written in collaboration between domestic and overseas artists. Let’s take a look at how Japanese music interacts with the world, using data of the entries for this award.
The Artists’ Involvement in the Creative Process is Key
We divided the 50 entries into five types and calculated the percentage of songs in each. “JOINT PERFORMANCE” refers to co-writing as well as joint performances, and “FEATURING” refers to guest appearances (remixes of existing songs fall under “REMIX”). More than half the entries fall under JOINT PERFORMANCE or FEATURING.
“PRODUCE” refers to tracks where artists from overseas participate as producers in songs by Japanese artists, and accounts for 24% of the total. This includes Fujii Kaze’s “Feelin’ Go(o)d”, f5ve’s “UFO” (both produced by A.G. Cook), and ONE OR EIGHT’s “Don’t Tell Nobody” (produced by Ryan Tedder of One Republic).
For many of the songs that fall under JOINT PERFORMANCE, FEATURING and PRODUCE, the artists themselves participated in the creative process, such as writing the lyrics and composing the music. In the second installment of this series, we noted that the entries in the Top Global Hits from Japan category seem to be slightly more oriented towards artists who write and perform their own works compared to those up for the Song of the Year award, which honors songs popular in Japan. The same can be said for collaborative works that span countries and regions. It seems that, compared to within Japan, it’s more important for artists to be actively involved in the creative process overseas, both from the perspective of listeners and creators.
Affinity With the Collaborators’ Nationalities
The above shows the share of each country/region excluding Japan, calculated by adding up the number of streams of all entries in the Best Cross-Border Collaboration Song category during the tallying period. The country with the highest share was the United States, and it also leads the list of the collaborators’ nationalities, which we’ll touch on later, but the order below second place didn’t match the collaborators’ nationalities at all. This shows that the collaborators’ nationalities and the countries/regions where the songs are actually listened to do not necessarily match.
For example, “Bekhauf,” the collab between BABYMETAL and the Indian metal band Bloodywood, accounted for 1% of the streaming numbers in India. Meanwhile, “RATATATA,” the collab between BABYMETAL and the German metal band Electric Callboy, accounted for 49% of the streaming numbers in Germany. One reason for this difference is that the market for metal music in Germany is more mature than in India. From this trend, we can see that affinity with the collaborators’ nationality is also an important factor in maximizing the effect of collaborations.
Countries/regions Interested in Collabs Between Japanese and Foreign Acts
Megan Thee Stallion’s “Mamushi (feat. Yuki Chiba)” was the collaborative number with the most streams among this year’s entries, with an large share in multiple countries/regions including the U.S. (68%), the Philippines (79%), India and South Africa (both 87%). When there’s a song with such an overwhelming share, the overall share is greatly influenced by the trend of that song.
So to identify countries/regions with high interest in collaborative songs in general, rather than a specific one, we extracted the top 10 countries/regions for each song’s streaming numbers and compiled the number of songs that charted in the top 10 by country/region. Countries/regions ranked multiple times in the top 10 of each song’s list likely have strong tendencies to consistently support collabs between Japanese and overseas artists.
Top Countries Excl. Japan by Streams According to Luminate
Total Number of Entry Songs in Top 10 by Country/Region
Canada, Indonesia, and Taiwan came in at Nos. 2, 3, and 4. These are all countries/regions that didn’t rank high in terms of collaborators’ nationalities and streaming numbers. These countries/regions are considered to have high interest in songs featuring Japanese artists, regardless of who they collaborate with. Taiwan, in particular, had 32 songs in the top 10 despite its relatively small population.
The Properties of Collaborative Songs
Next, looking at the domestic and international streaming shares of the entries in the Best Cross-Border Collaboration Song category during the tallying period, 78% of the total streaming count for all 50 songs combined came from outside Japan. This is higher than the percentage of overseas streams for the entries in the Top Global Hits from Japan category, an award for Japanese music being listened to outside the country (59%), indicating that collaborative songs are more actively listened to overseas. Approximately 80% of the songs weren’t linked to other works or products, suggesting that whether or not a collaborative song is a tie-in doesn’t influence its popularity.
The chart above shows the genre breakdown of the entries. Soul/R&B accounts for 22% of the total, largely due to the six songs by SIRUP that made the list. Hip-Hop/Rap accounts for 20%, and here, all tracks except for two by Chanmina are by different artists. Notably, the share in this genre is 15% more than the 5% in Top Global Hits from Japan.
The percentage of the collaborators’ nationalities was calculated based on the number of artists. The United States (27%) had the highest percentage, with many collaborations with rappers such as Megan Thee Stallion and Big Sean. The United Kingdom (18%) featured artists associated with Hikaru Utada, such as Sam Smith and A.G. Cook.
South Korea has entries featuring rappers such as ASH ISLAND and Zion.T, as well as collaborative tracks with dance and vocal groups like ATEEZ. Three songs have entered from Thailand: BALLISTIK BOYZ from EXILE TRIBE’s “Meant to be feat. F.HERO & BOOM BOOM CASH,” ATARASHII GAKKO!’s “Drama (feat. MILLI),” and HYBS x SIRUP’s “I’m Blessed.”
Cross-border collaborations are becoming an important channel connecting Japanese music with the world, and the Best Cross-Border Collaboration Song award is a symbolic category that captures this global trend. We hope this award will serve as an opportunity to further enhance the presence of Japanese artists in the international music scene.
