Music
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Texas singer Jada Arnell Thomas was shot following a performance in downtown Dallas on Saturday evening (Nov. 2). Per NBC DFW, Thomas was signing autographs after the show at The Black Academy of Arts and Letters and wounded by gunfire from a person in the audience. The 26-year-old was transported to a local hospital and […]
Tyler, the Creator has been one of the biggest names in hip-hop for nearly a decade and a half now, but his commercial performance and general stardom is still on the ascent. He topped the Billboard 200 albums chart with both of his last two LPs (2019’s IGOR and 2021’s Call Me If You Get Lost), and now he makes it three in a row with this year’s Chromakopia — even with just over half a week of availability.
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Tyler dropped Chromakopia at 6:00 a.m. ET on Oct. 28 — a Monday morning, three-and-a-quarter days already into the tracking week ending Oct. 31. Losing those days of potential sales and streams seemingly should have hamstrung the album’s debut performance, but Chromakopia still bows with 299,500 equivalent album units, beating not just his own previous career-best (Lost‘s 169,000 in its debut week) but the prior best mark for any hip-hop album this year (Eminem’s 281,000 bow for The Death of Slim Shady: Coup de Grâce).
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How was Tyler able to rally such an eye-popping performance in under four full days of release? And what does this entrance mean for his current star status? Billboard staffers debate these questions and more.
1. Tyler, the Creator’s Chromakopia debuts at No. 1 with 296,000 equivalent album units in about 3 ¾ days — barely half of a whole first week, and still not only the best number of his career but the best of any hip-hop album this year. On a scale from 1-10, how stunned are you by that number?
Eric Renner Brown: 3. I’m not stunned that Chromakopia had such a big debut, or that it posted those numbers even with only a partial week. He’s a superstar. If anything, I’m surprised that Tyler’s two previous efforts, Igor and Call Me If You Get Lost, both had first-week tallies (165,000 and 169,000 respectively) that lagged far behind Chromakopia‘s (despite being full weeks). Tyler’s been headlining arenas and festivals for years – his recorded success might be a lagging indicator of his popularity.
Kyle Denis: About a 7.5. I was very confident in Tyler’s ability to shift units, but I thought he’d top out at around 250,000 units. Nearly 300,000 units shifted is a massive achievement, but I’m most impressed at the ratio of streaming units to pure sales. He moved 142,000 in pure album sales (his best sales week ever) and 157,000 in streaming equivalent units (about 213 million official on-demand streams, his biggest streaming week ever for an album)… that means he would’ve been No. 1 even if based solely on streams or solely on sales!
Jason Lipshutz: A 4. While scoring a career-best equivalent album units total in half a week is a stunning achievement in a vacuum, Tyler, the Creator’s popularity has recently exploded to such a degree that I am not remotely surprised to see him earn the year’s biggest hip-hop debut or approach the 300,000 mark. After notching his first No. 1 album with 2019’s Igor, Tyler’s profile has expanded over the past half-decade, thanks to critically acclaimed albums, dynamic guest spots, arena shows and awards performances. He is one of the biggest stars in modern music, so while the details of this debut are a little surprising, the personality behind them is not.
Michael Saponara: 9.5. To do just under 300,000 in about a half week of tracking is incredible and proves Tyler is a commercial titan and forced to be reckoned with as a leader of his generation. It was only further crystallized after hearing he would have gone No. 1 on the Billboard 200 taking either sum of pure physical sales or streaming alone.
Andrew Unterberger: Gotta be at least an 8. I mean, we all knew that Tyler was big — and always getting bigger — but was he “year’s best rap first week with only half a week” big? Even if you suspected it was possible, there’s no way you could be confident in something like that before seeing it, especially because these numbers blow so far past any of the (already-quite-impressive) numbers he put up with his last few acclaimed sets.
2. Obviously a lot has gone in to lead up to that huge opening number for Chromakopia, but what would you say is the biggest reason it’s zoomed past Tyler’s previous releases in its first quasi-frame?
Eric Renner Brown: Tyler’s profile has risen significantly since 2021. Just look at this year’s Coachella, where he wasn’t only a headliner, but performed what many considered the festival’s highest-concept and best set. For a long time, Tyler was a popular cult favorite (his lack of a major Hot 100 hit until now, as lead or featured artist, has played a big part in this). Now he’s finally crossing over in a way that more general music fans are being exposed and taking notice. The Odd Future of it all is also important: With every passing year, Tyler gets further from his controversial Odd Future days, and they constitute a decreasing portion of his overall career. It’s easy to imagine adolescents and young adults who love Tyler’s generally approachable modern era and haven’t heard Bastard, Radical or Goblin. And that might be for the best (they should check out “Oldie,” though).
Kyle Denis: More than its rollout or the quality of the music – both undoubtedly remarkable – Chromakopia benefited from the steady world-building of all things Tyler. From 2017’s Flower Boy, Tyler has used each new studio album to level up the narrative and conceptual worlds of his LPs, his stage show, his overall aesthetic, and most importantly, his fans’ trust in his ability to consistently put out quality work and products that are worth buying with their hard-earned money.
With that leveling up comes pre-album hype, and Chromakopia certainly had that thanks to the success of Flower Boy, Igor and Call Me If You Get Lost. That three-album run solidified Tyler as one of hip-hop’s best mainstream album-makers and world-builders, and fans were willing to show up for him – even if that meant waking up early on a Monday morning. Of course, pre-album hype isn’t a complete explanation; Chromakopia ultimately lived up to the hype, ensuring that its consumption numbers didn’t dramatically taper off as the tracking week continued.
Jason Lipshutz: Simply put, Tyler, the Creator is the coolest artist in hip-hop right now — able to speak to young listeners and bring in veteran rappers as guest artists, having spent a decade in the spotlight but still moving with the dynamism and unpredictability of a fresh new star. The evidence may be anecdotal, but if you’ve been paying attention to Tyler’s streaming numbers, ticket sales, Golf Wang merchandising efforts or Camp Flog Gnaw festival bookings, you’d see empirical evidence that his cultural cache has steadily risen in recent years, to a fever pitch by the time Chromakopia was released. It helps that his latest full-length contains some of his strongest songs and most interesting musings on fame, aging and potential fatherhood — but regardless of the content, Tyler is currently in too-big-to-fail territory.
Michael Saponara: Tyler typically released projects every other year and he skipped over the odd year trend when 2023 came and went so I think there was even more of an appetite for Tyler music. He’s been able to play the long game and make it work beautifully as he continues to build on his success commercially with every album it seems.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s been a snowball effect for his last three albums, each of which have arguably been more acclaimed and more accomplished than the one before. He’s built up that consistent standard of full-album excellence more than anyone in contemporary hip-hop (with the lone exception of fellow West Coaster Kendrick Lamar), so it makes sense that folks would show out like this for a new set of his in 2024.
3. No doubt that number would have been even bigger — perhaps even borderline-historic — had Tyler gone the traditional route with a Friday release, but it’s hard to deny that doing the Monday-morning drop seems to have been beneficial for the album’s overall reception. If you were in charge of the album rollout, would you have recommended Tyler go for the full first week for the really eye-popping number it might’ve produced, or do you think he was better off doing the midweek release he did?
Eric Renner Brown: By dropping midweek, Tyler got the discourse to himself – which I’m guessing helped juice his numbers and interest in the album, even during that truncated period. I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Tyler has built his career on intensely passionate fans and zigging where others zag. This release strategy is in keeping with his M.O. as an artist, and I expect many more divergences from industry norms in the future.
Kyle Denis: I think this number is eye-popping enough; it’s a triumph in every way. I’d probably tell him to keep the midweek release. The attention was solely on Tyler, and the Monday release allowed him to sidestep the deluge of music that floods DSPs on Fridays. I also think people got to engage the album with fresh start-of-the-week ears instead of having to work their way through a relatively dense new project after a long week of pre-election mania.
Jason Lipshutz: There are pluses and minuses to both strategies: with a Monday release, Tyler’s new album dominated the focus of music fans for four solid days before any new album was released on Friday, but its first-week numbers were always going to be deflated by arriving in the middle of the chart week. Obviously Tyler prioritized cultural conversation over commercial returns when it came to Chromakopia, but I’d be hard-pressed to find too many artists who would want to jeopardize a chart placement by cutting their first-week numbers in half. So to answer the question: Tyler has reached the level of fame where he can forego the traditional route, and I’d encourage him, and other superstars, to mix things up as much as they wanted.
Michael Saponara: I actually liked Tyler breaking the status quo and going with the Monday morning release. Especially after hearing Chromakopia, it’s better suited as a companion on that work/school commute than the party pre-game playlist on a Friday night. An interview with Nardwuar resurfaced where Tyler articulated the active versus passive listening that fans endure with that routine weekday commute rather than laid-back weekend activities. It’s not like he sacrificed doing a big first week of sales – think about years ago saying Tyler would outsell Eminem while having about half the tracking time.
Andrew Unterberger: The purist in me would love to know what kind of number Tyler could have amassed with a full week’s consumption on this album — obviously he would’ve blown clear past 300k, but would 400k have been in range? Maybe with a little extra button-pushing, perhaps even 500k? I love to see our best artists going for history, but I also love to see our best artists doing what feels right to them artistically and getting maximum attention that way. Ultimately he’s probably better off going the route he did, though for my own curiosity’s sake, I wish we could at least simulate the other reality.
4. “St. Chroma” leads the way on the Hot 100 this week from the album, with all 14 songs making an appearance (and “Noid” also appearing at No. 10). Does “Chroma” seem like the obvious Hit on the album? Does Chrompakopia have (or need) an obvious Hit?
Eric Renner Brown: I’ve been following Tyler since the early Odd Future days, and think he has gems throughout his catalog, from his adolescent horrorcore right up through his modern soul-and-funk-infused hip-hop fantasias. “St. Chroma” is one of the best and most beautiful things he’s ever put to tape. It’s also a strangely structured, knotty song that doesn’t feel like a hit, and that’s how I feel about most of the album. “Darling, I,” another Chromakopia standout, comes close: Like much of Tyler’s work, it’s off-kilter in a tough to articulate way, but it’s a traditionally structured song with a total earworm of a hit and an exciting guest turn, from Teezo Touchdown. All that said, given Tyler’s quiet but deep influence on contemporary hip-hop and R&B, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these hits pull the Hot 100 to them despite their nonconformity.
Kyle Denis: Forget “St. Chroma,” “Sticky” is the obvious hit on Chromakopia. From the lunchroom-evoking beat to the bombastic marching band horns to fiery verses from Tyler, GloRilla, Sexyy Red and Lil Wayne, “Sticky” will probably be Tyler’s biggest hit yet, if handled correctly. Interestingly, I don’t think Chromakopia needs a traditional hit, but it’s cool that it has one waiting in the wings. Tyler never saw the top 10 of the Hot 100 before this week, but that didn’t stop him from scoring four consecutive six-figure opening week totals and winning Grammys for his last two albums.
Jason Lipshutz: Tyler fans checked out the entire album upon its release, and “St. Chroma” benefitted from being the opening track on Chromakopia… but “Sticky,” the outrageous fight-night anthem featuring GloRilla, Sexyy Red and Lil Wayne, is the obvious hit to me. Not only do all three guests make a lasting impression with four-bar pop-ins, but Tyler’s charisma runs rampant on the track, the schoolyard-chant chorus will make you ready to throw down at any moment, and those horns in the back half deliver the single best adrenaline rush on the album. I can’t wait to see thousands of people lose their minds when Tyler drops that one in concert.
Michael Saponara: I’ve been leaning on “Sticky” as my go-to this past week. Shout-out to Sexyy, Weezy and Big Glo. I don’t think there’s an “obvious hit” on the project that will dominate the charts and that’s okay. The album doesn’t need the single anthems to accomplish his goal and make noise commercially as Tyler will be riding Chromakopia into another set of Grammy nominations in ‘26.
Andrew Unterberger: It seems like “Sticky” is on its way to hit status, though that feels just the tiniest weird to me as the album’s breakout single because I’m sure the parts that are really taking off on TikTok and that are gonna be dropped at every festival DJ set for the rest of the year are the parts that don’t really even involve Tyler. Personally I would love it if “Darling, I” could end up being this album’s “Birds of a Feather.” But honestly “Sticky” still knocks so I wouldn’t be mad at that becoming a major radio, club and chart fixture either.
5. Tyler has been operating on the fringes of superstardom for most of the past half-decade or so — does this Chromakopia half-debut confirm to you that he has officially arrived as one? (If not, what does he still need to do to get there?)
Eric Renner Brown: I would argue that Tyler has been a superstar for a while, albeit not quite on the level of your Billies and Harrys and so forth. But he’s been a bankable festival headliner for years and has been rubbing shoulders with the top-tier of artists for even longer. But what’s standing between him and that A+-tier is a major crossover hit. I don’t think Chromakopia will yield that for him – and I’m not sure that’s what he’s chasing, anyway.
Kyle Denis: I’m probably a bit biased because my circles run younger and have followed Tyler for years, but I personally began to recognize him as a superstar with Call Me If You Get Lost. We’re talking about an album that returned to No. 1 nearly a year after its initial release thanks to the 49,000 vinyl copies it sold, which was then the largest vinyl sales week for a hip-hop album – and he blew past that number with Chromakopia’s first-week vinyl sale total. I vividly remembered how that album took over conversations for months, backed an arena tour and anchored his 2024 Coachella headlining performance. Even the way people lost their minds at the “St. Chroma” teaser signaled to me that Tyler had reached another level of stardom.
Nonetheless, if I’m being a bit more pragmatic, Tyler needs at least one bonafide across-the-board smash before we can truly call him a superstar. I think “Sticky” can be that song for him.
Jason Lipshutz: Yep, this is it, the train has left the station. And kudos to Tyler for never forsaking his outsider status for the sake of mainstream exposure, or capitulating to any hip-hop trends over the past decade. He is a proudly weird superstar — we need more of those.
Michael Saponara: Oh yeah, he’s a bona fide superstar with a massive arena tour in tow. I think where it gets tricky, for me, is he considered a pop star with that kind of crossover commercial appeal? “NOID” and “St. Chroma” were the first pair of Hot 100 top 10 entries in his career and I think he needs that single anthem everyone in middle America is singing along to and it’s all over radio if he wants to elevate to that Super Bowl Halftime Show level of stardom eventually.
Andrew Unterberger: Can you be a superstar without a massive crossover hit? In 2024, the answer is probably “yes” — and also, maybe Tyler sorta stealthily had that hit already with “Earfquake” five years ago anyway. At the very least, Tyler is now unquestionably one of the most impactful artists of this pop and hip-hop generation, in ways we will probably continue to see blossom throughout this decade and likely beyond.
Cody Carnes and Bejamin William Hastings’ “Take You at Your Word” ascends a spot to No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart dated Nov. 9. During the Oct. 25-31 tracking week, the duet increased by 5% to 6.2 million audience impressions, according to Luminate. Carnes and Hastings co-authored the track with Aodhan King, while Austin […]
Tyka Nelson, Minneapolis singer-songwriter and sister of Prince, has died. She was 64 years old.
President Nelson, Tyka’s son, confirmed the news of his mother’s death to The Minnesota Star Tribune. He declined to offer further details, other than the date of her passing: Monday (Nov. 4).
The daughter of John L. Nelson and Mattie Shaw Nelson, Tyka was the “Purple Rain” singer’s only full sibling. The pair also shared five half-siblings: Sharon Nelson, Norrine Nelson, John R. Nelson, Omarr Baker and Alfred Jackson.
Like her famous brother, Tyka was also a musician. She released four albums from 1988 to 2011, according to the Star Tribune, and she was supposed to have her retirement and farewell concert in June in her home city. Leading up to the show, however, she got sick and dropped out of the performance, telling the publication, “I’m getting older … I really wasn’t a singer. I’m a writer. I just happen to be able to sing. I enjoy singing.”
She also said at the time that she was writing a memoir.
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Since Prince died from an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2016, Tyka and her half-siblings had been engaged in a yearslong legal disagreement over the handling of the seven-time Grammy winner’s estate. In July, a Delaware judge ruled against Sharon, Norrine and John’s wishes for advisors L. Londell McMillan and Charles Spicer Jr. to be removed as managers of Prince Legacy LLC, which was created to operate half of Prince’s estate. The three siblings had initially appointed McMillan and Spicer Jr. to their positions and gave each of them a 10% interest in the company, but Sharon later regretted the decision, sparking the lawsuit.
Tyka, Omarr and Alfred, on the other hand, sold their inherited shares of Prince’s estate to Primary Wave. Prince Legacy LLC and Primary Wave split the responsibility of managing the late superstar’s affairs and keeping his legacy alive, something that was paramount to Tyka in her life.
“I’d like for my brother to be remembered as the consummate artist that he is,” she said in a 2018 interview with Studio 10. “He was also a clothes designer and — not only a musician and a singer — but an entertainer and an actor. You’re gonna see a lot more footage of him and hear a lot of his music. I want you to see everything that he kept for you because his life was for you.”
Three years after its release, Illenium is sharing the emotional backstory behind his track “Brave Soul,” the closer from his 2021 album Fallen Embers.
In a video posted to YouTube Monday (Nov. 4), the producer tells this story alongside Jordan Hamilton, the CEO of Choice House, the Colorado addiction and mental health treatment center for men where Illenium (born Nick Miller) got sober more than a decade ago after an opiate addiction.
“I met Jordan when I was on my long trek of rehabs,” Miller says in the video. “Jordan had two years sober at the time. I had gone through treatment a couple years before that and was just trying to figure out how to live life.” Watch the complete video below.
The pair became friends, with Jordan’s sister Emma, a singer-songwriter, getting introduced to the group. Together, they eventually wrote a song that turned into “Brave Soul,” with this music written in memory of Jordan and Emma’s late brother Braden, who they lost to an overdose in 2018.
“Emma and I shared the love of [being] able to speak through music and heal through music,” Miller says in the clip. “I think that’s a really impactful thing to give back to a person that you love, and give back to yourself.”
Illenium debuted the track at his Trilogy show at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on July 3, 2021. “It was so sick having you there and having Emma there and being able to give your brother the words from beyond,” Miller says in the video.
“To hear 40,000 people respond to that and to hear his memory, it was a super special special moment,” Hamilton continues of the song, whose lyrics honor his brother memory by saying “here’s to your brave soul/ you fought but you lost hold/ and now I’m alone to face the truth.”
Illenium opened up about his journey of finding sobriety and going on to became a stadium filling artist in his Billboard cover story this past March. Of how addiction effected his relationship with his mom, he said, “Watching that relationship get torn by the s–t you keep doing — at first, it’s like, ‘Why are you on me so much, I’m not even that bad,.’ Then it goes into ‘OK, I can’t stop’ and then it goes into, like, “F–k everyone. I can’t live without it.’ And then you’re just breaking down.”
“For anyone who’s in that place, it feels so horrible in that moment,” Hamilton says in the video, “but if you’re willing to ask for help and take some steps, that’s the jumping off point of where we get better.”
If you or anyone you know is struggling with substance abuse, visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s website for resources.
During Puerto Rico’s Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5, Bad Bunny cast his vote early at Saint John’s School in San Juan. Dressed in a classic salsero style sporting shades, an open-buttoned tee and burgundy pants, the superstar took a moment to address undecided voters. “Listen to your heart,” he advised after submitting his ballot, […]
Joss Favela crosses off a career milestone as he achieves his first No. 1 on any Billboard chart as “Con Todo Respetillo,” with Luis R. Conriquez, jumps 3-1 to crown the Nov. 9-dated Regional Mexican Airplay chart.
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“Con Todo Respetillo” ascends to the summit thanks to gains in audience impressions for the tracking week of Oct. 25-31. The single, released on Sony Music Latin/Azteca, generated 7.1 million impressions in the U.S., up 37% from the week prior, according to Luminate. It also takes the Greatest Gainer honors, awarded weekly to the song with the most airplay among the chart’s 40 titles.
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Although “Con Todo Respetillo” secures Favela’s breakthrough to the No. 1 spot on any Billboard chart, the Sinaloan previously registered six other top 10s on Regional Mexican Airplay, reaching as high as No. 2 through “Me Hubiera Dicho” in June 2018.
Conriquez, meanwhile, returns for his third No. 1 with “Respetillo.” The corridos-bélicos singer last achieved his two other No. 1s two years ago, as “JGL,” with La Adictiva,” and “Ya Hiciste Mal,” with Jessie Uribe, both ruled for one week in 2022.
Four other male team-ups have achieved a No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay in 2024: Christian Nodal and Peso Pluma through “La Intención” (April 6), Oscar Ortiz and Edgardo Nuñez with “First Love” (April 27), Alejandro Fernandez and Alfredo Olivas with “Cobijas Ajenas” (June 8), and Leonardo Aguilar and Pepe Aguilar through “Bandido de Amores” (July 6).
Despite their different achievements on Regional Mexican Airplay, Favela and Conriquez, both score their third top 10 on the overall Latin Airplay tally, where “Respetillo” soars 12-4 with the Greatest Gainer honors of the week.
“Con Todo Respetillo” is the only single that previewed Favela’s Mis Compas, Vol. 1 EP, released May 10 via Sony Music Latin. The album has not visited a Billboard chart yet.
With just days to go before the reveal of the 2025 Grammy nominations, a few of the hottest stars from across Caribbean music could earn their first nomination for best reggae album.
This year, Teejay (I Am Chippy), Masicka (Generation of Kings), Jah Lil (Can A Man Cry), Govana (Legacy), Shenseea (Never Gets Late Here), Gyptian (Guarded), Stalk Ashley (Stalky the Brat), Romain Virgo (The Gentle Man) and Vybz Kartel (Party With Me) are among the artists who have submitted their eligible albums from consideration. Previous nominees such as Spice (Mirror 25), The Wailers (Evolution) and Protoje (In Search of Zion) are also in contention.
If the final slate of nominees once again includes American reggae band SOJA — who’s contending this year with Beauty In the Acoustic — stay tuned for a repeat of the controversy that their 2022 triumph (for Beauty in the Silence) sparked.
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Outside of Grammy news, all eyes are on the United States presidential election (Nov. 5), where Vice President Kamala Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian descent, could become the first Asian-American and first woman president.
Naturally, Billboard’s monthly Reggae/Dancehall Fresh Picks column will not cover every last track, but our Spotify playlist — which is linked below — will expand on the 10 highlighted songs. So, without any further ado:
Freshest Find: Protoje, “Barrel Bun”
On Oct. 18, two-time Grammy nominee Protoje released a collection of tracks previewing the full soundtrack to a forthcoming short film. Stacked with songs specifically written to accentuate the film’s storyline, The Jamaican Situation: Side A houses several knockout tracks — including the fiery “Barrel Bun.” A straightforward, brass-accented reggae jam, “Barrel Bun” finds Protoje calling for radical systemic change in a country marred by government corruption and violence, with Ziah.Push’sstine production beautifully complementing Protoje’s narrator-esque delivery. “It depends pon what you choose/ Fi make it out or make it pon the news/ The system ya rough/ Everybody wicked and tough,” he croons in the chorus, between verses that follow different characters as they fight to survive and live with themselves under varying systems of oppression.
Skip Marley, “Close”
Maxi Priest’s “Close to You” — which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990 — already put the “pop” in reggae-pop, and Skip Marley’s reimagining of the track doubles down on its dancefloor bonafide. Produced by Rykeyz, Marley ups the reggae feel of Priest’s original chorus, his raspy upper register playing well against the groovy percussion that grounds the smoldering verses between each party-ready hook. Marley has already visited the top 10 of the Hot 100 (alongside Katy Perry with 2017’s No. 4-peaking “Chained to the Rhythm”), and “Close to You” has the potential to bring him back there.
Teejay feat. Masicka, “Never Complain”
You know it’s serious business when two of dancehall’s hottest stars join forces. With “Never Complain,” Jamaican powerhouses Teejay and Masicka a menacing dancehall track that finds the former delivering a smooth, coolly confident hook, while the latter spits rugged, rapid-fire verses that offer a peek into how fame and success have altered the outlook of both stars. With slinky guitar riffs providing a lighter complement to the brooding lyricism and overall production, “Never Complain” is a surprisingly texturally rich offering that previews just how incredible a joint project between Teejay and Masicka could sound.
Beach Boii & Simon Said, “Bad Gyal”
Who has the time to be worried about colder weather when Beach Boii and Simon Said are dropping sizzling joints like this one? “Bad Gyal,” a sultry trap-infused dancehall slow-burner, continues the genre’s long-standing tradition of tributing beautiful women, but Simon Said’s relaxed delivery and his and Beach Boii’s lyrics prioritize praising women’s independence as much as they express their desires to be with her. “Anything yuh want, baby girl that’s it/ Gucci from Milan, Louis Vuitton, Français/ Put it pon di Gram, make these hoes upset/ Real bad gyal, so mi know yuh don’t play,” Simon croons over Beach Boii’s string-inflected beat.
Major Lazer & Vybz Kartel, “Nobody Move”
Originally teased back in 2017 — with an additional Lorde feature, no less! — “Nobody Move” is finally here. Released as a part of the 15-year anniversary reissue of Major Lazer’s 2009 debut album Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do, “Nobody Move” finds Kartel interpolating bits of Yellowman’s 1984 dancehall classic “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt.” A far more traditional reggae joint than 2009’s “Pon De Floor” — the last time the two acts linked up for a collaboration with no other guests. It’s a brief track with just one full verse, but it’s prime for easy listening. “Nobody move, nobody get hurt/ Mi feel di vibes, put in di best work/ Jamaica land we love/ I love fi see di gyal dem inna short mini skirt,” Vybz proclaims in a curiously wistful cadence.
Juls, Black Sherif & Projexx, “Timing”
Released as a single from Juls’ Peace & Love album, “Timing” is a world-bridging collaboration between the British-Ghanaian producer, Ghanaian singer Black Sherif and Jamaican artist Projexx. Juls’ ethereal soundscape pulls from Afrobeats as much as it pays tribute to dancehall rhythms and grooves, with Black Sherif’s buoyant energy playing well against the laid-back, reserved approach Projexx takes, each style accenting different pockets of the airy beat.
Jada Kingdom, “Somebody Else”
Jada Kingdom kicked off the year with one of dancehall’s fiercest clashes, and now she’s back with “Somebody Else,” her first release under her new independent entity Kingdom Mab. A characteristically seductive kiss-off, “Somebody Else” finds Twinkle purring her way through an R&B-infused track that balances vulnerability with strength sourced from introspection. “Cause after all the heartbreak, I still gained nothing/ Best of luck, I’m sorry/ It’s too late to want me/ I got my eye on somebody else,” she declares.
Nailah Blackman, “Banana”
Nailah Blackman literally has soca history cousing through her veins — and she does her lineage proud with each successive release. “Banana,” Nailah’s take on the “Double Dip” riddim, brings her over to the power soca as she sings, “A girl no want no soft man/ Gimme a roughneck/ A man to slap it up and/ Gimme some roughness/ Want a man with strong back.” Tailor made for the road, “Banana” is sure to soundtrack some of the wickedest wines in the West Indies and beyond come next Carnival season.
Kenroy Mullings, “Brighter Days”
Analog instrumentation will never go out of style — and Kenroy Mullings is here to remind us of that. A renowned guitarist who works frequently with Buju Banton released his highly anticipated instrumental album, Brighter Days, on Oct. 23, and the title track is one of the strongest offerings. Centered on a sunny guitar melody and accented with ebullient horns and steady, earthy percussion, “Brighter Days” positions itself as the musical equivalent of the first few sun rays breaking through the clouds. There’s hope coursing through every chord, so much so that lyrics feel like a bonus accessory here as opposed to a necessity.
Patrice Roberts, “Kitty Cat”
At the top of October, Trinidadian soca icon Patrice Roberts put her own spin on Suhrawh’s “Cat Attack” riddim. “Yuh have a weakness for sweetness/ Beggin’ for the kitty cat/ So, you have a weakness for sweetness/ I have the sweetness,” she coos over the beat, which sounds just a step or two away from something you might hear on a poppier Brazilian funk track. A tantalizing ode to the power of the kitty and a sultry showcase of both Patrice’s power and sexual prowess, “Kitty Cat” is the perfect song to channel the flirtatious energy of Carnival — even if the season may be over.
Jason Kelce is taking responsibility after a heated clash with a heckler who insulted Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift went viral earlier this week.
On the latest episode of Monday Night Countdown, the retired Philadelphia Eagles center opened the show with his co-hosts by addressing the incident — which found Jason smashing the phone of an instigator who’d called his little brother a homophobic slur — head on. “Everybody’s seen on social media everything that took place this week,” he began. “Listen, I’m not happy with anything that took place.”
“I’m not proud of it,” Jason continued with a solemn expression. “In a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that that’s a productive thing.”
The moment in question went down at the Ohio State vs. Penn State football game Saturday (Nov. 2), where onlookers filmed as a heckler taunted Jason by saying, “Hey, Kelce! How does it feel your brother’s a f—– dating Taylor Swift?”
Jason then turned around, grabbed the heckler’s phone and threw it to the ground before picking it back up and walking away. As the instigator chased him down trying to retrieve the phone, the New Heights podcaster again turned around and said, “Who’s the f—– now?”
“In that moment, I fell down to a level that I shouldn’t have,” Jason reflected on Monday Night Countdown. “Bottom line is, I try to live my life by the Golden Rule … treat people with common decency and respect. I’m going to keep doing that moving forward, even though I fell short this week.”
Penn State University Police confirmed to The New York Times on Tuesday (Nov. 5) they they are investigating the incident.
Travis and the “Anti-Hero” singer have been dating since summer 2023, since which time Swift has become close with Jason and the Kelce brothers’ parents, Donna and Ed. At the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers game Monday (Nov. 4), the 14-time Grammy winner watched the tight end play alongside Jason and Donna in a box suite at Arrowhead Stadium.
Jason has also been indoctrinated into Swiftieland since his little brother’s romance with the star began. In October, the elder Kelce attended Swift’s Eras Tour show in Miami and afterward raved on New Heights, “It was on another level … When Reputation came on, and she came out in the new outfit, and the rain was coming down, the place could’ve f–king erupted.”
Azealia Banks has changed her mind about the presidential election. The mercurial MC best known for her frequent beefs with fellow celebs announced on Monday (Nov. 4) that she is now endorsing Democrat Kamala Harris over her previous commander-in-chief pick, Donald Trump.
Though the endorsement included a reference to the sitting Vice President as “stupid and incoherent” — as well as calling Harris’ VP pick, Gov. Tim Walz “trash” — Banks said she’s bailing on convicted felon Trump in large part because of her fears that the three-time presidential nominee will make good on his vow to give equally mercurial SpaceX/Tesla CEO Elon Musk a place in his potential second administration.
“I really think keeping Elon Musk away from any type of political power in the USA is tantamount to any issue on the table here. You have to be a complete idiot to think that dirtbag cares about anyone or anything other than himself,” Banks, 33, tweeted about Musk, who has become one of Trump’s biggest financial supporters and stumpers over the past month.
“He’s already been given way too much tax payer money – Allowing him to ascend to any position of political authority is very f–king dangerous,” wrote Banks in an attack on Musk featuring a string of provocative claims. “One does not become the richest man in the world because of honesty and good character lol, you must be an expert liar, thief and cheater to become that.” The tweet also included incendiary, unverified statements about Musk’s alleged business practices as well as his parenting and treatment of singer Grimes, who has two children with the tech billionaire; at press time a spokesperson for Musk had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on Banks’ claims.
In 2016, Banks endorsed Trump and congratulated him following the former reality TV star’s win over former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton in that year’s election, offering to perform at his inauguration. While she was seemingly not invited to play that event, Trump was feted with sets from Toby Keith, Three Doors Down, Lee Greenwood, Jackie Evancho, DJ Ravidrums, the Piano Guys and a speech from actor Jon Voight. Last year, Banks said she would be supporting Trump again because she thought he was “f–king funny.”
NBC reported that Musk’s financial and stump support of Trump could be result in lucrative business wins for the world’s richest man, noting that the billionaire has turned X into “a pro-Trump echo chamber” over the past few months in the apparent expectation that Trump will offer up more tax breaks for the richest Americans and provide more government contracts for SpaceX. Musk has reportedly donated nearly $120 million to convicted the twice impeached former President’s third White House bid. Though he is not expected to have an official seat in a Trump cabinet owing to his many foreign business interests and government contracts, there are report that Musk could have an unofficial role as the “secretary of cost-cutting.”
Banks concluded her Harris endorsement tweet — one of dozens she posted on Monday in which she weighed in on everything from her distaste for iPhones and owning property in South Florida to a plea for Harris to “incentivize” men who don’t want to have children to get vasectomies — by explaining her latest swipe at Musk.
“I will be Voting For Kamala Harris tomorrow because Elon Musk (a f–king overrated Ketamine addict) belongs no where near American Politics. The End,” she wrote. Musk has spoken openly in the past about his use of prescription Ketamine, an anesthetic that has gained interest from doctors and researchers for its potential to treat depression and anxiety. In an interview with CNN earlier this year, Musk denied overusing Ketamine, saying, “if you use too much ketamine, you can’t really get work done. I have a lot of work, I’m typically putting in 16-hour days … so I don’t really have a situation where I can be not mentally acute for an extended period of time.”
The rapper — who has released just one full-length album to date, 2014’s Broke With Expensive Taste, along with a handful of EPs and mixtapes — referred to an overnight stay at Musk’s home in 2018 as being akin to “a real life episode of ‘Get Out‘”; she later apologized for those remarks.
Banks’ 11th hour support for Harris comes after a galaxy of A-listers have lined up behind the VP, including: Taylor Swift, Cardi B, Eminem, Scarlett Johansson, Ricky Martin, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Bad Bunny, Harrison Ford, Cher, Usher, Olivia Rodrigo, Madonna, Kesha, Billie Eilish, Bruce Springsteen, Charli XCX and many more.