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Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap have claimed they had their pro-Palestinian messaging cut from the recent livestream of this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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The trio – who have become known for their outspoken political views on and off the stage – made their debut appearance at Coachella on Friday (April 11), with their performance gaining a small amount of notoriety thanks to an onstage chant celebrating the death of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Thatcher, who passed away in 2013 at the age of 87, has been a noted target of Kneecap, largely due to her outspoken conservative policies and her involvement in the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement, which aimed to put an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
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During the trio’s Coachella set, the band could be heard calling out to fans, “If anybody was wondering, Margaret Thatcher’s still dead.” This was then followed by a singalong of “Maggie’s in a box” to the tune of “Give It Up” by KC and The Sunshine Band. However, after this portion’s absence from the livestream was noted by NME, the group noted that this instance wasn’t the only part of their set that was removed from the broadcast.
“Not the only thing that was cut – our messaging on the US-backed genocide in Gaza somehow never appeared on screens either,” Kneecap wrote on socials. “Back next Friday Coachella and it’ll be sorted.”
The following day (April 12), Californian pop-punk veterans Green Day performed a headline set at the festival, with their appearance being noted for frontman Billie Joe Armstrong once again altering lyrics in response to ongoing political issues. While Armstrong changed the “American Idiot” line “I’m not a part of the redneck agenda” to “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda,” their track “Jesus of Suburbia” also received a similar revision during their late-night slot.
In that instance, Armstrong changed the line “Runnin’ away from pain when you’ve been victimized” to “Runnin’ away from pain, like the kids from Palestine,” though by all reports this lyrical alteration was not removed from the stream.
Kneecap will return for the second weekend of Coachella in a matter of days, and will perform another run of North American dates in October.
Hugh Evans, the Co-Founder and CEO of Global Citizen, has become the first Australian to be awarded the prestigious Sunhak Peace Prize.
Evans was named as the 2025 recipient of the award at the Sunhak Peace Prize Award Ceremony in Seoul, Korea on April 11, with his leadership and innovation in the mission to end extreme poverty cited as the reason for his recognition.
The Sunhak Peace Prize has been handed out on a largely biannual basis since 2015, with its Committee currently chaired by former European Commission President José Manuel Durão Barroso. Evans received the 2025 award alongside laureates Patrick Awuah Jr., the Ghanaian Founder and President of Ashesi University, and Wanjira Mathai, Kenyan activist and Regional Director for Africa at the World Resources Institute.
“I am deeply honoured to receive the 2025 Sunhak Peace Prize,” Evans said in a statement. “While over $49 billion has been committed toward the end of extreme poverty, impacting 1.3 billion lives, our mission is more critical now than ever before. We are rising to the challenge – we’re innovating, expanding and will be activating across five continents in the coming year.
“I share this award with our incredible team, long-standing partners, generous supporters, and global citizens everywhere who have taken action with us over the past decade and beyond.”
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Evans co-founded Global Citizen in 2008 alongside Michael Sheldrick, Simon Moss and Wei Soo, with the organization focusing on education and advocacy to end extreme poverty and promote both social justice and equity on a global scale.
Global Citizen has utilized high-impact campaigns and live events in an effort to unite leaders across myriad fields, with its Global Citizen Festival launching in 2012 and taking place in numerous cities around the world since.
Its most recent event took place in New York City in September 2024, with Post Malone, Doja Cat, Jelly Roll and Rauw Alejandro appearing. On Thursday (April 10), Global Citizen announced its 2025 event will take place in Central Park on Sept. 27.
“As our world faces rising temperatures, growing inequality, and deepening uncertainty, this year’s Global Citizen Festival is an opportunity to push for real, lasting change,” said chief music and entertainment officer Katie Hill in a statement. “We’re excited to unite 60,000 global citizens on the Great Lawn of Central Park — together with some of the world’s biggest artists and advocates — to demand action. See you on September 27th!”
News of Evans’ award also coincides with Global Citizen’s announcement of new events, including the forthcoming Global Citizen NOW summit, November’s Global Citizen Festival: Amazonia in Brazil, and its involvement in the production of the inaugural FIFA World Cup final half-time show in July 2026.
Rob Hirst, the drummer of Australian rock veterans Midnight Oil, has revealed he is currently battling pancreatic cancer.
69-year-old Hirst, who co-founded the Sydney rock outfit in the ‘70s, revealed his diagnosis publicly in an interview with The Australian, explaining that he has been living with the disease for two years. Hirst noted he had received confirmation of his condition about six months after Midnight Oil wrapped up the Australian leg of their farewell tour in October 2023, and he’s been receiving constant medical assistance since.
“So it’s ongoing,” Hirst told the publication. “I’ve had pretty much every treatment known to man – every scan, ultrasound, MRI. I’ve kind of had ‘the works.’”
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Hirst explained that he was diagnosed “early,” with his tumor being caught while at stage three. Upon learning of his condition, Hirst embarked upon months of chemotherapy before an unsuccessful eight-hour “Whipple” surgery to attempt the removal of the tumor. He has since continued with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
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Though initially keeping his diagnosis a secret, Hirst has since gone public to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer, noting that it “hasn’t really attracted the attention, for example, of skin cancers or breast cancers or others.” According to data from Cancer Australia, the average survival rate of individuals between 2016 and 2020 was 13%, with men given a chance of 12%.
“Coming up to two years, I thought I just need to get this, literally, off my chest,” Hirst explained. “Also, I think that the lesson for me – and maybe why I’ve lasted this long – is because, if you do have any of that kind of symptom, where there’s something that you feel is wrong, just go and get a simple blood test. It could be life-changing, and life-extending.”
Midnight Oil first formed in Sydney in 1972 as Farm, before adopting their later moniker in 1976. The group initially released eleven albums before splitting in 2002, with their breakthrough coming in 1982 with 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, which hit No. 3 in Australia.
Their following three albums – 1984’s Red Sails in the Sunset, 1987’s Diesel and Dust, and 1990’s Blue Sky Mining – all topped the Australian charts, while the latter gave them a peak of No. 20 on the Billboard 200. Their 1987 single “Beds Are Burning” is often considered a landmark of Australian music, with its message of Indigenous land rights also resonating internationally and peaking at No. 17 on the Hot 100.
While the band would be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006, they would reform a decade later in 2016, and following a global reunion tour, they issued The Makarrata Project in 2020 and Resist in 2022. While both albums would reach No. 1 in Australia, the former was released just one week before longtime bassist Bones Hillman passed from cancer at the age of 62.
If you watched music on TV at any point in the last 50+ years, you most likely experienced the work of Don Mischer, who directed and/or produced hundreds of hours of programming, including six Super Bowl halftime shows and variety specials headlined by such icons as Barbra Streisand and Willie Nelson. Mischer, who amassed 15 Primetime Emmys for his work, died on Friday (April 11) in Los Angeles. He was 85.
Mischer produced and directed Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, the star-studded 1983 special on which Michael Jackson introduced his Moonwalk. Mischer also produced and directed a 1985 sequel, Motown Returns to the Apollo. In 1993, he reunited with Jackson when the superstar headlined the Super Bowl halftime show. That performance is credited with elevating the halftime show to its current status as the world’s top platform for a music performer.
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Mischer worked on five more Super Bowl halftime shows, headlined by Paul McCartney (2005), The Rolling Stones (2006), Prince (2007), Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (2008) and Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band (2009). The most memorable of these was the show which Prince headlined amid a downpour. It regularly tops lists of the greatest halftime performances of all time.
Mischer directed The Kennedy Center Honors across four decades (1978-86 and 1992-2005). He also produced and/or directed three of the four EGOT-level awards shows — working on three Tonys telecasts, three Oscars telecasts and nine Primetime Emmys telecasts. He never worked on the Grammys, but he served as executive producer of the Billboard Music Awards three times (2011-13).
He produced and directed the 1996 Summer Olympics opening ceremony and served as executive producer of the 2002 Winter Olympics ceremony.
He worked on many superstar specials, including Goldie & Liza Together (1981), where Oscar winners Goldie Hawn and Liza Minnelli memorably teamed up. Others included Willie Nelson: Texas Style (1989), Sonny & Cher: Cher Remembers (1999), Barbra Streisand: Timeless (2000) and James Taylor: One Man Band (2007). He also worked on dance specials headlined by Twyla Tharp, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines, and comedy specials starring Eddie Murphy and Don Rickles.
Mischer worked on many “event” TV specials, keyed to anniversaries or re-openings. Among them: Irving Berlin’s 100th Birthday at Carnegie Hall (1988), Carnegie Hall: Live at 100 (1991), Bob Hope: The First 90 Years (1992), To Life: Israel’s 50th Anniversary Celebration (1998) and National September 11 Memorial & Museum Dedication (2014).
Mischer’s first major credit in TV was directing Great American Dream Machine on PBS (1970-71). That led to directing In Concert, a late-night music series on ABC (1973-75).
Mischer produced the 2004 Democratic National Convention, which led to a rare, if understandable, slip on his part. After John Kerry’s speech accepting the nomination for president, balloons were supposed to drop from the ceiling onto the delegates below. However, the balloons got stuck and did not fall. Mischer lost his temper and let out a string of expletives — which went out live on CNN.
In January 2009, Mischer had a happier experience when he produced and directed We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, which featured performances by Beyoncé and Bruce Springsteen.
Mischer received 15 Primetime Emmy Awards, a record 10 Directors Guild of America Awards for outstanding directorial achievement, two NAACP Image Awards, and a Peabody Award (for Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever). In 2012, he received the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television from the Producers Guild of America. In 2014, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2019, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America (DGA).
In November 2023, Mischer published his memoir :10 Seconds to Air: My Life in the Director’s Chair. Kirkus Reviews called it “a frank, insightful recollection of an accomplished career.”
“Don was simply iconic,” Lesli Linka Glatter, president of the DGA, said in a statement. “His mastery of directing live events was a fast-paced symphony of meticulous planning combined with on-the-spot decision-making that elevated our nation’s greatest cultural events, always capturing the human spirit behind them. … Don’s skill as a director elevated the emotions, excitement and importance of these live worldwide moments, creating lifelong memories for audiences around the world.”
After directing and producing hundreds of hours of live television, Mischer knew what he was doing and felt at peace when a show went live.
“There’s nothing like that feeling that the clock is ticking down and you’re sitting in the truck, and then suddenly it’s time, and everybody gets quiet,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2010. “That’s when I get calm.”
Mischer is survived by his wife, Suzan; four children, Heather, Jennifer, Charlie and Lily; and two grandchildren, Everly and Tallulah.
“I’m terrified,” says Post Malone while kicking back in an Indio, Calif., villa. He’s at an intimate but rowdy party hosted by Poppi, the fast-growing prebiotic soda he was an early investor in, and is speaking about his upcoming Coachella 2025 headlining gig that will close out both weekends of the festival on Sunday night April 13 and 20).
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“They want me to do something crazy, and I’m terrified to do it,” he teases, not saying much more. Even so, Posty says he gets nervous before every show. Except for, maybe, the first time he played Coachella in 2018 at the Sahara tent. “I wasn’t as nervous back then… I’m just old now. Everything hurts.”
Getting older is, in part, why Post was so eager to support Poppi from the jump. “I remember kicking soda was a hard thing,” he says, speaking of a few years back when he decided to swap in some healthier day-to-day choices. He says his manager, Austin Rosen, told him about the then-new option, which Post tried and declared, “This is f—ing banging.”
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Other than stopping by to hang and support Poppi (which in March celebrated a nearly $2 billion acquisition by Pepsi Co), Post has stayed tucked away for most of Coachella weekend one. And the day after his set, he reveals, he’s right back to work cutting vocals for his upcoming album.
And yes, he’s cooking up another country set.
While speaking about how kind the Nashville community has been since he had started working on his chart-topping 2024 album, F-1 Trillion, he says that every time he gets together with his crew out there — which includes buddies and fellow artists like Ernest, Hardy, Thomas Rhett and many more — “we just have fun. We just sit and f—ing talk and make songs. And so I’m pretty excited for the new record already.”
Posty says he’s already done two trips to Nashville for the project and has “made probably 35 songs; it’s just a matter of which one’s rock, and which one’s sock,” he says. (As for whether or not he’ll perform any new music during his headlining set, he says with a laugh: “Absolutely not.”)
Malone is currently working with scratch vocals, but shares that the band has already cut a bunch of songs “and they’re f—ing killing it… I sit there and listen to these songs, and I usually hate listening to my music, but listening to the band play, I get so excited.”
That excitement Post feels for the country music genre is evident — plus it works. F-1 Trillion spawned the Hot 100 No. 1 hit “I Had Some Help,” featuring Morgan Wallen, while a total of 18 songs off the album charted on the tally. F-1 also debuted atop the Top Country Albums chart. And in May, Post will compete for album of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.
While country music has been the vehicle to help launch Post into this stratosphere of success, his hits-filled catalog that spans hip-hop, pop and even rock will be on full display during his headlining set, he assures.
“You put a twist on the instrumentation and the musicianship of it,” he says of crafting a cohesive show. “We have Lillie [Mae] playing the fiddle and Cheese [Chandler Walters] playing the steel [guitar] and incorporating that into the old songs and then transitioning into the new s—… that’s always been the thing about me, is it’s all just f—ing music. And I think that’s a really neat thing that we actually got booked to play Coachella; I think it’s special that even if you don’t like country music or if you don’t necessarily like pop or hip-hop music, everybody can come together.”
And thanks to F-1, not only is Post headlining Coachella, but right after will head out on his first stadium tour, the Big Ass World Tour, alongside new pal Jelly Roll. While the correlation between Post’s foray into country music and his global superstardom is clear, he sees his current path as the only one that felt right.
Post has released an album every year since 2022 — “some better than others,” he says softly — starting with Twelve Carat Toothache, then his pop-country-stepping-stone project Austin, and then last year’s F-1.
“[They weren’t] really, I don’t want to say not well received, but, you know, it was something that I had to do,” he says of Toothache and Austin. “We just slowed everything down and that’s kind of what I was going through at that point. And [F-1] was just f—ing bitching. It was so fun to make. And I said in an interview a while ago, ‘When I’m 30 years old, I’m gonna make a country record.’ And I made it at 29, so I wasn’t too far off. But you know, it just happened naturally. I was like, ‘F— it, let’s go to Nashville. Let’s give it a go.’ I think finally bringing the fun back into what I was doing really showed on the record. And I think a lot of folks had fun listening to it. And we’re going to attempt to do it again. I’m excited to keep going.”
So does that mean he will continue his trend of releasing an album a year? “Hopefully,” he says, “we’ll have some music releasing very, very soon.”
Luis R. Conriquez, one of the most popular singers of corridos bélicos — songs often associated with glorifying drug cartels and violence — is making changes to his music after a chaotic concert in Mexico.
On Friday (April 11), Conriquez performed at the Feria del Caballo in Texcoco, State of Mexico, but things didn’t go as planned. Due to new government rules banning songs that promote violence in certain areas, Conriquez decided to leave narcocorridos out of his setlist. The result? Angry fans, booing, fights, and even destroyed property at the venue.
In a statement shared on his social media accounts the next day, Conriquez expressed regret over what happened and announced that he’ll be making significant changes to his lyrics moving forward.
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“My fans are the most important thing to me — I owe them everything. But as an artist, I must follow the new rules the government has set regarding corridos,” he said.
He also asked his audience to understand his decision, saying he’ll continue focusing on his passion for music despite these challenges.
Conriquez’s show took a turn for the worse during his performance at the palenque — a smaller, intimate venue typically seen at fairs. When Conriquez told the crowd there wouldn’t be any narcocorridos that night, people started booing and shouting. Videos posted on social media show fans growing more upset as he tried to explain the decision. Eventually, Conriquez decided to leave the stage, which led to chairs and objects being thrown in frustration.
The ban on songs that glorify violence was introduced on April 9 in Texcoco and two other municipalities in the State of Mexico — Metepec and Tejupilco. The new rule applies to fairs and mass events, with penalties of up to six months in jail for violations. The State of Mexico’s Security Department doubled down on this policy in a statement released Saturday, urging local authorities to enforce the prohibition of such songs at public events.
This crackdown on narcocorridos isn’t limited to the State of Mexico. Other parts of the country are implementing similar measures, especially after a major controversy in March when the University of Guadalajara hosted a concert where images of a well-known drug lord were projected on stage. That incident led to the U.S. revoking the visas of the band involved, Los Alegres del Barranco. On April 11, the government of Jalisco proposed a new law allowing municipalities to regulate or ban songs that glorify violence at public or private events.
Meanwhile, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has been pushing for a cultural shift in music. This week, the government’s Culture Department announced a binational contest called “México Canta,” which aims to encourage young artists — especially those making corridos tumbados, a trendy subgenre — to create songs without promoting violence or drug-related themes. The initiative comes as Mexico grapples with rising violence in certain areas.
For Conriquez, this new reality means adapting his music to comply with these rules, even if it upsets some of his fans. As he put it in his statement: “The unfortunate events last night put at risk not only the safety and lives of the audience, but also the integrity of my team and myself.” Despite the backlash, he says he’s determined to keep making music — just with a different approach.
Cynthia Erivo‘s “Worst of Me” tops this week’s new music poll.
Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (April 11) on Billboard, choosing the Wicked actress’ dramatic new ballad as their favorite new music release of the past week.
“Worst of Me” captured 73% of the vote, surpassing recent releases from artists like Lana Del Rey (“Henry, Come On”), Jessie Murph (“Blue Strips”), Bon Iver (SABLE fABLE), Rauw Alejandro (“Carita Linda”), and others.
“Worst of Me” is the second single from Erivo’s sophomore album, I Forgive You, which is set for release on June 6 through Verve Records/Republic Records. In addition to showcasing her powerhouse vocals, the project marks a new chapter for Erivo as a songwriter, as she has co-writing credits on every track.
The new single sees Erivo soaring vocally as she closes the door on a toxic relationship. Lush string arrangements and intricate harmonies elevate the emotional ballad, as she declares: “I came here for love, oh, no I don’t want it anymore. I gave you my home, but you took the worst of me.”
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It’s is shaping up to be a banner year for Erivo. Following the blockbuster success of Wicked in 2024, she received a best actress nomination at the 2025 Oscars, where she also delivered a show-stopping performance of “Defying Gravity” alongside co-star Ariana Grande. Still ahead, she’s set to host the 2025 Tony Awards, take on the role of Jesus Christ in the Hollywood Bowl’s Jesus Christ Superstar, and headline WorldPride’s post-parade stage in Washington, D.C. All this leads up to the release of Wicked: For Good, the final installment of the franchise, premiering Nov. 21.
Del Rey’s “Henry, Come On” landed in second place in the poll with 12% of the vote. The gentle track serves as the first single from her long-awaited country album, The Right Person Will Stay.
Check out the full results of this week’s poll below and visit Billboard’s Friday Music Guide for more must-hear releases.
Playboi Carti’s MUSIC returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated April 19), rising one spot, with 64,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 10, according to Luminate. Of that sum, 96% was driven by streaming activity.
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With MUSIC earning 64,000 units in the latest tracking week, that marks the smallest weekly sum for a No. 1 album in over a year, since the Jan. 20, 2024-dated chart, when Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time was tops with 61,000 units.
Also in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200 chart, Elton John and Brandi Carlile’s first collaborative album, Who Believes in Angels?, debuts at No. 9, while Ethel Cain’s 2022 set Preacher’s Daughter debuts at No. 10 following its vinyl release.
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The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new April 19, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on April 15. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of the 64,000 equivalent album units earned by MUSIC in the week ending April 10, SEA units comprise 61,500 (down 27%; equaling 84.61 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it’s No. 1 for a fourth week on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 2,500 (down 59%; it falls 11-33 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum (down 44%).
The next seven titles on the Billboard 200 are all former No. 1s. Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine falls to No. 2 (56,500 equivalent album units; down 59%); PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake’s $ome $exy $ongs 4 U rises 5-3 (56,000; down 3%); SZA’s SOS steps 6-4 (54,000; down 4%); Kendrick Lamar’s GNX dips 4-5 (53,000; down 9%); Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet rises 7-6 (49,000; down 2%); Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time climbs 10-7 (44,500; down less than 1%); and Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos is a non-mover at No. 8 (42,500; down 5%).
Elton John and Brandi Carlile’s first collaborative album, Who Believes in Angels?, debuts at No. 9 on the Billboard 200, marking the 22nd top 10 set for John and the fourth for Carlile. The set earned 40,000 equivalent album units in its opening week. Of that sum, album sales comprise 36,500 (it debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 2,500 (equaling 3.54 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise 500.
John and Carlile ushered in the release of the album with a flurry of media appearances, including CBS News Sunday Morning (CBS, March 30), The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (April 3), Saturday Night Live (NBC, April 5) and the concert special An Evening With Elton John and Brandi Carlile (CBS and Paramount+, April 6), along with interviews with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, NPR and SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show, among other outlets.
John earned his first Billboard 200 top 10 a little over 54 years ago, when his self-titled album climbed 11-7 on the Jan. 30, 1971-dated chart; it peaked at No. 4 a week later (Feb. 6, 1971). Breaking down John’s 22 top 10s by decade: 13 in the 1970s, two in the 1990s, one in the 2000s, four in the 2010s and two in the 2020s. Who Believes in Angels? is John’s second album with shared artist billing to reach the top 10, following The Union, with Leon Russell, which reached No. 3 in 2010.
John continues to be among elite company of acts with at least 20 top 10-charting albums on the Billboard 200, from March 24, 1956, when the list began publishing on a regular, weekly basis, through the new, April 19, 2025-dated chart. Here’s an updated leaderboard:
Most Billboard 200 Top 10s:38, The Rolling Stones34, Barbra Streisand33, Frank Sinatra32, The Beatles27, Elvis Presley23, Bob Dylan23, Madonna22, Elton John22, Bruce Springsteen21, Paul McCartney/Wings21, George Strait20, Prince
Notably, the Kidz Bop Kids music brand has collected 24 top 10s, in 2005-16, with its series of kid-friendly covers of hit singles. The franchise’s early albums were performed mostly by anonymous studio singers, although later releases focused on branding named talent.
Rounding out the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200 is a debut at No. 10 for singer-songwriter Ethel Cain’s 2022 album Preacher’s Daughter. The set jumps onto the list with 39,000 equivalent album units earned (its best week yet), with 37,000 of that sum driven by album sales (it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales). SEA units comprise 2,000 of the set’s total for the week (equaling 2.77 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), while TEA units comprise a negligible sum.
The album was released on vinyl for the first time on April 4, marking its first release on any physical format. It had previously only been available to purchase as a digital download, and via streaming services. Vinyl sales comprise essentially all of the set’s 37,000 copies sold in the latest tracking week – the sixth-largest sales week for a vinyl album in 2025.
Since its release in May 2022, the album’s songs have collected 229.73 million on-demand official streams in the U.S. The No. 10 debut of Preacher’s Daughter marks Cain’s second appearance on any Billboard chart, following a one-week appearance on the now-defunct TikTok Billboard Top 50 in January with the album’s “Strangers.”
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
Sen. Bernie Sanders made an unexpected appearance at Coachella 2025.
The 83-year-old Vermont independent took the stage at the Indio, California, festival on Saturday (April 12) to introduce Clairo and deliver a politically charged message.
“This country faces some very difficult challenges, and the future of what happens to America is dependent upon your generation,” Sanders told the crowd, according to Time. “Now you can turn away and ignore what goes on, but if you do that, you do so at your own peril. We need you to stand up and fight for justice, to fight for economic justice, social justice, and racial justice.”
At one point, after referencing the “President of the United States,” the audience responded with boos. “I agree,” he replied.
The longtime politician went on to criticize President Donald Trump’s stance on climate change. “[Trump] thinks that climate change is a hoax. He’s dangerously wrong,” the senator said. “And you and I are going to have to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and tell them to stop destroying this planet.”
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Sanders also addressed wealth inequality and corporate power. “We have an economy today that is working very well for the billionaire class, but not for working families,” he said, calling for action against insurance and pharmaceutical companies. “Healthcare is a human right,” he added.
The senator praised Clairo for using her platform to advocate for critical issues. “I’m here because Clairo has used her prominence to fight for women’s rights, to try to end the terrible, brutal war in Gaza, where thousands of women and children are being killed,” he said.
Later that evening, Sanders reflected on his appearance through X, posting a photo from the stage. “Thank you, Coachella. I enjoyed introducing the great @clairo tonight,” he wrote. “These are tough times. The younger generation has to help lead in the fight to combat climate change, protect women’s rights, and build an economy that works for all, not just the few.”
Earlier in the day, Sanders appeared at Los Angeles’s Gloria Molina Grand Park as part of his ongoing “Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here” tour alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The event also featured including Neil Young, Joan Baez and Maggie Rogers.
The Sanders-AOC tour has drawn thousands at rallies across Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Utah. At a March 7 stop in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Sanders invited musician Laura Jane Grace to the stage to perform a provocative new song titled “Your God (God’s D—),” which sparked controversy online for its profane lyrics and religious themes.
Over the last several years, Kota The Friend has been busy intentionally carving out a very normal life compared to other rappers.
While his rap peers may be chasing fame, fortune and relentless visibility, Kota’s been quietly utilizing what he’s got, building out a comfortable life for him and his family that’s fulfilling, sustainable and most importantly: Peaceful.
“One thing I really had to do was disconnect from social media, and disconnect from the numbers and what people think about me,” Kota tells Billboard. “Being so detached from that has allowed me to live a completely different life.”
The Brooklyn rapper returned with his latest album, No Rap on Sunday, last month, releasing the project exclusively on Even and avoiding DSP’s for the time being. Throughout the recording process, Kota was — and still is as of this interview — knee deep in renovating a new house he bought in Brooklyn. Throw in two kids and a wife to care for, there’s undeniably a lot going on, but in a way that Kota says keeps him focused and motivated on creating authentic music and an authentic life.
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“At the beginning I told myself if I could pay my bills, keep a roof over my head, I’d be good. If I can feed my kids, I’m great,” Kota says. “I kinda set my life up in a way where I can focus on the art.”
Since the beginning of his career, he’s rapped extensively about chasing that lifestyle. Throughout his Lyrics To Go series and on projects like Once In a Blue Moon, Memo and Everything, Kota has served as the Every Man rapper. His biggest songs have included numerous motivational gems about getting back to the basics. Get off your phone, connect with people that cherish you. Go. Outside. These are the fundamentals that Kota lives by.
“We tryna live in the now, I really ain’t tryna get caught up in back in the day,” Kota raps on his latest song “Michigan,” which Billboard premieres today (April 13), and which features a stellar verse from Big Sean. Being present in your life is the most important gift you can give yourself, and Kota knows what it costs to get to that point.
“It’s almost like, you go through something and it kind of is a struggle, and you get out of it and you’re a much wiser individual,” Kota says. “The wisdom plus the authenticity, I think it just created this beautiful album.”
Below, Kota reflects on his latest single, working with Big Sean, and how it feels to be an indie rapper in 2025.
What inspired No Rap on Sunday? Where does that phrase come from?
I think it was really me coming back home and building a house out here, basically from scratch. Ripping all the walls out, ripping all the ceilings out and going through that process. It really made me feel like, “Damn I’m actually building something in my hometown.” It inspired me to create this album that was about where I’m from that was about my roots, about my family, and really honoring them and honoring everybody that raised me in the city that raised me. [No Rap on Sunday] is about taking that time to focus on what’s real. Cause we’re living in a digital world. So No Rap on Sunday is really that breath of fresh air when you look around and you’re really planted in the moment of what really matters.
Like you said though, you’re building a new house, you’re a dad. How has your relationship to staying in the moment changed as life has thrown more things at you that demand your attention?
I’ve definitely been feeling like I appreciate the small things in life a lot more than I used to. I forgive a lot a lot easier. There’s a lot of things that used to really weigh on my shoulders and and kind of bring me down that don’t exist in my life or hold the same weight as they used to. So I feel much lighter. I’ve definitely been moving through life with a lot less baggage and it feels great. I feel like this is something that I’ve wanted for a long time that I finally got a hold of.
How has that feeling changed your creative approach? Or has it?
Yeah, with this album I was able to really speak from that authentic place that you can only really speak from when you get certain things out the way. When you stop caring about stuff that doesn’t matter and start focusing more on your contributions in the world versus the perceptions of other people. My mental has been changed so much that I feel like when I listen to [the album] I’m like, “man I’ve never had this perspective on life before even in my older music.”
Pivoting into “Michigan.” You sound hungry on that record. Tell me about where that hunger is coming from a little bit more.
The hunger is coming from a place where I feel like I’ve achieved so much and done a lot of things that I’ve I’ve wanted to do in this life, and on “Michigan” I’m basically expressing that this is the way that I’m moving to life from now till the end. I’ve got my head down on my work. I’m not focused on the drama. Like, I see it, I feel it! And I see the people trying to bring me down. I see people trying to bring other people down, and I’m telling everybody that I’m one, I’m not here for it so please don’t bring it my way. Secondly, I just don’t care about it. I’m too focused on what I need to do. I’m too focused on making sure my people are good and we are collectively moving forward in every sense of the word.
How did you link with Big Sean and how important was it to get him on that record?
Man, I loved it. I love that he got on the record. I don’t think that there’s anybody else that should’ve done that record and I feel like the universe really put everything in line for that to happen.
How do you feel about his verse? ‘Cause he was going crazy.
I love it. I feel like he really gave me one of those great Big Sean verses and I think it’s gonna be legendary when it drops.
The music video for “Michigan” is very cinematic. What was your vision for this video?
I wanted to make a video that really paid homage to Michigan. We went out there and went to different parts. We went to Detroit and then went to Sleeping Bear National Park and [the video] just shows the contrast between both places and that was kind of what I loved about it. I really wanted to show people that we were appreciating the town from the city to the middle of nowhere.
Tell me more about the rollout of the project. What made you want to release the little differently and go through Even before dropping it on streaming?
I’ve been kind of thinking about the music and the industry and the way I’ve been releasing music and just putting it on DSP’s, Spotify, Apple Music, etc. and I realized that it made me feel like all this work I put into the music, once I released it on [DSP’s], it made me feel like it’s over. It kind of ruined the album experience cause people are gonna listen to the album and then they’re just gonna add their favorite songs to the playlist, and now it’s out for all the critics and all of the spectators. I realized that I didn’t want to do that to my art. I didn’t want to just give my art out like that for free just for people to comment on. So I wanted to put it on Even for my true fans to invest back in me. I invested a lot into this album and so I don’t plan on releasing the album on DSPs until July, and for the next four months I feel like this is time that me and my fans can kind of celebrate this album uninterrupted. It’s not even about the money, it’s about the energy, you know? I put so much energy into making this, and it’s not just me! So many artists put in a year two years to make an album, and I was just saying the other day how the fact that it’s not on DSPs makes me feel good. because I feel like I’ve created value for this piece of art that I put so much work into.
Tell me about some of the other features on this album. You got Fivio Foreign on here as well.
Specifically I wanted Fivio on the album because he’s one of those rappers from New York who, he’s a drill rapper, but I respect him as a rapper. So one thing that I wanna do in the city is just bring art — like me and Fivio being on record? For some people it’s like, “What are y’all doing on a song together?” and I love that. I love that because I feel like that’s how we can bring New York together. We don’t have to make the same kind of music to make a good record together. We’re all from here and we all represent a different part of the city, and a different aspect, but we all walk on the same grounds.
How do you feel about New York’s standing in rap right now? Do you feel it’s lacking that sort of unity?
Yeah, I feel like New York definitely has to come together. We’re the Mecca of hip-hop, and I feel like we haven’t really had that resurgence of artists that are international artists and really doing that thing on a big level. I’m at the point where I’m tired of it and I see what Kendrick is doing on the West Coast and it honestly inspired me because we need to do that here.
How do you feel you fit in on the current state of rap?
Honestly, I don’t think I fit in at all with the current state of rap, and it’s not a bad thing either! Lately, I’m motivated to just work on music. That’s what I look forward to more than anything, being able to collaborate with different artists and create different opportunities for all of our music to be heard. One thing that I’m doing is definitely keeping my ear to the streets, cause I just wanna make good music with talented people.
Watch the video for “Michigan” below.
