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Snoop Dogg wants to see more originality in rap these days. The Doggfather said in a new interview that he believes there are too many copycats running around hip-hop and there needs to be more artists looking to stand out rather than following the trends.
Snoop and Dr. Dre stopped by The Stephen A. Smith Show on Friday (Oct. 18), where the legendary West Coast duo spoke candidly while giving their thoughts on today’s landscape of rap.
“Be original,” Snoop said when asked what he would tell an aspiring artist. “Right now there’s so much copycatting, mimicking, sounding alike and imitation. Find your production, your sound — find your ear for who you are and be original even if it ain’t hitting. Stay you.”
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Dr. Dre chimed in about wanting to see artists find their sound with a specific collaborator, as he isn’t a fan of songs or albums with a multitude of producers involved in the creative process.
“Find your collaborator. I don’t like the fact there’s nine different producers on one album. I like the idea of one producer on one album,” Dre added. “The continuity is everything for me. I don’t know [when that started], but I don’t like it. If you’re a producer, you should be able to produce the entire album. That’s what I thought it was supposed to be. That’s what I was doing at the beginning.”
Snoop Dogg chalked it up to there being a plethora of beatmakers in rap rather than traditional producers. “I think the fundamentals was taken out of it,” Snoop said of the industry. “Now it’s just a phone that makes you an artist. Something stupid gets you five minutes of fame, and you take that and make a record and you got a two-and-a-half-minute song saying the same thing somebody else just said and now you considered hot.”
He continued: “It used to be about creativity and understanding the musicianship, harmony, melodies and that don’t even matter anymore.”
However, Dre feels there’s a shift in the market from “mumble rap,” and he thinks there’s the next Prince or Michael Jackson out there coming up to change the game.
“I feel like it’s a change happening now from all this mumble rap that’s happening now,” the legendary producer predicted. “There’s somebody in somebody’s garage that’s gonna be the next Snoop or Dre or the next Prince or the next Michael Jackson that’s coming up with something that’s change the game.
“It’s gotta happen right now and it’s wide open because everything that’s happening right now in the music game — especially hip-hop — is weird as f–k,” Dre declared. “It’s gonna get back to the musicianship. I’m seeing it happen.”
Snoop and Dre are reuniting for their first album in more than three decades since 1993’s Doggystyle with their Missionary follow-up, which is expected to arrive in November.
Original Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno has died at 66 according to a statement from the late hard rock vocalist’s label, Conquest Music. “On behalf of his family, Conquest Music are sad to confirm the death of Paul Andrews, professionally known as Paul Di’Anno. Paul passed away at his home in Salisbury at the age of 66,” read Monday’s (Oct. 21) statement, which did not include the date or cause of death.
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Di’Anno was the lead singer for the legendary British metal group from 1978-1981, kicking off their 45-year run with his urgent, punk-inspired vocals on their self-titled 1980 debut, which featured the ripping lead-off track “Prowler” and the band’s turbo-charged eponymous anthem “Iron Maiden.”
He also sang on the band’s 1981 follow-up, Killers, which featured such knotty metal anthems as the opening instrumental “The Ides of March,” the pummeling “Wrathchild” and the blitzing barrage of “Purgatory,” which cemented the band’s pioneering mix of hard rock, punk and prog.
Iron Maiden issued a statement honoring Di’Anno on Monday featuring a picture of the singer with founding bassist — and reported chief antagonist while he was in Maiden — Steve Harris. “We are all deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Paul Di’Anno earlier today. Paul’s contribution to Iron Maiden was immense and helped set us on the path we have been travelling as a band for almost five decades. His pioneering presence as a frontman and vocalist, both on stage and on our first two albums, will be very fondly remembered not just by us, but by fans around the world,” read the statement.
“It’s just so sad he’s gone,” added Harris. “I was in touch with him only recently as we texted each other about West Ham and their ups and downs. At least he was still gigging until recently, it was something that kept him going, to be out there whenever he could. He will be missed by us all. Rest in peace mate.”
It concluded, “We were very grateful to have had the chance to catch up a couple of years ago and to spend time with him once more. On behalf of the band, Rod and Andy, and the whole Iron Maiden team, we extend our deepest sympathies to Paul’s family and close friends.”
Born in Chingford, East London on May 17, 1958, Di’Anno rose to prominence as the frontman of Iron Maiden, before splitting with the group before their 1982 commercial breakthrough with 1982’s The Number of the Beast, which introduced new vocalist Bruce Dickinson, who has held the gig ever since. After leaving Maiden, Di’Anno recorded a number of solo albums, as well as LPs with the bands Di’Anno’s Battlezone, Gogmagog, Killers, Praying Matins, Rockfellas and more.
The powerful singer continued to record and tour through 2016, when he was hospitalized for undisclosed medical reasons; at the time Blabbermouth reported that Di’Anno had been forced to perform from a wheelchair due to injuries from a number of motorcycle accidents. He also faced a number of other health challenges over the years, including a near-fatal battle with sepsis that landed him in the hospital for eight months in 2015.
“Despite being troubled by severe health issues in recent years that restricted him to performing in a wheelchair, Paul continued to entertain his fans around the world, racking up well over 100 shows since 2023,” read the statement from Conquest Music. Di’Anno first career retrospective album, The Book of the Beast, was released last month, featuring highlights of the songs he recorded post-Maiden.
According to an Oct. 10 post on Di’Anno’s FB page, he was slated to perform in Edinburgh on Dec. 30 of this year before that show was cancelled, though a string of UK dates later this month and in November were still slated to go on before his death.
Check out some of Di’Anno’s Maiden high points below.
He’s a “Lucky Man,” because the latest support act for Oasis’ upcoming reunion tour was announced Monday (Oct. 21). Richard Ashcroft of The Verve will join the Gallagher brothers on their upcoming U.K. and Ireland tour dates next summer. The band will play 19 sold-out shows beginning in Cardiff on July 4, with the trek including stops at stadiums in London, Edinburgh, Manchester and Dublin.
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“As a fan from day one I was buzzing for many reasons when the news of Oasis’s return was announced,” Ashcroft said in a statement. “I can say with no exaggeration that the songwriting talent of Noel and Liam’s pure spirit as a lead singer helped to inspire me to create some of my best work. It was the perfection of ‘Live Forever’ that forced me to try and write my own.”
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He added: “They dared to be great, made the dreams we had real and I will always remember those days with joy. Now it’s time to create more memories and I’m ready to bring it. See you next summer. Music is power.”
The Gallagher brothers first met Ashcroft in the when Oasis supported The Verve on tour back in 1993, prior to the release of Oasis’ debut single “Supersonic.”
In 1995, Noel Gallagher dedicated “Cast No Shadow” from their second album (What’s the Story Morning Glory?) to Ashcroft. The band then recruited Ashcroft to perform backing vocals on Be Here Now single “All Around the World” in 1997; Liam Gallagher returned the favor when he appeared on Ashcroft’s Acoustic Hymns Vol 1 rework album in 2021.
The Verve released four albums during its career, including Urban Hymns in 1997, which went to No. 1 on the U.K.’s Albums Charts and No. 23 on the Billboard 200. They also had success with singles such as “Bittersweet Symphony,” “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “Lucky Man.” Ashcroft boasts two further chart-topping albums in the Verve and in his solo career.
Additional names will be announced as support acts in due course for Oasis’ European shows. In North America, it has been announced that rock band Cage the Elephant will appear as a special guest for their sold-out run next August and September in Toronto, Chicago, New Jersey, Los Angeles and Mexico City.
The band also recently announced – and promptly sold out – a string of dates in Australia. Last week, Liam said that he and Noel would not be doing joint interviews as a result of their reunion to avoid “intrusive” questions.
Cruel World festival will return in 2025 with headliners New Order and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. Southern California promoter Goldenvoice (the folks behind Coachella) will head back to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on Saturday, May 17, with additional performances from legendary acts Devo, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Death Cult, Garbage, […]
Liam Payne‘s older sister Nicola has publicly paid tribute to the 31-year-old singer following his death.
On Monday (Oct. 21), five days after the One Direction star died after falling from the third floor of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nicola shared a carousel of photos of herself with Liam and other members of their family on Instagram, including snaps of him interacting with his niece, Ffion. “When I saw the news pop up on my phone that you had left us I went cold,” she wrote. “I wanted so much for this to be untrue.”
“I have spent days hoping that it was a mistake and somebody has got it wrong,” Nicola continued. “You were truly too good for this earth, you are an angel who just lived for making people smile and happy.”
Nicola went on to praise her “brilliant” baby brother and defend him against public misconceptions about his character, writing, “Unfortunately this cruel world is always [too] quick to judge someone from a few 5 second clips, they then think it entitles them to be able to speak like they know you.”
“We knew you and we loved you,” she added. “I hope you have finally found peace up there and that you’ll continue to look after us all as you have done in life. We will make sure Bear knows about his daddy and how much you loved him, we promise this.”
Liam died Oct. 16, and is survived by his 7-year-old son, Bear, whom he shares with ex-partner Cheryl Cole. In the days since his death, countless friends, fans and family members have posted messages of grief, including all four of the musician’s former bandmates: Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik.
The “Strip That Down” singer’s other older sister, Ruth Gibbins, also shared a statement two days before Nicola. “Liam, My brain is struggling to catch up with what’s happening and I don’t understand where you’ve gone,” Gibbins wrote Oct. 19. “I just want to drive to your house and walk in to music blasting and find you sat there writing a song.”
Jimmy Fallon has loaded up his sleigh with a gang of A-list stars for his first holiday album. On Monday morning (Oct. 21), the Tonight Show host revealed the track list for Holiday Seasoning, in his typically cheerful fashion in a brief video posted on Instagram in which he “unwraps” each feature on the collection […]
This week’s crop of new country tunes includes Benjamin Tod highlighting a range of country sounds on his new album Shooting Star. Elsewhere, Bailey Zimmerman and Max McNown both offer up songs about finding and offering hope when mental health struggles rage, while Scotty Hasting teams with Lee Brice and Dolly Parton for a new version of a song previously recorded by Trace Adkins.
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Check out all of these and more in Billboard’s roundup of the best country songs of the week below.
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Benjamin Tod, Shooting Star
Tod, known for his work as part of the Lost Dog Street Band, issues his fourth solo album with Shooting Star, a set that weaves through a sampling of sounds drawn from the spectrum of country music decades, with each song helmed by his raw, aching vocal. He articulates the honkytonk of “Tramp Like Me,” the string-laden countrypolitan in “Nothing More,” and the heaps of gospel-tinged, piano-laced sounds on his Sierra Ferrell collaboration “One Last Time.” His raw, aching vocal shines on “I Ain’t The Man.” Elsewhere, on the title track, this Nashville-area native delivers a stinging criticism of machinations of Nashville’s Music Row, singing, “I don’t kneel for you or anyone.” As with his previous output, Shooting Star evinces Tod’s masterful songwriting and offers a balm for lovers of traditional country sounds.
Midland feat. Kaitlin Butts, “Vegas”
Midland just released a deluxe version of their recent album Barely Blue, including a revised version of “Vegas,” their satiny, Strait-esque ode to Sin City. This time they welcome Red Dirt stalwart Kaitlin Butts, who earlier this year made waves with her theatrical album Roadrunner! The trio’s knack for preternatural harmonies remains front and center, further elevated by Butts’ self-assured twang, as the song bristles with a neo-traditional country sound.
Max McNown, “Hotel Bible”
The Oregon-born, Nashville-based McNown first broke through with “A Lot More Free,” which propelled him to the top of Billboard’s Emerging Artist chart this year. He follows with “Hotel Bible,” a raw, heartland-folk track shot through with textured guitar and a burst of joyous percussion. Here, he comes alongside a lover who “can’t shake that sinking feeling,” provides a heartening, hope-filled reassurances, reminiscing on times they “sipped on wine and swore we’d change the world.” Overall, “Hotel Bible” marks a solid follow-up to McNown’s breakthrough hit, one that positions him as a newcomer worth watching.
Bailey Zimmerman, “Holding On”
Zimmerman follows his “Holy Smokes” single with this pleading track written by Austin Shawn and Blake Whiten. “Holding On” finds Zimmerman delving into themes surrounding mental health on lyrics such as “There was a time when I had the fight/ And I could’ve made it through one more night, but I’m losing my mind.” Ultimately, however, he finds the strength and comfort he’s seeking in the commitment of a loved one, which helps him overcome darker moments. Sonically, this bruising track falls squarely within Zimmerman’s wheelhouse, a vessel for his grainy vocal — though it pares back slightly on the heavily rock-oriented instrumentation of some of his previous efforts, enough to let the song’s timely message shine through.
Kelsea Ballerini, “First Rodeo”
Ballerini offers a preview of her upcoming album Patterns with this languid track about taking risks and establishing new patterns in the wake of a breakup. “Take my heart but take it slow/ ‘Cause this ain’t my first rodeo,” she sings, infusing her vocal delivery with a tenderness as she examines a newfound relationship with hope and a bit of trepidation. Meanwhile, as she continues to deepen her emotionally-excavating style of songwriting, she melds it with her signature brand of hazy, glistening country-pop. Ballerini’s album Patterns releases Oct. 25.
Scotty Hasting, Lee Brice and Dolly Parton, “’Til The Last Shot’s Fired”
Hasting welcomes Brice and Parton for this remake of Trace Adkins’s somber 2009 tribute to fallen military personnel. Hazy guitar lays the soundscape, as U.S. Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient Hastings takes the first verse, sung from the perspective of a soldier killed during the Civil War, before Brice picks up the second verse depicting the story of a soldier who dies during World War II. Both plead for the end of life-taking battles and wars; toward the end, their weathered voices are balanced as Parton’s airy, shimmering soprano joins in, offering levity and infusing the song’s somber message with hope.
Kendrick Lamar didn’t hold anything back in his vicious rap battle with Drake earlier this year, but he claims to not be an angry person at heart. In his first profile since the year-defining feud, K. Dot covered the Harper’s Bazaar 2024 November Voices Issue on Monday (Oct. 21), which had him in conversation with his former Top Dawg Entertainment teammate SZA.
Lamar explained during the chat how he doesn’t believe he’s an angry individual, but how the duality of love and war do pose a need to exist.
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“I don’t believe I’m an angry person,” Lamar declared. “But I do believe in love and war, and I believe they both need to exist. And my awareness of that allows me to react to things but not identify with them as who I am. Just allowing them to exist and allowing them to flow through me. That’s what I believe.”
While “Not Like Us” proved decisive in his feud with Drake, Kendrick defined what the phrase means to him culturally, and it’s much bigger than anything OVO-related.
“Not like us? Not like us is the energy of who I am, the type of man I represent,” he said. “Now, if you identify with the man that I represent . This man has morals, he has values, he believes in something, he stands on something. He’s not pandering.”
Lamar continued: “He’s a man who can recognize his mistakes and not be afraid to share the mistakes and can dig deep down into fear-based ideologies or experiences to be able to express them without feeling like he’s less of a man. If I’m thinking of ‘Not Like Us,’ I’m thinking of me and whoever identifies with that.”
“Not Like Us,” the scathing Drake diss mixed with Mustard’s Cali bounce, became the longest running No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart earlier this month when it helmed a 21st week atop the chart to trot past Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.”
The “Not Like Us” train doesn’t appear to be stopping anytime soon, and the diss track could make its presence felt at the 2025 Grammy Awards when nominations are unveiled in November.
See Kendrick’s cover of Harper’s Bazaar below:
It’s an understatement to say that there’s no love lost between 50 Cent and Sean “Diddy” Combs. The two hip-hip moguls have been trading jabs in public for nearly 20 years, but lately 50 has appeared to ramp up the rhetoric in response to the avalanche of legal action against Combs. Over the weekend, the disgraced hip-hop mogul was hit with another six civil abuse lawsuits, adding to the half dozen similar cases filed last week, all alleging that the Bad Boy Records boss sexually and physically abused the anonymous victims; Combs has previously denied the allegations.
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In an interview with People, 50 (born Curtis Jackson), discussed his feelings about Diddy’s actions before the 54-year-old mogul was arrested in Manhattan on Sept. 17 and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution, charges Combs has plead not guilty to.
“Look, it seems like I’m doing some extremely outrageous things, but I haven’t. It’s really me just saying what I’ve been saying for 10 years,” 50 said of his jabs at Combs over the past few months as more details have emerged about Diddy’s alleged sex-and-drug-fueled “fFreak Off” parties.
“Now it’s becoming more full-facing in the news with the Puffy stuff, but away from that, I’m like, ‘Yo, it’s just my perspective because I stayed away from that stuff the entire time, because this is not my style.’” 50 has said several times in recent months that he did not attend any freak offs, confirming in September that he’s prepping a documentary about Diddy’s alleged history of sexual abuse is coming to Netflix.
The untitled work will reportedly focus on claims about Combs’ alleged history of sexual assault and abuse, which investigators allege stretches back decades. “This is a story with significant human impact. It is a complex narrative spanning decades, not just the headlines or clips seen so far,” 50 and director Alexandria Stapleton said in a joint statement. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to give a voice to the voiceless and to present authentic and nuanced perspectives.”
Last month, 50 said in a podcast interview that he “didn’t participate” in Combs’ freak offs. “I also didn’t go to those parties. So a lot of the celebrity culture that you don’t hear saying anything is because they participated to a degree,” 50 said, adding, “I’m just not with all that freaky sh–. Like, all of the stuff he’s doing, I’m not into that type of stuff. I’m just a little more, maybe you could say, basic or normal.” 50 has said more than once this year that he’s practicing celibacy in order to focus on his business.
50, who has made a habit of trolling Diddy on X, originally announced plans for a doc about his rival in December, following a shocking lawsuit filed by Combs’ ex, singer Cassie, who settled with the Bad Boy founder one day after filing papers alleging more than a decade of physical and sexual abuse, including rape; Combs denied Cassie’s claims and the two both issued statement acknowledging the settlement without discussing its terms.
In September, 50 posted the latest in a long series of posts trolling Combs, uploading a picture of himself with Drew Barrymore, writing, “Here I am keeping good company with @DreBarrymoreTV and I don’t have 1,000 bottles of lube at the house,” 50 wrote, in seeming reference to what authorities said was the copious stash of baby oil and personal lubricant found at Diddy’s homes in Miami and Los Angeles during a federal raid in March.
Though Diddy’s reps have not commented on the latest civil suits, in a previous statement about the first six legal actions put forward by attorneys Tony Buzbee and Andrew Van Arsdale, they said that Combs “never sexually assaulted anyone” and that he has full confidence “in the facts, their legal defenses and the integrity of the judicial process.”
Combs, 54, is the subject of a dozen additional lawsuit alleging sexual and physical assault and rape, some dating back to the early 1990s. A judge has denied bail for Combs twice, which means the rapper/producer could stay locked up until his trail begins in May.
Warm and sincere: that’s how saxophonist Boney James describes his music. “It’s so hard for me to be objective,” says the four-time Grammy nominee. “But those are two things that describe my music. I’m only trying to make records that I love, so I just call it ‘Boney James music.’”
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Descriptions aside, James is still going strong after making his indie solo debut in 1992. Currently marking the 30thanniversary of his first major label signing in 1994, he just released his 19th album, Slow Burn, through Concord Records (Oct. 18). The follow-up to 2022’s Detour, Slow Burn features the sultry No. 12 Adult R&B hit/lead single “All I Want Is You” with newcomer October London. Additional guests include bassist Marcus Miller, pianist Cory Henry and trumpeter Rick Braun.
James also pays homage to two legends, reimagining Herbie Hancock’s “Butterfly” and Stanley Turrentine’s “Sugar.” And four of the album’s 10 selections, including its fittingly named title track, were co-written and co-produced by James and multi-instrumentalist Jairus Mozee (Anderson .Paak, Nicki Minaj).
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Earlier this year, James became the first artist to score 20 No. 1 singles on Billboard’s Smooth Jazz Airplay chart. He achieved the feat as a guest on “Cigar Lounge” by chart first-timer Big Mike Hart. And James recently checked off another accolade: surpassing the 1 billion stream mark on Pandora.
Currently on the road with his Slow Burn tour, an exuberant James tells Billboard, “I just turned 63, but I honestly feel 20 and healthier than ever. My enthusiasm for doing this job hasn’t waned at all. I’m still like a kid in a candy store.”
What’s the secret behind your career longevity?
I hope the first thing is the music itself. I spend most of my waking hours trying to improve myself as a musician, songwriter and producer. I really pour my whole heart and soul into every project. And it seems there are some people out there that appreciate and still love the kind of records that I do. At least that’s how I take it, and that makes me feel very grateful. I don’t know that it’s jazz that I’m making; my music has a lot of facets to it. It’s got the R&B side, the Latin side and whatever I personally bring to it with my voice, which some people seem to recognize on the horn and enjoy. Maybe those are the reasons.
What sparks you creatively when choosing which songs to cover and which guests to work with on your albums?
With singers, it’s just trying to match the song with the voice. When I sit down to write a song, I’m always trying to write a song for me as the featured artist playing the saxophone. But every now and then, I come up with a piece of music that I feel, through intuition, needs to be a vocal. Then I think about the guy or woman who can bring the song to life vocally. I have sort of a running list of people that I keep. And I thought right away that “All I Want Is You” would be so right for October. I’d only heard of him last year when his debut album, The Rebirth of Marvin, came out. Instrumentally, I knew I wanted to work with Marcus on this album. He and I have been co-hosting our jazz cruises for the last 15 years but hadn’t done any recording in all that time — since he played on my Ride album in 2001. We were in the ship’s dressing room one day and Marcus was jamming with the acoustic bass. I didn’t even know he played acoustic bass. So I filed that away and then actually put his acoustic bass solo on [album opener] “Arcadia.”
In covering Herbie’s “Butterfly,” every now and then you get an earworm, and “Butterfly” had become my earworm. Every time I’d pick up my soprano sax at soundcheck on the road, I’d start playing the “Butterfly” intro. So that was the very first thing I worked on for this record — seeing if I could come up with a Boney-esque arrangement. It’s a similar story with Stanley Turrentine’s “Sugar.” It’s a song from my past that I’ve always loved. I just shook up the groove a bit for more of a contemporary vibe with Rick Braun.
Speaking of newcomer London, what was it like working with him?
I was so impressed with his voice. And I also felt like we shared a musical sensibility. He’s a young cat, but he’s got a retro sensibility. So I was glad to hear that he agreed [to work together], coming up with this incredible vocal. People are bringing back R&B, so I’m always glad when it [my music] connects with a wider audience. And it’s not something I’m conspiring to do. This is just a natural offshoot of one facet of the music that I make. I mean, I came up on the R&B side. That was my entry into the music business: playing as a sideman with R&B acts. R&B was the first music that I really loved. And it was only when I heard Grover Washington Jr. playing the saxophone over that sound that I became excited about the saxophone. And since I can’t sing, I’ve got to hook up with singers. I joke onstage that I’m an R&B singer trapped in a sax player’s body. [laughs]
Your first professional sideman stint was with The Time’s Morris Day. How did that come about?
I was delivering pizzas to pay my bills, trying to figure out how to make it as a musician. This was about 1985, right after Purple Rain. Morris had just broken up with The Time. He’d moved to L.A. and putting a whole new band together. He was looking for a keyboard player, not a sax player. I played a little keyboard and had learned to play “The Bird” and “Jungle Love.” So I went to the cattle call, tried out and he hired me. I was in Morris’ band for five years. Then I was a sideman for several more years – working with the Isley Brothers, Bobby Caldwell, Sheena Easton, Teena Marie … I can’t even remember all the gigs that I did — before I was able to make my first album.
What one lesson did you internalize while working with Day?
Every single one of those gigs taught me something. I was always studying, you know. But with Morris, it was about how to deliver a good show. It wasn’t just about getting up there, closing your eyes and playing your horn. You want to entertain people. And I learned that from him. There’s another memory that I also still hold dear. After they hired me to play keyboards, I said I was really a sax player. They didn’t believe me. So I brought my horn to rehearsal and Morris later put a sax feature in the show. During “Gigolos Get Lonely Too,” he’d bring a woman onstage and essentially play out a scene from Purple Rain. Then he’d go off to change his costume. And Morris gave me that time to lead the band and do an extended sax solo. That was really when I thought, “Man, I could get used to this.”