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Both Lil Wayne and Drake earn their first No. 1s on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart as Lil Wayne’s “She Will,” which features Drake, jumps 4-1 on the Feb. 8-dated tally.
The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the United States based on creations, video views and user engagement. The latest chart reflects activity accumulated Jan. 27-Feb. 2. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50.
“She Will,” which was originally released in 2011 on Lil Wayne’s album Tha Carter IV, has exceled on TikTok thanks to a dance trend that features creators performing leg-shaking moves, often up against a wall of some sort.
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Usages of the song generally highlight the “Ladies and gentlemen, Drizzy” lyric before the outro, though the most utilized sound then drops out the vocals in favor of the synth-led instrumental.
Drake previously reached No. 2 on the chart twice: on his “IDGAF” featuring Yeat in 2023, and on the Sexyy Red collaboration “U My Everything” last year. As for Lil Wayne, “She Will” is his second top 10, following the No. 9 peak of Tyler, the Creator’s “Sticky,” on which he’s featured alongside GloRilla and Sexyy Red.
“She Will” debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 2011. In the Billboard tracking week ending Jan. 30, the song earned 5.4 million official U.S. streams, up 30%, according to Luminate.
Lil Wayne and Drake’s coronation isn’t the only thing happening in the TikTok Billboard Top 50’s top 10 this week. Former No. 1 Stepz’s “Rock” rebounds 8-2, while 5 Seconds of Summer’s “She Looks So Perfect” is the week’s top debut at No. 3.
“She Looks So Perfect,” which peaked at No. 24 on the Hot 100 in 2014 as 5 Seconds of Summer’s breakout song, benefits from a TikTok trend in which users respond to the hypothetical compliment “you’re so funny,” often with the creator responding by talking about trauma that made them that way – so much so that 5 Seconds of Summer’s Michael Clifford reacted to the trend with a video captioned, “’you’re so funny’ thanks our song is now the theme song for trauma bonding.”
The song sports a 31% gain in the week ending Jan. 30 to 1.4 million streams.
Former No. 1 “Champagne Coast” by Blood Orange also returns to the top five, leaping 7-4, while 7dnight’s “Khong Sao Ca” vaults 24-5 in its second week on the chart. Featured on the Vietnamese music competition show Rap Viet and released in November 2024, “Khong Sao Ca” rises via a dance trend, while some top-performing clips also highlight pets and stuffed animals.
Earth, Wind & Fire’s classic “Let’s Groove” shoots 11-6, marking the group’s second top 10 after “September” in 2023. As the title and song’s general vibe suggests, its rise is made up mostly of dance videos, some following a specific trend and others simply featuring the dancer showing off their best moves.
“Let’s Groove” peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 in 1981 and accumulated 2.3 million streams in the latest tracking period, up 17%.
The other newcomer to the TikTok Billboard Top 50’s top 10 is Fetty Wap’s “Again,” which debuts at No. 8 a week after his “Jimmy Choo” appeared on the ranking at No. 9. Many of the videos reference listening to the song on JBL speakers and setting it to TV and movie scenes, alongside dances, lip-synchs and more.
“Again,” which peaked at No. 33 on the Hot 100 in 2015, is up 250% in streams to 4.8 million in the Jan. 24-30 tracking week.
See the full TikTok Billboard Top 50 here. You can also tune in each Friday to SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio (channel 4) to hear the premiere of the chart’s top 10 countdown at 3 p.m. ET, with reruns heard throughout the week.
GELO— yes, former NBA G-League hooper and middle Ball brother, LiAngelo Ball — delivered rap’s first hit of 2025 with “Tweaker.” Imagine going back in time and uttering that sentence to your cousin at Thanksgiving dinner a few months ago?
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“Definitely caught me off-guard for sure, it’s crazy,” GELO tells Billboard of his meteoric rise to rap stardom. “I’m here for it. I knew something was gon’ happen. I’m ready to get stuff moving now.”
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Equal parts inspired by the Big Tymers and YoungBoy Never Broke Again, “Tweaker” began to take shape about three weeks before the world would be swerving and bending that corner when the 26-year-old penned the track in his garage in December.
“Tweaker” ended up being one of four tracks he recorded in the session, but he bumped his eventual breakout hit the entire ride back home before sending it to his brothers Lonzo and LaMelo for approval. “At the end of that s–t, I knew that s–t was gonna be great,” GELO says like it was all part of his masterplan.
Hype for “Tweaker” exploded in late December following a preview on popular streamer N3on’s platform, which spawned a plethora of 2000s-themed memes and others crowning the snippet as a banger while keeping GELO’s earworm of a hook on a loop.
It’s also a sign of the times and music landscape in 2025 with streamers serving as powerful newschool gatekeepers with more cultural currency than radio staples like Hot 97.
GELO played into the nostalgia factor and had “Tweaker” premiere on WorldStarHipHop — a move straight out of the 2011 playbook along with it landing on streaming services on Jan. 3. The track dominated social media conversation and infiltrated NBA and NFL locker rooms, who instructed the in-house DJ to “Put that GELO on!”
“Tweaker” debuted at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and a month later is holding strong in the top 50. It also remains at No. 3 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50. GELO didn’t waste any time parlaying his momentum into a record deal with Def Jam, which was first reported by ESPN‘s Shams Charania on Jan. 13 — pointing to his crossover pop culture impact.
For his next move, GELO heads to New Orleans to play one-on-one with Lil Wayne for the anticipated “Tweaker” remix, which arrives on Friday (Feb. 7). “That’s like hooping with [Michael] Jordan,” says GELO. “He back on that Dedication type of sound. That boy was flowing.”
Learn more about our hip-hop R&B Rookie of the Month for February’s triple-double to start 2025 in our interview as we touch on all things “Tweaker,” his father LaVar’s reaction to his rap career, plans going forward and much more.
Billboard: Can you believe this right now? Is this crazy? First press run diving into it and a major hit to start the year.
GELO: Yeah, I signed a deal and I have music since a long time ago. I’ve been writing new stuff so I got a lot of stuff to put out. I think I could blow up soon. We’ll see.
Growing up, who were some of your favorite rappers?
I always listened to YoungBoy growing up, of course. DMX, 50 Cent, Ludacris, Nelly – my dad used to play all them. Ice Cube.
Do you remember your first time writing raps?
I didn’t record nothing until I was 18, 19. Before that, I wrote my first rap in the 3rd grade in my little notebook. That s–t was hard. I had some bars in there about Vince Carter.
Did you keep writing? Was that a consistent exercise?
It was all for fun. I’d be with my cousins, my brothers – we’d always rap battle and freestyle and s–t. I was practicing without even noticing for real. Random beats, we’d all just hop in on.
“Tweaker” going crazy out here. Walk me through how this came together… Paint that whole picture for us.
I always get a little itch to write. If I feel like that I’ma go make some songs. I wrote it in the garage and then I got to thinking and writing and s–t and that’s what I came up with. I was like, “Wow.” I played it all the way home I’m like, “This one hard!”
Does Lonzo or LaMelo hear it?
I sent it to Melo, Zo and two of my friends. I don’t be spreading like that. I do that with all my music. I got other songs I like more than “Tweaker.” It’s coming.
How long before we heard it did you write and record it?
I wrote that like three weeks [before]. That was one of my fresh songs. I made four songs that day. I think they all gon’ do some damage.
Where’d you find the beat?
My boy found it he lives back home by Chino Hills. His name’s Pat and he searched up all the beats and stuff and he’ll link with the producers and sent it my way. They’ll send me a pack and I’ll listen to 10 beats or so and I’ll pick three great ones.
Obviously, everyone’s saying it has this 2000s feel to it. Did you feel that and were you on that type of vibe?
The 2000s didn’t cross my mind at all. I was just in the garage like, “This s–t hard.” How I make music I’ll do a little melody in my head at first. I’ll freestyle some s–t.
So that’s how the chorus came together?
All the hooks and stuff I always hum something in my head.
When did you notice “Tweaker” started to pick up steam on social media? Like we got something going crazy out here and a legit hit.
Really after the day I went on NEON’s stream. My s–t was blowing up. My phone was going crazy. NEON hit me like, “Bro, your song going crazy.” I’m like, “Iight gang.” I’ma tap in with him down the line. He cool. That was random as hell. We didn’t plan none of that. He was like, “I’m in L.A.” I’m like, “Alright, I’ll pull up on you.” I was trying to do a stream for real.
That’s the new cable TV in a way. I love that you intentionally premiered it on WorldStarHipHop.
Oh yeah, that was intentional. That’s what I grew up on too. I was like, “Let me drop my s–t on WorldStar and see what happens.” I just let them rock with it. I hit them up directly.
What was LaVar’s first reaction to hearing [“Tweaker”]?
He asked me, “How’d you come up with that s–t, man? I guess all them times they called home saying you was rapping in class, I guess that s–t paid off!” He’s happy.
Are you bouncing ideas off Lonzo?
Nah, I write all my own music, he writes his. I don’t know how it said he wrote it on there. I don’t know. I’m not about to be like, “I wrote it!” I don’t care for real. I be writing my own music.
It was dope to see it become a locker-room anthem for the Cavs, Damian Lillard and the Detroit Lions.
I love that my music spread to the sports world because what I grew up in. I feel like that’s my people whoever play the song. I feel like I’m putting on for the sports for real.
Do you have any favorite memes or videos that came about?
I reposted one of the AND-1 videos. He was doing the AND-1 mixtape like, “How the Gelo got me feeling.” On a bigger scale, when Darius Garland played my shit I was like, “Yeah, that’s hard.” I’ve seen bro workout and he’s a cool dude. The Lions were like, “Put that Gelo on!” Everybody be commenting that now.
“Tweaker” debuted at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100. What was your initial reaction to seeing you got a top 40 hit out here?
That’s hard. I’m proud, but personally I feel like I could get on there a lot. I got music, bro. I listen to my own music and I sent it to my homies and the people I send it to they be like, “This is all I be listening to for real.” I feel good about it and I’m ready to see what happens.
“Tweaker” remix on the way. What we got coming on there?
We got Lil Wayne getting on there. The legend, GOAT. You know I had to for real.
How was connecting with him and what was his reception to the record?
I didn’t connect with him until my manager’s and them showed me his song. I hit him up on the Gram like, “Your verse is hard as hell. That’s what we was missing on our s–t.” He was a cool dude. He was like, “I hope you mess with the verse.” That verse is tough. Watch out ya’ll gon’ see?
How quick was the label process when you went to take meetings? Why’d you end up choosing Def Jam?
My guys DMO and Tony helped me out with that. They set up some meetings with all the main labels and we took em and had to feel everybody out. They just had the best deal. Def Jam was the most excited. They had the best deal for real. They wasn’t just talking. They was ready to cooperate with us. We was telling them what we expect, what we need and what we want and they was like, “Yeah, that’s smooth.” Giving us feedback that we was rocking with. They put it together nice. That’s love right there.
What’s next music-wise for you? Do you have another one in the tuck you’re going with?
I’ma follow-up with “Can You Please?” A little different – still could rock to it.
Do you have plans for an album?
Yeah, for sure. Be expecting an album soon. I got some songs to put together for y’all.
How much percent of that do you have done?
Me, personally, I feel like I’m done. I gotta make three more songs. I gotta make songs for fun right now. I could put out an album. It’s not for fun, it’s very official. I could put an album together right now, but I still want to touch up some things, put some new songs, get some features going.
Do you feel any pressure to follow-up “Tweaker” with another hit?
I like some of my songs better than “Tweaker.” I don’t think so. I think y’all gonna like ‘em more too.
Performing at Rolling Loud – that’s cool to see you on there. Have been you practicing?
I don’t know exactly what I’m doing, but they got me practicing. I do a little stage practice. I’ll be ready. I’m looking forward to that.
Do you have a dream collaboration?
I would like to do a tape with YoungBoy [Never Broke Again]. A little collab tape. 10 songs or some s–t. Bangers though — I think I could hold my own with him.
Do you think fame prepared you for stardom in a way?
Yeah, it helped a lot. Since babies, my pops always had us in the spotlight — like, we flexing in front of 30 people and s–t. “Show em your muscles!” I just never been shy like that. You know the little class presentations people be nervous? I never felt that — I just be chatting. That’s how I came up. It doesn’t feel new for real.
You performed at the Detroit Lions game. Talk to me about that experience.
That was crazy. 70,000 right there, first performance. I just wanted to see what it was about for real going into an NFL stadium. It was a great experience. It was different for me. If I could touch some s–t up, I’ll give myself a seven out of 10. Fans be like that’s a 10 but I know I could do better. Great start I feel like. Shout-out to the Lions.
I saw Cam’ron try to blame you for the loss for the Lions.
I’m not hearing that. I came to give them love. I should be mad, y’all lost on my time. I’m just trying to turn the fans up.
Is there a reality show coming up?
Yeah, I think so. I think it’s in motion right now. We’ll see.
What was your first tattoo?
My chest piece. That s–t hurt, bro. I was about to stop mid-tatt. I said, “Ay bro, hold on.” Had to get a little break. I finished it up. I always loved tats though. In second grade I used to draw a lot. 50 Cent on one of his covers had all the tats on his back. The “Southside” 50. I was like, “That’s hard.” I’ma get tatted when I get grown.
Did you put any pressure on yourself after seeing LaMelo doing his thing and Lonzo doing his thing?
Nah, I never put no pressure on myself. Even growing up – even if something was terrible I always told myself I’d never be regular, for real. I always knew I was gonna get [millions] and be big or something. I can’t just sit down.
If somebody asked you for advice, what do you think is the best way for kids to get to the NBA?
If you wanna make the league go to AAU and play up a lot of ages. When I was 12 I was playing 16 anf 18 year olds. It’s what it takes. You might get your a– whooped first two or three games but you gon learn to adapt and when you play kids your age it’s over. That’s the base of things. The rest it don’t matter what school you go to. Just make sure you tap into college I feel like it would help with the NIL and all that. There’s the recipe.
What’s your main goal for 2025?
Probably to have the biggest album out and be one of the biggest rappers. The top rapper. Tap into that new stuff.
A compilation of previously unreleased songs benefitting Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts, Los Angeles Rising, was released on Thursday morning (Feb. 6) exclusively on Bandcamp. The 16-track compilation pulled together by Bauhaus/Love and Rockets drummer Kevin Haskins and producer Nick Launay (Nick Cave, Yeah Yeah Yeahs), features songs by PJ Harvey, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Gary Numan, Primal Scream, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea and John Frusciante, Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Devo and U.S. Girls, among others.
“As the wildfires were raging and destroying thousands of homes around Los Angeles, both my neighbourhood and Nick’s were instructed to evacuate,” wrote Haskins in a statement announcing the comp whose proceeds will go to the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. “But we were the lucky ones. The fire threatening our homes and recording studios was thankfully extinguished by firefighters just minutes away, but countless musicians and friends lost everything.”
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The collection is only available by purchasing a download on Bandcamp, with previews of the songs available here now.
“This harrowing experience and witnessing the monumental destruction of entire communities, inspired Nick and I to team up to create a compilation album to raise money for the less fortunate,” Haskins added. “We reached out to our musician friends for unreleased recorded gems and the response was incredible! PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker, Primal Scream, Gary Numan and Devo are just some of the artists that rushed in to help.”
The album is just the latest in a series of charitable efforts to help out Angelenos impacted by last month’s devastating wildfires, which resulted in at least 29 death and the destruction of 16,000 homes and structures. Earlier this week, organizers said the recent FireAid all-star benefit show raised an estimated $100 million, while the Recording Academy and MusiCares’ said they raised $24 million for fire relief over Grammy weekend.
Check out the track listing for Los Angeles Rising below:
1) PJ Harvey with Danni Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans – “The Red River”
2) Grinderman – “Worm Tamer” (LaunayVauz remix)
3) Gary Numan and Titan – “Dark Rain”
4) Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Turn Into Redux”
5) Band Of Skulls – “Cold Cold Sweat” (LaunayVauz remix)
6) Jarvis Cocker – “California Dreamin’”
7) Primal Scream – “False Flags” (Orchestral version)
8) Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – “Michelangelo”
9) Haskins, Vandermolen and Lohner – “All We Ever Wanted Was Everything”
10) Danny Elfman – “Monkeys On The Loose” (LA Rising version)
11) Devo – “Shoulda Said Yes”
12) Siobhan Fahey and Titan – “Deep In LA”
13) CRX – “Blip On The Radar”
14) David J – “No New Tale To Tell” (Original demo version)
15) Flea, Frusciante, Haskins and DeAngelis – “A System For Shutting Everything Out”
16) U.S. Girls – “Four American Dollars” (Demo version)
“But who are you? That was the question I kept getting while talking to people around me about what was next. I hated that question, largely because I couldn’t grasp it. I’m like, the f–k you mean?” … The more I got that question, the more I realized I was a man trapped in my own public image, that transition from being a teenager to an adult.”
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That frank excerpt about feeling boxed in is just one example of the many intriguing moments that can be heard on the latest Audible Original debuting today (Feb. 6): Usher’s Words + Music installment, The Last Showman. The project, written and produced by Usher and journalist/author Gerrick Kennedy, finds the eight-time Grammy winner in deep personal and professional introspection as he reflects on the past, present and future of his 30-year R&B/pop career.
Usher also delves further into detailing the process behind creating and writing one of his game-changing and record-breaking career hallmarks, 2004’s Confessions album. In addition, the Audible Original illuminates Usher’s reflections by featuring live excerpts of classic gems from his vast catalog, including “Burn”, “Confessions Pt. II”, “Can U Handle It?” and “Bad Girl.”
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“Confessions, right? It started exactly like that, sitting around with my guys and confessing the things that we were going through,” recalls Usher in part during another revealing excerpt. “The studio was a safe place for us to just lay out, you know, the s–t that we were doing or going through or experiencing; no pretense, no judgment, just real talk. We didn’t go to the studio with our minds on creating a record that day. Nope. We spent two months working talking, chilling, no women, but just having real conversations about real life, just brutal honesty from a male’s perspective. And for that reason, I called the project real talk.”
With Audible Original’s The Last Showman, Usher adds his own volume to the popular Words + Music series, whose prior releases feature John Legend, Snoop Dogg, Sting, Smokey Robinson, Mariah Carey, Common and Sheryl Crow, among others. In fact, it was listening to Snoop Dogg’s installment and how listeners responded to it that convinced Usher to set his own project in motion.
That’s one of the insights Usher shared with Billboard during a recent Zoom interview ahead of today’s debut of the Audible Original, The Last Showman. Here are several soundbites from that chat with Usher, who begins the European leg of his Past Present Future tour with an eight-date sold-out run at London’s The O2 on March 29.
Usher
Audible
On writing and producing The Last Showman: Within the hectic schedule that I had, it was definitely a feat but one worthwhile. Audible gives you the perspective of being able to share nuances because it’s your voice. Writing a book be great; I’m going to do that in the future. But this is a step in the direction of beginning to talk about things that are personal to me. Creating a narrative or a voice in this space was part of the reason I did it. I’d heard about Snoop’s when he did it and how people responded to it.
And we’d been trying our hardest to find the best way to not necessarily reimagine but just give a different perspective of Confessions. What are other nuanced things you can offer that give people perspective? Like what did happen? Better yet, what didn’t happen? What didn’t happen was having a camera available; that wasn’t the culture of that time. Imagine if I’d had a camera set up, walking through all of the emotions and the nature of what we were talking about; where inspiration for the songs came from and even what goes into being a showman within that process of my life. I didn’t get a chance to do that.
So this gave me an opportunity to take myself and my fans back to where I was mentally and creatively [in my 20s] while making Confessions. It gives nuance to who I am, how I think and what makes me who I am as a showman.
How the Last Showman title originated: Gerrick and I worked primarily over last summer, creating the project through a series of conversations and interviews around certain things. Then we went through our notes and made certain they were in my voice and I recorded it. That gave me the freedom to really freelance and create nuances on top of what we wrote based on our initial interviews. And from that, we both landed on this as a title that’s necessary.
Artist development is slowly but surely becoming less of a priority. But when you hear this [project], it leads you to understand that if you want to be an artist like this artist, you’re going to have to do some work that’s different than what you normally would do with the intention of becoming a sustainable artist forever. I’m hoping that’s the inspiration that people take away from this. The title in itself is hopefully going to instigate the conversation of what it is to be a showman, and maybe even pose a question: Are you the last showman — and the last showman in comparison to what? So all of those things are kind of like the catch, the hook. You’ve got to have a hook that’s going to get people’s attention. But my intention is not just about that. It’s about making people understand the importance of artist development.
His own takeaway from the experience: I really put my heart into this opportunity. I think music at this point sells everything but itself. So this does help people have a perspective, a different viewpoint, about music and the creation of it. I want people to look at Audible in that way; I want other artists to understand the value of doing this. I’ve been very fortunate to have had a life and a whole host of experiences that have helped me be the artist I am. I’m just trying to offer that back to the people who care to listen.
The trailer for the next Smurfs movie has dropped, featuring Rihanna making her debut as Smurfette and a new song from Desi Trill featuring Cardi B, DJ Khaled, Natania and Subhi.
The Fenty mogul personally introduces the new trailer, which went live Thursday (Feb. 6), waving to the camera before she’s joined by a few of the film’s famous blue miniatures on screen. “Hey, everyone!” she says with a smile. “I’m Rihanna, and I play Smurfette in the new Smurfs movie, and I can’t wait for you all to see it this summer.”
The trailer then begins with Ri’s character — self-identifying as “the coolest Smurf in the whole village” — giving viewers a guide through Smurf Village, where “every day is a party.” But the colony’s dance party to Rihanna’s own “Don’t Stop the Music” is cut short when Papa Smurf is abducted by what looks like a UFO, after which Smurfette and her friends must travel to the human world to save him.
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As clips of the Smurfs’ adventures unfold, viewers are treated to snippets of what sounds like the “Umbrella” singer’s voice covering Belinda Carlisle’s 1987 hit “Heaven Is a Place on Earth.” They also get a taste of “Higher Love,” the new Desi Trill song featuring Cardi’s distinct voice at the end.
Also starring James Corden, Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, Dan Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Winter, Maya Erskine, Billie Lourd, Xolo Maridueña, Kurt Russell and John Goodman, Smurfs is set to hit theaters July 18. The trailer comes nearly two years after the Paramount and Nickelodeon joint venture was first announced at 2023’s CinemaCon, where Rihanna — who also serves as a producer on the film alongside Jay Brown, Ty Ty Smith and Ryan Harris — was on hand to share the news. “I hope this gives me cool points with my kids one day,” she joked at the time.
Rihanna first teased that the trailer was coming the day prior to its release. Sharing a clip of Smurf Village on her socials, she wrote coyly, “In my blue era.”
Watch the new Smurfs trailer above.
It’s been 489 days since Drake said he was planning to take a break from music “for a little bit” to focus on his health. And though he hasn’t released a solo album since October 2023’s For All the Dogs — followed by August 2024’s 100 Gigs EP — his time out turned out to be a working vacation thanks to last year’s Kendrick Lamar beef, which gave us “First Person Shooter,” “Push Ups,” “Taylor Made Freestyle,” “Family Matters” and “The Heart Pt. 6.”
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Now, in the midst of his Anita Max Win tour in Australia, Drizzy is hinting at his next solo venture. “I got a new album coming out on Valentine’s Day with PARTYNEXTDOOR. It’s called $ome $exy $ongs 4 U,” Drake said on Wednesday night (Feb. 5) during his second gig at RAC Arena in Perth according to video of the moment. “And you know, eventually when the time is right, Drizzy Drake alone by himself is gonna have to have a one-on-one talk to y’all.”
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The announcement of the as-yet-untitled album — whose release date is also not yet announced — was accompanied by shouts of approval from the crowd, as Drake added, “When the time is right, I’ll be back with another album, a one-on-one conversation with y’all that you need to hear.”
The talk of a new album was news to the fans, coming more than nine months after Kendrick scored a by-almost-all-accounts knockout blow in the beef with the lacerating “Not Like Us.” Drake went mostly radio silence after that song dropped last May, but at Tuesday’s kick-off of the Australian tour the 6 God promised fans, “The year is now 2025, and Drizzy Drake is very much still alive.”
He proved it on Monday with the surprise release of a trailer for the upcoming PND joint album, less than 24 hours after Lamar’s devastating diss track won five Grammy Awards. “$OME $EXY $ONGS 4 U FEBRUARY 14,” Drake captioned the clip featuring an untitled, moody PartyNextDoor snippet from the album. The trailer also featured Drake seemingly in a trance while chilling in the corner of a neon-lit club, staring into space surrounded by chatty women completely ignoring him.
The Anita Max Win Tour will head to Melbourne on Super bowl Sunday — when it’s expected that K-Dot will perform “Not Like Us” during his halftime show for the biggest TV audience of the year — for the first of four gigs at Rod Laver Arena, followed by stops in Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland, New Zealand on the MC’s first shows Down Under since 2017.
What were some of the most notable trends among No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart during 2024? Hit Songs Deconstructed, which provides compositional analytics for top 10 Hot 100 hits, has released its 2024 No. 1 Hit Focus report.
Here are three takeaways from Hit Songs Deconstructed’s latest in-depth research.
Hip-Hop/Rap Rose
Hot 100 No. 1s were represented by six primary genres in 2024, according to Hit Songs Deconstructed. Hip-hop/rap led for the first time since 2018 with a 38% share. Country followed at a one-quarter take and pop rounded out the top three with just under a one-fifth share.
The report also notes that hip-hop/rap’s share of Hot 100 No. 1s more than doubled from 2023 to 2024. Kendrick Lamar led the genre with two chart-toppers: “Not Like Us” and “Squabble Up.”
Meanwhile, country remained strong among Hot 100 No. 1s last year as a primary genre. Notes Hit Songs Deconstructed: “After rising from 0% to 24% in 2023, country’s share of No. 1s held steady in 2024 with one-quarter of songs.” Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” was the longest-leading such smash in 2024, running up a record-tying 19 weeks at No. 1.
‘80s in the ‘20s
Along with six primary genres, “17 diverse subgenres and influences shaped the sound and vibe of 2024’s No. 1 hits” on the Hot 100, according to Hit Songs Deconstructed’s report. “Pop’s influence was particularly prominent, appearing in three-quarter of songs. Hip-hop/rap followed at 38% and retro influences in general rounded out the top three at 38%.”
Notably, “The 1980s continued to be the retro decade of choice,” per Hit Songs Deconstructed’s findings about subgenres’ influences on Hot 100 No. 1s, heard in such as hits as “Squabble Up,” Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone, and Ariana Grande’s “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).”
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Also among subgenres’ influences on Hot 100 No. 1s in 2024, “Country’s rose to nearly one-third of songs in 2024,” per Hit Songs Deconstructed. “All stemmed from the country primary genre except for Sabrina Carpenter’s country-influenced pop smash ‘Please Please Please.’”
Plus, dance/club’s subgenre influence “rose slightly to one-quarter of songs” atop the Hot 100 in 2024. Among them: Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me,” Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” and Grande’s “We Can’t Be Friends” and “Yes, And?”
More Choruses, But Later & Longer No. 1s
“The average amount of time it takes for No. 1 hits to get to the first chorus has been increasing since 2021, rising from 33 seconds to 45 seconds in 2024,” Hit Songs Deconstructed reports.
The 0:40-0:59 range for a first chorus tripled from 18% of Hot 100 No. 1s in 2023 to 44% in 2024. Plus, a quarter of choruses in No. 1s occurred after the 1-minute mark, spanning genres from R&B/hip-hop (Lamar’s “Not Like Us” and Future, Metro Boomin and Lamar’s “Like That”) to rock (Hozier’s “Too Sweet”) and dance/club (Grande’s “Yes, And?”)
Also noteworthy, “The majority of No. 1s – 69% – had three choruses in their framework” in 2024, per Hit Songs Deconstructed. That share has more than tripled from 2022 (31%). Conversely, songs with two choruses have fallen from 46% to 29% to 19% among Hot 100 leaders since 2022.
Overall, Hit Songs Deconstructed notes, the average length of 2024’s Hot 100 No. 1 was 3:30, eight seconds longer than the 2023 average. The 4-minute-plus range has “generally been on the rise since 2019, increasing from 0% to 25% of songs. Its representatives were all hip-hop/rap songs except for Hozier’s “Too Sweet.’ ”
Music played an outsize role in the nominations for the 97th annual Academy Awards, which were announced Jan. 23 (six days later than originally planned due to the Los Angeles wildfires). Emilia Pérez and Wicked are among the 10 films nominated for best picture — the first time that two musicals have been nominated in that category in the same year since the 1969 ceremony, when Oliver! and Funny Girl both vied for the award. Emilia Pérez received 13 nods (more than any other film this year), while Wicked amassed 10. This is the first time in 60 years that two musicals received 10 or more nominations in the same year. At the 1965 ceremony, Mary Poppins had 13 nods and My Fair Lady had 12.
Plus, three actors from the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown — Timothée Chalamet (who plays Dylan), Edward Norton (Pete Seeger) and Monica Barbaro (Joan Baez) — were nominated for acting honors. It’s the first time in Oscar history that three actors from a music biopic have been nominated.
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The Oscar telecast is set for March 2. Here’s a closer look at the two music categories.
Best Original Song
Diane Warren is nominated for the eighth year in a row, which ties her with Sammy Cahn for the longest continuous streak of nominations in this category’s 91-year history. Cahn was nominated eight years running from 1955 to 1962. Clément Ducol and Camille are nominated for best original score for Emilia Pérez and have two songs in the running for best original song. They’re the first composers to land three nods in music categories in one year since Justin Hurwitz achieved the same feat with La La Land eight years ago.
“El Mal”Emilia Pérez (Netflix)Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard
Zoe Saldaña takes the lead on this big production number in the film, with an assist from Karla Sofía Gascón. Both are nominated for their performances — Saldaña for best supporting actress and Gascón for best actress.
Audiard, who is nominated for directing Emilia Pérez and for co-writing the lyrics to this song, is only the third person in Oscar history to be nominated in both the directing and original song categories and the first to be so honored in the same year. Leo McCarey and Spike Jonze received their nominations in separate years.
Ducol and Camille are vying to become the sixth romantic couple to win in this category following Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager, Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, and Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez.
This is the fifth year in a row that one or more non-English-language songs has been nominated in this category. This streak started in 2021 with “Io Sì (Seen)” from The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se) and continued with “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto, “Naatu Naatu” from RRR (which won), “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon and now two songs from Emilia Pérez.
“The Journey”The Six Triple Eight (Netflix)Music and lyric by Diane Warren
This inspirational ballad gives Warren her 16th Oscar nomination for best original song — a total equaled by only three other songwriters. Sammy Cahn leads with 26 nods, followed by Johnny Mercer with 18 and Paul Francis Webster, also with 16. (This makes Warren the most-nominated woman in this category, topping the late lyricist Marilyn Bergman, who received 15.)
Making Warren’s tally all the more impressive is that she has rarely been part of an Oscar-magnet film that racked up multiple nominations. “The Journey” is her 11th nominated song from a film that received no other nominations besides hers.
“The Journey” is the 12th of Warren’s best original song contenders that she wrote herself. Only Randy Newman has been nominated with as many songs that he wrote himself. He has been the sole writer of all 13 of his best original song nominees to date.
H.E.R. sings “The Journey” over the end credits to the Tyler Perry film The Six Triple Eight, which stars Kerry Washington. H.E.R. and Warren squared off in this category four years ago, when the R&B star’s “Fight for You” from Judas and the Black Messiah beat Warren’s “Io Sì (Seen)” from The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se).
“Like a Bird”Sing Sing (A24)Music and lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada
This soulful, midtempo ballad echoes the style of the late folk-rock musician Richie Havens. These are the first Oscar nominations for Alexander and Quesada, who wrote and performed “Like a Bird.”
Quesada has received seven Grammy nominations (but no wins as yet) as a member of Black Pumas. The psychedelic soul band has been nominated in three of the top general-field categories — album and record of the year and best new artist. Quesada previously received two Grammy nods as a member of the Latin funk orchestra Grupo Fantasma, winning best Latin rock, alternative or urban album in 2011 for El Existential.
Alexander is a Texas-based musician, songwriter and guitarist. His nod makes this the eighth year in a row that one or more Black songwriters has been nominated in this category. This represents the longest streak of nominations by Black songwriters in the category’s history.
This was one of three nominations for Greg Kwedar’s film Sing Sing, along with best actor for Colman Domingo and best adapted screenplay. Bryce Dessner of The National scored Sing Sing. He was shortlisted for best original score but not nominated.
“Mi Camino”Emilia Pérez (Netflix)Music and lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol
Selena Gomez sings this sensuous ballad in a sexy scene with co-star Édgar Ramírez. Camille and Ducol had composed several songs for Gomez’s character before the star was cast. Once she was, director Jacques Audiard told the composers he needed another song for the character. They watched the 2022 documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, which explored the singer’s mental health struggles and inspired them to write “Mi Camino.”
“We didn’t have the opportunity to meet her in person [before writing the song] but did meet her through her documentary,” Ducol told The Los Angeles Times. “Her sensitivity was so engaging and so strong that the song was created very quickly. We wrote it in the space of a few hours. For some songs, like ‘El Mal,’ we had dozens of different versions. ‘Mi Camino’ just came to the surface.”
Ducol and Camille have two of the five nominees in this category. This marks the first time that a songwriter or team of songwriters has had two nominated songs in the same year since 2017, when Justin Hurwitz and the EGOT-winning team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul had two nominated songs from La La Land.
“Never Too Late”Elton John: Never Too Late (Disney+)Music and lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin
This is John’s fifth nomination in this category and Taupin’s second. They won five years ago for “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman. John first won in this category in 1995 with “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King, which he co-wrote with Tim Rice. If John wins this year, he’ll become just the 10th songwriter in Oscar history — and only the second non-American (following Rice) — to win three or more times in this category. (Fun fact: John has never gone home without an Oscar in the years he has been nominated.)
This is the first Oscar nod for both Carlile and Watt. Watt also earned a nod for song of the year at this year’s Grammys for co-writing the Bruno Mars-Lady Gaga ballad “Die With a Smile.”
John and Carlile perform “Never Too Late” in Elton John: Never Too Late, which was co-directed by R. J. Cutler and John’s husband, David Furnish. During production, Carlile saw an early cut of the film and wrote the first set of lyrics before sending to John to compose. Watt and Taupin later pitched in. This is vying to become the second song from a documentary to win in this category following Melissa Etheridge’s “I Need to Wake Up” from An Inconvenient Truth (2007).
From left: Brandi Carlile, Zoe Saldaña in Emilia Pérez and Kerry Washington in The Six Triple Eight.
Illustration by Nate Kitch
Best Original Score
This category continues to be populated by composers from all over the world. Of this year’s nominees, only Stephen Schwartz and Kris Bowers are Americans. In the last 20 years, the only Americans to win in this category are Michael Giacchino (Up), Trent Reznor (The Social Network, Soul), Justin Hurwitz (La La Land) and Jon Batiste (Soul).
The BrutalistDaniel Blumberg (A24)
This was one of 10 nominations for Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, which stars Adrien Brody as a Hungarian Jewish architect who survives the Holocaust and builds a new life in America. Brody is nominated for best actor; Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones are up for supporting actor and actress, respectively. The film is also nominated for best picture, cinematography, directing, film editing, production design and original screenplay.
The film is dedicated to the memory of Scott Walker, who scored Corbet’s films The Childhood of a Leader and Vox Lux (the latter also featured music by Sia).
Blumberg, 35, is an English artist, musician, songwriter and composer. In May 2022, he won an Ivor Novello Award for best original film score for The World To Come.
The Brutalist soundtrack opens with an overture in three parts, as Blumberg and Corbet wanted the first 10 minutes of the film to have continuous music. In addition to composing all the music, Blumberg served as producer and recording engineer and played piano, harmonica, keyboards and synthesizer. Pianist John Tilbury is featured on the 11-minute track “Intermission,” while a Brody speech from the film is featured on the track “Monologue.”
ConclaveVolker Bertelmann (Focus Features)
This is the third nomination for the German composer, who performs and records under the name Hauschka. He was first nominated at the 2017 ceremony for Lion, which he scored in tandem with Dustin O’Halloran. He won two years ago for his score to All Quiet on the Western Front. If Bertelmann wins for Conclave, it would mark the quickest return to the podium in this category since Gustavo Santaolalla won back-to-back Oscars in 2006-07 for scoring Brokeback Mountain and Babel.
Conclave director Edward Berger also directed All Quiet on the Western Front. The director and composer are collaborating again on The Ballad of a Small Player, an upcoming psychological thriller drama starring Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton.
This was one of eight nominations for Conclave. The film’s other nods are for actors Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini, best picture, costume design, film editing, production design and adapted screenplay. Berger was passed over for a nod for best director.
“The collaboration with Edward Berger is for me a big gift,” Bertelmann, 58, said in a statement, “and allows me to search and discover a lot of possibilities.”
Emilia PérezClément Ducol and Camille (Netflix)
Emilia Pérez is one of only four musicals in Oscar history to land as many as 13 nods. La La Land leads the pack with 14. Chicago and Mary Poppins matched Emilia Pérez’s total of 13.
Ducol and Camille, 43 and 46, respectively, are vying to become the second couple to win in a scoring category following lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman, who won in 1984 for their original song score for Yentl, on which they collaborated with Michel Legrand.
Ducol and Camille are also vying to become the first French composers to win in this category since Alexandre Desplat triumphed seven years ago for The Shape of Water. Five other French composers have won in scoring categories: Legrand, Maurice Jarre, Francis Lai, Georges Delerue and Ludovic Bource.
“We are overwhelmed by these nominations,” Ducol and Camille said in a joint statement. “Music and community is our life, and to be nominated in two music categories by our film music community surpasses anything we could have possibly imagined.”
Clockwise from left: Jonathan Bailey in Wicked, Clément Ducol and Camille, Bowers and Adrien Brody in The Brutalist.
Illustration by Nate Kitch
WickedJohn Powell and Stephen Schwartz (Universal)
This is Schwartz’s fourth nomination in a scoring category following three nods in the defunct best original musical or comedy score category for Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Prince of Egypt. (The film academy last presented that award in 1999.) Schwartz, 76, is a two-time winner for best original song, for “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas (which he co-wrote with Alan Menken) and “When You Believe” from The Prince of Egypt (which he wrote himself).
This is Powell’s second nod in this category following one for the 2010 film How To Train Your Dragon. The Englishman has also composed scores for films such as Face/Off, Drumline and Bolt.
This was one of 10 nominations for Wicked, which has become the top-grossing film ever adapted from a Broadway musical. A sequel, Wicked: For Good, is due in November. Jon M. Chu directed both films.
The Wicked soundtrack album entered the Billboard 200 at No. 2, the highest debut in history for a soundtrack based on a stage musical. Highlights include “Popular” (sung by Ariana Grande, a best supporting actress nominee for her role as Glinda) and “Defying Gravity” (sung by Cynthia Erivo, a best actress nominee for her role as Elphaba, with an assist from Grande).
The Wild RobotKris Bowers (Universal)
This is Bowers’ first scoring nomination. He has been nominated twice in documentary categories — as a director of A Concerto Is a Conversation and as a director-producer of The Last Repair Shop (both collaborations with Ben Proudfoot). The latter film won last year for documentary short film. Bowers, 35, is the first Black composer to be nominated for best original score in four years. At the 2021 ceremony, both Terence Blanchard (Da 5 Bloods) and Jon Batiste (Soul, a collaboration with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) were nominated.
This was one of three nominations for Chris Sanders’ The Wild Robot, which is also competing for best animated feature and best sound. The Wild Robot is the first animated film to receive a nod for best original score since Encanto three years ago.
The Wild Robot soundtrack includes “Kiss the Sky,” which was co-written and performed by Maren Morris. It was shortlisted for best original song but wasn’t nominated.
This is Bowers’ first score for a fully animated film. His previous scoring assignments include the live-action dramas Green Book, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Respect, King Richard, The Color Purple and Bob Marley: One Love.
This story appears in the Feb. 8, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Kendrick Lamar and SZA are the latest stars to have this multi-platform triumph. Tony Bennett was the first.
Kelly Clarkson is heading back to Las Vegas!
The superstar announced on Thursday (Feb. 6) her new residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace called Kelly Clarkson: Studio Sessions. She previously hosted residencies at PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in 2023 and 2024.
“I’m so excited to be back in Vegas,” Clarkson shared in a press statement. “We’re bringing the studio to the stage this time with ‘Studio Sessions!’ See y’all there!
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The series of dates kick off on July 4 and will continue throughout July and August. The “Since U Been Gone” singer will then take a few months off before returning for four shows in November.
Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets staring on Friday (Feb. 7) at 10 a.m. PT via the Citi Entertainment program. See more information here. After that, fan club presale will begin on Feb. 8 at 10 a.m. PT. Presale for Caesars Rewards members, Caesars Entertainment’s loyalty program and Live Nation and Ticketmaster customers will begin on Feb. 10. Lastly, public onsale begins on Feb. 14 at 10 a.m. PT via the Ticketmaster link here.
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It’s gearing up to be a busy year for Clarkson, whose popular daytime talk show The Kelly Clarkson Show, was renewed for a seventh season in December. Since the show’s launch in 2019, it has earned 22 Daytime Emmys, with Clarkson personally winning eight of those awards.
See the full dates for Kelly Clarkson: Studio Sessions – The Las Vegas Residency below.
July 2025: 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26August 2025: 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16November 2025: 7, 8, 14, 15
