State Champ Radio Music
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With a handful of exceptions, the era of rap’s six-figure super producer – when Scott Storch, Just Blaze, and Timbaland instrumentals effectively guaranteed radio hits – is over. The internet has made beat making more accessible than ever, and that diffusion means a Dutch teenager could craft one of the biggest records in music history for an unknown internet-savvy rapper dabbling in country tropes, or that a Romanian musician could become one of the go-to producers for Atlanta ragers Playboi Carti and Ken Carson.
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But even these seismic developments pale in comparison to what we’re seeing now: the beginning of generative AI in production and songwriting.
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Given its technical nature, production has always been a component of music-making ripe for new developments, from the introduction of DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) in the late 1970s by Soundstream to the advent of the MIDI digital composition format all the way to the rise of downloadable sample packs and eventually, the integration of AI. A July 2024 survey conducted by Tracklib found that 25 percent of producers were using AI in some capacity. The majority of those AI adopters were using it for either splitting stems or mastering, but more than 20 percent of them were also incorporating it into their records.
That 25 percent isn’t just beginners – it includes some of the genre’s most successful producers. In October, Timbaland was announced as a strategic advisor for Suno AI, a generative musical tool with some controversy around its use of copyrighted material to train its model. He even told Rolling Stone he spent 10 hours a day experimenting with the platform and writing text prompts to recreate some of his own legendary records.
But the star producer who has most emphatically embraced AI is probably Illmind, a Grammy winner with credits for J. Cole, Beyoncé, and Jay-Z. Illmind has always been particularly ambitious when it comes to emerging technologies. He launched Blap Kits, his own sound sample platform, back in 2010, and started the AI-based LoopMagic earlier in 2024. With LoopMagic, musicians enter prompts into the interface for what sounds they want, and those are downloadable. (Subscriptions range from $25 a month up to $250.) They then own those sounds fully, per Illmind, though those in the lower-membership tier cannot package generated sounds as part of their own purchasable sample packs.
Illmind says that he was first introduced to AI as a musical tool back in 2016, when he experimented with a VST (virtual studio technology) plug-in that created MIDI chords and melodies. “I realized how powerful that was, because it was generating ideas from scratch that I musically wouldn’t normally think of,” he says.
While AI’s depiction in the media could lead some to believe it is entirely autonomous, these programs need to be trained on something, and that’s one of the biggest ethical concerns in its widespread musical implementation. In September, a bill in California passed necessitating transparency with generative AI, and the Federal Trade Commission has targeted “unfair or deceptive practices” in the medium through its Operation AI Comply. Suno and another company called Udio have been sued by the three major labels, alleging “mass infringement of copyrighted sound recordings,” igniting a debate around whether AI model training should fall under the category of “fair use.”
Illmind’s LoopMagic was “only trained with permissioned data,” per its website, which includes Illmind’s sprawling catalog. The company Musical AI lists its manifesto as “Ethical Attribution in Generative AI Music Models,” and founders Sean Power and Matt Adell say that they’re taking their extensive history in music and tech and applying it towards creating a fairer world of generative AI. (Adell, the company’s COO, was an executive at Napster, so he’s certainly familiar with disruptive technology in the musical world.)
“Very quickly things balloon into needing a tremendous amount of data and we care for that a lot – because that data to be able to train on that vastness of information requires inputs, requires objects that you can’t possibly do without including copyrighted content,” Power says.
Musical AI is trying to bridge the gap between existing musical creators and rights holders and AI companies, creating an ecosystem where artists are aware of any time their music is used to train AI and be financially compensated in those instances. Having worked through the period of illegal online downloads moving to paid downloads and eventually streaming, Adell says he thinks that the powers that be are comparatively responding much more quickly to the rise of AI, recognizing its urgency and transformational power for the music world.
“I actually think that industry agreements and government regulation are moving quite quickly compared to as they have in the past,” says Musical AI’s Adell. “When Sean and I started, we thought it could be five[-plus] years before all these mechanics get worked out – it [seems to] us now they’re going to get worked out in the next 18 months.”
Opinions on using generative AI to assist in music-making are decidedly split. Many defenders of the technology stress their belief that there will always be some human involvement in production and songwriting. Some artists, like Bay Area producer-vocalist Warren Long (a.k.a. Larrenwong) have embraced it, using programs like ChatGPT to help with lyrical ideas as well as the occasional musical program to aid in production, though he says the latter is often underwhelming and hasn’t frequently made it into his finished work. Still, he talks about AI in music creation with an emphatic pragmatism.
“I’m the first person to tell somebody to use AI for anything,” Long says. “I’m a proponent of it. We always read back and hear the case studies of people, they don’t take advantage of [emerging technology] and then they get left behind.”
Long says he has minimal “ethical qualms” around the use of AI in his own music. “At this point? If it sounds good, f–k it,” Long explains – though he says he’d be unlikely to use an AI program that took a percentage of his rights and royalties. So much of tech innovation has been driven by financial shrewdness, and in this brutal creative economy, the allure of a cheap tool for production or songwriting is similar to the appeal many industries are navigating with AI-led automation.
All of this connects to a kind of existential question in production and songwriting: how much conventional musical work should a music-maker be doing? Rap producers have always faced criticism on this front, from those who derided sampling, to critiques of using premade loops, to now this discussion around AI. A rap producer who advocates for AI could easily make the argument that critical resistance to generative AI is the modern equivalent of traditionalist listeners balking at Grandmaster Flash or the Beastie Boys building now-iconic records through sampling.
The difference here is that human artists were flipping those samples into new songs themselves, whereas these AI platforms are algorithmically combing through musical data with the only real input typically being a written prompt. Cam O’bi, best known as a producer for Chance the Rapper and Noname, addresses the question of whether software that’s trained on existing music without the ephemeral secret ingredient of human creativity can ever create anything truly new or innovative. His skepticism comes in part from a belief that the generative AI software can’t truly innovate, and will instead come up with simplistic regurgitations of the music that it intakes, not unlike how a green musician often struggles to create novel sounds and styles from what they’ve learned.
“When a person is learning how to make music or play guitar and they just keep f–king sounding like Jimi Hendrix, that just means that they still have learning to do,” says O’bi, who also has a budding solo career. “They have to get better, so that they can figure out how to incorporate Jimi Hendrix into their playing without just becoming a cheap imitation of him.”
O’bi explains that he has tried out different AI tools in his work, specifically for stem separation and to craft character voices that would appear on skits throughout one of his albums. (Attempting to combine his own voice with a pirate voice from the video game League of Legends, he found the results “unusable” due to poor audio quality, and the inability to direct the line reading. O’bi says he’s experimented with using ChatGPT like a rhyming dictionary to help move ideas forward, but has been consistently underwhelmed.
“ChatGPT is not a great writer,” O’bi says simply.
Illmind has used his LoopMagic AI program in sessions with other producers, including a widely circulated clip of himself and producer Dunk Rock (Gunna’s “fukumean” and “Cooler Than a Bitch”) generating a “Mysterious sample in F minor.” Even in that video, he does clarify that the software “was ethically trained by me,” and seems a little sheepish about the whole process, though perhaps just for comedic effect. Where it counts though, he’s all-in on the generative AI musical revolution, saying his goal is for LoopMagic to be the “ultimate co-producer.”
“There’s this quote that I read recently and it said, ‘AI won’t replace your job. The human beings that use AI will,’” Illmind says.
It’s not hard to picture a world where stem splitting and other rote, tedious tasks a producer must do for themselves are outsourced almost entirely to AI. Stem splitting, the act of separating the individual audio tracks of a song, typically to isolate vocals or a single instrument part, doesn’t fall under generative AI, but the more conventional use of the technology. It’s an important part of hip-hop production, but it has a different level of sacredness than the process of taking your blank screen and turning it into a track. Being able to use a generative AI tool is absolutely a skill, but it doesn’t seem like one that will make its way into every producer’s toolbox.
Obi says that he’d rather hire another co-producer to help with the workload – like a Dr. Dre or Kanye West has in the past – than to outsource key elements of his production work to AI technology: “Creating the music is really the most rewarding part. And the most fun part.”
Nominees: Take It Easy (Collie Buddz); Party With Me (Vybz Kartel); Never Gets Late Here (Shenseea); Bob Marley: One Love – Music Inspired By The Film (Deluxe) (Various Artists); Evolution (The Wailers)
Technically, there are only two original reggae albums nominated here this year. Incredible.
Vybz Kartel and Shenseea scored their first career nominations for their own music this year with Party With Me and Never Gets Late Here, respectively, both dancehall records. Reggae legend Bob Marley is represented through the One Love soundtrack, which features covers of Marley classics from several artists, including Grammy winners Kacey Musgraves, Daniel Caesar, Leon Bridges and Wizkid.
Collie Buddz’s Take It Easy and The Wailers’ Evolution are the remaining nominees. This is Buddz’s second nod in this category in as many years, while Take It Easy features contributions from Caribbean music giants such as Bounty Killer, B-Real and Demarco. The Wailers — formed by former members of Bob Marley’s backing band — are nominated with Evolution, which hit No. 5 on Reggae Albums.
As previous nominees, Shenseea and The Wailers are likely the frontrunners here, but keep an eye out for Vybz Kartel. Last summer (July 31, 2024), the King of Dancehall walked out of prison a free man after serving 13 years of a now-overturned life sentence for the murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams. By New Year’s Eve, the legendary deejay mounted Freedom Street — his first performance since his release, and the biggest concert the country had seen in nearly 50 years. Though Party With Me lacks an all-out smash à la “Fever” and “Clarks,” Kartel’s narrative may prove too irresistible for any of his competitors to put up a fight. The Freedom Street concert dominated social media, but it happened near the very end of the voting period (Jan. 3), when many voters had presumably cast their ballots already.
Shenseea is probably his stiffest competition here. Never Gets Late Here reached No. 4 on Reggae Albums and incorporates notes of pop-dancehall, R&B, rap, Afrobeats and, most importantly, reggae. With Grammy-approved producers like Di Genius, Tricky Stewart, Ilya, Stargate and London On Da Track in tow, Never Gets Late Here could muster up enough support to pull ahead of Worl’ Boss.
Nonetheless, there’s also a scenario in which Marley’s legend and the film’s box office success lifts the One Love soundtrack to a victory — even if the more exciting win would be Buddz’s project. Traditional reggae projects tend to triumph here anyway, which counts against Kartel and Shenyeng despite their strengths elsewhere.
Prediction: Vybz Kartel, Party With Me
Look Out For: The Wailers, Evolution
Carín León has officially addressed the recent rumors on social media regarding his sexuality.
In a five-part video posted on his Instagram stories on Monday (Jan. 27), the Hermosillo-born singer-songwriter expressed that it was time to give an explanation to fans. “I woke up three days ago being gay, because people forced it on me,” he said. “Since people have the power to cancel, to say what each person is, if I am this, if I am that, since you decide everything that happens in my life, I woke up being gay three days ago, because people wanted it that way.”
Rumors about the artist being gay sparked on social media over the weekend after a video, created with Artificial Intelligence, depicted him and Mexican artist Espinoza Paz sharing a kiss. As a result of the fake clip, his song “De Compas,” part of his 2024 album Palabra de To’s, began making the rounds, showing people of the same sex enjoying each other’s company. The popular sound on TikTok has generated more than 40K video creations on the app.
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“I haven’t developed any symptoms, I don’t think, I haven’t developed any kind of attraction to people of my own sex yet, so I still have heterosexual behaviors,” he said in Spanish, joking about the situation in a lighthearted manner. “I want people who suffer from homosexuality to tell me when the first symptoms appear, so that they don’t catch me off guard and catch me out of the blue with makeup, do you understand?”
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León, who also joked about his “relationship” with Paz being ruined, sent a more heartfelt message to his LGBTQ fans. “Long live the community. You know that I love you very much,” he noted, concluding: “I think that the sexual orientation of any person is now secondary. We see so many people with very varied and very different sexual preferences who are super-mega-hyper-successful.”
León and Paz first collaborated four years ago on “Como Duele Equivocarse.” León is a first-time nominee at the 2025 Grammys taking place Sunday (Feb. 2) in the best música Mexicana album category for Boca Chueca, Vol. 1. He also leads the 2025 Premio Lo Nuestro nominations, alongside Becky G, with 10 nods each.
The Japan Culture and Entertainment Industry Promotion Association (CEIPA) has announced matsuri ’25: Japanese Music Experience LOS ANGELES, a concert featuring performances by Ado, ATARASHII GAKKO! and YOASOBI, which aims to introduce world-class Japanese music to the global stage. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Scheduled to take […]
Teddy Swims had an extraordinary 2024. After releasing his debut album I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1) in 2023, Swims’ smash hit “Lose Control” landed at No. 1 on Billboard‘s year-end 2024 Hot 100 Songs chart, earning Swims various awards nominations, including two wins at the Billboard Music Awards and a nomination for best new artist at Sunday’s Grammys.
Now, he’s closing the loop with I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 2). On his latest release, Swims shows fans that there is light on the other side. Collaborators Coco Jones, GloRilla, Giveon and Muni Long help to make the album a multi-genre exploration of Swims’ experiences, from finding love with his girlfriend and soon-to-be-co-parent to healing his old wounds in therapy.
“Whatever’s good feels good, and if things are leaning R&B, instead of being afraid, just lean all the way into it — and if it feels good, it feels good,” Swims tells Billboard News‘ Meghan Mahar. “This record, it’s a little bit all over the place, but I think the cohesiveness of it is that it’s good, it’s real and it’s authentically me.”
Speaking of the messages in Part 2, Swims says: “Once you get out of that negative situation and that heartbreak, on the other side of it there is healing. There’s unlearning old habits and ways you think, and there’s falling in love again, and having a baby, and being Grammy-nominated … This is a perfect closure on ‘it does get better,’ and it will get better.”
Swims also shared love for his fellow best new artist nominees, including Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Shaboozey and Benson Boone. “I say this everywhere I get asked about this: I think this is the best year for new artists ever. I’m so lucky to be a part of this conversation with some of these incredible artists who are absolutely legacy artists. I don’t think any of these people are flashes in the pan.”
Watch the full interview — including the story behind the success of “Lose Control,” Swims’ favorite tracks from the new album and how Swims approaches writing hits – above.
Kendrick Lamar went Super Saiyan on his GNX album as Mustard revealed that K. Dot channeled his inner-Goku while recording “Hey Now.”
Mustard caught up with the Recording Academy earlier this week ahead of the Grammy Awards, where he opened up about some of his conversations with Lamar surrounding GNX, who took things to Dragon Ball Z.
“I had heard ‘Hey Now’ during the ‘Not Like Us’ video shoot; he played me a snippet. I asked him, ‘Man, what made you do that,” Mustard recalled asking Lamar. “And he said, ‘When I heard the beat, I just felt like Goku or something.’ I was like, ‘What?’ And he explained, ‘Yeah, when I hear certain s— on your beats, it brings out something else in me, so I just did whatever I felt.’ I was like, ‘Wow, that’s crazy.’”
“Hey Now” features fellow L.A. rapper Dody6 and serves as one of the album’s highlights with a snarling Kendrick at the helm having fun on the mic while powering up like Goku. The Mustard-produced track ended up reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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In a separate interview with People, Mustard revealed that plenty of stars previously passed on the “Hey Now” beat, including close friends Ty Dolla $ign, YG and Quavo. The producer explained he was trying to make a “West Coast version of [Clipse’s] ‘Grindin.’”
“That’s why it’s so empty like that. That’s why it’s just weird sounds,” he explained. “[YG] didn’t end up doing it … I played it for Quavo, and I’m like, ‘Quavo man, if you get this if you can connect to this song, I’m telling you,’ he’s like, ‘What the hell you want me to do to it? You want me to whisper on the beat?’ And I’m like, ‘Alright.’ So I didn’t force it on him.”
Mustard is up for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical at the 2025 Grammy Awards, while K.Dot boasts seven nominations in total ahead of Sunday’s show (Feb. 2).
Grimes is attempting to mediate the toxicity in her fandom.
The singer took to X on Monday (Jan. 27) to “address a certain toxicity in the Grimes fandom,” adding that “some persistent trolls on Reddit have been pushing this white supremacy/ Nazi thing,” and that Reddit has not responded to help requests.
“If it wasn’t clear – ****I very much denounce Nazi-ism and white supremacy*****. I am sorry I didn’t take this more seriously sooner, I did not realize the extent of the issue. But it has come to my attention from some of yall that this has been creating a lot of trouble,” she wrote, noting that the perpetrating accounts have been “stalking and harassing friends and family of mine,” and calling “workplaces of non white friends and trying to get them fired for being supposed nazis.”
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Grimes then apologized for “not realizing it was a bigger issue for” her fans. “I am sad at the division in the world rn,” she concluded. “And I’m rly sorry anyone who has had to see super toxic negative things in the grimes fandom on my behalf. I am sorry to the few fans who I also know have been harassed in this way as well. If u report accounts to me that are harassing people or creating problems I will work harder to deal with it.”
Hello! I’d like to address a certain toxicity in the Grimes fandom. For a few years now some persistent trolls on Reddit have been pushing this white supremacy/ Nazi thing. (Reddit refuses to respond to us about this). If it wasn’t clear – ****I very much denounce Nazi-ism…— 𝖦𝗋𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌 ⏳ (@Grimezsz) January 28, 2025
Grimes previously spoke out last week in response to what many have described as a Nazi-like salute given by her ex, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, during one of Donald Trump’s inaugural events. The tech titan who has reportedly created the Department of Government Efficiency in the White House made two rapid, straight-armed hand gestures during the celebration, which quickly comparisons to the signature “Sieg Heil” salute made by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
In her post, Grimes pushed back at those who she said appeared willing to cancel her for the seemingly fascist gesture made by her ex, “before [I] even heard it happened.” That said, Grimes made it clear: “I am not him. I will not make a statement every time he does something. I can only send love back into a world that is hurting.”
She added that “in a world stimulated by scandal, I feel a moral imperative to only add to the mess when something positive can be done. Otherwise I’m just adding tot he desensitization. To be clear i could go talk s–t and be on a bunch of magazine covers and be a feminist hero and get clout – but it would serve no purpose. I choose my children’s wellbeing. I promise you it doesn’t feel good to be hated all the time for things I don’t even know about, cannot predict and cannot control. But I also chose this path, I accept it. I make the best of it, and I simply wish happiness and health to all.”
Grimes then changed the narrative shortly after, writing, “I’m happy to denounce Nazi-ism – and the far alt right. Would that help clear things up? I’ve just gotten out of breakfast and have to catch a flight, and am still debating how to approach things diplomatically because I feel in over my head. But if there’s concern about that, I am happy to set the record strait in a meaningful way.”
Musk and Grimes share three children together: sons X Æ A-Xii, 4, and Techno Mechanicus, 2, as well as daughter Exa Dark Sideræl, 3.
Cazzu’s “Dolce” has topped Billboard’s latest new music Latin poll. In a poll published on Friday (Jan. 24) — in support of the weekly New Music Latin roundup and playlist, curated by Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors — music fans voted for the Argentine artist’s new track as their favorite music release of the […]
Coming off the release of his acclaimed debut album, Central Cee is hitting the road for the Can’t Rush Greatness World Tour.
Kicking off in Norway on April 1, Cench revealed the complete 39-date global trek on Tuesday (Jan. 28). A first leg will run through Europe/U.K. which will be followed by the U.S. and then Australia.
General tickets will go on sale starting on Friday (Jan. 31) at 10 a.m. local show time while artist pre-sale begins on Wednesday (Jan. 29) on his website.
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“CAN’T RUSH GREATNESS WORLD TOUR,” he wrote in a post on X. “TICKETS ON SALE THIS FRIDAY 10AM WHEREVER YOU ARE.”
European stops for the tour include Norway, Denmark, Milan, Paris, London, Ireland and more. The North American leg starts in Portland on May 2 and will hit Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Toronto, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Montreal.
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Cench delivered his Can’t Rush Greatness debut album on Friday (Jan. 24) which features 21 Savage, Young Miko, Lil Durk, Lil Baby, Skepta and more. The 21 Savage-assisted “GBP” debuted at No. 92 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Cee sniped at Aitch on “5 Star,” calling out how the British rapper won an award over him at the 2023 BRITs. Aitch didn’t waste much time firing back at Cench earlier this week with his “A Guy Called?” diss track.
Cench is up for a trio of 2025 BRIT Awards for Best U.K. Artist, Best Song (“Band4Band”) and Best Hip-Hop & Grime.”
Find all of the 2025 Can’t Rush Greatness World Tour dates below.
It’s officially been one year shy of a decade since Rihanna last released an album, with the pop star celebrating nine years since the debut of her critically acclaimed LP Anti on Tuesday (Jan. 28). To mark the occasion, the superstar shared a montage of sultry music video and performance footage from her 2016 era, […]
