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Kendrick Lamar is absolutely everywhere on the Billboard charts this week, following his explosive performance at halftime of Super Bowl LIX — the most-watched halftime show in history, according to the NFL and presenter Apple Music, with 133.5 million viewers.
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On the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Feb. 22), Lamar owns five of the top 10 songs, including four of the top five and the entire top three. Leading the pack is his already-minted classic “Not Like Us,” which returns to No. 1 for the first time since July 2024 and third week total. Meanwhile, on the Billboard 200, Lamar notches three of the top 10 albums — the first rapper to ever have three simultaneous entries in the region — also including the No. 1 spot, held by his late-2024 blockbuster GNX, in its second week on top.
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What do we make of the extent of Lamar’s chart dominance? And how much longer can he keep up this commercial run? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. The week after his Super Bowl halftime performance, Kendrick Lamar commands five of the top 10 spots on the Hot 100 — including four of the top five and the entire top three — while also notching three albums in the Billboard 200’s top 10, and returning to the top of both the Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 with “Not Like Us” and GNX, respectively. On a scale from 1-10, how insane do you find Kendrick’s level of post-Super Bowl dominance to be?
Eric Renner Brown: 7. I’m not shocked that Kendrick’s Super Bowl halftime show has boosted his streaming numbers. But I am surprised by the degree to which it has boosted them, following what’s been a very strong 12-month period for the rapper. It’s wild to me that, despite forgoing the typical “greatest hits” format for a Super Bowl halftime show and focusing on GNX material, Kendrick’s performance still lifted two of his old albums into the Billboard 200’s top 10.
Kyle Denis: 10. Mostly because I simply did not see any of this coming by the time we wrapped the Mr. Morale era in late 2023. I always knew Kendrick was capable of outright dominating a year; it just felt like he was content already having done so with Damn. and the Black Panther soundtrack during 2017-18. While the GNX boosts are dope to see, I’m less impressed by them considering most of the album has lived in the uppermost reaches of the Hot 100 since its surprise release last November. I’m far more impressed by good kid, m.A.A.d city – which saw none of its songs performed during halftime – re-entering the top 10 of the Billboard 200 (No. 10). Or better yet, his Jay Rock-assisted “Money Trees” — a good kid deep cut that was also passed over for the halftime setlist – finally debuting at No. 11 on Rap Streaming Songs over 12 years after its release.
Angel Diaz: I’m not a big numbers guy, but this seems like a big deal, so I’ll give it a 10. It’s refreshing to see those type of rap singles being at the top of the charts in place of some of the generic party records that we’re used to seeing dominate.
Jason Lipshutz: An 8. Two points off because most of the Kendrick songs currently in the top 10 were already relatively huge prior to the halftime boost… but still, this is pretty much best-case scenario for how a Super Bowl performance can result in chart dominance. The fact that two of his pre-GNX albums return to the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart this week demonstrates the depth to which viewers are returning to his back catalog as well, making the Super Bowl showcase both a boon to the new songs he performed as well as motivation to discover older songs he did not.
Andrew Unterberger: Tempted to say 10, just because the specifics continue to be mind-boggling for me, but Kendrick was already on such a heater pre-Super Bowl that it probably can’t be higher than a 9. Still, c’mon — how wild is this s–t??
2. We’ve never seen an artist experience a post-Super Bowl chart bump on this level before — if you had to choose one, do you think this unprecedented boost is more about Kendrick’s performance, his overall timeliness as an artist, or interest over his ongoing feud with Drake?
Eric Renner Brown: Granted, Drake is posting some gaudy numbers of his own with the Valentine’s Day debut of his PartyNextDoor collab $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, which one could attribute to interest in Drake’s first post-“Not Like Us” project – or just evidence of his ongoing pop hegemony. But I’m inclined to attribute this to Kendrick’s overall timeliness as an artist. Kendrick fans in my life enjoyed, but weren’t necessarily stunned, by his Super Bowl performance — and based on some of the media reactions, I’m not sure it roped in that many new fans for him; if anything, it felt tailored to Kendrick heads, what with its GNX deep cuts and high-concept structure. Of course, Kendrick’s delivery of the “Say Drake…” line became the halftime show’s most-memed moment – but, to me, if interest in the Drake feud was the primary driver of a bump for Kendrick, we wouldn’t be seeing such strong numbers for GNX and the rest of Kendrick’s catalog.
Kyle Denis: These options are definitely largely inextricable from one another, but I think Kendrick’s overall timeliness is most unprecedented, because things rarely line up this perfectly. We have literally never seen a rapper – especially one chiefly concerned with hip-hop’ s ethos than pop crossover ploys – have the kind of reach, catalog and ability to dominate the Super Bowl and the Grammys, win a generation-defining rap beef, he Grammys and earn peerless honors like the Pulitzer Prize for Music. And he’s got a major synch in the new Captain America movie, alongside a rapidly approaching join tour with SZA – the first hip-hop trek to exclusively play stadiums.
I think the fact that his back catalog got such a notable boost despite being largely ignored during his performance means that his halftime set won him the curiosity of hundreds of thousands of new listeners. I also think the fact the “Luther” is the highest-charting GNX track post-Super Bowl might mean that the Drake feud is no longer a primary reason people are tuning into K.Dot’s music right now. “Luther” is very clearly not about the beef, just like the vast majority of GNX, people are just really connecting with his music even outside of the Drake of it all, which speaks to intensity of Kendrick’s overall timeliness at the moment.
Angel Diaz: Sorry, but the only is answer is all of the above. George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg would call a situation like this the perfect storm. Kendrick by himself is capable of a No. 1 album and No. 1 single, but the Drake blowout, getting the Super Bowl, and taking advantage of the situation by dropping a surprise album that harkens back to his Section.80 and good kid, m.A.A.d city days helped his profile explode this past year. There are only a handful of rappers that have had a crazier run. Future and 50 Cent are the two that come to mind off the top of my head.
Jason Lipshutz: His overall timeliness. Yes, “Not Like Us” is still enormous as Drake-piñata fodder, and the best songs on GNX received the halftime showcase they deserved — yet Kendrick Lamar is currently bigger than any 12-minute moment, as a zeitgeist-capturing phenom whose greatness defined popular music in 2024. Some of the songs and albums that he didn’t even touch during the halftime show still made their way into the top 10 of the Hot 100 and Billboard 200, respectively, which shows that the general hunger for Lamar’s music transcends the Super Bowl or any feud.
Andrew Unterberger: I’ll say the Drake feud, because I still believe the level of interest in this specific performance — both going into it and coming out of it — was first and foremost tied to the question of whether or not he was going to play “Not Like Us.” But there’s no question that Kendrick’s 2024-25 boost in popularity and overall impact will outlive this beef, and I think he picked up far more new fans than we most of us probably realize with this performance, fans who might not have cared and may never care about this particular drama.
3. Outside of what’s going on with the charts — is there a more anecdotal example you’ve seen or experienced that demonstrates how much Kendrick Lamar has lorded over culture and conversation in the last week or so? (Either a real-life/online interaction you’ve had or something you’ve seen in the larger culture that’s not charts-related.)
Eric Renner Brown: My dad – an eclectic, voracious listener who has listened periodically to Kendrick dating back to good kid – reached out to me two days after the Super Bowl with a link to “Not Like Us” and the note “I like this!” He asked me to explain the Drake feud to him. The next day, he sent links to “squabble up” (“And this!”) and “reincarnated” (“This is quite good!”). Kendrick hasn’t felt underground for more than a decade, but with this Super Bowl halftime show, it really feels like he’s entered the mainstream and achieved a new level of stardom.
Kyle Denis: I mention this on an upcoming Greatest Pop Stars podcast episode, but Valentine’s Day Weekend surprised me! After dinner on Friday night (Feb. 14), my Valentine and I went to an R&B night at a club in Times Square. Of course, I expected to hear something from $ome $exy $ongs 4 U since it literally came out that day – or at least some older tracks from either Drizzy or Party. Instead, the DJ didn’t play a single song from either artist yet found a way to squeeze in a GNX medley of “TV Off” and “Peekaboo,” with “Luther” appearing later in the night. Needless to say, the venue went crazy everything the Compton Kid blared through the speakers.
Angel Diaz: His interview Timmy Tim, a.k.a. Timothée Chalamet, for the Super Bowl. They seem to be the chosen ones in their respective fields right now, and they’ve been able to tap into that pop culture zeitgeist to where your parents know who they are. There were white grandmothers bouncing around to Kendrick’s halftime performance on social media, while Chalamet has managed to enter the sports realm by exposing his Knicks fandom, and was the fifth non-singer to host and perform on SNL in the show’s 50-year history.
Jason Lipshutz: It’s been 10 days since the Super Bowl halftime show, and we are still talking about it — online, in real life, with friends and colleagues and family relatives picking my brain on how Kendrick did and What It All Meant. That’s an anomaly for Super Bowl halftime discourse, which typically has a shelf life of a day or two, no matter how huge the headliner might be. Not everybody loved Lamar’s halftime show, but there’s no denying its standing as a cultural lightning rod with a long tail of listenership — exactly what the NFL, and Kendrick himself, must have wanted.
Andrew Unterberger: I look at the SNL 50th Anniversary Homecoming Concert from Friday, where Kendrick was not present, but still got multiple center-stage moments — including yet another “A-minorrrrrr” singalong moment for a huge crowd of famous people with millions more watching from home. When you loom large over every major event even when you’re not there, that’s when you’ve really got the juice like no one else.
4. While “Not Like Us” resumes the top spot this week, “Luther” (with SZA) also hits a new peak of No. 2, and should threaten for pole position next week. Why do you think that song has emerged as the enduring popular favorite from GNX, and did the Super Bowl performance help cement that status?
Eric Renner Brown: I’m not so quick to label “Luther” the enduring popular favorite off GNX! One of the popular favorites? Sure. But “Peekaboo” has achieved TikTok virality with its “Bing-bop-boom-boom-boom-bop-bam/ The type of shit I’m on, you wouldn’t understand” line, while “Squabble Up” is a No. 1 hit with a memorable music video, and the “MUSTAAAAARD!” line in “TV Off” is already iconic enough to work without context in a Heinz ad. “luther” is also great, buoyed as it may be by SZA’s presence – and their collaboration at the halftime show certainly fortified its numbers. But ultimately, GNX is stacked with some of the most accessible, enjoyable music of Kendrick’s career. These songs and more will all pop off when he and SZA hit the stadium circuit in a couple months.
Kyle Denis: In December, I predicted “Luther” to be the most enduring GNX track and I’m standing by that. It’s the song on GNX with the widest appeal, it’s the best new SZA song we’ve gotten since she started expanding SOS, and its cozy loved-up balladry is perfect for the winter. I don’t think “Luther” was even in the top three most memorable music moments from the halftime show, but I think its slot there combined with forthcoming sure-to-be viral tour performances will help further cement the song’s legacy.
Angel Diaz: The song is just so damn catchy and fun for the whole family. I’ve seen videos of toddlers singing along to it. There’s also the Luther Vandross sample, and who doesn’t love Luther?
Jason Lipshutz: “Squabble Up” and “TV Off” are flashier rap singles, but “Luther” locates the midway point between two superstars: the chemistry between Kendrick Lamar and SZA crackles phenomenally on the track, their tones circling the Luther Vandross (and Cheryl Lynn) sample and bouncing off the subtly deployed strings in a way that pop, R&B and hip-hop fans can appreciate in equal measure. A Super Bowl performance is always going help matters commercially, but “Luther” was likely going to hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 at some point regardless; next week might finally be that point.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s just the most generally agreeable song on the album for casual listeners, and probably the most playlistable as well. I don’t think the Super Bowl performance added a ton to the song, except for giving it the same boost it’s given the rest of his catalog.
5. It’s been almost a year since this Kendrick run first kicked off with “Like That” last March. What do you think is more likely — that his dominance will start to slow down soon, or that it’ll still feel this pervasive when we’re getting into year-end season?
Eric Renner Brown: Kendrick will only continue to feel dominant as he hits the road with SZA for his first stadium tour – he has a mass appeal right now that he simply hasn’t had in the past. But the wild card is how much he wants that. Prior to 2024, Kendrick – who I believed throughout the ’10s could’ve been a Drake-level hitmaker, if he’d wanted to pursue that direction instead of the knottier, more complex music that earned him a Pulitzer – has evaded the spotlight, taking breaks when he gained momentum and eschewing more commercial plays. With GNX, the Super Bowl halftime show, and now his stadium tour, he doesn’t seem to be currently in that headspace. We’ll see how long it lasts.
Kyle Denis: It will be very hard for Kendrick’s dominance to feel pervasive because he is not a very present, forward-facing star. “Not Like Us” has officially been No. 1 for more weeks than the number of times Kendrick has given televised live performances of the song. He’s not someone that’s constantly on social media posting to his finsta and linking with Twitch streamers. He drops music, performs, gives one or two (probably contractually obligated) interviews and goes home.
Kendrick also isn’t one to flood the market with music; it’s not likely he keeps pumping out new content, so as consumers, we’re not likely to feel inundated or overwhelmed by how present he is in the marketplace. Now, if the Grand National tour ends up becoming a cultural phenomenon like the Renaissance World Tour or Eras Tour, we might have to revisit this conversation.
Angel Diaz: I think that totally depends on Drake. If he continues with his antics: the lawsuits, the memes, the trolling. Then maybe Dot will take his foot off his neck, but until then, I fear the boogeyman isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. His stadium tour is kicking off at the end of April, and you gotta think he has something else up his sleeve — like maybe a verse on the new Clipse album (allegedly/rumored innuendo.) I would put money on the onslaught continuing. I think that would be a pretty safe bet.
Jason Lipshutz: The latter. GNX has more singles to spin off, and Lamar has been re-energized as a recording artist during this run, to the point where the five-year gap between DAMN. and Mr. Morale now feels out of the question. We’ve got a summer stadium tour alongside SZA coming up, GNX will be eligible at the 2026 Grammys, and whatever Kendrick decides to release in between — his ubiquity is not lagging anytime soon.
Andrew Unterberger: Yeah, it might not be an every week thing — though it also might be an every week thing — but the level that Kendrick is at right now I think means that he’s going to continue to make waves (and headlines) almost by default for pretty much the rest of the year, regardless of whether or not he releases any more music. And honestly, if I had to bet, I would say he probably does release some more music; he seems to realize what a special run it is that he’s on right now, and I would bet he’s got at least a little more to say while he’s still in this bright a spotlight.
Tate McRae is stepping into a new era with her third studio album, So Close to What, set for release Friday. To celebrate, McRae partnered with Spotify for an intimate listening party on Tuesday night at The Living Room in Los Angeles, where 40 fans got an exclusive first listen.
From the moment the first song played, the energy in the room was electric. Fans were dancing, jumping and fully immersed, reacting in real time as McRae unveiled her most personal and dynamic project yet.
The night wasn’t just about the music. It also featured a Q&A session with McRae’s best friend, social media personality Jake Shane. Their dynamic was effortless, filled with playful banter, inside jokes and genuine excitement for the album. Shane, one of McRae’s biggest supporters, couldn’t hide his enthusiasm, especially for his favorite track of the night. Before “Signs” played, he hyped it up to the room, blurting out, “It’s so good!” McRae laughed, adding, “It’s a really fun, sarcastic pop song. … I can’t wait for everyone to hear it.” The second it started, the entire room was moving. The track is pure spring and summer energy — made for blasting in the car, top down, cruising with friends.
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McRae’s So Close to What delivers a mix of vulnerability and high-energy anthems, showing her evolution as an artist. One of the biggest crowd favorites of the night was “Revolving Door.” The second it started, fans latched onto it, jumping and dancing without hesitation. It’s a song that demands movement, a full-blown party record with pulsing energy. The room was completely alive, and it was impossible not to picture this track blowing up on playlists and club remixes.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, “Purple Lace Bra” slowed things down, bringing an introspective, emotional energy. McRae described it as her response to the media, a raw and deeply personal track. Speaking on the theme of the album, she explained, “The album title encapsulates how I felt turning 21 … feeling like you’re finally a woman while also wrestling with how the media portrays you.”
Then there was “Green Light,” a track about the exhilarating-yet-terrifying feeling of falling in love again. It captures the tension of hesitation and excitement, like waiting at a green light, unsure whether to move forward. The mix of vulnerability and an infectious beat makes it an instant fan favorite — one of those songs that lingers long after it ends.
But the highlight of the night: “Bloodonmyhands,” featuring Flo Milli. The second the beat dropped, the entire room erupted. People stood up, danced and completely lost themselves in the music. It was giving summer 2016 — chaotic, fun, completely unfiltered energy. And Flo Milli, she ate. Her delivery, her confidence, her flow — she brought exactly what the song needed, and the crowd’s reaction said it all.
During the chat, McRae opened up about much of the album leaking ahead of her release date, which she called a “f—ing bummer.” “I was just so devastated because I’m like, ‘There’s nothing I can do about this.’” McRae combated the leak by getting back in the studio and writing some new songs to add to the project, including what would become the Flo Milli collab, plus “Like I Do.”
McRae also gave fans insight into her creative process, revealing that her alter ego played a big role in shaping some of the songs. “Tatiana, my alter ego, wrote a lot of the songs on the album — including ‘Sports Car,’” she shared of her latest single.
One of the most anticipated collaborations is “I Know Love,” her song with boyfriend The Kid Laroi, which came together in a way neither of them expected. “It was a really funny process, because me and Laroi have never really, like, taken each other seriously,” she laughed. “You know when you’re in a relationship and you sing around each other, but you don’t really, like, sing? So it was a little stressful being in the studio singing and writing in front of him, but it was a cool experience to watch him in his process.”
McRae closes the album with “Nostalgia,” a deeply personal track that lingers long after the final note. It’s the perfect ending to an album that takes listeners through every high and low.
The listening party proved that So Close to What will be a defining moment in McRae’s career. Fans connected instantly with the songs, and the energy in the room was undeniable. With her Miss Possessive Tour kicking off in March, this is just the beginning. If the reactions at the listening event were any indication, McRae’s biggest era yet has officially arrived.
Tate McRae and Jake Shane speak during an exclusive listening of ‘So Close to What’ with Tate McRae at The Living Room on February 18, 2025 in Los Angeles.
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When Kane Brown embarks on his headlining The High Road Tour March 13 in San Diego, California, the tour will not only highlight 12-time Billboard Country Airplay chart-topper Brown’s consistent hitmaker status and enduring headliner draw but also marks a significant opportunity for his opening acts to solidify their own connections with Brown’s fanbase.
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As a precursor to the tour, Brown has released to DSPs “Says I Can (The High Road Tour Version),” a collaborative rendition of his country-leaning song featuring his tour openers, “Your Place” singer Ashley Cooke, “Austin” hitmaker Dasha, “Truth About You” singer Mitchell Tenpenny and five-time Country Airplay hitmaker Scotty McCreery trading off verses and joining together on a chorus ready-made for arena-sized singalongs.
“[The goal] is to really amplify everything we are trying to do, and also highlight the great talent that we are taking out on the road with Kane,” Brown’s longtime manager, Neon Coast’s Martha Earls, tells Billboard. “They are all super talented, so why not highlight them?”
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The concept of a headlining act welcoming openers back to the stage for a group singalong is a consistent element in country music concerts, whether they team up on one of the headliner’s own hits or pluck a tune from country music’s deep trove of fan favorites. Brown has regularly welcomed his openers to join him on songs during his shows, such as welcoming Restless Road to sing “One Mississippi” on his 2022-2023 Drunk or Dreaming Tour, or inviting Jordan Davis and Restless Road to sing on “Famous Friends” during Brown’s 2021 Blessed & Free Tour, which visited all 29 NBA basketball venues.
Brown’s dedication to spotlighting his opening acts stems from his own early days, when Brown was opening shows for Florida Georgia Line. “FGL asked him to come out and be one of four [openers] on their tour, and they were so nice to him,” Earls says. “And then it all came full circle in 2024, when we had [former FGL member] Tyler Hubbard as our direct support. They really set the precedent of how to incorporate openers and make them feel like they are part of the tour. That’s something that is important to Kane and why he’s always brought openers out on a song.”
Brown’s move is not without precedent: Five years ago, Miranda Lambert put out a cover of Elvin Bishop’s “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” prior to the launch of her 2019 Roadside Bars and Pink Guitars Tour, with openers including Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde and Caylee Hammack; they also performed the song together during Lambert’s concerts.
Earls notes the lilting, warm “Says I Can,” a track from Brown’s The High Road album, naturally lent itself to a sing-a-long.
The idea came from Brown’s A&R executive at Sony Music Nashville, Margaret Tomlin. “She said, ‘What if we made a recording of “Says I Can” and put the openers on it?’ We loved the idea, because at the end of the day, let’s make it all cohesive and make what people are seeing onstage, then [be what] they can hop in their car and listen to and remember that moment,” Earls says.
“All of the openers were eager and excited to be part of it, which felt nice and expressed like, ‘Okay, this is more than just going out and playing shows. This is about creating a moment for everybody every night,” Earls adds.
Brown first recorded the solo version of “Says I Can” last summer while making his The High Road album, while Cooke, Dasha, McCreery and Tenpenny put their vocals on The High Road Tour version of “Says I Can” during the days leading up to The High Road release on Jan. 31. Each artist contributed their individual part from various locales — Tenpenny was in Australia, Cooke was in Nashville, Dasha was in Los Angeles, and McCreery was gearing up for a songwriters’ retreat on the East coast.
“They are all complementary, but different,” Earls says of the artists’ vocals. “The vocals each came in and we threw it all at [Brown’s producer] Dann Huff and he mixed them together. [We wanted] to be able to put this out in advance of the tour and give the fans a glimpse of some of what they will experience.”
Brown tied in a social media aspect to the song and the tour, filming off-the-cuff video of himself FaceTiming with Cooke, Dasha, McCreery, and Tenpenny and holding up a green cup for a “Cheers Challenge” to promote the new song.
“I’m texting Dasha, like, ‘Can you answer a FaceTime right now?’” Earls recalls of pulling the video together. “There’s a funny video of her answering while she’s driving, and she’s like, ‘I can’t find an exit to pull off, let me call you guys back.’ So, it was all very sweet.”
The time span from inviting the opening acts to take part in the song to finished recording and making social media clip took less than two weeks. “I feel like we’re creating a little bond from the start, from before we even step out into the first show in San Diego,” Earls says.
“All of the teams stepped up and jumped on making the videos and making the social media moments happen. That was part of the fun, too,” Earls adds. “We see everything on social media — tour clips, music video clips. Why not interweave it all? An even more extreme example might be when Kane and Jelly Roll are performing at Buckeye Superfest [in Columbus, Ohio on June 25]. They have a song together [“Haunted”] and I can’t wait until that night when they play that song together. I think it is going to be so powerful and such a moment. That’s the fun part of collaborating in the music industry, and I think the sum can be greater than the parts sometimes.”
When Regina George asked Cady Heron if she thought Aaron Samuels’ hair “looks sexy pushed back” in the 2004 teen comedy classic Mean Girls, Lindsay Lohan’s reserved character graphically imagined handling the situation how they would “in the animal world” – by leaping across the cafeteria table and tackling, growling and clawing at Rachel McAdams’ queen bee role. But of course, that didn’t actually happen. “Your hair looks sexy pushed back,” Heron responded defeatedly.
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That level of crashing out is what 26-year-old Vietnamese-American singer SAILORR believes “music is for,” she tells Billboard from her producer Adam Krevlin’s Los Angeles crib. As a “retired crash out” herself, SAILORR (real name Kayla Le) has prioritized preserving her peace over staying pressed in real life. But on her 2024 breakout hit and post-breakup anthem, “POOKIE’S REQUIEM,” she rips apart her ex for moving on “to whatever b–ch you got in Bushwick,” while revealing she still feels torn up, even hyperventilating in the outro.
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Summer Walker reiterates that while she wishes her ex the best, she knows the worst is yet to come for his new girl on the remix of “POOKIE’S REQUIEM,” which peaked at No. 10 on Hot R&B Songs and No. 8 on Bubbling Under Hot 100, and acted as a lookout while SAILORR trashed her ex’s house in the official music video. “She was like, ‘OK, SAILORR, what do you have me doing?’ And I’m like, ‘Here’s the treatment.’ She was down with all of my shenanigans!” says SAILORR, adding that directing the music video with Walker in it is the biggest “pinch me” moment of her career so far.
SAILORR’s histrionics are a remnant from her musical theater days, when she dreamed of performing on Broadway while attending an art school in her hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. Prior to graduating high school, she started auditioning for various conservatories around the country, and on her way to a callback at The Theatre School at DePaul University, SAILORR decided acting wasn’t worth getting into debt for – but that music was worth pursuing.
While working a series of odd jobs from florist to lash tech, she released a handful of indie R&B singles and uploaded eclectic DJ mixes to SoundCloud under the alias Sailor Goon, inspired by the Japanese manga series Sailor Moon that she grew up watching. She built her own music community by befriending neighborhood “gear nerds” who taught her how to chop beats, and by virtually connecting with people from SoundCloud, including Adam Kain and AJ Roth of the psychedelic R&B band Cruza, who introduced her to their manager (and now SAILORR’s manager) Zach Migdal. Fast forward a few years later, SAILORR’s new biting, bass-heavy ballad “Cut Up” was SoundCloud’s track of the day last week.
Billboard spoke with February’s R&B Rookie of the Month about paying homage to her Vietnamese heritage with her moniker and blackened grillz, being a “retired crash out,” her ex’s response to “POOKIE’S REQUIEM” and being inspired by Nikki Giovanni on “W1LL U L13?”
What kind of music did you grow up listening to, and how does that influence the music you currently make?
My first introduction to any sort of music was getting my sister’s iPod Nano — I would take that s—t and see what she had downloaded from Limewire. It was mainly ‘90s R&B and hip-hop and 2000s R&B and hip-hop. When I was in middle school, that’s when I decided I wanted to explore music. I was always an avid listener. At that early stage, it was Destiny’s Child and Lauryn Hill, later I discovered Erykah Badu and André 3000. In middle school, I went through a huge alt phase. I was listening to a lot of indie music.
I read that you were a musical theatre kid, and just like me, you’re a child of immigrant parents. How do those aspects of your background affect the storytelling and aesthetics of your music?
It’s funny ‘cause deep down in my soul, I wanted to be on Broadway. I knew I wanted to be a performer. But of course, my family was like, “So what are you actually gonna do? What’s the vibes?” In general, that area of my life gave me the tools to learn how to survive out in the real world. After I graduated high school, I was like, “What am I gonna do with my life? Am I actually gonna audition for conservatories?” I was like, “No, I’m not going into debt for that. F—k that.” I started making music and hustling that way. In the same way you grow up in a family of immigrants, it teaches you ingenuity and your drive to go further. It motivated me, my parents not really being fully supportive of me doing music. It was just like, “I’m gonna do this s–t forreal and I’mma show you.”
If we’re really being frank, it’s kind of unprecedented. I don’t see anybody else like me making music like me. That territory of truly being myself and being able to present that to people and then have people connect with that, that s—t is still crazy as f—k to me. My life has completely changed because of that one song, and it goes to show that I had it in me. I just had to keep trusting it.
And what kind of music do you listen to now?
Mainly I listen to underground rap. Skaiwater is my s—t. The3 Sacred Souls. SahBabii. Prettifun. TisaKorean. There’s a girl named Nali, she’s hard as f—k.
How did you come up with the name SAILORR?
Growing up watching Sailor Moon — but also my finsta used to be @sailorg00n. I used to go by Sailor Goon when I was releasing music back then and little DJ mixes on SoundCloud. I had to drop it because I was like, “Sailor just rings so well. That’s me.” And to tie it back into my culture and heritage, there was a mass exodus of [Vietnamese] refugees that came [to America] after the war, and they were all sailors essentially. I came from a bunch of fishermen. My grandma, the first thing she did here when she came to America was peel shrimp on a boat.
Where did the inspiration come from to wear blackened grillz?
Way back when, a lot of Southeast Asian women would dye their teeth black using various things, it depends on where you come from. My grandma had black teeth. The very formative years of my life, when my parents were working, I was being watched by my grandma. She was my first look at what femininity is. It was an homage to her, but also, growing up in Florida, everybody has grillz. It’s a perfect intersection of where I come from and then where I come from.
Take me back through the making of “POOKIE’S REQUIEM.” I read you were inspired by the 2000s film Requiem of a Dream.
First of all, it’s a very f—king sad movie. That whole movie represents addiction, I feel like you can tie that into love, relationships. Specifically with that relationship, it was like, “Ah I know this isn’t going anywhere, but we’re here. I’m gonna keep coming back because I love that validation.” During that period of time when I made that song, we had just gone no contact, me and my ex. S—t was weird and off. I really had to take personal inventory and be like, “What is important to me right now?” And during that moment of time, it was me taking back myself. When you’re feeling yourself, you feel like you’re f—king 10 feet tall! A lot of what I said in that song is silly, like, “I’m gonna read you to filth, I’m gonna read her to filth and I’m gonna read me to filth. We’re all going down, b–ch!”
Has your ex reached out to you about the song?
Yeah definitely tried to spin back a couple times. It’s been weird, it’s been awkward. I don’t engage because I have to preserve my energy and my mental health. I can’t do it, it’s too much going on. I hope he’s doing well genuinely, it’s no beef over here. I just use it for source material, but in real life, I’m not a crash out forreal. I used to be, but now I’m just like, “It’s too much at stake here. I can’t f—k my s—t up over anybody.”
It must be nice to release those emotions through music like, “Let me not crash out in real life, but at least I can crash out through the song. In a different world, this is how I might’ve reacted.”
It’s like Mean Girls whenever they play out the scene and it’s super intrusive but then it doesn’t actually happen. But genuinely, that’s what music is for. I think it is funny that he has heard the song ‘cause know he knows what I know, I peeped game. A lot of the sh— is literal, but it’s also me popping my sh—.
What’s the best way to get through a breakup?
Cry, and then go do s—t that you actually really love to do. During that time, I was keeping myself busy going back and forth to LA from Florida. When I would be at home, I would go to the beach, go to the gym, smoke a blunt with my homegirls. And giving yourself time to really process everything.
Explain the significance behind the fan dance during your From the Block performance last November.
During Lunar Year, there’s a whole ceremony. The lions come out, the fan dancers. A lot of what I do in my music or my performance or my art in general is [a] nod to the things that I grew up with, things that are nostalgic to me. For From the Block, there was a Rush Hour 2 reference.
And what compelled you to hang upside down during your On The Radar performance?! How did you pull that off?
For that concept, I was like, “OK, play on the word ‘sailor.’ I’m going overboard. I’m trying to dock the boat.” It was just funny. I didn’t want to give a regular performance. We want to give it some story, some life. Hanging upside down was the “wow” factor.
That s–t was f—ked up, though. The type of harness you have to get into, all the pressure is in your chest and in your head. I wanted to try doing live vocals, and I probably could have, but because it was the second live performance of “POOKIE’S REQUIEM,” I felt like people were gonna come down on me and be like, “D–n, that’s how she sings?” I’m also upside down, b–ch!
How did you get Summer Walker on the “POOKIE’S REQUIEM” remix?
We met at a studio in LA. She’s so, so sweet. I literally love her music. I used to bump that s—t so, so, so, so heavy, still do. But for any artist to get some sort of props or cosign from my peers – your peers are people that you really, really, really look up to and respect – that s—t was wild.
This song literally opened up connections with people I’ll be able to call as part of my community. The biggest thing about music for me is being able to build with other people, collaborating is my biggest thing. I’m excited that it gets to be with people that I’ve loved and respected for the longest time.
At the end of the remix’s title, you wrote in brackets, “hehe look y’all I made it longer.” Were fans telling you the original song was too short?
Yes, of course. Everybody on TikTok, all the comments were like, “Why the f—k is this s—t only a minute long?” I hear y’all. I do read through them comments now! I hate to admit that…. At the beginning, it was hella hate so I really used to be reading through that shade, trying to restrain myself from responding to everybody. I’m a retired crash out now. [Laughs.] I’m excited to connect with the fans more. I’m so excited to perform live, I’m so excited to start a Discord and actually get to know them.
Do you have a name for your fanbase?
I call them the Fleet, like Sailor’s Fleet!
What did you think of Halle’s cover of “POOKIE’S REQUIEM”?
It was so good, she’s great. I love her.
Who else would you love to collaborate with this year?
I could throw so many people out there. Dream? Doechii, f—king SZA of course. I definitely want to make a song with Skaiwater. Random as f—k, King Krule. The ball could f—king go into any court at this point, who’s trying to work?
The “It’s because I love you/ I’mma get the least of you” lyrics from the bridge of “W1LL U L13?” comes from the televised sit-down conversation between Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin in 1971. How did you find inspiration from that?
First of all, she’s an amazing person, RIP. I had picked a day to release it, and then she literally passed like two or three days before. I was like, “What the f—k?” In a way, it was a tribute to her because she’s one of the people that really influences me in all of this, as a person outside of the music.
“W1LL U L13?” is about knowing that this person can only give you so much, but you’re still here for it and going through the motions with this person. From that conversation, she was talking about “Why can’t you f—king fake it for me like you fake it with everybody else? Why do I always get the worst parts of you? Aren’t I the one that you love the most?” That whole song is [about how] it’s always often the people that are closest to you that you take for granted.
At the end of last year, you posted two truths and a lie on Instagram. “Before I dropped “POOKIE’S REQUIEM,” I had to get 3 different sets of gold fronts made because I broke 2 of them, and for majority of the videos I’ve been seen in, I wear my Invisalign trays painted black. Before music, I was a bartender, florist, and lash tech and reached out to Chief Keef’s team to be a professional blunt roller (they never got back to me). And I have a forklift certification.” The people still want to know: Which one was the lie? Was it the forklift one?
Yup. [Regarding the first truth], there’s stage makeup by Ben Nye, that’s a makeup brand, that makes tooth paint, and I used to paint [my Invisalign trays] black.
Could you take it off?
Well, I had to change my trays every week anyway, so I was like, “F—k it.” I’m sure I could sit there and scrub it off. I had to literally get three sets of grillz made because I was so irresponsible. The first two months after I dropped “POOKIE’S REQUIEM,” I just kept f—king losing them. I broke them at one point. I was like, “You know what? I’m just gonna paint my Invisalign trays black and go from there.”
So you really did reach out to Chief Keef’s team to be his professional blunt roller?
I did. They never got back to me.
Why him specifically?
[Sings.] These b–ches love Sosa! The offer is still on the table. I don’t care how busy I am, I’ll come kick it with Chief Keef anytime.
What more can we expect from SAILORR in 2025? Are we getting a debut project?
EP for sure. I’m thinking right now like eight songs — but I don’t know, we’ll see.
Miguel Bosé admits that on the first day of rehearsals for his upcoming Importante Tour 2025-2026, he felt terrified. “Oh my God! How was this done? How did one walk on stage?” he thought. But when the music started, his body began to move and glide naturally across the wooden platform to the rhythm of his famous song, “Nena.”
Everything was set for the great return of the pop icon, after an eight-year hiatus. It was time for the world to witness his personal and artistic rebirth.
“I was ready to come back, and suddenly going on tour became the most important thing in my life,” says an visibly excited Bosé to Billboard Español in Mexico City, where he has lived for the past seven years.
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“I feel very motivated, with a lot of desire. Oh!” he adds. “You see, I wanted to wait eight years to let all the past drama settle down and be able to rebuild myself physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally. All that had to be rebuilt.”
Bosé’s last tour was Estaré in 2017, which started in Mexico that February and followed the concept of his last album to date, Bosé: MTV Unplugged (2016), concluding the following year. His last recording was a cumbia version of his classic “Morir de Amor” with Los Ángeles Azules, included in that band’s 2018 album Esto Sí Es Cumbia.
Today, Bosé looks triumphant for having overcome a crisis that shook him on various levels: He partially lost his voice between 2019 and 2023; ended a 26-year relationship with Nacho Palau; suffered the death of his mother, the Italian actress and model Lucía Bosé; and was the victim of an armed robbery at his luxurious home in Mexican City in August 2023.
“When everything that happened happened, and all the problems began to accumulate from all sides, I blamed Bosé. I said, ‘He is to blame’ — ‘You are to blame, bastard, for being who you are. You have destroyed my life.’ So I deconstructed myself like a Lego, and left all the pieces there for eight years,” he said at a press conference following the interview.
The singer of “Aire” and “Si Tú No Vuelves” points out that he had to exercise humility, and decide that the self-punishment had been enough. Therefore, he says that his 2025-2026 Importante Tour will be a “luminous” and “powerful” concert.
“People are going to hear the super hits,” he says, explaining that he had to leave many songs out of the setlist. “I can’t do a six-hour show. It’s not viable.” He details that this tour will consist of several segments like “a collection of paintings” that will depict various characters, stories and landscapes.
Importante Tour will begin its journey on Feb. 27 at the Congress Center in Querétaro, in that state neighboring the capital of Mexico, and will arrive at the National Auditorium in Mexico City on March 14 and 15, before visiting other Mexican cities.
He will continue in June in his native Spain. And, on Oct. 2, he’ll begin the U.S. trek of the tour at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In the coming weeks and months, the artist hopes to announce dates for Latin America.
“I look forward for everyone to come and see luminous, a fun show — a journey through time, through the soundtracks of millions of people — to see this beautiful and bold proposal,” he adds.
With more than 30 million albums sold throughout a five-decade career, Bosé is one of the most recognized Latin pop artists globally. On the Billboard charts, he has placed hits like “Nena,” “Morena Mía,” and “Como un Lobo” on Hot Latin Songs and Latin Airplay, and multiple albums in the top 10 of the Top Latin Albums ranking, including Papito, Cardio, and Papitwo.
And his influence extends beyond music. Awarded with accolades such as the Latin Recording Academy 2013 Person of the Year, the Global Gift Humanitarian Award and Telemundo’s El Poder en Ti, as a philanthropist, Bosé is deeply involved in such causes as Patrimonio Indígena Mex, Fundación Lucha Contra el Sida and National Geographic’s Pristine Seas.
Although the 68-year-old artist — who’s also a writer and an actor — says he has many songs he has written over the last few years, he has no plans to share new material anytime soon, because he considers that releasing albums is “not viable” at a time when music has been digitalized.
“I have already built my career,” he says. “I don’t feel like recording anything right now. How do you sell that music? Are there stores, are there supports? How much do you pay? What does it contribute? How much does it give you financially? Nothing, I have no desire for others to take advantage of the new creations, that neither I nor my fans have something tangible — a CD, a cassette.
“[Instead] I’ll sing to the people the first 30 songs they are expecting to hear [on the tour] — because if I don’t, they will slit my throat,” he concludes with a laugh.
Spotify playlists are officially getting sticky. The streaming giant rolled out its new “Create Cover Art” feature on Wednesday (Feb. 19), which will allow fans to craft custom cover art tailored to their listening preferences. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The new function features a collection […]
It’s been nearly 16 years since Lady Gaga and Beyoncé made a Thelma & Louise-style getaway in their “Telephone” collaboration, with the music video ending with the message, “To be continued…” Now, the story really is continuing. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Lady Gaga sat down with […]
Abbey Road Studios has shared details of this year’s Equalise Festival, which will return for its sixth annual edition March 3-8.
In conjunction with International Women’s Day, the London event will provide young creatives with the opportunity to work with female and non-binary artists, producers and engineers through hands-on learning.
This year’s Equalise programme features workshop sessions from rising names including Aziya, Divorce, Man/Woman/Chainsaw, Fiona-Lee and Flowerovlove, with a final act to be announced.
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The respective acts will each record a new piece of music as part of their studio session, while aspiring engineers and producers will be invited into the room to observe the creative process. Producer and harmonica player Sarah Meyz will oversee the sessions alongside Marta Di Nozzi, assistant engineer at Abbey Road Studios.
Those interested in participating in Equalise Festival 2025 are encouraged to enter a ballot, where they can submit their work for consideration using the official form here. Entries will close this Sunday (Feb. 23) at 11:59 p.m., and winners will be notified the following day (Feb. 24).
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Speaking about Equalise 2025, the studios’ managing director, Sally Davies said in a statement: “I am incredibly proud that the Abbey Road Equalise program is entering its sixth year. At Abbey Road, we believe in fostering a diverse and inclusive music industry and Equalise plays a vital role in creating opportunities for talented young women and non-binary individuals.”
She continued: “By providing young talent with access to our facilities and mentorship from our engineers, we hope to empower the next generation of creative talent to shape the sound of tomorrow. Equalise is not just about providing technical skills; it’s about fostering a supportive community and breaking down barriers for underrepresented voices.”
Since its inception in early 2020, Abbey Road Equalise has delivered a multitude of events coinciding with International Women’s Day, Pride and Trans Day of Visibility, all with the intention of highlighting the need to drive greater gender balance in the music industry.
The site of the world’s most well-renowned recording studio, over 93 years, Abbey Road has welcomed the likes of The Beatles, Oasis, Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga and Florence + The Machine into its hallowed recording spaces. Last year, it played host to the official live ceremony for the Mercury Prize.
Tyla becomes the first African solo artist to hit one billion streams on Spotify with her 2023 breakout smash “Water,” Spotify confirmed Wednesday (Feb. 19). “Water” was released as a single on July 28, 2023, via FAX and Epic Records ahead of her self-titled debut album last March. The song, which included official remixes featuring […]
The first listen to the new Lee Brice single, “Cry,” can feel confusing.
The heart-broken lyric is easy to grasp, and the hook-filled chorus is practically a celebration. But when Brice shifts into an ascendant “Baby, baby, baby” melody about 40 seconds in, it seems momentarily as if “Cry” has broken into the chorus. Instead, the production simmers back down for an additional 60 seconds before the chorus officially begins.
That “baby, baby, baby” thing falls where songwriters typically place a pre-chorus, a short segment that eases the listener from the verse into the chorus. But, since the “baby, baby, baby” moment grows in volume, then slides backward, it operates like a reverse pre-chorus, playing a bit of a head fake with the listener.
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“That kind of threw me when I first heard it,” Brice concedes. “I was like, ‘Oh, is this the chorus?’ I mean, I didn’t know, you know – is it part of the verse? It was unique. But it didn’t throw me off as far as whether I like the song or not.”
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As “Cry” continues its three-and-a-half-minute run, that “baby, baby, baby” melody appears repeatedly in the background – sometimes quietly, sometimes louder – turning that quirky, counter-intuitive piece from a stumbling block into a unifying element.
“The first time I heard it, I was like, ‘Is that the chorus?’ – the ‘Baby, baby, baby,’” producer Ben Glover (Chris Tomlin, Anne Wilson) says. “And then I was like, ‘No,’ but it was cool. And then I heard the chorus hit, and I was like, ‘Well, I love that chorus.’”
“Cry” clearly works differently than the typical country song, and much of its peculiarity was embedded by the songwriters – Dallas Davidson (“Boys ‘Round Here,” “What Makes You Country”), Ben Hayslip (“Honey Bee,” “Small Town Boy”) and David Garcia (“Meant to Be,” “Southbound”) – when they gathered in Garcia’s office in 2019. Hayslip announced at the start of the session that he wanted to throw out the rules and write something that inspired them, rather than trying to craft something for the marketplace.
Davidson hails Otis Redding as his favorite singer, and Hayslip counts “When a Man Loves a Woman” as his favorite song, and it wasn’t long before the three writers started chasing a song with pieces of soul and doo-wop laced over their country tendencies. Garcia built a musical track with a chord pattern rooted in the 1950s and ‘60s. Davidson had begun experimenting with improvisational melodies, and he positioned himself at a microphone and belted out what became the basic structure of the first verse, beginning with a keeper line, “Who says a man don’t cry?”
“I sang my heart out, and I mumbled and stumbled, and, you know, this [or that] flew out, and they’re going, ‘Hey, see try this,’” Davidson recalls. “Then we’d sit back down and we’d type up a line. I’d go back in there and I’d sing it, and it was fun, man, but that was a total freestyle.”
And part of that freestyle included the “baby, baby, baby” reverse pre-chorus. They kept it.“On normal days, if we’re trying to write a radio hit, in our minds, we don’t do that part right there,” Hayslip notes. “But on this particular day, the mindset we were in was ‘Let’s just write something cool and different and write it for us.’”
The verses played up the drama of a tormented heart, the opening “Who says a man don’t cry?” providing the theme for subsequent variations: Verse two asks, “Who says a man don’t hurt?” and verse three follows with “Who says a man don’t beg?” That latter line was a nod to The Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg.”
“I had a lot of Motown going on in my head,” Davidson says. “All my favorites were talking to me – from Sam & Dave, Sam Cooke to Otis. There were a lot of voices in my head that day, going, ‘Sing it like this, boy. Sing it like this.’”
Garcia intensified his playing when they arrived at the chorus, and that turned “Cry” from a ballad into more of a Motown-like party with an energetic sound masking the self-pitying story.
“When he was playing on the chorus, this whole song became what it was,” Hayslip says. “When we first started writing this song with the verses, I don’t think we envisioned this song becoming what it became. We were writing a sad song, and the more the track kept going, we’re like, ‘Hey, this feels like an uptempo, feel-good song.’”
Meanwhile, Brice – on a day that he was working with Jerrod Niemann – invited Davidson over to his studio to hear his next album. Davidson was impressed by the project, but also thought it was missing one element, which could be filled by “Cry.” He played Brice the demo, and Brice immediately asked for rights to record it and started building his own version, playing guitars and keyboards, plus offbeat percussion – he employed a washboard, and played kick drum and snare with his thumb, instead of a drumstick. Niemann chipped in on percussion, and – according to the credits – so did the Holy Spirit, who didn’t actually sign the Musician Union’s session card.
“We had the real Holy Spirit with us,” Brice says with a laugh, “and he didn’t want no money.”
Brice laid down a lead vocal within a few days, though he struggled a bit and decided to give it all he had on one final take so that he would have a guide for the rest of the recording process. “I was sick, and I just threw it down,” he says. “I had to sing through it one time because I knew I needed at least a scratch vocal on there, and that ended up being the vocal on the song, for the most part. I think I went in and I hit a couple spots, but it was so real. I had to stretch so hard because I was so sick.”
Brice turned it over to Glover, who called on other musicians to work on “Cry,” and the team would frequently keep parts of a performance, then enlist another player to do more. As a result, the final features two basses, four electric guitars and four keyboards, plus programming from four different contributors.
They used some of Davidson’s demo vocal for harmonies, and took pieces of his quirky “baby, baby, baby” pre-chorus and threw them around the track, each sounding a little different from the others. “If it’s gonna be a thing,” Brice reasons, “let’s make it a thing.”
Glover added plenty of supporting vocals, too, including a section with Beach Boys overtones, and some electronically altered voices. Glover similarly applied filtering to a Hammond B-3 around the three-minute mark. “It sounds like R2-D2,” Glover says.
Niemann played a steel guitar solo, and Glover gave that its own sonic treatment. “We wanted it to sound a little bit like John Lee Hooker or that really nasty early Stratocaster,” Glover adds. “It sounds like it’s played through a tiny little amp – that kind of charm.”
In the end, “Cry” folds in country, old-school and doo-wop, but with enough modern elements that those retro influences sound current – think Amy Winehouse or Meghan Trainor. Curb released it as a single Jan. 31 after Brice identified that sound as a potential next wave.
“I started even hearing demos coming in where more people are doing this kind of vibe,” he says. “I don’t want to be following it. I want this to come out first.”