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aespa unleashed a molten teaser for their upcoming single “Dirty Work” on Wednesday (June 4). The 28-second clip keeps the actual sound of the song a secret until its release on June 27 at midnight EST/1 p.m. KST, but its animation promises that fans can expect whatever the K-pop girl group is cooking up with […]
After several false starts, summer finally seems to have settled in. That means music festivals, various carnival celebrations, and the search for a song of the summer are in full effect.
May featured album releases from dancehall stars like Valiant (Prove Them Wrong) and Ding Dong (From Ding Dong to World Ding), but the month’s buzziest news story arrived in its very last weekend. Vybz Kartel, who recently announced his first world tour in over 20 years, and Moliy, whose global Afro-dancehall smash “Shake It to the Max” recently entered the Billboard Hot 100, were both set to play Trinidad’s One Caribbean Music Festival on May 31. However, due to “non-fullfilment of contractual obligations,” as per Kartel’s management, the King of Dancehall pulled out of the festival just hours before he was set to hit the stage. According to Kartel’s team, the dancehall titan did not receive his full payment before the festival took place.
“Vybz Kartel was formally contracted to perform at [One Caribbean Music Festival] 2025 for a total sum of $1.35 million. To date, $950,000 has been paid directly to the [artist], while an additional $150,000 was disbursed to his legal representative,” the promoter explained. “The remaining balance due was made available in full; however, due to legal and financial regulations in Trinidad and Tobago, the organisers were unable to disburse the final amount in cash.”
As for Moliy, the Ghanaian-American singer pulled out of the event, citing the promoter’s failures to meet “key contractual obligations.”
“Moliy arrived in Trinidad ready and excited to perform, but since landing, her team has not received any communication from the festival organizers,” her management team explained in a press release. “Combined with their failure to meet key contractual obligations, this has made it impossible for the performance to proceed.”
Nonetheless, One Caribbean Music Festival continued as planned, with performances from artists such as Chronic Law, Rvssian and Sizzla Kalonji.
Outside of that festival kerfuffle, Caribbean artists are enjoying a particularly notable moment in the live entertainment space. Beenie Man headlined a blockbuster show at Long Island’s UBS Arena on May 24, and Bounty Killer will headline Brooklyn’s Barclays Center next month (July 5), underscoring Caribbean music’s transition to arena-headlining status in the 2020s.
Naturally, Billboard’s monthly Reggae/Dancehall Fresh Picks column will not cover every last track, but our Spotify playlist — which is linked below — will expand on the 10 highlighted songs. So, without any further ado:
Freshest Find: Asa Bantan, “God Is Good”
Source: Kayla Oaddams / Getty / DDG / Halle Bailey
Halle Bailey was granted a restraining order against YouTuber and rapper DDG on May 13. Now, he is coming with his own counter-restraining order, accompanied by some eye-opening claims that social media isn’t buying.
*This article contains descriptions of domestic violence and suicide.*
People reports DDG, born Darryl Granberry Jr., has requested an emergency hearing, plus a domestic violence restraining order, and has asked the court to stop Bailey from taking their son to Italy.
DDG’s restraining order comes after Bailey alleged multiple instances of domestic violence took place during their relationship.
DDG was ordered to stay at least 100 feet away from Bailey and their son, Halo. She was also allowed to take Halo to Italy with her, where she is currently shooting a movie.
DDG claims in his restraining order that Bailey is an “imminent emotional and psychological risk to the minor child based on repeated, documented threats of self-harm.”
The rapper also claims that Bailey took his gun and left the house with it during one fight and found her outside with it “emotionally unwell, incoherent, and potentially suicidal.”
In her restraining order, Bailey said DDG slammed her face on a steering wheel, chipped her tooth, broke her Ring camera, and locked her out of her own home.
A judge would ultimately deny DDG’s request.
Nobody Believes DDG On Social Media
Social media isn’t buying DDG’s claims at all, and is currently clowning the streamer.
“doodoogarbage can pull up a video of halle planting a bomb in his pillowcase and I still won’t gaf,” one post on X, formerly Twitter, read.
Another post read, “Halle Bailey posted evidence of DV & was granted a restraining order so DooDooGarbage posted receipts of him cheating on his girlfriend & neglecting his child…? I’m not understanding.”
Welp.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
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Source: John Lamparski / Getty
The infamous and ongoing Sean “Diddy” Combs trial just had a dramatic moment. The judge presiding over the racketeering and sex trafficking case against Mr. Combs warned the defense that he would have their client removed from court if he kept staring at the jury.
According to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, Diddy was “nodding vigorously” at the jury during witness testimony. Such behavior is apparently a no-no, with the judge noting that it was “absolutely unacceptable” that he had already warned the defense about such behavior, according to various reports.
After being admonished (after the jury had been excused for lunch), Diddy defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said, “it’s not going to happen again.”
Telling a multimillionaire what not do, even if his freedom depends on it? Good luck with that. The alleged interaction with the jury occurred during the testimony of Bryana Bongolan, who claims that Diddy dangled her over a balcony back in 2016.
According to NBC News, a court artist confirmed what the judge observed.
Courtroom artist Jane Rosenberg, who has had her eyes and binoculars on Combs for over a month, told NBC News that she has seen him making facial expressions both affirmatively and negatively depending on the testimony, and she has seen him attempting to interact with various members of the jury since the beginning of the trial.
The judge was also clear that if the behaviour does not change, he will remove Diddy from the courtroom for the rest of the trial.
Diddy’s trial is only in its third week and is schedule to last about two months.
See more reactions to this latest development in the comments.
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Disclosure will perform a run of North American live shows this fall, the duo announced Thursday (June 5.) The newly announced shows piggyback a run of previously announced DJ sets from the Lawrence brothers. The newly announced shows include dates at both indoor and outdoor venues, including Forest Hills in New York, the Santa Barbara […]
Ghazi Shami accepts the Clive Davis Visionary award from Olamide at Global Power Players 2025. Penske Media Corporation (which also owns Billboard) and film and production company MRC became investment partners of SXSW in 2021. Penske took majority ownership of SXSW two years later. Mike Van:Past years, the Clive Davis Visionary Award is usually presented […]
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. For live-music fans, 2025 has fed you well so far. From Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour to Lady Gaga’s upcoming Mayhem Ball […]
Tems accepts the Diamond award from Yati Khumalo at SXSW London 2025. Penske Media Corporation (which also owns Billboard) and film and production company MRC became investment partners of SXSW in 2021. Penske took majority ownership of SXSW two years later. Yati Khumalo:Created in partnership with the Botswana Investment and Trade Center, the Diamond Award […]
In its early stages Rap was largely populated by African-Americans. Over the years the game has seen many biracial rappers, all shades of races share the spotlight in Hip Hop. Some of our favorite MC’s have been the product of parents of differing races.
Mindset Ventures, an international venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage tech investments, has launched an early-stage, music-focused fund, Mindset MusicTech, aimed at the music tech sector. In announcing its debut, Mindset Music has revealed its first six investments: Audoo, un:hurd, Music AI, Aiode, ALLOY and OwlDuet.
Mindset Music is looking for startups that “enhance human creativity or improve efficiency” in the music business, partner Lucas Cantor Santigo said in a statement. “We’re looking to support companies with both capital and expertise, and give holistic support to those who are reimagining the music industry for the next generation.”
“The music tech space is extremely undervalued and has an enormous potential for disruption with AI and other new technologies,” added Daniel Ibri, managing partner of both Mindset Music and Mindset Ventures. “We plan to take advantage of this space and make a meaningful difference in the sector for the founders.”
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Mindset Music’s roster of advisors includes Drew Thurlow, former senior vp of A&R at Sony Music; music attorney Cliff Fluet; entrepreneur Tomer Elbaz; and music and tech attorney Heather Rafter.
The companies in Mindset Music’s portfolio provide tools for businesses and creators to operate more efficiently, and many incorporate AI technology. Music AI is an audio intelligence platform that provides what it calls “ethical AI solutions” for audio and music applications. The Salt Lake City-based startup’s products include stem separation and mixing mastering.
Based in Tel Aviv, Aiode allows musicians to collaborate with virtual musicians using ethically trained AI. Those musicians’ virtual counterparts are compensated through a revenue-sharing model.
U.S.-based OwlDuet calls itself an “AI-powered co-pilot for music creators.” Its production tool purports to allow users to create “Grammy-level production expertise without requiring advanced technical skills.”
Audoo seeks to improve public performance royalty reporting with music recognition technology. The London-based company works with performance rights organizations and collective management organizations.
London-based ALLOY provides information that facilitates the sync licensing process. The platform gives artists, songwriters, labels and publishers a means to set sync deal parameters and distribute sync metadata to digital platforms.
un:hurd has developed a music marketing and promotion platform that guides artists through the release cycle and connects artists with a network of playlist curators.