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After co-founding Mastodon in Atlanta in 2000, guitarist/singer Brent Hinds has announced his exit from the metal band 25 years later. The group shared the news Friday (March 7) on social media, describing the decision as mutual. “Friends and Fans, After 25 monumental years together, Mastodon and Brent Hinds have mutually decided to part ways,” […]
Doechii is openly bisexual, as the Swamp Princess came out in a 2022 interview with GQ. The rapper faced off with her DJ Miss Milan on Friday (March 7) for an episode of Hot Ones Versus, where the duo revealed their red flags when it comes to the dating scene. “Is it being on the […]
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With his latest album, At The Church Steps just a few weeks old, Jim Jones is going hard promoting his latest project with new videos and newer social media content, and while he’s found himself bumping heads with everyone under the sun these days, the man remains on his grind and continues to make music his priority.
Dropping off some new visuals to “Outside,” Jones finds himself alongside his fellow Dip Set brethren, Juelz Santana as they walked Gervonta Davis to the boxing ring for his match against Lamont Roach and afterwards linked up with the likes of Meek Mill, Fabolous and ultimately, Kanye West?! Can’t say we saw that coming. Still, it looks like everyone had a great time even though Davis took the “L.”
Elsewhere Westside Gunn is back on his grizzly and in the clip for “Boswell,” WG links up with Estee Nack and Stove God Cooks for a ride around the town before pulling over to kick their rhymes in the dead of night. Gunn out here stunting in 1-of-1 Avirex jackets and Evisu jeans. Respect.
Check out the rest of today’s drops including work from Youngboy Never Broke Again, ElCamino, Ill Tone Beats and Black Soprano Family, and more.
JIM JONES – “OUTSIDE”
WESTSIDE GUNN FT. ESTEE NACK & STOVE GOD COOKS – “BOSWELL”
YOUNGBOY NEVER BROKE AGAIN – “TRAPPED OUT”
ELCAMINO, ILL TONE BEATS & BLACK SOPRANO FAMILY – “RAW CAIN”
TINA – “JET”
ICEWEAR VEZZO – “STREETS AIN’T THE SAME”
RAY VAUGHN – “CEMETERY”
BIG LEEKEY – “THE SCORE”
TRAP DICKEY & OJ DA JUICEMAN – “GETTIN MONEY”
While the music world mourns Roy Ayers, the Godfather of Neo-Soul and a jazz-funk pioneer who died at age 84 on March 4, the hip-hop community will always remember him as one of its brightest inspirations.
“Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” the enduring hit from Roy Ayers Ubiquity’s 1976 album of the same name, became the highlight of his legacy — and everybody loved it so much they couldn’t help but borrow a bit of its brilliance. The New York Times‘ obituary for Ayers reported that “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” has been sampled nearly 200 times.
“Well, I have more sampled hits than anybody,” he said in a 2004 interview with Wax Poetics. “I might not have more samples than James Brown, but I’ve had more sampled hits. Oh, man, and there’s a few I don’t know about.”
Mary J. Blige — who sampled “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” for “My Life” from her 1994 album of the same name, which was later interpolated on “MJB Da MVP” featuring 50 Cent, on her 2005 LP The Breakthrough — opened up about the song’s indelible impact on her in her 2021 documentary My Life. “I don’t know what’s in that record, but it was something in it that just cracked open everything in me. That was the first music as a child that stuck with me because it made me forget that we lived where we lived,” Blige said in the film. “‘My life in the sunshine’ was something I wanted.” The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul also heavily sampled Ayers’ 1976 track “Searching” on her 1997 album Share My World.
Like Blige, Dr. Dre, TLC, Juvenile and Joe Budden also have songs titled “My Life,” while Scarface and Naughty by Nature have songs called “Sunshine.” Thirty years after he sampled “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” on “Book of Life” from his 1994 album Resurrection, Common dug back in the crates and dusted off the sample for the Grammy-nominated song “When the Sun Shines,” featuring Posdnuos, from his and Pete Rock‘s 2024 Grammy-nominated joint LP The Auditorium Vol. 1.
Outside of being sampled and interpolated by hip-hop heavyweights, Ayers also collaborated with Tyler, the Creator on “Find Your Wings,” also featuring Syd and Kali Uchis, from Tyler’s 2015 album Cherry Bomb; Erykah Badu on “Cleva” from her 2000 LP Mama’s Gun; The Roots on “Proceed II” from the deluxe version of the band’s 2005 album Do You Want More?!!!??!; and Talib Kweli on “In the Mood,” also featuring Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), from his 2007 album Eardrum as well as on “Something Special” from Kweli and Madlib‘s 2024 joint LP Liberation 2.
“Roy Ayers called me like ‘tyler, hey man, those changes are amazing, your chord selection is just beautiful my man’ OMG MY HEART MELTED,” Tyler tweeted in 2015. The Chromakopia rapper also sampled Ayers’ 1982 track “Ooh” on “Pothole,” featuring Jaden Smith, from his 2017 album Flower Boy. Later that same year, Ayers performed at his Camp Flog Gnaw festival. Questlove hailed him as “the cat who birthed us all in the ‘vibes only’ movement. The Soundtrack that ALL the incense you ever burned was truly made for. Thank You Roy Edward Ayers Jr for EVERYTHING you gave us. taught us. showed us. soothed us.”
Billboard rounded up 21 hip-hop and R&B songs that have sampled and interpolated Roy Ayers Ubiquity’s “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” in order from newest to oldest.
Common & Pete Rock feat. Posdnuos, “When the Sun Shines Again”
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. Disney+ has announced a surprise streaming deal for March, that gets you a subscription to the Disney streamer and a subscription […]
Live Nation, Sphere Entertainment Co. and MSG Entertainment stocks fell this week as markets were hurt by fears about the impacts of U.S. tariffs, ongoing inflation and government layoffs.
Live Nation, which reported record full-year results on Feb. 20, dropped 11.0% to $127.51, erasing the stock’s entire year-to-date gain. Sphere Entertainment Co. dropped 18.8% to $35.45 following the company’s quarterly earnings on Monday (March 3). MSG Entertainment slipped 7.7% to $31.86.
U.S. stocks had their worst week in months. The Dow slipped 2.1%, the S&P 500 dropped 3.1% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 3.5%. In the U.K., the FTSE 100 dipped 1.5%.
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On Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that the U.S. economy would go through an adjustment period with less government spending. “The market and the economy have just become hooked,” he said. “We’ve become addicted to this government spending, and there’s going to be a detox period.”
Doubts about live music’s ability to sustain growth in the current economic climate were captured in a CFRA analyst’s note. “Live entertainment and exorbitant ticket prices have raised investor concerns whether record demand will recede with a rising household cost of living and lower consumer confidence,” analyst Kenneth Leon wrote in a March 5 note to investors.
Nevertheless, Leon maintained its $135 price target and upgraded Live Nation shares to “hold” from “sell.” The company, he added, “is a market leader in tickets and continues to fund large capital expenditures to expand its own venues.”
Sphere Entertainment Co. shares fell 13.6% on Monday (March 3), the day the company released quarterly earnings, and slipped another 6% through Friday (March 7). Revenue fell 2% to $308.3 million from the prior-year period, although revenue for the Sphere venue was up 1%. At the company’s MSG Networks division, revenue dropped 5% and its $34.2 million operating profit turned into a $35 million operating loss.
Numerous analysts made downward revisions to their Sphere models after the earnings release. Benchmark dropped its price target to $35 from $36. JP Morgan cut its price target to $54 from $57. And Seaport cut its earnings-per-share estimate for the current quarter to -$2.03 from -$1.66.
Other companies in the live entertainment space also declined. MSG Entertainment fell 7.7%, Vivid Seats dropped 3.9%, Eventbrite dipped 2.1% and German concert promoter CTS Eventim lost 0.6%. Many other companies that depend on consumer discretionary spending also fell this week, including Expedia Group (down 6.9%), Hyatt Hotels (down 3.7%) and cruise operator Carnival Corporation (down 13.7%).
The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) dropped for the third consecutive week, falling 6.3% to 2,449.61. Although the index is up 15.3% year to date, it has fallen 11.1% in the last three weeks. Most of the index’s most valuable companies were among the week’s winners. Other than Live Nation, none of the 13 stocks that lost ground are among the index’s most valuable companies — with one major exception.
Spotify, the BGMI’s largest single component, dropped 12.6% to $531.71, putting the stock 18.5% below its all-time high set on Feb. 13. With a market capitalization of roughly $105 billion, Spotify is large enough to influence the fortunes of an index that contains 19 other stocks. Despite having a few off weeks, however, Spotify is the best-performing music stock of the last year and has gained 14.0% year to date.
Universal Music Group (UMG) shares rose 6.8% on Friday following the company’s fourth-quarter earnings release on Thursday (March 6), though itended the week up just 3.3%. Warner Music Group appeared to benefit from investors’ enthusiasm about UMG’s earnings as its shares rose 2.0% to $34.39.
iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman caused his company’s stock to spike 23% on Thursday after an SEC filing revealed the executive purchased 200,000 shares. Investors noted the CEO’s optimism in his company’s future, and the stock ended a downward slide to finish the week up 3.4% to $1.83.
The week’s biggest gainer, Chinese music streaming company Tencent Music Entertainment (TME), rose 9.2% to $13.31. TME benefitted from a surge in Chinese stocks as comments made during the country’s parliamentary meetings this week fueled optimism that the government will provide stimulus for Chinese technology companies. The company will release fourth-quarter earnings on March 18.
Cumulus Media was the week’s biggest loser after dropping 27.8% to $0.52. The company revealed on Friday that it received a warning from the Nasdaq stock exchange that it faces a de-listing for failing to meet the minimum shareholders’ equity threshold of $10 million.
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. Storm Reid well, stormed the red carpet at the Oscars this month with her Red Riding Hood-inspired gown, but the Euphoria […]
50 Cent is up to his trolling ways again, and he’s still relishing being somewhat responsible for the recent spat between Cam’ron and Jim Jones. The Queens rapper and filmmaker posted and deleted an AI-created video on Instagram of Jim Jones, Cam’ron, and Floyd Mayweather playing characters in a scene from Rocky III. Jones, as […]
Billy McFarland’s Fyre Fest 2 is slated to take place on Isla Mujeres in Mexico from May 30 to June 2, and one artist has announced his appearance on the bill.
Former NFL star Antonio “AB” Brown claimed in an interview with TMZ Sports on Thursday (March 6) that he’s been booked for a performance on May 30.
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“Ayo, this is AB and I’ll be performing at Fyre Fest part 2 in Mexico on May 30. Be there or be square,” AB said while rocking an army helmet. “Make sure you put that sh– on.”
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Isla Mujeres is located in the state of Quintana Roo and is about a half-hour ferry ride from Cancun. Various ticket packages are available, ranging from $1,400 to $25,000, and there’s even a $1 million package for eight people that has access to luxury villas, a private marina and a private jet.
AB is the first confirmed artist for Fyre Fest 2. The festival has yet to release a lineup of talent. Festival organizers reportedly told TMZ that they have booked several artists.
Billboard reached out to two of the biggest booking agencies for music festivals in February, and neither heard from reps for Fyre Fest 2.
Antonio Brown played his last game in the NFL on Jan. 2, 2022, when he famously left the field with no shirt on mid-game and never took another snap on the gridiron.
AB turned to rapping and a friendship with Ye (formerly Kanye West), who executive-produced his Paradigm project, which arrived in 2022 with standouts like “Put That Sh– On” and features from DaBaby, Young Thug, French Montana, Fivio Foreign and Keyshia Cole. He performed at Rolling Loud California in 2023.
The original Fyre Fest took place in April 2017 and is remembered as one of the most disastrous festivals in music history.
Convicted fraudster Billy McFarland is getting a second chance and he’s promising this edition won’t be a repeat of the first. McFarland was sentenced to six years in 2018 after admitting to defrauding investors of millions of dollars. He was released to a halfway house in 2022.
Comedian Hannah Berner is apologizing to Megan Thee Stallion after her interview with the Grammy-winning rapper on the Vanity Fair Oscar party red carpet over the weekend drew backlash from fans. The part of Berner’s interview drawing ire is when she said she listens to Meg’s music “when I want to fight someone.” Megan immediately […]