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The Songwriters Hall of Fame is hosting its ninth annual virtual “Conversation With Oscar-Nominated Songwriters,” which will be available to watch for free on the organization’s website for three weeks. The conversation, moderated by SHOF inductees Nile Rodgers (SHOF chairman) and Paul Williams (a member of the SHOF board of directors) will become available on […]
Singer-songwriter Crowder ascends to No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian AC Airplay chart (dated Feb. 8) with “Somebody Prayed.” During the Jan. 24-30 tracking week, the single advanced by 3% in plays among the ranking’s reporting panel of stations, according to Luminate. Meanwhile, on the genre’s overall Christian Airplay chart, “Somebody Prayed” holds at its No. […]
Univision announced on Wednesday (Feb. 5) a wave of artists set to perform at the 2025 Premio Lo Nuestro ceremony, including Ángela Aguilar, Arthur Hanlon, Camilo and Carín León. The awards show is set for Thursday, Feb. 20 with other confirmed performances by Danny Ocean, Darell, Kapo, Natti Natasha, Yami Safdie and Yotuel.
The ceremony will air at 8 p.m. ET via Univision, UNIMÁS and Vix.
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Becky G and Carin León lead the list of nominations at this year’s Premio Lo Nuestro, with 10 nods each. The two hitmakers are followed by Shakira and Myke Towers with nine nominations each, then the eight-time nominees Ángela Aguilar, Emilia, Grupo Frontera and Leonardo Aguilar.
Nominations “are based on airplay on Uforia stations and take into account airtime on Univision Radio, streaming data, and evaluation by a Television Committee composed of music and entertainment industry experts,” according to a press statement.
As previously announced by Billboard, La India, Alejandro Fernández and Manuel Alejandro will receive special honors at the show.
La India will be awarded the Premio Lo Nuestro a La Trayectoria (lifetime achievement award) for her contributions to Latin music. Meanwhile, Fernández will receive the Premio Lo Nuestro a la Excelencia (excellence award) for his enduring legacy in Mexican music and beyond. Spanish composer and producer Manuel Alejandro is set to be honored with the Visionario Lo Nuestro for his six-decade career.
Co-hosted by Laura Pausini, Thalia and Alejandra Espinoza, this year’s theme is Uniendo Generaciones (Uniting Generations), honoring the artists, songs and albums that connect the past, present and future of Latin music.
Ye — formerly Kanye West — is advising all rappers to stand down from battling Kendrick Lamar outside of one circumstance.
West sat down with Justin Laboy for their The Download interview released on Tuesday (Feb. 4), which saw him give Lamar props, but he also exuded confidence he could get the “Not Like Us” rapper in a rap battle because he himself is a “psycho genius.”
“If you rap against Kendrick, you will lose,” Ye promised. “This man does this. You know in Street Fighter, you get Chun-Li, you get a certain kick, and no matter what, you can’t beat that thing?”
He continued: “If you rap against Kendrick Lamar, like Joe Budden said, ‘Never rap against Kendrick Lamar.’ If you rap against Kendrick Lamar, it’s a difficult task, but perhaps it’s something … I’m a psycho genius, so you know, it could be.”
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While Ye believes Drake suffered defeat at the hands of Kendrick, he doesn’t think anyone should count out a 6 God comeback in 2025.
“It was really challenging for me to make ‘Father Stretch My Hands’ and different things, and this man got ‘Work’ a top five song ever created in life and we doing the drums bringing Metro [Boomin] on,” Ye said.
“So Kendrick killed Drake — he’s dead,” Laboy claimed. Ye agreed, but doesn’t think it’s for good, going on to compare Drizzy to NBA star Steph Curry. “Yeah, for now,” West replied. “You can’t ever count out Steph Curry. That man might get 200 points in one song.”
Ye credited his frenemy Drake with adding “something to the algorithm to our frequency. He advanced us. Future advanced us and now Kendrick advanced the frequency.”
Yeezy briefly injected himself into the Drake and Kendrick feud last year when he took shots at Drizzy on a remix of “Like That.” West and Lamar went bar-for-bar on The Life of Pablo‘s “No More Parties in L.A.” anthem in 2016.
Watch the entire interview below.
In an interview with Justin LaBoy’s The Download podcast his week Ye revealed that his wife, Bianca Censori, has helped him realize that he is on the autism spectrum. “My wife took me because she said, ‘Something about your personality doesn’t feel like it’s bipolar, I’ve seen bipolar before,’” Ye said of what he called the revelation that he does not suffer from bipolar disorder — as he’s previously shared — but that he has ASD (autism spectrum disorder).
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“And come to find out, it’s really a case of autism that I have,” he said. According to the Cleveland Clinic, “autism is a spectrum in the sense that there’s a very wide range of personality traits, strengths and challenges you might have when you’re autistic – just as there is for any other person.” ASD is defined as a “difference in brain functioning that affects how a person communicates and interacts with others.”
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West was involuntarily hospitalized in 2016 after suffering what was described as a “psychiatric emergency” that manifested as “temporary psychosis due to sleep deprivation and dehydration.”
According to Ye, the new understanding of his ASD has helped him put some of his behavior into perspective. He noted that he went to an unnamed doctor that he claimed had worked with other famous people — including, according to Ye, Justin Bieber — which is when Censori told him that he might have the wrong mental health diagnosis; West’s former wife, Kim Kardashian, opened up in 2019 about what was them deemed Ye’s bipolar diagnosis.
“Autism takes you to a Rain Man thing where you’re like, ‘Oh man, I’m gonna wear this [Donald] Trump hat ‘cause I just like Trump in general,” he said of his support of former, and current President Donald Trump, noting that he has not taken “the medication” — he did not specify what medication — since he found out about the incorrect bipolar diagnosis. “And when people tell you to not do it you just get on that one point… and that’s my problem, when fans tell me to do my album a certain way, I’ll do it the opposite way, just because.”
West talked about how difficult it is for those in his orbit to help him because “this is like a grown man, you can’t tell him. You can’t take control of his bank account. You can’t control what I’m saying on Twitter. But a lot of what was sending me into the episodes… my dad and a bunch people said, ‘You can’t leave Adidas why would you leave all that money?,’” he added in reference to Adidas cutting off ties with Ye in 2022 after years of a lucrative partnership in the wake of the rapper’s string of hate-filled, antisemitic rants. “The constant feeling of not being in control, spun me out of control.”
As for not taking his medication, West said he’s trying to find “stuff that doesn’t block the creativity,” claiming that it’s “worth a ramp-up” if it results in creativity.
West is still working on rebuilding his formerly formidable fashion and music empire in the wake of the rapid meltdown in his fortunes following his 2022-2023 spree of provocative, antisemitic comments, which included a tweet announcing he was going “death con [sic] 3 on Jewish people, repeated praise for Holocaust mastermind Adolf Hitler and the parading of the white supremacist phrase “White Lives Matter” on shirts at Paris Fashion Week.
He was rapidly dropped by the Gap, Adidas, Balenciaga and his agents at CAA and has his social media accounts suspended or revoked in a fallout so complete that the former — and according to him, again — billionaire said in February of last year that he nearly went bankrupt.
West was in headlines again over the weekend with is latest headline-grabbing provocation, when he walked the red carpet at the 67th annual Grammy Awards fully clothed while Censori modeled a see-through nude dress that exposed her private parts.
Watch West discuss his ASD diagnosis below.
Patrick Mahomes is happy Taylor Swift is in his circle. During a press conference ahead of the 2025 Super Bowl, the player opened up about what it’s like having the pop star in his life since she started dating Travis Kelce — from getting her support at Kansas City Chiefs games to welcoming her into […]
BLACKPINK is coming to your area! The K-pop superstars teased that they are hitting the road for a world tour in a video that dropped Wednesday (Feb. 5).
In a 21-second video on their social media channels and YouTube, the visual begins with a pitch black screen before an aerial view of a massive, open-air stadium begins to come into view, with the camera panning over thousands of fans cheering from different angles. The quartet of Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo and Rosé on a stage then comes into view, before the screen goes to black, a spotlight comes in, and the four women’s silhouette appears with the name of the group in — of course — pink popping up. The video ends with simple pink text on a black background: “2025 World Tour.”
Dates and venues have not yet been revealed.
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BLINKs shared their excitement in the comments section on YouTube and Instagram. “OMG, We were all waiting for our Queens, and now we’re gonna have a Great COMEBACKKKKK!” one wrote. Added another, “THE QUEENS ARE BACK !!!!”
The members of BLACKPINK have taken a break from group activities for the past year or so to focus on their solo projects. Jennie made her acting debut in HBO’s The Idol in 2023, and has released songs with other musical collaborators and solo since; Rosé dropped solo album rosie in December 2024, which featured her hit Bruno Mars collab “APT.”; Lisa’s debut solo album, Alter Ego, is arriving later this month and is appearing in the upcoming third season of White Lotus; while Jisoo’s mini album AMORTAGE will drop on Valentine’s Day.
In Jennie’s January Billboard cover story, she opened up about the quartet staying close by connecting in a group chat while working separately on their own projects. “Even though we know we can’t see each other so much, it doesn’t really feel any different than all the other years because we know we’re here for each other,” she said at the time.. “They’re literally a phone call away. And at this point, we respect each other’s space so much. So if there’s anything to be happy for, to celebrate, we’re all in it together.”
And in her own November Billboard cover story, Lisa confirmed BLACKPINK’s upcoming reunion for 2025, revealing that she feels the same ways as BLINKs about resuming group activities: “I can’t wait.”
Watch BLACKPINK’s 2025 tour teaser above.
Paul Shaffer isn’t done with late night just yet! The musician is heading to Studio 6B in Rockefeller Center with The World’s Most Dangerous Band to fill in for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon‘s house band, The Roots, as they spent the week rehearsing for the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary concert. Explore Explore […]
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Lil Wayne recently made an announcement confirming that he will not be attending the upcoming Super Bowl, adding, “Yall know I’m not gonna be there this week, which means there will be a seat to fill. Shoutout to New Orleans, but I been working on something very special.” He teased a major surprise for Thursday, February 6th, saying, “I got something exciting coming for you. Until then, I’m just chillin.” While he didn’t elaborate on what exactly this “special” surprise is, fans are already buzzing with anticipation.
Given that a few weeks ago, Wayne confirmed there would be a new album in 2025, many are speculating that Thursday’s announcement could be tied to the release date of his highly anticipated project. Fans were disappointed when Lil Wayne wasn’t chosen as the Super Bowl halftime performer, especially with the event being held in his hometown of New Orleans. This new tease is a silver lining for many, who are hoping that the release of new music will make up for that oversight.
With Wayne’s status as one of rap’s all-time greats, any announcement from him is sure to create a buzz, and fans are already eagerly counting down the days until February 6th to see what’s next. Could this be the moment we finally get a release date for his upcoming album? We can’t wait to find out, let Weezy cook.
The 2025 edition of Clive Davis’ annual Pre-Grammy Gala — held Feb. 1 at The Beverly Hilton — had special meaning this year. The star-studded soiree transitioned into a fundraiser while celebrating a special milestone. “This year marks the 50th anniversary of this incredible night, but this one is a little different,” said Harvey Mason […]