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Village People founder Victor Willis is once again tackling two issues surrounding the disco band’s 1970s smash hit “Y.M.C.A.”: Donald Trump’s use of the track in his 2024 presidential campaign and the characterization of the song as a “gay anthem.”
In a lengthy Facebook post on Monday (Dec. 2), the 73-year-old singer-songwriter doubled down on why he chose to let the president-elect play “Y.M.C.A.” at rallies and events leading up to his win in November, with Willis saying he “didn’t have the heart” to block the usage — despite originally asking Trump to stop in 2020 — upon realizing that the politician seemed to “genuinely like” and was “having a lot of fun” with “Y.M.C.A.” Plus, as Willis noted, the dance tune has only “benefited greatly” in terms of chart placements and sales since the twice-impeached former POTUS incorporated it into his campaign.
“Therefore, I’m glad I allowed the President Elect’s continued use of Y.M.C.A.” the musician wrote. “And I thank him for choosing to use my song.”
Willis also pointed out that Trump had, according to him, obtained the necessary license from BMI to play the song. The artist previously noted that the billionaire was legally allowed to use “Y.M.C.A.” in an October press release, in which Willis also stated that — despite supporting Democratic opponent Kamala Harris in the 2024 election — he would not go through any channels to bar Trump from using the track as it would’ve been “stupid and just plain hateful” to do so.
Controversy surrounding Trump’s unauthorized use of artists’ music is nothing new, with Village People — prior to Willis’ change of heart — being just one of many acts since the polarizing president elect’s first White House bid in 2016 to ask that he stop playing their songs at campaign events without direct approval. This year alone, Beyoncé, Celine Dion, the Foo Fighters, Jack White and several others issued statements slamming Trump for doing so, while Isaac Hayes’ estate went as far as filing a lawsuit against the politician in August for using the late soul singer’s “Hold On, I’m Coming” at multiple rallies.
However, as Willis noted in his post, it can pay to be on Trump’s playlists. In November, “Y.M.C.A.” ascended to the top of Billboard‘s Top Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart more than four decades after its release, spending two weeks at No. 1. And according to the Village People star, the song “is estimated to gross several million dollars since the President Elect’s continued use of the song.”
As for another debacle that has “reached a fever pitch” amid Trump’s continued use of “Y.M.C.A.,” according to Willis, the singer wrote that any branding of the track as a “gay anthem” is “completely misguided” and “damaging to the song.” He also threatened legal action against “each and every news organization that falsely refers” to it as such starting in January 2025, although he personally doesn’t mind if “gays think of the song as their anthem.”
“This assumption is also based on the fact that the YMCA was apparently being used as some sort of gay hangout, and since one of the writers [Jacques Morali] was gay and some of the Village People are gay, the song must be a message to gay people,” Willis wrote. “To that I say, once again, get your minds out of the gutter. It is not … such notion is based solely on the song’s lyrics alluding to [illicit] activity for which it does not.”
“Y.M.C.A.” has indeed been widely adopted by the LGBTQ community over the years, with many interpreting the lyrics as references to the gym chain’s reputation as a popular cruising site back in the day — plus, the track comes from a 1978 album titled Cruisin’. Even so, Willis’ latest post is not the first time he’s sought to distance the track from the gay anthem label, writing in a 2020 Facebook post: “No one group can claim Y.M.C.A. as somehow belonging to them or somehow their anthem. I won’t allow my iconic song to be placed in a box like that.”
Clearly, Willis hasn’t budged on his stance in the four years since. “The true anthem is Y.M.C.A.’s appeal to people of all strips including President Elect Trump,” he concluded in his Monday post. “But the song is not really a gay anthem other than certain people falsely suggesting that it is.”
Corina Smith finishes the lyrics of some of her biggest hits, including “x100,” “Roto” and more! Corina Smith:How do you look?/ How do you heal?/ How did you look me in the eye? I made a mistake, didn’t I? We have already changed the rhythm of our theme/ But for na, na, na, na, na/ […]
Flavor Flav is providing a different perspective on how Chappell Roan has handled fans who don’t respect her boundaries. During an appearance on TMZ‘s Merry Elfin’ Christmas special looking back at 2024, the Public Enemy star addressed Roan’s headline-making statements about her interactions with fans. “Honestly, I do think it’s one of the biggest mistakes she can […]
Even by the standards of a litigious business, Drake’s recent legal actions against Universal Music Group and other companies look like odd filings.
On Nov. 25, Drake filed an action accusing UMG and Spotify of acting to “artificially inflate” the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us”; the next day, he made a similar filing against UMG and iHeartRadio, alleging that UMG’s release of the song could also constitute defamation. The basic idea seems to be that “Not Like Us,” Lamar’s diss track against Drake, became so successful because it was rigged.
“UMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices,” Drake’s lawyers wrote in the first filing. “It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.” The filings accuse UMG and its partners of acting in ways that are fraudulent, including using “bots” and payola, but little proof is provided — a “whistleblower,” an “inside source known to petitioner” and an assertion that Drake “learned of at least one UMG employee making payments to an independent radio promoter” who had agreed to pay stations. (The company has said in a statement to Billboard that “the suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue.”)
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These filings aren’t lawsuits, but rather legal attempts to get information that might provide the basis for them. And since Lamar’s success doesn’t really come at the expense of Drake’s — at least any more than any artist becomes popular at the expense of any other — it’s hard not to wonder if Drake is just upset that, with “Not Like Us,” Lamar seems to have won the long-running feud between them. That’s a long story — well-summarized here — but Drake and Lamar basically traded diss tracks for hip-hop fans until Lamar’s scathing “Not Like Us” topped the Billboard Hot 100. Drake is essentially claiming that UMG — for which both rappers record under different labels — cheated on Lamar’s behalf. It was rigged.
Quick: What other famous person does this remind you of? Hints: When he wins, he revels in his success; when he loses, he blames it on unfairness and litigates. Yes, I’m going there: Drake has become Trumpian.
Before Team Drizzy throws bottles of Virginia Black Whiskey by Drake, Drake is a skilled rapper, a compelling performer, and a fantastic Drake — it’s hard to compare him to other artists, both because he doesn’t fit neatly into a genre and because his greatest talent is being Drake. (Drake the artist seems to be an exaggerated version of Drake the person, with the soap operatic conflict amped up and the more mundane parts edited out.)
Both Drake and Trump thrive on success and fandom — their fans root for them because they win and they win because their fans root for them. (Trump the politician seems to be an exaggerated version of Trump the person, with the cultural conflict amped up and the boring parts edited out.) Neither gets a ton of respect from critics, but they are both popular beyond belief, and they love to win and then show off that they did. Drake’s feud with Lamar became so compelling because each was a champion in his own way — Drake the unmatched entertainer, Lamar the iconic old-school lyricist. By scoring a No. 1 single with a diss track, an unusual achievement, Lamar essentially beat Drake at his own game.
Is this why Drake is filing legal actions? Most people file litigation for financial restitution, to get an injunction to stop something, or to win negotiating leverage. In this case, the first would be hard to calculate, the second involves practices that would be hard to prove and the third seems unlikely — why would Drake want out of the UMG deal he signed in 2021, which includes publishing and merchandise rights and was described as “Lebron sized.” The only thing we know about Drake’s motive is that his second filing says he “brings this action for a discrete and specific purpose: to understand whether, and how, UMG funneled payments to iHeartRadio and its radio stations as part of a pay-to-play scheme.” Perhaps, like Trump, he simply can’t imagine the possibility that he would lose a fair fight.
Does Drake have a case? If UMG really had the power to make any song a hit, wouldn’t it do so more frequently? If anyone thinks Drake hasn’t received enough marketing or promotion — and I have yet to meet such a person — it’s worth considering that some Spotify subscribers found the service’s promotion of Scorpion so extensive that they asked for a refund. This, too, has political echoes: If U.S. elections are as unfair as Trump claims, how can he trust the one in November?
Like Trump, Drake loves the one-upmanship drama of competition — but only, apparently, when he wins. Trump ran several campaigns based partly on the politics of insult comedy — his dog-whistle racism was obviously far worse — but he doesn’t like to be on the receiving end of it. (The kind of thin skin that would be a personal fault in most is terrifying in the U.S. president.)
If rappers could pursue defamation claims for diss tracks, much less against the labels that release them, hip-hop never would have made it out of the Bronx. Lamar called Drake a certified pedophile, which is an ugly accusation, and a pun on Drake’s Certified Lover Boy, but not an actual thing; the reason Drake looks bad isn’t because people believe it but because “Not Like Us” is catchier and wittier than his own diss tracks. Drake certainly has the right to ask about music promotion practices — even in a legal filing. If no evidence of this emerges, though, he will need to seek satisfaction the old-fashioned way — by releasing a more compelling single.
MUNA fans, rejoice — your “Prayer” has been answered by Katie Gavin. On Monday (Dec. 2), Gavin appeared on SiriusXM’s The Coffee House, where the MUNA frontwoman delivered a pared-down, acoustic rendition of Madonna‘s hit single “Like a Prayer.” Putting her own spin on the beloved track, Gavin’s new rendition swaps out Madonna’s high-energy gospel […]
Score as much as 44% off bestselling building sets that’ll have collectors praising your gifting skills.
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Source: Julia Beverly / Getty / Nick Cannon
Well, now we might have an explanation for Nick Cannon’s behavior.
Speaking with People magazine, the 44-year-old serial seed spreader and father of 12 children shared his new mental diagnosis, narcissistic personality disorder.
Cannon already revealed himself to be neurodivergent.
“I still don’t understand it all the way, but I kind of always wanted to get tested for it. I did a bunch of tests,” said Cannon, adding, “I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD. Even as a kid it was dyslexia, but just knowing that I’m just a neurodivergent individual, I kind of always knew.”
So, what is a narcissistic personality disorder? Mayo Clinic defines the mental diagnosis that is more common in men than women as “a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance” while constantly seeking admiration and attention.
The clinic’s explanation continues, “People with this disorder may lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others. But behind this mask of extreme confidence, they are not sure of their self-worth and are easily upset by the slightest criticism.” It is treatable with talk therapy.
It pretty much sounds like Nick Cannon.
This Is Not The First Time Nick Cannon Spoke About Having Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Cannon did talk about how he is dealing with the diagnosis, telling the magazine that accepting the condition is helping with the healing process.
“I feel like there’s so many labels out there, but it’s like, to be able to embrace it and say, ‘Look, I’m healing. I need help. Show me.’ I just embrace mental health and therapy in such a strong way,” Cannon said. “To be able to say I’m an example for others, but also be healing during the self-process works too.”
The Masked Singer host first revealed he was “clinically diagnosed” during a Nov.8 episode of his podcast Counsel Culture while speaking with psychologist Dr. Cheyenne Bryant.
The multihyphenate also notes that he does not accept being labeled a narcissist because of the negative connotation that comes with the term.
“I’ve taken all the power away from the term narcissism ’cause I’ve researched it, and I understand it,” Cannon said to Bryant. “Call me whatever you want… now, if I didn’t know what it was, then I have [an] issue with it.”
We appreciate the honesty coming from Cannon about his mental health.
ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” rules both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts for a sixth week. The song debuted as the stars’ second leader on each survey.
Plus, Kendrick Lamar debuts five songs in the Global 200’s top 10 and one in the Global Excl. U.S. top 10, all from his new album, GNX; Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” dashes back into the Global Excl. U.S. top 10; and two other tracks debut in the Global Excl. U.S. top tier: G-DRAGON’s “Home Sweet Home,” featuring TAEYANG and DAESUNG, and Stromae and Pomme’s “Ma Meilleure Ennemie.”
The Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts, which began in September 2020, rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.
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Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.
“APT.” tops the Global 200 for a sixth week with 160.6 million streams (up 21% week-over-week) and 20,000 sold (up 49%) worldwide Nov. 22-28. The duet debuted with 224.5 million global streams and logged 207.5 million in its second frame, becoming the first title since the chart started to have amassed at least 200 million streams globally in multiple weeks.
“APT.” also now boasts six of the top seven streaming weeks on the Global 200 among songs released in 2024:
224.5 million, “APT.,” ROSÉ & Bruno Mars, Nov. 2
207.5 million, “APT.,” Nov. 9
176.8 million, “Fortnight,” Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone, May 4
162.2 million, “APT.,” Nov. 16
160.6 million, “APT.,” Dec. 7
146.4 million, “APT.,” Nov. 23
132.7 million, “APT.,” Nov. 30
Lady Gaga and Mars’ “Die With a Smile” holds at No. 2 on the Global 200, following eight weeks at No. 1, the most for any song this year, beginning in September. It drew 115.7 million streams (up 1%) worldwide Nov. 22-28 and has tallied over 100 million streams globally in each of the last 13 weeks, the longest such streak since the chart began.
Lamar debuts five songs in the Global 200’s top 10, all from his album GNX, which blasts in at No. 1 on the U.S.-based Billboard 200: “Squabble Up” (No. 3; 82.6 million streams), “Luther,” with SZA (No. 4; 78.1 million), “TV Off,” featuring Lefty Gunplay (No. 5; 74.9 million), “Wacced Out Murals” (No. 6; 60.9 million) and “Hey Now,” featuring Dody6 (No. 10; 48.8 million). Lamar ups his total to 11 top 10s since the Global 200 began. SZA adds her seventh top 10, while Lefty Gunplay and Dody6 each earn their first. (“Luther” samples Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 cover of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s 1967 single “If This World Were Mine.”)
“APT.” concurrently commands Global Excl. U.S. for a sixth week, with 141 million streams (up 20%) and 13,000 sold (up 44%) outside the U.S. Nov. 22-28.
“Die With a Smile” holds at No. 2 on Global Excl. U.S. following eight weeks at No. 1 starting in September; Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” keeps at No. 3, after three weeks at No. 1 beginning in August; and Gracie Abrams’ “That’s So True” rises 5-4 for a new high.
Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” sleigh-rides 14-5 on Global Excl. U.S, with 38.1 million streams (up 33%) and 2,000 sold (up 40%) outside the U.S. The modern Yuletide classic, originally released in 1994, has spent 13 weeks at No. 1 dating to the chart’s start, tying Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” (2023) and Harry Styles’ “As It Was” (2022) for the most frames on top. The carol holds at No. 9 on the Global 200, where it has spent a record 18 weeks at No. 1.
Three songs debut in the Global Excl. U.S. top 10, led by Lamar’s “Luther” (34.1 million streams outside the U.S.) It’s the rapper’s fourth top 10 on the chart and SZA’s third.
G-DRAGON’s “Home Sweet Home,” featuring TAEYANG and DAESUNG, opens at No. 7 on Global Excl. U.S. with 29.2 million streams and 8,000 sold outside the U.S. The track brings together the three members of BIGBANG, which as a group hit No. 3 on the chart with “Still Life” in April 2022. G-DRAGON and DAESUNG each reach the top 10 as soloists for the first time, while TAEYANG previously ranked in the region with “Vibe,” featuring Jimin (No. 9, 2023).
Plus, Stromae and Pomme’s “Ma Meilleure Ennemie” debuts at No. 8 on Global Excl. U.S. with 32.3 million streams and 1,000 sold outside the U.S. Each act charts in the top 10 for the first time with the song from the second-season soundtrack to the Netflix animated series Arcane: League of Legends.
The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated Dec. 7, 2024) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, Dec. 2. For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
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Source: Tommaso Boddi / Getty
Our favorite love birds, Nelly & Ashanti reportedly expecting their second child! According to The Jasmine Brand, the power couple is expecting baby #2, just shortly after their secret wedding in December 2023. Less than a year after their firstborn, Kareem Kenkaide Haynes (born July 18, 2024), they’re already expecting another blessing.
Nelly and Ashanti’s journey love story began when Apple Bottom Jeans were a must-have & you couldn’t catch one Nelly interview without hearing him say “Lil Durty”. The Grammy Awards press conference in 2003 was the first time fans spotted Nelly & Ashanti together. We were also treated to a banger like “Body on Me,” which we sang to our high school crushes, pouring our hearts out in the process. Recently (2024) Nelly & Ashanti dropped their latest collab, “This Lil’ Game We Play”. After 10 years of dating, the two stars broke up in 2013. The connection was reignited in 2023 at a boxing match in Las Vegas. If spinning the block was a couple, it would be indeed, Nelly & Ashanti.
Prior to the couple getting back together, Nelly had two kids from past relationships: his son, Cornell Haynes III (Tre), and his daughter, Chanelle (Nana). The St.Louis legend also adopted two children from his late stepsister Jaqueline Donahue, who passed away from leukemia in 2005. Ashanti’s love life has always been very private. Many rumors have swirled around thorughout the years on who she has dated. One in particlar, rapper Joyner Lucas on a recent interview confirmed that he and the R&B singer used to be love birds for a hot mintue.