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The National and The War on Drugs Announce Dates For 2024 Zen Diagram North American Tour

The National announced the dates for their 19-date fall North American tour on Monday morning (Feb. 26). The joint Zen Diagram Tour outing with The War on Drugs is slated to kick off on Sept .12 with a gig in Gilford, NH at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion and take the bands to New York, Philadelphia, Toronto, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Vancouver and Los Angeles before winding down with an Oct. 10 show at the Palacio De Los Deportes in Mexico City.

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The first joint tour by the bands will feature special guest Lucius on all the dates except Mexico City. A presale for the Live Nation-produced outing will begin on Tuesday (Feb. 27) at 10 a.m. local time, followed by a general onsale on Friday (March 1) at 10 a.m. local time here.

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Each band will play a full set from the headliners, with the National still touring in support of their dual 2023 releases, First Two Pages of Frankenstein and September’s Laugh Track. The War on Drugs dropped their fifth full-length studio album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, in Oct. 2021.

Check out the dates for the 2024 Zen Diagram tour below.

Sept. 12 — Gilford, NH @ Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion

Sept. 13 — New York, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium

Sept. 14 — Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center

Sept. 16 — Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion

Sept. 17 — Philadelphia, PA @ TD Pavilion at the Mann Center for Performing Arts

Sept. 19 — Laval, QC @ Place Bell

Sept. 20 — Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage

Sept. 21 — Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center

Sept. 24 — Chicago, IL @ United Center

Sept. 25 — Sterling Heights, MI @ Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill

Sept. 26 — Madison, WI @ Breese Stevens Field

Sept. 28 — Englewood, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre *

Sept. 29 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Granary Live *

Oct. 1 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena

Oct. 2 — Vancouver, BC @ Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena

Oct. 3 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center

Oct. 6 — Berkeley, CA @ The Greek Theatre *

Oct. 7 — Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl

Oct. 10 — Mexico City, MX @ Palacio De Los Deportes

* Non-Live Nation Date

^ Without Lucius

Universal Music Group Buys Majority Stake in Nigerian Label Mavin Global

The Universal Music Group purchased a majority stake in Nigerian record company Mavin Global, the iconic label founded by Don Jazzy that is home to Rema, Ayra Starr, Crayon and Ladipoe, among others. The deal is expected to be completed by the third quarter, pending regulatory approval, the companies announced.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, Billboard reported in October that Mavin was being shopped by Shot Tower Capital at a valuation north of $125 million, with a sale price in the region of $150 million to $200 million; it was unclear if publishing was involved in the deal. As part of the investment arrangement, Don Jazzy — who founded Mavin in 2012, and also serves as CEO — and COO Tega Oghenejobo will continue to run the label.

“Our criteria for identifying partners is straightforward: great artists, great entrepreneurs, great people,” UMG chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge said in a statement announcing the deal. “With Don Jazzy, Tega, the Mavin Global team and their artist roster, we’ve found ideal partners with whom to grow together. Mavin’s brilliant artists have been catalysts in the transformation of Afrobeats into a global phenomenon and we’re thrilled to welcome them into the Universal Music Group family.”

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Mavin had already established a relationship with UMG, with Rema’s “Calm Down” — the biggest Afrobeats song of all time, which reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 last year — initially distributed by Virgin Music, with its remix featuring Selena Gomez licensed to Interscope; Starr, meanwhile, has a deal in place with Republic. “Calm Down” has racked up more than 1 billion on-demand streams in the U.S. alone since its release, with its global count many multiples higher.

The investment is designed to spur Mavin’s growth around the world, according to a press release, with focuses on both Mavin’s Artist Academy, which nurtures its roster in various musical and performance skills, and its executive leadership team, which is aimed at growing the next generation of African leaders in the music business.

“With our proven history of collaborations within the UMG family, we have a strong belief that they are the ideal partner for the next phase of our growth, given the diversity and potential of our business,” Oghenejobo said in a statement. “UMG is home to some of the world’s foremost music entrepreneurs and artists, making them a perfect match for our aspirations. By collaborating with UMG, we are dedicated to cultivating a vibrant creative environment that propels African music to new heights on the global stage.”

Winning the Mavin auction catapults UMG deeper into the Nigerian Afrobeats scene — the umbrella genre that encompasses Afropop, Afro fusion, high life and others that continues to explode around the globe. In the past several years, artists such as Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy have blossomed into global superstars, while the likes of Rema, Starr, Tems, Tyla, Ckay, Asake and Fireboy DML have led a wave of young, emerging talent coming from the African continent. The movement has gained momentum to the point that the Recording Academy introduced a new Grammy Awards category for best African music performance, which was awarded to Tyla’s “Water” at the honors earlier this month.

Additional reporting by Ed Christman.

Busta Rhymes & Rapper Nizzle Man Get Into Altercation At French Montana Album Release Party

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Even with his animated personality, Busta Rhymes has never be known as a man to play around with. Apparently, a rapper named Nizzle Man found that out the hard way as he and the Dungeon Dragon seemingly bumped heads at a club this past weekend.

As seen in a clip making the social media rounds, Busta Rhymes and Nizzle Man got into some kind of scuffle while attending French Montana’s album release party this past Friday night (February 23). From the looks of things, Nizzle took the L as he was dragged away by Busta’s crew as the “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See” rapper barked in his face. Though no hands were thrown, it seemed like quite an aggressive situation unfolded that ended with Busta and Nizzle disappearing into the crowd.

Sometimes all it takes is one misunderstanding for things to go completely left. Hopefully, cooler heads prevailed and the two men were able to hash out whatever problem might’ve occurred.

But as far as from Busta’s camp on an explanation, nothing but crickets.

What do y’all think of the situation? Peep the video and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Paul McCartney Recalls Embarrassing ‘Yesterday’ Lyric Inspiration: ‘It’s Only in Retrospect You Can Appreciate It’

Casual asides, silly moments, regrettable comments — they all tumble around in a songwriter’s mind and if they’re lucky those incidents are transformed into lyrics that last forever. Paul McCartney has had more than a couple of those, including a very formative one he discussed on the latest episode of his songwriter podcast, “A Life in Lyrics.”

The episode focused on the Beatles‘ “Yesterday,” specifically on the line, “I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday” on the tune’s bridge. The frequently covered, wistful ballad first released on the band’s 1965 Help! album is essentially a McCartney solo track, on which he plays acoustic guitar and sings along with a string quartet.

Macca said he thought it was inspired by a regretful conversation he’d had with his mother years before. “Sometimes it’s only in retrospect you can appreciate it,” he said, clearly remembering one day “feeling very embarrassed because I’d embarrassed my mom.”

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The singer said one day he and his mom — who he described as having a very “posh” accent — were in the backyard. “She was of Irish origin and she was a nurse, so she was above street level. So she had something sort of going for her, and she would talk what we thought was a little bit posh,” he said.

“I know that she said something like ‘Paul, will you ask him if he’s going … ’,” he remembered. “I went ‘Arsk! Arsk! It’s ask mum.’ And she got a little bit embarrassed. I remember later thinking ‘God, I wish I’d never said that’. And it stuck with me. After she died I thought ‘Oh f–k, I really wish … ’” McCartney’s mother, Mary, died in Oct. 1956 at 47 due to an embolism following breast cancer surgery when the singer was just 14-years-old.

McCartney said he’s got a “couple” of those little moments which he knows the people involved would forgive him for, but he wishes he had an eraser that he could rub that “Yesterday” moment away with. “That would be better,” he said, before breaking into the bridge of the song that has been covered more than 2,000 times and wondering if sometimes he “unconsciously” flips scenarios into “girl” lyrics when he’s really thinking about his dead mother.

Click here to listen to McCartney talk about the origin of “Yesterday” (discussion of bridge begins around 25:15 mark)

Karol G & Peso Pluma’s ‘Qlona’ Leads Latin Airplay & Latin Rhythm Airplay Charts

Five months after Karol G and Peso Pluma’s “Qlona” concluded its fifth week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, the collab rises 2-1 to lead the Latin Airplay chart dated March 2.

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“Qlona” lands at the summit with a 17% gain in audience impressions, to 9.54 million, earned in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 22, according to Luminate. It ousts Myke Towers’ “La Falda” from the top after one week in charge, dropping 1-2 with a 10% dip in impressions, to 9.5 million.

As “Qlona” reaches the summit in its 23rd week on the list, it wraps the longest journey to the top spot this decade, passing the 22-week trek that two Towers’ songs needed to their reign in 2020: “Bandido,” with Juhn, and “Bésame,” with Luis Fonsi. (The last song to take longer to reach No. 1 was Pedro Capo and Farruko’s “Calma,” which hit the top in its 24th week, on the April 13, 2019 chart.)

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With “Qlona” on top, Karol logs the 17th No. 1 in her Latin Airplay career. The new champ arrives five months after her own “Mi Ex Tenía Razón” reigned for two weeks last October. Peso Pluma, meanwhile, picks up his third, after “Ella Baila Sola,” with Eslabon Armado, ruled for one week last June.

Elsewhere, “Qlona” wins a first term at No. 1 on Latin Rhythm Airplay, marking a 16th win for Karol. It’s the second Latin rhythmic crown for Pluma, after the four-week champ “La Bebe,” with Yng Lvcas, in 2023.

Thanks to its radio haul, “Qlona” rebounds 5-4 on the multimetric Hot Latin Songs chart — which blends airplay, streaming activity, and digital sales — after five weeks in charge.



Karol G & Tiesto Enter Upper Region

In more Karol G news, “Contigo,” her latest collab with Tiesto, flies 48-3 on Hot Latin Songs in its second week.

The song, released via Bichota/Interscope, debuted Feb. 15 at No. 48 with only one day of activity, the last day of the previous tracking week. In its first full tracking week, “Contigo” rallies to No. 3 on the strength of streaming activity. The song generated 8.2 million during the same period, up 240% in U.S. clicks.

That figure is enough to debut at No. 44 on the overall Streaming Songs chart, and to yield a No. 5 debut on Latin Streaming Songs.

Sales too, assist in its second week at No. 1 on Latin Digital Songs, as the song logged 1,000 downloads after its debut week.

Notably, the new champ also secures a milestone achievement for Tiesto, who captures his first top 10 on Hot Latin Songs among two chart entries. The electronic DJ and record producer earned his first career entry on the multimetric ranking with a No. 36 high for “Provenza (Remix),” with Karol G, in Aug. 2023.

Beyond its No. 3 high on Hot Latin Songs, “Contigo” matches Karol’s previous Tiesto team-ups on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs ranking, lifting 10-4, and mirroring the No. 4 high of “Don’t Be Shy” and “Provenza (Remix)” in 2021 and 2023, respectively.



The new, March 2, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Feb. 27.

Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’ Wins IFPI Global Single Award For 2023

It’s official: Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” towered over all others in 2023, completing the year as the biggest-selling single on the planet, the IFPI reports.

Cyrus is presented with the IFPI Global Single Award, which each year recognizes the artist with the top-selling single across all digital formats – including paid subscription streaming, ad-supported platforms, and single-track downloads.

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The trade body today (Feb. 26) counts down the top 10 singles for 2023, with Cyrus marking her first appearance on the list.

The success of “Flowers” was a truly global one, as the single simultaneously locked up No. 1 spots in 29 markets around the world, and finished at No. 1 on the year-end charts for the U.K., France and Australia.

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In the U.S., “Flowers” showed serious staying power with an eight-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Those commercial muscles were rewarded at the 2024 Grammy Awards, where Miley performed the song and “Flowers” won for best pop solo performance and record of the year – her very first Grammys.

Cyrus can make it a week to remember at the 2024 BRIT Awards, set for Sunday, March 3 at The O2 in London, where she’s shortlisted for international artist of the year and “Flowers” is up for international song.



Presenting the latest award on behalf of the trade body, Lewis Morrison, director of global charts and certifications at IFPI, remarks, “Topping the charts in so many countries simultaneously, the song – along with its message of empowerment -resonated across the world and is the definition of a truly global hit. Congratulations to Miley and her team for this incredible achievement.”

Meanwhile, the reigning, four-time IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Taylor Swift is the only artist to double up in the IFPI top 10, doing so with “Cruel Summer” at No. 7 and “Anti-Hero” at No. 9.

There are first-time appearances for artists from Nigeria (Rema’s “Calm Down” with Selena Gomez at No. 2) and Mexico (Yng Lvcas and Peso Pluma’s “La Bebe” at No. 6), reflecting the border-crossing phenomenon of Afrobeats and Regional Mexican music.

All told, artists representing 10 nationalities (Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, South Korea, U.K., and U.S.) impact the top 20, up from six nationalities in 2022.

“It is also fantastic to see so many nationalities and genres represented in the IFPI Global Single Chart,” remarks Morrison. “It is a wonderful reflection of the wide range of extraordinary artists that – working in partnership with their record labels – are finding international success.”

The IFPI’s charts capture streaming, downloads and physical formats in every country directly from the participating record labels, which is then converted using the trade body’s “unique” methodology to a single, global chart figure.

The previous winner of the IFPI’s Global Single Award was Harry Styles’ “As It Was.”

Top 20 IFPI Global Singles Chart 2023:

1 Miley Cyrus Flowers 2.70
2 Rema, Selena Gomez Calm Down 1.89
3 SZA Kill Bill 1.84
4 The Weeknd, Ariana Grande Die For You 1.78
5 Harry Styles As It Was 1.46
6 Yng Lvcas, Peso Pluma La Bebe 1.45
7 Taylor Swift Cruel Summer 1.39
8 Morgan Wallen Last Night 1.37
9 Taylor Swift Anti-Hero 1.31
10 Jung Kook Seven (feat. Latto) 1.24
11 David Guetta, Bebe Rexha I’m Good (Blue) 1.23
12 Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, 21 Savage Creepin’ 1.20
13 The Weeknd Save Your Tears 1.19
14 Stephen Sanchez Until I Found You 1.18
15 Karol G, Shakira TQG 1.18
16 Sam Smith, Kim Petras Unholy 1.17
17 SZA Snooze 1.06
18 Tom Odell Another Love 1.01
19 YOASOBI Idol 1.01
20 The Weeknd Starboy 1.00

X Has Mixed Reactions To Tyler Perry’s Latest Film, ‘Mea Culpa’

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Mea Culpa

Mea Culpa, the latest film from Tyler Perry, was released to Netflix over the weekend starring Kelly Rowland in the lead role alongside co-star Trevante Rhodes. While the film catapulted to the top of the streamer’s Top 10 listings for movies, fans on X are handing in mixed reactions.

Mea Culpa follows the tale of Mea Harper (Rowland), a criminal defense attorney who begins representing artist Zyair Malloy (Rhodes) who is accused of killing his girlfriend. Without delving too much into the plot, Mea and her husband Kal Hawthorne (Sean Sagar) are going through some relationship issues involving another woman.

Amid her troubles at home, Mea takes on Zyair as a client, who is being prosecuted by her brother-in-law, District Attorney Raw Hawthorne, the brother of her husband. Zyair, using his charm, begins to seduce Mea and all hell breaks loose from there according to what we see in the trailer for the film.

Tyler Perry joined forces with Netflix as a content partner back in October of last year and the multiyear deal will see not only movies from the celebrated director and screenwriter but also several series as well.

The issue that some online have with Mea Culpa is some of the plot twists within the film, and others have been critical of Rowland’s acting skills. Others are also saying that it’s time that Perry allows someone else to handle his scripts, a common refrain from detractors of his work.

Check out the reactions from X, formerly Twitter, below.

Photo: Bob Mahoney/Perry Well Films 2/Courtesy Netflix / Mea Culpa

Will Billie Eilish’s ‘Barbie’ Ballad Become 10th Song to Win Both Oscar and Top Songwriting Grammy? Full List

No song in Eilish’s lifetime has achieved this double victory, and none has achieved it since Finneas was 18 months old.

“What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish and Finneas has an excellent chance of becoming the first song in a generation to sweep both the Grammy for song of the year and the Oscar for best original song. The hypnotic ballad, which the siblings wrote for Barbie, won the Grammy on Feb. 4 and is the front-runner to win the Oscar on March 10.

No song has won both of these awards since “My Heart Will Go On,” the unsinkable ballad from Titanic. The song, made famous by Celine Dion, won the Grammy for song of the year in February 1999, 11 months after winning the Oscar for best original song. That means no song in Eilish’s lifetime has achieved this double victory, and none has achieved it since Finneas was 18 months old.

Eilish and Finneas’ “No Time to Die” won the Oscar two years ago and won a Grammy for best song written for visual media. That’s an important Grammy category, but it’s not song of the year, where songs from film and TV must compete with all other songs submitted that year. That’s been the ultimate songwriting Grammy since the awards were first presented in 1959.

Henry Mancini & Johnny Mercer are the only songwriters to win both of these awards twice. Barbra Streisand popularized two of these double winners, but she co-wrote – and thus won for – only one of them.

Here are the nine songs that have won both the Oscar for best original song and the Grammy for song of the year. We’ll update this list on Oscar night if “What Was I Made For?” becomes the 10th.

Hozier Thanks OVO Arena For Clearing Up ‘Misunderstanding’ Over Fans’ ‘Free Palestine’ Scarf

Hozier and the OVO Arena Wembley have apologized and responded to a fan’s complaint about an incident in December in which she was reportedly told to remove a “Free Palestine” scarf before attending one of the singer’s shows. “Thank you to OVO Arena Wembley for clearing up this misunderstanding,” Hozier wrote early Monday morning (Feb. 26) after the venue posted an apology last week to attendee Hiba Ahmad, who said in an earlier X post that she was “pulled aside and escorted to wardrobe” in December while attending a show at the venue while wearing the scarf.

“The team and I have zero policy of prohibiting signs of any kind and I’m sorry to Hiba and her friends that they experienced this at the London show,” Hozier added.

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The venue also apologized to Ahmad on Feb. 22, writing, “This was an isolated incident where venue policy wasn’t followed as intended. The decision to stop the guest was not following artist wishes. We have apologised to those involved and are making a donation to the UNICEF Children in Gaza appeal.”

On Dec. 15, Ahmad posted on X about her experience seeing Hozier at the venue, writing, “So tell me why I got pulled aside and ESCORTED to wardrobe w/ a body cam for wearing a Palestine solidarity scarf at @Hozier’s concert? Not even a kiffiyeh, just a Free Palestine scarf that I *literally* wear everywhere as a show of solidarity AND BECAUSE IT IS F–KING COLD!”

She added, “They then proceeded to tell me they are taking my scarf for my own protection as I might get ‘hate crimed’ for wearing it. One of the security staff doing this told me they are Arab, and told me he didn’t like doing it, while doing it calling for more security on me. LOVELY.” At the time, Ahmad noted that on her way in she saw other people entering with “all sorts of political slogans — especially one memorable tote bag about animal cruelty and testing. But hey, animals > Palestinians right?”

Ahmad claimed that an unnamed person from the venue “insisted” it was Hozier’s team that “demanded” the scarf be removed, reportedly concerned that she would “launch” the scarf at the stage; another tweet from Ahmad appeared to show that her seats were quite far from the stage.

After Ahmad again claimed in a separate tweet on Dec. 15 that Hozier was responsible for the incident, the singer responded the next day, writing, “thanks for bringing this to our attention. We’re looking into this with the venue but I can state categorically that no request came from me about this, and my tour gave no directive about refusing entry of certain items of clothing or indeed flags.”

Ahmad (born Andrew John Hozier-Byrne) thanked the singer after his Dec. 16 post, writing, “Thank you so much Andrew, I really appreciate you reaching out directly, shows the person and artist you are. Solidarity!”

The original incident at the arena came two months after Hamas militants stormed Israel and killed more than 1,200 mostly civilian Israelis and took more than 240 hostages, igniting a now five-month old response from Israel’s military that has reportedly killed nearly 30,000 Palestinians according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Check out the Hozier post below.

Cam Newtown & His Hat Held Their Own After Folks Tried To Jump Him In Atlanta

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Cam Newton might not be slinging footballs on the gridiron these days but that doesn’t mean the 2015 NFL MVP hasn’t kept himself in good shape. A video surfaced of the free-agent quarterback getting into a bit of a brawl but what was most impressive is that his hat never left his head nor did he seem that bothered.

Cam Newtown, 34, was in Atlanta for a 7-on-7 football event over the weekend as reported by Deadline with the former Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots star in town with his C1N 7v7 squad. According to reports and accounts online, a group of individuals appear to shove the still-physically imposing Newton around. It hasn’t been confirmed but it appears the potential assailants were from Top Shelf Performance, a group that had teams playing in the inaugural We Ball Sports 7v7 tournament.

The video shows Newton, decked out in an elaborate hat, standing tall above the group as the fight moved from inside a pop-up tent to another area. Newtown and his hat held their own against the group before a security guard and other individuals came through and pushed the throng back as tempers settled.

Details are scant and Newton nor anyone from the We Ball Sports side has offered a public statement regarding the incident.

On X, formerly Twitter, the video of the incident has gone viral with many remarking on the sheer size of Cam Newton and noting with good humor that his hat was just as unbothered as he was. We’ve got the best of the reactions from X below.

Photo: Christopher Polk / Getty

9. This joke got several repeats and it’s the last one I’m sharing.