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Eden Muñoz adds a seventh No. 1 on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart, as “Mi Lugar Favorito” jumps from No. 4 to lead the list dated Jan. 25. It’s the second No. 1 on the chart from Eden, Muñoz’s third studio album as a soloist.
“I’m thrilled and grateful to see that ‘Mi Lugar Favorito’ has hit No. 1 on Billboard,” Muñoz tells Billboard. “This song has a special value to me, both personally and socially. It’s a song I wrote for my children, but it’s also a tribute to my inner child.”
“Mi Lugar Favorito” is the No. 1 song on this week’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart with 7 million audience impressions, accrued in the U.S. during the Jan. 10-16 tracking week, according to Luminate. That’s a solid 27% gain from the week prior, when the song held at its No. 4 high then for a second week.
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The single becomes Muñoz’s seventh champ on the chart and first of 2025. Previously, “Traigo Saldo y Ganas de Rogar” ruled Regional Mexican Airplay for two weeks last November. The latter also from parent album Eden, released Aug. 15, 2024, via Sony Music Latin.
Muñoz’s No. 1 collection dates back to less than three years ago, when he made his Regional Mexican Airplay debut as a solo singer with “Chale!,” for three weeks in charge in 2022. Since then, the Mexican singer/songwriter and producer has landed 10 top 10s and seven career No. 1s, four through non-collaborations and three through pair-ups.
Over on the overall Latin Airplay chart, “Favorito” pushes 9-4 with 7.1 million impressions.
“Qué Pasaría” If Rauw Alejandro & Bad Bunny Paired Up a No. 1 Hit? Elsewhere, Rauw Alejandro and Bad Bunny team up for their second No. 1 song on the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart, as “Qué Pasaría” (meaning “what would happen”) lifts 2-1 for its first week command. The song arrives almost two years after “Party,” the pair’s previous champ, spent two weeks at the summit in February 2023.
For its coronation, “Qué Pasaría” registered 6 million audience impressions earned in the U.S. in Jan. 10-16 tracking week. The new win adds Rauw his 12th No. 1 on Latin Rhythm Airplay, and Benito his 26th.
“Qué Pasaría” is the fourth singe from Rauw Alejandro’s No. 1 album, Cosa Nuestra, a six-week dominator on Top Latin Albums between November 2024-January 2025.
The new Jan. 25, 2025-dated charts will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Jan. 22 (one day later than usual, owed to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday in the U.S. on Jan. 20). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
A$AP Rocky declined a final plea deal offer from prosecutors as jury selection kicked off in Los Angeles on Tuesday (Jan. 21) in his 2021 shooting case. Per The Associated Press, prosecutors offered the Harlem native — born Rakim Mayers — 180 days in jail as part of a deal that would see him plead […]
Andra Day, Nick Cannon and Mario were among the lineup of stars who helped raise funds on behalf of Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts at the 1500 Day Benefit Concert. This year, 1500 or Nothin’ — the Grammy-winning creative collective behind projects by Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, Usher and others — partnered with the City of […]
Stephen A. Smith doesn’t understand the backlash rappers like Snoop Dogg, Nelly and Soulja Boy are receiving for performing at events around Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration.
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During a recent episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show on YouTube, the media personality started his rant about the vitriol they’ve been receiving online by asking some questions. “What if this person voted for him because they’re broke and they think he can put some more money in their pocket?” he asked. “What if this person voted for him because they’re in a crime-ridden neighborhood and they feel leftists aren’t having the streets patrolled well enough? What if they wanna call 911, but they live in an environment that people were supporting defunding the police? … What if the job market mattered to them?”
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He then continued by asking whether Soulja Boy had a right to make a living. “Soulja Boy ain’t got no right to make some money?” he asked. “Everybody’s quick to say, ‘If it was me, there’s a different way to make money.’ You sure about that? I saw Soulja Boy pull out some cash. I couldn’t count, but it looked like at least six figures. What it takes most people to make in a year, the brother made in one night.”
Smith then set his sights on Snoop and pointed out that the Long Beach rapper actually performed at the Crypto Ball — one of the events surrounding the inauguration — and that he was there for Trump’s Crypto and A.I. czar David Sacks and not the new president, who reportedly didn’t attend the event but was the guest of honor. “David Sacks is someone who Snoop has had a relationship with for decades,” Smith revealed. “David Sacks is that cat when nobody else put their hand out offering dollars to Snoop’s football league and beyond, that brother does it.”
Smith added: “Snoop Dogg’s worth over $100 million. He’s got a youth football league — this brother’s sending cats to college, this brother’s sending cats to the NFL. We just gonna ignore that cause he performed at the inauguration?”
When it came to Nelly, Stephen A. claimed the St. Louis rapper isn’t into politics and will perform for the right price.
“Nelly is not a political person, he doesn’t get involved in the campaigns,” he said. “Nelly does perform for people who will pay the right fee and believes in respecting the office because of the power that comes with it. That’s his position. Like it or not, you gotta respect it.”
However, Nelly recently said he didn’t agree to perform for money; he agreed because he saw it as an honor and likened it to the military who have to serve the country no matter who’s in office. “I’m not doing this for money,” he said on Willie D Live. “I’m doing this ’cause it’s an honor. I respect the office. It don’t matter who’s in office. The same way that our men and women, our brother and sisters who protect this country have to go to war and have to put their life on the line for whoever in office. If they can put their life on the line for whoever’s in office, I can perform for whoever’s in office.”
Stephen A. Smith goes off on the people criticizing Snoop Dogg, Nelly, and Soulja Boy for performing at President Donald Trump’s inauguration celebration and calls out those in our community who turned against Ice Cube.(🎥 Stephen A. Smith/YouTube) pic.twitter.com/AutqkxBTjq— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) January 21, 2025
You can watch the full episode below.
Longtime rock and punk promoter John Reese and author and RockStar Marketing creator Craig Duswalt have joined forces to launch the Disrupt Artist Management Network (DAMN!), an artist management and event production platform that plans to launch a new podcast and educational event. That event, called Breaking Into The Music Industry, is a two-day conference […]
Clairo is summoning witches and casting spells on Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day. On Monday (Jan. 20) — the same day Trump was sworn in for his second White House term — the 26-year-old singer/songwriter tweeted a call to action. “Witchcraft on Trump ASAP !” she wrote. It’s not the first time Clairo has expressed opposition […]
ROSÉ has now added dance teacher to her resumé. In a new YouTube Short posted to The Kelly Clarkson Show‘s account, Kelly Clarkson tells ROSÉ that she “heard” about a viral dance to the tune of the K-pop star’s Bruno Mars collaboration, “APT.,” asking, “I love dancing, so can you teach me and maybe some […]
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Source: Kevin Carter / Getty / Donald Trump / TikTok
TikTok’s “savior,” Donald Trump, has given TikTok more time to secure a sale, but it’s still unclear if his actions will delay the platform’s ban in the United States.
On his first unfortunate day back in office, Monday, January 20, Donald Trump put his ugly a** signature to paper, signing an executive order stalling the federal ban on TikTok for 75 days.
According to the New York Times, the executive order instructs the Attorney General, presumably a Trump loyalist, and his former attorney, Pam Bondi, not to enforce the ban, giving his sorry administration “an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward.”
When signing the executive order, Trump told reporters that if a deal is struck, “the U.S. should be entitled to get half of TikTok.”
According to the New York Times, the executive order could face legal challenges, specifically on his having the power to stop a federal law.
Donald Trump “Gets” TikTok Now
Trump’s executive action comes after TikTok hilariously banned itself early Saturday night, flipping the switch and turning off service in the U.S., and then turning back on Sunday following Trump’s announcement that he planned to sign an EO.
When users launched the app, they were greeted by a notification from TikTok telling them they could use the service stateside once again. They thanked Donald Trump for his help, sparking instant reactions from users who called the whole moment a stunt, likening it to Trump delaying stimulus checks so that he could put his signature on them.
When asked about his change of heart about TikTok, Trump told reporters, “Because I got to use it…TikTok is largely about young kids…if China is gonna get information about young kids, I don’t know.”
Donald Trump is asked about TikTok:
“Every rich person has called me about TikTok.”
Asked why he delayed the ban:
“Because I got to use it…TikTok is largely about young kids…if China is gonna get information about young kids, I dunno.”
Wow…just…wow. pic.twitter.com/M052GgekMO
— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) January 21, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
LMAO, WHAT?
We shall see what happens with TikTok because the platform’s future still looks shaky despite its CEO, Shou Zi Chew, kissing the ring right now.
Parker McCollum gave a tip of the hat to late Country Music Hall of Famer Toby Keith when the Texas native performed at the Commander-in-Chief Inaugural Ball on Monday night in Washington, D.C. following Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony as the 47th president of the United States earlier that day. Parker performed a rendition of Keith’s […]
The independent label and publishing company Artist Partner Group (APG) sued Create Music Group on Tuesday (Jan. 21), accusing the company of violating copyrights by uploading and monetizing songs it didn’t actually own. APG also accused Create of interfering with its artists’ contracts.
“Create’s ‘business model’ is to steal the intellectual property and contractual rights of innocent rightsholders,” APG’s attorney writes.
APG’s complaint argues that Create has engaged in several forms of copyright infringement, including by “unlawfully uploading” APG artists’ songs to streaming services” and “collecting royalties for them” as well as releasing a song called “Montagem Diamante Rosa” “which flagrantly copies” another composition that is owned by APG.
The suit also argues that Create approaches acts who have signed with APG and offers them YouTube monetization deals despite the fact that this service is already part of APG’s agreements with its artists. (Recording or publishing agreements typically give an artist’s partner the right to collect royalties across all the different platforms.) “Create and its subsidiaries wrongfully induced these artists to sign these bogus ‘contracts’ by falsely asserting that [APG was] purportedly doing a bad job exploiting their works and leaving money on the table (thereby damaging Plaintiffs’ reputation),” according to the complaint. “Create and its subsidiaries further falsely induced these artists by telling them that these ‘contracts’ do not violate [APG]’s rights.”
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In a statement, Jeff Movit, head of litigation for Chaudhry Law, said “our complaint demonstrates that APG will aggressively protect its contracts and copyrights.”
A representative for Create was not immediately available for comment.
Create was founded in 2015 and built its profile in the music industry through its YouTube royalties collection business. It has also branched out into other areas: Create owns other companies including Label Engine, a distributor; Flighthouse, a TikTok-focused digital media studio; and a majority stake in The Nations, a collection of popular YouTube channels.
While APG’s complaint is multifaceted, part of it focuses on Create’s business practices on YouTube: “Create and its subsidiaries have falsely filed claims with YouTube in which Defendants baselessly assert that they own rights in sound recordings and musical compositions that third parties have posted.”
This is not the first time that Create’s tactics on the popular video platform have drawn criticism. More than 10 executives told Billboard in 2022 that they knew of instances where Create claimed YouTube royalties it had no right to, sharing email threads and screenshots to back up their claims.
In an interview at the time, Create co-founder Jonathan Strauss denied these allegations. “We’ve never been sued by a lawyer or manager for this activity,” he added. “You would have to think if there was any truly egregious activity they would do that.”
Lawsuits are expensive and time-consuming. In October 2023, however, the music management company DigiGlo — whose clients include the rapper Chief Keef — sued Create, alleging that it “lost out on years of payments for its content monetization” for more than 400 works on YouTube because of Create’s refusal to honor contracts. DigiGlo estimated that it had lost “hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue.”
Create filed a terse answer to DigiGlo’s complaint two months later, denying “each and every allegation.” The suit is ongoing. (Create also faced a lawsuit from Cinq Music Group in 2022 that revolved around the use of a Shiloh Dynasty sample, though a judge dismissed Cinq’s claims last year.)
Meanwhile, Create has been raising money. In June, the company announced that it had received a $165 million investment from the private equity firm Flexpoint Ford. “Flexpoint’s investment will support our ambitious acquisition strategy,” Strauss said in a statement at the time, and “allow us to expand our market presence and create the scale to continue to provide unparalleled services to our clients and partners.”