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21 Nov 2023

Taylor Swift Is Billboard’s Top Artist of 2023

Taylor Swift triumphs atop Billboard’s 2023 year-end Top Artists chart, following her domination across both the Billboard 200 albums and Billboard Hot 100 songs chart this year.

Swift was previously the year-end top artist in 2015 and 2009, making her the first act to finish as the year-end No. 1 artist at least once in three different decades (the 2000s, ‘10s and ‘20s). Plus, she’s just the second act to be the year-end top artist three times, following Adele, in 2016, 2012 and 2011 (dating to the category’s 1981 inception).

Remarkably, she’s ranked among the Top Artists year-end top 10 in 14 of the last 16 years, including the last six in a row.

Explore All of Billboard’s 2023 Year-End Charts

Further demonstrating Swift’s sustained success on Billboard’s charts, the 14-year span from her first win as top artist in 2009 to her third in 2023 is the longest of any act. Previously, Swift and Usher were tied with the longest span of year-end victories, with six years between Swift’s first and second coronations as Top Artists (2009-15) and Usher’s pair of wins (1998-2004).

During the 2023 chart year, Swift logged 13 albums on the weekly Billboard 200 chart, including two that spent time at No. 1: her 2022 release Midnights and her third re-recorded album, 2023’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). The former finishes as the No. 2 title on the year-end Billboard 200 Albums recap. Meanwhile, her 2019 release Lover is No. 9. The latter, along with her catalog of albums, flourished in 2023 concurrent with her massive career-spanning The Eras Tour concert trek. In total on the year-end Billboard 200 Albums roundup, Swift is at Nos. 2 (Midnights), 9 (Lover), 11 (Speak Now [Taylor’s Version]), 12 (Folklore), 16 (1989), 17 (Red [Taylor’s Version]), 21 (Reputation), 29 (Evermore), 43 (Fearless [Taylor’s Version]) and 115 (Speak Now). Swift is also the year’s top finisher on the Billboard 200 Artists roundup.

On the weekly Hot 100 chart, Swift logged 44 songs during the 2023 chart year. On the year-end Hot 100 Songs ranking, she’s at Nos. 4 (“Anti-Hero”), 18 (“Cruel Summer”), 27 (“Karma,” featuring Ice Spice) and 32 (“Lavender Haze”).

Swift is the overall top female artist for a seventh year, while Morgan Wallen is the top male artist for the first time (No. 2 on the overall Top Artists list). Wallen also claims the year-end No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums recap with his 2023 release One Thing at a Time, which spent 16 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the weekly Billboard 200. The album’s crossover hit “Last Night” crowns the year-end Hot 100 Songs recap. It’s the first time that the same artist has led both the year-end Billboard 200 and Hot 100 tallies since Adele in 2011 (with 21 and “Rolling In the Deep,” respectively).

Wallen’s previous year-end Billboard 200 Albums champ, Dangerous: The Double Album, which topped the recap in 2021, is No. 5 on the 2023 list, after ranking at No. 3 in 2022. It’s the first title to spend three years, consecutive or otherwise, in the year-end Billboard 200 Albums top 10 since the soundtrack to The Sound of Music (1965-67).

Regional Mexican band Fuerza Regida is the top duo/group of 2023 – the first time an act that primarily records in Spanish has achieved the feat. (They are No. 38 on the overall Top Artists recap.) During the chart year, the act placed eight titles on the weekly Hot 100 and a pair of albums on the Billboard 200. Zach Bryan is the year’s top new artist (No. 6 on the overall Top Artists list), having scored his first No. 1s on both the weekly Billboard 200 (with his-self titled set) and Hot 100 (“I Remember Everything,” featuring Kacey Musgraves).

Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Nov. 19, 2022, through Oct. 21, 2023. Rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the titles appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology detail, and the November-October time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate. The Top Artists and Top New Artists categories ranks the best-performing overall acts, and new acts, of the year based on activity on the Billboard 200 albums and Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, as well as Billboard Boxscore (touring) data, for the 2023 tracking period.

21 Nov 2023

Pete Rock Says Luther Vandross Thanked Him For Sampling His Music

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Pete Rock

Source: press handout / Tru Soul Records

Pete Rock paid homage to the great Luther Vandross, saying that the singer “thanked him” for his craft years ago.

The legendary producer Pete Rock was part of a producers’ panel that was part of the event lineup on the inaugural Rock The Bells cruise that began Nov. 13. During the panel discussion, which was hosted by Torae, Pete Rock along with DJ Jazzy Jeff, Lil Jon and Mannie Fresh spoke about their careers and experiences as producers. As the subject of sampling came up, the “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” producer revealed that he was once praised by Luther Vandross for his work.



“Luther Vandross thanked me for sampling ‘Don’t You Know That’ for Heavy D,” Pete Rock shared, which made the crowd gasp. “He said that I did a wonderful job, and I was like, ‘Wow.’” The song he was referring to was “Don’t You Know That?” from Vandross’ 1981 hit album Never Too Much. The sample would become the backbone for Heavy D’s chart-topping hit “Got Me Waiting,” from his 1994 album Nuttin’ but Love. That album would go platinum. Torae then asked Pete Rock jokingly, “Big Luther or little Luther?” which brought on a wave of laughter from the audience.

Pete Rock would then speak about his admiration for Marley Marl and the way the Hip-Hop icon approached sampling. “Marley was like the first James Brown in Hip-Hop,” he began. “He told me that a lot of the things in the beats that he made were mistakes that sounded like they belonged in the records.”

He would also touch on how there were certain artists whom he and other producers patently avoided in terms of sampling. “Steely Dan, I don’t touch their stuff,” he said. “Gilbert O Sullivan – don’t even listen to his music.” O’Sullivan is best known as the artist who sued Biz Markie in 1991 for the rapper’s sampling of his song “Alone Again (Naturally).” The Irish singer would win the lawsuit, getting 100% of the royalties and making sampling a more arduous and costly effort.

21 Nov 2023

Signed: Brazilian DJ Vintage Culture Links Up With WME; Charlie Worsham Pacts With UTA

Brazilian DJ, producer and entrepreneur Vintage Culture has signed with WME for global representation.

Known for creating house and techno blends, Vintage Culture has played festivals including Coachella and Tomorrowland and recently completed the second year of his residency at Hï Ibiza. This year, he also launched Vintage Is a Festival, an event that has rolled out to five major cities in Brazil and will hit São Paulo next month. He founded his own record label and festival brand, Só Track Boa, and also has a partnership with electronic music and lifestyle brand Born of Music Addiction.

Earlier this year, Vintage Culture announced his forthcoming debut album and released “If I Live Forever” featuring Izzy Bizzu, the first single off the LP. Elsewhere, he’s collaborated with and remixed artists including the late Maxi Jazz, Rufus Du Sol, John Summit, Meduza, The Martinez Brothers & Louie Vega, Diplo, Roland Clark, Aurora, Sonny Fodera, Claptone, James Hype, Annabel Englund and Solardo.

Vintage Culture is managed by Guga Arthuri at Entourage Management and Jay Pidgeon at Purple Wall Management.

Country singer-songwriter Charlie Worsham signed with UTA for global representation in all areas. Worsham is signed to Warner Music Nashville, which released his latest project, the EP Compadres, in October. He continues to tour as part of Dierks Bentley’s band and was recently nominated for the CMA award for musician of the year.

Nettwerk signed a trio of new artists: singer-songwriter-guitarist Lily Meola (America’s Got Talent), singer-songwriter-producer Bryce Fox and Scottish duo SAINT PHNX (brothers Alan and Stevie Jukes). Meola is managed by Blaike Ford and Jordy Dettmer at Range Media Partners and Jeffrey Evans and Jackson Lauer at Buskin Entertainment, with booking by Corrie Martin at Wasserman; her A&Rs at Nettwerk are Eric Robinson, Marshall Altman and Meg Tarquinio. Fox is managed by Scott Sheldon, Berko Pearce and Peyton Marek at RM 64; his Nettwerk A&Rs are Dan Fraser and Mark Jowett. Saint Phnx are managed by Marc Fineman and Hannah Coles at Fine Group Entertainment and Alistair Goldsmith at Chosen Music, with booking by Tom Windish at Wasserman. Their Nettwerk A&R is Eric Robinson.

Country artist LECADE (real name Cade Brinkley) signed with 10th Street Entertainment (which also represents Bailey Zimmerman) for management. An independent country artist with hip-hop roots, LECADE released his debut album, Chasing Ghosts, in 2022. He is signed to Big Machine Records, which recently released his debut on the label, “Next Town Over.” Elsewhere, he’s represented by Joey Lee, Alex Luebbert and Kevin Meads at WME for booking and FBMM for business management.

U.K.-based brother-sister duo Wasia Project (William and Olivia Hardy) renewed their label deal with AWAL, which will release their upcoming debut album. The alt-pop duo previously released their debut EP, how can i pretend?, which featured the single “ur so pretty.” They are managed by Rob Swerdlow and booked by Tom Windish and Zac Bluestone at Wasserman Music for the United States, where they’re planning to headline shows next year.

Boeckner, the new solo project from Daniel Boeckner (who has played in Wolf Parade, Operators, Divine Fits and Handsome Furs), signed with Sub Pop for the release of his debut album in early 2024. He is booked by in the United States by Trey Many at Wasserman and in Canada by Steven Himmelfarb at The Feldman Agency.

Rapper TyFontaine signed with MNRK Music Group, which will release his new mixtape, 264, on Dec. 1. He joins MNRK after a period of releasing music independently; he was previously signed to Internet Money. His new single, “DOS,” is a collaboration with Summrs, Joony and TTM Dawg. He is managed and booked by Taryn “P” Smith.

Genre-fluid artist GARZI signed with Sumerian Records, which dropped his new single, “GrowinUp” featuring Memphis May Fire’s Matty Mullins. He is managed by Sean Chapman and Sid Sodin at The Sakai Group; his booking agent is Daniel McCartney at UTA. GARZI was previously signed to Outlast Records, an imprint of Sumerian.

Loren Kramar signed to Secretly Canadian, which released his latest single, “Hollywood Blvd.” He is booked by Erik Selz at Arrival Artists.

21 Nov 2023

Bo Burnham’s ‘Inside (The Songs)’ Breaks Record for Most Weeks Spent at No. 1 on Comedy Albums Chart

Bo Burnham makes history on Billboard’s latest charts (dated Nov. 25) as the soundtrack album to his Netflix comedy special Bo Burnham: Inside spends a record-breaking 122nd nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Comedy Albums chart.

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The album surpasses Lil Dicky’s Professional Rapper to become the longest leading No. 1 comedy album in the chart’s 19-year history.

Inside (The Songs), released June 10, 2021, via Imperial/Republic Records, holds at No. 1 with 3,000 equivalent album units earned in the latest Nov. 10-16 tracking week, according to Luminate.

Here’s an updated look at the longest-reigning comedy albums, dating to the chart’s launch in 2004:

Most Weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Comedy Albums Chart
Total weeks at No. 1, Artist, Title (Year Reached No. 1)

  • 122, Bo Burnham, Inside (The Songs) (2021)
  • 121, Lil Dicky, Professional Rapper (2015)
  • 49, Dane Cook, Retaliation (2005)
  • 34, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Mandatory Fun (2014)
  • 34, The Lonely Island, Turtleneck & Chain (2011)
  • 23, Flight of the Conchords, Flight of the Conchords Soundtrack (2008)
  • 22, The Lonely Island, Incredibad (2009)
  • 22, Dane Cook, Rough Around the Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden (2007)
  • 22, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Straight Outta Lynwood (2006)
  • 20, The Bob’s Burgers Music Album Soundtrack (2017)

(The chart was based on pure album sales from its October 2004 inception through January 2020, when it switched to a consumption-based methodology that ranks titles by equivalent album units, mirroring the formula used for the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.)

Inside (The Songs) debuted at No. 1 on Comedy Albums on the June 19, 2021-dated chart after just one day of tracking. Since the album first debuted, it has led the chart for all but six weeks — four of those were claimed by Bobby “Boris” Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers’ 1962 set The Original Monster Mash album thanks to annual Halloween gains for “Monster Mash.” The other instances were Mouse Rat’s The Awesome Album, the band led by Chris Pratt’s character Andy Dwyer from Parks and Recreation (in which Burnham guest starred in 2014) in November 2021, and Steel Panther’s On the Prowl in March 2023.

The album became Burnham’s fourth No. 1 on the Comedy Albums chart, after his 2009 self-titled LP, 2010’s Words Words Words, and 2014’s What. He also reached No. 3 on the chart in 2008 with his debut EP Bo Fo Sho. The only other artists with four-or-more No. 1s: Larry the Cable Guy (seven), Steel Panther (seven), Jim Gaffigan (six), “Weird Al” Yankovic (five), Nephew Tommy (five), The Lonely Island (five), Dane Cook (four), Doug Stanhope (four), Flight of the Conchords (four) and Patton Oswalt (four).

Inside (The Songs) also peaked at No. 7 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart in 2021. It became Burnham’s first top 10, and the highest charting comedy album since Professional Rapper also reached No. 7 in 2015. The vinyl release of the set also helped the album reached No. 3 on Billboard’s Vinyl Albums chart last year, making it the highest charting comedy album (excluding soundtracks) in the chart’s 12-year history.

Burnham created Inside from his Los Angeles home in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to starring in the special and recording the music, he also directed, wrote, edited and filmed the special himself.

Burnham took home three Primetime Emmy Awards in 2021 for his work on Inside (among six total nominations): outstanding directing for a variety special, outstanding writing for a variety special and outstanding music direction. The song “All Eyes on Me” also took home the 2022 Grammy Award for best song written for visual media, while the Inside (Deluxe Box Set) recently earned a nomination for best boxed or special limited edition package for the upcoming 2024 Grammys.

Inside (The Songs) also finished as Billboard’s No. 1 year-end Comedy Album in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

21 Nov 2023

Owner Of Social Status Under IRS Investigation For Reselling Sneakers

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Social Status

Source: @thesocialstatus / Instagram

Sneaker resellers have become a plague amongst the sneaker community as they’ve made it damn near impossible for heads to get their hands on grails for retail price. But now a businessman from Charlotte, NC has the feds on his ass for lowkey partaking in the practice, allegedly.

According to WOSC-TV, said businessman is under investigation by authorities for a money laundering scheme that involved Chinese money couriers which the Feds believe led to millions of dollars going through the spin cycle. The businessman at the heart of this investigation is said to have a few businesses under his umbrella including well-known high-end sneaker spot, Social Status.

Since the initial report, and citing the legal docs, multiple outlets have named the owner as James Whitner—which was easy to determine since he is the founder of The Whitaker Group, which owns Social Status and A Ma Maniere. But Whitner has not been charged with anything yet.

Allegedly, “someone” would take the sneakers Whitner would get directly from the plugs (Nike, Adidas, etc.), and sell them to a Chinese national who would then turn around and resell them on the secondary market. The exchange went on during a five-year period and authorities figure around $32 million was made throughout that time.

No wonder it was damn near impossible to hit on that website’s raffles, respectfully. The product was backdoored to China. And here we thought they were just backdooring the kicks to friends and family.

WOSC-TV reports:

Investigators said the group didn’t report cash payments over $10,000 like it was supposed to, lied to U.S. banks, and potentially broke federal anti-money laundering law.

The man does not face charges at this point.

Stoogenke reached out to him in three different ways on Monday and has yet to hear back.

In general, Stoogenke says money laundering organizations have become underground banking systems that have taken off over the last few years, “cleaning” money from romance scams, drug trafficking, and other crimes.

The Whitaker Group, the ownership of Social Status, issued a statement essentially saying that they have been cooperating. “The recent action by the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina (USAO) comes after significant cooperation and good-faith negotiations on our part,” reads the statement. “To be clear, while we take the allegations in the complaint seriously, they are unfounded, unrelated to our business or this community and unjustified. Our professional inventory management team runs a transparent process built on systems that are both legally compliant and consistent with industry standards. We have also complied with all tax obligations annually.”

Reportedly, the forfeiture actions stems from the almost $1.2 million in cash seized from Antwain Freeman, a friend of Whitaker’s, in New Jersey in 2021. The Feds claim the cash was part of the money transmitting scheme.

Don’t be surprised if everyone’s going to start hitting on those Social Status raffles this holiday season as they now know the jig is up, allegedly.

What do y’all think of this situation? Let us know in the comment section below.

21 Nov 2023

Snoop Dogg Hawks New Smokeless Solo Stove After Fooling Fans

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Snoop Dogg X Solo Stove

Snoop Dogg has moved far beyond his familiar Hip-Hop environs and is perhaps one of the most recognizable celebrities in the world, leveraging that fame to become a pitchman for the ages. The Long Beach legend duped his legion of fans after claiming to be going smokeless, which was a ruse to promote a new smokeless fire pit, Solo Stove.

On November 16, Snoop Dogg shared a post on his popular Instagram account claiming that he was “giving up smoke” and asking his fans, family, and friends to respect his privacy. As most are aware, Snoop is known for indulging in the sticky green leaf which has become a part of his identity just like his effortless charm. Even then, some suspected that the Death Row Records honcho would pull some manner of a switcheroo.

On Monday (November 20), the proverbial cat was let out of the bag and what was revealed is that Snoop is hawking a new product, Solo Stove, which offers a fire pit solution sans smoke. If you’re into the outdoors like we are, then you’re aware of how the smoke from the pit can get into your clothes, hair, and lungs. Solo Stove eliminates the smoke without compromising the blaze.

“I love a good fire outside but the smoke was too much. Solo Stove fixed fire and took out the smoke. They changed the game and now I’m excited to spread the love and stay warm with my friends and family,” Snoop shared in a statement.

“We’re stoked to have a product so good, it even inspired Snoop to go smokeless. As the most popular smokeless fire pit in the world, Solo Stove is all about bringing people together and creating a vibe that encourages you to sit back, relax, and enjoy your time with friends and family. Snoop, like Solo, is about good moments, and we’re looking forward to welcoming even more people to the Solo Stove family,” John Merris, CEO of Solo Brands, added.

Snoop and Solo Stove have a new bundle package that went on sale Monday. The Limited Edition Bonfire Snoop Dogg Collaboration features a Bonfire Fire Pit designed by the D-O-Double-G, a fire pit stand, a bucket hat, and a Snoop and Solo sticker pack in case you want people to know how smokeless you’re keeping in the cooler months. The bundle retails for $349.99.

Learn more about Solo Stove here and here.

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Photo: Solo Stove

21 Nov 2023

WWE Superstar Jey Uso on His Battle Rap Days, Remaking His WWE Entrance Song & His Love For Nipsey Hussle

“Ay, Carl, you need me to Superkick your ass, too?” snarls WWE superstar Jey Uso.

While the invite seems tempting, I back down, knowing Jey is a trigger-happy wrestler who revels in unexpected kicks to the chin and top turnbuckle splashes. The swaggering athlete isn’t just a nine-time WWE tag-team champion but a lyrical obliterator on the mic.

He and his twin brother, Jimmy Uso, arguably have not only one of the best WWE entrances of all time, courtesy of their song “Day One Ish,” but also a history of decimating their peers in freestyle battles. In 2017, the Usos chewed out The New Day in a lyrical skirmish during Monday Night Raw. Hosted by Wale, Jey, and Jimmy savored the opportunity of skewering the New Day with their menacing bars. According to Jey, he and his brother’s love for penning raps came during their high school days. They would freestyle for their friends in the cafeteria and in return, received “oohs” and “aahs” for their steely efforts.

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“I knew at the freestyle battle that they didn’t know we would come the way we did. They were doing some nursery rhymes over there,” Jey remembers about the classic 2017 battle against the New Day. “I knew we wanted them to be like, ‘What is going on here, dog?’ Let alone on national TV. Hell yeah, we gonna fire it up.”

Fast forward, Uso is now one of the most popular wrestlers in the business. After being embroiled in a three-year saga with his cousin, WWE undisputed champion Roman Reigns, Jey departed from WWE’s highly touted faction, The Bloodline, to live out his dreams as “Main Event Jey Uso.” Now, on his solo expedition, Jey has his own new WWE entrance theme, which remixes the bombastic original “Day One Ish.” The new song, “Main Event Ish,” symbolizes Jey’s lone wolf status, as he howls, “It’s just me Uce. Day one ish. It’s just me Uce,” on the hook.”

With dreams of overtaking Gunther, the WWE’s longest-reigning intercontinental champion, and fighting his brother Jimmy at the Super Bowl of all wrestling events, Wrestlemania, Jey has no issue superkicking anyone on his way to the top.

Billboard spoke to Jey about his love for Nipsey Hussle, wanting to invite Sexxy Red to a WWE show, why Kodak Black is his spirit animal, and recording his new entrance song “Main Event Ish.”

Big E did an interview a couple of years ago and he was like, “You guys were so good at rapping, you could drop an EP.” If Jey Uso was gonna drop a rap EP, who are the three people you’re calling up for features?

J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar and T-Pain.

Why those three?

J. Cole is Cole and Kendrick is Kendrick. T-Pain, we grew up in Pensacola, Florida down the street from Tallahassee in the early 2000s. T-Pain was slapping. We used to ride out to Panama City Beach playing his hits before football games. It’s Florida boy all day. 

 What music are you listening to get pumped for your match-ups?

Nipsey Hussle, man. He be putting me in the zone. J. Cole is my favorite. I ain’t never been to no concerts, but if I ever get to go to a J. Cole concert, I’m in there. 2Pac, Jay-Z. We in there. I got a playlist all the way to damn Britney Spears. We got range over here. 

Who would you say is the Jey Uso of the rap game?

I don’t even put myself up like that because I’m hustling trying to find myself. If I had to pick somebody, Kodak Black. He really be making noise out there, but he really don’t be. He’s trying to find his way out there just like me. 

Talk about how the original “Day One Ish” song came about with your brother Jimmy.

After we turned heel, I knew we had to get away from all the colors. We’re dropping all the facepaint, we’re just going black-and-white. At the time, nobody was wearing white boots at all. We at the mall. Damn Champs got one and the other half-off type of stuff. We got these black joggers and this black hoodie with the white Forces. In the middle of the mall, where they put the logo on your shirts. We sitting on there, “What we gon’ put on this s–t?” My brother’s like, “I don’t know, man. Some Day One S–t?” We can’t say s–t but what about ish? You know how they blank it out on the rap records. “Day One Ish, uce.”

So it really means “Day One S–t.” We put that on a hoodie and we wore it on TV and it stuck since. Some “Day One Ish” from then on. We got in the booth and they wanted us to have new music. We had these two younger cats that came up with the hook, “Down since Day One Ish.” We was just ad-libbing on the track and they let us flow. First couple times we was held back, but then we got warmed up and started yelling and hitting it. We were damn near sweating in the booth.

What was it like re-recording your new entrance music solo? What was that energy like?

I went back to New York. They wanted to take Jimmy off the original. The Usos and the Uso Penitentiary – take all that out. I’m like, “Fly me over there, let me see if I can re-do it.” They wanted to keep the “Day One Ish, [and] line ‘em all up.” I could keep all that, but I needed a damn switch for that beginning part. I’m in there with another young homie. He’s like trying to help me find the rhythm. He goes, “It’s just you now.” I go, “Yeah, it is. It’s just me on the track.”

Then I started like, “It is just me in this b–-ch.” It’s my turn. I started getting in that mindset. I was like, “Main Event Jey Uso is now in yo city!” I started yelling on there, and he’s plugging it in. Taking the old parts out and plugging in the new s–t. The beats were a little more tweaked. Other than that, I kept it to when I get on the turnbuckle — this part right here, no lyrics. This just needs to be the beat. This is where the hip-hop hooray handwave or whatever you wanna call it comes from. I wanted to incorporate the audience into it. It will make you say, “Ay.” I wanted to bleep all the lyrics out and just have the people getting involved here. Every second of that theme is timed to as soon as I hit the turnbuckle, they’re there with me. All timing, dog.

Did you see the Sexyy Red “SkeeYee” mash-up? What were your thoughts? I know she said she wants to pull up for a show.

First off, I was like, “No way, dog! She out here responding?” Then, I see her in a controversy and I don’t give a damn. Us too, who cares? Let’s get these numbers in with her. She’s still down and said she’s never came to a wrestling live event, a PLE, TV taping. If you hear this, [Sexyy,] you’ll be my VIP guest around here, girl. You can come out with me and help me sing my theme song. We gon’ have to change that red to blue though! 

I think it’s dope entertainers are pivoting into wrestling whether it’s Bad Bunny or Logan Paul. Who’s the next athlete or entertainer you’d like to see step into the ring?

First one that comes to mind is Conor McGregor. He’s kinda been tip-toeing around us a little bit. He’s had interactions with a couple of us, but never fully got in here. I’d like to see what he’s about. I love Shaquille O’Neal, so I personally think about LeBron James and I know he’s a huge fan. Let’s run it. They can all catch this Superkick though. Sexyy Red can get her ass Superkicked too!

Thanksgiving is coming up, and I’m concerned how the house gonna be with you, Solo, Jimmy and your dad Rikishi. Talk about what that dynamic’s gonna be like.

Ay, Carl, ain’t nobody coming to my house for Thanksgiving except my dad. That’s the only one. I’ma fly him down. Last year, I fried a turkey and everybody ate that. I’m frying three turkeys this year. It’s going down. As far as Solo and Jimmy, y’all take your asses home and stay somewhere. Especially Solo, he’s over there tripping.

What does an ideal singles run look like for Jey Uso?

The first singles championship on the top of my list is the IC [Intercontinental Championship] title. Gunther gonna have to run that. Everybody over there. He likes the Tribal Chief, you see what I do to the Tribal Chief? I don’t give a damn, let’s run that. My dad was an IC champion, my uncle, Umaga IC champion. Shawn Michaels. My favorite wrestler, the greatest, Razor Ramon. All the greats held the Intercontinental Championship and I’m trying to get that. That’s Pay-Per-View material right there.

You and your brother Jimmy had the conversation of what a Wrestlemania match-up would look like. With Wrestlemania 40, do you have in mind who’d you want to fight on that stage?

Right now, I feel like Jimmy’s at the top of the list. He’s gotta get this work. He’s still ducking me right now. He knows what it is. If I could talk from Josh and me, it’s my dream match. If this does happen, I’d be so grateful and happy. I would just look at him like look what we doing. Look at this! Those are special moments in the ring that nobody in the world knows. When we did the Money in the Bank with Roman [Reigns] and Solo, I was just looking at them getting a little teary-eyed like, “Look at us.” That would go down as the No. 1 moment in my career if I get to wrestle with Jimmy in the sold-out Philadelphia in front of friends and family. And I’d beat his ass. If I could pick someone else, I’d probably wanna run it one time with Seth Rollins for that championship. He’s a GOAT. He’s a beast and got my respect. He’s been holding down Monday Night RAW forever. I’m with it. 

 

21 Nov 2023

Pop Culture Rewind: Tina Turner’s Hits, Career & Chart Achievements | Billboard News

Billboard looks back on Tina Tuner’s hits, career and chart achievements.

Evan Burke:
She’s “Simply the Best.” Today we celebrate the birthday of Tina Turner, one of music history’s most electrifying performers. From her charting hits to her amazing accolades, we run through it all in today’s Pop Culture Rewind.

Tina Turner was born on November 26, 1939. Ms. Turner kicked off her half-century career in the late 1950s, but it wasn’t until 1971 that she gained her first top 10 with Ike Turner and their version of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song “Proud Mary.”

Over the course of her career, she landed 18 songs on the Hot 100 with 1984’s “What’s Love Got To Do With It” becoming one of her most iconic hits. The song also won record of the year and best female pop vocal performance at the Grammys in 1985. She has a career total of eight Grammys. Tina has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, once as a part of Ike & Tina Turner in 1991, and again in 2021, as a solo artist.

The prolific artist passed away on May 24, 2023. There is currently a Broadway show Tina that celebrates her life touring the United States.

We will have another huge moment for you next week in our Pop Culture Rewind.

21 Nov 2023

Suhel Nafar Is On a Mission to Put Middle Eastern & North African Artists On the Global Stage

Suhel Nafar understands the impact that music can have around the world.

Born in Lod — a city about 25 miles from Jerusalem — to Palestinian parents, Nafar learned English by listening to Dead Prez, 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. The influence of these artists was so strong that in the late 1990s, he — along with his brother Tamer Nafar and their friend Mahmoud Jreri — started the first Palestinian hip-hop group, DAM.

“Listening to hip-hop and seeing music videos of artists being chased by police and feeling their oppression and their anger without knowing what they were talking about because I didn’t speak English — I felt they were talking about me,” Nafar tells Billboard over Zoom from Lod in late October.

He spent 20 years touring the world with DAM, whose lyrics focused on such topics as inequality and oppression. Through his travels, he saw a need in the market and is now working behind the scenes to fill it.

“There aren’t enough of us,” Nafar says, “Arabs, Muslims, brown people and people of color in the music industry to support the artists in the region and around the world.”

Nafar started working on videos, films and other jobs that focused on artists in the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region, which includes the Middle East, and helped its music scene coalesce. He moved to the United States in 2013 and taught as an artist in residence at New York University and, in 2018, began a three-year stint at Spotify. There, he helped establish WANA content on the platform and worked in its artist and industry partnerships division.

As vp of strategy and development at EMPIRE, where Nafar started in early 2021, he is leading the company’s expansion into the WANA region, which is rich with talent. Nafar says the generation of musicians he is fostering can help heal “the wound” inflicted by the conflicts there and their far-reaching repercussions.

He sees “glocalization” — global music genres such as pop and hip-hop adapted to WANA cultures — as the ideal delivery system and cites “Rajieen,” a direct response to the crisis featuring 25 WANA artists as an example. Nafar says the song and its powerful video have reached almost 10 million streams across all platforms.

What is EMPIRE’s West Asia and North Africa strategy?

I decided to move to EMPIRE because I felt that the technology of Spotify is great but that artists needed more behind-the-scenes support. [I needed] to be closer to artists and work with them on strategy. As a person that had the artist background, the [digital service provider] background and the content creation background, I thought I would help artists more from the label side.

At EMPIRE, I handle the strategy and development for the region. It means working with a lot of artists on signings and signing labels as well. I’m also developing the market. There’s a gap [in the WANA region] because we don’t have enough people behind the scenes. We don’t have enough managers. We don’t have enough labels.

How does EMPIRE’s independent approach to business influence your efforts?

My whole idea was how I could create a more independent mentality for others so that they could create their own EMPIREs and build their own rosters and executive teams. We signed a lot of labels from the region, along with good people who love music and are just missing skills, or people who have the skills but are missing people to be on their team. We’re providing this infrastructure to a lot of people here.

You’re saying that you’re building the industry itself, to a certain extent.

It’s supporting to amplify what’s already there more than building, I would say.

Suhel Nafar, FTDO

Nafar says he received this relief of Handala, a national symbol of the Palestinian people, “from a group of kids who attended one of my music and film workshops,” which he conducted in impoverished neighborhoods and refugee camps in Palestine.

Amir Nafar

What have been your biggest successes so far?

The number of female artists we have is amazing. We had at least four Arab female artists on Spotify’s Times Square billboard. My team and I are supporting voices of females from Morocco, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and the diaspora. This type of excitement inspires other female artists to grow. I’m really proud of that.

Who are some Arab artists you’re most excited about?

Maro is a half-Lebanese, half-Ukrainian artist who speaks Arabic, English, French, Ukrainian and Russian and can sing in every language. He was raised in Beirut, where he grew up playing guitar in the streets as a busker. When there was violence in Lebanon, he had to move to Norway … We got an opportunity to bring him to the U.S., where he’s living now.

What about hip-hop artists?

MC Abdul, a 15-year-old kid from Gaza, is a genius who started rapping when he was 9. He learned English from hip-hop and speaks it better than a lot of Americans I know. A few months ago, we finally got him out of Gaza and flew him and his dad to San Francisco on an artist visa. He performed an amazing show there for over 20,000 people. He was in the studio and taking meetings to start his album rollout and was supposed to come back to Gaza [a few] weeks ago. Then the whole situation started, so he couldn’t go back to his family.

Another artist I love is Soulja, a rapper from Sudan. When the war in Sudan happened, we had to help him escape from Sudan to Egypt, and now he’s in Saudi Arabia. His recent release, “Ayam,” is a breakup song where he’s telling his love he doesn’t want to see her anymore, but his love is actually Sudan. He wrote it the day he escaped and was almost killed.

Name one of the women artists you’re supporting.

Nai Barghouti is another amazing artist. She’s a traditional Palestinian folk artist who recently did a song with Skrillex, “Xena.” Her vocal skills are unbelievable. Sometimes we’re like, “Are you human?” Because sometimes it feels like her voice is just an instrument. We’re working on a few projects with her.

Developing Arab artists and promoting the region globally must feel like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

There are people who’ve been in this field before me that did a lot of great work and other cultures that inspired us a lot. My days at Spotify inspired me so much because I worked closely with the Latin team, the Afro team, the Desi team. I watched how K-pop started from the early stages. I just localized what I learned from all those different cultures.

Suhel Nafar, FTDO

Amir Nafar

How have things shifted since the recent conflict started? What are your workdays like?

Artists are not feeling like they want to release music. That’s the biggest hit. The department I’m running [went from releasing] at least 20 songs a week to almost no songs. The first week, it was the shock of “What the fuck is going on?” and then canceling shows. A lot of festivals all around the Arab world were canceled.

As an artist myself, this is not the first time I’ve gone through it. There have been many times when we were about to drop an album, then Israel invaded Gaza, or there was some protest, or people were getting killed. We learned how to maneuver in these unfortunate situations.

What’s the first move in that maneuvering?

Before business is people. A lot of it is mental support because many artists are going through a lot of emotional pain right now. Everyone knows someone in Gaza. Every family knows a family. I know a hip-hop producer in Gaza that lost his entire family.

If this becomes a long war, how do you foresee it affecting your business?

Music is like history books. The artists will be the ones telling the stories. They will document what’s happening better than the Western media. They will do better songs than Taylor Swift and not do a post about Taylor Swift’s bodyguard. I just hope this won’t get to a point when it’s normalized and [people] will forget about it.

The story of Taylor Swift’s bodyguard returning to Israel to serve in the Israel Defense Forces was widely covered by the media, including Billboard. What are your thoughts on that story?

From my perspective, showing how cute this bodyguard is [who is] going to join the army is not something to make cool at a time when thousands of kids are being killed. [Humanitarian organizations] consider the IDF an illegal army that has done a lot of illegal activities. We as people who are working for music and culture should be uplifting the voices that would heal this wound and not say, “Look at this Taylor Swift bodyguard.”

Is there anything else you would like to say?

I wish this interview was in a different time [with me] talking more about the business. I actually almost canceled because it’s overwhelming watching my family and friends going through genocide. I want to represent the new generation and the music that is fucking amazing; not the situation where there’s an oppressor bombing families as we speak.

I also want to say that from a music and culture perspective, we’re entering a very unique era of the glocalization of a new generation. The culture is morphing. There isn’t one culture anymore. There’s no one genre anymore. This is the voice that I would like to amplify more than anything.

Suhel Nafar, FTDO

Amir Nafar

21 Nov 2023

Father of Taylor Swift Fan Who Died at Rio de Janeiro Show Says ‘I Have No Words to Express My Pain’

The father of a Taylor Swift fan who died after falling ill at the singer’s first of three shows at Rio de Janeiro’s Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos paid tribute to his daughter and vowed to find out what caused the 23-year-old student’s death. In an interview with Rio’s Folha de S. Paulo website (translated to English from Portuguese), Weiny Machado said his daughter, Ana Clara Benevides Machado, was preparing to graduate with a psychology degree in April and saving money for her future.

“I lost my only daughter, a happy, intelligent girl,” he said. “I have no words to express my pain. She left home to fulfill a dream and came back dead.”

After Friday’s Eras Tour show in Rio, Swift said she was “devastated” to learn about Machado’s death. “I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show,” Swift wrote on her Instagram Story. “I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this. There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”

She added, “I’m not going to be able to speak about this from stage because I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it. I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends. This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.” At press time no additional official information was available on the cause of Machado’s death.

Weiny Machado said he is determined to find out how his daughter died, focusing in on reports that fans were not allowed to bring water into the venue. Brazilian concert organizer, T4F, wrote on Instagram that paramedics attended to the woman after she reported feeling unwell. She was first taken to a first aid area and then to a hospital, where she passed away shortly after, according to the promoter.

Some attendees complained that they were barred from bringing in water bottles to the stadium despite a record-breaking heat wave in Rio that pushed temperatures into the triple-digits, resulting in Saturday’s planned show being bumped to Monday night (Nov. 20) as a precaution.

“There’s people that need water right here, maybe 30, 35, 40 feet back,” Swift was seen saying in fan-captured footage on X in which she paused the show to ask for water for a group of fans who signaled that they needed it. “So whoever is in charge of giving them that, just make sure that happens. Can I get a signal that you know where they are?”

“I want it to be determined whether they were in fact prohibited from bringing water, whether there was negligence in providing assistance,” Machado said. “I know that the singer was handing out water to her fans, and that is absurd for an event of this size. Nothing will bring my daughter back, but I hope that, if negligence is confirmed, someone will be punished, so that this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

E! News noted that according to local news site G1, the Rio Municipal Health Dept. said that Machado suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest, with a certified report on the cause of death due from the coroner’s office.

Swift performed the live debut of the mournful Midnights song “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” at Sunday night’s show in Rio, in seeming tribute to Machado. After kicking off her acoustic set with Reputation‘s “Dancing With Our Hands Tied” on guitar, Swift moved to piano and, looking visibly emotional, sang the first few lines of the track (“Did some bird flap its wings over in Asia?/ Did some force take you because I didn’t pray?/ Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye/ You were bigger than the whole sky”) as fans erupted into knowing cheers.