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Bad Bunny is continuing his acting streak, this time joining the cast of the forthcoming film Caught Stealing, alongside Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz. The artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio appears on the official movie trailer out Wednesday (May 21), where he is seen portraying a Puerto Rican gangster. “Either I get what I […]
Glasses Malone is confident Kendrick Lamar is going to respond to Joey Bada$$ in due time. On Tuesday (May 20), Malone — who was shouted out by Lamar at the Grammys earlier this year — was asked on X if he thought Lamar should respond to Joey’s recent string of freestyles where he mentions the […]
Country music star Martina McBride headed to Capitol Hill on Wednesday (May 21) to speak out in support of the NO FAKES Act, arguing the legislation is necessary to protect artists in the AI age.
If passed, the bill (officially titled the Nurture Originals, Foster Art and Keep Entertainment Safe Act), which was recently reintroduced to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, would create a federal protection against unauthorized deepfakes of one’s name, image, likeness or voice for the first time. It is widely supported by the music industry, the film industry and other groups.
Just prior to McBride’s testimony, the Human Artistry Campaign sent out a press release stating that 393 artists have signed on in support of the NO FAKES Act, including Cardi B, Randy Travis, Mary J. Blige and the Dave Matthews Band.
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In her testimony to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, McBride called unauthorized deepfakes “just terrifying” and added, “I’m pleading with you to give me the tools to stop that kind of betrayal.” She continued that passing the NO FAKES Act could “set America on the right course to develop the world’s best AI while preserving the sacred qualities that make our country so special: authenticity, integrity, humanity and our endlessly inspiring spirit…I urge you to pass this bill now.”
McBride went on to express the challenges that musicians face as unauthorized AI deepfakes proliferate online. “I worked so hard to establish trust with my fans,” she said. “They know when I say something, they can believe it… I don’t know how I can stress enough how [much unauthorized deepfakes] can impact the careers [of] artists.”
During her testimony, the singer-songwriter pointed to more specific concerns, like what can happen to individuals after they pass away. “Far into the future after I’m gone,” she said, there is the threat now that someone could “creat[e] a piece of music or [a video of] me saying something that I never did.” She added that this issue is especially challenging for emerging musicians: “I think for younger artists, to be new, and to have to set up what you stand for and who you are as a person as an artist and what you endorse what you believe in…on top of having to navigate this… is devastating.”
Suzana Carlos, head of music policy for YouTube, also expressed her company’s support for the NO FAKES Act during the hearing. “As technology evolves, we must collectively ensure that it is used responsibly, including when it comes to protecting our creators and viewers,” she said. “Platforms have a responsibility to address the challenges posed by AI-generated content, and Google and YouTube staff [is] ready to apply our expertise to help tackle them on our services and across the digital ecosystem. We know that a practical regulatory framework addressing digital replicas is critical.”
Carlos noted how one’s name, image, likeness and voice (also known as “publicity rights” or “rights of publicity”) is only currently protected on a state-by-state basis, creating a “patchwork of inconsistent legal frameworks.” She noted that YouTube would like to “streamline global operations for platforms.”
Mitch Glazier, CEO/president of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which has served a strong role in pushing the NO FAKES Act forward, added during his testimony that time is of the essence to pass this bill. “I think there’s a very small window, and an unusual window, for Congress to get ahead of what is happening before it becomes irreparable,” he said.
Also during the hearing, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) brought up concerns about a “10-year moratorium” that would ban states and localities from implementing AI regulation — a clause the Republican-led House of Representatives baked into the Republicans’ so-called “big beautiful” tax bill last week. “I’m very concerned, having spent years trying to pass some of these things,” Klobuchar said. “If you just put a moratorium [on]…the ELVIS law [a new Tennessee state law that updated protections for deepfakes in the AI age] coming out of Tennessee…and some of the other things, this would stop all of that.”
The NO FAKES Act was introduced by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Klobuchar along with Representatives María Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27), Madeleine Dean (D-PA-4) Nathaniel Moran (R-TX-1) and Becca Balint (D-VT-At Large). It was first introduced as a draft bill in 2023 and formally introduced in the Senate in summer 2024.
Unlike some of the state publicity rights laws, the NO FAKES Act would create a federal right of publicity that would not expire after death and could be controlled by a person’s heirs for 70 years after their passing. It also includes specific carve-outs for replicas used in news, parody, historical works and criticism to ensure the First Amendment right to free speech remains protected.
Miley Cyrus is just over a week away from releasing her next album, Something Beautiful. But before she does, she’s reflecting on all the steps she needed to take to get to this moment, from taking control of her sobriety to winning a Grammy for her smash hit “Flowers.”
In an interview with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe posted Wednesday (May 21), the pop star opened up about how cutting out substances didn’t just change her life for the better, but ultimately paved the way for her to find unprecedented success with her Endless Summer Vacation album. “I’ve learned this about myself over the years,” she told Lowe. “The sobriety is like, that’s like my God. I need it, I live for it. I mean that it’s changed my entire life.”
Cyrus also got candid about how her attempt at sobriety around the time of her 2020 album Plastic Hearts went awry. “I know I needed to fall one more time,” she explained. “I just, I had to. It just never would have happened this way. I just never would have been sitting here. There were times in that section … I’m not proud of them. Definitely not my best moments, not some of my best work, any of that. But it all led me to writing ‘Flowers,’ which then was some sort of key right into the lock of all healing.”
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Released in 2023 as the lead single from Endless Summer Vacation, “Flowers” spent eight weeks atop the Hot 100 — completely blowing past the run of Cyrus’ only other No. 1 single so far, “Wrecking Ball,” which remained at the chart’s summit for three weeks in 2013. The self-love anthem would go on to win the Hannah Montana alum her first-ever Grammys — best pop solo performance and record of the year — at the 2024 ceremony.
In her interview with Lowe, Cyrus said that earning the Recording Academy recognition was just as “healing” as writing and releasing the song had been. “I think somewhere inside of me, I needed maybe to hold a trophy and just feel for a moment that I have something that I can hold in my hands that feels like a true achievement,” she explained. “And so at the Grammys, that’s why I went, it was actually for healing.”
The moment was particularly fateful as Cyrus says she originally wasn’t even going to go to the Grammys. In addition to suffering from extreme performance anxiety at the time, she also confided in Lowe that she was afraid to acknowledge to herself at the time just how much she wanted to win.
“There was somewhere that I was avoiding this, the fact that it did matter to me somewhere,” she shared. “And so once I received my Grammy, I was like, look, when you Google me, it says ‘Miley Cyrus, a Grammy Award-winning artist.’”
Pretty soon, Google will also say that Cyrus has released nine albums, with Something Beautiful set to drop on May 30. Led by singles “More to Lose,” “End of the World,” “Prelude” and its title track, the LP doubles as a visual album, with its accompanying film hitting theaters for one night only in June.
Two days prior to her Apple Music interview, the “We Can’t Stop” vocalist also unveiled the Something Beautiful tracklist, featuring collaborations with Brittany Howard and Naomi Campbell.
Watch Cyrus’ full Zane Lowe interview below.
Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
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This week: Pirates have raided the Indianapolis rap scene, The Weeknd has a big new era-capping movie out and ATL rap just keeps riding the comeback wave.
Indianapolis Rapper Big Ro6 Rides “Pirate Rap” to a Breakthrough Single
As Joey Bada$$ handles the West Coast in a still-unfurling, months-long rap beef, an entirely different wave is flooding out of the Midwest – Indiana, to be exact. Indianapolis rapper Big Ro6 has set the internet ablaze with “Decisions,” a track he originally dropped last fall (Oct. 13, 2024).
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When he first put out the song, Big Ro6 supported it with a series of live performances, including one on The Debut’s YouTube channel, which has garnered over 230,000 views since Nov. 6. The song did its thing throughout the holiday season and into the new year, but after Ryan Coogler’s Sinners hit theatres (April 18), the movie’s exploration of Black and Irish music helped attune consumer’s ears to the Gaelic-esque, “pirate” inflections in Big Ro6’s tone on “Decisions.” On May 2, Big Ro6 dropped the track’s official music video, gifting people a visual to attach to their social media posts about the song. By May 14, TikTok user @kye.phlow started a dance challenge with a video that has since earned over 85,500 views. Nicknamed a “hood shanty” and “pirate rap,” “Decisions” has been inescapable across social media – and that’s showing in its streaming totals.
According to Luminate, “Decisions” earned 121,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the week of May 2-8. By the following week (May 9-15), that figure exploded by 713% to over 986,000 streams. The first weekend post-music video release (May 9-12), the song pulled 119,000 streams. That figure boomed by over 1,176% to over 1.5 million streams the following weekend (May 16-19).
With musicians like Morray hopping on the dance trend, “Decisions” could very well continue its streaming ascent. – KYLE DENIS
Waking Up ‘Tomorrow’: Weeknd Film Boosts Streams for Album Tracks
Four months after The Weeknd unveiled Hurry Up Tomorrow — his first album since 2022’s Dawn FM, which still stands as the biggest No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 chart so far this year — the pop superstar released a companion film of the same name last weekend. Co-starring Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan, the full-length feature finds The Weeknd portraying a fictionalized version of himself in a psychological thriller that he also co-wrote and co-produced.
After the project hit theaters last Friday (May 16), some of the album tracks featured in the film benefited on streaming services: the title track, for instance, earned 294,000 U.S. official on-demand streams in the film’s first four days of release (May 16-19), up 42% from the same four-day period during the previous week, according to Luminate. “Gasoline” experienced an even bigger bump, up 48% from 152,000 streams from May 9-12 to 226,000 streams from May 16-19. While “Timeless,” The Weeknd’s hit single from the album alongside Playboi Carti, is back in the top 20 of the Hot 100 this week — helped by its new Doechii-featuring remix — these streaming bumps give him a few more options for follow-up singles as the Hurry Up Tomorrow campaign continues. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Bankroll Ni Notches ‘ATL’ Another Viral Rap Hit
Between Yung LA’s “Ain’t I” and BunnaB’s “Bunna Summa,” Atlanta rap is having a moment on TikTok. ATL Mc Bankroll Ni is continuing that trend with the aptly titled “I’m So ATL.”
Aided by a simple dance trend that compiles moves from other 2025 dances and finds users “swimming” and “eating,” “I’m So ATL” has quickly taken over socials, with everyone from Latto and Da Brat hopping on the trend. Originally released on April 18, the song pulled 94,000 official on-demand U.S. streams in its first week of release (April 18-24), according to Luminate. The following week (April 25-May 1), streams rose over 200% to 285,000 streams, and the week after that (May 2-8), they jumped a further 90% to over 543,000 streams. During the week of May 9-15, streams for “I’m So ATL” — which apparently refers to both the city of Atlanta and the phrase “about that life” — rose another 51% to over 822,000 streams, making for a 771% lift in streams over the past four weeks.
Although the official TikTok sound is currently down, “I’m So ATL” is sure to continue its TikTok domination through unofficial sounds. – KD
DaBaby has won a court order tossing out assault and battery claims over a 2022 brawl with the brother of his ex-girlfriend DaniLeigh, though the rapper could still be on the hook financially as the case continues against a bowling alley where the attack allegedly occurred. Los Angeles County judge Huey P. Cotton released an […]
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard Hot 100 dated May 31, we look at the chances of “Lose Control” to set a record for chart endurance – if it can fend off a swarm of new Morgan Wallen chart hits, one of which may debut at No. 1.
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Teddy Swims, “Lose Control” (Warner): It’s been a staggering 91 weeks and counting on the Hot 100 for Teddy Swims’ crossover soul ballad “Lose Control.” Since the song debuted on the chart in August of 2023 (!!), it’s topped both the weekly chart (in March 2024) and the year-end Hot 100 (for all 2024), won a pair of Billboard Music Awards, and even been succeeded by another pair of top 40 hits in “The Door” and “Bad Dreams.” But all the while, “Lose Control” has lingered on the chart, scarcely losing momentum – and this week (on the chart dated May 24), spends a record-extending 62nd week inside the top 10, holding at No. 7.
This week also sees “Lose Control” tie Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” for the longest total stay on the entire chart – and given its still-lofty position, it would seem a near-foregone conclusion that it would go on to break that mark next frame with a 92nd week. Complicating things, however, is the man who’s been most unmissable on the Billboard charts this decade: country superstar Morgan Wallen, whose new album I’m the Problem was released on Friday (May 16). Seven tracks from the album already appear on the Hot 100 this week – five of them in the top 25 – but the set’s full 37-track drop could add as many as 30 extra songs to the mix, some of them likely quite high.
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Could the new Wallen swarm really push “Lose Control” all the way off the chart? Well, it only would have to push it out of the top 25 – since the song has already spent over a year on the chart, Billboard‘s rules about recurrent entries on the Hot 100 mean that it would drop off the listing entirely if it dropped to No. 26 or lower. But since “Control” is still No. 7 this week, that would still take a mighty showing from Wallen’s latest – likely requiring about half the 37-track album to outperform it on the chart next week. A tall ask, and with the relatively steady radio and streaming support for “Lose Control,” it might not end up having too much of a Problem with Wallen after all.
Morgan Wallen, “Just in Case,” “What I Want” (with Tate McRae), “I’m the Problem” (Mercury/Big Loud/Republic): Even if he doesn’t crowd Teddy Swims out of the Hot 100 top 25 next week, Wallen should launch his fair share of entries into the top 10 – including a couple that may be contending for No. 1. “Just in Case,” which debuted at No. 3 in April and sits at No. 11 this week, may be the frontrunner, as it has roosted at No. 2 on both Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA and Apple Music’s real-time chart for most of the week following I’m the Problem’s release — and is also growing significantly in radio play, as Wallen’s latest single being promoted to country radio was up to 9.4 million in airplay audience for the first four days of this tracking week (May 16-19), according to Luminate, after debuting at No. 47 on the most recent Radio Songs listing.
It should receive some serious competition from albummate “What I Want,” however – Wallen’s duet with Tate McRae, marking the first time he’s sung with a female artist on an officially released track. While the brand-new collab is unsurprisingly slower-going on radio in its first week, it also is the lone song ranking above “Just in Case” on both Spotify and Apple Music this week. If it debuts in the Hot 100’s top two, it will mark the highest-ranking hit of Tate McRae’s career – with “Greedy” holding her previous high-water mark with its No. 3 peak in early 2024.
Also not to be counted out: the I’m the Problem title track, which is currently the highest-charting of Wallen’s eight Hot 100 entries, rating at No. 6 in its 15th week on the chart (after debuting at No. 2 back in February). The song also ranks in the top five on both the aforementioned DSP charts, while remaining Wallen’s top-performing song on radio – likely topping Country Airplay for a sixth week next frame, and holding in the top 15 on the all-format Radio Songs ranking.
Kendrick Lamar & SZA, “Luther” (pgLang/Interscope/ICLG) & Alex Warren, “Ordinary” (Atlantic): The two songs that have been duking it out for No. 1 on the Hot 100 the past couple weeks – with “Luther” thus far reigning victorious – will likely find themselves on the undercard for the Hot 100 title fight next week following the waterfall of Wallen entries. However, as those I’m the Problem songs inevitably recede some in week two, Alex Warren and Kendrick Lamar & SZA could be back in the main event the week after. In the meantime, “Ordinary” should continue to close the all-important airplay gap, as it is up 21% in radio audience for the first four days of the tracking week (May 16-19) to 20.9 million, while “Luther” is down 3% to 35 million.
Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) teamed up with YoungBoy Never Broke Again for their long-rumored collaboration “Alive.”
The distorted track has yet to hit streaming services, as West released “Alive” through his Instagram on Wednesday (May 21). “ALIVE YE X NBA YoungBoy YZY SZN 10,” he wrote in the caption.
Production-wise, “Alive” sounds like it could be from the same family tree as Yeezus standout “New Slaves,” free of drum kicks and snares. “This that n—a been stealin’ the swag, they know damn well they ain’t invent/ This that n—s ain’t rich, they broke, want a blessing and they ain’t even repent,” Ye raps on the opening verse.
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“Alive” samples DJ Swamp Izzo’s version of “Alive,” which is featured as part of Playboi Carti’s “Crank” track.
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YoungBoy takes the baton and aims at his detractors. “I’ll put the b—h on and blick ’em, them youngins gon’ load up and get ’em, they catch em and stretch ’em/ .223, it ain’t missin’ a beat, we gon’ pray up to Heaven and step in eleven,” he spews.
NBA YoungBoy has long been a fan of West and shown his support to Ye over the years on tracks like 2022’s “This Not a Song, This for My Supporters,” which finds him telling Ye to stand his ground. “It hurt my heart that Kanye let them people break his soul/ How the f— that go? N—a, stay in yo’ home!/ N—a, hold your ground! You strong,” he raps in support of the embattled star.
YB also previewed an unreleased song in November 2023, which featured a sample of West’s 2010 My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy single “Power.”
“RIP to the Donda, now I’m the biggest scholar,” YoungBoy rhymes. “I got my own playlist, I say Kanye’s better.”
West has been entrenched in various controversies over the last few months, as he’s spewed anti-semitic and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric on his social media platforms. Ye’s concert slated for South Korea on May 31 was cancelled due to “recent controversies” surrounding the rapper.
Yeezy also claimed that his controversial “Heil Hitler“ song was banned from DSPs after attempting to release the track earlier in May. He even walked off the set of an appearance on Piers Morgan’s Uncensored show earlier this month, within minutes of the sit-down.
Listen to “Alive” below.
Marenostrum Fuengirola, one of the most important live music series in southern Spain, has just become the first of its kind to obtain the Carbon Footprint Certificate for Events, awarded by AENOR (Asociación Española de Normalización y Certificación, or the Spanish Association for Standardization and Certification)
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The recognition, which highlights the festival’s 2024 efforts, comes right as the Marenostrum celebrates its 10th anniversary with its biggest and most ambitious edition yet — featuring a lineup of over 100 artists — while doubling down on its growing commitment to sustainability.
“Achieving this milestone is a recognition of all the work Marenostrum Fuengirola has been doing since the beginning when it comes to sustainability, environmental responsibility, and supporting the community around the venue,” Daphne Martínez, the festival’s head of sustainable development goals, tells Billboard Español. “For us, it’s one of our most important pillars.”
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Born in 2016 as an initiative by the Fuengirola City Council to boost cultural tourism in the city, Marenostrum Fuengirola has grown year after year to become one of the standout events of the summer music scene in Spain. The concerts take place from late April to mid-September at Castillo Sohail, a 10th-century fortress located by the sea in Fuengirola, Málaga province.
Over time, Marenostrum has established itself as a must-stop on the country’s concert circuit, attracting big names like Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Bob Dylan, Santana, Rod Stewart, and Bizarrap, along with more than 880,000 attendees. The ambitious 2025 edition spans genres from pop and electronic music to classic rock, flamenco, and reggaetón, with confirmed artists including Maná, Leiva, Ozuna, Chayanne, Lionel Richie, Bonnie Tyler, Thirty Seconds to Mars, and Juan Luis Guerra, among others.
Since 2019, Marenostrum eliminated single-use cups and became the first venue in its category to be free of disposable plastics. In its 2024 edition, it became the first music event in Spain to officially measure and offset its carbon footprint — a recognition granted by AENOR after verifying the impact of its emissions throughout the season — and doubled down on its efforts with initiatives like using 100% renewable fuels for its main generators, solar panels to power areas of the venue, and solar-powered mobile charging stations.
Additionally, the festival plants its own “Marenostrum Forest” every year as part of its emissions offset plan, and this year, even the staff wristbands were made from recycled ocean plastic.
“We hope this experience serves as a reference for other venues because environmental responsibility is a shared concern across the entire sector,” Martínez says. “We need to strengthen responsible practices with certifications like these, not just good intentions, contributing to the preservation of the environments where we carry out our activities.”
Live Nation has elected acting Kennedy Center president and Donald Trump ally Richard Grenell to its board of directors, according to a recent disclosure from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Grenell was appointed to run the federally owned performing arts center in February following a Trump-led shakeup that saw the President appoint himself chairman of […]
