News

25 Jul 2023

Megan Thee Stallion Says She’s ‘Back in That Mode’ in Studio Pic Tease

Less than two months after Megan Thee Stallion said she was taking a break from music to focus on herself, the “Pressurelicious” rapper appears to be back in the lab. According to a screen grab from a recent Instagram Story captured by HipHopDX, on Sunday (July 23) Meg posted a brief boomerang video of herself in the studio in front of a mixing console with the message, “I’m back in that mode Its that time [devil emoji].”

While a spokesperson for Meg had not returned Billboard‘s request for additional comment on the Story or the roll-out plans for her anticipated third studio album at press time, if the rapper is cooking up new tunes it would represent the first fresh music from her since the release of last year’s cathartic Traumazine collection.

In May, the “Savage” MC told InStyle that she’s taking a much-needed break from music to focus on her well-being. “Fans can expect new music when I’m in a better place,” she told the magazine. “Right now, I’m focused on healing…  the music and entertainment industry can be a grind, so it’s important to take time off and avoid burning out. Life is all about balance.” 

Megan has been keeping busy lately, posing in skimpy metallic bikinis, helping Taylor Swift announce the U.S. FIFA Women’s World Cup roster and performing at L.A. Pride in the Park in early June and at the Essence Festival in New Orleans in early July.

The musical hiatus came after Megan testified against Tory Lanez in December during his trial for shooting her in the foot in July 2022, at which she tearfully said, “I wish he had just shot and killed me.” In June, Lanez’s sentencing in the shooting was delayed until August 7; prosecutors are seeking a 13-year prison sentence and Lanez is facing deportation to his native Canada.

Check out HipHopDX’s tweet below.

25 Jul 2023

Taylor Swift Extends Record Run Atop Artist 100, Jason Aldean & Jung Kook Hit Top 10

Taylor Swift spends a record-extending 74th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated July 29), thanks to the second-week success of her latest album Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), plus 10 additional albums on the Billboard 200.

The set spends its second week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 121,000 equivalent album units earned July 14-20, according to Luminate. It’s Swift’s first re-recorded album to spend its first two weeks at the summit.

Further sparking Swift’s Artist 100 reign is 10 additional albums on the chart. This is the second week that Swift has landed 11 albums on the Billboard 200. A week ago, she became just the third act — and first woman — to chart at least 11 albums in a single week, following The Beatles and Prince.

Also for a second week, Swift has four albums in the chart’s top 10. A week earlier, she became the first living artist to chart four albums in the top 10 simultaneously since 1966.

Here’s a recap of Swift’s current Billboard 200-charting titles.

Rank, Title:

  • No. 1, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
  • No. 5, Midnights
  • No. 7, Lover
  • No. 10, Folklore
  • No. 18, Red (Taylor’s Version)
  • No. 19, 1989
  • No. 21, reputation
  • No. 23, Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
  • No. 38, Evermore
  • No. 67, Speak Now
  • No. 138, Taylor Swift

On the Billboard Hot 100, Swift charts eight songs: “Cruel Summer” (No. 8), “Karma” featuring Ice Spice (No. 11), “Anti-Hero” (No. 19), “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” (No. 33), “Enchanted (Taylor’s Version)” (No. 65), “Back to December (Taylor’s Version)” (No. 76), “Mine (Taylor’s Version)” (No. 81) and “Sparks Fly (Taylor’s Version)” (No. 95).

Among other Artist 100 chart moves, Jason Aldean vaults 100-3, powered by his single “Try That in a Small Town,” which debuts at No. 2 on the Hot 100, becoming his highest charting song. The song’s profile was boosted after CMT’s decision to pull the its official video after three days in rotation. The removal prompted a surge in sales and streams for the song, which finished the tracking week with 11.6 million official U.S. streams and 228,000 downloads sold. The sales sum is the largest weekly total for a country song since Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise,” featuring Nelly, sold 244,000, as reflected on the charts dated July 6, 2013. (Aldean has ed the Artist 100 for three weeks, one each in 2014, 2016 and 2018.)

BTS’ Jung Kook re-enters the Artist 100 at No. 5 (after he had reached a prior No. 47 high), thanks to his new song “Seven” featuring Latto. The collab debuts at No. 1 on the Hot 100, as he becomes the second BTS member to score a solo leader, after Jimin with “Like Crazy” in April. (BTS has earned six No. 1s.)

Jung Kook is the sixth member of BTS to reach the top 10 of the Artist 100:

  • No. 1 peak (one week), Jimin
  • No. 3, Suga (as Agust D; as Suga, he reached No. 57)
  • No. 5, Jung Kook
  • No. 6, RM
  • No. 9, j-hope
  • No. 10, Jin

The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.

25 Jul 2023

Woman Who Threw Her Size 36G Bra At Drake Gets Offered ‘Playboy’ Deal

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Lil Baby & Friends Birthday Celebration Concert

Source: Prince Williams / Getty

We all know that everyone loves Drake. But one fan’s love in particular went viral after she went old school with it and threw her bra to the singer during one of his shows at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York just last week.

According to TMZ, 21-year-old Veronica Correia became the talk of the town after she blessed the King of The North with a parting gift and threw her size 36G bra on stage to which Drake jokingly told the crowd, “Locate this woman immediately.” Numbers don’t lie, right?

Locate the woman they did and now she’s getting offers to put her God given assets on display for the world to see, and she just might do it.

TMZ reports:

We spoke with Veronica, who gave us a breakdown of that entire night, particularly the big bra moment … and says Drake’s already responded to one of her posts, but she hasn’t hit the guy back yet.
She also got a DM from Playboy, offering her the chance to join the team in some capacity — an offer it sounds like she couldn’t refuse. For those unaware, Playboy’s done away with its long-running magazines and has switched over to an OnlyFans-style business model. While Veronica hasn’t been that gung-ho for OF, despite getting asked, something about Playboy must’ve called to her.Drake don’t waste no time, b.Check out the moment Veronica changed the trajectory of her life, and sound off in the comments section below.

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25 Jul 2023

Doja Cat Lashes out at ‘Kittenz’ Fanbase, Loses More Than 250K Instagram Followers After ‘Get a Job’ Tirade

Doja Cat is beefing with her Kittenz again. The “Kiss Me More” singer reportedly went on a Twitter spree over the weekend in which she slammed members of her feline fan group over her claims that some were using her “government name” as their screen names.

And, according to social media analysis company Crowdtangle it may have already cost her dearly. Figures provided to Billboard by the Meta-owned company report that Doja lost 237,758 followers on Instagram following her string of since-deleted tweets blasting her fans this weekend, with the total number of lost followers nearing 300,000 over the last 30 days; at press time she still had a robust 25.7 million Instagram followers.

Additionally, Crowdtangle said searches for the rapper’s name spiked by 82% following the series of posts in which Doja reportedly lambasted her fans for calling themselves “kittenz,” while telling them to “get a job”; as a number of followers pointed out, Doja is the one who selected the Kittenz name for her fandom in a 2020 Twitter poll.

According to CNN, Doja seemed angry that fans were calling her by her given name, Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, tweeting at one Kittenz, “You making my government name your sn [screenname] is creepy as f—k,” which was reportedly followed by a message to fans to delete their social media accounts if they insist on continuing to use her birth name; at press time Billboard was unable to independently verify the content of the deleted tweets and a spokesperson for the artist had not returned a request for comment.

The star also reportedly claimed that Kittenz was a term dreamed up by an “alcoholic teen,” adding, “My fans don’t get to name themselves s–t.” That harsh comment was followed up by an even more bruising criticism of her followers, in which she allegedly said, “If you call yourself a ‘Kitten’ or f–king ‘Kittenz’ that means you need to get off your phone and get a job and help your parents with the house.”

One fan responded with a reminder to the 27-year-old singer who dressed up as a cat for this year’s Met Gala that her followers were, “??? only using the name YOU gave your fans.” Another quipped, “Doja being mean to her fans for the word kitten like her name isn’t doja CAT and she wasn’t dressed as a cat and meowed her way through an entire interview a few months ago oh she has lost her mind.”

The singer, who has had a tense relationship with the music industry, recently told V Magazine that one of the reasons it’s taken her so long to follow-up her hit 2021 album Planet Her is that she is tired of making music that is “palatable, marketable and sellable,” while admitting that she’s “thrown fits my whole career” because the music she’s made didn’t allow her to have “mental release.”

In May of this year she appeared to diss Kittenz who were fans of 2021’s Planet Her and 2019’s Hot Pink albums by calling them “cash grabs” featuring “mediocre pop” and taunting, “yall fell for it.”

Check out screenshots of Doja’s deleted tweets and some of the Kittenz’s responses below.

25 Jul 2023

A2IM Appoints 2023 Board of Directors

Zena White, COO of Partisan Records; Beggars Group president Nabil Ayers; Hays Rudolph, general counsel and VP of business and legal affairs at Secretly; and Tony Alexander, president and managing director of Made in Memphis Entertainment (MIME), are among the fresh faces on the American Assn. of Independent Music (A2IM) board.

White, Ayers, Rudolph, Alexander are newly-elected to the board, which oversees the governance of A2IM, represents the not-for-profit organization’s membership at large, and assists in setting the priorities and direction for the organization.

Also announced today (July 25) is A2IM’s executive committee, led by Heather Johnson, director of label operations at FIXT, who is named as chair. Meanwhile, Victor Zaraya, COO of Concord, is appointed as treasurer, and MIME’s Alexander becomes secretary.

“We are so grateful to have such a talented and dedicated group of individuals willing to serve on the 2023/24 board of directors for A2IM,” comments Dr. Richard James Burgess, president and CEO of A2IM. “Their expertise and passion for independent music will play a vital role in shaping the future of our organization and the industry.”

A2IM represents over 600 independent record labels.

Additionally, the trade body welcomes a raft of advisory board members who will lend their expertise and counsel. They include Kristin Epstein (operations director of Screenwave Media), Steve Kline (president/COO of Better Noise Music), Jennifer Newman Sharpe (general counsel and head of business & legal affairs of Exceleration Music), Elliott Peters (senior VP, global business at Empire), Jason Peterson (CEO of Cinq Music/GoDigital Media Group) and Reed Watson (co-owner of Single Lock Records).

“With these new executive committee and advisory board members, we are confident in our ability to advocate for the needs and interests of independent record labels,” adds Burgess. “I am honored to work alongside this exceptional team to support and celebrate the power of independent music.”

Headquartered in New York City, A2IM exists to support and strengthen the independent recorded music sector, and celebrates the scene by organizing the annual A2IM Libera Awards.

A2IM’s current board of directors:

A2IM’s current board of directors:
Tony Alexander – MIME (Made In Memphis Entertainment)
Nabil Ayers – Beggars Group
Mariah Czap – Yep Roc Music Group
Dee Diaz – Reach Records
Wilson Fuller – Merge Records
Mary Jurey – Blue Élan
Heather Johnson – FiXT
Tony Kiewel – Sub Pop
Hays Rudolph – Secretly
Victor Zaraya – Concord
Zena White – Partisan

Advisory board members:
Kristin Epstein – Screenwave Media
Steve Kline – Better Noise Music
Jennifer Newman Sharpe – Exceleration Music
Elliott Peters – Empire
Jason Peterson – Cinq Music/GoDigital Media Group
Reed Watson – Single Lock Records.

25 Jul 2023

Beatport to Award $150,000 in Grants Supporting Diversity & Equality in Dance Music

Beatport on Tuesday (July 25) announced its second annual Diversity + Parity Fund, with which the company will award $150,000 to initiatives that expand diversity and equality in dance music.

The fund will award two kinds of grants: one that awards amounts between $3,000 to $15,000 to smaller organizations consisting of one to three staff members, and one awarding amounts between $15,001 and $30,000 to organizations with more than four staff members. The awards are intended to fund projects such as films, activations, events, record releases and anything else that expands diversity and equality in the electronic music community.

In addition to the financial award, Beatport will offer awardees exposure through editorial and marketing across the company’s social media platforms. Applications for the fund are now open, with the application period open until Aug. 22.

“We believe in the power of music to unite people from all backgrounds, and it is our responsibility to ensure that the music industry reflects the diversity of the world we live in,” Sofia Ilyas, The Beatport Group’s Chief Community Officer, says in a statement. “Through the Diversity + Parity Fund, we are committed to accelerating change and creating a more inclusive and equitable music industry for everyone. We invite other companies in our community to join us in our mission to increase parity and diversity in music.”

This is the second year of the company’s Diversity + Parity Fund, which last year awarded a total of $100,000 to Lady of the House, which offers education and creates community within dance music via books, panels and events, Future Female Sounds, a community platform that provides emerging and established DJs with production skills and networking opportunities and #FORTHEMUSIC, a campaign against sexual harassment and assault in the industry.

25 Jul 2023

Jamie Lee Curtis Helps Promote Offset’s New Music Video

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Jamie Lee Curtis x Offset

Source: Twitter / Twitter

After snatching away an Oscar from our beloved Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis knew she had to do something to get back in the good graces of the culture and as it turns out, Offset might have the answer.

On Monday night (July 24), Offset took to Twitter to promote his upcoming music video which features the Halloween star as the former Migos member recreates a classic James Brown interview from 1988. During an interview on Sonya Live, many viewers witnessed a possibly intoxicated James Brown give the show’s host, Sonya Friedman, a wild interview which Offset does his best to mimic.



After Jamie Lee Curtis asks Offset about his rocky relationship with his wife, Cardi B, Offset goes off the script and avoids answering the question as if he’s not in his right state of mind. He probably wasn’t. Now we all have to wait until July 28th to see the rest of the video and whether or not he addresses the latest controversy his marriage to Cardi B has churned out.

Check out the teaser below and let us know what you expect from Offset come July 28th in the comments section below.

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25 Jul 2023

Brooklyn Public Library Extends Jay-Z ‘The Book of Hov’ Exhibit Into Fall

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the Brooklyn Public Library’s 40,000-square-foot “The Book of Hov” exhibit yet you’re in luck. On Friday, the Library announced that the career-spanning Jay-Z retrospective is now scheduled to run through October. “Stop by any time this summer to see this free exhibit, or plan your visit for the fall,” read a tweet from the institution.

The exhibition opened on July 14 in a splashy premiere that included an A-list group of VIPs, including Questlove, Rakim, Babyface, DJ Khaled, Fat Joe, Yo Gotti and Lil Uzi Vert as well as the guest of honor, wife Beyoncé and their daughter, Blue Ivy.

The good news is that even if you can’t make it, the interactive “Book” website has a chapter-by-chapter recap of the items in the exhibit, with New York radio legend Angie Martinez providing the narration for the special collection whose name is inspired by a lyric from Khaled’s 2022 Grammy-nominated anthem “God Did.”

The exhibition features “archived objects, including original recording masters, never-before-seen photos, iconic stage wear, prestigious awards, and recognitions, as well as videos and artifacts from every facet of Jay-Z’s professional life.” Lyrics from Jigga’s “Sweet” and “Encore” are splashed across the building’s facade, which is made to look like the pages of an open book. In addition, a blue LED cube outside the library plays content from the rapper’s career as a greet to fans entering the building.

Spanning eight sections, rooms such as “Hov Did That” contain a huge collection of career curios, including his 2008 Glastonbury Festival guitar, a hand-written 2009 letter from Frank Sinatra’s daughter and Jay’s 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Award. In addition, “Baseline Studios” is a re-imagination of the space where Hov recorded some of his most famous albums, such as 2000’s The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, 2001’s The Blueprint and 2003’s The Black Album.

No library card is needed to enter and the library has created 13 limited-edition library cards that fans can collect, with each one featuring the cover of one of Jay’s solo albums dating to 1986’s Reasonable Doubt.

See the Library’s tweet below.

25 Jul 2023

Apple Music Spotlights Songwriter Demos With ‘Lost & Found’ Program: Exclusive

Apple Music is launching the new series Lost & Found to spotlight country songwriters and a handful of never-before-released songs. The series features six demos (the “Lost” part) in addition to versions of these songs recorded by established and rising country artists (the “Found” part).

“Need a Favor” and “Son of a Sinner” hitmaker Jelly Roll is the first artist taking part in the program with his version of “Dragging These Roots,” a song written by songwriters Ben Hayslip, Josh Thompson and Jesse Frasure that Apple Music’s team first heard in 2019.

“When Apple Music shared the concept with me, I immediately called Frasure on FaceTime from their listening room to let him know I was definitely cutting the song,” Jelly Roll told Apple Music. “I’m so grateful to Apple Music for shining a light on all these creators and their great artistry.”

“I was so excited to hear this lost song got found by Jelly Roll,” Frasure told Apple Music. “It’s one of my favorites that I’ve co-written, and I was hoping it would eventually get to see the light of day. Having one of my favorite artists and friends, Jelly Roll, be the one to cut it was icing on the cake. We had a great time going into the studio on this one, he’s a truly soulful singer behind the scenes, and he put so much heart into it. I can’t wait!”

Additionally, Apple Music is launching Lost & Found Radio, a monthly companion radio show hosted by singer/songwriter Lori McKenna, who is known for penning hits including Tim McGraw’s “Humble and Kind” and Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush,” and who just released her latest album, 1988. Each of the six Lost & Found Radio episodes will include in-depth background on each song and deep dives into the creative process with each song’s original songwriter(s), studio musicians, producers and the artists recording the songs.

The Lost & Found program will be highlighted Tuesday (July 25) with a live radio episode, beginning at 2 p.m. CT, co-hosted by Apple Music Country host Kelleigh Bannen and featuring songwriters whose works are being featured as part of Lost & Found. A Lost & Found Live Broadcast Special will air Tuesday (July 25) at noon CT.

Lost & Found will also have its own dedicated space on Apple Music where listeners can find playlists for the lost demos, the newfound singles, the Lost & Found Radio show episodes, and playlists from more participating songwriters.

“I’m so thrilled to be a part of this initiative and host the companion radio show on Apple Music Country,” McKenna said in a statement. “Every songwriter has a catalog full of lost songs. It’s exciting that Apple is bringing these almost hits to life and giving some space to these writers, and the stories behind these songs.”

“At Apple Music, we are passionate about celebrating and championing artists and creators,” said Kelleigh Bannen, Apple Music Country’s host. “From advocating for the songwriters, to highlighting the enormous wealth of untapped music, Lost & Found is emblematic of what we do every day, not just here in Nashville, but worldwide. We’re so excited to continue marching towards that mission and look forward to inviting incredible artists to partner with us in unique ways like this.”

25 Jul 2023

Britney Spears Meets Lance Bass’ Children and Dubs Herself a ‘New Auntie’

Britney Spears finally met longtime pal Lance Bass‘ children and she couldn’t be more excited. In a sweet tweet on Monday (July 24), Spears posed with the former *NSYNC member and his 20-month-old twins, Alexander James and Violet Betty, gushing, “I’m a new auntie for Lance’s babies !!! They are absolutely gorgeous babies !!!”

In the side-by-side snaps Britney holds one of the children in her arms — with husband Sam Asghari helping to support the little one — while the other shows her closer up, with a wide smile as she cradles one of the twins while Bass holds the other. Bass and husband Michael Turchin announced the twins’ birth via surrogate in Oct. 2021.

While she’s an honorary auntie, you might recall that in 2021 Bass learned that he’s actually very distantly related to his pop pal. In an episode of Ancestry’s 2 Lies & a Leaf YouTube series the former boy bander was notified that he and Spears are sixth cousins once removed.

The tweet was the first from Spears in several weeks and it was immediately preceded by a playful video with Asghari in which the couple posed in cowboy hats with their dogs, dancing and goofing around to Cardi B’s verse on Latto’s “Put it on Da Floor,” which, of course, shouts out Brit.

The dual tweets are the first updates from Spears since she seemingly deleted her Instagram over the weekend with no explanation. It’s not the first time she’s done that. Spears’ Instagram disappeared in December, at a time when Asghari asked fans to back off on their scrutiny of his wife’s Insta activity. “Social media can be traumatizing,” he wrote at the time. “Sometimes it’s good to take a break. She has her voice and is a free woman.”

Spears went quiet on Instagram just after her new collaboration with Will.i.am, “Mind Your Business,” dropped on Friday (July 21). Surprisingly, the “Piece of Me” singer hasn’t posted about the song on her socials so far, except for a pre-save link on her Instagram Stories last week before her feed went dark.

“Mind Your Business” is the follow-up to Brit’s 2022 Elton John duet, “Hold Me Closer,” which was her’ first new music release since 2016’s Glory album.

See Britney’s baby bash and hat party below.