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Joey Bada$$’s war of the words with the West Coast is heating up. The Brooklyn rapper returned fire on what was a busy Monday night (May 19) in hip-hop as Joey directed his attention at Ray Vaughn, Kendrick Lamar and more on his scintillating “My Town” diss track.
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“I’m the real boogeyman, y’all n—-s should be afraid/ Get the general, I’m killing his troops,” he raps while teasing Lamar. “Don’t make me Pulitzer, better be wise because/ I’m dottin T’s and cross your eyes like Whitaker.”
Joey had plenty of smoke for TDE’s Ray Vaughn and sniped at AzChike, who threw his hat into the ring on Monday with his “What Would You Do” diss track.
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“Look, Ray Vaughn was so last week/ Now, I’m hearing s–t about some nigga named ‘Ass Cheek’/ Who wanna be the next victim/ How many Top Dawgs will it take to sick ’em,” Joey spews.
The 30-year-old pays homage to Cam’ron’s “Welcome to New York City” with his own spin on the Big Apple staple to close out the outro.
Kendrick has yet to address Joey’s shots, as the Brooklyn native previously taunted the Compton legend on “The Finals” earlier in May.
Ray Vaughn didn’t waste any time in returning fire on Monday with “Golden Eye,” which finds him rapping over 50 Cent’s classic “Back Down” instrumental.
“Vaughn Wick” jabbed at Joey Bada$$’s relationship with Diddy and claims that there’s a video implicating Joey in crimes with the disgraced Bad Boy mogul. “If you’re standin’ next to Diddy, then you shouldn’t mention dick/ ‘Cause if they ever show that footage, you gon’ have to plead the fifth,” he raps.
The explosives are still seemingly dropping out of the sky every hour as Daylyt returned on Tuesday (May 20), going after Joey on “Ayo.”
The Joey Bada$$ versus the West Coast battle began on New Year’s Day when Joey gritted his teeth on “The Ruler’s Back.” He appeared to reignite the flame last week during the “Red Bull Spiral Freestyle” alongside Ab-Soul and Big Sean.
Monday brought about a barrage of lyrical missiles fired as AzChike, Daylyt, CJ Fly, Kai Ca$h, JaeWon, Joey Bada$$ and Ray Vaughn all exchanged diss tracks.
Find a timeline to keep up with the entire battle below.
Great day in hip hop 🏆 5.19.25 Joey vs. West (21) https://t.co/pptn4lxeYEJoey Bada$$ “The Ruler’s Back” 1.1.25DAYLYT “HIYU” 1.7.25Ray Vaughn “Crashout Heritage” 1.8.25Joey Bada$$ “Sorry Not Sorry” 1.20.25CJ Fly “HIYU Freestyle” 1.27.25DAYLYT “YHRR” 2.3.25Ray Vaughn…— Elliott Wilson (@ElliottWilson) May 20, 2025
On May 20, 2000, Faith Hill’s “The Way You Love Me” hopped two places to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart for its first of four frames in the penthouse. It became the eighth of her nine leaders on the list. The hit was authored by Michael Dulaney and Keith Follesé and produced by […]
Since launching her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour in Brazil earlier this year, Shakira has surprised attendees by inviting a number of fellow hitmakers to join her onstage. From Grupo Frontera, Carlos Vives and Maluma — all three joined her in Latin America — to Wyclef Jean, Alejandro Sanz, Ozuna and Rauw Alejando […]
After speaking out for the first time about her newfound gender identity leading up to new album Virgin, Lorde has announced that the project’s next single will be “Man of the Year,” a track about embracing her own masculinity.
On Monday (May 19), the pop star shared the track’s cover art — a close-up photo of her chest covered by a strip of duct tape, the waistline of her jeans poking out from the bottom of the frame — and wrote on Instagram, “Man Of The Year. An offering from really deep inside me.”
“The song I’m proudest of on Virgin,” Lorde added. “Out next week.”
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“Man of the Year” will mark the second track fans are getting from Virgin, which arrives June 27. The New Zealand native previously released “What Was That” in April, debuting at No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In her Rolling Stone cover story from earlier in May, Lorde opened up about writing “Man of the Year” after stopping her birth control and realizing that her gender felt more fluid than she previously realized. Just before penning the track, she taped her own chest with duct tape — just as it appears on the artwork — in an effort to realize a vision of herself “that was fully representative of how [her] gender felt in that moment,” she told the publication.
“I felt like stopping taking my birth control, I had cut some sort of cord between myself and this regulated femininity,” she continued. “It sounds crazy, but I felt that all of a sudden, I was off the map of femininity. And I totally believed that that allowed things to open up.”
Lorde would later tease “Man of the Year” through her 2025 Met Gala look, wearing a strapless, slate strip of fabric adhered to her chest that mirrored what the song’s cover art would look like. “This is my creation,” she told Vogue‘s Emma Chamberlain on the red carpet at the time. “It’s something of an Easter egg … To me it really represents where I’m at gender-wise. I feel like a man and a woman, kind of vibe.”
The rollout cycle for Virgin — which will follow 2021’s Solar Power — has marked the “Royals” singer’s first time opening up about her broadening gender identity. Though she still prefers “she” and “her” pronouns, she explained to Rolling Stone, “[Chappell Roan] was like, ‘So, are you nonbinary now?’ … I was like, ‘I’m a woman except for the days when I’m a man.’”
Lorde has also shared that overcoming her struggles with an eating disorder — another experience that informed Virgin — allowed her to embrace her true identity. “I had made my body very small, because I thought that that was what you did as a woman and a woman on display,” she recently told Document Journal. “It had the effect of making me [feel] totally ungrounded. I was very weak. I look back now, and I don’t have that same feeling of floating away.”
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For global girl group KATSEYE, being Gen Z isn’t just a generational label — it’s a movement. With members hailing from the Philippines, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States, the six-piece collective represents a bold, boundary-pushing vision of pop that’s deeply rooted in authenticity, individuality, and global unity.
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“We’re very opinionated — and very free,” the group says when asked to describe Gen Z’s energy. “We’ve been conditioned to know who we are from a young age, and that reflects in how we act, how we dress, and what we want to do with our lives.” That confidence, combined with a spirit of openness, makes this generation especially loud — in the best way. “We love that we can express our values and our style. Most of us are super accepting, which is really nice.”
KATSEYE’s latest partnership with Urban Outfitters taps into that same spirit of creative freedom. As the faces of UO’s new “UO Haul” campaign — a back-to-school-inspired activation that includes pop-up experiences, lifestyle “haul” trucks, and a high-energy live performance — they’re spotlighting what it means to be young, expressive, and unapologetically yourself.
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“A big thing about KATSEYE is we love to embrace who we are uniquely — where we come from, the world that we’re in,” the group says. “So partnering with Urban Outfitters for this campaign just made sense for us. One thing we always say is that we’re really connected to our fans.”
“We honestly feel like a lot of our fans are like our best friends,” they continue. “That’s a common thing, especially since we’re all Gen Z. Everyone’s on TikTok, everyone’s on social media — it’s like we don’t even have original experiences anymore because we’re all sharing everything and so connected. So that’s why this collab just felt right for us.”
With three lifestyle-inspired trucks on site — The Pretty Haul, The Pregame Haul, and The Plush Haul —each member gravitated to the one that fit their vibe best. Megan picked a hybrid between Pregame and Plush, saying, “One side for relaxing and one side for turning up.” Lara, Manon, and Daniela aligned with the Pregame Truck’s pre-party energy, while Sophia and Yoonchae chose the cozy comforts of the Plush Haul. “I’m definitely a homebody, and I’m always in bed whenever I can be,” Sophia adds. “I love to relax, snuggle up, watch movies, all of that. So, it really feels like me.”
Urban Outfitters Unveils “UO Haul”: The Back-to-Campus Campaign Built for Gen Z’s Biggest Moves.
Urban Outfitters
When it comes to defining Gen Z style, the group agrees: statement pieces are key. “Gen Z has a lot of flashiness,” they note. “A lot of statement pieces on top of basics.”
The collab also comes at a pivotal time for KATSEYE. The sextet’s debut single “Gnarly” just made its first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, and its upcoming EP, BEAUTIFUL CHAOS, marks a bold evolution from their debut SIS (Soft Is Strong). “It’s definitely very surreal,” the group shares. “We’ve been working insanely hard for almost two years now, and seeing our hard work pay off really motivates us to go harder and do more. We’re just so obsessed with our fans for making that happen for us — we’ve been smiling from ear to ear since we found out.”
The group expressed a newfound maturity as it gears up to release its second EP. “Every song has its own vibe and sounds really different from the others — it’s something we haven’t shown yet.” The members describe the project as “a whole different side of KATSEYE,” reflecting both sonic and personal growth. “We’re maturing a lot, we’re being a little more daring. Literally everything is different — the hair, the styling, the makeup, the music videos,” they explain. “It all feels super authentic to who KATSEYE is right now. We honestly can’t wait to drop it because we just want everyone to hear it.”
As a multicultural group, the six members of KATSEYE’s are redefining what it means to be a global girl group. “Representation has always been one of our biggest missions,” they explain. “We’re representing a lot of underrepresented groups, especially in music and media in general. But specifically in pop music, there aren’t a lot of girls or artists who really look like us.” By blending K-pop and Western pop through their sound and choreography, the group is carving out a unique identity: “There isn’t really a blueprint for KATSEYE—for how we sound, how we look, how we perform — so it’s something we’re building as we go. It’s a very new experience, and we’re kind of painting it alongside our icons.”
Their cultural backgrounds also shape their music and bond. “We’re all able to share this experience of truly representing where we come from — and being proud of that,” they say. Being away from home often, they find comfort and connection in each other, which strengthens their group dynamic. “We get to have moments where a little girl comes up to us and says, ‘Oh my goodness, you look like me,’ and that’s such an emotional experience for all of us. It really brings us together and ties us to the shared goal of KATSEYE and what we wanna do.” The group also plans to continue weaving its multi-cultural sounds into its music, promising that this influence will be even more present in future releases.
At the core of the UO Haul campaign is a connection to the fans, their icons, “Especially because a lot of them are around our age, Gen Z,” the group explains. “The whole thing about going back to school? We relate. It’s something that we understand. We fit the vibe.”
They emphasize that much of what they do is made for people like themselves — because they are the target market: “That’s why we feel like it’s really gonna amplify. It’s reaching the right people, and we’re showing them, ‘Hey, we’re right here with you. We’re doing this for you.’” Fans have told them that they can see themselves in at least one member of KATSEYE, and Urban Outfitters’ versatility makes the partnership a natural fit: “Our visions really, really, really are similar and they reach the same audience and same goal. We’re also big fans.”
When asked if they feel like they’re challenging traditional ideas of what a girl group looks and sounds like, the girls in KATSEYE don’t hesitate. “For sure. We’re always trying to break boundaries and reinvent ourselves,” they say. “There aren’t a lot of groups out there that are KATSEYE-coded — if any. So, that’s definitely intentional for sure.”
As KATSEYE gears up to perform live in New York City on May 20, fans can expect the same signature energy that has defined every one of its performances so far: “We’re performing outdoors in New York, which we’ve never done before. It’s not only going to be a treat for you guys, but also a new experience for us — and those moments are always so exciting.”
“Hopefully it’s not too hot,” I added. But the heat they’re bringing? That’s going to be “Gnarly.”
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Steve Miller is set to become the 2025 recipient of the Les Paul Spirit Award on Monday, June 9, at a private event at the Gibson Garage Nashville. The event will take place on what would have been Paul’s 110th birthday. Miller is the fifth recipient of the award, following Bob Weir (founding member of Grateful Dead), Nile Rodgers, U2‘s The Edge and Peter Frampton.
The annual award, created and presented by the Les Paul Foundation (in partnership with Gibson Gives, the philanthropic division of Gibson), goes to an individual who exemplifies the spirit of the late Les Paul through innovation, engineering, technology and/or music. In addition to the award, a grant from the Les Paul Foundation will be made in the honoree’s name to the charity of his choice.
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“I cannot think of anyone more deserving to be honored with the Les Paul Spirit Award than Steve Miller,” Michael Braunstein, executive director of The Les Paul Foundation, said in a statement. “Not only is he an extraordinary talent and a wonderful friend of the Les Paul Foundation, Steve holds the very distinct title of being Les’ godson. They had a very unique relationship which Les cherished. If anyone understands the ‘spirit’ of Les Paul, it’s Steve.”
The Steve Miller Band’s enduring popularity has been demonstrated twice in the past year. The band’s 1982 hit “Abracadabra” was interpolated in Eminem’s “Houdini,” which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 2024. The band’s hit-laden 1976 album, Fly Like an Eagle, was inducted into the National Recording Registry this year.
Miller had three No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 – “The Joker” (1974), “Rock’n Me” (1976) and “Abracadabra” (1982). He never quite landed a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, but four of his albums – The Joker, Fly Like an Eagle, Book of Dreams and Abracadabra – reached the top three. In addition, Miller’s 1978 compilation Greatest Hits 1974-78 has received a RIAA Diamond Award with U.S. shipments of more than 15 million copies.
Miller was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2016) and the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2022).
Miller and Paul were both signed to Capitol Records in their heydays. They also had a long and personal relationship. Their connection began in Miller’s early childhood in Milwaukee, where his parents frequently attended Les Paul and Mary Ford’s performances. Miller’s father, Sonny, was even the best man at Les Paul’s wedding. A young Steve Miller was introduced to Paul, who gave him his first informal guitar lessons and taught him his first three chords. Miller has often recalled how these early experiences watching Paul perform and receiving personal instruction were pivotal in inspiring his own musical journey. Miller joined Paul on stage at the latter’s 90th birthday concert in New York City in 2005.
The Les Paul Spirit Award is made from hand-carved acoustic boards built by Paul that he used in his home studio. Given the unique nature of the studio pieces that are being used to create them, no two Les Paul Spirit Awards will be exactly the same.
Paul, who died in 2009 at age 94, won Grammys for best instrumental performance in pop, rock and country categories, a sign of his broad influence. He received a trustees award from the Recording Academy in 1983 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early/musical influence in 1988. In addition to his innovations with the guitar, Paul was half of one of the top vocal duos of the 1950s. Les Paul and Mary Ford’s biggest hits were “How High the Moon” and “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be With You).”
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If you’re looking to improve your home audio for cheap, you don’t have to give an arm and a leg for premium sound. Begin with this cinema audio system from LG, especially since it’s on sale for almost 60% off the list price.
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Available on Amazon, the LG S80QR Dolby Atmos Soundbar System is on sale for $446.99 — $650 off its list price. In addition, the home soundbar system has a 4.2 out of 5-star rating from more than 335 of the retail giant’s shoppers.
LG’s home theater soundbar system comes with the soundbar itself, a wireless subwoofer for additional bass and rumble, a pair of wireless rear satellites for surround sound, and wireless hub. It’s a 5.1.3-channel audio set up (five main speakers in the soundbar, one subwoofer and three rear speakers in total) with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio support.
As a result, audio from music, movies, TV shows and video games is bigger, cleaner, crisper and sharper with multiple ports for connectivity options, including HDMI and Bluetooth for pairing smartphones, tablets and laptops.
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Marked down to $446.99 (regularly $1,096.99), the LG S80QR Dolby Atmos Soundbar System is available on Amazon.
Want more? For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best Xbox deals, studio headphones and Nintendo Switch accessories.
Salt-N-Pepa, the legendary Hip-Hop group that amassed several hit songs in the 1980s through the 1990s, is currently fighting for the rights to their master recordings. Salt-N-Pepa filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG), claiming that the label is violating copyright law by not giving the rights back to the group.
The Associated Press reports that Salt-N-Pepa, separately known as Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton, are angling to see the master recordings of their previously released material returned to them, especially as their music has viability in today’s market. Adding to this, many legacy acts are cashing via the ownership of their catalogs.
James and Denton asserted in their filing that they have rights to their music due to the Copyright Act of 1976, which allows artists to do away with previously signed deals and reclaim their master recordings.
This has been an ongoing fight for years after Salt-N-Pepa attempted to regain their master recordings but were rebuffed by UMG. The legal back and forth between the group and the label sparked UMG to remove its musical catalog from DSPs.
“UMG has indicated that it will hold Plaintiffs’ rights hostage even if it means tanking the value of Plaintiffs’ music catalogue and depriving their fans of access to their work,” a portion of the lawsuit read.
Salt-N-Pepa made their debut in 1986 with their album Hot, Cool & Vicious, produced by Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor. The group is also hoping to obtain the rights back to tracks like “Push It,” a song that has been used in movies and commercials several times since its release.
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Elegance. Showmanship. Unmatched flair. Rauw Alejandro made his triumphant return to New York City on Monday night (May 19), kicking off a three-night takeover at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center as part of his Cosa Nuestra tour.
For the Puerto Rican singer, these performances carry deep significance, blending his personal story with the cultural legacy of the city’s Nuyorican community.
“Rauw Alejandro performing Cosa Nuestra live, where it all began, here in the city of New York,” said the man of the night while commanding the stage with superstar swagger. “New York is very special to me, it’s my second home. It’s where my father was born. My grandfather — they came here to work hard, to earn money for their family. Cosa Nuestra was created right here in New York. Tonight is special. This concert is a little bit different from the others.” And he was absolutely right about that.
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The energy in the arena was electric, with fans dressed to the nines per Rauw’s “dress code” for the night — a glam celebration that felt more Broadway than your typical Latin music show. And Rauw’s performance delivered high-octane drama in four acts, crafted like a theatrical masterpiece, at times invoking West Side Story, in others Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” video, to his own arsenal of hits from his new album — “Revolú,” “Déjame Entrar,” “Mil Mujeres” — and even some Rauw classics such as “Tattoo,” “Todo De Ti,” “Desesperados” and more.
The show was filled with imagery that depicted New York’s iconic landmarks and its Latin roots, with the Brooklyn Bridge and the city skyline as a backdrop. With his impeccably tight choreography, tailored and glitzy wardrobe and the vintage muscle car in one notable scene, his homage to the Boricua diaspora was heartfelt and unapologetically vivid — a tribute to resilience, culture and identity.
“New York is a special place, especially for this show, for Puerto Rican culture — for me being Puerto Rican from New York,” said an attendee who looked dapper in vintage-looking slacks and a flat cap. “There’s a lot of history here, a lot of culture, and it’s good to see all the people come together for a special event like this that celebrates us.”
The city is also the cradle of Puerto Rican salsa, the birthplace of the late ‘60s and ‘70s Latin music revolution defined by legends such as the Fania All Stars. That golden era of big-band artistry sparked the vision for Rauw’s Cosa Nuestra album and the theatrical brilliance of the night’s performance — a seamless fusion of tradition and modernity that felt like a love letter to New York’s Puerto Rican roots.
Rauw’s Cosa Nuestra topped Billboard‘s Best Latin Albums of 2024 (Staff Picks), and reached No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart, where it remained at the top for six weeks.
His next stops include Atlanta, Orlando and several dates in Miami before wrapping up his U.S. tour with a four-night series of shows at the iconic Coliseo de Puerto Rico. This summer, he’ll take his Cosa Nuestra tour to Europe.
Federal prosecutors are flatly rejecting Lil Durk’s “false narrative” that they’re unfairly using his lyrics against him, arguing in court filings that the rapper is indicted because of a “brazen murder plot” and not because of his music.
Weeks after the feds removed all musical references from the case, they urged a federal judge Monday to reject Durk’s bid to dismiss the charges, arguing there are still more than enough in the allegations beyond the now-deleted lyrics.
“The indictment charges that defendant directed and financed six hitmen to travel across the country to hunt and kill his rival,” prosecutors write. “Defendant is not on trial for his lyrics or his music; he is on trial because he directed, orchestrated, and financed the brazen murder plot at issue in this case.”
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Durk (Durk Banks) was arrested in October on murder-for-hire and gun charges over allegations that the Chicago drill star ordered members of his Only the Family (OTF) crew to carry out a 2022 attack on rival rapper Quando Rondo (Tyquian Bowman) that left another man (Saviay’a Robinson) dead.
Lawyers for the rapper have argued that prosecutors used the lyrics as “false evidence” to persuade a grand jury to indict him – and his family has spoken out that he’s latest rapper to be “criminalized for their creativity.” The use of rap lyrics as criminal evidence is a controversial practice that has drawn backlash in recent years.
But in Monday’s response, prosecutors call Durk’s arguments “meritless” and “moot” in light of the new indictment with the lyrics removed, which a grand jury also endorsed.
“The [new indictment] makes clear that the grand jury indicted defendant for his conduct, not for his status as a rapper or because of the violent lyrics,” the feds say. “These allegations make clear that defendant used his power, his wealth, and his control over OTF to exact deadly revenge on his rival.”
When Durk was first indicted last year, prosecutors cited lyrics from a song called “Wonderful Wayne & Jackie Boy,” claiming they referenced the shooting: “Told me they got an addy (go, go)/ Got location (go, go)/ Green light (go, go, go, go, go),” Durk raps in the disputed track. “Look on the news and see your son/You screamin’, “No, no” (pu–y).”
But Durk’s lawyers sharply pushed back — arguing that “Wonderful Wayne” could not have referenced the Rondo shooting because the rapper wrote and recorded his verses “seven months before the incident even happened.” In April, prosecutors filed a so-called superseding indictment that removed the lyrics.
Monday’s court filing, while focused on the removal of the lyrics, also strongly defends their use in the first place. The feds say Durk has “repeatedly used his pulpit to promote violence” and that the lyrics bear a striking resemblance to the facts of the case.
“Whether or not defendant’s lyrics about ‘greenlighting’ a rival were written before or after S.R.’s death, the release of the song after the murder gave defendant’s fans fodder to associate him with the murder — a claim that defendant himself seemed to admit during an interview on a popular podcast,” the feds write.
In addition to seeking to dismiss the case, Durk is also continuing to seek pre-trial release. Though it was denied by a magistrate judge earlier this month, his attorneys have indicated they will ask a district judge to reconsider the issue. The rapper is currently scheduled to face trial in October.
