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02 Jun 2023

Kid Cudi Is ‘The Best Daddy’ Ever After Scoring Taylor Swift Tickets for His Teen Daughter

Kid Cudi is in the running for the father of the year award — at least, according to his 13-year-old daughter, Vada Mescudi. On Friday (June 2), Cudi shared a sweet text his daughter sent him after he was able to get her and her closest friends tickets to Taylor Swift‘s The Eras Tour.

“THANK YOU SO MUCH DADDY! YOUR THE BEST DADDY I COULD EVER WISH FOR! IM SO EXCITED I LOVE YOU SO SO SO SO MUCH!!,” she wrote, adding a red heart emoji. Cudi replied with a double row of crying-face emojis.

“Got Vada some Taylor Swift tix for her and her friends. This is the message I got. Man, shes never said this to me ever before,” he captioned the screenshot of his and Vada’s exchange on Twitter.

He continued and thanked the pop star for assisting him with scoring tickets. “Taylor thank u for being a great role model for my daughter. U got me the best text from her ever. THANK U so much for helpin out w the tix, ima hero because of you. Love!!” he wrote, adding #VadaIsASwiftie.

The sweet message comes after Swift expanded The Eras Tour to include stops in Latin America. “Really thrilled to tell you this!!” the pop star wrote in a post to her social media accounts. “Mexico, Argentina and Brazil: We are bringing The Eras Tour to you this year!”

See Cudi’s text exchange with his daughter in the Twitter post below.

02 Jun 2023

LIT Killah, Daddy Yankee & More: What’s Your Favorite New Latin Music Release? Vote!

This week, our New Music Latin roundup — a compilation of the best new Latin songs and albums recommended by Billboard‘s Latin and Billboard Español editors — is powered by new music from Daddy Yankee, Young Miko and Gocho, to name a few.

To everyone’s surprise, Daddy Yankee came out of retirement to drop a new collaboration with newcomer Omar Courtz (who he discovered on Instagram) for a summer-ready track called “BEACHY.” Co-written by Yankee, Courtz, Justin Quiles, and BCA, the song — part of the upcoming LEGENDADDY Goat Edition album — narrates the story of a girl who’s getting tanned at the beach and enjoying the sun while she’s living her best single life. The single, produced by Yankee, Dimelo Flow, BK, and PM, fuses reggaetón with Afrobeats, backed by Yankee’s signature sugary vocals and Courtz’s raspier tones.

Another rising act, Young Miko, also teamed up with reggaeton veterans Jowell y Randy on “ID.” With flirty, NSFW lyrics, the collab meshes reggaeton, reggae, and hard-hitting perreo melodies. 

A notable release this week is “Los Del Espacio,” an infectious cumbia-reggaeton track released by eight of Argentina’s hottest names right now: Lit Killah, Emilia, Duki, Maria Becerra, Rusherking, FMK, Tiago PZK, and Big One. “In slow motion/ You stuck with me and you didn’t realize/ That tonight I let you go’/ I know it tempts you,” says part of the chorus of the catchy song written by the octet of friends and produced and mastered by Big One. 

Additional releases this week include Francisca Valenzuela’s heartfelt pop ballad “¿Dónde Se Llora Cuando Se Llora?;” Gocho’s first solo project in eight years, a six-track EP titled No Soy el Mismo (Lado A); Sky Rompiendo’s adventurous “Cielo” with Feid and Myke Towers; Nico Hernández and Pipe Bueno’s “Una Noche;” Los Aptos and Cuco’s whirling love-letter ballad “Miel;” and many more. 

Last week, the new generation of Menudo and their single  “Feelin’” won the poll with over 54 percent of the votes. What’s your favorite new Latin music release this week? Vote below!

02 Jun 2023

HHW Gaming: Meta Unveils New $500 Meta Quest 3 VR Headset Coming This Fall

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Meta Quest 3 Will Cost $500 & Arrives This Fall

Source: META / Meta Quest 3

Meta is still in the VR business and has a new Meta Quest 3 headset on the way.

Quiet as kept, the Meta Quest 2 was the best VR headset on the market. Meta is promising the Meta Quest 3 will build off that promising better performance, new mixed-reality features, and a much more comfortable and sleeker design.

The Meta Quest 3 will start at  $500 for the 128GB model. A 256GB model is in the works, and the price will be announced at a later date.

The new headset boasts a smaller design, and that doesn’t mean a sacrifice on the power department. The Meta Quest 3 is 40% slimmer than the previous model and sports three large camera sensors on the front of it, making the Meta Quest 3 stand out from any other.

The controllers, Touch Plus, also receive an upgrade and have a much more compact design while boasting advanced tracking and haptics that owners of Meta’s $1000 Meta Quest Pro enjoyed.

Speaking of the Meta Quest Pro, the Meta Quest 3 will also support Meta Reality, a feature previously exclusive to the Quest Pro. Meta Reality allows users to merge the real world with the virtual one, allowing you to use your dining room table as a battlefield or project a large map on the floor.

If you upgrade from an older Quest model, you can bring all your games and other software because it will all be fully compatible with the Meta Quest 3.

The Meta Quest 2 Is Getting A Price Cut

With the addition of the Meta Quest 3 to Meta’s growing family of VR headsets, the Meta Quest 2 is receiving a substantial price cut and will now only cost $300 for the 128GB model and $350 for the 256GB model.

Both models will also receive a power boost through an update that sees the Quest 2 and Quest Pro internals get a boost. Meta says users of both headsets can expect 26% better processing performance and 19% better graphics performance, plus Dynamic Resolution Scaling allowing for a more smooth and more consistent VR experience.

So basically, if you have been on the fence about VR, this seems like the perfect opportunity to dive in.

The Quest 3 arrives sometime in the fall, pre-orders have not begun, but you can sign up for notifications about the VR headset.

You can head here if you want to know what new games are coming to the Quest 3.

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Photo: META / Meta Quest 3

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02 Jun 2023

A Look at Tina Turner’s Country Music Moments

Iconic entertainer and eight-time Grammy winner Tina Turner died at age 83 at her home in Switzerland on Wednesday (May 24).

Her debut on the Billboard charts came in 1960 as part of Ike & Tina Turner, when “A Fool in Love” debuted at N. 10 on the Hot R&B Sides chart, ultimately reaching No. 2 on that chart. The duo earned 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including their enduring version of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary,” which reached No. 4. As a solo artist, Turner would earn hits including “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)” and “I Don’t Wanna Fight.” Turner also twice became a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame–as half of Ike and Tina Turner (in 1991) and as a solo performer (in 2021).

But when Turner launched her solo career with 1974’s Tina Turns the Country On!, this native of Brownsville, Tennessee (born Anna Mae Bullock in 1939) proved she also had plenty of country influence. The album included covers of songs by Hank Snow, Dolly Parton and more genre greats. The album came out the same year that The Pointer Sisters introduced their Grammy-winning hit “Fairytale” onstage at the Grand Ole Opry, and as Charley Pride continued a mighty streak of No. 1 country hits, opening doors for Black artists in country music — and also just over a decade after Ray Charles reimagined country classics on his indelibly influential Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music in 1962.

Though Turner never earned a hit on the Billboard country charts, her pop solo breakthrough came in 1984 with her album Private Dancer, which contained signature hits like “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and the album’s title track. Here, however, we look at some of Turner’s most memorable country music moments.

02 Jun 2023

Olivia Rodrigo Fans React to Cryptic Countdown Clock

2023 is looking a lot less Sour for Olivia Rodrigo.

The 20-year-old Grammy winner surprised fans on Friday (June 2) by sending out an email featuring a countdown clock to June 30, which can also be seen on the homepage of her website.

While the “Happier” singer didn’t reveal exactly what will be arriving when the timer runs out, she’s been teasing the follow-up to her 2021 debut album, Sour, for a while. Back in January, Rodrigo told fans she was back in the studio working with producer Dan Nigro by sharing a brief video in which she’s seen grooving along to Nigro playing the playing, writing in the caption: “working on so many new songs I’m excited to show u. Thank u for everything.”

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Rodrigo’s Sour album went to No. 1 upon its release, spending five weeks at the summit of the Billboard 200 albums chart in 2021, and featured the Hot 100 No. 1s “Drivers License” and “Good 4 U,” as well as viral fan-favorite hits including “Traitor” and “Favorite Crime.”

When celebrating the album’s two-year anniversary in May, Rodrigo also “pinky” promised that her sophomore album “is so so so so so close to being done.”

Of course, when fans received the countdown clock in their inboxes, they flooded Twitter with excitement over a potential new album era. See their thoughts below.

02 Jun 2023

Grandmaster Flash Receives Honorary Music Degree At Lehman College

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The 2023 NAMM Show

One of the culture’s most preeminent pioneers was celebrated in his hometown this week. Grandmaster Flash has received an honorary degree from Lehman College. 

As per HipHopDX, the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame member graced the stage at the educational intuition but not behind the turntables. On Thursday, June 1 he attended Lehman College’s 2023 Spring Commencement Ceremony. He was joined by former New York State Rep. José Rivera where both of them received honorary degrees; the DJ received his honorary doctorate in Music.

See an Instagram post here.

Grandmaster Flash spoke to the graduating class and made sure to credit the Bronx for placing him at the birthplace of Hip-Hop.

“We from the Bronx — we are starters, we are finishers, we are very, very important” he stated. “And I must tell you, young people, as you go out into the world, you will probably do what I did… [and] [make] mistakes. I cannot tell you how many mistakes I made before the technique finally came into fruition. I say to young people, as you leave here, you will scrape your knees, [that’s] guaranteed, but we Bronx people, we go hard.”

He closed his speech by saying that this degree is his most special accolade because it was bestowed to him in the Bronx and from a Bronx institution. You can see the ceremony below.

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Photo: Daniel Knighton / Getty

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02 Jun 2023

Kanye West Placed Craigslist Ad To Locate Yeezy Brand Interns

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Kanye West on FOX News

Source: FOX News / Youtube

Even with the fashion world turning its back on him due to his MAGA ways and antisemitic views, Kanye West isn’t giving up on his designer dreams. But finding people to help him create brand new attire might be problematic, as he resorted to Craigslist to recruit help for his Yeezy brand.

Highsnobiety is reporting that Yeezus is combing through online applicants on Craigslist, and has even taken to his social media page to gauge interest from potential “interns” who might want to help him get his Yeezy brand back on track with promises of “a future in clothing food and shelter.”

See the Instagram ask here.

So tempting.

Kanye’s team went to Craigslist to conjure up interest from potential applicants who are already experienced in the field of graphic design along with photography, photo editing, pattern making, social media, warehouse logistics, apparel manufacturing, and product development.

Any one-man army familiar with all these fields will be rewarded handsomely with an hourly wage of $16.04 an hour. You’re basically going to be an “intern” who’s getting paid cents above minimum wage to run an entire company. That’s so Yeezy.

Back in the day, people would’ve been falling over themselves to be a part of the Yeezy team. A simple ask online and by word-of-mouth would’ve gotten the job done, but after everything he’s done over the past year, Ye’s name alone has become toxic to millions of people.

The posting comes on the heels of adidas successfully selling off its remaining Yeezy sneakers this past week in which users of the company’s adidas CONFIRMED app were able to enter raffles for Yeezy Boosts, Slides, and Foam Runners.

While most people have sworn off Yeezy products after Kanye went “Death Con 3” on the Jewish community late last year, sneakerheads and resellers haven’t and went in on the app for Yeezy Day 2023.

Seeing that there’s still a niche for his attire out in the general public, Ye might feel emboldened to continue to drop new clothing and footwear to his millions of adoring fans. The thing is, will they still gobble up his merchandise without the co-signature of big-time brands like Nike and adidas?

Highsnobiety reports:

Maybe Ye’s new interns will help him reconstruct those since-destroyed YEEZY shelters, though. Better than living in the past.

But worth working 40+ hours a week at just over minimum wage? You’d think not but, then again, remember that Ye’s fans have stuck with him through hate speech and social media meltdowns. A little cheap labor is presumably a small ask.

Those interns will more than likely be helping rebuild Yeezy shelters on their lunch break after figuring out warehouse logistics and before breaking down apparel manufacturing.

That being said, don’t be surprised if hundreds of people apply for the position, as Kanye still does have a devoted fanbase for whom he can do no wrong. They may come with MAGA hats and Swastika tattoos, but they’ll come.

What do y’all think of Kanye West recruiting interns for his Yeezy brand via Craigslist? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Photo: Fox News/YouTube

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02 Jun 2023

Iam Tongi Earns His First Billboard No. 1 After ‘American Idol’ Coronation

Newly crowned American Idol winner Iam Tongi sends a pair of songs onto Billboard’s Rock Digital Song Sales chart (dated June 3), paced by his original track “I’ll Be Seeing You,” which soars in at No. 1.

The song bows with 11,000 downloads sold May 19-25, according to Luminate.

It’s followed by his cover of ABBA’s “The Winner Takes It All,” which debuts at No. 19 with 2,000 sold. The song jumps 559% in sales; he initially made it available for download in March and performed it during the ABC competition’s top 20 episode in April.

“I’ll Be Seeing You” also debuts at No. 2 on the all-format Digital Song Sales survey.

In all, Tongi’s catalog so far moved 17,000 downloads May 19-25, a 1,899% boost from 1,000 sold May 12-18. His songs “Trust Me,” “Gone,” “Dreams” and “Efiafi,” the latter featuring Manatau Tuifua, all also accumulated 1,000 paid downloads apiece in that span.

“I’ll Be Seeing You” additionally opens on a pair of multimetric Billboard charts, at Nos. 19 and 23 on Hot Rock Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, respectively. In addition to its sales, the song earned 911,000 official U.S. streams.

Tongi, 18, won the latest season of American Idol May 21, becoming the first Pacific Islander champion in the show’s history, dating its launch on Fox in 2002. He auditioned with a cover of James Blunt’s 2019 song “Monsters” and performed it with Blunt on the finale; sparked by their duet, Blunt’s “Monsters” bounds back onto Digital Song Sales at No. 3 with 10,000 sold, up 925%. It debuted at No. 3 with 9,000 sold in March, then fueled by Tongi’s audition.

02 Jun 2023

Morgan Wallen’s ‘Last Night’ Becomes His First Pop Airplay Chart Top 10

Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” rolls up a fifth week atop Billboard’s Country Airplay chart – and becomes his first top 10 on the Pop Airplay tally.

The song holds in the Country Airplay penthouse (on the tally dated June 10) with 33.4 million audience impressions (down 1%) May 26-June 1, according to Luminate. It’s the second of Wallen’s nine No. 1s to rule for five weeks or more, after “You Proof” dominated for a record 10 frames beginning last October.

“Last Night” is also just the sixth song so far in the 2020s to top Country Airplay for at least five weeks. It joins “You Proof”; Bailey Zimmerman’s “Rock and a Hard Place” (six weeks starting this April); Dustin Lynch’s “Thinking ‘Bout You” featuring MacKenzie Porter (six, 2021-22); and Luke Combs’ “Forever After All” (six, 2021) and “Better Together” (five, 2021).

Also a crossover hit, “Last Night” rises to No. 10 on Pop Airplay, becoming Wallen’s first top 10 on the chart. He previously reached No. 16 on the list in December with “Wasted on You” and No. 22 in August 2020 as featured on Diplo’s “Heartless.”

As previously reported, “Last Night” has topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks (with Wallen at the start of 2023 having fueled country’s share of Hot 100 top 10s to its highest level in more than a decade).

He continues to chart two songs in the Country Airplay top 10, as the title track to his album One Thing at a Time holds at No. 9 (18.9 million, up 3%).

Start of ‘Summer’

Brian Kelley’s “See You Next Summer” (Nashville South/Big Machine) marks the week’s highest entrance — and his first solo entry — on Country Airplay, at No. 29 with 4 million in audience. The song was released May 26 and received hourly plays that day on participating iHeartMedia stations.

Florida Georgia Line — the duo of Kelley and Tyler Hubbard — has banked 16 Country Airplay leaders, among 19 top 10s. (The act is on hiatus.)

Hubbard’s “Dancin’ in the Country,” meanwhile, holds at its No. 2 Country Airplay high, with 28.7 million impressions (down 10%). The song became his second solo top 10, after “5 Foot 9” topped the chart for a week last November.

02 Jun 2023

Friday Dance Music Guide: The Week’s Best New Tracks From LSDXOXO, Nelly Furtado & Dom Dolla, Mura Masa & More

This week in dance music: Gorillaz announced The Getaway tour with support from Kaytranada and more, Flume and Confidence Man scored nominations for Australia’s 2023 AIR Awards, the ladies of Icona Pop penned a letter to the LGBTQ community to mark the dawn of Pride month, David Guetta tied Calvin Harris for the most ever No. 1s on Billboard‘s Dance Mix Show/Airplay chart, friends and associates of late disco pioneer Sylvester shared their recollections of the legend and we ran down the top 65 LGBTQ anthems of all time.

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More, you say? Indeed. Let’s get into it.

LSDXOXO, “Double Tap”

The Artist: The Philly-born, Berlin-based DJ/producer LSDXOXO

The Label: F.A.G. / Because Music

The Spiel: After official remixes for Lady Gaga, Pinkpantheress and Shygirl, along with a May residency at BBC Radio 1, LSDXOXO keeps swinging for the fences with the deeply euphemistic “Double Tap.” On it, he minces no words while demanding “think about my face when you touch it” over squelchy electro production and urgently hypnotic synths, which all builds to a state of frenzied seduction. The track is the lead single from LSDXOXO’s forthcoming Delusions Of Grandeur EP, coming September 22.

The Artist Says: “Delusions of Grandeur was created as a bridging of worlds for what people know my sound to be and what it will become over the span of my next few projects. Electroclash and ’90s vocal rave have always been some of my biggest musical inspirations, but I’ve allowed those influences to take a front seat in the crafting of this EP … The title of this project speaks to my personal tug of war with the concept of celebrity. I’m quite the introvert, and up to this point have used my artistic persona as a sort of costume or even armour in order to navigate the heightened visibility.”

The Vibe: Definitely not introverted.

Barry Can’t Swim, “Woman”

The Artist: Scottish upstart Barry Can’t Swim

The Label: Ninja Tune

The Spiel: The lead single form BCS’ forthcoming debut album, When Will We Land, “Woman” is a warm breeze of a house track built from insistent piano, shimmery flourishes, a bit of choral singing and anchoring vocals from English singer Låpsley.

The Artist Says: “I wanted it to have the energy of electronic music but also with a more organic live element,” Barry says of his forthcoming LP. “I feel like I’m more of a musician than anything else. I’m a producer but I like writing music on instruments.”

The Vibe: Simultaneous levity and depth.

Dom Dolla & Nelly Furtado, “Eat Your Man”

The Artists: Mighty Aussie house producer Dom Dolla, still riding high off his recent MK collab “Rhyme Dust,” and pop goddess Nelly Furtado.

The Label: Three Six Zero Recordings/Sony Music Entertainment

The Spiel: Furtado returns with her first new music in six (!) years, with — yes, ladies and gentlemen — a bonafide club heater. “Eat Your Man” finds Furtado lyrically referencing some of her greatest hits (“Maneater” “I’m Like a Bird”), in a rapidfire flow — “Fly like a bird, I’m taking it home… I’ll eat your man, devour him whole” — over Dolla’s darkly pulsing production, built primarily from a sort of snaky synth and bass far enough into the low end to make your speakers wobble slightly.

The Vibe: Like a bird on a peaktime dancefloor.

DJ Holographic, “Desire”

The Artist: DJ Holographic

The Label: Black Artist Database

The Spiel: We all know what desire feels like, but how does it sound? For Detroit native DJ Holographic, the sonic vibe is seven minutes of a pulsing beat paired with some sort of soft sighing and musings on the nature of romance and intimacy. The experimental (but still very listenable) track is out on Synergy Vol 1, a compilation from Black Artist Database that marks the launch of its new label of the same name and also features track by B.A.D. co-founder Niks, Lyric Hood and more.

The Vibe: Steamy.

Mura Masa, “Drugs”

The Artist: U.K. fav Mura Masa.

The Label: Pond Recordings

The Spiel: Here Peruvian singer Daniela Lalita declares “I don’t do drugs, but with you I do,” over Mura Masa’s breezy, sort of bouncy, indie-leaning production, which itself embodies the pleasure of sometimes breaking your own rules for the right person. The track follows Mura Masa’s April Coachella set and his production work on PinkPantheress and Ice Spice’s global breakout hit “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2.”

The Vibe: Playful and indeed sort of stoney.

Purple Disco Machine, “Bad Company”

The Artists: German powerhouse Purple Disco Machine

The Label: Columbia

The Spiel: Blessedly hitting the same disco + ’80s synth sweet spot as much of his previous output, PDM maintains his streak as simply one of the most fun and unpretentious producers out there, with a track that cooks via loads of cowbell, bells, strings, one big serotonin release of a wind-up and a very camp choreographed dance video, shot on the Venice Beach boardwalk.

The Vibe: Not bad at all.

Holly, “Not In The Mood”

The Artist: Portuguese fav Holly

The Label: ilex Records

The Spiel: Holly has reliably been outputting smart, left of center bass music for years. But the vibe on his new EP, sadness, is also, as the title suggests, often softer and more somber, particularly via the pretty, quite melodic and previously released “Swear I Been Ready” and “Cuento de Vida.” Does the EP still slap though? Yeah it does, with the “Not In The Mood” embodying its titular brush-off sentiment with hectic beats and jittery synths that hit sharp and hard. On social media the producer noted that sadness is the first of “many” EPs he’s got coming in 2023. 

The Vibe: That sort of pissed at the world phase of sadness.