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01 Jun 2023

Bad Bunny Splashes Into Summer in New Pepsi Commercial: Watch

Bad Bunny has switched gears from global superstar to pool lifeguard in his first-ever Pepsi commercial out today (June 1). 

Directed by Dave Meyers and co-directed by Mia Barnes, with choreography from Sherrie Silver, the 90-second spot shows the Puerto Rican rapper overlooking a community pool where everyone is tired and drained from the summer heat. In an effort to get the vibes going, he discovers that his latest single “Where She Goes” easily turns up the party once a bottle of Pepsi is opened. 

The summer-themed commercial is part of Pepsi’s latest “Press Play On Summer” campaign with Apple Music that offers new and qualified returning subscribers up to three months of free, unlimited listening on the music streaming platform. The campaign, available in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, also includes over 100,000 instant prizes and the opportunity to travel with the purchase of select limited-edition PepsiCo beverages.

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Bad Bunny

Courtesy Photo

“Pepsi has a rich heritage of creating iconic music video style commercials with some of the world’s biggest artists – from Britney Spears to Ray Charles, Madonna to Dr. Dre, Beyonce to Chloe Bailey and so many more,” said Todd Kaplan, CMO of Pepsi, in a statement. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Bad Bunny to the Pepsi family with his very own spot, bringing in all the summer vibes with his newest track ‘Where She Goes.’ This song is already the soundtrack of the summer, so it is a perfect way to kick off our Press Play on Summer program that gives fans up to three free months of Apple Music with every 20oz ice-cold Pepsi.”

Bad Bunny’s Jersey Club-inspired track debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200, becoming his third leader on the chart, after “Un x100to,” with Grupo Frontera, two weeks earlier in May, and “Dakiti,” with Jhay Cortez (now Jhayco), for three weeks in November-December 2020. He also becomes the first soloist with three Global 200 No. 1s; overall, he’s second only to BTS, with six. Justin Bieber, BLACKPINK, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo, and Taylor Swift each boast two.

Watch the new Pepsi commercial in the video above.

01 Jun 2023

Taylor Swift’s New ‘Til Dawn’ Tracks Set to Make Big Chart Impact

Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up column, 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. 
 
This week: Bonus cuts from Taylor Swift’s new Midnights reissue look to shake up the charts, a new Disney musical remake leads to big gains for its classic songs and another conservative anthem puts up big sales numbers.

Chart Supremacy’s a Relaxing Thought: Taylor Swift Eyes Major Moves With Til Dawn

How big will Midnights – The Til Dawn Edition be? Next week’s Billboard charts will reflect the full commercial response to Taylor Swift’s new edition of last year’s Midnights album, which was released last Friday (May 26) and included an Ice Spice-assisted remix of “Karma,” a “More Lana Del Rey” version of “Snow on the Beach” and the streaming debut of “Hits Different,” among other goodies for fans. Based on early streaming and sales figures, those tracks are predictably getting played by a huge audience, and could impact the Hot 100 chart in a major way if those numbers hold.

On the streaming side, “Karma” was the big winner on the Til Dawn release date, with the original version and the Ice Spice remix combining for 5.65 million U.S. official on-demand streams on Friday — a 395% uptick from the previous day, according to Luminate. “Karma” — which is up to No. 27 on the Hot 100 this week, in the chart frame prior to the release of the remix and its accompanying music video — dipped a bit over the holiday weekend, but was still raking in 2.34 million streams on Monday, which was more than double its daily average in the days leading up to the remix release. Combined with a big boost in downloads (7,400 in sales on Friday alone), “Karma” could be flexing like a gosh darn acrobat in the upper reaches of next week’s Hot 100.

Meanwhile, “Hits Different,” which was originally released on the Target-exclusive physical edition of Midnights in October, scored an even higher sales day on Friday than “Karma,” with 11,200 downloads to Swifties anxious to add the track to their digital collections. “Hits Different” also earned 3.27 million streams on Friday, with that daily number hovering a bit above 1 million streams each day over the holiday weekend. And “Snow on the Beach” kicked off the weekend with 3.76 million streams on Friday — a whopping 849% increase from the previous day — and 8,000 in sales, with its daily streams winding down to the same levels as “Hits Different” by Monday.

Although the numbers for “Hits Different” and “Snow on the Beach” are worth monitoring, all eyes are on “Karma,” which Swift performed with special guest Ice Spice at each of her MetLife Stadium shows in East Rutherford, N.J. this past weekend. In the coming weeks, “Karma” could become Swift’s second Hot 100 chart-topper from Midnights, following “Anti-Hero,” which became the superstar’s longest-running No. 1 single by logging eight weeks atop the chart. Meanwhile, Midnights could return to the top of the Billboard 200 chart, snapping the 12-week run at No. 1 of Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time. – JASON LIPSHUTZ

Little Mermaid Songs Swim to Big Gains

The new live-action Disney remake of the studio’s 1989 animated classic The Little Mermaid is off to a dynamite start at the U.S. box office, with nearly $120 million reportedly raked in over its first four days of release (May 26-29). Unsurprisingly, the movie’s early ubiquity has inspired people to return to some of the timeless songs remade in the new version on streaming services, both in their newer and original incarnations.

“Part of Your World,” the Little Mermaid ballad originally sung by voice actress Jodi Benson (which Billboard‘s staff recently named the best song in Disney history) and covered by star Halle Bailey in the 2023 version, rose 71% in daily on-demand official U.S. streams from 294,000 on May 25 (the day before its release) to 503,000 on May 27 (the day after), while the Benson original was up 18% to 210,000 over that same span, according to Luminate. Meanwhile, the Daveed Diggs-led “Under the Sea” from the new version was up 125% to 208,000, and Samuel E. Wright’s 1989 rendition gained 11% to 202,000.

Are any of the 2023 version’s new Lin-Manuel Miranda-penned songs on their way to a classic status of their own? Hard to tell so far, but “The Scuttlebutt” — led by the Awkwafina-voiced Scuttle, and also featuring Diggs — seems to be off to the strongest start, with the song climbing to over 200,000 daily on-demand U.S. audio streams this week, a number that may only continue to rise as more and more kids nationwide are re-infected with Mermaid-mania. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Neo-Con Rappers Put a “Target” on Store’s Pride Month Display With Homophobic and Transphobic New Best-Selling Single

The No. 1 song on iTunes’ real-time chart isn’t from Taylor Swift or The Little Mermaid — but rather conservative rappers Forgiato Blow and Jimmy Levy’s new single “Boycott Target,” also featuring Nick Nittoli and Stoney Dudebro. The reactionary song takes aim at the titular megastore for its recently debuted PRIDE Collection and takes open shots at the LQBTQ community with lyrics like “You know the LGBTQ done went too far/ You know they cuttin’ these kids, they leavin’ tr—ies with scars/ Why they push an agenda, promoting with sexual genders/ I’m only rockin’ with Bruce, don’t rock with no Caitlyn Jenner.” Meanwhile, the video features the artists parading around a Target’s PRIDE section, with several of them donning a cartoonish amount of pro-USA (and/or pro-Trump) clothing and paraphernalia, and singer Jimmy Levy positing, “Inside this store, Satan resides.”

As several other conservative anthems have done in recent years, from Aaron Lewis’ “Am I the Only One?” to multiple different songs named “Let’s Go Brandon,” the song has attracted thousands in sales due to word-of-mouth and exposure via FOX News. The song grew from just over 200 in daily sales on May 25 to nearly 2,900 on May 30, despite Blow’s claims to FOX that the song had been “shadow-banned” from searches on Apple Music, and daily streams have also started to pick up, though they still remain in the modest five digits. Regardless of whether or not the consumption will be enough for “Boycott Target” to match the top 40 debuts of those previously mentioned right-wing rallying cries, its success thus far strikes a sour note for the start of Pride month. — A.U.

01 Jun 2023

‘Barbie: The Movie’ Dolls Just Dropped — Here’s How to Snag Them

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Barbie: The Movie may not come out until July 21, but for those itching for more Barbie content, Mattel just dropped an exclusive collection based on the film — and you can shop it now. You’ll be saying “Hi, Barbie!” to these fashion-forward, and, most importantly, pink dolls and accessories.

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The cast of the movie had the chance to see their characters in doll form and couldn’t get over how accurate they are to the film.

“It’s everything,” Margot Robbie, who stars as Barbie, said about her disco doll in a press release. “Wow, this is so good.”

Barbie Movie Dolls

Courtesy of Mattel

From Robbie’s iconic hot-pink cowgirl ‘fit to Ken’s beachy pink and light green matching set, you can add these movie-inspired dolls to your collection. There are even a few collector edition dolls you’ll recognize from the most recent trailer, including from the glamorous disco scene and Barbie’s classic pink convertible.

The doll, accessory and game collection ranges from $7 to $51, and will help turn your home into your very own Barbieland. You can shop the full collection wherever Mattel is sold, such as Amazon, Walmart and Target. Scroll down to shop the exclusive collection while it’s still in stock!

For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of Fenty Beauty’s “Summatime” collection, the best Mermaidcore clothing and accessories and Dua Lipa’s Versace collection.

Amazon

Barbie The Movie Doll, Margot Robbie as Barbie, Collectible Doll Wearing Pink and White Gingham Dress

$25.00

We’re not surprised this is rated No. 1 for new doll releases on Amazon. Inspired by the scene of Robbie floating down from her dream house, this doll comes styled in an elegant and graceful pink-and-white gingham dress accessorized with pink heels, a matching bow and white jewelry to complete it.

Amazon

Barbie The Movie Ken Doll Wearing Pastel Pink and Green Striped Beach Matching Set

$25.00

You can’t have Barbie without her strapping sidekick Ken, and this beach-inspired doll has the stylish green-and-pink striped set with a blue surfboard to catch waves with.

Amazon

Barbie The Movie Doll, President Barbie Collectible

$50.00

Issa Rae’s President Barbie doll is an ethereal vision serving grace and sophistication in her gold and pink gown with a sash featuring the iconic Barbie font.

Target

Barbie: The Movie Collectible Doll Margot Robbie as Barbie in Pink Western Outfit

$50.99

Say “howdy” to this Western-inspired Barbie doll complete with pink bell-bottom pants patterned with stars and a matching top. You’ll be tipping your cap to this doll as you put her front and center in your display case.

Amazon

Barbie The Movie Collectible Ken Doll Wearing All-Denim Matching Set

$50.00

This Ken doll makes a case for the denim-on-denim look as he sports straight-legged jeans and an open vest with “Ken” boxers peeking out. He’ll certainly be setting trends both in and out of the box.

Walmart

Barbie The Movie Collectible Doll, Margot Robbie as Barbie in Gold Disco Jumpsuit

$49.97

Just one look at this groovy disco Barbie will have you ready to get on the dance floor in your sparkliest jumpsuit. It comes from the special collectible line of Barbie: The Movie dolls, which means that once they’re sold out, Mattel won’t be making any more.

Amazon

Barbie The Movie Doll, Margot Robbie as Barbie, Collectible Doll Wearing Blue Plaid Matching Set

$50.00

Showing off preppy perfection is this collectible Barbie in a blue plaid matching set. This doll is another collectible version, which means only a set amount were, made so you’ll want to snag her while she’s still available!

Amazon

Barbie The Movie Doll, Gloria Collectible Wearing Three-Piece Pink Power Pantsuit

$50.00

We love a power suit, and Barbie’s friend Gloria is showing off her best doll version of it as she wears pink pinstripe pants with a silky blazer and pink sweater top.

Amazon

UNO Barbie The Movie Card Game

$6.49

The classic UNO game gets a Barbie spin with each card featuring a character or setting from the film. Now you can combine your favorite card game with the iconic character as you wait for the film to come out.

Amazon

Hot Wheels RC Barbie Corvette

$54.99

Take the classic pink corvette for a spin with Hot Wheels’ remote controllable Barbie car. You can add your dolls in or just keep it empty. Either way you’re in control.

Target

Barbie: The Movie Fashion Pack

$50.99

Give your Barbie or Gloria an outfit change with this clothing and accessory set featuring more pieces to expect from the movie including a pink matching pajama set and blue and white dress and short set.

Amazon

Little People Collector Barbie: The Movie Special Edition Set

$24.99

Get a mini version of the dolls with Little People’s Collector Barbie: The Movie Special Edition Set, which includes Barbie, Ken, Gloria and President Barbie in a special collector’s box for you to display on your mantel.

Check below to watch the trailer for Barbie: The Movie.

01 Jun 2023

UK Music Industry to Improve Streaming Metadata With ‘Landmark’ Pact

LONDON – Key players from the United Kingdom’s music industry have pledged to improve the digital metadata for song recordings to help ensure that artists and rightsholders are paid fairly.

Under the voluntary two-year agreement published Wednesday (May 31) by the U.K. government’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO), the U.K. industry commits to progressively improve metadata for new music recordings and to accurately award credits on streaming services.

Signatories include representatives of major and independent record labels, publishers, creators and streaming services. Trade bodes BPI —which represents more than 500 labels, including the U.K. arms of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group — and the Association of Independent Music (AIM), which acts on behalf of U.K. independent record labels and music companies, are among the music groups backing the pledge 

The U.K. government also says that it will be setting up a new working group with music business stakeholders “to explore and consider industry-led actions on remuneration for existing and future creators” over the coming weeks. The working group will review a range of issues facing creators and rightsholders, says the IPO, including the impact of artificial intelligence. 

“The U.K. is a hotbed for world-beating musical talent but as technology advances we need our thriving music industry to continue to offer viable career opportunities,” John Whittingdale, a U.K. government minister for the creative industries, says in a statement. 

Whittingdale calls the metadata pact a “landmark agreement” that will help ensure musicians “in the digital age are fairly credited and compensated for their contributions and creativity.”

As streaming has grown to become the dominant mode of music consumption globally, the need for accurate metadata — the descriptive data underlying music recordings detailing who contributed what to a song’s creation and who owns it — has grown in importance in determining who gets paid what share of a track’s streaming royalties. But digital platforms, artists and rightsholders have complained that streaming metadata is often incomplete or inaccurate, which delays payments to songwriters and labels.

“Currently a fraction of recordings being streamed properly credit the people that wrote and published the song,” says Graham Davies, CEO of U.K. songwriters trade group The Ivors Academy, which has also signed the metadata agreement. 

In 2021 the Ivors Academy estimated that at least £500 million ($625 million) in global streaming royalties a year were being wrongly allocated or not being paid at all due to missing or incomplete metadata. In a statement, Davies says the pledge “gives us the first proper step on a journey of closing the metadata gap.”

Sophie Jones, BPI interim CEO, says she hopes the agreement will lead to “immediate improvements” in the “speed and accuracy of songwriter payments.”

Other music groups and companies backing what is officially titled the United Kingdom Industry Agreement on Music Streaming Metadata include The Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA), whose members include streaming services; Hipgnosis Songs Fund; the Music Publishers Association (MPA); Musicians’ Union (MU); Featured Artists Coalition (The FAC) and U.K. collecting societies PRS for Music and Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL). 

Wednesday’s metadata agreement is the latest in an ongoing series of government-led interventions into the U.K. music industry that spun out of a Parliamentary inquiry into the economics of the music streaming business. 

That initial review concluded in July 2021 with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) Select Committee calling into question the major record labels’ dominance of the industry and branding the global streaming model as unsustainable in its current form, saying it “needs a complete reset.”

Since then, the government has initiated multiple investigations and inquiries into the U.K. music industry, including a market study review of the record business by the U.K. competition regulator. That ended in November when the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) determined that low returns from streaming for most artists “are not the result of ineffective competition” between the three major labels. 

Last year the British government set up two working groups – led by the IPO and made up of industry stakeholders — looking at issues raised by the Parliament probe. One focused on metadata, which has now concluded. A second working group is looking at improving transparency around licensing and royalties for artists. The IPO says it is due to publish the second group’s findings, including a code of practice, in the coming months.

01 Jun 2023

Lizzo Says Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’ Inspired Her Not to ‘Quit Music’ Following Online Body-Shaming

Haters may have tried to tear Lizzo down recently, but Beyoncé‘s music is here to help build her back up. In a vulnerable new TikTok, the “About Damn Time” singer showed fans how Bey’s most recent album, Renaissance, has been helping her rise above a particularly vicious wave of online vitriol.

“Today was one of those days where I was very angry, very angry at the world,” she told her followers Wednesday (May 31) after filming a series of clips from the treadmill, during which she worked up a sweat while jamming out to Renaissance. “Saw a lot of mean s–t about me on the internet, and I wanted to give up.”

The musician was likely referring to a recent incident in which a viral tweet used a video of her dancing onstage to body shame her, under which thousands of people proceeded to leave malicious, fatphobic comments about Lizzo’s appearance. In response, the Grammy winner posted that the bullies were “really starting to make me hate the world” and that she was “tired of explaining myself all the time.”

Though she mostly keeps her Twitter account locked on private, Lizzo also explained that hate posts still show up in her mentions and on her feed. “Y’all don’t know how close I be to giving up on everyone and quitting and enjoying my money and my man on a F–KING FARM…,” she tweeted Wednesday.

But thanks to Queen Bey, Lizzo is feeling a lot better now. “There are days where the hate outweighs the love so badly that I want to quit music and just disappear,” she said. “Then I reminded myself to get up, get out and get some sun. And I put on Renaissance.”

Lizzo went on to list some of her favorite lyrics from the album, which Bey dropped to critical acclaim last summer, and shared how they empower her to stay strong and remember that she is, per her own hit “Truth Hurts,” 100% that b-tch. “I’m gonna love on me, nobody can judge me but me,” she said, quoting Renaissance‘s “Church Girl.” “I was born free.”

The Yitty founder has long been a huge fan of Beyoncé, and has credited the “Break My Soul” singer with inspiring much of her own music. While accepting the 2023 Grammy Award for record of the year in February, she specifically shouted out Bey, who was watching proudly from the audience.

“You changed my life,” Lizzo told her from the stage. “Thank you so much. You clearly are the artist of our lives!”

See Lizzo’s TikTok below:

01 Jun 2023

David Guetta Ties Calvin Harris for Most Dance/Mix Show Airplay No. 1s With ‘Baby Don’t Hurt Me’

David Guetta, Anne-Marie and Coi Leray hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart dated June 3 with “Baby Don’t Hurt Me.”

Guetta achieves his 13th leader on the list, tying him — again — with Calvin Harris for the most since the chart began nearly 20 years ago, in August 2003. On the May 20 ranking, Harris pulled ahead of Guetta thanks to “Miracle” with Ellie Goulding. Notably, that track, which led for two weeks, was remixed by Guetta.

Until their latest leaders, Guetta and Harris were tied with Rihanna, who boasts 12 No. 1s.

The chart’s new leading song, a reworking of Haddaway’s Eurodance classic “What Is Love” (which reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1993), is Anne-Marie’s third Dance/Mix Show Airplay No. 1 and Leray’s first. The song earned core-dance airplay on SiriusXM’s BPM, KMVQ-HD2 San Francisco and Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel, among other outlets, May 19-25, according to Luminate.

(The Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart measures radio airplay on a select group of full-time dance stations, along with plays during mix shows on around 60 top 40-formatted reporters.)

Here’s a look at Guetta’s 13 Dance/Mix Show Airplay No. 1s.

Title, Weeks at No. 1, Year(s):

  • “Baby Don’t Hurt Me,” with Anne-Marie & Coi Leray, one to-date, 2023
  • “I’m Good (Blue),” with Bebe Rexha, 14, 2022-23
  • “Heartbreak Anthem,” with Galantis & Little Mix, 2021
  • “Bed,” with Joel Corry & RAYE, three, 2021
  • “Let’s Love,” with Sia, 2020
  • “Stay (Don’t Go Away),” feat. Raye, 2019
  • “Turn Me On,” feat. Nicki Minaj, three, 2012
  • “Without You,” feat. Usher, two, 2011
  • “Gettin’ Over You,” with Chris Willis, feat. Fergie & LMFAO, two, 2010
  • “Sexy Chick,” feat. Akon, six, 2009
  • “When Love Takes Over,” feat. Kelly Rowland, nine, 2009
  • “Love Is Gone,” with Chris Willis, 2007
  • “The World Is Mine,” feat. JD Davis, two, 2007

On the multimetric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, “Baby” bounces 3-2 for a new high. The track earned 10.2 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 13%) and 4.1 million official streams (up 9%) and sold 1,000 downloads (up 3%) in the tracking week. Concurrently, the song bows on the Hot 100 at No. 96.

‘Whistle’ Is Working

Additionally on Dance/Mix Show Airplay, Jax Jones jumps to his ninth top 10 and Calum Scott scores his first with “Whistle” (11-9).

Plus, Paul Woolford and MNEK each add a third top 10 and Lewis Thompson achieves his first with “16 Again” (12-10).

Minogue’s Best Rank

Kylie Minogue’s “Padam Padam” parades onto Hot Dance/Electronic Songs at No. 12 – the week’s top debut and her highest rank among 15 appearances (dating to the chart’s start in 2013). The track, which introduces Minogue’s forthcoming album Tension (Sept. 22), earned 1.4 million streams and sold 2,000 downloads May 19-25, following its May 18 release.

Previously, Minogue placed three other top 20 tracks on the chart: “Real Groove,” with Dua Lipa (No. 15, 2021), “Magic” (No. 17, 2020) and  “Say Something” (No. 18, 2020).

Plus, “Padam Padam” pushes to No. 1 – becoming Minogue’s her first leader – on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart. It started at No. 5 a week earlier after only one day of availability.

Good ‘Look’

Further on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Odetari vaults to his third top 10 and cade clair claims his first with “Look Don’t Touch” (24-10). The song drew 2.3 million streams in its first full week of availability.

01 Jun 2023

Jelly Roll Opens Up About His Time in Prison – And How Fatherhood Helped Him Change

Singer-songwriter Jelly Roll topped Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart with “Dead Man Walking” in May 2022, hit No. 1 on Country Airplay seven months later with “Son of a Sinner,” and went on to spend a record-setting 28 weeks atop the Emerging Artists chart. The Nashville-area native has sold-out shows at both Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and Bridgestone Arena; he also took home multiple honors at the CMT Music Awards in April. Now, he’s on the cover of this year’s Billboard Country Power Players issue. On Friday (June 2), he will release the full-length project, Whitsitt Chapel.

During his cover story interview with Billboard‘s Melinda Newman in Nashville, Jelly Roll opened up about his journey from spending time behind bars to selling out arenas and topping the charts in multiple genres. Jelly Roll spoke of how, at age 16, he was arrested for aggravated robbery and charged as an adult.

“I never want to overlook the fact that it was a heinous crime,” he told Billboard. “This is a grown man looking back at a 16-year-old kid that made the worst decision that he could have made in life and people could have got hurt and, by the grace of God, thankfully, nobody did.”

He also expressed a lingering bitterness over how the judicial system offered him such little opportunities for rehabilitation, despite his young age. Jelly Roll was facing a potential 20-year sentence, though he ultimately served over a year for the charge, followed by more than seven years of probation.

“They were talking about giving me more time than I’d been alive,” he told Billboard. “I hadn’t hit my last growth spurt. I was charged as an adult years before I could buy a beer, lease an apartment, get a pack of cigarettes … I feel like the justice system at that point kind of parked me on my only set path.”

Given Tennessee’s zero-tolerance policy for violent offenders, the charge is still on Jelly Roll’s record, and thus has lingering repercussions. Jelly Roll cannot vote, volunteer at most nonprofits or own a firearm. Until recently, he also could not get a passport, which impacted his ability to tour internationally. He also told Billboard about his attempt to buy a home in a gated community with its own golf course (Jelly Roll is an avid golfer); he was ultimately rejected.

“Imagine changing your life in such a way that you can afford the kind of house in this community I was looking at,” he told Billboard. “My money was welcome, but I wasn’t, all because of something I did [almost] 24 years ago.”

He recalls the moment he began to turn his life around, after learning of the birth of his daughter, Bailee. When he was 23, Jelly Roll was incarcerated for drug dealing. Then, on May 22, 2008, he learned that his daughter had been born.

“I’ve never had nothing in life that urged me in the moment to know that I had to do something different. I have to figure this out right now,” he said.

He was transferred from the violent offenders’ unit to the education unit and began studying for his GED, passing the test on his first attempt. After his release, he met his daughter on her second birthday. Bailee now resides with Jelly Roll and his wife, Bunnie, whom he married in 2016. He calls Bunnie “a beacon of change in my life. You’re talking about a woman that came in and took a child that was soon to be born and a child that [we were] soon to have full custody of,” he says. “I would have never got custody of my daughter without her. I wouldn’t have had the stability or the money.”

01 Jun 2023

Rihanna, Beyoncé & Taylor Swift Make 2023 Forbes Richest Self-Made Women List

Last year, Rihanna, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift each added to their extensive collections of Hot 100 top 10 hits. This year, with the release of Forbes‘ America’s Richest Self-Made Women list, the three music titans are dominating yet another ranking.

Rihanna leads the pack, landing at No. 20 with a “self-made score” of 10. Forbes estimates the “Umbrella” singer’s net worth to be $1.4 billion, which they attribute to her success in music and cosmetics. Fenty Beauty, which she co-owns with French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, doubled its revenue in 2022, according to the publication. Rihanna also has a 30% stake in her Savage x Fenty lingerie line, which earned a $1 billion valuation in February of last year.

Swift comes in at No. 34 with a “self-made score” of 8. According to Forbes‘ estimates, the “All Too Well” singer boasts a net worth of $740 million. Her record-breaking music sales and tour ticket demand make up the bulk of that figure. Last year, Swift became the first artist in Billboard history to simultaneously hold the top 10 spots of the Billboard Hot 100. In November 2022, overwhelming demand for her Eras Tour effectively crashed Ticketmaster, prompting members of Congress to debate the company’s concert sales policies.

Beyoncé, who is currently in the midst of the European leg of her acclaimed Renaissance World Tour, lands at No. 48 with a “self-made score” of 8. Forbes attributes Queen Bey’s estimated $540 million net worth to her roughly three decades’ worth of success in music. This year, the “America Has a Problem” singer announced a collaboration with fashion house Balmain themed after her Billboard 200-topping Renaissance album.

Other notable women in entertainment to make Forbes‘ Richest Self-Made Women list include Oprah (No. 13), Kim Kardashian (No. 21), Kylie Jenner (No. 38), Madonna (No. 45), Céline Dion (No. 56), Dolly Parton (No. 59), Reese Witherspoon (No. 59), Barbra Streisand (No. 61), Serena Williams (No. 89) and Shonda Rhimes (No. 96).

01 Jun 2023

Jay-Z Is Owed $6.8M In Unpaid Royalties Over Failed Cologne Brand, NY Court Rules

A New York state appeals court has sided with Jay-Z in his long-legal battle against a fragrance company called Parlux over a cologne endorsement deal that went bad.

In a ruling issued Thursday, a panel of appeals judges upheld a 2021 jury verdict that cleared the superstar of wrongdoing and potentially $67 million in damages. It also affirmed a judge’s ruling last year that it was actually Jay-Z, and not Parlux, that was owed money — nearly $7 million in unpaid royalties.

“There were multiple rational bases for upholding the jury verdict, and plaintiffs have not set forth a sufficient basis … to overturn it,” a five-judge panel ruled unanimously.

Barring further appeals, the decision could finally mean the end for more than six years of litigation over “Gold Jay-Z,” a cologne brand that the superstar, whose real name is Shawn Carter, launched in 2013 through a partnership with Parlux.

In its 2016 lawsuit, the company accused the rapper and his S. Carter Enterprises of failing to properly promote the brand, breaching his contract and dooming the product to failure. Jay-Z quickly countersued, claiming he had fulfilled his obligations despite numerous missteps from Parlux – and that the company still owed him money.

After a three week trial in late 2021, featuring heated testimony from the star himself, jurors largely sided with Jay-Z and found that Parlux was entitled to nothing. Then in August, New York Supreme Court Justice Andrew Borrok ruled Parlux owes Jay-Z $6.78 million in unpaid royalties, including interest.

Seeking the overturn the verdict on appeal, attorneys for Parlux argued that the trial judge had improperly instructed the jury about requirements in the contract about Jay-Z’s personal appearances and the need for Parlux to provide a “product development plan.”

But in Thursday’s ruling, the appellate panel was unmoved: “The court correctly instructed the jury on the burdens of proof, and any error in characterizing the notice requirement for personal appearances and the PDP as ‘conditions precedent’ was harmless when considering the overall instructions.”

Parlux can still challenge the outcome once more, taking the case to the Court of Appeals, New York’s top appellate court. An attorney for the company did not immediately return a request for comment.

01 Jun 2023

New Little Richard PBS Doc Details Gay Origins of ‘Tutti Frutti’: ‘This Ain’t About Ice Cream’

Little Richard knew exactly what he was doing when he sang the seemingly gibberish lyrics “Awop-bop-a-loo-mop-alop-bam-boom/ If it don’t fit, don’t force it/ You can grease it and make it easy.” The iconic couplet he originally wrote for his 1955 breakthrough hit “Tutti Fruitti” is explored in a new episode of PBS’ American Masters, “Little Richard: King and Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” which will debut on public stations on Friday (June 2) at 9 p.m. ET as pat of LGBTQIA+ Pride Month and African American Music Appreciation Month.

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The show, which features interviews with the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards, Nile Rodgers, Pat Boone, Ringo Starr, Bobby Rush and Big Freedia, as well as activist/drag performer Sir Lady Java and Richard’s spiritual advisor, Rev. Bill Minson, tells the origin story of Richard (born Richard Wayne Penniman) from a child prodigy steeped in the world of gospel to global rock stardom; it features never-before heard audio recordings of Richard made by his authorized biographer, Charles White, who is also featured.

In a Billboard exclusive clip from the show (see below), Little Richard’s bandmates and contemporaries talk about the origin story of “Tutti Frutti,” which was birthed at the raucous Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans. “When we went into the Drew Drop Inn there was a piano… and that’s when I began to know and understand Little Richard,” says Specialty Records producer Robert “Bumps” Blackwell.

“‘Cause that’s all you gotta do is give Richard an audience, turn the lights on and show is on,” Blackwell says. Richard’s longtime keyboard player and friend Ronald “Ron” Jones adds that one day Richard jumped on the piano and played the “alop-bam-boom” riff and his producers asked about the hook they’d never heard before, even though the singer — who died in May 2020 at age 87 of bone cancer — had been using it for years while playing to Black audiences on the Chitlin’ Circuit.

In the episode we hear archival tape of Richard reciting the next two lines in the chorus, “If you want it, you got it/ Tutti-frutti, good booty.” The lyrics, of course, could be interpreted as being about gay sex, laughs Deacon John Moore, a blues musician who recorded with Richard. “They’re not gonna play that on the radio. ‘Tutti-frutti, good booty!’ And everybody knew this ain’t about ice cream!”

The bottom line from Richard’s producer, though, was that regardless of what he was singing about, “Tutti Fruitti” sounded like a slam-dunk hit record. Informed that he would have to clean up the “smutty” lyrics a bit to get airplay, Richard agreed, with Blackwell explaining how they changed the first bit to “tutti frutti, oh rootie,” while adding girls named Sue and Daisy. After two or three takes, history was made.

The PBS doc follows on the heels of producer/director and former label exec Lisa Cortés’ recent doc, Little Richard: I Am Everything, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and has been streaming on Prime Video and Apple TV since April.

Watch the American Masters preview below and watch the full episode on Friday night.