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Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” rules the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart for a 12th total and consecutive week.
Dating to the Hot 100’s Aug. 4, 1958, start, “Luther” now solely boasts the most weeks spent at No. 1 among duets by co-billed lead solo men and women. It breaks out of a tie with Puff Daddy and Faith Evans’ “I’ll Be Missing You” (featuring vocal group 112), which led for 11 weeks in 1997.
“Luther” is also now solely the longest-leading R&B/hip-hop No. 1 on the Hot 100 this decade, surpassing the 11 weeks on top for Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” in 2020. (R&B/hip-hop songs are defined as those that have hit or are eligible for Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.)
“Luther,” whose title is a tribute late R&B luminary Luther Vandross (who is sampled on the song), became Lamar’s sixth Hot 100 No. 1 and SZA’s third. Lamar and SZA each extend their longest career commands on the chart with the song.
Plus, Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” spends a record-breaking 44th week in the Hot 100’s top five and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” adds a 90th week in the chart overall, moving to within a week of potentially tying for the longest run all-time.
Browse the full rundown of this week’s top 10 below.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated May 17, 2025) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, May 13. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
‘Luther’ Airplay, Streams & Sales
The sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs kicked off Monday in a Manhattan federal courthouse, where federal prosecutors told jurors that the once-powerful mogul used his music empire for decades to “feed his every desire.”
On the first day of a trial expected to last two months, prosecutors painted a picture of a man who used “coercive and criminal conduct” to force at least two women to engage in drug-fueled sex parties called “freak offs.”
“For twenty years, the defendant, with the help of his trusted inner circle, committed crime after crime,” prosecutor Emily A. Johnson told the jury during her opening statements. “That’s what we’re here about today. That’s what this case is about.”
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Responding for Combs was defense attorney Teny Geragos, who admitted that the star had a “toxic” relationship with former girlfriend Cassie Ventura — including openly acknowledging that it included “domestic violence” — but said he was simply not guilty of racketeering or sex trafficking.
“Sean Combs is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case,” Geragos told the jury. “We take full responsibility that there was domestic violence. Domestic violence is not sex trafficking.”
Combs was indicted in September, charged with running a sprawling criminal operation that aimed to “fulfill his sexual desires.” The case centers on elaborate “freak off” parties in which Combs and others would allegedly ply victims with drugs and then coerce them into having sex, as well as on alleged acts of violence to keep victims silent.
The star, once one of the music industry’s most powerful men, is formally accused of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and violating a federal prostitution statute. If convicted on all of the charges, Combs faces a potential life prison sentence.
At opening statements, prosecutors accused Combs of victimizing at least two women, including Cassie and an unnamed victim listed under a Jane Doe pseudonym. They said he used “lies, drugs, threats, and violence” to coerce the women into routinely engaging in sex with male sex workers in “dark hotel rooms.”
To keep both women silent, Johnson told the jury that Combs threatened to release videos of the encounters, one of many moves that she said kept them under his control: “It had the power to ruin her life.”
But Geragos told a very different story, repeatedly stressing that Cassie and other alleged victims had consensually chosen to have relationships with Combs and partake in what she termed his “swinger lifestyle.”
“That may not be what you like to do in your bedroom,” Geragos told the jurors. “She was not being trafficked.”
The trial will continue Monday afternoon, potentially with testimony from Cassie herself.
Billboard will update this story with more details from the trial as it unfolds.
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Drake is diving head-first into the fragrance game, ensuring fans have their scent game on point for summer. Released under the rapper’s international fragrance shop, Better World Fragrance House, the “God’s Plan” rapper is debuting his first-ever eau de parfum, titled “Summer Mink.” The musician’s latest creative endeavor retails for $148, and is available for purchase now via Ulta Beauty online (through May 31 you’ll also get a free tote bag with purchase).
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Summer Mink Eau de Parfum
This marks Ulta’s first venture into men’s fragrances founded by a celebrity. Inspired by “the indulgence of wearing mink in the summer,” the fragrance’s scent profile features notes of amber and wood, further beefed up with top notes like Italian citrus and herbaceous essential oils like clary sage and petitgrain. Sweet and spicy jasmine sambac mid notes give way to grounding vetiver and musk, likely a play on the animalic quality of mink furs. The brand notes that “Summer Mink” is meant to be sprayed on pulse points like the wrist and neck for the best payoff.
According to Better World Fragrance House, the scent, “Defies conventions of seasonality and gender while embracing bold sophistication” (I.e. it’s gender neutral and is designed to smell good on everyone). The musician-backed fragrance’s packaging is modern-leaning, cast in a deep shade of blue, encompassing an angular rectangular base and a sleek circular top. It’s a handsome piece you’ll want to display rather than hiding away in a medicine cabinet or drawer.
Drake starred in an ad for his “Summer Mink” fragrance, with the short clip posted to his Instagram. The video sees the rapper posing as a perfume “scientist,” pacing around his home, trying to concoct the perfect scent. Viewers see the performer testing out different combinations before finally landing on the perfect mix.
This isn’t Drake’s first foiree into the scent world. Back in Feb. 2024, the star launched a fragrance oil called “Carby Musk,” crafted by world- renowned perfumer Michael Carby in collaboration with the artist. Better World Fragrance House also dropped a line of scented candles in 2021, with various options like “Williamsburg Sleepover,” “Sweeter Tings” and “Good Thoughts.” Shop the brand at Ulta.com.
Justin Bieber made sure Hailey Bieber felt extra appreciated on her very first Mother’s Day as a parent, giving his famous wife a lavish celebration that he shared on Instagram Sunday (May 11).
In one video shared by the pop star, Justin films Hailey while sitting next to her at an outdoor poolside dinner table decked out with flowers, candles and a bowl of tortilla chips as a mariachi quartet enters the frame. As the musicians play their instruments, the Rhode founder covers her mouth with surprise, periodically looking back at her husband and smiling lovingly.
Also on Mother’s Day, Justin shared a carousel of photos of Hailey hanging out in a living room area as hockey plays on the TV. In one shot, the back of 9-month-old Jack Blues’ head is visible in the bottom right corner of the frame.
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“Best mommy day gurlie,” the “Yummy” singer captioned the post.
The holiday marked the Biebers’ first time celebrating Mother’s Day since welcoming baby Jack in August, becoming parents six years after tying the knot in 2018. On her own Instagram page, Hailey shared photos from her pregnancy in 2024 as well as more recent snaps of her son’s tiny hands and feet, writing, “i love being your mommy Jack Blues. Happy Mothers Day.”
The couple has deliberately refrained from sharing their child’s face online, but they do keep fans in the loop by sometimes posting photos of Jack that don’t show defining features. In April, the “Peaches” artist uploaded a photo of his son perched on his belly, seemingly ready to start crawling.
Justin and Hailey’s Mother’s Day posts come a few weeks after they attended Coachella together. After returning home to Los Angeles, Justin called out the city’s paparazzi by posting a video of a flock of photographers blocking his path outside as he walked to his car.
“This has to stop,” he captioned the clip, later writing in a follow-up post, “IM CURRENTLY ASKING [GOD] TO HELP ME WITH PATIENCE BECAUSE It CAN BE REALLY HARD TO NOT RIP THESE F–KIN GUYS HEADS OFF.”
See Justin’s Mother’s Day celebration for Hailey below.
Lil Wayne has been accused of abuse by his girlfriend, Denise Bidot, who claims the New Orleans native broke up with her on Mother’s Day via text message.
“Breaking up with someone on Mother’s Day is diabolical,” Bidot wrote to her Instagram Story on Sunday (May 11). “Prayers up though. God always pulls me through. Walking with faith.”
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Bidot alleged that Wayne’s team kicked her and her 16-year-old daughter out of his house where they had been living at the time on Sunday (May 11).
“I am just recovering from surgery. I am five weeks out from a whole mommy makeover. I can’t even lift boxes. But this man has his assistants coming to help kick us out today, and broke up with me on Mother’s Day through text,” she claimed in a post to her IG Story. “And her birthday’s next weekend. And I leave to New York this week for all the Sports Illustrated press. When I tell you that I am absolutely unsure on how to even process my emotions.”
She went on to allege in a follow-up video that Wayne “laid a f—ing hand” on her in addition to accusing him of emotional abuse throughout their relationship.
“It’s not just the emotional abuse,” Bidot accused. “This man has actually laid a f—ing hand on me. And I took it. And you know what’s crazy is, they always say we’re so stupid for love, and I thought it was a mistake. But I know other women he’s put his hands on.”
Bidot says she was “uprooted” from New York City to live with Wayne and claimed he had “two girls” being flown in as well as a “plethora” of women on his roster.
“I’ve been nothing but supportive to this man, loved him ‘til the end of the world,” she continued. “But, like, you literally flew me, uprooted me from New York City where I was living, and brought me here for this bulls–t. Like, that’s crazy, you guys. Like, these men really be taking advantage.”
The Sports Illustrated model says she is ready to take legal action, soliciting lawyers to reach out to her as she plans to regroup and take her next steps.
Lil Wayne and Denise Bidot met in 2019 and went public with their relationship in 2020. They appeared to split in 2022 but got back together shortly after.
Billboard has reached out to Lil Wayne’s team for comment.
Source: Randy Brooke / Getty
Maino recently revealed a harrowing experience from nearly two decades ago, when he found himself face-to-face with an armed assailant during an attempted robbery at a Brooklyn sneaker shop.
Speaking in an interview with DJ Vlad, the Brooklyn-born rapper recounted how a young man entered the store, pulled a gun on him, and tried to carry out a stick-up. Instead of complying, Maino resisted and managed to wrestle the weapon away during a physical struggle, ultimately firing it and hitting the would-be robber twice.
Though Maino discharged the firearm, he clarified that he was never arrested or taken to court over the matter. Surprisingly, the case wasn’t officially categorized as self-defense, despite the clear threat to his life. The rapper mentioned that a second individual was involved in the robbery attempt, but that person never made it inside due to a security buzzer at the door. As the fight unfolded, several people inside the store fled.
By the time Maino walked outside after the shooting, police had already arrived and ordered him to the ground. However, eyewitnesses immediately spoke up in his defense, informing officers that he was the victim and had acted in response to the robbery attempt. Even the wounded gunman admitted Maino had shot him.
“I didn’t face any charges. I never had to step foot in a courtroom,” Maino recalled. The incident remains a vivid example of a dangerous encounter that could have ended very differently.
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Ice-T has lived a colorful life as a founding voice in the so-called “Gangsta Rap” space as an artist ahead of a long and still-ongoing career as an actor. In a recent interview, Ice-T shared a tale of how a person he considered a good friend set him up and robbed him.
As spotted on Complex, Ice-T sat down with the Get Up & Tighten Up podcast hosted by Norman Seabrook, and he shared his early beginnings in Los Angeles, his foray into Hip-Hop music, and his journey as an actor.
Harkening back to his rapping roots, Ice shared how his alignment with individuals involved in street activity who were both protective of him and standoffish against other rappers, but also turned their backs on him while using his fame as an inside track to his riches.
“So when you’re from this environment…you just never know,” Ice-T said of running the streets. “I got set up by one of my best friends. It was funny, after it happened, I talked to somebody. They said, ‘That was somebody you fed, that was somebody who’s actually sat down to dinner with you that set you up.’”
To check out that portion of the interview, check out the 50-minute mark of the Get Up & Tighten Up podcast, posted below.
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Photo: John Atashian / Getty
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In today’s crop of new music, Megan Moroney and Kenny Chesney team up on a song celebrating their time spent on Chesney’s Sun Goes Down Tour last year. Meanwhile, Dierks Bentley previews his upcoming Broken Branches album with a new release. Julie Williams pays homage to those who have uplifted and inspired her, while roots music luminaries Leftover Salmon and I’m With Her also offer new music.
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Kenny Chesney and Megan Moroney, “You Had to Be There”
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On this breezy, jaunty summer tune, Moroney reminisces on a summer filled with music and magic, first as a fan soaking in music from the nosebleed seats, then as an artist. She chronicles her journey from attending a Chesney concert in Atlanta seven years ago, to being an opener on his 2024 tour. Chesney joins on the second verse, his warm, conversational voice offering advice on lines including “Keep your heart on your sleeve and your chin held high.” The song has a classic Chesney feel and serves as an excellent vehicle for their intertwined voices.
Dierks Bentley, “Standing in the Sun”
Dierks Bentley offers another preview of his upcoming album Broken Branches (out June 13). His latest song, written by Kyle Sturrock, compares life’s hardships to hurricanes and freezing snows, but maintains that his lover’s affections are life-refreshing, noting that “noise dies down and life slows up” when he’s with the one he loves. Gently rippling guitars and a laid-back tone echo the song’s sentiments.
Julie Williams, “The Women Who Made Me”
Williams, known for her work on her 2024 EP Tennessee Moon and her 2023 self-titled project, offers up a new song dedicated to confident, resilient women. Jangly guitars and serene fiddlework lace with Williams’ honeyed vocal as she pays tribute not only her mother, but also the influence of many of country music’s female greats. She namechecks songs including The Chicks’ “Wide Open Spaces,” Trisha Yearwood’s “XXXs and OOOs” and Sara Evans’s “Born to Fly,” and celebrates the strength and wisdom of her mother, who “carried a heavy load/ Never let on,” and taught her to lean into music as a solace.
Leftover Salmon feat. Sam Bush and Del McCoury, “Let’s Party About It”
Venerated jam band Leftover Salmon has been known for its latticework of country, bluegrass, jazz and rock for more than three decades, and on the new LP, Let’s Party About It (which released May 9 on Compass Records), it’s clear the group has no intention of pausing its eclectic, free-wheeling brand of music and dedication to top-shelf musicianship. The project’s title track further spotlights Leftover Salmon’s communal approach to music-making, and highlights Dave Matthews Band’s Jeff Coffin on soprano saxophone, as well as Sam Bush on fiddle. The rollicking tune pulls listeners in with its lively spirit and urges them that is better spent united in partying rather than in harmful division.
I’m With Her, “Wild and Clear and Blue”
This celebrated trio of Sarah Jarosz, Sara Watkins and Aoife O’Donovan released their first collaborative album as I’m With Her in 2018, with See You Around. They return with a new release via Rounder Records. On the project’s title track, backed by a mesh of violin, guitar, piano and mandolin, they reminisce about childhood moments spent soaking in music that played in their mothers’ cars, finding a gem of an album in dusty record bins, and how those moments spurred their musical passions and have stayed with them as the years have passed. Their shimmering harmonies are tightly woven purity, giving the song’s nostalgic message ample space to take center stage. The project marks a glorious return for this talented trio.
The 2025 senior class of Northeastern University is moving up in the world, but not before getting a proper sendoff from Cardi B, ROSÉ and Ed Sheeran at their commencement ceremony on Sunday (May 11).
As captured in clips filmed by this year’s graduates of the private Boston institution, the three musical superstars all appeared in a pre-taped montage that played on the screens at Fenway Park to congratulate the students on their shared achievement. Waving at the camera as the crowd erupted with surprised cheers, the “Bodak Yellow” rapper said in the video, “I hope whatever you studied for and worked for, it pays off.”
“I hope you guys now enjoy the real world, because college and the real world is very different,” Cardi added, smiling.
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For her part, the BLACKPINK star told the graduates, “Wishing everyone the best as you guys start this next chapter,” while Sheeran said, “Congratulations, I hope everyone’s having a good time there.”
All three of the stars are signed to Atlantic Records, whose CEO, Elliot Grainge, delivered this year’s commencement address at the ceremony. A Northeastern alum, the label boss told the class of 2025 that they represent, “a future we haven’t seen, a future we can’t fully imagine, and won’t truly understand, until you build it,” according to Northeastern Global News.
“Each and every one of you were raised on speed, technology and constant evolution,” he added from the podium. “You’ll shape culture, technology, business and politics in ways we can’t yet fathom.”
Grainge is just one of many high-profile music industry figures speaking at graduation ceremonies this year. As previously announced, Usher will deliver the address at Emory University’s commencement on Monday (May 12), while Snoop Dogg is set to do the honors at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business celebration on May 17.
Maggie Rogers also recently shared that she’ll be speaking at the May 16 commencement ceremony for her alma mater, New York University Tisch School of the Arts.
Their video appearance at Northeastern’s commencement comes as both ROSÉ and Sheeran are gearing up for the release of Atlantic’s F1 film soundtrack, on which they will appear alongside Tate McRae, RAYE, Burna Boy, Roddy Rich, Dom Dolla, Chris Stapleton, Tiësto, Sexyy Red and more. The K-pop performer’s single for the project, “Messy,” dropped Friday (May 8).
Cardi has long been working on her highly anticipated sophomore album, about which she recently gave fans an update. Revealing that the LP has been slowed by its featured artists delaying their contributions, the “WAP” musician said on X Spaces, “I need y’all to hurry up.”
T-Pain has unearthed some super-rare footage on par with digging up the Holy Grail or the Ark of the Covenant. The Florida singer found video of the exact moment in 2008 when he decided to rhyme “mansion” with “Wisconsin” while he was in the booth recording his hit song “Can’t Believe It” featuring Lil Wayne, […]
