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Taylor Swift Copyright Accusers Drop Lawsuit Over ‘Shake It Off’ After Five Years Of Litigation
Taylor Swift has reached an agreement with two songwriters to end a five-year long copyright lawsuit claiming she stole the lyrics to “Shake It Off” from an earlier song about “playas” and “haters,” resolving one of the music industry’s biggest legal battles without a climactic trial or ruling.
In a joint filing made on Monday in California federal court, attorneys for both Swift and her accusers – songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler – asked a judge for an order “dismissing this action in its entirety.” Before the deal, a trial had been scheduled to kick off in January.
The public filings did not include any specific terms of the apparent settlement, like whether any money exchanged or songwriting credits would be changed. Attorneys for both sides and a rep for Swift did not immediately return requests for comment.
The agreement means a sudden end for a blockbuster case that seemed headed toward the next landmark ruling on music copyrights. Following legal battles over Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” the case against Swift posed fundamental questions about the limits of copyright protection, with her lawyers arguing that the accusers were trying to “cheat the public domain” by monopolizing basic lyrical phrases.
Hall and Butler first sued way back in 2017, claiming Swift stole her lyrics to “Shake It Off” from their “Playas Gon’ Play,” a song released by R&B group 3LW in 2001. That was no small accusation, given the song in question: “Shake It Off” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 2014 and ultimately spent 50 weeks on the chart, a mega-hit even for one of music’s biggest stars.
In Hall and Butler’s song, the line was “playas, they gonna play, and haters, they gonna hate”; in Swift’s track, she sings, “‘Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.” In their complaint, the duo said Swift’s lyric was clearly copied from their song.
In the years since, Swift’s attorneys repeatedly pushed to dismiss the case, arguing that a short snippet of lyrics about “players” and “haters” was not creative or unique enough to be covered by copyrights. They cited more than a dozen earlier songs that had used similar phrases, including 1997’s “Playa Hater” by Notorious B.I.G and 1999’s “Don’t Hate the Player” by Ice-T.
Swift initially won a decision in 2018 dismissing the case on those grounds, with a federal judge ruling that Hall and Butler’s lyrics were not protected because popular culture in 2001 had had been “heavily steeped in the concepts of players, haters, and player haters.” But an appeals court later overruled that decision, and a judge ruled last year that the case would need to be decided by a jury trial.
“Even though there are some noticeable differences between the works, there are also significant similarities in word usage and sequence/structure,” the judge wrote at the time.
More recently, Swift’s team again asked the judge to dismiss the case, this time making a new argument: That documents turned over during the case had revealed that Hall and Butler voluntarily signed away their right to file the lawsuit in the first place.
In an August filing, Swift’s lawyers said the documents proved that Hall and Butler had granted their music publishers the exclusive rights to bring an infringement lawsuit over the song, meaning they lacked the legal standing to do so. Her lawyers said the pair had even emailed their publishers – Sony Music Publishing and Universal Music Publishing Group, respectively – asking for permission to sue, but that both companies had refused the request.
“After their music publishers refused to assign to plaintiffs the claim they assert in this action, their manager unsuccessfully lobbied a United States Congressman to get a House sub-committee to intervene,” Swift’s lawyers alleged in the filing.
That motion was still pending when Monday’s settlement was filed.
Fans React to Taylor Swift’s Surprise Second Round of ‘Eras Tour’ Verified Fan Tickets
Several Swifties woke up Monday morning (Dec. 12) to discover that a new ray of hope had dawned. Weeks after countless dreams were crushed by the catastrophic Ticketmaster presale for Taylor Swift‘s 2023 Eras Tour — which left many fans without tickets to Swift’s first tour in four years in spite of their preassigned “Verified Fan” statuses — the 32-year-old pop star unveiled a surprise second round of ticket sales specifically geared toward those who missed out.
Certain fans found out they were selected for the Verified Fan sale 2.0 upon receiving an email from Ticketmaster. “Congratulations, you have been selected to participate in a limited-time opportunity to request to purchase 2 tickets to Taylor Swift The Eras Tour,” the email read. “You were selected for this opportunity because you have been identified as a fan who received a boost during the Verified Fan presale but did not purchase tickets.”
“We apologized for the difficulties you may have experienced, and have been asked by Taylor’s team to create this additional opportunity for you to purchase tickets,” it continued, noting that the ticket purchasing window will begin sometime before Dec. 23, with invitations issued on a staggered basis by tour date in each city.
Naturally, Swifties far and wide are rejoicing following the news that many of them will get a second chance at attending an Eras Tour show and coming face-to-face with the “All Too Well” singer, who publicly condemned Ticketmaster’s handling of the original Verified Fan sale in November. The ticketing service experienced mass outages caused by a historic amount of hopefuls flooding its site on sale day, a commotion that wasn’t helped by the surplus of fans to whom Ticketmaster had assigned special Verified Fan presale codes.
“Taylor swift going out of her way to make sure ticketmaster gives ALL fans who got a verified boost a chance to get tickets…,” tweeted one Swiftie on Monday. “This is why we love her.”
Other fans, however, expressed disappointment that they had been shut out of the Verified Fan program a second time over. “HOW did i not get chosen for verified fan presale even though i have a boost, not get tickets on capital one presale AND not receive this email from ticketmaster for tickets?” tweeted another. “I’m soooo sad ? anyone wanna help a girl get to nashville :(”
See more Swiftie reactions to Taylor Swift’s surprise second Verified Fan presale with Ticketmaster below.
Watch SEVENTEEN’s Joshua, Dino and Mingyu Nail ‘Wednesday’ Dance Challenge
Calling Carat and all Little Monsters! Over the weekend, SEVENTEEN hit the LA3C Festival, and three of its members conquered the Wednesday dance challenge in the process.
Stopping to chat with Billboard‘s Tetris Kelly, Joshua, Dino and Mingyu positively nailed the viral TikTok choreography set to Lady Gaga‘s “Bloody Mary,” re-enacting the moves of Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday Addams as Mother Monster’s sped-up vocals sang, “I’ll dance, dance, dance/ With my hands, hands, hands/ Above my head, head, head/ Like Jesus said.”
Ortega revealed in a November interview that she was actually ill with COVID-19 while shooting the now-famous dance sequence — which is actually set to The Cramps’ 1981 single “Goo Goo Muck” — but didn’t receive a positive test result until after she’d finished filming the scene.
And while the Born This Way deep cut doesn’t actually appear anywhere in the Netflix series, the TiKTok trend reached a fever pitch when Gaga slipped into her best goth schoolgirl apparel to rock out to the choreography herself.
Meanwhile, all 13 members of SEVENTEEN also hit day one of LA3C to light up the stage with a fiery hourlong set featuring “HOT,” “Left & Right” and “Very Nice” — the latter of which they repeated an incredible six times due to demand from the ecstatic audience.
In September, the K-pop idols unfurled Sector 17, a repackaging of their 2022 studio set Face the Sun with lead single “_World” as well as added tracks “Circles,” “Fallin’ Flower” and “Cheers.”
Watch Joshua, Dino and Mingyu dance it out to “Bloody Mary” below.
LA3C is Penske Media Corporation’s new music, art and food festival celebrating Los Angeles’ culture and diversity. PMC is also the parent company of Billboard.
Jean Dawson On His First Headlining Tour — And What Made It a Success
After being unable to tour behind his 2020 debut album, experimental alt artist Jean Dawson embarked on his first headlining tour this year with second full-length, Chaos Now, which hit No. 35 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart. Below, he reflects on the experience.
Being that I had no expectations, everything I received was hyper-special. The tour was completely sold out, which was wild, and the audiences were right there with me. I feel like I made thousands of friends in the span of a month. Nothing was expected, so everything was gifted.
The first Los Angeles show [at The Roxy in November] blew — there were so many suits in the building standing in VIP, just staring and analyzing, seeing how they could commodify the energy in the front, where the audience was at full throttle. I hated it. That show stood out because I could clearly see the disparity between love and greed. The true VIP was the pit where people were feeling the push and pull of what we do together. The area where the “important people” stood was a daycare center for those who feel above the true sentiment of what we did that night. The next night in Los Angeles was amazing, though.
When I did meet-and-greets, which was about every night, I got to see how many people felt a kinship with something that just lived in my head until it didn’t. It’s like getting 20,000 hugs all at once. I think I’ll spend my whole life trying to understand it and, moreover, appreciate that feeling. It was love. For the first time in my life, I felt like no one was judging me. The only challenges that felt like hurdles were not getting sick over and over, which ended up happening.
I’m trying to practice having no goals — sounds counterproductive, but I just want to be. Take everything with grace, gratitude and f–king heart. The shows will [continue to] be legendary because it isn’t about me — it’s about them.
This story originally appeared in the Dec. 10, 2022 issue of Billboard.
How Club Promoters Pivoted To Keep Dancefloors Packed This Year
Given how hard nightlife was hit during the pandemic, with many clubs closing permanently, industry insiders are pleasantly surprised with its 2022 comeback. JoJo Walker, director of programming at New York’s Avant Gardner and Brooklyn Mirage, attests that the industry is generally doing “amazingly well,” even though “it’s more challenging now than ever before.”
As clubs reopened amid the lingering pandemic in mid-2021, venues scrambled to get DJs back behind the decks to play for fans eager to return to dancefloors. “2021 was a free-for-all because everybody wanted to party,” says Walker. “People were willing to pay high ticket prices, and the wheel was being fed from all angles.” This competitive market boosted DJ fees, which in many cases increased up to 20% for club and festival sets. But now, fees remain lodged at these higher rates even as demand has declined, creating headaches for dance promoters who are also navigating inflation’s effects on nightlife.
“It’s not just that artists are being greedy,” says Walker, “but for them to do what they need to in terms of traveling and making a living, they need to have their costs covered: flights, hotels, cars. Those costs are being passed on to the promoter, and now there’s not a wealthy part of the wheel that can be taken from.” Walker adds that many DJs are touring less after enjoying the pandemic’s slowed pace, prompting agents to negotiate higher paychecks for the shows these artists do play.
Promoters have had to get creative in order to turn a profit. Walker is currently structuring artist deals that involve a lower flat rate and a per-ticket bonus, which incentivizes DJs to promote their shows, as their final rates are relative to those shows’ success. Given that she books for multiple venues, along with the annual 100,000-person electronic festival Electric Zoo (owned by Avant Gardner), Walker also has the dexterity to offer multishow contracts, creating an advantage over promoters booking a single room.
Brig Dauber, entertainment director at long-standing Los Angeles club Avalon, says the venue has “kept on step” with new fee expectations while working harder to determine which artists are most viable in the current market. This year, Avalon has skewed toward theme-based nights centered on certain genres and musical eras to “diversify the patronage and avoid the risk of not actualizing profit versus artist fee.”
But whether booking a tiny space or an 8,000-capacity club like Brooklyn Mirage, the surge in venue overhead is resulting in consumers having to deal with higher ticket prices to cover costs. Walker says fans “can’t necessarily afford to go out in the same way they used to, so they’re much more selective about the shows they do attend.” This scrupulousness has created a major increase in week-of and day-of ticket sales, which in turn fosters even less certainty among promoters.
And yet, Walker remains confident things are heading in the right direction. “I feel like among everyone working in the industry there’s a lot of optimism that this will balance out. It’s just going to take some time.”
This story originally appeared in the Dec. 10, 2022, issue of Billboard.
Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ Returns to No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100
Like Santa setting off on his annual airborne sleigh ride, Mariah Carey makes her ascent back to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The modern carol logs its ninth total week atop the Hot 100 and becomes the first song to have led in four distinct runs on the ranking.
The song was first released on Carey’s album Merry Christmas in 1994 and, as streaming has grown and holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ playlists, it hit the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time in December 2017 and the top five for the first time in the 2018 holiday season, before reigning over the holidays in 2019 (for three weeks), 2020 (two) and 2021 (three).
“Christmas” paces five holiday classics in the Hot 100’s top 10, while Metro Boomin debuts two titles in the bracket – “Creepin’,” with The Weeknd and 21 Savage (No. 5), and “Superhero (Heroes & Villains),” with Future and Chris Brown (No. 8) – both from his new album Heroes & Villains, which launches at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Dec. 17) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 13). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Here’s a deeper look at Carey’s latest Hot 100 coronation with “Christmas,” on Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings.
Streams, airplay & sales: “Christmas” drew 36.2 million streams (up 19%) and 29.9 million radio airplay audience impressions (up less than 1%) and sold 6,000 downloads (up 23%) in the U.S. in the Dec. 2-8 tracking week, according to Luminate.
The song holds for a 17th total week at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart and No. 7 on Digital Song Sales and rises 23-17 on Radio Songs. It also crowns the multi-metric Holiday 100 chart for a 54th week, of the chart’s 59 total weeks since the list launched in 2011. It has topped the tally for 39 consecutive weeks, dating to the start of the 2015-16 holiday season, and rules as the top title on the Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs chart.
No. 1 in a fourth separate chart run: Carey’s “Christmas” first topped the Hot 100 dated Dec. 21, 2019, and led again on the next two lists, dated Dec. 28, 2019, and Jan. 4, 2020.
The following holiday season, it returned to No. 1 on the chart dated Dec. 19, 2020, and, after a week at No. 2, topped the Jan. 2, 2021-dated tally.
As “Christmas” returned to rule the Dec. 25, 2021-dated chart, it became the first song in the Hot 100’s now-64-year history to lead in three distinct chart runs. It held atop the charts dated Jan. 1 and 8, 2022, and now becomes the first title to have led in four separate stays on the ranking.
Longest span atop the Hot 100: Carey’s “Christmas” extends the longest span from a song’s first week at No. 1 on the Hot 100 to its latest: three years (Dec. 21, 2019-Dec. 17, 2022).
Plus, the latest week atop the Hot 100 for “Christmas” extends Carey’s record for the longest span of an artist ranking at No. 1 on the chart: 32 years, four months and three weeks, dating to her first week at No. 1 on the list dated Aug. 4, 1990, with her debut single “Vision of Love.”
Notably, when “Christmas” first hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 2019, Carey passed Cher, whose solo leaders span 27 years and five months, from “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves” (from its first week at No. 1 in 1971) through “Believe” (through its last week on top in 1999). (If Cher’s career as half of duo Sonny & Cher were combined with her solo output, her No. 1 span would cover 33 years, seven months and two weeks, from the twosome’s “I Got You Babe,” which hit the top spot in 1965, through “Believe.”)
Most weeks at No. 1 for a holiday hit: With its ninth week atop the Hot 100, Carey’s “Christmas” expands its record for the most time at No. 1 for a holiday song. The only other seasonal single to lead, “The Chipmunk Song,” by David Seville & the Chipmunks, spent four weeks at No. 1 beginning in December 1958.
Carey’s record 88th week atop Hot 100: With “Christmas,” Carey adds her record-extending 88th week at No. 1 on the Hot 100, dating to the chart’s Aug. 4, 1958, inception.
Most Weeks at No. 1 on Hot 100:
88, Mariah Carey
60, Rihanna
59, The Beatles
54, Drake
50, Boyz II Men
47, Usher
43, Beyoncé
37, Michael Jackson
34, Adele
34, Elton John
34, Bruno Mars
“Christmas” became Carey’s 19th Hot 100 No. 1, the most among soloists and one away from The Beatles’ overall record 20. It also made Carey the first artist to have ranked at No. 1 on the chart in four distinct decades, dating to her first week at the summit with “Vision of Love.”
Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” originally released in 1958, rises from No. 3 to its No. 2 Hot 100 best (a.k.a., a new old-fashioned way of scaling the chart, as it has reached the runner-up rank in each of the last three holiday seasons). It tallied 34.3 million streams (up 15%), 26.1 million in radio airplay audience (essentially even week-over-week) and 5,000 sold (up 19%) Dec. 2-8.
The late Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock,” from 1957, lifts 5-3 on the Hot 100 and the late Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” from 1964, climbs 6-4. As with Lee’s Yuletide standard, Helms’ and Ives’ return to their respective highs reached in each of the last three holiday seasons.
Metro Boomin blasts in with two songs in the Hot 100’s top 10, as “Creepin’,” with The Weeknd and 21 Savage, debuts at No. 5 and “Superhero (Heroes & Villains),” with Future and Chris Brown, opens at No. 8. The tracks start at Nos. 4 and 6 on Streaming Songs with 30.8 million and 27.4 million streams, respectively.
Metro Boomin hits a new Hot 100 best and doubles his career top 10 total as a billed recording artist, as he previously debuted and peaked at Nos. 9 and 10, respectively, with “Runnin” (with 21 Savage) and “Mr. Right Now” (with 21 Savage and featuring Drake) in October 2020. Metro Boomin co-produced and co-wrote those songs and has done the same for six other top 10s, including the No. 1s “Bad and Boujee” by Migos featuring Lil Uzi Vert (2017), and “Heartless” by The Weeknd (2019); he also co-wrote Big Sean’s 2017 top 10 hit “Bounce Back.”
Thanks to “Creepin’,” The Weeknd adds his 15th Hot 100 top 10 and 21 Savage, his 14th. With “Superhero,” Future and Chris Brown stretch their top 10 totals to 10 and 17, respectively.
Concurrently, “Creepin’ ” premieres at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs, while “Superhero (Heroes & Villains)” starts atop Hot Rap Songs, with the charts using the same methodology as the Hot 100. Metro Boomin, The Weeknd and 21 Savage claim their first, seventh and fifth No. 1 each on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and their first, 10th and first apiece on Hot R&B Songs. Metro Boomin, Future and Brown notch their first, third and fifth No. 1 each on Hot Rap Songs.
Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” falls to No. 6 after spending its first six weeks on the Hot 100 at No. 1 starting in November, with 74.6 million in radio reach (up 8%), 18.6 million streams (down 11%) and 7,000 sold (down 48%).
Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” dips 4-7 on the Hot 100, after it topped the Oct. 29-dated chart, as it rules Radio Songs for a fourth week (78.6 million in audience, up 2%).
Wham!’s “Last Christmas” advances 10-9 on the Hot 100, after the 1984 release first reached the top 10 during the 2020 holidays and hit a No. 7 high last holiday season.
Closing out the Hot 100’s top 10, Drake and 21 Savage’s “Rich Flex” falls 7-10, after it spent its first three weeks on the chart at its No. 2 best beginning in November.
Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Dec. 17), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 13).
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.
Amy Grant, Peter Frampton & More to Perform at Rescheduled Music Center Concert Celebrating A&M Co-Founder Jerry Moss
Live at The Music Center: Concert Celebrating Jerry Moss, Co-Founder of A&M Records is back on. The concert was first announced a little more than a year ago and was set to take place Feb. 11-12, 2022, but was postponed due to rising COVID-19 cases at the time. The “re-imagined” concert is now slated for The Music Center’s Mark Taper Forum on Jan. 14, 2023.
The show will feature performances by Paul Rodgers of Free, whose rock anthem “All Right Now” was a top five hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970; Peter Frampton, whose double-live album Frampton Comes Alive! topped the Billboard 200 for 10 nonconsecutive weeks in 1976; and Amy Grant, whose poppy smash “Baby Baby” topped the Hot 100 for two weeks in 1991.
“Jerry Moss has always been a music lover first,” Frampton said in a statement. “If it weren’t for him, Humble Pie and my own solo career might never have happened. Jerry has been a champion of mine my entire life and I treasure our friendship.”
“My first awareness of A&M Records was seeing the iconic logo on the inside of a Carole King record [on A&M-distributed Ode Records],” Grant added. “A&M Records was known by all to be the ‘artists’ label’ and it was a dream come true when they signed me. In getting to know Jerry Moss over the years, I was amazed by the breadth of his interests. Whether it was music, horse racing or trekking through Africa, excellence defined everything in which he invested his talents and passions.”
The show will also feature performances by Dionne Warwick, who never recorded for A&M, but is forever linked to Burt Bacharach, who did; Morgan James, Nova Payton and Joe Sumner. Additional performers will be announced. Though not performing, Bacharach, Herb Alpert and Misty Copeland will join the live celebration. The event will also feature pre-recorded appearances by Sheryl Crow, Yusuf/Cat Stevens and Sting.
The 90-minute concert will be held on Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. PT. A limited number of concert tickets are on sale now at musiccenter.org/moss starting at $43.
The evening will also feature a pre-concert reception and a post-performance dinner. A limited number of VIP tickets including the reception and/or dinner are available by contacting specialevents@musiccenter.org. Proceeds will support The Music Center’s ongoing efforts to provide free and low-cost access to arts experiences for all Angelenos.
Longtime patrons of The Music Center, Jerry and Tina Moss gifted $25 million in 2020 to help support the cultivation of strong arts and culture-focused partnerships and new programming initiatives at Los Angeles County’s premier performing arts center. The Music Center’s three original venues are united by an expansive outdoor area, which is now named Jerry Moss Plaza.
Alpert, Bacharach and Sting were announced as performers at the 2022 event, along with Merry Clayton and Sérgio Mendes, who are not currently on the bill for the make-up date. There are other changes between the scrapped show and the one that is set for next month. There were going to be two dates at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Now there will be just one, at the adjacent Mark Taper Forum. The concert events were going to be produced in collaboration with John Beug, who worked at A&M in its early years. The concert now is produced by The Music Center in conjunction with Nouveau Productions and executive producer and co-founder Robert Pullen.
2022 marks the 60th anniversary of A&M Records, the legendary label that Alpert and Moss co-founded on a handshake and an investment of $200 from both men. Over 25 years, A&M grew into the world’s largest independent record label, signing such iconic stars as The Police, Carpenters, Janet Jackson and Joe Cocker.
Moss won a Grammy for co-producing (with Alpert) Alpert & the Tijuana Brass’ sleek instrumental “A Taste of Honey,” the 1965 winner for record of the year. Alpert and Moss received trustees awards from the Recording Academy in 1997. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, receiving the Ahmet Ertegun award for non-performers.
After selling A&M Records to Polygram in 1989, Moss and Alpert formed Almo Sounds. Moss serves as chairman of both Almo Sounds and Rondor Music Inc., a music publishing company.
For more information and to purchase tickets, patrons can call (213) 972-0711 or visit musiccenter.org.
Diddy Explains How Son King Combs Is Keeping Bad Boy Entertainment Alive
Diddy’s son King Combs is keeping his father’s legacy alive. The father-son duo sat down for an interview with Billboard News, in which they discussed their musical endeavors and how the younger Combs carries on his dad’s Bad Boy Entertainment.
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Speaking with Datwon Thomas, editor-in-chief and vp of cultural media at Vibe magazine, King revealed that he is always “Bad Boy for life,” something that has perplexed his father, given that the label (which was formed in 1993 after Diddy and Uptown Records parted ways) is on a hiatus at the moment.
“I had stopped Bad Boy. Sometimes you gotta leave the game when it’s hot, you know? A lot of things were changing with streaming and everything,” the “Gotta Move On” artist explained. “One day I woke up and he had a Bad Boy chain on. I’m like, ‘Bro, Bad Boy is on pause for a second.’ He’s keeping Bad Boy alive and taking it to the next level without even no coaching or prompting from me.”
The 24-year-old follows in his dad’s footsteps with recent collaborations with Teyana Taylor, Kodak Black and more. Though his late mother Kim Porter often urged Diddy to give their son a leg up on the competition, he insisted that King pave his own way in the industry — something that would make King’s mother “super proud.”
“She’s, like, my biggest fan. I’ve really been working and doing music since I was 16. Like my pops said, from the jump he wasn’t going to help me give me no producer help, writer help, because he didn’t want me to ever have to lean on him or depend on him,” the young rapper noted.
As for what’s next for the father-and-son duo? Diddy stated he’s “dropping [new music] top of the year.” King also plans to follow suit, though his dad insisted they pick separate dates to release their projects.
Watch Diddy and King Combs’ interview in the video above.
Rammstein Sets German Album Chart Ablaze as ‘Layla’ Scores Top Single
BERLIN — It is Rammstein’s time to shine on this year’s German sales charts.
The veteran hard rock band had the best-selling album in Germany in 2022 with Zeit (which literally means “time”), according to GfK Entertainment, which tracks music sales and streaming in the German market. The most popular single was “Layla,” by DJ Robin & Schürze.
GfK’s “Official German Charts” count streams, downloads and physical sales – which can still be significant in Germany – plus airplay for singles. The annual charts count music consumption from the 50th week of 2021 to the 49th week of 2022.
Like last year, Universal Music Group dominated the market with the four top albums – Zeit, Helene Fischer’s Rausch at No. 2, ABBA’s Voyage at No. 3 and Taylor Swift’s Midnights at No. 4. Two of those – Rausch and Voyage were also on last year’s charts where Fisher’s album also came in at No. 2.
Universal also had the No. 7 album, Kontra K’s Für den Himmel, durch die Hölle. The top three singles were “Layla,” “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals – boosted to No. 2 by TikTok two years after its release – and “Beautiful Girls” by Luciano at No. 3. UMG also had the No. 9 single, “Cold Heart,” by Elton John and Dua Lipa.
Two of the other top 10 albums were international hits from Sony Music Entertainment – Harry Styles’ Harry’s House at No. 5 and Adele’s 30 at No. 10. The company also had Roland Kaiser’s Perspektiven at No. 9.
The two other top 10 albums came from Warner Music Group. A career-spanning collection from the veteran German punk group Die Toten Hosen came in at No. 6, while Ed Sheeran’s = – released last year – was at No. 8.
Sony scored three of the top 10 singles – “As It Was” by Harry Styles at No. 6, “Where Are You Now” by Lost Frequencies & Calum Scott at No. 7, and “Wildberry Lillet” by Nina Chuba at No. 10. Warner scored two of the top 10 singles – “abcdfu” by gayle and “Shivers” by Ed Sheeran. The remaining single, the No. 8 “Sehnsucht” by the German rapper T-Low and the production duo Miksu and Macloud, came out on the independent label Future.
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