Rap
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As debate continues over contemporary hip-hop’s ability to top the charts, producer Sean Momberger reached into the past to help the genre regain its pop dominance — and score his first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1. “Lovin on Me,” which borrows from a 1990s Detroit hit, became Jack Harlow’s third Hot 100 leader, continuing the Louisville, Ky., rapper’s success […]
As we get closer to Usher‘s highly anticipated Super Bowl Halftime Show performance, the worlds of hip-hop and R&B are back in full swing with major albums, singles and pop culture moments driving tons of discourse across social media.
From Kendrick Lamar‘s tease of new music to Megan Thee Stallion‘s surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live alongside Reneé Rapp in support of their Mean Girls collaboration, some of hip-hop’s biggest heavyweights used stealth to their advantage. In contrast, Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign‘s elusive Vultures joint album received yet another release date; this time, the record is slated to arrive on Feb. 9. — just two days before Usher is set to take the stage at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, NV. There was also a hilarious meme acknowledgment from Drake by way of the rapper’s recreation of TikTok creator Drew Wall’s viral day-in-the-life Target run videos — soundtracked by the Grammy-winner’s “Virginia Beach,” naturally.
Of course, the R&B OGs also had an eventful week — chief among them funk legend George Clinton, who received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday (Jan. 19).
With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from Anycia and Latto’s new outside anthem to Naomi Sharon’s gorgeous, acoustic paean for love. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.
Freshest Find: Anycia feat. Latto, “Back Outside”
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For their first official collaboration, Anycia and Latto skate over a horn-laden JetsonMade production that perfectly complements the laid-back-yet-urgent feel of each of their respective verses. When Anycia begins her pre-chorus with the deliciously cavalier, “Huh? I’m back outside/ Yeah, huh? N—a done made me mad,” her delivery immediately sets the foundation for a woman on a mission: she’s back outside and ready to get her lick back, but you’ll never see her sweat. As a fellow Atlanta rapper, Latto sounds right at home on the track, delivering yet another strong verse complete with funny punchlines (“And they sayin’ that I rap my ass off/ Turn around like, ‘I can’t tell’) and a healthy dose of shade (“Walked in, young b–ch, I’m turnt/ Got auntie hatin’, she burnt”).
Fivio Foreign & Meek Mill, “Same 24”
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Reuniting for the first time since 2020’s “Demons & Goblins,” Fivio Foreign and Meek Mill get introspective over a drum-heavy beat courtesy of Saint Cardona and Lala the DJ. Worlds away from the Brooklyn drill that dominated his debut studio album, 2022’s B.I.B.L.E., Fivi opens “Same 24” with a stream-of-consciousness verse in which he exalts his tenacity and his maturation journey. “We got the same twenty-four hours, n—a / Why what’s mine gotta be ours, n—a? / Talkin’ ’bout n—as need help, n—as, I was “n—as” / But I rose out of the dirt, give me my flowers, n—a,” he spits. Meek adds a characteristically loud guest verse that celebrates his own come-up by way of slick double entendres; “My granny house a mil’, she ain’t even know I could rap my ass off/ You s–ttin’ me? I was super broke, I took that cast off,” he raps.
Rob49 & Lil Wayne, “Wassam Baby”
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NOLA, stand up! In a week of stellar rap collaborations, Rob49 and Lil Wayne climb into the ring with thei rown “Wassam Baby.” Built around a gritty piano-anchored Mac Fly beat, the two New Orleans rappers wax poetic about their wealth and sexual prowess while spitting game at women from across the city, as Rob emphasizes in the chorus. If that hook sounds familiar, that’s because “Wassam Baby” leaked months ago and made the rounds as a viral sound on TikTok. With the addition of a strong Wayne verse — his balance of alliteration, punch lines and rhyme scheme variations are top-notch — Rob didn’t just give “Wassam Baby” a second wind, he gave it a completely new life.
Andra Day, “Where Do We Go”
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It’s been nearly a decade since Andra Day’s Grammy-nominated “Rise Up” first entered the world, and in the time since, the multihyphenate has earned a slew of major industry awards and honors, including an Academy Award nomination for best actress in a leading role for her starring turn as Billie Holiday in The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Now, she’s back with the lead single for her second non-soundtrack studio album. “Where Do We Go” is a rousing exercise in the pacing of show-stopping vocal performance. Day’s sense of dynamics is on full display as she parses through the complicated process of seeking closure from a relationship she’s not ready to leave. “I see love inside your brown eyes/ Listening to ‘New Sky’/ Is everything an absolute, babe?/ Like, do we absolutely have to say goodbye?” she croons.
1K Phew & Zaytoven, “Let Go Let God”
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For the latest chapter in the ever-evolving relationship between gospel and hip-hop, 1K Phew has finally unleashed his collaborative project with iconic rap producer Zaytoven. Titled Pray for Atlanta, the genre-blending set — which features collaborations with Hunxho and Jekalyn Carr — is a heartfelt address to the city from a rapper who clearly adores his hometown, and a producer who has helped shape the city’s modern sound. Focus track “Let Go Let God,” blends familiar Atlanta rap cadences with a hearty gospel message, finding the common ground between the secular notion of “trusting the process” and the sanctified notion of leaving things in God’s hands. “I been down if that’s okay, had to learn from yesterday/ Took a lot of L’s in my life, baby, and I ain’t goin’ back there, no way/ I got an iced out cross on my neck right now, tryna show him that he already paid,” he spits over Zaytoven’s trap production.
Destin Conrad, “WAR!”
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Last Friday (Jan. 19), Destin Conrad dropped off Submissive2, the sequel to last year’s Submissive. “War,” the fourth track on the set, is a perfect blend of the rising star’s penchant for idiosyncratic Gen Z humor and lustful-yet-subtle R&B melodies. Obviously, the song is about the lengths one will go to for the person they want — rather the person they want to bag — but the trick of “War” is the way Destin plays into the innate melodrama of the concept. “I would smash the windows out your ex’s car without a second thought, baby/ I would gladly take the f–kin’ charge and that’s a criminal offense,” he opens the song.
It’s the chorus, however, that really drives home Destin’s shtick. He plays with his pitch and intonation to embody different characters across a melody that plays on the bounce-rooted “I’ll do [insert outlandish thing] for the d–k” punchline set-up. “I’ll sing Adele for that d–k / Rolling in the deep for that d–k,” the voices joke. It’s all fun and games until one voice proclaims that they’ll “pay for the d–k,” to which Destin comes back down to earth and ends the song, quipping, “Alright, you’re buggin’ (Yeah, b–ch, you dragged it) / You did too much, b–ch, too much.”
Naomi Sharon, “Nothing Sweeter”
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Just a few months removed from the launch of her acclaimed debut album, Obsidian, Naomi Sharon has unveiled another new addition to her growing discography. “Nothing Sweeter” arrives as the latest evolution of the most Sade-influenced edges of Sharon’s sonic profile. The First Lady of OVO lays her elegant vocals over a sparse, delicate guitar-forward instrumental that allows her ample space to showcase her sense of vocal control. Lyrically, she extols the healing power of love while calling back to iconic R&B ballads of yesteryear, singing, “Uncover my skin, undo this pain/ Unbreak my heart/Until I remember the way.”
As the music industry continues to wake from its holiday season slumber and awards season barrels on, there’s much to catch up on in the worlds of hip-hop and R&B.
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Earlier this month (Jan. 6), Jay-Z picked up his second Primetime Emmy — outstanding directing for a variety special for The Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show Starring Rihanna. He won his first last year as an executive producer of the 2022 Super Bowl Halftime Show starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent. In more somber awards news, last Friday (Jan. 12), The Hollywood Reporter exclusively revealed that Diddy — nominated in best progressive R&B album for The Love Album: Off the Grid — would not be attending the upcoming 66th Annual Grammy Awards amid his recent sexual assault allegations.
In non-awards news, Lil Nas X made a characteristically controversial comeback with “J Christ,” Kali Uchis dropped off a new album alongside a pregnancy announcement, Janet Jackson announced new North American dates for her acclaimed Together Again tour and 21 Savage released his first solo LP in five years.
With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from Destin Conrad and Alex Isley’s devastating duet to 21 Savage’s Shining-inspired street anthem. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.
Freshest Find: Destin Conrad & Alex Isley, “Same Mistake”
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We’re only a few months removed from Submissive, but Destin Conrad already has his focus on Submissive 2. “Same Mistake” arrives as a forlorn ballad chiefly concerned with documenting the final moments of a disintegrating romance. “Why you always wanna play games?/ Night time you’re mine, and daylight you act like you don’t even know my name,” Destin croons over Louie Lastic’s ethereal production. Isley first delivers her trademark honeyed vocals as background accompaniment on Destin’s verse before commanding her own verse with equal parts ache and devastation. “Only wanted the best and I’m stickin’ to my story/ This was a moment for me, and this was all it could be,” she sings.
K CAMP & NoCap, “My Flowers”
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Few expressions have been run into the ground in the past half-decade as much as “giving somebody their flowers.” Miraculously, K CAMP and NoCap manage to deliver a spin on the phrase that feels fresh. Featuring production contributions from Trappin N London, Theevoni, MilanoTheProducer & J-RoD, “My Flowers” finds K Camp nimbly flowing over a solemn guitar-inflected trap beat. “N—as playin’ with my worth, you better have a check for me/ Or you better not check for me, angels standin’ next to me,” he spits. NoCap perfectly matches K Camp’s energy with a slightly more melodic flow that picks up on the same lyrical throughlines of loyalty and genuine love.
Kevin Gates, “Birds Calling”
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Kevin Gates is always good for a ratchet bop, and he’s dropped off yet another one in “Birds Calling.” A play on the trope of birds singing at sunrise, Gates waxes poetic about women hitting his line at all hours of the day. With Starrah and 302 on production duties, Gates hides some pretty sobering bars in between the sing-song hook. “Cleansing my sins started healing, I’m righteous/ Free everybody who thuggin’ in Rikers/ Know that I’m free, I’m authentically me,” he raps. “Birds Calling” is a headier complement to “Yonce Freestyle,” the club banger that served as the other pre-release single from Gates’ forthcoming The Ceremony LP.
Jhené Aiko, “Sun/Son”
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It’s been a little over three years since Jhené Aiko last gifted us a studio album, but she’s still remained musically active. Her latest release, “Sun/Son” serves as a loving tribute to her son for his first birthday. Lyrically, Aiko plays on the homophonous quality of the words in the song’s title, painting with broad strokes that contour the “solar power” her son’s love “charges her up” with. Vocally, she opts for a lush flurry of subdued harmonies that reside almost exclusively in her falsetto. It’s a relatively coy vocal performance, but one whose delicateness is the key ingredient to crafting a song with such a self-assured sense of intimacy.
Samaria, “Beating Myself Up”
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This glitchy slice of electronic R&B is the perfect backdrop to a session of serious self-loathing. “Want to think I’m one of a kind/ But it gets way too, too loud/ Used to get professional help/ Too scared of what they found,” Samaria says in a cadence somewhere between rapping, singing and stream-of-consciousness rambling. The flashes of drum’n’bass production drive home the song’s most sinister undertones, but it’s Samaria’s tone — hurt masked by a veneer or apathy — that embodies the destruction of innocence that anchors the track’s sentiments.
Jeymes Samuel, Doja Cat, Kodak Black & Adekunle Gold, “JEEZU”
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Jay-Z caused quite the stir on Spaces last week when he sang Doja Cat’s praises, but he wasn’t just running his mouth. After scoring a runaway hit with “Vegas” from the Elvis soundtrack in 2022, the “Agora Hills” rapper has lent her talents to another blockbuster movie OST. Alongside Adekunle Gold, Kodak Black and film director Jeyemes Samuel, Doja delivers a standout verse for the Book of Clarence soundtrack posse cut. “Y’all got an agenda, but we’ll see how that gon’ turn out/ Many false prophets leavin’ brothers with a firm doubt/ Father, please forgive me, for today, they finna learn now/ Put me in the dirt, and you gon’ see, I make it worthwhile,” she spits over Samuel’s laid-back jazz-inflected production. Adekunle’s impassioned hook is the song’s glue, while Kodak delivers one of his best verses in recent years on the Diaspora-traversing song.
21 Savage, “Redrum”
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A new 21 Savage album normally means the return of the rapper in both savage mode and R&B mode. While both personas made for enjoyable tracks on his newly released American Dream LP, “Redrum” is the unequivocal standout from his “savage mode” tracks. Featuring production from London on da Track, “Redrum” — “murder” spelled backwards, of course — finds the Grammy-winner rattling off his gun collection and delivering a slew of menacing metaphors and one-liners. The key part of the track, however, is the outro, which samples Jack Nicholson’s recitation of the “Three Little Pigs” nursery rhyme from The Shining (1980). Talk about thematic consistency!
“Do you have my black purse?” Sexyy Red asks one of her team members as she makes her way in front of the camera. As her brazen track “Sexyy Red for President” blasts in the background, the breakout St. Louis rapper pulls out two massive wads of cash, carefully placing one atop her trademark bright red wig as if it were a crown.
For all the boisterous energy of her high-octane hit singles, Sexyy Red is pretty quiet in person. The clock’s approaching midnight on the day of her Billboard photo shoot — and she’s quickly approaching the birth of her second child — so her relative calm is understandable. Nonetheless, as each new song from the deluxe version of her Hood Hottest Princess mixtape booms through the room’s speakers, Sexyy quickly shifts into boss mode, helping direct her shoot. She’s undoubtedly a star — and she was one long before “Pound Town,” her January collaboration with Tay Keith, changed her life.
As hip-hop celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023, Sexyy Red became a dominant force in the cultural conversation around the genre and where it’s headed next. Go to a college party blasting her “Hellcats SRTs,” or watch a club explode when “Yonce Freestyle” drops, and the 25-year-old rapper’s influence is obvious. From the tongue-in-cheek “Looking for the Hoes” to the Chief Keef-evoking “Shake Yo Dreads,” her music resonates with anyone willing to engage with and embrace their ratchet side.
Unlike many of her female peers, Sexyy’s raps aren’t drenched in metaphors and punchlines; her lyrics sound as if she’s saying the very first thing that pops into her head — which is exactly the case. When she spits, “B-tch, if it’s some beef, let me know, sh-t, what’s up?/All that talkin’ on the net, that’s gon’ get your head bust,” in “I’m the Sh-t,” Sexyy isn’t weaving subliminal shots throughout intricate wordplay — she’s plainly addressing her opps with equal parts humor, apathy and stone-cold seriousness.
According to Luminate, Hood Hottest Princess has collected 447.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams, helping it reach No. 13 on the Top Rap Albums chart, as well as making appearances on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (No. 21) and the Billboard 200 (No. 62). Sexyy has charted a pair of top 10s on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay ranking: “SkeeYee” (No. 6) and “Rich Baby Daddy” (No. 2), with the former also becoming the inaugural No. 1 hit on the newly launched TikTok Billboard Top 50.
This digital cover story is part of Billboard’s Genre Now package, highlighting the artists pushing their musical genres forward — and even creating their own new ones.
Sexyy dominated 2023 amid a notable lull for her genre overall in the marketplace. Last year, no hip-hop artist topped the Billboard 200 until mid-July, when Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape became the first No. 1 hip-hop album since Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains the previous December, marking the longest gap between No. 1 hip-hop albums since a 34-week drought in 1992-93. In September, Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” became hip-hop’s first Billboard Hot 100-topping single since Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” in August 2022.
Both “Paint the Town Red” and Pink Tape were buoyed by the danceable, top 40-friendly sounds of pop-rap and Jersey club, respectively, signaling a shift from the 2010s, when dominant trap artists regularly launched new singles and albums to the tops of Billboard’s marquee all-genre charts. While Sexyy didn’t make quite the commercial impact of “Paint the Town Red” or Uzi’s “Just Wanna Rock,” her remarkable string of 2023 hits suggests hip-hop may evolve in a new direction: one in which less crossover-aimed rap can still captivate the culture, and in which a woman with Sexyy’s raw, raucous style can achieve mainstream dominance without a top 40-friendly hit.
Born Janae Wherry, Sexyy grew up in St. Louis listening to the likes of Webbie, Boosie BadAzz and Trina — artists that embody the unapologetically hood energy that now courses through every Sexyy Red song. As Sexyy points out, they were all revered for their fearlessness. But achieving that kind of bravery herself took some time.
“When I was little, I always knew [I was a star] because I was just different,” Sexyy says. “I was worried. I was quiet. But everybody used to want to be my friend. I was pretty, my hair was real long, my mama knew how to dress me. Everybody used to just be flocking to me, but I was shy. I didn’t want to talk to nobody. I’ve always been that person for real.”
Michael Tyrone Delaney
That kind of authenticity is now helping her fans access their own — one two-and-a-half-minute track at a time. From the start, Sexyy’s career has felt organic and, at first, low stakes. Growing up, she always had a creative spirit: “I used to think I was going to be a painter. I used to design my Barbie dolls’ clothes. I used to be doing hair. I just was multitalented, so I knew I could do it, but I just didn’t know how,” she says.
When a former boyfriend broke her heart in 2018, Sexyy reacted in the most hip-hop way possible: She recorded a dis track. The response among friends was so overwhelmingly positive that even the song’s subject encouraged her to seriously pursue music. (“He’d have me rap the song to his friends,” Sexyy recalls.)
From that very first song, listeners clamored to hear Sexyy’s specific voice, her cadence, her energy, her off-the-cuff rambunctiousness tempered with sincerity. Performances at local clubs and parties soon followed — “A free party? And I get $50 just to go up there and just do something? Why not?” — as did a debut mixtape, 2021’s Ghetto Superstar, and support on social media from R&B star Summer Walker. But it took a mixture of old-school grind and new-school social media prowess — and a little help from the music industry — for Sexyy to harness the zeitgeist.
In 2021, Rebel Music, an independent Miami-based label and management company, signed Sexyy after coming across some of her early tracks. “Once she got off the plane and I heard her voice, I knew she was a star,” recalls Vladimir “Sunny” Laurent, Sexyy’s A&R executive. “Like, her voice, it just tells you who she is.” By mid-2023, Miami-based distributor Open Shift and gamma — Larry Jackson’s media company that creates, distributes and markets content with a specific focus on Black culture — “reached out to [Rebel] and expressed interest not only in Sexyy, but their broad platform [too],” according to Dave Gross, who became Sexyy’s manager around the same time. (Sexyy remains signed to Rebel Music, while gamma and Open Shift handle distribution of her music.)
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In January 2023, Sexyy Red dropped the track that would change the course of her career. “Pound Town” is emblematic of Sexyy’s ethos: Say what you feel, and do that before anything else. From “too many b-tches, where the n—as at?” to “My c–chie pink, my bootyh–e brown,” her impulsive bars quickly drew listeners in, inspiring a litany of memes across TikTok and X (formerly Twitter).
The track also brought “p—y rap” — which music journalist Robyn Mowatt describes as “a subgenre of rap where women embrace their sexual prowess” in the face of “the patriarchy and misogyny” common in the male-dominated rap world — to the fore of hip-hop discourse. As female MCs have seized the mainstream, p—y rap has dominated, with Sexyy as one of its most prominent purveyors — even if she disputes the classification.
“I don’t agree with that [classification], because why is that the only thing you heard me talking about?” she says. “That’s the only thing that you got out of everything I just said? You just heard me say ‘c–chie’? I hate when they say that. I just rap about my daily life. Girls that live like me, I just rap about what we go through. I don’t sit and talk about c–chie all day.”
She’s right. What has made Sexyy such a contentious subject of hip-hop conversations is that she embodies an energy and perspective many are comfortable glamorizing without respecting. In lyrics like “When I don’t hear from my n—a, I write him/He a bad boy, I don’t care, that’s how I like ’em/Yeah, free my n—a ’til it’s backwards/F–k the police, f–k the pigs, they some bastards,” she’s not conjuring a scene to give the illusion of a hood aesthetic — she’s literally pulling from her real life.
“Authenticity is self-relative, and for Sexyy, it’s that she’s independent, fierce, strong, unafraid of the world’s opinions and unbowed by backlash,” Gross says. It’s not about whether she’s acting “hood” — it’s about expressing those qualities and aesthetics authentically in her music and performance. Sexyy is always being Sexyy, first and foremost.
“Pound Town” peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard Hot 100 following a remix with Nicki Minaj, marking Sexyy’s debut on the chart. “I specifically had the vision to make sure that we got that done and out by Memorial Day weekend so that we could just own the f–king summer,” says gamma CEO Larry Jackson, who was instrumental in orchestrating the remix. “That, to me, was like throwing a lit match in dry shrubbery.”
As scores of streaming-era artists know well, it is easy for a viral hit to overshadow the artist behind it. Sexyy Red and her team sought to avoid that, Jackson says, delivering a constant stream of singles and remixes to support Hood Hottest Princess. The project arrived alongside the official single release of “SkeeYee,” a raucous party anthem named after a cat-calling phrase frequently used in Sexyy’s hometown of St. Louis.
“SkeeYee” quickly became a staple on locker room playlists across the country, the go-to celebration song for athletes from college football’s Ole Miss Rebels to MLB’s Baltimore Orioles. Its success shifted Sexyy into a different tier from her peers like Kaliii and Flo Milli. Most mainstream female rappers are ignored by straight male audiences save for a verse or two, but Sexyy had that demographic captivated for an entire calendar year — from the countless videos of ecstatic male fans at her festival appearances to Travis Scott’s giddy embrace of “SkeeYee” during his 2023 Wireless Festival set.
“She’s the female Gucci [Mane]. She sounds like Trina. Everybody thinks she’s like a p—y rap artist, but she’s not really,” Laurent says. “She makes music for dudes who like fast cars. That’s why dudes connect with her so well. Everybody loves her, from the LGBT community to [straight] women — it’s all walks of life.”
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“Hellcats SRTs” (along with its Lil Durk remix) and “Shake Yo Dreads” added two more hits to Sexyy’s résumé, and smart features on NLE Choppa’s “Slut Me Out” and DaBaby’s “Shake Sumn” kept her momentum going. In 2023, ratchet party rap reemerged in popularity, and Sexyy led the charge with music and energy reminiscent of iconic voices like Waka Flocka Flame and Chief Keef. “I see Sexyy Red as a female me,” Waka says. “How people are like, ‘Man, Waka’s music just ratchet!’ It was records outselling me by millions of copies, but they can never get played inside the club.”
Neither “Pound Town” nor “SkeeYee” was a major Hot 100 hit, reaching Nos. 66 and 62, respectively, but they still captured and defined the year for large swaths of consumers; Sexyy landed six entries on the TikTok Billboard Top 50. And after her hit linkup with Minaj, she spent the rest of 2023 maximizing her commercial reach by collaborating with another Young Money icon.
According to Gross, Drake reached out to Sexyy via DM around the time the rest of the industry began to truly take notice of her. So, between supporting Moneybagg Yo on his Larger Than Life Tour and headlining her own Hood Hottest Princess tour, Sexyy opened for Drake and 21 Savage’s blockbuster It’s All a Blur Tour. That cross-country trek set the stage for Sexyy’s highest-peaking Hot 100 entry yet, “Rich Baby Daddy” (No. 11), a track from Drake’s For All the Dogs album that also features fellow St. Louis native SZA. “Rich Baby Daddy” also became her most beloved track yet (by critics and fans alike), on an album that also featured heavy hitters from Bad Bunny to J. Cole — an indicator of how quickly Sexyy had risen in the industry.
Her stint on Drake and 21 Savage’s tour also laid the groundwork for her own headlining tour, which her team estimates sold 75,000 tickets across 28 shows — a rare feat for a female rapper, especially one so new to the game, and a testament to the strength of the Sexyy Red brand in a year that had numerous cancellations of hip-hop tours and festivals.
“Touring was stressful at first, because nobody knew I was pregnant,” Sexyy explains. “I’d be in the bedroom trying to suck my stomach in or wear clothes to show I wasn’t. It hurt to just be onstage all day holding your stomach. It’s hard to hide it.” For an artist like Sexyy, deeply committed to presenting herself authentically, the decision to do that was deeply personal, and tactical: She shot more than 10 music videos, made several festival appearances, went on three tours and performed at awards shows — and did most of that while carrying her second child.
“Being pregnant is stressful; it wears your body down. I was tired, but I tried to hide it as much as you possibly could,” she says. “I like to have a personal life. I’m already famous or whatever, so everything be out there. I be trying to have something to myself that I could keep. Just go home and be with my son and my family. That’s the reason I was hiding.”
Michael Tyrone Delaney
Gross recalls one summer stint in which Sexyy “hopped off the stage with Drake, hopped on a jet to make it to a Moneybagg Yo show, did an afterparty after the Moneybagg show, then at six or seven in the morning took another jet to go the next city where the Drake tour was.” That kind of work ethic is what drew him to Sexyy in the first place.
It’s the same energy Sexyy started the year with after the father of her baby got locked up. “I don’t got no more distractions. I can work now,” she says. After every show, she went straight to her 2-year-old son, Chuckie — a testament to how she manages to balance work with her personal life. “This year was very unique and there was an extremely heightened sense of concern” around the impact of Sexyy’s promotional schedule on her mind and body, Gross says. “Our game plan is always going to be to take our cue from the artist.”
As quickly as she has become a pop cultural touchstone, Sexyy has stirred up plenty of controversy. In October on the podcast This Past Weekend With Theo Von, she said, “Trump, we miss you” — arguing that “they support him in the hood” because “he started getting Black people out of jail and giving people that free money.” One conspiracy theory accuses her of being a plant by the CIA to destroy the Black community, while some posts on X have called for Jackson’s condemnation to hell because of his involvement in promoting Sexyy.
For Sexyy, wanting to be in the rap game for the long haul has meant finding a way to exist amid all that noise. “It don’t really faze me, because I know what’s going on in real life,” she says. “I just do me. I be really nice.” And, in real life, Sexyy is connecting with audiences because she’s giving them the space to revel in their ratchetness. “In my opinion, she is the first one post-pandemic who brought us a hot summer,” Jackson says. “She dropped music that made us feel good for the first time in four years about being outside again.”
“I think she’s every woman’s spirit animal. That rambunctious girl that says anything she feels. She says things people are afraid to say,” adds Laurent. “She’s like a heroine in a way.”
In 2024, Sexyy Red has one goal: “I’m showing my ass. I’m going to just be getting richer, bigger, more trendier. I’m going to be everywhere,” she says. “I’m going to be in it for the long haul, [but] not even on purpose, though. Even if I try to stop rapping, they’re going to take some sh-t, turn it into something, put me on the blogs, make it something it doesn’t even have to be, so Imma be here for a minute.” Her manager is aiming for “three or four albums next year. That might be ambitious,” he acknowledges. “But I want 2024 to be the year of Sexyy Red like 2023 was.”
Michael Tyrone Delaney
In December, she dropped a deluxe edition of Hood Hottest Princess featuring collaborations with Chief Keef and Summer Walker, and she has also scored rising hits in “Bow Bow Bow (F My Baby Dad)” and “Free My N—a.” The negative response to the latter in particular — some critics contended that the song and music video contributed to the glorification of the incarceration of Black men — exemplified the vitriol that has moved some veteran female rappers to defend Sexyy.
“We don’t know what [Sexyy is] going to be talking about on the third or fourth album, but right now we’re talking about where we came from,” Trina tells Billboard. “We’re talking about the bottom. The gutter, the trenches, the dirt, the slime, the scum. All of that. Some people have just grown above it and they’re not in the hood no more, but everybody has not got to that place yet. You can’t expect them to be talking about the most lavish things in life and they haven’t addressed where they from and what they’ve seen and how they seen it. Give them a chance to grow. Give them a chance to elevate. Give them a chance to evolve. They’re still young women. They’re still under 30 years old. They still have time to do whatever they want to do, but this is just the beginning.”
Sexyy’s vision and hope for hip-hop’s future is centered in the same principle she has upheld since “Pound Town” blew up: authenticity. For her, that’s the only way to know “who really f–king with you when you’re just being yourself and not trying to pretend.”
And for her heroes — like Boosie BadAzz, the only artist she requested to hear during her Billboard photo shoot other than herself — it’s the reason her voice is so needed in rap right now. Sexyy is “a girl from the hood who finally got her chance to speak and it’s accepted,” Boosie says. “When I listen to her music, it’s like the girls from my project talking. You got to respect it or watch other people respect it. We got a voice, too. The hood has a voice, too. A lot of people don’t respect it because they don’t understand it.”
Perhaps that’s what the future of hip-hop looks like under a Sexyy Red dynasty: a scene where a young woman can captivate a nation with her own perspective and narrative while also giving a voice to the place some of the culture’s most overlooked movers and shakers come from — and where none of that is just a performance. As usual, Sexyy puts it best herself: “I’m just doing me in this rap sh-t.”
And, we’re back! As the industry recalibrates itself from the holiday rush, the hip-hop and R&B worlds are slowly getting back to their weekly tidal waves of new music. The options are a bit sparse this week, as January is typically a slow month for new releases, but there are still some standouts. Even as Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2, Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me” and Drake’s For All the Dogs continue to rule the charts, there are few new remixes and singles that could very well grow into the first smash hits of 2024.
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With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from Fivio Foreign’s fiery new drill anthem to Megan Thee Stallion’s swing at hip-hop musical theatre. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.
Freshest Find: Erick the Architect & George Clinton, “Ezekiel’s Wheel”
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Erick the Architect of Flatbush Zombie has a solo album on the way, and if “Ezekiel’s Wheel” is anything to go by, we’re in for a stunner of an album. Alongside the legendary George Clinton, Erick blends notes of ’90s East Coast hip-hop, reggae, funk and soul for a song that recounts his experiences growing up in Brooklyn, New York and growing into the rapper he is today. Lyrically, the track is anchored by an allusion to the Biblical story of Ezekiel’s wheel; “Everyone’s keepin’ secrets for oilin’ / Have Ezekiel’s wheels gone squeaky?” Clinton asks in trademark scraggly voice. There’s a gentleness in Clinton’s delivery that nicely offsets the chugging nature of Matt Zara’s production, a wonderful study in sonic contrast.
ScarLip feat. NLE Choppa, “Blick (Remix)”
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For the remix to her latest hit, rising Bronx rapper ScarLip tapped “Slut Me Out” hitmaker NLE Choppa. “Blick” has already been gaining traction on TikTok thanks to a viral dance, and this new remix is sure to give the track an extra boost. Most of the original “Blick” track remains unchanged, ScarLip’s gruff tone anchors high-energy verses and a danceable hook alike, so NLE Choppa smartly adapts his style to her formula. “Shake a n—a down like booty and cheeks/ I’ma Summer Walk s–t down, shout out Lil MeechCall it abuse how we beatin’ the streets/ Jumped off the porch, you was beatin’ your meat,” he raps in his signature blend of sexed-up humor.
Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine & The Alchemist, “F–k & Get High”
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Over a luxurious, drum-heavy instrumental courtesy of The Alchemist, Westside Gunn & Conway the Machine trade verses that prioritize a certain kind of lustful braggadocio. In between their relatively heady proclamations of wealth and success, they use the hook (a notably sparse “All I wanna do is f–k and get high/ That’s all I wanna do”) for some breathing room. It’s a lightweight track, but the depth of Alchemist’s production provides a sturdy foundation for their ruminations on some of the finer things in life.
Sdot Go, SweepersENT, Jay Hound, Sha Gz & Jay5ive, “I Like to Party”
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This song has been going viral on TikTok for months as a snippet, and now it’s finally here in all of its glory. Sdot’s opening lines — “I like to party, but I need b–tches/ Clap-clap to the beat/ Up, I’m tryna see if she wit’ it” — are something of a manifesto. His gruff semi-growl immediately signals the track as a drill anthem (as does the pounding production, courtesy of Ajellz, Nxxre, Bullo Producer and YoJelly) — but, more importantly, his tone is the track’s entire center of gravity. There are a slew of artists on “I Like to Party,” but no one’s voice is as commanding or as charismatic as Sdot’s. And that’s why he can score hits whether he’s behind bars or not.
Ama Louise, “Send Your Loving”
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Rising R&B Singer Ama Louise delivers a slinking, sultry ode to the security of true love with “Send Your Loving.” A quiet storm of twinkling synths and keys soundtrack her pleas for a lover to send their “loving” so she can create some sense of safety for herself. “So send your loving to me tonight/ ‘Cause only you can save me from my mind,” she croons in her honeyed timbre. From the production to Ama’s vocal performance, “Send Your Loving” is an incredibly intimate affair; it’s warm and inviting, but the ache and longing that course through her background vocals are what truly pull the song together.
UMI & V of BTS, “Wherever U R”
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As the BTS boys continue to fulfill their respective military duties and await their long-anticipated comeback, fans have found solace in each group member’s solo endeavors. Last year, Layover, V’s debut solo studio album, reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 thanks to its tight blend of pop and R&B. Now, the BTS star is kicking off 2024 by throwing an assist to UMI on the tender, guitar-backed “Wherever U R.” “Even on the days, I ain’t right by your side/ I’m keeping my promise that/ I will be wherever you are,” he sings. The duet is incredibly lush in the way UMI’s and V’s voices marry across the tasteful instrumental arrangement. Likely V’s last musical release until he completes his military service, “Wherever U R” is a heartfelt “see you later” to his fans that doubles as a heart-melting anthem of commitment for lovers.
This year marks the ten-year anniversary of Iggy Azalea‘s ascent to Stateside superstardom, and the Grammy-nominated “Fancy” rapper seems to be marking the occasion with an apparent retirement announcement.
In a lengthy message to her fans posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday (Jan. 3), Azalea detailed the thought process that helped her decide to shift her focus away from music. “I’ve always been someone who finds my joy in being creative & seeing my ideas come to life. For a long time I used music to deliver my big crazy ideas to the world,” she wrote. “I know a lot of people have this idea that I was ‘bullied away from music’ and that’s something I’ve always laughed at because I’d never be bullied out of anything! In fact, I’m too stubborn. I think I’ve even resisted changes within myself at times, purely because I don’t like being viewed as someone who quits.”
The most recent musical updates from Azalea detailed a forthcoming as-yet-untitled fourth studio album set to be executive-produced by the now-incarcerated Tory Lanez. The album was intended to be the follow-up to 2021’s The End of an Era, which featured collaborations with BIA and Tyga, among others.
“In truth what I’ve known for a long time is that I feel more passionately about design and creative direction than I do about songwriting,” she continued. “That’s why I want to let you know that I’m not going to finish my album. It’s been paused for a few months while I was giving direction for a different project & in truth I just haven’t felt the urge to go back to it. I feel really happy & passionate in my day to day life when my [mind’s] focused on that and so I want to stick to what’s undeniably best for me.”
Although she was working on an album, Azalea has always had her hands in multiple creative pots. The “Black Widow” rapper has self-directed a number of her own music videos — including the Jennifer Hudson-assisted “Trouble” and 2021’s “I Am The Stripclub” — and, back in 2012, she signed a modeling contract with Wilhelmina Models. At the top of last year, Azalea joined the subscription-based OnlyFans platform to deliver illustrations, poetry, photography and videos to her most loyal fans. Later this year, Azalea will perform at the 2024 AVN Awards.
Azalea closed out her message saying, “[Can’t] wait to start sharing some of the things I’ve been involved in creating & hoping you’ll see my quirk & humor in anything I touch!”
Iggy Azalea has earned four career Billboard 200 entries, including her Grammy-nominated debut studio album, The New Classic (No. 3), her highest-charting entry on the ranking to date. On the Billboard Hot 100, she has notched three top ten hits from 13 total entries, including “Problem” (No. 2, with Ariana Grande), “Black Widow” (No. 3, with Rita Ora) and “Fancy” (No. 1, with Charli XCX). Her most recent musical release is last year’s “Money Come,” which received a remix featuring Ivorian Doll and Big Boss Vette.
Check out Iggy’s full message below:
This is gonna be long….so only bother reading if you love me. (If you still bother anyway you’re a weirdo who has been warned. 🤷♀️😂)I’ve always been someone who finds my joy in being creative & seeing my ideas come to life. For a long time I used music to deliver my big…— IGGY AZALEA (@IGGYAZALEA) January 3, 2024
12/22/2023
Turns out it wasn’t a bad year after all…
12/22/2023
As per usual, it’s been a busy week in the world of hip-hop and R&B. With exactly one week to go before Christmas, the worlds of hip-hop and R&B extended their stay in Gag City. Nicki Minaj — who recently clinched her historic third Billboard 200 chart-topper — dropped off another version of Pink Friday 2, this time featuring collaborations with 50 Cent (“Beep Beep”) and Monica and Keyshia Cole (“Love Me Enough”).
The “Super Freaky Girl” rapper also dominated the news cycle with a pair of iHeartRadio Jingle Ball performances, a record-breaking stream with Kai Cenat, and her decision to brush off Kanye West‘s request to clear her beloved “New Body” verse for his and Ty Dolla $ign’s imminent Vultures album. Speaking of Vultures, that album never arrived. Nonetheless, we were treated to new LPs from Bas and YTB Fatt, as well as the highly-anticipated Color Purple soundtrack, which features new original songs by Halle Bailey, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Coco Jones, H.E.R., Megan Thee Stallion, Missy Elliott, Shenseea and more.
With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop. From A$AP Twelvyy’s heart-warming A$AP Mob reunion to Madison Ryann Ward’s gorgeous amalgamation of gospel and acoustic R&B, get into these six new picks and be sure to check out the rest of our recs in the Spotify playlist below.
Freshest Find: Fantasia, “Superpower (I)”
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There was simply no way to bring The Color Purple from Broadway to the silver screen without a show-stopping new end-credits song. Leave it to Fantasia and The-Dream to deliver that and then some with their rousing “Superpower (I).” Anchored by ethereal strings and the driving melodies of Negro spirituals, Fantasia croons lyrics that beautifully capture the arc and triumph of both Celie and herself. “I pray you see past my scars/ And assumе all the joy inside/ We all got our own mountains to climb/ Wе’ll take our time goin’ down the sweeter side,” she sings. Known and beloved for her powerhouse vocals, Fantasia plays with her dynamics here, carefully oscillating between soft coos and levee-breaking belts that add new layers of intention and storytelling to The-Dream’s lyrics.
A$AP Twelvyy feat. A$AP ANT, A$AP Rocky & A$AP Ferg, “Yams Day”
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For this loving tribute to A$AP Yams — the late New York rapper who formed A$AP Mob — four of the collective’s brightest stars team up for three minutes of tender nostalgia. Built around a sample of DJ Zirk’s “Ana 4 Ya Hoez,” “Yams Day” draws from the same Southern hip-hop influences that inform Rocky’s sound. The track is the first of five new tracks on the deluxe version of Twelvyy’s Kid$ Gotta Eat and it aptly functions as both a memorial and a victory lap. Between Rocky’s refrain and Ferg’s hook — not to mention the strong verses from Ant and Twelvyy — “Yams Day” captures the beautiful synergy of A$AP Mob, one that feels renewed after some time to heal from Yams’ passing.
Fivio Foreign & 41, “Get Deady”
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Brooklyn rap trio 41 has enjoyed a breakout year in 2023, and they’ve capped off their run with a new Fivio Foriegn collaboration. Steeped in both acts’ Brooklyn drill sound, each rapper delivers a high-octane, punchline-ridden verse over a skittering beat courtesy of AyoAA, Lawyered Beats & Verbxse. “Like, okay, who tryna cyph’?/ Who tryna smoke on a body tonight?” Kyle Richh quips. The chemistry among 41’s members remains palpable (just check out the gusto that namedropping TaTa brings to the end of Jenn’s verse), but their ability to showcase their idiosyncrasies while holding space for Fivio’s dynamism is what really makes this track such a winner.
X4, “Call My Bluff”
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For his latest release of the year, LA rapper X4 opts for ominous synths and laid-back finger snaps to provide the foundation for “X4,” a brooding invitation for his opps to, well, call his bluff. The texture of X4’s voice is what elevates the track, equal parts whispery and hoarse, his tone is a stark contrast to gruff growling that’s currently dominating hip-hop on the other side of the country. He sounds unfazed on “Call My Bluff,” almost purposely monotone. In a way, his delivery underscores the mundanity of the scenes he raps about, and who are we to call his bluff?
Madison Ryann Ward, “Calling My Name”
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With a delicate timbre that recalls Yebba’s, Madison Ryann Ward unleashes an unbelievably tender amalgam of acoustic R&B, gospel, and pop. Her saccharine melodies immediately lodge themselves in your ear, but it’s her fluttery harmonies — ones that find her warping her malleable head voice — that add some intricacies to the melody’s broad strokes. Of course, there are also the lyrics: heartfelt couplets that exalt God and thank Him for being a constant presence in her life. The chorus interpolates portions of “Amazing Grace,” which pairs nicely with the apprehension and self-doubt that courses through her verses: “Help me with my unbelief/ This gonna preach, say I’m forgiven and free/ This is another degree, who, me?/ You really talkin’ to me?” she croons.
Bas feat. Blxckie & A$AP Ferg, “U-Turn”
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The late-night driving crowd is a silent but mighty segment of music listeners, and Bas may have just gifted them their newest anthem. Assisted by South African rapper Blxckie and A$AP Ferg in his second appearance in this week’s column, Bas coasts over mOma+Guy’s luscious production with inimitable sensual swagger. The smooth Afrobeats-inflected beat soundtracks his ode to spinning the block on a lover that you just can’t get out of your head and heart. While he’s present throughout the track, Bas doesn’t have a verse of his own, making “U-Turn” not just an enjoyable song, but also a deft showcase of his curatorial abilities.
For Barbz around the world, today is a holiday. On Friday, Dec. 8, legions of Nicki Minaj fans made their way to Gag City to celebrate the release of the rapper’s highly anticipated Pink Friday 2. With the use of AI, fans created a virtual kingdom complete with local attractions inspired by different Minaj songs […]
Thirteen years after releasing her debut album Pink Friday, Nicki Minaj has delivered the long-awaited sequel. Throughout Pink Friday 2, Minaj barrels through her foes at full throttle, showcasing the same unflappable wit that has made her a rap icon, as proven by her song “Big Difference.” “Like my hunnids blue/ Bad bi–hes, yeah, I keep […]