R&B/Hip-Hop

Kim Kardashian Appears to Comment on Ex-Husband Kanye West’s Changes During Marriage: ‘You Can’t Live With the New Person’

Since filing for divorce from ex-husband Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) in 2021, Kim Kardashian has mostly kept quiet about the couple’s relationship, how they are co-parenting their four children and whatever feelings she might have about West’s repeated public meltdowns in which he spouts hate-filled antisemitic invective for days on end.

But in Thursday’s (Feb. 13) episode of The Kardashians, Kim opened up a bit about what may have caused the dissolution of the couple’s marriage while bonding with sister Khloé about her own marital issues. After having an emotional reunion with her ex-husband, retired NBA player Lamar Odom, after nine years apart, Khloé said she got married “too quickly” to Odom.

Trending on Billboard

Though their marriage lasted only five tumultuous years, Khloé said she “wouldn’t change a thing” about marrying the man she called the “love of my life,” lamenting that if it weren’t for Odom’s well-publicized struggles with substance use they might still be together. “I know I picked the right person at that time,” she told Kim and their mother, Kris Jenner, in the episode.

Kim seemed to relate to the sentiment, seemingly referencing her struggles with West, saying, “That’s the hardest part. I’ve been there. When you don’t foresee something happening that really changes a person’s personality and then they’re not the same person and you can’t ever get that person back, but you can’t live with the new person. I get it.”

Kim had more to say in a confessional segment, adding, “It’s tougher when you don’t want your marriage to end off of personal reasons but circumstances change that force your marriage to end. When you weren’t planning on that and that’s not really the outcome you want but there’s no other option, I think it makes it harder to get over.”

While the SKIMS founder never specifically named West in the episode of the Hulu series, it appeared as if she was referencing their relationship, which ended with Kardashian stating in a petition to be considered legally single in early 2022 that Ye was “creating emotional distress” by sharing “misinformation” about their private family matters.

While the reality star was open to talking about what she said at the time was West’s struggle with bipolar disorder during their relationship, the rapper recently claimed that his now-wife, Bianca Censori, has told him that he was mis-diagnosed and is likely on the autism spectrum.

Kardashian’s comments on the show — which is taped months before the episodes air — came just a few days after West deleted his X account following a four-day spree of virulently antisemitic posts in which he declared once again “I’m a Nazi” and “I love Hitler,” before briefly offering a shirt emblazoned with a Nazi swastika for sale on his Yeezy site.

The offensive posts have once again caused serious professional fall-out for West, who has been criticized for spreading hate speech by the ADL and fellow artists, as well as being dropped by his booking agent and hit with a lawsuit by a Jewish staffer who alleged that he compared himself to Hitler and threatened her because she is Jewish.

Here’s How 2 Chainz Feels About Kendrick Lamar Name-Dropping Him on ‘Not Like Us’

2 Chainz was one of the Atlanta artists Kendrick Lamar named in the third verse of “Not Like Us” who had worked with Drake in the past before proceeding to call him “not a colleague” but a “colonizer.” And now, the “Watch Out” rapper is sharing his thoughts on the mention.

Chainz stopped by The Breakfast Club on Wednesday (Feb. 12) with Larry June and The Alchemist in support of their Life Is Beautiful album, and Charlamagne Tha God asked the rapper formerly known as Tity Boi about Lamar name-dropping him on the Drake diss that arrived last May.

“I just think it was kind of like some wordplay, ’cause Drake and I got a song called ‘No Lie,’” said the rapper, who has teamed up with Drizzy in the past for other tracks, including “All Me,” “Big Amount,” “F–kin’ Problems” and more. “And so when he said he lied, it just felt like, I don’t know, but I didn’t take it as no kind of way. I don’t think he was taking a shot at me.”

Trending on Billboard

He continued: “I’ve heard all type of instances where somebody want me to say something back. I just think it was a moment where it was about Atlanta artists.”

On the Grammy-winning track, which went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 and break the record for most weeks atop the Hot Rap Songs chart, Lamar rhymes: “2 Chainz say you good, but he lied/ You run to Atlanta when you need a few dollars/ No, you not a colleague, you a f—in’ colonizer.”

June, meanwhile, said he hasn’t heard “Not Like Us” in its entirety. “I never heard that full song,” he said. “I f–k with everybody. I just didn’t particularly hear that song fully. I heard a lot of it on Instagram and stuff like that. But I was doing the album with him at the time, so I wasn’t really listening to too much s–t like that.”

The Alchemist, who produced “Meet the Grahams,” expanded on how the diabolical Drake diss came to be, noting it was actually built around a gospel sample. “Yeah, that’s a gospel record. Yeah, the sample was,” he said. “I wanna be Switzerland really. Leave me out of it, but they end up making me the battleground … I had sent the record to Dot months before that happened and I heard it when everyone else heard it.”

Watch 2 Chainz, Larry June and The Alchemist talk about “Not Like Us” on The Breakfast Club below:

Drake & PartyNextDoor Reveal ‘$ome $exy $ongs 4 U’ Tracklist

Drake and PartyNextDoor are here to spice up your Valentine’s Day. The OVO pairing shared the tracklist to their anticipated $ome $exy $ongs 4 U joint project on Thursday (Feb. 13), just a day before it hits streaming services.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The effort is either free of features, or the Toronto duo’s keeping them a secret until fans press play. $$$4U boasts 21 tracks in total across 74 minutes of run time.

Drake’s Plottwist burner Instagram account has posted several photos of Lil Wayne and T-Pain together, but it’s unclear if the “Got Money” collaborators will be appearing on the project, or if Drake is comparing himself and Party to the pair.

Trending on Billboard

Earlier this week, Drake raised hype around the joint album by bringing PartyNextDoor out to perform as a special guest with him in Melbourne on his Anita Max Wynn Tour.

They’ve proven to be a potent force together in the past on tracks such as “Come and See Me,” “Recognize,” “Members Only,” “Loyal,” “Preach, “Since Way Back” and more.

Drake also revealed the snowy cover art for $$$4U, which features the duo bundled up in furry coats in front of the Marilyn Monroe Towers in Canada.

“I got an album coming out on Feb. 14 with my brother PartyNextDoor. It’s called $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, but it’s some turned-up songs for you on there, too, and there’s some personal feelings on there for you,” Drake told the crowd during a recent show. “Hopefully, whoever you’re with on Valentine’s Day, hopefully y’all can share that experience together.”

Find the tracklist and cover art below. Look for the album to hit streaming services on Friday (Feb. 14).

The Top 50 R&B Love Songs of All Time

When it comes to making love songs, arguably no other genre has mastered that craft to the degree of R&B.

Its smooth melodic mix of jazz, blues and gospel rhythms, coupled with emotion-packing vocals, dates back to the ‘40s. Since then, the genre has undergone various iterations in its ongoing evolution — soul, funk, hip-hop, neo-soul, contemporary and alternative — while heavily influencing other genres along the way, such as rock n’ roll, country and pop.

Lyrical themes have run the gamut as well, from freedom, protest and pride to joy, pain and simply surviving. But when it comes to the subject of love in particular, R&B brims with colorful and insightful takes on every phase of that rollercoaster emotion: first encounter, between the sheets, courtship, break-up, make-up, marriage, divorce … then taking aim once again with the aid of Cupid’s arrow.

So in celebration of love and Valentine’s Day — and also in recognition of Black History Month — Billboard has compiled a chart-based tally of the Top 50 R&B Songs of All Time. Going back 60 years, the list encompasses the genre’s rich legacy of legendary solo singers and groups, as well as their contemporary counterparts delivering slow-burning ballads, bouncy bops and midtempo paeons to love. All of which are connected by one throughline: Love never goes out of style. And neither do these timeless gems.

Billboard’s Top 50 R&B Love Songs of All Time is based on weekly performance on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart from Jan. 30, 1965, (then the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart) through Feb. 1, 2025. The tally is comprised of songs whose main theme revolves around romantic love versus love of self and others, heartbreak or strictly physical attraction. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower spots earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates during various periods.

Westside Gunn Drops ‘Outlander’ Video, Plans Valentine’s Day Project: Watch

Go tell them people that Westside Gunn is outside dumpin’ again.

The Buffalo rapper and Griselda label boss just dropped off the lead single to his upcoming project 12 due out Valentine’s Day and it goes very hard. Produced by Griselda affiliate Rick Hyde’s teenage son Myles and directed by Daily Gems, “Outlander” finds Gunn at his most boastful and flashy. “Ayo, the illest since Master P/Rich off drug dealin’, actually/These n—as tryna act like the illest, sh—t, blasphemy/You want a kilogram with no steps? N—a, askin’ me/These n—as won’t get out of line, it be a tragedy,” he raps as he maraudes his way through New York City rocking one of the craziest Louis Vuitton leathers you will ever see.

He then teases a track featuring Estee Nack, a Dominican rapper hailing from Lynn, Massachusetts who leaves us with the memorable line: “The dope was gray and it smelled like vinegar.”

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Last year, Westside warned fans that he planned on being more active on the music side of things by releasing projects whenever he saw fit instead of being beholden to a release schedule. He dropped a five-track EP in 11 on Halloween and Still Praying hosted by DJ Drama the next day on Nov. 1, respectively. Gunn still plans on putting out Flygod Is an Awesome God III (Trilogy) and his long-awaited collab tape Michelle Records alongside Syracuse, N.Y.’s Stove God Cooks. “Yeah, because people trying to rewrite history and forget who Griselda is,” he told Billboard during an interview last November. “Griselda n—as fathers in the first place… it’s back to Griselda time starting now.”

Trending on Billboard

You can presave 12 here.

Check out the “Outlander” video below.

AJ Tracey & Jorja Smith Drop R&G Banger ‘Crush’: Watch the Music Video

AJ Tracey and Jorja Smith have linked up once again for an absolute banger.

The pair started promoting the Rhythm & Grime song earlier this week with a clip on social media, with Jorja rapping her verse in a driveway with a beautiful money-green BMW E30 and AJ Tracey dipped in a pink Palace and Corteiz ‘fit like the British-Trini version of Cam’ron. She also handles chorus duties, on which she displays that voice we all know and love.

“Like I spent time tryna build/ And you just wanna make me fall, what?/ I like that, when you say you’re gonna hold me down/ Fight back, if you don’t surf, I’ll drown,” Smith raps, while AJ starts his verse off with a couple of slick bars, rapping, “Like my girls how I like my coffee, sweet/ Or like my Hennessy, neat.”

The song samples the classic 2006 grime track “Used to Be” featuring Scorcher, Mercston and Ghetts from Wretch 32’s debut mixtape Learn From My Mixtape, which flipped Brandy‘s “Love Wouldn’t Count Me Out” from her 2002 album Full Moon.

Trending on Billboard

The video is directed by LateMilk and the track is produced by Raheem Balogun, AJ Platinum and Nathaniel London.

AJ Tracey hasn’t dropped a project since 2021’s Flu Game, so hopefully this means he’s gearing up for his third LP. He told Capital XTRA Breakfast with Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie in 2024 that he was planning an album inspired by his “British experience. “The theme is just being British – my British experience – what it means to be British,” he said. “Me growing up, I listened to funk, so this rhythm is like a little funky reference; grime obviously, dancehall, like, whatever my influences are as a black British person, is going to be what the album sounds like.”

Check out “Crush” below.

Ty Dolla $ign Releases Statement Condemning Hate Speech, Without Naming Ye

Ty Dolla $ign has released a statement condemning all forms of hate speech. The California artist took to his Instagram Story on Tuesday preaching a message of unity and love.

“I do not condone ANY form of hate speech against ANYONE,” he wrote alongside different skin tones of emojis.

Dolla $ign didn’t name-drop Ye — formerly known as Kanye West — specifically, but it’s possible he felt compelled to speak up following West’s repeated antisemitic remarks and hate-filled tirades on X in recent days.

West and Ty teamed up for a pair of collaborative projects with Vultures 1 and Vultures 2 in 2024. The former topped the Billboard 200 and produced the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Carnival,” featuring Playboi Carti and Rich the Kid.

There appeared to be more music on the way from Ye and Dolla $ign as well in 2025, as Tyga previewed an unreleased song alongside the Vultures duo earlier this month. Before Vultures, West and Ty have collaborated in the past on tracks such as The Life of Pablo‘s “Fade.”

Ye deactivated his X account on Monday. Prior to that, West spent the weekend going on several X tirades filled with antisemitic, misogynistic and homophobic remarks, which also saw him calling for the freedom of Diddy and praising Hitler.

The Chicago native’s Yeezy website was shut down by Shopify after selling a swastika T-shirt. West’s remarks were rebuked by the Anti-Defamation LeagueFriends star David Schwimmer, Charlie Puth and Lyor Cohen.

“With antisemitism on the rise, your voice and influence carry a significant responsibility,” Cohen wrote in a letter to Ye. “I urge you to be more sensitive to the pain your words inflict on Jewish communities and all those who stand against hate.”

Kendrick Lamar Crafts a New Song for ‘Captain America: Brave New World’

Kendrick Lamar and Marvel have collaborated in the past on ventures, such as the Compton native curating the Black Panther soundtrack in 2018. And now, the two parties are set to reunite for Captain America: Brave New World, which hits theaters across the U.S. on Friday (Feb. 14).

Captain America star Anthony Mackie, who plays the role of Falcon, revealed Kendrick’s involvement with the blockbuster’s title track during an interview with Entertainment Tonight earlier this week.

“Kendrick did the title song for my movie — I hope that’s not supposed to be a surprise,” he said while spilling the beans. “I’m breaking it here first, I’m so excited, man. The beauty and mastery of his craft.”

Trending on Billboard

It’s unclear what the track will be titled, but presumably, the song will be something along the lines of “Brave New World,” and fans could hear a version with the movie’s arrival later this week.

Kendrick helmed the Black Panther: The Album soundtrack, which produced hits such as “All the Stars,” “King’s Dead” and “Pray for Me”; the project topped the Billboard 200 in 2018.

The Captain America contributions are just another side mission for Kendrick Lamar in what’s already been a decorated 2025. In the last two weeks alone, the Compton rapper has put on his own superhero cape to collect five Grammy Awards and headline the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show in New Orleans.

The rapper will rest up and then hit the road for the Grand National Tour with SZA, which will invade arenas across North America beginning in April.

Watch Anthony Mackie reveal Kendrick’s involvement below.

A Complete Guide to Every 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend Party & Event (Updating)

The 74th NBA All-Star Game is back in California as basketball’s biggest weekend invades The Bay Area. In addition to the festivities on the court, there are plenty of parties and events taking place the weekend of Feb. 13-16 in San Francisco and Oakland.

It’s the first All-Star Game at the Chase Center, and the first time San Francisco is playing host since 1967. Oakland previously hosted the All-Star Game in 2000, when Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan shared the All-Star Game MVP Award.

The All-Star Celebrity Game is set for Oakland Arena on Friday night, which will be followed by the Rising Stars Game across the bridge in San Francsico.

All-Star Saturday Night calls Chase Bridge home, where Gelo will perform ahead of the 3-Point Content, which features Jalen Brunson, Cade Cunningham, Darius Garland, Tyler Herro, Buddy Hield, Cam Johnson and Norman Powell looking to dethrone two-time defending champion Damian Lillard.

The 74th NBA All-Star Game will feature a new format with three teams drafted up by Inside the NBA hosts Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, who will be coaching their respective squads.

Kevin Hart will serve as the first-ever All-Star Game emcee, while DJ Cassidy will lead a Bay Area edition of Pass the Mic Live! starring E-40, Saweetie, Too $hort, En Vogue and more. Raphael Saadiq is set to perform alongside a 14-piece band as part of a unique player introduction segment.

Find all of the parties and events going on in The Bay this weekend below.

Pusha T Congratulates Kendrick Lamar on Record-Breaking Super Bowl Halftime Show Performance

Pusha T showed love to Kendrick Lamar for his record-breaking Super Bowl Halftime Show performance in New Orleans.

King Push took to his Instagram Story on Tuesday (Feb. 11) saluting K. Dot for a job well done with his Feb. 9 rap-heavy set at the Caesars Superdome. “Mission accomplished… Congrats,” he wrote.

Kendrick and Pusha have a long-running relationship, as they teamed up for “Nosetalgia” back in 2013. Although, fans were more concerned with the pair being the last to damage Drake in battle, as Pusha T and Drizzy famously feuded in 2018.

Drizzy admitted defeat to Push during a Rap Radar interview in 2019, during which he said he suffered his “first loss in the competitive sport of rapping.”

Trending on Billboard

Pusha has long respected Kendrick’s pen, and even hailed him as the “lyric king” during a panel last year at Revolt World. “It’s amazing to watch him be exactly who he is, be the lyric king,” he said.

“Guess what they have in common,” one fan wrote on X, while another chimed in, “Both artist won the beef too.”

The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced on Tuesday that Kendrick Lamar has the most viewed Super Bowl Halftime Show ever.

“We’ve broken the record again! The most watched Apple Music Halftime show EVER, with 133.5 Million viewers,” the companies wrote on Instagram.

Fox Sports reported the game had an average of 126 million viewers, meaning Kendrick’s performance drew more viewers than the Super Bowl itself.