State Champ Radio R&B/Hip-Hop
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Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton has criticized the potential jury pool for rapper A$AP Rocky‘s upcoming gun trial, saying that from what he has been told it lacks diversity. In an Instagram post on Wednesday (Jan. 22) Sharpton wrote, “It has been brought to my attention, by the National Action Network Los Angeles office, that out of one hundred and six (106) people called to potentially sit as jurors in A$AP Rocky’s trial in Los Angeles, there are only 4 black people.”
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Rocky (born Rakim Mayers), 36, is facing 24 years in prison if convicted of all charges in the trial in which he is accused of firing a weapon at former affiliate A$AP Relli (born Terrell Ephron) at a Hollywood hotel in November 2021.
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Rocky has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and earlier this week the Harlem native rejected a plea deal offered by prosecutors that would have had him plead guilty to one felony count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm in exchange for a six-month jail stint along with three years of probation and a seven-year suspended sentence. “I respectfully decline, thank you,” Rocky reportedly told the court in turning down the deal.
At press time spokespeople for Rocky and the Los Angeles Superior Court had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on Sharpton’s claims.
In his note, Sharpton said that although he is not privy to the particulars of the case, he’s been in close contact with Rocky’s friends. “I do know he deserves to be judged fairly by his peers, as is his Constitutional right,” Sharpton wrote. “It is absolutely ridiculous that the jury will be not fair and representative, so as to deprive A$AP Rocky of a fair trial. When we have four (4) black people in the city of Los Angeles, out of one hundred and six (106) — and exactly zero (0) within in the first thirty (30) possible candidates for the jury — something appears to be very wrong with the system.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, L.A. county has a population just north of 9.6 million, which is comprised of 69.6% white citizens and 9% Black residents.
At press time Billboard could not confirm the figures in Sharpton’s post. Sharpton said he will monitor the trial and challenged the L.A. district attorney to “ensure that fair and representative justice is afforded” to the rapper.
The A$AP Mob leader was arrested in April 2022 at LAX and posted a $550,000 bond shortly after; he entered his not guilty plea to all charges in August 2022. Relli testified that the bullets grazed his knuckles as the feud reached a boiling point with his childhood friend. This week, Rocky’s lawyer appeared to preview his strategy for the trial when he revealed a defense argument that his client was holding a prop “stater pistol,” which he said can clearly be seen on security camera footage from that night.
Assuming jury selection wraps up soon, the trial could begin by week’s end.
It’s been nearly seven years since XXXTentacion was tragically shot and killed during an armed robbery in Deerfield Park, Florida, in June 2018 at the age of 20. Throughout his meteoric rise, X — born Jahseh Onfroy — established a deep connection to millions of fans as one of the leaders of the SoundCloud generation […]
Let T-Pain buy U a drank down on Bourbon Street — or Rum Street, actually. In celebration of the 2025 Super Bowl taking over New Orleans on Feb. 9, Captain Morgan is transforming the city’s iconic Bourbon Street into Rum Street leading up to the Big Game from Feb. 6 to 8, when T-Pain will […]
On the heels of the Lady Gaga-assisted “Die With a Smile” remaining at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for another week, Bruno Mars has turned his focus to his next single. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Looking to craft a new strip club anthem, Bruno […]
Mary J. Blige, Lisa Lisa and Gloria Gaynor comprise the trio of icons who will be spotlighted when Lifetime’s 2025 “Voices of a Lifetime” platform returns this winter. The launch begins Jan. 25 with the premiere of the original movie Mary J. Blige’s Family Affair. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, […]
Nikola Jokic is apparently a big fan of 50 Cent, especially the Queens rapper’s song “Many Men.”
After Denver Nuggets teammate DeAndre Jordan recently revealed that the 2003 song is Jokic’s favorite, the NBA on TNT crew joked with the three-time MVP about him supposedly knowing every word and pleaded for him to rap the words during a postgame interview.
“No, no, no, I’m not,” Jokic laughed, refusing to rap. “D.J. is a bad teammate. I love the song, I love the song, but I’m not going to [rap it].”
“Peyton Watson is our locker room DJ, so anytime Nikola request a song, if it’s not, like, Serbian folk music, it is ‘Many Men’ by 50 Cent,” Jordan shared on the Run It Back podcast. “He knows the words from start to finish. … That’s his song, man, he loves it.”
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Jordan couldn’t confirm if the Serbian big man had ever seen 50’s 2003 movie Get Rich or Die Tryin’, but he said he’s going to get him a tape if he hasn’t. “You know what, I don’t know, but if he hasn’t, I’m going to get it for him on VHS.”
However, the Joker bashfully denied Jordan’s claim, but said he’ll learn the words and maybe perform the song sometime in the future.
“No, no, he’s lying. I don’t know the words. But I’m going to [learn] it. Maybe I’m going to perform, I think,” he said as they egged him on and suggested he do the performance during the upcoming All-Star weekend in February.
The highlight of the clip, though, is Adam Lefkoe rapping the hook and Shaq attempting to rap the words in Serbian (or French, maybe Creole, depending on who you ask.)
Jim Jones is defending Drake‘s divisive UMG defamation lawsuit. During an appearance on the Broke N’ Frontin podcast, the subject of the Toronto rapper’s controversial subject came up, and the Dipset member had an interesting perspective. “He’s not personally suing against Kendrick Lamar, which everybody seems to think that this lawsuit is about,” Jones said. […]
If Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” wins record and/or song of the year at the 2025 Grammy Awards on Feb. 2, it wouldn’t be the first hit conceived as a Drake diss track to do so. Childish Gambino’s 2018 smash “This Is America” started off as a funny Drake diss record, the rapper revealed in […]
GloRilla links back-to-back No. 1s on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart as her collaboration with Sexyy Red, “Whatchu Kno About Me,” replaces her own “TGIF” at the summit. The switch happens on the list dated Jan. 25, as “Whatchu Kno About Me,” released on CMG/Interscope/ICLG, jumps from No. 3 to become GloRilla’s third champ and Sexyy Red’s first leader on the radio ranking.
“Whatchu Kno About Me” reaches No. 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, which ranks songs by combined audience totals across monitored adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop stations, with 16.3 million audience impressions in the U.S. in the tracking week of Jan. 10-16, according to Luminate, a 16% surge from the previous week.
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The new champ evicts GloRilla’s own “TGIF” from the penthouse after the latter’s 16-week domination from October to January. The move is actually the second straight self-replacement atop R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. Directly before “TGIF” captured the throne, Kendrick Lamar successfully engineered a self-swap: The rapper’s “Like That” collaboration with Future and Metro Boomin ruled for three weeks in June before ceding the top slot to “Not Like Us,” which wrapped 15 weeks at the summit.
Among women, GloRilla’s self-replacement is the first since Tems accomplished it in November 2022. Then, the singer-songwriter and Drake featured on Future’s “Wait for You,” which, at the end of its 13-week reign, yielded to her solo hit “Free Mind,” which scored 22 weeks in charge.
With “Whatchu Kno About Me,” GloRilla achieves her third No. 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. In addition to the incumbent and “TGIF,” she posted a five-week reign through “Tomorrow 2,” a collaboration with Cardi B, in 2022-23.
Sexyy Red, meanwhile, claims her maiden R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay No. 1. Before the current champ, the rapper previously had a career peak of No. 5 with “U My Everything,” a team-up with Drake, last September.
In reaching No. 1, “Whatchu Kno About Me” outdoes the chart peak of its Southern rap classic sample, Lil Boosie’s “Wipe Me Down,” featuring Foxx and Webbie, which reached No. 8 in 2007 and spent 31 weeks on the radio list.
Elsewhere, “Whatchu Kno About Me” wins a fifth straight week atop Rap Airplay following an 8% increase in audience and a second week at No. 1 on the spins-based Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart (up 19% in plays for the week).
Nominees: “Asteroids” (Marlanna Evans); “Carnival” (Jordan Carter, Raul Cubina, Grant Dickinson, Samuel Lindley, Nasir Pemberton, Dimitri Roger, Tyrone Griffin Jr., Kanye West, and Mark Carl Stolinski Williams); “Like That” (Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, Kobe Hood, Leland Wayne, and Nayvadius Wilburn); “Not Like Us” (Duckworth); “Yeah Glo!” (Ronnie Jackson, Jaucquez Lowe, Timothy McKibbins, Kevin Andre Price, Julius Rivera III, and Gloria Woods)
Analysis: Let’s be real, it would probably be the most shocking moment of the night if Lamar’s “Not Like Us” doesn’t take home best rap song and performance. A two-week Hot 100 chart-topper that transcended its beef origins and became a cultural anthem, “Not Like Us” is far and away the frontrunner here — even if it’s the subject of Drake’s explosive, ongoing lawsuit against UMG.
Lamar is also nominated here alongside Future, Metro Boomin, and Kobe “BbyKobe” Hood for writing “Like That,” the Hot 100 chart-topped that kicked his feud with Drake into high gear. Future has earned three previous nods in this category, but he’s lost each time. A victory for “Like That” would give Future and Metro their first wins here, and help Kendrick break a tie with Jay-Z to become the rapper with the second-most triumphs in this category (five).
But what if “Like That” and “Not Like Us” split votes? Perhaps, the Academy goes for somebody familiar like Ye (formerly Kanye West), who boasts the most nominations (17) and wins (seven) in this category’s history. Ye’s nomination comes from “Carnival,” his first Hot 100 chart-topper as a part of ¥$ (his duo with Ty Dolla $ign). With Playboi Carti and Rich the Kid in featured roles, a win for “Carnival” would reward hip-hop icons and new class alike.
Rapsody and GloRilla are looking to join Megan Thee Stallion as the only female rappers to win this category. This is Glo’s first nod in a songwriting category, and while “Yeah Glo!” was undoubtedly one of her defining hits from last year, she probably won’t be able to beat out the stiff competition here. Rapsody earned her first nomination here in 2018 with “Sassy.” This year, she’s represented by “Asteroids,” the only song in this category outside of “Not Like Us” to feature just one credited writer. While she was able to score an accompanying nod in best melodic rap performance, missing out on a best rap album nod for Please Don’t Cry signals some weakness in her rap field support.
Prediction: Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us”
Look Out For: Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar, “Like That”
