R&B/Hip-Hop

03 Nov 2025

Usher Reflects on How His ‘Study’ of Music’s ‘Legends’ Helped Make Him One at Billboard Live Music Summit

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Usher took the stage at the 2025 Billboard Live Music Summit Monday afternoon (Nov. 3) to reflect on all of the stages he’s taken over during his 28-year touring career.

The R&B superstar and Gail Mitchell, Billboard executive director of R&B and hip-hop, walked out to his 2001 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “U Got It Bad” at the 1 Hotel in West Hollywood, Calif., which Mitchell reminded he previously said in his 2024 Billboard cover story that it was his favorite song to perform live. “I think because of the connection between me and the audience,” he said at the time. Today, he added: “I want to impress them. I would like to be as theatrical and use my imagination as much as I possibly can to lift the song higher than what it was when I delivered it as a piece of intellectual property.”

Following his two Las Vegas residencies from 2021 to 2023 and his Super Bowl LVIII halftime show performance (also in Vegas) last year, Usher embarked on his most recent Past Present and Future Tour. The 83-date international jaunt became his highest-grossing and best-selling tour yet, according to Billboard Boxscore, by grossing $183.9 million and selling 1.1 million tickets over 80 shows. He has a reported career gross if $422.6 million from 3.3 million tickets over 334 shows.

But before becoming a marquee act, Usher served as an opener for Diddy‘s 1997 No Way Out Tour, Mary J. Blige‘s 1997-98 Share My World Tour and Janet Jackson‘s 1998-99 The Velvet Rope Tour. “I had another notch on my belt in terms of what I was capable of being able to handle, so that when I went to try to headline my own tours, we knew that we had the ability to hold a crowd,” he explained.

He told industry audience members a story about his time opening for Diddy: As his 1997 hit “You Make Me Wanna…” was steadily climbing the Hot 100 (where it eventually peaked at No. 2), the crowd coming to see Usher gradually grew from 10 people to a packed house. Diddy told Usher he wanted him to come out during his headlining set, but Usher recalled saying, “Nah, I’m cool. I’m gonna stay right where I’m at because I wanna earn my keep. I’m here for a reason. I want to someday be where you are.”

By the time Usher embarked on his debut headlining tour, the 8701 Evolution Tour in 2002, he remembered “the importance of paying tribute” during those shows. “I’m an artist who was inspired by the legends. If I study the legends, then hopefully one day, I will be one,” he said, adding that he performed covers of Bobby Brown, Babyface and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis because he didn’t have enough of his own hit records at the time and wanted to still captivate his audiences.

The Coming Home artist also teased “something coming. I’m in the midst of working on something that may shine a light on a very specific period of my life and around performance. Just stay tuned. There is true value in live,” he said. He later argued that there’s also true value in R&B. “I want people to continue to celebrate the music and legacy that is the foundation that I am. It comes from soul music, it comes from the South. It comes from a very wide collective of being exposed to many different artists from many different genres, but most importantly, R&B.

“In the same way that I think all other industries have managed to monetize what they are — whether it’s hip-hop, rock & roll, country — I want the same thing for R&B,” he continued. “That is the thing that I haven’t done yet. I want us to celebrate the legacy of what it is that we created, not just look at these nostalgic things that have come and gone, but be able to savor them and savor their legacy.”

Mitchell later presented Usher the Legend of Live Award following the panel. He isn’t the only superstar panelist during the Live Music Summit. Billboard cover star Rauw Alejandro and Hans Schafer, senior vp of global touring at Live Nation, will sit down with Billboard Español/Latin chief content officer Leila Cobo later this afternoon to discuss the reggaeton artist’s emergence as one of the live sector’s most sought-after stars.

03 Nov 2025

R&B/Hip-Hop Fresh Picks of the Week: Jai’Len Josey, Rozzzqween, Icewear Vezzo & More

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We’re currently focused on next year’s Super Bowl halftime show headliner, but the 2024 master of ceremonies is still at the center of the culture.

After the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays at the 2025 World Series on Saturday (Nov. 1), the City of Angeles reached for the only appropriate song for moments of total victory: Kendrick Lamar‘s “Not Like Us.” The baseball team’s official Instagram account shared a flick of the whole gang with the all-caps caption, “They still not like us,” a reference to both Lamar’s Grammy-winning Hot 100 chart-topper and their 2024 World Series triumph.

As is seemingly the order of things these days, when K.Dot gets some praise, a jab at Drake isn’t too far behind. To commemorate the Dodgers’ consecutive victories, the official ESPN X account posted a picture of the celebrating team in the style of Drake’s “Back to Back” single cover. Notably, this is a nod to a separate Drake beef — the Toronto MC’s 2015 back-and-forth with Meek Mill. Not only did Drizzy take an L by way of the Blue Jays’ loss, he also got slammed in a new lawsuit against Spotify, which alleged that the streamer used bots to generate “billions of fraudulent streams.”

Drake isn’t the only rapper whose beefs made headlines in the hip-hop world over the weekend. On Thursday (Oct. 30), NLE Choppa (who’s currently going by NLE the Great) shared his new “KO” single, which finds him rapping over the same Dennis Edwards “Don’t Look Any Further” sample that 2Pac flipped for “Hit Em Up,” his iconic Biggie diss track. The subject of NLE’s ire? None other than NBA YoungBoy, one of the few rappers with a song sitting just outside the Hot 100’s top 40, a news story that sent the hip-hop space into a tizzy last week.

On Wednesday (Oct. 29), Billboard reported that, for the first time since 1990, there were no rap songs in the Billboard Hot 100‘s top 40, after Kendrick Lamar and SZA‘s smash hit “Luther” was deemed recurrent and removed from the ranking due to recent changes to the chart’s methodology. Though those rule changes mostly explain what’s going on with hip-hop on the Hot 100, the shocking stat spurred heated debate across social media channels. Grammy-nominated producer The Alchemist chimed in on X, simply writing, “No rap in top 40 has nothing to do with the music being bad or good.” Click here for a full breakdown of the Hot 100’s new recurrent rules.

With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from a new Jai’Len Josey joint to Rozzzqween’s new single. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.


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03 Nov 2025

Zohran Mamdani Dances to Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ During NYC Mayoral Campaign Event

Zohran Mamdani is a known Kendrick Lamar fan, and showed his support for the rapper over Halloween weekend.

With New York City’s mayoral election set for Tuesday (Nov. 4), Mamdani — who is running to lead the city — made campaign stops at various night clubs around the city over the weekend. One video making the roundson social media shows Mamdani dancing to K. Dot’s Grammy-winning Drake diss while grinning cheek to cheek. The club appearance was part of an event hosted by Bushwick Grand.

Mamdani spoke a bit about Kendrick and Drake’s 2024 feud in an interview with Pitchfork back in June, noting that Lamar “absolutely destroyed” Drizzy. He then tied in Lamar’s songwriting approach to the way he approaches his campaign’s focus on affordability in New York.

“At every juncture, he would bring it back to his central points, and I think that’s the key, is that you keep coming back to what your core message is,” Mamdani said at the time. “For me, it’s about the fact that New Yorkers can’t afford to live in the city they call home.”

Mamdani will face off against Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa for Mayor of New York City on Tuesday, with polls continuously showing a strong lead for Mamdani.

Lamar fans also trolled Drake over the weekend after the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

After defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 on Saturday (Nov. 1), the Cali team shared a group photo of the players and staff wearing World Series Champions shirts. “THEY STILL NOT LIKE US,” the Dodgers wrote in the caption, quoting “Not Like Us” for all to see.


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01 Nov 2025

Drake Supports Hometown Blue Jays at Game 6 of the World Series

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Drake stepped out in full hometown hero mode on Halloween night (Oct. 31), attending Game 6 of the 2025 World Series at Rogers Centre in Toronto as the Blue Jays attempted to clinch their first championship since 1993.

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The rapper, who has been trolling Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani on social media throughout the series, was among a stacked lineup of celebrities cheering on the Jays in their showdown against L.A.

“October’s Very Own is back at the #WorldSeries,” MLB captioned a post on X, sharing footage of Drake arriving in the stadium. His appearance was part of a Halloween-night spectacle that included a who’s who of Canadian royalty and celebrity fans.

Also attending the game were Rush frontman Geddy Lee, Schitt’s Creek stars Eugene Levy and Annie Murphy, former tennis pro Eugenie Bouchard, and Sliders actor Jerry O’Connell. Baseball legends Paul Molitor and Jack Morris — both World Series MVPs with the Blue Jays and Twins respectively — were also spotted in the stands.

Drake’s recent Instagram Story posts have only amplified his sports-fan persona. After Game 5, he shared a photo of Ohtani wearing a sweater vest, cheekily captioned “ONE MORE!!!!!!!” before following up with an image of Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage striking out the Dodgers star, writing: “Savage already [on the way] to the dugout boss lol.”

With the Blue Jays entering Game 6 up 3–2 in the best-of-seven series, Drake’s appearance — and his courtside trolling — had fans hopeful that Toronto could seal the deal with their first title in over 30 years.

Drake’s sports fandom is nothing new. He’s been a fixture in Toronto’s pro sports scene for over a decade, having served as the NBA’s Toronto Raptors Global Ambassador since 2013. His presence during the team’s 2019 NBA Championship run made headlines, though his commentary privileges were suspended earlier this year after controversial comments about former Raptor DeMar DeRozan.

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31 Oct 2025

Here’s What The Alchemist Has to Say About No Rap Songs Being in Hot 100 Top 40 for First Time Since 1990

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The Alchemist has added his two cents on the topic that had Rap Twitter in a frenzy this week.

On Wednesday, Billboard reported that, for the first time since 1990 — when Biz Markie‘s signature song “Just a Friend” was at No. 41 on Feb. 2 — there were no rap songs in the Billboard Hot 100‘s top 40, after Kendrick Lamar and SZA‘s smash hit “Luther” was deemed recurrent and removed due to recent changes to the chart’s methodology, effectively ending a 35-year streak. Recurrent songs will now be removed if they’ve been on the chart for a certain amount of time while simultaneously falling under certain chart thresholds. “Luther” had fallen under No. 25 to No. 38 the previous week during its 46th week.

This news caused a stir on social media and predictably inspired takes from all corners of the Internet, and on Friday morning (Oct. 31), the legendary producer shared his thoughts on X.

“No rap in top 40 has nothing to do with the music being bad or good,” he wrote without any further elaboration.

Like ALC, others have also taken notice and have begun to sound the alarm when it comes to rap’s commercial dominance trending down in recent years. In 2023, there weren’t any rap albums to top the Billboard 200 or rap songs to top the Hot 100, until Lil Uzi Vert‘s third album the Pink Tape in July and Doja Cat‘s song “Paint the Town Red” in September, respectively. Right now, the highest-charting rap song is “Shot Callin” by NBA YoungBoy at No. 44, followed by Cardi B‘s “Safe” (featuring Kehlani) at No. 48 and BigXthaPlug’s “Hell at Night” (featuring Ella Langley) at No. 49.

The new parameters are a bit complicated; you can get a better understanding here.

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31 Oct 2025

NLE Choppa Invokes 2Pac’s ‘Hit Em Up’ for ‘KO’ As He Appears to Diss NBA YoungBoy

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NLE Choppa, who’s now going by NLE the Great, came out guns blazing on Halloween with his bristling “KO” diss track, and it appears he’s looking to make things spooky for NBA YoungBoy.

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Choppa released an accompanying video that’s equally inspired by 2Pac and Michael Jackson’s dance moves as he raps over the same Dennis Edwards “Don’t Look Any Further” sample that Pac did for his scathing “Hit Em Up” Biggie diss track.

“YoungBoy, what? This the big boy league/ I put one up in your gut under the Jesus piece/ Last thing that I heard was ‘Jesus, please’/ Had me looking at the devil like ‘This is your king,’” he raps.

Choppa continues to seemingly go after YB — with a possible YoungBoy lookalike in the clip — claiming he’s a “poison” to the youth and not the role model that the next generation should be looking up to.

“You poison the youth, nothin’ positive you do You the reason n—s beating bitches thinking that it’s cute/ You send n—s to do what you wouldn’t even do/ Role model, you will never fit the shoe,” he spews.

After seeing the backlash and buzz he created on social media, NLE doubled down on his statements. “This ain’t a fire drill. I’m standing on everything I’m saying. I stamp it,” he wrote on his Instagram Stories.

It’s unclear how serious Choppa’s beef with YB is, as he previously released tracks like 2019’s “Free YoungBoy” and “Free YoungBoy 2.” He’s also feuded with YoungBoy associate Quando Rondo in the past.

Watch the “KO” video below.

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31 Oct 2025

Megan Thee Stallion & Jennifer Hudson Reveal They Get Mistaken for Each Other: ‘Your Security Kept Snatchin’ Me Up!’

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Megan Thee Stallion and Jennifer Hudson said they often get mistaken for each other, and that once Hudson’s security even tried to protect the Texas rapper instead of her.

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Meg stopped by The Jennifer Hudson Show for the episode airing Friday (Oct. 31) to talk about her new single, “Lover Girl,” and at one point revealed she’s often mistaken for the talk-show host. It turns out, Hudson could also relate, and admitted Meg’s fans sometimes mistake her for the rapper too.

“Remember that time we was in Italy for the Dolce thing?” Meg asked. “Jennifer’s security kept snatchin’ me up! They was like, ‘C’mon, we gotta move, we gotta move.’ I’m like, ‘I’m not with you! It’s not me, I’m not her, I promise! But I’ll go with you if you really want me to.’ Your security kept snatchin’ me up, and I was like, ‘Where is my security?’ … Jennifer’s security wanted me to be her real bad that day.”

Hudson replied, “It’s really bizarre cause we were at the Super Bowl. I was leaving the event, guys, and they was like, ‘Megan!’ I was like, ‘Are you serious?’”

Hudson clarified that she’s flattered to be mistaken for the Houston rapper.

Meg’s appearance comes after Queen Latifah stopped by the talk show to praise the rapper earlier this week, calling her the future of hip-hop.

“She’s so cool, she’s so fun, she’s so very talented and strong in her spot,” she told her The Secret Life of Bees co-star about Meg. “I love that energy carrying hip-hop into the future, of course.”

Check out a clip of Meg’s interview with Jennifer Hudson below.

31 Oct 2025

Cardi B Addresses Those Sending ‘Dark Energy’ During Her Pregnancy: ‘God Always Punishes Them’

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Cardi B hopped on Spaces early Friday morning (Oct. 31) to address the “hate coming from different angles” in her life.

The Bronx native rehashed the “dark energy” she was feeling being sent her way throughout the pregnancy, and while she’s been laying relatively low and says she’s “at peace,” Cardi had some words for the haters on Halloween.

“Remember when I said at the meet-and-greet that I felt like a lot of dark energy and weird things coming on my pregnancy,” she recalled. “I felt a lot of hate coming. I felt like there was a lot of hate coming from different angles, and today, I see that I’m still proving that.”

Cardi continued: “And there’s hate that was coming from bloggers. There’s hate that was coming from women that my baby dad dealt [with] in the past. There was hate that’s coming from f–king enemies that I have, rappers wishing all type of f–king STDs on me while I’m pregnant, and clearly partners that I dealt with.”

The “partners” she’s referencing could possibly be tied to her ex Offset, who appeared to blast Cardi and her boyfriend, Stefon Diggs, on his Haunted by Fame project, which arrived on Halloween.

“How the f—k you leave Jordan for Rodman/ You a fool if you think that I’m hurt/ You ain’t happy, I know how it work/ How you married and still giving birth/ Get some help, b—h, you going berserk,” he raps on the Coupe-produced “No Sweat.”

While Cardi kept Friday’s response more general and didn’t address Offset by name, she had a message for those praying on her downfall. Cardi believes she’ll be the one having the last laugh, as she’s convinced God typically punishes those who hate on her.

“However, one thing I notice, I swear to God, and it’s so real … anybody that messes with me while I’m at my most vulnerable — and my most vulnerable is always when I’m pregnant — God always punishes them,” she shared. “Two three years might pass … and God goes and punish them the worst way.”

Cardi B’s heading into the final months of pregnancy before giving birth to baby No. 4, which will be her first child with her NFL player boyfriend. She’ll then hit the road for the Little Miss Drama Tour in February.


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31 Oct 2025

Common Recalls Fat Joe Saving His Life During Feud With Mack 10 & Ice Cube: ‘You Settled That’

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About three decades later, Common is thanking Fat Joe for saving his life. The Chicago rapper joined Joe & Jada earlier this week, where he recalled shooting a commercial in the mid-’90s on the West Coast when an altercation nearly broke out amid his feud with Ice Cube and Mack 10.

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“That man really saved my life. I was out on the West Coast with one of my guys I knew and he just wasn’t happy with the whole Mack 10 [and] Ice Cube beef that we had,” he said.

Essentially, one of Common’s friends escalated a situation, and before it crossed the line, Fat Joe stepped in to smooth things over — at least for Common.

“It’s not cuz Fat Joe is tougher than anyone. I literally begged for your life. I literally got in the middle, ‘He’s my friend, he’s my brother,’” Joe recalled. “They finally saw him on their soil and they was talking crazy and I was like, ‘This is literally my brother and I was begging them.’ It was the serious ones … Basically, I stood in the middle. It was over after that day.”

Common confirmed the beef was squashed from his side from that point forward and compared Joe’s intervention to a scene straight out of a movie.

“You settled that. I’m like, ‘Man, we in California, don’t start nothing.’ They already wanted a piece on me no matter what,” he explained. “My guy out there going off. I knew it was [Joe] that said, ‘This can’t happen.’ … That’s when Fat Joe the gangsta, this n—a here because he was straight up like, ‘You can’t do that to my man.’ It was like one of them movies, Goodfellas.”

Common etched his name in rap history with his acclaimed and scathing diss track “The Bitch in Yoo,” which was released in 1996 and took aim at Ice Cube, raising tensions with the West Coast.

During a 2020 interview with DJ VLAD, Mack 10 rehashed the near-altercation with Common and reiterated that Fat Joe stepped in to smooth things over. “Common is all right. Ain’t nobody got no issues,” Mack said. “Everybody grown. We done seen each other a million times since then.”

Watch the Joe & Jada episode with Common below. Talk about saving Common’s life begins just short of four minutes.


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31 Oct 2025

Offset Seemingly Takes Shots at Cardi B & Stefon Diggs’ Relationship in New Song: ‘How You Married & Still Giving Birth’

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Offset unleashed his surprise Haunted by Fame project on Friday (Oct. 31), which appears to find him addressing Cardi B and Stefon Diggs’ relationship, along with his estranged wife’s pregnancy.

The not-so-subliminal shots at Cardi and the New England Patriots wide receiver come to close the first verse of the Coupe-produced “No Sweat.” Set essentially implies Cardi downgraded by trading Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan for Dennis Rodman, who was more of a caffeinated role player.

“How the f—k you leave Jordan for Rodman/ You a fool if you think that I’m hurt/ You ain’t happy, I know how it work,” he raps.

He seemingly continues to blast Cardi for getting pregnant by the NFL player while their divorce still isn’t finalized. “How you married and still giving birth/ Get some help, b—h, you going berserk,” Set spews.

Billboard has reached out to reps for Cardi B and Offset.

Cardi B filed for divorce from Offset for a second time in July 2024. The Grammy-winning rapper and Migos member share three children. Cardi began dating the NFL star earlier this year, and went public with her relationship while sitting courtside at a Knicks game with Diggs in May.

“I fell in love. I got two rings [on] my finger. I lasted seven years,” she said of the relationship with Offset in September during an X Spaces. “Seven years that I didn’t have to last with somebody. I lasted seven years in a marriage. Stop saying, ‘Oh, but you’re still married.’ No, I’m legally separated.”

She also alleged at the time that it was her estranged husband’s demands holding up the divorce. “Y’all wanna know the tea?” Cardi said. “The only way I can get out of my marriage is if I pay for somebody else’s taxes — even though I pay for my own — and give them one of my properties.”

The Bronx native is expected to give birth to baby No. 4 in the coming months, and then she’ll be hitting the road for the Little Miss Drama Tour in February.

As for Offset, Haunted by Fame is his second album of 2025, after dropping Kiari in August. Releasing music on Halloween isn’t new for Set, who released Without Warning alongside Metro Boomin and 21 Savage in 2017.

Listen to Offset’s “No Sweat” below.


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