State Champ Radio R&B/Hip-Hop
Page: 187
Former President Barack Obama lost himself in the music, the moment on Tuesday night (Oct. 22) at Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s Detroit rally ahead of the 2024 presidential election next month. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The Detroit native rapper took the stage to introduce […]
Ab-Soul made an appearance on DJ Hed and Gina Views’ SiriusXM show Effective Immediately, over the weekend to talk about his upcoming album Soul Burger when the subject of J. Cole came up.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Gina Views asked him what the groupchat was like when J. Cole dropped his Kendrick diss song “7 Minute Drill” and then his Might Delete Later mixtape which included the song “Pi” featuring the Carson rapper and battle rapper Daylyt. Soulo admitted to being surprised by the track being on the mixtape and told a hilarious story about the day he found out.
“First of all, I was a little upset with Cole — not upset, but like… Cole was supposed to be on ‘Fuck Out My Face [FOMF],’ he revealed. “Cole is the homie, for real. That’s what I want to make very clear to the whole world. I just needed like a 12… I played him the album and he picked [FOMF] and I bugged him about it because I was trying to play the game at that point, and it just didn’t come to fruition.”
Trending on Billboard
He continued by saying, “But I did this joint — me and Lyt did the joint ‘Pi.’ I did it for Daylyt. I said like, ‘Let’s do a back and forth thing, it was kinda like a sparring [session] between me and him, and it’s called ‘Pi’ literally because me and Daylyt’s [version] ended on 3:14.”
Adding, “I wake up — I don’t know if it’s the next morning, but soon after — Lyt’s like, ‘Bro’ and sends me the song and Cole on there going crazy. I’m like, ‘Wait, what the f—k?’ I’m lowkey hot. I’m like, ‘Lyt, bro, this is one of the best rappers in the world. You gotta let me know before… I’m on his head like, ‘Bro, you have to let me know if you’re gonna send this shit off. He ate us up.’ Just off first listen, cuz got like 48 [bars] off.’ It wasn’t mixed yet and his vocals were louder than ours. I’m waking up to this, my ears are fresh. I called Cole immediately.”
He then mentions that Cole told him their verses inspired him. “Man, y’all was going so crazy, I just got in the spirit. My pen just started moving.” Ab added that he respected where the Carolina rapper was coming from. “Cole’s really an emcee emcee. I told him I was tryna play the game. Now it makes sense why he was more attracted to ‘Pi’ than ‘FOMF.’ That says a lot about him. All he needed to do was a 12. He had the upper hand. I gave him the whole thing.”
Not to be a rapper that enjoys being one-upped, Soul said he told Cole that they need to record a proper track where they go bar for bar.
Many assumed that Ab-Soul threw shots at Cole on his most recent song “Squeeze 1st 2” when he rapped, “Metasota warned me they wanna war/ But actually they forfeiting like their wardrobe for half of the week” and released the song after Cole dropped his song “Port Antonio” where he addresses bowing out of the “Big 3” beef. But those assumptions were debunked when TDE president Punch took to X to clear things up, tweeting, “I hate to clear up rumors, I usually let them fester and see how far they go, but ALL verses on Pi were recorded long before Like That,” in response to HipHopDX host Jeremy Hecht tweeting that Soul got at Cole for not telling him that “Pi” would be included on a project.
You can watch the full interview below:
With Sagittarius season around the corner, Nicki Minaj made some time to show love to her “Sag Queen” Taylor Swift on social media. The “Super Bass” rapper took to her Instagram Story on Tuesday (Oct. 22) reposting Taylor Swift’s recap celebrating The Eras Tour returning to the U.S. for a three-show run at Miami Gardens’ […]
Polo G was arrested over the weekend on felony weapon possession charges in Los Angeles, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department jail records.
The Chicago rapper — born Taurus Bartlett — was booked in Van Nuys Jail on Saturday afternoon after being initially detained around 2:20 p.m. PT. Billboard has reached out to Polo’s reps for comment.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“I checked the L.A. County Sheriff’s website and do show a Taurus Bartlett being booked on 10/19/24 at 2:20 p.m. (booking #6903929),” a spokesperson for the LAPD said via email. “He was booked for 25400(A)(1) PC-Weapon in a Vehicle, a felony, at Plummer Street and Topanga Canyon Boulevard.”
Trending on Billboard
He was charged with felony possession of a concealed weapon in a vehicle. Per jail records, Polo eventually secured his release from jail on Monday (Oct. 21).
Polo G has faced a litany of legal issues in recent years. He was arrested in August 2023 alongside his brother Taurean Bartlett (a.k.a. Trench Baby). Police got a warrant to search Polo’s residence after Trench Baby was named a suspect in a robbery while he was living with Polo at the time.
Upon entering, law enforcement discovered “numerous firearms” at Polo G’s Burbank home and both brothers were arrested. Polo ended up being booked for possession of a short-barreled rifle. According to jail records, the 25-year-old posted $100,000 bond and was released a day later.
Earlier this year, Polo G ran into more legal trouble in April when he was arrested in New York City on charges of criminal possession of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon. With the address listed by an NYPD spokesperson, it appears the arrest took place at The Dominick hotel in New York’s SoHo neighborhood.
According to TMZ, a Dominick hotel employee found a loaded Glock 23 in Polo’s room and alerted authorities. Police executed a search warrant of the room and discovered the weapon before arresting the “Pop Out” rapper. Polo allegedly had about $23,000 in cash on him at the time of the arrest.
On the music side, Polo returned with his Hood Poet album in August, which debuted at No. 28 on the Billboard 200.
Shyne (born Jamal Barrow) served eight years behind bars for his role in the 1999 NYC nightclub shooting involving Diddy. The former Bad Boy rapper is telling his story of evolving from rapper to politician in The Honorable Shyne documentary.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Hulu released a trailer for the feature doc on Tuesday (Oct. 22) ahead of its arrival on the streaming giant on Nov. 18. At one point in the clip, Shyne alleges that he was “set up” to be the “fall guy” in the club shooting, which led to Diddy getting off scot-free.
“I was absolutely set up to be the fall guy,” Shyne claimed. “I spent 10 years in prison, but I was able to move on. There’s a time to pivot, there’s a time to transition.”
The scene pivots to a Diddy press conference following the club shooting, which the mogule attended with his girlfriend at the time, Jennifer Lopez. “I had nothing to do with a shooting in this club,” he emphatically stated.
Shyne’s heart turned cold while watching other artists thrive throughout the 2000s, while he himself lost out on his opportunity at stardom behind bars.
“One of the most difficult parts of it was watching everybody succeed. Watching 50 [Cent],” he said. “I spent 10 years in prison, but I was able to move on. There’s a time to pivot, there’s a time transition. And that’s how I got into politics.”
Following his sentencing in 2001, Shyne was released from prison in 2009 and immediately deported to Belize. He pivoted to a career in politics, and currently serves as the Leader of the Opposition in the Belize House of Representatives.
Shyne commented on the nature of his currentrelationship with Diddy following the embattled Bad Boy mogul’s arrest on federal sex trafficking and RICO charges in September.
“I was defending him, and he turned around and called witnesses to testify against me,” he recalled of the 1999 shooting. “He contributed … he pretty much sent me to prison. That is the context by which you must always describe that [relationship]. I forgave. I moved on. But let us not pretend as if I was in Miami for Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
Shyne added at the time: “So, let us not lose sight of what the cold, hard facts are. This is not someone who I vacationed with and who he and I enjoyed this great, intimate relationship of brotherhood. This is someone who destroyed my life and who I forgave and who I moved on and for the better interest of Belize”
The Honorable Shyne arrives on Nov. 18. Watch the trailer below.
Rod Wave’s Last Lap debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Streaming Albums chart (dated Oct. 26), launching with the third-biggest debut streaming week for a rap set in 2024.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Also in the top 10 of the latest Top Streaming Albums, Charli XCX’s Brat flies 17-3 (a new peak) after its deluxe reissues were released in the week ending Oct. 17, GloRilla’s Glorious debuts at No. 4, BigXthaPlug’s Take Care enters at No. 5 and Jelly Roll’s Beautifully Broken bows at No. 7.
The 50-position Top Streaming Albums chart ranks the most-streamed albums of the week in the U.S., as compiled by Luminate. Titles are ranked by streaming equivalent album (SEA) units, where each SEA unit equals 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. If an artist has multiple albums containing the same song, SEA units for that song are generally assigned to whichever album sells the most by traditional album sales in a given week.
Trending on Billboard
Last Lap debuts at No. 1 with 125,000 SEA units earned. That sum equates to 173.35 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs, marking the third-biggest debut streaming week for a rap album in 2024. The two largest debut rap frames were logged by Future and Metro Boomin’s collaborative set We Don’t Trust You (324.31 million) and Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shade (Coup de Grâce) (220.08 million).
Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet falls a spot to No. 2 (70,000 SEA units; down 11%) after six nonconsecutive weeks atop the list.
Charli XCX’s Brat bounds 17-3, a new peak, with 57,000 SEA units (up 144%) after the album was reissued twice in during the week ending Oct. 17.
On Oct. 11, the original album’s tracklist was joined by 16 remixes of its songs in a deluxe edition (dubbed Brat and It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat), and those remixes included such guests as The 1975 and Ariana Grande. Then, on Oct. 14, the deluxe was plussed-up with one more remix, a redux of “Spring Breakers” featuring Kesha. All versions of Brat, new and old, are combined for tracking and charting purposes. Brat’s 57,000 SEA units equate to 73.63 million on-demand official streams of its songs – the album’s best week yet, and Charli XCX’s biggest streaming week for any album.
GloRilla’s new Glorious debuts at No. 4 on Top Streaming Albums with 56,000 SEA units (equaling 77.98 million on-demand official streams of its songs). Both figures represent career-highs for the artist, and the biggest weeks for any rap album by a female artist in 2024. Glorious is also the highest charting rap album by a woman on Top Streaming Albums this year.
BigXthaPlug’s Take Care starts at No. 5 on Top Streaming Albums with 47,000 SEA units (equaling 62.77 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs). It’s the rapper’s biggest streaming week ever. Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time falls 2-6 with 46,000 SEA units (down 5%). Jelly Roll’s Beautifully Broken arrives at No. 7 with 44,000 SEA units (58.86 million on-demand official streams) – his biggest streaming week yet.
Rounding out the top 10 are Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft (3-8 with 42,000 SEA units; down 2%), Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (4-9 with 40,000; down 4%) and Taylor Swift’s former leader The Tortured Poets Department (5-10 with 39,000; down 3%).
Gunna was always going to get his flowers coming to Brooklyn, but this time, he brought his own, too. Clad in a studded vest and a black Korn tank top, the 31-year-old strode across the Paramount stage with royal blue blossoms in the foreground. The arrangement mirrored the fluorescent melodies that entranced the crowd in a night of faint weed smoke and some of the most indelible anthems of the late 2010s and early 2020s.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
It was just the latest stop in Gunna’s Wun of Dem Nights Tour on Monday night (Oct. 21), a trek promoting his One of Wun album, which he dropped this past May. For this one, Wunna oscillated between all areas of his catalog. One moment he’s performing “WhatsApp (Wassam).” The next he’s performing his portion of Travis Scott’s “Yosemite.” Then “Drip Too Hard” and “Pushin P.” All that and pretty much everything in between — basically, last night was a good time to be a Gunna fan.
Billboard breaks down the top five moments from the show. Check it out below.
Trending on Billboard
Gunna Gives the Crowd Their Flowers — Literally
Just before performing his underrated 2022 single “Banking on Me,” Wunna tapped into his inner loverboy and had his team bring out white roses for the crowd. It was a fitting prelude to the tender serenade that engrossed everyone in the crowd. It didn’t sound like he needed any effects either, so shouts to Gunna on flaunting those vocals.
Gunna Performs His New Age Classic “FukUMean”
Toward the very end of the show, Gunna had more fun with the fans, asking them to guess which track was next. He let them put forth their best guess, but they didn’t seem to get it right. Channeling the momentum from the speculation, he immediately dove into “Fukumean” for a seamless feat of curation and expert transitioning.
The Stage Arrangement Looks Otherworldly
Powered by mellifluous melodies and surrealistic soundscapes fit for video games, Gunna is all about immersion, and his stage set here only accentuated the effect. Featuring mini boulders, the aforementioned blue flowers, and a staff with metallic skulls, the scene had all the whimsy of a fantastical milieu. With flashes of gleaming red lights beaming down, it all felt like an opening scene from an interstellar pirate movie. Call it Gunna’s Escape From Trapper’s Island.
Gunna’s fit, along with his deliberate movements across the stage, all swirled together for a legitimate aesthetic joy ride. It would’ve been easy to opt for something more straightforward, but he’s clearly committed to ambiance — from his music all the way to the stage.
Crowd Raps “Drip Too Hard” With Gunna
Given the state of things, it doesn’t feel all that likely we’ll see Gunna and Lil Baby perform “Drip Too Hard” any time soon. It’s too bad, because it’s the best song they’ve ever done, solo or otherwise.
The crowd seemed to realize that, too, as they spit the track word-for-word when Wunna jumped into the song, which is now pretty much considered a classic. Pretty crazy how time passes: Six years ago, Gunna and Lil Baby were relative newcomers looking to cement their status as Atlanta’s next up. Turns out, they were both on deck.
Moments like this one transport you back to a time before Young Thug and Gunna were put in jail while also making you reflect on what was, what is and what might never be again. It’s sad, yet kind of beautiful when you think about it in those terms. But for the night, it was just a bop everyone felt called to rap to.
Gunna Pays Homage to Young Thug With Vintage Performance of “Hot”
In one of the most electrifying moments of the night, Gunna turned back to 2019 to perform “Hot,” a Young Thug track where he handles hook duties. At the moment he jumped onto the track, the stage was engulfed by red lights, and the crowd started chanting pretty much every word. Next, he performed “Ski.” All the while, “Free Jeffery” flashed on the screen behind Gunna, solidifying a moment that was as genuine as it was electric.
Earlier this year, Ice Cube gave a positive update about the fourth installment of his Friday film series, telling Flavor Flav that he and Warner Bros. were “working on it” and that they “finally got some traction” during an appearance on the Public Enemy hypeman’s SiriusXM show. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news […]
Mike Will Made-It is gearing up to deliver his first album since 2017 with R3set, which doubles as the third installment of his Ransom series.
The Ear Drummers CEO chats with Billboard about his upcoming LP, losing his hard drives of music, and reflects on some of his biggest hits over the years, such as collaborations with Beyoncé, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus and more.
“It’s been a journey for real. It’s Ransom 3. Each Ransom is different phases. Ransom stands for Releasing All New Songs Orchestrated by Mike Will,” he says.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Around the time Ransom 2 arrived (the project reached No. 24 on the Billboard 200 in 2017), the Atlanta producer had his hard drive and backup stolen, which led to him taking a step back from music and exploring other endeavors such as real estate.
“Around that time right there I had lost my hard drives. My hard drives had got stolen,” he shares. “I really eased back from the music. I started buying real estate. I bought my studio that I work at right now in Atlanta. When I first got there, there would be a couple TVs on the all and we’d just be gambling on 2K. I wasn’t even really tripping on the music.
Mike Will continues: “To lose your hard drives and your backup in one, that was like a wake-up call. I was just trying to figure out what that meant for me. I won a Grammy, I put multiple people on so it’s like maybe I needed to start doing other stuff. Like I need to start investing in other fields, but nothing was really working out. What works for me is music.”
Although R3set is currently without a release date, Mike’s recruited a star-studded cast of collaborators that includes SZA, Don Toliver, Young Thug, Moneybagg Yo, GloRilla, Yo Gotti, Muni Long and more.
The 35-year-old avid golfer tee’d up the rollout for the project with “High3r” featuring Lil Yachty and Lil Wayne over the summer.
Mike Will Made-It already carries a decorated resume that has seen him connect with some of the best music has to offer, including Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), Beyoncé, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus and more. He served “Pour It Up” for RiRi as a single from her 2012 Unapologetic album; the intoxicating club banger cracked the Billboard Hot 100’s top 20.
“My home girl Karen Clark was working at Def Jam. She really put that together. Shout-out to Chris Brown,” Mike Will recalls. “He had came through the writing camp just checking out the different songs. He had heard ‘Pour It Up’ like, ‘This one gotta get to Ri.’ She had called the next day like, ‘What’s the song Chris talking about?’ She loved it, she laid it down.”
Watch the full interview with Mike Will Made-It above.
Eminem is set to make a rare public appearance on Tuesday evening (Oct. 22) at a Detroit rally supporting Democratic party candidate Kamala Harris.
According to CNN and the Wall Street Journal, Slim Shady is slated to introduce former president Barack Obama at the event supporting the VP and her running mate, Tim Walz.
Michigan is reportedly a tight race as a swing state in the upcoming presidential election — which is only two weeks away.
Rather than perform at the rally, Em is expected to speak and give his thoughts on the election before introducing Obama to the crowd.
Billboard has reached out to Eminem’s reps as well as the Harris-Walz campaign and Democratic National Committee for comment.
Eminem co-signed the Biden-Harris presidential ticket in 2020 when his Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Lose Yourself” provide the soundtrack to an ad for Joe Biden just a day prior to the 2020 election. Obama also cited the 2002 8 Mile soundtrack anthem as an inspiration behind his presidential run in ’08.
Eminem hasn’t been one to mince words about Donald Trump. He’s been critical of the former president on different occasions in the past, dating back to his “Campaign Speech” prior to the 2016 election and his “The Storm” freestyle at the 2017 BET Awards.
“I get almost flustered thinking about him — that’s how angry he makes me,” he told Vulture in 2017. “The people that support him are the people he cares about the least and they don’t even realize it.”
Em continued: “At what point do you — a working-class citizen, someone who’s trying to make s–t better for you and your family — think this guy who’s never known struggle his entire f–king life, who avoided the military because of bone spurs, who says he’s a billionaire, is really looking out for you? He’s got people brainwashed.”
The rally is slated to run from 5 p.m. ET to 9 p.m. ET. Harris ramped up efforts in Michigan while hosting an early voting event over the weekend that featured appearances from Lizzo and Usher.
“They say if Kamala Harris wins, the whole country will be like Detroit,” Lizzo said. “Proud like Detroit. Resilient like Detroit. The same Detroit that innovated the auto industry and the music industry. Put some respect on Detroit’s name!”
