R&B/Hip-Hop
Page: 194
Ye — formerly known as Kanye West — has confirmed a new tentative release date for Vultures 2, the sequel to his and Ty Dolla $ign’s collaborative album. Ye has been one to change his mind with the wind when it comes to release dates, but West revealed on Justin LaBoy’s The Download podcast that […]
Usher and H.E.R. combine forces to rule Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart as the pair’s “Risk It All” collaboration rises from the runner-up rank to reach No. 1 on the list dated April 27. The new champ adds to both artists’ already-stacked ledger on the chart, where they have each accumulated several No. 1s in recent years.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“Risk It All” appears on the soundtrack to the 2023 musical film adaptation of The Color Purple. The duet tops Adult R&B Airplay after a 7% increase in plays that made it the most played song on U.S. monitored adult R&B radio stations in the tracking week of April 12-18, according to Luminate.
The new leader is also the first soundtrack single to top Adult R&B Airplay since Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up,” which accompanied Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, reigned for four weeks from December 2022 – January 2023.
Trending on Billboard
With “Risk It All,” Usher achieves his ninth No. 1 Adult R&B Airplay and ties Charlie Wilson for the most among male artists since the chart launched in 1993. The two R&B superstars share third place on the overall leaderboard: Alicia Keys ranks first, with 14 champs, while Toni Braxton is second, with 11.
Here’s a review of Usher’s chart-toppers on Adult R&B Airplay:
Song Title, Artist (if other than Usher), Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1
“Here I Stand,” seven, Dec. 6, 2008
“Papers,” three, Jan. 2, 2010
“There Goes My Baby,” one, July 31, 2010
“Climax,” one, July 7, 2012
“Don’t Waste My Time,” featuring Ella Mai, two, June 13, 2020
“Bad Habits,” one, Dec. 5, 2020
“Glu,” two, June 24, 2023
“Good Good,” with Summer Walker & 21 Savage, six, Nov. 18, 2023
“Risk It All,” with H.E.R., one (to date), April 27, 2024
[embedded content]
For H.E.R., “Risk It All” becomes the hitmaker’s eighth No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay. To recap her collection:
Song Title, Artist (if other than H.E.R.), Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1
“Focus,” one, Oct. 6, 2018
“Best Part,” Daniel Caesar featuring H.E.R., four, Oct. 20, 2018
“Slow Down,” with Skip Marley, three, May 23, 2020
“Make the Most,” Lonr. featuring H.E.R., one, Oct. 24, 2020
“Gotta Move On,” Toni Braxton featuring H.E.R., Feb. 20, 2021
“Damage,” eight, June 26, 2021
“Come Through,” featuring Chris Brown, one, Jan. 1, 2022
“Risk It All,” with Usher, one (to date), April 27, 2024
In addition to performing on the single, H.E.R., whose real name is Gabrielle Wilson, produced the track and co-wrote it with Jimmy Napes.
Elsewhere, “Risk It All” rises 23-22, after having reached No. 15, on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks songs by combined audience totals from adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations. There, the duet improved 12% to 6.2 million audience impressions in the April 12-18 period. While momentum is gaining on the adult R&B side, “Risk It All” has wrapped its stay on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. It peaked at No. 22 on the list in February, and last appeared on the chart dated March 9.
Radio gains help “Risk It All” return to the multimetric Hot R&B Songs chart, which blends airplay results with streaming and sales data for its ranks. The single re-enters at No. 23 for its 17th week on the list, after having claimed a No. 17 high in February.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C5ta2C2xHzP
Arguably the mad scientist behind this Rap Civil War, Metro Boomin’s skirmish with Drake first began when the producer chose not to include the rapper on his song “Trance” from 2022’s Heroes and Villians album. In an interview with DJ Drama’s Streetz Is Watchin Radio, Metro claimed the song, which ultimately featured Travis Scott and Young Thug, was already done and didn’t need an additional verse.
“He really wanted to get on it, but I was letting him know that it was really just done for real. I was really just set on how it was,” Metro said. “I was like, ‘Bro, I ain’t trying to sell you no dream. I’m locked in where it was.’ He had hit me and was just like, ‘Let me see if there’s anything you could add to it.’ He was like, ‘If you don’t like it, then whatever.’”
Despite the misunderstanding, Metro appeared on Drake and 21’s album Her Loss as a co-producer alongside DAVID x ELI for their song “More Ms.” Hower, things got rocky when Metro tweeted and deleted the following when speaking on award shows honoring Her Loss over his album:
“Yet her loss still keeps winning rap album of the year over H&V. proof that award shows are just politics and not for me,” Metro wrote in the deleted tweet. “Idc about awards honestly, the true award and REWARD is knowing that the music I spend so much time on brings joy to people’s everyday lives.”
Shortly after, while appearing on Kick, Drake issued a message that some believed to be aimed at Metro. “And to the rest of you: The non-believers, the underachievers, the tweet-and-deleters, you guys make me sick to my stomach, fam,” he said during the live stream.
Metro seemed unbothered initially, saying there wasn’t any real issue between him and Drake. Still, that didn’t stop Metro from taking potshots at Drake on Instagram and Twitter the last few weeks, resulting in Drake ultimately calling him out on “Push Ups,” rapping: “Metro, shut your ho ass up and make some drums, n–a.” He also clowned him on social media, using clips from the film Drumline to punctuate his points about him focusing on his production.
Halle Bailey is opening up about her struggle with postpartum depression. According to People, the singer/actress discussed her battle with the ailment that affects nearly one in seven women in a Snapchat video last week in which she shared her love for her “perfect” son Halo while discussing the serious postpartum feelings that overwhelmed her.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“I have severe, severe postpartum [depression], and I don’t know if any new moms can relate, but it’s to the point where it’s really bad, and it’s hard for me to be separated from my baby for more than 30 minutes at a time before I start to kind of freak out,” she said in the clip. In an accompanying Instagram post, Bailey got tons of love and support from other moms, including one who wrote, “I didn’t feel normal in my own body until like over a year after my baby,” while another said, “Thank you for your words on post partum. For using your voice to speak not only on your experience but that of so many mothers.”
Trending on Billboard
Little Mermaid star Bailey and partner DDG quietly welcomed their first child together last year and in the Snap she called the rapper the “most amazing daddy in the world” and praised him for his steady support through her postpartum blues. “Halo is a miracle. He is perfect. He is beautiful,” she said. “When I look at him, I cry because of how special he is. The only thing that’s been hard for me is feeling normal in my own body. I feel like a completely different person. When I look in the mirror, I just feel like I’m in a whole new body. Like, I don’t know who I am.”
Like many women who suffer from postpartum depression, Bailey said she’s worried about the stigma about publicly talking about depression. “Before I had a child and I would hear people talk about postpartum, it would kind of just go in one ear and out the other. I didn’t realize how serious of a thing it actually was,” she said. “Now going through it, it almost feels like you’re swimming in this ocean that’s like the biggest waves you’ve ever felt and you’re trying not to drown. And you’re trying to come up for air.”
Most importantly, Bailey stressed that, of course, her depression had “nothing” to do with her son and that her post was prompted by a comment she read about her family that she didn’t detail. “It has everything to do with me and who I am right now. I guess today I was just triggered — especially [since] social media is just not a good thing to be on when you have postpartum — but I was just really triggered today, especially by seeing some of the things that have been said about me and my family, and the one that I love and the ones that I love,” she said.
In March, Bailey, 23, made an emotional speech at the 2024 ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards ceremony in which she explained why she hid her pregnancy from a “place of protection.”
“There was no way in hell I was going to share the biggest joy of my world with anyone. Halo was my gift. He is the greatest blessing, and I had no obligation to expose him, me, or my family to that,” Bailey said. “With the state of the world and the place it is in with men trying to force their will on our bodies, no one on social media, and for d–n sure, no one on the planet was going to tell me what to do with my body or what to share with the world.”
Bailey and DDG revealed their son’s birth in January with a post on social media about becoming new parents. The singer has been doing double-duty as a new mom and a recording star, dropping her new single, “In Your Hands” on March 15; she cradles baby Halo in the video for the moving ballad featuring the moving chorus, “All in your hands, in your hands/ The world is yours when I’m in it/ In your hands, in your hands/ You can’t let go or you’ll lose your chance.”
The NIH says that postnatal depression is very common and can start anytime in the first year after giving birth and can also effect fathers and partners as well. Among the typical symptoms are a “persistent feeling of sadness and low mood,” “lack of enjoyment and loss of interest in the wider world,” “lack of energy and feeling tired all the time,” as well as trouble sleeping, difficulty looking after the baby or yourself, withdrawing from contact with other people, problems concentrating and making decisions and frightening thoughts, which can include thoughts of harming the baby.
Bailey ended the video with a reminder that just because she’s a public figure doesn’t mean the harsh things people write about her online don’t hurt. “Even though you may look up to certain people and you think that they are celebrities, and they appear it have it all together, you never know what somebody else is going through, especially someone who just had a baby literally,” she said.
Check out some of the supportive statements Bailey received on her Instagram post below.
When Snoop Dogg was announced as part of the NBC broadcast team covering this summer’s Olympic games in Paris you might be forgiven for saying “tu quoi?” But in proof that you can teach an old Dogg new tricks, the Doggfather posted an adorable video on Monday in which his granddaughter Cordoba — daughter of Snoop’s son, Cordell — helped him brush up on his French in a promo video that is cuter than all those kids dropping endless f-bombs in The Underdoggs.
“What’s going on, everybody? It’s big Snoop Dogg, coming at you live and direct,” Snoop says in the clip in which he’s dressed in a pink jacket embroidered with the phrase “Daddy’s Lil Girl” and a colorful flower head scarf. “As you know, I’m doing the Olympics this year live from Paris, so I wanted to get some lessons in French. So I went out and hired me a French teacher to teach me some words. Say hello to my French teacher, Cordoba.”
Trending on Billboard
As the camera pans out to reveal the all-pink room and a colorful tea party set-up on the table in front of him we get our first glimpse of his adorable tutor, rocking a matching pink jacket and the biggest smile you can imagine. As a fancy baroque piano soundtrack bubbles up, Snoop straps in for his lesson, which begins with Cordoba shuffling through her flash cards and pouring some imaginary tea.
“The word is ‘ice cream,’” Snoop says in teeing up the obviously most important phrase he’s going to need to know for his steamy sojourn in the French capital this summer. “I think how you say it is ‘cream le ice?’,” the Long Beach native suggests. Wrong. “‘Glace,’” Cordoba corrects him.
“How do I say ‘Eiffel Tower?’” wonders Snoop, who previously reported for NBC during the Tokyo Olympics four years ago. Cordoba shoots a perfectly quizzical look at the camera and flashes the correct card, which Snoop reads back as “Tour Eiffel.” Growing weary pretty quickly — or maybe just suffering from the munchies — Snoop gripes, “I thought we was gonna be eating ice cream and cake and stuff,” as he cues up the correct way to say “goodbye.”
After a few snacks Snoop bids au revior, saying, “there you have it, I got me some French lessons, learned a couple of words, little bit of etiquette, how to pour some tea and how to eat some candy. Be sure to check me out at the Olympics 2024.”
Snoop will be part of NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Summer Olympics in Paris this summer during the Olympic primetime show beginning July 26 on NBC and Peacock; the games will last through August 11. In addition to offering his unique takes alongside veteran NBC Olympics host Mike Tirico, Snoop will also explore the City of Light’s most iconic landmarks, attend some events and visit with athletes, according to NBC.
Check out Snoops French tutorial below.
The Weeknd’s postponed tour of Australia is now canceled and ticket owners will be refunded.
The Canadian R&B superstar had initially scheduled an 11-date stadium tour of Australia and New Zealand, winding its way across both countries last November and December.
Then, two weeks before the After Hours Til Dawn Tour was due to kick off, the trek was shelved “due to unforeseen circumstances.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
A statement issued at the time confirmed that new dates would be announced for 2024 and current tickets will be valid for those new shows.
That’s no longer the case. Though replacement dates were never announced, a statement confirms the existing 2023 tour will be cancelled, while Live Nation, which was producing the tour, continues to investigate a rescheduled trek.
Trending on Billboard
“The Weeknd ‘After Hours Til Dawn Tour’ for Australia & New Zealand is still in process of being rescheduled,” reads a statement from LN, seen by Billboard. “Whilst we continue to work through the rescheduling process with the artist, tickets for the existing 2023 tour will be cancelled with all ticket holders receiving a full refund accordingly.”
Ticket holders of the The Weeknd’s ‘After Hours Til Dawn Tour’ shows who previously held on to their tickets will be able to access a priority purchase window for the new tour in Australia and New Zealand when announced, the message reads, linking to a priority waitlist. All current ticket holders will receive an automatic refund.
The tour was originally announced last August with just four shows, visiting each of Australia’s big three east coast cities — Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane — and including a single date in Auckland, NZ.
Additional dates were added last September, boosting the itinerary to 11 across both markets.
The Weeknd’s tour is scrapped as Australia’s festivals market navigates turbulent waters. In recent weeks, the 2024 editions of Splendour in the Grass, Mona Foma, and Groovin The Moo, with soft ticket sales playing a part in each story.
The inaugural Soundcheck report, published by Creative Australia, found the climate for operating a festival was a “highly complex” one, with event organizers challenged with myriad issues, from rapidly increasing costs, changing ticket buying behavior and more.
Despite the situation Down Under, The Weeknd continues to pump out the hits. In recent days, Abel Tesfaye became just the 18th artist to chart at least 100 career hits on the Hot 100, thanks to a pair of guest appearances on Future and Metro Boomin’s new Billboard 200 No. 1 album We Still Don’t Trust You: the set’s title track, which debuts at No. 22, and “All to Myself,” which starts at No. 67.
In the U.S., he has landed seven No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 and four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200.
On Australia’s ARIA Albums Chart, published last Friday, April 19, the Weeknd’s hits collection The Highlights lifts 8-4 in its 167th week on the tally. It’s triple-platinum certified in Australia.
There’s no need to keep score when it comes to this Drake and Rick Ross beef. The Miami rapper is naturally funny and learned a lot from his time battling the likes of 50 Cent back in 2009. Not only did he respond to Drake’s “Push Ups” diss song in record time, he was nice […]
Mike Tyson might appear on Rick Ross‘ new album. Or maybe that was just the weed talking. The Miami rapper made an appearance on the very last episode of Mike Tyson’s Hotboxin’ podcast. The former heavyweight champion announced he would be moving on from the popular podcast in March, but didn’t give any particular reasons […]
While Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s battle has been the main event, Chris Brown and Quavo’s scathing war of words has been a deserving undercard fight.
Quavo went for a knockout punch with his latest diss track “Over Hoes & Bitches,” which he released on his YouTube channel on Monday night (April 22), and features cover art depicting Huncho choking out Brown. Quavo also enlists his late nephew and Migos bandmate Takeoff, who was killed in 2022.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Huncho throws a fastball by bringing up Brown’s history of violence and his 2009 felony assault on Rihanna: “You been f–ked your bag up when you punched Ri’ in the face/ Talking about Fashion Week, you sparing who/ Come punch me in my face/ It ain’t nun’ but a fade, you know you lost to Frank,” he raps.
Trending on Billboard
The Atlanta native also brags about how he could find another Saweetie — whom he split from in 2021 — in another model on the track: “I can take a model b—h and make a Saweetie.”
Saweetie didn’t take kindly to the dig and posted her alleged Instagram DMs, which include an unread message from Quavo. “Hopefully the model he turns me into replies,” she wrote to X.
Chris Brown also appeared to laugh off Quavo’s “Hoes & Bitches” diss reply, and said it wasn’t strong enough to warrant a response.
“Google raps that s–t is poooooooh Damn and I was excited. That s–t don’t even need a response. Takeoff rap better,” he wrote on his Instagram Story Monday night.
In subsequent Stories, Brown also wrote, “CMON QUAVIOUS” followed by five tomato emojis, an image of a crying Quavo with a fake tattoo reading “WEAKEST LINK” — the title of Brown’s last response — on his forehead, and more.
Billboard has reached out to Brown’s rep for comment.
Brown reignited his beef with Quavo earlier in April when taking shots at Huncho on his “Freak” track, which appeared on the 11:11 (Deluxe) edition.
Initially, Brown lit the fuse in January after awkwardly being sat next to Quavo at the Rhude Menswear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 show. “Can’t pick who you sit by,” Brown wrote in an Instagram comment following the show. “F–k all that growth s–t. N—a not finna fumble my bag for little n—-s.”
Listen to “Hoes & Bitches” below.
[embedded content]
Donald Glover continued to tease out the next Childish Gambino era on Monday night (April 23) on the latest episode of his Gilga Radio show, during which he premiered fresh tracks with Ye and Kid Cudi.
About 40 minutes into the 70-minute episode, following a spin of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Obsessed,” a voice came on proclaiming, “If Childish Gambino wants to do something in the hood, you let him do it,” before the premiere of the track, which appears to be titled “Say Less.”
Over a frenetic beat, Glover as Gambino raps, “Uh, I got the bands, the rover/ Reddiest Octobers, the Goku comeback/ I thought I told you/ The flow viral, brain is like pyro/ My phone on silent, how the f–k would I know?/ The aviators got me lookin’ like Five-0/ You ain’t even touched a GQ best dressed/ Sty got ’em cheatin’ on a taste test/ They like rap more, I’m like ‘Say less.’”
Trending on Billboard
Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), drops in on the second verse of the song that bounces along on a video game-like bed of synths and drums. “Now rule number one, ‘Thou shalt not steal’/ The flow, the clothes, the sex appeal, yeah/ Now this is my commandment, died and rebrand it/ Three days later, walk in the Louis sandals/ Duckin’ paparazzi, they would call it a scandal,” Ye spits. “But n—as would love to watch me, really, I’m like Randall/ I’d rather have no regrets, but, yo/ My agent just called and said ‘Yo, say less.’”
Ye goes on to note that fans have been waiting for the sequel to his Watch the Throne joint album with Jay-Z as well as a passing reference to the meltdown of his lucrative deal with Adidas, which dropped West in 2022 after he went on a monthslong antisemitic spree of interviews and statements denigrating the Jewish people in the midst of a historic rise in antisemitic incidents in the United States.
“N—as waiting on the throne, like ‘Hov, say, ‘Yes,’” he continues. “I took my shoes out the store, they the new Payless/ That’s the new God flow, but I don’t pray less.” The rappers trade lines in the third verse, with Gambino dropping references to disgraced former Empire star Jussie Smollett’s false racist attack claims (“Got this rope ’round my neck like I’m J. Smollett”), Warriors forward Draymond Green’s choking of Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in November as well as the line, “You talk too much, you need a therapist” before Ye humbly proclaims, “I’m more like John Lennon, he more like Don Lemon.”
The second new song, featuring Cudi, appears to be called “Warlords,” and debuted an hour into the show, as well as a week after Cudi seemed to diss Gambino. That prompted the rapper/actor to make a plea for peace on last week’s Gilga Radio episode, on which he said, “Kid Cudi, if you got a problem, I’m not here for the beef. Just talk to me.”
Over a staticky beat, Gambino’s AutoTuned voice whisper raps, “You don’t get it, we gon’ kill you, I don’t f–k with you/ God of the universe, cream of the planеt Earth/ F–k love, f–k your life/ F–k a siren, I hеar screams every night no light/ Tell me the edge, I’m on the edge, I need a million/ Ain’t nobody better flip it to a billion/ Tell me the edge, I’m on the edge, I need a million.”
Cudi’s verse is similarly buried under the hand-clap rhythm, as he raps the chorus, “Make way for the warriors/ Here it comes, here it comes, ain’t used to runnin’/ Can’t hide from the warriors/ Make way for the warriors/ Here it comes, here it comes, ain’t used to runnin’/ Can’t hide from the warriors.”
Glover, who made a surprise appearance in Tyler, the Creator’s set during the first weekend of this year’s Coachella, recently announced that he’s prepping two albums, Atavista and Bando Stone & the New World soundtrack, which he said will be his final Gambino projects.
Listen to the “Say Less” and “Warlords” previews below.