R&B/Hip-Hop
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05/21/2024
Em’s 12th studio LP is slated to arrive this summer.
05/21/2024
Metro Boomin is giving back to his hometown of St. Louis in honor of his late mother. The producer—who’s fresh off two back-to-back number one albums—recently announced $100,000 in donations for five St. Louis nonprofits centered around women. According to Variety, he partnered with Rung for Women and Amazon Access to give Almost Home, Diamond […]
For the first time, two songs have at least 70 million official U.S. streams in a single chart week.
Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” featuring Morgan Wallen, earned 76.4 million in the May 10-16 tracking week, according to Luminate. The same frame, Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” tallies its second week of 70 million-plus streams, with 72 million, a 2% jump from 70.9 million in the May 3-9 frame.
As a result, “I Had Some Help” debuts at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Streaming Songs chart dated May 25, pushing “Not Like Us” down to No. 2.
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That’s the first time two songs have had at least 70 million weekly official U.S. streams since Billboard incorporated streaming data into its charts, with the Streaming Songs tally beginning in 2013. The closest any week had previously come was on the Aug. 22, 2020, survey, when Cardi B’s “WAP,” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, reigned via 93 million streams, followed by Drake’s “Laugh Now Cry Later,” featuring Lil Durk, with 69.8 million.
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And that’s before one brings Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby,” the May 25 Streaming Songs chart’s No. 3 song, into the equation. It ranks with 66.3 million streams, up 14%. You can probably see where this is going: the May 25 rundown is the first time three songs have accrued 60 million streams or more in a single week.
“I Had Some Help” reigns in its first week, having been released May 10. It’s Post Malone’s fourth No. 1 on Streaming Songs and second in a row, following his rule as a featured artist on Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight” earlier in May. His other No. 1s were “Rockstar,” featuring 21 Savage, in 2017 and “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse),” billed as a co-lead with Swae Lee, in 2019.
Wallen, meanwhile, boasts his second No. 1, following a long rule for “Last Night” last year. As “Last Night” rose to No. 1 rather than debuting there, “I Had Some Help” becomes his first entry to premiere atop Streaming Songs.
Lamar’s “Not Like Us” achieves an additional distinction of being the first song in the chart’s history to actually rise in streams after first accruing 70 million since chart calculations began including only official streaming content in September 2020. That said, Lamar’s first week (May 3-9) was with a partial week of data, as “Not Like Us” was released May 4.
Going back to that week in September 2020, the new May 25, 2024, chart contains three of the seven biggest streaming weeks since. “I Had Some Help” is the biggest, while “Not Like Us” achieves the fourth largest in its latest frame, while “Million Dollar Baby” boasts the seventh largest.
Biggest Streaming Weeks Since Sept. 19, 2020:
“I Had Some Help,’ Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen, 76.4 million (May 25, 2024)
“Fortnight,” Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone, 76.2 million (May 4, 2024)
“Drivers License,” Olivia Rodrigo, 76.1 million (Jan. 23, 2021)
“Not Like Us,” Kendrick Lamar, 72 million (May 25, 2024)
“Not Like Us,” Kendrick Lamar, 70.9 million (May 18, 2024)
“Way 2 Sexy,” Drake feat. Future & Young Thug, 67.3 million (Sept. 18, 2021)
“Million Dollar Baby,” Tommy Richman, 66.3 million (May 25, 2024)
“Good 4 U,” Olivia Rodrigo, 62.7 million (June 5, 2021)
“Flowers,” Miley Cyrus, 59.8 million (Feb. 4, 2023)
“Anti-Hero,” Taylor Swift, 59.7 million (Nov. 5, 2022)
Of the above, all were the No. 1 songs of the week on the Streaming Songs chart, aside from “Not Like Us” and “Million Dollar Baby” via the May 25 chart.
Concurrently, as previously reported, “I Had Some Help” reigns on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100, followed by “Not Like Us” and “Million Dollar Baby” at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively.
Roc-A-Fella alum and former State Property member Oschino Vasquez appeared on a podcast for the African Cultural Art Forum in Philadelphia recently and weighed in on Kendrick vs. Drake. The Philly rapper — whose known for the gritty realism in his music — surprised the room when he deemed Kendrick Lamar “overrated.”
When asked about the feud, Oschino bigged up Drake, saying, “First of all, Drake got a whole country behind him. Drake got the most hits. Girls like Drake. Drake comes across as a nice guy,” before predicting Rick Ross is going to lose “a lot of fans” for beefing with the Canadian rapper.
But when he was asked about Kendrick, the State Property member had to think about his answer before saying, “Kendrick can rap, too, but I think he’s overrated,” before shaking his head and adding, “I know people are gonna be talkin’ s–t.” He explained his stance further, telling the host, “All of his songs are not hot to me. When Drake sings, I hate it. When Drake sings, I cut it off. I say, ‘Drake, don’t do this.’ When Kendrick Lamar sings on some of his songs, he tries to go too deep.”
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He drills down further, giving Kendrick credit for his lyricism, but that’s about it. “People like something they don’t understand a little bit,” he says. “You need to be saying some crazy double entendres sometimes, but Kendrick Lamar got a lot of songs I don’t like. Lyrics? He hot. But some of the songs, they ain’t for me.”
Later on in the interview, he outs himself as a Drake fan, saying, “Drake is the best. As far as rappin’? I think Drake’s better than all of them because consistently he puts some s–t out. It’s hot, it’s lyrical, it’s everything.”
Oschino has been making a name for himself online as a podcaster and vlogger. A couple weeks ago, Oschino posted a clip on his YouTube saying he thought Drake won the battle after listening to all of the songs.
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If you’re not familiar with Oschino, you can start here.
The entire West Coast is back outside thanks to Kendrick Lamar‘s scathing Billboard Hot 100-topping “Not Like Us,” and YG is ready to bring that energy across North America. On Monday (May 20), the “Big Bank” rapper announced his upcoming Just Re’d Up tour, which will kick off on June 28 in his hometown of Los Angeles, and concludes on Aug. 17 in Hawaii.
Assisted by fellow L.A. native DJ Vision and Cleveland rapper Doe Boy — who earned his first unaccompanied Billboard hit with this year’s “Way Too Long” (No. 29 on Rhythmic Airplay) — YG’s Just Re’d Up tour will visit major cities such as Chicago, New York and Houston. YG shared the official tour poster — which features his sunglasses-clad face emblazoned across a $100 bill with a suggestive image of two women mirrored on each sides of the frame — on his official Instagram page. “Let me know what songs yall wanna hear in the [comments],” he captioned the post
In line with recent concert dress codes such as Beyoncé‘s silver cowboy attire, Harry Styles‘ feather boas and Taylor Swift‘s friendship bracelets, YG’s tour poster suggested that “everybody wear black.”
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Ticket presale for the Just Re’d Up tour launched Tuesday (May 21) at 10 a.m. PT, while the Spotify presale commences on Wednesday (May 22) at 10 a.m. PT. General public sale begins Friday (May 24) at 10 a.m. PT; fans can find more tour information on YG’s official 4Hunnid website.
The new tour marks YG’s first headlining trek since 2019’s Stay Dangerous tour, which he launched in support of his 2018 LP of the same name. Stay Dangerous reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200, his third of five consecutive top 10 titles on the ranking. Last year, YG was slated to mount the Str8 to the Klub tour alongside Grammy-nominated rappers Tyga and Saweetie, but those dates were quietly canceled.
The Just Re’d Up tour marks a new era for YG, who recently signed a multi-album deal with BMG under his 4Hunnid Records label. On April 26, he unleashed the blazing, West Coast-indebted “Knocka,” laying the foundation for his forthcoming seventh solo studio album.
In addition to his five Billboard 200 top 10 projects — including 2014’s No. 2-peaking My Krazy Life — YG has earned more than 20 Hot 100 hits, including “Don’t Tell ‘Em” (No. 6, with Jeremih), “My Hitta” (No. 19, with Jeezy and Rich Homie Quan), “Big Bank” (No. 16, with 2 Chainz, Big Sean and Nicki Minaj), “Who Do You Love?” (No. 54, with Drake) and “Toot It And Boot It” (No. 67).
Check out the dates for YG’s Just Re’d Up tour below.
Tems is set to make 2024 her most dominant year in music yet. The Nigerian singer-songwriter pulled up to The Tonight Show on Monday (May 20), where she performed a two-track medley as the musical guest for the night. Wearing a glossy vanilla-white bodysuit hugging her curves, Tems shined bright in front of the amber […]
Like anyone who’s been in the game for more than three decades, Snoop Dogg has accumulated a lot of Doggy Dogg… stuff. But unlike a lot of other famous folks, pretty soon it’s going to go under the gavel in a novel celebrity auction via sports-and-music auction house the Realest in which Snoop is directly […]
Police in Suffolk, Va., are investigating the manner of death of 17-year-old rapper Rylo Huncho. A spokesperson for the Suffolk PD confirmed to Billboard on Tuesday morning (May 21) that an incident occurred on May 15 around 10 p.m. that “resulted in the death of a juvenile age 17” involving a “self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Explore […]
Lil Nas X‘s Billy Ray Cyrus-assisted “Old Town Road” might be the longest-running No. 1 single in Billboard Hot 100 history (19 weeks), but that doesn’t erase the conflicted feelings the Grammy-winning “Industry Baby” rapper has regarding his controversial reception in the country music space back in 2019, compared to how Beyoncé‘s and Shaboozey‘s country tunes have been embraced in 2024.
While he’s “happy” for the two, Lil Nas X told the BBC on May 19, “I wish this would have happened for me. I wasn’t even able to experience this.”
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Lil Nas and Billy Ray took home the 2019 CMA Award for musical event of the year, but, for the “Montero” singer, even that triumph pales in comparison to how Black artists are currently being received in the mainstream country space. Half a decade after the domination of “Old Town Road,” Black artists are making history in the genre.
At the top of 2024, Beyoncé’s smash hit “Texas Hold ‘Em” became the first song by a Black woman to top Hot Country Songs, as well as the first country song by a Black woman to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100. Months later — following the release of Queen Bey’s Cowboy Carter, the first album by a Black woman to top Country Albums — Shaboozey’s J-Kwon-interpolating “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” reached No. 1 on Country Songs, making him and Beyoncé the first Black artists to score back-to-back leaders in the chart’s 66-year history. “A Bar Song” has since reached No. 3 on the Hot 100, marking Shaboozey’s third appearance on the ranking in 2024, following his dual Cowboy Carter features: “Spaghettii” (No. 31, with Linda Martell) and “Sweet * Honey * Buckiin’” (No. 61).
Cowboy Carter also features collaborations with several ascendant Black country stars, including Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tiera Kennedy and Willie Jones. Upon the release of “Texas Hold ‘Em,” Billboard reported massive streaming boosts for Black women in country music, ranging from Martell to Rissi Palmer and K. Michelle.
Lil Nas’ own post-“Old Town Road” music has further explored his affinity for rap, pop and rock, but he’s hinting at a return to country music, confirming to the BBC that he’s been “trying out some country [sounds] here and there over the last couple of years.”
“I want to feel connected to it and not force it,” he said.
Five years ago, “Old Town Road” — which ultimately won the Grammy for best pop duo/group performance — achieved the rare feat of simultaneously appearing on the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The song spent a single week at No. 19 on Hot Country Songs before Billboard removed the country-trap hit from the ranking for “not [embracing] enough elements of today’s country music” despite Lil Nas X labeling the song as “country” in the track metadata upon its Dec. 3, 2018 release.
The ejection of “Old Town Road” from the Billboard country charts sparked a flurry of debate regarding the acceptance and recognition of Black artists in the country music space, and the industry’s apparent compulsion to solely box Black artists into the hip-hop and R&B genres despite the musical composition of their songs. Some even drew parallels to 2016’s “Daddy Lessons,” widely regarded as Beyoncé’s first proper country song, which did not chart on Country Songs despite a No. 26 peak on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and a subsequent remix with The Chicks.
Since “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X has successfully transitioned from viral meme to bonafide pop star cultural lightning rod. Both of his official projects — 2019’s 7 EP and 2021’s Montero LP — reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200. He’s also added a bevy of Hot 100 hits to his arsenal, including “Montero (Call Me By Your Name” (No. 1), “Industry Baby” (No. 1, with Jack Harlow), “Panini” (No. 5) and “Thats What I Want” (No. 8).
Cam’ron can turn any interview into a viral moment — just ask Bill O’Reilly. The Dipset rapper appeared on CNN on Monday night (May 20), but claimed he didn’t know he was being booked to talk about Sean “Diddy” Combs and the assault allegations made against him.
The interview quickly went left when host Abby Phillip asked Cam about recognizing Diddy in the video of the “I’ll Be Missing You” artist physically assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 that CNN obtained last week.
“I don’t know him like that. What do you mean did I recognize him? I seen him,” Cam said. “What do you mean my experiences? I seen him and I thought it was disgusting, I didn’t do a zoom in to see if it was really him or nothing, but he admitted it was him so yeah, it was him.”
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Phillip’s facial expression seemingly gave away she knew the interview was headed down a disastrous path, but she continued to attempt to get Cam’ron’s thoughts on Diddy’s apology video, in which Combs called his actions “inexcusable.”
“The apology ain’t for me, it’s for Cassie,” Cam replied. “He ain’t do nothing for me. What I think about it don’t matter. You need to ask Cassie if she accepts the apology. I said what I said.”
While CNN replayed a heartfelt clip from It Is What It Is about Cam’ron asking Ma$e why he had him sign with The Notorious B.I.G. instead of Diddy, Cam took the chance to promote his Pink Horse Power libido supplement.
He slugged back a cup of the intimacy juice. “Sorry, I’m going to get some cheeks after this Horse Power joint,” Cam said, admitting he was headed to see a woman after the interview.
After one final attempt to pry information and give Cam a chance to speak on Diddy, the “Oh Boy” rapper snapped and asked who booked him to appear on CNN before wrapping up the three-minute segment.
“Who’s the talent agent for this joint? You think I be sitting around watching what Diddy do? I didn’t know this was a Diddy joint that y’all invited me to,” he fired back. “Who booked me for this joint?”
Cam’ron addressed the viral interview on Tuesday’s episode of It Is What It Is and explained he wasn’t appreciative of how CNN didn’t ask him about any of the positive things he’s doing in the community and insisted to harp on the allegations of abuse made against Diddy.
“I just felt you tried to use me, pause,” he said. “I don’t know why they ain’t watch 60 Minutes. They ain’t watch Bill O’Reilly? That’s what I do on them joints… You call me on CNN for the bulls–t, I’ma give you the bulls–t.”
Billboard has reached out to CNN for comment.
Watch Cam’ron’s CNN appearance and his response on It Is What It Is below.
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