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Pharrell Williams is teaming up with the Despicable Me franchise once again — and why not after the success the partnership has enjoyed throughout the Illumination series? Skateboard P gets back into his groovy bag for this one, as he released his “Double Life” single on Friday (June 14), which will land on the Despicable […]
Jack Harlow is set to star alongside Matt Damon and Casey Affleck in Apple TV+‘s The Instigators, and the crime comedy received its first trailer on Thursday (June 13).
Damon, who plays an ex-Marine named Rory, wants to pull off a heist, but is a novice in the robbery business. Luckily, Harlow and company are experts in the field, and are willing to help the much older Rory make it happen, but that comes with a price too.
“Just say, ‘I have a gun,’” Harlow hilariously advises Rory when the latter asks how to get people to listen to his orders. When the former Marine starts taking notes, the rapper-actor questions, “What are you doing?!”
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Fittingly for Damon, the movie is staged in South Boston, with Fenway Park playing host in certain scenes, and former New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski making a cameo in the film.
Directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Road House, Mr & Mrs. Smith), The Instigators hits Apple TV+ on Aug. 9. In addition to Damon and Harlow, the cast includes Casey Affleck, Hong Chau, Alfred Molina, Michael Stuhlbarg, Paul Walter Hauser, Ron Perlman and more.
The new film is not Jack Harlow’s first foray into Hollywood. He made his acting debut in 2023’s White Men Can’t Jump reboot.
“It’s either just going to be there was an announcement you were in a movie and nothing else, or you get that, and it’s like, ‘Wow, and you brought it. You brought it,’” the “Lovin On Me” hitmaker told Zane Lowe after securing his first role. “So, I’m starting to look at it how I look at the music, and it’s my first one, so I care a lot about it.”
Watch a trailer for The Instigators below.
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Every year, the Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony usually provides at least one wow moment by having a superstar deliver a breathtaking version of a song written by one of the honorees, or delivering a pairing that creates a watercooler moment, but this year, the 53rd annual edition — held Thursday (June 13) at the Marriott Marquis in New York — topped itself by reuniting inductees R.E.M. on stage for the quartet’s first public performance in more than 15 years.
In addition to the seminal alternative rock band, this year’s class included Timbaland, who innovatively blended R&B, hip-hop and pop elements; Dean Pitchford, whose songs for movies have proved as indelible, if not more so, than the films themselves; Steely Dan, who created a whole new cool paradigm with their combination of ennui, jazz and rock; and Hillary Lindsey, whose more than 27 No. 1 country songs have taken artists such as Little Big Town and Carrie Underwood to new creative heights.
A songwriter whose catalog has made a significant commercial and artistic impact is eligible for induction 20 years after their first song was commercially released. The exception for the 20 years is made for the recipient of the Hal David Starlight Award, which is presented to a rising songwriter who has already delivered a distinguished body of work. This year’s honoree was multiple Grammy winner SZA.
The SHOF’s highest honor is the Johnny Mercer Award, which is given to a past honoree whose body of work upholds the esteemed standards set by legendary songwriter Mercer. This year’s recipient, Diane Warren, was originally inducted into SHOF in 2001. In a separate ceremony in Nashville, trailblazing country writer Cindy Walker was posthumously inducted into SHOF.
The event opened on a sad note with SHOF show committee chairman Evan Lamberg (who is also North American president of Universal Music Publishing Group), announcing that SHOF’s president/CEO and the organization’s heartbeat, Linda Moran, was missing her first ceremony in 23 years because she is fighting leukemia. “She is under great care and is pointed in the right direction,” Lamberg said assuringly before filming a video of the audience sending love and cheers Moran’s way.
From R.E.M.’s unexpected reunion to Warren’s delightfully profane acceptance speech and SZA’s heartfelt comments on being a songwriter, here are some of the best moments from the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame.
R.E.M. Leads the Crowd to Lose Their Religion (and Minds)
Image Credit: Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame
When an artist has been around for 20 years and accomplished as much as NE-YO has, it’s tough to find new challenges in the music industry. After two decades spent in the major label system split between Def Jam and Motown Records, Billboard can exclusively report that NE-YO is officially a fully independent artist. “It’s […]
LL Cool J is ready to heat up just in time for the summer. The Radio rapper returned on Friday (June 14) with his first single of the year “Saturday Night Special” featuring Rick Ross and Fat Joe.
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After connecting with Joey Crack and Rozay, the 56-year-old will look to carry the momentum from “Saturday Night Special” into LL’s first album in over a decade later this year.
“It’s the real deal, baby. It’s go time. ‘Saturday Night Special’ is the first single,” he told fans on social media earlier this week. “I’ll let you know about the features. Couple of days … Hit the link in the bio, you’ll be able to find out a little sooner. Tracklisting for the album is coming. Album will be out in the fall. Yo, it’s on, baby.”
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It’s not the first time LL and Fat Joe have connected. The pair of New Yorkers collaborated nearly three decades ago back in 1995 on “I Shot Ya,” which landed on LL Cool J’s Mr. Smith album.
LL Cool J had a busy 2023 as part of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop tribute performance at the Grammy Awards and then trekked across America on The F.O.R.C.E. Live Tour.
The “I’m Bad” rapper was teasing an album throughout last year, which he says is executive-produced by Q-Tip, but decided to pull back on releasing it.
LL sat down with his Rock The Bells platform where he compared himself to NBA superstar LeBron James from a longevity standpoint as it pertains to his legacy in hip-hop.
“I don’t think about my legacy, I’m still creating it,” he explained. “I’ll use LeBron as an example, simply because of his longevity. If you asked him in basketball years, in year 15 what did he think about his legacy, he had a lot of basketball to play in year 15, when a lotta guys were walkin’ away from the game.”
LL continued: “I don’t really concern myself with legacy conversations, that’s gonna be more about the impact that your work had on specific fans. Ultimately your music has to do the talking, there’s nothing you can really say about that. I’m more excited about showing what’s possible.”
Listen to “Saturday Night Special” below.
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It’s been over three years since Moneybagg Yo’s last album, A Gangsta’s Pain, arrived and the four-digit daily counter can finally be reset. The Memphis native is back with a part one of an upcoming double-album titled Speak Now, which hit streaming services on Friday (June 14). The project boasts 17 tracks in total and […]
The blockchain group that sued Martin Shkreli to stop him from releasing Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is itself now selling the famed one-of-a-kind album to the public. But the deal comes with one small catch: buyers can’t actually listen to most of it.
Days after suing the infamous Pharma Bro, PleasrDAO announced Thursday (June 13) that Shaolin was “finally being offered to the public” for just $1 — something of a shocking offer considering the album’s infamous contractual restrictions that say it cannot be widely released until the year 2103.
But the fine print was slightly less exciting: Buyers will only receive an “encrypted” version of Shaolin that they cannot actually listen to. The deal will instead unlock exclusive access to a five-minute audio “sampler” composed of pieces of five tracks; the rest of the album will remain sealed.
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In a phone interview with Billboard on Thursday, members of PleasrDAO confirmed those limitations: “What people are being offered is the ability to own the encrypted album that they cannot listen to,” said Pleasr’s Leighton Cusack. “That will immediately unlock a never-heard-before sampler from the album created by the co-producer of the album.”
Rather than the limitations, Pleasr stressed the other unique element of its sale: Every time someone buys the album, the group says it will reduce the waiting period for the full album’s release by 88 seconds. “It creates this ability for people to decide how much they value music and if they want to have this music released faster or not,” Cusack said.
The sale of any amount of Shaolin, an album famous (and expensive) for its exclusivity, raises big questions. Even if Pleasr’s sale only allows buyers to hear five minutes of the album’s material, wouldn’t the widespread digital release flout Wu-Tang’s famed restrictions? How is it possible?
One possibility is that Pleasr, which bought the album from federal prosecutors after Shkreli forfeited it as part of his 2017 securities fraud convictions, was never subject to those same crazy restrictions in the first place. Another explanation could be that the people who imposed those rules — Wu-Tang rapper RZA and producer Cilvaringz — consented to the project. In social media posts, Pleasr said it had been “working with the original artists and producer” on the sale, suggesting Wu-Tang gave a green light to the project.
Reps for the Wu-Tang Clan did not return requests for comment on their involvement in the project. A press release from Pleasr on Thursday included a quote from RZA and Cilvaringz, but it was excerpted from a statement the duo had released a decade ago.
When asked directly if Shaolin’s stipulations were still in effect, or if the sale complied with those requirements, Pleasr representative Camilla McFarland declined to go deep into the details: “We can’t necessarily discuss the specifics of those agreements and where that all stands, but we can assure you that all of our activities and releases are fully compliant with the consent and blessing of artists and right holders involved,” she said.
Wu-Tang’s legendary album was recorded in secret and published just once, on a CD secured in an engraved nickel and silver box. Though the group intended the bizarre trappings as a protest against the commodification of music, Shaolin later became the ultimate commodity. In 2015, Shkreli — already infamous as the man who intentionally spiked the price of crucial AIDS medications — bought it at auction for $2 million.
After Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud in 2017, he forfeited the album to federal prosecutors to help pay his multi-million dollar restitution sentence. Pleasr then bought the album from the government in 2021 for $4 million, and in 2024 acquired the copyrights and other rights to the album for another $750,000.
When it was initially sold, Shaolin came with much-discussed stipulations — namely, that the one-of-a-kind album could not be released to the general public until 2103. Though the deal did permit for-profit listening events at museums and other small venues, it strictly forbade duplicating or otherwise exploiting Shaolin “for any commercial or other non-commercial purposes by any means today known or that come to be known during said time period.”
While Shkreli was certainly bound by those terms, it’s less clear if Pleasr was subjected to them when it purchased the album from prosecutors. The original 2015 deal contained a specific provision that, in the event the album was re-sold, the same kooky restrictions must be passed along to the new buyer. But it’s unclear if that requirement survived the album being forfeited as part of a criminal case.
Until Thursday’s digital sale, Pleasr’s use of the album had seemingly stayed within the bounds of the Wu-Tang’s restrictions, with only a series of small in-person events. Last month, the group announced an exhibit at an Australian museum, where fans would be able to “experience” certain songs. And this past weekend, it held a private listening event at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York City.
But the new sale would appear to clearly exceed those original rules. Copying the original CD into a digital format and then selling copies across the internet would hardly seem to fit the contract’s original approved venues: “Buyer’s home, museums, art galleries, restaurants, bars, exhibition spaces, or other similar spaces not customarily used as venues for large musical concerts.”
One obvious way for Pleasr to avoid the restrictions would be for the selling party that reached the deal with Shkreli to simply waive their rights to enforce the contract. In a copy of the original agreement attached to the recent lawsuit, the deal was signed by RZA (Robert Diggs) as the founder/chief executive of Wu-Tang Productions, Inc., and by Cilvaringz (Tarik Azzougarh).
When asked if such consent had been granted, Pleasr’s McFarland said: “At the end of the day, I’ll let [RZA] comment on any of that. But of course, we’ve been working with them in order to be able to bring this to life.”
Despite rumors of beef between Young Thug and Gunna, Thug’s father, Jeffery Williams Sr., continues to publicly support Gunna while his son is embroiled in a RICO trial.
During Gunna’s Bittersweet Tour stop at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on Tuesday (June 11), Thug’s dad could be seen in the VIP pit in front of the stage enjoying the Atlanta rapper’s performance of his and Thugger’s song “Ski” from the YSL compilation album Slime Language 2.
With a big smile on his face, Thug Sr. raps along with the song’s chorus while doing the #SkiChallenge as the crowd around him goes crazy.
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Back in December 2022, Gunna agreed to a so-called Alford plea, which allows a defendant in a trial to enter a formal admission of guilt while still maintaining their innocence. He was released from jail with time served and probation conditions that include 500 hours of community service.
“While I have agreed to always be truthful, I want to make it perfectly clear that I have NOT made any statements, have NOT been interviewed, have NOT cooperated, have NOT agreed to testify or be a witness for or against any party in the case and have absolutely NO intention of being involved in the trial process in any way,” the rapper said in a statement the day of his release in 2022.
Thug’s father has confirmed on multiple occasions that he still supports Gunna. Last December, during an interview with Infamous Sylvia, Williams Sr. adamantly defended the rapper, saying, “I love Gunna… Let me try to help the attorney clarify that a little simpler. Gunna hasn’t done anything whatsoever that can hurt us on this case, period.”
When asked about Lil Baby telling a DJ to stop playing his “Drip Too Hard” collab with Gunna during a concert and saying, “F—k the rats, turn this s—t off,” he reiterated his position on the matter. “He need to shut the f—k up ’cause he don’t know what’s going on,” he told Infamous Sylvia in another interview. “Ask Lil Baby has he ever came to a court date?”
Recently, one of Thug’s lawyers in the ongoing RICO trial was held in contempt and sentenced to 20 days in jail. However, the Georgia Supreme Court granted an emergency motion, pausing the jail sentence until they review the controversial decision. Prior to that, a witness called by the prosecution went viral for referring to Young Thug’s song “Lifestyle” as a “banger.”
Watch the clip of Young Thug’s father dancing at Gunna’s Atlanta show below:
In the sixth episode of Billboard Unfiltered, Billboard staffers Damien Scott, Trevor Anderson and Kyle Denis dive into whether or not Kendrick Lamar will perform “Not Like Us” live at his one-day event, The Pop Out — Ken and Friends, on Juneteenth. They also talk about Rihanna’s continuous tease of R9, whether she’ll ever release it and why it’s taken so long. They break down Summer Jam’s cultural significance, how younger and older artists need to perform at music festivals and more!
Kyle Dennis:We got to keep the older guys on these stages because by and large, for the male side at least, they’re still better performers.
Damien Scott:I’m excited to see him, but I’m more excited to see him perform “Not Like Us,” and then see, like, a bunch of West Coast artists just go crazy.
Trevor Anderson:She said she’s coming back with R9. Are we foolish enough to hope that it’s coming anytime soon? Welcome back to a new episode of Billboard Unfiltered. Of course, I’m Trevor Anderson. Got a new face over here. Want to introduce Kyle Denis to y’all.
Damien Scott:Young shooter out here.
Trevor Anderson:He is one of the great wonder kids of his generation.
Trevor Anderson:Of course we got the goat, Damien Scott, here as well.
Damien Scott: D–n. Wonder kid. That’s a lot. Wow.
Trevor Anderson:Yo, yo, yo, Kyle’s got a name here. I’m telling you. He’s, you know, he’s got following. We know he’s got plenty of opinions, thoughts.
Kyle Denis:The price going up a little bit.
Trevor Anderson: I’m telling you, I’m telling you. So obviously a big week for us. Let’s dive right into it. Firstly, want to talk about something that happened a couple of days ago. Method Man out here talking after the Summer Jam performance, had a little bit to say on Instagram after that, saying that it wasn’t really his crowd at all.
Keep watching to learn more!
Tyla joined popular streamer Kai Cenat for a livestream in March surrounding the release of her eponymous debut album, and when Cenat asked to go on a date with the South African singer, she curved him.
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“We friends, though,” she replied when attempting to let him down easy. However, the friend-zoning took on a life of us its own in the last few months and has continued to pop up around Kai.
Kevin Hart even made a “we friends tho” sign for Kai Cenat when he showed up at his house for their sleepover stream with Druski earlier this week.
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Tyla made her debut on The Breakfast Club on Thursday (June 13), where Charlamagne Tha God asked her about the viral curving of the streamer.
“Guys, the thing stretched,” she said, which drew a laugh from CTG. “Don’t put me on the spot, guys. I’ll embarrass [myself].”
Envy hopped in to see if Tyla and Kai joke about the viral exchange, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
“We don’t really talk about it,” she replied with a chuckle. “We met in New York for the first time around New Year’s. Then I went on the stream, and it actually was really fun.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Charlamagne asked her about the debates regarding Tyla being a “colored person” from South Africa. She refused to answer, looking for help from her team, and her publicist stepped in to have them move on to another question.
Tyla exploded onto the music scene last year with her “Water” single. The amapiano track won best African music performance at the 2024 Grammys, and reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Once it was booming on TikTok, I was in shock. I was in a different country for something else,” she told the radio show of seeing “Water” blow up.
Watch Tyla’s Breakfast Club interview below. Talk of the Kai Cenat interaction starts just shy of the 16-minute mark.
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