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Ja Rule and his mother, Debra Atkins, have long shared a special bond. Raised by a single parent, it’s always been a “me and mom against the world” type of mantra, as the artist puts it.
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The Murder Inc. rapper often makes it a point to give back to the community, especially when it comes to his hometown of New York City, and spreading joy for the women in his life. Ahead of Mother’s Day, Ja Rule partnered with the REFORM Alliance and The Ladies of Hope Ministries to host a special Mother’s Day luncheon at NYC hotspot Sei Less on Tuesday afternoon (May 7).
Forty mothers along with their children — who all shared a common bond of being adversely impacted by the criminal justice system — were treated to an afternoon at the Midtown Asian fusion restaurant.
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“For something like this for mothers who have been through incarceration, I can relate to that and it’s close to my heart, so to be a part of this is special to me,” the Pain is Love rhymer tells Billboard of bonding with the moms in attendance. “It’s a very hard thing for a mom to be incarcerated and have children and to be able to navigate that. It’s very difficult, so I empathize with them in a lot of ways.”
Ja Rule & Sei Less Mother’s Day Luncheon
Courtesy of Sei Less
Ja Rule exchanged heartfelt stories with the mothers as they opened up about their experiences and the struggles of parenting while being entangled in the criminal justice system.
Though he has since earnedplatinum plaques, record deals and hit records, the 48-year-old still thinks back to the emotional moment that he “became a man.” Growing up, Ja and his mother were facing another eviction, and he knew it was time for him to step up.
“One moment that strikes me all the time is the day I grew up as a man. When we were going through an eviction at one of our apartments, this particular time it kind of broke my mom the way I never seen before, and she was crying,” the rapper shares with Billboard. “In that moment, I feel like I became a man because I understood the assignment, as they say.”
“I couldn’t cry in that moment with her, and I had to be stronger for her even though I was feeling her emotion,” he continues. “That meant everything for her too – her son, her baby, her only son was able to tell her, ‘Mom, it’s going to be alright. Even though I got to pull us through, we going to be alright.’”
Ja Rule & Sei Less Mother’s Day Luncheon
Courtesy of Sei Less
While new friendships formed throughout the three-hour feast, the luncheon attendees enjoyed Sei Less delicacies such as filet mignon, chicken satay, rock shrimp tempura, chicken wontons and other popular dishes.
“We are incredibly honored to have partnered with Ja Rule on such a special day for these mothers filled with unforgettable memories,” Sei Less co-owner Ivi Shano tells Billboard of his venue playing host. “This event is not just about a meal or a gift — it’s about creating a lasting impact, spreading love to our community and making a real difference in the lives of these mothers.”
One of the wildest weeks in hip-hop history is set to make a huge impact on next week’s Billboard charts (dated May 18) as several diss tracks from the ongoing Drake – Kendrick Lamar beef look prime to dot the Billboard Hot 100 and other charts.
The rappers’ feud dates back at least a decade, but the latest campaign ramped up in March with “Like That,” Lamar’s collaboration with Future and Metro Boomin, in which the Pulitzer Prize-winner’s verse contained alleged disses at Drake and J. Cole. Since then, Lamar, Drake, J. Cole and a heavyweight supporting roster – including The Weeknd, Rick Ross, Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), A$AP Rocky – have all been involved, either as targets or lobbing disses of their own.
While Cole bowed out and apologized after he released his “7 Minute Drill” rebuttal on April 5, Drake and Lamar have each released multiple tracks in just a few weeks, with personal attacks and serious allegations, including threats of violence and pedophilia within artists camps.
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Given the whirlwind of releases — some of which have been widely released on streaming services, others that were only available on social media and at least one that has been willingly removed from platforms — here’s a guide to how each track could factor onto the Hot 100.
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The Ones That Have Already Charted
“Like That” / “7 Minute Drill” / “Push Ups” / “Euphoria”
Four tracks have already appeared on the Hot 100, which includes streaming, radio airplay and sales data for its calculations. In chronological order, they are “Like That” (No. 1 for three weeks, beginning on the chart dated April 6), J. Cole’s “7 Minute Drill” (No. 7, April 20), Drake’s “Push Ups” (No. 17, May 11) and Lamar’s “Euphoria” (No. 11, May 11).
As J. Cole had “7 Minute Drill” pulled from streaming services and digital retailers one week after its release, the song has since fallen off the chart. Unless “7 Minute Drill” is once again made available to consumers, the only avenue for a Hot 100 return would be through radio airplay. But don’t expect it – “7 Minute Drill” has declined in radio play for the last two weeks, according to Luminate, before it was even able to make any Billboard radio chart.
In addition to continued availability on streaming services and digital retailers, “Like That,” “Push Ups” and “Euphoria” all sport an active radio presence. The foremost ranks at No. 4 on the latest R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart (dated May 11), the middle track rises 29-28 and while the lattermost does not appear on the chart, its 149,000 audience total, according to Luminate – in just three days of a seven-day, Friday-Thursday tracking week due to its Tuesday drop date – ranks just outside the 50-position cutoff, at 192,000 in audience for the week.
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The Ones That Could Chart Next
“Family Matters” / “Meet the Grahams” / “Not Like Us” / “The Heart Part 6”
The heaviest barrage is likely to come on next week’s Hot 100 (dated May 18), with five songs released between Drake and Lamar since May 2, the start of the current Hot 100 tracking week.
Of the five, three – Drake’s “Family Matters” and Lamar’s “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us” – are widely available across streaming serves and digital retailers, setting them up for the chance at huge consumption figures that would translate into strong Hot 100 arrivals. All three, though, will have shortened periods in the Friday-Thursday tracking window after they were released mid-week: “Family Matters” and “Meet the Grahams” both arrived on Saturday, May 3, while “Not Like Us” premiered on Sunday, May 4.
Despite the handicap, however, they seem to be making up ground — quickly. Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” for example, was the No. 1 streamed song in the U.S. on Spotify on Monday, May 6, (6.59 million clicks) and Tuesday, May 7, (6.81 million), clearing each day’s second-place title — his own “Euphoria” on Monday and Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” on Tuesday — by more than 2 million plays.
Returning to the two remaining tracks released during the current tracking week, one — Drake’s “The Heart Part 6,” released on Sunday, May 4 — notably remains available only through YouTube.
As for the final track …
The Outliers
“6:16 in LA” / “Taylor Made Freestyle” / “Buried Alive Interlude, Pt. 2”
Lamar’s “6:16 in LA,” which arrived on Saturday, May 3, was released solely through the Compton rapper’s Instagram page. As it was not made available on streaming services or digital retailers that contribute to Billboard’s charts (and has received no registered radio play), it has no chance of appearing on the Hot 100 without an official release.
But all’s fair. Two more Drake tracks released in the beef — the “Taylor Made Freestyle” and “Buried Alive Interlude, Pt. 2” — were likewise social media exclusives, and, by the same token, would need an official release to streamers and digital stores or substantial radio activity for a Hot 100 debut. The former, notably, is unlikely to gain any traction after its use of artificial intelligence vocals imitating Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg prompted Shakur’s estate to threaten a lawsuit, and the song was removed the next day. The latter, meanwhile, appeared on an Instagram story and looks to only have been a teaser for “Family Matters.”
The top 10 of the Hot 100 dated May 18 is scheduled to be announced on Billboard’s website on Monday, May 13, with the full chart revealed on Tuesday, May 14.
From the looks of it, the dust has settled in the lyrical war between Drake and Kendrick Lamar after the general consensus is that the Compton MC emerged victorious after a furious diss track back-and-forth. But the collateral damage from one of the fiercest bar beatdowns in recent history continues to spill out. On Tuesday, […]
Country singer HARDY links up with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg for his short film “Gin & Juice” and to promote his new song “Gin & Juice (Another Shot From Dr. Dre).” The short film features appearances from Snoop, Dre and actress Nicola Peltz Beckham and is made in collaboration with Gin & Juice By Dre & Snoop — the legendary rap duo’s first ready-to-drink product from their new premium spirits company.
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In a press release, HARDY, the pride of Philadelphia, Mississippi had this to say: “The entire ‘Gin & Juice’ process has been a dream for me. I recorded the song and in a few short weeks I was on set with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. It didn’t feel real until I showed up and I saw the names on the trailers. I spent two days with them and I can honestly say they are two of the coolest, most genuine people and they made me feel right at home. I am so thankful for the experience and I’m looking forward to hanging with those guys again.”
HARDY is setting up to go on his Quit!! Tour. Back in March, his song “Truck Bed” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. It was his first as a solo artist and 12th as a songwriter. HARDY’s had two other number ones on the chart as a performer: “Beers on Me,” with Dierks Bentley and Breland, which dominated for one week in April 2022 and “One Beer” (featuring Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson) which hit the top in December of 2020.
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Check the short film above, listen to the new track here, and check out HARDY’s tour dates below.
HARDY LIVEMay 25—Patriotic Festival—Norfolk, VAMay 30—Walmart AMP—Rogers, ARMay 31—Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre—St. Louis, MOJune 1—Ruoff Music Center—Noblesville, INJune 6—Budweiser Stage—Toronto, ONJune 7—Broadview Stage at SPAC—Saratoga Springs, NYJune 8—Dairen Lake Amphitheater—Buffalo, NYJune 9—CMA Fest – Nissan Stadium—Nashville, TNJune 14—PNC Music Pavilion—Charlotte, NCJune 15—Coastal Credit Union Music Park—Raleigh, NCJune 20—PNC Bank Arts Center—Holmdel, NJJune 21—Xfinity Center—Mansfield, MAJune 22—BankNH Pavilion—Gilford, NHJune 27—Freedom Mortgage Pavilion—Camden, NJJune 28—Jiffy Lube Live—Bristow, VAJune 29—Country Thunder Bristol—Bristol, TNJuly 13—Country Concert—Fort Loramie, OHJuly 18—Country Jam—Eau Claire, WIJuly 19—Rock The South—Cullman, ALJuly 21—Faster Horses—Brooklyn, MIJuly 25—Riverbend Music Center—Cincinnati, OHJuly 26—Veterans Park – Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival—Milwaukee, WIJuly 27—Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre—Tinley Park, ILAugust 4—Watershed Festival—George, WAAugust 17—Country Thunder Alberta—Calgary, ABAugust 22—Bash on the Bay—Put-in-Bay, OHSeptember 12—Dudy Noble Field—Starkville, MSOctober 20—Morrison, CO—Red RocksOctober 21—Morrison, CO—Red Rocks
After a hellacious heavyweight feud between two of rap’s top superstars, Kendrick Lamar and Drake, the court of public opinion seems poised to announce the Compton MC as the victor. For now, Kendrick can rejoice and hold his head high after issuing the knockout blow of the battle on Saturday (May 4) with “Not Like Us,” topping streaming charts on Spotify and Apple and already making its way into the heart of pop culture. Meanwhile, his adversary Drake is left to ponder his next move, after seemingly dismissing the lyrical combat in what was likely his last song of the battle, Sunday’s “The Heart Pt. 6.”
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Though Drake can proudly hoist his laundry list of accolades, spanning from his 13 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 to his all-time record number of Hot 100 entries, there’s no denying that this loss against hip-hop’s cerebral assassin will certainly muddy his standing in the rap world. Though he fought tooth-and-nail with Lamar throughout the weeks-long back-and-forth, you don’t get brownie points for coming in second place in hip-hop. Despite his glossy Hall of Fame resume, the question remains: Can Drake reclaim his glory and recover? Or did Kendrick deliver his fatality?
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From a mainstream standpoint, Drake’s legacy won’t be affected. For 15 years, he has shattered records by putting up video game numbers. He’s second to Jay-Z regarding rappers with the most Billboard 200 No. 1 albums, while being fourth overall (also behind Taylor Swift and The Beatles). Even after his 2023 For All the Dogs left fans and critics mostly underwhelmed, he still topped the Billboard 200 during the set’s opening week with 402,000 equivalent album units moved, while also notching two Hot 100 chart-toppers with the SZA-assisted “Slime You Out” and “First Person Shooter” with J. Cole.
Drake’s ability to weave in and out of the pop world whenever he chooses has enabled him to have a fanbase outside of rap. But while this beef has crossed over into pop culture, the reality is the feud was strictly for hip-hop culture and not really anyone else. The people who adored Drake for making “Hotline Bling” or “One Dance” won’t care too much about his loss to Kendrick as opposed to The Culture and will continue to champion him.
When Drake sparred against Pusha T in 2018, he was in the midst of the best commercial run of his career. He had released back to back smashes in “God’s Plan” and “Nice for What,” ultimately topping the Hot 100 for a combined 19 weeks between them. But then, Pusha temporarily toppled Drake with “The Story of Adidon,” leaving the 6 God stunned and under duress. Though Drake didn’t respond to the scathing diss track, he pushed forward with his fifth studio album, Scorpion, and ultimately won the summer with his meme-ready, dance-challenge-inspiring single “In My Feelings,” which became his third No. 1 hit during that run. While The Culture buried Drake after his disappointing loss, the pop world never abandoned him.
In 2018, Drake survived Pusha’s avalanche onslaught by shifting attention away from the beef and towards the thing he still does best: making anthems. Though hip-hop listeners have long memories, mainstream America can be a little more prone to amnesia – and ultimately, who doesn’t love a comeback story?
In addition, now that the battle is nearing its end, by taking a well-deserved break, Drake will allow not only hip-hop but, ultimately, fans to miss what he brought to the table essentially nonstop over the last 15 years. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and the genre needs to see what life looks like without Drake for the next year or two, as he reimagines what he wants the next phase of his career to look like. The juggling act between attempting to be both the ultimate pop star and hip-hop’s most revered MC is a tall order for anyone to handle, including Drake. While his resume on the former half is unquestionable, he’s never fully accomplished the rap half of it – there have always been peers, including Kendrick, that demand more innate respect from the streets than Drake.
As he weighs his future, Drake may have to decide which route he wants to go when finishing his story. After receiving harsh criticism for For All the Dogs, he dashed into the studio because The Culture demanded more rap songs. That birthed the project’s Scary Hours Edition, featuring some of his best rapping to date. Though hip-hop purists applauded his efforts, not everyone clapped for him, as they awaited his demise and later rebuked him after Kendrick’s demolition derby.
Drake also needs to decide if chasing love and admiration in hip-hop, a genre where some of the biggest stars collided with him during his “20 V 1” showdown, is worth the pursuit. If so, he should focus his efforts on proving himself with a hard-nosed rap album, considering that’s the one thing he hasn’t really done since If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. If he’s indifferent to that idea, then he could fully embrace the pop star image and whip up radio anthems that would continue to chart and dominate. But he should pick one of the two lanes, because trying to operate in both is virtually impossible for him at this juncture of his career. And either way, the goal for Drake should remain the same: to put out the best music of his life, the kind that instantly changes the conversation and leaves the biggest L of his career another distant memory.
We just witnessed an unprecedented weekend in rap music, with five diss songs and a snippet keeping us away from our friends, our families, and (most importantly) our playoff games.
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Drake started things off on Friday night by dropping “Family Matters,” a 7:36-long collection of mini-songs accompanied by a video allegedly featuring the good kid, m.A.A.d city van being crushed — with Drake and his crew also apparently flashing both Pharrell’s (supposedly melted-down) jewelry and a new G-Unit spinner chain in the clip, because the Rap Game Sinister Six had him out here talkin’ like he’s 50. He also posted a snippet dissing Kenny and Rocky over the “Buried Alive Interlude” beat on his Instagram. Then, about a half hour later, Kendrick Lamar took things straight to hell (over creepy Alchemist production) on “Meet the Grahams.”
The next night, while we all tried to watch Anthony Edwards do his thing against the Nuggets with “Meet the Grahams” still marinating in our brains, the Compton rapper followed that diabolical entry in the feud with the DJ Mustard-assisted West Coast party anthem “Not Like Us.” We thought it may have been over after that, ‘cause Drizzy took a beat — but he got right back in the booth and responded with “The Heart Part 6” on Sunday night. As a rap fan I was excited, but as a rap journalist I was fighting the air like Tre in Boyz n the Hood. We’ve never experienced anything like this before.
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While we’ve seen artists go back and forth on wax throughout the years — there were the Roxanne Wars between Roxanne Shanté and U.T.F.O., MC Shan vs. KRS-One, Ice Cube vs N.W.A., Jay-Z vs. Nas, and Ja Rule vs. 50 Cent, to name just a handful of the most notable examples — they all mostly adhered to traditional album and single release schedules. What’s really made this battle different from previous ones is the speed at which two of the genre’s biggest and most important stars have responded to each other.
When this thing started, fans were getting antsy because Kendrick took over two weeks to respond to Drake’s “Push Ups.” Drake himself even got tired of waiting, following “Push Ups” with “Taylor Made Freestyle” a week later — to troll Lamar and try to peer-pressure him into finishing what he started with the verse heard ’round the world on “Like That.” This is something Drake himself has been through before: When Meek sent a tweet in 2015 about Drake allegedly using ghostwriters, the Canadian rapper responded with “Charged Up” on his Beats 1 OVO SOUND radio show about a week later. And when Meek didn’t respond to that, he dropped “Back to Back” on his head just a few days after and that was that. The Philly MC never fully recovered from that feud. An overlooked part of the Meek feud is that it set the social-media-era standard for how long rappers now have to respond to a diss record. Kendrick beat Drake at his own game.
Since Lamar released “Euphoria” about a week ago, he’s put out three records — including an immediately certified bop in “Not Like Us” — with speculation that there’s still more left in the chamber. Kendrick essentially told Drake and the rest of the rap world, “Don’t let me do it to you, dunny, because I’ll over do it.”
At first, there was a lot of talk about time limits and rappers being on the clock as the hip-hop community waited with bated breath for Kendrick to respond. Older fans, such as myself, wanted him to take his time. We were used to watching these things play out over months, if not years. But that’s the thing about the old days — they the old days. These are different times. I admit, even I wondered what was taking Kenny so long as the days went by before “euphoria” dropped out of thin air. Those weeks felt like an eternity. By contrast, Rick Ross wasted no time responding to the jabs directed at him in “Push Ups”: The Miami boss released “Champagne Moments” a couple of hours after the song “leaked” online. Nowadays, if you get dissed in a song, you better find a booth, open a laptop, and get to rapping ASAP. The mob will expect nothing less.
Speaking of the mob: Social media now plays a massive role in how these battles play out. With each release, Rap Twitter (and Instagram) was sent into a frenzy the likes of which we haven’t seen since the pre-COVID days. There have been many memorable moments on those godforsaken apps, but this past week was special. Jokes and analysis have been flying all over social media. Uma Thurman offered up her Kill Bill suit to Drake. Rick Ross was updating us between every diss, with an X user comparing him to a YouTube commercial. Diss records were being played during professional sporting events. The NBA on TNT crew played some during NBA Playoff broadcasts. “Not Like Us” was played as walk-up music at a Dodgers game. And Stephen A. Smith signed off First Take on Monday morning by telling them both to stop because it’s getting too personal.
No other genre has this power.
The more you listen to “The Heart Part 6,” the more Drake sounds defeated. He mentions his war jacket, rapping, “I am a war general, seasoned in preparation/ My jacket is covered in medals, honor and decoration” and ends the track with a rant saying Lamar would be a more worthy adversary if this whole thing were about facts, which in truth, rap beef has never really been about. If “Not Like Us” was “Ether” 2.0, then “The Heart Part 6” is essentially “Blueprint 3.” By the time the latter came around, Jay had already lost the battle to Nas — but they were still fighting the war, as the two continued to sub each other on various songs until they squashed the beef on stage in 2005 during Jay’s “I Declare War” tour.
It’s still too early for this beef to get squashed, and maybe it never totally will. This one got personal and very weird in the blink of an eye, the wounds are still fresh, the accusations still have a stench in the air. However, Drake vs. Kendrick will be remembered as the defining rap battle of the streaming era, and the most important one since Jay-Z and Nas went to war to kick off the new millennium.
Macklemore hasn’t been one to mince words in the past when speaking up for a cause he believes in. Now, the Seattle native is throwing his support behind Gaza and college student protests across America on the politically charged song “Hind’s Hall.”
The “Thrift Shop” rapper uploaded the fiery track to social media on Monday evening (May 6), and promised once the song makes it onto streaming services, all proceeds will go toward the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which offers assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees.
“Hind’s Hall” is the new name student protestors have given to the Columbia University residence Hamilton Hall, in tribute to six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed in Gaza.
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The jarring visual accompanying the track shows footage of police getting violent with students protesting at college campuses, as well as deadly explosions taking place in Gaza City.
Macklemore kicks off with a salute to N.W.A and the group’s explicit 1988 anti-police anthem. “When I was seven, I learned a lesson from Cube and Eazy-E/ What was it again? Oh yeah, f–k the police,” he raps.
The Billboard Hot 100-topping artist goes on to call out President Joe Biden and America’s diplomatic support for Israel while revealing he won’t be voting for the incumbent again this fall.
“Where does genocide land in your definition, huh/ Destroyin’ every college in Gaza and every mosque/ Pushin’ everyone into Rafah and droppin’ bombs/ The blood is on your hands, Biden, we can see it all/ And f–k no, I’m not votin’ for you in the fall,” Macklemore declares.
The 40-year-old rapper also challenges those equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, pointing out that he sees Jewish people standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people as well. “We see the lies in ’em/ Claimin’ it’s antisemitic to be anti-Zionist/ I’ve seen Jewish brothers and sisters out there and ridin’ in/ Solidarity and screamin’ Free Palestine with them,” he raps.
With the hip-hop world distracted by the Drake and Kendrick Lamar feud, Macklemore wants to shift the focus to ceasefire talks rather than hearing what the 6 God has to say next. “What happened to the artist? What d’you got to say/ If I was on a label, you could drop me today/ I’d be fine with it ’cause the heart fed my page/ I want a ceasefire, f–k a response from Drake/ What you willin’ to risk? What you willin’ to give,” he asks.
More than 2,000 students have been arrested across the country in pro-Palestinian protests, according to The Guardian. More than 100 of those were booked by New York police officers during protests at Columbia University last week.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, many of whom remain in Gaza, according to The Associated Press. Israel and Hamas have been entrenched in a deadly war since that has decimated Gaza; more than 34,500 Palestinians have been killed, per the AP, and more than 1,700 people in Israel have been killed, per ABC News. Ceasefire talks involving the release of hostages remain ongoing.
Earlier in 2024, Israel accused 12 UNRWA employees of being part of Hamas and helping coordinate the attacks against them; the organization immediately terminated or suspended the accused individuals, but lost much of its international funding as a result of the claims. Since then, an independent study concluded that no evidence was found connecting the UNRWA to the Oct. 7 attacks, according to NPR. Many nations have resumed funding to UNRWA since then.
Watch Macklemore’s “Hind’s Hall” visual below.
With credits dating back to 2012 that include collaborations with Saba, Smino and Isaiah Rashad, alluring Chicago R&B singer-songwriter Jean Deaux is no new kid on the block.
A multidimensional artist whose work traverses different mediums and scoffs at genre lines, Deaux is a shining light in the Black queer art space. Last month (April 12), she released her sixth overall project, Nowhere, Fast, which also serves as her first release since parting ways with Empire Records.
“It was time for something new,” Deaux says. “We were able to come to the agreement [that] if I wanted to leave, they’d let me go… I felt like I would step away from music for a little bit after I left Empire, but I started to fall in love with the music I was making and that’s really how the EP came together.”
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That transition period – while she was also recovering from a vocal injury and experiencing the general trials and tribulations of going through the back half of your 20s – birthed Nowhere, Fast: an ethereal collection of odes to the turbulent road to maturity. Her voice weaves around soulful synths and forlorn guitars, cradling nuggets of poetry like, “Time is of the essence/ And like a science/ Just in your presence/ I feel it flying.”
There’s an energy of newness around Jean Deaux right now – new label situation, new project, new tour. But she’s also taking this moment to reclaim and stand in her truth, particularly as it relates to the questionable similarities between the album cover and title of her 2023 Heavy EP and this year’s LP of the same name, from Grammy-nominated R&B star SiR.
On April 18, Deaux took to X (formerly Twitter) to comment on the similarities between the two projects. Both Deaux and SiR’s Heavys feature album artwork that finds each artist shirtless, doused in red light and staring away from the camera. In her initial post, Deaux alleged that SiR reached out to her after people started commenting on the similarities between the projects when he debuted his Heavy artwork on March 4. According to her, he apologized profusely in private and pledged to make it right, yet refused to publicly atone for the situation.
Speaking to Billboard, Deaux reiterates everything in her original post, reading excerpts from text messages and DMs between the two. (Billboard was able to review the messages Deaux refers to.)
“With the capacity he reached out [in] and how emphatic he was, it felt so sincere [that] he wanted to, in his words, ‘Make it right,’” she says. “So, if I’m telling you what I expected, and you telling me that you want to go on tour [together], you want to start a relationship, and then you make this post and we never talk about anything again? Ever?”
Deaux says she started conceptualizing her Heavy EP in 2021, with her uncle shooting the album cover at the beginning of 2022. “The red lighting was from a reference we used,” she explains. “I was leaning into this villain type of role, and that’s what I wanted the music to feel like.” Her project hit DSPs on April 14, 2023 – almost a full calendar year before SiR debuted the artwork for his Heavy LP, with red-lit photoshoots appearing on his official Instagram feed the month prior.
Deaux remembers first hearing about the similarities through a text that “somebody who works on [her] team sent” after SiR announced his album. “When I seen it, I honestly didn’t realize what was going on right away,” she says. “When I finally put two and two together, I thought it was strange, but I didn’t know what to think.”
The ascendant crooner claims that she never confronted SiR. In fact, as she tells it, the Inglewood-bred artist hit her DMs first. “He didn’t DM me [until] a couple days after he announced his cover and said that he heard [my] project, he loved it, and he didn’t know how this happened and he felt like we were pulling from the same creative pool,” she recounts. “He mentioned that he dropped an EP the same week as somebody else [in the past], and it was similar.” Deaux also says that SiR also floated ideas like having Deaux join him on tour, or starting a working relationship with her. Ultimately, after Deaux says she asked that he publicly acknowledge her Heavy and say the things he expressed in her DMs, SiR opted for a simple Instagram Story with the caption: “Jean Deaux has a ‘Heavy’ too.”
Some weeks later, in an interview with Billboard about his Heavy LP (March 25), SiR name-checked Deaux saying, “There’s another album that I just learned about recently, Heavy by Jean Deaux, and didn’t know it existed… There’s a pool of creativity that we all pull from and sometimes we pull the same ideas […]” A screenshot of his answer recirculated on X following another quasi-viral post drawing connections between the two projects, prompting Deaux to respond. (Representatives for SiR did not provide comment when asked by Billboard about Deaux’s recounting of events.)
“I tweeted that to set the record straight,” she explains. “I felt like if you’re gonna make another statement in an interview and still not make it half of what you said privately then why speak on that at all?”
In an enlightening conversation with Billboard, Jean Deaux breaks down her new Nowhere, Fast EP, her upcoming tour, plans for new music and her side of the story as it relates to SiR and their Heavy projects.
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Talk to me about Nowhere, Fast. What was your vision for the project and what went into conceptualizing that sonic and visual world?
I started making [Nowhere, Fast] when I was ending my business partnership with Empire. It was a lot of uncertainty in my life. I have management that I ended things with as well. I felt like I [didn’t] know where [I was] gonna go from here. I don’t really know what the next chapter is, and I feel like that resonated into everything else in my life, relationships, friendships, business relationships, all kinds of relationships.
I learned a lot about myself [by] isolating myself a lot, and I think that’s really where Nowhere, Fast came from. Then, I ended up putting it out with a new label, so it worked out in the end. I’m glad that I took that time to really be real and be honest about where I was in my life.
What were you listening to or watching while creating this project?
I listened to a lot of movie scores. I’ve been trying to watch more international films — most recently I just seen Monkey Man, it’s so good. I found myself trying to watch things that comforted me, and it reminded me of things that I just used to enjoy when I was younger. I think that influenced the music too.
You can pick up that cinematic feel in the album artwork. What went into the creative direction for that shoot?
So [Brianna] Alysse is the photographer who shot the cover. She had reached out to me, maybe a year or so ago, about working [together]. I’m all about creating something cool, so when I started putting Nowhere, Fast together, I reached out to her and asked if she would be down to do the cover. She sent me a few references, her own interpretations of like what “nowhere fast” looked like. I think we had a similar vision of negative space, like motion, but also standing still at the same time.
She sent a photo of two people on a motorcycle [that] wasn’t moving, [which] gave me the idea for the cover — kind of changing the position and what was happening on the actual cover It worked out well and I think the extra graphics we added gave people what I was hoping for. I always try to be a little cinematic.
Why did you choose to go with “Roll With Me” and “Dreamin” to introduce the project?
“Roll With Me” is just a bop! I could not deny that song as soon as I made it. “Dreaming” sounds like one of the first songs I ever made when I was really getting into my bag, like what my sound was almost 10 years ago, maybe even more so. It felt like returning to something, and it just reminded me of my childhood and how much I’ve accomplished that I’ve cared about [since] I was a kid. “Dreaming” made me feel good in that way, and I feel like people would probably relate to that.
How did the Destin Conrad collaboration come together? I can’t get enough of “Thinkin!”
I love “Thinkin” also! That song was really me and Lido and this was the time [when] I really tried to stop smoking. Lido gave me some herbs or something to smoke, and I must have been feeling it a little bit. The essence of the song was so lush. I forget what we was listening to before we even made that, but I’m sure I got the footage somewhere cause I be recording everything. I remember recording us dancing to it because I was like, “Oh man, this is about to be one of them ones.”
I realized that I don’t do features like that. I probably have one feature, maybe two every project. But I was like, I gotta get somebody on a song and [I knew] Destin would be perfect for that song. He recorded it at home and added the harmonies, came to the studio in LA and added some more harmonies, it was beautiful. I’m grateful for Destin and [he] is one of my best friends.
What cities are you most excited to visit on tour?
I haven’t been on tour in like a year or two now, I really had to take a break — just keeping my voice together, going through a vocal injury last year, and recovering from that. I’ve been really nervous about getting back out there, but one thing I do know and I have realized in my time is that I’m a really good performer. That’s one thing that I definitely hear people say after they see me live.
I’m ready to go home [to Chicago], I’m excited about that. I feel like these songs are gonna sound so good live and Chicago loves good music. I love all the stops I’m going to, I can’t even lie. I’m not even going to divvy it up. I love Atlanta. I love DC. I love New York. I love Chicago.
What was the vocal injury?
I did a show on 4/20 when I already had laryngitis and it triggered a lot of things. My throat was trying to defend lot of things that were happening [at the same time] and it was making my voice very sensitive to talk. My voice was just getting tired way faster. I had to go see a specialist and they told me I had to be on vocal rest for a long time and I’m still in recovery. It was scary because at one point I was like, What if I’m cooked? I still have faith, so I know it’s gonna be a process, but, I’m getting back in rehearsal, man. It’s time.
How do you view this new project in relation to the rest of your discography?
I’ve heard [Nowhere Fast] is similar to Empathy. I think people mean the R&B sound and music, which I definitely agree [with.] It’s similar to Empathy, but it’s the antithesis of Heavy to me. Heavy is really the music that I want to make, all that alternative music is kind of a niche sound. Heavy is for the creative people [who] bend the rules and shape-shift.
Who are your favorite alternative artists or your favorite music rule-breakers?
I love Teezo [Touchdown, sings his hook from Don Toliver’s “Luckily, I’m Having.”]
A lot of people compare me to Santigold, but I didn’t listen to a whole lot of Santigold coming up. I did like Lykke Li. Obviously, I love N.E.R.D.’s music.
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What did SiR say when he first contacted you regarding your respective Heavy projects?
He said: “Your Heavy is super dope and the comparisons are uncanny. I promise I’m not stalking you. Seems like we’re pulling from the same creative lake. I love what you do. I hope you’re having a great week.”
And I said: “Hey, thanks for reaching out. I was bummed to see that. I’m a big fan of yours. We’ve met before. It does affect me as an artist with a smaller reach than you, just to be transparent. I didn’t assume you ripped me off or was stalking me. I thought your team might have addressed it before it got to this point just [because] of how it may look. And I hate that something like this is what led to us actually connecting personally, but I’m glad you reached out.”
Where did the conversation go once it left the DMs?
I asked him if he [wanted] to hop on the phone, and that’s the conversation that I referenced on Twitter. I want to be clear that I didn’t necessarily want anything from the situation. I thought it was strange, and it’s fair for me to think that it’s strange. Objectively, looking at the situation, there is no situation where anybody else in my shoes would not think it was at least peculiar. I would assume in the time that it takes to put together a press kit and a rollout, somebody either made the choice to not care about it, or they just didn’t see it.
He told me that he was furious, couldn’t believe it, that his team missed it and he was really mad about the situation. He asked the photographer and they said they had never seen my cover [or] heard of me, he just didn’t know how it happened.
Me and SiR met some years ago [in 2016 when] he performed at the first Kribmas in St. Louis, and that’s what I reminded him on the phone: “I’ve spoken to you several times. I’ve definitely met you. I work with some people on your label, so my name has floated around in some ways.” I told him what’s most important to me is if you could just say literally the things that you said to me in the DM publicly. The easiest thing to do when it’s a Black woman that is a smaller artist is to not even acknowledge the situation and to brush it off. The nice thing to do would be to acknowledge the artist in the situation and to also give the praise publicly.
He said, “I appreciate you understanding and, when I hit you up, I felt like I had to do some damage control, so I appreciate you being understanding. I want to do this the right way and I’m going to talk to my team about how I can do this.” This is exactly how the conversation went.
I’m thinking that [we’re] kind of on the same page, but he posted me the day after that and it just said, “Jean Deaux has a ‘Heavy’ too.” It felt disingenuous and I still didn’t say anything publicly. I still posted his album when it released, with a few words to match. So when I seen the [Billboard] interview, it just felt like doubling down on being vague and saying the bare minimum. In the interview the question was not about me, he offered up that information. He could have made that a moment and said, “Even though I’ve never heard of this artist, she dropped [her] project a year before mine,” which he didn’t clarify in his statement. He said, “Her album looks just like mine.”
I felt I felt like those words were choice words. I felt like a person reading that would not have understood what actually happened, and that makes [me] feel more suspicious than I felt to begin with.
Can this situation be rectified in your eyes?
I don’t think that it’s anything that needs to be rectified. I just wanted to set the record straight and be transparent, which is what I’ve been doing from the get-go in the entire situation. If we never speak again, that’s totally fine with me. I don’t think that’s beef.
Have you started thinking about your next project yet?
I was thinking about the next project before I even finished Nowhere, Fast. I be working on two things at once all the time because when I’m making music for the EP, I need a break from making that type of music. Even though I drop once a year, I’ve always wanted to drop more than once a year. It’s so hard, though. It’s a goal of mine, but if I don’t accomplish it, I’m not gonna come down on myself. If I could drop another one this year, they should be very afraid!
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Megan Thee Stallion is looking to heat up ahead of her Hot Girl Summer Tour. After teasing “Megan May” last week, Thee Stallion returned with an edition of #MeganMonday on May 6, which finds her freestyling over Gucci Mane’s 2010 anthem “I Think I Love Her.”
“Show a new b—h that ain’t Megan coded/ Show a beat I was on and ain’t rode it/ If she think she the s–t, I’m the colon/ My pen gets gutter, I’m bowling,” she raps over the thumping Drumma Boy production.
Meg then takes aim at the male rappers in the industry and how she won’t be messing with them romantically any longer since they have loose lips.
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“Stop f–king rappers, they spill all the details/ Every Monday they gon’ wait for the freestyle/ Call me out once, you do not get a redial/ I got grown ass men actin’ fetal,” she spews.
Megan Thee Stallion debuted Megan May with a slimy photoshoot essentially showcasing her shedding old skin while heading into a new era of music.
“Hotties it’s officially MEGAN MAY Get ready,” she wrote alongside the photo.
Thee Stallion has promised an LP for 2024 but the anticipated album remains without a release date. She’s announced another serpinetine-themed single with “BOA” set to arrive on Friday (May 10).
With an album on the horizon, Megan is set to hit the road for her Hot Girl Summer World Tour.
Meg’s trek across North America will see support from GloRilla, and is slated to run through arenas starting on May 14 in Minneapolis at the Target Center. Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Thee Stallion’s hometown of Houston also are on the docket. Megan will then hit Europe starting on July 4 with dates in Scotland, England, France, Germany and Ireland.
The 29-year-old graced the cover of Women’s Health in April, where she compared her new album to being a “rebirth” of Megan Thee Stallion. “I was inspired to create this album about rebirth because I feel I am becoming a new person physically and mentally,” she said of the project.
It’s already been a big year for Megan as she soared to add another No. 1 hit to her résumé with “Hiss” topping the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year.
Listen to Megan Thee Stallion’s “I Think I Love Her” freestyle below.
With her upcoming Hot Girl Summer Tour looming, Megan Thee Stallion is preparing to enter her new era this Friday (May 10) with the release of her forthcoming single, “BOA.” Megan unveiled the song’s cover art for her new single on Instagram on Tuesday (May 7), featuring her alongside a snake. This serpent, a symbol […]