R&B/Hip-Hop

On Tuesday morning (Aug. 7), Mary J. Blige helped renowned chocolate company Ghiradelli open its first-ever Chocolate and Ice Cream shop in New York City.

Located on the ground floor level of the Empire State Building, Blige was there to cut the ribbon for the store’s grand opening alongside Ghiradelli CEO Joel Burrows. The first 102 fans who made their way to the store received a free Hot Fudge Sundae. Blige, a chocolate enthusiast, savored the opportunity to partner with the company, noting her ultimate ice cream cone would consist of vanilla ice cream, caramel, strawberry sauce, nuts, and a little fudge.

While yesterday was a day of indulgence for Blige, as she savored some decadent sweets, the R&B legend’s 2024 has been nothing short of a whirlwind — culminating in her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, to be officially held in October. Blige’s induction headlines a star-studded class, sharing the spotlight with the likes of Cher, The Dave Matthews Band, Ozzy Osbourne, Kool & The Gang and A Tribe Called Quest.

“It means so much because I worked so hard,” Blige told Billboard ahead of the store opening. “My fans have given me so much, and when I say, ‘We did it,’ I mean my fans and I. We did this because, without them, there’s no me. Through all my blood, sweat, and tears, suffering, getting up, and falling down, they were there. It means a lot to accomplish something like that.”

Along with celebrating her induction, Blige also looks forward to the 30th anniversary of her seminal sophomore album My Life. Released in 1994, My Life spawned classic singles from Blige like “Be Happy,” “I’m Goin Down,” “Mary Jane,” and the title track.

“That album is so important, because it was so pivotal for when it came time for me to choose,” she says. “I was in a dark place where I didn’t wanna live, and I was begging people to love me and stay with me. Now, I’m not begging anyone to love and stay with me. I love myself. I found my real love. My true love is myself and I. That’s why when it was time for me to choose the My Life album, I chose my life. I chose my life and my fans when it was time to make that turn because I didn’t want to off myself and take half my fanbase with me. That didn’t seem right. I always had a conscious and a spiritual grounding. That’s what made me choose.”

Another milestone inching towards its 30th anniversary is Method Man and Blige’s Grammy-winning smash “I’ll Be There for You/You’re All I Need to Get By.” With a friendship spanning three decades, the two polymaths won their first Grammy together, and now co-star in the acclaimed Starz series Ghost.

“I was a full Method Man and Wu-Tang Clan fan,” Blige remembers. “So Meth did the song in the studio; I believe it was his birthday, and they were there watching me record that song. Meth was so happy. He’s such a beautiful, sweet man. I love him so much. When we did the video, the same thing happened. I had a blast. He’s a beautiful man.”

Though Blige is enjoying her memories from the past, she’ll look into the future when she brings back her Strength of a Woman celebration. This year, she got the festival to New York, her stomping grounds, and brought out 50 Cent, Jadakiss, Jill Scott, Fat Joe and more big names during Mother’s Day weekend at Barclays Center. Blige reveals this won’t be a one-time thing, as she plans to return to Mecca next year with her empowering summit.

[“New York”] was where I originally wanted Strength of a Woman to be, because this is where I’m from and we need it,” says Blige. “New York needs it. It’s home. It’s here to stay and will be here next year.”

Drake headed to the vault and unleashed 100GB of unreleased content for fans on Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 6).

The rap world awaited the 6 God’s next move and he returned with a sneak attack surprising fans with a plethora of behind-the-scenes content, unused album covers, clips from studio sessions and three new songs featuring Young Thug, 21 Savage and Latto.

Eagle-eyed fans peeped that Drake was following a random IG account titled Plottttwistttttt, which had some speculating on what the OVO boss had up his sleeve. The account was taken off of private and Drizzy posted the link and the subsequent leaked songs to his Instagram Story.

100GIGSFORYOURHEADTOP is the title for the site which includes folders on top of folders of content. The top dossier features the three new songs titled “It’s Up” alongside frequent collaborators 21 Savage and Young Thug, the island-tinged “Blue Green Red” and the Latto-assisted “Housekeeping Knows.”

Drake came out in defense of Thugger on their “It’s Up” collaboration as the YSL trial continues with no end in sight. “I can’t sleep at night with Thug at Cobb County Corrections/ I think he did enough reflectin’, I think my brother learned his lesson,” he raps.

For those expecting another response to Kendrick Lamar, these records don’t appear to be arrows sent in K. Dot’s direction. However, a photo with boxes inscribed with “No One Like Us – Euro 2024” is on the Plottttwistttttt IG.

There are plenty of hidden gems in the pile of photos and unreleased clips. One that’s picked up steam on social media finds Drake coming up with the hook to what eventually became Ye’s “Yikes” from his 2018 Ye album.

At the time, Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg reported that Drake flew to Wyoming to work with West and was initially left off as a co-writer on “Yikes.”

There appeared to be a fracturing of the relationship between Ye and Drake’s camps following that early 2018 Wyoming link-up, which led to the Pusha T and Drizzy feud taking place a couple of months later in May.

Other clips include unreleased music, Drake possibly listening to “March 14” for the first time and tidbits such as his definition of “Hotline Bling,” which he debated having Future on.

Drake has made cameos on songs with Sexyy Red, Camila Cabello and Gordo in the months since the Kendrick Lamar feud, but hasn’t released any songs in an official capacity, and now has employed a purposeful leak strategy.

Listen to the three Drake songs below.

Ice Spice’s Y2K! arrived on July 26 as one of the most anticipated rap debut albums in recent memory. The 24-year-old — born on Jan. 1, 2000 — has packed a career’s worth of accolades for most artists into the last two years since becoming the face of New York’s drill scene.

While she could’ve attacked the project in myriad different ways, Ice made the conscious decision of getting back to the essence of what made her a star. She crafted a drill-heavy project alongside right-hand producer RIOTUSA, who sharply laid the sonic foundation, then had Mike Dean come in from the bullpen to lend his mixing/mastering expertise.

The Bronx princess continued to sneer at her opps and radiate unbridled charisma along with delivering some toilet-themed lyrics at the Spice Cabinet’s amusement throughout Y2K!. “We wanted to make what we like,” Ice told Billboard. “I just love drill beats, and his specifically. We just locked in for a whole year and really got to it when we could. We have the busiest schedules, but I think that’s why it’s important to have a close bond with whoever you’re collaborating with.”

At times, she experimented with her voice and flows, but never steered off the highway to crash before her destination. With 10 tracks and 23 minutes of run time featuring cameos from Travis Scott, Gunna and Central Cee, Ice Spice kept her debut concise instead of opting to overstuff a burdensome project like some of her peers.

Y2K! began to take form at the top of the year when Ice Spice had her toes in the sand while enjoying the beaches and serenity of Turks and Caicos where she recorded a few records during the trip. She would set up shop wherever her career took her while spending time in Miami, Los Angeles and back home in New York City.

Ice also revealed she was bumping a lot of Chief Keef and riding around Miami to the Chicago drill pioneer’s music, which influenced her creativity heading into the album. The Grammy-nominated MC also admits there was some turbulence and unexpected hurdles before the finish line: “For both projects that I’ve made, there’s been sample issues and feature clearances that we run into — but that’s part of the process,” she says, shrugging.

Y2K! debuted at No. 18 on this week’s Billboard 200 — and despite the outside noise, the rap star is proud of her growth while she treks across the U.S. on her Y2K! World Tour.

“Like..? did 15k so thank u to everyone who supported me then & thank u to all the new supporters,” she wrote to X. “Y2K! WORLD TOUR been so fun that these numbers are cool and all but bitch u should of seen that Boston CROWD last night NYC TOMORROW.”

Ice Spice detailed to Billboard how a handful of the album’s tracks came to fruition. Check out the converesation below.