R&B/Hip-Hop
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Sorry, but PartyNextDoor is outside and will be taking his new album PARTYNEXTDOOR 4 (P4) with him on the road on the Sorry I’m Outside Tour, which he announced Monday (April 29). In the 48-second trailer directed by Aidan Wilde, Party (real name Jahron Anthony Brathwaite) takes fans through his latest album journey from the […]
During an appearance on the Bootleg Kev podcast, Rapsody was asked her feelings about J. Cole apologizing to fans and Kendrick Lamar after dropping his “7 Minute Drill” diss record from his recent mixtape Might Delete Later. On the track, Cole took shots at Lamar’s discography, most notably To Pimp a Butterfly, calling the Compton […]
On early Monday morning (Apr. 29), a security guard was shot in Encino, Calif., at a home linked to music executive and The Weeknd co-manager, Amir “Cash” Esmailian. LAPD sent Billboard a statement regarding the 2:30 AM incident. “The victim (M/B/37 years) was inside a guard shack when he heard several gunshots and discovered he […]
Although Taylor Swift‘s chart-busting Tortured Poets Department dominated the news cycle of the last weekend in April, the hip-hop and R&B worlds kept churning out hot new tracks and buzzy news stories to keep us occupied.
In yet another update to 2024’s Great Rap War, Drake complied with the Tuapc Shakur estate’s request to take down his new “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which featured verses spit by AI-generated versions of Snoop Dogg‘s and Pac’s voices. Kendrick Lamar has still not responded.
In other news, Ice Spice blessed Cash Cobain & Bay Swag’s “Fisherrr” remix, Ne-Yo smashed his NPR Tiny Desk set with a mixture of hits he’s penned for both himself and other artists, and Eminem announced a new album entitled The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) out this summer.
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With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from Susan Carol’s soulful debut to Tommy Richman’s fast-rising smash. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.
Freshest Find: Susan Carol, “Karma”
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Fresh off her first career Grammy win (best traditional R&B performance for “Good Morning” with PJ Morton), Susan Carol is celebrating her recent signing to Def Jam with new single “Karma.” Produced by Harmony Samuels, “Karma” finds Carol delivering a biting vocal performance that plays well against the lush combination of swanky guitars, steady percussion and ornate strings. “Think you better than you is/ And I swear the d–k was mid/ It’s just like a boomerang/ Your’re throwing out bulls–t & it comes right back on you/ There’s nothing left for me to do,” she sings before the production opens up into a soulful symphony of lounge jazz influences. The concept of the song is simple, yet effective, why waste time plotting revenge when you can let karma fight your battles for you? Well said, Susan.
Tommy Richman, “Million Dollar Baby”
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Tommy Richman has arrived. The Virginia native guested on Brent Faiyaz’s Larger Than Life album last year — but now, he’s capitalizing on his chance to fully introduce himself to the world. A TikTok snippet scorched the platform, and “Million Dollar Baby” hit the ground running on Friday (April 26). Released via Brent Faiyaz’s Iso Supremacy in partnership with Pulse Records, “Million Dollar Baby” sounds like a cousin of BROCKHAMPTON’s catalog, with Richman alternating roles and jumping octaves in his vocal range. For those that enjoy a grungier aesthetic, the unpolished DVD version of the track is also available featuring clipped drums and a fuzzy bassline. “Million Dollar Baby” could be making a splash on the Billboard Hot 100 with a lofty debut, as a bona fide song of the summer contender has arrived.
Normani feat. Gunna, “1:59″
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For the first taste of her long-awaited debut studio album, Dopamine, Normani recruits Gunna for a sultry midtempo that combines the lush vocal stacks of Brandy, the effortless seductiveness of Aaliyah and the Fifth Harmony alum’s own trademark enigmatic allure. As he does on his own R&B-adjacent collaborations, Gunna slinks in and out of harmony with Normani, presenting welcome contrasts to the song’s overall languid feel and providing a bit of dynamism for the “Motivation” singer to play off of in the back half. Now that her debut LP finally has a release date (June 14), “1:59” is a solid introduction to the Normani of Dopamine.
Anycia & Cash Cobain, “That’s Hard”
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Here’s an unexpected collaboration from the pair of rising rappers leaving their mark in 2024. Everything Cash Cobain lends his Midas Touch to is turning to gold these days. Cash freestyles another silky chorus and welcomes Anycia into his world with a Slizzy summer on the horizon. She matches his typically laid-back and raunchy vibes. “I’m getting top in the back of a brand-new car/ Nene the hardest/ He singing my s–t by the bar,” Anycia brags in her raspy flow. “That’s Hard” is a fun standout from Nene’s robust Princess Pop That debut, which arrived via UnitedMasters on Friday (April 26).
JT, “Okay”
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JT is on the cusp. Between her smart moves in the fashion world, the fan base she’s solidifying through her current club tour and club-ready records like “Alter Ego” (with Doechii) and now “Okay,” 2024 is shaping up to be a career-defining year for the City Girls rapper. “I’m pretty than a motherf–ker, h–s be lookin’ okay/ She think that she f–kin’ with me, is this bitch okay?/ He said he ain’t f–kin’ ’round, I look at him like, ‘Okay’/ I used to be down bad, but now a b—h okay,” she splits in her typically unbothered tone of rattling production from Akachi and Shawn Ferrari. With a hook this sticky and a string of solo singles as strong as “Okay,” “No Bars” and “Sideways,” JT’s forthcoming City Cinderella mixtape could very well take her to the next level.
Babyface Ray, “Glory”
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A rose bloomed from the concrete of Detroit. Babyface Ray has been as consistent as they come from the thriving Midwest rap scene. Ray basks in his glory as his smoky flow aerates the twinkly production. However, the 33-year-old can’t relate to his Gen Z peers in some ways like publicly broadcasting street violence. “I’m glad I was raised by bosses, these n—as lost in the sauce keep talkin’ ’bout killing/ All of the killers I know, they don’t even talk, so I’m sayin’ too much right now,” he contests. Ray switches gears and paints a picture of his baby boy waving bye-bye from the back of his Benz – it’s all about versatility. He claimed the Summer’s Mine with his 2023 project, we’ll see if he can find his way into the mix again this season.
Camper feat. Tank & Syd, “I Need It”
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Camper, the Grammy-winning producer behind chart-topping hits like Coco Jones‘ “ICU,” is stepping into the limelight. For his new single, the R&B craftsman recruited Syd and Tank, two voices that — while they evoke two separate eras of R&B — make for an absolutely gorgeous duet. Between Syd’s beguiling tone and the buttery seduction of Tank’s delivery, “I Need It” finds the two singers beautifully painting across Camper’s intimate, bedroom-ready production. “Find a better reason/ Why we shouldn’t lay up/ Get back to freakin’ right now/ All I know is/ I need it,” Syd declares.
Bairi, “Man Enough”
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Bairi’s luscious vocals could melt a heart made of ice. Sampling British art-pop group Art of Noise, “Man Enough” finds The Siren radiating about a distant lover trying to decode where they went wrong along the way. “Trapped in your sea, stuck in your weeds, begging you please, come back to me/ But I ain’t tripping if you want to leave, then leave/ Just don’t leave me on an empty guarantee,” she softly sings. Word to Ariana Grande, Bairi’s got no tears left to cry and she’s ready to move on from her former flame who couldn’t perform up to standard. “Man Enough” is just a peek into Bairi’s talent exuded on her intoxicating debut album Fire Siren.
Tommy Richman has taken the internet by storm in the last few days after releasing his new song, “MILLION DOLLAR BABY.” Released Friday (Apr. 26), the record is already firing on all cylinders on streaming because of its funky sound and Richman’s seamless vocal riffs. Last week, Richman first teased the track on TikTok using […]
Two weeks after the death of their beloved collaborator producer Rico Wade, OutKast paid loving tribute to the ATL legend who died at 52 on April 13.
“The first time we met Rico [Wade] of Organized Noize, we had the ‘Scenario’ instrumental on and we just rapped damn near the whole song, non-stop,” OutKast’s André 3000 wrote in an Instagram post over the weekend. He described sitting in Goodie Mobb member Big Gipp’s truck listening to the song on a cassette player.
“We didn’t know Gipp or Rico or none of them, but Rico knew people who did beats,” Dre continued. “He said, ‘Let me hear what you got,’ so we put in the ‘Scenario’ tape and started rhyming, non-stop, back-and-forth.” The beloved duo’s debut studio album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik — produced by Wade and Organized Noize — was released 30 years ago Friday, the same day Wade was buried in Atlanta.
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“That day, after we rhymed, Rico saw something in us. At that time we’d both shaven off all our hair. We’d dyed our hair blonde one time: We were young and in high school, we were outcasts, you know?” André wrote. “Rico saw that, and he said, ‘These guys can really rhyme. They don’t really rhyme like people from the South.’ So he told us to come over to his house, and that’s where the dungeon is, in the basement.”
Wade is considered one of the architects of Southern rap thanks to his role as one-third of the songwriting and production team Organized Noize, whose members also included Sleepy Brown and Ray Murray. In addition to their production and songwriting on the OutKast debut, they also worked on Goodie Mob’s 1995 debut, Soul Food.
Dre’s former partner in rhyme, Big Boi, also had fond memories of working with Wade, adding, “From the beginning, Organized Noize signed us. They were our big brothers, and they did a production deal with LaFace Records. They were the sones that gave us our first shot and we been doing music with them since the beginning. Without Rico Wade… there would be no OutKast.”
The memorial featured the caption, “Thank you, Rico. We will love you forever. Rest well, brother. Until we meet again [prayer hands emoji].”
The post ended with a quote from Wade, who once said, “We got with [OutKast] when they were young. They were like 16 or 17, and they were ready for some direction… I think timing is everything. It was time for a revolution.”
Another tribute post honored the duo’s landmark debut — which included their breakout hit, “Player’s Ball” — and spotlighted pics of Wade in the studio with the pair and posing with the entire extended Dungeon Family crew.
See OutKast’s post below.
Future has evolved into one of rap’s dignitaries in the 2010s as he’s put up seven straight No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. Pluto broke out with a syrupy assist on YC’s “Racks” and earned an early Hot 100 hit in October 2012 with “Turn On the Lights.” DJ Khaled has repeatedly recruited Future […]
04/26/2024
The Atlanta duo’s game-changing debut dropped 30 years ago today.
04/26/2024
Watch Latin American Music Awards Following the viral success of Cash Cobain and Bay Swag’s “Fisherrr,” the duo is turning up the heat with a music video for their remix featuring Ice Spice on Friday (April 26). Taking place at and around a Chinese restaurant in the Bronx (where both Spice and Cobain are from), […]
Watch Latin American Music Awards Conway the Machine revealed the cover art and release date for his fourth studio album, SFK, in an Instagram post on Wednesday (April 24). The Buffalo emcee had a busy 2023, releasing a total of nine projects, with one being his third solo full-length, Won’t He Do It. Now, the […]