R&B/Hip-Hop
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Lichelle Laws, better known as the pioneering gangster rapper BO$$, died Monday (March 11) from kidney failure. She was 54.
Despite being born and raised in Detroit, Laws became best known as a part of the burgeoning West Coast gangster rap scene in the early ’90s. With dreams of launching a rap career, she moved to NYC. But after being unable to make anything happen in the birthplace of rap, she decided to head to Los Angeles.
Laws continued to struggle to make ends meet once in LA, but things began to turn around when she met West Coast rap legend DJ Quik. Quik took Laws under his tutelage and connected her with a bevy of rappers with whom she would later collaborate, including AMG, who put her on a song on his debut album.
In 1993, after the success of Queens-based group Onyx, Def Jam Records co-founder Russell Simmons decided that the historic label needed to take full advantage of the growing popularity of gangster rap. He decided to launch LA-based Def Jam West (DJ West) and look for artists from California who brought the same energy as N.W.A and Death Row’s roster of hitmakers. Laws, under the name BO$$, was Simmons’ first signee to DJ West and, in fact, was the first female rapper ever signed to Def Jam.
An acronym for Bi—es On Some Sh–, BO$$ was actually a duo that consisted of Laws and her DJ, Irene “Dee” Moore. Their debut album Born Gangstaz was released in May 1993 and sold close to 400,000 copies. It featured production by some of Def Jam’s heavy-hitters, including Jam Master Jay and Erick Sermon.
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The Barry White-sampling “Deeper” was a standout track on the album and featured BO$$ talking about the stresses of trying to keep money in her pocket without succumbing to the pull of the streets and falling deeper and deeper into a life of crime.
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Despite the relative success of their debut, BO$$ never had a chance to release a sophomore project. After an album full of gangster and street tales, a Wall Street Journal article called into question the reality of Laws’ claims. The fallout resulted in BO$$ being dropped from DJ West.
In 2017, Laws suffered a stroke after being diagnosed with renal disease. A 2021 GoFundMe raised $18,000 to assist with her medical bills.
Upon news of her death, many rappers paid tribute to Laws with posts on social media.
Hip-hop pioneer Kurtis Blow took to Instagram to pay his respects, writing: “The Hip Hip Alliance is saddened by the passing of our Beloved ‘BO$$.’ First Detroit Female Gangsta rapper signed to Def Jam. She will never be forgotten and will live in our hearts forever. We send our sincere condolences to her family, friends, Detroit, and the entire world. RIP legend.”
Bun B posted a photo of Laws on Instagram and called her “one of the best female MCs and a dear friend.”
DJ Premier also posted on Instagram and revealed that Gang Starr did a remix to “Deeper” that Def Jam never dropped. “Back in 1993 she came to D&D and recut her vocals to my beat. It was so RAW,” he remembers. “We had a good session drinking 40’s, puffin Lah, and vibing.”
Ayesha Curry got her own line in Drake’s 2021 album, Certified Lover Boy, and she shared her thoughts about it in a recent episode of Watch What Happens Live. “I think I was dumbfounded,” the cookbook author and wife of NBA star Stephen Curry told host Andy Cohen of the “Race My Mind” line, in […]
Ice Spice stunned at the 2024 Oscars and the Vanity Fair afterparty in Los Angeles Sunday (March 10, but not everyone was a fan of her wardrobe selections.
The Bronx native wasn’t taking any criticism for her looks, as Ice Spice clapped back at someone she believed was dissing her Dolce & Gabbana lace dress from the post-show shindig.
“I wish her stylist would try harder… same lace bodysuit back to back,” one person wrote on X. Hours later, the 24-year-old responded to the critic. “lets see u b—-s in custom dolce,” she fired back on Monday (March 11). Her reply had more than 74,000 likes at press time.
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The fan — who goes by 1800Viagra on X — had their replies flooded and they backed off the original commentary claiming this was a misunderstanding. “I’m not even mad at you omg,” they wrote.
The “Princess Diana” rapper eventually apologized for lashing out, claiming her feelings were hurt. “Srry 4 bein a meanie i was only tryna hurt ur feelings bc u hurt mine,” she wrote.
Ice Spice seemed to love the black lace gown that hugged her voluptuous figure, as she showed off plenty of clips and photos from her first Oscars with a slideshow posted to Instagram on Monday.
“Effortlessss,” SZA commented on the post.
On the music side, Ice Spice is turning her focus back to her debut album, which she said last week she has finished recording.
She teased fans about Y2K with a Monday tweet revealing that another superstar feature had been completed. “Another sick feature turned in #y2k,” Spice penned.
Y2K is without a release date so far, but is expected to arrive later this year. “I think this is some of my best work,” she previously told Billboard, while also hinting that “it’s not going to be too long — it’s going to be sweet and to the point.”
The “Munch” rapper — who was the Billboard Women in Music Hitmaker honoree this year — scored four top 10 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2023 alone.
Find Ice Spice’s fan exchange below.
srry 4 bein a meanie i was only tryna hurt ur feelings bc u hurt mine :’P— ice spice ☆ (@icespicee_) March 12, 2024
Cardi B has had enough! The rap superstar took to Instagram on Monday (March 11) to share the sultry cover art for her upcoming single, “Enough (Miami),” set for release on Friday (March 15). In the photo, a nude Cardi lays across a white sofa with her hair in long waves down her shoulders, rocking […]
Queens native and World’s Fair member Remy Banks just dropped the final installment of his champ hoody music series. His first album in three years, Banks took a break from music in 2021 after releasing the phantom of paradise. “That album was the introduction [of] where I was taking my sound,” he tells Billboard. “I […]
A second Academy Award wasn’t the only hardware Billie Eilish left the Oscars with. Flavor Flav pulled up to the awards ceremony on Sunday (March 10) with a Barbie-themed clock chain, and he made sure to bring a duplicate for his friend. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news […]
And with Al Pacino‘s hilariously casual announcement of Oppenheimer as the winner of Best Picture at the 96th Academy Awards last night (Mar. 10), awards season has finally come to a close. While there wasn’t much hip-hop at the ceremony, the house orchestra did play a cover of 50 Cent‘s “P.I.M.P” — which is repeatedly referenced in the film — when Justine Triet and Arthur Harari walked up to the stage to accept the best original screenplay Oscar for their French legal drama Anatomy of a Fall.
Outside of the close of awards season, North West announced her debut studio album, Elementary School Dropout, Future and Metro Boomin announced that they have two new albums on the way, and Tyla canceled her upcoming North American tour and Coachella performances due to an injury.
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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 Drake‘s rework of 4batz‘s breakout hit to FLO‘s frothy re-entry into the music scene. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.
Freshest Find: Mustafa, “Imaan”
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Fresh off the news that he’s signed to Jagjaguwar, Mustafa has dropped off a stunningly tender amalgamation of soul, American folk music, and traditional Sudanese and Egyptian instrumentation titled “Imaan.” Backed by Snoh Aalegra on guest vocals, Mustafa’s malleable voice colors the soundscape as it shifts into a sweeping chorus earmarked by his yearning for “all that we don’t have evidence of.” “You say praying isn’t easy/ And all the ways you need me are from God/ And all the ways you reach him are flawed/ I know our families will never find their way to the same living room/ All of these bloodlines, all of these costumes,” he croons with heartbroken hoarseness.
Sinead Harnett, “The Most”
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For the third taste of her forthcoming new album, Sinead Harnett is doing “The Most.” Across a moody soundscape accented by light trap drums and gentle guitars, she croons of an inconsistent lover who constantly throws their relationship into turmoil. “Why you so aggravated on the phone/ If I’m so hard to be with, be alone/ You’re projecting your insecurities/ Everything’s all about you, don’t put it on me,” she sings. Delivered with remarkable vocal clarity and emotion that’s palpable, but not overwrought, Sinead Harnett is readying a gem of an album if “The Most” is any indication of what’s to come.
FLO, “Walk Like This”
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FLO is back on the road toward their debut studio album. The U.K. R&B trio have returned with the first offering from their forthcoming LP, the MNEK-penned “Walk Like This.” Also crafted in collaboration with Kabba, Relyt, Talay Riley and Ashton Sellars, “Walk Like This” finds the girls — Jorja, Stella and Renée — doubling down on their penchant for 2000s R&B stylings. Oozing with sass and bit of sultriness, their tight harmonies give body to the bubbly tune, declaring, “There’s a reason I walk like this / My baby, he be lovin’ on this / When he do it, he be workin’ that shit / And every night he got me wantin’ more of it.”
Lola Brooke feat. A Boogie wit da Hoodie & Big Freedia, “Bend It Ova”
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Still pushing her formidable debut album, Dennis Daughter — which will have a deluxe edition out on Apr. 5 — “Don’t Play With It” rapper Lola Brooke has linked up with fellow New York rap star A Boogie wit da Hoodie and New Orleans bounce icon Big Freedia for a rambunctious ode to throwing it back. With A Boogie’s twinkling piano keys finding an unlikely-but-rewarding complement in Freedia’s brash NOLA beat, Lola finds the perfect middle ground for everyone’s sounds to converge. Of course, it’s not an A Boogie track if he isn’t adding a caveat of despondent realism: “Hoodie and a mask, yeah, heart black, yeah/ You want me to throw this cash? Better shake that ass, yeah/ I’m a f—ked up n—a, yeah, I admit it, yeah/ And I got it out the mud, still in the hood, yeah, yeah,” he spits in the hook.
4batz feat. Drake, “act ii: date @ 8 (remix)”
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We knew it was only a matter of time until this moment: Mere weeks after 4batz exploded into the mainstream consciousness with “Date @ 8,” The Boy has added his own spin to the moody, dirty mackin’ R&B track. “There’s no way in hell I see you passing me up/ Almost said I loved your ass right after we fucked/ Don’t know why, girl, it was on the tip of my tongue/ Yeah, found someone I’m fallin’ for,” he croons in a familiar rap-sung cadence, which finds him trying to balance keeping up the untrappable gangster image and giving into the feelings that his heart can’t ignore. Perhaps, most importantly, the “Date @ 8” remix serves as further solidification for 4batz as he continues to scale industry heights with a back catalog of just three songs.
Rexx Life Raj, “Couple Months in LA”
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Any aspiring creative can relate to the daunting expectations that come along with moving to Los Angeles in hopes of conquering their dreams. Being in the industry for a decade and growing up about 400 miles north of the City of Angels, Rexx Life Raj gets candid about the exhausting toll Hollywood’s taken on him mentally. “Tired of wasting my breath, retracing my steps/ Unnecessary expectations got me feeling the stress,” the Berkeley native raps in agony. Raj takes a step back and breathes out a delicate croon to practice restraint because what lies ahead will be worth it: “Quiet your mind, you’re too busy worried about time my boy be patient/ You gotta be patient, cause life don’t always come at your speed.”
R&B hitmaker Tank is springing back into tour mode. The singer-songwriter-producer will launch his R&B Money Tour in New Orleans on May 10. Joining him for the tour’s 25-city itinerary — including stops in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Houston — will be fellow hitmakers Keri Hilson (“Turnin Me On” featuring Lil Wayne, […]
Since Billboard first began its national survey of song sales in the 1940s, the ever-changing musical landscape has necessitated a growing portfolio of charts that capture the methods, sounds, and places around the nation – and then the world – where music is consumed.
Thirty-five years ago on March 11, 1989, Billboard debuted its first rap chart – Hot Rap Singles, with The Stop the Violence Movement’s “Self Destruction” crowning the initial list. With the genre’s national profile firmly established thanks to acts such as Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J, the first rap-dedicated chart arrived partly, as the list’s first manager, Terri Rossi wrote, to, “give proper credit to the performers, writers and producers who make this music so successful.”
While Hot Rap Songs was originally conceived as a bi-weekly sales chart, the rapid popularity and interest in the genre forced a change to a weekly sales recap before the chart reached its first anniversary. Call it prophetic: The increasing consumption of rap music and growing appetite for hip-hop culture set the stage for the genre’s explosive impact in the coming decades.
Since that first ranking, Billboard has monitored and reported popular tastes through every chapter of rap’s history: the East Coast beginnings, G-Funk’s rise, women MCs getting their proper due, regional rival pockets popping up throughout the U.S., features helping R&B singers – and then pop stars – update their sounds and images, crunk, trap, SoundCloud, drill and the list goes on. The chart’s methodology has also kept up with the times. Beginning as just a sales list, Hot Rap Songs switched to an airplay-only ranking in June 2002 amid the declining number of physical single releases.
“A number of rap’s biggest hits were never released to stores, and thus were absent from our chart,” Geoff Mayfield, Billboard’s then-director of charts, noted. “This change will yield a more relevant chart.”
Updates have since continued, with sales’ return and streaming’s addition to the formula in October 2012.
To recap the chart’s 35th anniversary, Billboard looks at the best of the best – the No. 1 year-end titles on the Hot Rap Songs chart for its entire existence. Together, the annual leaders offer snapshots of rap music’s history, with a range of artists, regions and techniques – samples, cadence and the like – that reveal rap’s expansion from block-party entertainment to an unparalleled influence over mainstream music for the last generation.
1989 – “Self Destruction”
Billboard‘s newest cover star PartyNextDoor hasn’t just established himself as an alternative R&B auteur over the last decade, but he’s also cemented himself as one of pop music’s most sought-out hitmakers. After becoming the first recording artist signed to Drake‘s OVO label in 2013, Party has made hit after hit with The Boy. He provided […]