R&B/Hip-Hop
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For fans who have been begging Jack Harlow to release the full song inspired by his viral snippet posted to TikTok, the wait is over. “Lovin on Me,” which samples R&B singer Delbert “Dale” Greer’s 1995 track, “Whatever,” in the hook, is set for release on Friday (Nov. 10), the 25-year-old rapper announced on Instagram. […]
Brent Faiyaz returns to the top five on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, as Larger Than Life opens at No. 4 on the list dated Nov. 11. The surprise album, released on Oct. 27 with only one day’s notice, also launches six songs onto the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
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Larger Than Life, released through ISO Supremacy/UnitedMasters, starts with 42,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Nov. 2, according to Luminate. Nearly all of that sum (41,000 units) is from streaming activity, equal to 54.1 million official audio and video streams of the album’s songs. Just under 1,000 units are in traditional album sales, with the remaining balance from track-equivalent album units. (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.)
With Larger Than Life, Brent Faiyaz snags his second top five appearance on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. His prior effort, Wasteland, debuted at No. 1 and led the list for a week in July 2022. The set has remained a steady presence; on the latest chart, it rebounds 41-39 in its 69th week on the list.
Elsewhere, Larger Than Life begins at No. 2 on the Top R&B Albums chart, where it marks Faiyaz’s third time in the top two spots. In addition to Wasteland’s one week in charge, his Fuck the World EP debuted and peaked in the runner-up slot in February 2020. On the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart, Larger Than Life launches at No. 11.
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As Larger Than Life hits the charts, six of its tracks debut on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. “Outside All Night,” featuring A$AP Rocky and N3WYRKL, is the top starter, at No. 26, fueled by its status as the most-streamed Larger Than Life cut for the week (5.2 million clicks). In addition to the new arrivals, two previously released tunes – “WY@” and “Moment of Your Life,” featuring Coco Jones – re-enter the list. Here’s a full recap of the singer’s placements on this week’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart:
No. 26, “Outside All Night,” featuring A$AP Rocky & N3WYRKL
No. 31, “Last One Left,” featuring Missy Elliott & Lil Gray
No. 33, “Upset,” featuring Tommy Richman & FELIX
No. 35, “Forever Yours”
No. 36, “Moment of Your Life,” featuring Coco Jones
No. 39, “WY@”
No. 41, “Best Time”
No. 48, “Tim’s Intro”
Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds once said, “Lyrics can be important, but ultimately what pulls people in on a song is melody and the tracks, and the way music feels.”
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He was right.
Think back to the last great song or album that immediately grabbed you. Sure, some lyrics may stand out and run constantly in your mind like the SportsCenter news ticker, but chances are it’s the production and melody that burrowed deep into your temporal lobe and made themselves comfortable.
At least that’s what happened when most people listened to Brent Faiyaz’s new full-length project, Larger Than Life, for the first time. While Faiyaz’s usual stoical splendor was on full display, it was the production that caught everyone by surprise. You’d be forgiven for hearing the mixtape’s first track, “Tim’s Intro,” and thinking Timbaland blessed the indie superstar with one of his vintage space funk productions. After all, the Virginia legend is on the track talking and beatboxing and the beat sounds like something he would have given Aaliyah over 20 years ago. Also, his name is in the title. Same goes with track #2, “Last One,” which features Timbo’s longtime collaborator Missy Elliott. But nope. Both beats are courtesy of David Patino, better known as D-Pat.
Born and raised in Houston, D-Pat taught himself how to make beats in college and then lucked into landing a dream placement with a then-ascendant The Weeknd. From there he linked with two like-minded musicians—Faiyaz and producer Atu—and formed the group Sonder. Although the group only dropped one official project, the EP Into back in 2017, D-Pat would help Faiyaz craft his debut album, Sonder Son. And, after being mysteriously absent from Faiyaz’s sophomore effort, D-Pat returned to anchor Larger Than Life—Faiyaz’s first project under his partnership with UnitedMasters and his new ISO Supremacy label. Producing eight of the mixtape’s 12 songs (two tracks are skits), D-Pat laid the foundation of the album’s referential but modern sound.
Billboard caught up with D-Pat right after the mixtape’s release on October 27th to talk about how the two first started working together, his ability to manifest his success, and what it’s like producing for one of your musical idols.
Before we get to the new album, how did you and Brent first start working together?
Well, I started out as a solo beatmaker. There was a movement, I’m not sure if you know, it was called Selection. Which was basically DJs and producers. It was a collective. And I got tapped into that crowd, even though I was still living in Houston. I would come out to LA for some shows sometimes. And I met another producer named Atu, who was also Selection affiliated. I was going to do a show with Atu so I went to [his] place. We were preparing for a DJ set or something and he randomly put on a SoundCloud when Brent’s songs came up. As soon as it started—I think he only had two or three songs out at the time, this was 2015—and we heard his voice, we were like, Whoa, who is this? I’m not saying we were big or anything, but we had some followers. He agreed to meet with us and we just had a couple sessions. The three of us were on the same page sonically and [with] our influences. We weren’t even anticipating making a group or anything as the three of us started Sonder. The chemistry was so strong from the first time, it was inevitable in a way.
I had no idea that’s how Sonder started
It was a SoundCloud algorithm. So shout out to that.
Looking back, how would you describe Sonder?
It’s funny. It was a side project for us all. We were all solo artists, and this was just a one-off project to see what happens. And when it started taking off, it came as a surprise, especially to Atu and I. But what’s funny is Brent knew what it was going to be the whole time. I remember we made the project in Orlando, which is where Atu was living at the time; he was going to school up there. Since I’ve known Brent, he’s the most confident person I’ve ever known in my life. I remember we hadn’t even made a song and he was like, “Yo, we’re about to shift music. We’re about to move the needle; have so many fans. All these people are going to be on our wave.” And I’m like, Okay, can we make one song? We hadn’t even done anything, and he was already saying all these grandiose things that we were going to do. And I can see now, looking back, he was just manifesting it.
And how did you get into producing?
I used to be a skater kid, and then I broke my arm. During that time, I started picking up the guitar. That’s really how it started. My dad had a guitar at the house and he would always play it, but he only knew three chords, and he would play every song to the same three chords, which is hilarious. I love that for him. But, yeah, I taught myself [guitar], which transitioned into me learning piano. I was in a high school band, and then later on when I went to college I had an electric guitar, but I couldn’t really play that in my dorm. So that transitioned into me making beats. I was very inspired by Kanye, 9th Wonder, [J] Dilla, so my sound was chipmunk-pitched up soul samples. I think everyone starts that way [Laughs].
I guess what got me into Beats, too, was I heard [Mos Def and Talib Kweli’s 1998] Black Star album. Those beats just blew me away. I hadn’t really, I guess, appreciated hip-hop until I heard that, which led me to A Tribe Called Quest and all the classic hip-hop stuff. That’s really what drove me to start to make beats.Interesting.
I have the craziest story. I started making beats [in 2011], and that was the year that The Weeknd came out. And I remember being such a big fan of The Weeknd. He was so mysterious—no one could reach out, talk to him, nothing. And, somehow, I started talking to him and I got a placement with him. I had only been making beats for a year. It was insane.
Wait. What? How did you start talking to him?
I used to have a Tumblr, because Tumblr was a thing back then, and I made a beat tape. Somehow, someone in his camp heard it and they reached out to me and they were like, “[Send] 10 beats to the Weeknd.” And I was such a huge fan. I was like, Holy shit! It’s crazy.
Wow. I can’t believe you got connected with The Weekend via Tumblr.
It’s really weird. I manifested it and I don’t know how. But ever since then, it feels like I can just manifest anything I want. It’s really weird.
That is a crazy story.
I remember I just sent him a beat and I sampled “Tell Me Do You Wanna” by Ginuwine. And he was so gassed on me, and it was just so funny because I didn’t know what I was doing back then. And I made that beat on Garage Band, which is even more funny to me.
That was “Remember You” on Wiz Khalifa’s ONIFC album, right?
Yeah. And then that became the single. Then it got Grammy nominated. And I’m like, Bro, I don’t know what I’m doing [Laughs]. I actually had the biggest imposter syndrome ever. The craziest thing is that I sampled Ginuwine. I don’t know why. It’s just crazy. Who knew years later I would be bringing that sound back in a way with Brent?
D-Pat
Listening to the intro on Larger Than Life, I thought, “Wow this is the best Timbo beat I’ve heard in a while.” Did you make that beat to sound like him or was it just a coincidence that it aligned that way?
That’s a good question. I’m just a student of music of all genres, and I’m a chameleon. I can reverse engineer or recreate anything, any genre. Obviously, we’re already fans of that sound. We did a studio lock-in for this album. [It] was basically a studio in a hotel that Brent booked for a week straight. So, it was just wake up, [go to the] studio until ungodly hours, go to sleep, wake up, studio. On the sixth day of this lock-in, Brent was like, “Oh, Timbaland’s coming to the studio and I want him to be talking on an intro.” I was like, okay, cool, let me make a beat. In my head, I’m thinking, What could be cool for Timbaland to talk on? All of us [grew] up listening to Timbo talk his shit, beatboxing, the ad-libs—they’re just so iconic. And so, in my mind, I’m like I want this to be a statement.
Since it’s the opener of the album, I wanted it to hit hard. And the whole approach of this album, which I’m sure people can tell by now, is that Brent wanted it to sound like a mixtape. So that’s why there’s all the producer tags, the air horns; it’s very sample heavy. It’s all intentional. But, yeah, I wanted it to be an impactful intro. If Timbaland’s about to be talking on my beat, I felt like I had to deliver production-wise. He’s such a legend. That moment was the culmination of everything, my whole past: what I told you about sampling Ginuwine how many years prior, the Sonder ep, everything we’ve done. I’m like, okay, Timbaland’s about to come. This is everything I’ve learned. And then I made the beat in 15 minutes. I showed it to Brent and he was like, “Yeah, this is it.” And then Timberland came in and it was the most surreal full-circle moment for Brent and I. We were kind of speechless. As soon as Timbaland heard the beats, he was in awe.
I was wondering what his reaction was to hearing that beat.
It’s funny because it could go either way. He could be like, Wait, they’re just taking it, or whatever. But he had the utmost respect, and he was like, “I honestly feel like I’m 18 again right now in the basement with Ginuwine, Aaliyah, Missy.” You could see it in his eyes that he was just very humbled, appreciative. And I think he’s just a fan of Brent. It almost felt like a passing of the torch moment. He called Brent and he’s like, “You’re like the next Static.” And then he looked at me and he’s like, “This sounds exactly like me.” It was just a surreal moment for not only Brent and I, but for him. It was a mutual thing.
There’s no better compliment than that.
That’s my favorite studio moment of all time. And after he left, the energy of the studio was insane. There were like 50 people in there going crazy.
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In what order were all of the songs made?
The project started last December, I would say. We went to Tulum with no expectations, just for Brent and I to make songs. But that was where the first song was made, which was “Pistachios.” A majority of the project, honestly, was made [during] that one week at lock-in with a couple made throughout the year. But the majority were made in that lock-in. I’ve never seen anything like that. [Brent] was writing one, two songs every day. It was actually insane.
Can you talk about “Best Time”?
Yeah. The whole project is an homage to our musical predecessors in a sense, since it’s a mixtape. Brent really wanted to shine a light on who he’s inspired by, his influences, and stuff we grew up on. It’s just paying our respects to our pioneers, the trailblazers. We actually had sessions with Chad [Hugo]. I know Brent has songs with the Neptunes, but that was my first time meeting Chad. It was earlier this year and I was very appreciative.
So for “Best Time,” is that “Caught Out There”?
Yeah. We used the melody from Kelis’s song “Caught Out There,” and then I just made new drums for it. Kind of like a different bounce, but it’s still Neptunes flavored.
It’s interesting that “Pistachios” was the first song you guys made. Did that set the tone for everything going forward?
I really like pistachios. That might be my favorite [on the album]. It started with Brent wanting to flip the Adina Howard song that we sampled on that, “If We Make Love Tonight.” Maybe from there that kind of subconsciously set the mood of being a sample-heavy album or with a mixtape approach. I think that did set the tone. A lot of the samples were Brent wanting to use them. The Rome sample on “Belong to You,” [for example]. I’ve just been working with Brent for so long, we both know what each other wants. If he sends a song he wants to flip, we both reach the finish point without saying too much.
So what’s next?
Well, right now I’m working on a trilogy of solo projects, just instrumentals and stuff like that, which I had been doing before Sonder. I know Timbaland had his own albums but they always were feature heavy. I thought it’d be interesting to see (should it be here?) just instrumental albums, and that’s stuff I love as well, so I’ve been working on that. And this album release has me inspired to work on full albums for other artists. I really like how Timbaland would produce all of Missy’s album or all of Ginuwine’s, Aaliyah’s, Justin Timberlake’s. Or even the Neptunes would do that, you know? I would really be interested in doing that. I don’t really have any artists in mind, but I would love to help. It doesn’t necessarily mean I have to produce every track, but just help craft and develop. An entire album feels more fulfilling to me than getting one track on [someone’s] next album.
In Nicki Minaj’s latest cover with Vogue, the Queen MC revealed her thoughts on body positivity and why she denounces the movement — if it comes at the expense of “unhealthy bodies.”
“I’m not in favor of body positivity if it means unhealthy bodies,” she told the publication. “That’s bull. It’s not believable, so let’s stop pretending. Recently, I had to get a breast reduction, and actually I love it. I used to want a bigger butt, and now I look back and realize how silly that was. So — love your curves, and love your non-curves. There’s nothing wrong with any of it.”
Earlier this year, Minaj spoke about her decision to get breast reduction while on an Instagram Live with JT of City Girls. “If I tell you what size my t–ties was, I can promise you, once nature did what they had to do for [my son] Papa Bear, it’s no way your boobs right now are still able to look like that and be all sexy and cute and stuff like that in your dresses,” Minaj said. “Trust me. You did not have the size that I had.”
Elsewhere in her interview with Vogue, Minaj spoke about mom guilt and how she’s been trying to overcome those issues. “Well, if I’m going to have mom guilt regardless, I might as well continue doing the only thing I know how to freaking do, which is make music,” she said.
Minaj is making inroads on completing her fifth album, Pink Friday 2, the sequel to her 2010 debut effort. Dropping in December, Minaj released the project’s first official single, “Last Time I Saw You,” which she described to Vogue as a “happy-sad” song.
“I’m not saying I want this to be a sad song. Actually I want people to feel happy when they hear it. Happy-sad,” she said. “Then again, look at Adele. That woman has made me cry a million times, yet I want more.”
See photos from her Vogue cover story below:
Nicki Minaj faced quite a bit of backlash in 2021 for sharing her stance against the coronavirus vaccine. Now, more than two years later, she’s still not walking back. In one of the rapper’s biggest controversies to date, Minaj was accused of spreading misinformation back when the government first started rolling out preventative shots about […]
Beyoncé dropped a new trailer for her upcoming RENAISSANCE: A Film by Beyoncé movie on Thursday morning (Nov. 9), which promises to capture the eye-popping global tour of the same name in all its silver-streaked, bass-thumping glory. The film, directed by the singer, will hit theaters around the world on Dec. 1 after its Los […]
Megan Thee Stallion‘s new single, “Cobra,” already hits pretty hard. With its chunky guitar riff and ominous beat, the latest song from the “Bongos” MC — which dropped last week — came locked-and-loaded with a slamming surfeit of grit and gravity in lyrics about stress, anxiety, pain and determination.
So it makes perfect sense that Meg would take all that angst and roiling emotion, turn it up to 11 and break off the knob on a metal-edged remix. Which is exactly what she did on Wednesday (Nov. 8), when the Houston spitter dropped a face-melting rock re-do of the track featuring Canadian alt-metal band Spiritbox.
The 2.0 version opens with the same big guitars, but then explodes into a booming, reverb-drenched cascade of arena rock attitude as Megan’s voice is joined by yearning/screamo vocals from Spiritbox singer Courtney LaPlante and guitarist Mike Stringer’s sonic boom strumming, giving the song a Linkin Park/Evanescence-like vibe.
LaPlante thanked Megan for roping her band into the remix, writing on Instagram, “Thank you Megan for allowing us the opportunity to collaborate on your already iconic new song ‘Cobra.’ I am beyond grateful to you.” Guitarist Stringer added, “Thank you to Megan for trusting us to mash up both of our worlds. Nothing but respect, and gratitude. It’s an absolute honor.”
After dropping the song last week as the first single on her own label, Megan said the song about losing her grandmother, a rough breakup and the trauma of two court cases was a track that exemplifies the fierce, hooded snakes that exemplify “courage and self-reliance. They stand tall and fierce in the face of challenges, teaching one to tap into their inner strength and rely on oneself to conquer their threats. Emulating the cobra helps one be more confident in the person they are within.”
The three-time Grammy winner revealed last month that she wasn’t signed to a label anymore. “This part of my album is very much so funded by Megan Thee Stallion because we’re trying to get off … Y’all know what’s the tea. But I have no label right now,” she explained of her decision to go it alone after recently settling a yearslong legal battle with her former record label, 1501 Certified Entertainment. “We’re doing everything funded straight out of Megan Thee Stallion’s pockets. So, the budget is coming from me. Motherf—ing Hot Girl Productions! The next s— y’all about to see is all straight from Megan Thee Stallion’s brain and Megan Thee Stallion’s wallet. We are in my pockets, hotties, so let’s do our big one.”
Listen to the “Cobra” remix below.
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Frank Ocean‘s resting pulse for most of his career has been elusiveness. The singer who has never followed any of the traditional music industry rules releases music, or not, on his own, often erratic schedule, typically with no advance notice and with little commentary.
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Which is why it was no surprise that his latest musical missive arrived with no fanfare in his Instagram Story on Wednesday (Nov. 8) in the form of a minute-long, unnamed moody track. In audio captured here, Ocean can be heard crooning in his hazy manner over a droning keyboard, with the lyrics coming through only in brief, intelligible bits as the words often slide together in a blur.
“Way more laid back than I did when I was my younger [unintelligible]/ … assumptions but they were educated guesses/ that’s why I … trying to see all your sides/ but your heart’s been tangled in barbed wires/ If you hand it to me, I can’t handle it,” he sings. “You got boundaries, but they’re just obstacles you’re putting in between us/ Pick and choose but we both got options.”
The rest of the lyrics that appear to be about love confusion are hard to decipher, but fans were typically psyched to get anything new from Ocean, who has not issued any new music since he surprise-dropped two singles, “Dear April” and “Cayendo” in 2020, which was followed by a never-released untitled nine-minute song on the Christmas special on his Apple Music 1 Blonded Radio show in December 2021. Ocean has not released a proper album since 2016’s Blonde.
At press time no additional information was available about the song or whether it will be officially released.
Ocean once again receded from public view after his confusion, glitchy appearance at the Coachella Festival in April, which was his first public show since 2017. During the headlining set that began an hour late, Ocean didn’t perform any new songs (but did play radically reworked versions of his familiar tracks), was sometimes hard to spot on the cavernous stage and then was was cut off due to curfew, which ended the set whose livestream on the festival’s official YouTube broadcast was scrapped at the last minute.
It later emerged that Ocean reportedly performed with a serious ankle injury and that his planned elaborate stage set-up — which was to feature a giant ice rink and professional hockey players and olympic skaters doing choreography during the show — was scrapped at the 11th hour after weeks of rehearsals; Ocean later dropped out of a planned second weekend headlining slot due to the injury, costing the festival millions of dollars.
In classic Ocean fashion, he peeked back out in June with the announcement of his 48-page Mutations photo book, which a release said would be printed on “tissue-weight paper.”
Technically, Offset, his new album and his son all share a name, so it’s only right that he found away to wrap all three together for the latest offering from his Set It Off promotional schedule. In a new Vevo CTRL live performance video, the “Clout” rapper delivered a fiery rendition of album cut “On the River,” featuring an adorable guest appearance from his youngest child.
Performing in a dimly lit room cast in the color palette of a burning fire, Offset tore through “On the River” while holding his son Wave Set, 2, whom the rapper shares with wife Cardi B. Although the performance was just over one and a half minutes long, Wave was incredibly well behaved, even joining his father in bopping along to Southside’s skittering bass toward the end of the clip. At several points in the video, Wave was hilariously more concerned with toying with his dad’s diamonds chains than paying attention to the camera.
“On the River” is the opening track of Offset’s sophomore solo studio album Set It Off, the follow-up to 2019’s Grammy-nominated Father of 4. Set It Off opened at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, becoming Offset’s third career top five entry on the chart as a soloist. Four singles preceded the album’s full release, including the Cardi B-assisted “Jealousy” — which peaked at No. 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 — “Worth It” (with Don Toliver), “Say My Grace” (with Travis Scott) and “FAN,” which received a Michael Jackson-inspired music video starring Kai Cenat and Everybody Hates Chris actress Paige Hurd.
Set It Off is Offset’s first LP since Wave’s birth. Offset and Cardi started dating in early 2017, and by June the following year, the “Bongos” rapper confirmed that she and Offset married the September prior, one month before the Migos star publicly proposed to her. After giving birth to their first child together, Kulture Kiari Cephus, in 2018, Cardi welcomed her first son and second child with Offset, Wave Set Cephus, on Sep. 4, 2021.
In September, the hip-hop power couple celebrated their sixth anniversary. In an Instagram post documenting her gifts from her hubby, Cardi set her footage to a series of uncannily apt lyrics from Beyoncé and Diddy’s 2003 track “Summertime”: “Wanna grow old wit’ ya/ Fill a house wit’ your pictures/ Have a son for you, a little girl for me/ Together we’ll raise a family.”
Watch Offset and Wave perform “On the River” above.
Diddy and Giggs teamed up in the spirit of charity to aid the Black British community in London on Tuesday (Nov. 7). The concert — which benefited Sickle Cell Society and Black Minds Matter — featured a bunch of appearances from the rappers, mainly Diddy, who brought out his once-prized Bad Boy signee Shyne for […]