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The world’s not all bad. Consider, the holiday season is approaching. A brand new year is coming soon. And De La Soul have a new album out.
Cabin in the Sky is the U.S. hip-hop veterans’ ninth studio album, and their first since the death of David “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur, who passed away unexpectedly in 2023, and features previously unreleased vocals from the rapper.
On Tuesday night, Nov. 25, De La Soul stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live for a medley of cuts from Cabin in the Sky, the followup to 2016’s And the Anonymous Nobody, which opened and peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard 200.
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Kelvin “Posdnuos” Mercer and Vincent “Maseo” Mason were in the house for a bouncing one-two hit of “Run It Back” and “The Package,” the latter complemented by a swinging brass section and visuals inspired by the LP’s heavenly cover art.
Pos and Maseo recently dropped by Billboard’s offices for a photo shoot, an interview and their thoughts on losing their bandmate.
“I’m feeling absolutely beautiful. I’m really happy and proud of this album, proud of all we’ve accomplished,” remarked Pos. “When you get to that finish line and you’ve realized things that you’ve had in your mind are now manifested — and I feel strongly about this album obviously because it’s the first album we’ve done without Dave — but it’s here in the physical and I can say without question [Dave] is here, his spirit, his energy, it’s very much a part of this album.”
Pos continued, “anything that he had placed in certain songs that we chose to use, all of that is felt. In that regard alone, that’s a success. But I really, really feel like De La fans are going to love this album.”
De La Soul will head out on the road next year, including a headline performance Feb. 27, 2026 at Droppin’ Science hip-hop night in Melbourne, Australia and a spot at Hamburg, Germany’s Old But Gold Festival July 26.
Watch the late-night performance in full below.
Trending on Billboard Denzel Washington is not often moved to tears, but he was during Aiyana-Lee’s performance in a scene from Highest 2 Lowest. It appears that Denzel getting emotionally shaken up wasn’t part of Spike Lee’s script either, which the Brooklyn-bred director revealed in an interview with Variety on Tuesday (Nov. 25). Lee detailed […]
Peacock’s Bel-Air has taken the beloved ’90s sitcom starring Will Smith and reimagined it as something entirely new: a gritty, hour-long drama that dives deep into class disparity, institutionalized racism, the pressures of growing up and so much more. This version has just as much humor and heart as the original, but also dives deep into family, identity and mental health with a depth that the original half-hour format couldn’t allow.
Now entering its fourth and final season, Bel-Air follows Will as he navigates his senior year and his looming future, while Carlton faces decisions that could shape his entire life. Behind the drama, there’s another character that drives the story: music.
On Bel-Air, music isn’t just a backdrop, it’s a heartbeat. A mood. A mirror held up to every character trying to find their place in a world that demands reinvention. Across the cast’s conversations, one theme came up again and again: the soundtrack isn’t simply something you hear in Bel-Air, it’s something the characters feel, something the actors use, and something the audience remembers long after the screen fades to black.
Grammy-winner Coco Jones, who plays Hilary, uses the show to push her music career forward. “Acting has actually opened me up creatively,” she explains. “Stepping into Hilary gives me another emotional world to write from, it’s like I have access to someone else’s lived experience.”
As the reimagined drama heads into its biggest season yet, the cast agrees that music has quietly become the show’s emotional language. It’s how they unlock vulnerability, shape performances, and lean into the chaos, joy, and pressure that define growing up. “The Bel-Air playlist always goes crazy,” says Olly Sholotan who plays Carlton.
Ask anyone in the cast how they prepare for a scene, and music somehow enters the conversation. “I mean, in a lot of ways, maybe always, I am Will to a T,” says Jabari Banks, who plays the reboot’s lead. “The soul of Philly, the neo-soul roots, the hip-hop influence, it’s all baked into who I am.”
Whether it’s a playlist that grounds the mood or a single song that carries emotional weight, the actors say the show’s sonic world heavily influences their approach. “I make a playlist every season for Carlton,” says Olly Sholotan of his character. “In season one, [Kanye West’s] ‘Hold My Liquor’ became his battle cry, all that darkness and angst. Now his sound has more light in it.”
For many, the right track works like a compass. It helps center their characters, grounding them in the emotional truth of the moment before any cameras start rolling. Take Will for example, “Will was very Philly in season one — by season three, you hear more of that LA vibe, indie artists, Coast Contra, reflecting his journey from Philly to LA,” says Carla Banks Waddles, the series show-runner. When navigating scenes of conflict, heartbreak, ambition, or reinvention, music becomes both preparation and protection: a private space to understand the stakes before bringing them to life.
Bel-Air thrives because it understands something timeless: young people translate their world through sound. Whether it’s Will wrestling with identity, Carlton navigating pressure, or Hilary stepping into adulthood on her own terms, music underscores each journey before a single line is spoken.
“There was only one scene where the director told me, ‘Just so you know, this song is playing underneath when this moment happens.’ And I was like, ‘Ooh.’ She was playing it on set the whole time,” Cassandra recalls. “But music changes for an actor not just based on the scenes we’re doing, but on how our day starts. Me, Coco, and Akira all show up earlier than everyone else because of hair and makeup, so we might be there at 4:30 or 5:00 AM. The music we listen to in the morning is either to wake us up or emotionally center us for the day. So that’s a lot of gospel, sometimes a lot of R&B. And then as the day goes on, it gets eclectic, depending on our mood.”
The cast continues to talk about how certain songs became tied to specific turning points, not just for their characters, but for them personally. “The soundtrack is such an integral part of the series, it really feels like another character in so many scenes,” Sholotan explains. “Snoop Dogg pops up, and moments like that really add to the fabric of the show. It’s always amazing to see how fans connect with the music once they experience it in context.”
A track that plays under a breakup scene doesn’t just mark a plot moment; it marks a memory. A hype anthem used before a high-stakes storyline becomes a ritual. The showrunner’s use of music as emotional architecture gives the cast something rare: continuity through sound. Behind the scenes, Waddles treats music like another cast member, one that needs direction, intention, purpose and “starts at the script stage.” Tracks are placed not because they sound good, but because they shape the way a scene lands emotionally and the price of course.
“We prioritize what we call our tentpole songs,” she explains. “Each song has a rating — four dollar signs means it’s an expensive piece of music — and we decide which big moments in the script are worth spending on. Then we allocate three, two, or one-dollar-sign songs for the smaller moments. That’s how we decide where to spend the budget on music, whether it’s for emotional beats or fun moments, and then we work backward based on what’s left.”
From West Coast energy to nostalgic R&B to mood-heavy modern rap, every sound choice is doing narrative work. It’s telling the audience what words never say out loud. If earlier seasons introduced the world of Bel-Air, this season sounds like the one where everything gets louder, emotionally, musically, and narratively.
By the time credits roll this season, the audience won’t just walk away remembering scenes. They’ll remember how those scenes felt. They’ll remember the soundtrack of growing up, Bel-Air style. Below, the cast shares their respective character’s season four arc as a mini-playlist.
Jabari Banks (Will Smith)
Image Credit: Anne Marie Fox/PEACOCK
Trending on Billboard Doechii lit up Camp Flog Gnaw during her headlining slot, and spiced her show up by giving Ayo Edebiri a memorable lap dance. Doechii performed at Tyler, the Creator’s 2025 festival over the weekend at Dodger Stadium, and things got heated during her hour-long set once she brought The Bear star on […]
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Brandy earned the Vocal Bible nickname for a reason. Kehlani joined the latest episode of Big Boy’s Neighborhood where she sang the praises of Brandy, claiming that “The Boy Is Mine” singer should be on every artist’s R&B Mount Rushmore.
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Even as Kehlani has enjoyed plenty of success in her own right, the Oakland native doesn’t see Brandy as a peer since she’s one of the R&B artists who inspired her and paved the way.
“I don’t think I would ever call my greats my peers,” she said. “Would never call her a peer. We’ll always call her a mother. Would always call her in my Mount Rushmore of R&B. I think every R&B singer that you ask if you’re talking about vocal GOATs, they’re gonna say Brandy. I would never, respectfully, get into an argument about Brandy Norwood. I would never be explaining Brandy Norwood to anyone.”
Kehlani joined Brandy on stage as a surprise guest at the Los Angeles show on The Boy Is Mine Tour, where she gave Brandy her flowers, hailing her as the “greatest of all-time” and then performed her top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Folded.”
“I’m just glad I got to give her her flowers,” she added. “Even if they had only brought me out to give her her flowers and say what I got to say, that would’ve been just as good as being able to sing my song. I also was really grateful to be there in Monica’s presence as well, and give her her flowers privately.”
Brandy and Monica reunited for the co-headlining The Boy Is Mine Tour, which kicked off in October and has North American dates left in Detroit, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Tampa Bay, Miami and Jacksonville.
As for Kehlani, she’s preparing to drop off her anticipated album next spring. “I usually come in spring,” she said. “I’m a spring baby.” The 30-year-old is riding high off the success of “Folded,” which reached No. 7 on the Hot 100 and “Out the Window” (No. 63 Hot 100 peak).
Watch the full interview below. Talk about Brandy begins just shy of 27 minutes in.
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It took four years following 2021 predecessor Sitll Over It, but R&B star Summer Walker‘s Finally Over It finally arrived two Fridays ago (Nov. 14).
The third and presumed installment in Walker’s highly acclaimed Over It album series debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart this week, with 77,000 first-week units. The numbers mark the best debut for an album by a woman R&B artist in 2025 — defining such albums as those that are eligible for, or have charted on, Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart — but are down from Still, which entered at No. 1 with 166,000 units in 2021.
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How do those numbers compare to our expectations? And does the album itself live up to the first two parts of the trilogy? Billboard staffers answer these questions and more below.
1. Summer Walker’s Finally Over It debuts at No. 2 this week with 77,000 equivalent album units. Are those numbers higher, lower, or about what you expected for it?Mackenzie Cummings-Grady: This is personally right in line with what I expected, and if No. 1 wasn’t T-Swift and it wasn’t the week before Thanksgiving, this number easily could have been higher. Considering it’s been four years since Summer’s last project, and the only hit single to hype up this album was “Heart of a Woman,” which is over a year old at this point, 77,000 just gets more impressive the more you realize it highlights how devoted Summer’s fanbase is at this point.
Kyle Denis: These numbers are certainly lower than I expected. Both Over It and Still Over It opened with over 130,000 album units, so to go from that to barely surpassing 75,000 — with nearly 20 songs, multiple deluxe editions and an overall buzzier collection of guest artists — is pretty disappointing.
Gail Mitchell: Given the debut numbers for Walker’s first two albums, Over It (134,000) and Still Over It (166,000), this new number is lower than I expected. However, four years have elapsed since her last album, with Finally Over It landing in a very different economic climate. Consumers deal with higher prices for food, healthcare and other essentials. Meaning that for some, purchases of concert/festival tickets, music and other discretionary items are lower priorities right now.
Michael Saponara: I’d say that number is slightly higher than I anticipated. Even though 77,000 is less than half of what Still Over It did in 2021, we’re just in a much different climate when it comes to album sales. Couple that with an extended rollout that didn’t include a hit single leading into the project released this year, and the sum makes sense.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s a little lower. The rollout was messy and the singles were poorly timed, but I thought the continued interest in Walker and affection for the Over It series was enough to transcend the promotional miscues — especially because I think the album itself is quite strong. But a lot of artists are pulling up a little short of expectations on streaming right now, and I suppose Walker is no exception.
2. Finally Over It arrives over a year after she initially announced the album, and almost exactly four years after she released its predecessor, Still Over It. Based on the early returns, would you say the protracted rollout helped its debut performance, hurt it, or had no major impact on it?Mackenzie Cummings-Grady: I think the tour with Chris Brown definitely helped keep Summer as a part of the conversation, even though the rollout didn’t really kick into high gear until maybe a month or two ago. I think if it had been any other R&B singer, this rollout would have seriously hurt the project. If anything, these impressive first-week numbers show that Summer Walker has a real, devoted fanbase who show up for their girl even if the momentum culturally isn’t all the way there. For Summer fans, this may sound obvious, but for someone who doesn’t religiously follow her, I found it impressive and surprising how deep that support really went.
Kyle Denis: Over the past year, the Finally Over It rollout has felt very start-stop, which caused confusion and exasperation among some fans. We seemed to be headed somewhere after “Heart of a Woman” arrived in October 2024… and then it was practically radio silent until “Spend It” came around six months later. While “Spend It” came and went quickly, Summer opened select dates on Chris Brown’s Breezy Bowl XX Tour, but her sets didn’t contain any tangible messaging regarding when fans could expect her new album. In fact, the latest stage of the Finally Over It rollout began at the top of October, just a month and a half before the album hit DSPs and after a year of confusing false starts. I’m sure the clunky campaign caused some listeners to tune out or put the album on the backburner, thus hurting its debut performance.
Gail Mitchell: I don’t think the protracted rollout had a major impact on its debut. Walker still made an impressive bow at No. 2 against Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl juggernaut. So Walker still hasn’t lost her status as an R&B/pop crossover torch-bearer. Plus she’s back in the Grammy derby again with two nods (best R&B performance, best R&B song) for the album’s platinum-certified lead single, the aching “Heart of a Woman.” That’s not too shabby given the four-year break between albums.
Michael Saponara: I think the protracted rollout hurt the album a bit when it came to commercial performance. Summer had plenty of solid tracks and star-studded collaborations in the holster to raise hype and awareness surrounding the final installment of the trilogy to build her world out even further heading into Finally Over It. While “Heart of a Woman” is a Grammy-nominated single, it was still released over a year before the project ultimately arrived.
Andrew Unterberger: It probably hurt it a little, especially just in that if this album had come out in 2023, when streaming numbers across the board were still a little higher, I bet it would’ve done some brisker business there. But whether it’s about the industry, the timing or the album itself, it also feels like maybe the excitement just isn’t quite there for Finally Over It like there was for its two predecessors.
3. The new album also charts seven songs on the Hot 100 in its debut frame. Which, if any of them, seems like the likely breakout hit from the project to you? Mackenzie Cummings-Grady: I’m a little surprised by how low these songs debuted on the Hot 100, considering how impactful the album as a whole was, but the order they’re in makes sense to me. Fans were really talking about Doja and Latto’s features on “Go Girl,” so I can see that song separating from the pack in a few weeks.
Kyle Denis: I’m gonna put my money behind “No” right now. It’s right in that ‘00s R&B pocket that’s spinning out career-best chart hits for Kehlani right now, and the Beyoncé flip is clean. “FMT” has the advantage of a new music video, and while I think it’s one Summer’s best attempts at a straight-up pop ballad, I think it’ll end up more of a minor hit à la SZA’s “Nobody Gets Me” (which it bears notable sonic similarities to). I’d also keep an eye on “Baller” (the verses are hit-and-miss, but the hook is sticky) and “Go Girl” (TikTok might be clowning it, but it’s clearly also connecting with people).
Gail Mitchell: “Heart of a Woman” is a strong act to follow. However, “No” is another equally potent contender with its infectious hook and clever interpolation of Beyoncé’s 2003 song “Yes.” Through Walker’s emotive vocals, you feel the angst, frustration and heartbreak she’s endured… but also the maturity, strength and self-love she possesses now that she’s on the other side of the romance conundrum. And it’s all encapsulated in a one-word declaration: No. Honorable mention: “1-800 Heartbreak.”
Michael Saponara: I’m going with “Baby.” Chris Brown has still been able to dominate radio and I could see the apologetic track picking up steam on the airwaves and remaining in the R&B zeitgeist heading into 2026. It’s also an addictive listen and fans are already familiar with the Mariah Carey “Always Be My Baby” interpolation and sample built into “Baby,” which debuted at No. 68 on the Hot 100.
Andrew Unterberger: Yes to “No.” That’s some classic, timeless R&B right there. 4. Over It and Still Over It were two of the most acclaimed and successful R&B albums of the last decade — does Finally Over It feel like a worthy closer to the trilogy to you?Mackenzie Cummings-Grady: It’s definitely not as captivating as Over It and Still Over It were when they first came out, with the former being a certified classic at this point. Both of those albums felt fresh and unique, and I think Finally Over It instead offers more of what we’ve come to expect from Summer at this point, which is both a good and bad thing. She’s in her bag, and the highlights are high, but the album is long and grows sluggish at points. Regardless, it feels like a fitting closer, and hit me the same way The Dark Knight Rises did when it first hit theaters — I was entertained and satisfied with the conclusion, even despite its bloated runtime, but to compare it to The Dark Knight’s perfection in any way felt like a travesty.
Kyle Denis: I think I need more time with Finally Over It. I appreciate the bigger swings and more polished late ’90s/early ’00s sound, but there’s a rawness and vulnerability that’s missing for me — and those are the elements that most draw me into a Summer project. At the very least, Finally feels like a natural progression from its two predecessors.
Gail Mitchell: Yes it does, especially given the title track that helps close out disc two. “It’s over/ All the mess… all the stress,” Walker sings before pledging that “With you, love doesn’t hurt / Love is for better or worse / So I do.” Her hard-won journey/catharsis as depicted in the trilogy is finally over.
Michael Saponara: Finally Over It serves as a worthy closing chapter to the trilogy, as Summer enters her healing era from repeated heartbreak. Initially, I was skeptical coming in with four years passing since Still Over It, the lack of a 2025 hit single and the abundance of collaborators joining her, but Summer stitched it all together and remained the centrifugal force of an ambitious operation. The growth is evident as she leaned into more of a traditional R&B sound than the trap or distortion of her previous hits. The gold digger motif also spiced up her world-building. Ultimately, Summer serves up a cynical handbook on navigating love in the TikTok era.
Andrew Unterberger: I like this album a bunch. The lifts and samples are (mostly) inspired, the writing and performance is still strong, the feeling is still consistent with the first two albums. There’s a lot that’s familiar from the rest of the series, but enough new looks — the alluring two-parter “Don’t Make Me Do It”/”Tempted,” the burning Teddy Swims duet “Allegedly” — that it feels fresh, too. The only thing it doesn’t quite have is the urgency or edge of the first two, stuff like “I’ll Kill You” or “4th Baby Mama” that almost unnerved with its intensity. But let’s be honest, third installments of trilogies rarely feel as vital as the first two. 5. Now that Walker has dropped Finally, who’s the proven R&B artist with a long-awaited new project that you’re most eagerly anticipating?Mackenzie Cummings-Grady: We could go down the list considering how unbelievably high R&B is riding right now. This past year had some of the best R&B music I’ve heard in years, especially from newcomers. For now, I’m just gonna play it safe and go with Chris Brown. I don’t think the anticipation for a CB record has been this high since F.A.M.E., so I’m hoping he delivers.
Kyle Denis: Kehlani’s upcoming album isn’t necessarily long-awaited, but I think it’ll blow the roof off 2026 once it’s here. If we’re being strict about “long-awaited,” then I’ll go with Victoria Monét and Jazmine Sullivan. And of course, whenever Beyoncé returns with an R&B album, we’ll all be tuned in.
Gail Mitchell: Rumors about a new Sade album have been floating around for several years, with the latest buzz pegging 2026 for her anticipated return. Like Halley’s Comet, the mercurial singer-songwriter is known for her long hiatuses between albums — it’s now 15 years since her last project, 2010’s Soldier of Love. But there’s no doubt that the fascination and mystery about what she and her band are cooking up will be worth the wait.
Michael Saponara: Frank Ocean, ducks.
Andrew Unterberger: Come back Brent Faiyaz! “Have To” was tight.
Jay-Z, Ye, Lil Kim, Nicki Minaj and more.
11/25/2025
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Ciara has obviously adjusted well to her newest home sweet home.
In an epic new video, which Billboard is premiering exclusively below, Ciara takes to the streets of New York City for a 40-dancer Times Square flash mob celebrating her latest single “Nice n’ Sweet.” In addition to the CiCi deluxe track, which features Afropop artists MOLIY and Oxlade, the dancers also get down to “BRB” and the TikTok-viral “Low” in the “NYC Takeover” video, filmed on Nov. 17 during the early morning commute.
“I just knew being in the streets of New York dancing to ‘Low’ and ‘Nice n’ Sweet,’ which are very New York-ish, there’s an Afro-Caribbean influence in it — we know New York breeds that kind of energy throughout the streets,” Ciara told Billboard‘s Delisa Shannon. “So it just felt like the perfect place to have this moment and another ‘this place feels like home’ moment for me, which I loved.”
Alongside her NFL quarterback husband Russell Wilson and their four children, Ciara relocated to NYC ahead of the current football season, when Russ got picked up by the New York Giants.
“Everyone knows I’m from Atlanta, but at the same time, New York is showing our family tremendous love,” Ciara tells Billboard. “And as an artist, I feel like New York has put their arms around me too. And so this is another place that I call home. There’s just something so magical about being in the streets of New York. So I’ve never done a flash mob before. There was years ago where my team had put together a flash mob to celebrate me, but I never had done it where I just pop out in the middle of the streets and start dancing.”
The video begins with a small group of dancers taking turns in the center of a high-energy dance circle, set to “BRB” from the August album CiCi, before Ciara joins the chat in a Yankees ball cap, black sunglasses and blond braids past her waist for “Low,” featuring Diamond Platnumz.
The CiCi deluxe standout has been having a moment on TikTok, thanks to the “Low” Dance Challenge, and Ciara is grateful for the way the platform is spreading her music worldwide.
“The digital footprint has allowed for even more global expansion, you know?” Ciara tells Billboard. “And you get to see the influence of technology, where everyone and their mama can join in on the dance. And guess what? Everyone gets to see people shine in their own living rooms, right? I think there’s some kind of sense of ownership that people have, or a sense of empowerment when their videos go viral. And if we didn’t have these digital platforms, that opportunity wouldn’t exist. So I’ve learned to appreciate those moments and the power of those moments.”
Finally, the Nov. 14-released “Nice n’ Sweet” has its big moment, with Ciara joining the squad for some group choreography set to the Caribbean-influenced single. The star took the opportunity to take pics with all the dancers before hopping in her car and saying of the dance moment: “That was nice and sweet!”
Watch the video below, exclusively on Billboard.
–Reporting by Delisa Shannon
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Aminé is bringing his Tour de Dance world tour to Australia in early 2026, confirming a four-show run across Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.
The dates extend a touring cycle that has already taken the Portland rapper through more than 40 shows across the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe behind his latest album, 13 Months of Sunshine.
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The album, released earlier this year, marked Aminé’s first solo full-length since 2020’s Limbo and arrived after Kaytraminé, his 2023 collaborative project with Kaytranada. 13 Months of Sunshine saw the rapper take a more introspective turn, weaving themes of heritage, grief, identity and growth into a 16-track set featuring guest appearances from Waxahatchee and Toro y Moi.
Tour de Dance has become Aminé’s most expansive run yet, hitting major festivals and headlining venues across North America and Europe throughout 2024 and 2025. The Australian leg marks the rapper’s first return to the country since 2023 and the fourth visit of his career. His most recent Australian shows followed the release of Kaytraminé and included festival appearances and sold-out headline dates.
Aminé has remained a consistent presence on the touring circuit since breaking through with “Caroline,” which peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2017. He followed that with charting singles including “REDMERCEDES,” “Spice Girl” and “Shimmy,” and landed two albums on the Billboard 200: Good for You and Limbo, the latter peaking at No. 16.
The upcoming Tour de Dance dates will see Aminé return to mid-size theatres and halls, beginning Jan. 10 at Enmore Theatre in Sydney. The run continues Jan. 13 at Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane and Jan. 15 at The Forum in Melbourne, before wrapping Jan. 20 at Metro City in Perth. Pre-sale tickets open Nov. 26 at 10 a.m. local time, followed by general on-sale Nov. 28 at 10 a.m. local time.
13 Months of Sunshine is available now via CLBN and distributed by Virgin Music Group. Ticketing and tour information can be found via Live Nation.
Trending on Billboard It’s a new era for Lil Uzi Vert. The Philly rapper is no longer signed to Atlantic, and Uzi returned on Monday (Nov. 24) to release a pair of singles independently with “Chanel Boy” and “Relevant.” The 31-year-old joins Rihanna and Jay-Z as the only two artists both signed to ROC Nation […]
