R&B/Hip-Hop
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It’s 30 minutes before the NBA’s Lakers and Clippers tip-off for a late January showdown at their shared home of Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and rapper BigXthaPlug is sitting in a purchased box suite with his entire crew. Had he wanted, he could’ve showcased his 6’3”, 400-pound frame in personal courtside seats, but for the Dallas native, it’s a small token of appreciation for those who were with him before he could afford such luxuries. “I’m not finna see nothing for the first time without people that was there when I had nothing,” he says.
Lately, BigXthaPlug has had a lot to showcase: the rapper turned in a banner year in 2023, first with the RIAA-certified gold hit “Texas” that reps his home state, and more recently, with the braggadocious “Mmhmm.” The bass-bumping, sonically nostalgic track, which showcases his bellowing voice adlibbing the song’s title throughout the chorus, broke through on a mainstream level and debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in December. “You gotta say it with a little more ‘Mmmhmmm,’” BigXthaPlug instructs with a deep southern drawl that sounds naturally chopped-and-screwed.
Born Xavier Landum, the 25-year-old was raised by his mother — also a Texas native — who put him onto southern rap dignitaries ranging from UGK to Lil Wayne, while his father leaned more into the R&B acts like the Isley Brothers. BigXthaPlug grew up with NFL dreams and only began rapping a few years ago, with his self-released Bacc From the Dead project in 2020. The EP drew the attention of UnitedMasters’ A&R Aaron Hunter, who then peppered the rapper with DMs before ultimately flying to Texas for an in-person introduction at a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party for the latter’s cousin.
BigXthaPlug signed a deal with the distributor in 2021, and shortly after, he added a manager in Public Figures Management Group founder Kyle Wilson, who first discovered BigXthaPlug on Instagram through his raw track “Safehouse.” (Co-manager Brandon Farmer, a partner at Solid Foundation Management, joined the team in 2023 after watching the rapper’s SXSW set.) “His stage presence, you just don’t really see that,” Farmer says. “You can tell when somebody is a star. X is a star.”
BigXthaPlug photographed on January 22, 2024 in Los Angeles.
Daniel Dorsa
BigXthaPlug photographed on January 22, 2024 in Los Angeles.
Daniel Dorsa
But just as the pieces of his team were coming into place, BigXthaPlug was arrested on unlawful carrying of weapons and marijuana possession charges and served a 2022 jail stint in solitary confinement. The experience was a wake-up call: instead of spending the hours in monotony, he wrote rhymes on medically issued med-line paper and read the dictionary. “I tried to read the Bible but I couldn’t do it,” he says.
He was released later that year, and by 2023, BigXthaPlug translated inspiration into action: he launched his own independent record label, 600 Entertainment, and subsequently added artists Ro$ama and Yung Hood to the roster. He joined rapper Key Glock on tour that April, where he met hip-hop producer Bandplay and immediately established a rapport. In June, the two went on a creative retreat in Arizona, and one of the first songs that came about during the two-week Airbnb stay was “Mmhmm.” Bandplay first cooked up the funky beat in 2020 after hearing The Whispers’ “And The Beat Goes On” while watching a movie. But upon initially hearing the beat in Arizona — which samples the 1979 track also prominently used in Will Smith’s 1998 single “Miami” — it didn’t register with BigXthaPlug.
“I’m a groovy-ass person,” BigXthaPlug recalls. “Bandplay was playing it and me and [songwriter Ro$ama] got to dancing. Bandplay stopped it and was like, ‘Y’all know what sample this is?’ We was like, ‘Hell nah.’” Still, within 30 minutes, the hit took form.
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BigXthaPlug saw the track as an opportunity to put his friend in a position to win: in a genre where many are shy about their collaborative writing process, he asked Ro$ama to pen the song’s heavy-flexing opening verse. “I had already wrote a verse — the second is my verse,” BigXthaPlug says. “I [told him], ‘Write a verse, and if it’s good, you could get points and get paid.’ A lot of these rappers are using writers. Even if you don’t end up the biggest artist in the world, you might be the biggest writer. It made me bring the energy.”
After finishing the track, BigXthaPlug headed to nightclubs across the country to crystallize his instincts that he had a mainstream hit on his hands. “I’ll go to the club every day of the week to make sure my songs are getting played,” he says. As an unreleased version of “Mmhmm” began to dominate club venues, UnitedMasters had him pump the brakes for the rest of the summer to make sure the licensing rights were in order. But as BigXthaPlug says, he “doesn’t mind paying that bag to get sh-t cleared,” and upon getting the green light, he officially released “Mmhmm” to streaming services through UnitedMasters last October.
Two months later, he released EP The Biggest, which included a remix of the song featuring fellow Texan Finesse2Tymes. By mid-December, amid the influx of holiday songs on the all-genre chart, “Mmhmm” debuted on the Hot 100 where it has since reached a No. 65 high and compiled 75.5 million total on-demand official U.S. streams through Jan. 25, according to Luminate — and importantly, served as a means of validation for the rapper. “I always like to have reassurance,” BigXthaPlug admits. “Sometimes I catch myself like, ‘Why are you still rapping? You know you not a rapper.’ Then you get a Billboard [Hot 100 entry].”
From left: Kyle Wilson, BigXthaPlug, and Brandon Farmer photographed on January 22, 2024 in Los Angeles.
Daniel Dorsa
BigXthaPlug photographed on January 22, 2024 in Los Angeles.
Daniel Dorsa
The song’s success propelled “Texas” and featured turn on NLE Choppa’s “Pistol Paccin” onto Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and as the rapper turns the page to 2024, he isn’t resting on his laurels. He will release a collaborative EP with 600 Entertainment artists and follow it with a solo album. He also says he has a collaboration with Rod Wave, and that Megan Thee Stallion recently reached out, too.
It’s all humbling for BigXthaPlug, who’s still getting accustomed to the buzz — but teases everything will get bigger, and better, this year. He’s a Texan, after all. “I didn’t even want to make [‘Texas’],” he reflects. “If I can do this when I didn’t wanna do it, what the f–k could I do when I want to do it?”
A version of this story will appear in the Feb. 10, 2024, issue of Billboard.
OMG! Usher‘s forgotten he’s performing at the 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show in Uber Eats’ new commercial for the Big Game, which dropped on Tuesday (Feb. 6).
The star-studded spot kicks off with Friends star Jennifer Aniston receiving an Uber Eats order from an assistant, who was surprised at all the various items — flowers and lotion, for example — the service can deliver. “You know what they say: ‘In order to remember something, you gotta forget something else,’” the Emmy-winning star shares, before pointing to her head and noting, “Make a little room!”
From there, a range of people erase a little knowledge to keep Uber Eats in mind, including David and Victoria Beckham. “Remember when you used to be a pepper lady?” the soccer star asks Posh, who’s in a white “David’s Wife” T-shirt.
“Wasn’t it the Cinnamon Sisters?” she wonders, before the athlete offers up “Basil Babes,” and the designer-singer suggests “Paprika Girls” instead, to which David answers, “No! That’s absurd!”
As Billboard previously exclusively shared in a teaser, Uber Eats’ ad also features country star Jelly Roll forgetting he has face tattoos. “Did someone doodle on my face?!” the “Son of a Sinner” singer asks, horrified, when he see his reflection in a mirror. As he tries to rub the ink off, he screams, “It’s not coming off!”
At the end of the ad — after Aniston has forgotten major period of her life (and a very good Friend) — the eight-time Grammy winner chills with his Uber Eats meal and says wistfully to his two horrified stagehands backstage, “I hope I get to play a halftime show someday, man.”
Fortunately for Usher, that wish is coming true much sooner rather than later. The R&B icon is set to headline the 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday (Feb. 11). The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will face off in the NFL’s championship game beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Watch Usher, Jelly Roll and more stars in Uber Eats’ Super Bowl ad above.
A brief argument between Killer Mike and Grammy Awards security personnel over access credentials led to the Atlanta rapper’s arrest Sunday night, a source close to the situation tells Billboard. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The incident took place outside the Peacock Theater where many of […]
“Rap beef is so washed and tired. Exhausting. Embarrassing. Just f—ing over all corny as f—.”
The rapper Coi Leray made this pronouncement in a since-deleted tweet on Jan. 26. She was responding to an Eminem verse in a new Lyrical Lemonade song titled “Doomsday Pt. 2,” but the spat — and Leray’s suggestion that beef was a waste of energy — was quickly forgotten.
That’s because, that same day, Megan Thee Stallion released “Hiss,” a withering track that hurls vitriol at blogs, exes, shit-talkers, copycats, “Z-list hoes,” and more. Nicki Minaj is not named in the song, but she took offense to a line, and has spent her subsequent days letting the world know in interviews and on social media. She also attacked Megan Thee Stallion in a venomous new song called “Big Foot.”
All of this has been great for the commercial reception of “Hiss,” which launched at No. 1 on the Hot 100, far higher than Megan Thee Stallion’s last single, “Cobra” (No. 32). On-demand audio streams of “Cobra” started at around 1.7 million the day of release and then slid to a plateau around 1.1 to 1.2 million, according to Luminate. “Hiss” started out higher — earning 3.2 million on-demand audio streams opening day — and then began to make a similar slide, falling to 2.3 million plays by Sunday, a drop of around 27%. However, when Minaj released “Big Foot” Sunday at midnight, streams of “Hiss” shot back up — hitting 3.8 million on Monday, a jump of more than 60% — and they stayed strong for the rest of the week.
That’s all worth real money. Billboard estimates that “Hiss” earned around $121,000 in royalties from those on-demand audio streams — about $33,000 of which came from that “Big Foot” bump. (Megan Thee Stallion recently signed a distribution deal with Warner Music Group.) “Big Foot,” meanwhile, has earned more than $44,000 in recorded music royalties from its audio streams, Billboard estimates. (These figures don’t take into account other sources of streams or sales, which were especially significant for Megan Thee Stallion.)
In an industry where the competition for attention is fiercer than ever, the combination of controversy and celebrity remains the closest thing to a surefire winner. “When you’re in a very crowded marketplace with however many songs coming out on streaming services every day, you have to figure out an angle to cut through the noise,” says Eddie Blackmon, a longtime A&R. “Obviously this is cutting through the noise.”
“Beef always helps music, because it just brings attention,” adds another rap executive who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “In the clickbait world that we’re in, that gets the headlines, that’s what people talk about, that gets the barbershops going. People react to negativity more than they do positivity.”
Megan Thee Stallion has already proved adept at using celebrity and controversy to galvanize headlines and streaming, of course. When she released “WAP” with Cardi B in 2020, conservatives objected to the sexually explicit lyrics, turning the single into a culture-war-flashpoint — and a No. 1 hit. (When the two rappers released “Bongos” in 2023, it failed to incense right-wing commentators, debuted at No. 14, and quickly faded from view.) Lil Nas X achieved a similar feat with “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” transforming conservative outrage over the track’s video into a tail-wind that propelled him to No. 1.
These days, culture war controversy may be the most effective rocket fuel for hits. For two other examples that helped mint No. 1’s in 2023, see Oliver Anthony Music’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” and Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town.”
Hip-hop feuds are another strain of controversy with their own long history, fodder for many an internet list: MC Shan vs. KRS-One; Lil’ Kim vs. Foxy Brown; Jay-Z vs. Nas; 50 Cent vs. Ja Rule; Meek Mill vs. Drake; Minaj vs. Remy Ma, and many, many, many more.
Sha Money XL produced 50 Cent’s “Wanksta,” a hooky Ja Rule diss that came out in 2002. “That was 50’s first break-through record,” Sha Money XL says. “DJs went crazy with it.”
A dispute between artists “is definitely going to raise your attention,” the producer and longtime record executive adds. “The bad thing is there can be fights, shoot-outs, that come with it.”
Listeners love to take sides in abstract debates — which rapper is more talented, or more of a sellout — especially in an era where zealous fan armies vie for primacy online, but there can be dangerous real-world consequences. “With beefs there can be a bravado there; guys want to hurt each other or defend their ego,” says Ray Daniels, a veteran hip-hop executive and host of The GAUDS Show.
In the case of Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj, Daniels continues, “no one is saying, ‘tool up and get security up.’ So to me, it’s a great thing that they’re using their platforms to shine lights on each other, whether that’s good light or bad light. Both songs are streaming; it’s obviously working.” (Though while streams of “Hiss” rebounded and stayed high, “Big Foot” enjoyed a big debut — 4.1 million on-demand audio streams — then fell off quickly, logging 1.1 million plays in the last day of the track week, according to Luminate.)
If sales can be a side effect of some spats, they can also be the main event, the whole purpose of the fracas. 50 Cent and Kanye West battled over who would sell more units in 2007, as did Minaj and Travis Scott in 2018. (At the time, Minaj memorably ridiculed Scott as “this Auto-Tune man coming up here selling f—ing sweaters.”)
Squabbles over sales also help drive sales, of course — it’s not a coincidence that West’s Graduation earned the biggest opening week of his career at that point. “Some skeptical hip-hop fans believe that most of these feuds are merely cheap marketing stunts meant to help sell records,” The New York Times noted at the time. “This feud was unabashedly a marketing stunt, with record sales not the hidden agenda but the main point.”
“We know there are real beefs and then there are manufactured beefs,” acknowledges Blackmon, who started his career working at West’s G.O.O.D. Music label. “But they all help build awareness of the songs that are being released. It’s all marketing at the end of the day. If it takes on a life of its own, the companies and teams around it figure out how to fan the flame.”
That fanning process can happen more quickly in the social media era. “Social media makes little things bigger, magnifies the tension and the opinions,” Sha Money XL notes.
Many of the prominent music- and culture-focused accounts on X, Instagram, and TikTok are entrepreneurial, meaning they accept money for posts. “People spend tens of thousands of dollars across Instagram, blogs, and X culture accounts,” says one digital marketer who is not working with either Megan Thee Stallion or Minaj. “Narrative-based campaigns are everything. You’re getting the internet to see the parts of the story you want them to see; if you wanted to hurt somebody, for example, you seed out their low first-week numbers [when they release an album], knowing that everybody’s just gonna roast them.”
“Black Twitter has had a field day right now with this whole feud” between Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion, the digital marketer adds. His advice: “Keep fueling it.”
“You want to continue the conversation,” a second digital marketer uninvolved with either rapper agrees. If a rivalry is developing, he continues, artist’s teams can go to culture-focused accounts and pay $50 or $100 for posts asking something as simple as, “who’s harder?” “It’s much easier to push a narrative on X, especially if you’re a large artist,” the digital marketer says. “You’re going to get impressions just by using the name.”
Both Megan Thee Stallion and Minaj seem keenly aware that their clash has the potential to drive clicks. Even as Minaj insults Megan Thee Stallion in “Big Foot,” she claims that she’s doing her rival a favor: “It’s the most attention you’ve ever gotten.” Meanwhile, “Hiss” targets anyone “usin’ my name for likes.” “All this free promo,” Megan raps. “I’m turnin’ a profit.”
Megan Thee Stallion’s writing hisstory, as she’s earned her third No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 after her scorching “Hiss” single debuted at the chart’s apex on Monday (Feb. 5).
After reaching No. 1 status twice in 2020 thanks to the Beyoncé-assisted “Savage” and Cardi B’s “WAP,” Meg has notched her first No. 1 hit as a solo act, becoming one of two women rappers — alongside Nicki Minaj — to debut atop the tally. The “Body” rapper exuded humility and grace when thanking all involved with making this feat possible.
“Thank you thank you thank you ! Thank you GOD, Thank you MAMA HOLLY, Thank you to EVERYONEEEEE that took the time out of their week to go hard and make this happen,” she tweeted.
“I love you I appreciate you I’m so grateful likeeee #HISS is number 1 !!! Thank you for RUNNING IT UP HOTTIES Let’s keep going hard and staying positive ! Love yall.”
The Hot 100 isn’t the only chart Megan’s ruling, as the Houston Hottie hit No. 1 on the Streaming Songs, Digital Song Sales, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts concurrently thanks to her fiery serpentine-themed single.
“HISS” accumulated 29.2 million first-week streams, 2.9 million radio airplay audience impressions and 104,000 downloads sold from Jan. 26-Feb. 1, according to Luminate.
Co-produced by LilJuMadeDaBeat and Bankroll Got It, “HISS” arrived on Jan. 26 via Hot Girl Productions and found Megan responding to critics who have had plenty to say about her in the last couple of years. The 28-year-old even possibly had smoke for Drake, Nicki Minaj, Kenneth Petty, Tory Lanez, and ex-boyfriend Pardison Fontaine.
A week after the single’s release, Megan Thee Stallion announced an “innovative” distribution deal with Warner Music Group on Friday (Feb. 2). With the unique partnership, the Houston Hottie will have access to WMG’s global services ranging from music promotion to distribution and worldwide marketing.
Megan will keep releasing music independently through her Hot Girl Productions label while the deal allows Thee Stallion to keep ownership and control of her masters as well as her publishing. Billboard previously reported about the Houston-bred rapper working with WMG in December.
Find the Houston Hottie’s reaction to “HISS” going No. 1 below.
Thank you thank you thank you ! Thank you GOD, Thank you MAMA HOLLY, Thank you to EVERYONEEEEE that took the time out of their week to go hard and make this happen! I love you I appreciate you I’m so grateful 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹💙💙💙💙 likeeee #HISS is number 1 !!! Thank you for RUNNING…— TINA SNOW (@theestallion) February 5, 2024
Drake was contemplative Friday night (Feb. 2) before kicking off his It’s All A Blur – Big as the What? Tour with J. Cole. At 7 p.m., he fired off an Instagram post alerting concertgoers in Tampa, Fla., that the doors for the Amalie Arena had finally opened. Quoting Kurupt as inspiration, Drake’s caption discussed […]
The Super Bowl is here — not the crew of Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift, and Patrick Mahomes, but the rap Super Bowl consisting of the genre’s biggest heavyweights, Drake and J. Cole, as they kicked off their hotly anticipated It’s All A Blur – Big As The What? Tour Friday night (Feb. 2) at Tampa’s […]
Few people had a bigger 2023 than Coco Jones — and she could very well turn 2024 into an even bigger year following Sunday night’s 2024 Grammys, where she’s nominated for a whopping five Golden Gramophones.
Ahead of Music‘s Biggest Night, Billboard staff writer Kyle Denis sat down with Jones to break down her whirlwind year and her feelings going into her first Grammy Awards as a nominee. At Sunday night’s telecast, Jones is nominated for best new artist, best R&B song (“ICU”), best R&B performance (“ICU”), best traditional R&B performance (“Simple,” with Babyface) and best R&B album (What I Didn’t Tell You – Deluxe).
“The Grammys are just a very respected group of people who earned their voice and their credits and credentials,” she says. “To me, I respect everyone who is nominated and decides because I just feel like the Grammys also help up-and-coming [artists and creatives]. For them to recognize the work that I’m doing, it just feels very affirming.”
The “Caliber” singer continues, “When I first learned I was nominated, I was on the plane. I definitely was asleep. My phone was vibrating so much, I was like, ‘This turbulence is crazy!’ But what I realized was, everyone was texting me congratulations.”
Last year, Jones earned her first Billboard Hot 100 entry with “ICU” (No. 62), which earned a remix featuring Justin Timberlake and also reached the top of Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and R&B Digital Song Sales. The success of “ICU” also gave way to a deluxe version of 2022 EP, What I Didn’t Tell You, which climbed to No. 6 on Heatseekers Albums — her first appearance on the chart in exactly a decade. In addition to her own music, Jones has lent her talents to collaborations with the likes of Brent Faiyaz (“Moment of Your Life”), Lil Tjay (“Grateful”), Adekunle Gold (“Make It Easy”) and Mean Girls movie musical star Reneé Rapp (“Tummy Hurts”).
“I have to say I really loved [working with] Reneé Rapp,” Jones gushes. “I think that was just so cool because it was mixing pop and R&B, and that’s something I want to do moving forward, so I like that. To me, it was kind of like foreshadowing.”
Like Rapp, Jones is also an acclaimed multi-hyphenate. She’s currently gearing up to film the forthcoming new season of Peacock’s Bel-Air, in which she portrays the ever-fashionable Hilary Banks. “I’m excited! A lot is still up in the air, we just ended the strike and I know everybody is getting back to work,” she says. “I’m not sure what’s in store for Hilary, I definitely want it to be surprising though, I’m like ‘Let’s up the stakes!’”
After spending 2023 on a major headlining tour, racking up R&B smashes and promoting season two of Bel-Air, Jones is ready to conquer the new year with the lessons she’s learned from those experiences. “Everything’s in seasons,” she muses. “Sometimes, people come into your life for a season, sometimes you have seasons where you don’t understand what’s going on, but seasons are the weather so they must change and they must evolve and they must go to something different. Don’t try to hold on to whatever has outlasted its season.”
Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz took center stage before a packed and cheering ballroom for The Recording Academy Honors presented by The Black Music Collective (BMC) Thursday evening (Feb. 1) in Los Angeles. The two music icons were saluted as this year’s Global Impact Award recipients — a CEO Merit Award “honoring the essence and evolution of Black excellence,” as Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. noted in his opening remarks.
And with Mason’s declaration, “Let’s get this party started,” a stellar array of music performances and emotion-packed acceptance speeches rocked the rafters of the Fairmont Century Plaza. Leading the charge was Davido with a spirited performance of “Mona Lisa” that that got the audience on its feet, dancing and waving napkins around the room.
That moment was just the first in a series of standing ovations setting the tone prior to the award presentations. Among the evening’s noteworthy performances, under the direction of the event’s music supervisor Adam Blackstone, was Andra Day’s powerful rendering of the Billie Holiday classic “Strange Fruit,” Gabby Simone’s insightful interpretation of Nina Simone’s “Four Women” and Erica Campbell’s soul-clenching take on the gospel standard “I Love the Lord.”
Just as stirring were the performances and speeches given on behalf of the honorees, beginning with H.E.R. paying tribute to singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist Lenny Kravitz. Referencing one of his hits, she said, “’American Woman’ made me say to my dad, ‘I want to play guitar. I want to be a rock star like Lenny Kravitz’ … Thank you for breaking so many barriers and paving the way for artists like me. Thank you, Lenny Kravitz, for teaching us all to let love rule” — (a nod to the title of Kravitz’s 1989 debut studio album).
Kravitz began by sharing early musical memories that helped shape his legendary career, such as being a 5-year-old sitting on the lap of Duke Ellington in the Rainbow Room while the latter played “Take the A Train.” And Kravitz’s dad taking him to see the Jackson 5 at Madison Square Garden and afterwards “wanting to be the sixth brother.” The four-time Grammy winner further invoked a host of additional influences such as Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, James Brown, Nina Simone, Grandmaster Flash, Parliament-Funkadelic and Bob Marley.
Lenny Kravitz accepts the Global Impact Award onstage during the Recording Academy Honors presented by The Black Music Collective during the 66th GRAMMY Awards on February 01, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Leon Bennett/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
“I could go on all night,” he continued. “I love this music because it feeds our hearts and strengthens our resolve to keep conveying hope and healing to a whole new world. To be a part of this lineage is a privilege I cherish. It is with deep gratitude that I thank you, knowing that music in every corner of the planet uplifts and expresses the goodness of God’s everlasting love.” Then fellow musicians Andrew Watt, Chad Smith, Verdine White, George Clinton and Quavo joined forces to perform “Fly Away” to roaring applause — and hearty hugs from Kravitz on stage.
More cheering ensued when Stevie Wonder took the stage to pay tribute to Mariah Carey in word and song. “Every time we meet and talk, it’s like having a brand new day,” he began. “I thank you for your friendship, your heart and the consistent spirit of love that you show … and I’m just going to say this …” That’s when Wonder segued into the choruses of two of his songs: “Knocks Me Off My Feet” (“I don’t want to bore you with it, but I love you, I love you”) and “All I Do” (“all I do is think about you”) and ad libbing at the end, “you are my hero.”
After thanking Wonder (“I will never not get excited to be in the company of your greatness!”), Carey drew plenty of audience laughter as she held the award and remarked that she hadn’t won a Grammy in a long time. She went on to thank Harvey Mason jr. and the Academy, congratulate fellow honoree Kravitz and wish everyone a happy Black History Month, the five-time Grammy winner said in part:
“When I first started in the music business, I was often told to conform to certain expectations. I wasn’t encouraged to focus on my love for Black music. It took countless arguments, endless tantrums and mostly unwavering determination. But eventually, I was able to reveal my authentic self, as they say, and create music that came from my heart … I discovered a newfound sense of freedom and fulfillment. As I accept this award, I do so with gratitude for all of you here and every person who has supported me along this journey; the fans that have stood by me through thick and thin.
“But most importantly,” she continued, “I accept this award on behalf of every person who has ever felt silenced or marginalized, who has ever been told their voice doesn’t matter. Your truth matters. We will continue to pave the way together for a future where authenticity is celebrated, diversity is embraced and music has the power to change the world.”
Additional performers feting Carey in song included Babyface (“Everytime I Close My Eyes”) Busta Rhymes (“I Know What You Want”), Tori Kelly (“Vision of Love”) and Yolanda Adams (“Make It Happen”). And among the Recording Academy executives who shared remarks were BMC chair Rico Love and Ryan Butler, the Academy’s vp of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Prior to the event — produced by MVD Inc. — guests were treated to striking black-and-white portraits of Jay-Z, Nipsey Hussle and other artists in the Icons Gallery curated by music executive and photographer Lenny S.
Life is moving fast for Ice Spice amid her meteoric rise to stardom, but one life-changing moment brought her to tears of joy.
The 24-year-old star sat down with the Today show on Friday (Feb. 2), where she reflected on having the chance to work with Taylor Swift on the “Karma (Remix).” Ice Spice revealed hearing that T-Swift wanted to collaborate left her in tears.
“I started crying when I heard about it,” Spice said. “I was like, ‘No, you’re lying. That’s not real!’ I was so emotional, it was like tears of joy, of course. But, just grateful — iconic.”
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The “Karma (Remix)” arrived last May as part of Swift’s Midnights extended edition. The duo performed the collab for the first time days later at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on the Eras Tour, and the rework would debut at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Swift called working with Ice Spice made sense and reached out to the budding artist directly after hearing she’d be interested in collaborating, the “Anti-Hero” singer told Spotify last year. The pop superstar added she was actually already a fan of Spice and had listened to her music on tour.
“Collaborating with Ice Spice on ‘Karma’ was one of the most natural things,” Swift said at the time. “I had been listening to her nonstop, like getting ready for my (Eras) tour, I was just listening to Ice Spice constantly.”
Elsewhere in Ice Spice’s Today interview, she opened up about her upcoming Y2K debut album, which is slated to arrive later this year — and she’s teasing a “crazy collaboration.”
“Yes, there’s gonna be an album this year. It’s called Y2K; it’s almost finished so I’m really excited. I have a crazy collaboration that just got locked in two days ago,” she said while remaining tight-lipped about the mega collab.
Watch Ice Spice reflect on working with Taylor Swift and more from her TODAY interview, which includes a sneak peek at her Starry Super Bowl commercial, below.
Ice Spice speaks to Hoda and Jenna about collaborating with Taylor Swift for ‘Karma’ and shares how it felt receiving that call: “I started crying.” pic.twitter.com/pPdD6RbxUF— TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) February 2, 2024