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For years, musicians pretty much had just one artistic outlet for dissing their enemies: through song. That would all change for good circa 1981, however, when the modern music video was born — bringing with it a whole new way for singers and rappers to creatively dunk on their haters, exes, backstabbers, copycats and everyone […]
Nicki Minaj is still regretting a tardiness mistake from 13 years ago. In an Instagram Live video recorded and posted by 9MagTV this week, Diddy’s son Justin Combs commented “Hi” in the chat, which Minaj noticed and addressed. “I went to your Sweet 16 with you, right?” she said. “Yo, what was that like me […]
Coolio‘s legacy continues to live on. The rapper — who died in September 2022 due to an accidental overdose — received a tribute in the Monday (Aug. 28) episode of Hulu’s Futurama, in which he voices Kwanzaabot. The episode, titled “I Know What You Did Next Xmas,” marks Coolio’s final appearance on the show. In […]
Future’s “I’m Dat N—-” leads Billboard’s Sept. 2-dated Hot Trending Songs chart, powered by X, over a year after its initial release thanks to a viral video featuring the song.
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Billboard’s Hot Trending charts, powered by X (formerly known as Twitter), track global music-related trends and conversations in real-time across X, viewable over either the last 24 hours or past seven days. A weekly, 20-position version of the chart, covering activity from Friday through Thursday of each week, posts alongside Billboard’s other weekly charts on Billboard.com each Tuesday, with the latest tracking period running Aug. 18-24.
“I’m Dat N—-,” from Future’s 2022 album I Never Liked You, rules thanks to a viral video widely shared on X featuring a groom walking out to the song at his wedding.
It becomes Future’s first No. 1 on Hot Trending Songs; the tune previously appeared at No. 2 on the list in February.
The video spurred streaming gains for the song – a 15% gain from 836,000 official on-demand U.S. streams to 958,000 in the Aug. 18-24 tracking week, according to Luminate.
Future leads a slew of songs from Burna Boy’s new album I Told Them…, which occupy Nos. 2-9. They’re led by “Cheat on Me” featuring Dave, which preceded the album with an Aug. 22 release.
I Told Them… was eventually released Aug. 24, with further chart positions for both the album and its songs possible on the Sept. 9-dated Billboard charts encompassing the week of Aug. 25-31.
Victoria Monet’s “Alright” rounds out the top 10 from her new album Jaguar II, released Aug. 25.
Keep visiting Billboard.com for the constantly evolving Hot Trending Songs rankings, and check in each Tuesday for the latest weekly chart.
The inspiration for “Johnny Dang” came to That Mexican OT (Outta Texas) in an unexpectedly casual manner — while listening to Slick Rick’s flow in “Children’s Story,” the hip-hop legend’s 1989 top 5 hit on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. For the cowboy hat-donning Texas rapper, creative outbursts arrive with no notice. “Louis Vuitton umbrella when I walk through the rain,” he raps with a familiar lilt while on the phone with Billboard.
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“Johnny Dang” is also an ode to the highly sought after Texas jeweler of the same name who appears in the music video. Johnny Dang is arguably hip-hop’s go-to jeweler, designing extravagant chains and grills for artists like Beyoncé, Migos, Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, Ye and many more.
Another surreal experience for the Bay City, Texas rapper came through enlisting Houston hip-hop legend Paul Wall and rap newcomer DRODi, who is OT’s close friend. “It was cool, it really was. But it’s mostly crazy,” OT says about pulling Wall to the track. “It’s cool to bring it back [home] because my uncles grew up jamming [to his music], you know?… And DRODi is one of my best friends. It’s beautiful watching him grow.”
The results have paid off. The rustic single with a slow-burning trap beat is quickly climbing the Billboard charts, making it That Mexican OT (real name Virgil René Gazca) and DRODI’s first time on the Hot 100. The song — which was released May 26 via Manifest/GoodTalk/Good Money Global — debuted at No. 97 and reached a new high at No. 65 on the Hot 100 dated Sep. 1. It currently boasts 20 million YouTube views, and over 36 million Spotify streams.
He is effortlessly putting Tejano (a Mexican person from Texas) rap on the map by creating a style that’s captivating and truly authentic. Billboard caught up with the artist to talk about making the Hot 100, how lucha libre culture inspired his latest album Lonestar Luchador and why he’s a proud “country boy before anything.”
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What went through your head when you found out that you made the Hot 100.
Nothing. I don’t really focus on that. I feel that when I focus on my accomplishments, I get big-headed, and I don’t ever want to have to humble myself, nor do I want to ever get comfortable. I stay in total vision to my music. When they hit Billboard, it’s like, all right, cool. But No. [65] is not good enough. I want to be at No. 1.
How did “Johnny Dang” come together? Talk to me about the inspiration.
We were at my apartment, and I was knocking a beat. I didn’t know that they was recording me. [Producer TobiAli] played the “Johnny Dang” beat [and] I was like, “Bet, I need that one. I don’t even need you to show me no more. I only want that one.” He sent it [and] I thought of a word. You know Slick Rick? You know that tun nun nun nun nu nu nu nu nu nu… It’s also from Inspector Gadget, and the “Children’s Story” [song]: “Once upon a time not long ago…” That flow right there, that’s all Slick Rick’s flow. That was the whole inspiration for that [lyric], “Louis Vuitton umbrella when I walk through the rain…” I got the inspiration from Slick Rick.
You have Paul Wall and DRODi on the tracks. How was it working with a Houston rap legend like Paul Wall?
It’s cool to show off in front of my people about it. It really was an accomplishment for me. I’m very grateful for it, and I’m excited about it. I see bigger things for me; I want to do better. That’s all it is. DRODi is one of my best friends, so it’s always beautiful having him in my music.
You got Johnny Dang in the video. What was it like having him there? Did he design your grills?
No, he actually didn’t design my grill. I already had my grill. I had diamonds when I was just plain old Virgil. It was cool watching him be in the video. You could tell he’ll do a good job of making you feel loved and wanted, but you could tell it was strictly about business.
You fuse your Mexican heritage with Texas rap culture. The tattoos, the grill, but also the cowboy hat and boots. Tell me about your style.
I’m a country boy before anything. English was my first [language]. I’m a Texan before anything. I definitely have my Mexican culture — I love my Mexican culture — but I’m a country boy. I’m a Texas Mexican. There’s no Mexican like a Tejano.
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What would you like an outsider that is not from Texas to know about Texas? What is one of the things that you have the most pride in showcasing about Texas?
Just our whole culture, our steelo, our swagger, the cars we drive, how we talk, the things that we choose to do. You know what I’m saying? Everything about Texas is beautiful.
You draw a lot of inspiration from the luchador culture in your album, Lonestar Luchador. How did the luchador become the star in your album?
It just made sense. I don’t put much thinking into it. God put it in my head without me even knowing, and it just came out naturally.
Did you grow up watching a lot of lucha libre?
Yeah, of course. I watched a lot of WWE. I watched lucha libre for sure. [When I went with] my nanny and my tío in the [Mexican] border towns of Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo, where people pass and all that, every time, I had to go get new masks [from the store stands of the border crossing point] and bring them back over here [to the U.S.]. I was surrounded by it, fasho.
Tell me what else you have underway.
I’m continuing to work on this project. Now that I dropped [Lonestar Luchador], every single song on it has a video to it, so I’m going to be continuing to drop videos for the project. And while I’m doing that, I got a tour coming up. My first show on tour is going to be on September 5th and I’m opening up in Denver — Denver always goes crazy for me. I’m touring my music, really, that’s all I can say. I can’t tell you too much. I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprises.
OT, thanks for taking the time to have this chat.
People like you are making my dreams come true. I love this. I don’t know what else I’d be doing. I got zero patience. I got a horrible temper. I already don’t like dealing with people, so this music had to wait for me. I had no choice [and] I thank God. That’s why I go so hard.
A version of this story originally appeared in the Aug. 26, 2023, issue of Billboard.
Grammy-nominated MC Rick Ross will be the focus of Georgia State University College of Law’s upcoming class “Legal Life Of…” this fall semester. Created by professor Mo Ivory, “the class provides law students with the unique opportunity to gain hands-on legal experience in the practice area of entertainment law by studying the career, contracts and […]
As sports journalist Skip Bayless assembled his new all-star cast for his revamped Undisputed show — which premiered on Fox Sports 1 on Monday (Aug. 28) — he called on his friend Lil Wayne to complete the comeback with a new theme song. Titled “Good Morning,” Wayne — who was the cover star of Billboard‘s Hip-Hop 50 […]
Miguel previewed songs from his upcoming fifth studio album, Viscera, on Friday in Los Angeles during an event dubbed the “Viscera Experience,” in which the singer warned the small crowd that the performance would include “boundary-pushing artistry including body manipulation [and] skin piercing.”
According to a description of the show posted by Vibe, after taking the stage at Sony Studios in a white tank, baggy black pants and black rubber boots, the “Sky Walker” singer was joined by two men who pushed metal hooks through the skin on his back, then attached them to wires that lifted him off the ground by the hooks. He then hung for nearly five minutes while singing an unreleased song — featuring the apropos lyrics “I’m hanging onto nothing/ I’m hanging from the ceiling” –before being lowered and having the hooks removed.
On Monday (Aug. 29), Miguel posted a series of pics on Instagram showing the aftermath of the S&M stunt, including the series of holes in his back as well as the white tank top, streaked and spotted with his blood alongside the caption, “What is your relationship to pain? What is your relationship to change?”
The type of suspension Miguel used in the performance is typically referred to as a “suicide suspension” and Miguel isn’t he only one who has employed it as type of body modification that dates back at least 5,000 years to India as part of a spiritual piercing rituals during Hindu festivals. Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro waxed poetic about the therapeutic aspects of putting large-gauge hooks through the skin of your back in a 2013 Guardian interview, saying, “To be honest, at first I just wanted to try it because it was interesting; I didn’t know that there was going to be an experience attached to it. I saw it as just a mind-over-matter thing until I got off the ground the first time. Then a lightbulb went off.”
He said while some people are horrified by the act — admitting that there is definitely pain, and blood, involved — he found it to be “a very intensely gratifying emotional release. Sometimes it’s just fun, but it can also be very meditative.”
Last month, Miguel pushed boundaries as part of Sony’s “For the Music” campaign, scaling a massive skyscraper and breaking through a glass window in a one minute visual that director Liam McRae said symbolized the singer’s next era and Sony’s commitment to supporting artists like him breaking through “creative barriers” and connecting directly with their fans.
Viscera, which does not yet have an official release date, is the follow-up to 2017’s War & Leisure; he released the single “Give It to Me” in April.
See Miguel’s posts below.
It’s getting “Too Hot” out there, even for 50 Cent. The MC who is in the middle of his 20th anniversary Get Rich or Die Tryin’ 20th anniversary tour had to hit pause on tonight’s (Aug. 29) show in Glendale, Arizona at the Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre due to an excessive heat warning. “Due to […]
Fans of Nicki Minaj rejoiced on Monday afternoon (Aug. 28) when the Pink Friday rapper treated them to a snippet of her new record “Last Time I Saw You” via TikTok. The minute-long snippet finds Minaj in a pop-centric lane, leaning more toward her singing prowess than grizzly raps. “Beggin me to stay and then you […]