R&B/Hip-Hop

12 Mar 2024

Ice Spice Fires Back at Critics of Her Oscars Afterparty Dress

Ice Spice stunned at the 2024 Oscars and the Vanity Fair afterparty in Los Angeles Sunday (March 10, but not everyone was a fan of her wardrobe selections.

The Bronx native wasn’t taking any criticism for her looks, as Ice Spice clapped back at someone she believed was dissing her Dolce & Gabbana lace dress from the post-show shindig.

“I wish her stylist would try harder… same lace bodysuit back to back,” one person wrote on X. Hours later, the 24-year-old responded to the critic. “lets see u b—-s in custom dolce,” she fired back on Monday (March 11). Her reply had more than 74,000 likes at press time.

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The fan — who goes by 1800Viagra on X — had their replies flooded and they backed off the original commentary claiming this was a misunderstanding. “I’m not even mad at you omg,” they wrote.

The “Princess Diana” rapper eventually apologized for lashing out, claiming her feelings were hurt. “Srry 4 bein a meanie i was only tryna hurt ur feelings bc u hurt mine,” she wrote.

Ice Spice seemed to love the black lace gown that hugged her voluptuous figure, as she showed off plenty of clips and photos from her first Oscars with a slideshow posted to Instagram on Monday.

“Effortlessss,” SZA commented on the post.

On the music side, Ice Spice is turning her focus back to her debut album, which she said last week she has finished recording.

She teased fans about Y2K with a Monday tweet revealing that another superstar feature had been completed. “Another sick feature turned in #y2k,” Spice penned.

Y2K is without a release date so far, but is expected to arrive later this year. “I think this is some of my best work,” she previously told Billboard, while also hinting that “it’s not going to be too long — it’s going to be sweet and to the point.”

The “Munch” rapper — who was the Billboard Women in Music Hitmaker honoree this year — scored four top 10 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2023 alone.

Find Ice Spice’s fan exchange below.

11 Mar 2024

Cardi B Unveils Cover Art for New Single ‘Enough (Miami)’

Cardi B has had enough!

The rap superstar took to Instagram on Monday (March 11) to share the sultry cover art for her upcoming single, “Enough (Miami),” set for release on Friday (March 15). In the photo, a nude Cardi lays across a white sofa with her hair in long waves down her shoulders, rocking a glass skin look with her makeup. See the photo here.

Last week, Cardi teased the single over on TikTok. “Me vs. you and you know who they pickin’,” she raps on the track. “I can survive in the coldest conditions… B–ches is washed, soapin’ the dishes/ I apply pressure like boa constrictors/ One b–ch, two b–ch, old b–ch, new b–ch, none of y’all not gonna do s–t/ I’m in Miami I pull up on cruise ships.”

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The song is a follow-up to Cardi’s recently released single, “Like What (Freestyle).” The song is Cardi’s first solo record since 2021’s “Up,” which earned the rapper her first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit and a 2022 Grammy nomination for best rap performance. Since then she’s dropped “Tomorrow 2” with GloRilla, “Jealously” with Offset and the Megan Thee Stallion collab “Bongos.”

A new album from the rapper would mark her first since 2018’s Invasion of Privacy. The album spawned two No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 singles, the diamond-certified “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It.” She also won the Grammy for best rap album for Invasion of Privacy, topping Pusha T, Mac Miller, Travis Scott and Nipsey Hussle. 

11 Mar 2024

Remy Banks Breaks Down His New Album champ hoody music ep. 3

Queens native and World’s Fair member Remy Banks just dropped the final installment of his champ hoody music series. His first album in three years, Banks took a break from music in 2021 after releasing the phantom of paradise. “That album was the introduction [of] where I was taking my sound,” he tells Billboard. “I also started working on ventures outside of music and started setting up Banks’ Buds Co. in the legal cannabis world with something dope happening in April with the homie K-Dog. So, smokers stay tuned.”

After his brief hiatus, Remy felt inspired. “I began piling up records and [it] got to a point where it felt like I had two albums. One half of the songs had the champ hoody feel and the other half had kick in the door energy.” Champ hoody music ep. 3 is a smooth nine-track ride perfect for the upcoming spring weather. It features Domo Genesis, Goya Gumbani, Lojii, GVVAAN, 3wayslim, and Fly Anakin with production from argov, soul.exe, Graymatter, ewonee, Laron, and Rockwilder (yes, that Rockwilder). My favorite track, so far, is “place i rep.,” my favorite verse from Remy is probably at the end of “cloth talk.,” and my favorite feature is a toss up between the supremely underrated Domo Genesis and Fly Anakin.

We caught Banks after his released the first single and video for the project, “sunrays,” and had him break down each song for us.



11 Mar 2024

Flavor Flav Gave Billie Eilish a Barbie-Themed Diamond Clock Chain at Oscars Afterparty

A second Academy Award wasn’t the only hardware Billie Eilish left the Oscars with. Flavor Flav pulled up to the awards ceremony on Sunday (March 10) with a Barbie-themed clock chain, and he made sure to bring a duplicate for his friend.

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The former Public Enemy rapper met up with the “Happier Than Ever” singer at the Vanity Fair afterparty on Sunday night to personally gift Billie Eilish with the bubblegum bling, as the pair flaunted their matching jewelry.

Footage emerged of the heartwarming interaction as Eilish screamed in shock as Flav unwrapped the hot pink diamond clock inscribed with her name using the classic Mattel Barbie doll font.

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“Oh my God,” Billie said in shock as she posed for photos holding up the necklace alongside Flavor Flav and Jon Batiste. Eilish and Flav shared a warm embrace before the clip cut off.

This wasn’t the dynamic duo’s first time meeting one another; the pair were photographed together at a Golden Globes afterparty in January.

It was yet another memorable night in Billie Eilish’s decorated career. The 22-year-old collected her second Academy Award victory with her brother Finneas as Barbie‘s “What Was I Made For?” won best original song honors at the 2024 Oscars, making both the youngest two-time Oscar winners in history.

“I had a nightmare about this last night,” Eilish said during her acceptance speech. “I didn’t think this would happen, I wasn’t expecting this. I feel so incredibly lucky and honored. I’m so grateful for this song and this movie and the way that it made me feel, and this goes out to everyone who was affected by the movie and how incredible it is.”

Watch Billie Eilish’s reaction to the gift from Flavor Flav below.

11 Mar 2024

R&B/Hip-Hop Fresh Picks of the Week: Mustafa, 4Batz & Drake, FLO, Rexx Life Raj & More

And with Al Pacino‘s hilariously casual announcement of Oppenheimer as the winner of Best Picture at the 96th Academy Awards last night (Mar. 10), awards season has finally come to a close. While there wasn’t much hip-hop at the ceremony, the house orchestra did play a cover of 50 Cent‘s “P.I.M.P” — which is repeatedly referenced in the film — when Justine Triet and Arthur Harari walked up to the stage to accept the best original screenplay Oscar for their French legal drama Anatomy of a Fall.

Outside of the close of awards season, North West announced her debut studio album, Elementary School Dropout, Future and Metro Boomin announced that they have two new albums on the way, and Tyla canceled her upcoming North American tour and Coachella performances due to an injury.

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With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from Drake‘s rework of 4batz‘s breakout hit to FLO‘s frothy re-entry into the music scene. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.

Freshest Find: Mustafa, “Imaan”

Fresh off the news that he’s signed to Jagjaguwar, Mustafa has dropped off a stunningly tender amalgamation of soul, American folk music, and traditional Sudanese and Egyptian instrumentation titled “Imaan.” Backed by Snoh Aalegra on guest vocals, Mustafa’s malleable voice colors the soundscape as it shifts into a sweeping chorus earmarked by his yearning for “all that we don’t have evidence of.” “You say praying isn’t easy/ And all the ways you need me are from God/ And all the ways you reach him are flawed/ I know our families will never find their way to the same living room/ All of these bloodlines, all of these costumes,” he croons with heartbroken hoarseness.

Sinead Harnett, “The Most”

For the third taste of her forthcoming new album, Sinead Harnett is doing “The Most.” Across a moody soundscape accented by light trap drums and gentle guitars, she croons of an inconsistent lover who constantly throws their relationship into turmoil. “Why you so aggravated on the phone/ If I’m so hard to be with, be alone/ You’re projecting your insecurities/ Everything’s all about you, don’t put it on me,” she sings. Delivered with remarkable vocal clarity and emotion that’s palpable, but not overwrought, Sinead Harnett is readying a gem of an album if “The Most” is any indication of what’s to come.

FLO, “Walk Like This”

FLO is back on the road toward their debut studio album. The U.K. R&B trio have returned with the first offering from their forthcoming LP, the MNEK-penned “Walk Like This.” Also crafted in collaboration with Kabba, Relyt, Talay Riley and Ashton Sellars, “Walk Like This” finds the girls — Jorja, Stella and Renée — doubling down on their penchant for 2000s R&B stylings. Oozing with sass and bit of sultriness, their tight harmonies give body to the bubbly tune, declaring, “There’s a reason I walk like this / My baby, he be lovin’ on this / When he do it, he be workin’ that shit / And every night he got me wantin’ more of it.”

Lola Brooke feat. A Boogie wit da Hoodie & Big Freedia, “Bend It Ova”

Still pushing her formidable debut album, Dennis Daughter — which will have a deluxe edition out on Apr. 5 — “Don’t Play With It” rapper Lola Brooke has linked up with fellow New York rap star A Boogie wit da Hoodie and New Orleans bounce icon Big Freedia for a rambunctious ode to throwing it back. With A Boogie’s twinkling piano keys finding an unlikely-but-rewarding complement in Freedia’s brash NOLA beat, Lola finds the perfect middle ground for everyone’s sounds to converge. Of course, it’s not an A Boogie track if he isn’t adding a caveat of despondent realism: “Hoodie and a mask, yeah, heart black, yeah/ You want me to throw this cash? Better shake that ass, yeah/ I’m a f—ked up n—a, yeah, I admit it, yeah/ And I got it out the mud, still in the hood, yeah, yeah,” he spits in the hook.

4batz feat. Drake, “​act ii: date @ 8 (remix)”

We knew it was only a matter of time until this moment: Mere weeks after 4batz exploded into the mainstream consciousness with “Date @ 8,” The Boy has added his own spin to the moody, dirty mackin’ R&B track. “There’s no way in hell I see you passing me up/ Almost said I loved your ass right after we fucked/ Don’t know why, girl, it was on the tip of my tongue/ Yeah, found someone I’m fallin’ for,” he croons in a familiar rap-sung cadence, which finds him trying to balance keeping up the untrappable gangster image and giving into the feelings that his heart can’t ignore. Perhaps, most importantly, the “Date @ 8” remix serves as further solidification for 4batz as he continues to scale industry heights with a back catalog of just three songs.

Rexx Life Raj, “Couple Months in LA”

Any aspiring creative can relate to the daunting expectations that come along with moving to Los Angeles in hopes of conquering their dreams. Being in the industry for a decade and growing up about 400 miles north of the City of Angels, Rexx Life Raj gets candid about the exhausting toll Hollywood’s taken on him mentally. “Tired of wasting my breath, retracing my steps/ Unnecessary expectations got me feeling the stress,” the Berkeley native raps in agony. Raj takes a step back and breathes out a delicate croon to practice restraint because what lies ahead will be worth it: “Quiet your mind, you’re too busy worried about time my boy be patient/ You gotta be patient, cause life don’t always come at your speed.”

11 Mar 2024

Tank Promises Upcoming R&B Money Tour With Keri Hilson, Carl Thomas Will ‘Make a Lot of Memories’

R&B hitmaker Tank is springing back into tour mode. The singer-songwriter-producer will launch his R&B Money Tour in New Orleans on May 10. Joining him for the tour’s 25-city itinerary — including stops in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Houston — will be fellow hitmakers Keri Hilson (“Turnin Me On” featuring Lil Wayne, “Pretty Girl Rock”) and Carl Thomas (“I Wish,” “Emotional”).

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“The R&B Money Tour will be a movie!” Tank tells Billboard. “I can’t wait to celebrate with the fans and take them on this musical journey with two amazing artists, Keri Hilson and Carl Thomas. We will make a lot of memories on this tour.”

The tour announcement follows on the heels of Tank’s latest single, “Before We Get Started” featuring Fabolous. Released through Tank’s R&B Money label and Atlantic Records, the nostalgia-tinged contemporary R&B song was written by Dirk Pate and produced by Bizness Boi and Derelle Rideout. Its accompanying video, described in the tour release announcement as a “vibrant homage to the genre’s rich esthetic and enduring allure,” was directed by Taj & Dre.

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“Think of ‘Before We Get Started’ as a contemporary classic, capturing the spirit of 2024 while paying homage to the magic of ’90s R&B,” Tank further explains to Billboard. “The fusion with hip-hop creates a timeless musical experience, reminiscent of the authentic vibes from that era.”

In addition to his upcoming tour, Tank — whose hits include “Maybe I Deserve,” “Please Don’t Go,” “When We” and “Can’t Let It Show” — will appear at the Lovers & Friends Festival in Las Vegas on May 4. He’ll be joining a performer lineup that includes Usher, Janet Jackson and Mary J. Blige. Tank also co-hosts the popular “R&B Money Podcast” with J. Valentine.

Tickets for the R&B Money Tour will become available on March 15 at 10 a.m. local time. Visit the tour’s website for more information.

Tank

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11 Mar 2024

The Top Rap Song of Every Year Since 1989

Since Billboard first began its national survey of song sales in the 1940s, the ever-changing musical landscape has necessitated a growing portfolio of charts that capture the methods, sounds, and places around the nation – and then the world – where music is consumed.

Thirty-five years ago on March 11, 1989, Billboard debuted its first rap chart – Hot Rap Singles, with The Stop the Violence Movement’s “Self Destruction” crowning the initial list. With the genre’s national profile firmly established thanks to acts such as Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J, the first rap-dedicated chart arrived partly, as the list’s first manager, Terri Rossi wrote, to, “give proper credit to the performers, writers and producers who make this music so successful.”

While Hot Rap Songs was originally conceived as a bi-weekly sales chart, the rapid popularity and interest in the genre forced a change to a weekly sales recap before the chart reached its first anniversary. Call it prophetic: The increasing consumption of rap music and growing appetite for hip-hop culture set the stage for the genre’s explosive impact in the coming decades.

Since that first ranking, Billboard has monitored and reported popular tastes through every chapter of rap’s history: the East Coast beginnings, G-Funk’s rise, women MCs getting their proper due, regional rival pockets popping up throughout the U.S., features helping R&B singers – and then pop stars – update their sounds and images, crunk, trap, SoundCloud, drill and the list goes on. The chart’s methodology has also kept up with the times. Beginning as just a sales list, Hot Rap Songs switched to an airplay-only ranking in June 2002 amid the declining number of physical single releases.

“A number of rap’s biggest hits were never released to stores, and thus were absent from our chart,” Geoff Mayfield, Billboard’s then-director of charts, noted. “This change will yield a more relevant chart.”

Updates have since continued, with sales’ return and streaming’s addition to the formula in October 2012.

To recap the chart’s 35th anniversary, Billboard looks at the best of the best – the No. 1 year-end titles on the Hot Rap Songs chart for its entire existence. Together, the annual leaders offer snapshots of rap music’s history, with a range of artists, regions and techniques – samples, cadence and the like – that reveal rap’s expansion from block-party entertainment to an unparalleled influence over mainstream music for the last generation.

11 Mar 2024

7 Songs You Didn’t Know PartyNextDoor Wrote & Produced

Billboard‘s newest cover star PartyNextDoor hasn’t just established himself as an alternative R&B auteur over the last decade, but he’s also cemented himself as one of pop music’s most sought-out hitmakers.

After becoming the first recording artist signed to Drake‘s OVO label in 2013, Party has made hit after hit with The Boy. He provided background vocals on “Own It” and “Come Thru” on Drake’s 2013 album Nothing Was the Same, and he co-wrote and produced “Legend,” “Preach” and “Wednesday Night Interlude” on 2015’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, while also serving as a featured artist on the latter two songs. “Preach” earned PND his first Billboard Hot 100 entry in 2015. And he earned an album of the year Grammy nomination in 2017 for contributing to Views (he has a co-writing credit on “U with Me?”).

He’s also been behind some of Rihanna‘s biggest hits, like the nine-week Hot 100 No. 1 “Work,” featuring Drake, and DJ Khaled‘s seven-week No. 2 “Wild Thoughts,” featuring Bryson Tiller. Donald Glover recently called “Sex With Me” — another ANTI track Party co-wrote — the “GOAT” Rihanna song. And some fans and critics have argued that his leaked reference tracks for those songs sound better than their final versions.

When it comes to demos, Party told Billboard, “I’m just trying to get these ideas out. And if I took the time to record it, that’s when I don’t give the record out. [If] I did all the background vocals, I sang it properly like a vocalist, that’s when it’s harder to give it away. So it’s easier to give it away while it’s just a skeleton and you’re just talking through things.”

Billboard rounded up seven songs PartyNextDoor co-wrote and/or -produced, which other artists recorded.

11 Mar 2024

Kanye West Working on World Tour With John Monopoly Returning as Manager

Kanye West once claimed that he “can’t be managed” but that’s not the case these days as sources tell Billboard on Monday (March 11) that John Monopoly is back as Ye’s manager.

A fellow Chicago native, Monopoly played an integral role at the onset of West’s career in the early 2000s as his manager.

After splitting for over a decade, Monopoly found his way into the Ye zeitgeist in recent years. Sources confirmed that Monopoly is now West’s manager in an official capacity as the multi-hyphenate showered John with praise and recalled their history during a Vultures private listening event in Los Angeles over the weekend.

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West has been without a manager since parting ways with Izvor Zivkovic in March 2018. Izzy had been Ye’s longtime partner for nearly a decade. Scooter Braun was brought into the fold as a co-manager in late 2015 but they would split in April 2018.

With John helping West, Kanye is putting together a world tour that is set to begin in a few months, sources add. The global trek will feature “full production and performances” as opposed to the listening events Ye is currently playing.

The tour will be Kanye’s first since 2016’s Saint Pablo Tour, which was cut short in November 2016 following West’s hospitalization. Ye appeared to have trouble booking the trek due to his string of recent controversies, but sources say West is “preparing” to hit the road this summer.

The 46-year-old has hit the stage at rare one-off opportunities during the last few years. He joined Travis Scott’s UTOPIA Tour stop in Orlando on Jan. 31 as a special guest. He surprised Rolling Loud fans in 2021 and 2022 when joining Future and Playboi Carti’s sets, respectively.

West’s last full concert came when he performed in December 2021 in support of Larry Hoover’s freedom as he ended his feud with Drake to spread awareness of Hoover’s incarceration for a benefit show at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Kanye and Ty Dolla $ign are coming off of the independent release of Vultures 1, which topped the Billboard 200 in back-to-back weeks last month.

The duo is currently on the road to Vultures 2 — which was originally supposed to arrive last Friday — as they took over Phoenix’s Footprint Center on Sunday night (March 10) for another listening party before heading to San Francisco’s Chase Center on Tuesday (March 12).

They are slated to debut a live performance of the Vultures series with a joint set at Rolling Loud California on Thursday night (March 14).

Billboard reached out to Ye’s camp for comment.

11 Mar 2024

North West Announces Debut Album ‘Elementary School Dropout’ at Kanye West’s ‘Vultures’ Event

Kanye West isn’t going to be the only musician in the family. His and Kim Kardashian’s 10-year-old daughter, North West, revealed she’s working on her debut album, Elementary School Dropout, in an homage to her father’s acclaimed 2004 LP College Dropout.

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North made the revelation during a Vultures listening party in Phoenix on Sunday night (March 10) when she hit the stage with the rapper — who now goes by Ye — in Vultures merchandise and a fur hat for her “Talking” track on the album.

“And I’ve been working on an album,” she shared, which drew a loud ovation from the crowd. “And it’s called Elementary School Dropout.”

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North’s younger siblings Chicago and Psalm also joined her on the Footprint Center stage in an adorable moment as they held hands and danced to her Vultures song.

It’s likely that Ye will be heavily involved with the creative process for ESD. North is featured on Vultures‘ “Talking,” which debuted at No. 30 on the Hot 100 with 12.33 million official U.S. streams in its first week of tracking.

The Hot 100 entry made her one of the youngest artists to ever appear on the chart as well as the Emerging Artist tally. Kardashian celebrated her daughter’s accomplishment for “Talking” by writing on Instagram Story with a repost of the chart at the time, “My baby!!!!”

Look for North to continue on the trail with her father and Ty Dolla $ign for the Vultures listening-party experiences, which will take over the Chase Center in San Francisco on Tuesday (March 12).

During a recent event, Ye and Ty played a handful of songs slated to land on their upcoming Vultures 2 sequel, which included “Enemies,” “Believin” featuring Project Pat, “Promotion” featuring Future, “Slide,” “Dead” with Future and Lil Durk as well as fan-favorite “Field Trip/Venom” featuring Don Toliver, Playboi Carti and Lil Durk.

The Vultures duo is scheduled to make a live performance debut with a Thursday night (March 14) set at Rolling Loud California. It’s unclear when Vultures 2 is slated to arrive, as Ye — who has faced criticism and lost business deals due to his hate speech — has teased releasing the project on Yeezy.com for $20 rather than going right to streaming services. It was previously announced for a March 8 release date.

Watch North West’s announcement as well as Psalm and Chicago joining her on stage below.