R&B/Hip-Hop
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It’s only fitting that when you share a bill with an artist who has written a viral hit with your name in the title that you invite said person up to do their thing for you. At least that’s what happened on Saturday when Billie Eilish and “Billie Eilish” rapper Armani White played different stages […]
Ciara is officially a soon-to-be mom of four. The 37-year-old vocalist revealed Tuesday (Aug. 8) that she’s expecting her third baby with husband Russell Wilson, and her fourth child altogether.
The news comes as a sneaky Instagram video, in which Ciara stands beside an indoor pool, backlit so that only her silhouette is visible. It’s only when she turns to the side that her baby bump becomes visible, confirming that the star is pregnant.
“’You look at me like that again, we make another kid…,” she captioned the post, quoting lyrics from her new song “How We Roll” with Chris Brown. “You my heart I’m your rib’ 🥰😘❤️”
The “One, Two Step” singer is already mom to three kids, including 9-year-old son Future Zahir Wilburn, whom she shares with ex-fiancé Future. After marrying Wilson in 2016, she and the Denver Broncos quarterback welcomed daughter Sienna Princess in 2017 followed by son Win Harrison in 2020.
The pregnancy news means that Wilson is getting exactly what he wanted, having asked Ciara on daytime television for more babies in 2022. While Ciara was filling in for Ellen DeGeneres on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last year, the NFL star appeared as a guest and, getting down on one knee, asked, “I have a question for you. A serious question. Can we have more babies? It will be perfect. Just give me one more at least, you know what I mean?”
The announcement also comes just four days after “How We Roll” dropped, meaning she shot the accompanying music video with Brown while pregnant. The song follows previous 2023 singles from Ciara “Da Girls,” “Slow” with Jackson Wang and “Get Loose” with AGNEZ MO.
“How We Roll” marks the lead single off Ciara’s upcoming EP CiCi, which she spoke about in an interview with Billboard earlier this week. She also reflected on the 20-year anniversary of her debut album Goodies, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and spawned three consecutive smash hits on the Billboard Hot 100: the Missy Elliott-assisted “1, 2 Step” (No. 2), the Ludacris-featuring “Oh” (No. 2), and the No. 1-peaking “Goodies” (with Petey Pablo).
“I feel blessed. I feel like I’m just getting started at the same time,” she told Billboard. “To know that it was 20 years ago that I was just really, really ambitious… dreaming big, I envisioned that I’d be sitting somewhere like this 20 years later.”
See Ciara’s pregnancy announcement below:
Travis Scott vaults from No. 38 to No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated Aug. 12), returning as the top musical act in the U.S. for a third total week, and for the first time since 2018, thanks to the arrival of his new LP, Utopia.
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The album debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 496,000 equivalent album units earned in its opening week (July 28-Aug. 3), according to Luminate. It captures the third-biggest week of 2023 for any album (after the opening frames of Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time), and the largest for any R&B/hip-hop or rap release.
The new release is also just the second rap album to top the chart this year, after Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape last month.
Utopia becomes Scott’s third No. 1 album, after 2016’s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight and 2018’s ASTROWORLD. (Plus, in between those two albums, the Jackboys supergroup – led by Scott – notched a No. 1 with its self-titled release in 2020.)
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Also boosting Scott’s Artist 100 reign are 19 songs on the latest Billboard Hot 100 – every track from Utopia. Two debut in the top 10: “Meltdown” featuring Drake (No. 3), and “FE!N” featuring Playboi Carti (No. 5).
Scott last topped the Artist 100 chart in 2018, upon the chart arrival of ASTROWORLD.
Notably, Scott is the first rap or hip-hop act to hit No. 1 on the Artist 100 chart in 2023. The last rapper to lead the chart was Lil Baby in October. The other acts to lead the chart this year are Taylor Swift (17 weeks), Morgan Wallen (eight), Jimin, Rihanna, SEVENTEEN, Ed Sheeran, Stray Kids and TOMORROW X TOGETHER (one each).
The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.
In February, TikTok’s billion-plus users received an unexpected gift for Valentine’s Day: exclusive access to the catalog of one of hip-hop’s most revered labels, Death Row Records. Snoop Dogg had purchased the catalog in 2022 and pulled it from streaming services. So the only place to hear tracks from Snoop’s classic Doggystyle or 2Pac’s 10-times-platinum All […]
Nelly and Ashanti continued to fuel rekindled relationship rumors on Monday (Aug. 7) with an adorable Instagram Story. In the brief video, the duo are seen cuddling up to each other while singing Usher’s 1997 hit single, “Nice & Slow.” Watch the clip on Nelly’s IG Stories before it disappears here. The “Body On Me” […]
Last week (Aug. 4), Ciara debuted the Chris Brown-assisted “How We Roll,” the lead single from CiCi, her forthcoming EP. Today, the R&B powerhouse sat down with Billboard to reflect on the 20-year anniversary of her debut album, her recent K-Pop collabs, and the sound of CiCi.
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“I feel blessed. I feel like I’m just getting started at the same time,” Ciara gushed. “To know that it was 20 years ago that I was just really, really ambitious… dreaming big, I envisioned that I’d be sitting somewhere like this 20 years later.” In 2004, Goodies, Ciara’s debut studio album, debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The record spawned three consecutive smash hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including the Missy Elliott-assisted “1, 2 Step” (No. 2), the Ludacris-featuring “Oh” (No. 2), and the No. 1-peaking “Goodies” (with Petey Pablo).
Reflecting on the dominance of Goodies, Ciara said that she was very aware of her success during that moment because she always “believed in [herself].” “I was on camera, documented right at the graduation, and the guy said, ‘So, Ciara, where do you see yourself a year from now?’” the “I Bet” singer recounted. “And in my super-Atlanta thick accent, I said, ‘I see myself having the No. 1 song on the Billboard charts!’ And then literally, “Goodies” was No. 1 on the Billboard charts. I dreamed big!”
Speaking on her more recent music, the Grammy-winner described her new Chris Brown duet as “a great example of that feel-good R&B, dance, rhythmic, melodic energy that you can play at a house party. It’s gon’ set the house party off right.” She noted that this collaboration with Chris Brown is something that the pair have wanted to do for “a long time.” “It was an artist’s dream come true for the both of us,” she remarked.
The pair’s new single, “How We Roll,” is the first official single from Ciara’s forthcoming CiCi EP, which she describes as “classic [Ciara], but elevated.” “It’s got a super strong R&B core,” she revealed. “CiCi is that ‘turn that lip up, get a lil stank… Ciara, she keeps it cute, she’s a mom of three, she’s unbothered,” she said, outlining the two sides of her that are present on the upcoming project. “I really wanted to bring that classic R&B energy to this project.”
CiCi follows a string of 2023 releases from Ciara including “Da Girls” and the Summer Walker-assisted “Better Thangs.” The “Level Up” singer also released a slew of collaborations with Asian artists this year including XG (“Left Right Remixx”, Jackson Wang (“Slow”), and Agnez Mo (“Get Loose”). “I feel like I’m touching and tapping into a lot of the boxes I always wanted to, and that was one of them,” she said. “That audience is so special. It’s fascinating to see how they react to their own artists, I’m like ‘That’s the energy that you want. That’s the energy that you want to be apart of.’”
Ciara has earned four top ten albums on the Billboard 200, including 2006’s chart-topping Ciara: The Evolution. On the Hot 100, the “Body Party” singer has notched 21 entries, including notable hits such as “Promise” (No. 11), “Level Up” (No. 59) and “Lose Control” (No. 3).
Travis Scott celebrated his Billboard 200-topping album Utopia on Monday (Aug. 7) with a performance at Rome’s Circus Maximus, and the show featured a rare onstage appearance by Kanye West. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “There is no Utopia without Kanye West. There is no Travis Scott without Kanye […]
The slow dance between Usher and Keke Palmer set the world on fire last month, and now the Grammy-winning R&B icon is finally revealing his thoughts on the whole ordeal. “Every night I’m thinking about how the world now is going to react to this moment that I’ll have with whoever I’m choosing to sing […]
Happy August! The Sunday of summer months is here, but the heat persists. This week, we have an array of sounds from soothing R&B songs by Alina Baraz, LOONY and No Guidnce to genre-fusing tracks by midwxst, Lucy Park and KayCyy. And if you’re a fan of booming 808s and hi-hats, Rob49, Skilla Baby and Tay B’s new single is the one for you.
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Per usual, don’t forget to check out these songs and stay tuned for the rest of our August picks in our Spotify playlist, linked below.
Freshest Find: Alina Baraz, “Keep Me In Love”
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This week’s Freshest Find is a swooning R&B gem, and Alina Baraz’s first single in a while — detailing a modern take on love that showcases her relatable songwriting. “We pour so much time, love, and energy into ourselves, effortlessly and indefinitely,” she shares in a press release. “The idea [for the song] came from wondering if someone could ever do that for you. It’s easy to fall in love but to keep me in love, I long for that.”
midwxst, “warning”
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On “warning,” midwxst effortlessly blends rock and rap. The 20-year-old shared the new single ahead of his debut album, E3 (out Sept. 1), which “illustrates his recent internal challenges, but also underscores profound growth and maturity.” “I just want people to understand that I went through a lot of the s–t I am expressing on this album,” he reveals in a press release. “It made me grow and become who I am today. And I wouldn’t trade any of that pain or any of that loss for anything.”
No Guidnce, “Let It Rain”
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According to No Guidnce, the boy group is “bringing singing-in-the-rain R&B back” with their new single, “Let It Rain.” The U.K newcomers are proving to be a major force in R&B having only released their first ever song back in March. “Let It Rain” arrives on the heels of their debut EP, Is It a Crime?, and is lined with their thrilling, signature style that’s rooted in rousing nostalgia — similar to that of their counterparts, FLO. The boys also recently headlined their first show in Los Angeles back in July.
LOONY, “Old Friends”
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Scarborough singer-songwriter LOONY sees the beauty in a relationship gone wrong. Created during a spontaneous and intimate jam session in Los Angeles, her new single, “Old Friends,” leans into this experience, displaying her soulful vocals and timeless songwriting for a mature but playful song that feels like a one-sided conversation or voicemail. “There’s something really sweet and singular to me about those moments, about those relationships,” LOONY says in statement. “When relationships can often go so ugly, it’s a privilege when it ends to gain an old friend.”
Rob49, Skilla Baby and Tay B, “Mama”
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Following his guest feature on “TOPIA TWINS” off Travis Scott’s UTOPIA, Rob49 teamed up with Skilla Baby and Tay B for blistering new single, “Mama.” The New Orleans newcomer’s thick accent and deep, aggressive flow pair well alongside his collaborators who match his energy. “I heard you got a man, but it’s alright mama/ Let’s go to the mall, I’m about to buy you what you like, mama,” Skilla Baby spits.
KayCyy, “My Jeans”
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With “My Jeans,” KayCyy is proving that he’s “not no background singer.” Earlier this week, a fan on X (fka Twitter) pointed out that the Kenya-born artist was left uncredited for his vocals on “THANK GOD” off Travis Scott’s UTOPIA. KayCyy responded to the post and proceeded to prove that he can hold his own with the new song. The Minnesota-based artist is also known for his work on Ye’s Donda, though he is gearing up to release his debut album, Who is KayCyy?.
Lucy Park, “All Roads”
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With alluring vocals and an infectious dance rhythm, Lucy Park has created the perfect summer track to help close out the season on a high note. Park wanted “All Roads” “to feel like a summer night out in London,” she shares. “The song is sort of a dance back and forth between them. It’s about building up a romance in your head while you are still strangers in real life. This is a really new sound for me and I’m so excited for people to hear it!”
50 Cent‘s crush on Dame Helen Mirren is still going strong — in fact, he says he’ll probably never get over her. Speaking to Men’s Health for his new cover story, the rapper opened up about his love for the 78-year-old Oscar winner, sharing that he thinks Mirren will be “sexy forever.” “She’s sexy,” he […]