R&B/Hip-Hop
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With Trinidad and Tobago’s 2025 Carnival set to kick off this weekend (March 1), Machel Montano has gifted his island — and the whole world — a new album full of soca bangers and international collaborations.
On Tuesday (Feb. 25), the King of Soca dropped One Degree Hotter, his first full-length offering since 2021’s Wedding Album. Titled in reference to both his sizzling soca catalog and newly earned Master’s degree in Carnival Studies from the University of Trinidad & Tobago, One Degree Hotter boasts an impressive roster of collaborators, including Grammy-winning R&B star Ne-Yo (“Truth & Balance”), Nigerian Afrobeats megastar Davido (“Fling It Up”), Trinidadian vocalists Drupatee & Lady Lava (“Pepper Vine”), Vincentian soca superstar Skinny Fabulous (“Fallen Fetters”) and fellow Trini soca giant Bunji Garlin (“Home Is Where the Heart Is”).
One Degree Hotter also includes a special “road mix” of “Pardy,” Montano’s latest smash, and a top contender for the highly coveted Road March title at Carnival this year. Should he pull off another victory, Montano will tie the legendary Lord Kitchener for the most Road March wins of all time (11).
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Montano’s new project arrives just two months into what’s already been a banner year for the soca icon. Last month (Jan. 13), he brought played the very first soca set in NPR Tiny Desk history, delivering spirited renditions of classics like “Famalay,” “One More Time,” “Fast Wine” and “Like Ah Boss.”
Over the weekend (Feb. 22), Montano found himself in a bit of hot water with Nicki Minaj and her Barbz. During a performance of “Good Spirit,” Montano exclaimed, “Nicki Minaj, stop fighting meh down,” which some took as an accusation that the Trinidadian-American rapper was working against Montano by linking up with Trinidad Killa for their new “Eskimo” collaboration. Minaj promptly responded via her Instagram page, threatening to “cuss [Montano] very stink.” Montano then shared a formal apology via social media, saying, “It was a misunderstanding – a mistake on my part – and I’m a big man and I will say that. Nicki, you know I respect you and you know I love you and I did not try to jump out there and attack you and I didn’t want any of your fans or you to feel that you have ever done anything to fight me down. You did the opposite. You always lift me up.”
All is well between the two artists now, with Montano even proposing a collaboration between himself, Minaj and Trinidad Killa. In 2023, Montano and Minaj joined forces for “Shake the Place”; last year, Minaj brought him out as a special guest at one of the New York shows of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour.
Machel Montano has earned three top 10 Reggae Albums: 2015’s Monk Monte (No. 2), 2016’s Monk Evolution (No. 5) and 2019’s G.O.A.T. (No. 1).
Stream One Degree Hotter below.
Young Thug is locked in to perform his first live show since coming home from prison last Halloween. However, his fans in the States might be a bit disappointed because the show is overseas. Thugger will headline the third day of Belgian music festival Les Ardentes on July 5. Earlier Tuesday (Feb. 25), organizers posted […]
Drake has continued to bless fans experiencing financial hardship during his Anita Max Wynn Tour through Australia. The 6 God took his generosity to another level earlier this week in Brisbane when pointing out a fan who was holding up a sign about his mother’s upcoming cancer treatment, and Drake promised to take care of […]
Tyler, the Creator just wrapped up six Los Angeles shows on his Chromakopia Tour, but he has one request for fans who see him in public. Tyler requested on X Monday (Feb. 24) that fans who see him out and about stop asking him “weird a– questions.” Essentially, he just wants them to say what’s […]
GloRilla has been in the gym fighting BBL allegations, and she’s feeling confident these days. The Memphis rapper shot her shot at popular streamer Duke Dennis at the end of her feature verse on Jorjana’s “ILBB2 (Remix),” in which she raps, “Like my n—as tall and brown (What else?) And mixed with a little bit […]
Coming off his legal victory representing A$AP Rocky in the rapper’s 2021 felony shooting case, where he was acquitted on all charges, attorney Joe Tacopina joined The Breakfast Club on Monday (Feb. 24).
Among the topics discussed throughout the interview were Diddy’s sex trafficking and racketeering case, and Tacopina revealed he was asked to look into Sean Combs’ case, but declined due to his ties to Roc Nation and Jay-Z.
“I represent Roc Nation; a lot of people in Roc I’m very close with,” he said. “Jay and [Roc Nation president] Desiree Perez, who’s the most amazing, like, bomb of a boss. Jay is amazing. You know, Jay Brown, all those people are just, like, they really are special, special people.”
Tacopina continued to claim that Diddy and Jay aren’t close these days. “That’s sort of family to me and I don’t think they see eye to eye with P. Diddy,” he added.
Host Charlamagne Tha God interrupted Tacopina to have him repeat his sentiments regarding the status of Combs and Hov’s relationship.
“Everyone wants a picture with P. Diddy, at one time or another when they went to a party,” he explained of the hip-hop moguls being photographed together over the years. “But when things got real, years and years ago.”
Billboard has reached out to reps for Diddy and Roc Nation for comment.
A civil lawsuit accusing Jay-Z of raping a 13-year-old girl alongside Diddy was voluntarily dismissed on Feb. 14 after being filed in New York federal court in December by attorney Tony Buzbee.
A Jane Doe plaintiff had accused Hov and Combs of drugging and assaulting her during an afterparty following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Jay-Z called the case “extortionate” in his initial response to the filing.
“The frivolous, fictitious and appalling allegations have been dismissed,” Jay-Z wrote in a message posted to the Roc Nation Instagram account following the case’s dismissal. “This civil suit was without merit and never going anywhere. The fictional tale they created was laughable, if not for the seriousness of the claims. I would not wish this experience on anyone. The trauma that my wife, my children, my loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed.”
Combs was arrested in September and is currently being detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. His lawyer Marc Agnifilo called it an “unjust prosecution” at the time, and added that the musician was cooperating with law enforcement and had moved to New York in anticipation of the charges. Said Agnifilo: “These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
The disgraced music mogul is currently awaiting trial, which is slated to start in May. Prosecutors allege Combs was running a criminal enterprise looking to satisfy his need for “sexual gratification.” Diddy has also been accused of using violence and intimidation tactics to keep his alleged victims from speaking out against him. If convicted on all charges, Combs faces life in prison.
Watch the full interview below. Talk of Diddy and Jay-Z starts shortly after the 47-minute mark.
In less than a month, BRIT Award-winning U.K. R&B girl group FLO will embark on its latest headlining tour in support of the group’s Billboard-charting debut studio album Access All Areas — and the trio stopped by Billboard News to talk about how they’ve been preparing.
“We’re getting going on the vocals, which are sounding [good],” teased Stella Quaresma. “The songs are super fun to sing. We’re working with Amari [Marshall], who’s brought something [new] out of us. She’s just sucked out what we need. We haven’t started [choreography] yet, so that’s gonna be when we see it come to life properly.”
Marshall served as co-dance captain on Beyoncé‘s record-breaking Renaissance World Tour, marking her return to Queen Bey’s kingdom after appearing in the dancer lineup for the icon’s 2018 Coachella headlining performance. More recently, Marshall has performed in Rihanna‘s Super Bowl Halftime Show set and Beyoncé’s Netflix-assisted NFL Christmas Day Cowboy Carter halftime show.
In addition to taking notes from Marshall, the ladies of FLO also drew inspiration from their supporting stint on Kehlani‘s recent Crash World Tour. The trio played to packed arenas nearly every night of the tour’s North American leg, which ran from Sept. 4 to Dec. 8, 2024. Launched in support of Kehlani’s two 2024 releases — Crash and While We Wait 2 — the tour also gave way to two collaborations between the acts. Late last year, FLO guested on a remix of Kehlani’s “8,” and the Oakland star returned the favor by reimagining the group’s “IWH2BMX.”
“After supporting Kehlani on her tour and watching her perform every night and reinvent the show, we all felt super inspired,” gushed Jorja Douglas. “It was amazing! It looked so natural [and] effortless, and that’s really what we want to tap into for this tour. Obviously, she rehearsed, but it [didn’t] look like she rehearsed! It just looked like everyone all of a sudden just knew how to do the same thing all at once!”
The Access All Areas Tour will visit the U.K. and Europe in March, before heading across the pond for 27 shows throughout the U.S. and Canada. Launching on March 5 and concluding on May 22, the trio’s trek will feature three opening acts; Lola Moxom will play the U.K./European leg, while Chxrry22 and Jae Stephens will grace the North American leg.
On the chart dated Nov. 30, 2024, Access All Areas debuted at No. 163 on the Billboard 200, becoming the group’s first project to appear on the ranking. The album — which also hit No. 3 in the U.K. — featured collaborations with Memphis rap star GloRilla and award-winning Wicked actress and singer Cynthia Erivo.
“We’re all the way from London and you never know how well your music is going to be seen and taken in other markets,” says Renée Downer. “To come to New York and have two shows that are at 6,000-capacity venues is something we don’t take lightly.”
Watch FLO’s full interview with Billboard staff writer Kyle Denis above.
Los Angeles rapper Lefty Gunplay (born Franklin Holladay) was arrested on controlled and prohibited substance charges in El Paso, Texas, over the weekend.
Per jail records viewed by Billboard, the alleged offense happened on Sunday (Feb. 23) and he was booked into El Paso’s Downtown Jail the following day on charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of a prohibited substance in a correctional or civil facility and not wearing a seatbelt.
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The rapper, who collaborated on Kendrick Lamar’s “TV Off,” was released Monday after posting a $35,000 bond and paying the $184 fee in cash for the seatbelt violation.
According to local news affiliate CBS 4, Holladay was in El Paso for an appearance at the Chuco Brunch event, which he never made it to. The outlet also shared video footage of what appears to be the artist in handcuffs while being escorted around a medical facility by a police officer.
Billboard has reached out to the El Paso Police Department and reps for Lefty Gunplay for comment.
Holladay apologized to his fans during an interview with Power 102.1 FM’s Patti Diaz, and promised to make it up to those he disappointed.
“Later on, I’ll get into further details of what really happened. If you know, you know, but I feel like I got to make it up to my El Paso fans. You know I got a lot of fans in Texas and things didn’t work out the way they were supposed to,” he said during the chat.
Holladay continued: “At the end of the day, everything happens for a reason and I love Texas. They gotta come see me in California if they really wanna see me. Things ain’t matching up right when I make an attempt.”
Lefty Gunplay emerged onto the mainstream rap scene in November with his guest appearance on Lamar’s GNX standout “TV Off.” The Mustard-produced hit sits at No. 4 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100.
Listen to a clip of Lefty Gunplay on Power 102.1 FM below:
It’s incredible to think about the evolution of Tyler, The Creator’s music. From the days of Odd Future in Fairfax, where his music felt like controlled chaos, to now—headlining arenas, selling out shows, and having a Billboard No. 1 album. Despite his success, Tyler remains the same person from Los Angeles, CA. His return to […]
Kevin Durant wants rap fans to stop arguing and enjoy the music. Over the weekend, the Phoenix Suns star took to X to share his opinion on J. Cole‘s latest song “Clouds” in a since-deleted tweet. “I don’t care about none of that fake tough guy sh–,” he quote-tweeted over a post sharing the song. […]