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Beyoncé fan Jon Hetherington posted a video last week in which he lamented that he would not be able to achieve a lifelong dream of seeing Queen Bey in concert in Seattle at Lumen Field because he said the airline he was flying on was unable to accommodate his wheelchair. In a TikTok video, Oregon native Hetherington said he got the airport and was told by the unnamed airline that his chair was four inches too tall to be loaded onto the plane.
“They checked every possible flight, every airline, and nothing is available. So after 25 years of waiting, I’m not seeing Beyonce tonight. So ableism strikes again,” he lamented in the video that went viral and racked up more than 360,000 likes and 1,500 comments.

He was quickly flooded by comments from the Bey Hive, with some offering to give him their tickets for upcoming shows, and many others tagging Beyoncé, her Parkwood Entertainment management company and Columbia Records. “I’ve waited so f–king long for this,” Hetherington said in a follow-up video in which he said was demoralized, frustrated and sad about missing the show; two weeks earlier he said he was left stranded in Seattle for hours after a Janelle Monáe show because he could not find an accessible taxi in Seattle.

The groundswell of support and offers of help for the Oregon native turned into a dream come true on Thursday night (Sept. 21) when Hetherington, 34 — who has cerebral palsy and uses an electric wheelchair — was able to attend Bey’s Renaissance tour date at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX after a member of the singer’s team reached out to him, according to the New York Times; at press time a spokesperson for Beyoncé could not be reached for confirmation of the report.

The Times reported that Bey’s team arranged for a new flight and after the show Hetherington reported that not only did his dream come true, but he met Beyoncé’s mom — Tina Knowles-Lawson — as well as the singer herself. “Beyhive, you made this happen, you pushed and tagged like the internet has never seen. Tonight, for the first time ever, I had a seat on the floor for a concert. Welcome to the RENAISSANCE,” he wrote alongside a shot of him awaiting the beginning of the concert.

In a second photo, next to a smiling Knowles-Lawson, Hetherington was elated about his magical night and told his followers that he planned to keep the special words Beyoncé shared to himself. “There is much that I will say in the coming days about what tonight means to me. There are some things I’ll keep for myself. Truly an honor to meet you, @mstinaknowles! Thank you for all that you’ve done and given the world. We’re so grateful,” he said.

“To the Queen herself, @beyonce, I will treasure those words you said and the hugs you gave,” he added. “I meant every word I said. No, for anyone and everyone reading this, I will not ever share with you what was said to me, don’t even try it. That moment is between the two of us.”

See Hetherington’s posts below.

At Houston’s NRG Stadium on Aug. 29, Karol G invited a special guest to join her onstage: her international tour’s opening act, the Puerto Rican rapper Young Miko. Clad in a vibrant pink crop top and matching baggy pants, Young Miko took Karol by the hand as the two sang their collaborative hit, “Dispo,” moving in perfect harmony in an undulating perreo-style dance.
Amid the ecstatic cheers of fans, it was Karol, not the newcomer, who betrayed a rare glimpse of nerves as she admitted, “Ahora soy yo la que me puse nerviosa!” (“Now it’s me who has gotten nervous!”)

Miko’s meteoric rise from nascent local sensation to captivating performer capable of holding her own beside a global superstar is a testament to her undeniable talent. In just over one year, Billboard‘s 2023 Latin Rookie of the Year has broken out of her native Puerto Rico’s música urbana scene, performing with heavyweights like Karol and Bad Bunny as well as headlining her own Trap Kitty world tour of nearly 50 cities across the Americas and Spain.

“I feel incredible — a world tour! At least this early in my career,” Miko says, still sounding awestruck.

She has also been ascending the Billboard charts. “Dispo” peaked at No. 22 on Hot Latin Songs, and she made her Billboard Hot 100 debut in July with “Classy 101,” a smooth reggaetón number with Colombian star Feid. “It was definitely a shocker,” Miko told Billboard in June. “Usually one sees Beyoncé, Taylor Swift or The Weeknd on the Hot 100. To see my name is very surreal, a reminder that this is really happening and that people are consuming [my music].”

Lia Clay Miller

Lia Clay Miller

While her name now shares the charts with music’s biggest stars, not long ago, the 24-year-old artist born María Victoria Ramírez de Arellano Cardona was leveraging another form of artistic expression — tattooing — to finance her music. “The goal was always to start tattooing so I could afford my music dreams and eventually let go of the machine,” she says. “Thanks to tattoos, I was able to start paying for studio time.”

Since arriving on the global Latin pop scene, Miko has both played into and inverted male-centric Latin tropes with bold and raunchy lyrics that draw on her experience as a queer woman while boosting the LGBTQ+ community. “When I started writing music, I was like, ‘F–k it. People already know I’m gay, and why would I sing to men?’ Respectfully,” she adds with a chuckle, “if I don’t like men, I’m not going to dedicate a song to one.”

Her commitment to authenticity allowed her to carve out a place as a singular, hyper-femme queer rapper in música urbana with an unmatched, unhurried flow that has captivated a growing fan base that she calls Mikosexuals.

“For a lot of people, I came out of nowhere and caught a drastic boom — but in reality, we’ve been doing this for a really long time,” she explains. “SoundCloud played a big role in letting me test these waters that I had never explored before. We didn’t have any other resources. We had the talent, the idea, the vision, the work ethic.”

Lia Clay Miller

That drive paid off when Angelo Torres, co-founder and head of Puerto Rican indie label Wave Music Group, came across Miko while scrolling through Twitter on a flight in 2020. “This SoundCloud link popped up of this girl with pink hair and tattoos,” Torres remembers. “I was instantly captivated when I heard her tracks. There was something undeniably intriguing about her sound. [I thought,] ‘I really need to meet this person.’ ”

Torres and producer Caleb Calloway established Wave in 2021 and signed Miko several months after. Calloway, who would become pivotal to her rise, first collaborated with her on “Puerto Rican Mami” when she only had a couple of songs released on SoundCloud. That track arrived in December 2021. By July 2022, Miko was onstage at Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan with Bad Bunny, performing her viral trap song “Riri.”

To Calloway, Miko’s sincerity remains the key to her success. “She has always maintained her originality, never letting fame alter her essence,” he says. “Miko was that artist that was able to finally fit in exactly to where my sound was and then take it to another level with her Y2K flow, with her singing and then rapping, and me doing the beat. It just sounds like we’ve been together our whole lives, and we’ve only been working for three years.”

Lia Clay Miller

Young Miko photographed on September 11, 2023 in New York.

Lia Clay Miller

Alongside Calloway and her longtime producer Mauro, Miko has crafted hits like “Riri” and this year’s “Wiggy” and “Lisa.” Her debut album, Trap Kitty, and the singles that have followed showcase her laid-back approach to trap, rap and reggaetón — a refreshing blend of boldness and nonchalance.

“We sensed tremendous excitement around Young Miko,” says Jeremy Vuernick, president of A&R at Capitol Music Group, which locked in a long-term distribution deal with Wave in April. “One of the most exciting things about Young Miko, aside from her incredible ability as a songwriter and storyteller, is the way that she’s able to connect with her audience.” And her unwavering authenticity and fiery passion have struck a chord with fans across the globe.

“It has been a year filled with a lot of learning, both professionally and as a person. It all happened so fast, but I’m surrounded by people who just want the best for me — people who have been with me since day one,” Miko says. “There are many new things that seem unreal, but I’m grateful. I’m growing, I’m learning, I’m evolving. I just know that the best is yet to come.”

Young Miko will speak at Billboard Latin Music Week, taking place Oct. 2 – Oct. 6. To register, click here.

This story will appear in the Sept. 23, 2023, issue of Billboard.

It somehow feels like both yesterday and a decade ago that Doja Cat lambasted her fans, told them to “get a job,” and lost nearly 250,000 Instagram followers. The road to Scarlet has been littered with potential blockades, but like a true feline, Doja Cat flexed her nine lives and turned the campaign for her new featureless album into a run that included not just her first unaccompanied Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper, but also the first hip-hop song to reach No. 1 on the chart in 2023.

The last time Doja put out a studio album, she went intergalactic. Wrapping in trap, Afrobeats, slinky R&B and sugar straightforward pop, Planet Her netted Doja a No. 2 peak on the Billboard 200, her first Grammy, and a litany of hits, including the SZA-assisted “Kiss Me More” (No. 3), “Woman” (No. 7), “Need to Know” (No. 8), “You Right” (No. 11, with The Weeknd), and “Get Into It (Yuh)” (No. 20).

Prior to that, the cross-genre marvel joined forces with Nicki Minaj for her first Hot 100 No. 1 single, “Say So” — a nu-disco quarantine anthem that helped launch both its parent album (Hot Pink) and Doja’s career to staggering new heights. In many ways, Scarlet — with its moody overtone and horrorcore-nodding aesthetic — is a response to the precariousness of those heights and the pressures they place on an artist who simply just wants to make music and find happiness in her life.

In many ways, Doja prepped Scarlet as a back-to-basics record that would focus on flaunting her skills as an emcee. She launched the era with the boom-bap-indebted “Attention,” doubled down on the pop-rap with the Dionne Warwick-sampling “Paint the Town Red,” and dabbled in punk-rap and lo-fi on promotional singles “Demons” and “Balut,” respectively. As a complete unit, Scarlet finds Doja flexing her muscle in different rap subgenres as she relies on a fiery new love to release from the twisted hamster wheel of the fanatic-artist dynamic. From jazz rap and punk rap to neo-soul and pluggnb, Doja is at the height of her chameleonic powers on Scarlet.

With a plethora of new songs to sort through and a tour on the horizon, which tracks are the true highlights of this record? Here is a preliminary ranking of every song on Doja Cat’s Scarlet.

“Shutcho”

In one of her first public appearances since a trio of former dancers filed a lawsuit accused her of turning a blind eye to toxic working conditions, Lizzo took the stage at Thursday night’s (Sept. 21) 2023 Black Music Action Coalition gala to receive the night’s final honor: the BMAC Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award.
The award was presented by the Big Grrrls from Lizzo’s Emmy-winning reality show, Watch Out For the Big Grrrls, just hours after the singer was hit with the latest lawsuit from a former employee, this one alleging sexual and racial harassment, disability discrimination and illegal retaliatory termination; the suit from Special Tour clothing designer Asha Daniels filed in L.A. Superior Court named Lizzo, along with tour manager Carlina Gugliotta and the Big Grrrl Touring company as defendants. It’s the second such lawsuit in two months, alleging sexual and racial harassment.

Before Lizzo came onstage, one of the cast members spoke about her being the “first person to ever believe in us, show us love and believe in our talent and our craft.” Another said, “When we found out Lizzo was being honored, we knew that we had to be here. This has always been somebody that gives back. She cares deeply. She loves with her whole heart … she put in the work to get to this moment.”

Stepping onstage to accept the statuette, an emotional Lizzo said, “BMAC thank you because I needed this right now. God’s timing is always on time! I’ve been blessed to receive a lot of incredible awards. But this one truly hits different because humanitarianism is selfless. And to be kind to someone isn’t a talent. Everyone can do it. It’s a gift that you give. In all my years of activism and outreach, I have witnessed at the core of every organization, every movement, every march is just people helping people. And they do it every damn day. I get to come in, help and go back to my life as a musician. These people are still helping people because they’ve dedicated their lives to service. And they don’t get awards; they don’t get a round of applause. Because of that, I’ve dedicated my life and decided to share my platform to shine a light on those people. Because I so badly want to live in a world where we award goodness with our attention.”

Lizzo further shared that she donated a quarter of a million dollars in June to several Black-led organizations dedicated to helping Black youth, Black women, the Black queer/Black trans communities. To applause and shouts, she went on to name the organizations, which included the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, Black Girls Smile, Sphinx Organization, Save Our Sisters and a scholarship partnership with the University of Houston.

“It’s easy to do the right thing when everybody’s watching you,” Lizzo continued in the speech that did not directly address any of the allegations. “But it’s what you do in those moments where nobody’s watching that defines who you are. I’m going to continue to be who I am, no matter who’s watching. I’m going to continue to amplify the voices of marginalized people because I have a microphone and I know how to use it. And I’m going to continue to put on, represent and create safe spaces for Black fat women because that’s what the f–k I do! My family’s here, Nice Life is here … the Big Grrrls. This support right now means the world to me.”

Lizzo responded to the first suit alleging sexual harassment and weight-shaming in August, calling them “false allegations” and “sensationalized stories.”

“I am not the villain that people and the media have portrayed me to be these last few days,” Lizzo wrote in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter). “I am very open with my sexuality and expressing myself but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me out to be something I am not.”

At press time it did not appear that Lizzo had responded to the allegations in the latest lawsuit. Daniels is being represented by attorney Ron Zambrano, who is also representing former dancers Ariana Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez, who claimed in their suit that they were subjected to sexual harassment and a hostile work environment, including being pressured to touch nude dancers during a live sex show.

The 2019 murder of rapper Nipsey Hussle is the subject of a just-launched limited true series entitled Behind the Crime. The show, which premiered this week on Fox’s Tubi network on Wednesday, is a collaboration with Dan Abrams’ Law&Crime network and it follows the killing of Hussle, as well as the murder trial of Eric […]

After months of teasing and controversy, Doja Cat is finally ready to transport fans to “Agora Hills.” The Grammy-winning cross-genre artist unveiled Scarlet, her fourth studio album, on Friday (Sept. 22).
After signaling her new era with a shaved head and a rebuke of her earlier music, Doja launched Scarlet in June with the release of “Attention,” a boom-bap-indebted hip-hop track that prioritized showcasing the dexterity of her rapping ability. The track debuted and peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100, and its music video — which previewed the era’s overarching horror aesthetic — picked up six nominations at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, ultimately winning best art direction.

“Paint the Town Red,” the record’s first radio single, soon followed with a catchy hook and a bouncy Dionne Warwick-sampling beat. The song became Doja’s second Hot 100 No. 1 — her first unaccompanied — becoming the first hip-hop song to reach the top of the ranking in 2023. A punk-rap promotional single titled “Demons” arrived on Sept. 1, complete with a music video starring Emmy-nominated Yellowjackets star Christina Ricci. A Ric Flair-nodding promotional single called “Balut” was released on Sept. 15. In the final weeks leading up to the album, blood-covered life-size mannequins made in Doja’s likeness appeared in major cities across the United States.

Scarlet boasts a completely featureless tracklist and eye-popping titles such as “Wet Vagina,” “Skull and Bones” and “F—k the Girls (FTG).” The standard edition houses 15 tracks, while two extra songs can be found on digital versions of the album: “Shutcho” and “WYM Freestyle.”

To support the new record, Doja will embark on The Scarlet Tour. The 24-date trek will kick off on Halloween at San Francisco’s Chase Center, and hit major cities across the U.S. before wrapping Dec. 13 at Chicago’s United Center. Ice Spice and “What It Is (Block Boy)” rapper Doechii will serve as opening acts for the tour.

Doja Cat’s new album is the follow-up to 2021’s Planet Her. That album, her third studio effort, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and spawned a litany of Hot 100 hits, including the SZA-assisted “Kiss Me More” (No. 3), “Woman” (No. 7), “Need to Know” (No. 8), “You Right” (No. 11, with The Weeknd), and “Get Into It (Yuh)” (No. 20).

Stream Scarlet now:

It’s prime time in Colorado as the university’s new head football coach, Deion Sanders, has led the squad to a 3-0 start and is drawing A-list talent to their games. At Saturday’s in-state rivalry match-up between Colorado and Colorado State, Sanders — also known as Coach Prime — welcomed Lil Wayne, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, […]

Nicki Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty was ordered to serve 120 days of home detention on Wednesday (Sept. 20) after he violated his probation terms by posting what seemed to be a social media threat directed toward Offset. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Petty was put under house […]

Philly newcomer Fridayy has already accomplished what most new R&B/hip-hop artists dream of — times four: he’s on a song alongside Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and John Legend. 

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Last year, DJ Khaled corralled the heavyweights for “God Did,” on which Fridayy flexes his rich, baritone chords for the song’s hook. After seeing Khaled chanting the mantra on social media ahead of his album of the same name, Fridayy resonated with the saying and felt inspired to record a hook. “I just made it off faith. No beat was there, it was just me and the piano,” the 26-year-old tells Billboard. 

Through mutual connections, the hook fell into the hands of Khaled who ended up using it for the track, which reached No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Fridayy’s first entry on the chart. (Meanwhile, the album God Did hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200).

Born Francis Leblanc to Haitian parents, Fridayy grew up in the Olney section of Philadelphia. He was heavily involved in church at a young age, leading youth choirs and learning instruments like the piano and guitar by ear. It wasn’t until middle school when he received his first laptop that he started taking music more seriously, but his parents didn’t see the art form as a viable way to make a living. 

“They would always be like, ‘You’re talented, you’re a genius, you play every instrument, [but] make sure you go to college. Make sure you get a stable job so you can take care of us and yourself’,” he says.

Fridayy respected his parents wishes and attended college for two years from 2015-2017 before dropping out to pursue his passion. Fast forward to now and he has a growing list of collaborators that also includes Lil Baby and Chris Brown, a record deal with Def Jam and a self-titled debut album that arrived last month.

“I’m not even thinking outside of music right now. I know music is my gift from God that I have to use to get everything else,” he says.

Billboard chatted with the September R&B/hip-hop rookie of the month about his musical upbringing, “God Did” and his new album Fridayy.

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For people who don’t know you, how would you describe yourself?

I’m a good guy. I love music, I love family, I love God.

Where did you get your stage name from?

I got my name “Fridayy” before I was about to go to college. The Weeknd and PartyNextDoor, they was my favorite artists at the time. I came up with something to try to get Drake’s attention [and] try to be part of OVO. I went to college introducing myself [as Fridayy] and it stuck because nobody knew me by my real name. 

Why did you decide to drop out?

I didn’t really have no reason going there, it was a forced thing. I got Haitian parents so it’s like you gotta go to school, this is a must. So I went there to make them happy. I ain’t have no major or nothing. It wasn’t for me, though.

When did you realize you could sing?

Since I was a kid, I used to sing in church — probably at like, 9 or 10. I used to play instruments too, so everybody knew early on I was talented. But I started taking music seriously when I was 14, when my cousin Marco introduced me to producing. He gave me my first laptop so being the [type of] musician I was in church, it was very easy for me to produce and record myself.

Which instruments do you play?

I play the piano, guitar, bass [and] drums. I play all of them at a high level.

Were you trained?

I learned at church by ear. I would hear things and try to play it on the piano, and I did that for years. So it’s basically teaching myself but it’s also years of trying to copy stuff.

Do you know how to read music?

Nah. 

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Being a baritone R&B singer gives you an edge, but did that present any challenges to you growing up as you started realizing your vocal tone?

[My voice] was always deep, even when I was singing when I was 10 and 11 [but] it was always good. It wasn’t no challenges, it was always like “Oh s–t!” It was always a surprise when I started singing, and I’ve liked that reaction since I was a kid. As soon as I started singing, I loved that, “Oh, he different!” reaction.

There aren’t many other baritone R&B singers in the space right now besides Givēon. Are you a fan?

Yeah, I f–k with bro. I be seeing the comparison but it’s just the deep voice. Me and him make completely opposite type of music. If you listen to my albums and you listen to his, we’re two different artists coming from two different places. I listen to bro, I’m a fan.

Philly has a rich R&B history. How did growing up there inform your sound?

It did a lot to my sound. One of the first Philly artists I listened to was Boyz II Men. Outside of church, I would listen to [them] a lot and that influenced a lot of my music — their harmonies, feelings, soulfulness. It led to Brian McKnight and all the R&B legends. Meek Mill had a big influence. Philly really inspired my sound a lot just between those artists, Meek Mill and Boyz II Men.

How did Meek Mill influence you?

Just the way he was talking in the records. It was relatable, his lyrics. 

How has your parents’ attitude on pursuing music full-time changed now that you’re seeing success?

They happy as h–l for me because I’m doing it in a good way. I’m still being myself, I ain’t lose myself. At first, they didn’t believe it…it wasn’t that they didn’t believe in my talent [but] they from Haiti so [they] never even seen somebody doing what [I] was doing.

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“God Did” was a breakout moment for you. How did you get involved?

I was signed to a publishing label called Big Noise and the A&R that signed me left, and [my team and I] were looking for a buyout. My manager Edgar Cutino was looking around to see who could buy me out and he met Mary J. Blige’s A&R [Eddie Fourcell], who works at Prescription [Songs]. He just kept telling Eddie, “Buy Fridayy out. He’s the one.” Months went by and Eddie ended up buying me out my deal and during that time, [DJ] Khaled was promoting God Did — he kept saying it on Instagram before we knew the album was coming. Everytime he would do it, it touched me, so I made the hook. We heard that he was working on the album and my manager told me to make a bigger hook — not even knowing how we could get it to him. We played it for Eddie and he sent it to Khaled and [he said] “I need this for my album.”

What happened next?

I signed with Def Jam right after “God Did.” 

Why was that the right fit?

My manager was already connected to Tunji [Balogun, Def Jam chairman and CEO] and he been telling [him] about me for months. And based off the acts that Tunji had and worked with in the past, I seen myself in that group of people. 

Tell me about your new album Fridayy and its themes.

It’s a life album. I wrote it for me but for everybody else too. It’s something in there for everybody, that’s why I think it’s being streamed so well right now. Whether you want to listen to R&B, Afrobeat, something inspirational, some pain — it’s something in there for every type of person. The inspiration came from seeing what my music did in the past, seeing how it saved a lot of people, how it helped a lot of people get through what they went through. 

My two favorites are “Stand By Me” and “When It Comes To You.”

Those are my two favorites too! That s–t’s crazy.

What are some things you want to pursue aside from music?

I just got in the game, I’m not even thinking about any other stuff. I’m thinking about giving great music and establishing myself to the point where I can play with other things.

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Will Smith’s “Parents Just Don’t Understand” is one of those songs that will always resonate with each new generation. For some, like his wife, Emmy-winning actress and talk show host Jada Pinkett Smith, the song holds myriad memories. On Wednesday (Sept. 20), Pinkett Smith shared an adorable throwback video of her and the late Billboard Hot 100-topping rapper Tupac lip-syncing to Smith’s 1988 hit single.
“Not in a million years would I have dreamed that the Fresh Prince and I would become, um, very acquainted. Not in a million years did I imagine three lives, their fates, would be so intertwined,” she wrote in a lengthy caption. “And… I never would have imagined that this video would become a tangible memory, of the last time Pac and I, were simply kids together. Pac and I lip syncing Parents Just Don’t Understand by Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince during our Junior year in high school. Who would have thought?”

The caption appears to be an excerpt from a chapter from Worthy, Pinkett Smith’s forthcoming memoir. In the clip, she dons a collection of gold chains, a black top and grays shorts as she lip-syncs and dances along to the song with Pac, who sports a blank sleeveless tank, black shorts and similar gold chains. Era-appropriate hairstyles and visual effects help round out the vintage clip. In a second post, Pinkett Smith joked that the pair did a “terrible job” lip-syncing.

Smith, as one-half of the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, released “Parents Just Don’t Understand” as the second single from 1988’s He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper. The song peaked at No. 12 on the Hot 100, and won the inaugural Grammy for best rap performance. Under her first post — Pinkett Smith limited the comments of the second clip — DJ Jazzy Jeff commented, “Absolutely amazing.”

Since Pac’s unfortunate passing in 1996, Pinkett Smith has often relived her memories with him in front of the public. In 2017, she revealed that she was a drug dealer when she first met him, and in 2021, she shared an unpublished poem from the “Dear Mama” rapper. While Pac was alive, Pinkett Smith appeared in his “Keep Ya Head Up” and “Temptations” music videos, and covered $100,000 for his bail after he was convicted for sexual abuse. While the two stars never officially dated, their incredibly close friendship has become a point of public debate, especially in light of her and Smith’s “entanglement” controversies — hence the feisty comment section under the first throwback clip.

Worthy is slated for an Oct. 17 publication date.

Check out Jada Pinkett Smith’s throwback Tupac clips below: