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Less than two months after Megan Thee Stallion said she was taking a break from music to focus on herself, the “Pressurelicious” rapper appears to be back in the lab. According to a screen grab from a recent Instagram Story captured by HipHopDX, on Sunday (July 23) Meg posted a brief boomerang video of herself […]

Doja Cat is beefing with her Kittenz again. The “Kiss Me More” singer reportedly went on a Twitter spree over the weekend in which she slammed members of her feline fan group over her claims that some were using her “government name” as their screen names.
And, according to social media analysis company Crowdtangle it may have already cost her dearly. Figures provided to Billboard by the Meta-owned company report that Doja lost 237,758 followers on Instagram following her string of since-deleted tweets blasting her fans this weekend, with the total number of lost followers nearing 300,000 over the last 30 days; at press time she still had a robust 25.7 million Instagram followers.

Additionally, Crowdtangle said searches for the rapper’s name spiked by 82% following the series of posts in which Doja reportedly lambasted her fans for calling themselves “kittenz,” while telling them to “get a job”; as a number of followers pointed out, Doja is the one who selected the Kittenz name for her fandom in a 2020 Twitter poll.

According to CNN, Doja seemed angry that fans were calling her by her given name, Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, tweeting at one Kittenz, “You making my government name your sn [screenname] is creepy as f—k,” which was reportedly followed by a message to fans to delete their social media accounts if they insist on continuing to use her birth name; at press time Billboard was unable to independently verify the content of the deleted tweets and a spokesperson for the artist had not returned a request for comment.

The star also reportedly claimed that Kittenz was a term dreamed up by an “alcoholic teen,” adding, “My fans don’t get to name themselves s–t.” That harsh comment was followed up by an even more bruising criticism of her followers, in which she allegedly said, “If you call yourself a ‘Kitten’ or f–king ‘Kittenz’ that means you need to get off your phone and get a job and help your parents with the house.”

One fan responded with a reminder to the 27-year-old singer who dressed up as a cat for this year’s Met Gala that her followers were, “??? only using the name YOU gave your fans.” Another quipped, “Doja being mean to her fans for the word kitten like her name isn’t doja CAT and she wasn’t dressed as a cat and meowed her way through an entire interview a few months ago oh she has lost her mind.”

The singer, who has had a tense relationship with the music industry, recently told V Magazine that one of the reasons it’s taken her so long to follow-up her hit 2021 album Planet Her is that she is tired of making music that is “palatable, marketable and sellable,” while admitting that she’s “thrown fits my whole career” because the music she’s made didn’t allow her to have “mental release.”

In May of this year she appeared to diss Kittenz who were fans of 2021’s Planet Her and 2019’s Hot Pink albums by calling them “cash grabs” featuring “mediocre pop” and taunting, “yall fell for it.”

Check out screenshots of Doja’s deleted tweets and some of the Kittenz’s responses below.

Doja Cat slandering her fans is crazy tbh cos I don’t understand why you would attack your fans for just giving themselves a name just like every other fanbase out there. I know what signs like these mean.— BASITO (@itzbasito) July 23, 2023

“my fans don’t name themselves shit. if you call yourself a “kitten” or fucking “kittenz” that means you need to get off your phone and get a job and help your parents with the house.”This coming from doja cat???The same woman who was meowing at met gala..? pic.twitter.com/YyKQSklQJM— ʙᴀɴɢᴛᴀ7 (@bangtantition) July 24, 2023

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the Brooklyn Public Library’s 40,000-square-foot “The Book of Hov” exhibit yet you’re in luck. On Friday, the Library announced that the career-spanning Jay-Z retrospective is now scheduled to run through October. “Stop by any time this summer to see this free exhibit, or plan your visit for the fall,” read a tweet from the institution.
The exhibition opened on July 14 in a splashy premiere that included an A-list group of VIPs, including Questlove, Rakim, Babyface, DJ Khaled, Fat Joe, Yo Gotti and Lil Uzi Vert as well as the guest of honor, wife Beyoncé and their daughter, Blue Ivy.

The good news is that even if you can’t make it, the interactive “Book” website has a chapter-by-chapter recap of the items in the exhibit, with New York radio legend Angie Martinez providing the narration for the special collection whose name is inspired by a lyric from Khaled’s 2022 Grammy-nominated anthem “God Did.”

The exhibition features “archived objects, including original recording masters, never-before-seen photos, iconic stage wear, prestigious awards, and recognitions, as well as videos and artifacts from every facet of Jay-Z’s professional life.” Lyrics from Jigga’s “Sweet” and “Encore” are splashed across the building’s facade, which is made to look like the pages of an open book. In addition, a blue LED cube outside the library plays content from the rapper’s career as a greet to fans entering the building.

Spanning eight sections, rooms such as “Hov Did That” contain a huge collection of career curios, including his 2008 Glastonbury Festival guitar, a hand-written 2009 letter from Frank Sinatra’s daughter and Jay’s 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Award. In addition, “Baseline Studios” is a re-imagination of the space where Hov recorded some of his most famous albums, such as 2000’s The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, 2001’s The Blueprint and 2003’s The Black Album.

No library card is needed to enter and the library has created 13 limited-edition library cards that fans can collect, with each one featuring the cover of one of Jay’s solo albums dating to 1986’s Reasonable Doubt.

See the Library’s tweet below.

Spotify is launching its Most Necessary Live series of live shows highlighting regional rap scenes and rappers in various cities across the U.S., Billboard can exclusively announce Monday (July 24). Serving as a physical extension of Spotify’s editorially curated Most Necessary playlist — dubbed as “the official voice of the next generation on Spotify” — Most Necessary Live […]

After turning heads with his Pharrell-produced single “RIOT (ROWDY PIPE’N)” last week, A$AP Rocky dished several teasers from his forthcoming album, Don’t Be Dumb, during his headlining set at Rolling Loud Sunday (July 23). One tentatively titled “Taylor Swift” caught traction on social media because of its name and incendiary lyrics.  Teased in 2022, “Taylor Swift” sparked […]

Drake and Central Cee dropped some heat together on their highly anticipated On The Radar freestyle Friday (July 21). “‘Cause we know some demon guys with jealous and evil eyes/ You know that’s how Jesus died, you know that’s how Julius Caesar died,” Drizzy rapped during the first verse before Cench came in the second […]

Back before Cleveland was tapped to be the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, its downstate rival, Cincinnati, was also (briefly) in the mix for the honor of being the institution’s host. The city got on the short list thanks to its legacy as the home of pioneering label King Records, where a number of very early rock n’ roll, funk and R&B sides were cut by the likes of James Brown, Bootsy Collins, Otis Williams and others; not for nothing, but Billboard was founded in the city in 1894.
And while the Queen City missed out on that Rock Hall of Fame, on Saturday (July 22), Cincinnati will get its own circle of honor when the long-awaited Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame opens to the public in a splashy ceremony that will unveil a years-in-the-works project to honor the city’s unique place in music history.

“The historical part of this place is that African-American slaves lived in this flood plain and [the Hall of Fame] is across from Paycor Stadium, where the annual Cincinnati Music Festival takes place,” says Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reece, the main driver behind the project in reference to the 61-year-old locally promoted gathering that has brought the best of funk, soul, R&B and jazz to her hometown for six decades.

Reece’s passion for the Walk of Fame is evidence by her bubbling enthusiasm over a recent Zoom call, as well as a voice already hoarse from her duties hyping her passion project in the lead-up to this weekend’s grand unveiling. And she comes by it naturally. Her mother, Barbara Howard, was a national recording artist, and her father, Steven Reece Sr., was a local rep for Motown Records who helped to bring both the Beatles and Aretha Franklin to town for their first-ever Cincinnati dates.

When her mother died at 57, Reece says she realized her purpose was to make sure that she left something for future generations. “These stories can’t die when we die,” she says. So she began the yearslong process of pushing to convert an empty downtown lot into her vision of a free-to-the-public Hall of Fame honoring the city’s Black music legends of pop, rock, funk, gospel, hip-hop, jazz and classical music.

Describing the multi-level Hall of Fame layout — a necessity due to its proximity to the Ohio River floodplain — Ron Bunt, senior VP of design firm JRA tells Billboard that visitors will descent a series of ramps with a number of interactive displays that will bring the city’s music history to life. After entering through a towering stainless steel arch that explains the various features, visitors will see a series of 13 podiums that each feature the stories of two prominent Black Cincinnati artists.

This year’s inductees include soul superstar Brown, who recorded some of his more iconic songs at King Records, as well as The Deele, an early 1980s R&B group featuring future superstars and local legends L.A. Reid and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. Also on the list is late Spinners (“Could It Be I’m Falling In Love”) singer Philippé Wynne and Louise Shropshire, who penned the original lyrics to what became the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.”

The two previous classes included the first inductees, funk bass master Bootsy Collins, the Isley Brothers, gospel singer Dr. Charles Ford and The Charms doo-wop singer Williams; the 2022 class featured Klymaxx/Snap! singer Penny Ford, hip-hop producer Hi-Tek (50 Cent, Snoop Dogg), R&B/jazz guitarist Wilbert Longmire and funk group Midnight Star.

“Each podium has a brief bio, and album cover, which, when you scan the QR code, will make the artist pop out with more information,” Bunt says of the displays that will also feature copy in braille and a haptic panel that will allow hearing impaired visitors to “feel” the music. In addition, they will allow users to listen to a 30-second clip of the artist’s music, with the QR code providing access to the Walk of Fame’s website, where you can read more about all the inductees.

There is also a feature called the “Beatmaker,” with 8 drum heads that interact with the lights and an adjacent fountain, acting like a kind of Simon Says game in which visitors follow Hi-Tek’s instructions to keep up with the music, as well as areas with three-minute video clips about each act and panels with the stories of local music influencers.

“It’s a holistic experience that tells an important story that’s never been told,” says Bunt of the hands-on displays that will include an AR component allowing visitors to “jam” on stage with Bootsy and Ford’s avatars. He and Reece are also both excited about a twice-nightly “Takeover Dance party” where the speakers on all the displays will synch up for a music and light show that will encourage attendees to boogie to the music. “It’s kind of an ‘a-ha’ moment for a lot of people when you hear songs you grew up with that most people didn’t know were by people who are from here, which tells yo how worldwide this story is,” Bunt says.

The final iteration of the multi-million project will have room for up to 200 honorees and Saturday’s grand opening will feature a free show by the Ohio Players. “We wanted something that will bridge the gap between generations… grandmas and their grandkids can come and see something educational and entertaining,” says Reece.

Watch a video about the grand opening below.

Barack Obama may not be the president anymore, but he’ll always be the commander-in-chief of summer music recommendations.
The former POTUS shared his annual summer playlist Thursday (July 20), with everyone from Ice Spice to Leonard Cohen making the 2023 roundup. “Like I do every year, here are some songs I’ve been listening to this summer — a mix of old and new,” Obama tweeted. “Look forward to hearing what I’ve missed.”

Among the songs featured: SZA’s “Snooze,” J Hus and Drake’s “Who Told You,” Rosalía and Rauw Alejandro’s “Vampiros,” Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj’s “Princess Diana” and Janelle Monáe’s spicy ode to threesomes, “Only Have Eyes 42.” Obama also included a taste of country with Luke Combs’ chart-topping take on Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” along with a splash of indie rock via Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker’s Boygenius single “Not Strong Enough.”

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Classics from Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Otis Redding and Ella Fitzgerald also made the cut.

The A Promised Land author is no novice when it comes to curating seasonal song recommendations, spending the past few years treating followers to at least two playlists — one in the summer and one at the end of each year — every year. At the end of 2022, Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, Rema, Lizzo, Ari Lennox, Omar Appollo and more were honored with Obama’s stamp of approval.

Last summer, Obama was bumping to Harry Styles, Lil Yachty, Maggie Rogers, Burna Boy, Wet Leg, Jack White and Maren Morris, amongst others.

See Obama’s full 2023 summer playlist below:

Like I do every year, here are some songs I’ve been listening to this summer — a mix of old and new. Look forward to hearing what I’ve missed. pic.twitter.com/H2Do2iaD1p— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 20, 2023

Ice Spice dropped the deluxe version of her debut EP Like..? Friday (July 21) via 10K Projects/Capitol Records. Like..? was originally released on Jan. 20, 2023, and included singles “Munch (Feelin’ U),” “Bikini Bottom,” “In Ha Mood” and “Princess Diana,” which later got a remix with Nicki Minaj that debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Lil […]

Travis Scott, The Weeknd and Bad Bunny have cracked open the Utopia briefcase just a tad Friday (July 21) to release their new single, “KPOP.” “KPOP” comes just a week before Scott’s Utopia livestream event at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt on July 28 to launch his first studio album in five years. The […]