R&B/Hip-Hop
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New week, new Fresh Picks! From drill love songs by J Hus and Maiya The Don to rap rhythms by Atlanta heads SwaVay and KEY!, we have a wide range of sounds to help you power through another steamy week.
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And of course, check out this month’s Fresh Picks (so far) in our Spotify playlist, linked below.
Freshest Find: J Hus feat. Jorja Smith, “Nice Body”
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J Hus is the latest addition to the streak of U.K. rappers (following Dave and Central Cee) who have crossing over and dominating the scene as of late. Last Friday (July 14), the Gambian-British rapper released his long-awaited third album, Beautiful and Brutal Yard, with a handful of features including big names like Drake, Burna Boy and Jorja Smith. Hus and the lattermost teamed up for a slowed down heater, “Nice Body,” a track about being with your lover through thick and thin. Hus and Smith duet, finishing each other’s sentences — making for a rather steamy track.
Alex Mali, “DinnerTime”
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Brooklyn native Alex Mali knows her self-worth and with “DinnerTime,” the singer is giving fans a taste of her upcoming debut album, Trust the Process (out August 16). With the hard-hitting new single, Mali explores the concept of women comparing themselves to “a snack” or “a meal,” delving into her own perspective and redefining what it means to be sexy. “Finding yourself is a journey and you should allow yourself the grace to find the beauty in every phase, every setback and every triumph,” she shared. “Go through those emotions with confidence in knowing that all will be as it’s meant to be because you have appreciated the evolution and trusted the process. Keep going.”
SwaVay, “UH”
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“I don’t need no cosign, p—y, I’ll just get my own bag,” Swavay raps. The Atlanta rapper released the deluxe version of his 2022 album Almetha’s Son on which includes two new singles, “UH” and “DUBLIN” featuring Ben Reilly and NASAAN. SwaVay gravitates towards mid-song beat switches, with “UH” being a prime example. The song laces a thumping bass line and 808 claps with orchestral loops as SwaVay stomps all over the beat with fiery bars.
Maiya the Don feat. Shawny Binladen, “Luv U Better”
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Maiya The Don recruits Shawny Binladen for a drill flip of Mary J. Blige and Lil Kim’s 1997 hit, “I Can Love You.” The Brooklyn rapper declared her song, “Luv U Better,” a track to post your man to — as she took to socials to hard launch her boyfriend, Wu-Tang: An American Saga actor Siddiq Saunderson, as part of the song’s promo.
Mack Keane, “Chances”
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On “Chances,” Mack Keane is feeling all the feels. The L.A.-based singer learns to let go and take a chance on love with the sultry, conga-driven song that went through 12 iterations before Keane landed on the final product. “It’s a real story and a timestamp of that period of my life, which is always the intention of my music,” he shares in a press release. “The lyrics in the second verse are my favorite because it’s something that I’m still learning to do in my life today: letting go, accepting the things that I can’t control, and staying present and grounded in this reality. I’m really happy to finally get this one out in the world.”
KEY! & Redd Smash, “Crank Dat”
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Like its title suggests, KEY! and Redd Smash pay homage to 2000s Atlanta hip-hop with their new single “Crank Dat.” Sporting vintage ATL sports team jerseys and fitteds, the song’s video sees the two and their crew cranking dat, hitting the folks and hitting the woah. “Crank Dat” will appear on KEY!’s upcoming project, Marquis.
Lil Baby‘s It’s Only Us tour got a bit shorter this week. The Atlanta rapper appeared to trim more than half a dozen dates from the outing that is currently slated to kick off on July 26 at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX. According to the Ticketmaster site, shows in Phoenix (August 1), Sacramento […]
A judge on Friday (July 14) set a trial date for two men charged in the killing of rapper Young Dolph in a daytime ambush at a bakery in Memphis, Tennessee.
Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith are scheduled to stand trial March 11 in the fatal shooting of the Memphis-born rapper, Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee said during a hearing.
Johnson and Smith have pleaded not guilty to charges including first-degree murder in the November 2021 shooting of Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr. A motive for the killing has not been disclosed.
The 36-year-old rapper, label owner and producer was buying cookies near his boyhood home in Memphis when he was gunned down by two men who drove up to the bakery in a stolen Mercedes Benz, authorities said. The slaying rattled Memphis and shook the entertainment world.
Two other men have been charged in the killing.
Jermarcus Johnson, the half brother of Justin Johnson, pleaded guilty June 9 to three counts of accessory after the fact, and he could testify at the trial.
Jermarcus Johnson acknowledged that he helped the two suspects communicate by cellphone after the killing while they were on the run from authorities, and that he helped one of them communicate with his probation officer after the killing.
During questioning by prosecutor Paul Hagerman, he also acknowledged taking possession of car from Justin Johnson. The car was not the one tied to the killing, Hagerman said. Jermarcus Johnson also identified a photo in which Justin Johnson was wearing the same clothing as one of the two shooters accused of gunning down Young Dolph the day the rapper was killed.
After Jermarcus Johnson’s plea hearing, Hagerman said he had no role in the actual killing of Young Dolph, but that he was one of “multiple players” who did things connected to it.
Another man, Hernandez Govan, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and conspiracy in the case. He is accused of arranging the killing. Govan has been released on bond.
Young Dolph was known in Memphis for his charitable works and his success as an independent musical artist and businessman. Young Dolph had been in the city to visit a sick relative and hand out Thanksgiving turkeys at a church when he was killed.
After his death, Memphis named a street after him and the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA honored him during a game. Murals of the rapper have been painted around the city and a pop-up museum featuring him was opened earlier this year.
The bakery, Makeda’s Homemade Cookies, became an impromptu memorial site for the slain rapper. It was closed for months after the shooting, but has since reopened.
Trippie Redd fans just keep on eating. The Billboard 200-topping rapper is set to release A Love Letter To You 5, his new studio album, on August 4. The new release marks the fifth entry in the rapper’s Love Letter series, and the first since 2019’s A Love Letter To You 4. Details regarding the […]
Amazon Music is looking to give back to the culture in a massive way as hip-hop’s 50th anniversary inches closer. Beginning July 17, Amazon Music will launch its celebration 50 & Forever, which includes a string of performances, in-depth discussions and broadcasts from live festivals. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, […]
On Thursday night (July 13), Jay-Z watched another one of his manifestations come to life when the Brooklyn Public Library unveiled an honorary exhibition for the billionaire polymath.
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Aptly titled “The Book of HOV” — based on his song lyric in DJ Khaled’s 2022 Grammy-nominated anthem “God Did” — the exhibition includes “archived objects, including original recording masters, never-before-seen photos, iconic stagewear, prestigious awards, and recognitions, as well as videos and artifacts from every facet of Jay-Z’s professional life.”
“Brooklyn Public Library, including the Center for Brooklyn History, is home to the most expansive collection of Brooklyn history in the world, and Jay-Z is an important part of the borough’s story,” the CEO of the Brooklyn Public Library Linda Johnson told Billboard. “We are proud to celebrate his mastery of music, poetry, the written word, and the oral tradition, and we hope the exhibit will inspire visitors to bet on themselves and pursue their own dreams, musical or otherwise.”
A throng of supporters huddled behind the barricades and watched the 37-year-old library become a playground for the hometown kid who used to throw paper planes from his Marcy Projects window. Song lyrics ranging from Jay-Z’s “Sweet” to “Encore” grace the building’s exterior like an open-paged book. At the same time, a live band serenaded the attendees with a medley of Jay-Z classics, including “Roc Boys,” “Allure,” “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” and “Where I’m From.”
“The design of the exterior plays with the building facade, which was built to symbolize an open book while paying homage to Jay’s words,” The Book of HOV co-creative director Ken Tokunaga told Billboard. There’s also a blue LED cube outside the library that plays the content of Jay’s career to greet people on their way inside the building. “The classical type contrasts with the contemporary aesthetic of the LED cube that sits at the promenade center. We always aimed for this tension between classic and modernity,” added Book of HOV co-creative director Ian Schatzberg.
Jay-Z and Beyoncé attended the prestigious honor and used the celebration as a much-needed break from the singer’s Renaissance Tour as she looks to head back on the road this Saturday (July 15). Jay-Z’s superstar friends, including DJ Khaled, Babyface, Fat Joe, and Steve Stoute, also stopped by to enjoy the festivities and relish the feats of the Brooklyn icon.
Inside the 40,000-square-foot exhibition, artifacts dating back to Jay’s 1996 introduction make up the iconic showing. Spanning eight sections, rooms such as “Hov Did That” contain his 2008 Glastonbury Festival guitar, a 2009 hand-written letter from the daughter of Frank Sinatra, and his 2021 Rock and Roll of Fame Award. In addition, “Baseline Studios” is a re-imagination of where Hov recorded some of his most famed works, such as 2000’s The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, 2001’s The Blueprint, and 2003’s The Black Album. One more notable section inside the exhibit is titled “Business, Man,” as it highlights his most significant wins on the business front, mainly the birth of his clothing brand Rocawear, his management company Roc Nation, and his streaming company, TIDAL.
The exhibition will be free for the public beginning Friday (July 14), and no library cards are needed to get inside. There will be 13 limited-edition library cards that fans can collect, as each one features the cover of Jay-Z’s solo albums dating back to 1996’s Reasonable Doubt. Those who don’t live in New York can also experience the exhibition online, as famed radio host Angie Martinez narrates the story behind each of the eight sections.
“It’s not every day that an exhibit of this scope is housed in a public, actively used space. Typically, visitors would have to pay museum fees to access this type of immersive experience, and we’re thrilled to make it available free of charge to every New Yorker, from every walk of life, as part of their visit to our Central Library,” explained Johnson.
She added: “The exhibit is a labor of love by Roc Nation and was created by people who have worked closely with JAY-Z and know him best. It was important to all of us that The Book of HOV be an enhanced library experience in which the public is able to attend programming, spend time browsing our collections, and check-out books and vinyl records, all while learning about this Brooklyn-born icon’s extraordinary and inspiring contributions.”
A view of the Central Library Building of the Brooklyn Public Library in Grand Army Plaza as it’s being covered with lyrics by artist Jay-Z in celebration of 50 years of Hip-Hop on July 10, 2023 in New York City.
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Latto threatened to put an unruly fan on the floor after they threw an object at her on stage during the rapper’s set at Rolling Loud Germany in Munich last weekend. It was the latest example of a disturbing trend in which concertgoers have been hurling things at performers during concerts, and Latto made it […]
Coco Jones’ “ICU” is the gift that keeps on giving. Nearly nine months after the Bel-Air actress first debuted her ballad, Justin Timberlake has now blessed the track with a brand new remix. Rumors of a revamp started swirling on Monday (July 10) when Jones took to Twitter to post a photoset that included a […]
Cordae and Naomi Osaka are basking in the new parent life, as the couple welcomed their first child together, a baby girl, earlier this month. The tennis champion took to Instagram on Thursday (July 13) to share a glimpse into the past few weeks, and the first photo featured her daughter’s adorable legs dressed in a […]
After a synch in Apple TV+’s The Crowded Room, Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day” leads Billboard’s Top TV Songs chart, powered by Tunefind, for June 2023.
Rankings for the Top TV Songs chart are based on song and show data provided by Tunefind and ranked using a formula blending that data with sales and streaming information tracked by Luminate during the corresponding period of June 2023.
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“Lovely Day” can be heard in the series premiere of the new Apple TV+ series, which first aired alongside its first three episodes on June 9. In June 2023, “Lovely Day” earned 13.1 million official on-demand U.S. streams and 3,000 downloads, according to Luminate.
Released in 1977 and found on Withers’ album Menagerie from that same year, “Lovely Day” peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1978. The song returned to the Billboard charts upon its The Crowded Room synch, re-entering the R&B Digital Song Sales chart at No. 13 on the June 24-dated survey.
Irma Thomas’ “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)” appears at No. 2 on Top TV Songs after being heard in the sixth season premiere of Netflix’s Black Mirror (June 15). The song earned 368,000 streams in June 2023. “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)” was one of four songs from Thomas to reach the Hot 100, peaking at No. 52 in August 1964.
A pair of songs from Based on a True Story, a newly premiered series from Peacock, debut at Nos. 3 and 4 on Top TV Songs. Europe’s “The Final Countdown,” from the show’s fourth episode, lands at No. 3 (5.5 million streams, 2,000 downloads), followed by Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” at No. 4 (15.4 million streams, 2,000 downloads). Both episodes premiered June 8.
See the full top 10, also featuring music from Love Island (UK), The Bear and Cruel Summer, below.
Rank, Song, Artist, Show (Network)1. “Lovely Day,” Bill Withers, The Crowded Room (Apple TV+)2. “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand),” Irma Thomas, Black Mirror (Netflix)3. “The Final Countdown,” Europe, Based on a True Story (Peacock)4. “Under Pressure,” Queen & David Bowie, Based on a True Story (Peacock)5. “Bad Guy,” Billie Eilish, Love Island (ITV2)6. “Hold the Line,” Toto, Love Island (ITV2)7. “She Drives Me Crazy,” Fine Young Cannibals, The Bear (Hulu)8. “My Own Worst Enemy,” Lit, Cruel Summer (Freeform)9. “She’s So High,” Tal Bachmann, Cruel Summer (Freeform)10. “Stuck in the Middle With You,” Stealers Wheel, Love Island (ITV2)