State Champ Radio R&B/Hip-Hop
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OVO Fest will be back in summer 2025. Drake made the announcement while making a surprise guest appearance at Central Cee‘s concert in Toronto Saturday (May 24) at History. “I’ll see you this summer, by the way” Drake said to the crowd, while congratulating the British rapper on his success. “OVO Fest will be back […]
Sacha Jenkins, a pioneering hip-hop journalist, author, filmmaker and cultural historian, has died at the age of 54.
Jenkins passed away on Friday (May 23) at his home due to complications from multiple system atrophy, his wife, journalist and filmmaker Raquel Cepeda, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
Throughout his multifaceted career as an author, producer, magazine founder and filmmaker, Jenkins was widely regarded as a key authority on hip-hop culture. Born in Philadelphia and raised in New York City, he moved to Queens in the late 1970s — a formative time when hip-hop, punk, graffiti and skateboarding were all rising cultural forces.
Jenkins was the son of Horace Byrd Jenkins III, an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker who worked on 60 Minutes and Sesame Street. He began his own career by founding Graphic Scenes & X-plicit Language, an early magazine dedicated to graffiti art. Jenkins later co-founded the hip-hop newspaper Beat Down with childhood friend and fellow music journalist Elliott Wilson.
In 1994, Jenkins and Wilson launched the influential hip-hop and skateboarding publication Ego Trip. The magazine ran for 13 issues and spawned two acclaimed books: 1999’s Ego Trip’s Book of Rap Lists and 2002’s Ego Trip’s Big Book of Racism! Alongside team members Jefferson “Chairman” Mao, Gabriel Alvarez and Brent Rollins, Ego Trip also branched into television, producing several shows for VH1, including 2007’s The (White) Rapper Show.
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Jenkins contributed his writing to publications like Spin, Rolling Stone and served as both music editor and writer-at-large at Vibe. He recently held the position of creative director at Mass Appeal, according to Rolling Stone.
As a filmmaker, Jenkins directed and produced a range of projects. His work includes Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues (2022), Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James (2021), Fresh Dressed (2015), All Up in the Biz (2023) and Harley Flanagan: Wired for Chaos (2024). His 2019 docuseries Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men earned him an Emmy nomination.
Jenkins is survived by his wife, Raquel Cepeda, and their two children.
Jamie Foxx suffered a serious medical emergency in 2023, which he later confirmed to be a stroke. During the time of uncertainty surrounding the mystery illness, plenty of rumors swirled on social media, including Diddy’s alleged involvement.
Foxx shut down the rumors that Diddy tried to have him killed during an interview earlier this week for The Hollywood Reporter with Hasan Minhaj, Chelsea Handler, Roy Wood Jr., Seth Meyers and Sarah Silverman.
“I’m in f—ing perfect shape. [I saw things like,] ‘Puffy tried to kill me.’ No, Puffy didn’t try to kill me. When they said I was a clone, that made me flip,” he said. “I’m sitting in the hospital bed, like, ‘These b—h-a– motherf—ers are trying to clone me.’”
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The 57-year-old admitted he was heavily sedated with drugs during his hospital stay — and he says he doesn’t recall weeks of it — and he snuck in a cell phone, which saw him indulging in the salacious rumors around his health.
“I was doing so many jokes in the hospital,” he continued. “That’s the only way I could get through it. I’m a comic, so even when I was heavily sedated, and they gave me OxyContin, Dilantin and morphine at the same time.”
Foxx previously addressed the rumors of Diddy having him killed and his friendship with the Bad Boy mogul during his What Had Happened Was Netflix special in December.
“The internet said Puffy was trying to kill me, that’s what the internet was saying,” he said. “I know what you thinking, ‘Diddy?’ Hell no, I left them parties early.”
Combs’ reps dispelled the rumors of Diddy having any involvement in Foxx’s health crisis in October, which they said were “outlandish, ridiculous and baseless.”
In April 2023, Foxx’s daughter revealed that her father was hospitalized for a “medical complication” while filming the Netflix movie Back in Action in Atlanta with Cameron Diaz.
Jamie Foxx eventually explained that a “brain bleed” led to him having a stroke after only saying he had a “bad headache.” A nurse said he only had a five percent chance of surviving the medical crisis.
The Oscar-winning actor spent nearly a month in the hospital as doctors ran a myriad of tests and watched his condition closely. He told the audience at his Netflix special that he came “within an inch of his life” while battling the health scare.
As for Diddy, Combs is currently on trial for his sex trafficking and racketeering case, which is expected to last into July. He potentially faces life in prison if convicted on all charges.
50 Cent trolls Diddy over allegedly traumatizing Kid Cudi‘s dog and lighting his car on fire. On Thursday, Kid Cudi arrived in Manhattan to testify against Diddy in the disgraced mogul’s ongoing criminal trial. As part of his testimony, Cudi said Diddy allegedly threw a molotov cocktail into his car because he was dating Puff’s […]
05/23/2025
The two rap stars are having a very public fallout, but how did they get to this point?
05/23/2025
DJ Khaled is a master marketer. He can turn just about anything into a viral clip, dating back to his thrilling Snapchat voyages that had followers on the edge of their seats nearly a decade ago.
Khaled linked up with content creator Ashton Hall, who has gone viral for his wild daily routine videos, which produced plenty of chatter on social media, whether it’s his Saratoga water ice face washes or banana-peel-spreading skin routine.
Hall, a former college football player, is quite the athlete and also gives fans a look into his rigorous workout regimen, which Khaled joined him for.
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The hilarious clip finds the We The Best mogul shirtless in an open black vest, taped-up legs and Air Jordan 3s running alongside Hall in what appears to be a parking lot. Cinematic effects make the video look like an action-packed scene straight out of a Bad Boys movie.
“ALBUM MODE ! AALAM OF GOD,” Khaled captioned the video on his Instagram ahead of his Aalam of God album arrival, which is expected later in 2025.
Fans and plenty of Khaled’s peers found the album promotion tactic to be amusing, as A$AP Rocky, Busta Rhymes, Swizz Beatz, E-40 and more chimed in on Instagram.
“Nah the cuz fake got some speed he keeping up,” Rowdy Rebel added while giving Khaled props.
Khaled hasn’t released a project since 2022’s God Did, which topped the Billboard 200, so the anticipation is there.
He appeared to kick off the Aalam of God rollout into another gear with a blockbuster movie trailer starring Mark Wahlberg and Anthony Ramos. The album teaser saw him hinting at collabs with Rihanna and Drake.
However, Drake threw cold water on the epic trailer’s momentum when he questioned whether he’d be on the project. “Must be Drake Bell,” Drizzy commented, and Khaled ended up deleting the post on IG altogether.
Kendrick Lamar is a student of the rap game, and Questlove was surprised to see the West Coast hip-hop savant pay homage to The Roots with his “Squabble Up” video. The Roots drummer stopped by The Jennifer Hudson Show on Thursday (May 22), where he opened up about Lamar recreating the scene from the Philly […]
Skilla Baby (real name Trevon Gardner) was the victim of a drive-by shooting in Redford, Mich., on Thursday evening (May 22), Billboard can confirm. A press release from the Redford Township Police Department — who did not identify the Detroit rapper — said a male was transported to a local hospital to have his non-life-threatening injuries treated.
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The lead investigator on the case, Edward French, told TMZ that the suspect pulled up alongside the rapper’s car and fired an estimated 25 times.
The press release noted that he suffered three non-fatal gunshot wounds before crashing his vehicle into a building in the area of 8 Mile and Centralia around 7 p.m. local time. When officers arrived on the scene, they discovered a bullet-ridden vehicle, but Skilla Baby — who was alone in the car, according to the press release — was already being transported to a local hospital.
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Per FOX2, the rapper was grazed in the head and back, and also shot in the hand area. He was alert during his time in the hospital and is expected to recover.
Police are still searching for the unidentified gunman, who fled the scene.
Billboard has reached out to Skilla Baby’s reps for comment.
Last year, Skilla partnered with the Detroit City Council to produce a gun buyback event, aiming to reduce gun violence across his hometown.
“It was successful,” the 26-year-old told Billboard of the event. “We got 300 guns off the street. I think the underrated part of the gun buyback was that it was a job fair and we expunged a lot of people’s records. That was important to me, because I’m a felon, and to help people change their life and the trajectory of their future — people judge you, and it’s hard to be successful when you’re a felon.”
2024 was a busy year for Skilla Baby, who delivered a pair of projects with The Coldest to start the campaign, followed by Crack Music 3 in November.
Young Thug called out Kid Cudi for testifying in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking and racketeering trial on Thursday (May 22), and labeled the Cleveland rapper a rat on X. Thugger quickly deleted the polarizing message, but the toothpaste was already out of the tube.
“Dam cudi a rat lol,” Thug wrote before taking the post down minutes later.
Billboard has reached out to Cudi’s rep for comment.
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Thugger had been locked up for more than two years while fighting for his freedom as part of the YSL RICO trial. He eventually reached a plea deal on Oct. 31, 2024.
However, there is a connection between the YSL trial and Diddy’s, as Thug’s attorney Brian Steel is part of the Bad Boy mogul’s legal defense team. Steel cross-examined Cudi while he was on the stand.
Cudder briefly dated Cassie in the early 2010s, but the romance was ultimately short-lived. As part of his testimony, Kid Cudi recalled Diddy allegedly setting his Porsche on fire in his driveway with a Molotov cocktail. Cudi also tied a break-in of his home around the time of his relationship with Cassie to Diddy.
Cassie named Cudi in her 2023 sexual abuse lawsuit, which lit the fuse against Diddy, claiming Combs attempted to blow up the “Day ‘n’ Nite” rapper’s car. While on the stand on Day 3 of the trial, she explained why she cut the relationship with Cudi short. “Too much danger, too much uncertainty of what could happen if we continued to see each other,” Cassie said.
As for Cudi, he took to social media to reflect on the “stressful situation” after taking the stand, and the Ohio native said he’s “glad it’s behind” him.
“I’ve been seeing all the love and support and I just want to say thank you so much, man,” Cudi said in a video he shared to various platforms. “People been hitting me up the past week just checking in and even today, it really means a lot to me, man. You guys are the best. I love y’all. This is a stressful situation. I’m glad it’s behind me.”
On Thugger’s side, he’s been teasing his UY SCUTI album, which he’s hinted at a June arrival date for. He reunited with Future for his “Money on Money” single in April.
In an age of elusive algorithms and viral fame, Rob49 has had an uncharacteristically steady rise for a young rapper. After an uneventful stint in the National Guard and two semesters at Southern University, Rob49 picked up the mic for fun during the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost immediately, he garnered co-signs from industry vets like French Montana, and inked a record deal before the year was out. From there, Rob’s uptick in popularity hasn’t ceased — much to the surprise of everyone, even him.
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“I ain’t never wanna be no rapper. I used to really be looking at rappers like they were lying,” Rob told Billboard of his early days. “Like, ‘Ain’t no way you doin’ what I’m doin and made it out this s—t.’ Now, I feel like all rappers gotta be doing what they’re talking about — because ain’t no way your hood let you [fake] that, let you say what you say and get away with it.”
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Rob49’s latest album, Let Me Fly, is a testament to that relentless hustle, and to the acceptance that clearly he was built to be a rap star. The lighthearted nature behind his inescapable hit “WTHelly” shows that making hit songs, even if the origin of it is rather silly, comes as easily to Rob as breathing.
“I don’t be looking for a catchy record,” Rob says. “I really just be doing what I want.”
Below, Billboard talks with Rob49 about “WTHelly,” linking with Justin Bieber, and the key to making good music.
Let’s set the record straight: Who was the first person to say “what the helly?”
I don’t know who the first person was, but a lot of people are trying to take credit for it in my city. It’s New Orleans slang right now.
How are you feeling about the reception to “WTHelly” so far? Were you expecting it to be a hit from the jump?
I knew it was gonna be good, but I was kinda scared. A lot of the other releases I had, I was kinda thinkin’, ‘Oh this is gonna be it!’ and it was not what it was supposed to be. I was scared [“WTHelly”] was gonna be one of them ones. I’m grateful for it [catching on].
It must be nice to see it starting to get the traction the song is getting.
Did you see it?
Did I see what?
Did you see “WTHelly” on your socials?
I had to search it, it didn’t just pop up for me.
Ah, see that’s why I asked you that. We ain’t go hard enough then.
What’s your favorite “WTHelly” flip?
What the helly-Bron James. I came up with that one, and my friends came up with the rest.
How are you feeling about the reception to the remix? Justin Bieber’s verse seemed to really divide people, and I can’t help but notice you haven’t dropped it.
I was gonna drop the [remix] with [G Herbo] first and add it to the album, but we wound up doing it too late. So it might come out the next day on the album, then we’re just gonna go from there with it.
Do you plan to drop the Justin Bieber remix as well?
I talked to Justin a couple of days ago and he was telling me he wanted to do some more songs. So I don’t know.
How is he feeling about the reception to his verse? It was pretty divisive when it dropped.
It’s funny — when he first did it, he was like, “What you think? You think I can go harder?” I told him like, “Man I love it, bro — if you feel comfortable about it, if you like it, then I love it.” You know?
Were you surprised by people’s negative reaction to Bieber’s verse?
No, not really. I knew it was a possibility, because — it was the same way when he asked me, “Do you think I can go harder?”
What do you think people misunderstood about it?
Probably the singing part. You just never know what it’s gonna be — and fans don’t understand that all the time, that you don’t know what a hit is. Like, it just kinda happens. Some people might’ve been, like, “Oh my god he sung!” and if it would have been a hit it would have been a crazy banger. That be the difference between songs.
Tell me about the work you did with Birdman on this album. What did you learn from working and talking with him?
Just go hard, cause you get a lot of motivation from him like that and I just be accepting it. We don’t really be talking about too much. Don’t let up, don’t take it for granted, stuff like that.
You mentioned New Orleans — what’s your relationship like with your hometown right now?
I love my city, but when I go back there now it just feels like dry energy. There’s nothing really there, in terms of anything. I saw so much stuff traveling the world, it just doesn’t feel like enough for me — and that’s scary. I ain’t never wanted it to be like that because I like going home.
I noticed Skilla Baby’s not on Let Me Fly — is that collab album still coming?
I’m gonna call him and talk to him about that. Right now, I’m working on a collab album with me and G Herbo. I don’t know what we’re gonna name it — one of my close friends be saying, “Ghetto Poet” or something like that. I think I wanna name it that. I was gonna ask [G Herbo] how he feel about that. “Ghetto Poet” sounds great for an album, right?
Absolutely. I’m curious about how you approach dropping music. For a lot of young guys the blueprint has been too flood the streets with as much music as possible, but you’ve been very intentional with the singles you’ve dropped since 4 God II.
I just didn’t wanna drop no bulls—t. But at this point in my life I don’t care. I know if it’s hard, it’s better than yours. They got a lot of people out here dropping stuff that’s not better than mine.
Do you ever worry about losing momentum?
I definitely feel nervous about it. I was nervous this time, but I wasn’t nervous for myself, I was nervous cause everyone around me was getting nervous. I keep tellin’ em we good, but then they keep getting nervous! But you gotta be a strong-minded person, and not let people around you dictate your movements.
How did you creatively approach Let Me Fly differently than 4 God II?
I just wanted to be myself for real. 4 God II, it did good, but I felt like I was listening to the people a lot about the songs I was picking and stuff. This time, no one has say so but me.
Do you feel pressure with this record to take it to the next level?
I don’t feel no pressure, I just feel like we gotta go hard. Right now, we don’t have to come out with a fake roll out. The songs are going up for real — it’s not a game. Right now, I feel like I gotta show you [who I am], because a lot of people hold they nuts. You not gonna be able to hold your nuts this year.
