R&B/Hip-Hop

29 Aug 2023

Lil Wayne Pens New Theme Song ‘Good Morning’ for Skip Bayless’ Sports Show ‘Undisputed’

As sports journalist Skip Bayless assembled his new all-star cast for his revamped Undisputed show — which premiered on Fox Sports 1 on Monday (Aug. 28) — he called on his friend Lil Wayne to complete the comeback with a new theme song. 

Titled “Good Morning,” Wayne — who was the cover star of Billboard‘s Hip-Hop 50 issue — barrels his way through the track with vigor, spewing a bevy of sports metaphors. “If you ain’t got no haters, you ain’t poppin, I ain’t tryin to hate/ Let’s have a Jordan and Lebron debate, I got time of day/ Drippin’ on the chain, my diamonds say what they gotta say/ If you think it’s a game, I commentate, I ain’t got to play.”

Along with debuting the show’s new theme song, Wayne will serve as a guest analyst every Friday alongside Bayless. 

“I try to make everything I do better than the last thing I did,” Wayne said during Monday’s episode. “Just to impress you just because I know how much you love ‘No Mercy.’ Just to capitalize on what you’ve done. It’s not complicated. It’s not hard. I love the challenge of it anyway. I attacked it like an SAT exam — like, if I don’t pass this, I can’t get in.”

Earlier this month, Bayless showered Wayne with praise about his sports knowledge while filming his podcast The Skip Bayless Show. “Brother Wayne is as into our relaunch as I am,” Skip said. “He is the heart and soul into the relaunch and by the way, bigger picture, Wayne has agreed every Friday going forward to doing a segment with me live. He might not always be in the studio, depending on his schedule, but he is going to join me every Friday for a segment.”

Bayless’s new lineup will include former ESPN analysts Keyshawn Johnson and Michael Irvin, along with Seattle’s great Richard Sherman, who will be his co-host.  

Listen to “Good Morning” below.

29 Aug 2023

Miguel Posts Bloody T-Shirt Pic After Concert Body Suspension Stunt: ‘What Is Your Relationship to Pain?’

Miguel previewed songs from his upcoming fifth studio album, Viscera, on Friday in Los Angeles during an event dubbed the “Viscera Experience,” in which the singer warned the small crowd that the performance would include “boundary-pushing artistry including body manipulation [and] skin piercing.”

According to a description of the show posted by Vibe, after taking the stage at Sony Studios in a white tank, baggy black pants and black rubber boots, the “Sky Walker” singer was joined by two men who pushed metal hooks through the skin on his back, then attached them to wires that lifted him off the ground by the hooks. He then hung for nearly five minutes while singing an unreleased song — featuring the apropos lyrics “I’m hanging onto nothing/ I’m hanging from the ceiling” –before being lowered and having the hooks removed.

On Monday (Aug. 29), Miguel posted a series of pics on Instagram showing the aftermath of the S&M stunt, including the series of holes in his back as well as the white tank top, streaked and spotted with his blood alongside the caption, “What is your relationship to pain? What is your relationship to change?”

The type of suspension Miguel used in the performance is typically referred to as a “suicide suspension” and Miguel isn’t he only one who has employed it as type of body modification that dates back at least 5,000 years to India as part of a spiritual piercing rituals during Hindu festivals. Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro waxed poetic about the therapeutic aspects of putting large-gauge hooks through the skin of your back in a 2013 Guardian interview, saying, “To be honest, at first I just wanted to try it because it was interesting; I didn’t know that there was going to be an experience attached to it. I saw it as just a mind-over-matter thing until I got off the ground the first time. Then a lightbulb went off.”

He said while some people are horrified by the act — admitting that there is definitely pain, and blood, involved — he found it to be “a very intensely gratifying emotional release. Sometimes it’s just fun, but it can also be very meditative.”

Last month, Miguel pushed boundaries as part of Sony’s “For the Music” campaign, scaling a massive skyscraper and breaking through a glass window in a one minute visual that director Liam McRae said symbolized the singer’s next era and Sony’s commitment to supporting artists like him breaking through “creative barriers” and connecting directly with their fans.

Viscera, which does not yet have an official release date, is the follow-up to 2017’s War & Leisure; he released the single “Give It to Me” in April.

See Miguel’s posts below.

29 Aug 2023

50 Cent Postpones Phoenix Show Due to Extreme Heat: ‘116 Degrees Is Dangerous For Everyone’

It’s getting “Too Hot” out there, even for 50 Cent. The MC who is in the middle of his 20th anniversary Get Rich or Die Tryin’ 20th anniversary tour had to hit pause on tonight’s (Aug. 29) show in Glendale, Arizona at the Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre due to an excessive heat warning.

“Due to extreme heat, the show tomorrow in Phoenix, AZ is being postponed,” 50 tweeted on Monday night. “For anyone who would like a refund, please go to point of purchase for instructions. I’ll be back in Arizona soon! 116 degrees is dangerous for everyone.”

Some of the comments praised Curtis for being proactive about his fans’ health, with one writing, “Hey at least 50 cent is thinking about his fans and is putting their health and safety before profits… other rappers should take note… having fans get injured or die at a concert is not worth it!!! Salute to 50.”

Phoenix has been roasting under brutal heat all summer this year, with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees for 66 days in a row from June 14-Aug. 18, the second-longest stretch of such high temps in recorded history; this year is also on track to be one of the hottest on record in the state, with 91 days above 100 so far.

Last week, 16 people were hospitalized for heat-related illnesses during a Snoop Dogg show in Houston where temperatures reached 104 degrees during the day in the midst of one of the hottest summers in the planet’s history due to what experts say is the effect of human-caused climate change. Those incidents added to the growing list of heat-related effects this summer, following an Ed Sheeran show in Pittsburgh on July 8 during which 17 people were hospitalized due to “heat-related” illnesses and Jason Aldean’s scotched kick-off of his Highway Desperado Tour on July 15 in Hartford, CT, which he had to exit early due to dehydration and heat exhaustion

50’s Final Lap tour, which also features Busta Rhymes and Jeremih, is slated to play the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Wednesday (Aug. 30).

Check out 50’s tweet below.

28 Aug 2023

Nicki Minaj Teases New Single ‘Last Time I Saw You’ With Minute-Long Snippet: Listen

Fans of Nicki Minaj rejoiced on Monday afternoon (Aug. 28) when the Pink Friday rapper treated them to a snippet of her new record “Last Time I Saw You” via TikTok. 

The minute-long snippet finds Minaj in a pop-centric lane, leaning more toward her singing prowess than grizzly raps. “Beggin me to stay and then you walk away/ There’s something that you wanted to say/ I was in a rush and you say you were crushed/ But I said I’d be back, it’s OK,” sings Minaj. 

“Last Time I Saw You” was first teased on Minaj’s Instagram Live earlier this month, where fans quickly voiced their excitement for the record’s upcoming release. Flattered by her fans’ approval, Minaj responded on X (formerly known as Twitter), saying, “Glad you like the lyrics. The irony is that my fave part of the whole song is the very end… like the last 30 seconds. can’t wait for you guys to hear the whole thing.”

Throughout the summer, Minaj has constantly updated fans on the status of her Pink Friday sequel. Slated to drop this November, her effusiveness has listeners waiting to hear what “eargasms” she has in store for her fifth studio album. “Yesterday I worked on my current TOP 2 songs off [Pink Friday 2],” she tweeted last month. “The eargasms that y’all are about to have. Ooohhhh chiiiii huntyyyyy don’t make dat serveeeee.” 

Pink Friday 2 will be Minaj’s first studio album since 2018’s Queen, which featured “Chun Li,” “Good Form” and “Barbie Dreams.”

Listen to the snippet of “Last Time I Saw You” below. 

28 Aug 2023

R&B/Hip-Hop Fresh Picks of the Week: Omar Apollo, Tai Verdes, Luh Tyler & More

Temperatures are dropping but the R&B/hip-hop heat still persists. This week we’ve got a collection of songs by genre-benders (Omar Apollo and Tai Verdes), emerging rap stars (Luh Tyler, Audrey Nuna and Big Bratt) and an R&B staple (Kyle Dion) to help you power through this last week of August.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Don’t forget to share the wealth and check out our August picks in the Spotify playlist, linked below. Stay tuned for September!

Freshest Find: Omar Apollo, “Ice Slippin”

This week’s freshest find goes to Omar Apollo for “Ice Slippin,” his emotional ballad about the time he came out to his family. “‘Ice Slippin’ is about reliving the thoughts I had passing through my mind the winter I came out to my family,” Apollo shared in a press statement. “Receiving cold judgment as opposed to the acceptance I felt I deserved. This song is a reflection and reaction of all the emotions I had to face before and after I decided to leave the icy streets of Indiana.” “Ice Slippin” will appear on Apollo’s upcoming EP Live for Me (out October 6).

Luh Tyler, “Rapper of the Year”

“I ain’t never wrote a song, no, I don’t need no pad or pen,” is the boastful intro line to Luh Tyler’s new track “Rapper of the Year.” The Florida teen rapper has been making a name for himself in rap with his witty bars and quivering flow. “Rapper of the Year” is the intro track on his new three-song EP ROTY.

Tai Verdes, “All White”

Tai Verdes’ “All White” is a bass-forward track inspired in part by what he describes as the “second-generation Black mindset of putting culture on your shoulders and moving forward.” The California artist has mastered making light and airy pop songs, though “All White” arguably slightly crosses into R&B territory with its groovy bass line.

Kyle Dion, “Boyfriend Jeans”

Leaning fully into R&B is Kyle Dion, whose new single “Boyfriend Jeans” seamlessly infuses his creamy falsetto with funky 2000s R&B elements. After taking a full year off following the release of his 2022 deluxe album SASSY, the L.A.-based crooner is back with a song “about a fling with a girl and getting caught in an ever-endless cycle of toxicity between her and her boyfriend,” he shares in a press release. “Every time they fight and break up, she’d come running back to me.” 

AUDREY NUNA, “locket”

Audrey Nuna samples the late rapper Huey’s 2006 hit “Pop, Lock and Drop It” for her new single “locket.” The New Jersey rapper also pays homage to late French filmmaker Valentin Petit, who passed earlier this year and directed the song’s video. “When it came time to build out the visual universe for my new project, I came across Valentin’s name through my friend and reached out online. After two months of preparing over the phone, we shot ‘locket’ in Paris in April of 2023… it was a surreal week,” she shares in a statement. “Even though I only knew Valentin for a sum of three months, I found in this short time that everything that drew me to his videos clearly stemmed from the blueprint of his soul and who he was at his core.”

Fridayy, “Stand by Me”

On his self-titled new album Fridayy, the baritone Philly singer is telling his story as well as the story of those around him. “It’s a project for us, by me,” he says. “I want people to connect to their experiences as they hear mine. I’m talking about hope and inspiration as much as I’m talking about trials and tribulations. You can’t talk about the dream without talking about the pain. Those life aspects are universal, so I’m hoping it touches as many people as possible as they see themselves in me.” Standout track “Stand By Me” hears him backed by a choir, crooning about righting his wrongs and wishing for his people to sticky by him through thick and thin.

Big Bratt, “Real Stand Up Bxtch”

Big Bratt had to “cut them hatin’ b–ches off ’cause they had different visions” — rightfully so. The Chattanooga, Tennessee rapper proved that she’s a “Real Stand Up Bxtch” on her new single which was released under Slaughter Gang Entertainment (21 Savage) and Boominati Worldwide (Metro Boomin).

28 Aug 2023

Cardi B Says Her New Album Is Coming ‘Very Soon’

Cardi B graces the new issue of Vogue México y Latinoamérica and shared an update on her long-awaited sophomore album in the cover story.

“I’m not going to release any more collaborations. I’m going to put out my next solo single. Right now, I’m working on the cover art and ideas for the next record because it’s definitely coming up,” she revealed. “Everyone always tells me I should put the record out now. They did when I released ‘WAP’ [with Megan Thee Stallion] and when I released ‘Up,’ but I always let them know I’m not going to wait long after all these singles. So stay tuned because it’s coming out very soon.”

Cardi connected with her husband, Offset, for his new single “Jealousy,” released at the end of July. The Bronx firecracker remains a stalwart on the features front after her torrid run this year with verses for Latto (“Put It On the Floor Again”) and FendiDa Rappa (“Point Me 2”). A new Cardi album would mark her first since 2018’s Invasion of Privacy. The album spawned two No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 singles, the diamond-certified “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It.” She also won the Grammy for best rap album for Invasion of Privacy, topping Pusha T, Mac Miller, Travis Scott and Nipsey Hussle. 

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Elsewhere, in her interview with Vogue México y Latinoamérica, Cardi also spoke on her entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to conquer every market, including movies. In recent years, Cardi has had cameos in Hustlers and Fast and Furious 9. “I also have plans in the world of cinema,” she said. “In fact, I have plans to do everything I can: fashion, branding — I want to do it all, honey.”

See her cover for Vogue México y Latinoamérica below:

28 Aug 2023

Timbaland Reveals Title For New Collab With Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado

Things are looking up for your Labor Day weekend. After months of teasing, on Monday morning (Aug. 28) Timbaland finally revealed the title of his upcoming single with longtime collaborators Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado. The song, “Keep Going Up!,” is due out on Friday (Sept. 1), just in time to get fans hyped for the three-day holiday weekend.

Tim revealed what looked like the cover art as well, which consists of the blue-fading-to-pink title in balloon letters under the three stars’ names.

The single is the long-awaited follow-up to the trio’s first collab, 2007’s “Give It to Me,” which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 16 years ago. Last week, Tim posted a teaser video for “Keep Going Up!,” which he captioned “WE BACK,” alongside peeking eyes and exploding head emojis. “Da king has returned!” The tease came a month after his Instagram post in which he and Timberlake hopped on a FaceTime call with Furtado while the pair worked on Tim’s upcoming sixth studio album.

The super producer also announced that his first full-length since 2009’s Shock Value II is due out in November; at press time a title and track list had not yet been announced. All three artists have released new music so far this year, with Timbaland teaming up with BIA in March on “I’m That Bitch,” Furtado dropping the Dom Dolla-assissted “Eat Your Man” in June and Timberlake guesting on a remix of Coco Jones’ “ICU” in July.

Check out the title reveal below.

28 Aug 2023

Why Jorja Smith’s New Album Is Her Most Inspired Yet

All that Jorja Smith likes to do is write and sing — which makes separating herself from her career “a bit tricky” sometimes. “I’ll have days where I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, I wish I gave myself a different name because I need to switch Jorja Smith off,’ ” she says. “I don’t want to be Jorja Smith all of the time.”

Struggling to find balance not only speaks to her Gemini zodiac sign, says the 26-year-old artist, but is also at the core of her highly anticipated second album, Falling or Flying, out Sept. 29 on her longtime independent label, FAMM. “I don’t really have an in between. I’m either happy or sad, obsessed or completely unfocused, up or down,” she says. “I feel like I’m flying in my career, and then other times, I feel like I’m falling because the pressure can feel [like] too much.”

At 18, Smith left her hometown of Walsall, England, and traveled two-and-a-half hours south to London in order to pursue music full time. Her secondary school yearbook named her most likely to become famous — and she quickly ascended to become one of the United Kingdom’s brightest stars. In 2016, Smith uploaded her socially conscious debut single, “Blue Lights,” to SoundCloud, and it garnered nearly half a million plays in one month. The song eventually appeared on her 2018 critically acclaimed debut album, Lost & Found, which boasted slow-burning songs that blended R&B, reggae, hip-hop, jazz and neo-soul production with a songwriting approach inspired by Amy Winehouse. All the while, Smith earned co-signs from Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Stormzy, as well as acclaim in the form of a 2018 BRITs Critics’ Choice Award and a 2019 Grammy nod for best new artist.

But fulfilling her yearbook prophecy had a disorienting effect on Smith, who became famous in her early 20s. After tiding fans over with the 2021 EP Be Right Back, she moved home to Walsall at the beginning of 2023. “I went back when I finally decided I’ve had enough of ­London … It’s a bit overwhelming sometimes,” she says with a sigh. “I moved back and I feel a lot more balanced. I feel more myself now.”

On Falling or Flying, Smith soars over sprightly tracks that experiment with acoustic indie-rock production, syncopated basslines and retro synth chords. She enlisted U.K. jungle DJ-producer Nia Archives to remix the album’s second single, “Little Things,” which captured a flirty, feverish energy quintessential for clubbing in its original form. But some songs demand the coziness of a jazz club, where Smith’s lithe, velvety vocals can fill the space on their own — and quiet those around her. While Lost & Found comprised teenage love songs Smith had written when she was 16, Falling or Flying finds the singer stepping “into womanhood” and being more sure of herself than ever before. As she sings on “Backwards,” “I stand here and I look down on myself and I am so proud.” Meanwhile, on tracks like “Broken Is the Man” and “Try Me,” she challenges past lovers and harsh critics.

Walsall production duo DameDame* — Smith has known one of its members since she was 15 — was responsible for most of Falling or Flying, another sign that returning to her roots better served her music. “We laughed, ate food, sang, cried, jammed some more,” she says. “It wasn’t like, ‘I need to make the album uptempo.’ It was just, ‘Let’s mess around, have fun and see what happens.’ ”

Smith teases that she’ll take Falling or Flying on the road for her first headlining run in five years. “That’s all I want to do,” she says, beaming. “That’s where I feel at home. In Walsall and onstage is where I feel like, ‘OK, I can just be me.’ ”

This story originally appeared in the Aug. 26, 2023, issue of Billboard.

28 Aug 2023

YG Drops New T-Shirts Using Donald Trump’s Mug Shot

YG’s disdain for former President Donald Trump has reached new levels. The rapper released T-shirts thrashing the controversial figure over the former president’s Aug. 24 arrest in Georgia on felony charges of plotting to overturn the state’s 2020 election results. 

The $35 merch, announced Friday (Aug. 25), uses Trump’s mug shot with the caption “F—-d” and is available on YG’s 4Hunnid.com website. Listed as the “FDT T-shirt” — a callback to the rapper’s 2016 anthem “F– Donald Trump” featuring Nipsey Hussle — YG’s lambasted the former president on numerous occasions.

“It got to a point where [Trump] was disrespectin’, saying s–t that makes no sense,” the rapper told Billboard following the release of “FDT.” “Me and Nip always talk about doing real s–t about these politics, stepping up and saying stuff other motherf—ers are not doing so we finally hit the studio and really did it.”

Following the release of “FDT,” YG claimed that the Secret Service reached out to his former label, Def Jam. “Secret Service hollered at the label,” he told TMZ at the time. “They asked if they could see the lyrics on my album to see if I’m talking about it on my album. ‘Cause I’m talking about it on my album, they gon’ try to take it off the shelf.” 

YG continued to skewer Trump throughout the years, most notably in 2019 when he brought out former adult entertainer Stormy Daniels to bash the former president during the rapper’s Camp Flog Gnaw performance. Then in 2020, YG released his “Jealous” video, which mocked the twice impeached politician. 

Check out YG’s T-shirts below.

28 Aug 2023

Iggy Azalea Says She Had to Cut Show in Saudi Arabia Short After Serious Wardrobe Malfunction

Iggy Azalea had to cut short her headlining set in Saudi Arabia on Friday night at the Gamers8 e-sports event after suffering a wardrobe malfunction. According to People, in a since-deleted X post, the “Money Come” rapper said that local authorities told her she could not finish her show after her pants split mid-performance.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

“Saudi Arabia please know to everyone at the show tonight… I LOVE YOU,” the “Fancy” rapper wrote. “And I’m soooooo sorry I wasn’t allowed to finish my show. It’s not the promoter who put on the show’s fault so show them kindness because they are amazing people and we all wanted to continue but were not allowed by authorities because of my pants splitting.”

In a follow-up, Azalea responded to a fan’s question about why she wasn’t allowed to just change pants by explaining that she did change her bottoms, but then accompanied that with an onstage comment that allegedly “sent authorities over the edge.”

The statement in question, Azalea said, was her imploring, “‘Ladies, make some noise, it’s a woman’s world.’” The rapper assured her fans she was fine either way. “I’m cool I just didn’t want the fans to be sad or angry at the show organizers cause it wasn’t their control or mine it was the police at the side of stage,” she added. According to People, Azalea also briefly shared a clip of the pants splitting on Instagram and an image of the ripped pants.

A video posted by a fan appeared to show the incident, in which Azalea knelt down on the stage on her knees in black vinyl leggings, with the left leg appearing to split from mid-shin to her upper groin. Saudi Arabia’s immigration website states that the official dress code for women in the predominantly Muslim country calls for them to “cover as much flesh as possible to avoid drawing unwelcome attention.” The Visit Saudi Arabia site adds that tourists are not expected to wear the same attire as locals, or to cover up to the same extent, “but it’s highly recommended that you dress modestly.”

The performance came right after Iggy dropped her new single, “Money Come,” which was accompanied by a video in which Azalea and her female cohorts stage a hostile takeover of an office, blasting the male corporate structure and making the men in office mud wrestle for her entertainment.

See one of the tweets below.