R&B/Hip-Hop

08 Aug 2023

Travis Scott Says U.S. & European Tours Are Coming Up

Travis Scott is ready to head out on the road!

The rapper took to Instagram on Tuesday (Aug. 8) to tease his upcoming U.S. and European tours in support of his freshly released album, Utopia. “UTOPIA TOUR SOON, US AND EURO DATES SOON TO BE ANNOUNCE, I MISS THE ROAD I MISSS YALLL,” he wrote. See his post here. The exact tour dates have yet to be officially announced.

The news comes just a day after Scott celebrated his album’s release with a performance at Rome’s Circus Maximus, and the show also featured a rare onstage appearance by Kanye West. Throughout the set, Scott performed a number of tracks off Utopia, including his The Weeknd and Bad Bunny team-up “K-Pop,” as well as his Beyoncé and Justin Vernon-featuring “Delresto (Echoes).” He also performed some pre-Utopia hits including “Highest in the Room” and “Butterfly Effect.” 

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Utopia blasted in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Aug. 12), marking the third-biggest week of 2023 for any album and the largest for any R&B/hip-hop or rap release. The project bows with 496,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 3, according to Luminate.

Additionally, all 19 songs from the set rank on the Hot 100, giving Scott a 111 total charted songs in his career. The rapper becomes just the 15th artist in the chart’s 65-year history to log 100-plus career entries on the survey.

08 Aug 2023

Watch Billie Eilish Bring out Armani White at Osheaga Festival to Perform His Hit, ‘Billie Eilish’

It’s only fitting that when you share a bill with an artist who has written a viral hit with your name in the title that you invite said person up to do their thing for you. At least that’s what happened on Saturday when Billie Eilish and “Billie Eilish” rapper Armani White played different stages at Montreal’s Osheaga Festival and turned his meme-able hit into a meme-able moment.

“You know that song that’s like, ‘Glock tucked, big t-shirt, Billie Eilish’?,” Eilish asked the crowd during her headlining set according to fan videos of the moment when she appeared to be having a bit of fun with the song from the Def Jam rapper that debuted at No. 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September.

Then, the instrumental of White’s song bubbled up before White himself appeared on stage to deafening shouts of approval as the Philadelphia MC bounded around and performed his hit TikTok-boosted track while its namesake, in one of her signature oversized jerseys, jumped and danced with glee while tossing in a few ad libs.

To be fair, even White couldn’t believe his ears, tweeting hours afterwards, “BILLIE EILISH JUST BROUGHT ME OUT!!! Ohmyf–kingod, adding on Sunday, “I have never heard that many people scream in my fucking life hahaha Billie Eilish has an army!!” While Eilish had made nods to Armani’s song in the past, Saturday was the first time she was in the same spot as the rapper when he performed the track — which samples N.O.R.E.’s 2002 Neptunes-produced hit “Nothin’” — that blew up after a 16-second clip was uploaded to Instagram and TikTok in Feb. 2022.

Check out video of the sweet moment below.

08 Aug 2023

Ciara Reveals She’s Pregnant With Baby No. 4, Her Third Child With Russell Wilson: See Her Bump

Ciara is officially a soon-to-be mom of four. The 37-year-old vocalist revealed Tuesday (Aug. 8) that she’s expecting her third baby with husband Russell Wilson, and her fourth child altogether.

The news comes as a sneaky Instagram video, in which Ciara stands beside an indoor pool, backlit so that only her silhouette is visible. It’s only when she turns to the side that her baby bump becomes visible, confirming that the star is pregnant.

“’You look at me like that again, we make another kid…,” she captioned the post, quoting lyrics from her new song “How We Roll” with Chris Brown. “You my heart I’m your rib’ ??❤️”

The “One, Two Step” singer is already mom to three kids, including 9-year-old son Future Zahir Wilburn, whom she shares with ex-fiancé Future. After marrying Wilson in 2016, she and the Denver Broncos quarterback welcomed daughter Sienna Princess in 2017 followed by son Win Harrison in 2020.

The pregnancy news means that Wilson is getting exactly what he wanted, having asked Ciara on daytime television for more babies in 2022. While Ciara was filling in for Ellen DeGeneres on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last year, the NFL star appeared as a guest and, getting down on one knee, asked, “I have a question for you. A serious question. Can we have more babies? It will be perfect. Just give me one more at least, you know what I mean?”

The announcement also comes just four days after “How We Roll” dropped, meaning she shot the accompanying music video with Brown while pregnant. The song follows previous 2023 singles from Ciara “Da Girls,” “Slow” with Jackson Wang and “Get Loose” with AGNEZ MO.

“How We Roll” marks the lead single off Ciara’s upcoming EP CiCi, which she spoke about in an interview with Billboard earlier this week. She also reflected on the 20-year anniversary of her debut album Goodies, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and spawned three consecutive smash hits on the Billboard Hot 100: the Missy Elliott-assisted “1, 2 Step” (No. 2), the Ludacris-featuring “Oh” (No. 2), and the No. 1-peaking “Goodies” (with Petey Pablo).

“I feel blessed. I feel like I’m just getting started at the same time,” she told Billboard. “To know that it was 20 years ago that I was just really, really ambitious… dreaming big, I envisioned that I’d be sitting somewhere like this 20 years later.”

See Ciara’s pregnancy announcement below:

08 Aug 2023

Travis Scott Returns to No. 1 on Artist 100, Becomes First Rapper to Lead the Chart in 2023

Travis Scott vaults from No. 38 to No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated Aug. 12), returning as the top musical act in the U.S. for a third total week, and for the first time since 2018, thanks to the arrival of his new LP, Utopia.

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The album debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 496,000 equivalent album units earned in its opening week (July 28-Aug. 3), according to Luminate. It captures the third-biggest week of 2023 for any album (after the opening frames of Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time), and the largest for any R&B/hip-hop or rap release.

The new release is also just the second rap album to top the chart this year, after Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape last month.

Utopia becomes Scott’s third No. 1 album, after 2016’s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight and 2018’s ASTROWORLD. (Plus, in between those two albums, the Jackboys supergroup – led by Scott – notched a No. 1 with its self-titled release in 2020.)

Also boosting Scott’s Artist 100 reign are 19 songs on the latest Billboard Hot 100 – every track from Utopia. Two debut in the top 10: “Meltdown” featuring Drake (No. 3), and “FE!N” featuring Playboi Carti (No. 5).

Scott last topped the Artist 100 chart in 2018, upon the chart arrival of ASTROWORLD.

Notably, Scott is the first rap or hip-hop act to hit No. 1 on the Artist 100 chart in 2023. The last rapper to lead the chart was Lil Baby in October. The other acts to lead the chart this year are Taylor Swift (17 weeks), Morgan Wallen (eight), Jimin, Rihanna, SEVENTEEN, Ed Sheeran, Stray Kids and TOMORROW X TOGETHER (one each).

The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.

08 Aug 2023

Larry Jackson: Photos From the Billboard Cover Shoot

In February, TikTok’s billion-plus users received an unexpected gift for Valentine’s Day: exclusive access to the catalog of one of hip-hop’s most revered labels, Death Row Records. Snoop Dogg had purchased the catalog in 2022 and pulled it from streaming services. So the only place to hear tracks from Snoop’s classic Doggystyle or 2Pac’s 10-times-platinum All Eyez on Me was TikTok.

This partnership — as unusual as it was savvy — was the handiwork of veteran music executive Larry Jackson, 42, who seized the attention of the industry this year when he launched his new entertainment company, gamma. Backed by $1 billion in financing and focused on putting that capital to work “in particular and acutely on Black culture,” Jackson has created a deep-pocketed alternative to the major labels.

His TikTok gambit paid off, showing a younger generation that “knows Snoop only from Corona commercials” why the rapper — and gamma investor — is a “national treasure.” “‘Gin and Juice’ went viral; ‘Who Am I (What’s My Name?)’ went viral,” Jackson says. “We were able to have three hits on social this year — and the lucrative world of high-end brand deals (Jackson is the U.S. ambassador for Cartier).

“What LJ is doing is a new way of thinking about things,” says Travis Scott, who has known Jackson for around a decade. “I love that he is opening up ways for an artist to come in and really elevate, and it’s more than just music.”

Read the full cover story on Larry Jackson here.

Check out love letters to hip-hop culture from rappers and executives here.

07 Aug 2023

Nelly & Ashanti Cozy Up, Belt Out Usher’s ‘Nice & Slow’

Nelly and Ashanti continued to fuel rekindled relationship rumors on Monday (Aug. 7) with an adorable Instagram Story.

In the brief video, the duo are seen cuddling up to each other while singing Usher’s 1997 hit single, “Nice & Slow.” Watch the clip on Nelly’s IG Stories before it disappears here.

The “Body On Me” singers began dating back in 2003 and the details of their romance was somewat of a mystery to fans before they ultimately broke up in 2013. In June, fans began buzzing when Ashanti and Nelly attended the 3rd Annual Birthday Ball for Quality Control CEO Pierre “P” Thomas and were photographed together on the red carpet. The two have yet to confirm their current relationship status.

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“What I will say is we’re in a better place,” Ashanti said of the former couple’s relationship on Watch What Happens Live back in December. “You know, cause before, it was like [mimics fighting]. But we’re cool now. Yeah, we have some conversations, you know. So it’s cool.”

Usher, meanwhile, recreated the cover art of “Nice & Slow” in September to celebrate his album My Way‘s 25th anniversary. A deluxe edition of the album was released Sept. 16, and features newly reimagined versions of three songs –“Nice & Slow,” “My Way,” and “You Make Me Wanna” — a mini-doc, and more.

07 Aug 2023

Ciara Reflects on 20 Years of ‘Goodies,’ New Chris Brown Collab ‘How We Roll’ & K-Pop: ‘I Feel Blessed’

Last week (Aug. 4), Ciara debuted the Chris Brown-assisted “How We Roll,” the lead single from CiCi, her forthcoming EP. Today, the R&B powerhouse sat down with Billboard to reflect on the 20-year anniversary of her debut album, her recent K-Pop collabs, and the sound of CiCi.

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“I feel blessed. I feel like I’m just getting started at the same time,” Ciara gushed. “To know that it was 20 years ago that I was just really, really ambitious… dreaming big, I envisioned that I’d be sitting somewhere like this 20 years later.” In 2004, Goodies, Ciara’s debut studio album, debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The record spawned three consecutive smash hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including the Missy Elliott-assisted “1, 2 Step” (No. 2), the Ludacris-featuring “Oh” (No. 2), and the No. 1-peaking “Goodies” (with Petey Pablo).

Reflecting on the dominance of Goodies, Ciara said that she was very aware of her success during that moment because she always “believed in [herself].” “I was on camera, documented right at the graduation, and the guy said, ‘So, Ciara, where do you see yourself a year from now?’” the “I Bet” singer recounted. “And in my super-Atlanta thick accent, I said, ‘I see myself having the No. 1 song on the Billboard charts!’ And then literally, “Goodies” was No. 1 on the Billboard charts. I dreamed big!”

Speaking on her more recent music, the Grammy-winner described her new Chris Brown duet as “a great example of that feel-good R&B, dance, rhythmic, melodic energy that you can play at a house party. It’s gon’ set the house party off right.” She noted that this collaboration with Chris Brown is something that the pair have wanted to do for “a long time.” “It was an artist’s dream come true for the both of us,” she remarked.

The pair’s new single, “How We Roll,” is the first official single from Ciara’s forthcoming CiCi EP, which she describes as “classic [Ciara], but elevated.” “It’s got a super strong R&B core,” she revealed. “CiCi is that ‘turn that lip up, get a lil stank… Ciara, she keeps it cute, she’s a mom of three, she’s unbothered,” she said, outlining the two sides of her that are present on the upcoming project. “I really wanted to bring that classic R&B energy to this project.”

CiCi follows a string of 2023 releases from Ciara including “Da Girls” and the Summer Walker-assisted “Better Thangs.” The “Level Up” singer also released a slew of collaborations with Asian artists this year including XG (“Left Right Remixx”, Jackson Wang (“Slow”), and Agnez Mo (“Get Loose”). “I feel like I’m touching and tapping into a lot of the boxes I always wanted to, and that was one of them,” she said. “That audience is so special. It’s fascinating to see how they react to their own artists, I’m like ‘That’s the energy that you want. That’s the energy that you want to be apart of.’”

Ciara has earned four top ten albums on the Billboard 200, including 2006’s chart-topping Ciara: The Evolution. On the Hot 100, the “Body Party” singer has notched 21 entries, including notable hits such as “Promise” (No. 11), “Level Up” (No. 59) and “Lose Control” (No. 3).

07 Aug 2023

Kanye West Joins Travis Scott Onstage During ‘Utopia’ Rome Concert

Travis Scott celebrated his Billboard 200-topping album Utopia on Monday (Aug. 7) with a performance at Rome’s Circus Maximus, and the show featured a rare onstage appearance by Kanye West.

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“There is no Utopia without Kanye West. There is no Travis Scott without Kanye West. There is no Rome without Kanye West. Make some noise for Ye,” Scott told the crowd before Ye took the stage, according to Pitchfork. The duo performed their collaboration, “Praise God,” off Ye’s Donda album.

The performance marks Ye’s first public performance since a string of controversies, from publicly posting violent remarks about Kim Kardashian’s now ex-boyfriend Pete Davidson to vocalizing antisemitic and racist rhetoric on multiple occasions.

Throughout the set, Scott performed a number of tracks off Utopia, including his The Weeknd and Bad Bunny team-up “K-Pop,” as well as his Beyoncé and Justin Vernon-featuring “Delresto (Echoes).” He also performed some pre-Utopia hits including “Highest in the Room” and “Butterfly Effect.” 

Circus Maximus served as Scott’s replacement show for his canceled Pyramids of Giza concert in Egypt. Live Nation Middle East tweeted their reasoning for the cancellation, citing “complex production issues,” while Scott responded to fans seeking a further explanation. “Egypt in the pyramids will happen but due to demand and detail logistics they just need a bit a time to set lay on lands. I will keep up posted on a date which will be soon love you alllll,” he wrote on Twitter. 

Utopia blasted in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Aug. 12), marking the third-biggest week of 2023 for any album and the largest for any R&B/hip-hop or rap release. The project bows with 496,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 3, according to Luminate.

07 Aug 2023

Usher Addresses Keke Palmer Vegas Controversy: ‘It Was a Pop Moment’

The slow dance between Usher and Keke Palmer set the world on fire last month, and now the Grammy-winning R&B icon is finally revealing his thoughts on the whole ordeal.

“Every night I’m thinking about how the world now is going to react to this moment that I’ll have with whoever I’m choosing to sing to,” Usher told People. “But it was a pop moment, and it was fun to have at least conversation going, and we just keep it light. I don’t see anything negative happening in Las Vegas.”

Last month, the two entertainers made headlines when Palmer attended Usher’s show in a sheer dress with a bodysuit underneath. Usher serenaded the Emmy-winning actress while singing his hit “There Goes My Baby,” as the two shared a cheeky-but-respectful dance. Once footage of the moment hit social media, Darius Jackson — Palmer’s boyfriend and the father of her child — publicly denigrated her choice of outfit, tweeting, “It’s the outfit tho… you a mom.”

In a follow-up tweet, Jackson elaborated, “We live in a generation where a man of the family doesn’t want the wife & mother to his kids to showcase booty cheeks to please others & he gets told how much of a hater he is. This is my family & my representation. I have standards & morals to what I believe. I rest my case.” For her part, Palmer never publicly responded to Jackson’s comments and instead continued to post more pictures of herself and her outfit from that night.

“I think everybody’s vision or a version of what they felt happened there just leads you back to just really having a good time in Las Vegas,” Usher said. “And that’s what I hope came out of it. Rather, it was a conversation of what was going on with us having fun in front of the audience or conversation about that song.”

The “Burn” singer has since embraced a nickname granted to him by the Internet: the “Domestic Terrorist.” “The internet is crazy. You can’t beat the internet,” he joked.

07 Aug 2023

R&B/Hip-Hop Fresh Picks of the Week: Alina Baraz, Rob49, midwxst & More

Happy August! The Sunday of summer months is here, but the heat persists. This week, we have an array of sounds from soothing R&B songs by Alina Baraz, LOONY and No Guidnce to genre-fusing tracks by midwxst, Lucy Park and KayCyy. And if you’re a fan of booming 808s and hi-hats, Rob49, Skilla Baby and Tay B’s new single is the one for you.

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Per usual, don’t forget to check out these songs and stay tuned for the rest of our August picks in our Spotify playlist, linked below.

Freshest Find: Alina Baraz, “Keep Me In Love”

This week’s Freshest Find is a swooning R&B gem, and Alina Baraz’s first single in a while — detailing a modern take on love that showcases her relatable songwriting. “We pour so much time, love, and energy into ourselves, effortlessly and indefinitely,” she shares in a press release. “The idea [for the song] came from wondering if someone could ever do that for you. It’s easy to fall in love but to keep me in love, I long for that.”

midwxst, “warning”

On “warning,” midwxst effortlessly blends rock and rap. The 20-year-old shared the new single ahead of his debut album, E3 (out Sept. 1), which “illustrates his recent internal challenges, but also underscores profound growth and maturity.” “I just want people to understand that I went through a lot of the s–t I am expressing on this album,” he reveals in a press release. “It made me grow and become who I am today. And I wouldn’t trade any of that pain or any of that loss for anything.”

No Guidnce, “Let It Rain”

According to No Guidnce, the boy group is “bringing singing-in-the-rain R&B back” with their new single, “Let It Rain.” The U.K newcomers are proving to be a major force in R&B having only released their first ever song back in March. “Let It Rain” arrives on the heels of their debut EP, Is It a Crime?, and is lined with their thrilling, signature style that’s rooted in rousing nostalgia — similar to that of their counterparts, FLO. The boys also recently headlined their first show in Los Angeles back in July.

LOONY, “Old Friends”

Scarborough singer-songwriter LOONY sees the beauty in a relationship gone wrong. Created during a spontaneous and intimate jam session in Los Angeles, her new single, “Old Friends,” leans into this experience, displaying her soulful vocals and timeless songwriting for a mature but playful song that feels like a one-sided conversation or voicemail. “There’s something really sweet and singular to me about those moments, about those relationships,” LOONY says in statement. “When relationships can often go so ugly, it’s a privilege when it ends to gain an old friend.”

Rob49, Skilla Baby and Tay B, “Mama”

Following his guest feature on “TOPIA TWINS” off Travis Scott’s UTOPIA, Rob49 teamed up with Skilla Baby and Tay B for blistering new single, “Mama.” The New Orleans newcomer’s thick accent and deep, aggressive flow pair well alongside his collaborators who match his energy. “I heard you got a man, but it’s alright mama/ Let’s go to the mall, I’m about to buy you what you like, mama,” Skilla Baby spits.

KayCyy, “My Jeans”

With “My Jeans,” KayCyy is proving that he’s “not no background singer.” Earlier this week, a fan on X (fka Twitter) pointed out that the Kenya-born artist was left uncredited for his vocals on “THANK GOD” off Travis Scott’s UTOPIA. KayCyy responded to the post and proceeded to prove that he can hold his own with the new song. The Minnesota-based artist is also known for his work on Ye’s Donda, though he is gearing up to release his debut album, Who is KayCyy?.

Lucy Park, “All Roads”

With alluring vocals and an infectious dance rhythm, Lucy Park has created the perfect summer track to help close out the season on a high note. Park wanted “All Roads” “to feel like a summer night out in London,” she shares. “The song is sort of a dance back and forth between them. It’s about building up a romance in your head while you are still strangers in real life. This is a really new sound for me and I’m so excited for people to hear it!”