R&B/Hip-Hop

12 Jul 2023

LL Cool J Announces Rescheduled Dates For All-Star F.O.R.C.E. Tour

After announcing last month that he was rescheduling some dates on the first leg of his all-star F.O.R.C.E. North American tour to ensure that he gives fans a truly “unforgettable” experience, LL Cool J revealed the revamped routing for the trek on Tuesday (July 11).

LL’s first headlining tour in 30 years is now slated to kick off on August 11 in Baltimore and keep him on the road through a November 19 date in Boston. The tour, whose acronym means “Frequencies of Real Creative Energy,” will feature LL joined by The Roots, DJ Z-Trip and DJ Jazzy Jeff, along with a long roster of special guests in select cities, including: Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa, Big Boi, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Common, De La Soul, Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick, Goodie Mob, Ice-T, Jadakiss, Juvenile, MC Lyte, Method Man & Redman, Rakim, Rick Ross and more.

In the since-removed video from last month (via Hip Hop DX), LL explained the reason for the tour launch pushback, writing, “I have to give my fans an experience that is unforgettable. I want to make sure everything is done right, and in order to do that, I had to change some things up. The updated tour dates are now live.” The tour was originally slated to launch on June 25 at Boston’s TD Garden and wrap up in Los Angeles on Sept. 3.

At press time the venues for the tour had not yet been revealed.

Check out the routing for the F.O.R.C.E. tour below.

August 11 – Baltimore, MD

August 12 – Cleveland, OH

August 13 – Chicago, IL

August 18 – Detroit, MI

August 19 – Toronto, ON

August 21 – Atlanta, GA

August 22 – Memphis, TN

August 24 – Forth Worth, TX

August 25 – Houston, TX

August 27 – Albuquerque, NM

August 29 – Denver, CO

Sept. 1 – San Francisco, CA

Sept. 2 – Las Vegas, NV

Sept. 3 – Los Angeles, CA

Sept. 9 – Charlotte, NC

Sept. 10 – Raleigh, NC

Oct. 15 – Washington, D.C.

Nov. 19 – Boston, MA

Check out the tour poster below:

11 Jul 2023

Here Are the Lyrics to Miguel’s ‘Sure Thing’

Miguel’s 2010 hit, “Sure Thing,” got a second life thanks to TikTok, as a sped-up version of the track went viral.

12 years after its release, the track hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart (dated May 27). An R&B/hip-hop radio hit in its original run, “Sure Thing” crowned the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, as well as R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, for a week in May 2011.

If you need a guide to follow along with Miguel’s “Sure Thing,” find the lyrics below:

Love you like a brother
Treat you like a friend
Respect you like a lover
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
You could bet that, never gotta sweat that (oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
You could bet that, never gotta sweat that (yeah, yeah, yeah)
You could bet that, never gotta sweat that
You could bet that, never gotta sweat that (yeah)

If you be the cash
I’ll be the rubber band
You be the match
I will be a fuse, boom
Painter, baby, you could be the muse
I’m the reporter, baby, you could be the news
‘Cause you’re the cigarette and I’m the smoker
We raise a bet ’cause you’re the joker
Checked off, you are the chalk
And I can be the blackboard
You can be the talk
And I can be the walk, yeah

Even when the sky comes falling
Even when the sun don’t shine
I got faith in you and I
So put your pretty little hand in mine
Even when we’re down to the wire, babe
Even when it’s do or die
We could do it, baby, simple and plain
‘Cause this love is a sure thing

You could bet that, never gotta sweat that (yeah, yeah, yeah)
You could bet that, never gotta sweat that
You could bet that, never gotta sweat that
You could bet that, never gotta sweat that

You could be the lover, I’ll be the fighter, babe
If I’m the blunt (uh), you could be the lighter, babe
Fire it up
Writer, baby, you could be the quote, yeah (uh)
If I’m the lyric, baby, you could be the note (uh), record that
Saint I’m a sinner (uh), prize I’m a winner (uh)
And it’s you, what did I do to deserve that?
Paper, baby, I’ll be the pen
Say that I’m the one ’cause you are a ten
Real and not pretend

Even when the sky comes falling (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Even when the sun don’t shine (yeah)
I got faith in you and I
So put your pretty little hand in mine
Even when we’re (you could bet that, never gotta sweat that)
Down to the wire, baby
Even when it’s do or die (you could bet that, never gotta sweat that)
(You could bet that, never gotta sweat that)
We could do it baby, simple and plain
(You could bet that, never gotta sweat that)
‘Cause this love is a sure thing

Uh, now rock with me, baby
Let me hold you in my arms
Talk with me babe, yeah, yeah
Uh, now rock with me baby
Let me hold you in my arms
Talk with me babe, yeah, yeah

This love between you and I is simple as pie, baby
Yeah, it’s such a sure thing (it’s such a sure thing)
Oh, it such a sure thing (it’s such a sure thing)

Even when (you could bet that, never gotta sweat that)
The sky comes falling
Even when (you could bet that, never gotta sweat that)
The sun don’t shine
(You could bet that, never gotta sweat that)
I got faith in you and I
So put your pretty little hand in mine (you could bet that, never gotta sweat that)
Even when (you could bet that, never gotta sweat that)
We’re down to the wire, babe
Even when (you could bet that, never gotta sweat that)
It’s do or die (you could bet that, never gotta sweat that)
We could do it, baby, simple and plain
(You could bet that, never gotta sweat that)
‘Cause this love is a sure thing

Love you like a brother (you could bet that, never gotta sweat that)
Treat you like a friend (you could bet that, never gotta sweat that)
Respect you like a lover (you could bet that, never gotta sweat that)
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Written by: Nathan Perez, Miguel Jontel Pimentel

11 Jul 2023

Here Are the Lyrics to SZA’s ‘Snooze’

SZA achieved her second No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart as “Snooze” topped the list dated July 1.

“Snooze” likewise is SZA’s second career champ on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. She first led with the two-week No. 1 “Shirt” in February.

If you need a guide to follow along with SZA’s “Snooze,” find the lyrics below:

(Ooh, ooh-oh, oh)
(I think I know, whoa-oh)

I’ll touch that fire for you
I do that three four times again, I testify for you
I told that lie, I’d kill that bi–h
I do what all of them around you scared to do, I’m not
Long as you juggin’ out here for me, I got it
Mobbin’, schemin’, lootin’, hide your bodies
Long as you dreamin’ ’bout me, ain’t no problem
I don’t got nobody, just with you right now
Tell the truth, I look better under you

I can’t lose when I’m with you
How can I snooze and miss the moment?
You just too important
Nobody do body like you do
I can’t lose when I’m with you
I can’t just snooze and miss the moment
You just too important
Nobody do body like you do, you do

In the droptop ride with you, I feel like Scarface (Scarface)
Like that white bi–h with the bob, I’ll be your main one (main one)
Let’s take this argument back up to place
Sex remind you, I’m nonviolent, I’m your day one
We ain’t had sh–, yeah, it was magic, yeah
Smash and grab sh–, yeah
Nasty habits take a hold when you not here
Ain’t a home when you not here
Hard to grow when you not here, I’m sayin’

I can’t lose when I’m with you
How can I snooze and miss the moment?
You just too important
Nobody do body like you do
I can’t lose when I’m with you
How can I snooze and miss the moment?
You just too important
Nobody do body like you do, you do

Main one ridin’
How you frontin’ on me and I’m the main one tryin’?
How you blame it on me and you the main one lyin’?
How you threatenin’ to leave and I’m the main one cryin’?
Just tryna be your everything
Main one ridin’
How you frontin’ on me and I’m the main one tryin’?
How you blame it on me and you the main one lyin’?
How you threatenin’ to leave and I’m the main one cryin’?

I can’t lose when I’m with you, ooh
How can I snooze and miss the moment?
You just too important
Nobody do body like you do
I can’t lose when I’m with you
How can I snooze and miss the moment?
You just too important
Nobody do body like you do, you do

Nah, nah, nah, nah
I think I know, whoa-oh
See, no, I can’t lose
I think I know, ooh-whoa, ooh-whoa-oh

Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Written by: Blair Ferguson, Kenny B. Edmonds, Khristopher Van Riddick Tynes, Leon Thomas, Solana I. Rowe

11 Jul 2023

Here Are the Lyrics to Toosii’s ‘Favorite Song’

Toosii enjoyed his first top five on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with “Favorite Song,” that has skyrocketed into viral success.

The rapper/singer (real name: Nau’Jour Grainger), from Syracuse, N.Y., first appeared on a Billboard chart in February 2020, when his set Platinum Heart debuted at No. 3 on Heatseekers Albums, before reaching No. 1 seven months later. The set hit No. 196 on the Billboard 200 that June, marking his first entry on the ranking.

If you need a guide to follow along with Toosii’s “Favorite Song,” find the lyrics below:

(But nobody’s gonna make you change)
(What you probably don’t like anyway)
(‘Bout you darling, so you might as well, mm)
(Be somebody who can make you face)
(What you’re guarding)
(Open up the gates where your heart is)
(And just let yourself, mm)
(Yo, ADELSO on this)

Yeah, I’m on the stage right now
Singin’ your favorite song
Look in the crowd
And you’re nowhere to be found as they sing along
I say you look good without no makeup
No lashes, even better when you wake up
Uh-uh-uh

I see the look on your face
I see you hidin’ the hate
I see you lookin’ for someone to scoop you right off of your feet
You wanna ride in a Wraith
You wanna go out on dates
You want somebody to come bring you flowers
Someone to talk to for hours
Wash your back while y’all sit in the shower, yeah
Someone to tell you, “You’re beautiful”
Someone to tell you and mean it
Someone to tell you, “I love you” every day
And don’t got a reason
You want someone to bring you peace, uh
Someone to help you sleep, yeah
Someone to pick you up when you’re feelin’ down, feelin’ lonely

Need somebody who can make it better
Somebody who can open up those gates
Open up those gates to your heart
Only if you’ll let me

I’m on the stage right now
Singin’ your favorite song
Look in the crowd
And you’re nowhere to be found as they sing along
I say you look good without no makeup
No lashes even better when you wake up
Uh-uh-uh

I see the look on your face
I see you lookin’ for peace
I see you tired of the hurt
Tired of the pain
Tired of the nights where you can’t get no sleep
I see you’re tired thinkin’ ’bout if he cheat
See you’re tired thinkin’ ’bout if you leavin’
See you’re tired of bein’ so tired
And you damn sure ain’t gettin’ even

Need somebody
Who can make it better
Somebody
Who can open up those gates
Open up those gates to your heart
Only if you’ll let me

I’m on the stage right now
Singin’ your favorite song
Look in the crowd
And you’re nowhere to be found as they sing along
I say you look good without no makeup
No lashes even better when you wake up
Uh-uh-uh

(But nobody’s gonna make you change)
(What you probably don’t like anyway)
(‘Bout you darling, so you might as well, mm)
(Be somebody who can make you face)
(What you’re guarding)
(Open up the gates where your heart is)
(And just let yourself, mm)

Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Exploration Group LLC

Written by: Adelso Sicaju, Naujour Grainger, Tatiana Manaois

11 Jul 2023

Here Are the Lyrics to Gunna’s ‘Fukumean’

Gunna received career gift when he blasted in at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with his fourth studio album A Gift & a Curse on the list dated July 1.

Since the album’s June 16 release, “Fukumean” has become the set’s standout track, as it currently sits at No. 2  on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart dated July 15, 2023. According to Luminate, “Fukumean” collected 10.3 million official on-demand U.S. streams during the period of June 16-20, the song’s first weekend.

If you need a guide to follow along with Gunna’s “Fukumean,” find the lyrics below:

(Ooh, Dunk Rock)

(F— you mean?)
Young Gunna Wunna back, callin’ me splurge
Watch me jump right off the curb
Bentley Spur fly like a bird
Spin on the first and the third
Solid, I’m keepin’ my word
Can’t be my equal, I don’t know what you heard
Crank up the foreign, I swerve
Keep me a stick if they purge

Ha, ha, ha, ha
Ha, ha, ha, ha

(F— you mean?)
Young Gunna Wunna, they workin’ my nerves
I’m ’bout to pour up some syrup
F—in’ this bi–h like a perv’
Smack from the back, grab her perm
Ice, the burr, uh, sh–tin’ on all you lil’ turds
Can’t take that dick, wait your turn
In my own lane, we can’t merge
Suck with no hands, you can learn
Let’s see how much you can earn
Watch me go big like the Worm
And I ain’t smokin’ no sherm
I’m in this bi–h with P Litty, QP, QP-ski
All of my bi–hes is pretty, they showin’ they t—ies, it’s up to the ceilin’
I let her run through a million, I rock with her really, let’s f— on a billion
I’ma get down to the gritty, then f— up the city, the home of the villains
Ecstasy, wonderful feelin’
Smoke out the pound when I’m chillin’
Trappin’, I made me a killin’
Look, I got everybody wishin’
I hope you play your position
I don’t want nobody listenin’
I see the ho with precision
Get rich my only decision

F— you mean?
Young Gunna Wunna back, callin’ me splurge
Watch me jump right off the curb
Bentley Spur fly like a bird
Spin on the first and the third
Solid, I’m keepin’ my word
Can’t be my equal, I don’t know what you heard
Crank up the foreign, I swerve
Keep me a stick if they purge

(F— you mean?)
(F— you mean?)
Yeah
Yeah

Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Written by: Florian Onganga, Lucas Difabbio, Sergio Kitchens

11 Jul 2023

Here Are the Lyrics to Lil Durk & J. Cole’s ‘All My Life’

Lil Durk came in hot at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (dated May 27) with “All My Life” featuring J. Cole, earning the 30-year-old rapper his third leader on the survey.

“I think that the J. Cole feature was definitely unexpected for my fans,” Durk recently shared with Apple Music 1’s Nedeska Alexis. “He went super crazy. And it’s so crazy, because we’ve been talking for two years. He always be like, ‘Send me a record,’ and I’m like, ‘I got to find the right record.’”

If you need a guide to follow along with Lil Durk and J. Cole’s “All My Life,” find the lyrics below:

Durkio told me he been on some positive sh–, yeah, yeah
Lately, I just wanna show up and body some sh–, yeah, yeah
Always been a lil’ mathematician, lately it’s cash I’m gettin’
Got me losin’ count of these bags, I’ve been movin’ too fast
Hard times don’t last, ‘member when cops harassed
Talkin’ out my ass, boy, you ain’t sh– but a bi–h with a badge

All my life (all my life)
They been tryin’ to keep me down (they been tryin’ to keep me down)
All this time (all this time)
Never thought I would make it out (never thought I’d make it out)
They couldn’t break me, they couldn’t break me (no, no)
They couldn’t take me, they couldn’t take me (no)
All my life (all my life)
They been tryin’ to keep me down (they been tryin’ to keep me down)

I decided I had to finish, but the media called me a menace
I done sat with the mayor and politicians, I’m tryna change the image
You can’t blame my past no more, I come from the trenches
Some said I’d never be a superstar, but I know I’m different (no, no, no)
I’m The Voice, but the system ain’t give me a choice
Know some people that’s still on deploy
I know a felon who tryna get FOID
Child support your only support
For a visit, I’m goin’ through courts
Went to jail, they was chainin’ me up
And you know that I’m famous as f—
See how you gon’ joke about stimulus?
But they really had came in the clutch
I know some kids wanna hurt they self
Stop tryna take drugs, I refer to myself
Tryna better myself, tryna better my health but

All my life (all my life)
They been tryin’ to keep me down (they been tryin’ to keep me down)
All this time (all this time)
Never thought I would make it out (never thought I’d make it out)
They couldn’t break me, they couldn’t break me (no, no)
They couldn’t take me, they couldn’t take me (no)
All my life (all my life)
They been tryin’ to keep me down (they been tryin’ to keep me down) (yeah)

First generation ghetto n—a
Cole world, hello n—as
Made it out the city with my head on straight
N—as keep shootin’ up the lead out
Young Jordan Peele, gotta get out
‘Cause the sh– that I spit out
Is a cheat code like I’m facin’ a RICO, how a n—a put a hit out
And another one, and, and another one
I got like a hundred of ’em
‘Bout to lap n—as so they think they ahead of me, but I’m really in front of them
Now some of them fumblin’ they bags
F—in’ up the little crumbs that they had
A reminder to humble yourself, this sh– could be gone in an instant
Me, I’m runnin’ long distance
All pistons firin’
I be stuck between maybe retirin’
And feelin’ like I’m just not hittin’ my prime
These days scene rappers be dyin’
Way before they even gettin’ they shine
I never even heard of lil’ buddy
‘Til somebody murdered lil’ buddy
Now I’m on the phone, searchin’ lil’ buddy name
Got to playin’ his tunes, all day in my room
Thinkin’, “Damn, this sh– wicked, to get they names buzzin’
Some n—as just gotta go lay in a tomb”
And media thirsty for clicks, I got a new rule
If you ain’t never posted a rapper when he was alive
You can’t post about him after he get hit
It’s simple, it’s the principle
On any tempo, I’m invincible
Don’t even rap, I just vent to you
I rather that than an interview
Most days
F— ’em all like I’m goin’ through a ho phase
Young n—a shoot out the whip like road rage
I pray all of my dawgs stay so paid
And the only thing that kill ’em is old age

All my life (all my life)
They been tryin’ to keep me down (they been tryin’ to keep me down)
All this time (all this time)
Never thought I would make it out (never thought I’d make it out)
They couldn’t break me, they couldn’t break me (no, no)
They couldn’t take me, they couldn’t take me (no)
All my life (all my life)
They been tryin’ to keep me down (they been tryin’ to keep me down)

Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Written by: Durk Banks, Jermaine Cole, Lukasz Gottwald

11 Jul 2023

Victoria Monét Announces The Jaguar Tour: See the Dates

Victoria Monét will embark on her debut headlining tour, The Jaguar Tour, this fall.

The tour will kick off on Sept. 6 at Detroit’s Majestic Theatre, less than two weeks after she releases her new album Jaguar II on Aug. 25 via Lovett Music/RCA Records. Since she released her critically acclaimed album Jaguar in 2020 during the pandemic, The Jaguar Tour will mark the first time she’ll be performing both projects live on tour.

Monét previously released singles “Smoke,” featuring Lucky Daye, “Party Girls,” featuring Buju Banton and “On My Mama” ahead of Jaguar II. She broke down all three tracks for Billboard, saying, “I feel like I’ve been behind the bushes and in the background, and I think jaguars themselves live in that way. They find the right moment to attack — and get what they want.”

The 22-date jaunt also includes her first-ever solo show in London on Nov. 15 at KOKO.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, July 14 at 10 a.m. local time here. But they could sell out as quickly as her first headlining show in L.A. this past March at the El Rey Theatre — which was in partnership with Spotify’s “R&B First Nights” campaign and Goldenvoice — which sold out in under one minute.

See Monet’s announcement, as well as The Jaguar Tour dates below.

The Jaguar Tour Dates:

  • Sept. 6 — Detroit, Mich. @ Majestic Theatre
  • Sept. 8 —  Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
  • Sept. 11 — Boston, Mass. @ Royale
  • Sept. 13 — New York, N.Y. @ Webster Hall
  • Sept. 15 — Washington, D.C. @ The Howard Theatre
  • Sept. 16 — Philadelphia, Penn. @ Theatre of Living Arts (TLA)
  • Sept. 18 — Charlotte, N.C. @ The Underground
  • Sept. 19 — Atlanta, Ga. @ Buckhead Theatre
  • Sept. 21 — New Orleans, La. @ Joy Theater New Orleans
  • Sept. 22 — Houston, Texas @ House of Blues
  • Sept. 24 — Dallas, Texas @ House of Blues
  • Sept. 26 — Denver, Colo @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
  • Sept. 28 — Las Vegas, Nev. @ 24 Oxford
  • Sept. 29 — Phoenix, Ariz. @ The Van Buren
  • Oct. 1 — San Diego, Calif. @ The Observatory North Park
  • Oct. 3 — San Francisco, Calif. @ The Regency Ballroom
  • Oct. 6 — Portland, Ore. @ The Wonder Ballroom
  • Oct. 7 — Seattle, Wash. @ The Showbox
  • Oct. 9 — Sacramento, Calif. @ Ace of Spades
  • Oct. 11 — Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Fonda Theatre
  • Oct. 22 — Chicago, Ill @ House of Blues
  • Nov. 15 –- London, England @ KOKO

11 Jul 2023

Cardi B & Offset Pack on PDA at Daughter Kulture’s 5th Birthday Party

Don’t worry — for the most part, Kulture Kiari’s fifth birthday party was mostly just filled with Blue’s Clues, Trolls and other PG appropriate celebrations. But parents Cardi B and Offset diiiiid sneak in a couple seconds of PDA.

Sharing clips of Kulture’s big day, which included a trip to Nickelodeon Universe at American Dream in New Jersey, Cardi included a seconds-long video of Offset passionately kissing her cheek and neck on her Instagram Story Monday (July 10). In the background, Bruno Mars’ “Just The Way You Are” can be heard playing through the speakers as Cardi smirks at the camera.

As evidenced by Cardi’s Story, the couple has been going strong since resolving their brief public spat over allegations that the “WAP” rapper cheated on the Migos star. Late last month, Offset posted and deleted a Story accusing his wife of sleeping with another man; however, Cardi quickly shut the rumors down.

In other videos on Cardi’s Story, Offset — holding the pair’s second child, nearly two-year-old son Wave — looks on as his daughter hugs special guest Blue the puppy from Blue’s Clues. “Naaa you did your big one,” Cardi wrote, praising Offset for pulling off the extravagant party.

In a post on the “I Like It” artist’s main feed, Kulture can be seen posing in a pink tutu and meeting Poppy, the pink Troll voiced by Anna Kendrick in DreamWorks’ animated film Trolls. “My baby is five….,” Cardi wrote in her caption. “Happy birthday to my pretty princess .It’s beautiful seeing my girl grow yet makes me a lil sad that my baby is not my little baby no more..light lil turn up today till the weekend.”

See Cardi’s post below.

11 Jul 2023

Lil Nas X Stopped by Oslo Police After Riding Through Tunnel on E-Scooter

Lil Nas X was reportedly among four Americans stopped by Norwegian police after they rode through an Oslo tunnel on electric scooters. Authorities briefly closed the Festning (Fortress) Tunnel but none of the scooter riders were detained or charged.

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The tourists had followed a GPS route into the 1.1 mile tunnel late on Monday evening (July 11), police said. The four “used large parts of the roadway” so a road traffic centre had to shut down some lanes, police added.

“They apologized. We have escorted them out,” the police department said on Twitter of the incident in which the four appeared to get lost in the tunnel. At press time a spokesperson for Lil Nas could not be reached for comment on the alleged incident.

Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet reported that Lil Nas X, 24, whose real name is Montero Lamar Hill, was one of the four tourists. The paper posted what it said was an image from Lil Nas’ Instagram Story in which the MC posed with two Norwegian cops in front of their car, with the rapper kneeling on the ground between the smiling officers.

Lil Nas’ story also reportedly featured a snap of the “Industry Baby” star standing inside the tunnel with the caption, “on the way to being imprisoned in Norway.” Police did not confirm that Lil Nas was among those stopped — they only reported that they stopped four Americans for getting lost in the tunnel — but the posts from Nas appeared to confirm the report.

The musician is in Oslo to perform at the outdoor Slottsffell festival on Wednesday (July 11).

It is not the first time that a foreign tourist rode through part of a vast and busy tunnel system in the centre of the Norwegian capital on an electric scooter. In 2019, a man who said he followed a route given by Google Maps entered the nearly 10-mile long Opera Tunnel complex. He was not charged or detained.

10 Jul 2023

Lil Uzi Vert Scores Third No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 With ‘Pink Tape’

Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated July 15), earning 167,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending July 6, according to Luminate. It’s the rapper’s third chart-topper and launches with the year’s third-largest debut, by units earned, and the biggest week of the year for any rap or R&B/hip-hop album.

Further, Pink Tape brings a rap album to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for the first time in 2023, marking the longest wait in a calendar year for rap set to lead the list since 1993. That year, the chart didn’t see a rap set top the tally until Cypress Hill’s Black Sunday opened at No. 1 on the Aug. 7, 1993-dated chart (two years before Uzi was born on July 31, 1995).

The last rap album to lead the Billboard 200 prior to Pink Tape was Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains, which spent one week atop the chart dated Dec. 17, 2022. The 29-week gap between Metro and Uzi is the longest the Billboard 200 has gone without a rap album at No. 1 since 1992-93, when 34 weeks separated Ice Cube’s The Predator (one week at No. 1, Dec. 5, 1992, chart) and Cypress Hill’s first of two weeks at No. 1 with Black Sunday (Aug. 7, 1993).

Between Heroes & Villains and Pink Tape were six different No. 1s: SZA’s SOS notched 10 nonconsecutive weeks atop the list, Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time logged 15 nonconsecutive frames, and four albums each led for one week during that span – TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: Temptation, Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito, Taylor Swift’s Midnights and Stray Kids’ 5-STAR.

Also in the new top 10 of the Billboard 200, aespa notches its second top 10-charting set as third mini album MY WORLD bows at No. 9, and Rylo Rodriguez scores his first top 10 with the No. 10 bow of Been One.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multimetric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new July 15, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on July 11. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of Pink Tape’s 167,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending July 6, SEA units comprise 154,000 (equaling 210.39 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 26 songs – the largest streaming week of 2023 for any rap or R&B/hip-hop title), album sales comprise 11,000 and TEA units comprise 2,000.

Lil Uzi Vert announced Pink Tape’s June 30 release just four days earlier, on June 26.

Uzi previously hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with Eternal Atake in 2020 and Luv Is Rage 2 in 2017. The rapper hit the top 10 with Pluto x Baby Pluto, a No. 2-peaking collaborative set with Future in 2020.

Back on the new Billboard 200, Wallen’s One Thing at a Time falls to No. 2 with 110,000 equivalent album units earned (down less than 1%) after 15 nonconsecutive weeks atop the list – the most weeks at No. 1 since Adele’s 21 logged 24 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2011-12. One Thing at a Time has earned in excess of 100,000 equivalent album units in all 18 of its chart weeks. It extends its own record as the album with the most weeks of 100,000-plus units since the Billboard 200 began ranking titles by units in December of 2014.

Peso Pluma’s Génesis holds at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in its second week with 68,000 units (down 7%), Swift’s Midnights is also a non-mover at No. 4 with 54,000 (down 5%), Wallen’s former No. 1 Dangerous: The Double Album climbs 7-5 with 48,000 (up 2%), SZA’s SOS rises 8-6 with 44,000 units (down 6%) and Gunna’s A Gift & a Curse falls 5-7 with nearly 44,000 (down 20%)

Swift’s chart-topping Lover climbs 9-8 on the latest Billboard 200 with 43,000 equivalent album units earned (up 1%). Swift’s most recent album release, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), a re-recorded edition of her 2010 No. 1 album Speak Now, bowed on Friday, July 7. If Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) premieres at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated July 22, it would mark Swift’s 12th No. 1 – surpassing Barbra Streisand for the most No. 1s among women. All 11 of Swift’s full-length studio albums and re-recorded projects from 2008’s Fearless through 2022’s Midnights have debuted at No. 1. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is Swift’s third re-recorded project, following Red (Taylor’s Version) and Fearless (Taylor’s Version), both in 2021.

Aespa’s MY WORLD debuts at No. 9 with 40,000 equivalent album units, marking the second top 10-charting set for the Korean group. Of that sum, album sales comprise 39,000 (making the set the top-selling album of the week), SEA units comprise 1,000 (equaling 1.33 million on-demand official streams of the set’s six tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.

MY WORLD was initially released in the U.S. via retail download and streaming services on May 5, but did not chart on the Billboard 200 until now, following its CD release on June 30.

Like many K-pop releases, the CD edition of MY WORLD was issued in collectible CD packages (more than 16, including exclusive editions for Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart and the act’s webstore), each containing a standard set of branded merchandise items and randomized branded elements (such as photo cards, posters and stickers). Effectively all of the album’s sales in the week ending July 6 were on the CD format, with a negligible sum generated by digital download album purchases. The set was not released on any other retail format (cassette, vinyl, etc.).

Rapper Rylo Rodriguez closes out the top 10 with his first top 10-charting set, as Been One debuts at No. 10 with 35,000 equivalent album units earned. SEA units comprise effectively all of that sum, equaling 47.93 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 19 songs. (Album sales and TEA units combine total a negligible sum.) Been One is the artist’s second charting effort, following the No. 37-peaking G.I.H.F. (Goat in Human Form) in 2020.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.