R&B/Hip-Hop

16 May 2023

Travis Scott Previewed His ‘Utopia’ Album in the Houston Astros Locker Room

Travis Scott knows there’s more than one way to support the hometown team. He proved it on Monday night (May 15) when he gave the members of the Houston Astros a sneak peek listen to his anticipated 2018 Astroworld album follow-up, Utopia.

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According to Fox 26, the Houston native paid a visit to Minute Maid Park last night and hung out with the team before their showdown with the Chicago Cubs. As he was sliding on his Air Jordan 1 Low “Black Phantom” sneakers, Scott told the network’s sport director, Mark Berman, that he was “fresh from Utopia… it’s on the way now, Mark,” adding “I had to come here to play Utopia for the boys down in the locker room. Had to get them right for the game.”

For the record, it seems to work, since the Astros topped the Cubs 6-4.

Scott made it sound like he’s rounding third on the album, but at press time a release date has not yet been announced for the rapper’s first new album in five years. Trav has been teasing the collection for years and back in Nov. 2021 he dropped two songs, “Mafia” and “Escape Plan” in advance of his tragic Astroworld Festival, where 10 people died and nearly 5,000 were injured in a crowd crush that has spawned a $750 million class-action lawsuit.

In April 2022, cryptic Utopia billboards went up around Southern California teasing the album and last August Scott teased a return to the studio to put in further work on the collection. Scott is slated to take the stage in July at Rolling Loud Miami, where he’ll perform alongside A$AP Rocky, Playboi Carti, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty, 21 Savage and more.

Check out Scott in the Astros dugout below.

15 May 2023

Ludacris Says Fans Can Expect New Music Soon: ‘I Would Say an Album Probably Next Year’

With Fast X looming, one of the franchise’s heralded stars, Ludacris, sat down with Tamron Hall to discuss his upcoming 10th studio album and what fans can expect, and Billboard has an exclusive first look. 

“We’re definitely gonna get some music before the end of this year,” revealed the “Southern Hospitality” star on the Tuesday (May 16) episode of the Tamron Hall Show. “I would say an album, probably next year.”

Luda’s last studio album came in 2015, titled Ludaversal. It debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and included features from Usher, Miguel, Monica and Big K.R.I.T. 

Luda quipped with Hall about the project’s delay, blaming the Fast & Furious franchise’s hectic shooting schedule on the wait. “They keep shooting more movies. What am I supposed to do?” he joked. 

Despite his busy schedule, Luda has found time to crank out freestyles on social media. Last year, he caught the attention of his 15 million Instagram followers when he delivered a blistering verse over Armani White’s viral Billboard Hot 100 hit “Billie Eilish.” The post not only sits at a whopping 858,000 views on Instagram, but earned him an invitation to the burgeoning rapper’s “Legends Mix” of the song featuring Busta Rhymes and N.O.R.E. Months later, on April 20, Luda dropped another freestyle, accrued staggering numbers, and neared the 800,000 mark. 

“When I was young, I feel like some of my favorite rappers, once they get to a certain point, it’s almost like you wish that they were still kind of hungry and you feel like they don’t have it necessarily like they used to. I never wanted to be that,” he shared. “So it’s extremely important for me to prove to people that even though I’m doing all this other stuff, make no mistake, I still got it, and I’m still as hungry.”

Watch Luda’s interview clip with Tamron Hall above. Check your local listings for airtime.

15 May 2023

Missy Elliott & Atlantic Records to Be Honored by National Museum of African American Music

Hip-hop icon Missy Elliott and Atlantic Records will be honored at the National Museum of African American Music’s Celebration of Legends on June 2 at the museum in Nashville.

Elliott is scheduled to attend, as are Mya, one of the artists on the all-star remake of “Lady Marmalade” which Elliott produced; and Sylvia Rhone, chairwoman/CEO of Epic Records, who became senior vice president and general manager of Atlantic Records in 1986 and who worked with Elliott when she headed eastwest Records.

Previous honorees include Lionel Richie, Chaka Khan, Quincy Jones, Smokey Robinson and the Fisk Jubilee Singers.

Elliott was recently announced as the first female hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2019, she became the first female hip-hop artist/songwriter to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Elliott has amassed nine top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including “Work It,” which logged 10 weeks at No. 2. She also reached the runner-up spot as a featured artist on Ciara’s “1, 2 Step.” A four-time Grammy winner, Elliott has won video of the year at the VMAs twice, as a featured artist on “Lady Marmalade” by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa and Pink in 2001 and with her own “Work It” two years later.

Atlantic Records was founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegün and Herb Abramson. Over its first two decades, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most important American record labels, specializing in jazz, R&B and soul recordings by such artists as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Ruth Brown and Otis Redding. Its position was enhanced by its distribution deal with Stax Records. In 1967, Atlantic became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, now the Warner Music Group, and expanded into rock and pop.

The National Museum of African American Music was designed to celebrate and preserve African Americans’ influence on music and provide Nashville-area residents and visitors alike with diverse cultural offerings. The museum opened in 2021.

15 May 2023

Offset Showers Cardi B With Love & Luxury Gifts for Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to Cardi B! The “I Like It” rapper took to social media on Sunday (May 14) to show off the gorgeous gifts that her husband Offset gave to her to celebrate the holiday.

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“I love my man he really HIMothyyy,” Cardi wrote on Twitter alongside a video of the couple’s foyer, which was decorated with nine massive bouquets of roses in tall glass vases. “My man really is HIM!!!! I’m never getting off from him !!!!!!!!”

Over on her Instagram Stories, the “Up” superstar posted videos of two Chanel bags that Offset gifted her: one green quilted bag and another identical one but in pink. “I love it, thank you baby Daddy,” Cardi says in the clip, jokingly adding that she doesn’t wear “the other green purse” the Migos rapper bought for her. “I’m over-pursed, but I never get tired of getting new purses.”

Watch her Stories before they disappear here.

“We’ve been through a lot with each other,” Offset previously told Billboard of keeping his relationship strong with Cardi, whom he’s been married to since 2017. “Some people in Hollywood live through Hollywood, but we live through each other and keep our stuff at home good. We go through ups and downs at home but have a great support system. Everybody listens to each other and have each other’s back. At the end of the day, our mission is to be successful and take care of the family.”

The couple shares two adorable children, four-year-old daughter Kulture and one-year-old son Wave.

15 May 2023

The Weeknd Changes Social Media Display Names to His Birth Name

After announcing his decision to axe his artist moniker during his interview with W Magazine recently, The Weeknd took a step in that direction when he changed all of his display names on social media to his birth name — Abel Makkonen Tesfaye. 

The cover story featuring his The Idol co-star Lily-Rose Depp highlighted their upcoming controversial HBO Max series, The Idol, and revealed Tesfaye’s desire to “kill The Weeknd.”

“I’m going through a cathartic path right now. It’s getting to a place and a time where I’m getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter,” the singer told W Magazine. “I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd. But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn.”

Though Tesfaye has taken the initial steps in removing his iconic artist name from social media, he revealed his plans to complete one more album under The Weeknd. “The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd,” he said during his interview. “This is something that I have to do. As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say.”

Later in the story, Tesfaye explained how playing the role of Tedros in the upcoming HBO musical drama had a physical and emotional toll on him. “I had to take off The Weeknd outfit, put on Tedros’ wig, shoot with [Depp’s character] Jocelyn, then go back to being The Weeknd,” he reflected on the shift between characters. “Then, after the concert, I lost my voice. No voice came out at all. That’s never happened before. My theory is that I forgot how to sing because I was playing Tedros, a character who doesn’t know how to sing. I may be looking too deeply into this, but it was terrifying. As The Weeknd, I’ve never skipped a concert. I’ve performed with the flu. I’ll die on that stage. But there was something very complicated going on with my mind at that moment.”

The Idol debuts June 4 on Max.

12 May 2023

18-Year-Old Man Admits to Fatally Shooting Pop Smoke

An 18-year-old man who was charged in the 2020 fatal shooting of rising Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke admitted to killing him during a home-invasion robbery at a Hollywood Hills home in juvenile court Friday (May 12), according to City News Service.

The man, who was 15 at the time of the crime, admitted to a first-degree murder charge stemming from the Feb. 19, 2020, killing of Pop Smoke (real name Bashar Barakah Jackson). He also admitted to a home-invasion robbery charge as well as an allegation that he personally and intentionally discharged a firearm during the crime.

He is expected to be held in a state juvenile facility until he turns 25.

City News Service reported that during the hearing, L.A. County Superior Court Judge J. Christopher Smith told the 18-year-old man and his 19-year-old co-defendant, the latter of whom admitted to a juvenile court petition charging him with home-invasion robbery, “That man lost his life over no good reason. … You have no right to take somebody’s life. You have no right to take somebody’s property.”

The 19-year-old man and a third, 20-year-old man, who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and another count of home-invasion robbery during an April 6, 2023-dated hearing, could both remain in juvenile custody until they turn 25. The names of all three men are not being publicly released because of their ages at the time of the crime.

Only one of the four men who were charged in the killing of Pop Smoke, Corey Walker, is being charged in adult court because he was 19 at the time of the crime and is now 22. City News Service reports he is awaiting a pretrial hearing scheduled for June 16 in L.A. on murder, robbery and burglary charges.

12 May 2023

Lil Nas X Supports Jack Harlow at ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ Premiere in a Jack Harlow Shirt

Lil Nas X showed up to Jack Harlow‘s premiere for White Men Can’t Jump on Thursday sporting a T-shirt specially dedicated to his pal.

Emblazoned with the “They Don’t Love It” rapper’s name in bold, white letters, the black tee featured an image of Harlow as well. But that wasn’t all: On the graphic, Harlow is actually wearing a similar tee with Lil Nas X’s name and likeness on it at the 2022 BET Awards — potentially opening up an endless cosmic cycle of Jack wearing Montero wearing Jack wearing Montero and on and on.

For his part, Harlow got a kick out of his “Industry Baby” collaborator’s outfit of choice, gamely posing with an ear-to-ear grin on his face and his arm draped around Lil Nas X’s shoulders on the red carpet. He also shared a pic of Lil Nas X’s cheeky T-shirt to his Instagram Story.

Earlier this month, Harlow unveiled his third studio album Jackman. as somewhat of a surprise, with the studio set landing at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and also earning the Kentucky native his first Top Rap Albums chart-topper (chart dated May 14).

A few days prior, Lil Nas X hit the carpet for the 2023 Met Gala in almost nothing except a copious amount of silver body makeup and a glittering, jeweled face mask in a skin-baring homage to Karl Lagerfeld’s beloved pet cat Choupette. Inside the star-studded gala, he then draped himself in faux fur to take selfies with everyone from Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton to Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny, Doja Cat and, yes, Harlow himself, who opted to wear a tailored navy suit.

12 May 2023

Jason Isbell Surprised by Janelle Monáe’s ‘Lipstick Lover’ Video Backlash

Jason Isbell jumped on social media Friday afternoon (May 12) to defend Janelle Monáe and the buzzy music video for her new single “Lipstick Lover.”

“Wait there are people who DON’T like Janelle’s video?” the country singer tweeted. “Seriously I don’t know wtf you people want if it isn’t that.”

In a follow-up tweet, he doubled down, writing, “There are some things we all just agree [are] awesome so we can go about our business. Like gold, diamonds, Outkast, this video.”

While some trolls bemoaned the sensual nature of Monáe’s visual — on which she lustily intones, “I like lipstick on my neck/ Leave a sticky-icky in a place I won’t forget/ I like lipstick on my neck/ Baby I’m obsessed, get me undressed” — plenty of fans sided with Isbell in the video’s comments on YouTube. For example, one wrote, “This felt very for the female gaze, and I absolutely loved it! Everything about it feels like summer’s coming!” while another praised, “I love how she highlights natural beauty!! All shapes, colors, and sizes!”

“Lipstick Lover” is the latest highlight from the queer R&B star’s forthcoming album The Age of Pleasure, which is set to drop June 9 via Bad Boy and Atlantic Records and will also contain the summery, Seun Kuti and Egypt 80-assisted lead single “Float.”

Meanwhile, Isbell recently shared his HBO documentary Running With Our Eyes Closed with fans and used his platform to both speak out against Tennessee’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws and support commonsense gun safety legislation.

Read Isbell’s glowing opinion of Monáe’s “Lipstick Lover” video below.

11 May 2023

SZA’s ‘SOS’ Breaks Aretha Franklin’s 54-Year Old Record on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums

Two weeks after her single “Kill Bill” broke the record for the longest running No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart by a woman, SZA adds the corresponding record on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums to her rapidly growing list of accolades: Her SOS album becomes the longest reigning No. 1 by a solo woman in the chart’s 58-year history.

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SOS logs an 18th week at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart dated May 13, breaking the tie it set last week with Aretha Franklin’s Aretha Now for the most weeks on top for an album by a woman. Franklin’s set, which contains classics such as “Think” and her cover of “I Say a Little Prayer,” ruled for 17 weeks in 1968. Notably, Franklin set the record in question three different times. Her 1967 breakthrough, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, was the first set by a woman to land 14 weeks at No. 1. The next year’s Aretha: Lady Soul took that record and extended it by two weeks, but follow-up Aretha Now did even better, setting the 17-week standard that lasted for 54 years, until the SOS era.

For its record-breaking frame, SOS earned 56,000 equivalent album units in the week ending May 4, according to Luminate, a 5% drop from the prior frame, but still 20,000 units ahead of the week’s closest competitor, Jack Harlow’s Jackman.

With SOS overtaking Aretha Now, here’s a look at the albums by solo women with the most weeks at No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums since the list’s launch in January 1965.

Weeks at No. 1, Album Title, Artist, Peak Date

  • 18, SOS, SZA, Dec. 24, 2022
  • 17, Aretha Now, Aretha Franklin, July 27, 1968
  • 16, Aretha: Lady Soul, Aretha Franklin, March 2, 1968
  • 14, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Aretha Franklin, April 29, 1967
  • 10, Beyoncé, Beyoncé, Dec. 28, 2013
  • 10, Lemonade, Beyoncé, May 14, 2016

Notably, three albums also deserve a mention: Diana Ross and The Supremes Greatest Hits by the all-female trio spent 12 weeks at No. 1, beginning on Oct. 14, 1967. Sade, fronted by female lead singer and band namesake Sade Adu, earned 11 weeks at No. 1 with Promise beginning on Feb. 1, 1986, and the all-female-performed soundtrack to the film Waiting to Exhale, featuring tracks sung by Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Brandy and others, claimed 10 weeks at No. 1 starting on Dec. 16, 1995.

On the overall count, SOS’ 18 weeks in charge put it in a tie for ninth place for most weeks at No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, matching the 18-week runs of The Temptations’ The Temptations Sing Smokey and Michael Jackson’s Bad. The King of Pop’s Thriller, with 37 weeks, tops the leaderboard.

As mentioned above, the SOS era has paid enormous chart dividends for SZA’s career. The smash hit “Kill Bill” has clocked 19 weeks (and counting) atop Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, the longest for any track by a woman and within one week of tying Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, for the most in the list’s history. And five months into its domination, the juggernaut continues to spin off new hits. Current radio single “Snooze” jumps into the top 10 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, becoming the 10th song from SOS to crack the top 10 barrier.

11 May 2023

Janelle Monae Announces New Album, Releases Sensual Video ‘Lipstick Lover’

Janelle Monae isn’t looking for any ordinary lover, as proven by her latest video, “Lipstick Lover,” off her newly announced upcoming album, The Age of Pleasure. The R&B polymath delivers a savory visual highlighting her adoration for women. Whether she’s enjoying kisses on the neck poolside or appreciating the bodacious curves of her muse, Monae is relishing each person’s beauty. 

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The new studio album — out June 9 via Wondaland Arts Society / Atlantic Records — will be her first studio album since 2018’s Grammy-nominated release of Dirty Computer.

In an interview with Apple Music One’s Zane Lowe, Monae broke down the meaning behind her latest song, explaining once being the giver and receiver of a “lipstick kiss”. “That song, ‘Lipstick Lover,’ I’m like, ‘Why didn’t I write this song years ago?’ Because if you know me … Today, I don’t have on any red lipstick, but I’m always in red lipstick. And there have been so many instances where I’ve made out with somebody at a party, and it’s dark,” she said. “Nobody notices it. But when the lights come on, whoever I’ve made out with, lipstick all over their face. And then I’ve also been on the receiving end of a human … who’s so attractive. … Or I’ll get home, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God. I have lipstick all over my face.’ And I’ve also been the ‘Lipstick Lover’ where … you know exactly who I kissed.”

Monae also explained to Lowe how the songs from her new album came from honesty.

“All the songs were written from such an honest space,” she began. “And what I’m super excited about with The Age of Pleasure. The Age of Pleasure is that … Listen, I’ve had my age of depression. I’ve had my age of anxiety. I’ve had my age of struggle. And again, it’s not like life is pleasurable every single day, but I think I have actively just sought out … How do I create a space for myself? How do I redirect my mind on how I’m thinking about things? How do I realize that right now, in this present moment, moments that we’ll never get back, this is where you need to find your pleasure? This is your moment. Don’t let it get confused that five minutes later, we’re going to try to go into doing something different. And again, this is just my experience where I’m at; even though, despite what I may be going through, there’s going to be a moment where this bad moment, I won’t even be around to even discuss it. I won’t.”

Check out the “age-restricted” video on YouTube.