R&B/Hip-Hop
Page: 49
Don Toliver announced on Monday (Feb. 17) that his “LV Bag” collab with J-Hope and Pharrell will drop next Tuesday, Feb. 25. Pharrell previewed “LV Bag” during the Louis Vuitton FW25 show in Paris last month. He and his frequent collaborator Nigo walked out and greeted J-Hope and other notable front row spectators such as Travis Scott and Bradley […]
Tems has become the first African female artist to hit one billion streams on Spotify with Future‘s “WAIT FOR U,” also featuring Drake, Spotify has confirmed. “WAIT FOR U” samples Tems’ “Higher” from her 2020 EP For Broken Ears and was featured on Future’s 2022 Billboard 200-topping album I NEVER LIKED YOU. The song hit […]
Will Smith has a couple of eerie coincidences that he doesn’t like talking about too much. During a sit-down with the Broken Record podcast with co-host Justin Richmond, the entertainer revealed that he talked to The Notorious B.I.G. and Prince before their untimely deaths, with his run-in with Biggie being the first time he and […]
Lil Baby is back outside. The Atlanta rapper announced plans for the WHAM World Tour on Tuesday (Feb. 18), which will invade arenas across the globe this summer.
The WHAM World Tour kicks off in Houston at the Toyota Center on June 3 and is set to run through Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, Brooklyn, Philidelphia and Detroit before wrapping up in Los Angeles on July 1.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Baby is bringing some friends with him as BigXthaPlug, NLE Choppa and Loe Shimmy are expected to serve as openers on the North American leg. BigX will also be joining baby for the Australia/New Zealand dates.
Tickets for the North American shows hit the general public on Friday (Feb. 21) at 10 a.m. local time. There will be VIP packages available on the WHAM Tour website as well, which come with a Lil Baby meet and greet.
Trending on Billboard
After a break, Lil Baby is slated to head to Europe for a run of shows that will take him to Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, France and close out in London with a date at The O2 on Sept. 27. Australia will also be hearing from Baby in mid-October with four shows in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne before heading to Auckland, New Zealand.
Lil Baby kicked off 2025 with his WHAM (Who Hard As Me) album in January, which features Future, Young Thug and Travis Scott. The set topped the Billboard 200 by earning 140,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 9, according to Luminate.
Baby previously went No. 1 with his last three releases: It’s Only Me (2022), The Voice of the Heroes (with Lil Durk, 2021) and My Turn (2020).
Find all of the 2025 WHAM World Tour dates below.
Lil Baby
Courtesy Photo
Lil Wayne made a surprise appearance at the SNL50: The Anniversary Special celebrations on Sunday night (Feb. 16) where he performed a greatest hits medley from his decorated Tha Carter series. From “Mrs. Officer” to the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Lollipop” and closing out with “A Milli,” Weezy jumped around his discography with […]
Drake and PartyNextDoor finally dropped their much hyped collab, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, on Valentine’s Day, and to celebrate they decided to give fans a freebie. On Monday (Feb. 17), the Toronto rapper posted an unreleased track on his finsta account @plottttwistttttt featuring New Orleans bounce rapper OnlyHeaven and blamed sample clearance issues for […]
G-Eazy is a sponge for culture. Young Gerald traded the sunshine of California for the gridlock of the Big Apple in 2023 to avoid stagnation. He delivered his Freak Show album last year and quickly turned the page to a new era in 2025.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The Bay Area native stopped by the Billboard offices in January ahead of his European tour run, where he opened up about rediscovering himself as the new music he’s been cooking up rejuvenated him creatively.
“The process of making this record almost felt like I had rediscovered myself. Everything was about having fun again and getting back to the essence,” he says. “When you lock in and you get in a good space and you have fun and you understand the mission and you feel motivated, then it should flow like water.”
G-Eazy continued: “This was almost a return to the sound of what’s the essence of Gerald? And what does he want to do? Ultimately, man, this new music, I feel incredible about and I’m really excited.”
Gerald dropped off his intoxicating “Kiss the Sky” single to kick off February, and has a project on the way.
He also touched on some of the high-profile collaborations in his catalog, such as teaming with Britney Spears in 2016 for “Make Me…,” which he looks back on with a new sense of gratitude. The track peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“These opportunities I always try to stay in a space of gratitude,” he adds. “Imagine your 12-year-old self was told one day you’re gonna grow up and see this person on TV and you’re gonna get to do that. Never take none of this for granted.”
Demi Lovato and G-Eazy united in 2021 for the vulnerable “Breakdown,” which found the pair candidly confronting their personal battles while turning their intimate conversations into a powerful song. Gerald calls Lovato a “kindred spirit” and a “powerful force of a human being.”
“It’s not a linear path it’s a difficult one those ups and downs those challenges — that’s real life. As friends, we’ve talked about that extensively,” he says of their collab. “It’s one thing to talk about that, it’s another thing to find a way to frame it in a song.”
Before any of the fame, Gerald first’s concert was seeing Ye (formerly Kanye West) perform The College Dropout in the mid-2000s, where he remembered the rapper being presented with a gold plaque on stage. “I was, like, a freshman in high school and went with some friends,” G recalls. “I still remember his stage presence. That struck me as much as anything.”
G-Eazy will hit the road once again in April for 26 dates across North America. Marc E. Bassy will serve as the trek’s opener. “I’m really grateful for all of it,” The Bay Area native concludes.
Watch the entire interview above.
Drake is performing in Australia as part of his Anita Max Wynn Tour, and during the Monday (Feb. 17) Sydney show, a fan launched a DeMar DeRozan basketball jersey on stage, which Drake threw down in disgust.
A clip from the show went viral, which saw Drizzy performing Her Loss standout “Rich Flex.” The OVO rapper unravels the camouflage Raptors No. 10 jersey and immediately spikes the DeRozan jersey like a football after realizing whose name was on the back before getting back to the show.
DeRozan was drafted by the Toronto Raptors in 2009 and spent the first nine years of his career north of the border. The Compton-bred baller and Drake were tight throughout his tenure in the 6, and even appeared on the cover of Slam Magazine together in 2016.
Trending on Billboard
“No matter what, when it comes to him, he’ll forever have a friend in me and loyalty out of me because he cared,” DeRozan said of Drake in 2021 after leaving the Raptors. “He was there for me when everything was kind of going crazy.”
The relationship appeared to go sour when DeRozan made a cameo in Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” video after K. Dot shouted out the hooper on the track. DeRozan also made an appearance at Lamar’s Pop Out concert on Juneteenth, where Kendrick performed “Not Like Us” for the first time live.
Even after the “NLU” cameo, DeRozan attempted to show love to Drake and play it down the middle.
“We love Drake, we always can play him,” he said during an interview last summer. “Kendrick been a friend of mine, family. Damn near family, for a long time, for a while. We’re from the same city, we grew up damn near in the same neighborhood … It’s always been there. It hasn’t always been publicized, but, you know, that’s basically family.”
Drake wasn’t going for it and blasted DeRozan along with the idea of the franchise ever retiring his No. 10 during a Toronto Raptors broadcast in November. “Unfortunately we’re playing this goof tonight,” he said at the time. “If you ever put up a DeRozan banner, I’ll go up there and pull it down myself.”
The Sacramento Kings star brushed Drake’s comments off during a postgame presser. “He’s going to have a long way to climb,” DeRozan quipped. “Tell him good luck.”
With the NBA All-Star Game returning to The Bay Area for the first time since 2000, Saweetie — a proud Bay Area native — is booked and busy throughout the weekend’s festivities.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Saweetie shined as part of DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live! Bay Area celebration during the NBA All-Star Game Halftime Show on Sunday (Feb. 16) alongside fellow Bay dignitaries like E-40, Too Short and En Vogue.
A day earlier, while wearing a flashy top made of metallic keys, Saweetie rocked Chase Freedom’s Cashback Courts with a 20-minute set of hits from “My Type” to “ICY GRL” and “Best Friend.” Hundreds of San Francisco fans filled the City View Metreon with many little girls representing younger versions of Saweetie in the audience gawking at their hero.
Trending on Billboard
“I love that I’m able to reach out to girls who are able to identify with me because I remember what it felt like looking up to some of my favorite artists and finding a common denominator and making it that much closer to them,” she tells Billboard in her green room following the performance. “I love seeing my Filipina queens and princesses. It always feels like a magical moment.”
With the calendar turning to 2025, Saweetie says she still has her sights on finally dropping her long-awaited, much-delayed debut album. “Yeah, it’s coming this year,” she promises. “I feel like it will really encompass who I’ve grown into over these past couple of years. Lots of stories to tell.”
Elsewhere in our conversation, Saweetie recalled working with Sabrina Carpenter in 2019 on “I Can’t Stop Me,” whom she championed a “magical woman” and detailed the full-circle moment of collaborating with LL COOL J for his The Force album last year as her mom once starred in one of his videos.
Check out the rest of our All-Star Weekend interview with the rapper who touches on her hopes for more acting roles, getting the Jill Scott co-sign and why she can’t stop playing Kendrick Lamar’s “TV Off.”
It’s dope to see a lot of the little girls that look up to you out here. To live that out is cool. Are you used to that?
It always feels like the first time because you never know what kinda response you’re gonna get when you come out.
What’s it like partnering with Chase and having it come full-circle with The Bay having All-Star Weekend for the first time in forever?
Lots of full-circle moments because I’m from The Bay and participating in such a global activation is phenomenal. We just had rehearsals this morning and it felt like a surreal moment. And to be part of the Chase Cashback Courts is another full-circle moment too because I had a college card with Chase. It was my first debit card. I opened it on my own and went into the bank and sat and did the whole process myself. Lot of full-circle moments happening in my life right now so this whole weekend feels surreal.
Your bank account’s looking a little different nowadays I think.
Very different.
What’s next for you musically?
Me and OhGeesy just dropped. I love collaborating with West Coast artists. I was in Africa for some time and I did some collaborations out there, one with ODUMODUBLVCK. It’s nice to tap into different communities. I can see myself more international with my features this year.
How was linking up with LL Cool J?
That was so amazing. You know my mom was in her video? I think “Luv U Better.” All these full-circle moments. I showed him. That was really cool too, and the video was super hot. His team felt like family and it’s nice to be welcomed by a fellow icon. You never know how those moments are gonna go, but it was so much fun.
Another one is a throwback with Sabrina Carpenter. How did that come together?
She’s always been a magical woman. When we did our collaboration, we met and she’s full of light, talent and energy so to see her blossom into something bigger than life has been such a joy to see this past year.
I think you’re the only rapper she’s ever worked with.
Oh, wow! Well, shout-out to her — we gotta do something else.
How was getting the Jill Scott sample cleared? Did you end up talking to her?
Absolutely, she is such an icon. It took some time and I had to work for it. I’m happy that we’re here now and I’m able to gladly say that she blessed me with an opportunity to make something into my own and I’m really grateful for that.
You had a cameo in BMF — more acting on the way? What’s the dream role for Saweetie?
A lot of more acting. I want to play something with action — like sci-fi/action. Something fantasy. Like a superhero or supervillain.
How many Saweetie meals did you eat at McDonald’s?
I lost count. I’m happy you liked my concoctions.
What’s your favorite Zaytoven beat?
Personally, my song “Expensive.” I don’t think it made streaming platforms, but I remember falling in love with that beat to write over it so effortlessly.
Why is your Instagram profile picture Stewie Griffin giving the middle finger?
That’s my mood. It’s facetious.
What’s one song you’re rocking with right now?
I’m telling you this, if you’re in my car and “TV Off” comes on you’re getting a full performance. The volume is high — it gets a little crazy, so put your seatbelt on.
Fashion-forward singer Tyla dropped into the Jennifer Hudson Show on Tuesday (Feb. 18) to give a sneak peek at her new British Vogue cover and tease her anticipated look at the upcoming Met Gala. She also talked about performing at last year’s Victoria’s Secret fashion show and performing with her musical mirror, Sabrina Carpenter.
“She’s literally like me, like we don’t take things too serious, so it was a lot of laughing,” Tyla said of appearing on Carpenter’s first-ever holiday special in December, during which the two women collaborated on a rendition of “This Christmas.”
Trending on Billboard
“It was really fun doing that and being… because I haven’t done a duet like that with another artist,” Tyla said. “Yeah, it was cute.” Now that she’s got Carpenter ticked off her bucket list, Hudson asked if there is anyone else Tyla dreams of teaming up with. “Like a dream song, just passion, like not serious, I would want to do something with… an older artist,” she said. “Like Brian McKnight… or a Babyface, something like old R&B.”
Tyla also responded to silly internet rumors that she “stole” some wings at the VS runway special, telling Hudson that at one point someone told her she could go into the “wing room” and “pick any wing” she wanted. “So I was having the time of my life, trying on all the wings,” Tyla laughed, as the image of the white feather version she chose flashed on the screen behind her; at the time, she captioned a stunning pic from the special with the words, “Earned my wings” in the post that got a heart emoji from Carpenter.
“‘That’s mine!’” she remembered thinking when she saw them at the show where she walked alongside Angels Gigi Hadid, Tyra Banks and Adriana Lima, at the event that also featured a performance from BLACKPINK’s LISA.
And, not that she’s looking to take all the gigs, but asked if she’s interested in moving into acting, Tyla said she’d love to “do something more creative” with a fellow envelope-pushing musician, such as Frank Ocean, Childish Gambino or Tyler, the Creator. “Something more creative… but dream role? I want to be a princess,” she said with a smile. “Like an African princess. I think that would be cute.”
After making the scene at her first Met Gala last year, last week it was announced that Tyla will be part of the 2025 Met Gala Host Committee team alongside André 3000, Simone Biles, Dapper Dan, Doechii, Ayo Edebiri, Regina King, Spike Lee, Janelle Monae and Sha’Carri Richardson, among others. Though she’s not sure what her outfit will be yet, Tyla promised that it “will be hot… you know that,” without revealing any additional details.
In her new British Vogue cover, the 23-year-old South African native charted her quick rise to fame and gave a hint of what musical direction she is headed in after the worldwide breakthrough of “Water,” the debut single from her self-titled first album that topped out at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“I really feel like I have changed so much since ‘Water’ and my debut album. I have grown into a different version of myself. A little more spicy, a little more bold. I’m excited to just put that into the music,” she told the magazine. And while her global acclaim could easily lead to product extensions into a beauty or booze line like other pop stars, Tyla said she’s focused on her main gig.
“Music is my first love,” she said, while keeping her options open. “Maybe one day I’ll want to dabble in acting, beauty, creative directing, fashion… I really have a love for it all and I know I can do it all.”
Tyla will appear alongside aespa, Erykah Badu, GloRilla, Angela Aguilar, Gracie Abrams, Jennie, Megan Moroney, Meghan Trainor and Muni Long at March 29th’s 2025 Billboard Women in Music event.
Check out Tyla on the Jennifer Hudson Show below.