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Jurors in the trial of three men accused of murdering rising rap star XXXTentacion concluded their fourth day of deliberations Monday by reviewing almost 1,200 text messages and several videos and photos seized from two of their cellphones.
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Some of the videos and photos showed the defendants flashing fistfuls of $100 bills hours after the June 18, 2018, shooting of XXXTentacion outside a suburban Fort Lauderdale motorcycle dealership. He was killed by two armed robbers who stole $50,000 he was carrying in a Louis Vuitton bag.
There was also a photo of a story from a news website about the shooting, photos from shopping and dating apps, an apparently random photo of then-first lady Melania Trump, videos of one defendant in a pedicab with a woman and a Father’s Day greeting.
The jurors made their request in the afternoon, asking to see the data from the phones of alleged shooter Michael Boatwright, 28, and the accused getaway driver and ringleader Dedrick Williams, 26, from the day before and day of the shooting.
Williams sent and received more than 950 text messages during that time and Boatwright had more than 200. Jurors had to crowd near a projection screen at the front of the courtroom to read them; they could not be read from the gallery.
The jurors did not ask for any data from the phones of alleged second gunman Trayvon Newsome, 24, or alleged co-conspirator Robert Allen, 26. Allen testified against his former friends after pleading guilty last year to second-degree murder.
Boatwright, Williams and Newsome are charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery and face mandatory life sentences if convicted. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty. The jurors have deliberated about 15 hours since getting the case late Wednesday at the end of four-weeks of testimony. Deliberations will resume Tuesday.
XXXTentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, had just left Riva Motorsports, where he had been looking at motorcycles to purchase, when his BMW was blocked by an SUV that swerved in front.
Surveillance video showed that two masked gunmen emerged and confronted the 20-year-old rapper at the driver’s window, and one shot him repeatedly. They then grabbed the bag with the money, got back into the SUV and sped away. The friend was not harmed.
Allen testified that the men set out that day to commit robberies and went to the motorcycle shop to buy Williams a mask. There they spotted the rapper and decided to make him their target. Allen and Williams went inside the shop to confirm it was him.
They then went back to the SUV they had rented, waited for XXXTentacion to emerge and ambushed him, according to testimony. Prosecutors said surveillance video from the dealership, cellphone data and the videos of the men flashing money ties them to the shooting.
The men’s attorneys said Allen is lying and that their DNA was not found on the artist. Attorneys for some of the men said that while the money-flashing videos were “stupid,” they don’t prove their clients were actually involved in the shooting and robbery.
The rapper, who pronounced his name “Ex ex ex ten-ta-see-YAWN,” was a platinum-selling rising star who tackled issues including prejudice and depression in his songs. He also drew criticism over bad behavior and multiple arrests, including charges that he severely beat and abused his girlfriend.
Last week, Snoop Dogg brought back the entire Death Row catalog to streaming services, which included classics such as Doggystyle, All Eyez on Me, The Chronic and more. On Friday (March 10), former Death Row artist KXNG Crooked claimed on social media that he’s still owed “six figures” for one of the label’s past releases.
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According to Crooked, his frustrations stem from his contributions to the 2003 comedy-laden documentary Dysfunktional Family starring Eddie Griffin. The 17-track soundtrack featured Jay-Z, Ja Rule, Ashanti and more. “I see the DysFunktional Family soundtrack I’m owed six figures for hmmm,” Crooked claimed on Twitter while retweeting Snoop’s original tweet that included images of earlier Death Row releases, including the soundtrack.
Billboard has reached out to Snoop Dogg, Death Row and Gamma — who Snoop sold a stake of the label’s catalog to in December — for comment.
Formerly named Crooked I, the West Coast MC signed to Death Row in the ’90s under the tutelage of Suge Knight. His features from Dysfunktional Family span from “We Ballin’” and “Get Off Tha Block.”
In a 2012 interview with AllHipHop, Crooked reflected on the full-length project and his past contributions. “I was watching [Eddie Griffin’s] Dysfunktional Family the other day, and I had nine songs on that soundtrack,” he said. “It took me back listening to those old songs again. That was like in 2003. But I’m looking to the future.”
He later touched on why he ultimately parted from the label. “There is no real Death Row Records anymore. Once Suge was removed from the picture, there was no Death Row. You can’t be Death Row without Suge,” he said. “My terms were to have me do a brand new album for a $1 million. They gave me the run around, and I told them I was cool.”
Though Crooked officially left the label in 2004, he expressed joy for Snoop’s acquisition on Twitter, saying, “I’m glad Snoop owns DR! If there’s a conversation [to] be had about my old music, I’d much rather have it with him!”
Check out Crooked’s tweets below.
I’m glad Snoop owns DR!! If there’s a conversation yo be had about my old music I’d much rather have it with him! https://t.co/IODe4Omjqq— Dominick (@CrookedIntriago) March 10, 2023
Is a new Meghan Thee Stallion album on the way? That’s what the rapper confirmed while attending the Vanity Fair Oscar party on Sunday night (March 12).
When asked by Entertainment Tonight about the prospect of new music, the Queen of the Hotties cheekily replied, “Oh I am, new album, f–k y’all hoes, bye!” before sauntering off with a laugh. Megan didn’t offer any more details, but a new full-length would serve as a follow-up to her 2022 sophomore effort Traumazine, which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and contained hit singles “Sweetest Pie” with Dua Lipa, “Plan B,” “Pressurelicious” featuring Future, “Her” and the Key Glock-assisted “Ungrateful.”
Ahead of teasing her new project, Megan got hilariously real about getting her hands on tickets to Beyonce’s highly anticipated upcoming Renaissance World Tour, admitting she wasn’t above calling Queen Bey herself for help. “They gon’ be hatin’ on me, but I got ’em!” she said. “Oh baby, you know I called up them directly: ‘Beyoncé, lemme get a ticket!’”
She also shared that after hitting up the Vanity Fair bash — which musicians such as Cardi B, Olivia Rodrigo, Shawn Mendes and more attended — she’d be heading to another afterparty thrown by her “Savage (Remix)” collaborator. (“You know Beyoncé is my auntie!” she gushed.)
Watch Megan spill the tea on her new album and her “direct line” to Beyoncé below.
Forward has a multitude of meanings for Jordan Ward.
Visiting the Billboard office during the NYC stop of his opening slot on JID and Smino’s co-headlining Luv Is 4Ever Tour, the St. Louis artist is on his second iced coffee of the day and our hour-and-a-half long conversation reflects that. Ward is excited to be discussing Forward, his debut album released via Interscope on Friday (March 3).
The record’s title represents the direction he’s moving in to evolve his sound and creativity. It’s also for Ward, a dedication to his family and their future and a project that he made for himself. Forward is also his fourth project overall — and as his debut album, acts as the foreword to his story.
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Across 14 tracks, Ward tests his vocal limits as he explores themes of romantic and familial love and personal growth. “For this album, I wanted to indulge and see what world me and the homies can build, and what way we can innovate on what we’ve been doing,” he says. “These are love songs. There’s voices on the album of people who I’m talking to. I’m trying to kind of come to terms with breaking cycles of these unhealthy patterns of relationships.”
Born Jordan Alex Ward, the 28-year-old grew up singing and dancing around his neighborhood and school. He eventually became involved in musical theater in his adolescence and joined a dance studio to train in ballet, tap, jazz and hip-hop. Throughout high school, Ward honed in on dancing, booking under the table gigs and teaching classes to earn extra money. At 18, he moved to L.A., and in his early 20s, he began touring as a backup dancer for artists like Justin Bieber and Becky G.
“I was a young Black boy from the south side of St. Louis. First I started doing theater in the suburbs, then I started being the only Black boy at the dance competitions,” he says. “I wasn’t chasing those types of spaces, but I found a lane. I found a creative space where it was like, ‘This is my escape.’”
While dancing full-time, Ward rekindled his love for singing. Becky G encouraged him to sing, and on Bieber’s 2015 Purpose Tour, he befriended a fellow dancer and artist who inspired him to freestyle and try to make his own songs. In 2017, Ward released his first EP A Peak at the Summit, and since then, he has landed a sync placement on Issa Rae’s Insecure (for his song “Tryingthings” from 2019’s Valley Hopefuls), and signed a deal with Interscope in 2020. He is also slated to embark on a solo headlining tour in May.
Billboard spoke with Jordan Ward about Forward, St. Louis and adjusting to the pace of the music industry.
Jordan Ward
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What’s your earliest memory of music?
I remember being in this wedding and hearing these strings and being like, “Yo, Mom. These strings sound yellow,” and she didn’t know what I was talking about. But as I grew older, I came to realize that’s chromesthesia, when you hear colors in music. I do remember seeing Lauryn Hill laying around the house, the [The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill] CD, and putting that in my radio and listening to that. Being a kid, I used to listen to Radio Disney because my mom wouldn’t let me listen to the other stations.
How did you go from dancing to making music?
When I graduated high school, I moved to L.A. and started touring a little bit as a dancer. I used to dance for Becky G on and off for like three years before I started with Bieber, and Becky was like, “Jordan, just sing for me. I know you can sing” — and I’m like, “What are you talking about?!” The universe was trying to tell me.
I met Rudy, he does what’s called martial arts tricking, but he’s also a dancer. I met him on the tour, we was dancing for Justin Bieber on the Purpose Tour, and we had so much downtime so he would just be making beats and making his albums. I just got comfortable around him, freestyling. He basically helped me really get into music and I started making demos for fun. Then I was like, “D–n, I want to make a tape.” So once the tour ended it was like, “Oh s–t, I’m finna just focus on this music s–t.”
How has St. Louis influenced your sound? You collabed with Ryan Trey and you’re opening for Smino. Did those happen due to your hometown connection?
Smino, I just been a longtime fan. When I heard Smino’s music, I saw a small piece of myself in him. We connected more so on the backend, less on the mutual hometown tip. We definitely have mutuals, but we got a few people who work together on our teams and s–t, and it kinda happened organically like that. And Ryan Trey, literally, same thing. We been tapped in for a minute. I made [“White Crocs”], I sent it to him and he sent it back the next day.
And St. Louis, how it influenced my song, I always like to start with gospel music. St. Louis has a really strong gospel music culture. My mom is a singer and when I was coming up, we had like real gospel superstars doing concerts. Different choirs [came] from different churches for conferences, and I used to travel with my mom and s–t. That has a big influence, fasho’. And then musical theater. St. Louis also has a big musical theater community, that was a big influence on me as a kid and an adult.
St. Louis locally and musically was such a melting pot when I was growing up. Of course Nelly, St. Lunatics, that’s just embedded. Chuck Berry, the Father of Rock N’ Roll is from St. Louis. Maya Angelou, Michael McDonald, Donny Hathaway, jazz, ragtime. And also, its proximity to Chicago [and] Detroit. St. Louis is definitely midwest — but it’s almost the south, but I was always drawn to the midwest influence. Whenever s–t was going on, a lot of the times we had to drive to Chicago — so I was always into Ye, Common, J Dilla just that whole midwest soul sound.
I just interviewed Metro Boomin…
We went to the same high school. He was a senior when I was a junior. We probably spoke like on some random s–t, never on no music s–t.
Have you reconnected since then?
Nah. I feel like it’s gonna happen organically, you feel me? I definitely feel like for the city, that’d be hard.
How did you come up with the song titles for Forward? The more obscure names.
“FAMJAM4000″ [was] because that song sounds like an electric slide, and I want people to just load up when they hear that. It’s shiny like a Godd–n Cadillac. “FORFOURFORE,” because it’s for Ward, and then 4 Ward and then foreword. And then “White Crocs” because I was wearing white crocs a lot, and I was in the studio and this girl was like, “I wanna come see you.” I was like, “Man, I’m in the studio, I’m in Crocs. You can come here, but I’m not…”
And then “Pricetag/Beverlywood,” that was Lido’s song that he put me on, but it’s just about… “Since I was taken for granted/ the price of my attention has gone up.” The other half is called “Beverlywood,” because that’s about this time I had to stay in this hotel in Beverlywood because my crib had no power. I owned a condo, and the power got f–ked up for a year and we had to move out. I had to file an insurance claim, live in a hotel, and they was like, “You can either live in this hotel in Chatsworth or Beverlywood.
“Dance Machine,” I like that title because in the song, I’m talking about dancing with a girl at a club on Molly — and then you realize no matter what moment y’all have, she’s not really that into you, you both just are in a moment. Also, in the song I say, “we do the same dance every other week,” like choreography. Being in your 20s, or just in life, sometimes it can feel detached and mechanical. “0495,” the first half of the song is 2004, me and my mom driving to my Godmom’s new house in North County. And the second half is inspired by being born in 1995. “Cherimoya” — fruit, natural love, juicy, tasty.
Have you ever had a cherimoya?
Yes! I was [eating one] in the studio when I made that.
What was your biggest challenge when making Forward?
Not the biggest challenge, but a challenge was finishing the songs and having to go back in on the hooks. Redoing my verse here, re-imagine a song, take the idea of a song and do it three ways. I’m so emotional — I be getting so emotional in the studio. There are periods where I’m not gonna do it. I feel like you’re not a real creative if you don’t wanna quit everyday.
How do you see or categorize yourself in the music ecosystem?
I’m trying to not categorize myself anymore — not because I don’t have an opinion, I actually have strong opinions on it — but it’s exhausting and I don’t think it’s the most important thing for me to worry about. I just like to let the music speak and it’s not even that deep. I could get on a country beat and I’m still gonna swag on it a certain way. Not that it’s rap or I’m a rapper, but it’s like, [I] brought a new wave. That’s what hip-hop is, new wave.
When did you sign to Interscope and why was that the right fit for you?
I signed to Interscope in October 2020, and that was the right fit because it felt the most organic. I feel like I developed an organic relationship there, even on a synchronicity level. You can say I’m R&B, but I’m on Interscope — that’s hip-hop, baby!
What’s the most surprising thing you learned about the music industry now that you’re fully in it, doing press tours and so on?
Just how fast this s–t can go. Time and space, all that is the same s–t. We really four projects into this s–t. I’m seven years into this and I swear I literally feel like I’m still moving off the conversations in the back of my head from 2016. [But] no, I’m grown, that time is gone.
What are some ways you protect your energy and peace?
Meditating and just communication. I really wanna try to avoid suppressing anything. I want to get to the point where if I have a thing on my stomach or my heart, I wanna find a way to, with respect, communicate it to where we can at least agree to disagree and understand. And sometimes it don’t even be that deep; I’m just really emotional. I hate feeling like I’m being mean to somebody or I’m being an a–hole or I’m being this or I’m being that. But you can’t be an a–hole to yourself either.
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TLC and Shaggy look to warm up the tour circuit with their forthcoming Hot Summer Nights jaunt featuring special guests En Vogue and Sean Kingston.
Slated to kick off June 1 in Alabama, the Hot Summer Nights 2023 Tour will land in major markets, including New York, Miami, California, Texas and more. TLC has a laundry bag of Billboard Hot 100 hits across the ’90s and ’00s. Their four chart-toppers include “Creep,” “Unpretty,” “Waterfalls,” and “No Scrubs.” Last June, Chilli, and T-Boz performed at the Hollywood Bowl with Boyz II Men and left the crowd enthralled with their string of classics. The crown jewel of the night came when T-Boz introduced their performance of “Unpretty.” “This next song is near and dear to my heart because I wrote it from my heart. My boyfriend then made me feel like I wasn’t good enough. With social media now, the song still rings true today.” Then to applause, she added, “I kicked his a– to the curb.”
As for Shaggy, the dancehall titan has a bevy of Hot 100 classics, including chart-toppers “Angel” and “It Wasn’t Me.” In a 2021 interview with Billboard, Shaggy spoke on the importance of emerging dancehall artists breaking through. “I want the new generation to stream better than me because it boosts the genre and gives it a seat at the table. It gives us some sort of presence where corporate wants to f–k with us. It helps the culture with tourism. It’s a big part of our economy. When you beat me, that’s when we’re forced to be reckoned with.”
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Citi cardmembers can access presale tickets beginning Tuesday (March 14) at 10 a.m. local time until Thursday at 10 p.m. local time through the Citi Entertainment program. The general on-sale starts Friday at 10 a.m. local time on LiveNation.com. See the dates below.
HOT SUMMER NIGHTS 2023 TOUR DATES:
DATES INCLUDE FULL LINEUP UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE (SEE BELOW)
^Not a Live Nation Date | ~Tickets for this show will go onsale at a later date
Thu June 1 – Pelham, Ala. – Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
Sat June 3 – Miami, Fla. – FPL Solar Amphitheater @ Bayfront Park
Sun June 4 – St. Augustine, Fla. – The St. Augustine Amphitheatre
Wed June 7 – Raleigh, N.C. – Coastal Credit Union Music Park @ Walnut Creek
Fri June 9 – Bristow, Va. – Jiffy Lube Live
Sat June 10 – Holmdel, N.J. – PNC Bank Arts Center
Sun June 11 – Mansfield, Mass. – Xfinity Center
Tue June 13 – Wantagh, N.Y. – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
Thu June 15 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
Fri June 16 – Saratoga Springs, N.Y. – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Sat June 17 – Hartford, Conn. – XFINITY Theatre
Wed June 21 – Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio – Blossom Music Center
Fri June 23 – Tinley Park, Ill. – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Sat June 24 – Noblesville, Ind. – Ruoff Music Center
Sun June 25 – Clarkston, Mich. – Pine Knob Music Theatre
Wed June 28 – Maryland Heights, Miss. – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Fri June 30 – Irving, Texas – The Pavilion At Toyota Music Factory
Sat July 1 – The Woodlands, Texas – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Sun July 2 – Lake Cowichan, BC – Laketown Shakedown^ (with Shaggy Only )
Mon July 3 – Austin, Texas – Bass Concert Hall^~ (with TLC, Shaggy, & Sean Kingston Only)
Thu July 6 – Salt Lake City, Utah – Granary Live^ (with Shaggy & Sean Kingston Only)
Fri July 7 – Phoenix, Ariz. – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
Sat July 8 – Irvine, Calif. – FivePoint Amphitheatre
Sun July 9 – Concord, Calif. – Concord Pavilion
Thu July 13 – Edmonton, AB – Edmonton EXPO Centre^ (with TLC & Shaggy Only)
Fri July 14 – Calgary, AB – Cowboys Music Festival^ (with TLC & Shaggy Only)
The 2023 Academy Awards took over Hollywood on Sunday night (March 12) with star-studded musical offerings by Rihanna, Lady Gaga and more for the best original song performances by the nominees.
The Super Bowl Halftime Show performer hit the stage in a custom Maison Margiela Artisanal outfit designed especially for her by John Galliano for the live debut of the Oscar-nominated “Lift Me Up,” one of her two offerings on the soundtrack to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Meanwhile, Mother Monster took the opposite route by stripping down to a simple black tee, ripped jeans and a makeup-free face for her last-minute performance of “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick. “It’s deeply personal for me, and I think that we all need each other,” she said prior to launching into the song as the camera zoomed in for the closest of close-ups on her face. “We need a lot of love to walk through this life. And we all need a hero sometimes, there’s heroes all around us in unassuming places. But you might find that you can be your own hero, even if you feel broken inside.”
Elsewhere during the ceremony, 14-time nominee Diane Warren accompanied Sofia Carson through “Applause” from the anthology film Tell It Like a Woman, and eventual best original song winner “Naatu Naatu” from RRR became the biggest song-and-dance spectacle of the evening led by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava.
Plus David Byrne teamed up with best supporting actress nominee Stephanie Hsu and Son Lux for a trippy, cerebral take on “This Is a Life” from fan favorite Everything Everywhere All at Once — giant hot dog fingers included.
Besides the performances of the best original song nominees, Lenny Kravitz soundtracked this year’s In Memoriam segment with his 2004 single “Calling All Angels.”
Watch each of the performances at the 2023 Oscars below.
He’s going “Back on the Road.” Drake announced his It’s All a Blur Tour with 21 Savage on Monday (March 13). The North American trek will kick off June 16 in New Orleans, and consists of 29 dates in arenas criss-crossing the country, with stops in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, Montreal and more, before wrapping on Sept. 5 in Glendale, Ariz.
The tour is the “Jimmy Cooks” artist’s first since his 2018 trek, Aubrey & the Three Amigos. According to the press release, as the title suggests, the It’s All a Blur Tour is “a celebration of the last decade.”
This idea is reflected in a video Drake posted to his Instagram account announcing the trek. The visual kicks off with a young, smiling Drake walking, looking hopeful. As it progresses, the video focuses on a billboard that reads “STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM.” From there, the visual shows clips of him performing as a younger man, before cutting to him working his magic in front of ever-growing crowds. There are also scenes of Drake cradling and bottle-feeding infant son Adonis — who was born in 2017 — hopping on a private jet, and more. The video ends with the name of the tour in black text on a yellow background.
Since Drake’s last tour, he’s released several new albums, including Her Loss with tourmate 21 Savage, which dropped in November. The set debuted and peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, earning him his 12th topper on the all-genre tally. Honestly, Nevermind arrived just months earlier in June 2022 (No. 1 peak), and Certified Lover Boy in September 2021 (No. 1 for five weeks).
Tickets for the It’s All a Blur Tour, which is produced by Live Nation, will go on presale first with the Cash App Card on Wednesday (March 15) and Sprite on Thursday (March 16). General onsale kicks off Friday (March 17) at noon local time on DrakeRelated.com.
Check out Drake’s tour announcement video, and see the full It’s All a Blur Tour dates below:
Fri Jun 16 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
Mon Jun 19 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
Wed Jun 21 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
Sat Jun 24 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
Wed Jun 28 – Miami, FL – Miami-Dade Arena
Sat Jul 01 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
Sun Jul 02 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
Wed Jul 05 – Chicago, IL – United Center
Thu Jul 06 – Chicago, IL – United Center
Sat Jul 08 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
Tue Jul 11 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
Wed Jul 12 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
Fri Jul 14 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
Mon Jul 17 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
Tue Jul 18 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
Tue Jul 25 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Wed Jul 26 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Fri Jul 28 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
Mon Jul 31 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
Sat Aug 12 – Inglewood, CA – Kia Forum
Sun Aug 13 – Inglewood, CA – Kia Forum
Fri Aug 18 – San Francisco, CA – Chase Center
Mon Aug 21 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena
Tue Aug 22 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena
Fri Aug 25 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
Mon Aug 28 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
Fri Sep 01 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena
Tue Sep 05 – Glendale, AZ – Desert Diamond Arena
Will Smith has found a new bandmate. The Emancipation actor took to Instagram on Thursday (March 9) to share a video duetting 10-year-old bass player Ellen Alaverdyan.
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In the clip, Alaverdyan plays the smooth base line of Smith’s 1997 track, “Just the Two of Us,” while the 54-year-old raps the lyrics over the melody. “Wow!! @ellenplaysbass, this is FANTASTIC. You are the Sweetest!” he captioned the post, tagging his musician friends Jac Ross and ELEW to add their spins on the track.
“@willsmith THANK YOU FOR THIS MAGIC [red heart emojis],” the 10-year-old budding star captioned a repost of Smith’s video, and also left a sweet comment on his original post, writing “[red heart emojis] THANK YOU WILL [star emoji].”
In a recent sit-down with David Letterman for his Netflix series, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Smith discussed how he felt about the “soft” reputation surrounding his 1980’s pop rap duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, though he never faced pressure to quit music. “Not pressure as much as it was always that I was soft. I hated that, being called soft.”
Watch Smith rap along with Alaverdyan’s bass line below.
Lil Nas X took to social media on Thursday (March 9) to show off his star-studded day at the latest Versace fashion show in West Hollywood.
“I [heart] donatella,” the “Industry Baby” rapper captioned his slideshow from the event for the label’s fall/winter 2023 collection, which showed him decked out in a glittery fringed top, black skirt, boots and Versace underwear as he hung out with the likes of Elton John, Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa and Anne Hathaway.
In one pic, he even got a big hug from Donatella Versace herself, who returned the love in the comments of his post, writing, “And I love you!!!!!!” Ice Spice also hyped up her fellow rapper, simply commenting, “stunning” on the high-fashion photos.
Of course, Lil Nas X already has connections to both Sir Elton (who joined him on Montero album cut “One of Me”) and Cyrus (who collaborated on album closer “Am I Dreaming”; her famous dad was also featured on X’s 2018 breakout hit “Old Town Road (Remix)”).
In February, the Grammy winner used a Twitter Q&A with fans to tease the possibility that the hotly awaited follow-up to his debut album could arrive as soon as this summer. “It’s mostly planning now. i could easily just release music but i have to build moments around this s–t. i have to go bigger than before!” he promised at the time.
Next, LNX is set to play the 2023 NCAA March Madness Music Festival later this month with fellow headliners Tim McGraw, Keith Urban and Little Big Town.
Check out Lil Nas rubbing elbows with all his famous pals at the Versace show on his Instagram post.
Chris Brown earns his 18th No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, as “Under the Influence” lifts 2-1 on the March 11-dated list.
“Influence” becomes Brown’s first leader since “Go Crazy,” a co-billed track with Young Thug, led for six weeks in 2020.
With 18 No. 1s, Brown maintains the third-most rulers in chart history since the list launched in 1993. Drake leads all acts with 44 toppers.
Most No. 1s, Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay:
44, Drake
20, Lil Wayne
18, Chris Brown
16, Usher
12, Beyonce
11, R. Kelly
10, Cardi B
10, Jay-Z
10, Rihanna
Brown first led the survey in 2006 as a featured artist on Bow Wow’s “Shortie Like Mine” alongside Johnta Austin. He earned his first as a lead act the next year with “Kiss Kiss,” featuring T-Pain.
The reign of “Influence” on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay follows a lead for the song on Rhythmic Airplay for six weeks beginning last year.
“Influence” concurrently rises 4-2 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, 15-13 on Pop Airplay and debuts at No. 28 on Adult R&B Airplay.
On the all-format Radio Songs tally, “Influence” jumps back into the top 10 (11-9) with 53.1 million audience impressions, according to Luminate.
“Influence” bullets at No. 18, after rising as high as No. 12 in January, on the multi-metric Billboard Hot 100 while also appearing at No. 5 on Hot R&B Songs and at No. 7 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 10 million official U.S. streams and 1,000 downloads in the Feb. 24-March 2 tracking week.
Originally released in 2019 via Brown’s album Indigo, “Influence” caught a second wind in 2022 thanks to virality on shortform video platforms such as TikTok, leading to the song being worked to radio formats for the first time.
Parent album Indigo has earned 2.7 million equivalent album units since its release.
