State Champ Radio R&B/Hip-Hop
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We’re halfway through February, and there’s a massive new batch of music to sift through by everyone from P!nk to Skrillex. With so many new options, we want to know which new release you’ll have on repeat going into Presidents’ Day Weekend.
The pop veteran unfurled her ninth studio album, Trustfall, complete with singles “Never Gonna Not Dance Again,” the anthemic title track and “When I Get There” as well as guest features from The Lumineers, First Aid Kit and Chris Stapleton, while Skrillex dropped his long-awaited sophomore album Quest for Fire. The follow-up to 2014’s Recess features high-octane collabs with the likes of Missy Elliott, Fred Again, Pete Wentz, Porter Robinson and Joker.
Meanwhile, Janelle Monáe teamed up with Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 to deliver carefree new single “Float,” and Niall Horan kicked off a new era with “Heaven,” the swoon-worthy lead single off his upcoming third solo album, The Show.
Plus, Omar Apollo treated fans to the dreamy mathematical rebound conundrum that is “3 Boys” — his first single in the wake of his star-making 2022 debut Ivory. And Polo G tapped Future for the contemplative “No Time Wasted.”
Depending on how your Valentine’s Day went, you also have Kelsea Ballerini‘s post-divorce EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat and Caroline Polachek‘s hot-and-heavy new studio set Desire, I Want to Turn Into You to keep on rotation as you work out the emotional rollercoaster that is love.
No matter what you’re listening to this weekend, vote for your favorite release in Billboard‘s weekly new music poll below.
Lizzo celebrated Valentine’s Day in the most “Unholy” way. The “Special” singer/rapper hit the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge earlier this week for a run through the Sam Smith/Kim Petras Bilboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit and, of course, she had to put her signature flute filagree on the song.
In a spare, bass-thumping arrangement that leaned into the track’s sensual groove Lizzo totally sold the bump-and-grind attitude of the original before busting out her woodwind and adding a jazzy interlude. She brought it home with some ad libbed soul shouting, assisted by three back-up singers repeating the chorus and a wailing electric guitar solo.
Smith and Kim Petras performed their Grammy-winning song at this year’s show earlier this month and then again at the 2023 Brit Awards on Feb. 12. According to U.K. broadcasting regulator Offcom, the latter received more than 100 complaints, even though it didn’t feature the same Satan-themed touches as the Grammy set.
For the Brit Awards, Sam and Kim took a more literal approach to their “Body Shop” metaphor from the song’s lyrics, with an industrial set, flying sparks and mechanic’s outfits on both performers and their dancers. While it is unclear which parts of the performance received complaints, Offcom received 106 complaints for the 2023 Brit Awards, the majority of which were aimed at Smith and Petras.
The complaint comes after the pair’s highly publicized Grammy’s performance, which also drew plenty of criticism for its use “satanic” imagery from viewers and even a few right-wing politicians, including Ted Cruz and Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Church of Satan itself ended up weighing in, saying the pair’s performance felt pretty tame.
Check out Lizzo’s Live Lounge performance of “Unholy” below.
Destiny’s Child has picked up two Grammys, earned four No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and launched the career of one of the biggest musical icons of the past quarter-century (who is now the most Grammy-winning artist in history). But the fiercely independent women didn’t exactly start their career firing on all cylinders.
Released 25 years ago (Feb. 17), the group’s 1998 debut album was initially greeted with a similar response to its only hit: “No, No, No.” Peaking at a lowly No. 67 on the Billboard 200, the self-titled affair suggested that Destiny’s Child would quickly fall by the wayside a la Zhané, Allure and nearly every other R&B girl band who had a solitary top 10 Hot 100 single to their name in the 1990s.
Of course, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland and (for a brief moment) LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett ended up challenging for TLC’s crown with their 1999 sophomore album, The Writing’s on the Wall. And as a result, its largely ignored predecessor enjoyed something of a second wind, with many fans who came on board thanks to “Bills, Bills, Bills” and “Say My Name” hoping to discover just as many previously hidden gems. Its domestic sales have now passed the 847,000 mark, according to Luminate.
But Destiny’s Child is no doubt still regarded as the least essential part of the group’s discography. And ultimately Beyoncé’s and Kelly Rowland’s catalogs, too. So, is this reputation deserved? Here’s a ranking of its 13 offerings from worst to best.
Four months after announcing that she would be curating the lineup for the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 2023 Spring Music Series Solange revealed the full lineup for the event on Thursday (Feb. 16). The concert and film series dubbed “Eldorado Ballroom” will be co-curated by the singer and her Saint Heron Collective.
The seven events will kick off on March 30 with a concert featuring modern R&B acts Kelela, Res and KeiyaA and also feature performances by jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp, jazz singer Linda Sharrock, poet Claudia Rankine and gospel act Twinkie Clark & the Clark Sisters. There will also be a performance of the works of 20th century jazz pianist/composer Mary Lou Williams conducted by Malcolm Merriweather and a night of the orchestral and opera works of classical composer Julia Perry and jazz pianist Patrice Rushen.
The series will also feature two nights of “wordless storytelling” by Autumn Knight and artist Maren Hassenger titled “Type of Guest” and a pair of film showcases titled Unseen Nuyorican Pictures and Coeval Dance Films.
A description of the events on the BAM site nods to the multi-disciplinary, intergenerational nature of the lineup. “[Solange’s] dedication to reverencing and preserving the works of Black practitioners through Saint Heron continues with a lineup that consists of contemporary and historic creative revolutionaries whose artistry and innovation has left a profound mark on music and performance art,” it reads.
“The series is named after Eldorado Ballroom, a Houston historic Black music hall in her native Third Ward neighborhood, where her love for performance started. Each night is programmed to explore artistic territory through investigations surrounding the sonic and performance-based expressions that have shaped the artist’s own practice,” the description continues. “In these seven programs, the multigenerational audiences of Saint Heron’s and BAM’s communities will experience celebratory and tributary performances that honor the blueprints of these themes and genres as they are being reinvented today. “
BAM members, patrons and Saint Heron patrons can get in on the on sale beginning at noon today (Feb. 17), with the general public on sale kicking off on Tuesday (Feb. 21) at noon ET. The singer last worked with BAM nearly a decade ago when she headlined the 2013 Crossing Brooklyn Ferry music festival.
Her creative partnership with BAM follows Solange’s foray into composition in 2022. She wrote the score for Play Time for the New York City Ballet, which premiered at the end of September as part of the celebrated dance troupe’s Fall Fashion Gala.
Check out the event’s poster below.
Cardi B and Offset didn’t just star in an adorable Super Bowl LVII commercial for McDonald’s. They’ve also dropped an extensive line of merch to go with their burger broadcast and the t-shirts, hoodies, booty shorts and beanies perfectly match the hip-hop couple’s big love energy.
In keeping with the spot’s Valentine’s Day theme — which included the couple’s signature menu items — the line of gear features a range of black, white and pink shirts that read “nice buns,” as well as ones that say “the Cardi B & Offset meal” in bubble letters, an image of them feeding each other fries, as well as ones with Cardi’s signature phrase, “ok uu rr rr rr,” and an adorable one in which they stare at each other intently over the image of an apple pie with the words “the apple of my eye” floating over them; the gear is available for a limited time.
There are also shirts with a midnight drive-thru scene (“I been lit since last night”), another with the rappers toasting with champagne flutes (“date night?”), and one with a heart-shaped chocolate box filled with delicious dipping sauces. If those don’t grab you, there are a bunch of hoodies as well, including one that reads “babe, [McDonald’s logo]?” and another with their names on the front and “let’s eat out” on the back over an image of their respective favorite meals.
You can also try the red or pink short shorts, trucker hat or black beanie. The couple’s special meal is meant for two and features a cheeseburger and quarter pounder with cheese, two large fries, tangy BBQ sauce, baked apple pie, large Coke and large Hi-C Orange Lavaburst.
“I think we’ve been to McDonald’s 200 million times,” Cardi told Billboard of why her and Offset’s partnership with the restaurant was such a natural fit, noting that the duo have “different taste palates” when it comes to their McD’s order. “That’s the thing about McDonald’s is that we both eat it. I might suggest a different restaurant and if we get to the restaurant and the menu’s a little weird and Offset doesn’t like the food, he just looks at me.”
Check out Cardi and Offset’s ad below.
Back in January at Los Angeles’ Gold Line, a Japanese-inspired vinyl bar run by Stones Throw Records, revered jazz drummer, hip-hop producer, songwriter and DJ Karriem Riggins, 47, is filming an interview for his new mini-documentary, Behind the Sleeves. The Native Instruments-produced mini-doc as well as its new NI Play Series instrument, “Karriem Riggins Drums,” are being released today (Feb. 16).
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For three decades, Karriem Riggins has been behind the scenes of many music fans’ favorite hip-hop records. His vast discography includes Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo, Earl Sweatshirt’s I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside, J Dilla’s Welcome 2 Detroit and Steve Lacy’s Gemini Rights, the newly minted Grammy winner for best progressive R&B album.
Behind the Sleeves not only dissects Riggins’ life and career through archival footage but also follows him around L.A. as he visits some of music’s most historic sites. Among them: the aforementioned Gold Line, Sunset Sound’s Studio 3 (where Prince lived and recorded) and J Dilla’s former home. Dilla, who passed away on Feb. 10, 2006, personally requested that Riggins help complete The Shining, the artist’s posthumous album released later that year.
“In my heart, I don’t think he knew that he wasn’t going to be here when we were working on [the project],” says Riggins. “It was big shoes to fill and huge decisions to make when J left me the message [about finishing the album]. But it was a no-brainer because he’s one of my favorite people. I consider him a brother.”
The two initially met through Common in 1996 when Riggins was the bandleader of the Chicago rapper’s band, A Black Girl Named Becky. As fellow Detroit natives, Riggins and Dilla became fast friends and frequent collaborators, teaming up for Dilla’s Welcome 2 Detroit and The Diary in advance of The Shining.
After living on both coasts for a majority of his career, Riggins moved to Atlanta last August to be closer to family and to experience living in the South for the first time. The constant through line for the drummer — who’s also collaborated with Erykah Badu, Denzel Curry and Daft Punk — has been to never stick to one region, one type of artist or one genre. What he cares about most is that whoever he’s working with possesses creative vision, is open-minded and is in tune with their talent — be it voice, musical instrument or digital audio.
“We give suggestions on what we think could be dope,” says Riggins. “But these people that I’ve been blessed to work with make some of the most brilliant decisions. It’s a collective thing.” That’s also something he learned from Dilla. “He told me, ‘You need to use what your talent is and what you can do with [that] to connect the world,” Riggins recalls. “I feel like I’m now finally becoming the artist that I’m supposed to be.”
Riggins knew he wanted to be a musician by the first grade. The son of keyboardist Emmanuel Riggins, he grew up watching his father perform with jazz greats like guitarist Grant Green and trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, with whom Riggins later studied trumpet and drums before deciding to focus on the latter. Although Riggins got his start producing hip-hop, he subsequently joined bands playing behind such influential jazz artists as Betty Carter, Roy Hargrove and Ray Brown. He’s also released three solo albums of his own: Alone Together, Headnod Suite and Pardon My French (as Jahari Massamba Unit with Madlib).
Riggins still continues to use his craft to teach others. In partnership with Native Instruments’ “Play Series” and painter Jason Jägel (who created the cover art for MF DOOM’s 1999 album Operation: Doomsday), he created an interactive drum kit to inspire young music lovers.
“I hope this will spark something in people that have the talent and the ear to jump into [producing] music,” he says. “I want [the next generation of musicians] to learn to be open and not stick to one thing. Music is music. Listen to everything; don’t box yourself into one thing.”
As hip-hop celebrates its 50th anniversary, Riggins says that he wants “to keep adding something to the art form; something that people have never heard before. It’s the only genre of music that is still relevant and new, even with the influence of the past. I just want to keep participating in hip-hop’s evolution.”
The Weeknd dropped the official live video his single “Die For You” on Thursday morning (Feb. 16) as a preview of the singer’s upcoming (Feb. 25) HBO live special. The clip, filmed at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium in November opens with the packed house screaming as Abel takes the stage backed by a projection of a giant moon.
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“I f—in’ love you Los Angeles, thank you so much,” he tells them, strutting across the stage in an all-black ensemble accented by black leather gloves. “This is the last show and I think it’s the best f—in’ show all tour, baby, let’s go!” He then cued up the song’s sensual groove as the arena filled with flashing blue and red lights and he crooned the track’s promise of forever love as a group of dancers cloaked in full-body coverings solemnly walked out to join him on the glowing stage.
The Weeknd: Live at SoFi Stadium was taped in L.A. during the first U.S. leg of the singer’s After Hours Til Dawn Tour. A release announcing the video also noted that another one of his huge chart hits, “Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey),” has just achieved Diamond Certification from the RIAA, marking his fifth Diamond single; his other Diamond tracks are “The Hills,” “Starboy,” “Blinding Lights” and “Can’t Feel My Face.” The Weeknd is only the fourth artist to score five or more Diamond certifications joining Bruno Mars (six) and Post Malone and Drake (five).
Watch the “Die For You” live video below.
Mariah Carey shared a new take on the “It’s a Wrap” TikTok challenge on Wednesday (Feb. 15) with some help from her son Moroccan.
In the video, the superstar lip syncs to the sped-up version of the 2009 deep cut off Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. “When it’s gone, it’s gone, it’s gone, it’s gone/ You’re dead wrong, so wrong, so wrong, so wrong” she pretends to argue on a call before the 11-year-old — whom she shares with ex-husband Nick Cannon — grabs the phone and declares, “It’s a wrap for you baby,” ends the call and tosses the smartphone on the floor.
The Lambily-inspired campaign has already sparked a major viral revival for the track, which has exploded on streaming platforms with more than one million weekly streams in the wake of the challenge.
Carey also capitalized on the moment by dropping a four-song EP centered on “It’s a Wrap,” which features the original song, the TikTok-friendly sped-up version, the 2014 remix with Mary J. Blige and an edited three-minute edition. (Fans also chose the EP as their favorite new release last week in Billboard‘s New Music Friday poll, with the release garnering 70 percent of the vote over Paramore’s This Is Why, Taylor Swift’s Felix Jaehn remix of “Lavender Haze” and more.)
Meanwhile, Roc and his twin sister Monroe have become new half-siblings several times over in the last six months, thanks to their dad welcoming five new kids since last July — bringing his total brood to 12 children with six women including Carey.
Watch Mariah and Moroccan nail the “It’s a Wrap” challenge together below.
ABC News Studios is releasing an hour-long documentary titled Rap Trap: Hip-Hop on Trial on the criminal case against Young Thug and Gunna, to air on Hulu Feb. 23. The doc will explore the debate around whether or not rap lyrics should be permitted in criminal prosecutions, and the subsequent effects on artists’ free speech rights.
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Rap Trap: Hip-Hop on Trial will feature interviews with 300 Entertainment CEO Kevin Liles, Young Thug’s ex-girlfriend Jerrika Karlae and artists including will.i.am, Fat Joe and Killer Mike. “Rap music is judged unlike any other genre like Black people are judged unlike any other people,” says rapper and activist Killer Mike in the trailer.
The documentary will also dive into the case of activist and former No Limit rapper McKinley “Mac” Phipps Jr., who served 21 years in prison for a crime he says he did not commit. Phipps and his family are interviewed for the show, opening up about the lasting impact of the case. Additional interviews include scholar Michael Eric Dyson and Erik Nielson, co-author of Rap on Trial.
In May 2022, Young Thug and Gunna were among 28 people indicted in Georgia on conspiracy to violate the state’s RICO act and street gang charges, according to documents obtained by Billboard. The state was building the case since 2012, according to jail records. The indictment heavily cited Thug’s lyrics, something that became a heated point of debate in connection to racism and free speech.
The indictment directly quoted from Young Thug’s music, including a 2018 video in which he rapped, “I never killed anybody but got something to do with that body.” While prosecutors claim such statements were made “in furtherance” of the gang’s criminal enterprise, critics say that pulling on rap lyrics — a known form of creative expression — only furthers racial biases against young Black men that can have permanent consequences.
In the midst of the Georgia case, California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation statute into law that aims to restrict prosecutors’ usage of rap lyrics as criminal evidence against the artists who wrote them. Titled the Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act, the move had extensive music industry support, including Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr., Mitch Glazier, the chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America, 300 Entertainment CEO Liles, among others.
In December 2022, Gunna pleaded guilty to the charges against him in order to secure his release from jail, but stressed that he was not cooperating with prosecutors.
Rap Trap: Hip-Hop on Trial begins streaming Thursday, Feb. 23, on Hulu.
Watch the trailer below:
The legacy of Nipsey Hussle remains strong, even after his 2019 death. On Thursday (Feb. 16), on the fifth anniversary of his major label debut album, Victory Lap, Hussle’s Grammy-nominated effort receives a bevy of RIAA notifications, including a double-platinum plaque for the 2018 project.
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Along with Victory Lap going double platinum, the album tracks also received accolades, notably “Double Up” featuring Belly and Dom Kennedy. According to the RIAA, “Double Up” is now triple platinum, while “Hussle & Motivate” and “Grinding All My Life” stand tall at double platinum. “Victory Lap,” “Dedication” featuring Kendrick Lamar,” “Blue Laces 2,” “Last Time That I Checc’d” with YG and “Rap N—as” all went platinum. “Real Big,” “Keyz 2 The City 2,” “Right Hand 2 God,” “Young N—a” and “Status Symbol” with Buddy raced their way to gold.
In November, Marathon Films announced Nip’s docuseries Hussle, which explored the legacy of the acclaimed rapper. “Crenshaw-Slauson, in the Crenshaw District, well that’s where, really, the Nip Hussle story,” the rapper’s voice narrates over footage from his lifetime, later adding, “Faith is a required element on your marathon to success and on your marathon of life. It’s your footprint in the sand, your dent in the universe, the impact on the world around you. I want ’em to say that he wasn’t afraid to live. Chasing a dream.”
Springhill — NBA superstar LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s media company — are financing the film. Said James in a statement: “It’s an incredible honor for SpringHill to have a part in sharing Nipsey’s story and legacy with the world. He used his gift to give back to his community and lived what it means to inspire, empower, and uplift others along the way. His words, his ambition, and his actions stick with me to this day as he continues to inspire myself, our company, and people everywhere.”
