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Tempers flared earlier this week when Offset and J. Prince’s feud spilled over to social media in wake of Takeoff‘s murder last year.
While the Migos have issues of their own when it comes to repairing the relationship between Quavo and Set, they’ve agreed to keep quiet when it comes to the tragic shootout that tragically took the life of their family member.
On the other hand, J. Prince has attempted to debunk rumors and clear his family’s name surrounding the deadly shooting, which took place in his hometown of Houston during the early hours of Nov. 1, outside a local bowling alley. The Rap-A-Lot Records founder has publicly addressed Takeoff’s death on multiple occasions in different interviews, which angered Offset — who has remained publicly tight-lipped regarding the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Tensions were raised to another level this week when J. Prince and the Mob Ties family appeared on an episode of Million Dollaz Worth of Game earlier in February, where the Houston native dissed Set for allegedly not being there for his late groupmate.
While J. Prince maintains there was previously love on both sides from interactions throughout his career with the Migos, the fuse was lit, and that love went to the wayside as the war of words intensified — becoming a trending topic on social media, with Cardi B even chiming in this week. Cooler heads have since seemed to (hopefully) prevail, as Offset promised in his most recent warning shot at Prince that it would be the final time he speaks on him publicly.
Check out our timeline of the J. Prince and Offset feud below.
Surprise, dahhlings! Mariah Carey revealed a special treat for her fans on Friday (Feb. 10) in the form of a new EP celebrating her 2009 deep cut “It’s a Wrap.”
“lIT’S A WRAP!!” the icon shared on Instagram announcing the release, “by popular lamb demand, EP out now!”
The four-track project contains the original album cut from 2009’s Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel and the Mary J. Blige-assisted remix originally included as a bonus track on 2014’s Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse, as well as a TikTok-friendly sped-up version and a new three-minute edit of the song.
The EP’s arrival comes on the heels of Mimi turning the fan favorite into a viral hit thanks to the “It’s a Wrap” TikTok challenge she launched after the start of the new year. In addition to giving Carey a dose of post-holiday glee as she watched thousands of Lambs lip-synch to the song, the challenge also gave “It’s a Wrap” a massive streaming bump, earning more than one million weekly streams as of the start of February.
Prior to the kiss-off’s unexpected revival, the singer-songwriter wrapped up her absolute domination of yet another holiday season with “All I Want for Christmas Is You” returning to the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 for four consecutive weeks from the middle of December through the beginning of January. The chart achievement marked the modern holiday classic’s fourth year topping the chart since it first became Carey’s nineteenth career No. 1 in 2019.
Check out Mariah’s announcement and stream the It’s a Wrap EP below.
Even stars get starstuck, especially when talking about Rihanna. Missy Elliott and Jack Harlow weighed in on what they hope to hear and see from RihRih on Sunday (Dec. 12) when she takes the stage for the halftime show at Super Bowl LVII. And, as you might expect, they’re anticipating nothing but the best.
“I expect nothing less than the best from Rihanna,” Elliott tells Billboard. “When Rihanna steps out she will most definitely give 200%. I know she’s working hard and I can’t wait to see it. I know it’s going to be incredible.”
Elliott and Harlow — who co-star in a Doritos commercial along with Elton John that will air during the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs — say they will be on the couch awaiting the big moment just like everyone else.
“Sheesh. I mean, what an icon,” says Harlow about Rihanna’s step into the halftime performer pantheon. “I can’t wait to see what she’s got planned. I know it’s going to be show-stopping. It’s amazing to have someone that’s such a legend still fully relevant and completely important to what’s going on at the moment. I think Rihanna’s incredible.”
As for what songs he wants to hear? Harlow isn’t picky. “The whole catalog,” he says. “Everything.”
Elliott — who performed with Katy Perry and Lenny Kravitz during halftime at the 2015 Super Bowl — says game day is a huge event in her house, which is why she’s excited for Rihanna to join the exclusive halftime veterans club.
“My cousins are all Super Bowl fanatics,” Elliott ays of her family’s reaction when the rapper/songwriter/producer got the call for Perry to huddle up for that year’s extravaganza. “I knew it was big, but not to the magnitude that my cousins was like, ‘Oh my God, do you understand what is about to happen?’”
They were so hyped, in fact, that even industry veteran Elliott says she got a bit scared. That said, Elliott thinks it’s only fitting that a huge star like Rihanna is taking the biggest stage during the year’s most tuned-into event. “Doing the Super Bowl is amazing because I don’t think there’s a bigger platform of people that are watching you,” Elliott says. “I was on a high.”
Super Bowl LVII will air on Fox at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Ableton, Logic, FL Studio. Midi versus live instrumentation. To Auto-Tune or not to Auto-Tune. There are about a million options and decisions when it comes to production platforms, plug-ins and effects that inform the way music sounds in any given moment and subsequently shapes entire genres. And in every chapter of hip-hop and R&B, there are a handful of producers who drive the conversation and direction of what’s to come.
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Billboard caught up with six top producers — Nascent, Jahaan Sweet, Nova Wav, Mike Hector and Malibu Babie — responsible for some of our favorite chart-dominating songs of recent years (with many more arriving in 2023), to discuss the ways they are thinking about music today, the changes they hope to usher in and the trends they hope will die out.
Nascent
You may know him from: SZA’s “Good Days,” Kanye West’s “Hurricane”
Preferred production software: “When I was 14, I started [using] a program called Acid Pro,” he says. “[Now] I use Reason. For me, it works visually and for the sound I’m going for. It just clicked with me.”
Favorite plug-in of the moment: The Chicago-made producer usually opts for samples and live instruments, but is a fan of Keyscape.
Production must: “There’s certain things in my production that I do on purpose. Because it was inspired by music that I listened to, whether it be certain ambient textures, nature sounds, but pitched down [and] tucked in. You might not even notice it the first two or three times, but it’s there, making you feel something.”
Music trend he wishes would return: The art of bridges and “romantic lyrics.”
His biggest piece of business advice: “Build as much leverage as you can … Sometimes things can be too good to be true. And if it’s too early, then it probably is.”
NovaWav
You may know them from: Beyoncé’s “CUFF IT,” Nicki Minaj’s “MEGATRON,” Jazmine Sullivan’s “Pick Up Your Feelings”
Preferred production software: NovaWav duo member Chi started off in high school making beats on FruityLoops, now known as FL Studio. Today, she sticks to Pro Tools — after having fibbed during an internship interview in college, claiming she knew how to use the beat-making software.
Elements that define their sound: The pair defines the “core” of their music as dark and melodic. “Usually, what we’re defined by is the songwriting element,” Chi adds. “Musically, we’re not in a box.”
A genre that simultaneously scares and excites them: “Gospel,” says duo member Blu, “because people don’t really know us for that, but we do have that background and range. So I absolutely want to do gospel, [but it] makes me a little bit nervous.”
A production trend they wish would come back: “We should be reaching for the beats that are like [Clipse’s] ‘Grindin’,’ [produced by] The Neptunes, or 50 Cent type beats, Ja Rule, Jay-Z,” Chi says. “All of those beats feel free. Back in the day, they didn’t quantize. Right now we quantize and it makes it very robotic.” Blu says she’d love to see a return to stacking vocals and unique sounds. “I feel like everybody chooses the same type of chords [and sounds] all the time,” she adds.
A production trend they wish would die: “The trap R&B sound–we could retire that,” says Blu. “If we’re gonna do R&B, let’s do R&B. Why are we halfway doing it now?”
Mike Hector
You may know him from: Doja Cat’s “Imagine,” SiR and Kendrick Lamar’s “Hair Down,” Omar Apollo’s “Killing Me”
Preferred production software: Hector has been using FL Studio since he was 16 years old and doesn’t plan on changing that anytime soon. “My brother told me [FL Studios] is the program a lot of people use,” he says, “I honestly didn’t know about any other programs until way later in my career.”
How he found his sound: “I just approach things differently. When I started, I purposely didn’t watch tutorials because I didn’t want to sound like everybody else … I figured it out completely on my own. It took me longer, but because of that, it made me stand out a bit more.”
Production quirk: Hector says that when he uses sounds, he modifies almost every single one: “I’ll do things like change the pitch, or stretch things, or use a hi-hat differently, to step out of the box instead of using things how they are meant to be used.”
Production trend he wishes would die: “I think people just need to chill on the Auto-Tune a little bit.”
Production trend he hopes will return: “Disco sounds.”
Jahaan Sweet
You may know him from: Taylor Swift’s “Lavender Haze,” Kendrick Lamar’s “N95,” Kali Uchis’ “fue mejor”
Preferred production platform: Like many aspiring musicians, Sweet began his production journey on GarageBand as a middle schooler. During a jazz and piano summer music program, the budding music expert was introduced to Logic Pro X. “I remember one of the teachers was like, ‘Man, if you want to get serious, you gotta get on Logic — that’s what the real people use,’” he recalls. Now, Sweet says he works between Logic and FL Studio, where he produces his drums. “Maybe like four years ago, being around Boi-1da so much and watching him create, I was like, ‘Yo, I need to learn FL Studio.’”
Elements that define his sound: “I have no clue,” Sweet shares plainly. “I’m still trying to figure it out myself. I feel like all great producers, especially the ones I look up to, all have that indicative sound or style.” When it comes to what Sweet is trying to accomplish, no matter his collaborator, it’s about simply falling in love with a song, and making sure the audio sounds clear. “You, as a producer, want to get [the song] as close to where it should be, so the mixing engineer doesn’t have to do too much.”
Malibu Babie
You may know her from: Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl,” Megan Thee Stallion’s “Her”
Preferred production software: The rising producer began making music at the age of four on an upright piano in her parents’ basement. In college, she was introduced to Logic Pro X and now works in Ableton 11. “All of my peers were using Ableton, they jokingly and lovingly bullied me into it,” she says.
Favorite plug-in of the moment: Malibu Babie says she’s been “going back through staple plugins” lately, drawing on Serum Synthesizer, Native Instruments, Keyscape and Omnisphere. “I’ve been working more so in Serum and just going through and creating custom presets,” she says.
Production quirk: “I do have an obsession with putting in weird noises,” she says. “I have started doing it in every beat. I’ll take a game alert and make it into a percussion, or a water drop, and I’ll tuck it in. I felt like it was my personal stamp.”
Production trend she wishes would die: “No one be mad at me,” she prefaces. “The sad girl bedroom pop. I’m tired of being sad! I appreciate the artistry of it and can absolutely see the value in it, but if I didn’t hear it for a few years, I’d be totally cool.”
Production trend she wishes would return: 2008 to 2013 pop elements. “Very up-tempo pop chords, like all of the songs by Ke$ha and Katy Perry,” she explains. I don’t want to say the word bubblegum, but it was like shiny, plasticky pop chords.”
Rihanna is down to joke, but the Super Bowl LVII halftime queen wasn’t laughing when league MVP and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was tricked into thinking she had called him the G.O.A.T. “That’s so mean. He is mean, O.K.,” Rihanna said when she was told about a bit where former NFL wideout Brandon Marshall punk’d Mahomes during a press event on Wednesday.
Marshall caught up with RihRih during her press day on Thursday (Feb. 9) and described how he told Mahomes that the singer had heaped praise on him before revealing that he was lying.
“I’m so sorry you went through that,” Rihanna said with a smile when Marshall asked her to actually say something nice about Mahomes. “I still think you’re great.”
“Rihanna came out and said that you are the greatest quarterback ever. Hearing that how does that make you feel?,” Marshall asked Mahomes during the QB’s Q&A session earlier this week. “It makes you feel great,” Mahomes responded. “Whatever Rihanna says is like the gospels. So I’m glad that she went with me for that honor.”
The two-time Super Bowl QB then turned KC red when Marshall added, “She didn’t. I was messing with you.”
Jokes aside, Rihanna is gearing up to blow minds on Sunday (Feb. 12) in Glendale, Arizona when Mahomes takes on the Philadelphia Eagles in the big game in her first live performance in seven years. “It feels like it could have only been now,” she said during a sit down with Apple Music’s Nadeska Alexis to talk about her Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show set.
“When I first got the call to do it again this year, I was like, [hisses] ‘You sure?’ I’m three months postpartum. Should I be making major decisions like this right now? I might regret this,” she said. “But when you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you can take on the world. The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world, so as scary as that was because I haven’t been on stage in seven years, there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all … It’s important for my son to see that.”
Check out Rihanna’s response and the original Mahomes video below.
To paraphrase the immortal words of Jay-Z: 50 Cent is a business, man. The MC-turned-media mogul, celebrating 20 years since his classic debut, has grown his G-Unit empire into a sprawling array of TV and movie productions that, according to Fif’s new Billboard digital cover story written by Carl Lamarre, have made him a serious (and seriously rich) power player in Hollywood.
But even that cash flow can’t compare to the money truck the rapper says he’s backing up for touring these days. The MC — who is working on a new album with longtime friend and producer Dr. Dre while gearing up for his first extensive domestic tour in 13 years — shared how much things have changed since the pre-fame days when fellow rapper Master P was booking him.
“I think he [Master P] gave me like $80,000, and now I’m getting like $900,000, $1 million,” 50 claimed of his current per-show quote. “The coolest thing we create in America is celebrities. If you see LeBron [James’] fan base internationally, you’ll argue, ‘Why is he staying here?’ He’s that big internationally. For the most part, I can’t speak for everybody, but the international side of the game is different.”
And while he has tapped the brakes on new music lately, 50 said he hasn’t missed writing and recording as he’s built up his non-rapping resumé over the past decade. “I get the attention that I want from music when I want it. I just went out and toured 45 countries, and everywhere was sold out,” he said. “That made me want to offer new music that I could integrate into everything now. I’ve done what I wanted to do in the [sales] capacity. I’ve sold over 35 million records. Not singles — albums. With Em, it’s different because he’s never going to stop [recording]. It bugs him out that I can do TV production.”
The interview includes a rundown of the many lucrative business deals 50 has cut over the past two decades, including an investment in vitaminwater that earned him $100 million and his successful foray into TV crime dramas with the Starz Power empire, which earned him and TV writer Courtney Kemp Agbor a $150 million deal with the network for a three-series commitment.
That initial deal has allowed series executive producer 50 to oversee a sprawling Power kingdom that has spawned six seasons of the original, as well as hit spinoffs Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan and Power Book IV: Force, as well as his show BMF, which followed the rise of infamous Detroit drug dealers the Black Mafia Family; the latter is now in its second season on Starz.
Congratulations are in order for Gucci Mane and his wife, Keyshia Ka’oir! The couple announced that they had welcomed their seck d child, a daughter, on Thursday (Feb. 9).
“Im so thankful that my baby girl is here and she so pretty and healthy 2/8/23 7lbs 2oz,” the rapper shared alongside a carousel of photos, the first of which is of himself kissing Ka’oir as she cradles the baby from her hospital bed. Mane — born Radric Davis — also revealed the baby girl’s name in the caption: “ICELAND DAVIS,” adding the sweet hashtag, “Daddyprincess” along with two red hearts and a crown emoji.
Model Ka’oir also shared the happy news on her own Instagram account. “Our little princess is here! Beautiful & Healthy!” she gushed, revealing the little one’s full name: Iceland Ka’oir Davis.
Baby Iceland is the couple’s second child together after son Ice Davis, who was born in December 2020. Mane also shares 15-year-old son Keitheon with ex-girlfriend Sheena Evans. Meanwhile, Ka’oir has three additional children from prior relationships as well.
The comments section in Mane’s post were flooded with well wishes for the couple and their bundle of joy, with producer Zaytoven writing, “CONGRATS. MY GUY,” while Big Joe added, “God bless.” Busta Rhymes and 2 Chainz also added their own congrats, with the former commenting, “Nothing more Powerful than the beautiful black family. Congrats to you both,” and the latter writing a simple, “Congrats cuz” to his “Good Drank” collaborator.
Late last year, Gucci dropped a powerful video for “Letter to Takeoff” his tribute to the late Migos member who was fatally shot in November at a Houston bowling alley. The two were not only friends, but longtime collaborators on songs including “Us vs. Them,” “Yay,” “Wop Longway Takeoff,” “Hell U Talking Bout” and more.
Get a look at Gucci Mane and Ka’oir’s first photos with baby Iceland below.
A new documentary and posthumous album will explore Whitney Houston‘s lifelong connection to gospel music. Good Morning America reported on Thursday (Feb. 9) that the album, I Go to the Rock, will feature six previously unreleased tracks, including the upcoming, upbeat first taste, “Testimony.”
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GMA said the full album is slated to drop later this year, with host Lara Spencer describing the collection as an example of the late R&B pop superstar “singing her first love: gospel songs.” A short preview snippet of “Testimony” finds Houston singing over a driving, spare beat, her voice as clear and strong as ever, but stripped of the lush pop production that marked her secular hits.
There will also reportedly be an accompanying documentary that will chronicle Houston’s longtime dedication to gospel, from her first performance at a local church through the release of the soundtrack to 1996’s The Preacher’s Wife, which topped the Billboard top gospel albums chart and remains the best-selling gospel album of all time.
Houston, who died in 2012 at age 48, released seven albums and two soundtracks over the course of her career, including 1992’s multi-platinum soundtrack to her starring vehicle The Bodyguard. Since her death the singer’s label has issued the 2012 greatest hits collection I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston, as well as 2014 live collection, Her Greatest Performances, as well as a reissue of the Bodyguard soundtrack with remixes and live takes on the album’s songs.
In December of last year RCA issued the soundtrack to the Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody, with remixes of some of the singer’s biggest hits and a previously unheard cover of CeCe Winans’ “Don’t Cry” (titled “Don’t Cry For Me.”) In 2019, Kygo scored a global smash with his dance-ready remix of “Higher Love,” which laid remixed Houston vocals on a cover of the 1986 Steve Winwood hit over pounding EDM beats.
Listen to the preview of “Testimony” below.
EXCLUSIVE: Get a sneak peek of never-before-released Whitney Houston music! 🎶The gospel album, “I Go to the Rock,” will be released March 24. pic.twitter.com/DcdvYrJA6o— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 9, 2023
It’s no surprise that 50 Cent has no filter.
In his new Billboard digital cover story written by Carl Lamarre, the veteran rapper shares why he mentored artists like Pop Smoke and DaBaby, and what he thinks of today’s rising hip-hop artists.
“I only like the ones that I see myself in. A lot of the other sh-t, I be like, ‘Yeah, what the f–k is this, man?’ I’ve got to believe them and the sh-t they’re saying to be into the artist. They [also] have to want to be mentored. I’ll talk to them and touch base with them because I see that in them. You go, ‘Yo, you have to focus on what you came for and what’s important to you, and get those things together versus just riding it out.’”
The multi-hyphenate also brought up Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, saying: “The way I had competitive energy: Hip-hop culture makes you battle. I love Nicki Minaj, but the funny sh-t is, I like watching her when she’s upset. I like that because she has something that comes from the experience of living in South Jamaica. I’m looking at it like, ‘Yo, I know they think she’s nuts, but they only think that because they don’t understand.’ I get it. She thinks you’re trying to play her.”
“When Cardi B came, I thought she was dope,” he continued. “She’s from the bottom. She was in Club Lust in Brooklyn. [Going] from that and actually making a hit record and turning into who she did? I don’t know why anybody wouldn’t like to see that. It felt like she got everything — married, the baby — it came really fast. That’s the American dream right there.”
Tensions between Minaj and Cardi B began in 2017. Things turned physical a year later when their entourages clashed and the “Bodak Yellow” rapper got into an altercation with a close friend of Minaj’s while they all were at a Harper’s Bazaar New York Fashion Week event.
That same week, 50 Cent took it upon himself to comment on their beef. While online footage showed Tekashi69 dancing to Minaj’s music in the club, the DJ abruptly switched to “Bodak Yellow” saying, “I’m sorry Nicki, I’m team Cardi B on this side.” Knowing 69 released “Fefe,” his collab featuring Minaj earlier that year, 50 wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post, “No @djspinking that’s female sh-t stay out of that, now Nicki gonna get mad at 69 for turning up, trust me she on her South Side sh-t.”
“When her and Nicki clash, I go, ‘Oh, sh-t, it’s going to be interesting to watch how it plays out,’” 50 said in his cover story. “Lyrically, I won’t say anything competitively about the two of them, but I love Nicki. I don’t have anything against Cardi. I think anyone who comes now, she is going to check their temperature. Nicki is going to check if this b—h is friendly or looking to take over the sh-t.”
Read the 50 Cent’s full digital cover story here.
Cardi B looks to have entered the chat following a string of heated back-and-forth comments between her husband Offset and J Prince.
“BIG LIES,” the rapper tweeted on Wednesday (Feb. 8), seemingly in response to a video J Prince posted on Instagram replying to a video from Offset. In the voiceover clip, he accused the Migos member of being “fake,” “playing the victim” and even threatening his family.
Cardi also responded to a Twitter user who wrote (and has since deleted), “You be set trippin and forgot J Prince had to help YOU feel safe in LA. Where’s the lie?” She replied, “NEVER….tell him to show receipts ….Only people that was there was Wack and Big U ….why would he be call for anything involving crips? Whole bunch of fairy tales.”
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Offset also chimed in, writing, “Street Nigga turn [police emoji] never needed you for no smoke u da police all mouth with no proof just fairy tales [laughing emoji] let this be the last time we speak on this.”
Street Nigga turn 👮🏾never needed you for no smoke u da police all mouth with no proof just fairy tales 😂 let this be the last time we speak on this— OFFSET (@OffsetYRN) February 9, 2023
The feud started when the Rap-A-Lot CEO suggested that Offset was not there for his Migos bandmate and cousin Takeoff, 28, before Takeoff’s murder last year in an episode of the Million Dollaz Worth of Game. “In reality, the truth of the matter is, n—a you wasn’t really right there with Takeoff when he was alive. So for you to be taking these positions that you taking,” Prince added, suggesting that he’s got people all around and he’s heard “all kinds of things” from unnamed sources about what happened on the night Takeoff was shot and killed in November during a night out with Quavo in Prince’s hometown of Houston. Prince also made what seemed like a direct warning to Offset, saying, “Don’t ever put me in a position where I have to defend myself. That wouldn’t be healthy for you.”
In response, Offset posted a video in which he’s visibly heated. “Y’all n—as speaking on my real brother… I don’t know what the f–k ya’ll n—as got going on, y’all n—as talkin’ about my real brother,” the Migos MC said in the minute-long black and white clip. “How dare one of y’all n—as even speak on me and Take relationship. I don’t know you n—as from a can of paint. Ya’ll n—as don’t know how me and my brother rock.”
He also slammed Prince for what he said was his “fifth interview” in which he’s discussed Takeoff’s death. “You ain’t think about his momma? You ain’t think about the family n—a?” ‘Set asked. “We ain’t said nothin’. Ain’t nobody said nothing but you n—as. Who y’all n—as think ya’ll n—as is? John Gotti n—a?… And if you heard something from me, I’mma tell you it’s gonna come from me, call my phone.
