R&B/Hip-Hop
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The second iteration of the Top Gabb Music Songs chart features a new No. 1, as KSI‘s “Thick of It,” featuring Trippie Redd, rises to No. 1 as the most-played song on Gabb Wireless phones and tablets for November 2024.
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Billboard has partnered with Gabb Wireless, a phone company for kids and teens, to present a monthly chart tracking on-demand streams via its Gabb Music platform. Gabb Music offers a vast catalog of songs, all of which are selected by the Gabb team to include only kid- and teen-appropriate content. Gabb Music streams are not currently factored into any other Billboard charts.
“Thick of It,” released Oct. 3, bowed at No. 3 on the inaugural Top Gabb Music Songs list as the most recently released song in the tally’s top 10. It retains that distinction on the November 2024 survey as well (though it isn’t the newest song on the 25-position chart – more on that later).
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The song has peaked so far at No. 64 on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100, achieving the feat on the Oct. 26-dated ranking.
Released by rapper and YouTube star KSI, “Thick of It” leads a hip-hop-dominated Top Gabb Music Songs top 10, with half of the region from rappers. Drake’s “God’s Plan,” No. 1 on the Hot 100 for 11 weeks in 2018, enters the survey at No. 4, while Travis Scott’s “Butterfly Effect” at No. 6 (No. 50 on the Hot 100 in 2018) and Juice WRLD’s “Face 2 Face” at No. 8 (No. 92 on the Hot 100 in 2022) also debut. The fifth, NF’s “Let You Down,” remains in the top 10 for a second straight month, falling 5-7.
Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things,” which reigned atop the first Top Gabb Music Songs list, dips to No. 2 on the November tally, but Boone still boasts a new distinction: he’s the first act with two songs in the top three, as “Slow It Down” zooms 9-3 in its second month. The former peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 in March, while the latter reached No. 32 in September.
Olivia Rodrigo’s “Deja Vu” and Imagine Dragons’ “Bones” appear in the Top Gabb Music Songs chart’s top 10 for the first time; “Deja Vu” shoots 15-9, while “Bones” jumps 16-10. Three and two years old, respectively, the former reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 in 2021 and the latter peaked at No. 47 in 2022.
Top Gabb Music Songs’ top debut of the month by a song released in 2024 belongs to Maddox Batson, whose “X’s” starts at No. 14. It’s the second-highest-performing country song on the tally, following Luke Combs‘ “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” at No. 5. The 14-year-old Warner signee’s song was released in September.
Holiday music has officially come to Gabb as of November, as Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” bows at No. 15. And the newest song to grace the survey, ROSE and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” (released Oct. 18), starts at No. 24.
See the full top 25 below.
Top Gabb Music Songs, November 2024
1. “Thick of It,” KSI feat. Trippie Redd (+2)2. “Beautiful Things,” Benson Boone (-1)3. “Slow It Down,” Benson Boone (+6)4. “God’s Plan,” Drake (debut)5. “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” Luke Combs (-3)6. “Butterfly Effect,” Travis Scott (debut)7. “Let You Down,” NF (-2)8. “Face 2 Face,” Juice WRLD (debut)9. “Deja Vu,” Olivia Rodrigo (+6)10. “Bones,” Imagine Dragons (+6)11. “Hope,” NF (-4)12. “Please Please Please,” Sabrina Carpenter (-4)13. “Motto,” NF (=)14. “X’s,” Maddox Batson (debut)15. “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Mariah Carey (debut)16. “Mood,” 24KGoldn feat. Iann Dior (debut)17. “Love Somebody,” Morgan Wallen (debut)18. “Stargazing,” Myles Smith (-4)19. “Ghost,” Justin Bieber (debut)20. “Eyes Closed,” Imagine Dragons (-3)21. “Enemy,” Imagine Dragons & JID (-1)22. “Stressed Out,” Twenty One Pilots (-10)23. “Too Sweet,” Hozier (-19)24. “APT.,” ROSE & Bruno Mars (debut)25. “Radioactive,” Imagine Dragons (-6)
DROPS FROM OCTOBER 2024: JVKE, “Golden Hour”; NF, “The Search”; Glass Animals, “Heat Waves”; Zach Bryan, “Pink Skies”; Imagine Dragons, “Demons”; Tate McRae, “She’s All I Wanna Be”; Ariana Grande, “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”; Jelly Roll, “I Am Not Okay”; Nicky Youre & Dazy, “Sunroof”
Drake and Latto connected for the 100 Gigs cut “Housekeeping Knows” earlier this year — now, the 6 God is tapping the Atlanta rapper to star in an ad for his Nike Nocta brand campaign. With the Nocta Nike Air Force 1 set to arrive as part of a larger apparel collection, Latto appeared in […]
The fallout from the Drake and Kendrick Lamar war continues. Mustard called out longtime OVO producer Boi-1da for allegedly trashing West Coast music, and the Cali native posted receipts of their alleged past conversations to his Instagram Story on Monday (Dec. 9). “West Coast music is a–,” the Toronto producer allegedly wrote in a DM […]
Motown Records icon Smokey Robinson remembers that at one of the storied label’s holiday parties in the late ‘60s, he received a very special gift.
“Stevie Wonder came,” Robinson recalls to Billboard, “and gave me a cassette tape with the music for [the No. 1 R&B/pop hit] ‘The Tears of a Clown.’ But he couldn’t think of a song to go with it and wanted me to write a song for that music. And so I did. And ‘Tears’ became one of the biggest songs I’ve ever been associated with around the world.”
Now, as NBC gets set to premiere its holiday special A Motown Christmas, Robinson is promising music fans a “great night featuring legendary Motown artists and contemporary artists singing music and having a good time together.” The two-hour special bows Wednesday (Dec. 11) at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and will stream the next day on Peacock.
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Halle Bailey and Smokey Robinson in ‘A Motown Christmas.’
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Hosts Robinson and Halle Bailey will be welcoming a diverse cast of performers that includes Gladys Knight, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and the Temptations as well as Ashanti, Andra Day, BeBe Winans, Jamie Foxx, JoJo, Jordin Sparks, MGK, October London, Pentatonix and the hosts themselves. More than 25 Motown gems and other songs will be performed via a tuneful array of solos, duets and group medleys.
Among the highlights: London’s medley of Marvin Gaye songs (including “What’s Going On”); Knight (“Midnight Train to Georgia”); Pentatonix’s Four Tops medley (including “I Can’t Help Myself”); Foxx (“Little Drummer Boy”); Bailey and The Supremes’ medley (including “Stop in the Name of Love”); a Temptations medley (including “My Girl”); Andra Day (“Higher Ground”), Ashanti (“Santa Baby”) and Robinson performing his and the Miracles’ classics including the aforementioned “The Tears of a Clown.” Rounding out the show will be a world exclusive performance from the Broadway company of MJ the Musical.
Gladys Knight in ‘A Motown Christmas.’
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Calling fellow host Bailey “a wonderful young woman and a great talent,” Robinson also talked about working with the executive producers of A Motown Christmas, Debbie Allen and Motown alumnus Suzanne de Passe. “Debbie and Suzanne are my sisters,” he says. “I’ve known them forever and ever, so it’s always great to work with them. Debbie is one of the best choreographers and dancers that you’d ever want to meet. And Suzanne is a Motown mainstay. At one point she was our A&R director for music and now she’s a top movie and television producer.”
Asked about Motown founder Berry Gordy’s reaction to the holiday special, Robinson notes, “I think he’s going to love it because, you know, he is the reason for the season. On the very first day at Motown, he sat us down — it was four people there other than him — and said, ‘I’m going to start my own record company, and we’re not just going to make Black music. We’re going to make beats for everybody, make music for the world; quality music.’ So we set out to do that and, thank God, I think we accomplished it. If it hadn’t been for Berry, we wouldn’t be having a Motown special.”
Jamie Foxx and Halle Bailey in ‘A Motown Christmas.’
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Nearly a year ago to the day, 4batz released his “Act II: Date @ 8” single, which went on to power the Dallas native’s rise with a boost from Drake, who hopped on the remix and helped Batz earn his first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
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Ye (formerly Kanye West), SZA and Robin Thicke were just a few of the stars to lend co-signs to the R&B singer while fans seemingly had something to say at every step of Batz’s ascension, whether that be his signature Shiesty look, the duality of his street persona matched up with his airy vocals and some even falsely accused him of being an “industry plant.”
The 21-year-old looks to build on his Rookie of the Year campaign with his Thank U, Jada project, which is expected to arrive at the top of 2025.
“I want people to know I’m uncut. I’m a regular n—a. I don’t give a f–k, but at the same time I do for the right things,” Batz tells Billboard News. “I want people to know that I’m an honest person and I feel and I want to bring an evolution to music and start my own little thing.”
Last year, 4batz pulled up to one of Drake’s shows — his first concert ever — and got some advice from the 6 God when it comes to being a prolific performer.
“I asked him, ‘Bro, how do you perform like that?’ He said, ‘Look up House of Blues by 2Pac.’ I looked that up and I studied him,” Batz recalls. “I bring energy. If I’m turning up, they gonna turn up … That’s one of the things he told me.”
Batz added to his list of star-studded collabs when Ye hopped on the remix to “Act III: On God (She Like).” He called West the “smarted person” he’s ever met in his life thus far.
“Genius. He actually the smartest person I ever met in my life,” Batz says. “[Ye] drove me two hours to Santa Barbara. It’s just me and Bianca. I’m like, ‘Huh? I’m really in a car with Kanye West.’ And he’s recording me. I’m in the backseat and he’s playing his music.”
Growing up in Dallas, 4batz felt his options were limited to the streets, school, basketball and rap, but he refused to be boxed in while taking a risk in being emotional with his music. Partly inspired by heartbreak and losing his father, Batz began singing.
“I kinda got tired of the same spectrum of everybody has to be this type of person,” he added. “Where I’m from, being emotional ain’t the coolest thing in the world. You don’t get no cool points for that. My whole thing was I got my feelings hurt and I was like I don’t have nothing else to lose.”
Watch the entire interview with 4batz above.
The lineup for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2025 has added a galaxy of stars to this year’s lineup. The West Coast portion of the show will include Alanis Morissette with special guest Reneé Rapp, as well as Dasha, DJ Cassidy’s “Pass the Mic Live!” with Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Slick […]
The Roots are taking it all the way back to ’95. The legendary hip-hop crew and Tonight Show house band announced the line-up for their 2024 Roots Picnic Experience, which will take place at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on June 8, 2025.
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The show, “A Roots Picnic Experience: The Class of ’95,” highlighting a roster of classic acts from the mid-1990s will feature a set from the hosts, as well as performances from Lil’ Kim, Redman & Method Man, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, DJ Quik, Raekwon, E-40, Goodie Mob, Havoc (of Mobb Deep) and others. The group brought their annual event to Los Angeles for the first time this June, where they were joined by Nas, Jill Scott, Lil Wayne, Trombone Shorty, J. Period, Fantasia and many more for a show titled “Hip-Hop Is the Love of My Life.”
Tickets for the 2025 Hollywood Bowl show will go on sale on Wednesday (Dec. 11) at 10 a.m. PT. In the announcement, the group also promised their hometown fans that they shouldn’t fret, they’ll be back home next year for the event that launched in 2007. “DON’T WORRY PHILLY, WE’LL BE BACK FOR YOU IN 2025.”
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In a statement, drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson said, “Well: 1995 was our true arrival. Nineteen eighty-seven was the Year of the Creative Adhesive, the year that tied together Tariq’s world and my world in high school, and 1991 was the Year of the Green Light, the year we gave ourselves permission to take our resources and passion and pursue our dream. But 1995? That was the Year It All Came Together, the year when our first major release, Do You Want More?!!!??! was sent into the world. Hip-hop was an entirely new ballgame back then, on an entirely new playing field. Those were the days when there were still things like mainstream terrestrial radio, bloated video budgets, and creativity at both the regional and the global levels. Those were the days that produced classic album after classic album, unleashing countless new ideas about art. Those were the days when the world was our oyster. This is the story of those days.”
Limitless Live has announced its return to London’s Roundhouse for its fourth consecutive year on May 4, 2025.
The event — billed as the U.K.’s largest free live music show with social purpose at its core — seeks to inspire young people from underrepresented backgrounds across the capital. All tickets will be free of charge and will be distributed through youth charities and community organizations. Further details can be found via the Roundhouse website.
Limitless Live 2025 will be headlined by grime MC and rapper Ghetts, who released his fourth studio album On Purpose, With Purpose, through Warner Records in February. The record peaked at No. 29 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, and went on to receive a nomination for the prestigious Mercury Prize in September.
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Also on the line-up are hip-hop duo Young T & Bugsey, and singer/songwriter Nafe Smallz, with further acts to be announced next year. Limitless Live will partner with KFC and Viagogo to provide free transport for young attendees wishing to travel to the event from other cities across the U.K., including Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Leeds.
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Previous iterations of Limitless Live have included six-time BRIT Award winner RAYE, as well as Stefflon Don, Krept & Konan, Unknown T, and Ms Banks. Over the years, its founder, Tolu Farinto, has offered 12-month internships to a portion of attendees, alongside helping other ticket-holders to secure work placements at Universal Music’s London office.Speaking in a press release earlier this year, Farinto said: “Limitless Live continues to be a beacon of light representing a continued commitment to supporting the aspirations and wellbeing of young people, ensuring that as we navigate a cost of living crisis, underrepresented young people still have access to live music and the best acts in the U.K.”
Roc Marciano and The Alchemist have decided to do it again. The duo have announced their latest endeavor The Skeleton Key as they look to follow up their critically acclaimed collab album The Elephant Man’s Bones from 2022. And with that announcement, they dropped the project’s lead single in “Chopstick” along with its video. Directed […]
Normani’s years-in-the-making debut album arrived with Dopamine earlier this year, but the 28-year-old revealed she’s not planning to make fans wait that long again with her sophomore LP. In an interview with Rolling Stone at Spotify’s Wrapped party, Normani opened up about her plans to release another album in 2025. “Putting lots more music out, […]