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Jae Tips never saw himself as making a “transition” from rapper to sneaker designer. For him, music and fashion have always been intertwined — parallel worlds where influence is currency. “I feel like if you’re big in music, you’ll be big in fashion just because of how influential the voices are,” he explains. “Musicians, from the beginning of time, have always had a way of dictating trends.”
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The Bronx native started pouring more energy into fashion when he realized his brand was gaining traction — perhaps even more than his music at the time. “What if I stop putting all my finances into just music for a moment?” he recalls thinking. “Let me see what happens if, for six months, I invest in clothes, fashion, and style — see where it takes me.” That decision led him to this moment: sitting with Billboard, reflecting on the journey that brought him to a major sneaker collaboration with Saucony.
Still, music remains part of his DNA. “I think you never really retire from music — it’s always a part of you,” he says. Every move he makes, from sneaker drops to brand-building, is part of a broader plan. “It’s all just a big rollout for new music eventually. So, I think it’s always a possibility that you’ll see some new Jae Tips pop up on your timeline, on your little streaming services.”
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For his upcoming Saucony Jazz sneaker, Jae Tips introduces the theme: “I Love You But I’m Busy.” The phrase, he says, speaks to the delicate balance between ambition and personal relationships. “To me, it represents the entrepreneurial and creative lifestyle — constantly trying to figure out a work-life balance,” he explains. “Sometimes, intentions don’t always align with actions. You want to acknowledge the shoe’s place as another notch in your resume and design history, but it also marks a real turning point— one that involves making difficult decisions about the people you love and the things you love.”
Jae Tips x Saucony
Jordan Keyser
The inspiration behind the sneaker taps into this idea of emotional distance in the pursuit of success. “The soundtrack for this shoe, to me, is ‘Welcome to Heartbreak’ by Kanye West,” he says. “It reflects how you can become out of touch with reality while everyone else remains in the same place you left them.”
Jae Tips’ approach to sneaker design is deeply rooted in his past work in headwear. “The design process began a few years ago when I made a hat inspired by a Mickey Mouse, Disney and Ralph Lauren collaboration with the NFL,” he recalls. “I remade a Yankee hat using those same colorways. Many people who have followed my journey know I’ve done so much in the headwear space, but you can’t always tell the full story with hats because of licensing restrictions. With shoes, there are so many different panels, hidden features, and details — it’s been like a wonderland for expanding on stories I initially started with hats.”
This new sneaker embraces those past influences, featuring thoughtful color placement, rich materials, and subtle details that elevate the design. “We have an orange hit in the toe box, but in the mid, there’s an orange that almost looks like a faded yellow. It’s one of those things you appreciate more the closer you get to the shoe — you can really see the contrast,” he notes.
The sneaker also includes hidden gems, such as a “Savior S” logo on the tongue for Savior Sport, the phrase “Made by Jae Tips” — a staple in all his collaborations — and an insole that reads “Coming Soon.” Retail pairs will come with a flower keychain, and the box includes an extra set of white laces. Jae wanted to create a trendy runner shoe that people would wear in a sporty way. “I thought, ‘If you make it a sports shoe, maybe people will pair it with track suits, sweatpants, and really get busy with it.’”
Jae Tips x Saucony
Jordan Keyser
For Jae Tips, the connection between music and sneaker culture has always been undeniable. “Rappers always want to be designers, and designers often want to be in the limelight like rappers,” he says. “For as long as I can remember, a rapper wearing a certain designer’s piece or outfit could make or break a brand. Now, as trends shift, we’re seeing more musicians launch their own clothing brands because they realize the power they have to change an entire trajectory.” He points to examples like Dapper Dan’s influence on Gucci, Rihanna’s success with Fenty, Kanye West’s Yeezy empire, and Travis Scott’s massive impact on sneaker culture. “His brand is so big that when you say his name, you might not even know if you’re talking about a shoe or a song. That’s pretty dope.”
While Jae Tips’ designs carry echoes of his musical background, he sees his creative identity as something people are still discovering. “I would say yes, and I’d say no,” he reflects when asked if his music shaped how people view his aesthetic. “I apply a lot of the principles I learned navigating the underground music scene to my work ethic — the way I put things together, prepare emails and documents, and communicate all stem from that experience. And the way I promote myself is similar to how an artist drops a single.”
To celebrate the release of the Saucony Jazz “I Love You But I’m Busy,” dropping on March 28th for $165, Jae Tips has curated an exclusive playlist for Billboard — tracks that embody the spirit of his latest creation. Mark your calendars for the drop, and in the meantime, press play on the soundtrack to his latest masterpiece.
Jae Tips’ “I Love You, But I’m Busy” Playlist
1. Kanye West, “Welcome to Heartbreak”
2. Nipsey Hussle, “Forever on Some Fly S–t”
3. Jae Tips, “ Remember Who Fronted”
4. Leon Thomas, “YES IT IS”
5. Nipsey Hussle, “ That’s How I Knew”
6. Bonus: Frank Ocean, “Lens”
Lizzo has long been a loud and proud advocate for embracing your body, no matter what size or shape it is. And after sharing earlier this year that she had reached her “weight release” goals and encouraging her fans that her journey is a reminder that “you can do anything you put your mind to,” the “Juice” singer told Andy Cohen on Thursday (March 20) that, frankly, she doesn’t think anyone really even understands what “body positivity” means anymore.
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“I think people don’t know what body positivity is because the body positivity movement was very political and it got taken and kind of commercialized and now body positivity to people is code word for ‘fat,’” Lizzo told Cohen on his SiriusXM show. “Like DEI is code word for Black… so they’re like, ‘Oh she’s not body positive anymore, I’m not fat anymore,’ but I’m still body positive because the body positive movement was actually created by a subgroup of people who were not put in the media, who were not praised, who were told we shouldn’t exist and we were not good enough because our bodies were bigger, or disabled, or even queer and trans.”
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Lizzo said all those traditionally marginalized communities were the latest wave of body positivity she said has been happening for “decades.” But she times her own engagement with the idea to 2016 when she began “bucking against society telling me I shouldn’t exist. I shouldn’t wear leotards and I shouldn’t like how I look.”
At that time she began speaking out about body positivity, hiring a group of plus-size dancers she named the Big Grrrls and, in 2020, telling Vogue magazine that, “I wan to normalize my body. And not just be like, ‘Ooh, look at this cool movement. Being fat is body positive.’ No, being fat is normal.”
Last year, Lizzo leaned into jokes she’d heard from people speculating that she was using one of the current popular weight-loss drugs as a helper in her health journey. She further tweaked haters by dressing up as “LizzOzempic” for Halloween in a costume inspired by a South Park episode from last May that parodied Lizzo’s well-known body positivity with a new medication: “Ask about the power of not giving a f— — with Lizzo,” the animated show joked in a commercial parody that claimed: “FDA-approved Lizzo makes you feel good about your weight, and it costs 90% less than Ozempic.”
She had a laugh about the episode, reacting by saying, “I just feel like, damn, I’m really that b—-. I showed the world how to love yourself, and now these men in Colorado know who the f— I am, and put it in their cartoon that’s been around for 25 years.” She promised, “I’m gonna keep on showing you how to not give a f—.”
You can (likely) hear all about it on the singer’s upcoming Love in Real Life album, which she announced this week is officially complete. Lizzo’s already released two songs from the upcoming LP, “Still Bad” and the title track and she’s slated to make her fourth appearance on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest alongside host Jon Hamm on April 12.
Watch Lizzo on Cohen’s show below.
Jack Harlow and Doja Cat throw a dinner party for the ages in the sultry video for their new single “Just Us.” While their sizzling back-and-forth makes it seems like they can’t see anyone else in the room, the Neal Farmer-directed video makes it clear that if they look around they might just spot Oscar, Grammy and SAG award-winners at every table.
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Sprinkled around the room at the L.A. eatery where the pair trade NSFW lines about how much they need each other, like, right now, are a bearded Matt Damon, a chatty John Mayer, as well as British singer PinkPantheress, DJ Drama, Succession star Nicholas Braun, sports journalist Taylor Rooks and singer Malcolm Todd.
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Fully in his alpha flirt mode, Harlow starts out making eyes at Doja from across the room, trying to rope her in with some subtle come-ons. “I wish it was just in this b–ch/ But they can’t trust us in this b–ch/ ‘Cus I’m trying to buss nuts in this huh/ Let’s keep it on the hush hush in this b–ch,” he raps as Doja casts a dubious eye while rocking a skin-tight, shimmering red latex minidress. “I told her she so pretty/ And she just blushed in this b–ch/ She clutch clutching my huh/ I’m adjusting my huh/ She husky like mush mush in this b–ch,” he adds on the song produced by Hollywood Cole, Tay Keith, Angel Lopez, OjiVolta and Dylan Graham.
Rubbing up on Jack in the bustling kitchen, Doja gives as good as she gets, rapping, “Two hands in my fro/ Staring into my soul/ Leg up on that chair/ Hand on that arm/ Tongue in that throat/ I don’t play with my pen/ Leave it on a good note/ Keep you all on yo toes/ Leave the tv off for this show.”
Harlow has been manifesting this collab for years, admitting in a 2020 Instagram Live that he has long been infatuated with Doja. “I need to talk to you for a second though,” he said during the chat between the two. “People thought we were dating because your man apparently looks like me.” After Doja gave him props for being “great,” Harlow waited until she left to tell his followers, “I’ve had a crush on her for months.”
“Just Us” is the follow-up to Harlow’s previous 2025 single, “Set You Free,” which dropped last month and December’s hater baiting “Tranquility“; Harlow’s most recent album was 2023’s Jackman. Doja Cat teamed up with LISA and Raye in February for the single “Born Again,” with all three taking the stage at the 97th Annual Academy Awards earlier this month for a medley of James Bond classics.
Watch the “Just Us” video below.
Jack Harlow has called on Doja Cat for his newest collaboration, the flirty “Just Us,” which arrived on Friday (March 21). I wish it was just us in this b—h/ But they can’t trust us in this b—h,” Harlow raps on the track. “Because I’m tryna bust nuts in this, huh/ Let’s keep it on the hush-hush in […]
J.B. Moore, a key contributor to some of hip-hop’s earliest hits, died in Manhattan on March 13 of pancreatic cancer. He was 81.
Though not well-known today, Moore was instrumental in hip-hop’s early mainstream success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when he helped produce and write records for Kurtis Blow with Robert “Rocky” Ford Jr., his friend and colleague at Billboard, where Moore worked in ad sales and Ford was a reporter. (Ford died in 2020.)
Moore, who also sometimes wrote jazz reviews for Billboard, is credited as a producer and writer on classic early hip-hop tracks like “The Breaks,” “Christmas Rappin’” and “Basketball.”
“One of the interesting things about our partnership,” Moore said of Ford in a 2001 oral history for the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, “is that, as Robert and I got to know each other at Billboard, we realized that he was a black guy from the middle of Hollis, Queens and I was a white guy from the North Shore of Long Island, and our record collections were virtually identical. I think we had 800 records a piece and 200 of them were different.”
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Released during the 1979 holiday season, “Christmas Rappin’” was the brainchild of Ford, who came up with the idea of writing a Christmas song because he had a kid on the way — telling Moore that “Christmas records are perennials, and therefore you get royalties ad infinitum on them,” according to Moore’s recollection for the oral history.
Moore, already familiar with the guitar, bass, and songwriting, didn’t set out to write and produce rap records. Having served in the Vietnam War, he was originally saving up money to write a novel about the conflict. “I had been saving money to leave Billboard to write a book for five years,” said Moore for the oral history. “I had about $10,000 and that got invested in making ‘Christmas Rappin.’”
Through Ford’s relationship with a then up-and-coming Russell Simmons, who was then promoting Blow, he and Moore got the young rapper to lay down the “Christman Rappin’” lyrics, which were inspired by the Clement Clarke Moore poem “The Night Before Christmas” — and the rest was history.
Ford and Moore shopped the song around to about 20 labels and were rejected until Mercury Records gave them a shot with a two-single deal that would turn into an album deal if the singles were a success, according to a 2018 blog post written by Simmons.
“We didn’t think a major label would understand a rap record,” Moore recalled in the oral history. “But they would understand a parody.” He was right.
According to Simmons’ blog post, “Christmas Rappin’” sold close to 400,000 copies while their next single, Blow’s “The Breaks,” was the first rap song to be certified gold, selling 500,000 copies. “The Breaks” also peaked at No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “Basketball,” released in 1985, peaked at No. 71 on the chart. And just like that, Moore, Ford and Blow had carved out careers in the burgeoning new genre known as rap music.
Blow paid tribute to Moore on Instagram with a lengthy caption, writing in part, “Moore was a key figure in the early commercialization of Hip Hop. His productions helped bridge the gap between Hip Hop and mainstream audiences in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.” He concluded by writing, “Rest in power to a friend, teacher, pioneer who helped lay the foundation for what Hip Hop became. Thank you, JB, I learned so much.”
As a songwriting and production duo, Moore and Ford worked on Blow’s first four albums, helped produced three albums for Full Force, and even had a hand in Rodney Dangerfield’s classic parody rap song “Rappin Rodney,” which hit No. 83 on the Hot 100 in 1984.
Moore does not have any known immediate survivors.
If you’re tired of Kendrick Lamar, he’s not going anywhere for at least three years. Earlier Thursday (March 20), Casey Wasserman — the head of the Wasserman talent agency and the chairman of the 2028 L.A. Olympics organizing committee — spoke with The Associated Press in Greece during the 14th International Olympic Committee session and […]
Cam’ron and Mase are planning on dropping a project together.
The childhood friends have had a tumultuous relationship over the years dating back to the late ’90s, when they had a falling out over an appearance in Cam’s video for his hit single “Horse & Carriage.”
Since the two have reconciled, they got into business together and started their increasingly popular sports talk show It Is What It Is in 2023.
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Now, they plan on strengthening their relationship by making music with each other again.
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On March 19, Cam posted a clip on Instagram. “Harlem Fact check season. Sorry Murder, I had to give them a small sample. Willie Burgers (The EP) July 4th. I’m from old Harlem. Where the dirty kitchen was open pass 12pm. Maybe I’ll drop the full song on @talkwithflee 2mr morning,” he wrote. “We got so many joints in da stash.”
Produced by ADM Beatz, Cam started the song off by rapping, “Shouts Mason Betha, I’m Cameron Giles/ I’m sorry, Richard Porter, I’m sorry, Kevin Chiles/ I’m sorry, Bumpy Johnson, y’all always gettin’ chedda/ It come to Harlem, baby girl, nobody did it better.”
Cam also posted snippet on Talk With Flee earlier Thursday morning, and he’s calling it “Tupperware Freestyle.”
Last week, Mase announced that he’s planning on releasing his first album since 2004’s Welcome Back, and he wants to drop it on the first day of the Diddy trial, which is Monday, May 5. He also claimed that the project will be a “triple CD” and that Cam helped him pick the songs.
You can watch the freestyle below.
The style of dancehall currently dominating the streets of England is quite different from the dancehall that ruled the Billboard Hot 100 in the early 2000s. Trap dancehall — the aptly named subgenre of trap-infused dancehall — has been king for the last couple of years, and Manchester-bred Jamaican dancehall artist 1Ski OG is looking to leverage his new stage name into a grand return to the royal court.
“When I came up with the name 1Ski Mask, it wasn’t planned,” he exclusively tells Billboard over Zoom while visiting family back home in Manchester, Jamaica. “I was just having fun and called myself that, it went viral and the name stuck with me at that time. Some artists already had the name overseas, so I was informed that for new releases I could no longer release under that name. I never wanted to stray from the name or change it completely, so I just removed the mask part. The ‘OG’ is a shortening for ‘original,’ I wanted people to know it’s still the same original 1Ski Mask.”
A former social media comedian, 1Ski OG rose to prominence as 1Ski Mask with “Dawkniss,” a Falconn-assisted single that arrived in spring 2023. To date, the song has amassed more than 1.5 million streams on Spotify alone, helping him score a deal with Against Da Grain/Epic Records by October 2024. In the years that followed, 1Ski’s musical output slowed down, due in large part to him taking some time to recalibrate following his signing and name change. Now, he’s readying a new project due later this year and launching his 1Ski OG era with a pair of new songs that he calls “more universal”: “Feel Like” and “Double Life.”
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For both songs, 1Ski took inspiration from his personal life. His “gyal at di time” served as the muse for “Feel Life,” which was recorded a year ago, and “Doube Life” is the product of his desire to “speak to the experience of living a double life with [yourself] and your partner” and his general observations of toxicity in daily interactions. The new songs build on the trap dancehall foundation he established upon his debut, but the melodic flourishes of their respective soundscapes signal a push into a more expansive sound.
“I’m not the kind of person who sticks to one sound because I’m thinking about longevity,” he says while musing over trap dancehall’s current dominance. “You have to create music that can last and trap dancehall is not so lasting. I don’t think it’s fully crossed over yet outside of New York, Florida, and Connecticut – places with a lot of Jamaicans. But what if you want to reach Africa or England or Canada? You have to always be open to change. The more potent and structured songs that we can all relate to are the ones that last. I still have trap and hardcore dancehall, but you have to have a mixture.”
With a new name, new music, and a clear, intentional focus behind the next stage of his career, 1Ski OG is ready not just to reintroduce himself, but also establish himself as one of the leading Caribbean artists of his class.
“We have to evolve and put the face behind the brand,” he stresses. “[The new name] gives you different options in terms of styling because nothing is tied to the mask anymore. The power is not in the mask, the power is in me.”
Watch the official “Feel Like” music video below.
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Queen City music fans will have to wait a while to see Janet Jackson after the pop star announced on Thursday (March 20) that due to “personal matters” she will not be headlining the second night of this summer’s Cincinnati Music Festival.
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“To all my Cincinnati Music Festival fans…. I’m so sorry that I won’t be able to be with you all in July. Some personal matters have come up and I am unable to attend. I look forward to seeing you all soon!” Jackson, 58, said in a statement shared by promoters.
Jackson — who previously headlined the festival in 2022 — was slated to headline on July 26 at Paycor Stadium on a bill that also includes Lucky Daye, 112, The Bar-Kays and a tribute to one of the event’s most beloved perennial stars, late R&B legend Maze frontman Frankie Beverly featuring the TMF Band (formerly Maze) feat. Jubu, as well as special guests Ronald Isley, Joe, After 7, Dave Hollister and Raheem DeVaughn.
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“We just learned that Janet Jackson is unable to perform at the 2025 Cincinnati Music Festival presented by P&G due to personal matters,” the event’s promoters said in a statement. “Festival organizers are working quickly to fill her spot on the lineup.”
Night one of this year’s show (July 25) will be headlined by Earth, Wind & Fire and also feature Anthony Hamilton, PJ Morton, Jazmine Sullivan and a Zapp Band tribute to the King Records legacy featuring Dreion. The beloved summertime classic that draws fans from across the country first took place in 1959 in French Lick, IN with a lineup that included the Miles David Quintet, Duke Ellington’s Big Band, Count Basie and Sarah Vaughn.
It has changed names, and profiles, over the years, but has always remained one of the calendar highlights for both the city and music lovers.
After moving to Cincinnati in 1962, it began to shift from a jazz-focused gathering to one that also incorporated a wide range of blues, R&B and soul, featuring such 1970s headliners as Roberta Flack, Ray Charles, Ike & Tina Turner, Marvin Gaye. In the 1980s and 90s it welcomed everyone from Stevie Wonder and Luther Vandross, to New Edition, Natalie Cole and Patti LaBelle.
Though the 2000s have continued to focus on those genres with sets from D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, John Legend, Fantasia, Maxwell, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott and hometown hero Bootsy Collins, in recent years it has added a third night of programming at the adjacent Brady Music Center spotlighting hip-hop. This year’s opening night will feature sets from Scarface, Goodie Mob, the Sugarhill Gang and Young MC.
While Jackson will not be back this year, at press time the singer’s official site still listed a run of six weekend residency shows at the Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas between May 21-31.
It’s been a long road from Playboi Carti’s Whole Lotta Red to Music. King Vamp ended the drought with his first album in four-plus years on March 14.
The loaded 30-track album features superstar guests from The Weeknd to Travis Scott, and showcases Carti’s full artistic repertoire. Billboard Unfiltered returned on Wednesday (March 19) with a new episode covering Carti’s new LP from all angles.
“I think this Music album is probably the best showcase of all the different sides to Carti,” staff writer Kyle Denis said. “You get his pop sensibility side on records like ‘Backr00ms,’ and you get some of the rage rap stuff … I love how throw-everything-at-the-wall it was.”
Denis “sighed” every time Travis Scott popped up for a feature. “The best Travis verse for me that was on ‘Backr00ms,’ and that one wasn’t on the album,” he added. “I love how Kendrick kind of slid into Carti’s world. I think that was the highlight for me, seeing him adapt to the vamp stuff.”
Denis “had a great time with Music,” but thinks that it was way too long at 30 tracks. “There’s a great 16-track album hidden somewhere,” he said.
Music is expected to debut atop the Billboard 200, and all 30 tracks could possibly enter next week’s Billboard Hot 100.
Senior charts and data analyst Trevor Anderson highlighted “Evil J0rdan” as when the album really started to take off for him, and noted Kendrick Lamar’s performance in Carti’s world holding his own. “I think he does a good job of playing in the background, but obviously making his presence known,” he said.
He wonders if Carti can have that pop breakthrough run as a hitmaker, but couldn’t land on one track he thought would take off. “‘Rather Lie’ could be a radio record,” Denis said. “Both Kendrick joints will probably do fine. ‘Fine Shit’ is one that popped out to me.”
Lizzo returned last week with her “Still Bad” single as she plots her comeback for 2025. That didn’t come without an X rant, in which she clapped back at haters of the track and called out the mistreatment of Black women artists.
“This is not the first time she has had records that haven’t connected. Right after ‘About Damn Time,’ she tried to push ‘To Be Loved,’ and that didn’t really pop off in a way remotely comparable to ‘About Damn Time.’ I don’t think the culture’s moved beyond corny pop songs,” Denis said. “There’s always going to be an audience for that.”
Watch the full episode above.
