State Champ Radio r&b
Watch Latin American Music Awards
Normani might as well be talking to herself on new single “1:59” when she purrs, “don’t talk too much, just do this s–t.” Sure, in the context of the collab with Gunna that dropped on Friday (April 26) the focus is on get-down-to-business pillow talk. But the sexy refrain could just as well be channeling the thoughts of fans who’ve been waiting nearly six years for the former Fifth Harmony star to drop her full-length solo debut since that fateful day in 2018 when she tweeted, “I have my album title y’all.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“Just do this s–t!” you can hear them yelling after the string of singles she’s released since leaving FH in 2018, including her Billboard Hot 100 No. 9-charting solo debut with Khalid, “Love Lies.” Then there was her No. 7 2019 collab with Sam Smith on “Dancing With a Stranger,” that year’s irresistible “Motivation” and Charlie’s Angels soundtrack song “Bad To You” with Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, as well as songs with Megan Thee Stallion (2020’s “Diamonds”) and Cardi B (2021’s “Wild Side”) and Calvin Harris (2022’s “New to You” with Tinashe and Offset) in the time since.
But still, no album… until the singer announced the title in February, Dopamine, and teased the riding-a-rocket-in-a-leather-bikini-cover, and then, on Friday, finally, the release date: June 14.
“I know what it’s like to put out music and records that I don’t wholeheartedly believe in. When we were in [Fifth Harmony], we didn’t have the opportunity to have a real opinion until the last project we did,” the singer tells ELLE in a new cover story that details how her plans to release the LP — which at one point was called 1906 for the address of her grandmother’s house where she was raised, then Butterfly Effect — was serially delayed in part due to her parents being diagnosed with cancer; they are both doing better now.
Pile on what the profile describes as heartbreak, “intense, unwarranted internet scrutiny” and a fight for creative control early in her career and you can easily understand the delay.
“I promised myself, ‘If God gives me another opportunity to do things in my own way, I’m not going to take that for granted,’” she says of the collection described as mixing uptempo dance tracks with songs exploring those struggles during and after 5H’s split. “I think that there’s a false narrative that because of how long this process has taken, that means I don’t care, or that means I’m more interested in doing other things than putting this body of work out. Nobody wants this project to come out more than me. I think that at the end of the day, if I stand behind this wholeheartedly, it doesn’t matter what the world thinks.”
To put a finer point on it, she says, “this body of work really is just a representation of my resilience.”
One of the key parts of the album cycle so far has been the outpouring of support she got when she announced the album earlier this year, especially from her former 5H bandmates: Camila Cabello, Ally Brooke, Lauren Jauregui and Dinah Jane. “This is a milestone, knowing everything that I went through in order to just get to this point. I wanted to be present in that and not allow any negative comments,” she tells the magazine. “I really wanted to just celebrate myself. In terms of the support from the girls, that’s really full circle, to be quite honest. We were put in very unrealistic circumstances. We did our absolute best with what we had, but I think that it’s really cool to just see everybody prosper. It was cool that that moment [for me] could also be a moment that could bring us all together.”
She says the album title is a representation of the “highs and lows” she’s endured, while the rocket-straddling cover feels “energetic… it feels like a hit.”
Asked how she feels about the state of women, especially Black women, in music right now, Normani turns to hers, and many others’, north star: Beyoncé. “I want to see more women in charge. I want to see more Black women as chairmen. I want to see more Black women as CEOs,” she says. “I want to see more Black women produce. I know that all of those exist, but it’s just about getting the opportunity and the recognition.”
Normani specifically points to Bey “taking over the country space” with her Cowboy Carter album, which she dubs “revolutionary… Those are the types of things that I set out to do. Now you have country artists who look like us coming out and just being like, ‘We’ve always been here.’ I think that it’s educational not only for music lovers, but also in the Black community. We’ve pioneered a lot that we don’t get recognition for. I think that it’s just really cool being able to witness Beyoncé be fearless and do something that is much bigger than herself. That’s honestly what I want to see more of in every single space of the music industry, because we deserve that. I also want to see Black women not have to fight so hard. It gets exhausting. We’re just as brilliant. We have amazing ideas, and our resilience.”
Listen to “1:59” below.
[embedded content]
Halle Bailey is opening up about her struggle with postpartum depression. According to People, the singer/actress discussed her battle with the ailment that affects nearly one in seven women in a Snapchat video last week in which she shared her love for her “perfect” son Halo while discussing the serious postpartum feelings that overwhelmed her.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“I have severe, severe postpartum [depression], and I don’t know if any new moms can relate, but it’s to the point where it’s really bad, and it’s hard for me to be separated from my baby for more than 30 minutes at a time before I start to kind of freak out,” she said in the clip. In an accompanying Instagram post, Bailey got tons of love and support from other moms, including one who wrote, “I didn’t feel normal in my own body until like over a year after my baby,” while another said, “Thank you for your words on post partum. For using your voice to speak not only on your experience but that of so many mothers.”
Trending on Billboard
Little Mermaid star Bailey and partner DDG quietly welcomed their first child together last year and in the Snap she called the rapper the “most amazing daddy in the world” and praised him for his steady support through her postpartum blues. “Halo is a miracle. He is perfect. He is beautiful,” she said. “When I look at him, I cry because of how special he is. The only thing that’s been hard for me is feeling normal in my own body. I feel like a completely different person. When I look in the mirror, I just feel like I’m in a whole new body. Like, I don’t know who I am.”
Like many women who suffer from postpartum depression, Bailey said she’s worried about the stigma about publicly talking about depression. “Before I had a child and I would hear people talk about postpartum, it would kind of just go in one ear and out the other. I didn’t realize how serious of a thing it actually was,” she said. “Now going through it, it almost feels like you’re swimming in this ocean that’s like the biggest waves you’ve ever felt and you’re trying not to drown. And you’re trying to come up for air.”
Most importantly, Bailey stressed that, of course, her depression had “nothing” to do with her son and that her post was prompted by a comment she read about her family that she didn’t detail. “It has everything to do with me and who I am right now. I guess today I was just triggered — especially [since] social media is just not a good thing to be on when you have postpartum — but I was just really triggered today, especially by seeing some of the things that have been said about me and my family, and the one that I love and the ones that I love,” she said.
In March, Bailey, 23, made an emotional speech at the 2024 ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards ceremony in which she explained why she hid her pregnancy from a “place of protection.”
“There was no way in hell I was going to share the biggest joy of my world with anyone. Halo was my gift. He is the greatest blessing, and I had no obligation to expose him, me, or my family to that,” Bailey said. “With the state of the world and the place it is in with men trying to force their will on our bodies, no one on social media, and for d–n sure, no one on the planet was going to tell me what to do with my body or what to share with the world.”
Bailey and DDG revealed their son’s birth in January with a post on social media about becoming new parents. The singer has been doing double-duty as a new mom and a recording star, dropping her new single, “In Your Hands” on March 15; she cradles baby Halo in the video for the moving ballad featuring the moving chorus, “All in your hands, in your hands/ The world is yours when I’m in it/ In your hands, in your hands/ You can’t let go or you’ll lose your chance.”
The NIH says that postnatal depression is very common and can start anytime in the first year after giving birth and can also effect fathers and partners as well. Among the typical symptoms are a “persistent feeling of sadness and low mood,” “lack of enjoyment and loss of interest in the wider world,” “lack of energy and feeling tired all the time,” as well as trouble sleeping, difficulty looking after the baby or yourself, withdrawing from contact with other people, problems concentrating and making decisions and frightening thoughts, which can include thoughts of harming the baby.
Bailey ended the video with a reminder that just because she’s a public figure doesn’t mean the harsh things people write about her online don’t hurt. “Even though you may look up to certain people and you think that they are celebrities, and they appear it have it all together, you never know what somebody else is going through, especially someone who just had a baby literally,” she said.
Check out some of the supportive statements Bailey received on her Instagram post below.
Mary J. Blige was beside herself when the news came down on Sunday night (April 21) that she will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the rest of the class of 2024 in October. “Beyond grateful!!!!!! This is incredible!!!,” Blige wrote just after the news was announced on Sunday’s episode […]
At some point we might need a map to chart all the twists and turns of R9. While journalists, fans and pretty much everyone else has been asking Rihanna when we can expect the long-awaited follow-up to her smash 2016 album Anti, the singer continues to give vague, sometimes contradictory answers about the in-progress project. […]
Spoiler alert: This story contains the identity of the contestant eliminated on Wednesday night’s (April 17) episode of The Masked Singer.
The 11th season of The Masked Singer has so far featured a very eclectic group of eliminated crooners, including comedian/actor Kevin Hart (Book); restauranteur Joe Bastianich (Spaghetti & Meatballs); TV personalities Savannah Chrisley (Afghan Hound), Billy Bush (Sir Lion) and Colton Underwood (Lovebird); as well as NFL hall of famer DeMarcus Ware (Koala) — and actual singer Sisqó (Lizard) too.
On Wednesday night (April 17), Ugly Sweater crushed it with some incomparable high notes on “Queen Night,” during a celebration of the iconic British rock group in the Group A finals. After wowing the judges in an earlier episode with a funk-forward cover of The Commodores’ “Brick House,” Sweater did it again with a sweet, soulful run through Queen’s 1984 power ballad “I Want to Break Free.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
When it came time to guess, the judges were in the neighborhood, with Robin Thicke praising the singer’s signature “nasty” notes on “House” (and quickly guessing the singer’s identity), while judge Rita Ora speculated it could be Smokey Robinson, Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg guessed Aaron Neville (after earlier guessing that Lionel Richie covered his own song) and always-wrong Ken Jeong aiming too young with New Jack swinger Johnny Gill.
Trending on Billboard
Who was that masked man who’s 13 Grammy nominations and has a lock as Billboard‘s top adult R&B male artist with the most No. 1s in that category to date? None other than former Gap Band lead singer and solo star Charlie Wilson, best known for such hits as “Party Train,” “You Dropped a Bomb on Me,” “Oops Upside Your Head” and his featured vocals on songs by rappers including Snoop Dogg, The Notorious B.I.G., Pharrell, U.G.K. and Tyler, the Creator, among many others.
In addition to his surprise appearance alongside Tyler at last weekend’s Coachella — where he performed on the rapper’s 2019 single “Earfquake” and did a bit of The Gap Band’s “Outstanding” — Wilson, 71, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January and is currently promoting his Billboard top five adult R&B chart solo single “Superman.”
Billboard spoke with Wilson before his elimination to hear about how T-Pain inspired him to get in the Masked game, how wearing the Ugly Sweater was no holiday, and what it felt like to slip onto the main stage at Coachella last weekend.
Be honest: Had you ever watched this show before they reached out?
Oh yeah! I saw the one when T-Pain won [in season 1 as Monster]. I was so excited for him. I know T-Pain, he did songs for me and he’s a very gifted young man. I saw that it was fun and I wanted to get to be a part of it, but it just took some time because I was busy doing shows and recordings. I thought, “I can do this,” so it finally dropped in my lap.
Some iconic old-school and new-school R&B greats have appeared on the show — Bobby Brown, Faith Evans, Toni Braxton, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, Seal, Gladys Knight — so it seems like there’s no shame in the game of putting on that costume right?
Yeah, my costume was… oh my gosh. It was built for me and was one of the most expensive suits they’ve built for the show. The [showrunners] kept telling me to try and make sure I stay as long as I can because [they said], “We spent a lot of money on this suit!” It was so heavy! So, so heavy I could barely walk in it. The feathers on the head were 8 to 10 pounds a piece and they had to take some off. I could barely pick up my feet!
It seems like a great showcase for so many of those classic R&B singers, especially some of your old-school peers.
I don’t know about anybody else, but I didn’t think about it being a showcase for me, because I’m still making No. 1 records. In fact, I have a top five song this week with one of my records [Wilson is in the top five on Billboard‘s Adult R&B Airplay chart with “Superman”]. I’m the only one out there still making top five records in the business!
You’ve been at this for more than 50 years, so tell me: Is this the weirdest gig you’ve ever had?
It’s a blessing and a curse at the same time, because a lot of people don’t want to see me have these records do as well as they’re doing. All those people you mentioned all wish they had the records I’m having. So yeah, I don’t pop my collar all the time, but people bring it up.
The judges’ guesses were all over the place, but mostly in the pocket. I can’t imagine you were ashamed to be confused for Smokey, Aaron or Lionel?
[Laughs] No, Robin Thicke said, “That’s Charlie Wilson!” as soon as I opened my mouth. I was like, “Oh man, I’m toast!” as soon as I opened my mouth and sang! He said, “I studied his voice and know him like the back of my hand.” I was like, “Could you just be quiet for a second?” He was tearing me up.
Speaking of, how did it feel to sing that Commodores song? Was there any rivalry with them in your bands’ heydays in the 1970s and ’80s?
Oh man, it was always that [rivalry] because if bands are good, they are gonna be at it. I won’t stand around and have someone call me a bootsy [someone who is uncool or weird]. I’m gonna get you. I’m gonna come after you like y’all coming after us! It was all in fun, not hostile, we was all in fun. I love The Commodores.
You’ve had so much success collaborating with rappers over the years — especially Snoop and Tyler. What is it about hip-hop that appeals to you? And talk to me about joining Tyler at Coachella last weekend.
It is great anytime I sing with these rappers or anyone from back in the day is coming for me and it’s their idea. If they want to do it, I’m gonna do it. I’m so, so blessed to have rappers still coming for me.
If you’ve ever heard even one note from Fantasia Barrino‘s mouth, you know that the American Idol season three winner and The Color Purple star is a force to be reckoned with. That explains why in her essay celebrating Fantasia for TIME magazine’s 2024 list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World Golden […]
For the most part, day three of the opening weekend of the 2024 Coachella Festival was focused on a string of jaw-dropping surprise appearances by everyone from Justin Bieber to Kesha, Lauryn Hill and many more during a picture perfect Sunday of music and skin-baring cowboy chic.
But during her set, 2024 best new artist Grammy winner Victoria Monét injected some politics into the mix when she made a bold statement during her appearance at the Indio, CA fest. “Stop the wars, stop the hate, stop the genocides, stop motherf–ing hating,” Monét said from the stage according to fan video of the moment. “Live with love. Stop thinking so small. You need to be thinking big, b–ch. Think big, b–ch.”
Though Monét did not reference Israel, Gaza or the now seven-month-old war between the Jewish state and militant group Hamas, the singer has been a longtime vocal proponent of a ceasefire in Gaza. Following Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 attack on Israel — in which more than 1,200 men, women and children were killed and sexually assaulted and more than 250 taken hostage — Israel unleashed a retaliatory wave of strikes on Gaza and the West Bank that Palestinian authorities have said has killed more than 33,000, many of them non-combatant women and children.
Trending on Billboard
Monét was one of the founders of the Artists 4 Ceasefire collective, which penned an open letter to Pres. Jo Biden in March urging him to call for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict; the letter was co-signed by dozens of fellow artists, including R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, Dua Lipa, Killer Mike, Drake, Jennifer Lopez, Quinta Brunson, Rooney Mara, Jeremy Allen White, Jon Batiste, Frank Ocean, Zayn and many more.
While Monét did not directly attribute her use of the term “genocide” to Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas, the government of hard-right Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced accusations that his country is participating in such an action in the wake of Israel’s devastating bombing campaign in the Palestinian territories. To date the war has resulted in the displacement of more nearly two million Palestinians, the destruction of more than 157,000 buildings in Gaza and an emerging food crisis that experts warn could result in widespread famine.
Last week, U.S. defense secretary Lloyd Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee that “we don’t have any evidence of genocide being [committed]” by Israel in Gaza. In January, the top United Nations court ordered Israel to do everything it could to avoid acts of genocide in the war; Israel has repeatedly denied that it is acting with genocidal intent.
The issue has become a part of the American presidential campaign, with a chant of “Genocide Joe” favored by pro-Palestinian protesters getting adopted on Saturday by supporters of former president Donald Trump at his rally in Schnecksville, PA. After Trump once again offered his unconditional support for Israel just hours after Iran launched retaliatory drone and missile strikes against the country this weekend, the twice impeached one-term president responded to the “Genocide Joe” shouts from the crowd with the line, “They’re not wrong, they’re not wrong. He’s done everything wrong.”
Watch Monét’s call for peace below.
When Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles was asked on the the red carpet at Sunday night’s (April 7) 2024 CMT Music Awards if she’d listened to Beyoncé‘s Billboard 200 No. 1 album Cowboy Carter the answer was a no-brainer. “Of course! Who hasn’t?” Nettles said in mock horror about the country-leaning collection that secured Bey’s eighth […]
Tanner Adell is just a few years into her country career, but on Sunday night (April 8) at the 2024 CMT Music Awards she was elated to celebrate her first chart-topper on the Billboard 200. When Billboard‘s Tetris Kelly mentioned that Adell was featured on Beyoncé‘s eighth No. 1 album, Cowboy Carter, the Kentucky native could not suppress a giant smile as she said, “apparently.”
Adell — who sings alongside Bey on the interpretation of the Beatles’ “Blackbird,” (which in Beyoncé’s version is titled “Blackbiird”) — said “it feels incredible. Congratulations to Bey, she’s worked so hard — especially just… Act I, now we’re Act II and I can’t wait for Act III. I’m just starting out and it feels pretty amazing to have one of my… not even one of my, my favorite artist on the planet know my name, put me on this album and now it’s debuted at No. 1. It’s very special.”
Pitching things forward a bit to the 2025 Grammy Awards, Kelly noted that if Cowboy Carter is nominated for the elusive album of the year prize that Beyoncé — the most-decorated artist in Grammy history — has never yet won, Tanner could get a major moment in the sun. Rendered speechless, Tanner smiled and said, “I guess?”
“I’m an independent artist, it’s been a grind and just to have someone of that caliber reach down and lift us up it’s really, really special and i’m just very honored,” said the singer who released her debut album, Buckle Bunny, last summer.
Cowboy Carter debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart dated April 13, debuting with 407,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 4 according to Luminate; the album marks the singer’s eighth No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200. Cowboy Carter also has dibs on the biggest week of 2024 to date, marking the largest opening frame since Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) bowed with 1.653 million units in November.
Another contemporary Black country act who had high praise for Bey on Sunday was Reyna Roberts, who also lends her voice to “Blackbiird,” along with Brittney Spencer, Adell and Tiera Kennedy. “Absolutely! I believe it. I’ve always believed that I was going to history, not sure in what capacity,” said “Stompin’ Grounds” singer Roberts of possibly being part of a major moment if Bey is finally fitted for the AOTY crown next year. “I’m just grateful that Beyoncé allowed us to be part of her dream and her project. This is phenomenal, I can’t even describe how excited and happy I am.”
On the CMT red carpet, tAdell also showed of the new “Blackbiird”-inspired tattoo on her arm, noting that Roberts got her own version as well to commemorate their unexpected place in the Bey universe. “We all did it in our own style kind of how we wanted to,” she said showing off the bird image ink on her right forearm. “We just felt like this is a really big moment and something to commemorate the experience of being able to work together with someone that we all look up to very much.”
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Blaque, the ‘90s R&B group comprised of Shamari DeVoe, Brandi Williams and the late Natina Reed, will be featured in a new episode of Unsung, premiering Sunday (April 7) on TV One.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The girl group, signed by TLC’s Lisa Left Lopez, shot to fame in the late 1990s and early 2000s thanks to hit singles such as “808” and “Bring It All to Me.” The trio went on to tour with *NSYNC and TLC and released two albums prior to Reed’s death in 2012.
Trending on Billboard
Blaque also appeared in the 2000 cult classic, Bring It On, and released a previously shelved third album, Torch, in 2019.
TV One’s award-winning documentary series, which “celebrates the lives and careers” of recording artists and groups, premiered in 2008. James Brown, Phyliss Hyman, George Clinton, Tammi Terrell, B.B. King, 702, Jagged Edge, Wyclef Jean and Ice T are some of the artists that have been spotlighted in the series.
Read on for the best ways to stream Unsung for free, without cable.
Unsung on TV One : How to Watch Free
Blaque’s Unsung episode will debut on Sunday, April 7, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on TV One.
If you don’t have cable, you can watch Unsung on streaming platforms that offer live channels such as Philo and DirecTV Stream.
Philo is perfect if you’re on a budget. It’s free for the first week and just $25 per month after the trail period ends.
The streaming platform has over 70 cable channels including TV One, Lifetime, WeTV, VH1, MTV, CMT, BET, Paramount Network, Food Network, OWN, Trvl, TLC and AMC.
DirecTV Stream offers access to over 75 local and cable channels for one low price. DirecTV lets you stream TV One, Bravo, Lifetime, TLC, ESPN, A&E, E!, BET, CMT, FX, CNN, AMC, FYI, IFC, ID, Paramount Network, TBS, WeTV, Trvl, OWN, Univision and other cable networks along with ABC, CBS and more.
DirecTV Stream starts at $69.99 per month with a 24-month agreement. Eligible subscribers also get a free trial for the first five days.
Watch a clip from Sunday’s episode of Unsung below.
[embedded content]
