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Zendaya and Tom Holland tend to keep their love on the DL. But on Sunday (March 17) at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, CA the couple were about and singing it out. Spotted in a box at the tournament, the pair were relaxing when Whitney Houston’s 1987 Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “I Wanna […]
Billboard‘s newest cover star PartyNextDoor hasn’t just established himself as an alternative R&B auteur over the last decade, but he’s also cemented himself as one of pop music’s most sought-out hitmakers. After becoming the first recording artist signed to Drake‘s OVO label in 2013, Party has made hit after hit with The Boy. He provided […]
Dolly Parton may be the reigning queen of country, but one royal definitely can recognize someone else’s regal game. In the wake of Beyoncé dropping two country songs and making some Billboard chart history along the way, Parton said she wouldn’t be surprised if some of her rhinestone-studded magic dust ended up on Bey’s upcoming Act II album.
“Well, I think she has! I think she’s recorded ‘Jolene’ and I think it’s probably gonna be on her country album, which I’m very excited about that,” Parton told Knox News about whispers that Beyoncé collaborated with Parton or at least covered one of the country icon’s most beloved songs on her upcoming eighth studio album, due out on March 29.
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“I love her!” Parton, 78, said about Beyoncé, 42. “She’s a beautiful girl and a great singer.” At press time a spokesperson for Beyoncé had not responded to Billboard‘s request for comment on Parton’s claim. Though it’s unknown if the 1973 Parton classic broadside against a woman with designs on her man — which peaked for Parton at No. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1974 — will appear on Bey’s follow-up to 2022’s Renaissance, after her initial excitement, Dolly hedged her bets later in the interview.
The outlet said Parton subsequently added that she’d “heard” and “thinks,” or maybe “hopes” that Beyoncé had taken on the song that has been memorably covered by everyone from Dolly’s goddaughter, Miley Cyrus, to the White Stripes, Olivia Newton-John, Lil Nas X, Pentatonix and many more. At the very least, Parton said she’s always wanted Beyoncé to cover “Jolene” and that the two had been in contact in the past.
“We’ve kind of sent messages back and forth through the years. And she and her mother were like fans, and I was always touched that they were fans, and I always thought she was great,” Parton said.
Though the track list for Act II has not yet been revealed, the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Texas Hold ‘Em” was one of two country-flecked songs that Beyoncé released on Feb. 11, along with “16 Carriages”; both songs were announced in a Verizon commercial that aired during Super Bowl LVIII Feb. 11.
“Texas Hold ‘Em” has notched three weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, which earlier became Bey’s historic first No. 1 on the ranking; prior to its ascendance, no Black woman, or female known to be biracial, had previously led the list.
Doja Cat deleted her Instagram account and announced to fans that she was taking a break from the service to giver herself time off from what she described as a toxic atmosphere. “hey i’m gonna deactivate because i’m not really feeling this anymore. you guys take care of yourselves,” the rapper/singer wrote according to screengrabs […]
Drake making songs with up-and-coming artists is a story as old as time. The “Drake Effect” is a real thing and has been studied by music scholars across the globe. Usually it works in the artist’s favor, like when he linked up with the Migos on the “Versace (Remix).” The song went crazy on the charts and their careers took off. But then there are times when the song performs well, yet it doesn’t translate to longevity like with BlocBoy JB and “Look Alive.” Now it’s newcomer 4Batz’s turn.
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Earlier this week, social media went abuzz when the Canadian superstar teased a remix of 4Batz’s “date @ 8” on his Instagram Story. Then the mysterious R&B singer with an affinity for shiesties posted this video on his X account:
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Not gonna lie, this video had me hype. I couldn’t really make out what the song actually sounded like, but they all seemed pretty excited, so I was expecting a certified banger that Flex could drop bombs on. When the Dallas-based singer appeared out of thin air with “act i: stickerz ’99′” back in the fall of 2023 (the first upload of “act i” on YouTube was on Sept. 16, 2023), a Drake collaboration felt like a no-brainer. Some have compared 4Batz to a thugged out Brent Faiyaz or Weeknd. I’ve seen others say he makes R&B music for stick up kids. And I, too, think he makes love songs for the thugs. You know, the ones that also happen to be real lovers. The thugs with big hearts, kind of like Method Man on “All I Need”.
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That’s why everyone saw the Drake stimmy coming from a mile away. He is the Certified Lover Boy, after all. Ultimately, though? I was a bit disappointed. Other than some fans on X complaining that the song wasn’t available in the U.S., this didn’t take over my timeline. Usually when Drake remixes a newcomer’s popular song, everything stops for a moment. However, last night most of X was still high on the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets game because on Thursday nights, my sports and music worlds collide on social media. The “act ii: date @ 8 (remix)” didn’t stop all of us in our tracks. I actually didn’t even think to listen to it until 12:30am. My timeline usually explodes around midnight when some heat drops. That was a telling sign for me. So once I finally checked it out, I was let down.
The remix as we know it has changed. There was once a time when a remix meant a different beat and new verses. Nowadays, we get a verse tacked on to the original song. The aforementioned Method Man and Mary J. Blige song is actually the remix to the original album version in which MJB doesn’t make a appearance. No one remembers the OG version. The same can be said about Craig Mack’s “Flava In Ya Ear (Remix)” where the beat was the same, but Craig Mack added a new verse to go alongside verses from Biggie, Rampage, LL Cool J, and Busta Rhymes.
This track has some of those features, but they aren’t significant enough to make a big deal about. Drake’s contribution, while good in terms of sound and bars, feels stitched on like bad patchwork. We don’t even get a new verse from 4Batz. This feels like two different songs and is essentially a home game for the Canadian rapper in that it doesn’t challenge him. It’s almost too on the nose. Drake does go into his real yearner bag, though, and delivers a good verse. “A thousand on your f—kin’ hair/Two hunnid on your f—kin’ nails,” he croons, essentially reminding 4Batz that he’s dealing with cats in different tax brackets now. It would’ve been cool if 4Batz added a verse to 40’s breakdown. These two collaborating on, say, “act iv” would’ve hit much harder, hopefully they’ll work together in the near future. I must admit, though, Drake’s addition sounds great on some good speakers, streets just needed 4Batz to go in too. That would’ve knocked this remix out of the park because these two are a match made in Thug Matrimony.
Shouts to the real lovers, the real yearners, the real tricksters, though. I’m calling it now, Thug Love is making a comeback this summer. Somebody get Ja Rule and Bobby Brown on the phone.
When Victoria Monét looked in the mirror five years ago, she saw a successful songwriter whose growing list of estimable credits included co-writes on two of Ariana Grande’s biggest hits, “Thank U, Next” and “7 Rings.” What Monét, then 30, didn’t see was a successful solo artist — a goal she had been tirelessly pursuing since 2009.
“It was a very difficult, uphill battle trying to get people to understand there’s a duality to me, that my relevance wasn’t only based on my proximity to somebody else,” Monét recalls. “Interview after interview, questions were snuck in about the artists I worked with. I just wanted to be a stand-alone artist with my own reputation.”
Monét’s long-held dream finally became reality with the 2023 release of her RCA debut studio album, Jaguar II. Her breakthrough single, “On My Mama,” and two earlier album singles, “Smoke” (with Lucky Daye) and “Party Girls” (with Buju Banton), created what she calls a “snowball effect” — and validated her solo artistry, not only in terms of chart position, different interview questions and her first headlining tour, but also in the form of golden hardware.
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At the Grammys in February, Monét — who entered with seven nominations, including record of the year and best R&B song — won best new artist, as well as the statuettes for best R&B album and best engineered album, non-classical. Her best traditional R&B performance nod — for “Hollywood,” featuring Earth, Wind & Fire and her toddler daughter, Hazel Monét — was record-breaking in its own right, making Hazel the youngest-ever Grammy nominee.
Roberto Cavalli dress, Paumé Los Angeles ring, Elisheva & Constance earrings, choker and bracelet.
Sami Drasin
Oude Waag dress and Paumé Los Angeles earrings.
Sami Drasin
But Monét’s three wins — her first triumphs after three prior nods for her work with Grande and R&B duo Chloe x Halle — represent another pivotal moment for the Atlanta-born, Sacramento, Calif.-raised singer-songwriter, who began pursuing a solo career when she moved to Los Angeles in 2009 to audition for a girl group under development by Grammy-winning producer Rodney Jerkins. Monét got the job and the group signed a Motown contract, though it was later dropped without releasing any music.
That setback, however, yielded the start of a friendship with future Grammy- and Academy Award-winning songwriter-producer D’Mile and pushed Monét to focus on the songwriting she had dabbled in while growing up in Sacramento. Shouting out D’Mile as a key supporter and mentor (“He let me and the girl group live in his place”), Monét worked with him on music she had begun recording on the side as an independent artist while she racked up writing credits with acts such as Travis Scott, Blackpink, Fifth Harmony and fellow rising R&B singer and new Grammy winner Coco Jones.
“It’s very hard to ask somebody to invest their time when you don’t have a label to push it through, a production or video budget,” Monét says. “But D’Mile was like, ‘I don’t care about that. I think you’re talented and love your voice … We got this.’ ”
Monét, who didn’t have a manager at that time (“Even when I opened for Ariana on tour in 2016, I did hotel bookings and routing”), found another kindred spirit when she met manager Rachelle Jean-Louis in 2018. “She has been my ride-or-die,” Monét says. “She saw things when no one else saw them.”
Jean-Louis, a former label executive and music supervisor, first crossed paths with Monét while working as the latter, placing Monét’s collaboration with RCA artist Lucky Daye, “Little More Time,” on HBO’s Insecure. “We’re mirrors of each other,” Jean-Louis says. “We both love music, are hard workers and passionate about what we do. Victoria’s melodies and the layering of her vocals reminded me a lot of early Marvin [Gaye] and Janet [Jackson], which was something I hadn’t heard currently at that time. And then hearing she wrote all of her songs … that’s a rare form of artistry that I’ve always admired.”
Oude Waag dress and Paumé Los Angeles earrings.
Sami Drasin
Music fans got their first taste of Monét’s solo work through four EPs she released between 2014 and 2018. While none of those projects charted, they featured Monét’s ’70s-influenced modern soul that began generating word-of-mouth buzz for the indie artist. But on her Jaguar EP, released in August 2020, the singer emphasized another side of herself.
“I had to learn how to survive,” Monét said during a Grammy Museum Q&A in December when comparing the music industry to a jungle. “The jaguar symbolized my journey up to that point.”
Her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist was in 2019, when “Monopoly,” a song she co-wrote and was featured on with Grande, cracked the chart at No. 69. The week before, Monét had reached No. 16 on the Emerging Artists list.
With the August 2023 release of sequel Jaguar II, which delivers a sonically mesmerizing mix of ’70s retro soul, dancehall and Southern rap — and, like Jaguar, was executive-produced by Monét, D’Mile and Jean-Louis — Monét hit her stride. The album debuted at No. 6 on Top R&B Albums and No. 22 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Meanwhile, “On My Mama,” which samples Texas rapper Chalie Boy’s 2009 track, “I Look Good,” peaked at No. 4 on Hot R&B Songs, while spending 24 consecutive weeks in the top 10. Since the first tracking week of 2023 (from Dec. 29, 2022, to Feb. 1, 2024), Monét’s songs as an artist have generated 342.6 million official on-demand streams, according to Luminate.
“Because songwriters are writing for other artists, it’s really easy to hear their songs but think of the artist they wrote for instead,” Jean-Louis says. “But with the music that Victoria’s making, you can’t do that. The only person you hear when you listen to Victoria Monét’s music is her.”
Victoria Monét photographed on January 16, 2024 at Cricket Ranch in Los Angeles.
Sami Drasin
Paumé Los Angeles ring, Elisheva & Constance earrings, choker and bracelet.
Sami Drasin
With Jean-Louis and a predominately female core team handling both her business and creative plus strong support from RCA (“It has been a real joy to collaborate with a [label] team that really sees me; RCA changed that narrative for me”) — the newly minted three-time Grammy winner is looking ahead to festival performances at Coachella and Governors Ball, along with the deluxe version of Jaguar II.
But, reflecting on her hard work, setbacks and wins thus far, Monét says it all makes her cherish her recognition as Billboard’s 2024 Women in Music Rising Star even more.
“I prefer it this way rather than [achieving] fame quickly or being given to me on a silver platter,” she explains. “I know I have a great foundation and legs to stand on because everything I built was brick by brick. A career takes an excellent amount of patience.”
This story will appear in the March 2, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Beyoncé is already making history with her swerve into the country lane. But after scoring a surprise No. 1 hit with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” some of Queen Bey’s Canadian fans think her new two-step has a familiar ring to it.
A week after TikTok videos pointed out that the tune’s bouncy finger-picked intro bears a striking resemblance to the theme song from the late 1990s/early 2000s children’s cartoon Franklin, the musician behind that show’s iconic opening track, “Hey, It’s Franklin,” says he’s just fine with the comparisons.
According to TMZ, veteran Canadian rocker Bruce Cockburn, 78 — best known for his 1984 hit “If I Had a Rocket Launcher” — told the outlet that he is honored by the many side-by-side videos. “I think Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ is a good record. Unfortunately, I can’t claim to have any part in writing it,” he said.
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“The rhythmic feel is similar to my theme song for the Franklin TV series, but to my ears, that’s where the similarity stops. ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ is her song, and I wish her success with it!” Cockburn added.
It appears the resemblance was first pointed out by TikTok user Ashleigh Aedan on Feb. 18, when she played a bit of the Bey song and captioned her video, “Now go listen to the Franklin theme song and tell me these are the same”; that clip ha since racked up more than 3.5 million views. The post began making news in Canada soon after, with a radio DJ doing a mash-up that boosted the notion that the songs share a similar git-up.
A music expert told CBC News that the comparisons make sense since both use fingerstyle plucking, instead of strumming, with Beyoncé’s opening with a banjo played in the Clawhammer style. Musicologist Claire McLeish said the Franklin theme opens with a style called Travis picking, with a “strong Clawhammer influence.” McLeish also pointed out that both are played in the key of D, with the instruments tuned in a similar style, which is what McLeish said people are picking up on.
And while they sound similar, McLeish said “they don’t sound alike in a way that would cause any legal problems” because you cannot copyright an “idea,” and the Travis picking style is a common idea used in country and folk music all the time. In fact, McLeish compiled a playlist of songs in a similar style, including ones by Johnny Cash, Led Zeppelin and Cockburn, noting that since Beyoncé isn’t using the same melody or lyrics that are close to the Franklin theme it’s probably safe from any legal issues.
Last week, Bey became the first Black woman to top the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, followed by the track topping the Billboard Hot 100, giving the singer her ninth leader on the list.
Listen below and see if you hear the similarities.
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Kevin Bacon and wife actress Kyra Sedgwick got their boots dirty this week for a barnyard cover of Beyoncé‘s smash country hit “Texas Hold ‘Em.” The couple took to the pen to mingle with their pigs and ponies for one of their beloved cover song videos, in which Bacon — rocking a wide-brimmed cowboy hat, […]
It’s been a minute since former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland released a full-length pop album. Way more than a minute, actually, more like over a decade. But on the Kelly Clarkson Show on Friday (Feb. 23) “Kisses Down Low” singer explained her long absence from the studio and why she’s gearing up to get back to it.
When Clarkson asked if there was any new music on the horizon, Rowland coyly answered, “coming… later,” as the host and audience broke out into applause about the tease of the long-awaited follow-up to 2013’s Talk a Good Game LP.
“I’m finally inspired,” Rowland explained. “I’m finally inspired, you can’t just be like writing about anything and I don’t want just another sexy song. I want to talk about so many different things and I’m really excited about the topic this album [unintelligible].”
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The singer was on the show to promote her co-starring role in the new Tyler Perry Netflix legal thriller Mea Culpa alongside Trevante Rhodes (Birdbox), and she agreed with Clarkson’s riff about the need to “break up the monotony” of the music industry grind to keep your inspiration and passion burning. That might explain why Rowland, 43, who also co-produced the film, has been off the music radar for a bit.
After releasing her debut solo album, Simply Deep, in 2002 and launching the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single “Dilemma” (feat. Nelly) and the singles “Stole” and “Can’t Nobody,” Rowland has been ping-ponging between music and film in the years since. She appeared in 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason, 2012’s Think Like a Man, 2020’s Bad Hair and 2022’s The Curse of Bridge Hollow, while also dabbling in reality TV mentoring on Clash of the Choirs, X Factor UK (and U.S.), The Voice Australia and a guest spot on ABC sitcom Grown-Ish as Edie last year.
She followed up her solo debut with 2007’s Ms. Kelly and 2011’s Here I Am and then Talk a Good Game, on which she co-wrote all but one of the 12 tracks. Though her solo album output has slowed, Rowland has continued to drop one-off singles over the past decade, including “Conceited” (2016), “Crown” (2019), “Crazy” (2020) and “Black Magic” (2021).
Watch Rowland on the Kelly Clarkson Show below.
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Taylor Swift isn’t the only one who’s expert at sprinkling Easter eggs all over the place. In an interview with The Breakfast Club on Monday, Usher said that his Super Bowl LVIII halftime performance was packed with subtle nods to a number of his R&B favorites, many of which you may have missed.
While you probably spotted the empty drum kit that served as an homage to late drummer Aaron Spears, Usher said there were many more subtle nods. “What you don’t realize is that there are so many gems you have yet to unlock. You only caught one,” Usher told Charlamagne Tha God after the co-host noted that Ush paid homage to Michael Jackson’s dance moves during the 13-minute career retrospective.
“You caught Michael. Did you catch Marvin [Gaye]? Did you catch the back leg pop for James Brown?,” Usher asked, adding that his shirtless bit was a nod to Bobby Brown and his tank top was a tribute to R&B icon Teddy Pendergrass. Among the other superstars Usher said he alluded to were Luther Vandross and a “piano moment” that was a tip to Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway.
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“I’m delivering in all things that I do when I bring the culture of what I am and what has made me who I am everywhere I go, even right now,” Usher said, adding that he also slipped in allusions to Ron Isley, the Gap Band, the Jackson 5, Zapp and Earth, Wind & Fire. “If you go back, it’s an entire education that’s happening right in front of your eyes.”
Before the Super Bowl set, Usher, 45, told GMA that he planned to use his time on the biggest night in TV to pay homage to Black artists who paved the way for him. “I think about what our country has kind of represented for Black artists, you know, having to at some point go through kitchens to even be able to perform for an audience, but they had to leave back through that same door, fear for their lives as they went to the next state to do the same thing,” he said. “So I’m coming through the front door with this one.”
The singer told GMA that he was well-aware that he didn’t start where he is now and didn’t get to the Super Bowl stage by himself. “So, everybody that has been a part of it, I’m carrying them with me. All of my fans, my loved ones, the people who may have felt like they have been forgotten, they haven’t. I’m carrying you right with me when I walk on that stage that night,” he said before taking the stage during the break in what became the Kansas City Chiefs’ third Super Bowl win in the past five years.
See Usher’s Breakfast Club interview below.
