John Summit is currently one of the biggest names in dance music. Earlier this year, he released his second album, CTRL ESCAPE, teaming up with The Chainsmokers and Feid to take his original tech house sound to new places. While he’s been working on new music, Summit has simultaneously been building one of dance music’s hottest labels, Experts Only, which has topped Beatport’s global label chart a number of times since its founding in 2022 and released music from acts like Devault, Layton Giodani, Max Styler.

As is common in the electronic music world, Experts Only is perhaps just as much of an event business as it is a label. Those releasing songs through Experts Only are often invited to participate in showcases, like its 60,000-person festival on Randall’s Island in New York City, or its ski weekenders in Vail and Whistler.

Still, Summit feels like he has “a lot of heads to turn.” Later this year, he will have the opportunity to do just that — he’s a headliner at Lollapalooza in Chicago, a rare feat for a dance act and a personal win for Summit, who grew up near Chicago. In October, he’s embarking on an arena tour in support of CTRL ESCAPE with 20 dates spanning Canada to California.

On the latest episode of On the Record, Summit talks about building his record label, how he’s planning his upcoming arena tour and why the dance music industry operates differently from any other genre.

Watch or listen to the full episode of On the Record below on YouTube, or check it out on other podcast platforms here. Read a segment of the conversation below.

Something I find really interesting about the dance music industry is that it’s very singles-driven, and people tend to hop around different labels. You did this too in your early years, jumping from Repopulate Mars, Defected Records and more. What was your strategy in aligning with these different labels?

A lot of labels throw events, too, which I wanted to do as well. I always wanted to play in Europe, and the only way to do that that I could think of [was] by playing Defected Croatia and their events in the U.K. and everything like that. To get on these parties and get their community to know you, you have to release music with them. In dance music there’s so many artist-run labels. I think [my label] Experts Only has its own community now, too. We have a festival with like 60,000 people in New York this year, so yeah, it’s becoming a huge thing, which is awesome.

Tell me about all the events you’re doing now as part of Experts Only.

We did the first New York festival on Randall’s Island last year, and we’re doing it this year a little bit bigger — just expanding it more, adding an extra stage, having a big list of talent there. And then we did the ski weekenders in February, as well. We did Valentine’s Day this year, and we’re gonna start going international with it. I can’t say anything yet, but there’s a lot more to come.

I did the ski weekenders because I used to ski every year growing up, and then I started touring so much — I was doing 250 shows a year — and I had to stop going. It was sad. Then I [was] like, “Well, what if we had the best of both worlds: skiing and house music and partying?” It turns out all the fans like doing that as well, because you ski by day, party by night — it’s the ideal scenario for me.

You’re headlining Lollapalooza this summer. Do you feel [that] as a dance artist you have to prove yourself even more than pop headliners to get that slot?

Yes. I see the comments [from] pop fans being like, “Who the f*** is John Summit?” And I’m like, “Damn, I thought I was doing pretty well.” But I think I still have a lot of heads to turn, which is awesome. I’ve kind of touched the pop realm, but I still think I’m just fully in dance, because I haven’t had a Billboard Hot 100 track or anything. I chart in the dance charts, but [mainstream pop] is just a different world.

There’s endless demand for you to play sets. You mentioned before that you did 250 shows in one year. Where do you draw the line for yourself with live music so that you still have time to make music, run the label and just overall not burn out?

That is something we try to figure out every single day. I mean, I burned out — not this past weekend, but the weekend before — and I canceled my first ever shows, and I still really feel bad about it. But I [had been] sick, sprained my ankle, and was fully just mentally exhausted. I had just come off this Asia tour that [then] went into South Africa. I literally went from a Red Rocks [Amphitheatre] five hour set, to Coachella, then dropped my album, then Bali, Bangkok, Singapore, China, South Africa, and then I had to go to South America, then I did four shows in Miami. It was too much at once.

Well, yeah, and your suitcase broke!

[Laughs] I had a full-on crash out during that. So I was like, yeah, maybe I should take a chill pill for a second.

It was tough. I come back from tour and my whole suitcase exploded — I lost half my clothes! But I think next — I have this arena tour in the fall for CTRL ESCAPE, the new album, and I think after that I’m going to slow down for a little bit.

Dance music is interesting because it could easily be one of the lowest costs of production for a show possible — all you need is a person and portable equipment —

Which is funny because I just came from EDC which is probably the highest cost festival in the world, but go on!

Exactly where I was going with this. These days many dance acts go all-in on visuals — like Anyma does, as a prime example — and just spend tons of money. Where did you find your sweet spot is between those extremes?

I think it’s just a balance. This year I did a pop-up set at Do LaB [at Coachella], which is a perfect example — the production is still amazing there, and of course they spend money on it all — but as an artist, I just showed up, ripped it and left. All I literally needed was my USB. We did also have our CTRL ESCAPE blocks on stage, though.

It’s great fun doing that, because I can be fully improvisational in my sets — there’s no visuals, no cues to follow. Even when I have that, my team knows how to punt and how to follow when I go off script. And then when I’m doing the arena tour, that’s going to be full-on production. You know what an arena tour is kind of like — where we’re figuring out the visuals and figuring out how much we want or if I want to make this more of a lighting show.

[I think back to] when Four Tet, Skrillex and Fred again.. played Coachella and they used Frank Ocean‘s leftover production and just stood in the middle. It was just about the music, and it was so well received — because I think dance fans truly are music-first, and then everything else is bells and whistles.

I heard that you lost a lot of money on your Madison Square Garden shows.

I lost $1 million. Well, I invested $1 million into myself actually; I’m correcting that!

Why did you decide that was a moment where the extra expenses were worth it?

It was a huge flagship moment for me. I’m one of the first few to really do that from [dance music]. There’s been a few others, of course, but no one really from my world — the tech house world — who had gone to a stage like that before. It was also a proof of concept. I always knew I wanted to do a full arena tour, so we’re doing 20-plus dates in the fall now… If I’m going full business right now, I can now [on the tour] amortize the production for 20 dates so we can actually make money. This is why you see someone like Harry Styles doing 30 Madison Square Gardens. If you just do a one off, you spend so much time, money, and energy just for one show. You really gotta take it on tour. But then I did that MSG show and realized it’s possible, and the fans loved it.

So many people didn’t think club music could work in an arena setting with the seats and everything, but then we did three nights at the Kia Forum [in] L.A. [at the end of] 2024, and that went f—ing awesome, and I broke even. Now I know that the arenas are a lot of fun, and I can take it across the whole country in a lot of markets that I’ve never really hit before with my show.

Stella Lefty’s new EP, Is This Heaven?, arrives at No. 9 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart (dated May 30) with 20,000 equivalent album units May 15-21, according to Luminate. With the launch, she becomes the first woman to earn an initial top 10 on the chart this year.

Two of the EP’s tracks are scaling Hot Country Songs, led by “Boston,” which rises 5-4 in its seventh week on 14.3 million official streams (up 16%), 4.2 million in radio audience (up 20%) and 2,000 sold. The climb makes her just the fifth solo-billed woman in the chart’s multimetric era, which began in 2012, to reach the top four within seven weeks of her first entry, joining Beyoncé, Chappell Roan, Dasha and Cassadee Pope. “Boston” concurrently rises 36-32 on Country Airplay in its fifth week with 4.1 million audience impressions (up 19%; it’s also drawing early pop play).

The EP’s other Hot Country Songs entry, “Something to Lose,” Lefty’s duet with Vincent Mason, debuts at No. 28 with 3.7 million streams. The pairing carries a bit of extra backstory, as Mason is also the real-life inspiration behind “Boston.”

Lefty first found her audience online. The 23-year-old Los Angeles-based, Chicago-born singer-songwriter built early momentum by teasing songs directly to fans, with “Thinking ’bout You” helping set up her breakthrough with “Boston.” As her profile grows, she cites artists who have paired country, pop and personal storytelling, including Taylor Swift and Ella Langley.

“Taylor was the first introduction that I had to country and pop being this blended thing,” Lefty told Billboard as “Boston” first charted. “But now I’m super inspired by Ella Langley, and the women in country right now are amazing, like Lainey Wilson, Megan Moroney. They’re all crushing, so it’s crazy to even be anywhere near them.”

Recently asked about her new proximity to Langley on Hot Country Songs, Lefty tells Billboard, “It’s an indescribable feeling to see my song on the chart, and what an honor to be next to names like the incomparable Ella Langley. I really just make music that I want to listen to, and to see it resonate with so many other people is wild.”

Lefty will bring that momentum to the two-day Billboard Country Live during CMA Fest, performing Friday, June 5, at Category 10 in Nashville. Tucker Wetmore headlines that night, with Alana Springsteen, Alexandra Kay, Ashley Cooke, Braxton Keith, Kaitlin Butts, Something Out West and Priscilla Block also on the bill. The Red Clay Strays headline June 4, alongside Chase Rice, Corey Kent, Drew Baldridge, Hunter Hayes, Lanie Gardner, The Band Perry, The Grimm and Ty Myers. Fans can RSVP for free admission at Billboard Country Live’s website.

Drake has been in a celebratory mood following the release of ICEMAN, which broke several Billboard chart records, including him surpassing Michael Jackson for the most No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits as a male soloist with 14 No. 1s after “Janice STFU” topped this week’s chart.

Drizzy took to his Instagram Story on Tuesday night (May 26) rocking a black leather jacket, matching Chrome Hearts pants and sparking slippers to celebrate his hard work.

The OVO boss was surrounded by ICEMAN-themed blue and silver balloons and a massive poster graphic laid out in the corridor of his Toronto mansion listing all of his No. 1 achievements to date.

ICEMAN serves as Drake’s 15th No. 1 album atop the Billboard 200, and it’s in the biggest and boldest font on the poster.

“Neck broke from carrying the chain, back broke from carrying the game, records broken carry on my name, carry on carry on,” he added in a punchline underneath all of his listed accomplishments.

The phrase could double as bars on an upcoming song, which he included as his caption on an IG post from Tuesday featuring an illustrated photo of Michael Jackson to celebrate surpassing the King of Pop when it comes to having the most No. 1s among male soloists. The Beatles have the most of any act, including groups with 20 No. 1 hits.

Drake released a trifecta of albums on May 15 with ICEMAN, HABIBTI and MAID OF HONOUR. The trio debuted at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 on the Billboard 200, which makes Drake the first to hold the top three slots simultaneously in the chart’s history.

ICEMAN gave Drizzy his 15th No. 1 album — which breaks a tie with Jay-Z for the most among rappers — earning 463,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending May 21, according to Luminate. HABIBTI and MAID OF HONOUR still posted six-figure first week numbers, as the albums earned 114,000 and 110,000 units, respectively.

This week’s Billboard Hot 100 is all about Drake, as he holds a staggering 42 entries on the chart — which breaks Morgan Wallen’s record for the most entries in a week in Hot 100 history — including nine of the top 10 songs, with the only non-Drake track being Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” at No. 5. The 6 God is now the first act ever to accumulate more than 400 entries on the Hot 100 in his career.

We already knew Rihanna was a huge fan of the Real Housewives franchise after she reportedly sent a direct message last week to RHOBH star Amanda Frances begging her to return for season 16.

Now we know she also keeps tabs on the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City clan after the singer weighed in on a recent complaint from cast member Whitney Rose. On Tuesday (May 26) Rihanna reposted a message from Rose on her Instagram Story in which the OG Salt Lake City housewife lamented a fate many of us have resigned ourselves to for nearly a decade: the lack of a new RihRih album.

“I’m just sitting here getting some work done, feeling kind of sad and sorry for myself,” Rose says in a selfie video. “Because I just realized that we still have not had any new music from Rihanna.” Taking a beat to process the fact that the singer has not released a new LP since 2016, when she dropped her eighth studio album, Anti — which spent two weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart — Rose purses her lips and shoots her shot in trying to get the “Work” singer and mother of three young children back on the radio.

Rose goes on to dub Rihanna her “favorite, my girl, my queen,” shrugging her shoulders and sighing, “still no new music,” while reiterating that the lack thereof has made her feel sorry for herself after listening to Rih’s “entire playlist.”

“I want more,” Rose says.

Rihanna clearly heard the message, because in addition to reposting it, she added the message “I feel ATTACKED!!!!” above Rose’s head and added three crying laughing emoji underneath the video.

Rose has plenty of company in wishing for new Rihanna music. Last month, Billie Eilish told Elle magazine that, “If Rihanna ever f–king makes R9, then I’m excited for that,” in reference to the popular nickname for the singer’s as-yet-unannounced next LP. Last February, Rihanna told Harper’s BAZAAR that the rumors she’s working on a reggae album were false and that she’s simply awaiting the perfect moment to return to the music scene.

“Every time, I was just like, ‘No, it’s not me. It’s not right. It’s not matching my growth. It’s not matching my evolution. I can’t do this. I can’t stand by this. I can’t perform this for a year on tour.’ After a while, I looked at it, and I was like, this much time away from music needs to count for the next thing everyone hears,” she told the magazine. “It has to count. It has to matter. I have to show them the worth in the wait. I cannot put up anything mediocre. After waiting eight years, you might as well just wait some more.”

The good news is that Rihanna said back then that she’s been in the studio this whole time, though the muse remains elusive. “But it didn’t hit me. I was searching for it,” she said. “I went through phases of what I wanted to do. ‘This kind of album, not that album.’ I know it’s not going to be anything that anybody expects. And it’s not going to be commercial or radio, digestible. It’s going to be where my artistry deserves to be right now. I feel like I’ve finally cracked it, girl!’”