On June 4, 2025, at approximately 10:00 p.m., alternative-pop singer-songwriter King Princess sacrificed herself on the altar of live music. Staggering around a small stage at Brooklyn’s Market Hotel and staring into a crowd of awestruck fans, the 26-year-old singer collapsed to the ground as two women dressed in low-cut nurse’s outfits rushed to her position, declared that she had passed away, and carried her off the stage. King Princess was dead; long live King Princess.

Related

“Well, I was poisoned,” the singer tells Billboard with a smirk nearly three weeks later. She’s sitting in the corner of Julius’, the historic gay bar in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, sipping on a Paloma and looking back on her very public “death” from earlier in the month.

While there wasn’t actually any poison in her system during the performance, the singer — born Mikaela Straus — thought she might genuinely pass out on stage; a heat wave had hit the city that day, and the inside of the venue was sweltering, thanks in no small part to the hundreds of fans crowded together in the venue.

“I always think of my fans as a producing a lot of body heat in general — it’s like Melissa McCarthy says in Bridesmaids: ‘You feel that steam heat? It’s coming from my undercarriage,’” she says. “I couldn’t believe how sweaty I was. I looked over my band at one point and my bass player’s knees were sweating. How does that even happen? Your knees?”

The reason for Straus’ apparent demise on stage was apparent — she was closing out her Market Hotel with “RIP KP,” the sultry lead single off the singer’s forthcoming third studio album Girl Violence. Throughout the racy new song, Straus croons about a lover who’s so utterly dedicated to showing her a good time that it “could destroy your life.” It’s punchy, it’s dramatic, it’s exactly what fans of King Princess want to hear from their idol.

Straus adds that she wanted the song to herald in the start of a “slutty, slutty gay summer,” which falls in line with her release pattern over the last few years. “It feels like a continuation of ‘Hit the Back,’ of ‘Pussy Is God.’ I always drop a slutty one in the mix,” she says. “Even when we wrote it, I was like, ‘Oh, I hope that this is the first single.’”

The singer adds that she doesn’t want to see her fans fall into “the trap of our addiction to sadness,” especially not in 2025. “We love to be tragic, and I am also a tragic lesbian,” she says. “But I do think that we should be sucking and f–king this summer.”

It’s an important message, especially given the actively hostile political climate the queer community is currently facing. Just during Pride Month, President Trump’s administration announced that it would shutter a section of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline dedicated to helping LGBTQ+ youth; the Supreme Court ruled that Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors was constitutional, allowing the law to remain in place; and just a week later, the court also ruled that parents may opt their children out of LGBTQ+-focused lessons in public schools.

At the first mention of the Trump’s name, Straus sighs and grabs her drink off the bar, taking a long sip. “None of this is surprising. These people have literally been detailing this in their plans — which they weirdly deny being their plans — for years. If you read through Project 2025, a lot of this s–t is in there,” she says. “We know these people hate gays, they hate immigrants, and they don’t care about any form of equity in this country. They are hateful.”

But Straus also points to a disconcerting trend she’s noticed amongst the LGBTQ+ community, where members of different communities within the acronym begin turning on and fighting with one another. “Now we’re in-fighting,” she says, especially pointing to queer people turning against the trans community. “We’re picking each other apart because we’re fucking mad, and we’re upset.”

She continues, pointing out that the only way for the community to weather the ongoing animus being levied against it is by banding together. “There is a clear common enemy here. At the moment, it’d be amazing if, as a group, we all just decided that it’s better that we are out and proud and living in this country and dealing with what’s really important,” she says. “We don’t need to come for each other; they are literally doing that work [for us].”

Even as Pride Month comes to a close, the singer points out that community-building is not confined to a 30-day window. Resources are still in short supply for LGBTQ+ organizations around the U.S., and Straus says that if people want to find a way to stop the feelings of disillusionment that permeate our current political consciousness, then the best way to do so is to offer assistance where it’s most needed.

Related

Find your local LGBT center and donate clothing, help facilitate programs within the community, sign up to just be somebody who helps work on the space and organize the space,” she explains. “That’s your immediate community. And that’s the place that kids go when they need help.”

That focus on local community is vital to Straus, especially after she moved back to her hometown of Brooklyn after spending 7 years in Los Angeles. It’s odd, she points out, because while she feels that “everybody kind of wants to leave their hometown for a minute,” she felt the opposite happen while she was away. “The minute I moved back, I just felt embraced by my city and by the people here all over again,” she says. “I think I found my queer community here as an adult in a way that’s really, really beautiful. I love my girls. This is my favorite city in the world; my stinky, poopy rat city.”

The move back to New York also instigated a transition to take place in Straus’ professional life. Not only did King Princess leave Mark Ronson’s Columbia imprint Zelig Records in favor of independence, but she also began exploring the world of acting. Sharing the screen with Nicole Kidman in the second season of Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers proved to be a career highlight, Straus says, and one that helped renew her creative passion.

“I feel like it up my music game. It’s an interesting form of performance, because you really can’t be embarrassed; you have to try stuff,” she explains. “You’re using your body as a tool in a way that’s really precise and on camera, and I think it just dialed me and allowed me to be more silly and more clown-like, and feel less precious.”

With Straus’ acting career is set to continue — her film debut alongside Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson in Song Sung Blue is set to release this coming Christmas — and her new album Girl Violence due out on September 12 via Section1, the singer smiles as she takes another sip of her Paloma. “More art all the time,” she says. “We just need art constantly.”

Singer-songwriter King Princess sits down with Billboard at Julius’ in New York City and opens up about kicking off her “slutty gay summer” by dropping “RIP KP” as the “slutty anthem for lesbians,” her new album, Girl Violence, her acting debut alongside Nicole Kidman in Nine Perfect Strangers, working with Hugh Jackman on “Song Sung Blue,” her opinions on Donald Trump’s administration cutting funding for LGBTQ+ suicide prevention, her thoughts on Love Island USA and more!

To find your local LGBTQ+ community center, visit CenterLink’s website.

Stephen Daw: Hi, everyone. I am Billboard‘s Stephen Daw, and I am joined today by the icon, the legend herself, King Princess. Hi, babe. How are you? 

King Princess: Hi. 

And we’re here today at Julius’ in the West Village, the oldest gay bar in New York City. How’s life? How’s things? 

It’s been pretty good. We’re at the beginning of summer. 

Hell yeah. 

Kind of feels like the beginning. We went to the- we went to a quarry the other day. 

A quarry? 

Yeah, we swam.

Ooh, OK, so we’re just diving off cliffs at this point.

I think it’s nice, because it’s like we got out of the city on the first day that it was super, super hot, and like, just smoked blunts by the natural water source.

Love that for you. 

Which was great, and it really got me in the mood to now traverse the slutty, slutty gay summer.

Naturally, I love that. 

It got me ready. 

I have to tell you the start of my slutty gay summer was at your Market Hotel show. 

Oh, wow! 

That was one of the hottest events — both literally and figuratively — that I’ve been to in a minute. 

Did you believe the temperature? 

It was truly wild. 

I always think of my fans as a producing a lot of body heat in general. 

And you’re correct to think that. 

The lesbians, it’s what Melissa McCarthy is in Bridesmaids. She’s like, “Feel that steam heat? It’s coming from my undercarriage.”

Keep watching for more!

BTS fans just received permission to dance along to the band’s concerts all over again, with label Big Hit announcing Monday (June 30) that a new live album is arriving later this summer.

Related

Marking the K-pop phenomenon’s first-ever live album, Permission to Dance On Stage — Live is set to drop July 18. It will feature recordings of BTS’ performances of various hits — such as Billboard Hot 100-toppers “Dynamite” and “Butter” — on the group’s 2021-2022 Permission to Dance On Stage tour.

Live renditions of “Life Goes On,” “Boy With Luv (feat. Halsey)” and “ON” will also appear on the project’s 22-song tracklist. Plus, the compilation will be paired with a digital package titled BTS Permission to Dance On Stage – Seoul, which will feature footage of RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook performing at Olympic Stadium in Seoul on March 13, 2022, as well as a 92-page interview photobook with behind-the-scenes memories from the concert.

BTS Permission to Dance On Stage – Seoul will be offered as a digital code in card format, which fans can plug in to Weverse to access high-definition VOD content.

The announcement comes shortly after SUGA was discharged from the South Korean military, becoming the final member of the band to complete his mandatory service duties. Five years after last releasing an album — 2020’s Be, which topped the Billboard 200 — BTS is now expected to reunite very soon, as teased by Big Hit and the members over the past few months.

See the live album announcement below.

For decades, Atlanta has been a major musical hub, nurturing an array of Southern acts who have set trends and topped Billboard charts. It’s the city that developed and commercialized trap music, which has made global waves even outside of rap music. The city’s impact extends beyond trap, though. Atlanta has long been a place where artists from elsewhere – ranging from Nelly to Jack Harlow, from Muni Long to Mariah Carey – come to be creative and collaborate with hitmaking producers such as Jermaine Dupri, Tricky Stewart and Metro Boomin. From James Brown to Outkast to Summer Walker, the city’s music history runs deep.

This likely wouldn’t be the case without the cultural spaces and music venues in the city which have served as incubators and development hubs for local and transplant artists alike. Atlanta is a sprawling city, though, meaning there’s no central location where people can bear witness to its musical legacy. From southwest Atlanta, which birthed acts like Goodie Mob, to east Atlanta, home of Gucci Mane and 21 Savage, each neighborhood offers a unique glimpse into the culture that has inspired superstars.

Whether you’re a local looking to learn more about the city that birthed you or a transplant interested in seeing what Atlanta’s music scene has to offer, this music guide is for you. It’s not a comprehensive list, but it will serve as the perfect entry point for anyone curious about the city and the entertainment it has inspired. From record stores to museums, here are a dozen must-visit music landmarks and venues.

The soundtrack to the Netflix animated film KPop Demon Hunters becomes the highest debuting soundtrack of 2025 on the Billboard 200 chart, bowing at No. 8, while it also enters at No. 1 on the Soundtracks chart (both lists dated July 5). On the latter, the album is the first soundtrack from a Netflix show to reach No. 1 in over two years.

The last soundtrack to debut in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 was the Wicked film soundtrack on the Dec. 7, 2024-dated chart, at No. 2. The Wicked soundtrack went on to spend eight weeks in the top 10, with four of those on 2025-dated charts (in January). Until this week, Wicked was the only soundtrack to spend time in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 in 2025.

On the Soundtracks chart, where KPop Demon Hunters enters at No. 1, the album is the first from a Netflix program to top the list in over two years — since Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Volume 4, re-entered atop the list dated Nov. 19, 2022, for its first week at No. 1.

The KPop Demon Hunters film premiered on June 20 on Netflix alongside its soundtrack release that same day. In the tracking week ending June 22, KPop Demon Hunters debuted at No. 6 on Netflix’s Top 10 Movies in United States chart.

The Billboard 200 and Soundtracks charts rank, respectively, the most popular overall albums of the week, and soundtracks, in the United States, based on multimetric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new July 5, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on July 1.

The KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack earned 31,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending June 26, according to Luminate. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 27,000 (equaling 37.48 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks — it debuts at No. 10 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 3,000 (it debuts at No. 18 on Top Album Sales; it was only available to purchase as a standard download album) and TEA units comprise 1,000.

Alice Cooper, host of Nights With Alice Cooper and Alice’s Attic, and Martha Quinn, host of The Martha Quinn Show, are among the 2025 inductees into the Radio Hall of Fame.

Cooper, who topped the Billboard 200 in 1973 with his album Billion Dollar Babies, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. He is just the second person who was inducted as a performer in the Rock Hall to also be admitted to the Radio Hall of Fame, following R&B legend James Brown. (Four other Radio Hall inductees were honored by the Rock Hall in the non-performer category:  Alan Freed, Sam Phillips, Dick Clark and Don Cornelius.)

Related

Quinn gained pop-culture immortality as one of MTV’s five original VJs when that culture-shaking channel launched in 1981, along with Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, J.J. Jackson and Nina Blackwood. Quinn is the first of these five VJs to join the Radio Hall of Fame.

On Monday (June 30), the Museum of Broadcast Communications announced the selection of 10 new inductees – nine individuals and one team (Bob Lacy and Sheri Lynch of The Bob & Sheri Show) – into the Radio Hall of Fame for 2025. They will be honored at the in-person 2025 Radio Hall of Fame Induction ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 30 at the Swissotel Hotel in Chicago.

Six of the 10 inductees were determined by a voting participant panel comprised of more than 900 industry professionals. The other four inductees were voted on by the Radio Hall of Fame 2025 nominating committee.

“Our 2025 Induction Ceremony and Celebration will be a special, standing-room-only, event honoring the talents, history and contributions of 11 incredible people,” Kraig Kitchin, co-chair of the Radio Hall of Fame, said in a statement. “I cannot wait to celebrate the careers and impact of these men and women who’ve made a forever positive impact on the radio industry!”

Related

Dennis Green, co-chair of the Radio Hall of Fame, added: “These Radio Hall of Famers have entertained us, informed us, and helped to bring special moments to our lives through a medium that does this better than any other.”

The Radio Hall of Fame was founded by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. The Museum of Broadcast Communications took over operations of the Hall in 1991.

Tickets for the 2025 Radio Hall of Fame Induction ceremony are on sale now at the Radio Hall of Fame site. Individual tickets are $595 per person. A portion of ticket purchases is a tax-deductible charitable donation to the Museum of Broadcast Communications, home to the Radio Hall of Fame.

Here’s the full list of 2025 Radio Hall of Fame inductees:

INDUCTED

Tom Carballo (Mojo), Mojo in the Morning – WKQI FM / Detroit

Alice Cooper, Nights With Alice Cooper/Alice’s Attic

Colin Cowherd, The Herd with Colin Cowherd

DeDe McGuire, DeDe in the Morning

Mike McVay, McVay Media

Martha Quinn, The Martha Quinn Show, iHeartMedia

Bob Lacy and Sheri Lynch, The Bob & Sheri Show

Scott Simon, Weekend Edition Saturday, National Public Radio

Shelley “The Playboy” Stewart

Julie Talbott, Premiere Networks

For the record, here are 2025 nominees who were not inducted this year:

Related

NOT INDUCTED

Bert Weiss

Big D & Bubba

Bob and Sheri

Bob Sirott

Bob Stroud

D.L. Hughley

DeDe McGuire

Enrique Santos

Funkmaster Flex

Joey Reynolds

John Garabedian

John Kobylt & Ken Chiampou, co-hosts of The John & Ken Show

Kevin Matthews

Kid Leo

Larry Elder

Laurie De Young

Mark “Hawkeye” Louis

Raul Brindis

At the turn of the new century, U.K.-born singer Craig David had no idea he’d soon have the R&B and pop worlds in the palm of his hand. At just 16, the precocious songwriter penned a bevy of tracks that would eventually blossom into Billboard Hot 100 heaters — laying the foundation for a career filled with musical triumphs.

Released in 2000, David’s debut album Born to Do It shook the R&B sphere. With slithery vocals and a deep-rooted command of U.K. garage music, he became a fiery anomaly in both his homeland and across the Atlantic. Songs like “Fill Me In,” “7 Days” and “Walking Away” showcased his wizardry as a singer-songwriter, blending infectious melodies with penmanship that felt both smooth and surgical. The universe returned David’s “labor of love” tenfold: Born to Do It produced two top-15 hits, with “7 Days” cracking the Hot 100’s top 10 and later earning a Grammy nomination.

With a fusion of Notorious B.I.G., Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Joe, and Usher coded in his DNA, David set the gold standard for a new millennium. His magnum opus didn’t just breathe new air into R&B and pop, it gave the U.K. daredevil the creative license and reassurance to stay adventurous throughout his 20-plus-year career.

“I think the most important takeaway is to enjoy your album as much as you did when you first made it,” David said over Zoom last week. “As much as we want new, new, new, they’re all your children. Just appreciate all of them equally — because Born to Do It is the gift that keeps giving. I love it as much as the new tunes I do today.”

As part of Billboard’s Black Music Month celebration, David spoke to Billboard about the 25th anniversary of Born to Do It, the making of his classics “7 Days” and “Fill Me In,” and more.

Before signing a recording deal, you were already crafting what became Born to Do It. Do you remember which early songs helped shape the album’s foundation?

I was living in a city called South Hampton in the U.K. and I grew up in the projects. For me, it was like a ten minute walk down to this one area where the studio was at to see Mark Hill, who produced and wrote the album with me. Bro, it was like a labor of love. There was no pressure. There was no time. Time was like, “If we’re gonna write a melody today, cool. If we’re gonna do a lyric tomorrow, cool.” It was just calm.

“Rendezvous” was one of the first tunes [made] with “Walking Away.” So I remember taking time with that, man. Mark was playing the beautiful harp. I went back to my bedroom, and just had that harp on loop. [Starts singing “Rendezvous”] and then I’d go back in. He’d put some harmonies and I just felt like the process for me was what music should be, before you get into the business of it. It was all about the music.

Also, as a DJ at the time, I was making mixtapes. For me, I always thinking how could this sit alongside “You Make Me Wanna” from Usher or how could this sit in the mix with Joe’s “Table for Two” or Tank’s “Maybe I Deserve.” When you have that as kind of your world that you’re living in, [it’s incredible.] So I was gassed when people felt it, you know what I mean? 

When you and Mark Hill were in the trenches, what did that era teach you about creativity before the industry got involved?

You know, we were on the cusp of analog getting slightly more digital. So Pro Tools wasn’t really out around those times. It was Mark using this software called Studio Vision. It didn’t have all of the things that we take for granted now when you jump on Logic or Pro Tools. One thing with Mark Hill that I appreciate and love when I listen back to that album, he was originally part of the Welsh Philharmonic Orchestra. So he has a background of playing real instruments. He loved to play percussion. 

When we went into the studio, he approached it from a very different angle to maybe some of the R&B and hip-hop I was listening to at the time. It was much more live, but we had time. I think that’s the biggest takeaway from this: Time. It just felt like nothing was rushed [and] everything had a moment to live and breathe so that we can come back to it and say, “You know what? I don’t know if it’s really the same way as it was. So let’s change that.” Or as a DJ, I did many iterations of “Rewind” by just going and playing that song in the clubs. I would be playing to 100-150 people. You’d play the tune and you’re like, “OK. It’s taking too long to get to the bassline drop,” or “The bassline is not right.” Then, you’d go back, change up and test it out again. This would go for months and then all of sudden, you’d have your song.

I feel like I haven’t changed with social media now and the pace of everything, because it’s still quality over quantity. You won’t forget once you hear a big tune licking through the speakers. 

Colin Lester heard “Walking Away” and “7 Days” and upgraded you from a developmental deal to an album deal. How did that elevation motivate you to further deliver on your debut album?

I didn’t even know what development deal even meant. I was walking into all of these different record labels in the U.K. So from all the companies like Epic, Columbia, BMG, Arista, to Warner, RCA [and] Atlantic, you just saw all these glossy walls and shiny floors. I saw big plaques from artists that I’ve grown up listening to and you want to be part of it, you know what I mean?

What was glaring too, people said, “There’s this 16-year-old kid. He has this song called ‘Walking Away,’” and, “OK. We’re in the game here, but where is it going?” In my head, I’m thinking I have “Rewind” — and there was no other song at the time that was forcing its hands onto radio and pirate radio stations. It was the biggest thing in the clubs at the time, and “Walking Away” was sitting there. So Colin was the only one that when I went into Wildstar — his record label — that he just said, off the basis of “Walking Away,” “[If you can write those lyrics] at 16, then what are we developing here?”

Everyone was talking to each other, by the way. He’d tell other A&Rs the same thing they were saying. “You know what? I think it’s a developmental deal.” He was already throwing them off the scent. He told me this after. He said, “Yeah. I told them you maybe have one song, and I’m not sure.” Clever guy. He said, “Craig. I’ll do an album deal with you off-the-bat.” I remember coming in a few weeks later and dropped him off a little gift with “Fill Me In” and “7 Days.” And the guy came through correct on that little album deal.

How did your time with Artful Dodger shape your musical instincts going into Born to Do It?

I think what I felt was different when I was growing up in South Hampton was it wasn’t a city that was known for its musical export. It was all very London-centric at the time. So being able to work with the Artful Dodger, they started having some heat on them with some club performances that they were going in London. We did a song called “What You Gonna Do” — which was one of the first songs I did with them as a featured artist. I was going up to London, paying my friends 50 pounds to get in his little Fiesta and have them drive me up to do one performance in the Coliseum.

I started making a little money and was doing the DJ thing. With Artful Dodger, the come-up was so strong. They had a song called “Too Fast” with Romina Johnson. So by the time “Rewind” hit, I felt that I learned a lot from their hustle. We couldn’t just stayed in South Hampton and thought someone was gonna come down and hear it. It was like, “No. You have to physically take it and put it in the shop.” So I respect them both for that. They had different personalities. Mark Hill was more of the music guy and Pete Devereux was more of the DJ.

Is it true that the album title was loosely inspired by Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?

Yeah, my guy. Still a classic in this household here. I was watching that movie from when I was a kid. It was something about the way that Charlie was coming from this working class family, and thought he wasn’t going to have a chance to win any ticket. He didn’t have the money like other people had, but he stuck in there. He stuck in there. He did the right thing.

All of a sudden, he gets to go and live his dreams. Then, when you fast forward to the end of the movie, he still had the values and morals to say, “Even though I can go out and sell this Everlasting Gobstopper right now, I’m gonna put this thing back on your desk, my man. I appreciate you. You’re the guy, Mr. Wonka.”

In the opening scene of the movie, the kids are running into the candy shop and they asked the candyman [Bill]: “How does he do it?” And he says, “My dear boy. Do you ask a fish how it swims?” The boy says “No.” He says, “Do you ask a bird how it flies?” He says, “No, surely you don’t. They do it because they were born to do it.” I was like, “Yo.” That rang off in mans head, yeah?

By the time I was doing the album, it was almost a given that’s what it was going to be called. The funny thing is the album cover came from a few shots that we did from the end of a long day of shooting, where a headphone company at the time said, “Look. We’ll give you some free headphones. Can you just take a couple of pictures quickly?” So we say yeah, just for an internal office picture. Next thing you know, we look back at the whole shoot and we’re like, “I don’t know. That one with you holding the headphones looking up seeing Born to Do It [is pretty good].” It ended up being the cover.

Your first single was “Fill Me In.” How would you describe the traction from the U.K. where it was first released, versus when it landed in the States? 

I think off the back of “Rewind” having so much success, I could feel people’s anticipation. “Fill Me In” was my tune from [the beginning]. I was like, “I can’t wait until we get to this.” [Starts humming the song] The guitar riff alone? Forget what I did on it. I was like, “This thing is crazy.” There’s certain guitar licks where you just have to respect the guitar. Like John Mayer when he has the song “Neon,” you hear that rift. You don’t know what you’re going to put on it, but the guitar is hard within itself. 

I think because “Fill Me In” started to garner this vibe of being garage, but also being R&B, and my flow was inspired by Twista and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, anyone that could spit that speed, I was about that life. Beyoncé, when you listen to her early stuff, she has that. She has that cadence. She can ride with melody. Being able to put a melody on that felt like what we could do. Young kids running around and parents trying to find out what we were up to, that’s just how it was going down.

It was real talk, but the way that it hit when I did the acoustic performances in the U.K., I think there was a moment here in the U.K. before I came to the U.S. When they saw me do it acoustically, I think at that point — people were like, “OK. He has some R&B about him, it’s not just straight garage music.” It’s like you’re doing a pop song, but R&B. So by the time it hit and I came to the States, we did a new video for it. Mans was in Miami for the first time. That changed my life. It hit differently and I think the States embracing it was a huge move, because Garage was a very U.K. thing. So the fact it translated was big. 

You released two different versions for the “Fill Me In” video — same with “Walking Away.” In terms of the former, which version means more to you today?

I still think it’s the original from the U.K. Don’t get me wrong, I grew up on so much U.S. R&B and hip-hop. I was that guy when it came to vinyl, I was so in it. So the fact that I was doing a pirate radio station setup as my opening vibe, and reenacting being on the side of the building, and hiding from the father, it was my first video. It was my first moment. When I came to Miami, it was different. I was hearing Black Rob, “Whoa.” Carl Thomas’ “I Wish” was playing at the same time. And I was just like, “This is a wave.” And I’m here doing a video in Miami. It was crazy. 

What about “Walking Away”?

Yeah, I still gotta say the U.K. [version]. There was something about getting out of the car in the middle of traffic and walking down the roads. I just felt so much. I was in traffic, and this thing was kicking off in the car. Rather than entertaining it and just riding it out, to have the audacity to be like I’m leaving the situation, the car, the whole thing, just to do that and to be at breaking point [was crazy]. 

“Last Night” was a slept-on favorite, especially with you rapping on it. That was rare for R&B artists then. What made that song the right moment to flex that side?

You know what was funny with that? I’d written the song before I dropped “Rewind.” For me, it was like a remix in some respect. It’s crazy that I was able to take a verse from “Last Night” and I was singing that while making “Rewind” and it just stuck so well. I was like, “I didn’t really wanna make something so different. Can we not just use this and change a couple of words?” As you said, “Last Night” was ringing off it. Just the vibe of it. 

You added two more tracks to the U.S. version with “Fill Me In Pt. 2” and “Key to My Heart.” What made you decide to go that route? 

It was a hard decision, yeah? Because I knew I needed to add something for the U.S. album. The label said we needed a couple of new songs to add to this, just to bolster up. Born to Do It had been out for a bit, so I said, “OK, cool.” It needed to feel like it was part of the album. It’s quite difficult when you have a body of work that lived for awhile and then you tag on songs to something to try to make it fit. So I went in with Jeremy Paul who did the production on “Key to My Heart.”

The beauty of it was I had the “Key to My Heart” melody happening in and around Born to Do It time. So it wasn’t like “Key to My Heart” couldn’t have happened with Mark Hill, if it hadn’t been with Jeremy Paul. So when he sent over the instrumental to me before we met, I already [had the melody]. I had a few of the things there already. It was in the Born to Do It world for me. 

And the “Fill Me In Pt. 2,” that we originally did in the U.K. That was already starting to ring off at the same time as “Sunship Remix” of “Fill Me In” and “7 Days.” So it felt like it was still a part of it. It was very difficult to add something to songs that were already gone. It could feel like a tag-on. But people in the U.K. were like, ‘Why didn’t you add “Key to My Heart” to the original?’ So it worked out all right. 

You follow up “Fill Me In” with “7 Days,” which was nominated for a Grammy and peaked at No. 10 on the Hot 100. To me, that’s the snapshot of what a perfect record is, from recording to video for you. Why do you think that track is so beloved?

I feel like “7 Days” is the gift that keeps giving. It’s funny because the way me and Mark Hill were writing that song, I was in awe of his guitar. You already gave me “Fill Me In,” you already got me at hello. He would confess to you that he’s not the guitar guy. Well, last time that I checked, you’re the guitar guy. Whatever band you’re in right now, you’re the guy.

When I did “7 Days,” the melody, he was in awe of it. We were both fanboying off each other’s musical skills. So by the time it hit, when I saw the response from people — especially when I was doing photoshoots for the album and I was playing it before it came out — nobody was ripping it. Nobody in the public had it. So for the fact that we did that and people were responding, like, “Oh my God. This is a tune, this is a vibe,” I was gassed.

When we did the video — which was inspired by Groundhog Day [with] Bill Murray — [directors] Max and Dania landed it so perfectly because in a three-and-a-half-minute video, sometimes, you can have a great treatment idea, but you don’t really have much time to get it all in there, right? Especially when you’re basing it on a movie that was an hour and a half. So the fact that they got all the parts of the kids running around the corner, catching the shoes, the next time I’m waking up, you’re seeing the time and I’m clocking that. Then, the woman with the balloons, the guy setting up the papers and me being in the barbershop was something everyone could relate it.

It was so blessed, man. As you said, I’ll wholeheartedly agree with you. The visuals, the music and the way that it lives in anyone’s conversation [is special]. 

Wasn’t there a thing about you having the “Foolish” beat before Ashanti for the remix?

I remember when Irv Gotti sent that instrumental, trying to do a remix for “7 Days.” This is when Ja Rule and Ashanti are blowing up with “Always on Time.” I had the DJ Premier remix that we did, but I have this instrumental sitting on my computer already. I was like, “I don’t know how to approach this, because my favorite song is the Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘One More Chance’” [with the same DeBarge sample] So I know every time I hear that guitar riff, it’s this.

Somehow, it fell by the wayside. I longed it out, took too long to get it back, and Irv had moved on. The next thing I hear, [starts singing Ashanti’s “Foolish], and that one hit two ways: That was the one that was supposed to be “7 Days,” but I was so happy in that respect that it didn’t work out, because what they did with “Foolish” was a monster of a song. 

That Mos Def and Nate Dogg remix flew under the radar for some, but it was major. How did that collaboration even come together?

I mean, DJ Premier. Gang Starr. “Nas Is Like,” “10 Crack Commandments.” He was the guy. Anything he put, it just knocked in a different way. However he pulled the song together on his MPC 60 was different. So when I came to America, I was in New York, and I got to go to the studio and meet Premier. I was super-gassed to meet him. Seeing him pull up records, doing his little [scratches], I was like, “This is DJ Premier!” Then, I just took it back to my hotel room at the time and ended up recording most of the vocals [there].

That was mad because I wasn’t using the craziest equipment either. I was using an OK microphone going into my little OK DI-box interface. But, Mos Def, “Mr. Fat Booty,” that was my tune from my guy. The Nate Dogg one was kinda crazy, because that vocal that ended up [on the song was] me trying to do Nate Dogg. I was just trying to bring those two together. It was a vibe.

Twenty five years later, there’s a reverence and freshness that still comes with your album. Why do you think it’s aged so well? 

It’s really hard when you’re in the eye of the storm because when I was making that album, I had all the time in the world. It was a labor of love. No rush. Everything had its place. Every melody, ad-lib was seen with a fine comb. I think the collaboration between me and Mark Hill was so special, because we complemented each other. I was an R&B/hip-hop head that loved the DJ elements, he was back to his Philharmonic Orchestra, musicality, bringing things out — and we just complemented [each other].

I think maybe we weren’t trying to replicate everything. When I hear the Rodney Jerkins make Whitney Houston’s “It’s Not Right, But It’s OK,” and wholeheartedly say, “I came over to the U.K. and I heard Craig David’s ‘Fill Me In’ ringing off in the club. I went back to my studio and I had to get involved,” I’m thinking, this is Rodney Jerkins. This is Gina Thompson’s “Things You Do.” This is Brandy “Full Moon.” It was just a blessing, man. Long may those moments happen for any artists.

Drake posted a mirror selfie in front of his bar on his Instagram on June 28, which showed off his fitness regimen along with his six-pack of abs.

“I’m wide awake for the nights that separate the type who get to it til they get it right from the type who just …type,” he poetically penned in his caption.

The 6 God’s abs sent the internet into a frenzy as fans had plenty to say about the photo. Some complimented Drizzy’s chiseled physique while others believed his abs were the result of cosmetic surgery and not hard work.

“Abs etching,” one person asked. Another chimed in, “No way are we supposed to be believe those abs are real with running form like that!”

Others opted to focus on his liquor collection: “Just missing Glenlivet 12.”

It was a busy weekend for the 6 God. He made another post that found him at a bar where he left a signature on the wooden wall teasing Iceman, which many suspect to be the name of Drake’s next solo album. “Iceman. Snow Owl Ranch,” he wrote.

Perhaps Drake and Nicki Minaj have something up their sleeve. Drizzy posted a throwback photo of Minaj to his Instagram Story on Sunday night (June 29), which found the queen in a blue shirt and American flag bandana.

On the gambling side, Drake’s pockets are a bit lighter closing out June as he lost $200,000 betting on Charles Oliveira, who was brutally knocked out in the first round by Ilia Topuria at UFC 317 in their lightweight title fight on Saturday night (June 28).

Next up, Drake will be heading across the pond, where he’ll be headlining the U.K.’s Wireless Fest for all three nights of the festival, celebrating its 20th anniversary from July 11 through July 13.

Miley Cyrus knows how to strike a pose and her pal supermodel Naomi Campbell definitely knows the ins and outs of looking glamorous. The two icons will bring it all together in the upcoming video for Miley’s Something Beautiful single “Every Girl You’ve Ever Loved,” which Cyrus said is slated to debut on Monday (June 30).

In an amped-up 40-second teaser of the disco pop tune that dropped on Sunday (June 29), Miley is seen in silhouette in a fog-enshrouded warehouse featuring dramatic lighting and giant industrial fans, with both women strutting through frame in runway-ready fashion over the song’s driving beat.

Wearing an all-black shorts and jacket ensemble complete with black mesh gloves, Cyrus’ singing is interrupted by Campbell’s exhortation to “pose, pose, pose, pose,” as the glamour star strikes a fierce model look while Miley sheds her jacket and strips down to a black tank top. The teaser did not reveal precisely when the visual for the song from Cyrus’ visual album will drop.

The lyrics to the song co-written by Cyrus and a team of nine other writers are a custom fit for Campbell, as they perfectly mash up the worlds of high fashion and pop stardom. “I match my bag to my new dress/ I’m still looking like a ten/ While my hair is a mess/ Yeah, and I’m gonna work it all night/ Till I get what I want,” Miley sings.

Speaking of high fashion, Cyrus busted out two Mugler looks for her first Paris show in 10 years earlier this month, when she performed a mini-set for Spotify’s Billions Club Live that featured her hits “Flowers,” “The Climb/We Can’t Stop,” “Wrecking Ball” and the Something Beautiful tracks “End of the World,” “More to Lose” and “Easy Lover.”

Check out the “Every Girl You’ve Ever Loved” teaser below.

Benson Boone earns his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart as his second full-length studio album, American Heart, debuts atop the list dated July 5. The set sold nearly 30,000 copies in the United States in the week ending June 26, according to Luminate — Boone’s biggest sales week ever. The set also enters at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart with 18,000 sold – Boone’s best week on vinyl.

Also in the top 10 of the latest Top Album Sales chart, new albums from HAIM and YUNGBLUD debut in the top five, while Peso Pluma’s Éxodo bows at No. 10 following its CD and vinyl release.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units. The new July 5, 2025-dated Top Album Sales chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on July 1.

HAIM’s latest studio set, I Quit, starts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales, with 13,000 copies sold. It’s the fourth top 10-charting effort for the trio. ENHYPEN’s chart-topping DESIRE : UNLEASH falls 2-3 with 12,000 sold (down 55%).

YUNGBLUD’s new studio album, Idols, launches at No. 4 with a little more than 11,000 sold. It’s the second top 10 for the artist, who previously hit the region with his No. 3-peaking self-titled project in 2022.

ATEEZ’s GOLDEN HOUR : Part.3 falls 1-5 in its second week (10,000; down 90%), SZA’s SOS climbs 9-6 (9,000; up 17%), Morgan Wallens’s chart-topping I’m the Problem is a non-mover at No. 7 (7,000; down 19%), Kendrick Lamar’s former No. 1 GNX rises 13-8 (6,000; down 6%) and Sabrina Carpenter’s chart-topping Short n’ Sweet steps 12-9 (5,000; down 24%).

Rounding out the top 10 is the No. 10 debut of Peso Pluma’s Éxodo following its CD and vinyl release on June 20. The set premieres on the list with nearly 5,000 sold, mostly from vinyl (about 4,000). Until now, the album had only been available to purchase as a digital download since its release a year ago, on June 20, 2024.