While the wider worlds of pop and hip-hop may not have realized it when it was announced earlier this week, the name of Cardi B’s long awaited sophomore album, Am I the Drama?, is suspiciously close to a viral quote from Scarlet Envy’s time on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season six.

But for the predominantly (if not close to exclusively) LGBTQ revelers at Brooklyn’s annual LadyLand Festival, “am I the drama?” is queer meme canon. So when Scarlet Envy emerged onstage at 1:35 a.m. on Friday night (technically Saturday morning, but who’s counting) to introduce Cardi’s headlining set, absolutely everyone knew why she was there.

“Happy Pride, New York City!” Scarlet shouted, prowling the stage in a shimmering red outfit and gigantic wig. “I’m here every single year — it’s good to be on the stage this year, bitch. My name is Scarlet Envy: I’m the drama,” she said to cheers and finger snaps. “I’m blessed to introduce this performer to you. She’s an icon, she a legend and she’s a hometown hero.”

“Who’s tucking today?” Cardi B yelled at the LadyLand crowd as she rolled up on stage in a black-and-white horizontal-striped jumper. “I’m an old bitch,” she joked. “I have like 100 kids, I’m ready for bed.”

What happened next was not the handiwork of someone with one foot in slumberland: Cardi led the eager crowd through a breathless tour of her biggest hits, despite the growing rain. “Let’s get sexy y’all!” Cardi shouted at the top of her set, perhaps needlessly – the LadyLand attendees, who had been gathering, gyrating, kiki-ing and flirting for hours, were way ahead of her, singing along and shaking ass the moment her tiny frame emerged on the fest’s Fist Stage. (For those interested, “Fist and Resist” keychains were available at the merch table.)

Flanked by two giant inflatable fists with nails even longer than hers, Cardi B delivered hits like “She Bad,” “Money” and her new single, the Offset-eviscerating “Outside,” with the effortless fervor and personality-drenched flow that catapulted her to fame.

“Imma spill some tea, get ready for the tour,” the five-time Billboard Hot 100 topper promised the audience of what was to come. Four of those five chart toppers (“WAP,” “Bodak Yellow,” “I Like It,” “Up”) were accounted for during her show. Despite the persistent rain that gathered strength throughout Cardi’s set, the audience remained undaunted and rapt; after all, it’s not every day you get to see a hip-hop superstar perform under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (LadyLand has called Greenpoint’s Under the K Bridge Park home since 2023).

Prior to Cardi B’s headlining set, Ladyfag, the LadyLand founder and a driving force in NYC nightlife, told the crowd about her history with the Bronx-raised rapper. “It’s a full circle moment for me and Cardi,” she explained: back in 2017, before Cardi ascended to mainstream success with “Bodak Yellow,” she performed up at Holy Mountain, LadyFag’s legendary NYC monthly throwdown.

“She got very excited about being with the gays,” Ladyfag recently told Billboard of that February 2017 party. “She was only supposed to do a few songs, but she wouldn’t stop. Within a few months, she became one of the biggest stars in the world — and she always remembered it.” That connection and warmth was obvious on Friday night, with Cardi blowing past her bedtime to give the gays, the dolls and everyone else an experience beyond what any other NYC festival provides.

Saturday (June 28) is the second and last night of LadyLand 2025, with FKA Twigs headlining and performances from Pabllo Vittar, Boris, Eartheater, VTSS, Isabella Lovestory and Kevin Aviance.

Shawn Desman is not back. He’s still here.

“It’s not a comeback, it’s a continuation,” he tells Billboard Canada.

In the past year, the Canadian pop singer has played sold-out shows across the country, signed a lucrative songwriting deal with Anthem Entertainment and popped up all over NXNE with exclusive performances for his most dedicated fans. “Body,” his collaborative track with Jamie Fine, is climbing the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 chart, sitting at No. 87 after five weeks on the chart. It’s a hit on radio too, now in the top 10 of the Canada Hot AC Airplay chart.

Not bad for a singer who’s been performing for well over 20 years.

Desman was the soundtrack to the childhood and adolescent years of many Millennial and Gen Z-aged Canadians. With bona fide hits like “Shook” and “Electric,” he was a pop radio and MuchMusic mainstay in the early 2000s with the total package — catchy, upbeat songs, hypnotic dance moves and good looks.

He’s had multiple hits, but has been dropped by labels twice, most recently in 2015. 

“It was hard and devastating, and made me hate the business,” he recalls. “Success has many parents, but failure is an orphan. When you’re hot, everybody’s on you and wants to be a part of it, but as soon as something goes wrong and you’re not hot, everybody forgets your number.”

In 2022, after a seven-year break, Desman’s life would change. He received a call from Drake, asking him to perform at the All Canadian North Stars concert at OVO Fest.

The crowd went wild for Desman’s nostalgic hits. Afterwards came a heartfelt moment with Drake that subconsciously prompted his return to music.

“He thanked me and said he grew up watching me perform, and I was a big part of his career, which felt crazy. When you’re young, you’re not thinking about creating a legacy and inspiring people,” he recalls. “He told me the crowd loved me and I needed to start making music again.” 

Read more about his unique comeback here. – Heather Taylor-Singh

Spotify Reports Francophone Music Is One of the Top Genres On The Platform

Francophone music is thriving on Spotify — and Quebec is playing a key role.

Spotify has shared new data that highlights French-language music and content as one of the top-performing genres on the platform. One hundred million global users are listening to French content, according to the report, while French music streams are up 192% since 2019.

The data follows the release of Spotify’s Loud & Clear streaming report earlier this month. While Francophone music’s reach is global — a staggering 100 million users reside outside of traditionally French-speaking countries, it reported — Quebec is a major amplifier. Nearly half of Quebec Spotify users regularly listen to media content in French, Spotify says.

In May 2025 alone, Quebecers listened to nearly 10 million hours of Francophone music — and the number only continues to go up. The consumption of Francophone content on Spotify has grown almost 20% year over year among local users, boasting 130% growth since 2019.

The province’s Francophone listeners are getting younger, too. Nearly 40% of Quebec-based Spotify users who engage with Francophone content are under the age of 29, which is seen as a powerful signal that the French language continues to resonate deeply with the next generation of music listeners.

That data is translating into dollars. According to Spotify, French music royalties generated globally are up 15% from 2023. This includes many Quebecois artists, whose musical richness appeals nationwide and internationally. Last year, indie artist Patrick Watson’s “Je te laisserai des mots” was the most popular Francophone track on Spotify — and the first French track to surpass a billion streams. The Montreal native’s track was added to over 6.6 million playlists last year, showcasing its global appeal.

Last year, almost the entire top 10 list of the most popular Francophone songs among Quebec’s users on Spotify was performed by Franco-Quebecois acts. Beloved artists like rock band Les Cowboys Fringants, singer-songwriters Watson and Charlotte Cardin and rapper Enima are mainstays on the Spotify charts in their home province.

Read more here. – HTS

Oak View Group Announces New Name for Hamilton, Ontario Arena: TD Coliseum

Hamilton’s splashy new arena project has a new name: TD Coliseum.

When the former FirstOntario Centre was taken over by venue giant Oak View Group (OVG), it was referred to by the generic name of Hamilton Arena.

The courtship of sponsors is over with the announcement on Wednesday (June 25) that TD Bank Group (TD) has entered into a multi-year naming rights agreement with OVG.

The name TD Coliseum hearkens back to the building’s original incarnation as Copps Coliseum. Built in 1985 for $42 million, the 18,000-capacity arena hosted multiple Juno Awards, major national and international sporting events and concerts from A-list Canadian and international musical stars. It became FirstOntario Centre in 2014 when the credit union of that name paid for naming rights.

The arena is currently undergoing a major transformation under the leadership of OVG, one budgeted initially at $290 million. Construction began in May 2024 and the work is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. The first shows are already booked: Andrea Bocelli (Dec. 9) and Brad Paisley (Dec. 12). TD Coliseum will also host the 55th annual Juno Awards next year, on March 29.

In conjunction with the naming rights announcement, Tom Pistore, president of OVG Canada and a 2025 Billboard Power Player alongside OVG chairman/CEO Tim Leiweke, led a tour of the venue following the announcement this morning.

“Naming rights is always the longest process,” Pistore said. “Sponsorship and finding the right partner is always a challenge, but we know we have a great partner in TD. They’re the sixth largest bank in North America and they share our vision for what this venue is for Hamilton and the Golden Horseshoe.”

Pistore did not give specifics as to the length of this partnership and the dollar figures involved, other than noting “it is commensurate with a $300 million investment” and that the figure exceeds the $350,000 per year paid by FirstOntario over a decade ago. “It is a multi-year significant investment by the bank,” he said.

Read more here. – Kerry Doole

A lawyer for Sean “Diddy” Combs delivered his final pitch in the rap mogul’s racketeering and sex-trafficking trial in much the way the defense began over a month ago: by telling jurors that Combs and his girlfriends were “swingers” whose sex was always consensual.

Marc Agnifilo, one of the many defense attorneys representing Combs, urged a jury in New York federal court to acquit the musician on Friday (June 27). Prosecutors had already given their closing argument the previous day, seeking a conviction based on charges that Combs used violence, money and blackmail to force his girlfriends to have sex with escorts during dayslong hotel parties he called “freak-offs.”

Agnifilo said Combs’ freak-offs didn’t come anywhere close to sex trafficking, according to CNN. Instead, he argued, the evidence during the seven-week trial showed that both the singer Cassie Ventura and an anonymous ex-girlfriend known as “Jane” wanted to have sex with escorts.

“They are swingers,” Agnifilo told the jury. “They are avowedly swingers. This is their lifestyle.”

The defense lawyer pointed to text messages introduced throughout the trial in which Ventura and Jane conveyed enthusiasm for the freak-offs, as well as videos from the events where “the music’s nice, the mood seems friendly and easygoing, and everyone is smiling,” he said.

While acknowledging that there was some domestic violence in Combs and Ventura’s relationship (a now-infamous hotel surveillance video from 2016 makes it difficult for the defense to escape that fact), Agnifilo said the pair shared “a great modern love story.”

Agnifilo argued that Ventura and Jane are only saying now that the freak-offs were coerced for one simple reason: money. He reminded the jury that Ventura first put the spotlight on Combs by bringing a $30 million civil lawsuit against him in November 2023, which quickly settled for $20 million.

“Cassie Ventura sued Sean Combs for $30 million because Sean Combs has $30 million,” Agnifilo said. “This very investigation came out of that civil case. No $30 million, no lawsuit, no criminal case. That’s why we’re here. We’re here because of money.”

In addition to sex trafficking, Combs is charged with using his music empire to operate a criminal syndicate as defined by the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — the federal “RICO” statute often deployed against mobsters and cartels.

To convict Combs under RICO, the jury must find that the rapper and his underlings conspired to commit at least two underlying crimes. Prosecutors have said sex trafficking can be one of these crimes, as can drug-dealing, bribery and arson.

However, Agnifilo said bluntly on Friday that Combs is “not a racketeer.”

The defense lawyer said Combs only bought narcotics for personal use and didn’t sell them (“he obviously has a drug problem,” explained Agnifilo), and argued that it wasn’t bribery when the rapper bought the infamous 2016 surveillance video because he was just trying to protect his reputation.

Regarding arson, Agnifilo denied the bombshell allegations that Combs planned to have a Molotov cocktail thrown into Kid Cudi’s Porsche due to jealousy over the fellow rapper’s relationship with Ventura in 2012.   

“There is no evidence that he had anything to do with the Porsche,” Agnifilo said.

Prosecutors got to have the last word with a rebuttal argument after Agnifilo’s closing wrapped on Friday. The jury will return Monday to hear legal instructions and then begin deliberating — a process that can take anywhere from an hour to a week, depending on how long it takes the 12 New Yorkers to agree on a verdict.