Brooklyn’s Caribbean Social Club, one of the last surviving Puerto Rican social clubs in the city, will host its second annual Toñita Fest on Sunday (June 22). The festival marks the club’s 51st anniversary and the legacy of María Antonia Cay — better known as Toñita — whose contributions over five decades have elevated her to a revered figure in Williamsburg’s Latin community.

The event will feature a lineup of artists representing a variety of styles, including bomba and plena, Afro-Caribbean group Daso and Grupo Cemi, Latin Grammy winner La Lulu, and salsa orchestra The Anonima Orchestra. Additionally, there will be a domino tournament paying tribute to the club’s roots. The festival, organized with the help of the nonprofit La Gesta Inc., builds on the success of last year’s inaugural event, which drew over 4,000 attendees from across the city.

Yet behind the exuberance of the festival lies a quiet reflection on what it means to preserve dwindling cultural spaces like Toñita’s amid the gentrification of Williamsburg. “It’s very important to bring people together from all walks of life,” she tells Billboard Español at the venue. “Whenever [the locals] come in, it’s like they’re at my home. They feel good and happy.”

In 1973, Toñita founded the Caribbean Social Club as a gathering spot for the Puerto Rican baseball team she managed. “The club started because the baseball league didn’t have a place to get together. Mommy created the space where that could be possible for us,” Toñita’s daughter, Sylvia Rosado, says.

Dominoes, beer and music shaped its laid-back atmosphere. Over time, the club grew into something much bigger — not just a place for intergenerational gatherings but a resource for addressing community needs like hunger and displacement.

“The amount of food that we’re cooking now daily — because we cook daily for the people who are less fortunate — is astounding,” Rosado added as she spoke about her mother’s ongoing impact. Fifty-one years later, those same elements endure, though Williamsburg’s demographic changes have significantly diminished cultural spaces like Toñita’s.

Although Toñita’s mission has always been centered around community, fame has recently found her. In 2022, superstar Bad Bunny visited the club on Residente’s recommendation. In 2025, Bunny name-dropped her in his song “NuevaYol” from his album Debí Tirar Más Fotos. She was also invited to celebrate the Puerto Rico-themed album on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon alongside then co-host Bunny. Toñita’s reaction to the superstar’s recognition was, as always, understated: “It was immensely joyful, and I’m happy. I hope it can happen again,” she says.

Over the years, artists like Rauw Alejandro, J Balvin, Nicky Jam, and Guaynaa have also visited this iconic Williamsburg space, drawn by its authenticity and cultural significance. However, for Toñita, celebrity visits pale in comparison to the satisfaction of seeing her club continue to thrive decade after decade, expanding its legacy through events like Toñita Fest.

Giovanni González, one of the festival’s organizers, added: “This is one of the last social clubs left in Williamsburg. It’s a real effort to make this place thrive in such a small space. But just like Puerto Rico, size doesn’t matter — it’s the heart and energy of the people that make it what it is.”

Emerging Mexican singer-songwriter emjay, who will be performing in the U.S. for the first time at Toñita Fest, shared her excitement about being part of the event: “It’s a true honor. To be considered so that New York’s Latin community can get to know my music, and especially at such an incredible event like Toñita’s, is amazing.”

As Williamsburg continues to transform, Toñita’s Caribbean Social Club stays rooted in its purpose — but for how long? Toñita herself insists she doesn’t dwell on legacy, stating, “Memories are memories; I don’t place too much emphasis on them,” though her longevity speaks for itself. For this year’s attendees, the festival represents far more than just music or dominoes; it’s a reminder of the importance of preserving the spaces that keep Latin identity alive in New York.

Polo G has settled a legal dispute over a planned European tour he cancelled in 2023, ending dueling contract and intellectual property theft claims between the Chicago rapper and a Dutch concert booking agency.

The rapper (Taurus Bartlett) was in the middle of exchanging evidence via the legal discovery process with booking agency J. Noah B.V. when the two sides reached a settlement, according to a Friday (June 20) order from a federal judge in New York.

“The court having been advised that all claims asserted herein have been settled in principle, it is ordered that the above-entitled action be and is hereby dismissed,” writes Judge Jesse M. Furman.

Settlement terms have not been disclosed in court filings. Lawyers for Polo G and J. Noah did not immediately return Billboard’s requests for details on the agreement.

The litigation stemmed from a planned 11-city European tour that Polo G hired J. Noah to book and promote. Under the agreement, the rapper was supposed to perform shows in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain and Denmark in November and December 2023.

But the tour never happened. In his 2023 lawsuit, Polo G alleged that he canceled the shows due to an injury, and he accused J. Noah of violating intellectual property law by continuing to promote the dates using his name and image after their deal was terminated.

J. Noah told a different story, however, in a counter-lawsuit it filed against the rapper earlier this year. The touring agency said Polo G’s “excuses” for canceling the shows were false, and that he therefore did not have a right to abandon their contract.

The agency sought through its countersuit to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars it supposedly spent preparing for Polo G’s cancelled tour, including money deposited to secure venues and production staffers for the shows.

As demand for concerts appears strong heading into the busy summer months, Live Nation led nearly all music stocks this week by jumping 7.7% to $148.87. On Friday (June 20), the concert gian surpassed $150 per share for the first time since Feb. 25, and its intraday high of $150.81 was roughly $7 below its all-time high of $157.49 set on Feb. 24.  Earlier in the week, Goldman Sachs increased its price target on the stock to $162 from $157, implying Live Nation shares have an 8.8% upside from Friday’s closing price.

The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI), which tracks the value of public music companies, finished the week ended June 20 down 2.4% to 2,853.13, its second consecutive weekly decline after nine straight gains. Despite large single-digit gains by Live Nation, MSG Entertainment and SM Entertainment, the index was pulled down due to losses by its two largest components: Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG). The week’s decline lowered the BGMI’s year-to-date gain to 34.3%, though it’s still well ahead of the Nasdaq (down 0.9%) and the S&P 500 (up 0.4%) on that metric. 

Markets sagged in the latter half of the week as investors expressed concerns about tensions in the Middle East and the potential impacts on global oil supplies and gas prices. The tech-heavy Nasdaq finished the week up 0.2% to 19,447.41 while the S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 5,976.97. In the U.K., the FTSE 100 dropped 0.9% to 8,774.65. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index jumped 4.4% and China’s SSE Composite Index dipped 0.5%. 

New York-based live entertainment company MSG Entertainment rose 5.6% to $38.44, bringing its year-to-date gain to 7.1%. Elsewhere, SM Entertainment stock saw a 4.5% improvement, taking its 2025 gain to 90.4% — the best amongst music stocks save for Netease Cloud Music, which has seen a 111.2% year-to-date gain.

With streaming stocks posting the biggest gains of the year, Spotify shares reached a record high of $728.80 on Wednesday (June 18) but stumbled over the next two days and finished the week down 0.5% to $707.42. That decline took Spotify’s year-to-date gain down to 51.6%. 

UMG shares fell 4.2% to 26.73 euros, marking its largest one-week decline since falling 9.2% in the week ended April 4. At the same time, Bernstein restarted coverage of UMG shares this week. Analysts believe it’s a “best in class” music company, which “implies predictability, a capital allocation framework consistent with industry trends, and steady operating leverage,” analysts wrote. Bernstein set a 33 euro ($38.03) price target, implying 23% upside over Friday’s closing price. 

Shares of music streaming company LiveOne fell 6.5% on Friday and finished the week down 10.0% after the company released earnings results for its fiscal fourth quarter and year ended March 31. Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue fell 37.6% to $19.3 million due primarily to a decrease in Slacker revenue. For the full year, revenue slipped 3.4% to $114.4 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 18.7% to $8.9 million.