Two billion people have taken a trip to a gangsta’s paradise.

The music video for Coolio‘s classic 1995 hit “Gangsta’s Paradise” reached 2 billion views on YouTube. The visual was helmed by film director Antoine Fuqua, who is recently back in the public eye for his work on Michael, the new Michael Jackson biopic. It is the first video by the late rapper to reach this milestone.

“Gangsta’s Paradise” comes from the 1995 thriller film Dangerous Minds and features vocals by the singer L.V. The track served as the lead single of Coolio’s second studio album of the same name. “Gangsta’s Paradise” is Coolio’s biggest chart hit, spending three weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995. Gangsta’s Paradise the album was also successful, spending 62 weeks on the Billboard 200 and peaking at No. 9 on the chart.

“Gangsta’s Paradise” topped the Hot 100 Year-End chart in 1995. In 1996, the song earned Coolio his first and only Grammy, for best rap solo performance, as well as two MTV Video Music Awards and a Billboard Music Award. In 2023, Billboard ranked “Gangsta’s Paradise” as one of the 500 best pop songs of all time.

“Gangsta’s Paradise” was given new life in 1996 after “Weird Al” Yankovic dropped the parody “Amish Paradise” which has millions of streams on YouTube and Spotify. Other stars who have covered the legendary rap song — the original, not the parody — include Maneskin, Brittany Snow and Falling in Reverse.

Watch the “Gangsta’s Paradise” music video below.

SYDNEY, Australia — RAGEFLOWER is ready to bloom, through a new management deal with Weird Fishes.

Spearheaded by songwriter and musician Madeleine Powers, RAGEFLOWER made ripples in the domestic music industry last year with its debut EP INFINITE HIGHS, END OF TIMES and impressive performances at BIGSOUND 2025, plus the release of the singles “Desk Job” and “Control,” both of which have enjoyed high-rotation on triple j.

Key Spotify playlists have added RAGEFLOWER, from New Music Friday AU/NZ, to Pop n Fresh, Hits Different, Glow, Fresh Finds AU and Tapestry, in addition to several Apple Music playlists. Also, support slots have opened up with The Temper Trap and The Darkness.

Classically trained at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Powers changed tac and found creative freedom in distortion pedals, vulnerable lyrics, and shimmering synths. It’s channeled into an indie rock/pop act that is “without doubt the most exciting new artist we have seen in the last few years,” comments Weird Fishes co-founder Aidan McLaren.

“The creativity, the songwriting, the captivating live show, the connection, it’s all there,” McLaren continues. “What Maddy is creating is something really unique, very special and strikingly authentic. We couldn’t be more pleased than to be joining the team to help bring the RAGEFLOWER world to life, and to bring it to people around the globe.”

“There’s a magnetic intensity to RAGEFLOWER that you just don’t see every day,” adds Weird Fishes’ Alanna Vullo. “She isn’t afraid to push boundaries or bare her soul, and the result is art that genuinely moves people and leaves a lasting mark. We are absolutely thrilled to step in as her management team and back such a fiercely creative talent”. Vullo, who joined the company late last year, assists McLaren on day-to-day management.

It’s all falling into place for RAGEFLOWER, which recently signed to Select Music (Rob Giovannoni) for Australian live bookings, and caught the eyes and ears of Paul Wilson and Nikos Kazoleas at CAA, who represent for U.K./European live bookings; Paul Wilson books Sam Fender, Lianne La Havas, Tracey Chapman, Dermot Kennedy, while Kazoleas served with as a music agent at UTA for more than a decades, and has worked with the likes of Sombr, GAYLE, Rebecca Black, Trixie Mattel, BANKS, Joshua Bassett, and others.

At Weird Fishes, which opened for business just nine months ago, RAGEFLOWER joins a roster that includes Boy & Bear, Tim Hart, The Dreggs, Steph Strings and Pete Murray. The team, led by McLaren, Joe Miles and Rhett McLaren, was nominated for manager of the year at the 2026 AAM Awards, presented last week in Sydney.

Your favorite performer is coming to a movie cinema near you.  

Bebe Rexha, Paris Hilton, Maren Morris and Kim Petras are among the first wave of artists participating in new, interactive concert experience that will beam the show into hundreds of theaters across the United States.

Arena One, the new live entertainment company, and AMC Theatres, the giant theatrical exhibitor, join forces for Arena One at AMC, a real-time, interactive concert format that will be pumped into 300 AMC locations in 89 markets from June.

The concerts are an upgrade from the cinecast experience that found traction with some a-list artists and their fans in the late 2000s, when a slew of live concerts and exclusive events were fed into participating cinemas.

Through this new concept, announced this week, the artist will perform on Arena One’s purpose-built stage, while “seeing and responding to fans at AMC locations through innovative interactive technology,” reads a statement from organizers.

The advantages are obvious. For the artist, the initiative enables them to reach more fans, in more places, without hitting the road. And for those fans who can’t physical get to see their hero, due to cost, distance or other reasons, they now have a virtual front-row seat.

“The next chapter of live shows isn’t about proximity to big venues, it’s about creating visceral, intimate, affordable live connection between artists and fans no matter where they are,” explains Rohit Kapoor, founder and chief creative officer of Arena One. “Arena One gives artists a new cinema-native canvas to create live performances, while amplifying the raw energy and shared fandom that makes live shows unforgettable.”

First up, Bebe Rexha will perform an Arena One at AMC concert June 17, followed by Paris Hilton (June 18), Kim Petras (June 19) and Maren Morris (June 20).

Ticketholders will soak up an atmosphere that’s “designed to feel immediate and electric, featuring powerful sound, massive screens,” comfortable seats, and more, reads a statement.

“We consider this to be a major announcement,” explains Adam Aron, chairman and CEO of AMC Entertainment, and an “innovative step forward” for the business.

Additional artists and dates will be announced in the coming weeks, with ticket prices varying by market.

“We built a cinematic stage optimized to translate seamlessly to cinemas, but artists are defining what it becomes,” adds Peter Hamilton, CEO of Arena One. “They’re not adapting tours; they’re building something new. That’s when a medium sparks reinvention.”

Showtimes are available on AMCTheatres.com, the AMC Mobile App, and at arenaonelive.com/shows.

Delta Goodrem’s incredible music voyage will take her to warm European waters next year, when the Australian pop star embarks on special round of luxury cruise performances.

The “Born to Try” singer will helm the music program for a 12-day luxury voyage through the Adriatic and Eastern Mediterranean, setting off from Venice on Aug. 27, 2027.

While on board, Goodrem will headline three intimate concerts and a Q&A, presented by boutique travel agency Destination HQ in collaboration with Mushroom Events, the Mushroom Group division that specializes in corporate functions, major event planning, and talent bookings.

“To be able to perform on a luxury cruise while sailing from Venice to Valletta together, is something I’ve never done before,” Goodrem explains in a statement. “It’s going to be an incredibly intimate and unique experience and I can’t wait.”

The ship, Ponant Explorations Le Bougainville, will sail away with just 90 suites and deluxe staterooms across five decks, and will float on past Croatia, Montenegro through to Puglia and Sicily, before arriving in Malta.

Goodrem is a superstar in her homeland. A soapie star who signed her first record deal at age 15, Delta’s collection of silverware includes 12 ARIA Awards and five No. 1 albums including 2003’s Innocent Eyes, which logged a whopping 29 weeks at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, making it the highest-selling debut album in Australian recorded music history. The album won seven ARIA Awards, was the highest selling album in Australia for two successive years, and yielded five No. 1 singles. Career album sales across her catalog is close to 10 million.

In 2023, after a decades-long association with Sony Music, Delta became an independent artist and label boss, overseeing ATLED Records.

Later this month, she’ll realize a dream when she represents Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, where she’ll perform her new single “Eclipse.”

Bookings and full itinerary details for the Delta Cruise are available at destinationhq.com.au or by contacting Destination HQ at hello@destinationhq.com.au.

Universal Music Group (UMG) is continuing to fight Salt-N-Pepa’s attempt to claw back ownership of the duo’s master recordings, arguing in a new appellate filing that copyright law’s termination right is not absolute.

The world’s largest music company submitted a brief on Tuesday (May 5) urging the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to reject the challenge lodged by Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton. The rappers sued UMG last year for refusing to revert their iconic late ’80s and early ’90s catalog under the so-called “termination right,” a tenet of the U.S. Copyright Act that allows artists to reclaim ownership of intellectual property decades after signing it away.

A New York federal judge threw out the lawsuit in January, determining that Salt-N-Pepa had no termination rights because they did not actually sign their 1986 record deal. Rather, the contract was between Next Plateau Records, which has since been absorbed by UMG, and the rappers’ producer, Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor.

Salt-N-Pepa have argued on appeal, with support from Irving Azoff’s Music Artists Coalition, that this ruling goes against Congress’ intent in crafting the termination right — that is, to give power back to creators who often lack leverage in early-career negotiations. But in Tuesday’s response, UMG said Salt-N-Pepa cannot explain away the “foundational deficiency” of the duo’s lawsuit with a “single-minded focus on the termination provision’s general intent to benefit authors.”

“While plaintiffs and their amici emphasize the congressional policy to give authors a second chance to capture the value of their creative works through a termination right, they ignore the extent to which the entire termination provision is itself a carefully balanced scheme that also places important limitations on when and how the right may be exercised,” wrote UMG’s lawyers. “[The lower court] correctly found that the present case falls clearly outside the scope of any termination right created by Congress.”

According to UMG, one of these key limitations carved out by Congress was that artists cannot terminate a copyright transfer made by a third party like Azor. That’s exactly what the rappers tried to do here, UMG argued, adding that the New York judge in no way reinvented the wheel by shutting them down.  

“Plaintiffs also criticize the district court for purportedly creating a new standard,” wrote the company’s attorneys. “However, properly understood in the context of the entire opinion, the district court’s analysis of the 1986 agreements reflects nothing more than the modest and obviously necessary requirement that a grant of copyright be made by the actual owner of the rights.”

Salt-N-Pepa’s lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment on UMG’s brief. The rappers will get another chance to rebut these arguments in writing, after which a panel of Second Circuit judges will hear oral arguments before ultimately deciding whether to revive Salt-N-Pepa’s lawsuit.

The Salt-N-Pepa appeal is not the only ongoing legal case in which UMG is staunchly defending the limitations of termination rights. The company is also part of a broader coalition challenging a landmark recent court ruling that expanded termination rights beyond U.S. borders.

UMG, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and BMG all came together last month to buy the disputed copyright in that case so they could bring it to the U.S. Supreme Court for reversal. They’ve now begun the process of asking the justices to weigh in, saying the underlying decision goes against decades of industry norms and has “upended” global music dealmaking.