Playboi Carti season appears to be on the horizon. After releasing his first song on streaming services since 2020 with “All Red” on Friday (Sept. 13), Carti has further opened up about I Am Music while revealing Ye’s (formerly Kanye West) involvement.

The Atlanta rapper took to his Instagram Story to shout out Ye, and said they have been in the lab working on his album together.

“@Ye KANT WAIT 2 SHOW THE WORLD WHAT WE BEEN WORKIN ON WIT DIS ALBUM WE DA REAL 5L NO DOUBT,” he wrote in his caption over a photo of the “All Red” cover art.

Carti’s next IG Story showcased his DMs — one of which featured a message from Ye appearing to lend his cosign to his latest single. “Love this,” West replied.

It remains to be seen if that means West has collaborations on the album, production or is in more of an executive producer role. Carti also alluded to Mike Dean’s involvement behind the boards. “@therealmikedean WENT CRAZY AS USUAL GENIUS S–T,” he wrote in one Story.

Ye and PBC have a rich collaborative history over the years. Carti made multiple appearances on Vultures and Vultures 2, including earning his first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit with “Carnival.” West guested on Carti’s Whole Lotta Red cut “Go2DaMoon” in 2020.

With the arrival of “All Red” and an official I Am Music announcement, it’s finally looking like Carti’s first album in four years could be arriving soon.

He posted vinyl covers for the project to his Instagram and directed fans to visit his website, where Carti’s webstore is selling digital albums along with merchandise bundles, but there’s no release date and it’s only promised to arrive before October 2025.

As for Ye, he’s been busy this year releasing a pair of Vultures projects with Ty Dolla $ign, which are his first since he was condemned for his repeated hate speech. He’s now off to China for a solo concert slated for Haikou on Sept. 15.

See Playboi Carti’s IG Story about Ye below.

YE HAS BEEN ACTIVELY WORKING ON “MUSIC” WITH CARTI

👀🐐👀🐐 pic.twitter.com/8E8XWAi9fM

— Ye Streams (@kanyestreams1) September 13, 2024

Justin Timberlake pleaded guilty to impaired driving in New York’s Sag Harbor Village Court Friday (Sept. 13).

According to the Associated Press, Timberlake was sentenced to a $500 fine with a $260 surcharge as well as 25 hours of community service at a nonprofit of his choosing. He’s also required to make a public safety announcement, the appropriateness of which concerned Judge Carl Irace, who, according to the AP, expressed disappointment with the prosecutors’ proposed plea deal. In Irace’s opinion, Timberlake’s intention to make the statement shortly after court proceedings would not give the *NSYNC alum enough time to reflect on his actions, which is why the judge added on community service requirements to the sentence.

Billboard has reached out to Timberlake’s rep and lawyer, Ed Burke, for comment.

Shortly after the hearing, Timberlake addressed media outside the courthouse with a statement about the dangers of impaired driving. The hearing comes three months after the “SexyBack” singer was arrested on suspicion of driving a vehicle while intoxicated in the Hamptons, displaying behavior that “did not live up to the standards that I try to hold for myself,” he told the court Friday.

“I should’ve had better judgment,” he also told the judge, AP reported. “ I understand the seriousness of this.”

Timberlake and his legal team had originally pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge during an August virtual court appearance, where his driving privileges were suspended by Irace. CNN also reported at the time that the judge had admonished his attorney for making comments about the case to the media ahead of the arraignment.

It was first reported that Timberlake had reached a plea deal two days prior to Friday’s hearing.

Linkin Park’s “The Emptiness Machine” vaults to the top of Billboard’s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, soaring from No. 24, where it debuted a week ago, to No. 1 on the Sept. 21-dated survey.

The song reigns with 9.1 million rock radio audience impressions Sept. 6-12 – its first full week of tracking – according to Luminate. The single premiered at 6 p.m. ET on Sept. 5 and debuted on the Sept. 14-dated chart with 1.1 million in rock radio reach.

In the history of Rock & Alternative Airplay, which began in 2009, 14 songs — now including “The Emptiness Machine” — have reached No. 1 in just one or two weeks. Linkin Park had last achieved the feat when “Friendly Fire,” released on the band’s best-of set Papercuts after originally being recorded for the sessions for 2017’s One More Light, launched at No. 1 this March.

In fact, of those 14 songs, five are by Linkin Park. “Friendly Fire,” “Lost” (2023) and “The Catalyst” (2010) all debuted at No. 1, while “New Divide” (2009) reached the top spot in its second week, like “The Emptiness Machine.”

The quick coronation for “The Emptiness Machine” is supported by its debuts at Nos. 4 and 5 on Mainstream Rock Airplay and Alternative Airplay, respectively. The song’s No. 4 start on Mainstream Rock Airplay is the best since December 2022, when Metallica’s “Lux Æterna” debuted at No. 2. Those two songs represent the only arrivals in the top four since 2008; before then, the last to make such a grand entrance was Linkin Park’s “What I’ve Done” (No. 3, April 2007).

As for Alternative Airplay, No. 5 marks the best beginning since Linkin Park’s “Lost” (No. 4, February 2023). In the last decade, only three songs have premiered that high, with the two Linkin Park songs joined by Mumford & Sons’ “Believe” (No. 5, March 2015).

More chart activity for “The Emptiness Machine” will show once all Sept. 21-dated rankings refresh on Billboard.com Tuesday, Sept. 17. On the Sept. 14-dated Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, the track started at No. 7 from its first few hours of tracking; along with 1.1 million audience impressions, it drew 690,000 official U.S. streams and sold 1,000 downloads in that span.

“The Emptiness Machine” is the lead single from From Zero, Linkin Park’s eighth studio album, due Nov. 15. It’s the band’s first full-length since the death of co-frontman Chester Bennington in 2017 and the departure of drummer Rob Bourdon. Singer Emily Armstrong and drummer Colin Brittain take over those duties on the new LP.

Streaming has carried Latin music to the top of the Billboard charts, but the magazine covered it for more than 100 years before Bad Bunny hopped to No. 1. From genre architects like Xavier Cugat to current hit-makers such as Karol G, and from “Bésame Mucho” to “Despacito,” the many subgenres of Latin music have for over a century added flavor to U.S. airwaves — and the pages of Billboard. What’s living without La Vida Loca?

Lingo Duo

“A great artist most certainly,” raved the Aug. 24, 1926, Billboard about Raquel Meller, a Spanish-born Broadway headliner. “These are folk songs, street ballads of her Barcelona…. For all the talk of not needing to know the language to understand there is frantic searching of librettos to appreciate” it. Billboard got the rhythm for the Nov. 2, 1940, cover story on Cugat, which described the bandleader as “aiding and abetting the present craze for the conga and tango,” and credited him for the “skillful integration of Latin American syncopation into the daily lives of the American public.”

‘Apple’ Music

“Pérez Prado’s waxing of ‘Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White’ has passed the 1,000,000-mark in sales,” reported the May 21, 1955, Billboard when the Cuban orchestra leader’s single was still No. 1 on various pre-Hot 100 singles charts. (When the Hot 100 debuted on Aug. 4, 1958, Prado’s hit “Patricia” was No. 2.) By the Aug. 18, 1956, issue, Tito Puente was big enough that his Cuban Carnival was reviewed alongside the new Frank Sinatra album. It “should attract some jazz fans as well as the more conventional Latin-American buyer.”

Latin Calling

“The U.S. Latin market had been a widely scattered field with radically different musical tastes,” reported the Sept. 6, 1986, Billboard. To make sense of it, the Oct. 4 issue introduced a new chart to address “the growing needs of the Latin market.” That chart, now called Hot Latin Songs, was compiled by staffers by “calling the top 70 Latin (Spanish-speaking) radio stations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.” (Don’t ask about the phone bills.)

Big ‘Mac’

A multipage package in the Aug. 17, 1996, Billboard covered the “exploding regional-Mexican market,” which grew because of “down-to-earth, hard-gigging performers” such as Los Tigres del Norte and La Mafia. That same year, Los de Río’s “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)” topped the Hot 100 for 14 straight weeks. “ ‘Macarena’ was largely a Top 40 event, and a sorely needed one,” noted the Sept. 7 issue. An article the following week declared that the dance craze had become a staple at “weddings, bar mitzvahs and family reunions nationwide.”

Nuevo Mundo

“English isn’t the only language of value” J Balvin told Billboard in an April 29, 2017, cover story. Prophetic words: On May 27, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” began its 16-week run atop the Hot 100 — an unheard-of feat for a song in a foreign language. Since then, many Latin artists have gone mainstream en español. “When I came into this industry,” Bad Bunny said in an article in the Feb. 16, 2019, Billboard, “I was never afraid to be myself.”

Billboard Canada Women in Music was a star-studded celebration in Toronto last Saturday night (Sept. 7). Rising stars, Canadian legends — and some of their parents — were on hand to honour the myriad achievements of women on stage and behind the scenes in the first-ever edition of Billboard Women in Music in Canada featuring guest of honor Alanis Morissette.

Morissette received the Icon Award, honoring her as one of the country’s all-time greatest artists. Morissette celebrated femininity and emphasized its importance to people of all genders. “Matriarchy takes care of everybody,” she told the crowd, to a round of cheers.

She was introduced by two Canadian stars — broadcaster George Stroumboulopoulos and Woman of the Year Charlotte Cardin, both of whom spoke to her massive influence. 

Taking the stage to accept the award, Morissette — who has sold over 60 million records, with her breakthrough album Jagged Little Pill widely ranked as one of the best albums ever made — had her own thoughts to share on what it means to be an icon. She joked that even cereal boxes are called iconic these days. For her, though, an icon is someone who serves as a symbol of the safety to explore. Morissette reflected on how icons can inspire fans and listeners to probe the unconscious and to express themselves in new ways.

She also considered what it means to be a Canadian icon, enumerating some Canadian qualities that have helped her to succeed: curiosity and humility. Fame can be an isolating experience, Morissette shared — especially in the ‘90s, when there wasn’t a big girl-squad mindset, but fame has allowed her to also support and connect with people.

The night was filled with highlights, from Jessie Reyez dedicating her Trailblazer Award to her mother, who was in attendance, to performances from artists including Haviah & Omega Mighty, Tia Wood, Anjulie and more. 

One of the most powerful moments came from Jully Black, known as Canada’s Queen of R&B, who took the Billboard Canada SiriusXM stage for a deeply impactful cover of Bob Marley’s classic “Redemption Song,” keeping the audience rapt for her 11-minute rendition.

In an elegant white and yellow gown, she commanded the stage, accompanied by a pianist and guitarist. She began with a moment of silence — no small feat, in a packed room full of industry honourees — reminding the crowd that though this was a celebration, many women around the world don’t get the opportunity to celebrate themselves.

“I stand here as my ancestors’ wildest dreams,” Black told the crowd, before leading a sing-along of “This Little Light of Mine,” bringing the crowd together as a community.

Adding a new lyric into Marley’s song about bondage and freedom, she asked a new question: “how long shall they kill our women?”

She descended into the audience to connect with fans and peers on the floor before returning back to the stage, and reflecting on her own beginning in the industry.”29 years ago I sang a hook called ‘What It Takes,’ by Choclair,” she remembered. “There was no infrastructure, there was no radio, for people, women, that looked like me,” she continued. “Women are paid less, if you don’t have a seat at the table build your own.”

She finished with heartfelt, hard-hitting vocalizations on Bob Marley’s refrain, closing out a performance that emphasized how far Canadian women in music have come, and how much there is left to do.

Watch the whole video here.

Selena Gomez, The Tragically Hip, Pharrell Williams Make Headlines at the Toronto International Film Festival

Some of the music industry’s biggest names have been descending on Toronto over the past week for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The film festival has transformed downtown Toronto into a hub for celebrities, high fashion and red carpet glitz. It’s also brought many of music’s biggest stars to town, including Selena Gomez, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Pharrell Williams and more.

Selena Gomez came to Toronto for her new movie Emilia Pérez, a musical crime comedy that follows a Mexican cartel leader who comes out as a trans woman. Gomez plays the title character’s wife.

In an interview on the red carpet, Selena Gomez told Billboard Canada how her pop career actually worked against her for the role as she was learning the dance style of the film.

“I think it was really important that I let go of the pop star thing and kind of focus on more intricate dance that I’ve never really done before,” she said. “So it was really fun.”

Beloved Canadian rockers The Tragically Hip premiered a new four-part docuseries at TIFF, The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal. The series features new interviews and archival footage of the band, recounting their rise to stardom and the diagnosis of lead singer Gord Downie, who died in 2017 of brain cancer. Outside the screening, local choral collective Choir! Choir! Choir! led a massive sing-along of one of the band’s classic songs, “Ahead By A Century,” reminding attendees that love for The Hip runs deep.

The premiere of Pharrell Williams‘ LEGO-fied animated biopic Piece By Piece on Tuesday night (Sept. 10) was interrupted by an animal rights protester who stormed the stage during a Q&A session waving a sign that read: “Pharrell stop supporting killing animals for fashion” and shouting “Pharrell stop torturing animals!” Pharrell Williams is the creative director of the Louis Vuitton men’s collection.

Rather than move past it, Williams addressed the protester directly and said “You know what? You’re right.” He continued on that it wasn’t the right way to make her point, but that she did have a point. “…We’re actually working on that. And if she would have just asked me, I would have told her. But instead she wanted to repeat herself.”

Elton John was at the festival with his Canadian husband David Furnish, as was Bruce Springsteen and musician K’naan, who made his feature directorial debut. Check out more of TIFF’s top music moments here. – Rosie Long Decter

Hailey Benedict Signs to Big Loud Records

Rising country artist Hailey Benedict is making some big moves, as she inks a deal with Nashville’s Big Loud Records.

The Alberta singer announced the signing at Billboard Canada Women in Music celebration on Saturday, September 7.

Taking the stage in a sparkling silver fit, Benedict revealed that she’s signed with Big Loud and its Canadian-based imprint Local Hay, helmed by country star Dallas Smith. She followed up the announcement with a performance of her upcoming single “Things My Mama Says,” set to be her first release on Local Hay on October 4.

Benedict has been building to this moment since she was a kid — she first rose to national attention at the age of 14, when Keith Urban invited her on stage at a sold-out show in 2016 to perform an original song.

Since then, she’s released successful singles like 2021’s “Wanted You To,” built up an online fan base including 250K TikTok followers, and performed at major events like the Country Music Alberta Awards. In 2023, she won the SiriusXM Top of the Country competition and she’s heading into this fall’s Canadian Country Music Awards with a nomination for Breakthrough Artist.

All of that makes the timing right for Benedict to shift from an independent artist to working with a label that knows how to navigate the country landscape.

“I’m ecstatic to begin this new chapter with such an incredibly creative and dedicated team that shares my vision for my songwriting, artistry and career,” Benedict said in a statement. “After a decade as an independent artist, it was crucial for me to partner with a record label that aligns with my values and passion for music.”