The Dave Matthews Band has joined the rising tide of anger and shock at the Trump administration’s deadly immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis. Following the killing of 37-year-old American citizen and intensive care nurse Alex Pretti by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis on Friday (Jan. 24) DMB posted an urgent message to fans on Instagram on Monday (Jan. 26) decrying what some have called a deadly government overreach.

“We are horrified by the images coming out of Minneapolis,” the band wrote. “It’s hard to watch and hard to believe this is America. There is so much shameful dishonesty coming out of Washington right now, but this much is true: If ICE wasn’t in Minneapolis, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti would still be alive today.”

The former reference was to the Jan. 7 killing of 37-year-old American citizen and mother of three Renée Nicole Good, who was shot to death by ICE agent Jonathan Ross after video of the incident appears to show her turning her car away from him and attempting to leave the scene of an ICE enforcement action. As with the killing of Pretti, Trump administration officials were quick to blame Good for what they claimed was the “weaponizing” of her car against the agent who shot her three times in rapid succession as she was driving away from him.

Similarly, in a statement, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claimed that the unnamed officer who fired one of the 10 shots that killed Pretti, “attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted,” claiming the officer feared for his life and that of fellow officers. CNN and a number of other major media outlets have reported that a video analysis appears to show a federal immigration officer removing Pretti’s permitted firearm and whisking it away from the scene just before officers unleashed a barrage of gunfire on the prone, unarmed Pretti, who witnesses said had stepped in to help a woman observing the scene who had been violently shoved to the ground and pepper-sprayed in the face by agents.

Given increasingly vocal and, in some cases, bipartisan shock at another controversial killing of an American citizen during purported immigration enforcement activity, there are rising calls for an investigation into ICE’s tactics in Minnesota.

“None of this makes sense and it’s incredibly cruel,” the DMB wrote. “We must find a better way.” For those frustrated and alarmed by the killings and ICE’s aggressive tactics, the DMB said that their charity, Bama Works, have made donations to the ACLU and the ACLU of Minnesota.

Their comments came after Billie Eilish implored fellow A-listers to speak out about what’s going on in Minneapolis and other cities around the country. “Hey my fellow celebrities u gonna speak up?” Eilish asked. Her brother and musical partner, Finneas, weighed in with his own video in which he blasted the administration’s claims that Pretti’s shooting was justified because he was carrying a holstered weapon.

Joining them in speaking out were Pearl Jam, who reposted a letter from former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama about the Pretti’s killing. “The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault,” the Obamas wrote.

“Federal law enforcement and immigration agents have a tough job. But Americans expect them to carry out their duties in a lawful, accountable way, and to work with, rather than against, state and local officials to ensure public safety. That’s not what we’re seeing in Minnesota. In fact, we’re seeing the opposite.”

The Obamas noted that for several weeks Americans have been “rightly outraged” by the sight of masked ICE recruits and other federal agents “acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seemed designed to intimidate, harass, provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city,” actions that have resulted in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Trump aides have declared 16 DHS shootings since July “justified” before those investigations have been completed.

While past presidents have traditionally been loath to criticize a sitting commander-in-chief, in his letter former President Obama lashed out at Donald Trump and his administration, who he said seem “eager to escalate the situation, while offering public explanations for the shootings of Mr. Pretti and Renée Good that aren’t informed by any serious investigation — and that appear to be directly contradicted by video evidence.”

The former first couple’s letter concluded that, “this has to stop,” and expressed a hope that in the wake of the latest tragedy, the administration would reconsider their approach and find ways to work constructively with Minnesota Gov. Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Frey, as well as state and local police, to “avert more chaos.” In the meantime, he suggested, every American should support and draw inspiration from the thousands of protesters who’ve flooded the streets of Minneapolis and cities around the country to express their disdain for ICE’s deadly tactics.

“They are a timely reminder that ultimately it’s up to each of us as citizens to speak out against injustice, protect our basic freedoms, and hold our government accountable,” said Obama of the citizens expressing their First Amendment rights to free speech and peaceful assembly.

Check out DMB’s statement and PJ’s repost below.

For this year’s update of our ongoing Greatest Pop Star by Year project, Billboard will be counting down our editorial staff picks for the 10 Greatest Pop Stars of 2025 all the next two weeks. Last week, we revealed our Honorable Mentions artists for 2025 as well as our Rookie of the Year and Comeback of the Year artists. Now, we reach No. 4 on our list with an artist who kept an all-time run in pop or hip-hop history going for another year — half a year, at least — with similarly dazzling results: Kendrick Lamar.

Listen to our Greatest Pop Stars podcast discussion about Kendrick Lamar’s year continuing to pile it on here, and find the rest of our updating top 10 list with all our corresponding essays and pods here.

How do you follow up one of the best years of any artist in hip-hop history? You just let off the first shot in the most significant rap battle since The Battle of New York City in 2001 when Jay-Z got on that Summer Jam stage, stood in front of that crowd, and said, “Ask Nas, he don’t want it with Hov.” You then meticulously picked your opponent apart with clever and maniacal diss records effectively mimicking what Drake did to Meek Mill when he answered “Charged Up” with a hit record in “Back to Back” back in 2015. The knockout punch then goes viral, hits No. 1 on the only chart that matters, and gets nominated for multiple Grammys. 

And while rumors of an album swirl, as fans and the industry alike assume you’d capitalize some way from all the attention the battle has garnered, you get tapped to headline the Super Bowl Halftime show. Finally, you do drop that sixth studio album, which debuts at No. 1 and takes over the entire top five of the Billboard Hot 100, and announce a stadium tour that would touch 18 countries the following year. That’s how Kendrick Lamar answered his critics after wrestling the crown away from his peers Drake and J. Cole, effectively turning the trio once affectionately known as “The Big 3” into officially just “Big Me.”

Lamar’s 2024 — which ended with him being named our staff’s No. 1 Greatest Pop Star of that year — effectively set up 2025 to be his victory lap. He started the year off with GNX still in the Billboard 200 top five and had an absolutely absurd February. He then took home five Grammys while having an audience of his peers scream “A-minor” in unison, needing extra arms to carry the best music video, best rap song, best rap performance, song of the year and record of the year trophies — all for “Not Like Us” — back to Compton. He then turned around and delivered the most watched Super Bowl Halftime Show to date, in which he ran up the score on Drake worse than the Eagles torching the Chiefs, by performing a song at the center of a preposterous and frivolous lawsuit — getting a sold-out stadium filled with people from all walks of life rapping along at the top of their lungs, while Drake’s ex tennis superstar Serena Williams Crip Walked on his proverbial grave. 

The response from his historical performance was so massive that both “Not Like Us” and “Luther,” his GNX duet with SZA, shot back up the charts — and his catalog saw the biggest post-Super Bowl chart gains we’ve ever seen, putting four of his songs back in the top five and 13 overall in the Hot 100. When it was all said and done, “Luther” not only topped the chart for the first time in March, it dominated for 13 consecutive weeks, longer than any other 2025 hit. 

Lamar also made appearances on two of the year’s best rap projects in the Clipse’s reunion album Let God Sort Em Out on the track “Chains & Whips,” as well as on Playboi Carti’s highly anticipated I Am Music on the songs “Good Credit,” “Backdoor” and “Mojo Jojo,” which added another layer to those already eventful albums — sort of like seeing Jigga feature during the late ‘90s and early ‘2000s’00s. Then there was the Grand National Tour he embarked on alongside former TDE teammate SZA — with whom he enjoyed yet another Hot 100 top 10 hit earlier that year, with the Lana bonus cut “30 for 30” — which ended the year as the highest grossing hip-hop tour of 2025, and served as the culmination of an 18-month run that will be referenced by for years to come. 

He then capped things off with nine Grammy nominations at February’s upcoming ceremonies, including record of the year, song of the year, rap song of the year, rap album of the year and album of the year. His guest appearances on SZA’s and the Clipse’s respective records were also nominated, rounding out yet another year leading music’s biggest night. Now that’s how you stay top of mind — particularly as Drake keeps trying to make that preposterous and frivolous lawsuit mentioned earlier happen, further confusing his own comeback efforts and preventing him from being able to take the throne back.

For the foreseeable future, rap’s crown now resides in the West, where Kendrick’s focus this year will be presumably on his cousin and pgLang labelmate Baby Keem. Fans aren’t really expecting new music from the Compton rapper in 2026, but that could change — especially depending on whether Drake says anything on his upcoming Iceman set that makes the boogeyman come back outside, or if J. Cole somehow decides to get back in the ring with The Fall-Off when it drops in February. 

Kendrick has undoubtedly entered a new stratosphere within the pop culture zeitgeist, thanks to the cultural impact of “Not Like Us” and besting Drake in the most pivotal rap battle in more than 20 years. He’s officially a household name now. Your mom might’ve known who he was or heard his name before, but now your grandmother knows who he is or at the very least knows that he’s the guy with the song they kept hearing everywhere. Now we wait for the acting pivot (he once played a drug addict in Power) or maybe the running for office pivot, or even him hosting Saturday Night Live.

The question we have now is: Will he take a hiatus between music projects like he’s been known to do in the past, or will he continue to stay outside and remind us of who he is as the game’s best and who he wants to be when it comes to being a record executive? He doesn’t have to go on a stream to gamble or post consistently on social media like a certain somebody — but he can’t go back in hiding and expect to maintain cultural relevance, let alone cultural dominance, even if everyone in the world knows who Kendrick Lamar is now. 

Listen to our Kendrick Lamar Greatest Pop Stars of 2025 podcast discussion here, check back for our No. 3 artist on Wednesday, and stay tuned all next week as we roll out the top five of our list — leading to the announcement of our No. 1 Greatest Pop Star of 2025 on Friday, Jan. 30!

Swedish music service Hyph has appointed Hartwig Masuch — former CEO of BMG — as its chairman, effective April of this year.

Masuch, who has already joined the company in an advisory capacity, will help guide Hyph’s strategic expansion as it aims to create interactive services at a time when traditional subscription streaming growth is leveling off. Led by CEO and hit songwriter Andreas Carlsson, Hyph is building tools that allow fans to create and engage with music in novel ways.

The company’s core technology centers on a massive library of millions of wholly owned, human‑created musical parts — described by the company as the “building blocks of popular music.” Hyph’s first product, currently being tested in multiple regions, including the Nordics, the UK and Sub‑Saharan Africa, is an app that lets fans assemble their own songs using these components. Additional products in development include a marketplace where artists can sell vocal lines, hooks and other musical elements directly to consumers, as well as APIs that enable labels to activate catalog and deepen fan engagement.

Masuch brings decades of experience to the role, having built BMG from a three‑person start‑up in 2009 into a global company generating more than $900 million in revenue by 2023. Under his leadership, BMG completed over 200 acquisitions and grew into the world’s fourth‑largest music company. His history with Bertelsmann dates back to 1991, when he oversaw Germany, Switzerland and Austria for the original BMG Music Publishing. In 2008, he advised Bertelsmann during the sale of its stake in Sony BMG Music Entertainment to Sony and soon after helped launch BMG Rights Management — the company that ultimately became BMG.

“Streaming transformed music for the better, unleashing a wave of transparency which has empowered artists and restored the industry to profitability,” said Masuch. “But as subscription streaming begins to peak in major markets, music is increasingly thinking about what’s next. Hyph, with its commitment to human-generated music, and its understanding of the new creator economy is ideally poised to play its part in music’s next revolution. I am delighted to join Andreas and the team in turning this vision into reality.”

Carlsson, a Songwriters Hall of Fame nominee known for hits for Backstreet Boys, NSYNC and Celine Dion, praised Masuch as one of the most accomplished executives of the past two decades and said his leadership will help Hyph drive “the first genuine leap forward for music” since the rise of streaming.

“Since I became CEO of this company 18 months ago, my mission, drawing on all my experiences as a songwriter and my deep understanding of rights, has been to create an ecosystem that allows musicians to prosper while using technology to give non‑musicians the ability to play with music in a way they have never had before,” said Carlsson. “The addition of Hartwig to our team brings that vision one step closer.”