It’s been four years since Lady Gaga unveiled her last solo studio album Chromatica — but according to a recent interview, the superstar says that the drought is set to end soon.

Speaking to Drag Race star Sasha Velour in an interview posted to the HBO Max YouTube account which has since been deleted (Max hosts Gaga’s concert documentary Gaga Chromatica Ball), the “Rain on Me” singer revealed that she has been making time for music lately. “I have just been in the studio all the time, and I’m making a lot of music,” Gaga told Velour. “It’s just this incredibly vast experience that I just feel so lucky that I get to have. I’m excited for Monsters to hear where I am now, and to be connecting on that level again.”

Billboard has reached out to representatives for Gaga, Velour and HBO Max for comment.

It’s another bit of recent good news about new music for Little Monsters. At the end of the new film (which gives an exclusive look at Gaga’s sold-out Dodger Stadium stop on the Chromatica Ball tour in September 2022), a message flashed across the screen stating “LG7 GAGA RETURNS,” referring to Gaga’s long-awaited seventh studio album.

Elsewhere in the interview, Velour took a moment to thank Gaga for putting out her new documentary. “I want to thank you so much for making this film, for making music that we can dance to, and cry to, and connect with people over,” she said. “It has saved my life and so many others. Please keep creating, and we will be here to cheer you on.” 

The new tease comes shortly after Gaga responded to rumors that she was pregnant. Going on her TikTok, Gaga paraphrased a lyric from fellow pop superstar Taylor Swift and wrote “Not pregnant – just down bad cryin at the gym.” Taking notice, Swift criticized fans speculating on Gaga’s health in a comment. “Can we all agree that its invasive & irresponsible to comment on a woman’s body,” Swift wrote. “Gaga doesn’t owe anyone an explanation & neither does any woman.”

This year will surely go down as one of the best for full-length albums from some of the best emerging and established talents in African music. Already this year we’ve got projects from Tyla, Tems, Ayra Starr, Ruger x BNXN, Young Jonn, Victony and King Promise, with several of those coming just this past month alone. It’s a lot of great music — and presents some good problems for this column, with so many great options of songs to choose from.

Tems burns bright with soulful reflections about discovering her true destiny while navigating newfound fame, ridding relationships that no longer serve her and more on her debut album Born in the Wild. Meanwhile, Victony expands Afropop’s borders by bringing an international assortment of artists like American rap-rock sensation Teezo Touchdown and Guyanese American rapper SAINt JHN on his first full-length project Stubborn. “It represents overcoming adversity and transforming life’s ‘lemons’ into powerful art,” Victony recently told Billboard. “I hope that when people listen to the album, they feel a sense of shared experience and inspiration to find strength and hope in their own journeys.”

And Tyler ICU and DJ Maphorisa’s scorching new single “Manzi Nte” — which is currently No. 10 onthe South Africa Songs chart (dated June 29) — is inescapable in the artists’ native South Africa. (Billboard‘s senior R&B/Hip-Hop/Afrobeats reporter Heran Mamo can attest to that given her recent travels to Johannesburg.) Meanwhile, Shallipopi turned in a slew of great guest appearances this month, and his features alongside King Promise and Rema both made the list this month, as did the latest loosie from Lil Kesh and a beautiful collaboration between L.A.X and Magicsticks, among others.

We’ve highlighted 10 of our favorite new Afrobeats (and related) songs that have come out roughly within the last month. Check out our latest Fresh Picks, and catch a vibe with our latest Spotify playlist below.

Ayra Starr feat. Asake, “Goodbye (Warm Up)”  

Ayra Starr bids adieu to a manipulative ex on the glimmering kiss-off “Goodbye (Warm Up),” the Asake-assisted highlight from her resilient sophomore album The Year I Turned 21. P2J’s jazzy street pop production puts extra pep in Starr’s step, as lyrics like “I do not accept your apology” and “Gave you the cold shoulder, I really hope you freeze” deftly kick her ex to the curb. Meanwhile, Asake brushes off any woman with bad energy on his swaggering verse.  

Azanti & PsychoYP, “I Know”  

Azanti & PsychoYP create the ultimate laid-back vibe on “I Know,” from their joint album YP & Azanti, Vol. 2. Malik Bawa’s funky, guitar-driven production assuages both artists during their fight for peace of mind, with PsychoYP also recognizing his phone’s focus mode as an essential weapon, as Azanti croons, “I’m trying to focus on me this time, I’m trying to save myself.” The track’s repetitive groove and chorus that just rolls off the tongue make “I Know” the perfect soundtrack for your next summer roadtrip when you’re getting away to find your own peace of mind.  

Tems, “Wickedest”  

Tems didn’t come to play on “Wickedest” from her bold debut album Born in the Wild. The introductory sample of Ivorian zouglou group Magic System’s 1999 Pan-African smash “1er Gaou” evokes a nostalgic party vibe for her own dancefloor number that’s been bringing out Tems’ wickedest whine all around the world in her ongoing tour. But from the moment she launches into the first verse, Tems asserts her dominance and stays in the lane she’s set forth for herself, brushing past those who want to try her (a reference to her 2019 single “Try Me”) and sticking to the ones who bring her up and get down with her.  

Tyler ICU & DJ Maphorisa feat. Masterpiece YVK, Ceeka RSA, M.J, Silas Africa & Al Xapo, “Manzi Nte” 

After scoring a nomination for best new international act at the 2024 BET Awards and helming one of Rihanna’s favorite songs of 2023, “Mnike” – which recently got a remix featuring Shallipopi and Lojay – Tyler ICU has been on fire. And what better way to keep the heat up this summer than to drop another fire song with “Manzi Nte,” alongside DJ Maphorisa featuring Masterpiece YVK, Ceeka RSA, M.J, Silas Africa and Al Xapo. The music video makes “Manzi Nte” out to be a wet-and-wild anthem – which is fitting given the song’s title translates to water it in Zulu, according to a press release. And the amapiano smash’s rattling production has been powering up participants of the accompanying dance challenge, which Maphorisa demonstrated on TikTok.  

Leather Park, Odunsi (The Engine) & Cruel Santino, “CHANEL”  

Odunsi (The Engine) and Cruel Santino’s numerous collaborations have already proven that they’re the funkiest duo, and “CHANEL” from the former’s Leather Park (Vol. 1) album is a sparkling addition to their collection. In the same vein of Bryson Tiller’s “Whatever She Wants,” fulfilling a woman’s designer dreams is the key to unlocking her heart – and Odunsi and Santi flex how well-equipped they are to buy her Chanel, Bottega and anything else she desires. Odunsi also sharpens his alté production skills on “CHANEL” with kaleidoscopic synth patterns, crisp shakers and rollicking percussion that create the track’s irresistible bounce.

King Promise feat. Shallipopi, “Continental”

In a month brimming with great albums from high-profile talents — Ayra Starr, Tems and Victony among them — King Promise may have delivered the best of all of them. The album’s two big prior singles, “Terminator” and “Paris,” previously appeared in this column, but “Continental,” with its assist from one of the of-the-moment street talents in Shallipopi, sits alongside them as one of the best songs of the past 18 months, combining Promise’s natural melodic feel with his memorable hooks to land a breezy summer hit.

Rema & Shallipopi, “BENIN BOYS”

Rema is coming off one of the biggest years of any African artist ever, with the mind-blowing success of “Calm Down” — and while this link up with the inescapable Shallipopi is unlikely to replicate that crossover smash’s No. 3 peak on the Billboard Hot 100, it’s another song that showcases the many sides of Rema’s artistry, which goes much deeper than the ear worm that was “Calm Down.” “BENIN BOYS” is much harder, with a driving log drum production that propels both artists forward, and is a formidable entry into each of their catalogs.

Lil Kesh, “Lifestyle”

Lil Kesh has one of the more distinctive styles among his contemporaries in the Nigerian pop scene, and “Lifestyle” fits perfectly into his oeuvre. With a soulful, soaring hook and an almost contemplative melody over an amapiano-esque production, Kesh lays out a carefree look at life in a track that’s perfect for the summertime. Kesh can pump out these types of tracks seemingly effortlessly, and the vibe is always right on point.

L.A.X & Magicsticks, “Loke”

Linking with one of the most in-demand producers on the continent, L.A.X delivers a contemplative vocal performance, riding high on carefully crafted melodies while Magicsticks deploys his trademark log drums and a reassuring organ chords. The effect is comforting, in a way, with L.A.X switching back and forth between English and Yoruba to spin his lyrics.

Victony, “Anita”

Victony’s album showcased his distinctive vocal talents; no one sounds like him, and his instantly-recognizable style is one of his best qualities as an artist. Another is his beat selection — and “Anita,” crafted by P2J, provides the perfect platform for an earworm of a track, which is just as catchy as his breakout hit “Soweto,” if not even moreso. It’s a standout on Stubborn, and one of the best songs of his career.

“Don’t let no one tell you what you cannot do!”

So declared Ronald “Slim” Williams as he and his brother, fellow Cash Money co-founder/co-CEO Bryan “Baby” Williams, accepted YouTube Music’s Leaders and Legends Award. His comment also reflected the vibe that resonated throughout last evening (June 27) as the music industry celebrated the venerable label’s 30-year (and counting) legacy.

Guests arriving at Hollywood’s nya Studios West for YouTube’s second Leaders and Legends gala were greeted by a lively five-piece band (including a tuba) in homage to the brothers’ New Orleans roots. Black tie was in full effect as attendees imbibed specialty drinks like the tequila-laced Hurricane and visited a couple of booths featuring various mementos including Cash Money-logoed bank bags with T-shirts inside. To enter the venue itself, guests walked through a replica of a back-in-the-day record store featuring Cash Money “records, tapes and goods.” A huge, glittery Cash Money dollar sign was positioned on one wall behind album crates, while album covers chronicling the label’s storied history adorned another wall. 

Kicking off the festivities inside was a string of video montages that colorfully depicted Cash Money’s evolution from a fledgling disruptor to Southern hip-hop icon. Integrated in between were tribute clips featuring Universal Music Group chairman/CEO Sir Lucian Grainge (who values the Williamses’ “loyalty, warmth and humor”) as well as onstage salutes from the likes of producer/friend Polow da Don, BMI vp of creative Catherine Brewton, longtime Cash Money attorney Vernon Brown and UMG general counsel/executive vp of business and legal affairs Jeffrey Harleston. After noting that Cash Money is the “longest-running Black-owned label ever,” Harleston added that Baby and Slim taught him three important lessons: “Never forget where you’re from, never forget who your people are and bring them along on your journey.”

While Lil Wayne was spotted in the house along with LL Cool J, among others, there were no live performances. But music was a central force during the evening thanks to a rousing pre-dinner interlude helmed by DJ Trauma as the audience danced and rapped/sang along. They also took home Cash Money Forever cassettes and keychains (that when placed on cell phones provides a link to the music). The 25-track playlist features hits by Lil Wayne, Juvenile, Drake, Nicki Minaj and more.

Just as rousing were the salutes paid by Republic Records’ chief executives Avery and Monte Lipman plus YouTube’s global head of music Lyor Cohen. Avery’s comments addressed Cash Money’s success over the years: more than 300 Hot 100 hits, with 41 top 10s and seven No. 1s, plus 80 Billboard 200 albums, including 15 No. 1s. He also reflected on his and Monte’s long relationship with Baby and Slim, saying in part, “The Lipman brothers started about the same time as the Williams brothers and we kind of thought we were hot stuff. Then along came Baby and Slim … These guys revolutionized the industry, music culture and even changed our vocabulary by having the word ‘bling’ added to the Webster dictionary. I also saw firsthand their true superpowers: how they could literally manifest things into real life without any fear hesitation and always with a clear intention.”

In his remarks, Monte noted, “The lessons we’ve learned from both Birdman and Slim as our mentors is forever in our DNA and have become part of our daily culture … I can’t remember having one conversation with Slim where he didn’t ask me, ‘What do you think?’ He always crystallized the importance of curiosity, patience, flexibility, and the value of saying no. Baby to this day continues to reinforce the importance of artist integrity, strategy, timing. He’s the consummate field general. But undoubtedly one of my favorite lessons from Birdman was simply never forget that we’re in show business.”

Cohen, who presented the award to the brothers, opened by saying, “A lot of people don’t understand how difficult it is to actually build a business, a sustainable business. But you have to do the work. That’s it. That’s what Leaders and Legends is all about: actually doing the work … Everybody thinks that you can do a shortcut to fame and fortune; [there’s] no such thing. You have to have really great music and you have to put in the work. That’s why I’m so thrilled to invite you, Baby and Slim, to the stage to accept this honor. And would everybody in this room please stand up and pay some f–king respect?!”

Indeed, the audience stood up for the entirety of Baby and Slim’s acceptance speeches, heartily applauding at various intervals. After thanking the room, Baby began by recalling his and Slim’s childhood in New Orleans. “Life wasn’t easy for us; living in every project in New Orleans. I was a real lost youngster trying to find a way because I’d been in and out of homes, in and out of jail, jumped in the streets at 12 years old; at 14 years old, I was wearing two Rolexes. I met some youngsters and didn’t want them to go my route, right? [Cash Money rapper] B.G. was hitting that route, and I saw that [Lil] Wayne looked like he was going that route too.  I wanted to save their lives. My whole mission was to try to spare a life. And I needed help too because I was reckless. The only person that I respected enough to spare my life was my brother. And my way of saving their [B.G., Lil Wayne] lives was putting them in the studio. The studio was going to be the new streets.”

Continuing, he added, “But all due respect to Jay-Z, I remember when he said he retired and Wayne shot a video and said since the best rapper retired, I’m the best rapper alive. And a lot of sh-t changed for us from that moment. At the same time n—as were saying hip-hop is dead. And we’re like honestly, what the f–k is they talking about? We ain’t know nothing about that type of sh-t. So we felt like this was our time to take over hip-hop. That’s when the birth of Young Money came, Nicki and Drake came. We kind of held hip-hop down. We survived the warfare in New Orleans. Now we’re surviving in life, and we did a great job at it. [When] we started, all I thought about was saving four lives, and we end up saving thousands of motherf–kers’ lives. I give all gratitude to my brother, who was like my father, for saving my life.”

Picking up where his brother left off, Slim said, “I want to say that I’m so proud of Juvenile, Wayne, [Mannie] Fresh because I saw them when they was in that studio. They were in friendly competition with each other. We started off doing two songs and would end up doing five songs a night. They were there competing like a basketball player for real. But what really makes me so proud that they’re going on in their careers with generational wealth, doing other things outside of music while keeping music going. My brother and I went through a lot to get to this point. Someone once told me growing up that I ain’t never going to be sh-t and ain’t worth a quarter. But you’ve got to do better than that to break me down. I ain’t breakable like that.”

Slim continued, “It made me want to go hard and work hard, so I’ve got a few more quarters now” as the audience laughed. “Don’t let no one tell you what you cannot do! You do your thing. That’s the only way you’re going to win.” Shouting out several names including Polow da Don, Mannie Fresh, Juvenile, Jeezy, Turk and Wayne, Slim concluded, “I love y’all. Ain’t nobody else alive going to do what we’ve done — ever.”

When Will Brill got home after winning his first Tony award, he was a little, well….spooked. “I was in bed and somebody texted me like, ‘How are you feeling?’” Brill recalls. “And I was suddenly hit with like, There’s a Tony in this house. It can’t be seen. It is lurking! So weird.”

A week after winning best featured actor in a play for his performance in Stereophonic, Brill admits it still “feels a little weird.” His portrayal of Reg – the hilarious, endearing, and often frighteningly coke-and-booze-addled bass player in Stereophonic’s fictional 1970s rock band on the verge of mega stardom – made Brill the only cast member from the most-Tony-nominated-ever play to bring home hardware. But on Tony night, Brill made sure to give his full cast its due: in his delightfully off-the-cuff acceptance speech, he asked all his castmates to stand up for an ovation (he also, memorably, thanked his therapist).

Like his fellow Stereophonic cast members, Brill wasn’t an experienced, trained musician before joining the ensemble. But acquiring the skill to convincingly play one onstage (and perform the play’s Tony-nominated score by Will Butler there) was the kind of deep-dive experience Brill has long relished as an actor: His wide-ranging roles have included Dr. Astrov, in the hyper-intimate off-Broadway production of Uncle Vanya that took place in a private New York loft last year, as well as Roy Cohn in Showtime’s miniseries Fellow Travelers, and the peddler Ali Hakim in the 2019 Broadway reimagining of Oklahoma!.

As Stereophonic continues its run on Broadway through Jan. 5, 2025, Brill spoke to Billboard about adding Reg to that list, as well as about his action-packed Tony night.

Have you started to come to terms with cohabitating with your Tony?

Sort of… I mean, people keep like asking, “Where are you going to put it?” I don’t know…. wherever it…looks good? Wherever it fits? Like, I had to put my bike in this one corner because that’s where it fit. I don’t have a lot of art in my house, and now I have this thing I’m like, obligated to display.

You have to put it somewhere unexpected, like the bathroom.

Totally. My idea, which I believe is a step too far, was to put it in the toilet. So it’s really a surprise to anybody who is using the bathroom. I have a buddy who keeps his in the fridge. And I heard that Ian McKellen keeps his many awards on his roof so that they can “rest.” I don’t know what that means, but that’s allegedly what he does.

Before we discuss anything else, I need the story of your ensemble for Tonys night: the pleats, the jewelry… it was a look!

I was working with a stylist, Savannah White, and we had bounced around a lot of ideas of stores and designers and we were largely on the same page: Vivienne Westwood, Thom Browne, Commes des Garcons, and Issey Miyake, who I didn’t really know of until he passed. I just saw an article about him and started Googling him and was really moved by his aesthetic.

So then Savannah came back with the two looks [of Miyake’s] that I wound up wearing. I was like, “Oh my God, this is so unlike anything I’ve seen, and I have to imagine it’s going to be totally unlike what anybody else is going to be wearing.” I wanted to be wearing something that wasn’t following a gender binary, and I feel like Issey’s stuff hangs on any human body beautifully. I felt really lucky that we sort of nailed it. Everything was sort of flowy and weird and off-kilter — and few straight lines except for the pleats themselves. It was really a fun fit.

Your speech was iconic, to say the least. When you thanked your therapist, it became one of the most-memed moments of the night. How did you hear about that?

My PR person came up to me and was like, “The internet loved your speech.” And I was like, “Oh, that’s so nice. I just assumed that it was like, either the internet loves your speech or hates your speech — I had no idea that me shouting out my therapist was going to be any kind of a big deal or that shouting out the rest of my cast, for that matter, was going to be a big deal too. But they both sort of showed up everywhere. I got a really sweet text from my therapist that at first was all caps, “HOLY S–T, YOU WON! F–K YEAH!” And then, two minutes later, “Oh my God Will, this is so sweet,” which really made me happy.

You also gave a shoutout to your bass teacher. What was the process of learning the instrument like for you? You really get the physicality and personality of a bass player down, as well as the technical aspects, which seems uniquely challenging.

It was really important for me to look authentic. I had experience learning an instrument for a [project] before — I learned to play 12 songs on the guitar for this David Chase film Not Fade Away, and that’s actually where I met Robbie Mangano, who was in The Grandmothers of Invention and is an astonishing guitar and bass player. He taught me and Jack Huston how to play guitar for the movie.

But it was a different thing; we really just needed to look like we were playing the songs, which were pre-recorded by essentially the E Street Band. We didn’t actually have to play for sound, we just had to look like we knew what we were doing, and there were all sorts of ways to cut around the fact that we didn’t know what we were doing.

So for this show, I called Robbie to help me learn the bass. But Robbie was also weirdly at the intersection of my life where I started to think about sobriety, which is like another huge part of Reg. I got really drunk at a show of Robbie’s, and he wrote me this two-page letter, where he was like, “I’ve seen too many talented people not have the life that they should because they got caught up with drugs and alcohol, and I really believe in you and I count you as a friend and I hope that that would not be something that happened to you.”

At the time I couldn’t hear it, and I actually wound up not talking to him for several years because I was so embarrassed. Years and years later, I got a divorce and then I got sober and then [Stereophonic] came back around. So by the time I called Robbie to start learning the bass again, I was two years sober and got to tell him that he was a big part of that. And he wound up saying to me, “Wow, that’s crazy. I am recently sober too.” It was really crazy and moving. So he’s been a very special touchstone in my life.

Great bass players especially seem to have this innate comfort in your own skin. Was that natural for you to achieve or more of a journey?

It was a journey, for sure. But what was cool was, when I was a little kid, I thought I was going to be a magician. I would practice card tricks alone in my room for literally 12 hours a day. I didn’t pursue magic because it was too scary to perform in front of people these things that required incredible dexterity. But when I started learning the bass, it triggered this long dormant part of my brain, which was like the joy of doing something dexterous 1000 times alone in your bedroom and losing sleep over it and trying to perfect this one thing and getting closer and closer. So I really felt like I was practicing magic again.

You and your castmates opened for Will Butler at his own actual album release show just a few weeks after previews for Stereophonic started. What was that like?

It was insane. A lot of people took videos with their phones and sent them to me afterward, and I was so embarrassed at how stiff and terrible I was that I was like, “Okay, you don’t have to just get good at the bass, you have to look amazing, you have to be able to dance and play the bass at the same time.” It still never feels like it’s easy, but it’s cool to have audiences come now and say that it looks like it’s easy, because that’s sort of the goal.

Were there particular bass players who were models for your portrayal of Reg?

I definitely watched videos of John McVie playing. Will Butler is the only frontman I can think of off the top of my head who also plays bass, and he is so dance-y in his shows — he’s so free, he’s a true wild man on stage, and he was really a big source of inspiration.

I went to see Muna recently, and the band that opened for them [Nova Twins], it was these two British girls playing kind of hardcore music and dressed up sort of like punk-style Raggedy Ann. The bassist would jump around and run around the stage, and I remember thinking like, “I want to get close to that and I want to have that freedom of movement.” Other than that, learning the instrument was so hard and learning the play was so hard that there was not really a lot of room outside your imagination to do extra research.

This seems like such a lightning in a bottle kind of experience for all of you. Has it in any fundamental ways changed what you want from the work you do going forward?

Yeah, for sure — but I think every role I play, to a certain extent, is a reassessment of what I want to do going forward. The ultimate thing that I love about performing and exploring characters is exploring the different the levels of myself that I don’t know completely or understand and by extrapolation exploring the human condition more and more deeply.

I was just talking about this in therapy today, actually. Like, I’m constantly straddling a line: Am I doing justice to myself and the role that I’m playing by putting in an amount of effort that actually does meaningful excavation for myself and for the people coming? Or should I be resting a little bit more, and can the process be easier and more joyful?

I would say the peddler in Oklahoma! was a more joyful than difficult experience for me; probably A Case For The Existence of God was too and probably Fellow Travelers was a little more joyful than it was difficult. And then Uncle Vanya and this have both really ridden on the cusp of joy and difficulty. They have been the most challenging experiences of my life, but also deeply, deeply gratifying.