Big Loud artists Morgan Wallen, HARDY and Ernest are set to celebrate Big Loud partner/CEO Seth England, as the T.J. Martell Foundation honors England with the lifetime music industry award during its 49th annual New York Honors Gala.

The event marks the T.J. Martell Foundation’s primary fundraiser of the year and supports the organization’s mission of curing cancer through funding high-risk, high-reward research with the aim of advancing early detection, screening and treatments. The lifetime music industry award honors England’s impact on the music industry, but also his steadfast support for the T.J. Martell Foundation’s mission.

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The New York Honors Gala will take place at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City on Tuesday, Sept. 17. Wallen, HARDY and Ernest will lead a writers’ round performance. The evening will also include a fundraising auction, while Archie Davis, Def Jam’s chief creative officer/executive vp (who was honored with the New York Honors Gala rising music superstar award in 2023), is set to announce an initiative that will continue to raise awareness of early screening and testing.

“We are thrilled to be honoring our distinguished music industry colleague and dear friend Seth England with this year’s Lifetime Music Industry Award to commemorate his deep commitment to the foundation,” said Steve Gawley, REPUBLIC Corps. executive vp of business & legal affairs and business development and chairman-elect of the Board of Trustees, T.J. Martell Foundation, via a statement. “We are proud to shine a spotlight on Seth’s dedicated efforts towards our cancer research as well as his pioneering work in the music world, and look forward to celebrating Seth and his achievements with an exhilarating night of music!”

England is the 2024 Billboard Country Power Players executive of the year, and the inaugural recipient of Billboard’s Country Power Players choice award, a peer-voted honor given to the country music executive that industry power players feel have made the most impact on the genre in that year.

The Big Loud Records roster of artists includes Wallen, HARDY, Ernest, Charles Wesley Godwin, Lauren Alaina, Larry Fleet, Lily Rose, Ashley Cooke, Lauren Watkins, Kashus Culpepper and more. Meanwhile Big Loud Publishing‘s clients include Cooke, Craig Wiseman, Jacob Durrett, Rocky Block and Rhys Rutherford. Big Loud Management‘s roster includes Ernest, HARDY, Cooke, Jake Worthington and more.

“As a longstanding proud member of the music industry, I am grateful to see the unwavering dedication and generosity that our music peers put forth to help propel this vital cancer research,” said John Esposito, Chairman of Board of Trustees, T.J. Martell Foundation, in a statement. “As we look ahead towards what will be the foundation’s 50th anniversary, this year’s gala is a great reminder of how far we have come as a foundation and how much further we still need to go in the fight against cancer.”

“We are incredibly thankful to the music community for uniting to support the foundation’s critical work in funding cancer research,” said Lynn-Anne Huck, CEO, T.J. Martell Foundation, in a statement. “Witnessing our donors rally around the fight against cancer and uphold the promise made between a father and his son is both beautiful and inspiring.”

The 49th Annual New York Honors Gala co-chair committee is comprised of music industry members including Ben Adelson, Tyler Arnold, Tom Corson, Archie Davis, John Esposito, Clint Higham, Monte Lipman, Avery Lipman, Rakiyah Marshall, Debbie Martell, Joey Moi, Brian O’Connell, Andre Stapleton, Julie Swidler, Greg Thompson, and Craig Wiseman.

The U.S. Department of Justice has refiled its historic anti-trust lawsuit against concert promoter Live Nation, with 10 additional states joining the effort to break up the company more than a decade after its 2010 merger with Ticketmaster.

The Attorneys General for Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah and Vermont were added to an amended complaint filed in New York’s Southern District on Monday (Aug. 19), bringing the total number of states participating in the lawsuit to 40 total, along with the District of Columbia.

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“There is nothing new in the Amended Complaint,” a statement from Live Nation reads. “The lawsuit still won’t solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees, and access to in-demand shows. We look forward to sharing more facts as the case progresses.”

The amended lawsuit re-alleges that Live Nation and Ticketmaster acted like a monopoly and violated Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act by using illegal tactics to expand its concert promotion business and management of amphitheaters. The new complaint also includes new details about how Live Nation allegedly expanded its ticketing business after it merged with Ticketmaster in 2009, including information about the company’s controversial relationship with arena developer and operator Oak View Group (OVG). Founded in 2015 by Tim Leiweke and music manager Irving Azoff, Oak View Group manages nearly 200 venues and relies on Live Nation to bring major tours to its concert facilities, which includes such top U.S. venues as Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, the Moody Center in Austin and UBS Arena in Belmont, N.Y.

As the building manager’s main representative, OVG is supposed to manage the competitive process for selecting a venue’s ticketing contract, but the complaint alleges that OVG is obligated to “advocate for exclusive agreements with Ticketmaster for more than 100 venues Oak View Group manages” — which the lawsuit claims essentially “locks those venues into long-term exclusive Ticketmaster agreements.” The agreement, the government argues, unfairly prevents third-party competitors from entering the ticketing space while compensating OVG with a substantial “incentive payment” from Live Nation plus significant annual payments.

In fairness, OVG’s competitor AEG — which also competes with Live Nation for concert promotion and ticketing — also accepted payments for the buildings it managed under ASM Global, the building management firm it owned with Canadian private equity firm Onex and recently sold to Legends Hospitality.

The revised complaint does not include additional damaging exchanges between Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino and potential competitors, or new damaging information that shows the company employing heavy-handed tactics. Instead, it contains more analysis of the concert market following the merger of Live Nation-Ticketmaster. On that front, according to the complaint, “Live Nation’s conduct has harmed fans because they have been left with fewer concerts, have had more limited choices among touring artists, have paid higher ticketing fees, and have experienced a lower-quality ticketing experience than they otherwise would have but for Live Nation’s anticompetitive conduct.”

Billie Eilish is officially Spotify’s most streamed monthly artist, the streaming platform announced on Monday (Aug. 19), replacing The Weeknd at the summit.

The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) showed his support for Eilish last week, when she was nearing his record. “Let’s go !” he wrote alongside a series of heart, prayer and line graph emojis on X, retweeting a post noting that, on Aug. 15, she was less than 1 million listeners away from becoming Spotify’s most streamed artist.

By passing the 100 million monthly listener ceiling in June 2024, she is the third and youngest artist to ever do so, following both Tesfaye and Taylor Swift. Eilish currently has eight of her 82 songs in Spotify’s Billions Club, which marks tracks that have surpassed one billion streams: “Lovely” with Khalid (2.8 billion plays to date), “Bad Guy” (2.5 billion), “When the Party’s Over” (1.8 billion), “Everything I Wanted” (1.6 billion), “Ocean Eyes” (1.4 billion), “Happier Than Ever” (1.3 billion), “Idontwannabeyouanymore” (1.09 billion) and “Bury a Friend” (1.01 billion).

Her third album, the 10-track Hit Me Hard and Soft, dropped back in April and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The project features hits like “Birds of a Feather,” “Chihiro” and “Lunch.” Eilish’s debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, and sophomore follow-up, Happier Than Ever, both topped the chart for three weeks.

Kendrick Lamar had rival Los Angeles gangs on stage with him at The Pop Out concert in June, and YG looks to continue spreading that same message of unity across California.

YG spent his Sunday (Aug. 18) brokering the start of a truce between rival gangs Treetop Pirus and Fruit Town Pirus as members joined him in solidarity for a peace walk through Compton.

Hundreds of community members showed support alongside Compton natives like The Game and Wallie the Sensei who pulled up to Gonzales Park.

“This right here,” Game said at the event while donning a red Givenchy tee. “For me, this s–t bring tears to my eyes homie. To see this much red and s–t. Westside Bompton, n—a, every hood. Everybody good. Ain’t no bulls–t. Ain’t nobody feel no tension. This s–t make a n—a happy. That’s what it do for me. I don’t know what it do for you.”

YG added: “It’s a good day — it’s a good day in Bompton right now!”

A fan applauded the armistice on X: “N—-s don’t know how significant this is, FrootzTreez two hoods that had always been locked in pretty much a brotherhood until 2003/2004 then shit went left, brazy to see the shit kome back together.”

After releasing the first installments in 2011 and 2013, YG returned over a decade later with his Re’d Up 3 project on Friday (Aug. 16). The album boasts a double-disc filled with 19 tracks featuring a friends like Ty Dolla $ign, Saweetie, Lil Yachty, Mozzy, Larry June, Babyface Ray and frequent collaborator Mustard.

The 34-year-old’s most recent solo album, I Got Issues, reached No. 18 on the Billboard 200. He also teamed up with Tyga for their Hit Me When U Leave the Klub: The Playlist joint effort in 2023.

Find highlights from the peace walk below.

The creator of Ibiza clubbing institutions Hï and Ushuaïa has announced the opening a new nightclub on the island in 2025.

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The space, called [UNVRS], has been dubbed a “hyperclub,” by The Night League, the group behind the new concept and the other two afrorementioned clubs.

While details are still scant regarding what a “hyperclub” is, what this space will look like or what kind of music it will program, Yann Pissenem, the owner, founder and CEO of The Night League tells Billboard that with the new space, “we’re taking everything we’ve learned from creating Ushuaïa and Hï Ibiza—venues ranked among the world’s best—and pushing the boundaries even further.

“A Hyperclub is the next evolution in global nightlife,” Pissenem continues. “Imagine seeing your favorite artists in a space that offers the best elements of a club, the infrastructure of an arena, and the best hospitality in the world.[UNVRS] is about attention to granular detail, from the finishes across the venue to the unique experiences our guests will never forget. It’s a space that retains the raw energy of a rave, connecting the present and future within the walls of stunning architecture.

The announcement of the club technically began on July 31, when many in Ibiza reported seeing a mysterious object in the sky near Es Vedra, a large rock formation just off the coast of the island’s west coast.

Today (Aug. 19) that situation was revealed to be a marketing stunt, with none other than Will Smith (an original Man In Black, of course) posting a video of himself to Instagram saying he’d seen the “UFO sighting” and therefore “hit my boy Yann, and Yann is like the king of Ibiza,” with Pissenem then sending Smith a pinned location on the island, which lead Smith to the construction site of the new club. In the video, Smith meets Pissenem at the site, with Pissenem declaring “welcome to [UNVRS]” as the Men In Black them song plays.

With The Night League, Pissenem has made Ushuaïa and Hï destinations for many of the world’s biggest DJs, with this season’s Ushuaïa residents including Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Martin Garrix and Armin van Buuren and Hï hosting heavy hitters like Black Coffee, Eric Prydz, Fisher and many more. The company says that together, these clubs bring in 1.5 million attendees each season.

“Ibiza has always been the epicenter of global club culture, and we feel a responsibility to elevate it again, ensuring it remains at the forefront of the nightlife scene,” Pissenem continues to Billboard. “With [UNVRS], we’re not just preserving Ibiza’s prestige; we’re redefining what’s possible in club culture.”

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Labor Day is right around the corner—mark your calendars for Monday (Sept. 2). If you’re traveling that weekend and need a new luggage set, consider adding this stylish pink Tripcomp two-piece luggage set to your cart. Originally priced at $199.99, you can now snag it for just $69.99. This set features a 14-inch carry-on and a 20-inch suitcase, both designed with a sleek hard shell exterior. According to the brand, this enhances durability, reduces weight, and helps endure rough handling during travel without significant damage. If that’s not enough, it’s also designed with multidirectional wheels for easy maneuverability in any direction. This makes navigating through the crowded airports a breeze without any effort needed.

Whether you’re heading out for a quick trip or a longer adventure, this lightweight yet durable suitcase set makes it easy to get from one place to another. According to the brand, the handle is smooth and comfortable, so you can effortlessly roll your suitcase with ease wherever you go. You can get this luggage set in seven different colors: Black, Blue, Green, Light Blue, Olive Green, Orange, and Pink.

Want free shipping on Walmart items? Join Walmart+ for free for the first 30 days. The membership includes free shipping and free delivery from your local store, free Paramount+ and so much more!

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Tripcomp Luggage Set 2-Piece Suitcase Set


If you’re still indecisive, check out the reviews. One Walmart customer said, “Needed a carry-on for a recent flight, and this set was perfect. Good storage capacity in the rolling case (including a zippered side and bungie straps), and the smaller case was perfect for holding all the little extras as a personal item. Color is also very nice.”

Another Walmart customer described this luggage set as “very light, easy to handle, and roomy.”

For more product recommendations, check out these travel-friendly Olay Face Cleansing Melts, the best makeup bags, and this CalPak Stevyn Duffel Bag to keep you organized.

Afro Nation Detroit 2024 was a two-day music festival that brought together top Afro artists across Afrobeats, hip-hop, R&B, dancehall, gqom, amapiano and more. Held in the birthplace of Motown and techno, Detroit proved to be the perfect location for this vibrant celebration.

The world’s largest Afrobeats festival took place Saturday to Sunday, Aug. 17-18, at Bedrock’s Douglass Site. This historic venue, formerly the Brewster-Douglass Projects, was the nation’s first federally funded housing project for African-Americans and the former home of legends like Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson.

Afro Nation Detroit showcased a wealth of performances from the Black diaspora, including Rema, Omah Lay, Ayra StarrKizz Daniel and Michigan native Kash Doll on the main stage. Meanwhile, artists like Uncle Waffles, Musa Keys, Scorpion Kings, DBN Gogo and others kept the party alive all weekend at the Piano People stage. To be honest, there were moments when the Piano stage was even more lit than the main Lit Everywhere stage.

The festival’s opening day faced a rocky start due to weather delays, but once the festivities began, the party didn’t stop until around midnight. DJ Marine kicked things off with an electrifying set, setting the tone for Charity, who brought main-stage energy. King Promise followed, illustrating why he’s the king, delivering a performance that turned the audience into a choir. Rema shut down the day with an unforgettable, fiery performance.

Day 2 saw a significant increase in turnout — if day 1 was full, day 2 was packedJuls and DJ Marine amped up the crowd upon entry, setting the stage for Ruger, who worked the audience with ease.

When Shenseea took the stage a few minutes later, the crowd erupted, as if they had been waiting their whole lives for this moment. She performed fresh tracks from her new album Never Gets Late Here, followed by Asake, who delivered an animated performance, quite literally bouncing off the walls.

Although Lil Wayne had to cancel due to bad weather in NYC, the festival was still an incredible experience.

Check out the four best main-stage moments.

Jay-Z and Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin hosted an invite-only pop-up of the reimagined 40/40 Club this past weekend at Fanatics Fest NYC.

The newest version of the mogul’s famed sports bar — expected to reopen some time in 2025 — will have the Fanatics Sportsbook integrated, allowing customers to place live bets as they’re inside watching games.

The 40/40 Club has been closed since August of 2023, but Memphis Bleek told TMZ that the sports bar is “coming back bigger, stronger than ever.” In a recent exclusive interview with Us Weekly, vice president of operations Sheldon Robinson confirmed a comeback, telling the outlet, “It’s always been the plan to open a new spot. Finding the right location that makes sense to the brand is key, and that takes some time. We’ve narrowed it down to our last few choices and now we’re in the negotiation phase.” Adding, “Hopefully by the end of this year we’ll have a lease signed and we can break ground. The idea is that we’ll have a club in 2025.”

Robinson also revealed that Jigga has been very involved in the process and has been to meetings and checked out potential sites. “Jay definitely wants to keep it as part of his legacy,” he said. “It just shows, whether it’s a young entrepreneur or just people that work around him, that when you envision something or dream something, you can make it happen. He’s a living testament to that.”

And he promised that they plan on keeping some of the same things that made the club unique in the first place, just with an updated vision. “You’re going to feel like you’re walking into the club, a renewed version of it” Robinson explained. “Similar feel, similar texture. Seeing the cool jerseys walking down our Hall of Fame wall like we had on the second floor. Seeing the champagne tower above the main bar. The gigantic screens, as well. We’ll have all the same touches that people grew used to in the old club.”

He concluded the interview by saying, “It is all the reasons that Jay and his partners originally opened the club. They wanted to create an environment where guests have this sense of luxury, good service, good food, while watching their favorite sports team play, and also listening to their favorite artists. It’s combining sports and music… and we’re gonna remain consistent.”

If you think Chappell Roan will let you cross her boundaries, good luck babe.

The “Red Wine Supernova” singer took to TikTok on Monday (Aug. 19) to open up about “harassment” she’s been receiving from fans recently. “Just answer my questions for a second,” she says in the two-part clip. “If you saw a random woman on the street, would you yell at her from the car window? Would you harass her in public? Would you go up to a random lady and say, ‘Can I get a photo you with you?’ And she’s like, ‘No, what the f—?’ And then you get mad at this random lady? Would you be offended if she says no to your time because she has her own time? Would you stalk her family? Would you follow her around? Would you try to dissect her life and bully her online? This is a lady you don’t know, and she doesn’t know you at all.”

Calling herself a “random b—-,” Roan continued, “I don’t care that abuse and harassment, stalking, whatever, is a normal thing to do to people who are famous or a little famous. […] I don’t care that this crazy type of behavior comes along with the job, the career field I’ve chosen. That doesn’t make it OK. That doesn’t make it normal. That doesn’t mean I want it, doesn’t mean I like it. I don’t want whatever the f— you think you’re supposed to be entitled to whenever you see a celebrity.”

She concluded that she doesn’t “give a fuck” if it’s “selfish” to decline photos or hugs. “That’s not normal. That’s weird. That’s f—ing weird.”

Watch both videos here and here.

Roan has skyrocketed to fame in the months since she dropped her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess last year. After a series of headline-making performances — including at Coachella and Gov Ball 2024 — the 14-track project earned a new peak of No. 5 on the Billboard 200 last month.

The singer previously shared her thoughts on the ups and downs of fame with Drew Afualo on the latter’s The Comment Section podcast last month. “People have started to be freaks — like, [they] follow me and know where my parents live, and where my sister works. All this weird s–t,” she explained.

She continued, “I’m just kind of in this battle … I’ve pumped the brakes on, honestly, anything to make me more known. It’s kind of a forest fire right now. I’m not trying to go do a bunch of s–t.”

However, Roan also shared the positives of her newfound fame, including recognition from her idols. “People who I’ve looked up to my entire life are like peers, which is sick,” she told Afualo, noting, “Miley [Cyrus] invited me to a party, and I was like, ‘You don’t know that you were my first concert when the Jonas Brothers were opening for you.’”

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Last year, Aespa officially became the first K-Pop group to drop a Crocs collaboration. The Aespa x Crocs Stomp Lined Clog is currently 50% off at Crocs.com.

The dreamy clog serves up celestial vibes in a lavender colorway and light blue heel. The shoe, which is on sale for $50 (reg. $100), is designed to make you feel like you’re “walking amongst the clouds,” per the product description.

The Stomp Lined Clog features a 2.1-inch heel, fully lined interior, exaggerated lug sole and a two-toned faux-fur backstrap embroidered with “aespa” on the back. A collectible photo card is included with each purchase. The limited-edition shoe is available at Crocs.com in women’s sizes 6-12 and men’s sizes 4-13.

Fans can accessorize the Stomp Lined Clog with aespa Jibbitz Charms ($25). The Jibbitz charms include a cloud, microphone and heart.

The K-pop quartet — comprised of Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning — teased the Crocs collab on Instagram earlier this week. The Crocs campaign features the group wearing long, flowy dresses with the Stomp Lined Clog.

Aespa’s collaboration marks the first time a K-pop group has released a Crocs shoe. Crocs has collaborated with other recording artists in the past, including SZA, Lil Nas X, Luke Combs and Justin Bieber. The brand has also released a number of collaborations such as Barbie, Shrek, Harry Potter, Hello Kitty, Disney and Lisa Frank.

Shop the Aespa x Crocs Stomp Lined Clog below.

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