Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan to take over Disney’s special taxing district passed its first committee on Wednesday but not before Democrats questioned why the company wasn’t hit harder. The company … Click to Continue »
Cardi B looks to have entered the chat following a string of heated back-and-forth comments between her husband Offset and J Prince.
“BIG LIES,” the rapper tweeted on Wednesday (Feb. 8), seemingly in response to a video J Prince posted on Instagram replying to a video from Offset. In the voiceover clip, he accused the Migos member of being “fake,” “playing the victim” and even threatening his family.
Cardi also responded to a Twitter user who wrote (and has since deleted), “You be set trippin and forgot J Prince had to help YOU feel safe in LA. Where’s the lie?” She replied, “NEVER….tell him to show receipts ….Only people that was there was Wack and Big U ….why would he be call for anything involving crips? Whole bunch of fairy tales.”
Offset also chimed in, writing, “Street Nigga turn [police emoji] never needed you for no smoke u da police all mouth with no proof just fairy tales [laughing emoji] let this be the last time we speak on this.”
The feud started when the Rap-A-Lot CEO suggested that Offset was not there for his Migos bandmate and cousin Takeoff, 28, before Takeoff’s murder last year in an episode of the Million Dollaz Worth of Game. “In reality, the truth of the matter is, n—a you wasn’t really right there with Takeoff when he was alive. So for you to be taking these positions that you taking,” Prince added, suggesting that he’s got people all around and he’s heard “all kinds of things” from unnamed sources about what happened on the night Takeoff was shot and killed in November during a night out with Quavo in Prince’s hometown of Houston. Prince also made what seemed like a direct warning to Offset, saying, “Don’t ever put me in a position where I have to defend myself. That wouldn’t be healthy for you.”
In response, Offset posted a video in which he’s visibly heated. “Y’all n—as speaking on my real brother… I don’t know what the f–k ya’ll n—as got going on, y’all n—as talkin’ about my real brother,” the Migos MC said in the minute-long black and white clip. “How dare one of y’all n—as even speak on me and Take relationship. I don’t know you n—as from a can of paint. Ya’ll n—as don’t know how me and my brother rock.”
He also slammed Prince for what he said was his “fifth interview” in which he’s discussed Takeoff’s death. “You ain’t think about his momma? You ain’t think about the family n—a?” ‘Set asked. “We ain’t said nothin’. Ain’t nobody said nothing but you n—as. Who y’all n—as think ya’ll n—as is? John Gotti n—a?… And if you heard something from me, I’mma tell you it’s gonna come from me, call my phone.
After over a decade and a half, Yuridia returns to the top 10 on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart (dated Feb. 11) with “Que Agonía,” with Angela Aguilar. The single, released via Sony Music Latin Oct. 20, rallies 28-10 in its second week to become the Greatest Gainer among the 50-title chart.
“Que Agonía” was written by Pepe Aguilar and daughter Angela. It’s the fifth single from Yuridia’s seventh studio album Pa’ Luego Es Tarde which debuted and peaked at No. 7 on Regional Mexican Albums last November. The set is the Mexican’s first studio album since 6 reached No. 3 on Latin Pop Albums in 2016. Plus, it’s Yuridia’s first ranchera foray after almost two decades as a pop singer.
“Que Agonía” traces its 28-10 surge to a lofty 85% gain in audience impressions, to 7.7 million, earned in the U.S. in the Jan.27-Feb. 2 tracking week, according to Luminate. With the lift, Yuridia secures her second top 10 and first since a featured turn in Victor Manuelle’s “Nuestro Amor Se Ha Vuelto Ayer” reached No. 8 in 2006. “Que Agonia,” thus, is Yuridia’s first top 10 on Latin Airplay as a lead artist.
For Aguilar, “Agonía” provides her third straight top 10 on the all-genre tally which launched with the No. 5 high “Dime Cómo Quieres,” with Christian Nodal, in 2021.
Over on Regional Mexican Airplay, “Agonía” soars 19-5 also in its second week. It nearly doubles its peak from “¿Y Qué Tal Si Funciona?,” with Banda MS, the fourth single from the Eden Muñoz-produced Pa’ Luego Es Tarde. The latter track reached No. 11 in November.
Elsewhere, “Agonía” also makes progress on the multi-metric Hot Latin Songs chart, as its advances to No. 20 in its 12th week, Yuridia’s highest ranked title there since the No. 16-peaking “Ahora Entendí” in 2008.
Here Kelly Clarkson goes again on her own (with a little help from her band too, of course).
On the Wednesday (Feb. 8) episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, the American Idol alum tapped into her rock roots to give Whitesnake‘s 1987 Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Here I Go Again” a spin for her opening Kellyoke segment.
Wearing a black floral gown, black cardigan and thin velvet choker and accompanied by her band Y’all, the powerhouse vocalist put her spin on the track, belted the song’s lyrics and added vibrato at the most appropriate parts.
“Though I keep searching for an answer/ I never seem to find what I’m looking for/ Oh Lord, I pray you give me strength to carry on/ ‘Cause I know what it means/ To walk along the lonely street of dreams,” Clarkson belted.
“Here I Go Again” was released as the third single from Whitesnake’s self-titled seventh studio album. The track — which was originally recorded for and appeared on the band’s 1982 album Saints & Sinners — spent a total of 28 weeks on the Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 1 in October 1987.
Watch Clarkson cover Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” in the video above.
Louis Tomlinson announced Wednesday (Feb. 8) that he’s prepping the release of his new documentary All of Those Voices.
In partnership with 78 Productions, Trafalgar Releasing is set to premiere the music film in theaters nationwide on March 22 for a limited time. Tickets will go on sale exactly one month prior to the release date on Feb. 22, with specific theater listings also being unveiled that day.
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A release for All of Those Voices promises that the film will allow fans an “intimate and unvarnished view” of the former One Directioner’s life and career through the process of creating and releasing his second solo album, Faith in the Future.
“From the highs of superstardom to the lows of personal tragedy, Louis’ story is one of resilience and determination,” the tease continues, adding that “the film shows a side of Louis that fans have never seen before, as he grapples with the pressures of fame and the weight of his own voice.”
“This has been something I’ve been working on for years,” Tomlinson said in a statement. “I’m really excited to finally put it out into the world. I’ve said it a million times but I’m lucky enough to have the greatest fans an artist could wish for, and as they always go above and beyond for me, I wanted to share my story ‘in my own words.’”
Released back in late November, Tomlinson’s latest studio effort became his first top five hit on the Billboard 200 when it bowed at No. 5. The LP also landed at No. 2 on the Top Album Sales chart after notching the singer a career-best sales week of 37,000 copies.
Last week, Tomlinson also announced the dates of his upcoming tour of Asia, which kicks off in Japan on April 17 in support of Faith in the Future.
It’s about damn time! Months after Lizzo teased that “something special” with SZA was on the way, the “To Be Loved” singer finally provided fans with a clear confirmation and release date for their remix of “Special.”
“‘Special’ featuring SZA drops tomorrow,” Lizzo said in a video posted to her Instagram on Wednesday (Feb. 8). Naturally, fans were besides themselves in the comments, sharing excited wails of happiness. After all, the collaboration has been a long time in the making.
Lizzo hinted that she was getting to work on something with SZA back in November. “Something Special coming your way soon… 👀 @sza,” the four-time Grammy winner shared on Twitter, along with a video of her and SZA, with a snippet of the “Special” remix playing over the video.
As for SZA, she gushed over her relationship with Lizzo on the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast and let it slip they were in the studio together having fun. “We just have so much fun together. And I feel like she gets me. She’s another person who has hella music tastes and doesn’t fit in anybody’s box of anything,” she said.
The “Kill Bill” singer continued, “She makes it seem like she doesn’t even care, like she just does whatever she wants. And I just love being with her, just as a friend and hanging out. So whenever she comes to a studio, I just feel like, ‘Let’s drop into some bullsh–.’”
See Lizzo’s announcement below.
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When we first met John Legend as a solo artist, it was through the quiet 2005 piano ballad “Ordinary People” — so it only makes sense that, nearly two decades later, Legend is going back to basics for his next project, LEGEND (Solo Piano Version).
The singer/songwriter took 10 songs from his most recent album, September’s LEGEND, and stripped them down to new piano versions, adding a pair of fresh covers to the Friday (Feb. 10) release. After years of performing with just a piano, Legend thought the idea made perfect sense.
“Half of my gigs are solo gigs. Even though we’ve done a huge production in Vegas, we’ve done big tours with like a nine-piece band all around the world, often a lot of my favorite shows are the ones where it’s just me and a piano,” he tells Katie & Keith on the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen below). “And I think my fans like it, because it strips the songs down to their essence and they hear my voice, the lyrics, the melodies really purely.”
One revelation in making the album was LEGEND‘s second single “Honey,” originally featuring brand-new Grammy winner Muni Long, which Legend decided to bump up to the piano project’s opening track.
“The one I changed from the original the most was ‘Honey,’” he says. “I made it more kind of slow, I did it without a tempo, and it’s just kind of free and a little more jazzy. And I loved doing that spin on the song. It’s much different than the original, and it feels really fresh and new.”
The two covers Legend recorded for the album are Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and Sade’s “By My Side,” which he’s planning to include on the setlist for his upcoming Feb. 13 and 14 pair of Valentine’s Day concerts at Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall.
“One of my managers loves Sade, and she suggested that I try a Sade song,” Legend tells the Pop Shop. “And she even suggested ‘By Your Side,’ among a few other ideas that she had. And that was the one that just stuck out to me and I just kept humming it in my head and just felt like, ‘I would feel really good singing that melody and those lyrics.’ And I sat at the piano and started working it out. And I just loved the feeling that it gave me. I love Sade anyway, but this song, particularly, I think is really special and beautiful. I love the sentiment of it, and I really loved performing it.”
Is Legend — who performed as a supporting act on Sade’s last tour in 2011 — impatiently waiting for Sade’s first album since 2010 Soldier of Love like most music fans? “You know she’s gonna take her time,” he laughs. “I literally was on the last tour. That was 12 years ago!”
While Legend would love to take his piano show to other venues besides the Walt Disney Concert Hall, he’s trying to stay close to home at the moment, with the Jan. 13 birth of his new baby Esti. “We’ll do more,” he promised. “It’s gonna be sporadic since we had a baby and I’m trying to work a little bit less. I’ll probably do occasional weekends where we’ll go off to different cities and do shows. But it won’t be kind of a steady tour.”
Legend is staying plenty busy around L.A. this week, performing at Friday night’s MusiCares Persons of the Year gala honoring Motown founder Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson, taping the Grammy Salute to the Beach Boys on Wednesday night (Feb. 8), and joining DJ Khaled, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross and Fridayy for a pre-taped Grammys-closing performance of their song of the year nominee “God Did.” The Pop Shop spoke to Legend ahead of Sunday’s Grammy Awards, when he marveled at the unifying powers of Khaled.
“Everyone is so gifted and so powerful as an artist in their own right,” he said. “And for us all to be together — that’s the genius of DJ Khaled. He’s really great at putting all of us together. He’s like the world’s greatest A&R for hip-hop. He’s such a great convener. He brings us all together and makes magic happen.”
Listen to the latest Pop Shop Podcast episode above for the rest of the conversation, including his thoughts on the final Voice season for Blake Shelton, who’s “been the heart and soul of the show for so long.”
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how new songs from The Kid LAROI, Zach Bryan and Maggie Rogers, and P!nk all debut on the Billboard Hot 100, while TOMORROW X TOGETHER notches its first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and both Sam Smith and Lil Yachty bow in the top 10 with their latest releases.
Plus, we talk all about last Sunday’s Grammy Awards and this Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime spectacular, where Rihanna will headline the show.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
If the all-star salute to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop on the 65th annual Grammy Awards left you wanting more, the Grammys have more on the way. A two-hour, Grammy-branded special will tape on Aug. 11, which is the 50th anniversary (to the day!) of a back-to-school party in The Bronx that many point to as the beginning of hip-hop culture. CBS will broadcast the special later this year.
Questlove, who curated the 15-minute spot on Sunday’s Grammy telecast, will have a role in the special, though his exact title is to be determined. Jesse Collins, an executive producer of the Grammy telecast, will produce the special.
While many will assume that the success of the spot on the Grammy telecast led CBS to hurry a special into production, the special was in the works before anyone knew there would be a segment on the telecast, according to a source.
Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, hinted at the upcoming special in a statement announcing the telecast segment. “For five decades, Hip Hop has not only been a defining force in music, but a major influence on our culture,” he said. “Its contributions to art, fashion, sport, politics, and society cannot be overstated. I’m so proud that we are honoring it in such a spectacular way on the Grammy stage. It is just the beginning of our year-long celebration of this essential genre of music.”
Questlove has mentioned the upcoming special in his post-Grammy tweets. Talking about why certain artists were booked for the hip-hop tribute and others weren’t, he tweeted:
The hip-hop segment on the Grammy telecast, which featured three dozen rap acts, drew universal praise. Billboard’s Joe Lynch pegged it as the best performance on the telecast. “While it’s an impossible task to sum up 50 years of any genre (much less one that fought for decades to get a modicum of mainstream respect and eventually became the dominant genre in American music), this electrifying medley brought to vivid life the charged personalities, thumping grooves, deft deliveries and unpredictable flourishes that make hip-hop a global force.”
The segment was produced by Questlove, Collins, Patrick Menton of Fulwell 73, creative producer Fatima Robinson and Shawn Gee, Questlove’s manager and president of LNU. The segment is part of Paramount Global’s companywide initiative to honor the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
The Grammys have not always been hip-hop supporters. The Grammys didn’t have a dedicated category for rap or hip-hop until the 1988 awards, which were presented on Feb. 22, 1989. D.J. Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s genial pop hit “Parents Just Don’t Understand” was the first hip-hop recording to win a Grammy (best rap performance). But they weren’t invited to perform on the show that year.
A year later, on Feb. 21, 1990, the duo became the first hip-hop act to perform on the Grammys. “We’d like to dedicate this performance to all the rappers last year that stood with us and helped us to earn the right to be on this stage tonight,” Will Smith said before he and D.J. Jazzy Jeff launched into “I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson.”
Both Questlove and Collins are coming off major honors for their work. Questlove won both an Oscar (his first) and a Grammy (his sixth) in 2022 for directing the documentary Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). Collins won his first Primetime Emmy in 2022 as an executive producer of The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, which was voted outstanding variety special (live).
CBS, which has broadcast the Grammy telecast since 1973, will air a second Grammy-branded special this year – A Grammy Salute to The Beach Boys. The special, the latest in a series of “Grammy Salute” specials, will be taped on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
The Beach Boys and hip-hop are in very different musical worlds, of course, but it’s worth noting that the Beach Boys had a sizable hit in 1987 (No. 12 hit on the Hot 100) with a collab with the Brooklyn rap trio Fat Boys. The two groups teamed for a remake of The Surfaris’ 1963 classic “Wipeout.”
The fact that a quintessential American vocal group teamed with a rap group 36 years ago is more evidence, as if any more were needed, of hip-hop’s reach and endurance.
