The most influential leaders in Canada’s music industry gathered at the exclusive celebration for Billboard Canada Power Players at Toronto’s Rebel on June 10, as part of NXNE. It was a prestigious night with impactful and emotional remarks, heartfelt tributes and one historic, and strange, surprise honour to close the festivities.

Many of the Power Players honoured on the 2026 list were in attendance, including Gary Slaight, Warner Music Canada co-GM Madelaine Napoleone, Universal Music Canada president & CEO Julie Adam, Live Nation Canada’s Erik Hoffman, Wayne Zronik and Melissa Bubb-Clarke, Allan Reid of the Junos/CARAS and many more.

Following a viral KEXP performance in February, Quebec-based math rock duo Angine de Poitrine have skyrocketed into international fame. The polka-dot-clad pair — who perform under the pseudonyms Khn de Poitrine and Klek de Poitrine — are everywhere. In a surprise moment, they got to accept the Billboard Canada Global Breakthrough Award, presented by FACTOR, in front of the most powerful executives in Canada. When their name was announced, many in the room were questioning if they were really there and what they would do.

True to their artistry, the two members took the stage in full black and white polka dot costumes as their music played, walked up to the microphone, and then didn’t utter a single word. While they lingered on stage it seemed like they might say something, if even in their otherworldly language. Instead, Khn reached up and touched his hat, and a burst of black and white confetti showered the audience. Then, they left. Without saying a word, they had one of the big moments of the night.

Two icons of the live music industry were honoured for their decades-long devotion to the country and its artists. Paquin Artists Agency co-president Vinny Cinquemani and Live Nation Canada chairman Riley O’Connor became the first-ever inductees into the Billboard Canada Hall of Fame.

When Meg Symsyk, president and CEO of FACTOR, stepped onstage to accept the Visionary Leadership award, she revealed that earlier in the day, she was on a flight from Los Angeles where she was with Rush at The Forum on their comeback 50th anniversary tour. Billboard Canada national editor Richard Trapunski personally presented her with the award, and outlined that it’s been a whirlwind month for Symsyk, as news that FACTOR and Scotiabank had settled their lawsuit became public at the beginning of this month. Throughout it all, Symsyk ensured that the music funder has continued — and in many ways, expanded — its support of Canadian artists.

“When you are surrounded by people who share your values and challenge each other to be better, you discover that leadership is less about pursuing your personal achievements and more about helping others find theirs,” she said. “Our work has always been about more than streams and charts and ticket sales and market share.”

Margaret McGuffin, CEO of Music Publishers Canada, received the Impact Award. She was recognized for her advocacy ensuring that Canadian creators are fairly compensated and licensed in the age of AI, as well as her mentorship for the next generation.

“As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into the creative ecosystem, we must ensure that creators and the companies that invest in them have a voice in shaping the future,” she said during her speech. “These are the people I’ve spent my career working with and advocating for. I have the great privilege of working with music publishers, many who are in this room.”

Read more highlights here.

Daniel Caesar Pays Surprise Tribute to His Managers at Billboard Canada Managers to Watch 2026

The most influential managers from across the globe gathered at SOUNDSTAGE in Toronto on June 11 at NXNE to celebrate Billboard Canada Managers to Watch. The celebration spotlighted the people who put in the behind-the-scenes work to elevate artists across the country following the release of this year’s coveted Managers to Watch list.

“If you want to get something done, call the manager,” said Billboard Canada national editor Richard Trapunski in his opening remarks. “You are the ones who are closest to the artists, the unsung heroes of the music industry. You have the vision and the tools to open doors and build careers, yet you are rarely in the spotlight yourselves.”

Daniel Caesar is one of the biggest Canadian success stories of the last decade, and he flew straight from Thailand to make a surprise appearance to honour the two powerhouses who have been with him on an adventure from the very beginning: his managers, Matthew Burnett and Jordan Evans.

The R&B star proudly invited both of his managers onstage to crown them Billboard Canada’s 2026 Managers to Watch, greeting each of them with a powerful, lasting hug and leaving Evans teary-eyed.

“We’re in the middle of an adventure and I love it so much. If I could bottle up that feeling, I would pay every cent I have to give that feeling to the people I love,” Caesar said.

Burnett joked about his working relationship with Evans being “each other’s most successful relationship,” with the pair celebrating two decades of working together this year. He gave a special nod to Canadian producer Boi-1da for giving them their start in the industry back when they were producers, and boasted that nobody in the world can captivate a room like Daniel Caesar playing acoustic guitar, be it in a small room, an arena or even a stadium. He was proud to call Evans and Caesar his brothers and his family, and left the audience with words about what he considers to be the utmost principle of management: care.

Sébastien Collin is the man behind the year’s biggest global breakthrough: the polka-dotted, viral math rock band Angine de Poitrine from Saguenay, Quebec. In just four months, Collin and the group have booked an international tour that’s sold over 100,000 tickets worldwide and racked up over 16 million views on the band’s breakthrough KEXP live performance.

Collin is this year’s Manager on the Rise. “I think we can be proud of the music without compromise and I hope that it will help build bridges,” he said. “I hope it will put some spotlight on the Quebec scene. We’ve got really nice bands right now, and I hope it will help us find the good bands everywhere.”

Tommas Arnby, meanwhile, won the International Manager Award, highlighting his work building the global rise of rock star Yungblud.

See all the highlights here.

Cam’ron wasn’t as impressed with Jay-Z‘s Roots Picnic Freestyle as most people.

During a recent episode of Talk With Flee, he talked about how he would’ve had a different strategy in the way he approached the subject matter and how it opens the door for Drake to possibly fire back.

“I think what he should’ve done was keep that one at the Roots [Picnic] about whoever he want to talk about,” he explained. “And then you got Yankee Stadium, you coulda did one every night and that sh– would’ve went crazy for the rest of the year. ‘Oh, he did this person — pause — at the Roots Picnic.’ Then he dissed this person the first night at Yankee Stadium, then he got at this person the second night at Yankee Stadium. Then the last finale, [perform] all four freestyles. It would’ve looked better.”

He added: “You got three shows coming up. You spread that sh– out like, ‘Yo, he caught this person this day, caught that person, he was shootin’ at n—as.’”

He then talked about how both Jay-Z and Drake are competitive, but thinks Jay’s subs aren’t exactly knockout blows while joking about his former label boss’ God complex. “‘Yo, your words can’t reach God/ I’m too high in the sky to hear what n—as is saying,’” he said of the way Jay likes to talk down on his opponents. “Must’ve came down, ’cause you paying attention to what n—as is saying. But what I will say is this: Drake is competitive too. And I think that by that freestyle not hitting the way that his freestyles usually hit, this is an opportunity if Drake wants to be like, ‘That ain’t it, homeboy.’”

Cam also responded to Jim Jones‘ recent Verzuz challenge and acknowledged that his old friend is really good at going viral. “Jomo is really good at riling people up in the Tri-State Area about nonsense and the people he’s talking to don’t really don’t give a f— what he’s talking about,” Killa began. “He said he has more No. 1 hits than Nas and n—as was like, ‘Yo, he might. Jim out here workin’. That n—a workin’.’ Then you go check and be like, ‘What the f— these n—as talkin’ about? N—a don’t got more No. 1 hits than Nas.’ Then the n—a moves the goal post and be like, ‘Oh, nah, I meant the culture. I’m out here doing the culture, I’m shiftin’, I’m still workin’.’ That ain’t what you said, n—a. You said you had more No. 1 hits than Nas; you movin’ the goal post.”

He continued: “So, I think he’s really excellent at getting his algorithm poppin’ and sh– like that. But as far as the Verzuz? No, I’m doing no Verzuz, man.”

You can watch the full episode below.

U.S. authorities have accused a North Carolina man of conning Napster out of a massive ownership stake by falsely pledging $3.36 billion he never had.

An indictment by the Department of Justice (DOJ), unsealed on Thursday (June 11) and obtained by Billboard, charges 57-year-old Charles Cole with three criminal fraud and conspiracy counts. Cole also faces parallel civil fraud claims a Thursday complaint from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which also names his attorney, Torben Welch, as a defendant.

Over the course of 2024, Cole obtained 239 million shares of the digital media company Infinite Reality — roughly 25% of its total shares — by claiming he had access to $55 billion in cash, and promised to invest more than $3 billion in the company. Infinite Reality later rebranded to Napster after acquiring the streamer for $207 million in March 2025.

In the wake of the Napster acquisition, a Forbes investigation raised questions about the mysterious identity of the company’s $3 billion backer. The following November, Napster’s CEO reportedly told shareholders that the investment was not going to come through, saying the company had been the “victim of misconduct” and was cooperating with law enforcement to nail the fraudster.

Now, federal authorities claim that Cole never gave a penny to Napster and didn’t actually have the funds to do so. Cole allegedly duped Napster into believing he did have the money by creating a complex “fictitious paper trail” that included forged bank statements and a fake website, set up with offshore servers, to mirror a Malaysian bank’s real site.

“Cole, with Welch’s assistance, then used the fraudulently obtained shares in Infinite Reality to secure a $1 million loan from a private third-party lender that he never repaid,” reads the SEC complaint.

In a statement shared with Billboard, a Napster spokesperson said, “We have cooperated with law enforcement since the company initially reported it was the victim of misconduct. We are continuing to support this process. Questions about the proceedings should be directed to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. We have no further comment on an active matter.”

Cole and Welch could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday.

Napster’s origins infamously date back to 1999, when it shook the music industry by launching as a file-sharing site that allowed users to download tracks for free. The name later got recycled as a licensed streaming service that has changed hands a number of times over the years.

Napster was sold to the streamer Rhapsody in 2011, then to virtual reality concert app MelodyVR in 2020 and again to Hivemind Capital Partners and cryptocurrency company Algorand in 2022. This was followed in 2025 by the Infinite Reality acquisition, which promised to “transform Napster into a next-generation platform” using “immersive 3D technology.”

This story was updated at 10:18 p.m. ET to add a statement from Napster.

As the son of Sublime‘s late Bradley Nowell, and frontman for the genre-blending band himself since 2023, Jakob Nowell is something of a scholar when it comes to the group’s history and legacy. So he views this incarnation — which releases a new album, Until the Sun Explodes, on Friday (June 12) — as “the fourth era of Sublime.”

There is, Nowell tells Billboard via Zoom from his home in Long Beach, Calif., “Sublime classic,” the group his father, drummer Bud Gaugh and bassist Eric Wilson formed during 1988 and ran through the elder Nowell’s death in 1996 from a heroin overdose at the age of 28. The trio released three albums — including a five-times platinum self-titled effort in 1996, released two months after Nowell’s death — and scored enduring hits such as “What I Got,” “Santeria” and “Wrong Way.”

Gaugh and Wilson’s Long Beach Dub Allstars, launched in 1997, was Sublime’s second era according to Nowell, followed by Sublime With Rome from 2009-2024, fronted by Rome Ramirez and including Wilson for most of its run (with Gaugh on board for the first two years).

“So I consider us, like V4 of Sublime,” explains Nowell, 30, who was 11 months old when his father died. “I hope people consider it a renaissance. That’s definitely the goal with this record and all the sounds we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to perform up there. It’s just a fun, messy, chaotic punk band that your parents used to love and showed you, or that you just discovered two years ago and you love it for your own reasons now.”

Gaugh, 58, adds that, “It just seems like a natural progression — wouldn’t it be cool if we could bring something new to the fans who haven’t seen Sublime before and give them their Sublime, because everybody’s listening to what their parents were hearing 30 years ago. So we’re giving something to the new fans and the old fans alike, and giving (new fans) something for their very own — ‘This is my Sublime. This isn’t just my parents’, grandparents’, aunts’ and uncles’. This is my band, too.”

Doin’ Time

A new Sublime, and a new Sublime album, were not necessarily fixed on the Long Beach scene’s bingo card, however. Or on any of the band members’.

With Gaugh, Wilson and others from his father’s posse as designated godfathers, Jakob Nowell developed a natural interest in music early, teaching himself how to play guitar. Nevertheless, he says, “there were times I was running full-force to it and times I felt a total imposter syndrome — ‘What am I doing? This is not me!,’ just trying to figure out who I am. You definitely wrestle with it.” He struggled with drug use and alcoholism as a teen, becoming sober when he was 17 with the help drug interventionist Todd Zalkins, a childhood friend of his father’s. Nowell and other family members established the non-profit Nowell Family Foundation to provide addiction recovery support for musicians.

He went on to receive a degree in creative writing from Long Beach State College but gave himself over to music in bands such as LAW and Jakobs Castle, the latter of which released its debut album, Enter: The Castle in 2024 and is planning another for next year.

“I was super-stoked,” Gaugh says, “because (Nowell) was staying true to himself and he was doing his own thing. It was important for him to set himself aside from (Sublime). I truly respected that he wasn’t going the ‘nepo route’ and glom off our success. He really was a musician in his own right, so it was like, ‘OK, he’s into this kind of music and that’s just how it’s gonna be. No pressure from Uncle Bud or Uncle Eric.”

Nowell confirms that being part of the Sublime universe in any way, shape or form “didn’t seem like the right thing. It seemed inappropriate…and even if I did, would I even be good enough, or would I be capable? So I spent a good 10 years in my own projects, just trying to cut my teeth and play around the country, at first to empty rooms and then a modest following.”

Nowell did, however, agree to play with Gaugh and Wilson during a December 2023 benefit concert for Bad Brains’ Paul “H.R.” Hudson in Los Angeles. “I was 28, the age my father died,” Nowell recalls. “I’d taken this trip to the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma (Calif.), the last venue he played. And then I got the call to do (the benefit). There were just so many coinciding factors.” Gaugh, meanwhile, remembers that “when we were rehearsing for that first show, hearing his voice sounding identical to Brad’s, it gave me chills. I haven’t experienced that since Brad left, and feeling it once again was confirmation that we were doing the right thing.”

In the wake of that show, Nowell was open to Gaugh and Wilson’s overture “to play together again and use the name Sublime. I felt like I was capable of doing this now. I’ve built up my chops enough to do this part justice. It definitely came with a certain sense of paranoia and dread and uncertainty. But now, with two years under my best as the frontman for the project, I’m feeling pretty confident — obviously.”

How The Sun Exploded

Sublime moved forward with playing select shows and festivals, including Coachella during 2024, and teamed with the roots reggae group Stick Figure on a single, “Feel Like That,” shortly afterwards; it was the first new release under the Sublime name in 27 years and reached No. 7 on the Alternative Airplay chart. There was talk of making a full album with Travis Barker of Blink-182 and John Feldmann of Goldfinger, but Sublime ultimately decided to keep things closer to home, recording Until the Sun Explodes with Jakobs Castle producer Jon Joseph at Harbor Martyr Studios in San Pedro.

The 21-track set — including spoken-word skits — features an expanded version of Sublime, too, with guitarists Trey Pangborn and Zane “Zayno” Vandevort and DJ Product (nee Doug Boyce) in the mix. Joseph contributes some instrumentation as well, while Nowell’s grandfather Jim Nowell, who passed away earlier this year, pops up on “Maybe Partying Will Help…Pt. 2” There are also guest appearances by H.R. (“Trey’s Song”), Garrett “G. Love” Dutton (“Come Correct),” Fletcher Dragge from Pennywise (247-369) and the bands Fidlar (“Backwards”) and Skeggs (“Favorite Song”).

Nowell acknowledges that while a new Sublime album “was another big never-will” for him, performing with the band made the prospect more agreeable. “Truth be told, we just kept playing together at rehearsals and soundchecks,” he explains. “We’re all very jam-oriented musicians, so we’d have these little parts we’d return to that started to sound like they could be (new songs), and it seemed natural to move forward with that.”

And his almost scholarly knowledge of all things Sublime also gave Nowell a sharp perspective on exactly what Until the Sun Explodes should encompass, sonically and stylistically.

“I think Sublime, at its core, is a California punk rock band that experimented with many different genres,” Nowell explains. “They revered thee classic reggae and dub records from Jamaica — Johnny Osbourne, King Tubby, Jacob Miller. They were also listening to a lot of rad hip-hop and stuff that was happening concurrently in the ’90s, in Long Beach and L.A. They just had to try their hand at it all, how a punk band would do it. It’s just messy and frenetic…and that’s how you get that classic sound.

“That’s what we went for on (Until the Sun Explodes), too, the same sensibility. it’s a paradox; we entirely revere the music, but the very nature of the music is (to be) super irreverent, right? It’s almost pure chaos and fun…and hopefully people get the same feeling here as they did on (1992’s) 40oz. to Freedom and the stuff they did back then.”

One And Done?

Until the Sun Explodes has received a warm welcome so far; both the title track and the album-opening “Ensenada” hit No. 1 on Alternative Airplay. The group has a number of shows lined up as well, starting June 13 at San Diego’s Petco Park and also including its own Sublime Festival on June 27 in Portland, Ore. Sublime will also be part of Vans Warped Tour stops in Montreal and Orlando, Fla., is on the bill of the Louder Than Life festival during September in Louisville, Ky. and the Aftershock Festival during October in Sacramento, and will host the Sublime Reef Madness Cruise during November.

“We’re looking into next year already, too,” Gaugh says. “I know that we are already looking to schedule some Australia/New Zealand dates next year. I can see a Pacific Rim tour happening. I can see another European vacation. We’re looking forward to doing some more laps around the good ol’ U.S. of A….The shows have been amazing. We’re selling out. And I think this album is going to blow the doors off people when they hear everything.”

It may well be the only time they hear this incarnation of Sublime on record, too.

Until the Sun Explodes has been positioned as the “last” Sublime album, and Nowell says that’s certainly how he’s viewing it. “Unless a child of mine wants to make another one one day, this is the last one I’m gonna make,” he confirms. “I think you have to know your goals, set out to achieve them, and if you do you must then create new goals. I love doing this and it’s truly healed me in many ways, and allowed me to grow as an entertainer and performer. But I wish to carry the flag forward in different ways now.”

Nowell says he’ll continue to “play a few Sublime shows every year and keep the faces smiling,” but his primary focus will be on Jakobs Castle as well as SVNBVRNT Records, the label he operates with Vandevort, working with other southern California artists he says “are making local kids really excited, just like when Sublime started. This is the real renaissance that I hope my time with Sublime can clue people into. These are the true people who have inherited the mantle.”

If Until the Sun Explodes does well, however, Nowell knows there will be requests for more, and he does allow that “my feeling could change in the future. But it would be enough into the future where it would be a moot point. I’ve done what I thought was impossible and I’m very proud with the results. I would want Until the Sun Explodes to feel like epilogue, the victory lap, a celebration of Sublime’s history and a love letter to my father and all of his friends and the scene that raised me and touched so many people’s lives. After this I’d really like to pass that along and help the kids who want to do something similar.”

From a Hollywood film premiere straight to Game 4 of the NBA Finals in New York City the next night, Taylor Swift is on a coast-to-coast adventure.

Swift was spotted courtside with two of the three Haim sisters — Alana and Este — at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden to cheer on the Knicks, who lead the series 2-1 heading into Game 4. How do we know that the trio is rooting for the Knicks? Based on their hilarious homemade shirts.

Each of the shirts is a Knicks-based pun on a celebrity name, with Swift’s shirt reading “Stevie Knicks,” Alana Haim’s shirt saying “Knickleback,” and Este’s shirt reading “Knickole Kidman.”

Swift previously attended an NBA Eastern Conference Finals game between the Knicks and the Cavaliers last month with her fiancé, NFL star Travis Kelce, who is a lifelong Cleveland fan. But Swift has historically cheered for the New York squad after her time living in NYC.

The pop superstar is in town to attend the 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction & Awards ceremony on Thursday night, when Swift will be inducted into the hall after previously winning the Hal David Spotlight Award in 2010.

On Tuesday night, she was in Los Angeles to attend the Toy Story 5 world premiere and surprise-perform “I Knew It, I Knew You,” her song for the Disney Pixar film. She also joined forces with Toy Story music maestro Randy Newman to duet on “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.”

The Wu-Tang Clan is set to perform at halftime of Game 4, following a halftime set from Cardi B during Monday’s Game 3 at Madison Square Garden.