Variety, we were reliably told in our youth, is the spice of life. If so, Hilltop Hoods has been cooking with the stuff for decades.

The Australian hip-hop trio has enjoyed the type of career that isn’t written in any guidebook, one that’s busted records and consistently tracked up.

Hailing from Adelaide, the South Australian capital, the Hoods boast more career entries on triple j’s Hottest 100 countdown (with 23), a fine gauge of their connection with young music fans, across decades. They’re on a streak of six straight ARIA No. 1 albums, beginning with The Hard Road in 2006, through to their most recent effort, 2025’s Fall From The Light (via Island/Universal).

With their tally of seven total leaders, HTH stand alone as the Australian band with the most No. 1s, besting the likes of AC/DC, Powderfinger, Cold Chisel and Silverchair.

Their achievements will be set in stone. The City of Adelaide will rename Clubhouse Lane, a spot just off Hindley Street, the entertainment district in the CBD, as Hilltop Hoods Lane.

The Hoods’ core members Suffa (Matthew Lambert), MC Pressure (Daniel Smith) and DJ Debris (Barry Francis) have done it without bluster, without mugging cameras or headlines. They’ve kept it fresh. Along the way there was a horror film, a range of sneakers, a comic, and an ongoing record label (Golden Era). They’ve raised money for charities, including Lion Hearts Learning, CanTeen, and Support Act. Collaborated.

“That’s one of the ways that you extend your stay,” Suffa tells Billboard. “That sort of creativity outside the creativity is what keeps it interesting, for you and for other people as well. Rather than just album, tour.”

He identifies the Beastie Boys fan-filmed concert project from 2006, “Awesome; I F—in’ Shot That!,” as a “thought outside of the box about how people can be involved with you, with your group.”

On the road, the Hoods’ national tours typically head off the well-traveled path of the big five cities, reaching into regional Australia with all-ages shows.

“They’re so appreciative when you go out to the regional zones. A lot of (artists) skip them,” explains Pressure. “So when you go there, it’s a really electric vibe. They’re the most appreciative people. Sydney, Melbourne, and all the other bigger cities around Australia, you’re expected to go there. But when you go to places like Wollongong, or Cairns, or Karratha, there’s an extra level of welcoming.”

When the Never Coming Home jaunt visited Brisbane Entertainment Centre last Saturday (March 14), Hilltop Hoods welcomed a procession of starry guest vocalists on stage, including Australia’s 2021 Eurovision Song Contest representative Montaigne, chart-topping homegrown hip-hop artist Illy, along with Nyassa, Adrian Eagle, Marlon Motlop, Maverick Sabre and Trials, the opening act on this latest arena run.

“It’s an absolute pleasure to be back in the River City. No place I’d rather be,” Pressure remarks at the top of the show. A show of hands reveals “there’s a lot of new heads in the building.” A scan into the sold-out crowd tells part of the story. Generation X lifers, teens. Several infants with protective ear muffs clinging to their dads.

Hilltop Hoods have accumulated fans along their journey, and mixed it up along the way.

With a performance Saturday night, March 21 at Perth’s RAC Arena, the end of a long road. Work on Fall From The Light began almost five years ago. An international tour in support of it rumbled through 2025. Usually, Australia would be the launch pad. Not this time. Variety.

“It’s feeling so good. It’s nice getting towards the end, as well. It’s always a feeling of elation and achievement, I guess,” says Pressure backstage at BEC. “This is our biggest domestic tour ever. So, it’s been an overwhelming success, and it’s nice to know there’s still heads there for us.”

It’s the end of a cycle. Another will start soon. New Zealand dates are yet to be announced. A “Restrung” album, a remix featuring orchestration, is coming soon. “Once we get some time,” Suffa confirms, “we’ll finish that up.” The “Restrung” cut of Drinking From The Sun, Walking Under Stars is one of their ARIA Chart leaders, debuting at No. 1 back in 2016.

For an act that’s shifted over 1.1 million albums, 1.9 billion global streams, nabbed 10 ARIA Awards and six APRA Music Awards, the end of tour presents a rare moment to reflect.

What else is there to do for Hilltop Hoods?

“Laundry,” quips Pressure. “No matter how big I get, I still have to do laundry.”

Grab your suit, or your Speedos. And get ready for a swim.

Unless if you’ve been living in a cave, covered by a massive rock, the pop music community is locked-in for return of BTS, and their new album ARIRANG.

The 14-track collection dropped at midnight, featuring production from Diplo, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, Mike WiLL Made-It and Ryan Tedder.

ARIRANG is no ordinary recording. It marks the first release in six years, lava hot-run for the Bangtan Boys that briefly cooled when its members enlist in the South Korean military to fulfill mandatory service requirements.

To celebrate the release of ARIRANG, Hybe Labels drops the official music video for album cut “Swim.”  Directed by Tanu Muiño and starring Lili Reinhart, it’s a cinematic experience, a high-seas drama that sees RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook work the ropes and navigate a sailing ship. It’s not any boat. Of course, the lads are cruising on the good ship ARIRANG. Also that year, BTS climbed the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 with smashes “Life Goes On” and “Dynamite,” after which the group would top the chart again with “Butter,” “Permission to Dance” and “My Universe” with Coldplay.

The ARIRANG ship will come in to dock on Saturday, March 21 when BTS performs to a free concert at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, South Korea, with an expected 260,000 fans watching on. BTS hasn’t performed as a group since October 2022, when the septet performed in Busan as part of South Korea’s bid to host the World Expo in 2023. Shortly afterward, their staggered enlistments into the military began, while solo projects got underway.

Watch “SWIM” below.

Latto has been lying low for the past few months, but Big Mama is back on the scene.

On Friday (March 20), the Grammy-nominated MC dropped her new “Business & Personal” single, marking the first taste of Big Mama, her forthcoming fourth studio album, out May 29 via Streancut and RCA Records. Bold and assertive, the new single finds Latto settling scores and addressing every rumor that’s been slung her way.

Latto officially announced the single’s release with a cinematic trailer posted to her social media pages on Thursday afternoon (March 19). “I ain’t go missing. I had to give y’all time to miss me. Before you run the game, you gotta take baby steps to go the distance,” she narrates as the camera follows her slowly strutting towards a baby cheetah — in jet-black stilettos, of course — and handing it a bottle of milk. “Home to the studio, studio back home, listening to every beat [and] feeling every kick. Ever since I was a little girl, I always dreamed of having my own. Big Mama. But this time, the stakes way bigger. Now, it’s on me to deliver.”

The trailer’s slick wordplay and motherly imagery smartly play on both Latto’s Big Mama persona and the pregnancy rumors that have emerged over the past couple of months. We last heard from hip-hop’s resident “Georgia Peach” on last summer’s “Somebody,” which peaked at No. 94 on the Billboard Hot 100 and will also appear on Big Mama. In the months that followed, Latto went on a buzzy feature run that include collaborations with Nemzzz (“Art”), Ice Spice (“Gyatt”), Cardi B (“ErrTime” remix), Summer Walker (“Go Girl”), 21 Savage (“Pop It”) and Ludmilla (“Bota”).

Her last studio album, Sugar Honey Iced Tea, arrived in 2024, reaching No. 15 on the Billboard 200. Notably, the star-studded set — which included the singles the Hot 100 hits “Big Mama” (No. 92), “Sunday Service” (No. 100) and “Put It On Da Floor” (No. 13) — also debuted atop Top Rap Albums, making Latto the first solo female rapper from Atlanta to hit No. 1 on that ranking. She supported the album with a North American headlining tour alongside special guests Mariah the Scientist and Karrahbooo.

Stream “Business & Personal (Intro)” now.

Karol G, Fuerza Regida’s frontman JOP, MAG and Edgar Barrera were among the big winners at the 2026 BMI Latin Awards on Thursday night (March 19), held at the Fontainebleau Coastal Convention Center in Miami Beach.

During the ceremony, the legendary duo Luny Tunes was honored with the BMI President’s Award for their contributions to Latin music as pioneers of reggaetón. They worked on some of the biggest hits of the genre, including Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina,” Don Omar’s “Dale Don Dale,” Wisin y Yandel’s “Rakatan,” Hector y Tito’s “Baila Morena” and many more.

Venezuela’s Elena Rose was honored with the BMI Impact Award, celebrating her contributions to Latin music as both a prolific songwriter and a rising solo artist. Notably, she became the first Latin female artist to receive the recognition. Last year, the artist released her debut studio album, Bendito Verano. 

The event also saluted the top Latin songwriters, publishers and administrators of the past year’s most-performed Spanish-language songs in the U.S. Jesús Ortiz Pez, better known as JOP, was presented with the BMI regional Mexican songwriter of the year award for penning nine of BMI’s most-performed regional Mexican music songs in 2025, including Fuerza Regida songs “Tu Name,” “Me Jalo,” “Una Cerveza” (with Manuel Turizo) and “Excesos.”

New York-bred Puerto Rican-Dominican superproducer MAG was named BMI’s contemporary songwriter of the year for writing seven of the most-performed Latin songs of the past year by Bad Bunny, including No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit “DtMF,” “Baile Inolvidable,” “El Clúb” and “NuevaYol.”

Karol G’s “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido,” co-written by Edgar Barrera and co-produced by Sky Rompiendo, was crowned BMI’s contemporary song of the year, and “Tu Boda” (recorded by Oscar Maydon and Fuerza Regida), written by Alexis Fierro Román, was awarded BMI’s regional Mexican song of the year.

Furthermore, Sony Music Publishing made BMI Latin Awards history, becoming the “first publishing company to receive both the contemporary Latin and regional Mexican publisher of the year Awards since the inception of the awards in 1993,” states a press release.

The night also celebrated 51 first-time BMI Latin Award honorees, such as RaiNao, Jay Anthony Nuñez, Jorge Ontiveros, Alejandro Ahumada Nuñez, Aidan James Cullen, and Estevan Plazola, among others.

The private event was hosted by BMI president & CEO Mike O’Neill, BMI chief revenue & creative officer Mike Steinberg and BMI vice president of creative Latin, Jesus Gonzalez.