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.

The ShopBillboard team can be found working from home on occasion, typing away and finding the best deals for you, likely listening to the latest and greatest hits that have graced our charts.

When working, we rely on fast and affordable home internet to get us through, a lifeline if you will, that can be likened to morning coffee. A good Wifi connection is essential, especially for the folks who have to deal with hybrid schedules that have you juggling working at the office and at home all at once. Without that stable connection, we wouldn’t be able to bring you the music content we work so hard to write up. Enter T-Mobile’s 5G Home Internet plans, a saving grace that offers hard-working individuals the support they need to confidently work from home, without costing a fortune.

Starting at just $35/month with Autopay; plus taxes & fees and a T-Mobile postpaid voice line you can get reliable 5G home internet. You’ve got fast internet for the whole family, giving you crisp, clear access to streaming hit movies and Billboard charting artists’ new music a la A$AP Rocky and Madison Beer, while also working just as reliably for long work days and important Zoom meetings.

If you’re really feeling frisky, T-Mobile 5G Home Internet’s fast internet¹ is powerful enough to support software to make your own tunes from the comfort of your own home, a key function for some of our music-lover readers. In short, the provider allows for creativity and innovation whether you’re tackling your job or a music-oriented endeavor which is something we can totally get behind.

From the standard plan, T-Mobile 5G Home Internet also offers an Amplified plan for $45/month with Autopay; plus taxes & fees and T-Mobile postpaid voice line, which includes faster internet than the Rely plan for only $10 more. Finally, you’ve got the All-In plan for $55/month with Autopay; plus taxes & fees and a T-Mobile postpaid voice line that includes everything mentioned above, along with a wi-fi mesh extender and streaming perks. This includes Hulu & Paramount+ Essential.

The plan is much more affordable than simply shelling out on a singular subscription to those streaming platforms alone. For example, a standard subscription to Hulu is $11.99/month, while a Paramount+ Essential plan will run you $7.99/month. Add that up and you’re paying $18 a month, and that’s without the fast home internet. If you deem that none of these plans are right for you after 15 days, you’ll get your money back.

Want even more bang for your buck? Now new home internet lines get a snazzy virtual prepaid Mastercard. For the Rely plan, you get $100, $200 for the Amplified plan and $300 when you sign up for the All-in plan² for a limited time. To put that in perspective, you can buy a bunch of new albums from your favorite artists, including merch, for $300. Ultimately, that means more cash back in your pocket.

1. Fast/Reliable: Speeds vary due to local network characteristics and management. During congestion, customers on this plan may notice speeds lower than other customers and further reduction if using >1.2TB/mo., due to data prioritization. ↩︎
2. Savings with $15 monthly bill credit. Credits may take up to 2 bill cycles; credits will stop if you cancel any lines or change plans. Up to $300: Via virtual prepaid card when you activate a qualifying new Home Internet line online. Available for digital activations ($100: Rely; $200: Amplified; $300: All-In), not available in retail. Allow 14 weeks from rebate submission. ↩︎

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.

Dr. Martens has had some iconic collaborators from the music scene who have transformed their beloved shoe silhouettes into something unique.

We’re talking the Sex Pistols, Black Sabbath, Joy Division, New Order and The Who, just to name a few; however, none have aligned better with the brand like Metallica, Dr. Martens latest collaborator. For this collection, the iconic heavy metal band’s aesthetics are translated into some of the brand’s best-selling footwear, namely the 1460 ankle boot and the 1461 derby style. Both silhouettes can be purchased now on Dr. Martens website while supplies last. The launch is limited, meaning you’ll want to act fast if you want to get your hands on either style.

When you think about it, the meshing of both Metallica and Dr. Martens is pretty perfect. We can clearly envision fans of Metallica wearing these styles, headbanging and moshing in a crowd full of concertgoers, getting their fresh new kicks all scuffed up and muddy, the way Dr. Martens shoes are intended to be worn. Dr. Martens has always branded towards an audience of those on the edge of society; in fact, the brand was founded on feeding into the 1990s grunge movement. It was all about dressing metalheads, goth and punk kids, those deep into countercultures, looking to express themselves through their clothing.

Dr. Martens 1460 Metallica 8-Eye Smooth Leather Boots

$200

Buy Now at dr. martens

This is a heavy metal take on the brand’s iconic 1460 silhouette. The boot is decked out in colorful grugy grahics like skulls and eye-catching red lettering.

---

The 1460 boot is a staple of the Dr. Martens brand and, as such, was treated with the utmost care in this collaboration. These Metallica 8-Eye Smooth Leather Boots retail for $200 and come in sizes for both men and women. You’ve got all the usual suspects of the 1460 style, yellow welt stitching, a branded pull tab and glossy Backhand leather uppers along with eye-catching grungy graphics on the uppers and toe box pulled straight from Metallica’s seminal 1988 Damaged Justice tour created by the artist Pushead. The boot is ankle length and lace-up.

In our experience with the 1460 boot, we can say that time makes these boots even better. Fresh out the box, the style is a winner worn with jeans or juxtaposed with a maxi skirt. Like all Dr. Martens styles, constant wear softens the leather, making for a more comfortable experience on the foot. They also look better all scuffed up and worn in, each crease telling a story. Dr. Martens’ 1460 is a durable model that won’t steer you wrong, lasting you years upon years of wear, making them a stellar investment piece.

Dr. Martens 1461 Metallica 3-Eye Smooth Leather Shoes

$180

Buy Now at dr. Martens

This style is something akin to a derby shoe with Dr. Martens’ signature welt stitching, accompanied by graphics that make reference to the band’s 1986 Damage Inc. tour.

---

The 1416 is a derby-style option, a preppier choice retailing for $180. This smooth leather silhouette also features a lace-up design with contrasting yellow welt stitching. This time around, the graphics, also dreamt up by Pushead, making reference to the band’s 1986 Damage Inc. tour. The tour was a significant milestone for the band, being that it was the final tour featuring bassist Cliff Burton before he died in a tragic bus crash in Sweden that same year. The tour was in support of Metallica’s fan-favorite Master of Puppets album, which peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200 charts. The tour also marked their transition from opening for Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osbourne to headlining.

Once again, you have sizes for both men and women, making the shoe unisex. Skull iconography is seen throughout the shoe, along with the word “Damage.” Like the 1460 boot, these leather derby shoes will also look better as they’re worn. This is a less-grungy option that we think would look right at home with baggy jeans and a crisp button-down or your favorite vintage Metallica band tee.

Travis Scott has always given Kid Cudi his flowers, and he highlights Cudder once again on Thursday (Jan. 29) for inspiring him to feel seen in hip-hop and like he could actually make it one day as a rapper.

Scott sat down with Rolling Stone for the publication’s My Life in 10 Songs video series, La Flame listed Cudi’s “Soundtrack 2 My Life” at No. 7 and explained how the 2009 Man on the Moon: The End of Day anthem made Trav feel like he was “brothers” with the Ohio rapper.

“It’s just the soundtrack to my life,” he began. “From 0:00 to the end of the song, I felt like we were brothers or something. We live like the same life. I think that s—t came out in ’09 and I was a senior in high school. I was like, ‘You know what, I could probably make it.’ People gotta understand, Cudi came out and was moving albums and s—t. To me, I was like, ‘Wow, people are really resonating with this.’”

Scott also remembered going to a Kid Cudi show, which featured Asher Roth as an opener, for one of the first concerts he ever attended.

“He had the LED screen and it was this black-and-white thing and the shadow and he walked out of the LED screen,” the Houston native recalled. “I remember looking around like people are really receptive to this guy’s story. I was like, ‘Okay, people will hopefully understand the story I got to tell.’”

The lore goes even deeper for Travis Scott. The Scott part of his stage name is inspired by Kid Cudi’s real name, Scott Mescudi.

Travis would end up working with Cudi for the first time on 2016’s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight standout “Thru the Late Night.”

They joined forces for a handful of collaborations in later years, including the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “THE SCOTTS” as well as UTOPIA‘s “LOOOVE,” “Baptized in Fire,” “Get Off Me” and “At the Party.”

Elsewhere in Scott’s top 10, the 34-year-old listed tracks from artists like Kanye West, BJÖRK, Bon Iver, Fun, James Blake, Portishead, Z-Ro and Aphex Twin.

Watch the full video below.

Manager and entrepreneur Romel Murphy‘s dai + drm (pronounced ‘daydream’) has inked a multi-million dollar joint venture with Create Music Group, according to a press release about the deal. Murphy, who has enjoyed recent success with the launch of AI-assisted gospel artist Xania Monet, is building a “future-forward music label” that spans label services, management, consulting and marketing through the new deal, adding on to dai + drm’s established management and consulting branches.

Already, the JV has signed “AI-driven songwriters” Solomon Ray, Nova Sole and Aria Blu, as well as what it calls “traditional artists” (artists who do not use AI) like Jenneske, Renee Harmoni and IME Casino. The label describes these AI creatives as “AI-driven songwriters” because, through the use of generative AI, human songwriters who back the projects are able to bring their song ideas to life by creating AI-assisted or AI-generated master recordings.

Murphy plans to apply the experience he’s had managing Telisha Jones — the woman behind Monet, who uses Suno to take her poems into AI-assisted songs — and her signing to Hallwood Media to make dai + drm into a next-generation label that applies “modern tools, including AI, to help [signees] scale their impact without compromising authenticity or ownership,” a press release states.

“This hybrid approach [to signing AI-driven and human talent] allows dai + drm to bridge worlds, pairing real music expertise with cutting-edge technology to serve creators across genres and formats,” says the press release about the deal.

The company wants its signees to be able to “retain equity and monetize across both master recordings and publishing,” according to the press release, to achieve “long-term sustainability and creative control.” (Note: dai + drm is a label, not a publisher).

“At every major shift in music, songwriters are often left out of the conversation,” says Murphy. “My goal is to make sure songwriters are at the forefront of AI in music, seated at the table, not getting crumbs, while maintaining ownership and long-term equity in their work.”

“Romel is an extremely bright entrepreneur. We look forward to seeing his record label flourish,” said Jonathan Strauss, CEO of Create Music Group, in a statement.