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Bath & Body Works’ Candle Day 2025 is underway, which means more savings on all things candles.

While the brand has made a name for itself through viral bath products, Bath & Body Works is also well-known for its candles, specifically the fan-fave Three-Wick Candles. The scented item is so popular that even Taylor Swift has been known to light them up on occasion.

Right now, the beloved candles are available online for just $9.95, a steal considering the decor item can be priced as high as $30+, depending on the scent and style. The annual candle sale and unofficial holiday will begin online at 10pm ET Dec. 4, 2025, and will run until Sunday, Dec. 7th, giving you around 2 to 3 days to shop candles until you drop.

The Three-Wick offerings make the best stocking stuffers or full-blown gifts for the candle-lover in your life. These candles are often a blend of wax and soy and feature a high concentration of fragrance oils, heavily perfuming every room with your chosen scent. These candles can burn up to 45 hours. There’s no time like the present to shop for presents, pun intended, and you won’t find big deals like this anywhere else. Below, we’ve shared some of our favorite Three-Wick offerings from wonderful to wacky with unique scents galore, all for $9.95. Keep reading to shop our picks.

If you’re ready to get into the holiday spirit without breaking the bank, this Fresh Balsam candle is for you. The Three-Wick offering is 64% off and scented with woodland balsam, crisp eucalyptus, and cedarwood, transforming your space into a snowy, resinous, fresh forest.

Bring the snow to you this holiday season with this Snow Day Three-Wick Candle, now 62% off. If it isn’t snowing just yet, you can light this candle up to get the vibes going, filling the air with scents of spruce branches, peppermint and sweet vanilla. When lit, the candle reminds us of cozying up on the couch beside your decorated Christmas tree, sipping on a peppermint mocha.

If you aren’t ready to give your space the full-blown holiday treatment just yet, this Brown Sugar Fig Three-Wick Candle is a great way to subtly dip your toes in without going full-blown Christmas. This warm and sweet scent is currently available for 62% off and is scented like fresh fig, coconut milk and caramelized brown sugar. The scent is akin to a freshly baked fig tart coming straight out of the oven.

For something a little more fresh and floral, we’d choose this Rose Water & Ivy Three-Wick Candle, just 63% off. The candle is scented like rose petals, English ivy and lemon blossom, a floral and earthy scent that smells like you just stepped into a garden.

Who doesn’t like ice cream? If you can’t pick one flavor, why not choose three with this Neapolitan Ice Cream Three-Wick Candle, now 64% off. The candle combines all your favorite flavors, including milk chocolate, strawberry and vanilla, filling any space with sugar sweet scents. It’s safe to say that this candle is an ice cream-lover’s dream.

Another unique scent, this time, even sweeter. This Gummy Candies Three-Wick Candle is currently 64% off and is scented like, as you’d expect, gummy candy. Specific notes include pineapple gummy candy, lemon juice and sugar sprinkles, a puckering sour-sweetness that fills any space with fun and whimsicality.

Rihanna‘s “We Found Love” kept the cast of Hamnet from going to a hopeless place mentally after emotionally heavy days on set, according to leading lady Jessie Buckley.

During a chat on The Late Show on Wednesday (Dec. 3), the Irish actress shared that she and costar Paul Mescal would take part in weekly dance breaks set up by director Chloe Zhao, who wanted the performers to be able to let loose after spending so much time emulating grief and hardship on camera. “We’d have gone through a lot as a family in these weeks, lived a lot, loved a lot, lost a lot,” recalled Buckley, who plays Agnes Hathaway in the film, the fictionalized version of William Shakespeare’s wife.

“But at the end of the week, [Zhao] would spend an hour setting up the camera to do a dance take, where she basically would blast Rihanna, ‘We Found Love’ at the top of the sound system,” Buckley continued. “Whether it was just the family or 300 extras dressed up in period costume, we’d all create our own mosh pit to Rihanna.”

Released in late November, Hamnet is based on a novel of the same name that dramatizes the real-life story of Shakespeare — who is portrayed by Mescal in the film — and his wife, Anne Hathaway. The couple shared two children, but their son, Hamnet, died at the age of 11. Shakespeare would later pen his infamous Hamlet play.

Needless to say, the script called for a lot of intense days on set. But while there is footage of the cast dancing off that heaviness, Buckley says they can’t release it because it would cost too much to obtain the rights to “We Found Love,” which features Calvin Harris and spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the early 2010s.

“It’s so embarrassing, because I’ve actually talked about this quite a lot now,” Buckley told Colbert, laughing. “Rihanna must be like, ‘Can you please just stop asking me?’ But it’s really expensive to get that song. So we can’t show it.”

“Rihanna, come on,” the late-night host then implored into the camera. “Do a solid here.”

Watch Buckley’s full conversation with Colbert above.

My first introduction to Griselda was around 2015 when I came across Conway‘s mixtape Reject 2 on SoundCloud. I would see his name pop up on social media here and there, so I did the knowledge and dug around until I saw the album cover and it immediately grabbed my attention. The photo that was used was black and white showing the bullet holes on the back of his right side that gave him the Bell’s palsy that he still deals with on a daily basis.

“It took a while for me to even like come out the house, come out my room,” he told me when he stopped by the New York Billboard office. “I didn’t want nobody to see me. It was tough trying to accept how I look now. It was tough for me. It’s a battle I’m still at war with. I’m still fighting that.”

For me, his Reject 2 tape and Griselda’s Don’t Get Scared Now — released a year later in 2016 — put the crew from Buffalo, NY on the map. They built on the foundation that East Coast underground artists like Roc Marciano and Ka laid down in ushering in a more modern approach to that traditional “boom bap” sound during the mid ’00s. Fast forward about a decade later, and Conway is on his fifth solo album, and is heading up his own label.

You Can’t Kill God With Bullets was set to drop a couple months ago, but after some stops and starts, he’s finally ready to drop it on Dec. 12. He’s released two singles, with the most recent one being “Diamonds,” featuring the aforementioned Marciano. And he has some heavy hitters on the production side of things with names that include Justice League, Araab Muzik, The Alchemist, Timbaland, Apollo Brown, and of course, Griselda’s own Conductor Williams, and Daringer.

We sat down with the Buffalo MC to talk arguably his best album to date, not being afraid to experiment with new sounds, and the mental health battle he’s been dealing with since being shot in 2012.

You were in Europe on tour during the summer. How was that experience?

It was awesome. The energy in Europe is just next level, it’s different. It’s an indescribable feeling, man, The s—t is love, and fans are really tapped into the whole culture heavy and all that. I had an amazing time when I tour out in Europe. The is probably my third tour out there.

Why do you think they have such a deep appreciation for the type of rap you make out there?

I don’t know. I never really thought about that. I think it’s because they’re still at the essence of hip-hop and why and how it was created. It was created by young guys who had nothing, who came from nothing. All we got is hip-hop. That’s why they still hanging on to that, because some of them live in situations that’s probably not ideal to Americans. This all the access they got to, too.

Like, a lot of the fans that I meet, I ask them how they learn English, and it’s by listening to the music and watching the videos, so I think that’s what it is. They appreciate it more, because hip-hop is everything to them, whereas the state we in now, this era — respectfully — I feel like it’s just all a money grab. It’s all about a bag. It’s all about hype and being a mega-superstar. They don’t care about that s—t, man. It’s, “Are you nice? How does your music make me feel when I hear it? Can I relate to that s—t?”

Whenever I’m abroad somewhere, I always notice the graffiti and I think of the Biggie line from “Juicy” where he said, “You never thought that hip-hop would take it this far.” And the graffiti is usually good too.

That’s an element of hip-hop. They tapped in doing graffiti. I got murals in countries I never even heard of let alone visited. So, you know, seeing that I got a mural in Lithuania spray painted on a train is a different type of feeling, man. It’s kind of mind-blowing, but on the other side of it, I kind of expected this. I always used to tell West and them that all I needed was the right person to hear me. I was always the rapper growing up, so everybody was invested in me like, “Yo, all we need is the right person to hear bro and we outta here. Bro, power move away.”

So, to see that we actually did it? It’s definitely overwhelming. It’s ill as f—k, especially coming from Buffalo and all that. The s—t we’ve been through and had to go through along the way before we got on, losing Chine Gun and all that. It’s surreal.

What’s more important, having these murals and having this respect or a platinum album?

The love from the fans, the love from my peers that I look up to and respect. Rae, Ghost. I can name several, Royce da 5’9″, I was signed to Eminem, Hov. That means more to me. Like when I see Busta and he hugs me and tells me that I’m one of his favorite MCs of all time. I mean, the platinum means awful lot to me too. [Laughs.] That means more to my family. My son can get a lot more Robux if I get that platinum plaque.

You started your own label with Drumwork that you’ve been focusing on. How’s that experience been?

It’s been good. I’ve been getting a lot of lessons since I started this s—t in 2020, I just been learning a lot, you know? Some wins, some losses, some ups and downs, but you need that. It’s a blessing.

I’ve noticed on your last few albums that you’ve been trying to show off your versatility with the type of beats you’ve picked. Is that a fair assumption?

100 percent. I was always that type of versatile kind of MC that always had multiple different flows. It just kind of got hindered a little once I got shot in my face and half of my face got paralyzed, especially when it first happened. I used to play with a lot of double time flows. They used to call me the black Eminem in my hood. I would try flows and rap over different beats. I like to look for beats that people won’t try to select. I try to challenge myself and do something that may not be in my comfort zone or in my wheelhouse. It’s like trying to do a halfcourt trick shot. I might miss on some of them, but s—t, I’ll be Steph Curry if I hit these muf—kas.

So, that’s really what it is, it’s just important. I always been like that, because to me that’s what MCing is about. I don’t want to sound callous or nothing, but I tend to gravitate towards the MCs that flow a certain way, that’s versatile. Versatility is a big part of the criteria for me when I’m rating an MC. If you sound the same every f—king song it’s like… you know?

You want to name some names? Give me some examples?

Nah, I rather not. I love everybody. I’m a righteous man.

How about growing up? Who were some of your favorite MCs that fit that mold?

Eminem, Kool G Rap, Nas, Hov. I always liked Cube too, like, early Cube. I was big-time West Coast head during the early days, Spice 1, MC Eight, Cube like you said, Dre, Kurupt. Shout out my bro Gotti, his flow is nasty.

Reject 2 was the first Griselda project that I came across and I feel that was the tape that helped put you guys on the map. Would you agree?

100 percent. That’s why when I get asked what’s my favorite, or the album that means the most, I always go with Reject 2. It’s probably ain’t my best album, but it means the most to me because that’s the s—t that got me sitting here with you. I’m where I’m at right now because of it. I was able to do a lot for my family and it helped me become something more than what I was at the time.

How much better have you’ve gotten since Reject 2?

Miles, eons, billions of miles iller since Reject 2. See, the thing is, when I was recording them songs, I had just really started being able to move my jaw and rap and talk and s—t. That’s why it was a blessing to even meet Daringer, because he had that canvas for me to paint on. During that time, he was making slower records that kinda helped me still be able to rap — because like I said, I used to try so much different s—t, trap s—t, double time flows, radio hits, melodies, all that. Once I got shot, I couldn’t really do that s—t no more, and I was living over there with Daringer. He’d be playing s—t like “Air Holez”, “Blakk Tape,” and I was able to just really talk, you know? We weren’t worrying about no hook or none of that, I just wanted to get s—t off my chest. It was like exercise for me too.

I remember how jarring the cover was with you back turned and the bullet holes. That picture made me check it out, especially after I peeped folks talking about the tape on social media.

We shot that in Daringer’s hallway.

How did you and Daringer first link up?

When Westside first met Daringer, I was in jail. Then when I came home, West went to jail — but when he came home, he remembered this dude that he met at this hip-hop event that had sent him beats. And at this time, now I’m shot, so I’m recovering from being shot in the head. So West found Daringer, and they did the Hitler Wears Hermes 1. By the time part two came around, that’s when people heard me. I think I had one verse on there, and that was just me seeing if I could do it. I hated that song. I hated how I sounded. They talked me into that s—t, like, “Yo, nah, you sound ill. Trust me,” and that s—t took off, then Reject 2 came out. That’s the one that got me lit.

Yeah, I came across that and Don’t Get Scared Now on SoundCloud. Those were the two tapes that put me on.

At the time, that’s just how we were distributing and marketing our music. We were putting that s—t out on SoundCloud. We didn’t really understand the streaming s—t and we didn’t wanna f—k with it either. We wanted to keep our s—t boutique, like we only gonna put this s—t on SoundCloud for like a week. We would make merch like hoodies and s—t and there would only be like 187 made.

And putting your music on DSPs during that time wasn’t really going to do much.

We wasn’t really making a big impact with YouTube views or followers on Twitter and Instagram and s—t. What we what we did, I don’t think it can ever be done again. We ain’t have nothing. We from Buffalo. We had no label. We didn’t want to sign no deal. We didn’t put our s—t on DSPs. We didn’t have no management, no publishing, no nothing. And still our s—t reached the hands of Alchemist and Premier and Statik Selektah and so on and so forth. Working with Roc Marci, now I’m doing an EP with Prodigy, we touring. All from selling our s—t from the kitchen table.

There’s an interlude on the album with — RIP my guy Clark Kent — where he’s talking about begging you guys to stick with that sound. So, how do you juggle staying true to what got you here while also trying to show that you’re versatile?

That’s a good question. The only thing you can do is stay true to yourself and if you get some fans to understand and grow with you and see like, “Nah, he’s dabbling, he’s experimenting, he’s cooking.” I just focus on the music part of it — and like you said, stay true to me. I don’t feel like I deviate too much. Maybe I got more big name producers and s—t. I’m working with Swizz and Timbaland now.

You had the R&B joint with Lady London. And the one track that stood out to me. I’m forgetting the name of it. It’s a part two, but it sounds like some James Bond s—t.

“Parisan Nights” [Laughs.] That’s gonna be the look, when we shoot that.

Gotta be in the tuxedo like GoldenEye.

Shooting tacks out the muffler of the back of the BMW, you feel me? Little rifles coming out of the headlights.

I noticed that you had some bigger names on this project. How did you start sourcing beats from everybody?

They reached out to me. Timbaland hit me up. I met Tim backstage down in Miami when him and Swizz did the Verzuz. Then one day, probably a year or two later, Tim just reached out, like, “Yo, I got something for you.” So then, when I was doing this album, I asked him, “Yo, what up with that that s—t we did, man, let me get that?” And it made the album. Swizz, all them, Alchemist, Conductor, they reach out to me like, “Yo, I got some ideas. Let’s cook type s—t,” respectfully. I’m not saying this arrogantly.

I get what you’re saying.

Eric Sermon reached out to me too. Back to your question earlier, that’s the plaque. Eric Sermon hitting me up, saying that he has an idea for me, is worth more than a plaque. The OGs, man, the guys who paved the way and inspired all of us donning me as the guy? That’s my award.

Method Man champions you guys too. I saw a clip of him saying that you talk crazy. So, how long did it take for you to make this particular project?

I’ve been working on this for like a year. I had took a couple months and made “Se7enteen5ive.” That’s when I said, “Nah, I gotta keep going.” I ended up doing the partnership with Roc Nation, and that’s what inspired me to really get in my bag. I needed some fresh air, that all. Now I’m back at the office.

Did you record this in a certain spot? You mentioned that you recorded a bunch in Denver back in 2022 and you enjoyed the vibe out there.

I recorded two or three of the songs from this project in Denver. I recorded some songs in Ravenna, Italy, I recorded some in Rome and in Tbilisi, Georgia. I recorded something for Eric Sermon over there too.

Did his track make the album?

Nah, it was for something else. I’m not sure that he wanted that leaked [Laughs.] I’m gettin’ lit, though, f—k it, you know what I mean? Hype the big bro up.

What do you like about Denver?

Everything, man, Denver is just such a beautiful, beautiful city.

They got good weed out there too.

Eh, I wouldn’t go that far. It’s all right. That was one of the first spots that had legal weed. I remember smoking good when I went out there. That was years ago, though, and you probably smoke s—t that I’ve never heard of. You know, I got particular lungs. And I was thinking the same s—t like, “There’s about to be all types of gas down here.” Then I get there and they got me smokin’ middie. My man Kane from Cookies had me smoking gas out there. I just thought about it. Shout out Kane. Kane kept right.

I feel like after maybe three or four listens that this might be your best album. Did you feel like that while recording?

I’m happy to hear you say that. I definitely feel like that. I didn’t feel like it while I was recording it, but I felt like it when I’ve been listening to it now, and I gotta hold back tears. This s—t is amazing. I’m glad I went through all the stuff I went through that led up to this point to be able to create this album. I feel like it’s probably my best too. The songwriting, the beats, everything felt like it came together.

Another thing that I found interesting were the interludes where you have a clip of Jamil Al-Amin’s and Kwame Ture’s “Free Huey” speech. Can you explain why you decided to include some of those?

I was just in a place at that time where I was feeling revolutionary. I was on my 2Pac. The things that they were saying hit me in an impactful way. It felt like they were preaching to me. I felt like they were talking about me, saying what I want to say. They kinda really painted a lot of my pictures on the album. I was getting chills when I was hearing them.

It meant a lot to me, because I wear my emotions sometimes on my sleeve and I get in my head a lot. I get negative real easily, and I shut down, right? And I don’t go to the studio, I ain’t answering no phone, I’m somewhere isolated. That don’t really get me nowhere, that ain’t gonna free Huey. The only thing that’s gonna free Huey is gunpowder, and my gunpowder is being in that studio, in that booth, letting that clip go, you know what I mean? So, that s—t was profound like let me get off my ass and stop being emotional and lazy.

Have you always been like this or did it happen after you got shot?

After I got shot.

It f—ked your head up and your confidence, I imagine.

Yeah… yeah.

And you still deal with that, even with the success — like, that s—t don’t really matter.

I’m always nervous in interviews, performances, when I’m around a lot of people. Nerves, man, anxiety, I don’t know.

People don’t see that side of it, because you sound so confident on your records.

But that’s part of it, right? That’s the release, where I could be free and speak my mind and share my thoughts. I ain’t the best talker and all of that. I’m kind of even reserved.

You’ve mentioned that you don’t like the fame.

It sucks. I’m thankful and I’m blessed, because it ain’t for me. It’s for my generations after. It’s for after me. I’m able to leave something here for when I go, for people that I care about. That’s what it’s for. If it was up to me — my team would tell you — it’s hard to even get me to do stuff like this.

It’s interesting that you say that, because I’ve tried to interview you a bunch of times and it never happened. I’m surprised that you even here now. We had this scheduled a couple times too — and I know how it is, I deal with rappers all the time, it’s not that big a deal.

Nah, it’s never the schedule. Anxiety be whoopin’ my ass. Some days are better than others.

Now that you’re back in the States, what you got going on now?

Back on road, just running around, getting this album out here. You Can’t Kill God With Bullets. We about to put belt to culo. We got the tour coming up like at the end of October. And we’re doing something special to introduce Reject 3. This is the 10-year anniversary of Reject 2, so we’re doing something special for that. We got some shows that we’re gonna do. We got a show out here in New York City and we got one in Buffalo on some “One Night Only” s—t.

And that’s gonna be all Daringer too on Reject 3?

Mostly Daringer. I only got Derringer and Conductor on that b—h right now. I let them have fun for the summer, you know what I mean? Now Tio returns. That’s what I might name the tour, “Tio Returns.”

Unless you want to add something, I think we’re good.

I just want to add, You Can’t Kill God With Bullets is the forthcoming album by Buffalo, New York native Conway the Machine. Five-time Grammy nominated artist, philanthropist and music icon, and it has features from the likes of Roc Marciano, Corey Kendricks, Lady London, and more coming real, real soon. Make sure you tap in and support.

The music business has never been larger or more complex — and accordingly, the issues facing the industry and its many creators are more numerous, and complicated, than ever.

As musicians face myriad challenges, from negotiating fair streaming royalties to navigating the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI), the Recording Academy is among the most critical institutions fighting for their rights. With the business staring down another consequential year, the academy announced in October its new National Advocacy Committee co-chairs: DJ-producer Dani Deahl will return for a second consecutive yearlong term, with Hanson’s Taylor Hanson joining her for his first term in the role.

Deahl and Hanson have deep histories with the academy, as current national trustees and former presidents of its Chicago and Texas chapters, respectively, so they bring not just their lived experiences as musicians to the Advocacy Committee, but also their knowledge of the academy as an institution. Both cherish the work they’ve been tasked with — and have ideas for how to modernize and streamline it.

“I’ve been working in music for over 30 years,” Hanson says. “I’ve seen it evolve. But that also means I’ve seen us miss opportunities over and over to set a better example for what our industry could be.”

At times, he argues, the business’ fragmentation — between publishing, management, touring and more — has enabled the exploitation of its creators. That’s why, for him and Deahl, a holistic approach to resolving issues is critical. Plus, they note, other entertainment sectors often face similar challenges to the music industry, meaning that the effects of this advocacy work can ripple well beyond musicians.

Earlier this year, the Help Independent Tracks Succeed (HITS) Act was signed into law, making the tax code more musician-friendly and representing a major victory for advocacy groups, including the academy. Among the other federal legislation Deahl and Hanson are fighting for: the Nurture Originals, Foster Art and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act, to curb deepfakes and likeness infringement; the American Music Fairness Act, to ensure creators are paid for the use of their songs on terrestrial radio; the American Music Tourism Act, to fortify music tourism; the Protect Working Musicians Act, to help independent creators collectively negotiate with streaming platforms and AI companies; and the RAP (Restoring Artistic Protection) Act, to protect the First Amendment rights of artists whose lyrics are used in courts of law.

But they aren’t going it alone. The academy’s membership — and the broader creator community — support the advocacy efforts led by Deahl and Hanson, including the annual Music Advocacy Day, when these parties meet with state and federal legislators. During this year’s edition, in September, 2,100 creators took part in 200 meetings with policymakers across 45 states and in Washington, D.C.

“Patterns of advocacy — not just wins today, but showing when we raise our hand and when we challenge things — is critical,” Hanson says. And, Deahl adds, this work’s benefits assist far more than musicians themselves: “Advocating is not just good for creators, but the public interest. A stable, transparent and fair music ecosystem benefits musicians, but it also benefits fans. These policies reinforce a system where creators can thrive and consumers aren’t exploited.”

Taylor, you’ve been active in Recording Academy governance and advocacy efforts for years. Why did you want to take on this new role?

Taylor Hanson: I’ve been an academy member for a very long time, since I was 15, and here I am at the ripe old age of 42. I [have] really witnessed the power of the academy to develop, evolve and grow in order to represent its community, and one of the most significant places I’ve seen the academy really invest in the last decade is advocacy.

It’s a very important time now because there’s new things happening in our industry that we’ve never seen before, whether it’s technology, new habits that are changing with fans, the way they consume music. It’s up to organizations like the academy to be at the point of the spear, so to speak, of how we engage in the challenges that are ahead and continue to make sure that creators’ rights are protected and represented.

Dani, you’ve already served a yearlong term as Advocacy Committee co-chair. Why did you want to continue?

Dani Deahl: This feels like a continuation of how I’ve lived my life up until this point. Even before I was asked to be co-chair of this committee last year, I’ve lived most of my professional life in pursuit of trying to make things more equitable for everyone else in my space. I know what it’s like to face systemic barriers — I’ve been a woman in dance music for 20 years. I had to fight for recognition, for pay equity, for safety in greenrooms, and spent a lot of time and many years advocating for those same things for other women in my space. I feel like I’ve always had a fire in me to try and advocate for other people. So being able to participate in a committee of this stature at this level and to create meaningful change, how can I turn that down?

Dani, what were some of the initiatives that you worked on during your first term that you’re proudest of?

Deahl: I was really, really proud, in my home state of Illinois, about passing HB 4875. Now, of course, on a national level, we’re talking about the NO FAKES Act. This, for my state, is a version of that. It followed in the wake of the ELVIS [Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security] Act [in Tennessee], and it updated my state’s right of publicity in order to make it so that artists could have some protections if generative AI was used to impersonate them or their work. It was so meaningful to go down to Springfield and testify in front of the [Illinois] Senate and to be able to talk to legislators face-to-face and put a story to the issue that affects so many people.

For musicians, advocacy can encompass so many things. What do you see as the most important issues facing creators today?

Hanson: The NO FAKES Act is going to continue to be an anchor of the dialogue — and all the things related to how AI is emerging in the new world. Historically, music has been the canary in the mine for change. We’re the first ones: downloading, streaming music, digital. It started with music because [we have] smaller files, we’re slightly easier to push around than the film and TV [sectors]. But what starts with music leads to everything else. The onus is on the music business to do a better job of protecting likeness and protecting intellectual property going forward. That’s something that, if we don’t highlight it, will be abused. It’s already at risk and it’s already begun to be abused.

Deahl: I’m very personally invested in NO FAKES. It’s so disheartening to watch tech companies build [billion-dollar] — or potentially now — trillion-­dollar companies that are trained on music that was made by people that can barely scrape together rent. That disconnect, to me, says everything. Creators are being asked to adapt to a world they didn’t agree to be a part of. That part’s not new; we’ve always had to historically do that [in the entertainment business]. But NO FAKES is about setting a very clear and simple boundary, and that is your identity is not public domain. Just because it exists online, it does not mean that other people can use it. And if someone wants to use your voice or your image or your likeness, they need consent. It feels like such a simple baseline, doesn’t it?

I’m so excited that the academy is being so proactive on this because if we don’t intervene now, the music industry’s next generation of creators won’t lose money — they’re going to lose authorship. They’re going to lose identity. That is incredibly scary to me because we’ve spent decades telling artists they need to build their brand, they need to own their narrative, and now we’re watching systems and companies come out that strip all of that away unless you can afford to fight it — and how many of us can?

You referenced Tennessee’s ELVIS Act and legislation in Illinois. There’s national legislation, but the states are incubators as well. How, in your role, do you liaise with folks who are on the ground regionally and marshal support for local or regional initiatives that may not receive the same media attention but are still important?

Deahl: This year, we have a very exciting change to our structure at the academy that is going to allow us to listen and activate more closely on that state level. Each of our chapters now has a standardized Advocacy Committee, which then ladders up to Taylor and I and everyone else that is on advocacy at a national level. That means that we basically have a phone tree across the country to let us know about the local issues that are affecting people, and that’s a structure that we did not formally have in place before. Because of that, we’re on the precipice of a very exciting time at the academy where we can more closely attune to localized issues that are affecting people on the ground in local chapters, and that will allow us to not only be more effective at a state level but [also] nationally.

Hanson: The RAP Act is something, specifically, that is really important, but is working its way more state by state.

Deahl: Working on state-level issues, it gives us a shorter runway to real impact. Like HB 4875, that was concept to execution in under a year. That’s crazy. It doesn’t always happen that way, but that’s a real demonstrable difference from how law passes at a federal level. You’re not dealing with the same gridlock, you can build relationships more directly. And once one state passes a law, then immediately that becomes a blueprint for other states to look at. It’s a proof of concept, and it can become much easier to scale that idea.

These issues span red states and blue states, and music has proved to be a space for bipartisanship in recent years. Can you speak a little bit about working with people across the political spectrum, across different parts of the country, who may have different values but can come together about protecting creators and the music community?

Hanson: The great thing about music is it gives us an opportunity to speak about something that is a uniting force versus a dividing one. The importance of the arts, the importance of songs and artists, does bring us back to what unites us over and over, and it’s a privilege to be able to bring that subject into a room with leaders. We have seen people that are extremely red and people that are extremely blue sit around a table and say, “Oh, you love hip-hop? I love hip-hop. You love country? I love country.” That’s a great opportunity for us as a country and as a community to not only get the job done by realizing we have an issue that is uniting, but also for everyone to be reminded that we do share a lot of things — a lot more, I think, as citizens, than oftentimes we get to talk about.

Deahl: Regardless of where you live, every city, every state has local venues, has nightclubs, stadiums, recording studios, church musicians, music teachers, someone who wants to play in a touring band. We all know someone: “I used to play piano” or “My daughter wants to write songs for a living,” “My cousin’s in a band.” That’s where the momentum really comes from because music doesn’t belong to one side of the aisle. It belongs to people.

This story appears in the Dec. 6, 2025, issue of Billboard.

Fred again.. rarely does interviews, but he recently sat down for a long conversation as part of Instagram’s Ask It Anyway series.

Filmed during a break from the British producer’s current 10 weeks/10 songs/10 cities rollout tour for his USB002 project, the discussion functions as a mentoring session for the young creators in attendance, as Fred elaborated on his creative process and much more. Watch the complete interview below.

The conversation started with the artist discussing his current tour, of which he said, “I’m feeling a bit more stable that I’m getting to travel with my best mates and play shows, and I feel very blessed if I’m honest.”

In terms of finding a balance between writing music and playing it, Fred added that, “I think for me there was just a clear thing, with touring at least. If you think of writing and touring, if you stop one of them, the other one stops. Like, writing leads to touring. So I’m really clear in my mind what’s the most important thing, and it’s writing music. My happy place is being on my ones or being with my mates making tunes, that’s always square one for me. I’ve always made sure that even if we’ve done mad stuff, that there’s always time to come back and be in London and write tunes.”

The list of “mad stuff” he referred to was indeed long, with the last few years finding Fred and his team putting on pop-up shows around the world, including a 2024 show the Los Angeles Coliseum, touring the U.S. and beyond and joining the Coachella 2023 as a last minute headliner alongside Skrillex and Four Tet.

“For me, I’m trying to just protect my mental so that I can feel good to make music every day, so everything just kind of feeds into that,” Fred said of maintaining balance amid these big moments. “I definitely haven’t always been good at this, but as I get older I care more about getting good sleep or exercising, so when I wake up I can have the cleanest line between here and here.”

He continued that creating this “cleanest line” has lead to an increase in useable output over the last few years.

“I find moments sometimes where we’re lucky with me… and both my brothers who I work with, to find ways where maybe 1% of what we write starts feels like it can come out as opposed to 0.1%. Having the record like USB, where it’s just tunes that I’m making for my USB, it doesn’t need to be like, some deep album statement always,” he said. “Then I’ve always got albums, so there’s a few different avenues that I get to put tunes out in. Or like, make an ambient album with Brian [Eno] or something like that.”

The 32-year-old artist also noted that from the ages of 20 to 28, “I reckon probably 0.0001% of things I made came out, and now I reckon 1% comes out, so that’s great.”

He told the rapt audience that making music every day is key to his process. “I try and make a few ideas a day, and most of them are rubbish… The thing is for me, the joy and the journey of finding out what you like, just like closing your eyes and throwing paint and seeing what sticks,” he said. “I would definitely preach all day about, the more you can fall in love with the obsession of it and the craft and just chasing chasing, to me that’s the win. The best feeling to me is when you play back the thing you’ve made that day and you actually feel good about it. That’s the drug I’m chasing every day.”

And while modern day producers have an endless number of software and plugins with which to create, Fred’s advice was “to just commit to two synths and five plugins that you’re going to use the next four years and save yourself all of that headspace and all of that wasted time comparing whether this compressor sounds slightly better than this compressor. Like, fix the chorus. I really, really feel this.”

He also recommended having a close group of friends to run ideas by, revealing that he has “a WhatsApp group with four of us and I’ll send everything to that group. All of them aren’t musicians, and that’s almost why I value their thoughts… You can take the feedback that resonates. That’s the most important thing. Don’t listen to any criticism, listen to the criticism that resonates.”

He also schooled the audience on not getting worn down by rejection, revealing that before he went on to become a frequent collaborator with Four Tet, he once sent the fellow producer an email that Four Tet never responded to.

“Four Tet is a producer who I’ve worked with a lot, an artist, and he loves to show people the email I sent to him years before we actually met of me being like ‘Hey mate!” Fred recalled. “I managed to get his email, that was like a huge win, and then I sent him this email like ‘Please, can we do anything? Not even music, can we just have a cup or whatever?’ And then a few years after that we actually met, and he just loves getting that email out.”

In the end, he said, “It comes back to this trying to nurture your resilience so you can shoot a million shots and not take it personally. Because it’s not personal when they don’t land, it’s nothing to do with you.”

Check out Fred’s chat below.