Pardon the understatement, but it’s been a busy couple of weeks for Taylor Swift. On Oct. 3, she released The Life of a Showgirl, and its gargantuan impact has spread across the Oct. 18-dated Billboard charts. The set debuted atop the Billboard 200 with record-breaking numbers, and its entire tracklist dominates the top 12 spots on the Billboard Hot 100. More, its unprecedented success is global.

The opening track on Showgirl, “The Fate of Ophelia,” arrives at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts, becoming the first song to simultaneously debut atop both tallies and the U.S.-based Hot 100 since Swift’s own “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone, in May 2024. It’s a common theme across her many chart achievements that her biggest competition is herself. This is her fourth song to accomplish this global hat trick, in addition to “Anti-Hero” in 2022 and “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” in 2021.

Swift goes on to dominate the upper reaches of both global lists, owning 12 of the top 13 spots on the Global 200 and 12 of the top 14 on Global Excl. U.S. From 216.9 million streams for “Ophelia” down to 81.3 million for “Honey,” the album’s 12 tracks combined for just under 1.4 billion official streams worldwide (1.386 billion) in the week ending Oct. 9, according to Luminate.

That total is the second biggest one-week global streaming sum for an album since the charts launched in 2020. It follows – you guessed it – Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department from last year, which garnered 1.76 billion clicks in its first week, while coming in ahead of 2022’s Midnights, with 1.16 billion. That gives her the top three global streaming weeks in the charts’ five-year history. Bad Bunny and Drake are the only other acts to clear the one billion mark, each of whom did it once.

The Life of a Showgirl’s first-week streaming numbers are eye-popping, but even more so considering the album’s relatively brief track list. At 12 songs, it’s the shortest collection among the top 15 biggest global album debuts, presenting an uphill battle against projects with 15, 20 and even 30-plus songs.

On average, the 12 songs on The Life of a Showgirl drew 115.5 million streams worldwide in their first week. That isn’t just a record in the global-chart era — it’s double the next-closest competitor. Swift’s Midnights (20 tracks) averaged 57.8 million, The Tortured Poets Department (31) averaged 56.8 million, and albums by BTS, Drake, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Olivia Rodrigo exceeded 50 million per song. Swift already owned this record, and its runner-up slot, and now she has improved upon it by 99.97%.

Of Swift’s enormous global total, 674.4 million streams (49%) are from the United States and 711.7 million (51%) are from beyond (with the Global 200 reflecting activity in more than 200 territories). Among the 57 albums that have totaled 250 million streams in their first week since the global charts’ inception, that split falls just about in the middle, unsurprisingly. It’s more international than almost all such hip-hop and country sets, but more U.S.-centric than Latin and K-pop records.

The long-bubbling Houston rap scene finally took over the mainstream in 2005, getting the entire country invested in tippin’ on four-fours and sittin’ sideways. The moment took over radio, TV and eventually the charts, with pop stars as massive as Nelly and Beyoncé eventually having huge hits influenced by this H-town movement. And while he might not have been the most obvious star for the moment, one guy ended up serving as the connective tissue for pretty much the whole thing: The People’s Champ, Paul Wall.

This month on the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, our Vintage Pop Stardom spin-off series Vintage Almost-Pop Stardom is welcoming on first-time guests to look at really interesting artists during years in which they brushed up against pop stardom, but perhaps never quite got all the way there. Last week, we began with 1995 Björk, and this week we continue with 2005 Paul Wall, as the Texas writer Jonny Auping (of the excellent My Time Back newsletter) helps us dive deep on the white rapper/jeweler who commanded the spotlight without ever hogging it, and who 20 years after his clear commercial peak, still maintains a higher universal approval rating than nearly any of his peers.

While doing so, we ask all the most important questions about the Iceman’s biggest year: What made this such a special time for Houston hip-hop? How did Paul Wall come to define the moment, while managing to avoid seemingly all the traps that 99% of white rappers can’t help stepping in? Who had the best verse on “Still Tippin’”? Has Kanye West ever heard of DJ Screw? Is a bachelor party thrown by 2005 Nelly and Jermaine Dupri better in theory than in practice? And perhaps most importantly: How does Paul Wall still have the internet going nuts fairly regularly 20 years later?

Check it out above — along with a YouTube playlist of some of the most important moments from Paul Wall’s 2005, all of which are discussed in the podcast — and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom!

And as we say in every one of these GPS podcast posts — if you have the time and money to spare, please consider donating to any of these causes in the fight for trans rights:

Transgender Law Center

Trans Lifeline

Destination Tomorrow

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on 5Calls.org.

D’Angelo‘s daughter, Imani Archer, posted a loving tribute to her father on Wednesday (Oct. 15), one day after the “Brown Sugar” singer died at age 51 following a long battle with pancreatic cancer. “dear daddy, there are no words to describe this immeasurable loss. I’m in absolute disbelief and shock,” she wrote in an Instagram post that featured a series of pictures of father and daughter from throughout the years.

“You were my biggest hype man, my protector, my biggest musical inspiration, the kindest and most selfless man and the best father anyone could’ve ever had,” the post continued. “No one will EVER measure up to how brave and strong you are. Till the very end, you made sure to protect me from anything that would scare or hurt me. I love you so much Daddy. I wish I had more time to spend with you.”

D’Angelo’s family announced his death in a statement on Tuesday, saying, “The shining star of our family has dimmed his light for us in this life. After a prolonged and courageous battle with cancer, we are heartbroken to announce that Michael D’Angelo Archer, known to his fans around the world as D’Angelo, has been called home, departing this life today, October 14th, 2025.”

The family statement continued, “We are saddened that he can only leave dear memories with his family, but we are eternally grateful for the legacy of extraordinarily moving music he leaves behind. We ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time but invite you all to join us in mourning his passing while also celebrating the gift of song that he has left for the world.”

In her post, Archer, 26, praised her Grammy-winning dad for teaching her about music, and life, sharing the heartbreak of losing him at such a young age. “For you to show me new music, play piano with me to our favorite songs, or to go back and forward about our favorite go to meals. You’re a one of a kind soul, and I’m so grateful you chose me to be your daughter. I’m not sure how I’ll be able to live on without you, but I’ll never forget all of your advice and things you’ve told me on how to get through this life,” she wrote.

“Dad…I miss you more than life and this is breaking my heart into a million pieces. I wish I could hold your hand just one more time,” the note concluded. “I will forever honor you and carry on your legacy Dad. Everything I do will always be for you. I’m gonna miss you and hearing your voice every single day. I’ll always be your BabyGirl.” She signed off with a defiant hashtag common among those fighting the disease and their loved ones: “f–kcancer.”

The post garnered comments of love and support from a number of other musicians, including John Legend, Busta Rhymes, Sheila E, Jojo, Robert Glasper, Chloe Bailey, LL Cool J, Disclosure and others.

The message from the late soul singer’s only daughter came after a equally emotional statement from Michael Archer Jr., D’Angelo’s son with late singer Angie Stone, who died on March 1 in a car accident. “I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers during these very difficult times, as it has been a very rough and sad year for me,” Archer Jr. told People. “I ask that you please continue to keep me in your thoughts as it will not be easy, but one thing that both my parents taught me was to be strong, and I intend to do just that.”

Following his split with Stone, in addition to musician Archer, D’Angelo also had a second son, Morocco.

Though he only released three albums during his lifetime, D’Angelo’s music had a profound impact on fans and fellow musicians, many of whom have stepped forward to praise his intense, emotional artistry over the past few days, including former President Barack Obama, Lauryn Hill, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Tyler, the Creator and many more.

It’s a few hours before Kali Uchis is set to take the stage for the second of two sold-out nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden in September, and the venue is buzzing. Fans, many dressed in the artist’s merchandise or girly pink outfits, hum with anticipation. For the Colombian American powerhouse, this moment represents the culmination of a decadelong rise — from an indie darling crafting mixtapes in her Virginia bedroom to a superstar reshaping the boundaries of motherhood, biculturalism and fame.

Today, she’s moving audiences of thousands — all while raising her 1-year-old son and balancing life on the road with her partner, rapper Don Toliver. And backstage, the artist born Karly Marina Loaiza exudes the kind of tranquility of someone who’s exactly where she belongs.

Dressed in a plain baby blue spaghetti-strap top, the 31-year-old is having her glam squad ready her, meticulously curling her waist-length extensions and sharpening her cat-eye eyeliner. As they apply last-­minute touch-ups, Uchis emphasizes the importance of grounding themselves prior to the concert. “We all do a prayer together before the show to uplift everyone and remind us that we’re all on the same team,” she says. “That we’re here to make something beautiful, inspire people and have a good time.”

Kali Uchis will sit for a one-on-one interview on Oct. 21 as part of Billboard Latin Music Week. For tickets, go to billboardlatinmusicweek.com.

Uchis has built a reputation as a bilingual and genre-fluid artist who bends musical boundaries with ease. Her voice, languid and honeyed, can glide over sensual R&B, bouncing reggaetón, shimmering pop or nostalgic jazz. While bilingual peers like Cuco, Helado Negro or Omar Apollo remain at theaters and amphitheaters, Uchis is dominating arenas with songs that ignite feelings of intimacy and escapism, where love, resilience and self-discovery often collide. She’s a storyteller who bears her heart with a blend of vulnerability, empowerment and poetic introspection, whether asserting her independence (“Loner”), exuding self-love (“All I Can Say”) or tapping into supernatural longing (2021’s “Telepatía,” her first Hot Latin Songs No. 1 and her first Billboard Hot 100 entry).

“Kali has incredible artistic sensitivity. I was really impressed by how she pays attention to every detail of her voice, her melodies and the way she conveys sensuality and emotion in every word,” Karol G tells Billboard. “Her style is very authentic, and that makes her shine, giving each song a very special touch.”

Uchis’ ambitious and largely sold-out 29-date North American arena run — her first time headlining such venues — elevated her artistry to a new level. According to Billboard Boxscore, she grossed $31.2 million from 322,000 tickets sold during the tour, which included two-night runs at arenas in New York and Chicago and a three-night stint at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

“Kali’s vision has always led the way — we built a team to amplify it, leaning into her bilingual and genre-defying identity as her greatest strength and shaping a tour that feels both world-class and authentically hers,” says Jon Lieberberg, who manages Uchis alongside Shakira Kalité.

Under the glow of swirling pink lights, theatrical fog and chiffon drapery, Uchis transformed Madison Square Garden into an otherworldly haven for her fans. The crowd — a mix of young people, couples, LGBTQ+ followers and fans from diverse ethnicities — seemingly knew every lyric as Uchis’ velvety voice floated effortlessly through her bilingual anthems. “Even though it’s called the Sincerely, tour, it’s really a huge celebration of my entire discography,” Uchis says.

Her elaborate show bore that out. After making her grand entrance, Uchis — by turns perched on a swing, wearing a hand-crystallized French Polynesian lilac silk gown and nestled in a larger-than-life teacup, spinning like a doll in a music box — first spotlit tracks from her latest album, 2025’s soulful Sincerely,. Then she pivoted and the energy shifted dramatically: Clad in commanding SEKS black leather with playfully naughty schoolgirl-inspired attire, Uchis confidently delivered material from her 2024 Spanish-language album, Orquídeas, bringing out JT of City Girls to join her on the Dominican dembow-leaning banger “Muñekuita.” Later, Rauw Alejandro made an appearance to give their collaboration “No Hay Ley Parte 2” its live debut.

“Both Kali and I have different musical universes, but at the same time we share a very Latin and feminine essence,” says Karol G, whose Orquídeas collaboration, “Labios Mordidos,” hit No. 10 on Hot Latin Songs and No. 97 on the Hot 100. “When we got together, there was a mixture of sweetness, sensuality and strength … the fact that we are both Colombian and the special connection between us is also reflected in the music.”

“I think that’s what people love about Kali, that she represents so many different people and communities. She is a testament that a person can be many different things and be themselves,” says Wasserman senior vp Cristina Baxter, who has worked with Uchis since 2015. “Whether you connect with her because of shared heritage or not, the ultimate connection is with the idea that she’s a multifaceted person and artist. She’s not going to be told who she is, and she’s going to live authentically herself.”

The yearlong hiatus Uchis took after Orquídeas — declining to tour behind it so she could focus on raising her and Toliver’s son after he was born — informed how she approached this tour. “The reasoning behind doing so much of my discography on this tour is I feel like this is the tour to do it,” she says. “I took my little break to have my baby and be with him every day, all year. But now, let me just go ahead and do as much as I can and give justice to these songs that so many people didn’t get to see.”

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About halfway through our interview, Uchis’ phone buzzes. She FaceTimes her son, who’s on his way to the LEGO Store with a family member. “¡Hola, mi amor! ¿Qué quieres comprar?” she coos, then chuckles when a family member chooses a toy recommended for older children, ages 3 and up. “Está bien, está bien,” she assures in Spanish. I ask if her child speaks both languages, and she replies with pride, “He does! He understands and speaks both fully.”

English and Spanish define Uchis’ world — and her career, where she has carved out a space as the rare Latin artist who thrives across linguistic boundaries, reflects this. A strong performer on the Latin and all-genre charts, her most recent albums Orquídeas and Sincerely, both hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200; the former’s debut was the highest for a Spanish-language set by a woman last year, and it ruled the Top Latin Albums and Latin Pop Albums charts. It even became the first Spanish-language set by a woman to debut atop the Vinyl Albums chart. Uchis has also scored nine entries on the Hot 100, including her viral 2021 hit “Telepatía” (No. 25) and her Peso Pluma-­assisted smash, “Igual Que un Ángel” (No. 22). Her 18 career entries on Hot Latin Songs include “Telepatía,” an eight-week No. 1.

For Uchis, though, this tour’s importance transcended such numbers. “We haven’t done a tour since the Red Moon in Venus tour [in 2023],” she says. “I had a tough experience in part two [of the tour] because I was pregnant and I was not ready to announce it. It was complicated trying to perform, trying to hide my pregnancy and not being ready to talk about it.” This tour, however, has been “like a return to myself again. I have my body back and have this renewed, refreshed feeling. I have learned so much from the touring that I’ve done [previously]. This definitely feels still like me, but such an evolved version.”

And while Uchis was making up for lost time on this tour — performing both Orquídeas and Sincerely, material for audiences for the first time — the run was also an opportunity for her to treat fans to live renditions of her earliest repertoire, alongside the bilingual hits that have made her a global sensation. She reached back as far as her 2015 EP, Por Vida, and gave several songs from across her catalog their live debuts. “This is my first real [solo] arena tour,” says Uchis, who opened arenas for Tyler, The Creator in 2022. “It felt like the right thing to do was to honor this full-circle moment of, ‘Let me put myself on. Let me show you a little bit of something about me from back when I started and bring it all the way to here.’ ”

Amid it all, Uchis had another challenge: traveling on a demanding national tour with a toddler. “Luckily, my man is really supportive,” she says of Toliver. The couple, who traveled together alongside their child on a tour bus, approached the outing not just as a professional endeavor but as a family adventure. “I have a good support system right now,” Uchis explains. “Everyone knows that I have to be focused on the show, but I’m also looking at it as a family road trip.” But, she notes, “My son wants to play with me all day” — and those days often started early and ended as late as 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. after shows. “Getting rest has been hard,” she admits, but with help from her partner and loved ones who traveled with her on the tour bus, she could sneak in a nap before sound check — an hour or two if she’s lucky.

“Until my son is 3 years old, for me, it’s a big priority being in his everyday life, even when I’m working,” she says. “On a normal, everyday basis, I’m with him constantly. But obviously, this is a seven-week tour, so it’s the first time where he has to know, ‘OK, Mommy actually has to go to work.’ ”

Uchis’ management went to great lengths to tailor the logistics of the tour to her circumstances. “We intentionally shaped the pace, routing, travel and daily workflow of the tour,” Lieberberg says, explaining that the structure was designed to make it “possible for Kali to show up fully for her audience and fully for her family.” For example, one key part of the plan was routing that allowed for travel by bus instead of constant flights.

The structure has at least one major fan: “[My son] loves traveling,” Uchis says with a huge smile. “He loves seeing new things. He loves being on the tour bus.”

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Even as she builds a new chapter with her family, Uchis remains tethered to the artist she used to be. “I really built my way here through all these years,” she says.

Uchis was born in Alexandria, Va., and raised between the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and Pereira, Colombia. That bicultural upbringing heavily shaped her artistry. She learned to read and write in Spanish before English, a foundation that later allowed her to record in both languages seamlessly. Growing up, music was a constant presence in her “chaotic, full house,” where cousins, uncles and aunts filled the space with life — and noise.

“Music was always there. It was just part of my life from the beginning,” she recalls. “Even when there was silence, I would hear music in my head. I think that’s why I started writing songs when I was really little. I was always inspired to try things, whether it was learning instruments, making clothes or performing for the kids in the neighborhood. I was just a very creative little girl.”

That same self-sufficiency emerged when she started making music in high school. Uchis taught herself the basics of video directing and album cover photography, experimenting with visual and sonic identities long before she had formal industry backing. She caught the attention of major players like Snoop Dogg, Diplo and Tyler, The Creator after the release of her 2012 debut mixtape, Drunken Babble, on social media — and prompted her move to Los Angeles, where she began preparing for a career that would let her stay true to herself while reaching bigger audiences.

“I had an instant reaction to her music the first time I heard it over 10 years ago,” Wasserman’s Baxter recalls. “When I heard snippets of Drunken Babble several years before we started working together, I felt immediately like I wanted to work with her. There was no one like her. I still say there’s no one like her. She has such a singular, authentic voice.”

Uchis’ ascension to arenas, Baxter says, “is really a testament to all of the work that she’s put into her career and the relationship that she’s developed with her fans.”

Lieberberg adds, “Over the past decade, she’s built a global audience that deeply identifies with her unique voice and perspective. The success of her recent releases proved she was ready for that next stage.”

And her status today as one of America’s most bankable female Latin headliners is a remarkable turn for someone who admits how little she understood commercial expectations less than a decade ago. “When someone said to me something about my first-week sales of [my 2018 debut] Isolation, I was like, ‘What? I didn’t know that was a thing,’ ” she recalls. “I was just so naive about the music industry. I didn’t try to do anything to support the sales.” For her, Isolation’s power had nothing to do with metrics: “I traveled the world making this album and collaborating with all these amazing people like Gorillaz, Tame Impala, Bootsy Collins. I put together so many legends for my debut album. That was all that I cared about.”

“She’s a very unique and well-rounded artist with the ability to create music that connects on a global level without losing her roots,” Karol G says. “I admire her greatly because she stays true to herself, and to me, she is a figure who inspires you to believe in yourself and your own art without fear.”

This, combined with Uchis’ refusal to compromise her bilingual identity — exemplified by 2020’s Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios), her first album entirely in Spanish, and her decision to alternate between languages on subsequent albums — has propelled her journey. The industry may have been hesitant about a rising star who operated in two languages, but her fans weren’t.

“People kept telling me to stick to English, that it was easier to sell music that way,” Uchis recalls. “I’m not going to just keep making music in one language because it’s easier to sell. I’m going to do both because I can do both. I always felt that [not] utilizing everything that God gave me into my art is the same as spitting in God’s face. Why would God have made me bilingual? Why would God have made me with this duality if I wasn’t meant to project it into my art and use it to inspire other people and to create with all of this that I have?”

But Uchis never expected to crack the bilingual code this effectively. “I had a lot of doors closed in my face, and I had a lot of opportunities missed because I feel like nobody ever thought that this would get to this point,” she says. “A word that people used a lot was ‘unique.’ At the time, those aesthetics weren’t really popular. I want to say that the things that I did were always very much ahead of their time. I don’t think that people were ready for what I was doing.”

Now Uchis has arenas of fans around the world proving just how wrong those ­detractors were.

This story appears in the Oct. 11, 2025, issue of Billboard.