Taylor Swift took Ice Spice under her wing and co-signed The Bronx native when she enlisted Ice to hop on the remix of “Karma” in 2023.

The pop superstar and 25-year-old rap phenom have built a friendship in the time since, and Ice Spice opened up about the valuable advice she’s received from Swift as part of her NYLON cover story, which was published on Wednesday (Sept. 10).

“The thing about Taylor is that she keeps it so real,” she said. “Not even kidding, but one of the biggest things that I always think about that Taylor said is ‘As long as you keep making music, everything’s going to be fine.’”

Ice continued, pointing out that don’t only talk about their jobs when they hang out, but that Swift’s words of wisdom have stuck with her. “We’re talking about the food we’re eating or whatever’s going on in the moment,” she said. “Whenever I’m feeling doubtful or not as confident, having writer’s block, no matter what it is, things like that really, really stand out to me. She said that to me a few years ago, and it still stood with me.”

The pair even hit the stage together when Swift brought Ice Spice out at her New Jersey Eras Tour stop, where they performed the live debut of the “Karma” remix in front of a sold-out MetLife Stadium.

The duo has been spotted hanging out at a number of public events, including when they attended the last two Super Bowls together to cheer on Swift’s fiancée, Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce.

After lying low for much of 2025, Ice Spice is looking to heat things back up. She squashed her rumored feud with Latto and released their “Gyatt” collaboration earlier in September. Spice has also teased an upcoming single, which samples M.I.A.’s “Bad Girls” and is titled “Baddie Baddie.”

The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard 200 dated Sept. 21, we look at the chances for KPop Demon Hunters to finally take its victory lap on the albums chart, if it can hold off a pop superstar’s surprise new release-slash-re-release.  

KPop Demon Hunters Soundtrack (Visva/Republic): It’s remarkable both that we’re still talking about KPop Demon Hunters as a chart-topping contender nearly three months after its initial Netflix release — and also somewhat remarkable that after owning pop culture for close to the entire summer, the soundtrack still hasn’t reached the Billboard 200’s top spot. For most of that time, of course, it was stuck behind Morgan Wallen’s 13-week No. 1 I’m the Problem, but it finally snuck past that behemoth on last week’s chart — only to then get lapped by a pair of 300k-plus-bowing albums in consecutive weeks: Stray Kids’ Karma and Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend.  

Will next week’s chart finally mark HUNTR/X and Co.’s takedown of the Billboard 200? Well, the timing certainly would line up, as the set is getting a clear extra push for this week. For one thing, it’s finally getting its wide retail release on CD, with exclusive variants available at Target, Walmart and Barnes & Noble, each with a poster and a randomized photo card. A deluxe version of the album was also released digitally and to DSPs, featuring two additional tracks from the film (“Prologue (Hunter’s Mantra)” and “Jinu’s Lament”) as well as new singalong, instrumental and a cappella versions of the album’s seven big original hits.  

Meanwhile, the real-life artists who provide the singing voices of the HUNTR/X trio have also been on the promotional trail. EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami made a live in-store appearance at a Barnes and Noble in Manhattan on Saturday to sign CDs and take some photos. The trio also made its television debut on Sunday when they appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena in Long Island, presenting best album to Sabrina Carpenter (though for 2024’s Short n’ Sweet, not the album that held them at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 this week).  

Could it add up to the album at long last reaching No. 1 in its 12th week on the chart? It should post its strongest overall numbers yet, at the very least, as the songs are all still doing very well on streaming  — though they’re maybe finally starting to slip a little in the daily rankings, so the KPDH cast would be well-served to really seize this week as their moment.  

Justin Bieber, Swag (ILH/Def Jam): While the lane has finally opened for KPop Demon Hunters on the Billboard 200, another “Speed Demon” from the Republic family is zooming in from out of nowhere to try to pass it. Two months after first mixing it up with the KPop Demon Hunters cast on the chart with his surprise Swag release — both fell behind I’m the Problem at the time, though Swag got the edge for No. 2 — Justin Bieber is back with 23 new tracks’ worth of the stuff, with another new surprise release called (wait for it) Swag II.  

While a 23-track brand-new Justin Bieber project would always be a release to take seriously on the Billboard 200, Swag II throws an extra wrench into the proceedings: On DSPs and at digital retailers, the 23 new songs merely comprise disc one of Swag II, with a second disc also containing the 21 songs originally released as Swag the First. So Swag II is essentially less a totally new album than a super-mega-deluxe reissue of its predecessor, akin to how SZA’s Lana release at the very end of 2024 was actually an expanded redo of her SOS.  

A combined 44-track Bieber release seems like it could be a Morgan Wallen-sized blockbuster on the Billboard 200 — especially since Swag now comes with a standard CD release and two CD boxed sets, each with a branded T-shirt and a copy of the standard album, all without the 23 new songs.  

However, while “Daisies” and “Yukon” from the original Swag are still performing quite well across streaming, the newly released songs have not had much streaming impact thusfar: None of the new cuts even cracked the top 40 on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA listing, and as of Tuesday, only “Love Song” still even appeared in the top 200, in the bottom half. (They’ve fared slightly better on Apple Music, where “Speed Demon” is still lingering around the top 50 on the real-time listing.) Even with 44 tracks in total, it’ll be tough for Swag to outperform KPop Demon Hunters if the songs from the latter continue to be among the most-streamed in the country, and only a couple Swag tracks even come close to comparing.  

Sabrina Carpenter, Man’s Best Friend (Island/Republic): Count out Sabrina Carpenter this week at your own peril. Man’s Best Friend had one of the year’s best debut tallies with its 366,000 units moved — though 224,000 of that was in sales, which is likely to recede dramatically in week two. Still, the set’s streaming performance has remained strong, with new songs like “My Man on Willpower,” “When Did You Get Hot,” “Nobody’s Son” and particularly new single “Tears” (which she also performed at Sunday’s VMAs) all continuing to fare very well on Spotify and Apple Music. Short n’ Sweet ended up being a four-week No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2024, so even if Man’s Best Friend can’t hold on top for a second frame, expect it to be a regular contender in the weeks to come.  

Bad Bunny continues his record-breaking streak. Fresh off leading the list of finalists for the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards with a historic 27 entries, the Puerto Rican superstar has achieved yet another milestone over on YouTube.

The singer’s music video for the 2023 Tex-Mex cumbia hit “Un x100to,” a collaboration with Grupo Frontera, has officially joined YouTube’s coveted Billion Views Club, marking his 17th video to reach the coveted spot. Meanwhile, for Frontera, “Un x100to” becomes their second song to enter the platform’s elite club.

The lovelorn song — a dual chart-topper on the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts — tells the tale of someone calling their ex with just one percent battery left on their phone. “Un x100to” was produced and composed by Latin hitmakers Edgar Barrer and MAG.

The visual sees the Puerto Rican superstar and the borderland hitmakers in rugged terrain, emphasizing while they emphasize the themes of isolation and longing as they navigate the desert environment.

Currently, Bad Bunny is ranked at No. 10 on YouTube’s Global Top Artists chart, with Grupo Frontera standing at No. 62, according to the platform.

As for their nods on the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Bad Bunny is competing across categories such as artist of the year, songwriter of the year and Top Latin Album of the year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos, among others. And Grupo Frontera, who are finalists in seven categories, are on the running for Hot Latin Song of the year, vocal event, Hot Latin Songs artist of the year, duo or group, and more.

Revisit Bad Bunny and Grupo Frontera’s “Un x100to” below.

Is Morgan Wallen weighing in on the Gavin Adcock-Charley Crockett feud?

A TikTok video posted Tuesday (Sept. 9) shows reigning CMA entertainer of the year Wallen and Adcock on stage at the former’s I’m the Problem concert at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Thursday, Sept. 4. In the clip, Adcock holds up a shirt that appears to be emblazoned with Americana/country artist Crockett’s likeness as well as the words “$10 Cowboy Tour” (a reference to one of Crockett’s previous tours and albums). When Wallen sees it, he holds up two middle fingers at the shirt and smiles, before moving on with his performance.

Billboard has reached out to reps for both Wallen and Crockett for comment.

It’s the latest development in the recent beef between Adcock and Crockett, which began when the latter took to social media on Aug. 19 to defend Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning, country music-inspired Cowboy Carter album, but also spoke out against “bro country” artists. Crockett didn’t directly name names, but he seemed to call out Wallen and Adcock.

“Hey country folks. @beyonce ain’t the source of your discontent. It was 25 years of bro country. #1 country artist on earth listen’s to nothing but rap,” Crockett wrote on Instagram. “Openly says he doesn’t really know any country music. Gotta respect his honesty. The machine points to a black woman who’s making a statement about marginalized people being removed from the conversation altogether, and somehow we all act like the entire pop industry didn’t just ambush roots music. These ‘country boys’ been *singing* over trap beats for years.”

Crockett’s words seemed to single out Wallen, who had previously mentioned during a podcast interview with Theo Von that he “doesn’t listen to country music a whole lot,” though he also praised country singer Zach Top during that same interview.

Elsewhere in that same post, Crockett also seemed to take aim at Adcock, who had previously sparked backlash and praise when he criticized Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album. Adcock had said, “That s–t ain’t country music and it ain’t ever been country music, and it ain’t gonna be country music.”

Crockett’s missive noted, in part, “I don’t need to put down a Black woman to advance my music. That’s just embarrassing to the idea of America and I got no respect for it.”

Adcock then struck back at Crockett, writing on X on Aug. 19, “Somebody needs to tell the ‘act’ that has let out (the cover) of James town ferry 6 times he should just work on letting out quality original music I got more cows–t under my pinky then you have seen your whole f–kin life. Hank sr called and asked about the cosplay cowboy.”

Though Adcock later noted that Crockett seemingly sent him roses and a copy of Crockett’s Dollar a Day album, Adcock also doubled down on his anti-Crockett comments, writing on Instagram on Aug. 24, “Let me expose the cosplay cowboy for the last time. Nobody’s putting on a bigger act than this guy. Idk what you wanna call this but legends would roll over in their grave if you called this country.”

Crockett had his own sharp words, responding on social media in a since-deleted post, “Black music made me. I will not apologize. Raised by a single mama. I am not ashamed. Many men have tried to destroy me. I will not lose.”

Adcock has been opening select shows on Wallen’s I’m the Problem Tour, while his album Own Worst Enemy, released Aug. 15, debuted at No. 4 on Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart and at No. 14 on the all-genre Billboard 200. The prolific Crockett’s most recent album, Dollar a Day, released Aug. 8, debuted at No. 196.

Crockett is nominated for artist of the year at the Americana Music Honors & Awards, to be held Wednesday (Sept. 10). His album Lonesome Drifter is also up for album of the year.

Selena Gomez announced Wednesday (Sept. 10) that The Marías will perform and Jimmy Kimmel will host at this year’s Rare Impact Fund Benefit, Billboard can exclusively reveal.

Going down Oct. 29 at Nya Studios West in Los Angeles, Rare Impact Fund Benefit: A Night of Radiance and Reflection is celebrating five years since Gomez founded the Rare Impact Fund in 2020, with 1 percent of all Rare Beauty sales going toward supporting organizations that expand access to mental health services and education for young people around the world. For the fifth anniversary, five of the Rare Impact Fund’s 30 nonprofit global partners will get a spotlight onstage at the event.

“This night is a celebration of how far we’ve come and a powerful reminder of how much more we can do together,” says Gomez, founder and creator of Rare Beauty and the Rare Impact Fund. “I’m incredibly grateful to Jimmy and The Marías for joining me in shining a light on youth mental health. Their support means the world – not just to me, but to millions of young people this work touches around the globe.”

The Rare Impact Fund — which was previously held in 2023 and 2024 — has raised more than $20 million and supported 30 nonprofit partners across five continents since its 2020 inception.

“The world is an increasingly difficult place, especially for young people,” Kimmel says in a statement. “I’m grateful to Selena Gomez for inviting me to host the third annual Rare Impact Fund Benefit. Mental health is just as important as physical health, and I’m honored to help support their great work.”

Back in March, Gomez and her producer fiancé Benny Blanco teamed up with The Marías for “Ojos Tristes,” the second single from Gomez and Blanco’s joint album I Said I Love You First. The single — which interpolates Jeanette’s 1982 song “El Muchacho de los Ojos Tristes” — topped Billboard‘s Latin Airplay chart last month.

An auction at this year’s Rare Impact Fund Benefit will include exclusive Rare Beauty experiences, vacation package at five-star resorts and spas, and signed sports memorabilia from legendary athletes. Supporters of the 2025 fundraiser include Rare Beauty, Sephora, Pinterest, Pacsun, lululemon, Google.org and UCLA Health.

“Five years ago, we set out to expand access to youth mental health,” says Elyse Cohen, chief impact officer at Rare Beauty and president of the Rare Impact Fund. “What began as a vision has become a thriving community rooted in compassion, fueled by action and united by the idea that access to mental health is a fundamental right. The Rare Impact Fund Benefit has been an integral part of our continued growth. It’s a moment to reflect on the lives we’ve touched, the stories that move us, and the urgent work still ahead. This gathering brings together the people, partners and purpose behind our mission and ensures we can keep showing up for young people in the ways they deserve.”

The 2024 Rare Impact Fund Benefit — which included performances from Karol G and Teddy Swims — raised more than $2 million.