Kevin Hart is cautious when it comes to Cam’ron‘s interview style — and rightfully so, because the Harlem rapper isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions.

During a recent taping of Talk With Flee, Cam started the show off explaining how he ran into the actor and tried to get him on the episode. However, Hart wasn’t going for it, telling him, “Absolutely not,” because — according to him — Cam’ron has “the most dangerous show in the world” due to the controversial subjects Killa has the propensity to bring up. Although, the comedian did say that he would appear on the show, only if they “schedule it the right way.”

Thankfully, though, Kevin happened to walk by the studio as Cam finished speaking about him and was eventually coerced into sitting down for a quick couple of questions after being flagged down. And as soon as he walked in, he pleaded with Cam saying, “Please don’t f— up my career.”

When Hart was asked why he blurted out “damn!” after fellow actor Don Cheadle told him his age in a now-viral clip, he said: “It was a real reaction. I’m shocked at the age of some, and Don definitely looks his age, but I wasn’t ready to hear it. So that was just a real reaction. ‘Damn!’ But then I immediately retracted it, which made it right.”

Hart then allowed Cam to ask him one more question, and this is where things took a turn. Cam’ron brought up the 2002 movie Paper Soldiers, in which Hart made his film debut thanks to a mutual friend. “Your very first movie you did — I was actually in it,” Cam said. “When you see Dame Dash today, what do you think?”

Without answering, Hart just got up and walked out of the interview which, of course, caused the entire studio to erupt in laughter.

Killa has a knack for going viral. The most recent interview to get traction was his sitdown with J. Cole, where the two hashed out their differences over a lawsuit Cam filed regarding his guest verse on the Carolina rapper’s mixtape Might Delete Later.

You can watch the full episode below.

After sweeping the publisher rankings for the Hot 100 and Top Radio Airplay songs by ranking No. 1 on both charts in all four quarters, it’s no surprise that Sony Music Publishing comes in as the No. 1-ranked publisher for both those charts for the full year, thanks to a 28.33% market share for the Hot 100 and an even better 29.85% showing for Radio Airplay.

Probably the main reason Sony ranked as the top publisher for the year in 2025 is that it had stakes in 70 or more songs on both of the charts for three of the year’s four quarters. Its best showing came in the second quarter, when it had a share in 75 songs on the Hot 100 chart and 73 songs in that quarter’s Radio Airplay chart. Moreover, that quarter was one of two quarters — with the other being the third quarter — in which it topped the 30% market share marker for both charts. In the third quarter, it snared 30.90% for Radio Airplay and 33.88% for the Hot 100 — with the latter being the single highest market share performance Sony attained during the year.

With regard to the publisher rankings, among Sony’s top-performing songs during the year were Leon Thomas’ “Mutt,” Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” and Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s “Luther.” Other factors boosting Sony’s stellar year-long performance include having the top songwriter for both the Top Radio Airplay and Hot 100 charts in the third quarter and also coming in with the top songwriter on the fourth quarter’s Radio Airplay chart on its roster: Shane “sombr” Boose.

Also during the year, Sony absorbed a big chunk of the Hipgnosis song catalog when it struck a deal with Blackstone and became its administrator. Blackstone acquired the previously publicly-traded Hipgnosis Songs Fund in mid-2024, merged it with its privately owned Hipgnosis Songs Capital, and then rebranded those catalogs as Recognition Music in March 2025. Blackstone subsequently sold the Hipgnosis Songs Group administration platform and some publishing assets to Sony in June 2025 and made that company its main publishing administration partner.

While Sony’s eight percentage point spread in the Hot 100 rankings and seven percentage point spread in the Radio Airplay rankings shows it would have been the No. 1 publisher for 2025 with its own song catalog alone, the addition of the Hipgnosis catalog boosted its overall percentage to attain that lofty spread. Indeed, in 2024, Hipgnosis made the top 10 publisher rankings for both the Hot 100 and Radio Airplay charts in every quarter, with its market share ranging from 1.59% (on the Hot 100 ranking in the first quarter of that year) to the 4.36% (on the Radio Airplay ranking in the second quarter). In the first quarter of 2025, Recognition boasted a 1.83% share on the first quarter’s Hot 100 tally.

Coming in as the second-ranked music publisher for the full year for both the Hot 100 and the Radio Airplay charts is Warner Chappell Music, which was the only other music publisher besides Sony to surpass the 20% market share milestone on both charts. Its best showing in 2025 was on the Radio Airplay chart, where it garnered 22.50% for the full year, while it produced a 20.29% showing on the Hot 100 chart. Moreover, Warner Chappell managed to attain better than the 20% market share marker in seven of its eight opportunities during the year, only failing to reach that threshold on the Hot 100 chart in the fourth quarter, when it had a 16.92% share. Its best showing came in the third quarter, when it had a 22.32% share on the Hot 100 chart and a 23.67% share on the Radio Airplay chart.

Warner Chappell’s top songs during the year included “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” and “Doechii’s “Anxiety.”  Meanwhile, it was the top-ranked publisher on Country Airplay, finishing the year with 31.02% — more than four percentage points higher than its closest rival, Sony, which garnered 26.76% on that chart in 2025.

Coming in as the No. 3 ranked publisher last year on both the Hot 100 and the Radio Airplay charts was Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), which garnered a 19.38% market share for the Hot 100 and 15.81% for Radio Airplay. UMPG’s best showing during the year came in the first quarter, when it tallied a 25.04% market share on the Hot 100 chart, enough to make it the No. 2 ranked publisher on the tally. Its top songs during the year included Taylor Swift’s “The Fate Of Ophelia,” Justin Bieber’s “Daisies,” Shaboozey’s “Good News,” and HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI’s “Golden.” Moreover, a UMPG songwriter — namely Drake — was named the top songwriter on both the Hot 100 charts and Top Radio Airplay charts in the second quarter, while in the first quarter Kendrick Lamar was the top songwriter on the Hot 100 and Taylor Swift was the top songwriter on the Hot 100 chart in the fourth quarter — a distinction she shared with two of her co-writers.

Kobalt, the No. 4 ranked publisher on both the Hot 100 and Radio Airplay charts in 2025, was the only other publisher to attain a double-digit percentage market share for the year, finishing with 11.9% on the former chart and 10.22% on the latter. Its best performance in 2025 came in the last quarter of the year, when it finished as the No. 2 publisher on the Hot 100 with a 21.43% share. Its top songs during the year included “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, “Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Shaboozey’s “Good News,” and Morgan Wallen’s “What I Want” featuring Tate McRae.

While BMG is usually the No. 5 ranked publisher and maintained its hold on that position for the full year, it bucked its traditional ranking in the third quarter, when it hit No. 4 on the Hot 100 ranking with a 12.75% share. Its top songs during the year included Shaboozey’s “Good News,” Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s “Luther,” HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI’s “Golden,” and “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. Overall, BMG scored 5.61% market share on the Radio Airplay chart and 6.91% on the Hot 100 for the year.

Three publishers appear in the second half of the Top 10 publishers rankings on both charts: Pulse, Position and Concord. The latter enjoyed the best performance, coming in at No. 6 on the Radio Airplay ranking and at No. 7 on the Hot 100 with a market share of 1.71% and 1.14%, respectively. What’s more, its separately operated joint-venture with Pulse finished at No. 8 on the Radio Airplay ranking with a 1.13% share and at No. 10 on the Hot 100 ranking with 0.64%, just beating out the No. 11-slotted peer music’s 0.63% showing on the Hot 100.

If Concord and Pulse’s market share was consolidated, it would have been the No. 6 publisher on the Hot 100 ranking with 1.78%. However, its combined 2.84% in Radio Airplay market share would still leave it in the No. 6 spot  on that ranking.

As for the other publisher to make both charts, Position Music was boosted by having three songs from the Benson Boone catalog, all its top-performing tunes last year: “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else,” “Beautiful Things” and “Mystical Magical.” It finished at No. 8 on the Hot 100 and No. 9 on Radio Airplay for the year.

Rounding out the Top 10 publisher rankings on the Hot 100 was St. Nicholas Music, which came in No. 6 based solely on its fourth quarter showing, when the Christmas songs of the late Johnny Marks made their annual revisit on the charts; and Reservoir, which ranked at No. 9 thanks to a strong performance in the first quarter when its top song was Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso.”

On the Radio Airplay ranking, Big Machine Music came in at No. 7 with 1.17% for the year, thanks to its strong third quarter performance with a 1.75% tally, when Russell Dickerson’s “Happen To Me” was its top song; and Spirit Music Group, which ranks No. 10 with a 1.07% share when its various catalogs are consolidated — just beating out the No. 11-ranked Me Gusta Music with a 1.06% share.

METHODOLOGY 

In order to come up with an annual publisher ranking, Billboard added together the Hot 100 point totals for each publisher for each of the four quarters, then divided each publisher’s point total by the Hot 100 point totals for all four quarters combined, to come up with each publisher’s market share for the year. Billboard did the same for the radio airplay rankings, adding up each publisher’s song detections for the year for the top 100 songs in each quarter and then dividing their respective totals by the total play detections for the Top 100 songs from all four quarters.

To determine the top 10 publishers on the Top Radio Airplay chart, percentage calculations were based upon the overall top 100 detecting songs electronically monitored by Mediabase (which provides data to Luminate for Billboard’s airplay charts) at: 3,066 U.S. radio stations in the first quarter and second quarters; 3,133 stations in the third quarter; and 3022 stations in the fourth quarter. Monitoring was done 24 hours a day, seven days a week for each of the successive four calendar quarters for the year beginning Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2025.

To determine the top 10 publishers on Hot 100 Songs, percentage calculations were based upon the top 100 songs for each quarter as ranked by Billboard Hot 100 points calculated from digital sales, streaming and radio airplay detections tracked by Mediabase (which provides data to Luminate for Billboard’s airplay charts) during the respective periods of: Dec. 27, 2024 to March 27, 2025, reflecting the chart dates of Jan. 11 to April 5; March 28 to June 26, reflecting the chart dates of April 12 through July 5; June 27, 2025, to Oct. 4, 2025, reflecting the chart dates of July 12, 2025 through Oct. 4, 2025; and Sept. 25 to Dec. 25, 2025, reflecting the chart dates of Oct. 11, 2025, to Jan. 3, 2026. Publisher information for musical works on both charts has been identified by the Harry Fox Agency. A “publisher” is defined as an administrator, copyright owner and/or controlling party.

Zara Larsson gives a lot of credit to Tate McRae for inviting her to open on the Miss Possessive Tour last year, a major steppingstone that helped the Swedish pop star reach her still-unfolding breakout moment in 2026. But at the time, some of her fans questioned why she wasn’t the one headlining major arenas instead of the Canadian hitmaker.

On a new episode of Call Her Daddy posted Wednesday (April 22), Larsson addressed those comments. Starting off by calling McRae “incredible” and noting that their pairing was a “perfect match,” the 28-year-old performer speculated that certain people may have pitted her against her tourmate because she’s “been doing this for longer.”

“I’m older,” Larsson continued. “And maybe some people felt like I deserved to be in the arena.”

Her response to those people? “I’m like, ‘Well, buy the ticket then,’” Larsson said frankly. “That’s not Tate’s fault.”

The “Midnight Sun” singer opened for McRae for about two months on the Miss Possessive trek, playing arenas such as Madison Square Garden in New York City, the United Center in Chicago and the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. At the very end of the stint, Larsson released what would become her breakthrough album, Midnight Sun, in late September. (She’s now gearing up to drop a deluxe featuring a bevy of guest artists, including Shakira, PinkPantheress, Robyn and more.)

After her final show on the tour, Larsson also shared a photo with McRae on Instagram and wrote, “It’s been strange seeing some people putting us against each other when we’re just two pop girls who love and support each other back stage!”

But on Call Her Daddy, she elaborated, “I think it’s just the nature of how people speak about girls in pop.

“We are similar in the sense that we both dance, although she’s a way better dancer,” Larsson added. “And I do pop, she does pop. I think it’s easier to root for someone who’s an underdog, you know?”

Both performers will be honored at this year’s Billboard Women in Music ceremony, with Larsson set to take home the Breakthrough prize and McRae to receive the Hitmaker recognition.

Watch Larsson’s full interview on Call Her Daddy above.

Between mixed reviews from critics and feverish anticipation from fans around the world, Michael is all but guaranteed to dominate the global box office this weekend. But a key figure from the King of Pop’s young adult years is conspicuously absent from the new film.

On Thursday (April 23), Kat Graham — who was cast as Diana Ross in the film back in March 2024 — took to her official Instagram Story to explain why she no longer appears in the Antoine Fuqua-helmed musical biopic.

“I want to share that certain legal considerations affected a few scenes, including ones I filmed with an incredible cast,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, those moments are no longer part of the final cut, though the team worked hard to preserve as much of the story as possible.”

Not only was Ross’ alleged discovery of The Jackson 5 a key part of Motown’s marketing and promotional plan for the then-burgeoning family band, but The Supremes frontwoman would also appear on the silver screen alongside MJ in 1978’s The Wiz. And that’s not to mention the close friendship the two legends shared outside of the industry.

In addition to Graham, who’s best known for her work in The Vampire Diaries, that March 2024 casting announcement also confirmed the involvement of Larenz Tate (as Motown founder Berry Gordy), Kendrick Sampson (as Quincy Jones), Jessica Sula (as LaToya Jackson), Kevin Shinick (as Dick Clark) and Liv Symone (as Gladys Knight). Each of those actors, save for Graham, still appears in the blockbuster biopic, which hits theaters on Friday.

Michael has been plagued by legal issues throughout its production process. One version of the script reportedly had to be stripped of all references to Jackson’s child sexual abuse allegations after his estate discovered a settlement clause that forbade any mention of Jordan Chandler, one of MJ’s accusers, in the film.

Penned by John Logan, Michael covers Jackson’s legendary life and career from his 1960s Jackson 5 days to his seismic late-’80s Bad Tour. Jaafar Jackson, the son of Jermaine Jackson and MJ’s nephew, portrays his uncle, leading a cast comprised of two-time Oscar nominee Colman Domingo (as Joe Jackson), Emmy nominee Miles Teller (as entertainment lawyer John Branca), three-time NAACP Image Award winner Nia Long (as Katherine Jackson), Actor Award nominee Laura Harrier (as Suzanne de Passe), and Emmy winner Mike Myers (as music industry executive Walter Yetnikoff).

Click here to read Kat Graham’s full explanation for Diana Ross’ absence in the Michael biopic.

April, DJ Chase B told Billboard, is “always weird.” Like athletes, DJs and other touring musicians making money in numerous states each year are responsible for filing multiple state tax returns. Since the majority of artists don’t make as much money as top professional athletes, they can risk falling behind if they’re not careful to pay quarterly taxes based on earnings estimates — otherwise, they can rack up unpaid bills and penalties. “That’s probably the biggest lesson I learned,” says the Houston DJ and producer who has worked with Travis Scott, Ty Dolla $ign, Don Tolliver and others.

“It’s not fun,” adds Jamie Cheek, owner and business manager at Nashville-based FBMM, which represents artists and songwriters. “If you’re big enough, and it’s big enough money, you’ll file a tax return in every state. You’ve got to watch it if you’re touring.”

According to the New York Times, early in the year, athletes, umpires, coaches and broadcasters receive a separate W-2 whenever they make money in any state. For some artists who receive income from top promoters such as Live Nation or AEG, the process is similar — although it gets complicated in circumstances where promoters pay advances in one year and the actual tour doesn’t take place until the following year.

Many smaller artists who perform at clubs are considered self-employed gig workers and often receive 1099s, as opposed to W-2s like those on tours promoted by Live Nation or AEG, or an athlete playing for a major league sports team, such as the Boston Red Sox.

“A touring band thinks, ‘Hey, I live in Nevada or Florida, I don’t pay any income tax,’” says Wendy On, managing partner for Fineman West & Co., a business-management firm whose roster includes Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, producer J.R. Rotem and Maroon 5’s Sam Farrar. “Well, every state wants a piece of their pie.”

Income from sales, streaming and songwriting royalties are more straightforward — generally, artists can report from a single state, as opposed to filing multiple state tax returns. The key nuance here, Cheek says, is making sure to report this income as self-employment tax on Schedule C: “Because that’s their primary source of revenue.” 

For artists lucky enough to have lucrative publishing catalogs — like those sold in recent years by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Stevie Nicks — Cheek advises paying attention to obscure but powerful tax nuances. Royalties received through a record label are similar to making a wage from a company, and taxed federally as ordinary income at roughly 40%. If the same songwriter owns master recordings, and decides to sell them to another company, the revenue is taxed as capital gains — or at 20%. That makes for a big difference.

While it’s tempting for artists to sell as soon as the master recording reverts to them 35 years after signing an initial record deal, per copyright law, business managers note it’s best to wait at least one year before doing so. That allows them to avoid costly short-term capital gains, which can be taxed at 40% of the sale price, as opposed to just 20% for long-term gains. “I’ve seen a deal get 80% done, where nobody thought of that,” Cheek says, “and you’re like, ‘Whoa! You might want to wait 10 months.’”

Wardrobe is often the most common expense artists try to deduct when tax season comes around, Cheek says. Generally, it’s not a wise choice to go on a shopping spree for stage outfits with the intent of deducting the extravagance the following April 15. 

“If you wear a black T-shirt and blue jeans on stage, they’re not going to let you deduct that, because you can also wear the same black T-shirt and blue jeans going to the grocery store the next day,” he says. But if an artist were to buy matching black T-shirts and blue jeans for the entire band to wear on stage, then that might qualify for a deduction. 

“A client in the entertainment space got audited, and had to prove [to the I.R.S.] why hiring security and flying private planes for their travel is important — because they get swarmed by people,” On says. “I try, if I [am] in front of the auditor, to be able to justify it.”