Gabito Ballesteros is one of the young stars to emerge from the corridos tumbados movement. Collaborations with peers such as Peso Pluma (“Lady Gaga”), Natanael Cano (“Perlas Negras”), Luis R Conriquez (“Presidente”) and Netón Vega (“Wiscachos”) have made him a key figure in the new wave of regional Mexican music. But the genre has recently faced restrictions and bans in several Mexican states for songs that glorify violence.

Beyond the narcocorrido bans in 10 out of Mexico’s 32 states, a few months ago the federal government of Mexico encouraged young artists to promote positive messages through their lyrics and even launched the México Canta contest, whose finalists will be revealed in the coming days.

“No one is censoring us; there are rules, and we must follow them,” Ballesteros tells Billboard Español in an exclusive interview, referring to the shift in the themes of his songs. “We’ve stopped glorifying certain things, but no one is censoring us.”

“We just changed the way we say things,” he adds. “This has been an opportunity to explore new paths. Now we’ll be doing a bit of everything, even experimenting with new genres like hip-hop, rap, and other surprises. That way, we can reach more places and continue growing our fanbase.”

In his latest album Ya No Se Llevan Serenatas, released this past May, the Sonora native showed a more romantic, softer side, appearing on the cover with an enormous bouquet of red roses. “Sometimes you fall in love, and sometimes you stumble — that’s life,” he says. “I like giving flowers. I do it at my concerts as a rule for some of my fans — unfortunately, not all of them. I like taking the time to give back a little of what they give to us. Thanks to them, our career keeps rising.”

The 26-year-old artist, who has spent much of 2025 touring across Mexico, is now set to perform at some of the most important palenques to close out the year, including one in Guadalajara, where he will appear on Nov. 1 in what represents a major milestone in his career.

“The palenques are my favorite stages because you have so much interaction with the audience, having them so close. You feel the intense vibe when they sing your songs,” he explains, referring to the circular format used in Mexico’s fairs, typically for traditional regional Mexicano music — a style Ballesteros deeply admires. Especially mariachi and banda, genres he grew up listening to at home.

“The traditional will always be present,” he assures, naming Joan Sebastian as one of his idols. “I grew up with that music, and you can’t forget it. It has to stay forever.”

In a few weeks, Gabito Ballesteros will release a deluxe version of Ya No Se Llevan Serenatas. Additionally, he is preparing music specifically for the Colombian market, which he plans to visit later this year. As for new collaborations, he reveals that he has already recorded songs with Danna and Belinda, which will be released as soon as their schedules allow.

The crowd at the Baltimore stop of Jeezy‘s TM: 101 Live Tour has an Uber driver named Tanner to thank for the show not being canceled.

Jeezy posted a clip on Instagram of himself on stage this past Friday updating the audience of the journey he took after flights out of Atlanta were cancelled due to severe weather, telling them that he decided to drive up but ended up stuck in the middle of South Carolina after the car broke down. He then brought out the Uber driver, so the people could show him some love.

The “Seen It All” rapper went into further detail with a lengthy caption and explained that Tanner only needed a little bit of convincing.

“I woke up to my team informing me that all flights to Baltimore and D.C. had been canceled,” he began. They then told me that my driver was on his way to pick me up, so we could drive to Baltimore for the next stop on the tour. Two hours into our drive, we hit an object on the highway, puncturing the gas tank and causing fuel to leak everywhere. We pulled over to a small gas station to regroup in SC. My team tried to arrange a jet from South Carolina to Baltimore, but with the flights canceled do to weather, we weren’t sure if the jet would get us there on time, risking another cancellation.”

Adding, “Next, we called an Uber to take us to a rental car location at the airport. When the Uber driver arrived, he quickly loaded our bags and sped off. Eight minutes into the ride, I turned to him and said, ‘Hey, we need to go to Baltimore.’ I asked how much he’d charge to take us there, and after a moment of consideration, he replied, ‘Let me think about it.’ I assured him that whatever it was, he’d have it. Like real one, he didn’t hesitate and just kept driving.”

Jeezy then ended his caption by saying Tanner received VIP treatment at the show and he even included a picture of them backstage with Tanner rocking the iconic “Snowman” t-shirt.

“Ten hours later, we arrived in Baltimore just ten minutes before showtime,” he said. “I told him he made a lot of people happy tonight! Gave him a Snowman Tee and told him he was my guest for the show tonight! Shout out to the real MVP, my Uber driver Tanner! Not all heroes wear capes!”

On July 25, Jeezy released TM:101 (Live) featuring the Color of Noize Orchestra to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of his influential commercial debut Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101 which dropped on July 26, 2005.

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When the world was introduced to Elvis Presley with the hit song “That’s All Right” over 70 years ago, he instantly captured the attention and adoration of fans for decades to come. And nearly 50 years after his death on Aug. 16, 1977, Elvis’ merch and apparel has surged in popularity as top sellers on his official storefront on Amazon.

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Meanwhile, a new book from Little, Brown and Company about Elvis and his manager titled The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World is out now on Amazon. The biography is priced at $38, while an Audible audiobook version of the book is available for free — if you’re an Audible subscribers.

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ROSÉ‘s going to sleep tomorrow, but tonight, go crazy after the good news she received on Tuesday (Aug. 5), when the nominations for the 2025 MTV VMAs were announced. The BLACKPINK star snagged eight solo nods, which left her in shock.

“So I’ve just heard that I’ve received eight VMA nominations,” the singer, clearly stunned and emotional, said in a video posted to her Instagram Stories hours after the nominations were announced. “I am beyond shocked and I just don’t know what to say. I’m absolutely speechless! This is a crazy day! Whoa! It’s really, really wild! What’s happening?!”

She also shared a screenshot of her nominations and wrote over it, “waaaahhh???!”

This is the K-pop star’s first time being nominated for a VMA as a solo artist. She is up for video of the year, song of the year, best collaboration, best pop, best direction, best art direction and best visual effects all for Billboard Hot 100 No. 3 hit “APT.” alongside Bruno Mars, as well as best K-pop for “Toxic Til the End,” the third single from her solo debut album, Rosie.

Her eight nominations makes her one of the most nominated artists of the year. Lady Gaga leads with 12, while her “APT.” collaborator Bruno Mars snagged 11, Kendrick Lamar earned 10, Sabrina Carpenter also with eight, and Ariana Grande and The Weeknd with seven each.

ROSÉ’s bandmates also earned nominations: JENNIE’s “like JENNIE,” JISOO’s “earthquake” and LISA’s Doja Cat and RAYE collab “Born Again” are all in the running for best K-pop. These nominations are also JENNIE and JISOO’s first solo VMAs nods outside of BLACKPINK.

The 2025 MTV VMAs airs live Sunday, Sept. 7, at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and MTV from the UBS Arena in New York. The show will also stream on Paramount+.

Last month, venue manager and developer Oak View Group (OVG) signed a $15 million non-prosecution agreement that allows the live entertainment giant to avoid liability for then-CEO Tim Leiweke’s alleged plot to rig bids for Austin’s Moody Center Arena.

In the agreement, OVG promised the Department of Justice (DOJ) that it will cooperate in Leiweke’s criminal case, and it agreed to a set of facts about the alleged scheme. But there’s another, more unusual feature to the deal: OVG also stipulated in a two-page statement of facts that its venue management division, OVG360, steered clients to Ticketmaster in exchange for more than $20 million in undisclosed fees from the live ticketing giant.

OVG did not disclose the incentive payment arrangement to its clients — which, according to the statement of facts, ran afoul of the company’s fiduciary duties. Though the arrangement is not illegal, secret rebate schemes between venue managers and ticketing companies have long been criticized as anti-competitive in the heavily consolidated live music industry.

While the Ticketmaster admission won’t have any impact on Leiweke’s indictment, it could play a part in the DOJ’s civil antitrust lawsuit against the company and its parent, Live Nation. Filed in 2024, the lawsuit seeks to undo Ticketmaster and Live Nation’s 2010 merger, accusing company officials of using power and money to ensure their long-term dominance in ticketing and concert promotion. OVG is not a defendant in that case, but its name is scattered throughout the complaint with claims that the company acted as Ticketmaster’s “pimp,” “hammer” and “protector” to keep venues using its services.

Sources at OVG tell Billboard that the company’s lawyers insisted the Ticketmaster language be added to the non-prosecution agreement as a layer of protection from future criminal liability.

Multiple attorneys with experience negotiating criminal resolutions with the DOJ say it’s common for companies to request this type of so-called “global settlement” to avoid the risk of future legal headaches.

“If the company [OVG] thought it had exposure in the Live Nation case, it’s clear why it would want a global resolution,” says Alexis Loeb, a former prosecutor in the DOJ Antitrust Division who now practices at the firm Farella Braun + Mart.

So, if this Ticketmaster statement of facts helps OVG avoid future liability, does DOJ gain any advantage from it? Perhaps. According to legal experts, the Ticketmaster statement could help buttress the department’s effort to break up its merger with Live Nation.

It’s not clear whether or not OVG is cooperating with the DOJ against Live Nation and Ticketmaster – where OVG co-founder Irving Azoff used to be CEO – as it is against Leiweke. Asked about cooperating on non-Leiweke related DOJ matters, OVG sources tell Billboard the company would consider requests to provide witness testimony or documents on a case-by-case basis.

There’s some ambiguity as to whether the language of OVG’s non-prosecution agreement could require this type of cooperation. Brent Snyder, the former head of criminal antitrust enforcement at the DOJ who’s now in private practice at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, says the answer seems to be yes based on one glaring clause.

“OVG shall cooperate fully with the Antitrust Division in any and all matters relating to the conduct described in this agreement and the attached statements of facts,” reads the agreement’s sixth section.

“The ‘any and all matters relating to the conduct’ language in paragraph 6 is very broad and could be read to require cooperation in both the criminal and civil cases,” Snyder tells Billboard.

Other experts are less certain. Loeb agrees that while the “any and all matters” sentence is broad, “the rest of the cooperation provision seems to be talking about criminal cases” only, she says.

Loeb notes, for example, that OVG directors and officers are obligated by this agreement to sit for interviews with criminal authorities and testify at criminal trials. There is no mention of any OVG executives testifying at civil trials, such as the one against Live Nation that’s scheduled to begin next year.

“If this were litigated, I think the company would have the better argument that they are only required to cooperate in criminal cases,” says Loeb. “But it’s not open and shut.”

Richard Powers, former Acting Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ Antitrust Division, similarly sees ambiguity as to whether OVG is required to cooperate against Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

“The non-prosecution agreement appears to be cabined with ‘criminal’ language, but could be read to cover the civil case as well,” says Powers.

While it’s not obvious whether OVG will cooperate against Live Nation in the traditional sense, the statement of facts on its own might be valuable to government antitrust attorneys. That’s because another section of the non-prosecution agreement says OVG employees cannot “make any statement, in litigation or otherwise, contradicting the statements of facts” — including the admission that OVG360 steered clients to Ticketmaster in exchange for money.

“That functionally means OVG witnesses in the Ticketmaster case have to agree with those admissions, or else DOJ could find the company in breach of the criminal NPA,” says Powers. “Basically, OVG is boxed in on that issue to the extent DOJ intends to call their executives as witnesses.”

Reps for Live Nation declined to comment for this story.