Hip-Hop
Black Thought Announces New EP ‘Streams of Thought Vol. 3: Cane and Abel’
The Roots‘ renowned frontman, Black Thought, is gearing up for his upcoming EP, Streams of Thought Vol. 3: Cane and Abel. Set to release July 31, Thought’s third installment will include an array of features ranging from Swizz Beatz, Pusha T, ScHoolboy Q and more. Interestingly enough, Portugal The Man makes three appearances on the 13-track effort. For those salivating for new music, the hip-hop luminary will be unleashing his first single, “Thought Vs. Everybody,” this Friday (July 10). On the production side, Sean C will helm the project. In 2018, Black Thought spoke to Billboard about Streams of Thought Vol. 1 and the constant juggling act between rapping and performing daily as The Tonight Show’s house band. “We make ...
Vanilla Ice Only Sold 284 Tickets Prior to Canceling His Coronavirus Concert
Vanilla Ice canceled his Fourth of July concert in Texas, citing concerns over the coronavirus and the safety of his fans. But lackluster ticket sales may have also contributed to his decision. Thanks to a legal loophole in Texas allowing restaurants to stay open at 50% capacity, Vanilla Ice had been scheduled to headline the “Independence Day Throwback Beach Party” at the Emerald Point Bar & Grill on Friday night. The venue made 2,500 tickets available to the event, with prices ranging from $25 to $300. But of those, only 284 were sold prior to Vanilla Ice deciding to cancel the show. The venue’s owner, William Brannam, told ABC News that he sold 84 general admission tickets, 96 VIP tickets, and 104 seated tickets. For comparison, Vanilla Ice played at the same venue last year an...
Kanye West Shares a Look at His ‘YZY SHLTRS’ as Part of #2020VISION Campaign
A day after Kanye West announced a 2020 presidential run, his #2020VISION campaign is underway. The rapper, and apparent political candidate, returned to Twitter on Sunday (July 5) with a photo of some innovative dome-like structures in development. “YZY SHLTRS in process #2020VISION,” he captioned the picture. West offered no further context to explain the new image, but the update continues the “building our future” theme of his Fourth of July message, when he said he’s running for president of the United States. “We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future,” he wrote Saturday night. Although the location of the pictured structures has not been confirmed, West reportedly was buildin...
Perspective: Kanye West’s Presidential Run Would Be as a Long-Shot Write-In Candidate
If Kanye West is truly serious about running for president in 2020, he’ll likely have to do so as a write-in candidate. As Kanye will be neither the nominee of the Democrat or Republican party, he’d instead run as an independent or third party candidate. And as an independent or third party candidate, Kanye would not be guaranteed a spot on every state’s ballot: Each state has is own individual rules for getting on its ballot, including requiring a certain number of signatures. Obtaining such signatures in the middle of a pandemic would be a difficult enough proportion, but he would also have to do so in an extremely short timeframe. Each state has a deadline for filing to run for president, and several of those deadlines have already passed. It’s too late to get on the ballot in Indiana, ...
Tiffany Haddish, Eric Balfour & More React to Kanye West’s Presidential Run: ‘This Is the Height of Privilege’
On Independence Day, Kanye West tweeted that he’s running for president. It’s not the first time the rapper has declared an interest in taking over the Oval Office. At the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, he announced at the end of his 11-minute Video Vanguard Award acceptance speech that he’s aiming for the highest office: “I have decided in 2020 to run for president.” It’s no surprise that wife Kim Kardashian is showing her support after his latest announcement. She retweeted the rapper’s July 4 message with an emoji of the American flag. Entrepreneur Elon Musk is also backing Ye, tweeting in response to West’s announcement: “You have my full support!” But how does the music community feel about Yeezy 2020? Reactions were mixed afte...
Taylor Swift Fans Call for Singer to Run for President Amid Kanye West’s White House Bid
Taylor Swift for president in 2020? Her fans sure hope so. Swifties around the nation took to social media on Saturday (July 4) to call for the pop superstar to run for president following Kanye West‘s announcement that he’ll be running for commander in chief in the 2020 election. “We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States,” West tweeted Saturday night, adding an American flag emoji and the hashtag #2020VISION. Swift’s fans quickly reacted to the unexpected news, begging the singer — who has been at odds with West for more than a decade — to run against the rapper/fashion mogul this November. “How about taylor swift as the president ...
6ix9ine Releases Spanish-Language ‘Yaya’ With New Music Video: Watch
As promised, 6ix9ine released his new song “Yaya” Friday afternoon (July 3). The party-ready track sees him rapping and singing in Spanish, a departure from the previous English-language singles he’s dropped this year following his early release from prison. The vibrant music video was filmed while 6ix9ine remains on house arrest and features a whole lot of suggestive booty shaking and milk — and not much social distancing. “THIS IS THE BEST ONE I DID SO FAR,” he teased on Thursday, saying, “WE BREAKING THE INTERNET PARAAAAA MI GENTE LATINAAAAAAAAAAA LATINO AMERICA !!!!” “Yaya” follows the rapper’s recent singles “Gooba” and “Trollz,” the latter of which was released with Nicki Minaj and went to No. 1...
The 13 Best Things That Happened in Music This Week (July 3)
This week was full of star-studded events and awards shows, with the “Global Goal: Unite For Our Future” concert, BET Awards and Juno Awards all taking place virtually. In other awards show news, we’ve got an update on the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards — more on that later. Take a look at some of the week’s biggest music happenings below. Stars came together for the virtual “Global Goal: Unite For Our Future” concert From Jennifer Hudson’s rousing kickoff to Justin Bieber and Quavo’s stripped-down performance, the “Global Goal: Unite For Our Future” event on Saturday (June 27) was chock-full of amazing moments. Christine and the Queens, Chloe x Halle, Shakira and more also performed. In case you missed the concert, you can watch all of the must-see performance videos here! The 20...
Tekashi 6ix9ine Premieres New Single “Yaya”: Stream
Tekashi 6ix9ine is back with another new single. “Yaya” is the rapper’s third release since getting out of prison, following “Gooba” and “Trollz”. The latter track, featuring Nicki Minaj, recently went No. 1 on the Billboard 100. Despite the success of “Trollz”, 6ix9ine says “Yaya” is the best one I did [sic] so far.” The track hears him rapping and singing entirely in Spanish, suggesting that it’s the first preview of a Spanish-language album currently in the works. Watch the explicit video below. As mentioned, “Yaya” marks his third comeback single since being released early from prison due to the coronavirus. The rapper had originally been sentenced to 24 months behind bars after pleading guilty to racketeering, firearm possession, and drug trafficking charges. ...
Lil Wayne Drops Revamped ‘Free Weezy Album’ on Project’s 5th Anniversary: Stream it Here
Lil Wayne is celebrating the fifth anniversary of his Free Weezy Album (FWA) by sharing a revamped version of the project on all music streaming platforms. The set was previously only available on TIDAL. Originally released in 2015, the 15-song FWA — Wayne’s 11th studio effort — featured guest appearances by Wiz Khalifa, Young Jeezy, Cory Gunz, Jim “CAPO” Jones, Black Uhuru‘s Junior Reid and singer/songwriter Jake Troth. The re-release of FWA, which dropped Friday (July 3) via Young Money Records/Republic Records, includes 13 of the original tracks, along with the bonus song “We Livin’ Like That.” The new version, however, is missing original tracks “I Feel Good,” “Thinking About You,” “He’s Dead” and “Without You.” To further mark the ...
Kanye West, Ellie Goulding, Pop Smoke and More: What’s Your Favorite New Music Release? Vote!
This week’s new music releases brought fans a variety of new tunes from some of today’s hottest rappers, rock legends, pop songstresses and country stars. Pop Smoke returned with a posthumous album featuring a star-studded track list, Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello brought a politically righteous tune, and Kanye West teamed with Travis Scott for a fiery examination of injustice, and Ty Dolla $ign recruited the best and brightest for his new track. Elsewhere, Ellie Goulding delivered an emotionally intelligent track with the help of Lauv, Chris Young reflected upon the wonder of the commonplace, and Sufjan Stevens prodded at America’s problems in a 12-minute epic. So, with so much to choose from, Billboard wants to know which new music release is your favorit...
6ix9ine Dropping New Song ‘Yaya’ on Friday: ‘This Is the Best One I Did So Far’
6ix9ine‘s steady release of new music continues. The 24-year-old New York rapper took to Instagram on Thursday (July 2) to announce that his new song “Yaya” and its accompanying music video will drop Friday at 11:30 a.m. PT/2:30 p.m. ET. “THIS IS THE BEST ONE I DID SO FAR,” he captioned the announcement. In late June, 6ix9ine scored his first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with “Trollz,” a collaboration with Nicki Minaj. That song followed his comeback single “Gooba” in early May. Earlier in the week, the rainbow-haired rapper teased the new Spanish-language “Yaya” with a brief video of himself lip-synching the track while getting a lap dance from a bikini-clad woman at his home studio. “THIS FRIDAY YAYA WE...
