Hip-Hop
Tekashi 6ix9ine Earns First Billboard No. 1 Single with “TROLLZ”
Protest songs have been dominating the streaming and radio charts these past few weeks, but that hasn’t stopped Tekashi 6ix9ine from rising to the top right alongside them. The controversial rapper just earned his first No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 with “TROLLZ”, his collaboration with Nicki Minaj. According to a press release, “TROLLZ” also helped Create Music Group — the distributor who put out the single — make history by being the first fully independent distributor in modern music industry history to achieve a No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles Chart as well. “Tekashi 6ix9ine is without a doubt one of the most galvanizing figures making music today,” said Create Music Group Founder and CEO Jonathan Strauss in a statement. “We are thrilled that we’ve been able to attain what...
6ix9ine Crowns Himself & Nicki Minaj the ‘F—ing Monsters of This S—‘ After ‘Trollz’ Hits No. 1 on Hot 100
6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj‘s “Trollz” launched to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart this week, marking the first leader for 6ix9ine and the second for Minaj. The ecstatic rapper took to Instagram on Monday (June 22) to share his thoughts on the milestone, uploading a video popping champagne and celebrating. “#1 ON @billboard YOU CANT STOP ME. YOU CANT BLACKBALL ME. DIDNT I TELL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Tekashi went on to call out Spotify, Apple and a few other music services for not pushing “Trollz,” but noted that they can’t “blackball” him because the song prevailed on the Billboard charts regardless. “YOU CAN SAY WHAT EVER IM NUMBER 1 AND YOU CANT TAKE THAT FROM ME I WENT UP A...
Top 25 Albums of 2020 (So Far)
Welcome to our Mid-Year Report. All week long we’ll be sharing the music, movies, and television that have helped us survive a strange and confusing six months. We start today with our Top 25 Albums of 2020 (So Far). It’d be fatuous to pretend that the first six months of 2020 have been like any other. All of us are facing difficult realities: the pain of injustice, the loss of a loved one, or even just the despair of looking out the window and not knowing what tomorrow will bring or when it will come. For the purposes of this list, then, maybe it’s equally foolish to think music impacted us the same way it always does. Then again, perhaps that’s what makes music so integral to our lives: that no matter what the world or our individual lives look like, music has the magical knack of provid...
Noname Responds to J. Cole With “Song 33”, First New Song In Over a Year: Stream
Noname has returned with her first new song in over a year. It’s called “Song 33”, produced by Madlib, and references both the tragic deaths of George Floyd and Toyin Salau. What’s more, the minute-long track serves as a timely response to J. Cole, who appeared to throw shade at the Chicago MC earlier this week with his own new single, “Snow On Tha Bluff”. “Wow look at him go/ He really ’bout to write about me while the world is in smokes?” Noname asks, cutting right to the core: “When his people in trees, when George was begging for his mother saying he couldn’t breathe/you thought to write about me?” She’s not finished, though, and hammers the point: “Little did I know all my reading would be a bother/ It’s trans women being murdered and this is all he can offer?” Clearly, J. Cole’s twee...
Jennifer Lopez, Paul McCartney & More Celebrate Father’s Day 2020
It’s all about Dad! As people celebrate dads for Father’s Day 2020 on Sunday (June 21), musicians did the same, giving the dads in their lives a shout-out to show their love and appreciation. Jennifer Lopez shared photos on Instagram of her twins Max and Emme with ex-husband Marc Anthony, wishing the “Tu Vide en la Mia” singer “the best day today.” She also recognized her fiance, former baseball star Alex Rodriguez, with a video montage of past interviews in which she gushes about her love being a great father. The “Medicine” singer didn’t forget her own pops, though. For her dad, she resurfaced a TODAY show video in which she recalls how her dad has always supported her. “Dad, thank you for being you… for loving me for who I am,&...
Lil Baby’s ‘My Turn’ Spends Third Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart
Lil Baby’s My Turn nets a third total week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as the set holds atop the list for a second straight week. It earned 72,000 equivalent album units earned (up 12 percent) in the U.S. in the week ending June 18, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. The set (released via Quality Control/Motown/Capitol Records) notched its first frame in the penthouse when it opened in the top slot dated March 14. Only three albums have logged at least three weeks at No. 1 in 2020: My Turn, The Weeknd’s After Hours (four) and Roddy Ricch’s Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial (three in 2020, one in 2019). The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units compri...
Drake Gives Father’s Day Shout-Outs to Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, J. Prince & More
Drake celebrated Father’s Day by giving shout-out to some of hip-hop’s most famous dads. The 33-year-old Toronto MC took to his Instagram Stories on Sunday (June 21) to pay tribute to fellow celebrity fathers like Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Jamie Foxx, J. Prince, Birdman and LeBron James. Each post included a photo with a personalized message. “@liltunechi YOU ARE MY BROTHER BUT YOU RAISED ME SO HAPPY FATHERS DAY I LOVE U G FOREVER,” Drake captioned a pic of Weezy, who helped launch his rap career. The “Toosie Slide” rapper also paid tribute to Tha Doggfather, writing, “@snoopdogg HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO MY UNCLE A STAND UP G.” In a separate Father’s Day post, Drake shared an adorable photo of his 2-year-old Adonis Graham, who made his Instagr...
Songs of the Week: Public Enemy and Beyoncé Raise Voices in Different Ways
Public Enemy (photo by Paul R. Giunta) and Beyoncé Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify New Sounds playlist. America clearly wants music that helps them raise their voices. Don’t believe it? Amid protests, streams of Rage Against the Machine music have increased 62%, enough to send “Killing in the Name”, a 29-year-old song, to top five in the digital streaming charts. Socially conscious outfit Run the Jewels have seen their fourth installment find the Billboard 200 top 10 and are all over mid-year lists. The music we love has its roots in rebellion and hard times, so it’s not surprising that something innate in us turns to our earbuds and streaming devices when the world seems to be circl...
Public Enemy Returns With Anti-Trump ‘State of the Union (STFU)’ Song: Watch
Public Enemy has returned with a fiery new protest song called “State of the Union (STFU).” The iconic hip-hop group commemorated Juneteenth on Friday (June 19) by dropping the explosive anti-Trump song and accompanying video, which features recent footage from nationwide protests in response to the killings of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks. “Our collective voices keep getting louder. The rest of the planet is on our side. But it’s not enough to talk about change. You have to show up and demand change,” frontman Chuck D said in a statement. “Folks gotta vote like their lives depend on it, ‘cause it does.” Produced by DJ Premier, the fiery “State of the Union (STFU)” finds Chuck D and Flavor Flav clearly stating their distaste for the current White House administr...
Beyoncé Drops New Song “Black Parade” to Honor Juneteenth: Stream
Beyoncé went big to honor this year’s Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. On Friday, the pop icon not only launched “Black Parade Route”, an initiative that supports Black-owned small businesses, but she also dropped a brand new song called “Black Parade”. Of course, it’s as timely and moving as expected from Queen Bey. Musically, “Black Parade” is a celebratory blend of pop, trap, hip-hop, and electronica-verging on Detroit techno. Over cascading horns and a chipper flute melody, Beyoncé sings about the unique joys of being Black, touching on everything from womanhood to her heritage and the ways in which Blackness proudly permeates throughout it all. Stream “Black Parade” below. [embedded content] It’s been a while since Beyoncé dropped new music ...
Beyonce Proves Why Black Is Beautiful With New TIDAL Playlist ‘Motherland Drip’
After releasing her surprise extended track “Black Parade,” Beyonce continues to celebrate Juneteenth with her new TIDAL playlist, “Motherland Drip” featuring James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Jay-Z, Nipsey Hussle and more. The multi-track collection includes a fistful of records from Queen Bey herself, including her Homecoming remake of “Before I Let Go” and The Lion King: Gift Soundtrack favorite “Brown Skin Girl.” The outro from Bey’s “Motherland Drip” playlist ends on a promising note, as she chose Dr. Martin Luther King’s “We Shall Overcome” speech to conclude her roundup. On Friday night (June 19), Beyonce shared “Black Parade” as an ode to Juneteenth. &#...
Rapper Hurricane Chris Arrested for Murder in Louisiana
Hurricane Chris, known for the song “A Bay Bay,” has been arrested on a murder charge in Louisiana. The rapper, whose real name is Christopher Dooley Jr., was arrested early Friday (June 19) on one count each of second-degree murder and illegal possession of stolen things, Shreveport Police said in a news release. Dooley, 31, of Shreveport, was being held without bond at the city jail. Online jail records did not indicate if he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. Police responded shortly after 1 a.m. Friday to a reported shooting at a gas station in Shreveport, news outlets reported. Officers found one person suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. Dooley, who had gone into the gas station’s store, initially told police that he had shot a ma...
