Hip-Hop
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...
Public Enemy Takes on Trump In Scorching New Single “State Of The Union (STFU)”: Stream
Public Enemy has long been the soundtrack for the fight against inequality — and that hasn’t changed in Trump’s America. Today, the group returns with a blistering new single for the times appropriately titled, “State of the Union (STFU)”. Chuck D seethes with rage as he calls for the destruction of the current administration: “It’s not what you think/ It’s what you follow/ Run for them jewels/ Drink from that bottle/ Another for years is gonna gut you hollow.” Produced by DJ Premier, it’s a classic Public Enemy track in the truest sense and culminates in the chorus, which finds Chuck D and Flava Flav singing: “State of the union/ Shut the fuck up/ Sorry ass motherfucker/ Stay away from me.” In a statement on the track, Chuck said, “Our collective voices keep getting louder. The rest of th...
Astronautalis Shares First New Solo Single in Four Years “The Way I Am”: Stream
Rejoice! Astronautalis has returned with his first new solo single in four years, and his first new track since his 2018 collaboration with POS in Four Fists. It’s called “The Way I Am” and the Florida-Minneapolis bard has paired the melancholy jam with a hilarious new music video featuring a deepfake of Tiger King. Produced and mixed by Subp Yao, “The Way I Am” finds Astronautalis doing a little soul searching over balmy beats that sound like the aural equivalent of a meditative stroll. “I’m drunk on whiskey maybe,” he sings, “Passed in the back of the van/ You seen it all now, ain’t i crazy?/ Can you still love me the way i am?” “I was kind of a mess of a man when I met the woman who would later become my wife,” Astronautalis says of the song. “Thankfully, she saw through all my bullshit...
The 10 Best Moments From John Legend and Alicia Keys’ Juneteenth Verzuz Showdown
In a time of civil unrest throughout the country, Alicia Keys and John Legend’s Verzuz event was a healing balm. For more than two hours the pair played their biggest hits (20 each), including their solo songs and features. At times Keys sat at a fuschia piano as Legend took a seat behind a black piano. Other times, the pair got up and danced along to their hit songs, singing over the recordings. In addition to playing their biggest hits, Legend and Keys also performed their newest singles. More than 150,000 tuned into the event on Instagram Live at its peak. The Juneteenth-themed event — the latest in the Verzuz series created by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, Keys’ husband — was also the the first in the series to be streamed on Apple TV. The Instagram Live events, which sta...
Rapper Tray Savage Dies at 26
Chief Keef’s record label signee, Tray Savage, died on Friday (June 19), Billboard can confirm. He was 26 years old. According to TMZ, who first reported the news, Tray (born Kentray Young) was shot and killed while driving around on the South Side of Chicago. He was rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Canter, where he was later pronounced dead. “The entire Chief Glo Gang Family are extremely saddened about the loss of Kentray ‘Tray Savage’ Young who was taken too soon today,” a representative said in a statement. “His first love was always devoted to his fiancé, kids, family, and music. Regrettably, we can’t take back the actions done by others, but we stand firmly behind the fact that Kentray ‘Tray Savage’ Young shoul...
