R&B/Hip-Hop
Chloe Bailey Announces Debut Album ‘In Pieces’
After nearly two years of dropping a string of singles, including “Have Mercy” and “Treat Me,” Chloe Bailey is unveiling her highly anticipated solo debut album. The 24-year-old singer took to Instagram on Tuesday (Jan. 24) to reveal that her upcoming album, titled In Pieces, will be arriving in March 2023, though the exact release date has yet to be shared. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Along with the announcement, Bailey shared a video in which she’s seen in a sleek red leather gown, acting as a scale as she holds a human heart on one arm and a sphere on the other. “Wear my heart on my sleeve / They all say I’m naive / But it’s better than nothing,” she’s heard singing in the background over an ethereal melody. Chloe’s sister, Halle...
Drake Pauses Apollo Theater Concert After Man Falls From Balcony
Drake‘s Sunday night show at the Apollo Theater was momentarily put on pause after a man fell from the lower mezzanine balcony into the audience. “Just gotta make sure somebody’s OK,” the OVO rapper said after a crew member ran onstage to inform him of the fall. The incident occurred about 90 minutes into the show, just as 21 Savage walked out to perform “Rich Flex” and a slew of other Her Loss hits alongside Drake. The pause lasted about 15 minutes as venue staff treated the injured man. “Unfortunately, last evening an incident occurred with an audience member who landed in the orchestra from the lower mezzanine,” the venue said in a statement posted to Instagram on Monday (Jan. 23). “Drake, Apollo and SiriusXM halted the show immediately when learning of a potential fan injury and standa...
8 Best Moments From Drake’s SiriusXM Show at New York’s Apollo Theater
“I’d like to take you on a little journey tonight, if that’s ok?,” Drake asked onstage at the Apollo Theater on Saturday (Jan. 21). After two postponements last fall, the Toronto superstar finally graced the stage at the legendary Harlem venue on Saturday night for his first of two shows there this weekend. In partnership with SiriusXM and his radio show Sound 42, the concert was originally meant to take place on Friday (Nov. 11) but was moved to early December to mourn Takeoff whose untimely death occurred a little over a week prior. The show was then delayed again due to production issues. Twenty-five minutes after his scheduled set time of 9:00 p.m., a white screen lifted to reveal Drake sitting in a bedroom made to look like his old room in his mother’s basement. The other ...
Ice Spice Drops Six-Track EP ‘Like…?’: Stream It Now
Since catching the attention with “Munch (Feelin’ U)” last August, Ice Spice has been on the very tip of many tongues. The Bronx freestyle specialist followed it up with “Bikini Bottom,” a fun exercise in drill which could easily soundtrack an silly scene from Spongebob Squarepants. “Munch” has racked up more than 25 million views on YouTube and 39 million listens on Spotify, and landing spots on the Billboard Rhythmic Airplay, Bubbling Under Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Bikini Bottom” is at 9.5 million and 39 million plays, respectively. Cardi B and Lil Nas X are fans, and Billboard anointed her as October R&B/Hip-Hop rookie of the month. All that love and...
50 Greatest Rappers of All Time (40-31 Revealed)
UPDATE: The rollout of Billboard/Vibe’s Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time continues with this week’s reveal of the rappers ranked 40- 31. The Greatest of All Time, aka the GOAT. That’s a distinguished — and also contentious — honor when it comes to ranking who or what is the ultimate best, whether you’re talking films, TV shows, restaurants or any other subject. In early 2023, Billboard/Vibe is ranking the Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time as part of our salute to this year’s golden anniversary of hip-hop. (The genre dates back to 1973, when DJ Kool Herc first set up his two turntables to rock a Bronx party.) The rollout began with the Jan. 11 reveal of the rappers ranked 50-41. Then each succeeding week, 10 more rappers will be revealed, with the final top 10 being announced during th...
A$AP Rocky Honors Hip-Hop Artists Who Recently Died With New Song ‘Same Problems?’: Listen
Fresh off celebrating the 10 year anniversary of his debut studio album Long. Live. ASAP, A$AP Rocky is giving fans a taste of new music, all while honoring people within the hip-hop community who have died in recent years by releasing his new track “Same Problems?” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The song — which Rocky debuted in December as part of his Amazon Music Live Thursday Night Football performance — sees the rapper getting introspective about the role he’s potentially played in perpetuating violence in rap music. “How many problems get solved?/ Am I a product of things that I saw?/ How many problems get solved?/ Am I proud of the things in my songs?” he muses in the chorus. The song also arrives on the eight-year anniversary o...
Rihanna Ushers In ‘Heartbreaker Szn’ for Savage X Fenty Valentine’s Day Drop With Steamy New Pics
Rihanna gave fans a red-hot preview of Savage X Fenty’s upcoming Valentine’s Day collection on Sunday. “Heartbreaker szn,” the superstar captioned one round of photos, which feature her posing in a lacy black bodysuit in a neon-lit room of pinks, blues, purples and reds. In another series of photos, she wears an orange and purple, psychedelic print set while perched on top of a glass table, her long black hair trailing down to her backside accented by a stream of tiny braids. “#savageXfentySPORT V-DAY drop,” she teased, hinting that the latest line will be available by mid-February. The new Valentine’s-themed pieces aren’t the only looks RiRi has been readying as of late, either. Earlier this month, the “Needed Me” singer modeled her limited-edition Savage X Game Day collection in anticipa...
Beyoncé & Kendrick Lamar Lead Music Nominations for 2023 NAACP Image Awards
Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar are the top music nominees for the 2023 NAACP Image Awards, with five nods each. Chris Brown and Tems are next in line with four nods, followed by Drake with three. Beyoncé and Lamar are both nominated for outstanding album, for Renaissance and Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, respectively. The other three album of the year nominees are Ari Lennox’s age/sex/location, Brown’s Breezy (Deluxe) and PJ Morton’s Watch the Sun. Mary J. Blige received two nominations, including one for entertainer of the year. Notably, all five of the nominees in that marquee category are women. Blige is competing in that category with Angela Bassett, Quinta Brunson, Viola Davis and Zendaya. Adam Blackstone, who won a Primetime Emmy last year as music director of the Super Bowl ha...
SZA’s Unleashes Brutal ‘Kill Bill’ Music Video: Watch
It’s fair to say SZA’s “Kill Bill” has been killing it. Lifted from the R&B star’s long-awaited sophomore album SOS, “Kill Bill” this week soars to No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart. The fictitious murder-confession song marks her first leader on the list, and completes a rare chart double; SOS has lorded over the Billboard 200 for the past four weeks. On the other side of the Atlantic, “Kill Bill” is a top 5 hit. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news As “Kill Bill” takes out the opposition on sales charts, a bloody new music video should give it extra firepower. Directed by Christian Breslauer, the cinematic clip pays homage to Quentin Tarantino’s revenge film of the same name, and features a cameo from Vivica A. Fox...
French Montana Releases Statement After 10 People Were Shot During His Miami Video Shoot
French Montana released a statement Friday (Jan. 6) following reports that 10 people had been injured after gunfire erupted during his music video shoot. “Last night, I was in Miami celebrating the release of my CB6 mixtape w/ friends at a local restaurant. We unfortunately were at the wrong place, at the wrong time when an incident took place that left people hurt,” Montana wrote on Twitter. “Our thoughts & prayers are w/ the victims & families at this time.” According to WSVN 7, Miami Gardens Police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to reports of a shooting outside The Licking, a restaurant in Miami Gardens, Fla., shortly before 8 p.m. ET on Thursday night. 7News reported that it remains unclear whether someone shot into the crowd or whether there was an exchange of gunf...
50 Cent Says He’s Collaborating With Eminem on ‘8 Mile’ TV Show
50 Cent shared the news on Friday (Jan. 6) that he’s adapting the 2002 film 8 Mile into a TV series with the help of Eminem. “I’m gonna bring his 8 Mile to television,” the rapper said in an interview with Big Boy TV about Em’s semi-autobiographical film. “We’re in motion.” (50 also confirmed that Eminem will also be involved in the project after host Big Boy asked, “Does he know?”) “It’s gonna be big. I ain’t got no duds. I’m battin’ a hundred, I’m battin’ a hundred,” he continued, likely referring to his long-running Starz series Power as well as its various spinoffs Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan and Power Book IV: Force. Born Curtis Jackson, the multi-hyphenate also had a role in the 2020 ABC legal drama For Life for the entirety of its two-season run. Ex...
YoungBoy Never Broke Again Drops New Album ‘I Rest My Case’: Stream It Now
YoungBoy Never Broke Again released his new album I Rest My Case on Friday (Jan. 6) via Motown Records. One day after the album’s announcement on Monday, the rapper released four tracks early: “Black,” “Groovy,” “I Love YB Skit” and “Top Girls.” This marks Youngboy’s first release since he signed to Motown Records in October. The Baton Rouge, La., native broke out in 2015 and signed to Atlantic two years later, going on to become one of music’s top acts. Since then, he’s charted 24 albums on the Billboard 200 — 12 that were top 10, four of which hit No. 1. Just last year, Youngboy (real name Kentrell DeSean Gaulden) debuted six projects on the chart — five solo endeavors and one collaborative set with DaBaby (Better Than You). He’s charted four solo top 10 alb...
