Beyoncé ascends to No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart for the first time in a lead role since 2015 with “Break My Soul,” which leads the list dated Aug. 6. The single advances from No. 2 after a 10% gain in audience to 22.3 million in the week ending July 31, according to Luminate. Its raw audience gain – of 2 million – also secures the song the weekly Greatest Gainer honor. “Soul” is the lead single from Beyoncé’s Renaissance album, which was released Friday (July 29). The set is expected to arrive with one of the biggest weeks of 2022, and is the frontrunner for next week’s No. 1 rank on the Billboard 200. [embedded content] With her new champ, Beyoncé achieves her first R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay No. 1 since her featured turn on Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” completed a th...
Beyoncé surprised fans again on Wednesday (Aug. 3) when she dropped a 4-song “Break My Soul” remix EP featuring refreshed versions of her Renaissance single by Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am, Chicago house legend Terry Hunter, global scene queen Honey Dijon and New York producer/DJ Nita Aviance. The collection of club royalty remixers continues turning up the dial on Beyoncé’s dance-iest album to date. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The bouncy take from BEP’s will.i.am. strips the song down to its most elemental beat, while Hunter amps up the tempo and transforms the track into a dreamy house workout complete with Sunday church service organs. Aviance’s nearly 10-minute version adds hypnotic, trancey elements as it stretches the tr...
Nicki Minaj used Instagram Live over the weekend to clap back at reports circulating that she owes a whopping $173 million in back taxes. In the livestream, the “Do We Have a Problem?” rapper began by fake crying before blaming the scandalous headlines on a catfish using the alias “Kate Miller,” who was pretending to be her assistant. “My assistant, y’all, they went and told everybody that … it is true how I owe a $173 million to the IRS,” a pink-haired Minaj said directly to the camera, her voice quavering with fake emotion before she burst out in laughter. “And I hooked up (her former hairstylist) Tae. Tae is so uncomfortable around the man I married ’cause he’s so, um, and Tae don’t like to be around him. And Tae was calling that assistant, begging that assistant to stop. “Y’all. Every ...
Killer Mike and 2 Chainz appeared at a City Council meeting in Atlanta on Monday (Aug. 1) to speak out against a proposed city ordinance they said could have a negative impact on local businesses and nightclubs run and owned by people of color. Chainz, who introduced himself by his birth name, Tauheed Epps, noted in his remarks that he owns two local businesses, Escobar and Escobar Seafood, before turning the microphone over to his friend Mike. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I’m very blessed and I also like to be a blessing to others, and that’s what my businesses have allowed me to do,” 2 Chainz said in video posted of the appearance. “They need to retract some of the things they have on the ordinance. And I think crime is up everywhere, not...
Quavo and Takeoff are back… without Offset. Again. Last week (July 29), the uncle-nephew duo released “Us vs. Them,” a collaboration with fellow Atlanta rapper Gucci Mane. The new single, which features production credits from DJ Durel, Money Musick, Duce.6x and Eza, was accompanied by a Keemotion-helmed music video.”Gave my partner 50 Cent, he shot many men,” Takeoff raps on the song’s punchy hook. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Us vs. Them” arrives in the midst of fervent speculation around the future of Migos. The Grammy-nominated rap trio is slated to perform at Pepsi’s National Battle of the Bands on August 27. Offset, the third member of Migos, was omitted from social media posts and press releases surrounding the Houston-based event. “...
Lil Durk is taking some time off to recover following an onstage mishap at this year’s Lollapalooza in Chicago. The 29-year-old drill rapper took to social media on Sunday (July 31) to share an update on his health after being hit in the face by a pyrotechnic during his early evening set on Saturday at the music festival. “Due to the incident that happened at Lollapalooza in Chicago on stage, I’ma take a break & focus on my health,” Lil Durk captioned the post on Instagram, which shows a photo of the hip-hop artist in a hospital room wearing a mask and a large patch covering his right eye. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I finished my performance yesterday for my fans. Appreciate y’all.” In a fan-captured video of the incident, Lil...
Drake brought one of his musical idols to his stage at October World Weekend in Toronto: fellow Canadian Nelly Furtado. “Thank goodness I’m a nice, humble, well-spoken — I like to deal with people the right way — because that’s the only way that you can get this next person out of the house to come do what they’re gonna do right now,” Drake told the crowd at his hometown club History on Thursday night (July 28). “I don’t care how loud you sang tonight. Right now I need you to sing as loud as you possibly can because this right here took a lot,” he said. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “This next person’s music changed my life so much,” added Drake. “I love her with all my heart, so when she comes out here you better show her some f—in’ love too...
Amid coast-to-coast frenzy about the $1.3 billion Mega Millions jackpot this week, there was only one magic number for Hollywood Bowl music fans Friday night (July 29): 30. That’s the number of hit-filled years that TLC and Boyz II Men each brought to the stage during their respective 70-minute sets that kept the audience screaming, dancing and singing along from start to finish. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Here are five memorable moments from the Grammy-winning groups’ performances at the Bowl, now celebrating its 100th anniversary: Hey Mr. DJ: Plugging into the ’90s nostalgia vibe that was already percolating throughout the full house, DJ Bubz jump-started his pre-intro set with DMX’s “Party Up (Up in Here).” From there, the party shifted...
With the arrival of Beyoncé‘s highly anticipated seventh studio album, Renaissance, on Friday (July 29) via Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records, the superstars mentioned in the writing and producing credits have not gone unnoticed. Industry veterans like Drake, No I.D., Mike Dean, Honey Dijon, Syd and of course her husband Jay-Z have all contributed their efforts to Bey’s first solo studio album in six years. But no one else had their fingerprints all over the project (beside Beyoncé herself) quite like Grammy-nominated female songwriting/production duo Nova Wav, consisting of Brittany “Chi” Coney and Denisia “Blu June” Andrews. The two had a hand in eight out of the 16 total tracks. Coney and Andrews are credited as writers on eight songs — “Alien Superstar,” “Cuff It,” “Ene...
Kelis has much more to say about being sampled on Beyoncé‘s Renaissance album. After venting her anger about what she claimed was Bey and The Neptunes alleged failure to secure her permission to sample the 1999 song “Get Along With You” on the Renaissance track “Energy,” the “Milkshake” star dove deeper into why she feels slighted in a series of videos posted on Thursday night (July 28). Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I’m an artist, so I am as Erykah [Badu] said ‘I’m sensitive about my s—,’” Kelis said. “The reality is that my real beef, is not only with Beyoncé, because at the end of the day, she sampled a record, she’s copied me before, so have many other artists, it’s fine, I don’t care about that.” The Neptunes’ Pharrell Williams an...
Kelis is calling out Beyoncé and The Neptunes for failing to seek permission to sample her 1999 song “Get Along With You” on Bey’s upcoming new album Renaissance, out tonight. The new song “Energy” on Renaissance features bits from the song, written by The Neptunes’ Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. While Kelis sang the tune, only the production duo are credited as songwriters. The Billboard Hot 100-charting artist aired her grievances via Instagram on Thursday (July 28), in multiple comments from her Bounty & Full business account. After a Kelis Instagram fan page announced that “@Beyonce‘s RENAISSANCE album will include a @kelis sample on the song ‘Energy,’” alongside a mind-blown emoji, Kelis commented: “My mind is blown too because the level of disrespect and utter i...