R&B/Hip-Hop
Bruno Mars Closes the Door on Silk Sonic Grammy Consideration: ‘Humbly… Sexually Bow Out of Submitting Our Album’
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak are choosing to sit out this year’s Grammy Awards. In a statement to Billboard on Thursday (Oct. 13), Mars confirmed that the duo will not submit the acclaimed debut by their Silk Sonic duo, An Evening With Silk Sonic, for Grammy consideration. “Andy and I, and everyone that worked on this project, won the moment the world responded to first single ‘Leave The Door Open.’ Everything else t just icing on the cake,” Mars said of the retro soul track that won four Grammy awards in April, including song of the year, record of the year, best R&B song and best R&B performance; the An Evening album was released in Nov. 2021, which would have made it eligible for nominations at the 2023 ceremony. “We thank the Grammys for allowing us to perform on their platfor...
Quavo & Takeoff Talk Going Back to Their Roots for ‘Only Built for Infinity Links’ Album: ‘It Feel Like We Starting All Over Again’
It’s a new era for Quavo and Takeoff. With the Migos chapter at least temporarily closed, Unc & Phew went forward by returning to their grimy roots, in order to recapture the essence of what made them two-thirds of the ATL trio that shifted the sound of hip-hop in the mid-2010s. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “A lot of artists might get caught up in that space, but you got to go back to what you started from and what you know,” Takeoff says over Zoom. “It’s okay to try different things, but you just got to bring it back to what got you to where you at now.” Quavo and Takeoff pressed reset, headed to the bat cave, and started with a diverse mood board featuring their favorite duos, like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, and didn’t come back u...
Burna Boy’s ‘Last Last’ Hits No. 1 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
Burna Boy lands his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart as “Last Last” captures first place on the chart dated Oct. 15. The single climbs from the runner-up spot after a 9% increase in weekly plays made it the most-played song on U.S. monitored R&B/hip-hop stations in the week ending Oct. 9, according to Luminate. “Last Last” gives Burna Boy his first Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart-topper with his second career entry. He previously reached a No. 26 best with “Ye” in 2019. With its ascent, “Last” also halts the record-breaking stay of Future’s “Wait for U,” featuring Drake and Tems, which logged an unprecedented 14th week at No. 1 on the chart last week. Plus, the new champ brings a former R&B hit to the summit via a sample. “Last” prominent...
M.I.A. Compares Alex Jones’ Sandy Hook Lies to Celebrity Vaccination PSAs In Controversial Tweet
M.I.A. is courting controversy once again, this time with a tweet which reiterates her anti-vax stance. Like so many others, the veteran British rapper and singer (real name Mathangi Arulpragasam) weighed in on the damages bill Infowars host Alex Jones has been ordered to pay to families of Sandy Hook victims. A Connecticut court this week slapped the right-wing commentator with a $965 million payable sum, for falsely and repeatedly claiming the 2012 massacre was staged by actors, as part of a conspiracy to take away Americans’ guns. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news M.I.A. has an entirely different angle on it. “If Alex Jones pays for lying shouldn’t every celebrity pushing vaccines pay too?” she writes. If Alex jones pays for lying shou...
Kanye West Episode of ‘The Shop’ Axed After He Uses ‘More Hate Speech’
Kanye “Ye” West is doubling down on his recent controversial comments, using “more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes” in a taping of a new episode of the YouTube talk show Uninterrupted The Shop. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The producers behind The Shop, which is executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, have decided against airing the episode or revealing what West said. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Carter said, “Yesterday we taped an episode of The Shop with Kanye West. Kanye was booked weeks ago and, after talking to Kanye directly the day before we taped, I believed he was capable of a respectful discussion and he was ready to address all his recent comments. Unfortunately, he used The Sh...
The Isley Brothers Talk About Extending Their Reign as ‘The Kings of Love Songs’
For a group who first made waves in the 1950s, the energy for The Isley Brothers inside Harbor New York City’s Rooftop surpasses palpable. With close to 70 years of experience under the group’s belts, fans zealously received the electricity commanded by the legendary R&B outfit, who were on hand to celebrate the release of their new album, Make Me Say It Again, Girl, this past Friday (Sept. 30). “It’s God’s blessing, and we’re trying to take advantage of being able to do what we do and love what we do, and we know what we’re doing by now,” Ronald Isley tells Billboard. The self-proclaimed “Love Kings” veered in a different direction on their latest outing, as they sought after rappers to fulfill their romantic quest. According to Ronald, the group has been sampled over 900 times, with ...
Nicki Minaj, Lil Baby, Kane Brown & More ‘Sqaud Up’ for ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II’ Trailer: Watch
Are you ready to squad up? Some of your favorite rappers and pop stars are. On Sunday, Call of Duty released a trailer for the newest installment of its video game series, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, and enlisted a few music industry heavyweights to get fans inspired to play. The trailer kicks off in an airplane hangar, with Lil Baby as a drill sergeant, corralling troops with a cry of “left, left, left, right, left.” His troops — on motorcycles with their engines ready to roar — head out as he shouts “Squad up!” into the hangar. From the interior of a monster truck, Lil Baby sings, “It don’t matter where you’ve been/ Modern Warfare is back again.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Kane Brown then swoops in for the assist, from a vastly diff...
Kanye West Drops 30-Minute Documentary Featuring Combative New Song: ‘You Don’t Really Love Ye/ Go Listen to Drake, B—h’
Kanye West served up a new anthem combating his haters on Monday morning (Oct. 10), tucking it into a disjointed half-hour video diary in which the controversial rapper again cuts no corners when it comes to speaking his mind and naming names. “You a fake b—h/ You don’t really love Ye/ Go listen to Drake, b—h,” the MC who now goes by Ye raps over a muffled beat as he mouths along while riding in a car. “You don’t have no idea what it take, b—h,” he continues, encouraging fans to listen to Lil Baby or Future if they don’t like what he has to say. “Trynna pass judgment on me like I ain’t s–t/ I’m too much of a real one for a fake b—h,” Ye raps on the song in which he describes feeling like a fugitive; the track appears unfinished, as it finds West mumbling some unintelligible phrases and get...
Tee Grizzley Talks Becoming Rap’s Martin Scorsese With New Project ‘Chapters of the Trenches’
Storytelling has always been a pillar of rap, but nobody in the industry is doing it like Tee Grizzley right now. The Detroit native turned his cautionary street tales into a cinematic visual album, which will be packaged as Chapters of the Trenches. The vivid project arrives on Friday (Oct. 14). Inspired by real-life events, Tee’s “Robbery” series quickly caught fire earlier this year, and with fans thirsting for more, Grizzley delivered a connected universe of sorts with each heart-racing installment, leaving viewers with a thrilling cliffhanger more twisted than the last. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I hear a lot of people speak on the trenches and a lot of people think it’s cool. Even Lil Durk would tell you, this s–...
Here’s the Advice Quincy Jones & Mary Mary Gave to Chloe Bailey
Chlöe Bailey is an R&B diva in her own right. The 24-year-old Atlanta native has carved out her own lane as she discovers her sound outside of Chlöe x Halle, her duo with equally musical genius sister Halle Bailey. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news But that doesn’t mean the superstar — with music approval from the likes of Beyoncé — doesn’t need guidance to navigate an industry that has become obsessed with social media crazes from TikTok, Instagram and Twitter. At the New Yorker Festival on Saturday (Oct. 8), Chlöe, who dazzled in a long-sleeve crystal-embedded dress, chatted with journalist Lauren Michele Jackson after an intimate but rocking performance that had the crowd on their feet, giving a standing ovation. During the convers...
Ari Lennox Talks New Album ‘Age/Sex/Location’ and Her Bond With Summer Walker
Ari Lennox is putting herself first. Last month, the DMV native released her sophomore album, age/sex/location, after amassing incredible success with the project’s first single and Hot 100 hit, “Pressure.” The 12-track effort highlights Lennox’s liberating road to self-care and is an entrancing listen for R&B lovers and hapless romantics. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “It’s a beautiful thing being single,” Lennox says in her latest Billboard News interview. “Dating is hard. I feel like it’s really responsible to make sure that I’m taking care of myself mentally before I decide to embark on any relationships. So I’ve just been focusing on self-love and pouring into myself.” Lennox admits that her boundless attempt...
Cash Money’s Bryan and Ronald Williams, Charlamagne Tha God Among Honorees at 30th Annual Living Legends Foundation Gala
“The only thing I want to do is create platforms for people who have something to say.” So noted Charlamagne Tha God while accepting the Living Legends Foundation’s Jerry Boulding Radio Executive Award. The co-host of WWPR (Power 105) New York’s syndicated show The Breakfast Club, multimedia entrepreneur and best-selling author was the first of eight honorees saluted at the foundation’s 30th anniversary awards gala, held Friday evening (Oct. 7) at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood. Crediting various mentors in his career, such as iHeartMedia’s Thea Mitchem and Bob Pittman, Frankie Crocker and Tom Joyner, plus his wife (“Strong men are secure enough to get out of the way and let strong women lead” he said, followed by hearty applause), Charlamagne implored the audience to “ask yourself every...
