Hip-Hop
Cardi B’s ‘Up’ Hits No. 1 on Top Triller U.S. Chart
The rapper’s new single debuted at No. 10 on release week before vaulting nine spots to the top. A week after debuting on the tally at No. 10, Cardi B’s “Up” vaults to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Triller U.S. chart dated Feb. 27, while Shreya Ghoshal and Soumyadeep Ghoshal’s “Angana Morey” spends its first week atop the Top Triller Global tally. The Top Triller U.S. and Top Triller Global charts highlight the biggest songs on Triller based on a formula blending the amount of views of videos containing a respective songs, the level of engagement with those videos and the raw total of videos uploaded featuring each song, according to Triller. Data for the charts is represented on a Friday-Thursday tracking week, with the latest period running Feb. 12-18. “Up” rules in its second full week of tr...
Black History Month: Saint Bodhi Taps Beyonce, Jhene Aiko & More for Her ‘Ultimate Girl Power’ Playlist
This year for Black History Month, Billboard looks to salute Black women for their strength, resiliency, and courage. With Black female artists always being innovative and audacious with their art and platforms, especially during last year’s fight for racial equality, it was necessary to empower those with our stage this month. Every Monday and Wednesday for Black History Month, Billboard will dish out new playlists from Black women artists highlighting powerful messages. Def Jam signee Saint Bodhi hasn’t shied away from the spirit of Black History Month. Not only did she team up with Marvel to co-write the final three issues of the comic book classic Black Panther alongside her labelmates Bobby Sessions and Kaash Paige, but on Wednesday (Feb. 24),...
Vanessa Bryant Blasts Meek Mill’s “Disrespectful” Kobe Lyric
Vanessa Bryant, widow of basketball legend Kobe Bryant, has blasted lyrics from a leaked Meek Mill song as “extremely insensitive and disrespectful.” Meek says he has apologized. As Complex notes, lyrics to a track believed to be called “Don’t Worry (RIP Kobe)” appeared on the internet with the line, “This bitch I’m fuckin’ always tell me that she love but she ain’t ever showed me/ Yeah, and if I ever lack, I’m goin’ out with my chopper, it be another Kobe.” The joke references the events of January of last year, when Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna (aka Gigi) died in a helicopter crash. On Tuesday, Vanessa Bryant responded in a social media post. “I find this line to be extremely insensitive and disrespectful. Period,” she wrote. “I am not familiar with any of your mu...
Drakeo the Ruler Connects with Drake on “Talk to Me”: Stream
Drakeo the Ruler is the latest rapper to receive a boost from Drake, recruiting the Toronto superstar for “Talk to Me”. The single will appear on The Truth Hurts, the LA rapper’s first project since being released from jail in November 2020. Stream it below. The song finds Drakeo nimbly adapting to Drake’s R&B side with a street ballad. Following the 6 God’s seductive hook, Drakeo spits game without softening his West Coast gangster appeal. “Don’t be shy, I got killers with me, stupid / I march with sticks, I ain’t worried bout no groupies,” he raps. “Boss you up, your lifestyle could be exclusive / But I don’t know, ’cause you be hangin’ ’round with losers.” During an Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, Drakeo explained how the collaboration came together. After Drakeo’s engineer en...
J.I.D Pops Off on New Song “Skegee”: Stream
J.I.D. in “Skegee” video J.I.D packs a history lesson into his searing new track about man’s inhumanity to man with his new track “Skegee”. “Skegee” takes its title from the infamous and horrifying Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the African American Male. The experiment launched in 1932 under the auspices of science, but at its core it was nothing but cruelty. Researchers promised about 400 Black men with syphilis free health care, but instead of offering treatment, they watched hundreds of men die. Proving that the experiment had nothing to do with research, the project continued for decades after penicillin was known to cure syphilis. As The Associated Press reported in a shocking exposé in 1972, “even after penicillin became common, and while its use probably c...
Chicago Rappers Mother Nature Drop New Single “Momentz”: Stream
Mother Nature are a Chicago rap duo who make a crisp and punctuated style of underground hip-hop. They have a new mixtape coming out later this year, and today they’re give fans a taste with a new single called “Momentz”. The Windy City MC’s Klevah and TRUTH have been putting out music together as Mother Nature since 2016, and have kicked around in the Chicago local scene ever since. In that time they’ve released a handful shorter projects and a full-length in 2020 called Portalz, and last year they also appeared on a compilation that included bigger names like Open Mike Eagle and Kemba. The project was a collaboration between producer BoatHouse and the venerable Chicago label Closed Sessions, and Mother Nature once again teamed up with those two local entities for for this new joint, “Mom...
Cardi B Was ‘Freaking Out’ While Talking to Mariah Carey About New Album, Hair Care
Cardi also ran down the laborious routine of keeping her team safe, which involves everyone getting tested three or four times a week and coordinating hair, makeup and fashion from a distance. But even with her high-flying lifestyle, when Mariah asked Cardi if she considers herself down to earth, the “WAP” rapper said, “I can vibe with anybody. I know hood chicks, I know college girls. I can relate to any type of vibe.” After describing how writing her memoir — The Meaning of Mariah Carey — helped Carey work through her “interesting, dysfunctional childhood,” things got real when Mariah asked Cardi if she felt beautiful as a little girl, or, like Carey, like an outsider. Bronx-bred Cardi said growing up Dominican/Trinidadian in New York made ...
Moet Hennessy Buys 50% Stake in Jay-Z’s Champagne Brand
Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, gave the brand a boost in 2006 when he featured one of their bottles in a music video after a public fallout with Cristal, a rival brand. Carter accused Cristal of racism after an executive for the brand mused in an interview about whether partnering with a rapper would harm its image. In 2014, Carter bought Armand de Brignac for an undisclosed sum. The brand sold more than 500,000 bottles worldwide in 2019. Moet Hennessy President and CEO Philippe Schaus said Armand de Brignac breaks barriers and reflects contemporary ideas of luxury, even as it supports historic Champagne-making traditions. “We are incredibly proud to be partnering with them,” Schaus said. Carter said the partnership will help Armand de Brignac grow and flourish, noting Moet Hennes...
Cardi B, Mariah Carey & More Wish Rihanna a Happy Birthday: ‘One of the Nicest in the Industry’
“Rihanna!” Carey tweeted. “Happy birthday girl! I hope you’re feeling festive as always.. wherever you are!!!! Love you gorgeous!!!!!!” “Happy ri day,” Meg posted on her Instagram Stories, along with a recent Instagram picture of the star. “Happy Birthday to the [queen]. We love you @rihanna,” actress Kerry Washington tweeted. “A little Sunshine in our life hbd @badgalriri god bless you,” Fat Joe said on Instagram, while DJ Khaled uploaded a video clip and wrote, “Happy bday @badgalriri the light is love. BLESS.” Earlier in the week, Rihanna celebrated the release of a new collector’s item, an oversized, 504-page book featuring 1,000 images from throughout the singer’s career. The Rihanna Book: Qu...
Song of the Week: serpentwithfeet Gains Traction with Soulful “Same Size Shoe”
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 Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, serpentwithfeet gains traction with “Same Size Shoe”. There are two types of hype in the music business. One type makes it feel like an artist has the primal forces of nature behind them, controlling all media and advertising to make it seem like their next album will not only be the next canonical masterpiece to change music forever, but also the antidote to all that ails our suffering species and planet. And, then, there’s the type of hype that seemingly finds root in the tiniest speck of soil imaginable and slowly grows from th...
DijahSB Announces New Album Head Above the Waters, Shares “By Myself”: Stream
DijahSB has announced the new album Head Above the Waters. It’s out in April, and the rising rapper is offering a preview with the single “By Myself” featuring Harrison. Based in Toronto, DijahSB first made waves with the deceptively-titled EP 2020 the Album. Unsurprisingly for an artist known for “Frontin’ Like Pharrell”, they rap over toe-tapping percussion accented with funk and disco vibes. The new eight-track effort features contributions from Ray HMND, Chris Castello, and Harrison, and it boasts one of the grooviest tracks of 2021 in “Throw That Back”. Anyone who’s been paying attention knows DijahSB can play lord of the dance, but with “By Myself”, the MC is offering a change of pace. Produced by Harrison, “By Myself” slows things down with glittering keyboards and a funky bass line...
Preview Jhené Aiko’s ‘Lead the Way’ in Disney’s ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ First Look
Jhené Aiko wrote and performed the new song “Lead the Way” for Disney’s upcoming Raya and the Last Dragon film, and now fans can hear a minute of it. A brand-new first look of the film premiered Friday (Feb. 19), in which the Grammy-nominated R&B singer’s triumphant anthem echoes in the background. “Lead the Way” will be featured on the soundtrack album Raya and the Last Dragon (Music From the Disney+ Film), which will be available digitally Feb. 26 ahead of the film’s premiere on Disney+ Premier Access and in theaters March 5. Premier Access for Raya and the Last Dragon will cost $29.99. Aiko is currently up for three 2021 Grammy nominations, with her third solo album Chilombo snagging two nods for ...
