Hip-Hop
Noname Releases New Single “Rainforest” featuring Adam Ness: Stream
Barely five years after releasing her debut mixtape, Noname is gearing up to drop what may be her last album ever, Factory Baby. Today, she’s teasing its release by sharing a new single called “Rainforest” featuring fellow Chicago rapper Adam Ness. Stream it below. Clocking in just under three minutes in length, “Rainforest” is the latest track to showcase Noname’s unique mellow flow and her penchant for slick retro-themed beats. While the hook is seemingly a forlorn take on trust in relationships (“How you get closer to love?/ How you lemonade all your sadness when you opening up?”) the rest of the song concerns itself with the realities of hustle culture, the environmental ignorance of greed, and the intersection of capitalism and race. Noname is one of the few modern rappers to imbue he...
Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats Connect with Joey Bada$$ and The Alchemist on “‘Cosmic’.m4a” Remix: Stream
Last week, Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats announced UNLOCKED 1.5, a reimagining of last year’s UNLOCKED EP. Today, the duo has shared producer The Alchemist’s take on “‘Cosmic’.m4a” featuring Joey Bada$$. Stream it below. Due out March 5th, UNLOCKED 1.5 is described as “a brand new release inspired by Denzel and Kenny’s original.” Additional remixes are produced by Charlie Heat, Jay Versace, Sango, GODMODE, and Georgia Anne Muldrow, with new verses from recent Artist of the Month Arlo Parks, Benny the Butcher, Kenny Mason, and more. Alongside the EP announcement, Denzel and Kenny shared Robert Glasper’s version of “So.Incredible.pkg”, which includes a guest verse from Smino. Pre-saves for UNLOCKED 1.5 are live now. Related You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are ...
C. Tangana’s ‘El Madrileño’ Trades Trends for Edgy Collaborations and Spanish Soul
One of my favorite tracks is “Cambia!,” featuring two up-and-coming regional Mexican stars: Adriel Favela and Carin León. I discovered Adriel Favela with his [2018 song] “La Escuela No Me Gustó,” which introduced me to corridos. I have many Mexican friends and they told me about the new trend with young acts doing more urban corrido. And during a trip to Mexico, I heard Carín León on the radio, and his melodies reminded me of ’90s Spanish pop act Andy y Lucas. Then, one night in Madrid, we began writing a corrido, I sent the demo to Adriel on my phone, and he heard it while he was on the touring bus with his musicians. Half-hour later, he sent me a video of all of them singing and playing the song. When I saw that reaction, I made the move to call Carin and also ask him to be o...
Yung Bleu Scores First Top 10 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart
Yung Bleu achieves a rookie career milestone as his song “You’re Mines Still” reaches the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (dated Feb. 27). The track, which features Drake, ascends from No. 11 to crack the upper tier in its 14th week on the list. With the move, Yung Bleu, the 26-year-old singer-rapper from Mobile, Alabama, collects his first top 10 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs with his initial chart entry. Drake, meanwhile, adds his record-extending 80th visit to the region, further outpacing runner-up James Brown, who has 57. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, shar...
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...
