Mary J. Blige knows a fellow truth teller when she sees one.

The R&B superstar opened up to People recently about Flavor Flav’s comments comparing her to Taylor Swift, in the sense that they both write about relatable life experiences. “I mean, I love Taylor Swift. She sings about what’s going on in her life,” Blige said. “It’s kind of similar because she definitely gives you a piece of a relationship in a minute and whatever she may be dealing with. And that’s just her therapy. That’s just her way of expressing herself through her song, and people relate.”

She added, “It’s definitely kind of the same thing. I use my music as my therapy and a way to escape, or a way to express myself and just say how I’m feeling. What else are we going to do?”

Earlier this year, during an interview with HOT 97’s Ebro in the Morning, Flav likened the two singers. “She’s writing a lot about her, you know, experiences that she goes through in life. Just like Mary J. Blige — you know what I’m saying?” the Public Enemy star shared.

Flav has been open about his love for Swift over the past year, sharing in the same interview how he became the “King Swiftie” of the fandom. “It started because I got a girl that lives in Detroit and her kids wanted to go to the Eras Tour concert. So my manager got in contact with Taylor Swift’s people and they hooked me up some tickets and passes,” he recounted. “When we walked over to the tent where I was supposed to be at, a lot of these fans were coming up to me — these young kids, man, I’m surprised they even knew who I was! — and they start giving me these friendship bracelets. Next thing you know, I have friendship bracelets all up and down my arm. We were trading bracelets and everything! Her fanbase embraced me, and I embraced them back.”

He continued, “So, I went home and I started really listening to Taylor. I’m listening to her music, and I’m like, ‘Yo, this girl is dope!’”

Ludacris couldn’t contain his excitement in his yearslong grind to finally take home best rap album at the Grammy Awards, which he did when Release Therapy reached the rap Grammy mountaintop at the 2007 ceremony.

Luda let his emotions pour out backstage as he celebrated loudly with his team, which Justin Timberlake apparently overheard in the room next door, as the *NSYNC singer told the Atlanta rapper to pipe down.

The Chicken-n-Beer rhymer joined Sean Evans for an episode on Hot Ones on Thursday (April 18), and he clarified details of the backstage argument with Timberlake after it resurfaced and went viral earlier this year.

“The Internet went a little crazy with it. He definitely meant it, but it was no cursing out. He was behind the curtain and I was celebrating so openly and I was so loud,” Ludacris explained. “I think it was said more in fun, but there was definitely some truth behind it. Like, ‘OK, show’s not over. Stop celebrating so openly, I haven’t won any yet.’ With a smile on his face type of thing.”

Ludacris pulled up to Drink Champs in February, where he expanded on the mix-up with JT backstage. “At this time, they had all the artists separated by curtains, so motherf—ers weren’t in specific rooms. I say that to say I get back and I’m like, ‘Yeah! F— yeah! I made it! I did it! I won! I literally set out to get a Grammy and I got it!’” he said.

“All of a sudden, I hear this voice from the other side of the curtain. They yell, ‘Shut the f— up! Some of us didn’t win any God—n Grammys today!’ I pull the curtain back and this n—a Justin Timberlake is on the other side of that motherf—er.”

Best rap album wasn’t the only hardware Ludacris took home at the ’07 Grammys: The Pharrell-assisted “Money Maker” won best rap song honors too.

Ludacris reflected on setting a goal to make Release Therapy so undeniable that the Recording Academy had to give him the Grammy trophy.

“The reason was this was for all of these years, I want to say it was a good nine or 10 years, I was in the same category of solo male rap artist as Eminem, 50 Cent, DMX, Jay-Z. So I finally got to a point [where] I was so consistent that I just built up this momentum and I finally had my time,” Ludacris said.

“That was probably one of the — if not the — best times in my career for literally setting out and making sure I had a goal and accomplishing that goal… It meant everything to me.”

Release Therapy debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 following its September 2006 release, with 309,000 albums sold in the first week.

For the record, Timberlake also won two Grammys that year — best dance recording for “SexyBack” (featuring Timbaland) and best rap/sung collaboration for “My Love” (featuring T.I.). JT lost in two other categories that year — album of the year and best pop vocal album, both for his megahit FutureSex/LoveSounds.

Elsewhere in Luda’s Hot Ones test — which he aces — the rapper reveals he’s related to legendary comedian Richard Pryor and recalls Ben Stiller inviting him over for a private screening of Tropic Thunder to get his clearance to use “Get Back” in the film.

Watch the full episode below. Talk of the Timberlake/Luda spat begins around the 8:45 mark.

On Jan. 30, the day before Universal Music’s deal with TikTok lapsed, the company announced in an open letter that “we must call time out on TikTok,” for not paying rightsholders and creators enough. Universal immediately began removing its recordings from the platform — then, by the end of February, took down every composition to which it had some rights. Essentially, Universal went to war for the value of music, to benefit not only it and its artists and songwriters, it said, but the entire industry. And although the two other major labels declined to comment at the time, Primary Wave, Downtown and Hipgnosis publicly backed Universal, and in late March Sony Music CEO Rob Stringer told the Financial Times that he did not rule out taking the same action as Universal.

Not Taylor Swift, though.

By April 11, a little over a week before the release of Swift’s new album —The Tortured Poets Department, which comes out April 19 — songs from Swift’s albums to which she owns the rights were available on TikTok. Which made for an uncomfortable conversation, you’d have to imagine — and that’s about all you can do, because neither Universal nor Swift’s representative would comment and TikTok could not be reached for comment.

It seems that Swift’s contract with Universal allows her to either license the recordings she owns herself or somehow opt out of label licensing policies, which is an unusual amount of independence. Usually acts with that kind of leverage choose to leave their music off of new services — the Beatles waiting to offer their music on the iTunes Store is the classic example — or strike some kind of exclusive deal, like Garth Brooks did with Amazon Music. It’s hard to think of another example where a label announced it was going one way and its biggest artist — although she hasn’t said anything about her decision — went another.

That’s a big deal. Eventually, Universal’s other megastars — think Morgan Wallen, Drake, or The Weeknd — might want that same freedom or start to think about using whatever freedom they already have. Some artists have more power than others, though: Swift’s contract is generally thought to be more like a distribution deal, where she owns her new recordings, including the Taylor’s Versions of her old albums, but licenses them to Universal. Also, with 18.9 million album consumption units in 2023, more than some divisions of major labels, she has more market power than any other artist.

Given TikTok’s relatively low payouts, many executives assume that Swift appreciates the platform’s promotional value, even though she doesn’t exactly need it — Tortured Poets would almost certainly be the biggest album of the year either way. There’s also speculation that she wants to reach out to younger fans with shorter attention spans.

This reasoning seems to go against Swift’s reputation for sticking up for the value of music more broadly, as she did when she declined to release her 1989 album on Spotify, pushed Apple Music to pay rightsholders for plays during the service’s free trial period and insisted that Universal pay artists their share of the proceeds from its Spotify stock sales whether their deals had recouped or not. “This is not about me,” she wrote about the Apple situation at the time, but rather about emerging artists. What happens to them now? It has even been suggested that Swift essentially crossed a picket line of sorts.

That’s a bit much. The concept of a picket line implies a situation in which people who are paid on a scale are bargaining collectively, and that’s not the case here. And it’s not Swift’s responsibility to fight for the overall health of the music business — she’s an artist and she’s already done far more than most. For that matter, there’s more to creators’ rights than the size of a check. If you think about the way Swift re-recorded her old albums, she may place as much value on control — not only how much she makes on an album, but who owns it, how they present it, and where and under what circumstances it can be heard. I’m not sure whether her decision about making her music available on TikTok is the right one, but I am completely positive that it’s not mine to make.

This is all based on the assumption that Swift’s agreement with TikTok is vaguely similar to the one labels have, but that may not be the case. If you think about Swift’s instinct for navigating the music business, her deal could be much better — perhaps with an advance or guaranteed minimum or other kinds of considerations. (Just to be clear, I have no idea.) If you were, or managed, an artist with that kind of market share, what would you ask for? And if you worked for TikTok, facing political pressure in the U.S., as well as a difficult negotiation with the biggest music company in the world, how much would you be willing to offer?

In the modern media business, market share doesn’t just create efficiency — it also offers important negotiating leverage, especially with technology companies that operate on a global scale. That’s why music and film companies are buying rivals, getting deeper into the distribution business, and pursuing growth so aggressively in the first place. Swift may be the only artist there is who can offer real scale by herself, built on recordings she owns herself, so labels don’t need to worry about this becoming a trend. But whatever Swift’s decision means for the industry at large, it seems somewhat inevitable that she would pursue, and at some point use, the power her market share gives her — just as the major labels do.

Ye has been named as a suspect in a battery case in Los Angeles, according to multiple reports.

TMZ first reported Wednesday night (April 17) that the rapper, formerly known as Kanye West, is being accused of punching another man in the face after he allegedly “grabbed” Ye’s wife, Bianca Censori. According to TMZ, West allegedly responded by striking the man.

Yeezy’s chief of staff Milo Yiannopoulos claimed in a statement to FOX 11 that Censori was “physically assaulted” and “sexually assaulted” by the man accusing West.

“‘Grabbed’ is grossly inadequate as a description of what happened. Bianca was physically assaulted,” Yiannopoulos said. “The assailant didn’t merely collide into her. He put his hands under her dress, directly on her body, he grabbed her waist, he spun her around and then he blew her kisses. She was battered and sexually assaulted.”

Yeezy and his wife reportedly left the scene of the alleged altercation before the police arrived. The victim did not need treatment for his injuries suffered, according to TMZ.

LAPD officer Drake Madison confirmed to Billboard that officers arrived at a hotel on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood on April 17 around 12:30 a.m. PT for a battery investigation and that a battery report was then completed. However, Madison did not confirm whether Ye is a suspect. As of press time, no charges have been levied against Ye.

Billboard has reached out to West’s reps for further comment.

FOX 11‘s Matthew Seedorff shared on X that he saw detectives investigating outside a Los Angeles hotel possibly tied to the alleged altercation.

Last year, the rapper was sued by a paparazzo over a phone-throwing incident. Photographer Nichol Lechmanik filed a lawsuit against West for assault, battery, negligence and interference with the exercise of her civil rights following the alleged altercation. She claims in her complaint that on Jan. 27, 2023, the musician threw her phone into traffic outside Sports Academy in Newbury Park, Calif.

On the music side, West is coming off the release of his Billboard 200-topping Vultures album alongside Ty Dolla $ign in February. The Vultures 2 sequel is rumored to be released in May.

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Let the good times roll! Stagecoach returns to the Empire Polo Field in Indio, Calif., on Friday (April 26).

The country music festival will be held from April 26-28. Miranda Lambert, Morgan Wallen and Eric Church will headline each of the three nights, and Post Malone will perform a set of country covers on Saturday night. (Click here for set times.)

Want tickets to Stagecoach? They’re sold out at Stagecoach.com, but you can find them on resale sites, though you may have to do a little digging to find tickets that fit your budget.

Sites like Vivid Seats, StubHub, Seat Geek , TicketSmarter and Ticketmaster have a select number of Stagecoach tickets still available. Three-day passes are priced at around $450 and up, but if you act fast, you should be able to find a few passes online for around $400 for general admission ($1,000+ for VIP).

At press time, three-day passes start at approximately $500 at StubHub, $400 at Vivid Seats and $442 at TicketSmarter. Seat Geek has three-day passes and single-day passes priced at $500 and up (camping passes are as much as $700 on some sites).

The festival will feature performances from Jelly Roll, Hailey Whitters, Dwight Yoakam, Nickelback, Elle King, Wyatt Flores, HARDY, The War and Treaty, Brittney Spencer, Bailey Zimmerman, The Beach Boys, Megan Moroney, Clint Black, Pam Tillis, Charles Wesley Godwin, Sam Barber, Miko Marks, Ashley Cooke, Diplo and more.

How to Watch Stagecoach on Prime Video

If you don’t plan to catch Stagecoach in person, watch the festival live on Prime Video or Amazon Music’s Twitch channel.

Prime Video is included with a membership to Amazon Prime. The monthly membership is $14.99 after a 30-day free trial (Amazon offers 50% off for students and qualifying SNAP/Medicaid recipients).

Besides Stagecoach, Prime Video carries a huge collection of movies, exclusive series, concert specials and just about anything else you might want to stream.

Watch Prime Originals such as Fallout, Road House, Daisy Jones & The Six, Swarm, The Power, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Harlem, Invincible, The Boys, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Fleabag, The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Wheel of Time, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Boys and more.

Prime Video also lets you add Max, Paramount+, Starz, BET+, MGM+ and other channels to your streaming library.

The Stagecoach livestream is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. PT on April 26-28. Click here to shop official Stagecoach festival merch.

Banda MS achieves a regional Mexican radio takeover as “Tu Perfume” rises 2-1 to lead the Regional Mexican Airplay ranking dated April 20.

With the lift, Banda MS breaks from a tie with Intocable for the second-most No. 1s on Regional Mexican Airplay overall, for the band’s 20th champ, since the list launched in 1994. Let’s look at the list of highfliers:

No. 1s, Artists

“Tu Perfume” jumps from No. 2 after a 13% improvement in weekly audience impressions, up 7.6 million, earned in the U.S. during the April 5-11 tracking week, according to Luminate.

The song, released Feb. 14 via Lizos, brings back the label to the top of Regional Mexican Airplay after the group’s “Mentira No Es,” with Fuerza Regida, which led the tally for one week in July 2023.

Elsewhere, “Tu Perfume” pushes 10-8 on the overall Latin Airplay and debuts at No. 50 on the multimetric Hot Latin Songs, for the group’s 35th career entry.

“Tu Perfume” was composed by Horacio Palencia, Nathan Galante and Diego Bollella and produced by Sergio Lizárraga.

We’re no longer a fortnight away from the release of The Tortured Poets Department, which means it’s the perfect time for Taylor Swift to confirm the set’s lead single. The pop superstar revealed Thursday (April 18) on Instagram that the Post Malone-assisted “Fortnight” will serve as the lead single from her forthcoming album.

“The first single from The Tortured Poets Department is…………. Fortnight featuring [Post Malone],” Swift wrote in the caption of a post that appears to be the single’s cover art. “I’ve been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever. I got to witness that magic come to life firsthand when we worked together on Fortnight.”

In the photo, which follows the same grayscale aesthetic as the rest of the Tortured Poets Department promotional images, Swift poses with her cheek resting on a closed fist, while Posty gazes into the camera with hands clasped.

“Fortnight” is one of two collaborations on The Tortured Poets Department. Grammy-nominated alt-rock act Florence + the Machine appears on the album’s eighth track, “Florida!!!” The new single also marks the first collaboration between Swift and Malone. No stranger to collaborating with pop’s biggest icons, Malone recently appeared on “Levii’s Jeans” — which debuted and peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 — from Beyoncé‘s Billboard 200-topping Cowboy Carter LP.

At the end of her caption, Swift also revealed that she “honestly can’t wait” for the world to see the official music video for “Fortnight” on Friday, April 19, at 8 p.m. ET. Swift also shared the post to her Instagram Story, attaching a link that directs fans to her official webstore, where they can purchase an exclusive “Fortnight” CD single until April 18 at 8 p.m. ET, while supplies last.

On the same site page, Swift also embedded a new YouTube Short announcing a mysterious “For a Fortnight Challenge,” which has left fans both excited and perplexed. “I really need to know what the challenge is,” wrote one user. “I can’t take the suspense any more. Consider this poet well & truly tortured!”

The Tortured Poets Department arrives on all digital streaming platforms at midnight (April 19).

Check out Taylor’s lead single and challenge announcements below.

Many songs from across the musical canon feature the sound of ocean waves, wind, rain, thunder, lightning, bird calls and other sounds of nature. Now, nature itself is being recognized as an artist for these contributions in an initiative to raise money for global conservation efforts.

This new projects, Sounds Right, includes “Nature” getting an artist page on Spotify, with this page populated by new music and older songs remixed to “Feat. NATURE” by artists including David Bowie with Brian Eno, Ellie Goulding, U.K. electronic outfit London Grammar, neo-soul and folk artist UMI with V of BTS, Indian artist Anuv Jain, Norwegian singer Aurora and many more.

These songs will also be available on all major streaming platforms, with royalties going to Sounds Right. The project is projected to raise more than $40 million for conservation efforts from more than 600 million individual listeners in its first four years.

Launched Tuesday (April 18), the Spotify playlist currently features 15 tracks, with more to be added as Sounds Right grows. Currently available songs include a “Nature Remix” of Goulding’s 2020 song “Brightest Blue” that now incorporates sounds of the Colombian rainforest. The 1995 Eno and Bowie collab “Get Real” features the sounds of hyenas, rooks and wild pigs, while Jain’s “Baarishein” includes the sound of an Indian rainfall.

Revenue will be collected by conservation nonprofit EarthPercent, then allotted to biodiversity conservation and restoration projects in threatened ecosystems around the world. The Sounds Right Expert Advisory Panel, a group of established biologists, environmental activists, representatives of Indigenous Peoples and experts in conservation funding, will advise on how funding should be dispersed.

“It’s been fantastic to see so many brilliant artists excited to engage creatively with the sounds of nature and supportive of Sounds Right’s core objective to see that nature is fairly compensated for her musical contributions,” EarthPercent’s Co-Executive Director Cathy Runciman said in a statement. “We know that many artists care deeply about protecting and restoring nature, and it’s a privilege to launch these collaborations via the Feat. NATURE playlist and together generate positive impact for biodiversity.”

Sounds Right was developed by the Museum for the United Nations and UN Live, Copenhagen-based organizations that use culture to crate local action and global change, in collaboration with a variety of climate-focused partners.

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Are you looking to level up your bandanna game for Coachella? Bandannas not only prevent dust from getting into your eyes, but also add a touch of laid-back style to your look. And speaking of style, hop on the “babushka” bandanna trend by wrapping it around your head for a chic vibe. Let’s be honest: Sometimes we just need one accessory to spice up the outfit. Whether you’re looking for a pop of color or want to add an interesting print to your look, you can never go wrong with a bandanna. 

Join the likes of Hailey Bieber and A$AP Rocky, who have sported this preppy look, in sparking conversations on TikTok. With this list of bandannas, you can reach a fashionable and trendy style in just minutes. No effort needed.

We all need a versatile piece in our closet that can effortlessly elevate any look. So, we put together this list of the bestselling bandannas you can buy online.

Madewell Organic Cotton Bandanna

$15

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For those seeking simplicity in patterns, consider adding this organic cotton bandanna to your cart. Crafted from 100 percent cotton, the Madewell Organic Cotton Bandannas are available in five vibrant colors and patterns in one universal size.

Urban Outfitters Toscana Tourist Scarf

$10

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You can also get in on the “babushka” trend with this Toscana Tourist Scarf, which features intricate details. Its lightweight material and vintage-style print won’t make you want to take it off.

Urban Outfitters Cherry Print Bandanna

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This cherry-print bandanna is versatile and can be styled in numerous ways, effortlessly complementing various outfits. It comes in brown, ivory, red, black and green. If you’re looking for a “less is more” aesthetic, you’re in the right place.

Madewell Bandanna Tungsten Glow Multi One Size

$15.00

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This floral Madewell bandanna is a perfect option if you’re looking for a pop of color or a simple accessory to brighten your overall outfit. Whether you’re seeking a subtle or stylish accessory, this versatile bandanna can be the one item you need to elevate your look.

Red Bandanna for Men – 100% Soft Cotton, Paisley, 22×22 In, 1 Pack – Large Pirate Head Bandanna Western Cowboy Handkerchief Scarf

$5.99 $8.91 33% off

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This large bandanna captures a classic cowboy look, and it comes in a plethora of colors, from light blue to teal. You can wrap this one around your head, cover up your face, wear it around your neck, or even as a hair accessory. The options are limitless. Sometimes, one large bandanna is all you need.

Novelty Bandanna

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If you want to channel your inner Hailey Bieber, this 100 percent cotton leopard-print bandanna is the one. It a perfect pick if you’re looking to achieve a Western aesthetic. 

L&M 12Pcs Bandannas Paisley Print Head Wrap Scarf Wristband

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These colorful bandannas are great for any indoor or outdoor activities. The double-sided paisley bandanna makes a great option for all ages. It includes 12 pieces, with a variety of different colors and patterns.

Vamqor 100% Cotton 10 Pack Fine Bandannas（Summer Assorted）

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For another option, this 10-pack bandanna set provides more light-colored options as well as a variety of different patterns. According to Amazon, these are “much thicker,” so if you’re looking for a dense material this one is for you!

Here are some additional product recommendations, click out our festival glam looks for all things to get you ready for your next festival.

We’re just a day away from the release of Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, and the 34-year-old singer’s full secret message has been revealed after a week of searching on Apple Music.

The final word of the puzzle is “mortem,” making the full message, “We hereby conduct this post mortem.”

The message was revealed via a daily word that could be found within Swift’s five playlists exclusively released on Apple Music last week, which explore the five stages of heartbreak: denial (“I Love You, It’s Ruining My Life” playlist), anger (“You Don’t Get to Tell Me About Sad” playlist), bargaining (“Am I Allowed to Cry?” playlist), depression (“Old Habits Die Screaming” playlist) and acceptance (“I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” playlist).

Of course, with the reveal of the final message, Swifties have begun to speculate what it could mean. Given the rumors that The Tortured Poets Department album title is a dig at Swift’s ex Joe Alwyn, the leading theory behind the Apple Music message is that the pop superstar will be conducting a “post mortem” on her dead relationship to figure out what caused it to end.

Another leading theory is in reference to Swift’s 2017 album Reputation, and her poem “Why She Disappeared,” in which Swift wrote: “In the death of her reputation, she truly felt alive.” With Reputation still in the works for re-release, fans believe the two albums may be related.

Swifties will have to wait until Friday (April 19) for all to be revealed with the release of The Tortured Poets Department. See the leading fan theories below.

Move over, Cowboy Carter! Beyoncé‘s latest Billboard 200-topping album isn’t the only place to find some country-crossover fun. On Thursday (April 18), Billboard chart-topping country star Hardy announced via Instagram that he’s doing a special cover of Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre‘s classic “Gin and Juice” in honor of the two rap icons’ upcoming pre-mixed cocktail line of the same name.

“I’m still in disbelief,” Hardy wrote in his caption. “But I am so stoked to announce that I recorded my version of this classic record for the short film Gin and Juice with the blessing of [Dr. Dre] and [Snoop Dogg] themselves. Thankful for the opportunity.”

In his post, Hardy shared a picture of himself posing with the two hip-hop heavyweights on what appears to be the set for the forthcoming “short film” tied to the new drink line. Snoop and Dre announced their new venture earlier this year via a mysterious Instagram teaser, with Gin & Juice canned cocktails shipping to potential U.S. distributors the following day.

The Gin & Juice cocktail drinks arrive more than 30 years since the Dr. Dre-produced “Gin and Juice” reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song served as the second single from Doggystyle, Snoop Dogg’s landmark debut album, which topped the Billboard 200 and launched one of the most successful rap careers in history.

Hardy’s new cover comes a few months after one of the most successful years of his career yet. In 2023, the country star earned his first Top Country Albums chart-topper with The Mockingbird & the Crow, which housed “Truck Bed,” his first unaccompanied No. 1 on on Country Airplay. This year, Hardy’s releases have skewed towards the rock scene, with “Quit!!” and “Rockstar” reaching No. 2 and No. 1 on Hot Hard Rock Songs, respectively.

Hardy’s cover of “Gin and Juice” will be available on Friday, April 19, at 12 a.m. ET.

Check out Hardy’s Instagram post announcing his new cover below.

Big Sean won’t ever suit up in an NFL game, but he’ll have his name called at the NFL Draft and walk across that stage for other reasons. That’s because Detroit’s own Big Sean has been announced as the league’s official headliner for the Bud Light NFL Draft Concert Series when the draft comes to the D next week, from April 25 to 27.

Sean Don is set to perform ahead of round one of the NFL Draft next Thursday (April 25), when he’ll take the Draft Theater stage around 6:15 p.m. ET to warm up the thousands in the Campus Martius Park audience.

“With the Draft coming to Detroit, we knew the importance of representing the rich cultural history and music legacy of this city as part of our NFL Draft Concert Series,” Tim Tubito, director of event presentation and content at the NFL, said in a statement.

“With an incredible lineup of headliners who all hail from the region, we’re excited for these great artists to help us create an amazing on-site experience for our fans and prospects.”

The Detroit Youth Choir will hit the stage on day two (April 26), and Michigan native Bazzi will close out the concert series with a performance on Saturday night (April 27). The NFL Draft Concert Series is completely free of charge for fans, and general admission with be on a first-come-first-served basis.

Those seeking entry to the draft festivities just need to sign up for the NFL OnePass app. Attendees can also head to the nearby Hart Plaza for the Draft Experience, which will host player appearances, exhibits, games and more.

The 2024 NFL Draft kicks off at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday night (April 25) with the Chicago Bears on the clock; the team is widely expected to select USC quarterback Calebl Williams with the first pick.

ESPN will be broadcasting wall-to-wall coverage as the home of the NFL Draft all weekend.

As for Big Sean, he ended his hiatus with his comeback single “Precision” in March. Sean Don promised an album “coming soon” during his soulful Tiny Desk concert, and will become an author with his first book, Go Higher, arriving later this year.

See the announcement of Big Sean’s NFL Draft performance below:

It’s been 10 up and 10 down for Travis Scott at the Grammy Awards. Through his 10 nominations over the years, Scott is yet to have his name called to the stage for an acceptance speech, but that doesn’t mean the fight for validation is over.

La Flame joined HBO’s The Shop alongside a star-studded cast that includes LeBron James as well as guests Ice Spice, New York Jets star Sauce Gardner and former NFL wide receiver Chad Ochocinco, during which he addressed his snubs. During the program, Scott opens up about the frustration of not being able to break through with the Recording Academy to capture a Grammy.

“A lot of our peers everyone’s like, ‘F–k that award.’ I f–k with it. You play football to win a Super Bowl, you play basketball to win championships. It’s what that Grammy used to mean is the idea I hold on to. I love to create music,” he explained.

“That award is just like at one point was held up to a higher stature, but I still believe it, in a sense. It’s crazy rap’s not on TV. It’s like, you sit there and they air the rap award at 2 or 1:30, but you gotta perform at 8:30. So imagine losing at 1:30 and having to sit there for seven hours? Like f–k this s–t, you be like, ‘I wanna just dip. F–k this s–t.”

Scott’s last two albums have lost out on rap album of the year. Killer Mike’s Michael took home the win against his Billboard 200 No. 1 album Utopia earlier this year, and Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy claimed victory over Astroworld in 2019.

Even after losing out to Killer Mike, the Houston rager still hit the Grammy stage in February, where he delivered a fiery performance of Utopia cuts “I Know,” “My Eyes” and “Fe!n” with Playboi Carti.

On the music side, Travis Scott will appear on Nicki Minaj’s “FTCU (Sleeze Mix)” alongside Chris Brown and Sexyy Red. The remix hits streaming services on Friday (April 19).

The new episode of The Shop is now available. Watch it below.

Michael Marcagi came to an agreement of sorts with his manager in late 2023. The folk-pop singer-songwriter had just finished a recording session in Woodstock, N.Y., and emerged with three songs he felt captured the signature sound he’d been crafting, inspired by Bruce Springsteen as well as artists like Jim Croce and John Prine.

Marcagi was eager to release one song as a single before the end of the year, while his manager, Alex Brahl, was hoping he would ramp up his presence on TikTok — and advocated for a regular quota of posts to increase exposure. “Five times a week, that was our ultimate deal,” recalls Brahl. “We were coming from zero, more or less.”

The two studied how other artists used the platform to their advantage, and within weeks, Marcagi released his solo debut single, the simmering, acoustic guitar-led “The Other Side,” and had developed a following on the platform. By January, that fandom helped power his breakout hit and follow-up single, the jangly and more uptempo “Scared To Start.”

The following month, “Scared To Start” scored the artist his first Billboard Hot 100 entry, reaching a new No. 54 high on this week’s chart. The song — which appears on Marcagi’s debut EP American Romance — also entered the top 10 on Hot Alternative Songs and Hot Rock Songs charts and marked Marcagi’s return to Adult Alternative Airplay, which he previously graced in 2020 and 2021 with his former folk-rock band The Heavy Hours.

“I knew in the back of my head that I wanted to eventually write singer-songwriter music that was narrative-driven and just talk about what I felt, what I wanted to sing about,” says Marcagi, who mentions that The Heavy Hours amicably parted ways a few years ago. However, the role of frontman primed him for his solo career — particularly amid his viral takeoff. “I needed those couple years of playing shows and getting notches in my belt and learning the ropes,” he continues. “The music industry is weird. It’s a hard, kind of a lonely, intimidating place to be sometimes. I needed the time to get used to it.”

Growing up in Cincinnati, Marcagi was drawn to the production of “simple folk songs and acoustic guitars,” while his midwestern upbringing inspired his lyrics. “I write a lot of songs from that feeling of being from a flyover state,” he says. (His brother and day-to-day manager, Andrew Marcagi, adds that their “blue collar roots, without a doubt, have shaped Michael’s lyrics and songwriting style.”)

Marcagi is well aware that folk-pop is enjoying a mainstream resurgence, propelled in part by new labelmate Zach Bryan as well as Noah Kahan, the latter of whom Marcagi is a major fan. “I think it’s so awesome he’s playing for stadiums of people that are screaming about Vermont,” he laughs. “This style of music is working right now and I’m super grateful that people connected with [‘Scared To Start’]. It has been this wild little rocket ship the past couple months.”

Brahl can trace the song’s takeoff all back to one particular TikTok clip in which Marcagi is playing guitar in a field of dead grass over the “Scared To Start” lyric “let’s lay in the dead grass, stare at the stars.” As Brahl recalls, after uploading the teaser on December 19, the team went out to lunch — and when they came back, the clip had 10,000 views. “I remember talking to Michael and being like, ‘What if we wake up tomorrow and it has 50,000?’,” he says. “It had 100,000, and it was this completely organic thing that just kept going and going.”

In the days before the holiday break, Brahl sent the clip around to a handful of labels, and by Christmas Eve, Marcagi and his team selected Warner Records as his label home. He signed his deal the first week of January, and the following week, “Scared To Start” was released as his next single from American Romance, which arrived in early February. “One of the reasons we were so excited about Warner is that over the holidays we were getting on the phone with the digital team and planning. We were moving very, very quickly,” says Brahl. “We had momentum and I’ve seen it too many times where people don’t take advantage of that. We wanted to.”

“We were aggressive out of the gate in attacking the areas we knew would adopt the song with open arms,” says Will Morrow, Warner’s vp of viral marketing and digital development. Plus, as senior vp of digital marketing, Dalia Ganz, adds, the digital teams at Warner were quick to “leverage our deep relationship with TikTok to get increased visibility for the song on the platform,” noting that they are now focused on driving virality for “Scared To Start” across other shortform platforms like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

With the hit’s success, Warner has another win and developing star on its roster, joining the likes of Teddy Swims and Benson Boone, who have each enjoyed top 5 Hot 100 hits in 2024. “Warner has emerged as a leader in the championing of this new generation of singer-songwriters and the return of guitars in pop music, and we identified Michael as a standout in that space,” says Warner CEO Aaron Bay-Schuck. “He had a collection of songs we loved and felt he really understood how to authentically market and promote himself online.” (Yet, Marcagi is the first to admit “TikTok is a weird, Wild West for me still.”)

Recently, Marcagi returned to the same Woodstock studio to work on his debut full-length before heading out on tour. He’s currently abroad — with dates in the U.K., Ireland, Germany and elsewhere — and in May will kick off his 23-date U.S. trek in Denver. “It’s been very much like, ‘Quick, go!,’ but still mostly organic,” says Brahl, noting there has yet to be a major TV campaign or concerted radio push, nor any particular challenge TikTok users can opt into.

Even so, Marcagi’s friends send him a photo whenever “Scared To Start” does play on the radio — which he says is perhaps the most surreal part so far. “I remember driving my dad’s car and hearing Mumford and Sons and The Lumineers on the radio when I was in high school,” he recalls. “It’s a weird full circle moment to be like, ‘I can’t believe that out of all of the artists that are putting music out, they’re choosing to play my song.’ It’s really, really wild.”

A version of this story will appear in the April 27, 2024, issue of Billboard.

It’s hard to believe that Sheila E. had not released a salsa album until only a couple weeks ago. As the daughter of American percussionist Pete Escovedo, the “Queen of Percussion” grew up surrounded by Latin music royalty — including the “King of the Timbales” Tito Puente, who was her godfather, and the “Queen of Salsa” Celia Cruz — before becoming a star in her own right.

“Everyone thinks I’ve done a salsa record already, but I have not,” she says on a Zoom call from her home in Los Angeles about Bailar (released April 5 under Stiletto Music), for which she recruited Latin legends such as Gloria Estefan, Rubén Blades and Gilberto Santa Rosa. Her famous dad plays in one song, also featuring José Alberto “El Canario”, and its stunning big band orchestration and arrangements are a testament to her love for the genre.

“I mean, I grew up listening to that music and it’s just so inspiring,” explains the Oakland-born singer and percussionist of Mexican and French Creole ancestry, who has performed, recorded, and toured with renowned artists from a multitude of musical styles — from her close friend and collaborator Prince, to Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and more. “And then when I really got into listening to Fania All Stars and all the other groups that were part of that,” she continues, “I was just in love.”

Sheila E. started playing drums at the age of 5 — although she admits she doesn’t fully remember that — and made her professional debut at 15, playing the congas for her father’s Latin-rock-funk band Azteca. Active in the industry ever since, this year she also appeared in the Netflix documentary The Greatest Night In Pop, about the historic night in January of 1985 when many of the biggest stars in music gathered to record “We Are the World.” “That was one of the biggest nights in my career,” she recalls.  

During the interview, the artist spoke endearingly about her role models, the new generation of female percussionists, the simple joys in life, and what she misses most about Prince.

1. Congratulations on Bailar, your first salsa album. What took you so long!?

I don’t know! [Laughs.] Everyone thinks I’ve done a salsa record already, but I have not. But you know, it was on my bucket list a while ago. When I started thinking about doing it, it was 2015 and it took me this long to really get it together … I’m really excited. I grew up listening to salsa music, it’s so important to me, and I thought, “Man, this is the time to do it! Why haven’t I done this yet?”  

2. Many of the songs have a very classical salsa sound. Where did you find the inspiration?

Listening to my dad rehearsing when I was younger at the house every day, he would practice to vinyl and he would play Latin jazz music, but he also listened to Tito [Puente], to Mongo [Santamaría], Celia [Cruz], Eddie Palmieri, Tito Rodríguez, Fania All Stars. You know, so many people. Ray Barreto. I mean, I grew up listening to that music and it’s just so inspiring. And then when I really got into listening to Fania All Stars and all the other groups that were part of that, the whole scene back then, I was just in love.

3. You dad actually plays in your album on the song “Descarga,” also featuring José Alberto “El Canario.” How was this experience for you?

It was so much fun! When I told him, “Daddy” — oh, I call him Papi some times — “Papi, I want you to play in one of the songs on the record and we’re gonna write it especially for you,” he’s like, “You better ask me to play on this record!”

So he came to my studio, and we recorded him here, and then something happened to the track, which is crazy, so my brother had to record him while I was out of town. They recorded him in the Bay Area, at another friend’s studio, so we finally got it. But it was just awesome to have him playing on the record […] He was really excited. And my mom also played guiro on the same song.    

4. What’s your first salsa memory? Do you remember any particular song or artist that captivated you?

My dad was 18 when he met Tito, and Tito would come San Francisco, to the Bay Area, to play, and they would go see him play. Later on, after I was born, [when I was] a little bit older, meeting Tito and see them play, I mean, it was just amazing. [Later] my dad and I went to New York to see Tito play at the Palladium and the Corso, all these clubs that, you know, there are like four different bands playing. We didn’t have something like that in the Bay Area! And when you’d go to New York you’d hear these 10, 15-piece bands, playing multiple clubs in one night till 5 in the morning — you just go, “What is this?!” … I was about 15.

5. What’s the biggest lesson you learned from your dad?

My dad has taught me to be on time and learn your craft, learn your music, practice. If there’s a situation where you’re going to perform live or in the studio, if you have the music ahead of time to learn it, understand it — so when you walk into the room you’re gonna feel good about yourself, which gives you confidence, and it helps you to enjoy what your craft is, what your gift is. Preparation means everything … And to treat others respectfully. I just watched him respect his musicians, and how he was a leader and treated his musicians as family. That’s what I’ve done my whole life.

6. You were actually very close to Prince and you played with him for years. What do you miss the most about him?  

HIM! [Laughs.] Which encompasses a lot. The times that we had. And being in the studio, just hanging out, playing music, making up music, you know, writing, jamming, parties, playing for parties. Just having fun. And competing against each other! Teaching each other, sharing new music. Just everything about him.  

7. You were also Tito Puente’s goddaughter. How do you remember him?

He was hilarious! He was so much fun, he was always a jokester. If you didn’t know him, you thought he was stern, but he would do that on purpose, just messing with people. […] Some of the funnest times where when he and Celia [Cruz] where together and they make each other laugh. He picked on her all the time, and they were just funny together, like brother and sister, fighting all the time.

8. Any particular anecdote with him?

I just remember when we were going to New York and my dad and I would go to sit with him, […] we never saw any other young girls playing at the time. It was different for me as a woman, to sit with these guys [in the band], and he would always tell them, “Just leave her alone, she’s gonna play what she’s gonna play.” You know, even if I didn’t understand the music completely, he understood what my heart felt about the music, because I didn’t read [music]. And then he would tell me, “Don’t listen to those guys, they don’t know what they’re talking about. You just go play and you just be you.”

9. As a young Latina musician, who did you look up to growing up?

Basically my dad, and my mom. My parents were just — and still are — amazing. Actually, right when I just got on [this Zoom call], they just knocked on the door and came to my house, so I get to see them often, I talk to them constantly, they’re always with me. They were my role models and my inspiration, and still are. You know, for them to still be alive and doing well and healthy, still in love with each other and married — they’re going on 68 years in October — it’s a big deal! They mean everything to me.    

10. What’s your first memory playing drums?

Well, the first time I played with my dad I was 5 years old. I remember the process of getting dressed at my grandmother’s house, dressing up really pretty, and then I remember waking the stairs [to the club] and hearing my dad’s band — he was playing with his brothers. This is in Oakland and I can hear the music. We got to the door, he saw my mom and he said, “I wanna introduce my wife and my daughter Sheila. She’s gonna come up and play.” So we walked to the stage, and I remember all the audience partying and clapping. I remember literally just my dad picking me up on the stage and standing me on a stool to play the congas. I just remember everything up to that point. He said that I played well, but I don’t remember.

11. Do you play every day nowadays?

No. When I was living at home [with my parents], in my teenage years, I was playing a lot. But no. I mean, I have drums in my home and my studio, and when someone comes over and I have to record, a lot of times I don’t touch my instrument until I get on stage.

12. What do you like doing besides music? What do you enjoy?

Oh, I enjoy life! I love being outside and nature. Walking, bike riding. I used to skate all the time, playing basketball outside, swimming. I love sports, I love going to the basketball games, professional, NBA, WNBA, football. Anything having to do with sports! I love playing ping-pong, pool. My whole family, we’re all into sports, and we love competing against each other. And I love going to other countries and learning about the food and the community.

13. What was the last country that you visited?  

Spain. I was in Gaucin, Spain.

14. Favorite food?

It’s simple. I love making fresh juices in the morning, green drinks to start my morning with something really good. Later on in the day my food changes and I want potato chips and popcorn. It’s a balance. But I love Japanese food and I love all kinds of food! I really do.      

15. Do you like cooking?

I do — I love grilling outside. Sometimes, even if it’s cold and it’s raining, I’ll still go outside and grill. I make amazing steaks, fish. I [also] make great gumbo.

16. Any young female musician you admire and are rooting for?

Oh my Gosh, there’s so many it would be unfair for me just to mention a few. What I do, when I have a couple of minutes, I’ll go on social media and I’ll look to see — you know, because of the algorithms it will tend to steer you away to find other people. So I’m always trying to encourage young women playing not just drums, but any instrument. I just reached out to another young girl last night and she D.M. me this morning and she was just like, blown away. “Oh my God, you have no idea,” she said. “I started playing percussion and drums because of you. I started at 9 years old and you are my idol.” And I just love hearing that. “Thank you for your gift,” it’s what I said to her. But there’s so many.         

17. What does it feel like to be called the Queen of Percussion?

There are so many amazing queens playing percussion right now that I have seen that can outplay me for sure, and I can’t wait for them to be discovered, because they’re so amazing. So it’s a blessing and I’m humbled by it, but there are so many others that can play as well and should be called Queen of Percussion.   

18. If you weren’t a drummer, what would you would be?

I would be an athlete! I was training to be in the Olympics when I was younger in school. I did track and field, I was a sprint runner, I was very fast. And I also played soccer for 5 years.   

19. I saw you recently in the documentary The Greatest Night in Pop. What did you think about it?

I thought it was really good. I mean, I didn’t know who was going to be in it, they just said, “We want to do an interview,” and I was like, “Sure!” After I left later at 4:00 in the morning [the night of the recording of “We Are The World” in 1985,] I didn’t know what transpired after, so it was nice to see. And it brought back wonderful memories of what I had accomplished that night [when I also played at the American Music Awards right before]. That was one of the biggest nights in my career.    

20. If there was a movie about your life, who should play you?

There are women that have come out to me to say, “I’m gonna play you if you ever do a movie.” [Laughs.] [Actress] Nicole Parker, she was one a long time ago […] and I was like, “Absolutely!” And Nicole Scherzinger, from the Pussy Cat Dolls, we talked to her a long time ago. She’s amazing, and she’s like, “I would love to do it.” And I said, “Well, I will have to teach you some timbales!” And then early on, when we were thinking of doing something, my nieces played percussion and they of course look related to me, so that was a good find for playing me when they were younger.  

Alek Olsen’s “Someday I’ll Get It” ties Flo Milli’s “Never Lose Me” for the most consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart, reigning for a fourth straight frame on the April 20-dated survey.

The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the United States based on creations, video views and user engagement. The latest chart reflects activity April 8-14. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50. As previously noted, titles that are part of Universal Music Group’s catalog are currently unavailable on TikTok.

The reign of “Someday I’ll Get It” continues to mostly revolve around its previously discussed loss-based trend featuring deceased pets or family members, though more recent clips – still featuring animals – might also end on a decidedly happier note, too.

The song concurrently accrued 3.2 million official chart-eligible U.S. streams toward the April 20 Billboard rankings (April 5-11); it falls to No. 25, after hitting a new peak of No. 18 the previous week, on the multimetric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs list.

Each of the weeks the song has ruled the TikTok Billboard Top 50, it’s had a different song at No. 2. That trend continues on the latest tally, with YG Marley’s “Praise Jah in the Moonlight” leaping 14-2. That’s a new peak for the reggae song, after a previous best of No. 7 on the April 6 chart.

The dog that’s the subject behind the TikTok account vikingo606 helps spur some renewed interest in “Praise Jah in the Moonlight” on the latest chart thanks to an April 11 upload asking, “y cuantos likes se gana mi carita? (and how many likes does my face earn?),” referencing other POV-style videos uploaded to the sound that have racked up big numbers on the platform (vikingo606’s boasts 9 million favorites so far).

G-Eazy’s “Lady Killers II,” No. 2 on the April 13-dated survey, falls to No. 3, followed by Artemas’ “I Like the Way You Kiss Me” at No. 4, a new peak after reaching No. 7 a week prior. That’s concurrent with a continued increase in chart-eligible U.S. streams, jumping 12% to 18.8 million listens (enough to boost it into the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, leaping 23-16).

The biggest debut of the week on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 belongs to Lay Bankz’s “Tell Ur Girlfriend,” which debuts at No. 11. The song was released in February but lands on the ranking via a dance trend incorporating its chorus. The viral dance helps the song balloon in chart-eligible U.S. streams, skyrocketing 94% to 5.7 million April 5-11. As a result, it debuts at No. 45 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs list, her first appearance there.

The April 8 solar eclipse seen across North America boosts Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” onto the chart, bowing at No. 13. A four-week No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 1983, Tyler’s classic was oft-used during the eclipse on social media, with TikTok videos using it to soundtrack footage of the phenomenon, memes and more.

See the full TikTok Billboard Top 50 here. You can also tune in each Friday to SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio (channel 4) to hear the premiere of the chart’s top 10 countdown at 3 p.m. ET, with reruns heard throughout the week.

Seeker Music has acquired the publishing rights to Marcos “Kosine” Palacios’ catalog, including his share of hits like “Anaconda” by Nicki Minaj, “Birthday Cake” by Rihanna, “DANCE (A$$)” by Big Sean as well as the soundtracks he wrote for FOX’s Empire and Star and his work as half of the production duo Da Internz. Additionally, Kosine has been named Seeker’s first-ever Samplémoose ambassador.

The Samplémoose platform is a key part of the company’s strategy to boost the profile of its catalog by offering select producers, artists and songwriters access to an easy-to-clear, curated selection of loops, beats and flip-starts made out of the company’s songs. Already, Samplémoose efforts have led to the creation of Coco Jones’ song “Double Back,” which flips “Rain” by SWV. Other flips from Seeker’s catalog include Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song” (flipped from J-Kwon’s “Tipsy”), Chris Brown’s “Freak (from Nelly’s “Air Force Ones”), Teyana Taylor’s “Freak” (from Adina Howard’s “Freak Like Me”), and IVE‘s “All Night” featuring Saweetie (from Icona Pop’s song of the same name).

Through his new ambassadorship, Kosine will spearhead the expansion of more Samplémoose initiatives. Last week (April 10-12), the producer put together a songwriting camp with Seeker called Samplémoose Sessions, which brought together nearly two dozen music creators to flip songs from Seeker’s catalog. Some of the songs used at the camp included Christopher Cross’ “Sailing” and “Arthur’s Theme”; The Go-Go’s‘ “We Got The Beat,” Whitney Houston’s “Million Dollar Bill” and Fantasia’s “When I See U.”

Seeker Music, which was founded in 2020 by songwriter and entrepreneur Evan Bogart, takes a creative and active approach to catalog management, treating older songs with the same approach as its new, frontline releases. To date, the company has acquired catalogs from artists such as Run The Jewels, Teddy Geiger, Jon Bellion, John Ryan, Plested and MoZella. Its frontline publishing roster includes Kito, Robopop, Sofía Valdés and K Sotomayor, while its frontline label roster includes Kareen Lomax, CARR, Dead Pony, Latroit, ONR and Fourth Daughter.

“In joining forces with Seeker Music and the Samplémoose initiative, I feel a profound sense of alignment with a team that not only values the legacy of music but also pioneers new pathways for creativity and innovation,” said Kosine in a statement. “This partnership marks a significant milestone in my career, offering a unique platform to reimagine the classics while nurturing the next generation of talent. I’m thrilled to embark on this journey, blending tradition with innovation, and to contribute to the music industry in a way that resonates across generations.”

Evan Bogart added: “When we started acquiring catalogs at Seeker, I only was interested in songs I wish I wrote, or projects I wish I had worked on, and that’s hands-down, undeniably Kosine’s body of work. Me and Kos go way back and have been collaborating on music for almost 15 years. Now, we get to write our next chapter together, working closely on Samplémoose, and investing in each other, in ways a publishing company and producer haven’t before. It’s a major honor to have this opportunity to build with him.”

Taylor Swift‘s The Tortured Poets Department is already breaking Spotify records, and it hasn’t even dropped yet. The streaming service announced Thursday (April 18) that the album’s countdown page has broken its record for most pre-saves, one day ahead of the project’s midnight release.

The news follows the countdown page’s launch on March 28, which invited Swifties to watch as each second leading up to Tortured Poets‘ April 19 release slowly ticked down. Since then, Spotify has updated the tab with links to the pop star’s merch as well as cryptic videos corresponding to clues revealed at Swift’s open-air library installation in Los Angeles.

The pop-up opened doors to Swifties earlier this week and features books, figurines, dried flowers, mysterious mailboxes and a display case that regularly updates to unveil a new lyric from the album. Some of its recent reveals include, “One less temptress, one less dagger to sharpen” and “When she was leaving, it felt like breathing.”

Spotify hasn’t shared the number of pre-saves Tortured Poets‘ page has garnered, but there’s no question that it’s high. Swift’s 11th studio record is one of the most anticipated releases of the year, teed off by the success of 2022’s Midnights, which spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and snagged album of the year at the 2024 Grammys.

The pre-save record comes despite the fact that the singer hasn’t released any songs ahead of Tortured Poets, nor has she confirmed which of its 16 tracks will get the single treatment first. She did, however, confirm earlier this week that a music video is on its way, slated for an 8 p.m. ET release the day the album drops.

See Spotify’s announcement about Tortured Poets‘ new record below.

Earlier this month, reigning CMA Awards entertainer of the year Lainey Wilson stood alongside contemporary Christian music star Chris Tomlin at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena as part of Tomlin’s eighth annual Good Friday Nashville concert.

Standing between them onstage was “My Jesus” hitmaker Anne Wilson. The trio of artists playing to the Nashville audience served as a literal representation of Wilson’s new album, Rebel, with its aim of fully intertwining the two genres via a country sound enmeshed with faith-filled lyrics. Both Tomlin and Lainey appear on Rebel, which comes out Friday (April 19) via Capitol Christian Music Group and Universal Music Group  Nashville.

In 2021, Kentucky native Wilson broke through with “My Jesus,” a song she wrote following the death of her older brother Jacob. The song spent six weeks atop Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart, making Wilson the first female soloist to top the Christian Airplay chart with a debut single since the chart’s launch in 2003. Subsequent singles included the top 5 Christian Airplay hits “Sunday Sermons” and the top 25 hit “Hey Girl.”

After she released her debut Capitol Christian Music Group album, My Jesus, which sonically dipped into the grooves between CCM and country, Wilson recalled getting messages from both country and Christian music fans.

“Some would say, ‘We don’t listen to Christian music, but we love your music. It sounds country.’ And then others would say, ‘We love country music, but we don’t play it in the car because we don’t want our kids listening to it, but we let them listen to you — the in between,’” Wilson tells Billboard, while seated at UMG Nashville’s office. “That was encouraging for me to hear, and showed me that’s where we were heading.”

As she began writing for the album in late 2022, Wilson says “the songs that were coming from my heart were leaning more country.” To that end, she’s set about expanding upon her CCM radio success, releasing music aimed at both country and CCM audiences, with her current top 5 Christian Airplay hit “Strong,” as well as country-aimed “Rain in the Rearview.” The songs filling out Rebel flit between themes well-known to country listeners, such as family (“My Father’s Daughter”), Sunday morning church, rural living and the struggles of life on the road (“Milestones”), but also songs that delve deeper into spiritual themes of prayer (“Sinner’s Prayer,” “Praying Woman”), redemption (“3:16”), and worship (“The Cross,” featuring Tomlin).

UMG Nashville Chair/CEO Cindy Mabe also saw the potential in a CCM-country connection and reached out to Wilson’s team in 2023.

“She said, ‘We want to give her an opportunity to take a song to country radio and to expand her reach,’” Wilson recalls. “It was out of the blue, but it made sense. I basically have two record labels, which is amazing. Double the people, double the ideas. It’s been great having so many different people helping with this album.”

Wilson, Zach Kale, CCM singer-songwriter Matthew West and The Cadillac Three’s Jaren Johnston wrote ‘Rain in the Rearview’ in August 2023 and released it the following month.

“Writing it, producing it and releasing it in like five weeks was very fast, but it’s been cool to see the reaction and how my music has been able to go to both country and Christian platforms and be appreciated in both,” Wilson says.

Certainly, songs of faith have been mainstays in country music from its inception, from the gospel classic “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” made famous in country circles by The Carter Family in 1935, to Hank Williams’ “I Saw the Light” and Carrie Underwood’s Grammy-winning “Something in the Water.” But the past five years has seen a particular surge, with more than a dozen country-CCM collaborations released from artists including Dolly Parton, Zach Williams, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett and Colton Dixon. Tomlin teamed with FGL for a CCM album featuring country artists, while Steven Curtis Chapman released a bluegrass-tinged project and Underwood issued a hymns album.

With Rebel, Wilson fully fuses the two genres. She co-wrote every song on the 16-track project, reuniting with her core team of co-writers in West and Jeff Pardo, who crafted “My Jesus” with Wilson, and expanding her writing circle, bringing in top-tier country writers including Nicolle Galyon, Emily Weisband, Trannie Anderson and Casey Beathard.

“It was really life-giving as an artist; this album felt very free-spirited, like I can write about my faith, but also about different things, too,” say Wilson, who is part of both the Opry’s NextStage Class of 2024 and the CMT Next Women of Country Class of 2024.

She teams with “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” singer Lainey Wilson (no relation) on “Praying Woman.”

“I loved working with her,” Anne says. “I met Lainey on Instagram in 2020. Then we met [in person] last year, and we wrote the song the same day … We were talking about our moms, and we both remember our moms praying a lot when we were kids, getting on their knees and praying for things, and we got to write a song to honor our moms and talk about what it means to be a woman who prays and faith.”

She says Lainey is “like a big sister,” explaining, “The thing I love about Lainey’s story is she worked for so many years, lived in a camper and all these things and never changed who she was. She trusted that she was going to keep being herself and something was going to happen one day, and it did. She’s told me multiple times, ‘Don’t change for anyone or anything.’”

“Next Thing You Know” hitmaker Jordan Davis joins on “Country Gold,” a tender, breezy ode to the riches found in the simplicity of family, friends and rural living. They first collaborated during the ACM Honors last year, performing Davis’s hit “Buy Dirt.”

“He’s such a good guy,” Wilson says. “When I wrote ‘Country Gold,’ and it felt like it could be a collaboration, the first person I thought of was him. He said, ‘Yes,’ and I think his voice adds the perfect touch. It’s one of the more straight-forward country songs, just with valuing small-town life.”

“Milestones,” written with Galyon and Hungate, delves into the trade-offs that come with life as a musician on the road. “I remember Nicole asking me, ‘How are you?’ And I was like, ‘Good,’ but she was like, ‘No, how are you really?’ And I just started crying, and telling her all these things that I’ve been going through, and the pain of missing milestones. You hold it in one hand, the incredible opportunities I’m getting, and then in the other hand is all the milestones you have to miss; it’s just this exchange. But I think anybody can relate to that in a sense. My team’s really good about giving me grace for that, too. I’m a people-pleaser; I don’t like to disappoint. But I think it’s about figuring out what are the most important moments in my life and making sure those stay on the calendar, and then everything else works around it.”

Meanwhile, “Red Flag” serves as an older sister of sorts to the song “Hey Girl” from Wilson’s My Jesus album.

“All the little girls love ‘Hey Girl,’ and we thought, ‘What’s the grownup version of that song?’ After you’ve told them about their identity in Christ and loving themselves, the next thing is a boy that comes into the picture. I’ve never written a song about a boy — because, thankfully, I’ve never had a bad breakup story — but my mom had always told me about red flags: ‘Look for this and don’t look for this.’ This song ended up being like a continuation of ‘Hey Girl,’ to encourage them and tell them what to look for.”

While sonically and thematically, the album stitches together the threads tying country and Christian music, the title track stems from her struggles to meld the two genres.

Wilson had been taking that title into writing rooms for a few years, but says, “No one wanted to write the song. They were like, ‘How do we write a song called “Rebel” when you are this five-feet, little sweet Christian girl who’s not a rebel at all?’… At one point, I had a song go to [Christian] radio and they said it was too country for them to play it, though the message was very faith-based. I remember being frustrated, as any artist would, but it fired me up to want to write this album. A lot of the reason we called it ‘Rebel’ is I decided I’m just going to be who I am. I’m not going to change who I am to please Christian radio and I’m not going to change who I am to please country radio.”

To that end, her upcoming summer dates will include a mix of Christian and country festival performance slots — with Wilson playing the same set of songs, whether playing to a more country-leaning or CCM-leaning crowd. One thing Wilson is looking forward to is appearing at some country festivals where Lainey Wilson is also playing: “So hopefully, we’ll try to perform [“Praying Woman”] together,” she says.

Wilson is also set to lead her second headlining tour in the fall.

The Summer of Slizzy is upon us.  

As soon as the weather starts to get nice, New York City becomes a playground. People from all walks of life are seemingly outside eating, drinking, smoking and blasting music. And one song that’s sure to be in heavy rotation this summer is Cash Cobain’s “Fisherrr” featuring Bay Swag. You already hear the song coming from cars as they pass by, or being used in countless Instagram Reels and TikToks, usually accompanied by its official dance, The Reemski.

Cash has teased the track on social media, feeding fans little bites here and there, but it wasn’t until he and Bay performed the song on the YouTube series From the Block that the song took off. The Instagram clip and the YouTube video each have one million views and the song currently has 3.6 million plays on Spotify. There’s also whispers of a “Fisherrr” remix being in the works with a certain New York City superstar. I’ll let you work out who that may be for yourself. 

With the song of the summer already locked down, Cash Cobain has the city on smash. I was one of the hundreds of people waiting in line for almost two hours to get into his Irving Plaza show on April 1. The lines wrapped around the block and the anticipation was intoxicating. The air was buzzing with rumors of a Drake appearance, and questions about what the hell was taking so long while little clouds of weed smoke popped up like NYC chimneys in the wintertime.

The NYPD was deep out there, too, but they didn’t bother anybody until the crowd grew impatient and tried to bumrush the entrance. That’s when the venue officially shut Slizzyfest down and Cash took all those remaining outside up the street to Union Square Park for an impromptu performance. Hip-hop started with park jams, so it’s dope to see a younger artist like Cash carry on the tradition. Being able to control a crowd is the definition of a true MC. 

I was talking to my tax guy who’s based in Atlanta as I was putting the finishing touches on this interview when he asked me what I was working on. I mentioned Cash Cobain, and he started laughing. He then sent me a screenshot of him listening to the Cash Cobain and Bay Swag performance on Hot 97’s Funkmaster Flex show. When an accountant living in another part of the country is up on you, it’s safe to say you’re on the way to becoming a star. 

Billboard spoke with April’s R&B/Hip-Hop Rookie of the Month about making sexy music, working with the likes of Drake and Frank Ocean, plus much more.  

How does it feel to have the song of the summer already? I feel like “Fisherrr” is only getting bigger. That From the Block video took it to another level. 

It feels amazing. It feels like a moment. We haven’t had a real movement in New York in a little minute. 

The energy outside of your show at Irving Plaza was electric. It’s hard to put into words, but I haven’t felt that type of excitement outside of a show in NYC in a long time. Did feeling the love from the fans outside make you want to take them up the street to Union Square Park? 

They canceled my show, so I just wanted to give them something. I wanted to be seen. I was upset and decided to go outside, and everyone started gathering around me, so I started walking. I didn’t even realize Union Square Park was that close. As I’m walking, I was like, “Nah, I need to stand up or something, I need to be seen, I need some music.” You know Manhattan got them long ass blocks, so I see like a park. It was perfect. We had a good time, and nobody got hurt.

Let’s talk about the dance that’s been going viral: The Reemski. La La Anthony and her son did a video and so has former NBA guard Lance Stephenson. That’s when I knew “Fisherrr” was different. Were you going to do that dance during your set? 

Yeah, once a song gets a dance, it’s outta here. I be trying to do the dance, but I don’t know, I have to be in the mood. 

Can you describe Sexy Drill? Did you come up with that name? 

Everything gotta be sexy. I like sexy s–t. Chow Lee and Lonny Love really put Sexy Drill on the map. 

You and Bay Swag were on Hot 97 with Funkmaster Flex recently, which got some mixed reactions. Was that a big deal for you growing up in NYC? 

Flex? Hell yeah. The radio, period. It wasn’t a freestyle, though, it was more like a performance. We be saying little slick s–t in our raps, it may sound like we’re playing around, but when you say some slick s–t, you might catch someone’s attention. 

Flex seemed into it. That s–t was funny because he was making funny faces after certain lines. 

He was like, “I understand it, I don’t need to see it twice. Y’all some nasty motherf—kers.” 

You and Bay are like horny Jada & Styles with the back and forth. Your lyrics are always raunchy. Why are you so horny? 

[Laughs.] That’s just who I am for real. I wanna f—k all day. 

I should use that as the headline: “Cash Cobain Wants to F—k All Day.“

That’ll go viral. 

I’m not sure if people realize how versatile you are. You’ve worked with PinkPanthress. How did that link up happen? 

The managers did what they do. The managers were managing and managed to get us in the studio. We linked in LA in person, man, we were just cookin’ up, vibin’, talkin’ and stuff. That was my first time meeting her. 

You guys have similar styles, so it makes sense. 

Yeah, and I didn’t know she made her own beats. So, when I locked in with her, she was like, “Let me hop on the keys right quick” and I was like, “Huh, what? You make beats?” And she was like, “Yeah, I make all my stuff.” 

 
You guys plan on working together in the future? 

Of course. I want her on my album. 

Speaking of albums…i s “Fisherrr” the lead single? 

Nah, that’s for my Play Cash Cobain EP that should be coming out soon. “Dunk Contest” is going to be on there too, along with some other songs like “Candle” and “Act Like.” 

Ok, so is Drake going to be on the EP or the album? 

[Laughs.] He made the album cover for the EP, though!

There were rumors that he was supposed to pop out at your show in New York. 

I don’t know about no rumors. He was already in town. He had a show [in] Long Island, and he posted the picture I’m using as the cover, so people put two and two together. 

So, what’s next for you? 

I have the Play Cash Cobain EP coming up and we’re just going to keep dropping music. We got some placements on the way. 

Anything you can talk about? 

Travis Scott. Me and Don Toliver were in the studio, we got some crazy sh—t coming. Me and Boat [Lil Yachty] are about to come out with some sh-t. And I should be doing something with Frank Ocean soon, too. He really f—ks with my music. 

How do you envision your wave taking over the city once the weather breaks? Because I’ve predicted that a Slizzy Summer is in our future. 

Aight, boom, we been outside. I don’t care if it’s summer, winter, we been outside odee. So, for Slizzy Summer I wanna do like a Slizzy pool party vibe, like Freaknik. We gonna call that s–t Slizznik. I wanna do a summertime show outside. I wanna make things like slizzy this, slizzy that. I just wanna have fun, I don’t want nobody to get hurt. 

So, you definitely plan on doing another show in New York soon to make up for this last one? 

Yeah, ASAP. 

The ladies love your music. You’re putting fat boys back in style like Biggie did. Was he someone you grew up listening to? 

Biggie was the first rapper I was introduced to. I listen to a lot of Biggie, Aaliyah, and Michael Jackson. I really love 50 Cent too. I grew up listening to everything: Hip-Hop, R&B, like old R&B. I’ve been listening to “Me and Mrs. Jones” by Billy Paul. You know? Meeting at the same spot at the same time every day. My grandparents and parents had all those CDs like Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson’s greatest hits. 

How about on the production side of things? How did you come up with this sound? 

Trap and Drill really inspired me, but I wanted to add my own flavor. I didn’t want to bite guys like Southside and Metro. I didn’t want to capitalize off a Metro-type beat. I wanted to come up with my own flavor. 

How do you decide on certain samples to use? 

Things catch me. I can be in the elevator and hear a song, or be watching a movie, and if I like the song or hear a part that I can use, I would Shazam it. I find things when I’m listening to music on YouTube. It could be familiar songs or unfamiliar songs. 

Who taught you how to make beats? 

I’m self-taught, just f—kin’ around on FruityLoops. I always wanted to make beats, though. It was the perfect match, I just had to figure it out. I was confident because my mom used to buy me drum pads, Yamahas, and s—t like that. 

And what made you rap about the things that you rap about? I was surprised to see the NYPD outside of your show so deep because you don’t make that type of music. 

Because I know n—as that rap about street s–t and are dead p—y. [Laughs.] They dead soft. I’m going to be true to myself. I’m not trying to incriminate myself. I have made rap songs like that, but this is what I wanna do. I wanna play autotune, I wanna sing, I wanna melodize, I want it to be sexy. 

You want to be a heartthrob and not a thug. 

I wanna be slizzy. 

Can you define “slizzy” for the people? 

Freedom. Judgement free. Doing what you want to do and not caring what anyone else thinks. It’s just a way of life. That’s how I got to where I’m at right now. Not caring about what anybody thinks. 

OK, last question. Are you a Pelle Pelle model? 

Yeah, shouts to my big brother Chris, he be lookin’ out for me. We’re working on a few things actually. 

With a bestselling music career, booming beauty business and a billion-dollar net worth, Rihanna undoubtedly has plenty of fans who would trade places with her in a heartbeat. But if she got the chance, she’d switch lives to become the next best thing — her sons, RZA and Riot Rose, whom she shares with partner A$AP Rocky. 

While speaking to Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet at her Fenty x Puma event in London Wednesday (April 17), the superstar needed only a second to think when she was asked who she’d like to swap places with for a day. “You know what? My kids,” she replied. “They have it the best.”  

“They’re living the greatest life,” added Ri. “The love that they have from everyone, they know they’re loved. I beam to see it in their eyes, knowing that everybody in this house is at your beck and call.” 

The “Umbrella” singer and Rocky first became parents in May 2022 when little RZA came along. The following February, Ri effectively announced her second pregnancy by showing off her baby bump during her 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show performance, welcoming Riot Rose six months later in August. 

The mogul recently revealed in a chat with Interview that she’s open to having more kids and is keeping her fingers crossed for a baby girl, but ultimately, she’s fine with having “as many as God wants me to have.” In the meantime, she’s making sure her sons carry out their parents’ legacy of being bona fide fashion icons.  

“I always try to dress them like Rocky,” she told ET. “I always envisioned dressing a girl. We all do as women, like, ‘Ooh, I’m gonna dress her in these cute little things.’ But then you get sons, and you’re like, ‘What do I do?’ But I have the biggest hack: their dad.” 

Watch Ri talk about her boys on the Fenty x Puma red carpet below. 

Like father, like son. ???? Rihanna’s « biggest hack » for dressing her sons is pulling fashion inspo from their dad, A$AP Rocky. pic.twitter.com/ASaobTKpP6

— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) April 17, 2024

We are just a few weeks away from the release of Dua Lipa‘s 11-track album Radical Optimism album and in a new Elle magazine cover story the 28 year-old pop superstar pulls the curtain back further on the long creative process of assembling the songs.

Dua worked on Radical Optimism with an A-list group of co-songwriters and producers, including longtime collaborator songwriter Caroline Ailin, as well as Tobias Jesso Jr. (Adele, Harry Styles), Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, Danny L Harle (Dux Content). Parker said they referred to the assembled crew of hitmakers as “The Band,” explaining, “Not an old-school band, but a spiritual band. Each morning going into the studio, I felt like I was in the Beatles!”

The result, the the magazine says, is a mix of live and electronic instruments that create a “global groove” on a “cosmopolitan dance-pop record with a 1970s flair, and a vibrant, resounding affirmation of life.”

“Dua had this focus on finding this sound, which was so elusive,” Parker said. “But it was nice to be in the engine room of the creative process, rather than worry about being the face of it. It was the experience that I’ve been waiting for.” He described the origins of the first single, the bouncy “Houdini,” as starting with a bass line he plunked out weeks before their session that he realized could work once the singer added a “moody,” post-disco melody.

“She started singing, and it just immediately made sense,” Parker said. “This feeling of early-’80s sleaze, in some strange, dark, sweaty club. Gloriously suffocating. Hypnotic.”

Ailin, who has worked with Dua since before her 2017 breakthrough hit “New Rules,” described their process as beginning with “a little yap about what’s going on,” which, then somehow turns into a pop song. “That’s her superpower,” Ailin said “It’s hard not to feel like you’re the strongest person next to her. I think she lends a little bit of that to all of us sometimes.”

The singer also told Elle that her single “Training Season” was written in Nov. 2022 as a reflection on both her long-term relationships with men including models Bella and Gigi Hadid’s brother Anwar Hadid and French director Romain Gavras, as well as run of dates she went on. “As long as everyone knows where they stand, then you’re good,” she said about her dating life, which most recently linked her to British actor Callum Turner.

The magazine said Dua is coy about what her current dating situation, preferring to offer coded hints through her songs. “I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to write down what I want,” she explained about the “Training Season” sessions. “The power of manifestation and writing things into existence with the power of words. When you know your worth, you know what you want and what you don’t want.”

Describing a recent convo with one of her dancers who was going through a breakup, Dua said that when she was single she didn’t pine for a relationship. “I didn’t wish it away. You learn so much about yourself, you know, whether it’s going on a date or spending that time alone,” she said. “In the silence, you figure out who you really are. In the grand scheme of things, I was doing research.”

Dua Lipa will serve as both host and musical guest for the May 4 episode of Saturday Night Live.