On June 2 the playlist racked up nearly 6 million users, and its follower count jumped over two days from 40,000 to 450,000. After 28-year-old Sandra Bland died in a jail cell in 2015, three days after she recorded a confrontation with a state trooper in Texas, Spotify’s head of R&B and soul Mjeema Pickett […]

Other than buying a used 1992 CD on eBay, the only place to legally listen to Body Count’s anti-police-brutality classic “Cop Killer” is on a YouTube page posted by a user named thechannelsurfin100.  Hundreds of thousands of people have been out in the streets of cities across America protesting George Floyd’s death at the hands […]

As music fans continue to champion a potential Verzuz battle between Kanye West and Pharrell, on Thursday (June 11), they received endless gems in a new interview between the two hip-hop luminaries. Covering i-D’s “The Faith In Chaos” Summer 2020 issue, Pharrell brought Kanye into the fold and spoke on a myriad of topics, including Michael Jackson, […]

Known as "Rocky" to many of his friends, Ford chronicled New York hip-hop culture for Billboard before helping launch it into the mainstream as a writer-producer. Writer-producer, hip-hop pioneer and former Billboard reporter Robert “Rocky” Ford Jr. died on May 19 of undisclosed causes, his wife Linda Medley confirmed to Billboard. He was 70. As […]

This year, Black Music Month takes a different turn. Because of the horrific deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and more, we at Billboard hope to uplift and empower African Americans during this cloudy and dubious time. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the remainder of the month, an artist will provide a playlist designed […]

Summer’s here and the time is right for getting “Savage” in the streets. Or maybe you’re ready for a break from the heat and you want it to “Rain on Me”? Whether you’re a Megan Thee Stallion/Beyoncé fan or a Lady Gaga/Ariana Grande stan, it’s time to figure out what your outdoor summer jam will […]

DaBaby had the perfect reaction to landing his first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with Roddy Ricch collab “Rockstar.” The track from the MCs third studio album, Blame It On Baby, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated May 2, gives DaBaby his first No. 1, while landing Ricch his second. […]

Even while in quarantine, Ludacris made the most out of his May. The legendary MC battled Nelly in a high-profile clash on Verzuz — which Billboard‘s scorecard gave Luda the narrow victory — and released the dynamic “Silence of the Lambs” alongside Lil Wayne. Hip-hop editor Carl Lamarre caught up with the ATL native to reflect on […]

On Monday (June 8), Will Smith kept the conversation regarding racial injustice alive when he released his “No Justice, No Peace” montage on social media. The two-minute clip includes former President Barack Obama’s recent speech on George Floyd and some enlightening commentary by Smith himself. “You’re always gonna have a fight you’re going to see […]

As protests continue to rise across the nation demanding justice for George Floyd and the entire Black Lives Matter movement, YG joined the Los Angeles demonstrations over the weekend–but Chika is calling him out for misusing his platform. “YG said he here to shoot a video,” the rapper and activist tweeted on Sunday (June 7) from the […]