Four-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Kenny Chesney‘s longtime affinity for the islands was on display recently, when he dropped into Captain Tony’s Saloon in Key West, Florida.
Chesney posted a video on his social media of himself, dressed down in shorts, a ball cap and a t-shirt, performing an acoustic rendition of his 2011 hit, “You and Tequila.”
“Feeding my creative soul at Capt. Tony’s. Thanks to everyone for allowing me to sit in,” Chesney wrote in the caption of the video.
Captain Tony’s has a storied musical history, as a place Jimmy Buffett was a regular performer in the 1970s. Captain Tony’s was immortalized in Buffett’s title song to his 1985 album Last Mango in Paris. The location is also the original site of Sloppy Joe’s Bar from 1933-1937, when it was a regular hangout spot for author Ernest Hemingway. Meanwhile, Chesney has also been known to pop in to Sloppy Joe’s Bar at its current location over the years, playing a four-hour show there in 2008, and popping in for shows in 2009 and in 2016, when he was joined by Eric Church and Old Dominion’s Matthew Ramsey.
Chesney’s “You and Tequila,” which he recorded with Grace Potter, earned two Grammy Awards including best country song and best country duo/group performance. It was the fourth single from Chesney’s album Hemingway’s Whiskey. Matraca Berg and Deana Carter wrote “You and Tequila,” which went on to be certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
See Chesney’s performance below:
Feeding my creative soul at Capt. Tony’s. Thanks to everyone for allowing me to sit in. pic.twitter.com/lkXe0kR7kR
Meanwhile, three songs from the Barbie soundtrack surge to the Global 200’s top 10: Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s “Barbie World,” with Aqua; Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”; and Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” following the movie and its soundtrack’s July 21 arrival.
Plus, Travis Scott, Bad Bunny and The Weeknd’s “K-POP” debuts in the top 10 of both the Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S., and NewJeans’ “ETA” opens in the Global Excl. U.S. top five.
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The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts, which started in September 2020, rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.
Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.
‘Seven’ Still 1, ‘Barbie’ Bounds on Global 200
Jung Kook’s “Seven,” featuring Latto, logs a second week atop the Billboard Global 200, led by 152.1 million streams (down 30%) worldwide July 21-27.
Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” holds at its No. 2 Global 200 high, a week after it debuted at the ranking, up 177% to 30.8 million streams; NewJeans’ “Super Shy” rebounds 5-3, two weeks after it began at No. 2; and Myke Towers’ “LaLa” slips to No. 4 from its No. 3 best.
Travis Scott, Bad Bunny and The Weeknd’s “K-POP” soars in at No. 5 on the Global 200, with 53.2 million streams and 14,000 sold worldwide in its first week. The lead single from Scott’s album Utopia, released Friday (July 28), is his fifth Global 200 top 10, Bad Bunny’s 15th and The Weeknd’s 10th since the chart began.
Meanwhile, three tracks from the Barbie soundtrack blast to the Global 200’s top 10, each for the first time: Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s “Barbie World,” with Aqua (28-6); Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” (18-7); and Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” (27-8), following the July 21 premiere of the movie and its soundtrack, with the film having gone on to an explosive box office bow. The songs drew 52.3 million, 47.7 million and 46.6 million streams globally, up 101%, up 45% and up 83%, respectively. Minaj and Ice Spice each add their third Global 200 top 10, as Aqua earns its first; Eilish tallies her fourth; and Lipa scores her third.
Jung Kook, Tops Global Excl. U.S., NewJeans Debut
Jung Kook’s “Seven” concurrently rules the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart for a second week, with 138.1 million streams (down 29%) outside the U.S. July 21-27.
NewJeans’ “Super Shy” returns to its No. 2 Global Excl. U.S. high, from No. 3, and Myke Towers’ “LaLa” backtracks 2-3, two weeks after it led the list.
NewJeans double up in the Global Excl. U.S. top five, as “ETA” arrives at No. 4 with 38.6 million streams and 3,000 sold outside the U.S. The South Korean pop group achieves its fourth top 10, with both “ETA” and “Super Shy” both from its 2nd EP ‘Get Up’, released July 21.
Two Barbie soundtrack songs get dolled up in the Global Excl. U.S. top 10: Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” vaults 24-5 (led by 33.3 million streams, up 77%, outside the U.S.) and Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” leaps 19-7 (31.7 million, up 44%). Each artist lands her fourth top 10 on the survey.
Plus, Travis Scott, Bad Bunny and The Weeknd’s “K-POP” starts at No. 6 on Global Excl. U.S., with 34.1 million streams and 1,000 sold outside the U.S. The song is Scott’s third top 10 on the chart, Bad Bunny’s record-extending 15th and The Weeknd’s eighth.
The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated Aug. 5, 2023) will update on Billboard.com Wednesday (Aug. 2). For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
Angus Cloud, the actor who starred on HBO’s Euphoria, has died. He was 25.
Cloud’s family announced the news on Monday.
“It is with the heaviest heart that we had to say goodbye to an incredible human today. As an artist, a friend, a brother and a son, Angus was special to all of us in so many ways. Last week he buried his father and intensely struggled with this loss. The only comfort we have is knowing Angus is now reunited with his dad, who was his best friend. Angus was open about his battle with mental health and we hope that his passing can be a reminder to others that they are not alone and should not fight this on their own in silence,” read the statement.
“We hope the world remembers him for his humor, laughter and love for everyone. We ask for privacy at this time as we are still processing this devastating loss.”
HBO added to The Hollywood Reporter, “We are incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of Angus Cloud. He was immensely talented and a beloved part of the HBO and Euphoria family. We extend our deepest condolences to his friends and family during this difficult time.”
Cloud was walking down the street in Manhattan when he got cast as drug dealer Fezco on Euphoria, HBO’s Emmy-winning drama from Sam Levinson and starring Zendaya. The role, which he played on two seasons, turned Cloud into a breakout star. His role was expanded in the second season.
Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” rises to No. 1, from its No. 2 debut, on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. The single, released in May, reigns amid buzz after CMT pulled its video, which premiered July 14, from rotation after three days, resulting in a surge of attention.
Meanwhile, with Aldean at No. 1, Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” at No. 2 and Luke Combs’ “Fast Car” at No. 3, country hits take the Hot 100’s top three spots in a single week for the first time, dating to the Hot 100’s inception in August 1958.
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The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated Aug. 5, 2023) will update on Billboard.com Wednesday (Aug. 2). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
“Try That in a Small Town” is the 1,152nd No. 1 in the Hot 100’s history. Here’s a deeper look at its coronation.
Streams, airplay & sales: The song, released on Macon/Broken Bow, drew 30.7 million streams (up 165%) and 8.8 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 21%) and sold 175,000 (down 23%) July 21-27, according to Luminate.
The track tops the Digital Song Sales chart, where it’s Aldean’s second leader, for a second week and vaults 37-3 on Streaming Songs. While below the all-format Radio Songs tally, it holds at No. 25 (after reaching No. 24) in its 10th week on Country Airplay.
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A week earlier, the song scored the largest digital sales week – 228,000 – for a country title (defined as by those that have hit Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart) in over 10 years, since Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise,” featuring Nelly, sold 244,000, as reflected on charts dated July 6, 2013.
CMT decision sparks gains: On July 18, Billboard confirmed that CMT had pulled the official video for “Try That in a Small Town” after three days in rotation; the network declined to say why. Following CMT’s decision, Aldean posted a message to his Instagram Stories regarding the contrasting reactions that the song and video have faced.
The song’s video was released on July 14, featuring footage of an American flag burning, protesters in confrontation with police, looters breaking a display case and thieves robbing a convenience store; it has since been edited, cutting six seconds. The clip has prompted a firestorm of opinions about it and the song’s intent and messaging.
Aldean further addressed the polarized response during his Highway Desperado Tour stop July 21 at Cincinnati’s Riverbend Music Center. “It’s been a long week and I’ve seen a lot of stuff suggesting I’m this, suggesting I’m that,” he told the crowd. “I feel like everybody’s entitled to their opinion. You can think something all you want to; it doesn’t mean it’s true. What I am is a proud American. I’m proud to be from here … I love my country, I love my family, and I will do anything to protect that, I can tell you that right now.”
Aldean’s first Hot 100 No. 1: Aldean achieves his first Hot 100 No. 1, with his 40th entry on the chart. He first made the list dated Aug. 13, 2005, with “Hicktown”; he tallied one top 10 prior to his new leader, as “Dirt Road Anthem,” which, helped by its remix featuring Ludacris, hit No. 7 in July 2011.
Aldean’s 17-year, 11-month and three-week wait from his first Hot 100 visit to his first No. 1 marks the longest since Billy Ray Cyrus went 26 years and 11 months between the debut of “Achy Breaky Heart” in 1992 and the coronation of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Cyrus, in 2019. Santana holds the record for the most sustained such suspense: two days shy of 30 years, between the group’s arrival with “Jingo” in 1969 and the reign of “Smooth,” featuring Rob Thomas, in 1999.
Broken Bow’s best: Broken Bow also boasts its first Hot 100 No. 1 with “Try That in a Small Town.” Dating to its formation in 1999, the label had previously hit the top 10 via Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem.”
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Also No. 1 on Hot Country Songs: “Try That in a Small Town” concurrently rules Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, which uses the same methodology as the Hot 100, for a second week, a week after it became Aldean’s 10th No. 1. He first led with “Why” in May 2006 and had most recently reigned with “Burnin’ It Down” in 2014. His new leader is also his 37th top 10; he has peaked in the top 10 at least once each year dating to his first such hit, “Hicktown,” in 2005 – the longest active streak of annual top 10s on the chart.
Hot 100 & Hot Country Songs No. 1s: “Try That in a Small Town” marks only the 21st song to have topped both the Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs. With Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” having begun its 14-week domination in March, 2023 is the first year with multiple shared Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs leaders since 1981.
Songs to Have Hit No. 1 on Both the Hot 100 & Hot Country Songs Charts:
“Try That in a Small Town,” Jason Aldean, 2023
“Last Night,” Morgan Wallen, 2023
“All Too Well (Taylor’s Version),” Taylor Swift, 2021
“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” Taylor Swift, 2012
“Amazed,” Lonestar, 1999-2000
“Islands in the Stream,” Kenny Rogers, duet with Dolly Parton, 1983
“I Love a Rainy Night,” Eddie Rabbitt, 1981
“9 to 5,” Dolly Parton, 1981
“Lady,” Kenny Rogers, 1980
“Southern Nights,” Glen Campbell, 1977
“Convoy,” C.W. McCall, 1975-76
“I’m Sorry,” John Denver, 1975
“Rhinestone Cowboy,” Glen Campbell, 1975
“Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” John Denver, 1975
“Before the Next Teardrop Falls,” Freddy Fender, 1975
“(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” B.J. Thomas, 1975
“The Most Beautiful Girl,” Charlie Rich, 1973
“Honey,” Bobby Goldsboro, 1968
“Big Bad John,” Jimmy Dean, 1961
“El Paso,” Marty Robbins, 1959-60
“The Battle of New Orleans,” Johnny Horton, 1959
Of the 21 songs listed above, 12 were concentrated in 1973-83. Meanwhile, Glen Campbell, John Denver, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers and Taylor Swift are the only acts with two songs each that have crowned both the Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs.
Wallen’s “Last Night” rebounds 3-2 on the Hot 100 after 14 weeks at No. 1; it’s tied for the fifth-longest command in the chart’s history. It lands a ninth week atop Billboard’s Songs of the Summer chart, having ranked at No. 1 each week since the seasonal recap returned.
Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” rises 4-3 on the Hot 100, after three weeks at its No. 2 high.
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Country hits at Nos. 1-2-3 on Hot 100 for first time: Notably, with “Try That in a Small Town” at No. 1, “Last Night” at No. 2 and “Fast Car” at No. 3, country hits (as defined by those that have hit Hot Country Songs) claim the Hot 100’s top three spots in a single week for the first time in the survey’s history, which hits 65 years as of this chart week, dating to the list’s Aug. 4, 1958, start. (Hot Country Songs adopted the Hot 100’s current multi-metric methodology in October 2012.)
As Billboard reported July 6, country music has surged this year: consumption for the genre in the United States was up 20.3% year-over-year in the first 26 weeks of 2023, according to Luminate. (Comparatively, country grew by 2.5% over the same period in 2022.)
Gunna’s “Fukumean” rises 6-4 for a new Hot 100 high – and ties his best career rank, after “Drip Too Hard,” with Lil Baby, hit No. 4 in October 2018. “Fukumean” tops both the multi-metric Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a third week each.
Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” holds at No. 5 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 3, as it logs a sixth week atop Radio Songs (90.7 million, down 2%). It tops Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs for a 48th week, the longest reign since the chart began.
Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” climbs 8-6 for a new Hot 100 high. As previously reported, it becomes her record-breaking 12th leader on the Pop Airplay chart.
Travis Scott, Bad Bunny and The Weeknd’s “K-POP” launches at No. 7 on the Hot 100, with 19.4 million streams, 10.6 million in airplay audience and 35,000 sold in its first week. (It was available as a vinyl single for $10 and on CD for $3.50; consumers could download its original, explicit, instrumental, sped-up and “Chopped & Screwed” versions for 69 cents each.) It concurrently opens at Nos. 3 and 6 on Digital Song Sales and Streaming Songs, respectively.
Scott adds his 12th Hot 100 top 10, Bad Bunny, his 11th, and The Weeknd, his 17th. The song is from Scott’s album Utopia, released Friday (July 28).
Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s “Barbie World,” with Aqua, returns to the Hot 100’s top 10, roaring 27-8 with an 87% gain to 23.2 million streams, as it charges 13-4 on Streaming Songs. It also bounds 27-8 on Digital Song Sales (6,000, up 167%) and debuts at No. 46 on Radio Songs (13.6 million, up 51%). The song is from the soundtrack to the movie Barbie, which, along with its soundtrack, featuring the collab, arrived July 21. The track debuted at its No. 7 Hot 100 high on the July 8-dated chart.
Jung Kook’s “Seven,” featuring Latto, falls to No. 9 on the Hot 100, a week after it debuted at No. 1, marking each act’s first leader, and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” dips 7-10, three weeks after it arrived as her third No. 1.
Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Aug. 5), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com Wednesday (Aug. 2).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
Billie Eilish and Finneas officially have a diamond certified single under their belts. On Monday (July 31), the “What Was I Made For?”‘ singer took to Instagram to express her excitement of her 2019 smash hit, “Bad Guy,” receiving the Recording Industry Association of America’s highest honor.
“Bad Guy went diamond………………………. HUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH??????????” she captioned a photo of herself in the all yellow outfit from the track’s music video. “Forever and ever grateful for this silly little song man. love you guys so much its stupid @finneas.”
Finneas, her brother who produced the single, reposted Eilish’s post to his Instagram Stories and added, “This is f—ing crazy actually.” Established in 1999, RIAA diamond certifications are awarded to singles or album that have solf a minimum of 10,000,000 units in its lifetime.
“Bad Guy” stands as Eilish’s most successful single to date — the track hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August of 2019 and spent a total of 49 weeks on the chart. Released as the fifth single from the 21-year-old’s debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, the track helped the LP peak at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. By 2020, Eilish swept the Grammy Awards’ Big Four categories — record and song of the year for “Bad Guy,” album of the year for When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and best new artist.
Revisit the music video for Eilish’s “Bad Guy” above, and see her post celebrating the achievement below.
Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour rolled into East Rutherford, N.J.’s MetLife Stadium over the weekend (July 29-30), bringing tens of thousands of fans from New York, New Jersey and beyond (license plates from Texas and Florida were spotted in the parking lot) to one of the biggest stadiums in America. After a career-best tour leg in Europe, which netted her $154.4 million, according to Billboard Boxscore, Bey is back – and MetLife attendees are sleeping real good at night knowing they caught a knockout set from an artist in the midst of a creative peak.
Her Billboard 200-topping, Grammy-winning album Renaissance (featuring her latest No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, “Break My Soul”) is a gift to diva-house aficionados and her longtime queer fanbase, which was out in full force over the weekend. While Renaissance naturally took up the lion’s share of the generous 30-plus song setlist, she played a wide-range of tracks from The Lion King: The Gift to B’Day to 4, as well as several covers.
The ever-shifting set design was a visual feast, boasting everything from a giant translucent horse to a bed that suggested Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus to robot arms swinging around while holding rave fans. At one point, she rode atop a giant silver vehicle that looked suited for the lunar surface while a Pan-African flag flashed on the screen behind her; during another standout moment, Bey and her troupe of dancers strutted around the circular b-stage while she rapped her “Break My Soul (Queens Remix”) homage to living and late musical legends.
Below, here are five amazing moments from the Sunday (July 30) show at MetLife.
City Utilities Manger Joel Alexander crews are working as fast as they can to restore power to customers affected by storms.
He says, at 3:45 P.M, there were still approximately 6,600 customers without power due to damage caused by the storms that occurred overnight.
Alexander says they will continue to work and will be receiving aid from crews from Columbia, Hanibal, and Kirkwood, as well as from as far away as Colorado, Arkansas, and Iowa.
Get out your magnifying glasses. Olivia Rodrigo has shared a video that teases the song titles on her upcoming album Guts, littered with clues for fans to decode.
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In the clip, the 20-year-old pop star can be seen from a bird’s eye view lounging in a bedroom, unpacking boxes and tinkering with everything from an electric keyboard to a vintage typewriter. Toward the end, a snippet of an unreleased song plays — but that’s not even the main element that caught the attention of fans.
Eagle-eyed followers very quickly realized that words and phrases were hidden all over the room, which they deduced to be song titles based on the words Liv writes on her typewriter: “GUTS tracklist.” “WE ALL KNOW THAT WE HAVE THE TRACKLIST [IN] OUR FACES IN THIS,” commented one excited fan.
Here’s what Billboard has found in the video so far:
“Bad idea right” is written in red lipstick on Rodrigo’s vanity mirror
“Now I hold it like a grudge” is printed on a piece of paper she sets down on her vanity chair
The words “Stranger” and “Obsessed can be found atop her piano and a stray piece of white clothing on the floor, respectively.
A birthday cake boasts candles reading either “18” or “19”
A faux high-school yearbook shows the “Drivers License” singer as the sole member of “Book club.”
There are also definitely words written in red lettering on a skateboard toward the bottom of the frame, a sticker on the guitar case toward the top and something sprawled above Rodrigo’s knee — but they’re just slightly too out of focus to read.
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The teaser comes about a month after the Grammy winner announced that her sophomore album, Guts, the followup to her blockbuster debut LP Sour, would be arriving Sept. 8. So far, fans have gotten to hear only one track from the project: lead single “Vampire,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The 2023 Billboard Fan Army Face-Off is closing in on crowning a winner.
Billboard’s annual Fan Army showdown sees 64 artists’ fan armies enter the battle fray to find out – whose fan base is strongest? It kicked off July 5, and on July 12 at noon ET, 32 fan armies emerged victorious after millions of fan votes to compete in Round 2. Round 2 was tight — multiple match-ups remained too close to call the entire morning of Wednesday, July 19, with several of them down-to-the-wire right up until noon ET. With all the votes in, 16 fan armies emerged victorious for Round 3. Those fan armies made their voices heard throughout the week, and when all was said and done, an Elite Eight — made up of the fan armies for Cardi B, EXO, Selena Gomez, Nicki Minaj, SB19, SEVENTEEN, Shakira and TWICE — emerged victorious to compete in the Quarterfinals, which began July 26 at noon ET.
The Quarterfinals ran through Monday, July 31 at noon ET. After a fiercely competitive face-off to move on to the next level, this year’s Semifinals see the fan armies for Cardi B, SB19, SEVENTEEN and Shakira in a showdown to determine which two will proceed to the Finals. The Semifinals go until Friday, Aug. 4 at noon ET, after which the Finals commence.
Last year was a closely watched showdown, and each fan army deserves a huge shout-out for keeping us guessing. But in the end, only one can win, and for 2022, the winner of the Billboard Fan Army Face-Off was Stray Kids, with STAY pulling out the win on Tuesday, July 19. Past Fan Army Face-Off winners include Super Junior’s E.L.F (victorious twice), T-ara’s Queens (victorious three times) and BIGBANG’s VIPs.
Who will the winner be? This year’s competitors include fan armies who support luminaries in pop, hip-hop, K-pop, country, R&B, rock, dance and more. Some of these icons have been around for decades, changing the game and shifting the direction of culture, while others are newcomers, helping push music in bold new directions. More than a handful of them have graced the cover of Billboard magazine (some more than once), and numerous artists here have topped the Billboard Hot 100.
Check out the 2023 Fan Army Face-Off below – and get voting to make sure your favorite artist wins.
Kanye West has kept a low profile for much of this year after spending the latter part of 2022 on a bizarre media tour in which he repeatedly made antisemitic remarks that led to the near-total meltdown of his once formidable fashion and music empire, and, according to the Anti-Defamation League, a rise in antisemitic incidents in the U.S. The spree resulted in West (who now goes by Ye) losing a raft of major endorsements and product deals, as well as being booted from Twitter in December for sharing the since-deleted image of a swastika inside a Star of David.
That sanction came just two months after Space X/Tesla billionaire Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion; last week Musk announced that he was renaming the service “X.” Then, on Saturday, with no warning, West’s account had been restored after the suspension for what the service called at the time an “incitement to violence.”
At press time it did not appear that West had tweeted about the reinstatement or posted any new content, with the most recent tweets — espousing Ye’s disdain for pornography and support for fashion house Balenciaga — dating to Dec. 1, 2022. Though Billboard has not been able to confirm any details behind the reversal of Ye’s suspension, the news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which also noted that the rapper’s feed will not show any ads and that Ye will not be able to monetize his posts through Musk’s recently announced ad revenue sharing program for creators.
That program promises a cut of ad revenue for those who have a blue or verified mark, at least 15 million impressions within last three months or have at least 500 followers; Kanye’s Twitter feed has 31.6 million followers.
A spokesperson for X had not returned Billboard‘s request for additional comment at press time and Billboard‘s attempts to reach a spokesperson for West were unsuccessful at press time. West’s is not the first controversial account Musk has brought back. The unpredictable entrepreneur and “free speech abolitionist” also reinstated Donald Trump’s Twitter account last year after the former one-term president was suspended on Jan. 6, 2021 over fears that he might stoke further violence from his followers after their attack on the Capitol in Washington, D.C. that left five dead and hundreds injured.
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