Month: September 2023

Issa Rae‘s Max series Rap Sh!t announced Wednesday (Sept. 27) that it’s releasing the season 2 soundtrack on Nov. 3 via Rae’s label Raedio and Def Jam.

Rap Sh!t S2: The Mixtape is meant to showcase the women currently taking over the rap game, including Sexyy Redd, whose single “No Panties” arrived Wednesday. “I’m happy that I got to work on ‘No Panties’ for Rap Sh!t,” she said in a statement. “It’s just me having fun on the beat and talking my sh–. It’s just like the show: The rap girls running this sh–.”

The soundtrack is a mix of original music created for the series and performed by lead characters Shawna (played by Aida Osman) and Mia (KaMillion) and new songs by Rico Nasty, Kali, Maiya the Don, Enchanting, Cam & China and more. Guapdad 4000, NCognita and Suni MF have writing credits, while Hitkidd, Danja and Bankroll Got It contributed to the production.

Rap Sh!t S2: The Mixtape also marks the first project Raedio is releasing alongside Def Jam, after Rae initially launched her label with Atlantic Records in 2019.

The first two episodes of Rap Sh!t‘s second season will premiere Nov. 9 on Max. Originally slated for an Aug. 10 premiere, the new season was postponed due to the strikes. The Writers Guild of America and the labor group representing studios and streamers announced Sunday that they have reached a tentative deal on a new three-year contract that could potentially end the historic, 146-day writers strike.

Michael Bibi is temporarily out of the hospital amid his ongoing cancer treatment, the British producer announced Tuesday (Sept. 26) on social media.

“When I first came into hospital I was barely able to walk,” Bibi wrote on Instagram along with a photo of himself standing outside the hospital smiling. “Today I walk out with a smile having completed my main treatment. Tired but happy…My fight against cancer is not over…but for now a break & some extra time to enjoy life.”

In June, Bibi’s management agency announced that the producer was undergoing treatment for CNS Lymphoma, a rare form of cancer, and that he wouldn’t be playing any shows for the “foreseeable future.” At the time, he’d been in the midst of his Solid Grooves residency at Ibiza’s DC10, with a flurry of other European festival dates on his schedule.

In the months since announcing his cancer diagnosis, Bibi has given intermittent updates on his treatment progress. In June, he posted that his first round of treatment was complete and his tumor size was reduced by 40%. On July 18, he wrote that “after 10 weeks in a hospital bed, I’ve been released for a short break as my treatment is continuing to go well. Thank you for all of your love, it really has given me strength. I have good days & I have bad days…Today is a good day.” A post from Aug. 30 states “Fk you cancer, you picked the wrong one.”

Bibi’s latest update has received a wave of support in the comments section from fellow DJs/producers including Felix Da Housecat, Fatboy Slim, Amelie Lens, The Martinez Brothers, Mochakk, Fisher, Black Coffee, Carlita, Gordo and many more. The profile section of Bibi’s Instagram page provides an email, cancersupport@michaelbibi.com, for those that might “have info that can help Michael’s situation.” 

According to Cancer.gov, primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma is “a disease in which malignant [cancer] cells form in the lymph tissue of the brain and/or spinal cord.” The lymph system is part of the immune system, which is made up of lymph, lymph vessels, lymph nodes, the spleen, thymus, tonsils and bone marrow.”

The 2024 Brit Awards – officially known as the BRIT Awards 2024 with Mastercard – will be held at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday, March 2. That’s three weeks later than the 2023 show, which was held on Feb. 11.

This will be the second year in a row that the show has been held on a Saturday. The 2023 show moved to the weekend for the first time in Brits history. The show will air in primetime on ITV1 and ITVX.

The 2023 ceremony, hosted by comedian Mo Gilligan for the second year in a row, saw Harry Styles sweep the board, winning in all four categories in which he was nominated: British album of the year, British artist of the year, song of the year (“As It Was”) and best pop/R&B act. Harry’s House won British album of the year six days after it won the Grammy for album of the year. It was the first album to win the top album award at both shows since Adele’s 25 in 2016; the first by a male artist since Phil Collins’ No Jacket Required in 1986.

Wet Leg and Beyoncé were double winners on the night. The show featured performances from the likes of Styles, Wet Leg, Sam Smith & Kim Petras, Stormzy and Cat Burns.

Viewing figures for the ITV1 broadcast peaked at just under 4 million on the night — the highest figure in three years — with a 54% share of 16- to 34-year-olds, the highest in a decade. The individual audience share, at 25.7%, was the highest in more than five years.

Damian Christian, managing director and president of promotions at Atlantic Records (part of Warner Music UK), will continue as chair of the Brit Committee for 2024.

“The move to a Saturday night for the first time proved to be a huge success, so I’m delighted we’ll be back in a primetime slot again in March,” Christian said in a statement. “A Saturday night show helped us lock in our most engaged audience ever, and we’ll be looking to build on that base as we connect with even more fans in 2024.”

Sally Wood will stay on as executive producer of the show for Brits TV. Maggie Crowe, BPI’s director of events & charities, will oversee the overall running of the event. Misty Buckley will return to design the set.

Mastercard returns as headline partner of The Brit Awards for the 26th year. The Brits signed three-year renewal deals with Mastercard, ITV (official broadcaster which celebrated 30 years of broadcasting The Brits in 2023), and The O2 arena.

More than three years after their first No. 1, Black Pumas return to the top of Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart with “More Than a Love Song,” which tops the list dated Sept. 30. The track crowns the chart following a 15% swell in plays that made the song the most-played title on U.S. monitored adult alternative airplay (triple A) stations in the week ending Sept. 21, according to Luminate.

With “More Than a Love Song,” Black Pumas achieve a second No. 1 on Adult Alternative Airplay, after “Colors” ruled for one week in 2020. Unlike the first champ, which needed 18 weeks to arrive at the top slot, “More than a Love Song” sprints to the summit in just four frames. The tear is the fastest run to No. 1 by any song on the list in more than a year, since Death Cab for Cutie’s “Here to Forever” wrapped its four-week journey in August 2022.

Elsewhere, “More than a Love Song” holds at its No. 29 high on the Rock & Alternative Airplay chart for a third straight week. Despite no movement in rank, the track picked up a 1% gain to 1.4 million in audience in the latest tracking week.

“More than a Love Song” is the lead single from Black Pumas’ forthcoming studio album, Chronicles of a Diamond. The set, expected Oct. 27 through ATO Records, is the follow-up to the act’s 2019 self-titled effort; that project’s deluxe edition was nominated for a Grammy Award for album of the year.

It’s a busy week on Billboard’s Cast Albums chart (dated Sept. 30), as the original cast recordings of StarKid’s Nerdy Prudes Must Die., Disney and Marvel’s Rogers: The Musical and the world-premiere complete studio cast recording of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! debut at Nos. 1, 2 and 8 respectively. Meanwhile, New York, New York: A New Musical re-enters at No. 4 (a new peak) after its release on CD.

With the arrivals at Nos. 1, 2 and 8 on Cast Albums, it’s the first time at least three albums have debuted in the top 10 in the same week in more than four years. It last happened on the June 22, 2019-dated list, when the original Broadway cast recordings of Beetlejuice and Tootsie launched at Nos. 2 and 6, while the 2019 Broadway cast recording of Kiss Me, Kate! bowed at No. 8.

Billboard’s Cast Albums chart ranks the top-selling musical cast recordings of the week in the U.S., based on traditional album sales, as tracked by Luminate.

Nerdy Prudes Must Die. is “a teen slasher comedy about a group of geeks and their ghostly tormentor.” The show, with music and lyrics by Jeff Blim, had a brief run at the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood, Calif. in February. It’s the third No. 1 on the Cast Albums chart for the StarKid production team, following Black Friday (in 2020) and Starship (2011). In total, Nerdy Prudes is the 17th charting effort on Cast Albums from StarKid, with 13 having reached the top 10. StarKid’s first entry on the tally was Me and My Dick, which peaked at No. 11 in 2010.

Rogers: The Musical – an abridged version of the life of the first Avenger, Captain America (aka Steve Rogers) – had a limited run at Disney California Adventure Park’s Hyperion Theater in Anaheim, Calif. from June 30-Aug. 31. Rogers’new original songs were written by composer Christopher Lennertz, with lyrics by Jordan Peterson, Lennertz and Alex Karukas. The new tunes were joined by earlier-penned songs like “Save the City” (music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman) and “Star-Spangled Man” (by Alan Menken and David Zeppel).

Rogers: The Musical is the first cast recording from a Disney Parks-presented stage show to chart on Billboard’s 17-year-old Cast Albums ranking. Previous musical shows staged at the Hyperion include Frozen: Live at the Hyperion (2016-20) and Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular (2003-16). (The Broadway versions of Aladdin and Frozen saw their companion cast recordings hits Nos. 1 and 2 on the Cast Albums chart.)

Both Nerdy Prudes Must Die. and Rogers: The Musical were only available to purchase as digital download albums. The third debut in the Cast Album chart’s top 10, the new studio cast recording of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, was available as a download and on CD and vinyl.

The studio cast recording of Oklahoma! was released by Chandos Records and is the first recording to boast the complete score performed with Robert Russell Bennett’s original orchestrations. Oklahoma! was the first musical written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and it premiered on Broadway in 1943. It was later adapted into a film in 1955, which won two Academy Awards and launched a soundtrack that spent four weeks atop Billboard’s Best Selling Popular Albums chart in 1956. Oklahoma! has been revived on Broadway four times, most recently in 2019, when it won two Tony Awards, including best revival of a musical.

Finally, the original Broadway cast recording of New York, New York: A New Musical, re-enters Cast Albums at No. 4, having previously spent one week on the list at No. 7 (on the July 8-dated chart). The album returns to the list following its Sept. 15 release on CD, as the set was only previously available to purchase as a digital download. New York, New York played for three months at the St. James Theatre in New York earlier in 2023 and garnered nine Tony Award nominations, winning one for best scenic design of a musical.

Kevin Fleming, founder/CEO/editor-in-chief/publisher of the premier Black music and entertainment blog/newsletter, The Urban Buzz, died last Thursday (Sept. 21) in Los Angeles after a valiant fight against pancreatic cancer. Fleming, whose multifaceted career included tenures as a radio programmer and consultant as well as senior-level label executive, was 65 years old.

In paying tribute to Fleming, Rick Nuhn — host of the nationally syndicated program Top 10 Now & Then and the family’s spokesman — tells Billboard, “It’s rare that a PD and air talent become 38-year friends, but that is what happened. I was on the air in Phoenix when a few friends from the record business recommended me to Kevin, who was the new PD at legendary KGFJ in Los Angeles. Long story short, I was hired in 1985 to be the morning man in market No. 2. The doors that opened and the opportunities that I was presented with enabled my career to go in many directions — all thanks to Kevin. Words will never be enough to say how much I and my extended family will miss having Kevin by our side.”

“Look up ‘good dude’ in the dictionary and there will be a picture of Kevin Fleming,” adds longtime friend Herb Trawick, president of Fab Entertainment. “Smart, musical, big heart, goofy and a proud dad; loved by all and for good reason. My guy always.”

A Minneapolis native, Fleming was born on March 28, 1958. Graduating from HBCU Clark Atlanta University with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast management and communications in 1981, he initially worked at Atlanta radio stations WAOK & WIGO and Sumter, South Carolina’s WWDM. Fleming then landed his first major market gig as PD of L.A.’s aforementioned KGFJ in 1984.

Five years later, Fleming segued to the label side of the industry as vp of Black music at Island Records. Following a two-year tenure as vp/GM of Perspective Records, owned by legendary production duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Fleming returned to his radio roots in 1993 as operations manager/PD of Los Angeles outlets KACE & KRTO. During his seven-year tenure there, he also began working as a radio consultant in the areas of programming and overall operations.

It was after serving as Gavin Magazine’s urban radio editor for two years that Fleming launched The Urban Buzz weekly information newsletter and website in 2002, which targeted urban radio, music and entertainment professionals. In addition to being hired to program Radio One’s flagship L.A. station KKBT in 2006 and overseeing its transition to urban adult brand KRBV, Fleming rounded out his radio career with his most recent stint as PD of Pacifica Radio’s KPFK in Los Angeles between 2018-2021.

Notes veteran music executive Ken Wilson, “The industry from radio to records has suffered a big loss. Kevin and I shared many fun as well as teaching moments. Rest well, my great friend!”

Fleming is survived by his wife Maria and son Dylan, parents Cynthia Tyner and Gerald Fleming, sisters Stephanie Fleming, Karen Matthews and Alycia Rivera and a host of nieces, nephews and friends. Donations can be made to Fleming’s GoFundMe account at https://gofund.me/e20783bc.

Lauren Daigle’s “Thank God I Do” reaches its 20th week atop Billboard’s streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Christian Songs chart (dated Sept. 30). With its latest week at the summit, Daigle becomes the first soloist with two No. 1s to have reigned for at least 20 weeks each; her crossover smash “You Say” dominated for a record 132 frames beginning in July 2018.

Daigle’s current No. 1 becomes one of seven hits to have led Hot Christian Songs for at least 20 weeks since the list launched in June 2003.

Longest-leading Hot Christian Songs No. 1s:

132 weeks, “You Say,” Lauren Daigle, beginning in July 2018

61 weeks, “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail),” Hillsong United, beginning in June 2013

37 weeks, “What a Beautiful Name,” Hillsong Worship, beginning in February 2017

26 weeks, “Something in the Water,” Carrie Underwood, beginning in October 2014

24 weeks, “In Jesus’ Name (God of Possible),” Katy Nichole, beginning in March 2022)

23 weeks, “Word of God Speak,” MercyMe, beginning in August 2003

20 weeks (to date), “Thank God I Do,” Lauren Daigle, beginning in May 2023

Notably, six of the seven longest-leading Hot Christian Songs No. 1s feature female lead singers. In addition to Daigle, Underwood and Nichole’s titles, Hillsong United’s “Oceans” sports lead vocals by Taya Smith and Brooke Ligertwood is out front on sister act Hillsong Worship’s “What a Beautiful Name.”

“Thank God I Do” awarded Daigle her sixth Hot Christian Songs No. 1, the most among women. (Overall, MercyMe leads with 13 No. 1s.)

The song tallied 5.3 million in all-format airplay audience, 2.2 million official streams and 1,000 downloads sold Sept. 15-21, according to Luminate. It dominated Christian Digital Song Sales for 23 weeks, Christian Streaming Songs for 10 weeks and Christian Airplay for one frame.

Daigle co-authored the piano ballad with Jason Ingram, while Jeff Bhasker, P!nk and Nate Ruess are also credited as writers, as the song contains elements of P!nk’s “Just Give Me a Reason,” featuring Ruess (which the three co-penned), a three-week No. 1 on the all-genre multi-metric Billboard Hot 100 in 2013.

Cortez Crowns Gospel

On Gospel Airplay, Zacardi Cortez rolls up his sixth No. 1 with “Lord Do It for Me (Live in Memphis).” The song, which he co-wrote, increased by 6% in plays during the latest tracking week.

Cortez, based in Houston, last led the chart with “You’ve Been Good to Me” for three weeks starting in November 2022. He first reigned as featured, with Shawn McLemore, on James Fortune & FIYA’s 19-week No. 1 “I Believe” in 2010-11.

Cortez ties for the sixth-most No. 1s on Gospel Airplay, which began in 2005. Kirk Franklin and Tamela Mann lead with 10 apiece.