Nick Minaj’s latest tour is breaking records! According to Billboard, the Queens, NY, native’s “Pink Friday 2 World Tour” is the highest-grossing and bestselling rap tour by a woman in Billboard Boxscore history after reports revealed that it grossed $67 million and sold 439,000 tickets. Kicking off on March 1 in Oakland, CA, the tour’s first stop brought Minaj $2.3 million thanks to 14,000 tickets sold. The show concluded on May 13 in Oklahoma City, OK. She now joins the likes of her former label mate Drake, as well as Kendrick Lamar, Future, and a host of other rappers with high-grossing tours. Not to mention, she bumped out Doja Cat, who just five months prior had set the record with $37.3 million for “The Scarlet Tour.” With four double-headers, the “Pink Friday 2 World Tour” brought in more than $3 million for each stop in Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Brooklyn, NY; Chicago, IL; and Toronto, Canada. Minaj’s biggest moneymaking nights were both in New York, at the Brooklyn Barclays...

A resolution has been reached for a song that was removed from Kanye West’s “Vultures 1” album. Per Rolling Stone, “Good (Don’t Die)” had been pulled from streaming platforms Spotify and Apple as it allegedly infringed on the rights of Donna Summer. Her estate claimed the song was created through a “blatant theft” of her single “I Feel Love” and had filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in February 2024. “In the face of this rejection, defendants arrogantly and unilaterally decided they would simply steal ‘I Feel Love’ and use it without permission,” the lawsuit said, according to Rolling Stone. The outlet also stated: “The filing accused the songwriters of re-recording ‘almost verbatim’ the most ‘memorable portions’ of Summer’s song, using the material as the hook for their own song, and releasing their infringing track ‘knowing they had tried and failed to secure legal permission.’” Furthermore, the official Donna Summer account had shared in its Instagram Story on Feb. 10 that...

The success of Usher Raymond’s Las Vegas, NV, residency was due to his focus on legacy over profit. During an interview with V-103 Atlanta, the 2024 Super Bowl performer, often crowned with the title of being the “King of R&B,” revealed his initial intentions when he was producing the show that would go on to sell more than 470,000 tickets. His catalog which includes classic hits such as “Superstar,” “Confessions, Pt. II,” and “U Got It Bad” have remained a fixture in culture throughout the decades. His fourth studio album “Confessions,” which includes some of the aforementioned tracks, is now 14 times platinum, per Entertainment Weekly. Today, Usher is still ringing out tunes, releasing his ninth studio album “Coming Home” in February 2024, Hypebeast reports. Indebted to his fans and understanding his on going contributions to the world of music, Usher reveals he invested every dollar that he was given during the first run of his residency into the show which was held at the...

Disruptors, in the evolutionary sense of the word, are people who have abandoned the status quo. They thrive in their differences and are typically unbothered by the societal boundaries designed to box them in. There are countless examples of these people in the world, but one clear example is Tyler, the Creator. Evidenced by his stage name, Tyler Gregory Okonma is a California native and award-winning producer and musical artist. He burst onto the scene co-founding the Hip-Hop collective Odd Future and releasing his debut mixtape 2009, titled “Bastard.” However, it was in 2011 when he released his first studio album, “Goblin,” that he started getting noticed. Reflecting, he acknowledged his musical growth and was honest about his work then. In a conversation on the “Rap Radar Podcast,” Tyler was pretty candid that while his lead single, “Yonkers,” is still one of his favorites, the album itself was not his favorite body of work. “Bro, ‘Goblin’ is f-cking terrible, but I still love...

He made his mark in rap, now Xzibit is looking to do the same in a new industry. The “Get Your Walk On” artist, born Alvin Nathaniel Joiner, will be scaling his interest in the cannabis industry. In 2023, he launched the “Lasagna Ganja” podcast in collaboration with co-host Tammy “The Cannabis Cutie” Pettigrew, CNN reports. The purpose of the podcast was to remove the stigma associated with cannabis use and to educate listeners. When speaking on the overarching goal of stewarding these conversations, he said in an interview on “Beyond the Red Carpet with Ny MaGee,” “I’ve seen the music industry go from millions to a billion-dollar industry. And I’ve also seen cannabis, you know, take on the same journey that maybe alcohol did after prohibition. And the misinformation that can lead us to continue to be left out of things is something that I want to combat. So when I say us, I mean people of color, people who have been incarcerated for cannabis, and now as it turns into this...

The production tagline on Metro Boomin’s beats, “If Young Metro don’t trust you, I’m gone shoot you,” is more than a cultural statement — it’s rooted in the long-time friendship and business partnership he has with Atlanta, GA, rapper Future. Emerging from St. Louis, MO, Metro Boomin, born Leland Tyler Wayne, has carved his name in the annals of Hip-Hop history. His talent and ingenuity have propelled him to the forefront of the industry, with his production credits and collaborative acclaim spanning chart-topping songs with Drake, Travis Scott, Gucci Mane, Big Sean, and The Weeknd, among others. It’s About More Than Rap For Metro Boomin While Metro Boomin’s catalog is predominantly rooted in Rap and Hip-Hop, his music is a testament to his diverse range of influences. From the Pop icons that shaped his early musical journey to the eerie soundscapes of horror movies, his unique blend of inspirations is a fascinating insight into his creative process. “Michael Jackson. He was always...

Not signing to a record label was the stepping stone for Ludacris to invest in his artistry. Ludacris, who in his early days worked at an Atlanta, GA, radio station and became known as DJ Chris Lova Lova, would eventually catch the attention of record labels and producer Timbaland, scoring a feature on the single, “Fat Rabbit.” During a podcast interview with “Drink Champs,” Ludacris noted the attention he began to receive from record labels after that. Still, it did not translate into landing his own deal. This pushed him to dive into his pockets to release his debut album “Incognegro” in 1999. “I’ve had my moments with each of those entities, but I never signed with them,” Ludacris said. “Even with Timbaland, there was a time when I was about to get signed to Timbaland because of my first record before ‘What’s Your Fantasy.’ I was on his album, and I had a song called ‘Fat Rabbit,’ which ended up being on ‘Back for the First Time.’ So again, I went through all of these processes,...

The woes of the music industry did not escape Toni Braxton.