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From some reflective tracks to a guided meditation album, check out this week’s New Music Friday for the culture’s latest and greatest in music. Lola Brooke, “Becky” — The Brooklyn rapper puts on for her borough in the new song “Becky” and its accompanying video, which she directed with STARR MAZi (Lil Baby, A Boogie). She teamed up with hip-hop […]

Photo by Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez/picture alliance via Getty Images Spotify has launched a new series intended to celebrate classic albums that have stood the test of time, despite changes in the consumption and release of music. The first iteration of Spotify CLASSICS: Hip-Hop & RNB Albums of the Streaming Era spotlights 30 hip-hop and R&B albums from the streaming era, 2015 to […]

ABC/Chrys Davis Megan Thee Stallion celebrated her 29th birthday Thursday, February 15, by doing a photo shoot and dropping her new collection with Nike.  On her socials, she shared some of the final images, which captured her in a white dress adorned with red feathers, surrounded by red flowers and garland, alongside the caption, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME.” […]

Republic/UMe James Brown passed away in 2006, but fans are now getting to hear a never-before-heard recording from the Godfather of Soul.  The previously unreleased tune, “We Got to Change,” features Brown’s band the J.B.’s, with William “Bootsy” Collins on bass, Phelps “Catfish” Collins on guitar and “Funky Drummer” Clyde Stubblefield. “James Brown always leaned into the social tip,” Bootsy shares of […]

On this day in Black history, February 16: — In 1923, Empress of the Blues Bessie Smith recorded her first record, Down Hearted Blues, which sold 800,000 copies for Columbia Records.  — In 1951, the city of New York passed an anti-discrimination housing bill, which included protections based on race, creed, color, national origin and gender.  — In 1970, Joe Frazier, nicknamed Smokin’ […]

Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images Usher‘s discography has seen an increase in streams and sales following his performance at Super Bowl 58’s halftime show, Billboard reports. The publication cited initial reports from Luminate, which showed on-demand U.S. streams of his music went up 46% — from 24.6 million between February 9-10 to 35.9 million between February 11-12. His […]

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Kanye West is taking Vultures 1, his collaborative project with Ty Dolla Sign, to Rolling Loud. He broke the news Thursday, sharing an updated lineup of the festival to Instagram. “VULTURES COMING TO ROLLING LOUD,” West captioned the photo, under which Ty dropped a few video camera emojis. The festival later confirmed the news on X, formerly known as Twitter, writing, “VULTURES HEADLINING […]

Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images PinkPantheress will be an honoree at this year’s Billboard Women in Music Awards. Billboard announced the news Thursday, noting she’ll receive the Producer of the Year Award at the event, which takes place March 6 at LA’s YouTube Theater.      “We are thrilled to honor PinkPantheress as one of the most exciting young producers on the rise,” […]

Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival Alicia Keys is all about self-care: She works on nurturing her well-being, as she believes it has an affect on her externally. “If you’re not connected to your inner [self], then you can’t present your[self] most confidently outwardly,” Alicia tells People for the digital cover of its February issue. “When I’m really hearing negative talk […]

Theo Wargo/WireImage Usher recently married longtime girlfriend Jenn Goicoechea, but at one point in time he wanted Chilli to be his wife. In this week’s People cover story, he discussed the time he popped the question and the TLC star turned him down. The two dated from 2001 to 2004. “I wanted to marry her,” he shared. “I proposed and she told me no.” He said […]