According to Forbes, Beyoncé is poised to earn more than Swift in tour gross:
“Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter — also known as Queen Bey — could clear nearly $2.2 billion from her Renaissance World Tour — some $600 million more than the $1.6 billion Taylor Swift could earn from Eras. Those eyepopping estimates are based on the most optimistic assumptions of the number of fans buying tickets at their concerts and high average ticket prices of about $700.
They also assume the artists take home a considerable share of merchandise proceeds and pay tour expenses of 20% of revenues — leaving them with the other 80%. Renaissance could gross between $275 million and $2.57 billion from tickets alone by the time it ends in September. Beyoncé’s most optimistic ticket revenue estimate — $2.57 billion — is well above Eras‘ $1.9 billion most optimistic box office.”
There were also parallels drawn between the two tours upon Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour announcement at the start of February.
The next time Drake does an Afrobeats song, it’ll be hard for his haters to accuse him of being a culture vulture. After his dad, Dennis Graham, took an ancestry test that determined he’s got mostly Nigerian ancestry, Drake posted the results on Instagram, wondering, “Does this mean I’m a Naija man finally?”
Instagram
The influence of West African music on Drake’s music has been noted in the past. On tracks like “One Dance” and “Passionfruit,” Drake employs sounds common to Nigerian Afrobeats, and in helping to popularize UK drill and grime stateside, he’s worked with a number of British Nigerian artists including Skepta and JME. We’ll see how this revelation affects the Canadian star’s music in the future, if at all, but it seems he’s excited to finally be a part of the “family.”
In the meantime, he’s continuing his tour with a rapper of East African heritage, adding more dates to his and 21 Savage’s It’s All A Blur Tour. As tickets for the tour reportedly reached as much as $1000, the two rappers ensured that the sky-high demand won’t keep any of their fans from getting to see them. With his new song “Search & Rescue” debuting at No. 2, it’s clear that Drake remains one of the most popular artists around.
There was one set that did feature an unfortunately timed faux pas. Ginuwine, best known for hits like “In Those Jeans,” “Pony,” and “So Anxious,” took a tumble as he performed “In Those Jeans,” nearly pulling down his sign language interpreter in the process.
Ginuwine himself took the hiccup in stride, posting a video on Instagram teasing himself for the spill. “I buss my ass,” he wrote. “I am constantly laughing with the funnies but we right back at it. Next year im windmillin so don’t mis it.” In the video, he’s all smiles as he jokes about it with his crew in the car, even singing a bar of Donnie McClurkin’s gospel classic “We Fall Down.”
There was one other incident over the weekend that could have cast a pall over the festival. On Friday, rumors circulated online that Chris Brown got into a physical altercation with the festival’s host, Usher, after a run-in in a nightclub. But Usher hit the stage with no trouble throughout the festival, even bringing out Ari Lennox for a surprise appearance.
Kendrick Lamar’s album To Pimp A Butterfly is returning to vinyl for Interscope Records’ Artists Inspired by Music: Interscope Reimagined project. The limited-edition set comes with packaging designed by Gucci; in addition to a custom linen-wrapped vinyl jacket, the album will come with a print designed by South Central contemporary artist Lauren Halsey. Only 100 copies of the limited-edition vinyl will be sold at $2500 apiece.
You can find more information about the release here.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Kendrick Lamar earned one of the best-selling vinyl releases of 2022 for his 2012 debut album Good Kid MAAD City as it celebrated its 10-year anniversary. 254,000 copies were sold, good for the fourth-best-selling vinyl overall and best-selling hip-hop vinyl of the year. Meanwhile, Kendrick’s 2017 album DAMN. crossed a major threshold of its own, spending 300 consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The Compton rapper’s most recent album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, earned the Best Rap Album Grammy earlier this year, continuing his trend of groundbreaking albums and incredible success.
Kendrick’s got a busy schedule for 2023, with appearances set for Outside Lands, Life Is Beautiful, and Lollapalooza in Chicago. But the thing fans might be most excited about is the possibility of a Black Hippy project, which Top Dawg teased in March.
Late last month, Pras Michel of Fugees was found guilty of 10 counts of money laundering, campaign finance violations, acting as an unregistered agent for China, concealment and false record-keeping, witness tampering, and making false statements. But one thing he insists that he’s not guilty of is being an FBI informant, as was rumored due to some reporting of the trial that mentioned the rapper’s interactions with the law enforcement agency.
Speaking to a TMZ photographer over the weekend, Pras denied being an FBI informant. He compared his situation to Tekashi 69’s, the New York rapper who became infamous for testifying against the Nine Trey Bloods after using his association with the gang to increase his notoriety in hip-hop.
“Look, I was never in the past, present, or future an FBI or a CIA informant,” Pras said. “Never ever. If people want to check it out, look at the testimonies — they could see that all within the records, and all the DC courts. This is not a Tekashi 69 situation, respectfully. Because he admitted he was an informant, basically. So I was never. I never said I was. I am not now and never will be an FBI or a CIA informant.”
Pras faces 20 years in prison now that he has been convicted. The charges against him stemmed from an investigation into Malaysian financier Jho Low, who was accused of stealing billions from his home country’s sovereign wealth fund. Pras was accused of making political donations on Low’s behalf — which is illegal — and helping him set up bank accounts to hide his ill-gotten riches.
The Weeknd has been one of the most successful pop stars of the past decade-plus, but at some point soon, The Weeknd may be no more.
In a new feature for W, the singer, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, said, “I’m going through a cathartic path right now. It’s getting to a place and a time where I’m getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter. I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd. But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn.”
He also noted, “The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd. This is something that I have to do. As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say.”
Elsewhere, he spoke about letting his home be used for filming The Idol, saying, “The bedrooms were now greenrooms; the bathrooms were for hair and makeup. We built a music studio in the basement so Mike Dean, who helped compose, and I could score the show while we were filming. I had to stay in character, so I took my dog and we lived in another house. My home belonged to the show; it was a hub of activity. We were trying to blur the line between fiction and reality. We had cameras going all the time. It was weird when they all left. I changed all the furniture. I replastered the walls. But the soul of Jocelyn’s house is still in there.”
In a series of Instagram Stories shared yesterday (May 7), Banks wrote about how her recent single “New Bottega” was handled in Australia, claiming a “piss poor remix of my master track” was released over there instead of the preferred version. She writes more about the song and her record contract before going after Australia and its music industry more generally.
“I don’t think they realize how unimportant they are as far as music culture goes because they’re deluded with the idea that their whiteness makes Australia an A Market, when it’s truly a C-D market,” Banks said. “Brazil is a MUCH more important market for music than australia lmao. (this is mostly because Australia has an an extreme dearth of internationally appetizing talent outside of Kylie minogue , INXS & AC/DC, {tame impala is just cheesy to me, and wolfmother is excellent – but clearly an American rock tribute band}.”
She continued, “Australia doesn’t really have many music acts that anyone truly cares about on a global scale because they’re in a vacuum of off-brand British culture,” noting she thinks they have “actually created one of the most culturally stale white nations on the planet.”
“Sidebar: I’m reading this article in the Guardian about the ever dwindling and insignificant Australian music industry and have SO MANY THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS, but the delusions of the Aussie music execs quoted in this article is f*ckkkng astonishing and making it clear to me how sheer jealousy, racism and desperation allowed @sweatitoutmusic to purposely sabotage a bonafide hit in lieu of their fragile fragile egos and DESPERATE attempts to try and steal my IP. The Australian music industry is so devoid of internationally appealing talent they literally harrased, threatened, menaced and corruptly stole my IP. Let’s take a deep dive.
the version of my song New Bottega, the Australians released as The final composition is actually a piss poor remix of my Master Track , and should not be titled ‘New Bottega’.
There’s no language stating that any ‘left over ideas’ do not belong to me. Because they essentially treated the fully mixed mastered single as a discard, when they had it in their possession the entire time, the song splits were not papered once done,
and they have nothing with my signature confirming ‘New Bottega’ as the song that qualifies the parameters of the initial contract.
They left it as ‘TBD’ which was stupid on their part. So they basically denatured my intellectual property, cherry picked what they wanted from it and fraudulently presented it to the world AS the song EYE wrote. And they released it, so that is the only version of the song they have claim to. My Sony atv deal explicitly states that I am not allowed to assign control of my publishing/vocals etc to any entity. Again I was very f*cking sick when I signed the deal and really just signed it so They would stop calling me at 2am and let me rest. The fact that they are steadfast on trying to have ownership over something that is going to make them no money without my involvement is asinine. They fact that they are so obsessed with owning my vocals but adamant about treating me poorly and adamant about not investing in such a massive song (the tik tok stats and best of year end lists literally proved that the product works, what’s the point in changing it?) is literal stupidity. Whatever remix they released is not ‘New Bottega.’ So they don’t have the right to title their remix track as such. ‘New Bottega’ is my intellectual property, and time has proven that these aussies have zero clue how to market this song, absolutely no knowledge of the big business that is American female rap, or how to engage with Azealia Banks and leverage the power of her already established international fanbase to their advantage… here I am LITERALLY telling them how to get my fans excited- and they re taking it an insult.
For the record. ‘New Bottega’ by Azealia Banks Is a hiphop record. It is not a dance record. Categorizing it as a dance record was their first wrong marketing move. Clearly -There is a cultural dissonance here. HipHop is the most profitable genre of music in the world right now. EDM is f*cking dead For people so thirsty to try and own the rights to my vocals , you’d THINK they had some huge money play to go along with all of the empty and baseless threats to sue me. (lmao, can’t sue me for not participating in promoting garbage.) if they were good crooks – they would have at least kept their racism under wraps long enough to have taken my photo and shot a video to have assets to promote their bullshit with) For all of the dsp c*cksucking @sweatitoutmusic did in effort to try and prove to me that their marketing strategy was better than mine – registering it as a dance song Was the most anti-algorithmic sh*t an algorithm dickrider could have done. F*cking stupidity.
Australia’s media /music /entertainment industry isn’t exactly heralded by the heads of government or anyone in the world as a coveted cultural export, I don’t think they realize how unimportant they are as far as music culture goes because they’re deluded with the idea that their whiteness makes Australia an A Market, when it’s truly a C-D market. Brazil is a MUCH more important market for music than australia lmao. (this is mostly because Australia has an an extreme dearth of internationally appetizing talent outside of Kylie minogue , INXS & AC/DC, {tame impala is just cheesy to me, and wolfmother is excellent – but clearly an American rock tribute band}
Australia doesn’t really have many music acts that anyone truly cares about on a global scale because they’re in a vacuum of off-brand British culture. Could be do to with it being geographically so out of the way and how aggressive, barbaric, oppressive and violent they have been in regards to the very existence of native black peoples that they’ve actually systematically stomped out their country’s own ability to develop its own music/arts culture – to instead look to England and the USA for ideas to regurgitate not realizing that the reason the Australian music industry and Australian culture is so trash is BECAUSE of their country’s historical post colonial obsession with I guess, trying to prove to England and the Monarchy that they -a legion of convicts/mentally insane social rejects – were in fact a proper white/Anglo-saxon society – using the massacre/ subjugation of black/indigenous peoples (manifest destiny bullshit) and theft of their land as a marker of national strength
But they have actually created one of the most culturally stale white nations on the planet.
The fact that these aussie music execs are COMPLETELY OVERLOOKING THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENTS PURPOSEFUL ETHNIC CLEANSING OF NATIVE PEOPLES AND THEIR INABILITY TO PRODUCE MUSIC ANYONE ANYWHERE CARES ABOUT IS F*CKING COMEDY .
Someone has GOT to tell the Australian music industry that Absolutely no one on earth takes it seriously. Like, they HAVE to understand how untalented/uncultured and unneeded they are to the greater global arts community, realize musical talent is just not in the gene pool, and redirect those funds to the aboriginal peoples of the continent and just pack their shit up and go back to Europe. LMAO. Y’all stomped all the blackness out of Australia – which is why your music exports suck and we don’t feel bad for you lmfaooooooo.”
Doja Cat often speaks about her desire to quit music. Whether the “Women” rapper is joking or not is unknown. However, over the past few weeks, Doja Cat has taken to Twitter to share updates on the new music she’s working on. In March, the musician revealed the working title for her forthcoming album, Hellmouth. Shortly after, she shared the project’s direction, proclaiming, “No more pop,” letting fans know it is solely a rap project.
Now, fans believe that her Hellmouth is moving along quickly after Doja Cat was spotted filming a music video in downtown Los Angeles. In the clip, Doja Cat is recorded fiercely walking down South Broadway as a team of videographers films her.
.@DojaCat spotted filming a new music video in downtown LA
Although fan pages have claimed the footage is from late April, no further information is known about the filming. As for Doja Cat’s forthcoming album, the entertainer has shared snippets of tracks set to make the final project. The Grammy Award-winner even shared the album’s tracklist.
“I also agree with everyone who said the majority of my rap verses are mid and corny. I know they are. I wasn’t trying to prove anything. I just enjoy making music, but I’m getting tired of hearing yall say that I can’t, so I will,” said Doja on social media, referring to the pending project.
i also agree with everyone who said the majority of my rap verses are mid and corny. I know they are. I wasnt trying to prove anything I just enjoy making music but I’m getting tired of hearing yall say that i can’t so I will.
Mozzy, membe of Yo Gotti’s Collective Music Group, was once approaching mainstream notoriety after years of domination in California’s underground scene. However, after securing collaborations with Eminem, Saweetie, 2Chainz, YG, and more, the “Straight To The 4th” rapper’s growing buzz came to a screeching halt when he was sentenced to one year in prison for a federal gun charge.
Before turning himself in, Mozzy (real name Timothy Patterson) rushed to record as much music and behind-the-scenes content to hold fans over. One of his verses ended on the song “Been A While,” featured on DJ Drama’s latest album, I’m Really Like That.
After 1o months behind bars, AllHipHop reports that Mozzy was released from prison just a few days ago, on Thursday, May 4. Back in 2021, Mozzy was formally indicted. The following year, he pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing a firearm by a convicted felon. In addition to his sentence, Mozzy was hit with a $55,000 fine. He was initially expected to be released in July 2023, but apparently he was released early.
Cardi B fans might have another reason to celebrate. Last month, the “Money” rapper boasted about how her Grammy Award-winning debut album Invasion Of Privacy continues to rack in millions of dollars despite its age. Those comments led supporters to believe that she wasn’t rushing to drop an entire new album. However, those assumptions were put to bed in her latest Instagram Live.
During the stream, Cardi B promised fans that her “new album is coming” sooner than they might expect. This isn’t the first time she’s promised fans new music, but Cardi gleamed with confidence in the video as she chatted with fans.
Since her debut album’s release, Cardi has put out a string of singles, including “WAP” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, “Up,” and “Hot Sh*t” featuring Lil Durk and Kanye West. She’s also been a featured guest on several other musicians’ songs, most recently “Tomorrow 2” by GloRilla. However, it’s been five years since Cardi released a full-length project.
According to Cardi, the delay is due to ongoing personal issues. “I’ve been having a lot of anxiety because I know right after I drop my album, I have to go out on tour, and I have bad separation anxiety from my kids,” Cardi said. “When it comes to music and everything, I just be feeling like I don’t be liking anything,” she said. “I feel like I got so many songs, and I don’t like anything. I feel like nothing is good enough… And I got so much money saved up I just be like, ‘Yeah, whatever the f*ck.’”
Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Inependet Music Collection 