Kendrick Lamar: Drake's biggest rap rival is headlining the Apple Music Super Bowl LIX halftime show

What’s the biggest statement you can make against an opp? How about securing a massive Apple Music Super Bowl halftime show performance? Turns out rap heavyweight Kendrick Lamar is completely showing out in the coming months after getting named the LIX halftime show performer.

Kendrick Lamar’s taking over the Super Bowl LIX halftime show

‘Not Like Us’ anyone? It’s going to be beyond epic for K. Dot getting the official green light to take over the stage

Roc Nation, Apple Music, and the NFL announced Kendrick Lamar will perform at the APPLE MUSIC SUPER BOWL LIX HALFTIME SHOW at The Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, LA on Sunday, February 9, 2025, airing on FOX.

“Rap music is still the most impactful genre to date. And I’ll be there to remind the world why. They got the right one.” - Kendrick Lamar

“Kendrick Lamar is truly a once-in-a-generation artist and performer. His deep love for hip-hop and culture informs his artistic vision. He has an unparalleled ability to define and influence culture globally. Kendrick’s work transcends music, and his impact will be felt for years to come.” - Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter

"The Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show is a celebration of the music we love and the incredible artists who make it, all on the world’s biggest stage. Apple is thrilled to bring this show, starring the absolutely incomparable Kendrick Lamar, to fans worldwide with Apple Music’s industry leading Spatial Audio quality along with tons of exclusive videos, interviews, playlists and so much more across Apple Music." - Oliver Schusser, Apple’s Vice President of Apple Music, Apple TV+, Sports, and Beats.

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"Few artists have impacted music and culture as profoundly as Kendrick Lamar. Time and time again, Kendrick has proven his unique ability to craft moments that resonate, redefine, and ultimately shake the very foundation of hip-hop." - Seth Dudowsky, Head of Music at the NFL. “We’re excited to collaborate with Kendrick, Roc Nation, and Apple Music to deliver another unforgettable Halftime Show."

Multi-Platinum, Grammy and Emmy award winning artist and co-founder of creative imprint pgLang, Kendrick Lamar, has achieved massive critical and cultural success since his debut album good kid, m.A.A.d city released in 2012. Since its release, Lamar has accumulated 17 Grammy wins, and became the first non-classical, non-jazz musician to win a Pulitzer Prize for his 2017 album DAMN. Lamar’s latest album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, was released in May 2022. In April of this year, “Like That” by Future, Metro Boomin, and Kendrick Lamar spent three weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and in June, Lamar’s record-breaking, “Not Like Us” spent two weeks at Number 1. 

Creative Direction for Lamar’s performance will be provided by pgLang.

The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show telecast will be produced by DPS with Roc Nation and Jesse Collins serving as executive producers, and Hamish Hamilton serving as director. Roc Nation will also serve as the strategic entertainment advisor of the live performance.

Apple Music’s multi year partnership with the NFL and Roc Nation brings together the Super Bowl Halftime Show — the most-watched musical performance of the year — with Apple Music, which celebrates musicians, songwriters, producers, and fans, and offers the world’s best music listening experience with a catalog of over 100 million songs and immersive sound powered by Spatial Audio. Apple revolutionized the music experience with iPod and iTunes and continues the award-winning tradition with Apple Music. Follow @AppleMusic on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.

Earlier this year, The Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Starring Usher became the most-watched halftime performance of all time and garnered three 2024 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Variety Special (LIVE). In 2023, The Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show Starring Rihanna scored five Emmy nominations, taking home two, including Outstanding Directing For A Variety Special, a first in Super Bowl Halftime history. In 2022, Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar garnered five Creative Arts Emmy nominations. The critically acclaimed performance won three Emmys, including Outstanding Variety Special (Live), a first-ever for the show.

Latto: The jaw-dropping 'Georgia Peach' dishes on rap feuds, falling back on men features and keeping bae private

Could you use a serving of Latto in your life right now? Say less. It’s all eyes on what the ‘Georgia Peach’ hitmaker has to dish on this week after pulling through for Apple Music’s ‘The Ebro Show.’ to dish on everything from rap feuds to why she doesn’t dish on bae - plus her disinterest in reaching out for men-featured collaborations.

Latto dishes on everything from rap feuds to her collaboration process

Low-key? The interview goes hard and clocks in to nearly 30 minutes. Needless to say? Massive salutes to Team Apple Music PR gang-gang for coming through with key quotes from the conversation between Big Latto and hip-hop personality Ebro Darden.

Latto on her new song, "S/O To Me"…

When I heard the beat, I fell in love with the beat. I told Coop, shout out to Coop, I told Coop, I was like, "I got to take this one home and write to it. This ain't one of them, just pull it up in the studio and just go in the booth." I wanted to get very vulnerable. And I think when I hear a good beat, if it's a good beat to me, it'll speak to me. So the first thing that came to mind was shout out to me. I wanted to be speaking from a perspective where it's like I'm talking to myself, almost. So it's like shout out to me. I don't play about us, me and my past self. And I just wanted to get very vulnerable and tell people my story. I do agree with you as far as I think a lot of times when Latto's name is in the media, I don't think it is about music as much as it should be. So I wanted it to be like, let me use this as my therapy and everything that y'all be hearing about me and saying about me, let me say how I feel about it on this song and not on Twitter. Get in the booth, bitch.

On her beef with other artists, including Ice Spice…

Ebro Darden: You said, "Ice is just water when it melts.”

Latto: Ice is just water when it melts.

Ebro Darden: And you said, "The crown is coming home soon.”

Latto: The crown is coming home soon.

Ebro Darden: And so you're taking the crown and you're talking, I'm assuming about the female rap crown. Or just the hip hop crown? Or what are we saying when we say this?

Latto: Just the crown. I think it's multiple crowns though. That's not like a dig at nobody or, "Oh, such and such don't deserve the crown," or, "such and such can't have the crown." I think it's just like one of them is going to come to me though. Just know that.

On wanting to create a full, intentional project and not just singles...

Latto: I feel like right now, not only female rap, but I think rap in general is needing somebody to pay attention to a project. I feel like the label got us hella gassed on singles. Everything is so single driven and club driven, especially in Atlanta. So I wanted to make a cohesive project. And I think with that, to sit through, what, an hour of one person, you have to be dimensional and be multidimensional and I think you have to showcase different sides and versions of your artistry. So I was definitely going in intentionally like, "No, I got enough of these type beats or this BPM. I need to go slower, I need to go faster or whatever." Definitely very intentional on that. I'm glad you peeped.

Ebro Darden: Did you have to fight for that? Was there pushback for that?

Latto: No. Hell no. Listen, this project, thank you God, I'm so blessed to have met Pooh, Griz, and Kaine. Them the people... And my brother Rico. Them the people that was in the studio with me every day creating this. And thank God my label gave me creative control to, I'm like, "I need y'all to fall back and let me create this on my own. I don't want outside opinions and pressure. I want to really make a piece of work from my perspective, my experiences in life." So literally this is the past two years of my life, me speaking that on wax.

On why she doesn’t reach out to men for features…

Latto: Teezo, I did not reach out personally. I'm kind of funny with men. But me and my... My sister put me on Teezo and super big fan of his work and I had the label reach out because I'm just kind of funny with men. But when he sent it back, I just had to reach out on some if, maybe, possibly, hopefully. And when they told me he was down to do it, I straight DMed him, "Thank you so much." Everybody I spoke to personally. I'll say that. Yeah.

Ebro Darden: On the funny with men, and there's a line on the album where you talk about dudes trying to fuck.

Latto: For a feature. I ain't fucking for a feature, go find someone else.

Ebro Darden: But is that because of your experience in the industry that it's kind of like if I reach out to a dude, they get the wrong impression and it's…

Latto: Yeah. I just think, yeah, it can get blurred lines. I ain't going to get too in depth with it. I think it could just get too mixed-

Ebro Darden: But people be acting funny.

Latto: Yeah.

Ebro Darden: That's fair though. People be acting funny. Or people be taking shit out of context and trying to turn it into something it ain’t.

Latto: Yeah. But you know I'm a bad bitch so it ain't... I understand.

On keeping her relationship private…

Ebro Darden: So assuming the internet is correct about who the person is, look, I appreciate that y'all keep y'all business to yourselves, I am for it and that it's not for promo, but do you guys enjoy that part of it too of... Because some people hate having to be private. Some people love being private. Where are y'all at with it?

Latto: The internet don't know a goddamn thing. Let's start there. But I like being private. I think it ain't really nobody business. Listen to the music and you'll know what you need to know.

Ebro Darden: Right, right. Was it hard to write these songs about your personal love life?

Latto: When other people in the studio, yeah, because I get to feeling like a simp and I'm so not a simp.

Ebro Darden: But you just said it's okay that you found somebody that you can be that with, right?

Latto: Yeah. It's just so weird.

Ebro Darden: You got to let that ego go, man. You got to let that go.

Latto: Yeah, let that ego go. Really letting my pride down was such a task. But yeah, I think it wasn't hard when I can be in that element fully if I'm sitting in the studio and really just writing my thoughts out. But when somebody right there I feel like a sucker.

On her disses not being about real beef, but just making art...

Latto: I'm exhausted. For real. I'm so over the beef. I'm going to put this out there. Latto don't got no problem with nobody. I'm so over the beef. I feel like life is too good right now. What did I say earlier? High vibrations only. Like dead ass. High vibrations only. That shit too low vibrational for me. Life too good.

Ebro Darden: But at the same time, when you say, lines like “when ice melt it's just going to be water.”

Latto: But that's not beef though. That's art to me. Dead ass.

Ebro Darden: But aren't people going to take, say you talking about somebody when you say that? Or there's another line on the album where you say somebody face look old or something, they going to think you talk, but-

Latto: I think art is up for interpretation and that's the beauty of it.

Ebro Darden: But in real life it ain’t-

Latto: In real life it ain't no beef.

On the influence that “Big Energy” had on her new song, “Squeeze"…

"Squeeze" was, so with the "Big Energy" success, I didn't want to just run away from that pop fan base that I had built. So I wanted to incorporate some of that without it sounding too poppy because I don't think that's where I'm rooted. I come from a rap competition show. I think it's very clear, very evident that I'm a rapper first. So I wanted this project to be that, but at the same time not run from progress that I've made in other areas because I'm super blessed. "Big Energy," I'm going to be rich forever off of that alone.

On her label pushing her towards pop music early in her career…

Latto: I can’t really speak for everybody. I think for me in the beginning I will say that was a lot of the label industry shit. I will say that. I don't think that's where my heart was, but I think-

Ebro Darden: But you was like, "Let me play the game-"

Latto: Yeah, let me play the game. And it opened doors and paid bills. So what's the harm in it? I think you just can't get lost in it. I think you got to keep a distinction between yourself and you got to play the game at the same time.

On producing her own beats for her next album…

Latto: Next album I'm producing some shit on my own.

Ebro Darden: You going to do a beat?

Latto: Yes.

Ebro Darden: You going to get on a machine? What you going to do?

Latto: Yes. Hell yeah.

Ebro Darden: Have you seen a machine that you would like to learn?

Latto: I watched them, I watched them on, what's the Fruity Loops shit?

Ebro Darden: Okay.

Latto: I know that's like rookie, rookie.

Ebro Darden: No, no, no. They got FL Studio. You could take Fruity Loops and turn it-

Latto: And turn it up. Yeah.

Ebro Darden: There's people who live on that. That's the thing. But there's Ableton and there's Logic.

Latto: Yeah.

Ebro Darden: And then there's the MPC.

Latto: Yeah. I don't know all the words yet, but next album, that's my next little endeavour.

Apple Music: The countdown for the '100 Best Albums of All Time' has started

Ready for the debates? No matter how much time and effort goes into it, Apple Music’s 100 Best Albums of All Time line-up is going to make a gazillion people proud and a select few catch feelings. No matter the debate, the countdown to the best projects of all time has started.

Apple Music’s ‘100 Best Albums of All Time’ line-up has started

While it’s going to take days before getting the full-fledged line-up, Apple Music has started the countdown going from the top of the list with albums from rap star Travis Scott, Usher and Tyler, the Creator making the cut.

The first 10 albums revealed today offer a glimpse into Apple Music’s unique approach with 100 Best. With seven of the 10 records hailing from this century, two from the 90s, only one from the 70s, and various genres of music represented here, the list spotlights contemporary artists like Tyler, The Creator; Robyn; Lorde; Travis Scott; Solange; Burial; and more who have helped define the century through their own music and its influence on others. 

• 100: Body Talk - Robyn

• 99: Hotel California - The Eagles

• 98: ASTROWORLD - Travis Scott

• 97: Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine

• 96: Pure Heroine - Lorde

• 95: Confessions - USHER

• 94: Untrue - Burial

• 93: A Seat at the Table - Solange

• 92: Flower Boy - Tyler, The Creator

• 91: Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 - George Michael

We’re bringing our 100 Best Albums to life with a countdown celebration, revealing 10 albums each day for the next 10 days, along with a brand new 100 Best microsite, new and exclusive content, dedicated Apple Music radio episodes, and much more. The countdown will culminate on the final day, May 22, with the reveal of Apple Music’s top 10 albums of all time during a live broadcast radio special. 

“100 Best brings together all of the things that make Apple Music the best service for music lovers — human curation at its peak, an appreciation for the art of storytelling, and unparalleled knowledge of music and an even deeper love for it,” said Rachel Newman, Apple Music’s head of content and editorial. “We have been working on this for a very long time and it’s something we are all incredibly proud of and excited to share with the world.”

How we got here: Apple Music’s editorial team, as well as input from a hand-selected list of artists, songwriters, producers, and experts across the music industry worked together to craft this list. With 100 Best we’re bringing a 21st century modern perspective to an already established and beloved format. Giving artists a platform to tell their stories and enabling discovery through human curation has been a foundational message for Apple Music since day one. 

Apple Music: Ice Spice dishes on 'Gimme A Light' and promises big tings on her new album

Need to turn up with the weekend goals on deck? Look no further than what hip-hop artist Ice Spice is serving up lately from her ‘Gimme A Light’ anthem to promising big things brewing for her upcoming studio album. Needless to say, she had plenty to dish on with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe on the New Music Daily.

Ice Spice dishes on everything with Zane Lowe in their New Music Daily Q&A

From talking about making audio gems with longtime pal and producer Riot to the genius behind her newest single, Spice kept things 100 on all things Ice.

Ice Spice on continuing to work with her producer Riot and the success and confidence they’ve achieved together…

It does feel really different in the best way possible. I'm so grateful to have this comfort and bond that we have. You know what I mean? Because recording was a challenge in the beginning, and now I'm just so much more comfortable and I'm just willing to say anything that comes to mind without feeling any type of way. You know what I mean? Even when it came to Think You the, I just said it and I didn't have to think twice. If it was two years ago, I probably would've been like, "No, no." I probably would've never even let it come out my mouth.

Ice Spice on her new single ‘Gimmie A Light’ …

I was really nervous because we really wanted to have a very authentic Y2K sample in there, and Sean Paul, he's legendary. And that song alone, his "Gimme the Light," is so iconic that I was so nervous to sample it, because I'm like, "This isn't going to get cleared, so what's the point?" But thankfully we got it cleared. Shouts to Sean Paul. He's so real.

Ice Spice on her forthcoming album, ‘Y2K' and how she approached the concept as somebody who wasn’t born into that era …

Thankfully, I had my mom, so growing up I'd see her really embody the Y2K aesthetic in its truest form. [To me, the aesthetic is…] It's duck nails. It's a tramp stamp. It's brown lip liner no matter where you go. So thankfully I had her [my mom] as my inspo growing up. And of course just like the internet, you feel me? Just like anyone else. 

The crazy thing is it wasn't just a definitive moment, it was just this ongoing process of, "What should we name the album?" And then I have a book full of pages of album names and different ideas, and I just really find the beauty and simplicity and I was just like, "You know what? I want it to be short. I don't want it to be this super long phrase." It was going to go either way. It was going to be super long phrase or one word. There was no in between for me.

Actually a lot of the time, well, either one of us [Ice and Riot] will have an idea, or just anybody else on the team will have an idea and we'll add it and sit on it for a couple days and then be like, "Now, let's bring it back to where it was at.”

Ice Spice on her recent Coachella moment…

Coachella was so fun. Definitely my most fun time on stage ever in my career up until this point. And I was just so amazed because I was looking up acts that have done the same slot and stage just because, you know, you want to prep, and I'm like, "What do I expect?" whatever, and I did not expect that. I swear I didn't know that that stage goes that far back. I really did not expect that. They showed so much love. I was overwhelmed by the love, for real.

Apple Music: Of course Usher had the most-watch Super Bowl Halftime performance in history

Big flexing for Apple Music and Usher? You better believe it. Despite having some of the biggest music icons - ever - crushing it with Super Bowl halftime sets, turns out the powerhouses united to have the most-watched set - ever.

Apple Music and Usher helped create the most-watched Super Bowl halftime set - ever

The numbers don’t lie, right? Turns out Usher and Apple Music’s set had nearly 130 million viewers tapping into the mind-blowing set.

‘@usher keeps stacking wins. The #AppleMusicHalftime Show was the most-watched Super Bowl Halftime performance in history with an average of 129.3 million viewers. Relive this special performance now.’

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In case you need to relive the magic, here’s the nearly 15 minute full-fledged performance.

Kid Cudi: Cudder unloads on dropping 11 albums with Apple Music's Zane Lowe

There’s no denying how much rap crooner Kid Cudi has contributed to The Culture. From putting out fire songs and albums to appearing in some of my favorite movies like 2022’s X - when Cudder’s involved, everyone pays attention. So it’s no surprise he has plenty to talk about with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe from new tunes to crafting an 11th studio project.

Kid Cudi dishes on everything with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe

Nearly an entire hour and ample memorable moments, there’s no holding back for the Ohio native in his newest conversation. Talking about his INSANO studio project to feeling big happy with his creations, it’s all in the conversation.

Kid Cudi on his previously announced but short-lived retirement and coming back to music…

[When I said that] I was kind of out of it. I was just in this place where I was thinking about my future and it didn't seem like, I don't know, it just doesn't seem like there was really an appetite for my music in the ways that there used to be. Finally got through that whole retirement thing because I talked to my friend Brian, the world knows him as Kaws, but he was like, "Hey, man, I don't mean to get in your business, but I think you should rethink this retirement thing. I think you could be around for a long time." And to see Brian kind of come to me real like that, and he's never approached me about my music or what I should do with my music ever before, so it hit me in a different way as if it was like it could have been Dot or Chip or Dennis. It was different. And literally after that message, I was like, "Shit, man. He's right. I'm just getting warm. I'm just getting warm." I mean, 15 years is a long time to be doing anything, but it's just the beginning

On how seeing Kendrick Lamar perform shaped ‘INSANO'…

I was still in this place trying to figure out what that album would sound like. And I was in Paris, I just finished my European Runner tour, and I go to see Kendrick. And this motherfucker, it blew my mind. I'm sitting there, I'm watching the crowd reaction from the beginning of the show to the end of the show. People were in it, party mode, singing every fucking word. Not saying this doesn't happen at my shows, because it does. But all the way through, I don't have that experience. You know what I mean? And it's like I had this moment where I was like, "You know what? This is the reaction I want. I want people to feel good and it to be a joyous occasion when I'm performing." So I took that, the inspiration from Kendrick's show, and Kendrick has always been my top three artists in the world.

I'm actually so proud of the record that we have. We got one record, Solo Dolo, Part II. You know what I mean? So proud of it. So I took that inspiration, got to the studio and said, "Let's fucking get to work. We need to make something with some energy. I'm happy. I'm in a better place in my life. I'm never made an album in this type of mode before. Let's see what comes out of that." So the album was truly designed for arenas for the live show.

On relationship with Ye and working with him…

It's usually one person does something where the other one has to defend themselves, but usually you like to keep these things private, but sometimes they can come out. I think in my situation it's a little bit more complicated. Me personally, I just pray on it and walking the light and the new Scott is not angry at anyone. The new Scott doesn't have beef with anyone, and I just try to focus on that. Any past thing I ever had, sometimes it's been I might fall out with somebody and never talk to them ever again, and then sometimes I fall out with somebody and might not talk for a couple years and then we reconnect and it's squashed and it's all good. So it depends. It's like friendships, really it's beyond friendship, is about when it's brotherly, sisterly shit, family shit. It's just a little bit more complicated.

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Definitely and siblings hurt you the most. So you go through things, but family is always there. You don't give up on family. And I think in the thick of it, when it was going down, I wanted to walk away. I wanted to give up, but in thinking about it the past couple years, it's like this is someone who is my brother ultimately who came into my life and championed me and did things for me that nobody else did for me early on in my career. People don't even know that Kanye paid for the first day and night video when I didn't have a deal. This was like, he needs a video, so I'm a pay for it. Guy saw me to shoot it, saw me the first director. Didn't know me, but was sure just doing a favor and so shit like that.

I had this moment to think about the past and the journey that I've had with this person and I know that in his soul there is a good man there because I've seen it and you don't give up on people. He's learning and he's growing. He knows he made some mistakes and I think that that's the beauty of it, is this is a beautiful thing. It's like he knows he's been on one hell of a ride and he knows, he's said some things that he might not be able to come back from in a lot of realms, in a lot of spaces from certain people. But we grow and I think I pray for him, and that's my brother. And the reason why we became cool again is because he apologised to me and it was sincere. I was just like, wow. Kanye does not apologise to anybody and say sorry to anyone. And that's my brother, man. I know he loves me and there's just nothing like Kanye and Cudi. We like the duo that everybody loves to see.

Kid Cudi on wanting to make the best music possible and competing...

I feel like all these years I've kind of been exploring as an artist, and I've been on a quest, a quest to acquire my powers to be able to compete one day, and that was one of the goals I had going into this. It's like, no, I'm not going to just make my just offbeat different shit and just be in my own lane. No, I'm just trying to compete. I want to have the best album of the year. You know what I mean? I want people to arguably have the debate about my shit being one of the best albums of the year. I didn't want to have any doubts. I wanted to make something that was completely undeniable.

On reaching the milestone of nearly turning 40 years old…

I feel great. It's like most people my age are afraid to tell their age. But I have found from experience that time gives me wisdom, and growth, and maturity. And when I think about my twenties, I would not want to live that over again. I would never want to go through that. And based on my experience, the older I've gotten, the better my life has. I just feel really good about being where I'm at. Being 40, I didn't even know I would get here. I feel really blessed, man. It's kind of crazy to know that I went through that hell. I didn't see any way out of it at that time. I didn't think…

It was hard for me to imagine anything good in my life happening outside of the music. I was just a tortured, a tortured spirit and people were feeding off of my pain. And I wasn't enjoying it really. I was very tortured. And I don't think I was able to rise to the occasion of being a role model, a hero to these kids.

And when I started off, I had very honest ambitions. I just wanted to help people, just wanted to put something out that people groove to, smoke to. But things kind of got out of hand and got a little crazy. But it's, to be in 2024 right now, all these years later, all the things I've accomplished, standing here talking to you, this wonderful house. You know what I mean? I worked really hard for this shit. You know what's crazy, man? I want to buy a crib in Cleveland somewhere and just have a spot in the cut.

On working at the BAPE Store in New York back in 2008 and memorable people coming through…

Man, Kurt Franklin came through one time and I helped him out with some clothes. Kurt Franklin, you remember me, man? Kurt Frank is the freshest dude, man. He's so fresh. So when he came in, I was like, yo, Kurt Frank's in the BAPE store shopping. He was buying mad shit. I was running down getting him new shoes. He was like, "Yo, what you think about this with this?" I was like, "Oh yeah, man, this is dope." You could wear this with this. This is dope fit right here. I was hooking them up, setting them up with fits, all sorts of shit. But I also had this phobia that rappers would come into the store and see me working there and then have beef with me later and bring up the fact like, “N****, you sold me clothes." So I would always hide in the stockroom.

Lupe Fiasco came to the store one day. He was in the store, I was in the back and they was like, "Yo, Lupe's here." I was like, "Oh, shit." Stayed down the stairs. Waited till he left. And I was like, yo, what you down here for? I explained it to my dude, same way I explained it to you. I was like, yo, bro, if I get famous one day, I don't ever want this nigger saying, yo, you sold me clothes, you my son. You know what I'm saying? We can't have that. This was my explanation, and yo, bro, when you think about it, he hates me to this day. He hates me. So it's like I was right. I was on to something. I sensed something in the universe. So this is my plan at that time. I was totally hyper aware that something was going to happen for me and I was just like, fuck this. I can't have nobody making no this record. Yeah, you rang me up motherfucker. You know what I'm saying?

On working with Lil Yachty…

There's new people that I'm working with like Yachty, of course, who I've learned that we have crazy chemistry on record as well. You know what I mean? And we're actually, there's something going on with me and Yachty...like just more music between me and him. We're trying to figure something out. Every so often I'll work with somebody and be like, oh my God, he's like me. He has powers. Yachty got powers. And when we were sitting there, we must've banged out three, four songs. So there's a little bit more of Yachty on the deluxe and he sounds amazing.

His range is crazy. It reminds me what I hoped for the next generation. It reminds me of the type of shit I was on when I was younger and just trying to explore and just be different and not have people knowing my next move.

On making a song with XXXTentacion ...

Well, it was really like one of these things where I've heard it's this version of a song that X had did on one of my songs on Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven, and I tweeted out, " Is this real?" And I ended up connecting with John Cunningham, who worked very closely with X, and he met up with me. He came to the studio. We talked a little bit. He played me the joint. It's amazing. At some point we have to give it out. I want them to have it. I don't even want it. I just want to make sure that they have what they need. I'll clear it, whatever they got to do. But I didn't want to ask them for a verse. I think that's weird. So I was like, "Man, maybe there's something that he's done that I could probably flip." And I couldn't really find that except for Orlando because it had no drums. And it was hitting me out of all the songs that I heard, just like I was like, if this is not calling me to the Cudi vibes, this is just speaking to me. And I hit up John, I got the pieces to the session, got the vocals, and we were like, "Yo, just produce it up and make it brand new." I was like, "Man, this is a gift. It was there. It was ready to be manipulated. It had no drums. It was really bare. It was there." So I took that as a sign from the Heavens and went to the studio and just conjured up something and pieced together parts. And I loved his cadence and his melodies on the verse. So I thought it would be cool for fans to see me be inspired by him and do his vibe. And be in his space for a little bit. And then I wanted to just have the second half be like, this is the uplifting part. This is where we're at right now. The light, the love. We came from the darkness... Because X is just a reflection from my younger days to me. I see a young man that's hurting. I was hurting. And this song, I felt his pain. Even though it's a verse that's been out before, I saw some people complaining about that, whatever. But it was like a remix. My way of just showing love and giving people an idea of what an X and Cudi feature would sound like.

Teezo Touchdown: The major Apple Music honor arrives in the for of an Up Next Artist crown

Texas stand up? You bet. Rap artist Teezo Touchdown is doing more than just putting out fire tunes these days after securing Apple Music’s Up Next Artist crown for the start of 2024.

Teezo Touchdown secures the ‘Up Next Artist’ crown

While there’s still 11 more months to go, it’s clear Apple Music is giving all the spotlight to Double T to get the Up Next Artist flexing going and setting the bar pretty high.

Apple Music today announced Teezo Touchdown as the latest addition to its Up Next program, Apple Music's monthly artist initiative geared towards identifying, showcasing and elevating rising talent. 

"I’m honored to have the opportunity to be the January Up Next artist for 2024 and I’m looking forward to the other artists who will push music forward for the rest of the year,” said Teezo. "Thank you to everyone at Apple Music."

Between appearing on tracks with Drake, Don Toliver, and Lil Yachty, joining fellow Texan rapper Travis Scott on his Circus Maximus tour, receiving praise from hip-hop legend André 3000, and releasing his genre-bending debut album How Do You Sleep at Night?, Teezo is creating a unique sound that serves as an ode to each genre that has shaped him as an artist. With his debut album How Do You Sleep at Night?, Teezo reached No. 1 on the alternative albums chart in 49 countries worldwide. In 2023, Teezo's music saw a 750% increase in streams on Apple Music worldwide and was featured across major editorial playlists including New Music Daily, A-List Pop and Superbloom.

In his exclusive Up Next short film out today, Teezo takes fans through a day in the life around his hometown of Beaumont, TX and describes what makes his sound so unique. “The sound that I’m crafting right now goes by the name of ‘rock and boom,’” he tells Apple Music. “It’s R&B with the intensity of rock, the penmanship of hip-hop, and a boom that’s going to shake the world.” 

Fans can check out the exclusive Apple Music Up Next film and Apple Music 1 Travis Mills interview today and stream Teezo’s extended album version of How Do You Sleep At Night? With You HERE.

2 Chainz: Deuce keeps it 100 on new Lil Wayne music, collaboration goals, still evolving and more

Atlanta rap heavyweight 2 Chainz is going stronger than ever these days and he knows it. The hip-hop veteran links up with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe to dish on everything from putting out more music with longtime pal Lil Wayne to feeling like he’s not close to hitting his prime.

2 Chainz keeps it 100 with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe on everything from new music to Lil Wayne

Rather than keeping every last moment copy and pasted for your viewing and endless pleasure, how about going into the goods of Deuce’s conversation with Lowe? A massive salute to (you know your name) on the Apple Music PR side for coming through on some solid quotes from the detailed discussion.

2 Chainz on The Origin of His Forthcoming Album with Lil Wayne 'Welcome 2 Collegrove’…

We've been working on it for some time, had a lot of clearance issues, but for the most part we're two hardworking individuals who go in the studio every night. So, I don't think it was hard recording the music. It just was a process of getting the music out to the people. I think me and him just have that chemistry. We enjoy working with each other a lot, and it's a lot of respect there. And as I always say, still sharpen still. So, it's always that little piece of anxiety of knowing that I got to this verse has to be better than the last one. I think it's healthy. I think competition is healthy in any and everything that we do.

2 Chainz on Prioritizing the Lil Wayne Collaboration Over a New Solo Album…

I didn't want to put out any more solo music until I put this project out. I think we just came to a point where it was time to be the dynamic duo that always wanted us to be. The first project was creative. I think it was a little limited. He wasn't on every track. So for this one right here, for us to be on every song together to present this to the world, I just felt like it was time. This has been in the making, it seems to be a trend of two superstars linking up and putting out a project for the fans. There's a lot of artists doing that. I think it's happening. And I think it's fun too. The creative process of being around and seeing how people create and come up with certain things is always so inspiring too.

2 Chainz on the Fun of Collaboration…

Yeah, I feel like you do a song, you do a hook, and then you can lead a second half to whoever you're working with, right? And, if they come up with something crazy and witty, you can maybe erase what you did or, you know what I'm saying? Combine the two ideas. So I think that's what the creative process is like sometime, and I think it could be fun sometimes.

2 Chainz on Continuing To Return To Music Despite His Other Pursuits and Why He Hasn’t Reached His Pinnacle Yet…

I do love it. I'm very passionate about working. I'm very passionate about creating new music. I get excited about not knowing what I may say or come up with next. I still feel like, even in my forties that I haven't reached my pinnacle yet. So… I just feel like I'm just still hungry about what I'm doing and what I want to present to the world. And yes, other doors are opening because I feel like I'm someone that's educated and I'm someone that has a street background. And when you combine those two things, that ultimately makes you some type of superhero. But I'm one of those people that just enjoy learning new things and obviously meeting new people.I just think I was just born with a social butterfly. I think relationships can be worth more than money. But ultimately, I love music. I love working with people. I love collaborating. I love traveling. I love being on stage. That's what satisfies my itch.

2 Chainz on Why He’s Excited About Usher’s Performance at the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show in February…

I'm excited for Usher, man. He's a great entertainer. I was able to catch his show out in Vegas with my wife. I was highly entertained. I suggest anybody who had a chance to see it and check it out, because I know the Super Bowl won't be, they won't give him as much time as his show out in Vegas to see the whole show. But, he's a great entertainer. I think it's well deserved. He's actually an artist that's featured on the project with me and Wayne, so I'm excited for people to hear that. And it's just divine timing.

2 Chainz Tells Apple Music That Benny The Butcher is Also Featured on The Project with Lil Wayne…

Benny the Butcher. You know what I'm saying? This is a rap album. Let's not lose focus of what's going on. It's fabulous too. Someone else who has a sharp pen and very witty.

Vic Mensa: The Chicago rap heavyweight talks 'Victor' album, going sober and key influences

Still learning about what fuels Vic Mensa and his style? Look no further than what he had to say pulling up to Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden to dish on everything from his new Victor album and sobriety to what key influences help him push forward.

Vic Mensa unloads and talks everything with Apple Music

From dishing on the late fashion icon Virgil Abloh to his new album’s artwork, it’s all big moments for Mensa. Peep some of the highlighted moments from the interview and head over to Apple Music for the full-fledged episode.

Vic Mensa on Getting Sober…

I definitely have a different sense of clarity and a different sense of focus than I've ever had before. And I think a lot of that came from sobriety for real. And so I'm two years sober, I just passed that milestone about a week ago. Alcohol, and weed, and pills, and all that type of s**t. I started practicing Islam in that same point in time. And above all, I made a decision to cut out all the shit in my life that was not actively serving a purpose, not actively bringing me towards my goals. And I come to realize that a lot of those things that created issues in my life were just ways of running from something, ways of masking some emotion, or hiding some insecurity, forgetting about it for a few minutes. And facing fear though is what takes you to another level.

Vic Mensa on Being Inspired by One of Virgil Abloh’s Last Videos While Making His Song “Strawberry Louis Vuitton”…

I was sampling a Virgil film when I made Strawberry Louis Vuitton. It was one of Virgil's last films, Louis Vuitton films. It's called Amen Break. It's like one of the most famous breaks in Hip-hop too, and it was featuring Saul Williams. And so I'm like, "Saul Williams on a Louis Vuitton Virgil film. I'm dialed in." And in Ableton, man, when you bring a video into it it keeps replaying the same piece as you play the audio. So I'm just looking at it and there's this dude during that part of the music wearing a bright red Louis Vuitton sweater with the hood up in the woods, and that's really what a strawberry Lou Vuitton thing came from, just chopping up the beat.

Vic Mensa Says The ‘Victor’ Album Artwork is a Life-Size Painting He Had Commissioned…

Yeah, it's massive. It's like six feet. The artist is named Terron Cooper Sorrells. He's from Virginia, but he paints out of Chicago. I had this concept of the story of Osiris. One of my big homies, shout out to Suave. He's currently locked up in Illinois, been locked up since the '90s, but he's one of the most brilliant people I've ever met. His intellect, his wealth of knowledge is so vast, so expansive. He introduced me to a lot of Egyptian mythology. Specifically, the Egyptian Book of the Dead. He was just telling me, "You need to tap in with this." I remember seeing it on a Tupac reading list. And so, I went, dove into it and I learned about the story of Osiris. Osiris was 28 years old when he was lured into his own sarcophagus by his brother. And once he got in there, they ripped his body to pieces, spread his limbs all across the planet. And then, he was sewed back together by Isis and he came to be the God of the afterlife. I was 28 reading that and I was like, "I got to use this for my album." You know what I mean? It's too hard. It's my favorite album cover I've ever done.

Vic Mensa on How His Aunt Skin Cancer Diagnosis Inspired His Song “Blue Eyes”…

The song “Blue Eyes,” where I'm dissecting the impacts of European beauty standards on myself and my family. That's one of my favorite songs that I've done. And I started making it so long ago, man. I started making that song in 2016 and I was doing ayahuasca for the first time. And I had this higher voice come to me and it was like, I used to want blue eyes, that is the root of my pain. And I was like, "I got to put that in a song." But it made sense, I didn't remember that. But having a white mother and just being different from her and my father, it made sense. And I started writing a song, but it wasn't until I learned that my aunt had been diagnosed with skin cancer directly related to a history of skin bleaching that the rest of the song came to me. Learning that, that was heavy for me because it's so much bigger than her or our family. It's painful to think that our people have been misled so deeply to believe that they should try to wash away the melanin in their skin in order to achieve some unattainable, unrealistic idea of beauty that's been brainwashed into us. And that would be the same thing that could ultimately kill you. 

Rod Wave: The hitmaker talks 'Nostalgia' album, keeping things 100 and having no backup plan

Love fire interviews? Look no further than the latest sit-down for Apple Music 1’s Nick and Eddie on Rap Life Radio as they chop it up with the hitmaker himself Rod Wave. It’s always a big vibe and flex when it comes to putting out audio anthems and the trio know it.

Rod Wave keeps it 100 on everything from his new music, back-up plans and grinding to the top

The interview goes strong but with time being money, it’s all about focusing on some of those key moments from the Q&A. Tap in and keep scrolling for the chop up session.

Rod Wave on Honoring His Past With His New Album ‘Nostalgia’…

I'm just growing, bro. I'm just growing. I feel like when I first came on the scene, I had a lot of pain, and just a lot of scars and stuff, and I just feel like, over the years, I done let a lot of it out and it was just therapy for me. But this album, the reason why I even named it Nostalgia is just because I always remember where I was at. Every interview I did, every person, every face I met, every song, every video I shot, I remember where I was at, how I was feeling, what I was doing. So, I just had to realize, this is nostalgia. Everything I'm putting out in the world, in the universe, I'm going to be able to look back at it and be like, "Damn, I remember that time. I remember this," you know what I'm saying? It's all special to me. So yeah, this album, I just feel different. I don't know. I'm excited about it. I'm real happy about it. I'm in a different space. I'm growing. I'm growing up in this. The world's watching me grow, you know what I'm saying? Little do they know, I'm growing mentally too. My mental expanding and stuff, so I feel real, real happy about this album, this project, you know what I'm saying?

Rod Wave on Music as Therapy and Appreciating The Journey…

The music just therapy, bro. I just went through a lot of real life stuff. A lot of stuff that I've just been going through on this journey, period, made me just appreciate the journey. It's not the destination. It's not where you're going. It's the time that you're having while you're doing it. I remember just doing little small shows with four, 500 people like, "Damn, I can't wait til I'm in arenas," and, "Damn, dog. I remember when I was like ..." you know what I'm saying? Instead of just living in that moment with the people who was around me at the time. Because none of them people around me no more. My life is totally different…it's just life, bro. So now I just want to appreciate the people who is around me, because two, three years from now, you never know, you know what I'm saying? Just going through it. I didn't have to meditate or nothing. Just being aware of your surroundings, bro, and understanding what's going on right in front of you. 

Rod Wave on Embracing Transparency in His Music…

I didn't expect it to go this far, so I was just recording and being so open. And then once people got onto it and became fans of it, I felt like I couldn't stop. So, I just kept it going. And I felt like people will attach the music and stuff with you. Like, some of this music, I've been recording for like a year. At a year, eight months ago, six months ago. So, how I was feeling six months ago, or a year ago, I might not feel right now, you feel me? So, it is kind of a burden. Like, when people see you today and they was listening to a song you made three years ago and they're like, "Damn, bruh. You sad as f**k..." I'm like, "That's not the case. This is life, bro. Life goes up and down. It's new battles, new challenges that we go through every day." You know what I'm saying? How ever many years you got on this earth, how many years you're going to live, bro, you're going to go through ups and downs and I just talk about my ups and downs. If you're really in tune with reality, you'll know that life goes up and down. So, it is kind of a burden when people who don't understand that. Like, I'm not sad. The story's just sad to you. But people try to place a label on you. Like, "You're just sad all the time." Or people will meet me and already have this narrative in their head. I be like, "You don't know me. You think you got me figured out.”

Rod Wave on Chasing His Dreams…

I feel a lot of people don't chase their dreams, bro. I'm one of the people where I'm really living in my dream. It'll be different if I was still doing what I was doing back in 2017, telling you to chase your dream and stuff, but I'm really living in my dream. This is something that I just always knew I would be doing, and I just said, "I'm going to just do it. I'm going to just go do it and I don't care… Because even in the moments when I was just opening up for artists on their tours or just doing little, small venues, I was happy with that. You know what I'm saying? I was happy in that moment. I was living my dream then. You know what I'm saying? Just living my dream and just keep chasing it and chasing it. It took me so far. It's taken me so far. You know what I'm saying? I always just tell people, "Chase your dreams," just because that's my testimony, bro. You know what I'm saying? I'm a true believer now. I've seen it with my own eyes. There's nothing you can't do. Because I done reached heights, bro, that I never could have even dreamed about. You know what I'm saying? But just as I got further and further, I just kept dreaming. I just kept dreaming. Even today, I still dream. But if you're blessed enough to have a dream, have a conscience about what you love to do and where you want to be at in life, chase it, bro. Because we all got the same fate at the end, you're going to die. You know what I'm saying? You might as well just live your life trying to chase a dream and live your best life. You know what I'm saying?

Rod Wave on Not Having a Backup Plan…

Yeah, I'm going to jump off the cliff. You got to jump off the cliff, bro. My mama used to be telling me, "You need to try to enroll in school or something while you out there on the road." I'm like, "Ma, I ain't enrolling in no school, man. What you talking about? I don't even like school. You talking about enrolling like I need to be taking a class or thinking about what's going my backup plan." I say, "Ma, if I got a backup plan, now you already wrong. You already ain't all in. I don't need no backup plan. This what I'm fixing to do. This is what I'm doing.  When I was young, it'd be like Sunday or something, I'd be like, "Ma, what we doing today? This is our life. You know what I'm saying? You got to get up and go to work tomorrow, and you going to do it Monday through Friday. Saturday, we probably going to go do something. And then Sunday, we just going to sit in the house and clean up and just do it all over, and again and again and again." I just be like, "Ma, what you do?" She just be like, "What you mean what I do? This is my life." I think that really set a fire up under me like, nah, bro. Hell nah. 10 years straight, I just watched this lady. You know what I'm saying? Just do nothing. She did for us, but she did nothing for herself.

Rod Wave on Sampling Paramore’s “Ain’t It Fun”…

Yeah, man, I even wrote them and I was like, "Man, y'all don't know what that song mean to me, man. If y'all could just clear it." I used to listen to that song every morning in 2017, just waking up. I got to go to work or go wherever I'm going, what I'm finna do today, got to get me some money. I used to listen to that song every day just because you living in the real world now. This is real life, big boy time. So getting that song clear, man. It meant a whole lot to me. Like I said, bro, everything I've been through is what made me who I am. So I just remember listening to that song and it just triggered the whole song.

Rod Wave on Drawing Inspiration From Films, Like ‘The Great Gatsby’…

My process, period, is always inspired. There's no such thing as an original thought. Everything that you thinking about, it came from somewhere. So I just watched that movie... The way I watched that movie when I was a kid, and watch it now, it makes two different... I got two different feelings from it. Now, I can see he a bachelor and he's rich and wealthy and he's throwing all these... Everybody around him so happy, but he only... I see it through different eyes now. So just watching movies and stuff like that always inspired me, because I can... If I can relate to it. I've always done that in every project or everything I put out, I try to shout out the inspiration, where I got this from or what inspired this feeling or this emotion. Or it's a lot of stuff in life that I didn't even know I was feeling until somebody else's art was brought to my attention. I'm just like, "Damn. I feel that way too. Like man, that's crazy. So there's other people who feel the way I feel." I just recycle it and…

Rod Wave on Being a True Music Fan…

That's what I be trying to get everybody in the industry to understand. I was such big fans of so many people, they don't even know that I was real supporter coming to your concerts, buying your merchant and shit. I'm a real supporter bro. If anybody I ever worked with or I reached out to or I sampled their music, I'm a real supporter of y'all. I'm not just no rapper. I'm got no team of writers around me or nothing like this. Everything that I put in my music, it is really me. It come from my heart.

Earl Sweatshirt: The Odd Future legend talks 'Doris' 10-year anniversary, embracing adulthood and new Alchemist music

Keeping it 100? There’s a reason I took my talent of the Attack The Culture’s Top 50 Must-Hear songs playlist from Spotify to Apple Music and you see it plastered in the middle of the site - Apple continues to lead innovation and precision - from the exclusives to epic interviews like what Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe can stir up with the one and only Earl Sweatshirt.

Earl Sweatshirt chops it up with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe about all things fire tunes

From dishing on putting out a new project with hip-hop legend The Alchemist to embracing getting his grown man on, it’s all types of must-see things. Definitely check out the highlights from the conversation below and keep scrolling to see some visual fun.

Earl Sweatshirt Reflects on ‘Doris’ and Celebrating The Album's 10 Year Anniversary...

Yeah, man, that s**t has been crazy. I'm not going to lie. It kind of just brought back, just everything from that time. And some of the ambiguity, that's what I think really stuck out to me.I was 18. I was trying to figure it out. They were like, you're the big rapper, make an album. That's why I think part of that album was a deliberate shot in the parachute, or in the foot. It was too... The name, the whatever. It was too big for me at the time. I was 18 years old. Right? It was like, n****s was putting a thing on me. And it was like, I don't even know if I have that much to say right now. I had the ability to manipulate words and play with words and stuff, but in terms of content, I was 18 years old. I have a lot of clarity on it now. I still think I was figuring all of that out. So if you look at that album, there's a combination of all of that. There's my first beats on there that I just cannot stand right now. …at the risk of sounding redundant, it's like I'm really not even that n***a anymore. I've already done that. Me, by myself. I've loved on that person and everything. So some parts of it felt like karaoke.

Earl Sweatshirt on His New Project With The Alchemist ‘VOIR DIRE’…

Yeah, we got that one. We cooking, we just dropped a single for you, man. I got weird legalese like, floating around in my subconscious because my mom, she is a lawyer. So I just have weird legalese… I mean, the reason why I gravitated to Al so much is because I was privileged in not having that much experience in weird studio sessions. I had only just come from OF, and that was that type of environment. Like, 10 rappers, highly competitive, openly competitive. I love that s**t. It was like that at Al's, too, you know what I mean? That type of session versus a weird session where it's just like you and... I don't know, there's utility to all of this s**t, right?

Earl Sweatshirt on Embracing Sensitivity and Doing The Work…

I'm the most sensitive n***a that's outside. I'm not going to lie to you. No, that's what I was saying outside to them. I was like, what if I went in there with Zane Lowe and sat down and just started profusely crying right now. Serious. I swear to God, ask them, I was like, if I just sat down first question, dry open and profusely crying in 10 minutes. I knew I was sensitive. I knew that I was... Ooh, nah, I've gone through ups and downs with it. I feel like in my childhood I was incredibly sensitive. And that's... Yo, dog. That's what I've had to unpack as an adult. As a child... I had it bro. As a child, I had the get mad, heart to the throat, face hot. I've had face hot, tears, throat hurts. Then I went away. The most intensive therapeutic boarding school ever. Learned therapy stuff, and came out of the thing, had a sense of self. Then self-identified through my early twenties and mid-twenties as a chill guy. Then especially with the emotional intelligence, I'm like, yeah, I'm a chill guy. Then, a series of unfortunate events rained on me and that chillness got called the f**k out. Because then I found out... I re-found out how sensitive I was again.

Earl Sweatshirt on Becoming a Parent…

I think the age that I had my son at was a blessing. I was young. I am young, but not so young. And it kind of hastened some of my adulthood… some of my purpose, for sure. And that's life. And art imitates life. So this s**t just, it cornered me into having to be stronger, take care of different aspects of my health, just become slightly more of a serious person.

Earl Sweatshirt on His Relationship with His Mom…

Yeah, I think me and my mom have mutual appreciation sessions sometimes. Yeah, I think the thing I was talking about, even just off-air right now, watching my mom process, that has been, I guess really illuminating to me too. Just watching my mom process an adult child, or her adult child, you know what I'm saying? And watching her kind of over my adulthood, realize what you said, which is, I'm on my journey and then watching my mom as she could see that I was either safe, or that there was nothing she could do about it.

Earl Sweatshirt on Writing and Process…

I'm always listening. I'm always... Input-output. I'm always listening so that I can put something out. Music makes me hope. Music helps me make sense of the world. I'm observing. I'm intaking. So that to influence my output. Then, with regards to writing, any form of writing, I feel like the goal is the same as kind of being alive. It's like you want to be seen, you want to be understood, so you want to try and capture these intangibles or these impossibilities. That's what I spend my time trying to do is, yeah, try and capture some intangibles or some things that might not be... The things that feel familiar that you haven't heard yet. You know what I'm saying? Some s**t that feels like, "Oh yeah." It's just town crier. I feel like, it's there. It should be around for all of us, it's just the person that has the eyes to see it, and then the words to exclaim.

Earl Sweatshirt on Competition…

I'm not going to lie, I come from the other side of it. I'm like a vicious competitor. N***a Billy Woods said, "My goals were limited. I just wanted to be the best." Tap in. Yeah. So I was like... I think maybe with maturity, at some point you realize you kind of just is... Inspired by others and then you're competing with yourself. You know what I mean? It's just like, I don't want to create with any hate on me. You know what I mean? For a good allegory, I feel like for it is, I was a hooper. I was an athlete. That's where it comes from. As a kid I was like martial arts crazy, skateboarding and all this s**t. Hooping. 

Earl Sweatshirt on Starting His Fitness Journey…

I started my health journey earlier this year. I started working out. I go to Air One. I'm inside of the Air One. Come see me at Air One. I'm for sure sworn by secrecy to my gym. My s**t is, you got to take a blood oath to join my gym. Ludicrous be in there.

Earl Sweatshirt on Preferring Texts Over Calls…

I'm definitely a texter. I freeze up every time the phone rings. Dude, when it does the long rings and the s**t is vibrating in my pocket. I have a panic attack every single time. …I f***ing give my number to everybody. Mad n****s have my number.

Apple Music 1: Yo Gotti talks new Gangsta Grillz mixtape, soccer team ownership, CMG's growth and more

It’s no mistake why Apple Music is my go-to for the Attack The Culture Top 50 Must-Hear playlist. Apple just represents top notch quality and of course seeing how artists like Yo Gotti head over to Apple Music 1 for interviews and exclusive drops? Super impressive. So seeing the Memphis legend link with Ebro Darden to talk about everything from putting out new music and his approaching to signing new talent to his label to dropping a Gangsta Grillz mixtape, it’s all big gems.

Yo Gotti talks to Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden about new music, ownership and more

Gotti has ample topics to dish on these days. With a flourishing rap career and continuing to put on others through his label and mentorship, there’s plenty of things on the Memphis rap heavyweight’s mind.

Yo Gotti Tells Apple Music He Made This Album Because He Thinks No One is Making “Hustle Music” Anymore…

I was making music in between being in the studio with Glo, working on her next album, and Bagg when we was working on the mixtape. And I found myself in the studio a lot more than I be going. I don't really go to studios that often no more, you know what I'm saying? I record in my living room, I recorded this in my living room in the house. I think the energy of being in the studio, going through beats, picking beats, you know what I'm saying? Mixing and listening to what's in the market. I felt like I was missing something out in the market, in the culture, and then I felt like I could create it…To me, I think it's hustle music. I think hustle music is missing. What Jeezy was doing, what I was doing in that era, get money music. We had music that was the soundtrack and the anthems to us or to hustlers out there. Get money. Now, I think everything is super aggressive or super emotional or depressing. You know what I mean? A lot of it is fire. But I don't think it's hustle music, though. I don't think it's the soundtrack to get money.

Yo Gotti Tells Apple Music His New Strategy Is To Release Shorter Projects…

I think I said on “Driveway Furniture,” "I'm putting nothing but mixtapes out from now on." It's not really a chart goal. It's more like art pieces. I look at it like I want to put out short projects. This is the shortest project I ever put out. So, short projects is like art pieces and they're purposeful. Each project will speak for that moment, whenever I put it out. And it ain't no pressure, because like you said, I'm just doing what I want to do, how I want to do it. It's like exercise.

Yo Gotti Tells Apple Music What He’s Looking For When Considering Signing a New Artist to CMG…

I think the next thing is one of the things about every artist I ever worked with, I always spend time with them, lot of time before we done the deal. Meaning like, "Yo, we like them, we into them. Boom, fly them out to meet with me." I meet with them. If I like them from the first meeting, we just start inviting them around like, "Yo, come kick it with me.” So, say for example now, if I was looking at an artist right now, right now I'm in between GloRilla and Lil Baby tour. I'm in between MoneyBagg Yo tour. So, I'm doing a lot of traveling right now in between both of those. So for example, if I was looking at an artist right now, I'd be like, "Yo, come out here to the Glo tour with me. Let's catch a couple of cities." And I would just have them with me, just moving around through a couple cities. But I'll be paying attention to them. So, it's these little things and details that I think that you can never know unless you actually spend time with the person. So, I try to spend time with every artist I ever worked with. That's how it always worked. And from that point, I can determine is you a hustler? Or is you got short goals or long-term goals? What type of individual you is? Because we don't want to be hustling with nobody with short goals.

Yo Gotti Tells Apple Music Why He Decided To Become a Part Owner of the Major League Soccer Club DC United...

It was a few years ago when I joined the club as an owner, part of the ownership club. I mean, I think diversifying growth as an entrepreneur, I mean, whoever thought we would own part of a professional sports team? And to me, those are one of them things we were talking about earlier when I say I try to show by action. I try to show to the young guys in my city by action, what we can do and what we can become if we stay determined and disciplined and on top of what we're trying to do as young hustlers and entrepreneurs. But when the opportunity presented itself, one, you got to always remember too that you got to be in position when an opportunity do present itself. That's a gem within itself, right? Don't blow all the paper. Make sure you got the paper, make sure you're saving the paper. You never know what opportunity may drop in your lap and you can't even take it. You know what I mean? Because you got too many chains and you're flying too many jets.

Dave East: The Harlem native dishes on recording in Pablo Escobar's Medellin home

You have to admit - Dave East is staying super busy these days. From flexing his Hollywood acting chops to putting out fire tunes, he stays grinding. So it’s no surprise he’s making time to chop it up with Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden to dish on his endless ventures in 2023.

Dave East talks about his Hollywood flex, putting out new music and more

From dishing on turning into Method Man for Hulu’s recent ‘Wu-Tang: An American Saga’ series to getting the chance to work alongside the Wu’s Ghostface Killah, it’s all types of quotable moments. So peep some highlights and head over to Apple Music for the full-fledged interview.

Dave East on How He Thinks About The Difference Between a Mixtape and an Album...

With a mixtape, with me, I'm going to approach it like an album, but I know it's more street-driven. I just know kind of the fanbase that I'm doing it for. With the album, when I'm presenting to the label, and I know it's going to be one of them, it's going to be a couple dollars behind it and all..I want to kind of do more global or bigger type of records, you know what I mean?

Dave East Tells Apple Music He Recorded His Latest Album in One of Pablo Escobar’s Stash Houses…\

I always been a fan of Pablo Escobar, and I mean, not the destruction and all that or whatever, but just his mindset as far as hustling and him, I'm a big fan of Pablo. So me going out there, I felt like, I'm like, "Bro, why we don't just do some music out here? This is a different environment, different everything. It's not New York, it's not LA, it's not Miami, it's just different.”…We had the studio set up right in the crib. We actually stayed in one of Pablo's stash houses. Pool inside the crib, some flavor, flavor, flavor crib. In Medellin, facts. Word. But yeah, I did maybe 12, 13 records off the album in that house, right in the crib. They had the chefs in there making breakfast, wake up, Mike already be in there making beats. We'd get to that pool in the crib, jump in the pool. I met his brother, his brother got one eye, I guess they sent him some ... He was locked up, they sent him some mail or something in the jail, and when he opened it it blew up in his face. I met his brother though. His older brother, yeah. So that was just a dope experience, being that I watched all them documentaries and been in tune with that. And to go over there and be able to get close like that, and meet his family, and be in the crib he was in and all that was dope.

Dave East on Portraying Method Man in ‘Wu-Tang: An American Saga”…

An American Saga helped him get RZA on “Hallway Piss”: I gave him three seasons as Meth, I figured I could get a beat, right? I love you RZA, thank you for that. I had to be Method Man. I just was, I hinted. Like, "Yo, you know I rap too. I know I'm here playing Meth, but I got my own shit going on if you got something, you know what I mean?" He looked out, big shout out to RZA.

Dave East on Working with Ghostface Killah for the First Time…

It's family. But it's crazy, I bumped into Ghost. Me and Ghost been had a vibe, but we never worked. But I bump into Ghost ... Damn, one of them clubs, I can't think of the club. It's right here in the city though. But I'm walking in the club, he walking out the club. And I bumped into him, I'm like, "Ghost, what up?" He like, "Yo," he congratulated me on the Wu-Tang show and all that, just saluted me, "I love what you're doing out here." I'm like, "Bro, we got to work. I done worked with Meth, I done got with RZA, I done did the show, me and Rae. Me and you got to lock in." He said, "Send it to me, send it through, I got you immediately." I think he was headed to go overseas or something that next day, Ghost sent me that joint back in maybe two, three days. He sent it right back.

Dave East Says He’s Acting in a New Film Next Year But That He Prefers Not To Audition…

I'm actually starting a film top of '24. I'll tell you, but I don't really want to get into the details of it. But this is one of my ... Like with me, I'ma be real with you. I'm not big on the auditioning, you know what I mean? I'll do it, I'm cool with it, but you ain't going to have me in this room jumping and sweating and then for y'all to tell me nah. Because I came in like that, big shout out to Chris Robinson, the movie Beats with Anthony Anderson, my first film I ever did, he wanted me for that role. So even though they want to see some type of audition that you could do it, I prefer the director or whoever's putting that together like, "Nah, I like him, I want him for that." I'm out here just shopping and all that, I ain't got time for all that. I don't, I'ma be real with you. I ain't got the time, E.

Dave East Says His Daughters Helped Him Navigate Recent Personal Losses…

Honestly, my kids. Kairi and Kobi. My girls. They make me understand it all. You going to take losses, you going to ... And I mean, it's all for something. I'm not just taking losses for no reason. It's wack, but it's something there to be learnt, or it's something there that I could take from that situation that could better me or better my children, better my business, better my brand, better everything I got going on. And I still sit back and cry and it hit me, but I just kind of took the pain and was like, "I got to put this into something." Because I look at my daughters, and they don't know why I'm sad, or they don't know my friend that ... I mean they don't know the dynamics of it. And they in the best mood, you know what I mean? So I was like, "I got to kind of tuck that and be here with them." Life is still going on, there's things that I still got to water that. I still got to water that grass, so ... I'll get through it through working and being with my kids. As far as just the losses I done ... I'm getting emotional thinking about the shit. But work, I just work. Writing, it's therapeutic for me to really write. Because I'm not a person that really like to talk too much about what I'm going through, unless I really know you or we grew up together, shit like that. But writing is very, very therapeutic for me. It always has been, I always was able to write and it do something for me.

Dave East Says He Had to Write “Letter to Kobi” So That His Daughter Kobi Wouldn’t Get Jealous of His Daughter Kairi Having an Album Named After Her…

 Kai got an album. I'm like, "I don't want them to grow up and Kobi be like, 'Yo, bro, you ain't even give me a song?'" I love them equally, you know you can't love one more than the other. But Kairi was my first child, it happened at an ill time, I just got my deal. So at that time, it was before COVID, so everywhere I'm going I'm getting mad fan art of Kairi. Kobi was born 2020, that was COVID. That's a COVID baby at the end of the day. Everything was slowed up, I wasn't traveling. I wasn't really posting her, you know what I mean? So I feel like I didn't want that from them later. I know how I am, that's my kids, so I know Kobi would've came to me about that, like "Yo, bro, what's up, bro, you ain't even do a song for me? You gave Kairi a whole album." So yeah, that Letter 2 Kobi, that's my heart, that's my fighter. Kairi's the lover kid, I think, Kobi's going to be the fighter.

Ice Spice: Of course the New York rap star is your Apple Music Up Next artist

She might not rock with the XXL Freshman Class nod but it’s clear Ice Spice sees the value in getting major respect placed on her name courtesy of Apple Music. The streaming giant goes all-in on showing her ample love and attention by securing her as the Up Next artist.

Ice Spice keeps leveling up as Apple Music’s Up Next star

Whether it’s the endless anthems she’s putting out or just how much she glows when the camera flicks, the Bronx native is showing out in a big way for Apple Music with a short film to cement her rap game presence.

Apple Music today announced Bronx rapper Ice Spice as the latest addition to its Up Next program, Apple Music's monthly artist initiative geared towards identifying, showcasing and elevating rising talent. 

The 23-year-old rapper has had a meteoric rise since her drill anthem “Munch (Feelin’ U)” went viral on TikTok in 2022, which she soon followed with the six-track chart-topping debut EP Like..?. Since then, Ice’s inherently New York sound and her swaggering lyricism have opened the door to collaborations with some of the biggest names in the music industry: PinkPantheress, Nicki Minaj, and Taylor Swift. To date, her music has reached Apple Music's Daily Top 100 in 142 countries worldwide, including 55 where it has reached the Top 10. In the first six months of 2023, her streams grew 868% on Apple Music, and her streams on major Apple Music editorial playlists, like Rap Life and High Maintenance, grew over 1,300%. It’s no wonder she was included among Shazam's Predictions 2023 playlist, a collaboration with Apple Music that predicts 50 artists that are poised to have a breakthrough year.  

"Thank you to my fans for helping me get this far in my career," said Ice Spice. "I'm excited to share pieces of my journey with you all on Apple Music!”

In her exclusive Apple Music Up Next short film out today, Ice shows off some of her favorite stomping grounds in the Bronx, talks about being a role model for young women, and is flooded by fans in her neighborhood as they spot their hometown hero. In her sit-down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, also out today, Ice talks candidly about having mentors in Minaj and Drake, being smart about her career following her rapid rise to fame, and her excitement for the upcoming Doja Cat tour.

Apple Music subscribers can add the deluxe version of her EP Like..? today ahead of the full release on 7/21, and check out selections from the rest of the artists in the Up Next series here.

Need to learn more about the Apple Music Up Next program? Want to know what artists have secured this honor in the past? Say less.

Up Next is Apple Music's monthly artist program geared towards identifying, showcasing and elevating rising star talent. Each month, Apple Music's editorial team selects an artist to promote, utilizing the full force of the platform to raise awareness of the artist to its growing global audience of music fans. The program includes an Apple Music short film shot entirely on iPhone introducing the artist, an interview with one of our Apple Music radio anchors, a late night TV performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and more. The vast Up Next roster of past talent includes Grammy-nominated and critically lauded talent like 6lack, Daniel Caesar, H.E.R., Greta Van Fleet, Khalid, Amy Shark, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Claudio, Sigrid, Mr Eazi, Stefflon Don, Bad Bunny, Juice WLRD, Bazzi, Jax Jones, NCT 127, Summer Walker, Tierra Whack, Dean Lewis, Pink Sweat$, Koffee, Megan Thee Stallion, Burna Boy, Clairo, Lunay, Jessie Reyez, Orville Peck, Victoria Monét, Ingrid Andress, Conan Gray, Don Toliver, Rema, BENEE, Holly Humberstone, Natanael Cano, Givēon, beabadoobee, Arlo Parks, Tate McRae, Zoe Wees, Morray, Fousheé, Amorphous, Tems, Parker McCollum, Jay Wheeler, Shenseea, Omar Apollo, Jvck James, aespa and Yahritza Y Su Esencia, Amelia Moore, FLO, SoFaygo, Bailey Zimmerman, GloRilla, Saint Harison, and more.

In 2023, Apple Music's Up Next artist program has expanded into its seventh year and includes a curated companion Up Next playlist featuring a dynamic class of new and emerging artists, thoughtfully hand-picked by Apple Music editors from around the world. The playlist is genre and country agnostic and represents a line-up of artists our global editors are passionate about and eager to expose to a larger audience. In March 2021, Apple Music expanded the Up Next program to feature localized campaigns that highlight artists across the U.S., U.K., Australia/New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Greater China, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latin America, Netherlands, Nigeria, Nordics, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, and Turkey. As the newest induction into Apple Music's Up Next roster, Ice Spice joins some of today's most exciting and promising artists and will serve as the official Up Next playlist cover star to be spotlighted throughout the month. 

City Girls: JT and Yung Miami talk 'I Need a Thug' anthem, new album dropping next month and more

City Girls’ JT and Yung Miami are legit back-back. The duo have plenty to talk about with their ‘I Need a Thug’ anthem streaming everywhere, studio album dropping in a few weeks and plenty more so what better place to do it than over at Apple Music?

City Girls’ JT and Yung Miami talk hip-hop with Apple Music

Kicking back with the legendary Apple Music personality Zane Lowe, the duo dish on everything from flipping rap icon LL Cool J’s classic ‘I Need Love’ to the low-key behind the scenes stress fans don’t know about.

City Girls Tell Apple Music About What It Was Like To Flip The LL Cool J Original…

JT: I think it was both of our idea because we heard the beat, and then the sample was already in there and it just sounds fun. It sounded like a fun sample. We be holding onto to the hot records and then we put them out the fun seasons, summer, spring.

City Girls Speak On When Fans Can Expect A New Album…

Yung Miami: I know I always say spring, summer, but it is coming next month. I can tell y'all that it's coming in July.

City Girls Speak On Whether Fans Can Expect New Music Before The Album Releases…

JT: The world is about to get a few more [songs] before the project drops.

Yung Miami On What Her Experience Has Been In the Music Industry…

It's very exciting. I'm not going to lie. It's exciting. Something new, something fresh. I enjoy being an artist. I take the good with the bad. I just enjoy it. I got love, being an artist. It taught me a lot about the industry, and I can say that it's very exciting and I'm having fun.

City Girls On One Thing Their Fans Don’t Know About Their Artistry…

JT: It’s stressful…It's stressful as hell, being an artist. You want to pick their brains. You want to pick the fans brains so bad and give them the perfect song. But in the world, it's so many different personalities, so you might please a group of people; then the next will be like, "This is not what we wanted. It's not..." It's stressful.

Yung Miami: I felt like that's when it start not being fun no more. It start feeling like homework. I feel like when we just making music, not thinking about, if the song we hit or if the people going to like it, and we just in the studio making music together. I think that'd be our best body of work. That's when it's fun, but when we start picking brains and stuff, that's when it starts feeling like work.

City Girls Talk What Their Fan Experience Has Been Like, Touching on Accessibility, And Experiencing Things For The First Time…

Yung Miami: I feel like it gets tricky, because I feel like... Go ahead, JT.

JT: No, I was going to say, well, for me, I just keep it on a thin line of you don't know me like that, but I want you to know me enough to like me. I feel like because it's a big part of artistry for your fans to know you, or know you a little, to kind of buy into you these days with social media and everything else so it's hard to be mysterious and still be a personality for your fans?

The Weeknd: The hitmaker talks touring goals, Madonna and Portugal with Zane Lowe

Grammy-winning singer The Weeknd really demands attention whether intentional or not. The hitmaker links up with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and dishes on everything from touring and Madonna to linking up with hip-hop stars like Playboi Carti.

The Weeknd chops it up with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe

While he had to opt for a FaceTime conversation over being able to link in-person, Weeknd still delivers groundbreaking content for nearly 20 minutes. Check out some of the highlights and keep scrolling to see Weeknd and Zane Lowe talk it up.

The Weeknd on New Song “Popular” (feat. Playboi Carti and Madonna)…

I'm proud of it. I'm definitely proud of it. Me and Carti had this... I mean, we've jammed out before. We've had a different version of this song prior. So I've had these vocals for a while and I've kind of just worked around it, and then kind of kept it in the tuck. But now it felt like it was time. It was time. And it felt right and it felt cohesive with this album that I'm working on right now. Or that I just actually finished. The Idol soundtrack, yeah. And so I've been producing the song for a while. And then Madonna, Madge. She’s the ultimate co-sign for this song, for this album, and for this TV show. And you'll hear more of her in the show as well too. She is the ultimate pop star.

The Weeknd on Madonna and Why Writing and Producing For Her Has Always Been a Dream.

I mean, the thing is, I've always wanted to work with her. I've always wanted to write and produce a Madonna album... well, co-produce with her, of course ... because she's a visionary and she has such a singular vision, and I just want to come into her world and create a classic Madonna album. That was always my dream. So this can be... Hopefully this is the appetizer for that. 

The Weeknd on ’The Idol’ Soundtrack and Collaborating with Sam Levinson and Mike Dean…

It's on pre-order. So really excited about it. And it's such a labor of love and such a collaborative project. I worked on it with Sam Levinson and Mike Dean, two incredibly talented geniuses. And it was really exciting to collaborate with them. Because usually it's... With all my albums, it's not too collaborative. It's kind of as my own world. But for The Idol, and seeing how and knowing... And I've known Sam for a while. I just know how involved he is with the music of Euphoria, how musical he is, and how important the music is for his art. And seeing him work in the studio and creating with me and Mike was... I mean, I wish we filmed it. You've got three maniacs in the studio… it's a very cohesive body of work. And we have Mike Dean there to kind of take our ideas and make it sound... Polish it. His production is already so interesting. I don't know, I'm excited for... And for it to be very experimental, but still transcend into pop. I mean, it's pop music still.

The Weeknd on Why He’s Proud of His ’The Idol’ Television Series…

I feel great. I mean, I feel great because everyone involved feels great. Everyone is happy, is excited. We're all so proud of what we made. It's controversial. It is. And as you know, I'm no stranger to it. Sam is no stranger to it. We're just excited for people to finally watch it and come up with their own opinion. Which I think is important, because there's a lot of talking and no one has seen the show. And for the people that have seen it, I mean, that experience is... Talk about nerves. I mean, I don't think I've ever been that nervous since the first time I ever performed at The Mod Club. And again, I mean, cinema is in my blood. If you know me, you know how important it is to me. But the reality is, I'm a guest. I'm a guest in this world. I've got to take my shoes off and respect the space and just... You know me, I don't want anything to be easy, I don't want anything to come easy. It never has and it never will, and that's what makes me who I am. But I'm extremely proud of this project. I'm extremely proud of everyone involved. The cast alone is... They're all so scary talented. And they're all on the album as well too. They're all musicians. You have Suzanna Son, who I think is one of the most talented people I've ever met. I can't wait for the world to hear her voice and her songwriting skills. You have Moses Sumney. If they don't know who Moses Sumney is, they'll know after the show. Scary talented. You have Ramsey, who I was introduced to, who is such a vital piece to this story and to creating the music for Jocelyn, who's Lily's character. She helped crack the code. She's incredible producer, incredible songwriter. You have Jennie Kim, who's a good friend of mine, who's... I mean, you want to talk about a superstar? And she understands. Nobody understands it better than she does, the idol lifestyle.

The Weeknd on Having Jennie Kim and Lily-Rose Depp on ’The Idol’…

It's important that we got someone like Jennie who understands this world. A lot of these musicians, like myself, are non-actors, and we all understand the world, we all understand these characters. We're all tapping into a place. And I think Jennie does it incredibly well on the show. I'm really proud of her. But the one I'm the most proud of is Lily. I mean, Lily is singing, Lily is dancing, and she worked. She's all over this album. I mean, I can't wait for people to hear her performance. It was great because we shot the show, a lot of it at my house, and we set up a studio in the basement. So after long shifts, after shooting for hours, we'd go to the studio and be inspired and start creating the music. I mean, it was such a luxury that I feel like a lot of people don't have.

The Weeknd on Preparing For Upcoming Tour Dates in Europe and His Love of Stage Design…

I'm just in tour rehearsal in Portugal. Just building a city. I got a big ass Sorayama… it’s so many feelings. I can't really pinpoint it, and I'm glad I can't. I never get used to it. It's got to stay exciting. I get nervous before every performance, always, but that's what keeps me going. That's what keeps it exciting. And that's what... I can't explain it. I don't know. I don't know what the feeling is. I haven't toured Europe since Starboy……stage design is so important to me. I mean, I spend as much time on the stage design as I do on the actual set, on the music. Look at that. I mean, it's like an album. It's like it's never done until it's out there and it doesn't belong to me anymore. As soon as I get on that stage, the show is not mine, it's the people’s.

6LACK: Over an hour of Apple Music conversation is pure must-see

Low-key? This should have been pushed to the VIDEOS section but there’s something very special about getting over an hour of on-screen time with hip-hop artist 6LACK. Add in the fact he’s chopping it up with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe too? Priceless.

6LACK and Zane Lowe talk it up in epic fashion

From talking about his 2016 project to his current state of mind? It’s way deep and reflective - not to mention the setting the interview goes down. Peep some of the pulled quotes and definitely kick back for this full-fledged experience.

6LACK Tells Apple Music About His New Album ’Since I Have a Lover’…

...this is me really looking myself in the mirror and knowing how I want to be, the influence I want to have on my daughter, the influence I want to have on my future kids, my future family, and knowing that with music, there is a bit of responsibility. And whether you acknowledge it or not, people are listening and they're learning and they're following. So what do you want to say to them?

6LACK Tells Apple Music About The Five Years That Have Passed Since His Last Album and Creating During The Pandemic...

It's definitely felt like five years. Some days it feels like it's gone by faster than I could have ever expected. And then when I think back to certain moments, some days it was really in slow motion. And I remember being almost a little bit not excited, but when I heard that we were going on lockdown, I was just like, I'm used to being a homebody and I thrive being to myself, so this will be something that I'm familiar with. And then I got into it and realized it wasn't what I expected it to be, and it really put a mirror in front of my face and it forced me to look at myself. And sharing space with other people and learning what it is to share space and love somebody, and for that to really be unconditional, and what that requires and how you can't just go outside and go to lunch and take a break from whatever you need to deal with is like, oh, we got to deal with it right now, because we actually don't have a choice but to deal with it right now.

6LACK Tells Apple Music About Continuing To Reintroduce Himself and Grow As an Artist…

If you want the album, the album is there, but the last thing you want is somebody to do the same thing over and over again because then people will say, "Oh, he never changes. He does the same thing over and over again. I know what kind of music he makes, I know what kind of vibe I'm getting from him.” And some of my favorite artists have changed and grown between albums and every time that they reintroduce themselves, they reintroduce a new part of their life or a new vision that they've had or a new emotion that they're living in. So I have to always stick to the path of growing and know that sometimes you shed people along the way, but as long as I'm on this same mission, it's cool.

6LACK Tells Apple Music About Maturing and Working on Himself...

I love to remind people that who I was yesterday is just not who I am today and it'll never be that way sonically. It'll never be that way emotionally. It'll never be that way spiritually. I have been enjoying this process of growing up, and I don't think that music has enough moments where people just champion growing up and champion maturing and champion healthy love and champion like I'm working on myself and I'm trying to be a better man and a better father and a better brother and a better son. So since I felt like that void was missing, I just want to continue to feel it and I want to continue to tell people like, this is who I am. You can catch up or you can find somebody else to listen to.

6LACK Gives Wale His Flowers and Discusses Collaborating With Him on “Stories in Motion”...

I know that Wale has always had a way with his words. I know that during times where I was still figuring out myself and figuring out my music, his music spoke ... his word spoke to me. Flowers, man. Flowers for him all day long, because everything that we see right now as far as hip hop goes has graduated from a specific era. As of right now, the current day, that era is Drake. That era is Kendrick. That era is Wale. That era is Cole. These are some of the building blocks of what we have right now. So flowers for him. It was an honor to be able to reach out to him and just say, "I need you" for something. The song was pretty much already done. I could tell just in our exchanges that he took it serious. Even though it was a moment those next couple of days, he's like, "All right, so you want me to come at it this way? Should I do this? Should I do that?" I gave him free rein. He painted a picture in a matter of, I don't know what, 30 seconds, if that. Everything that he said is... spot on as far as that song goes. He wrapped it up in such a perfect way.

6LACK Tells Apple Music About Collaborating with Don Toliver and Says His Music Helped Him Get Through The Pandemic…

He's great. I think more than anything, it's just really inspiring for me. It's really inspiring for me to listen to somebody else's music and just go the acoustics of this. It's just amazing. It's every song, every melody, every part of the production. It just fits and it sits perfectly. I have things that I would've changed about certain albums looking back or certain moments looking back. When I listen to Life of a DON and when I listen to a Lovesick, I'm just like, it's a really great place to be, basically at the beginning of a career. I'm like, that's so tight, so good. It's been super inspiring. Don got me through the pandemic for sure. 

6LACK Tells Apple Music How Wizkid’s ‘Made in Lagos’ Album Inspired Him...

There were a couple albums that got me through, Wizkid, the Made in Lagos album.…that Wizkid album really inspired. It made me move during a time where nobody wanted to move, where we actually weren't even able to go outside. I remember that feeling of listening to that album all the way through and just being like, "I could play that again all the way through and not skip a single song." 

6LACK Tells Apple Music About Learning How To Play The Guitar...

The catch this time will be, I get to bring guitar to stage, which I've never done before. I'll be playing guitar on stage for this next tour. I played a couple of licks on the album… learning guitar was almost like getting in a new relationship. I sucked in front of somebody, I was trash.

6LACK Tells Apple Music About The Title Track “Since I Have a Lover”…

Since I Have a Lover was another moment where I knew the theme. I knew the story that we were telling. We already had a bulk of the music, but there was something missing. And I went maybe weeks of just, it was like we were supposed to pull the trigger on when it was time to wrap things up, and release and start to shoot things. And I just kept being like, something's missing and I don't know what it is, and I just have to be patient and say f**k a deadline, and sit until that thing popped out. And when I heard the music for it, I was like, that's the feeling right there.

6LACK Tells Apple Music About The Track “Spirited Away”…

That one took the longest for me to finish. And it feels easy to listen to. That night I was watching Spirited Away. I had a little bit of shrooms to heighten the emotional experience and connection to it. It was an unlocking moment for me. It was me starting to get an emotion, and get in a rhythm, and be more expressive and just honor the fact that I'm in my home right now and this isn't something that I should be taking for granted. This is a safe space. I worked for it. Nobody's coming in the room to interrupt me. I have the food I need. I have the water I need. I have the snacks I need. I got the studio I need. I can make whatever face I want while I'm recording. I can get as ugly with it as I need to get to really get it out. And that was really a moment of me looking at my life and saying, it's really time to unlock and go to another level spiritually.

6LACK Tells Apple Music About The Evolution Across His First Two Albums…

Free 6LACK was being in that place of turmoil and being in that place of self-doubt and being in that place of being a little bit muted. Then East Atlanta Love Letter was me opening my heart and my mind into different ideas and being like, "Okay, actually I'm starting to get the hang of this."

6LACK Tells Apple Music About Fetishizing Darkness and Why His 2016 Debut Project ‘FREE 6LACK’ Was a “Coping Album"…

2016 me was obviously coming out of a bad record deal and feeling like I had something to prove to myself, coming out at the very least two or three relationships that didn't even match with who I felt I was. It was more so just filling time and filling space and settling and allowing my depression and my moods to just overtake my decision making skills. And then that started to inspire the creativity, and then that became like a crutch. And I honestly feel like that's the reason why this new music has pushed me in a different direction because I know that it's cool to create things from that space and you get amazing things from it, but at some point, it almost becomes a fetish and it becomes like a style and it becomes like… an identity, and I'm just like, but is this really where you want to be? Is this really how you feel? Is it benefiting you? When you wake up in the morning, how do you feel? Do you feel full? And I was feeling more and more drained with every relationship, more and more drained with every moment. And I remember going on that tour and after that tour was over, I was just like, there's been no progression. I feel like I just lived that album on the road and now I'm just back looking at my life and it still feels like it's in shambles. It's hope in there, but it was definitely a coping album for sure. And it was definitely an album where 90% of the songs that I made, I was in the room by myself. And it was definitely an album where everything was monochrome and black and white and muted, and the way that I even performed back then was completely different too. I was looking down at the ground. I didn't do too much running around. I didn't even know myself. I knew Free 6lack the album, but I didn't know who I could be until I really took step one, which was soon as that tour was over. Just cut it off.

6LACK Tells Apple Music About Learning To Enjoy New Things…

I've been able to enjoy so many different things recently, all based off of learning with my partner and being like, actually, "I think I am interested in going to see a ballet. I am interested in going to see a Broadway show. I am interested in," like I said, "having a tea party with you and your sisters and your family." These are things that helped me tap into another side of myself that I just never got to express.I want to get my green thumb together for sure. I want to know how to actually put stuff into the earth and grow stuff. That's a sooner goal than anything else. I think overall, let's just continuing to figure out ways to do things around me. Finding more projects like that so that I can just feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing while I'm here. If I have access to resources, if I have access to money, then let's find somewhere productive to put it. As of right now, that's my main goal.

6LACK Tells Apple Music About The Importance of Balance…

Balance is okay. Life is both. Life is everything. It's good, it's bad, it's bravado, it's peace and tranquility. It's moments of ego. It's moments of accountability.

Alicia Keys' first ever holiday masquerade ball is happening for all you lucky Apple Music subscribers

It’s the holiday season so why not get into the spirit? Turns out Grammy-winning singer Alicia Keys is celebrating in signature style with her first ever masquerade ball happening through a one-night only hometown performance and being live-streamed through Apple Music.

It’s lights, cameras and Alicia Keys on Apple Music Live

If you’re on the East Coast, you’ll have to stay up past your regular bedtime but it’ll definitely be worth it. Peep the details and prepare to tap in at 10 PM ET.

Global superstar Alicia Keys’ first-ever Holiday Masquerade Ball is set to stream exclusively on Apple Music in partnership with TikTok tonight, December 21st, at 7:00p PST. The 15-time GRAMMY® Award-winner’s epic one-night-only hometown performance at The United Palace in New York — packed with glitter and glamour to celebrate the holiday season — will be available to stream for Apple Music subscribers in over 165 countries at apple.co/aliciakeys-aml. For the first time ever, fans will also be able to tune in to the show on Apple Music’s TikTok page @AppleMusic.

Keys’ acclaimed new holiday album ‘Santa Baby’ — released last month exclusively on Apple Music in immersive Spatial Audio — debuted on Billboard’s Top Holiday Albums chart upon release. The 11-track album features soulful, raw, and fresh reimaginations of holiday classics as well as four original songs, which Keys showcases during her Apple Music Live Holiday Masquerade Ball performance, in addition to a selection of fan favorites. 

During the rousing performance, Keys is joined onstage by breakout singer, songwriter, producer and 2022 TikTok Emerging Artist JVKE for a special rendition of his hit trending single "golden hour", which has generated nearly 375 million total streams, and is currently #15 at Top 40 radio and climbing. Later in the show, Academy Award-winning artist Jon Batiste joins Keys for a electric medley of covers which brings down the house, including Nina Simone‘s “Feeling Good” and Nat King Cole‘s “The Christmas Song”. 

Apple Music Live gives the biggest stars in music a global platform to connect with audiences around the world and has previously featured exclusive live performances from Harry Styles, Lil Durk, Mary J. Blige, Luke Combs, Billie Eilish, and Wizkid. 

Apple Music's Replay Experience launches and here's how to use it

Apple Music continues to make itself a top notch streaming service and of course when you’re talking about streaming sites, it’s all about staying new and inventive. So of course the digital giant is pushing the culture forward with its newly launched Replay feature.

Apple Music’s Replay Experience has arrived

Fresh from Thanksgiving gatherings, Apple Music’s Replay is stacked with listening insights and a personalized highlight reel.

Beginning today, Apple Music subscribers can learn their top songs, artists, albums, genres, and more in a redesigned Replay experience. 2022 was a thrilling year in music, with listeners delving into new sounds, new languages, and new genres more than ever before. Additionally, the 2022 year-end charts show just how influential Apple Music listeners were in making 2022 a year to remember, both individually and as a community.

“When we first launched Replay, the feature became an instant fan favorite on Apple Music, and we really wanted to develop the experience further and make it even more special, personal, and unique for subscribers,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats. “The music we enjoy throughout the year becomes like a soundtrack, and it’s really fun to be able to go back and relive those meaningful and memorable moments over again.”

The Redesigned Apple Music Replay

New in 2022 is a year-end experience complete with expanded listening insights and new functionality, including a completely personalized highlight reel. Users can discover their top songs, top albums, top artists, top genres, and more. Superfans can even discover whether they are in the top 100 listeners of their favorite artist or genre.

Apple Music listeners can continue checking Replay until December 31 to see if their listening patterns evolve before the start of 2023, and once the new year begins, keep listening on Apple Music to explore and share new 2023 insights each week.

All insights on Replay are optimized for sharing with family and friends, on their social channels, or on any messaging platform.

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All of the bells and whistles sound great but most importantly - how do you use it and how does it work, you ask? Gotcha.

How Apple Music Replay Works

Visit replay.music.apple.com and log in with the same Apple ID used for Apple Music. Play highlights or scroll through the page for more detailed insights. A truncated version of the site is available all year or as soon as a user is eligible.

How to See Listening Stats

1. Listen to enough music to qualify. Gauge qualification with a personalized progress bar on the Replay website. Both playlist and insights eligibility happens with the same listening threshold.

2. Once a user is eligible for Replay, they can visit replay.music.apple.com.

3. Explore listening stats, listen on the site, and share.

Replay is localized in 39 languages for all 169 countries and regions where Apple Music is available.

Apple Music Replay and Privacy

Despite the emphasis on data, Replay maintains Apple’s standard privacy throughout the experience. An individual user’s insights are never shared, sold, or used in any marketing materials. The user can share their insights at their own discretion if they choose. No other Apple Music subscribers or employees can access their insights outside of their chosen snapshots at any time.

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While you continue to allow Replay to enter your life, Apple Music is also coming through clutch with its Top Charts Insights.

Top Charts Insights

Apple Music also revealed its year-end charts, spotlighting 2022’s top songs, top Shazams, top fitness songs, and most-read lyrics. Diving into the rankings, music aficionados will notice the growing presence of non-English-language songs, the rise of once-niche genres, and a number of exciting breakthrough artists stepping into the spotlight for the first time.

The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber finished the year at No. 1 on the Top Songs of 2022 with their collaboration “STAY.” Released in the summer of 2021, “STAY” spent a staggering 51 days atop the Daily Top 100: Global and remained sticky well through 2022. “STAY” has not dropped out of the Daily Top 100: Global since its release, and has reached No. 1 on the Daily Top 100 in 69 countries and regions worldwide.

Hip-Hop continued to lead the Top Songs chart, accounting for 32 of the top 100 songs of the year. Pop followed, with 23 songs on the chart, followed by R&B/Soul, with 11 songs. Latin came in fourth, with eight songs, followed by J-Pop, with six.

Things looked notably different on the Most Read Lyrics chart, led by “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” the standout on the soundtrack to Disney’s Encanto. The lyrics chart is among the most global charts, with 29 of the 100 songs being in a language other than English.

Meanwhile, British DJ Joel Corry’s “Head & Heart (feat. MNEK)” leads the Fitness Songs chart, which ranks the top songs on Apple Fitness+ and Apple Music’s fitness playlists. “Head & Heart” reached the Daily Top 100 in 53 countries and regions worldwide, including 12 where it reached the top 20.

Leading the Shazam chart was “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)” by Elton John and Dua Lipa, which marked Elton John’s first time topping the Shazam global chart. The track was No. 1 on 17 national charts — a record for both singers — and both hit the top spot in the UK for the first time. Rounding out the top five were Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves,” Harry Styles’ “As It Was,” Farruko’s “Pepas,” and Acraze’s “Do It To It (feat. Cherish).”

Elsewhere, Bad Bunny — Apple Music’s 2022 Artist of the Year — became the first Latin artist to have the biggest album of the year with Un Verano Sin Ti. A mere four months after its record-breaking release, Un Verano Sin Ti had already become the biggest Latin album of all time by lifetime streams.

Check out Apple Music’s complete list of Year-End Charts.

Yung Bleu keeps it 100 about his 'Soul Child' with Lil Wayne on Apple Music

Who says Yung Bleu only collaborates with Nicki Minaj? The popular crooner knows he has one with his new ‘Soul Child’ single with Lil Wayne and pulled through to dish on the record with Apple Music.

Yung Bleu talks about his new ‘Soul Child’ song

Bleu joined the one and only Zane Lowe on Apple Music to chop it up about the audio gem. He also talked about the song’s origin, linking up with Weezy F. Baby, the anticipation for his upcoming TANTRA album and seizing the moment with OVO Sound boss Drake.

The interview hits hard and to make life easier, here’s three pulled quotes from the conversation.

Yung Bleu Tells Apple Music About New Song "Soul Child" (feat. Lil Wayne)…

Just me, you know what I'm saying? Just going, not going a normal route of a hook and a verse. You know what I'm saying? Just let it being the normal, what people think when you think of a me and Wayne track. Kind of just paying homage to the way Wayne like to record and Wayne just say a lot of stuff on the beat and then you usually have to go in there and just make a hook. So that's kind of how I approached the song, you know what I'm saying? It was just beautiful to that way of just seeing us come together, like two different spectrums of music and just putting it together to make a hard ass track.

Yung Bleu Tells Apple Music About His Forthcoming Album ‘TANTRA’…

Tantra's kind of a really collection over what I'm saying, I feel like the last year, you know what I'm saying. I'm kind of summing up what's been going on with my career now. My mind state, giving people some classic s**t and just some good songs. Just keep going down that path of giving people beautiful songs. Good songs. Songs that last. So it's just one of those type of albums where I just take my time with it and just give people songs that's going last, you know what I'm saying?

Yung Bleu Tells Apple About Collaborating with Drake…

A lot of people was figuring, I was just going, you know what I'm saying, kind of do the classic thing that a lot of artists do and when they get that... You know what I'm saying, that big look, they kind of just disappear. You know what I'm saying? So it was kind of me got to be really talented to get over that hump, you know what I'm saying? And so I would just saying I showed n****s what to do with a Drake feature. You know what I'm saying it was, he always would say, you know what I'm saying, it’s on you to do, you know what I'm saying? It's on you. This is just a look. It's on you to take it to the next level after this, you know what I'm saying? And keep it going. So, that's what I did. I felt like, you know what I'm saying? I did that.