Burna Boy: The Nigerian superstar talks RZA, J. Cole, getting credit and more with Apple Music 1's Zane Lowe

Need some one-on-one time with Burna Boy? Say less. The Nigerian hip-hop star comes through with a full-fledged conversation alongside Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe dishing on everything from music-making and collaborations to soaking in his achievements.

It’s all types of big talk so to make life easier, peep some of the biggest quotes below and keep scrolling to see the full interview.

Burna Boy Tells Apple Music What Sets His New Album ‘I Told Them…’ Apart… 

It kind of showed me exactly the way I wanted to express what I was feeling and what my unit was feeling. The spirit of my unit. Just put that in because this is every day. This is a side where people don't really get to see because I don't really care for anyone to see. I have fun with it like this. But I felt like this time, this is a way... How do I put it? A more understandable way to pass that feeling and that energy across. And at the same time, showing you that's... Not you. Showing everyone, really, that the combination of worlds is something that we haven't really capitalized on. Because at the end of the day, once we're all unified, everything else, the fruits of that just take care of everything. 

Burna Boy Tells Apple Music About the Meaning of the Album Title… 

…they say a lot of times that prophets is not really recognizing its own home and shit. So this one is for the part of my own home and the people in my own home who didn't believe or doubt it, or still doubt, or any type of thing. And not just them, it's like everyone that ever heard me speak in the past or when I'd first started. You can go back to my old tweets and stuff. I basically predicted everything that's happening now. So this is basically that. It's fun to tell people something is true, and they doubt, and then they end up seeing it. There's no greater feeling. 

Burna Boy on the Type of Credit He Wants… 

I'm not going to say I don't want credit because everyone wants credit for what they do and shit. For me it's more like I want credit from places where it actually matters. Even though in reality don't mean nothing but places where you can say why, you can explain and it makes sense to everybody. That's the type of shit I want. I want to go somewhere where it's like they see the work and they see everything, the journey and everything, and they're like, "This is amazing. Yeah, congratulations.” That's the type of shit that means something. You don't get that in my country. It means something to the people who are not part of the game in a way. It means something to people who have nothing to gain or lose and no stakes in the matter. 

Burna Boy on Being Proud of His Accomplishments… 

That's the thing I've beat my chest the most about. It's the fact that, yeah, not only did I do it on my own terms and all that, I did it against all odds. You know what I mean? And against the wishes of the powers that be in my environment. You know what I mean? So yeah, it's something I'm really proud of. 

Burna Boy Tells Apple Music About Virgil Abloh’s Influence… 

Especially like Virgil was the heart of this s**t. You know what I mean? The heart of the whole fashion world, especially for us Black. Not just that, it's just the cool creativity in the man's head. This is the difference. You look at something, he looks at it, you are seeing different colors than each, you know what I mean? It's crazy. 

Burna Boy Tells Apple Music About Looking Up To J. Cole… 

Burna Boy: Legend, man.  

Zane Lowe: Legend. And someone who I feel beyond just creatively and musically you could possibly relate to in the way he handles himself, lives his life and finds his space to disappear too. Is that part of the law of attraction to his work that you recognize in the individual?  

Burna Boy: Most definitely, most definitely. The truth is often hidden, but when you come across it and you are a person of truth yourself, you can't help but recognize it. You know what I mean? That's really the story of me and J Cole. It's like, I recognize it.  

Zane Lowe: Is that where you're going, do you think?  

Burna Boy: That's something I've always looked at, his sense and thought, "Bro, that would be a nice, very conducive way to end up.” 

Burna Boy Tells Apple Music About Embracing Substance in Afrobeats… 

…you hear most of Nigerian music, or I'll say African... I don't even know what to say, Afrobeats, as people call it, it's mostly about nothing, literally nothing. There's no substance to it. Nobody's talking about anything. It's just a great time, it's an amazing time. But at the end of the day, life is not an amazing time. No matter how nice of a time you're having now or you had at some point or you plan to have, you're still going to face life. So it's like, for me, I feel like music should be that, music should be the essence of the artist, you understand? The artist is a person, like me speaking for myself, the artist is a person who has good days, bad days, great days, and worst days. And for me, if I give you something like this with my face on it, and my name, then I should be giving you that experience. That should be a window for you to see some of that essence. 

Burna Boy Tells Apple Music About Collaborating with RZA… 

Yeah, it's been a great honor, man. He wasn't there. We weren't personally in the studio together when he did it, but when he sent the first draft to me, I could just feel the energy, it's like most of the shit is about, he's connecting things that have to do with photography, shit that has to do with the vision, like photographic shit. And he's made the whole thing, he combined and interlock and it's just crazy. 

Burna Boy Tells Apple Music “If I’m Lying” Is His Best Song Yet… 

I feel like it's my best song ever… It's spiritual. 

Burna Boy on Fela Kuti…

I am grateful for the fact that he existed in his time so that we could get and experience the true organic nature of what he was and the essence of what he stood for and the message he passed across to us. 

Burna Boy on His First Impressions of New York… 

To me, it looked just like Lagos, only with more tall buildings closer together. The same energy as Lagos. It's the same... Everybody's in a hurry. I felt like, "Wow. This can't be what they've been showing me on TV.” This don't look like TV land… this place is very sentimental for me because starting from PlayStation theater all the way to Citi Field now. It's been a journey. 

Burna Boy on the Benefits of Traveling the World… 

Man, the more I see the world and the more I experience just makes me understand myself a bit more, understand why things are the way they are a bit more. I just have a lot of answers to a lot of questions I used to have and previously didn't have answers for.

Post Malone: The Texas crooner dishes on fatherhood and aliens with Apple Music

It’s clear Post Malone has plenty to talk about these days. The Texas native, Utah resident comes through for a super in-depth conversation with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe and it’s nearly an hour of awesomeness.

From talking about being a proud papa to reflecting back on his classic ‘White Iverson’ tune, it’s all Posty. Tap in.

Post Malone on Becoming a Father, Slowing Down, and Taking a Moment To Appreciate His Success...

Post Malone: I guess having a baby really put a lot into perspective and it's really slowed me down a lot, party wise, going out and being crazy. But it's the most beautiful thing and I don't know. It's like I'm trying to get some land right now. You already know… the end is nigh.

Zane: You believe that though?

Post Malone: I don't know, man. It's weird. Yeah, I definitely do. I just want to get my stuff and I want to go out and do shows, but then I just want to... We got out of LA and now we live in Salt Lake. And that's like me... I just want to take some time now. And actually you mentioned all the accoutrement of success and everything that comes with that. Now I just want to take a second and enjoy it. I just want to take a minute and be like, it is that. It was amazing. It is amazing. But I never really got to stop and smell the roses. And then you get caught up in, it's not about the destination, it's the journey. And yeah, I never really got time or really had the bandwidth to experience the journey to its fullest. So I guess that's what I'm trying to do now.

Post Malone on Battling Social Anxiety…

I have a hard time communicating with people. And I don't know, it's a really... Especially now. I was saying before, whenever I was a kid, I would walk, run around, and I'd be like, "Hey." I didn't really care. Now, I don't know why. It's a really interesting thing.

Post Malone on Fan Concerns About His Health…

I mean, first off, I shouldn't have to really justify anything to anyone, but I appreciate the concerns that people... But then it just goes... It goes from like, Hey, I hope he's fine. But then the rumor starts that I'm doing hard drugs, which I've never done in my entire life. So it's like, oh….

Post Malone on The Process of Recording New Album ‘Austin’ and Embracing Guitar and Reverb…

It was so fun, I tell you, to play guitar on every song…I don't know necessarily if I've been waiting to make it. It's always something that's kind of been wanted to be made, if that makes sense. I don't know. A lot of the times we go in and we do the music and the melody has never really been...The way that I work it, the music and the melody has never been written at the same time. It's usually there's music there and then the melody comes after. But with that, just being able to sit there, like I said, reverb cross-legged here over in, I think Studio D… with the cans on and so much reverb…You know what I mean? And so it's really cool and it was a really eye-opening experience for me and how I could write music and how I could make music. And it's not just one way. There's so many different ways, like you said. It's just a song is there, you just got to find it.

Post Malone on Which Artists He Listened To As a Child That Influenced ‘Austin’…

I really never talk about Radiohead and how fucking badass they are. Never... Well, I talked about Stevie, but I love Fleetwood Mac. I don't know.

Post Malone Says Alcohol is a Weakness For Him But That He’s in a Good Spot With His Drinking...

Zane: I've never asked you outright, but I mean, do you think that you've come to the point where you can acknowledge that alcohol is a weakness for you? That it's a problem?

Post Malone: Very much so. It's very frustrating. But now if I do drink and I'm not doing a show or recording... And yeah, that's another... I have a very hard time expressing myself via recording if I'm not a little f***ed up. It's a good spot now because if I'm not recording or I'm not talking to people or if I'm not doing shows, I really do drink just to have fun. It's having a beer with my dad or with my bud.

Post Malone on Transitioning From Rock Star To Family Man…

I really love hanging out with my baby, hanging out with the lady, playing video games, and in my garage working on projects. That's what I love to do. And so it hasn't been that hard, but there's times to where you have...It's that one drink that sets you over, so you're like, you know what? I'm going to rage for two days. But the difference is I don't rage in social settings. It's usually me and a buddy. And we just stay up super late until the sunrise and we're just drinking and sitting out on the car and just hanging out listening to music. Removing the social aspect of it. And it's not... It's not full rage. And I think at those moments, I'm like, you know what? I used to go nuts and this is significantly better. I'm not running around town and I'm not... There used to be a time, especially at the beginning of our relationship, that I would just disappear and just go for a week. And I was like, oh man, that's so shitty. I'm such a turd. But now I don't. It's been surprisingly easy because this is the stuff that I've always wanted to do. I'm a homebody. I never want to leave my house. I never want to leave the property, and I just want to play games and watch TV and hang with the family. So I'm... It's been super easy.

Post Malone on Taking Mushrooms...

Yeah, I take shrooms… I like shrooms. I like shrooms. Not as much as I used to. It's really affected my short term memory... Maybe it was just a stint of habitual overuse. Daily. But now I take a little bar of chocolate with my buddies, a little square chocolate and just laugh and laugh and laugh.I was talking to a ranger buddy of mine. He was a ranger and he was saying they're giving it to guys for PTSD and stuff. And I was like, oh that's cool because a lot of the times, a lot of pharmaceuticals, they have negative reactions often. And it's cool to see that they're giving them this medicine and it's actually working. He was saying his buddy was going through it and it really helped him a lot. I don't know. It's interesting because it's improved. It has improved my view on things. Making the last record, I was so, so, so... Well, writing it, I was so, so sad. But now I'm so happy and it's definitely improved my viewpoint on life.

Post Malone on Time Management…

I don't know, it's just the schedule keeps getting... I find the more that the world opens back up and everybody's going on tour and everybody's doing stuff, which makes a lot of sense, but the schedule just keeps getting fuller. And now that I'm a dad, the schedule only got more full. And now that releasing new music, schedule gets fuller and fuller and fuller. But the one thing that's constant is the amount of time in a day and then the amount of time before we go on tour again or the amount of time before...I'm definitely more tired. Which I was always tired before, but now I'm more tired.

Post Malone on His Reputation For Being a Nice Guy…

Life's too short to be a dickhead. I think that's the Bible verse, right?

Post Malone on Preparing To Tour With a Full Band For The First Time...

Yeah. So we're taking a band on tour. First time. I think every record is super self-contained. You get a little bit of everything. Some more than others, but you get a little bit of everything and it's going to be so much fun. This is my first time with the band, so being able to experiment with them and see what new arrangements we can do with the music and cool transitions. We have a string section.

Post Malone on How He Defines Success…

People ask what success is. And success is being able to do what you want to do and not have to worry about not being able to. Does that make sense? I want to, I guess, incubate a creative and free lifestyle where she doesn't have to worry about that. You know what I mean? 

Burna Boy: Here's a behind the scenes look at his sold-out London Stadium takeover

It’s no secret - Burna Boy is really on fire these days. Pun intended, of course. The hip-hop artist shows no signs of slowing down and takes fans deeper into his non-stop grind with a deep dive conversation with Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden.

From a behind the scenes look at his historic sold out London stadium show to talking about his latest music, the global superstar doesn’t hold back on this journey.

Burna Boy sits down with Ebro Darden on location in London ahead of his Apple Music Live performance to talk about the journey from Nigeria to the legendary London Stadium. Burna Boy knew that he was destined for greatness telling Ebro, "I guarantee you there's nothing that's happening now that I didn't tell them in 2013 and 2014, '15 and '16. I've been saying this was going to happen because I knew.” The Love, Damini artist is dedicated to helping listeners continually discover music saying, "We're trying to make the world understand that music is bigger than a genre.”

The GRAMMY® Award-winning Nigerian artist’s sold-out performance at London Stadium will debut this Wednesday, July 19th at 12:00pm PST / 8:00pm UK on Apple Music at apple.co/-BurnaBoyAML, Apple TV+, and on Apple Music and Burna Boy’s TikTok pages @AppleMusic and @burnaboyofficial. Fans can also stream Burna Boy’s performance on demand on both Apple Music and Apple TV+. 

Burna Boy is both the most-streamed Nigerian artist of all time on Apple Music worldwide and the most-streamed artist in Nigeria of all time. His acclaimed 2019 album ‘African Giant’ broke the record for the biggest African album by first-day and first-week streams worldwide and 2022’s ‘Love, Damini’ became the No. 1 album on Apple Music in 70 countries and smashed the record for the biggest first-day and first-week for an album by an African artist — a record he still holds. Burna Boy’s songs have reached the Daily Top 100 in more than 130 countries, including 98 where they’ve reached the Top 10, and on TikTok his most trending songs include "For My Hand”, “Jagele”, “Last Last”, and “Bank On It”. 

Mary J. Blige's giving all types of hype for tonight's big Apple Music Live Performance

As if the Attack The Culture’s Top 50 Must-Hear Apple Music playlist on the homepage wasn’t enough to get you to join the streaming giant, then allow the legendary Mary J. Blige to hype you up. The veteran crooner is gearing up for a massive live performance tonight none other than on the digital entertainment powerhouse.

Ahead of the big performance, check out her conversation with Apple Music’s Nadeska. Highlights from the conversation are below and keep scrolling to see Blige’s chop up session.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About Crafting The Set List For Her Apple Music Live Performance...

I feel great. This is a special night. I'm just so humbled by the whole invitation to even be here tonight. I’ve been touring and doing shows for years now so I know what the fans want to hear from each album. So, you know...classics… you can’t lose with that and of course they love “Good Morning, Gorgeous” and they love the album. But if you do not incorporate those classics… it will not be good. So, you start from the beginning. The performance is definitely gonna be like a history lesson because most of my songs are sample driven. This is gonna be fun, what I’m gonna do. It’s gonna be fun, it’s gonna be crazy. You gotta incorporate the classics, give them some new, give them some out, give them a rest, pick it back up and go home.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music How Performing Today Differs From The Start of Her Career 30 Years Ago...

100% different from 30 years ago because I was nervous and scared and crazy 30 years ago. Now I just get a little bit of nerves and that's it. It's easier now, it's way easier than being young and not knowing what to expect. Now you're just like, "Okay, whatever happens happens, but I'm just going to give my best. I'm going to give 100% to the audience, no matter what.”

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About Performing at the Super Bowl...

I don't even have the words to explain how full and how huge of an accomplishment that was. I just felt so strong. And I felt like first of all, grateful to have been asked, but I definitely felt like I earned that moment. I earned that moment. So when it was my turn, I just showed the world who I was. If you never seen me or you never met me or you never went to any of my shows, you know exactly who I am after the Super Bowl. I just couldn't wait to hit the Mary bopping. I just couldn't wait to just be myself and do what I do in front of that audience. That was the world, that was a big deal. I was so grateful.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music Why She’s Proud of Herself and Her Career...

I'm super proud of myself and I've never thought I'd ever be able to say that in my lifetime, I am super proud of myself because I did a lot of work to get here. And I'm proud of my heart, I'm proud of my soul, my spirit, my work ethic, the people that I choose to be around me, the energy that I give to people, I'm proud. I'm super proud of how far I came because I come a long way.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About Being a North Star For A New Generation of Female R&B Singers…

It's a blessing. When I got the icon award, it all just started to register like, "Wow, I really did something, I really did something," but it's not like I did something because I was great all the time, I did something because I was going through all types of hell all the time. And I didn't have a choice. I had to walk through that hell. I had to watch all my business on the news. I had to listen to people laughing at me. I had to hear all this negative stuff. I had to go through all that hell in front of everybody for them to have what they have and they have great music and great songs and a lot of women are being more transparent because I tripped and fell a million times and got up. It's not like everything was great, a lot of things wasn't but now things are better than what they were and I'm acknowledging and embracing the good now. Although there's still bad stuff happening, I have to embrace the good to get out to keep from falling back into that. So I birthed a whole lot of beautiful, amazing female R&B singers because of the trials and tribulations that I've gone through and the lyrics in my songs.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music How Her Song “You Remind Me” Changed Her Life…

I mean, it changed my life because it went on to the Strictly Business soundtrack for Uptown Records. And there's a lot of songs on that album. My song jumped off the album into the hands of all of the mixed show DJs and radio DJs. And I was living in the projects and they was playing this song every day, all day. And I was like, "Oh my God, this is bad. This is not good where I live at if you got a smash on the radio." So I was just trying to ignore the fact that I had a song out. And even before then, I had the song with Father MC I'll Do For You, and a video. So I was trying to ignore everything, I had to, I had to, because the environment didn't allow us to be too proud of or brag. It was scary because I was hood famous. I was a star. But I just was trying to act like I wasn't and make everybody else forget, because it was hell. It was not a good thing to have something.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About Battling Depression and Insecurity Between The Release of Her First Two Albums…

Oh, it was a lot because the depression and the fear that I was dealing with was all coming to a big head because I was in front of the world now and I was scared and I was insecure and I didn't think anything of myself. So I was doing everything under the sun to numb the pain, from drugs to alcohol, to just not taking care of myself and really just doing a lot of it. And so it was scary and I didn't love myself. And I was pushing through and it was like I was a ostrich, I had my head down in the dirt trying to walk and couldn't see, because I just didn't want to see myself. I didn't want to look at myself, I didn't want to hear myself. I don't know, just everything. Just when you get in front of people, you get in front of the world and you're on stage in front of the world and you are already insecure and you're young, man it's hell, it is hell and I couldn't handle it. So I was just turning to everything I could to not see myself.

Mary J. Blige Reflects on Early Diddy Memories…

... I was a knucklehead, so we bumped heads a lot. But it was for the good because at the end of the day, we loved each other and we made some beautiful music together.” "... Puff was really wanting it more than I did, and pushing me and pushing me. And I didn't know why he was pushing me so hard. And now today, I see why he was pushing me so hard.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About Hearing From Fans About The Impact of ‘You Remind Me’ on Their Lives…

… when I meet all these fans, what My Life meant to be didn't mean that for them, a lot of them said, "This album helped me to get married. This album got me through college." I'm like, "I was going through hell," so it has different meanings for everybody. And what's crazy about that and amazing is that just me being transparent just touched a lot of people in a lot of ways. And I thought I was being sad, which I was, and people are like, "That's my song. I got married to that." I'm like, "Married? I was dying.”

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About The Title Track From Her Most Recent Album ‘Good Morning, Gorgeous’…

Well, I was going through another difficult time in my life and I was in the middle of getting out of that difficult time, but I was in it still deep. And I was never enough, I couldn't please this person, there was nothing I could do. And I realized that when someone hates you more than you hate you got to, you got some real serious work to do. And I didn't know what to do. And one day I was watching TV Jakes, and he said, "What you say about you is way more important and way more effective than what anybody else could say or think about you." And it just struck everything in my body. And I just started during my prayer, waking up and saying, "Good morning, beautiful, good morning, gorgeous. Good morning, Mary, I love you. Good morning, talented." I just started saying those things, even if I didn't believe it, but I used the word gorgeous because I didn't believe that. And I was like, "I need to say something that I never thought was possible." You think say gorgeous, you think of Apolonia, you think of all the beautiful wavy hair girls. But I had to say that. And when I started saying that it took a while, but it started manifesting from the inside. That's why I said, "I'm not talking my hair and makeup," and I do it in the morning when I look in the mirror morning, when I go to the bathroom for the first time and you look in the mirror and you like, "Good morning, gorgeous," little crust in your eyes. And it registers in your heart and your insides. And it's began to grow from the inside out. And that's why this is nice, but this is nicer, because this carries all of this, I had all this stuff when I was going through hell, but it didn't mean anything. Now it all means something and I appreciate it all because it's from the inside.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About Collaborating with H.E.R…

The first time I saw her perform was at the Black Girl's Rock Show and I was getting honored and I was sitting in the front row where she came out with this guitar and all this hair. And I would say, "Who was this beautiful little girl with this bass?" And she was saying, and I was in love from day one. Her music was just incredible. So standing ovation and much, much, much love to her. And I always wanted to work with her. And this was the opportunity. She heard through the grapevine, we called her, it happened and the session was amazing because she's just beautiful and a musician she's got a bass, she's like, "So what are we talking about?" She's beautiful.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About Collaborating With Summer Walker…

And to meet Summer Walker, who's another beautiful person and super talented and to have my arms open and love on them because I was young and I didn't get that kind of love from a lot of the people that came before me. So I just wanted, "What we doing? How we doing it? You all can help me too, I need some help too. What's new?" You got to keep your ear to the youth so they can help you too.

Burna Boy chops it up with the legendary Elton John on Apple Music 1

It’s not everyday you get the chance to talk to a living legend like Elton John so of course Burna Boy is taking advantage. The hitmaker pulls through for one of EJ’s Rocket Hour sessions on Apple Music 1 to dish on everything from new tunes to headlining Madison Square Garden.

Check out some of the key interview quotes and keep scrolling to see the duo in action. Reminder, the episode airs tomorrow, July 16, at 9 AM PST/12 PM ET at apple.co/_RocketHour.

Elton John on Burna Boy’s music

I absolutely love and cherish his music. He's just one of the greatest artists ever to come out of Africa.

Burna Boy on recording his new album 'Love, Damini'

Started last year and then, it's been an amazing process. It's been nothing but a blessing. It's been an experience most important.

Burna Boy on headlining Madison Square Garden

I was just overwhelmed by the whole thing. Because that's like some stuff that, coming from where I'm coming from, Africa, Nigeria and stuff, it doesn't even feel real.

Elton John on African music

You are so loved. African music is so well known now, it’s not just world music. All the music coming out of Africa is so interesting and so brilliant.

Elton John and Burna Boy on wanting to work together in the studio soon

ELTON JOHN: I'm on a world tour at the moment. But when things calm down, if you ever want to do a song with me, I'd be... You are the one artist that I really would love to do something with, because you really make me happy, and your music is just so fantastic. I've played eight tracks of you already on the Rocket Hour. So, we go back a long way on the Rocket Hour with you. I would love one day to catch up and do something in the studio with you. It would be an honor for me to do that.

BURNA BOY: Man, of course. I've been looking forward to that for so long.

ELTON JOHN: All right. Well, I promise you one day we'll get together, and we'll do something. I can't wait to do that.

Jon Batiste talks award-winning music, powerful Black women and musical goals with Apple Music 1

It’s a celebration these days for Jon Batiste. The popular musician has stepped up to speak on a flurry of topics with Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden from making award-winning tunes to the impact of his grandmother’s heroics during Hurricane Katrina in the mid-2000’s.

Check out some interview highlights and kick back to see JB chop it up.

Jon Batiste Tells Apple Music About The Possibility of Writing a Musical To Complete His EGOT…

I've got to write a musical now. I got to write a musical. I actually might do that. I'm working on something right now. I don't want to say too much about it. It's based on the book I really like. If we can get the rights we working on getting the rights to it.

Jon Batiste Tells Apple Music About The Message of His Award-Winning Album ‘WE ARE’…

'We Are' is really a proclamation that Black culture is quintessential American culture. To express the level of innovation and the foresight in establishing modern democracy in America. And then the reluctance to recognize Black genius in the foundation of that. But then for it to emerge anyway. For it to emerge anyway, and to become a part of everything.

Jon Batiste Tells Apple Music About The Link Between Black Culture and Activism…

The idea of Black culture and what it took to get is a real thing. And it's got to be protected and understood. And it is universal. And my family, to go back to what you were saying about coming up, growing up in New Orleans and that role of activism in music, you got to remember that there was a time where you couldn't be on a stage and not in some way be representing your people. You couldn't be on a stage and it not be some kind of statement about your humanity or affirming your right to be there. Paul Robeson on stage at Carnegie hall, Mahalia Jackson and Duke Ellington. Music was integrated before sports. We don't talk about that. Talk about jazz bandstand, that was integrated first. And the statement of being there, and that's not that long ago. It wasn't that long ago to think that that was something that had to be fought for. And now we still are fighting for other things. It's more sophisticated marginalization on a lot of levels, but we are still making statements whether we know it or not is all I'm saying. So it's better to make a conscious, informed statement and know the holistic perspective. And that's all I believe activism really is about. It's about affirming humanity, as you said, and about knowing the full perspective and using your agency to make this generation progress.

Jon Batiste Tells Apple Music About His Grandmother and Recognizing The Contributions of Strong Black Women…

My grandmother, we escaped Katrina together. We were in the cold, my whole family, and my grandmother and we drove as Katrina was flooding the city out of New Orleans to Texas. Strong women are the backbone of Black families. I'm moved just thinking about how much they gave to us and how they gave with grace. It feels like we are in a time where I hope we're beginning to recognize that more, in the depth of importance of that, remembering those figures, there's a lot of unsung heroes.

Benny The Butcher keeps it 100 on Conway The Machine and Griselda status

New York rapper Benny The Butcher has plenty to talk about these days. Notably? How about the unexpected departure of Conway The Machine from being signed or under contract with Griselda. The hip-hop heavyweight chop it up with Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden.

Check out some sneak peeks from the interview and gear up for the full chop up session at 12 PM PT/3 PM ET.

"I’m gonna break something down for you… We’re going to always be crew…I don't think Conway is still signed to Griselda, but that's “signed" to Griselda. He's going to always be Griselda. And no, West is the sole owner of that. I think that's one of the big misconceptions is that they own it together. But that's West's baby. Like Conway tell you if West own a building, he did the construction type of thing…”

"It ain’t nothing to even trip off, for real. I don’t know what’s going on… everybody just doing so much man, just on the individual side that we don’t really kinda be having the time to really connect all the time and link. We don’t all live in the same city no more, we don’t really hang out and do s**t no more, see each so all these conversations we don’t necessarily get to have all the time."

Megan Thee Stallion's really a college graduate

Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion is way smarter than you think - how smart? How about college graduate type goals? The hip-hop star pulls through with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe for a New Music Daily conversation centered on her new music, hitting the books, the Hotties’ loyalty and plenty more.

The interview clocks in at nearly 20 minutes and features Meg chopping it up over a flurry of topics but especially her newly released Popeyes Hottie Sauce.

Megan Thee Stallion talks with Zane Lowe about her mixtape, ‘Something For Thee Hotties,’ the completion of her college degree, new business ventures, and more. It is a busy time for Megan, as she spends her time collaborating across multiple genres with groups like BTS and Maroon 5, and working on her next album. Megan explains that she feels so grateful she has made it so far in her career, she couldn’t imagine slowing down now.