Author: Rap Hooks

Cardi B is gearing up for her first headlining arena trek, with just over a month until her Little Miss Drama Tour kicks off in Palm Desert, California, on Feb. 11.

As the calendar turns to 2026, Cardi started tour rehearsals on Tuesday (Jan. 6), and she posted a clip on her Instagram Story working on some choreography with a couple of back-up dancers in the studio.

The Bronx rapper appeared to be happy with the results from day one. “I ain’t do so bad first day of rehearsal….I’m finding the pocket,” she wrote.

Cardi knows the pressure’s on to deliver in her first time on the road. Last month, she got emotional posting to social media after seeing fans gift tickets to her tour for Christmas to friends and family.

“These videos of people receiving my concert tickets for Christmas gifts, they making me so happy, but then again, I’m thinking like, ‘God damn, I gotta really work hard,” she said. ” People are receiving me for Christmas. I gotta give it all I got. Don’t worry, y’all. I’m finna go to work.”

The North American trek is scheduled for 36 dates, including stops in Las Vegas, Miami, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Baltimore, Philly, NYC, Charlotte, Toronto and will wrap up with a pair of shows in Atlanta.

“I know I’m a good performer,” Cardi told Billboard as part of her 2025 cover story. “Well, am I? No, I’m great. I’m actually really great because I was a stripper. But no, I think my personal tour is not going to be like any other performances that I’ve ever had. From the aesthetics to the look to even the way I perform, I’m going to be doing things that I don’t normally do, like work out, because I want to be the best.

She continued: “I’ve been going to so many different tours. I went to the Madonna show and the Beyoncé show. I can’t perform like Beyoncé, but you can’t half-a— nothing. I always say this: I have two left feet, but I’m going to have to get a fake leg. A right one because I’m going to give it my all. This is going to be one of the greatest tours. I’m going to make it the best.”

The Little Miss Drama Tour comes in support of Cardi’s sophomore album, Am I the Drama?, which topped the Billboard 200 in September with 200,000 equivalent album units earned in the first week.

A new lawsuit claims the alleged monopoly exercised by Live Nation and Ticketmaster forced an upstart competitor called Fanimal out of business.

The case, filed on Tuesday (Dec. 30) in federal court, is the latest in a slew of antitrust lawsuits to allege Live Nation and Ticketmaster have unlawfully cornered the live events industry since merging in 2010. A blockbuster Department of Justice (DOJ) suit seeks to force the two companies apart, and consumers are pursuing their own damages in multiple class actions.

This time, the plaintiff is a would-be rival: ticketing platform Fanimal. The company was founded in 2018 with an emphasis on transparent pricing and easily split group ticket purchases, but it shut down and was sold to TickPick in 2024.  

“Fanimal was an innovative ticketing start-up focused on fans,” reads the lawsuit. “It had venture capital backing, a fast-growing user base of more than 250,000, and a projected valuation of more than $100 million within just a few years. But Fanimal fell prey to Defendants’ anticompetitive practices and was forced to shutter its ticketing business and sell its parts.”

Like the DOJ and consumer lawsuits, Fanimal’s complaint alleges Live Nation has used its control of the concert promotion market to force major venues into using Ticketmaster as their exclusive ticket brokers.

Fanimal says it had the capacity to provide ticketing for major concert venues, but Ticketmaster’s exclusive contracts made it impossible to compete for these opportunities. According to the lawsuit, this alleged ceiling on Fanimal’s scaling capacity closed the door on further venture capital funding.

Now, Fanimal is seeking to recoup its financial losses from Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The complaint states that as a result of the companies’ anticompetitive conduct, it had to sell to TickPick for “a modest amount.”

Reps for Live Nation and Ticketmaster declined to comment on the new lawsuit on Monday (Jan. 5). The companies have previously denied wielding any monopolistic power, arguing that competition in the live events space has actually increased since their merger.

The DOJ case is currently scheduled to go to trial in May. Meanwhile, a broad swath of ticket buyers was granted class certification in a suit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster last month, and a narrower group of Taylor Swift fans overcame a key dismissal motion in November to keep pursuing antitrust claims tied to the Eras Tour presale.

A judge has denied Royel Otis guitarist Royel Maddell’s attempt to identify the anonymous Reddit users who accused him of grooming an underage student when he was a music teacher.

In a Dec. 24 order, Judge William Alsup said Maddell (real name Leroy Bressington) hasn’t met the requirements for a subpoena unmasking the Redditors who claimed he had been found guilty of having sex with a minor pupil. Maddell said he needed this information to bring a defamation lawsuit in his home state of Australia — but the federal judge was unconvinced that the guitarist would actually follow through.

“No litigation to stop these statements has been filed anywhere in the world,” wrote Judge Alsup. “So far as we know, Bressington never has put pen to paper to inform any government authority anywhere in the world about the matters that concern this application, until submitting it now.”

The judge also pointed out that while Maddell declares he has never been charged or convicted of sexual misconduct by any criminal authorities, he “has not specifically rejected as false one of the most basic assertions alleged: that when not a minor he had sex with a minor.”

The ruling held that these factors ultimately weighed against ordering a subpoena against Reddit. Maddell’s reps did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday (Jan. 5), nor did the social media platform.

Maddell makes up one half of Royel Otis alongside singer Otis Pavlovic. The indie-pop duo landed their first Billboard No. 1 chart entry in May with “Moody,” though the song’s hook, “My girl’s a b–h when she’s moody,” attracted accusations of misogyny.

It was in the wake of the controversy around “Moody” that users on Reddit began claiming that Maddell had an improper sexual relationship with a student years earlier. The claims caught fire, leading to the creation of an entire subreddit titled “Royel Otis Allegations.”

Maddell got lawyers involved, asking for Reddit’s help in unmasking the users who started the scandal. But the social media company declined, citing free speech and privacy concerns. Maddell’s attorneys then took Reddit to court in October, arguing that the company “continues to allow these defamatory posts to remain on its platform and to spread beyond it.”

SZA fans aren’t going to want to snooze on a new opportunity to hang out with the star one on one, an experience she’s offering up to support Freedom for Sudan’s cause.

In an Instagram post on Monday (Jan. 5), SZA boosted the announcement that she’ll be auctioning off a personal fan experience for Freedom for Sudan’s upcoming fundraiser. The hangout will take place on Zoom, unless the highest bidder also lives in Los Angeles.

“I WANNA ADD THAT IF YOU LIVE IN LA WE CAN HANG OUT IN PERSON !!!” the hitmaker wrote in her caption, sharing one of the auction posters. “ANYTHING TO RAISE AWARENESS AND SUPPORT.”

In the comments, SZA teased what the winner can expect from their time together. “WE CAN DO ANYTHING!!” she wrote. “SING CRY DO YOGA MEDITATE TALK S–T ABOUT CURRENT EVENTS DANCE LISTEN TO MUSIC BECOME BESTIES , MAKE MOOD BOARDS TOGETHER AND PLAN FUTURE HANG OUTS !!! ALL TYPES OF S–TTT CALL MEEEEE.”

In addition to the hangout, SZA is putting up a signed five-piece merchandise bundle for the six-day auction, which kicks off Tuesday (Jan. 6). Other famous participants include The Weeknd, who will auction off two premium tickets to one of his future concerts, and Olivia Rodrigo, whose specific contribution hasn’t been announced. Central Cee, PinkPantheress and more are taking part as well.

“Get closer to your favourite artists & support the people of Sudan in their mission to end the violence and exploitation and rebuild with a civilian government,” reads a description of the auction on Freedom for Sudan’s Instagram. “100% of proceeds to Sudanese non-profits.”

The new initiative comes amid a period of turmoil for the people of Sudan, who have reportedly faced famine and alleged genocidal violence since civil war broke out in April 2023. According to BBC News, more than 120,000 people had died in the conflict as of November 2025.

SZA has also been on a charitable streak in recent months. In December, she performed at Top Dawg Entertainment’s annual benefit concert, and the month prior, she teamed up with Los Angeles restaurant Jon & Vinny’s to provide 1,400 free meals in partnership with her Not Charity.