Author: Rap Hooks

Papa Roach’s “Braindead,” featuring H2O vocalist Toby Morse, rises two spots to No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart dated Oct. 4.

As the song becomes the Jacoby Shaddix-led Papa Roach’s 12th leader on the list, the group now claims sole possession of the 10th-most No. 1s in the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart’s 44-year history, breaking out of a tie with Volbeat.

Papa Roach first ruled Mainstream Rock Airplay in 2009 with “Lifeline,” nine years after initially reaching the survey with “Last Resort” (No. 4, 2000). Its current No. 1 streak — five in a row — dates to September 2022, when “No Apologies” led for a week.

Most No. 1s, Mainstream Rock Airplay:
21, Shinedown
19, Three Days Grace
16, Five Finger Death Punch
14, Foo Fighters
14, Metallica
13, Disturbed
13, Godsmack
13, Linkin Park
13, Van Halen
12, Papa Roach

As for Morse, “Braindead” is his first solo ruler on a Billboard chart, in his first appearance on his own. H2O has multiple entries, including No. 1s, on album charts, from 1997’s Thicker Than Water through 2015’s Use Your Voice.

Concurrently, “Braindead” zooms 19-10 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 2.5 million audience impressions in the week ending Sept. 25, up 24%, according to Luminate. It’s Papa Roach’s 10th top 10, and fifth in a row. The band’s best, “Even If It Kills Me,” reached No. 2 in June.

“Braindead” is currently a stand-alone single. Papa Roach’s most recent album, Ego Trip, debuted at No. 6 on Top Hard Rock Albums in April 2022 and has earned 204,000 equivalent album units to date.

All Billboard charts dated Oct. 4 will update Tuesday, Sept. 30 on Billboard.com.

It’s free Billboard charts month! Through Sept. 30, subscribers to Billboard’s Chart Beat newsletter, emailed each Friday, can unlock access to Billboard’s weekly and historical charts, artist chart histories and all Chart Beat stories simply by visiting the newly redesigned Billboard.com through any story link in the newsletter. Not a Chart Beat subscriber? Sign up for free here.

The share prices of two K-pop giants, HYBE and SM Entertainment, suffered steep losses in a week in which few music stocks mustered even small gains. 

In the week ended Friday (Sept. 26), HYBE’s stock fell 7.5% to 268,500 KRW ($190.53) amid a broader monthly downturn of approximately 9%. The company’s founder and chairman, Bang Si-hyuk, is currently facing a securities litigation probe. Additionally, on Tuesday (Sept. 23), HYBE sold its stake in YG Entertainment’s YG Plus. 

While HYBE maintains exposure to YG Plus through the 10.2% stake owned by HYBE subsidiary Weverse, the disposal of its 4.8 million shares worth a total of 38.22 billion KRW ($27 million) will help shore up the company’s finances. HYBE’s operating profit rebounded in the second quarter, but in 2024, the company reported that cash flow from operating activities was at its lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. HYBE held 412 billion KRW ($292 billion) in cash and cash equivalents at the end of 2024, an improvement from 2023 but lower than in both 2021 and 2022. 

SM Entertainment fared even worse than HYBE, falling 13.9% to 131,700 KRW ($93.46) after the company’s first court-led mediation with three members of the group EXO failed to resolve a $430,000 contract dispute. The artists claimed last year that they were being overcharged by SM for the distribution of music. 

Despite their recent struggles, the two K-pop companies are among the best-performing music stocks in 2025. Year to date, SM Entertainment is up 81.4% — third-best behind Netease Cloud Music (134.2%) and Tencent Music Entertainment (111.9%) — and HYBE has gained 33.6%. 

The Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) fell 2.1% to 3,034.75 this week, lowering its year-to-date gain to 40.8%. That marked the first decline in four weeks and just the sixth losing week in the second half of the year. Only two stocks posted gains for the week, while 16 lost value and one was unchanged. 

Global markets were mixed this week as investors weighed the damage that could arise from a possible federal government shutdown in the U.S. The Nasdaq composite index fell 0.7% to 22,484.07 after closing the previous week at an all-time high. The S&P 500 ended a three-week winning streak, closing down 0.3% to 6,643.70. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 0.7%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index slid 1.7% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2%.

Universal Music Group had the week’s largest gain, rising 2% to 24.00 euros ($28.09). Madison Square Garden Entertainment, which improved 0.3% to $45.29, was the week’s only other music stock in positive territory.

Live Nation fell 1.2% to $161.79, bringing its two-week decline to 6.9%. Live Nation and Ticketmaster were sued by the U.S. Department of Justice on Sept. 18 over allegedly violating the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act and engaging in “systemic unfair and deceptive practices,” according to the lawsuit. The stock received good news earlier in the week, however, when Seaport Global increased its price target to $190 from $170 and maintained its “buy” rating. 

Music streaming companies were among the week’s biggest losers. Tencent Music Entertainment fell 5.9%, Anghami slipped 4.8%, Netease Cloud Music dropped 4.4% and Spotify, the BGMI’s most valuable company, dipped 2.5%.

Another streaming company, LiveOne, executed a 10-to-1 reverse stock split on Friday (Sept. 26) that allowed it to meet the Nasdaq exchange’s minimum bid requirement of $1 per share. After accounting for the split, LiveOne’s share price fell 5.5% to $4.82, deepening its year-to-date loss to 65.1%. 

iHeartMedia had the second-largest decline of the week, falling 10.6% to $2.71. Despite the stock suffering its first decline in three weeks, iHeartMedia shares have risen 69.4% over the past seven weeks and have gained 27.2% year-to-date. The stock has been on a roll since its Q2 earnings on Aug. 11 showed that the company beat guidance by posting a small revenue gain.

Nearly 11 months after reaching a plea deal to secure his release from jail in the YSL RICO trial, Young Thug returned with his UY SCUTI album on Friday (Sept. 26).

Before letting his music do the talking, Thug became the victim of street politics and a plethora of leaked jail phone calls, which muddied his reputation in recent months.

While some rappers distanced themselves from King Spyder, Drake doubled down on his friendship with Thug, as the YSL honcho revealed that Drizzy reached out to him in the midst of the chaos to let him know they’ll always remain solid.

Thugger joined the Pivot Podcast on Friday, where he revealed the advice Drake gave him, along with clearing the air regarding their friendship.

“Drake, the jail phones all that s—t came out, Drake text me, ‘N—a, I love you. Drop that music, bro. Let your music talk,’” he recalled.

Thug went on to claim he’s never been one to pillow talk with women, but jail had him in a frazzled state of mind, which made him comment on plenty of his hip-hop peers.

“Damn, I was really on the phone talking about people. No girl in my entire life can tell you that I pillow talk with them,” he said. “That s—t get to me every day, I was really on the phone like a p—y.”

An alleged jail phone call leak between Thug and Mariah the Scientist saw the Atlanta rapper criticizing Drake over his treatment of Metro Boomin following his mother’s passing.

“You’re using the fact that you’re Drake as a weapon now and the n—a just not feeling that right now,” Thug said on a leaked call, according to VIBE. “You supposed to get on your big ol’ plane, and went to where that n—a was or where that n—a momma died, cause you really, really, really, mess with a n—a.”

There’s been speculation regarding the rift between Drake and Metro Boomin stemming from Drizzy requesting a song from Metro while he was in the midst of grieving the loss of his mother.

After dishing out a pair of assists on Thug’s 2023 Business Is Business album, Drake was noticeably absent from the star-studded UY SCUTI guest list, but Thugger insists they’re still tight. Drake was among those Thug apologized to in his sincere “Miss My Dogs” single.

Watch the full interview below.

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The NFL continues to strengthen it’s international presence with its second oversees football game of the 2025-26 season. After the intense rivalry game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil earlier this month, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Minnesota Vikings will face off in Dublin, Ireland, this Sunday, September 28. This will be the first-ever regular season NFL game kicking off in the Irish city.

If you want to tune in to watch the Aaron Rodgers-led Steelers offense go head-to-head against a high power Vikings offense with all-star wide-receiver Justin Jefferson — and watch British singer/songwriter Myles Smith’s halftime show — here’s everything you need to know about the Dublin game, including how to watch online with Sling TV.

When is the Steelers vs. Vikings Dublin Game?

How to Watch the Steelers vs. Vikings Game Online

If your time is limited and you don’t want to commit to a monthly service plan, Sling TV’s new Pass plans are the best ways to watch NFL games for a brief amount of time. There are three different streaming options giving subscribers the flexibility to choose between a day, week and weekend pass.

Starting at $4.99 for the Sling Day Pass, you can access Sling Orange for 24 hours. Additionally, the Sling Weekend Pass goes for $9.99 to access Sling Orange from Friday-to-Sunday. Lastly, there’s Sling Week Pass, which goes for $14.99, gets you access for seven days of Sling Orange.

A subscription to Sling Orange, which comes with the ABC broadcast through ESPN3, gets you access to live TV from top-rated cable channels. You can watch cable networks, including ESPN, ESPN2, Disney Channel, Freeform, MotorTrend, A&E, AMC, BBC America, BET, CNN, Comedy Central, Food Network, Fuse, HGTV, History Channel, IFC, Lifetime, Nick Jr., QVC, TBS, TNT, Travel Channel, Vice and many others.

Sling Orange also comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR, one stream at a time per account, access to thousands of hours of free on-demand movies and TV shows and much more.