Author: Rap Hooks

A beverage startup that once planned to work with Rihanna’s brother will pay the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) more than $1 million for allegedly lying about nonexistent talks to develop an alcohol brand called “RiRi Rum” with the music icon.

Long Island-based beverage company The3rdBevco and its founder, Peter Scalise III, agreed to a $1.1 million SEC fine, according to court documents filed Tuesday (June 17). The settlement states that Scalise and The3rdBevco neither admit nor deny the allegations made by the federal investments regulator in a civil complaint docketed the same day.

In 2022, The3rdBevco publicly announced that it planned to bring on Rihanna’s brother, Rorrey Fenty, as a “senior strategic consultant” to develop a new alcohol brand called RiRi Rum in collaboration with the superstar singer and business mogul (born Robyn Rihanna Fenty).

The SEC says that while it’s true that The3rdBevco did sign a letter of intent to hire Rorrey as a consultant, “there was never any deal, negotiation discussion or any other contact” with Rihanna or her management team for this supposed rum collaboration.

According to the complaint, The3rdBevco and Scalise repeatedly lied to investors throughout 2022 and 2023 that they were actively working with Rihanna on the rum product. Along the way, says the SEC, they used Rihanna’s “RiRi” trademark without her permission and included unauthorized Rihanna songs, images and even a fake signature attributed to the artist in investor presentations.

Neither Rihanna nor Rorrey is accused of participating in this illegal activity. While Rorrey did say he would try to facilitate a meeting between The3rdBevco and Rihanna if brought on as a consultant, the partnership agreement was never finalized, and Rorrey’s letter of intent was ultimately voided without him ever actually working for the company.

The SEC notes that Rorrey complained multiple times to Scalise that The3rdBevco should not have been using Rihanna’s images without authorization or touting the RiRi Rum brand without a deal in place.

In addition to claims about the fake Rihanna partnership, the SEC complaint also accuses The3rdBevco and Scalise of selling unregistered company shares and misusing nearly $900,000 worth of investor funds on personal expenses like tuition, mortgage payments and landscaping.

Mark David Hunter, a lawyer representing The3rdBevco and Scalise, told Billboard on Wednesday (June 18) that his clients “are pleased to have the matter resolved and behind them.”

Rorrey Fenty and reps for Rihanna did not immediately return requests for comment.

Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.

This week: Keith Sweat’s “Nobody” gets a bump from an improbable cover source, a less-remembered Black Eyed Peas gets its moment in the TikTok sun and Playboi Carti may have a new Music breakout following his BET Awards performance.

‘Carnival Cruise Tyler’ Karaoke Performance Sets Off a Keith Sweat Revival

Who can do it like Carnival Cruise Tyler? Nobody, apparently – at least nobody outside of Keith Sweat himself. The 20-year-old Georgia native born Tyler Heyworth has been going viral on TikTok the past couple weeks for an unexpected performance he offered on vacation with his family on the Carnival Cruise line, where he sang Sweat’s 1996 top five Hot 100 smash “Nobody” (featuring Athena Cage of Kut Klose) — released when Tyler was approximately negative nine years old — to what could certainly be described as a receptive karaoke audience. 

Tyler’s performance, delivered with strong vocals, engaging (but never quite inappropriate) stage moves and an understated confidence, resulted in multiple crowd freakouts, with different captured angles of his now-storied rendition each seemingly revealing new multitudes of enraptured listenership. Unsurprisingly, his viral fame has resulted in much internet celebrity: “I’ve had a bunch of, uh, interesting women in my comments and in my DMs,” he told TMZ. “It’s kinda too much at this point.” 

The young man’s “Nobody” performance is not yet available on DSPs – but of course, Keith Sweat’s apparently well-enduring original certainly is, and fans new and old were motivated to spend time with the ‘90s R&B classic. The song’s daily official on-demand U.S. streams rose gradually throughout last week, hitting a high of 319,000 on Friday (June 13), up 91% from 167,000 the previous Friday (June 6), according to Luminate. Sweat himself even shared video of Tyler’s performance, with the caption, “If everybody don’t sing NOBODY it’s not done correctly.” – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Black Eyed Peas’ ‘Rock’ Is Rolling With Viral Resurgence

In 2009, “Boom Boom Pow,” the lead single from the Black Eyed Peas’ album The E.N.D., spent 12 straight weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 — and was then replaced by the album’s second single, “I Gotta Feeling,” which proceeded to log 14 weeks in the top spot. The mind-boggling run of chart domination represented the apex of the quartet’s commercial appeal — the Peas would never return to the top of the Hot 100 afterwards, in fact — but now, another song from The E.N.D. has gone viral, and could crack the chart 16 years later if it keeps picking up steam.

“Rock Your Body” followed the same electro-pop-rap blueprint of the album’s biggest hits, with Will.i.am relying heavily on Auto-tune, Fergie’s voice pitched way up and a sample of Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock’s “It Takes Two” heavily involved; the song’s hook, in which Will cedes the floor to Fergie, has slowly grown as a popular TikTok sound, with users creating different dance routines to the vocal hand-off. After earning 667,000 weekly official U.S. on-demand streams six weeks ago (Apr. 18-24), “Rock Your Body” scored 4.14 million streams last week (June 6-12) — an increase of 520%, according to Luminate. Is this a viral one-off, or can the nostalgia cycle fuel a full-on BEP revival? The E.N.D. is an acronym for The Energy Never Dies — maybe we’re about to experience proof of that claim. – JASON LIPSHUTZ

Playboi Carti Fans Like ‘Weezy’ Following BET Awards Performance

Sometimes, when you release an album with an enormous track list, some of the songs in the back half of that full-length require a special platform to reach a larger audience. Case in point: at the 2025 BET Awards last Monday night (June 9), Playboi Carti reached deep into his Music bag to perform “Like Weezy,” the springy 25th track on the 30-song track list, as well as The Weeknd collaboration “Rather Lie” while surrounded by luxury cars and smoke machines onstage at the awards ceremony.

“Like Weezy” has benefitted from the performance choice by Carti: in the four days following the BET Awards (June 10-13), the track earned 1.28 million U.S. on-demand streams, a 90% increase from the previous four days (670,000 streams from June 6-9), according to Luminate. Carti has also been performing “Like Weezy” in his nightly sets opening for The Weeknd’s ongoing stadium tour, which continues through early September — meaning that the song could enjoy a sustained boost instead of a one-week uptick due to an awards show performance. – J.L.

Chappell Roan is one of the most outspoken artists of her generation, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t sensitive to the backlash she often receives when she speaks her mind.

While interviewing SZA for an Interview Magazine piece published Tuesday (June 17), the pop star — who has sparked heated public discourse on everything from toxic fan behavior to political endorsements in the past year alone — was candid when the R&B hitmaker asked whether she “gave a f–k about the backlash.”

“I didn’t until people started hating me for me and not for my art,” Roan replied. “When it’s not about my art anymore, it’s like, ‘They hate me because I’m Kayleigh, not because they hate the songs that I make.’ That’s when it changed.”

“When things are taken out of context, people assume so much about you,” she continued. “I didn’t realize I’d care so much. When it comes to my art, I’m like, ‘B—h, you can think whatever you want. You are allowed to hate it with all your guts.’ But when it comes to me and my personality, it’s like, ‘Damn. Am I the most insufferable b—h of our generation?’”

Fortunately, Roan isn’t alone. SZA shared that she also feels hurt when she comes across tough criticism about herself, telling the Missouri native, “Maybe everybody secretly gives a f–k … I tried to tell myself that I didn’t care what people were saying about me, but it was so weird that I was being misperceived so far from who I am.”

“It makes me cry,” Roan added. “I don’t know if it will ever feel okay to hear someone say something really hateful about me.”

Roan has spoken before about how difficult it can be to feel misunderstood. While guesting with Sasha Colby on TS Madison’s Outlaws podcast in May, she reflected on being labeled a “villain” at different points in her career, sharing that she “cannot bear people saying I’m something I’m not.”

She also hasn’t let it stop her from voicing her opinions or speaking up when she feels mistreated — like when she confronted photographers at not one, but two events in 2024. “I think that I’m doing it the way I want to, but not everyone likes that,” she told SZA for Interview. “I will yell at a b—h on the carpet. I think that right now in my career, I’m just trying to see if the way I’ve been doing it is sustainable. Am I okay with the backlash of speaking my mind? That’s where I am right now.”

R. Kelly’s lawyer says the disgraced R&B star and convicted sex offender was recently hospitalized after overdosing on anxiety and sleep medication in prison, attributing the event to a supposed jailhouse murder plot that prosecutors have dismissed as entirely made-up.

Kelly, who’s serving a 30-plus-year sentence for two federal sex crime convictions, has been petitioning a Chicago court for release since last week. Defense lawyer Beau Brindley claimed in an eyebrow-raising June 10 court filing that Bureau of Prison officials had tried to solicit another inmate to kill the singer (Robert Sylvester Kelly) to stop him from uncovering prosecutorial misconduct in his trials. Prosecutors deny that there’s any murder plot against Kelly.

Now, Brindley claims prison officials have tried another method of killing Kelly: administering the singer an overdose quantity of his medications while he was in solitary confinement last Thursday (June 12).

“In the early morning hours of June 13, 2025, Mr. Kelly awoke,” Brindley writes in a court filing from Monday (June 16). “He felt faint. He was dizzy. He started to see black spots in his vision. Mr. Kelly tried to get up, but fell to the ground. He crawled to the door of the cell and lost consciousness.”

Brindley says Kelly was taken from the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, N.C., to Duke University Hospital, where he was informed of the overdose. Kelly was hospitalized for two days to treat the overdose, according to the court filing.

To make matters worse, Brindley says, Kelly learned at the hospital that he had developed life-threatening blood clots in his lungs that required surgery. But Kelly was allegedly denied this surgery and taken back to Butner, where he was returned to solitary confinement without medical care.

“He could die from this condition, and they are letting it happen,” writes Brindley. “There is no legitimate explanation for that.”

Brindley’s court filing reiterates his request to have Kelly released to home confinement or temporary furlough, saying “his life actually depends on it.”

Prosecutors have called the allegations a “fanciful conspiracy” and “deeply unserious.” They also say the Chicago criminal court doesn’t have jurisdiction over the issue, and that it must be brought instead as a civil rights case or habeas corpus petition in North Carolina.

In response to Kelly’s latest claims about the alleged overdose and blood clot issue, prosecutors wrote late Monday, “This is the behavior of an abuser and a master manipulator on display.”

“This court should not allow Kelly to turn its docket into a grocery store checkout aisle tabloid,” prosecutors added.

Billboard reached out to Duke Hospital seeking to confirm the facts of Kelly’s hospital stay. A Duke spokesperson deferred to the Bureau of Prisons, which declined to comment on the matter.  

“For privacy, safety and security reasons, we do not discuss the conditions of confinement for any incarcerated individual, including medical and health-related issues,” said Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Scott Taylor in a statement to Billboard.

The motion to release Kelly from prison is scheduled to be heard by the Chicago judge on Friday (June 20). Meanwhile, Brindley has been publicly asking President Donald Trump to pardon Kelly.

Kelly was convicted in 2021 and 2022 at two separate federal trials, one in New York and one in Chicago, on a slew of criminal charges including racketeering, sex trafficking, child pornography and enticing minors for sex.

The former R&B star was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the New York conviction and 20 years in the Chicago case, although the vast majority of the second sentence will overlap with the first. Both convictions have been upheld on appeal.

Last week (June 11), the brilliant writer, producer, composer and singer Brian Wilson died at age 82. Wilson leaves behind a singular catalog of pop and rock music, which is of course headlined by his work in the ’60s and ’70s with The Beach Boys, alongside his brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine. The Beach Boys cruised to pop stardom from 1963 to 1965 with a string of smash hits about surfing, cars and girls that grew increasingly complex as Brian rapidly developed as a songwriter and studio wizard. In 1966, all the group’s artistic ambitions were realized, with perhaps both the Boys’ most beloved album and most beloved single — though it all came at a tremendous cost to Wilson, and to the band’s long-term future.

On this week’s Vintage Pop Stardom episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard executive digital director, west coast Katie Atkinson, to talk about the greatest year by the ultimate west coast pop band. We talk about everything that led up to the Beach Boys’ singular legacy year in 1966 — which ultimately resulted in the LP masterwork Pet Sounds and the unanimously acclaimed pop smash “Good Vibrations” — as well as why the group was ultimately unable to reach those commercial or artistic heights again.

And of course, along the way, we ask all the big questions about the Beach Boys’ greatest (and in many ways last) year in the sun: Why did Brian Wilson enlist an ad man he barely knew as his primary collaborator on Pet Sounds (and why did that guy end up hating working with him so much)? Is “Sloop John B.” secretly the album’s perfect thematic centerpiece? Is “Good Vibrations” really more head than it is heart? Would 1966 Brian have dealt with f–kboy or industry plant allegations in 2025? And of course: Is this the greatest year in pop music that any American band has ever had?

Check it out above — along with a YouTube playlist of some of the most important moments from The Beach Boys’ 1966, all of which are discussed in the podcast — and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom!

And as we say in every one of these GPS podcast posts — if you have the time and money to spare, please consider donating to any of these causes in the fight for trans rights:

Transgender Law Center

Trans Lifeline

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on 5Calls.org — and if you’re in the D.C. area this weekend (May 30-31), definitely check out Liberation Weekend, a music festival supporting trans rights with an incredible lineup of trans artists and allies.