Author: Rap Hooks

Joe Budden is making bank, at least according to what he told The New York Times.

In a profile published Tuesday (July 22), the rapper-turned-podcaster revealed that his media company — the Joe Budden Network — is averaging $1.04 million per month so far in 2025 on membership platform Patreon, boasts 70,000 paid subscribers and is on pace to clock around $20 million in overall revenue by the end of the year, with that last number provided by chief executive Ian Schwartzman.

The subscription money alone is more than likely going to exceed $12 million, which will make Budden Patreon’s top earner, a Patreon spokesperson told NYT.

Budden’s manager and business partner Schwartzman also told the publication that they sell their own ads instead of linking up with networks such as Wondery, iHeart and SiriusXM, where content creators have to share the revenue. This helps the Joe Budden Network to work with a maximum of three sponsors at a give time in an effort to not bombard the audience with ads.

The money the network brings in allows the company to set aside $1.5 million for the podcast’s cohosts Lamar “Ice” Burney, Trevor “Queenzflip” Robinson, Melyssa Ford, Antwan “Ish” Marby, Parks Vallely and Marc Lamont Hill, according to the NYT.

Schwartzman tells Billboard that he and Budden felt the need to share their revenue in a way to motivate fellow content creators.

“Yes, the numbers are real,” he says of the NYT reporting. “In fact, we didn’t want to share our income. The only reason we did was to show creators — signed or independent — that there is an alternative path. One that doesn’t require you giving up control and ownership. A path that produces fruits just as great as any traditional method and in some cases even better.”

Patreon also confirmed to Billboard that Budden is indeed their top earner, and CEO Jack Conte gave a statement applauding The Joe Budden Network for inspiring creators. “Joe and his team are very much on the same mission Patreon is on: inspiring other creators to do what they do best, follow their passion, build a deep community, all while maintaining creative independence,” Conte says. “By Joe providing this level of access highlighting the success of his business over the last few years, he’s showing creators that it’s possible to maintain ownership and cultivate sustainable businesses while staying true to his soul. Joe has continued to bet on himself and invest in his business and community on Patreon and is seeing the pay-off.”

In June, Budden seemingly revealed on his Instagram how much the pod was making through Patreon subscriptions when he was trying to highlight how many visits the Patreon gets. He blacked out the breakdown of the money he brings in on his creator account. However, someone was able to doctor his screenshot where it showed that the podcast appeared to bring in around $900,000 that month.

Last year, rapper Doe Boy asked Budden on the podcast how much he’s made since he started podcasting, with the Jersey City rapper claiming that he’s made “about $4 million” in 10 years. “I think about 4 mill. Early on, we was doing it for free,” he said. “Then, we hit a little lick, Spotify. Then, n—as left, the building crumbled a little bit. My friends came, saved the day. Probably about three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half million.”

As Jin of BTS sings for thousands of fans in Amsterdam this August, countless more will also be tuning into the show from movie theaters all across the world.

Ahead of his concert at the Ziggo Dome in the Netherlands on Aug. 9, the K-pop star has scheduled live viewings of the performance for fans in other parts of the globe to watch along as it unfolds. Tickets are now on sale, with ARMY able to search up nearby screenings and purchase theater seats on Jin’s website.

The musician has also shared a trailer for the performance, which dropped on YouTube on Wednesday (July 23). The teaser compiles footage from past shows on his ongoing #RUNSEOKJIN_EP.TOUR, which kicked off June 28 in Goyang, South Korea. His live-streamed performance in Amsterdam will mark the penultimate show on his solo trek, which will conclude the next day with a second concert at the Ziggo Dome.

The RUNSEOKJIN_EP.TOUR marked Jin’s first-ever tour independent from BTS. It supported Echo, his second solo album that dropped this past May and reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200.

After the solo trek wraps, Jin will rejoin bandmates RM, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook as they plan for a highly anticipated reunion in 2026. As previously announced in a group Weverse livestream, which found the Bangtan Boys appearing as unit on camera for the first time since they all completed their obligations to the South Korean military, the reunion will entail a new album and world tour.

For now, fans can enjoy Permission to Dance On Stage — Live, BTS’ new live album that arrived July 18.

Watch the trailer for Jin’s RUNSEOKJIN_EP.TOUR in AMSTERDAM: LIVE VIEWING below.

BLACKPINK came to Rogers Stadium for the first of two nights on the Toronto leg of their Deadline World Tour on Tuesday night.

As hard as it is to believe now that Toronto is one of North America’s top concert markets, it was the superstar K-pop girl group’s first time playing in the city. BLACKPINK has been in the area, playing in nearby Hamilton in 2019 and 2022, but they made sure to make this first proper Toronto date count.

Unlike Coldplay, who made headlines for their less-than-stellar comments about the new venue earlier this month, BLACKPINK mostly had good things to say. Though she did mention that the venue was hard to get to, BLACKPINK’s ROSÉ called the stadium “beautiful” and said she was pleasantly surprised at the weather. She said the view from the stage was “like a painting,” with the clear sky above and the vast 50,000-strong crowd lit up with their signature glowing pink light sticks. (Many fans shelled out $80 or more for them at the limited-edition merch pop-up at Yorkdale mall or elsewhere.) The multigenerational audience was ear-piercingly loud, cheering, dancing and singing along — in English and Korean — for nearly the whole show.

It seemed to have put the four members of BLACKPINK in a good mood. At the end of the concert, the singers converged onstage for their encore. After a small set of songs, Jennie turned to her bandmates and suggested they play “APT.” ROSÉ had already played that Bruno Mars collab in her earlier solo set (every member got one), but Jennie wanted to play it too. “It seems fun, and I miss it every time,” she said.

So, they did it again, for the first time as a group. All four members smiled and bopped while doing the signature hand dance inspired by a Korean drinking game. At one point, the three members held up a mic to Jisoo, who didn’t know the lyrics but laughed it off. It was a rare moment of spontaneity for a stadium pop show.

Though it never topped the charts in the U.S., “APT.” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 and stayed there for seven weeks, so it made sense to play it twice in Canada. But between their burgeoning solo careers and their group projects, there are plenty of BLACKPINK hits to fill a 28-song set.

The night was split up into five acts, with interstitial videos of the four girls in cowboy hats on a road trip. Three of the acts were full-group sets, complete with backup dancers and plenty of fireworks (the benefits of an outdoor venue). The other two were split between solo sets — first Jisoo and LISA, then Jennie and ROSÉ. Though they’re one of the signature current K-pop groups, they’re starting to build big profiles individually across the globe. ROSÉ is a chart-topping hit artist, Jennie played Coachella this year, Jisoo’s profile is growing, and LISA was a cast regular on the latest season of the hit HBO show The White Lotus (and she was also Billboard’s first global cover star last year).

That gave the concert a natural flow, with something to latch onto during every set. They played well off the audience too, at one point leading a lightstick wave throughout the stadium while LISA ran laps around the massive stage. Later, the screens fixated on audience members during a dance challenge to some of BLACKPINK’s biggest hits. Fans played along well — though, as Coldplay recently learned, such stunts can be risky.

The other biggest hit of the night seemed to be BLACKPINK’s “Jump,” the band’s newest single that is currently leading the Billboard Global 200. With its references to classic pop girl group forebears, the Spice Girls, and a catchy dance-along beat drop break, it’s an easy crowdpleaser. Like “APT.,” they played it twice throughout the night. But this one was planned.

This article was originally published by Billboard Canada

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Ozzy Osbourne‘s pioneering MTV reality show The Osbournes is back in the spotlight following the legendary rocker’s passing on Tuesday (July 22).

First premiered on March 5, 2002, the hit reality series ran for four seasons and documented Osbourne family’s day-to-day life through both the good, bad and ugly. You’ll meet a young Kelly rocking neon pink hair and an even youger and more gothic Jack along with Ozzy’s manager and wife Sharon. If you’re a fan of Black Sabbath or the late rocker and his family, you can rewatch classic episodes of The Osbournes on Amazon with a Prime membership for free.

The Osbournes

stream on amazon prime video

A closer look at the life of The Osbournes.

---

One of the most impactful seasons is the second one, given we get a glimpse into the way the family adapted to sudden fame and Sharon’s cancer diagnosis. The season is generally revered as the show’s best, given the high ratings of around 6.6 million viewers for its premiere. Generally, there are around 10 episodes per season, save for season two, which had a whopping 21.

The concept of the reality show is comparable to The Simple Life, Flavor of Love and The Anna Nicole Show, giving fans and followers an intimate look into the lives of their heroes. The series helped pioneer the family-focused reality show, making way for hit shows like Keeping Up With the Kardashians, The Family Stallone and Jon & Kate Plus 8. The Osbournes was cited as the most-viewed series ever on MTV. Amazon Prime acquired reruns of the series back in 2024.

Watch The Osbournes reality show online with your Amazon Prime membership. Not a member? Get a 30-day free trial to Amazon Prime here and use it to stream The Osbournes online free.

With an Amazon Prime membership, you’ll also get access to unlimited streaming of big name movies, series, documentaries and live sports. Think hit shows like Euphoria, You and Fellow Travellers, along with top films like The House That Jack Built, The Substance, Sinners and so much more. You also have access to Amazon Originals like The Boys and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and content from partners like Max and Crunchyroll through add-on subscriptions.

It was a quiet start to the summer in pop music, but it’s been a lot louder recently — with perhaps the most noise being generated by superstar Justin Bieber‘s release of a new album with just 10 hours’ notice.

Swag, Bieber’s first LP since 2021’s Justice, dropped at midnight on July 11 after having been announced earlier that afternoon. The 21-track set features another sonic left turn for The Bieb, eschewing the widescreen pop sound of his Justice LP in favor of a softer, more intimate alt-R&B, inspired by collaborators like Dijon, Mk.gee, Eddie Benjamin and Carter Lang. The album bows at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, with 163,000 first-week units (according to Luminate), while launching 16 tracks onto this week’s Billboard Hot 100, led by the No. 2-bowing focus track “Daisies.”

How should Bieber feel about the album’s debut performance? And does it show the surprise-release strategy to be a smart one for him? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.

1. Bieber’s Swag debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 163,000 first-week units (behind Jackboys & Travis Scott’s best-selling Jackboys 2 set), while its lead single “Daisies” bows at No. 2 on the Hot 100 (behind Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” in its seventh week on top), as 15 other tracks from the set also enter the chart. On a scale from 1-10, how good do you think Bieber and his team should be feeling about that first-week performance?

Katie Atkinson: Considering the whole world didn’t know the album existed until the day before — and there was no physical release, music videos or promotional appearances — I’m going to go with a 9. These are big week-one numbers based almost entirely on streaming, and it’s Bieber’s biggest streaming week ever. Not to mention, if Swag came out one week earlier, it would have been No. 1 (as Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem spent its eighth week atop the chart with 151,000 equivalent album units). It isn’t No. 1, but it’s a win.

Katie Bain: I’m sure there’s a twinge of disappointment as the reasonable expectation for a project of this magnitude is No. 1 debuts across the board. However, the competition is stiff right now, so I’m sure the general vibe is like, 8-ish, and the idea now is to pull the necessary levers to keep climbing. 

Stephen Daw: A hearty, solid 9. Had it been double No. 1 debuts and the dethroning of “Ordinary,” this would be a strong 10, but moving over 150,000 units and charting more than half the album’s songs on the Hot 100 is still a massive reason for celebration.

Kyle Denis: A solid 8. Considering this is a surprise release that had a limited number of formats and a sound that strayed from the chart-topping pop of Justice and Purpose, Swag pulled off a strong showing. Over 75% of the album landed on the Hot 100, and the LP gifted Bieber the biggest streaming week of his career. No. 1s are nice to have, yes, but it’s not like he’s starving for them on either the Hot 100 or Billboard 200. 

Andrew Unterberger: An 8 seems right. Considering how Bieber’s sonic detours haven’t always been warmly greeted, this getting such a resounding streaming debut and such a major response for its lead single have to be seen as wins — though undoubtedly, Bieb and his team would’ve loved to see at least one of those No. 2 bows get bumped up a spot.

2. Swag was given a largely surprise release, debuting just 10 hours after its existence was announced. Would you say the first-week response to the set has validated that release strategy, or do you think he would have done better with more build-up?

Katie Atkinson: I think the surprise release was effective, but could have been even more potent if his team had been working on a physical release behind the scenes (not unlike the Jackboys 2 rollout, which had the surprise element and a physical release) or if there had been a “Daisies” music video ready to roll at midnight. Of course, then there would have been way more opportunities for the surprise release to be spoiled. So if Bieber wanted the purest possible surprise, he got it this way… and his best streaming numbers yet.

Katie Bain: 2021’s Justice got the full court press, superstar artist red carpet album campaign. (Including, fwiw, this cover story I got to write about it.) That all worked about as well as the global team that made it happen hoped it might, with the album debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

That said, I think the sonic right turn of Swag and the general tone of Bieber’s public life and persona right now are simply more well-suited to a surprise drop, given that it’s effectively a mic drop move that cuts through the considerable noise. The sonic evolution of the album, paired with its release style, gives the sense that regardless of what the messaging has been about Bieber over the last 12 months or so, he’s doing things on his own terms. (Here I can’t help but think of Beyonce’s 2013 self-titled surprise drop, with that out of nowhere release strategy similarly underlining the new direction of that album.) And whether or not Swag could have done better with more build-up seems negligible, as it’s doing quite well. 

Stephen Daw: It’s a validation, I think. Take a look at his last album, 2021’s Justice, and you’ll see that the traditional release pattern worked — Bieber announced that album about a month prior to its release, and the LP earned a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 and 154,000 equivalent album units in its first week. While Swag didn’t nab that top spot, it did move almost 10,000 more units in its first week with almost no promotion beforehand; the only reason it was boxed out of the top slot of the Billboard 200 was because of another behemoth album bow. Clearly, the prospect of having a new Bieber project available to listen to within mere hours of its announcement paid off in spades. 

Kyle Denis: I think the sneak-attack strategy was the right move. Between the overt shift in sound, the built-in discourse provided by the Druski skits, and the general lack of an overarching visual aesthetic, too much lead time would have given fans too much opportunity to form conclusions and opinions about Swag before hearing it in its entirety. The only downside is that he couldn’t pull to release week armed with a litany of vinyl variants and physical listening formats. 

Andrew Unterberger: I think it works for this album, because it’s clearly not geared for top 40 dominance and it has a sort of spontaneous, of-the-moment feel to it — down to it including skits that address Bieber memes that were still peaking in public awareness the week of its release. There’ve been reports that he has a more traditionally pop album due in 2026, I’m confident that one will get the full advance push, and also probably be better off for it.

3. Much has been made of the sonic left-turn of the set, with Bieber adopting a more organic, alt-influenced approach to R&B (influenced by collaborators Dijon, Mk.gee, Carter Lang, Eddie Benjamin and more). Do you think the transition has been a successful one for Bieber?

Katie Atkinson: It’s a perfect fit, honestly. And even more so than the sound of those contemporaries, I keep hearing a much earlier inspiration of “quiet storm” R&B — albeit in a much rawer production. There are so many songs that I feel like are reaching for the sound of Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature” (which is a pretty high bar to reach for). His fans have always clamored for R&Bieber, and this feels like a natural sound for his adult evolution.

Katie Bain: Absolutely. To my ears, Swag is the most cohesive and fully formed (read: best) Bieber album yet. Nothing sounds put on or like made-in-a-lab pop music. His collaborators all feel extremely well-suited and bring their own flavor while also helping Bieber make that flavor his own. I feel like he’s been working towards this level of authentic artist statement for a while, and with the R&B meets AM radio sound on Swag, he claims it. 

Stephen Daw: By the numbers, by the audience’s reaction, by the reviews and by my own personal taste, I’d say yes, this is definitely a successful pivot for Justin. Sure, there were some songs that didn’t quite work as well for me on this album (I could’ve done without the interstitial skits), but the ones that did work felt like they were really excellent additions to his discography. It also didn’t feel forced — Justin has been steadily moving into his R&B lane since Changes, so watching him lean into this slightly more experimental R&B sound felt natural to the progression he’s been building over the last half-decade.

Kyle Denis: Yes. From Believe deep cuts to Journals, Changes and “Peaches” — which earned him his first R&B Grammy nod — R&B has always informed Bieber’s music. With Swag, this alternative-minded approach feels like a more natural fit than the faceless trap&B he played with on Changes. The Biebs’ voice has always shone best, to me, against analog instrumentation, and there’s plenty of dry, acoustic guitars for him to play around with on Swag. In fact, the album’s music is so solid that it only exposes how unnecessary, and generally unfunny, those Druski skits are. 

Andrew Unterberger: Sure. Shoulda given it a different title tho.

4. Does “Daisies” make sense to you as the focus track and best-performing song on the set? What percentage chance would you say it has of eventually dethroning “Ordinary” on the chart?

Katie Atkinson: Yes, and I think if he had put out a visual alongside “Daisies,” it would have had a real chance to replace “Ordinary” this week. If radio continues to grow for “Daisies” and we get a music video (bonus points if his baby Jack Blues appears in the video, as he’s been a presence in the promo photos), there’s a clear path for Bieber to score his ninth Hot 100 No. 1.

Katie Bain: I mean, not really. I think that’s why it works? It’s not an obvious single and it doesn’t sound like a whole like the rest of the album, but it does sound really different from a lot of what’s on the charts right now. I think that’s hooking people. In terms of it dethroning “Ordinary” — I don’t know, but I do think that that song, while nice, is a sound that’s been heard before, so maybe “Daisies” night overtake it on the power of freshness.   

Stephen Daw: I wholeheartedly agree with our colleague Lyndsey Havens that “Daisies” was the immediate standout on Swag. His voice sounds the best it has in years on this track, the accompanying guitar creates a familiar vibe and the track grooves into this natural crescendo that just feels good. Given the right radio push (which is already in the works) and a cool music video, I’d give “Daisies” a solid 60% chance at dethroning “Ordinary” in the next few weeks. 

Kyle Denis: If I think about it… yes, “Daisies” makes sense. (Though I can’t shake the feeling that songs like “Yukon,” “Go Baby” and “Way It Is” may pull ahead in the coming weeks.) I’d say “Daisies” probably has a 70-80% chance to dethrone “Ordinary,” it just needs to build up some motion on radio. 

Andrew Unterberger: There’s a number of songs off the set that may have worked, but “Daisies” certainly feels as appropriate as any of them. I don’t know if it has much chance of dethroning “Ordinary,” though — it’ll need a ton of radio support (and/or a majorly viral music video) for that, and I can’t say I see that coming for “Daisies” in the near future, if at all. I’d say 20%.

5. Between Bieber’s Swag and Tyler, the Creator’s Don’t Tap the Glass this week, we’ve seen a return to the surprise-release (or at least quasi-surprise-release) album format that had largely seemed to fall out of vogue with pop’s A-list in recent years. Do you see this as a potentially meaningful pivot moment in terms of industry strategy, or is it more just a scheduling fluke?

Katie Atkinson: As much as I professionally bristle at a surprise release (journalists like a heads-up), I understand an artist’s desire for a shorter ramp into a project – especially artists at the level of Justin and Tyler. Less speculation about what a project will sound like, fewer interviews. It puts the focus almost instantly on the music and not fans’ ideas of what the music could or should be.

Katie Bain: If I have to guess, two surprise drops happening so close together is probably a fluke. However, I do think two artists of this caliber both going this route right now suggests a broader fatigue with traditional album campaigns, perhaps on the part of both labels and the artists themselves. Not everyone can pull it off, but for artists with the fanbase and name recognition, it seems like an effective way to cut through the noise and sidestep the demands of promoting a new project in a pretty fractured media ecosystem. 

Stephen Daw: I think it’s safe to call this a pivot in industry strategy at this point, and Swag and Don’t Tap the Glass are just the latest examples. Kendrick Lamar’s GNX was a surprise release, and it’s been hovering in the upper echelons of the chart for the last 33 weeks. Even A-list albums that are traditionally announced and then released are seeing shorter and shorter promotional windows, and it keeps paying off for big artists wanting to capitalize on novelty in a news cycle that’s grown increasingly fast-paced over the last decade. Don’t be surprised when we start seeing more and more “world stop” moments from big-name artists in the coming years. 

Kyle Denis: I think it’s a meaningful pivot in terms of artists — at least those who can afford to — releasing off-cycle more often. New Music Fridays only get more crowded with each passing week, so dropping albums midweek à la Tyler or Jackboys allows artists to get an entire day’s worth of attention and conversation to themselves as opposed to fighting 1,000 acts for a sliver of the public’s eyes and ears. I think we’ll also continue to see surprise-esque releases for pop A-listers trying on notably different sounds, like Drake surprise-dropping his dance album (2022’s Honestly Nevermind) a few years back. 

Andrew Unterberger: I think it might be something we start to see more of from artists who don’t necessarily want to generate maximum advance hype for their new sets — either because they’ve been gone for a while and want a softer return (like Bieber) or because they actually haven’t been gone for long at all and don’t want to risk overexposure (like Tyler). I’ll be very curious to see what Beyoncé does for her expected upcoming Part III release; she’s always been a true bellwether for industry standards with these things, so if she returns with a sneak attack, that officially means we should all be on high alert for major releases falling from the sky until further notice.

After taking some time out of the spotlight, pop singer Sam Smith is ready to take center stage again with a new song.

On Tuesday (July 22), Smith shared that their new single “To Be Free” will be released on Thursday (July 24) at noon ET. Sharing the single art on their Instagram — which depicts a moody shot of the Hudson River in New York City — Smith revealed that they’ve been waiting for half a decade to share the track with their audience.

“I wrote this song with my dear friend Simon Aldred. It’s one vocal and guitar take from start to finish, made complete by the beautiful injection of the incredible choir we’ve been working with across this new project,” they wrote on the post. “To Be Free was written 5 years ago. It’s more than special to me.”

The announcement comes days after Smith previously teased fans with two snippets of the new song, featuring them singing a gentle R&B melody alongside a gospel choir. “Pray your heart be lighter/ Brave and free like mine,” they shared in a caption of one of the posts, previewing some of the song’s lyrics. “Floating like a feather/ Hope waits down the line.”

“To Be Free” will be Smith’s second single of 2025, after the singer shared their tender ballad “Love Is a Stillness” on Valentine’s Day. “This song is such a special song to me and because it’s Valentine’s Day I wanted to share this with you as a gift to say I love you,” they wrote to their fans at the time of the song’s release.

Check out Smith’s announcement for “To Be Free” below: