Victony scores the strongest week of his young career on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart as the first-week activity of his STARLIFE album impacts the list.
Among the highlights, the set’s single “Slick” retains its No. 2 peak, while eight tracks debut on the ranking, which blends streaming and sales data for its calculations.
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In its eighth week on the chart, “Slick” repeats as the runner-up for the third consecutive frame. The track traces its standing to 900,000 official streams in the United States for the Aug. 21-27 tracking week, according to Luminate, a 10% increase from the prior week’s total.
“Slick” gave Victony his third top 10 on U.S. Afrobeats Songs and highest showing on the list. His prior best results were No. 5 peaks for his breakthrough single, “Soweto,” with Rema and Tempoe and featuring Don Toliver, in May 2023 and “Pity This Boy,” a collaboration with ODUMODUBLVCK, in February 2025.
“I’m at a point in my life where my personality is really just shining through the music,” Victony recently toldBillboard U.K. “I felt it within me to show people that this is what I’m on and I feel like this body of work completely represents where I am right now.” He added, “If I left out any song from this, it would feel incomplete.”
With the eight STARLIFE debuts, Victony brings his career count to a milestone 25 entries on U.S. Afrobeats Songs. The parent album, meanwhile, debuts at No. 20 on the World Albums chart.
A full rundown of Victony’s placements on this week’s U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart is below. All are debuts except “Slick” and “FRE$H,” with the latter having peaked at No. 14 in June.
No. 2, “Slick” No. 21, “FRE$H” No. 26, “2FRESH” No. 29, “Who This,” with BNXN No. 34, “STARLIFE,” with Blaqbonez & YKB No. 40, “Too Lit” No. 41, “PINO,” with Babyboy AV No. 47, “Twin,” with FOLA No. 48, “Armed & Dangerous,” with Young Jonn No. 50, “FYNE”
The final show of the season at Toronto’s Rogers Stadium is potentially in jeopardy after a severe thunderstorm with damaging high winds raked the downtown area on Wednesday (Sept. 2). According to the Toronto Star, Live Nation says it is assessing the “significant damage” to the stadium caused by the storm that ripped up several large sections of the North seating area in the 50,000-capacity venue.
The next scheduled show at the stadium is a Sept. 16 gig by AC/DC, which is slated to be the final gig at the venue this season.
CTV News reported that the “100-year” storm that dumped nearly five inches of rain in some areas left thousands of the city’s residents with flooded basements and no power after high winds took down power lines and streets were blocked by downed trees. The network posted aerial footage of what looks like massive damage to the North-end seating section of the venue, depicting giant swaths of seats crumpled up and twisted into piles and torn from their moorings.
The Star reported that the damage included dozens of rows of blue seats flipped over and twisted on themselves, as well as fencing thrown around the stadium and the scaffolding of the bleachers pushed and fractured by the winds. Plastic debris from the stadium’s destroyed portable toilets could reportedly be see scattered across the field and outside the facility.
“We are currently assessing the extent of the damage and will provide further information as it becomes available,” Live Nation said in a statement on Wednesday night according to The Star. “As always, the safety of our employees and on-site contractors is our top priority. Fortunately, no one was injured during today’s extreme weather event.”
So far this summer, Rogers Stadium has hosted Luke Combs, Mumford & Sons, Post Malone, Noah Kahan, Karol G, the Foo Fighters, Guns N’ Roses and, most recently,BTS for two nights in late August. At press time a spokesperson for Live Nation Canada had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on the storm damage and possible impact on the AC/DC show; a spokesperson for the band could also not be reached for comment at press time.
Nick Carpenter released his last Medium Build album, Country, in April 2024 and spent the rest of that year rigorously touring across the globe. During those nonstop months, his partying reached a fever pitch, as did his self-doubt, and in February 2025, while on tour with Role Model in Australia, he hit rock bottom. “It’s a lot of shame, anger, resentment, I’m not good enough,” Carpenter says of his feelings at that time. “And then you just resign to like, well, I’ll just drink myself to death in Adelaide. That’ll be a good way to go out.”
Instead, he reached out for help and slowly started to regain control of his life. He got sober, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and took time for journaling and reading. He spent the better part of the year rebuilding his relationship with Annika Bennett, a fellow musician and collaborator whom he began dating at the end of 2024, and though he slowed down, he continued to play shows, including Coachella and tours with Petey USA, Rainbow Kitten Surprise and Tyler Childers. And amid it all, in June 2025, he recorded his sixth album, King of Having Fun, due out Sept. 4 on slowplay/Island Records, where he signed in 2023.
The album, recorded live over two weeks in East Nashville, combines the Georgia native’s drawling, hearty baritone with plenty of acoustic and electric guitar, buoyant rhythms, unforgettable melodies and self-reflective, observational lyrics. The three King of Having Fun singles — “Armor,” “Home Depot” and “In My Gut” — are some of the record’s strongest, but there’s far more to discover. “Do Something Productive” sets words about Carpenter’s self-destructive tendencies to a playful, wholesome melody. “It’s Not Easy Falling in Love” is a radio-ready cautionary tale about losing love, and “Bird Woman,” written while watching a multigenerational family do tai chi in a park, absolutely rips. With his trademark impassioned delivery intact and the music muscular enough to sustain it, Carpenter has assembled 14 of his best songs to date.
Speaking over Zoom a little over a week before the release date, Carpenter is under the weather. “I did tour for a couple weeks and did press, and I think today was the day my body was like, ‘Hey, by the way, fuck you. Here’s sickness and exhaustion,’” he says, reclining on his couch and wearing a blue baseball cap that reads “Oh My God!” and a navy blue thrift store sweatshirt with the words “Whaling City, New Bedford, MA” in white letters. He splits time between Nashville and Los Angeles, and today, he’s at his West Coast home. His dog Stanley, a Yorkie, is asleep under the table and refuses to go outside because it’s too hot.
Despite not feeling well, Carpenter, 35, is in good spirits and in a better place than he was during Country’s release. “Country kind of felt like this cage match between myself, where I was like, ‘I have to prove that I’m commercial because all these suits are betting on me,’ but I also have to remember to be a person because that’s how I got here, you know? Country was kind of made with a lot of turmoil, whereas King of Having Fun was made after getting all the dreams, realizing they don’t satisfy, and then burning out, taking a break, getting sober, getting on meds, changing my life, deciding I do want to live, and I don’t care if music is my life.”
On the precipice of King of Having Fun’s arrival, Carpenter revisits the moments that led him here.
Who taught you how to sing?
My mom was the first singer I knew. She sang in the car, she kind of told me and my brother to sing harmonies. We would all be trying to sing with her, and she’s like, “No, that’s my part. You try to find your own part.” So that was, in a way, a musical education. But then, my affect, the way my voice works, I would assume nobody would want to take credit for that. I was in chorus pretty much my whole life, and I remember being scolded, like, “Hey, Nick, you’re kind of singing like a pop singer. You’re oversinging.”
You’re no longer a member of it, but what was it like growing up in an evangelical Christian church?
[It was] non-denominational, like the most generic, white-bread, suburban, jeans and a polo, you know. My church was basically a place for upper middle-class dads to hand out their business cards, but my mom really believed it. Why couldn’t we be like the cool rich families that just clock in for vibes? Why do we have to go home and pray more? Out of all the straws, I drew the nerds that really fucked with it, but then I did too for a long time.
What changed?
My brother went [to Anchorage, Alaska] in 2009, worked the salmon season. He called me and he’s like, “You just should come up here. It’s sick.” So, then I went up. I met non-Christians, met drug and alcohol people, worked a real job. And these people are awesome, and they love me, but also, they’re sinners, and I’m like, wait, all these people are gonna go to hell? I just couldn’t buy it.
You left Alaska and went to Middle Tennessee State University in 2011 for songwriting. Why did you decide to head south again?
I did my year up in Alaska, was like, ‘whoa, this is really cold. I’m gonna die here. I don’t want to live with my brother anymore.’ At this point, I’m like 19, and so I just knew I should do something other than drink and play open mics. So, I went to Murfreesboro outside of Nashville, did that for like five years, dropped out. I did more playing in bands than I did school. But that was a really good education, playing house parties and shitty punk bars and going on tour.
You went back to Alaska after that though. Why not stick around Nashville longer?
I got too into the biz. I don’t really like being in Music City, even though I split time between the two of them. I don’t prefer being around the majority of people who work in the industry. The best thing about living in Anchorage, where I was full time from 2016 to 2023, was that your friends are like nurses and pilots and teachers and lawyers. Everyone’s like, “How’s your music going?” instead of everyone knowing every move you’re making and calculating it. That was a bad place for me, especially when I didn’t have any success. It was just better to come up in obscurity and make music in a town where no one cares about your profession. I needed that, you know, a healthy amount of disrespect.
Why did you make Medium Build a solo project?
I’m a very social person, but I’m also incredibly insecure, and so when I’m in group dynamics, I will acquiesce. I have a hard time co-writing because if someone else is like, “I like this idea,” and I’m like, “Sure, great.” Then we get to the end, and my manager’s like, “Do you love this song?” I am like, “No, I actually hate it.” She’s like, “Well, why did you make it?” I’m like, “Because that person liked it, and I really wanted them to have a good day.” So that’s sort of how Medium Build came out of this isolation, and even calling it Medium Build, I was like, no one will take this seriously. But when I finally gave up being in Nashville and moved back to Alaska, they kind of loved that. They were like, “This feels genuine,” and that was a really safe and fertile place for me to incubate Medium Build.
You moved back to Nashville in 2023, signed with slowplay/Island Records and then released your album Country in 2024 and had a tumultuous tour that eventuallyresulted in your sobriety. What were you feeling — overwhelmed, sad?
I think it was closer to shame. “Look at this guy who’s got everything, and he’s not enjoying it.” And even worse, he’s maybe trying to sabotage [it]. It’s like, we sell 100 tickets in Birmingham instead of the 500 that the size of the room is, and I’m embarrassed, so I drink a bottle of Fernet before the show and put on a wig and a costume to try to hide. I didn’t know how to look these people in the eye that liked me. It was a lot of shame. Like, “I don’t deserve this.” But then also, if it didn’t go well, I was like, “Fuck you guys! Where are the other 400 people that should be here?” An insane self-hatred loop, which then leads to resentment, me resenting my manager, like, why am I on the road again?
I was opening for Role Model in February of 2025, and I was like, “Fuck these kids. Why is the mid-30s alcoholic opening for the teeny bopper?” All my songs are about being in toxic relationships or depression, and these girlies are literally longing to have their first heartbreak. So, I’m like, “Who’s got their heart broken?” People are like, “I would love to.” I’m like, “Oh shit, y’all are not ready for me. Y’all are gonna really like this in a decade, but you’re not even there.” And then just being angry, you can’t look yourself in the eyes, then you just start spitting hate into every corner.
What was your next step after reaching your lowest point?
I went to coffee, and I wrote this letter on the hotel notepad. And I just took pictures of the letter and sent it to my band and my management and my label. And I think that’s all I could manage to do. I don’t think I could really talk to someone. In the letter, I was like, “I’m tired. I don’t like how my brain is thinking right now. My brain is going to pretty quitting places, and I don’t think that any of us want that, but if we all want to do this, I need to stop.”
I spent the better part of a year trying to figure out who I am without it all. But we still had some tours, which was hilarious. My band had a culture of partying, so the boys were still doing their thing, so I’m just sitting in a hotel room, like stretching, watching a documentary, and then the group chat is like, “Look, Steve’s got his shirt off at the pool hall!” It’s like, “Fuck, I’m missing that.”
When did you start writing and recording for King of Having Fun?
Honestly, some of them I started writing summer 2024, right after Country came out. It’s interesting that “Do Something Productive” starts the record, just talking about how manic my cycle is, and knowing that I was aware of that even in 2024, when I was in the full-blown, “I made it, and I’m so happy, and I’m drunk all the time.” [Laughs] But then a lot of the tunes really didn’t come until the next year, like March, April, May, and then we wrote a lot of them in the studio. So that was June.
Where did you record?
We had a rehearsal studio down the street from my house in East Nashville. That was where we rehearsed for Coachella, and we just loved it there so much. We asked the guy that was renting it to us — his name is Nicolas Dobbratz, and he goes by Dobby — if he wouldn’t mind if we made a record there. We sort of just piecemealed some stuff and turned [it into] this hippie carpeted fucking rehearsal space that shares a wall with a commercial bakery, which is incredible, just smelling cakes and scones all day. We put together this thing, and it was barely good enough. And that’s exactly what I needed.
How did you come up with the title?
I wanted to call it Rock because I thought that it rocked more than the last one. [Laughs] I called the last one Country because we made it on Music Row. And so I just thought, what a cool, fun career arc to be like, “Hey, that one’s called Country. This one’s called Rock, and it’s called Rock because there’s some electric guitars on it.” And my A&R was like, “No offense, but when I have to go tell people at Billboard or radio or Universal about your new album, why am I telling them it’s called Rock?” And I was like, “Because it’s fucking funny, dude. Like, what do you mean?” I was clapping back at one of my A&Rs who I famously disagree with, and I’m just like, “Fuck you!” And I was like, “All right, PJ, what do you think’s a better title?” And he’s like, “King of Having Fun.” And I was like, “Fuck! The little suit got it. I hate it. He’s so right.”
It’s way better of a title. It was just a song on the album. I wrote it with Josh Gilligan, who plays the lap steel in Medium Build, when I was pretty freshly sober and I slowly realized that it was the ethos. It encapsulates the entire idea of what I’m talking about. It’s everything. It is the death of the party guy, right? It’s like he put the booze down and started distance running but also got in touch with his inner child. It’s like everything about the record should be called King of Having Fun. It was completely right. I just was so mad he was right. And then Charli [XCX] put out Rock Music, and then we were all like, “Thank god!”
And now you’re on the cusp of releasing this album into the world. How do you feel?
I’m excited for it to come out. There’s a little bit of a mourning period when you give everybody everything, because then it’s a product and it’s theirs. But that’s the bargain you make to then go play it live and hear them sing it back. You spend so much time in your head being like, “this is me versus me. This is me versus my last record. This is me versus the fucking label A&R that wants me to change the name. This is me versus Role Model, or this is me versus Geese.” Like, if this album doesn’t destroy Zach Bryan, then I’m fucked. You know? It’s all this fucking awful internal hatred, self-sabotage head speak, and then you give it out, and then normies I went to high school with text me, and they’re like, “Bro, ‘Home Depot’ is art. It’s platinum in me and Kayleigh’s house this week.” And I’m just like, goddamnit! That’s so sweet! That’s really cool. The breeders from high school like my songs, and I love that, and I’m grateful. So I’m excited to give it away.
TLC’s Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins has been noticeably absent on several recent dates of the It’s Iconic tour due to what the group said was an acute “sickle cell crisis” that sent the 56-year-old rapper to the hospital.
On Thursday (Sept. 3), TLC addressed the missed gigs in a statement on Twitter, writing, “We want to thank everyone who has reached out with prayers, love, and concern for Tionne ‘T-Boz’ Watkins,” it read. “As many people know, Tionne has lived with sickle cell disease throughout her life. When she experiences a sickle cell crisis, the recovery period can vary and may take days or weeks.”
While the statement didn’t address how long the “No Scrubs” MC — who was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia as a child — will be off the road, or how many shows she’s missed, it said that she is “improving each day” and that her current condition is not considered life-threatening. According to the Cleveland Clinic, sickle cell crisis is a “common, painful” complication of sickle cell disease that occurs when sickled cells build up in a blood vessel and cause a blockage. The blockage keeps oxygen-rich blood from reaching tissues and organs, causing painful symptoms that could require brief hospitalization.
TLC is on the road this summer on the It’s Iconic tour with Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue. Fellow original TLC bandmate Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas — third member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes died in a car crash in April 2002 — addressed T-Boz’s absence during an Aug. 28 show at Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut.
“Obviously my sister is not here right now. She has sickle cell,” Chilli said in an emotional fan-shot video from that date. “I think most of you know all the stuff that goes on with TLC, but when she has, you know, an episode — which is what’s happening right now … But she’s so much better, and I want to ask each and every one of you to help me hold her down tonight. So, thank you in advance for your support and understanding.”
A group spokesperson told USA Today in a statement that T-Boz was recently hospitalized and is recovering and “regaining her strength … Because the It’s Iconic Tour is such an interactive show, we made the decision to continue, with Chilli performing and receiving incredible support from Salt-N-Pepa, En Vogue, and most importantly, the fans.”
The X statement from the group continued, “Her health and recovery remain our highest priority. Tionne looks forward to returning to the tour when she is fully recovered and medically cleared to perform,” also noting that Chilli will soldier on performing on the remaining dates until T-Boz can rejoin the outing. The message also mentioned that September is sickle cell awareness month, with the group asking fans to stand with that community and learn more about the disease or give blood if you are able; for more information on sickle cell disease click here.
The next stop on the It’s Iconic tour is on Tuesday (Sept. 8) at Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island in Chicago; the tour is currently slated to wrap up on Oct. 11 at the Toyota Pavilion at Concord in Concord, Calif.
BLACKPINK‘s Lisa comes out swinging on her hard-charging single “SaWaDiKa.” And if you’re not convinced that her return to rap is complete, just check out the first, shouted lines of the song whose title translates into “hello” in Thai, because Lisa is cordially inviting you to bask in her badness.
“Hello Sawadika/ Yeah you know my wrist is cold/ Got this timepiece from Geneva/ If you know it then you know,” she raps at the top of the high-fashion, action-heavy video for the song, which dropped on Friday (Sept. 4) and was shot in the singer’s native Bangkok, Thailand. And, just in case you missed the ice-cold message, there’s one more thing on her mind: “I’m that b–ch on your TV/ And my Ferrari indigo/ La la lisa la diva/ Sawadika there she go.”
The video for the spare, bass-heavy song produced by Thom Bridges (KATSEYE, John Summit) is like an entire Paris fashion week in three minutes, from the black feathered catsuit in the first shot to a spangly, space-age burgundy two-piece with matching, jewel-dripping headphones the K-pop superstar sports as she slinks sideways down a street at night amid her crew of black-clad dancers in the clip directed by Bang Jae Yeob (Stray Kids, Aespa).
She’s in full Las Vegas showgirl mode with a towering black feather headdress soon enough for a rooftop dance shot, then glowing like a futuristic TRON character in a neon blue bikini with matching hair in an underground tunnel and action-ready in a red leather bodysuit with boxing shorts that feature the song’s title in rhinestones across the waist in a bit inspired by Muay Thai boxing.
The punchy song is the first taste of Lisa’s upcoming Press Play EP, which will drop on Oct. 23.
According toLifestyle Asia, the visual is a tour of Thai landmarks, including stops at the Hua Lamphong railway station, the former central passenger terminal in Bangkok, the Soi Charoen Khet 1 neighborhood and Dib Bangkok, the sleek, contemporary art museum that opened last year.
The single is the first solo effort from the singer/rapper/actress this year, following on the heels of her FIFA World Cup 2026 anthem “Goals” with Anitta and Rema. In addition to an upcoming documentary, Always Lalisa (Oct. 12), Lisa is gearing up for her Viva La Lisa Residency in Las Vegas at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Nov. 13, 14, 27 and 28.
The BLACKPINK star launches the next chapter of her solo career with “CLICK,” a tasty pop treat that’s accompanied with a futuristic music video.
Joseph Kahn (Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Eminem) directs the cinematic clip, which follows the eternal existence of a cyborg JISOO, left behind in a deserted old theme park. There’s no life to be found in this forsaken place. Not in the human form, anyway.
Our lonely hero brightens her endless day when she activates some robot buddies, including some characters who could’ve lived a past life at a Chuck E Cheese restaurant. A twinkle toed humanoid suitor shows up, dressed to impressed. They were made to click.
Kahn and JISOO take this barren sad world, and convert it to light, with life, movement and friendship, its storytelling recalling Wall-E, Stephen Spielberg’s AI and J.F. Sebastian’s workshop in Blade Runner. At its heart is the CLICK Bear, who represents the presence of JISOO’s fans who come from different countries, speak different languages and live different lives.
It’s been non-stop for the South Korean pop superstar, who teased her new solo chapter last year with “EYES CLOSED,” a collaboration with ex-One Direction star Zayn. The single reached No. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100. With that feat, BLACKPINK became the first girl group to have every member enter the Hot 100 as a solo artist.
BLACKPINK released the DEADLINE EP in February of this year, after completing the group’s Deadline World Tour. DEADLINE opened at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, and marked their first major music release since they hit No. 1 on the all-genres albums tally in 2022 with Born Pink.
“CLICK” follows JISOO’s 2025 debut mini album, AMORTAGE, which included “earthquake” and “Your Love.”
JISOO began her solo journey two years earlier, in 2023, with the release of her debut EP, ME, which became the first album by a female solo artist in South Korea to surpass one million sales. Its single, “꽃(FLOWER),” powered to No. 2 on the Billboard Global 200 in April of that year, and No. 1 on the Global Excl. US chart.
