Category: Music

THE BIG STORY: 50 Cent hasn’t released an album since 2014. Maybe he’s just been too busy with litigation?

In his latest legal battle, the rapper’s G-Unit Books is accusing ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins of violating a “life rights” agreement by posting a series of “tell-all” Instagram videos. The lawsuit, filed last week, says the company paid Tompkins $80,000 in 2007 in return for “all rights to exploit her life story” — a deal they explicitly say was meant to protect the rapper’s reputation.

“Jackson purchased these rights to preserve them for use in future biographical or autobiographical projects, but also in part because he was concerned that Tompkins would attempt to monetize their history and his name,” the rapper’s lawyers wrote. “His concerns were ultimately proven correct.”

To say that 50 Cent is familiar with the court system would be something of an understatement.

The rapper is currently embroiled in litigation with the producers of a horror movie in which he plays the starring role, and his liquor brand just won court approval to seize the Connecticut home of a former exec who stole money from the company. Last year, he sued another ex-girlfriend for defamation over her abuse accusations; before that, he spent years battling with Rémy Martin over accusations that his cognac brand copied the company’s bottle design.

Perhaps the most notable? A 2022 lawsuit in which he accused a Miami medical spa of falsely suggesting that he’d had penis surgery. In his court papers, the rapper said the owner of the spa exploited an innocent photo he’d “graciously agreed” to take with her to imply that he was a client — and, more startlingly, that he had received penile enhancement.

All that action doesn’t come cheap: Last year, 50 Cent claimed he’d spent an astronomical $24 million in legal fees during his career. But he also didn’t express regret about doing so: “When they agitate me, I’ll send the f–king lawyers.”

Stay with Billboard for all the updates on 50 Cent’s latest case against Tompkins — and for any new litigation that comes next.

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Other top stories this week…

TERMINATION BATTLE – Universal Music Group (UMG) fired back at a lawsuit from Salt-N-Pepa that seeks to win back control of their masters through copyright law’s termination right, arguing that the case is legally invalid because the pioneering hip-hop duo was not actually a party to its 1986 record deal. The motion cited a ruling that rejected an earlier class action against UMG that sought to terminate copyrights en masse — and pointedly noted that Salt-N-Pepa’s lawyers worked on that same earlier case.

JANE’S LITIGATION – Members of Jane’s Addiction sued frontman Perry Farrell for allegedly attacking guitarist Dave Navarro onstage at a Boston concert last year, claiming the assault cost them millions by forcing the cancellation of the rest of their reunion tour and derailing plans for a new album. Hours later, Farrell filed his own suit, claiming he was actually the victim in the viral scuffle after years of “bullying” by his bandmates.

ANTITRUST ARRAIGNMENT – Tim Leiweke, the live entertainment mogul and former CEO of Oak View Group, surrendered to authorities and pleaded not guilty to a federal criminal antitrust charge over allegations of bid-rigging. Prosecutors say Leiweke conspired to rig the bidding for the construction and management of the Moody Center Arena, a $338 million, 19,000-seat facility in Austin.

GO EASY ON ME – Rapper Sean Kingston’s mother (Janice Turner) pleaded with a federal judge for a light prison sentence following the mom-son duo’s convictions for running a fraudulent scheme to effectively steal high-end cars, jewelry and other luxury goods. A pre-sentencing report says she should spend at least five years in prison, but her lawyers argued that such a lengthy term was “wholly unnecessary” for a woman who was a “pillar in her community.”

BUFFETT ESTATE FIGHT – Jimmy Buffett’s widow Jane argued in new court filings that her late husband’s longtime business manager (Rick Mozenter) is improperly using her inheritance to bankroll his legal battle for control of the singer-songwriter’s $275 million estate. The filing came amid ongoing litigation in which each side is trying to oust the other from their roles as co-trustees of the star’s hefty estate, which includes a stake in his successful island-themed hospitality company, Margaritaville.

LIZZO LAWSUIT – Lawyers for Lizzo’s company asked a judge to dismiss a harassment and discrimination lawsuit filed by former tour wardrobe designer Asha Daniels, calling it an “absurd” case that “makes a mockery of true victims.” The motion comes months after a judge dismissed Lizzo herself from the case, which is separate from a more high-profile case filed by three backup dancers over similar accusations.

ABUSE SETTLEMENT – Shia LaBeouf reached a confidential settlement to end a lawsuit filed by FKA Twigs that accused the actor of subjecting her to a “living nightmare” of abuse during their romantic relationship. The former couple’s powerhouse lawyers — Bryan Freedman for Twigs and Shawn Holley for LaBeouf — confirmed the agreement in a joint statement: “Committed to forging a constructive path forward, we have agreed to settle our case out of court.”

BIGGIE BIGGIE BIGGIE – The Notorious B.I.G.’s estate reached a settlement with Target, Nordstrom and other retailers that allegedly sold unauthorized canvas prints of the famed “King of New York” photo snapped just days before the legendary rapper’s death.

NO CHARGES – U.K. police announced that Irish rap group Kneecap would not be criminally charged for shouting “Free Palestine” and “‘F— Keir Starmer” during its politically-charged set at the Glastonbury Festival last month. Local police said there was “insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence.”

BEACH BRAWL – Backstreet Boys member Brian Littrell filed a lawsuit against a Florida sheriff’s office for allegedly refusing to take action against trespassers at his oceanfront home’s private beach. The case cited body camera footage in which a police officer allegedly told a trespasser that he “doesn’t agree with private beaches” and called Littrell’s police reports “lunacy.”

Justin Bieber returns to Billboard’s charts in a big way thanks to his new surprise album, Swag.

Released July 11 via JRC/ILH/Def Jam/Republic, the set debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 (dated July 26) with 163,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in its opening week, according to Luminate. Announced just 10 hours before its release, the album was only available in digital and streaming formats in its first week — meaning no physical editions were available, a typical limitation for surprise album drops.

Bieber also makes a major impact on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting 16 songs on the chart, let by “Daisies” at No. 2. Here’s a full breakdown:

Rank, Title:
No. 2, “Daisies”
No. 17, “Yukon”
No. 18, “Go Baby”
No. 21, “All I Can Take”
No. 33, “Way It Is,” with Gunna
No. 35, “Things You Do”
No. 37, “Walking Away”
No. 49, “Butterflies”
No. 56, “Devotion,” with Dijon
No. 57, “Sweet Spot,” with Sexyy Red
No. 59, “First Place”
No. 70, “Swag,” with Cash Cobain & Eddie Benjamin
No. 79, “Too Long”
No. 83, “Glory Voice Memo”
No. 84, “Dadz Love,” with Lil B
No. 86, “405”

The only Swag cuts to miss the Hot 100 are “Zuma House,” “Forgiveness” (by Marvin Winans) and the three skits with Druski: “Soulful,” “Therapy Session” and “Standing on Business” (non-music-focused tracks are generally ineligible to chart).

The 16 debuts up Bieber’s total to 121 career entries — the 10th-most of all time. He also helps Dijon, Eddie Benjamin and Lil B score their first career entries on the chart.

“Daisies” earns Bieber his 27th career Hot 100 top 10, and first new top 10 since “Ghost” in 2022. He ties Janet Jackson for the 10th-most top 10s in the chart’s nearly 67-year history. He also pushes his totals to 43 top 20 titles (tying the Beatles and Rihanna for the eighth-most) and 58 top 40 hits.

Vocalist Jane Eugene, a founding member of the ‘80s British band Loose Ends — which scored No. 1 R&B hits on the Billboard charts with “Hangin’ on a String (Contemplating)” and “Slow Down” — has been detained by ICE agents for nearly three months owing to a visa overstay.

Currently housed in a correctional facility in Kentucky and facing deportation, Eugene is scheduled to attend a hearing this week in hopes of being released on bond and allowed to stay in the country, even provisionally. In the meantime, a GoFundMe page has been organized on Eugene’s behalf to raise donations for her bail, legal fees, medical assistance and basic needs.

According to Eugene’s representatives, the singer — who has lived in the U.S. for decades — was traveling across the Canadian border when she was stopped by immigration officers. That’s where ICE picked Eugene up and took her to a jail in upstate New York before her transfer to the Kentucky facility. She’s now been housed there for nearly three months, along with inmates convicted of various other crimes. Those “conditions are taking a huge toll,” as noted on her GoFundMe page. “Jane’s health is rapidly deteriorating. Unable to work or generate income for the past few months and foreseeable future, Jane needs our help.”

As also explained on the GoFundMe page, a provision under Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) states that people who entered the country and applied for a green card before 2001 are allowed to reapply for legal status while still in the U.S., even if they’ve overstayed their visa. Because Eugene has lived in the U.S. for decades, she “meets the requirements for 245(i) and is ‘grandfathered’ in.”

Together with vocalist/guitarist Carl McIntosh and keyboardist/vocalist Steve Nichol, Eugene comprised the founding lineup of Loose Ends in 1980. The trio landed its first No. 1 R&B hit in 1985 with “Hangin’ on a String (Contemplating),” followed a year later by a second chart-topping R&B single, “Slow Down.” Before exiting Loose Ends in 1990, Eugene appeared on additional hits by the band, including “Watching You” and “Mr. Bachelor.” Since then, she’s been touring as Loose Ends featuring Jane Eugene.

If deported, Eugene faces the possibility of being banned from the U.S. for a decade.

“She loves America, has made her home here and wants to fight using every legal remedy available,” states the GoFundMe page. “To those of us who know her personally, she’s not just an R&B legend; she’s one of the most caring and compassionate human beings you will ever meet. Aside from enriching the lives of millions through her performances through the years and influencing numerous musical genres, including neo soul, house and hip-hop, she mentors aspiring artists and actively supports members of any community in need.”

Prize-winning Japanese comedian, Netflix star and all-around entertainer YURIYAN RETRIEVER can now add major-label solo artist to her illustrious list of titles, dropping her debut single “YURIYAN TIME” on Wednesday (July 16).

The versatile funny woman, now based in the U.S., worked with sought-after music producer yonkey — producer of ATARASHII GAKKO! — on the new song, an earwormy number that naturally inspires courage after repeated listening despite its comical nature. YURIYAN, whose stage name as a singer is stylized in all caps, says that’s the core of what she aimed to convey through the track that showcases yonkey’s expertise. The 34-year-old multi-hyphenate and 28-year-old music producer opened up about the creative process of “YURIYAN TIME” in this conversation for Billboard Japan.

Tell us about your first impressions of each other.

yonkey: We met in a sort of conference room and talked about a lot of things. She said, “Could you listen to this song I wrote?” This often happens whenever I’m meeting with other musicians I produce, but they usually just play it on their iPhone. But YURIYAN was like, “I don’t have a recording, so do you mind if I do it here?” and performed it for me right there in full with just the beat. I was floored. My first impression of her was that she was more enthusiastic than any other artist.

YURIYAN: He says I was enthusiastic, but I just didn’t have the skills to make sounds or to record them, so I had to do it directly.

yonkey: I mean, usually it’s embarrassing to sing in front of someone at a distance of a table between you. But I had this gut feeling that if she could perform even under such circumstances, the project would definitely work out. It was such an electrifying moment.

YURIYAN: He asked me, “What kind of vibes do you like in a song?” I often think songs that have catchy intros are cool, so I told him, “I like songs that start off in a unique way.” And when I told him that I often put my thoughts and feelings into my comedy routines, he said… was it a scribble? A scrawl?

“Itemize them,” maybe?

YURIYAN: Yes! “An itemized list is fine, so write your thoughts down.”

Did you have an idea of what you wanted it to sound like?

yonkey: I was invited to go see YURIYAN’s comedy show once, and one of her segments had a kind of horror story feel to it. I wanted to add some scary sounds reminiscent of Japan and Japanese children’s songs. I thought I could reproduce that horror-tinged flavor that YURIYAN had written into her comedy routine by using delay on crows cawing in the intro to evoke the image of dusk.

YURIYAN: I heard from yonkey that he added that Japanese flavor to the track to suggest I was going global from Japan. You know what, though, a fortune teller once told me long ago that my guardian spirit is a crow. A yatagarasu, the three-legged crow used as the symbol of the Japanese national soccer team, is apparently watching over me. Also, my hometown is NYC… Oh, Nara Yoshino-cho, I mean. I thought maybe my guardian yatagarasu possessed yonkey and made him add those caws.

How did you two work out the lyrics?

yonkey: I only knew YURIYAN from what I’d seen in the media, so I wanted to know what she usually thinks about. She wrote about her love life and about the pent-up resentment she feels from daily life in the notebook she used to list her ideas, so I took her words and designed them into music. YURIYAN inspired the basic ideas and words of the lyrics, while I did the designing to make them sound pleasing.

YURIYAN: I sent him the list I jotted down, and he wrote lyrics about the core part of me that I hadn’t even realized I had, and it made me really happy. It was also catchy and cute on top of that, so I was impressed.

Could you elaborate on that “core part” that you didn’t realize you had?

YURIYAN: At first I wrote about feeling disappointed because my love life wasn’t working out, but when you read yonkey’s lyrics, you can see that it’s not just limited to romantic relationships. It’s about not catering to anyone and being like, I’m fine the way I am, you know? It’s basically about finding value in who you are and saying, “I’m OK with this!”

yonkey: But she also has sensitive and vulnerable sides to her, and I was really impressed by the way she’s like, “I’m the best” even though she has such traits. In the first verse, YURIYAN intentionally says she feels faint-hearted sometimes, but follows up immediately, “No I don’t, dumbass!” and flexes her strong self. I wanted to express that duality in the song.

There are plenty of other key words pulled from your list in the lyrics.

YURIYAN: Stuff about my comedy routines and personal life. And about playing the role of (professional wrestler) Dump Matsumoto in Netflix’s The Queen of Villains, and about my fitness coach Tomo Okabe, who I’ve been training with for a long time.

yonkey: All the parts that show her daily life I took from her notes. In hip-hop, it’s sometimes hard to get a message across when the lyrics only cover universal topics. I think it’s best to honestly express that person’s lifestyle, so I was confident that it would work out if she told me about such things.

And now YURIYAN has made her debut as a solo artist with the song.

yonkey: I always had the idea of making it an introduction to YURIYAN since this is her debut number. And since she’s based in the U.S., I was meticulous about the track, aiming to make music that could be included in Spotify playlists all over the world. I also wanted to make sure to include Japanese identity in the music, so I asked her to sing the song in Japanese.

I produce ATARASHII GAKKO! and I’m particular about using the Japanese language with them as well. You know how Japanese people have a hard time pronouncing English? I’ve been told by producers from other countries that they find our pronunciation to be distinctive, and I think that’s something we can use as a weapon. Translation features are available everywhere nowadays and we can understand what people are saying, so I figured Japanese was the only language that could draw out YURIYAN’s uniqueness even more. That’s another thing I focused on when I wrote this song.

YURIYAN: I talk about this as if it were normal, like, “Yeah I got to make my debut,” but I’m actually like, “Can this really be happening?” and still find it hard to believe. I really want to do what I can to make it a hit. I started TikTok a few days ago in a hurry because I want “YURIYAN TIME” to create a buzz. [Laughs] It’s a song that introduces me, and I want people to get to know me, but I think it’s also a song that will boost the energy of anyone who listens to it. So I hope people will enjoy it by replacing it with their own names, like “AKIKO TIME” or whatever. I want people from all over the world to listen to it, grown-ups and kids alike.

This interview by Atsuo Nagahori first appeared on Billboard Japan.