Category: Music

Nicki Minaj is facing backlash for her comments about New York’s Gov. Kathy Hochul, whom she called “evil” in a rant on X on Wednesday night (Oct. 28).

The rapper began with a characteristically blunt post weighing in on her home state’s fast-approaching gubernatorial race, writing, “Kathy Hochul is an evil woman” and advising that the “Democratic Party should forfeit her seat because even if she wins, she will be of great consequence to them.”

“Downward spiral for her,” Minaj continued. “She will not escape God’s wrath. She did not denounce evil when she had the chance.”

The hip-hop star — who was born in Trinidad and Tobago but grew up in Queens, N.Y., from the age of 5 — followed up with an all-caps response to a video she reposted of Hochul’s controversial 2024 remark that there were “Black kids growing up in the Bronx who don’t even know what the word ‘computer’ is,” something she apologized for that same day. “I misspoke and I regret it,” the politician said at the time.

“HOW MUCH MORE DO YOU NEED TO SEE & HEAR FROM THEM?!!” Minaj wrote of the two-year-old incident. “HOW DARE YOU AS BLACK PEOPLE VOTE FOR THIS VILE WICKED CURSE OF A WOMAN? HOW DARE YOU AS CHRISTIANS?! SHE STAYS SILENT ON HARM BEING CAUSED TO THE INNOCENT & THIS IS WHAT SHE THINKS OF YOUR CHILDREN!”

Minaj also reposted a video of Hochul addressing Black congregants at True Bethel Baptist Church in 2025 about her inflation rebate initiative, joking: “Don’t stop by the liquor store, OK? Buy something for the kids — buy them some food. Sometimes I have to stop by the liquor store, too. I understand.”

“So not only does she keep horrible company & laugh at the demonic things her friends do behind the scenes to people who aren’t as politically powerful…Dear God, help us,” the hitmaker wrote of the remark, which the church’s bishop defended at the time as being “in [the] context” of his sermon that day.

The posts come as Minaj has been helping Donald Trump rally for Republican candidates in this year’s midterm elections. In addition to urging followers to vote for Bruce Blakeman in his race against Hochul, she recently appeared at the president’s rally in Michigan, where he invited her to stand up for the crowd and show off her “beautiful a–.”

When asked about Minaj’s comments at a recent campaign stop, Hochul suggested that the rapper should “stop going to Trump rallies” because they’re “poisoning her mind.”

Minaj has faced criticism this past year for aligning herself with Trump, and her new comments blasting the Democratic governor are no exception. The Breakfast Club weighed in on its Thursday (Oct. 29) episode, with Charlamagne tha God saying Minaj’s takes lack “moral consistency.”

“You can have whatever political belief you want, but you have to hold everybody to the same moral standard, Nicki,” he said. “You support Donald Trump. Do you know who you are even supporting? Do you apply the same moral standards to Trump that you apply to people like Kathy Hochul? Who has had more moral controversies than Trump?”

As she gears up to kick off her VIVA LA LISA residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Nov. 12, BLACKPINK‘s LISA sat down with Jake Shane on his Therapuss podcast on Thursday (Oct. 29) to talk first night jitters, working with Rosalía and how she went from never hearing of Labubu dolls to helping to launch a worldwide phenomenon and being fully overwhelmed by the adorably ugly collectible plushies.

Coming off of her 2026 MTV VMA win for best pop for “Dream” from her debut solo album, last year’s Alter Ego, LISA said the boost she got from snagging her own Moon Person and debuting her single “SaWaDiKa” at the show amped her up for the Sin City run. “Now I’m like, ‘OK, I’m looking forward to my residency,” she said, confessing that she was having butterflies about the residency before her VMA performance. “I was so nervous,” she said as she’s gearing up for intense rehearsals for the six-show run that kicks off next month.

“SaWaDiKa,” which debuted at No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100, appears on LISA’s recently released six-track Press Play EP. The singer said it made perfect sense as the first single from the EP because the phrase is the “first thing you say when you say ‘hi’ to people” in Thailand and it fits with the influence of her home country on the album.

The 29-year-old singer/actress said she spent six or seven months in Thailand reconnecting to her roots — enjoying the food, friends, family and weather — after living in Korea since she was 14. “It feels so good to be back home. Home there. Real home,” she said. “So, when we’re doing this EP, we’re just like, ‘OK. I have so many, inspiration from my hometown.’”

That included putting one of the nation’s ubiquitous three-wheeled tuk-tuk motorized rickshaw’s in the “SaWaDiKa” video and filling her mood board with “so many” Thai-inspired ideas. “And then we’re always talking ‘oh, what if we put a Thai sound and mix with a pop sound?,’” she added about the EP’s closing track, the Britney Spears-like burner “Sweat,” which features a mix of sultry beats and Thai guitar.

Speaking of Spears, LISA said she was obsessed with the “Gimme More” singer as a kid thanks to a cousin who was a huge Brit booster. She listed off “Toxic” as one of her favorite Britney songs, as well as the 2008 Circus album, which featured the title track single, as well as “Womanizer,” “If U Seek Amy” and “Radar.”

LISA revealed the origin of another obsession to Shane as well, one she stumbled on by accident, but which has since become a bit of a problem. The singer said at first she’d never heard of “this little cutie,” in reference to the plushies that she helped turn into a global phenomenon when she was spotted carrying one of the toothy Labubu dolls attached to a luxury handbag in 2024.

But, when she went to visit Thailand a few years ago with some friends and popped into a Pop Mart in search of the dolls she was told were completely sold out.

“I’m like, ‘is that so hard to get?’ She’s like, ‘yes girl.’ Like ‘where have you been?,’” she recalled the store employee telling her. Her friends showed her the Labubus they wanted and the K-pop superstar immediately honed in on the green matcha-colored one. “I was like, ‘I want the green matcha! … I ended up buying a whole box. I mean, getting a whole box.”

From there, she kept getting updates from a friend about the most limited-edition ones, which she took as a challenge. Now, however, “I have no space to walk in my house,” because she said there are Labubus everywhere she looks smiling at her.

Elsewhere in the interview, LISA reveals her favorite BLACKPINK song and what it was like working with Rosalía on the video for the Alter Ego song “New Woman.”

Watch clips from LISA’s Therapuss appearance here.

Tate McRae reaches No. 1 on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart for the first time as a lead act, bowing atop the Oct. 31-dated tally with “Housewife.”

In the week ending Oct. 22, the song earned 22.9 million chart-eligible streams in the United States, according to Luminate.

McRae led Streaming Songs once before, as the featured act on Morgan Wallen’s “What I Want.” The tune reigned for six weeks in 2025.

McRae’s previous best as a lead act was “Tit for Tat,” which peaked at No. 2 in 2025. She first reached the survey in 2020 when “You Broke Me First” peaked at No. 29, while her first top 10 followed in 2023 via “Greedy” (No. 6).

“Greedy” takes over the No. 1 spot on Streaming Songs from Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” which equaled Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” mark for the most weeks at No. 1 on the chart in its 13-year history on the Oct. 24 ranking, logging its 26th week atop the list. “Choosin’ Texas” appears at No. 4 on the latest chart via 20 million streams, up 1%.

Concurrently, as previously reported, “Housewife” debuts at No. 2 on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100, her highest charting song as a lead act, surpassing the No. 3 peaks of “Greedy” and “Tit for Tat.” She boasts one No. 1, a one-frame rule by Wallen’s “What I Want.”

“Housewife” is expected to be the lead single from McRae’s fourth studio album, which does not yet have a release date. Its predecessor, So Close to What, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated March 8, 2025, and has earned 2.8 million equivalent album units to date.

The princesses are back. Nearly two decades after costarring in Princess Protection Program, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato have reclaimed their tiaras for a special collaboration celebrating nearly 25 years of friendship.

As announced Wednesday (Oct. 28), Gomez enlisted Lovato for Rare Beauty’s new campaign, “Still Making Each Other Blush.” It arrives with a packaged set that includes two liquid blushes in different shades.

For the team-up, the two former Disney Channel stars posed in fancy gowns and crowns for some regal photos, marking one of the first times fans have seen them together in years. After meeting on Barney & Friends in 2002, Gomez and Lovato stayed close while building their careers as actresses and singers, starring on Wizards of Waverly Place and Sonny With a Chance, respectively, as well as costarring in Princess Protection Program (2009). There were a few bumps in the road that played out publicly over the years, but as of earlier this year, the artists are firmly in each other’s corners.

“I am in tears,” Gomez wrote on Instagram in April after attending one of Lovato’s It’s Not That Deep Tour concerts. “@ddlovato — this was hands down one of the best shows. Oh and the VOCALS? Psh *blown away.”

The Rare Beauty collab also builds on the wave of 2000s throwbacks that Disney stars such as Gomez and Lovato, as well as the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus, have been enjoying this past year. The Jo Bros recently starred in a third Camp Rock film, adding to the franchise that launched Lovato’s career, while Cyrus produced a Hannah Montana 20th-anniversary special that featured a cameo from Gomez.

“I think the age that we’re at is really loving nostalgia right now,” Lovato told Billboard in April, noting that looking back on the golden era of Disney Channel has brought everyone closer recently. “For all the people who are in their 30s and have lived through the Disney era with me, Selena, the Jonas Brothers and Miley, they’re craving it, and it’s fun to go back and relive those moments.”

Lovato and Gomez’s blush duo is now available on Rare’s website.

Jay-Z was announced as the official Super Bowl LXI Halftime Show headlining performer earlier this week, but NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has long believed that Hov’s day on the Super Bowl stage would come.

Goodell joined Apple Music’s The Ebro Show for an interview with Ebro Darden and Eddie Francis on Tuesday (Oct. 27), during which he shed some light on the timing being right for Jay-Z to be the halftime show choice for February 2027 in Los Angeles.

“We’ve always wanted this to happen at some point. It was something I asked him about at the time when we first started this, and he said, ‘Yeah, we’ll see. Let’s see what happens.’ But it was clear he wanted it to happen,” Goodell explained. “We’ve talked about it a couple of times.”

The commissioner continued: “I think the fact that he’s in his 30th anniversary year of his first album, he just finished his tour, it’s L.A., he’s at that point as the GOAT that he’s ready for it. He was pretty clear: ‘I wanna do it this year.’ I guess I was more excited than anything, maybe a little surprised, because he keeps putting it off a little bit.”

Hov and Roc Nation have served as the league’s live music entertainment strategist since 2019. They re-upped in 2024 to extend their partnership, which has brought the likes of Rihanna, The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, Usher, Bad Bunny, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg to the Super Bowl stage.

“But I think he’s already got his vision; he already understands what he wants to do,” Goodell added of Jay’s plan. “He’s been so remarkable in helping us elevate the whole Super Bowl Halftime Show. He’s a genius, and not just a creative genius in a musical sense. His business sense, his sense of timing, his sense of what’s necessary in the world — he’s just got that. I trust him, and I trust his point of view.”

As part of the NFL’s halftime show announcement, Goodell revealed that his one request to Jay when the NFL entered a partnership with Roc Nation was that the Brooklyn rap dignitary take the Super Bowl stage at some point.

“When we first reached an agreement with Roc Nation to produce the show, I had just one request: that Jay-Z take the stage himself one day, whenever the moment felt right to him,” Goodell said in a statement in the announcement.

There’s been plenty of social media chatter in the days since Hov was announced as the Super Bowl LXI Halftime Show headliner taking place at SoFi Stadium on Valentine’s Day 2027.

Will Jay helm the show as a mainly solo act and lean on his own catalog, or call on the star power from his glossy Rolodex? Could the Super Bowl Halftime Show be a launchpad for his first studio album in a decade? Fans will have to wait and see.

Watch a clip from the interview with commissioner Roger Goodell below.

Jennifer Lopez is gearing up to celebrate the 15th anniversary of her seventh studio album, Love?, with the LP’s first-ever vinyl release. The rebooted set, which will come in three different collectible editions, will also feature the new dance song “Proof of Love.”

Lopez told Variety that she was inspired to write and record the new song after her twins, Max and Emme (who recently changed their name to Oskar), left for college this fall. “They take up such a big part of your brain for so long, and when they’re gone, which is devastating and sad and scary, you’re facing a life that’s totally different now, and you’re like, ‘What am I going to do with this space and this time?’ For me, I just went back in the studio,” she said. “I’ve written some of the best songs that I’ve ever written, and I’m really excited. It’s a very happy era album. It’s some of the most joyous, beautiful songs that have just a tad of a tear in them.”

The 2011 release, inspired by the birth of the twins with Lopez’ ex-husband, singer Marc Anthony, featured the global Billboard Hot 100 No. 3 hit “On the Floor” featuring Pitbull, as well as the fan favorites “I’m Into You” (feat. Lil Wayne) and “Papi.”

Lopez told Variety that the new track is ” a beautiful song about this kind of duality. It’s this happy dance song, and these are the things that are the proof of love. One of them is pain and grief when someone’s gone. You feel pain and grief. That’s really proof of love. I wanted to make that a happy thing. I wanted to make that a marker instead of this devastating thing.”

Fans can pre-order the three vinyl editions now, which will include the standard 12-track version featuring “Proof of Love,” a deluxe 2LP edition with 17 tracks on translucent royal blue vinyl, the new single, new artwork and five additional album tracks: “Hypnotico,” “Everybody’s Girl,” “Charge Me Up,” “Take Care” and “On the Floor (Ven a Bailar).”

The Love? color vinyl BILT exclusive edition comes on cherry red vinyl, with all three due out in November on an as-yet-unannounced date.

In the meantime, Lopez is gearing up for The JLo Show: Live in Las Vegas on Thanksgiving night (Nov. 26) which will air at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and stream on Paramount+.

Check out Lopez’s post announcing the vinyl release below.