5Aug

J. Cole Returns to His (Second) Home With ‘Electric Fall-Off World Tour’ at Madison Square Garden: 6 Best Moments

It’s been a thrilling year for rap at the stadium and arena level between Cardi B, JAY-Z and Don Toliver — but J. Cole just might be delivering the strongest hip-hop live show of the year.

On Tuesday (Aug. 4), the Fayetteville MC, who spent his college years in New York, lit up Madison Square Garden for the second night this week, marking his fourth of five NYC-area arena headlining shows. With Cole’s New York residency comprised of two MSG shows, two nights at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and a stop at Long Island’s UBS Arena, the two-time Grammy Award winner could have probably booked one stadium show and called it a day. Nonetheless, his decision to remain in arenas allowed him to pour into the unique fan connection that’s underscored his entire, nearly two-decade career.

Before Cole took the stage, Dreamville’s Bas — who proudly shouted out the fact that he grew up in Jamaica, Queens — played a quick opening set that traded on posse cuts like “Down Bad” and his signature hit “Tribe.” Around 9:15 p.m., a hooded J. Cole knelt in the middle of a temporarily vacated section 106, ready to intimately begin the night with The Fall-Off‘s “39 Intro.” Talk about aura farming!

Across a nearly two-hour set, Cole ripped through a setlist largely anchored by The Fall-Off, his eighth studio album. Featuring appearances by Tems, Burna Boy, Petey Pablo and more, The Fall-Off opened atop the Billboard 200, with 21 of the album’s 24 tracks charting on the Billboard Hot 100 in its debut week. A denser, less radio-focused set than most of his catalog’s full-length entries, The Fall-Off finds Cole trying his hand at the double-album structure, splitting his eighth record into “Disc 29” and “Disc 39,” on which he recounts different homecomings at those respective ages, as well as the emotional journey between those two timestamps.

His production design reflected that homegrown, Fayetteville-set narrative with the backdrop consisting of a practical-meets-projected rendering of the city’s historic Market House (under which the band was annoyingly secluded) and his storied Honda Civic — which he revisited with this spring’s Trunk Sale Tour in support of The Fall-Off. Unlike many recent major arena shows, Cole shied away from elaborate stage design, let alone a B-stage. Instead, he opted for a more traditional, proscenium stage, with the curvature of his Fall-Off era typography service as the theater’s red curtains.

From the dazzling lighting design to his enviable stamina (you could count the number of times he stopped for water on one hand), Cole performed like this was his final tour. And, well, it kind of is. Cole’s current 73-day trek — which will bring him to North America, Europe, Australia, and South Africa — is widely expected to be his last of such scale, at least for a long time. Amazingly, that implication didn’t hang in the air like a cloud; Cole harnessed those feelings to further ground fan-centric moments like one concertgoer losing his mind for the chance to go bar-for-bar on “Johnny P’s Caddy.”

And beyond the show’s creative merits and Cole’s expert breath control and diction, The Fall-Off World Tour reminds the world that despite its namesake album’s headier feel — and the jokes that spawned from his decision to exit the 2024 Drake-Kendrick Lamar battle — Cole has an incredible catalog across mixtapes (“In the Morning”), deep cuts (“2Face”), hit singles (“Middle Child,” “Wet Dreamz”) and collaborations (“The London,” “Planez”).

When we talk about era-defining MCs with catalogs that hold up, Cole’s gotta be in the first round of conversation. And he didn’t even touch KOD or 4 Your Eyez Only; Cole’s setlist prioritized his day-ones as much as his navigation of the arena. The fans themselves are a vital element for Cole’s live show, and the world-class talent and real-world humility and good old-fashioned crowd control that drew fans to him were on full display on Tuesday night — look no further than his towering dual closer of 2014’s “No Role Modelz” and 2026’s “Quik Stop.”

Check out Billboard’s five best moments from J. Cole’s The Fall-Off World Tour below.

5Aug

Amyl And The Sniffers Lasso Country Project

For their next trick, Amyl And The Sniffers are going country.

The Australian punk rock act took a brief moment out of their current tour of Continental Europe to alert fans to their next move.  

“A film is coming to you soon about Amyl And The Sniffers doing country covers of our own songs,” reads a post on their socials.

Longtime collaborator John Angus Stewart, who has created several music videos for Amyl, including “You’re a Star,” a collaboration with Fred Again; “Jerkin’,” “U Should Not Be Doing That,” and “Hertz,” which was nominated for best video at the 2022 ARIA Awards, will helm the country film project. Chris Chang and Jason Baum will produce.

The project isn’t a bolt out of the blue. Singer Amy Taylor has previously made it clear that a country record was high on her to-do list.

 “We’ve had three really successful punk and rock albums, but I’d love to make an Aussie country album,” she told Rolling Stone Australia/New Zealand last year. “Chad Morgan, Slim Dusty, that kind of stuff. You know, just shake shit up. If you don’t think about it and talk about it, again, we would just end up touring until we drop dead, basically.” 

Those albums include the band’s self-titled debut from 2019, and 2021’s sophomore effort Comfort to Me, which peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Chart and won for best independent punk album or EP at the 2022 AIR Awards.

Amyl’s most recent album, 2024’s Cartoon Darkness, also peaked at No. 2 on the all-genres ARIA Chart, cracked the Billboard 200 (peaking at No. 196) and cleaned up on the awards circuit, including ARIAs for album of the year, best group, and best rock album, and a slew of APRA Music Awards, including the peer-voted APRA song of the year on two consecutive years.

Also, Cartoon Darkness cut “U Should Not Be Doing That” snagged a nomination at the 68th Grammy Awards, the band’s first, in the category for best rock performance.

Amyl And The Sniffers’ tour dates continue this Friday, Aug. 7 with a performance at Hot in the City at Trieste Estate, followed by festival spots in Poland, Croatia, Norway, Portugal, Denmark, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. U.S. dates get underway from Oct. 1 in Dallas, TX.

5Aug

Elsie Spices up Ed Sheeran’s ‘Make It Rain’ For Judges’ Callbacks on ‘AGT’: Watch

There’s nothing quite like a last chance performance to squeeze the tension and ramp-up the nerves.

Elsie found herself in just that position on America’s Got Talent.

Following the Auditions, the Mississippi mom and singer stood at or near the brink of elimination. But she made it through to the Judges’ Callbacks, a special round for those acts who landed three or four “Yes” votes at their audition to show why they deserve a spot in the Live shows.

For her make-it-through moment, she performed a cover of Ed Sheeran’s “Make It Rain” (originally by Foy Vance), reinterpreting the number with a splash of southern soul.

Simon Cowell was caught on a hot mic, explaining why the 32-year-old’s audition, a performance of an original song, “Forgiveless,” divided the judges and failed to spark him up. “She just didn’t make the connection the first time for whatever reason,” he explained to guest judges Poo Bear and Normani. “And this time it was like, seriously, a completely different experience.”

Elsie was proud of her efforts. “I can leave here feeling accomplished,” she said in an interview, which aired Tuesday night (Aug. 4) along with her Judges’ Callbacks performance, “because he said he wanted me to be myself and I feel like I accomplished that.”

Not so fast. Elsie and her fellow hopefuls gathered, one by one, to learn their fate.

Cowell, as he so often likes to do, kept the artist and the viewers hanging. “I think after that first audition was what we spoke about yesterday was I didn’t quite feel the connection. I think today, from the minute you walked out, you actually lit up the stage,” he remarked. “You have this incredible, almost like peaceful, aura about you. And there is no question of doubt, we will not be making these live shows… without you.”

Cue the tears.

“So, you are joining us in the live shows,” Cowell confirmed, if any doubt remained.

The acerbic British judge also advanced Abiud Sando, Nyjah Music & Zyah Rhythm, Akira, and Travis Garland, while Elekrodads was eliminated. Meanwhile, Mel B advanced Butter & Grit, James & Marina, and Béty, while Lachlan Patterson, Joel M, and Madelyn Tallent & Malachi Martin headed for the exit.

AGT airs every Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, streaming the next day on Peacock.

Watch Elsie’s green-light moment on AGT’s Results video below.

5Aug

KATSEYE Share Their Feelings On Seeing Manon In The Documentary ‘Wild Hearts’ | Billboard News

KATSEYE (Yoonchae, Danielle, Megan and Lara) have a lot on their minds. The international girl group share how they feel about their new documentary Wild Hearts, what they’re excited for their EYEKONS to see, their thoughts on seeing Manon in the documentary, as well as react to “Animal” becoming their highest charting song on the Hot 100 chart.

Tetris Kelly
Alright, guys. We have been on such a crazy journey, and I remember how we felt about Pop Star Academy when we watched that. But how does it feel seeing this part of your story on the big screen?

Danielle (KATSEYE)
I think it’s good to see. It’s very much more authentic. You get a little bit more of that rawness, more of like the BTS, more of that grind, that day-to-day grind that people I feel like don’t really get to see a lot, so I think it’s very nice that we’re finally like making a film to show that.

Tetris Kelly
Yeah, you talk about the grind. I mean, you guys just dropped “Animal, which became your highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 to date. So congratulations! How do you guys feel about “Animal” getting all this success right now?

Megan (KATSEYE)
We’re so grateful. We couldn’t be more grateful. We’ve worked so hard, and we’re continuing to. And it just makes us so much more excited for the world tour to come out, and just the album and everything. So yeah, we we love you guys so much. We couldn’t.

Tetris Kelly
I mean, the tour. We’re getting bigger venues this time. So what are we going to see? Any surprises? What can the fans expect out there?

Lara (KATSEYE)
I think lots of vocals, more vocal moments. I think a bit more like interaction with the fans. It’s just we’re planning like a really, really, really sick show. We just started rehearsals, and we’re grinding. It’s going to be awesome.

Tetris Kelly
And I’ve tried to, of course, be as respectful as possible and give you guys space. But now that you guys have talked about it a couple times with Manal being in this film. How does it feel emotionally being here tonight and seeing that?

Lara (KATSEYE)
I think it’s so so beautiful. She is such an incredible, important, and beautiful part of KATSEYE’s journey and will forever be. So of course she is in this movie, and like it’s so beautiful to watch that and watch the journey as it happened, and also for all the EYEKON to see. I think that they’re going to be so happy. They love her so much, and we love her so much. And it’s it’s just it’s beautiful. It’s awesome.

Tetris Kelly
I love her. I love you guys, and I’m so excited to see the film. Thanks, guys. Thank you. Of course.

4Aug

Rihanna Rocks Wildly Colorful Headdress With Jewel-Dripping Carnival Outfit Featuring Bold Cut-Outs For Barbados’ Kadooment Day Parade

Rihanna has made a habit of returning home to Barbados during carnival season for the annual Crop Over festival. This year’s event took place from July 4-Aug. 3, culminating with the Grand Kadooment Day Parade on Monday (Aug. 3).

That’s where you would have found Rihanna, who once again stunned in a wildly colorful, elaborate costume covered in jewels, sparkles and peacock-colored feathers. The singer, 38, walked, and danced, in the parade, blowing kisses to fans along the way and then swapped out her towering headpiece for a more manageable one before boarding a float to enjoy the festivities at a remove while she waved to fans.

According to Glamour, the costume was by celebrated Barbadian designer Lauren Astin and featured “crystal embellishments, bold jewel tones, dramatic feather detailing and a statement headpiece worthy of a carnival queen.” The outfit also had a number of bold cut-outs on the bodice — mostly cut-outs, honestly, as the eye-popping piece strategically covered bits of RihRih’s body with jewels, leaving not much to the imagination.

Crop Over is Barbados’ biggest and most vibrant carnival celebration, with roots in the 1700s as a party marking the end of the island’s sugar cane harvest. The contemporary version features weeks of music-driven parties and cultural events leading up to Monday’s Grand Kadooment Day, the massive carnival parade where thousands of citizens don their finest masks and sparkling costumes to dance through the streets of Barbados.

Though fans are still holding out for the singer’s ninth studio album, the long-awaited follow-up to 2016’s ANTI, Rih gave them a tease recently when she was a surprise guest at the final gig in Jay-Z’s run of Yankee Stadium shows, popping out at the Extra Innings Concert on July 12. She popped out to perform “Run This Town” and B–ch Better Have My Money” at the gig, her first public performance since Super Bowl LVII three years ago.


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4Aug

Daniel Caesar Adds Australia, Latin America Dates to Global Run

Daniel Caesar has expanded his Son of Spergy Tour with Australian and Latin American dates, extending what is both his biggest global run to date and his first-ever headline arena tour.

The Australian leg opens Thursday, Nov. 5 at Afterpay Arena in Sydney — the venue formerly known as Qudos Bank Arena — followed by Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on Sunday, Nov. 8 and Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Thursday, Nov. 12. Caesar then heads to Latin America for shows in Bogotá, São Paulo, Buenos Aires and Lima, closing the global run Thursday, Dec. 10 at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile.

Australian tickets go on general sale Friday, Aug. 7 at 2 p.m. local time via livenation.com.au, with Mastercard, Vodafone and Live Nation presales starting Wednesday, Aug. 5. VIP packages including premium tickets, pre-show soundcheck access and early entry will also be available.

The tour launched in May with a run across Asia and is currently working through North America, where Caesar played a second sold-out hometown show at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. Remaining North American dates — with support from 070 Shake — include Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Portland, San Francisco and Anaheim, before the tour moves to the U.K. and Europe with stops at London’s All Points East and The O2, Manchester’s Co-op Live, Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome, Brussels, Paris and Cologne.

The run supports Caesar’s fourth studio album, Son of Spergy, which arrived Oct. 24, 2025 and became his commercial high-water mark. The album debuted at No. 1 on both Top R&B Albums and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums — his first leader on each — while launching at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 for his first top 10 on the all-genre chart. It opened with 43,000 equivalent album units, including 34.1 million official streams, and also reached No. 4 on Top Album Sales and No. 11 on Top Streaming Albums.

The album marked a steady escalation across Caesar’s catalog. His 2017 breakthrough Freudian peaked at No. 16 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, followed by 2019’s Case Study 01 at No. 10 and 2023’s Never Enough at No. 6. Son of Spergy also sent 10 tracks onto Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, led by “Who Knows” at No. 23 — his best showing as a lead artist. He has twice topped the Hot 100 in featured roles, on Justin Bieber‘s “Peaches” and Tyler, The Creator‘s “St. Chroma.”

Recorded largely in Jamaica and built around themes of reconciliation with his father, the album features Sampha, Bon Iver, Blood Orange, Yebba and Caesar’s father, gospel singer Norwill Simmonds.

“I have a lot of respect for my dad, and I hold him in high regard. The album is about me realizing that I am exactly like him,” Caesar said of the record. “In that sense, it’s about having patience, respect, and admiration for myself.”

Caesar also took the International Achievement Award at the 2026 JUNOs, along with wins for contemporary R&B recording of the year and songwriter of the year.

Daniel Caesar’s Son of Spergy Tour Australian and Latin American dates:

Thursday, Nov. 5 — Afterpay Arena, Sydney
Sunday, Nov. 8 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
Thursday, Nov. 12 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
Sunday, Nov. 29 — Vive Claro Music Hall, Bogotá, Colombia
Wednesday, Dec. 2 — Suhai Music Hall, São Paulo, Brazil
Saturday, Dec. 5 — Estadio Obras, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tuesday, Dec. 8 — Costa 21 Duomo, Lima, Peru
Thursday, Dec. 10 — Movistar Arena, Santiago, Chile