Categoría: Billboard

Welcome to the Music Industry (Taylor’s Version). On Monday (Aug. 25), Rachel Platten announced that she’s taking a page out of Taylor Swift‘s book by re-recording some of her biggest hits — including 2015’s Billboard Hot 100 smash “Fight Song” — in an effort to reclaim her voice, just like the pop superstar did. Sharing her new project’s black-and-white cover art with the title Fight Song (Rachel’s Version), the New York native revealed in her caption that she will release a collection of new takes on a handful of her older songs on Sept. 26. The LP will also feature some live recordings, plus a “surprise from the vault” — much like Swift’s Taylor’s Version releases, each of which included previously unreleased “Vault” songs that had been scrapped from their respective albums’ original tracklists. “As we celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Fight Song, I had no idea when I wrote these songs in moments of vulnerability that they would go on to change my life,” Platten wrote in her caption. “For a decade, they’ve lived out in the world, carrying their own weight. They’ve been parts of your moments of strength, doubt, and connection.” “I’ve gone back to some of my originals, not to change them, but to reclaim them,” she continued. “This is about more than just new versions of old songs; the new Rachel’s Versions are infused with the voice I have now, the wisdom I’ve gained, and the undeniable pride of owning my own masters. I’m grateful to @TaylorSwift for bringing this conversation to light and empowering artists to take back control over their work, their stories, and their futures.” Released in 2015 via Columbia Records, “Fight Song” spent months climbing the charts before peaking at No. 6 on the Hot 100 that August. One person who was definitely a fan of the track just so happened to be Swift, who brought Platten out onstage with her to sing it for thousands of fans at a 1989 World Tour show in Philadelphia more than a decade ago. “Fight Song” has since become one of the world’s best-known anthems for perseverance in the face of hardship, serving as Hillary Clinton’s campaign song the year after it was released. It would find a home in 2016 on Platten’s album Wildfire, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200. And while Platten is just starting out on her journey to take back ownership of her life’s work, Swift recently reached the culmination of hers. In a move that wrapped up six-plus years of oftentimes tense negotiations between the 14-time Grammy winner, Scooter Braun and Shamrock Capital — during which time she re-recorded four of her first six albums, bringing discussions about artist rights and fair recording contracts into the general public’s consciousness — Swift was finally able to purchase the rights to her back catalog earlier this year. “To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it,” Swift wrote in a letter on her website announcing the deal in May. “I’m extremely heartened by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry among artists and fans. Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this fight, I’m reminded of how important it was for all of this to happen.” See Platten’s post below. Source link

Drake’s music cracks pockets of society he probably didn’t think were possible. Indiana math teacher Natalie Kaczmarski, or Miss Kacz, went viral on TikTok for her academic-themed cover of Drake’s “Nokia.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news “Who’s ready for class?” she raps in Drake’s cadence, ad libs included. “Is it geometry, is it honors, is it algebra, is it math lab, is it SRT. Who’s awake to function?” She then goes into how good she is at teaching math and her ban on ChatGPT and using cell phones in class. “You want some good grades, then lock in some,” she concludes in her cover. The video has more than 135,000 likes on TikTok and mixed reviews in the comments. “No but fr deep down we know even tho it’s a bit cringe it takes a teacher that cares enough to try and relate to our interests no im not a teacher in disguise this is coming from,” one person wrote. Another chimed in coming to her defense: “Nah she’s cooking why y’all hating?” “Nokia” landed on Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR’s $ome $exy $ongs 4 U project in February, and went on to reach No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. According to Complex, Miss Kacz has been covering Drake songs since 2019, while performing tracks like “Rich Baby Daddy.” After one of her videos went viral, she joined Good Morning America in 2024, where she explained the inspiration behind her covers. “I just kind of wanted them to think, like OK, she’s this cool quirky lady,” she said. “I absolutely love my job and I think the best way to have an impact on students is to show them that you care, they feel comfortable in your room, and they can relate to you. So if I want to be an effective math teacher, I want them to at first feel comfortable in my room and think that they can relate to me.” Watch the clip of Miss Kacz performing her version of “Nokia” below. Source link

Freddie Gibbs made an appearance on The Butcher Block Podcast and talked about his experience working on the first installment of Vultures alongside Ye (formerly Kanye West). And while he’s said he was grateful for the opportunity and had a great time working with Ye, things didn’t quite pan out like he hoped they would. The Gary, Indiana, rapper told a story about the time he sent Ye a Complex list highlighting the best verses of 2024 where the outlet ranked Freddie’s “Back to Me” at No. 12, expecting a positive reaction; but instead he claims the Chicago rapper was jealous that none of his verses made the cut. “This n—a Kanye was mad about that sh–,” Gibbs said. “That n—a was telling n—as like, ‘Man, how the f— this n—a think his verse is the best on my album?’” He added, “When I sent it to him, I sent it to him thinking that, with the premise, he’d be proud of me. ‘Cause I look up to you. So I would think that, I rapped on your album, and people talking about it like this, you would think that a n—a like you would be proud of me. I was expecting, ‘Man, you did good on that sh–. Let’s keep going.’” Gibbs continued by saying his verse was better because he was helping Ye by ghostwriting his verses. “That pissed him off,” he said. “Like, ‘How the f— this n—a think he got better verses than me?’ Like, n—a, I’m writing your verses, of course I got better verses than you.” Billboard has reached out to Ye’s team for comment. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up Source link

“F–k, I used to not like him,” says British singer-songwriter Jack Garratt, speaking about a past version of himself. “He used to not be very kind to me. We have a much better relationship now.”  Explore See latest videos, charts and news Sitting in a hotel room in Liverpool, Garratt is reflecting on how he’s shown up for himself over the past few years – ever since the pandemic brought his Love, Death, & Dancing Tour to a halt and he battled his own ego and negative self-talk. He explores that journey on his third album Pillars, which arrived in August on independent label Cooking Vinyl (he was previously signed to Island Records).  Of his first new album since 2020, Garratt believes it to be the most “me-sounding thing” — the majority of which he wrote, produced and mixed himself. Below, he shares how he pulled himself out of a difficult time and killed his egos, while he continues to work on mastering self-love. “I’m now in a position where I really do have more ownership over my music and over my output,” he says. “I’ve always seen albums as as a stepping stone that I’m landing on and the rest of the map is loading. I’m not thinking about album four or what the next step is. This album is just gonna paint the map a little bit.” Ahead of releasing Pillars, you signed a new management team and new record deal. What was that process like? I’m only interested in working with people who want to check their ego at the door and come in, and make something great for a purpose greater than any of us — not to self-aggrandize or overcompliment the artistic process or making a record or anything. It is not the most important work, but it should be when we’re in the room together. When I met with Cooking Vinyl, I felt alignment, choice. It wasn’t a desperate plea from either of us. It was good-intentioned, like-minded people who take their independent roles seriously. I don’t want to be right — I want the right idea to come out of the room.  Before finding a new team and recording Pillars, you’ve said you were ready to quit music. Album track “Catherine Wheel” changed things for you – tell me what led to that song. I was going through a breakup, a situationship that destroyed the boat — didn’t just rock it. I went to Los Angeles to stay with my friend Sophia Bush and we did Christmas together. I was still deeply, desperately infatuated with this person, then this thing happened that made me know it was done. It woke me up to their behaviours and needs not necessarily aligning properly, but also my selfishness and people pleasing and how manipulative that is. It was really sobering and I wanted to write. With a lot of songs on the album that deal with that part of my life, the person singing it isn’t a hero. There’s still a lot of toxicity and issues. Some of the things that I’m saying in that song like, “Just use me, because my purpose now is to be used by you,” — I mean, that’s a red flag.   What inspired the overall sound of Pillars? I remember listening to “Spitting Off the Edge of the World” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The drums are so self-aware and they just sit in this pocket. They’re so slow, but they’re so loud in the mix. I remember going, “I know that’s the drums I want in the big moments.” The character is just so infectious. I love when you can hear production that’s a storytelling device and just sounds f—ing good. I often forget that’s part of my job.   Who else inspired you? For this record, The Waterboys — the storytelling, the lyrics on “The Whole of the Moon”— were a big inspiration for me. Adrienne Lenker — I’m obsessed with her storytelling voice. I’ve really tried to knuckle down with this record that I wanted to be a better songwriter. That was the most important thing — to know I was writing the best stories that I could.  On Pillars, you explore different kinds of love — romantic, platonic, self-love. Why was that important to you? I don’t think I will be able to love myself loudly forever. It is cyclical. I’m in a good place at the moment and I’m loving it and holding it rather than worrying about it disappearing. That comes from work, having built that pillar stronger. The album is called Pillars because I spoke to my therapist and said, “I have these pillars to my love — the way I give and receive self-love, romantic love and then platonic or familial love. I think my self-love pillar is so weak that it’s putting pressure on the other two pillars in ways that I’m terrified is gonna make them crumble as well.” So the job became to build the self-love pillar. Make it stronger. Tend to it.   “Flower Girl Confetti, Hopeful Fidelity Lasts” is a standout track, what was the concept behind it? Pillars isn’t a concept album, but there is something conceptual throughout the whole thing, which is how I give and receive my love. The first half of the record is about really letting yourself go into something. “Ready! Steady! Go!” is a song that encourages someone to be like, “You and I are feeling something. You either need to let me go fully into the feeling or you need to let me go so that I can do this somewhere else.” And “Two Left Feet” is an encouragement song — “We could really love each other.” If the first half of the album is more shiny and surface-level, the second half of the album is the grey of it, the depth of it. It’s the second and third layers of ground underneath the fresh lawn. “Flower Girl Confetti” is very

It’s impossible to properly document the Kansas City Chiefs‘ past two NFL seasons without mentioning Taylor Swift, whose presence at games amid her romance with tight end Travis Kelce has propelled the team to new levels of fame since 2023. Luckily, ESPN’s new docuseries The Kingdom — which chronicles the Chiefs’ unsuccessful quest to win a third consecutive Super Bowl in 2024 — does just that. In an interview with People at the Sunday (Aug. 24) premiere of the six-part project, the team’s owner, Clark Hunt, confirmed that it definitely gives a “fun … little peek into Travis’ relationship with Taylor.” “There were definitely some elements of that where there were some new things that we learned,” he continued on the red carpet. “We all lived the experience of having her join the Chief’s Kingdom a couple of years ago, and hearing the recounting of her coming to that first game, really from her perspective, I thought was really unique.” The first game Swift ever attended was the Chiefs vs. Chicago Bears match-up in September 2023, an event that set the still-ongoing “Tayvis” mania into motion. The singer is now a fixture at Kansas City home games, often cheering on her boyfriend from a box suite at Arrowhead Stadium. And while Swift was not present at the premiere of The Kingdom, Kelce and his parents, Donna and Ed, were. Also on the red carpet, the athlete’s father gushed that his son’s contagiously cheerful demeanor can be attributed to one person: “Taylor.” “There’s no question about it,” Ed added at the event in Kansas City, noting that he thought Swift’s recent cameo on Travis and Jason Kelce’s New Heights podcast was “awesome.” “They’re two people obviously very much in love.” Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up Source link

Ookami Mio, a hololive VTuber, has released her second solo album, My Sparkle. It’s been roughly a year and a half since her first solo album, Night walk, whose theme was “night.” Now, on her new album, whose theme is “voyage,” she creates a soundscape that vividly embodies the worldview of her unique songs, like taking journeys to far-flung lands. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Ookami made her debut as a VTuber in December 2018. In August 2021, she released her first original songs, “Howling” and “Bowwow Ahwoooooo,” and then in December 2023 she came out with her first album, Night walk. Since then, she has been engaged in a wide range of musical activities, including being a member of units such as hololive GAMERS and AyaFubuMi. Billboard JAPAN recently had the opportunity to interview her, and she talked about topics like her approach to music over the past four years and how her motivations have changed. “When I made my first album, my focus was on making the kinds of songs I like and writing songs that would be fun to sing. Of course, I still love singing, but looking at the fans’ reactions, I realized that really it all began with singing because I want people to hear me. Ever since then, when I write music, I’ve been thinking a lot about how the music will reach listeners and how they’ll react. I’ll google what people are saying about my music, and I’ve seen that there’s a lot of variety in people’s favorite songs. Some people interpret my music in the way that I intended, while others take it in totally different ways. I think that has kind of changed the direction I take when making music.” Ookami also checks fan reactions on social media. She says she has seen some fresh, novel reactions there. “When I was working on my first album, I thought that people were looking for stylish songs like ‘Howling,” but there were a lot of people saying that they liked the ballads like ‘Camellia’ and ‘Insoluble Crystal.’ I cover a lot of Nana Mizuki songs when I stream, and I thought of myself as being good at singing that kind of stylish song, but the reality is that my fans also really like ballads.” Her new album is stylistically more wide-ranging than her previous album, with many softer songs like “Dandelion” and “Shoushin Ryokou.” “When I was working on the second album, I thought about what listeners wanted from Ookami Mio. I decided I should try making more laid-back music that would be soothing to listen to. Also, personally, I love travelling, and I go on lots of trips with other hololive members. When on the Shinkansen or traveling by plane, I usually listen to beautiful, relaxing music. I wanted to make the kind of music people want to listen to when they’re traveling, or when they’re feeling anxious.” “Dotta Batta Chindochu!” (meaning “crazy, slapstick journey”) includes memories from her own private travels. Last year, while visiting Las Vegas with fellow hololive artists Oozora Subaru and Sakura Miko, she encountered a spot of trouble. “It was my first time getting a passport on my own and traveling overseas. Sakura Miko and I don’t speak any English, and Oozora Subaru can communicate just a little, mainly through enthusiasm and vibes, so the three of us going on our own to America was just begging for trouble (laughs). Oozora Subaru’s energy is something to see, so even when the language barrier was in the way, she was great at looking people in the eye and expressing herself, driven by this powerful desire to communicate. The song “Dotta Batta Chindochu!” from the new album was inspired by that trip. I talked to BOTCHI BOROMARU about our experiences in Las Vegas, and that led to the creation of the song. The lyrics include the line ‘Don’t forget your wallet and your passport!’ That’s because I actually lost my passport in Las Vegas (laughs). Someone delivered it to the Lost and Found, and they were like ‘You girls have been blessed by a miracle.’” “Whenever I travel with someone else, it tends to turn into a ‘dotta batta chindochu’-like trip, but I also travel by myself. Those trips tend to be more soothing, peaceful journeys, like my song ‘Shoushin Ryokou.’ There’s a lot to say about that song. After my first album came out, my manager and my music producer, who had helped me out so much, left my team. They had worked so hard with me on the first album, I’d just assumed we’d make the second album together, too. So their departure came as a shock. Of course, I took a really positive approach in working with the new team on the new album, but there were times when I missed the old team, and it was a little hard-going. That’s when I wrote ‘Shoushin Ryokou.’ I changed the kanji for writing ‘shoushin’ from kanji that mean ‘heartbreak’ to kanji that mean ‘timid.’ (Translator’s note: Normally, ‘shoushin ryokou’ means ‘a trip you take to relieve heartbreak,’ but this song’s name is written using different kanji.) It’s not like I dislike my new team, and now, having finished the album, I’m glad that I worked on it with them. I truly feel like I’ve been blessed by being able to work with wonderful people.” When asked about what was behind the title of the album, My Sparkle. “The first song I ever posted was a vocal cover of was RADWIMPS’ ‘Sparkle.’ The song had a lot of personal significance to me, and my fans listened to it a lot, so I wanted to use the word ‘sparkle’ somewhere in the story of Ookami Mio. That’s why I named the album My Sparkle. When I released the album, I already had my first solo live show lined up, so I linked the album and the live show by titling the show [Our Sparkle]. Partly, this

Drake hasn’t been shy about showing his appreciation for 2Pac, and it appears the 6 God may have purchased another jewelry artifact from the late Death Row rapper. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Drizzy took to his Instagram on Sunday (Aug. 24), posting a photo of what appeared to be 2Pac’s 1996 Death Row Records chain. The menacing Death Row label logo is blinged out while the back of the golden pendant is inscribed with “All Eyez on YOU 1996.” The post from Drake also included the All Eyez On Me cover art, which finds Pac proudly rocking the Death Row chain. Moneybagg Yo, Gashi and Gillie Da Kid lent their stamps of approval, while former Death Row rapper Daz Dillinger chimed in. “I GOT MINES WHATS NEW ABOUT SOMETHING OLD ITS LIGHT DIAMONDS NOT HEAVY. LOL FUC DEATHROW,” he wrote. A fan added his disbelief: “Bruh. The world has been wondering where Pac’s original Death Row Records chain has been at since 1996. Mind blowing.” Back in 2023, Drake showed off that he was the owner of a gold, ruby and diamond crown ring previously owned by 2Pac. Sotheby’s confirmed that Drizzy purchased the ring for a jaw-dropping price tag of $1.1 million. The ring was worn by the West Coast icon in his final public appearance at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. Drake is currently touring Europe with PARTYNEXTDOOR, and they’ll hit the stage in Copenhagen on Monday night (Aug. 25) before heading to Milan for a pair of shows later this week. Find Drake’s post with 2Pac’s chain here. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up Source link

Raise a glass, Swifties. Another version of Taylor Swift‘s The Life of a Showgirl has bubbled up to the surface. At 4 p.m. ET on Monday (Aug. 25), the pop superstar unveiled yet another limited-quantity vinyl variant of her upcoming 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, this time called the “Tiny Bubbles in Champagne” edition. Featuring an exclusive alternate album cover, the new iteration’s front shows Swift surrounded by red feathers while modeling a bejeweled star headpiece. The “Tiny Bubbles in Champagne” edition marks Swift’s third total vinyl variant for the Oct. 3-slated project, not counting the fact that each one has been available in two different colored discs (the latest comes in “Under Bright Lights Pearlescent” and “Red Lipstick & Lace”). Just like with Swift’s past two vinyl drops, the new one became available for pre-order on her website after time ran out on a cryptic online countdown that went live hours prior. Also similar to last week’s now-unavailable Showgirl variants — the “Shiny Bug Edition” and the “Baby, That’s Show Business Edition” — these latest discs come with exclusive photos and poetry, and they are only available for 48 hours while supplies last. Monday’s unveiling marks just the latest exciting development in Swift’s Showgirl rollout, which officially kicked into gear on Aug. 12, when she announced the project’s existence in a teaser clip for her guest appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce’s New Heights podcast. When the full episode dropped a day later, the 14-time Grammy winner shared the album’s main cover, tracklist, release date and sole feature (Sabrina Carpenter, who appears on the title track). Swift also emphasized at the time that Max Martin, Shellback and herself are the only producers who were involved in making the 12 tracks on Showgirl — which she described on New Heights as being “bangers.” “[The album is] a lot more upbeat, and it’s a lot more fun pop excitement,” she added on the show. “My main goals were melodies that were so infectious, you’re almost angry at it.” The Life of a Showgirl will mark Swift’s first full-length since 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department, which spent 17 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The album, along with the “Tiny Bubbles in Champagne” edition, are available to purchase on the musician’s online store. Source link

Spotify is diving even deeper into the Fan Life with a follow-up to the launch in April of its multi-media campaign putting a spotlight on the unique rituals, styles and celebrations of fandoms of some of the world’s most popular performers. The second go-round, launching on Tuesday (Aug. 26) shines the light on real-life fans of Bad Bunny, Charli xcx, Lil Uzi Vert, Rezz, Sleep Token, Megan Moroney and Pitbull as they celebrate their favorite artists in their own unique fashion. Related “When we launched the first Fan Life campaign a few months back, we knew we’d tapped into something real when fans were literally ripping the ads off walls to take them home,” says Spotify’s vice president of marketing and partnerships Marc Hazan about the second stage of a campaign that launched in April with billboards celebrating the rituals of seven global fandoms for Chappell Roan, Doechii, Oasis, Olivia Rodrigo, Rosalía, SEVENTEEN and Turnstile. “That’s the energy we wanted to build on. The whole idea has always been for fans to see themselves in what we create, and with this second launch, we wanted to take it even further,” adds Hazan. “These seven films go deep into fandom in its rawest form… We didn’t want to just show fandom, we wanted people to feel it – the sweat, the sound, the inside jokes. Every detail is real: the clothes came from fans’ closets, the music was what they actually love, and the energy came from the fans who live this every day. At Spotify, we’re not just observers, we’re fans too. This campaign is our love letter to the communities that make music culture so powerful.” The accompany films tell the rich story of that fandom, from a pair of giddy Charli xcx fans doubling-up on a city bike festooned with pink balloons laughing their way through a sunrise ride cued to “party 4 u,” to a group of female Pitbull diehards rocking out to their favorite rapper on a city bus while dressed in Mr. Worldwide drag featuring bald caps, black suits and drawn-on goatees. There are also films showing Lil Uzi Vert followers just losing it in a sweaty mosh pit, two Rezz fanatics doing last minute make-up touch-ups in a club bathroom, goth-y Sleep Token devotees solemnly spraying painting pink flamingos black, Megan Moroney besties singing along to “Tennessee Orange” in the car and a sweet mini glimpse of a man dancing with his abuela in the kitchen to Bad Bunny’s “Baile Inolvidable.” The campaign will begin to roll out this week on Spotify’s socials, as well as on billboards and in subway stations around the world. The Fan Life campaign will also feature local artist fandoms that connect with regional audiences around the world, including followers of Italian rapper Kid Yugi, French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura, U.K. rapper/singer PinkPantheress, Brazilian vocalist Pabllo Vittar and Mexican indie pop band Latin Mafia, among others. Watch the Fan Life videos below. Source link

Bryson Tiller has spent almost a decade trying to outrun the ghost of his debut album. Trapsoul is now triple platinum, and as it encroaches in on its 10th anniversary in October, still remains one of the most influential R&B projects of the 2010s — or maybe even ever. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Take the unequivocal transparency of rap, marry it to the emotional catharsis of R&B and set it over signature R&B samples like K.P. and Envyi’s “Swing My Way” or Jodeci’s “Alone,” and you have the sub-genre namesake at the heart Trapsoul. While Brent Faiyaz, Ella Mai, H.E.R., and countless other R&B acts have emerged from the subgenre’s ashes, Tiller has spent the last decade reckoning with the album’s impact. Tiller’s sophomore effort True to Self was a slump, a conversation about signing to Drake’s OVO Sound never materialized, and he soon after put his third album on ice. Tiller admits he then spitefully tried to recreate the Trapsoul energy with 2020’s Anniversary, just to prove to his longtime critics: “It cannot be done.” “I even pulled songs from the Trapsoul era that didn’t make Trapsoul and put ’em on there,” Tiller told Billboard over Zoom. “Even after I dropped Trapsoul 2, people still were like, ‘Hey, we want Trapsoul 2!’” Tiller then dropped off a Christmas album and his experimental eponymous album in 2021 and 2024, respectively. The latter at times went full pop (“Assume the Position”) and full blown hip-hop (“Whatever She Wants”) with hardly any regard for the singer’s Trapsoul base. The goal was simple: Create anything and everything to flex creative versatility, and to silence the trolls once and for all. If you ask Bryson Tiller: “It was a success, fo’ sho.” Now freer than ever, his latest double album Solace & The Vices — the latter dropped on Aug. 8, while the former comes out October 2 — finds Tiller in a creative flow state. He raps when he wants, sings when he wants, and he sounds like he’s having a blast even when he’s crooning about his struggles. The result is Bryson Tiller’s most authentic project yet, and likely his first entirely unclouded by Trapsoul‘s fog. He talks with Billboard about all of it below. Was making a double album an intentional act while you were building Solace & The Vices, or was it something that kinda just happened during the creative process while you were in the studio? It happened during the creative process while I was in the studio, for sure. I was working on the first part of the album and just got a little tired of talking about my feelings. I was just like, “I’m ready to have fun, summertime’s coming.” I didn’t wanna listen to the type of music I was making during this season, so I was like, “I’m gonna make something fun.” You sound like you’re having the time of your life on Vices. What role did joy play while you were making that album? Definitely intentional, I was just so thrilled to stop working on the other project that I just got right to it. I think I even started making one song while I was finishing [Solace], but I was like, “All right, I can’t get too carried I away. I gotta finish this album first.” What was the reason behind tapping in mostly with Florida artists on this record? You mentioned that you moved to Miami. My goal was to have only Florida artists on this record, but Bun B is from Houston and BabyDrill is from Atlanta. I just spend a lot of time there. I love the energy there. I think [Florida artists] are all amazing, there’s a lot of legends from Florida. There’s something about Florida music that just does it for me. You tapped in with a few of those legends, including most importantly Plies. What was the conversation like to get him on “200 Bands?” He’d wanted to work with me for a while, so we linked up and actually worked on some other stuff for his project and what not. But yeah, I had the song and was like, “Yo, bro, be a part of this” and he sent it back in 72 hours. You’ve talked a lot about the negative reception to your sophomore album True to Self and how everyone is always comparing everything to Trapsoul. What has it been like over the years pushing back against the criticism of your music post-Trapsoul, and have you ever made something that feels creatively authentic to you but then tossed it because you didn’t know whether the fans would like it? I’m glad you said it, because for the second album, I definitely psyched myself out. When that came out, I lost my confidence, and then I started working on an album called Serenity, and then I really psyched myself out. I was like, “Yo, I can’t even do this album because I don’t feel in control of my career right now. I don’t feel like I’m in control of what I do creatively.” Fans are telling me what I need to do and, I don’t know, I just didn’t feel like I was in control. So at that point, I was like, “Alright, I think I’m gonna take a break for a little while.” Then my grandma passed, and I was like, “OK, you know what? The five year anniversary for Trapsoul is coming up so I’m gonna do what the fans have been asking me to do just to prove that it can’t be done. I’m gonna make Trapsoul 2, but I’m gonna call it something different. I’m gonna call it ‘Anniversary’ and pay homage to the anniversary.” You look the album covers are damn near the same. That was just to prove: It cannot be done. You felt like you can’t make these guys happy. Yeah, it was so annoying. That type of stuff really makes me not wanna make