Category: Hip Hop

Ne-Yo has been spending the past few months looking back on his origins as a recording artist while simultaneously pushing forward with new music. The hit-making singer-songwriter has celebrated the 20th anniversary of his debut album In My Own Words with special edition reissues and a performance of the album’s chart-topping hit “So Sick” for Apple Music’s “The One” series. Now, on the latest episode of The Zach Sang Show, Ne-Yo tells the stories behind the album as the jumpoff point for a far-reaching conversation about his career.

During the show, Ne-Yo spoke about his original chance meeting with Norwegian production team Stargate, which resulted in “So Sick,” and shared the stories behind several other indelible songs he wrote for himself and other artists. Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable,” for instance, was originally meant for himself before he and his collaborators realized it should be sung by a woman. “We shopped it around to a few different artists who will remain nameless,” Ne-Yo said. “There might have been six other female artists that heard it and turned it down before it got to Beyoncé.”

Ne-Yo talked with Sang about the influence of country music on “Irreplaceable” and some of his other songwriting successes, a thread he’s further explored on Highway 79, his new country-inspired album. “I’ve been a fan of country music for a long time,” he said, recalling his mother exposing him to a range of genres growing up in Las Vegas, including Reba McEntire’s “Fancy,” a song that “had me in a chokehold for like three years.” He spoke about his experiences writing in Nashville, including Highway 79 track “Ms. Tundra,” and performing at the Grand Ole Opry, country music’s storied institution.

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Elsewhere in the interview, Ne-Yo told more stories behind hits of his own, such as “Closer” and “Miss Independent,” and for other artists, such as Rihanna’s “Take A Bow.” He also talked about unreleased songs he wrote for Michael Jackson, being a father to seven kids, his thoughts on the changing definition of pop, and why he believes vulnerability has disappeared from the current R&B landscape. It’s a must-hear interview for Ne-Yo diehards and casual fans alike.

Shop Ne-Yo’s In My Own Words 20th anniversary releases here.

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R&B singer-songwriter Genia has returned with a new single, “Can’t Wait,” out now via Def Jam Recordings. An accompanying music video features Genia jamming to the track on the streets of Seoul alongside producer Dee Gomes.

“I can’t wait another moment / So just tell me how you want it / Ain’t no stopping, keep it going / I’ve been dreaming of tonight,” she sings on the first verse. Genia shared an Instagram post featuring the groovy new track with the quote “They said R&B is dead… I am reviving her.” The singer has been on a musical journey with the release of the singles “Miss Your Touch,” “Baby Ima Star,” “Downfall,” “Doomsday,” and “Toastyyy” feat. Timbaland.

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Def Jam describes the 24-year-old artist as “Fiery yet thoughtful with her pen,” embracing her vulnerabilities in her music. “I feel like I make music for everybody,” she shares. “But mainly for women to feel badass. That was kind of my thing: to make bad bitch music, but also vulnerable music, almost like somebody’s reading my diary.”

Genia hails from Victorville, CA. She first discovered her love for music when her grandmother exposed her to Prince’s Purple Rain, and was later inspired by Beyoncé and Rihanna. She was balancing shifts at Walmart when her cover of Deborah Cox’s “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,” went viral on TikTok in November 2020. She has since released two EPs, 2024’s 4am In The Ville and 2023’s 4pm In The Ville, as well as numerous singles.

She has described her sound as a ‘melting pot’ of influences, and doesn’t want to feel tied to one genre. “I finally feel like I’ve found my voice in music,” she told Celeb Secrets. “I used to feel boxed in, but now I know exactly what I want to do — and I’m doing it.”

Listen to Genia’s “Can’t Wait” here.

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GRAMMY-nominated British R&B trio FLO has released “Remedied,” the fourth song from its second album, Therapy At The Club. The album is due August 7 through EMI Records and follows the previously shared tracks “Leak It,” “Don’t Break Her Heart,” and the title song. Renée Downer, Stella Quaresma, and Jorja Douglas first teased “Remedied” in an advertisement with Liquid I.V.

FLO wrote “Remedied” with Amy Allen, whose credits include Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Dean. The group described the song as a response to feeling stuck and deciding to reconnect with yourself. “Remedied is for anyone who’s been stuck in a rut,” FLO said. “Consider it your cure.” The track arrives after FLO shared Live From Vevo Studio performances of “Leak It” and “Therapy At The Club” the previous week.

Therapy At The Club frames a night out as a setting for confession, release, and self-possession, moving from the pregame through the following morning. The album also includes writing and production contributions from Steph Jones, Julian Bunetta, Boys Matthews, Skipz, Oak Felder, and Sevyn Streeter, alongside songwriting and production work from FLO. The title track was first performed during the trio’s NPR Tiny Desk appearance, while “Leak It” became the group’s highest-charting solo single in the United Kingdom to date.

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FLO began its Therapy In Session in-store tour in the United Kingdom in July 2026, with acoustic appearances scheduled in Bristol, Nottingham, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow, London, and Manchester through August 7. The group will then take the Therapy At The Club Tour to Asia, beginning at Lalala Festival in Manila on August 21 and continuing through Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Tokyo, and Osaka. FLO’s debut album, Access All Areas, reached No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart and earned a GRAMMY nomination for Best Progressive R&B Album. In 2026, the trio won its first MOBO Award for Best R&B/Soul Act, following its 2023 BBC Sound poll and BRITs Rising Star Award wins. The group also completed the biggest U.S. headline tour by a British girl group in nearly two decades in 2025 and has surpassed 605 million global streams.

Listen to FLO’s “Remedied” here.

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Four-time Grammy nominee Fridayy has announced his third studio album, Tension, due August 14, 2026, through Def Jam Recordings. The singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist has also released the project’s first single, “Haiku,” which is available now on streaming platforms.

Fridayy said the forthcoming record allowed him to explore a different part of his songwriting while retaining the emotional focus of his previous work. “Tension shows a different side to me. I followed what felt good and let the music take me somewhere new,” he said. “There’s still a lot of heart in these records, but there’s also this fun vibe to them. ‘Haiku’ sets the tone for everything that’s coming.” The album incorporates contemporary R&B with Caribbean-influenced rhythms and places a greater emphasis on rhythm-driven production.

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“Haiku” focuses on longing, regret, and the memory of a relationship that its narrator has struggled to leave behind. The lyrics find Fridayy setting his ego aside as he considers pursuing a second chance with someone he believes is worth fighting for.

Fridayy released Some Days I’m Good, Some Days I’m Not in February 2025, with guest appearances from Chris Brown, Kehlani, Wale, Meek Mill, and other collaborators. “Proud of Me,” his collaboration with Meek Mill from the album, earned a nomination for Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 2026 Grammy Awards, bringing Fridayy’s career nomination total to four. In December 2025, he followed the album with the surprise EP Everybody Got Somebody, which included six tracks and a guest appearance from Mariah The Scientist on “Death Do Us Part.”

Listen to Fridayy’s “Haiku” here.

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Black Eyed Peas’ hit track “My Humps” has reached a milestone of one billion views on YouTube.

Released in 2005, “My Humps” appeared on the group’s fourth studio album, Monkey Business. It was written by group member will.i.am and samples lines from Sexual Harassment’s 1983 single, “I Need a Freak,” written by Lynn Tolliver (a.k.a. David Payton).

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Originally written by will.i.am for the American girl group the Pussycat Dolls, the song features Fergie and will.i.am as the main vocalists on the song, while Taboo and apl.de.ap provide background vocals. The song is centered around Fergie flaunting her body as a means of power and control: “I drive these brothers crazy/I do it on the daily.”

Directed by Fatima Robinson and Malik Hassan Sayeed, the official music video for “My Humps” shows Fergie dancing with backup dancers amongst the luxury items apparently purchased for her by male suitors appear on the screen.

Monkey Business debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. “My Humps” became the Black Eyed Peas’ second single to reach the top three on the US Billboard Hot 100, and took home a Grammy for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals.

Last year, the pop-rap group celebrated Monkey Business’ 20th anniversary with an expanded digital edition that features remixes and four songs available for streaming for the first time. They include “Shake Your Monkey,” “Bend Your Back,” “Make Them Hear You,” and a 2025 remix of “Shake Your Monkey” by will.i.am. Originally recorded during the album sessions, the “Shake Your Monkey” deep cut was previously only released as a bonus track on select international maxi-singles.

Another track off Monkey Business, “Pump It,” recently surpassed one billion streams on Spotify. It’s their fourth song to do so, joining hits like “I Gotta Feeling,” “Where Is The Love?” and “RITMO (Bad Boys For Life).”

Shop the Black Eyed Peas’ Monkey Business here.

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Black Eyed Peas are encouraging their fans to connect and share a positive message in a whole new way. Earlier this week, the group launched a “Where Is The Love?” microsite, named for their 2003 smash hit of the same name. On the site, fans can connect with other fans from all over the globe and engage with their content. Fans can make their own videos by using the official “Where Is The Love?” sound on TikTok and Instagram and by using the #wheresthelove tag. Once uploaded, fan videos are highlighted with location pins on an interactive globe, capturing the worldwide spread of the Black Eyed Peas’ message.

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In the more than 20 years since its release, “Where Is The Love?” has proved to be one of the Black Eyed Peas’ most enduring cuts. However, when the group went about writing and recording it, they didn’t intend to make a hit but to find a way to deal with “the stress, the anxiety and the pain of 9/11” and the tour that they had to continue in the aftermath. In creating the beat, Will.i.am said he was inspired by a human heart beat. “We were trying to articulate the emotion of that tour, and every single person that we came across with that tour,” Will.i.am later recalled in a 2018 interview with The Telegraph. “If there was a sonic occasion to our friendship, it would be that song.”

Upon release, “Where Is The Love?” was a success for the Black Eyed Peas, charting at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping charts in countries around the world, including in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The track also became the Peas’ first to be nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year—a feat they would later repeat in 2010 with “I Gotta Feeling”—and earned another nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

Visit the ‘Where Is The Love’ microsite here.

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Coco Jones has released her new single “Body So Tea” through High Standardz and Def Jam Recordings. Produced by Stargate, Jasper and Hiddie, the track centers on beauty, confidence and self-acceptance. The release places Jones back in a solo spotlight after a year that has included new music, touring and acting projects.

“Body So Tea” arrives after Jones released the deluxe edition of her debut album, Why Not More? (MORE!). The expanded set included “Other Side of Love,” a collaboration with Alicia Keys. The original version of Why Not More? earned Jones her eighth career Grammy nomination and posted a Top 10 debut on the Billboard 200. The album also opened at No. 1 on the New R&B Artist Debut chart and No. 1 in Current R&B Album Sales. Its release marked Jones’ first full-length project after a series of singles and an EP.

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Jones released Why Not More? in 2025, with “Taste” later reaching No. 1 at R&B radio. She followed the album with a sold-out tour across the United States and Europe. Her current run continues a recording career that accelerated after she signed with High Standardz and Def Jam in 2022 and released the EP What I Didn’t Tell You. That project included “ICU,” which was certified platinum and reached No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B Airplay chart.

In 2024, “ICU” won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance after Jones received five nominations, including Best New Artist. She returned to the Grammys in 2025 with nominations for Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song, then received a Best R&B Album nomination at the 2026 ceremony for Why Not More?. Raised in Nashville, Jones began recording at age 9 before building parallel careers in music and television. Outside music, Jones returned as Hilary Banks for the fourth and final season of Peacock’s Bel-Air in 2026. She also appears in Malcolm D. Lee’s thriller Strung on Peacock and stars in the upcoming romantic comedy That’s Her, which she executive produced.

Listen to Coco Jones’ Body So Tea here.

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Blackstreet are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their album Another Level with a vinyl reissue. The 1996 sophomore release from the R&B group will be available on 2LP standard black vinyl and limited Marshmallow Opaque 2LP color vinyl. The vinyl configurations will include the previously released bonus track “No Diggity (Billie Jean Remix).”

Released through Interscope Records, Another Level followed Blackstreet’s eponymous 1994 debut. That record produced a number of hits, including “Before I Let You Go” which hit the Top 10 of the Billboard charts. Blackstreet were at their commercial peak by the time they released Another Level, which blended their silky R&B harmonies with hip-hop production, resulting in a polished, radio-ready sound.

Largely produced by Blackstreet founder Teddy Riley, a pioneer of the new jack swing sound, Another Level incorporates a mix of soulful ballads, mid-tempos grooves, and club-oriented tracks. The record is anchored by the global smash hit “No Diggity” featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen, which features a Bill Withers vocal sample. The song went on to win a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and became one of the most iconic R&B/hip-hop crossover records of the decade.

Other standout tracks include “Don’t Leave Me” and “Fix,” which further solidified the group’s flair for balancing emotional storytelling. The album also features a version of The Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love,” titled here as “(Money Can’t) Buy Me Love.” Another Level also includes interludes from Riley’s daughters, Deja and Taja. Also notable is an interview with the group and Morris Baxter that appears midway through the record, “Blackstreet (On The Radio).”

Another Level was Blackstreet’s most commercially successful album, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and No. 1 on the Top R&B Albums chart for five weeks.

Order Blackstreet’s Another Level here.

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Diary Of A Mad Band, the 1993 sophomore album from R&B group Jodeci, is coming back to vinyl. Featuring singles “Cry For You,” “Feenin,” and “What About Us,” the album helped establish the group as a force to be reckoned with in the music industry and helped put many eventual titans, including Missy Elliot and Timbaland, on the map. The vinyl reissue of Diary Of A Mad Band is available for pre-order now.

Comprised of members DeVanté Swing, Mr. Dalvin, K-Ci, and JoJo, Diary Of A Mad Band was the followup to the group’s 1991 debut Forever My Lady. Notably, the record features the first album appearances from Timbaland & Magoo, S.B.I., and Missy Elliott, who was still credited as Misdemeanor at the time. Redman also appears on the album. Upon its release, Diary of A Mad Band topped the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart, and made it to number three on the overall Billboard 200. It has since been certified double platinum.

30 years after its initial release, recording engineer Prince Charles Alexander acknowledged that there was “something magical going on in the way K-Ci was singing it and the way Devante was hearing it.” As he explained to Soul Culture, “It would end up being that trademark Jodeci sound.” Alexander also shared some memories of specific tracks. On “Feenin,” he explained that “Devante wanted to do a song where he played the Talk box like Roger Troutman” of the band Zapp; the decision ended up giving the track its memorable sound. With “In The Meanwhile,” Alexander remembers “Timbaland had this nice little beat and we were trying to figure out what to do with it.” One day K-Ci started playing around with it, and it made it on the album.

Over the past year, Jodeci have revisited multiple pieces of their early work. Earlier this year, Forever My Lady was reissued on vinyl to celebrate its 35th anniversary. Last year, the group also brought several remastered versions of their music videos to YouTube.

Buy Jodeci’s Diary Of A Mad Band here.

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Tierra Whack has released the new music video for “CANDLE WAX,” a track from her June mixtape WHACK’S MUSEUM. Directed by Child, the visual continues the Philadelphia artist’s run of videos tied to the project.

The video opens with Whack resting her head on a row of candles before moving to scenes at a dinner table and what appears to be a funeral repast, where she stands next to a child eating. Its imagery keeps the narrative open-ended, placing Whack in a sequence of staged settings rather than following a linear storyline. The release follows her recent video for “WHACK JOB,” which cast Whack as a garbage collector hauling away what appear to be bodies wrapped in trash bags.

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WHACK’S MUSEUM marked what Whack described as her “first true rap project” when it was released in June. The 12-song mixtape includes no guest features, and its rollout has also included videos for “SIREN” and “WAX PAPER.” The project followed WORLD WIDE WHACK, her full-length album released in 2024, and extends a catalog that has often paired short-form songs with detailed visual concepts.

This Saturday, Tierra Whack is scheduled to perform at Complex Family Style in New York City. Last weekend, Whack joined Jill Scott for “Norf Side” at Philadelphia’s One Philly: Unity Concert for America, part of the city’s America 250th anniversary events. She also appeared with Tems during the 2026 BET Awards tribute to Ms. Lauryn Hill, where the two performed the Fugees’ “Fu-Gee-La” as Hill received the inaugural Living Legend Icon Award.

Listen to “CANDLE WAX” here.

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