“The Lord is Coming,” one of his angels wears blue and inspires us all. The Queen is also a servant that’s here to stay and that “one negro” who is a King, opened the doors to his people and shown them how to build their own Kingdoms."

The 2019 BET Awards took place at the Microsoft Theater at LA Live Los Angeles on June 23rd, and the baton was officially handed over to a new generation of stars. Two of entertainment’s most impactful legends, however, evoked ruminating thoughts, praise and dancing. Lots of dancing and crooning.

Mary J. Blige had the most talked about performance, hands down, and the 2019 BET Lifetime Achievement Award recipient was introduced by Rihanna. “Happy Mary. Sad Mary. Mad Mary. No more drama Mary. Dancing Mary. We’re here for all of it,” Rihanna proclaimed.

MJB then took the stage, giving a speech in which she talked about the love for her family, the “healed relationship” with her onetime estranged father (who she has sang about mistreating her through the years).  Meanwhile, Tyler Perry didn’t need any assistance from his box office beloved alter ego Madea to bring the house down accepting his “Ultimate Icon” award. He just needed his truth and insight. “Rather than being an icon,” he said, "I want to be an inspiration.”

Nipsey Hussle was named Humanitarian of the Year and his family, led by Lauren London, accepted the award on his behalf. As for the actual awards, Lil Baby won Best New Artist and Cardi B—who performed “Clout” with her husband Offset (he garnered heavy praise for his dancing and later Tweeted he would be incorporating more choreography in his stage shows)--won Album of the Year for "Invasion of Privacy."

QC were among the big winners at the 2019 ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Awards as Coach and P, Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, The Migos, City Girls’ Yung Miami and Cardi B were all in attendance. Cardi took home the 2019 Songwriter of the Year. The QC family also held it down on Saturday night at Staples Center, performing in the BET Experience concert. Cardi, who was recently indicted for allegedly masterminding and bank rolling an assault on two strippers, told the crowd she was not going to jail. Of course she brought out all the hits as well. On Friday, Meek Mill, YG and A Boogie were the marquee names for the BET Experience setting the stage for the activity filled weekend.

Every week, LiveXLive counts down the biggest urban hits, as determined by YOU! We look at the songs that received the most plays, hearts and shares over the past seven days, and then compile an exclusive chart. The results are hosted by Raymond T, LiveXLive’s official voice of Hip Hop and R&B. What’s the deal with this week’s countdown? Here what Raymond has to say:

"Fresh for you every Friday, every show is full of debuts, surprises and special features.  Youngster YK Osiris, who just made the XXL Magazine "Freshman Class of 2019," makes the biggest jump of the week with his big hit "Worth It."  Lil Baby & Gunna have been dominating the #1 spot since the top of 2019 but, with summer now officially here, there has been a lot of heat dropping from some of your favorite artists.  Catch a stream on the job or on the go and see if your favorites made the cut…SALUTE!”

Check out your Weekly Hip Hop/R&B Countdown right HERE! 

Some fans might be surprised to see Taylor Swift show up to sing at the Stonewall Inn for a celebration honoring both Pride Month and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. But if you’re surprised, you haven’t been paying attention.
Taylor Swift has been notoriously apolitical in her career up until last fall, but this month she’s speaking out – she wore a rainbow colored leotard to perform at Wango Tango June First, where she told the audience she believes in equality, encouraging them to stand up for each other and stick together.
Now she’s taken that message a step further with her new song, You Need To Calm Down, which shouts out her gay fans, and a video that features prominent gay, trans, and non-binary celebrities and entertainers. At the end of the video she includes the message “Let’s show our pride by demanding that, on a national level, our laws truly treat all of our citizens equally. Please sign my petition for senate support of the equality act on change dot org.” You can access her petition here.
As far back as April Tay was showing support for equality. That’s when she donated $113,000 to an LGBTQ rights advocacy group, the Tennessee Equality Project, in her home state. She even included a handwritten note thanking them for the work they do.
It’s easy to criticize Taylor for taking such a long time to start using her voice to call for social change but in this case it truly is better late than never. I hope she continues to speak up!
Celebrate Pride Month with LiveXLive’s Pride station and hear Taylor Swift’s new song on Today’s Hits! 

We love Brian Aubert and Nikki Monninger of Silversun Pickups so much that we invite them to the LiveXLive studios whenever they’re in the neighborhood. They recently popped in for the third time to share some of their favorite music, including tracks from their brand new album “Widow’s Weeds.” They busted out all kinds of great songs for us, from the Beatles to Daft Punk to Hall & Oates to Donna Summer, plus they let us in on some fun facts about their band and their current obsessions.

 

Here are the top 5 things we learned:

  1. Brian is fascinated by David Bowie’s “Labyrinth”-era teeth and codpiece (Same, Brian. Same.)
  2. When listening to music, Nikki hears the bassline first. She collected songs with basslines she loves to inspire her before recording “Widow’s Weeds.”
  3. Brian and Nikki have heard their music being played in bars all over the world…but they don’t always recognize their own songs.
  4. In L.A., Brian and his friend have a DJ gig where they exclusively play songs from old movie soundtracks.
  5. Nikki likes to look at maps of Westeros from her favorite series, “Game of Thrones.”

 

Hear all of Brian and Nikki’s music picks, plus the stories behind them, on Silversun Pickups: I Am The DJ.

No pop star has more buzz than Billie Eilish right now. She’s got fans in Dave Grohl, Elton John & Billie Joe Armstrong. Not to mention a number one album and a dedicated group of fans making her one of the most streamed artists on the planet.
Billie’s music can be polarizing, and it’s no surprise that her brain functions on a different level than most of the rest of us. The 17 year old phenom explains how she farms song ideas from her dream journal and her stream of consciousness art habit. She also stresses the importance of music videos being able to stand on their own as a separate art form entirely from the song they’re for, and talks about working closely with her brother.
She’s on her When We All Fall Asleep world tour right now, and we’re helping to get you hyped with a DNA station full of her biggest hits, her inspirations, collaborations, and artists who are coming up alongside her. Check out Billie Eilish: DNA now!

What happened in music and pop culture five years ago this month? Let’s break down the big stories:

Hottest Men of the Month
Jeremy Meeks, a.k.a. Hot Mug Shot Guy, was a viral sensation after his mugshot caught the attention of the Facebooksphere. After he did his time for possession of a firearm and grand theft, he went on to get some pretty high-profile modeling gigs. In June of 2014, editors at People Magazine named “True Blood” star Joe Manganiello as “Hollywood's Hottest Bachelor.” He didn’t stay a bachelor for long—Joe married Sofia Vergara in 2015. Jamie Dornan of the film “Fifty Shades of Grey” was also quite the flavor of the month, as women all over the globe fantasized about getting all up in his character’s Red Room. Jamie went on to star in two more “Fifty Shades” films as Christian Grey.

Big Celeb Breakups
Before he hooked up (and then split up) with Taylor Swift, Calvin Harris dated Rita Ora, and their messy breakup made headlines five years ago. After 18 years of marriage, Melanie Griffith filed for divorce from Antonio Banderas…and had to get a tattoo of his name removed from her arm. Jennifer Lopez dumped her boyfriend Casper Smart after two and a half years, and while he went on to score roles on TV shows like “Shameless,” she continues to be…well, Jenny from the block.

Katy Shatters Records
In June of 2014, the Recording Industry Association of America named Katy Perry its highest-selling digital act, like, EVER. At the time, Katy racked up sales and streams of 72 million digital singles, with 18 Gold, 16 Platinum, and 56 multi-Platinum digital single awards. These days, she’s busy prepping her next album.

Want more? We’ve got more. Check out our Throwback Thirty station, counting down the Top 30 songs from June of 2014 right here

It’s hard to miss the Jonas Brothers comeback – Nick, Joe & Kevin have been everywhere, from the BBMAs to The Voice finale and even showed up on their own edition of Carpool Karaoke where James Corden subjected them to a lie detector test about their 2013 breakup.
All of that was just lead-up to this week; The JoBros are releasing their first studio album in a decade, Happiness Begins, and delivering a documentary to answer all those lingering fan questions about the breakup and how the brothers are doing now that they’ve made their triumphant return.
The guys sat down with CBS This Morning to kick off the week. When asked how they feel about getting a shot at a do-over, Joe responded “I think this time around we’re going to do it right. There’s not gonna be secrets between us, it’s not gonna be second guessing, we’re not gonna be sitting around trying to call it off. We’re going to just keep this thing going.”
The album drops this Friday! Ride or Die Jonas Brothers fans can catch their doc, Chasing Happiness, on Prime video starting tomorrow, June 4th. And if the wait is just too hard, hear all your favorite JoBro songs ranked by how much you love them on The Jonas Brothers: The Count Up on LiveXLive! 

In celebration of Ms. Swift slaying the stage at Wango Tango, we‘ve created the ultimate radio experience loaded with her music, influences and the stories behind all of it. Here are five things we learned:

1. In high school, Taylor was infatuated with Britney Spears. She wore her perfumes and everything. Now? When Taylor performs in Brit’s home state of Louisiana, she usually busts out a cover or two.

2. In 2010, Taylor teamed up with Stevie Nicks for a pair of duets at the Grammy Awards, prompting Stevie to predict that female artists like Taylor were going to save the music business. How did she know? (She must be a witch).

3. When Taylor moved away from Country music and became a bona fide pop star, a lot of artists in Nashville gave her the cold shoulder. Not Florida Georgia Line, though. “Hell yeah,” said Brian Kelly said, “More props to Taylor. It doesn’t matter the genre, if you’re advancing as an artist, people are going to flock to that.”

4. Taylor says that her friendship with Selena Gomez is the longest she has ever had. They met when Taylor was 16 and Selena was 13.

5. The longstanding feud between Taylor and Katy Perry is officially over. And now? Rumors of a collaboration are swirling all over the place.

For these stories, and tons more, check out Taylor Swift: DNA.  

Cardi B hit the stage Sunday night for a show in her tri-state home area. She’s the rightful headliner of New York radio station Hot 97’s “Summer Jam," the equivalent of sitting on TV’s fabled Iron Throne.

Cardi, of course, couldn’t make “Summer Jam” last year because she was literally a month away from giving birth to her baby girl Kulture. While she’s rocked stages across the world, you know that Summer Jam has to be extra special. What 26-year-old NYC bred rapper hasn’t dreamed of headlining Summer Jam? Her husband Offset was also on the bill along with his group Migos, making it an extra special family affair.

This was likely the last time we’ll see Cardi onstage for a while, as her body is still healing from liposuction and breast lift surgeries. She spoke about suffering through physical complications from the procedures a couple of days ago in Instagram live, citing her plastic surgeon strongly advise she take a pause from concerts until she’s fully recuperated. “I hate canceling shows because I love money. I'm a money addicted,” she lamented. The last time Cardi performed was a couple of weeks ago at the Hangout Fest at Alabama’s Gulf Shores. Since then, a myriad of her schedule performance dates has either been cancelled altogether or postponed.

“I get paid a lot of money, a lot of money for these shows. A lot of money,” she continued to explain. “I'm canceling millions of dollars in shows, but health is wealth, so I have to do what I have to do."

At “Hangout Fest,” she teased new music coming out this summer and she just dropped a new single “Press.” The artwork is grabbing just as much attention than the actual music itself. On the cover she appears nude coming out of court surrounded by media cameramen. Another photo of the single art shows the Bronx native wearing nothing but handcuffs. The last photo released shows Cardi clothed, still wearing cuffs but sharing a pose similar to a photo of notorious serial killer Aileen Wuornos who murdered several men from 1989 to 1990 in Florida. Her grizzly exploits were portrayed on the big screen in the film “Monster.”

“Monsta's gon' tear it up,” she says as the song begins. “Bardi!”

Cardi keeps her energy high on the chorus: “Press, press, press, press, press./
Cardi don't need more press./
Kill 'em all, put them hoes to rest./
Walk in, bulletproof vest./
Please tell me who she gon' check./
Murder scene, Cardi made a mess./
Pop up, guess who, bitch?...”

Hear the new track, and all things Cardi, right HERE!

Everybody’s favorite animated show that you wouldn’t let your parents watch, let alone your kids, returns this week with a brand new season set in space! All your favorite characters are back, although some of them look a little different than we remember – *cough*Pam*cough*.
LiveXLive has some exclusive behind the scenes access to the names behind Archer – H. Jon Benjamin, Aisha Tyler, Lucky Yates, Amber Nash, Chris Parnell, Judy Greer and more host a station full of the songs that inspire them AND their animated alter egos. Check out the Archer edition of I Am The DJ now!
Show superfans will also want to head to the Archer Facebook page following the premiere for a new after show called Archer After Hours – the live chat show is a spoof on after shows and stars Amber Nash and Lucky Yates – the voices of Pam & Dr. Krieger.  The first episode goes live on May 29th!