Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Pop Out event results in increase in streams for Kendrick Lamar and featured artists

Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images

Kendrick Lamar‘s Pop Out event turned out to be more than a Juneteenth celebration. It was also a win for Kendrick and many of the artists who performed onstage. 

Kendrick earned almost 61 million combined official on-demand U.S. streams in the three days after the event (June 20-22), a 31% increase over the three-day period before the show (June 16-18), Billboard reports. His song “Not Like Us,” which he performed a few times at the event, garnered 21 million combined streams in the three-day period following the concert, a 62% jump.

ScHoolboy QJay Rock and Ab-Soul also saw some bumps in their streams in the three days after their onstage reunion with K.Dot, their fellow Black Hippy crew member.

ScHoolboy earned 4.3 million streams, a 31% increase. Jay Rock acquired a little over 1 million streams, up 45%, and Ab-Soul garnered 291,000 streams, up 44%.

Even Dr. Dre, who appeared onstage, saw his song “Still D.R.E.” jump 19% after the event. 

Also seeing bumps in streams are Tyler, The Creator, Dom Kennedy and YG, who all took the stage during Mustard‘s part of the show: Tyler for “Wusyaname” and “Earfquake,” which he performed that day; Dom Kennedy for “When I Come Around” and “My Type of Party”; and YG, whose whole catalog saw a 35% increase in streams over the three-day period.

Mustard’s song “Perfect Ten,” featuring the late Nipsey Hussle, also saw a 127% rise in streams over the three-day period, up to 123,000.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Childish Gambino confirms upcoming single, says he’s “trying to have fun” with album rollout

Disney/Randy Holmes

Donald Glover has been teasing his upcoming Childish Gambino album with the phrase “Bando is coming,” but a note about one of its songs did not actually come from him. 

Taking to Instagram Live Wednesday, he confirmed the news about his final project, titled “Lithonia,” noting it’s a single and the prequel to his forthcoming LP, Bando Storm and the New World

“That got leaked, it kind of pissed me off,” Glover said. “And I know who did it, Audiomack, f****** no soup for you. You’re not getting the album now. That’s what time I’m on.”

According to Glover, his new album rollout was intended to be “mostly about fun,” but “the problem is we’re not having fun.”

“I’m trying to have fun,” he said. “Because I feel like there’s just people not having enough fun. … When I was a kid there was, like, big things that would unite us and I just feel bad for y’all. I feel bad for some of y’all.”

Glover added that it’s “f***** up” that “the most fun we had was from a fight,” referring to the Kendrick Lamar and Drake feud.

“[It] was a song from a fight, from a rap beef, which I enjoyed every minute of,” Glover said. “It was very fun. But, still, kind of negative, in a certain light, I guess.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

50 Cent headlining Earn Your Leisure’s Invest Fest

Paramount+

50 Cent has a wealth of knowledge in business and music, so he’s sharing some with those attending this year’s Invest Fest, “a first of its kind, in-person experience to combine investing, entrepreneurship, pop culture, and entertainment in a festival setting,” the website describes.

The Grammy winner will be headlining the event, where he’ll talk about Black entrepreneurship and his recent trip to Capitol Hill to push for more Black representation in the liquor industry, among other things. He’ll join a lineup of artists, influencers and more, including T.I., Lauren London, Monica, Wyclef Jean and Steve Harvey.

Invest Fest was launched in 2022 by co-founders Troy Millings and Rashad Bilal of Earn Your Leisure, a media platform that includes information about a range of business, finance and entrepreneurial topics.

Speaking to TMZ, Troy said they chose 50 Cent because he is “the powerful blend of culture and business.”

Bilal added, “We believe [50’s] insights and experiences will inspire and empower our audience to pursue their own paths to financial freedom.”

Invest Fest 2024 takes place in Atlanta Aug. 23-25; tickets are now available.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

50 Cent headlining Earn Your Leisure’s Invest Fest

Paramount+

50 Cent has a wealth of knowledge in business and music, so he’s sharing some with those attending this year’s Invest Fest, “a first of its kind, in-person experience to combine investing, entrepreneurship, pop culture, and entertainment in a festival setting,” the website describes.

The Grammy winner will be headlining the event, where he’ll talk about Black entrepreneurship and his recent trip to Capitol Hill to push for more Black representation in the liquor industry, among other things. He’ll join a lineup of artists, influencers and more, including T.I., Lauren London, Monica, Wyclef Jean and Steve Harvey.

Invest Fest was launched in 2022 by co-founders Troy Millings and Rashad Bilal of Earn Your Leisure, a media platform that includes information about a range of business, finance and entrepreneurial topics.

Speaking to TMZ, Troy said they chose 50 Cent because he is “the powerful blend of culture and business.”

Bilal added, “We believe [50’s] insights and experiences will inspire and empower our audience to pursue their own paths to financial freedom.”

Invest Fest 2024 takes place in Atlanta Aug. 23-25; tickets are now available.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Here’s what host Taraji P. Henson is most excited to see at BET Awards 2024

BET

The jam-packed BET Awards 2024 are just days away, but there are two things host Taraji P. Henson is most looking forward to seeing: the live debut of Will Smith‘s new song and the presentation of Usher‘s Lifetime Achievement Award.

“It’s going to be an incredible show,” she says in an interview with People. “You know, it’s Culture’s Biggest Night. The performances are going to blow us all away. We got Will Smith, guys. I am so excited to see what he has up his sleeve.”

As for Lifetime Achievement recipient Usher, she says she’s “honored to host the show where he’s receiving his flowers.”

“I’m just proud of him. It’s just a proud moment,” she continues. “It’s a proud moment for the culture.”

Taraji’s return to the BET Awards marks her third time as host of Culture’s Biggest Night. Yet, she’s still a bundle of nerves — and she says that’s a good thing.

“I love nerves,” Henson shares. “I get nervous on the first day of shooting. It’s a live show. Anything can go right or wrong, you know, but that’s what’s so exciting.”

“If I’m not nervous, I would be nervous,” she adds.

The BET Awards 2024 will air live on BET Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Actor Bill Cobbs of ‘The Bodyguard’ and ‘Night at the Museum’ dies at 90

Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images

Actor Bill Cobbs, known for his roles in Night at the Museum, The Bodyguard, Air Bud and more, has died, a rep for Cobbs confirmed to Good Morning America. He was 90.

“We are saddened to share the passing of Bill Cobbs,” his family said in a statement shared by his rep. “On Tuesday, June 25, Bill passed away peacefully at his home in California. A beloved partner, big brother, uncle, surrogate parent, godfather and friend, Bill recently and happily celebrated his 90th birthday surrounded by cherished loved ones.”

“As a family, we are comforted knowing Bill has found peace and eternal rest with his Heavenly Father,” the statement from his family continued. “We ask for your prayers and encouragement during this time.”

Of his many roles, perhaps some of his most notable films were The Bodyguard in 1992, in which he portrayed Devaney and acted alongside Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, the 1997 Disney film Air Bud, Night at the Museum in 2006 and Oz the Great and Powerful in 2013.

He also has several series credits across television, including The Michael Richards Show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Carmichael Show and The Sopranos. His guest starring role as Mr. Hendrickson in Dino Dana: The Movie earned Cobbs a Daytime Emmy Award for outstanding limited performance in a daytime program.

As a director, Cobbs directed The Meeting, a story about Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.

Some of Cobbs’ last acting roles were the 2024 television shows Diarra from Detroit and BMF.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.