Mal shocked his co-hosts in a recent episode of New Rory & Mal by proclaiming that he would side with Drake if a rap battle popped off between the Toronto rapper and Jay-Z.

“I might have to ride with my man Drake,” the brother of Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Kareem “Biggs” Burke said while discussing the possibility.

When jokingly pressed about his family ties to the Jigga Man, Mal doubled down. “That’s big bro, that’s family,” he said of Jay-Z. “But [Drake’s] my man. I gotta ride with my man.” However, he did add that he would change his mind if things ventured into more personal territory saying, “I’m with it if it remains rap and respectful. I’m not with the corny, just make up anything and say anything bullsh– that we witnessed two years ago,” in reference to the Drake/Kendrick battle.

In another clip that surfaced online, Mal revealed that Drake texted him about the way Jay-Z was sporting his hair onstage at the Roots Picnic. “The funny sh– about all of this is Drake is the one that told me about this freestyle, because I was watching the Spurs game,” he claimed after his co-host Rory told a story of how Jermaine Dupri made him FaceTime Mal to scream at him about not siding with the family. “I wasn’t online. Game 7 was on. The Knicks was waiting. I’m trying to see who the Knicks gon’ get so I’m not even paying attention to my phone, nothing. So I think it was halftime or something, so I look at my phone, and I see texts from Drake.”

He added: “I don’t know what’s happening so everything that we’re talking about, I don’t even know what was said,” Mal said of his subsequent back-and-forth text exchange with Drake. “So he was picking out certain things that he said, but the one thing that Drake said was like, ‘Yo, but what’s up with the hair?’ Now mind you, I haven’t seen a picture.”

Jay-Z shook up the rap world with an a cappella freestyle during the Roots Picnic over the weekend in which he aired his grievances and dissed a bunch of people, including Drake, Nicki Minaj, Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) and Dame Dash, among others.

Peabo Bryson — the Grammy-winning and hitmaking singer of legendary love songs — has died at age 75, his rep confirmed to Billboard. Bryson had suffered a stroke over the weekend and was under medical care.

“With broken hearts and profound sadness, the family of two-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and balladeer, Peabo Bryson, announces his passing,” a statement from Bryson’s family reads, adding: “He transitioned peacefully at 5:00 p.m. ET on the evening of Tuesday, June 2, 2026, surrounded by the love of his family and those closest to him.”

Over his decadeslong career, Bryson placed 12 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, starting with “Lovers After All,” his 1981 duet with Melissa Manchester, and including three top 10 hits. He topped the chart in 1993 thanks to his recording of Disney’s “A Whole New World (Aladdin’s Theme)” with Regina Belle. Bryson had previously found success with another Disney classic, recording “Beauty and the Beast” with a then-23-year-old Celine Dion and reaching No. 9 on the Hot 100 in 1992.

Those two Disney success stories also brought Bryson his two Grammy wins out of eight nominations, with both duets taking home best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal in back-to-back years (1993 and 1994).

“We are tremendously moved by the outpouring of love, prayers and support from fans, friends, and colleagues around the world,” Bryson’s family shared in a statement. “While our hearts are broken, we find comfort in knowing how deeply Peabo was loved and how many lives were touched by his voice and his generous spirit. His legacy and music will live on for generations to come.”

One of the last posts on Bryson’s social media accounts was an April carousel of family photos celebrating his 75th birthday. “This is 75!!,” the photos are captioned. “Thank you for all my well wishes,” he added with a heart-hands emoji.

Fans of BTS, Cardi B, Lainey Wilson and more aren’t going to want to miss this year’s iHeartRadio Music Festival, which announced its 2026 lineup on Tuesday (June 2).

Taking place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the two-day event will also feature Benson Boone, Zara Larsson, Goo Goo Dolls, Kenny Chesney, Major Lazer, Muse, Snoop Dogg and Weezer. More acts will be announced leading up to the festival on Sept. 18-19.

“The iHeartRadio Music Festival is all about bringing together the biggest artists across every genre for two unforgettable nights, and this year’s lineup truly reflects the incredible diversity of music today,” said chief programming officer Tom Poleman and president of entertainment enterprises John Sykes in a joint statement. “From global superstars to fan-favorite icons, we’re excited to once again deliver an unmatched live and streaming experience that reaches millions of fans everywhere.”

Tickets for the Ryan Seacrest-hosted festival will go on sale to the public at 2 p.m. ET on June 12 via AXS online. Capital One cardholders will have access to an exclusive presale kicking off June 10.

Those who can’t make it in person also have the option of streaming the performances on Disney+ and Hulu.

This year’s festival continues a pattern of star-studded lineups, with Jelly Roll, Tate McRae, Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Ed Sheeran and more A-listers playing the iHeartRadio Music Festival in 2025. In 2024, A$AP Rocky, The Weeknd, Doja Cat and Dua Lipa were among the artists on the bill.

More information about this year’s event can be found on iHeartRadio’s website.

BTS have added a third Melbourne show to their Australian tour leg of BTS World Tour ‘ARIRANG,’ responding to overwhelming presale demand with a new date at Marvel Stadium on Wednesday, Feb. 10.

The addition brings the Australian run to five shows — three nights at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne (Feb. 10, 12 and 13) and two nights at Accor Stadium in Sydney (Feb. 20 and 21).

ARMY Membership presale for the new Melbourne date opens Wednesday, June 3 at 10 a.m. AEST. General on sale for all five Australian shows begins Thursday, June 4 at 10 a.m. AEST for Melbourne and 1 p.m. AEST for Sydney via btsworldtourofficial.com. Only ARMY Membership holders who registered in advance will be eligible for the presale queue, and a Global membership number — a nine-digit number beginning with “BA” — is required for access.

The Australian dates are part of what is already shaping up to be the largest global K-pop tour of all time, spanning stadiums across Asia, North America, Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia. The production features a 360-degree, in-the-round stage design placing fans at the centre of the experience while expanding overall stadium capacity.

It marks BTS’ first headline tour together since the Permission to Dance on Stage tour, which included 12 sold-out shows across Seoul, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

The tour supports ARIRANG, BTS’ fifth studio album, released in March 2026. The record debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with the group’s sixth No. 1 on the chart since 2020. The seven-member group — RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook — are five-time Grammy nominees and were named TIME’s Entertainer of the Year in 2020.

BTS World Tour ‘ARIRANG’ — Australia 2027

Feb. 10 — Melbourne, AUS — Marvel Stadium (new show)

Feb. 12 — Melbourne, AUS — Marvel Stadium

Feb. 13 — Melbourne, AUS — Marvel Stadium

Feb. 20 — Sydney, AUS — Accor Stadium

Feb. 21 — Sydney, AUS — Accor Stadium

Bryson Tiller has announced The Neo Trapsoul Tour, a 61-date world tour launching Aug. 27 in West Valley City, Utah with support from Majid Jordan, Ty Dolla $ign and Austin Millz on select dates.

The North American leg runs through Nov. 1 in Seattle, hitting major stops including Madison Square Garden in New York on Sept. 13, Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado on Aug. 29 and Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on Oct. 25. A European leg follows from Nov. 17, with dates in Zurich, Paris, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Dublin and a run of U.K. arena shows closing at London’s The O2 on Dec. 7.

The tour wraps with five Australian and New Zealand dates in January 2027 — Perth’s RAC Arena (Jan. 19), Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne (Jan. 21), Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney (Jan. 23), Brisbane Entertainment Centre (Jan. 25) and Spark Arena in Auckland (Jan. 27). Artist presale opens Wednesday, June 3 at 12 p.m. local time, with general on sale from Friday, June 5 at 12 p.m. local time. VIP packages are available via vipnation.com.

The tour follows a landmark stretch for the Louisville, Kentucky singer. Last October he celebrated the 10th anniversary of his debut album T R A P S O U L and released the double album Solace & The Vices, with The Vices leaning into high-energy rap-driven production and Solace embracing a more soulful R&B sound.

He also teamed with Chris Brown on “It Depends,” which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B Digital Song Sales chart, peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100, earned two Grammy nominations, two BET Award nominations, an American Music Award and an NAACP Image Award. A new album is forthcoming, preceded by the recently released single “IT’S OK.”

Tiller broke through in 2015 with the diamond-certified “Don’t” and his 3x platinum debut T R A P S O U L, which helped define modern trap R&B. His follow-up True to Self (2017) debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — making him only the second artist in chart history to debut at No. 1 with a streaming-only release — while A N N I V E R S A R Y (2020) opened at No. 5 and his 2024 self-titled album landed in the Billboard 200’s top 20.

Dom Dolla has sold out his Marvel Stadium show in Melbourne, with presale allocations exhausted within hours and all remaining tickets snapping up instantly from general on sale.

The Sept. 24 show — which will mark the world premiere of the DJ and producer’s new stadium production — sold out in record time in what promoters Untitled Group and Frontier Touring are calling one of the most significant moments in Australian electronic music history. A waitlist is now open for fans who missed out.

“Untitled Group has been part of Dom’s journey from the very start of his career, and to watch him sell out Marvel Stadium in his hometown is a moment we’ll never forget,” said Nicholas Greco, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Untitled Group. “This puts electronic music in Australia firmly on the global map and is a historic moment for Dom, for Melbourne, and for electronic music fans across the country.”

The sellout builds on a remarkable run of momentum for the Melbourne-born DJ. In December 2025 he set a new benchmark for electronic music events in Australia with a record-breaking sold-out debut at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium.

In 2025 he also headlined two sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden to more than 30,000 fans, completed a 10-week residency at Hi Ibiza — ranked the world’s No. 1 club — and made his film soundtrack debut with “No Room For A Saint” featuring Nathan Nicholson for the F1 movie soundtrack.

Born Dominic Matheson, Dom Dolla has accumulated more than 1.5 billion streams and won four ARIA Awards for Best Dance/Electronic Release, as well as the inaugural ARIA Global Impact Award presented by Spotify. On Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, “Rhyme Dust” with MK peaked at No. 9, “Eat Your Man” with Nelly Furtado reached No. 15, “Dreamin’” featuring Daya climbed to No. 5 — his highest chart peak — and “Forever” with Kid Cudi debuted at No. 9. He received a Grammy nomination for his remix of Gorillaz’s “New Gold” featuring Tame Impala and Bootie Brown.

PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SHINSEKAI, the fourth season of the audition survival show that brought us the artists JO1, INI and ME:I, has been available for viewing, free of charge, since March 2026, exclusively on the Lemino streaming service. It will culminate in the debut of a 12-person global boy band with members chosen through voting by Japanese viewers (Kokumin Producers) and, for the first time on the show, global viewers (SEKAI Producers) as well.

One of the biggest differences between this season and the past three seasons is that this is now a global audition. The show accepted applications from everyone, regardless of nationality or birthplace (with the exception of a small number of areas). In addition to attracting trainees from around the world, it is also being streamed globally via the global K-pop content platform Mnet Plus, and votes can also be cast from anywhere. The show’s overall emcee, trainee supporter, and KOKUMIN Producer representative is Dean Fujioka. This season, he is joined for the first time by a SEKAI Producer Representative, Choi Soo-young (from Girl’s Generation). The votes of KOKUMIN Producers from Japan and SEKAI Producers from other countries are counted together to launch a boy band that reflects a more international perspective. There are already plans for the band to make its debut simultaneously in both Korea and Japan.

In each of its past seasons, PRODUCE 101 JAPAN has had 101 trainees. Of these, 11 would go on to become debut members. During the first episode of this new season, though, the show announced that 22 global participants have been added, bringing up the number of participants to 123. Of these, 12 will be chosen to debut. In an unexpected twist, unlike in past seasons, the participants didn’t start as trainees, but as trainee candidates. They found themselves suddenly faced with a level placement test, so there was struggle and drama right out of the gates.

This season has already brought us several standout scenes. Episode 6 presented the first half of “POSITION BATTLE: OPEN ROUND.” After the first round of rankings were announced, the 50 remaining trainees were divided into nine teams to compete in the event. In previous rounds, trainees were able to pick their own fields of expertise, like vocals, dance, or rap. But as Dean Fujioka explained, “Today, the borders between vocals, dance, and rap are gone. We’re in an age of all-rounders, where people aren’t hemmed in by the idea of fixed positions.” This time, the battle used an OPEN ROUND approach. It judged the trainees’ ability to handle self-production, including song arrangement and structure. It was a vivid example of how the updates the show had made to its judging approach in order to produce a global boy band for today’s era.

The nine teams competed, each with their own song, and the two top trainees and the top trainee for each of the nine songs in the group battle were selected as leaders. One particularly dramatic scene unfolded for the team PUNCH LINERS, whose leader, RYUJI (Ryuji Sugiyama), picked INI’s song “DOMINANCE.” O.YUSEI (Yusei Obayashi), who was chosen as the main rapper, was psyched, saying “I’ve rarely taken center stage in my own life, so I’m going to go for it.” After listening to the advice of INI members Rihito Ikezaki, Hiroto Nishi, and Jin Matsuda, he looked fulfilled, but after hearing Y.SHU (Shu Yamashita) rap, he asked for the main rapper position to be switched out, saying “I think he’d be better as a main rapper then me.” His team members encouraged him, saying “You got the center position, now you need to go out there and crush it.” O.YUSEI, feeling disgusted with himself, began crying, saying “It was just so frustrating…” His connection with fellow rapper Y.SHU grew even stronger, and then in the main event, he boldly took the stage, putting on a confident performance as main rapper, turning the tables by being selected as no. 1 in his team through the field voting. Y.SHU came in second place, and it was clear to everyone watching how the bonds between them had grown.

Episode 7 featured the second half of the “POSITION BATTLE: OPEN ROUND” and the announcement of the results. “Nature Self” was chosen through field voting as the team that stood out the most. Nature Self was led by CHISATO (Chisato Kobayashi), who chose the song “Natural” by Imagine Dragons.

During the first part of the practice, RYOTA (Ryota Ishida) and CHISATO divided up the choreography duties, but dance trainer KAITA said he felt there was a lack of teamwork. “Did you two coordinate with each other? I could tell that the choreography was by two separate people. It felt disjointed.” Everyone gathered together, and RYOTA and the other members talked about each other’s strengths. They reaffirmed the importance of teamwork and developed a more powerful sense of solidarity. Elsewhere, YURA (Yura Abe), who had been chosen by unanimous accord as main dancer, looked crestfallen, saying “I just couldn’t get excited about being chosen for center position.” He couldn’t shake off his defeat in the previous group battle. “Being in the center position means being under a huge amount of pressure. Even now, I’ve got mixed emotions about it.” CHISATO tried to gave him a push, saying “I want you to go out there and put all your heart into it. I made your choreography with that in mind,” but YURA’s expression remained clouded. SIYOUNG (Park Siyoung), a member of another team, criticized him, saying “We couldn’t see your facial expressions,” and that just sent YURA spiraling further. Dance trainer Rino Nakasone said “You don’t look like a center. You need to be more honest with yourself. Give it your all.” Tears in his eyes, YURA confessed that “Ever since becoming center, I’ve just kept questioning myself.” Nakasone continued, “The song ’Natural’ is all about not bowing under pressure. Don’t keep it all pent up inside, you’ve got all these people around you can turn to.” After telling him that he needed to embody the message of the song, and advising him to rely on his fellow trainees, the other members all embraced him in a hug. The scene eloquently showed that it’s not just about singing and dancing abilities. You also need to truly understand the music at a deeper level.

In the main event, the whole team put on a powerful and magnificent show. It was like they’d all broken out of their shells, and their performance of “Nature Self” was met with a huge round of applause. The decision to pick them as the standout team was a clear and obvious one. KOTARO (Kotaro Asaka) was chosen no. 1 in the team, with YURA taking the no. 3 position. KOTARO revealed that he’d felt great respect for YURA ever since the first time he went to Korea, and he thanked him. YURA also gave a glimpse of his own personal growth, saying that the experience had given him confidence.

PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SHINSEKAI is the kind of show that gives birth to great scenes like these. One of the highlights of this audition show is that it doesn’t just consist of ranking competitors through voting, but it also helps the trainees grow. Tomorrow, your own vote could be instrumental in the dramatic personal growth of trainees.

–This article by Kaori Komatsu first appeared on Billboard Japan

Peabo Bryson was the king of collaborations in the 1990s. Of his 12 Hot 100 hits, seven were collaborations with other top artists, including two pairings each with Regina Belle and Roberta Flack.

We learned over the weekend that the velvet-voiced Bryson has suffered a stroke and is currently under medical care. A representative for Bryson sent the following statement to Billboard: “At this time, the family requests privacy as they navigate this deeply personal moment together. The thoughts, prayers and love of friends and fans are welcomed and deeply appreciated.”

Bryson is best known for the duets “Beauty and the Beast” and “A Whole New World (Aladdin’s Theme).” Those songs, both composed by Alan Menken for Disney blockbusters, won back-to-back Oscars for best original song. Bryson also won back-to-back Grammy Awards for best pop duo/group collaboration for performing those hits, with Celine Dion and Belle, respectively.

Bryson and Dion, whose version of “Beauty and the Beast” was heard over the end credits of that film, performed the song on the 1992 Oscars in tandem with Angela Lansbury, who sang it in the body of the film. Bryson and Dion also performed the song at the 1992 American Music Awards, the 1993 Grammys, the World Music Awards, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Top of the Pops and more.

Bryson had 13 hits on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart before he landed his first hit on the Hot 100 – “Lovers After All,” a collab with Melissa Manchester, in 1981.

But now it’s your turn to weigh in. What’s your favorite of Bryson’s 12 Hot 100 hits? They are listed here in chronological order. Vote!

When he’s not producing hits in the studio, Rogét Chahayed is working out. Alongside music, the Los Angeles native has dedicated the last few years of his life to fitness, which has resulted in Chahayed dropping 60 pounds.

The energy from a rigorous late March workout in his home gym alongside Australian production duo FnZ poured into the studio for a jam session that followed and quickly led to the birth of the beat behind Drake’s “Janice STFU.”

“Within a minute or two, we found that main synth riff you hear in the song. We looked at each other like, ‘That’s crazy,’” Chahayed tells Billboard. “We would hit each other the next day like, ‘He’s gotta do something to this. If he doesn’t make something to this, we shouldn’t be doing music anymore.’ This s–t sounds like a hit without anything on it.”

While Chahayed saw potential in the brooding production, which was sent north of the border to OVO headquarters after some finishing touches from British producer B4u, nothing was official until ICEMAN‘s arrival.

Chahayed, who turned 38 on Sunday (May 31), found out about “Janice STFU” with the rest of the world while anxiously watching and running back YouTube’s episode four ICEMAN livestream on May 14 that came a couple of hours before the album reached streaming services.

Built around an addicting chorus interpolating Lykke Li’s “I Follow Rivers,” “Janice STFU” was tabbed an early standout from ICEMAN.

Drake used The Sopranos‘ Janice Soprano to inspire the track’s title, which provided a “full-circle” moment for the producer, as Chahayed — who fancies himself a diehard fan of the HBO series — estimates he’s watched The Sopranos about “50 or 60” times through. He talks up having a signed James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) photo in his house and the water bottle sitting next to him during the interview is even slapped with a Sopranos sticker.

“Janice STFU” debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 with 40.7 million official streams for the tracking week ending May 21, giving Drake his record-breaking 14th No. 1 — the most among male soloists — and Chahayed’s third (“SICKO MODE,” “First Class”).

The hit will spend a second week at the Hot 100‘s summit, which marks Drake’s first multi-week No. 1 since 2018’s “In My Feelings.” “Janice” also leads the Streaming Songs chart for a second week.

Chahayed notched a second ICEMAN placement with the 21 Savage-assisted “B’s on the Table” and even as the accolades like a Grammy nomination for producer of the year, non classical, and credits with Rosé and Bruno Mars (“APT.”) continue to pile up, he’s got no plans of slowing down.

“At the end of the day, as much as I want to make music for myself or score movies, I’m never gonna stop producing and make slappers,” he promises.

Check out the rest of our interview with the producer, who breaks down how his ICEMAN placements came about, plus so much more.

Another No. 1 hit. What was your reaction to seeing “Janice STFU” top the charts?

It’s been pretty crazy to see the impact it’s had on culture in general. It’s crazy to see how an artist like Drake, who’s been around for like two decades now, still make an impact through the days of mixtapes, DatPiff, blog era and CDs to streaming and now we’re in TikTok. It’s one of the more viral songs he’s had on there. It’s crazy to go on there and every few things I’m scrolling, I hear the song. It’s full circle for me because I’m a diehard Sopranos fan. I know they’re referencing Tony’s sister, Janice. It’s all these culminations coming full-circle.

Take me back, how does this work? Are you sending over beats to Drake or does this fall in your lap while working with other producers like FnZ?

All of my collaborations with Drake have been remote. He’s not an easily accessible guy. He’s got a lot of people in his circle and on his team. I’ve always found the best way to get through to him is sending the right music ideas. In this situation, I was working with FnZ. We collaborate often and get together once a month to cook up as many ideas as we can. We’ll make eight or nine things in a night. We spend a lot of time going into detail and picking sounds we think are going to make a difference.

This was end of March of this year, we’re trying to get ideas for ICEMAN. I had a song on there already with “B’s on the Table” and they had a few joints, but we wanted to get one more. I built a gym in my crib and we were f–king around and wanted to get one more in, so we went down to the studio and started with a jam session. I was looking for sounds and Zac from FnZ was tweaking the synths while I was playing. I was playing with melodies and Michael from FnZ was pulling up this hi-hat loop with a snare and a vocal chop. I started coming up with this thing and added a bass to it. Within a minute or two, we found that main synth riff you hear in the song. We looked at each other like, “That’s crazy.” We send it over to b4u, who’s been working with Drake heavy on this album. He finished it up.

When do you hear back that it’s done and hear about The Sopranos inspiration or the Lykke Li interpolation?

We had no idea what it was called. B4u was our point of contact for this situation. We sent him the sample and a few days later, FnZ sent me a text, “B4u said Drake started writing to this one.” I think we called the idea “Wired” originally. I’ve seen that text before that The Boy’s writing to it. He’s probably writing to so many beats. I don’t treat it as anything out of the ordinary.

Three weeks later, I got a text from b4u, “There’s one you did with FnZ, it sounds crazy and it might make the album.” That’s the only information I had. I didn’t know it’s called “Janice STFU” or what he’s rapping about, so we were eager to find out.

You heard the final version on the ICEMAN livestream with everyone?

I heard it on the stream before the actual release. FnZ hit me, “Yo, I think it’s called ‘Janice’ something.” I listened to it in the car and thought it sounded crazy. I had to keep going back on my YouTube to run it back. When it came out, I listened to the rest of the album and thought, “Holy s–t.” That one song, everyone kept hitting me that this was the one that was gonna push through.

People are really loving the Lykke Li “I Follow Rivers” interpolation on the chorus.

I didn’t really notice it at first, but when I was on Reddit and YouTube seeing people react, they were like, “It’s Lykke Li.” I get that the melody is similar, but I feel like the way Drake spun it was so creative and he puts this swing on it. I think it’s more genius to interpolate something from a different world of sound and put it into this. How did he think of putting this into the thing me and FnZ sent?

I’ve been a part of a lot of songs that have really good interpolations. I feel like you almost can’t make a hit nowadays without having some kind of homage or tribute to great melodies and great songs. “First Class,” Jack [Harlow] interpolates Fergie, “Kiss Me More” Doja interpolates Olivia Newton-John, and it’s cool to see Drake put his spin on it — it’s too fire.

It’s crazy that you sent over this one idea and it stuck with Drake. I figured you were sending over packs and packs of beats for him.

I probably sent like 100 ideas, loops and beats to people. Maybe a few hundred between loops for the drum guys and beats I made with people. It got to a point I didn’t think we were gonna make ICEMAN. I thought he had a million people sending him s–t and he had 100 songs done. FnZ and I have been working for five years now and they push me to find me the craziest sounds.

We did a song called “Dua Lipa” for Jack Harlow and “Kat Food ” for Lil Wayne. We’ll hang out together and be like, “We’re gonna get one of the craziest songs ever made.” We kind of manifested it. There was something about this day in particular…The energy was good, like I had just finished a crazy workout, because I got really into working out and training in the last year. This idea came as a result of like, fitness and taking care of ourselves and lifting weights and it kind of has that energy in it too. I feel like that’s not the lifestyle for a lot of producers. This has been my main thing lately, I lost 60 pounds in the last few years. I really attribute a lot of this success and better ideas to personal training. We would hit each other like, “He’s gotta do something to this. If he doesn’t make something to this, we shouldn’t be doing music anymore.” This s–t sounds like a hit without anything on it.

How did “B’s on the Table” come about? It sounds like that was already done before “Janice.”

That’s actually a beat that I made with London Cyr. We had a session a year ago with a beat that had these cool synth horns on it. I heard Drake really liked the beat and was doing something to it. I thought maybe it didn’t make the cut until London hit me, “Drake wants that same exact horn sound we did on a newer beat he’s doing.” He wanted the exact same sound and I forgot the sound. My engineer and I were sitting here for days going through every brass synth patch we had. I started to get tendonitis. I had a sound design dude make an identical sound and it still wasn’t cutting through.

B4u said he wanted more organic horn sounds and had me sending like 30 different versions of the horns you hear on the second half. That’s my part on the song. I’d get hit up at 1 a.m., 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and I’d run home and try to finesse it. It was a lot of work. This whole album was a team effort. Communication is important. I knew 21 Savage was on it, but I didn’t know what it sounded like. They had just sent me the instrumental and a placeholder in the second half where the horns go. That’s the real rap motto, you got to be on call.

Do you have a special place for your plaques at your house?

All the plaques I have really are like gifts. My manager or publisher will have them for me. I’m definitely going to custom request a “Janice STFU” plaque. This is my third Hot 100 No. 1 in my career. I’m super grateful. My second one with Drake because he’s on “SICKO MODE.”

You said you were a massive Sopranos fan too, so that had to be cool.

Diehard Sopranos fan. I have all kinds of memorabilia. I have a signed James Gandolfini picture. I have a giant poster of the show. I’ve seen the show, probably as a whole, like 50 or 60 times through. I know everything that happens in every episode. If we’re watching it, I can basically go bar-for-bar. There’s a lot of meanings behind the song like, “Who’s Janice?” The song is so fire I don’t try to find out who he’s really talking about. I’m not a political guy like that. Janice in the show did get on everyone’s nerves. Drake was posting hints about The Sopranos on his other Instagram account. It’s the greatest show of all-time and Drake’s one of the greatest artists of all-time, so it’s a crazy full-circle thing. I guess watching the show 100 times and making beats every day paid off.

What’s the difference when producing for a rapper versus a pop artist?

When you’re working with pop artists, I feel like musically that they need a little bit less as far as sounds go. I always try to focus on what the song needs first. Later on, we can finish the production on it. When I work with a rapper, I feel like we got to find the most cutthroat crazy sound that pushes them. I feel like rappers are impatient. When you’re working with a pop artist, they’re willing to take time to craft the content of the song. When you’re playing rappers beats that are done and the song isn’t hitting, they’re like, “Nah, I need some s–t like this!” I learned that from the school of Dr. Dre. The pressure was always on. He was always hovering over you like, “What you got? You have anything crazy?” And if you didn’t, you felt inferior. They’re trying to make a hit and you got to give them a sound that pierces through the speaker so they almost want to fight with the beat. They want to spar with the beat.

Whereas when you’re writing for a pop artist, all you need is four good chords. All they really need is a piano or a guitar to make the song. Once they have the song, they’re sitting there with the songwriter for three or four hours and the producers are sitting there waiting for them to finish. That’s why I love rap more. Rap is more competitive. Rap is more like that blank canvas of what you can put on there musically. There’s more you could do with it.

Talk about your experience working with Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey.

I spent a lot of time in the studio with with Jennifer, and she is just like probably the hardest working person I’ve ever met in my life. It’s crazy, like you think of someone that has everything, all the success, wealth and fame, and she works like it’s her last day. She’s an incredible businesswoman, she’s very creative, always working on movies, always has ideas, always making music and she’s very detailed.

She was in the studio for every session for every song on that album. It wasn’t like a J Lo camp, where she would come in for an hour, like “I’m gonna go back to being a movie star.” No, she was in there in workout clothes. She’s just like a normal person in the studio. I was like, “Oh, she’s one of us.” She’s a nerd for this s–t.

She was always very positive and easy to reach. She always picked up my calls and told me from the beginning, “Don’t sugarcoat nothing. Tell me if this s–t doesn’t sound good. Tell me if this song doesn’t sound good. I need you to be direct with me.”

Mariah, I was brought into that session by my boy Anderson .Paak. So Mariah was also in the studio with us and she started really late, I think we started the sessions at 10 p.m. and we would be in there ’till like, six in the morning. It was so organic working with Mariah.

We did the “In Your Feelings” song and we’re sitting on the piano at Electric Lady Studios. Mariah is right there, just coming up with melodies. I’m just sitting there on the piano, like, “Holy s–t.” My mom used to play Mariah Carey in the car when I was a kid and like now I’m sitting on the piano writing a song with her. I still get those weird feelings of like, “I can’t believe this is happening.” They’re just normal people, like you and me, trying to write music, which is so cool to experience.