50 Cent denies using Ozempic after showing off 40-pound weight loss. Meek Mill says he charges $250,000 for a verse. Kanye West shared a video of his daughter, North West, showing off her ideas for a music video for their collab track off his upcoming album ‘Vultures.’ Justin Timberlake is back: The singer dropped his new track titled “Selfish” and announced a one-night-only show in NYC. Mel B is teasing the Spice Girls’ upcoming project that will feature all five members. Jennifer Lopez is set to be a musical guest on ‘SNL.’ And more!

Tetris Kelly
50 Cent’s weight loss, a North West music video and Meek Mill charges what? JT’s tour, all five Spice Girls and J.Lo on a Saturday — we head over to the Tok for the top songs as we explain the massive success of Alicia Keys and spend some extra time with Julia Michaels.

Tetris Kelly
Hey guys, it’s Tetris and welcome to the Thursday, January 25th, episode of Billboard News. Let’s get busy with three things you should know in hip-hop.

Fans are saying 50 Cent looks like 25 Cent after the iconic rapper is looking much slimmer than usual in an IG post. Users are quick to say he is probably using popular weight loss drug Ozempic. Well, a source told Page Six he’s not on Ozempic and has been on a rigorous training program for eight months. My thoughts are: just be honest. So many people are using it to get skinny now, so just be proud of you — no shame in the game.

Meek Mill has zero shame. The hip-hop heavyweight jumped on Twitter to say, “Every time I do a verse I charge 250k and up if you got 150k on site and I like the song we can swap it out.” 150k down payment — you’re charging them Nicki Minaj prices. Maybe he learned that when they dated, but does a Meek Mill verse help the way a Nicki feature can?

Like father, like daughter: Kanye West has jumped on Instagram to share a storyboard of what seems to be a video he’s working on with daughter North West. He captioned the video: “treatment by your bestie Miss Westie.” I love their bond. North is definitely going to be somebody we see a lot of in the future.

Watch the full video above!

Flo Milli’s “Never Lose Me” ranks at No. 1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart for a second week, while He Is We’s “I Wouldn’t Mind” vaults to No. 2 on the chart posting January 25th.

Tetris Kelly
Flo Milli holds on to the top spot while the top 10 sees two new tracks.

Tetris Kelly
Flo Milli’s “Never Lose Me” spends a second week at No. 1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 for the chart posting January 25th. Project Pat takes over spots 5 and 7, “Choose U” returns to the top 10 and “Good Googly Moogly” breaks in for the first time thanks to a trend where users show appreciation. One final new face in the top 10 is MGMT’s “Time to Pretend.”

Tetris Kelly
Users have been featuring the track in TikToks, where they share a seemingly negative statement and make it positive with the emojis. Every Thursday, Billboard will bring you the verified list of the hottest songs on TikTok by monitoring music discovery and engagement on the platform in the United States. To find the TikTok Billboard Top 50 each week, users can simply go to any sound detail page and tap the top right button to access the charts page.

Narrator:
Throughout her decades-long career, Alicia Keys has set the Billboard charts on fire, topping the Hot 100, the Billboard 200 and many more. Let’s take a look back at some of her most memorable chart moments.

This is Billboard Explains: Alicia Keys’ Fire on the Charts.

Alicia made her debut in 2001 thanks to her single “Fallen,” which reached No. 1 on the Hot 100. Other Hot 100 No. 1s include her duet with Usher “My Boo in 2004, 2007’s “No One” and her iconic Jay-Z collab “Empire State of Mind.”

Alicia has nine top 10 Hot 100 hits, five of her albums reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, including her debut Songs in A Minor, 2003’s The Diary of Alicia Keys, 2005’s Unplugged, 2007’s As I Am and 2012’s Girl on Fire.

Alicia was ranked as Billboard‘s No. 1 R&B/hip-hop artist for the 2000s decade, and the charts prove she definitely deserves that title.

She has eight No. 1s on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and 15 top 10s. She has the most No. 1 hits on the Adult R&B Airplay chart with 14, and her 54 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart puts her third among all female artists, right behind Aretha Franklin’s 65 and Rihanna’s 56.

We can’t wait to see where Alicia’s career takes her next!

Watch the full video above!

Julia Michaels explains the stories behind these photos with Billboard.

Julia Michaels:
Hey, I’m Julia Michaels and I’m going Behind the Photo with Billboard.

Oh, this was really a special day. I was on the cover of Billboard magazine because all three of us were nominated for best new artist together at the Grammys. Well actually, I was woken up by my manager Beka, we were in Australia. We were on tour with Shawn Mendes. She woke me up by jumping on me to tell me that we were nominated for song of the year and best new artist that year. Yeah, this was a picture from Billboard, and I got to meet these two incredible people that are just such spectacular artists. It was a really, really special day.

Oh, you guys! It’s my mommy. Isn’t she gorgeous? That’s my mom, Julie. She’s Julie. I’m Julia. If I had to guess we were probably somewhere in Iowa, where I’m from. Yeah, my mom and I still hold hands like that. To be honest, I just turned 30 this year and anytime I go home to visit my mom, she’ll always walk in my room and be really can we snuggle and so yeah. I’m 30, I still snuggle my mom.

Hey, oh! Lots of people that know me know that Hot Cheetos are my drug. I got this plaque from Spotify, that “Issues” which was my first single reached a billion streams. I wrote the song about a really really, really sh–ty ex-boyfriend and it really worked out for me. Thank you.

LOL! This is Mr. Adam Levine. I toured with him as well. I opened for him. We’re still friends. This was 2018, I think, and we still talk to each other like once every two weeks. He’s basically like the brother I never wanted but somehow ended up with. I deeply deeply love him. I love you even though you’re an a–hole in the best way possible.

I mean, come on. Can we be a throuple? I actually have met Nicole a few times because I also toured with her husband, Keith Urban. I’ve written songs with him as well. I got to see her that night which was so fun and I got to meet him for the first time, Mr. Antoni, and so handsome. So handsome. It was a beautiful night. Also, it was in Nashville where all my family was so I got to have best of both worlds. I got to go see a lot of pretty people and I got to go spend time with my family, who are also very pretty people.

Watch the full video above!

The Billboard Women in Music Awards are back! Tracee Ellis Ross will host the awards. The annual event will feature musical performances and honor women powerhouses who are shaping the music landscape. Beyoncé’s mom, Tina Knowles, sets the record straight on if she was really shading Janet Jackson online. Lovers & Friends announced the lineup for this year’s event, and it’s stacked. The trailer just dropped for Kelly Rowland’s new Netflix film ‘Mea Culpa.’ Billboard caught up with the cast and creatives of Netflix’s ‘Griselda’ on Karol G’s acting debut and Sofía Vergara’s “challenging” new role. And more!

Tetris Kelly
Billboard’s Women In Music 2024 is honoring some major stars, Karol G makes her acting debut alongside Sofía Vergara, Tina Knowles says “Sorry,” Kelly Rowland’s starring role and a super nostalgic festival lineup. And we learned five things about Don Omar. Happy Hump Day, I’m Tetris Kelly it’s Wednesday, January 24 and, we’re kicking off this episode of Billboard news with an exciting announcement. Women in Music is around the corner. And I’m so excited to let you know some of this year’s superstar honorees.

Alyssa Caverley
Billboard’s Women In Music is back!

Quinta Brunson
Tonight, we honor the women who have been leading the way.

Alyssa Caverley
Wednesday, March 6th at the YouTube theater in Los Angeles.

Sabrina Carpenter
I wanted to take a moment to say what an amazing inspiring night this has been.

Lainey Wilson
This is absolutely insane. I feel so honored and blessed to be here.

Olivia Rodrigo
Thank you, Billboard.

Alyssa Caverley
Honoring Charli XCX, Ice Spice, Kylie Minogue, Luísa Sonza, Maren Morris, NewJeans, Tems, Victoria Monét and Young Miko and soon to be announced Billboard’s Women of the Year with host Tracee Ellis Ross.

Tracee Ellis Ross
And it’s about to be an epic night. Come celebrate the start of Women’s History Month with us

Alyssa Caverley
General tickets on sale January 27th with Amex card members getting early access on January 24th.

Karol G
This is me and I’m happy to be here, thank you Billboard.

Kim Petras
This is a huge honor. Thank you so so much.

Taylor Swift
I want to first thank Billboard from the bottom of my heart.

Alyssa Caverly
Go to BillboardWomenInMusic.com for all the details.

Watch the full video above!

Don Omar reveals five things you didn’t know about him to Billboard!

Don Omar:
Hi, everybody. This is Don Omar, and these are five things you didn’t know about me.

No. 1: I’m afraid of frogs. I can’t deal with it.

No. 2: I wake up every single day at 3:30 a.m. in the morning.

No. 3: I wake up every morning to stay on top of three different companies that goes from agriculture to product distribution.

No. 4: There’s people dying to meet their favorite artist or their favorite skater. I’m dying to meet Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer.

No. 5: While everybody might thought … or think that I do have a driver and special security service, I drove my car, and I go by myself everywhere.

And these were five things you didn’t know about Don Omar. Thanks for watching.

The Billboard Women in Music Awards are back! Tracee Ellis Ross will host the awards. The annual event will feature musical performances and honor women powerhouses who are shaping the music landscape.

Tickets to this year’s show are on sale now, with early access for Amex® Card Members via Ticketmaster. Terms Apply. Supply is limited.

Stay tuned for public on-sale starting Jan. 27.

Unable to attend on March 6? Watch Billboard Women in Music on March 7 at BillboardWomenInMusic.com

Narrator:
Billboard’s Women in Music is back!

Quinta Brunson:
Tonight, we honor the women who have been leading the way.

Narrator:
Wednesday, March 6, at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.

Sabrina Carpenter:
I wanted to take a moment to say what an amazing inspiring night this has been.

Lainey Wilson:
This is absolutely insane. I feel so honored and blessed to be here.

Olivia Rodrigo:
Thank you, Billboard!

Narrator:
Honoring Charli XCX, Ice Spice, Kylie Minogue, Louisa Sonza, Maren Morris, NewJeans, Tems, Victoria Monet and Young Miko, and soon to be announced Billboard’s Women of the Year with host Tracee Ellis Ross.

Tracee Ellis Ross:
And it’s about to be an epic night! Come celebrate the start of Women’s History Month with us.

Narrator:
General tickets on sale Jan. 27, with Amex card members getting early access on Jan. 24.

Karol G:
This is me and I’m happy to be here! Thank you, Billboard!

Kim Petras:
This is a huge honor. Thank you so so much.

Taylor Swift:
I want to first thank Billboard from the bottom of my heart.

Narrator:
Go to BillboardWomenInMusic.com for all the details!

TWICE:
Thank you, we love you!

Watch the full video above!

Hip-hop legend Flavor Flav stopped by Billboard News and spoke to Rania Aniftos about using A.I. to translate his new track “Every Where Man” with Chuck D, recording new Public Enemy music, his potential return to reality TV, being a fan of Taylor Swift and more!

Flavor Flav:
I can hold some notes besides the national anthem.

Rania Aniftos:
We were gonna get into that!

Flavor Flav:
Don’t go there! Don’t go there!

Rania Aniftos:
We were gonna get into that!

Flavor Flav:
Don’t go there!

Ay yo, check this out. This is Flavor Flav, and this right here is Billboard News.

Rania Aniftos:
Hey, everybody! It’s Rania Aniftos with Billboard News, and it’s such an exciting day in the studio today because we have the one and only Flavor Flav. Welcome!

Flavor Flav:
In the building!

Rania Aniftos:
In the building! You are fresh off the release of an A.I. song, A.I. generated, A.I. facilitated track, “Every Where Man” featuring your old Public Enemy pal Chuck D. So tell me a bit about how that came together. What was the inspiration behind it?

Flavor Flav:
My partner Chuck D mentioned to me about doing a record called “Every Where Man” because I’m every … Flavor Flav is everywhere, man. You know what I’m saying? So, me and Chuck sat down. Chuck took the pen, put it to the paper. So really, Chuck D wrote this song. He writes it, I recite it like that, you know what I’m saying? So that’s how this record really came to be because Chuck is always ahead of his time, so we got this song now transposed into, like, 30 different languages. This song in Spanish, I was bugging out because I’m like, “Wow, listen to my voice in Spanish. Listen to my voice in …”

Rania Aniftos:
Korean!

Flavor Flav:
Like, Korean. Yeah, you know, and I never, ever thought that I wouldn’t be speaking Korean. You know what I’m saying? But hey, thanks to A.I.! And not only that, but I’m glad that this is happening because A.I. has been misused so much, you know? And there’s a lot of people that’s not using it correctly, so I feel that I’m one of the first ones to show the example of A.I. being used correctly.

Watch the full interview above!