Billboard Announces Billboard R&B Hip Hop Live in Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop
Today, Billboard announced the line-up for Billboard R&B Hip Hop Live in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop. In partnership with VIBE, the live concert event will feature headliner Metro Boomin and openers Coi Leray and Armani White on Tuesday, August 8 at The Novo in Los Angeles. Tickets go on sale to the public today at 10a.m. PDT at Live.Billboard.com.
“This year marks a momentous milestone in the evolution of a genre that was initially dismissed as a fad and now reigns as a global force,” says Gail Mitchell, Billboard‘s Executive Director of R&B/Hip-Hop. “We’re looking forward to celebrating hip-hop’s trailblazing architects and future legends during what will no doubt be an energy-packed, exciting show at The Novo.”
GRAMMY® Award-nominated diamond-certified producer, DJ, and artist Metro Boomin has defined not only the sound, but the direction of hip-hop. He recently executive produced Metro Boomin Presents Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Soundtrack From and Inspired by the Motion Picture), the official soundtrack for the box office hit Marvel film. Earlier this year, he brought his own cinematic flair during his raved Coachella performance which featured a star-studded list of performances from Diddy, The Weeknd, 21 Savage, Don Toliver, and more. With dozens of smashes to his name, his unmatched, unprecedented, and undeniable discography encompasses the quintuple-platinum “Jumpman” by Drake and Future, quadruple-platinum “Bad and Boujee” [feat. Lil Uzi Vert] by Migos, 14x Platinum “Congratulations” [feat. Quavo] by Post Malone, 9x Platinum “Mask Off” by Future, 6x Platinum “Bounce Back” by Big Sean, and many more. Working with The Weeknd, he co-produced the Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit “Heartless” and contributed three more tracks to the chart-dominating 2020 epic After Hours. Along the way, he also joined forces with 21 Savage for the 2016 blockbuster Savage Mode and it’s even bigger 2020 successor Savage Mode II—which bowed at #1 on the Billboard 200, went gold, and closed out the year on multiple year-end lists. Other knockout collaborative albums include Double or Nothing with Big Sean and Without Warning with Offset and 21 Savage, both of which crashed the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. In 2018, he unleashed his full-length solo debut, Not All Heroes Wear Capes, seizing #1 on the Billboard 200 upon release, reaching platinum status. To date, he has received “Producer of the Year” at the BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards four consecutive years in a row and “Producer of the Year” at the BET Hip Hop Awards twice. Continuing a long creative partnership with Drake, he produced Certified Lover Boy’s “Knife Talk” [feat. 21 Savage & Project Pat], which debuted in the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2021. He is also the owner of the record label Boominati Worldwide, which he launched in 2017 in partnership with Republic Records.
Coi Leray consistently asserts herself as an elite rapper, dynamite vocalist, massive personality, and boundary-breaking superstar without comparison or rival. 2023 is in full force for Leray due to her chart-topping success of her smash hit “Players,” bountiful new music releases, and major festival performances such as Rolling Loud California, Austin City Limits, Summer Jam and more. Leray is also joining the lineups at Jay-Z’s Made In America and Kid Cudi’s Moon Man’s Landing. This year has also seen Leray become the voice of the WNBA’s “More Than Game” campaign ahead of their 2023 season and continue to build her resume in the fashion space with her collaboration with FENDI by Marc Jacobs in their highly anticipated Summer Capsule collection. Leray can also be heard on the big screen, with her collaboration with Metro Boomin on their song “Self Love”, as part of the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack, in theaters now. Additionally, Leray has partnered with Meta and KidSuper for the launch of the “It’s Your World” campaign in which her music video for “Make My Day” featuring David Guetta was illustrated using Meta’s VR capabilities.
Profound, yet buoyantly energetic, West Philly rapper Armani White wants to trademark happy hood music. Pairing dexterous flows with dense introspection and spurts of impassioned melodies, the 26-year-old delivers a colorful, but poignant soundtrack for survivors. The gold-certified charismatic rapper recently teamed up with Ferg in the technicolor, larger-than-life new video for “SILVER TOOTH.,” the latest single from his heralded debut EP Road to CASABLANCO. The EP also boasts the recent single “GOATED.” [feat. Denzel Curry], which has already piled up 18 million Spotify streams, 3 million YouTube views, and exploded on TikTok with over one million creates and over a billion views. His runway smash “BILLIE EILISH.,” picked up gold certification from the RIAA in the US, clocked over half-a-billion streams, and generated 36 million-plus YouTube views. While he had been building up momentum, tragedy brought his career to a halt. In 2016, two years after his uncle was killed, his father died of cancer. After taking time to process his feelings and take care of his family, White re-introduced himself to the rap world with “Public School” in 2018. By 2019, he’d consummated his reinvigorated journey to rap stardom with Keep in Touch, a project that reaffirmed his all-around songwriting abilities.
Continuing Hip Hop’s 50th celebration this year, Billboard and VIBE are working with Amazon’s live radio app Amp to amplify the next generation of rising rappers coming out of Atlanta. Fans can participate in Amp’s emerging artist program The Come Up today to help surface new artists who have a chance to be featured across Billboard and VIBE this summer.
For more information and the latest announcements follow on Instagram and Twitter at @billboard and #BillboardLive.
© 2023, Seth “Digital Crates” Barmash. All rights reserved.