“Billboard uses an outdated formula that weights subscription-supported streams higher than ad-supported,” the post begins. “This doesn’t reflect how fans engage with music today and ignores the massive engagement from fans who don’t have a subscription. Streaming is the primary way people experience music, making up 84% of U.S. recorded music revenue. We’re simply asking that every stream is counted fairly and equally, whether it is subscription-based or ad-supported—because every fan matters and every play should count.”

“After a decade-long partnership and extensive discussions, they are unwilling to make meaningful changes,” it concludes. “Therefore, after January 16, 2026, our data will no longer be delivered to Billboard or factored into their charts. We are committed to achieving equitable representation across the charts and hopefully can work with Billboard to return to theirs.”

Read More: Billboard Announces Major Rule Change That Could Shake Up Hip-Hop Sales

Billboard Rule Change

A spokesperson for Billboard has since released a statement in response to YouTube’s announcement.

“There are so many ways a fan can support an artist they love, and each has a specific place in the music ecosystem,” it reads. “Billboard strives to measure that activity appropriately; balanced by various factors including consumer access, revenue analysis, data validation and industry guidance. It is our hope that YouTube reconsiders and joins Billboard in recognizing the reach and popularity of artists on all music platforms and in celebrating their achievements through the power of fans and how they interact with the music that they love.”

YouTube’s decision to pull its streaming data from Billboard’s charts comes shortly after Billboard announced a major rule change. In the new year, subscription streams will be weighted more heavily than ad-supported streams. This means that now, subscription streams will be counted at a 1:2.5 ratio compared to ad-supported streams.

Read More: Lil Baby’s “The Leaks” Shoots Up Billboard Charts After First Full Week Of Sales

The post YouTube Explains Decision To Pull Streaming Data From Billboard Charts appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Per RIAA’s website, the update was made on Monday, December 15. If you were curious, “FEFE” sold eight million units on September 5, 2019, according to chart data. It was especially impressive back then as 6ix9ine and Nicki dropped the collab in July 2018.

Overall, this doesn’t instantly wipe away anything the song did. It was unavoidable on the radio, on streaming playlists, and social media. The music video has over 1.1 billion views. Moreover, it debuted at number four on the Hot 100.

However, this does make you wonder if botting was going on to make the track just a bit more successful. That theory will almost certainly come to light as we await an answer from RIAA. As of yet, they have not clarified why such a drastic change was made to “FEFE.”

But shockingly, that’s not the only wild thing to report. If you notice on the RIAA’s site, Nicki Minaj’s name is nowhere to be found.

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How Long Is 6ix9ine’s Prison Sentence?

So, that means if the track ever achieves diamond status (10 million units), she won’t receive a plaque for that. Of course, things could change to where her name gets re-added. After all, she’s got feature and writing credits on DSPS.

But that is worth mentioning right now.

Overall, it’s going to be interesting to hear what the RIAA has to say about this if they decide to speak out.

For 6ix9ine, though, this news comes at a bad time. Earlier this month, the “GUMMO” songwriter was sentenced to three months in prison over his handful of probation violations. They stem from his infamous Nine Trey Bloods RICO case.

Despite being labeled as “dumpster fire” by the judge who delivered the punishment, he decided against the prosecutors who pushed for a lengthier sentence.

Read More: 50 Cent & Marlon Wayans Beef Over Diddy Doc, Explained

The post 6ix9ine & Nicki Minaj’s “Fefe” Suffers Huge RIAA Demotion appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Per a new filing, the court rejected the rapper’s request for the same reason courts in other cases rejected similar motions. Reportedly, he was given a chance to argue his case, but failed to submit the required statement. For this reason, the judge decided that Essayl “may continue to supervise Banks’ prosecution.”

This isn’t the only issue Durk has raised with the government in recent months, however. In November, he asked that both the judge and the lead prosecutor in his case be recused. He alleges that they failed to disclose violent threats received by prosecutors.

Read More: 21 Savage Attempted To Mediate NBA YoungBoy & Lil Durk Beef

Why Is Lil Durk In Jail?

“The integrity of criminal prosecutions depends on transparency and impartiality. Here, both were fatally compromised,” their motion alleges. “Because these violations strike at the core of due process and the constitutional guarantee of receiving fair hearings in front of an impartial decision-maker, dismissal is the only adequate remedy.”

Lil Durk was arrested last October and has been behind bars ever since. Officials allege that he hired multiple people to fly from Chicago to Los Angeles to carry out the murder of Quando Rondo.

In 2022, Quando Rondo and his cousin Saviay’a “Lul Pab” Robinson were targeted in a shooting at a Los Angeles gas station. Quando Rondo survived, while Lul Pab succumbed to his injuries at the age of 23. Authorities believe this was allegedly done in retaliation for King Von’s 2020 murder.

Read More: Prosecutors Fight To Stay On Lil Durk Case As They Unveil Another Violent Threat

The post Lil Durk Takes Major Court Loss As Judge Rejects Motion To Disqualify Prosecutors appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Making this all the more impressive is that he’s done all of this and more before turning 50. The Florida MC will be hitting this major milestone next year (Jan. 28). Not only has he set himself up nicely when he decides to slow things down, he’s also got generational wealth for his five children.

However, folks online and exes (especially Tia Kemp) have questioned his behavior given his age. That’s not all too surprising. People who hold you in a negative light will always have something to say. But what is a bit shocking is that one of Rick Ross’ kids are calling him out.

In this case it’s his oldest, 23-year-old daughter Toie Roberts. Live Bitez caught a couple of clips from a recent live streaming session (Instagram?) wherein she calls him out for still acting like he’s her age.

Read More: 50 Cent’s Past Abuse Allegations Resurface After Diddy Doc

How Many Kids Does Rick Ross Have?

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Toie says, “My daddy is old as f*ck and he acts like he’s motherf*cking 20. I love this life, but I be telling that n**** ‘slow down. When is you going to stop?'” she says.

Throughout the clip, she has a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that out of all of her siblings, two of them are adults. Toie’s oldest is William Roberts III who’s 19.

She goes on to claim that Ross has eight children in total however, that’s merely an allegation right now. As we alluded to earlier, he’s got five in total, per PEOPLE.

The rest of the clan includes Berkeley Hermès Roberts (8), Billion Leonard Roberts (7), and Bliss Roberts (5).

Toie ends the video by suggesting that Ross doesn’t want the world to know about his personal life. “Of course y’all want to know he had that many. He’s a very private person.”

Read More: Can Kanye West Make A Comeback?

The post Rick Ross’ Oldest Daughter Puts Him On Blast For Not Acting His Age appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

He went on to address Lil Baby, telling him, “You one of the realest young n****s out this sh*t admit slime was moving the goal post and we was standing behind him cuz we love him my brother.”

Ultimately, 21 ended up getting some backlash for his remarks, prompting him to fire back. “Last year I was the realest n***a for tryna stop thug from exposing gunna,” he recalled. “Now im fake lol.”

Read More: Mariah The Scientist’s Engagement Ring Goes Viral For All The Wrong Reasons

Young Thug & Gunna Beef

Yesterday (December 17), Young Thug issued what appears to be a response to 21’s tweets. While he didn’t address anything he said directly, he made his feelings known. “@21savage I love u my brada, u always been with me,” he wrote. At the time of writing, 21 Savage has not responded.

His posts arrived shortly after Young Thug seemingly shaded his former collaborator in a tweet of his own. “N***a acting like he the victim, lol,” he tweeted. Before that, Gunna posted a heartfelt message on Instagram about staying true to yourself despite the obstacles life throws your way.

“The real flex is keeping a good heart when life keeps giving you reasons not to,” the post began. “When you been lied to, used, switched up on, and counted out… but you still show love. You still got loyalty in you. Still show up for people, even when nobody showed up for you.”

Read More: Young Thug Claims Hip-Hop Is In A “Weird” Place After Kendrick Lamar & Drake Beef

The post Young Thug Responds To 21 Savage’s Plea To Squash Gunna Beef appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Release Date: December 16, 2025

Genre: Hip-Hop

Album: N/A

Quotable Lyrics from Mason

Tapped in like a Mason
They tried to clone me, but they couldn’t fake me
Look at the industry puppets, they dancin’
I don’t care how much money you makin’

The post Mason – Song by Matt Ox appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Thankfully, though, the trap icons were able to shut it down quickly. In the midst of 21 trying to end those aforementioned tensions on his X, he tweeted out that he felt he was the “realest” for playing mediator. Per theJasmineBrand and DJ Akademiks, this supposedly caught Pluto’s attention.

“DA BIGGEST N DIS $H*T [eagle emoji],” he responded subliminally. Savage then hit back without tagging Future, “The biggest change all the time [dagger emoji double eyes emoji].”

But instead of going down a verbally violent path, Future extended peaceful words. “Bigger than da net. US,” and “@21savage u my lil brother for infinity. US 6.”

His “X” collaborator was more than receptive towards him by apologizing. “@1future I apologize my brother I should of called you first… Us!!!”

Moreover, at some point during the night, Big Bank orchestrated a FaceTime so they could bury the hatchet even more.

Read More: Ebro Darden’s Firing Brought Back His Hip Hop’s Grudges

What Happened To The Streets? First Week Sales

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It’s unclear why Future wanted to challenge 21 in the first place as they have never shown any animosity towards one another before. But it’s good to see that their good and that rappers in the scene, like Savage, are doing what they can to rebuild what was once a tight knit community.

Hopefully, the rest follow suit.

In other news, 21 Savage is awaiting where he’s going to be debuting on the Hot 200 chart. Last Friday, he dropped his sort-of surprise fourth album, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STREETS?

The project had some splashy collabs, including one with Drake on “MR RECOUP.” However, it appears that the Slaughter Gang CEO is going to have a middling and/or disappointing first week. It’s been reported that projections are at just 53,000. In comparison to his 2024 project, american dream, its roughly half of what he brought in then (133,000).

Read More: 21 Savage “WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STREETS?” Review

The post 21 Savage & Future Hop On FaceTime After Swapping Subliminal Disses appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

The Neighborhood Talk recently shared a video of the ring on Instagram, which sparked big reactions from social media users. “It’s ugly, but I’m single so I’ll just sit this one out,” one commenter writes. “It look like it came from the titanic ,” another claims. Someone else simply says, “he dead ass wrong.”

Mariah has not publicly commented on the buzz surrounding her ring, although she herself seems pleased with it, which is all that matters.

Read More: Young Thug Proposes To Mariah The Scientist During Beautiful Moment At His Atlanta Show

How Long Have Young Thug & Mariah The Scientist Been Together?

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Moreover, she and Young Thug have been an item for roughly four years now. It’s possible that he knows something about her personal taste that the rest of the world doesn’t.

As for what’s next for the pair, that remains to be seen, though it looks like there’s a strong possibility that a child is in their future. During an interview with Angie Martinez this month, Mariah expressed a desire to settle down and get pregnant, though she still plans to make her career a priority.

“I want to be married,” she explained. “That’s my plan. I can’t speak for everybody. That’s my plan, though… I want a baby, I want at least one. I’ll start with that and see how I can manage. […] I just want a commitment that doesn’t involve an obligation to a baby. I just want it to be out of love, not out of responsibility.”

Read More: North West Featured In New Skims Campaign With Ken Carson And Mariah The Scientist

The post Mariah The Scientist’s Engagement Ring Goes Viral For All The Wrong Reasons appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Release Date: December 18, 2025

Genre: Hip-Hop, R&B

Album: N/A

Quotable Lyrics from BLAH BLAH BLAH

I’m idolized if I ever left
Rightfully so they call me crazy
They don’t get through tho
Just just get the dial tone
The number you have reached
Blah Blah Blah

The post BLAH BLAH BLAH – Song by BJ The Chicago Kid & Black Milk appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Release Date: December 16, 2025

Genre: Hip-Hop

Album: N/A

The post Thinking To Myself – Song by Lil Double 0 appeared first on HotNewHipHop.